diff --git a/fastseq_cli/transformers_generate.py b/fastseq_cli/transformers_generate.py index dda5eb56..bd64344b 100644 --- a/fastseq_cli/transformers_generate.py +++ b/fastseq_cli/transformers_generate.py @@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import argparse import json from pathlib import Path +from typing import List import torch from tqdm import tqdm @@ -17,6 +18,37 @@ def chunks(lst, n): for i in range(0, len(lst), n): yield lst[i:i + n] +def sort_sentences(sents: List[str], reverse: bool=False): + """Sort the input sentences by their length. + + Args: + sents (List[str): input sentences. + reverse (bool): indicate the order is ascending(False) or descending. + + Returns: + tuple(List[str, List[int]): the sorted sentences and + the indices in the original input list. + """ + is_ascending = -1 if reverse else 1 + sorted_idx = sorted( + range(len(sents)), key=lambda i: len(sents[i])*is_ascending) + sorted_sents = [sents[i] for i in sorted_idx] + return sorted_sents, sorted_idx + +def unsort_sentences(sents: List[str], sorted_idx: List[int]): + """Unsort the sents to be the order specified by sorted_idx. + + Args: + sents (List[str]): a list of input strings. + sorted_idx (List[int]): the order that will be restored. + + Returns: + List[str]: the unsorted list of strings. + """ + result = [''] * len(sents) + for cur_idx, org_idx in enumerate(sorted_idx): + result[org_idx] = sents[cur_idx] + return result def generate_summaries_or_translations( examples: list, @@ -34,6 +66,8 @@ def generate_summaries_or_translations( """Run generation""" if fastseq_opt: import fastseq #pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel + examples, sorted_idx = sort_sentences(examples, reverse=True) + fout = Path(out_file).open("w", encoding="utf-8") model_name = str(model_name) model = AutoModelForSeq2SeqLM.from_pretrained(model_name).to(device) @@ -47,6 +81,7 @@ def generate_summaries_or_translations( # update config with summarization specific params use_task_specific_params(model, task) + hypothesis = [] for batch in tqdm(list(chunks(examples, batch_size))): if "t5" in model_name: batch = [model.config.prefix + text for text in batch] @@ -66,9 +101,14 @@ def generate_summaries_or_translations( dec = tokenizer.batch_decode(summaries, skip_special_tokens=True, clean_up_tokenization_spaces=False) - for hypothesis in dec: - fout.write(hypothesis + "\n") - fout.flush() + hypothesis.extend(dec) + + if fastseq_opt: + hypothesis = unsort_sentences(hypothesis, sorted_idx) + + for hypo in hypothesis: + fout.write(hypo + "\n") + fout.flush() def run_generate(): diff --git a/tests/cli/data/val.source b/tests/cli/data/val.source new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e40a02b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/tests/cli/data/val.source @@ -0,0 +1,5120 @@ +(CNN)The only thing crazier than a guy in snowbound Massachusetts boxing up the powdery white stuff and offering it for sale online? People are actually buying it. For $89, self-styled entrepreneur Kyle Waring will ship you 6 pounds of Boston-area snow in an insulated Styrofoam box -- enough for 10 to 15 snowballs, he says. But not if you live in New England or surrounding states. "We will not ship snow to any states in the northeast!" says Waring's website, ShipSnowYo.com. "We're in the business of expunging snow!" His website and social media accounts claim to have filled more than 133 orders for snow -- more than 30 on Tuesday alone, his busiest day yet. With more than 45 total inches, Boston has set a record this winter for the snowiest month in its history. Most residents see the huge piles of snow choking their yards and sidewalks as a nuisance, but Waring saw an opportunity. According to Boston.com, it all started a few weeks ago, when Waring and his wife were shoveling deep snow from their yard in Manchester-by-the-Sea, a coastal suburb north of Boston. He joked about shipping the stuff to friends and family in warmer states, and an idea was born. His business slogan: "Our nightmare is your dream!" At first, ShipSnowYo sold snow packed into empty 16.9-ounce water bottles for $19.99, but the snow usually melted before it reached its destination. So this week, Waring began shipping larger amounts in the Styrofoam cubes, which he promises will arrive anywhere in the U.S. in less than 20 hours. He also has begun selling a 10-pound box of snow for $119. Many of his customers appear to be companies in warm-weather states who are buying the snow as a gag, he said. Whether Waring can sustain his gimmicky venture into the spring remains to be seen. But he has no shortage of product. "At this rate, it's going to be July until the snow melts," he told Boston.com. "But I've thought about taking this idea and running with it for other seasonal items. Maybe I'll ship some fall foliage." +(CNN)On the 6th of April 1996, San Jose Clash and DC United strode out in front of 31,683 expectant fans at the Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. The historic occasion was the first ever Major League Soccer match -- a brave new dawn for the world's favorite sport in a land its charms had yet to conquer. Summarizing the action for ESPN, commentator Ty Keough eagerly described the momentous "birth of a new era for American soccer." Looking back at footage from that balmy evening now it's hard not to feel a certain nostalgia. Baggy shirts, questionable hairstyles and strange rule adaptations to make games more exciting were all part of the formative MLS experience. Countdown clocks were employed to provide drama at the end of each half. Even more bizarrely, tied games were settled by shootouts that saw attacking players run with the ball from 35-yards out before attempting to beat the opposing goalkeeper. As the MLS prepares to mark the beginning of its 20th season, it's hard to comprehend just how much the league has progressed in the intervening period. Long gone is the desire to tamper with the rules of the game for a start. Attendances are higher than ever before while the number of teams involved has doubled from 10 in the 1996 campaign to 20 in 2015. A further four are set to be added by 2020. On top of this, the new season is the first of a new domestic TV and media rights deal with FOX, ESPN and Univision worth $700 million over eight years. This figure may pale beside the $5.1 billion recently paid by UK broadcasters for the English Premier League, the richest football league in the world, but it represents a tripling in value of the previous MLS deal. According to Phil Rawlins, co-primary owner and president of the new MLS franchise, Orlando City Soccer Club, "the industry and the game itself has moved on dramatically" in the U.S.. He believes what would equal 50 years growth in most other industries has been experienced in the first two decades of the MLS. Rawlins' club is a prime example of this rapid transformation. He describes players being pushed out of changing facilities because of a schedule clash with a yoga class not so long ago. This weekend 60,000 fans are expected to witness Orlando City's opening weekend fixture against New York City, another new club making their MLS bow. World Cup winners Kaka and David Villa will turn out for Orlando and New York City respectively. "We're just on the crest of the wave at the moment," Rawlins said of football's American progress. "Can it be the number two, number three sport in this country? Yes, I think it can. And it can be in a short space of time." These positive assertions are backed by the huge interest U.S. fans showed in last year's World Cup in Brazil. Team USA's group stage clash with Portugal attracted 25 million viewers, according to figures from TV ratings firm, Nielsen. That's considerably more than the 15 million baseball's 2013 World Series averaged on FOX or the similar audience that tuned into the 2014 NBA finals on ABC. Anyone who saw 20,000 pumped-up young fans pack out Chicago's Grant Park to cheer on their country via big screens, meanwhile, would find it hard to argue against soccer in the U.S. now being anything other than a big deal. Reaching this promising stage, however, has been anything but a smooth ride. The MLS was reported to have lost as much as $250 million in its first five years while average attendances initially dwindled after the inaugural season. Three teams -- Miami Fusion, Tampa Bay Mutiny (both in 2001) and Chivas USA (2014) -- were disbanded along the way due to a mixture of lack of fan interest and ownership troubles. A report by Forbes at the end of 2013, meanwhile, claimed that only 10 out of 19 MLS teams were profitable. And as recently as this week, MLS players looked like they could be going on strike over wages and the right of players to become free agents when their contracts end. Then there's the way the league develops, attracts and trades players. A salary cap restricts the amount teams can spend on playing squads. Each side, however, has a number of spaces that can be allocated to "off budget" signings which are not included within the cap. This includes promising Generation Adidas players who enter the MLS through the draft systems before completing their college education. Homegrown players from club's development academies are also exempt as are a maximum of three designated players (DPs), usually stellar international names whose wages and transfer fees will be covered by club owners or sponsors. One of the main criticisms of the MLS and its complex player acquisition rulebook is that while it does entice prominent stars of the game like David Beckham, Freddie Ljungberg and Thierry Henry to appear in the MLS, it only does so when their careers are on a downward trajectory. Why would an exceptional player want to move to a league that can only attract a handful of top talents at any one time, after all? And herein lies one of the leagues biggest challenges in attracting and keeping the talented players fans want to see. Although the likes of the salary cap encourages fiscal probity, it means MLS teams are restricted by rules clubs in other markets are not. Head coach of Sporting Kansas, Peter Vermes, highlighted these difficulties in comments carried by the Kansas City Star newspaper last year. "We're in a place where at times you can't compete with foreign clubs because of the kind of dynamics they have in regards to finances. We have a salary cap. They don't," Vermes said. According to Paulo Teixeira, a football agent who has worked to bring in and sell players from the league in recent years, current philosophies with regards player-trading may be have to be tweaked to help the MLS grow yet further. He describes the importance of placing an emphasis on attracting younger players with European passports. Such talented individuals will have a sell-on value that can be recouped by the league and their clubs if they move on from the MLS to the biggest and wealthiest leagues across the Atlantic. Theoretically, at least, this money can then be reinvested in the league, player development and attracting yet more promising players to the MLS. This in turn will raise the standard further. An early example of this strategy can perhaps be found in the transfer of Oriol Rossell, a Spanish midfielder who moved from Sporting Kansas to Sporting Lisbon last year in a deal brokered by Teixeira. Rossell arrived on a free transfer aged 20 after being released by FC Barcelona in 2012. He excelled at Kansas, winning the MLS Cup before being sold to the Portuguese giants at a profit in June 2014. Teixeira is quick to make clear such plans would need good scouting systems to truly flourish. It could also be achieved by signing DPs closer to the peak stage of their career, he added. This last point is something that appears be happening already. "Before they used to have a lot of big names who could no longer run in Europe," Teixeira said. "(But) Villa is not an old guy, (Frank) Lampard is still going strong" and both could still offer something to teams in Europe, he said by way of example of New York City's first DP signings. Nevertheless, he continued, the signing of more young players with big potential "is probably something we'll see more of." Whether Teixeira is correct will become apparent in the months and years ahead. Either way, that brave new MLS dawn that broke over San Jose back in 1996 has turned into a bright morning. CNN's Don Riddell contributed to this story. +(CNN)French striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who has a history of fainting, said he is now "feeling well" after collapsing during Swansea's 3-2 loss at Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday. The worrying incident occurred in the first half at White Hart Lane -- after Tottenham scored in the seventh minute -- but the 29-year-old left the pitch conscious following about five minutes of treatment. The Guardian added that he was wearing an oxygen mask. Play was temporarily stopped before resuming. As the match progressed, Swansea tweeted that Gomis was "fine," with manager Garry Monk using the same word to describe Gomis' condition. Gomis spent the night in hospital as a precaution, Swansea said on its website. "I wanted to reassure you concerning my health," Gomis told the website. "It actually looks much scarier than it is physically dangerous, and I am feeling well now. "I have been under a great deal of stress and fatigue due to my father's health, which requires me to go back and forth from France. "I was disappointed that I couldn't help my team tonight, but now everything is back in order. I also want to thank everyone for their support and get well messages." Gomis had similar fainting spells in France, which prompted the president of his former club, Jean-Michel Aulas of Lyon, to tell French television in 2009: "We can't not be worried, it scares you each time." Swansea ran tests on Gomis, said Monk, prior to signing him on a free transfer last July. "He just has a little bit of low blood pressure which causes you a little bit of problems," Monk said in a televised interview on Sky. "It's been part of his life. We were well aware of that when we signed him. He's done all the hospital checks and all the medical checks you can possibly do and it's just part of his life. "It's no problems whatsoever. It's not as serious as it looks." Gomis has scored two league goals for Swansea this season, mostly in a backup role. He became the Welsh side's top striker when Wilfried Bony signed with Manchester City in January. Almost exactly three years ago at White Hart Lane, then Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was near death, according to Bolton, but survived after being treated at the London Chest Hospital. He subsequently retired. Other footballers, including Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe in 2003 and Spanish international Antonio Puerta in 2007, didn't survive after collapsing on the pitch. +(CNN)My vote for Father of the Year goes to Curt Schilling. The former Major League Baseball pitcher recently fired off a series of fastballs and mowed down a group of Twitter trolls who made the mistake of tweeting vulgar and sexually-explicit comments about Schilling's teenage daughter. The drama started, innocently enough, on February 25, when Schilling played the role of a proud father. He sent a tweet congratulating his daughter, Gabby, on being accepted to Salve Regina University, where she'll play softball. It read: "Congrats to Gabby Schilling who will pitch for the Salve Regina Seahawks next year!! — Curt Schilling (@gehrig38)" Almost immediately, responses came in from young men, complete strangers who apparently followed Schilling on Twitter. The tweets quickly went from immature, to creepy, to repugnant. Threats of rape were common. The tweets were deleted, and the accounts were closed after this story went viral. But not before Schilling captured some of the images and posted them on his blog. What was said about 17-year-old Gabby Schilling wasn't just obnoxious. It was vile and obscene. What was said wasn't just mean and ugly. It was threatening and scary. As a parent, it's the kind of thing that makes you rethink your opposition to public caning as a logical punishment for such transgressions. These misogynistic cowards may have thought they could hide in the darkness of anonymity, the sort that many have come to expect from social media sites, where you feel free to be a despicable human being because, you think, no one will ever find out who you really are and hold you accountable for your words. If so, they thought wrong. They couldn't hide. They were found out, and they got the throttling they so richly deserved. Thanks to dad. According to Schilling, who made it his mission to track down these cretins and make sure those they associate with know who they really are, two people have already paid a price due to their tweets. One was a student disc jockey at a community college in New Jersey, who was suspended, and the other was a part-time ticket seller for the New York Yankees, who was fired. Concerned that this is an example of exactly the kind of cyberbullying that leads some teenagers to commit suicide, Schilling is also thinking about taking legal action against some of the other people involved. Bravo for him. I'm sure that, all across America, dads with daughters -- after reading some of the horrible things that were said about this young girl -- are marveling at Schilling's self-control. I have two daughters of my own, and he's a better man than me. If ever there was a case where profanity-spewing malcontents deserved to have their mouths washed out with soap, this is it. So what additional insights can we draw, and what larger lessons can we learn, from this unexpected but predictable collision of old-fashioned parenthood and newfangled media? There are a few. The first is about accountability, the very thing that the young men who posted these hurtful messages were trying to avoid. But Schilling wouldn't let them. At their best, social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others allow the sharing the information and the building of a sense of community. At their worst, they become digital sandboxes and locker rooms where people think have a license to misbehave without having to worry about consequences. We need to applaud efforts like this that promote greater online accountability. There's also something to be said about protective parents, and how essential they are to a working society. We should still be concerned about those overprotective parents who hover like helicopters from little league to job interviews. We shouldn't bubblewrap our kids, and keep them from playing outdoors, and then sit around wondering why they're soft, timid, and risk-averse. But protective parents -- the kind who shield their kids from real danger -- never go out of style. A parent's top job is to protect his children. Schilling did his job. Finally, it's worth reminding everyone that freedom of expression does not mean freedom from rules, standards, and expectations that should guide your behavior. There are things you don't say. There are boundaries, ways that we expect you to behave so you don't terrorize other people or bring shame upon yourself, your friends, and your family. If you don't have social skills, you don't belong on social media. The tweets make you wince. But in this story, you'll still find plenty to smile about. This whole drama unfolded because Schilling was proud of his daughter. Now, given how he reacted, we all have reason to be proud of him. ​ . +(CNN)It was an act of frustration perhaps more commonly associated with golf's fictional anti-hero Happy Gilmore than the world's reigning No 1. player. But when Rory McIlroy pulled his second shot on the eighth hole of the WGC Cadillac Championship into a lake Friday, he might as well have been channeling the much loved Adam Sandler character. Before continuing his round with a dropped ball, the four-time major winner launched the 3-iron used to play the offending shot into the water as well. "(It) felt good at the time," a rueful McIlroy later said of the incident in comments carried by the PGA Tour website. "I just let frustration get the better of me. It was heat of the moment, and I mean, if it had of been any other club I probably wouldn't have but I didn't need a 3‑iron for the rest of the round so I thought, why not." The club "must have went a good 60, 70 yards," he joked. McIlroy composed himself to finish with a second round of 70, leaving him one-under for the tournament and eight shots off the pace set by leader JB Holmes. While an improvement on last weeks performance at the Honda Classic event, where he failed to make the cut, the Northern Irishman's frustration with elements of his game was still clear. "I think every golfer feels it because I don't hit shots like the one I hit on 8 on the range," he said. "That's what really bothers me, the fact that I get out on the course and I hit shots that I'm not seeing when I'm in a more relaxed environment. "So it's a little bit of mental, a little bit of physical. It's just everything is not quite matching up." Elsewhere on the course, Ryan Holmes scored a two-under-par 71 to remain in second position overall, two shots behind Holmes. Former world No 1., Adam Scott carded an impressive 68 to finish the day three shots off the pace at six-under while Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson are tied for fourth on four-under. +(CNN)Former Vice President Walter Mondale was released from the Mayo Clinic on Saturday after being admitted with influenza, hospital spokeswoman Kelley Luckstein said. "He's doing well. We treated him for flu and cold symptoms and he was released today," she said. Mondale, 87, was diagnosed after he went to the hospital for a routine checkup following a fever, former President Jimmy Carter said Friday. "He is in the bed right this moment, but looking forward to come back home," Carter said during a speech at a Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Minneapolis. "He said tell everybody he is doing well." Mondale underwent treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The 42nd vice president served under Carter between 1977 and 1981, and later ran for President, but lost to Ronald Reagan. But not before he made history by naming a woman, U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York, as his running mate. Before that, the former lawyer was a U.S. senator from Minnesota. His wife, Joan Mondale, died last year. +(CNN)Share, and your gift will be multiplied. That may sound like an esoteric adage, but when Zully Broussard selflessly decided to give one of her kidneys to a stranger, her generosity paired up with big data. It resulted in six patients receiving transplants. That surprised and wowed her. "I thought I was going to help this one person who I don't know, but the fact that so many people can have a life extension, that's pretty big," Broussard told CNN affiliate KGO. She may feel guided in her generosity by a higher power. "Thanks for all the support and prayers," a comment on a Facebook page in her name read. "I know this entire journey is much bigger than all of us. I also know I'm just the messenger." CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the page. But the power that multiplied Broussard's gift was data processing of genetic profiles from donor-recipient pairs. It works on a simple swapping principle but takes it to a much higher level, according to California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. So high, that it is taking five surgeons, a covey of physician assistants, nurses and anesthesiologists, and more than 40 support staff to perform surgeries on 12 people. They are extracting six kidneys from donors and implanting them into six recipients. "The ages of the donors and recipients range from 26 to 70 and include three parent and child pairs, one sibling pair and one brother and sister-in-law pair," the medical center said in a statement. The chain of surgeries is to be wrapped up Friday. In late March, the medical center is planning to hold a reception for all 12 patients. Here's how the super swap works, according to California Pacific Medical Center. Say, your brother needs a kidney to save his life, or at least get off of dialysis, and you're willing to give him one of yours. But then it turns out that your kidney is not a match for him, and it's certain his body would reject it. Your brother can then get on a years-long waiting list for a kidney coming from an organ donor who died. Maybe that will work out -- or not, and time could run out for him. Alternatively, you and your brother could look for another recipient-living donor couple like yourselves -- say, two more siblings, where the donor's kidney isn't suited for his sister, the recipient. But maybe your kidney is a match for his sister, and his kidney is a match for your brother. So, you'd do a swap. That's called a paired donation. It's a bit of a surgical square dance, where four people cross over partners temporarily and everybody goes home smiling. But instead of a square dance, Broussard's generous move set off a chain reaction, like dominoes falling. Her kidney, which was removed Thursday, went to a recipient, who was paired with a donor. That donor's kidney went to the next recipient, who was also paired with a donor, and so on. On Friday, the last donor will give a kidney to someone who has been biding time on one of those deceased donor lists to complete the chain. Such long-chain transplanting is rare. It's been done before, California Pacific Medical Center said in a statement, but matching up the people in the chain has been laborious and taken a long time. That changed when a computer programmer named David Jacobs received a kidney transplant. He had been waiting on a deceased donor list, when a live donor came along -- someone nice enough to give away a kidney to a stranger. Jacobs paid it forward with his programming skills, creating MatchGrid, a program that genetically matches up donor pairs or chains quickly. "When we did a five-way swap a few years ago, which was one of the largest, it took about three to four months. We did this in about three weeks," Jacobs said. But this chain wouldn't have worked so quickly without Broussard's generosity -- or may not have worked at all. "The significance of the altruistic donor is that it opens up possibilities for pairing compatible donors and recipients," said Dr. Steven Katznelson. "Where there had been only three or four options, with the inclusion of the altruistic donor, we had 140 options to consider for matching donors and recipients." And that's divine, Broussard's friend Shirley Williams wrote in a comment her on Broussard's Facebook page. "You are a true angel my friend." +London (CNN)A photo of a weasel hitching a surprise lift on the back of a flying woodpecker near London has gone viral on Twitter, with more than 7,000 users retweeting the original post of the image. It was first posted by photographer Jason Ward on Monday and credited to Martin Le-May. After #WeaselPecker gained momentum, British media soon picked up the story, and television channel ITV interviewed Le-May. The amateur photographer from Essex, near London, told the broadcaster he had been walking with his wife in Hornchurch Country Park, Essex, when they heard "a distressed squawking" noise and spotted the woodpecker. "Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the bird flew across us and slightly in our direction; suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life," Le-May said. Eventually, Le-May told ITV, the weasel -- known as a "least weasel" in some countries -- lost its grip and the bird flew away. Marina Pacheco, chief executive of Britain's Mammal Society told CNN the image looked genuine and that it was possible an omnivorous weasel would take on a woodpecker. "Weasels will go for anything that looks like food -- they've got a high metabolism and they've got to eat a lot," she said. "It doesn't surprise me that a weasel took a punt -- I've seen a photo of a weasel charging a group of sparrows, they're very hungry animals." But she said the weasel, which would generally try to break the neck of its prey to subdue it, may have exceeded its abilities in this case. "I think it was a bit of a long shot -- it looks like it tried to grab the neck of the woodpecker to break it," Pacheco said. "I think that it probably doesn't have a big enough jaw to bite through the spine of the woodpecker." Weasels would not normally target green woodpeckers, Pacheco said -- their predators are normally the size of a stoat or larger. But the birds are known to spend a fair amount of time on the ground pulling up worms and hunting insects. "If the woodpecker had managed to hit the weasel with its beak it would have been the end of the weasel," she said. "They're quite gung-ho little creatures." The pluckiness of the weasel spawned a number of parodies on Twitter, with manipulated images showing the creature in turn being ridden by Russian President Vladimir Putin, popstar Miley Cyrus, football star John Terry -- and even what appears to be a dog red panda dressed in a Darth Vader costume. (Update: Twitter has now educated us on the difference between a dog and a red panda. Sorry, Darth!) As for the bird? The green woodpecker is also known as a "yaffle" for its laughing call. After the shock of being targeted by a hungry weasel wears off, we can only hope it lives up to its nickname. +(CNN)A Pennsylvania community is pulling together to search for an eighth-grade student who has been missing since Wednesday. The search has drawn hundreds of volunteers on foot and online. The parents of Cayman Naib, 13, have been communicating through the Facebook group "Find Cayman" since a day after his disappearance, according to close friend David Binswanger. Newtown Police say Cayman was last seen wearing a gray down winter jacket, black ski pants and hiking boots. He could be in the Radnor-Wayne area, roughly 20 miles from Philadelphia, or may have purchased a train ticket to Philadelphia, according to an alert posted on Facebook. "We think that he got a email from school and was upset by it and left as an impulsive act," Farid Naib, Cayman's father, wrote Thursday on the group page. "We have spoken to his friends and they do not know where he is. Cayman does have his phone, we don't know if he has any cash, he does not have his wallet." The parents said that his phone was out of power at the time. "Cayman left within 30 minutes after he received an email from school regarding overdue home work (we do not blame the school) and most probably did not do any pre planning ... He is a good kid, and has no substance abuse or other issues, this is the first time he has ever done anything like this," his father and mother, Becky Naib, posted Friday. The parents wrote Saturday that Cayman was not wearing waterproof clothing and that he did not take his backpack. Binswanger said weather limited search efforts Wednesday, the night Cayman went missing. Wednesday it was rainy and Thursday there was 6-8 inches of snow. Hundreds of volunteers have stepped up to pass out fliers and to canvass areas, according to posts. A post late Saturday explained search efforts included "advanced, geo-spacial tracking software to determine the exact locations where searchers went," and added that the search would be taken to the skies Sunday with deployment of the Civil Air Patrol. In many posts, the families appealed directly to their son. "Cayman, if you read this please know that you are forgiven for everything, and I mean everything, you have the ultimate free pass. Just come home, we are so worried about you" the family posted Saturday. A message to families from the head of The Shipley School, which Cayman attends, read in part: "Cayman's sister Savannah is in ninth grade at Shipley and his parents, Farid and Becky, are terrific people. They have contacted police and are aware that we are sending you this email. We hope that Cayman is ok and are saying our prayers." CNN could not immediately get in touch with police or the FBI. +(CNN)A shooting at a bar popular with expatriates in Mali on Saturday killed five people, including French and Belgian citizens, authorities said. One French citizen, one Belgian and three Malians were killed in the attack in the capital of Bamako, said Gabriel Toure, director of a local hospital. An additional eight people were wounded, he said. Authorities called the shooting a "criminal and terrorist act." "Mali remains committed to seeking peace and will not be intimidated by those who have no other motives than to do away (with) the prospects of peace and harmony amongst the Malians," the government said in a statement. A North African jihadist group, al-Murabitun, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Mauritanian news agency Al Akhbar. The purported claim came in an audio message in which the group said it carried out the attack in retaliation for the killing of one of its leaders, Al Akhbar said. "Al-Murabitun may be considered a regional competitor to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)," according to the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based research and analysis firm. The U.S. State Department said in January that al-Murabitun is a "newly-formed" militant group that has presence in northern Mali. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the victim from his country was 31 years old. French President Francois Hollande released a statement condemning the attack. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his condolences to the victims' families in a news conference in Paris on Saturday. "This is an act of cowardice," he said. "But an act of opening fire in a restaurant filled with innocent civilians -- in the end, that only strengthens our resolve to fight terrorism in all of its forms, wherever it exists." The French Embassy in Bamako warned its citizens to be on alert if they go out in public. Though it's unclear whether any rebel group is responsible for the attack, Malian forces have battled Islamist militants in the northern part of the nation for years. Fabius said the Malian government was interrogating some suspects. Mali plunged into chaos after soldiers staged a coup three years ago. As a result, Tuareg fighters capitalized on the power vacuum to launch an insurgency that ended with their takeover of the north. After the Tuareg fighters seized the region, a power struggle erupted with local Islamist radicals. The extremists toppled the tribe and seized control of a large piece of northern Mali, an area the size of France. Since then, the nation has battled various rebel factions, mostly in the northern region, with the help of French and African forces. CNN's Brian Walker, Joshua Berlinger and Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report. +(CNN)Another one for the "tourists behaving badly" file. Two American women have reportedly been arrested for carving their initials into a wall with a coin inside Rome's Colosseum. Daily Italian newspaper La Stampa says the women, aged 21 and 25, were spotted carrying out the act by fellow tourists, who then told security. The two letters -- J and N -- were about eight inches in length and scratched on a brick wall at the historic Roman amphitheater. The women, both from California, reportedly snapped a selfie of themselves with their initials before they were arrested. Their names have not been released. The American pair may now face a fine for "aggravated damage" on a building of historical and artistic interest. If one Russian's experience is anything to go by, the price won't be cheap. Last November, authorities in Rome slapped a 20,000-euro ($21,685) penalty on a Russian tourist caught carving his name into the famed landmark. The 42-year-old man was apprehended after a guard at the Colosseum saw him carve the letter "K" in a section of brickwork. After police caught up with him, the man was found guilty of causing aggravated damage, fined and given a four-month suspended sentence. The Russian was one of five tourists caught carving graffiti on Colosseum walls in 2014. The earlier incidents involved two Australians -- a father and son -- and a Canadian and a Brazilian, both teenagers. Rome isn't alone in having to deal with inappropriate tourist behavior this month. Egypt is now looking into reports that one of its most historic sites was the backdrop for a Russian porn flick. According to Al Arabiya News, authorities have confirmed that an X-rated film was shot next to the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx and are now investigating. The video was reportedly made by Russian tourists, who then uploaded it to the Internet nine months ago. Al Arabiya reports that Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh al-Demati says the issue has been referred to the public prosecutor and new surveillance cameras are being installed in the area. The incident comes as a reminder that no world landmark is safe from the salacious urges of tourists -- no matter how sacred it might be to the locals. Cambodia's Angkor Archeological Park experienced its own string of nudity-related incidents this year. In February, U.S. tourists and sisters Lindsey Kate Adams and Leslie Jan Adams were deported after allegedly getting caught taking partially nude photos at Preah Khan temple, one of the sacred sites inside Cambodia's Angkor complex. They received six-month suspended prison sentences, a one-million riel ($250) fine and were banned from entering the country for four years. In January, a group of photos featuring a topless dancer leaning against the ruins surfaced on Facebook. Early last year, Peru officials were forced to respond to a chain of "naked tourism" incidents at Machu Picchu, also a World Heritage Site. They detained four American tourists, two Canadians and two Australians for stripping down for pictures at the site. CNN's Barry Neild contributed to this report. +(CNN)The search for a comic book artist missing in the Cayman Islands since Thursday is now being called a recovery mission. Norman Lee, an artist for DC and Marvel comics, went missing while snorkeling with his wife off the eastern coast of Grand Cayman, CNN affiliate WCVB reported. Strong currents hindered the search, which lasted until Friday evening, Cayman 27 reported. "It is unlikely that we will make any recovery at this stage," Chief Inspector Brad Ebanks told Cayman 27. Lee, 47, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, was known and for his work on "Wolverine Annual," "Supergirl," "Starman" and other comic book titles. Tributes flooded his Facebook page and Twitter from friends, fans and colleagues who knew him from art school and comic conventions. "I cannot express how shaken I am that I will never get the chance to see that smile again, and it saddens me that this world has lost a wonderful man in Norman Lee. To his wife Jan, and his family and all his friends and fans that loved him, my sincerest condolences," friend and fellow graphic artist Chris Kinniery said on Facebook. "I'm so sorry to hear about Norman Lee's disappearance. My condolences go out to his family. ... He was an amazing talent in the industry and it was always a pleasure to work with him," freelance artist . +(CNN)Farah fled the civil war in Syria with her husband in the middle of the night, hitching rides on trucks until they finally crossed into Jordan. Two days later, she gave birth to a girl in a country where they hold no status. Like 70,000 other refugees from Syria, Iraq, Sudan and the Palestinian Territories, Farah (her name and the others in this article have been changed to protect their anonymity) now lives with her family in Zarqa, a poor Jordanian city teeming with factories and crumbling apartment blocks. Men dominate public spaces, and many women stay at home, isolated. Two years ago, Farah was a nurse and her husband a lawyer. Here, he found work tiling construction sites, but was arrested three times for working illegally. "Now my husband stays at home, depressed and afraid of being sent to the camps," Farah said. She is now the family breadwinner, working at a local organization providing educational programs to Syrian and Jordanian children. Every day she navigates the dangers of Zarqa's crime-ridden streets and ignores sexual advances from men. Yet Zarqa is also a pocket of hope. Some 384 female refugees working with the Near East Foundation have been able to re-establish savings, restore dignity, strengthen their capacity to bounce back and rebuild their lives. Many of them choose to become earners for the first time. They belong to a network of Jordanian and refugee women -- coaches, mentors and peers -- who lean on each other and offer business and social support, exchange tips and build friendships. Some 80% of the refugees in this network have chosen to invest in building a small home-based business. Fatiya, who escaped Iraq during the 2003 invasion, was surviving on charity until six months ago. Now she runs her own leather goods home-based business, making belts, wallets and key chains for tourists from the safety of her home. These days, Fatiya is busy rebuilding her life. "I make my own way,"she says. Zainab, also an Iraqi refugee, is now a hairdresser in Zarqa. On the side, she teaches the art of hairdressing to young women, walking alongside them in their first steps to become economically independent. On March 8, we celebrate International Women's Day and the empowerment of women globally -- including the nearly 6 million refugee women and girls who, like Farah, Fatiya and Zainab, continue to adapt to life in their new surroundings with determination, creativity and skill, despite increasingly limited options. Aid agencies must match the strength of these women's resilience. To truly assist them, we must empower them with opportunities and choices. Of the 10.5 million refugees registered with UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, less than 1% are eventually resettled. The rest remain in limbo, forced to forge new lives in places where they often have no right to work. Refugees are displaced for an average of 20 years, and more than half disappear into urban sprawls where they struggle to integrate and start their lives over. Humanitarian assistance and media attention tend to fixate on "immediate" aid -- distribution of cash, food and subsistence items. This is unsustainable. UNHCR provides critical cash assistance to refugees in Jordan -- but this can be as little as $71 a month, 16 times below the country's poverty line. Refugees need to supplement their allowances, yet they cannot legally find employment, and working in the informal sector can be dangerous. Farah, Fatiya and Zainab are among hundreds of women who are finding a world of options as they build their vocational skills and financial literacy. But their increased role as earners challenges cultural norms, exposing them to heightened abuse and violence. Women's ability to generate income does not guarantee economic independence. To help this network of women control the income they earn, the Near East Foundation facilitates discussions with male family members about their wives' and daughters' newfound roles. "In the beginning, these women were tremendously shy -- they didn't talk," says Hamdan Eliemat, who heads the Bani Hasan Islamic Society, a community organization supporting the women. He laughs. "And now they won't stop talking. And we men, now we have to listen." The international community must advocate for refugees' right to survive. We must ensure that beyond immediate aid, women have access to skill-building, financial resources, social networks and protection from violence and harassment, so they have the chance to build their own futures. +(CNN)Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse have been charged by the Football Association for allegedly spitting during an altercation in Wednesday night's Premier League game at St James' Park. In a statement, English football's governing body said the players had been charged "in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1[a] in that in or around the 38th minute of the game the two players spat at each other. "The incidents were not seen by the match officials but [were] caught on video." The players have until 6pm GMT on Friday to respond to the charge, and could face six-game bans if found guilty. Both Evans and Cisse released statements the day after the incident, with Evans saying: "I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse." Cisse's statement said: "I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be positive a role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down." Spitting at another player is considered beyond the pale by professional footballers, and former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann, now a TV pundit, told the BBC's Match of the Day programme the incident had been "disgusting." "This is not acceptable," he said. "There are kids watching. Something has to be done. The behaviour towards each other and the referee is deteriorating on a weekly basis." Ex-Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes said he did not believe Evans had deliberately spat at Cisse, telling BT Sport: "Look, it's not very nice. I think Jonny is spitting on the floor. "I know Jonny -- he's not that type of person. If he wants to do that then it's not hard to miss, is it? He's only stood a yard away from him. What Cisse does afterwards is unforgivable." And former Liverpool player Steve McManaman told the channel: "Cisse stands up and spits right at Jonny Evans' neck from about six inches. It's absolutely disgusting. "Two wrongs do not make a right. If Jonny Evans has spat at him then it's wrong, but for Papiss Cisse to get up and react like that is absolutely disgusting. We talk about bad tackles, but that is worse." +(CNN)Following last year's successful U.K. tour, Prince and 3rdEyeGirl are bringing the Hit & Run Tour to the U.S. for the first time. The first -- and so far only -- scheduled show will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, the hometown of 3rdEyeGirl drummer Hannah Welton. Slated for March 14, tickets will go on sale Monday, March 9 at 10 a.m. local time. Prince crowns dual rock charts . A venue has yet to be announced. When the Hit & Run worked its way through the U.K. in 2014, concert venues were revealed via Twitter prior to each show. Portions of the ticket sales will be donated to various Louisville charities. See the original story at Billboard.com. ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved. +(CNN)Jessie Usher, the lead of Starz's series "Survivor's Remorse," has been cast in Fox's sequel "Independence Day 2." Liam Hemsworth has also been cast in a lead role and Jeff Goldblum will reprise his role as David Levinson from the original. It has been nearly 20 years since the Will Smith-starring sci-fi film hit theaters, grossing more than $800 million worldwide at the box office. Director Roland Emmerich will return to helm the film. "Independence Day 2" is set for release on June 24, 2016 — almost exactly 20 years from when the first film hit theaters on July 3, 1996. Dean Devlin, Emmerich and Harald Kloser are producing. Independence Day 2 is a big get for Usher, who will play a central character in the new film as the son of Smith's character. Smith's role in the first blockbuster helped establish him as a star, kicking his career up to the next level. Usher stars in the Lebron James-produced Starz TV series "Survivor's Remorse" as Cam Calloway, a basketball player who moves with his family to Atlanta after he signs a pro contract. The first season premiered Oct. 4, 2014, and Starz quickly renewed the show for a second season, which will air later this year. The rising star's film credits includes TriStar football drama When the Game Stands Tall, which hit theaters in August. On the TV side, he previously starred in the Cartoon Network's series Level Up. He's repped by Paradigm and Williams Unlimited. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Think back to your high school's senior prank. Maybe you and your pals slipped a pig into the building or greased all the door handles or turned all the chairs upside-down. So it's no surprise that Wichita high school Principal Sherman Padgett was reluctant to play along last week when a student showed up and told him to stand in the hallway holding a bucket. "She didn't say anything about why. She just said 'hold the bucket,' " the North High School principal told CNN affiliate KWCH. "I'm not going to hold the bucket unless I have a little inkling of why it could be." Good thing he changed his mind. Once he did, student after student streamed by, dropping notes of praise and thanks into the bucket. "Thank you for making high school the best years of my life," one said. "You've made my first year experience in America one that I will always fondly remember," read another. One student recalled how Padgett "helped me get through my eating disorder and helped me get into therapy." The notes were the idea of senior Emily Jones. She decided she wanted to do something nice for the principal and cooked up the plan with her mother. "Padgett's an awesome principal," she said. For Padgett, who has been principal at North since 2006, the experience was priceless. "Became a little emotional on some of them," he said, "I kind of read them and thought, 'man, this is better than a paycheck. This is why I do the things that I do.' " +March 10, 2015 . We're truly international in scope on Tuesday. We're visiting Italy, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Himalayan Mountains. Find out who's attempting to circumnavigate the globe in a plane powered partially by the sun, and explore the mysterious appearance of craters in northern Asia. You'll also get a view of Mount Everest that was previously reserved for climbers. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Nine foreign workers are believed to be in the hands of ISIS-affiliated militants after an attack on a Libyan oil field, according to officials. Libya's internationally recognized government has blamed "ISIS militias" for the attack Friday in which the Al-Ghani oil field was set on fire. The kidnapped foreigners were working for VAOS, an Austrian-owned oil services company whose headquarters are in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. They include four Filipinos, an Austrian, a Czech and a Ghanaian, according to the Philippine foreign ministry. The Bangladeshi government said one of its citizens was also taken hostage. The nationality of the ninth worker was unclear. The abductions come amid Libya's deteriorating security situation in which Islamic militias, some of them pledging allegiance to the extremist group ISIS, have thrived. Egypt carried out airstrikes against ISIS militants in Libya last month after the killings of Egyptian Christians who had been kidnapped while working in a Libyan city. The Philippine foreign ministry said Monday that its Tripoli embassy had "stepped up coordination" with the Austrian company and Libyan authorities "to locate the abducted Filipinos and ensure their safe and immediate release." Martin Weiss, a spokesman for the Austrian foreign ministry tweeted Monday that "credible sources" had confirmed that the Austrian citizen and other international workers were in the hands of ISIS "terrorists." The attack on Al-Ghani is the latest in a recent spate of violence by militants targeting oil fields in Libya. The Libyan National Oil Corporation said over the weekend that it had warned VAOS more than two weeks ago to leave the area because of security concerns. VAOS wasn't immediately available for comment Tuesday. The Philippine foreign ministry said 52 other Filipinos are employed by VAOS but were relocated out of Al-Ghani "much earlier" and are now in Tripoli. Three other Filipinos have been missing in Libya since they were seized at the Mabruk oil field in February, the foreign ministry said. "These cases underscore the escalating threat to the safety and security of Filipino oil workers in Libyan oil fields which have been targeted by armed groups in recent weeks," said foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose. He said Philippine authorities were unsure at this point whether the kidnappers were ISIS members. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Marilia Brocchetto, and journalists Ayman Kekly and Arlene Samson-Espiritu, contributed to this report. +(CNN)Real Madrid fell to a lacklustre 1-0 defeat at the hands of Athletic Bilbao Saturday, potentially handing the La Liga advantage to arch rival Barcelona. A stunning header from Aritz Aduriz shortly before half time was enough to win the day for an organized and impressive Bilbao. Real piled on the pressure for much of the second half but couldn't find a way past a staunch opponent despite finishing the match with four strikers on the park. Gareth Bale struck a post with an extraordinary shot from close to the halfway line as full time approached while Arduriz almost doubled Bilbao's lead with another headed chance late on. The result means second placed Barca can now take top spot should it win at home to mid-table Rayo Vallecano Sunday. Of more immediate concern to Real boss Carlo Ancelotti after the game, however, was his side's lack of cutting edge. "I think the problem we are having at the moment is quite clear," Ancelotti told reporters. "We are not finding a way through like we did in the games before. We've only scored one goal, from a penalty, in two games. "That is the problem we have to fix. We lack efficiency up front." Real are now without a win in two league games while the 4-0 February hammering at the hands of city rivals Atletico Madrid, the clubs biggest derby defeat since 1947, is still fresh in the memory. With the second El Classico fixture of the season against Barcelona only a fortnight away, Ancelotti is looking for a quick fix to his side's attacking inhibitions. However, such worries are of little concern to a Bilbao side celebrating its first win over Real in five years. After a slow start to the season the Basques are now up to eighth position. "We are very proud of how hard we worked," goalscorer Arduriz said in comments carried by the AFP news agency. "The three points will prove a huge boost." "The fans have enjoyed it a lot and they deserved that after the poor performances at San Mames earlier in the season." Bayern Munich continued its seemingly inexorable march to a third consecutive Bundesliga title with a come from behind 3-1 victory away to Hannover. Hiroshi Kiyotake gave the hosts a surprise lead after 25 minutes but Xabi Alonso levelled shortly after. A second half brace from Thomas Muller ensured the Bavarians would increase their league at the top of the Bundesliga to 11 points as second place Wolfsburg fell to a 1-0 defeat at Augsburg. Elsewhere Saturday, Borussia Dortmund's winning streak came to an end with as Jurgen Klopp's revitalized side were held to a 0-0 draw with Hamburg. Paris Saint Germain returned to the top of the Ligue 1 table, for 24 hours at least, with a convincing 4-1 win over Lens at the Parc de Princes. David Luiz opened the scoring as the first half came to a close before Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled the Parisian's advantage from the penalty spot on the hour mark. Substitutes Blaise Matuidi and Javier Pastore secured the win after Yoann Touzghar had pulled one back deficit for Lens. Lyon will return to the Ligue 1 summit should it dispose of Montpelier Sunday. Read: . +March 9, 2015 . This week marks the anniversary of several historic events: a civil rights march to Selma, Alabama's Edmund Pettus Bridge, the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines flight, and the commemoration of International Women's Day. We'll cover all of them this Monday on CNN Student News, and we explain why the latest U.S. unemployment report is a mixed bag. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(Rolling Stone)Kanye West fans are used to seeing thousand-dollar price tags attached to the rapper's Air Yeezy sneakers when they're put up for sale on eBay, but the auction site is now being overrun by sellers offering up plastic bags full of air allegedly captured at West's concerts. The gag started Friday when one ambitious seller attempted to sell a Zipperseal bag with "Air From Kanye Show," with 90 bidders driving the price tag to over $60,000, the Telegraph reports. While that auction was ultimately pulled from the auction site, eBay has since been flooded with similar auctions promising air bagged from a Yeezus show, even though the copycats lacked certificates of authenticity proving the air -- likely carbon dioxide -- was grabbed at a West concert. eBay has apparently stopped trying to swat down the new "bagged air" auctions, so buyer beware at this point. Rolling Stone: Kanye reveals new album title . The bagged air gag has inspired a rash of similar items like "Ziplock bag of air from Garth Brooks concert" and "Kanye West Concert Air-Infused Bay Leaves," with the latter tagged with a $4,999 opening bid. Another seller is pushing a bag of "Flatulence from Kanye" for the Buy It Now price of $5. Rolling Stone: Watch Kanye's speech on racism at BET honors . In other Kanye eBay news, following the soft launch of his Yeezy 750 Boost, his first footwear collaboration with Adidas, pairs of those sneakers are now littered throughout the site with prices ranging from $1,700 to $5,000. Those asking prices come in direct conflict of what West hopes to achieve with his new sneakers, as he recently told Style.com that he hoped his Yeezy Boosts would be "super-inexpensive" so that everyone could afford them. Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone. +(CNN)More than 100 schools in Pakistan have been renamed in honor of the children killed in a Taliban siege at a Peshawar school last year. According to the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 107 local schools now bear the name of a student killed during the December 16 attack on the Army Public School. Government spokesman Mushtaq Ghani told CNN that the gesture was a way to remember the bravery of the students who were taking exams in an auditorium when Taliban militants strapped with explosives laid siege. Some six hours later, 145 were dead, 132 of them children, according to authorities. In February, Pakistani authorities arrested a suspect, accusing him of commanding the attack. The Army Public School is home to about 1,100 students and staff, most of them sons and daughters of army personnel from around Peshawar. CNN's Sophia Saifi and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. +(CNN)An officer, responding to reports of a suspicious person, shot and killed an unarmed man who was running around in a metro Atlanta apartment complex naked. The officer fired two shots when the man charged at him, said Cedric Alexander, the public safety director of DeKalb County. But given that the man was not carrying a weapon, the police department immediately turned over the case to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for an independent probe. "What I have requested here [is] a result of what's going on currently across this country as it relates to police shootings," Alexander told reporters. The officer was white; the deceased man was African-American, Alexander said. The incident took place Monday afternoon at an apartment complex in Chamblee, a suburb of Atlanta. Someone called 911 to report a man "acting deranged, knocking on doors and crawling around naked," Alexander said. When the officer arrived, the man charged at him, Alexander said. "The officer called him to stop while stepping backward, drew his weapon and fired two shots," he said. The man, struck twice in the upper body, died. Police later learned he was a resident at the complex. "I can only reasonably assume that if he was running around the apartment complex naked, I believe we can make the assumption there may have been some mental health experience that he might have been having," Alexander said. DeKalb County police officers undergo some degree of training on how to deal with the mentally ill. But this, and other incidents, highlight the need for more, the public safety director said. "That's becoming more and more apparent," Alexander said. "We have already, as many departments have begun to do, look at how to expand our mental health training when we find it certainly necessary to do so. Because it appears that we're seeing more and more of these cases across the country in which police are engaging with those who appear to be in distress." Police did not release the officer's name, but said the seven-year veteran was placed on administrative leave. During the incident, the officer had access to his stun gun and pepper spray, Alexander said. Why he chose to draw his weapon will come out during the investigation. "I think in all fairness we need to wait and see what the outcome of the investigation is because I can't tell you, beyond what I have told you so far, what kind of measures that officer may have taken," he said. As fatal police shootings come under increased scrutiny in the current climate, police departments also appear to be more forthcoming in proactively releasing information for transparency's sake. Such is the case in Madison, Wisconsin, where Madison Police Chief Mike Koval has been out front and outspoken about the shooting death of 19-year-old Tony Robinson at the hands of an officer. And it seems to be the case in this DeKalb County incident. "If you look at the state in this country and the things we're going through right now across this country with police-involved shooting, certainly it's a concern to many Americans. And there has certainly been recommendations that have been made in regards to moving towards more independent type of investigations," he said. +(CNN)A grand jury in Clark County, Nevada, has indicted a 19-year-old man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor in front of her house last month. Erich Nowsch Jr. faces charges of murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and firing a gun from within a car. Police say Nowsch shot Tammy Meyers, 44, in front of her home after the car he was riding in followed her home February 12. Nowsch's attorney, Conrad Claus, has said his client will argue self-defense. The Meyers family told police that Tammy Meyers was giving her daughter a driving lesson when there was a confrontation with the driver of another car. Tammy Meyers drove home and sent her inside to get her brother, Brandon, who allegedly brought a 9mm handgun. Tammy Meyers and her son then went back out, police said. They encountered the other car again, and there was gunfire, police said. Investigators found casings from six .45-caliber rounds at that scene. Nowsch's lawyer said after his client's first court appearance that Brandon Meyers pointed a gun before anyone started shooting. He said the family's story about a road-rage incident and what reportedly followed don't add up. After zipping away from the first shooting, Tammy Meyers drove home and the other car, a silver Audi, went there also. Police said Nowsch shot at both Tammy and Brandon Meyers. Tammy Meyers was hit in the head and died two days later at a hospital. Brandon Meyers, who police said returned fire at the home, was not injured. The driver of the silver Audi has yet to be found by authorities. That suspect wasn't named in Thursday's indictment. Nowsch was arrested five days after the killing in his family's house, just one block away from the Meyers' home. He is due in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing. +Tokyo (CNN)Police in Japan say they have arrested a 40-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing five neighbors in a farming community in Sumoto city. The man has admitted stabbing three women aged 59, 76 and 84, as well as two men aged 62 and 82, Deputy Police Chief Keizo Okumoto told CNN. He said the accused refused to comment further as he was awaiting his lawyer. The victims -- two couples and the 84-year-old woman -- lived within 100 meters (330 feet) of the suspect's home, police said. According to local media, the accused and the victims shared the same surname, but it is unclear if they are related. Sumoto city is on Awaji Island, Hyogo prefecture, in Japan. CNN's Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report from London. +(CNN)A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a police vehicle in the capital of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province on Tuesday, killing seven people and injuring 23 others, the province's deputy governor said. The attack happened at about 6 p.m. in the Bolan area of Lashkar Gah city, said Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, deputy governor of Helmand. Several children were among the wounded, and the majority of casualties were civilians, Rasoolyar said. Details about the attacker's identity and motive weren't immediately available. +(CNN)NASCAR announced Wednesday that it has lifted its suspension of driver Kurt Busch, making him eligible to return to the sport immediately -- albeit "under indefinite probation." Busch was suspended after a Delaware civil court found that he probably committed domestic violence against his former girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll. She accused the standout driver of grabbing her by the throat and slamming her head against a wall in his motor home at Delaware's Dover International Speedway in September. Twice, the NASCAR 2004 Cup champion appealed his indefinite suspension and lost both times. That meant he missed the season-opening Daytona 500 as well as two subsequent Sprint Cup races. But he should be able to compete through the fall, and NASCAR says that it will waive its requirement for him to compete in all championship events. The case against Busch took a significant turn last week, when the Delaware Department of Justice announced that charges would not be filed against him. "As I have said from the beginning, I did not commit domestic abuse," Busch said then. "I look forward to being back in racing as soon as possible and moving on with my life." A Kent County, Delaware, family court commissioner ruled in February that Busch must stay away from Driscoll for a year. NASCAR officials decided to lift Busch's suspension because he complied with the requirements of the racing circuit's reinstatement program, completed behavioral assessments and got the OK from a behavioral health care expert to race again. He's not totally out of the woods. In a news release, NASCAR said Busch must "undergo additional steps to address the behavior for which he was penalized." Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said the lack of charges against Busch expedited his return. "We have made it very clear to Kurt Busch our expectations for him moving forward, which includes participation in a treatment program and full compliance with all judicial requirements as a result of his off-track behavior," O'Donnell said. CNN's Jill Martin contributed to this report. +(CNN)The flight crew of the Delta Air Lines plane that skidded into a fence at LaGuardia Airport last week cited brake issues during the landing, according to an update on Monday from the NTSB. The crew said they did not sense any deceleration from the wheel brake upon landing, despite the auto brakes being set to "max," according to an ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The runway appeared all white in the moments before landing, according to the report. They based their decision to land after receiving a brake action report of "good" from air traffic control, the NTSB said. "The automatic spoilers did not deploy," the crew told the NTSB, "but that the first officer quickly deployed them manually." The captain said he was unable to stop the aircraft from drifting left, according to the report. The Boeing MD-88 sustained significant damage to the left wing, flight spoilers, the nose of the plane and the left wing fuel tank, according to the NTSB. Delta Flight 1086 departed from Atlanta shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. LaGuardia was dealing with snow and freezing fog as the flight approached its destination about two hours later. The aircraft briefly circled New York because of issues with snow and ice before touching down shortly after 11 a.m. The plane slid off the runway with its nose busting through a fence before skidding to a halt mere feet from frigid waters. Twenty three passengers received minor injuries, and others were transported to the hospital for evaluation. An NTSB meteorologist is examining the weather conditions at the time of the accident, said the report. The cause of the accident has not been determined. +(CNN)When I was a child, a pale specter used to call our house most evenings, eager to chat with my doctor father about her myriad medical concerns. We called her the "White Bread Lady," a moniker she earned for one particularly inane call in which she panicked to my father after consuming white bread. She wasn't breaking out in hives or having any adverse effects to the bread. No, she was just concerned that some future illness could befall her given that one particular dietary decision. Although we all laughed at the time, it was with a bit of shifty-eyed shame. Because most of us (including if not particularly the illustrious Ehrlich family) have lurking within us our very own "White Bread Lady," ready to convince us that each cough, sniffle and less-than-nutritious meal might be a detriment to our health. And, naturally, that White Bread Lady looms even larger when we can type our worries into a search bar and unlock a bevy of potentially distressing information. Yup, so quoth Google, we all have cancer. According to the Pew Research Center, 80% of Internet users have looked up health information online. While that practice can be beneficial in some respects, the abundance of (variably valid) information online can turn us into e-hypochondriacs. (Or, worse, can lead us to neglect getting the care we need.) Read on for five mistakes -- courtesy of a selection of health care professionals -- that people make when diagnosing themselves online. Searching blind . Your eye is twitching like an overly caffeinated college student sitting behind a pretty girl in lecture hall, twirling his pencil and hoping to catch a whiff of her lovely shining hair. You type "eye twitch" into Google and come up with a really rad website that explains that this newfound spasm is actually an indication that your third eye is fixing to open, revealing to you wonders untold. You are the chosen one. Too bad that this trove of "medical information" is actually some dude's fan-fiction site. Sure, the above is an extreme example, but, as Dr. Kevin Pho of KevinMD.com pointed out, "There's a lot of bad information on the Web and information that can be dangerous." Especially if you're not considering who put up that information in the first place. Pho urges users to favor Web addresses ending in .org and .edu when looking for reputable health-care info, and to check who is funding the collection of that information. "There's so much information from organizations trying to sell products or push their agenda on the Web," he said. He suggests turning to sites like Mayo Clinic as well as troves of information curated by doctors (like Pho's own website) when trolling the web for info. And, of course, if a site mentions trolls and third eyes, one should definitely press on. Flailing in forums . If there's one thing people like to do online, it's talk about their problems -- especially mundane things like coughs and headaches and their babies' various and sundry discharges. That's all well and good; sharing experiences with others is enriching! Unless the people you're sharing with are idiots. "You can easily fall into that rabbit hole and find some forum that really isn't relevant but maybe sounds kind of close," warned Craig Monsen, co-founder of symptom-checker app SymCat. On the other hand, "sometimes you'll stumble on exactly the right forum where someone has your same exact problem, and their solution does help." "Health care forums are definitely another tool that individuals can use in order to crowdsource a diagnosis based on their symptoms," added Dr. Natasha Burgert of KC Kids Doc. "I think that these can be a really powerful tool not only for discussing potential diagnosis or symptom relief but also finding a forum of individuals in which you can discuss emotional and psychological parts of an illness and develop a wonderful online support community." The trick is to be wary about the issues being discussed in forums and how germane they are to you. And, you know, if people start talking about homemade remedies fashioned from bleach, maybe click off and see a doc. Getting emotional . You know that game "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon"? There should seriously be a version of that called "6 Degrees of Cancer" -- as in, when looking up your symptoms online, how long does it take to deduce that you have a life-threatening disease instead of, say, a simple cold? According to Burgert, the root of this whole "worst-case scenario" thing is getting too emotional. "For most intents and purposes, when you're looking for online health information, it's about yourself or a family member," she said. "When you're looking through that lens, it's very hard to keep emotional distance. So you can read about a diagnosis that either makes you very scared or calms your fears -- and that's the path you'll continue down, whether it's correct or not." Burgert suggested using online symptom checkers simply to "understand possible diagnoses, find some initial steps for relieving the symptoms and determine if this is something that needs further evaluation or that can be managed at home." SymCat and Mayo Clinic's symptom checker let you type in what you're experiencing and unearth a spectrum of diagnoses and suggestions for when to seek a doctor's aid. Your doctor's website might also have such a tool. Voila, you just increased your separation from cancer by at least a couple of degrees. Keeping mum around MDs . "I think, traditionally, many physicians are a little apprehensive when that stereotypical patient comes to their office with big stacks of printouts from the Internet," Pho said. "But I think more and more doctors are accepting it. Personally, I think that transparency of information is helpful in a way." Translation: Help your doctor help you. If you're worried about a particular medical situation and did some research to help narrow down what's ailing you, share that info with your physician. "I really appreciate when patients bring in information that they found online, because it allows me to guide my instruction and plan based on their true concerns," Burgert said. "People get scared when they get sick and hurt, and they want to use multiple sources of information to help themselves. The Internet adds to that physician's expertise in order to do that." Remember, though, knowing how to use the Internet doesn't make you a doctor. Google doesn't count as a second opinion. If you're unhappy with your doc's diagnosis, go get one the traditional way. Putting off the inevitable . If your ailment isn't going away, all the symptom-checking and Mayo Clinic-ing in the world isn't going to help you. Make a doctor's appointment. Like, right now. Sites like ZocDoc make it super easy (and free; doctors pay to be listed) to set up an appointment ASAP, so no whining that you'll have to wait two weeks to see a doc and maybe by then "it" will have gone away. Unless, of course, "it" is that white bread you just ate. In that case, please stop calling my dad. +(CNN)Pakistan's highest court Friday ordered the release of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks, calling his detention illegal. Lakhvi, a top leader of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was not present at Friday's court proceeding. The terror attacks in India left more than 160 people dead in November 2008. In the attacks, heavily armed men stormed landmark buildings around Mumbai, including luxury hotels, the city's historic Victoria Terminus train station and a Jewish cultural center. On Friday, India summoned the Pakistan high commissioner "to convey our strong feelings about (the) Lakhvi verdict," said India's external affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin. Last year, the court granted Lakhvi bail, a decision the Pakistani government had said it would challenge. Many in India are still angry over the attacks and had criticized the bail decision. "It is very disappointing that the accused of the Mumbai attacks has been granted bail," the nation's home minister, Rajnath Singh, said in December. India executed the last surviving gunman from the attacks in 2012. Other suspects were all killed during the series of attacks, which went on for three days. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report. +(CNN)A medical helicopter carrying at least three people crashed late Thursday in Eufaula, Oklahoma, the Federal Aviation Authority said. It was flying from Tulsa to McAlester when it went down west of Lake Eufaula, near the Canadian River. Three employees from medical air transport company EagleMed LLC were on board, according to FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford. FAA investigators are headed to the crash scene. The McIntosh County Sheriff's Office is handling the crash for local law enforcement, but a spokeswoman said early Friday that it had no information to give out so far. Earlier this week, an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed in waters off the Florida Panhandle. All 11 service members aboard are believed dead, an Air Force official said Thursday. The military has been working to recover the helicopter, which searchers found at the bottom of the Santa Rosa Sound near Eglin Air Force Base, as well as the bodies of all seven Marines and four Louisiana Army National Guard members who were aboard. CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)The father of baby Lily, found by rescuers after her mother's car flipped into a river, says she's doing great and that he feels blessed. Rescuers found the toddler Saturday hanging upside down in the car, which had crashed into a frigid Utah river a day before. Lily's mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, died in the crash that had landed their car on its roof in the Spanish Fork River. She was 25. Deven Trafny, 34, was out of town on a job at the time of the accident, CNN affiliate KUTV reported. He rushed to his daughter's side as soon as he heard. "(I) came in, I put my finger in her hand, and I told her her Dad was here, and I love her," he told reporters Wednesday. "I haven't left her bedside since, and I've just been here just sitting next to her waiting for her to get better so she can come home." Trafny said that Lily is awake and has been singing nursery rhymes. Video of the two of them at a hospital shows her waving at a camera. "She knows everything she knew before anything happened. It's amazing. Doctors say it's amazing," he said. How did toddler survive car crash in Utah river? Lily might have died unseen with her mother had a man not gone fishing in that particular spot Saturday. The angler waded into the river around noon, then noticed the car wheels-up in the water. The fisherman called emergency dispatch. The water was so cold that, when the rescue was over, seven of the men involved had to be treated for hypothermia. They heaved the car onto its side and saw Groesbeck in the driver's seat. It was clear to them that she was dead. Lily was still strapped into her seat, where she may have been for 14 hours, if the wreck occurred at about 10:30 Friday night, as police believe. Trafny described Groesbeck as the love of his life, according to KUTV: "I'm going to miss her a lot. I still have to deal with that." But he also considers himself lucky to still have his daughter -- healthy and alive. "I'm just blessed. I'm counting all my blessings right now," said Trafny. CNN's Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. +Kuala Lumpur (CNN)The initial hours after the disappearance of flight MH370 were characterized by confusion and chaos, as air traffic controllers struggled to comprehend the situation and radar operators failed to take notice, according to data contained in an interim report. The report -- released one year after the disappearance of the Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers and crew --- provides a detailed picture of delays and protocol violations before the launch of the search and rescue. An astonishing five hours and 13 minutes passed between the last communication from the flight crew and Kuala Lumpur's first distress signal concerning the missing plane. And it was another five hours before the first search flights took off to try to find it. CNN's aviation correspondent Richard Quest said he believes the delayed response was the most disturbing thing revealed by the interim report -- "the lack of somebody pushing the big red button that says crisis and panic." A year later after the plane's disappearance, not a single trace of Flight MH370 has been found despite extensive search efforts. Investigators believe the wreckage lies somewhere on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, based on the analysis of satellite communications data. The first sign that something was wrong with flight MH370 came after plane failed to check in with Vietnamese Air Traffic Controllers after leaving Malaysian airspace. According to protocol, Ho Chi Minh ATC should have informed their Kuala Lumpur counterparts (KL ATCC) about this within five minutes. Instead they waited 20. When Ho Chi Minh finally did inform Kuala Lumpur, the confusion was evident, as seen in transcripts of the conversation released Sunday. KL ATCC asked three times at what point Ho Chi Minh lost contact, then went on to express concern at the delay, asking "Why you didn't tell me first? Within five minutes you should be (sic) called me." The confusion only got worse after Malaysia Airlines mistakenly told Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Controllers they could see the flight somewhere over Cambodia. It took an hour and a half to clear this up, after Malaysia Airlines admitted to controllers they were only looking at the projected flight track. Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the misinformation was a momentary lapse by a company employee. "Our information was only to be as a guide. We are not an ATC per se. We don't have radar," he told CNN. The watch supervisor then waited another two hours to activate the rescue coordination center. Still another hour went by before before Kuala Lumpur issued the distress signal. No explanation for the delay is given in the interim report, which is composed of factual data and provides no conclusions or recommendations. After the air traffic controllers lost contact with MH370, the plane continued to fly within the range of multiple radar systems belonging to four different countries. Yet little seems to have been done with the data in the immediate hours after the plane disappeared. The interim report says that "for unknown reasons" Indonesia's Medan Radar did not see the flight. And Thailand "did not pay much attention," since MH370's flight path did not fall within its borders. Malaysian military radar tracked the flight for an additional hour, including its turn back across the Malay Peninsula. Despite this information, search and rescue teams did not begin expanding the search area for a full day. Though the interim report makes no mention of it, a failure by the Malaysian military to alert others to the relevant radar data may be blame. A briefing document prepared by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said military authorities failed to share the final radar fix of MH370 with their civilian counterparts for 20 hours. CNN approached Malaysia's Ministry of Defence for comment but is yet to receive a response . Another working document notes that MH370's turn back might have been discovered much earlier, if the military and non-military agencies had coordinated better. "In essence, a week or more was lost in the initial search because of poor civil/military cooperation," reads the ICAO working document. The interim report released by Malaysian investigators on Sunday provides no information about when the military radar data was shared with other authorities. It's impossible to know if a speedier response from air traffic controllers, or more immediate access to radar data, would have changed the course of events for MH370. But it would have provided authorities with more time, either to track the flight or to search the ocean before the batteries died in the emergency locator beacons. Looking back at the series of miscommunication between air traffic controllers and the radar lapses also provides valuable lessons that could help future search and rescue operations. Though the MH370 investigation team did not draw lessons in the current report, it plans to provide safety recommendations in the months ahead. Journalist Chan Kok Leong contributed to this report. +(CNN)The Salvation Army in South Africa is using #thedress to spread a different kind of message about the colors black and blue. The organization is using the viral sensation to spread awareness about domestic violence. An ad shows a model wearing a white and gold dress resembling the one that caused an Internet meltdown last week as people debated whether the garment wasn't actually black and blue instead. The model also sports bruises on her face and body. The caption reads "Why is it so hard to see black and blue? The only illusion is if you think it was her choice." The ad has received mostly positive response. The dress, which is sold by the British company Roman, is actually black and blue. Julia Haller, the ophthalmologist-in-chief at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, explained that different people saw different colors because eyes perceive colors in a slightly different way, based on genes. +New Delhi, India (CNN)The North Korean ambassador in Bangladesh issued an apology after one of the embassy's diplomats was caught carrying 27 kilograms (59 pounds) of undeclared gold into the country's main airport in Dhaka, according to officials in Bangladesh. North Korean officials could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, state media in the largely isolated communist country has not yet reported on the incident. Kazi Muhammad Ziauddin, a top official in Bangladesh's customs agency, told CNN his officers discovered the gold on the afternoon of March 5th, after the diplomat arrived on a Singapore Airlines flight. Ziauddin said customs officials had received a confidential tip that a North Korean diplomat would be carrying "illegal items." "It was very tough. We have to be very careful and sensitive when we deal with a diplomat," Ziauddin said, referring to the Vienna Convention, which affords diplomats certain degrees of consular immunity. He said the suspect, whom he identified as Son Young Nam, the first secretary of North Korea's embassy in Dhaka, initially refused to allow his baggage to be searched. "He said there is no way we can open or scan his bag," Ziauddin said. "At first he said 'This is an electric motor.' After further questioning he changed his mind and told us, 'These are cipher machines and very confidential.'" Eventually, customs officers opened the diplomat's bag and found the undeclared goods, that included 170 gold bars and golden ornaments. At current market prices, the gold would be valued at around $1 million. Entering Bangladesh without declaring this quantity of precious metal is a violation of the country's customs regulations. An official with Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary, speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity, said his government lodged a protest with the North Korean ambassador. It's far too early to jump to conclusions about whether the alleged gold smuggling incident could be an isolated example of corruption or an effort to move official funds. Due to international sanctions, North Korea faces substantial obstacles when trying to access international banking systems. "It would be interesting to see if [the diplomat] is disciplined when he gets back" to North Korea, said John Delury, associate professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies. "That would be a way of saying whether or not he's a corrupt diplomat." According to the Foreign Secretary's office in Bangladesh, the North Korean diplomat allegedly caught carrying the gold has since left the country. CNN's K.J. Kwon contributed from Seoul . +(CNN)With the ongoing protests over the shooting death by police of black teenager Tony Robinson in Madison, Wisconsin, the racist chanting of fraternity members at the University of Oklahoma, and now the inexcusable shootings of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, it's safe to say that the always-strained race relations in this country are being pushed to the breaking point. And the point with the most stress is the delicate relationship between police forces and the minority communities that they serve. To approach things from a more positive angle, the situation is dire enough that we absolutely have to try to uncover the good and not dwell on the negative. The best time to make things better is when it seems that everything is getting worse. This unacceptable status quo can motivate us to take the necessary steps to address the problems, which are not going to disappear unless we honestly deal with them. When things are going wrong, responsible people can begin by saying the right things. President Obama said on Twitter, "Violence against police is unacceptable. Our prayers are with the officers in MO. Path to justice is one all of us must travel together." The Congressional Black Caucus issued a statement saying, "The CBC understands the frustrations in Ferguson, but a response of violence is not the answer during this transformative moment in our country." And Attorney General Eric Holder noted, "This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson. ... This was a damn punk, a punk who was trying to sow discord." For the most part, authorities in Missouri have been careful not to blame the peaceful protesters. Surely, not all responses have been as measured, but the gravity of the situation will hopefully bring out the best in people. While we pause for a moment to let passions cool, we can use the time to consider how best to move forward with common resolve instead of mutual recrimination. The way forward is to engage citizens in the community -- to bring them into the room when decisions are being made about policing policies and procedures to make sure that those policies and procedures address the community's real concerns. And it's about putting law enforcement officers in the community as welcome members of that community -- as guarantors of the safety and security of the people instead of intimidating outside forces. This approach would benefit both the community and the police. I'm certain that officers would rather be appreciated and valued by the people they serve than be pressured to fill city coffers by issuing unnecessary citations, as noted in the DOJ report on Ferguson. Nobody becomes a cop because they secretly long to be a collection agent. One of the easiest ways to integrate law enforcement officers into the community is to physically put them on the sidewalks by increasing the number of cops who work good old-fashioned foot beats. Officers who view the world through a patrol car window are separated from the people they serve by more than a sheet of glass. Being encased in a vehicle alienates a person from the world around them. The cop on the beat is not just a quaint notion from old movies, he can be a bridge between police forces and the people they serve. Another idea is to give cops bicycles, which has brought so many law enforcement officials in touch with other cyclists in the community. Lack of community policing is one of the shortcomings cited in the DOJ report on Ferguson. In areas where the gulf between law enforcement and the neighborhood is too wide, mediators can be used to initially bring the two sides together. After all, both sides ultimately have the same goal of safe and peaceful neighborhoods. Both police departments and members of the community can take proactive steps to come together on more than a purely professional level. A tech services company in the South Bronx recently hosted a video game competition with police officers and residents of the neighborhood. The event left local teenagers saying things about the cops like "basically they're like us." Ultimately, police should be considered members of the community -- a notion that needs to be encouraged by police departments and neighborhoods alike. Communities can make the local cops part of their neighborhood celebrations. New Orleans Police Det. Winston Harbin became a minor Internet celebrity for his impromptu dancing with local people during Mardi Gras. Besides just being fun, Harbin's interaction with the community helped foster the type of mutual appreciation and respect that are essential to effective community policing. Fear and mistrust among minority communities toward police are the legacy of many decades of racism, unequal treatment, bias, subjective stereotyping and lack of opportunity. It is times like now, when that anger and resentment are boiling, that we address it. With the right approach, we can begin to change the attitude between the black community and the police from "HandsUpDon'tShoot" to "HandsTogetherInTrust." +(CNN)Pope Francis, who succeeded a resigning pontiff exactly two years ago, told a Mexican television network Friday that he expects his pontificate will be brief. "Four or five years," he told Televisa. "I do not know, even two or three. Two have already passed. It is a somewhat vague sensation. Maybe it's like the psychology of the gambler who convinces himself he will lose, so he won't be disappointed and if he wins, is happy. I do not know." Francis, who was elected in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down, said his predecessor had reopened a door to more popes emeritus. When asked whether he likes being Pope, he enthusiastically responded: "I do not mind." Francis, 78, said he feels God only wanted him to lead the Roman Catholic Church for a short time "and nothing more." He said that he would not support putting an age limit on the papacy. He also enjoys calling on the Pope Emeritus. "It's like having a wise grandfather at home. One can seek advice," Francis said. Francis made similar retirement comments in August when he praised Benedict for "his beautiful gesture" and said he might do the same thing one day. He told Televisa he misses the ability to go out in public without attracting a huge crowd. "I would like ... to go out one day, without being recognized, and go to a pizzeria for a pizza," he said. Also Friday, while at a communal penance service at St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope announced a "Jubilee of Mercy" will start in December. The theme will end November 26, 2016, the Vatican said. There have been 26 jubilees since the first in 1300. The most recent was in 2000. Pope says it's OK to spank children if you don't demean them . CNN's Livia Borghese contributed to this report. +(CNN)Myanmar warplanes fighting rebels dropped a bomb at a sugarcane field in China, killing four civilians, the latter's state media reported Saturday. In addition to the fatalities, nine others were wounded, according to Xinhua news agency. Shortly after the incident Friday, China sent fighter jets to patrol over their shared border. The jets are there to "track, monitor, warn and chase away" Myanmar military planes, China's air force told state media. China summoned Myanmar's ambassador in Beijing after the incident in the border city of Lincang. Liu Zhenmin, the vice foreign minister for China, called on Myanmar to investigate and bring those behind the attack to justice. Myanmar forces have been battling ethnic separatist rebels in the rugged border region across from Yunnan province. In recent incidents, stray gunfire has damaged property on the Chinese side of the border, prompting Beijing to warn Myanmar to ensure safety. There was no immediate reaction from Myanmar. +(CNN)They are very convincing when they call. They have a Washington phone number and can cite your financial history down to the cent. They say you're under investigation, in danger of losing your home, or worse, your freedom -- unless you pay thousands of dollars on the spot. But they're not real. And you're not in trouble. Not unless you take it seriously. This is a scam. Email your story ideas and tips to CNNtips@cnn.com. A big one. Federal authorities say it's the largest IRS impersonation scam they've ever seen -- swindling victims out of more than $15 million since it began in 2013. "They have information that only the Internal Revenue Service would know about you," said Timothy Camus, deputy inspector general for investigations with the Treasury Department. "It's a byproduct of today's society. There's so much information available on individuals." Using identity theft technology, the thieves have successfully victimized more than 3,000 people in the past two years, although the Treasury Department cautions that number is only documented cases and the true number might be higher. Camus said they've recorded more than 366,000 reports of contact with the scammers, and it's increasing at a rate of 10,000 to 12,000 a week. Authorities believe the thieves are operating out of India, using phishing technology to make it appear they're IRS agents in Washington. Call 1: 'The IRS is filing a lawsuit against you' Call 2: 'Your address is under state investigation' The Federal Trade Commission, which goes after scammers like these from a civil standpoint, and the Treasury Department, which leads the criminal probe, both have open investigations. The largest loss reported was a staggering $500,000, Camus said. Most have lost about $5,000. One of those victims was former NFL player Frank Garcia, who is now a sports radio host in Charlotte, North Carolina. When he got the call, it sounded so authentic, he left the radio station in a panic, scramming to get the money they wanted. 12 scams to avoid . "The only thing running through my head is, I'm going to jail. I'm gonna be on television, in handcuffs, for tax evasion," he recalled. "I had to follow specific steps not to be arrested. That the authorities had been contacted and in fact, they are on the way and will be there in 30 minutes." Garcia says he spent five hours driving to various stores around Charlotte, depositing $500 each time into a PayPal account set up by the woman on the phone. He ended up losing about $4,000. He, and other victims, told CNN the swindlers never let their victims hang up the phone. "I have never been arrested in my life and was very scared," said Kin Ko, a New Jersey resident who lost about $5,000 after he says the impersonator told him he was facing five years in prison, and the IRS was about to confiscate his assets: His car, his house and all the money in his bank account. The person had a badge number, read him an arrest warrant from a nearby police jurisdiction. The thieves are incredibly smart and convincing. They harness stolen identities and use programs such as Google Earth to identity locations where their victims can transfer money. "It sounded as legitimate as could be," said Al Cadenhead, a pastor in North Carolina who also fell victim. "They knew where I was. He told me where to go -- to the Rite Aid, up two streets turn left to the Rite Aid. The names of the streets, it was really just incredible." Cadenhead told CNN he didn't come to his senses until he'd signed over $16,000. Identity theft tops list of consumer complaints . "It was like I came out of a coma and realized this was not normal and this is not how you do business," he said. "I know other people who've heard the story say 'How did a guy with a PhD fall victim?' I was the perfect victim. I've never been audited, never paid a traffic ticket. I don't know how to pay fines. How do I know they aren't stern and serious about everything?" Camus said many people are afraid when they hear from the IRS, so they do whatever the caller says. In December, federal authorities found and arrested two U.S.-based "runners" who admitted to transferring almost a million dollars from pre-paid cards to foreign bank accounts. In many cases, victims are warned and stopped from sending more money by bank tellers or clerks at money wiring locations. Ko said that it was a bank teller who told him this was a scam when the impersonator asked him to go through a second round of depositing money. If you think you have been a victim of an IRS impersonation scam, you can report it to TIGTA's web site or call 800-366-4484. For Frank Garcia, the light came on when the woman on the phone asked him for another $8,000 after he thought his debt had been paid. He says he decided to hang up and await what the woman promised would be an arrest -- which, of course, never came. How hackers are stealing your tax refund . "I felt taken advantage of. I felt small. And I was naive," he said. "I wasn't aware. I didn't understand the system. And didn't blame anybody but myself for not taking more time to understand those things." Often, Camus says, immigrants are targeted and threatened with deportation. The elderly are also a popular target, although the scam has grown so large, people of all ages, income levels and status are getting these calls. Treasury Department officials say if you get one of these calls, the best and simplest way to handle it is to hang up. Camus himself, a Treasury Department investigator, even got one. He told them, "Your time is coming." Watch The Lead with Jake Tapper weekdays at 4pm ET. For the latest on The Lead with Jake Tapper click here. +Naypyidaw, Myanmar (CNN)Twenty-one people are dead and 21 missing after a ferry capsized in the Southeast Asia nation of Myanmar. Myanmar's Ministry of Information said in a statement that the ship capsized Friday night as it sailed, in bad weather conditions, around the city of Sittwe. That's when a large wave crashed into the ferry, causing it capsize near Myaybone and Myaukkyine islands. Authorities have managed to rescue at least 167 people, according to the information ministry for Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. Pictures from the government showed rescue workers helping people off a boat onto the land. Sittwe is the capital of Rakhine state and sits on the Bay of Bengal, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the Bangladesh border. This weekend's weather forecast for the city calls for some clouds giving way to clear skies, with high daytime temperatures expected to be in the 30s Celsius (80s to 90s Fahrenheit). Fatal ferry disasters are nothing new to the region. Last month, at least 68 people died when a packed double-decker ferry sank while on the Padma River north of neighboring Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, officials said. A cargo vessel hit the ferry, causing it to overturn and trapping passengers on its lower deck. Forty-five people died in an accident on the same river in August. In May 2013, several boats carrying as many as 150 people were thought to have capsized near Myanmar's western coast ahead of a storm approaching the area. Those boats were carrying Rohingya, members of Myanmar's long-suffering Muslim minority, Thailand-based U.N. official Kirsten Mildren said at the time. Journalist Manny Muang reported from Myanmar, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. +(CNN)A Facebook post by actor Ashton Kutcher lamenting the lack of diaper changing tables in public men's rooms has parents talking. The new father -- he and partner Mila Kunis welcomed baby Wyatt Isabelle in October -- complained to his followers that he had yet to encounter a changing table in the public bathrooms he visits. He offered to give a social media shout-out to the first business where he found a diapering table in the men's room. The post had logged more than 230,000 comments as of Wednesday morning. Lots of folks offered up places Kutcher should patronize, such as Walmart and Cracker Barrel, where they say changing tables abound. Some dads said they didn't have a problem finding changing tables, but it may be because they're frequenting more down-to-Earth establishments than the Hollywood star. Other posters said "family restrooms" would take care of the problem altogether. Do modern dads get enough credit? Many praised Kutcher for raising the issue: "Thank you for doing this. This is not just an issue for dad's such as yourself who are awesome, but so many of the families I know who have two daddies have this issue ALL The time," wrote one poster. Another mom agreed: "My boyfriend was taken aback when he had to get a key for the family change room instead of just going into the men's with our son because they had no change table. It doesn't make ANY SENSE. Gender equality needs to go both ways." No update yet on whether Kutcher has encountered a diapering station in a men's room. Dad blogger's death prompts renewed push to rename 'Amazon Mom' +(WIRED)Screens are rectangles. Even the 3-year-old playing with your iPad could tell you that. But what would the digital world look like through a different sort of frame? Say... a circular one? Monohm, a startup based in Berkeley, California, was founded around this very idea. For the last year, the three-person team has been working a circular, palm-sized device dubbed Runcible. They cheekily refer to it as the "anti-smartphone," a description that goes for both its form factor and its value system. The round device is meant to be the antidote to our feed-obsessed, notification-saturated digital existence. It's a challenge to the rectangular status quo and everything it represents. That's a quixotic dream, but an interesting one. Display technologies have a long and rectangular history. Before smartphones there were movie screens, TVs, and computers, not to mention paintings and pages of print. And then of course there are windows—in some ways the original glass rectangles. In each case, the rectangle's prominence can be attributed in large part to practicality. Whether you're talking about film or glass or stone, rectangles are easy to make. They don't leave much wasted material. As frames for shaping the world, however, different types of rectangles can produce vastly different effects. 14 of the Best Architecture Photos From the Past Year . In her book The Virtual Window, which traces the rectangular frame from Renaissance painting up through Microsoft Windows, media theorist Anne Friedberg offers an example from the history of architecture, centering on a public feud between French builder August Perret and the preeminent modernist architect Le Corbusier. Perret was a strong advocate of the traditional French casement window, which was oriented vertically. Its main function, he said, was to let light into a room. Le Corbusier, making use of new manufacturing techniques, designed his buildings around long, horizontal windows, which were as much about framing the outside world as illuminating the space within. The disagreement influenced architecture for decades to come. The simple act of turning a rectangle on its side gave us entirely new ways to think about space. Rectangles are still subtly dictating our behavior today. Movie screens, chased by TVs, have gotten bigger and wider, encouraging us to sit back and lose ourselves in the spectacle. (In 1930, Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein lamented how the cinema's "passive horizontalism." He wanted the screen to be square.) Smartphones, with their slender, touch-controlled displays, have become a distinctly more active rectangle. Paired with the never-ending vertical feeds that fill apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, they've become an irresistible, inexhaustible diversion. The point is this: Frames matter. They suggest certain things about how we should approach them. They shape the type of stuff that's made for them. And if just turning a rectangle on its side can make such a big difference, imagine all the interesting things that might happen if you left the rectangle behind altogether. Runcible isn't meant to be a smartphone replacement so much as an alternative. "I think we've become really, really good at getting interrupted and creating conduits for interruption," says Monohm CEO Aubrey Anderson, who met his co-founders during a stint at Apple. "It's time now to use technology to get a little quieter." If miniaturizing the computer is what got us the smartphone, Runcible asks what a gizmo might look like if you started by souping up a pocket watch. And the shape of the device is central to that thinking. A circular frame, after all, is no good for browsing a Twitter feed. 12 Most Ancient and Magnificent Trees From Around the World . So what is it good for? That's the question. At this point, Runcible as much a provocation as an actual product. The three-person team, which has been working with the San Francisco design studio Box Clever on the concept for nearly a year, has some prototype hardware and a crude sketch of an operating system, but they've still got a long way to go. They've got a few vague ideas for applications. One is a sort of dashboard that gives you an overview of activity on your social media accounts. Another is a compass-style mapping system that encourages wandering instead of pure A-to-B efficiency. But they're more enthusiastic about the philosophy behind it all: They want to see applications that distill information and streamline interaction, software that constrains the smartphone experience as it exists today. All this is easier said than done, of course. Throwing out centuries of rectangular thinking and starting from scratch ain't easy. Plus, it's not clear that people really want constraint to begin with. Smartphones are distracting, sure, but they're also incredibly useful and immensely entertaining and maybe a little distraction is a fair price to pay for all the good stuff. Still, even as a hint of a possible device, Runcible is compelling. For one thing, the company's hardware model feels great in the hand (The team's hardware guy, George Arriola, came from Sony, where he helped design the PlayStation 4.) The model's curved back brings to mind the very first iPhone—and makes you consider how each successive generation has become a little bit harder to hold. And though unformed, the vision for the software is interesting too. If today's interactive rectangles and infinite feeds signal that there's always more stuff just outside the frame, circles could offer something more self-contained, more complete. Maybe even something actively inefficient. Rectangles are beautiful and functional. Circles are zen. A circular device would sever the link to the printed page, the TV and the computer, and invite developers to look elsewhere for metaphor and inspiration. Pocket watches and compasses. Microscopes and telescopes. Peep holes, port holes, and wormholes. Dials, buttons, and other circular controls. 15 Incredible Photos That'll Remind You to Be Awed by Planet Earth . If nothing else, the concept could be valuable simply for helping us identify some of the assumptions and habits that underlie our existing devices. Maybe thinking about circles could help us make our rectangles better. Runcible is just one scrappy, literal attempt to abandon the rectangle. But similar thinking is happening elsewhere. Android Wear, Google's smartwatch operating system, reconsiders what apps should look like on a tiny circular display. Apple Watch is in some ways another rectangle, but its real estate is limited enough that it will also encourage new, less rectangular thinking. (Note how its home screen ditches iPhone's grid of icons for a blob of circular ones. Also note the recent rise of circular avatars over the traditional square ones in apps and interfaces of all kinds). We've seen how sensors can be harnessed to choreograph experiences that happen outside of the frame entirely, as with Disney's Magic Bands, which usher you through the company's parks. And then of course there are technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality, where your nose is effectively pressed so close to the glass that the frame disappears entirely. Here, the screen is less of a window, more of a lens. The only frame is your field of vision. Rectangles will endure. They're easy, they're efficient. But as new components and manufacturing techniques make it easier to experiment with other forms, we'll likely find people exploring the unique effects they can produce. Just recently, in fact, we saw an instance of a tech industry giant leaving the glass rectangle behind in a very big way. In a 10 minute video, Google proposed a new headquarters that would leaves boxy buildings behind in favor of tent-like structures draped in glass. These buildings don't have vertical windows or horizontal windows. They're nothing but windows, or maybe they're so radical that the concept of "window" doesn't even really apply. Whatever the case, there's nothing rectangular about them, and Google's convinced they're the future. Read more from WIRED: . There's a Super-Fast Method for Boarding Planes, But Airlines Aren't Using It . 21 Awesomely Well-Designed Products We're Dying to Own . What Cities Would Look Like if Lit Only by the Stars . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com. +(CNN)The attempts by some in the GOP to undermine President Barack Obama's Iranian policy certainly seem extraordinary. First, the Republican leadership invited Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress without consulting the White House, and he duly warned against softening of the West's line on Iran. Now, 47 senators have written an open letter to the Iranian regime to advise that any deal agreed to with Obama could be reversed after the 2016 presidential election. It is an astonishing move. But this is not, strictly speaking, unique. People in both parties have done far more remarkable things in the past. Back in 1983, Sen. Edward Kennedy tried to set up a personal diplomatic channel with the Soviet Union -- effectively sidestepping President Ronald Reagan. Working through proxies, he suggested that he visit Moscow to meet with the communist leadership and offered to help them make their case to the American people as to why they preferred dialogue over confrontation. As Washington Post journalist Vincent Bzdek notes in his book "The Kennedy Legacy," this occurred close to a U.S. presidential election, and some conservatives have interpreted it as an act of treason -- perhaps even a breach of the Logan Act, which forbids private citizens from engaging in diplomacy with the goal of changing foreign policy. One might argue that the senator was motivated by high ideals: He had a clear record of campaigning to reduce Cold War tensions and thought Reagan was mishandling the Soviets. On more than one occasion, Kennedy politicized foreign policy while in the Senate. In my book on the 1980 Democratic presidential primaries, I note that Kennedy opposed Jimmy Carter's hard-line stance on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan -- a position that was well-intentioned, prophetic and somewhat advantageous to Kennedy's campaign for the Democratic nomination. But it's not only Democrats who have done that. Step forward, Richard Nixon. In 1968, the presidential election looked close. With the Johnson administration edging toward a peace deal in Vietnam, Nixon's team rolled the dice. According to an account in Politico, Anna Chennault, a Republican activist, was given a message to pass onto the South Vietnamese government: If they undermined the peace talks by being stubborn, the Democrats would lose the election and Nixon as the next president would offer them better terms. The South Vietnamese indeed proved intransigent, and the Republicans won the White House. No evidence exists directly tying Nixon personally to the conspiracy, but we now know for sure that it happened and it's far hard to imagine that it would have gone ahead without his knowledge. There is a view that it bordered on treason and -- again -- makes the 2015 GOP efforts look tame by comparison. The extreme lengths that Kennedy and Nixon went to behind the scenes underlines the point that foreign policy has always been a deeply partisan matter that can often end in a challenge to executive authority. It's true that the spirit of the Constitution indicates that the country is expected to speak with one voice on foreign policy through the President. But such harmony hasn't always been possible. Recall that Congress and the Carter White House tore themselves apart over the Panama Canal Treaties. That the Reagan administration's policy in Nicaragua was so controversial that his staffers sent aid to the rebels through back channels, and the then-Democratic House speaker, Jim Wright, was accused of presenting a private peace plan to the left-wing government. That Bill Clinton's 1994 nuclear deal with North Korea was criticized by both Republicans and Democrats. Or that liberal Democrats did their best to defund the Iraq War. As Damian Paletta writes, foreign policy is generally conducted quietly by the White House through executive agreements that pass without comment. But the idea that foreign policy is beyond partisanship is naïve, and disagreements have gone public when the political conditions are appropriate. The particular matter of the Iran talks is sensitive for the Republicans because it involves the electoral holy trinity of Obama, Israel and the presidential primaries. They weren't going to walk away from this one, and we can hardly be surprised that they haven't. The Democrats would do the same if the situation were reversed, as they have many times in the past. In a republic purposefully designed to have limited executive power, with a competitive two-party system bolted on to keep its politics fluid, this was arguably inevitable. +(CNN)If you feel a ripple in the Force today, it may be the news that the official Star Wars universe is getting its first gay character. According to the sci-fi website Big Shiny Robot, the upcoming novel "Lords of the Sith" will feature a capable but flawed Imperial official named Moff Mors who "also happens to be a lesbian." The character is the first gay figure in the official Star Wars universe -- the movies, television shows, comics and books approved by Star Wars franchise owner Disney -- according to Shelly Shapiro, editor of "Star Wars" books at Random House imprint Del Rey Books. +Karachi, Pakistan (CNN)Suicide bombers attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan on Sunday, setting off two blasts that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly attack and warned of more to come. The explosions, which struck the Nishtar Colony area in the city of Lahore, wounded at least 78 people, said Dr. Muhammed Saeed Sohbin, medical superintendent at Lahore General Hospital. Video from the scene aired by CNN affiliate GEO News showed twisted metal, shattered glass and panicked residents outside a church compound. Ambulance and security personnel were seen moving in. Later footage showed water cannons arriving to disperse the crowd. Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said by telephone that his group was responsible for the suicide bombings, declaring that such attacks would continue until Sharia law is implemented in Pakistan. After a period of disunity, the terrorist group's three major splinter groups announced last week that they were joining forces again under the name Tehrik-i-Taliban, or TTP. The Pakistani military has been waging a campaign against the militant group in North Waziristan, one of the loosely governed tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government held unsuccessful peace talks with the TTP last year, strongly condemned Sunday's attack, according to a statement from his office. Sharif asked provincial governments to tighten security and "take all possible measures" to protect people and property, the statement said. The last major attack on Pakistan's Christian community took place in 2013, when suicide bombers struck a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 people. More recently, a Christian couple were burned to death in November by mob that accused them of blasphemy. "The Christian community is a soft target for militant outfits in Pakistan," said Rabia Mehmood, a researcher at the Jinnah Institute, a Pakistani think tank. "But generally Christians and other religious minorities are under a constant threat by the extremist elements in the society and rampant religious intolerance." On Sunday, Pope Francis said he learned of the attacks "with pain, with much pain." He called for peace in Pakistan and said that persecution of Christians doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Pope prayed that "this persecution against Christians, which the world tries to hide, might end, and that there be peace." Other minorities in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation have also been targeted this year. Last month, an attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar killed at least 19 worshipers and injured dozens of others. The Pakistani Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for that attack, too. CNN's Sophia Saifi reported from Karachi, Pakistan, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Brian Walker and journalists Saleem Mehsud and Adeel Raja contributed to this report. +(CNN)Closed for over a decade, a trail that's been described as "the world's most dangerous path" will no longer be off limits to the public thanks to a massive reconstruction project. Due to reopen March 26, Spain's stunning Caminito del Rey features a cliff face boardwalk that hangs 100 meters above the Guadalhorce River. The trail, which begins in the village of El Chorro in southern Malaga province, has been around since the early 1900s, originally built to provide access to two waterfalls for hydroelectric workers. Over the years, the boardwalk deteriorated and, following a string of fatal accidents in 1999 and 2000, the government demolished the access points to the walkway. The reopening, which comes over a year since reconstruction efforts kicked off, coincides with Spain's annual Holy Week celebrations. According to the Spanish daily El Pais, the provincial government allocated 5.5 million euros ($5.8 million) to the project. The entire route is 7.7 kilometers long, with boardwalks covering 2.9 kilometers of the trail. The most famous section includes the Balconcillo de los Gaitanes bridge, which spans the Gaitanes Gorge. Tourism officials say it takes between four and five hours to walk the entire route, which includes some steep slopes. Entry will be free for the first six months after the attraction reopens on March 26. Visiting hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. from April 1 to October 31, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. from November 1 to March 31. Those who want to visit need to book a spot on the official website, Caminitodelrey.info. +(CNN)The Rev. Fred Craddock, the pulpit giant who was "like no other preacher you have ever heard," has died, his church announced. Craddock, who redefined the art of preaching, died Friday in Blue Ridge, Georgia. The cause has not been disclosed. The 86-year-old had been in declining health due to Parkinson's disease in recent years, according to the United Methodist Reporter. "Fred Craddock was a national treasure and a devoted servant of the church and Jesus Christ. His impact on preaching -- in terms both of scholarship and practice -- is incalculable," said the Rev. Thomas Long, a friend and a pastor at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. Craddock faces his toughest convert . Preachers studied classic Craddock sermons such as "Have You Heard John Preach?" and "Grace and Disgrace," much like aspiring jazz musicians listened to saxophonist John Coltrane and amateur boxers studied tapes of Sugar Ray Robinson -- for clues to greatness and inspiration. Craddock elevated preaching to an art. He was often called a preaching genius. Rather than deliver a sermon like a lecture -- an intro, three main points and a conclusion -- he developed an "inductive" conversational style of preaching. His sermons unfolded like a short story -- there was foreshadowing, plot twists, dialogue; language of startling beauty and surprise endings. The way he ended his sermons was as memorable as what he said. He would abruptly stop, turn from the pulpit, and quietly sit as the audience sat in silence. People didn't applaud or shout hallelujah after his sermons. They were too busy absorbing what he had just said. The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, an author and world-renowned preacher, once said of Craddock: "He spoke of Kierkegaard as easily as he spoke of the Indianapolis 500. He quoted Kafka as helpfully as Corinthians... but he was also someone who noticed a lot about ordinary human life on earth." Craddock, who taught preaching at the Candler School of Theology until his retirement, was selected as one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world in a poll of 341 seminary professors and editors of religious periodicals in 1996. I had a chance to meet Craddock, as well as hear him. I spent several weeks with him in the autumn of 2011 to write a profile about his relationship with his father. He was just as impressive outside the pulpit. He would ease his rotund little body in a wooden chair and share touching stories about growing up poor in the small town of Humboldt, Tennessee, during the Depression with an alcoholic father. He'd talk about the infirmities of old age -- I remember saying with a chuckle that "I should have something" when referring to his bout with Parkinson's because he was getting old. He was funny, folksy, witty and his eyes danced with glee when he told a story. Sitting in Craddock's presence was like listening to a wise uncle or grandmother. He had courtly, Southern manners, and he gave the impression that he had all the time in the world for you. I never once heard him criticize anyone. It's not uncommon to meet great people who, to borrow a phrase that Craddock used, have "domestic wreckage" at home. But the Craddock family was among his biggest fans. He was married to his high school sweetheart, Nettie, for more than 50 years, and they had two children, Laura and John. Laura named her son after her father. And John, who became a CEO instead of a pastor, said his father was the most remarkable man he knew. "I don't care if it's a guy on the street asking for a dollar or the president of the United States, he makes you feel as if you're the most important person in the world when he's talking to you," said John Craddock. "I won the lottery as far as great fathers go." Over the years, I kept in contact with him. I'd go to preaching workshops at his beloved Craddock Center, a non-profit ministry that served needy children in North Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. The center provides books, hot meals, storytelling and music. Perhaps Craddock saw something of himself in the kids he helped. One thing is certain: He wasn't content to preach compassion. He lived that message. Craddock's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Cherry Log Christian Church in Blue Ridge, Georgia. People we've lost in 2015 . +(CNN)"This is going to be a test for Serena Williams. We're going to find out what she's made of. How mentally tough she really is." Those were the words of tennis analyst Mary Joe Fernandez in 2001, early into Serena Williams' decider with Kim Clijsters in the final of one of tennis' most prestigious tournaments. The match was being televised on one of the biggest sports networks in the world, ESPN. The then 17-year-old Clijsters had just held to love amid vociferous cheers and -- in a breach of tennis etiquette -- a large portion of the fans on center court at the event now known as the BNP Paribas Open roared approvingly when Williams struck a double fault to begin the next game. Despite Williams growing up about 130 miles away in a suburb of Los Angeles, while Clijsters hailed from Belgium, there was clearly no home-court advantage. Williams' father, Richard, and older sister, Venus, were booed as they made their way to their seats prior to the finale, with Richard claiming in USA Today he was the victim of racial abuse. Venus Williams, meanwhile, said in a press conference at her next tournament she "heard whatever he heard." It was Richard Williams who shaped his daughters into grand slam winners from a humble background, bereft of the type of money used to help manufacture many a champion. "One guy said, 'I wish it was '75, we'd skin you alive,'" Richard Williams told USA Today. "I had trouble holding back tears. I think Indian Wells disgraced America." Charlie Pasarell, then the tournament director, said in the same story that he didn't discount Richard Williams was racially abused. CNN.com did not hear back from Pasarell when it put in an interview request for him and Clijsters declined an interview request. The fans' reaction apparently stemmed from the sisters' semifinal -- or lack of it. Venus Williams pulled out a mere minutes prior to the start, citing a knee injury. Whispers of Richard Williams pre-determining the outcome grew, no doubt aided by the comments of Elena Dementieva. After Venus Williams beat Dementieva in the quarterfinals, the Russian said the sisters' father would "decide" who won. Serena Williams, who was 19 back then, ultimately passed the 'test' that day against Clijsters, judging by the result: A three-set win. Serena Williams has certainly, too, shown her mental toughness over the years, adding 18 grand slam singles titles to the one she won prior to 2001. But what transpired tarnished the tournament, the sport and hurt one of tennis' all-time greats to such an extent that she stayed away from Indian Wells. Until now. Serena Williams plays her first match in Indian Wells in 14 years on Friday, saying she was "following her heart" in deciding to return. In the years that have passed since 2001, Williams went from teen to young adult to veteran, all the while collecting major titles elsewhere. "It has been difficult for me to forget spending hours crying in the Indian Wells locker room after winning in 2001, driving back to Los Angeles feeling as if I had lost the biggest game ever -- not a mere tennis game but a bigger fight for equality," Serena Williams told Time.com in February. "Emotionally it seemed easier to stay away. "There are some who say I should never go back. There are others who say I should've returned years ago. I understand both perspectives very well and wrestled with them for a long time. "I'm just following my heart on this one." Raymond Moore, a former owner of the tournament and now its chief executive, was "elated" to have Serena Williams back in the field. "In the past, the things that happened, there were no winners," Moore told CNN.com. "I think it was a terrible incident. Regrettable from all sides. Now, Serena has been able to change that. We're grateful, excited and happy and we're going to welcome her with open arms. "In terms of her reception, I would like her to be here feeling that her decision was received with the greatest and warmest reception possible." But Serena Williams will be the lone Grand Slam winner in her family attending. Serena speaks about nerves before 1st match back at Indian Wells . Even with the best efforts of the tournament -- now owned by billionaire Larry Ellison -- Venus Williams is continuing her boycott, as is Richard Williams, according to Moore. The siblings' mom, Oracene Price, will be alongside Serena Williams, though, added Moore. Serena Williams told reporters in Indian Wells on Thursday that her father, mother and Venus Williams gave her their blessing when she contemplated coming back to Indian Wells. "We wanted to get Venus," said Moore. "In fact we'd like to welcome the whole family. But Venus I think is not quite in the same place as Serena is. And so we've not been successful in enticing her to enter or take a wild card. "But Oracene is coming and so are some other family members." Serena Williams scoffed at suggestions that the sisters' match in Indian Wells -- or any other between them -- was fixed. "Throughout my whole career, integrity has been everything to me," she told Time. "It is also everything and more to Venus. The false allegations that our matches were fixed hurt, cut and ripped into us deeply. "The under-current of racism was painful, confusing and unfair. In a game I loved with all my heart, at one of my most cherished tournaments, I suddenly felt unwelcome, alone and afraid." Reflecting on the incident, Bart McGuire, the chief executive of the women's tour in 2001, said Venus Williams had been suffering from a genuine injury and that the notion that Richard Williams dictated the outcome of matches between his daughters was off the mark. But he admitted things could have been handled better. Venus Williams, for example, might have explained her withdrawal to fans on court and then signed autographs, he said, citing the example of last year's World Tour Finals. Roger Federer withdrew from the final in London -- but not before he addressed fans and signed autographs. What happened in the final between Serena Williams and Clijsters was awful, said McGuire. "I thought it was horrible," he told CNN.com. "I thought it was very tough on the players. "By that time I'd known enough to know that Venus had been significantly injured and that it was not a set-up of any kind. I thought it was unfair to Serena and Kim." Serena Williams is twice a champion at the tournament and winning this year would be "fantastic," said Moore. But even if not, he added: "I think it's a wonderful ending in closing an ugly chapter. We're just looking forward, we're not looking backward." +(CNN)The news was stunning to hear: A young woman, 18-year-old Michelle Carter, was charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly sending text messages urging her friend to commit suicide. How could a young person -- who was a close friend of the deceased, Conrad Roy, 18 -- allegedly do such a horrifying thing? And what are the legal ramifications of what a teen says online or in a text? But a lesser discussed point this tragic story raises is how quickly a teen can go from normal everyday life to facing severe, life-altering legal consequences. That is why Lisa Green, author of the informative new book "On Your Case: A Compassionate (and Only Slightly Bossy) Legal Guide for Every Stage of a Woman's Life," believes every parent of a teen should have a criminal defense lawyer in mind and at the ready -- just in case. "To me this is the unrecognized area that parents, particularly parents of teens, miss all the time," said Green during a recent interview at CNN's studios. "So many of our friends have armies of tutors, extracurricular activities, all sorts of angles covered ... but when it comes to the law, there's this black hole." Mom arrested for leaving 9-year-old alone at park . Green, a journalist, lawyer and television legal analyst, says people often think of the law as scary and intimidating and believe they don't need to worry about it because their kid is never going to get into legal trouble. Whether it's a case as serious as Carter's involuntary manslaughter charge, or a simple allegation of vandalism, parents need to be prepared, Green said. "I cannot count the number of kids I know, good kids, who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Green. "I have now two young adults, and when they were going through their teenage years, it was a simple matter of a party that went wrong, a group of kids in the park when the police stop by and have some questions, bringing something to school they shouldn't have. "And in each of those cases, a little bit of knowledge of the law, a little bit of knowledge of what their rights are, the right way to behave, would have saved parents a heck of a lot of grief." Green thinks parents should think about the issue in the same way they would track down a good orthopedist if their child breaks a bone, or the best tutor if their child is struggling before the SAT. Parents' house seized after son's drug bust . "I am not saying that parents need to go out and get their own law degrees ... but just dipping your finger into the topic will help you understand what's available to you to help you parent better," she said. She gives some real-life examples especially in the social media age. For instance, what if a teen is asked by a school administrator to turn over his or her cell phone based on allegations the teen was sending inappropriate texts? What parents should know, Green said, is that a school can't open a cell phone for no reason at all. "They need to have reasonable suspicion that something's wrong," said Green, who said parents would be wise to talk to their teens about what's appropriate and what's not when it comes to handling such requests from school officials. "If you're asked, as a child, for a locker search, to open a phone, to open a laptop, if it's your property, pause and ask if you could call Mom and Dad," she said. "We can act whether we're lawyers or not as that first line of defense." Green also says that parents of college-bound teens should spend a few minutes looking online at the school's code of conduct. "They don't tell you about it during that fantastic tour with the kid walking backwards as your child is looking around to say, 'Who can I party with?' But it's a really important set of information because different schools have different levels of tolerance" for activities such as drinking on campus, she said. And even before teens head off to college, parents should know about social host laws, where parents could be held criminally responsible or face civil damages if teens drink alcohol in their home and then go off and do something inappropriate or even tragic. Scary consequences for parents hosting underage drinking . More than 150 cities or counties and 24 states currently have such laws on their books, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In some cases, parents can be held liable even if they didn't know the drinking was taking place. "It doesn't have to be you with the shaker, like an episode of 'Mad Men,' serving up Manhattans to a group of grateful teens," said Green. "If you've made it possible in your home, if you don't lock your liquor cabinet -- I never did -- and all of a sudden kids are drinking, that could be a problem as well." While Green is passionate about educating parents on why they need to think about the law, she stresses that bad behavior by teens still needs to be punished either legally or at home. "I am not advocating that kids should be absolved of responsibility. If a kid does something wrong, if they broke the law, they ought to be punished appropriately by it. But we also live in a society where we have legal rights, and I want parents to know that they should be aware of what those are so they can help their child use better judgment." So if after reading this, you are moved to try to find a criminal defense lawyer, how on earth do you go about finding one? Green's advice is to ask friends and colleagues for referrals and also consult with your state bar association, since you would want someone in your state who has experience with criminal defense issues. Then she says you should call up and interview a few lawyers, asking them everything from how much their services would cost (that can vary), to who would handle the work, to what their philosophy is about the law and teens' rights. "You may or may not end up being friends afterwards, but that's not as important as feeling secure that your lawyer is approaching the situation in a way that feels right for you." Do you think it's important for parents of teens to be aware of the law and their children's legal rights? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace (@kellywallacetv) on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook. +(CNN)Outside of Israeli politics, Isaac Herzog is not a well-known name. That may change on March 17, when Israelis head to the polls for election day. In the final round of polling before the elections, Herzog's Zionist Union party is in the lead, holding a four-seat edge over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. "I believe in a certain type of leadership that is not always customary in this region. I'm not a general. I don't give orders. I know how to work together," he says. Throughout the campaign, Herzog has been seen as an underdog, lacking the charisma and the English fluency of Netanyahu. Herzog says that doesn't bother him at all. "I have always suffered from a certain underestimation," Herzog said, "and I have always surprised." He promised, "I will surprise again, and I will show my leadership and stamina." Herzog began his political career in 2003, when he first won a seat in the Knesset with the Labor Party. He held a variety of ministerial positions, including minister of housing and construction, minister of tourism, and minister of welfare and social services, before becoming leader of the Labor Party in 2013. In those elections, he also became the leader of the opposition, as Benjamin Netanyahu won another term as prime minister. But when Netanyahu called for early elections in 2014, Herzog pegged his bid for the premiership on social reform. "What I run for is social justice. I will change the nature of the division of wealth in a fair and more balanced way, close inequality and give a sense of purpose to the people here in the workplace, in the housing, and in the cost of living," promised Herzog. Before the election, the issue of a nuclear Iran garnered international headlines as it further aggravated tense relations between the White House and Netanyahu. Herzog, in a speech almost immediately after Netanyahu's address to Congress, promised to work with the United States and European powers, not against, to ensure the safety of Israel. He echoed that sentiment in an interview with CNN's Elise Labott. "A nuclear-armed Iran is dangerous to world peace, is dangerous to our region, is dangerous to Israel. As leader of Israel, I will never accept a nuclear-armed Iran. Never. And all options are on the table." In these elections, negotiations with the Palestinians haven't been one of the major issues, but Herzog promised to restart the stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. "I will do my best to ignite a political process with our Palestinian neighbors. ... Although I cannot promise 100% results, I promise 100% effort." Herzog comes from Israeli political royalty. His grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, was the first chief rabbi of the state of Israel. His father, Chaim Herzog, was an Army general, an ambassador to the United Nations and the president of Israel. Herzog believes it is his destiny to be the next prime minister of Israel. "What I carry with me is a unique legacy, a family legacy, but most important, an experience that brings me to be able to lead our nation." +(CNN)Thirty years ago, a journey across Europe meant a passport full of stamps, a wallet full of different currencies and plenty of time spent waiting in line to be glared at by border officials. That all began to change in June 1985, when the continent's countries began signing up to the Schengen agreement -- a deal that lifted frontier controls between cooperating neighbors. Today, 20 years after it came into force, with more than 26 states now participating, Schengen has completely altered the experience of traversing Europe. Nowhere is this more visible than at the old crossing points -- places that were once hives of activity but are now ghostly, vacated shells of their former selves. Not entirely forgotten though. Spanish photographer Ignacio Evangelista spent several years criss-crossing the continent to capture these abandoned checkpoints on camera for a project he calls "After Schengen." The result is a fascinating gallery of images that charts the unusual architecture of places whose fate has been intertwined with Europe's ever-evolving political and economic allegiances. "I don't know why but from many years ago, I feel very attracted to situations or places where the natural and the artificial come together, sometimes a little bit in conflict," Evangelista tells CNN, explaining his interest in frontiers. He says he spent his formative years poring over the World Atlas, marveling at the straight-line borders carved by colonialists across the map of Africa and wondering why Europeans couldn't iron the kinks out of their own squiggled frontiers. "When you are a young child in front of a map you feel ... you have the whole world in front of you and you can travel with your mind of course, with your imagination," he says. As a young adult in the early 1990s, Evangelista experienced many of these borders firsthand when he embarked on an Interailing trip -- a country-hopping rite of passage that sees many young Europeans take advantage of cheap pan-continental train tickets. "Before, when I was young, if you traveled from Spain to Germany you had to cross three countries and take three currencies," he recalls. "Once I was traveling with my friend, Interailing ... from Italy to Greece, we had to cross the old Yugoslavia. "I think into the night, 2 or 3 a.m., we cross the border from Italy into Yugoslavia and the train stopped. We were sleeping, of course. Then three or four soldiers come into the train and shouted at everybody, very aggressively, like in a spy movie. "We waited half an hour, then half an hour later the train went on. It was exciting, even funny as I was 18 years old, but now it's not so funny." As Evangelista points out, in a Europe cleaved by the Cold War, many borders were not just the cultural dividing lines they are today. Back then they were fortifications demarcating places of oppression and freedom. The checkpoints themselves were sometimes places of fear, of hostile bureaucracy -- a past Evangelista says lingers on in the buildings left behind. "For me it's fascinating because you can see the passage of the time, the human footprint. "These places had a very strong coercive role, people had to stop the car and the policeman had to ask you who you are, you showed your passport, maybe you had to open your bags. The police had the power to not let you go on. "It's interesting to me, looking at these places now they are a little bit spooky, because at most of them you can feel this ghostly atmosphere." The frontier buildings range in size and style, from giant Soviet declarations of authority that loom over major highways to tiny huts in deep, dark forests. Europe's richer countries tend to maintain old posts, while less wealthier states seem content to let them deteriorate, Evangelista says. Some, he says, are gone completely, marked only on maps and located using GPS trackers or by talking to locals. A strong supporter for an open Europe at a time when some of the continent's nations are talking about severing the close economic and political bonds they share with their neighbors, Evangelista recalls one encounter that underscored the human side to his project. While setting up his camera at a checkpoint on the Austria-Hungary frontier, he watched as a man drove in from the Austrian side and parked, followed by a woman, two minutes later, from the Hungarian side. "They began to speak and they were kissing very much. After 10 minutes they went back their separate ways, and I thought, before the Schengen agreement, this couple had no future." Follow Evangelista's ongoing project at www.ignacioevangelista.com . +(CNN)I'm Candida Moss and I am professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame. I was an adviser on the "True Cross" episode and served as one of the many on-camera experts in CNN's "Finding Jesus" series, which currently airs on Sundays. Viewers were invited to tweet and post their questions on the "Finding Jesus" Facebook page during the show. Below are some of the more interesting questions and my answers to them. My apologies to everyone I didn't get to. Feel free to tweet your questions to me directly. Herb Scribner: Can anyone explain to me what the Bible's deal is with 40 days/nights? Moss: It's more an interest in the number 40. In the Hebrew Bible the people of Israel wander in the wilderness for 40 years before they reach the Holy Land. The flood lasts for 40 days and nights; Moses spends 40 days and nights on the mountain; Goliath spends 40 days encouraging the Israelites to challenge him before David steps up; 40 is a common age for people to be when they get married; in the book of Judges it is always 40 years between judges; and David and Solomon each reigned for 40 years. What we can take away from all of this is that people in the ancient world saw 40 as suggesting a full, complete period of time. It's sort of like a narrative stock number, in the way that modern jokes follow the rule of three. Yalanda M. Price: Was there any division between the followers of Jesus and the followers of John the Baptist? Moss: One of the interesting things about the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist is that John doesn't lay down his tools and follow Jesus after he baptizes him. Nor, it seems, did John's disciples. They had separate ministries and, while there may have been contact between the two groups, they were also de facto competitors in the ancient religious marketplace. There are some hints in the New Testament that Jesus and his followers had to differentiate themselves from John by stating that Jesus' baptism was better (Acts 11:6) and countering the idea that Jesus was actually John raised from the dead (Matthew 14:2) Some scholars argue that these references are evidence of tension between followers of Jesus and followers of John. Mark Goodacre answers your questions about the Shroud of Turin. Jeffery Graff: Can the DNA tests on the bones indicate whether he is a Jew or even whether he is of the tribe of Levi? Moss: I'm so glad someone brought up DNA. The DNA tests on the Bulgarian bones yielded only mitochondrial DNA (DNA passed down by the mother), not the more reliable nuclear DNA (the kind of DNA referred to in forensic investigations). In the original study of the Bulgarian relics (of which I was a part) the mitochondrial DNA revealed that the Bulgarian relics were of "probable Semitic origin." Thinking back to my time in the laboratory with the Copenhagen scientists, I recall that the lead investigator estimated that the probability was about 75%. The episode last night stated things a little too sharply when it said that the bones were from a Middle-Eastern man. As for the more specific question about the genetics of Jews and members of the tribe of Levi: Current scientific technology does not reveal this kind of information even if start-up genetic testing companies promise this kind of information. Cyndi Rosenthal: Are there any other historical references of John the Baptist outside of the Bible? Daniel José Camacho: Any extra-biblical sources that shed light on historical figure of John the Baptist? Moss: (These questions are on a similar topic, so I've chosen to answer them together.) Actually there is external attestation for the life and importance of John the Baptist. This is important because it's fairly rare to find this kind of evidence for ancient figures outside the writings of their followers. The Jewish historian Josephus mentions John the Baptist in his book, "The Jewish Antiquities." Josephus describes John as a "good man" who possessed "virtue" and had "great influence" over the people. According to Josephus, Herod put John the Baptist to death because he was afraid that he might raise a rebellion. This gives us another -- arguably more historical -- perspective on why John was executed and provides further evidence about just how important John was in his own day. Watch the latest full episode anytime on CNNgo . Daniel José Camacho: Wait, how did Jesus get "Our Father" prayer from Johnny B??? Didn't catch that. Moss: I'm also really glad someone brought this up, because I wondered about it too. In the Gospel of Luke, one of Jesus' disciples says, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." It's an interesting request that tells us something about John the Baptist's ministry and the demanding characters of Jesus' disciples! In Luke, Jesus responds to this request by teaching them the Lord's Prayer. We don't know that the Lord's Prayer came from John, and personally I don't think it did; I think this is just how Luke shaped his version of events. But if you were just reading Luke you could come to that conclusion. +(CNN)Could mobile technology turn the tide in the fight to eliminate racism from football? Anti-racism organization Kick It Out (KIO) says there's been a 35% rise in fans reporting abusive behavior committed by other fans -- and that's largely due to a new phone app. "The app has had a massive impact," KIO media and communications manager Richard Bates told CNN, noting that it accounted for 27% of all complaints. "Self-policing is so important when it comes to stamping out racism in football. People are confident that their complaints will be taken seriously." The 184 reported incidents recorded during the last five months of 2014 covered racial and religious discrimination, as well as sexual orientation, gender and disability offenses. The increase was measured against the same period the year before. KIO's mobile phone application, which was released in 2013, encourages fans to report incidents anonymously by pressing a "Report It!" tab and entering the name of the football ground, positioning of the offender, and incident details. Although contact details of the person reporting the incident are requested, KIO emphasized that the anonymity of the tool is key. Every single objection logged by fans, either on the phone, via email, or on the app, triggers an investigation by the English Football Association (FA). These include 73 incidents on social media (a 24% increase), which have so far led to 21 instances of the offender being identified, and at times having their accounts deleted. The FA, which released its own witness complaint guidelines in 2013, encouraged fans to be proactive in flagging up incidents. "Reporting abuse, whether witnessed or experienced, is an important part of the game's overall anti-discrimination work," said an FA spokesperson. "There are clear ways for players and fans to do this, and these improved procedures should result in more reports in the future." Bates admitted that it takes "bravery and courage" for fans to record photographic evidence on their phones, but pointed to the effect British expatriate Paul Nolan has had after he filmed Chelsea fans physically stopping a black man from getting on the Paris metro last month. The amateur video obtained by The Guardian newspaper, and posted on its website, shows the man make multiple attempts to board a train at Richelieu-Drouot station, only to be pushed away each time by a group of passengers. The Chelsea fans can then be heard chanting: "We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it." Chelsea were in France to play Paris Saint-Germain in a Champions League first-leg tie - Europe's premier football tournament -- which finished 1-1. Five people have been identified and suspended by Chelsea, who have launched an ongoing investigation. Later in February, KIO says it contacted the police over social media footage which showed men, thought to be West Ham fans, singing anti-Semitic songs on a train while traveling to Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane ground ahead of an English Premier League game. "Would we know that these Paris and London incidents had happened if they weren't on video?" Bates asks, adding that KIO is considering an option to upload video and still images of offenders directly to a complaint log on the app. "If you have video footage and you can issue that retrospectively, it can make it easier to identify the perpetrators," he says. In a report released in 2013 entitled "English Football's Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Action Plan", the FA explicitly talks about "raising confidence in the reporting and disciplinary process at grassroots level." KIO's jurisdiction extends to all of English football, including the amateur ranks. It is one of the few independent bodies in world sports which solicits complaints from fans in order to weed out abusive behavior. It also polices the actions of players, which has embroiled the organization in controversy of its own in the past. In 2012, Rio Ferdinand refused to wear a KIO T-shirt before a match while playing for Manchester United. He was protesting a perceived lack of response by the governing bodies against John Terry after the Chelsea defender was accused of racially abusing his brother, Anton Ferdinand of Queens Park Rangers. Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by the FA for his actions. +(CNN)Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in cities across Brazil this weekend, incensed by serious economic woes and a massive scandal involving the country's oil company. The demonstrators have called for President Dilma Rousseff to be impeached. CNN correspondent Shasta Darlington, who lives in Sao Paulo, explains who the demonstrators are, why they're mad and what could be in store for the President and the country. What do the protesters want? They're angry about the country's economy being in shambles at a time when political corruption at the highest levels of government is alleged. If it were just one of those things, maybe we wouldn't be seeing this kind of turnout because Brazilians have lived with corruption for decades and the economy was not doing well before the presidential election in October. But it's all come to a head. Political corruption -- let's break that down. What's the scandal about? Petrobras is the national oil company. It's one of the most powerful, richest companies in the country -- and has been counted among the largest in the world. It was very respected. People invested in it. Rousseff, who won election in October by a slim margin, was -- before becoming President -- the chairwoman of Petrobras' board of directors. She was chairwoman during much of the time that former oil company executives have told investigators that bribes were paid to Petrabras executives and politicians in order to secure contracts from Petrobras. In early March, the country's highest court authorized the investigation which involves about 40 politicians, many of them from the President's ruling Workers' Party and the speakers of the House and Senate. But Rousseff hasn't been accused of anything, right? Right. She's not being investigated. Protesters' call for impeachment -- the formal process of accusing, because she's not been accused of anything -- looks very unlikely. But, the public perception is that even if she didn't personally profit for this scheme, she was still the chairwoman at a time when it was supposedly happening and she should be held accountable. Has she responded to the protesters? She has. What she says is that she will not stand for corruption and she's rooting it out. As proof, she contends, she's given her attorney general free rein to investigate who is stealing from the state oil company. It's important to know that the Petrobras scandal has been known publicly for at least a year and during Rousseff's election campaign, she said over and over that she would root out corruption. It's also interesting that she isn't lashing out at protesters. She is saying she won't put up with violence -- and so far the protests haven't gotten violent. But she says that Brazil is a democratic country and people have the right to protest. She comes from a left-wing background so that approach is fitting. You brought up that she is from the left-wing Workers' Party. How is that significant? The protests were mostly organized by the right-wing party that opposes Rousseff...organized by people who didn't vote for her. There aren't people out today protesting. The next demonstrations are scheduled for April 12. I guess that goes to how organized these demonstrations really are -- setting an advance date like that. Yes, well, that's Brazil. It's so the word can get out on social media. If she's not accused of anything and the protests are politically motivated, will the protests affect her presidency? Rousseff has four years ahead of her, it could end up being very hard for her govern. She won a little over half the vote in October and the people who didn't vote for her are still making their voices heard. And this Petrobras scandal is a problem. Why was the election so close? You have to bring it back to the economy. It had been slowing down, and traditionally the wealthier parts of the country like Sao Paulo haven't voted for Rousseff's party, the Workers' Party. The country is at 7.5% inflation. The April 12 protest is ahead but three or four months down the road, what might happen? The Senate and House speakers are Rousseff's allies and they are among those implicated in the Petrobras scheme. What if she isn't able to get badly needed legislation? What will she do? What will be party do? These questions are hard to answer now. CNN's Ashley Fantz in Atlanta talked with CNN's Shasta Darlington who lives and reports in Brazil. +New Delhi (CNN)Thankfully, no one was wounded after crude bombs were hurled at a Tamil news station in India on Thursday. But the loud explosions injured a vital part of the world's largest democracy: free speech. Last week, when India's government and a British documentarian faced off over a film featuring a man imprisoned for a 2012 gang rape in South Delhi, a little-known channel hundreds of miles away in southern India was waging its own battle. Hardline Hindu groups were angry with broadcaster Puthiya Thalaimurai for filming a show about the relevance of a traditional necklace -- called mangalsutra in Hindi and thaali in Tamil -- worn by married Indian women. For them, the contents, as shown in the promos, were offensive to Hindu culture. The station planned to release the program Sunday, International Women's Day. But it canceled the telecast after demonstrations took place outside its office. Protesters allegedly attacked one of its cameramen. Four days later, the channel came under fire again, when four men on two motorbikes threw bombs into its compound in a predawn attack, authorities say. Six people involved in the bombing have been arrested, said S. George, the commissioner of the southern Indian city of Chennai. Their leader turned himself in separately, claiming responsibility for the attack, police said. "The show wanted to give women a platform. We welcome all opinions and thoughts. But you cannot strangle freedom of free expression by violent means and threats," said Shyam Kumar, the CEO of New Generation Media Corp., which runs Puthiya Thalaimurai. "We condemn the attack in the strongest possible terms," he told CNN. 'India's Daughter,' the film banned by India: What did it show? But India is no stranger to censorship imposed legally or forced by rowdy protesters. The country's constitution guarantees freedom of expression, but not without restrictions. Communities or people claiming their religious sentiments were hurt by anyone else's opinion can file a lawsuit. Authorities can seek restraining orders from local courts -- as they did to ban the recent BBC documentary "India's Daughter" -- by citing potential disorder. Earlier last year, Penguin India withdrew "The Hindus: An Alternative History," a book by American academic Wendy Doniger, after a local advocacy group accused the writer of denigrating Hinduism. In December, a Bollywood movie, "PK," came under attack over similar accusations when mobs tore apart its posters in parts of India. A satire on religious rituals, "PK" became a roaring success by being one of the country's highest-grossing movies. But India, home to one of the world's largest film industries, has blocked several movies from screening. At least two films were not allowed last year. One of them featured the lives of the Sikh assassins of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the other centered on the violence in Sri Lanka in the closing months of its civil war. Hounded by protests over his novel, Perumal Murugan, a Tamil author, announced quitting writing in a dramatic post on Facebook in January. "Perumal Murugan, the writer is dead. As he is no God, he is not going to resurrect himself. He has no faith in rebirth. As an ordinary teacher, he will live as P Murugan. Leave him alone," he said on Facebook two months ago. Religious and caste-based organizations had slammed his novel "Madhorubhagan," which depicted a childless wife taking part in an ancient festival allowing consensual sex between strangers. Just last week, India blocked the BBC from airing "India's Daughter" because it included comments from one of the men convicted of raping a young student in a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012. The reason: The inmate's views could create unrest. "There's a growing intolerance towards different shades of opinion. It's a medieval mindset. What India needs is a concerted effort to move beyond it and embrace free expression in totality," said Kumar, the New Generation Media chief executive. +Jakarta (CNN)Turkish officials have detained 16 Indonesian citizens who confessed they were planning to cross the border into Syria, Indonesia's foreign ministry said. The group comprises a man, four women, three girls and eight boys, said spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir. The ages of the children have not been released. Nasir told reporters on Friday that the group was stopped in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, just north of the city of Aleppo in Syria. They admitted to officials they planned to enter Syria, Nasir said. The Indonesian government is sending a security team to Turkey to investigate the group's objectives and plans and to increase cooperation with Turkish security officials, Nasir said. This group of 16 Indonesians is different from another 16 Indonesians who reportedly deserted their tour group recently in Turkey and are feared to have crossed into Syria. Nasir confirmed these are two separate groups. +(CNN)When man relies on machine, there is always something that can go wrong. And there is no more unforgiving environment than the high-stakes world of Formula One. "Racing is one of those... probably a crueler sport in that there's so many other variables," says Red Bull's No.1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, ahead of Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. "Unfortunately it's not like tennis where all the racquets are pretty much the same and you can't blame anyone but yourself." Ricciardo experienced the full extent of F1's cruelty at last year's Melbourne race. The Australian crossed the line in second place -- seemingly becoming the first Aussie to finish on the podium at Albert Park -- but jubilation soon turned to despair. He was disqualified hours after the race when officials ruled his car had exceeded the maximum fuel flow rate, a rule which states each car is limited to 100 kilograms of fuel per race and was introduced to make the sport more fuel efficient. "It's frustrating, I mean it's a part of the sport which will always be frustrating," said the 25-year-old, reflecting on what was his Red Bull debut. "I'm sure even Lewis (Hamilton) and Nico (Rosberg) last year were frustrated at the times because you never have the perfect car," he added, referring to the two Mercedes drivers, who finished first and second last season. "But it is what it is, I signed up for that a long time ago, and you just learn to accept it." It's a sport where even driving ability often fails to overcome mechanical failures -- eventual world champion Hamilton was forced to retire from last year's race at Albert Park. But technical blunders don't always end in disaster -- Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix after experiencing mechanical faults early in the race, and Finnish driver Valterri Bottas lost a wheel in 2014's opener before roaring to a fifth-place finish. Despite Ricciardo's previous disappointment, he's can't wait to race on his home turf again next Sunday. "I definitely feel privileged to have a home race... it just increases all the hype and all the excitement" said Ricciardo, adding that he would use "all the Australian flags and all the cheers to my advantage." After last year's disaster Ricciardo is looking to make things right, "There's a little bit of redemption, I'm confident we can get it back." +(CNN)It's a striking image: a new baby cradled in the American flag, held by a Navy sailor whose face we can't see. But is it a patriotic photograph or desecration of the American flag? Navy veteran Vanessa Hicks, a Virginia Beach photographer whose website is filled with sweet images of babies and their parents, shot the picture of the sailor and his baby and posted it to her Facebook page. "I do believe that this picture right here shows what it means to be an American," Hicks told CNN affiliate WTKR."That flag, the uniform, that baby -- exactly what every service member is out there fighting." Not everyone agreed with Hicks, herself a Navy wife whose husband is deployed. A Facebook page titled "You call yourself a photographer?" posted her photo and said that the use of the flag as a prop was a desecration -- and a bad picture. The U.S. Flag Code does state that the flag should never be used as "wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free," according to a Congressional Research Service report (PDF). Nor should it be "used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything." The threatening private messages, which she has reported to Facebook, saddened her. But she decided to keep posting the picture and to take pictures of other members of the military who request the same picture with their babies and the flag. Most people posting to the critical Facebook page disagree with the criticism of the picture. Wrote one poster, "I am a veteran and find this picture beautiful. Clearly the military member loves his country and baby." "The photo is making a point," another photo fan posted. "The flag represents our republic, the republic is supporting our future. There is nothing disrespectful about this use of our flag. It is beautiful." +Andre Spicer is Professor of Organizational Behavior, Cass Business School at City University London. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news analysis and commentary. The content is produced solely by The Conversation. LondonApple CEO Tim Cook has released the much-anticipated Apple watch -- his company's first new product since the iPad. Cook said the new watch, in addition to telling the time, was a "comprehensive health and fitness companion." But we're unlikely to hear much about how people will actually use this new product for some time. Our research has found that smartwatches certainly do have some benefits for users. But they also have a hidden, darker side which the companies selling them are unlikely to talk about. As part of a research project with Alberto Rizzoli, we have tried to understand what drives people to invest in smartwatches. One participant, a judge, hoped he could keep track of the deluge of emails during long hours in the courtroom when he had to pay attention -- and be seen to pay attention. The dilemma is familiar to many of us. We spend our days engaged in social interaction. Huge proportions of our time are taken up with meetings or impromptu encounters with colleagues. However when we are in these meetings, our smartphone is buzzing away reminding us that our inbox is filling up. We may want to check these incoming messages, but know it would be rude to glance at our phone. When one of the first smartwatches came to market, the judge thought he had found the solution to this problem. We found that heavy smartwatch users valued how the devices helped them track information as it arrived while still appearing socially attentive. It also saved users the hassle of having to dig through their pockets or handbags to find a buzzing phone. Surprisingly only about half the people we spoke with actually used all the health tracking technology built in to the watches. They were more interested in keeping abreast of their inbox than their calorie count. We also noticed a worrying side to these new devices as heavy users of the watches incorporate them into their daily routines -- we call it the "phantom device effect." They would compulsive check their watch not just for the time, but for a wide range of information. In some cases their new gizmo would become such an instinctive part of their life that even when not wearing one they would check their bare wrist. Some would feel a phantom buzz, notifying them of an imaginary incoming email. The phantom device effect leads us to ask about just how ingrained in our daily habits these devices might become. Recent research has suggested that average smartphone users check their phone 150 times a day, starting just minutes after waking up. We also know this has the effect of extending work into all areas of our lives -- monitoring work emails late into the night or during social or family events. We used to worry that the average American watched television for six hours a day. Now we accept as a matter of course the fact that we tied to our devices for most of the time we're awake. Indeed many of us go to bed with our smart devices quietly monitoring our rhythms as we sleep. This raises the question of what impact it will have on our lives. In the work Carl Cederström and I have done on the hidden dangers of wearables, a big big concern is privacy. The Apple Watch, like most wearables, is essentially a tracking device, recording heart rate, sleep patterns, movement, whereabouts, and much more depending on the apps installed. All this is packaged and transmitted to datacentres for analysis. The result? A database of personal information of which the Stasi could only have dreamed. As well as sucking up personal information, wearables could fuel an unhealthy obsession with personal wellness. By pumping health and wellbeing information at us non-stop, we start to become a little too focused on our bio-rhythms. Data which would have been generated only in the most unusual situations now becomes commonplace, making people not just health conscious, but also self-obsessed. Instead of checking in with social networks, we spend more time checking in with our own bodily rhythms. As a result other people start to become more interested in what is going on inside themselves rather than what is happening in the world. As we pay more attention to our feed of personal biodata we're likely to become more anxious about things that we may never have given a second thought to in the past. Not walking your allotted steps in a day or finding you had a poor sleeping pattern at night can become a source of significant personal guilt or worry. As a result, we pour more attention into monitoring and controlling ourselves, giving us less time to do the things which actually make us happy. If Apple's projections are indeed correct and tens of millions of people purchase smartwatches, it's likely to create a step change in our lives. We already see people routinely posting on social media information they would have only shared with their doctor a few years ago. Widespread use of smartwatches could mean that instead of relieving our boredom by answering emails, people will spend their time sifting through their biodata stream, planning ways to maximize their personal wellness ratings. Rather than talking about what was on television last night, people will start comparing charts of their sleeping patterns. When this happens we will know that the internet of me has arrived. READ: Will your Apple Watch program YOU? Copyright 2015 The Conversation. Some rights reserved. +(CNN)The march toward publication of another book by the reclusive "To Kill a Mockingbird" author continues forward. Many people who know her have raised questions about 88-year-old Harper Lee's ability to consent to publish another book, while others have said she knows what she's doing, according to a New York Times report. Alabama officials have found Lee wants to publish the book. Since Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1960, she had steadfastly refused to publish another book. Lee now lives in an assisted living facility in Monroeville, Alabama, and some friends say her forgetfulness makes her unable to knowingly consent to publishing the book, "Go Set a Watchman." After receiving an anonymous complaint of elder abuse about Lee, the state of Alabama sent investigators from the Alabama Securities Commission to talk to her and others around her. "It was clear to our investigators that she fully understood the questions that were being asked, that she indicated she certainly wanted her book published, and she had her opinions that were voiced during the interview," Joseph Borg, the agency's director, told CNN. "And at that point we decided that she certainly knew what was going on." Lee wrote "Go Set a Watchman" before "To Kill a Mockingbird," and it features some of the same characters. Lee lawyer Tonja B. Carter found the "Go Set a Watchman" draft in the author's belongings in August and negotiated a publishing deal with HarperCollins. For now, "Go Set a Watchman" is still scheduled to be released by HarperCollins in July. The Securities Commission investigation is closed. "Should something come up a later date that shows something was wrong, which we have no indication of, we could take another look," Borg said. "But since we had no complaint from the person who in the middle of it all, so there was no reason to maintain the case open." +(CNN)The State Department only last month started automatically preserving dozens of high-level officials' emails, according to a department spokeswoman, a revelation that comes amid the controversy surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's own email use. This is key because Clinton, in her news conference on Tuesday to answer questions about why she exclusively used a private email address to communicate during her tenure, told reporters she'd thought her communications to senior department officials were always saved. That's an important point, given legal requirements for preserving federal records. "In meeting the record-keeping obligations, it was my practice to email government officials on their State or dot-gov accounts so that the emails were immediately captured and preserved," she said. The news about the State Department's archiving practices -- and the change that started in February -- could refuel the furor of Republicans over Clinton's choice to not use her government email account, to have a private server in her family home house her emails, and to decide (with her staff) which emails to delete and which to turn over to the State Department for review. Rep. Susan Brooks, a member of the select committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack, said in the Republicans' weekly media address Saturday, "You see, right now there is no way for us to know whether we have all of the State Department communications that rightfully belong to the American people." "The only way to truly know is by having access to Secretary Clinton's personal server," the Indiana Republican added. "We are asking Secretary Clinton to turn her server over to a neutral, third-party arbiter. After a complete inventory, this arbiter can make a determination as to which emails should be public and which should remain private. These decisions would be completely impartial and independent." So far, Brooks' committee had gotten just under 300 of Clinton's emails from the State Department. Last year, as it was trying to update its records, the State Department asked former secretaries of state for nonpersonal emails from their personal accounts that could be work-related. That request prompted Clinton to turn over 30,490 emails -- about 55,000 pages. Clinton has asked for those emails to be made public, and department officials are reviewing them to make sure no sensitive information is released. Clinton's office had said her account contained 62,320 sent and received emails from March 2009 to February 2013. "About half were personal that were not in any way related to work. I had no reason to save them," Clinton said at her press conference. The fact that all emails from senior officials weren't automatically saved until recently doesn't mean they are gone, according to the State Department. "I wouldn't state it's lost to history, because there are always -- there are technical means of gaining access to past information," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday. At the same time, Psaki said the State Department chose to change its approach -- by automatically saving all emails -- "because it's an imperfect system." "This is a more efficient and better way," she said of the new system. "But, obviously, there were ways to preserve (emails), and employees and individuals were expected to do that prior to this new process." Separately, Psaki said that a letter was recently sent to former State Department staffers asking for their help in the preservation effort. "If they should become aware ... of federal record in their possession -- such as an email sent or received on a personal email account while (they were) serving in their official capacity at the Department -- that ... record (should) be made available to the Department," Psaki said the ex-staffers were told. Even before last month's chance, emails of current Secretary of State John Kerry, who uses a government address, were already being saved automatically. CNN's Adam Levine contributed to this report. +(CNN)America may be growing less hateful. That's according to an annual Southern Poverty Law Center report that says the number of hate groups in the United States remains on the decline for the second year in a row. In the "Intelligence Report" released Tuesday, the SPLC says the number of hate groups operating in the U.S. declined 17% between 2013 and 2014. They are now at their lowest levels since 2005, the watchdog organization said. "Patriot groups, which are animated by a series of conspiracy theories about the alleged evils of the federal government, fell even faster, to 874 groups from a 2012 peak of 1,360 groups. In just the last year, the number of Patriot groups declined by 20%, from 1,096 groups to 874," the report said. "But those numbers may be somewhat deceiving. More than half of the decline in hate groups was of Ku Klux Klan chapters, and many of those have apparently gone underground, ending public communications, rather than disbanding." The decline may be due to a number of factors, including the rebounding economy, law enforcement action and leadership issues within the groups, the SPLC said. The "high social" cost of being associated publicly with a hate group is also noted as a factor for decline, the group said. "The atmosphere has changed," Mark Potok, editor-in-chief of the "Intelligence Report," told reporters on a conference call. "Overall, the groups are less important." People publishing messages of hate directly to the Internet is also cited as a possible reason for the decline in the organized groups. California and Florida have the largest number of hate groups, with more than 50 each. Alaska and Hawaii are the only states with no hate groups, according to the SPLC. The report tracks the number of chapters or groups, not individual members, so while the number of groups is on the decline, it's possible that some of the groups that remain have increased membership. The Ku Klux Klan experienced the largest decline of all hate groups, according to the report, losing more than 50% of its chapters. One of the oldest and most infamous hate groups in the United States, the KKK took its foothold after the Civil War, terrorizing the African-American population with intimidation and violent actions, including lynching. The Klan's growth slowed after the establishment of Jim Crow laws in the American South, according to the SPLC. The KKK's last resurgence came during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The group was again responsible for large-scale terror against the South's African-American population. In 1990, the SPLC started to keep track of the number of KKK chapters, which reached a high of 221 in 2010, in response to President Barack Obama's election, according to the report. Since then, the numbers have been on the decline. The SPLC now reports 72 chapters, down from 163 a year ago. Under Obama, 4 in 10 say race relations worsened . The reason for the decline of the Ku Klux Klan is not totally clear, though the report even suggests the groups may be going deeper underground. "It appears that most of the groups simply faded as their leaders and members got older, but it is also very possible that many simply stopped announcing where their chapters were," the report said. The center estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 people are Klan members in the United States. Opinion: America facing anti-Muslim bigotry . The SPLC report also notes that more people may be operating as so-called lone wolves. The overall number of hate groups peaked in 2011 and has been on the decline since. However, the number of registered users to Stormfront -- a website claiming to be "the voice of the new, embattled White minority!" -- has doubled since 2008. It now has nearly 300,000 users. Lone wolves are a concern, the report said, because 90% of all domestic terror attacks since 2009 were carried out by individuals or pairs. Lone wolf planned attack on U.S. Capitol, FBI says . The report points to neo-Nazi Frazier Glenn Miller, who allegedly killed three people in Kansas who he thought were Jewish, and an incident in Las Vegas, where an anti-government couple killed two police officers before being killed themselves, as examples of radical criminal elements acting alone. The SPLC refers to this and other indicators to say that many individuals may be moving from organized groups to the Internet, to become more anonymous. Looking towards next year, SPLC is "expecting a real wave of Islamophobia" because of the proliferation of ISIS and the heavy media coverage of the extremist group, Potok told reporters. +(CNN)"Cinderella," the latest live-action retelling of a classic, sparkled like a glass slipper in its opening weekend, with an estimated debut of $70.1 million. That's well above expectations of $50 to 60 million, and it tops last year's $69.4 million opening for "Maleficent," another take on the classic fairy tale, which featured Angelina Jolie and a darker tone. This version, however is sweetness and light, thanks to veteran director Kenneth Branagh. Small-screen stars Lily James ("Downton Abbey") and Richard Madden ("Game of Thrones") play Ella and her Prince, who overcome personal grief and uncertainty with courage and goodness. Oscar winner Cate Blanchett provides venom as the wicked stepmother. Reviews for "Cinderella" have been strong, with a current Rotten Tomatoes rating of 83%. Disney timed the release well: It's been more than a month since a family film hit theaters (if you can call the "SpongeBob" sequel a "family" film), and some American school districts just began spring break. Liam Neeson's latest thriller, "Run All Night," opened in a very soft second place. Neeson has been a solid draw since he reinvented himself as an action star six years ago with "Taken," but "Run All Night" debuted even more weakly than last year's dismal "A Walk Among the Tombstones." This time out, he plays a former hit man whose family is targeted by his old boss, played by Ed Harris -- but it seems people would rather see Neeson attack and fight than run. In limited release, the critically acclaimed horror thriller "It Follows" made $163,000 in just four theaters, far and away the weekend's best per-theater average. Among returning films, Colin Firth and "Kingsman: The Secret Service" shone the brightest, topping the $100 million mark in total domestic grosses and actually rising a spot on the chart, while last weekend's winner, "Chappie," and runner-up, "Focus," duked it out for fourth place. Next weekend, Shailene Woodley returns in the young adult action sequel "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," while Sean Penn tries the action genre with Idris Elba and Javier Bardem in "The Gunman." +(CNN)Two more American aid workers who had high-risk exposure to Ebola in Sierra Leone arrived back in the United States on Monday for monitoring. Neither is sick or known to be infected with the disease. Eight of their colleagues have already been flown back to the United States, where health authorities are watching them closely for signs of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The returning workers are clinicians for Partners in Health, a Boston-based aid group. They all had contact with a colleague who's been diagnosed with the disease and is being treated at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The heath care worker with Ebola was in critical condition Monday, the NIH said. That changed from the NIH saying on Friday that the patient was in serious condition. Details about the patient's identity weren't released. While in West Africa, the workers "came to the aid of their ailing colleague," according to a Partners in Health statement. As the CDC investigates who else might have had contact with the Ebola patient, more workers might be flown back to the United States, according to Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the CDC. The workers are being housed near hospitals that specialize in treating Ebola patients, and if they show signs of the disease, they'll be admitted as patients -- as was the case with one worker in Nebraska. The person developed symptoms Sunday evening and "out of an abundance of caution" was taken to the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. "At this point, this person has not tested positive for the Ebola virus," Phil Smith, M.D., medical director of the unit, said in a statement Monday. "However, because of a change in symptoms, we decided the most prudent course of action was to bring the individual to the Biocontainment Unit, where we can better monitor symptoms and safely perform testing. However, some of the symptoms which prompted the move to the Biocontainment Unit have resolved this morning." None of the other aid workers are showing symptoms of Ebola. Nurse who contracted Ebola sues hospital company . State health authorities say all 10 of the workers are deemed to have had high-risk exposure to Ebola. This includes people who were not wearing protective gear and were exposed to the bodily fluids of someone with Ebola while that person was symptomatic, or someone who lived in the same household and provided direct care to a symptomatic Ebola patient. The first of these workers arrived Friday night in Atlanta showing possible signs of Ebola, but testing over the weekend came back negative, according to a government official who did not want to be named. The worker is being isolated in housing near Emory University Hospital for 21 days. "Twice a day, we'll have visual monitoring, either face to face or we'll Skype with them, or do FaceTime," said Nancy Nydam, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Health. "And if it's Skype or FaceTime, they'll have to be in a place where we can clearly identify that they are where they're supposed to be." The next set of aid workers returned back to the United States on Saturday evening and went into isolation in housing on the campus of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, according to spokesman Taylor Wilson. As in Atlanta, these workers have voluntarily agreed not to leave their housing. "They will be monitored so they'll stay there," Wilson said. Another set of three workers arrived Sunday morning at housing near the National Institutes of Health. These workers will have more freedom to move around than the ones in Georgia and Nebraska. According to Christopher Garrett, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health, his state will follow the CDC's guidelines, which forbid monitored individuals from getting on public transportation but allow them to go outside as long as they stay at least 3 feet away from other people. '1686: That's my number' Two more workers arrived Monday morning in Atlanta and were isolated in housing near Emory. A third worker was expected to arrive Monday in Atlanta, but health authorities deemed this person to be lower risk and allowed for monitoring at home, according to a government official. The patient now at NIH is the second with Ebola admitted to the NIH hospital. Safety at Ebola funerals . Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, was admitted to NIH in October after she contracted the disease while treating Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan. Pham recovered and was released free of disease. Duncan died. Emory, the NIH and Nebraska are three of only four hospitals in the United States that have biocontainment units to deal with a highly infectious disease such as Ebola. More than 10,000 people have died in a West African epidemic of Ebola that dates back to December 2013, according to the World Health Organization. Almost all of the deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. CNN's Carma Hassan, Joe Sutton and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Police raided millionaire heir Robert Durst's home in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, a day after he was charged with first-degree murder. Dick DeGuerin, Durst's attorney, confirmed that investigators were searching the home. It was not immediately clear what they were looking for inside Durst's 14th-floor condo, where he has lived for many years, CNN affiliate KTRK reported. The raid comes days after FBI agents arrested Durst in a New Orleans hotel. The Los Angeles County District Attorney filed a first-degree murder charge against him on Monday, accusing Durst of shooting and killing his close friend Susan Berman in December 2000. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. "I think it's ridiculous for them to be making a search 15 years after Susan Berman was killed, and they're searching a place in Houston," DeGuerin told CNN. Durst remains jailed in New Orleans, where he's facing drug and weapons charges stemming from his arrest over the weekend. Durst's alleged connections with Berman's death and two others were the focus of HBO's true crime documentary, "The Jinx." DeGuerin has claimed it's no coincidence authorities moved in to arrest Durst just as the documentary's finale was about to air. And on Tuesday, he said he wasn't surprised about the Houston raid either. "I'm not surprised they're acting like a bunch of keystone cops, particularly after being embarrassed by the TV program," he said. "And I'll be even more surprised if they find anything of any evidentiary value whatsoever." Prosecutors accuse Durst of "lying in wait" and killing Berman, a crime writer and his longtime confidante, because she was a witness to a crime. She was shot in the head shortly before investigators were coming to speak with her about the disappearance of Durst's first wife in 1982. Durst has long maintained he had nothing to do with Berman's death or his wife's disappearance, though some have questioned whether comments he made at the end of the documentary -- muttering under his breath in the bathroom that he "killed them all" -- could be interpreted as a confession. DeGuerin told reporters Monday that his client didn't kill Berman. "He's ready to end all the rumor and speculation and have a trial," DeGuerin said. But it's unclear when a trial could take place. Durst waived his right to fight extradition to Los Angeles, but because prosecutors in New Orleans are pursuing charges against him, he remains jailed there. Durst had a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver on him when he was arrested, according to New Orleans Police Department records. Investigators found marijuana and a "substantial" amount of cash in Durst's hotel room, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. He was booked in New Orleans Monday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with a controlled substance. He may be moved soon to a different Louisiana prison where inmates with "an acute medical condition" are sent, DeGuerin said. Court documents filed Tuesday say Durst will receive medications while imprisoned, "including but not limited to hydrocodone as needed for pain." CNN's Dave Alsup, Holly Yan and Chris Welch contributed to this report. +Ferguson, Missouri (CNN)Loistine Hoskin cared for her old car as a sentimental possession, missing a tire while parked beside her home, until one day the city ticketed her for having a "derelict vehicle in driveway." A tow truck took it away in 2009. So began an odyssey with Ferguson police, municipal court and city hall that left her with $1,200 in fines that to this day she still doesn't fully understand. She paid the sum because endless court hearings about the car wore her down. "I don't have a lawyer. I'm not a lawyer. It's me going up against the city of Ferguson when the attorneys won't help," Hoskin said this week. She never saw again her 1996 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight with 168,000 miles. Its location is a mystery. She accepts the loss because at least she's not in jail, where city authorities threatened to put her at one point, she said. While Hoskin's surrender of both car and $1,200 to the city may seem a matter of personal choice, the U.S. Justice Department revealed this week a "pattern and practice" of racial discrimination within Ferguson that may lend credibility to Hoskin's account of a government run amok. Just about every branch of Ferguson government -- police, municipal court, city hall -- participated in "unlawful" targeting of African-American residents such as Hoskin for tickets and fines, the Justice Department concluded this week. The millions of dollars in fines and fees paid by black residents served an ultimate goal of satisfying "revenue rather than public safety needs," the Justice Department found. To the outside world, the federal findings were staggering, but to Hoskin and other longtime residents, the conclusion was nothing new. They've felt it all along, they say. It's only now that federal authorities have documented the institutionalized racism, as part of a civil rights investigation after a white police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen, Michael Brown, 19, last summer. The officer, Darren Wilson, was cleared of federal civil rights violations this week and was earlier cleared of criminal wrongdoing. The Justice Department is expected to pursue a court-supervised consent decree that requires the city of Ferguson to make changes to its police and courts. "It's definitely a vicious cycle," said Hoskin, 64, a retired airline reservation agent. "Unfortunately for most people who are in this cycle, they continue to be in a downward spiral because they can't get jobs, they can't do anything, they can't pay the fines." Hoskin's household has experienced its share of ugly encounters with Ferguson police, the family said. Hoskin's daughter was ticketed by police in what she described as racial profiling, she said. In 2007, Kimberly Hoskin got a $124 ticket for driving her sister's car, which wasn't insured in Missouri, and then had to pay an additional $100 fine when she missed a court appearance because of an emergency appendectomy. The court, she said, rejected her medical excuse and issued a warrant for her arrest. She paid a total of $224 in fines because she was in the middle of a job search and didn't want an outstanding warrant to prevent her from getting a good job. "Why is it that all the people in court are black?" Kimberly Hoskin said of defendants in municipal court. "I've had so many police officers make a U-turn, follow me, run my plates, find out everything is OK, then turn around and go back in the direction they were going. "There's nothing we can do. In Ferguson, the police do what they want to do. Ferguson does what it wants," said Kimberly Hoskin, 35, who now works the overnight shift on a General Motors manufacturing line. City officials and police declined to respond to CNN's requests this week for comment about the Hoskin family's assertions. Last September, the City Council repealed administrative fees imposed by police when overseeing the release of a towed vehicle, the mayor said. The city also no longer has a specific offense for failing to appear in court, which eliminates certain additional fees and court costs, the mayor said. The Justice Department's report details how Ferguson operated a vertically integrated system -- from street cop to court clerk to judge to city administration to city council -- to raise revenue for the city budget through increased ticketing and fining. Ferguson's budget increases were so sizable that city officials exhorted police and court staff to levy more and more fines and tickets against violators, who turned out to be largely African-American, the Justice Department said. The demands for revenue were so intense that the police department had "little concern with how officers do this," even disciplining officers who failed to issue an average of 28 tickets a month, the Justice Department report said. Officers competed "to see who could issue the largest number of citations during a single stop," the Justice Department said. One apparent winner was an officer who issued 14 tickets at a single encounter, according to the federal investigation report. Many police stops of civilians "have little relation to public safety and a questionable basis in law," the report said. Ferguson police chief mum on federal report . Indeed, Ferguson enjoyed so much success in issuing tickets and fines that Ferguson, population 21,000, was ranked in the top eight of the 80 municipal courts in St. Louis County by having more than $1 million in revenue in 2010, the report said. When Ferguson court revenues exceeded $2 million in 2012, the city manager responded to the police chief in an internal email: "Awesome! Thanks!" according to the federal report. Even municipal judges were pressured to boost revenue. "The city has made clear to the police chief and the municipal judge that revenue generation must also be a priority in court operations," the federal investigation found. The city finance director said in a 2011 report that the municipal judge had been successful since 2003 in increasing court collections, and that internal 2011 city report noted a judge's statement that "none of these changes could have taken place without the cooperation of the court clerk, the chief of police, and the prosecutor's office," the Justice Department investigation found. Cash filled the city treasury. By 2013, revenue from enforcing municipal codes reached $2.46 million, the federal report said. By 2015, the city anticipated that fines and fees would account for 23% of the budget, or $3.09 million of $13.26 million in general fund expenses, the Justice Department found. Just five years earlier, court fines and fees made up only 12% of the budget, or $1.38 million of $11.07 million in general fund revenues, the Justice Department found. The fines were among the highest of surrounding municipalities. For example, area parking fines ranged from $5 to $100, but Ferguson's parking fine was $102. A fine for "weeds/tall grass" was $5 in one nearby city, but Ferguson's fine ranged from $77 to $102, the Justice Department found. The federal government made a forceful conclusion: . "City, police and court officials for years have worked in concert to maximize revenue at every stage of the enforcement process, beginning with how fines and fine enforcement processes are established," the federal report said. After the Justice Department's announcement this week, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles told reporters that he, Police Chief Tom Jackson and City Attorney Stephanie Karr met with federal officials about their findings and initiated several initiatives, including reforms to the municipal court. Knowles said municipal judges have created a docket for alleged offenders having trouble paying fines. Also, a defendant may ask a judge or prosecutor about different payment plans or alternative sentencing, the mayor said. Defendants have been required to pay an entire fine at once, regardless of ability to pay, the federal report said. The city also passed an ordinance last September to cap municipal court revenues at 15% of the city's overall budget, the mayor said. That figure is half Missouri's legal limit, he added. All the reforms are intended to "move this city, its residents and our entire community forward," the mayor said. Back at her home, Loistine Hoskin recalled the height of absurdity in her fight against the city, which occurred shortly after her husband, Calvin, died in 2008 of complications from paralysis he suffered in a car accident three years earlier. She had been his caregiver. She appeared in court to appeal the citation, but an officer arrested her and put her in the back of the squad car. Her offense? Failing to appear in court, she said. She spent four hours in jail. She insists she made every court date. For now, she lives in fear of the police, even at home. "We just got to a point where we said we're just not going to have anyone over -- because they were fearful when they left they would get some ticket, and they didn't even live here," Hoskin said. CNN's Ed Lavandera and Tristan Smith contributed from Ferguson. Michael Martinez reported and wrote this story from Los Angeles. +Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in a series of photos released by the Kremlin on Friday after a week in which canceled engagements led to speculation over his health. The three images showed Putin meeting with the head of the Supreme Court in Moscow on Friday, the Kremlin said. State broadcaster Russia 24 also aired video footage of the meeting. CNN cannot independently confirm that the meeting took place as stated. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to quell the rumors of ill health on Thursday, joking that they were down to "spring fever," Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported. "When the sun comes up in spring, and as soon as spring is in the air, then the fever begins," Peskov said. "Someone dreams of (Rosneft CEO Igor) Sechin resignation, others -- of government resignation, while others have not seen President Putin on TV for several days," he said, according to Tass. "We are calm on this fever, and respond to the questions with patience," Peskov said. Speaking to Russian radio station Echo of Moscow, Peskov also urged people not to worry, saying that Putin was "absolutely" healthy. Asked if the President's handshake was firm, he replied that Putin "can break a hand." Last fall, rumors also circulated about the health of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, after he was absent from the public eye for more than a month. He eventually reappeared, with North Korean state media releasing photographs of him walking with a cane. The speculation about Putin began after a planned meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, between the Russian leader and the presidents of Kazakhstan and Belarus was postponed at short notice. Peskov confirmed Wednesday that the leaders had agreed to delay it for several days but did not give a new date, Tass said. The Kremlin press office said Friday that Putin would meet Monday with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Almazbek Atambayev, in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, Tass said. Putin's last public appearance was Sunday, on International Women's Day. Since then, he has had a number of meetings, but no video was released, only stills uploaded to the Kremlin's website. In the course of his many years in power, Putin has cultivated the image of a strong and vigorous leader. His exploits, captured on film and released to the media, have included riding horses while shirtless, exploring the seafloor in a submersible, handling a tranquilized tiger and, just last year, earning a karate black belt. The Russian President has been in the international spotlight in recent months after Moscow's intervention in Ukraine, which has prompted heightened tensions with the West. Opinion: Why has Putin gone missing? CNN's Alla Eshchenko reported from Moscow, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported from London. +(CNN)A crowd of tens of thousands filled Yitzhak Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, calling for a change in Israeli leadership amid growing discontent with the current administration. The rally, called "Israel Wants Change," was put on by One Million Hands, a grassroots movement that focuses its efforts on two major issues: a two-state solution and a reduction in the cost of living. On both of these topics, founder Dror Ben-Ami says, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed. "We think that the only way to go forward on that account is to change government and to get this current government out of office. To get Bibi out of office," says Ben-Ami. Organizers are not promoting any specific candidate or pushing voters toward any political party in the March 17 balloting. Instead, they are encouraging voters to change the current administration. Police estimated the crowd at 40,000 people. Headlining the rally was Meir Dagan, the former head of Mossad, Israel's spy agency, and a vocal critic of Netanyahu. In recent weeks, Dagan criticized Netanyahu's decision to speak before the U.S. Congress, and he continued his criticism at the rally, saying that he has never seen such stagnation in Israeli politics. Netanyahu still has broad support in Israel, and his Likud party is doing well in the polls. The Zionist Union is Likud's primary challenger. In the initial round of polling immediately following Netanyahu's speech before Congress, the Zionist Union was expected to win 24 seats in the Knesset while Likud was expected to win 23 seats. The poll comes from CNN affiliate Channel 2 Israel. Because of the nature of Israeli politics, Netanyahu's Likud party could lose the election while Netanyahu still becomes prime minister. In many ways, this rally was reminiscent of a similar social movement that began in the summer of 2011. Hundreds of thousands of protesters packed the streets of Tel Aviv, demanding improvements in the cost of housing, education, and health care. What started as a small social media campaign turned into a nationwide movement that spread to other major cities. This time, the issues are different. But the growing sense of discontent and the calls for change remain. +(CNN)A U.S. Air Force veteran who allegedly tried to join ISIS in Syria but was turned back by Turkish authorities before he could get to the war-torn country entered a not guilty plea to terror-related charges Wednesday in a federal court in New York. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, accused of making the foiled attempt in January, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of trying to give material support to the terror group and obstruction of justice, the U.S. Justice Department said in a two-count indictment announced Tuesday. Among the evidence, prosecutors allege: Investigators discovered on his laptop computer a letter saying he wanted to "use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States," and a chart of crossing points between Turkey and Syria, where ISIS controls some territory. Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West? Pugh, a 47-year-old convert to Islam and a former New Jersey resident who served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990, was arrested upon his return to the United States in January, the Justice Department said. "Pugh, an American citizen and former member of our military, allegedly abandoned his allegiance to the United States and sought to provide material support to ISIL," Assistant U.S. Attorney General John Carlin said, using an alternate acronym for the Islamist terror group that controls territory in parts of Iraq and Syria. At his arraignment Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Pugh appeared in a black T-shirt and khaki pants and stated his name. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Michael Schneider. The defendant, a former avionics instrument system specialist in the Air Force, flew from Egypt to Turkey on January 10, weeks after being fired from a Middle East-based job as an airplane mechanic, U.S. authorities allege. Why is ISIS so successful at luring Westerners? But Turkey denied him entry. In the indictment, U.S. authorities said Turkey was likely suspicious Pugh was headed for Syria. Instead Turkish officials sent him on a return flight to Egypt, where he was detained. In Egypt, he was carrying multiple electronic devices, "including four USB thumb drives that had been stripped of their plastic casings and an iPod that had been wiped clean of data," the Justice Department said in a statement. Pugh had purposefully tampered with the devices to prevent others from getting access to his electronic media, the indictment said. Pugh was deported to the United States, where agents with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force obtained a warrant for his devices, including the laptop, the department said. Investigators found a letter from January addressed to a Misha, whom they believe is his wife, authorities said. In it, the writer says: "I am a (mujahedeen). I am a sword against the oppressor and a shield for the oppressed. I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States." In addition to that letter and the Turkey/Syria border chart, agents also found recent Internet searches for information on "borders controlled by Islamic state," as well as "Internet searches for 'Flames of War,' an ISIL propaganda video," and "downloaded videos, including one showing ISIL members executing prisoners," the Justice Department said. They also found what the government said was another 180 jihadist propaganda videos. Pugh was arrested in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on January 16. While in the Air Force, Pugh was trained in installing and maintaining aircraft engine, navigation and weapons systems, the Justice Department said. Pugh converted to Islam after moving to San Antonio in 1998, according to the indictment. The indictment said he took a job as a mechanic with American Airlines in or about 2001. The airline has not responded to a request for comment. In 2001, an American Airlines co-worker alerted the FBI that Pugh "sympathized with Osama bin Laden, felt that the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies overseas were justified, and expressed anti-American sentiment," the complaint said. One year later, an associate told the FBI that Pugh had expressed interest in traveling to Chechnya to "fight jihad." From October 2009 to March 2010, he worked in Iraq as an Army contractor for DynCorp, according to the complaint. According to Pugh's LinkedIn page, he listed himself as a maintenance manager for Gryphon Airlines, a Kuwait-based charter airline, since September 2014. But the airline told CNN that Pugh was only under consideration to work for it in 2014. "In third quarter 2014, Mr. Pugh was under consideration for a future Gryphon project, but did not meet the qualifications," the airline said in a statement. "Gryphon declined to hire Mr. Pugh. Gryphon personnel are cooperating with the authorities." His last known U.S. address was in Neptune, New Jersey, but he had lived in Egypt for about the last year, the indictment said. If convicted, Pugh could be sentenced to up to 35 years in prison. CNN's Ray Sanchez, John Newsome and Steve Almasy contributed to this report. +(CNN)We have no problem taking Wall Street executives to task for decisions that leave American families financially devastated, yet we give Silicon Valley billionaires a pass when they do the same thing. America needs to realize that instead of creating jobs, Silicon Valley is erasing them, leaving millennials financially stranded before their careers can get off the ground. Silicon Valley is tossing millennials aside like yesterday's laptop. The commonly held belief is that with hard work and a good education, a young person in America can get a good job. But despite falling unemployment, college grads age 22 to 27 are stuck in low-paying jobs that don't even require a college degree. The percentage of young people languishing in low-skill, low-paying jobs is 44%, a 20-year high. Only 36% of college grads have jobs that pay at least $45,000, a sharp decline from the 1990s, after adjusting for inflation. Perhaps most depressingly, the percentage of young people making below $25,000 has topped 20%, worse than in 1990. In other words, those with a bachelor's diploma were better off before the digital revolution. If this comes as a surprise, that's because images from popular culture push the idea that young college graduates are shrugging off bad employment prospects with their do-it-yourself attitude. In our collective imagination, millennials are saying, "No jobs? That's OK — I'll create my own!" And then they solve their own problems by heading to Silicon Valley with little more than an iPhone and an idea to create the next hip app that supposedly will turn them into overnight millionaires. A fictional example of this new breed of young idealistic entrepreneur would be Mike Bean, founder of Internet behemoth Gryzzl on the show "Parks and Recreation." Played by Blake Anderson, Bean might best be described as "barefoot and pregnant with ideas." The bumbling entrepreneur conquers the world practically by accident, armed only with his digital savvy, a can-do spirit, and a penchant for invading users' privacy. You get the idea that his success came easily. Privacy concerns aside, the Mike Beans of America are just about as rare as the Mark Zuckerbergs. In fact, the percentage of people under 30 who own private businesses has reached a 24-year low. Garages across the country are not exactly humming with millennials launching tech startups. But wait — won't the digital economy eventually lead to better jobs? After a period of adjustment, won't things get better? Unfortunately that's not the path we're on. One of the biggest misconceptions about the digital economy is that for every middle-class job rendered obsolete by technology, there's a new, equally good (or better) job created by Silicon Valley. But exactly the opposite is happening. The digital economy is vaporizing the good jobs and replacing them with two kinds of jobs: minimum wage jobs (think Amazon warehouse employees) and so-called "sharing-economy jobs" (think Uber drivers). The sharing-economy jobs are even worse than minimum wage jobs because they offer no stability or protections for workers. Sharing economy jobs aren't really jobs at all; they're freelance gigs. Sure, Silicon Valley doesn't owe America jobs. But something is wrong with the picture of a handful of tech billionaires overseeing a kingdom of falling wages, decreased worker protection and zero job security. This "winner-take-all" digital economy is not sustainable. People on both sides of the political spectrum are worried. Liberal luminary Robert Reich, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and former secretary of labor under Bill Clinton, calls the sharing economy the "share-the-scraps" economy. Speaking of tech companies that utilize on-demand labor, such as Uber, Instacart and Taskrabbit, he says, "The big money goes to the corporations that own the software. The scraps go to the on-demand workers." Meanwhile, conservative columnist Ross Douthat fears a dystopian future in which "a rich, technologically proficient society will no longer offer meaningful occupation to many people of ordinary talents." Put simply, Silicon Valley's utopia is the rest of America's dystopia. And those who are punished more than anyone else are recent college graduates, whose lifetime earning potential has already suffered an irreversible setback. And if you think your own job is safe, think again. New research predicts that nearly half of all jobs are susceptible to automation over the next two decades. This is a giant leap backward, but it's deceptively described as technological "progress." As anyone who's talked to an automated system on the phone lately can attest, "automated" usually means "worse." What can be done? How can we fight this slide back toward the Middle Ages? If we take no action, we're headed toward a kind of digital world feudalism where there are a handful of kings, a lot of peasants and no middle class. There's no easy fix, but we can do three things immediately. First, we can stop glorifying tech titans and start talking openly about Silicon Valley's questionable tactics and its real job creation record (i.e., just follow the numbers). Second, we can encourage more lawsuits against the abusive practices of "sharing-economy" powerhouses. Third, we can elect leaders who are vocal about holding Silicon Valley accountable for their power over the entire American workforce, including white-collar employees. The fictional Gryzzl's tagline borrows some millennial slang: "Wouldn't it be tight if everyone was chill to each other?" Indeed it would. And if we want a better future for millennials and the generations after them, we need to challenge the prevailing Silicon Valley ethos before it's too late. +(CNN)The UK's Metropolitan Police has summoned five football fans to answer allegations of racism. It relates to an incident captured on camera, prior to Chelsea's European Champions League match with Paris Saint-Germain last month. In the French capital before the match an apparent group of Chelsea fans are caught on camera, appearing to prevent a black man boarding the Paris Metro. The video, widely shared on social media, also depicted the group of men chanting: "We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it." The man in the video was blocked several times from boarding the train and shoved off at least twice. He was later identified as Souleymane S, a 33-year-old Parisian on his way home from work. London's Met Police had appealed for help to identify those responsible but in a statement released Wednesday, said five men were due in court later this month. It read: "On 10 March and 11 March, the Metropolitan Police Service served summonses on five men involved in incidents on the Paris Metro before the Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea Champions League fixture on Tuesday 17 February. "They have been summonsed to appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 25 March regarding a police application for football banning orders." The authorities have not identified any of the alleged perpetrators. Chelsea were quick to condemn the group, saying in a statement after the incident that the chanting was "abhorrent" and something that "has no place in football or society." Manager Jose Mourinho said he was "ashamed" by the flashpoint, while the club moved quickly to suspend the five men involved. It said they faced a life ban should they be found guilty. "I watched the image the next day, I didn't want to watch again, I watched only once," Mourinho told reporters a few days after the match in Paris. "It is enough for me, it is sad enough for me. It is a humiliation for that gentleman, I imagine myself in that same situation, I want to go home after a day of work and a couple of guys they kick me out of my public transport." A club spokesperson also confirmed that Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich was "disgusted" by the incident whilst French President Francois Hollande personally spoke to Souleymane. Chelsea invited him to attend the return fixture at Stamford Bridge but he declined the offer. "I won't go," he was quoted as saying by French radio station RTL. "They can't buy me with a little piece of paper. I'm not a child. "I don't want to sit in that stadium next to those people who pushed me. I still hear the voices of those people who pushed me because of the color of my skin." Football banning orders can last for between three and ten years, and any breach can result in a criminal offense, with a prison sentence of up to six months. +(CNN)Former Manchester United star Danny Welbeck returned to haunt his old side to send holders Arsenal into the semifinals of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford Monday. The England striker was surplus to requirements at Louis van Gaal's United, but was quick to capitalize on a mistake by Antonio Valencia to grab the winner just after the hour mark. A disappointing night for United was compounded by a late red card for Argentina international Angel Di Maria, who was given his marching orders after manhandling referee Michael Oliver. Di Maria was initially booked for simulation and took his protests too far by grabbing the official, which led to his instant dismissal. With 10 men, United was never able to exert any real pressure on Arsenal and it took two fine saves David De Gea to deny further goals from Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez for the away side. Victory for Arsenal booked a return to Wembley for a last four clash with either Reading or Bradford City, who are replaying their quarterfinal tie next Monday. Liverpool or Blackburn Rovers will play Aston Villa in the other semifinal. Arsenal had taken a 25th minute lead through Nacho Monreal, the Spanish defender converting after fine move which involved Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But the advantage was short lived with Di Maria finding Wayne Rooney to score with a diving header. United looked to press ahead for the winner, but home hopes were dashed when Valencia made a hash of a back pass and Welbeck was quick to latch on to the loose ball and beat De Gea. 'I believe it was justice for him to score he worked extremely hard today,' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of Welbeck. His counterpart van Gaal will now, barring a miracle, be left without a trophy in his first season in charge of the English powerhouses, with the pressure now on to seal a top four place in the EPL to guarantee Champions League football next season. +(CNN)Thiago Silva's path to redemption took a mere 12 minutes. For that short period of time the Brazilian must have been panicking that his needless error had cost his Paris Saint-Germain side a place in the last eight of the European Champions League. His handball had gifted English Premier League leaders Chelsea a 2-1 aggregate advantage in extra time, but this was one tale that would be adorned with a Silva lining. Seconds after being denied by a world class save from Thibaut Courtois, Silva looped a header into the net to send PSG through on away goals. Not only did he save himself from a barrage of criticism, he also got colleague Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of jail too. The maverick Swedish striker's dismissal after 31 minutes made PSG's passage into the quarterfinals all the more remarkable, as it battled the best team in England with 10 men for an energy-sapping 90 minutes. Gary Cahill looked to have ended PSG's resistance with a 81st minute goal before former Chelsea defender David Luiz equalized with four minutes left. Eden Hazard converted from the spot in extra time after Silva's misdemeanor before the 30-year-old popped up at the death to make amends and avenge PSG's defeat at the same stage by Chelsea last season. "We played a great game," Luiz told Sky Sports. "It was amazing tonight, the spirit, the players gave everything. When we lost Ibra we said we had to keep it simple and keep the ball. "It's amazing for the club and the city. We tried to win the game even with one less man. We have a long way to go to win the Champions League and we keep our feet on the floor." The first tie ended 1-1 in Paris three weeks ago but most of the headlines related to an ugly incident of racism on the city's Metro system. A group of supporters, apparently Chelsea fans, were caught on camera appearing to prevent a black man from boarding a train before chanting: "We're racist and that's the way we like it." The UK's Metropolitan Police announced on Wednesday that it had summoned five men to appear in court later in March, while Chelsea has vowed to ban for life any of its fans that are found guilty. The club extended an invitation to the man who was the the subject of the abuse, known as Souleymane S, but the 33-year-old refused. The opening stages were tense and feisty, just as they were in the French capital during the first leg, but the match in London ignited after a flashpoint just past the half hour mark. Ibrahimovic, so often the hero for PSG, turned villain after being dismissed for a forceful tackle on Chelsea's Brazilian playmaker Oscar. The home side surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers who duly produced a red card -- the fourth of the Swede's often controversial career in the Champions League. But replays suggested the 33-year-old was perhaps unfortunate to see red, having tried to pull out of the tackle at the last second. Despite having a man advantage, Chelsea struggled to create clear cut openings as PSG defended resolutely. Kuipers was in the spotlight again as the half came to a close -- a mazy run from striker Diego Costa ended when he was felled by PSG's Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani. The referee took a long look at the incident but decided to wave play on, much to the chagrin of Chelsea's players and manager Jose Mourinho. Mourinho's travails continued after the break as the Blues toiled in its attempts to open up a determined PSG rearguard. A half chance for Gary Cahill came and went before the visitors came to the fore. First Cavani played in Maxwell, whose ball across the face of goal was begging to be tapped in, before the Uruguayan had a chance to tilt the tie firmly in his side's favor. Played in on goal by Argentinian Javier Pastore, Cavani rounded Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois but could only glance a shot off the near post from a tight angle. Pastore then got into the area after neat approach play and, though he got a powerful low shot away, Courtois was equal to it and palmed it clear. Chelsea began to reassert its dominance as PSG tired. Substitute Ramires weaved into the area and was denied by a fine save at his near post by Salvatore Sirigu. From the resulting corner a miskick from Costa presented the ball at the feet of England defender Cahill, who lashed home from 12 yards out. But Chelsea were unable to hold out. Luiz, who won the Champions League with Chelsea during a three-year stint at the club, had been booed throughout the game for a running battle with Costa. And he rose highest to power a header into the net and make the tie level on aggregate with just four minutes remaining. PSG began the extra half hour in sluggish fashion and were punished when Silva needlessly handled a looping cross into the area as he went up to challenge substitute Kurt Zouma for the ball. Belgium international Eden Hazard duly tucked the penalty away, to restore Chelsea's lead and ensure the tie would not go to penalties. Still Chelsea looked edgy. Courtois was forced to make a world class save from Silva, as the Brazilian desperately tried to make amends for his handball. But despite that warning, Silva netted with a fine header from the very next corner, looping a brilliant header over the goalkeeper from 14 yards out. After the game Mourinho admitted PSG had "clearly" been the better side: "Our performance was not good enough," he told Sky Sports. "We had the game in our hands twice but I think PSG were stronger than us and coped better with the pressure of the game." German champions Bayern Munich cemented its place in the last eight with a comprehensive 7-0 dismantling of Shakhtar Donetsk. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Ukraine, Shakhtar's task became an uphill one inside four minutes when Olexandr Kucher was dismissed for bringing down Mario Götze inside the penalty area. Thomas Muller tucked home the resulting penalty, and Bayern subsequently laid siege to Shakhtar's goal. Robert Lewandowski nodded Rafinha's cross against the post before Pep Guardiola's side doubled its advantage just after the half hour mark. Defender Jerome Boateng had the simple task of tapping home from point blank range after former Dortmund striker Lewandowski's effort had been saved. Bayern ran riot after the break, France international Franck Ribery grabbing the third with a fine low finish after a powerful run into the area. Muller grabbed a second moments later before Holger Badstuber made it five with a thumping header. Lewandowski finally got on the score sheet before Götze completed the rout. +(CNN)Relief workers reported "unbelievable destruction" after Tropical Cyclone Pam smashed the capital of Vanuatu, the Australian Red Cross said Saturday. The Australian Red Cross said via Twitter that "humanitarian needs will be enormous. Many people have lost their homes. Shelter, food and water (are) urgent priorities" in Port Vila. Meteorologists said the storm has weakened some, but it was still pounding the islands after hours of fierce winds and torrential rain. "#CyclonePam still tearing through #Vanuatu. 'Much bigger than expected,' says our colleague in Port Vila. Initial reports of devastation," the Australian branch of UNICEF said on Twitter earlier. Pam, one of the strongest storms seen in the South Pacific in years, earlier made a direct hit on the capital, raising fears of mass destruction. In its 8 a.m. Saturday update, the Vanuatu Meteorological Services warned of "very destructive hurricane force winds" of 155 mph (250 kilometers per hour) in Shefa and Tafea provinces, with several others facing "very rough to phenomenal seas with heavy swells." The Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, said the cyclone had weakened from the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4. It has dumped more than 9 inches of rain on the capital in a 36-hour period and has wind gusts of up to 190 mph (305 kph). Track the storm . Pam is forecast to move southeastward along the western edge of the southern islands of Vanuatu. It isn't expected to make any additional landfalls before dissipating. It will continue to weaken as it crosses cooler waters and encounters higher wind shear. Pam is expected to pass east of New Zealand on Sunday and into Monday. It could bring heavy rainfall to North Island, including Auckland. The capital, the biggest city in the Vanuatu island chain, sits on the coastline, which is vulnerable to storm surges during powerful cyclones. Tropical Cyclone Pam is the strongest storm to make landfall since the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013. Chloe Morrison, an emergency communications director for the humanitarian organization World Vision, told CNN that she could see some light between her boarded-up windows but it was still hard to see the totality of the destruction outside the house where she and seven others huddled in a back room during the storm. "Seven hours hunkered down and it's still not safe to go outside," she said. "The winds are still really howling. We're really lucky to be in a concrete house." Part of the tin roof twisted off the house and landed by one of the windows, she said. She also noted that two trees outside didn't get uprooted, but they had not one bit of fruit or any leaves remaining. Despite the "quite terrifying ordeal," Morrison said, their house didn't have any damage. Through the night, the wind and torrential rain made it sound like an angry ocean was just outside their doors, she said. World Vision, which says it's been based in Vanuatu for more than 30 years, said its emergency assessment team would head out to view the damage when it is safe. The staff helped prepare communities on the islands for the cyclone by positioning water, food, blankets, tarpaulins, and shelter, hygiene and kitchen kits in key places, it said, as well as advising on disaster preparedness. Residents have been advised to seek shelter in places such as churches, universities and schools. "The strongest thing they've got is cement churches," said Inga Mepham, program director for CARE International for the Vanuatu program. "Some of them don't have that. It's hard to find a structure that you'd think would be able to withstand a Category 5 (storm)." Earlier, photographer Michael McLennan -- who said the storm is being called the "Vanuatu Monster" -- told CNN that the "strength of winds is incredible." Video footage he shot earlier Friday showed palm trees being whipped by wind and rain. Evacuation alerts have been issued for several parts of the country. Even before the sun rose Saturday, Vanuatu was already getting hit hard, with most communication and power cut off due to the storm. "The wind outside is terrifying," Michael Wolfe, World Vision's national director in Vanuatu, told that organization. "I can't imagine what it's like for families out there who weren't able to find safe shelter before the storm." The archipelago nation northeast of Australia contains 83 small islands, many of which have little infrastructure and lack the strong housing structures that can endure a walloping storm. Because of the tropical climate in Vanuatu, some of the housing is made of lighter building materials, including straw and corrugated metals. Residents prepared for the storm, boarding up windows and chopping down trees that stand close to buildings in case they could become debris or cause further damage or injury. CNN host Bill Weir, who was recently in Vanuatu on assignment, said that while Port Vila has some modern development in the form of an airport, large hotels and a convention center that's under construction, life on some of the islands has remained almost unchanged for thousands of years. "For search and rescue, for bringing food and supplies and medicine, it's extremely challenging," he said. Pam has triggered watches and warnings in the Solomon Islands and New Zealand. CNN's Greg Botelho and Derek Van Dam contributed to this report. +(CNN)Paul McCartney, Patti Smith, Beck, and John Legend are ready to rock Cleveland. On Wednesday the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced an array of A-list presenters and performers for its 30th Annual Induction Ceremony, which takes place at Cleveland's historic Public Hall on Saturday, April 18. Seven artists and musical groups will be honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the ceremony. The newly announced presenters list includes: . Paul McCartney (inducting former Beatle Ringo Starr) Stevie Wonder (inducting '70s soul singer Bill Withers) Patti Smith (inducting late Velvet Underground front man Lou Reed) Peter Wolf (inducting The Paul Butterfield Blues Band) Fall Out Boy (inducting punk rockers Green Day) John Mayer (inducting late electric guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn) Steve Cropper (inducting soul group "5" Royales) Joan Jett & the Blackhearts round out the 2015 class of inductees. On a day that celebrates the best in rock 'n' roll, expect musicians to bring down the house. Two of this year's most recognized artists are set to perform. Beck, who ruled the Grammys with three wins, including album of the year, will sing at the ceremony. John Legend will also take the stage, after winning best original song at this year's Academy Awards. See all the 2015 Grammy winners . The ceremony will feature other lively performances from blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, former Eagles band member Joe Walsh, and Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be broadcast on HBO Saturday, May 30. (CNN and HBO share a parent company.) The ceremony will be accompanied by a series of events during Cleveland's Rock Week (April 11-18), including live music sessions and a new 2015 Inductees exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. +(CNN)If you enjoy laughing at the England football team -- calling all Germans and Scots -- and you have a spare $900,000, then Sotheby's has the very thing for you. The auction house is offering an untitled work by Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan that chronicles -- in painstaking and painful detail if you are English -- every defeat suffered by the England team between 1874 and 1998. Cattelan has carved all the defeats into a large (and it would have to be, wouldn't it?) piece of black granite, meaning the lucky buyer can be constantly reminded of a succession of ignominious afternoons and evenings. The artist says of his memorial stone-style work simply: "I guess it's a piece which talks about pride, missed opportunities and death." Known for his humorous and satirical art, Cattelan had plenty to work with as he recorded defeats starting with a 2-1 loss to Scotland in Glasgow in 1874 and ending with another 2-1 setback against Romania at the 1998 World Cup. Since then, of course, he'd have had a fair few more to immortalize, including the two to Italy and Uruguay in Brazil last summer that were part of the worst-ever England display at a World Cup. The artist, whose other works include La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour), which depicts Pope John Paul II being struck down by a meteorite, first put his football piece on display at an exhibition in London in 1999. It's not known whether any England managers and players, past or present, came along to have a sneaky look. Current England boss Roy Hodgson is known to be a bit of an Italophile, but the former Inter Milan coach needs to be quick if he wants catch a glimpse -- Cattelan's work is on public exhibition at Sotheby's New Bond Street galleries until Tuesday 10 March. It will then be offered as part of the single-owner 'Bear Witness' sale. +Esfahan, Iran (CNN)If you're looking for the Jewish community in the Iranian town of Esfahan, you won't have to search for long. The main synagogue is on Palestine Square, right in the heart of Iran's third largest city. There are public prayers several times a day -- sometimes with more than a hundred people in attendance. The Jewish community in Iran does not hide its heritage. At the synagogue, Michael Malakon leads the prayer service. He says he is proud of his Jewish identity. And even in a country that is so hostile towards Israel, Malakon says he can practice freely and that he has many Muslim friends. "I hang around with all kinds of young people and I have a lot of Muslim friends," Malakon tells CNN after finishing the noon prayer on a Monday. About 20 people were in attendance, usually from local businesses around the synagogue. None of them tried to hide the fact that they were Jewish -- and inside the synagogue the Star of David is proudly displayed in many places, alongside passages from the Torah. There have been Jews in Iran for more than 2,500 years. Many left the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. Khomeini said Iran wanted to destroy Israel, but he also issued a fatwa, a religious decree, saying that Iranian Jews were different to those in Israel and should be considered an integral part of the Islamic Republic. Sion Mahgrefte is the head of the Jewish community in Esfahan. He declined to comment directly on political matters, especially in the current heated environment, but he did say that the members of his community felt very much at home in Iran. "Israel and Iran are countries," he said. "And we consider ourselves Iranian Jews, not Israeli Jews. So the hostilities between Israel and Iran do not affect us." There is even a Jewish representative in Iran's parliament. And aside from the vibrant Jewish community in Esfahan -- there are 13 synagogues in the city -- there are also several Orthodox Cathedrals representing a sizable Christian community. Most of Esfahan's Jews are business people. In the center of town there is a shopping mall, known to people here as the "Jewish Passage" because so many businesses are Jewish-owned. When our crew arrived there they found Muslim and Jewish shop owners joking around. One of them is Said Shemyon, who owns a clothing store. His friends call him "Mordechai," and he showed us some Hebrew prayer books he always keeps in the store. Like most others, Shemyon was not keen to talk about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent address to U.S. Congress, or the problems between Israel and Iran. He says those politics have no place here. "We just want peace," he said. "We really hope that all these problems can be solved one day, God willing. We are just hoping for unity and peace." There are about 1,500 Jews in Esfahan these days. The community's leaders conduct religious studies for the younger members of the congregation. While Sion Mahgrefte is adamant that they have no problems with their Shia neighbors, he does acknowledge that friends living abroad often worry about them. "Of course sometimes people we know who live in Israel or elsewhere are very concerned about us, and they tell us we are crazy to live here," he says. "But then we tell them how things are and they calm down." +(CNN)Life on a Civil War ship in the Deep South was no pleasure cruise. Heat, humidity, the rigors of military life and bouts of boredom could frustrate a fella. So it may be no surprise that among the first artifacts to be brought up from the wreck of the CSS Georgia in Savannah are two sets of leg irons. "We all know about discipline in the Navy," said Jim Jobling, a project manager with Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory. "It is for restricting the mobility of a prisoner who wanted to desert or had committed a crime." Of course, the leg irons could have been used on a Federal sailor or soldier taken captive. But that didn't occur with the Confederate ironclad. It was scuttled in December 1864, having never fired a shot in anger while it defended the city. About 400 artifacts have been brought up by divers in the initial stage of the recovery of the CSS Georgia, which must be moved for a deepening of the shipping channel. "We have scratched the surface as far as the artifacts are concerned. There are a lot more to come up," Jobling told CNN on Thursday. Texas A&M is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah to conserve many of the artifacts for eventual display. Archaeology isn't just about cool artifacts. It's about making a connection with the humans that used these items. And while experts haven't gleaned much about the daily life of the crew from the early dives, they have found some items that would have been used by an individual: An ironstone plate commonly used in the South, a musket trigger guard and the butt stock of a gun. Visibility at the site is practically nonexistent. Divers have to depend on feel to locate and remove smaller items. Much of it is is detritus of the wreck: small iron plates, nails and spikes. Among the items cataloged since the dives formally began at the end of January are two pieces that helped with the business end of the CSS Georgia: its cannons. Four of the artillery pieces are amid the wreckage about 40 feet down on the floor of the Savannah River. One iron piece had eyes, or holes, that connected a gun carriage to ropes that the ironclad's crew manipulated to move the gun forward and backward. Another piece, a trunnion cap, helped hold the cannon to the carriage. Divers and archaeologists are following a timetable and grid in the recovery, with smaller items being brought up by hand. A previous salvage effort and damage from dredging displaced some of the artifacts. Other items remain right where they fell. "Someone undid the engine, moved it and was dropped" into the depths, said Jobling. Contract divers are out on the site every day, weather permitting, not more than a couple miles east of the city's famous River Street and waterfront. The $15 million removal of the CSS Georgia is necessary for the state and federal harbor deepening project, which will see the channel go from 42 to a uniform 47 feet so massive cargo container ships can use the port without relying on the tide. In June or July, U.S. Navy divers are expected be on site, to bring up the larger pieces: two engines, the propeller, a steam condenser, the four guns and the casemates that housed them. One of the casemates is large: 68 feet by 24 feet. Four artillery shells will be recovered, with the U.S. Marine Corps to render them safe for museum display. The wooden lower hull no longer exists. The CSS Georgia didn't have enough power to maneuver and effectively trade artillery rounds with any enemy vessels that might approach from the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the vessel became a stationary floating battery, bristling with artillery pieces. The Yankees refused to take on the CSS Georgia or other nearby defense obstructions. Archaeologists have the challenge of preserving portions of the CSS Georgia through chemical and other means, making her iron stable so the remains one day can be displayed. Conservation of selected artifacts and parts will be done at Texas A&M and will take about two years to complete. State and local officials hope conserved pieces will be exhibited somewhere in the city. Much of the CSS Georgia is corroded, and archaeologists are gauging the integrity of each piece for conservation. But many pieces remain in pretty good shape. An X-ray of one of the leg irons shows a fair bit of corrosion. Experts will inject epoxy to fill those gaps and remove any concretion on the iron, said Jobling. Officials need more artifacts and investigation to tell the story of the crew. "Hopefully, there is a section of the wreck that will tell the human side of the CSS Georgia," said Jobling. While salvage operations soon after the Civil War removed a lot of iron from the site, there's a chance personal items survive, especially if they are below the sediment line and protected from the ravages of oxygen. Interestingly, the vessel's crew had to run the main engine constantly, just to keep it afloat. Why? That's because the CSS Georgia's green wood made it susceptible to leaks. So on December 21, 1864, just as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's hordes of soldiers reached Savannah, the ironclad's crew likely opened its water valves. The CSS Georgia silently slipped below the surface. The sailors used small boats to get to shore and began a 20-mile walk from Savannah. "They took what they could carry with them," Jobling said. +(CNN)Vigilante motorists in New Zealand have taken to snatching the car keys of foreign drivers amid rising concern over dangerous driving by tourists. New Zealand media have reported five cases this year of locals forcibly taking the keys of foreign motorists after witnessing driving that concerned them. All the incidents -- which have been condemned by authorities -- took place in the South Island, which draws tourists from around the world for its rugged scenery, including lakes and mountains featured in director Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films. The incidents occurred amid heightened public concern over tourist driving standards, with eight people killed in crashes involving foreign drivers in the space of a fortnight last month. Among the dead were a family of four from Hong Kong who were killed when their car crossed the center line and collided with a logging truck. The key snatchings have even prompted Prime Minister John Key to weigh in on the issue, advising that "people taking the law into their own hands is not sensible." New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Dave Cliff said the confiscations existed in a legal gray area, as there was no explicit statute dealing with the issue. Although there might be exceptional circumstances where taking someone's keys could be legally justified, such as preventing drunken driving, he said, "in the vast majority of cases, it won't be." "That extends to physically assaulting or abusing someone in response to their driving, which is simply not acceptable, and anyone found doing so should expect to face the consequences," he said. Diesel mechanic Robert Penman of Dunedin made headlines last month after he took the keys of a Chinese couple who had stopped their car on a narrow single-lane road to take pictures, causing a backlog of vehicles behind them. "I was coming into town with my wife and son and came around the corner, and there was a car stopped in the middle of the road," he told CNN affiliate TVNZ. He called police and took their keys as "a safety thing, you know, timeframe for police to get there," he said. The New Zealand Transport Agency later revealed that Penman was driving on an expired license himself. Penman told local media it was not the first time he had taken a tourist's car keys. Only 6% of crashes in New Zealand involve foreign drivers, according to the latest figures provided by the Ministry of Transport. But in some remote regions of the South Island particularly popular with tourists for their scenery -- such as the Mackenzie, Southland, Queenstown-Lakes and Kaikoura districts -- foreign drivers are involved in about a quarter of all crashes. In Westland District, on the South Island's rugged West Coast, foreign drivers are involved in 37% of road crashes resulting in death or injury. Tony Kokshoorn, mayor of the neighboring Grey District, said tourist driving behavior was a major problem in the region and attributed the issue to tourists from countries that drive on the right. New Zealanders drive on the left. "There's a huge number of tourists coming through to these destinations because of the scenery, but the scenery is a problem," he said. "There's so many beautiful sights to see that they're not concentrating on their driving. Once they lose their concentration, they tend to fall into old habits and drive on the right. Even for 20 seconds, it can cause damage." A Ministry of Transport spokesperson said that while this was a factor, figures showed that Australian and British drivers were involved in the most crashes overall, "so unfamiliarity with which side of the road to drive on is not the only factor." Kokshoorn said that he had seen three cases of tourists driving on the wrong side of the road recently but that the vigilante approach -- which had seen a visitor to his town punched in the face as he was stripped of his keys last month -- was "disgraceful." He said the best approach was better education on local driving conditions for foreign drivers, particularly at the rental companies where they picked up their vehicles. Anyone with a foreign drivers license or permit is able to drive in New Zealand for up to a year. Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss said the government recognized that "many people are concerned with poor driving behavior on challenging roads in and around popular tourist destinations" and had established a project in response. The measures include improvements to roading, such as "keep left" signage and no-passing markings on the extensive stretches of single-lane highway, and educational resources targeted at visiting drivers, including many targeting the growing Chinese market. Kokshoorn said it was important to "strike the right balance" in getting the message to foreign drivers to take care on the unfamiliar roads. "We value tourism and the dollars it brings to New Zealand, especially to our region here. We don't want to put tourists off, but we want them to be safe in our country," he said. "You cross that center line, and anything's possible." CNN's David Molko contributed to this report. +(CNN)Are the upcoming elections in Israel crucial? Will the results -- a fourth term for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or a first for opposition leader Isaac Herzog -- change Israel's policy in a significant way? As Israelis prepare to go to the polls, the answer seems to be negative. Many observers in Europe and the United States seem to be under the impression that during Netanyahu's time in power, Israel was hijacked by right wing zealots -- and that Herzog, leader of the Zionist Union opposition party, is the man who will save the country and return it to the path of sanity. But the fact is that when it comes to the most crucial question regarding the future of Israel and the Middle East -- what to do about the Palestinians -- the difference between the two candidates is negligible, a divergence that is short on substance but long on style and rhetoric. While Netanyahu's insistence on Israel's continued ruling over millions of Palestinians is expressed in aggressive, often religious and nationalistic language, Herzog's justifications for doing the same thing would sound much softer and easier to digest in the Western world. But at the end of the day, neither Netanyahu nor Herzog have any real intention to put an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories. Netanyahu says it clearly and openly; Herzog and his coalition partners only hint at it. READ MORE: 5 key issues for next Israeli leader . This whitewash has been so evident throughout the entire election campaign that a foreigner arriving in Israel would have had a hard time understanding anything about what is really going on here. The main issues that have been discussed during the campaign are economic ones -- cost of living, housing prices, government oversight -- but even then, slogans and populist promises have largely replaced the in-depth debates we should be having. But the topics that seem to have consumed most of the headlines range from pure gossip to scandals, some of them concerning the behavior of Netanyahu and his wife Sara. There was the "bottlegate" affair -- claims that the wife of the Prime Minister had pocketed cash from bottle recycling at their official residence. The Netanyahus say they reimbursed the government. Israel is a country that is still looking for its way forward; one that lacks internationally recognized borders; one that has not yet decided whether it is a Western society or a Middle Eastern one; one that cannot decide whether it wants to be religious or secular, Jewish or bi-national. All of these critical issues -- none of them decided on -- have been cast aside, ignored, covered up or denied by a country that has busied itself with the important business of recycled bottles at the prime minister's residence. There is a big elephant in the room, but Israel is turning its back to it. There is a big elephant in the room, but Israel believes that if nobody talks about it, the elephant does not exist. This elephant is absent from the Israeli discourse on a day-to-day basis, and it is absent during elections -- a time when public discourse should be only be focused on what really matters. The elephant in the Israeli room is the unending occupation of Palestinian territories, and nobody is talking about it. Most of the parties running in the elections have not even bothered to try to answer questions about what their plans are for the Palestinians. But the occupation also continues to be a non-issue for too many ordinary Israelis, who know very little -- and care even less -- about the cruel reality for the millions of Palestinians who live without civil rights in the West Bank and who are kept under siege in Gaza. For those who regard Herzog and the center-left as the great hope of this campaign, it is important to remember that it was the Israeli Labor Party who established the occupation and settlement projects in Palestinian territory. Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin: Those Labor leaders, so beloved by the West, are the founding fathers of the most significant venture of modern Israel -- the illegal transfer of a Jewish population to stolen land. It was a project whose purpose was to prevent any kind of equal division of the land, or a settlement with the Palestinians -- and as such it has been a great success story. Labor never had a real plan for the Palestinians, except to time and again renew the endless peace process, which may be the longest in history. This is still true now, on the eve of elections that stand a real chance of bringing the Zionist Union to power. The more than 500,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have created what may be an irreversible reality, but Herzog's only answer to it is to get back to the negotiation table. In private circles he mentions five years as the time he needs to conclude the process. There is no better indication that Herzog has no intention of ending the occupation any time soon. Numerous peace plans have already been worked out in great detail; all that is needed is for one courageous Israeli leader to implement any one of them. Herzog, at least at this stage, does not seem to be the one capable of doing this. On Tuesday the "only democracy in the Middle East" will elect a new parliament and a new government, in what is frequently described as a celebration of "people power." But the reality is that here in Israel, it is only the masters who will vote and decide on the future -- not only for themselves, but for the millions of Palestinians who have for nearly half a century been living under their control, directly in the West Bank and indirectly in Gaza. And yet, it seems, their fate is not a topic worthy of discussion. To call this a democracy in 2015 is rather problematic. +(CNN)Kerry Washington is headed for HBO. The "Scandal" star has signed on to play Anita Hill and executive produce a TV movie for the premium cable network, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Called "Confirmation," the telepic — which is in development from HBO Films — will detail the explosive 1991 Clarence Thomas-Hill Supreme Court nomination hearings, which brought the country to a standstill and forever changed the way people think about sexual harassment, victims' rights and modern-day race relations. See more on-set with the gladiators: inside the fast-paced world of ABC's 'Scandal' Academy Award nominated writer Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich") will pen the script and executive produce the drama, which is being produced by Groundswell Productions in association with ABC Signature Studios. Groundswell CEO Michael London (ABC's upcoming soap "Astronaut Wives Club") and production president Janice Williams will executive produce alongside Grant and star Washington. Sources tell THR that Rick Famuyiwa (Sundance hit "Dope," "The Wood") is in talks to direct the pic, but no deal is in place. See more: 40 Years of HBO . Confirmation comes as Washington was poised to film Warner Bros.' feature drama "Unforgettable" in the summer for director Amma Assante but the HBO project may take over the "Scandal" star's hiatus from her ABC Shonda Rhimes series. For HBO, "Confirmation" comes as the premium cabler is building its roster of original films. The cabler this week tapped Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti to play tennis legends Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, respectively, in a movie detailing the duo's legendary Battle of the Sexes match. Additionally, HBO is also prepping an adaptation of Bryan Cranston's Tony winner "All the Way" with Jay Roach attached to direct. Read more: TV Ratings: 'Empire' Audience Grows, Though Demo Finally Holds . The "Confirmation" deal also marks a big off-network sale for ABC Signature, the boutique arm of ABC Studios. It's also HBO's latest buy from an outside studio following series including Warner Bros. Television's "The Leftovers" and upcoming "Westworld." Grant is repped by CAA and Kleinberg Lange; Washington is with CAA, Washington Square Films and Hansen Jacobson; Famuyiwa is with CAA, Oasis Media Group and Del Shaw. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +Boston (CNN)Eight minutes of sheer terror. That's what police officers from Watertown, Massachusetts, described in heart-stopping detail Monday, revealing details of a chaotic shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. One of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died from injuries he sustained that day -- wounded in a gun battle, then run over by his brother, Dzhokhar. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev managed to escape, but was later caught by police. Now he's on trial, facing 30 charges for the marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260 others. The shootout with police in the early morning hours of April 19, 2013, marked one of the most dramatic chapters in the manhunt for the suspects who paralyzed the Boston metropolitan area for days. It started, patrolman Joseph Reynolds testified, soon after he locked eyes with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who he spotted driving an SUV that matched a description of a stolen vehicle. Reynolds called for backup. It wasn't long before Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were firing guns, throwing bombs and trying to run officers over with a stolen SUV, Reynolds said. "Tamerlan Tsarnaev got out of the driver's side door and began shooting at my cruiser," Reynolds said. Soon, the officer said he ran out of bullets. Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese saw what looked like muzzle flashes as soon as he arrived at the scene. "I put my vehicle in park, I took a round through the windshield, I was sprayed with glass and I knew, OK, we were being fired on," said Sgt. John MacLellan. Then the two brothers began throwing improvised explosives, including pipe bombs and a pressure cooker bomb, the officers testified. "I noticed one was bigger than the other, and they had different styles when they were throwing the devices," MacLellan said. "One was throwing like a baseball." MacLellan said the pressure cooker bomb "was incredibly loud. I had to holster my weapon. My eyes were shaking violently in my head. I couldn't see." Pugliese said he opened fire when he saw one of the men, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, charging toward him. Pugliese fired and the man threw his pistol at the officer, hitting him in the bicep. Pugliese tackled him. And with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was wounded from gunfire, on the ground, the three officers tried to put him in handcuffs. They thought they'd be able to arrest him. But then something changed. "We were wrestling with Tamerlan, and all of a sudden I could hear an engine revving," Reynolds said . The SUV, Reynolds said, was heading straight toward the officers. The dramatic descriptions of the shootout Monday sounded like a scene from a Hollywood film, said Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen. But the most extraordinary revelation in court, he said, was that the night could have ended very differently. "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did not have to go back and run his brother over. He actually did a three-point turn and reversed the vehicle. He could have sped off and run away," Cullen told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper." He was in a much better position to flee. But apparently he decided to do a U-turn and come back." The sight of the stolen SUV speeding toward them caught the officers by surprise. "I reached down and I grabbed Tamerlan by the back of the belt and tried to drag him out of the street so he wouldn't be hit," Pugliese said. "The black SUV, it was right in my face. ... I kind of laid back and felt the wind from the vehicle as it went by." But they didn't move Tamerlan in time. His body became hung up in the rear wheels and he was dragged a short distance, Pugliese said. The prosecutor asked Pugliese if there was something in the road that forced the SUV driver to go directly at the officers. "No," he said. "It was accelerating at a very high rate of speed." Later that day, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at a local hospital, with the cause listed as "traumatic injuries" to the head and torso. His fingerprints led to the identification of the suspects. Officers discovered that Richard Donohue, a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officer, had been hit by friendly fire during the shootout. He survived, but nearly bled to death. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested about 8:45 p.m. that same day, hiding in a boat called the "Slip Away" that was stowed in a backyard in Watertown. Jurors saw photos of the boat last week. But on Monday, they got a chance to see the boat, which has become a key piece of evidence in the trial, in person. Before the trial started, prosecutors and defense attorneys had sparred over how much of the boat jurors would get to see. The prosecution sought to remove a panel on which Tsarnaev allegedly scrawled incriminating messages so that jurors could see it with their own eyes. Defense attorney David Bruck argued that cutting out a panel would take the written words out of context and wouldn't fairly reflect Tsarnaev's state of mind. In South Boston, about a mile from the courthouse, jurors intently looked at the entire boat Monday. It had been loaded onto a semi truck and moved to the location for viewing by the jury. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, wearing a dark jacket and no handcuffs or shackles, watched the jurors but showed little emotion or expression. Jurors appeared to strain to make out the words Tsarnaev scrawled inside the boat. The boat was riddled with more than 100 bullet holes -- some of which punctured Tsarnaev's words. Aaron Cooper reported from Boston. Catherine E. Shoichet and Ralph Ellis wrote the story in Atlanta. CNN's Jake Tapper and Ann O'Neill contributed to this report. +(CNN)A video purportedly shows three British schoolgirls preparing to cross the Turkish border last month into Syria, where the teens are believed to have traveled to join ISIS, a Turkish TV network reported Friday. If authentic, the video would represent the first publicly released images showing the girls at the Turkey-Syria border. The video, released by Turkish TV network A Haber and distributed by Reuters, shows three warmly dressed females who resemble the missing teens standing with luggage outside a car and talking to at least one man who is helping them with the bags. The footage purportedly was recorded February 19 in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, just north of Aleppo, Syria, A Haber reported. Two days before, East London classmates Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, boarded a Turkish Airlines plane from London's Gatwick Airport to Istanbul without their families' knowledge, according to British police. "Put your bags. ... Hurry, don't stop here," a man says in the video. The girls in the video wear coats, two with fur-lined hoods covering their heads. A third wears a hijab. One appears to be looking at a cell phone. "He just hung up," one of them says. A man takes a bag from the trunk of a yellow vehicle. The vehicle's license plate has a number that indicates it is registered in the Gaziantep area. It wasn't immediately clear how A Haber obtained the video. CNN couldn't immediately verify the footage's authenticity. The video's release came a day after Turkey's foreign minister said his country arrested a "spy" who allegedly helped the British girls get into Syria. The alleged agent was working for a country that is part of an international anti-ISIS coalition, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday. Separately, a Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the suspect is not Turkish, and is not a citizen of the country for which he was working. This month, a Turkish broadcaster released images that it said showed the British girls boarding a bus in Istanbul after they arrived from London. They are thought to have crossed the Turkish border into Syria within days. A trip to Gaziantep would have been long: The border town is more than 525 miles to the southeast of Istanbul. Authorities have said they have no reason to believe the girls are still in Turkey and believe they have crossed into Syria, parts of which have been taken over by Islamist terror group ISIS. The girls' parents have publicly begged for them to come home. Days before they left for Turkey, at least one of the girls allegedly contacted a young woman, Aqsa Mahmood, who left her home in Scotland to travel to Syria in 2013 and is accused of trying to recruit others via social media. She has posted tips for girls and young women wanting to travel to Syria to marry jihadis, as she did. Her blog also has links to advice posted by another jihad supporter, which recommends that those traveling to Syria seek to pack the essentials but not too much, since they may need to move often and at short notice, while remaining inconspicuous. +Aberdeenshire, Scotland (CNN)The Scottish Highlands on a wintry morning in January made for an awe-inspiring interview setting. We traveled along narrow roads winding among snow-capped mountains, eventually arriving at Birkhall -- the Scottish home to Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. I had pitched for interviews with the couple several times over the years and finally Prince Charles accepted. I wanted to speak to them about their 10 years of marriage and their upcoming U.S. tour. The couple's first tour as newlyweds was also to the United States, so it felt like an appropriate moment to take stock. When you reach the house, it strikes you as an idyllic royal hideaway. It has the sense of a castle but is welcoming like a farmhouse. It has a pinkish hue and green window frames that take in the stunning views. We went in the back entrance and were escorted through the house to the dining room at the front where we set things up. Rarely have cameras been allowed in, and never to this part of the house. As we were getting ready, an aide announced someone wanted to say hello. The Duchess of Cornwall appeared from around the corner, keen to welcome the crew. We spoke about what all Brits talk about -- the weather. Prince Charles opens up about love and life . She is not what you might expect when you meet her. She's more charismatic, which is something I hope comes across in the CNN special, "Spotlight: Charles and Camilla." Unfortunately she had declined our request to be interviewed. She's never done one and doesn't plan to. She wants the limelight to be on her husband. The Duchess of Cornwall had however allowed our cameras to get close enough to pick up sound during some of her public appearances. That would give viewers a greater sense of her character than they had had before. When Prince Charles arrived, he also insisted on meeting the crew, which was great but was also eating into our interview time. In the end, we had the full 20 minutes as planned. You can make your own judgements of the TV special, but I think we did manage to give you a good sense of him. He was comfortable enough to be himself. He was the same person on camera as off. Afterward, we walked through the house and into the garden for some additional shots. The Duchess of Cornwall joined us on the way and was worried I would be cold without a coat, but the coat was inaccessible and I didn't want to hold things up. You can't tell an awful lot about someone by spending just a morning with them, particularly as a journalist, but my impression was that they are close, connected and have fun. I then left them to take a stroll on their own with the crew, who captured some shots that I think have a small place in royal history -- a glimpse of a couple enjoying each other's company in their private wilderness, before he ascends to the throne. +(CNN)Just when you didn't think Republicans could top themselves in finding ways to disrespect the President of the United States, on Monday, 47 Republican Senators -- that is, all but seven -- sent a letter to Iran that appeared aimed at scuttling President Obama's diplomatic efforts to prevent Tehran developing nuclear weapons capacity. The move comes on the heels of House Republicans inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress -- without even informing the White House of the plan to issue an invitation. But this latest measure went a step further, seeing Republicans in Congress literally stepping on the constitutional toes of the executive branch and formally intruding on U.S. diplomacy. Under the Logan Act passed by Congress way back in 1799, U.S. citizens are prevented from influencing "disputes or controversies" involving the United States and a foreign government, without express authority to do so. Now, it appears the Iran letter was carefully drafted by Sen. Tom Cotton, a smart constitutional lawyer, to come as close as possible to the line of legality without crossing it, specifically by not explicitly taking a position against the Iran negotiations. Yet the intent to interfere with the executive branch is clear. It's one thing for Congress to demand it ratify such a deal (as Democrats did in 2002 when President Bush negotiated arms reductions with Russian President Vladimir Putin). But it's something else entirely to undermine the authority of the White House by sending a partisan letter to a foreign government (something Democrats didn't do with Russia). Sadly, this is only the most recent and extreme example of dishonor and disrespect. In the Washington Post, columnist Jonathan Capehart recently outlines what he sees as the top six instances of disrespect toward President Obama. His list includes the example of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani saying, "I do not believe that the President loves America." Also on Capehart's list are the time a reporter from the conservative Daily Caller website interrupted the President during remarks at the White House about immigration reform in 2012, and the time South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson, a Republican, heckled the President during his speech to a joint session of Congress about health care reform. (Wilson shouted "You lie!" in response to remarks by the President that, it should be noted, were in fact quite true). And there are plenty more examples of Republican slights against President Obama. Most famously, there was the widespread questioning of Obama's citizenship and academic credentials that included signs at conservative rallies describing Obama as a "lyin' African." And there was the Republican women's group that created an image of "food stamp dollars" with Obama's face on them (as well as a bucket of KFC and watermelon). There was also Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich decrying Obama's "Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior." Plus there was then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer waving her finger at President Obama when she greeted Air Force One on the tarmac. Brewer later alleged she "felt a little bit threatened" by the President. Taken as a whole, this list suggests a troubling pattern of profound disrespect for the President. But more than this, it seems to reflect an anti-Obama fever that has gripped the Republican Party -- one that the letter to Iran suggests shows no signs of breaking, and is a sure sign of sickness in the Republican Party. Is the lack of respect being shown toward President Obama about race, as some have suggested? Yes and no. Certainly, for a segment of the country, it really is about being uncomfortable with a black president. Indeed, even former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, noted what he described as a "dark vein" of intolerance in the party and parts of the country in general. But beyond that hopefully shrinking share of the population that is explicitly racist, there is a far wider issue of implicit racial bias -- an unconscious, yet nonetheless real tendency, to subject President Obama to extra scrutiny because of the color of his skin. None of this is to suggest that all of the criticism aimed at President Obama stems from implicit racial bias. But such bias appears to be a factor in the ease and extremity of disrespect aimed at America's first black president. And this disrespect mirrors the disrespect shown against black Americans in general. "Honorable people can disagree over policy," Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday. Yes, and they should do so honorably. Whatever Republicans' gripes about President Obama's vision and leadership, the party and its followers are too often expressing their critiques in an ugly way. And that rampant pattern of disrespect -- for any fellow human being, let alone the president of the United States of America -- is what truly undermines the principles and values of our nation. +(CNN)Empathy. Confidence. Passion. These are the traits the next police chief in Ferguson, Missouri, will need to shrink the ocean of distrust between community and police. So says Cecil Smith. And maybe he should know. Smith is the police chief in Sanford, Florida, another community rocked by racial tensions and poor police-community relations after the high-profile shooting of a black teenager -- the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin. And if Smith's experience is any guide, it will take "a lot of prayer and a little goading" to convince someone to step into the job vacated this week by Chief Thomas Jackson. "That community, as we see, has been hurting and struggling for some time now," he says. And how: . -- The community remains deeply scarred by the events last year, after the August shooting death of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown by a white Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, and the November decision by the St. Louis County Grand Jury not to charge Wilson, who later resigned. Occasionally violent protests and sometimes heavy-handed responses by police deepened divisions and distrust. -- The police department was already groaning under the epic weight of months of nearly constant protest and last week's release of a damning Department of Justice report that found evidence of discriminatory conduct on the part of Ferguson officials. -- Add to that the obvious fears facing officers following the shooting early Thursday of two police officers only hours after Jackson resigned. The decision for Jackson to step aside was a mutual one between the chief and city, Mayor James Knowles told reporters. He'll get severance and a year of health insurance and will turn the reins over to Ferguson police Lt. Col Al Eickhoff next week. The city will launch a nationwide search for a permanent replacement, Knowles said. "The City of Ferguson looks to become an example of how a community can move forward in the face of adversity. We are committed to keeping our police department and having one that exhibits the highest degree of professionalism and fairness," said Knowles -- who has himself been targeted by protesters demanding he resign. To get there, it might look to Sanford for guidance. There, trust in the police department bottomed out in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting. While no police officers were involved in the shooting, anger over their perceived failure to arrest the teenager's killer, George Zimmerman, pushed relations in the community to a boiling point, eventually resulting in the firing of Chief Bill Lee. Zimmerman eventually was arrested, and a jury acquitted him. Smith watched the chaos play out from Elgin, Illinois, where he was deputy police chief. A former boss in Illinois suggested he look at the job, so he traveled to Florida on his own time, getting to know the community and learning what divided residents and police. He still isn't sure how to explain why he took the job. "The first year, I was still wondering, was it a smart move?" Smith joked. But things are better now, he says. After taking the job, Smith made it a point of spending time "walking and talking" in Sanford, building relationships with community leaders and everyday residents. Inside the department, stepped up training in engagement and ethical policing. He also stepped up recruitment of African-American officers. "One of the things that's going on is we don't have people who look like us in the community," said Smith, himself an African-American. He handed out long-delayed promotions. And he even presided over a makeover, enlisting officers to help choose new uniforms. The new chief in Ferguson will likely need to do some of the same things, Smith says. Community leaders and other officials agree. "We need to deal with the culture issue here to make sure whoever is coming in behind Chief Jackson is not a new face and a new name on the same type of issues," Patricia Bynes, a Democratic committeewoman for Ferguson Township," told CNN Wednesday. "We need to seriously deal with the culture of the police department and the municipal courts and the way the city is run." New York police Commissioner William Bratton said there are two issues confronting the heads of police forces. There is the lack of trust on the community's part and the lack of confidence some officers have in their leadership. On the first issue, he said: "You need to be willing to embrace that there is a need to change." To police leadership consultant John Vanek, whoever takes over the Ferguson department will need to have the same leadership traits valued in boardrooms across the world -- the ability to form partnerships across organizational lines, to think differently, to turn failure into success and to do it all in a harsh media spotlight. But that's easier said than done. "There's going to be a lot of hostility in Ferguson for a long time," he said. So will the new chief need to be African-American to help defuse the racial tensions roiling the city? Here's the politic answer: Find the right candidate, regardless of race. "You want to find the best candidate to be police chief," said attorney Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of both Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. "But diversity is very important. It's very important that the police officers understand the communities, at least want to engage with members of the community they are going to be protecting and serving." "There's an old saying in the black community that everybody else is protected and served but we are policed," Crump said. "We don't want to be policed. We want to be protected and served as any American citizen." CNN's Nick Valencia contributed to this report. +(CNN)Actress Liza Minnelli has entered a rehab facility for her addictions, a spokesman said. "Liza Minnelli has valiantly battled substance abuse over the years and whenever she has needed to seek treatment she has done so," said spokesman Scott Gorenstein. "She is currently making excellent progress at an undisclosed facility." The 68-year-old has struggled with addictions to alcohol and painkillers in the past. Minnelli won an Oscar in 1973 for her performance in "Cabaret." CNN's Topher Gauk-Roger contributed to this report . +(CNN)"I will come to Tunisia." It's a bold pledge, some might say. But people across the globe are making that vow despite the deadly attack in the Tunis on Wednesday. Twenty-three people, most of them tourists, were killed after gunmen opened fire inside the Bardo Museum, a stone's throw from the parliament building. The "I will come to Tunisia" social media campaign is aimed at protecting the North African nation's tourism industry -- which is critical to the country's economy. The social media campaign features users holding up signs saying they will travel to the North African country. "I will travel to Tunisia this summer," reads a sign held up by a girl from China. A Dutch man's paper says: "Heroes! I will visit Tunisia and celebrate your Independence Day." Tens of thousands of people online have expressed support and solidarity with #JeSuisBardo ("I am Bardo"), #JeSuisTunisien ("I am Tunisian"), and #PrayForTunisia trending on Twitter. Some one in five Tunisians rely on tourism for their living, the nation's tourism minister said in 2013. Travel warnings in place in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries could cripple Tunisia's economy. It's a fresh wound after a painful few years in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. Visits to the country dropped significantly after the unrest of the 2010-2011 Jasmine Revolution, but the numbers had been bouncing back before the museum attack. An online advertisement to visit Tunisia, posted long before the attacks, shows people holding hands at some of Tunisia's most treasured landmarks. Human chains form across beaches, mountains, ancient ruins, the desert. The message: "All united to welcome you." This week, those words were repeated in social media. A Tunisian woman, also part of the campaign, holds a sign: "Welcome To Tunisia. We are not terrorists," followed by the hashtag #notafraid. In this online campaign, fear itself is the enemy. A Tunisian lawmaker spoke to that this week, sharing with the world: . "We are not afraid." +(CNN)University of Virginia student leaders have scheduled a campus forum with police Friday to discuss allegations of brutality following the bloody arrest of a 20-year-old student that prompted protests at UVA. The incident early Wednesday involved uniformed alcohol control agents and Martese Johnson, an African-American student at UVA. It made headlines around the country and prompted Gov. Terry McAuliffe to order an independent Virginia State Police investigation into what happened. The on-campus forum is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday. In a Facebook post, the university's Student Council said representatives from Charlottesville, Virginia, police, Albemarle County police and the state Alcohol Beverage Control were to attend the forum "to engage in a conversation about their relationship with students, or lack thereof, and about the issue of police brutality." Johnson's arrest prompted protests among students demanding "Justice for Martese" after images circulated showing his bloodied face and clothing. While what happened Wednesday remains under investigation, video from the incident shows Johnson pinned to the ground, screaming: "I go to UVA! ... You f****** racists! What the f***? How did this happen?" An officer can be heard telling the man to stop fighting. According to the student's attorney, Daniel Watkins, "just before handcuffing him, police took Martese to the ground, striking his head on the pavement and causing him to bleed profusely from the gash on his head." He needed 10 stitches to close the gash in his head, Watkins said. Johnson was charged with public intoxication and obstruction of justice, according to the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which acknowledged he suffered injuries during his arrest. The agents were placed on administrative duties during the investigation, the agency said. The Black Student Alliance said the arrest reminds black UVA students "of the gruesome reality that we are not immune to injustice." In a news release, the university called the arrest disturbing, and University President Teresa Sullivan issued a statement saying that "every member of our community should feel safe from the threat of bodily harm and other forms of violence." Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring appealed for patience. "Certainly the images that we've all been looking at in Charlottesville are shocking, but it's really important that we get the facts out and understand exactly what happened," Johnson said. Friday's forum will be held at a theater on the UVA campus. The Student Council said media would not be allowed to ask questions or bring cameras into the forum but said the event would be live-streamed on the Internet. "This is a student space -- a chance for students to ask the questions they feel are most pressing to Virginia's most senior law enforcement officials," the group said on Facebook. Students leaders asked their contemporaries to tweet questions in advance. As of midmorning Friday, only a handful of tweets had crossed using the proposed hashtag "#policedialogue." "Is the problematic influence of implicit bias discussed at all during police training," Twitter user yaejmeister asked. Among other questions, one student asked why alcohol control agents have police powers. A third wondered "is catering to UVa's hypersensitivity preparing our students for the world outside of 'grounds'?" The incident comes amid a continuing nationwide debate over the use of force by police, particularly involving African-Americans, following the deaths last summer of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York. Grand juries in both communities declined to indict white police officers in the deaths, leading to angry protests nationwide and calls for renewed attention to claims of police bullying and brutality. +(CNN)All 11 service members aboard an Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in waters off the Florida Panhandle two days ago are believed dead, and the operation has transitioned from rescue to recovery, an Air Force official said Thursday. The military is now focused on recovering the helicopter, which searchers found at the bottom of the Santa Rosa Sound near Eglin Air Force Base, and the bodies of all seven Marines and four Louisiana Army National Guard members who were aboard, Air Force Col. Monte Cannon said. Also ahead: Trying to determine why the aircraft went down in thick fog during a training mission Tuesday, Cannon said. "The decision to suspend is always difficult," said Layne Carter, search and rescue mission coordinator of the U.S. Coast Guard. "With heavy hearts, we have decided to suspend active search and rescue operations. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of the members involved in this tragedy." The bodies of at least two National Guard members were recovered Thursday, and the remains of the other two were believed to be in the underwater wreckage 25 feet below the surface, the Guard said. The troops were with 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion from Hammond, Louisiana, according to a statement from the Louisiana National Guard. The military had previously said that some remains had washed ashore Wednesday. Military officials declined to say Thursday how many bodies still were missing, and they did not release the names of the service members involved in the crash. Two Black Hawk helicopters were training near Eglin in heavy fog when one of them went down in the sound -- a narrow body of water between mainland northern Florida and a barrier island -- about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the military has said. A couple of military boats already were in the water for safety purposes as part of the exercise, but "nobody saw anything because of the dense fog," said Mark Giuliano, chief of the Eglin Air Force Base's fire department. "People said they heard a loud bang, and that was it," Giuliano said Thursday. The second Black Hawk -- which, like the first, was assigned to the 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion based in Hammond, Louisiana -- safely returned to the base, some 40 miles east of Pensacola. "Whatever the trouble was with the one aircraft, it did not involve the second helicopter that was participating in the exercise," Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland said earlier this week. Giuliano said his fire department, which has a unit on Santa Rosa Island near the crash site, was called to help at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 90 minutes after the crash. The military boats that were part of the mission already had been searching for survivors and wreckage, he said. Investigators from the Army and the Marines will try to determine what caused the wreck, Cannon said Thursday. Military officials have said it's too early to know whether the fog contributed to the crash. The 11 service members, all men, were involved in a seven-day training exercise of amphibious operations, said Capt. Barry Morris, a spokesman for the U.S. Marines Corps Special Operations Command. It involved small boats, and inserting and extracting Marines from the water via helicopter. Morris would not say which phase of the training the Marines were in Tuesday night. The seven Marines were with a Marine Special Operations regiment out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The initial search was hampered by dense fog, to the point that searchers on boats "could not see," Giuliano said. On Wednesday morning, after searchers got a sonar hit, a diver found the bulk of the wreck at the bottom of the sound, Giuliano said. Divers then went into the water "to start retrieving the aircrew," Giuliano said, without specifying how many bodies were recovered. The helicopter had broken into several pieces in a "high-impact crash," he said. The Coast Guard has hired a salvage company from Mobile, Alabama, to take the wreckage from the water, but that company might not arrive until Thursday evening, and weather conditions may delay the recovery until Friday, Giuliano said. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed his condolences on Wednesday. He said the crash was "a reminder to us that those who serve put themselves at risk, both in training and in combat." "We will work with the services to ensure that ... their family members will be well cared for." A Marine died Wednesday when a T-59 Hawk, an aircraft operated by a civilian contractor, crashed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. The aircraft hit a government vehicle, killing the Marine. The pilot and passenger of the plane were examined and released by emergency services. CNN's John Newsome, Brian Carberry, Victor Blackwell, Jamie Crawford and Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)Her murder shocked a nation, but according to the slain woman's father, it also woke Turkey up. Ozgecan Aslan's body was found last month, burned and abandoned, just days after her family reported her missing. She allegedly fought off a sexual assault before being killed by the driver of a bus she'd taken to go home. Her death sparked widespread protests. "A country woke up," Aslan's father, Mehmet Aslan, told CNN in a phone interview. "There was no way for so many people to come together over a single killing. But, I know that my Ozgecan was sent for a reason. And as devastating it is, it was her part, her destiny to wake people up." Aslan, 20, was a first-year university student. She studied psychology. "My Ozge lived for peace," her father said. "For peace, love and beauty. She believed in a better tomorrow." Since her death, hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets and online, demanding Turkey do more to protect women. They say the problem is cultural; it's also criminal. Bianet, a Turkish group that tracks violence against women, reports that at least 281 women were killed in Turkey in 2014 -- up 31% from the previous year. According to Hulya Gulbahar, a Turkish activist and women's rights lawyer, laws are irregularly applied. "In a majority of Turkey's female abuse cases, the perpetrators receive mitigations in their sentences due to court's detection of consent granted by the victim," Gulbahar said. "In some cases, wearing a miniskirt or some cleavage got the woman's rapist mitigation in his punishment, while in some cases the consent was attached to her wearing red." It's unclear what will happen in Aslan's case. Three suspects have been arrested in her death, Turkey's semiofficial news agency Anadolu has reported. The agency identified the main suspect as 26-year-old Ahmet Suphi Altindoken and said that he had confessed. Aslan reportedly fought him using pepper spray, which had been given to her by her mother. Although he is heartbroken and angry, Mehmet Aslan isn't out for revenge. In fact, his family has received donations from across the country and is planning to use those to set up a rehabilitation center -- not for women who are abused but for men who abuse. "We must surrender to love," he told CNN. "Otherwise, we all lose." Aslan's murder is similar in many ways to well-known case in India. There, a student was attacked by five men on a public bus in 2012. She was raped and later died from her injuries. Like Aslan's murder, her death triggered massive outrage and nationwide protests. And like Turkey, India has a serious problem when it comes to women's rights. Out of 142 countries, Turkey ranks 125th (India ranks 114th) on the World Economic Forum's 2014 gender gap index. On Sunday, some 3,000 women marched in Istanbul to mark International Women's Day, Anadolu reported. The female-only rally was dedicated in Aslan's memory. "Ozgecan's screams have indeed been heard. Maybe not that very instant, but later -- and in millions of hearts," said Mehmet Aslan. +(CNN)I met Kelly Gissendaner in January 2010 in a nondescript classroom at Metro State Prison for Women in Atlanta. She arrived for class beaming with excitement about the journey she was about to begin -- participation in a yearlong academic theology program sponsored jointly by four Atlanta seminaries. Since she has been sentenced to the death penalty and lives in solitary confinement, Kelly was particularly eager to share community with others, if only one morning a week. And she was grateful for the opportunity to explore the Bible and theology in a rigorous manner that would nurture and deepen her devotional life. That image of her on the first day of class remains vivid to me because it captures the core of who Kelly is — who she has become: someone full of contagious joy and gratitude, open to others and to new experiences for growth and ministry. Kelly's process of transformation began shortly after she arrived in prison following her conviction for murder in the death of her husband, Doug Gissendaner. A pastor began visiting her and initiated a series of difficult, yet compassionate, conversations that urged her toward courageous self-reflection. This same pastor has been visiting Kelly for almost 16 years. Her commitment to Kelly, along with that of the prison chaplain and chaplaincy interns, provided steady, ongoing love that fostered change. So by the time I met Kelly in 2010 she had already undergone a significant transformation. She was, in the words of the Apostle Paul, a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). In the theology program, Kelly found her own voice and came to see that her reflections on Christian faith could be a gift to the wider church "on the outside," as well as in prison. By studying historical and contemporary Christian thinkers, Kelly became part of the conversations that make the Christian tradition dynamic. She asked honest questions about her relationship to God, others and the world. She read scripture and grappled with centuries-old theological questions. She discovered her authentic theological voice in the midst of this work. "From the start of the theology class I felt this hunger," she said in her 2011 graduation speech. "I became so hungry for theology, and what all the classes had to offer; you could call me a glutton." One of the great joys of being a theology professor is getting to know students holistically, not only as thinkers, but also as human beings wrestling with some of life's most urgent questions. My relationship with Kelly had this quality from the start. But it deepened six months into the year when a new warden arrived at the prison. In her graduation speech, Kelly described this moment: . "There came a time when ... my worst fears became my reality -- I was pulled from the courses. I was taken from my theological community. Being pulled from the program devastated me as badly as if someone had just told me one of my appeals had been turned down. "Since I couldn't go to the theology class ... the instructors came to me. Still, this was far from being ideal because now I had to have class and community through a gate. It was hard ... but I pushed on. I pushed on because of that hunger. That gate ... was meant to keep everyone and everything separated from me. But that gate couldn't keep out the knowledge that I was so hungry for, nor friendship and community. And it sure couldn't keep out God." This change afforded us the chance to have two hours of one-on-one conversation every Friday. We continued to read theological texts together, including a book by then-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Williams describes healing and restoration as the act of facing our painful memories, "the ruins of the past," and building from them here and now. Restoration, Williams writes, "is going back to the memories of the painful, humiliating past and bringing them to redemption in the present ... to Christ [who] comes to repair the devastation." I sat with Kelly as she went back over some of her own painful memories, took responsibility for them and showed profound remorse about who she had been and what she had done. Indeed, the power of these moments -- when Kelly looked me in the eye and confessed concrete sins, when we spoke of God's love and forgiveness -- will stay with me forever. Kelly embraced what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor-theologian and Nazi resister, calls "costly grace." For Bonhoeffer, "cheap grace" is seeking God's forgiveness as a "cover-up for one's sins, for which one has no remorse and ... even less desire to be set free." In contrast, costly grace requires rigorously following Jesus in a way that leads to continuous, visible transformation, what the New Testament calls the fruits of redemption. The fruits of Kelly's redemption are now well-documented: reconciliation with her children, ministry to inmates full of despair, counsel to troubled youth and daily concern for others. On the night Kelly thought would be her last, she spent the evening writing a letter to her fellow inmates, urging them not to worry about her, but to be encouraged. Most poignant for Kelly are the writings of German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, who is widely known as the "theologian of hope" and with whom Kelly began corresponding in 2010. Moltmann shows that biblical hope is not a hope that gives up on this life and looks for something better beyond the grave. Rather, hope makes manifest the kingdom of God now --God's intended social order "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Biblical hope "revolutionizes and transforms the present." It is the hope of the psalmist who "looks for the goodness of God in this life" (Ps. 27:13). In the words of Kelly's favorite scripture, it is a hope that proclaims: "I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord" (Ps 118:17). In Kelly's own words: . "The theology program has shown me that hope is still alive and that, despite a gate or a guillotine hovering over my head, I still possess the ability to prove that I am human. Labels on anyone can be notoriously misleading and unforgiving things. But no matter the label attached to me, I have the capacity and the unstoppable desire to accomplish something positive and have a lasting impact ... Even prison cannot erase my hope or conviction that the future is not settled for me, or anyone." Many people have asked me in recent days how I have been transformed by my friendship with Kelly and by Kelly's journey of hope. While I struggle to find adequate words, what I do know is that Kelly's story pushes the logic of Christian faith to its outermost limits. It pushes Christians to reexamine and reaffirm the truths we proclaim about repentance, forgiveness, redemption and hope. Indeed, even professional theologians and life-long pastors struggle with the weight of the claims we make. Today, Kelly's life hangs in the balance. The state of Georgia on Monday issued a last-minute postponement of her execution, citing concerns about the drugs that were to be used to kill her. The Department of Corrections has said that it plans to resume executions once an analysis of the drugs is complete. While Gov. Nathan Deal does not have the formal power to commute Kelly's sentence to life in prison, I join more than 1,100 faith leaders from across the nation, including more than 500 from Georgia, who have signed a letter urging the governor to use his political influence to save Kelly's life and to speak out publicly against her execution. I call on all people of good will to reach out to Gov. Deal and to Georgia state legislators to demand a more just, merciful, and accountable system of justice -- for Kelly and for all. As theologian Richard Amesbury wrote, "If the life even of a convicted murderer can be turned around and so radically redirected, then none of us is without hope." We need to hear Kelly Gissendaner proclaim to us -- as much as we proclaim to her -- that the promises of God are real. +(CNN)There can be no March without the madness. When it comes to college basketball, the first month of spring ushers in a frantic slew of games to determine seedings for one of the most fervently watched sporting events in the U.S., known simply as the NCAA Tournament, or more often, March Madness. Like English soccer's FA Cup, much of the 68-team tournament's appeal is its egalitarian system of pitting traditional powerhouse programs like Duke, UCLA and Kentucky against relative minnows like Saint Mary's, Butler and Davidson. And both competitions offer the carrot of being able to impress scouts from top pro teams -- a first-round NBA pick can expect to earn anywhere from $755,000 to $5.75 million. Not bad for a graduate. Last year's tournament reached 102 million viewers, while almost 740,000 fans attended the 36 sessions. "When you go to college, maybe your number one goal before you graduate is you want to be able to play in the NCAA tournament," says Bryce Drew, head coach and former player at Valparaiso University in Indiana (28-5, Horizon League champions). "It's the biggest stage for college basketball, and it's one of the biggest national events in all of America." Drew knows just how big an impact that high-profile stage can have on aspiring professionals from beyond the major college ranks. His last-second shot for Valparaiso to beat the University of Mississippi in the first round of the 1998 tournament is one of the most replayed moments in March Madness history. How it works: . Selection Sunday (March 15) A 10-member panel determines seedings for the 68 teams that make the knockout tournament . First Four (March 17-18) A format started in 2011, 8 teams compete to qualify in the main draw . Second round (March 19-20) 64 teams split into 4 regions: Midwest, West, South and East . #1 plays #16 in each group . Third round (March 21-22) Down to 32 teams . Regional semifinals (March 26-27) Known as the "Sweet Sixteen" Regional finals (March 28-29) The "Elite Eight" National semifinals (April 4) The "Final Four" is played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; minimum capacity 70,000 . Championship Game (April 6) One of the most-watched events in U.S. sport . "I had always dreamed of winning the game in the NCAA tournament (and) always dreamed of making the last-second shot. For God to bless (me) with both of things at one time is something that I'll always cherish and remember," Drew says. His father, Homer Drew, was Valparaiso's coach at the time, and his brother Scott (now men's basketball coach at Baylor University) was an assistant, completing the Hollywood scenario. "I don't think any of us realized that they would show that replay the next year, and even the next year, and the next year. We were just so happy in the moment and never thought that we'd be able to talk about it over a decade later," he says. Showing the highlight is virtually a prerequisite whenever Drew coaches a nationally televised game, and is sure to come up next week when his Crusaders play in the "Big Dance" (one more nickname for the tournament.) Drew was a senior nearing graduation at the time. Although he had heard about professional scouts attending his games, being drafted by an NBA team was still considered a longshot. After all, the last time a Valparaiso graduate dribbled a basketball in the NBA was in 1956. But that was before "The Shot." Although Drew says private workouts for pro teams solidified his spot as the first Valparaiso player to be drafted in the NBA's first round (as the 16th pick,) he confesses that tournament attention is likely what got his foot in the door. "It helped me get my name out there, because they got to see me play against a different type of athlete in the NCAA tournament on a different stage," he says. Observing athletes during March Madness -- when competition is at its highest level -- is the best way to gauge if they will succeed as pros, according to one player representative. "It definitely helps an agent to learn how a player will perform under a national stage," says Jared Karnes, co-founder of A3 Athletics agency in Knoxville, Tennessee. "If they want to play in the NBA, they are going to be expected to play under a tremendous amount of pressure and attention." Michael Beasley, the second overall selection in the 2008 NBA draft, is one of Karnes' clients who has failed to live up to that pressure so far. Now 26, he recently found his way back to the NBA with the Miami Heat after a spell in China. Karnes, a former player himself at little-known Belmont University who "had the unfortunate assignment of having to guard Bryce Drew," says he enjoys recruiting clients from smaller programs because they lack the air of entitlement that can weigh on household names. "A lot of times they've had to work their way into the spotlight, and so they develop a hard work ethic," he says. "They really have an appreciation about what's happened to them; the more you can identify a talent with a level of high character, as an agent you've just found a terrific prospect." Among the most successful small-program players in the NBA is former Davidson standout Stephen Curry -- the current MVP frontrunner with the Golden State Warriors. Norris Cole, who played at Cleveland State and won two championships with the Miami Heat, and Gordon Hayward, a starting forward for the Utah Jazz, have also made their mark. Cole strikes a particular chord with Drew since they both came out of the unheralded Horizon League, a Division One conference made up of nine Midwestern schools. It was the less glamorous side of the game that set Cole apart from other prospects. "His defense is what helped him get drafted from our league," says Drew, who suited up for four NBA teams in six seasons before playing in Italy and Spain. "A lot of guys can score and shoot, but when you get to the NBA, really being able to defend someone separates you." Hayward led Butler -- a so-called "mid-major" program that exited the Horizon League two years ago -- all the way to the 2010 National Championship Game against Duke, only to watch his desperation half-court shot narrowly miss at the buzzer. Although Hayward turned pro after the two-point loss, Butler's exposure to potential recruits allowed the Bulldogs to return to the championship game the next year, and to the third round in 2013. With an enrollment of only 4,500 students, it is the smallest school to play in the final for over 30 years. In 2013, Butler's 36-year-old Brad Stevens became the youngest head coach in the NBA when he signed a $22 million contract with the Boston Celtics. "Even though they are so wildly successful as a team (now,) Butler right before that wasn't well known," says Karnes, adding that it was Hayward who first put it on the map. "You can find diamonds in these smaller schools." Drew hopes to emulate Butler's past success this postseason. He's already led Valparaiso to its highest victory total and winning percentage in school history. Led by 6-foot-10-inch Jamaican senior Vashil Fernandez (five blocked shots against Green Bay in the Horizon League tournament final) and 6' 9" sophomore Alec Peters, the Crusaders are hoping for a high seed when a 10-member committee meets this "Selection Sunday" to rank the tournament's 68 participants. Valparaiso's nightmare scenario would be an early-round pairing with last year's runner-up Kentucky. The Wildcats (31-0) aim to become the first team to go undefeated and win the national championship since the Indiana Hoosiers in 1976. Drew calls coach John Calipari's team -- powered by a front line of 7-footers Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson, along with 6' 11" Karl-Anthony Towns -- as the deepest he's ever seen in college basketball. Six of Kentucky's players are considered worthy of June's NBA draft. While Karnes remains guarded about which college basketball players he's scouting, inking deals with Kentucky players after the tournament is probably a longshot. "You talk about these smaller schools that are out there, we're that way as a boutique agency," he says. +Ferguson, Missouri (CNN)Ferguson's police chief and other city officials are already out. Now some residents have told the Missouri city they'll try to oust the mayor, too. Five residents Friday filed an affidavit saying they'll try to force a referendum on whether to remove Mayor James Knowles -- capping a tumultuous week in a community grappling not only with last year's fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown, but also Wednesday's wounding of two police officers shot during a protest. A group supporting the filing, Organization for Black Struggle, a 35-year-old St. Louis-based activist group, said the five would try to collect enough signatures -- 15% of the city's registered voters -- in the next 60 days. The five "initiated recall (attempt) due to Mayor Knowles' failure to adequately rein in an out-of-control police department during the protests following Mike Brown's death," the activist group said. The city government acknowledged Saturday that it received the affidavit. Earlier this week, the police chief and the city manager resigned in the wake of a U.S. Justice Department report alleging institutionalized racism at just about every level of Ferguson's municipal government, including the police department. Residents elect City Council members, who in turn appoint the city manager. The city manager directs and supervises all city departments, including police. The top municipal court clerk was fired earlier in connection with racist emails. This month's Justice Department report was initiated after one of Ferguson's police officers, Darren Wilson, shot and killed African-American teen Michael Brown in August, a shooting that spurred months of protests. Wilson, a white officer who said he shot Brown in self-defense, will not be charged in the case -- a grand jury declared it wouldn't indict him in November, and the Justice Department said this month that it would not bring federal civil rights charges in the case. Wilson resigned from the department in November, citing security concerns. Knowles indicated Friday he won't be stepping down. "I think it's important to recognize that there's a lot of people who may be angry at the situation; there's a lot of people who are frustrated in this community with the way things have gone down," the mayor, who is white, told CNN. "But there's a lot of people who still -- and who have expressed this to me -- express confidence in both my willingness, and members of the (City) Council's willingness, to listen, to be responsive, and to make changes as necessary," he continued. "People in the community recognize this, now, not everybody. I didn't win every time with 100% of the vote. But I can tell you there are ways to remove me if that is the will of the people," the mayor said. Blake Ashby, a white resident of Ferguson, said Friday that he believed Knowles has "consciously tried to reach out to all parts" of the city of 21,000 people. "If we lose Mayor Knowles, we lose a force for change, and it will be harder to make the changes that the DOJ (Department of Justice) is asking for," Ashby said. Rasheen Aldridge, a black member of a commission charged with recommending reforms in Ferguson, said that Knowles needed to resign in the wake of the DOJ report. "He knew what was going on during his watch," said Aldridge, a member of the Ferguson Commission, which Gov. Jay Nixon formed last year. Investigators still are seeking breaks in the case of two police officers who were shot Wednesday night during a protest in Ferguson. While the demonstrators' focus was Ferguson, neither of the wounded officers works for that police department. One is from Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb 13 miles south of Ferguson. The officer -- a 32-year-old with seven years' experience -- was shot at the high point of his cheek, just under his right eye, police said. The other was hit in the shoulder and the bullet came out the middle of his back. He is a 41-year-old officer with the St. Louis County Police who has been in law enforcement for 14 years. Both were treated and released. "I cannot tell you an arrest is imminent, and there's certainly no one in custody," St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters Friday afternoon. "The detectives are working this investigation around the clock, and they will not rest until we have a conclusion in this investigation," the chief said. Police have "several leads," he said. "I think we have a pretty good general idea of where we think the shots came from." Sara Sidner reported from Ferguson, Missouri. Jason Hanna reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Ed Payne and Michael Martinez contributed to this report. +Tunis (CNN)The bodies of four Italian tourists slain in a terror attack on Tunisia's Bardo Museum three days ago arrived back in Italy on Saturday, an official with the Tunis Crisis Center told CNN, but 14 victims' remains still lie in the morgue. As Tunisia gets back on its feet, the investigation into Wednesday's shooting at the Tunis landmark continues. Most of the 23 victims were foreigners, making the process of identification more complicated. Nineteen of them were tourists who'd been on two cruise ships that docked in Tunis. French, Spanish, Italian, British, Japanese, Russian and Colombian citizens are among those to have been formally identified so far. The bodies of the Italians were met in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who paid his respects to the victims and their families in a brief ceremony. Eleven people who were injured in the attack remained in the hospital in Tunisia on Saturday, the official at the Tunis Crisis Center said. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid identified two suspects in the attack, Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaou, in an interview with French radio station RTL on Thursday, though it wasn't immediately clear if they were the pair killed at the museum by Tunisian security forces. He said Yassine was "known to the security services, he was flagged and monitored," but not known or being followed for anything special. Authorities have arrested nine people in connection with the attack, including four directly linked to it, according to a statement from Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. An uncle of Yassine Labidi, Abeld Malik Labidi, told CNN on Friday that no one he knew had seen any signs of extremism in his 26-year-old nephew. But he said Yassine Labidi was one of the two gunmen killed at the museum. "It's true that Yassine carried out this terrorist attack, he was killed; his head, his body, we don't have it back," he said. But, he said, he believed Yassine and other young Tunisians like him were also victims of terrorism -- of the recruiters who paid them money, organized the logistics and took them to places like Syria and Libya to train as fighters. He had known his nephew well, he said. "After the revolution of 2011 he started to pray, before he would drink beers from time to time, like a young Tunisian. He wasn't extreme in any way." The only thing that raised questions was that Yassine had disappeared for about a month, he said. Although his nephew said he'd gone to the Tunisian city of Sfax to work, his family now suspected he had been in Libya because of the phone numbers he called from. "When he came back his behavior was the same: he was still himself, calm, serious. Nobody noticed anything, even the neighbors I spoke to," said Abeld Malik Labidi. "He said hello to everyone, he prayed, he took his coffee, even on the day of the attack he took his coffee with his family and went to work." Abeld Malik Labidi said Yassine's father, sister and brother had undergone lengthy interrogations by anti-terror police since the attack. Officers had seized his nephew's computer and phone, as well as taking samples of his fingerprints, he said. A cousin of Yassine, who asked not to be named, told CNN that the family was shocked by what had happened. "We are all shocked, we lost someone even if what he did was wrong, may God forgive him. Those he killed were innocent, why would you go and harm Australians or Japanese ... our Islam doesn't mention about killing people, Islam has never been this," he said. He also said he had no idea how his cousin had been radicalized, saying he was "a normal Tunisian guy ... but not an extremist." Security Minister Rafik Chelly said on Friday that the two extremists who attacked the museum got weapons training at camps in Libya. The suspects were activated from sleeper cells in Tunisia, he said. He did not say which group activated them, or with whom they trained. "They left the country illegally last December for Libya, and they were able to train with weapons there," he told private broadcaster AlHiwar Ettounsi TV. Like Tunisia, Libya saw its longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi ousted during the regional wave of revolutions known as the Arab Spring. But unlike its neighbor to the west, Libya has been fraught with more instability and violence -- much of it perpetrated by Islamist militants. In an audio message posted online Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, which it said targeted "crusaders and apostates" with "automatic weapons and hand grenades." CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. That bloodshed is "just the start," the ISIS message warned -- a threat that may or may not be hollow, but nonetheless adds extra urgency for Tunisian investigators. CNN's Claudia Rebaza reported from Tunis and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Radina Gigova and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)Lindsey Vonn may have missed out on gold at last month's world championships, but the American skier has set her sights on end-of-season glory after claiming a record-extending 65th World Cup win on Sunday. Vonn's victory in the super-G event at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany gave her the outright lead in the speed discipline ahead of this month's finals in France. Having finished seventh in Saturday's downhill, the 30-year-old rebounded by coming home 0.2 seconds ahead of overall World Cup leader Tina Maze, whose coach set up the course. It put Vonn eight points ahead of super-G world champion Anna Fenninger, who placed third to give back the 20 points she'd earned over Maze the day before -- when their positions were reversed. "I think it was set probably against Anna," said Vonn, who took bronze behind Maze at last month's world championships in Colorado. "That was a wise choice by Tina's coach. But it also really suited me and I liked it." "It's going to be a close fight in downhill and super-G, so I will really have to ski my best at the finals in Meribel. Hopefully I can get two titles," added Vonn, who is 35 points ahead of Fenninger in the downhill standings. But Vonn is well off the pace in the fight for the overall crown -- which she last won in 2012, her fourth success -- in third place almost 200 points behind the Austrian. Maze is another 44 points ahead of Fenninger, with just two slalom events in Sweden next week before the March 16-22 finale. "Of course it's a great result but I prefer to win," the Slovenian said. "Lindsey was simply better today and she deserves this win. "My whole team stands behind me and supports me and I am really thankful to them. Valerio did a great job setting the course. It was a fast and nice course set with not too many turns." Fenninger, who also won the world giant slalom title at Beaver Creek, said she will focus on her strengths after claiming a 12th podium this season. "It was a fast super-G and that's maybe not what I am the best at," said the 25-year-old. "Overall it's been a good weekend. Honestly I thought Tina was going to be better than me in the downhill and that I would catch up in the super-G. It turned out to be different. "I am focusing on my strengths, this is why I am not going to race slalom next week. Now I have to train giant slalom in order to show my best skiing and maximize my chances to win the giant slalom globe." Meanwhile, Kjetil Jansrud clinched the men's Super-G title with victory on home snow in in Kvitfjell on Sunday. The Norwegian, who missed out on securing the downhill crystal globe when he finished seventh on Saturday, opened up an unassailable 123-point lead over Italian Dominik Paris. "This is the first globe of my career," said the 29-year-old. "It's good to not have to go into the final weekend feeling like there are two guys pushing me on the cup and I have to fend off both of them. That's a big thing because I can leave the super-G and focus on the downhill." Jansrud has a 20-point lead over Hannes Reichelt in the downhill, but is less confident of overhauling his 52-point deficit on another Austrian, three-time defending champion Marcel Hirscher, in the overall standings. The men next travel to Slovenia for slalom events next weekend. "I think he will gain some extra points in Kranjska Gora, so I'm not very concerned about the overall," Jansrud said of Hirscher. "I think he'll pull through. But it might get exciting. He has no room for error and anything can happen." +Moscow (CNN)The primary suspect jailed in connection with the shooting death of Boris Nemtsov withdrew his confession Wednesday, saying he had been under duress during his admission and isn't guilty. Zaur Dadayev told two members of Russia's human rights council that he pleaded guilty after being detained because he was scared. He told Eva Merkacheva and Andrey Babushkin he had been tortured and the well-being of his family and friends were threatened. Dadayev was one of two suspects recently charged in the case. Three other suspects have not been charged. Merkacheva and Babushkin were accused of "interfering" with the investigation and will be summoned for questioning over their motives, authorities said. Russia's Investigative Committee stated that the two rights activists violated the law when they visited and questioned Dadayev in a Moscow jail. Amnesty International condemned the Russian officials' decision to go after the activists, saying that a "threat to bring criminal charges" against the rights activists "raises alarming questions over the fairness of the investigation." Anton Tsvetkov, the head of the Public Chamber's commission for public security, said Dadyev and two other suspects denied being involved in the shooting of the Russian opposition leader. He said a doctor found no signs of torture during an examination of the three men. Shagit Gubashev and Anzor Gubashev had no bruises or wounds despite the fact they allege they were beaten by police, Tsvetkov said. Dadayev did have a cracked tooth and handcuff marks on his wrists. Nemtsov, one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics, was shot in the back on a Moscow bridge as he walked with his girlfriend near the Kremlin in February 27. The three suspects visited by Tsvetkov deny they are guilty and have appealed their arrests, he said. Putin has condemned Nemtsov's killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate, the Kremlin has said. He also wrote to Nemtsov's mother, saying he shared her grief, and promised to bring those behind the killing to justice. CNN's Matthew Chance and Alla Eshchenko reported from Moscow, and Steve Almasy wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Elwyn Lopez and Karen Smith contributed to this report. +(CNN)Melissa was sold into the sex trade by a family member when she was only 12 years old. Her life became a prison: Chained to a bed in a warehouse, she endured regular beatings, rapes and once was even set on fire by her captors as she was forced to serve 5 to 30 men every day. The experience was enough for her to wish she was dead. And this all took place in Texas -- right here, in our own country. Melissa miraculously escaped her captors but, as is the case with so many other victims, she struggled for years to distance herself from her past, even finding herself in jail on multiple occasions. And while institutionalized slavery has long been cast from America's history books, thousands of children still suffer from the bonds of sex trafficking. Indeed, with the average age of a victim only 13 years old, these horrific crimes are stealing the innocent childhoods of kids across America. And the problem isn't confined to one part of the country. In, Minnesota, for example, a 12-year-old girl received a text message that she thought was from a friend. It invited her to go to a party and asked her to go to a fast food restaurant nearby. But she didn't get to a party. Instead, she was taken to a hotel and raped by a 34-year-old pimp, forced to take explicit photos of herself that were then posted on Craigslist, before being forced to have sex with two more men who saw the post. These heartbreaking stories demonstrate what is broken about our current system, and why we both feel committed to fixing it. Instead of treating people like these young girls as the victims they are, they are often thrown into the criminal justice system, labeled prostitutes and left with few options but to return to a nightmare that shockingly still exists in the United States. Meanwhile, instead of treating their perpetrators as child rapists and traffickers, they are often simply treated as "Johns" who, if caught, often pay a fine and go on their way. This is outrageous, and should not be tolerated any longer. That is why we've joined forces with more than 200 advocacy groups to fight this modern-day slave trade and provide hope and opportunity for its victims. Two bills we have introduced to combat this horrific crime recently passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with strong support and will have the opportunity for consideration by the Senate. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) would support victims by taking fines and criminal assets from convicted human traffickers and directing them toward services and treatment to help victims restore their lives. The JVTA doesn't only help victims, it also arms law enforcement with more tools to go after human traffickers. It ensures these criminals, including "Johns," are brought to justice under our laws, because a financial transaction should not mask assault on a child. The second bill is modeled after Minnesota's "Safe Harbor" law, which helps make sure minors sold for sex aren't prosecuted as defendants, but are instead treated as victims. The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act (SETT) would give incentives for all states to have a safe harbor provision. When a state passes a safe harbor law, it means that kids sold for sex are steered towards child protection services, rather than being arrested, charged, or convicted under a state's criminal statutes. All across the country, from Texas to Minnesota, young people are being robbed of their innocence and subjected to unthinkable horrors and abuse. We must do everything we can to free them from the shackles of sex trafficking. We must join together and take action to combat this modern-day slavery once and for all. +(CNN)A.J. Pero, a longtime drummer for the metal band Twisted Sister, has died, the band posted on its Facebook page. "The members of Twisted Sister are profoundly saddened to announce the untimely passing of our brother, AJ Pero," said the post. "The band, crew and most importantly the family of AJ Pero thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this time." Pero was 55. Pero died of what appears to be a massive heart attack, his longtime agent Dan Stanton told CNN. "He had been complaining of a sore arm all week and took a few days off from his tour with the band Adrenaline Mob," says Stanton. Pero had been on a tour with the band in Poughkeepsie, New York, and was scheduled to play tonight, according to Stanton. Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French told CNN that Pero was found this morning in his tour bus. He was taken to a hospital and died there. "We are devastated. He was a great guy and one of the best drummers," French said. "To lose someone you have depended on for 33 years ... I don't know what it is going to be like to be on stage without him. I can't even think about what it will be like." Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider tweeted about the death. "Today I lost a brother. Anthony Jude Pero passed away," Snider said in a statement. "His sledgehammer assault on the drums helped drive Twisted Sister and I to greatness and inspired me to rock every single show. My heart breaks knowing I will never feel the power of his beat behind me, or turn to see his face smiling broadly from the sheer joy he got from doing what he loved." Pero joined Twisted Sister, best known for its 1984 song "We're Not Gonna Take It" and accompanying comedic video, in 1982. Though he left for a time in 1987 to join another band, he reunited with Twisted Sister in the 1990s and was with the band for the past 12 years, according to Loudwire.com. In the "We're Not Gonna Take It" video, which also starred "Animal House's" Mark Metcalf, Pero can be seen in concert, hitting a drum that brings up a cloud of glitter. In recent years, he was also the drummer for the band Adrenaline Mob. CNN's Tony Marco contributed to this story. +(CNN)To come back or not come back? That is the question former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli posed on Twitter, prompting a raft of replies and retweets. The Frenchwoman was crowned champion at the All England Club in July 2013, but announced her retirement a mere one month later due to persistent injury problems. But now it appears the former world No. 7 is pondering a return to the court, with eight-time grand slam champion Jimmy Connors warning Bartoli to only consider it if she is fully committed. Bartoli wouldn't be the first women's star to come out of retirement. Veterans Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Kimiko Date-Krumm all chose to reenter the fray after saying their initial farewells. Bartoli won eight WTA titles during a 13-year professional career, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian and U.S. Opens and the last four of her home grand slam in Paris. +Washington (CNN)If it looks like a treaty, walks like a treaty and talks like a treaty, is it a treaty? According to the White House, only if the President of the United States says it is. That's infuriating Republicans and even some Democrats, who are demanding that the Obama administration submit any final nuclear deal with Iran to Congress for approval. "This is clearly a treaty," Arizona Sen. John McCain told reporters Tuesday. "They can call it a banana, but it's a treaty." Kerry denounces GOP letter to Iran leaders . The GOP position could jeopardize the long-term survival of any Iran deal, and it represents the party's newest clash with President Barack Obama over the limits of executive authority, as Republicans object to a pact they warn could eventually give Tehran a nuclear bomb. It's that skepticism that has largely led the White House to define the deal as a "nonbinding agreement" rather than a "treaty," which the Constitution requires Senate "advice and consent" on. The distinction -- and whether it can legitimately be used to shut out Congress -- turns on complicated and unresolved questions of constitutional law. While Republicans call foul, the administration defends the differentiation as perfectly sound, and no surprise. Secretary of State John Kerry stressed Wednesday that the administration never intended to negotiate a treaty. "We've been clear from the beginning. We're not negotiating a 'legally binding plan.' We're negotiating a plan that will have in it a capacity for enforcement," he said at a Senate hearing. That doesn't sit well with Republicans, many of whom believe the Senate's constitutional role is being bypassed. Idaho Sen. James Risch dismissed the administration's argument: "Let there be no mistake, this is a treaty that is being negotiated. It's a treaty and should be treated as such." Did 47 Republican senators break the law in plain sight? Republicans see criticism of the administration's maneuver as a way to gum up the works on the current deal, and to push their larger assault on the White House's exercise of power. At the Senate hearing Wednesday, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul explicitly tied the administration's bid to keep the deal away from Congress to other accusations of White House overreach. "This is an administration that seeks to legislate when that is not in their purview, whether it be immigration, whether it be health care," he charged, noting that he had joined 46 other GOP senators in signing a letter to the Islamic Republic informing them of Congress's role in approving binding agreements. "I signed the letter to Iran. But you know what? The message I was sending was to you," he told Kerry. "I signed it to an administration that doesn't listen, to an administration that, every turn, tries to go around Congress because you think you can't get your way." But legal experts say that though a court challenge along the lines of pending GOP cases on immigration and health care is possible in theory, it would be a long shot. There is no currently no suit on the issue being discussed on Capitol Hill, and it's far from clear that Republicans would be standing on firm legal ground with such a challenge. The debate, rumbling for decades, has yet to be definitively resolved in case law. "It is a very interesting question," said Nicholas Burns, a former senior U.S. diplomat, arguing that it is essentially up to the administration to decide whether it is negotiating an agreement that formally binds the United States to commitments under international law; i.e., a treaty, or a less stringent arrangement. Senators grill Obama officials on Iran . Jim Walsh, a specialist on the Iran nuclear program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the Iran deal, which commits the United States to waive or lift sanctions, does not rise to the level of a formal treaty. "Treaties traditionally have involved reductions in armaments, nuclear weapons, conventional forces. They require us to take something away that we have already built or established." In this case, the United States would lift sanctions, but would not be changing its military posture. "We have had all sorts of agreement that were never ratified by Congress," Walsh said. But David Rivkin, a constitutional and international law expert who worked for President George H.W. Bush, said that any international agreement requiring major undertakings on the part of the United States -- such as the proposed Iran deal -- must be sent to the Senate for advice and consent. "The Constitution is quite clear," he said. Republicans point to none less than the vice president of the United States to bolster their case. When Vice President Joe Biden was a senator in 2002, he wrote a letter to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell charging that a planned strategic arms reductions deal with Russia constituted a treaty subject to Senate approval since it would require "significant obligations by the United States." But Biden's 2002 letter didn't keep him from unleashing his fury at the GOP letter to Iran on Monday. "Around the world, America's influence depends on its ability to honor its commitments," Biden said in a statement. While Congress approves some agreements, "as the authors of this letter must know, the vast majority of our international commitments take effect without congressional approval." Indeed, in the letter he penned to Iran, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton acknowledged that the administration could seek a mere "executive agreement" free of congressional review. Obama, Iranian official slam GOP letter on deal . Presidents claim inherent powers to conclude executive agreements under Article II of the Constitution. U.S. law stipulates that an agreement is only viewed as a treaty once it has been made with "the advice and consent of the Senate," a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service noted. But administrations often choose to conclude deals with foreign states that don't satisfy that requirement. Such an "executive agreement" is still considered a treaty that is binding under international law, but does not reach the same standard under U.S. law, according to the study. Examples of "nonbinding" documents include a U.S.-Russia to remove Syria's stocks of chemical weapons and the Proliferation Security Initiative to stop the global shipment of the weapons of mass destruction components. Biden argued Monday that this practice is as old as the United States itself. "Under presidents of both parties, such major shifts in American foreign policy as diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China, the resolution of the Iran hostage crisis, and the conclusion of the Vietnam War were all conducted without congressional approval," he said in his statement opposing the GOP letter. The White House would clearly prefer a binding agreement with Iran, which would have a better chance of longevity. But the strength of opposition in Congress makes that route impossible. According to Republicans such as Cotton, the only deal the Senate would approve is one that completely bans Iranian uranium enrichment. Obama has said that goal is simply not realistic. So Republicans, dissatisfied with what's emerging from negotiations, are seizing on the vulnerability of a deal that lacks treaty status. Many see that as a more viable path for disruption than the case on administration overreach. "If Congress doesn't approve this deal, Congress won't accept this deal, now or in the future," Cotton told CNN. In the letter, he informed Iranian leaders that many senators will serve terms longer than Obama, so they would have to reckon with the Senate at some point. Lawmakers can refuse to lift sanctions down the road or try to choke off funds for the deal's implementation. The administration acknowledges that Congress will have to get involved at some point. Obama currently has the power to lift or waive certain sanctions against Iran for the duration of his presidency and encourage U.S. international partners to follow suit. But he does not have the power to lift sanctions imposed by Congress, which include some of the most punitive measures against Iran. "Part of the agreement is going to involve sanctions relief to the Iranian government that is meted out over time," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told CNN. "At some time in the duration of this agreement, Congress will have to be heard on sanctions relief." Senior U.S. officials have acknowledged that the clamor among lawmakers for a role, as well as their public criticisms, also implicitly highlights the vulnerability of their case and an ultimate agreement. Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia who has signed onto a bill calling for the White House to put any deal up for a vote in Congress, said that Obama is within his rights to do what he is doing -- up to a point. "It is not a treaty. If it were a treaty, there is a clear process. It would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate." But Kaine told CNN on Wednesday that lawmakers did have a role to play at the point when sanctions mandated by Congress are bargained away to ensure Iran sticks to limits on its nuclear program. "Congress has got to weigh in at some point," Kaine said. +London (CNN)Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson was suspended for allegedly hitting a producer, the BBC reported on Wednesday. The BBC said Clarkson, one of the corporation's highest earners, had "a fracas with a BBC producer" in a statement released yesterday. "Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," they said. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday." The BBC reported that the next two episodes, and possibly the third and final show of the series, will not be aired. Fans of the presenter expressed dismay at the decision. At the time of writing, more than 300,000 people have signed a petition seeking his reinstatement. Using the hashtag #BringBackClarkson, which is trending worldwide, some Twitter users lamented that the show would not be the same without him. Clarkson himself also took to Twitter, posting an apology (of sorts) to Labour leader Ed Miliband -- for knocking him down the news agenda. "Save Clarkson?" his co-host James May tweeted. "Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful." But a "Sack Jeremy Clarkson" petition is also doing the rounds, gathering 2,814 signatures so far. Some will be glad to see the back of him. Former CNN host Piers Morgan, who has had a series of run-ins with the presenter, also waded in with a cheeky jibe. This is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy. In May last year, the television presenter asked forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show. Clarkson had mumbled the n-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired. Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines when Argentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used -- interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War. Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said on the BBC Newsbeat website that the use of the plate was purely coincidental. Top Gear was named as the world's most widely watched factual program in the Guinness World Record 2013 Edition book, with an estimated 350 million global viewers. The show is sold to 214 territories worldwide. In a previous article on their website, the BBC said "Jeremy Clarkson is not a man given to considered opinion." In their statement, the corporation declined to comment any further. +(CNN)This week, Google CFO Patrick Pichette made headlines when his resignation memo announcing his retirement surfaced in the media. But the uproar wasn't that Pichette was quitting so much as why. "After nearly seven years as CFO," he began, "I will be retiring from Google to spend more time with my family." What he wanted now was to enjoy life at home and abroad with his wife, to "grab our backpacks and hit the road -- celebrate our last 25 years together by turning the page and enjoy a perfectly fine midlife crisis full of bliss and beauty." The letter, which he said he wrote in part because, "so many people struggle to strike the right balance between work and personal life," has been held up as a manifesto for the "work/life balance" ideal that's become something of the new American dream. The media has described it as "powerful" and "unusually reflective." Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page said, "Well worth reading, it will warm your heart." But if Pichette's work/life balance was achieved by quitting his job to go see the world, what message does it send to the rest of us seeking work/life balance? What message does it send to those workers -- and in particular women -- who are constantly told they can "have it all," or who can be at the top of their field and have a family? What does it say to all those women to whom we say that, with a little "leaning in" or "playing big" they don't have to choose between work and life? Successful women from Sheryl Sandberg to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi have spoken out about the pressure to "have it all," and how, perhaps, there's really no such thing. Research backs them up. A November 2014 study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found that women show more signs of depression as they move up the career ladder. Similarly, a survey of Harvard Business School grads found that the pressure women put on themselves to balance work and family is causing them significant stress. The survey also found that the majority of men expected their partners to take primary responsibility for childcare -- and indeed that happened in more than 70% of cases. And yet in recent years, "work/life balance" has been held up as a legitimately attainable ideal, one that you can achieve if only you give your personal life as much attention as your professional one. But if you look at those we tend to hold up as models of that ideal -- those who leave work earlier, silence their cellphones more, retire, as in the case of Pichette, at 52 -- are they really striking a balance? Which is why talking about work/life balance at all is a perilous business, an invitation to fail. Having it all is very difficult, if not downright impossible. Pichette, after all, did not practice work/life balance. He wrote, "I was always on -- even when I was not supposed to be." Like many successful men (and women), he was likely able to work as hard as he did while still having a family because he had the support of someone at home. "When our kids are asked by their friends about the success of the longevity of our marriage, they simply joke that Tamar and I have spent so little time together that 'it's really too early to tell' if our marriage will in fact succeed." It's in jest, of course, and yet likely rooted in some serious reality. This is a man who didn't achieve work/life balance as an executive. Of course, one could argue that the idea of balancing work with life may be harder for men than for women, who are the traditional breadwinners and the ones more likely to find self-worth through their work. This is one reason we see many wealthy, powerful men working well into their 80s. At the same time, it's undeniably easier for these men to make a decision to leave the whole thing early. Pichette retires as Google's highest paid executive, with millions in stock incentives. He can afford to retire and not even have to work for the remainder of his life. The rest of us are nowhere close to having that luxury of choice. Corporate America, it should be noted, shoulders much of the blame for keeping balance at arm's length, with increasingly long days and ever-tightening limits on vacations, paid leave and other "benefits." We shouldn't have to leave our jobs to achieve balance, and the fact that some do, means that companies need to make real changes. That includes staffing workplaces reasonably, putting workers' well-being on par with profits, showing workers you don't expect them to be "on" all the time. Only then will real work/ life balance start to take shape. Until then: "Google CFO Patrick Pichette's Goodbye Note Will Make You Dream of Quitting Your Job," so reads a headline at ABC News. Indeed, that's the kicker. Pichette can "carpe diem" and "find balance," if that's what he's doing, at 52, because he truly does have choices. But for most of the workers in America, finding that sort of balance -- or choosing life over work -- will remain an impossible dream. +Jerusalem (CNN)Either Benjamin Netanyahu just staged the most dramatic political comeback in Israeli history and beyond, or something was very wrong with the polls before and during the election. Polls predicted a tight race coming down to the wire, with Netanyahu in a virtual tie with his main challenger, Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Union party. Only four days before the election, polls showed Herzog taking a four-seat lead into the final weekend before the election. Exit polls on the night of the election showed Netanyahu had closed the gap. The polls suggested he was in a dead heat, with a very even split between right-wing and left-wing parties. Then came the results. Not more polls or surveys, but actual counts from the ballot boxes. Netanyahu wasn't in a fight for his political life after all. He was the clear winner, running away with the election and facing a fairly clear path to create a coalition government. Although the results are unofficial, it seems almost certain that Netanyahu will remain the Israeli prime minister. Avi Degani, a pollster, professor at Tel Aviv University and president of the Geocartography Knowledge Group, saw very different results from his own polls. He never anticipated a Zionist Union victory. Instead, he says, he always saw Likud holding a lead. The mistake that others made, according to Degani, was in the methodology. "The Internet does not represent the state of Israel and the people of Israel," he said, referring to modern statistical methods. "It represents panels, and the panels are biased strongly to the center -- Tel Aviv, better-educated, more participants in this kind of conversation. And people who are in the periphery and so on and have the stronger tendency to vote Likud, I think, are poorly represented." "I have tested sometimes at the same night, doing by telephone as I do always -- and very specifically geographically, and very well-weighted and very well, having cell phones and other phones and so on -- and at the same time I did on the Internet. And I got results which are very, very different." But Mina Tzemach, the polling expert for CNN affiliate Channel 2 Israel, suggests Netanyahu was in a tight race the entire way and managed to close the gap "like a magician," using the election polls as his final trick. "The polls showed that they are going to lose. It gave very important information both to the public and to the politicians. Netanyahu used it," said Tzemach. "Many voted what we call strategic voting. They did not vote to the party that is their first preference, but they voted for the Likud." Likud voters did not participate in exit polls, according to Tzemach, and that skewed the results, leading many to believe that Herzog had tied Netanyahu. "We had ballots in an area where there are a lot of immigrants from the former Soviet Union," explained Tzemach. "In these ballots, more than 30% did not participate in our polls, and they are Likud supporters." Another factor that may have worked in Netanyahu's favor was his Likud party cannibalizing votes from other right-wing parties. In the days before the election, Netanyahu moved to the political right, making a big push for right-wing voters to choose his party over other ideologically similar parties, such as Naftali Bennett's Jewish Home party and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party. During the weekend before the election, Netanyahu took part in a right-wing rally in Tel Aviv's central Rabin Square. He continued his shift to the right in a series of interviews with local media leading up to the election. His most controversial statement came the day before the elections when he reversed his publicly stated position on a two-state solution. "Anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state, anyone who is going to evacuate territories today, is simply giving a base for attacks to the radical Islam against Israel," he said in a television interview. "This is the true reality that was created here in the last few years." In 2009, in a speech known as the Bar Ilan speech, Netanyahu committed to negotiations for a two-state solution, saying, "Let us begin peace negotiations immediately without prior conditions. Israel is committed to international agreements, and expects all sides to fulfill their obligations. I say to the Palestinians: We want to live with you in peace, quiet, and good neighborly relations." Tzemach estimates that Likud took four seats from Jewish Home and two more seats from Yachad, a party that did not receive enough votes to warrant inclusion in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Exit polls in Israel have been wrong before. In the most recent elections in 2013, exit polls showed Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid party winning between 12 and 13 seats in the Knesset. But when the final results were tallied, Lapid won 19 seats, becoming a major player in the government. This time, the unexpected surprise worked in Netanyahu's favor, turning the campaign race into an election night rout. Likud had never polled better than approximately 25 seats, but it grabbed at least 29 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, according to unofficial numbers from the Israeli election committee based on 99% of the vote. Netanyahu has worked this sort of magic once before. In the 1996 elections, early results showed the Labor Party's Shimon Peres as the winner, but as more results came in, Netanyahu eked out a victory by fewer than 1% of the votes. Degani said this election reveals the truth behind Israeli politics. "This last election it showed very clearly that we do not have right and left. We have only right and extreme right, which is not nice sometimes. And in the right, you have the Likud mostly, and in the Likud, you have mostly Netanyahu." +(CNN)They were known for their quiet professionalism and dedication. One recently received a high military honor for rendering aid to a wounded comrade in Afghanistan while under enemy fire. One had served a tour in Kosovo. The 11 service members who died in an Army Black Hawk helicopter crash Tuesday off the Florida Panhandle weren't only a loss to their country. They leave behind wives, fiancees, parents, children and friends. They will be missed. And remembered. Seven of those on the helicopter were Marines based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Four served with the Louisiana National Guard. A 21-year member of the Guard, Griffin had served in Iraq in 2004-05 and 2008-09. He'd also been deployed during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Isaac, said Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard. "G. Wayne Griffin was born to be an Army aviator," said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Reggie Lane on the state Guard's website. "He had a tremendous passion for flying." Griffin, a resident of Delhi, is survived by his wife and four children. The Alexandria resident was known for his outsized personality. "He was more like a force of nature," said Maj. Andre Jeansonne of the 135th Aviation Regiment. "His huge heart touched the lives of all he met." Strother had deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and just last year to Kosovo. He also served during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Isaac. He commissioned as a warrant officer but went on to become an instructor pilot with more than 2,400 flight hours, including more than 700 combat hours. Strother leaves behind a wife, a son and a stepdaughter. Bergeron enlisted in the Marines in 1998 and joined the National Guard in 2001. He'd deployed to Iraq twice and served during state deployments for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Isaac. Sgt. 1st Class Brian Marquez called Bergeron one of the most qualified crew chiefs in the Guard, with more than 1,300 flight hours, including 377 combat hours. "He was a subject matter expert in his job," Marquez said. The Thibodaux resident is survived by his wife and two children. Florich came from Fairfax County, Virginia, and enlisted in the Louisiana National Guard in 2007 as a Black Hawk repairer. He served during state deployments for Operation Deepwater Horizon and Hurricane Isaac, the Guard's website said. "Tom was full of life, and his personality could light the room," Marquez said. "He will be greatly missed by the unit and the flight facility." Florich is survived by his wife, father and stepmother. He was posthumously promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant. Theresa D. Hipple was thrilled her stepdaughter, Erika, planned to marry Bawol this October. After all, the Warren, Michigan, Marine "was an all-around wonderful guy -- the kind of guy you would want your daughter to marry," Hipple told The Macomb Daily in Michigan. High school chums told the newspaper they jokingly called Bawol "The Patriot" because he always seemed to do the proper thing. He was a stand-up guy you could depend on. Friends said Bawol enjoyed hunting trips and was in peak physical shape. Bawol had completed a tour in Afghanistan. "The pain will linger," Hipple said. "I don't know that you ever get over it." Bawol joined the Marines while attending Olivet College to play baseball. The Orion Veterans Memorial in Lake Orion, Michigan, contains a brick with Blaylock's name and the words "U.S. Marines." For his wife and two daughters, the meaning of that brick this week took on new meaning, police Chief Jerry Nash told the Oakland Press. "He gave everything he had to ensure that we're free and safe, and that's all that we can ever ask of our servicemen," Narsh said. Blaylock, a swimmer in high school, attended Henry Ford Community College before enlisting. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and 2008. He was deployed to Afghanistan from 2013 to 2014. Flynn hailed from Reading, England, and moved to Queens, New York, in 2002. He enlisted four years later and was sent to Iraq the next year. A stint in Afghanistan followed, from January to September 2012. He saw service there again from November 2013 to June 2014. Kemp, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, moved as a child to Port Washington, Wisconsin. He was proud to be a Marine, husband and a dad. His daughter turns 1 later this month. The sergeant was a pretty private guy and didn't talk a lot about his service, his sister-in-law told CNN affiliate WISN-TV in Wisconsin. But he knew how to have fun. When he wasn't golfing or at the ocean on his time off, Kemp horsed around with his nephews, WISN reported. "He would wrestle with them. He really got into that, the wrestling and playing. He'd carry them around on his back," said sister-in-law Lora Waraksa. Kemp saw service in Iraq as a machine gunner and went to Afghanistan from November 2013 to June 2014. Just last week, the Fairbanks, Alaska, native received the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry while rendering aid to a wounded buddy in Afghanistan. Seif and his small team moved in on a compound on July 24, 2012, while searching for an expert on improvised explosive devices. A sergeant was wounded by gunfire. Seif, without waiting for reinforcements, "dynamically and courageously" secured the compound, took out the enemy insurgent and tried to help his comrade, all while under enemy fire. The wounded sergeant did not survive. "Marines never leave anybody behind," Marine Maj. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman said at the ceremony at Camp Lejeune. Seif's wife was with him during the medal presentation. Seif was named the USO's Marine of the Year in 2013. The organization cited his heroism in Afghanistan and his commander's description of the Marine's "tenacity, vigor and common sense that he applies to every task or endeavor he undertakes." His family moved to Holland, Michigan, when he was a teen. He deployed to Iraq in 2008 and was sent to Afghanistan a couple years later. Saunders lived in Williamsburg, Virginia, a city important in the early history of the Colonies and the move toward independence from Britain. He was born in Bonn, Germany, and graduated from high school in Virginia. His deployments included Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marine Corps Association and Foundation named Saunders the "critical skills operator of the year" in 2014. The Marine leaves behind his wife and son. A native of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Shaw was captain of the varsity lacrosse team and high school student government president at Ridge High School. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and became a Marine officer. Shaw was deployed to Anbar province in Iraq in 2007 and returned there in 2009. He also saw service in Japan. CNN's Barbara Starr, Justin Lear and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report. +(CNN)Two Chinese men have been jailed for selling military intelligence, including hundreds of photos of China's first aircraft carrier, to foreign spies, state media reported. According to the Dalian Daily, the two men, surnamed Han and Zhang, were sentenced to eight and six years in prison respectively earlier this year. The report said that Han, 30, was approached by a person claiming to be a journalist via the instant messaging app WeChat. The "reporter" assigned Han to work in a military base, taking photos of "sensitive areas" of a major military project with his phone in the name of news gathering. Last summer, he traveled to Beijing and Liaoning, in China's northeast, to take photos, including images of exhibits at a national defense technology promotion show. He later passed recordings and photos to his "employer," the report said. "Although the enemies' tricks are cunning, they are totally preventable," the paper said. When contacted by CNN, Dalian's Public Security Bureau confirmed the media report was correct but declined to give further details. The other man, Zhang, 23, had sent more than 500 pictures of the Liaoning aircraft carrier, named after the province where it was refitted, to a person who claimed to be an editor with a foreign magazine before being detained last August. Two months earlier, Zhang had quit his original job for this better-paid side job, the paper said. The paper published photographs of their "spying equipment" -- iPhones, computers and cables. Some Internet users questioned whether it was really espionage to take photos of China's aircraft carrier -- even former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited the vessel in 2014. "I have photos of the aircraft carrier, too," one person with the handle @gablio posted on Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter. "When I flew from Dalian to Beijing two years ago, I saw the vessel clearly on the plane. Countless people have photographed it." +(CNN)New Zealand police have revealed a threat to contaminate infant formula and other dairy formula with poison, in an apparent attempt to blackmail the government over its pest control policies. Police appealed for public help to find the alleged blackmailer, at a press conference in Wellington Tuesday. They revealed an investigation had been underway since November, when anonymous letters were sent to giant dairy cooperative Fonterra and a farmers' lobby group. The letters were accompanied by small packages of milk powder containing a concentrated form of 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate), a poison used by New Zealand's Department of Conservation to control introduced pest species such as possums and rats. The letters threatened to contaminate infant and other formula with 1080 unless New Zealand stopped using the poison for pest control by the end of March, police said in a statement. The letters said the threat would be made public if the demand was not met. New Zealand's heavy use of 1080 -- it uses about 80% of the world's manufactured stocks, according the country's Environmental Protection Agency -- has been a controversial issue, with conservationists and farmers generally supporting the measure, and some hunters and animal rights activists opposed. Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said the threat amounted to "eco-terrorism." Prime Minister John Key said at a press conference that police had advised that there was a low likelihood of the threat being carried out. Meanwhile, government officials said supplies of formula had not been contaminated, and urged consumers to continue using the products. "We are confident that New Zealand infant and other formula is just as safe today as it was before this threat was made," said Scott Gallacher, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries. "People should keep using it as they always have." He said more than 40,000 samples had been taken without finding a trace of 1080, and food security measures had also been boosted in response. These included a strengthened security measures in retail stores and a boosted presence at manufacturing sites, and enhanced milk and product testing, including the introduction of a test for 1080. "This criminal threat is designed to cause fear in order to generate a political outcome. It is using food as a vehicle but should not undermine confidence in our world-class food safety system or in any manufacturer," he said. He urged consumers to check formula packaging for any signs of tampering as a result of the threat. Police said an Auckland-based investigation team was pursuing a number of lines of inquiry in locating the source of the threat, but the time was right to appeal to the public. "Whilst there is a possibility that this threat is a hoax, we must treat the threat seriously and a priority investigation is underway," said Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement. "You might be aware of someone who has strong views on the 1080 issue and made threats, or has discussed how to access supplies of 1080." He also called on the alleged blackmailer to come forward. "The letter writer may not have really considered the implications of their actions when this communication was drafted. Now is the time to put this right by picking up the phone and calling us." Blackmail carries a maximum sentence of 14 years jail in New Zealand. New Zealand is the world's leading dairy exporter, and dairy cooperative Fonterra is the country's biggest company, with revenue of $16.3 billion last year. CEO Theo Spierings described the threat in a press conference as "a despicable crime." The global diary giant has been beset by problems before, most recently in 2013, when it ordered a global recall of products -- including infant formula -- after fears they might contain bacteria that could cause botulism. The fears proved unfounded, as the bacteria detected was not a botulism-causing strain. New Zealand Infant Formula Exporters Association chairman Michael Barnett said eyes were now on the response to the threat in key markets such as China, the biggest consumer of New Zealand dairy exports. "This could be extremely damaging for New Zealand's exports offshore," he told CNN affiliate TVNZ. "Our whole reputation as an exporter of food is at risk because of this nutter." Trading in all New Zealand-listed dairy companies was halted Tuesday with the announcement of the threat. CNN's Charles Riley contributed to this report. +(CNN)The world of Mexican wrestling wrestling has been deeply shaken by the death of star fighter Hijo del Perro Aguayo, who collapsed after being kicked during a bout. The lucha libre fighter, whose real name is Pedro Aguayo Ramirez, was left slumped against the ropes after a flying kick from one of his opponents, Rey Mysterio, during the match Friday night. The other wrestlers continued with the fight as Aguayo's limp body slid down onto the mat, according to video footage of the bout posted on social media. The video showed ringside personnel repeatedly shaking Aguayo and talking to him without any response. He eventually received medical attention and was rushed out of the arena in the city of Tijuana. But doctors were unable to revive him. AAA, the wrestling promotion company for which Aguayo worked, said it was informed of his death around 1 a.m. Saturday. He was 35 years old. "Mexican lucha libre is in mourning over the death of one of its star talents," the AAA said in a statement. Questions remained over what exactly caused Aguayo's death and why it took so long for him to receive medical treatment. Ernesto Franco, the duty doctor at the fight, told Mexico's state news agency Notimex that at the time of Aguayo's collapse, he was attending to other injured wrestlers, according to CNN Mexico. Franco said Aguayo's injury was the result of a blow to the neck region, adding that he spent about an hour trying to revive him using "all possible resuscitation measures." The Associated Press reported that the state prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into possible manslaughter. The AAA said Friday's fight was organized by another promotion company named The Crash. Aguayo's death prompted an outpouring of grief on social media from fans and members of the wrestling industry. "I will miss you and carry you with me for the rest of my life," tweeted Rey Mysterio, who landed the flying kick on Aguayo. "Rest in peace, Hijo del Perro." He posted two images on Instagram that appeared to show him and Aguayo at a young age and again later in life. "I had the privilege to share a ring for the first time with Hijo del Perro Aguayo in his debut as a professional wrestler and an honor to be in the ring with this great legend for the last time!" he wrote. "You will be missed, Perro." WWE wrestler Mark Henry tweeted, "Respect to fallen brother in arms!" "I and the WWE universe pray for your peace and comfort to your family!" Henry wrote. Aguayo is the son of one of the giants of Mexican wrestling, Pedro "Perro" Aguayo. The younger Aguayo began his career in 1995 at the age 15, according to the AAA. But he emerged from his father's shadow to become a big name in his own right. "El Hijo del Perro Aguayo was among the most decorated AAA stars in recent memory as a three-time Mexican National Tag Team champion as well as a former Mexican National Light Heavyweight champion and Mexican National Atomicos champion," wrote Bleacher Report columnist Mike Chiari. "There is no question that El Hijo del Perro Aguayo was among the most popular and successful luchadores in Mexico," Chiari said. +(CNN)Dolce & Gabbana went familial for fall at its fashion show in Milan on Sunday, dedicating its collection to "mamma" with nary a pair of "mom jeans" in sight. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who are behind the Italian brand, sent models down the runway in decidedly feminine dresses and skirts adorned with roses, lace and even embroidered doodles by the designers' own nieces and nephews. Many of the looks featured saccharine needlework phrases like "I love you, mamma" and "Per la mamma più bella del mondo" (for the most beautiful mother in the world) as a tableau vivant of moms and daughters stood and posed as a backdrop for the runway. Even the usually stoic-faced front row couldn't help but applaud and smile as a few models carried their own high-fashion progeny down the runway. +(CNN)Sigma Alpha Epsilon is under fire for a video showing party-bound fraternity members singing a racist chant. SAE's national chapter suspended the students, but University of Oklahoma President David Boren took it a step further, saying the university's affiliation with the fraternity is permanently done. The news is shocking, but it's not the first time SAE has faced controversy. SAE was founded March 9, 1856, at the University of Alabama, five years before the American Civil War, according to the fraternity website. When the war began, the group had fewer than 400 members, of which "369 went to war for the Confederate States and seven for the Union Army," the website says. The fraternity now boasts more than 200,000 living alumni, along with about 15,000 undergraduates populating 219 chapters and 20 "colonies" seeking full membership at universities. SAE has had to work hard to change recently after a string of member deaths, many blamed on the hazing of new recruits, SAE national President Bradley Cohen wrote in a message on the fraternity's website. The fraternity's website lists more than 130 chapters cited or suspended for "health and safety incidents" since 2010. At least 30 of the incidents involved hazing, and dozens more involved alcohol. However, the list is missing numerous incidents from recent months. Among them, according to various media outlets: Yale University banned the SAEs from campus activities last month after members allegedly tried to interfere with a sexual misconduct investigation connected to an initiation rite. Stanford University in December suspended SAE housing privileges after finding sorority members attending a fraternity function were subjected to graphic sexual content. And Johns Hopkins University in November suspended the fraternity for underage drinking. "The media has labeled us as the 'nation's deadliest fraternity,' " Cohen said. In 2011, for example, a student died while being coerced into excessive alcohol consumption, according to a lawsuit. SAE's previous insurer dumped the fraternity. "As a result, we are paying Lloyd's of London the highest insurance rates in the Greek-letter world," Cohen said. Universities have turned down SAE's attempts to open new chapters, and the fraternity had to close 12 in 18 months over hazing incidents. +(CNN)More than 20 years after his death from suicide, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain continues to fascinate. On Wednesday, the trailer was released for an eagerly anticipated HBO documentary on the singer's life. "Montage of Heck" is directed by Brett Morgen and offers an intimate portrayal of one of the architects of grunge music. The trailer features bits of interviews with those closest to the performer, including family members; his wife, musician Courtney Love; and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic. A companion book containing art and archival documents from Cobain is being produced to accompany the film. Morgen, who also directed the documentary "The Kid Stays in the Picture" about producer Robert Evans, said the soundtrack for the documentary will include "a mind-blowing 12-minute acoustic Cobain unheard track." Unreleased Kurt Cobain song to appear on 'Montage of Heck' soundtrack . "Montage of Heck" has won raves on the festival circuit and will premiere on HBO on May 4. +(CNN)Comic books of the past few years have seen a lot of changes (a female Thor, anyone?) but not quite so many at one time. Three major characters -- Superman, Wonder Woman (both of DC Comics, a Time Warner company, like CNN) and Archie Andrews -- came out with new looks (and costumes in two cases) Thursday. Superman and Wonder Woman are no stranger to change over time, but these are pretty different from what we're used to. Wonder Woman is back to wearing pants (similar to her style circa 2010, not to mention a brief time in the 1970s) along with something of a turtleneck and body armor. Superman looks the most casual that we've ever seen him, simply in a t-shirt and jeans, and decidedly shorter hair. He also looks like someone you might not want to come across in a dark alley. As for Archie (who never really died, by the way), he's getting ready for his promised TV show by debuting a modern look -- one that makes it much easier to see why Betty and Veronica have been fighting for his affections all of these years. It's been a whirlwind time for comic book fans, and there will be a lot to get used to. +(CNN)Ferguson is crumbling. The cowardly and reprehensible shooting Wednesday night of two police officers came in a tumultuous seven days for the Missouri town, which had already seen Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announce his resignation after a damning Justice Department report on its police department. The report, which was ordered in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown last year, highlighted a predatory policing problem and a department that was biased, prejudiced and that has regularly targeted, arrested and fined African-Americans. Residents understandably want justice. But what's worse in all this is that Ferguson is illustrative of a broader problem across the country as increasingly militarized majority-white police departments demonstrate consistent racial bias toward majority-black communities. It's a combustible mix. In three-quarters of all U.S. cities with populations 50,000 or more, the police presence is "disproportionately white relative to the local population," according to The Washington Post. And tensions are being exacerbated by the use among police departments of military weapons, and stipulations that these former war zone weapons must be used within a year of acquisition. All this suggests a need for a completely new mindset on how we try to understand and implement policing practices across America. Indeed, a wholesale review of policies and approaches to law enforcement is needed, something that will likely necessitate drastic reforms in some departments so they can better represent, integrate, problem solve and liaise with the communities they are serving. First and foremost, our police departments must better reflect the diverse demographics of our increasingly diverse nation, whether it be race, creed, sexual orientation and more. America is changing fast, but police departments aren't keeping up. Training and recruitment of minorities is critical, yet far more needs to be taking place. With this in mind, amplifying community policing models that work and scaling them up immediately is essential if we are to stem the growing and sometimes overwhelming tide of frustration, anger and cynicism welling up among young African, Asian and Hispanic Americans. Second, we must radically rethink the trend toward the indiscriminate procurement and use of surplus military grade weaponry, which under the Department of Defense's 1033 program is flowing from battlefields to our local police forces. When the weapons of war come home from Iraq and Afghanistan to help police America's cities and towns, then you know something has gone terribly wrong with this country. Mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, tanks, drones, grenades and assault weapons should not replace the community policing of our Main Streets. Ferguson is an excellent example of how the deployment of heavy weaponry inflames rather than de-escalates a crisis situation. Having military equipment on our streets does not make citizens feel safer, which is why the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act was recently reintroduced in Congress. We do not need our officers looking like "Robocop" when they patrol our streets. It's that simple. Yet until such a bill is passed, war weapons will continue to flood our streets; Congress must act to stem this tide. We understand that times have changed and that new security threats require new solutions and procedures. But it doesn't justify the 150 raids per day by special weapons and tactics units for incidents that can be as benign as a Department of Education warrant. This kind of aggressive approach doesn't engender the kind of engagement necessary for identifying real risks lurking in a community. In fact, the opposite happens. Intelligence opportunities are dead on arrival, and potential allies who would otherwise be ready to help shut down immediately. Aggressive military-type action is quickly turning Americans against fellow citizens who they are ostensibly there to serve and protect. We therefore trust that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder will take decisive action, working hand in hand with police departments all across this country. Yes, the White House's task force on police militarization was a start, but more concrete measures are needed if we want to reverse the rising anger in Ferguson and elsewhere. The time for a change is now. If we don't press our police departments to reflect the makeup and needs of our communities, then towns like Ferguson will unravel further. +(CNN)An Israeli Arab man who is shown being shot by a child in a recent ISIS video has no connections to Israeli intelligence, the country's defense minister said Wednesday. In the video released Tuesday, ISIS claims the man, 19-year-old Mohamed Said Ismail Musallam, is an Israeli spy. But Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon denied the allegation on Israeli radio. The ISIS video shows Musallam's Israeli passport and claims he's an agent sent to infiltrate the group. Musallam's family on Tuesday told CNN that he had no ties with the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, and had, in fact, been recruited by ISIS. Musallam is an Israeli citizen of Palestinian descent. "Mohamed told me and his brother that ISIS took him," according to Said Musallam, his father. "They sent him money through the Western Union. They said you will have girls, money, cars, villas, paradise, but afterwords he discovered that there is nothing." It wasn't long before Musallam's family members didn't recognize him when they talked to him on Skype. The man they knew as a kind and funny brother and son who was once a volunteer firefighter had grown a long beard and was carrying a rifle. His father tried to help him get home, sending him money and even enlisting the Red Cross. But his son never made it back to Israel. About a month ago, Said Musallam said, he was told his son was taken by ISIS when he was on his way back and trying to cross the border. A video posted Tuesday on ISIS-affiliated social media accounts shows a man who appears to be Musallam on his knees, wearing an orange jumpsuit. An adult ISIS fighter and a child -- both in fatigues -- stand behind him. The adult, speaking French, gives a command to the child to go forward with the killing. The child steps in front of the man and raises what appears to be a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and shoots Musallam in the forehead. The man immediately falls forward to the ground. The child appears to then fire at least two more shots into the body. An issue last month of ISIS' English-language propaganda magazine, Dabiq, included a purported interview with Musallam and described his alleged work for the Israeli spy agency. In the ISIS video, Musallam seems to be reading what appears to be a prepared confession, saying he is an Israeli intelligence agent working for Mossad, sent to infiltrate ISIS. Musallam's family members said they believe he was coerced in the video, forced to lie about ties to Israeli intelligence. "Mohamed is not an agent. Mohamed doesn't have a shekel. If he was an agent he would have lived a beautiful life," his mother, Hind Musallam, said. "We could have been living a different life and I would not be working cleaning houses so we can live." This isn't the first time ISIS has used children to drive home its message. An ISIS propaganda video released in January -- one that CNN could not independently verify -- shows a boy with a pistol apparently shooting two men in the back of the head. The boy then stands over one of the bodies, fires two more times, and later raises his pistol high. Last August, a photo posted to Twitter from an ISIS stronghold showed a 7-year-old boy holding a man's severed head and his father's words, "That's my boy." ISIS has featured children as fighters before, calling them the "cubs of the caliphate" (the adult jihadis call each other "lions") and has encouraged foreign fighters to bring their families. It has taken over schools to indoctrinate children. Human Rights Watch says ISIS and other extremist groups "have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training and have given them dangerous tasks, including suicide bombing missions." CNN's Abeer Salman contributed to this report. +(The Hollywood Reporter)Melissa Benoist is suited up and ready to fly in CBS' "Supergirl." Producer Warner Bros. Television has released the first-look photos of the "Glee" and "Whiplash" breakout in the official costume as DC Comics character Supergirl. See more: The Faces of Pilot Season 2015 . The costume was designed by three-time Oscar-winner Colleen Atwood, who also served in the same capacity for WBTV/The CW's DC takes 'Arrow" and "The Flash." "In designing Supergirl, I wanted to embrace the past but more importantly, thrust her into the street-style action hero of today," said Atwood, who earned Oscars for "Into the Woods," "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Sweeney Todd." Production on the pilot started this week in Los Angeles. Read more: TV Pilots 2015: The Complete Guide . The drama centers on Kara Zor-El (Benoist), Superman's cousin, who was born on the planet Krypton and escaped amid its destruction years ago. After arriving on Earth, Kara was taken in by a foster family, the Danverses, who taught her to be careful with her extraordinary powers (which she shares with her famous cousin). "Brothers & Sisters" and "Ally McBeal" alum Calista Flockhart co-stars as DC Comics character Cat Grant, "True Blood's" Mehcad Brooks is set as Jimmy Olsen; "Homeland's" David Harewood is DC Comics character Hank Henshaw; and "Grey's Anatomy's" Chyler Leigh plays Alexandra "Alex" Danvers, the confident foster sister of Kara. Laura Benanti will recur, while former Supergirl Helen Slater and former Superman Dean Cain will guest-star in the pilot. "Arrow" and "Flash's" Greg Berlanti and his "No Ordinary Family" cohort Ali Adler ("The New Normal") as well as "Arrow" and "Flash" EP Andrew Kreisberg will pen the script and executive produce the drama via Berlanti Productions' Warner Bros. Television-based banner. Berlanti Productions' topper Sarah Schechter also is on board to executive produce. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that "we need to close ... gaps" with Iran in talks about its nuclear program, adding that those negotiating with Iranian officials "are deeply committed to ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon." Iran faces a March 24 deadline to reach a deal about its nuclear program. Several interim agreements have been made in recent months, though a long-term pact so far has been elusive. Speaking in Paris alongside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Kerry said progress has been made "but there remain gaps, divergences." He acknowledged "the days are ticking by," but that doesn't mean there's an urgent rush to reach an agreement. "We have to get the right deal," the top U.S. diplomat said. Kerry said one thing all members of the P5+1 group -- which consists of the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany -- agree on is that it's imperative Iran doesn't develop nuclear arms. Iranian minister: Some consider peace an 'existential threat' Officials in Tehran have publicly insisted they want a nuclear program for energy purposes, not to create atomic weaponry. "We will find out whether or not ... Iran's prepared to take the steps to answer the questions that the world has a right to get answers to," Kerry said. +(CNN)By the time Cynthia Falardeau read about Alex Pring, a little boy who got a battery-powered robotic arm last summer, she had made peace with her son Wyatt's limb difference. Her premature baby had been born with his right arm tangled in amniotic bands. At a week old, doctors amputated his dead forearm and hand. They were afraid his body would be become infected and he would die. Falardeau mourned her boy's missing arm for years but, in time, embraced her son as he was. Wyatt also learned to adapt. They tried a couple of prosthetics when he was younger and each time the toddler abandoned the false limb within months. "His main interest was to create a shocking response from onlookers by pulling it off in the grocery store," Falardeau wrote on CNN iReport. In truth, she had been more concerned about getting him therapy for his autism-related delays -- the limb difference was secondary. So when a friend shared a story from the "Today Show" with Wyatt in mind, about a team of University of Central Florida (UCF) students and graduates that made an electronic arm for 6-year-old Pring using a three-dimensional printer on campus, Falardeau was defensive. "He doesn't need this," she thought. Her fifth-grader had a different reaction: "I want one of these robot arms!" Falardeau remembers Wyatt telling her and her husband. "I could ride a bike! I might even be able to paddle a kayak!" There were other things the 12-year-old boy said he would do if he had two hands. A proper somersault. Clap with two hands. Dance with a pretty girl with one hand on her back and the other leading. Stuff she hadn't really thought about but he clearly had. Falardeau got in touch with the Orlando students through E-Nable, an online volunteer organization started by Rochester Institute of Technology research scientist Jon Schull to match people who have 3-D printers with children in need of hands and arms. The organization creates and shares bionic arm designs for free download at EnablingTheFuture.org that can be assembled for as little as $20 to $50. Middle and high school student groups and Girl and Boy Scout troops are among those donating their time and materials to assemble limbs for kids and give them to recipients for free. The UCF team, which operates a nonprofit called Limbitless Solutions, is special because it's the only group in the 3-D volunteer network making electronic arms. Most 3-D arms are mechanical, which presents a challenge for children without elbows. With mechanical arms, the child opens and closes their hand by bending their elbow. The students came up with the idea for an electronic arm with a muscle sensor that allows the child to open and close their hand by flexing their bicep. "It's really just a step-by-step process of solving problems. The first problem we solved was: how do we make the hand move electronically? And then: how do we attach this arm to a child?" said sophomore Tyler Petresky. "It's just one problem after another we keep solving. That's what engineering is all about." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 1,500 babies in the United States are born with upper limb deformities each year. Comprehensive statistics aren't available for the number of children with amputations, such as Wyatt. The UCF project started when Albert Manero, an engineering doctoral student, heard a story on the radio about one of the inventors of the 3-D printed hand. He got involved with E-Nable and met Alex, a local boy teased because of his missing arm, and set about designing a robotic replacement. They gave it to Alex for free. "My mother taught us that we're supposed to help change the world," Manero said at the time. "We're supposed to help make it better." The students were blown away by what happened after that. The "Today Show" and other national news outlets featured stories about Alex and Manero, and then they got international attention. Families in more than 25 countries have asked the UCF students to help their children. In February, Microsoft highlighted the team in a social media campaign celebrating students using technology to change the world. Each electronic limb takes about 30 to 50 hours to make and assemble. The students use the printer in the school's manufacturing lab and cover the cost of materials -- about $350 -- through donations. Petresky got involved with the design of Pring's hand because Manero knew he was good with electronics. "He bribed me with some pulled pork sandwiches. I went over to his house and helped him out with electronics," he said. "I found out he was working on an arm, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world." Eventually Manero moved to Germany for a Fulbright scholarship and left Petresky in charge of running the operations in Orlando. Petresky says they ask every family about the child's favorite color, superhero and interests, so the new limb can "not just be a piece of plastic ... but be a part of them." As they've designed the bionics, they've learned that kids don't necessarily want to blend in. Children have requested colorful designs inspired by superheroes, Disney's "Frozen," and in Wyatt's case, the blue-skinned men from "Blue Man Group." For Christmas, the group upgraded Alex's plain vanilla white arm to a new one resembling Optimus Prime from "Transformers." "We quickly found out this is much less about fitting in and feeling normal, and much more about expressing yourself," Petresky said. "There's a large aspect of being artistic and being creative." The team has made electronic arms for five children and are working with three more kids including Wyatt. He traveled with his mom to UCF last week and practiced flexing his muscle to make the hand open and close. He expects to get fitted with his new arm later this month. His mom, Cynthia, was most excited about seeing Wyatt being celebrated for who he is. "The adoration of college students was an affirmation that money can't buy. He was wrapped in the joy of leading and advising students on how to help children like himself," she wrote in her iReport. "Wyatt felt like he was making a difference for himself and other children." As they got ready to leave the campus, her son told her he can't wait to see what he will accomplish with his new arm. And someday, he said, he wants to go to UCF and help other kids like him. +(CNN)As a controversy over a racist video continues, the University of Oklahoma is announcing a plan to hire a vice president who will oversee diversity programs. A video of a racist chant by the university's now-disbanded Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity made headlines nationwide this week. It shows students on a bus clapping, pumping their fists and laughing as they chant, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** SAE." In announcing the new position Wednesday night, university President David Boren said he decided to make the hire two months ago -- before the video came to light -- and is in talks with an African-American candidate. The school newspaper and a student organization publicized the nine-second video clip after receiving it via anonymous messages. Shortly after it surfaced, the university cut ties with Sigma Alpha Epsilon, as did the national fraternity. Two students spotted in the video, Parker Rice and Levi Pettit, have been expelled for their alleged leadership role in the chant. "I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless," Rice said Tuesday in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. "I made a horrible mistake by joining into the singing and encouraging others to do the same." A statement from Pettit's parents said their son made a horrible mistake and apologized to African-Americans, students and university faculty. "He is a good boy, but what we saw in those videos is disgusting. While it may be difficult for those who only know Levi from the video to understand, we know his heart, and he is not a racist," Brody and Susan Pettit said. CNN has reached out to both students. A spokesman for the Pettit family confirmed that Levi Pettit was in the video but declined CNN's request for an interview. Boren has ordered a shutdown of the fraternity house in Norman, and said it was no longer affiliated with the university. "Livid, just extremely heartbroken," Jay Vinekar, a founder of the university's SAE chapter, told CNN affiliate KTRK . "I don't want it in my house, and I don't want those people to wear my letters, claiming to represent me. The problem is not just a couple of guys on that bus, the problem is that house, it's a cancer that needs to be cut out." Local SAE alumni apologized on behalf of other members, saying the fraternity has had problems for years. "The OU SAE Board of Trustees has discovered that a horrible cancer entered into the OU chapter of SAE three to four years ago, and was not immediately and totally stopped," the organization said in a statement Wednesday. "It should have been." The fraternity said it is investigating other incidents involving other chapters that were brought to the attention of its national office. It's unclear whether more students will be punished for the video. Boren has said the fraternity won't return during his tenure if he can help it. CNN's Alina Machado, Tristan Smith and Steve Almasy contributed to this report. +(CNN)For those who hoped that the coming presidential election would usher in the dawn of a new, more inspiring politics, this past week has been deeply discouraging. In two key moments, leaders from both sides of the aisle have acted like the Bourbons of France, who famously remembered nothing and forgot nothing from battles of their past. The first and substantively more important moment was the sending of that letter by Republican senators to the Iranian regime. The second, and perhaps more important politically telling moment, was Hillary Clinton's handling of her emails. The two cases are oddly related. In both instances, the principals started with legitimate concerns but have wound up making things worse. In both cases, the principals have also created divisive issues that will deepen polarization through the campaign and probably into the next presidency. Both have diminished the chances for breaking out of today's ugly politics. Republicans in Congress have reason to press hard with their views as negotiations with Iran enter the home stretch. They, like many others -- including a sizable number of Democrats, the current Israeli government, and friendly Arab nations -- fear the Obama administration will cut a weak, leaky deal that will allow Iran to come perilously close to having nuclear weapons. Just as importantly, Republicans believe, with cause, that as he negotiates, President Barack Obama has tried to sideline Congress in general and them in particular. Who can blame them for arguing that if the President insists any agreement needs only executive approval -- not approval by Congress -- then the next chief executive should not be legally bound by its provisions? Their basic concerns were not unreasonable. Thus, if they had sent exactly the same letter to the President, they would have caused a stir but would have been seen as within the norms of politics and statecraft. Instead, they made the mistake -- a wicked one -- of sending it to the terrorist leaders of Iran, leaving a clear impression they were out to sabotage both the deal and the President. We have had renegade members of Congress try to interfere with presidential negotiations in the past -- remember Sen. Jesse Helms? -- but never 47 members of the United States Senate tossing a hand grenade into delicate, life-or-death negotiations conducted by seven major nations and led by the United States. Ayatollah Khamenei made clear this week that he may use the Republican letter as a pretext for rejecting any deal. Where do we go then? Will talks collapse? Will an Iranian rush toward the bomb set off a nuclear arms race, starting in Saudi Arabia, which is already taking preliminary steps? Will the United States then be compelled to use military force against Iran? Who knows for sure? What we do know is that Iran is now almost certain to become a central issue in the 2016 presidential campaign and that the Republican nominee will be under relentless pressure from the right to adopt a hard, unyielding line. One can just imagine a number of GOP candidates pledging that if elected, they will abolish Obamacare on Day 1 and an Iranian agreement on Day 2. This is hardly a way to restore steady, bipartisan foreign policies, as we so badly need. And why have Republicans forgotten so soon the damage done from voters thinking the last GOP president was too hard line and reckless? On the other side of the aisle, Hillary Clinton had absolutely legitimate concerns about the security of emails she might send as secretary of state. As one who spent a year and a half at the Clinton White House and State Department, I could see first hand how they -- more than any president since Nixon -- were hounded by enemies and reporters trying to ferret out secrets to cause trouble or win a prize. It is small wonder that both Clintons still have scar tissue. Hillary Clinton's mistakes did not start with creating an email protection system. No, they started when she and her team failed to coordinate up front with the State Department system and record all official exchanges within the government system on a prompt, air-tight basis. That did not break laws. But it did run afoul of government procedures and, when revealed, naturally gave rise to suspicions about what she might be hiding. In her press conference, she did accomplish her obvious mission: she began cutting legs off the story. In essence, she said one half of her emails (the official ones) are now safely with the State Department and, at her request, will gradually be made public. The other half (who knows what's in there?) have been deleted and she is keeping the server. In effect, she says, they are gone ... and gone forever, beyond Congressional subpoena, FOIA requests, and even hackers. What fresh revelations can the press now pursue? Not many. And how can Republicans browbeat her in hearings without looking like bullies? Hard to do. In short, the story may soon die. You just have to trust me, she says. Clever. But the very fact that instead of inviting a neutral, trusted party like Lee Hamilton to review all the emails, she chose to cut off the story by destroying the evidence comes with a price: she has freshly renewed public doubts whether she plays straight or by her own rules. Loyal Democrats will continue to invest their faith in her, but for many others, the controversy leaves a lingering sense of unease. And polarization deepens. She was always going to face a rough campaign, but now she will begin with clouds already gathering. More to the point, they will obscure her very real strengths as a leader. Around the world, many women look upon her with heartfelt admiration from her years of promoting their empowerment. And she has also has a strong case to make that she and her husband know something about job creation: 22.9 million were created in the eight Clinton years, more than in any other presidency since World War II (Reagan was second at 16.1 million; there have been some 6.4 million in the first six Obama years.). In short, she is worse off than she was before this controversy broke -- and so are American politics. Bill Clinton likes to say that politics is always about tomorrow -- and he is right. But candidates also need to remember and learn from yesterday. After this last week, they might start by reading a wonderful book by historian Barbara Tuchman published some 30 years ago: "The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam." There she argues that leaders often start out trying to do the right thing but take a wrong path, stubbornly stick with it despite all evidence and eventually wreck. Tuchman calls their refusal to learn from experience "wooden-headedness". We have seen too much wooden-headedness these past days. +(CNN)I grew up watching "Leave It to Beaver." Most episodes, Ward Cleaver would come home from work in his suit and tie and there would be his wife June, always in the kitchen, her apron as white as the picket fence outside. June made dinner, of course, and Ward and Wally and the Beav sat at the table and ate. As I recall, June usually cleaned up. Maybe once or twice the boys helped with dishes. Maybe. I would watch the black and white show during dinner, sitting on the couch with a plate of food on my lap that had not been prepared by my own mother. My mother was in her generation's first cohort of "working moms." She had a successful career as an executive at AT&T and then Lucent Technologies. She left for work early each morning, but was always home by five or six -- in time to spend time with me, not to cook. My dad also had a full-time job, and across the entirety of my life, I don't recall him so much as opening a can of soup. He's only recently learned to use the microwave. Both my parents worked equally hard, but there was no doubt when I was growing up that cooking was my mom's responsibility -- even if that meant buying prepared meals from the Allentown Farmer's Market, spooning it onto plates, pressing "Power" then "Start." In other words, as I ate my dinner in the 1980s while watching a TV show based on life in the 1950s, it was easy to see that some things had changed and some had not. Life inside the house -- food, dishes, cleaning, tidying, clothing, hygiene -- was my mom's responsibility, just as it was June Cleaver's. Outside the house -- the lawn, the cars, anything made or stored in the garage, sports, bike riding -- that was my dad's domain. And to be clear, when the car would break down, it was a big deal, but one that came up far less frequently than our need for meals and laundry. This daily labor weighed more on my mother. Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild coined this the "second shift": how even though more and more women started working outside the home, they were still expected to do the same amount of domestic work at the end of the day. Studies say that when it comes to fair division of household labor, gay couples, like my partner and I, generally do a better job. Unfettered by the ready expectations of traditional gender roles, same-sex couples "are more likely than members of heterosexual couples to negotiate a balance between achieving a fair distribution of household labor and accommodating the different interests, skills, and work schedules of particular partners," wrote social scientist Lawrence K. Kurdek. In fact, after a no-doubt bumpy period of adjustment (editorializing from personal experience here), Kurdek wrote, "This pattern of negotiation holds true even when couples have children living with them." In my own family, my partner does most of the laundry, though to be fair that's partly because she's picky about what's washed on what cycle and what gets hung to dry, versus tossed in the dryer. On weekends, she does most of the cooking -- because, she's a better cook and enjoys it more. But I'm faster, so I end up cooking breakfast and dinner most of the weekdays. About 99% of the time, if our bed is made it's because Sarah did it. And 99% of the time, if the dishes are washed, it's because I washed them. Sarah likes to buy groceries because I have a bad habit of buying massive quantities of things we don't need. And she buys our daughter's clothing (same reason). I pay the bills and do our taxes. On weekends and after school we take turns ferrying our 6-year-old to and from activities and play dates. What, you're wondering, about other traditional "male" gender roles in our male-less family? Admittedly, I more often wear pants more than my partner and I more often take on these tasks. When our car breaks, I take it to the mechanic. I load the car up for trips. I put crap in the basement. I smush millipedes. I fix the leaky sink. But I also sew my daughter's Halloween costume every year and sew on buttons when they fall off. Our same-sex family has not so much created new gender role arrangements, but deconstructed such arrangements altogether. I get to smush millipedes and sew costumes, not because of my chromosomes or some pre-determined gender role, but because I enjoy doing so. While I now pay most of our bills online, I find it unbelievably gratifying to put a check in the actual mail. I have a giant, eclectic pile of postage stamps for this reason. It should be noted that the experience of gender roles is highly defined by class. What my partner and I have in common with my parents is the financial ability to have additional help, including, in our case, regular babysitters and a weekly house cleaner. What's more, any conversation about household gender roles would be incomplete without noting that some upper-middle class Americans pay their domestic workers so painfully little that these workers -- predominantly immigrant women of color -- can't afford to put healthy food on their own families' tables, if they even have time to cook between cobbling jobs together to make ends meet. Meanwhile studies show that in working-class straight couples, even where the women work outside the home and the men don't, women still do a disproportionate amount of housework. It seems that in too many situations, no matter the configuration, women are getting screwed. This is partly why LeanIn.Org today launched #LeanInTogether, a public service campaign in partnership with the National Basketball Association and the Women's National Basketball Association emphasizing how men benefit from equality and providing practical tips for men to do their part at home and at work. The campaign encourages men to "show the world they're for equality" and women to "celebrate men leaning in for equality" by posting with the hashtag #LeanInTogether. Patriarchy is not the fault of all men, but it is the responsibility of all men to do something about it. After all, whether you want to blame biology or early economic incentives or the cultural indoctrination of "Leave It to Beaver," men have consistently failed to do their fair share of household labor in America. The solution? More gay households or even sister-wife-type scenarios alone won't transform household gender roles. We have to value household work as work, which means everything from paying domestic workers livable wages to more men cleaning and cooking and teaching their sons that doing so is honorable and equitable, not demeaning. While fairness in gender roles has improved since the era of June and Ward, the subtle and not-so-subtle inequities are still a mess. Men need to shift from expecting or enforcing traditional gender roles to becoming role models for more equitable relationships. In other words, clean it up, fellas -- literally and figuratively. +(CNN)This weekend marked the official opening of "Fish in the Dark,"  the Broadway debut of Larry David of "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fame. Of course, the odd conventions of live theater mean that "Fish" wasn't quite fresh-to-table at its premiere: It's been playing for several weeks now to sold-out preview crowds, to build buzz and iron out production kinks. And sold out really means sold out: The show has destroyed box office records for the vintage Cort Theatre and might yet set new ones for a nonmusical despite its limited run. That's because David has a huge built-in audience for his unique brand of humor, which "Curb" fans know to be as abrasive as sea salt and as astringent as lemon, unyielding in the face of social niceties, epic humiliation or even common human decency. It's polarizing, and the poles are pretty clearly drawn: By and large, fans of David's work tend to loudly proclaim that as long as abuse is sprayed pari passu  --  e.g., proportionately in all directions  --  no one should take offense. The nonfans tend to respond that this kind of comedy rests on an assumption defined by another common Latin phrase, ceteris paribus  --  e.g., "all other things being equal." And all other things are never equal in our world, by definition. When a group of affluent white protagonists in an almost exclusively white "New York" behave badly toward a handful of cartoonish parodies of working-class ethnic nobodies (a pretty fair synopsis of many "Seinfeld" episodes), it's hilarious if you belong to the former category. It's much less so when you belong to the latter. So it's not entirely surprising that some of the whispered early concerns with "Fish" related to the character of Fabiana, the Puerto Rican maid of the late patriarch of David's fictional family, the Drexels. Fabiana, played by Rosie Perez, and her son Diego play a pivotal part in the show, which takes place in the immediate wake (er, shiva?) of the passing of the elder Drexel; without spoiling the plot, suffice it to say that it hinges on upstairs-downstairs romantic antics and their inevitable consequences. And yes, some reviewers are using the "R"-word in calling out the depiction of Fabiana, eye-rolling over YASHDASM (Yet Another Stereotypical Hispanic Domestic And Single Mom) whose comic function is largely to mispronounce words and make cultural stumbles like bringing cuchifritos to a Jewish memorial service. But the conversation about race and representation isn't, and shouldn't be, absolutist based on content; context is just as important  --  perhaps more so. What's the threeway balance of power between the author, the actors and the intended audience? Are a performance's questionable aspects racially exceptionalized? Does the role pivot on the ethnic identity of the characters and performers in a way that prevents them from being seen as more than just the color of their skin and the accent of their speech? And finally, is the vehicle in which it's taking place innovative, eye-opening, horizon-expanding, or does it reduce, repress and restrict? As "Fish" was finishing its preview run, a theater-world drama of another color was erupting nearby. The National Asian Artists Project ,  a nonprofit theater company that produces works from the traditional Broadway canon featuring all-Asian casts, had announced its next production would be a big-budget, Asian American adaptation of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Show Boat," to be developed and directed by Broadway wunderkind Tommy Tune. The problem, as Asian American actor and blogger Erin Quill immediately called out, is that unlike NAAP's prior projects, which have included shows such as "Oliver!" and "Carousel," "Show Boat" is set in the Deep South, among the laborers and performers working on and about the Cotton Blossom, a paddleboat theater offering entertainment to audiences up and down the Mississippi. "This show ... is about the great racial divides within the Deep South  -- divides that are, without question, black and white," wrote Quill. "[Asians] were not 'toting that barge' or 'lifting that bale'. Asian Americans were not recovering from being ripped from their homeland and bound in chains due to the color of their skin. It is not 'our' story to tell." The fundamental mission of NAAP and other theatrical companies that cast productions against type is twofold: They seek to showcase overlooked talent and to challenge the racial conventions of the aptly dubbed "Great White Way," disrupting the notion that phenotypic reference points are necessary for a performer to believably portray a role. In that latter context, they're exercises designed to highlight the fundamental magic of live theater: Its power to get audiences to suspend disbelief. NAAP's all-Asian "Show Boat" would seem to be not very different from the Public Theater's present production of "Hamilton," featuring a multiracial set of American Founding Fathers -- including Puerto Rican author and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda as the titular Hamilton and African American actor Leslie Odom Jr. as his rival, Aaron Burr. And yet, there is a fundamental difference. Having actors of color play characters written for white actors, who are cast in 79% of all Broadway roles (by contrast, Asian Americans and Hispanics are cast in just 3% each and African Americans in 14%), is an act of disruptive defiance. Having actors of color play characters written for other actors of color is shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic at best and at worst, a categorically ill-conceived recipe for insensitivity. Could NAAP have weathered the spectacle of Asian performers speaking in Southern black dialect, performing a plot that's entirely dependent on black history? Could an Asian Steve have cut an Asian Julie's hand, sucking her blood, then declared defiantly to an Asian sheriff that if Julie was a "mulatto," so was he, because he now had "black blood" in him? After a contentious town hall, in which numerous other performers of varied race and background expressed their vehement doubts, the Asian American theatrical community, and ultimately NAAP as well, decided it couldn't. The context of the show, and the charged climate it would be arriving in, would make its content impossible to swallow. NAAP canceled the production. The costs of the cancellation aren't known,  but they clearly aren't insignificant. But what, by contrast, of "Fish"? The reality is that Fabiana (performed by Rosie Perez more or less as Rosie Perez) doesn't stand out as offensive when compared with the rest of the play's characters; for that matter, there's nothing inherently Hispanic about the role, which, if the show had an unlimited run, could easily be recast as Asian, black or white, losing very little in the process. By contrast, nearly all of the rest of the cast fit familiar comedic portrayals of Jewish family members -- most intensely so, the neurotic protagonist, Norman (performed by Larry David himself more or less as Larry David). The truth is, if non-Jews were to put on a production of "Fish in the Dark," it would be difficult not to experience it as anti-Semitic. These are the new and fascinating challenges presented by pop culture in our era of surging diversity, and they're coming fast and furious from every direction. Interesting times and sure to get more interesting still. +(CNN)A video appears online. In it, fraternity members from your university are chanting a hateful, racist song about lynching African-Americans. The video goes viral. You're president of the university. Imagine being in that situation. What would you do? There are two ways to answer the question. The first is in the moment of crisis. The second is about the long term. As most everyone knows by now, David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, faced just this situation Monday. And I've been thinking about it intensely, not only because I care about race and civic leadership in America, but also because Boren was my first boss, when he was a U.S. senator. I'm not from Oklahoma but ended up working for Boren through a college internship. He was a mentor to me during my years in Washington, and a model for me when he left the Beltway to be of greater use and service as an educator. Though we haven't talked since the crisis broke, I see familiar patterns of leadership. Boren responded to the crisis swiftly, with a statement that went viral. Boren told the students from Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) he had a message for them: "You are disgraceful. You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves Sooners" (the OU nickname). Boren went on to sever all ties between OU and SAE. The national fraternity closed the local chapter. Later, Boren said he'd be glad if the students in the video left campus because "we don't provide student services for bigots." The next day he expelled two of them. His actions have resonated across the country. On social media, people shocked by the video find themselves also stunned by Boren's response. Why? Because he did something rare in public life today. He expressed a decisive, judgmental view with moral clarity. Then he followed through. His statements have been free of mushy lawyer-talk or euphemism. He's led authentically, from the heart. Of course, people have carped. Some question whether Boren has the legal authority, as head of a public institution, to expel students on the basis of their free speech, even racist hate speech. Some lament that what he should have branded as disgraceful was the students' actions, not the students themselves. Legitimate concerns, perhaps. The First Amendment question, certainly, is being debated by legal scholars. But these concerns are eclipsed by the bigger picture. Boren wasn't just condemning wrongdoers; he was shifting social norms for all. A cynic might consider laughable a refrain from Boren's statement about "real Sooners." Boren said that real Sooners are not racists or bigots; they believe in equal opportunity, treat people with mutual respect and love each other like family. A cynic might say Oklahoma is a state both very white and very red, not known for flying the banner of anti-racism. Indeed, the original Sooners were the white settlers who raced in to claim land that had been wrested from Native Americans. But the point of Boren's "real Sooners" riff is not to describe or sanitize today's reality; it is to issue a challenge. It is to bind people to a creed, a standard of being and belief that is easy to assert but hard to achieve. Not unlike being a true patriot. So now begins the longer term. Here, another opportunity arises to lead by example. David Boren can now examine the institution he works for and ask how and why such attitudes and behaviors -- racism so casually vicious -- could ever take root among people as young as freshmen. He can explore the ways in which everyone -- not only the obviously guilty parties at a frat party -- is touched by unconscious bias and institutional racism. He can now ask his community to face the inequities of history and race. We can all do that. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, is doing this at his company. He was moved after the incidents of Ferguson and Staten Island to hold truly open forums with employees about the pain and anguish of racial division. But you don't have to be a college president or a CEO. You don't have to be a white man in charge to start a tough reckoning with racism (though it'd help if more did). Whoever you are, you can start a new kind of conversation in your neighborhood. On your campus. At your house of worship. Ask what the history is. Ask why there are such imbalances of power and voice. Ask what it would take to be truly inclusive. Then, in word and deed, start answering your own questions. We can all do that. The sooner, the better. +(CNN)A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to release photos that allegedly show detainees being abused in detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration. The photos won't be made public right away. In an order issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York granted the government 60 days to appeal. The ACLU sued the Defense Department in 2003 to have the photos made public. It's not clear how many photos are involved or where the pictures were taken, but in an August opinion Hellerstein said the government acknowledged having at least 29 pictures from at least seven different locations in Afghanistan and Iraq and may have hundreds or thousands more. Some of the photos may have come from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In 2004, photos became public that showed American soldiers abusing Abu Ghraib detainees and putting them into humiliating sexual positions. People in the Mideast and Americans were outraged and shocked by the photos, which added to the national debate on the use of torture in the war on terror. Hellerstein said the government failed to prove its argument that releasing the photos would endanger American soldiers or civilians overseas. In July 2011, the judge blocked release of the photos at the urging of the secretary of defense because U.S. troops were still fighting in Iraq. By December 2011, most U.S. ground troops had withdrawn from Iraq, the judge wrote, and he didn't know whether release of the photos would affect military operations. "Three years is a long time in war, the news cycle and the international debate over how to respond to terrorism," he wrote. The judge also said the government failed to convince him a collective review of the photos met the requirements of the Protected National Security Documents Act. The ACLU argued the Defense Department must individually review each photo and explain why its release would put Americans in danger. Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, said in a statement that the photos are "the best evidence of what took place in the military's detention centers, and their disclosure would help the public better understand the implications of some of the Bush administration's policies." A response by the Pentagon to the judge's decision was not immediately available. The Pentagon has refused to release the photos requested by the ACLU, saying publication could endanger American soldiers and civilians overseas. Several U.S. military leaders who saw some of the pictures made that argument in a December 19 filing in the lawsuit. They pointed to public demonstrations in Mideast countries that followed reports of Quran burnings, the release of the video "Innocence of the Muslims" and the 2012 release of a video that showed Americans soldiers urinating on dead enemy combatants. Navy Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Islamist extremist groups like ISIS use "imagery associated with United States detention practices" as part of their recruiting efforts. The ACLU responded by saying the military leaders didn't see all the photos, just a sampling selected by an army lawyer. The ACLU also said the leaders didn't explain how the photos were "similarly inflammatory." Their prediction of anti-American violence was only speculation, the ACLU said. "To allow the government to suppress any image that might provoke someone, somewhere, to violence would be to give the government sweeping power to suppress evidence of its own agents' misconduct," Jaffer of the ACLU said. +(CNN)Everyone's favorite male models made a surprise appearance at Tuesday's Valentino show at Paris Fashion Week. And, no surprise, they were really, really ridiculously good-looking. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson reprised their roles as the vacuous models from the popular 2001 film "Zoolander" at Tuesday's women's couture show. There was no mistaking Stiller for anyone other than the fierce Zoolander as he sashayed down the runway in a Valentino trench, casting Blue Steel in every direction. He was followed by nemesis Hansel McDonald, played by Wilson, showing off another Valentino coat over a pair of "lovely" pajamas, Wall Street Journalist fashion columnist Christina Binkley said. The duo is gearing up for "Zoolander 2," which is slated for release in February 2016. "Apparently Derek and Hansel have come to terms on #Zoolander2," Ben Stiller joked in a selfie posted on his Instagram account. Publicity stunt, perhaps, but we're not complaining about an opportunity to bring back the phrase, "he's so hot right now." +(CNN)A well-heeled employer goes back to his hotel after a hard(ish) day's work and finds no hot dinner on the table. He snaps, lashing out (allegedly) at the nearest underling who could be held responsible. Within days, almost 1 million people sign a petition for him not to lose his job, while the suspension of the TV program he presents loses the BBC 4 million viewers. Why is this man so popular that he can be accused of abusing his staff (not to mention members of other ethnic groups and nationalities) and seemingly get away with it? A serial offender, Jeremy Clarkson seems to enjoy a charmed life. But, with the BBC now deliberating over his future, has his luck finally run out? Not a chance. Clarkson, like so many celebrities, sees his stock grow with every controversy. Every indiscretion seems calculated to raise his profile and boost his esteem among his fervent followers that little bit further. The "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" incident, which saw the N-word slip out -- whoops, did I really hear what I think I heard? -- was designed to achieve just the right effect: offensive enough to generate howls of protest, but trivial enough for his fans to spring to his defense, crying "over-reaction" and "storm in a teacup." The presenter later apologized, saying his efforts to obscure the offending word "weren't quite good enough." On this latest occasion, was it the beleaguered producer lodging a complaint, or, like any normal person who's been punched in the face by a thug, pressing charges with the local constabulary? No, it was none other than Clarkson who willingly gave himself up to the corporation. Go on, sack me, he seemed to be saying, when he told a reporter that his dismissal "is coming, isn't it?" See how my adoring public likes that. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho are, like Clarkson, seasoned experts in rebranding themselves (or their team) as the victims, even when they seem to have everything going for them bar the position of the stars. They have all perfected the glum, hangdog expression that invites sympathy, begging forgiveness for each misdemeanour. It makes their success all the sweeter if they can convince us that they achieved it in the face of hostility. While waiting for the BBC to deliver its verdict, Clarkson penned an article for The Sun in which he likened himself to a "dinosaur" whose time is about to run out, knowing full well that his followers will protest: no, of course you're not washed up and irrelevant, Jeremy. Britain needs you to stand up to Johnny Foreigner! It is almost tempting to wonder whether there might be a political role ahead of him should the Beeb decide to give him the push for once and for all (I use the word "political" advisedly here). The Romans had a goddess, Fama, who fanfared both good and bad deeds for all eternity. Badly behaved celebrities have their trumpets blown by the massed forces of the media, which are of course only too pleased to have such good copy. Clarkson is already assured of immortality, if only through YouTube or its futuristic equivalent, but while waiting to shuffle off this mortal coil he -- like all celebrities -- acts as a conduit of divinity. He is the chain that binds the earthly audience to the goddess Fama, and this is why we allow him to act in such a beastly way, without complaining (too much). In the east of India, holy intermediaries called Kalasis beat devotees with canes. The devotees flinch with the mortal pain, but they receive it as a blessing. Contestants on the X Factor queue all night for the opportunity to be verbally abused by Simon Cowell. Bruises, actual and emotional, are worn with pride, whether delivered by the Kalasis cane, Cowell's tongue, or Clarkson's fist (allegedly). They are blessed that are touched by celebrity. So how about Oisin Tymon, Clarkson's hapless producer, who, according to the Daily Telegraph, had to seek hospital treatment for a cut lip following the "fracas?" Had he presented poor, weary Jeremy with a nice succulent steak on his arrival that evening, he would still be languishing in the realms of the unknown. And don't feel sorry for the hotel owner either: just watch bookings at Simonstone Hall, the Yorkshire hotel where the alleged incident took place, go through the roof. They may as well start engraving that blue plaque now. +(CNN)A Palestinian man rammed into a cyclist and four Israeli border police while he was driving in Jerusalem on Friday, authorities and first responders said. Witnesses said the man drove off the side of the road to hit his victims. They were taken to the hospital with light to moderate injuries. Authorities are treating the incident as a terror attack, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The suspect tried to escape, but was shot by a security guard and severely wounded before being taken into custody, police said. Israeli police identified the attacker as a Palestinian man in his early 20s from East Jerusalem. Hamas applauded the attack. "Hamas movement blesses this heroic act and considers it a natural response to the Occupations crimes, Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, posted on Facebook. Regional tensions . Tensions over the killings of Israeli teens and Palestinian boys marked the run-up to the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas this summer, which took dozens of Israeli lives and more than 2,100 Palestinian lives. CNN's Oren Liebermann, Amir Tal and Michael Schwartz contributed to this report . +(CNN)There was a street named after Chuck Norris, but they had to change the name because nobody crosses Chuck Norris and lives. Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice. Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience. Chuck Norris is celebrating his 75th birthday -- but the calendar is only allowed to turn 39. That last one is true (well, the first part, anyway). The actor, martial-arts star and world's favorite tough-guy joke subject was born March 10, 1940, which makes him 75 today. Or perhaps he IS 39. Because maybe YOU can't beat time, but Chuck Norris can beat anything. Happy birthday! +(CNN)Last November, the American people placed a great amount of trust in Republicans when they gave them complete control of Congress. Voters bought the illusion that a Republican Congress would govern effectively, help the middle class and focus on important issues like jobs and the economy. Now, after two months, that illusion has been shattered. Over the last two weeks, we have seen the Republican Congress manufacture, then escalate, a political crisis by threatening to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. There is no government task more basic than keeping citizens safe. And yet Republicans are recklessly putting our national security at risk to protect their own political security. By failing to do a full extension of DHS funding — holding it hostage with demands that the legislation roll back the President's immigration actions -- Republicans are leaving uncertain the livelihoods of more than 240,000 men and women who proudly serve as employees of the Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration and other DHS agencies. Local law enforcement will continue to be denied access to the grants that help them keep our streets safe. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies that respond to natural disasters, like major winter storms, would have their operations disrupted. All so Republicans can try to score a few cheap political points with their base. But while this shutdown crisis is scary, what is even scarier is that this dysfunctional governing style is becoming a pattern with the Republican Party. The Republican Congress seems more intent on bickering with itself, pushing an agenda to help special interests and catering to the most extreme wing of the party, than working for the middle class. These last two months have been a disgrace, a disservice to our country, and the American people won't soon forget what a reckless disaster Republicans in Congress have turned out to be. +(CNN)A Pennsylvania State University fraternity has been suspended after allegedly posting on a private Facebook page compromising photos of women, including some who appeared to be asleep or passed out. The suspension of Kappa Delta Rho (KDR) fraternity comes as State College Police as well as university officials investigate the fraternity's alleged use of the online page with up to 144 active members, including current and former students. "No arrests are being made at this time," State College Police Lt. Keith Robb said. "Unfortunately, we aren't able to identify any suspects right now because the accounts on Facebook were sanitized, wiped clean." Robb said it has not yet been determined if any crime occurred. In a statement, college administrators said the fraternity's local chapter had been suspended for one year by the Penn State Interfraternity Council and that police and university officials were investigating. The statement said the fraternity used the private Facebook page to post "highly inappropriate photographs ... of activities and events that are in direct violation of the standards and values of a recognized student organization at Penn State." The images allegedly included nude and partially nude women -- some seemed to pose, others appeared incapacitated. "The evidence offered by the Facebook postings is appalling, offensive and inconsistent with the University community's values and expectations," the statement said. Penn State University President Eric Barron said in a separate statement Wednesday that the university will work with Kappa Delta Rho's national headquarters to determine whether the fraternity should be reinstated. The university is also considering whether fraternities will continue at Penn State, Barron said. "It ... brings us to a point where we must ask if a re-evaluation of the fraternity system is required," he said. "Some members of the University senior leadership believe it is, and we are considering our options." David Clohessy, director of the St. Louis-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said in a statement that the latest allegations call into question the university's handling of sex crime reports. "For years now, Penn State enthusiasts have repeatedly reassured everyone who'd listen that the university's problematic culture about sex crimes had been 'reformed," Clohessy said. "The latest allegations -- that fraternity members posted nude pictures of women on Facebook, some of whom appeared to be sleeping or passed out -- raise serious doubts about those claims." In 2012, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of sexually molesting boys and sentenced to a 30- to 60-year prison term. Sandusky, who has maintained his innocence, is appealing. "The Kappa Delta Rho is a wake-up call," Clohessy said. "But the Sandusky case should have been a wake-up call too." A former member of Kappa Delta Rho alerted police to the page, telling them in January that it had been used by members to share photos of "unsuspecting victims, drug sales and hazing," according to a copy of a police affidavit. The drugs allegedly included "marijuana and edibles, concentrates, ADD medication, and some cocaine," the affidavit said. The former frat member who tipped off police told authorities that a second Facebook page called "2.0" allegedly had been created around April 2014 following complaints from a woman whose photo was posted on it, the affidavit said. The earlier version of the page was titled "Covert Business Transactions." Rape, nude photos, racist behavior: Do fraternities make men behave badly? The ex-frat member told police that the victim was visiting the fraternity when she saw a topless photo of herself after a member accidentally left his Facebook page logged in, the affidavit said. The affidavit included photos of women and screen shots of cellphone text exchanges, including one from a woman who allegedly had no recollection of a sexual encounter and whether birth control was used. In the Sandusky case, the sensational trial featured the testimony of eight young men who said they were sexually abused by Sandusky -- either groped in a car, soaped by him in the shower or sexually assaulted on a basement waterbed. The scandal gripped the nation and ended a torturous chapter for the victims and Penn State's vaunted football program, including the dismissal of the late legendary coach Joe Paterno and one of America's highest-paid university presidents, Graham Spanier. It also tarnished Penn State's celebrated reputation in collegiate athletics. "We hope that Penn State officials will stop patting themselves on the back and start instituting real reforms to make the campus safer for students," said Clohessy, whose group includes members who were allegedly molested by religious figures of all denominations. Attempts to reach the university and interfraternity council were unsuccessful. CNN's Laura Ly and Sara Ganim contributed to this report. +(CNN)Want to take a self-portrait using your snazzy new selfie stick in front of London's National Gallery? That's fine. But don't try to use it inside the museum. The National Gallery has become the latest museum to ban the handy (or irritating, depending on your point of view) device. Selfies turn museums into playgrounds for a day . The British museum joins the Smithsonian, New York's Museum of Modern Art and a host of institutions around the world banning what the New York museum calls "camera extension poles." Before you pout that the ban is going to ruin your selfie for #MuseumSelfie Day next year, know that Mar Dixon, the day's creator, supports the ban. "I'm all for photos in museums as that is a memory -- a personal memory -- of your visit," Dixon wrote in an email. But not selfie sticks, which she says allow you to invade other people's personal space. "They're just as bad IMO as tripods or opening an umbrella. "There is also a risk, while lining up your shot with a selfie stuck inside a museum or gallery, of knocking other people around you or worse, the art," Dixon wrote. "Selfie sticks are brilliant, don't get me wrong, but not inside museums and galleries. Outside and for other attractions they are perfect!" +(CNN)Chinese relic experts claim that a 1,000-year-old mummified monk encased in a Buddha statue was stolen from a village temple in Eastern China in 1995, state media reported. The mummy made international headlines last year when it first showcased at Drents Museum in the Netherlands. The Cultural Relic Bureau in Fujian province launched an investigation and found photos and historical records suggesting the statue belonged to a village temple where it was worshiped as an ancestor. The bureau will continue the investigation and report to national cultural authorities to seek repatriation in compliance with normal procedures, a spokesperson told the state-run Xinhua news agency on Sunday. The statue, currently in possession of a Dutch private collector, was being housed at the Hungarian Natural History Museum as a part of a European tour. The museum announced on their website that the mummy, originally scheduled to be on display until May, has been pulled from the exhibition at "the request of the loaning partner" -- the Drents Museum. It's unclear exactly when or how the statue made its way to a market in the Netherlands where a private buyer bought it in 1996. Drents Museum said the owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, had bought it legally. The mummy was discovered when the owner brought it to an expert for restoration. But it wasn't until a team of researchers and scientists did a CT scan -- a comprehensive three dimensional X-ray image -- last year, did they discover the mummy's organs were missing. "We thought it would be lung tissue, but instead we found little scraps of paper covered with Chinese characters," said Vincent van Vilsteren, an archaeology curator from Drents Museum. The mummy was found sitting on a bundle of cloth covered in Chinese inscriptions, revealing its identity as a Buddhist monk called Liuquan who may have practiced "self-mummification" to prepare for life after death. The process of self-mummification is a known tradition in countries like Japan, China and Thailand, and was practiced more than a thousand years ago. The elaborate and arduous process includes eating a special diet and drinking a poisonous tea so the body would be too toxic to be eaten by maggots. The few monks that were able to successfully complete the process were highly revered. "We suspect that for the first 200 years, the mummy was exposed and worshiped in a Buddhist temple in China ... only in the 14th century did they do all the work to transform it into a nice statue," said van Vilsteren. Researchers are still waiting on DNA analysis results to help trace the mummy back to its exact location in China. +London (CNN)The discovery of the remains of Richard III beneath a car parking lot in the English city of Leicester in 2012 sparked excitement around the world. Now those bones are to be reburied following a series of commemorations full of the pomp and circumstance befitting of a royal farewell. In the years since it was exhumed, the King's skeleton has given up plenty of secrets -- and research continues to find out more. Say the name Richard III to most people, and the image that will spring to mind is of Shakespeare's villain, a cruel, conniving figure whose nasty character is reflected in his physical abnormalities, a "poisonous bunch-backed toad." History, they say, is written by the victors, and according to the Tudors and their most famous playwright, Richard was hunchbacked, with a withered hand and limping gait, "deformed, unfinished ... and that so lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me as I halt by them." For the archaeologists searching for Richard's remains, the sight of the freshly-uncovered skeleton's twisted spine was the moment the hairs began to stand up on the back of their necks; tests later revealed the King suffered from idiopathic adolescent-onset scoliosis. But while the skeleton's curved vertebrae are striking, experts say the resulting disability would not have been obvious in Richard III when he was alive. It would have meant his right shoulder was slightly higher than the other, but this was likely disguised by clothing, and so only apparent to the King's closest family and confidantes. READ MORE: Richard III's spine twisted, not hunched . The most famous portraits of Richard III depict him as dark-haired and steely eyed, but they were painted some 25 to 30 years after his death, and DNA tests on the remains suggest they are far from accurate. Genetic specialist Turi King, from the University of Leicester, said analysis of various genetic markers offered clues to the King's appearance, suggesting he was actually fair haired and had blue eyes. "[There are] genes that we know are involved in coding for hair and eye color," she told CNN in December 2014. "The genetic evidence shows he had a 96% probability of having blue eyes, and a 77% probability of having blond hair, though this can darken with age." This would mean that the painting of Richard III held by the Society of Antiquaries of London is the closest approximation we have to his real appearance: It shows him with grey-blue eyes and lighter brown hair than other portraits. READ MORE: DNA clue to Richard III's appearanceREAD MORE: Is this the face of Richard III? It is perhaps not surprising that a monarch would have a taste for the finer things in life, but heron -- really? Well yes -- in the medieval period wildfowl such as heron, egret and even swan would have featured heavily on the high-protein menus of the aristocracy. Scientists at the British Geological Survey measured the levels of isotopes including oxygen, strontium, nitrogen and carbon in Richard III's remains, revealing clues to what he ate and drank. They spotted a dramatic change in the last few years of his life -- suggesting his dietary habits became markedly richer once he became King. "Obviously, Richard was a nobleman beforehand, and so his diet would be reasonably rich already," explained isotope geochemist Angela Lamb, who led the study. "But once he became king we would expect him to be wining and dining more, banqueting more. "We have the menu from his coronation banquet and it was very elaborate -- lots of wildfowl, including real 'delicacies' such as peacock and swan, and fish -- carp, pike and so on." READ MORE: King's bones reveal luxury lifestyle . Something in that rich diet made Richard III sick: Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Leicester found evidence the King was suffering from a roundworm infection when he died. Researchers examining soil samples from the pelvis and skull of the skeleton spotted roundworm eggs in the area where the dead monarch's intestines would have been. Roundworm eggs -- in this case Ascaris lumbricoides -- are ingested via contaminated food, water or soil; once hatched and matured, the worms can grow up to a foot long. "Despite Richard's noble background, it appears that his lifestyle did not completely protect him from intestinal parasite infection, which would have been very common at the time," said Dr Jo Appleby, from the University of Leicester, who exhumed the King's remains. "We would expect nobles of this period to have eaten meats such as beef, pork and fish regularly, but there was no evidence for the eggs of the beef, pork or fish tapeworm," said Dr Piers Mitchell of the University of Cambridge, adding that the lack of tapeworms suggested the food Richard III ate was thoroughly cooked. READ MORE: Richard III had roundworm infection . Richard III was the last English King to die in battle, at Bosworth on August 22, 1485. In his "Anglica Historia," the Italian Polydore Vergil, recorded that: "King Richard alone was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies." When archaeologists studied the remains unearthed in Leicester, they found evidence of 11 of wounds inflicted at or around the time of his death: Nine to his skull and two to other parts of his body. The position of the injuries suggest that Richard had lost both his horse and his helmet when he was set upon by opposition troops. "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull -- a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon," said Professor Guy Rutty, who said the wounds were consistent with accounts of what happened to him at Bosworth. Tests also found an injury to the inside of Richard III's pelvis which supports contemporary reports that his body was subjected to acts of ritual humiliation after his death. READ MORE: Richard III's fatal wounds revealed . +(CNN)Cody Simpson just wants to make the world happy. That's why the Australian-born pop star is in Austin, Texas, this week, where he will be performing at a United Nations/MixRadio brunch at the SXSW festival. Simpson, 18, is the spokesman for the #HappySoundsLike playlist, promoting the U.N.'s International Day of Happiness on Friday, March 20. The singer and other celebs selected tracks for the playlist. "There is honestly nothing I can think of that I like to do more than make other people happy through live music," said Simpson, who will perform a few acoustic tracks at the SXSW brunch. The International Day of Happiness is a global celebration that came about after the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2011 recognizing happiness as a "fundamental human goal." The observation was decreed in 2012 after the first U.N. conference on happiness, and the first Day of Happiness was held on March 20, 2013. Simpson said it makes sense to have music as such an important part of the day. "I want to be able to share a message of happiness," the singer said. "I think music is such an escape for people." He selected Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" for the playlist. Britney Spears selected Prince's "Kiss," and Pharrell picked Talking Heads' "This Must Be the Place." Ed Sheeran, David Guetta, Charlize Theron, John Legend and James Blunt are also among those taking part. Simpson recently released a cover of Marley's "No Woman No Cry" and said the legendary reggae artist is a personal inspiration. "The majority of music today has no substance," said Simpson, who is an independent artist. "You want to be able to feel something true." As for what makes Simpson the happiest (other than music, of course), he said it's the simple things like relaxing with his family and just slowing down. "Happiness is kind of taken from you if your mind is too busy," he said. "Be present in that moment." Fans are being encouraged to post the song that makes them the happiest using the social media hashtag #HappySoundsLike. +(CNN)A previously unknown group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division posted the names, photos and addresses of about 100 U.S. troops online, calling for attacks against them. Whoever created the file, posted online Saturday before being removed, claimed to have hacked military databases and said it was leaking 100 names "so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you." The possibility of lone-wolf attacks in the United States, the type that this message calls for, is a threat officials take seriously. Attorney General Eric Holder said last month that the threat of a lone-wolf attack inside the United States is one thing that keeps him awake at night. But there was nothing to immediately validate the claims made by this unknown group. A Defense Department official told CNN that it cannot confirm the validity of the online posting, but is looking into the claim. The FBI is also looking into it, a law enforcement official told CNN, adding there are questions about the credibility of those behind it. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service notified the Marines named in the file about this "presently unverified threat," a Marine Corps spokesman said. The Navy reminded service members to make sure to limit the amount of personal information available online about themselves. The Army said in a statement Sunday that it was working with the Defense Department to "determine the validity of any potential threats," and it echoed the Navy in advising soldiers "to take prudent measures to limit the sharing of personal information online." A U.S. law enforcement official said that all 100 or so troops named in the file are being contacted. It is believed that ISIS members and sympathizers have been scouring social media sites trying to glean as much information as possible about service members, and have even threatened the spouses of military personnel online. The file appeared to include information that is already available publicly, through social media accounts, online phone directories and other accessible public records. In late November, the FBI issued a warning to U.S. military members that ISIS was calling for attacks against them, a law enforcement source told CNN. The source said that "overseas based individuals are looking for like-minded individuals in the U.S. to carry out these attacks." The warning asked members of the military to "review their online social media presence for any information that might attract the attention of violent extremists." The bulletin also said authorities were concerned that ISIS members were "spotting and assessing" individuals in the United States who may be interested in carrying out attacks inside the country against members of the military, a U.S. counterterror official told CNN. CNN's Barbara Starr, Pamela Brown, Kevin Bohn and Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report. +(CNN)Serena Williams has won 19 grand slam singles tennis titles, including six U.S. Opens and five Wimbledons. She has four Olympic gold medals. For years, she's had a reputation as one of her sport's top players. Yet for all her myriad accomplishments, Williams says one of her "biggest ... and proudest moments" came Friday night -- in the second round of a tournament in Indian Wells, California. It's not who she was playing, but where. The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is where Williams was booed during the 2001 finale. Her older sister, Venus, got similar treatment in the stands, and her father Richard told USA Today he was subjected to racial abuse. Afterward, Serena Williams vowed she'd never go back. She kept true to that promise for 14 years, a time when she often dominated her sport. On Friday, Williams was back. And instead of jeers, there were cheers. And tears, shed by Williams during the crowd's loud, boisterous, more than minute-long ovation. "I knew that I really wanted to do it," Williams said afterward of her return to Indian Wells. "But up until that moment, I didn't really know if it was the right thing for me to do. "And I feel like that's when I felt it was the right thing," she said of her welcome. "... Receiving the love from the crowd here, it really meant a lot to me." The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, just east of Palm Desert, California, isn't a grand slam but is one of the top tournaments in tennis. As such, top players go there to battle the best and prove their mettle. That's what brought Serena Williams to Indian Wells in 2001. The then-19-year-old got to the finals after her scheduled semifinal foe -- sister Venus -- pulled out minutes before the matching, citing a knee injury. Amid whispers he'd predetermined the outcome, Richard Williams told USA Today that he "had trouble holding back tears" given the treatment he got in the stands. According to him, one man said, "I wish it was '75, we'd skin you alive." (Charlie Pasarell, the tournament director at the time, denied any racial abuse in the same story; CNN didn't hear back from him after requesting an interview.) Serena Williams scored a three-set win over Kim Clijsters. But she didn't celebrate. She spent hours crying in the locker room. "(I drove) back to Los Angeles feeling as if I had lost the biggest game ever -- not a mere tennis game but a bigger fight for equality," Serena Williams wrote in TIME magazine in February. "Emotionally it seemed easier to stay away." Serena speaks about nerves before 1st match back at Indian Wells . The roller-coaster ride back to Indian Wells started when Williams accepted a wild-card invitation to play in this year's tournament, a difficult decision she recounted in TIME. Her father and sister, Venus, still stayed away. While she's been on her sport's biggest stage for well over a decade, the world's No. 1-ranked played admitted being nervous in the weeks, days and hours leading to her opening match. Those feelings broke out in the open as she walked onto the court, a response she called "overwhelming" and said she "wasn't really prepared for." The match itself wasn't easy, either. Romanian-born Monica Niculescu, the world's 68th-ranked player, challenged her for more than two hours. Still, Williams managed to overcome her competitor and her emotions to win in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5. Declining to reflect on the past, Williams simply said afterward, "Today was a wonderful day for me, for women's tennis, ... for tennis in general, and for everyone." The 33-year-old still has a lot of matches ahead of her. That includes more at Indian Wells, whose talented field includes Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki. Still, for all her competitive fire, Williams isn't feeling much pressure to win. She feels like she has already won. "I don't feel like I actually have to hold the trophy at the end of this," she said. "I feel like I'm already holding the trophy. And I've never felt this way. 'I feel like just being here is a huge win, not only for me but for so many people. And it's a wonderful feeling." CNN's Ravi Ubha contributed to this report. +(CNN)In fairy tales, it's usually the princess that needs protecting. At Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley, the princess is the one defending the castle. Meet Parisa Tabriz, the 31-year-old with perhaps the most enchanted job title in engineering -- "Google Security Princess." Her job is to hack into the most popular web browser on the planet, trying to find flaws in the system before the "black hats" do. Indeed, much like the good and bad witches of the Wizard of Oz, hackers are described as having "white" or "black" hats. To defeat Google's attackers, Tabriz must firstly think like them. In this cyberspace battle, the data of around a billion Chrome users hangs in the balance -- and Tabriz wasn't going to settle for any old moniker. "When I started, my official job title was 'Information Security Engineer,' which I thought was a bit boring and not really meaningful," said the Iranian-Polish-American, speaking a million miles an hour over the phone from Google HQ. "So I changed it to 'Security Princess' as more of a tongue-in-cheek thing. I've never been exceptionally girly or fit the stereotype of a princess, so it was a bit ironic for me to go by that name -- and then it stuck!" Tabriz's role has evolved dramatically in the eight years since she first started working at Google. Back then, the young graduate from Illinois University was one of 50 security engineers -- today there are over 500. "Our users include presidents of foreign countries -- I hope Obama uses Chrome too. It includes really highly-targeted individuals, political dissidents, journalists, and people who just want to casually use the internet," she said. "Google depends on those users trusting us with their data. So if we can't protect it, we have no business." Cybercrime has come a long way in the past decade -- from the cliched Nigerian Prince Scam to credit card theft, and suspected government surveillance over emails. Tabriz's biggest concern now is the people who find bugs in Google's software, and sell the information to governments or criminals. To combat this, the company has set up a Vulnerability Rewards Program, paying anywhere from $100 to $20,000 for reported glitches. "What we've seen in the last couple of years is what we suspect to be governments trying to intercept communications," said Tabriz. "In one case, there were Iranian-region Gmail users whose connection was being intercepted." "These incidents are especially scary since they seem to be carried out by large, well-funded organizations or governments," she added. It's a world away from Tabriz's computer-free childhhod home in Chicago. The daughter of an Iranian-American doctor father, and Polish-American nurse mother, Tabriz had little contact with computers until she started studying engineering at college. Gaze across a line-up of Google security staff today and you'll find women like Tabriz are few and far between -- though in the last few years she has hired more female tech whizzes. She admits there's an obvious gender imbalance in Silicon Valley, but for once is stumped on the fault. "Clearly the numbers make you think 'what is the problem that there aren't more women working in security, that there aren't more women working in technology?" she said. "And it does make me think what is the problem here? Is it the culture or the atmosphere?" Funnily enough, during training sessions Tabriz first asks new recruits to hack not a computer, but a vending machine. "There's this idea that you need to be a super genius computer geek to be a hacker. But in reality, I think anybody can be a hacker in the real world -- just think of all the non-software examples," said Tabriz. "A lot of people ask me what's the best answer I've been given to the vending machine problem, and the real answer is there is none. Some people think about how they'd steal their favorite snack; some people figure out how to steal the entire machine of snacks; and some people figure out how they could add some sort of functionality to the machine that wasn't there before" Tabriz's job is as much about technological know-how, as understanding the psychology of attackers. "Anybody who's working in defense -- police officers, security, or law enforcement -- has to stop and think 'what is the enemy or the attacker going to do?'" she said. "Because you always want to stay one step ahead of them." Read more from Make, Create, Innovate: . The world's largest machine gets ready to restart . You will you soon be able to 'swallow the doctor' The end of electronics as we know it? +(CNN)Singer-songwriter David Crosby hit a jogger with his car Sunday evening, a spokesman said. The accident happened in Santa Ynez, California, near where Crosby lives. Crosby was driving at approximately 50 mph when he struck the jogger, according to California Highway Patrol Spokesman Don Clotworthy. The posted speed limit was 55. The jogger suffered multiple fractures, and was airlifted to a hospital in Santa Barbara, Clotworthy said. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening. "Mr. Crosby was cooperative with authorities and he was not impaired or intoxicated in any way. Mr. Crosby did not see the jogger because of the sun," said Clotworthy. According to the spokesman, the jogger and Crosby were on the same side of the road. Pedestrians are supposed to be on the left side of the road walking toward traffic, Clotworthy said. Joggers are considered pedestrians. Crosby is known for weaving multilayered harmonies over sweet melodies. He belongs to the celebrated rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash. "David Crosby is obviously very upset that he accidentally hit anyone. And, based off of initial reports, he is relieved that the injuries to the gentleman were not life threatening," said Michael Jensen, a Crosby spokesman. "He wishes the jogger a very speedy recovery." +(CNN)The National Institutes of Health said Thursday that it plans to admit to its Maryland hospital an American health care worker with Ebola. The person was volunteering at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone, and will be flown back to the United States on a chartered aircraft and admitted Friday, the NIH said. No other details were immediately available. The patient will be the second with Ebola admitted to the NIH hospital. Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, was admitted to NIH in October after she contracted the disease while treating Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan. Pham recovered and was released free of disease. Duncan died. Nurse who contracted Ebola sues hospital company . NIH is one of only four hospitals in the United States that have biocontainment units and has been practicing for years to treat a highly infectious disease such as Ebola. More than 10,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, mostly in the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. CNN's Athena Jones contributed to this report. +(CNN)President Barack Obama shared jokes about pot and Hillary Clinton's email controversy at the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington on Saturday. The club's dinner brings together Washington's media elite, with noteworthy politicians typically attending, as well. Despite being held by a media organization that raises scholarship funds for journalism students, the dinners are generally closed to cameras. Organizers only allowed a select few pool reporters to enter while the President spoke. The lack of media glare allows guests to let some of their guard down, perhaps unleashing a few more jokes than they might if the cameras were rolling. At one point Obama, clad in a white tie, predicted he would get more laughs this year than in the past. "I'm not saying I'm any funnier. I'm saying weed is now legal in D.C.," he said. Voters in the District of Columbia legalized small amounts of marijuana last year, much to the chagrin of some in Congress. The President also touched on the controversy over the archiving of Clinton's emails while she was secretary of state. Obama lamented that while he was once a tech-savvy candidate, Clinton now seemed more up to speed. "Now I'm yesterday's news, and Hillary has got a server in her house. I didn't even know you could have one of those in your house. I am so far behind. Did you know that? I would have gotten one," he joked. The domain name for Clinton's private email address was @clintonemail.com. Obama wasn't the only politician attending this year's dinner. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker also dropped in. He's of course rumored to be in contention to run for president in 2016. Walker, a Republican, acknowledged some headlines of his own, like when Rudy Giuliani said at a Walker event last month that he doesn't think Obama loves America. To date, Walker hadn't said whether he agreed with Giuliani or not. "I want to get this out of the way once and for all. I believe President Obama loves America and every single American in it. Except for Rudy Giuliani," Walker said, according to a transcript provided by his staff. "If I did not love America, I wouldn't have moved here from Kenya," Obama later countered in a joking reference to unsubstantiated theories that he wasn't born in the United States. Every president since 1885 except for Grover Cleveland has attended the 130-year-old organization's dinner. Obama has attended three times as president and last attended back in 2013. +(CNN)A quick descent. No distress call. The pilot's actions. It will be months, or longer, before the causes behind Tuesday's crash of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 are known, but there are initial clues that aviation experts say will be the most important to investigators. Speculation comes in the wake of any tragedy such as this, but experts say certain facts can be significant for those who want to know what happened. The most useful clues so far: . One of the plane's "black boxes" has been recovered, the French interior minister said. The data recorder will be the most useful in determining the cause of the crash. Its contents are still unknown, but it is a good sign that it was found just hours after the crash. France's aviation accident investigation bureau will examine the device immediately, the interior minister said. Real-time flight data available to the public tells a key part of the story. According to online flight trackers, the Germanwings plane had been flying at 38,000 feet when, about 30 minutes into the trip, it started descending. Six minutes later, it was recorded at 24,000 feet -- a drop of 14,000 feet. It continued to descend after that -- it's last recorded altitude was 11,400 feet. The rate of descent indicates that the pilot was still controlling the plane to some extent, CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said. If the engines had stalled, the plane would have crashed in less time, she said. Departure: Barcelona, Spain, at 10:01 a.m. (26 minutes late) Destination: Scheduled to land in Dusseldorf, Germany, at 11:39 a.m. Passengers: 150 (144 passengers, six crew members) Airplane: Airbus A320 (twin-jet) Airline: Germanwings (budget airline owned by Lufthansa) Flight distance: 726 miles . Last known tracking data: 10:38 a.m. Last known speed: 480 mph . Last known altitude: 11,400 feet . Last known location: Near Digne-les-Bains, France, in the Alps . Sources: CNN and flightaware.com . The initial data about the plane's descent means that the pilot could have been trying to make an emergency landing, or that the plane was gliding with the pilot's guidance, Schiavo said. A scenario where the plane was gliding is potentially more dangerous because wide fields for landing would be hard to come by in the mountains, she said. Another aviation analyst, David Soucie, said the quickness of the descent shows something went wrong, but also that the plane was not out of control. The plane was descending "faster than an elevator at that point. You're feeling it down. It's pulling you down, and you can sense that," Soucie said. A telling piece of data is that the plane maintained speed as it descended, he said. It could show that the pilot was aware that something was wrong and was controlling the speed as the plane went down. "It was a controlled descent, and there was something that had gone wrong that he had no control over or he would have controlled it," Soucie said. The data on air traffic accidents are clear: A majority of accidents happen upon takeoff or landing. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, even though 83% of a plane's flight time is taken up with the climb, cruise and descent phases, less than 16% of accidents happen during this period. Soucie described the timing of the crash as an "anomalous thing that happened." It is "incredibly rare to happen in the middle of the flight," he said, meaning the pilot would have to act fast. Contrary to some early reports, the French Civil Aviation Authority told CNN that the crew of the Germanwings plane did not issue a distress call. It was air traffic controllers who sent out a distress call after radio contact with the plane was lost. The lack of an emergency call can raise a red flag to a nonpilot. Why would a pilot not alert someone that there is an emergency? Does it hint to an incursion in the cockpit or a pilot's motives? It might sound counterintuitive, but calling for help is not the first thing on a pilot's checklist when things go wrong. Soucie said the principle that a pilot follows during an emergency is this: Aviate, navigate and communicate. In other words, before turning on a distress call or transponder, the pilot's first concern is to fly the plane, and secondly, to find the safest option for a crash landing, if it comes to that. The Germanwings pilot "was definitely aviating and navigating from what we can tell," Soucie said. The pilot was conceivably looking for a place to try to land, he said. A distress call -- had it happened -- could have signaled a different story. Schiavo explained that there are codes that pilots have -- certain words that if uttered by the pilot indicate to air traffic controllers that there is a hijacking. The initial reports are that there was no hijack code transmitted from the plane. A big part of determining the cause of the crash will be whether such a code was sent or not. "I don't think you'd rule anything out at this point," CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien said. "It's not like it appears as if it was an in-flight breakup. So what was going on in the cockpit is what we're going to be talking about in the coming days." O'Brien pointed out the known details of the crash -- a rapid descent, no radio call and a flight that continues into the mountains -- are not part of a "typical emergency scenario." There were no reported weather issues during the plane's flight, but that does not mean you can rule these out as a possible cause, pilot and CNN aviation analyst Les Abend said. One thing Abend was looking at was a cold front progressing in the area where the plane was. It indicated some precipitation at lower altitudes. So there may not have been bad weather at the cruising altitude, but "at lower altitudes, as they were beginning the descent, their visibility may have been obscured," Abend said. Reduced visibility in and of itself is not a huge issue, but the weather may have deteriorated as the plane descended and be a possible factor in the crash, he said. +(CNN)Pi Day is going to be extra special this year, as 2015 stretches the symbolic March 14 celebration out a little longer to 3.1415. And if you mark pi at 9:26.53 in the morning or night, you're just a little more in line with the celebrated irrational number that never ends. To 31 decimal places, pi is 3.1415926535897932384626433832795. A few more tidbits about pi and Pi Day: . About pi . Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It's not equal to the ratio of any two whole numbers, so an approximation -- 22/7 -- is used in many calculations. Pi is essential in architecture and construction and was used frequently by early astronomers. Pi has been known for about 4,000 years, but it started to be called by the Greek letter only in the 1700s. The origin of Pi Day . Pi Day started 27 years ago at San Francisco's Exploratorium. Physicist Larry Shaw, who worked in the electronics group at the museum, started celebrating pi on March 14, 1988, primarily with museum staffers. The tradition has grown to embrace math enthusiasts from all walks of life. Celebrations . This year, the Exploratorium is hosting a day-long celebration at its facility on Pier 15, including a Pi Procession, servings of pie and a pizza pie dough-tossing event. Pi Day is also Albert Einstein's birthday. In Princeton, New Jersey, where Einstein lived for more than two decades, signs of the scientist permeate the Pi Day festivities, from birthday parties at the Historical Society of Princeton to an Einstein lookalike contest. Plus the requisite pie-eating, pie-throwing and pizza pie creation. For more about pi, visit www.piday.org. CNN's Elizabeth Landau contributed to this report. +(CNN)Two years after she underwent a double mastectomy to cut her cancer risk, actress and U.N. envoy Angelina Jolie has had surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes for the same reason, she wrote in The New York Times on Tuesday. Jolie, 39, carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Her mother was diagnosed with the latter at age 49 and died seven years later. In her New York Times op-ed Tuesday, Jolie said she had been planning the latest preventive surgery for some time. Doctors: Angelina Jolie did the right thing . But a blood test that revealed worrying markers accelerated the process, the Hollywood star said. Her doctor told her he wanted her to see a surgeon immediately to check her ovaries. "I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt," she wrote. "I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren." Her husband, Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt, was on a plane back from France within hours, she wrote. "The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful," she wrote. Further tests came back negative for tumors, Jolie wrote. "There was still a chance of early stage cancer, but that was minor compared with a full-blown tumor. To my relief, I still had the option of removing my ovaries and fallopian tubes and I chose to do it." Jolie stresses that not all women with the same BRCA1 gene mutation should feel they must automatically leap to surgery, but she urges them to explore their options and take control. Her family history -- she lost her grandmother and aunt to cancer, as well as her mother -- combined with the gene mutation meant that in her case, the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes seemed the best course. While not as complex as the mastectomy surgery, its effects are more severe, Jolie said, since it puts a woman into forced menopause. She must now take estrogen and progesterone in order to keep a hormonal balance. She will not be able to have more children and foresees physical changes, she said. But Jolie acknowledged she was lucky because she already has a family, unlike some women who face this difficult decision. "It is not possible to remove all risk, and the fact is I remain prone to cancer," she said. "I will look for natural ways to strengthen my immune system. I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say, 'Mom died of ovarian cancer.'" Opinion: I know how Jolie feels . The actress has been in a relationship with Pitt since the mid-2000s. They have three biological and three adopted children. She wrote two years ago that her preventive double mastectomy had cut her risk of developing breast cancer from 87% to 5%. Jolie serves as a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and has visited refugee camps around the world. She is also a vocal global campaigner on the issue of sexual violence against women. +March 25, 2015 . Featured this Wednesday: The U.S. announces it will maintain its troop levels in Afghanistan through the rest of the year, Israel denies accusations that it spied on U.S.-led negotiations with Iran, a passenger plane crashes in the French Alps, and we feature a Character study involving a CNN Hero who's helping young people keep their eyes and ears healthy. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Serena Williams had a big decision to make earlier this year, and she wanted to run it by her parents. She was nervous. She wanted to see whether they would support her going back to Indian Wells, California, to play in a tournament she had skipped 13 times since winning in 2001. The last time she was there, she had been booed loudly and lustfully. The fans were upset and sensed some sort of conspiracy that she didn't have to face her talented older sister in the semifinals. Venus Williams had withdrawn 10 minutes before their match with a knee injury. Many fans didn't buy it and thought it was orchestrated to give the younger Williams a chance for extra rest. Two days later, during the championship match, Serena Williams, 19 at the time, was jeered when she did well and cheered when she fared poorly. Then days after the tournament, which she won, her father, Richard, told USA Today that as he and Venus walked down the stairs to their seats, people kept calling him the N-word and one man said: "I wish it was '75; we'd skin you alive." Neither Serena nor Venus has played in the tennis tournament since. That will end Friday when Serena Williams, the world No. 1, faces Monica Niculescu, the 68th-ranked player in a second-round match. The end of the boycott took a lot of conversations with a lot of people, Williams told reporters Thursday. Two of the most important were with her parents. "It was a really emotional time for me," she said, saying the prospect of the talks made her a little nervous. She told them she wouldn't go back if they didn't want her to go. But they both said to play. Her dad said it would be a big mistake not to come back, she said. Williams said her mother said, "I will be there for you." Venus Williams, the No. 11 singles player, isn't playing in the tournament, but Serena Williams said her older sister was 100% behind her. She is "very happy that I am here. And even encouraged me to come," Serena Williams said. Serena Williams announced her return to the event in a TIME magazine first-person piece in February, writing she would ended her boycott in the spirit of forgiveness. She said Thursday that she didn't just have to forgive the fans at Indian Wells. "In order to forgive, you have to be able to really let go of everything. I kind of let go a long time ago, and I kind of forgave, but I wasn't at point where I was ready to come back," she said. The timing seemed right this year, she said. She added that she will be a little nervous in her first match at the BNP Paribas Open. Still she was "looking forward actually to kind of stepping out on center court and letting the whole world know that it doesn't matter what you face -- whether it's something that wasn't right, something that hurt you, hurt your family. You can just come out and be strong." CNN's Chris Borg and Tom McGowan contributed to this report. +(CNN)We had no idea how much we would really, really, really, really like Tom Hanks lip-syncing to a Carly Rae Jepsen song, but we really do. Hanks shows up in the new video for "I Really Like You," "singing" Jepsen's part throughout. The Oscar-winning actor is apparently playing himself, signing autographs for fans, and generally being a very cheery movie star, before he and Jepsen take part in a flash mob. So what exactly is Tom Hanks doing in this video in the first place? Turns out he is good friends with Scooter Braun, manager for Jepsen (and Justin Bieber, who also appears in the video). He even sang and danced at Braun's wedding. ABC reported that Hanks suggested himself to play the role, after Jepsen said it would be amusing for a man to lip-sync her song. The result, as you can see, is kind of magical. +(CNN)Creflo Dollar is hoping a few folks will see fit to bless him. The minister, known for being a prosperity preacher at his Atlanta-area World Changers Church International, is seeking "200,000 people committed to sow $300 or more (to) help achieve our goal to purchase the G650 airplane." The figures were presented Friday in a nearly six-minute video on the Creflo Dollar Ministries website and total more than $60 million needed to buy the Gulfstream G650, which goes for a reported $65 million. The page featuring the video and information on the fundraiser has been taken down, but those wishing to donate are still able to do so on the church's gift page. The project isn't limited to member donations, as the site states that "we are asking members, partners and supporters of this ministry to assist us in acquiring a Gulfstream G650." The request goes on to detail that the luxury jet will transport Pastors Creflo and Taffi Dollar and member of the Dollars' church around the globe to help them spread the gospel. Prosperity gospel is a theology that promises wealth and health to those who tithe 10% of their income to the church. The video includes parishioners, a pilot, a project manager and even the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, advocating on behalf of the pastor. On the video, the pastor chronicles incidents involving his current jet, which has been in service for more than three decades: The right engine went out en route to Australia, but the plane was able to safely land at its destination thanks to the experience of the pilot and crew. During another trip, mechanical failure caused the jet to skid off a runway in London while Taffi Dollar and their three daughters were aboard. Dollar attributed his family's safe arrival to "a grace working on that airplane, that brought my girls back home to me, you understand what I am saying?" he said from the pulpit to thunderous applause. Dollar said that after those incidents, he "knew that it was time to begin to believe God for a new airplane." The Gulfstream G650 would comfortably allow the ministry make its way around the world. It seats up to 14 passengers with berthing for six, according to gulfstream.com. The jet comes with two Rolls-Royce engines, high-speed Internet and two multichannel satellites and allows for a four-and-a-half-hour commute from New York to Los Angeles. "The G650 is the biggest, fastest, most luxurious, longest range and most technologically advanced jet -- by far," according to the site. In soliciting the donations, Dollar's site states, "We need your help to continue reaching a lost and dying world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Your love gift of any amount will be greatly appreciated." Attempts to contact Dollar's ministry for comment were unsuccessful. +(CNN)Retired NFL star Darren Sharper changed course and pleaded guilty Monday to one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted sexual assault. Sharper has been in jail in Los Angeles since last year, but this case was in Arizona. Sharper and his attorney had a telephone meeting with Judge Warren Granville, where the former player and television analyst changed his plea. The judge sentenced Sharper to nine years in prison with no eligibility for early release, Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokesman Jerry Cobb said. Sharper will also be placed on lifetime probation afterward. Sharper, a five-time Pro Bowl player, originally faced five counts of drugging and raping three women in Scottsdale, Arizona, in November 2013. Before being indicted in Arizona, Sharper was arrested in California on charges of drugging and raping two women in that state. He was also under investigation in other states. Florida prosecutors announced last year they would not prosecute Sharper on similar allegations, but he faces federal charges in Louisiana. Sharper played for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints from 1997 through the 2010 season. The five-time Pro Bowl player intercepted 63 passes in his career, tying for seventh all-time. He is tied for second all-time in interceptions returned for touchdowns with 11, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. He later worked as an analyst for NFL Network. Sharper will get about 300 days credit for time already served in California, Cobb said. CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report. +(CNN)Airstrikes started Wednesday in Tikrit, where Iraqi and coalition forces are battling to wrest control from ISIS. "These strikes are intended to destroy ISIL strongholds with precision, thereby saving innocent Iraqi lives while minimizing collateral damage to infrastructure," said Lt. Gen. James L. Terry, commanding general of the international coalition, led by the United States. "This will further enable Iraqi forces under Iraqi command to maneuver and defeat ISIL in the vicinity of Tikrit," he said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. At the request of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the coalition is providing "airstrikes, airborne intelligence capabilities, and advise and assist support to Iraqi Security Force headquarters elements," it said. According to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the first wave of airstrikes was intended to hit about a dozen preplanned targets. Tikrit, best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, fell in June to ISIS, which has captured large areas of Iraq and Syria for what it says is its Islamic caliphate. On March 1, al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salaheddin province. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. If Iraq regains control of the city, it could mean that retaking Mosul -- a city 10 times bigger -- is possible. CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report. +(CNN)Denise Huskins, who was reported kidnapped two days ago in Vallejo, California, has been found safe more than 400 miles away, authorities and her father said Wednesday. Huskins' boyfriend Monday afternoon called police and said she had been abducted that morning from his home in the Bay Area. About 48 hours later, she was located an hour south of Los Angeles. Officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department found Huskins at her father's apartment complex, department spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt told reporters. Huskins, 29, is in good condition and had no apparent injuries, Marlatt said. Huskins left with police to meet several family members. Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park said that the case was being treated as a kidnap for ransom and investigators hoped to get a clearer picture of what happened by talking to Huskins later that night. It was unclear whether that would happen in Vallejo or whether detectives would have to travel to Huntington Beach, some 420 miles away. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that her father, Michael Huskins, said in a telephone interview that he received a voice mail from his daughter Wednesday morning saying she had been dropped off at his apartment. He called police to ask that the authorities pick her up and make sure she was safe, he told the newspaper. "I almost had a heart attack," he said, according to the Chronicle. "I tried to get authorities to pick her up, but they kept asking me a bunch of questions. I said, 'Send a squad car.' I was hyperventilating." Earlier, Michael Huskins had made an emotional appeal through CNN affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco directed at the kidnappers: Don't hurt her, please don't hurt her." "The biggest fear is the horror she might be going through ... that's my biggest fear. The horror, she doesn't deserve that, not from anybody." "It's like a nightmare that I can't wake up from," her father told the affiliate. "This is not supposed to happen." Police have not ruled anyone out as a potential suspect, Park told reporters. He declined to give much information about the case, including whether a ransom had been paid. He said he was unaware of any relationship between the man and woman. Park did say the man is both a witness and a "potential victim." Michael Huskins has said the couple had been dating for seven months. When asked whether police have considered that this might not be a kidnapping, Park said: "We're looking at all possible angles." The FBI is involved, he said. The Chronicle posted an audio clip on which Denise Huskins says she has been abducted. Her father confirmed the voice on the recording is hers. In it, she says: "My name is Denise Huskins. I am kidnapped, otherwise I'm fine. Earlier today there was a plane crash in Alps and 158 people died. And one thing that people know about me is that I went to my first concert, me and my mom, to Blink 182 (last word is inaudible): . The editor in chief of the Chronicle, Audrey Cooper, said in a written statement that the newspaper received a link to the audio file in an email. The Chronicle reported the anonymous email said Huskins would be "returned safely (Wednesday). We will send a link to her location after she has been dropped off. She will be in good health and safe while she waits. Any advance on us or our associates will create a dangerous situation for Denise. Wait until she is recovered and then proceed how you will. We will be ready." CNN's Dan Simon, Tony Marco, Faith Karimi, Elan Bird, Michael Martinez, Stella Chan, Rosalina Nieves and Paul Vercammen contributed to this report. +(CNN)Last summer, amid startling news reports of manipulation, mismanagement and possibly death caused by failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Congress came together and passed legislation to overhaul veterans' access to health care. I was proud to sponsor the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (the Choice Act), and deliver good news to veterans: They would have a choice when it comes to accessing health care they deserve, and many would have the option of seeing their local physician. Now, the VA is trying to take the choice away. A mere six months after the Choice Act was signed into law, and only three months after veterans began to receive their Choice Cards, the President's budget attempts to reallocate the law's emergency funds that are solely meant to pay for veterans' health care in their communities. The VA says these funds aren't being used quickly enough because veterans aren't interested in getting care from their local physicians. That could not be further from the truth. Thousands of veterans are struggling to access the care they were promised through the Choice Act because of the VA's flawed implementation of the law and foolish interpretation of the 40-mile rule in the distance criteria. When Congress passed the Choice Act, the intent was that veterans be allowed to access local health care if they cannot receive the VA care they need within 40 miles of their home, or their wait time for an appointment is more than 30 days. Unfortunately, the VA decided to narrow the interpretation of the 40-mile rule, choosing to take into account only the distance of a VA medical facility from a veteran's home and not whether the VA facility can actually provide the services the veteran needs. Veterans are being told they cannot use their Choice Cards because they live within 40 miles of a VA facility, even though that facility does not offer the care they require. The VA is denying the access the law was intended to provide and forcing veterans to choose between traveling hours to a VA medical facility, paying out of pocket or going without care altogether. Veterans simply want what they were promised in the Choice Act: the choice to access the care they deserve in their community. In my hometown of Hays, Kansas, a veteran is forced to drive 200 miles several times a month for routine cortisone shots because the VA outpatient clinic just 25 miles from his home does not offer the shots he needs. One would think this veteran could use his Choice Card to visit a local physician or local hospital to get the shots he needs -- but the VA is denying access to this care. Thousands of veterans across the country are facing this same frustration. Why is common sense not prevailing at the VA? Why is the VA not bending over backward to take care of veterans? As a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I have questioned VA Secretary Bob McDonald and other VA officials for months in hearings, personal meetings, phone calls and correspondence about the VA's flawed interpretation of the 40-mile rule and what can be done to fix the problem. Congress specifically included language in the Choice Act that gives the VA the authority and flexibility it needs to provide veterans with access to care outside the VA when the care needed by a veteran is "either unavailable or not cost-effective to provide at a VA facility." But for some reason, the VA refuses to use the authority Congress gave it and put the best interest of veterans first. Enough is enough. In the absence of VA action, I authored legislation that would make certain veterans are not dismissed or forgotten just because of where they live. The Veterans Access to Community Care Act of 2015 (S. 207) would require the VA to utilize its authorities, including the Choice Act, to offer community care to veterans who are currently unable to receive the health care services they need from a VA medical facility within 40 miles of where they live. This legislation enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress and has been endorsed by numerous veterans' organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America and the National Guard Association of the United States. When Congress passed the Choice Act, we called on the VA to live up to its commitment to care for those who have sacrificed for our country -- and we will not back down. We ought to always err on the side of what is best for the veteran, not what is best for the Department of Veterans Affairs. +(CNN)The reported kidnapping of a Vallejo, California, woman for ransom this week was nothing but a hoax, police said. Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park went as far as to call it a "wild goose chase" that wasted department resources. Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, who reported the kidnapping Monday, are no longer cooperating with police, Park said. Huskins was found safe on Wednesday, more than 400 miles away in Huntington Beach. Officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department talked with Huskins, 29, at her father's apartment complex, department spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt told reporters. The case has authorities scratching their heads. Huskins initially indicated she would be happy to talk with Vallejo police and provide details of what happened, according to Park. Anxious to talk with her, Vallejo police and the FBI sent a jet to Huntington Beach to fly her back to the Bay Area. When it was time to go, Huskins was a no show. "As of right now, we have not heard from Miss Huskins and we are no longer in contact with any of the family members," Park said late Wednesday. The family has retained an attorney. Like Huskins, Quinn isn't talking. Charges are possible in the case, Park said, but those will be decided by the district attorney once the investigation is complete. The quickly changing developments left authorities frustrated. Quinn called on Monday afternoon to report that his girlfriend had been kidnapped several hours earlier from his home. At the time, Park said that the case was being treated as a kidnap for ransom. Huskins' father, Michael, made an emotional appeal through CNN affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco directed at the kidnappers: "Don't hurt her, please don't hurt her." "The biggest fear is the horror she might be going through ... that's my biggest fear. The horror, she doesn't deserve that, not from anybody." "It's like a nightmare that I can't wake up from," her father told the affiliate. "This is not supposed to happen." Then, the San Franciso Chronicle posted an audio clip. On it, a woman who identified herself as Denise Huskins says she has been abducted. "My name is Denise Huskins. I am kidnapped, otherwise I'm fine," the voice says. "Earlier today there was a plane crash in Alps and 158 people died. And one thing that people know about me is that I went to my first concert, me and my mom, to Blink 182 (last word is inaudible)." The editor in chief of the Chronicle, Audrey Cooper, said the newspaper received a link to the audio file in an email. The Chronicle reported the anonymous email said Huskins would be "returned safely (Wednesday). We will send a link to her location after she has been dropped off. She will be in good health and safe while she waits. Any advance on us or our associates will create a dangerous situation for Denise. Wait until she is recovered and then proceed how you will. We will be ready." Then came Wednesday. The Chronicle reported that Huskins' father said he received a voice mail from his daughter saying she had been dropped off at his apartment. He called police to ask that the authorities pick her up and make sure she was safe, he told the newspaper. "I almost had a heart attack," he said, according to the Chronicle. "I tried to get authorities to pick her up, but they kept asking me a bunch of questions. I said, 'Send a squad car.' I was hyperventilating." Authorities are unclear what exactly is going on. Or , if they know, they're not saying. Police said the requested ransom amount was $8,500. The FBI is investigating the Huskins' financial records. About 40 detectives from various agencies and 100 support personnel "worked around the clock" on the case, leaving the community on edge, Park said. "I can tell you that our investigation has concluded that none of the claims has been substantiated," he said. "And I can go one step further to say this: That this was not a random act and that the members of our community are safe and that they have nothing to fear." "It's disappointing. It's disheartening," he said. CNN's Dan Simon, Tony Marco, Faith Karimi, Ashley Fantz, Elan Bird, Michael Martinez, Stella Chan, Rosalina Nieves and Paul Vercammen contributed to this report. +(CNN)It's not quite from sea to shining sea, but the latest winter storm gets an "A" for effort (or is that an "E"?). For its sheer size, this one is a monster, stretching from New Mexico to southern New England. If you're keeping track on your maps at home, that's 2,000 miles of snowy misery and 94 million people under some sort of winter weather warning, watch or advisory. "Enough," cries a winter-weary nation. Enough of the sleet and ice in the Dallas area. More than 640 arrivals and departures were canceled at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Wednesday. Another 540 have been scrubbed for Thursday. "Dear Mr. Heat Miser, please reclaim Dallas from your obnoxious half brother Snow Miser," tweets Dandy Killeen. Enough snow to hide your energy drink. "The snow is almost 1 energy shot deep in OKC," tweeted Damon Lane. Enough snow to cover the yard and street. Some areas will get 6 to 10 inches. Hundreds stranded in snow on Kentucky highway . "Snow really coming down in Lexington, KY. A solid 1"+ per hour snowfall rate!" tweets T.G. Shuck. Enough snow for a snow emergency. The federal government is closed on Thursday. "DC snow emergency to go into effect at 7 am Thursday. Move your vehicles from these routes!" tweets Fox 5 DC. Enough snow to eat ice cream. "Just celebrated the coming snow with a bowl of Moose Tracks," tweets country music legend Charlie Daniels. Enough snow to ... Actually, New Mexico is weird. Aaron Goodwin of "Ghost Adventures" fame likes the white stuff. He tweeted: "Snow :)" But he likes hunting for ghosts too so use your own judgment. Enough snow for a snow day. "Snow day tomorrow. Stay safe and stay warm, everybody," tweets Sean Nunan, the associate principal at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft. Enough snow and rain to cause problems. The area will get up to 4 inches of rain before it turns to snow. The National Weather Service warned that flooding could be an issue, especially across the lower Ohio Valley and western Mid-Atlantic regions. CNN affiliate WCHS reports a mudslide in Mingo County, West Virginia, sent one woman to the hospital. Enough snow to go totally nuts. So far this season Boston has seen 105.7 inches -- almost 9 feet -- of snow. That's just 1.9 inches short of the record set nine years ago. More snow is expected from this system, but it's not likely to be enough to break the record as the forecast models indicate the majority of snow will stay south of the city. There is a slim chance of snow on Thursday, followed by days of sunshine and temperatures near 40 by Monday. Enough cold to wrap yourself in blankets . "Another #SnowDay? Auto-Swaddle yourself in softness," recommends Downy. CNN meteorologists Dave Hennen and Matt Daniel contributed to this report. +(CNN)Actor Jon Hamm, who plays hard-drinking Don Draper on the hit AMC show "Mad Men," has recently completed a 30-day stint in rehab for alcohol abuse, TMZ reports. The celebrity-news site says Hamm checked himself into the high-end Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the end of February. "With the support of his longtime partner Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm recently completed treatment for his struggle with alcohol addiction," said representatives for Hamm in a statement to TMZ, People and other media outlets. "They have asked for privacy and sensitivity going forward." The news comes less than two weeks before "Mad Men," which explores the lives of New York advertising executives in the 1960s, begins its final eight-episode run on April 5. Filming for the final episodes was completed months ago. Missouri native Hamm, 44, toiled in near-obscurity for years in Hollywood before finding fame in 2007 as the tormented, womanizing Draper, for which he won a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV drama. He has been nominated for an acting Emmy seven times for "Mad Men" but has never won. +(CNN)It turns out that Jupiter may be more than just an enormous ball of gas spinning a few hundred million miles farther out in the solar system. We earthlings might have the giant planet to thank for our very existence. Two scientists are suggesting that the inner solar system once played host to a bunch of "super-Earths" -- planets that were larger than our own but smaller than Neptune. Jupiter, however, put an end to those early occupiers of the inner orbits, bulldozing in and sweeping them into the sun, according to a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Jupiter's epic, planet-shattering journey toward the sun and back out again laid the foundations for the creation of Earth and the other smaller planets nearby -- Mercury, Venus and Mars. "Our work suggests that Jupiter's inward-outward migration could have destroyed a first generation of planets and set the stage for the formation of the mass-depleted terrestrial planets that our solar system has today," said Konstantin Batygin of Caltech, one of the authors of the paper. The theory attempts to explain why our solar system is a bit of an oddball in our galactic neighborhood. Most other systems that have planets orbiting around a star similar to our sun look very different. They generally have at least one planet significantly larger than Earth that's in a closer orbit than Mercury's. But they don't have many objects farther out. Maybe that's because of Jupiter's destructive romp in the early history of the solar system. "There is no reason to think that the dominant mode of planet formation throughout the galaxy should not have occurred here," Batygin said. "It is more likely that subsequent changes have altered its original makeup." He and his co-author -- Gregory Laughlin of University of California, Santa Cruz -- are building on a scenario of Jupiter's migration that was previously put forward by other scientists. Known as the Grand Tack scenario, it describes Jupiter getting drawn toward the sun in the early era of the solar system thanks to its huge mass. What stops it from being sucked right into the sun is Saturn. The two gas giants start to exert gravitational influence on one another, entering a planetary dance that eventually sends them back farther out into the solar system. Batygin and Laughlin suggest that during its inward journey, Jupiter dragged a load of planetary building blocks, known as planetesimals, along with it. That sent the planetesimals smashing into debris in the inner solar system, causing them to break apart and fall into the sun at a faster rate. The scientists say they ran a simulation of what would happen if there were also a number of super-Earths in the vicinity as well. They found that a wave of decaying planetesimals would steer the super-Earths into the sun over the course of 20,000 years. "It's a very effective physical process," Batygin said. "You only need a few Earth masses worth of material to drive tens of Earth masses worth of planets into the sun." On its way back out, Jupiter left some remaining planetesimals in its wake -- the building blocks that over millions of years would come to form Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars. +(CNN)Can't see Harry Potter's Albus Dumbledore as gay? Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has a terse message for you. Rowling revealed that the Hogwarts School headmaster was gay after "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final book in the boy wizard series, was released in 2007. Fan Ana Kocovic started the exchange by asking the author, "I wonder why you said that Dumbledore is gay because I can't see him in that way." "Maybe because gay people just look like ... people?" Rowling wrote in her March 24 reply. Rowling's fans loved it. +(CNN)The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the largest sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the United States, says the church has strong measures in place to prevent the sexual abuse of scouts, as claims have been made it hasn't done enough. In the first interview about allegations of abuse in Mormon church-sponsored scouting troops, Church Elder L. Whitney Clayton told CNN that the church is at the forefront for prevention of child abuse. "We feel like there is really no other organization that we know of -- a church or something like a church -- that does as much as we do," Clayton said. "We have a zero tolerance policy or position with respect to child abuse, and we train our people, we teach our people, we work with leaders, we provide materials online and in hard copy." Over several months, CNN examined allegations of abuse that were detailed in at least five lawsuits filed against the church and the scouts. But Clayton said the church today is proactive, even constructing its buildings "in such a way as to try to avoid any situation where child abuse could occur." "For instance, if you walk down the hallway in an LDS chapel, a Mormon church, and look at the Sunday school classes, you're going to see windows in the doorways into those Sunday school classes so people can look inside and walk by," he said. The interview with Clayton followed a CNN investigation into the case of Melvin Novak, who was sexually abused by his scoutmaster, a member of the Mormon Church, beginning when he was 14 years old in 1998, according to the lawsuit Novak filed against the church and the Boy Scouts of America. The scoutmaster, Vance Hein, had been forced in resign from scouting in the early 1990s after reports surfaced that he failed to report a fellow scoutmaster who was engaged in homosexual activities. That scoutmaster ended up going to prison for sexual assaults on minors. Hein's name was added to the Boy Scouts of America's ineligible volunteer files, which are widely known as the "perversion files." The documents, which were made public in 2012, are lists of scout leaders suspected of sexual abuse or homosexual activity. However, three years after being kicked out of scouting, Hein was allowed to rejoin the scouts after getting letters of recommendation attesting to his character. One of those letters was from Hein's influential Mormon Bishop Jack Moyer, who wrote that Hein was "highly respected and liked." Moyer, who is now retired, declined to speak to CNN. But in a deposition taken as part of the lawsuit last year, he acknowledged that he would not have written the letter knowing what he later found out about Hein. The lawsuit charged that Hein "actively groomed young boys under his charge for later sexual molestation." Hein eventually was convicted of molesting Novak. He is now in prison for violating probation in the Novak case. Ken Rothweiler, who is Novak's lawyer, said what happened in the case is outrageous. "This case is probably the most egregious of all of the cases against the LDS church, and the reason I say that is because the LDS church knew that Vance Hein, this pedophile, was already kicked out of scouting by the Boy Scouts of America," Rothweiler said. However, church attorney David Pittinsky said it was the Boy Scouts organization that should have done something. "If the Boy Scouts had disclosed to Bishop Moyer the information they had in their files, there is no way that Vance Hein would have ever become a scoutmaster, and he would have been subject to excommunication by the church," Pittinsky said. In a statement to CNN, the Boy Scouts of America said Hein was removed from scouting "for reasons unrelated to child abuse." The group added, "Our efforts to protect youth were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong. We extend our deepest apologies to victims and their families." Read the full response from the Boy Scouts . The case ended last year with a confidential settlement paid to Novak, who is now 31. All but one of the five lawsuits filed against the church and Boy Scouts of America have been settled. Hein was sentenced to probation in 2000 after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting Novak. While on probation, he was arrested for possession of child pornography and was sentenced in 2012 to 15 to 30 years in prison. "Any case is alarming to me. It's a tragedy," Clayton said. "I'm a father. I have seven children, four boys and three girls. I have 19 grandchildren. The thought of one of them as a child or youth being abused is absolutely horrific to me." Asked what he would say to Novak, Clayton said, "I say to him and anyone else who has been abused in the church or other churches -- I'm sorry that you've gone through what you've gone through. It's a horrible thing for anyone to be abused. No child, no youth should ever have to go through that." +(CNN)One is a former high school cornerback who also loves baseball. The other is a football fan who also played competitive golf. The two University of Oklahoma students at the center of a racist fraternity video have more than sports in common. They're both under fire since the nine-second clip showed them making racial slurs against blacks. In it, students at the now-disbanded Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity clap, pump their fists and laugh as they hurl racial slurs and make a reference to lynching. School officials have expelled Parker Rice and Levi Pettit because of their alleged "leadership role" in the racist chant. Here's what we know about the two students: . Rice, 19, was raised in Dallas, where he recently graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School. In high school, he was an avid sportsman, and he played cornerback on the football team, in addition to baseball, The Dallas Morning News reported. His father, Bob Rice, is a real estate agent in Dallas, where he volunteers for various organizations, including a baseball league and the local YMCA, according to the newspaper. Earlier this year, a sibling of the younger Rice described their close relationship in an interview with their high school newspaper. In the article, the brother says they enjoy playing video games and watching movies together. Rice has apologized for the video, calling his actions wrong and reckless. "I made a horrible mistake by joining into the singing and encouraging others to do the same," he said in a statement Tuesday. His family has fled their home, where protesters gathered Wednesday. They've also wiped out their social media accounts. As the university tries to heal after days of controversy, some are rallying to Rice's defense. Matthew Lopez, a friend and fellow student at the university, said the video is not a reflection of who he is. "That video does not represent his core personality," Lopez said. "Unfortunately though, as things are, that might define him for a while. But it does not define him personally, I feel." Lopez described him as a "charismatic, good person, with a good soul and a good spirit" who experienced a lapse in judgment. "His behavior is a result of his influence of the fraternity system and the traditions that have been embedded since pre-civil war times, when the fraternity was made, which obviously weren't the most tolerant times," Lopez said. The second student expelled, Pettit does not have much of a digital footprint. What appears to be his now deleted Twitter page mainly focuses on his musings about college football. Pettit played golf at his alma mater, Highland Park High School, The Dallas Morning News reported. In a statement, his parents said their son made a horrible mistake and apologized to African-Americans, students and university faculty. "He is a good boy, but what we saw in those videos is disgusting," Brody and Susan Pettit said. "While it may be difficult for those who only know Levi from the video to understand, we know his heart, and he is not a racist." CNN has reached out to both students but has not heard back from Rice. A spokesman for the Pettit family declined CNN's request for an interview. +(CNN)As a youngster, Rohana Rozhan had a nickname that summed her up perfectly: "Rohana the Piranha." Even as a little girl growing up in Malaysia, the future CEO of a $4.6 billion media company was small but deadly. "I was born independent, fiercely so," 51-year-old Rozhan told CNN's Kristie Lu-Stout. "I always had a chip on my shoulder that I had to prove to everyone that I'm independent." Today she's proved it -- and then some. Rozhan heads Astro Malaysia, one of the biggest media and entertainment firms in the region. She's in charge of producing over 9,000 hours of original content a year -- ranging from radio broadcasts to hits on the silver screen. "We have 52% women working at Astro, but one of the things we are very very passionate about, is that each woman has to be the best person for the job." "If you grow up a good Muslim, Malay girl, one of the things you have to learn is you can be the smartest kid on the block, but you have to be respectful." "You have to want it, but you can't just want it without the work. You have to want it, yet understand, that it's not going to be easy." Inspire: Patricia Arquette's rallying cry . Get involved: International Women's Day events you'd be crazy to miss . +(CNN)The BBC has suspended Jeremy Clarkson, the host of car show "Top Gear," following "a fracas with a BBC producer," the broadcaster said in a statement. "Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," they said. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday." Fans of the presenter expressed dismay at the decision. At the time of writing, more than 147,000 people had signed a petition seeking his reinstatement. Using the hashtag #BringBackClarkson, some Twitter users lamented that the show would not be the same without him. Clarkson himself also took to Twitter, posting an apology (of sorts) to Labour leader Ed Miliband -- for knocking him down the news agenda. "Save Clarkson?" his co-host James May tweeted. "Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful." This is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy. In May this year, the television presenter asked forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show. Clarkson had mumbled the n-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired. Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines when Argentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used -- interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War. Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said on the BBC Newsbeat website that the use of the plate was purely coincidental. In a previous article on their website, the BBC said "Jeremy Clarkson is not a man given to considered opinion." In their statement, the corporation declined to comment any further. Jeremy Clarkson: Hated by liberals, loved by the elite . +London (CNN)At the time it probably seemed like fun: Jeremy Clarkson and a crew from the top-rated BBC TV show Top Gear driving a Porsche in Argentina. The only problem was that the car's registration plate, H982 FLK, appeared to refer to the 1982 Falklands War between the UK and Argentina, fought over a remote British colony off the coast of Patagonia, which both countries claim. The conflict, which claimed the lives of 655 Argentinian servicemen and 255 Britons, ended with a British victory. Clarkson and the rest of the production team were in the country filming a TV special on a remote highway that passes through Chile and Argentina, and the number plate sparked anger among locals over the perennially touchy subject of the war. As the crew attempted to flee by road to Chile, they were attacked by an angry crowd who hurled rocks and bricks at the Porsche and other cars in the convoy. Clarkson, who fronts Top Gear, later said an angry mob tried to attack them with pickax handles and shouted "burn their cars." "This was not some jolly jape that went awry. For once, we did nothing wrong," he told The Sun. Top Gear producers said the numbers and letters on the registration plates had not been chosen deliberately. The motoring show, fronted by Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, has made a name for itself globally with risky stunts and a brand of blokish humor that often treads the line and regularly steps over it. Clarkson is determinedly anti-politically correct among the topics he rails about, both on the show and in his newspaper and magazine columns. Favored topics include environmentalism, traffic laws and liberals. The latest "fracas" has seen Clarkson suspended by the BBC, which broadcasts Top Gear, for allegedly hitting a producer. The presenter, who is one of the BBC's highest earners, has previously caused offense during shoots in foreign countries and regularly court controversy at home. In July 2014, Clarkson came under fire for a racist comment made during a Top Gear special in Myanmar. The slur came during a show segment which showed hosts Clarkson, Hammond and May looking at a bridge they had built over the River Kwai as a local man walked over it. "That is a proud moment. But there's a slope on it," Clarkson said. "You're right," co-star Hammond replied. "It's definitely higher on that side." Following complaints, the UK's media watchdog, Ofcom, said the use of the word "slope," which is a derogatory term, was offensive and that the episode broke broadcasting rules. The show's executive producer Andy Wilman said in a statement, that they "[regretted] any offense caused," adding, "when we used the word 'slope' ... it was a light-hearted word play joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it." Over the years, Clarkson has been in trouble for an apparent series of racist comments including characterizing Mexicans as "lazy and feckless" and saying that everyone who traveled to India got "the trots." He was also accused of using the "n-word" while filming the motoring show by UK newspaper The Mirror. "Eeny, meeny, miny moe ...," he sang in video footage published by The Mirror, "Catch a nigger by his toe." Initially, Clarkson vehemently denied the accusation on Twitter but following public condemnation and calls for the BBC to fire him, he begged viewers for forgiveness in a video statement posted online. "I'd actually used the word I was trying to obscure. I was mortified by this, horrified. It is a word I loathe," Clarkson said. Among the condemnations was a sternly worded statement from 10 Downing Street, the office UK Prime Minister David Cameron -- a friend of Clarkson's -- saying he would "certainly not" use the n-word. According to the BBC, the PM's spokesperson added that he felt it was "absolutely right that there has been an apology." Both Clarkson and the UK prime minister have homes in an affluent, rural part of central England known as the Cotswolds. They are part of a wealthy group of media, politics and showbiz acquaintances who live in and around Cameron's Oxfordshire constituency. They have been dubbed "The Chipping Norton Set." Among them is former News International CEO and editor of The Sun and The News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, who came to prominence during the News International phone hacking scandal, for which she was acquitted. They also include former Blur musician Alex James and Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch. In an article for the Daily Telegraph, former chief political commentator Peter Oborne described "The Chipping Norton Set" as "an incestuous collection of louche, affluent, power-hungry and amoral Londoners." Clarkson's popularity also comes from regular columns in venerated newspaper, The Sunday Times and tabloid The Sun. A recent Sunday Times column with the headline "Phrasebook, tick. Local currency, tick. Tracksuit, tick. I'm off to the north" attracted the ire of people from the northern English city of Liverpool. He wrote: "People up there (north) earn less, die more quickly, have fewer jobs and live in houses that are worth the square root of sod all." Local newspaper, The Liverpool Echo, which pointed out that Clarkson is a northerner himself, published a series of responses to the piece from local people who described him as "stuck in the past" and "a fake southerner" whose comments were "as dated as his double denims." +Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in public Monday for the first time in about 10 days as he met with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Putin isn't generally one to shy away from the limelight -- posing with a (tranquilized) tiger, riding a horse while shirtless, earning a karate black belt. So his unexplained absence fueled speculation about his health, grip on power and even his love life. Although the Kremlin and the Russian state media released photos and video footage of Putin last week, they did not quell the rumors about his whereabouts, because it was unclear when they were taken. So all eyes were turned to St. Petersburg on Monday for Putin's scheduled meeting with Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan. His appearance before the press, looking healthy and relaxed, should help put some of the rumors at least to rest. And he made light of his absence, saying: "It would be boring without gossip." In another sign Putin has a firm hand on the tiller, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the President had ordered Russia's Northern Fleet to be placed on full combat alert from Monday morning for snap checks, Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported. The checks are intended to test the fleet's capacity to ensure Russia's military security in the Arctic, Tass said. Also on alert are Russia's Western Military District and certain airborne units, with some 38,000 military personnel involved in total. Here's what gave some doubters grist for the rumor mill: On Friday -- three days before the scheduled meeting -- a Russian state media broadcaster prematurely aired a report that Putin had a meeting with Atambayev -- although the event had not yet occurred. The station acknowledged the error, but it only heightened the speculation over Putin and his whereabouts. Social media has been swirling with questions, with hashtags such as #Putindead and #putinmissing. Was he ill? Was he holed away somewhere with his girlfriend and a new baby, as some in the European media speculated? There were even dark rumors of a palace coup in which various Kremlin factions vying for power might have ousted him. The Kremlin vigorously denied that anything was amiss, with Putin's spokesman saying the President was healthy and that his handshake "can break a hand." But his absence came at an uneasy time as the country deals with economic turmoil and strained international relations over the war in Ukraine. "Does Putin ever catch a cold? Does he ever get sick? The Kremlin doesn't want to allow Putin's image of virility and strength to become tarnished by the weaknesses of mere humans," CNN analyst Frida Ghitis wrote. "Putin rules in the old-fashioned style of a personality cult. The system requires propaganda and image control. It needs Putin to be larger than life." Last week, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to allay questions, telling Russian radio station Echo of Moscow that people should not worry and that Putin was "absolutely" healthy. "No need to worry, everything is all right. He has working meetings all the time, only not all of these meetings are public," Peskov said Thursday. He also dismissed European media reports that Putin had a love child. "I am going to ask people who have money to organize a contest on the best media rumor," the Kremlin spokesman said. Rumblings about Putin began last week after a meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, between the Russian leader and the presidents of Kazakhstan and Belarus was postponed at short notice. A Kazakh official told Reuters that Putin had fallen ill. On Thursday, he missed his meeting with the Federal Security Service, Russia's counterintelligence agency. Putin's last public appearance was supposedly on March 8, International Women's Day. But some keeping track say he hadn't been seen since even earlier -- March 5. In the course of his many years in power, Putin has cultivated the image of a strong and vigorous leader. His exploits, captured on film and released to the media, have been many. And he enjoys a whopping 86% approval rating, although some critics question the validity of polling they say is carried out in a climate where people are afraid to voice opposition to Putin's government. "Moscow always has been a center for rumors and speculation," said Jill Dougherty, an expert on Russia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former CNN correspondent. "As soon as the President does not show up, which is really kind of rare for him, people begin to question. "You have to look at this in terms of, why all of this insanity? And one of the problems is, people are very nervous, legitimately. Where is Putin? Is he in charge?" CNN's Matthew Chance contributed to this report. +Port Vila, Vanuatu (CNN)Tropical Cyclone Pam had already been battering Vanuatu's capital for hours when the River Prima suddenly flooded its banks. A wall of water and mud surged through Sam Upan's house, toppling the walls of the neighboring church where he serves as a deacon. It was midnight on Friday, and he had no choice but to wade out into the gale force wind and darkness. "The water was up to my waist!" he says. Upan eventually made it to higher ground, taking shelter on a parked van. Fortunately, he had sent his family away before the storm to a shelter in the center of the capital, Port Vila. But on Monday, three days after the storm struck, Upan and his daughters sit in the debris strewn rubble of their home. On Sunday, he built a temporary shack for them to sleep under. A bundle of bananas donated by a friend lies nearby in the mud. It's the only food the family has to eat. Nearby, Upan's daughter Elsie slowly scrubs mud out of a shirt. Other families all across this tropical town are facing similar difficulties in the aftermath of the storm. To many Westerners, Vanuatu is a holiday destination boasting crystal blue waters and luxury yachts. But it's also one of the poorest nations in the Pacific, and many of its 260,000 inhabitants live in flimsy houses built of thatch or metal sheets. Those vulnerable homes were dealt a fearsome blow over the weekend by Cyclone Pam, one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall. The aid group Oxfam is warning that the cyclone may have caused "one of the worst disasters ever seen in the Pacific." The storm rampaged across Vanuatu's sprawling archipelago of more than 80 islands on Friday and Saturday, wielding 155 mph (250 kph) winds. About 65 islands in the archipelago are inhabited. The full extent of the devastation remained unclear Monday. With communication lines to many of the outer islands cut, it could take days or even weeks to emerge. Eleven people have so far been confirmed dead, according to Vanuatu authorities said. But the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the toll was expected to rise. The agency said 3,300 people were taking shelter in 37 evacuation centers. How to help Vanuatu residents . Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale told CNN the destruction was the worst his country had ever experienced, describing the storm as "a monster." He said it would take the developing nation "a couple of years" to get back to where it was before Pam struck. In the capital, Port Vila, residents were still reeling from the storm's impact. Thousands of people have been left homeless and many who rely on subsistence farming to get by have seen their main source of food wiped out. Most people live on root crops, said Jonathan Napat, a ranking natural disaster official. "What the people depend on entirely is just wiped out." He was overwhelmed by the dimension of the food loss. "Just unbearable. Just too much to contain," he said. A CNN team that arrived in the capital Monday saw more than 100 people taking refuge in church. In one valley, trees were snapped in two or stripped of leaves. Many residents said it was the worst storm that they can remember. And that's in a Pacific nation that's regularly hit by cyclones. Officials say Cyclone Pam destroyed or badly damaged 90% of the houses in Port Vila, as well as flooding parts of the hospital and trashing schools and churches. There were some small signs of progress around the capital. A lack of electricity and running water hasn't stopped residents from starting the hard work of clearing away fallen trees and branches, as well as the corrugated metal roofing that Pam ripped off thousands of buildings. The sound of chainsaws and handsaws can be heard throughout the shell-shocked community. The main airport is back in business, allowing military aircraft from Australia and New Zealand to bring in aid workers and supplies. The first commercial flight since the storm landed Monday. But the big unknown remains the scale of the destruction the huge storm wrought on the outer islands to the north and south of the capital. "It's certainly deeply concerning because those islands down there were incredibly hard hit," said Tom Perry, a spokesman for the aid organization CARE International. Many people now lack the basics of life: clean water, food and shelter. "Homes have been lost, crops are destroyed. The damage is enormous, and people need our help," said Aurelia Balpe, head of the Red Cross in the Pacific. "Yet it will still take some time before we really understand the full extent of the damage." Some 60,000 children are in need of assistance, UNICEF reported Sunday. Vanuatu has officially declared a state of emergency, opening the door for other countries to help. The country's remote location adds to the challenges facing the international response. Port Vila is more than 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) northeast of Brisbane on Australia's east coast, and some 2,200 kilometers north of Auckland, the closest city in New Zealand. CNN's Ivan Watson reported from Port Vila, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Pamela Boykoff, Kristie LuStout, Madison Park and Lynda Kinkade contributed to this report. +(CNN)When Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs came out in October 2011 -- less than three weeks after Jobs' death -- it crystallized many popularly held perceptions of the Apple co-founder. Yes, Jobs was brilliant. And yes, Jobs also could be a bastard. Isaacson's book contained numerous examples of Jobs' cruel behavior, such as verbally abusing employees whose work didn't meet his exacting standards. Now a new book is presenting a kinder, gentler portrait of the mercurial tech exec. "Becoming Steve Jobs," by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, seeks to humanize Jobs through interviews with those who knew him in the latter, wildly successful phases of his career, when some of his rough edges had softened. The book, which went on sale Tuesday, has created a strange irony. Unlike Isaacson's book, it's an unauthorized bio, one that was not given Jobs' blessing before he died. And yet Apple, mindful of Jobs' legacy, has clearly endorsed this new vision of their former CEO over the Isaacson version. "I thought the Isaacson book did him a tremendous disservice. It was just a rehash of a bunch of stuff that had already been written, and focused on small parts of his personality," says current Apple CEO Tim Cook in the new book. "You get the feeling that (Steve's) a greedy, selfish egomaniac. It didn't capture the person. The person I read about there is somebody I would never have wanted to work with over all this time. Life is too short." Other Apple execs also have heaped praise on "Becoming Steve Jobs" while criticizing Isaacson's bestseller. "Best portrayal is about to be released - Becoming Steve Jobs (book). Well done and first to get it right," tweeted Eddy Cue, Apple's chief of software, last week. And Jony Ive, Apple's head of design, said in a New Yorker profile last month, "My regard (for Isaacson's book) couldn't be any lower." Isaacson, for his part, told the New York Times recently that he tried to present a balanced view of Jobs: "My book is very favorable and honest, with no anonymous slings," he said. Although Jobs' life and career have been well chronicled, the new book contains some fresh tidbits: . -- In 2009, when Jobs was dying of cancer, Cook offered his boss a piece of his liver but Jobs refused, saying, "No, I'll never let you do that." -- What was likely the last movie Jobs watched before his death was an odd choice: "Remember the Titans," the sentimental Disney drama about a racially integrated high school football team in 1971. "I was so surprised he wanted to watch that movie," Cook recalled. "I was like, 'Are you sure?' Steve was not interested in sports at all." -- And Jobs' famous commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005 almost got derailed before it started. A police officer turned him and his family away from the campus, saying the parking lot was full, and expressed skepticism that the scruffy Jobs, wearing his usual jeans and black T-shirt, was really the event's keynote speaker. Raves from Apple aside, early reviews of "Becoming Steve Jobs" have been mixed. "'Becoming Steve Jobs' offers a more rounded portrait of the man not only because it doesn't lean as heavily on its interviews or stretch for historical weight like Isaacson's book, but because it brings in Schlender's personal interactions with the Apple co-founder," wrote Mic Wright for The Next Web. "But the closeness of Schlender's connection with Jobs is also problematic," added Wright, saying "... there's a sense of seeking to explain away bad behavior." "While the book never attempts to portray Jobs as a saint, it provides ample evidence to suggest that the brash, perpetually impatient young millionaire learned how to control his worst tendencies, eventually becoming a loving father and respected mentor," wrote Jeremy Horwitz in 9 to 5 Mac. "Like other good books that have been written about Jobs, it doesn't provide the definitive story of his life, but instead adds some new and interesting details that are worth considering alongside what was previously known." +London (CNN)A British mother is standing by her decision to let her son, 11, wear a "Fifty Shades of Grey" costume to his school's World Book Day celebration. "Fifty Shades of Grey" tells the tale of a naive college graduate's energetic trysts with a billionaire -- Christian Grey -- who has a penchant for bondage. The Manchester Evening News reported that Liam Scholes arrived at Sale High School in northwest England dressed as Grey, complete with cable ties and an eyemask on Thursday. The school contacted Liam's mother and told her the costume was inappropriate. Nicola Scholes told the newspaper she and her son had thought the idea was funny. "We were walking home from school and he had the idea of going as Christian Grey," she said. "At first we laughed it off but then we discussed it with a few friends and saw the funny side and decided it was quite a good costume idea." The school called her to say the costume was not appropriate and that Liam would not take part in the book day event or appear in any photographs, Scholes told the paper. A teacher from the school had dressed as the fictional serial killer Dexter, Scholes said: "I don't see why sex is more offensive than murder." Scholes told BBC News that her son had not read the book or watched the movie spin-off but had been aware of the media around the tale. "He understood what the cable ties were supposed to represent, as did other children of his age." Scholes told the BBC the costume was light-hearted: "It was a laugh, it was tongue in cheek and there was no offense." On Friday Scholes tweeted an image of Liam with the caption: "Liam's offensive book day costume, it was that inappropriate that they told him to change his character and wouldn't include him on any photos. It also required a phone call home regarding the matter. "Yet it was appropriate for a teacher to dress up as a serial killer and other students to come in with 'guns.' I thought Christian Grey was the most talked about book character for the past few years. #nosenseofhumour." Sale High School issued a statement saying its actions reflected its "high standards in terms of student behavior, welfare and safeguarding." "The student was not excluded from taking part in any of the activities as has been wrongly reported, his costume was modified and he was then able to fully participate and enjoy the day with his peers," headteacher Lynn Nicholls said. "The aim of our world book day events was to celebrate and encourage reading and we are disappointed that what was a fantastic day for our students, has been marred by this issue," the statement concluded. +(CNN)The next time someone accuses you of acting like a Neanderthal, don't be offended. Just say "thank you." A new study published this month suggests Neanderthals were more "cognitively advanced than we give them credit," Kansas University's David Frayer said in a release. Frayer, a professor emeritus of anthropology, was a part of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE that looks at eagle talons found in present-day Croatia. The talons are among the thousands of human remains, animal bones and tools originally excavated between 1899 and 1905 in the area by Croatian scientist Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger. Only recently, however, did Frayer identify the cut marks and notches on the 130,000-year-old bones as ones modified by humans. "I was stunned," Frayer said of the discovery. "It's so obvious that these are cut." The markings, including polishes and areas where the bones were "rubbed together," show that the talons were "manipulated into a piece of jewelry," Frayer said. Frayer co-wrote "Evidence for Neanderthal Jewelry: Modified White-tailed Eagle Claws at Krapina" with three other Croatian scientists. Their research indicates Neanderthals were more than just the cavemen-like characters depicted in Geico commercials, but sophisticated creatures concerned with ornamentation and possibly even an "advanced level of prowess" in catching birds, according to Frayer. "We can't prove it, but we suspect that they were catching these birds," he said. Even with modern technology, catching an eagle is an enormously difficult thing to do. Frayer believes Neanderthals must have had excellent "planning skills and ritual" they would've used in catching the bird. "Neanderthals are often thought of to be simple-minded mumbling, bumbling, stumbling fools," Frayer said. "But the more we know about them the more sophisticated they've become." +(CNN)Cleanup crews on Thursday started assessing the damage caused by storms that slashed across Oklahoma on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring about two dozen others across the state. A reported tornado ravaged a mobile home park, destroying dozens of trailers just west of Tulsa in the suburb of Sand Springs. Authorities said the man who died at the River Oaks Mobile Home Park had been trying to help his father, who was injured, according to CNN affiliate KJRH. One woman at the mobile home park told KJRH that she was cooking when the storm hit. "Within 5 minutes it was dark and the sirens were going off and you couldn't hear yourself think," Brandy Richards said. "And you just grab the kids and we ran across the street. My best friend has the only house that's back there, and we barely got into the house and it took the garage. It was so fast." "It looks like there's been a little war zone around here," Tammi Hart told CNN affiliate KTUL. The storm flattened a Sand Springs gymnastics studio, where 60 kids and adults were huddled underground. "We were just in the middle of practice and the sirens started going off and we just had to get all the kids to the basement," according instructor Kelsey Haggard, who said she heard a "big boom" when the building was hit. "Just really happy everyone got out safe," said Haggard. "It was really scary ... it just seems so surreal." In addition to the death at the mobile home park, KTUL reported two other people were taken to the hospital in critical condition. The Oklahoma State Department of Health said two dozen people were injured across the state, according to CNN affiliate KOKI. Storm damage was reported across the Tulsa metro area. Gov. Mary Fallin toured the damage in Sand Springs on Thursday and declared a state of emergency for 25 counties. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the family that lost a loved one and certainly to those who were injured or lost their home or business," she said. Severe weather also tore through the Oklahoma City area, including Moore, which has seen more than its share of devastating storms. A massive tornado hit Moore nearly two years ago, killing 24 people and injuring hundreds of others. The Moore Police Department said a 2-mile square area had significant damage, mainly roofs off homes and downed trees. Trees had to be cleared so law enforcement and emergency vehicles could get through. "You know, this isn't the first time we've done this so ... unfortunately, we've gotten pretty good at getting people back into their residences as quick as we can," said Sgt. Jeremy Lewis with the city's police. Until Wednesday, there hadn't been a single report of a tornado in the United States during March. CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said there were preliminary reports of seven tornadoes on Wednesday. An average year would produce 80 twisters in March, he said. March is typically a transitional month, where warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cold Arctic air to produce severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. This year, however, the jet stream pattern responsible for all the cold air and snow in the East had remained stuck in more of a winter mode. But that changed this week as an Arctic cold front began crashing to the south, bringing together the stormy mix. CNN's Sean Morris, AnneClaire Stapleton, Jeremy Grisham and Dave Alsup contributed to this report. +(CNN)Police in Detroit made a gruesome discovery Tuesday. A bailiff performing an eviction on a home on the east side of Detroit called 911 after discovering the body of a female child inside a freezer. While investigating the body, authorities found a second body, a male, according to a release from the Detroit Police Department. Both bodies were inside a plastic bag, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. There are tentative plans to begin the autopsy tomorrow said Ryan Bridges, spokesman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office. He added that the office was waiting to allow the bodies to thaw naturally in order to preserve forensic evidence. The mother of the children was apprehended at a separate location, and was later arrested on child abuse charges, pending the "results of the medical examiner's report," a release from the police department said. Police have not yet released her name. The names of the children have also not been released , but Craig said the boy was approximately 11 years old and the girl was approximately 14. There were two older children living in the home. They have been placed in protective custody, according to Craig. The chief said it's too early in the investigation to determine what happened. "It's unknown what factors were involved in this," he said. Moreno said the department is asking for the public's help to come forward with any information pertaining to the crime. CNN's John Newsome contributed to this report. +(CNN)Call it "The Most Interesting Traffic Ticket in the World." A Washington state trooper caught a driver using a cardboard cutout of Jonathan Goldsmith, the Dos Equis beer pitchman known as "The Most Interesting Man in the World." The driver, who was by himself, was attempting to use the HOV lane. "The trooper immediately recognized it was a prop and not a passenger," Trooper Guy Gill told the New York Daily News. "As the trooper approached, the driver was actually laughing." Gill sent out a tweet with a photo of the cutout -- who was clad in what looked like a knit shirt, a far cry from his usual attire -- and the unnamed laughing driver: "I don't always violate the HOV lane law...but when I do, I get a $124 ticket! We'll give him an A for creativity!" The driver was caught on Interstate 5 near Fife, Washington, just outside Tacoma. "He could have picked a less recognizable face to put on his prop," Gill told the Daily News. "We see that a lot. Usually it's a sleeping bag. This was very creative." +(CNN)With majorities in both chambers of Congress, it is time for Republicans to begin rolling back six years of failed Obama administration policies. Our highest priority during the ongoing budget debate should be undoing the damage caused by defense sequestration and the hundreds of billions of dollars of defense cuts made by the Obama administration. Regrettably, military strength is seen in many quarters as the cause of military adventurism. A strong, robust defense is seen not to deter aggression, but to provoke it. For years, we have systematically underfunded our military, marrying a philosophy of retreat with a misplaced understanding of our larger budgetary burdens and the real drivers of the debt: our entitlement programs. As expected, almost four years after the passage of the Budget Control Act, virtually nothing has been done to address the unsustainable growth of our entitlement programs, while essential defense programs have been sacrificed. Political leaders in Washington need to be reminded that our defense is the single most important responsibility of the federal government. Instead of starting the process by setting arbitrary defense spending levels and then forcing our military to cut vital programs in order to meet these levels, the budgeting process should start by taking into account all the threats against us, listing the programs and capabilities we'll need to protect our people and interests around the world, and then funding those efforts. Even though we've been able to keep the homeland safe for more than a decade, the threats to Americans at home and abroad are growing. From the rise of the Islamic State and the spread of Islamic terrorism, to Russia's aggression in Europe, to Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, the threats to American security are growing. Yet, even as the world outside our borders is filled with more doubt and uncertainty, the United States has been steadily reducing our spending on defense. Even before sequestration, President Obama made defense cuts of $487 billion over 10 years and redirected the savings to already bloated domestic programs. This was followed by tens of billions more in defense cuts each year because of sequestration, which, when combined with Obama's prior cuts, will total $1 trillion over the coming decade. All of these reductions were enacted despite the warnings of four secretaries of defense and our entire military leadership. The results of these cuts have been disastrous for our military and for our ability to project power and deter our enemies. The slight increase in President Obama's proposed 2016 budget won't significantly change that. At the end of this process, our military will be significantly smaller, dramatically less capable and dangerously unready to deploy if these budget cuts remain in place. The Army is on the path to be reduced to pre-World War II levels. The Navy is at pre-WWI levels. And our Air Force has the smallest and oldest combat force in its history. Our force reductions have been felt throughout the world -- by our friends and our enemies. They have presented not just a crisis of readiness for America, but also a perilous strategic weakness. Our adversaries have been emboldened by what they perceive as our diminished military presence. History has shown that every time we have unreasonably cut resources from our military in anticipation of a peace dividend, it has only cost us more to make up for the deficit we create in military readiness and capability, and the expected era of perpetual peace fails to materialize. We think we are saving money, but in the long run, we end up paying more and creating more risk and uncertainty. We can afford the military we need, but we must make it a priority. For this reason, we introduced an amendment to the Senate budget resolution this week to address the dangerous funding gap our military currently faces. We believe we must increase the resources available to our military to the levels proposed by (former) Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his FY12 budget, the last defense budget based solely on an assessment of the threats we face and the requisite military needs to deal with those threats. It is the budget that the bipartisan, congressionally-mandated National Defense Panel stated was "the minimum required to reverse course and set the military on a more stable footing." Now that Republicans control both house of Congress, it is time to support a defense budget that actually reflects the world in which we live, not the world the way we wish it was. Until now, our approach as a country and a party since the Budget Control Act has not been one of American strength. Continuing on the current path will only invite war and conflict through weakness. We need to heed the bipartisan warnings of our nation's military leaders and get back on track toward a defense budget that reflects the realities of the challenges we face and is worthy of our brave men and women in uniform. In the end, it is they who will suffer the most if sequestration is not reversed and our readiness and equipment continues to degrade. As members of Congress, we have a sacred obligation to ensure that they have the best possible training and equipment so they can successfully complete their missions. Despite the fiscal constraints imposed on our military, they are doing their part and are holding up their end of the bargain. It's time that we hold up ours. +(CNN)An Army National Guard member and his cousin have been arrested in Illinois for allegedly conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist organization ISIS, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The alleged plot included a plan to attack a U.S. military installation in Illinois. In the past 18 months, the Justice Department's National Security Division has prosecuted or is prosecuting 32 cases of people attempting to travel abroad to join or providing support to terrorist groups. Of those cases, 18 allegedly involve support to ISIS. Spc. Hasan Edmonds, 22, was arrested Wednesday night at Chicago Midway International Airport while attempting to travel to Egypt to eventually join ISIS, according to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and other federal officials said. His cousin, Jonas "Yunus" Edmonds, 29, was arrested at his home in Aurora in connection with an alleged plot to carry out an armed attack on an unspecified U.S. military facility in northern Illinois where Hasan Edmonds had been training. The two U.S. citizens were charged, in criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, with one count each of conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. The cousins made an initial appearance Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan. Why is ISIS so successful at luring Westerners? After an undercover FBI informant posing as an ISIS fighter outside the United States sent Hasan Edmonds a Facebook "friend" request in late 2014, he began to receive private messages from him indicating that he and his cousin were willing to travel to overseas and fight for ISIS, according to the court documents. "InshAllah we will complete our task or be grants [sic] shahada [Arabic for martyr] I look forward to the training," Hasan Edmonds is alleged to have told the informant in January. "I am already in the American kafir army and now I wish only to serve in the army of Allah alongside my true brothers." They continued to communicate over the following weeks, with Hasan Edmonds expressing concerns about Jonas Edmonds' criminal record and whether he would be allowed to travel overseas. "They try hard to keep people like him trapped in America," he told the undercover FBI employee. "I know several Muslims have been caught attempting the Turkey route so tell me why not many Americans take the Egypt route. I am open to either way," Hasan Edmonds told the informant, according to court documents. On February 2, Hasan Edmonds contacted the undercover informant again and said his cousin was willing to carry out an attack on U.S. soil. "Honestly we would love to do something like the brother in Paris did," Hasan Edmonds stated, referring to the French terror attacks in January in which 16 people were killed. Prosecutors said Jonas Edmonds contacted the informant to arrange travel accommodations. "Number one on my list is Mosul," he stated, referring to Iraq's second-largest city. "If I find myself stuck here [in the United States], I intend to take advantage of being so close to the kuffar." Jonas Edmonds this week accepted that he would be unable to travel and told the FBI informant of his intention to buy AK-47s and grenades to carry out an attack on the military facility. He would use his cousin's uniform and "anticipated a body count of 100 to 150." He was given a list of officer rankings by his cousin and advised to "kill the head," according to court documents. Prosecutors said Jonas Edmonds planned to carry out the attack after Hasan Edmonds left the country. Hasan Edmonds' sister said that the family does not believe the allegations against the cousins. "It's all a shock, we don't suspect any of these accusations," Manchinique Bates told CNN affiliate WLS. "We do not believe that any of these alleged charges are true. I honestly do not feel as if my brother is in the U.S. military, but yet leaving the country to join ISIS. That's ludicrous. They aren't terrorists." A federal complaint alleges that Hasan Edmonds came to the attention of the FBI in late 2014. The complaints uses the acronym ISIL, or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Hasan Edmonds planned to use his military training to fight for the terrorist organization, prosecutors said in a statement. Hasan Edmonds booked airline travel to depart Wednesday from Chicago and arrive in Cairo on Thursday. The cousins presented an undercover informant with plans to attacks the military facility, prosecutors said. Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West? "Disturbingly, one of the defendants currently wears the same uniform of those they allegedly planned to attack," Carlin said in the statement. Conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The number of foreign fighters traveling to join ISIS's ranks is increasing at an alarming rate, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said last month. More than 20,000 fighters, from more than 90 countries, have traveled to the ISIS battlefield, according to the testimony of Nicholas Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, before the House Homeland Security Committee. The rate of foreign fighters traveling to Syria "exceeds the rate of travelers who went to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia at any point in the last 20 years," Rasmussen said. Of those fighters, an estimated 3,400 are believed to have come from Western countries, including more than 150 from the United States, officials said. A U.S. Air Force veteran, who allegedly tried to join ISIS but was turned back by Turkish authorities before he could get to Syria, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to terror-related charges in a federal court in New York. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, accused of making the foiled attempt in January, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of trying to give material support to the terror group and obstruction of justice, the U.S. Justice Department said in a two-count indictment. CNN's Evan Perez contributed to this report. +(CNN)"A picture of horror." That's how German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the site where a Germanwings Airbus A320 plane crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday. "The grief of the families and loved ones is immeasurable," Steinmeier said, after flying over the area in the Alps in southeastern France. "We must stand with them. We are all united in great grief." Departure: Barcelona, Spain, at 10:01 a.m. (26 minutes late) Destination: Scheduled to land in Dusseldorf, Germany, at 11:39 a.m. Passengers: 150 (144 passengers, six crew members) Airplane: Airbus A320 (twin-jet) Airline: Germanwings (budget airline owned by Lufthansa) Flight distance: 726 miles . Last known tracking data: 10:38 a.m. Last known speed: 480 mph . Last known altitude: 11,400 feet . Last known location: Near Digne-les-Bains, France, in the Alps . Sources: CNN and flightaware.com . Flight 9525 took off just after 10 a.m. Tuesday from Barcelona, Spain, for Dusseldorf, Germany, with 144 passengers -- among them two babies -- and six crew members. It went down at 10:53 a.m. (5:53 a.m. ET) in a remote area near Digne-les-Bains in the Alpes de Haute Provence region. All aboard are presumed dead. Helicopter crews found the airliner in pieces, none of them bigger than a small car, and human remains strewn for several hundred meters, according to Gilbert Sauvan, a high-level official in the Alpes de Haute Provence region who is being briefed on the operation. Authorities were not able to retrieve any bodies Tuesday, with the frozen ground complicating the effort. Wednesday may not be much easier, with snow in the forecast. Spanish and German officials moved to join hundreds of French firefighters and police in the area, working together to help in the recovery effort and try to figure out exactly what happened. As of Tuesday evening, there were few clues. One of the aircraft's data recorders, the so-called black boxes, has been found, according to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, but it was too early to tell what it would say about the crash. "We don't know much about the flight and the crash yet," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "And we don't know the cause." Relatives of those believed to be on the flight, fearing the worst, gathered at the Barcelona airport, where a crisis center was set up. French authorities set up a chapel near the crash site. Lufthansa Group said the company will look after the relatives of those on board. "There will be a contact center established in France; relatives who would like to take advantage of this will be transferred to the contact center at no cost -- and their accommodation paid for -- just as soon as the center has been established," Lufthansa said. Those aboard included a "high number of Spaniards, Germans and Turks," according to Spain's King Felipe VI. Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said it's believed 67 people, or nearly half those on the plane, are German citizens. Germanwings crash: Who was on the plane? Sixteen students and two teachers from one German high school, called Joseph Koenig Gymnasium, were among those booked on Flight 9525, according to Florian Adamik, a municipal official in Haltern, the town where the school is located. A crisis center has been established at the city hall in Haltern, which is about 77 kilometers (48 miles) north of Dusseldorf's airport. Winkelmann confirmed the 16 students and two teachers were on the plane. Haltern's mayor, Bodo Klimpel, said they had been heading home after taking part in a foreign exchange program. "The whole city is shocked, and we can feel it everywhere," Klimpel said. A Dutch citizen and a Belgian -- the latter a resident of Barcelona -- were among those on the flight, according to those countries' foreign ministries. Two Australians and two Colombians were also believed to be on board. Germanwings started in 2002 and was taken over by Lufthansa seven years later as its low-cost airline, handling an increasing number of midrange flights around Europe. It was forced to cancel some flights Tuesday because there were crews that didn't want to fly upon hearing news of the crash. The valley where the plane went down is long and snow-covered, and access is difficult, said the mayor of the nearby town of Barcelonnette, Pierre Martin-Charpenel. It was well populated in the 19th century but there are almost no people living there now, he said. It's an out-of-the-way place with magnificent scenery, he said. The sports hall of a local school has been freed up to take in bodies of the victims of the plane crash, said Sandrine Julien from the town hall of Seyne-les-Alpes village. Seyne-les-Alpes is about 10 kilometers from the crash site. Mountain guide Yvan Theaudin told BFMTV the crash was in the area of the Massif des Trois Eveches, where there are peaks of nearly 3,000 meters (1.9 miles). It's very snowy in the area and the weather is worsening, he said, which could complicate search and rescue efforts. Responders may have to use skis to reach the crash site on the ground, he said. Sandrine Boisse, president of the tourism office at the Pra Loup ski resort, said she heard the plane crash and called the police and the local government office to find out what had happened. "It was about 11 (a.m.) here. I was outside the garage, and we heard a strange noise, and at first we thought it was an avalanche," she said. "Something was wrong. ... We didn't know what." A mountain guide who heard a plane fly at alarmingly low altitude shortly before the crash, Michel Suhubiette, said helicopters may be the only way to get to the crash site. According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, just under 16% of aviation accidents occur during the cruise portion of a flight -- meaning after the climb and before descent. Accidents are more common during takeoff and landing. The twin-engine Airbus A320s, which entered service in 1988, is generally considered among the most reliable aircraft, aviation analyst David Soucie said. The captain of the crashed plane had flown for Germanwings for more than 10 years, and had more than 6,000 flight hours on this model of Airbus. The plane itself dates to 1991 and was last checked in Dusseldorf on Monday, according to Winkelmann. So what happened? CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said the plane's speed is one clue. According to Germanwings, the plane reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, and then dropped for eight minutes. The plane lost contact with French radar at a height of approximately 6,000 feet. Then it crashed. This could indicate that there was not a stall, but that the pilot was still controlling the plane to some extent, Schiavo said. Had there been an engine stall, the plane would have crashed in a matter of minutes, she said. That small piece of information about the descent means that the pilot could have been trying to make an emergency landing, or that the plane was gliding with the pilot's guidance, Schiavo said. A scenario where the plane was gliding is potentially more dangerous because wide fields for landing would be hard to come by in the mountains, she said. The crash spurred officials in several countries to offer their condolences and pledge solidarity and cooperation to help those affected and determine what happened. "Our thoughts and our prayers are with our friends in Europe, especially the people of Germany and Spain, following the terrible airplane crash in France," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters. "It's particularly heartbreaking because it apparently includes the loss of so many children, some of them infants." Germany's Merkel said she was sending two ministers to France on Tuesday and would travel to the crash site on Wednesday to see it for herself. "We have to think of the victims and their families and their friends," she said. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the German government had set up a crisis center in response to the "terrible news" and was in close contact with the French authorities. "In these difficult hours, our thoughts are with those who have to fear that their close ones are among the passengers and crew," he said. CNN's Mariano Castillo, Hala Gorani, Laura Akhoun, Stephanie Halasz, Lindsay Isaac, Josh Levs, Richard Greene, Karl Penhaul and Sara Delgrossi contributed to this report. +London (CNN)Cabinet-maker Michael Ibsen has just put the finishing touches to a coffin; built of highly-polished, honey-colored English oak and yew, it has been a labor of love, pondered over and painstakingly crafted. Because this isn't any ordinary commission: the casket will be the final resting place of one of Ibsen's distant relatives, Richard III, who died more than 500 years ago. "It is a unique privilege," says Canadian-born Ibsen, whose DNA was used to establish the identity of the English King, found buried beneath a car parking lot in the city of Leicester in August 2012. "There's a wonderful serendipity in a sense that someone involved in the identification of the remains should happen to be furniture maker who can do this. "When you're working away you just focus on joining two bits of wood, but at the end of the day when you stand back and think 'I'm building Richard III's coffin,' it's incredible." Ibsen says he's been on an "extraordinary journey" in the two-and-a-half years since he gave a DNA swab to genetics specialist Turi King on the off chance that experts searching for the burial place of his seventeen-times great-uncle might strike it lucky. Back then even the man in charge of the dig, archaeologist Richard Buckley, didn't expect to find anything -- he told colleagues he'd "eat his hat" if they turned up the long-lost King's remains. "When we were planning the project, I never made any secret of the fact I thought it very unlikely we'd be successful," Buckley told CNN. "The chances of hitting the right spot were very slim." Call it a fluke, or call it fate, but as it turned out they hit the right spot almost immediately: Richard III's skeleton was found on the very first day of the dig, in the first trench dug by the team. At the time, all the experts knew was that they'd found a set of leg bones, chopped off at the feet by building work at some point in the intervening centuries. It wasn't until days later, as archaeologist Jo Appleby carefully exhumed the rest of the skeleton that she spotted the distinct curve of its spine, and the devastating damage medieval weapons had left on its skull. For Philippa Langley, founder of the "Looking for Richard" project, who stood watching with bated breath as the bones were uncovered, the discovery was a vindication of the years she had spent trying to get people to search for the King's remains -- and to look again at his reputation. Say the name Richard III to many people, and the image which will spring to mind is that of Shakespeare's villain, hunchbacked and murderous, who met a grisly end on the battlefield at Bosworth after killing his nephews, the Princes in the Tower. Years of research had convinced Langley of two things: firstly, that his remains lay underneath a car park, in what had once been the Grey Friars' monastery, and secondly, that he was much-maligned, the victim of bitter Tudor propaganda after his death. Two-and-a-half years on, Langley believes the discovery -- which proved her first theory to be correct -- and the scientific research carried out since, have forced a rethink of Richard III's story. "As a writer my view of Richard has always been that he was a very complex, very conflicted, very flawed individual -- that's the human condition: We are all flawed, complex, conflicted -- but there was something heroic about him, he was courageous on and off the battlefield," she explains. She says DNA evidence that the King was blue eyed and fair haired -- in contrast to portraits and written descriptions which painted him "as a hunchback, with a withered arm and a crippled gait, with 'evil' dark eyes and hair" -- had "blow[n] the mythology out of the window." "It makes people question, drop their preconceptions, forget their assumptions, and go back to the beginning," she says. This weekend, Richard III's skeleton will leave the laboratory at the University of Leicester, where it has been kept since it was found, and be taken back to Bosworth, scene of his death in 1485, for a commemoration ceremony, before being returned to Leicester ahead of its reburial next week. And while his body last made that trip slung unceremoniously over the back of a horse, this time the journey will be done in style: carried in the coffin made by his great-nephew. Inside, the smaller bones from his hands and feet will be tucked into linen bags -- each one decorated with a rose, representing the House of York, Richard III's family -- sewn by children from Leicester's King Richard III Infant School. "I feel very proud because I've never made a bag for a king before," said Xi Chen, who helped make the pouches. "It's like I'm a servant doing something for a King," added his classmate Irfan Sheikh. Lead conservation specialist Jon Castleman -- who previously helped to restore the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem -- will be the last person to set eyes on the skeleton, as he welds the ossuary inside the casket shut. Well-wishers are expected to line the route as the cortege winds through the Leicestershire countryside, stopping at several churches along the way for prayers and religious services before making its way back to Leicester Cathedral, near the site of the archaeological dig, where a new tomb has been built for the King. Historian John Ashdown-Hill, who discovered the genealogical link between Richard III and Michael Ibsen, says it is important that the King's Catholic beliefs are recognized in the ceremonies. Ashdown-Hill, who shares Richard III's faith, has had a rosary, featuring the white Yorkist rose and a crucifix like one thought to have been owned by Richard III's mother, made to be placed inside the coffin. For Langley, the procession and celebrations are key to repairing past damage. "The ethos and aim of the project was to give Richard what he didn't get in 1485," she says. "The reason we wanted to do that was to recognize what went on in the past but not repeat it, to make peace with history." +(CNN)When we asked our viewers to tweet their questions about the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, we received hundreds of responses. We put them to our experts and here are answers to six of the most interesting ones. 1. " Does the rate of descent tell you anything? If co-pilot was determined to crash, why would he set it so slow?" 2. "New cars can stop themselves before a crash. Why isn't there tech to prevent a plane from landing anywhere but the runway?" 3. "Why don't we have live cameras on planes, so when we detect something wrong, we can help the innocent and take over and help?" 4. "Is there a possibility the plane was hacked, and that the co-pilot was framed?" 5. "[The] plane was presumably full of fuel, why wasn't there a fiery explosion upon impact? Does the wreckage show any burn marks?" 6. "What about under the influence of medication or other drugs? How often do they go through drug screening?" +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)In just a few weeks, good relations with neighbors have become a matter of survival for Yemen's President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. On Saturday, he joined his allies in Egypt, while battles raged on in his country. After Houthi rebels occupied the capital Sanaa weeks ago, his government fled. When Hadi called for military intervention to beat back their attempt to overthrow him, adjacent countries answered with a grand airstrike operation. In the darkness of early Saturday, their jets increased the hail of ordnance on Sanaa, as Saudi led operation al-Hazm Storm went into its third day. And Hadi waited in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to meet with the region's leaders at the Arab League summit. This past "night was by far the scariest night since the raids started," said journalist Hakim Almasmari in Sanaa. "The strikes were so strong and continuous." The jets bombarded Hadi's weapons caches and other military assets, Houthi and Yemeni government officials said. Saudi Arabia has blockaded the Houthis, effectively cutting off their supply lines, and its air force controls Yemeni airspace. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have spoken about the possibility of putting boots on the ground. The Arab League is expected to give its official blessing to al-Hazm Storm on Saturday, which could clear the way for a ground invasion, CNN's Becky Anderson reported. But a few member nations, such as Shiite majority Iraq or possibly Algeria, could give military action a thumbs down. Though the Saudi kingdom has taken the lead with some 100 warplanes, the coalition partners include the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Egypt. Arab Spring wasn't supposed to turn out like this . Together they comprise about a third of the Arab League's membership. They are majority Sunni Muslim nations, and the Houthi rebels are Shiite Muslims allied with Iran. Having Yemen become an Iranian satellite country on its border would be perceived as a major threat by neighboring Saudi Arabia, which sees the Houthis as proxies of Tehran, Saudi Arabia's bitter rival on the Persian Gulf. Iran has sharply denounced the armed intervention. The United States, on the other hand, strongly approves of it and is supporting it logistically, and aiding coalition forces in locating targets, but it is not participating in active battle. A small contingency of U.S. forces had been stationed in Yemen to help in the fight against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but left once Houthi rebels took the capital. Dozens of people have died in the strikes, and on Saturday, Human Rights Watch said many of the victims were civilians, perhaps as many as 34. "Reports of air strikes and anti-aircraft weapons in heavily populated areas raise serious concerns that not enough is being done to ensure their safety," HRW regional spokesman Joe Stork said. A Saudi Arabia defense official blamed civilian deaths on the Houthis, saying they were using them as human shields. Brig. Gen. Ahmed bin Hasan Asiri said the kingdom's military was using precision weapons to avoid collateral damage, state-run Saudi News Agency reported. Media outlets have come under fire as well. An hour after Hadi ordered the closure of all Houthi-controlled media -- including Yemen TV and Saba TV -- Houthis raided two TV channels and the prominent Al Masdar newspaper. Al Jazeera's office in Sanaa was also targeted, the Qatar-based network said, with Houthis looting security cameras and damaging equipment. Opinion: Why Yemen has come undone . Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Yemen, and CNN's Ben Brumfield wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Becky Anderson, Salma Abdelaziz and Mustafa al-Arab contributed to this report. +(CNN)Nigeria's military says its forces have retaken the northeastern town of Gwoza, which Boko Haram militants last year declared the headquarters of their "caliphate." The announcement comes on the eve of the West African country's general elections. "Just this morning, the gallant troops of the Nigerian military in a concerted and well-coordinated land and air operations have liberated Gwoza, the headquarters of their so-called caliphate," Major General Chris Olukolade said in a Defense Ministry statement Friday. Olukolade said the troops had routed Boko Haram fighters in towns and villages leading to Gwoza. "Several of the terrorists have died and many of them captured in the process. A lot of arms and ammunition have been recovered and the administrative headquarters completely destroyed. A massive cordon and search has commenced to locate any of the fleeing terrorists or hostages in their custody," Olukolade said. Boko Haram declared its own "caliphate" after seizing the area around Gwoza, in Borno state, in August 2014, according to the Chatham House think tank. The militant group has purportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS and says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between the majority Muslim north and the mostly Christian south. Nigeria's general elections take place Saturday . The polls had been scheduled for February 14, but on February 7, Nigeria's election commission announced they would be postponed for six weeks due to security concerns, with the military needing more time to secure areas controlled by Boko Haram. The controversial decision was unpopular among many Nigerians and led to widespread protests. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who is running for reelection, has been criticized for not doing enough to combat Boko Haram. On Friday, Jonathan referenced the Gwoza victory in a broadcast to the nation, praising Nigeria's armed forces for their "immense sacrifices" in defending the nation. "We are also glad that our gallant armed forces have successfully stemmed the seizure of Nigerian territories in the northeast by the terrorist group, Boko Haram," Jonathan said. "They have recaptured most of the communities and territories formerly occupied by the insurgents, making it possible for thousands of internally displaced Nigerians to begin returning to their homes and communities." Jonathan said security agencies were fully prepared to deal decisively with "any group or persons who attempt to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elections." "Those who may harbor any intentions of testing our will by unleashing violence during the elections in order to advance their political ambitions should think again as all necessary measures have been put in place to ensure that any persons who breach the peace or cause public disorder during or after the elections are speedily apprehended and summarily dealt with according to our laws," the President said. On Thursday, Jonathan and Maj. Gen. Muhammad Buhari, the other leading presidential candidate, issued a pledge reaffirming their commitment to "free, fair and credible elections" following their signing of a nonviolence pledge -- the Abuja Accord -- in January. The International Criminal Court also issued a warning that anyone inciting or engaging in electoral violence "at a time when abhorrent levels of violence already plague parts of the country" is subject to prosecution, "either by Nigerian Courts or by the ICC." "No one should doubt my Office's resolve to prosecute individuals responsible for the commission of ICC crimes, whenever necessary," ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in the statement. Boko Haram attacks have killed at least 1,000 civilians so far this year, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) statement released Thursday. Citing interviews with witnesses, it said the militants rounded up 300 Gwoza residents when it overran the town, then took them to a camp in the Sambisa Forest. "After five months during which other residents remained trapped on the hills, hiding in caves and weakened by hunger, Boko Haram attacked the civilians there, killing many and forcing others to escape over the border into Cameroon," the rights group said. "Each week that passes we learn of more brutal Boko Haram abuses against civilians," said HRW researcher Mausi Segun, adding that Nigeria "needs to make protecting civilians a priority in military operations against Boko Haram." The rights group said Nigerian security forces had "failed to take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population" when fighting Boko Haram but noted that, according to the government, military police were investigating those claims. Amnesty International said in September that reports of alleged abuses by Nigerian security forces had increased since the government stepped up its fight against Boko Haram. The rights group alleged systemic use of torture by the police, based on hundreds of witness testimonies and other evidence gathered over a 10-year span. A spokesman for the Nigeria Police Force disputed the claims, saying torture and abuse were not "repeat, not an official policy of the Nigeria Police" and that the Amnesty report contained "some blatant falsehoods." Earlier this month, ISIS purportedly said it welcomed Boko Haram after the latter pledged allegiance to it. In an audio message purportedly from an ISIS spokesman, the group announced that it had accepted a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram. ISIS supporters posted the audio online. CNN cannot independently authenticate the 28-minute message. The message said that ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, had expanded to West Africa and congratulated "our jihadi brothers" there. It followed the posting online of an unauthenticated audio message purportedly from Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, on March 9 in which the speaker announced that the terror group wanted to join ISIS. Since 2009, Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is sin," has waged a campaign of terror aimed at instituting a stricter version of Sharia law in Nigeria. Boko Haram's tactics have intensified in recent years, from battling Nigerian government soldiers to acts disproportionately affecting civilians -- such as raids on villages, mass kidnappings, assassinations, market bombings and attacks on churches and unaffiliated mosques. Much of this violence has taken place in Nigeria. But neighboring countries, such as Cameroon and Chad, have also been hit increasingly hard and have committed troops to fight the militants. An African Union-mandated Multinational Joint Task Force has also been formed, involving troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin as well as Nigeria. On Friday, the UK Foreign Office announced Britain would provide 5 million pounds ($7.4 million) to help the task force tackle Boko Haram. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond expressed hope that the United Nations Security Council would adopt a resolution, currently being negotiated, to endorse the task force. Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report from Atlanta and Susannah Cullinane wrote from London. Christian Purefoy contributed from Lagos. +(CNN)In Washington, we are seeing the re-emergence this year of a phenomenon that many Americans were afraid had gone extinct: real live no-joke bipartisanship. Heavyweights from both parties are attending the March 26 Bipartisan Summit on Criminal Justice Reform. The event is co-produced by Gingrich Productions (on the right) and by my project, #cut50 -- an initiative that aims to safely halve the number of people behind bars within 10 years. Attorney General Eric Holder will be speaking. So will Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House speaker. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, will be there. So will Democratic strategist and CNN commentator Donna Brazile, a co-host of the summit. Republican power players like former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, will address the gathering by video. So will President Obama. Progressives like myself will rub shoulders with representatives from Koch Industries. Everyone keeps asking me, "How is this possible?" I have five words for you: "Liberty and justice for all." The ever-expanding incarceration industry has begun to violate some of the deepest and most sacred principles of BOTH major political parties. Therefore, conservatives, libertarians and liberals have their own objective interests in reform -- and their own values-based incentives to make real changes. For example, the right takes very seriously the concept of "liberty." Conservatives and libertarians want to defend the rights of every individual to pursue his or her dreams. They favor limited government. They hate massive, failed, bloated government bureaucracies that suck up more and more money and get more and more power, no matter how badly they perform. In America today, we have 5% of the world's population -- but we have nearly 25% of the world's incarcerated people. Nearly 1 in 100 American adults is behind bars. One out of every four people locked up anywhere in the world is caged in America's prisons and jails. And most people come out more damaged, more hopeless and less able to thrive than when they went in. (So much for "corrections"!) That's the opposite of limited government -- and liberty. On the other hand, progressives like me care passionately about the "justice for all" part -- including racial justice and social justice. We are incensed by a system that locks up the poor and racial minorities in numbers that are massive -- and massively disproportionate. We oppose a system that forever tars people as "felons," deemed permanently unfit for employment or the right to vote, possibly because of one mistake, early in life. When any system violates the principles of both "liberty" AND "justice," Americans of all stripes should stand together to change it. That is exactly what is starting to happen. This year, we are seeing the birth of an honest-to-goodness "Liberty and Justice for All" coalition. Still struggling to believe me? I was on "Anderson Cooper 360" on Monday night to discuss the movement for criminal justice reform. Here is a quote: . "A lot of kids I grew up with, grammar school, middle school, high school, were in prison. They were the poor kids and they had drug addictions. They had drug problems, they didn't have any money, they got caught, and they got caught in the poverty cycle, and they are at the bottom of society and they can't get out of it. ... People with drug problems, people who have mental illnesses, they probably shouldn't be in the criminal justice system. And people who make mistakes, let's not write them off forever, let's give them a chance to reintegrate and reenter society." There is just one catch: I'm not the one who said that. That is a direct quote from Mark Holden, senior vice president of Koch Industries. On practically every other issue, the Koch brothers and I are still fierce opponents. I doubt if we will ever agree on tax policy, campaign finance reform, environmental rules or the Keystone Pipeline, to name a few. But on criminal justice reform, it's different. Mark speaks eloquently about the way the criminal justice system violates the Bill of Rights and criminalizes behaviors that should not result in prison terms. And he is not alone, on the right. Fiscal conservatives decry the money wasted on a system that is too expensive and produces poor results. That's one reason that red-state governors, like Georgia's Nathan Deal, have acted boldly. Leaders with roots on the religious right, including summit co-host Pat Nolan, insist on the Christian value of redemption and second chances for those behind bars. Our values may not always be identical, but they can find common expression in fixing this broken prison system. Progressives and conservatives don't have to trust each other -- or even like each other -- to vote together on this issue. Usually, "bipartisanship" is just another word for cheap, political gamesmanship. It is too often invoked by one side, simply to gain advantage and to cloak a more narrow set of interests. But on criminal justice reform, something different is happening. Criminal justice reform is the one place where many Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians actually agree -- and are willing to work together to get something done. Over the last 30 years, both parties helped lead us down the path to mass incarceration. It will take both political parties to reverse course. Perhaps the March 26 Bipartisan Summit will represent the first major bend in the road back toward sanity. +(CNN)Actress Taraji P. Henson is apologizing for claiming her son was racially profiled during a traffic stop in Southern California last year. The Glendale Police Department released dash cam video of the encounter Friday, which contradicted her son's claims. Police released the footage after Henson commented about the alleged profiling in an Uptown Magazine interview published last month. In her interview, the star of the hit television show "Empire" said her son, Marcell Johnson, 20, was racially profiled in Glendale and at the University of Southern California, where she accused campus police of stopping him for "having his hands in his pockets." After her son's claim, she vowed to send him to Howard University in Washington instead. "I'm not paying $50K so I can't sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus," she said. Even the University of Southern California stepped in, with its public safety director, John Thomas, saying he was disturbed by the report of the profiling, and was investigating it further. "We encourage reporting of allegations of bias and I hope for the opportunity to have a conversation with the young man and his mother," Thomas said. But Henson retracted her accusations Friday, and publicly apologized to the Glendale Police Department. "A mother's job is not easy and neither is a police officer's," she said in a post on Instagram. "Sometimes as humans we overreact without gathering all of the facts. As a mother in this case I overreacted and for that I apologize. Thank you to that officer for being kind to my son." Police Chief Robert Castro said his agency researched the traffic stop after her comments to the magazine. The incident started when a Glendale officer pulled over Johnson in October for failing to yield to a pedestrian at a cross walk. During the traffic stop, Johnson admitted to having marijuana, an infraction and Ritalin without a prescription, a felony, according to Castro. He consented to a search of the vehicle, and officers found marijuana, honey oil (concentrated marijuana), a marijuana grinder and a knife, Castro said. Johnson was not driving while impaired and was only cited for possession of marijuana, he said. "Misinformation that was reported in the story in Uptown Magazine with Taraji P. Henson impairs and weakens the relationships between law enforcement and the communities," Castro said. The Glendale Police Department said Friday it appreciated Henson's apology and is sharing it with its officers. +(CNN)African safaris conjure up images of four-wheel drive cars trundling through games parks carrying tourists with binoculars clamped to their eyes. But if you want to get a bit closer to some of nature's most beautiful beasts then heading out on four legs, not four wheels, might be your best bet. Venturing into the continent's game reserves on horseback may seem a little daunting but is one of the best ways to experience the environment, says Philip Kusseler, co-owner of Wait A Little horse safaris. Kusseler has been leading outings into South Africa's Karongwe and Greater Makalali Game Reserves near the famous Kruger National Park for more than a decade. His stable of around 40 horses at a farm in Ofcolaco in the northwest of the country includes warmbloods, native Boerperds and former thoroughbreds. The ex-racehorses may be more used to chasing on the turf than exploring the bush, but Kusseler says that once trained they make for great tour guides. "When you get a retired racehorse, you have extremely fit horse right from the beginning which is of course very good to work with. Secondly, you get a horse that likes to excite itself and learn new things," Kusseler told CNN's Winning Post. Most racehorses face an uncertain future when their track days come to an end -- usually at the age of around six or seven. A lucky few are sent to stud while others, like double Gold Cup winner Kauto Star, try their luck at different equestrian disciplines. Some will see out their days at animal sanctuaries but many are simply slaughtered because owners are unable or unwilling to foot the bill for upkeep once their racing days are through. Kusseler is looking to grow his current stock of three ex-racers which are prepared for their new role by his wife Gerti, a former dressage rider and FEI coach. "We train all our horses in basic dressage," she explains. "It's very important that they are responsive and trust the rider and trust the aids of the rider. The basic training and dressage helps a lot to make them responsive and fun to ride as well." All horses spend a minimum of two years being schooled at a purpose-built riding arena at the farm and also in the bush where they learn to deal with some of nature's most intimidating creatures. "When an ex-racehorse sees a lion," explains Philip Kusseler, "you can feel it's heartbeat through the saddle but he soon learns to cope with it and they are just as cool as any other horse breed." "Trekking with horses is extremely dangerous because the horse fits the lions prey preference perfectly. But they are so well-trained and so well disciplined that they don't react like a prey animal would, so the lions get quite confused." Along with the "Big Five" game (lions, elephants, rhinos leopards and buffalo) Wait A Little's intrepid guests can expect to come across zebras, wildebeests, hippos and giraffe amid 35,000 hectares of game park. But as Gerti concedes, seeing these beasts up close from the saddle is not everyone's idea of a good time. "We have had people that were too scared. I can't say it's 100% safe because it isn't. But it is very, very safe when you go out with Philip because he has such huge experience," she says. "He gives his horses a lot of confidence and sometimes some horses need that. I always say the animals are the least dangerous -- the most dangerous thing is riding horses." Of course, there are other modes of transport with anything from trains to camels ready to carry you through the bush. Most tourists still opt for a traditional four-wheel drive vehicles but the Kusselers wouldn't swap their thoroughbred horsepower for anything else. "They are just lovely," says Philip Kusseler. "As long as you are able to stimulate them in the bush by having wonderful outrides you will have a horse that keeps on smiling." +(CNN)Former One Direction member Zayn Malik spoke for the first time since leaving the group this week -- and said he's sorry for the pain he's caused. "I feel like I've let the fans down, but I can't do this anymore," he told the UK's outlet The Sun. "It's not that I've turned my back on them or anything, it's just that I just can't do that anymore, because it's not the real me." He said that he had been feeling uncomfortable in recent months and that his departure was best for everyone concerned. "I did try to do something that I wasn't happy doing for a while, for the sake of other people's happiness," the 22-year-old said. But now, he added, "I've never felt more in control in my life. And I feel like I'm doing what's right -- right by myself and right by the boys, so I feel good." iReport: Fan says 'We need Zayn' He's getting along fine with the other members of the band, he observed. According to Us magazine, Malik has started working on a solo project. One Direction, which also included Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne, will continue as a foursome. The group's hits include "Best Song Ever." The band's announcement Wednesday that Malik was leaving caused mass disbelief among fans all over the world, with many taking to the Internet to express their sadness and devastation. +(CNN)Charlottesville Police said Monday that investigators found no "substantive basis" to support a University of Virginia female student's story that she was raped at the Phi Kappa Psi house, an account that Rolling Stone published last November. "Jackie" told the magazine that in late September 2012, she was assaulted at the house, the article said. Police Chief Tim Longo noted that just because police found no evidence to support her account, "That doesn't mean that something terrible didn't happen to Jackie" on the day in question. Longo said he welcomed any information that might still be out there about the case. The Rolling Stone story generated controversy from the moment it came out, first sparking a debate about the prevalence of rape on college campuses throughout the country. But then the controversy turned toward the story's content when apparent contradictions and discrepancies in the article came to light. Rolling Stone said it did not get the accounts of those accused in the piece, and apologized. Editors vowed to conduct their own investigation, which is expected to be published in early April. Longo said Jackie did not give police a statement during their investigation. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin said it's not unusual for a sexual assault victim to avoid the criminal process. "Sometimes they can't deal with the probing that occurs. They don't want to submit to a rape kit. They're embarrassed. They know that they will be scrutinized, quite frankly. So that in and of itself ... doesn't make this young woman a liar," she said. Hostin pointed out that only about 2% of rapes that are reported are false, and only about 40% of rapes that occur are even reported: "So the suggestion that she just sort of made this entire thing up flies in the face of the statistics." Nine out of 11 people at the fraternity house at the time the sexual assault allegedly occurred talked to police, Longo said. None of them said they knew about a rape, he said, and investigators further determined that it was unlikely a party even happened at the fraternity house on the day in question as was alleged in the Rolling Stone story. The Rolling Stone reporter, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, talked to police, authorities said, but there were some questions she declined to answer for journalistic reasons. It's unclear what those questions were. In total, authorities spoke to 70 people as part of their investigation, and just two believed that Jackie was the victim of something, Capt. Gary Pleasants told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." "The two of them were fairly convinced that something had happened -- not the way it was described, the way it was written. But they thought, again, that something had probably occurred," he said. After the story's publication, UVA suspended the fraternity's activities, and outrage spread throughout campus as many struggled to comprehend the horrific experience that Jackie said she endured. The article also suggested the school failed to respond to the alleged assault. Phi Kappa Psi released a statement Monday, saying the "discredited" story has done significant damage, while acknowledging the "importance of sexual assault issues on America's college campuses." The fraternity asked Rolling Stone to "fully and unconditionally retract its story." Rolling Stone editors said they chose not to contact the man who allegedly orchestrated the attack on Jackie, or any of the men she said participated in her alleged assault, "because the editors feared retaliation against her," the magazine said, adding that it regretted that decision. "In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced," Rolling Stone said in December. Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana later tweeted that "the truth would have been better served by getting the other side of the story." Rolling Stone issued an apology for discrepancies in its article and began to fact-check it. Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, has been leading the independent review, CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter reported Sunday. Stelter said there has been much speculation about Coll's findings. Columbia University's review will be published in early April in the magazine. "I can't really say I'm surprised since so much of the evidence was already called into question," a former friend of Jackie's said in response to what police found. "I think it's great that they're staying open to considering any new evidence that comes up." Ryan Duffin added: "I've resigned myself to realize that I might never know what did or didn't happen." CNN's Sara Ganim and Michael Martinez contributed to this report. +(CNN)That sound you just heard was the crash of hearts breaking all over the world. Zayn Malik is leaving One Direction. "After five incredible years Zayn Malik has decided to leave One Direction," the band said on its Facebook page and tweeted out to its 22.9 million Twitter followers. "Niall, Harry, Liam and Louis will continue as a four-piece and look forward to the forthcoming concerts of their world tour and recording their fifth album, due to be released later this year." Rumors about such a move had started since Malik left the band's tour last week. At the time, a rep told Rolling Stone he had "been signed off with stress" after a scandal erupted following the publication of a photo showing Malik holding hands with someone other than his fiancee. Fans on Twitter immediately responded with teary Vine videos and the #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik hashtag. Even the Girl Scouts got in on the act with a sweet tribute to the singer. The band's Wikipedia page was also quickly updated with a sentence, "Zayn Malik was formerly a member." And Spotify said that global streams of One Direction songs were up 330% Wednesday in the hour after the news was announced -- a "spike of sadness," as the music service called it. In the U.S. alone, streams of the band's music were up 769%. To mark the occasion, Spotify created a special playlist of 1D songs. Malik, 22, has been part of the very popular British boy band since it was formed (at the urging of Simon Cowell, according to some stories) in 2010 after members auditioned separately for the UK version of "The X Factor." Cowell became a mentor and signed them to his label. The group has put out four albums, and its hits include "Best Song Ever" and "Story of My Life." Their latest album, "Four," came out in November. +Rome (CNN)As the dust settles after Italy's high court ruled on Friday to overturn the latest guilty verdicts for Amanda Knox, 27, and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 31, in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, many questions still linger in the case. Knox and Sollecito were tried together and convicted of murder by two separate courts. But now they are free now, forever cleared. There won't be any civil trials like in the O.J. Simpson case because, according to Italian penal code, Italy's high court decision is final across all courts in the country. According to Italian lawyer Nicola Canestrini, who works on extradition and criminal cases between Italy and other countries, . "The high court decision is seen as the truth for the whole system." What now for the Kerchers? Francesco Maresca, lawyer for the Kercher family, told CNN that his clients are disappointed with the final ruling. "We expected more from the Italian judicial system," he said. "This is a failure to find justice for Meredith." Maresca says the Kerchers could try to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights and argue that Italy failed to find those culpable of killing their beloved daughter and sister but they have yet to make that decision. "If they think Italy hasn't fulfilled the duty, they could sue Italy," Canestrini told CNN. Such a claim could be made based on the final conviction handed down to Rudy Guede, a man from the Ivory Coast who was convicted for his role in Kercher's murder in 2008 in a fast-track trial that is still under seal. When the high court ruled definitively on his case in 2010, they wrote explicitly in their reasoning that he was one of three assailants but did not name who they were. Knox and Sollecito both spent four years in prison during their initial trial and first appeal. They applied to Italy's high court to be put under house arrest but because Knox was a foreigner and deemed a flight risk, they were both denied. Sollecito may now have cause to sue Italy for false imprisonment. Italy pays around €12 million every year for locking up people who are later cleared of charges, according to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who is introduced measures to reform the judicial system. But, Canestrini says if Sollecito at any time lied to investigators before he was arrested, he may forfeit his right to reimbursement for being held. Sollecito changed his story more than once before finally settling on an alibi with Knox, so a legal battle could focus on whether anything he told investigators led directly to his arrest. Canestrini also says that Knox could potentially sue Italy for one year of false imprisonment, but because she admittedly lied to investigators early on which led to her arrest, she would likely not have much of a case. "Because she initially admitted to a role in the crime, she wouldn't likely win. If a suspect lies to investigators before they are arrested, it is difficult to prove they were falsely imprisoned," Canestrini says. In one of her initial interrogations in 2007, she told investigators she was in the house when Kercher was killed at which time she accused Patrick Lumumba, her boss at a pub where she worked, of the murder. She later recanted that statement, but Lumumba spent two weeks in prison because of her false claim. In 2013, Italy's high court ruled definitively on a slander charge against her for the false accusation and upheld a three-year prison term and ordered her to pay Lumumba $40,000 euro. Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova told CNN that Knox doesn't feel any revenge or resentment towards Italy. In fact, he said she will go back one day. "This has been an nightmare for her, so we finally got the right decision," he said. "We always thought this was the only decision possible." Sollecito's lawyers were equally pleased with the outcome. "The verdict that we just received doesn't prove us partly right, It proves us completely right," Giulia Bongiorno told reporters outside the court. "There were two possible verdicts: (One was to) overturn this verdict, but go back to it later. Instead, the overturn is without any referral. Among all the possible and imaginable overturning options, this is the one which says "be advised, we won't ever even make the hypothesis of an implication of Raffaele Sollecito in this case ever. Enough, enough, enough." Knox, too, made her own statement from her mother's home in Seattle after hearing the news. She thanked all those who supported her innocence, and said she needed to take time to digest what being free really means. When asked if she had a message to the Kerchers about their daughter, she said, "She deserved so much in this life. I'm the lucky one." +(CNN)Gareth Bale scored twice for Wales as they beat Israel 3-0 in Euro 2016 qualification, taking them to the top of their group and on course for a first major finals since the 1958 World Cup. The Real Madrid striker dominated the game in the northern city of Haifa, setting up Arsenal's Aaron Ramsay for the first goal before scoring twice in the second half to help Wales easily beat an Israel team who had been early pacesetters in the group. Club v country . Much of the build up had focused on Bale. After an impressive first season at Madrid he has come under attack in the Spanish press for putting country before club. He was awarded 0/10 by Spanish newspaper Marca following Barcelona's recent 2-1 El Clasico win and saw two fans attack his car as he left the ground after the match. But Bale didn't appear to be showing any signs of rust as he took Israel apart, a team that hadn't lost a competitive game in two and a half years. "To come out on top is amazing. The first half was very hard. We did a lot of running, closed them down well, and luckily got the goal which gave us a lot of confidence," Bale told British broadcaster Sky Sports after the game. "We came out in the second half buzzing and showed what a good team we are." he added. Italy, Czech Republic held . Meanwhile Italy narrowly avoided defeat against Bulgaria. A flurry of first half goals in Sofia had given Bulgaria a 2-1 lead, a lead they looked to have held on to. But late in the game Brazilian-born striker Eder scored on his debut to spare Italy's blushes. The Czech Republic also narrowly avoided defeat, against lowly Latvia. Vaclav Pilar's last-minute equalizer in Prague was just enough to keep them top of the group, with Iceland hot on their heels after a 3-0 victory against Kazakhstan. +(CNN)Vladimir Putin is not a self-effacing man. That's why when the Russian president suddenly disappeared from view people took notice. When Russian officials tried to trick the public by passing off old photos as new appearances, speculation about Putin's whereabouts went viral. Hashtags such as #Whereisputin and #ПутинУмер -- Russian for #PutinIsDead -- became the tip of a giant social media iceberg, much of it streaked with dark humor. In Ukraine, the neighboring state besieged by Putin's forces, someone reportedly left a large funeral wreath at the gate of the Russian embassy. A handwritten message addressed Putin with an expletive, telling him, "Thank you for croaking." The fast-moving iceberg of speculation may melt as fast as it emerged. The Kremlin has now started pushing harder against the rumors, trying to prove that Russia's foremost -- nay, only -- major political leader, is alive and well. Early on Friday, officials released what they said was a picture of Putin taken the day of. But on social media, onlookers accused officials of dusting off old images. Those keeping track insist Putin has not been seen since March 5. Regardless of how or when this speculation ends, it tells us much about the political realities of Russia. This whole thing started after Putin's trip to Kazakhstan was canceled on Wednesday and a Kazakh official told a reporter that the Russian President had fallen ill. Then the Kremlin released a picture of Putin speaking with the leader of the Republic of Karelia. But it turns out that happened on March 4. On Thursday, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the President would miss his regular meeting with the Federal Security Service (FSB). When asked about his boss's health, Peskov said he is "absolutely healthy," his handshake so strong he could "break your hand." To illustrate the point, the Kremlin's Russia Today posted a picture of the mighty President slamming a judo opponent hard against the ground. Peskov says Russia is in the grips of a "spring fever" that is causing people to dream up harebrained scenarios. Amateur sleuths and creative minds have speculated wildly about Putin's health problems. The Swiss magazine Blick said Putin is in Lugano, where his girlfriend just gave birth to their baby. Some have said he has cancer; others report a heart attack or a stroke. There are even suggestions that he went off to join ISIS, or is playing hide-and-seek a la Where's Waldo. Does Putin ever catch a cold? Does he ever get sick? The Kremlin doesn't want to allow Putin's image of virility and strength to become tarnished by the weaknesses of mere humans. That's hardly surprising. Putin is not your average president. On paper, Russia is a democracy. But no objective observer believes that. Putin is the state. Every important decision is made by him. Putin rules in the old-fashioned style of a personality cult. His approval ratings are stratospheric, even if his brazen policies would warrant more significant levels of disagreement. Approval ratings nearing 90% are the product of suppression of dissent and media maneuvers demonizing, ridiculing, and ultimately silencing critics. The system requires propaganda and image control. It needs Putin to be larger than life. The recent murder of Boris Nemtsov, Putin's foremost critic, has spawned fears that there is a hit list, a roster of Putin critics whose days are numbered. There are rampant rumors of intrigue inside the Kremlin. The level of fear is said to be higher than it has been in years. The term "Kremlinology" became the study of intrigue and power machinations in inscrutably dark systems. Russia has a long history of concealing the illnesses of its leaders. In the Soviet era, some mysterious disappearances were followed by funerals. In those days, there was usually a succession plan. And in the post-Stalin days, the passing of one leader meant that the party chose the next strongman. In 1991, the last USSR leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, went to his summer home in Crimea. He was visited by a group of high-ranking Soviet officials. The next day, the Russian people were told that Gorbachev was ill, and could not perform his duties. Gorbachev was held against his will. There was a coup in progress. Putin's mentor, President Boris Yeltsin, also had a history of "disappearing" from view. He was really ill and/or drunk. Even if Putin is in perfect health and the social media whirlwind turns out to have just been an outlet for creativity, talk of Putin's disappearance raises important questions. What would Russia become if he suddenly left power? Is there a successor in place? Is there anyone who would continue Putin's policies? If there is a power vacuum, a conceivable scenario given just how thoroughly Putin dominates, what would the consequences be? Whatever Putin is doing at this exact moment -- whether he is hunting tigers, visiting with friends, or convalescing from an illness -- and no matter what he does in the days ahead, the Internet tempest of the past few days is a reminder that the man who embodies today's Russian state, who dismantled the country's once-fledgling democracy, won't be around forever. Which raises the question, what then? +Tunis, Tunisia (CNN)Thousands of demonstrators marched in Tunisia's capital Sunday, protesting against terrorism less than two weeks after gunmen attacked a museum and killed more than 20 people there. "We came to express our support and to fight this danger that's threatening our society and our stability," said Rafik Abdessalem, Tunisia's former foreign minister, who was among the crowd. "Fortunately, all Tunisians are united here today. We will be able to defeat terrorism, which is threatening Tunisia and all the neighboring countries." As a heavy police presence stood guard, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi marched alongside dignitaries and world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who led the crowd to the steps of the Bardo Museum. Protesters held banners that said "We are not afraid" and "Je suis Bardo" as they chanted "Tunisia is free, and out with terrorism." On March 18, the art, culture and history museum was the site of a drastically different scene, as gunmen opened fire on tourists in a siege that also forced the evacuation of the neighboring Parliament. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in an audio message posted online the next day. Hours before Sunday's demonstration began, Tunisia's Prime Minister announced that Algerian national Khaled Shayeb, the alleged architect of the museum assault, was one of nine suspected militants killed in a raid in the south of the country. Arab Spring aftermath: Revolutions give way to violence, more unrest . CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. +Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)A few months before Nigeria's national elections, both main candidates embraced and promised a peaceful election. That pledge is now under serious threat. Protesters fired gunshots and torched a local electoral office in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state as they marched to protest national elections held to elect Nigeria's next President. "There's been so much violence in Rivers state that it's just not tenable," said Lai Mohammed, spokesman for the main opposition party, the All Peoples Congress. The All Peoples Congress says the vote has been rigged, voters intimidated and demanded that the elections held in Rivers state be canceled. The ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, refutes the accusation, saying the election was "credible and the result reflects the overwhelming wish of the people of Rivers state to support President Goodluck Jonathan." Heavy rain eventually forced the protesters home, but there are fears that it will take more than rain to stop further protests and violence. "We are concerned by what seems to be happening," said Attahiru Jega, Nigeria's election chairman, about events in Rivers state. Nigeria has just held what are thought to be the closest elections since a return to democracy in 1999 after decades of military rule. The two main candidates are incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and retired general Muhammedu Buhari. What is at stake in the protests in Rivers state is not whether Nigeria can hold an election, but can it hold a "close" election. Voting is now over and the results are being counted. Jega says the final result will likely be announced within 48 hours. The fear is that the results may not be accepted by whomever loses. And if the opposition believes it has been rigged out of victory by the ruling party, then the protests in Rivers state could spread to northern Nigeria. Over 800 people were killed in post-election violence across the north after the 2011 elections were thought to be illegitimate. And so both candidates have taken to social media to call for calm. "I want to urge all Nigerians to also wait patiently for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to collate and announce results," stated Jonathan on his Facebook account. "Fellow Nigerians, I urge you to exercise patience and vigilance as we wait for all results to be announced," said Buhari on Twitter. +(CNN)James Bond's latest mission has been revealed in the first trailer for "SPECTRE" which was released Friday. Daniel Craig reprises his role of everyone's favorite spy in the 24th Bond film, scheduled for release November 6. Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, David Bautista and Andrew Scott also star in director Sam Mendes' second Bond film. The acronym stands for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, a fictional global terrorist organization that Bond attempts to infiltrate after a cryptic message from his past returns to haunt him. Though lacking in stunts and explosions we have come to expect from Bond teases, the first look at "SPECTRE" was packed with clues to the movie's closely guarded plot. It picks up where the last chapter, "Skyfall," left off, with a shot of the smoldering remains of the bombed MI6 headquarters. Bond's assistant, Moneypenny, presents him with "personal effects" recovered from the ruins of the "Skyfall" house: a singed old photo of two boys and a man and a temporary certificate of guardianship. "You've got a secret, something you can't tell anyone because you don't trust anyone," she says. Then, there's an abandoned home in the mountains, the new Aston Martin DB10, and a secret meeting of shadowy men, including one who addresses Bond as "James." What does it all mean? See for yourself and let the speculation begin: . Weigh in on our Facebook page: . +(CNN)There were screams. Then the sounds of a commercial jetliner slamming into the mountainside. And finally silence. Deathly silence. That much is known about the final few minutes for the 144 passengers on Germanwings Flight 9525. Beyond that, it's a matter of imagination and speculation -- about what they saw and what they felt as their plane approached and then crashed into the Alps. None of them can speak for themselves, nor can any of the flight's six crew members. But authorities have given some clues, based on what investigators know about the aircraft's trajectory and what they've heard on a mangled cockpit voice recorder recovered at the crash site. It all began on what seemed like most any other Tuesday as citizens of 18 countries packed into the Germanwings plane in Barcelona, Spain. The passengers came from all walks of life, using Lufthansa's low-cost carrier to get to Dusseldorf, Germany. They were high school students, heading home after a week in Spain. They were parents and children enjoying their vacation. There were businessmen, scouting out store locations. There was a 26-minute delay before takeoff because air traffic controllers didn't give the OK to start the plane's engines earlier and there was a small wait in the takeoff rotation, according to Lufthansa. For any frequent flier, that kind of delay is nothing abnormal. Nor, it seems, was takeoff. The Airbus A320 left and headed northeast at 10:01 a.m. (5:01 a.m. ET) on what should have been a 726-mile journey. The plane leveled off at 38,000 feet, its cruising altitude. By this point, passengers would be OK to unbuckle, head to the restroom or get their bags out of the overhead bin. A seemingly innocuous act changed everything: The aircraft's pilot had to use the restroom, according to Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, telling the co-pilot that he was stepping out. It's possible that passengers saw the captain in the cabin, going to or from the restroom. They also could have noticed that the aircraft was going down -- even though they were about a half-hour into a nearly two-hour flight, with the Alps ahead of them. The passengers couldn't have known it, but the co-pilot -- identified as 28-year-old Andreas Lubitz --"manipulated the buttons of the flight monitoring system to activate the descent of the aircraft" while the pilot was out, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said Thursday. This was around 10:45 a.m. It wasn't like the plane suddenly jerked down, plunging straight into the ground. Authorities described a steady descent at a rate of about 3,000 to 3,500 feet (or roughly 1,000 meters) per minute. Still, it is the kind of descent you'd expect while nearing an airport -- not traversing the Alps. If passengers didn't notice that fall, they might have caught wind of what was happening at the front of the plane. Students, singers among the victims . Inside the cockpit, the only sound was that of Lubitz breathing steadily. But outside the cockpit, the noises apparently grew louder and more frantic. The pilot tried to open the door but couldn't get in. He likely knocked on the door. He used a video conference system to talk to the co-pilot, Robin said. None of it worked. Nor did his last-ditch attempt, as recounted by a senior French military official involved in the crash investigation to The New York Times. "You can hear he is trying to smash the door down," the official said. Did the passengers hear this commotion upfront? It's hard to imagine they didn't. And if that wasn't reason enough to cause worry, they just had to look outside -- at the mountain chain that should have been far below them instead of getting closer and closer and closer. The voice recorder didn't indicate any abnormal noise in the cabin until the final few moments. Still, even if the passengers didn't know it at the time, all it took was eight minutes for a seemingly normal flight to become a nightmare. The nightmare ended in a violent crash into rugged, remote terrain. So did the screams and the lives of all 150 people on Flight 9525 -- a death that Robin described as "instantaneous." Who was co-pilot Andreas Lubitz? +(The Hollywood Reporter)It's official: AMC's "The Walking Dead" companion series has a title. Executive producer Robert Kirkman announced Friday that the companion series, which starts as a prequel to the original, will be titled "Fear The Walking Dead." Read more: "Walking Dead" from comics to the small screen . The news comes as the companion went through development season -- and was picked up to series and preemptively renewed for a second season — under code names including "Cobalt" and "Fear The Walking Dead." On March 9, AMC announced the series pickup and renewal for the then-untitled series. Kirkman, who created "The Walking Dead" comic series, co-wrote the pilot with Dave Erickson of "Sons of Anarchy." Kirkman and Erickson will executive produce alongside "Walking Dead's" Gale Anne Hurd and Dave Alpert. Erickson will serve as showrunner, and Adam Davidson will direct the pilot. "Walking Dead" visual effects guru Greg Nicotero will also executive produce the series. While AMC has been tight-lipped on the series' premise, sources tell "The Hollywood Reporter" that the drama is a prequel that takes place in Los Angeles at the onset of the zombie outbreak. AMC confirmed that the companion series is set in Los Angeles but revealed nothing more beyond that it will focus on new characters and storylines. Read more: "The Walking Dead's'"Most Shocking Deaths . Cliff Curtis ("Gang Related") stars as Sean Cabrera, a teacher who shares a son with his ex-wife. "Sons of Anarchy's" Kim Dickens is set to co-star as Nancy, a guidance counselor who works at the school with Sean and is seeing him romantically. Frank Dillane ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince") co-stars as Nancy's son Nick, who has battled a drug problem. And Alycia Debnam Carey ("Into the Woods") is will play Nancy's ambitious daughter, Ashley, who is the polar opposite of Nick and dreams of leaving Los Angeles for Berkeley when the apocalypse strikes. "Fear The Walking Dead" will premiere in the late summer with season two set for 2016. An official premiere date has not yet been announced. The season five finale of the flagship series airs Sunday at 9 p.m. Read more: How "The Walking Dead" stumbled in its storytelling this season . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)She's a multi-award winning singer, a fashion icon, a designer, entrepreneur, actress and philanthropist. And now, far from reigning it in, Kylie Minogue will be unleashing her talent at Dubai's internationally renowned equine event. The 46-year-old pop star will be performing a 90-minute show of her hits at the "world's richest day of horse racing" -- the 20th Dubai World Cup hosted at Meydan on Saturday, March 28. Prize money totaling $30 million will be up for grabs over a variety of races, culminating in a top prize of $10m in the Dubai World Cup race -- a rendition of Minogue's "I should be so lucky" would certainly be apt. Luxury brands Longines and Jaguar will be sponsoring two of the races as well as giving prizes to the "Best Dressed Lady" and "Most Elegant Lady" on the night -- offering a 42 diamond studded watch and a Jaguar F-TYPE Coupé to the winners. Australia's Minogue is worth approximately $75 million after charging to fame following her role as tomboy mechanic "Charlene Robinson" in Neighbours almost 30 years ago. "Growing up in Melbourne, horse racing is a major and exciting part of our annual calendar. So to be able to bring my show to the Dubai World Cup is something I'm very much looking forward to," said the star. She is currently performing her 14th concert tour titled "Kiss Me Once." Since scoring her first top ten UK hit in 1987 she's released eleven studio albums and sold over 68 million records. "It will certainly be an unforgettable experience" she said of the event. +(CNN)Seven college-age people, some who came to Panama City Beach, Florida, for spring break, were wounded in a late-night shooting, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said in a press release. Officers met "complete chaos" when they tried to find out what happened not long after midnight Friday, Sheriff Frank McKeithen told CNN affiliate WMBB when interviewed on the scene. Video showed the streets teeming with young people. Three people with gunshot wounds were found inside a house, one outside the house, one in the median of the road and two on the other side of the road, the sheriff's office said in a press release. "We have about 100 witnesses or so that we are trying to separate and interview," McKeithen told WMBB. "We have a mess." The scene was so mixed up that deputies from five adjacent counties and officers from the Florida Highway Patrol and Panama City Beach police were called in to assist. The shooting occurred at a residence on Thomas Drive, the main drag in the beach town. Several of the victims were students from Alabama A&M University who were visiting town for spring break, the sheriff's office said. They're between 20 and 22 years of age. During February and March, up to six million young people visit Panama City Beach, which some have been dubbed "the Spring Break Capital of the World." The Panhandle town has a resident population of about 12,000. Some of the young people were shot multiple times. They were taken to area hospitals, where three were listed in critical condition and three in stable condition, the sheriff's office said. The seventh person was in surgery when the press release was issued and no update on his condition was provided. Authorities arrested David Jarmichael Daniels, 22, of Mobile, Alabama, on seven counts of attempted murder. A .40-caliber pistol was found in the backyard of a residence. Officials did not mention a possible motive. The shooting was one of six firearms-related incidents of the night, with four guns seized in drug cases, the sheriff's office said in a press release. Other details were not provided. On Saturday night, the Panama City Beach City Council held a special meeting to talk about the violence. "It's time to stop the bloodshed," said council member Keith Curry, according to WMBB. "We're lucky that we don't have seven dead people." "This is a hostile takeover, an attempt at a hostile takeover," said Sparky Sparkman, owner of Spinnaker Beach Club. "And if anyone here doesn't think what's going on out there is hostile, just ride up and down the street." The council considered banning alcohol on the beach through mid-April, but that measure was voted down, WMBB said. The council approved more funding for extra enforcement on the beach. +(CNN)Kentucky is so awesome right now you are probably watching the NCAA men's basketball tournament to see who is going to get second. The undefeated Wildcats were scary good Thursday night in crushing West Virginia. The score was so lopsided the game was over before the first television timeout. While the Wildcats won in a blowout, Notre Dame and Wisconsin also advanced to the Elite Eight with less-than-comfortable wins. The Fighting Irish pulled away from Wichita State while the Badgers shook off pesky North Carolina. During the nightcap a lot of televisions -- outside the commonwealth of Kentucky -- probably changed channels. The good news was Arizona and Xavier played a terrific game in the final contest of the night. Perhaps you shouldn't provoke the beast that is Kentucky. In the week leading up to the game, West Virginia's Daxter Miles said, "I give them them their props. Salute them getting to 36-0. But tomorrow they're gonna be 36-1." Mr. Miles missed his guaranteed win by miles. The Wildcats smoked the Mountaineers 78-39 Thursday night in a Midwest Region contest that was never a contest. Kentucky raced to an 18-2 lead -- they should have stopped it then -- and had five players score in double figures on the night. Trey Lyles was the Wildcats' top scorer with 14 points. West Virginia couldn't guard anyone, except maybe the official who went down when he tripped over a Mountaineer waiting at the scoring table. Kentucky's 37-0 record is the best start in NCAA history, which has Kentucky superfan Ashley Judd super excited. It wasn't a pretty game for the Wildcats' offense, but Arizona scratched its way past Xavier 68-60 in a West Region semifinal. Arizona shot 40 percent, while Xavier wasn't much better at 43 percent. The Wildcats tightened their defense toward the end, closing out with a 19-7 run that pushed them to a win and a meeting Saturday with Wisconsin. It's a rematch of an Elite 8 game last year, which the Badgers won by one point. T.J. McConnell topped all Arizona scorers with 17 points while Matt Stainbrook led Xavier with 17 points. The Irish found the right balance in the second half, putting the Shockers away for a 81-70 victory in the Midwest Region. Notre Dame trailed by 1 with 16:43 left when it went on a spurt that saw six different players score as the lead grew to double digits. Demetrius Jackson, who started the run with back-to-back three-pointers, led the Irish with 20 points. Two-sport star Pat Connaughton had 16. Steve Vasturia, who one CBS analyst called a baby-faced assassin, chipped in 13 points. Jerian Grant, a national player of the year candidate, had a rough night shooting, so he set up his teammates for buckets instead. He had nine points but 11 assists. Junior Fred VanVleet led the Shockers with 25 points while Darius Carter maneuvered inside for 22. Wisconsin played cool and shot hot from the free-throw line in holding off North Carolina 79-72. Sam Decker was trending on Twitter but the Tar Heels were concerned about Sam Dekker (two Ks, folks!), the Wisconsin forward who wasn't having any trouble scoring against the fourth-seeded Tar Heels. Dekker, who was guarded by the Heels' best defender, J.P. Tokoto, sliced his way for 15 first-half points to keep the Badgers in the game. The junior had a career-high 23 points on the night while Frank Kaminsky, one of the best players in the country, struggled. But the 7-foot tall center hit a big three and big free throws as the minutes wound down. The Badgers were 20 for 23 from the free throw line. Kaminsky hit all eight of his attempts. Folks also got worked up over seeing Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and actress girlfriend Olivia Munn at the game. Seems like TBS cut to a shot of the two at every break in the action. How'd you like to be the guy next to Rodgers? He won two U.S. Open golf titles, yet isn't famous enough to get all the way in the celebrity fan shot. It's OK, Andy North. +(CNN)Sen. Harry's Reid's perfunctory announcement on Friday that he won't seek re-election next year -- leaving a vacancy for leadership of the Senate Democrats -- was followed, hours later, by a matter-of-fact statement in an interview with The Washington Post: "I think Schumer should be able to succeed me." That would usher in a whirlwind of activity on Capitol Hill in the next year as New York's senior senator prepares to seize the reins of power -- and retool the party as a center-left powerhouse that can win and hold a majority in 2016 and beyond. Left-leaning activists have begun scrambling to block Chuck Schumer's rise. The progressive organization Democracy for America is calling for Sen. Elizabeth Warren to seek the leadership post, and the left-leaning Daily Kos website is circulating a poll seeking other challengers and denouncing Schumer as too close to the "Wall Street wing" of the Democratic Party. With more than a year to go before Senate Democrats will choose a new leader, anything can happen. But after watching Schumer in action for more than 20 years, I'd be surprised if he gets outsmarted in a political moment he has literally been working for a generation to create. With more than $13.4 million on hand in his campaign coffers, Schumer has more money than all but one member of the Senate -- and is the only Democrat in the top 10 in that category. He ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee when it took the majority in 2006 -- and while Democrats lost the majority during his second stint in the job in 2012, the field looks far more promising for them in 2016: Republicans must defend 24 seats, while Democrats need to protect only 10. Schumer brings an extraordinary level of personal political skill to the leadership fight. Even among the 100-member Senate -- home to a great many ambitious politicians with big egos -- Schumer has long operated at a high-octane level of smarts and media-savvy brashness that impress and occasionally startle his colleagues. Republican Bob Dole, a longtime lion of the Senate, once quipped that the most dangerous place to be in the Capitol is between Schumer and a television camera. The joke stuck -- but behind the gag is a sign of grudging respect for a man who excels at the basic block-and-tackle necessities of political life. Schumer is attuned to television and radio (growing up in the world's media capital will do that). In fact, he popularized a practice of holding press conferences on Sunday, a slow news day guaranteed to draw reporters -- and ensure him prominent placement in the Monday newspapers. But he is also a consummate street politician: At 64, he maintains a habit of biking around New York City neighborhoods without fanfare or an entourage, quietly noting local problems and occasionally inviting himself into a block party or parade. When a reporter once casually asked him to name all 62 counties of New York state, Schumer did her one better, and hand-sketched a map of the state with all the counties filled in. (He visits every county in the state every year.) Schumer isn't the only politically ambitious kid from Brooklyn -- before attending Harvard, he graduated from a public school, James Madison High, whose alumni include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Bernie Sanders and ex-Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota (a childhood pal of Schumer's). But Schumer's political climb been a long-term work in progress. He emerged on the national stage as a prime sponsor of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a law that banned assault weapons; in the run-up to the final vote, New Yorkers practically couldn't turn on television without seeing Schumer, then a congressman, on the floor of the House, waving a rifle over his head as he argued for the ban. The higher profile served him well a few years later, when Schumer took on -- and defeated -- three-term incumbent Sen. Alfonse D'Amato. As a senator on the rise, Schumer attracted politically ambitious staffers who moved on to high-profile positions where they can help their former mentor. A very partial list of those includes Howard Wolfson, Phil Singer and Blake Zeff, who went on to help run Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign; Ben Lawsky, who is now shaking up the world of finance as New York's top banking regulator; Preet Bharara, who has become an anti-corruption powerhouse as a U.S. attorney; and Rodney Capel, who is executive director of the state's Democratic Party. With allies, money and the blessing of Reid, Schumer is in a prime position to implement the ideas contained in his important and overlooked 2007 book, "Positively American," which lays out a vision for how Democrats should lead America. Like Schumer himself, the book is savvy, hopeful and politically attuned to the desires of middle-class voters. Those who wonder what a Schumer Senate leadership would look like should take a look as Democrats prepare for what could well be the start of the Schumer era on Capitol Hill. +(CNN)It is now generally accepted that Germanwings first officer Andreas Lubitz did indeed lock his captain out of the cockpit, put their airplane into a steep descent, and then sit back and wait calmly for the end to arrive. He did it with premeditation, having discarded a doctor's note that would have excused him from work that day. He joins the short and infamous list of airline pilots, a handful over the past two decades, who have used their airplanes to combine suicide with mass murder. Why is this thought at once so fascinating and so horrifying? It is because of the incompatibility between what we want to believe about flying and what we now see. Air travel presents itself as a highly controlled, stringently professional activity, stripped of every unpredictable element. Flight crews wear military-style uniforms not because they could not fly equally well in street clothes, but because uniforms convey to passengers a subliminal suggestion that they are of a different breed, as far from ordinary folk as a world-class athlete is from a duffer. Not only are pilots smarter and better-trained than ordinary people, those stripes and caps say, but they also must be less forgetful than we, less distractible, better rested, not prone to irritability or sadness or smoldering resentments. Like soldiers, they must be just a little bit robotic, efficient, brave and purified of the trash that infests the souls of common humans. Because they have earned their stripes, we feel safe -- even when it seems impossible for us to understand, or apparently for anyone to explain, what keeps those huge metal contraptions up in the air. The truth, as the voluminous history of airplane accidents reveals, is that pilots are not different from other people. They can be careless, lazy, inattentive and reckless. They can drink too much. When pilots talk among themselves, the mistakes, the close calls, the disasters averted by sheer luck are favorite topics. But if pilots slip up in little ways from time to time, the sweeping drama of aviation, in which they are the actors and we the audience, eclipses their faults. Besides, most flying is routine -- hours of boredom, the cliché goes, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. The glitches have long since been ironed out, and the airplanes are so wonderfully engineered that they usually protect even the worst pilot from himself. Nor are pilots of a higher moral type than the rest of us. Despite the pieties they occasionally utter, pilots do not consciously shoulder the burden of hundreds of lives or feel more responsible for a full airplane than for an empty one. Pilots, by and large, are proud. They identify with the airplane; it is an extension and enlargement of the self, and the pilot feels the same motive to deliver it safely to its destination as you feel when driving a car on a crowded freeway. A pilot values a smooth landing because it demonstrates skill, not because the people in back are still alive. The greatest guarantee you have that your pilot is devoted to your safety is the fact that he or she is in the airplane with you. So we should not be overly astonished if from time to time a pilot does something completely incompatible with our confidence. Pilots are drawn from the diverse pool of human types. The human mind is the blackest of boxes; no one, neither colleague nor psychologist, can reliably peer inside it. Desperate, cataclysmic acts occur almost daily all over the world; why should they not occur, once in a long while, in cockpits? Perhaps, with time, we will understand better who Andreas Lubitz was and what he did. Today, we still know very little. +(CNN)From the community of Montoursville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., to the community of Haltern am See, Germany: . We offer our heartfelt condolences for the pain you must be feeling at this time after the loss of 16 students and two teachers in the horrendous crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. There are no words of comfort that we could express that would ever be adequate. We know something about this sorrow. Almost 19 years ago our community lost 16 high school French Club students, along with five chaperones, in the crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island, New York. It is impossible to be prepared for such a horrific tragedy that touches so many so personally. During the dark hours of waiting for word of possible survivors from Flight 800, the pain for the family members was excruciating. As word came that there were no survivors, that all hope was extinguished, the anguish became almost unbearable. Students, former students, teachers and other community members began to fill the hallways of the high school building because they didn't know where else to go to find consolation. Local pastors, priests, teachers and counselors were also gathering at the school to offer whatever comfort could be offered in such a moment. Within hours, phone calls began pouring in from former students and teachers who were now living outside the area, offering condolences and prayers for all. Since the disaster occurred over water, the recovery of loved ones took days, and even weeks in some cases. Positive identification of each individual lost took even longer, which only added to the anguish. The identifications came in one at a time over a period of several days; the waiting was nearly impossible to bear. School was not in session during the summer months, so students and school staff members were able to express their sense of loss as they felt necessary at any time. A community prayer service was arranged and held in the high school gymnasium to provide a place to weep together, and to share each other's pain. Local pastors and priests provided ongoing support to the families who had lost family members, and this continued for several months. Some struggled so deeply that professional counseling was suggested. Because we are a community of about 5,000 with just one high school, almost everyone opened their arms of support to those in deepest need by providing meals, baby-sitting, housecleaning and laundry services. Funeral services were held one at a time, some in the high school and others in local churches. Long lines of mourners waited in silence for the opportunity to at least offer condolences to family members. Twenty-one funeral services over a period of several days left many in the community without any more tears to cry. Within a couple of months, a memorial service was held on the local athletic field and attended by thousands. The hope was to bring closure for the community so it could attempt to return to a somewhat normal daily routine. This helped for some, but families that experienced direct loss still had a long and painful journey ahead of them. When a parent, or someone serving as a parent, loses a child, an empty spot occurs in the heart that never heals. They may find comfort in the thought that their child is in the arms of a loving God, but that assurance does not mend the broken heart. Over time, the various families that lost their children in the tragedy formed support groups to share their loss. Many of the folks have reached out to others going through a similar type of loss to offer their comfort, and have found a little bit of personal healing in the process. In the years since the crash, many of the pastors and priests who served the families have moved away or retired from pastoral service. Those of us who counseled from the beginning have at times needed the support of one another to restore our strength and spirits to then be able to serve our own parishioners. This is the beginning of a very long journey for all those willing to serve those in such great pain at this time. At this writing I am shedding tears just recalling the events that started almost 19 years ago. If any of our experiences can assist your community of Haltern am See in getting through this horrible event, then know that it is in pain we achieve our greatest victories. +(CNN)ISIS apparently claimed responsibility Thursday for the deadly terrorist attack at a landmark museum in the heart of that country's capital, a mass shooting that has shaken the birthplace of the Arab Spring and stirred questions about militants in the country. In an audio statement posted online Thursday, ISIS identified two men -- Abu Zakariya al-Tunisi and Abu Anas al-Tunisi -- it said used "automatic weapons and hand grenades" to kill and injure what it called "crusaders and apostates" in the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Tunisian Health Minister Said Aidi said 23 people are believed to have been killed, including at least one who died at a hospital overnight. And that bloodshed, the ISIS message warned, is "just the start." CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. A U.S. official told CNN there is no reason to doubt the claim's authenticity. That said, American officials are checking the platform that the statement went out on, including the extent to which it's tied to the group calling itself the Islamic State. The current U.S. thinking is the attack may have been carried out by local "franchise" adherents to ISIS, rather than centrally directed by the Islamist extremist group's leadership, which is now thought to be in Syria. The two attackers were carrying explosives, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said in an interview Thursday with the French broadcaster TF1. He credited Tunisian security forces for responding so quickly to the attack to avoid a larger tragedy because "terrible explosives were found on these (attackers) and they didn't have time to use them." Tunisia has been viewed as the lone democratic success story in the Arab Spring. But the North African nation is not without its issues, including an uneven economy and the distinction of having more citizens -- up to 3,000 Tunisians -- thought to have gone to Iraq and Syria to fight as jihadists than any other country, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization in London. Authorities there have already arrested nine people in connection with Wednesday's attack, including four directly linked to the bloodshed, according to a statement from Essebsi. Earlier Thursday, Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid identified two suspects, Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaou, in an interview with French radio station RTL. It's not clear if those two men were the pair killed at the museum by Tunisian security forces, or if it's possible they're the same people as those identified -- using new names -- in ISIS' audio statement. Labidi was "known to the security services, he was flagged and monitored," Essid said. But he added the man wasn't known or being followed for anything special. The siege took place just days after a Tunisian jihadist tweeted that a pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, was coming soon, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist propaganda. In his message, the jihadist claimed to belong to Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia, a group that in December pledged allegiance to ISIS, even though that vow hadn't seemed to have fully registered with the Islamist extremist group. His post comes after an ISIS fighter in the extremist group's stronghold of Raqqa in Syria recently appeared in a video questioning why militants in Tunisia had not pledged fealty. "This raises the possibility that the museum attack could be ISIS' debut on the Tunisian stage, timed to precede a pledge of allegiance from Tunisian jihadis for maximum impact," CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said. The attack may have been in and about Tunisia, but the vast majority of the victims were foreigners. They came from various backgrounds, from a Spanish couple to a Colombian mother and son. In addition to those pairs, the dead included three Italians, three Japanese, two French, two Poles, a Belgian, a Russian and a Briton, according to cruise ship companies and their respective governments. Three Tunisians, one of them a security officer and another a job applicant, also were killed, according to Aidi. Twelve of those killed had been aboard the MSC Splendida, a cruise ship with more than 3,700 passengers and nearly 1,300 crew that docked in Tunis hours before the bloodshed, its parent company said in a statement. Five more victims came from a similar vessel, the Costa Fascinosa, which was at port in the Tunisian capital at the same time, according to Costa Cruises. Another 36 people remain hospitalized, while eight others were treated and released. The Bardo had been a logical stop for these tourists, housed next to Tunisia's Parliament in a 19th century palace and cast as a "jewel of Tunisian heritage," with its exhibits showcasing the country's art, culture and history. Its prominent place in Tunisia's economy -- which banks heavily on tourism, with millions visiting the country each year -- also made it a logical target for terrorists. "They hit the heart of our livelihood," said Mohammed Ali Troudi, a taxi driver in Tunis. It's too early to tell how tourists will react to the attack. Both the MSC Splendida and the Costa Fascinosa have since left Tunis, even as the search continues for some of their missing passengers -- at least four from the Splendida and two from the Fascinosa, according to their respective companies. The question is whether more passenger-packed cruise ships, as well as commercial airliners filled with tourists, will come to Tunisia in the future. Travelers warned of risks as Tunisia reels from attack . The economy and terrorism are linked in Tunisia, in the sense that high youth unemployment and sparse opportunities are thought to have contributed to the large numbers becoming jihadists -- whether abroad or at home. Attacking what Tunisian lawmaker Sabrine Ghoubantini called "a symbol of sovereignty in Tunisia" likely won't help. "It's really sad," Ghoubantini told CNN from Tunis, "and I hope that it won't really affect our economy." The government has been battling a jihadist presence in the Chaambi Mountains. And in February, the country's Interior Ministry announced the arrests of about 100 alleged extremists and published a video allegedly showing that the group possessed a formula for making explosives and a photograph of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi. Mehrezia Labidi, another parliamentarian, says it's imperative that the message gets across to would-be jihadists that "life in democracy is better than" what terrorist recruiters are telling them. "We have really to work on the culture, the level of ideas," she said. Meanwhile, she and others stressed that the vast majority of Tunisians -- including secular-minded citizens and moderate Islamists -- need to come together for their country and against these extremist views and tactics. "They are trying to terrify us. But the whole Tunisian people is unified -- all the parties, all the civil society organizations, all the countries are unified," Ghoubantini said. "... I'm sure that we will fight terrorism and that we will really eradicate it from our country." CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Barbara Starr, Karl Penhaul, Marilia Brocchetto, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Arwa Damon, Salma Abdelaziz and journalists Yasmine Ryan and Livia Borghese contributed to this report. +London (CNN)A supporter of suspended "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson delivered a petition with nearly 1 million signatures calling for his reinstatement to the BBC's headquarters in London on Friday -- driving an armored tank up to the building. Clarkson was suspended for allegedly hitting a producer, the BBC reported last week, and "Top Gear" -- a highly popular show with a big global audience -- was not broadcast as scheduled Sunday. The BBC's decision to take the show off the air pending an investigation has outraged many of Clarkson's die-hard fans. More than 990,000 of them have signed the petition posted on Change.org by Guido Fawkes, a right-wing political blogger, just a week ago. Whether the show of support will have any impact on the BBC's response is unclear. Clarkson tweeted his thanks Friday night to those who are calling for his reinstatement, saying he is "very touched." The findings of the internal investigation are due to be presented to the corporation's director general next week, the BBC said Thursday. "Once this has been considered, we will set out any further steps," a statement said. The BBC said in an earlier statement that Clarkson, one of the corporation's highest earners, had "a fracas with a BBC producer." In an indication of its popularity, "Top Gear" was named as the world's most widely watched factual program in the Guinness World Records 2013 Edition book, with an estimated 350 million global viewers. The show is sold to 214 territories worldwide. Clarkson vented his apparent frustration in an expletive-filled speech Thursday night in what seemed to be a spontaneous appearance at a charity auction in north London. A CNN reporter who was at the event heard Clarkson swear liberally as he talked about his suspension from the show, saying the BBC "have f***** themselves" and that it had ruined a great show. Clarkson also auctioned what he said would be one final lap of the "Top Gear" track in Surrey, outside London -- used in the show for putting vehicles through their paces -- for £100,000 ($148,000.) It's not clear whether he had the authority to offer the use of the track for auction -- but his words seem to suggest he doesn't expect his BBC career to continue, even if no decision is expected before next week. "I didn't foresee my sacking, but I would like to do one last lap," Clarkson said. "So I'll go down to Surrey, and I'll do one last lap of that track before the f****** b******* sack me." Whoever placed the winning bid would be able to ride in a car with him on that lap, he said, or in a rare LaFerrari supercar owned by a friend. Clarkson, who's been presenting the show since the late 1980s, added, "I'll be a bit tearful when I do it." The controversial star has at least one influential ally -- UK Prime Minister David Cameron. "I don't know exactly what happened," Cameron told the BBC last week. "He's a constituent of mine, a friend of mine. He's a huge talent. "Because he is such a huge talent and he amuses and entertains so many people, including my children, who'd be heartbroken if 'Top Gear' was taken off air, I hope this can be sorted out, because it's a great program and he's a great talent." Opinion: Why we crave the abuse of Jeremy Clarkson . It is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy. Last May, the television star asked for forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show. Clarkson had mumbled the N-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired. Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines when Argentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used -- interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War. Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said on the BBC Newsbeat website that the use of the plate was purely coincidental . In a previous article on its website, the BBC said "Jeremy Clarkson is not a man given to considered opinion." Journalist Monica Sarkar contributed to this report. +(CNN)Lewis Hamilton will begin Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix in pole position after dominating qualifying in torrential conditions. The Mercedes driver, and current world champion, beat Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel into second place who himself snatched a front row berth away from countryman Nico Rosberg in the final seconds of qualifying. "It was a fantastic job for the team to have us both up here again," Hamilton said, referring to teammate Rosberg's third place finish. Tension? Initially it had appeared that the tensions that had marked last season's title race had re-emerged. Hamilton aborted a flying lap after it looked like Rosberg had blocked him. But both men played down the incident in the post-qualifying press conference. Rosberg, for his part, was more annoyed that Vettel had managed to steal second place at the death. "I just didn't drive well enough, I'm annoyed by that," Rosberg said. "Third place is not good enough." Deluge . Qualifying took place amid spectacular thunderstorms which delayed qualifying by half an hour. Indeed, Malaysia has become known for such conditions. The 2012 race was halted for an hour and in 2009 abandoned altogether and awarded to Jenson Button after 31 laps. But Hamilton made light work of the conditions, looked the quickest throughout and will try to build on his season opening win in Australia. Yet perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came further down the grid. Toro Rosso's 17 year old driver Max Verstappen will start the race in sixth in only his second race for the team. +(CNN)Twenty-one people were injured Saturday when a commuter train collided with a car and derailed near the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles, authorities said. The collision happened at about 10:45 a.m. near Exposition Boulevard and Watt Way when an eastbound Hyundai turned north onto the tracks as an eastbound light-rail Metro train approached, said Sgt. Michael Verlich of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "The vehicle got wedged in between a pole and the train, causing the train to dislodge," Verlich said. Of the 21 injured people, 10 were transported to hospitals for treatment, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department Twitter account. One was in critical condition and one in grave condition, the tweet said. The derailment was expected to cause traffic problems for the 6:30 p.m. Saturday soccer game between Mexico and Ecuador at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum across from the USC campus. Metro Los Angeles, the transit and transportation agency for Los Angeles County, said it has requested shuttle buses to accommodate the crowds. +(CNN)The white-haired woman's face beams as the camera gets closer to her face. She's sitting on a couch, with a University of Oklahoma shirt draped behind her and a rap song playing in the background. Suddenly, the words spew from her pink-painted lips: "Ni****, ni****, ni****, ni****, ni****, ni****, ni*****!" The release of the Vine video, featuring the house mother of the campus' Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, couldn't come at a worse time -- just days after video surfaced of frat members singing a racist song. But Beauton Gilbow, the fraternity's house mother, insists she's not racist. And two black alumni of the fraternity house agree with the woman they call "Mom B." "I have been made aware that a video of me that is circulating on social media and in the news," Gilbow said in a statement. "I am heartbroken by the portrayal that I am in some way racist. I have friends of all race and do not tolerate any form of discrimination in my life. The song in the background was the sound of "All Gold Everything" from Trinidad James -- a black, Atlanta-based rapper. "I was singing along to a Trinidad song, but completely understand how the video must appear in the context of the events that occurred this week." William Bruce James II, the most recent black member at the fraternity chapter, said no one should use the n-word in any context -- even if it's just a song. "That word needs to die," James told CNN Tonight. "With that being said, I don't believe that Mom B. has hatred in her heart. I was there with her for four years. She took great care of me ... she cared about me, she cares about my family. She had pictures of me, my wife, my children on the entryway table in that house. Mom B means a lot to me." James said he has reached to Mom B. after the Oklahoma Daily newspaper posted the clip, which was shot in 2013. "I essentially said, 'Hey, don't ever use that word again, even in a song. But from me, you're forgiven.' " Black OU SAE alumnus: 'They are not my brothers' Jonathon Davis, the first African-American member of the campus' SAE chapter, also defended "Mom B." "I wouldn't even hesitate for a split second to say that Mom B. is undoubtedly not a racist," Davis said. "I see her as being caught up in the moment. She does like to mix it up socially, and she likes to have fun with the guys and their dates they bring over to the house. And I see this as maybe her getting caught away with the moment." OU's Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter unraveled this week after video showed frat brothers singing about excluding black students and alluding to lynching. "There will never be a ni**** SAE," some chanted. "You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** SAE." Two students expelled over racist chant . After the fraternity chapter was suspended -- but before her own video was publicized -- Gilbow told CNN affiliate KOCO-TV that she was blindsided by the controversy. "I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me," she said. "This has been my life for 15 years. And it's tough." In the end, the SAE chapter was forced to close. Two students have been expelled. And it's not clear what the next chapter is for Mom B. Opinion: Are frats 'a form of American apartheid'? CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)Rebels seized an international airport in Yemen Sunday as a U.N. envoy warned that the country was at "the edge of civil war." Houthi militants took over the airport in Taiz as they swept through the city and surrounding province, two officials with the Taiz provincial government said. One civilian was killed and 82 others wounded when the rebels fired at local residents protesting their presence, the officials said. The rebels have also seized security and intelligence buildings in Taiz and set up checkpoints in the area, the officials said. Taiz, about 390 kilometers (240 miles) south of Sanaa, is Yemen's cultural capital. The rebels -- Shiite Muslims who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni country -- surrounded the presidential palace in January. Yemen's President and his Cabinet resigned days later. Ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi says his resignation wasn't valid and maintains that he remains the country's leader. In a statement Sunday, the United Nations Security Council backed Hadi, calling for all sides to end armed hostilities and work out differences at the negotiating table. "Peaceful dialogue is the only way forward," said Jamal Benomar, the U.N.'s special adviser on Yemen. But he gave a dire assessment of the current situation, saying the country is in a "rapid downward spiral" and at "the edge of civil war." This isn't the first time the U.N. Security Council has weighed in on the mounting tensions. Last month the council slammed the rebels for taking over democratic institutions and holding officials under house arrest. But so far, it seems calls for calm from around the world have done little to quell the violence. Last week, a Yemeni jet commanded by the Houthi fired missiles at a palace housing Hadi in the port city of Aden. No one was injured, but the direct strike marked an escalation in the deadly fighting between the two sides. That same day, Yemeni military forces -- some under the Houthis, others led by officers loyal to Hadi -- battled in Aden, leaving at least 13 people dead in the clashes, Aden Gov. AbdulAziz Hobtour said. There are growing concerns that terror groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS could take advantage of the chaos to mount attacks and spread their reach. Bombings at two mosques in Sanaa last week killed at least 137 people and wounded hundreds more. ISIS claimed responsibility in a statement posted on a site that has published previous statements from the group. On Saturday the State Department said the U.S. military had pulled its remaining personnel out of Yemen due to the deteriorating security situation. Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Sanaa, CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta and CNN's Richard Roth reported from the United Nations. CNN's Anas Hamdan, Greg Botelho, Hamdi Alkhshali, Ed Payne and Laura Koran contributed to this report. +(CNN)Thousands of Singaporeans gathered in pouring rain Sunday to bid farewell to Lee Kuan Yew, the Southeast Asian city-state's founding prime minister who charted its spectacular economic rise. Draped in the national flag, Lee's coffin was taken on a solemn procession through the sodden streets of the tropical city, where crowds of mourners defied the downpour to pay their last respects. The funeral service was attended by dozens of foreign dignitaries, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The light that has guided us all these years has been extinguished. We have lost our founding father Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, who lived and breathed Singapore all his life," Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is one of Lee's sons, said in a eulogy. Lee died early Monday morning at age 91, prompting an outpouring of grief and tributes from around the world. He had been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia on February 5. Born in 1923, Lee co-founded Singapore, a former British colony, in 1965 when it declared its independence from Malaysia. He served as its prime minister for more than three decades, shaping the once poor trading post into a wealthy financial center. He continued to play an important role in government until his final years. After Lee's death, hundreds of thousands of people joined huge lines to pay respects to the former leader as his body lay in state at Singapore's Parliament House for several days last week. The procession Sunday weaved past a number of notable Singapore landmarks on the way to the University Cultural Centre, where the state funeral service took place. "Together, we came not only to mourn. Together, we celebrate Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's long and full life, and what he has achieved with us, his people," his son said in his eulogy. Lee was also honored by a 21-gun salute and a minute of silence, as well as displays by the Singapore Air Force and the Singapore Navy. The funeral service was to be followed by a private cremation. Other international figures attending the funeral included Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Leader of the U.K. House of Commons William Hague and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Although Lee is admired for the economic success he helped Singapore achieve, he also drew criticism for curbing media freedoms and the treatment of political opponents. "While remembering his deeds that helped build Singapore up to what it is today, the government should also mark the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, by making a break from the politics of yesteryear that were too often marked by restrictions on basic civil and political rights," Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said in a statement Sunday. +(CNN)Manchester United and skipper Wayne Rooney significantly boosted its own chances and delivered a probable knockout blow to Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of Champions League qualification with 3-0 home win Sunday. First half goals from Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Rooney effectively ended the EPL match as a contest, with the win leaving United in fourth spot, but only two points adrift of second-placed Manchester City. Tottenham is seventh, six points adrift of the top four. Rooney's third after another piece of disastrous defending from the visitors led to an impromptu and topical goal celebration, which was certainly the main talking point. A national newspaper had posted a video on on social media Sunday which appeared to show Rooney being felled by fellow EPL footballer and former United teammate Phil Bardsley as both donned boxing gloves for a "friendly" fight in his kitchen. After he had converted following a mistake by Nabil Bentaleb, Rooney threw a few mock punches then keeled over backwards on to the Old Trafford turf. Tottenham's players and fans were probably the only people not to see the funny side, but the joke was on them, having gone into the match seeking a third straight away win at United and five games unbeaten against the Red Devils. From United first significant attack on nine minutes, an unmarked Fellaini was found by Carrick and the Belgian international beat Hugo Lloris with a low shot. Fellaini caused chaos in the Tottenham defense for the second with Carrick left free to head home from distance. Rooney's emphatic strike after Bentaleb gifted him possession, proved the icing on the cake. The victory eases the pressure on manager Louis Van Gaal and his expensively assembled side after some lackluster recent performances and last Monday's disappointing FA Cup exit to Arsenal. It meant Tottenham, off the back of two straight wins and with Harry Kane in top form, was favored going into the crucial match, but the young striker barely had a glimpse of goal, until having his side's first shot on target after fully 88 minutes as United dominated. Earlier, Chelsea extended its lead at the top of the EPL to six points but was held 1-1 at home to Southampton in another less than convincing performance from Jose Mourinho's team. Off the back of a disappointing Champions League exit to Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea again struggled to find its best form at Stamford Bridge despite going in front from Diego Costa's 18th league goal. Dusan Tasic equalized from the spot for the Saints after Nemanja Matic was adjudged to have fouled Sadio Mane, with Chelsea protests waved away. Chelsea found Fraser Forster hard to beat and the visiting goalkeeper made fine saves from Oscar, Eden Hazard and Juan Cuadrado to deny the leaders three points. However, it has a commanding lead plus a game in hand over chasing Manchester City, which lost 1-0 to Burnley Saturday, in a severe blow to hopes of retaining the title. In Sunday's other EPL clash, Everton eased its relegation fears with a 3-0 win over Newcastle, who had Fabricio Coloccini sent off for a foul on Aaron Lennon, who is on loan at Goodison from Tottenham. In La Liga, Gareth Bale snapped a recent lean spell of scoring form with both goals as Real Madrid beat Levante 2-0 in the Bernabeu. The record signing struck first in the 17th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo's acrobatic effort was cleared off the line and the Welshman scored the rebound. The same combination was at work for the second in the 40th minute with Ronaldo's strike helped into the visiting net by Bale. Ronaldo might have added to the tally and missed several opportunities but Real was never threatened by Levante and eased to the three points. It leaves them a point adrift of Barcelona ahead of next weekend's El Clasico, which could go a long way to determining the title race. +March 30, 2015 . Monday on CNN Student News: Find out what issues were on the minds of Nigerians, as voters in Africa's largest democracy went to the polls. Discover how an astronaut on a 340-day mission to the International Space Station will become one of the experiments being conducted. And lend your ears to an invention that aims to extinguish fires with low-frequency sound waves. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Marine biologists at the South Carolina Aquarium are treating a rare, 475-pound leatherback sea turtle that washed up Saturday on a nearby beach. The episode marks the first rescue of a leatherback sea turtle in South Carolina and is believed to be only the fifth live rescue of this species in the United States, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The endangered turtle was found stranded on the Yawkey-South Island Preserve, a wildlife refuge near Georgetown, South Carolina. Rescuers named it Yawkey. Because the turtle is believed to be a juvenile -- rescuers say it's probably less than 10 years old -- and has not reached sexual maturity, biologists can't yet determine its sex. Rescuers found no external signs of trauma to the reptile, although it was hypoglycemic. Staffers with the aquarium's sea turtle rescue program gave it antibiotics, vitamins and some time to recover at their facilities. The treatments appear to be helping. Aquarium officials said the turtle was more energetic Tuesday than when it was first admitted. Even so, leatherback turtles historically don't do well in captivity. For that reason, aquarium staffers are working with the state's Department of Natural Resources to determine the best place and time to release the turtle back into the ocean -- most likely within the next few days. Leatherbacks are the largest turtles on Earth and can grow up to 2,000 pounds. They are found throughout the world's oceans and have been spotted as far north as Norway and as far south as South America. +Los Angeles (CNN)Three area residents were arrested and charged Wednesday for allegedly operating four Southern California schools for Korean and Chinese students who never attended classes and lived in other states on student visas in a "pay-to-stay" scheme. The three educators collected as much as $6 million in annual tuition from an enrollment of about 1,500 foreign students who were largely from South Korea and China, said federal prosecutors. The arrests came after a federal grand jury indicted the three defendants Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, money laundering and other immigration offenses. An allegation in the indictment would also require the defendants to forfeit property and proceeds derived from the fraudulent scheme, authorities said. Hee Sun Shim, 51, of Beverly Hills, is the owner and manager and of the postsecondary schools and is charged with 13 counts of use or possession of an immigration document procured by fraud, authorities said. The two other defendants are each charged with one count of that same offense: They are Hyung Chan Moon, also known as Steve Moon, 39, of Los Angeles who assisted in the operation and management of the schools; and Eun Young Choi, also known as Jamie Choi, 32, of Los Angeles, a former employee who also assisted in the operation and management of the school. Shim, who also went by Leonard Shim and Leo Shim, is also charged with three counts of encouraging illegal residence, as well as two counts of money laundering, prosecutors said. The three defendants and their attorneys couldn't be immediately reached for comment Wednesday. "Immigration fraud schemes potentially compromise national security and cheat foreign nationals who play by the rules," Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Yonekura said in a statement. "In this case, officials at several schools allegedly abused their responsibility to ensure that only legitimate foreign students were allowed to the stay in the country. This type of fraud against the United States will be thoroughly examined to bring those responsible to justice and to protect the integrity of our immigration system," the federal prosecutor said. Three of the schools are in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood: Prodee University/Neo-America Language School; Walter Jay M.D. Institute, an Educational Center (WJMD); and the American College of Forensic Studies (ACFS), authorities said. The fourth school is currently operating in Alhambra, California: Likie Fashion and Technology College, authorities said. "What we've broken up is a pay-to-stay scheme," said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "That's a scheme where institutions purport to be schools, but are really not doing any education whatsoever," he said. "Any scheme where someone gains access to the U.S. through fraud is also a national security vulnerability," Arnold said. "Although we don't have any information that any of these people wish to do harm to the U.S., the point is anyone could take advantage of a vulnerability like this. Which is why it is so important that we identify these vulnerabilities and shut them down." Prodee University/Neo-America Language School was located on the fifth floor of a Los Angeles office tower near the Koreatown neighborhood, but Homeland Security Investigations agents said they found the school "abandoned" during their raid on Wednesday. The agents allowed CNN to attend the raid. The school featured classrooms, administrative offices and a small library, but no one occupied the spaces. In fact, the abandoned school brought to mind a movie set, filled with props and decorations, but no actors. In one small room, a CD player serenaded empty desks with classical music. The tiny library featured USC and UCLA pennants. The television wasn't even plugged in. One federal agent said many of the students listed on the school rolls were older, in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Prodee's 2011-2012 catalog describes the facility as an English as second language school and states "It is our mission that all students be able to flourish in their ability to use and understand English in all facets of life by providing a top quality ESL educational environment," according to a copy of the document on the website of the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. "Our enthusiastic and qualified instructors concern themselves with teaching a rigorous, but innovative curriculum of interactive and beneficial courses and materials leading to higher TOEFL scores and admission to U.S. colleges and universities," the catalog says. Another document with the state bureau indicates Prodee had a 73% graduation rate in 2011 and a 60% rate in 2010. But the indictment alleges that students actually lived Nevada, Texas, Washington state and Arizona. The schools were authorized by the federal government to issue a document that certified a foreign student had been accepted to a school and would be attending classes full time in the United States, authorities said. The document, called a Form I-20, made a student eligible for a F-1 student visa. In exchange for that form, students paid $1,800 tuition to enroll in one of the schools for six months, authorities said. During their investigation, authorities interviewed 35 students, mainly from South Korea, and found none resided in Los Angeles, officials said. An unannounced federal inspection of Prodee's main site in 2011 found only one English class with three students, though the school listed an enrollment of 900 students for its two sites, prosecutors said. On the same day, federal authorities also visited the American College of Forensic Studies found only one religion with one student, though the school claimed an enrollment of more than 300 foreign students, prosecutors said. Some students transferred to one of the four schools after attending other U.S. schools also participating in the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program, prosecutors said. The conspiracy count carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. The immigration fraud charges each carry up to 10 years in prison, and the money laundering charges carry a potential penalty of 20 years, authorities said. Wednesday's arrests follow last week's federal raids of more than three dozen "maternity hotels" in Southern California where foreign women give birth, allegedly for the sole purpose of having a U.S.-citizen baby, authorities said. The "maternity tourism" sites included apartment complexes in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties where authorities believe the businesses housed the foreign nationals about to give birth, federal officials said. Those targeted residences are believed to have catered largely to women from China, who paid $15,000 to $50,000 for lodging, transportation and food, according to a statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those fees don't necessarily include medical care, authorities said. Specifically, authorities in the maternity tourism raids obtained search warrants for 37 location and conducted searches at more than 50 locations, including sites that consented to a federal search, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. +(CNN)Hillary Clinton is back in the middle of an unfolding controversy. The revelation that as secretary of state she maintained a private email account, and that she had a private computer server in her New York home, sent shock waves through the world of politics last week. Questions arose about whether Clinton conducted her official business on private email, possibly violating regulations that were written to ensure that the activities of government officials remain accessible to the public. Republicans jumped on the story. "It makes you wonder," said Reince Preibus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee. "Did she use the private emails so she could conduct diplomacy and fund-raising at the same time?" Even many Democrats are worried about the implications of this recent story. Their front-runner, their "inevitable" nominee for 2016, now seems vulnerable. Many in Washington are anticipating that the scandal is only getting started. This is not the first time that Hillary Clinton has found herself in this situation. She has spent much of her political career battling scandals. When her husband, Bill Clinton, was president of the United States, she was one of the first targets of the earliest investigations into the administration -- "Travel-gate," "File-gate" and the Whitewater affair. She stood by her husband's side later in his presidency when House Republicans moved to impeach him for having lied about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Although Clinton enjoyed a bit of a break when serving in the Senate, the controversies resumed once she became secretary of state under President Obama. During her tenure, Republicans became consumed with multiple investigations into her role in the tragic Benghazi attacks. Although the investigations failed to find any evidence of wrongdoing, the issue became a rallying point for conservative activists and fund-raisers. Some Republicans now claim that the emails will provide the data that they have been looking for to prove what they were saying. But those observers who are predicting her demise should remember that Hillary Clinton has proven to be remarkably resilient over the years. Each time she or her family has been hit with a scandal, she has survived. She has proven to be an extraordinarily tough fighter who turns these challenges into opportunities to become stronger. As Kate McKinnon, playing Hillary Clinton on "Saturday Night Live" said, "Nice try. ... This is NOT how Hillary Clinton goes down." Based on her history, what can we expect from the Clinton scandal playbook? Attack the accuser and the investigative process: Nobody has done this better than Hillary Clinton. When her husband first confronted charges about his affair, Clinton famously went on television and spoke about a "right-wing conspiracy" that she claimed was driving the scandal. Although the revelation that the affair did occur brought her family great embarrassment, her charge became part of a larger counterattack from the administration that proved to be extremely effective. The Clintons zeroed in on the hyperpartisanship of some members of the GOP, such as House Speaker Newt Gingrich, claiming that the Republicans in Congress were on a mission to pull off a political coup. She employed a similar strategy with the Benghazi investigations, arguing that the inquiry was more a political tool used to rally the base than a serious investigation. We are likely to hear similar arguments now, particularly since the email controversy has opened up right as the campaign season is taking off. As more Republicans can't resist jumping on the issue, Clinton will push back, focusing public attention less on the issue than on the idea that this is part of a political narrative to bring her down. Stick it out: One thing that Hillary Clinton and her husband understand well is that the news media love a good scandal feeding frenzy, but that soon enough reporters move on. The American public, which is now used to fast-paced and constantly changing news stories, will follow the coverage as it shifts to a new story even after weeks, or months, of attention on one single issue. Remember the Ebola crisis? Not many people do, though for a time it was all anyone was talking about. As Brendan Nyhan wrote in The New York Times: "If there's one thing we've learned from past presidential campaigns, it's that most supposed game-changers like this quickly fade from the memory of the political class, having never been noticed by most Americans in the first place." When dealing with scandal, Hillary Clinton and her husband have avoided taking any rash action, ignoring whispers about resignation or discussions about major apologies. Instead they strike back against their opponents and wait out the news cycle until the frenzy dies down. People should not expect Clinton to do anything drastic in the near future. Her first move, via Twitter, was to announce in straightforward fashion that she has asked the State Department to review and release some of the email as soon as possible. While some Democrats are champing at the bit to use this opportunity to push other members of their party (Elizabeth Warren!) into the political fray, Clinton is not going to give them any space to do this. She will wait until reporters and Congress move in a different direction. Rally the party base: If there is one thing that the Clintons understand, it is that their party is desperate for a good fight. After years of dealing with congressional Republicans and the hardball tactics of conservative activists, the Clintons appreciate that members of their party are searching for leaders who will take on their opponents. Democrats are tired of elected officials who roll over too easily when attacked by Republicans. This has been one of the major complaints from Democrats about Obama. Even when many Democrats were furious with the White House following the Monica Lewinsky revelation, the Clintons appealed to partisan instincts and rallied the troops to fight for them as a way to push back against the GOP. By 1998, they had transformed the issue from being about Clinton and perjury to a struggle to protect the Democratic Party. Clinton will do this again. Democrats are feeling particularly vulnerable ever since former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush entered the race, bringing star power to a GOP campaign that seemed filled with lightweights and flawed candidates. Given that Democrats feel the stakes are enormously high to keep control of the White House so that the next president can protect Obama's programs from Republican attack, Clinton will appeal to that instinct to carry her through. Will it work? That remains to be seen. It will depend on the scale and scope of the upcoming revelations and what her opponents decide to do with the material. But the Clinton playbook is pretty clear and road-tested. If Clinton's critics and opponents expect her to just roll over, they really haven't been studying their history. +(CNN)For the first time in history over half the world's population live in cities -- more than 54% of us did in 2014. Mass urbanization is proving to be "the single most important transformation" the world is seeing in the 21st century, according to Jamal Saghir, director of sustainable development at the World Bank, and it shows no signs of letting up. By 2050, the U.N. predicts 66% of us will call a city our home. It is generally accepted that cities are the engines of economic growth, and nowhere are these engines firing harder, or populations growing faster, than in the developing world. With burgeoning higher education systems and enviably young workforces, African cities in particular are booming. Commended for their diversity, adaptability and enterprise, investors are taking note. Global auditing firm PwC has now quantified and ranked Africa's urban hubs in a new report listing the continent's top "Cities of Opportunity." With the caveat that only one city per country could be assessed, PwC set out ranking locations in terms of infrastructure, human capital, economics and society and demographics. North African cities dominated the top five, with Cairo claiming pole position, followed by Tunis, Johannesburg, Casablanca and Algiers. Analysts cited the age of North African cities as a determining factor, with strong infrastructure across the board, incubating an environment for human capital to thrive. However, sub-Saharan cities registered among the highest in terms of society and demographics, excelling in diversity and population growth, both useful when looking towards future investment. Indeed, the report also offered an alternative ranking, gauging the strongest trajectories in terms of investment. GDP growth, ease of doing business, attracting FDI, middle class and overall population growth all took precedent. Under these criteria, Cairo could only achieve a mid-table ranking and was the only city in the top 10 north of the Sahara. Dar es Salaam, Lusaka, Nairobi, Lagos and Accra made up the top five, suggesting a new generation of African powerhouse economies is waiting in the wings. That being said, one city's development does not preclude another's. What is certain is that the battle for economic dominance is on. Read this: Africa's 10 most prosperous countries . More from Marketplace Africa . Editor's Note: CNN Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and also focuses on the continent's key industries and corporations . +Lausanne, Switzerland (CNN)Nuclear talks intensified Sunday between world powers and Iran, but key sticking points remained unresolved as the countries tried to reach a deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program ahead of a Tuesday deadline. As the negotiations entered their fourth day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the agreement coming together is worse than Israel's deepest fears. The talks had hit a snag on Saturday, with diplomats describing Iran as refusing to budge, but as the French, German and Chinese foreign ministers arrived, the mood seemed more optimistic. The British and Russian foreign ministers were expected late Sunday. U.S. officials and Western diplomats described the negotiations as tough and intense, which was expected as the talks reached the endgame. They said the contours of a deal are becoming clearer, but they were unsure it could be reached. Two core issues are still unresolved: 1) Limits on Iranian research and development on advanced nuclear technology in the end years of the deal; and 2) The pace of lifting United Nations sanctions. The U.S. officials stressed all of the elements were interrelated and nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to, comparing the final deal to a puzzle. But they indicated most of the other elements were solvable if those two major hurdles could be overcome. The speed of which U.N. sanctions could be lifted remains in dispute. Iran wants them lifted immediately after the deal goes into effect. While diplomats say Iran could see unilateral sanctions relief in the areas of trade, oil and banking, sanctions adopted by the United Nations are more complicated. Many are related to proliferation and transfer of missile technology and are tied to certification by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran's nuclear program does not have a military dimension. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif made clear the issue of sanctions remains a stumbling block, saying he believes the world powers "have realized that sanctions, pressure and an agreement will not go together. It's only to translate that understanding and realization into the agreement that we are negotiating." U.S. officials said that all sides, including Iran, agree that sanctions would be lifted in phases over time as Iran confirms its compliance to the deal. But they acknowledge there is still disagreement on the actual formula. Iran also wants the ability to continue to research and develop more advanced centrifuges while the deal is in effect. Those machines can enrich uranium much faster than its current machines. U.S. and European officials worry that could enable Iran to quickly produce enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. Diplomats say the first 10 years of the 15 year deal would have the most stringent restrictions, with others being relaxed over the next five. "We will see if they are ready to swallow what we proposed," a Western diplomat said. "We are not asking them to do nothing, but they want to do more than we want them to do" referring to how much research the Iranians want to be able to still undertake. But the diplomat added, "after 15 years, they can do what they want." A senior Iranian diplomat told CNN on Sunday: "It's not fair to characterize the state of affairs as Iranian resistance on those issues. It can also be characterized as the other side's intransigence in the talks." Diplomats said Iran has agreed to a cap of fewer than 6,000 centrifuges that it can operate to enrich uranium, a process that can lead to weapons-grade material. The figure is down from the 6,000 the sides were speaking about when the talks started on Thursday, but substantially more than the several hundred the United States had originally wanted. Iran currently runs about 10,000 centrifuges, but it has around 19,000 in its stockpile. U.S. officials maintain the number is abstract, because there will be other restrictions on the levels of enrichment and type of centrifuges Iran can operate, which they believe will extend the time Iran would need to have enough fissile material produce a nuclear weapon -- known as the "break-out time" -- to at least a year. On Monday, a senior State Department official said negotiators had not yet decided anything about the disposal of fissile material. There had been word previously that Iran might export it to Russia, but an Iranian negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, told journalists Sunday that Iran had not agreed to it. "The export of stocks of enriched uranium is not in our program, and we do not intend to them abroad. ... There is no question of sending the stocks abroad," he said. Netanyahu voiced alarm at the emerging deal. After meeting with visiting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, Netanyahu said, "this agreement as it evolves is fulfilling our deepest fears and even worse." "In parallel to the gathering for this dangerous agreement, the proxies of Iran in the Middle East are carrying out a wide occupation of Yemen," he said. "The Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis is very dangerous to mankind and needs to be stopped." The parties are seeking agreement on the basic parameters of a deal before March 31. A comprehensive deal including technical annexes is supposed to be concluded by June 30. Tuesday is seen as a critical milestone to the U.S. negotiators, who are trying to thwart a threat from Congress to impose additional sanctions without the framework. That could prompt Iran to withdraw from the talks and scuttle the chances of a deal altogether. But even if a pact is reached, it is unclear what form it would take. U.S. officials say they will need to publicize something that quantifies Iran's commitments before submitting it to Congress. But U.S. and Western diplomats say that Iran is looking simply for an "understanding" of what has been agreed to before a formal accord is reached. CNN's Jim Sciutto contributed to this report. +(CNN)Iraqi forces say they've captured key areas in their offensive to take back Tikrit, which has been under ISIS control since June. The security forces, backed by Shia militias, raised the Iraqi flag over the governorate and the main hospital buildings in the city Monday night, a security official with the forces in Tikrit told CNN. The gains, according to the official, came after a slow advance into the city as the forces dealt with more than 300 improvised explosive devices planted in the city's streets. At least 26 militants were killed in the operation, the official said. Earlier Monday, Iraqi federal police said in a statement aired on Iraqi television that the forces had liberated four neighborhoods in southern Tikrit. The renewed push into Tikrit comes days after a series of U.S.-led airstrikes aimed at ISIS targets around the city. The goal of those airstrikes was to pave the way for Iraqi forces to go in. Now security forces and fighters from Hashd Al-Shaabi, a predominantly Shia paramilitary force that has doing much of the fighting in the critical battle to take Tikrit back from ISIS, say they're gaining ground. Iraqi forces have tried multiple times to win back Tikrit since ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, conquered the city in June as part of its campaign to amass an expansive Islamic caliphate. And each time, so far, they've failed. The latest push began after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on March 1 ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province. Militants have been under pressure ever since in the battleground city, which is the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad. ISIS responded by adjusting its positions in and around the city, hiding in buildings and other key infrastructure, said Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for al-Abadi. This movement led Iraq's military to pause its operation, out of growing worries that a full-on invasion could produce heavy Iraqi military and some civilian casualties. The situation spurred the Iraqi Prime Minister to request help from the U.S.-led coalition, which conducted airstrikes around Tikrit last week. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Catherine E. Shoichet, Ashley Fantz, Ben Wedeman and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)Enjoy the latest pictures of the former Kate Middleton. They're the last you'll see for a while. The Duchess of Cambridge made her last official appearance Friday at a variety of spots across London, enjoying tours of a learning center and a church that hosts a youth charity. The former, the Stephen Lawrence Centre, is named for an aspiring architect who was stabbed to death at age 18 in 1993. His mother, Baroness Lawrence, escorted Catherine and her husband, Prince William, around the facility. Catherine, 33, is scheduled to give birth in mid- to late April, she said this month. It will be the second child for her and Prince William, 32. Their son, Prince George, was born in July 2013. +(The Hollywood Reporter)Good artists borrow. Great artists steal. On Tuesday, a California federal jury delivered its own message to artists everywhere that inspiration can rise to copyright infringement. The verdict was reached after eight days of trial testimony examining whether Robin Thicke's and Pharrell Williams' "Blurred Lines," one of the most successful songs of the young century, was improperly drawn from a soulful hallmark from the prior one — Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up." Ultimately, a jury comprised of five women and three men heard dueling opinions regarding "Blurred Lines" and decided to order Thicke and Williams to pay $4 million in copyright damages plus profits attributable to infringement, which for Thicke was determined to be $1.8 million and for Williams was determined to be $1.6 million. Both escaped statutory damages as the infringement was found not to be willful. Read more: Robin Thicke sues to protect 'Blurred Lines' from Marvin Gaye's family (exclusive) The hardly predictable outcome over a song that made more than $16 million in profits will resonate in the music industry where copyright lawsuits are commonplace, but few such suits ever make it to trial. Most never get past the summary judgment phase because judges carefully draw the line on any lawsuits alleging misappropriation of non-protectable ideas. The highest profile disputes like the one between Tom Petty and Sam Smith over "Stay With Me" usually settle. Not only did the "Blurred Lines" case go the distance, both sides brought esteemed entertainment litigators to convince the jury. Howard King, representing Thicke, Williams and rapper T.I (a.k.a. Clifford Harris Jr.), spoke how artists need wide berth in their creative pursuits. During opening arguments, he told the jury, "We're going to show you what you already know: that no one owns a genre or a style or a groove. To be inspired by Marvin Gaye is an honorable thing." Over the next week-and-a-half, King would execute a two-pronged strategy: First, he emphasized that Frankie and Nona Gaye only owned compositional elements in the "Got to Give It Up" sheet music, leaving out more recognizable elements of the recording like the percussion and singing. Second, he had witnesses testifying both to the differences of "Blurred Lines" and "Got To Give It Up" as well as the similarities in other famous songs. The case has been tough on Thicke thanks to depositions revealing he lied in media interviews and was drunk and high on Vicodin. But the singer attempted to do himself a favor by showcasing that songs can be stitched together with ease and that perceptions about similarity can be deceiving. On the witness stand, he sang a medley of U2's "With Or Without You," The Beatles' "Let It Be," Alphaville's "Forever Young," Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" and Michael Jackson's "Man In the Mirror." Read more: Robin Thicke admits drug abuse, lying to media in wild "Blurred Lines" deposition (exclusive) Williams also testified about his song creation process, admitting to jurors that "Blurred Lines" channels "that '70s feeling" and that he looked up to Gaye, but that to feel, isn't copyright infringement. "The last thing you want to do as a creator is take something of someone else's when you love him," said Williams, expressing a point-of-view that's in contrast to the maxim that good artists borrow and great artists steal. Richard Busch, attorney for the Gayes, appeared to know he'd need to overcome the celebrity charisma of his counterparts. "They will smile at you and they will be charming," he said in opening arguments. "Keep one thing in mind: They are professional performers." Read more: 'Blurred Lines' trial--Robin Thicke performs piano medley in court . The Gaye family was handicapped by U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt's decision to preclude use at trial of the original sound recording of "Got to Give It Up" because Gaye's copyrights on the song were limited to the sheet music compositions. Before the trial began, Busch wondered whether his side would get a fair trial, and while the judge eventually allowed a stripped-down version of Gaye's song to be played for the jury's ears, the attorney was disturbed by comments made by the Thicke side that he argued had "poisoned" the trial. The judge dismissed those concerns. Any lingering unhappiness over the judge's decision leading to the jury's verdict will likely be taken on appeal. To demonstrate copyright infringement, Busch instead leaned on the musicologists, who testified of similarities in signature phrase, hook, keyboard-bass interplay, lyrics and theme of the songs. Although "Blurred Lines" was the headliner, the Gaye family also attempted to prove that Thicke's "Love After War" was an infringement of Gaye's "After the Dance" too. Then, there was the rare peek at "Blurred Lines" financial success as the Gaye family made their case for damages. Busch had accounting experts speak about all the money made — including $5.6 million in profits to Thicke, $5.2 million to Williams and $700K to T.I. and the rest of the $16.7 million in overall profits to record companies Interscope, UMG Distribution and Star Trak. The Gayes also wanted some of the $11 million in touring income attributable to "Blurred Lines" success as well as money for overhead costs and statutory damages for willful infringement. All told, the Gaye family was seeking more than $25 million — a mammoth demand that would shatter the song plagiarism high-water mark of $5.4 million that a California court ordered Michael Bolton and Sony to pay two decades ago for infringing The Isley Brothers' "Love is a Wonderful Thing." In closing arguments, Busch raised the issue of Thicke's credibility, telling jurors, ""What it boils down to is 'Yes, we copied. Yes, we took it. Yes, we lied about it. Yes, we changed our story every time'... It boils down to this: Who do you believe?... Are you going to believe Robin Thicke, who told us all he's not an honest person?" King offered a rebuttal. "Why would Mr. Williams need to copy anyone to create a hit?" he asked the jury. "Why would Mr. Thicke and Mr. Williams endure a proceeding like this, where their personal financial details are revealed to the world?" In what might now be the landmark legal controversy over songcraft, the jury decided to find that Thicke and Williams infringed both songs. The two were only punished $9,375 for "Love After War," but it will be the multimillion dollar verdict regarding "Blurred Lines" that will sound out for ages. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)The "Fifty Shades" series will have to handcuff a new director. Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed "Fifty Shades of Grey," told Deadline.com that she won't be back for the sequel, "Fifty Shades Darker." "Directing 'Fifty Shades Of Grey' has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful," she said in a statement to the site. "While I will not be returning to direct the sequels, I wish nothing but success to whosoever takes on the exciting challenges of films two and three." 'Fifty Shades of Grey': What fans hoped for? The first film in the best-selling book series has been hugely successful, pulling in more than $550 million worldwide since it premiered in mid-February, but there have been rumbles that creative clashes were in the offing for the sequel. Author E L James has a great deal of control in how her books are presented on screen, and she made it clear that she wanted to write the screenplay for the second film, Variety reported last month. Kelly Marcel wrote the screenplay for "Fifty Shades of Grey." The story behind Mr. Grey's suits . The film stars Jamie Dornan as billionaire Christian Grey -- a man of certain sexual proclivities -- and Dakota Johnson as his romantic partner, Anastasia Steele. +(CNN)"The Daily Show" is getting a new host. On Monday, the show announced that comedian Trevor Noah will take over for Jon Stewart, who announced in February that he was leaving after 16 years. Stewart himself succeeded Craig Kilborn and saw the news program's popularity skyrocket. Jon Stewart to sign off 'Daily Show' "You don't believe it for the first few hours," Noah told the New York Times from Dubai, where he's on tour. "You need a stiff drink, and then unfortunately you're in a place where you can't really get alcohol." Noah, 31, who is South African and biracial, debuted on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" in December. TV too diverse? Why it's only a start . Stewart approves of his replacement. "I'm thrilled for the show and for Trevor," Stewart said in a statement. "He's a tremendous comic and talent that we've loved working with." Under Stewart, the Comedy Central show has become extremely popular, with its satirical view of the news and current events. Noah has made three appearances on the show. How Jon Stewart changed politics . The nightly show has been good to its contributors. It spun off "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert, and former correspondents Larry Wilmore and John Oliver went on to host "The Nightly Show" and "Last Week Tonight," respectively. "Daily Show" correspondent Samantha Bee is reportedly heading to TBS to helm her own show. Fellow comic Chris Rock had one of the funniest reactions on Twitter. Noah tweeted that "No one can replace Jon Stewart," but he seems excited to take on the role. +Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)It's a unique world where friendships are forged, deals struck and more than the occasional argument breaks out. Welcome to Nigeria's free readers associations -- where mostly young men gather around newspaper vendors to read the headlines and debate the issues of the day. They are called "free" because nobody actually buys the newspapers they are reading. Discussions among the free readers are loud and furious and have only intensified as Nigeria goes to the polls to decide who will be the next president. Newspaper vendor John Mgbachi, a former shoemaker from Eastern Nigeria, who has a stand in Tinubu Square on Lagos Island said that far from being bad for business, he welcomes the free readers. "They are passionate about the news and and their presence is an advert for me," he said. Mgbachi told CNN that he often sees a big rise in numbers around football tournaments, mostly the Premier League, and also during the election campaign period. To avoid losing out on sales too much, Mgbachi has developed an interesting business model: "I decided not to make (reading) completely free. For some of the dailies, its 20 naira,(10 cents) 30 naira (15 cents) for the sports papers and 50 naira (30 cents) for the magazines. "It's not really a static price, it depends on the bargaining power of the person," he added. Some even take out a monthly subscription to read the newspapers. The free readers come from all walks of life and CNN spoke to analysts, an accountant and unemployed youth at the stand we visited. They talked about the excitement of discussing the current affairs with others while reading the daily newspaper. One told us he had made two very good friends and even landed a job offer. Mgbachi added there has a been a sharp decline in readers because most people now read their news on the internet. He added that the dire economic situation in the country meant that many Nigerians cannot afford to buy newspapers. Most of Nigeria's $70 billion oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a politically connected elite while many of its citizens struggle to make ends meet. +(CNN)As relatives and friends mourn the loss of their loved ones aboard Germanwings Flight 9525, the world community is stunned by the sequence of events that led to co-pilot Andreas Lubitz purposely crashing the plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. I happen to have several personal connections to this tragedy: a recent graduate of Drexel University -- where I teach -- and her mother were on the ill-fated flight, I lived in Germany for 18 years and I am a psychologist who has researched the psychology of terrorism and developed psychiatric tests that are used to determine pilot flight fitness. While the engineering of the Airbus aircraft is fascinating and the world of air traffic control absorbing, what is even more complex and challenging to understand is the human mind of the co-pilot investigators say is responsible for the crash -- the machine that flies the machine. When complex engineering systems interact with human factors, it is most often the human that causes the anomaly. Humans are far less reliable than machines. The average aviator has superior intellectual and cognitive abilities, and is psychologically stable and reliable. While it is not surprising that when it comes to aviation accidents, the first line of inquiry is into what went wrong with the plane. However, very often, as apparently is the case here, something went wrong with the human flying the plane. Pilots are typically tested for emotional stability and screened for the presence of mental illness when they are selected. The U.S. Navy has strict testing programs related to fitness for duty protocols for their pilots during the length of their careers. But we have learned that the German company Lufthansa and its budget airline affiliate Germanwings do not use psychological testing once the pilots have made it through the selection process. Psychological assessment and screening is not held in as high esteem in Germany as it is in the United States. Perhaps it should be. A fitness-for-duty evaluation asks this important question: Can the pilot safely and effectively perform his job from a mental health and cognitive standpoint? The deliberate destruction of Flight 9525 by a single person, most likely related to some grievance or other unknown intrinsic motivation that he took to the grave, can also be considered an act of terrorism. The action constitutes the unlawful use of violence against the passengers on the flight to further some yet unknown objective. Research on the perpetrators of terrorism has revealed that a single person is capable of executing odd, unexplainable violent actions. Their behaviors may be related to a political or social framework, or it may be associated with something deeply personal. Examples include Richard Reid, the failed shoe bomber; Eric Rudolph, the Olympic bomber; or Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber. In 2009, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army officer and psychiatrist, went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 and wounding 32. And in 2012, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a 38-year-old father of two, opened fire and killed 16 innocent Afghan civilians. When examining Germanwings Flight 9525 from the "cockpit of the human mind," one must ask this question: How can we ever predict or prevent tragedies like these when we can never truly know what lurks in the mind of another human being? As a psychologist, I would, of course, advocate for more rigorous psychological screening and regular testing for pilots, as well as instituting additional security measures to prevent future incidents like this. Just as aircraft are inspected and maintained, it is important to regularly evaluate one of the more fragile components of modern aviation -- the pilots operating the plane. But, just as the overwhelming majority of automobile accidents are caused by driver error, with a human mind at the helm of an aircraft, there will always be an element of unpredictability present. And, unless we had a "flight recorder" for the human brain, we will never really know what took place inside the mind of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. One thing is for sure: the tragic events of Flight 9525 will surely renew conversation about what happened to Flight MH370 -- the biggest aviation mystery since Amelia Earhart vanished in 1937 -- and the role that human factors may have played in its disappearance. +Chao Hu, Anhui, China (CNN)Six-year-old Lu Yiming is a handful. One minute, he's on the concrete roof of his two-story house, the next he's fiddling with fireworks. Now, he's skating down an alley. "Come back here!" yells his grandmother. "I have such a headache raising this child," 72-year-old old Tang Xinying confides. Lu's mother abandoned him after he was born and his father works as a carpenter in Shandong province hundreds of miles further north. He comes back perhaps once a year. In China, Lu is what's called a "left-behind child." Conservatively, there are at least 61 million such children in China -- that's a staggering one in five. They struggle at school, have higher rates of mental health issues, and suffer from more behavioral problems than their contemporaries. "I tell him 'your father is working and your mother doesn't want you,'" says an exasperated Tang. In Chao Hu, a village in the inland province of Anhui, a dead-end track passes by half-finished housing projects and abandoned fields. A yellow haze hangs in the air leaving a metallic taste in the mouth. China's industrial pollution made it out here, but the jobs haven't. Everyone of working age in Chao Hu has gone to the cities to find work, leaving the old and very young behind. Lu holds my hand as we walk through the tiny village. A group of old women sit on three-legged wooden stools listening to Chinese opera on a small radio. Another walks by knitting. Some old men make bootleg liquor in an oil drum. "We don't have fields that we can farm, if you don't go out to work, then how do you earn an income?" says Tang. "Their parents have to work outside of town and they cannot bring their children with them." The All China Women's Federation, a state- backed organization, paints a bleak picture for left behind children. A steady stream of state media reports highlights the abuse suffered by left behind children. And crimes are often blamed on them. "It has a huge impact on society and the generation of people who grow up without parents," says Ines Kaempfer, of the Center for Child-Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility. "There is a generation of Chinese society that lacks security and trust. It could have a potentially disastrous effect." Unintended consequences of mass urbanization and migration are not unique to China. But draconian rules have made the problem worse. China's much-hated hukou system registers families as either rural or urban. Most migrants can't change their household registration when they move. They struggle to access healthcare and other social services in urban areas. Their children can't go to public schools -- even if they are born in the cities. Critics say the hukou system has created a vast underclass of cheap labor to help drive China's manufacturing revolution. Recognizing some of its failures, the Chinese Communist Party has proposed reforms of the hukou system including doing away with temporary residence permits. The topic is under discussion this week at the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress, the country's rubber-stamp parliament. "Though it is better than before, the hukou system is a huge problem," says Professor Fan Bin, of the Huadong Technology Institute. "Migrants can't afford to keep their children in big cities, the rent is high and the wages are low, and they can't pay the tuition for private schools." In Chao Hu village, Tang is cooking a meal of rice and spinach for her grandson. She swirls peanut oil on her simple stove top. "I can't teach my grandson well. This boy should be educated by his father and mother," she says, "I cannot catch him when he runs away from me. I cannot discipline him when he misbehaves." Tang is convinced she can't give her grandson the support he needs. "We don't have a choice, even if the situation isn't good. If I don't take care of him who will," she says. CNN's Serena Dong contributed to this report. +Beijing (CNN)Five years ago, Beijinger Robert Zhao went on a trip to Tibet. What he encountered left him confused but intrigued. A science graduate from China's elite Tsinghua University, he had been taught to mistrust superstition and religion, but in the culture and devotion of the Buddhists he met he found something worth knowing. Now 25, he is considering giving up his job and becoming a monk. "It means I will have to give up everything of the ordinary world," he told CNN. While Buddhism has a long history in China, entering via missionaries from India during the Han dynasty, it was repressed during the Maoist era -- many monasteries and temples were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and monks actively punished for believing in "superstition." But now, a growing number of Chinese are rediscovering the country's dormant Buddhist traditions. Some, like Zhao, are looking for a spiritual anchor in a competitive, fast-changing society. Others take comfort in meditation and enjoy volunteering. However, it's not always easy to combine Buddhist beliefs with the demands of modern life. Zhao works as an assistant to the boss of an environmental company. His religion means it's difficult to entertain clients and partners -- a key part of the role. "Not drinking, smoking or eating meat affects my socializing. So the company has to send someone else to go with me, which creates extra expenses," he says. Zhao has not told his family about his desire to become a monk yet, fearing that they might oppose it. Fenggang Yang, the director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, Indiana, says it's difficult to explain exactly why so many young people are turning to Buddhism. Some discover it at university, where Buddhist groups are active and famous monks and lamas give lectures. Others have devout parents and grandparents. He also says that the Chinese Communist Party policy has "moved toward treating Buddhism more favorably than other religions." Christianity has also been growing in popularity in recent decades but church leaders say there has been a crackdown on Christians, with authorities demolishing churches and removing crosses from skylines. In particular, it's the Tibetan strain of Buddhism, rather than the Chan (also called Zen) tradition once popular in China, that is attracting new converts, particularly students, young professionals and businesspeople, he says. "It appears that both the chanting and the physical, spiritual practices of Tibetan Buddhism are appealing to some people," Yang added. To what extent these new converts are committed to Buddhism as a religion, with its strictures and rituals, is an open question. A former leader of a university Buddhism group, who didn't want to give his name, told CNN he thought its members were more interested in the religion as a lifestyle choice. Activities that his group organized focusing on relaxation and stress relief were always more popular than reading groups and lectures that examined Buddhist scriptures, he added. Yang at Purdue University says that for most people in China, Buddhism is treated more as culture than a religion. They may visit temples or read Buddhist books, but few people treat it as a religion that requires serious commitment. "Indeed, people who identify as Buddhists do a lot of non-Buddhist spiritual things, such as believing in feng shui, consulting fortune-tellers, practicing qi gong and sampling books and practices of other religions," he says. On a recent weekend, more than four hundred people attended the annual gathering of Beijing Ren Ai Foundation, a Buddhist charitable organization, at Longquan Monastery on the mountainous outskirts of the capital. Zhong Ying, the group's 32-year-old deputy secretary general, said the group's most active volunteers were between 20 and 35 years old. In the past five years their numbers had doubled to 200. For attendee Geng Hui'er, a 26-year-old who works and lives in Beijing, Buddhism was something she rediscovered after returning from studying abroad in England. Growing up, her family had raised her Buddhist although she says she never really "felt it." She now regularly attends meditation activities in monasteries or study groups organized by volunteers. Geng says Buddhism has given her a fresh outlook on life and past difficulties. It's also helped her establish a network of people she can talk to and socialize with. "We sit together, sharing things that have happened in our lives and how we dealt with them, which is more helpful than reading books", she says. For Zhao, the aspiring monk, Buddhism has been a balm while dealing with poor health, as well as work and relationship problems. "My life has been tough for years. (Buddhism) keeps me away from the negative thoughts, like a reminder that's always there, which has helped me a lot." Journalist Dou Yiping contributed to this report. +(CNN)India's highest court has reversed a controversial law that gave the authorities sweeping powers to arrest and potentially jail people for comments posted on social networks and other Internet platforms. The Supreme Court ruled that Section 66A of the 2008 Information Technology Act was "unconstitutional" and "hit at the root of liberty and freedom of expression, the two cardinal pillars of democracy." Under Section 66A, alleged offenders could face up to three years in jail for posting material that is "grossly offensive," has "menacing character," -- or perhaps even more ambiguously -- causes "annoyance or inconvenience." The court said this wording was "vague" and could be "misconstrued," according to Ranjeeta Rohatgi, an advocate who was present at the hearing in Delhi Tuesday. India's cyber laws have ignited a furious debate about curbs on freedom of speech in recent years. In 2012, a university professor was arrested for circulating a cartoon that poked fun at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The cartoon, which was a parody of a scene in a popular Indian movie, went viral on social media. He was charged with a range of offenses including defamation, insulting a woman and sending offensive messages from a computer. Mahapatra called the charges a misuse of the law "in the name of surveillance, to curb democratic rights, freedom of speech and human rights of common people." A year earlier, Delhi went one step further with its digital crackdown when the so-called "intermediary guidelines" implicated web platforms themselves. The rules now require Internet companies to take down any content seen as "disparaging," "blasphemous," or "defamatory" within 36 hours of a user submitting a formal request for removal. In Mumbai, India's financial center, police spokesman Dhananjay Kulkarni told CNN in February that some 650 posts and pages were blocked last year under these regulations. Google says in the last half of 2013 it removed 540 items from its pages in compliance with orders issued by Indian courts, government agencies, and law enforcement. It's a similar story with Facebook. The social networking site took down nearly 5,000 pieces of content reported by the Indian government in the first half of 2014. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Kunal Sehgal in Delhi, as well as Mackenzie Sigalos in Hong Kong contributed to this report. +(CNN)The first official visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Washington comes as excitement mounts over the possibility that direct peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are imminent. The visit, which began Sunday, offers the opportunity for discussion and progress on a number of fronts, the coming face-to-face talks with the Taliban almost certainly among them. But while the start of such talks would certainly be a positive development, it would hardly be a sign that peace is about to descend upon a land ravaged by decades of war. The reality is that an agreement with the Taliban that is good for the Afghan government is probably impossible right now. Negotiations to end the Taliban insurgency face a series of significant challenges, and an imperfect deal could harm Afghanistan's nascent unity government, encourage the formation of splinter groups of hardened fighters, boost existing terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS and plunge the country into an era of renewed violence and instability. That said, the United States should remain broadly supportive of these talks by promoting conditions that could make the possibility of success more likely down the road -- history has shown that successful negotiations most often occur when each party has some vulnerability to the other. Militarily, the Taliban is not the Afghan government's equal, but that does not mean the insurgents lack a strong negotiating position. For a start, the international presence in Afghanistan is declining, freeing the Taliban to operate more openly in the rural corners of the country. Meanwhile, Afghan security forces are being killed at rates that are probably not sustainable and civilian casualties are at an all-time high. Most troublingly, the new national unity government has yet to clearly demonstrate its ability to govern. All this means that until the new government shows that the diverse interests within it can coexist, and it articulates a cohesive strategy to counter the Taliban, the insurgents can make a strong case for postponing peace in the hopes of a better situation in the future. A second key to negotiating a path toward peace in Afghanistan is devising a strategy to contain splinter groups. Often in the course of negotiations, those unsatisfied with the peace process flock to new organizations to continue the fight. These can include so-called "bitter enders," hardened fighters who want no part of peace. The emergence of splinter groups is an expected part of any peace negotiation process, but it must be minimized for an agreement to take hold. In the case of Afghanistan, there is no shortage of groups willing to absorb fighters, from outlaw bandit groups to al Qaeda. Recently, as Ghani has highlighted, there have even been stories of fighters declaring allegiance to terrorist group ISIS. It goes without saying that the spread of ISIS's particularly violent form of extremism within Afghanistan would make an already complex and precarious security situation all the more so. Finally, negotiations must happen at a time when a peace agreement can reasonably be enforced -- it is one thing to craft a compromise and quite another to carry it out. Too often in peace negotiations, an agreement is viewed as a finish line, but any deal can easily be derailed by unpopular political accommodations, economic incentives and rebel fighters who refuse to drop their arms. To take hold, peace agreements require a legitimate and effective government capable of communicating new realities to the public and executing policies that are often untried and complex. At the moment, the Afghan government is struggling to carry out existing policies, while juggling the country's many divergent interests. While a peace agreement would certainly boost the legitimacy of a national unity government, a stillborn accord would only lead to disillusionment and doubt. Ultimately, the chances that talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban will succeed are remote at best. Yet the United States should do everything it can to help create the underlying conditions to support productive negotiations -- if not now, at some point in the future. What can the U.S. do? Two things: . First, the Obama administration could agree to the Afghan government's request to slow American troop withdrawals. This would allow the United States to assist the Afghan government to stabilize the country and contain any splintering anti-government factions. Second, the U.S. could remain actively engaged in promoting the success of the Afghan national unity government. This means not merely maintaining existing development and economic efforts, but finding opportunities to assist the new government to boost its legitimacy. For example, the United States could support emerging efforts to build a meaningful relationship between Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan, which would increase public confidence in the government's ability to protect its people. It also could lend a hand advising political leaders, including the many first-time cabinet officials, on governance and public service. Sowing the seeds of future success in bringing peace to Afghanistan requires no new U.S. boots on the ground or extravagant financial commitments. Rather, it takes a willingness to continue to engage with Afghanistan's dynamic set of political challenges in small, but meaningful ways. +(CNN)A nuclear deal with international powers on Iran's nuclear program is within reach and achievable, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told reporters Saturday. Rouhani said negotiators from both sides have found new common ground in recent days, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The President believes that "clinching a general deal is easy," according to the IRNA story, but hammering out agreements on certain details "will be a very tough and complicated job." Iran has been largely isolated for years for its nuclear program, one that its leaders say the country wants for peaceful purposes. Others, like the United States, have challenged that assertion and instituted strict sanctions, fearing that Tehran actually plans to develop nuclear weapons. After years of basic stalemates, Iranian officials and representatives of the P5+1 have managed to reach short-term agreements as they try to strike a larger deal. The sides have been working toward that end in Lausanne, Switzerland, hoping to get a framework pact in place ahead of a March 31 deadline. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, joined these talks Monday. All sides took a break Friday, but are expected to return to the negotiating table soon. Kerry, addressing reporters Saturday in Lausanne before leaving for London, said "substantial progress" had been made toward reaching a deal but that "important gaps remain." He insisted that the international powers involved in the talks, the P5+1 -- consisting of Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- were united in their determination to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is purely peaceful. The stakes are high and the issues complicated, Kerry said. "Let me once again be clear: We don't want just any deal," he said. "If we had, we could have announced something a long time ago." There has been "genuine progress" over the past 16 months since a joint plan was agreed and in his conversations with Zarif of the past few days, Kerry said. The international powers won't rush the process, he said, but the negotiations are at a decisive point. "We recognize that fundamental decisions have to be made now and they don't get any easier as time goes by," he said. "It is time to make hard decisions. We want the right deal that would make the world, including the United States and our closest partners and allies, safer and more secure, and that is our test." U.S. President Barack Obama has made clear that he wants to achieve a "comprehensive and durable agreement" that is based on intensive verification of its implementation rather than trust, Kerry added. "We have not yet reached the finish line but, make no mistake, we have the opportunity to get this right," he said. While in London, Kerry met with his counterparts from the UK, Germany and France, as well as the European Union foreign policy chief, to discuss their coordinated approach. British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond spoke for the group, echoing Kerry but saying while "substantial progress has been made in some areas," there were other areas that lacked agreement. "The time has come now for Iran in particular to make some very tough decisions if we are going to see progress made," Hammond said. Kerry also spoke Friday by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Iranian President's guarded optimism Saturday -- which also happens to be Nowruz, a holiday marking the start of spring and beginning of a new year in the Persian calendar -- jibes with the progress cited recently by the Iranians' counterparts in the talks. Western officials said Friday that the ongoing negotiations have led to compromises on some crucial issues that have long divided the West and Iran. Specifically, the parties are coalescing around an idea that Iran could keep 6,000 centrifuges in any deal, down from the 6,500 that had been under discussion, two Western diplomats told CNN. The pace of relief from sanctions is a sticking point for Iran, according to a Western official. Iranian negotiators want them lifted immediately, while U.S. and European negotiators prefer they be phased out over several years, contingent on Iran meeting its end of the bargain. The debate has generated heated disagreements not only in Switzerland, but also in Washington, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress on March 3 at the invitation of Republican leaders to warn about any nuclear deal with Iran. The speech was made without the approval of U.S. President Barack Obama. The next week, an open letter signed by 47 Republican senators, addressing Iran's leadership, noted that any agreement made with the U.S. administration that is not approved by the Senate could be nullified by Obama's successor. Late Thursday, Obama reached out "directly to the people and leaders of Iran," in a video message recorded ostensibly for Nowruz, to urge them to back a deal curtailing Tehran's nuclear program. "This year we have the best opportunity in decades to pursue a different future between our countries," Obama said. "... Together we have to speak up for the future we seek ... I believe our countries should be able to resolve this issue peacefully with diplomacy." But Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his own Nowruz address on Saturday, noted the political divisions within the United States over the nuclear talks, Iran's state-run Press TV reported. He suggested the U.S. President's Nowruz message "included dishonest assertions and his claim of friendship for Iranian people was not sincere," he is quoted as saying. Khamenei also said Obama had claimed falsely that some people in Iran did not back a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear issue. What they are in fact resisting is the bullying approach of the United States, he said, according to Press TV. The Ayatollah also insisted that the removal of sanctions should be part of the negotiations, not a step that only followed the implementation of a deal. "Iran will never accept this," he said. "This is the Americans' ploy. Removal of sanctions should be part of any agreement." CNN's Laura Koran, Elise Labott and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report. +(CNN)He may be suffering from the effects of a dislocated shoulder -- but golf legend Arnold Palmer has vowed that won't stop him from hitting his ceremonial opening tee shot at the Masters in Augusta next month. The 85-year-old, speaking to reporters at the Trump Doral resort where he was opening a villa named after him, said he would look forward "to being out on that tee even if I fan it." Palmer's injury happened when he had a fall at the Father-Son Challenge in Florida shortly before Christmas. He explained: "I was going to make a speech at the Father-Son and I tripped on a carpet and did a 360." But the four-time Masters champion, who hit his first ceremonial opening shot back in 2007, said nothing would prevent him from joining fellow greats Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player on the course on April 9 -- even though doctors won't allow him to swing a golf club just yet. "Oh yeah, I plan on it," Palmer, known as 'the King,' said. "I haven't been practicing... I'm not allowed to swing yet. [But] I will whatever." Palmer's Masters triumphs came in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964, and he made his final competitive Masters appearance -- and his 50th in all -- in 2004. +(CNN)New Zealand are on course for a first ever World Cup title after a thrilling semifinal victory over South Africa, secured off the penultimate ball of the match. Chasing an adjusted target of 298 in just 43 overs after a rain interrupted the match at Eden Park, Grant Elliott hit a six right at the death to confirm victory and send the Auckland crowd into raptures. It is the first time New Zealand has ever reached a World Cup final, and it will play either Australia or India on Sunday. Te pair face each other in Sydney on Thursday. Not the first time in the sport, rain played a part. South Africa were motoring with the bat before a two-hour delay for poor weather. Though its total was escalated by the Duckworth/Lewis method -- used to calculate a revised target in the event of a rain delay -- New Zealand held firm thanks to Elliott. His 84 not out underpinned its innings and it was fitting that he delivered the final blow, smashing Dale Steyn for six off the second last ball to spark jubilant scenes at Eden Park. "I don't think this win is for myself or the team, but everyone here," Elliott said at the post-match presentation. "The supporters have been amazing. "I think we timed the pace of the innings to perfection. I wasn't as calm as I looked. When you have 45,000 fans screaming at you every ball... "It has been an absolute pleasure playing in front of this crowd. We have had a good run. It is the first final we have been in as New Zealand. "We are a very level team, we will approach it as any other game. Nothing going in my mind when I hit the six. I don't even know where the ball went." South Africa, who themselves have never reached the final, have been accused of choking in past installments of the one-day competition. But that indictment cannot be leveled at it after one of the most dramatic matches in World Cup history. It had recovered from 114-3 in the 27th over to 216-3 after 38 overs thanks to some fierce hitting from captain AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, before the rain came. With the game stopped for two hours, it finally reached 281 off its reduced 43 overs, du Plessis top scoring with 82. New Zealand's target was upgraded via Duckworth/Lewis, a calculation that takes into account how many overs were left and how many wickets had been lost, to 298. Kiwi skipper Brendan McCullum got it off to a fast start with a 22-ball half-century but after he was dismissed it wobbled, and needed 139 from 22 overs. But Elliott was the steadying hand, judging his innings perfectly. And though he was dropped in the penultimate over, he struck the telling blow off Steyn to seal victory and inflict a fourth semifinal defeat on South Africa. "It was a great advertisement for cricket," McCullum said at the post-match presentation. "Everybody involved will remember this for the rest of their lives. "What a great innings from Grant. He came out of wilderness not long ago. The greatest time of our lives. We have enjoyed the experience. "I hope the crowds are all dreaming the way we are. Gee it would be nice to win it. We don't mind whom we face in the final. "They are both quality sides, but we know if we play the way we want to we are a good chance." Should Australia beat India at the Sydney Cricket Ground, then the joint hosts of the World Cup will meet in the final in Melbourne. "It was an amazing game of cricket," AB de Villiers said. "Probably the most electric crowd I have ever heard in my life. I guess the best team has come out on top. We gave it our best. No regrets. "We left it all out there. It is hurting. It is going to take a while to recover. The bigger picture is for the people back home. We play for them. I hope they can still be proud of us." +(CNN)The Iran nuclear negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, reportedly have made substantive progress, inching closer toward a provisional agreement between the P5+1 and Iran. While the talks continued to unfold this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his concern about an agreement with Iran, vowing "to continue to act against any threat." If an agreement is reached, the international spotlight will turn to Israel, in anticipation of its possible reaction. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe "Bogy" Yaalon stated that a deal is "a tragedy for the whole world." The question is, however, what can Israel really do once a deal is signed? In recent days, notable conservatives in the United States have attacked President Barack Obama's handling of the negotiations with Iran, arguing that a bad deal will force Israel's hand, leaving it with no choice but to attack Iranian targets. But is this a realistic conclusion? Israel's stated "all options are on the table" policy toward Iran has been in place for years and is based on the assumption that if a diplomatic solution to the nuclear problem cannot be reached or is not to its liking, Israel can decide to opt for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Thirty-four years after the successful Israeli bombing of the Osirak nuclear facility in Iraq, military experts have little doubt that the Israeli Air Force today is capable of reaching Iranian airspace and bombing targets above and below ground. Therefore, the question is not one of military capability but more about domestic political and geopolitical strategy. With an Iran deal in place, the Israeli leadership may face stern objections from the heads of the Israeli defense establishment, which will make it difficult but not impossible to take such a decision. Nevertheless, if it remains keen on pursuing a military option, the Israeli leadership will have to consider the following set of consequences that will likely result from such a decision: . •A successful military strike on Iranian installations may degrade Iran's nuclear program, setting it back several years, but it would not completely eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities. Iran would likely be able to resume activity in new facilities soon after such an attack, with more international legitimacy to embark on a military nuclear program, in the face of future military challenges to its sovereignty and stability. A deal between the P5+1 (the United States, China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and Germany) and Iran is expected to include a 10-year (or more) "sunset provision" that is much longer than the period it will take Iran to get its program back on track in case of an Israeli attack. •A military attack against Iran after a deal is signed would put Israel on a collision course with the P5+ 1, who were negotiating the contours of a deal with Iran, as well as with other members of the international community. Bilateral ties and cooperation with member states of the P5+1 may suffer, as well as intelligence sharing between the relevant intelligence agencies. In addition, countries are likely to seek ways to "punish" Israel for its actions, in the form of a U.N. General Assembly or Security Council resolution condemning Israeli behavior, calling for operative measures against the Jewish state. •An Israeli attack would likely lead to the collapse of the international sanctions regime on Iran, which Israel has worked to consolidate and which has been a very effective mechanism in pressuring Iran. •The understanding between Israel and moderate Arab regimes on the need to prevent a nuclear Iran would not be likely to dissipate in the aftermath of an attack, but Israeli-Arab coordination and cooperation on this issue is bound to suffer. •Finally, an Israeli attack would spark a direct Iranian military reaction against Israel, as well as an indirect reaction against Israel in the region by Iran's proxies Hezbollah (from Southern Lebanon and war-torn Syria) and Hamas (from Gaza and perhaps the West Bank) and against Israeli targets abroad. In the aftermath of a deal with Iran, Israel's response is expected to be harsh. It will include strong public criticism of the deal, a vow to continue the fight against the agreement in the U.S. Congress and other relevant venues, a call for the international community to continue the sanctions regime, and a pursuit of coordinated public messaging with moderate Arab regimes on this issue. These Israeli public diplomacy measures will be complemented by continued intelligence monitoring of Iran's activities in the nuclear sphere as well as its involvement in regional conflicts. Opting for a military strike against Iran, however, must take into consideration the consequences of such a decision. In light of all that is at stake, it does not seem like a plausible option at present. +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)At any moment, Saudi troops could march through Yemen, heating up an already intense conflict that could have ramifications across the Middle East. On Monday, a Saudi-led coalition of nine countries continued airstrikes against Shiite Houthi rebels, who have captured key parts of Yemen and ousted that country's President, and who could spread Iran's influence in the region. And the notion of an Iranian proxy power in Yemen is unacceptable to many -- especially Iran's staunch rival Saudi Arabia. 'Tricky issues' remain in nuclear talks with Iran . "I think the Saudis ... feel directly, physically threatened by what is happening," said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. But if the coalition takes the fight to the ground in Yemen, the consequences could be severe. Houthis are battle-hardened guerrilla fighters and could cross into Saudi Arabia. They've already threatened suicide bomb attacks inside Saudi Arabia. And Yemen, already the home base to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, now teeters on the brink of becoming a failed state and an even more fertile breeding ground for extremism. Here's the latest on the crisis in Yemen and its impact around the world: . Saudi-led airstrikes targeted Houthi military posts and weapons depots in the capital city of Sanaa on Monday, two Houthi commanders told CNN. Yemen's Defense Ministry said a Saudi airstrike hit Al-Mazeraq refugee camp in Haradh, near the Saudi border, killing at least 40 internally displaced people and injuring 250. The group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) tweeted that one of its teams had received "30 wounded plus 15 dead bodies following airstrike on IDP camp today." Previously, airstrikes hit Houthi militant groups, smashed their air defense guns and crumbled key infrastructure, a Saudi official has said. Egyptian warships fired on the road that runs from the Yemeni port town of Zinjibar into the key coastal city of Aden but did not fire on Aden directly, according to an official with Yemen's Southern Movement. The road is the eastern approach to Aden and is one of the three main roads into the city. The Egyptian naval barrage is intended to block the Houthi advance on Aden and push those fighters back, the source said. Egyptian warships had deployed to the Bab al-Mandab strait last Friday, according to media reports, intent on protecting that passage that is the only access from the Arabian Sea to Egypt's Suez Canal. The coalition's campaign has been dubbed Operation al-Hazm Storm. The Arabic term "al-Hazm" can be translated as "determinant" or "decisive." Saudi Arabia and Egypt have both talked about the possibility of putting boots on the ground. On Saturday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen said he expected coalition troops to be in Yemen within days. Saudi leaders have said that if troops do go in, they won't leave until they have degraded the Houthis' ability to fight. The Houthis are apt guerrillas. A fight on the ground could prove bloody and lengthy. The conflict splits the region along religious lines. Operation Decisive Storm's largely Sunni coalition includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Sudan. On Monday, Pakistan's government said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had chaired "a high-level meeting" of senior officials to review the situation in the Middle East. "The meeting concluded that Pakistan remains firmly committed to supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan," it said in a statement. "It was emphasized that Pakistan stands committed to playing a meaningful role in arresting the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. In the same context, and to facilitate early resolution of the crisis and to promote peace and unity of the Muslim Ummah (community), the Prime Minister would be contacting the leadership of brotherly countries," the statement continued. The Shiite Houthis are allied with Iran, a majority Shiite nation. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of boosting the Houthis' weaponry for their offensive. Iran has sharply denounced the Saudi-dominated intervention in Yemen. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of trying to use the conflict in Yemen to "take over the whole Middle East." The United States has supported the coalition's efforts. While it is helping the Saudi-led team with logistics and locating targets, the U.S. is not participating in active battle. Dozens have died in the airstrikes, Houthi commanders said. The rebel commanders also said the coalition struck the Houthi-controlled Al Anad air base, which was used as the headquarters for U.S. counterterrorism operations before Houthi rebels took control of it. The Houthis claimed they shot down a Sudanese jet and captured the pilot on Saturday. They distributed photos of a pilot and wreckage to back up the claim. The Yemeni crisis erupted when Shiite Houthi rebels, who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni country, began seizing the capital and other parts of the country last fall. Houthis moved into Sanaa in September, sparking battles that killed hundreds of people. Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi fled the capital over a month ago. In January, Houthis surrounded the presidential palace. Hadi resigned and was put under house arrest. He escaped in February and went to the coastal city of Aden, but declared he was still the country's leader. Last week, Hadi went to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend the Arab League summit, where he is rallying support for Operation Decisive Storm. Even from afar, Hadi had strong words for the Houthis: . "You violated the sovereignty (of Yemen)," he said, "and you bear the responsibility for what happened and what is going to happen." That Arab League summit produced a notable agreement: the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration, which paves the way for a united Arab force that would be ready to fight insurgents if a member country came under attack. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi actually called for a joint Arab force last month to fight ISIS. But the agreement over the weekend carries extra significance amid the battle against Houthis in Yemen. Egypt: It's time for an Arab coalition against ISIS . The logistics and details of the joint Arab force have yet to be worked out. But the declaration also urges the Houthis to immediately withdraw from Yemen's government institutions and to surrender their arms to "legitimate authorities." Many U.N. representatives have had to flee the chaos. And Saudi naval special forces have rescued dozens of diplomats, a Saudi official said. The conflict in Yemen also led to the withdrawal of U.S. special forces earlier this month, seriously undermining counterterrorism efforts in a country that has been a stronghold for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Haass, of the Council on Foreign Relations, said what's happening in Yemen could devolve into a long, protracted religious war. "You have civil wars, you have proxy wars. You have regional wars all in one," he said. "And these things have so many logs on the fire, to use the metaphor, that they ... burn and burn and burn for a long time." Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Sanaa; CNN's Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Anas Hamdan, Tim Lister and Ian Lee contributed to this report. +(CNN)Swedish prosecutors have asked Julian Assange's legal representatives whether the WikiLeaks founder would consent to be interviewed in London and have his DNA taken via a swab. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about 2010 allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another. Swedish prosecutors have previously balked at coming to Britain to question Assange. However, a number of the crimes Julian Assange is suspected of will be subject to a statute of limitation in August 2015, according to a statement from Marianne Ny, the director of public prosecutions. "If Assange gives his consent, the prosecutor will promptly submit a request for legal assistance to the British authorities to further continue the investigation," the statement said. A request will also be made to the Ecuadorian authorities for permission to "perform investigative measures" at its London embassy, the statement said. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum in 2012. Assange's defense lawyer, Per E. Samuelsson, said he called Assange on Friday morning with the news from the prosecution authority -- and that in principle they viewed the request positively. "I think I woke him up, but he knew I was calling with news about the case since I called so early," Samuelsson said. "He was, of course, very happy that something is finally happening but he is irritated that it has taken such a long time." This is a step that Assange and his team have been requesting for four years, Samuelsson said. Ny explained the logic behind the Swedish authorities' change of approach in her statement. "My view has always been that to perform an interview with him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London would lower the quality of the interview, and that he would need to be present in Sweden in any case should there be a trial in the future," Ny said. "This assessment remains unchanged. Now that time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies to the investigation and likewise take the risk that the interview does not move the case forward, particularly as there are no other measures on offer without Assange being present in Sweden." The Australian national has not been charged and denies the claims. He's said he fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States, where he could face the death penalty if he is charged and convicted of publishing government secrets through WikiLeaks. Samuelsson said Assange's legal team would travel over to London as soon as possible to discuss Ny's request and that it expects to respond next week. "The problem is that there are two more countries involved in this request so it might take some time to make all this happen," Samuelsson said. Samuelsson also said Friday's development was not a great surprise since Sweden's Supreme Court had last week asked the prosecutor general for an opinion on the case. "We think that the prosecutor general, who has taken over the case, probably told Prosecutor Ny to interview Assange in London," he said. Assange has previously said the arrest warrant should be thrown out because, in part, Swedish authorities declined to interview him at the Ecuadorian Embassy, thereby prolonging a preliminary investigation that he said should have concluded long ago. London's Metropolitan Police said last month that the cost of the operation to guard the embassy to prevent Assange fleeing had spiraled to more than 10 million pounds ($15.3 million.) overall . CNN's Claudia Rebaza contributed to this report . +(CNN)It's Canada's ultimate pairing. World No.7 and Wimbledon runner up Eugenie Bouchard posted a photo of herself on Twitter with compatriot and heartthrob Justin Bieber as they teamed up for a game of tennis. Bouchard credited the pop star's "nice serve" and once said the "Baby" singer would be her ideal date during an awkward on-court interview at 2014's Australian Open. Bieber courts a lot of interest on social media with a Twitter following of 61.3 million -- roughly the entire population of Italy -- but the 21-year-old has yet to respond to Bouchard's tweet. The pair played doubles at the Annual Desert Smash event hosted by Will Ferrell at California's La Quinta Resort in aid of Cancer for College, a charity that provides scholarships for students who have battled with the disease. Danish tennis star and recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Caroline Wozniacki also had her photo taken with the singer estimated to be worth $80m, tweeting: "Just another night in the desert #beliebit." +(CNN)If you were the lucky recipient of a bunch of fragrant roses this Valentine's Day, it's likely that they came from Kenya. The country is the third largest exporter of cut flowers in the world, accounting for around 35% of all sales in the European Union. Famed for being long-lasting, Kenya's roses, carnations and summer flowers are also popular in Russia and the U.S. where last week several growers showcased their blooms at the World Floral Expo in Los Angeles. The event is one of the industry's largest and gathers over 80 exhibitors from across the world, with several Ethiopian growers also representing the African continent alongside Kenya. The country's flower power is attributed to its sunny climate, which enables high-quality blossoms to be grown year-round without the need for expensive-to-run greenhouses. Kenya also has excellent transport links to Europe, and from there, the rest of the world through Nairobi airport, which has a terminal dedicated specially to the transport of flowers and vegetables. This means that delicate floral cargo which is perishable in nature can be shifted from growers to consumers swiftly. More than 500,000 people in the country depend on the trade according to the Kenya Flower Council, with roughly half of the country's 127 flower farms concentrated around Lake Naivasha, around 90 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. "Naivasha is a big center because it's a freshwater lake and it is not very far from Nairobi, which makes transport easy," says John Kihia, technical director of Floralife Africa, a company which provides hydration, transport and storage for the cut-flower industry. "People have been growing flowers there for a long time so there is a skilled labor force in place," he adds. Activists have expressed concerns over the environmental impact that the booming trade could inflict on the lake, but local farmers have been working with the WWF in order to make sure that water levels are not affected: "It's about putting together a strong business case about why it's good for growers to save water and ways to manage that," says Drew McVey, WWF technical adviser who calls the collaboration "a story of success." Naivasha Lake's location 1,884 meters above sea level is particularly fertile ground for medium-sized roses which are often found in the floral sections of EU supermarkets, whereas farms in higher altitudes yield bigger blooms popular in Russia: "It's a consumer preference. In Moscow people will buy a single rose, so if it's bigger it naturally looks more spectacular, whereas in the UK they buy bunches more often," says Kihia. Big business . Horticulture has been one of the top foreign exchange earners for Kenya, and the flower industry alone raked in around $600m last year, exporting 124,858 tonnes valued at around $507m in 2013. Nearly two thirds of exports are destined for Holland, where they are resold to florists through auctions which present a safe avenue into the market for less seasoned growers: "If you sell through an auction and you have a good quality product, people will be competing for your flowers which will give you a better price," Kihia says. While Europe remains the biggest destination for Kenyan flowers due to its relative geographic proximity and good transport links, this has left producers vulnerable to turmoil on the continent, such as the recent recession. "It has had an impact on the sector and we have experienced a slowdown in demand, which slows down business," says Jane Ngige, CEO of the Kenyan Flower Council. Kenyan exports also suffered when in October of last year the EU imposed import taxes on cut flowers from the country, but the levy was lifted on Christmas Day allowing Kenyan producers to storm Valentine's Day sales. Jane Ngige says that the industry is now exploring other markets such as Australia, Canada and Japan, and adds that direct flights from Nairobi airport play a crucial role in helping the Kenyan flower business take off globally: "A direct flight to the destination is key owing to the fact that this is fresh produce and it needs to get to the end user quickly in order to guarantee quality. It also makes it less expensive," she says. Kenyan growers are now lending their floral expertise to neighboring Rwanda by partnering with the country's government to create a 35 hectare flower park 60 kilometers from Rwanda's capital Kigali. It's hoped that the park will eventually produce three million stems per year and kick-start Rwanda's floriculture sector, which could pump more than $200 million into the country's economy by 2017. Editor's Note: Each week, Africa View explores the trends, figures and initiatives shaping Africa. From education and energy to technology and innovation, it showcases topics and influential sectors driving countries on the continent. +(CNN)An explosive-laden truck blew up at a camp for Egyptian security forces Tuesday morning, killing a civilian and injuring 44 people, state-run media reported. The attack took place in Al-Arish, in the country's North Sinai province, tha Al-Ahram news agency reported, citing the local health ministry. As the truck headed toward the camp's gate, guards shot at it, and the truck exploded. The injured included 42 Egyptian soldiers and two civilians. The driver of the truck was also killed, Al-Ahram said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. North Sinai has been the site of dozens of recent deaths. In January, at least 26 people were reportedly killed and dozens more wounded, in a series of militant attacks on army and police positions in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula. The Egyptian army is battling an Islamist insurgency in North Sinai that has spiked since the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsy. CNN's Salim Essaid contributed to this report. +Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)Islamic militants with the extremist group Al-Shabaab mounted a bloody attack Thursday on government administration offices in Baidoa, Somalia. Initial reports to police indicate that nine people, including four attackers, were killed after gunmen in military uniforms attacked the house of the former Somali parliament speaker and current president of the newly established southwest regional administration, said Col. Mahad Abdi, a Somali police officer. The attack began when a car bomb detonated at the gate of the state palace in Baidoa city, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. Heavy gunfire broke out between Somali troops backed by Ethiopian forces inside the house of the regional president, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. Explosions and gunfire were still going on over an hour after the initial assault, Abdi said. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. A broadcast by the group's official radio station, Andulus, said that Al-Shabaab gunmen had entered the regional president's house and killed seven Ethiopian soldiers. The African Union's special representative for Somalia, Ambassador Maman S. Sidikou, condemned the attack, saying it had targeted troops who have worked to restore peace to Baidoa. "I am deeply saddened by news of the attack in Baidoa this morning," he said in a statement released by AMISOM, the African Union mission to Somalia. Sidikou said he had also received reports of an attempted attack at a Mogadishu hotel Wednesday night. "These are desperate attempts by Al-Shabaab to seek relevance, following the massive defeats they continue to suffer from the Somali National Army working together with AMISOM troops," he said. Al-Shabaab started with a goal of waging a war against the Somali government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or Sharia. It has since shifted focus to terrorist attacks in Somalia and beyond, even calling, in a video released last month, for attacks on shopping malls in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. U.S. authorities downplayed the threat. How big a threat is Al-Shabaab to the United States? CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report. +London (CNN)It might sound like a really old wives' tale, but a thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon potion for eye infections may hold the key to wiping out the modern-day superbug MRSA, according to new research. The 10th-century "eyesalve" remedy was discovered at the British Library in a leather-bound volume of Bald's Leechbook, widely considered to be one of the earliest known medical textbooks. Christina Lee, an expert on Anglo-Saxon society from the School of English at the University of Nottingham, translated the ancient manuscript despite some ambiguities in the text. "We chose this recipe in Bald's Leechbook because it contains ingredients such as garlic that are currently investigated by other researchers on their potential antibiotic effectiveness," Lee said in a video posted on the university's website. "And so we looked at a recipe that is fairly straightforward. It's also a recipe where we are told it's the 'best of leechdoms' -- how could you not test that? So we were curious." Lee enlisted the help of the university's microbiologists to see if the remedy actually worked. The recipe calls for two species of Allium (garlic and onion or leek), wine and oxgall (bile from a cow's stomach) to be brewed in a brass vessel. "We recreated the recipe as faithfully as we could. The Bald gives very precise instructions for the ratio of different ingredients and for the way they should be combined before use, so we tried to follow that as closely as possible," said microbiologist Freya Harrison, who led the work in the lab at the School of Life Sciences. The book included an instruction for the recipe to be left to stand for nine days before being strained through a cloth. Efforts to replicate the recipe exactly included finding wine from a vineyard known to have existed in the ninth century, according to Steve Diggle, an associate professor of sociomicrobiology, who also worked on the project. The researchers then tested their recipe on cultures of MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of staph bacterium that does not respond to commonly used antibiotic treatments. The scientists weren't holding out much hope that it would work -- but they were astonished by the lab results. "What we found was very interesting -- we found that Bald's eyesalve is incredibly potent as an anti-Staphylococcal antibiotic in this context," Harrison said. "We were going from a mature, established population of a few billion cells, all stuck together in this highly protected biofilm coat, to really just a few thousand cells left alive. This is a massive, massive killing ability." Diggle said the team also asked collaborators in the U.S. to test the recipe using an "in vivo" wound model -- meaning it's in a live organism -- "and basically the big surprise was that it seems to be more effective than conventional antibiotic treatment." The scientists were worried they wouldn't be able to repeat the feat. But three more batches, made from scratch each time, have yielded the same results, Harrison said, and the salve appears to retain its potency for a long time after being stored in bottles in the refrigerator. The team says it now has good, replicated data showing that the medicine kills up to 90% of MRSA bacteria in "in vivo" wound biopsies from mice. Harrison says the researchers are still not completely sure how it works, but they have a few ideas -- namely, that there might be several active components in the mixture that work to attack the bacterial cells on different fronts, making it very hard for them to resist; or that by combining the ingredients and leaving them to steep in alcohol, a new, more potent bacteria-fighting molecule is created in the process. "I still can't quite believe how well this 1,000-year-old antibiotic actually seems to be working," Harrison said. "When we got the first results we were just utterly dumbfounded. We did not see this coming at all." She added: "Obviously you can never say with utter certainty that because it works in the lab it's going to work as an antibiotic, but the potential of this to take on to the next stage and say, 'yeah, really does it work as an antibiotic' is just beyond my wildest dreams, to be honest." Lee, who translated the text from Old English, believes the discovery could change people's views of the medieval period as the "Dark Ages." "The Middle Ages are often seen as the 'Dark Ages' -- we use the term 'medieval' these days ... as pejorative -- and I just wanted to do something that explains to me how people in the Middle Ages looked at science," she said. +(CNN)"The Law of the Jungle, which never orders anything without a reason, forbids every beast to eat Man." I still remember the first time I read the passage from "The Jungle Book," heart racing beneath my pajamas covered with The Six Million Dollar Man. "The real reason for this is that man-killing means, sooner or later, the arrival of white men on elephants, with guns, and hundreds of brown men with gongs, rockets and torches. Then everybody in the jungle suffers," Rudyard Kipling wrote. I probably understood that tiger attacks were fairly rare in Milwaukee, but to my 11-year-old brain, Kipling was dropping wisdom that just might keep me alive on the next expedition into the weedy lot behind Piggly Wiggly. "The reason the beasts give among themselves is that Man is the weakest and most defenseless of all living things, and it is unsportsmanlike to touch him." Reading that passage 35 years later, while rolling through the very forest that inspired the classic, the irony in that line finally clicks. When we hear the woof of a frightened deer and my guide kills the engine, my grown-up heart pounds once again. It is a sign that there may be big cats nearby. "I wonder who will be the last person to see a tiger in the wild? And are they alive today?" These are the questions that launched this stop on "The Wonder List," and they led us to a much bigger question about life in the 21st century: Is the planet still big enough for man and man-eater? India is about one-third the size of the continental United States, with four times as many people. That kind of human pressure has changed Kipling's "Law of the Jungle" in dramatic ways. According to the animal conservation group Born Free, there are more tigers in cages in Texas than in the forests of India. So I set out to understand how and why. Having covered the poaching of African animals to feed the huge market for Asian medicine, I assumed the demand for tiger-skin rugs in Dubai or tiger-bone wine in Beijing would be the biggest threat to this endangered cat. Can tigers claw their way back from the brink? But it turns out that tiger-human conflict is a much bigger problem. Almost half a billion rural Indians have no plumbing and answer nature's call by squatting in the forest. Most tiger attacks happen when these people are mistaken for prey, and most tiger kills come in the angry hours that follow, as friends and neighbors of the victim seek revenge. And so, a new specialty in conservation is the art of tiger conflict mediation. It is not easy to convince a frightened farmer that the cat that ate his cow is more valuable alive than caged or dead. But these efforts, along with a more pointed anti-poaching campaign, seem to be paying off. The latest tiger census counted 2,226 big cats in India, a 30% increase over the previous count in 2011. If the estimates hold, this would make India the only country in the world with a growing tiger population. But the human population is growing much faster. Maintaining a healthy population of apex predators is just one new challenge on a planet that will welcome a couple billion more people in just the next generation. You'll be surprised by the others as we seek India's magnificent treasures -- both natural and man-made -- on the next episode of "The Wonder List." +(CNN)Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had a way better weekend than you. The actor hosted "Saturday Night Live" and rocked out in some memorable sketches, including a live-action "Bambi" remake with some of the "SNL" cast portraying actors from the "Fast and Furious" franchise. "Whan I was a boy, they took away my mother," Johnson said in character as a muscle-bound, gun-wielding Bambi. "And now it's time for them to pay ... dearly." He also transformed, Hulk-style, into "The Rock Obama" in a sketch in which President Obama is angered by some members of Congress. The former professional wrestler spoofed the WWE in a promo on "SNL." But that was just a warmup to the actual Wrestlemania 31 on Sunday, when the Rock thrilled fans with a surprise appearance with UFC champion Ronda Rousey to take on WWE executives Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. The actor is the son of retired professional wrestler Rocky Johnson and wrestled under the name "The Rock" for years before he transitioned to an acting career. +(CNN)Michael Douglas' son Dylan had a run-in with anti-Semitism -- and the actor wants to do something about it. In an opinion column for the Los Angeles Times, the producer and "Wall Street" Oscar winner described an incident last summer in an unidentified country in "southern Europe." The older of his two children with actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, 14-year-old Dylan, came to his father in tears. "A man at the pool had started hurling insults at him," Douglas writes. It wasn't because of anything Dylan did, he continued: "Suddenly I had an awful realization of what might have caused the man's outrage: Dylan was wearing a Star of David." Douglas went to talk to the man -- "it was not a pleasant discussion," he writes -- and the incident has stayed in his mind. The 70-year-old actor, who was raised by a Jewish father, Kirk Douglas, and a non-Jewish mother, said he didn't identify as Jewish while growing up but noticed anti-Semitic remarks others made. "With little knowledge of what it meant to be a Jew, I found myself passionately defending the Jewish people. Now, half a century later, I have to defend my son," he writes. "Anti-Semitism, I've seen, is like a disease that goes dormant, flaring up with the next political trigger." Douglas, who is also a United Nations messenger of peace, observes that anti-Semitism has been on the rise due to a number of factors, including income inequality, religious extremism and hatred of Israel. "Some find Jews to be a convenient scapegoat rather than looking at the real source of their problems," he says. He praises leaders such as Pope Francis, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York for their efforts at reconciliation and community-building. But it isn't enough, he adds. "All of us" must fight anti-Semitism, he says. "If we confront anti-Semitism whenever we see it, if we combat it individually and as a society, and use whatever platform we have to denounce it, we can stop the spread of this madness," he writes. "My son is strong. He is fortunate to live in a country where anti-Semitism is rare. But now he too has learned of the dangers that he as a Jew must face. It's a lesson that I wish I didn't have to teach him, a lesson I hope he will never have to teach his children." Douglas received the 2015 Genesis Prize for "exceptional people whose values and achievements will inspire the next generation of Jews." +(CNN)When Indiana Gov. Michael Pence signed his state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), he apparently did not anticipate the resulting uproar. Many of Indiana's businesses fear that the law could be used to allow store owners to deny service to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. The NCAA has expressed concern about the Final Four, which Indianapolis is hosting this weekend, and other companies have threatened to move their businesses outside of the state. But, when pushed on the issue, Pence insisted that the law is "not about discrimination" but instead is "about protecting the religious liberty of every Hoosier of every faith." When asked whether he would allow an amendment to clarify that the law will not preclude anti-discrimination protections, the governor doubled-down, noting that "we're not going to change this law." But members of the Indiana legislature beg to differ with the governor, pledging to "fix" Indiana's RFRA. And now, the Governor has changed his tune, also calling for a fix to the bill. Can there really be an easy "fix," short of repealing the Act? The answer is, of course, it depends. Under RFRAs like Indiana's, people are not free to disobey any law in tension with their religious convictions. Instead, RFRAs create a standard to balance a person's religious interests against the governmental policy at stake. Under Indiana's RFRA, the government must show that its policy interest advances a compelling state interest and is the least restrictive means to address the problem at issue. The question would then become whether anti-discrimination laws advance a compelling interest in the least restrictive means. The answer to that question is easy: yes. The adoption of such laws have long been viewed as advancing compelling state interests, and the only way to eliminate discrimination is to ban it, so they are the least restrictive means. At present in Indiana, there is no state-level law that protects LGBT persons from discrimination by private parties. In certain cities and other, local jurisdictions, however, there are ordinances prohibiting such discrimination. Indiana would have two ways to "fix" the RFRA problem. The first would be to adopt state-wide nondiscrimination laws that protect LGBT persons. Such an act would confirm that, as a matter of state policy, protecting the LGBT community is viewed as a compelling state interest. This would bring Indiana into alignment with Illinois, which has a RFRA, but which also has a comprehensive nondiscrimination statute, ameliorating any concerns about the RFRA being used in discriminatory fashion. Given the wishy-washy answer that Gov. Pence provided when asked whether he thought discrimination against LGBT persons was appropriate, the likelihood of Indiana adopting a comprehensive nondiscrimination statute seems remote at best, eliminating this fix as an option. Another possibility would be to amend the statute to confirm that any federal, state, or local nondiscrimination laws constitute a compelling state interest for the purposes of the RFRA. Importantly, federal law does not protect LGBT persons from discrimination by private actors, and neither does Indiana state law. But this language would expressly carve out local ordinances from the scope of the RFRA, such as the nondiscrimination ordinance in Indianapolis. In essence, this would preserve much of the law as it existed before the RFRA: absent local nondiscrimination laws, persons are free in Indiana to discriminate against LGBT persons on any basis. This amendment, however, would make clear that the state-level RFRA cannot be used to trump local city ordinances that protect the LGBT community. What are the odds of this second fix? Well, that precise amendment was proposed -- and adopted -- in the Georgia legislature as it considered a RFRA comparable to Indiana's. The result: the bill's sponsors tabled it, noting that the exception for local nondiscrimination laws would "gut" the bill. That reaction shines a light on the true motivations for these RFRAs. If these acts aren't about discrimination, then why would ensuring nondiscrimination protections "gut" the bill? It's because these bills truly are about permitting discrimination against the LGBT community. All of the hand-waving by Gov. Pence and others cannot distract from the truth: RFRAs are the first responses to LGBT advances. +(CNN)Vatican City is accustomed to welcoming millions of visitors to its grounds each year, but Thursday a very special tour group got a look inside. Approximately 150 homeless people were divided into three groups and ushered through the Petriano entrance next to St. Peter's Square, according to Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano. "The poor, who usually see only the steps outside the colonnade of St. Peter's Square, will also have a chance to enjoy the Vatican's artistic patrimony," the paper wrote. The Office of Papal Charities arranged the special visit, which included a visit to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Other stops included the Domus Sanctae Marthae, behind St. Peter's Basilica, through the piazzale della Zecca, the main path of the Gardens and the Cancello di Gregogio. The paper said the visit would be led by Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, who heads the department "charged with exercising charity to the poor in the name of the Holy Spirit." +London (CNN)Previously secret correspondence between Britain's Prince Charles and government officials is to be made public after a Supreme Court ruling Thursday. The Guardian newspaper had been fighting for the communications to be released since 2005. Charles is next in line to the British throne and as King would constitutionally be required to maintain strict political neutrality. Some commentators say letters to officials suggest he could be a "meddling king," attempting to influence politicians. After the judgment was released Thursday, Guardian Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger said the paper was "delighted" about the Supreme Court's decision after what he said was a "brilliant 10-year campaign by Guardian reporter Rob Evans." "The government wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to cover up these letters, admitting their publication would 'seriously damage' perceptions of the Prince's political neutrality. Now they must publish them so that the public can make their own judgment," Rusbridger said. Max Foster, CNN's royal correspondent, says the letters are part of a broader discussion about the role of the heir to the throne. "These were private letters, never meant for public consumption, which is why the Prince's office has resisted their release," he said. "But they play into a much bigger debate about the role of monarchy. Should Charles be getting involved in politics at all when, as head of state, he'll be expected to be politically neutral? He's not in that position yet so feels he has some leeway." Prime Minister David Cameron said the judgment was "disappointing" and the government would now look at how to release the letters. "This is about the principle that senior members of the royal family are able to express their views to government confidentially. I think most people would agree this is fair enough," he said. Cameron suggested the legislation might need revision in light of the decision: "Our FOI (freedom of information) laws specifically include the option of a governmental veto, which we exercised in this case for a reason. If the legislation does not make Parliament's intentions for the veto clear enough, then we will need to make it clearer." The Prince's official residence, Clarence House, issued a brief statement about the decision. "This is a matter for the government. Clarence House is disappointed the principle of privacy has not been upheld." The anti-monarchy group Republic welcomed the news but warned that 2010 changes to the Freedom of Information Act to remove the public interest clause put future releases at risk. "The government must now act to end royal secrecy. Any risk to the monarchy must pale against a risk to democracy from having an activist prince acting in secret," CEO Graham Smith said. "We can't have a situation where we don't know what influence Charles is having on government policy." In a statement issued on the eve of the decision, Smith branded the monarchy one of Britain's "most secretive institutions." "Charles clearly has his own political agenda, yet his name won't be on the ballot in May. So we all need to know what influence he is trying to exert and what impact he is having on policy." Evans, the Guardian reporter, had been fighting a legal battle to get the letters published since 2005 when he requested disclosure of communications between Charles and various government departments under the UK's Freedom of Information Act and environmental regulations. After the departments and the information commissioner denied his requests, Evans appealed to the Information Tribunal, which referred the matter to the Upper Tribunal. The Guardian reported in 2009 that Charles had written to Treasury, Foreign Office and Education Department ministers over the previous three years and that his aides had also written letters to government officials. "The disclosures will fuel growing concern that the prince is continuing to interfere in political matters when many believe he should remain neutral if he wishes to become king," the paper said. The Upper Tribunal ruled in 2012 that many of the letters, "advocacy correspondence," should be disclosed, but its decision was vetoed by Britain's attorney general, who issued a certificate overriding it. Explaining his decision, the attorney general said that in that his view, the correspondence was "undertaken as part of The Prince of Wales' preparation for becoming King" and contained nothing that outweighed "strong public interest against disclosure." The Guardian challenged the veto in court, but three high court judges dismissed it, so Evans appealed to the Supreme Court, which on Thursday ruled that the attorney general was not entitled to issue the certificate. +(CNN)Britain's Lewis Hamilton made the perfect start to his world title defense by winning the opening race of the F1 season in Australia Sunday to lead a Mercedes one-two in Melbourne. Polesitter Hamilton controlled the race on the Albert Park street circuit to win from teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel took the final podium position for his new team Ferrari, holding off Felipe Massa in the Willams. It was the 34th career victory for two-time world champion Hamilton and underlined the continued dominance of Mercedes as he and Rosberg pulled well clear of their nearest challengers. Hamilton, who was forced to retire early in last year's Australian Grand Prix, was taking the checkered flag in Melbourne for the first time since 2008, when he claimed his first world title for McLaren. It had all gone completely to plan until coming face to face on the victory podium with movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was conducting the post-race interviews. "Hey man, WOW," said a surprised Hamilton. "It is an incredibly feeling to continue winning but also great to be up here with you." Then taking his courage in his hands, Hamilton cheekily told 'The Terminator' "I thought you were taller!" After getting the thoughts of Rosberg and Vettel, who said it was a "very big honor" to gain his first points for Ferrari, Schwarzenegger turned his attention back to Hamilton. The pair signed off by saying together: "I'll be back," the catchphrase from Schwarzenegger's iconic 1984 film. With Hamilton winning his seventh race from eight starts, his F1 rivals would probably rather he stayed away and Rosberg admitted "he was driving to his max" but could not match the pace of his teammate. Only 11 cars finished the race from a depleted grid of 15 cars, with Valtteri Bottas unable to start for Williams due to a back injury. Pastor Maldonado crashed out on the first lap as the safety car was deployed, while his teammate Romain Grosjean retired early in the 58-lap race to complete a miserable afternoon for Lotus. Britain's Jenson Button in an uncompetitive McLaren was the only driver to finish without a point in 11th place. His regular teammate Fernando Alonso sat out the race after his nasty crash in pre-season testing in Barcelona, while stand-in Kevin Magnussen retired after the warm-up lap. Kimi Raikkonen looked set to underline Ferrari's improvement when running in fifth place, but had to retire the car, with TV replays indicating his left rear tire was not fitted properly after a pit stop. It left the way clear for rookie Felipe Nasr of Brazil to claim an unexpected fifth place for Sauber, which went through the 2014 season without claiming a single point, and also took eighth spot with Marcus Ericsson. Home hopes rested with Daniel Ricciardo, third in last year's title race, but he looked off the pace in the Red Bull in sixth place. Force India pair Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished seventh and 10th, with Carlos Sainz Jr. impressing on his F1 debut for Toro Rosso in ninth. Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made F1 history by becoming the youngest driver to compete in an F1 race at 17 years and 166 days, but his hopes were dashed when forced to retire in his Toro Rosso on the 34th lap. +(CNN)Jordan Spieth has Rory McIlroy and the world No.1 spot firmly in his sights after winning the Valspar Championship on Sunday. Spieth won a three-way play-off with a 28-foot birdie on the third extra hole to become only the fourth player since 1940 to win twice on the PGA Tour before turning 22. It is a feat that not even McIlroy mastered with Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Robert Gamez the only players to have achieved that particular accolade in the past 75 years. But it is the Northern Irishman that is within Spieth's focus heading towards Augusta. "I like studying the game, being a historian of the game," Spieth told the PGA Tour website. "It's really cool to have my name go alongside those. "But right now currently what I'm really focused on is Rory McIlroy and the No.1 in the world. That's who everyone is trying to chase. "That's our ultimate goal to eventually be the best in the world and this is a great, great stepping stone. But going into the four majors of the year, to have closed one out in this kind of fashion is going to give me a lot of confidence." Spieth has long been heralded as the next big thing in golf -- shining in the amateur ranks with two U.S. junior titles and leading last year's Masters after the third round before eventually finishing tied for second, three shots behind Bubba Watson. On Sunday, he held his nerve at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, to hold on for the victory. He first rescued par on the 16th with a 60-foot bunker shot and needed a 32-foot putt to ensure his place in the playoff, which he duly holed. It was a putt of similar length that ensured a second Tour win to add to his John Deere Classic success in July 2013, which he also won courtesy of a playoff making him the youngest PGA Tour winner for 82 years at the time. +(CNN)From an iconic marble statue of a heavily pregnant disabled artist to the more recent giant blue cockerel, London's Fourth Plinth art project has always provided a controversial modern twist to the traditional landmarks around London's Trafalgar Square. The latest offering, "Gift Horse," which took up residence in the Square's northwest corner Thursday, looks set to continue the tradition with a work that explores the link between power, money and history, according to organizers. Unveiled by London's Mayor Boris Johnson, the sculpture created by German-born conceptual artist Hans Haacke portrays a skeletal riderless horse with an ribbon-shaped electronic ticker tied to its left leg showing live market data from London's Stock Exchange. "'Gift Horse' is a startlingly original comment on the relationship between art and commerce and I hope it will stimulate as much debate as other works that have appeared on the plinth," Johnson said. The 13-feet high bronze skeleton is a "wry comment," organizers say, on the equestrian statue of King William IV originally planned, but never realized for the plinth more than 150 years ago. Further nods to the past and the sculpture's location can be found in the pose which is based on the engraving "The Anatomy of a Horse" by English artist George Stubbs, whose famous equine portraits hang on the walls of the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square's north side. One of London's most famous landmarks, Trafalgar Square is popular with tourists. Named after a famed 1805 British naval victory against the French, its centerpiece is a column commemorating Lord Horatio Nelson, who died during the conflict. In a career spanning half-a-century, Haacke has frequently explored the interconnectedness of art, power and money through installations, paintings, photography and written text. Many of Haacke's most famous works have explored systems, be it physical -- as evidenced by his famous 1960s work "Condensation Cube" -- or the social and political as seen in "MoMA Poll" (1970), "A Breed Apart" (1978) and more recently his "Der Bevölkerung" (The People) installed in Germany's Reichstag building in Berlin in 2000. "It's a very prominent spot," said the 78-year-old, reflecting on the "Gift Horse's" positioning in Trafalgar Square, "It's very beautiful. Everybody sees it." "There are other statues and the idea of having the empty plinth which has been made available periodically for artists is a great idea," added Haacke. Around Trafalgar Square there was mixed reaction to the sculpture. "It definitely doesn't look like a horse's head, does it? Looks more dinosaur-ish to me," said a slightly baffled female day-tripper from Wales, while another tourist seemed equally confused. "My first impression was that it looked like an alien, because you see it and then you think, huh? What is it?" said Toni, visiting from Switzerland. Local reaction was more positive though. "I just think it's very witty," said Londoner Tony Francis. "I can see the (George) Stubbs influence. And I love the Stock Exchange (ribbon) scrolling round and the way they merge into each other." "Gift Horse" is the 10th artwork to sit on the plinth and follows the "Hahn/Cock," created by German artist Katharina Fritsch which was in residence from July 2013 to February this year. +April 1, 2015 . A trip around the world starts things off this Tuesday, with coverage of events in Nigeria, Switzerland and West Africa. Then, at the start of Financial Literacy Month, we're taking a look at wages in the U.S. and how they're hampering the economy. And could cyborg cockroaches give pests a new role as rescuers? Discuss the ethics, the debate and the science from today's show! On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)I was deeply moved watching Julianne Moore win the Oscar for "Still Alice," a movie I was proud and privileged to be an executive producer on. Julianne gives a harrowing performance as a brilliant 50-year-old college professor who loses her brain and herself to early-onset Alzheimer's disease. This is a huge moment for Julianne -- and a huge moment for all of us who have been trying to focus public attention on this staggering disease. Witnessing Alzheimer's progress on the big screen is as terrifying as it is in real life. I know, because I'm a child of Alzheimer's. The mind of my father, Sargent Shriver, had always been a finely tuned instrument that left people in awe and inspired. But my family and I watched Alzheimer's erase that brain -- slowly, inexorably, completely. It was terrifying, too, because back then, the disease was surrounded by shame and silence. Alzheimer's still carries a stigma of the unknown -- even though today more than 5 million Americans have it. That's right. Every 67 seconds, another one of us develops Alzheimer's. Women in their 60s are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's as breast cancer. With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day, there will be 13.5 million of us with Alzheimer's by 2050. And many people don't understand that Alzheimer's isn't a natural part of aging. Alzheimer's is a disease that kills. The truth is, we're right in the middle of an epidemic, but we as a nation are in denial. An Oscar for "Still Alice" is shining the brightest light yet on Alzheimer's, but light isn't enough anymore. Attention isn't enough. It's time to get serious. Alzheimer's is exerting a powerful impact on American families -- on our health, our finances, and our futures. And women are disproportionately affected. Why women? Back in 2010, when we published "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's," we reported that women were more than half the individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's and nearly two-thirds of the unpaid caregivers of those who had it. Now those numbers are far worse. Today nearly two-thirds of those with Alzheimer's are women -- that's more than 3.2 million women. And more than 60% of caregivers for people with Alzheimer's and dementia are women, with many having to reduce their own workload or even drop out of the workforce altogether to care for loved ones. Opinion: Why 'Still Alice' is about you . Women are the epicenter of this crisis, which is why I believe they also have to be the solution. So, in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association and so many inspiring women already working on the front lines to fight this disease, we have launched the Wipe Out Alzheimer's Challenge, a multipronged campaign powered by women's brains. Our mission is to enlist women of all ages to get educated, engaged and empowered to instigate change. Women around the country will go out and raise the alarm, raise awareness, raise the stakes and raise millions of dollars to fund serious research into women's brains. And there's so much research to do and so many questions to answer. Why is the incidence of Alzheimer's higher for women? Nobody knows. And why is it that women in their 60s are so much more likely to get Alzheimer's than breast cancer? Nobody knows. What's the exact role of estrogen? We don't know. Is there an Alzheimer's connection with depression or with diabetes? What about genetics? What can be done during the 20 or so years when the disease develops, before a woman even becomes symptomatic? What's the impact of diet, stress level, exercise, sleep and cardiovascular condition? It's time to find out. We have to fund this research, because for some reason it's not a priority for the government. In 2015, Washington will spend an estimated $6 billion on cancer research and $3 billion on HIV/AIDS research, but only $586 million on Alzheimer's. Yet, as the Alzheimer's Association tells us, "the costs to all payers for the care of people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will total an estimated $226 billion, with Medicare and Medicaid paying 68 percent of the costs." I don't get it, but I'm not going to wait anymore. So Wipe Out Alzheimer's is stepping in. We're asking women to put together their own "brain trusts" in their communities -- groups that will go out and do some muscular fund-raising. But equally important, these brain trusts will gather to discuss and disseminate information about what the disease is and isn't. What are the warning signs we should look for in ourselves and our parents? What's the difference between normal forgetfulness, dementia and Alzheimer's disease? Can brain games or meditation slow cognitive decline? Do dietary supplements help? Local brain trust groups will also learn about the devastatingly high cost of Alzheimer's -- how neither Medicare nor the Affordable Care Act covers long-term care, and the cost of a semiprivate nursing home room averages more than $80,000 a year. They'll reach out to help and encourage women whose loved ones have Alzheimer's. They will be politically engaged and encourage political candidates who support increased funding for Alzheimer's research. They'll push their own doctors to get better-educated about cognitive health. It's time for the narrative around Alzheimer's to change. I remember when an HIV/AIDS diagnosis was a death sentence. I remember when cancer was a dirty word, and the prognosis was always grim. But AIDS and cancer activists are helping to take these diseases from terrifying to treatable, from hopeless to hopeful. We want to do the same with Alzheimer's. We want to understand it, prevent it, treat it and beat it. Wipe Out Alzheimer's is creating a global community of women activists, agitators and agents of change to do just that. We used to think that the mysterious condition called Alzheimer's disease happened only to folks in their 80s and 90s. "Still Alice" shows us that's just not true. The race for the Oscar may be over, but the race to wipe out Alzheimer's is on. +Lausanne, Switzerland (CNN)Talks to reach a deal on a framework agreement on Iran's nuclear program will be extended an extra day, U.S. officials said Tuesday. "‎We've made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining,"‎ State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the talks in Lausanne would continue another day as "long as the conversations continue to be productive." Diplomats and negotiators worked late as an initial deadline approached, but more time appeared necessary to reach a framework deal. How long talks will continue was unclear. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius informed the Iranians that he will return to Paris at dawn Wednesday in an apparent effort to force the Iranians' hand, Western diplomatic sources told CNN. Hamid Ba'idinejad from Iran's Foreign Ministry said earlier Tuesday there are no "artificial" deadlines and a deal will be reached, when each issue has been resolved. Diplomats told CNN that there has been progress, but gaps remain. For Iran, that means there's a light at the end of the tunnel for crippling sanctions. For the West, it means real hope that it's possible to loosen up on Tehran while still being confident that it won't develop nuclear weapons. The international sanctions relief issue has been resolved, according to Ba'idinejad. "We have had long discussions on this, but there are issues that are related to sanctions that are still under consideration," Ba'idinejad said. He added that is not the only issue that needs to be worked out. The thing is, nuclear physics is complicated. So are the international dynamics anytime you're talking about Iran and the West, with mutual distrust and contempt a shared sentiment for years. That's why it's taken so long to even get to this point, and why what's happening in Lausanne matters. Before you can iron out nitty-gritty technical details in a permanent, comprehensive pact -- which carries the more important deadline of June 30 -- you have to agree on what you're going to talk about. What happens if Wednesday passes and there's no framework agreement? In the short term, it appears, not much. Iran's power rises, with or without deal . The real deadline isn't for three months, after all. As for the March 31 date, there's nothing to stop the parties from continuing to talk -- though an Iranian official told state-run Press TV that no one had raised the idea of an extension as of late Monday. "All emphasize that the chance should not be missed, and they are all doing their best," Ba'idinejad said. So far, there's been a lot of meetings, with occasional smiles for cameras followed by foreign ministers talking behind closed doors. After working through the previous night, representatives from the key players -- most of them foreign ministers -- met all day Tuesday to try to resolve differences in what Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described as "the final stage" of "these marathon-like negotiations." The parties are either on the verge of a milestone agreement or still separated on some crucial points, depending on who you listen to. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is among the optimists. Russia has been closer than most to Iran even as it's gone along with sanctions. "Prospects for this round of talks are not bad, I would even say good," Lavrov said before heading to Switzerland for the final round of negotiations, according to state-run Sputnik news agency. "The chances are high." But in comments Monday to CNN, a more cautious Kerry conceded there was "a little more light there today, but there are still some tricky issues." "There still remain some difficult issues," the top U.S. diplomat said. "We are working very hard to work those through ... with a view to get something done." 21 questions on Iranian nuclear talks . Iran has been under intense international pressure and has faced crippling sanctions over its nuclear program for years. The sides began moving away from stalemate with Iranians' 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, who has insisted that Iran wants a peaceful nuclear energy program but not weapons. Viewed as a moderate -- especially compared with other powerful figures in Iran, including the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- Rouhani campaigned on a platform that he'd work to help Iran's economy by reducing its rifts with the outside world. His government has had some success easing those tensions, spearheading interim agreements that have loosened some sanctions. But a comprehensive and final deal has remained elusive. There's been discussion on what to do with Iran's existing fissile material -- which is important because, as long as it's still around, that will make it easier to produce a nuclear weapon more quickly. Still, U.S. officials suggested Monday the debate over this has been overblown, with Harf calling it one outstanding issue though "it hasn't, quite honestly, been one of the toughest ones." More important are three points that have dominated the talks in Lausanne: . • How quickly or slowly Iran will be allowed to advance its nuclear technology in the last five years of the 15-year agreement. • How quickly the crushing U.N. sanctions will go away. • Whether sanctions will snap back into place if Iran violates the deal. Iran wants them gone for good. Lavrov claims that the U.N. Security Council will lift the sanctions right away, but other international negotiators want to merely suspend them, so they can be reapplied as leverage if Iran does not keep its end of the bargain. Agreement on those points is crucial, a Western diplomat said. "There cannot be an agreement if we do not have answers to these questions," the diplomat said. Another point of contention: what to do with the nuclear substances Iran already has. Diplomats had told journalists about a plan for Iran to ship its fissile material to Russia. The idea is that if Tehran doesn't have a nuclear stockpile at its fingertips, it will have a longer "breakout time" to make a nuclear weapon should negotiations fall apart. Iran isn't ready to do that, one of its negotiators said Sunday. "The export of stocks of enriched uranium is not in our program," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, "and we do not intend to send them abroad." But on Monday, U.S. officials said the rumblings in the media about the stockpile issue were overblown. Negotiators had not yet decided any specifics about the disposal of fissile material, and Iran has made the comments many times before, a senior State Department official said, citing a list of previous examples of such statements in press reports. With or without a deal, a lot can change in the next three months. For one, the devil is in the details -- any one of which could throw everyone back to square one. Then there's the possibility that a deal ironed out in Switzerland is rejected by any of the key players. That's been raised as a possibility in the United States, even though a Washington Post-ABC News Poll conducted in the past few days found that 59% of respondents support a deal in Iran that would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Earlier this month, 47 Republican senators wrote directly to the Iranian government, reminding it that any deal it reaches with U.S. President Barack Obama might be moot once his term ends in less than two years. One person leading the charge against a possible deal, even though he'll have no direct part in shaping it, is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reiterating points he made earlier this month to the U.S. Congress, Netanyahu said Tuesday "the greatest threat to our security and safety and our future is Iranians' attempt to become nuclear." "And the agreement that is being formed in Lausanne," the Israeli leader said, "is paving the road to that result." CNN's Elise Labott reported from Lausanne, and Steve Almasy and Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta. Jethro Mullen wrote and reported from Hong Kong. CNN's Ben Brumfield, Jim Sciutto, Nimet Kirac and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. +(CNN)It was nothing if not predictable. Take combustible issues like religion and sexuality, stir in a new law and talk of a boycott, then -- boom! -- the debate on social media explodes. And so it has proved with Indiana's new "religious freedom" law, signed Thursday by Gov. Mike Pence. The new law could allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers if serving them would contravene the business owner's religious beliefs. Supporters of the bill say it protects their right to believe as they choose. Opponents say it is nothing but bigotry dressed up as liberty. The debate is nothing if not vitriolic. And colorful, too. "Libs SHUTUP," reads one tweet, which goes on to assert that Indiana's "Relgious Freedom Restauration Act (sic)" is modeled on federal legislation signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. People on the other side of the debate are equally emphatic -- and, it seems for the moment, more numerous. Some have likened the new law to permitting businesses to discriminate against black people, if perchance their religion dictated that. Others say that Indiana seems out of step with modern times. And then there is the business reaction -- both the nascent boycott from outside the state and the rush by some businesses inside the state to declare that, law or no law, they have no intention of turning anyone away. "My team just canceled travel to IN due to the #ReligiousFreedomRestorationAct," tweeted a user under the name Mark C Somerville, who says he works for @salesforce. "We stand against discrimination." And a tweet from a the St. Elmo Steak House, a business in Indianapolis, the state's capital and its largest city, pledged in capital letters to continue serving ALL. The word Freedom should only be used when it's inclusive and fair for all. Supporters of the law, however, made it clear what they thought opponents should do with their proposed boycott. "Before you go and get too self-righteous w/ your #BoycottIndiana," a user called Caleb Parke tweeted, "@GovPenceIN is protecting #religiousfreedom for EVERYONE! #EqualRights." +Jerusalem (CNN)Within 48 hours of his election night victory, Benjamin Netanyahu rolled back his pre-election comments that there would be no Palestinian state if he were Prime Minister, but the damage may already have been done to relations with the two other major players in the negotiations: the United States and the Palestinians. In an interview with NBC, Netanyahu said, "I haven't changed my policy, I never retracted my speech six years ago calling for a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state. What has changed is the reality, Abu Mazen (nickhame of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) the Palestinian leader refuses to recognize the Jewish state, and he's made a pact with Hamas that calls for the destruction of Israel. And every territory vacated these days in the Middle East is taken up by Islamist forces and we want that to change so we can realize the vision of real sustained peace. I don't want a one-state solution, I want a sustainable two-state solution." Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says he believes the pre-election statement that Netanyahu will not allow a two-state solution. He says the Palestinians will keep pursuing statehood through the international arena instead of through negotiations. "I've negotiated with them for 20 years, and I complained to the international community that there is a big difference between someone being a tough negotiator which is legitimate and someone being a non-negotiator," Erekat said. "All Netanyahu needs to do to gain the credibility and the trust, not only of me but of the international community, he needs to stand tall and tell the Israeli people that in order to live in peace with our neighbors we're going to have to recognize the state of Palestine." Erekat says the Palestinians may try again for recognition once more at the United Nations, a forum where they fell one vote short of recognition as a full UN member state in December. A new United Nations Security Council consisting of different member states may be more favorable to a second Palestinian bid. So where does that leave the United States? The White House said it would "reassess" the relationship between the United States and Israel. The broad relationship includes security cooperation, financial assistance, and strong diplomatic ties. Both leaders reaffirmed the strength of those ties in the weeks before the Israeli elections. But the United States has also used its veto power as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to block resolutions unfavorable to Israel. Some of that protection could be at stake here as the White House urges both sides back to negotiations. The last peace talks, moderated by Secretary of State John Kerry, broke down in April 2014 after nine months of negotiations. As the talks deteriorated before the scheduled deadline, Israel withdrew from the negotiations when Fatah announced a reconciliation with Hamas, a militant Islamic group, and an intention to form a unity government. In a phone call with Netanyahu, President Barack Obama congratulated Netanyahu and stressed the importance of a two-state solution. But with so much skepticism on both sides, a lasting peace remains a distant goal. +(The Hollywood Reporter)The skies over Gotham City might become bright once again in 2016, with Adam West and Burt Ward promising a return to their career-high roles of Batman and Robin as part of an upcoming animated project next year. The comments took place at the Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, NC this weekend, with Ward somewhat uncertainly telling the crowd that they "can look forward to a new animated "Batman" full length, 90-minute feature, coming out on the 50th anniversary." (That would be the 50th anniversary of the 1960s Batman TV series, which launched Jan. 12, 1966.) Why more 'Star Wars' actors haven't become stars . The animated movie is described by Ward as "one of possibly two, but for sure one, that Adam and I are going to be doing the voices for," although he didn't say anything else about the project. In fact, as video from the event shows below, he seemed unclear about whether he should talk about it at all, prefacing his comments with "I don't know... whether we can talk about the new Batman movie..." (Adam West declares they can, in a suitably Batman-esque authoritative tone.) How Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman have changed their looks through the years . The profile of the 1960s Batman series has been raised considerably in recent years, with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Entertainment releasing a line of merchandise and comic books based on the series under the brand Batman '66, leading up to last year's release of the full series on DVD and Blu-ray. Batman through the years . Warner Bros. declined to comment about a potential 50th anniversary animated project when contacted by THR. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)With partial results reported in the Nigerian presidential election, it appears opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari is leading incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. Reuters, which has collated results from three-quarters of Nigeria's states as they're broadcast live on state TV, reported that Buhari has so far obtained 11.5 million votes, Jonathan 9.5 million. Electoral officers from each of the 36 states are taking turns declaring results from their respective states at the Independent National Electoral Commission. The vote count was stopped Monday night and will resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday (5 a.m. ET), according to a tweet from Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the electoral commission. Jega will be the one to announce final results. Violent protests after Nigeria's presidential elections Saturday sparked calls for calm from the two main candidates and a warning by the United States and Britain against political interference. Protesters fired gunshots and torched a local electoral office in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state on Sunday as they marched to protest the elections, amid claims of vote-rigging and voter intimidation. Heavy rain eventually forced the protesters to leave, but there are fears it will take more than rain to stop further protests and violence. More than 800 people were killed in post-election violence across Nigeria's north in 2011 after charges that those elections were illegitimate. Now Nigeria has just held what are thought to be the closest elections since a return to democracy in 1999 after decades of military rule. The two main candidates are incumbent Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party and retired Buhari of All Progressives Congress. Jonathan and Buhari last week issued a pledge reaffirming their commitment to "free, fair and credible elections" after their signing of the Abuja Accord in January. After the protests in Rivers, Buhari's All Progressives Congress demanded the elections there be canceled. "There's been so much violence in Rivers state that it's just not tenable," party spokesman Lai Mohammed said. But the Peoples Democratic Party disputed the accusation, saying the election was "credible and the result reflects the overwhelming wish of the people of Rivers state to support President Goodluck Jonathan." "We are concerned by what seems to be happening," said Jega, the election chairman, about events in Rivers. Voting ended after problems with ballot papers and digital voting cards saw it extended to Sunday in some areas. Read more: Nigerian election extended one day . Britain and the United States entered the fray Monday with their top diplomats issuing a statement welcoming a "largely peaceful vote" but warning any political interference would contravene Jonathan and Buhari's peace pact. "So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. But there are disturbing indications that the collation process -- where the votes are finally counted -- may be subject to deliberate political interference. This would contravene the letter and spirit of the Abuja Accord, to which both major parties committed themselves," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. Responding to their joint statement, electoral commission spokesman Kayode Idowu said: "For all that I know there is no sign of political interference in the collation procedure." Idowu said the collation procedure "cannot be subject to interference as long as our representative is present." The fear is that the results may not be accepted by the loser. If the opposition believes it has been rigged out of victory by the ruling party, then the protests in Rivers could spread to northern Nigeria. Both candidates have taken to social media to call for calm. "I want to urge all Nigerians to also wait patiently for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to collate and announce results," Jonathan said on his Facebook account. "Fellow Nigerians, I urge you to exercise patience and vigilance as we wait for all results to be announced," said Buhari on Twitter. Nigeria's vote had been scheduled for February 14, but on February 7, Nigeria's election commission announced it would be postponed for six weeks because of security concerns, with the military needing more time to secure areas controlled by extremist group Boko Haram. The controversial decision was unpopular among many Nigerians and led to widespread protests. Jonathan has been criticized for not doing enough to combat Boko Haram, which is waging a campaign of terror aimed at instituting a stricter version of Sharia law in Nigeria. On Saturday, residents in the northeastern state of Gombe said at least 11 people were killed and two more injured in attacks at polling stations, apparently by Boko Haram extremists. In other attacks not believed to be related to voting, suspected Boko Haram militants decapitated 23 people in a raid Saturday night on Buratai village in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, according to residents and Ibrahim Adamu, a local politician in the village. Meanwhile on Monday, Nigeria's police force issued a statement saying police and a "local vigilante group" had foiled an attack by unknown gunmen on the town of Tafawa Balewa in northeastern Bauchi state. The assailants had "stormed Tafawa Balewa town in a convoy of 18 Hilux vehicles and started firing sporadically," the statement said. After being forced to retreat and abandon four vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns, the attackers went to Jitar village, where they killed three "male vigilante members," police said. Security forces had cordoned off the surrounding area, they said. Read more: Democracy was the real winner . Christian Purefoy reported from Lagos and Susannah Cullinane wrote from London. +(CNN)North Korea has arrested what it claims are two spies who worked for South Korea's intelligence service, a North Korean official said Thursday on condition of anonymity. The men, identified as Kim Kook Kie and Choi Chun Kil, are accused of committing crimes of "terrorism" and bringing in "large quantities of forged currency," the North Korean source said. The official said Kim had made a declaration of guilt. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the declaration or whether, if Kim made one, it was made under duress. South Korea's National Intelligence Service told CNN that "the information you've obtained is not true." "We don't have any information that members of NIS were arrested in North Korea," an NIS representative said. +(CNN)The BBC's director-general, Tony Hall, has allegedly received death threats days after "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson was dropped. "Police in Westminster are investigating an allegation of threats to kill," the Metropolitan Police confirmed to CNN in a statement. The allegation was reported to the police on Wednesday. "The threat was made by email," the police added. "The content of the message suggests (it was sent) from outside the UK." The alleged threats come shortly after Hall took the decision to dismiss popular presenter Clarkson from "Top Gear," one of the most-watched television shows in the world. "Top Gear" was suspended March 10 after an apparent altercation between the motor show host and producer Oisin Tymon on March 4. At the time, the BBC issued a statement saying that there had been a "fracas" between the host and a BBC producer. More than 1 million fans of Clarkson and "Top Gear" signed a petition to reinstate the host. The document was delivered to the BBC's headquarters by a fan dressed as the "Stig" -- the incognito racing car test-driver who appeared regularly on the show -- driving an armored tank. On Wednesday, the British broadcaster announced that it would not be renewing Clarkson's contract as host of "Top Gear" after he allegedly busted his producer's lip and hurled verbal abuse at him. Hall issued a statement online following the decision. "It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract," he announced. "It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon." Placing emphasis on Clarkson's legacy, Hall added that the BBC will be looking into a new host for "Top Gear" in 2016. "This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise," he said. Inquiries are ongoing to establish where the threat came from, the police said. A representative for the BBC told CNN: "We don't comment on security matters." +(CNN)A Canadian tourist was killed after a small inflatable tour boat collided with a whale off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, authorities said Thursday. The victim was identified as Jennifer Karren, 35, according to the Baja California Sur Prosecutor General's Office. Karren is a Canadian from Calgary, Alberta, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Two other people aboard the Cabo Adventures' vessel were injured in the incident that happened Wednesday a quarter-mile from the Bay of Santa Maria, the Mexican Federal Attorney General's Office for the Protection of the Environment said. That federal agency is investigating the incident, it said. The inflatable boat, called the Cabo Adventure 9 and designed for recreational diving, was carrying nine people and was returning from a snorkel tour when a side of the craft collided with the whale, authorities said. The skipper, José Salazar Tendis, tried to avoid the whale, officials said. Salazar couldn't be immediately reached for comment. Karren fell in the water, and a tour guide and another passenger jumped in and brought her back on the boat, the federal agency said. The vessel captain immediately informed naval rescue officials, and the boat returned to shore as first aid and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation were performed on Karren, the federal agency said. A tourist aboard the watercraft who was also a nurse performed CPR, authorities said. The Canadian woman was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Baja California Sur Prosecutor General's Office. The tour company's general director, Felipe Diez-Canedo, released a statement through Mexican authorities that expressed regret that one of its guests died, despite receiving first aid and being transported to the hospital. CNN's Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report. +(CNN)Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg resumed where they left off last season as the 2015 Formula One season kicked off in Melbourne. The Mercedes duo, who took pole position in all but one of last season's qualifying sessions and won 16 of the 19 races, were dominant in first and second practice for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. Rosberg, who won last year's GP at Albert Park, was fastest around the Melbourne street circuit on Friday, finishing 0.1 second ahead of Hamilton with Sebastian Vettel taking third spot for his new team Ferrari -- the German four-time world champion finished 0.715 seconds off the pace set by his compatriot. Vettel's Finnish teammate, Kimi Raikkonen was fourth, 1.1 seconds behind the lead with Williams' Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Kvyat, who was making his debut for Red Bull since his switch from Toro Rosso, finishing fifth and sixth respectively. "It was great to be back in the car at this awesome track," Rosberg said, the official Formula One site reported. "Today we have the evidence that our Silver Arrow is quick again and it was a great start for the team," he added. "It seems again that it's very close between Lewis and me and he is a great driver, so I need to nail the setup every time to come out on top. This year will be a big battle again against him, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to the first weekend of the new season with all the great fans out there." Hamilton, who was forced to retire from last year's race with engine trouble, was satisfied with his pace. "It feels great to be back on track and back into a race weekend. In general it's been a good first day," Hamilton said. "Today seemed to confirm that we have pretty good pace. But there are still other quick cars out there and we can't go into tomorrow's sessions not thinking that they will be close." The opening day's racing was somewhat overshadowed by an ongoing dispute between Sauber and the Swiss team's 2014 reserve driver Giedo van der Garde. The 29-year-old Dutchman recently started legal proceeding against the Swiss team claiming they had reneged on a promise to make him one of the lead drivers for the 2015 season. Van der Garde won the case held in a Swiss court earlier this month, with the decision being upheld by Supreme Court of Victoria in Australia on Tuesday after Sauber had appealed the original ruling. During practice Van der Garde could be seen in the Sauber garage wearing his race overalls, but he did not make an appearance on track as Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr completing both practice sessions. Following the initial court ruling, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said that changing drivers hours before a Grand Prix could be dangerous. "What we cannot do is jeopardize the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers," she said, Formula1.com reported. Brazilian Nasr was the highest placed of the two finishing 11th while Swede Marcus Ericsson was 15th. Elsewhere there was also a uncertain start for McLaren who finished way down the pecking order. Jenson Button was 13th, almost four seconds off the pace for the CNN-sponsored team while teammate Kevin Magnussen, who was deputizing for the absent Fernando Alonso, was 16th following second practice. Local favorite Daniel Ricciardo completed just nine laps of practice after his Red Bull suffered engine failure. Qualifying for Sunday's race gets underway on Saturday. +(CNN)Before he was Jihadi John, he was little John -- a young version of the same Mohammed Emwazi who authorities say later became the English-speaking face of ISIS terror. His earlier, innocent image can be seen in video obtained from Britain's Channel 4. It shows a teenage boy in the schoolyard of a West London secondary school. He walks through a sea of fellow students in his zippered sweatshirt over his polo shirt, wearing a backpack and carrying a plastic bottle. At one point, a basketball rolls toward him and he returns it with a deft kick. He looks playful at times as when he skips and lightheartedly pushes two other boys, more serious in others. In other words, he appears to be not much different than any other teenager. But he's not. The boy in the video is Emwazi, his former headmaster at Quintin Kynaston Community Academy told CNN. Who Mohammed Emwazi used to be . Jo Shuter noted that her former student could be shy at times, but overall he was far from a troublemaker and not much out of the ordinary. "He was bullied a little bit, because he was quiet and reserved," Shuter said. "Generally, he was fine. There (were) no issues with him. There were no problems." Emwazi became even more focused in his last few years at Quintin Kynaston Community Academy, she said. "He was working hard, he achieved great grades for him, and he went to the university of his choice," Shuter told CNN this week, referring to London's Westminster University, from which Emwazi graduated in 2009. Contrast that perception with that of the masked, deep-voiced, British-accented man who months ago was dubbed Jihadi John. There is nothing shy, nothing gentle, nothing playful about him. He starred in grisly ISIS videos depicting the beheading of hostages, punctuating his horrific actions with taunts at the United States. A man who says he is Emwazi's father told the Kuwaiti newspaper al Qabas that "there is nothing that proves" the man known as Jihadi John is his son, Mohammed. His Kuwait-based lawyer, Salem Al-Hashash, told CNN that the family plans to sue anyone who makes the connection, calling the father Jassem Emwazi a "victim of libel." Yet Western authorities have made just such a link. They say that the Kuwaiti-born Mohammed Emwazi went from being a typical "boy next door" type growing up in West London to being one of the most high-profile recruits of ISIS, the Islamist extremist group behind a campaign of terror and conquest in Syria and Iraq. More than a dozen British administrative court documents obtained by CNN indicate that, as far back as 2009, British security services believed Emwazi was part of a radical West London recruitment network for terrorist groups in East Africa. And in late February, two U.S. officials and two U.S. congressional sources confirmed reports in British and other media that Emwazi went on to join ISIS and is the man known as Jihadi John. +(CNN)NATO jets scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft as they neared Latvian airspace, officials said on Wednesday. Estonian radar detected the aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday night, NATO said. Other than the lead aircraft, NATO said, none of the other Russian military aircraft was on a flight plan. NATO sent jets to identify the planes and later reported that the military aircraft flew on into Russian airspace. NATO didn't say how many Russian aircraft were involved. The flights come as Russia's Northern Fleet has been placed on full combat alert for military exercises involving nearly 40,000 troops and 50 warships. The exercises have rattled nerves in nearby NATO states, including Latvia, where U.S. troops and equipment recently arrived for NATO training, and where fears are growing about Russian President Vladimir Putin's next move. At the same time on Wednesday, Putin joined a celebration in Moscow's Red Square, where Russians celebrated the one-year anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. NATO has condemned the annexation as an illegal territory grab and is boosting its troop presence in the region in what officials say is an effort to discourage Putin from encroaching into other countries. Putin describes the annexation as a "reunification," saying that Crimea's residents overwhelmingly voted to be part of Russia. CNN's Don Melvin and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. +(CNN)At first Raymond Goldstein thought he'd received a spam email. The message to the Cambridge University physicist was asking for help working out the dynamics of hair, specifically the shape of ponytails. Goldstein thought he'd "won the Nigerian lottery." Poised to click delete, he scrolled through the message one more time and discovered it was from global consumer goods giant Unilever. Curiosity piqued, he met with a company representative, and the rest, as they say, is history. Assembling a team of balding physicists, Goldstein set out to tackle the subject, publishing their research in a peer review journal. It detailed the fluid mechanics of hair, drawing on a rich seam of scientific observation stretching back to Da Vinci. They even coined a new term: hairodynamics. Attention from the scientific community soon followed, and within a year they were collecting a Nobel Prize. An Ig Nobel Prize, that is. A satirical cousin to the more esteemed Swedish award, the Ig Nobel seeks to highlight research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. This year marks their 25th anniversary, so what better time to celebrate the Ig Nobels' contribution to the research community? Every year thousands vie for the awards -- "always sourced from the cheapest materials" according to founder Marc Abrahams -- held at Harvard University. The ceremony is bathos at its finest. Winners receive their awards from genuine Nobel laureates, but speeches are curtailed by a screaming girl declaring her boredom. Each year a cast of professional singers and scientists perform a mini-opera. Last year's was set to Mozart and featured a chorus of microbial bacteria. Past recipients include a man who dressed up as a polar bear to scare reindeer and a study of homosexual necrophilia among mallard ducks (commended by Abrahams for "its high literary quality"). However, not all winners can have such high scientific kudos. The Ig Nobels skewered the U.S. Government in 2012, awarding them the Prize for Literature "for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports." You can read it here. In 2009 the Math Prize went to Gideon Gono, then head of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, for printing a Z$100 trillion note (while also printing 1c). Last year the Italian National Institute of Statistics landed the Economics Prize for bringing the country out of recession through the use of prostitutes, drugs and smuggling. (The Italian government ended up setting a precedent in Europe, with the UK soon including the so-called "black economy" in its figures -- national GDP jumped by 5% that quarter, equivalent to $15 billion.) As proved by the Ig Nobels, the line between ridiculous and serious research has always been blurred. This is no better reflected than in Dutch-British physicist Andre Geim. In 2000 Geim scooped the Ig Nobel for Biology for using magnets to levitate frogs. Ten years later he went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene." It is hard to say which is the greater achievement. Abrahams is currently touring the UK touting the Igs, supported by previous winners such as Goldstein and potential candidates like David Dunstan, who found fame by conducting a two year study into the homing properties of garden snails (his modus operandi: throwing them over the garden fence). Soon Abrahams will have to settle down and sift through what he predicts will be about 9,000 entries, before the anniversary ceremony on September 17. Despite his longstanding and much admired pastiche of the Nobels, he is still yet to be invited to Stockholm for the awards proper. Asked if he would attend if offered the opportunity, Abrahams demurs, saying "he wouldn't want to be a distraction." And as for what the Nobel Prize could learn from his own mischievous creation? "Absolutely nothing." Read more from Make, Create, Innovate: . Great photos from the world's smallest satellites . So long, transistor: How the 'memristor' could revolutionize electronics . Laser procedure can turn brown eyes blue . +(CNN)The HBO documentary "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" is already drawing rave reviews on the film festival circuit, including sold-out showings at both Sundance and the True/False fests before its television premiere on May 4th. However, anticipation for the film's soundtrack is about to hit fever pitch as director Brett Morgen revealed that the accompanying album will feature "a mind-blowing 12-minute acoustic Cobain unheard track," the filmmaker tweeted (via Loudwire). Kurt Cobain documentary set to premiere at Sundance . Morgen didn't share any other details regarding the song other than it will feature on the "Montage of Heck" soundtrack. While an April 7th release date has been scheduled for the film's companion book, which features "a mixture of animation stills, rare photography and other treasures from Kurt Cobain's personal archive," no date or further information has been announced regarding the film's soundtrack. Kurt Cobain doc 'Montage of Heck' adds rarities-filled companion book . Rolling Stone talked to Morgen at the Sundance Film Festival, and the filmmaker revealed that the documentary's score "is all unreleased Cobain music." "They don't have titles. Before people saw the movie, there were these weird press releases focusing on the unreleased music. And it's like: It's a movie. We're not going to stop it and play a song for four minutes," Morgen said. "But nobody in Kurt's life — not his management, wife, bandmates — had ever heard his Beatles thing [a snippet of 'And I Love Her']. I found it on a random tape. It's a Paul [McCartney] song. How's that for shattering the myth?" Sundance 2015: Intimate 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck' doc stuns at premiere . Morgen added that he hoped to put out one of the Cobain's personal cassettes - "Tape 59: Montage of Heck" - as a special release on "Independent Record Store day, like unannounced, but it didn't happen." See the original story at RollingStone.com. Copyright © 2015 Rolling Stone. +(CNN)A court in Ivory Coast has sentenced former first lady Simone Gbagbo to 20 years in prison, the official AIP news agency said. Gbagbo was convicted Monday for her role in carrying out crimes against humanity following post-election violence in 2010 which left more than 3,000 people dead. Her husband, former president Laurent Gbagbo, is in the custody of the Hague-based International Criminal Court awaiting trial over similar charges. The charges stem from the aftermath of Gbagbo's husband's election defeat in 2010. Laurent Gbagbo, then the incumbent president, refused to step down after Alassane Ouattara was declared the winner of the election. The standoff sparked months of violence between supporters of the two sides, leaving thousands dead. In 2012, the ICC issued a warrant against her, alleging that as a member of the president's inner circle, his wife was an "indirect co-perpetrator." She attended meetings where plans were discussed and carried out to persecute Ouattara supporters, according to the warrant. Her husband surrendered to the ICC in December of that year, and is currently awaiting trial at The Hague on crimes against humanity for the civil unrest and deaths. Both have denied the charges. But Ivory Coast refused to transfer Simone Gbago, saying it would try her in a domestic court instead. On Monday, it did. CNN's Faith Karimi contributed to this report. +(CNN)"A pilot called me last week, concerned he might have Marfan syndome," a health care provider told me recently at a meeting. "But if I find he has the disease, do I have to report him to the Federal Aviation Administration? And if so, should I call him first and tell him that? Would he lose his job?" She was totally unsure what to do. Several other providers were present, and none of them knew, either. "You should definitely call him and tell him," a health care lawyer, who was present, said. "You have to provide full disclosure." "But presumably, he knows that you might do so," I said. "And if you told him, he might not come in for the check-up." Marfan syndrome affects connective tissue and can lead to sudden tears in the aortic artery, causing sudden death. Yet if treated, it poses much less risk, though not necessarily zero. The case raised several specific quandaries about what the responsibilities of medical professionals are and should be -- legally or ethically -- in evaluating pilots. The FAA requires that pilots self-report any diagnoses. But health care professionals have no obligation to notify anyone. They may know that a pilot has a medical problem that is poorly or not treated and may endanger passengers, but these providers have no obligation to do anything about it. These issues are crucial, given that Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the Germanwings Flight 9525, killing 150 passengers. We still don't know why he committed suicide-murder, but the latest reports indicate he was treated for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot license. The Germanwings disaster has demonstrated that current standards of medical and psychiatric evaluation are inadequate. The FAA requires only that pilots fill out a psychological questionnaire, asking whether they have had psychological symptoms. But pilots are not assessed in person by a psychiatrist. Such face-to-face assessments can provide crucial information that self-report forms might miss, partly because pilots might answer inaccurately. Moreover, the FAA requires only that 25% of pilots have a single random drug screen per year. Pilots may pass drug tests in January and realize that the odds of undergoing subsequent tests that year are nil. They may hence use more alcohol and recreational drugs. We need to consider changing current policies. Some alterations are relatively easy. The FAA should consider requiring far more drug testing -- for all pilots, perhaps every few days. Other possible reforms pose difficult ethical dilemmas, and thus need broad, careful discussion -- e.g., what role providers should play and how much privacy pilots should have. Medical exams and records over time can indicate key problems that a single visit to an FAA doctor may miss. But requiring more information from pilots diminishes their rights to privacy. Indeed, such rights impeded investigators from knowing initially the reason Lubitz took a six-month leave and the nature of his medical condition. Physicians have to break patient confidentiality when third parties may be endangered. The legal precedent for breaking patient confidentiality in this way is the so-called Tarasoff case, in which a young patient told his psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley that he wanted to kill his girlfriend, Tatiana Tarasoff. The psychologist alerted the campus police, though not the city police or Tarasoff. Unfortunately, the patient then killed Tarasoff. A court found the psychologist liable. These violations of patient confidentiality make us providers uncomfortable. As a physician, I have had to report patients whom I even suspected might be abusing a child. I remember one patient who came to the emergency room for psychiatric problems mentioning that she sometimes hit her toddler son with the end of an electrical cord, swinging it until the thick part banged him. As I asked more, she began to cry. I felt terrible for her and was unsure how dangerous her actions were, but I erred on the side of protecting the child's safety and contacted social services. When I told her, she nodded, then whispered thank you. She knew she needed help. Still, in Germany and several states, providers do not have to break patient confidentiality, even when they think the patient may endanger others. Critical dilemmas arise, though, of what threshold should be used concerning which diagnoses and how much their successful treatment should matter. Some diagnoses may be treatable and thus permissible if doctors examine the pilot more frequently than once a year. Early in the HIV epidemic, for instance, some critics argued that HIV-infected pilots should be barred from flying, since the virus could cause neurological problems. Fortunately, the FAA decided that evidence of actual neurological deficits -- not infection alone -- should ground these employees. Physicians arguably should consider reporting pilots who have, for instance, epilepsy, manic-depression or diabetes that leads to coma if these conditions are not well controlled with medications. Yet stigma can make pilots fear job loss and thus hide diagnoses and not seek treatment. The FAA could require that pilots seek treatment in order to fly, but some pilots may still simply cover up problems. Ideally, the clinician should be able to talk with the pilot about the need not to fly and arrange a leave for a few months to improve treatment. Good employee assistance programs and trust are also needed. In addition, we need research to find how much physician reporting would reduce risks or lead pilots to camouflage problems. Questions still arise of whether even the suspicion of a problem that could impede function should warrant reporting. An individual may seem fine weeks or even days before becoming seriously depressed. Careful, transparent discussion, involving medical experts, pilots, policymakers and others, to establish policies with clearly established cutoffs are thus vital. Unfortunately, suicides, for instance, are impossible to predict. But much can be done to improve the current system. +(CNN)The murder earlier this month of 27-year-old Farkhunda at the hands of a mob that beat her to death, burned her body and tossed her into a river shocked Afghanistan, a country in which unspeakable things often hit the headlines. The young woman from Kabul was falsely accused of burning pages in the Holy Quran. What followed was the horror of mob rule, all captured on video while bystanders looked on. Soon after the incident, the images of her brutal slaying went viral on social media, noted Afghanistan's TOLO News. And this time, the outrage led Afghans to the streets, with assistance from Facebook and other social media. These platforms have served both to disseminate the images of her savage beating and murder and as a means for convening those who are mobilizing and organizing to protest her killing. Last week, crowds chanted for days, calling for justice for Farkhunda and "death for her killers." And,TOLO News reported, protests were held in different parts of the country, calling for the "ultimate penalty to the perpetrators." Indeed, technology and connectedness have played a role in changing the old narratives in Afghanistan, as Farkhunda's killing shows. Not only was her murder captured and shared online, but some of those men arrested for her killing were found to have confessed via social media posts. And now a country's anguish is shared in those same online and virtual neighborhoods. Some Afghan civil society leaders see the protests that have resulted as yet another sign of an evolving Afghanistan -- a nation whose recently elected leaders, now sharing a unity government, visited Washington, D.C., in an effort to turn the page on the past. "When we are talking about this case, what is it showing us? First of all, when we are talking about women's rights, we see that we have succeeded; people will not tolerate what they tolerated a decade ago," said Nargis Nehan, founder and executive director of Equality for Peace and Democracy, a non-governmental organization created to promote "a culture of peace, tolerance, transparency and accountability." She was speaking last Tuesday at a roundtable at Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security, organized around the visit by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. "If this was the Afghanistan of a decade before and this would have happened, a small group of Afghan women would have come to the streets to be seeking justice. Today we have men seeking justice." Nehan explained that the younger generation, a progressive generation, wants to have a peaceful Afghanistan. "But at the same time, we have conservatives who have been power-holders for many decades in Afghanistan and they don't want to see that. Change always has a cost and unfortunately in this case we see that a very innocent girl like Farkhunda has paid that." Nehan and other leaders from Afghanistan could be seen checking Facebook frequently for updates on what was happening on the streets of their capital. What they found was an online community sustaining the strong sense of injustice over Farkhunda's killing that prompted the Afghan President to announce, even before he left for the United States, a fact-finding commission to investigate her murder. Yet some Afghan leaders worried that the brutality of this murder marked another troubling turning point in a country wrestling with a great many transitions -- economic, security and political -- all at once. "It never (before) happened to women at this level; this was really one of the shocking acts of violence publicly within the capital," said Sima Samar, head of the Afghan Human Rights Commission, at the Georgetown panel. "It is not far from the palace, less than one kilometer." "My personal concern is that if we do not manage the case properly, it might be used against us and against women's rights in the country," Samar added. Women have gained a great deal in the roughly 13 years since the Taliban was ousted from power. Today, 3 million girls attend school. Women serve in the country's security forces -- albeit in very small numbers. They sit in Parliament and work as entrepreneurs, teachers and civil society advocates. Still, violence against women remains rampant and widespread. The practice of child marriage is outlawed but still common in some parts of the country. And security and the economy are still major challenges, particularly in the more remote provinces of the country untouched by the modernization gripping the nation's more urban centers. Indeed, Samar and other human rights advocates and civil society leaders who have played a role in post-Taliban Afghanistan say they are determined that Farkhunda's death will not be in vain. They say they will continue to fight to keep her case in the spotlight and to see justice served. Their commitment to seeking public justice for a public horror may well be one of the most powerful signals yet of an Afghanistan that is indeed a very different nation than it was only a decade ago. +(CNN)With a little bit of help from Donald Trump, Rory McIlroy was re-united with the golf club he famously threw into the lake at Doral -- but probably wished the golf-loving tycoon had not bothered. Never one to miss a media opportunity, Trump, the owner of the Blue Monster course in Florida, got a scuba diver to retrieve the 3-iron club which world No. 1 McIlroy had thought he had seen the last of during Friday's second round at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. The 68-year-old American entrepreneur presented it to McIlroy before his final round Sunday, telling him that it was unlucky to continue playing with 13 clubs as against the usual 14 allowed under golf's rules. "He's never one to miss an opportunity," McIlroy told the official PGA Tour website after his round. "It was fine. It was good fun." Not that opportunity knocked for McIlroy when he chose the 3-iron to play his third shot to the 18th and final hole of the tournament and promptly found the water again. The Northern Irishman feigned to repeat his earlier antics, before placing it back in the bag. His mistake led to a double bogey six and left him tied for ninth at one-under-par, eight shots behind winner Dustin Johnson. McIlroy had promised to return the club to Trump after the round and was as good as his word. "We're thinking about auctioning it for charity or doing a trophy case for Doral, putting it on a beautiful mount," Trump said. Johnson is looking set to be one of McIlroy's main rivals in the first major of the season, the U.S. Masters at Augusta, next month and his victory completed a triumphant comeback to the PGA Tour. The 30-year-old American took a six-month break from the Tour last July to cope with "personal problems" and returned earlier this year. Johnson finished with a three-under 69 in testing conditions to leave him one ahead of long-time leader JB Holmes and two clear of Bubba Watson, the reigning Masters champion. Johnson celebrated on the 18th with his fiancee Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of ice hockey legend Wayne, and their newly-born son. +(CNN)Windell D. Middlebrooks, the actor best known as the straight-talking Miller High Life delivery man, died Monday morning, his agent told CNN. Middlebrooks' family also posted a statement on his Facebook page Tuesday confirming the 36-year-old's death. No cause of death was provided. "The Middlebrooks, with sorrowed hearts, announce the passing of a young, black star. Windell took his final bow and with great joy exited stage left in the early morning of March 9th, 2015," the statement read. "It was Windell's biggest wish that his final scene not be lived on social media. Further details will be forthcoming once the family members plans have been finalized. At this time we have no further information for the press and ask that space is given to his family and friends in their time of mourning." Middlebrooks also had recurring roles on "Body of Proof," "Scrubs" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Fans shared condolences on social media. Miller High Life also honored his memory with a message on Twitter. People we've lost in 2015 . +(CNN)Things just got messy with that One Direction breakup. Just when folks were starting to heal from the shock of Zayn Malik's decision to quit the super-successful boy group on Wednesday, a social media dustup has fans all a-Twitter. Zayn Malik leaving One Direction . Music producer Naughty Boy got into a war of words with One Direction's Louis Tomlinson after the producer retweeted a user going by Naughty Boy/Zayn (@naughtyboymus). The tweet was captioned "The truth" and contained a video of a little ditty in which an electronic voice croons "Naughty Boy saved my life" and mentions "Zaughty." Malik is reportedly working with Naughty Boy, and "Zaughty" is a combination of their names. Tomlinson -- who is BFFs with Malik -- responded with "Wow @NaughtyBoyMusic you're so inconsiderate pal, seriously how f***ing old are you? Grow up! #masterofallwisdom." The producer replied by calling the singer a not-nice word, appearing to have misunderstood the reason behind Tomlinson's ire. The singer corrected him and accused Naughty Boy of trying to get fans worked up. Directioners (as the fans are called) got into it, and the hashtags "Zaughty" and "masterofallwisdom" started trending. Hours later, Naughty Boy decided to "let the music do the talking" and tweeted a link to a song titled "I Wont Mind," which is labeled as a demo from him and Malik. Several fans were not at all happy. After leaving the group, Malik expressed sadness at disappointing fans. "I feel like I've let the fans down, but I can't do this anymore," he told the UK's The Sun. "It's not that I've turned my back on them or anything, it's just that I just can't do that anymore, because it's not the real me." Zayn Malik: 'I've let the fans down' +(CNN)On "Family Matters" we knew him as Eddie Winslow. This week, as inmate 402282. Actor Darius McCrary was jailed on Wednesday for failure to pay child support. He wasn't behind bars long, McCrary was released before the day was over, according to Carrie Rudzki with the jail in Oakland County, Michigan. McCrary, 38, took to Twitter as news of his arrest spread. "All I'm trying to do is raise my son," he tweeted. "#BeingDadIsNotAnOption" But critics were quick to recall when McCrary's Eddie character got into trouble on the show and used it to take a swipe at him. "Ohhh Eddo..." tweeted Happy Famiree. "I guess family doesn't matter." But McCrary wasn't having it. "I've spent all my career in Hollywood and have NEVER been arrested once," he said on Twitter. "I fly in to Oakland County 2 resolve issues and u guys got jokes?" Apparently stung by the reporting, McCrary released a string of tweets defending himself, including one where he appears to compare himself to a late civil rights leader. "If they did it to Dr. King... Who am I?" McCrary said. McCrary has stayed busy since his days on "Family Matters" in the 1980s and 1990s, according Internet Movie Database. IMDb lists 51 acting credits, including stints on "Anger Management" with Charlie Sheen and a two-year run on "The Young and the Restless" as Malcolm Winters. He provided the voice for the Autobot Jazz on "Transformers." CNN's Tina Burnside and Henry Hanks contributed to this report . +(CNN)Marvin Gaye's children have penned an open letter in the hope of "set[ting] the record straight on a few misconceptions" in the media's coverage of their successful lawsuit against the writers of Robin Thicke's 2013 hit "Blurred Lines." Nona Gaye, Frankie Gaye and Marvin Gaye III's joint letter mainly dives into the background and legacy of Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up," the 1977 single the court found to have been copied by Thicke and co-writer Pharrell Williams. Read more: Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly': A track-by-track guide . In the letter, the siblings imagine how their father would have handled the situation. "If he were alive today, we feel he would embrace the technology available to artists and the diverse music choices and spaces accessible to fans who can stream a song at a moment's notice," the siblings wrote. "But we also know he would be vigilant about safeguarding the artist's rights. He also gave credit where credit is due." Read more: Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Fall Out Boy to induct Hall of Famers . Even though the outcome of the lawsuit favored the Gaye family, the children claim that all of this could have been avoided if Thicke and Williams had approached the family before releasing the single, especially since the similarities were deemed to be not coincidental. "Like most artists, they could have licensed and secured the song for appropriate usage," the family stated. "This did not happen. We would have welcomed a conversation with them before the release of their work. This also did not happen." Read more: Kelly Clarkson talks 'Since U Been Gone,' going country and upbeat new LP . Thicke and Pharrell Williams lost the copyright suit on March 10th. Following the court's decision, the lawyer representing Marvin Gaye's family has sought to halt all sales of "Blurred Lines." Since the proceedings, the family had noted some similarities between Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar" and Williams' "Happy," though the family has confirmed in the open letter that they "have absolutely no claim whatsoever concerning 'Happy.'" Read the full open letter from Marvin Gaye's children below: . An Open Letter from the Children of Marvin Gaye 3/18/15 . We want to extend our deepest appreciation and gratitude for the outpouring of love and support we have received from all of our father's fans and friends, as well as artists and industry folks who contacted us surrounding the recent events concerning his song, "Got to Give It Up." Your kindness and encouragement gave us incredible strength and perseverance. We are so incredibly grateful for your support as well as the hard work and dedication of our amazing legal team and experts. We thank you all. We especially want to thank our mom Jan for her belief in what we were doing all along, and for her never ending support. We will celebrate what would have been our dad's 76th birthday next month, and though we miss him every day -- just like the many thousands of well-wishers who have expressed their heartfelt goodwill - it is through his music that we find our compass and our paths moving forward. We are his children, but we too are his fans and we hold his music dear. It is in that spirit and on behalf of all those who Dad always considered an extended family, his fans, we take this opportunity to set the record straight on a few misconceptions echoing through some news and social media platforms about our intentions, our plans, and the so-called 'larger' ramifications of this case within the music industry. Originally released in 1977, "Got to Give It Up" became one of our dad's most cherished hits, still a favorite at backyard barbecues, weddings, parties, on the radio, or on your iPod. As Oprah said, it is one of her "favorite party songs of all time." The comments on social media, emails and calls we received after the verdict affirmed for us that the song continues to touch in even deeper ways, becoming part of the soundtrack to so many lives. "Got to Give It Up" is also recognized by Billboard Magazine as the fourth biggest single of the 30 charting hits our dad created during his extraordinary career. It has been nearly 38 years since its initial release: tastes change, trends evolve, but we should all be able to agree that it's a testament to the enduring power of "Got to Give It Up" that we have arrived at this juncture with Mr. Thicke and Mr. Williams, at all. The fact that they have openly acknowledged their respect and admiration for the song is public knowledge, and further proof of its resonance with an entirely new generation of music fans. However, most songwriting begins with an organic approach; a songwriter brings his or her influences to the table and then works creatively from a blank slate in the crafting of their song to ensure originality and the integrity of their creation. If Mr. Thicke and Mr. Williams had tried to create a new song and coincidentally infused "Got to Give It Up" into their work, instead of deliberately undertaking to "write a song with the same groove," we would probably be having a different conversation. Like most artists, they could have licensed and secured the song for appropriate usage; a simple procedure usually arranged in advance of the song's release. This did not happen. We would have welcomed a conversation with them before the release of their work. This also did not happen. Instead of licensing our father's song and giving him the appropriate songwriter credit, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams released "Blurred Lines" and then filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against us, forcing us into court. They sought to quickly affirm that their song was "starkly different," than "Got to Give It Up." The Judge denied their motion for Summary Judgement, and a jury was charged with determining the "extrinsic and intrinsic similarities" of the songs. The jury has spoken. We wanted to also make clear that the jury was not permitted to listen to the actual sound recording of "Got to Give It Up." Our dad's powerful vocal performance of his own song along with unique background sounds were eliminated from the trial, and the copyright infringement was based entirely on the similarity of the basic musical compositions, not on "style," or "feel," or "era," or "genre." His song is so iconic that its basic composition stood strong. We feel this further amplifies the soundness of the verdict. Like all music fans, we have an added appreciation for songs that touch us in mysterious ways. Mr. Thicke and Mr. Williams certainly have a right to be inspired by "Got to Give It Up" but as the jury ruled, they did not have the right to use it without permission as a blueprint for a track they were constructing. Great artists like our dad intentionally build their music to last, but we as the caretakers of such treasures, have an obligation to be vigilant about preserving the integrity of the music so that future generations understand its origins and feel its effect as the artist intended, and to assure that it retains its value. We feel as many do that, our father, Marvin Gaye, is an artist for the ages. But whether we're talking about a work created 50 years ago or a work created 50 years from now -- protecting the legacy of original artistry is not a personal obligation, but a universal commitment in support of enduring creative achievement, encouraging future artists to also aim for new ground and their own legacies. That is what copyright laws help us do; they give people the incentive to write original songs and then help protect those songs. Our dad spent his life writing music- that is his legacy to us all- he wrote from his heart and was a brilliant songwriter, arranger, producer and one-of-a-kind vocalist. If he were alive today, we feel he would embrace the technology available to artists and the diverse music choices and spaces accessible to fans who can stream a song at a moment's notice. But we also know he would be vigilant about safeguarding the artist's rights; a sacred devotion to not only the artist, but key in encouraging and supporting innovation. He also gave credit where credit is due. Howard King, the attorney for Mr. Thicke and Mr. Williams stated after the verdict: "We owe it to songwriters around the world to make sure this verdict doesn't stand. My clients know they wrote the song 'Blurred Lines' from their heart and souls and no other source." We never for a minute suggested that Mr. Thicke and Mr. Williams' hearts weren't in it. But a jury of eight men and women have ruled that the source for "Blurred Lines" was the song "Got to Give It Up," a song our dad wrote from his heart, and delivered to the world with pure joy. With the digital age upon us, the threat of greater infringement looms for every artist. It is our wish that our dad's legacy, and all great music, past, present, and future, be enjoyed and protected, with the knowledge that adhering to copyright standards assures our musical treasures will always be valued. And finally, we want to put to rest any rumors that we are contemplating claims against Pharrell Williams for his song, "Happy." This is 100% false. We have absolutely no claim whatsoever concerning "Happy." Love and Respect, . Nona, Frankie, and Marvin III . Copyright © 2015 Rolling Stone. +(CNN)As an offensive guard for the Baltimore Ravens, John Urschel already has a lot on his plate. He regularly goes head to head with the top defensive players in the NFL and does his best to keep quarterback Joe Flacco out of harm's way. But besides his endeavors on the field, Urschel also keeps up another demanding pursuit that is rarely associated with NFL players: mathematical research. Not content with the respect of the locker room, he also seeks the esteem of top mathematicians around the globe. "I have a Bachelor's and Master's in mathematics, all with a 4.0, and numerous published papers in major mathematical journals," Urschel wrote in a recent article for The Players' Tribune. His latest contribution to the mathematical realm was a paper for the Journal of Computational Mathematics with the impressively esoteric title, "A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians." Urschel, 23, makes no effort to hide his unusual combination of talents: his official Twitter handle is @MathMeetsFball. As word of his double life spread on social media in recent days, users responded with fascination and admiration. "You are my goddamn hero (football fan and aspiring complex/functional analyst here)," tweeted Roy Cardenas, who describes himself as a math Ph.D. student. But Urschel acknowledges that he has faced questions from NFL officials, journalists, fans and fellow mathematicians about why he runs the risk of potential brain injury from playing football when he has "a bright career ahead of me in mathematics." After every season, he says in the Players' Tribune article, his mother tries to discourage him from continuing to play football. The Penn State graduate says the reason he keeps going isn't for the money (he drives a used Nissan Versa and lives on less than $25,000 a year) or "for some social status associated with being an elite athlete." It's simpler than that. "I play because I love the game. I love hitting people," he writes. "There's a rush you get when you go out on the field, lay everything on the line and physically dominate the player across from you." "This is a feeling I'm (for lack of a better word) addicted to, and I'm hard-pressed to find anywhere else," he explains. He shared his thoughts after San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland announced last week that he was retiring from professional football at age 24 because he was worried about the long-term effects of head trauma. Urschel says he envies Borland but doesn't feel able to quit. "When I go too long without physical contact I'm not a pleasant person to be around," he writes. "This is why, every offseason, I train in kickboxing and wrestling in addition to my lifting, running and position-specific drill work." And as if two areas of overachievement weren't enough, there is one other thing at which Urschel excels. "I'm also an avid chess player," he says. "And I have aspirations of eventually being a titled player one day." +(CNN)A swarm of insects tends to startle us -- chaotic yet organized, fascinating and beautiful. Take it one step further. Instead of bees hovering around a tree, imagine cheese balls. Solo cups in the place of birds, glow sticks as locusts. What seems like a figment of a wild imagination becomes reality in Thomas Jackson's "Emergent Behavior" series. Jackson grew up in Rhode Island and worked in publishing in New York for 13 years, ultimately landing his dream gig as an editor with Forbes magazine. But somewhere along the way, he picked up a camera. He found photography "effortlessly fulfilling" compared to the frequent challenges of writing. So he dove in, lens first. After a charming series featuring a robot, he struck a cadence in creating "swarms" with inanimate objects such as Post-it notes and plastic plates. "I started creating these whimsical, fantastic scenarios in which the environment is exploiting us," Jackson explained. That's what initially catches the eye -- the uncanny. The bizarre gathering in the behavior of insects or birds, made up of something that shouldn't be there. At first, he relied on digital enhancements to polish his illusions. But as the series evolved, he relied less on editing and more on the installations themselves. More than half of Jackson's "Emergent Behavior" series is digitally untouched. How Jackson gets a tubful of cheese balls to hang purposefully around the trunk of a tree seems nonsensical. He only hints at the mechanics. It's just "wires," he said, casually, not revealing enough evidence to ruin the magic. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "But if you look close enough, it will reveal all of its secrets." He spends about a day building the installations, and he usually shoots his photos at dusk. The photo of the pink Solo cups was shot against mountainous terrain in Wyoming. The cups, already at odds with nature, look as though they are a flock of birds flying along the rocks. Jackson seemingly casts a magic spell of manic movement, creating what an Internet commentator calls "a frat party being sucked into a black hole." The idea of a swarm -- be it insects or "thank you" bags -- fascinates Jackson. They are disconcerting and familiar at once, creating a conundrum that warrants a closer look. "Maybe because they fly in the face of how we see the world," he said. Thomas Jackson is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. You can follow him on Instagram. +(CNN)An ancient ring has shed new light on the ties between Vikings and the Islamic world, more than a century after its discovery. The finger ring found in a 9th century Swedish grave is inscribed with Arabic Kufic writing. The letters appear to read "AL_LLH, researchers say, which they interpret as meaning "for/to (the approval of) Allah." In a paper published in the journal Scanning, the researchers say it is the only ring with an Arabic inscription ever found at a Scandinavian archaeological site. The object was originally discovered during a late 19th century grave excavation in the town of Birka, on Björkö island, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) from Stockholm. Birka was a key trading center during the Viking age and made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. The ring is part of the Swedish History Museum's collection, originally cataloged as being made of gilded silver and violet amethyst, bearing the inscription "Allah." Researchers led by Stockholm University biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer say they used "scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to analyze the ring's composition and found that it was in fact made of silver alloy and the "amethyst" was colored glass. "For the stone, we must remember that even though colored glass might today be perceived as a 'fake' material of lower value, this was not necessarily so in the past," the team cautioned. "Even though glass production began around 5,000 years ago in the Levant it was still an exotic material in Viking Age Scandinavia." More significantly, the researchers found no trace of the gold that had been assumed to coat the ring and noted the presence of filing marks. "Together with the absence of gold on the metal surface ... the file marks clearly show that the previous description of the ring as gilded was mistaken: if the surface had been gilt and the gold layer had worn away, also the file markings would be gone. But the metal surface displays no wear, and as the original file marks are still in place, this ring has never been much used." The team, therefore, believes the ring was passed from an Arabic silversmith to the woman, with few or any other owners in between. While imported coins were also found in the grave -- many from Afghanistan -- they were "usually worn and torn ... from passing many hands along the established trade routes" researchers said. The owner of the ring was found wearing traditional Scandinavian clothing, but the researchers said it was impossible to determine her ethnicity due to the decomposed state of the bones in the grave. "It is not impossible that the woman herself, or someone close to her, might have visited -- or even originate from -- the Caliphate (which then stretched from Tunisia to the borders of India) or its surrounding regions," they said. While travel between the Islamic caliphate and the Viking world was recorded in ancient texts, tales of such journeys often included references to "giants and dragons" making it hard to tell fact from fiction, the researchers said. "The importance of the studied Birka ring is that it most eloquently corroborates ancient tales about direct contacts between Viking Age Scandinavia and the Islamic world. Such contacts must have facilitated exchange of goods, culture, ideas, and news much more efficiently than indirect trade involving several merchants in-between," they concluded. Modern relationship . This new evidence of ancient ties between the Vikings and the caliphate comes at a time when Sweden's relationship with the modern Islamic world seems to be problematic. The country's foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, has recently come under scrutiny after criticizing human rights in Saudi Arabia. In January, she tweeted that the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi was "a cruel attempt to silence modern forms of expression," which needed to be stopped. Saudi Arabia blocked Wallstrom from giving a speech to the Arab League in Cairo on March 9, in which she planned to refer to human rights and the rights of women. Sweden subsequently announced that it would not renew its memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia on military cooperation -- and in turn Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates withdrew their ambassadors to Sweden. The United Arab Emirates said it had summoned Sweden's ambassador to protest "the abusive remarks by the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Margot Wallstrom, against Saudi Arabia." +(CNN)"In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd," wrote Miguel de Cervantes, the Shakespeare of Spain. And the quest to find his remains has sometimes seemed both, even (dare one say it) quixotic in a time of recession. But forensic scientists have persevered, and appear to have triumphed. Almost 400 years after Cervantes' death, a team led by Francisco Etxeberria announced Tuesday that they were confident they had found Cervantes' coffin in the crypt of the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians in the Barrio de Las Letras (Literary Quarter) in Madrid. Historical records indicated Cervantes had been buried there, but the convent had been substantially rebuilt since. (Etxeberria, incidentally, performed the autopsy on former Chilean President Gen. Salvador Allende, confirming he had committed suicide.) At a news conference in Madrid on Tuesday, Etxeberria said that while there was no mathematical proof or DNA test available to completely verify the findings, there were "many coincidences and no discrepancies" in the examination of "Osario 32," a common grave in the crypt that contained the remains of 16 people. "We have Cervantes, represented in some form in this group of bones that are unfortunately very degraded and very fragmented," Etxeberria told national television. The search for Cervantes' coffin -- using radar -- began last year, funded by the Madrid City Council. It first mapped more than 30 burial cavities in the walls and nearly 5 meters beneath the floor of the church. Mass spectrometry dated fragments of wood and cloth found in these cavities to the 17th century, an encouraging but far from conclusive development. One crumbling coffin found in January had the initials "M C" hammered in nail heads, along with a jumble of skeletal remains. Even then Exteberria urged caution, but further research has narrowed the odds. The forensic team had been hoping that some of those remains would positively identify Cervantes, who suffered gunshot wounds in the chest and left hand at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. But they are not in sufficiently good shape, and some of the remains found may be of Cervantes' wife, Catalina de Salazar. Nor will DNA analysis be much help, for there are no known descendants of Cervantes. Catalina was not Cervantes' first partner. As a teenager he ran away from home with a barmaid, Josefina de Perez, before enlisting with the Spanish Navy. It was only in the 1580s that he started to write, publishing "La Galatea" in 1585 and his most famous work, "Don Quixote," in 1605 -- or to give its full title, "The Adventures of the Ingenious Nobleman Don Quixote of La Mancha." But "Don Quixote" would hardly be noticed in Cervantes' lifetime, and he was almost penniless when he died, having joined the Third Order of St. Francis in his declining years. He knew he was dying when he wrote in the prologue of a posthumously published novel, "Perhaps the time may come when I mend again this broken thread and say what words fail me here and what needed to be said. Farewell, waggish jokes; farewell, wittiness; farewell, merry friends, for I am dying and longing soon to see you, happy in the life to come." Cervantes was buried on April 23,1616 -- in the same week William Shakespeare died. There are now plans to reinter Cervantes at the convent and build a new entrance to the crypt in time for the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' death next year. Tyler Fisher, a lecturer in Hispanic studies at Royal Holloway College in London, says that such exhumations "ignite public attention, inspire re-readings, and invest an all-but-forgotten corner of the city with a renewed, imaginative depth." Cervantes might enjoy all the attention. Many literary critics say he was not aware of his own genius. John Ormsby, a scholar and translator of Cervantes' work in the 19th century, wrote of "Don Quixote," "Never was a great work so neglected by its author." CNN's Helena Cavendish de Moura contributed to this report. +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)The U.S. military is in the process of evacuating about 100 Special Operations forces members from the Al Anad airbase in Yemen due to that country's deteriorating security situation, sources in the region familiar with the situation told CNN. Those being evacuated are the last American troops stationed in the Arab nation, which is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist group also known as AQAP. The United States closed its embassy in Sanaa last month, after Houthi rebels took over the Yemeni capital. And hundreds of al Qaeda members escaped two Yemeni prisons Thursday and Friday, raising further security questions. For years, the U.S. military has worked closely with Yemen's government to go after AQAP, together carrying out numerous attacks like the 2011 drone strike that killed prominent al Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki. And U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed this cooperation as a pillar in his anti-terrorism campaign. "Yemen has never been a perfect democracy or a island of stability," Obama said in January, promoting the policy of "partnering and intelligence-sharing with that local government" as the best approach in a bad situation. "The alternative would be for us to play whack-a-mole every time there is a terrorist actor inside of any given country," the President said. But while there have been drone strikes as recently as last month, these cooperative efforts have been hampered by Yemen's growing difficulty in maintaining unity and peace. These include the rise of the Houthis, their battles with forces loyal to ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and the presence of not only al Qaeda fighters but other militants. On Friday, for instance, ISIS purportedly claimed responsibility for bombings at two mosques in Sanaa what, if true, would mark that group's first large-scale attack in Yemen. The claim came in a statement posted on a site that previously carried ISIS proclamations, but couldn't be immediately authenticated by CNN. Those blasts killed at least 137 people and wounded 357 others, according to Yemen's state-run Saba news agency. While ISIS and al Qaeda are both Sunni groups that espouse extreme versions of Islam and violent opposition to the West, that doesn't mean they will be working together anytime soon. In fact, AQAP strongly rebuked ISIS in a video released in November, characterizing its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's declaration of an Islamic caliphate as illegitimate. More than anything, the idea of the group calling itself the Islamic State violently flexing its muscles speaks to the chaotic situation there. With no one really in control, that means numerous groups -- including those with a history of killing civilians and lashing out at the West -- have been more room to operate and a better chance potentially to take over. Meanwhile, the main players for control of Yemen's government -- those siding with Hadi, who still claims to be president after being deposed earlier this year, and the Houthis, a minority group that's strongest in the northern part of the country -- remain very much at odds. Just two days ago, a Yemeni jet commanded by the capital's Houthi conquerors fired missiles at a palace housing Hadi in the port city of Aden. No one was injured, but the direct strike nonetheless marked an escalation in the deadly fighting between the two sides. The airstrikes came on the same day opposing Yemeni military forces -- some under the Houthis, others led by officers loyal to Hadi -- battled in Aden, said Aden Gov. AbdulAziz Hobtour. At least 13 people died and 21 others were injured in those clashes, according to Hobtour. Hadi took to the airwaves of Adan TV, a station he recently started, on Saturday in his first televised speech since escaping house arrest. He called on all political factions to take part in upcoming talks in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, condemning the Aden strike and urging Yemeni troops to refuse orders from Houthi officials. Hadi tied the Houthis to Iran, which he was said supported the "coup" that led to his departure from Aden. "The Iranian agenda of the Houthis will not last," he said. Needless to say, the Houthis aren't convinced. Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a top member of the Houthi Political Council, said Hadi's speech won't help Yemen reach a peaceful resolution and accused him of reneging on a deal last September to transfer power. "We blame Hadi for not implementing this deal that drew the road map that would have solved Yemen's ongoing crises," Al Bukhaiti said. "Hadi will be held responsible for the country's failures and that chaos that could follow." Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Sanaa, and CNN's Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta. +(CNN)The Syrian military claims to have shot down a U.S. drone, state media reported Tuesday. "Syrian Air Defense systems shot down a U.S. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) north of Latakia Province," the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said. The U.S. military lost contact with a MQ-1 Predator drone over Syria, a U.S. official said Tuesday. Claims that the drone was shot down by Syrian forces are still being investigated, the official said. The drone was believed to be conducting a reconnaissance mission near the Port of Latakia. The United States has used drones for surveillance and targeted killings, allowing missions to be carried out without risking the lives of U.S. military personnel. But it's not alone. More than 70 countries now have some type of drone, according to The New America Foundation. CNN Explains: U.S. drones . CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report. +Kano, Nigeria (CNN)Troops from Niger and Chad discovered a mass grave with more than 90 decomposed bodies near a northern Nigerian town recently retaken from the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, security sources from both countries said Friday. The corpses, some of them beheaded, were found in a shallow mass grave under a bridge just outside the Nigerian town of Damasak, near the border with Niger, the sources said. Troops from Niger and Chad took back the town from Boko Haram last week during a joint operation, the security sources said. Damasak is in Borno, one of several northern states inhabited by the Islamist militant group. Borno is in the northeast corner of Nigeria and borders Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Boko Haram has terrorized northern Nigeria regularly since 2009, attacking police, schools, churches, mosques and civilians. It has kidnapped students, including more than 200 schoolgirls who were abducted in April 2014 and remain missing. The group, its naming meaning "Western education is forbidden," has said its aim is to impose a stricter form of Sharia law across Nigeria. Journalist Aminu Abubakar reported from Kano, Nigeria. CNN's Melissa Gray wrote and reported from Atlanta. +Aberdeenshire, Scotland (CNN)In an exclusive interview ahead of his U.S. tour -- and ahead of his 10-year wedding anniversary -- Prince Charles paid tribute to the "brilliant" way his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has taken on the "real, real challenge" of defining her public role. "It's always marvelous to have somebody who, you know, you feel understands and wants to encourage. Although she certainly pokes fun if I get too serious about things. And all that helps," Prince Charles told CNN. The couple first visited the U.S. together as newlyweds in 2005, and Camilla was confronted by hardcore Princess Diana fans with abusive placards. Polls at the time found that between 57% and 73% of Brits opposed Charles' new wife being known as queen. If you go back even further, to 1997, the year Diana died, an Ipsos MORI poll put it at 86%. Reporter's notebook: Interviewing the royal couple . But there's been a change in sentiment since they married. A new poll conducted by Comres for CNN found that only 35% now oppose Camilla being known as queen. Nearly one in four said they liked her more now than they did 10 years ago. This coincides with a change in palace strategy -- away from the aggressive spin machine of the 1990s to simply allowing Camilla to be herself. When she appears in public, she's either seen supporting her husband or promoting a set of causes she has a genuine connection with. Prince Charles praised how his wife has handled herself. "She's done an enormous amount for the whole issue around osteoporosis, which of course runs in her family," he said, noting that Camilla's mother and grandmother both suffered from the bone disease. He also points to other issues Camilla is associated with, including literacy and preventing sexual violence. The Duchess of Cornwall, by sticking to what she knows and cares about, is able to connect with the people she meets, which doesn't always come across on camera. When Charles and Camilla married in 2005, there was huge sensitivity around the legacy of Diana, who was expected to be queen herself. With this in mind, royal aides announced that Camilla would not use the title of Queen when Charles becomes King. Instead she would be known as Princess Consort. That still stands, although the public of today looks less likely to oppose the title of Queen. +(CNN)What happens when John Stamos shows up outside the "Full House" home that made him a star? Nothing, apparently. For reasons unknown to us, Stamos was recently lurking outside the popular San Francisco attraction when a group of tourists showed up. It appears they were too busy gawking at the house to realize "Uncle Jesse" was standing next to them. It appears that Stamos was amused and posted an Instagram of him standing next to them. The caption? "Boy, these youngsters have 0.0 idea what they're missing. #Fullhousehouse. #TURNAROUND." Hopefully, he found some consolation in the 46,000 likes and thousands of comments from swooning fans. Otherwise, Stamos is keeping busy with guest roles on "Two and a Half Men" and "Galavant" amid rumors of a possible "Full House" reunion. +(CNN)The fury of Tropical Cyclone Pam, one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall, has moved on, but the misery it left behind in the islands of Vanuatu is just starting to become apparent. Aid workers described scenes of extensive devastation in the capital, Port Vila, and expressed fears of even more destruction farther afield. Thousands were in need of shelter, food and water, the Red Cross said Sunday. "Homes have been lost, crops are destroyed. The damage is enormous, and people need our help," said Aurelia Balpe, head of the Red Cross in the Pacific. "Yet it will still take some time before we really understand the full extent of the damage." The storm flattened houses, scattered trees across roads and inflicted damage on key buildings meant to serve as safe havens, such as the hospital, schools and churches. "It's becoming increasingly clear that we are now dealing with worse than the worst-case scenario in Vanuatu," said Helen Szoke, executive director in Australia for the aid group Oxfam. "This is likely to be one of the worst disasters ever seen in the Pacific." At least 90% of housing in Port Vila has been badly damaged, parts of the hospital are flooded and the state mortuary took a hit, Oxfam said. Some 60,000 children are in need of assistance, UNICEF reported Sunday. How to help Vanuatu residents . At least six people have been confirmed dead. But communications with many of the 80-plus islands in the archipelago are down, so the fear is that the toll will climb as more information emerges. The confirmed deaths, reported by the National Disaster Management Office, are just from Port Vila. For most of a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday, the cyclone pummeled Vanuatu, where some 260,000 people live, many in flimsy homes built of thatch. It is unclear how many thousands of people have been displaced by the massive storm, which had the power of a Category 5 hurricane when it made landfall. Aerial assessments are being carried out by military aircraft from New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand. Relief workers are raising concerns about a lack of clean water and sanitation for the many people left homeless. Aid has started to trickle in. The Australian government said a first contingent of officials and supplies arrived in Port Vila around noon Sunday and more flights were expected to follow. "In Port Vila, there's a lot of activity now -- people are starting to emerge," said Tom Perry of the aid group CARE International. "You can see trees that are strewn across roads being chopped down. The evacuation centers are beginning to be set up." Perry, who arrived on one of the first Australian military flights into Port Vila, told CNN the damage there was "very significant" with trees that looked like "snapped toothpicks." "It's like a bomb has gone through," said journalist Michael McLennan, who lives in Port Vila. "It's really quite apocalyptic." Most buildings in the capital were destroyed or damaged, he told CNN on Sunday. Many roads were blocked by fallen trees or power lines. The main objective now is to get disaster response teams into Vanuatu and kick-start the humanitarian operation, Sune Gudnitz, regional head for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told CNN from Fiji, about 600 miles away. His aid agency has had word of much destruction on Efate, the island where Port Vila is located, and from the southern island of Tanna, he said. Only a little information has so far trickled out from beyond the capital, but Gudnitz said he fears the worst. "Unfortunately, the more that comes out, the worse it looks," he said. Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale, who was at a U.N. conference on disaster risk reduction in Japan on Saturday, issued an appeal to the global community to help his shattered nation. Vanuatu has officially declared a state of emergency, opening the door for other countries to help. Vanuatu's remote location adds to the challenges the international response faces. Port Vila is more than 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) northeast of Brisbane on Australia's east coast, and some 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) north of Auckland, the closest city in New Zealand. Reaching the more isolated communities will also take time. Vanuatu's archipelago -- comprising 83 small islands, about 65 of them inhabited -- is roughly 850 kilometers (528 miles) long. Many of the people are subsistence farmers, said CNN's Bill Weir, who visited Vanuatu recently. He recalled talking to a resident who built the first indoor bathroom on his island and sought advice on where to find a toilet paper dispenser. "It's setting them back years," Weir said of the storm. People away from the capital live much as their ancestors did generations ago. Homes are built of weak materials, including straw and corrugated steel, that stood little chance against Pam's raging winds. "When you've got a Category 5 cyclone that essentially just sat here for 24 hours -- where do you go when you have a storm that powerful?" Perry of CARE International said. "It's very terrifying to think about what people have been through." While international teams are finding a way in, it will be up to humanitarian agency staffers on the ground and the local communities themselves to do what they can to get by amid the wreckage. Aid workers said the most immediate challenge is to get clean water to people. Many people will be spending another night in emergency shelters. Track the storm . Pam is the South Pacific's second strongest cyclone since record-keeping began in 1970. And it's the strongest of any type since Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the Philippines in 2013, killing more than 6,000 people. CNN's Ralph Ellis, Ben Brumfield and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report. +(CNN)A severe solar storm created a stunning display of light in the night sky over parts of the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand early Wednesday morning, spotted by those lucky enough to be awake in the wee hours. Called aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere, the lights were the product of large geomagnetic blasts from the sun that arrived Tuesday about 10 a.m. ET (1 a.m. Wednesday in Sydney). Both the aurora borealis and the aurora australis were sparked by a particularly strong solar storm that sent charged particles toward the Earth, said CNN meteorologist Todd Borek. "When these particles bombard the Earth's magnetic field in the upper atmosphere, the collision often creates brilliant colors," Borek said. "Most of the time, auroras appear green -- when these particles collide with oxygen in the atmosphere -- but there were reports this past aurora australis also appeared to have a reddish tint, which suggested the collision with high-altitude oxygen was also seen on Earth." Share your photos of the aurora with iReport . The stronger the storm, the farther south it can be seen, said Borek. And this geomagnetic storm was rather powerful, reaching as a high as a G4 on a scale from 1 to 5 Tuesday night, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. The storm was expected to last 24 to 36 hours, and NOAA's latest reports say it's down to a G1. Though the storm could affect GPS technology and power grids, NOAA said Tuesday that it had no reports of disruptions. The most visible impact as been this stunning light display. If the auroras are seen again tonight, Borek said, they won't be as pronounced and most likely won't reach as far south as Tuesday night. People in northern Michigan, northern Minnesota and Maine may be able to spot them, although he warned that clouds from Minnesota to Montana may impede visibility Wednesday night. +(CNN)British actress Emma Watson made an impassioned plea to women around the world: "Don't let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do, or cannot achieve. "Just don't allow it. It's wrong. It's so wrong. Be what you want to be -- and prove them wrong." The emotional Harry Potter star took to the stage at Facebook's headquarters in London on Sunday, March 8, to talk about gender equality as part of International Women's Day celebrations. CNN was among the live audience of around 150 people -- with millions more watching the live stream across the world --as the 24-year-old UN Goodwill Ambassador spoke about her own feminist journey. Emma's Facebook moment . Of the dozens gathered at the event, the majority were bespectacled young men -- not so unlike Harry Potter himself. Describing the "surreal" moment she gave a speech at U.N. headquarters, later watched by 17 million, Watson said: "Gender equality historically has been a woman's movement. "And how it's affecting men hasn't been addressed," she told moderator Greg James. During the hour-long conversation, Watson gave the audience a rare glimpse into her private life -- and the difference between chivalry and sexism. "I love having the door opened for me, isn't that just polite?" she said. "But I think the key is, would you then mind me opening the door for you?" "Chivalry should be consensual." And it's not just women affected by gender inequality -- men suffer too, she added. "I get disturbed by this idea that men can't cry," she continued. "They can't express themselves and I think that's the saddest thing in the world. Being able to express yourself is what makes you human -- it's not what makes you a girl." When internet trolls threatened to release naked photos of the actress, following her UN speech, she said it only made her more determined in her campaign. "If they were trying to put me off -- they did the opposite," she added. Almost 230,000 men and boys across the world have since joined the HeForShe campaign, including U.S. President Barack Obama, and actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matt Damon. "I read a letter of support from a 13-year-old boy that was equally as passionate as a CEO," said Watson, adding that she often read their stories before going to bed at night. "I asked my younger sister: 'What would be the one thing you'd want from boys in your life?' She said: 'I just want them to play with us.' And I think that really translates at every level. We just want to be included." Watson also talked about the inspiring influence of her mother, Jacqueline, who was a "single working mother and type one diabetic." "She wanted me to be my own person and said a bit of rebellion was good," said Watson, adding: "She was actually thrilled when I got my first detention... I think I failed a Latin exam." Answering questions submitted via Facebook, Watson said the recent lack of female representation at the Academy Awards showed that the fight for gender equality was far from over. "Why are women not directing their own stories?" she said. "The human race is a bird -- and it needs both its wings to fly. And at the moment one of its wings is clipped," said Watson, paraphrasing famous American feminist, Gloria Steinem. When asked what things we can all do to affect change, the actress said it wasn't necessarily about grand actions -- but small ones. "It's everyday, it's individual, it's on a case by case basis," she said. "Whether it's speaking up or trying to change the way someone else thinks about an issue." In the audience, a man wearing a Hogwarts jumper asked Watson whether women should be paid the same as men, when they are more likely to take maternity leave. She answered: "I don't think in the grand scheme of things [maternity leave] is going to hinder a woman being incredibly effective in her field. "I think men should be equal partners in raising children." Those missing out on a place still got watch it live on Watson's Facebook page. See the whole conversation in the videos below. Part 1: . Part 2: . Part 3: . Part 4: . To see Watson's best moments as they happened see our live twitter feed @CNNIwomen and join the conversation. +(CNN)The aircraft carrier USS Ranger, which saw action in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and had appearances in the movies "Top Gun" and "Star Trek IV," is on its final journey, a five-month cruise at the end of a tow cable from Bremerton, Washington, to a scrapyard in Texas. The 56,300-ton warship, which was launched in 1956, was decommissioned in 1993 but kept in storage for possible reactivation until March 2004 when it was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and made available for donation to a group that could preserve it and turn it into a museum. But attempts by groups in Long Beach, California, and Fairview, Oregon, to do so came up short of meeting U.S. government requirements for donation. The Long Beach group called itself Top Gun Super Carrier in reference to the Ranger's role in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie. The carrier was used for interior shots in the film, which also featured appearances by the carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Enterprise, according to Internet Movie Database. In December, the Navy paid International Shipbreaking of Brownsville, Texas, a penny to take the carrier off its hands. The shipbreaker makes its profit by selling the parts of the ship for scrap. The Ranger, which left Bremerton on Thursday, follows two of its predecessors in the Forrestal class of carriers -- the Forrestal and the Saratoga -- to scrapyards in Brownsville. Another carrier, the USS Constellation, part of the Kitty Hawk class, was towed to Brownsville last year. Like the Ranger, the Constellation was stored in Washington and because of its size had to be towed all the way around the southern tip of South America, as it would not fit through the Panama Canal. The Ranger's final journey is expected to take four to five months, the Navy said. +(CNN)The sounds recorded on one of the "black boxes" recovered from downed Germanwings Flight 9525 firms up investigators' theory that the co-pilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and then crashed the plane. "For God's sake, open the door!" Capt. Patrick Sondenheimer screamed as he banged on the cockpit door, pleading with the co-pilot. Thirteen minutes later, the plane slammed into the French Alps. The audio from the plane's cockpit voice recorder has not been released, but the German newspaper Bild published Sunday what it claims is a summary of the transcript from the recording. CNN translated Bild's report -- which the newspaper says is based on the 1.5 hours of audio that was on the cockpit voice recorder -- but cannot independently verify the information. France's accident investigation agency, BEA, told CNN that the agency is "dismayed" by the voice recording leak to Bild. Martine Del Bono, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the leak could not have come from a BEA agent. She said the agency considers the report mere "voyeurism." According to Bild's report, Sondenheimer told co-pilot Andreas Lubitz that he didn't manage to go to the bathroom before takeoff. Lubitz tells him he can go anytime. Lubitz is believed to have locked the pilot of Flight 9525 out of the cockpit before putting the plane on a rapid descent into the mountains, French authorities have said. The flight took off 20 minutes late. After reaching cruising altitude, Sondenheimer asked Lubitz to prepare the landing. Once that's finished, Lubitz again tells the captain he "can go anytime." There is the sound of a seat being pushed backward after which the captain says, "You can take over." At 10:29 a.m., air traffic radar detects that the plane is starting to descend. Three minutes later, air traffic controllers try to contact the plane and receive no answer -- shortly after which an alarm goes off in the cockpit, warning of the "sink rate," Bild reported. Next comes the banging. Sondenheimer begs Lubitz to let him in. Passengers then begin to scream, according to the transcript obtained by Bild. Another three minutes pass. A loud metallic bang is heard at 7,000 meters (almost 23,000 feet). A minute and half later and 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet) lower to the ground, an alarm says "Terrain -- pull up!" "Open the damn door!" the pilot says. It's 10:38, and the plane is at 4,000 meters (about 13,000 feet). Lubitz's breathing can still be heard on the voice recorder, according to Bild's report. Two minutes later, investigators think they hear the plane's right wing scrape a mountaintop. Screams can be heard one final time. Cockpit recordings are some of the most sensitive and closely held parts of aviation crash investigations. They're never officially released, according to CNN aviation reporter Richard Quest. Quest called it "unbelievable" that the black box audio would be leaked in this manner. Communications between air traffic control and a plane's cockpit can be downloaded privately, but that's less common in Europe than it is in the United States. An edited and redacted version of the transcript is usually published in part of a final report on an incident. Although search teams have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder remains missing. That device could reveal crucial details about what happened during the final moments of the flight. Jean Pierre Michel, lead investigator for the French inquiry, said on Saturday that investigators are not ruling out any scenario with respect to the crash out at this point. But French authorities have said that Lubitz appeared to have crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 deliberately into the Alps on Tuesday as it flew from Barcelona, Spain, toward Dusseldorf, Germany, with 150 people on board. Much attention has focused on Lubitz's state of mind since then, with suggestions that he may have had mental health issues. Lubitz, 27, passed his annual pilot recertification medical examination in summer 2014, a German aviation source told CNN. An official with Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, said that the exam only tests physical health, not psychological health. The official also said that the company was never given any indication Lubitz was depressed, and that if he went to a doctor on his own, he would have been required to self-report if deemed unfit to fly. A Dusseldorf clinic said he'd gone there twice, most recently on March 10, "concerning a diagnosis." But the University Clinic said it had not treated Lubitz for depression. The speculation about Lubitz' mental state is based on a letter found in a waste bin in his Dusseldorf apartment. The note, which was "slashed," said Lubitz was not able to do his job, city prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday. The fact that investigators found "ripped, recent medical leave notes, including for the day of the offense, leads to the preliminary conclusion that the deceased kept his illness secret from his employer and his professional environment," prosecutors said. Germanwings corroborated that assertion, saying it had never received a sick note from Lubitz. A handful of publications, citing unnamed sources, have reported that Lubitz suffered from various psychological maladies. CNN has not been able to confirm these reports. Lubitz suffered from "generalized anxiety disorder," and from severe depression in the past, Le Parisien newspaper reported Sunday, citing sources close to the investigation. In 2010, Lubitz received injections of antipsychotic medication, the paper said. He was also prescribed a medication that influences neurotransmitters, but it's unclear when that happened, according to Le Parisien. The newspaper said investigators found a handful of pills in his apartment in addition to two sick notes, which forbade him from working from March 16 to March 29. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Lubitz suffered from mental illness and kept his diagnosis concealed from his employer. A subsequent report from the Times on Saturday, citing two officials with knowledge of the investigation, said Lubitz sought treatment before the crash for vision problems that might have put his career at risk. However, an official with Lufthansa, said that if Lubitz had vision problems, they would have been discovered during his pilot recertification medical examination. Authorities have not ruled out the vision problems could have been psychosomatic, according to the Times. Citing an unidentified senior investigator, German newspaper Die Welt said that Lubitz suffered from a severe "psychosomatic illness" and that German police seized prescription drugs that treat the condition. Lubitz suffered from a "severe subjective burnout syndrome" and from severe depression, the source told the newspaper. News reports also stated that antidepressants were found during the search of his apartment. Investigators are expected to question his relatives, friends and co-workers as they try to pin down what could have prompted the co-pilot to steer a jetliner full of people into a mountainside. Lubitz had a girlfriend, a teacher at a school in Dusseldorf not far from his apartment, according to German media. Who was co-pilot Andreas Lubitz? Dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony Saturday for the victims of the crash at a church in a nearby town, Digne-les-Bains, France. Most of the people on the plane were from Germany and Spain. Relatives of the victims and local residents also gathered Saturday afternoon by a simple stone memorial set up near the crash site, in the village of Le Vernet. Flowers have been laid there, in the shadow of the snow-covered peaks of the French Alps. The mayor of one local community said he had seen Lubitz's father on Thursday evening, describing him as "a man in deep distress." "We get the impression that that man is bearing the whole weight of the disaster on his shoulders," Bernard Bartolini, the mayor of Prads-Haute-Bleone, said Saturday. "I can tell that this is a man whose life is totally broken," Bartolini said. "He had so much emotion in him." CNN's Steve Almasy, Laura Smith-Spark, Frederik Pleitgen, Sandrine Amiel, Jethro Mullen, Lynn Franco, Margot Haddad and Tim Lister contributed to this report. +(CNN)Smoking Man, time to light another cigarette. Fox announced Tuesday that "The X-Files," the series about the paranormal that ran for nine seasons in the '90s and early '00s, is returning for a special six-episode "event." Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are both back to play Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, those FBI agents who always got a little too close to the truth. " 'The X-Files' was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture -- yet remained a true gem for the legions of fans who embraced it from the beginning. We're ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they've been waiting for," Fox executives Dana Walden and Gary Newman said in a statement. Anderson wasted no time in tweeting the news. "The X-Files" concerned Mulder, an FBI agent who believes in paranormal phenomena, and Scully, who served as a check on his impulses. The series produced some memorable characters -- particularly the Smoking Man, a key focal point of the series' various conspiracy theories -- and resulted in two movies. Vince Gilligan, who later created "Breaking Bad," got his start on "The X-Files" and occasionally paid tribute to the show on his later series. Show creator Chris Carter, who will also oversee the new series, said he thought of the hiatus between 2002, when the "X-Files" went off the air, and this year as "a 13-year commercial break." But the timing is perfect, he added in a statement. "The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories," he said. No premiere date was announced. +(HLN)Nick Gordon, romantic partner of Bobbi Kristina Brown, sat down recently with Dr. Phil McGraw for his first on-camera interview since Whitney Houston's daughter was rushed to the hospital in January after being found face down in her bathtub. The interview aired Wednesday on NBC. When his team traveled to Atlanta and initially approached Gordon about the interview, Dr. Phil says they found him in a hysterical state. Video showed an intoxicated Gordon crying and mumbling about missing Krissy, as Brown's family calls her. Brown was found unresponsive in her Roswell, Georgia, home on January 31 and remains hospitalized. Authorities say they're approaching her case as a criminal investigation. See more: Who's who: Bobbi Kristina's small family circle . Dr. Phil first spoke with Nick Gordon's mother, Michelle Gordon, who said her son had admitted to her his desire to take his own life. Even though she's never known him to abuse drugs or alcohol in the past, she said she has recently spoken to her son on the phone when he appeared to be drunk or high. "He has blamed himself for [Krissy] being in the condition that she's in, he's torn up by that," Michelle Gordon told Dr. Phil. "He's dealing with it by drinking. I've begged him to stop." She said repeatedly that Nick Gordon is at a breaking point and that he's even attempted to kill himself by taking Xanax and Unisom. "Left to his own devices, he'll be dead inside a week," Dr. Phil told her. That's when Dr. Phil went up to Nick Gordon's hotel room to persuade him that he needs an intervention. On the way back to the interview room, Gordon admitted that he'd had two shots of alcohol earlier that morning and later started crying in the elevator while showing Dr. Phil his new tattoo: Bobbi Kristina's name on his forearm. Read more: Bobbi Kristina Brown's life in the public eye . Throughout the interview, Gordon appeared distracted and distraught. He stood up and walked out of the room multiple times, only to come back to continue the interview. He constantly interrupted both Dr. Phil and his own mother with random interjections about Krissy's engagement ring or how much he hates Bobby Brown. "I miss Krissy and Whitney so much!" Gordon repeated several times, adding that he's lost "the most legendary singer ever" and that he cannot lose Krissy, too. Gordon kept switching from crying in his mother's arms, to laughing at Dr. Phil's multiple requests to go to rehab, to agreeing that he needs to get sober in order to help Krissy. He admitted to drinking too much and taking too many pills, only to say he's fine and doesn't care about rehab later in the interview. He told Dr. Phil he hasn't been sleeping and has been waking up in the middle of the night, praying for Krissy. He also explained to the host how much emotional pain he's in, saying, "My heart hurts. I have panic attacks." At one point, Gordon broke down crying, uttering, "I'm going to seem so weak in front of the world." Read more: What's the truth about Bobbi Kristina's marriage? "Doc, please help me see Krissy," Gordon pleaded with Dr. Phil, to which the doctor responded, "We've got to get you cleaned up first." Eventually, he shook Dr. Phil's hand, promising, "as a man," to go directly to rehab after this taping. The audience didn't see him leave with the representatives from Willingway, an addiction treatment center in Georgia, but Dr. Phil later told the media Gordon did check into the facility after the interview, according to Fox News. +(CNN)U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg is recovering from a gunshot wound after an apparent robbery attempt in Detroit. The FBI confirms he was shot Thursday night. CNN affiliate WDIV is reporting that the judge was shot in front of his home and that Detroit police say they think it "happened during a robbery attempt, which likely had nothing to do with his profession." Berg was nominated by President Obama to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in April 2012. Berg also was an assistant U.S. attorney for over 20 years, specializing in fraud and technology crimes, according to his District Court biography. "Detroit police said two men approached Berg, a struggle ensued and a shot was fired, striking him in the leg. The two men, likely in their teens to early 20s, escaped the scene in a dark-colored Dodge Charger," according to WDIV reports. The affiliate says Berg was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Berg was born in Detroit in 1959. He is married and has three children. CNN's Tina Burnside and Jennifer Moore contributed to this report. +Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton is pressing the reset button -- yet again. She's quietly fighting back a week after her awkward and occasionally combative news conference on the furor over the private email server she used while running the State Department. Clinton's Twitter account is buzzing this week with posts that test political messages on health care, college affordability, civil rights and jobs -- issues she hopes will help mobilize President Barack Obama's Democratic coalition and pave her way to the presidency. Meanwhile, her nascent operation is leaking details of future staffers in an unmistakeable message to Democrats spooked by the email flap that the campaign-in-waiting will become an official effort, possibly as soon as next month. A CNN/ORC International Poll out on Wednesday found that she's miles ahead of any potential Democratic challenger and would beat all potential Republican candidates by at least 10 points. Despite fretting among some Democrats who worried that the party's best -- and perhaps only -- viable Democratic candidate appeared to be in trouble, early signs suggest Clinton is doing what the Clintons do best: mounting a comeback. "The interest in the story is collapsing onto itself. I don't see an organic clamoring for more information," said a longtime Clinton ally who didn't want to speak for a campaign that hasn't yet been announced. This person, who has spent time in Iowa, argued that outside the community of political reporters and consultants in Washington and New York who fixated on the story, the people who really count -- voters -- weren't really interested. "People very much want to know what the campaign is going to be about ... what is she going to do about student loan costs, for example?" Tharon Johnson, a Democratic strategist who was Southern regional director of Obama's re-election campaign in 2012, agreed. "If and when Hillary Clinton decides to run, she will have to address this issue, but I believe the American people are more interested in her addressing the kitchen table issues that matter most to them," he said. Of course, Clinton still faces plenty of challenges and the email saga raised questions about whether she can run a more sophisticated, no drama campaign than the one she managed in 2008. But the CNN poll revealed that those critical of Clinton's role in the email affair appear to break close to party lines and her favorable rating remains at 53%. A slow recent decline in that rating appears to coincide with Clinton's slow re-entry into partisan politics and does not necessarily reflect her recent stumbles. Perhaps the most intriguing figure in the poll is that only 1% of respondents had never heard of Clinton. That supports the idea expressed by some Democrats that Clinton may be the most vetted figure in public life. There are people who will never vote for her and those who are dedicated to her quest to be the first female president, but very few whose minds may not be made up. A less well-known candidate might have made a terrible first impression if faced with the kind of hyper-covered flap Clinton was. But Republicans believe the email scandal could be a political gift that keeps on giving, as it touches on a narrative that the Clintons are secretive, resistant to transparency and often blur the rules. There are also other problems -- including the question of foreign funds sent to the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton's whopper speaking fees -- that Republicans believe could reach a political mass and fan doubts about the likely Democratic nominee's character. Then there are the foreign policy questions, including a now damaging photo op in which Clinton offered a "reset" button to Russia only for the country to revert to a Cold War-esque posture. She was also a central player in Obama's foreign policy, which often appears to be overtaken by the Middle East's swift descent into chaos. "For everything that I can see, the Democrats have put all of their eggs in one basket here," said Sean Spicer, communications director of the Republican National Committee. "That is more of a downfall in the general election than in the primary." Spicer argued that even with younger voters, who do not remember the Clinton years, the question of impropriety over her emails could provide an entry point into past scandals. Though Clinton is the prohibitive Democratic front-runner, her support in the party is not universal. But where she faces resistance, it is more likely to be over policy than emails, as grass-roots Democrats are suspicious over her centrist, pro-business and hawkish foreign policy leanings. "As this discussion was playing out inside the Beltway, our members were focused on issues," said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org, which wants Elizabeth Warren to challenge Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Galland said activists were preoccupied with the preservation of the social safety net, constraining Wall Street and those on the "ragged edge" of the middle class. Similarly, the young voters who flocked to Obama in 2008 and who will be crucial to Clinton's hopes of mobilizing an effective Democratic coalition in 2016 may also offer Clinton a political cushion. This group is hazy over historic references to long ago Clinton scandals like Filegate, Travelgate and even the Monica Lewinsky episode that led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment. "The media loves a Clinton scandal," said one Democratic source who didn't want to be named because he doesn't work for Clinton. "But young people are more likely to know her as secretary of state, and someone who ran for president in 2008." Polling bears out the theory. The CNN survey shows Clinton's favorability among voters age 18 to 34 with a 22 point positive differential. But she's barely in positive territory among voters age 50 to 64, who are likely to have strong memories of her time as first lady, and is underwater among those 60 or older. Another well-connected Democrat who didn't want to go on the record criticizing Clinton admitted that the email issue did play into GOP caricatures about the allegedly "conspiratorial" politicians and that it could challenge the former secretary of state's early efforts to get her message out about her ideas and rationale for running for president. But Democratic operatives think that once Clinton is actually running, with an infrastructure behind her, and striking messages about the minimum wage, college debt and middle-class economic issues, voters will engage. In many ways, the email furor was a story the media couldn't wait to write, so it may be that journalists have inflated the importance of the episode, at least in the absence of any evidence that Clinton broke the law or made classified information vulnerable. Political reporters have pined for weeks for Clinton to swing her campaign into action, and her failure to offer a storyline opened a vacuum that was easy for unflattering stories to fill. Her slow response breathed new life into a question that only Clinton can answer: Will her 2016 campaign be as dysfunctional, reactive and distracted as her chaotic and unsuccessful 2008 effort? But there were a few lessons. It's clear the Clinton machine is not about to morph into a humming, scandal-free effort in the image of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign. And Clinton's bitter relationship with political reporters seems as bad as ever. The days when she partied with a State Department press corps more preoccupied with policy than politics seem like ancient history. But here also, Clinton is trying a reset. Her nascent campaign has made it known that she is staffing up her campaign and press operation. John Podesta, who is expected to take a leadership role in her campaign, is respected by reporters, as is Jennifer Palmieri, the outgoing White House communications director expected to take on a similar role for Clinton. On Tuesday, it emerged that Clinton would name Brian Fallon, who has also good ties with reporters, to be lead press secretary. +(CNN)Could a simple blood test someday tell if you're genetically predisposed to post-traumatic stress disorder? That's what a team of international researchers is hoping after finding a genetic marker linked to PTSD in the blood samples of Marines stationed in conflict zones. "We'll draw the blood and have a way to do this very rapidly and start to tease apart who is a little more at risk and who is a little more resilient for PTSD," says principal investigator Dr. Dewleen Baker of the University of California-San Diego. "It's exciting." PTSD can occur after many types of trauma: rape, torture, child abuse, natural disasters and car, plane, and train wrecks, to name a few. According to the PTSD Alliance, more than 13 million Americans have PTSD and the societal cost is in the billions. Women are about twice as likely as men to develop the disorder. Symptoms tend to cluster into three areas: . •Reliving the event via nightmares or vivid images, along with an extreme reaction such as uncontrollable shaking, chills or heart palpitations. •Avoiding reminders of the event, including becoming emotionally withdrawn and detached from friends, family and everyday activities. •Being hyperaroused, easily startled, irritable, angry, or having difficulty sleeping or concentrating. As one might expect, service members are hardest hit. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 30% of all Vietnam vets have experienced PTSD. Among troops recently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, PTSD can run as high as 20% in any given year. But why does severe emotional trauma trigger PTSD in some people and not others? The idea that your genes play a role in whether you develop PTSD is a popular focus of recent research. Scientists have discovered genes that help regulate fear reactions in mice. The lack of a fear-regulating brain chemical called gastrin-releasing peptide led to greater fear response among the rodents. In another study, mice without a protein necessary to form "fear memories" were less likely to freeze up and more willing to explore unknown spaces. Studies of twins show heredity accounts for about 30% of the differences in response to trauma, with identical twins much more likely to both develop PTSD than fraternal twins. Other research has looked into the role of inherited brain differences, mental disorders, or addictive tendencies. An unusual avenue of research is how our immune systems may contribute to the development of PTSD symptoms. Prior studies of people diagnosed with PTSD compared to control groups without the disorder suggest differences in genes related to inflammation may play a role. "The body is built to keep us alive and it functions as one big system," says Baker, discussing the interface between stress and immune chemicals. "The systems all talk to each other." The recent study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, is unique because it compares blood samples from 188 Marines taken before and after they were deployed to combat zones. Another group of 96 Marines was also studied to verify the results. "Under this experimental design, not only can we identify differences between U.S. Marines with PTSD and without, but we can go back in time, so to speak, to see if any of the Marines who eventually developed PTSD" showed evidence that it would emerge, says the study's co-senior author, Christopher Woelk. "In this vein, we are able to start labeling findings as being putatively 'causal' in nature." In the blood of Marines ultimately diagnosed with PTSD, the study found biomarkers associated with gene networks that regulate innate immune function -- the body's first line of defense -- and interferon, a protein responsible for kicking the immune system into action. In addition, this hypervigilant immune response occurred before and after exposure to trauma. "Why do certain people start out with slightly higher immune response and others have less? Is it somehow just built in or have they been exposed to some kind of pathogen?" asks Baker. Instead of pathogens, another possible explanation is that the inflammatory response is activated by the stress of going off to war. "You could try to dampen down the activation and see if that improves symptoms or prevents development of PTSD," says Baker. Baker stresses these questions are purely hypothetical at this time and that the study needs to be replicated and expanded. "We're early in the process of having some clues as to what might predict risk and resilience, and with more research we'll begin to have effective preventions and treatments," says Baker. +(CNN)So now we know. The Germanwings aircraft that crashed earlier this week was deliberately brought down by a co-pilot who had managed to lock himself in the cockpit as he set the plane on a course for destruction, according to officials. We all wish it weren't so, and the investigation, instead of looking at possible deficiencies of the plane, will now look to the co-pilot, who -- by all accounts -- showed no signs that this would be his horrific legacy. The irony would be rich, if it weren't so tragic. The locked door, the very mechanism put into place to protect the cockpit from unruly or dangerous passengers -- made more secure in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- was used against a pilot who, for reasons still unknown, left the cockpit. It may be too early to draw conclusive lessons from what has happened, but as this unfolds and before we begin constructing a narrative about the pilot that may be filled with rumors, innuendo and half-truths, there are structural issues to address immediately. First, we have seen that there is a real risk of pilots bringing down planes. We have built no back-up plans into the secure cockpit programs. It might be necessary to devise secure and classified entry access passwords or electronic keys that are available only to both pilots or a pilot and the lead flight attendant. No system of security should rely on a single point of entry and while the post-9/11 security planning made sense then, it may have outlived the threat now. Second, regardless of pilots' backgrounds and ideologies, airlines as sophisticated as Lufthansa may need to implement more than voluntary stress-relief assessments. The zeitgeist of pilots is very similar to the military: tough, strong, with psychological challenges viewed as "sissy." Perhaps airlines will need to guarantee that pilots who seek counseling will not be unjustly punished. And instead of sitting back and waiting for someone to approach counselors, regular and consistent check-ins might be necessary. Finally, the "t" word. Before the news today, the Obama administration quickly rejected a notion that this was terrorism. And that may still be accurate. But as someone who has been a part of counterterrorism efforts, I am impressed with the French prosecutor's honesty in a search for the right words. This is obviously terrorism in the general sense to elicit fear in a general population, but whether it was done for some political or ideological reason (in the absence of any group taking credit, it does not fit the model of most major airline terror attacks) we still do not know. And it isn't as if there is a national response that we can expect from Germany, such as going to war. Still, it clearly isn't just suicide. This is different. If there is some nefarious ideological motivation, this may be one of a few incidents where a "loner" is able to create massive, simultaneous deaths. Most lone wolf terror is almost always of low consequence. It may be that we are in an era when we don't have the right words to describe the threats we face from loners with the capacity for mass casualties. As Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said, "If a person kills himself and also 149 other people, another word should be used -- not suicide." And that honest assessment is what we heard today. +Los Angeles (CNN)Even as major airports across the country clamp down on employee screening, a lone wolf could still potentially slip through security, a top airport official said. Email your story ideas and tips to CNNtips@cnn.com. Patrick Gannon, police chief of Los Angeles International Airport, said the 54,000 employees with security badges undergo recurring criminal background checks and random screening. But even that may not be enough. "I agree that in any airport throughout the United States and here also, there is never a 100% guarantee that somebody who wanted to do something illegal or wrong couldn't make that happen," Gannon said. Only two major airports in the United States -- Miami and Orlando -- conduct full employee screening by requiring all employees with access to secure areas to pass through a metal detector, a CNN investigation found. Other airports like Los Angeles conduct random screenings. Many airports don't do any screenings at all other than a criminal background check before employees are hired. The crackdown on employee screening comes after the arrest of a Delta baggage handler and passenger accused of gun smuggling at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in December. Both Atlanta and Los Angeles have since begun restricting access by closing access doors that lead to the airfield. Nevertheless, Gannon acknowledged that the potential of a lone wolf committing a crime at the airport worries him. "It concerns me all the time," he said. With so many employees, "[T]here is no way that you are going to have the ability to screen every single person that comes to work in the airport." At LAX, employees punch in a code and swipe their badge to access the airfield. Gannon said about 18 out of approximately 300 access doors have been closed as the airport evaluates employee screening procedures. He said, "the more you limit the access doors, the more you can focus things like spot checks and screenings and cameras." Even at Miami International Airport, Gannon said, "they still can't 100% say that they can keep contraband or any type of item out of their restricted area." Lauren Stover, Miami airport security director, agreed that ID badges alone "are not enough [to] stop malicious intent." "You can vet employees for basic information on their backgrounds, but it's not going to prevent them from carrying out some kind of malicious activity against an airport. And airports need to know their threats. For us, we have threats from criminal activity to being targets of a terrorism attack," Stover said. In the wake of congressional scrutiny of airport employee screening procedures, private security guards at Atlanta's airport last month began checking employee bags as the first step toward moving toward full employee screening. The airport also plans to reduce the number of secure access doors from 70 to 10. "In the last six months ... people are being recruited to engage in terrorist acts," said Miguel Southwell, the airport's general manager. "People are being recruited from the United States. So now we have a greater insider threat." The TSA is conducting a review of the feasibility of full employee screening, although previous government studies have concluded that would be too expensive and inefficient. Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here. +(CNN)Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage for the fifth time in succession after falling agonizingly short in Monaco. The Premier League side recorded a 2-0 victory on the night but went out on away goals after the tie finished level at 3-3 on aggregate. Monaco, which won 3-1 in the first leg, was overwhelmed for much of the contest and was fortunate to escape without being dumped out of the competition. Olivier Giroud's first half strike and Aaron Ramsey's 79th minute effort ensured a tense finale but the visiting side was unable to find a winner. No team had ever overcome a two-goal first leg deficit away from home in the Champions League and progressed -- but Arsenal's first half display gave it hope. Giroud, who has often been criticized this season for failing to take his chances, lashed in from close range with nine minutes of the first half remaining. Ramsey, a substitute, drove the ball into the net after Theo Walcott's effort had struck the post and Monaco's defenders hesitated. Giroud had a chance late on to cap a dramatic fightback but his effort was saved on the line. "The best team went through," Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker told ITV. "Monaco deserved it because they played much better in the first leg. We played well today but it was a massive deficit, and it wasn't enough tonight. "We came here and tried absolutely everything, and when you look at the game we could have scored more than two. "Monaco deserve it and that's absolutely fine. They caused a lot of problems away from home. We have to admit that we regret the first game. "But if we continue to play like that we'll do well in the FA Cup and the league. But play as badly as we did in the first game and you're out of the Champions League. Monaco deserved it." Arsenal's exit means Manchester City is England's sole representative remaining in the competition. It faces Barcelona on Wednesday needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit. Monaco, which which the final in 2004, joins Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals. +(CNN)Kids, being kids, like to climb on things. More often than not, that's OK. But when the thing in question is a war memorial? That's the question burning up online parenting groups and in family rooms after an amateur photographer snapped a picture of two children scampering on top of the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington. The photographer, Matt Munson, described the shot on Facebook as "two little brats climbing over war memorial right in front of a veteran." The parents, he said, were laughing. "It actually drew a crowd of spectators and the parents realized how evil they were being and quickly took off before I could take a picture of them all," Munson wrote. "The more I look at this photo the angrier I get." He has plenty of company there. As the photo went viral, comment after comment poured in on Facebook and Twitter, chastising the parents for allowing the kids to play on the statue, part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that depicts three women tending to a wounded soldier. One nurse cradles the wounded fighter while another looks despairingly into an empty helmet. The third looks skyward, to a rescue helicopter or perhaps God, according to the memorial foundation's website. In Munson's photo, a visitor to the memorial seems to grimace at the sight as he pushes an older man in a wheelchair. The older man, wearing a Navy ballcap, and a woman also look on. The children's parents aren't shown. Disgusting. "Disgusting," Facebook user Trisha Davidson wrote of the children's actions. "So wrong," Twitter user karsonwithak chimed in. But not everyone was upset. "I fully take why people can get annoyed and respect that," Reddit user z3k3 wrote. But the writer said a grandfather who was a veteran of World War II "loved watching the kids play on the local memorial." "He saw it as a way for the next generation to take some joy out of something so terrible and at the same time gave them a link to the past as many would stop to read the names or even get interested enough to read up on the subject a little," z3k3 wrote. Fair enough, some said. But some memorials are meant to be interactive. Others aren't. And a statue depicting a nurse caring for a gravely wounded man just doesn't seem to be the place for play, a Reddit user with the screen name nickfree wrote. "Unless the memorial is designed to be climbed on -- unless the message of the memorial is clearly 'use me, interact with me, to help carry my message' (e.g. memorial benches), the default is leave it respectfully alone," nickfree wrote. On the Mommyish parenting blog, associate editor Maria Guido wrote that "there's nothing wrong with children who may not understand how gleefully playing all over a memorial may seem inappropriate to some." "If these kids were just doing that -- gleefully playing all over a memorial -- I wouldn't find anything wrong with the image, actually. But they're not," she wrote. "These parents were disrespectful," she wrote. "The kids were being kids and following their directives." Though the National Parks Service, which operates the memorial, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund urged visitors to treat veterans memorials -- sites of powerful and often emotional pilgrimages for many who served -- with respect. "Please remember to be respectful to memorials honoring and remembering our nation's veterans," the group wrote on Facebook. "We hope our visitors understand this moving forward." +Washington (CNN)No deal is better than a bad deal, say critics of President Barack Obama's nuclear talks with Iran. But what if Republican and Democratic opponents succeed in their intensifying effort to derail the diplomacy? The price of failure could be an ugly blame game and cascade of political reprisals leading to nuclear chicken between Iran and the West -- potentially leading to war. "We would have to deal with a resumption of Iran's nuclear activities, which we don't want to see take place. Iran would have to deal with the resumption of sanctions, which they don't want," said Gary Samore, a top nonproliferation official during Obama's first term. For now, the grave consequences of a breakdown in talks are one reason the United States and Iran are still at the table, as a grueling diplomatic process reaches critical deadlines and painful political decisions beckon. Iran deal: A treaty or not a treaty, that is the question . Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif are haggling over the remaining issues in Lausanne, Switzerland, ahead of an end-of-the-month deadline for a framework agreement, which then must be finalized by July 1. But time may be running out for a deal in which six world powers would lift sanctions that have throttled Iran's economy in return for assurances that Tehran will continue to stay a year or so away from developing a nuclear bomb. The White House puts the chances of a deal at only 50-50: Disputes still rage over the scale of nuclear infrastructure Iran will be allowed to keep, the pace of sanctions relief and the extent of nuclear site inspections. Despite the controversy stoked last week in Washington when 47 GOP senators sent a letter to Iran's leaders warning that the future of a deal was not guaranteed, many analysts believe that the talks will go on, even if the end-of-March deadline slips. "Not because all sides are desperate to keep talking. But I think sufficient momentum has been created in the last month or so that they see real possibilities," said Robert Einhorn, a former senior U.S. State Department arms control official. Obama may now have slightly more political leeway on the talks than before -- ironically because of attempts by U.S. and Israeli critics to pen him in. A few weeks ago, skeptical Democrats appeared to be lining up with Republicans and approaching a veto-proof Senate majority that could have forced Obama to submit a deal to Congress or accept the passage of new sanctions. Either move could have killed the agreement. But the Republicans' letter and a fiercely critical speech to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the proposed deal prompted some skeptical Democrats to close ranks, at least temporarily. But Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" that Obama was on the cusp of agreeing a "very bad" deal that would allow Iran to keep its nuclear infrastructure intact. He said that if an agreement is reached, he would bring up legislation that would give Congress 60 days to back or reject a deal, despite fresh pleas from the White House for the GOP to hold off. If no deal is reached, McConnell said on Sunday that he would press ahead with toughening sanctions on Iran, he said. Republican sources, meanwhile, said that despite the furor over the letter from the senators, no Democrats had yet formally pulled support for legislation requiring the Senate to have a say on the deal. That leaves the real possibility of a pitched political showdown on Iran in the coming months. The opening for diplomacy is meanwhile not endless. And if no deal emerges by July, political pressure for a tougher administration stance towards Iran may be unstoppable. If diplomacy fails, how events unfold will be dictated by how the process collapses; who gets the blame; and the political pressures exerted on Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Washington and Tehran. "If, at the end of June, there is not a deal, and talks have broken off, I think that it is inevitable that the Congress will adopt new sanctions legislation," said Einhorn, now with the Brookings Institution. "What that will mean is the Iranians will reciprocate." Iran could start up centrifuges halted during the nuclear negotiations, bring more advanced machinery online and enrich uranium to the potent 20% level that would get it closer to a weapon. And if it bars international inspectors, the world would have no idea how far Iran is from making a bomb. What's in the Iran nuclear deal . The administration thinks that if the United States gets the blame for using hardball tactics that derail talks -- if, say, Congress imposes more sanctions, as administration critics want -- there is no way its international partners would keep existing sanctions in place, let alone double down and impose new ones. In addition to unilateral U.S. sanctions Congress has imposed, the United Nations, European Union and other countries have put in place their own sanctions cutting off Iran from international partners and not just the American economy. Cornelius Adebahr, a European security specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, predicted Iran would reap a propaganda victory. "It would give ammunition for Iran to say the U.S. is not reliable," he said. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Jim Walsh, a specialist on the talks, said the Iranian government would have little choice but to hit back at a tougher U.S. stance. "The Iranians are just not going to take it. They are going to feel condemned to respond. Both sides will take their shovels and dig the holes deeper." Walsh continued, "We would be between a lame duck (U.S.) president for whom negotiations had just failed, a weakened Rouhani, for whom negotiations have just failed, and a coming U.S. presidential election -- not exactly the best environment to return to talks and accomplish a diplomatic settlement." Aborted negotiations that leave Iran rededicated to its nuclear program raise the specter of Tehran with a bomb -- or some enemy country taking military action to stop it. Did 47 Republican senators break the law in plain sight? But critics of the deal being worked out in Switzerland don't agree that such an outcome is the likeliest scenario. GOP hawks and Israel believe Tehran is so desperate for sanctions relief, especially at a time of low oil prices, that it will have no choice but to offer a better deal than the one currently on the table and agree to the complete halt to uranium enrichment that Israel and conservatives demand. "If Iran threatens to walk away from the table -- and this often happens in a Persian bazaar -- call their bluff. They'll be back, because they need the deal a lot more than you do," Netanyahu maintained in his Congress speech. Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney made the case in a USA Today op-ed Friday that Obama should "walk away from a flimsy nuclear agreement." Those opposed to the deal reject the administration that follow their advice would likely blow up the talks and set Washington on an inevitable path to war as the only remaining way to disable Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Instead, GOP congressmen counter that several bills they are pushing, with significant Democratic support, do not forestall the possibility of continued diplomacy if talks fail. They say that extra sanctions would increase Obama's leverage in diplomacy, not weaken it. Even if talks do succeed this year, the long-term future of an agreement still wouldn't be assured. The diplomatic effort has powerful critics among hardliners in Tehran who, whatever's written on paper, could push to illicitly expand Iran's nuclear program and close in on a bomb. It's not just Republicans who fear Tehran may violate any deal or test the limits of compliance. Some people who back the talks admit that may be the case, too. In Washington, Congress will be required to lift the existing sanctions on Iran to sustain the agreement in years to come -- a step that is hardly a given. And the stiff Republican opposition means a deal is not assured of surviving the arrival of a new president in the White House come 2017. A future Republican president could reverse Obama's sanctions waivers fairly quickly, as the senators warned in their letter to Iran. Whether the new president would want to do so is another matter, however, especially if Iran lives up to the terms of a deal, which would include stringent verification by international inspectors. He or she would risk a heavy political price. A unilateral Washington pullout would likely infuriate U.S. partners and leave the rookie president facing a boiling crisis that could overwhelm the new administration's nascent foreign policy. "That's what the administration is counting on -- if there is compliance and the deal is working well," said Einhorn. Kerry reminded Congress this week that Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia would all be cosignatories of a deal. "If all those countries have said this is good and it's working, (will a new president) just turn around and nullify it on behalf of the United States?" he asked. "That's not going to happen." Congress would face the same cost-benefit calculation when it comes to the sanctions only lawmakers can expunge. In the event of a Democratic White House victory in 2016, the congressional math could also change in favor of a deal. And if Republicans keep their majorities, lawmakers who are bent on thwarting Obama may be less willing to handcuff a new GOP president. +(CNN)Creflo Dollar's new scheme to raise $60 million to purchase a luxury Gulfstream G650 airplane is the latest chapter in a long and sordid history of televangelists exploiting their churches' tax-exempt status -- and their congregants -- to line their own pockets. Preaching the word of faith, or "prosperity gospel," and capitalizing on lax government oversight of his church's finances has enriched Dollar and his family to the detriment of his followers and the American taxpayer. World Changers Church International, Dollar's 30,000-member church, is a tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code. That means the church's donors receive a tax exemption for their donations (including for Dollar's new jet ambitions), and the church pays no tax on the revenue. What's more, because it is organized as a church, the federal government does not require World Changers to file a publicly available tax return, as other nonprofit organizations are required to do. Those tax returns provide at least some financial information to donors and the public about the organization, including its revenues, assets, expenditures and executive compensation. Dollar is known for his custom suits, luxury homes and private jets that ferry him, among other places, from his home base in College Park, Georgia, to his satellite church in Manhattan, where he and his wife reportedly have a $2.5 million apartment. For Dollar, though, these excesses aren't embarrassments. Instead, they are proof that his theology works, that God blesses the faithful with abundant riches. Dollar tells his congregants to "sow a seed" with him, promising that a plentiful harvest will be their own blessing and, essentially, a return on their investment. To promoters of the word of faith, or prosperity gospel, "sowing a seed" with your pastor is required for God's blessing, even if you're taking it out of your rent money or the last remaining cash in your wallet. Many Christians find word of faith a heretical theology, an embarrassing distortion of Jesus' teachings, not to mention a fraud on congregants. While the government cannot constitutionally mediate theological disputes or otherwise interfere in a church's internal affairs, it can use its oversight powers to ensure that preachers who use their pulpits for profit don't exploit the tax advantages afforded to ordinary houses of worship to pursue their legitimate charitable purposes. In 2007, the Senate Finance Committee, under the chairmanship of Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, launched an investigation into the financial practices of six televangelists, including Dollar. The committee requested documents from Dollar and his wife, Taffi, explaining that taxpayers "should be assured that their donations are being used for the tax exempt purposes of the organizations." The documents sought by the committee included audited financial statements for World Changers, information about related for-profit and nonprofit entities, and data on executive compensation and the church's real and personal assets. More than three years later, after an outcry from the televangelists, most visibly Dollar's mentor Kenneth Copeland, the committee opted to abandon its efforts to instigate any sort of regulatory changes. Instead, the committee called on the ministries to engage in "self-reform," even though the committee staff's findings plainly demonstrated that four of the ministries, including Dollar's, were unwilling to engage in any sort of meaningful transparency or accountability. Of the six televangelists from whom the committee sought financial data, Dollar was deemed the "least cooperative." Without Dollar's cooperation, the committee was left to piece together a puzzle about his finances through public documents, third parties and news reports. It concluded that in 2006, World Changers had received $69 million in contributions at its Atlanta church alone, that the Dollars owned two multimillion-dollar homes in Georgia, and that the church and related business entities had at various points owned four aircraft flown for personal use -- although none was nearly as pricey as the luxury Gulfstream Dollar now seeks to acquire. The committee staff was clearly troubled by the array of business entities, "including private airports and aircraft leasing companies," that raised red flags "about the use of the church's tax-exempt status to avoid taxation." Precisely because of Dollar's lack of cooperation, the staff concluded, "we are unable to determine whether and the extent to which they are reporting and paying taxes on income earned in those entities." Dollar is now looking to raise $60 million for this new aircraft, purportedly "to continue reaching a lost and dying world for the Lord Jesus Christ." Four years after the abandonment of the Senate Finance Committee's televangelist investigation, it looks like the absence of government oversight has only emboldened Creflo Dollar. +(CNN)A salary dispute between North and South Korea has sent jitters through factory owners operating at an industrial complex that is supposed to be a symbol of cooperation for the divided Korean peninsula. The disagreement started in late February, when the North Korean government demanded an increase of around $8.60 a month for North Korean employees working in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. South Korea is working on a response to the demands, leaving factory owners worried about the threat of a factory shutdown. "I'm already nervous about the situation because of the traumatic experience in 2013 when the North closed down the complex," said Yoo Chang-geun, the South Korean head of an automobile parts manufacturer that employs 400 North Koreans in Kaesong. Yoo's company, SJ Tech, operates out of Kaesong, which is just north of the Demilitarized Zone in North Korean territory. He was referring to North Korea's monthslong closure of Kaesong in 2013, during a period of heightened tension on the peninsula. About 125 South Korean companies operate out of Kaesong, employing more than 50,000 North Korean workers. An official from the South Korean government's Unification Ministry, who according to policy spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, says companies at Kaesong pay their North Korean workers an average of $155.50 a month. North Korea is demanding an increase of roughly 5.5%, to an equivalent $164.10 a month. The South Korean government argues that the salary hike is a breach of an existing agreement for the industrial park, which first opened in 2004. The official called the North's request a "one-sided demand." The official did not rule out the possibility that penalties could be imposed on South Korean companies if they individually agree to raise employee salaries. Manufacturers in Kaesong rely on the government in Seoul to represent them in negotiations with Pyongyang. "It feels like we're entering a very difficult phase where innocent corporations are being beaten up by political fights between the North and South," Kim Seo-Jin, the director of Corporate Association of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, said Wednesday. Experts say this isn't the first time the North and South have butted heads over employee salaries in Kaesong. The industrial park was established as a symbol of cooperation at a time when a previous government in South Korea was pursuing a "Sunshine Policy" of friendship with its northern rival. South Korean companies benefited from the extremely low cost of North Korean labor. Meanwhile, North Korea gained a valuable stream of hard currency revenue by appropriating an undisclosed amount of salary from its citizens working in Kaesong. South Korean employers also made a practice of giving small food bonuses to some hungry employees. For a time, this came in the form of "Choco Pies," a packaged South Korean dessert. The snacks reportedly became highly-prized items on the black market in the communist North's rigidly controlled economy. Eventually, employers transitioned to giving workers instant noodles, as one former Kaesong factory owner told CNN in 2014, "in order to provide a more substantial snack." "The whole project is built with an understanding that North Korean wages should and will continue to rise," says John Delury, associate professor at Yonsei University's graduate school of international studies in Seoul. But one factory owner said the communist regime's most recent approach to the salaries is problematic. "The amount of the pay raise demanded this time is small," said SJ Tech's Yoo Chang-geun. "But having this kind of precedent may lead to losing control of the operation in the complex." Experts say Seoul and Pyongyang's approach to the Kaesong salary dispute will serve as an important barometer for the direction of future relations between the rival governments. "Kaesong is the last living legacy of the Sunshine Policy," says professor Delury of Yeonsei University. "If something like wage disputes lead to the shutdown or freezing of Kaesong, that would be a major blow." +Washington (CNN)Calling state bans on same-sex marriage "incompatible with the Constitution," the Obama administration Friday filed a brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of couples who are making challenges in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. "The marriage bans challenged in these cases impermissibly exclude lesbian and gay couples from the rights, responsibilities and status of civil marriage," Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. wrote. He said the states have "burdened petitioners in every aspect of life that marriage touches, from the mundane to the profound." The brief marks the first time the administration has formally made a filing with the high court supporting its position that bans on gay marriage should be declared unconstitutional nationwide. The court will hear arguments in the state cases on April 28. Verrilli said the laws "impose concrete harms on same-sex couples and send the inescapable message that same-sex couples and their children are second-class families, unworthy of the recognition and benefits that opposite-sex couples take for granted." The bans, he said, "cannot be reconciled with the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws." He said there is "no adequate justification for such a discriminatory and injurious exercise of state control." Verrilli stressed that throughout history lesbian and gay people have encountered numerous barriers that have "prevented them from full, free, and equal participation in American life." In an op-ed earlier this week , published in USA Today, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote, "Marriage equality is an idea whose time has come." President Barack Obama's position on same-sex marriage has evolved. In May 2012, in an interview with ABC News, he announced his support for gay marriage. "At a certain point," he said, "I've just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." At his 2013 inauguration he said, "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law." In February 2013, the administration filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of couples challenging California's ban on same sex marriage. Verilli argued that California law provided same sex couples registered as domestic partners all the legal incidents of marriage, but denied them the "designation of marriage." Ultimately, the Supreme Court dismissed that case. Supporters of the state bans have until the end of the month to file their briefs. Thursday was the deadline for briefs in support of petitioners. James Obergefell, the named plaintiff in the case, came to the court Friday as the Human Rights Campaign delivered a brief signed by over 200,000 individuals in support of same-sex marriage. In an interview, Obergefell said his journey began when he challenged Ohio's refusal to recognize same-sex marriage on death certificates. He was legally married to his partner, John Arthur James, in Maryland in 2013, but after Arthur died, Ohio officials refused to recognize Obergefell as his spouse. Asked what it would mean to him if his side wins, Obergefell said, " It will mean John and I matter. It will mean we have the same rights and responsibilities as other Americans." +(CNN)Starbucks charges more than $5 for a large ("venti" in Starbucks speak) Caramel Frappuccino, yet no one bats an eye. But when the CEO of Starbucks announced a plan he hoped would ease racial tensions, the response was immediate outrage! This latest controversy started Monday when Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz unveiled a new initiative in which Starbucks baristas would write the words "Race Together" on coffee cups to help spark a dialogue on race. Schultz even took out full-page ads in The New York Times and USA Today touting this effort. Twitter immediately lit up with a flurry of angry tweets -- apparently from people who have consumed far too much caffeine. Surprisingly, though, the backlash came from all sides. One self-described conservative tweeted this: . A person who noted her support of progressive causes in her Twitter profile tweeted: . Even people in the middle expressed scorn with tweets such as: . I, on the other hand, applaud Schultz's efforts, at least in theory. As Schultz correctly stated when discussing the genesis for "Race Together," "If we just keep going about our business ... and ignoring this (racial issue), then I think we are, in a sense, part of the problem." Sure, I also see some logistical problems with the "get your iced Mocha Frappuccino with a shot of racial tolerance" approach. First, I live in New York City, where New Yorkers barely have the patience to wait for a cup of plain old coffee to be poured let alone stand in line longer while people engage in a nuanced discourse on race. I can envision awkward situations where the baristas ask a customer, "So how do you want your coffee?" to which the customer responds, "Black." For some reason saying "black" in the context of this program could feel uncomfortable. Next thing you know, Starbucks will have to coin politically correct terms for "black" coffee. And as a practical matter, only 40% of Starbucks employees are minorities. Consequently, in most Starbucks, the conversation about racial tolerance will between be between two white people. But let's put those issues aside. The swift and angry backlash against Schultz's idea proves once again that not only don't we live in a post-racial America, we live in a hyper-racial one. In fact, a recent CNN/ORC poll found 40% of Americans believe racial relations have become worse during the six years Barack Obama has been in the White House. It's strikingly obvious that if we are going to improve this situation, we need to have a candid and brutally honest discussion about the underlying factors contributing to racism, the lack of empathy for people of other races, etc. And that's simply what Starbucks' "Race Together" stated goal is: "to stimulate conversation, compassion and positive action regarding race in America." Starbucks' senior vice president of communications, Corey duBrowa, deleted his Twitter account Monday after "feeling personally attacked in a cascade of negativity" and being "overwhelmed by the volume and tenor of the discussion" in response to "Race Together." But duBrowa was back on Twitter on Tuesday night. Why? Because he truly believed in "the power of meaningful, civil, thoughtful, respectful open conversation." DuBrowa's reaction may just be a teachable moment on discussing race. It's truly not an easy topic to broach. The initial response by some, like duBrowa, may be to shut down when racial discussions become uncomfortable. But then, hopefully like duBrowa did later, the conversation can be rejoined within a framework that's respectful to all involved. But to be blunt, one of the biggest obstacles in even starting this conversation is that most white Americans don't want to discuss race, as polls have confirmed. For example, after the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, didn't indict police Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of teenager Michael Brown, a poll found that 80% of blacks felt that the shooting raised important issues about race that needed to be discussed. How many white people agreed? Only 37%. And personally I have seen some white friends become defensive when race issues are raised. Why? Because many view it as an accusation that they are somehow racist (or at least complicit in racism) as opposed to a starting point for a productive conversation. The question is how can we begin that talk about race that our nation desperately needs to have? True, the line at Starbucks might not be the best place. But it has to start somewhere if we are going to close the racial gap that many, including myself, feel is growing. +(CNN)Scientists at NASA are one step closer to understanding how much water could have existed on primeval Mars. These new findings also indicate how primitive water reservoirs there could have evolved over billions of years, indicating that early oceans on the Red Planet might have held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean, NASA scientists reveal in a study published Friday in the journal Science. "Our study provides a solid estimate of how much water Mars once had, by determining how much water was lost to space," said Geronimo Villanueva, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "With this work, we can better understand the history of water on Mars." To find answers to this age-old question about Martian water molecules, scientists used the world's three major infrared telescopes, in Chile and Hawaii, to measure traces of water in the planet's atmosphere over a range of areas and seasons, spanning from March 2008 to January 2014. "From the ground, we could take a snapshot of the whole hemisphere on a single night," said Goddard's Michael Mumma. Scientists looked at the ratio of two different forms -- or isotopes -- of water, H2O and HDO. The latter is made heavier by one of its hydrogen atoms, called deuterium, which has a neutron at its core in addition to the proton that all hydrogen atoms have. That weighed down HDO more, while larger amounts of hydrogen from H2O floated into the atmosphere, broke away from Mars' low gravity and disappeared into space. As a result, water trapped in Mars' polar ice caps has a much higher level of HDO than fluid water on Earth does, the scientists said. The scientists compared the ratio of H2O to HDO in Mars' atmosphere today to the ratio of the two molecules trapped inside a Mars meteorite, a stone that broke off from Mars -- perhaps when an asteroid hit -- and landed on Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. They were able to determine how much that ratio had changed over time and estimate how much water has disappeared from Mars -- about 87%. The findings indicate that the Red Planet could have had its fair share of blue waters, possibly even yielding an ocean. According to NASA, there might have been enough water to cover up to 20% of Mars' surface. That would amount to an ocean proportionally larger than the Atlantic on Earth. "This ocean had a maximum depth of around 5,000 feet or around one mile deep," said Villanueva. NASA scientists say that much of this water loss happened over billions of years, along with a loss of atmosphere. And as the planet's atmospheric pressure dropped, it was harder for water to stay in liquid form. Heat also contributed to its evaporation. As a result, the remaining primeval ocean water continued to move toward the poles, where it eventually froze. "With Mars losing that much water, the planet was very likely wet for a longer period of time than was previously thought, suggesting it might have been habitable for longer," said Mumma. CNN's Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. +(CNN)NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has started a trip to the record books. He plans to spend 342 days on the International Space Station -- the longest stretch of time any U.S. astronaut has spent in space. Kelly lifted off Friday aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that launched from Kazakhstan. The rocket docked at the ISS at 9:33 p.m. ET, according to a tweet from NASA, with hatches between the Soyuz and the space station scheduled to open about 11:15 p.m. ET. Kelly will stay twice as long as any U.S. astronaut has ever stayed on the space station, giving scientists a chance to study how the human body responds to long-duration space flights. On Earth, scientists will perform parallel studies on Scott Kelly's identical twin brother, retired astronaut Mark Kelly. "It's a lot of fun," Kelly said at a media briefing in January. "Space station is a magical place." Two cosmonauts are riding up with Kelly: Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka. Kornienko also will stay up for a year. Padalka will only stay up for six months. The trio will join three crew members already on the space station: U.S. astronaut Terry Virts, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Other crew members also will rotate in and out during their year in orbit so it will never be just Kelly and Kornienko on the station. Kelly, 51, hopes to break the record for the longest mission on the space station set by NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin. They spent over seven months on the ISS -- from September 18, 2006, to April 21, 2007. He is expected to spend 342 days off the planet on this mission. When added to his previous space missions, that would give him a total of 522 days in space, breaking the record of U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke. Fincke spent a combined 381 days, 15 hours and 11 minutes in space, according to his official NASA bio. While Kelly shoots to set space station and other U.S. records, Padalka is on schedule to set a record for the most total time in space for a human. He's already spent more than 710 days in space, including stays on Russia's Mir space station and three previous stints on the International Space Station. Why do it? Why stay up on the station so long? NASA wants to know more about the impact of long-duration spaceflights on the human body to help plan missions to Mars and deeper into space. And the space station, in orbit 250 miles above Earth, is the best place available to study that. Spending that much time in a weightless environment will take a toll. NASA says space station astronauts have vision changes, bone loss, muscle atrophy and other problems. NASA says the experiments should have benefits on Earth, such as helping patients recover from long periods of bed rest to improved monitoring of people whose bodies are unable to fight infections. The space station has about the same living space as a six-bedroom, two bathroom house. And it has a 360-degree bay window with a great view. But astronauts and cosmonauts still report feeling isolated and confined at times. Kelly will document his feelings about being away from his two children and the rest of his family. "I'm going to keep a personal journal of the experience," Kelly said. He also will share some of his journal with researchers studying the psychological impacts of long-term space flight. Will he tell all? "I plan to be completely honest about it," he said, but ... "who knows, maybe there are some crazy thoughts I'll have at the end that I wouldn't want to share." Mark Kelly has volunteered for NASA's "Twins Study" to see how the identical twins change over the year in two very different environments. He is the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who left office after being wounded in a January 2011 assassination attempt. "He thinks it's great that he can still be a participant in this," Scott Kelly said. So Mark will be on Earth getting poked and prodded by researchers -- while Scott makes history in orbit. Final candidates announced for one-way trip to Mars . +(CNN)You may not know it, but comedian Trevor Noah actually made a bit of history even before being named to succeed Jon Stewart as host of "The Daily Show." The 31-year-old South African comic has made only a few appearances on that show since popping up as a correspondent in December, but he's better known within the world of standup comedy. In 2013, Noah became the first African comedian to perform on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." He's been on the cover of Rolling Stone in South Africa, where he's extremely popular. He's joked about being the son of a black African woman and a white Swiss man who met when interracial relationships were illegal in South Africa. "My mom would be arrested. She would be fined, and still she was like 'ooh, I don't care, I want a white man, ooh,' " he once told an audience at London's Soho Theater during his standup show "The Racist." "And my dad was also like, well, you know how the Swiss love chocolate." Why mixed-race comic was 'born a crime' Race, identity and ethnicity have figured in prominently in his act. Because of his parents' then-illegal relationship, he joked, "In the streets, my father couldn't walk with us. He would walk on the other side of the road and wave at me like a creepy pedophile. And my mom could walk with me, but every time the police went by, she would drop me. I felt like a bag of weed." Noah has said in his act that he lost touch with his father for several years because of apartheid. In 2012, he told NPR that he was fascinated by how Americans discuss race. "I got to Baltimore, and I was expecting ... because urban means built up and new, you know," he said. "So I got there, and I was, 'Whoa, it's not as urban as people told me.' ... But it's very black. I'll tell you that much." Noah told CNN's "African Voices" in 2013 that after finding success in his homeland -- where he starred on a soap opera, hosted his own radio show and was the subject of the 2012 documentary "You Laugh But It's True" -- he moved to the United States for a year to try to raise his profile. He returned to his country with new material shaped by his time spent in the States, he said. "Comedy is really getting quite popular in South Africa," Noah said. "It's moving from the bastard child of entertainment into the mainstream, which is very good. I think the reason it's doing so well is because South Africans need to laugh and South Africans want to laugh." Noah has moved to the U.S. permanently and told Newsweek, "I've always wanted to be a comedian in the world. I don't want to be labeled a South African comedian." On "The Daily Show," he debuted as a correspondent with a bit titled "Spot the Africa," which juxtaposed modern-day South Africa and the United States. What remains to be seen is whether what the Guardian has described as "his combination of terribly polite, butter-wouldn't-melt stage presence and biting, often brutal gags" will translate into success on "The Daily Show." +(CNN)As planets go, Mercury doesn't get a lot of love. People spend more time on Google searching for Queen singer Freddy Mercury than planet Mercury ... and Freddie's been gone for nearly a quarter-century. Not even NASA spends much time there, making it the least-explored inner planet in the solar system. But one question has long perplexed scientists: Why's the darned thing so dark? Compared with our own moon, which is about the same size, Mercury reflects much less light. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Brown University and the Planetary Sciences Institute say they may have found the answer: It's been "effectively painted black," in the words of Megan Bruck Syal, a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore. Over the eons, the researchers argue in a paper published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, microscopic meteorites spawned from carbon-rich comets may have contributed enough dark-hued carbon to reduce the amount of reflected light. The pieces seem to fit together: There's a lot more carbon dust thrown off from comets close to the sun, where Mercury orbits -- about 50 times as much for Mercury as for our moon, the researchers say. And tests using a big NASA gun made to simulate planetary impacts on a small scale seem to show the theory is plausible, the authors say. "We show that carbon acts like a stealth darkening agent," said Peter Schultz, a professor emeritus of geological sciences at Brown University. "From the standpoint of spectral analysis, it's like an invisible paint." +(CNN)The desert and dun-colored cliffs around the town of Tataouine were once the backdrop for the movie "Star Wars," much of which was filmed in this neglected corner of Tunisia in 1976. This struggling town on the fringes of the Sahara still draws a few fans of the movie but now finds itself part of a real conflict, as a way-station for jihadists crossing the Libyan border 60 miles to the east. Earlier this month, before the gun attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis, three young men were arrested here as they allegedly made plans to cross into Libya to join a terrorist network. A local official told CNN they had since been taken to Tunis for questioning. Two arms caches have also been found in the region this month, one of which included rocket-propelled grenade launchers and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, thought to have been removed from a Libyan armory in the aftermath of Moammar Gadhafi's ouster in 2011. Driving near the border, it's quickly obvious why the Tunisian government is so anxious about Libya's implosion and the emergence there of an ISIS affiliate whose tentacles stretch half-way across the country. This open space is vast and sparsely populated. Smugglers' tracks criss-cross the endless scrub and steep, arid hills that run along the border. Gasoline, drugs and other contraband have long been smuggled across the frontier. Near the town of Remada, south of Tataouine, a couple of soldiers manned a checkpoint. They wore protective jackets -- whether for show or because of the perceived threat from Islamist militants, it's hard to know. When we arrived, passports were requested and phone calls made. We were escorted into the town and politely but firmly told we could go no further without written authorization. Exactly four years ago we had passed through Remada unchallenged. Tunisians had just launched the Arab Spring. There was a mood of heady optimism and the security apparatus of the Ben Ali regime had melted away. But already Libya was falling apart, as different groups of rebels fought to oust Gadhafi. Thousands of foreign workers were then trying to escape the violence through the few official border crossings. Now Libya's descent into chaos means those crossings are sometimes closed, and it's foreign fighters using the smugglers' trails that Tunisia must worry about. At the national guard building in Remada the officer in charge -- a burly figure in his mid-40s - was wearing a "New York 1999" sweatshirt and appeared to be one of many plainclothes security personnel in the town. He was happy to talk but didn't want his name reported. Ignoring calls on his cell phone, he lamented the state of the Arab world and the expansion of Daesh, as ISIS is frequently called. Look at Iraq, Syria, Libya....of course Tunisia is threatened, he said. The Tunisians are doing what they can, he said. There is now a 1.8-mile no-go zone inside the border, and the military has built fortified positions every couple of miles. The security presence has been boosted seven- to ten-fold, but even so there weren't enough men or equipment. The border, after all, is 380 miles long. A much wider buffer zone -- 12 miles deep -- has also been created, which people can only enter with permission. This has not gone down well with local herders whose goats and sheep live off the desert scrub. Other measures taken by the Tunisian authorities, according to the official in Remada, include a ban on men aged 18-35 from going to Libya unless they have residence papers and proof of employment there. Another source said the ban applied to men under 30. Even so the two gunmen who stormed into the Bardo Museum last week -- both of them in their twenties -- had been able to cross illicitly into Libya in December, according to Tunisian State Security Minister Rafik Chelly. Chelly told a Tunisian network that the pair had received weapons training in the ISIS stronghold of Derna. The mood among many Tunisians seems much harder and more pragmatic than it was four years ago. A shopkeeper in a small village between Tataouine and Remada said there needs to be a security crackdown. He said people in the area led simple lives -- but they knew each other and noticed strangers. Bassim, a taxi driver on the island of Djerba, some 60 miles to the north of Tataouine, was of a similar view. "The people need to be the third eye of the security forces" he said. "And we need to think of the safety of visitors like we think of the safety of our families." Bassim and hundreds of thousands of other Tunisians have reason to be worried. They rely on tourism to make a living, and fear that ISIS will -- as it has threatened -- launch further attacks against foreigners visiting Libya. Bassim ferries tourists around Djerba, whose luxury hotels and beaches are a popular destination for French and German tourists. It took the tourist industry years to recover from a terror attack on a synagogue on the island in 2002 in which 21 people were killed. Bassim says he's heard all too many horror stories about events in Libya from the oil workers he took to Djerba's airport. Others, mainly in the capital Tunis, are apprehensive that the democratic gains of four years ago may be eroded or lost in a new security clampdown. They point to new anti-terrorism legislation that strengthens detention powers and the right of the authorities to monitor suspects' phones and social media. The measure was being discussed in parliament Wednesday when the attack was launched on the adjacent museum. Tunisians say their country is at a crossroads as it tries to fend off the jihadist contagion seeping across North Africa. Their democracy is young and vulnerable. "We want to be the hope of the Arab world," said Bassim, "like we were four years ago." "We still have hope, but now we have fear too." +(CNN)There have been a few times in my career when I've been thoroughly disappointed -- even disgusted -- with my fellow women in the workplace. No, I certainly don't expect all my female colleagues to go out of their way for me and sing "Kumbaya" together in the office, but I'm always stunned when a woman who could have been helpful to me wasn't, when a woman who could have been a mentor chose not to be, when a woman tried to hurt me because of her own fear, anxiety or what have you. I'd love to say more about each of the women I've met along the way who fit those descriptions, but my point is not to single anyone out. My goal is to ask the question, "Why?" Obviously, not all women are like this and there are plenty of men guilty of the same behavior, but why do so many women try to tear each other down instead of lift each other up? I figured this would be a perfect question for Sophia Nelson, author of a new self-help book for women called "The Woman Code," and she didn't disappoint. Unlocking 'The Woman Code': 4 tips to know your value . "From the time we're little girls, we're taught to compete," said Nelson during a recent conversation at CNN. "I need to be prettier, taller, smarter, my hair needs to be straighter, curlier, whatever it is. I need to get the better looking guy. I need to always be better than because we're taught to come from a place of lack as women." The way Nelson, an award-winning author and journalist, radio and television personality and motivational speaker, sees it, we women need to start operating like the boys. Men "operate from a sense of, there's this whole pie, and I want my piece, and I don't care if he gets his piece, and maybe we even have to work together to start that business, start that company," said Nelson. Of course, it's easier for a man not to worry "if he gets his piece" since there are plenty of pieces of pie available for men in terms of management positions in corporate America, but that isn't the case for women. Today, just 5% of S&P 500 chief executives are women and only 14% of the top five senior leadership positions at those companies are held by women, according to a CNN Money analysis. Sheryl Sandberg teams up with NBA to get men to #LeanIn . Decades ago, the situation was even worse. When I was just starting my television news career in 1990, women who were in their 40s and were in high-level positions were the only women in a position of influence. Naturally, many of them often viewed other women as threats who could take their job. "Because they didn't think there could be ten of them, they only thought there could be one of them," said Nelson. "Fast forward 20 years later. Now there ... are a number of women partners at big firms, a number of women in Congress. I could keep going on and on so ... there is a place for more of us." Which means we can lift as we climb, we can help our younger sisters and even our cohorts while still moving up and on in our careers, says Nelson. "How exactly do we do that?" I had to ask. Nelson came armed with five tips on how women can work with as opposed to against each other. First, Nelson says be mindful of the people you surround yourself with and careful about "who's in your row." "If you hear another woman say, and I've heard this, 'I don't do women friends, I don't have women friends,' believe her and leave her alone. I mean that, listen to me now," said Nelson. There are too many women who believe in the sisterhood of women, so don't invest any time, if possible, with people who don't, she says. If you are in a meeting and you have a great idea, don't feel like you have to hoard it to yourself, said Nelson. "Collaborate, share, collaborate. ... So you lift other women as you climb by collaborating versus competing." Competition is healthy and we can compete, but we ought to take a page from our male colleagues' playbook, she said. "The guys collaborate better than we do because they operate from a place of 'I want the dollars. I want to win the contract. I want to get the business.' We have to get in that same mindset." We're all busy but we've got to slow down and mentor, said Nelson. "We have to build a bench," she said. "Men do this well again. You've seen it in corporate, I've seen it. The guys go out and golf. They do things together and they're building up the next young man leader. Whatever field we're in ... we're less likely to do it because we're busy. We've got to mentor." When you lift other women as you climb, said Nelson, you realize it's reciprocal. "It's not all about you." We women win when more women are in executive roles in organizations, I added. "The right women," said Nelson. "I want to caveat that. And again, I don't mean to be mean or catty but ... I know a lot of women in power positions that don't help other women but there are a lot of women in power positions that do." This is a tough one for us, says Nelson. We need to be willing to say to another woman that we didn't like something she did or said and do it in a respectful and private way where we are still building her up, not pulling her down. "Don't go tell 10 of your friends not to like her. You'd be amazed at how silly we can be. We're still in kindergarten some of us," said Nelson. "Gossip is still one of the most rampant, nasty things we do as women to each other. And it hurts. It really damages women." Why do you think women too often tear each other down instead of help each other in the workplace? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter @kellywallacetv or CNN Living on Facebook. +(CNN)There's a steady stream of blood flowing down his face from a cut just above his eye. His rapid, open-mouth breathing inadvertently draws some of the blood inside, discoloring his teeth. He appears dazed, probably with a concussion. But there are no trained physicians around to evaluate. And even if there were, it's doubtful anything a doctor could say would stop him from fighting. The crowd that has gathered in this backyard of a Miami suburb won't let him. They have too much money invested. Besides, this illegal fight is the safest way he can make money. And his best chance of reaching the American Dream. When I first saw this footage from the documentary "Dawg Fight," I recoiled. Here we are recognizing the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama, and in the next state over there are desperate, unemployed black men beating the hell out of each other for a hundred bucks. While the 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" made organized street fights look like a sexy form of psychotherapy for repressed men (and some of the guys who participate in street fights do fit the bill), the vast majority in the documentary just need the money. Because in the Miami area the poor reportedly live on $11 a day. And in West Perrine, the suburb where "Dawg Fight" takes place and where nearly 75% of the residents are black, unemployment remains high. "This is the future of America," said the film's director, Billy Corben. "When you look at the incarceration rate, especially for black men, and income inequality, the life you see in 'Dawg Fight' is where we are headed. "We have these ridiculous drug laws, which makes it nearly impossible to get a job once you've been arrested. And if you can get a job, it doesn't pay enough to feed a family." The numbers speak for themselves. The United States has 5% of the world's population but 25% of its prisoners -- by far the most of any country. Meanwhile, between 2009 and 2012, the top 1% of Americans captured 95% of all income growth. So while it is true unemployment is down and Wall Street is booming, the combination of a debilitating criminal justice system and low wages has created an environment in which men such as those featured in "Dawg Fight" feel backyard fights are actually one of the less nefarious ways they can make money. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, have become interesting bedfellows as they work to address the country's runaway prison industry. This week, the pair, along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, introduced a medical marijuana bill as another step toward decriminalizing the drug. This is a welcome step, because of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001-2010, nearly 90% was for simple possession, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. And while whites and blacks use the drug at the same rate, blacks were arrested four times as often, the ACLU said. That's not to say all of the ex-cons in the 12-by-12 ring are nonviolent drug offenders. Some, by their own admission, have done worse. But they are out of jail now, and don't have the luxury of waiting to see if debates going on in Washington actually result in laws. "I don't promote violence, I promote hope," said Dada 5000, who started West Perrine fights in his mother's backyard and who was once a bodyguard for mixed martial arts fighter Kimbo Slice. "A lot of these men paid their debt back to society; they did the rehab, but they still can't get a job. They don't blame society for their life. ... (T)hey are back here in these streets, and they would like a second chance, a chance to do the right thing, but those chances are not there. We are an alternative to the bad things." I asked if the election of the first black President provided any inspiration at all, and he said, "Obama's black, but he didn't grow up black, not like this. "He never had to make do, to go without. He never was put inside those situations, those circumstances where desperation pushes you to the edge. He's had what he thinks are hard times, but it's nothing like this. If he came down here, he would be blown away." Corben echoes the sentiment. "The unemployment rate is all well and good for people in Washington, but those are not the people who are trying to make it," he said. "People think of Miami, they think of beaches and Ocean Drive and all of that. This is the part of Miami people don't want to talk about. "But you know what? Miami is not unique. There are a lot of cities like this," he adds. "Dawg Fight" certainly doesn't sugarcoat anything. The fights are raw, vicious. But then so is the reality in which it is based. Two of the fighters featured are dead -- including one on whom police used a Taser. With prize money as little as $100, the chances this lifestyle alone can elevate a family out of poverty is slim to none. But what are the alternatives? I grew up in a rough neighborhood on the eastside of Detroit. I was mugged in elementary school by a grown man. And even I don't claim to know the desperation these men see on a daily basis. "We don't have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson coming down here to this level of hood," Dada said. "This is the real Miami. We may not want to acknowledge it, but it is. "And I bet if you go to some of the other cities where men don't have any skills, they don't have an education, they may have a record ... you'll find the same thing," he added. "What I'm doing isn't barbaric, it's a message." +(CNN)When Vladimir Putin reappears, he does it with style -- and an in-your-face attitude. The Russian President attended a large concert in Moscow's Red Square on Wednesday to commemorate the first anniversary of his country's annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, an act condemned by many in the international community as illegal. Only Putin doesn't call it annexation. He calls it reunification. According to the presidential website, Putin attended the "We're Together!" concert and meeting "celebrating the first anniversary of Crimea and Sevastopol's reunification with Russia." The peninsula became part of the Soviet Union in 1917, following the Russian Revolution. But in 1991, following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it became part of a newly independent Ukraine. On March 16, 2014, Crimea held a referendum on whether to continue as part of Ukraine or to cast its lot with the Russian Federation. The result was overwhelming, at least among those voting: 95% said they wanted to become part of Russia. A mere two days later, Russia annexed the territory. Putin said later that he had been planning the move even before the referendum was held. "Friends!" the President said in Red Square on Wednesday, according to his website, "Exactly one year ago, Russia, which we are speaking of so much right now, and the Russian people showed amazing togetherness and patriotism in supporting the aspirations of the people of Crimea and Sevastopol to return to their native shores." The issue, he said, was "our history, our spirituality and our statehood, the things that make us a single people and single united nation." Also participating, the website said, were "popular Russian music groups and singers." Putin was recently out of sight without explanation for 10 days, during which time various meetings were canceled. He reappeared only Monday. Lest anyone doubt he was still in charge, Putin, who prides himself on his fitness, has been displaying a different form of muscle this week -- the military kind. He mobilized Russia's entire Northern Fleet in a military exercise that reportedly ranks among the largest since the breakup of the Soviet Union. NATO reported that, on Tuesday, Estonian radar detected an unspecified number of aircraft over the Baltic Sea. NATO sent jets to identify the planes and later reported that "the Russian military aircraft" flew on into the airspace of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. +(CNN)The country's largest Presbyterian denomination has changed its definition of marriage to include gay couples -- though not explicitly. Presbyterian Church (USA) approved an amendment to its constitution after most of its 171 presbyteries -- or governing bodies -- voted for it, PC (USA) said Tuesday. Before, the definition said marriage was between "a man and a woman." The new definition says, in part, that "marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives." Already, PC (USA) ministers can perform same-sex marriages in states where such marriages are legal, the group said. But no teaching elder or session can be forced to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies if they do not believe they are appropriate. Not all members supported the decision. In a post on PC (USA)'s website, Jean and Robert Gorney accused the church of going against the Bible and threatened to leave. "We are not to change the Bible," their post said. "I don't care who disagrees." But the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which says it supports "a fully inclusive church," welcomed the news Tuesday night. "The change aligns the church's constitution with a reality that has long been true: Both same-gender and opposite-gender couples have been living in relationships that demonstrate covenant faithfulness, shared discipleship and mutual love," the group said. "We are also aware that the discussion has been a difficult one for many, and that some will feel a deep sense of pain over this decision. The Covenant Network is committed to fostering healthy dialogue and working with those who hold a view different from ours, seeking opportunities for us to model an authentic and productive unity." The amendment will take effect on June 21. CNN's Daniel Burke contributed to this report. +(CNN)Entertainers are paid for entertaining and it's time athletes received financial recompense for taking part in the Olympics, says 100m hurdler Sally Pearson. In 2014,while the winner of Wimbledon received $2,600,000 and the Augusta Masters champion picked up $1,620,000, when Pearson won gold in the Olympics three years ago she received zero prize money. "People come for the entertainment from the athletes -- we are entertaining them, we are entertainers" the Australian, who set an Olympic record of 12.48 seconds in her 2012 winning run in 2012, told CNN anchor Alex Thomas. "Entertainers get paid every single time they step up onto a stage, and that's exactly what we're doing in a sporting sense." Billions might have tuned in to watch London's 2012 Olympic Games which saw over 10,000 athletes compete across 302 events in a battle for golden glory, but the International Olympic Committee's current policy is to (IOC) hand out gold, silver and bronze medals as well as a bouquet of flowers to athletes, but no financial remuneration. "I can see why they don't, and I'm sure they want to keep it like that, they want to keep it pure," added Pearson. "To be honest we're all still going to turn up whether we get paid or not. But the Games wouldn't happen without the athletes." It also wouldn't happen without sponsors. The IOC has just signed a new eight-year sponsorship deal with car manufacturing giant Toyota -- reportedly worth just under $1 billion -- adding to their list of partners that include McDonald's and Coca-Cola. Athletes usually fund themselves through sponsorship deals, government support, grants and part-time work. In 2012 only half of American track and field athletes -- who were ranked in the top 10 in their nation -- earned more than $15,000 a year from their sport. The fifth fastest 100m hurdler in history, Pearson told the Australia's Daily Telegraph in 2013 how a year after her Olympic gold medal in London she still wasn't attracting enough sponsors. No stranger to hard work -- the hurdler sometimes vomits after intense training sessions -- she decided to chase down her own deals rather than sit on her hands waiting for private sponsorship. While she has some support from Qantas, AMP and Adidas, appearance fees and prize money in the Diamond League -- an annual series of track and field meetings -- also provides revenue earning potential for the 28-year-old. Now targeting more medal success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Pearson achieved a resounding win at the Queensland Track Classic on March 7 with a time of 12.74s. Even so the issue of Olympic prize money still clearly grates. "I think the times have changed from 1896 to 2016, I think it might be time to at least have a think about it, and discuss it because there's no such thing as the Olympics without athletics or athletes," said Pearson. +Kiev, Ukraine (CNN)Pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk have withdrawn all heavy weapons from the front lines in accordance with a recent peace deal, the rebel group Donetsk People's Republic said Saturday. On the other side, the Kiev-backed Donetsk regional authority said Ukrainian forces also withdrew all heavy weapons from the front lines in Donetsk, but added that in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday pro-Russian militants carried out 46 attacks, all of which were repelled, according to Col. Valentin Fedichev. A shaky ceasefire has been in place in Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region, the center of a months-long conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces. The estimated number of people killed in eastern Ukraine since April 2014 now exceeds 6,000 "in spite of successive ceasefires," the United Nations Human Rights Office said earlier this week. The escalation in fighting in recent weeks, particularly near the Donetsk airport and in the Debaltseve area, resulted in hundreds of deaths, both civilian and military, according to the United Nations report. The report paints a picture of "merciless devastation of civilian lives and infrastructure," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. He called for all sides to adhere to the peace deal, reached last month in Minsk, Belarus, which calls for a ceasefire in many of the conflict's hotspots. Victoria Butenko contributed from Kiev. CNN's Michael Martinez wrote from Los Angeles. +(CNN)Novak Djokovic led Serbia to the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup World Group after answering a late call to play in Saturday's last 16 doubles victory over neighbor and rival Croatia. Teammate Viktor Troicki had been due to play in the doubles rubber alongside Nenad Zimonjic, but a draining five-set singles match with Croatian teen starlet Borna Coric on Friday convinced Serbia coach Bogdan Obradovic to draft in the fresher Djokovic. It was an inspired choice. The Serbian pair took less than two hours to defeat Franko Skugor and Marin Draganja 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, securing an unassailable 3-0 aggregate lead in the best of five tie after singles wins for Djokovic and Troicki over their Croatian opponents Friday. "We wanted to finish the job today, to take advantage of the fact that we won the first singles and that was done," Djokovic said in quotes carried by the AFP news agency after the match. The World No 1. singles player has looked strong all week after losing in straight sets to Roger Federer at the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships seven days ago. He was cheered on by a packed and passionate home crowd at the Kraljevo Sports Center. Serbia has won the Davis Cup once before, in 2010 when it defeated Croatia on the way to the final. France marches on . In the day's other Davis Cup ties, France secured a last 16 slot for the sixth consecutive year. Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut's comfortable doubles victory over Germany's Benjamin Becker and Andre Begemann pushed the French over the line 3-0. The Bryan brothers fought back to secure doubles victory for the U.S. over Great Britain in Glasgow, reducing the 2-0 deficit built up by singles victories from Andy Murray and James Ward Friday. Meanwhile, defending champions Switzerland, playing without Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka, are on the brink after falling 2-1 behind Belgium as Michael Lammer and Adrien Bossel lost 1-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 to Ruben Bemelmans and Adrien Bossel. +London (CNN)An 18-year-old British man has been arrested on suspicion of preparing to join ISIS in Syria, UK police say. Counterterrorism officers arrested the man at his home in Hodge Hill, in the city of Birmingham, early Monday, West Midlands police said. "The operation was pre-planned and intelligence led. There was no immediate threat to public safety," they said in a statement. The arrest follows that of three teenagers from northwest London on Sunday after they were intercepted by Turkish police in Istanbul. The two 17-year-old boys and a 19-year-old man were arrested "on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts," the Metropolitan Police said. They have since been released on bail. The investigation started Friday, after police learned the two 17-year-olds were missing and were believed to be traveling to Syria. They were traveling with a 19-year-old, police said. British authorities shared intelligence regarding the 17-year-olds with Turkish officials Friday, and that night, they landed in Istanbul on a flight from Barcelona, Spain, a Turkish official told CNN. The teens were stopped with another person seen as suspicious by Turkish intelligence at the airport's risk analysis center, which monitors risky flights and runs checks on suspicious passengers trying to enter Turkey. Turkish authorities questioned the teens, the Turkish official said, and the Metropolitan Police said the three returned to London shortly before midnight Saturday and were arrested. Last week, Turkish authorities said they had arrested a person -- working for an undisclosed nation's intelligence service -- on suspicion of helping three British girls who are thought to have entered Syria to join ISIS. British police say they think the three east London classmates -- Shamima Begum, 15; Kadiza Sultana, 16; and Amira Abase, 15 -- traveled to Syria after flying from London to Istanbul on February 17. Metropolitan Police on Monday announced a new media campaign to deter young people from traveling to Syria. Radio and press advertisements highlighting the influence a mother could have on her daughters would be placed in ethnic minority media, police said. The campaign said that it was mothers who often noticed changes in behavior that could signal an intention to travel to Syria, they said. There was increasing concern about the number of women traveling to Syria, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball said. "It is an extremely dangerous place, and the reality of the lifestyle they are greeted with when they arrive is far from that promoted online by terrorist groups," she said. "The option of returning home is often taken away from them, leaving families at home devastated and with very few options to secure a safe return for their loved one," Ball said. +(CNN)What's your company doing this year for March Madness? If your workplace is like most, the answer is a big fat nothing. Instead of leveraging the NCAA's annual tournament and turning it into a genuine bonding experience between colleagues, most organizations pretend it isn't happening. On the surface, ignoring a sporting event that takes place during regular work hours might appear like sound business practice. After all, companies need to generate profit, and it's hard to generate profit when your employees are huddled around a television, right? Wrong. What this perspective overlooks is that productivity isn't simply a function of how many hours we spend at the office. It also depends on the quality of our workplace experience. And one critical feature of that experience is how closely connected we feel to our colleagues. Research has consistently demonstrated that we are more effective at our jobs when we feel attached to the people around us. How do strong colleague relationships elevate our performance? For one thing, they make us more motivated. When you and your colleagues are close, failing to perform your duties generates more than a dissatisfied customer or an unhappy manager -- it means letting down your friends. The social pressure to achieve results can serve as a stronger motivator than anything a boss can say. Closer connections also foster a sense of trust and more candid dialogue. Studies comparing the collaboration patterns of friends to mere acquaintances indicate that friends are more willing to ask for help and more comfortable speaking up when a colleague is off on the wrong track. Performance aside, workplace friendships benefit organizations for another reason: Employees with richer friendships tend to stay on with their company for longer periods of time. Despite these considerable benefits, at most companies, friendships are an afterthought. To motivate employees, managers tend to rely on bonuses, promotions, and salary increases, ignoring the fact that as humans, we all have a basic psychological need for meaningful relationships. Yet the research is clear: When we feel valued and respected by those around us, we're not only more motivated -- we're also happier, healthier, and more productive. For too many organizations, investing in quality employee relationships means one thing: team-building exercises. Think ice breakers, trust falls and scavenger hunts. Every year, corporations spend millions on off-site retreats and weekend getaways packed with cringeworthy activities that purportedly foster better communication. But here's the truth: While awkward collaborations may spark brief experiences of closeness, they rarely translate into lasting friendships. So what does? Studies suggest three factors are essential to the development of authentic, meaningful friendships: familiarity (being around the same colleague often), similarity (finding commonalities in your background), and self-disclosure (revealing personal information about yourself every now and then, and having your co-worker do the same). Few activities include all three of these elements. This explains why close relationships usually take years to develop. But interestingly, office game-viewing parties come close. They present opportunities for colleagues to mingle with those from other departments and connect over shared interests. For many, the NCAA basketball tournament is associated with their experience at college, which leads them to share stories about their past, prompting co-workers to do the same. Unlike team-building experiences that compel employees to engage with one another, game-viewing parties position people to connect voluntarily. And that feature can make all the difference. In recent years, a number of forward-thinking workplaces have begun leveraging March Madness in intelligent ways. Ogilvy & Mather, for example, an international marketing agency based in New York, invites employees to watch tournament games on projection screens in conference rooms and the office cafeteria. To address the fact that not everyone has the time to follow college basketball, a Virginia financial services firm called The Motley Fool offers a free "Bracketology" class, where nonenthusiasts can get caught up on this year's favorites and collect advice before filling out their brackets. A number of organizations, including office furniture manufacturer Turnstone, even serve game-day snacks, such as pizza, popcorn, and chicken wings, to simulate the viewing experience of a sports bar, minus the alcohol. In addition to organizing a vibrant workplace gathering, there are also opportunities for making better use of the office tournament pool. Here's one idea: Instead of having employees pay an entry fee (which discourages nonfans from joining in), sponsor prizes so that everyone participates. Then, go beyond recognizing individual contestants and reward the team or department with the highest average score. This way, employees have reason to root for one another, fostering a sense of collaboration. Another approach worth considering: using the office pool as a motivational tool. Some years ago, NetTel Partners, a sales organization in Philadelphia, launched a competition among its salespeople in the weeks before the NCAA tournament. The more appointments a salesperson secured with potential clients, the sooner he or she could select a team in the office draft. The results were astonishing. Total cost to NetTel for furnishing prizes: $300, plus the price of a personalized basketball jersey. Total impact on the business: a 35% jump in appointments, not to mention a boost in office morale. As the NCAA tournament tips off this month, organizational leaders would be wise to re-examine their approach to March Madness. Instead of treating the tournament as a nuisance that prevents employees from working, perhaps it's time we considered embracing it for what it is: an inexpensive opportunity for bringing our work teams closer together. Without the trust falls. +(CNN)It's hardly news to state that air pollution is bad for people's health. What might be more surprising to learn, though, is that air pollution is bad for the health of an unborn child, long before his or her lungs ever take their first breath. A growing body of research indicates that various forms of air pollution have a measurable impact on the health of babies, both in utero and after birth. We imagine the infant to be protected inside its mother's body, but pollutants can reach the baby the same way nutrients and medicine do. Lead, mercury and particulate matter are among the types of air pollution we know can impact the health of infants before and after birth. Ozone, or smog, is the next candidate for addition to the list of air pollutants known to be harmful to fetal health. Over the past several years, a number of studies have indicated a likely link between higher levels of maternal ozone exposure and poor health outcomes in infants, including changes in lung structure and function, low birth weight and neuro-behavioral abnormalities. Many of these health effects can be expected to have lifelong consequences. These are deeply concerning results that require more investigation to understand fully. These studies add to a substantial amount of evidence showing the ill effects of ozone for people of all ages. Estimates place the toll in 2007 at 15,000 premature deaths related to ozone among individuals of all ages. Ozone also causes shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing, asthma attacks, increased risk of respiratory infections and increased need for people with lung diseases -- such as children with asthma -- to get medical treatment or be admitted to the hospital. How can a pregnant woman protect herself and her growing fetus from the harm caused by ozone? After all, ozone is usually invisible (except in certain cases, as smog) and high levels are undetectable to the average individual. Summertime air quality alerts may help in some cases, but some pregnant women cannot avoid exposure. In addition, studies confirm that these daily pollution alerts are inadequate to protect our health because they are based on the present federal ozone standard, which does not include evidence from current, critical health science. In other words, the alerts sometimes fail to accurately indicate when the air is dangerous to breathe. Thinking that it's safe to work or play outside when ozone pollution levels trigger a yellow air quality alert (indicating a "moderate" level for ozone pollution) can significantly threaten the health of many vulnerable individuals. In order to truly protect our children, we need strong, national standards limiting ozone. Ozone forms in the air from emissions from a number of sources, but the biggest culprits are cars, trucks and other motor vehicles, as well as power plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new ozone standards in November that would bring limits in line with the science. EPA is accepting comments from the public on the standard until Tuesday, March 17, and both of our organizations have expressed support. An updated standard would help ensure we have access to accurate information about the air we breathe, and help drive reductions in ozone pollution to protect the health of all Americans. ​Strengthening the ozone standard to reflect the best current science will help save lives and protect our families, including pregnant women and their babies. +(CNN)"Breast is best" -- you could call it a mantra of sorts that sums up much of today's research on breastfeeding. Not only does breastfeeding have clear short-term benefits, such as protection from infectious diseases and a reduction in mortality, it's also been shown to be associated with an increase in intelligence. Prior studies have shown an increase of up to 7.5 IQ points in elementary age children who were breastfed, as well as an increase in verbal, performance and comprehensive IQ in adults. The latest addition to this perspective is a long-term study of infants born in Pelotas, Brazil, in 1982. Published in Lancet, the study interviewed 5,914 new mothers about their plans for breastfeeding and then followed up to see how they did. "Information on breastfeeding duration was collected very close to the time when weaning happened, so we had a very precise information on the duration of breastfeeding," said study author, Dr. Bernardo Lessa Horta, in a podcast on Lancet. What makes this study unique is that it followed the subjects all the way to age 30. "We were able to follow about 68% of the participants, which is a very good follow-up rate," said Lessa Horta. "We observed that breastfeeding was positively associated with performance and intelligence at 30 years old, as well as with education, school achievement and higher monthly incomes." In fact, Lessa Horta said the subjects who had been breastfed for 12 months or longer had a higher IQ (about 3.7 points), more years of education and earned roughly 20% more than the average income level. "It's suggesting that the positive effect of breastfeeding on IQ leads to a higher income," he said. "This is our main finding at this moment." One possible reason for the advantage of breast milk, Lessa Horta added, is that it is "rich in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids which are important to brain growth and development." Called LCPUFA for short, these essential fatty acids are found in salmon and shellfish and have been added to infant formulas since the 1990s. However, the benefit to mental or psychomotor development from adding LCPUFA to infant formula is unclear. Because the study did not measure home life, intellectual stimulation or bonding between mother and child, it was not able to tease out whether these factors may have also contributed to the increase in IQ. That leaves it open to critics, such as Texas A&M Professor Joan Wolf, author of "Is Breast Best? "This study does not address the very real possibility that mothers who choose to breastfeed, regardless of income or education, distinguish themselves from those who bottle-feed in all kinds of ways that are likely to promote intelligence," Wolf wrote CNN. For Lessa Horta, the implications of his study are clear: "The finding supports the promotion of breastfeeding. It's more evidence that besides the clear short term benefits, breastfeeding also has long term consequences in terms of human potential." +(CNN)Roberto Mancini says he carries Manchester City's supporters in his heart -- but there's not much love being shown towards the man who replaced him as manager of the Premier League champions. Manuel Pellegrini is a man feeling the heat -- and the current City manager has come under fire from his predecessor just 24 hours after insisting he is not under pressure to win a trophy every season. Mancini, the man who led Manchester City to its first Premier League title in 44 years back in 2012 says Pellegrini is "lucky" to have inherited the side he left behind after being sacked exactly a year to the day since winning England's top division. Pellegrini, who led City to the domestic title last season, is under fire with City trailing Chelsea by six points in the league and facing elimination in the European Champions League. "I think Pellegrini was really lucky because he got this team that is a strong team and he has a chance to put in more good players," Inter Milan coach Mancini told CNN's Don Riddell on the eve of City's crucial game with Barcelona in the Champions League. "I think City can win a title every year and have a chance -- it should and must try to win a title every year." Nicknamed "the Engineer," Pellegrini has seen the wheels come off his side's title charge in recent weeks. The Chilean is reportedly on the brink with his team having apparently surrendered its Premier League title with another meek showing in the 1-0 defeat by minnow Burnley last weekend. His team have managed just three victories in their past 11 games -- its season could be more or less over by tomorrow night. City faces a daunting task to reach the last eight of the European Champions League -- a competition it has struggled in despite spending $482 million on players since the start of the 2011-12 season. It must overturn a 2-1 deficit against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday after being outplayed for the majority of the home fixture. Only once in nine attempts has Barcelona won the first leg of a two-legged Champions League knockout tie and not progressed. Pellegrini has spent heavily since arriving at City but a number of those purchases have failed to impress. Eliaquim Mangala, who arrived from Porto for $47million has endured a dismal first season in English football, while $32million man Stevan Jovetic has also struggled to make an impression since arriving from Fiorentina. "It's my opinion that City is the best team in the Premier League," said Mancini. "It's in second and six points behind Chelsea but I think it's the best team. "In the Premier League anything can happen right up to the last game, in the last minute," perhaps a nod to City's last gasp English Premier League title win in 2012, thanks to Sergio Aguero's stoppage time winner against Queens Park Rangers. "I think they should think that they have a chance to win the title." Mancini, who replaced Mark Hughes in December 2009, enjoyed great success during his three-and-half-year tenure. He led the club to the FA Cup in 2011 before winning the league title the following season. Under Mancini, the club attracted star players such as Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli, David Silva and Aguero. He signed a new five-year deal with the club in July 2012 but results dipped with rival Manchester United regaining the league title and City suffering a shock FA Cup final defeat by Wigan. Mancini was criticised for his side's lack of success in the Champions League, where the failure to negotiate the group stage playing a key role in the decision to relieve him of his duties. The Italian, 50, was also involved in a series of high-profile disagreements with Carlos Tevez, the Argentina striker, which cast doubts over his ability to handle the big names in the City squad. In the 12 Champions League ties under his stewardship, City managed just three victories -- a damning indictment on the team's failure on the European stage. At the time of his sacking, the club said that Mancini failed to hit "stated targets" and that it wanted to "develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football". "I had a fantastic time in England," he added. "We won the Premier League after many years. I have all City's supporters in my heart and all those moments in my head because it is impossible to forget this. "Maybe I miss the Premier League because I worked there for three-and-a-half years. I built the team that is now in second position. "I think they play with the same players and I am very proud of this." Mancini faces a struggle of his own at Inter with the club unlikely to qualify for European competition next season. Inter is eighth in Serie A and is eight points off the qualifying places for the Europa League. It faces German side Wolfsburg in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday having lost the first leg 3-1. +(CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent speech to the U.S. Congress has received disproportionate media attention across the world: the leader of America's most important client state in the Middle East defies the reservations of the White House, abusing Congress as a platform for his Israeli election campaign. Disregarding Israel's already strained bilateral relations with the United States, Netanyahu readily risked the consequences of humiliating the Obama administration in exchange for less than an hour of political self-manifestation -- typical for a man who is domestically known to be not much of a statesman. Netanyahu is a charismatic speaker and a passionate Israel-advocate, however, his personal and political interests have always taken precedence over serving Israel's national interests. Political survival has been the maxim of his domestic and foreign policies. Netanyahu joins a long list of Israeli politicians overwhelmed by the plurality and polarization of domestic public opinion. So far he has been just another Israeli leader seeking "easy" short-term answers to fundamentally strategic problems, thereby further protracting an already protracted conflict. As a puppet of ideological, conservative playmakers who whole-heartedly reject a two-state solution, Netanyahu has been held hostage by the likes of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett who pursue a discriminatory policy of sectarian segregation intending to contain Palestinian public dissidence through mere coercion. Consequently, Netanyahu's foreign policy vis-à-vis the peace process has been a disaster. He took over from Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni -- two politicians who at least believed in a two-state solution and were ready to make sacrifices to keep the peace process alive. Israeli leaders typically fall into two categories: those who believe in peace and those that have the power to make peace. Olmert was the former, and Netanyahu long seemed like he could become the latter. In reality, however, Netanyahu is neither. He has given in to a toxic form of Jewish nationalism, disregarded Israel's relatively good regional position vis-à-vis its otherwise-occupied Arab neighbors; he has continued to build settlements out of spite, thought of ever new preconditions for bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians and waged a ruthless war against Gaza without a clear strategic endgame -- a war that was lost militarily and in terms of international reputation. Apart from the tragic effects of Netanyahu's policy on the peace process, his stubbornness has alienated allies in Europe and Washington. While the Arab world has been widely apathetic about the Israel-Palestinian issue amid regional disintegration, partners on both sides of the Atlantic have tried to facilitate the revitalization of constructive peace talks. Yet, Netanyahu chose to ignore external initiatives, retracting to a Jewish nationalist rhetoric founded on security paranoia, self-victimization and the illusion of Israeli autarky in security and defense. As a consequence, Israel's foreign relations with its most important strategic partners have noticeably cooled. Obama's Middle Eastern focus has shifted from the Israel/Palestinian issue to a rapprochement with Iran. European lawmakers are considering recognizing Palestinian statehood despite Israeli objections. More importantly, many traditionally pro-Israel Western publics have turned their back on the Jewish state. Younger generations in particular refuse to accept the narrative that shaped their parental generation: Israel as the David in a fight against Goliath. Israel's monopoly on victimhood has been undermined by an inflexible, uncompromising short-minded policy towards a Palestinian people under occupation whose narrative of victimhood increasingly finds attentive ears in the West. At first sight, then, the prospect of four more years of Netanyahu, does not sound too promising -- at least in regards to the peace process. At a closer look, however, a continuation of Netanyahu's policies might actually help the Palestinian cause. His implicit rejection of the two-state solution; his prioritization of short-term security over sustainable security solutions; his pursuit of a toxic Jewish nationalist agenda justifying an intensification of sectarianism between Israel and the Occupied Territories as well as within Israel, are all factors that will leave Israel increasingly isolated. His Israel-first narrative might win Netanyahu votes within a highly polarized electorate that in recent years has become more and more right-wing amid a top-down constructed climate of fear. Hamas' and Hezbollah's mid-tech missile capability, Syria's socio-political disintegration and subsequent rise of Islamist non-state actors, have been used by the Netanyahu government to create an Arab bogyman ostensibly threatening the Jewish state's very existence -- a new bogyman coexisting side-by-side with Netanyahu's "favorite" bogeyman, Iran. Despite Netanyahu's pre-occupation with security, the derailment of the peace process has not been much of a topic during the campaign so far. If Netanyahu receives another mandate on Tuesday, Israel will be further driven into the international offside, pressure from the West will increase and thereby the Palestinian cause will receive ever more attention and support from policymakers and publics across the world. Netanyahu has become somewhat of a villain in the West -- an untrustworthy, short-sighted politician who in comparison to his counterparts in Ramallah appears to lack the willingness to compromise, cooperate and empathize. Thus, while another term of Bibi will not be in the national interest of Israel, it will very likely serve the Palestinian interests. +London (CNN)Tunisia's ultra-radical fringe has come back to bite a government born out of the most successful experiment in constitutional reform to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions. Wednesday's attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis was grimly predictable, coming from what the Tunisian Interior Ministry calls a violent ultra-radical Islamist fringe forced underground -- but not crushed -- by security services. Jihadist firebrands representing thousands of active militants at home and abroad have been threatening retribution on Tunisia's outward-looking, investment-friendly majority. The attack was carried out by two gunmen, believed to have been supported by at least two accomplices. It may torpedo efforts to revive Tunisia's employment-generating tourism industry and may discourage other big-spending visitors. It will probably lead Tunisians -- who have shown a sage propensity to unite in the face of greatest adversity despite a marked appetite for political bickering -- to support a robust response by elected President Beji Caid Essebsi. The attack adds to the global narrative by which Islamic revolutionaries -- increasingly flying under the flag of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) -- pose an existential crisis to moderate states, often Western allies, in the Arab world. Tunisia is the sole country to have emerged from an Arab Spring revolution with its political process intact -- current president, Essebsi, who was elected in November 2014, and his ruling coalition, are the products of a long constitutional process. In four tumultuous years they have competed hard with, but also showed a capacity to work with, opposition parties, led by the "moderate Islamist" Ennahda, which is represented in government and parliament. Islamists of a very different hue were responsible for the Bardo attack. Local Salafist groups (of whom the best known is Ansar Al-Sharia) as well as multinational units including ISIS have been most effective in recruiting disaffected young Tunisians in the capital's poorer quarters and in dusty towns of the south and interior, where the original revolution that removed Ben Ali in February 2011 surged up. Legitimate claims for more jobs and resources in these underprivileged areas during the four subsequent years have largely come to nothing, adding to frustrations. Radical jihadists -- some with back bases in Libya and Algeria -- have posed a major security challenge to successive governments, murdering two prominent "secular" politicians in 2013. The Tunisian armed forces, supported by Algeria's more experienced and better equipped military, have been fighting jihadist radicals in the Mount Chaambi region for nearly three years. They have yet to declare final victory, pointing to the resilience of underground groups. While successive governments have acted against radical Salafist groups, thousands of Tunisians have gone underground; they are widely believed to make up the biggest national group fighting with jihadists in Syria (over 3,000 by many accounts), and are present in Libya and other failing states. In January 2013, Tunisians and Libyans made up the majority of jihadists who attacked a strategic gas plant operated by BP and Statoil in southern Algeria. So, the Bardo attackers are a known enemy. Prime Minister Habib Essid has promised a robust security response. But the Tunis tragedy is unlikely to have any immediate impact on the political process. A majority of Tunisians remain foursquare behind preserving "republican institutions," even if they vocally disagree on the detail of policy. It will remind Tunisia's many friends that the country's transition is brittle, and that Tunis needs commitments of support to become reality, with more military and wider financial assistance, and, above all, investment that can kickstart an economy in the doldrums since 2011. Massacre at the Bardo places Tunisia more centrally within the global ISIS narrative, which has recently expanded to neighboring Libya. It is a ghastly way to remind the world that Tunisia's experiment in democratic reform needs all the help it can get. +(CNN)December 16, 2014 was a dark day, not just in our nation's history, but the world's. Young innocent children were brutally massacred in a school in Peshawar along with their teachers. It shook a nation that had already seen more than 55,000 of its innocent civilians die in the hands of terrorism in the last 10 years, to a whole new level. Naturally, I was in no less despair. Hailing from a humble background, where both my parents have served in the field of education their entire lives, the strong emphasis on education in our house was probably another reason why this incident had affected me so deeply. READ MORE: Bloodstains, bullet holes mark Peshawar classrooms . I canceled my tours and concerts and couldn't gather myself to do much in coming weeks. However, being an artist, I had to express myself; even more so because I have always believed that an artist should be more than a tool for his art to resonate through. He must also resonate the voice of his surroundings by being socially aware and strive to contribute to his environment for the better in whatever little or large manner that he decides for himself. I thought that each one of us needed to wake up to this call and help and inspire the other to do more for our future. So I picked up the phone and started calling all my colleagues from film, fashion, TV and music. I was pleasantly surprised that all of them agreed with my initiative and came on board without a second thought on such a short notice. We all got together because we all want a progressive, peaceful, tolerant and positive Pakistan. And the response to the song and video further solidified my belief that every Pakistani wants the same. They just need someone to show them the way. And to me, education is the way forward. It's the the key to progress and peace. I also feel that there is a lot more to Pakistan than what the world gets to see. Pakistan is a beautiful land with beautiful people who -- like those in any other nation -- want to live in harmony with themselves and the world. A place where people sing, dance and play. Unfortunately because of an extremist minority, it is sometimes seen as an extremist country. But no society is void of extremism in one way or the other. This is something that we all need to work towards -- the international community and us. Pakistan needs your help. It has been fighting this battle for years and lost countless lives in the process. Its economy has also suffered. The world needs to see Pakistan in a whole different light to help us out of this darkness. They need to partner with us towards progress. They need to understand the complexities of this society and the fact that it's not easy to survive through all that this country has been through. Today the entire nation stands as one for this cause. And that is what I have tried to show the world in this video. A Pakistan that stands united to make sure that the lives of those innocent children did not go to waste. I also didn't want this to be just a song. I wanted to practically help towards a cause dear to me -- education. So, I collaborated with a leading Pakistani educational non-profit organization, The Citizens Foundation (TCF) and 141schools.org (141 SCHOOLS), a new citizen web movement. Together, they are building 141 schools across Pakistan. Each school will be dedicated to the children and teachers who lost their lives in attack on December 16, 2014. All proceeds from the downloads of the song will go towards building schools for the children of Pakistan and ensuring a bright future. I aspire to build at least one school which would cost around 20.7 million pkr ($202,900). If you want to help, click here. +(CNN)"Captain America" actor Chris Evans met some "true superheroes" on Saturday at Seattle Children's Hospital in a visit with "Guardians of the Galaxy" star Chris Pratt. It was their second hospital visit as part of a Super Bowl bet that ended in a win for everyone. The bet: If Pratt's team -- the Seattle Seahawks -- won the Super Bowl, Evans would visit Seattle Children's Hospital dressed as Captain America. If Evans' team -- the New England Patriots -- won, Pratt would visit Christopher's Haven in Boston dressed as "Guardians of the Galaxy" character Star-Lord, wearing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's jersey. Even though the Patriots won, the two Chrises visited both hospitals. Pratt wore his Star-Lord costume to visit Boston Children's Hospital in February, and Evans donned his Captain America duds to visit Seattle Children's on Saturday, bearing gifts in the form of Marvel action figures and accessories. "Meeting Captain America and Star-Lord is an experience our patients will always remember," Seattle Children's said. "The kids were beyond excited to meet Captain America and Star-Lord." The superhero actors met Oskar Beechum, 7, who has been at Seattle Children's for four months for epilepsy treatment. "Meeting them was a nice reprieve for us," Oskar's mom Kelli Beechum said. "So many of our visitors are doctors, and the conversations are medical. I can't wait to watch the Captain America movie with Oskar. It will be like he knows him personally now." The visit made an impression on Evans, too, who said he felt inspired, blessed and touched after meeting "some TRUE super heroes!" +(CNN)In the midst of all the shouting over Indiana's new religious-freedom law, which many fear will lead to increased discrimination against LGBT people, culture warriors marked the grim anniversary of another conservative "victory," one that left more than 10,000 needy children without their pledged financial support. A year ago this week, I rose each morning with red, puffy eyes and heavy sense of exhaustion. I hadn't slept soundly since March 26, a day many of my friends and readers mark as the last day they wanted anything to do with organized Christianity. It all started when World Vision, a humanitarian organization I had long supported and promoted, announced a change to its hiring policy allowing people in same-sex marriages to work in its U.S. offices. In response, conservative evangelicals rallied, and within 72 hours, more than 10,000 children had lost their financial support from canceled World Vision sponsorships. Ten-thousand children. In addition, funding for schools, hospitals, water projects, and medical care was threatened as churches vowed to cut off support to an organization that hired LGBT people. As one of my readers, Anthony, recalls, "Our church leadership vowed that they would pull all support, including over $2 million to build two hospitals in Zambia." To try and stem some of the bleeding, I joined with other World Vision bloggers to encourage my readers to sponsor children or make one-time donations to the organization. We had raised several thousand dollars and multiple sponsorships -- many coming from gay and lesbian couples -- when the CEO of World Vision announced the charity would reverse its decision and return to its old policies discriminating against gay and lesbian employees. It had worked. Using wells and hospitals and child sponsorships as bargaining chips in the culture wars had actually worked. Never in my life had I been so angry at my own faith tradition. Many conservative evangelicals count the World Vision reversal as a major victory in the culture wars. Eric Teetsel, director of the Manhattan Declaration, told Christianity Today he considered it "the best news of 2014" for evangelical Christians. "This was Christianity at its best," he said. But as I survey the battlefield a year later, I can't help but wonder if even the most strident culture warriors would consider the World Vision campaign worth its many casualties. There are, of course, the families around the world affected by the sudden drying up of funds meant to support their hospitals and schools, not to mention the kids who used to receive letters and gifts from their sponsors, but whose pictures were casually ripped from the refrigerator and tossed into the garbage can once they were deemed expendable collateral in an American political battle. Then there are the many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, (especially LGBT Christians caught in the middle), for whom the campaign represented yet another blow to their humanity. I remember a gay friend of mine telling me, through tears, "Christians don't even think I'm worthy of answering phones in the office of a humanitarian organization. What makes them think I would be welcome in their churches?" And then there are the many Christians and former Christians for whom the World Vision campaign was the final straw in a drawn-out disillusionment with organized religion. When I marked the anniversary with a Facebook status on the topic, I was surprised by how many of my readers marked March 26 as the day they left the church. "I don't think I can ever get over this," wrote Kelly. "Changed my views on evangelicalism and my faith forever." Anthony, who once taught Sunday school at his church, only rarely attends now. This is the tragic irony of the culture wars: The casualties tend to be the very people Jesus went out of his way to serve: the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the outcasts, the people ostracized and deemed "sinners" by the religious elite. And when the world sees Christians hurting rather than helping such people, in the name of political gain, our testimony is profoundly diminished. We have lost the way of Jesus when we are more committed to self-preservation than service, more occupied with waging war than washing feet. In all likelihood, Indiana's religious-freedom law will not directly affect many people. But the conversation that has surrounded it, in which discrimination against LGBT people has been characterized as a "deeply held religious belief," will have far more lasting effects, not unlike the effects of the campaign against World Vision. So to the culture warriors, I plead: Before you wage the next campaign, assess the potential collateral damage and ask yourself if it's worth it. Remember that the fruit of the Spirit is not power or might, influence or entitlement. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, and "against such things, there is no law" (Galatians 5:23). And to the wounded, I offer only this: You are not alone. Please know there are field medics -- pastors and priests, artists and activists, poets and parents and healers and dreamers -- ready to welcome you back to faith and to church whenever you're ready. We can walk the long road to healing together, even if it's with a limp. +(CNN)The debate over health care reform once again blooms in D.C., but this time Democrats and the President whose legacy rests on the Affordable Care Act are tending a garden challenged by some rather invasive species. The GOP has kicked off its season by pulling Obamacare up by the roots in its proposed 2016 House budget. But this budget will not become law. And so Republicans are also preparing strategic plays if the Supreme Court rules in their favor this summer, or if a Republican wins the White House next year backed by complementary majorities in the House and Senate. Either scenario would mortally wound Obamacare. But this isn't a zero sum game. Smart Republicans already know they don't win just because the other side loses. Upending Obamacare may poison the GOP's standing with 16.4 million Americans who will face adverse, even dire consequences without legislative patches to the law, or a swift switch to a solid alternative health care policy. This week, the conservative weekly The Washington Examiner aimed to mark Obamacare's fifth anniversary by asking a panel whether to "reform, replace or restart" the law. A gas leak scuttled the event. Once they've regrouped for their next panel, Republicans should instead entertain a different R: Revise. So far every plan Republicans are offering strikes out any mandate to purchase insurance, which, oddly for a party celebrating self-reliance, encourages some people to continue shifting their adult responsibilities onto others. Many of the GOP plans replace the subsidies that make exchange plans affordable for low-income Americans with tax credits. Tax credits don't make much sense when you don't have a lot of taxes to pay in the first place. These alternatives appear to be thinly veiled transitions away from the key Obamacare principle of providing guaranteed access. To date the law has reduced the rates of uninsured Americans by a whopping 35%. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lifted his veil even during his own plan's debut by insisting "every last word of Obamacare must be repealed" while promoting his own Health Care Choices Act that ditches subsidies and the mandate. Republican presidential front-runner Jeb Bush shares Cruz's preference to dismantle the "monstrosity" altogether, describing his preference for cheaper catastrophic insurance that helps people with massive bills but leaves poor Americans to fend for themselves when it comes to needless perks -- like insulin and blood pressure pills. And besides repealing the ACA, House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Georgia, wants to tear into President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society achievements as well. His budget proposal dismantles the federal Medicaid program by slashing its funding and devolving it to the states, while asking seniors on Medicare to try their luck with a voucher-discounted private insurance. What these approaches don't get is that we live in a country entirely populated by citizens who want and expect to receive medical care when they need it, yet not all of these citizens want to pay anything for the privilege. The beating heart of Obamacare is its mandate to purchase health insurance, which keeps costs down for everyone, makes it fiscally feasible to cover patients with pre-existing conditions, and makes government subsidies possible for those who can't afford any insurance without them. If Republicans shift their focus to revising Obamacare, there are an array of spots to trim and weeds to pull, and they can expect many Democrats to join in the work. But after dealing with a withering onslaught of over 60 Republican attempts to kill the bill, Democrats can't make even the most basic fixes for fear of losing everything. But there are some places to look. Even ACA supporters can acknowledge some specific anti-competitive features in the law. This should interest Republicans. The ACA's push toward offloading risk onto hospitals rather than insurers is encouraging hospital consolidation, with large hospital corporations seeking to build economies of scale to offset future risk This trend may drive up costs as hospitals face less competition. Meanwhile consumers shopping the exchange plans can select from few in-network hospitals and physicians, again making the health care marketplace less competitive. The United States may be graced with institutions offering stellar care in complex conditions that attract patients across state lines as well as across the world, centers that contribute to medicine generally through their research and training. But going out of state to seek such care isn't an option for many patients on exchange plans. Cruz proposes opening up health insurance markets nationally, an idea that we should build on. Years of a rough economy have left many consumers without the income or savings to pay the high copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums that Obamacare uses as a cost-control measure. Among families making 250% to 400% over the federal poverty line, 55% to 68% can't make their deductible, depending on their plan. The numbers are considerably worse for families under that threshold, and even for families making over 400% of the poverty line, 25% to 38% can't pay the out of pocket maximum if they become seriously ill. Despite these costs, the ACA penalizes responsible consumers further by capping flexible spending accounts. Furthermore, Obamacare is in part more expensive than it might be because it takes a gamble covering preventive testing for people with no sign of disease for "free," yet makes patients with chronic conditions pay deductibles even when we know their care will save money in the long run. That's not the most rational distribution of funds if we're trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number at the lowest cost. Since Jeb Bush is interested in focusing on the big-ticket items and not sweating the small stuff, perhaps this is an area where he can throw his support. Obamacare isn't a work of art by any means. It's a messy, pragmatic attempt to reach a goal the majority of Americans want: access to affordable health care when it's needed. Some rather fundamental revisions lie ahead, like a forthcoming administrative decision on whether to continue allowing state variability among the prescribed Essential Health Benefits it covers. So, my advice to Republicans is that they pick one or two specific aspects of Obamacare they'd like to improve, let's have the policy debate, then introduce your legislative fix to the existing law, leaving its beating heart intact. Show you're open to constructively improving the ACA and I'm sure we'll see Democrats start coming to the table with their own pet peeves about the law. 2016 doesn't have to be a hyperbolic, hyperventilating contest for the fate of 16.4 million Americans. +New York (CNN)Kayla Mueller, Peter Kassig, Alan Henning, David Haines -- just a few of the aid workers who have been abducted and killed by ISIS in the past year. The exact number of aid workers currently being held is unknown; a level of secrecy tends to surround details of those currently captive. What we do know is ISIS holds at least one female aid worker, and possibly more. The International Federation of the Red Cross confirmed three aid workers who disappeared in October 2013 remain missing, but would not comment on their identities or who kidnapped them. Abductions and killings of aid workers are, unfortunately, nothing new, but the numbers are. According to Aidworkersecurity.org, at least 155 aid workers were killed in 2013, a 121% increase on 70 recorded killings the year before. Not all were victims of ISIS, a relatively new phenomenon given life by the chaos in embattled Syria. In fact, according to the same report, it is the Taliban who have historically kidnapped in the greatest numbers, in large part in Afghanistan. Here's the difference: ISIS is changing the game. The Taliban may have many reasons for abductions (flexing their muscles, negotiating prisoner releases), but they also have a record of frequent hostage release. The need for aid in a specific region and the level of the acceptance by the community matters, or mattered. For ISIS, it appears to matter less. Abducted aid workers are usually either a source of considerable income (ISIS demanded at least $6 million for Kayla Mueller, and reportedly $200 million for two Japanese hostages) or, failing that, their killings provide a lurid display of brutality for the world to witness. So far the number of hostages of all backgrounds freed by ISIS is extremely low, save for those whose ransoms were paid. The freeing of 19 kidnapped Assyrian Christians shocked many, because release is not a common part of ISIS' playbook. These tactics can serve as models to other extremist groups worldwide, who may look to emulate ISIS' model of abduction and violence. One example is West African extremist group Boko Haram, which released a video purportedly showing the beheading of two men claimed to be spies, an approach disturbingly similar to ISIS'. "Humanitarian work has always been risky, but it's never been more dangerous than it is now," says Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "There used to be a time when an organization's flag provided a great deal of protection. That's no longer the case." The response in large part from aid agencies has not been to pull out of Syria and its environs altogether, but to rely almost exclusively on local staffers. Still, outside workers like Mueller, Kassig, Henning and Haines were inside Syria when they were taken, and the regional directors of aid agencies continue to travel there frequently in order to oversee operations. Not only that, but simply by virtue of working for a large aid agency, local staffers become bait. Indeed, the majority of victims have been working in their own countries. ISIS doesn't just target aid workers. Journalists, soldiers and anyone who conceivably could fetch a ransom are high on their hit list. But in the Wild West that is Syria and its borders, few of these remain, save for aid workers. In a space devoid of government, refugee camps and aid agencies are frequently seen as the only authorities, the new front line in the war on terror, a sometimes unwelcome association. And as ISIS spreads beyond Syria's borders, the risks grow further afield. Yet despite these risks, thousands of aid workers continue to work in a region where the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of refugees from conflict at more than 8 million. While some aid agencies rely on security personnel for protection, many are completely unarmed and are particularly vulnerable when in transit. Their security and locations for the most part are under constant review. When CNN approached a number of reputable aid agencies asking to speak to those who work or travel in the region about their experiences, and what drives them to remain despite an unprecedented threat level, many declined, in large part due to security concerns. For this reason, some of those mentioned below are wholly or partially anonymous. If I think back, I've been doing this work for about 20 years, and I remember we used to have this sense that there was some sort of protection, some sort of ... humanitarian space ... it feels very much like that is shrinking ... our job is becoming much, much more difficult; we're asking people to put themselves in harm's way in some circumstances. I mean, we don't do that, but it's not the exception any more. My family is not thrilled at all because what they see on the news is Westerners being kidnapped and beheaded ... when they worry, I worry about them and that doesn't help me be in a good state of mind to do my work. I'm very selective about where I say I go. I need to find ways to switch off and do silly things and not worry about the dire situation that's here, not just the humanitarian situation but ... being responsible for the people I'm responsible for in this region. I don't think people see the human side so much ... innocent people who through no fault of their own have been forced to flee their home one, two, three times -- who don't see a future for their children... Someone has to be there to help and support and provide some sense of safety and security, and I mean that in the personal sense of a mother who, when she goes to sleep at night with her children, she knows she has a blanket to keep them warm and something to feed them the next day. Fear is always there in the back of everyone's mind. We just need to continue what we're doing, stopping is not an option, halting our operations is not an option, and we are taking great risks, our staff are taking great risks. It is a difficult thing to tell family, to tell colleagues. Oftentimes I just don't mention all the details of where I go because they just don't need to know. But it needs to be done, we also can't run an operation remotely. ... I'm not going to the front lines, I'm not going to where the conflict is actually hot ... we're not adrenaline driven people. We want to be able to help the people and do our work and to do our work does entail taking some risks, but it's about calculated risks. We don't want to put ourselves directly in front of danger. If we say we give up on it for whatever reason -- security, morale, pressure from here, pressure from there -- no one else is going to come to take our place. There's not going to be another organization that's going to come and do more humanitarian aid and cover the gap that IOCC may create, that's not going to happen. So that puts more responsibility on the shoulders of our staff and the shoulders of our organization; we feel that responsibility that we've got to deliver on this thing. Donate to IOCC . There's an internal motivation that keeps you going. You feel that there are populations and people that need aid and require assistance, and know it's a choice that one makes and dedicate your life service. So yes, you need be of course strong, motivated, passionate, and of course feel the need to assist and deliver. It's an unprecedented time, and what we're calling the new normal ... as we've seen in the last year, the complete radicalization of these spaces with extremist groups, who have a very hard view in terms of cooperation with neutral and humanitarian organizations such as ours ... we're not the U.S. Army, we don't have a physical ability to repel. There may be in people's perceived minds there was a golden age of humanitarian acceptance: like if you were a charity and waved a white flag and drove a white car, you'd be protected by bad guys and loved by the community. I think that golden age is more myth than reality, but regarding today's reality it's extremely dangerous it's so true. And your flag, your neutrality, your white car, all the good intention you have, that recipe is very difficult in these complicated emergencies. There's a phrase that the U.N. uses and a lot of NGOs use which is "stay and deliver," so we have a humanitarian imperative to be there, but we always have to be in a risk management role; we have to critically look at: do the risks outweigh the benefits we hope to get? The fear factor comes in just managing the emotional toll it takes with your family and friends, and that has more of a toll, I think, with individual staff members than actual external environment ... frankly, sometimes I don't tell them till I'm already on my way so I don't have to have those calls before I even get on an airplane. It's hard; there are some areas where the family and friends don't understand why you're going there, and you re-articulate, "If not you, then who?" and you ask, "Would you want this in your neighborhood next door where no one comes to help you if something bad happened?" Donate to Mercy Corps . For ways to donate to organizations working to help refugees from ISIS and from the conflict in that region, go to CNN.com/ impact. CNN's Betsy Anderson and Julia Chan contributed to this report. +London (CNN)Best-selling British fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died at the age of 66, his website said Thursday. Pratchett, who wrote more than 70 books, including those in his "Discworld" series, had been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease in 2007. A statement on the website announced the news of his death at home Thursday with "immeasurable sadness." "I was deeply saddened to learn that Sir Terry Pratchett has died. The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds," said Larry Finlay, managing director at Transworld Publishers. "In over 70 books, Terry enriched the planet like few before him. As all who read him know, 'Discworld' was his vehicle to satirize this world: He did so brilliantly, with great skill, enormous humor and constant invention." Pratchett continued to write following his diagnosis, completing his last book, a new Discworld novel, in the summer of 2014. Revealing his illness in 2007, the author -- who had a strong following among fans of fantasy fiction -- said he had been diagnosed with "a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's," which he described as "an embuggerance." He said then, "Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet." According to Thursday's statement, he had posterior cortical atrophy, a progressive degenerative condition involving the loss and dysfunction of brain cells, particularly at the back of the brain. The last posts on his verified Twitter account, run by Pratchett with close friend Rob Wilkins, give a poignant farewell -- and have already been retweeted thousands of times. "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER," the first tweet in the series reads -- an apparent reference to Death, a recurring and generally sympathetic character in the Discworld books, who always speaks in ALL CAPS. "Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night. "The End." Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, a charitable organization, said Pratchett -- who spoke out publicly about his condition and called for greater funding for Alzheimer's research -- had "fundamentally changed the way dementia is seen and understood." "His vehement determination to reduce the stigma of dementia meant he helped drag it out of the shadows -- kicking and screaming at times," he said. "Shouting from the rooftops about the absurdity of how little funding dementia research receives, and fighting for good quality dementia care, he was and will remain the truest of champions for people with the condition." Pratchett was also a patron of the British Humanist Association, which paid tribute Thursday to the humor and dedication with which the author "turned his suffering into a positive campaign." Pratchett, who began writing while a provincial newspaper journalist in the 1960s, became a full time writer in 1987 and received the Order of the British Empire "for services to literature" from Prince Charles in 1998. People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report. +(CNN)The sack and pillage of the Mosul museum by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria displayed a violence rarely seen since the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyian. The bulldozing of the archaeological site of Nimrud marked a new step in the cultural cleansing underway in Iraq. These acts are a deliberate attack against civilians, minorities, heritage sites and traditions. In the minds of terrorists, murder and destruction of culture are inherently linked. It is appalling to see the ravages of this violent extremism in a region that is a cradle of civilization, whose temples, palaces and frescoes have born witness to the glory of Iraq and Mesopotamia for the last 3,000 years. It is important we understand the true nature of this conflict. This war against culture is a war against people. It is part of a strategy to crush free thinking and to ensure domination through oppression. This is why extremists attack schools, media, or other places of culture. Through modern methods of communication and information, they use warped learning and distorted academic texts to hijack young minds. They forbid girls to go to school, kill journalists and vandalize museums: all symbols that embody freedom of thought and respect for cultural diversity. There can be no justification whatsoever for the systematic destruction of the heritage of humanity, and I wholeheartedly support the many religious leaders who have taken such a firm position denouncing these destructions and the perverted use of religion. When culture is under attack, we must respond with more knowledge, and with ever greater effort to work to explain the importance of humanity's shared heritage. This is why we appeal to all cultural institutions, museums, journalists, professors, and scientists to share knowledge widely about the Mesopotamian civilization. We need to remind ‎all of the history of this land which led the Islamic golden age. And we also call on all people everywhere -- and especially youth, in Iraq and elsewhere -- to claim this heritage as their own. Pre-Islamic heritage in Iraq belongs to all Iraqis, just as the Pyramids are written into the identity of all Egyptians. What is happening goes far beyond the domain of archaeologists and discourse on the "irreparable loss of treasures of humanity." What is happening is a security issue. The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage is a war crime. We see how terrorists are using such destruction to destabilize populations, spread terror, and encourage violence. We see also how extremists use heavy military vehicles to transport artifacts from looted‎ sites, and how illicit trafficking is directly funding terrorism. With this in mind, we have joined forces with all partners and neighboring countries to halt these crimes. The acceleration of such violence must be met with an acceleration of global solidarity and action. Faced with such crimes, we hope we can better understand the values we all share, and stand united in respect of humanity. +(CNN)Ferguson City Manager John Shaw resigned Tuesday in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report. The report blames Ferguson, Missouri, police and courts for abusive behavior that disproportionately targets African-American residents. "Over the last several months I have done everything in my power to work with countless groups to bring about positive change and strengthen our community," Shaw wrote in his resignation letter. He continued: "During this time I have also worked closely with the Department of Justice to identify opportunities to improve, and then moved quickly to implement its recommendations for change. "And while I certainly respect the work that the DOJ recently performed in their investigation and report on the City of Ferguson, I must state clearly that my office has never instructed the police department to target African Americans, nor falsify charges to administer fines, nor heap abuses on the backs of the poor. Any inferences of that kind from the report are simply false." Shaw's resignation was announced the same day the City Council voted 7-0 on a mutual separation agreement with Shaw. Residents elect City Council members, who in turn appoint the city manager. The city manager directs and supervises all city departments, including the Police Department. Along with other officials, Shaw was heavily criticized by the Justice Department report, which found that authorities in Ferguson frequently saw residents as "sources of revenue." In fact, the city enjoyed so much success in issuing tickets and fines that Ferguson, population 21,000, was ranked in the top eight of the 80 municipal courts in St. Louis County by having more than $1 million in revenue in 2010, the report said. In one March 2012 email, the captain of the patrol division reported to Shaw that court collections the previous month reached $235,000 -- the first month collections exceeded $200,000. The city manager reported the email to the City Council, congratulating police and court staff on their "great work," the report said. When Ferguson court revenues exceeded $2 million for the whole of 2012, the city manager responded to the police chief in an internal email: "Awesome! Thanks!" according to the federal report. The DOJ's probe came after public outcry over the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in August. Wilson, who was not indicted on any charges, has resigned from the police department. But when Ferguson resident Sue Schmidt defended Wilson at Tuesday's City Council meeting, she heard vocal objections from those in the crowd. "I'd like to say a lot of people in this room owe Darren Wilson an apology," Schmidt said, prompting laughter by some in the audience. "The same justice report that you're basing all your opinions on cleared him 100%." CNN's Jennifer Feldman, Holly Yan, Sarah Aarthun and Michael Martinez contributed to this report. +(CNN)It's playing out like a scene from "Night of the Living Dead"-- in the boardroom of one of Italy's most famous clubs. Director George A. Romero's horror cult classic revolved around a swarm of slow-moving cannibalistic corpses snacking on the inhabitants of a shopping mall and Parma general manager and team legend Alessandro Melli talks in similarly apocalyptic tones as he details the financial crisis engulfing the Serie A club. "It seems like we are zombies, working without knowing where we are heading," Melli told CNN's Don Riddell. Rooted at the bottom of Italy's top flight, Parma has debts of approximately $100 million and faces a looming financial collapse -- barring a miracle ownership rescue. The club has been docked points twice this season for failing to pay its players and faces a bankruptcy hearing on March 19. "Every day they take away a part of our work and piece of our hearts. Bits of the club are foreclosed every day and we come here to work just because we love our work and our team, but we cannot do our job," added Melli. "We're living in a nightmare, whichever way you look at it. Because this is not just about the money, even though we can't ignore it, there is a lot more that they are taking away. Dignity, the smile; they took away our respect and it hurts." Last season Parma finished sixth in Serie A, only to be barred from taking part in European football's second tier competition -- the Europa League -- over an income tax bill. Between 1992 and 2002 Parma won two UEFA Cups, the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup and three Italian Cups in a successful spell between 1992 and 2002. In 1997, led by current Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and with the caliber of players like Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Asprilla and Hernan Crespo, Parma finished runners-up in Serie A. "Look at the team we had," said Angelo Manfredini, president of the Parma supporters club, referring to those halycon days, as he rattled off other players including Melli, Fabio Cannavaro and longtime Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who now plays for Juventus. "All were players who meant something to football." Fast forward to more austere times and Parma's current players haven't been paid since August. They're so fed up they've threatened to go on strike -- that is if the games are allowed proceed in the first place, with two of Parma's recent fixtures having been called off given the club's problems. Parma was once owned by the world's leading dairy company, Parmalat Spa, which collapsed under financial fraud in 2003. The club has already changed hands twice this season after a Russian-Cypriot conglomerate sold the club to Giampietro Manenti. A despairing Melli depicted a club that is being seemingly taken apart seat by seat, screw by screw. "One day, we won't have the laundry anymore," said Melli. "The next day, computers (will be) taken away, then we don't have emails anymore. "And then the physical objects related to sport, like benches, like the team bus...everyday it's like being stabbed." For his part, Manenti has reportedly said he will not sell the club, which will likely mean another spell in administration for Parma, the second time in the past 10 years. Their next scheduled match is a home game on March 22 against Torino, but Melli is more concerned about what the future holds in store for Parma rather than the next 90 minutes. "I hope to have a new owner to sort out our debts and save the brand, starting again from Serie B and to start again with new management that loves what they are managing," said Melli. "Slowly, we can rebuild. It will take time and patience, with the right people in the right places. Only in this way can Parma be reborn like a Phoenix. "Objectively, it's unlikely this will happen. This is just the hope of a lover, trying to find his lost love. But he needs the help of others, we can't make it by ourselves." +(CNN)Brace yourself Europe -- "Moneyball" is coming to a football pitch near you. Spend-thrift baseball executive Billy Beane -- made famous by Brad Pitt's Oscar-nominated portrayal in "Moneyball" -- is taking up a position with Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. "I'm truly excited for the opportunity to be part of AZ Alkmaar in an advisory role," Beane told the AZ website. "Despite being a great football club with a storied history, they face many of the challenges we have with the Oakland A's. My love for football and AZ's vision of the future of the club made this an attractive pursuit." The idea behind "Moneyball" is to obtain maximum value for each player bought or sold. Beane has had a longstanding fascination with European football, citing Arsenal's Arsene Wenger as a manager he admires for his blend of performance on the pitch and financial prudence. The American has said in the past that it was his dream to be an executive at a football club once his baseball career ended. It turns out he didn't have to wait that long. "I think it's interesting and exciting for him personally," said Chris Anderson, co-founder of the sports analytics consultancy Anderson Sally. "He's been a football fan for many, many years and is very well informed about the sport and industry. This is not as much a stretch as one might imagine; he actually knows football." Beane will retain his general manager duties with the Oakland A's, a team that remains competitive despite sporting one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball (MLB). The A's have qualified for MLB's playoffs each of the past three seasons, only to be knocked out before the World Series every time. Critics of baseball's sabermetrics system -- using data to analyze the sport as exposed in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" book which inspired the film -- are quick to point out that Beane has never won a title with the A's. In Holland, Beane won't need to start from scratch, as AZ currently sits comfortably in fourth place in the Dutch Eredivisie. AZ's director of football Earnie Stewart is a known "Moneyball" fan himself, having organized a screening for his fellow AZ execs shortly after joining the club. The former U.S. midfielder, who scored against Colombia in the 1994 World Cup, is half-Dutch and hopes the collaboration with Beane can give the club an extra edge. "We've had a lot of contact with Billy In the last few months", Stewart told the club's website. "His knowledge and ideas are impressive. Also Billy's soccer network is excellent. We have already noticed that Billy thinks two steps ahead in the area of innovation. That's what really connects with the ambitions of AZ." Like the A's, AZ have managed to compete with the big boys of the Dutch league -- chiefly PSV and Ajax -- on a limited budget, winning the domestic league twice -- most recently in 2009 -- while finishing in the top five in three of the past five seasons. Beane's philosophy is shaped by getting maximum bang for your buck in the transfer market. "There is a misconception that you never pay much for anybody, but that is not true at all," Beane told the Telegraph in 2011. "You want to make sure you are getting more value than you are paying. That may come in the form of a very expensive player, it may come in the form of a very young player, but it's not about being cheap or not spending money." But it's questionable whether "Moneyball" principles can be applied to football, a sport where -- unlike in U.S. sports leagues -- players are rarely traded for one another. Instead, athletes are sold for prices determined by a marketplace, untethered by salary caps. However, Anderson argues Beane could be about to exploit a gap in the market. "I would say unequivocally that markets for players are much more inefficient in soccer than in baseball," said Anderson, who also wrote "The Numbers Game: Everything You Know About Football Is Wrong." "The combination of a global market plus inefficiency means that is a huge opportunity in soccer that there isn't in the same way in baseball." Either way, Beane is likely to relish the challenge of imparting his knowledge to the boardrooms of European football, perhaps even as a pre-cursor to a full time job in the sport. "I think he certainly would be open to the possibility of taking on a role," said Anderson, adding that Beane could be using the advisory position to dip his toe into the shark-infested waters of football player transfers. "In football we're still in a pre-'Moneyball' era," added Anderson. "So the baseball equivalent of the mid-1990s. is the football equivalent of 2015." +(CNN)They say time and tide wait for no man, as Henrik Stenson discovered at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida when he complained he had been decisively rushed after being put on the clock in the closing stages of his dramatic defeat. The Swede -- who lost to defending champion Matt Every by one stroke -- was ticked off that he and playing partner Morgan Hoffman were subjected to time constraints from the 15th hole onwards because of alleged slow play Sunday. Under competition rules, players are put on the clock if they have fallen behind the allotted time for each hole and well behind the preceding group of players. Once the measure is imposed, shots are timed and players given a one-stroke penalty for the second shot -- but not the first -- on which they are found to have taken too long. Stenson said the decision "got to me, and obviously I was rushing" as he three-putted both that hole and the 16th, opening the door for Floridian Every to seal the title with a round of 66 crowned by a long-range putt on the final green. Officials at the Bay Hill course said Stenson and Hoffmann's had been the slowest pairing of the day Sunday. But the frustrated 38-year-old Swede said he "could not see the point" of being put on the clock. "When someone is sitting there with a stopwatch it affects you a little bit," he explained, accusing officials of "influencing, potentially, the outcome of this tournament towards the end." "I didn't really have much time to look at my putt [on the 15th] and rushed that one a little bit, the first one, and three-putted," the PGA Tour website quoted him as saying. "Morgan got a bad time on his second shot on 16, and again I kind of rushed my putting on 16 and three-putted that one. That's really what cost me the tournament, those two three-putts on 15 and 16. "We might have been a couple minutes out, for sure -- but then again it's normally not the quickest when you're playing in the last group. "[There are] more people, more movement. You have to back off every now and then for some mobile phones and stuff like that." The PGA Tour was not immediately available for comment about Stenson's remarks. Stenson told reporters that "it's hard when you don't feel like you can take the time you want," adding that he was "disappointed with the rules official for pushing us up late in the round for no obvious reason." And he was unimpressed when told that part of the reason for the imposition of the ticking clock could have been a desire to complete play before live TV coverage came to an end at 18.00 local time. "I thought we were here to play golf, not to finish at 6pm," he snapped. Meanwhile, a delighted Every was left to reflect on the 17ft birdie putt on the final green that took him to the title. "You watch tournaments on TV where guys make putts like that to win and everybody goes nuts -- it's cool to close one out like that," he said. +(CNN)With his KISS makeup on, frontman Gene Simmons always looked a little scary. So maybe this new venture makes sense. The rocker and reality-show star is teaming with WWE Studios to launch Erebus Pictures, a label that will finance and produce horror movies. The joint venture kicks off with a three-picture deal starting with "Temple," expected to begin shooting this summer. "The horror genre continues to fascinate me as it proves to be endlessly thrilling and engaging for audiences," said Simmons, who with KISS has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. Erebus Pictures is named after the Greek mythological deity that personifies darkness. It has a logical marketing platform in the WWE Network, a subscription-based streaming service known for pro-wrestling shows such as "Monday Night Raw" and "SmackDown" that appeal to primarily young male fans, arguably the core of the horror-movie audience. WWE says "Temple" is about a team of highly trained operatives who find themselves trapped inside an isolated military compound after its artificial intelligence is suddenly shut down. While investigating the source of the malfunction, the crew begins to experience strange and horrific phenomena as they try to uncover who or what killed the team previously stationed at the compound. The studio says a director for "Temple" will be announced shortly. Erebus Pictures' second feature will go into production later this year. WWE Studios' most lucrative film has been "The Call," a 2013 thriller starring Halle Berry, which earned $68 million worldwide. +(CNN)Wildlife services in California are being pushed to their limits this year. Since January 2015, every month has set a record in sea lion "strandings," mostly sea lion pups, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "There has been an unusually high number of sea lions stranded since January," said Justin Greenman, assistant stranding coordinator for NOAA on the West Coast. "Stranding does happen, but just to give you perspective, 1,800 [sea lion] pups have been responded to this year alone. We responded to 1,600 strandings total during the entire year in 2013," he said. Stranding is the official term to describe marine life that "swim or float into shore and become beached or stuck," according to NOAA. Strandings are taking a toll on the resources available in coastal counties from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Local care facilities have taken in more stranded sea lions this year than 2004-12 combined, and it is only mid-March. Greenman said he expects the problem to continue beyond April, when weaning normally occurs, when the pups are 10 or 11 months old. Dave Koontz, director of communications for SeaWorld San Diego, said SeaWorld has rescued nearly 500 sea lions this year. "This is a new record for Sea World," Koontz said. "In 1983 we rescued 474." Some of the sea lions responded to have had to be euthanized. "They [sea lion pups] have to be able to eat and fish on their own before they can be released back into the wild, and a lot of these pups haven't even been weaned," Greenman said. Greenman said California has had warmer weather than usual this year, and, while NOAA is still conducting studies on the Channel Islands to get a more proven explanation, warmer water drives the food source farther out or deeper into the ocean, where the colder water is. When food is farther away, the mothers are away from the pup too long in search of food, and return with little food or too few nutrients for a growing sea lion. "We have been seeing emaciated or dehydrated sea lions show up on beaches," Greenman said. However, he said, the species has made a comeback since the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. California's sea lion population has grown to 300,000 from an estimated population of 10,000 in the 1950s, according to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. People who observe stranded sea lions are advised not to touch them or attempt to rescue them, because it can be dangerous and it is illegal. Instead, call any of the rescue agencies listed on NOAA West Coast Region's website. If the animal has died, the local dead animal pickup service should be alerted. +(CNN)Spirit Airlines has a new fare deal and is announcing it with sex jokes. The low-cost carrier just acquired its 69th plane and is celebrating with $69 round-trip fares in April and May that include taxes and fees -- although additional baggage charges may apply. Round-trip purchase is not required, so you could actually pay $34.50 for a one-way flight. But the airline is getting more attention for its cheeky ad copy, which obliquely references a sexual act. "We've been waiting to hit 69 planes for years," reads the offer on Spirit's website. "It's our favorite number -- ever since we were twelve and found that magazine under our brother's bed (the one with the fantastic articles). Use your mouth to spread the word: Spirit is in an even better position to get you where you're going." Some observers say the promotion is sophomoric and has crossed the limits of good taste. "You can't object to that price point, but you certainly can object to the discount airline's marketing strategy, which is so juvenile it led us to wonder if Spirit's website was hacked," wrote Aaron Rupar of KMSP in Minneapolis. Spirit spokesman Paul Berry, in a prepared statement, said the promotion reflects the airline's quirky culture. "Spirit isn't your typical airline and we don't want to be. We enjoy being different than other airlines," said Berry, Spirit's director of corporate communications. "When it comes to advertising, different means we don't spend a lot of money on advertising -- because that just increases fares. But we're also different because our ads are fun, provocative, sometimes silly and often irreverent. They get lots of attention," he added. "The vast majority of our customers find these types of ads humorous and accept them for what they are. We understand there is a small group of people who feel differently." The $69 fares must be booked by the end of the day Tuesday. Questionable taste or not, the promotion may be working: People were complaining on Twitter that they couldn't access Spirit's website to book flights. Based in Florida, Spirit Airlines is famous for charging fees for almost everything it possibly can. The airline's defense is simple: Pay for what you want on your flight, and don't pay for what you don't want. Airline plans $15 flights to Europe . +(CNN)In tennis, a hitting partner is someone who often does more than just practice with a big star. They sometimes have to be psychologists, waiters, chauffeurs and even bodyguards. They may get to travel the world but the job isn't without its perils. Two years ago, for example, the father of Bernard Tomic, one of the most hyped players in the last decade, was found guilty of assaulting the player's former hitting partner, Thomas Drouet. Now, one of the longest lasting relationships -- and one of the highest profile -- has come to an end. Sascha Bajin, a constant in Serena Williams' life the past eight years, suggested on Twitter earlier this week that he was no longer working with the 19-time grand slam winner and has instead begun a partnership with Williams' friend and tennis rival, Victoria Azarenka. Williams wished him well. Their split was confirmed by Williams' agent, Jill Smoller, in an email to CNN.com, and Azarenka's coach, Wim Fissette, confirmed that Bajin is indeed the two-time grand slam champion's new hitting partner. They practiced together for the first time this week. "I'm very excited about having Sascha in the team," Fissette told CNN.com in an email. "Sascha is a great guy ... and has so much experience in working with Serena. "I saw Sascha hit many times so I know he is just a very good tennis player. To give the player the best rhythm is extremely important. "On the other hand I think it's very good there is someone else in the team with experience winning grand slams. That's always very important. Sascha knows what it is like to be in semifinals and finals in grand slams." No one has disclosed what led to the parting of ways but Bajin wasn't with Williams as she won the Australian Open in January. Bajin said he was injured, with Frenchman Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy replacing him. Fissette, who was formerly alongside Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep and Sabine Lisicki when they either won or reached grand slam finals, said he was "very surprised" that Bajin became available. "Sascha was working so many years with Serena and I felt they had an excellent relationship, more than just player and hitting partner," he said. "I felt they were very good friends. "But it's not my business to know what went wrong. Maybe they both needed a new challenge. I think everybody will remember the many years they worked together and the excellent results she had during that time." Williams, about to make her return to Indian Wells after a 14-year absence, once likened Bajin to a brother. "Outside of my parents, I think he's probably the most important person on the team," Williams told USA Today in 2013. "He's much more than a hitting partner. He's my older brother. He's family." Bajin's alliance with Azarenka serves as another change for the Belorussian. Azarenka split with coach Sam Sumyk -- who quickly moved on to Eugenie Bouchard -- and hired Fissette in his place in February. Azarenka is attempting to recapture top form after foot and knee injuries derailed her in 2014. "From the first meeting, I felt a good connection (with Azarenka) and after the first two weeks I feel a very good connection," said Fissette. "Vika is very motivated to get back to the top and wants to become a better player. That is what I feel on court and I believe it can be a great year for her. "I believe it's also great for women's tennis that Vika is back. She is a great tennis player and an excellent entertainer." +(CNN)The University of North Carolina will pay whistleblower Mary Willingham $335,000 to settle her lawsuit with the university, following the largest academic fraud scandal in NCAA history. Willingham is the former athletics literacy counselor who blew the whistle about the fake classes that went on for nearly 20 years at the prestigious university. Willingham spent years fielding attacks from university officials -- including accusations that she was lying when she said that officials within the athletic department steered underprepared athletes into the fake classes to keep them eligible. For nearly five years, UNC denied those claims, but Willingham refused to keep quiet. She first told her story to the News & Observer in Raleigh, and then to national media when the university refused to admit that the classes were well-known to faculty. The added attention forced UNC to hire a new investigator and launch a new probe in 2014. That latest review, led by Ken Wainstein, a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Justice Department, found exactly what Willingham had always claimed -- widespread and systematic cheating. Willingham left her job last spring after complaining that she was being retaliated against. "The University's settlement with Mrs. Willingham resolves all of the outstanding legal issues in the case," said Rick White, associate vice chancellor of communications and public affairs. "We appreciate the efforts of the mediator to help us achieve a successful and timely conclusion to the mediation. We believe the settlement is in the best interest of the University and allows us to move forward and fully focus on other important issues." When she sued, Willingham said she hoped to accomplish what no other investigation has done -- to subpoena documents and to depose university officials under oath. Her lawsuit never got that far. Instead, she says she's hoping that will be accomplished by a larger class-action lawsuit filed by powerhouse attorney Michael Hausfeld on behalf of two former UNC athletes. Devon Ramsay and Rashanda McCants both sued in January, saying they were promised an education but didn't get one because of the paper class scandal. Hausfeld is the attorney who beat the NCAA last summer in federal court on behalf of former UCLA player Ed O'Bannon, winning a case that will forever change college sports by forcing the NCAA to eliminate the rule that forbids schools from paying players. That lawsuit is the reason Willingham says she was OK with entering into mediation in her whistleblower suit. She shared the settlement document with CNN. "It's about the students and not about me. I don't need it to be about me," Willingham said. "I got an education, but those students left without one, and we still have a system that doesn't work. And so I'm hopeful that (the Hausfeld lawsuit) will move forward and prove that (NCAA Division I) schools all across the country have a flawed system where a promise of an education isn't happening, and therefore these students are getting nothing." Willingham is co-founder of Paper Class Inc., which serves as a portal and rallying point for the college sports reform movement and includes a program to give students reading help in middle school. CNN Analysis: Some college athletes play like adults, read like fifth-graders . +Beijing (CNN)When it came to the environment in China, it was hazy through much of the weekend -- literally and figuratively. As a thick layer of toxic air blanketed Beijing and much of northern China on Friday, censors smothered a wildly popular but controversial documentary on the country's air pollution, removing it from all major video streaming sites. At a standing-room-only press conference Saturday, the newly appointed minister of environmental protection ignored raised hands of foreign journalists eager to ask about the development and made no mention of the documentary that he had praised just a week earlier. Without a hint of irony, he promised to be more transparent and reassured the masses of their right to oversee the government's fight against air pollution. "Under the Dome" -- a slickly produced two-hour documentary on journalist Chai Jing's dogged quest to find the causes and solutions to China's severe smog problem -- attracted over 200 million views online in just one week, an unprecedented number even in the world's most populous nation. Supporters and detractors of Chai, a famous former anchor and reporter at state-run national broadcaster CCTV, began a war of words almost immediately after the video's release on February 28. Admirers compared it to "An Inconvenient Truth," the Oscar-winning documentary on former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's effort to raise awareness on the dangers of global warming. Critics, on the other hand, portrayed it as a piece of shoddy investigative journalism filled with bad science and biased conclusions, which blamed the problem largely on the entrenched interests of the state oil industry. Some even called it propaganda for President Xi Jinping, who had declared keeping the sky blue a top policy priority. The new environment minister's initial response to the video -- in the form of a widely reported text message of gratitude to Chai -- reinforced some doubts over Chai's claim of editorial independence for her self-funded project. Many more people, however, perceived it as an encouraging sign of the government's adoption of a more open attitude to a politically sensitive topic, as Xi and other leaders started to publicly acknowledge the severity and urgency of the issue. But such optimism was dashed 24 hours after the documentary's launch, as censors moved to reign in increasingly heated online debates surrounding air pollution and beyond, and removed all mention of the video from homepages of major websites. As the week progressed, leaked state media memos -- widely circulated on social media -- revealed ever-harsher wording from propaganda authorities as they scrambled to limit the continuing impact of the video. Finally, after millions of clicks, "Under the Dome" vanished from much of Chinese cyberspace Friday as heavy smog descended on the capital. Also in Beijing were almost 3,000 delegates who had gathered to attend the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament that meets in full once a year to approve the ruling Communist Party's legislative proposals. Pollution has remained a hot topic at this year's session, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, adding that Xi vowed to legislators Friday "to give an iron hand to any polluters in the smog-choked country." With Chai's viral video also encountering an iron hand, analysts explained that the seeming contradiction makes perfect sense in a one-party dictatorship with little tolerance for open dissent. "Smog is like any other problem in China -- dig it too deep and you touch the issue of political system," said Yao Bo, a well-known news commentator with more than 1.2 million followers on Chinese social media. "The video doesn't do that but comments on it had started to question the system." "I think the video caught censors off guard," he added, dismissing the idea that its fate reflected infighting among China's senior leaders. "The censors eventually acted as expected, after going through this bureaucratic process that is always half a step behind." As gusty winds blew away Beijing's smog Sunday afternoon, this much became clear to the public: In China, the government cares about the environment as much as you do, but only one of you is free to talk about it. +Beijing (CNN)China's premier on Sunday offered a sobering assessment of the world's second largest economy amid fears of a sustained slowdown but brushed aside concern that it could face a full-blown economic crisis. "I don't deny that the Chinese economy is facing downward pressure and multiple risks," said Li Keqiang at a nationally televised press conference. "The key is to find the balance between stable growth and structural adjustments under the new normal (of slower growth)." "We haven't adopted the policy of strong short-term stimulus in recent years -- in other words... we still have plenty of tools in our toolbox," he offered. Earlier this month, the People's Bank of China -- the central bank-- cut interest rates to guard against deflation and the country set its lowest growth target in 25 years. Li, the No. 2 leader in China behind President Xi Jinping, also promised a further streamlined government to strengthen the role of free market in the economy. "The pain of reform is still there, actually the pain is becoming more acute and in more places," he said. "During the course of reform, vested interested will be tested -- but this is not nail clipping, this is like cutting off one's limb with a sword and we have to do it despite the pain." Li held the highly choreographed annual press conference -- often the only occasion a senior Chinese leader faces the media -- after China's rubber-stamp parliament approved the government budget and concluded this year's 10-day session. Li answered questions from pre-selected journalists that focused on the economy and touched on the government's stance on the anti-corruption campaign, the environment and foreign policy. Before he was ushered out of the ornate room, the premier responded to a question shouted from the audience about Myanmar, whose warplanes reportedly dropped a bomb Friday in a Chinese border town and killed four civilians. "We have the responsibility and capability to firmly safeguard the stability of the Chinese-Myanmar border -- and will firmly protect the lives and property of our citizens," Li said to applause from Chinese reporters. +(CNN)Two days after Odin Lloyd was found dead, New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez looked into the eyes of team owner Robert Kraft and said he was innocent, Kraft testified Tuesday in Hernandez's murder trial. Kraft, answering questions from a prosecutor and one of Hernandez's attorneys on the witness stand in a Massachusetts courtroom, recalled a private conversation that he had with the star Patriots tight end on June 19, at the Patriots' Gillette Stadium, as news spread that Hernandez was being investigated in Lloyd's death. "He said he was not involved," Kraft testified in the courtroom in Fall River. "He said he was innocent." Hernandez has been charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating the death of Lloyd, a semipro football player who was found dead in Massachusetts on June 17, 2013. Hernandez also has pleaded not guilty to a gun and ammunition charge. His co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, also pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. Kraft testified that he asked to speak with Hernandez in an office near a weight room in the stadium, and asked the player to look him in the eye and tell him if he was involved in Lloyd's death. According to Kraft, Hernandez told him during that meeting that he hoped the time of Lloyd's death "came out," because Hernandez had been at a club that night. According to testimony from Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, the player had not been at a club, but was at dinner with her and some friends before the shooting. Mel Robbins, a CNN legal analyst, called Kraft's testimony "explosive." "What a great, great witness for the prosecution," she said. "Basically what happened is Aaron Hernandez lied to his boss. And the only way you rebut it is if you put him on the stand." How did Hernandez know when the murder happened, Robbins asked, unless he was there? The Patriots' owner also testified, when asked by a defense attorney, that he'd never had any problems with Hernandez, and that the player was always respectful to him. The billionaire magnate of The Kraft Group, a company with interests ranging from paper and packaging concerns to sports and entertainment, said Hernandez always greeted him with a hug and kiss. Asked by the defense why Hernandez was signed to a $40 million long-term contract, Kraft said simply: "He's a very good player." At times during his 30 minutes or so on the witness stand, Kraft seemed uncomfortable. "Do you work?" Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley asked Kraft. "I think so, yes." Asked where he worked, Kraft responded, 1 Patriot Place, or Gillette Stadium, where the Super Bowl champions play their home games. "What do you do for work?" "Whatever they ask me to do." Outside court, surrounded by cameras, Kraft expressed sadness over Lloyd's death. "A man died," he said. "This is about a man being killed. It's unfortunate." Later, Mark Briggs, head of security at Gillette Stadium, testified that he also asked Hernandez whether the former star was telling the truth about Lloyd. "He swore on the baby's life that he was telling the truth," Briggs said. Hernandez was arrested in connection with Lloyd's death a week after that meeting with Kraft. The Patriots released Hernandez less than two hours after the arrest on June 26, 2013. Jenkins, 25, and Hernandez are the parents of a young daughter. Jenkins' sister Shaneah was dating Lloyd, 27, who was shot six times, according to prosecutors. The trial began in late January. +(CNN)Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who authorities say deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 in France, passed all his tests and medical exams and gave no voluntary indication that he was unstable or mentally ill, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told CNN Thursday. "We have at Lufthansa a reporting system where crew can report without being punished their own problems or they can report about problems of others without any kind of punishment. That hasn't been used either in this case, so all these safety nets we are so proud of here have not worked in this case," Spohr said. Lubitz had been with Germanwings since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time after training at the airline's flight center in Bremen, Germany, the company has said. Germanwings is the budget carrier for Lufthansa. The CEO said he didn't know much more than what has been released by French authorities: The captain left the cockpit, tried to regain access by knocking on the door and "the door was either kept locked or not opened in the way it was supposed to be, and that for sure is a clear indication that the remaining pilot -- the co-pilot -- didn't want the captain to return." Had the copilot suffered a medical emergency -- as some experts speculated in the initial hours after the accident -- there are safety procedures in place so that the pilot can re-access the cockpit, he said. That is, "unless the person on the inside locks it and this apparently has happened here," the CEO said. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, cockpit doors were manufactured to withstand manual force and small weapons, so there was "no way to get back to the cockpit for the captain," he said. Spohr was asked why Lubitz was allowed to be alone in the cockpit. American airlines require that any pilot leaving the flight deck be replaced by a flight attendant, so that two people remain in the cockpit at all times, but that's not the case with all airlines internationally, CNN aviation analyst David Soucie said. An 8-minute descent to death . A Lufthansa spokesman previously said that the airline complies with all German and European aviation regulations, something Spohr reiterated in his CNN interview. "Most airlines around the world follow the same procedures as Lufthansa that in flight phases with low workload, the pilot can leave the cockpit -- especially for physical need -- and then he returns to the cockpit as fast as he can. That's a global thing, most accepted procedure, which we have used at Lufthansa for many, many years," Spohr said. Asked if the airline might reconsider this policy in light of Tuesday's crash, Spohr said it was possible. "I think we look at that as well, but we should not put the whole system at stake just because of this terrible single accident," he said. The airline will be consulting with its own experts, aviation authorities and experts with other airlines to determine what, if any, of its procedures need to be bolstered to prevent future such accidents from occurring, Spohr said, adding that he stood strongly by the manner in which Lufthansa operates airplanes and trains its employees. "We understand emotions after this terrible accident, but for us as professionals we need to ensure the safety focus of Lufthansa is in no way touched -- and I promise you it's not -- and we will do our very, very best to even improve it further." Who was co-pilot Andreas Lubitz? CNN's Frederik Pleitgen conducted the interview in Cologne, Germany, and Eliott C. McLaughlin wrote the story from Atlanta. CNN's Tim Hume contributed to this report. +Barrington, New Hampshire (CNN)U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was delivering his normal rhetoric during a New Hampshire speech on Sunday, hitting the current administration on the economy, Obamacare and national security. "And the Obama-Clinton foreign policy of leading from behind -- the whole world is on fire," the senator from Texas declared. But he was stopped by a 3-year-old girl sitting in the front row. "The world is on fire?" she yelled out. Cruz took it and ran with it. "The world is on fire -- yes! Your world is on fire," he exclaimed, seizing the moment as the crowd burst out into laughter. "But you know what? Your mommy's here and everyone's here to make sure that the world you grow up in is even better." The scene -- while cute -- captured Cruz's determination to remain unwavering in his views and language, never backtracking. There was no "just kidding" or "that was only a metaphor" to assuage the little girl. Instead, the first-term senator continued with his speechifying and used the moment to illustrate his point that while things are bad now, they could get better -- especially, cough cough, if he becomes president. A woman who identified herself as the child's mother named Michelle later told the WRKO's Kuhner Report that her child's reaction came in a "high question kind of voice," but that her daughter was "quite happy" in the aftermath. "She really, basically was like 'oh, oh, this is a great man.' He's the firefighter in her mind as a three-year-old. And was quite happy and she wanted a cookie." Cruz is bringing the resolute disruptor brand that he's built in Congress out on the trail as he lays the groundwork for a White House bid. This weekend, he was on a two-day swing through New Hampshire, stopping Sunday afternoon at an event put on by the Strafford County GOP. In the same way Cruz challenges establishment Republicans in the Senate, he's trying to build a campaign that breaks from the mold and showcases his firebrand conservatism. For example, his first question from the audience came from a woman who wanted to know how Cruz was going to make campaign finance reform a reality, a huge issue in the first-in-the-nation primary state. But Cruz argued that not only is money a form of speech, it emboldens speech. "The answer is not to muzzle citizens; it's to empower citizens across the country," he said. Throwing a bone to his questioner, however, he said he supports requiring that campaign donations be disclosed. He took the same steadfast approach last weekend in Iowa, when he and other contenders were asked about the ethanol mandate requiring that gasoline contain a certain amount of ethanol -- a popular regulation in Iowa where corn is king. While nearly every other potential candidate expressed at least some measure of support for the mandate, Cruz flatly opposed it, saying in front of close to a thousand Iowa farmers that he doesn't think the government should be involved in the private sector. Gov. Scott Walker, who's vying with Jeb Bush for frontrunner status, said he supported the mandate in Iowa, despite previously opposing it in his home state of Wisconsin . Asked by reporters Sunday about accusations that Walker is a flip-flopper, Cruz first praised his potential rival but made sure to mention that candidates need to be challenged on their actions. "It's easy for candidates to give an answer," he said, but added: "The proof is in the pudding. What I've urged Republicans to ask of every candidate is: Have you walked the walk? Show me your record." Cruz got heavy applause when he said he wanted to "repeal every word of Common Core," a set of testing standards that Jeb Bush staunchly defended when he appeared at a nearby event in Dover, New Hampshire just two days earlier. Common Core, however, was not legislation approved by Congress. Rather, it was created by a bipartisan group of governors and state leaders, and states received financial incentives by the government to adopt the standards. Still, Cruz played somewhat coy with his White House aspirations, aware of the tight federal regulations that would start holding contenders to different standards once they admit they're running for president. When voters pressed him Sunday to make a White House bid, Cruz told them to "stay tuned." "I'm looking at it very, very seriously," he told the audience. "I would point out a week ago I was in Iowa, yesterday I was in South Carolina, and today I'm in New Hampshire." But he truly charmed the crowd when he said that after he and his wife got their daughters a puppy recently, one of the girls gave her approval for Cruz's presidential aspirations. "If you win, that means Snowflake will finally get a backyard to pee in," his daughter said, according to Cruz. In terms of energy and turnout, Sunday's event stood out from other events held by potential White House contenders who were in New Hampshire this weekend, in part because it was open to the public, unlike other events headlined by Walker and Bush. His remarks were met with boisterous applause, and he was frequently urged to run for president by people who shook his hand before and after the event. Halfway through Cruz's remarks, a small-business owner in the audience was called on to ask a question but instead stood up proudly next to the senator and went off into a two-minute rant about how other Republicans in Washington aren't representing their conservative constituents. "It is D-Day in America folks," he said, getting the crowd on their feet. "We can't wait for another Republican. We need Ted Cruz." The man said his wife wrote a blank check for Cruz and pulled out his wallet, only to throw it on the ground at Cruz's feet. "For those who believe in miracles, this gentleman just threw his wallet at a politician," Cruz said, getting a big laugh from the crowd. "And he actually got it back." Cruz could not accept the money because he's not yet a candidate. One man, Bill Higgins, stood outside in the snow for four hours hoping Cruz would meet his goat named Izak, an apparent fixture on the campaign trail which was wearing a hat that said "I voted" and who happened to bite Jon Huntsman in 2011. Cruz waved hello at Higgins as the senator exited the building Sunday afternoon but didn't stop to greet the goat. "He'll be back again," Higgins said, trying to appear unfazed. "I'm sure he wants to get to his next stop." +(CNN)When it comes to the U.S. fraternity and sorority system, it's a disturbing truth: Life is largely segregated by race, money and power; and, yet, most of us find that unsurprising. This week, however, we got more evidence this callous status quo needs to change. The push came in the form of a nine-second YouTube video, which I'm sure you've seen by now. It reportedly shows members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma chanting these chilling lines: "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me." "The students on the bus clap and pump their fists as they boisterously chant," CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin writes, describing a clip that rocketed around social media, leading OU's president, David Boren, to rightfully shutter and ban that fraternity from the school. The video is hard to watch, but I have a feeling it's one we need to see, both because it hints at the inner workings of certain Greek organizations, and because it shows the persistent racism that still exists in the United States. I'm thankful someone -- someone who was on the bus to witness the racist chants -- was brave enough to film this and to help it become public. That alone should give some reason for hope. Others weren't, but I was shocked by the video. This, in 2015? In my home state? Both of my parents participated in Greek life in Oklahoma, but at a different university. I know from their stories that these groups can be the basis for lifelong friendships and civic engagement. What happened on the bus at OU doesn't negate their positive experiences. But it should cause us to question a system that is inherently built around the concept of exclusion. Sometimes students are excluded from Greek life, in theory, because they're seen as uncool or don't "fit in" with a particular chapter. But we'd be kidding ourselves if we didn't realize that, often, a person's race -- or sexual orientation, for that matter -- factors into this you're-in, you're-out process. Oklahoma school's response to video caught between racism, Civil Rights Act . And it's hard for me not to see the SAE video as a manifestation -- an admittedly extreme one -- of this exclusionist ideology. This is a case of dangerous group-think run amok. In a system that remains largely divided by race, perhaps videos like this shouldn't be so surprising. That's the view of Matthew Hughey, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut who studies racial dynamics in American Greek life. The U.S. fraternity and sorority system is "a form of American apartheid," he told me in an interview on Monday. Instead of thinking of the Oklahoma fraternity members as "bad apples," he said, we should see them as part of a "bad orchard." That orchard includes, but isn't limited to, Greek organizations, he told me. It also includes the rest of us and our country's racist history. "Largely, these organizations reflect a supersegregated and unequal system that is made up of college and alumni members all over the world," he said. Sigma Alpha Epsilon is no stranger to scandal and sanctions . Comparative data on the racial make-up of these organizations is impossible to come by, but anecdotal evidence suggests these groups are starkly divided by race. From 2003 to 2006, Hughey spent time interviewing students from Greek organizations at three colleges on the East Coast. "At the time of interviews, the average membership size of the organizations was 63 members, and there was an average of 2.4 nonwhite members per organization," he wrote in a 2010 paper published by Society for the Study of Social Problems. That's 3.8% minority members, in those instances. Hughey's sample size is small but his results also echo what anyone who's spent time on a college campus knows to be true: There are white fraternities and there are black ones. Sometimes we even dare call them that. Far too many of us, especially those of us with friends and family members who have participated in Greek life, either are in denial about this -- or we choose to see egregious cases of racism, sexism and violence in the U.S. Greek system as somehow isolated. It's clear that's not the case. "In 1992, Texas A&M University fined its chapter $1,000 after it threw a 'jungle party' attended by frat brothers in blackface. Then in 2002, Syracuse University suspended its chapter after one of its members went to a bar in blackface. As recently as 2013, the fraternity got suspended following allegations it had photographed African American students while pledges recited rap lyrics laced with racial slurs," according to The Washington Post's Terrence McCoy. All of that was just SAE. Other examples are easy to come by, too. According to The New York Daily News, here's the text of an invitation to a 2013 Asian-themed Kappa Sigma party at Duke University: "We look forward to having Mi, Yu, You and Yo Friends over for some Sake. Chank You." And in January 2014, according to The New York Times, Arizona State University investigated an MLK-day party hosted by the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity in which "nonblack students mocked blacks by donning loose basketball jerseys, flashing gang signs and drinking from hollowed-out watermelons." It's clear there is a recurring problem here -- one that needs fixing. One easy place to start would be simply getting more information. Why don't universities force these organizations to report their demographics so we can see exactly how segregated this system really is? Hughey told me that data isn't available. Then we could know the answers to some interesting questions: How segregated are Greek organizations? Are certain schools or organizations more integrated than others? What's the trend over time? Is there progress? John Lewis on Oklahoma students: 'They should be gone' Universities also should assess how and why they support these organizations. Do traditionally black and Latino fraternities get as much school funding and attention as the white frats? If not, why? And why are these groups so incredibly divided in the first place? What does that do to the student body as a whole? I'm not calling for an end to the Greek system. But it's a system that needs to take a hard look in the mirror and make some real changes. "Any time there are racist remarks made, we must speak up as Americans," Boren, the OU president, said in a news conference. He added that he hopes the SAE students "think long and hard" about the incident as they pack up and vacate their fraternity house early this week. "I hope they think long and hard about how words can injure and hurt other people," he said. The rest of us should do that, too. +(CNN)They thought they had found a paradise. They thought wrong. The resolution of the Alexandria story arc is the first of six things you should watch this week. 1. "The Walking Dead," 9 p.m. ET Sunday, AMC . "The Walking Dead's" season-long plotline involving a group that headed north from Atlanta all comes to a head in a 90-minute season finale on Sunday night. It's been a season in which Sonequa Martin-Green's character, Sasha, stood out: She's on the verge of insanity after the deaths of her brother and many friends. "We went to a very deep place," Martin-Green said. "It was hard, depressing, bad and thrilling all at the same time. A lot of the stuff was quite challenging for me. It was something I can definitely look back on and be proud of." With Rick having gone on a blood-soaked, gun-wielding rant in front of the leaders of the Alexandria community, his fate and that of his fellow survivors hangs in the balance. "There's gonna be all the twists and turns you would expect and twists and turns you did not expect," Martin-Green said of the episode. "The finale is probably the most jam-packed episode there's ever been. Things are packed into it like sardines. All of the life is squeezed in there. They lengthened it to 90 minutes because there's just so much. It's a supersized monstrosity." Her co-star Josh McDermitt added, "There's so much good stuff in this episode they didn't want to do the hourlong version. I can't wait for people to see it. And personally, I think it's going to go down as one of the best episodes the show has ever done." 2. "Call the Midwife," 9 p.m. ET Sunday, PBS . The fan favorite retro British series returns for a fourth season in the U.S. Though the ladies of ladies of Nonnatus House may not be quite as big as "Downton Abbey," fans of that series should enjoy this one. 3. "The Dovekeepers," 9 p.m. ET Tuesday and Wednesday, CBS . Roma Downey and Mark Burnett had a ratings smash two years ago with "The Bible" (and they have a sequel, "A.D.," coming next week on NBC). CBS has their follow-up in a two-part miniseries. It's based on a novel following the journey of four women in the year 70, one of whom is played by "NCIS" alumna Cote de Pablo. 4. "Weird Loners," 9:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, Fox . Stop me if you've heard this one: A group of single men and women has to live in close proximity in New York. Fox's latest sitcom, which hopes to build from the "New Girl" lead-in, stars two actors who have deserved their own shows: Zack Knighton ("Happy Endings") and Becki Newton ("How I Met Your Mother"). 5. "Olympus," 10 p.m. ET Thursday, Syfy . Syfy takes on Greek mythology in this new series with plenty of magic, creatures and interesting costumes. 6. "Outlander," 9 p.m. ET April 4, Starz . The Scottish time-travel romance returns to finish off its first season, as Claire and Jamie's relationship is tested. No matter what happens, the hardcore fan base will be there every step of the way. +Paris (CNN)French lawmakers are weighing a ban on extremely thin models. New legislation debated in Parliament Tuesday would require modeling agencies to get medical certificates from models proving that their body mass index is at least 18. Models would also be required to undergo regular weight checks. And agencies that violate the law could face fines and even possible prison sentences. Dr. Olivier Veran, a doctor and French lawmaker who's proposing the measures, said it's time to put a stop to the practice of pressuring models to be so thin that it's dangerous for their health. "We want to combat the idea that an agency could urge a model to stop eating; for example eating cotton balls to lose their appetite, to always lose more weight," he said. Seeing models' bones as they parade down the catwalk is a troubling trend, Veran said. "We have had chief editors of prestigious magazines tell us that more and more often, they are obliged to use Photoshop, not to make the models look slimmer," he said, "but to erase the tracks of bones under the skin, to make them look bigger." Vernan's proposed amendments to a health bill would also target the dark online world of pro-anorexia websites that promote self-starvation and encourage young women to post photos of their emaciated frames. The average BMI for a woman in France is 23.2 -- the lowest average in Western Europe, according to a 2009 study from France's National Institute of Demographic Studies. In France, Veran said, 30,000-40,000 people suffer from eating disorders, mainly teenagers. Marisol Touraine, France's minister of social affairs, expressed her support for the new anti-anorexia measures in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV. "The approach is good," she said, adding that the government will have to examine the wording of the new legislation in further detail. Extreme cases such as that of French model Isabelle Caro have sparked calls for change for years. Caro died in 2010, three years after she posed nude in a controversial ad campaign against anorexia. Similar concerns in Spain, Italy and Israel prompted those countries to adopt laws against the use of ultra-thin models on catwalks and in advertising campaigns. Israel even has strict rules on how model's bodies are Photoshopped; any changes must be clearly marked on the photo. Some in the industry are supportive of the proposed laws, but say they don't strike at the real issue. "The fact of the matter is, fashion creatives have to think about the messaging they are promoting around body image ideals and the fact they are normalizing an unachievable physical appearance," said Caryn Franklin, a fashion commentator. Veran's legislation is set to go before the French Parliament at the end of the month for discussion. And he wants to outlaw what he calls starving models by the end of the year. "I think that by the end of 2015," he said, "we will no longer have anorexic models on the catwalk." CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. +New York (CNN)Korean Air's "nut rage" case has made its way back to New York, with the flight attendant who served the offending macadamia nuts filing a lawsuit against the airline and a former executive. Heather Cho, a Korean Air executive and daughter of the airline's chairman, is serving a one-year prison sentence in South Korea after throwing a fit on a New York flight because her nuts were served in a bag instead of a porcelain bowl. In a civil suit filed this week in state Supreme Court in Queens, New York, Cho -- whose name is listed as Heather Hyun A-Cho in court documents -- is accused of "verbally and physically" attacking flight attendant Kim Do-hee in December on a Seoul-bound flight departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport. At the time, Cho, who was seated in first class, demanded that the plane go back to the gate so Kim could be kicked off the flight, according to the lawsuit. The episode, which was widely reported, was a "prime example of the corrupt and entitled behavior of the members of elite South Korean business families," the lawsuit states. The suit describes Cho as the "princess" of the "so-called royal" family that controls Korean Air, and says the executive screamed obscenities at Kim before hitting, shoving and threatening the flight attendant. On her return to South Korea, the lawsuit states, Kim was "pressured to lie to government regulators in order to cover up the incident, and to appear in public with Cho as part of an orchestrated effort to try and rehabilitate Cho's public image." A South Korean judge last month said that Cho's actions threatened the development of the aviation industry and inconvenienced passengers, and ruled that she violated aviation law, changed a flight path and interfered with operations. She was sentenced to a year in jail. The judge blasted Cho for her conduct, saying that she had used the plane as if it were her personal car and that as a passenger, she could not override crew members and give orders during a flight. The case is emblematic of growing resentment over the perceived privileges and nepotism of the families that control the country's top companies. Cho resigned as vice president at the company a few days after the incident and publicly apologized, saying she accepted "full responsibility." Last month, she appeared in a South Korean court wearing a green prison uniform. She gazed downward. Her hair hung in her face. "I don't know how to find forgiveness," she said. Park Chang-jin, the chief steward who was booted from the flight instead of Kim, has said the former executive treated crew members like "feudal slaves." Park and Kim, the flight attendant who served the nuts, had knelt in front of Cho in apology. Kim testified that Cho berated them about the service and later shoved and cursed her. When the flight arrived in Korea, the flight attendant said another airline manager, Yeo Woon-jin, pressured her not to talk to investigators about Cho's physically abusing her and Park. Yeo was found guilty of interfering with an investigation. Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho apologized to the flight attendants and the public following the public uproar over the incident. In a statement, Kim's lawyer, Andrew Weinstein, called Heather Cho's behavior "humiliating, degrading, and damaging to Ms. Kim, but ... also emblematic of Ms. Cho's unbridled arrogance and disturbing sense of entitlement." The incident has damaged Kim's "career, reputation, and emotional well-being," and efforts to settle the case out of court have been unsuccessful, according to the statement -- which didn't specify how much was being sought in damages. Attempts to reach representatives of Korean Air as well as lawyers for Cho were unsuccessful. CNN's David Shortell contributed to this report. +(CNN)The news that the U.S. military will charge Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with desertion for abandoning his post in Afghanistan revives a deeply disturbing and morally wrenching incident in America's troubled war in Afghanistan. From the moment last year that the world learned about the prisoner-swap deal that secured his freedom, the questions that surrounded Begdahl's disappearance gained significance. After all, the United States had agreed to a very high price for his release. Based on the evidence that has come to public light, desertion seems the right charge against Bergdahl, whose comrades say he walked away, abandoning his commitments as a soldier in a war and creating new and greater dangers for them. But even before the charges were filed, there were other question whose answers are emerging. Was the United States right to negotiate a high-price trade? Did "leave no man behind" trump "no negotiating with terrorists"? And if it did, did the importance of saving one man outweigh the dictate not to pay ransom even if that man was a traitor or a deserter? New information about his disappearance and life of the people freed in exchange for Bergdahl make the case all the more troubling. Bergdahl, you will recall, spent five years as a prisoner of the Haqqani network, a group allied with the Taliban organization, America's principal enemy in Afghanistan. Taliban fighters had captured him in June 2009, just after Bergdahl, apparently disenchanted with the military, left his post in southeastern Afghanistan. The Taliban handed the American soldier to the Haqqanis, who shuttled him between locations as they and their partners negotiated for his release, seeking to maximize the profit from their valuable captive. In May 2014 they struck a deal. Five Taliban commanders were flown out of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, freed in exchange for the American soldier whose disappearance many had already labeled a desertion. The images became iconic. A strikingly pale Bergdahl, blinking painfully against the bright sun as he was handed over to U.S. officials. The scene contrasted sharply with a video of the Taliban chiefs' receiving a heroes' welcome in Qatar, where they prepared for a new life after their American captivity. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Bergdahl had served with "honor and distinction." If that had been the case, the trade would have proved much less controversial. But from the moment Bergdahl went missing there had been questions. In the letters he wrote home before vanishing, Bergdahl showed a steady erosion of his faith in the military and belief in the mission. "The future is too good to waste on lies," he told his parents. "And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others." Men who had served with Bergdahl said he had simply walked off the base carrying little more than a compass. Not only would such a move constitute near-suicidal foolishness, it also put his comrades in great danger, particularly as they set out on a desperate quest to find him. What has been the cost of Bergdahl's odyssey? Some said the search for him cost the lives of six American soldiers. The specific circumstances are complicated, but it is clear that the six died in Paktika Province in the months after Bergdahl vanished, during a period in which every mission, even if not directly aimed at finding Bergdahl, included some element of a search. As one former team leader told CNN, "when those soldiers were killed, they would not have been where they were if Bergdahl had not left." One of them, 2nd Lt Darryn Andrews, received a posthumous Silver Star for saving the lives of five soldiers during a mission that had shifted from searching for a Taliban target to looking for Bergdahl. Andrews left behind a pregnant wife and a 2-year-old son. Then there is the cost of signaling to the Taliban, of telling all of America's enemies, that if they capture a U.S. service member they could trade him for a ransom. This could endanger other Americans. And there is another potential cost: The men who were freed in exchange for Bergdahl could go on to fight again. The more you learn about the details of their post-Guantanamo lives, the more distressing the transaction looks. Under the terms of the deal, Qatar agreed to keep the former prisoners from leaving the country for one year. In the meantime, they are said to be living a life of fantastic comfort and luxury, courtesy of their gracious Qatari hosts. According to reports, they have each been allowed to bring five more families to keep them company. The 35 Taliban households are living in the lap of Qatari luxury, but the fighters are getting restless. At least two of the former Guantanamo detainees reportedly want to go back to the battlefield, perhaps adding to the eventual tally of the Bergdahl transaction. Now Bergdahl will face his punishment; he could be sentenced to life in prison for what the military says was desertion and misbehavior, and what his comrades said was a shameful betrayal -- one that cost lives. The question remains, should the United States have traded for this man? My sense is that the United States has a duty to the soldiers it sends to war. All soldiers should know that their country will do what it takes to bring them back. America could not leave Bergdahl to die in a mountain cave, especially if it did not know with certainty the circumstances of his disappearance -- but even if it did. Whether the Obama administration negotiated as effectively as it could have is another matter. On that count, I am skeptical. The trade -- Bergdahl for several hardened prisoners -- was a heart-splitting dilemma, but it was the right call. +(CNN)If you haven't yet been asked by friends or co-workers to Meerkat, chances are you will soon. The livestreaming app was the "SXSW sweetheart" this year, despite having only launched on February 27. It's been adding users rapidly ever since -- even Jimmy Fallon is streaming his life using Meerkat. As part of CNN's Instant Startups series, CNNMoney correspondent Laurie Segall reached out to Meerkat's Ben Rubin with some questions. And he agreed to answer them -- on Meerkat, of course. You can see a few moments from the chat in the video above. Rubin is actually the co-founder and chief executive of Life On Air Inc., a livestreaming company with many tentacles. But recently Rubin decided to dedicate his entire team to work on Meerkat after the app's popularity exploded. Still, Rubin said, he doesn't consider the app an "instant startup" per se. It took years of work to reach this moment, he said. The half-hour chat between Rubin and Segall was informative and entertaining. Several people said it broke their record for the longest Meerkat stream they had ever watched. We heard more about Meerkat and Rubin's vision for the future; for example, he sees the app branching out to work with other platforms, like Facebook or Tumblr. Rubin also revealed who he'd like most to join in the fun. Startup wannabes also got some great advice from this successful entrepreneur. Launching a new business or product is difficult, and requires flexibility, Rubin said. Entrepreneurs need people they can trust -- who won't be afraid to call "b.s." on a bad idea. For more, check out our Instant Startups page. +(CNN)From the moment we are born, the first question our parents are asked is, "Is it a boy or a girl?" The answer to that seemingly simple question quickly establishes the child's path and trajectory for years to come; however, the question is not simple. The question is tragically flawed and here's a newsflash for everyone who has ever asked new parents that question: You're asking the wrong people. I realize that parents are simply sharing a bit of biological information based on their baby's physical "parts," but only that beautiful baby can accurately and authentically tell you what gender he or she is. You may want to give it a little time before you paint that nursery bright pink or pick out junior's first baseball glove -- it's just not that simple. I may only be 15 years old and will be the first to admit that I know very little about this great big world, but I know way too much about gender and being mislabeled. Why transgender teen Jazz Jennings is everywhere . You see, the doctor told my parents, "It's a girl," but he couldn't have been more wrong. Aside from my biology, I knew I was a boy from the age of 2. I was 100% sure of who I was and biology was an insignificant part of the conversation. Keep in mind that this was a time before I had even realized that being a boy trapped in a girl's body was anything beyond normal, and this was long before I could possibly articulate what was happening. However, there was no need to articulate anything. I was a little boy expressing myself based on what was in my heart and mind -- not yet distorted by biology, other people's confusion, or fear. It was when I was older that other people let me know something was "off." No matter how many times I was told differently, I was a boy and the people that mattered knew it too, for the most part. I want to address the moment where people, gender, and respectful communication part ways. That is the moment when the word "sexuality" creeps into the conversation. That is when people get scared, cite religion, start whispering, and disconnect. It's a sad moment, but I get it. People have always mocked what they don't understand, and this is a tough one for most to grasp. That said, it has to change and I believe it is changing. The transgender life: What to know, say and understand . I cannot stress to the world enough, gender and sexuality are two completely different things, and the moment people incorrectly connect them is the moment when most people start looking for an exit or a fight. Save your fear people. This is not something to be afraid of; it's an opportunity for us to evolve. Nothing is completely black or white, hot or cold, here or there, or male and female; there are varying degrees of everything and the quicker we respect that, the faster we all grow and allow people to be who they are. It all starts by taking sexuality out of the initial conversation. I first heard the term "gay" in the second grade, long after I had my first "girlfriend" and had proudly written "a penis" at the top of my Christmas list. Not until after I learned that there was such a thing as sexuality and homosexuality did I become afraid of who I was. It wasn't until I learned that there were people out there that considered homosexuality "abnormal" or that people needed to put labels on our feelings toward others that I became terrified that I was "different." I knew I liked girls and I was technically a girl, biologically, but I was a boy and my feelings about girls were normal boy feelings. I was not gay -- but try to explain that to someone without his or her eyes glazing over. Thankfully, I grew up in a household that taught me that I could love anybody I wanted to and it was fine because it is fine. Anyone can love anyone and there is nothing wrong with that. Fortunately, people have developed more of an understanding of that over time, but there are always going to be people that think differently and we all have to accept that. Do they matter? Of course they do because we all matter, equally; however, ignorant people are here to help us learn how to better communicate; everyone is reachable with the right circumstances and I look forward to the battles as much as the victories. As long as you're happy, you're indestructible. That said, I knew being gay wasn't a bad thing, but I also knew it didn't describe me. I was a straight boy who liked girls and there is nothing wrong with that, either. I was afraid of being thought of differently. The most crippling fear came from people not understanding that I was a boy trapped in a girl's body and simply labeling me something I'm not. That's what I was truly afraid of. Experience how one family reacted when their daughter said she's a boy. CNN Films presents "Raising Ryland," a short film available exclusively on CNN Digital on Wednesday, March 18. Discovering that I was transgender was a miraculous moment. I finally found the key that unlocked the cage I'd been trapped in for 14 years and that's why I call this journey, "My Transcension." With the support of my parents, I am sharing my story. Breaking free and owning your sexuality is something you find within yourself and is spectacular, but it is just the tiniest part of the greater transgender conversation. I am going beyond that and my journey is one that is constantly moving forward and upward. I'm taking the body I was born into and transforming it into the body I know I'm supposed to be in -- thanks to my family, friends, Dr. Jo Olson, the support groups, the science, and lastly, myself. See, that's the irony, I was the first person and truly the only person capable of answering the "is it a boy or girl" question -- not the doctor, my parents, or anyone who thinks they know better. That is the lesson, let each of us dictate our own path and respect everyone's choice. I realize that it's easier said than done but if you read this and find yourself open to a new conversation about gender, I consider that a win for us all. Truthfully, I'm most proud of myself for having the courage to find my own way and owning it, to proudly begin my transcencion from someone I wasn't -- into the man I always knew I'd become. Whether I'm a boy or a girl, white or black, rich or poor, gay or straight, it's completely irrelevant. What truly matters is the fact that I'm Avery Wallace and I've always known exactly who I was. I'm here to share my journey and hopefully, help someone else recognize theirs. +Istanbul (CNN)A prosecutor involved in a controversial case died Tuesday after he was shot during a hostage siege in an Istanbul courthouse. Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz died in the hospital from injuries he suffered during the attack, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, speaking to reporters on Turkish television. The two gunmen who took the prosecutor hostage were killed in a shootout with police after a standoff that lasted for hours. Kiraz was assigned to the controversial case of Berkin Elvan, a 15-year-old boy who was injured during the anti-government Gezi Park protests in June 2013. The teen died the following March after having spent nine months in a coma. The case, with its overtones of possible police overreaction, has been politically contentious, just as the protests themselves were. In an online post widely cited in Turkish media, the left-wing Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front claimed responsibility for the attack. The post said the gunmen were seeking to avenge Elvan's death. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the gunmen as terrorists and said they were disguised as lawyers when they entered the courthouse. "This is not to be taken lightly," he said. The gunmen took the prosecutor hostage around 12:30 p.m. in his office on the sixth floor of the Caglayan district courthouse, the semiofficial Anadolu Agency reported. Police evacuated that floor of the building, the agency reported, and snipers were deployed. An explosion, followed by sounds of more gunshots, could be heard coming from the courthouse Tuesday evening, hours after the siege began. Istanbul Police Chief Selami Altinok said Kiraz had been shot before Turkish security teams entered the room where the hostage crisis was unfolding. "There is nothing else to do but to pray at this moment," Erdogan said. The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, known as the DHKP-C, is viscerally hostile to the Turkish state, the United States and NATO, and has had links with the far left in Europe. The Marxist-Leninist group claimed responsibility for a 2013 suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. Among other attacks attributed to the DHKP-C was the assassination of a former justice minister, Mehmet Topac, in 1994, as well as the murders of a number of senior police and military officials and, 1996, a prominent businessman, Ozdemir Sabanci. CNN's Gul Tuysuz reported from Istanbul. CNN's Don Melvin reported from London. CNN's Nimet Kirac reported from Atlanta. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister contributed to this report. +Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded medals Monday to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and to Andrei Lugovoi, the suspect in the murder of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko, among more than 30 other honorees. Kadyrov was given the Order of Merit. The decree signed by Putin states: "For work achievements, active social activities and many years of diligent work the Order of Merit is awarded to Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of the Chechen Republic." Lugovoi, the suspect in the poisoning death of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko, was given a second-class medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland, according to Putin's decree. Sergey Kislyak, a diplomat who's been serving as Russia's ambassador to the United States since 2008, was also among the honorees. He was cited as an "Honored employee of a diplomatic service." Lugovoi is an MP in Russia's lower house of parliament for the nationalist and pro-Kremlin Liberal Democratic Party. He is deputy chairman of the lower house's security and anti-corruption committee. He also has hosted a show called "Traitors" on Russian TV and runs a restaurant in Moscow. Kadyrov has spoken out about the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, defending Zaur Dadayev, one of the Chechens charged in the shooting. "Zaur Dadayev was a Russian Interior Ministry officer who served with distinction," Kadyrov said on his Instagram account. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a coincidence that the arrest of suspects in Nemtsov's killing happened around the same time as the award to the Chechen President. In an interview with Russian business outlet RBC, he stressed that the decree on awards was filed several months ago. +Havana, Cuba (CNN)So what has U.S. State Department subcontractor Alan Gross been up to since he was released from a Cuban prison exactly three months ago? It turns out a lot more than most of the rest of us. Gross, 65, has started to make up for the five years he spent imprisoned in Cuba by traveling abroad, attending the State of the Union address as a guest of the Obamas and last week meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican to personally thank him for his role in helping to win Gross' freedom. After five years of being disconnected from the outside world, Gross now frequently posts on social media, writing of family reunions, eating the foods he longed for in prison and the reminders he experiences of his time in Cuba. "I can't get away from Cuba," Gross wrote after hearing a Cuban song playing in an airport on his travels. While visiting Israel, he posted a photo of Cohiba cigars advertised for sale in a Tel Aviv tobacco shop. In 2009, Gross was arrested by Cuban state security agents and eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison for importing banned communications equipment to the island. Gross said he was merely helping the island's small Jewish community get online, but Cuban officials accused of him being part of a U.S. government plot to destabilize the island's single-party Communist government. Cuba has highly restricted Internet access, and most people are not able to access the Web in their homes or on their phones. On December 17, 2014, Gross was freed, along with three Cuban intelligence agents and a Cuban man convicted of spying for the United States. It was part of a deal between the Cuban and U.S. governments to reestablish diplomatic relations after five decades of Cold War animosity. Gross, his wife, Judy, his attorney and three U.S. congressmen flew from Havana to his home state of Maryland aboard a U.S. military jet, one of the smaller versions of Air Force One used to transport President Barack Obama. The image of Gross celebrating his freedom aboard the flight home with CNN reporting the news of his release on a TV screen in the background became the picture he would use on his @AlanPGross Twitter page. The night of his release, he enjoyed a meal of spicy Thai food with family and friends, a far cry from the bland rations he was forced to eat in prison. In January, Gross changed the status of his Facebook page to read that he had left his job as "hostage" at the Carlos Finlay military hospital where had been held in Havana. Later, he shared pictures of a visit to the dentist's office to replace the teeth that he lost while he was held in Cuba. With his dental concerns met, he moved on to food. Gross also recounted savoring long-denied bowls of chili and bagels loaded with lox and cream cheese. Many of the posts are the daily jottings of a man returning to his life after an extended absence: Gross renewing an expired driver's license or visiting a Starbucks for the first time in five years. But in other posts, he writes about taking in a sunset on the beach in Israel, seeing the snow fall in Washington and believing citizens in every country should have unimpeded access to the Internet. A spokeswoman for Gross turned down a CNN request for an interview with him but confirmed that the social media accounts are his. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat representing the Maryland district Gross hails from, called it "incredibly moving" that a man who spent five years in a Cuban prison has since sat next to first lady Michelle Obama and met the pope. More than that, he's come to signify the changing dynamics between officials in Washington and Havana. "Alan did not ask for this special role in history," Van Hollen said, "but he's become a catalyst for this new chapter in American and Cuban relations." The photos that Gross posted online show a smiling man, slowly putting back on some of the 100 pounds he lost in prison, no longer the gaunt-faced, hollow-eyed prisoner who had gone on hunger strikes to protest his conditions while he was held in Cuba. "The distance we've come since December 17th 2014 has been a rewarding journey," Gross wrote in a Facebook post Saturday. "For which we're grateful." +Leicester, England (CNN)Richard III, the King found beneath a car parking lot, has been reburied in a solemn but celebratory service, 530 years after his death in battle. The remains of the medieval monarch were sensationally rediscovered beneath a blanket of tarmac in the center of Leicester in August 2012. They have been pored over by scientists at the city's university ever since, but after more than two years of legal wranglings, the bones were finally laid to rest Thursday in a coffin built by Richard III's distant relative, Michael Ibsen, whose DNA helped prove their identity. It was standing room-only at Leicester Cathedral -- which had been partially rebuilt for the occasion -- as Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led prayers for the long-dead King, swinging incense and sprinkling holy water over the casket, before scattering it with earth from key locations marking his birth, life and death. Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch, a distant cousin of England's last Plantagenet King, read a poem dedicated to Richard III, written by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. "My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil, a human braille. My skull, scarred by a crown, emptied of history. Describe my soul as incense, votive, vanishing; your ownthe same. Grant me the carving of my name." Queen Elizabeth, represented at the ceremony by the Countess of Wessex, sent a special message to mark the reinterment, which she hailed as "an event of great national and international significance." "Today we recognize a King who lived through turbulent times and whose Christan faith sustained him in life and death," it read. But though it bore many of the hallmarks of grief -- polished coffin, empty tomb, relatives clad in gloomy, pitch-dark suits -- this was not, the organizers insisted, a sad occasion. "This is not a funeral at which we mourn," said Professor Gordon Campbell, of the University of Leicester, welcoming the congregation to the cathedral, just yards from that famous parking lot. Instead, the aim of the service was to offer Richard III a fitting farewell, and a lasting memorial -- neither of which he was granted following his death at Bosworth in 1485. Back then, his body was slung over a horse and carried back to Leicester -- legend has it that his head struck Bow Bridge on the way -- before being put on display for three days, to prove to friends and foes alike that he really was dead, before being slung into a hastily-dug grave at the Church of the Grey Friars. Now Richard's bones, accompanied by a specially-crafted rosary, recognizing his Catholic faith, rest in a lead-lined coffin of English oak, his grave marked by a 2.3 ton block of pale Swaledale fossil limestone resting on a plinth of black Kilkenny marble carved with his name, dates, coat of arms, and his symbol: a white boar. Speaking before the commemorations, Philippa Langley, founder of the "Looking for Richard" project, said she did not expect to feel upset at the reinterment: "Richard died over 500 years ago, so I don't think there will be a sense of sadness there at all. I hope there's perhaps some joy, that something has been done well and right and that we've made peace with the past." But Ibsen admitted he found Sunday's service at which the remains were carried in to the cathedral surprisingly moving: "there was a slight dampening of the eyeballs, which caught me completely unawares," he said phlegmatically. "Leicester born and bred" sisters Susan Foster and Sharon Stirling were among the crowds waiting outside the cathedral to listen in on the service and catch a glimpse of the guests arriving. "This is history, isn't it, it's never going to happen again," said Foster. "We grew up with all the stories of Richard III. We lived close to Bow Bridge, so we know all the legends about him." Stirling said she thought the Richard III story would be a big bonus for the city: "I think it will boost the economy and bring visitors in -- he's got quite a fan club, after all." Leicester has always been proud of its links to Richard III; the city boasts pubs and schools named in his honor, there's a walking tour and a brand new visitor center built over his original grave. But in recent days, interest has risen to fever pitch: shop windows are full of Richard-themed displays offering everything from wooden toy castles to chain mail jewelery. The florist around the corner from the cathedral is doing a roaring trade in white roses, which people have been leaving at Richard III's statue, and his face is emblazoned on all manner of souvenirs, from paperweights and pens to mugs and bars of chocolate. There's even a "Return of the King" beer -- locally brewed and promising "a distinctive regal flavor." Some 35,000 people lined the bunting-and-flag-draped streets of Leicester and its surrounding villages on Sunday to watch as the King's coffin was carried in a procession out to the scene of his death and back again. Another 20,000 lined up for hours to file past the casket and pay their respects as it lay "in repose" at the cathedral in the days since, watched over by an honor guard of veterans. Among them was Jane Gregory, who traveled two hours by bus from her home in South Derbyshire twice in a week to be there. "It was just something I had to see and experience -- it's part of history," she told CNN outside the reburial service on Thursday. "I came on Monday too, to view the coffin -- it was a great experience. I queued for two and a half hours and it was worth every minute." History enthusiast Paul Eames stood in the drizzle and watched the service on his iPad after missing out on a ticket -- to his wife Karen: "I applied for tickets for both of us; I could have cried when I saw the envelope with her name on it." "I didn't originally want to go," Karen admitted, smiling. "But he told me 'you'll be part of history, you don't realize!' The service was amazing, really lovely." Not everyone was there just to celebrate Richard III, though. Leicester student Sherry Xie said she was "proud" of her university's role in the discovery of his bones, but she and her classmate Wendy Jiang admitted they'd come along with an ulterior motive: "to see Benedict!" In his sermon, the Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens said those who had joined the commemorations "(came) not to judge, condemn or praise, but to stand in silent, humble and reverent attentiveness at the meeting place of time and eternity." Stevens said the search for Richard III had "broken open not just a car park, but a nation's story." It also provoked bitter quarrels between rival factions over where and how he should be buried, and how much scientific testing he should be subjected to. But Campbell insisted that the service was held in a "spirit of reconciliation," a thought echoed by Stevens: "Whether we bear a white or a red rose, whether for Richard or Henry ... whether for Leicester or York, we recognize at the graveside that all our journeys lead us to this place, where reputation counts for nothing and all human striving turns to dust." Langley, the driving force behind the search for the King, said Thursday's service would mark the end of one chapter in the long-running saga; but she said work to re-examine Richard's life and legacy would go on. "It's the conclusion to his story in that he's been found ... and we're laying his physical remains to rest. But in terms of Richard's story, that is only just beginning." +(CNN)On any other Wednesday morning, the steps in front of the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium would be packed with kids on their way to class, discussing homework, chattering about last night's TV shows, or laying out plans for the coming weekend. But not today. Instead, students approached in silence, carrying photographs and flowers. In small groups, the teenagers lined up to lay tributes to their lost classmates before hugging each other wordlessly, or dissolving into tears. At 10:53 a.m. Tuesday morning, this school in the small western German town of Haltern was changed forever by events more than 1,000 km (about 620 miles) away. A Germanwings plane carrying 16 of its pupils and their two teachers home from a school exchange trip to Spain crashed in the French Alps, killing all of those on board. Headmaster Ulrich Wessel said when the first reports of a crash came through he was still hopeful, thinking "perhaps they had missed the plane, or perhaps there was a second Germanwings flight at the same time." Instead, the worst was confirmed, leaving him "stunned and somewhat speechless," the community devastated and the classmates of the dead struggling to understand their loss. "A week ago Tuesday we sent 16 happy young people and two young colleagues off on a trip," Wessel told reporters. "What was intended as a school exchange ended in tragedy." Of the 16 teenagers killed, 14 were girls, and two boys; one of the two female teachers who died was a newlywed. In a post on the school's website, Wessel and other school representatives announced the names of the dead, "who will never again return to us," leaving all those concerned "unutterably sad." The teenagers who died were: Linda Bergjurgen, Elena Bless, Lea Druppel, Selina Eils, Gina Michelle Gerdes, Ann-Christin Hahn, Julia Hermann, Marleen Koch, Paula Lutkenhaus, Fabio Rogge, Rabea Scheideler, Lea Schukart, Helena Siebe, Steffen Strang, Aline Venhoff and Caja Westermann. The two teachers were identified as Sonja Cercek and Stefanie Tegethoff. As news of the crash spread, the area at the entrance to the school became a makeshift memorial, filled with red and white candles, notes and swiftly-painted signs. "Yesterday we were many, today we are alone," reads one. "Why?" demands another, with painful simplicity. Philippa, a friend of many of those who died, told CNN she was shocked by what had happened: "I knew all of them, they were in my grade. To some I was very close. "We had already planned things for the future, what we were going to do when they returned from their trip. It is very hard to believed that we cannot do that." Grief counselors, chaplains and psychologists have been brought in to the school to help all of those involved come to terms with the disaster. "I've told the students and teachers that we have to accept the sorrow and grieve," said Wessel. "I hope we will all get through it, if we share it." As the world's media descend on the town, messages of support have come flooding in too. The local newspaper is running an online book of condolence, in which people can leave messages of sympathy and "light" virtual candles to match the real ones flickering on the steps of the school. "A silent hug says more than many words," wrote Manuela Donovang. "Wishing the families, friends and relatives strength and comfort in the difficult days and months ahead." In his message, Udo Hentschel said the suffering of the parents, friends and families was "incomprehensible, unfathomable" and offered them his condolences: "This, the worst of all fates, will bind us all -- friends and strangers -- closer together." In an attempt to show that solidarity, schools across the region will share a moment of silence in memory of the dead on Friday at 10:53 a.m., the time the plane crashed. For the classmates of those who will never return, that silence will go on, as the seats they left empty remain unfilled in the weeks and months to come. "Our school is no longer what it once was," said Wessel. "In Haltern we had 1,283 students. It is horrifying that now we have 16 fewer." +(CNN)What does 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer have to talk about with World No. 4 Andy Murray? Hairstyles, apparently. Federer crashed the Scot's Q&A Twitter session on Thursday to tease Murray about his lustrous locks, asking "how do you get your hair to be so curly?" with the hashtag "helpabrotherout." Murray joked back: "I don't take as good care of mine as you! I saw you checking your hair out during the photo shoot yesterday #silkysmooth," before posting an image of himself from 2008 with a curly mane, adding "let me know if you ever want to go down this route.. Think it would be good for your image." Earlier this month, Federer suffered some embarrassment of his own when a small boy played a point against the 33-year-old -- outmaneuvering the Swiss legend with a perfect lob at an exhibition match in New York. Both Federer and Murray are competing in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week. Four-time winner Federer is aiming for his 50th match win at the Californian tournament while Murray is looking to improve on his runner-up finish in 2009. +(CNN)Two million illnesses. 23,000 deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's the human toll from antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" each year in the United States. To fight the growing problem of infections that can't be treated, the administration of President Barack Obama is implementing a five-year national action plan at a cost of $1.2 billion. Those funds, part of the President's 2015 budget, which must still be approved by Congress, would nearly double the amount of federal money allocated to the fight. The plan calls for creating a "one-health" approach to testing and reporting superbugs around the country, as well as establishing a DNA database of resistant bacteria. New, rapid tests to detect emerging resistant bacteria will be developed. Research for new antibiotics and vaccines will accelerate. The plan calls for two new options for people, and three for animals, by 2020. Global surveillance and cooperation is also stressed, including a global database for animals. A key goal is to slow the growth and spread of superbugs by reducing the use of antibiotics when they aren't needed. The plan calls for a 50% reduction in inappropriate antibiotic use in doctor's offices and a 20% reduction in hospital use by 2020. "This is a lofty goal," said internist and Emory Associate Professor Dr. Sandra Fryhofer. "It's important for both patients and professionals to be on board." There are still details to work out. "Who determines what's appropriate?" asked Atlanta pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu. "Are we going to have a checklist of requirements that have to be met? I think it might be a bit tough to measure, but I think improvement can definitely happen." A recent survey of 796 health care professionals found 63% of the sample prescribed antibiotics when they weren't absolutely necessary, at least 10% of the time. A top reason: the patient requested it. "Some patients put a lot of pressure on doctors to give them an antibiotic, and they may think they're not getting good care if they're not given one. But that's just not true," said Fryhofer. "It's become like an insurance policy but it's an insurance policy that doesn't give good dividends." "I do find there is a lot of education that has to go on with patients that might expect antibiotics when their child is sick," said Shu, "but I think in recent years I have seen more of an awareness, and many of my patients are more hesitant to ask." Another part of the plan pledges to eliminate the widespread use of antibiotics to boost the growth of animals raised for food. It will also phase in oversight by veterinarians for other uses of antibiotics in feed and water. While applauding the spirit of the pledge, critics say the limits are still too voluntary and limited in scope. "The problem we have with the plan is that it only removes the growth claims from the label," said senior analyst Steve Roach at Keep Antibiotics Working. "What we hoped for in the plan was a commitment from FDA to identify which antibiotic uses other than growth promotion need to be changed." "With 80% of the antibiotics produced in the United States being used in agriculture mostly for prevention," said Louise Slaughter, D-New York, who has an alternate proposal in front of Congress, "any meaningful solution to the looming antibiotic resistance crisis must begin with limits on the farm. Trusting a voluntary policy that lets industry police itself will not bring about real change." +(CNN)After decades in private hands, a spaceship from the classic film "2001: A Space Odyssey" will go on display for the first time to the public. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that presents the Oscars, purchased the spacecraft at auction Saturday for $344,000. The academy will display the ship in its museum of movie history, scheduled to open in 2017 in Los Angeles. "We're excited to add such an iconic piece of movie history to our collection," the academy told CNN in a statement. "We look forward to sharing the '2001' Aries 1B Trans-Lunar Space Shuttle with the public once the Academy Museum opens." In case you're wondering, the craft is the spherical lunar lander that transports Dr. Heywood R. Floyd to the moon in "2001." Sorry, it's not the Discovery One, the spaceship where mission pilot Dave Bowman later famously implored the ship's computer to "open the pod bay doors, HAL." A collector and former art teacher in the UK had kept it for the past 40 years. According to the auction house, the spaceship is one of the few sets left from the 1968 film. Almost all the props, sets, models and costumes from "2001: A Space Odyssey" were destroyed by director Stanley Kubrick so they could not be used in other productions, the Premiere Props auction house said. +(CNN)As the U.S. and several Eastern European NATO countries conduct a series of military exercises near Russia's border, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his Northern Fleet "to full alert in a snap combat readiness exercise" in the Arctic, state-run media reported Monday. At least one Russian leader described the drill as routine and unrelated to the "international situation." The fleet got its orders at 8 a.m. Monday, according to Sputnik, launching a land, sea and air drill that will involve 38,000 troops, 41 ships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft. "The main task of the (combat readiness drill) is to assess the armed forces from the Northern Fleet's capabilities in fulfilling tasks in providing military security of the Russian Federation in the Arctic region," Russian Defense Minister Gen. Sergey Shoigu told the media outlet. "New challenges and threats of military security demand the further heightening of military capabilities of the armed forces and special attention will be paid to the state of the newly formed strategic merging (of forces) in the North." The drills will run through Friday, Sputnik reported. A flotilla of minesweepers will support the Northern Fleet's nuclear submarines in the Barents Sea as part of the drill, the Tass news agency reported, citing a Defense Ministry statement. "Mine-sweeping groups of the Kola Flotilla have moved to the designated areas of the Barents within the framework of a snap check of combat readiness of the Northern Fleet forces for supporting the deployment of the main forces of the fleet, including the deployment of nuclear and diesel submarines of the Northern Fleet," the statement says. The ships will conduct magnetic, acoustic and contact demining sweeps during the drill, Tass reported. Despite a number of countries participating in various military drills in Eastern Europe, a Kremlin spokesman described the Northern Fleet inspection as routine practice aimed at improving military capabilities. "The practice of snap checks will become regular, as it is beneficial for improving the mechanisms of control and operation of the armed forces. This is an absolutely regular process of the armed forces' operation, of preparation and development of Russia's armed forces," Dmitry Peskov told Tass on Monday. Conversely, a diplomat told Tass that Russia was "deeply concerned" about NATO drills near its border. "It is especially surprising that this is happening in Northeastern Europe, which is the most stable region not only on our continent, but also maybe in the whole world," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov said. "Such NATO actions lead to destabilization of the situation and increasing tensions in Northeastern Europe." Among the recent drills in Eastern Europe: . • In its largest military operation in decades, Norway sent 5,000 troops to conduct military exercises between Alta and Lakselv in Finnmark county, which borders Russia, according to the Barents Observer. • About 100 U.S. soldiers are expected to conduct an exercise this month using a Patriot missile battery and a Polish air defense brigade "at a location on Polish territory," Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said. The exercise is part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in response to Russia's involvement in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea last year, the U.S. Defense Department said. • Also as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the U.S. Army will soon send armored Stryker vehicles on a 1,100-mile convoy through six European countries to show solidarity with its allies. The "highly visible" convoy will travel through Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia and the Czech Republic en route to Vilseck, Germany, a U.S. Army Europe spokesman told the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes. • In a "regularly scheduled" exercise aimed at demonstrating NATO's commitment to "collective defense" in the Black Sea, the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two -- a collection of warships -- will train with the Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish navies and visit Varna, Bulgaria, to meet with local authorities and navy officials, NATO said. • The U.S. Air Force moved a dozen A-10 Thunderbolt "tankbuster" attack jets to an air base in Germany and the U.S. military placed hundreds of tanks and military vehicles in Latvia, where they'll be matched up with 3,000 troops from Fort Stewart, Georgia. CNN's Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)"Good night Malaysian three-seven-zero." It was a routine sign-off, an all-is-well. On March 8, 2014, at 1:19 a.m., someone spoke those last words from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to air traffic controllers before the Boeing 777 vanished. A year later, searchers have no new clues as to where it went with 239 people on board. Radar and satellite reports have provided hints, but searchers still have nothing to hold in their hands. No wreckage seen floating at sea or beached on shore. No fuselage resting on the sea floor. Experts have said the data indicate the flight path from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing unexpectedly veered, putting the commercial jet over the southern Indian Ocean. But the water's vast and intricate depths have revealed no secrets. And as clarity has eluded grasp, analysts have made many speculations about what happened. The most controversial idea: Is the maritime search area all wrong? Did the plane land clandestinely on solid ground? Here are some expert theories about what happened to MH370. Investigators have since cast doubt on some of their details. Who radioed those last words to air traffic control? Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah? First officer Fariq Abdul Hamid? There was much speculation over that, but the Malaysian inspectors in April said it was Zaharie. The pilots were supposed to check in with new air traffic controllers in Vietnam, but never did. One theory is that one pilot may have incapacitated the other, then guided the plane to its end, taking the passengers down with him in a dramatic suicide. Mark Weiss, a retired American Airlines captain, has flown a Boeing 777. He believed shortly after the crash that there may have been a struggle. "It was one of the pilots that maybe had a meltdown or did something nefarious to the airplane," he said. But Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has vehemently defended his employees, particularly the pilot. "We do not suspect any one of our crew until there's such evidence. ... Captain Zaharie is a very capable man," he said. "We have no reason to suspect (him)." Weiss also thought there could have been another person -- a crew member or someone else -- in the cockpit who "was bent on perhaps committing suicide or doing some destruction on the aircraft." Copilot Hamid, 27, reportedly once invited a woman and her friend into the cockpit on a 2011 flight between Thailand and Malaysia. "That's an enormous breach of security," Weiss said. But investigators punched holes in the idea, saying there was no indication of a third party in the cockpit, CNN reported in April. The difference between hijacking and commandeering is nuanced. The former term is often used when the hijacker issues a demand such as being taken to a safe-haven country or receiving ransom to release passengers. When people commandeer a plane, they might keep the motives secret, said political analyst Peter Bergen. They may want to steer it themselves at a target, like the September 11, 2001, terrorists did. In 1994, a FedEx employee burst into the cockpit of FedEx Flight 705 with a hammer and spear gun. He wanted to crash the plane into the company's Memphis, Tennessee, headquarters. The crew thwarted that takeover. "Commandeering would fit with the few facts that we do know, and (it's) certainly a theory that we haven't heard a lot of that isn't a conspiracy," Bergen said. Experts are divided on this theory, partly because no terrorists have claimed responsibility at a moment when they would have the world's attention -- unless potential terrorists were waiting for something. MH370 went to Kazakhstan. Outlandish conjecture or genius insight? The theory that Russian actors on board MH370 found a way to get the plane through the border territory of China, Pakistan and India to a Kazakh landing strip leased to Russia comes from science journalist and private pilot Jeff Wise. Fleets of ships and search aircraft are looking in the wrong direction, he says. The airliner went north, not south. Investigators may have misinterpreted a key component of the Inmarsat satellite data. "This is not a normal investigation. They need to throw out the book," Wise has said. Another aviation analyst, David Soucie, also cast doubt after MH370 went missing on the most widely held belief that the plane hit the Indian Ocean. "If it had crashed in the way that we think it did, which is to run out of fuel and hit the water and break up into pieces, there would be pieces somewhere," he said. But Michael Exner, an engineer with decades of experience in the mobile satellite communications industry, says the data "accurately and unambiguously" shows MH370 went down near the so-called 7th arc, a path along which the search has been focused. "The current ATSB search strategy remains the best search strategy," he said. In a less sinister but equally lethal explanation, some experts theorized the plane mysteriously crashed somewhere because of mechanical malfunction. Perhaps the electronics died, or a fire broke out, preventing the pilots from communicating. Maybe they turned to look for a landing strip but couldn't steer the plane properly. Pilots had trouble embracing the thought. "I've been running that in my brain now ever since this thing happened," said Jim Tilmon, an aviation expert and retired American Airlines pilot. "One possibility would be a total electrical failure which is very, very hard to imagine because (the plane) has so many generators coming from different places," Tilmon said. If they fail, there are other backups. He has said he's never heard of anything like it happening before. For months after MH370 disappeared, Malaysian officials reported details of the search to next of kin and the public. Something would be spotted, hopes rose, and then it didn't pan out. Hopes were dashed; anguish returned. Sunday, a year to the day after the plane disappeared, the international independent investigation committee released an interim report on the disappearance of MH370. It found no indications of unusual behavior among the aircraft's pilots and cabin crew before it took off, and said that Zaharie had had no personal or financial problems that would cast suspicion on him. The interim report also revealed that the battery of the underwater locator beacon on the plane's flight data recorder had expired more than a year before its disappearance. The battery on the plane's other so-called black box, the cockpit voice recorder, had been replaced as scheduled, and remained within its expiry date, the report said. CNN's Pamela Boykoff and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report. +(CNN)The prospect of a Palestinian state is nil so long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in office, Netanyahu said in a Monday interview. Asked by an interviewer with the Israeli news site, NRG, if it was true that a Palestinian nation would never be formed while he's prime minister, Netanyahu replied, "Indeed." His interview with NRG came as he courted conservative supporters a day before Israelis head to the polls for national elections. "Anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state, anyone who is going to evacuate territories today, is simply giving a base for attacks to the radical Islam against Israel," he said. "This is the true reality that was created here in the last few years." Netanyahu went on to say that any opponents on the left who might argue otherwise are "sticking their head in the sand, time and time again." He further said a strong government led by his Likud Party is necessary to beat back international pressure to divide Jerusalem and return Israel to its pre-1967 borders, according to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report on the NRG interview. "I do not give in," Netanyahu told NRG. "We stood fast against huge pressure, and we will continue to do so." Following Netanyahu's interview, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who is also a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the Israeli Prime Minister's stance is nothing new. "Netanyahu has done everything possible to bury the two-state solution," he said. "Netanyahu's statement at the illegal settlement of Har Homa is a response to all those governments who tried to block Palestinian diplomatic initiatives. He couldn't have done that without counting on full impunity from the international community. Now the world must learn its lesson and understand that impunity won't bring peace, only justice will." Earlier in the day, Netanyahu continued his efforts to drum up support during a campaign speech in the Har Homa neighborhood of Jerusalem, which he boasted that he helped establish in 1997, during his first prime ministerial term. Israel considers Har Homa part of a unified Jerusalem, while Palestinians consider the neighborhood an illegal settlement. If he is re-elected, Netanyahu said, he will continue to promote construction in Jerusalem as a means of national security, he said. "The pressure around this decision back then was enormous. But I insisted -- I ordered the construction and it paid off," he said. "Today, Har Homa is a flourishing neighborhood in which tens of thousands of Israeli civilians are living. As we proved in the past, my friends in the Likud Party and I, we will keep Jerusalem protected and keep developing it." Opposition leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni of the Zionist Union, he alleged, are "ready to surrender to every dictate." Livni, he said, has denounced previous calls for more construction in Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods, while Herzog would strive to establish a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. "I will not let that happen," he said. "My friends and I in the Likud will keep Jerusalem united in all its parts, and we will keep fortifying it so that dividing it will not be possible and it will always remain united. We will keep developing our eternal capital." A vote for Herzog or Livni is a vote for the establishment of "Hamastan," Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas, the Islamist group which dominates Gaza. He further alleged that his opponents would yield to international pressure and "huge financial support coming from abroad, from left-leaning tycoons and foreign governments." He closed his speech saying, "The meaning of this is simple: We will not be able to keep Israel safe and secure and the terror against us that once emerged through these hills with machine guns will turn into missile fire." CNN's Kevin Flower contributed to this report. +(CNN)Under harsh lights in a private, rented room in Berlin, women face each other in violent, sometimes bloody battles of brute strength. There are no official rules to this female fight club. The fighters are both beginners and professionals, anywhere from age 20 to 50, said photographer Katarzyna Mazur, who spent months documenting the club in 2013 and 2014. Led by founders nicknamed Anna Konda and Red Devil, a match might pit a bodybuilder against a martial arts master. They can wrestle, throw punches or "cat fight." There's no judge, just someone who knows the parameters they've decided for the match. The small audience is mostly made up of men, but it's a place for women to shed the roles they play outside. "When I saw this kind of fighting for the first time, I was quite shocked. I had never seen something like that before, and it was really interesting to experience all of this so close," said Mazur, who photographed the fight club as part of her work toward graduation from photography school. "Inhibition and fear do not exist on the mat." At first, Mazur said, she shot the fight club in color, but the look of the blue mat and neon lights didn't satisfy her. She shifted to black-and-white images and reduced her point of view, getting as close as she could to the action. "It was not easy to work like that, because the matches were going very quickly and were unpredictable," she said, although fighters were respectful and would stop if someone was seriously hurt. "I had to be very careful not to get hit. Fortunately, there are chairs on the side, so I could jump on them if the female fighters suddenly rolled under my feet." For all the aggression built into fighting, Mazur said, the project required a lot of sensitivity. She had to work quickly, and she didn't always know her subjects well. The bouts, the motivations, the scene can all leave a lot of room for interpretation. Mazur said she had to examine her own limitations, questioning "How far can I go? Do they trust me? Am I allowed to do that?" Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "I enjoy exploring new worlds, especially a world which exists in a gray area," she said. She also had to remember that the fighters pushing and pummeling inside the club have lives outside, too -- they're mothers, partners, friends. Their actions on the mat might contradict how they live the rest of their lives. Even years later, the fight club is still running and is "better than ever," Mazur said. "Very often, I was very moved after seeing and editing the pictures, realizing what exactly happened there," Mazur said. "It is important to always remember my role as a photographer and to always approach the subject with interest and (an open mind)." Katarzyna Mazur is a Polish photographer based in Berlin. You can follow her on Facebook. +(CNN)In 2011, journalists flocked to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to cover the presidential election and the violence leading up to the vote. Photographer Leonard Pongo had different plans. "I could have focused on the election, but I chose to follow people around," Pongo said. "I wanted to experience what life in the country was like ... to understand another side of those events -- not those usually reported, but one that was much more personal." It was Pongo's burning personal quest that brings us "The Uncanny," a black-and-white series that helps us experience the Congo in flesh and blood. These rich portraitures and compositions of Pongo's family members give us a vivid emotion of what it is like to be human as your country spirals into chaos. It is also a photographic detour from the cliche images of the Congo -- a subtler but deeply psychological representation of how war affects daily lives. War is something only experienced marginally by Pongo, who was born and raised in Belgium to a Belgian mother and a Congolese father. Stories of the Congo were narratives whispered into his European upbringing. "I had never been," to Congo, he said. "It was a latent desire I had for a very long time to go there. I don't feel particularly drawn to Belgium ... but going (to Congo) made me feel even more lost." Connecting with his family in the Congo, the photographer attended baptisms and weddings, exorcisms and political rallies. Everywhere he looked, he felt a challenge to his core beliefs as he went down his DNA chain. "I felt very challenged in my identity, sometimes as a 'white,' others as a 'black' person," Pongo said. "This led to many conflicts, internal and external; many arguments; and it also directed the way I photographed." While feeling the warm welcome of his family, Pongo still felt a certain reticence when they looked at the camera. Their trust was not always unshakable, and that state of awareness become synonymous with the Congo. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. He uses a photo of a family reunion -- the first in the gallery above -- as an example. "I find that photo a little disturbing, because all the gazes are going into different directions," Pongo said. "There are clearly some mixed emotions here. And that is the DRC. It is a very complex country, and it is not always easy to read which signs are being communicated. There is a state of tension and confusion." Working with the approach of an artisan, Pongo plays with light to create a certain magic in the aura of the people he portrays. It is a useful tool in a place with so many contrasts. "I like to remain loyal to the principles of film development and darkrooms," said Pongo, who shot "The Uncanny" on a digital camera. "The light is a combination of using flashes and taking advantage of the amazing presence of the sun. The humid atmosphere, fog and dust renders some interesting possibilities ... like a natural filter." Pongo went back in 2013 and said his journey through the country is not over yet. "I think I reached my objective, to embed into the daily life in the Congo, which clearly transformed me," he said. "I was allowed into the life of people who were former strangers ... and got a deeper understanding of what daily life in the Congo could feel like. "I was also deeply impressed to discover how much life there is in this country, how much more there is to discover, how complex it is to understand, and how much work that will require." Leonard Pongo is a photographer from Belgium. You can follow him on Tumblr. +(CNN)Richard Glatzer, who directed a powerful film about a professor battling Alzheimer's as he faced his own harrowing health struggles, has died. Glatzer died in Los Angeles on Tuesday after having ALS for four years, his publicist said. He was 63. Glatzer co-directed "Still Alice" with his husband, Wash Westmoreland. The 2014 film earned a number of major awards for its lead actress, Julianne Moore. Directing the movie was a challenge that Glatzer embraced, even as he faced a growing number of health obstacles after his ALS diagnosis in 2011. "On set, he inspired the cast and crew with his perseverance, (co-directing) the film by typing with one finger into a text-to-speech app on his iPad," his publicist's statement said. In a Twitter post Wednesday, Westmoreland said he was devastated. "Richard was my soul mate, my collaborator, my life," he said. "A true artist and a brilliant man." Opinion: Why 'Still Alice' is about you . When she accepted her Academy Award for best actress last month for her role in the film, Moore noted Glatzer's absence. "Finally, to our filmmakers, Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer, who had hoped to be here tonight, but they can't because of Richard's health," she said. "When Richard was diagnosed with ALS, Wash asked him what he wanted to do. Did he want to travel? Did he want to see the world? He said he wanted to make movies. And that's what he did." People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's Topher Gauk-Roger contributed to this report. +Hong Kong (CNN)Taipei is fast becoming the go-to Asian city for some of Hollywood's biggest hitters. Martin Scorsese is filming his latest opus "Silence" there, and French director Luc Besson chose Taipei over seven other Asian cities for his sci-fi thriller "Lucy," starring Scarlett Johansson. And this May "The Walking Dead" star Andrew Lincoln will begin filming in the city for a movie project. Tasked with attracting international film makers, Jennifer Jao, head of the Taipei Film Commission, said that 92 foreign film crews shot in the city last year, up from 56 in 2013. "We hope the whole island can be like a big studio," she told CNN while in Hong Kong Thursday. It wasn't always this way. For years, Taiwan, while home to acclaimed filmmakers like Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien, was overlooked in favor of its ritzier neighbors Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. And even when Hollywood came knocking, the city didn't always have its act together. The producers of "Mission Impossible III," released in 2006, had wanted to film at Taipei 101, at that time the world's tallest skyscraper. But faced with red tape and reluctance, they ended up choosing the 53-story Shanghai Bank of China Tower for Tom Cruise's memorable bungee jump. "We lost an opportunity for the world to get to know Taipei," says Jao. Jao's commission was set up in 2008 to court international film makers but it wasn't until director Ang Lee, who was born in Taiwan, filmed the Oscar-winning hit "Life of Pi" on the island that it began to earn a reputation as an accommodating and affordable place to shoot. Lee filmed the memorable and technically difficult scenes of a shipwrecked boy and a tiger at a purpose-built facility at abandoned airport in the Taiwanese city of Taichung. With its relatively unknown cityscape, Taiwan can also function as a generic Asian backdrop. The island, which was a Japanese colony, is already being used as a stand-in for Japan. Japanese director Takashi Miike used Taiwan's high-speed rail system in a bullet-strewn action sequence for crime drama "Shield of Straw," which competed at the Cannes International Film Festival. Japanese rail authorities turned him away. And Scorsese's "Silence," due to release in 2016, is a historic drama about two Jesuit priests who travel to Japan. Taiwan is also a popular alternative to China, where there are many restrictions on filmmakers -- authorities can censor scripts considered politically sensitive or obscene. Hong Kong director John Woo used both Taiwan and China as locations in "The Crossing." Dubbed China's "Titanic," it focuses on a ship that sank when the Nationalist government fled China for Taiwan in 1949 as the Communists took over -- a sensitive period in Chinese history. Taiwan and China are still governed separately. Chinese authorities asked Woo to tone down the heroics of a Nationalist soldier, according to the South China Morning Post -- not something that Taiwan would ever require, says Jao. The commission offers incentives for international film crews. Up to $2 million is available per movie -- half of that as a cash subsidy. But just as important is the island's versatility as a location, says Jao. While many of the film crews are from neighboring Asian countries, the city has hosted crews from Latvia and Germany, while the BBC shot some of its newly released drama "X+Y" in the city. "It's a small island. Within half an hour, you can go from the streets to the mountains to the sea." +London (CNN)CNN International presented the CNN Journalist Award for excellent international coverage to up-and-coming journalists from Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland at an exclusive dinner at the London Century Club last week. The event, in the award's 10th year, was hosted by Greg Beitchman, VP for content sales and partnerships CNNI, who talked about its commitment to recognizing those who stand out, stand up and make an impact. Gerhard Zeiler, President Turner International, delivered key remarks focusing on the importance of accurate and passionate story-telling, and London Bureau Chief Tommy Evans underlined that in journalism, it's all about authenticity. London-based anchors Hala Gorani and Nina dos Santos, and Turner's MD for Germany, Austria and Switzerland Hannes Heyelmann, were among other colleagues attending the event, and Daniel Puntas Bernet and Jörg Thadeusz from the awards jury were also on hand. As the presentations got under way, the next big stars of German-speaking journalism covering international issues were honored in the categories of TV, Radio, Print, Online and Photography. Stephanie Doetzer (DRadio Wissen), winner in the Radio category, was revealed as CNN Journalist of the Year 2015 for her moving radio piece "Take care, Habibi." The ceremony was followed the next day by a series of masterclasses held at Turner House where guests heard from CNN producers and editors about how CNN International deals with data, its approach to social media and what it takes to produce a successful online video. Award winners were then hosted at a special lunch by London Bureau Chief Tommy Evans and Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour. The awards were an inspirational testament to the power of good journalism and everyone involved with the event was thrilled to host the winners for this special program of events. CNN Journalist of the Year 2015 and Winner in the category Radio: Stephanie Doetzer: "Take care, Habibi" (DRadio Wissen) Stories about the civil war in Syria are often quite abstract. Yet, a war is very real. It is not only about the destruction of residential areas and fighting militia. It is also about families that argue about what happens, about friends who don't talk to each other anymore and relationships that fall apart. Political life becomes private, and personal life becomes political -- for all Syrians but also for those who feel connected with Syria. "This contribution is written as a first-person narrative that is very compelling and emotional. It forces you to see what is happening in Syria, and there was no doubt that it had to win the award. The contribution has won our hearts by a long way, we are completely convinced," says jury member Ingrid Thurnher. Photography: Jelca Kollatsch ("Houses without People and People without Houses", ver.di Publik) The photo series by Jelca Kollatsch shows the effects of the financial crisis on people in Spain who live in Andalusia, the region with the country's highest rates of unemployment and evictions. "The contribution covers an important issue, and it tells a story, almost following the structure of a drama: With breathtaking rigor, the artist goes from the sources of the problem to the eviction of the people in the end," the jury said. Online: Christian Salewski and Felix Rohrbeck ("The GPS chase. What happens with our waste?", ARTE Future) AND Trainees of Deutsche Welle: "My Granny, the Regime and I" (DW) This year, the jury chose two winners in the category Online: "Digital journalism has a lot to offer. The two prizewinners represent a different approach in an interesting way and show how journalism generally evolves with multimedia possibilities," explains the jury. In the first contribution, Christian Salewski und Felix Rohrbeck track the disposal of electronic scrap in Germany and find out that it isn't always legal and fair. In the second contribution, a group of Deutsche Welle trainees asked their grandmothers from Belarus, Brazil, Chile, China, Kenya and Germany about their personal experiences in times of dictatorship or autocracy. They created a multimedia online project with videos, words and images, combining the stories of the grandmothers with the history of the different countries. Print: Alexandra Rojkov and Jan Ludwig ("You think you can help me?", Der Tagesspiegel) The contribution of the two authors tells the personal story of an escape from Syria and asks how far we would go in a safe country like Germany to help people in war and crisis zones. "The authors touch their audience by transferring the ongoing conflict in Syria to the fate of two individuals," says jury chairman Franz Fischlin. TV: Lukas Augustin ("Unforgiven", NDR) Twenty years after the civil war in Rwanda, the victims and the offenders live door to door. Lukas Augustin presents a documentary about the efforts made to foster forgiveness. The movie provides insight into the tangle of guilt and atonement in modern Rwanda. "This contribution is more than a TV documentary. It is a film about a country that deals with its own history in an incredibly spectacular and exceptional way," says jury member Ingrid Thurnher. The jury members of this year's CNN Journalist Award were: Franz Fischlin (Tagesschau host, editor and reporter SRF), Frederik Pleitgen (CNN senior international correspondent), Stefan Plöchinger (editor-in-chief sueddeutsche.de & member of the editorial board Süddeutsche Zeitung), Ingrid Thurnher (host and editor ORF), Hans Demmel (managing director n-tv),Daniel Puntas Bernet (editor-in-chief of the magazine Reportagen) and Jörg Thadeusz (host, author, journalist). About the CNN Journalist Award . The CNN Journalist Award is presented by CNN International to young foreign journalists. Each year, it recognizes outstanding print, radio, TV, online and photographic work by young journalists. As well as awards for each category, an overall winner is named the "CNN Journalist of the Year." Entry is open to journalists who were no older than 34 at the time their work was published. Back in 1995, CNN launched the CNN African Journalist Award. Since then, the award has been extended to Brazil, India, Indonesia and the German-speaking countries. Click here for more information about the CNN Journalist Award. +Delhi (CNN)A court in New Delhi Wednesday summoned India's former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, as a suspect in a trial over alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks, a spokeswoman for the investigating agency told CNN. Singh and his former government have repeatedly denied accusations they cost the treasury billions of dollars in lost revenue by selling coalfields to private companies, without allowing competitive bidding. The 82-year-old leader, who served as the nation's prime minister for two successive terms until last year, was not named as a defendant in the original dossier of charges, said Kanchan Prasad, the spokeswoman for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Nevertheless, the trial court summoned him and some other corporate leaders to testify in person on April 8, she said. The case Singh has been asked to appear for relates to the licensing of a coal block to a private firm some 10 years ago, when he was also guardian of the nation's coal ministry. The summons has been issued under India's anti-corruption law. Singh said he was open to legal scrutiny. "(I) Am sure that the truth will prevail and I will get a chance to put forward my case with all the facts. I have always said I am open for legal scrutiny. Of course I am upset, but this is part of life," he said in a text message issued by his office. Singh's Congress Party also came to his defense. The former prime minister functioned with "utmost probity and utmost transparency" during his term, said senior Congress Party leader Manish Tiwari. He said Singh's legal team would thoroughly examine the summons, and indicated it may be challenged in a higher court. The Oxford-Cambridge educated Singh has been credited with ushering in economic reforms in India as its finance minister in the 1990s. In his first term as prime minister, he initiated a historic nuclear deal with the United States that ended the South Asian nation's decades-old isolation in the global nuclear market. His second tenure was hit by the unearthing of a series of scandals spread across various sectors. In 2012, the national auditor alleged a widespread scam in the allocation of coal blocks. India depends heavily on coal for power. The fuel is abundantly available in the country, but that's still not enough to satisfy the demand for energy in Asia's third-largest economy. For the current financial year, national demand for thermal coal to produce energy has been estimated at 551.6 million tonnes, according to official figures. Of it, at least 84.7 million tonnes is being met through imports, coal minister Piyush Goyal told the Indian parliament in December. The state-run monopoly Coal India Limited (CIL) accounts for more than 80% of the output. Plans by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi for future privatization of the industry faced resistance recently, when CIL workers stopped work in January. The two-day strike -- the biggest of its kind in four decades -- not only severely limited the ability of the companies to meet their production quotas, but forced the government to go slow on reforms. +(CNN)In some ways, America's president pilots our ship of state as a captain pilots a jumbo jet, and this analogy suggests one possible way to avoid a repeat of the Germanwings massacre: Give the plane's flight crew certain powers akin to those given to America's Cabinet in the rare and terrifying situation when the president and vice president are at swords' point. Some background. Both presidents and plane captains must be shielded from lunatics and terrorists. This is why airlines across the world hardened cockpit doors after 9/11 and why Americans of all stripes are outraged by stories that the Secret Service on several occasions has failed to maintain proper security at the White House. Both presidents and plane captains are human, and subject to all the frailties of humans, from temporary disabilities created by bathroom breaks (for pilots) and scheduled surgeries (for presidents) to sudden death. Transitions in both the Oval Office and the cockpit should be made as smooth as possible. Hence the need for a vice president at the ready, able to take over at a moment's notice. The obvious aviation analogy here is the second pilot in the cockpit. In case of sudden death, the vice president or co-pilot simply takes over immediately. In case of a temporary disability -- say, a scheduled surgery under general anesthesia -- the president can hand over control to the vice president and then take back control when the disability ends. It is exactly what happened when President George W. Bush underwent planned colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007. On both occasions, Bush handed the tiller to his trusted co-pilot, Dick Cheney, and then resumed control when ready, under rules clearly laid out by the Constitution's 25th Amendment -- an amendment drafted and ratified after the shocking assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But what happens if a president is unable to predict his own future disability, or unable to recognize a genuine disability when it arises? The 25th Amendment allows the vice president to take over control in this situation, but to do so, the vice president needs the support of a majority of Cabinet officers -- officials previously appointed by the president himself and thus unlikely to support any inappropriate vice presidential power grab. On a jumbo jet, a co-pilot may likewise take over in certain situations. But current airplane architecture fails to use the crew in the optimal way. When one officer has barricaded himself in the cockpit and the other officer is banging on the door demanding entry, current airplane design enables the man in the cockpit unilaterally to block the demand for entrance with the flick of a switch. Think of this as an absolute veto. (Some airlines get around the problem with a rule that a flight attendant must replace a pilot so that there will always be at least two people in the cockpit.) But suppose instead that airlines were to borrow sensibly a page from America's Constitution. The man in the cockpit could temporarily block entrance, but this veto could be overridden if -- and only if -- the door-banging officer is backed by a majority of the flight attendants. The need for some sort of secure cockpit lock is obvious. Perhaps the officer banging on the door has gone mad, or is being held hostage at knifepoint, or is a terrorist mole. But the need for an override is also obvious. Perhaps the man in the cockpit is the bad guy. And just as America's Cabinet officers are well-positioned to decide any dispute between a president and vice president wrestling over the key to the Oval Office, so too with an airplane's crew: The cockpit lock button could be electronically overridden whenever a majority of flight attendants punched in their own individual passcodes in sequence on a keypad somewhere outside the cockpit door. This proposed technological fix will not prevent all future tragedies. No human system is foolproof. But giving the crew a collective key brings more human minds into the equation -- as does the 25th Amendment's rule empowering the Cabinet to resolve certain terrifying disputes at the highest level of executive power. On planes, as in a constitutional democracy, there is often safety in numbers. +(CNN)As a person-of-color, African-American, veteran minority journalist and longtime enthusiast of all things "Daily Show," I am of course as happy, proud and thrilled as the wife of a successful Apollo astronaut over the impending ascension of Trevor Noah, the biracial comedian from South Africa, to Jon Stewart's anchor chair on what's believed by many to be the most trusted half-hour of news and information in America. As a person who believes in fair play and equal opportunity for all, I am also moved to wonder when a woman will get the chance to preside over a talk show after sunset? Look. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. After generations of near-to-total invisibility on mass media airwaves, it's bracing to find a whole one-hour block of high-profile cable television infotainment anchored by men who look like me. Indeed, in pushing forth both Noah and Larry Wilmore, the writer, comic and erstwhile National Black Correspondent for "The Daily Show," to preside over both halves of Comedy Central's much-coveted 11 p.m.-to-midnight bloc, Stewart is acknowledging what the mainstream of the country truly is: i.e. not as pale-faced as it once thought it was. And so far, Wilmore's "The Nightly Show," which premiered earlier this year as a replacement for the very different "Daily Show" companion once hosted by Stephen Colbert, is gradually establishing its own identity as an equally cheeky hybrid of sketch satire and celebrity forum with its own multicultural flavor. Still, one does wonder what happened to the groundswell of support building among "Daily Show" constituents for Jessica Williams, a three-year veteran of the show and an early favorite for Stewart's spot after he announced last month he was leaving. Williams, who is black, tweeted back to her supporters her grateful opinion that she was "extremely under-qualified for the job." Maybe, but what about Samantha Bee? She's the "most senior correspondent" for "The Daily Show" and is taking her penchant for performance artistry and provocation to TBS, where she'll create her own satiric news franchise. Her track record bodes well for her prospects there. But it's difficult to find any evidence that she was considered a Stewart successor -- though her announcement that she was leaving the show came a month after Stewart's. Besides Bee? No one, least of all those affiliated with Comedy Central, have disclosed any candidates besides Noah. There was even less buzz about the Stewart opening than Colbert's a year ago, during which time there were many willing to say that now was the time to finally give a woman a shot at late-night TV for the first time since the late Joan Rivers' Fox Network effort, "The Late Show" came in 1987-- and went in 1988. And yes, we aren't neglecting Chelsea Handler, whose "Chelsea Lately" was for seven seasons on the E! Network a bawdier late-night alternative to whatever Letterman, Stewart and others were putting down beyond prime-time. She's supposed to start streaming a new show through Netflix sometime next year. So one supposes she's pretty busy. It will happen, perhaps sooner than one now expects. Look how long it took before Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric were given their shots to anchor evening news broadcasts on ABC and CBS respectively. Hmmm ... wonder what they're doing after 11 p.m. these days. +(CNN)NBC is upping its live musical game. The network on Monday announced that "The Wiz" will be its next live musical performance — with Cirque du Soleil boarding the project with plans to bring the show to Broadway in 2016. NBC's "The Wiz," set for Thursday, Dec. 3, will again be executive produced by Sound of Music and Peter Pan duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, with Tony-winning director Kenny Leon attached to direct both the live event as well as the Broadway revival in 2016-17. Tony winner and Broadway icon Harvey Fierstein will contribute new material to the original book by William F. Brown and work alongside Zadan, Meron and Leon. Leon won a 2014 Tony Award for directing "A Raisin in the Sun," and earned a nomination for "Fences." Fierstein, as a writer, won Tonys for "La Cage Aux Folles" and "Torch Song Trilogy." He's also written books for musical hits including "Kinky Boots" and "Newsies." As an actor, he's won Tonys for best actor in a musical ("Hairspray") and best actor in a play ("Torch Song"). "We love this yearly tradition and we're more excited than ever to not only bring another Broadway musical to America's living rooms, but also see it land on Broadway as well," NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said. "It's a natural next step for our live musical events, and we're so pleased to be in business with this award-winning creative team and Scott Zeiger, president and managing director of Cirque du Soleil's new theatrical division. Cirque's incredible imagination will help bring the fantasy world of Oz vividly to life and give this great show a modern spin on the age-old story we all love." Broadway musicals that have sung their way to the big screen . Zadan and Meron will reunite with Leon, with whom they worked on "Steel Magnolias" and "A Raisin in the Sun." Universal Television will produce. Casting for both the NBC telecast and Cirque's Broadway production will be announced at a later date. "The Wiz" is adapted from L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," with a book by Brown and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The production opened on Broadway in 1975 at the Majestic Theatre and won seven Tonys, including best musical. It ran for four years. TV ratings: 'Peter Pan Live!' falls from 'Sound of Music' "The Wiz" is a retelling of "Oz" in an African-American/multicultural context. It was adapted as a film in 1978 starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne and Richard Pryor. It centers on Dorothy, a young woman from Kansas, who is swept up in a tornado and relocated to a fantasy world inhabited by munchkins, good and bad witches, and flying monkeys. She eventually takes a path down a yellow brick road to find a wizard who can help her go home. Along the way, she meets a scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion, who all learn to help one another. NBC chief tackles Bill Cosby, live musicals and comedy woes . For NBC, "The Wiz" combines two of TV's biggest trends: live programming and the growing appetite for diversity — both in terms of casting and programming that best reflect society today. It comes as networks continue to look to live programming like sporting events and awards shows in a bid to break through the clutter in a crowded DVR landscape. In terms of diversity, the success of Fox's hip-hop drama "Empire" and other scripted entries including "Black-ish" as well as "Fresh Off the Boat," "Cristela," "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder" have prompted a crush of diverse castings again this pilot season. "The Wiz" was one of two productions NBC had been eyeing (alongside "A Few Good Men" and "Music Man"). Greenblatt confirmed in January that he had optioned both properties. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)For over two decades, bassist Mike Porcaro was a rock star with the band Toto, playing venues around the world. Now, the music world is mourning the death of Porcaro, who died after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. He was 59. "Our brother Mike passed away peacefully in his sleep at 12:04 AM last night at home surrounded by his family," Porcaro's brother Steve, the band's keyboardist, posted on Facebook on Sunday. "Rest in peace, my brother," About 10 years ago, Porcaro started noticing weakness in his fingers and hands. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2006. Former members of his band -- known for hits such as "Africa" and "Rosanna" -- rallied to help. They reunited for a brief European tour in 2010 in support of Porcaro. Toto vocalist and guitarist Steve Lukather also called Porcaro a brother. "My brother Mike Porcaro is now now at peace," he tweeted. "I will miss him more than I could ever put into words. My deepest love to the family. God Bless" ALS is a fast-moving, usually fatal disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It affects more than 30,000 people at any given time. +(CNN)Tina Fey's follow-up to "30 Rock" is getting a lot of attention, not all of it good. Her new Netflix series, "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," is being criticized online for dealing in offensive humor and stereotypes. The show, which had been picked up by NBC but ultimately dropped, stars Ellie Kemper ("Bridesmaids," "The Office") as an upbeat woman stuck in the 1990s after being kidnapped by a doomsday cult leader: not exactly fodder for humor, on its surface. After she's released from an Indiana bunker, Kimmy moves to New York to start a life, and much of the humor comes from her misunderstanding of the modern world, her seventh-grade education and her relationships with a diverse cast of pals. Since its debut, Buzzfeed has declared that the show has a "major race problem," and others criticized its treatment of an Asian character named Dong. Slate says that the critics "aren't wrong ... but they are missing the point." "Tina Fey's high-wire act is all about the alchemy of making it OK to laugh at big, heavy issues -- like kidnapped women, the experience of undocumented Vietnamese immigrants, and people with Native American ancestry passing as white -- by skimming over them with a light touch," Arthur Chu wrote on Slate. The Daily Dot's Jacqueline Keeler wrote that she once hid her Native American past, just like Kimmy's employer, a wealthy woman played by Jane Krakowski. Keeler said that watching the show made her uncomfortable but at the same time praised Fey's "genius" writing. But Tituss Burgess, who plays Kimmy's black gay roommate, Titus (whom some have called a stereotype), says the whole controversy is "ridiculous." He told the Huffington Post, "I just find it hilarious that people are trying to arrest us for doing the opposite of what everyone thinks we're doing." The show is certainly not afraid to go right up to the edge with jokes about race, age, class, gender and sexuality. Consider these biting one-liners and bits of dialogue. 1. "WHITE WOMEN FOUND; Hispanic woman also found." An onscreen news graphic zings the media after Kimmy and her bunker-mates are freed. 2. Julian: "My first wife ..." Jacqueline: "... turned 50. And I would never do that to you." Kimmy's wealthy employers, Julian and Jacqueline Voorhees, consider their marital difficulties. 3. "We came all this way in the great iron sky eagle. I'm kidding. I know what planes are; I was in the Air Force." Jacqueline's father, Virgil, explains how he and Jacqueline's mother, both Native Americans, traveled to New York to see their daughter. 4. "You know Disney lies to little girls. Stepmothers aren't scary, and nannies aren't magical, and dwarves do not let you sleep in their house without expecting something." Xanthippe Voorhees, the spoiled teen stepdaughter of Kimmy's wealthy employer, offers up a cynical take on the new nanny's Pollyanna-ish (or emotionally stunted) attitude. 5. "Well, I had a cellphone, Xan, obvs, but I lost it at the zoo. A monkey took it, and she wouldn't give it back. Yeah, Xan, the monkey was a woman. Women can be anything these days." Kimmy was underground as cell phone use exploded -- but she hides that truth from most people, especially the vengeful Xanthippe. 6. "My dad cannot find out about this, please! He'll kill me! Or marry me off to one of his Saudi friends!" Xanthippe begs for a break like any teen but gives a glimpse at the life of a 1% adolescent. 7. "I'm not even gonna know what box to check on the hate crime form." Such is the life of Titus, Kimmy's roommate, a gay black man from Mississippi, trying to make an acting career in New York. (Warning: The following video is not suitable for kids, or work.) 8. "Straight guys can be vegetarians. Hitler was a vegetarian." Charles, Kimmy's colleague and potential love interest, defends his diet in the most awkward way. 9. "Yeah, it's real popular now, like taking pictures of your food or being biracial." Cyndee, Kimmy's closest friend from her days in the bunker, offers swift commentary on how the world has changed in the 15 years she was away. 10. Kimmy: "Dong is the name of the Vietnamese guy in my class. He's good at math." Titus: "That's racist!" Kimmy: "But he is good at math." Titus: "I don't make the rules." Kimmy and Titus have a conversation about race, as if over cups of Starbucks coffee. 11. Lillian: "I will not bury another beautiful black man. You know my dear husband Roland was killed in our very own apartment." Titus: "Yes, I've heard this story before." Lillian: "He got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and on his way back to bed, he was shot in the face." Titus: "By you, Lillian." Lillian: "Well, it was dark out, and a black guy was trying to get in bed with me. It was the '70s!" Lillian, Kimmy and Titus' loony landlord, schools her young tenants on race relations of past and present. +Moscow (CNN)In his first substantive comments since Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov's death, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called the killing a "disgrace" and lashed out at what he called "extremists" and protesters. Nemtsov had been one of Putin's harshest critics and had been arrested several times for speaking against the President's government. The 55-year-old opposition leader was gunned down Friday night in Moscow as he walked across a bridge about 100 meters (330 feet) from the Kremlin with his girlfriend, Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, 23. His slaying spurred thousands to rally in his honor in Moscow, with many calling him a true Russian patriot at his funeral Tuesday. Nemtsov isn't the first of Putin's critics to turn up dead, with others including Anna Politkovskaya (who was fatally shot) and Alexander Litvinenko (who was poisoned). The Kremlin has staunchly denied accusations that it's targeting political opponents or had anything to do with the deaths. The Russian leader has condemned Nemtsov's killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate, the Kremlin has said. He also wrote to Nemtsov's mother, saying he shared her grief, and promised to bring those behind the killing to justice. Yet those expressions came in Kremlin statements. Wednesday was the first day Putin spoke at length on the subject, remarks that were reported by state media outlets. Referring to "the daring killing of Boris Nemtsov in the very heart of our capital city," he said, "Russia should be made secure, at last, from the disgrace and tragedies of (this) kind." The President added, according to the official Tass news agency, "The most serious attention should be paid to high-profile crimes, including those having political motives." No one has been arrested in connection with Nemtsov's death, though Russia's Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov did say there are suspects, Tass reported. The same agency, citing Russia's Finance Ministry, said that investigators are looking for a car that belongs to a state enterprise that provides services to that ministry. Putin didn't identify any person or group that might be directly responsible. But Wednesday he took the opportunity to lay blame generally at what he called "color technologies," an apparent reference to using mass street protests and overseas funding to try to overthrow a government. "The actions of extremists are becoming more and more widespread," the President said. "We are running into attempts of using so-called color technologies, from organizing illegal street protests to open propaganda (expressing) hatred in social networks." CNN's Alla Eshchenko reported from Moscow, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Matthew Chance contributed to this report. +(CNN)Buddy Elias spent much of his life preserving the memory of his cousin Anne Frank. His death Monday brought back memories for me. We met three years ago in an Atlanta hotel conference room. He and his wife, Gerti, were touring the United States to promote a new book. I could tell instantly that he was related to Anne. His face resembled hers so much that it felt almost as though I was meeting her in person. "Anne Frank's Family" had just been published, based on 14 boxes of letters, postcards, photos and documents that Gerti accidentally discovered in the attic of their house in Basel. Elias told me that it wasn't just Anne who loved to write; everyone in the family did. The 6,000 recovered documents told a story of a family torn apart by war and anti-Semitism. That day in Atlanta, I listened to Elias tell me about loved ones he lost. He told me he was lucky that his family had remained in neutral Switzerland when World War II broke out. I thought back to our conversation Thursday when I learned the news of Elias' death. He died peacefully at his home in Basel, Switzerland, at 90, said an announcement posted on the website of Anne Frank Fonds, the foundation that Elias headed. Like millions of people who read "The Diary of Anne Frank," I was deeply influenced by her words and in awe of her family's courage. Anne received her diary on her 13th birthday and wrote in it for the two years that her family hid from the Nazis in the secret annex of an Amsterdam apartment. I was only in seventh grade when my father bought me the book in 1975. After the family was discovered, they were sent to Auschwitz. Later, Anne and her sister Margot were taken to Bergen-Belsen, where they both died in March 1945. Her father, Otto Frank, was the sole survivor of the family, one of only 7,000 people who made it out alive from Auschwitz. In the course of my two hours with Elias, I learned new things about the young, Jewish girl whose journal is arguably the most famous in the world. She called him Bernd, short for Bernhard, Elias' formal name. In his youth, Elias was an actor and a skater with Holiday on Ice. He was her first cousin and 4 years older. They adored one another. "Bernd, maybe we can skate as a pair together someday," Anne wrote in January 1941 from Amsterdam. "But I know I'll have to train very hard to be as good as you are." In another letter, Anne outlined the steps to their skating routine and drew a picture of the blue, fur-trimmed dress she would wear when she finally skated with Elias. "She never did get to do that," Elias said. On his 17th birthday in 1942, she asked him how it was going with a girl he had met. It was an ordinary letter that one keeps like any other. But it turned out to be her last to him, and he preserved it like a relic, as proof of his cousin's affection, as something to treasure. "That was the last sign of life I had with Anne," Elias told me. After the war, Otto Frank searched frantically for his family and eventually learned their cruel fate. He published Anne's diary in 1947 and helped transform it for the stage and film. He created the foundation in her name in 1963. The first edition of the diary was in Dutch. Elias told me he had to wait several years for a German language edition before he could read it. That was when he came to truly understand his childhood playmate. By the time he read her words, he had not seen Anne in many years. In his mind, he treasured the image of a spunky girl who loved the Jack-in-the-Box puppet shows Elias staged and played hide-and-seek. "Anne," he said, "was always good at hiding." I wondered whether he caught the irony of his own words. Otto Frank kept alive his daughter's legacy until he died in 1980 and passed on that role to Elias. He was devoted to the task until the day he died. In 2012, he helped create the Frank Family Centre in Frankfurt, where archives of his extended family will be made accessible to the public, according to the Anne Frank foundation. Elias was my closest personal encounter with a girl who opened my eyes to the cruelty of this world. Anne Frank never gave up on humanity, despite everything she endured. It was her goodness that amazes every reader of her diary. In Elias, I saw that same goodness. +(CNN)When Kyesha Smith Wood heard that her teen daughters were rude to another patron who asked them to be quiet at a local movie theater, she was furious. The Birmingham, Alabama, mom made them write an apology note, but she didn't know who should get it. That's why Wood posted a plea on her local community's closed Facebook page on Saturday to track down the woman, according to CNN affiliate WMBA. The Jefferson County's Sheriff's Office reposted her note the same night, and the post has been liked more than 250,000 times. "My son later told me, much to my humiliation and embarrassment, that my girls were rude and obnoxious during the movie. The woman I'm looking for addressed them and asked them to be quiet and they were disrespectful," Wood wrote on her Facebook post. "After the movie she approached my girls and told them that her husband had been laid off and this was the last movie she would be able to take her daughter to for a while and my girls ruined that for her," wrote Wood, who asked the woman to contact her. "This rude, disrespectful, and awful behavior is unacceptable and they owe you an apology." Wood promised that her daughters would pay for another movie for the family out of their allowance. The woman Wood was trying to reach is Rebecca Boyd, who saw the sheriff's department post and contacted her. "The note from their mom brought me to tears and shows there is still good people in the world," Boyd wrote on the sheriff's department Facebook page. "I have no hard feelings towards them and I am proud of their parents. The girls are not not bad...they are children. Glad they are learning a lesson. I hope if my teenagers are out and they act up...I hope someone says something to them." Wood called Boyd the real hero of the story. "She took it upon herself to correct my girls and nobody else did." "She's the most gracious and kind and forgiving woman. I am so humbled by that." The two moms are now Facebook friends. +(CNN)Here's a dog tale about a pooch with a literal "spring" in his steps. Brutus, a 2-year old Rottweiler, is walking again thanks to modern technology and months of training. He's said to be only the second dog ever known to have four prosthetic limbs. "You can't explain to an animal why you are putting these contraptions on their feet. You can't explain to them, that it's to help them," foster mom Laura Aquilina told CNN affiliate KDVR. The Loveland, Colorado, dog's paws suffered extreme damage from frostbite. His feet were then reportedly amputated by his trainer. Brutus has been adopted by Aquilina who's been walking and exercising the dog to learn balance. "He just has these little peg legs to get around on and he does a pretty good job inside the home," says Aquilina. But his challenge has been walking outside where his "high-stepping...resembles a bucking bronco." He was fitted with the devices last year, first in the rear and then front feet came 6 to 8 weeks later. His artificial limbs are made by Orthopets of Denver. "Brutus is an amazing case of a beautiful dog who was dealt a short hand," said Martin Kauffman, founder of the company that makes prosthetics for about 250 animals worldwide a year. New and improved prosthetics are on the way and he'll be undergoing physical therapy at Colorado State University's vet hospital. And soon enough, Aquilina hopes Brutus will be playing with other dogs and going on hikes. CNN's John Fricke contributed to this report . +(CNN)Ryan Reynolds gave us a sneak peek at his new costume last week, and followed it up with a first look on video. The actor posed on a bearskin rug to show off how he looks as masked Marvel character Deadpool in a post that quickly got positive responses from fans on social media. The photo is a parody of Burt Reynolds' famous nude image from a 1972 issue of Cosmopolitan and is very much in keeping with Deadpool's wisecracking, tongue-in-cheek persona. (Here's the original, in case you were born after 1972 or chose to delete the image from your mind.) Deadpool's costume, a favorite among comic book fans and convention cosplayers, includes a mask that covers the entire face, so we might not see the face of 2010's sexiest man for much of the movie. Reynolds played Deadpool in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," but he never wore the famous red and black attire. Instead, he wore an unremarkable black suit bearing none of the hallmarks of the costume worn in the comics. As the vanity shot indicates, Reynolds will be fully suited when returns to the role in first the feature-length "Deadpool," scheduled for release in 2016. In response to skepticism online who was beneath the mask, screenwriter Rhett Reese confirmed via Twitter that Reynolds was indeed in the suit. Then as a special treat for April Fools' Day, Reynolds was "interviewed" by "Extra" host Mario Lopez, about the debate over whether the movie should be rated PG-13 or R. The ultraviolent Deadpool would seem to lend himself to an R rating, but Reynolds settled all that in memorable fashion, "killing" Lopez in the process. +Washington (CNN)In a strongly worded letter, the White House Saturday told Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) a bill he is drafting would likely have a "profoundly negative impact" on the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. Corker is working on legislation that would force the Obama Administration to submit any deal reached with Iran for a vote by Congress. The White House earlier threatened to veto such a measure. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, in the three page letter released publicly Saturday evening, told Corker his legislation could be detrimental to the talks with Iran by "emboldening Iranian hard-liners, inviting a counter-productive response from the Iranian majiles (Majles, the Parliament); differentiating the U.S. position from our allies in the negotiations; and once again calling into question our ability to negotiate this deal." As the U.S. and Iran prepare for the next round of negotiations this coming week, there has been a growing debate between Republicans on Capitol Hill and the Obama Administration about how much authority Congress has regarding the fate of the agreement. "The legislation you have introduced in the Senate goes well beyond ensuring that Congress has a role to play in any deal with Iran. Instead, the legislation would potentially prevent any deal from succeeding by suggesting that Congress must vote to 'approve' any deal and by removing existing sanctions waiver authorities that have already been granted to the President," McDonough wrote. The chief of staff said that only Congress can terminate the existing Iran sanctions that are included in laws, but the President can relax some sanctions put into place by executive order unilaterally. One of the major issues between the U.S. and Iran is the timetable for lifting of the sanctions. "If congressional action is perceived as preventing us from reaching a deal, it will create divisions within the international community, putting at risk the very international cooperation that has been essential to our ability to pressure Iran. Put simply, it would potentially make it impossible to secure international cooperation for additional sanctions, while putting at risk the existing multilateral sanctions" now in place, McDonough said in his letter. For his part, Corker on Sunday released a statement: "On this issue where Congress has played such a vital role, I believe it is very important that Congress appropriately weigh in before any final agreement is implemented." Corker also urged the President not to go to the United Nations for a vote regarding lifting of the sanctions on Iran, as Reuters reported was being considered. "Enabling the United Nations to consider an agreement or portions of it, while simultaneously threatening to veto legislation that would enable Congress to do the same, is a direct affront to the American people and seeks to undermine Congress' appropriate role," he wrote. The chief of staff told Corker, "The Administration's request to the Congress is simple: let us complete the negotiations before the Congress acts on legislation" and added "we will aggressively seek public and congressional support for a deal -- if we reach one -- because we believe a good deal is far better than the alternatives available to the United States." McDonough also mentioned a separate letter sent to Iran's leadership and signed by 47 Republican senators. Corker did not sign it. The letter maintained that a future president could reverse some of what is agreed to in these ongoing negotiations and said any agreement reached would need congressional approval. It has generated much controversy. It also drew rebuttal from Iran's foreign minister, who called it a propaganda ploy. On Sunday, Iran's speaker of parliament and former nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the letter signed by the senators tarnished Washington's reputation internationally, according to state-run Tasnim news agency. He said it showed that the United States is untrustworthy, and he advised current negotiators to be wary. McDonough also said the letter's premise was incorrect. "Non-binding agreements -- like the deal we are negotiating with Iran...are an essential element of international diplomacy and do not require congressional approval," McDonough said. Secretary of State John Kerry, who heads back to Switzerland on Sunday for more talks with Iranian representatives, again blasted that letter from the 47 Republicans. "It is a direct interference with negotiations in the executive department," he said at a news conference in Egypt. "It is completely without precedent, and it is almost inevitable it will raise questions in the minds of the folks with whom we are negotiating." +Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN)A former lawyer for the doctor who helped the CIA look for Osama bin Laden has been shot dead in northwest Pakistan, police said. Unidentified gunmen attacked the lawyer, Samiullah Afridi, in his car near the city of Peshawar on Tuesday, said Mian Saeed, a police superintendent in Peshawar. Two different militant groups claimed responsibility for the killing. The lawyer had represented Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who was convicted of treason in 2012 by a Pakistani tribal court and is now serving a 23-year prison sentence. The two men are not related. The doctor helped the CIA set up a fake vaccination campaign in an attempt to collect DNA samples from relatives of Bin Laden in an effort to verify his presence in a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. The Qaeda leader was killed in a U.S. raid on the compound in May 2011. It was unclear which of the two groups claiming responsibility for the attack was actually behind it. Fahad Marwat, a spokesman for the militant group Jundallah, told CNN that Afridi was on the group's hit list. But Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, said his group had carried out the assassination because Samiullah Afridi defended the doctor, whom he described as "a friend" of bin Laden's killers. CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen said Jundallah is "kind of a splinter group" of the Pakistani Taliban that's "been around for a long time." "They're extremely violent," he said. "They've been killing all sorts of religious minorities in Pakistan." Last month, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside a Shiite mosque in the city of Rawalpindi. Bergen said Dr. Afridi is "a very unpopular figure in Pakistan" because of the perception that he was involved in helping find Bin Laden. "And his lawyer, by extension, would also be seen as an unpopular person because of that perception," he said. But Bergen said he didn't think the doctor played a key role in the hunt for Bin Laden. "The idea was the doctor and his staff would take DNA samples from the Bin Laden kids as part of this 'vaccination program,'" he said. "That never happened because the kids never came out." Although Dr. Afridi was working for U.S. intelligence, "the CIA wasn't telling the doctor, you're helping us find bin Laden," Bergen said. After the killing of bin Laden, health workers administering polio vaccinations have come to be viewed with suspicion by many Pakistanis. The vaccination teams have repeatedly been targeted by militants. The latest instance came Wednesday when unidentified attackers killed one polio vaccination worker and wounded another in Bajaur agency in northwestern Pakistan, local authorities said. Journalist Zahir Shah reported from Peshawar, and CNN's Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Sophia Saifi and journalist Saleem Mehsud contributed to this report. +(CNN)Three Florida police officers were fired and a fourth resigned after exchanging a series of racially offensive text messages and a video that portrayed President Barack Obama in a derogatory way, Fort Lauderdale police said. Jason Holding, James Wells and Christopher Sousa were terminated after a five-month internal affairs investigation found sustained department misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a police officer and engaging in "conduct prejudicial to the good of the order of the police department." A fourth officer, Alex Alvarez, resigned but authorities said Friday that he would have been fired had he not done so. In the text message exchanges, the former officers used racially derogatory terms to refer to people they encountered while on duty, included racially insensitive material from the film, "Django Unchained," and talked about getting drunk and "killing n*****," according to investigative documents. The men allegedly criticized co-workers, including African-Americans, making crude comments about their grammar, appearance and work ethic. One message referred to an entire shift as "lazy f****," the documents state. Alvarez created a faux movie trailer with the title "The Hoods," with offensive language and images of Obama, the Ku Klux Klan and African-Americans. "There was no criminal behavior detected during this investigation, however, the four officers' conduct was inexcusable and there is zero tolerance for this kind of behavior in the Fort Lauderdale Police Department," Chief Franklin Adderley told reporters. "Its attempt was to damage the image of our agency and I just hope that the people and the public realize that we're not going to tolerate it and anyone that's engaged in this behavior will be addressed immediately," he said. In a statement, the Fort Lauderdale Fraternal Order of Police said the officers deserve their due process, CNN affiliate WSVN reported. "The Fraternal Order of Police is a multicultural organization which does not tolerate racism," the group's president, Jack Lokeinsky, said in the statement. "Our officers take great pride in our commitment to diversity. Our dedicated officers have positive relationships with residents in every community we serve." The officers worked in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. "I am very disappointed, disgusted and shocked by this incident," Mayor Jack Seiler said. "The inappropriate racist behavior exhibited by those involved is unacceptable and reprehensible, it violates the trust we place in our law enforcement officers, it damages the bond we have established in our community and undermines the standards in which each and every city employee is held accountable," Seiler said at a news conference. Police officials were alerted of the existence of offensive material by Alvarez's ex-fiancee, who discovered it when the couple agreed to check each others' phones, according to the documents. The woman told police she thought their behavior was wrong, but feared he would hurt her if she told anyone. After the 10-month relationship ended, she went to the authorities. Adderley said that four officers had not exhibited a pattern of race-related complaints. Holding was recently disciplined with a two-day suspension for mishandling property of a suspect. The police department is implementing a mandatory "diversity class" for officers and a screening process for new hires, said Adderley. +(CNN)"Attenzione, the wine!" That is an old punchline in the Weir home, thanks to plastic cups of Chianti, a low bridge and a gondolier named Marco. His concerned bark broke the spell as my wife and I smooched and gaped, moon-eyed dorks on our first night in Venice. When I told my dad I was taking my wife to Italy for our first anniversary, he snorted. "Where you gonna take her for your 10th? The moon?" He was right. It was perfect. Pigeons in San Marco, sunset over the Grand Canal, Bellinis and cheeseburgers at Harry's. Venice entered our bloodstream that trip. But in the years since, I've heard very different stories from disappointed folks back from their first trip to La Serenissima because the city of water and love now has too much of both. Too much water, and way too many lovers. Because this impossible city of palazzos and cathedrals is built atop wooden posts driven into the muddy floor of a lagoon, Venice has been slowly sinking since Casanova canoodled down its canals. When aquifers were tapped to build massive petrochemical plants on the nearby mainland, Venice sank faster. And then folks noticed that the sea level was on a slow but steady rise. In the 1920s, there were about 400 incidents of acqua alta, or high water, when the right mix of tides and winds drives the liquid streets up into homes and shops in the lowers parts of the city. By the 1990s, there were 2,400 incidents -- and new records are set every year. But, the Italians have a plan. It is called the MOSE Project. MOSE is an acronym for "Experimental Electromechanical Module," but it is also the Italian word for Moses, a guy known for parting the sea and protecting the faithful. It's a system of 78 massive gates mounted to hinges on the ocean floor. The gates are filled with air, and designed to rise and create a temporary sea wall. Since the plan was hatched, low-lying cities from Miami to Mumbai have taken a keen interest to see if the idea can work. Everybody is still waiting: MOSE is now 10 years behind schedule, and $5 billion over budget. And on one early morning in 2014, police rounded up 35 people at the highest levels of MOSE, including Giorgio Orsoni, the mayor of Venice. While several went to prison on plea bargains, the now-former mayor is fighting charges of corruption and kickbacks. But while I went back to Venice to do a story on rising water, instead I found a surprising drama about the rising tide of humanity. People know Venice is special and fragile, so they come -- to the tune of 20 million tourists a year. Meanwhile, the watery headaches and cost of living has created a mass exodus of native Venetians: 100,000 have moved to the mainland in a single generation, and around 60,000 remain. On a busy summer day, in the most popular section of the city, tourists can outnumber Venetians 600-1. In Manhattan, that number is 8-1. When a cruise ship dumps thousands of people into Venice at once, they squeeze down jammed medieval streets where purveyors of overpriced pizza and cheap masks have replaced the shops of artists and artisans. Each year, more people come. Each year, less get to enjoy the city we found on that first magical night. People have been worrying about the impending death of Venice for centuries, but the place is in trouble, now more than ever. And in an age of rising seas and exploding populations, Venice is a test. A test to preserve beauty, history and harmony from the greatest threats: time, tide and greed. +(CNN)It was always going to take an extraordinary performance from a very talented swimmer to beat Michael Phelps at his favorite event in an Olympic final. For more than a decade, the great American had vanquished all comers in the 200 meters butterfly on both the world and Olympic stage, but then along came Chad le Clos. When the South African chased down Phelps in the final 50 meters of the race to snatch a dramatic fingertip victory by 0.05 seconds he created one of the defining moments of the 2012 London Olympics. As a 12-year-old, le Clos had gazed into his television set at home in Durban watching in awe as Phelps, widely regarded as the greatest swimmer of all-time, won six Olympic gold medals at Athens in 2004. So perhaps it's not surprising that lining up alongside his hero in an Olympic final eight years later took on a slightly surreal air. "My dream was always to swim like Michael Phelps so when I raced against him in the final it was actually a crazy feeling," le Clos tells CNN's Human to Hero series. "When I touched at 150 (meters) I think I was 1.5 meters behind him. When I turned I actually looked at him underwater and I thought I was him -- I know it sounds absolutely crazy, but I saw myself as him going past someone else." "I remembered how he used to come off the last turn and, you know, smoke everyone ... I thought, he's done this for so many years and I remembered that when I was swimming. I don't know what it was but it was magical." The mind-altering moment quickly morphed into a life-changing experience for the then 20-year-old who edged out Phelps in the final stroke. "It was such a huge moment for South Africa. Obviously, to represent your country is a huge honor but to beat Michael Phelps at the Olympics was amazing," he says. "As a young kid everyone wants to be like their heroes but you don't actually think one day that you're going to beat them." The remarkable victory was memorable not just for le Clos' reactions -- which went from joy to disbelief immediately after the race -- but for those of his father Bert, whose elated response and subsequent TV interview have become an enduring part of the swimmer's story. The excitable tribute to his "down-to-earth, beautiful boy," which included repeated mentions of the word "unbelievable," touched the hearts of viewers and turned le Clos senior into something of a household name himself. "I never knew my father was such a celebrity until like five, six days after the Games -- I was so wrapped up in (my own) bubble," le Clos explains. "We were walking down the street and everyone was taking photos of me, but I couldn't find my dad, and I saw him and there were a line of people taking photos of him and I was like: 'Dad! You are stealing my thunder here. C'mon!' It was incredible. "Everywhere he goes he's that famous dad and that's amazing because he really is. Nothing was put on for the cameras -- that's how he is back home. To my other brothers and sister he's a great dad." Success in the pool has been rich reward for Bert, who steered the Chad towards swimming when a football career looked more likely. "My parents were hugely influential in helping me make decisions throughout my life, especially my sporting career," he says. "When I was young I played football until I was about 13 or 14 years old -- I played for the state team (Natal). I had to make a decision and my dad realized that I was a better swimmer, even though my family had a football background. "Ninety-nine percent of fathers would have told their son to play football ... I still thank him every day for helping me make that decision." There is now another le Clos in the pool -- teenager Jordan is hoping to follow in his brother's large footsteps, having already competed at South Africa's national championships. "You know, 2020 is very important to me," says Chad. "Hopefully my brother can make the Olympics then and swim in the same relay team." Originally a breaststroker, le Clos switched to butterfly after he tore both his abductor muscles (in the groin) in 2008 when he was 16 years old. "Butterfly movement is really different. It's unlike freestyle or other strokes where it's very, very technical. I compare it to dancing -- I'm a terrible dancer! -- it's about getting your hips right, your kick is very important. I just really enjoy it. It's a fast stroke, so I guess the injury was a blessing in disguise for me." While swimming's toughest stroke remains his favored discipline, le Clos has also struck gold in the individual 200m freestyle -- at the short-course world championships in Doha last year -- and the 400m medley (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. But it is butterfly where he has dominated in recent years. After pipping Phelps in the 200m in London, le Clos had to settle for silver behind the American in the 100m, but he hasn't missed a stroke since. A 100m and 200m double at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona was followed by gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland last August. He capped a brilliant 2014 in December with three more titles (50m, 100m and 200m) at the short-course worlds in Doha before being crowned FINA World Male Swimmer of the Year -- an award he is incredibly proud of. "The Olympic gold will always be there and it will be the most outstanding moment of my life, but to win the 2014 Swimmer of the Year award was up there. Not many people have won the Ballon d'Or of swimming, so it was a very special moment for me." For le Clos, who turns 23 in April, the best is almost certainly yet to come with another Olympics fast approaching. He concedes that it will be "very, very difficult" to get anywhere near Phelps' record haul of 18 Olympic gold medals (and 22 overall), but he may get the chance to race him one more time. Phelps, who announced his retirement following the 2012 London Games, made a shock return to the pool last year although things haven't exactly gone to plan -- the "Baltimore Bullet" is serving a six-month ban imposed by USA Swimming after he was arrested for drink-driving last September. The ban has put his planned appearance at this year's FINA World Championships in doubt, but Phelps is still hopeful of qualifying for his fifth Olympics in 2016. "I really, really hope that he and his team decide to swim in Rio, I really believe it will be great," le Clos told Reuters last year. "It's added motivation for me ... with Michael back, it's really sparked my fire, so to speak. I don't think he will be worse in Rio, I think he'll be back where he wants to be. He's a champion in all respects but I believe I can beat him again." If he can, then le Clos will have taken a giant step towards his ultimate aim of swimming and sporting immortality. "I want to cement myself in the sport as one of the greats. In swimming terms, I want people to remember Chad le Clos -- the guy that not only beat Michael Phelps, but who is the best fast swimmer of all time," he says. "In South Africa we have a rich history of great champions -- rugby players, cricket players, a lot of great golfers -- so I'm among really tough competition, but I believe that after 2016 and 2020 I can hopefully be the greatest." +(CNN)The irrepressible Mario Balotelli has a message for his critics: "shut up!" Liverpool's Italian international has started only one game since November, scoring just four goals in 24 appearances for the Anfield club after his $23 million move from AC Milan. He missed their 1-0 away win over Swansea City on Monday due to illness. Perhaps a bit fed up, he posted a video on his Instagram page giving the world a piece of his mind. "Do you know me?" asks the 24-year-old Balotelli, looking directly into the camera. "Did you ever talk to me, personally? "Do you know what I've been through in my life? "You just saw me play football on the pitch so, man, shut up." In December, Mario Balotelli was banned for one match and fined £25,000 after being found guilty of breaching English Football Association rules by posting a controversial image of Super Mario on Instagram. Balotelli's had reposted a Nintendo character Super Mario image that underneath had the words "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew." +(CNN)I was finishing my studies when the war began four years ago. I had only two subjects remaining before I graduated from university with a degree in English literature. Since I was 10 years old, I have loved English and dreamed of becoming a teacher. I want to teach the younger ones, especially now, because children are the ones who will rebuild our country. They are Syria's future, and they deserve our significant investment. Three years ago, my family was forced to flee our home near Damascus, in east Ghouta. Thankfully, we got out before chemical warfare was used there. We stayed in Syria for the next year, moving from one house to another, from one village to another. With each move, we felt no comfort, no safety. When you feel unsafe in a place that is being bombed nearly every day, you eventually must make a choice: Ours was to leave. And with only two packed bags, we did. We went to Jordan. I've thought of returning to Syria. I want to be part of my country's rebuilding, but sadly, I don't expect this to happen any time soon. When we arrived in Jordan, I thought I would return soon to Syria -- in only a few weeks. We all thought so. It's been two years. And while I still hope to go home one day, my biggest question is: "When?" I want to return so that I can teach. As a child, I was inspired by my third-grade teacher, who believed children are the future and who challenged us at that young age to create a better world. I think it's rare for a teacher to instill this so passionately in her students, but I want to try. Although I hope to follow in my teacher's footsteps, my path for now is blocked by the uncertainty of living far from home, by a war that has driven me here, by tuition costs in Jordan that are prohibitively expensive. Being away from home presents many challenges. You feel like a stranger in a foreign place. You're not among people who know you, or who want to know you. As a Syrian refugee, it is nearly impossible to get permission to be officially employed, and I've no money to complete my studies. Overnight, my dreams changed. In one moment I was at home with family and friends dreaming of studying English, of becoming a schoolteacher. In the next, it all feels lost. It's impossible to work, impossible to study. We hope to meet our needs today, not so much to fulfill our dreams tomorrow. In Syria, I was responsible to my parents, now I am responsible for them. I dreamed of being a teacher, but because my parents are old, I must try each week just to protect them, to cover their basic needs of shelter, food and medicine. I needed some way to support my family. While most Syrians are not permitted to work, we can volunteer. I found a role with the poverty-fighting organization CARE in the urban refugee center in East Amman, Jordan, where I earn a stipend doing meaningful volunteer work. I have enjoyed it so much. After working there, I have become more social, and no longer feel isolated. It's not like sitting at home, feeling powerless, losing confidence, wondering what I can do to help my family, to help my people. Instead, I feel empowered. I recognize my potential. And, because of that, I refuse to give up on my dreams. My hope is to resettle for the short term in another country so I can continue my studies. I want to complete my education -- and reclaim my dream of teaching Syrian children. Resettling could help shape my future so that I can help shape theirs. One day, I will tell them of the crisis we faced in the Syria that I left. We must be aware of this history, and learn from it. We must empower children to speak up and then be sure that their voices are heard. Change starts with them. And it starts with us. Each person has the right to pursue an education, to meet their most basic needs, to express themselves. When those rights are stifled, so, too, is a person's potential, her opportunities, her power to create a better world, and in my case, a better Syria. My question to the U.S. people and the international community is this: Imagine your life has been turned upside down after you lose everything in a matter of hours: What do you believe in then? What do you cling to? The answer, I think, is: your dreams. We all have them. Mine, for the time being, have been deferred. +(CNN)A 17-year-old male fatally shot an Iraqi man watching his first snowfall in his new American hometown, targeting him and then continuing to fire as the immigrant rushed to get inside, Dallas police said Friday. Authorities don't believe the suspected shooter knew the victim, Ahmed Al-Jumaili, Dallas Police Maj. Jeff Cotner said reporters, nor do they believe he knew Al-Jumaili's ethnicity. And they haven't given any indication Al-Jumaili had anything to do with what led the teen to head out armed in the first place -- a purported shooting at his girlfriend's apartment, if that in fact happened. Cotner said that, while there have nearby shootings that might be tied to gangs, "we (have been) unable to substantiate ... whether or not there was an actual shooting at the apartment." What police do believe, based on witness testimony and other evidence, is that the teenager shot and killed Al-Jumaili, for whatever reason. "When he saw Mr. Al-Jumaili and their family, he targeted them, he shot at them with intent," Cotner said of the suspect, who is under arrest. "And as Mr. Al-Jumaili ran back toward his apartment, he tracked him with his rifle and continued to fire." Dallas police named the suspected shooter, though CNN is not identifying him yet since he's a minor and it's not clear if he'll be charged as an adult. The teen turns 18 in May, police said. Until the fatal shots ended Al-Jumalli's life, March 4 had been a day of fun and joy for Al-Jumaili and his family. The 36-year-old, who had immigrated to the United States 20 days earlier, joined his brother and wife taking pictures in the parking lot of a Dallas apartment complex amid the snow. "Just like all of us, a pretty snowfall brings the child out in us," Cotner said. Then came the gunshots and Al-Jumaili's cry, "I'm hit!" A few hours later, the Iraqi immigrant was dead. Three days later, a Dallas detective found surveillance footage from a nearby elementary school showing four people coming from the apartment complex. The black-and-white soundless surveillance video shows one person apparently carrying a rifle is seen running just ahead of a second person seemingly carrying a hand gun, Dallas police Officer Monica Cordova said. Approximately 13 seconds later, another person comes into view and passes by the camera, followed by a fourth individual who is walking, she said. Then, on Tuesday, a witness walked into the Richardson, Texas, police station and provided a nickname of a possible suspect -- Kaca. That nickname eventually led to the 17-year-old police believe shot Al-Jumaili. Investigators interviewed him for the first time Thursday, at which time he denied ever leaving his girlfriend's apartment. Then, authorities got the OK to search his apartment and found an unfired rifle cartridge, Cotner said. The teen was brought to Dallas police headquarters for another interview, and he changed his story. Yes, he had been at the scene of Al-Jumaili's killing. But no, he hadn't done it. Yet that's not what someone who'd been with him said. According to Cotner, this witness said he saw Al-Jumaili taking pictures in the snow, . "The witness stated that he observed (the suspect) raise the rifle," the police major said. "... The witness then heard one shot, followed by several more." Then all of them bolted. The incident caused waves in Dallas' Muslim community. While police haven't given any indication this was a hate crime, though Alia Salem -- executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Dallas and Fort Worth area -- noted "a heightened sense of awareness with regard to hate crimes against Muslims." Speaking Friday on behalf of Al-Jumaili's family, Salem expressed gratitude to police and others for their work on the case and said "our community has been at a loss for words and very saddened by this tragic death." "We just want to see justice happen here," she said. "And this is the first step in that." CNN's Pat St. Claire and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +(CNN)"Saturday Night Live" cast member Kate McKinnon got rave reviews for her impression of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she delved into the topic we're all wondering about. So, what does the fake Clinton have to say about her use of personal email address to conduct government business? "Those emails are clean as a whistle. This is not how Hillary Clinton goes down," McKinnon's wild-eyed Clinton said, laughing at the idea that the emails would be her undoing. "There will be no mistakes on my rise to the top -- if I decide to run. Who knows?" she said, throwing her hands in their air. She offered a peek at her take on "mature romance" by showing a "Happy Anniversary" email to U.S. President Bill Clinton addressed "Dear Sir or Madam." "SNL" viewers on Twitter thought she nailed Clinton's cool-as-ice demeanor. +(CNN)Each week, Passion to Portfolio brings you inspiring profiles of people who dared to chase their dreams and turn their passions and hobbies into successful careers. Now we want to hear from you -- who do you think should be featured on our program? Is there someone you know of who took the plunge and made a career change that he or she pined for? The person you nominate could be featured on Passion to Portfolio. They don't need to be famous -- they can be a friend, relative or neighbor, as long as they successfully changed professions to pursue something they were passionate about. To see a few of the interesting people we featured before, have a look through the gallery above. So let us know who you would like to see on Passion to Portfolio next and why, by leaving a comment, below, with their website or social media details. +(CNN)As a well-traveled photographer, Pieter ten Hoopen is no stranger to refugee camps. But he never experienced any like the Mayo camp, which is outside the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Ten Hoopen was at the camp to photograph a new medical clinic for Emergency, a humanitarian group from Italy. He also hoped to document what life was like for refugees there. His hopes were dashed, however, when he was told he couldn't photograph outside the hospital compound. "I had very, very hard restrictions from the Sudanese government. ... They are very well-skilled in keeping the media at bay," ten Hoopen said. With no freedom of movement, much like the refugees themselves, ten Hoopen resorted to an old trick he had used before while traveling in Africa. With the help of refugee hospital workers, he built a makeshift photo studio using hospital bed sheets and other materials available. The studio quickly became a sensation. Once hospital employees volunteered to have their photo taken, lines of refugees began snaking around the hospital grounds waiting to have their portraits taken. One by one, these people sat solemnly to be photographed. It was their time to be acknowledged. There was gravity, earnestness to the way they posed. This was the moment their story would be registered. "This was one of the reasons why I built the studio: to get more material and more narratives from the people," ten Hoopen said. The project quickly became a catalog of the history and identity of the refugees. The photos span several generations -- some of the subjects were born at the refugee camp, some have been there for decades. Women wearing the traditional Sudanese tobe spell out their class and origin by the way it is wrapped. From the Muslim north, women are fully covered -- a contrast to women from the Christian south, who we also see represented in these photos. Whether from Sudan, South Sudan or Eritrea, the faces become, individually and collectively, a portrait of the endless wars that have shaped the Horn of Africa. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. The word refugee often conjures up images of faceless crowds fleeing conflict, their existence only registered in terms of statistics and graphs. Ten Hoopen wanted to give his subjects the ability to express themselves freely. "They got very serious, they sat down upright. ... I tried to say as little as possible," he said. "I do believe in their own expressions, their own narrative ... and their unique perspective." The studio had a comforting effect. It was a haven from the hustling and bustling of the camp hospital. It gave the photographer an opportunity to meet his subject matter eye to eye, giving each person their deserved attention. Aesthetically, it created an aura around each person, beaming light on his or her personal narrative. It had some uplifting effects as well. "I always try to put some extra thought to (projects). So I build classic photo studios like they have in any small towns in the African continent or in Europe ... just to give people a little bit of the feeling they are special for a short time and that someone really photographs them in an official way," ten Hoopen said. He said some patients at the hospital "had being laying there for months in their room. ... Then you take them out, it's a little treat to get them out of their own misery. ... That's why you see the line growing, because they see people laughing when they come out of the studio." Ten-month-old Buseiwa was not laughing when she entered the studio. Having just had a blood test for malaria, she clearly looked uneasy. Gazing to someone who is holding her hand, her eyes connect with this parental figure as a source of strength. Hawa Haranan, 40, came from the war-torn Darfur region before getting a job as a cleaner at the hospital. As she wears a simple tobe, one can almost see the emotions behind her leonine stare. Her life and struggle, as with the other individuals photographed, is accounted for with the testimony of a camera. Ten Hoopen used tilt-shift lenses, which are normally used with the large-format cameras used in classic photography. "I really can appreciate old portraiture ... when people got their portrait taken in a way that was loaded, I think, with respect and it was a very serious moment," he said. "It's a slow way of working where you have to put all your focus into one person sitting in front of you." How did ten Hoopen gain the trust of so many uneasy refugees, some severely traumatized and living in fear? "It wasn't hard," he said. "I just told them to relax and have fun. "Kids sometimes got nervous, and I don't blame them. I am a tall, white, bald European guy. ... I am not only funny to look at, but it is hot in that country so I am usually very red when I am photographing. ... I have tattoos everywhere. ... They thought I was a quite interesting creature." Pieter ten Hoopen is a photographer based in Stockholm, Sweden. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. +(CNN)Deep within the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador live the Huaorani. Photographer Trupal Pandya traveled about 30 hours by air, water and land to reach this native community and take their portraits. The Huaorani, which means "the people" or "human beings," are believed to have inhabited the rainforest for thousands of years. Until about the 1960s, they never had any contact with the outside world. Pandya said there is a contrast between the modernization of the younger generation, who travel to areas outside of their community, and the older generation, who make efforts to maintain their traditional ways of living. Diverse changes have taken place within the community: the introduction of radios within many Huaorani homes, the consumption of food from cities and the adoption of Westernized clothing. For Pandya, these changes were a significant factor in his decision to photograph the Huaorani. "The biggest (reason) was to just go out there and photograph the change before everything changes," Pandya said. "I think if I would have (photographed the Huaorani) 10 years back down the line or a little later than that, I don't think I would have got what I just got." Another aspect of modernization has to do with language. Many Huaorani, who for years have only communicated using a regional dialect, now speak the Ecuadorian native language of Spanish. Pandya speaks English, so he needed translators to interact effectively. But it is apparent from his experiences with the Huaorani that actions can certainly not only speak louder than words, but be more effectual than words when attempting to convey one's intentions. "I never started photographing when I (first) saw (the Huaorani)," he said. "I didn't even have my camera. I waited to let them get used to me around them. I gave myself time to get a little easier around them. Even if you cannot talk in the same language, I feel that you definitely connect to them as a human being." Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Prior to creating formal portraits using his professional camera equipment and lighting, Pandya took Polaroid photos of the Huaorani that they were then able to keep. "I think some of them saw the Polaroid for the first time, so they were really happy to see themselves like that," Pandya said. For his formal portraits, Pandya placed his subjects in front of a solid white background in order to portray the Huaorani in a very direct and concise manner, eliminating the presence of any distractions. "The main reason was to have the focus only on the people and their clothes and nothing else but them as an individual, them as a human being," he said. Pandya's decision to use a white background also proved effective in highlighting the coexistence between the Huaorani and the different kinds of animals they encounter daily in their natural environment. Creating portraits of the Huaorani has been a "fascinating, challenging" experience for Pandya, who is studying photography in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After witnessing firsthand the simplicity in which the Huaorani live in harmony with their environment, Pandya said he finds himself thinking about and reflecting upon what it truly means to be satisfied and content with life. "I think the question I ask myself is: 'Who's richer?' " he said. "(This has been) a really big learning curve of how to just live a very beautiful, normal life." Trupal Pandya is an Indian photographer studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. +Hong Kong (CNN)The search is on for China's teen top guns. China said Monday it has selected 16 high schools to offer pilot training as the country's armed forces seek to attract better qualified recruits. The schools, in 11 provinces across the country, will recruit 1,000 male junior high school students aged between 14 to 16, the China Daily reported. Successful applicants will receive flight training and "military standard" physical training in addition to their regular high-school studies. It's the latest attempt by the People's Liberation Army's air force to attract more talent. Last year, it said it would require wannabe pilots to take psychological assessments and a flight simulation test. China's military has traditionally been focused on winning land battles and is now making efforts to improve its air and naval power in the pursuit of what President Xi Jinping has called "balanced strength." "China has made many strides in the development of advanced aircraft, but it must make sure there can be sufficient, well-trained pilots to fly them," Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine told The China Daily last month. The recruits will receive a stipend and board at the schools. Traditionally, serving in the military has not been a sought-after career in China and a U.S. report on China's military transformation released last month singled out the quality and professionalism of new recruits as a major challenge. Many are still drawn from rural areas with limited education, while country's one-child policy, which has created the "little emperor" phenomenon of spoiled children, produces recruits who "may not be tough enough to withstand military discipline," the report added. To this end, China has been making efforts to recruit more high school and college graduates as it modernizes its armed forces. On completing the three-year program, students will take a pilot selection test, and those who pass will join a PLA flight academy and those who fail can choose to enter other military universities or civilian institutes. +(CNN)It shouldn't come as a surprise that Yemen has collapsed -- again. A country that has split and been pulled together before, has the youngest and fastest growing population in the region, is running low on oil and water, and possesses a "personalist" government rather than stable institutions, was on the top of every expert's list as the fragile state most likely to fail next. What is surprising is that U.S. policy ignored all of this and proceeded on the premise that simply drone-bombing al Qaeda terrorists could keep Yemen intact and stable. Indeed, last fall, when President Barack Obama pointed to U.S. policy in Yemen as an example of a "success" and a model for the plans that would roll back the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), I shivered. For as September ended, Shi'ite Houthi rebels from the north moved south and took the capital city, Sanaa. By January, the Islamic State was noticeably increasing its recruitment in Yemen, and that same month the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for organizing the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. Last week, the Islamic State bombed two Shi'ite mosques in Yemen, killing more than 130 worshippers at prayer. This week, the Houthi forces are closing in on Yemen's second major city, Aden, on the south coast, and the U.S.-supported President, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has reportedly fled the country. As the United States has closed its embassy and withdrawn its last troops, Yemen has slid into total chaos, with rebels and jihadists on both sides capturing military bases and seizing tanks and heavy weapons. The situation is so dire that a coalition of Sunni nations, led by Saudi Arabia, has launched massive airstrikes against the Houthis, with a Saudi adviser threatening to bring up to 150,000 ground troops into Yemen to restore the Hadi regime. Yemen does have value as a lesson -- this is what happens when you ignore the basic foundations of social stability. These include legitimate leadership with stable succession plans; a united elite; institutions to bridge regional and ethnic divisions and assure fairness in political and economic access and a functioning economy with capabilities for providing employment and growth. Rather than working to secure these things, the U.S. administration has succumbed to the illusion that precision bombing or other surgical interventions to remove "dangerous elements" will sustain broader social and political stability. Anyone could see that the conditions for collapse were progressing in Yemen and that aerial attacks on al Qaeda terrorists would have no effect on them. Those attacks were a sideshow -- like firing a lousy band performing on the deck of an ocean liner, while a hull full of holes is taking on water fast. What we have now is an area with about 24 million people, more than twice the population now under the rule of the Islamic State in eastern Syria and western Iraq, that is virtually ungoverned and up for grabs and is falling into the grips of an all-out civil war between Iran-supported Shi'as and al Qaeda/ISIS-aligned Sunnis. It is a war that the West loses no matter who wins. It is now too late to do much of anything except watch and try to either support any moderate elements if they should emerge as capable of holding regional or national power, or contain any dangerous jihadist elements if they should do so. Either task will be difficult, and provide yet another costly distraction to efforts to restore peace in Syria and Iraq. In other words, what has happened in Yemen, although predictable, is about the worst outcome imaginable for U.S. policy. That America ever deluded itself into thinking airstrikes were enough to deal with the problems of failing states in the Middle East and North Africa -- and the crisis of ISIS -- is a notion that could only be made more frightening if it keeps on doing it. +(CNN)A Delta airplane had a close call Thursday, skidding off a snowy runway and stopping within feet of icy waters. Any accident raises questions, and the National Transportation Safety Board is sending people to New York's LaGuardia Airport to investigate. Although the cause of the crash is not yet clear, officials will no doubt be looking at the conditions on the runway. Was it cleared and ready? Did the pilot have all relevant information? CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo breaks down the responsibilities around runways. "There are a couple of things that airports have to do," she said. "The airport has to go out and measure whether the airport runways have friction, meaning when those tires touch down that they will have some contact with the runway." That information is then relayed to the air traffic control tower, according to Schiavo. "As to whether the runways are slippery, that is breaking action, and the airport gets that from the reports of previous pilots," she said. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Patrick Foye told reporters that the runway in question had been plowed shortly before the incident. Pilots on previous planes reported "good braking action," he said. Just minutes after the Delta plane landed, all of LaGuardia Arport shut down to air traffic. One runway reopened at 2 p.m. ET. The other remained closed. Miles O'Brien, another CNN aviation analyst, highlights how difficult it is to understand all the elements in play. "The wind was changing. The temperatures were changing. It was moving from rain to freezing rain, ultimately into snow. So you had a very dynamic weather picture, and let's not forget, it's kind of a subjective thing," he said. "One pilot might say, 'oh that was no problem,' but he might have learned how to fly in northern Canada." +(CNN)Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams didn't just blur the lines, they crossed them, a California jury ruled this week. Their song "Blurred Lines" ripped off the Marvin Gaye soul classic "Got to Give It Up," jurors found, ordering the performers to pay millions for copyright damages and infringement. It's not the first time singers have turned to the courts to settle an accusation of musical theft. Talk about getting blasted: Thicke and Williams were ordered to pay $7.4 million. Their song: . Marvin Gaye's: . Tom Petty stands his ground: Young British pop sensation Sam Smith's 2014 tune "Stay With Me" has a riff in the chorus similar to that of the 1989 Tom Petty hit "I Won't Back Down." Reports say the two settled out of court, and the official credits now list Petty as a co-writer of the Smith song. Petty says there are no hard feelings. Sam Smith's song: . Tom Petty's: . Who ya gonna call? My lawyer! The 1980s rocker Huey Lewis accused Ray Parker Jr. of copying a "Ghostbusters" song riff from the 1984 hit "I Want a New Drug" by his band, Huey Lewis and the News. Reports at the time said they settled and signed a confidentiality agreement. In 2001, Parker accused Lewis of breaking it in a televised interview. The movie theme song: . Huey Lewis and the News: . Can't you hear, can't you hear the flute riff? Australian band Men at Work lost a case that all but accused them of stealing from children. A court found that the flute solo in their global hit "Down Under" had plagiarized the children's tune "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree," written for the Scouting organization the Girl Guides. (It was the publisher of the song, Larkin Music, that sued. Marion Sinclair, who wrote "Kookaburra" in 1934, died in 1988.) Men at Work: . The children's song: . Yes, there's a problem. Vanilla Ice hit it big for the first and only time with "Ice Ice Baby" in 1990, rapping over a catchy bass riff that sounded suspiciously like the one in the Queen and David Bowie hit "Under Pressure." Reports at the time said a lawsuit was settled out of court. Vanilla Ice: . Queen and David Bowie's tune: . Not free to do whatever you want. Some fans of the Beatles spoof band the Rutles noticed what they thought were similarities between the Oasis hit "Whatever" and the Neil Innes tune "How Sweet to be an Idiot." Headlines suggested that Innes was going to sue Oasis, but in a 2013 interview, the songwriter said it was the music publisher EMI who took action and settled out of court, giving a quarter of the monies from "Whatever" to Innes and a quarter to EMI. Innes later winked at the incident in the opening notes of the song "Shangri-La." Oasis: . Neil Innes, 14 years earlier: . If everybody had their own tune: There's some controversy about how the Beach Boys' first big hit, "Surfin' U.S.A.," came to be written since the melody seems to be lifted straight from the Chuck Berry single "Sweet Little Sixteen." It's listed now as having been written by the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Berry. On his website, Berry calls "Surfin' U.S.A." a cover of his tune. The Beach Boys: . Chuck Berry: . Not so fine: One of the most famous copyright disputes in music history targeted former Beatle George Harrison's song "My Sweet Lord," which was found to have copied "He's So Fine" by the girl group the Chiffons. Harrison was ordered to pay nearly $2 million and was quoted as saying he never made any money off the song -- but he struck back with "This Song," a hit about the incident. It included the line: "As far as I know, it don't infringe on anyone's copyright." The song that got Harrison sued: . The Chiffons: . And Harrison's song about the dispute: . CNN's Todd Baxter, Nick Hunt, Andrew Carey and Tommy Evans contributed to this report. +(CNN)Hillary Clinton worked hard last week to put the "dead end" sign on the State Department email story by announcing there was nothing to find. But in her rush to control the narrative, Clinton may have (once again) missed the bigger picture: In politics as much as in business, authenticity matters. Her press conference had the familiar ring of a controlled performance -- the carefully parsed explanation, the combative posture -- that stretched our belief that what she's telling us is really the whole story. People wonder: Is she playing it straight with us? Why the nagging suspicion that Brand Hillary does not include bringing to the public table who she really is? As the author Joe McGinniss reported in his classic book on the 1968 Nixon campaign, "The Selling of a President," political consultants long ago began marketing candidates like bars of soap. The practice has accelerated since the '60s as campaigns have concluded that political brands face the same tests among voters that consumer brands do among customers. And among consumers today, authenticity means more to success than at any other time in the history of brands. The desire for authenticity is a tangible driver of revenue for brands. Increasingly, people want to give their money to brands -- political as well as commercial -- that have a set of values they can also buy into. As author James H. Gilmore told The New York Times, a sense of authenticity reinforces trust in what is real "in an increasingly staged, contrived and mediated world." A recent global study found that 63% of consumers would buy a brand they perceive as authentic over its competitors, and more than 60% would recommend an organization they perceive to be authentic. Ignoring the importance of authenticity to voters is a significant risk, as both Mitt Romney and Al Gore learned too late. And they were running in a perceptual environment more forgiving than today's. Voters easily identified the space between who these candidates really were and how they wanted us to perceive them. Romney, the successful entrepreneur and moderate politician, struggled to seem ordinary and "severely conservative," while Gore was perceived as having such an overblown sense of himself that the claim of having invented the Internet stuck to him like mud, even though he'd never said it. The two shared what will likely also be Clinton's destiny: winning a party nomination by default as there were few compelling alternatives. For Clinton, an uncontested rise to the Democratic nomination could mislead her campaign into believing that she doesn't have a problem with authenticity. She does, especially among Independents and Republicans. To be fair, Clinton's appeal as potentially the first woman to reach the White House makes her seem virtually bulletproof among certain voting groups. A recent Gallup Poll shows "first female" status as the "best thing about a Hillary Clinton presidency," leading the positives mentioned by 30% of Democrats and 17% of Independents. But the next-closest best thing about Clinton is a long way off: Her experience is mentioned by only 16% of Democrats and 8% of Independents. A fledgling campaign apparatus, with powerful political recruits like John Podesta and Robby Mook and marquee brand wizards from Coca-Cola and Microsoft, might want to be looking hard at the dangerously lukewarm voter sentiment about experience and suitability that is lingering just beneath the surface of the "first female president" juggernaut. Part of the heightened danger coming out of her press conference lies among millennials, who will be a critical voting group for Democrats in the 2016 presidential election. And authenticity is of paramount importance to millennials in how they relate to everything in their lives, including politicians. As one commenter on a MediaPost article on millennials put it, "If brands can't be authentic Millennials will call them on it. Want to win our hearts? A little self-deprecation and humility never hurt." Forty percent of millennials in the U.S. admit to full-blown cynicism about the way they are approached by brands of all kinds. According to the MediaPost article, authenticity and the allied trait of trustworthiness are two of the top brand attributes millennials look for before they make a decision to hand over their money and, one could argue by extension, their vote. These days, too, it's trickier than ever for brands to stay in step with the conversations that move people to make judgments. Whether they're consumers or voters, people are more in tune with each other than at any other time in human history. They can gang up more easily to support or reject a person, an idea, and, yes, a company, brand or politician. Brands are left on the outside looking in, puzzling out how to insert themselves into a meaningful relationship with constituents who can turn on them at any second. This trend of demanding more authenticity from brands they invest in, and rewarding brands for it, has been accelerating with consumers across the U.S. over the course of the very same seven years since Clinton last ran for president. Since consumers are also voters, it stands to reason that any political brand -- including Hillary Clinton -- should look even more seriously today at how to increase its value by focusing on perceptions of its authenticity. +March 19, 2015 . From a terrorist attack in Tunisia to an election update from Israel to an upcoming eclipse over the Faroe Islands, today's show is taking you around the world. We're also featuring a Character Study on a 13-year-old who started working to fight hunger at age 4. And we're looking into the NCAA "March Madness" tournament and its effects on some athletes' class time. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +March 18, 2015 . Israelis have voted in a globally significant election. U.S. aid workers who've been exposed to an Ebola patient are being monitored. ISIS terrorists have destroyed some of Iraq's treasured artifacts. A professional football player has walked away from a dream job over health concerns. And a roving camera in the shape of a bowling ball could depict the future of surveillance technology. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)It's called the Grand Renaissance Dam -- and the clue is in the name. With some 8,500 laborers working around the clock on its construction, the imposingly-named dam is surely one of Africa's most ambitious infrastructure projects, reaffirming Ethiopia's ambitions of becoming a big regional player and a major exporter of power. When completed, the project will generate around 6,000 megawatts of electricity for both domestic use and exports. The most striking aspect of the nearly $5 billion enterprise is, however, that it is entirely funded by Ethiopia, without any foreign investment. According to the authorities, 20% of the project is financed from bond offerings to Ethiopians, and the remaining 80% from tax collection. "It was seen as a strategically important initiative that the government and the Ethiopian people are financing it 100%," says Zemedeneh Negatu, managing partner at Ernst & Young Ethiopia. "They have come up with a very creative and innovative way that I think will be a lesson for other African countries who want to embark on such large infrastructure projects, and want to have the flexibility to do it themselves," he adds. Hydroelectric powerhouse . So far, Ethiopians at home and abroad have contributed about $350 million, and the government says that the 170 meter tall dam is on track for a 2017 opening, with 40% of the work already complete. Ethiopia's per capita income might be one of the lowest in the world, but the country has enjoyed an impressive economic growth since 2000, averaging 10.9% annually, which has resulted in a 33% reduction of people living in poverty. If the Grand Renaissance Dam and other hydroelectric projects, such as the Gibe III dam on the Omo river, are completed on time, The World Bank estimates Ethiopia could earn $1 billion a year from electricity exports. Negatu says that this would make the country the largest exporter of power in Africa, and second only to South Africa when it comes to installed capacity. Unhappy neighbors . Yet, not everyone is happy about Ethiopia's energetic drive to harness its water resources. The Grand Renaissance Dam is being built on Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile River which has been powering the agriculture of Sudan and Egypt -- through which it flows -- for millennia. These countries have opposed the project in the past, fearing that the dam will reduce their share of the Nile water. The ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi had even threatened to defend "each drop of Nile water with our blood if necessary" back in 2013. Passions have been calmer more recently, and today the Reuters news agency reported that representatives of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia reached a preliminary agreement in Khartoum on how to operate the dam. Negatu is convinced that a compromise will be reached, as he thinks that the dam will ultimately benefit not just Ethiopia but most other East African nations. "This is actually a regional project because up from Egypt all the way down to Rwanda, countries are going to buy the power that's generated by this dam," Negatu says, adding that both Rwanda and Kenya have already agreed to purchase thousands of megawatts once the project is finished. A lack of reliable power has long stunted Africa's development, with 600 million people on the continent not connected to the grid and getting by on a mix of generators, kerosene lamps and candles. In Ethiopia, only 15 to 20% of the population has access to power according to a study by Chatham House. "It's Africa's Achilles' heel," says Negatu. "With anyone who wants to build a factory in Africa, the first thing they ask is infrastructure, and within infrastructure, whether there is sufficient electricity. Industrialization has always been about electricity, and this [dam] addresses this basic need." He adds that, after depending on exporting raw commodities for decades, governments across Africa should be pursuing a strategy of industrialization, following the example of China. "We've got to move up the value chain, and it's what Ethiopia is doing right now. Its strategy is industrial-based -- not to export commodities but to manufacture value-added things, and other African nations are trying to emulate that. But without electricity there won't be industrialization in Africa." More from Africa View . Read this: New railway links to transform West Africa . Read this: Fast-rising aviation hub spreads its wings . Brandon Clements contributed to this report. +Fall River, Massachusetts (CNN)Shayanna Jenkins, the fiancee of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, revealed for the first time Monday she suspects marijuana was in a box she was instructed to remove from the couple's home the day after the slaying of Odin Lloyd in 2013. Hernandez has been charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating the death of Lloyd, the boyfriend of Shayanna Jenkins' sister and semipro football player who was found dead June 17, 2013. Hernandez has also pleaded not guilty to a gun and ammunition charge. His co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, have also pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. For the first time, Shayanna Jenkins told jurors on Monday the box smelled "skunky," making her think it was marijuana. Her new description came during cross-examination. Earlier, she told prosecutors during direct examination that she didn't know what was in the box, said Hernandez never told her, nor did she look. Jenkins testified Friday that on the day after Lloyd's slaying, her fiance called her with instructions that it was important to discard the box. On Monday, she described his tone as "normal" when he made the request and said she had never been asked by prosecutors what she thought the box smelled like. "Were you ever asked what you thought was in the box?" asked Hernandez lawyer Charles Rankin about her previous testimony to the grand jury. "Never," said Jenkins. "Were you ever asked if it had any smell to it?" he asked. "Never," she replied. Jenkins' revelation contradicts the prosecution's previous suspicion that the weapon used in the slaying was in the box. No weapon in the case has been recovered. Home surveillance video played inside the courtroom Monday showed Shayanna Jenkins hoisting a black garbage bag from her home and putting it in a trunk of her sister's car. At the time, Shaneah Jenkins had been at her home grieving over the death of her boyfriend. Shaneah Jenkins was present in court on Monday and cried while listening to the testimony and watching the video of her sister Shayanna carrying the trash bag. The two sisters now barely speak to each other. Shaneah Jenkins sits next to Lloyd's mother in the courtroom on the opposite side of Hernandez's defense team. After concealing the box with her daughter's clothing, Shayanna Jenkins said she disposed of it at a location she cannot remember. "I found a random dumpster, and put it in there," she told Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley. When questioned about her inability to remember the dumpster's location and other details, Shayanna Jenkins said she had been unsettled at the time. "I was nervous. I had to comfort my sister. Everyone's emotions were on me, and it was a form of breaking down at that point," she said. On Monday, Shayanna Jenkins was asked about what she called an "on-again, off-again" relationship with Hernandez, her high school sweetheart. She recalled spending time apart from Hernandez after discovering evidence of infidelity on Hernandez's phone. She told the court that before getting back together with him, she had to make a difficult choice about her future with the football star. "I made a decision that if I was going to move back in with Aaron, I would need to compromise with his behavior, including his infidelity," she told the courtroom and then started to cry. After Hernandez proposed in October 2012, Jenkins said she continued to tolerate his infidelity. Jenkins admitted giving some different answers during her grand jury testimony, in part, she said because of confusing questions by prosecutors. She faces possible jail time if found guilty of perjury charges. Jenkins has pleaded not guilty. This week, the jury is expected to hear from Alexander Bradley, Hernandez's former right hand man, who has accused Hernandez of shooting him in the face in February of 2013. However, a judge has barred him from discussing that. Bradley is jailed in an unrelated shooting. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Susan Candiotti and Lawrence Crook reported from Fall River, Massachusetts. CNN's Karen Smith wrote from Atlanta. +(CNN)This is what it's come to. Starbucks asked its local baristas to have conversations about race. Not the federal government or Congress. Not academia or the NAACP. But a national coffee shop chain waded into an area of social conflict that is as old as the slave ships and as modern as stop-and-frisk policing. Then people went crazy. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was accused of ruining that magic morning moment when customers fork over $4.15 for a "grande" coffee with warm skim milk and vanilla extract. A barista writing "Race Together" on cups was called an affront to mornings and coffee -- such important conversations belonged inside a hallowed institution, not a common coffee shop, where apparently people no longer chat. A lot of the reaction came via snipes on Twitter from people calling Schultz out on Starbucks' diversity, the hue of his mochaccinos, or his liberal "brewing" of controversy. The nastiness drove the company's communications chief briefly off Twitter. Then, after barely a week, Starbucks shut down the whole darned thing, pushing ahead with a hiring and media initiative instead. But treating Twitter as an important voice of American conscience is like focusing on the annoying beep emitting from your smoke detector instead of addressing the fact that the battery's run dry. What's trending is not necessarily what matters. People do need to talk about race. Not because of a harmless coffee cup, but because we have a real race problem and we need solutions. Starfish Media Group just finished a nationwide tour of American colleges, universities and communities called "Black in America 2015." It's based on our CNN documentary series that takes a close look at the challenges and triumphs of being black in America: from the hopes of the Martin Luther King era to today's unlikely brew of un-kept promises and vast opportunities. There were plenty of conversations about race among the thousands of black and white college students and panelists like rapper Chuck D and Cedric Alexander of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. They lined up to talk about how their experiences mirrored those of the people in the documentaries: black families finding common roots with whites, the politics of skin color, or the black-and-blue conflict over the police engaging in racial profiling. The topics and perceptions were an unending thread. Not only did people talk when they were offered the chance; they wanted to talk. At Stony Brook University, one of our tour stops, a young white male student asked our panel if effecting change in racial discrimination today was even harder to achieve than it was during the Civil Rights era when racism was more overt. What a good question. There are no longer signs segregating our bathrooms and water fountains, but police are being caught on cell phone videos in apparent attacks on young black men -- the new signposts of racial inequality. New technology has multiplied and spread symbols of racial injustice, but that has created new challenges and new reasons to talk. In this country we sometimes pretend we are so far past the ugly days of Jim Crow and middle-of-the-night cross burnings as to have no racial issues to discuss. We did, after all, elect a black president who, like me, has both a black and a white parent and descends from immigrants. But blacks and whites don't see things the same, and that is a big problem we need to discuss. Pew Research Center asked people of both races this year how much more needs to be done to achieve racial equality. Seventy-nine percent of blacks said "a lot" more work needs to be done. Just 44% of whites thought the same. Our country is more diverse than ever -- 13% African-American and 17% Latino, according to the U.S. Census -- but we still live in different worlds. Blacks have more debt, higher unemployment, less financial security, are less likely to be married or own homes, and are less likely to be represented in corporate boardrooms, the tech industry or even Congress. Perhaps more alarmingly, 75% of black students are going to schools where the majority of the students look just like them. It has been 60 years since Brown v. Board of Education was supposed to bring our schoolchildren together on an equal playing field. That is something worth talking about. Recently, Bryan Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, examined the details behind 3,959 lynchings in 12 Southern states from 1877 to 1950. He wants to raise money to memorialize the sites. We may not live in that land any more, though the FBI is investigating the death of a black man found hanging among the walnut trees this month in Mississippi. But we do live in a land where there is a modern terror digging roots in the minds of young black men. In 2014, our CNN documentary "Black in America: Black & Blue" showed police officers talking fearfully about facing off against young criminals on familiar streets and African-American men in fear that they would become the victims of police shootings. The documentary was released just as grand juries chose not to indict the police officers in the Eric Garner and Ferguson, Missouri, cases. To me, it reveals how damaging the rift in our perceptions can be. A young man named Keeshan Harley talked about being frisked over 100 times. Why? "Because I fit the description," said the black college student. Seventy percent of blacks believe, just like Keeshan, that the police treat racial and ethnic groups differently and do not hold police officers accountable for misconduct, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. The percentage of whites who agree with that perception hovers in the mid-30s. Much of the white community doesn't perceive or understand the persecution of a Keeshan Harley. But when they see a videotape, as in the Eric Garner case, many finally recognize there is a problem. We need to consider how a lack of confidence in government and law enforcement is dangerous in a civil society. A young man named Luis Paulino shared a cell phone video with me when I was reporting "Black & Blue." It shows tall white police officers beating Luis on the street for no apparent reason. He couldn't call the police for help. These were the police. What if there had been no tape, I asked him. "Nobody would have believed me," he said. "It would have been my word against 15 police officers." That is modern-day terror, and worth at least a coffee shop chat. Black people talk about race all the time, from processing comments about our freckles to recounting how someone rolls their fingers through our child's curly hair. We don't get or expect an even playing field at work. We don't ever get to cross a street in a hoodie at night without the other pedestrians making a string of assumptions. We don't have some mutable characteristic. We wake up and go to bed black, and that makes a difference in this country. CEO Howard Schultz was left wondering why it was such a bad idea to encourage people to talk about race. His initial letter to his staff made it clear he believes his #racetogether coffee cup campaign can contribute to starting an important conversation. "What if our customers ... had a renewed level of understanding and sensitivity about the issue, and they themselves would spread that to their own sphere of influence?" What a good question it was. What if? +(CNN)On the heels of the magical success of Disney's live-action "Cinderella," the studio is eyeing another live-action retelling: "Mulan." Disney bought a script by writing team Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek that centers on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, the female warrior who was the main character in Disney's 1998 animated film. Chris Bender and J.C. Spink ("We're the Millers) are producing the new project. From Cinderella to Elsa (and Back to Cinderella): The Evolution of Disney Princesses . The 1998 film, directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, followed a young woman who disguises herself as a man so she can take her father's place in the army and go to war. With the help of her trusty dragon sidekick Mushu, she becomes a skilled warrior and, eventually, one of the country's greatest heroines. It earned $304.3 million worldwide, earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations and resulted in a 2005 direct-to-DVD sequel, "Mulan II." Disney has been on a roll with its live-action versions of its classic animated films. "Cinderella," starring Lily James, has earned $336.2 million worldwide to date since hitting theaters three weeks ago. In 2010, the reimagined "Alice in Wonderland" grossed a staggering $1.02 billion and when "Maleficent," starring Angelina Jolie as the iconic villainess, opened in May 2014, it went on to earn a stunning $758.4 million worldwide. 'Beauty and the Beast': Meet the Cast of Disney's Live-Action Retelling . Disney is also making a live-action retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. Audra McDonald just joined the cast of the project, which will be directed by Bill Condon. It hits theaters on March 17, 2017. And in 2016 Disney will release a new version of "The Jungle Book" and the sequel to"Alice in Wonderland." Finally, a live-action version of "Dumbo," which will be helmed by Tim Burton, is also in the works. Best bad guys: The scariest Disney villains . Writing team Martin and Hynek met in high school, among other projects, have written for the Know Theatre of Cincinnati and rewrote a script for Amazon Studios. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)There are two main ways visitors to Ho Chi Minh City cross the streets. One approach is to step with zen-like calm into the swirl of honking scooters and serenely stride across the road without breaking step. Like locals, they're part of the flow, part of the (exhaust-choked) stream of traffic. The other is to stand anxiously on the edge of the curb, toes curled like a diver's, waiting for a non-existent stoplight, then plunge into the melee while letting out a small yelp before slaloming across the street like a demented Frogger. Some, like Steve Mueller, would question why cross the road at all. If you can't beat them, join them. Which is what the South Carolinian did -- he now runs the city's Vietnam Vespa Adventures. It's a tour company that provides two-wheel thrills on the Italian vintage scooters, Vespa, around Ho Chi Minh City, out into the Mekong Delta and beyond. Being on a scooter in Ho Chi Minh is the best way to feel a part of the city, says Mueller. "It's really an authentic experience," he says. "Being side by side with the locals." Day tours take in popular sights like the Opera House and central post office designed by Gustav Eiffel, but also stop at local eateries and offbeat locations. One popular early morning pit stop is Tao Dan park where Ho Chi Minh City's bird fanciers puff themselves up like their caged pets in a display of tweeting one-upmanship. Unfortunately/thankfully, you're not the one driving. All the mopeds are driven by local, experienced drivers who have no problem with the swarm of vehicles on the roads. A local tour guide rides along, too, to add context to the sights, smells and sounds experienced from the back of a two-stroke motor. Mueller took a circuitous route to setting up the company. After traveling around Southeast Asia in 1997 he settled in Vietnam the following year and discovered a glut of classic Italian scooters that needed a bit of TLC. He bought his first one after just three days in the country and spying an opportunity to tap into international Vespa enthusiasts' desire for authentic rides, set up a restoration and export business. It became so successful he was in danger of putting himself out of a job, so in 2006 he decided to start a tour company offering multi-day tours outside of Ho Chi Minh City. According to Mueller, his business was kick-started by Vietnam's appearance on the TV program "Top Gear," which showed the country's beautiful countryside and underused roads. Longer trips are still offered by Vespa Tours, taking willing riders as far as the Vietnam Highlands and the coastal city of Nha Trang over seven days. Most of the scooters in Mueller's garage hark back to the golden age of Vespas, the late '60s and 1970s, refurbished with replacement parts from Piaggio-licensed machinists in India. True to their reputation, the 100 or so classic scooters owned by Vespa Adventures break down frequently -- mechanics are on hand for running repairs -- but Mueller believes its all part of the charm in a city where two wheels beats two legs. Vietnam Vespa Adventures, 169a De Tham, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; +84 12 2299 3585/ +84 9 3850 0997 . +(CNN)Americans like to complain about the endless political gridlock in our capital. But if we're honest we need to look in the mirror too. Many of us abandoned the field by not voting in last year's midterm elections. Those of us who did vote elected more fire breathers than bridge builders to Congress. What's more, when we're invited to tell our representatives what we want, we can be as demagogic as they are. Remember the Town Hall meetings in the summer of 2009, which erupted in shouting matches between citizens and legislators over health care? Who can forget the Massachusetts woman holding a picture of President Obama defaced to look like Hitler, who demanded to know why former Rep. Barney Frank supported the "Nazi policy" of extending health care to all? His frank response: "Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it." Rather than blame our leaders for the dysfunction, we need to change the game. We can turn to public forums to tackle big issues of the day. Consider two efforts to move beyond the contentious debate about climate change. In Washington, the Senate made a splash by voting for the first time to acknowledge that global warming is really happening. Unfortunately, senators couldn't agree on whether humans are changing the climate and what to do about it. Stalemate. Outside of the Beltway, in Southeast Florida, it's been five years since the region adopted a comprehensive climate action plan with 110 steps aimed at mitigating its dangers and reducing the region's carbon emissions. As research by Dan Kahan of Yale Law School shows, these counties took action not because Floridians are less divided over political issues, or less partisan, or more scientifically literate than the rest of America. No one sang Kumbaya or hugged a polar bear. Instead, Florida officials engaged their constituents through scores of open forums convened by governments, businesses and community groups. Local leaders appealed across party lines by framing the issue as one of protecting residents from rising sea levels and storm surges, rather than as a divisive referendum on whether to believe in climate science. Rather than seeing citizens as targets of a political campaign, officials governed with the diverse residents of their community to develop practical solutions that garnered broad support. "We recognize each other's differences," explained Susanne Torriente, Fort Lauderdale's assistant city manager, "but also recognize that if we work together we can make South Florida more resilient." Given what Florida accomplished, Gov. Rick Scott's ban on using the terms "climate change" in state policy discussions to avoid polarization looks smart, not smarmy. Florida is not alone. Our research identifies many successful examples of political deliberation in well-designed forums where citizens and officials engage in give-and-take discussion and arrive at solutions. These forums have developed "participatory budgets" in many cities, energy policy in Texas and Nebraska, community policing in Chicago and much more. Some of these forums are healing the rotting roots of democracy. For example, gerrymandering of political districts has become one way to protect the party in power and create safe seats for incumbents, sapping their incentive to represent constituents from the opposing party or craft bipartisan legislation. As a North Carolina state senator once said, "We are in the business of rigging elections." In response in 2010 Californians used their power to approve ballot initiatives to create a nonpartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission, which redrew political districts that better reflected the state's communities and helped elect a legislature that could work together more productively. This is one reason why the state's budgeting process, once an endless game of chicken that paralyzed public services and rang up huge deficits, has become less rancorous and more fiscally responsible. Let's hope the Supreme Court doesn't kill this reform. But not every ballot initiative is as enlightened. Many are highly technical proposals pushed by special interests, and multiple initiatives can overwhelm the public's ability to evaluate them all. Oregon's legislature responded by creating a Citizens Initiative Review Board, which researches proposed ballot measures, deliberates about their pros and cons, and makes recommendations on how fellow citizens should vote. Many Oregonians rely on the board's recommendations, which are published in the state's voter guide and mailed to every household. Unlike politics as usual (and those infamous Town Hall meetings), these forums put citizens at the center of decision-making. Citizens are challenged to deliberate with each other and forge agreements, with officials and experts joining the effort by giving testimony and feedback. Moderators challenge people to treat other respectfully and consider a wide range of arguments and evidence, rather than engaging in hand-to-hand political combat. Grandstanding and obstructionism don't play as well in these forums as they do on the Senate floor, partisan media outlets or the local tavern. It's still politics, but it's a politics that offers better odds of success by engaging both citizens and officials productively. The people who participate, many of whom regard typical public meetings like Ebola, say they actually enjoy talking politics with other citizens and officials, sometimes for the first time in their lives. Can you imagine that? While there are experts who know how to design good forums, it's no easy task. As the health care Town Hall Meetings showed, simply throwing open the doors is not sufficient. Most people don't have the time to attend a forum, so they need to know whether people like them deliberated and the rules of engagement were fair. It's important to ensure that citizens can participate on equal terms. If we want to move beyond political stalemate, we should strengthen these innovative forums for citizens to deliberate with each other and officials. When these forums work, they put citizens and leaders on the same side of the chessboard. +(CNN)For four years, William Bruce James II called the University of Oklahoma's Sigma Alpha Epsilon his home. He walked its halls, bunked in its rooms, held office as one of its leaders, considered his fraternity brothers his dearest friends. He was proud to be SAE. Now that pride is tainted. A video shot this Saturday of party-bound shows SAE members clapping, pumping their fists and chanting in unison: "There will never be a ni**** SAE," they sing. "You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me." These young men are talking about him, James said. That's because not only is he an SAE alumni, he is also African-American. How do you make sense of the fact that those behind these hateful words wore the same pledge pins, occupied the same house, preached "the same motto that I hold dear to my heart" as James did? "I couldn't look at myself," he said, "still claiming to be that." Since the video surfaced Sunday, students have been expelled and SAE's Oklahoma chapter has shut down. The episode has left James disgusted, horrified that members of a fraternity that once welcomed him could espouse such hatred. Students expelled over racist chant . "I don't know what happened to the culture of my home," he told CNN on Tuesday. "That is not my home. That is not SAE. They are not my brothers." While the Oklahoma frat has never had a lot of black members, that didn't matter to James when he joined in 2001. SAE was where he forged lifelong friendships, where he and others grew into men. "We were becoming something while I was there," he said. "Something that I don't think these kids grasped. ... I don't think they know what it means to be a brother of any fraternity, let alone mine." James doesn't believe the racist chant was an isolated incident, not given how many on the bus seemingly sang it so easily and enthusiastically. Nor does he think that only those leading the chant deserve punishment. Just as easily as one person could have started it, someone else could have called for it to stop. That's what James thinks that his own fraternity brothers would've done, whether he was around or not. They understood the importance of stepping up to say: "This isn't right, this isn't what I stand for, this isn't gentlemanly, this isn't even human," he said. "That's what being an SAE is." "My pledge class ... wouldn't let that happen," he said. "And I don't know what's happened to (the Oklahoma SAE chapter) since then." Many members of that pledge class, as well others who he knew from SAE, have reached out to James in recent days by text, phone, email and Facebook. He knows he is not alone, including in his support for disbanding Oklahoma's SAE chapter. "That entire house has accepted the culture that accepts that song, those words, that imagery," James said. "So the whole house has to be punished." His former frat brothers are different from him, of course. Their skin color wouldn't have stopped them from getting into SAE if the twisted chant reflected reality. Still, James feels their pain is real and sincere. Those on this weekend's video may not be his brothers, but those he knew from 2001 to 2005 still are. "I don't think that they can fully encompass the pain and betrayal that I feel," James said of his white friends from the fraternity. "But by holding me so close in their life, they know that their brother was hurt." "So it's a thing they're feeling in their family. I'm family to them." +(CNN)After enduring about four days at sea under stressful conditions, Tyke, an African elephant, escaped during a circus performance, crushing her trainer to death and injuring dozens of others while storming through the streets of Honolulu. Tyke suffered a slow and painful death after being hit by a barrage of bullets fired by police officers. That incident happened 20 years ago, but the welcome announcement last week by Feld Entertainment -- parent company to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus -- that it plans to retire elephants from its circuses by 2018 is a reminder of how that controversy lingers. In analyzing the horrific experience involving Tyke, it was reported that the elephant had been rebellious before she arrived on our shores, and she is said to have had a history of acting out and being unpredictable. And though she was not submissive and was difficult to train, her owners sent her to Honolulu anyway. Sadly, performing animals in circuses and traveling shows are too often subjected to inhumane conditions, especially in their training. Reward-based training takes time and patience, which are things that many circus trainers do not have. Instead, these trainers frequently resort to other inhumane means, involving beating the animals, using electrical prods, depriving them of food, chaining them and other brutal methods to force the animals into submission. Following this sort of brutal training, the animals may appear tame, but they are still wild and their original wild instincts will appear if provoked. Meanwhile, animals that are no longer useful to the circus or traveling shows due to age or temperament may be given away or sold to other less reputable organizations. They lack proper veterinary care, and what little quality of life they did have is diminished further. The welfare of the animal is not taken into account. Rather than being treated as a commodity by the owner, animals should be protected and well cared for. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has said it prides itself on providing a healthy environment for animals. Yet whatever provisions they may make, the reality is that circuses are particularly unsuited to meet the unique needs of elephants. These extremely intelligent animals live in large family groups when in the wild, and they form close social ties with other elephants. But the circus environment keeps them isolated and provides little to no interaction with their own species. Their herd-like behavior is ignored when they are being trained to perform. These very social animals, simply put, should not be living in solitary confinement. Animal welfare advocates have often been criticized as being against "fun." We are told that circuses and traveling shows are about education. But what could one possibly learn about animals from watching these shows? Observing wild animals perform unnatural tricks while dancing in tutus only teaches the public that the sole purpose of animals is our entertainment. Are these really the values we want our children to learn? Wildlife sanctuaries and accredited zoos should exist for conservation, preservation and propagation of species and for public education. This is where learning should occur. Wild animals should be permitted to exist undisturbed in their natural environments, and when they must be confined, it should be in a natural setting consistent with their physical and behavioral needs. This is the proper setting for education and study. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has come a long way in its thinking, and for that we congratulate the company for its decision to move the elephants to its sanctuary in Florida. Rather than fighting the many cities and counties that have taken steps to pass anti-circus and anti-elephant ordinances, the company instead is putting its resources toward the study and protection of elephants. With this step, we look forward to the day that it, and other circuses, phase out all wild animals, including the lions and tigers that also are featured in their shows. After all, wild and exotic animals are not meant to entertain us. The Hawaiian Humane Society feels strongly about the humane treatment of all animals, whether domesticated or wild. Our organization, like others in the animal welfare movement, seeks to prevent any practice that might produce pain, stress, injury or suffering to any animal. This is an important part of creating a more humane society -- for people and all animals. +(CNN)While Boston and other New England cities have suffered through their snowiest seasons, other parts of the country have some unexpected good news to go along with the record-breaking winter conditions. All that cold air and a stuck weather pattern are keeping tornadoes to historic lows so far this year. March is typically a transitional month, where warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cold Arctic air to produce severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. This year, however, the jet stream pattern responsible for all the cold air and snow in the East remains stuck in more of a winter mode. "We're in a persistent pattern that suppresses severe weather, and the right ingredients -- moisture, instability and lift -- (have yet to come together)," said Greg Carbin, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The group is responsible for issuing the tornado and severe thunderstorm watches that warn the public of impending severe weather. So far this year it's been extremely quiet. By this time in mid-March the center would have issued 52 tornado watches nationwide. This year they have issued a paltry four. Both January and February were well below normal. March has been even quieter. At a time where the tornado season usually ramps up considerably, there has not been a single report this month of a tornado. "We are in uncharted territory with respect to the lack of severe weather" Carbin said. In fact if we make it through the entire month of March without any tornado reports it would be a first, according to the center. There have been around 20 tornadoes reported since January 1, well below the 10-year average of 130 for the period from the beginning of the year until mid-March. This year comes on the heels of what was has been a welcome lull of tornadoes across the United States the past several years. In 2014, we ended the year with a count of 881, well below the average of 1,253. Meteorologists don't fully understand why we have seen the recent drop in tornadoes, but one possible answer is the development of El Nino, a warming in the equatorial Pacific, which can influence weather patterns globally. Recent studies point to lower tornado counts in the United States during these events. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently said that a weak El Nino had developed. So while all agree this is good news so far this year, it is clear that it is no guarantee that the rest of the season will remain this quiet. Weather patterns can change quickly. In 1984, for instance, there was a very similar slow start through mid-March and the number of tornadoes ended up well above average by the end of June, according to data from the storm center. It's also important to note that even in years where the tornado counts are low, you can still have very violent tornadoes -- 2013 being a perfect example. The year ended being roughly 30% below normal for the number of tornadoes, yet included some of the strongest tornadoes on record. The twisters in Moore and El Reno, Oklahoma, occurred in May of that year with devastating results. Tornadoes Fast Facts . +(CNN)After weeks of controversy and the sudden departures of two co-hosts, "Fashion Police" is going on an extended break. The fashion commentary show on E! channel announced Tuesday that it will be on hiatus until September. "We look forward to taking this opportunity to refresh the show before the next awards season," it said in a statement. The announcement caps a rocky few months. Last week, co-host Kathy Griffin bid the show bye-bye after seven episodes, saying her style did not blend in with her co-hosts. She made a dig at the show on her way out. "There is plenty to make fun of in pop culture without bringing people's bodies into it," she said in a statement. "I do not want to use my comedy to contribute to a culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference." Shortly before her departure, co-host Giuliana Rancic faced backlash last month for suggesting that Disney star Zendaya Coleman's dreadlocks smelled of marijuana. Rancic later issued an on-air apology to the 18-year-old after social media jumped to the teen's defense. But her apology was not enough for co-host Kelly Osbourne, who criticized her remarks and quit a few days later. Rancic and fellow co-host Brad Goreski will return in September, along with executive producer Melissa Rivers. +(CNN)The 1-0 scoreline that took Barcelona through to the Champions League quarterfinals made their clash with Manchester City all seem rather academic. Yet it was anything but as Lionel Messi's masterful first-half display had some purring once again about his status as the greatest footballer of all time. Meanwhile, the second half witnessed another masterclass as England international Joe Hart somehow kept City in a lively encounter with save after save. In between, the man that City usually rely on to dig them out of tight spots -- Sergio Aguero -- failed to score a late penalty that could have set up a tense finish. In truth, the English champions deserved little over the two legs as Barcelona built upon their 2-1 victory in Manchester three weeks ago to go through as 3-1 aggregate winners. The four-time champions may not have added the goals they deserved but they did reach the last eight for the eighth year in a row, a competition record. "It was a game with a lot of chances where we could have finished it off a lot earlier," Barca coach Luis Enrique told reporters. "We got what we wanted which was to go through to the next round and I am happy with the display. We played well and this is a big boost for us at this stage of the season." The high-profile scrutiny of the relationship between coach Enrique and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi suddenly seems a distant memory with Barca still capable of repeating their wonder year of 2009. On that occasion, they won the Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Super Cup under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, who was one of many enthralled spectators inside the Camp Nou. Now in charge of fellow quarterfinalists Bayern Munich, Guardiola was out of his seat -- seemingly in celebration -- as Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring after 31 minutes when lifting the ball over Hart following a fine pass from Messi. The diminutive Argentine flashed two free-kicks from distance onto the top of the goal netting while also displaying an array of twists, turns and embarrassing 'nutmegs' for his opponents. It was enough to make former England international Gary Lineker, the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, proclaim him the best footballer ever. While that engrossing debate rumbles on, Messi set about trying to put the tie to bed but he met fierce resistance from Hart, who had kept City in the tie in the first leg when saving the Argentine's injury-time penalty. England's number one made 10 saves, the most of any keeper in any Champions League this season, not only repelling Messi but also Neymar and Suarez, both of whom were also denied by the post in the first half. To their credit, the Premier League side -- who were looking to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time -- improved after the break but found chances hard to come by. That was until Aguero won a penalty after going down under a challenge from first Gerard Pique, and then Argentina colleague Javier Mascherano, with just over ten minutes left. But Dutch keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen dived right -- in both senses -- to beat away the spotkick and ultimately seal City's fate. Barcelona can now prepare for Sunday's superclasico clash with Real Madrid, whom they lead in the La Liga table by one point. "We've gone out to a magnificent side for the second time in two years," Joe Hart told Sky Sports television. "They will get a lot of plaudits but we had a big chance with the penalty." Questions will now be asked of coach Manuel Pellegrini, who had been expected to perform better in the Champions League after Roberto Mancini twice failed to get out of the group stages. It means that for the second time in three years, no English team have made the last eight, where Barca have joined Madrid sides Real and Atletico, Bayern Munich, Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Juventus. The latter made it through after beating Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in Germany to secure a convincing 5-1 aggregate victory. On a night when Manchester City had failed to score, it was not lost on many that their former striker Carlos Tevez netted twice and made one, converted by Alvaro Morata, for the Italians. "It was a game to forget. It started badly and did not get any better," Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp, who led his side to the 2013 Champions League final, told reporters. "We deserved to be eliminated." The draw for the quarterfinals will be held on Friday. +(CNN)When photographer Richard Ross wants to talk to a child at a juvenile detention center, he knocks on their cell door. He asks them if he can come inside. The 67-year-old Californian is used to taking off his shoes when he enters homes, so he does the same in a cell. "Most of the kids, they've never had that kind of respect," he said. "But I give it to them, I give them the power. I sit on the floor so they're looking down on me." Ross doesn't begin by hammering them with questions. He wants to have a conversation. "I say, 'What's gone on in your life?' " The result of that tenderness and patience is Ross' latest collection of photos, "Girls in Justice." The images are unflinching. They convey the ugliness of a young person's life behind bars. The pictures are replete with the unique loneliness, anger and boredom of a juvenile detention center. But the girls also tell their stories alongside the images. One photo shows a girl in a tan jumpsuit, hand on her head, sitting alone in a drab, cavernous room. "I've been here 17 times," one girl says. Many of the stories are bleak, reflecting adults who endangered the girls or, at the very least, failed repeatedly to protect them. "Mom's a stripper. Dad was an alcoholic, drug addict, murdered last year," said one girl explaining her past. "They took my brother and I away because my dad chained us in the house and tried to burn it down. I lived with my grandma and uncle. The people who are supposed to love you never do." The photos show girls wasting the day in their bunks, staring at the wall. Some struggle with mental illness. The girls obscure their faces or are turned away from the camera. That works to protect their identities, but it also evokes shame. Ross seems to be saying the shame isn't the girls' -- it's ours as a society for jailing children. His images aren't always literal. A photo shot toward an azure sky is framed by concertina wire. A straight-forward photo, of a utility wall holding dozens of scissors, turns the stomach after reading the caption -- the guards need the scissors to cut away any cloth a teenager might use to trying to hang herself. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Ross recalled one particularly agonizing interview with a girl who kept telling him, "I can't wait to get out of here so I can kill myself." "She was just a kid, but she was at that place where you have no hope," he said. "I feel all these stories, but that one just hit me hard. I was sobbing. You want to say, 'It will get better,' but you also know the system and you know that you can't say that." Ross, the son of a New York City police officer, had a happy upbringing in a home of modest means. He got into a decent amount of trouble growing up, and he said he could have easily wound up in the justice system. But times were different then, he said, and there's been a cultural turn in America toward criminalizing a child's bad behavior. He recalls a detention-center director in Reno, Nevada, who asked him to visit and take photos. At intake, he photographed a fifth-grader who had been taken to jail because he had acted up in class. "This fifth-grader came up to my belt buckle," Ross recalled. "He was drinking warm milk, like someone gave him a cardboard thing of milk. I can still smell that milk. That intake area smelled like elementary school." The child's single mother couldn't pick him up for hours. She was holding down a job that wouldn't allow her to leave until after 6 p.m. The detention-center director sent Ross' photo to every principal in the area to make a point: Children do not belong in lockup, so find another solution. Ross is adamant that he's making photographs to bring about "immediate change." He speaks across the country to law schools and works closely with child welfare advocates. His work has been shown during legislative sessions to illustrate how sorely the juvenile justice system needs fixing. "I'm trying to wake people up, make them realize there are lives at stake," he said. "At the same time, I don't, I can't, position myself as the great hope. I might not be able to do much but listen. But I think I'm a good listener, and I think these kids deserve to tell their stories." Richard Ross is a photographer based in California. You can follow his Juvenile in Justice project on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. +(CNN)[Breaking news update, posted 9:04 p.m. ET] . The live stream from what is believed to be the wreck of the World War II battleship Musashi in the waters around the Philippines began at 9:03 a.m. local time (9:03 p.m. ET) Friday. An underwater camera showed various sections of the ship, which displaced 69,000 tons when it was built, putting it in the largest class of battleships at that time. [Previous story, posted at 7:47 p.m. ET] . It's a journey beneath the waves and back in time. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen plans to live-stream an underwater tour of a wreck off the Philippine coast that's believed to be the remains of a long-lost World War II Japanese battleship. Allen, a philanthropist, said last week that he and his research team had discovered the wreck of the Musashi, which was once one of the two largest warships in the world. They had been searching for the ship for more than eight years. After the discovery last week, the team shared photos and video footage of parts of the vessel. Now, they're planning to take viewers on a real-time tour of the wreck with the unmanned submersible they used to find it at a depth of around 1 kilometer (3,280 feet). The live-stream is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Friday, Philippines time (9 p.m. Thursday, ET). It's expected to show various parts of the warship, including the bow and stern sections and the conning tower. Launched in 1940, the Musashi was, at the time, the largest class of warship ever constructed, displacing more than 69,000 tons. It was one of two Yamato-class battleships constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship sank on October 24, 1944, during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the central Philippines. According to U.S. Navy documents, torpedo planes from U.S. aircraft carriers scored at least 10 hits on the battleship over the course of four hours. Navy dive bombers also hit the ship 16 times, but it was the torpedo hits that doomed the Musashi. More than 1,000 of the Musashi's crew were killed during the battle and sinking. Over 1,300 survivors were taken aboard by other Japanese warships, according to the U.S. Navy report. "We are proud to have played a role in finding this key vessel in naval history and are honored to share it with the survivors, the families of those who perished and the world," Allen said in a statement. He has said his long fascination with World War II history was inspired by his father's service in the U.S. Army. Last week, he tweeted images of the wreck, including one that he said showed the bow of the ship -- featuring a distinctive chrysanthemum, the emblem of Japan's royal family -- and a big anchor. Another photo showed valves on which the Japanese characters for "main valve handle" and "open" are legible. Robert Kraft, director of subsea operations for Allen's Vulcan company, who will provide commentary during the live-stream, spoke more about the process. "We used historical records from four countries, detailed undersea topographical data and advanced technology to identify the wreckage as the Musashi," he said. "That moment of discovery was exhilarating." Kazushige Todaka, the director of Japan's Kure Maritime Museum, said last week after viewing the information posted by Allen that it appeared that the vessel was the Musashi, although pictures of the entire body of the ship were needed to know for sure. Todaka said, given the location and the depth at which the wreck was found, he was "90% sure" that the ship was the Musashi. "I was really surprised because the location of the sunken ship has never been identified since it went down," he said. "I have heard countless stories in the past that the ship was discovered, but they all turned out not to be true." Todaka said Allen's team had been in contact with the museum about the expedition and the ship's potential location. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki and Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)Well-off North Koreans really love baguettes -- and the country is dispatching citizens outside its borders to learn how to make them, says a report by a pro-North Korea newspaper based in Japan. According to the Choson Sinbo, a North Korean factory sent its staff abroad in an attempt to improve its food products -- which include baguettes and sweet potato cakes. No word yet on whether they've succeeded. But it's not the first time North Korea has sent its citizens into the world to seeking culinary skills. Last April, officials from the reclusive authoritarian state traveled to the National Dairy Industry College in Franche-Comte, eastern France, in an attempt to master the art of cheese making. But they were turned away at the door. "There is no basis to go further with North Korea because such a partnership does not fit into our priorities and strategy," its director Veronique Drouet told AFP. North Korea's Kumkop food plant isn't just focused on French food, though. In January, North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim Jong Un toured the factory and asked it to produce chewing gum. Food security remains poor for most North Koreans. The World Food Programme reported a "severe" food availability situation in the country last September, with rations dipping to their lowest level in three years. +(CNN)Legendary fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are in a public spat with pop music icon Elton John over some eyebrow-raising comments the pair made about gay parenting. Long against same-sex marriage, the Italian designers -- who are not only openly gay, but were once a couple -- took their counterintuitive rhetoric to the next level this weekend when Dolce said in an interview: . "You are born to a mother and a father -- or at least that's how it should be. I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog." John, who along with his husband David Furnish is raising two children that were conceived through IVF, took to Twitter to essentially say "Oh no he didn't," followed by "#BoycottDolceGabbana" because nothing expresses anger quite like a hashtag. Not to be outdone, the pair responded with #BoycottEltonJohn. So what should we make of all this boycott talk? Combined, the three men are worth an estimated $3 billion. The openly gay Ricky Martin, who is raising two boys via a surrogate mother, sided with John (but he's only worth an estimated $60 million, so I'm not sure if anyone noticed). Regardless, while I find the archaic thinking of Dolce and Gabbana disappointing, the truth is my budget boycotted their clothing years ago. Some of it's really nice. But I just can't afford to spend $500 on a T-shirt. And even if I could, I don't know how I would justify doing so with a kid to put through college. That's why I find this whole ultra rich on ultra rich violence so disconnected from the reality most of us on Twitter are living. Boycott? Besides the 1%, who the hell is buying Dolce and Gabbana regularly enough to actually call the act of not buying their clothing a "boycott"? That's a little like me saying I'm upset with the way James Dolan is running the New York Knicks so I refuse to play for him. Even misguided consumers wallowing in debt and living way above their means likely do not have enough credit cards to keep up with the purchasing power of the Elton Johns of this world. (No lie -- the online store has a pair of "Polka Dot Print Slim Fit Denim Jeans" for $795. And you still have to pay for shipping. And there's also a cotton vest on sale for $795. A COTTON VEST!!) Here's an idea: Considering it can cost about $20,000 for each attempt at IVF, and the procedure has roughly a 40% success rate, I would say the vast majority of people who were the direct targets of Dolce's words are not using their expendable cash to buy their clothing anyway. If John, Martin, Courtney Love and other ultra-rich celebrities really want to leverage their celebrity to ignite a movement we can buy into (pun intended) take that would-be Dolce and Gabanna money and start an endowment for those who can't afford IVF treatments. Or consider "Modern Family's" Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who tweeted he wanted to unload his Dolce and Gabanna suits in a way that would help those who can't afford the IVF treatments. Retweeting a hashtag is a great way to publicly shame. But crowdsourcing among the 1% could make a difference in the lives of people who so desperately want to be parents that they mortgage their homes trying. It also creates a medium in which us regular folks can legitimately express our disappointment in the designers' words and not take the convenient route via blogs and hashtag activism. And yes, I realize I'm criticizing myself as well. But I have some self-awareness. When you tweet "Je Suis D&G" -- thus comparing your PR nightmare to the one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in recent Europe history -- you don't. +(CNN)An Indiana jury sentenced a woman who says she had a miscarriage to 20 years in prison. In 2013, Purvi Patel showed up at a hospital emergency room suffering from severe vaginal bleeding. According to court documents, at first she denied that she had been pregnant but later told doctors that she had a miscarriage and delivered a stillborn fetus which, she said, she placed in a bag in a dumpster. Patel was later charged with feticide and felony neglect of a dependent, though these charges are decidedly contradictory. "Feticide" would require Patel to have terminated a pregnancy while the fetus was still in the womb. On the other hand, "felony neglect of a dependent" requires delivering a live fetus and then neglecting it. As Amanda Marcotte of Slate pointed out in February, Patel "was convicted both of killing a baby and killing a fetus." The only thing more preposterous than this is that Patel was charged in the first place. The evidence against her has been shaky from the start. Initially, police questioned Patel when she was still in the hospital without an attorney present. Prosecutors would later introduce text messages indicating that Patel had purchased miscarriage-inducing drugs, but there was no evidence Patel took the drugs. In fact, they didn't show up in blood tests just after she miscarried. Nonetheless, after five hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Patel of two entirely contradictory crimes based on entirely circumstantial evidence. And on March 30, 2015, she was given a 30-year-sentence on the felony neglect charge, 10 of which were suspended. She'll serve a concurrent six-year sentence for feticide. Patel is the second pregnant woman to be charged under Indiana's anti-choice "feticide" law. In 2011, Bei Bei Shuai was charged with feticide after she attempted to commit suicide when she was eight months pregnant. In 2013, lawyers announced Shuai had reached a plea agreement just before her trial was set to begin. Still, both cases presented troubled pregnant women who needed help from medical authorities and their government. But Indiana's harsh anti-abortion laws, and the broader culture that seeks to control the decisions pregnant women can make about their own bodies, make women far less likely to reach out for this help. Conservatives like to say that women are the "victims of abortion" and that laws such as the Indiana "feticide" measure are intended to "protect" them. Years ago, the president of the anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List made assurances that the specter of women being prosecuted and jailed under anti-choice laws was nothing more than fearmongering by pro-choice activists. The website of the Ohio Right to Life association similarly argues that "no one is interested in sending women to jail." And in fact, the Indiana "feticide" law was plainly intended to criminalize "knowing or intentional termination of another's pregnancy." But there's no escaping the reality it has been used to turn pregnant women into criminals. So much for not sending women to jail. Those who care about the rights of pregnant women should be deeply concerned. After all, Patel was convicted based on text messages about miscarriage-inducing drugs, not evidence she had used or even purchased such drugs. In Shuai's case, it was presumed that the intent of her attempted suicide was to terminate her pregnancy and thus she was charged with feticide. So what else might be considered a "deliberate attempt" to terminate one's own pregnancy? If a woman knew about the risks of too vigorous exercise and miscarriage but exercised anyway? Merely googling abortion-inducing drugs? Telling a friend you've thought about having an abortion? The message from Purvi Patel's conviction is clear. After all, there have always been and will always be women who try to terminate their pregnancies. Laws like Indiana's and cases like Patel's don't change that. What they do is make women hide, avoid medical attention and put their lives at even greater risk. In Texas, which last year enacted some of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the nation and shuttered the majority of its abortion services clinics, abortion rates have indeed declined but not in proportion to the severity of such measures. Researchers suggest that's partly because rates of self-abortion, which then go unreported in the statistics, are increasing. And anecdotal evidence suggests this is the case. Before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute, the number of illegal abortions in the 1950s and 1960s ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year. New anti-choice restrictions and prosecutions won't change the fact that women will sometimes choose to terminate their pregnancies. It simply restricts their options to do so. Ask yourself: In the case of Purvi Patel, even if she did intend to self-abort and used black market drugs to do so, and if she indeed delivered a live fetus, wouldn't we want to live in a society where she would bring that baby to the hospital for life-saving medical attention rather than be so afraid of prosecution that she threw it in a dumpster? Purvi Patel is reportedly appealing her conviction. We should all appeal to logic and sanity and compassion and repeal these horrid anti-choice, anti-pregnancy laws. +(CNN)Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the government is seeking to confirm reports that an Australian teenager has carried out a suicide attack on behalf of ISIS in Iraq. "I can confirm that the Australian government is currently seeking to independently verify reports that 18-year-old Melbourne teenager Jake Bilardi has been killed in a suicide bombing attack in the Middle East," she told reporters. "If these reports are confirmed, this is another tragic example of a young Australian being lured to a senseless and violent death by a brutal terrorist organization that is intent on imposing suffering and misery not only in Iraq and Syria but beyond." On Wednesday, ISIS claimed that "Abu Abdullah al-Australi," along with four other foreign fighters, had been killed while carrying out suicide attacks during an offensive launched on the city of Ramadi in Iraq. The claim, issued on a Twitter account associated with the Anbar provincial division of ISIS, was accompanied by a series of 20 images, including a photo of a young man who looked like Bilardi. The image appeared to show Bilardi at the wheel of a car with the caption, "Abu Abdullah al-Australi (may Allah accept him), the attacker on the 8th Brigade." The other attackers hailed from Belgium, Syria, Uzbekistan and the Caucasus, the Twitter account claimed. Victoria police said Bilardi first came to their attention when his family reported him missing last year. A search of his family's home in the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn following his disappearance uncovered chemicals that could be used to make an explosive device, police said, although no actual bombs were found. Bishop said Bilardi's passport had been canceled in October on the advice of Australian security agencies. Australian media have reported that Bilardi kept a since-deleted blog, written under his alias Abu Abdullah al-Australi. Entitled "From Melbourne to Ramadi: My Journey," it reportedly detailed his transition from an "atheist school student in affluent Melbourne to a soldier of the Khilafah preparing to sacrifice my life for Islam." The blog reportedly described a plan to attack targets in Melbourne, after an initial attempt to move to Iraq or Syria failed. "This plan involved launching a string of bombings across Melbourne, targeting foreign consulates and political/military targets as well as grenade and knife attacks on shopping centres and cafes and culminating with myself detonating a belt of explosives amongst the kuffar," he wrote, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Member of Bilardi's family have linked the teen's radicalization to the loss of his mother from cancer. "He's just a young boy that went looking for something after he lost someone very very dear to him, his mother," his aunt, Connie Bilardi, told CNN affiliate Seven on Monday. A former classmate of Bilardi's from Melbourne's Craigieburn Secondary College described the teen on Facebook as a "shy kid who didn't like to be disturbed". "One day, he randomly got angry at me and tried to punch me," he posted. "Always keep an eye out on the quiet ones." A former penpal of Bilardi told CNN he cut off communication with the teenager about two years ago, when Bilardi started posting Islamic extremist messages on his Facebook page. The friend, who requested not to be named, said he first met Bilardi on the website interpals.net about seven years ago. They shared a love for soccer -- Bilardi was a supporter of Chelsea Football Club -- and became penpals. Bilardi told him about his mother's death, and confided that he was fighting with his family, because they would not allow him to go overseas to study. The penpal said he started noticing a change in Bilardi's behavior when the teen started posting "things that supported Osama bin Laden" on Facebook. "I got scared," the friend said. "My friends here told me that maybe I should stop talking to him." He blocked Bilardi on the social networking site about two years ago. After a while, he said, he got curious about how his old penpal was doing. "I thought he was my friend. I wanted to make sure he was okay... I sent him an email saying 'Are you well?' but he never wrote back." Bishop said that 90 Australian citizens are in Iraq and Syria fighting on the side of ISIS, and that at least 20 Australians have been killed in the conflict. The passports of some 100 Australians had been canceled on national security grounds, she said. Bishop appealed to young Australians "not to fall victim to this brutal terrorist organization, to not be lured into believing that they're embarking on some adventure or some romantic endeavor." "This is a brutal organization dedicated to creating misery and hardship," she said. "Its activities of beheadings and executions and crucifixions all take us back to the dark ages." Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott addressed Bilardi's alleged suicide attack in comments to the press Thursday. This is a horrific situation -- an absolutely horrific situation -- and it shows the lure of this death cult to impressionable youngsters," he said. "It's very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking alien and extreme ideology." Last week, two Australian teen brothers were arrested at Sydney Airport on suspicion of trying to leave the country to join ISIS. CNN's Jennifer Z. Deaton, Naomi Ng and Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report. +Atlanta (CNN)The daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, in a medically induced coma after being found unresponsive in January, has been moved to a rehabilitation facility, a source close to the family said Friday. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 22, had been treated at Emory University Hospital. No details about the transfer to a rehab facility were given. Brown, Houston's daughter with singer Bobby Brown, was found unresponsive January 31 in a bathtub at her home in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell. The extent of her injuries isn't known. Last month, doctors at Emory removed her breathing tube, allowing Brown to be ventilated through a hole in her throat. At the time, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta said the procedure suggested she would need to be on such support for "weeks and months to come." Police have said they are treating Brown's case as a criminal investigation. When Houston died in 2012, she was also found in a bathtub. A coroner ruled her death an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. Brown is Houston's only child. Brown's boyfriend, Nick Gordon, says he performed CPR after finding Brown in the tub. Gordon has complained that Brown's family has not allowed him to see her, but Bobby Brown said last month that Gordon simply refused to abide by the family's terms for a visit. CNN's Sunny Hostin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Gov. Mike Pence unleashed a firestorm on Indiana last week when he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Critics of the law contend it could be used by individuals and businesses to discriminate -- particularly against the LGBT community of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals -- on the basis of religion. The ramifications for the Hoosier State are just starting to be felt in the form of boycotts, petitions and travel bans. As the controversy mushrooms, here's what got us to where we are. And where things are headed. Last week, Pence put his signature on the RFRA -- a law that allows Indiana businesses to cite their religious freedom as a legal defense. The law states that the government can't "substantially burden a person's exercise of religion" and that individuals who feel like their religious beliefs have been or could be "substantially burdened" can lean on this law to fend off lawsuits. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Pence says the RFRA "ensures that Indiana law will respect religious freedom and apply the highest level of scrutiny to any state or local governmental action that infringes on people's religious liberty." Pence notes that there is no reference to sexual orientation in the law. Civil liberties and gay rights groups hold to their stance that the law could be used by businesses to deny service to people based on their sexual orientation and justify that discrimination based on their religious belief. "Silence is consent!" tweets Laurel Davilia, a commentator on Brass Knuckles Progressives Radio. From sports teams to musicians to other cities and states, they fell like dominoes. The NCAA, which is headquartered in Indianapolis and set to host its men's basketball Final Four in the city this week, said the law could lead it to move events elsewhere in future years. The NBA, WNBA and NFL issued critical statements too. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay says fans of all stripes are welcome. "The Colts have always embraced inclusiveness, tolerance, and a diverse fan base," Irsay tweets. "We welcome ALL fans to Colts Nation. ONE FAMILY!" A petition posted on change.org hopes to get the Big Ten Conference to move its football championship out of Indianapolis. "I think that Indiana needs to be told that it must respect all persons regardless of sex, age, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation," Sean Burke of Madison, Wisconsin, says in the petition. "As a football fan, I think we can send a message by calling on the NCAA and Big Ten Conference to take a stand." Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is scheduled to host the league's championship game through the 2021 season. At last check, the petition had more than 11,000 supporters. The mayors of San Francisco and Seattle have barred spending on travel to Indiana. The governors of Connecticut and Washington state did the same thing. And you can add Wilco to the boycott bandwagon. The group is canceling its May 7 show in Indianapolis, it says on Facebook. "The 'Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act' feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination to us," Wilco says. "Hope to get back to the Hoosier State someday soon, when this odious measure is repealed." Cher is among the artists speaking out. Her son Chaz Bono is a transgender man. "#GOVPENCE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF RIGHT WING RACISM, ASAULT ON WOMANS RIGHTS & HATRED OF LGBT AMERICANS," she tweets. Indiana's top two state lawmakers pledged Monday to amend the state's controversial "religious freedom" law to clarify that it cannot be used to discriminate against gay people. "This law does not discriminate, and it will not be allowed to do so," David Long, the Indiana Senate president pro tem, said during a news conference with state House Speaker Brian Bosma. Pence had said earlier that he was working with lawmakers to clarify the law. Critics still weren't on board with the anti-discrimination claims. Opponents of RFRA marched around the state capitol. Someone even created a satire ad: "Indiana. It's a great place to be a bigot.". The rhetoric has reached such a fever pitch that a front page editorial in Tuesday's edition of the Indianapolis Star blares the headline: "Fix. This. Now." The editorial suggests the RFRA and protections for gays and lesbians can co-exist. The state is at a crossroads it says. "(N)o matter its original intent (the law) already has done enormous harm to our state and potentially our economic future," according to the editorial. "Only bold action -- action that sends an unmistakable message to the world that our state will not tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens -- will be enough to reverse the damage." The editorial closes with: . "Governor, Indiana is in a state of crisis. It is worse than you seem to understand. "You must act with courage and wisdom. You must lead us forward now. You must ensure that all Hoosiers have strong protections against discrimination. "The laws can co-exist. And so can we." Some of the GOP's top figures are backing Pence despite the controversy. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio have voiced their support. Both are considered likely Republican candidates for the White House. Sen. Ted Cruz, who announced his candidacy last week, is also on board. "I'm proud to stand with Gov. @mike_pence for religious liberty, and I urge Americans to do the same," Cruz tweets. Indiana is the 20th state to adopt a "religious freedom restoration" law, most of which are modeled after the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993. But that law passed with the backing of a broad-based coalition and wasn't set against the backdrop of gay rights or the wave of marriage equality laws that have swept the country in recent years. Adam Talbot, a spokesman with the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, stresses that those 20 laws are "dramatically different in their scope and effect." "Calling them similar in this way risks being misleading. Indiana is the broadest and most dangerous law of its kind in the country," Talbot says. Arkansas' legislature passed an Indiana-style law on Friday, which now heads to the state's governor for approval. Despite the controversy, the Indiana governor says concerns that his state's new "religious freedom" law will allow businesses to turn away LGBT customers is the result of a "tremendous amount of misinformation and misunderstanding." Still, he was hard pressed to explain why that wasn't the case. Given a chance on Sunday to add some clarity, Pence refused to answer at least six yes-or-no questions from ABC's George Stephanopoulos about whether the measure legalizes discrimination against gays and lesbians. Jeremy Diamond and Eric Bradner contributed to this report. +Washington (CNN)A Florida "dream ticket," two nuggets about leadership questions in Congress and coming tests for Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich filled our final March trip around the "Inside Politics" table. 1. Another "Draft Warren" movement? If you follow politics, you have heard this one: Liberals say Elizabeth Warren has to run for president because Hillary Clinton is too cozy with Wall Street. And now that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is planning to retire -- creating an opening in the top Senate Democratic job -- you are about to hear this: Warren has to run for leader because Chuck Schumer is too cozy with Wall Street. The senator from Massachusetts is likely to give the same answer as she did on a presidential run, but Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast says the liberal clamoring tells us something about anxiety on the left. "What this does show is there is a lot of skepticism with the base with Chuck Schumer, because he's so close to Wall Street, and it's an issue they've really been hammering on," Kucinich said. "So watch for more of that, because I have a feeling that they are going to make their voices heard, through Warren or not." 2. A good week for Boehner. Yes, you read that right. It has been a rocky year for House Speaker John Boehner, but his allies think they may have just turned a corner. The House of Representatives passed the Republican budget last week as well as a big Medicare change known as the "doc fix" because it clarifies reimbursement rates to Medicare providers. NPR's Juana Summers shared reporting on how Team Boehner hopes that ending the month with a little momentum will carry over when other big legislative battles come to the fore. "Part of (his success) is because of the speaker's willingness to use unconventional tactics, to work with Democrat Nancy Pelosi for that Medicare reform," Summers said. "Congress has a lot of big deadlines when they return. So whether or not he can hold onto that power instead of seeing it slip will be really fascinating." 3. Bush-Rubio? Rubio-Bush? Watch the real estate listings! Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio both call Florida home. And both want to be the Republican nominee for president. They also happen to be on friendly terms. So among Florida Republicans who love them both -- there is talk of a "dream ticket." Of course, it won't happen. Can't happen. Rules and all that pertaining to the president and vice president coming from the same state. (Dick Cheney changed his residency from Texas to Wyoming right before joining the George W. Bush ticket.) But Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post said the obstacles aren't preventing Florida Republicans from doing a little dreaming. "They say, look, Bush has all this executive experience, he's bilingual, he has a Mexican-American wife," O'Keefe said. "Rubio is young. He has an interest in foreign policy. Why not?" 4. Ted Cruz wants to "rock" the youth vote. Much was made of the fact that Liberty University students had no choice but to attend the campus convocation at which Ted Cruz announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. But it gave Cruz a big crowd -- and Robert Costa of The Washington Post reports that Team Cruz is determined to build a relationship with young conservatives such as those on hand for the announcement. "He's playing at a lot of happy hours with young conservatives in the coming weeks and months," Costa said. "And he really believes he can ignite those young conservatives, who aren't really familiar with Bush and are looking for someone new." 5. Is Kasich waiting for a "summer wave"? John Kasich had a well-regarded visit to New Hampshire last week. And he got a decent buzz out of a New York fund-raising stop, too. So is he ready to launch and join the crowded GOP 2016 presidential field? Not so fast. Two New Hampshire Republicans keeping close tabs on GOP visitors say he wouldn't give a firm answer about his intentions -- something they took as a hesitation to run. A national GOP source plugged into to the Kasich operation says the governor hasn't made a firm decision, and is talking about waiting until the summer to make a final call. That, too, is interpreted widely as a reluctance to run. This national source said Kasich is one of two GOP governors who want to wait and see if those in the current field stumble after their official spring rollouts and create an opening for a "summer wave" of new entries. The other, according to this source, is GOP Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. +Washington (CNN)There should be plenty of pent-up anticipation among cherry blossom fans in Washington this spring. Peak blooms are expected at the tail end of the three-week-long National Cherry Blossom Festival, which kicks off Friday and runs through April 12. The fluttering pink and white blossoms are expected to hit their peak between April 11 and April 14. Here are five things to know about the eagerly awaited D.C. blossoms: . The city's first cherry trees were destroyed . In 1910, 2,000 cherry trees arrived in Washington, thanks to a gift from the city of Tokyo and the advocacy of Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, one of the first female board members of the National Geographic Society. These trees, however, were riddled with disease and were destroyed. Two years later, first lady Helen Herron Taft planted one of the first of more than 3,000 replacement trees sent from Japan. Winter's almost over: See the proof . The festival was launched more than 20 years later . It wasn't until 1935 that civic groups and the D.C. government came together to hold the first "Cherry Blossom Festival." That first official festival came after smaller commemorations including a three-day celebration in 1934 and a 1927 re-enactment of the original planting of the trees by a group of Washington school children. It's not all about cherry trees . That's right, there's a Blossom Kite Festival right in the middle of the cherry blossom festivities on March 28th. The festival consists of a hot tricks showdown, learning how to make and fly kites, and there's even a kite doctor on site to repair broken kites. Two types of trees dominate . In the 1912 gift of trees to Washington, there were 12 different varieties. Today, two varieties are dominant -- Yoshino and Kwanzan. Kwanzan trees are usually found in the East Potomac Park area and produce pink blossoms. The Yoshino, which produce white blossoms, are closer to the northern part of the Tidal Basin near the Washington Monument. Descendants of the original trees live in Japan . In 2011, about 120 trees propagated from D.C.'s surviving 1912 trees were sent back to Japan to preserve the genetic lineage of the symbolic trees. Over the years, cuttings from the original trees have also been returned to Japan for horticultural projects. +(CNN)The end of "Jinx," the six-part HBO documentary about real estate heir Robert Durst, has launched a debate about whether some potentially incriminating statements Durst made while in the bathroom to a microphone may be used in his criminal prosecution. Durst, as you probably heard, is charged with murder in a killing in California 15 years ago, and he has been suspected, but never charged, in the disappearance of his first wife in New York. Whether or not the taped words of an accused person will be admissible against him involves a look at the rules of evidence and the Constitution, as well as our fast-evolving ideas about privacy. While Durst's attorneys can make a number of arguments to suppress these statements and bar their admission at trial, the bathroom confessions will likely be factored in. Let's go over three main reasons why: . 1. Is this inadmissible hearsay? Probably not. Hearsay is defined as a statement made outside of court that is offered in court for its truth. It really just means a witness can't testify at trial about someone else's version of the facts. If a sentence starts with "He told me" or "She said that," it's probably hearsay. As general proposition, hearsay is supposed to be inadmissible, but the exceptions nearly swallow the rule itself -- so much so that many commentators have suggested abolishment of the exception-riddled rule itself. Perhaps the largest and best known category of hearsay exceptions is admissions and confessions. These can be admitted against a defendant. Why? Well, the idea is that these statements are reliable. The thinking is that people don't ordinarily confess to something unless they did it. 2. Is this a violation of Durst's constitutional privilege against self-incrimination? Again, probably not. The rules of the U.S. Constitution are a different matter. The Fifth Amendment's self-incrimination clause states that "[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself ..." By definition then, compulsory self-incrimination requires, well, "compulsion." And not just any compulsion. The kind of compulsion targeted by the Fifth Amendment is governmental coercion. Durst may still contend that his "confession" wasn't voluntary. It's true that confessions deemed "involuntary" are often excluded at trial under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. However, a confession will only be considered involuntary if it is the product of police activity. Voluntariness is not an issue when admissions are made to a private person, such as a journalist. What of Durst's likely claim that the filmmakers were essentially acting as an arm of the police? Sometimes law enforcement exercises so much control over a civilian that his private actions become police action, constitutionally speaking. This is not an easy case for a defendant to make, though. Durst would have to establish that the HBO interviewers were direct agents of the police and that the interview was coerced by police. The police undoubtedly benefited from the work of these citizen documentarians. But the police frequently benefit from the work of good Samaritans or citizens volunteering information, photos or iPhone videos. The television show "America's Most Wanted" has been premised on this idea for decades. Given the defendant's burden here, it's unlikely that he can convince a judge that, in light of all the circumstances, filmmakers acted as an instrument or agent of police. The bottom line is this: A voluntary confession must be the product of a rational intellect and a free will, not physical intimidation or psychological pressure. How was Durst "pressured" when alone in the bathroom? However, his attorneys might argue that some mental impairment rendered him incapable of the necessary rational intellect and free will. 3. Can Durst argue for some "reasonable expectation of privacy" that was violated by his being taped in the bathroom? Not in our modern world, and not in this case. Perhaps in decades past, a court might be offended at an audio recording of someone in the bathroom, but things have changed. Subjects of documentaries and reality TV stars alike routinely sign contracts allowing camera crews to pin a microphone to their lapels and follow them around 24 hours a day. Moreover, everyone in the television news business has a story about some famous correspondent going to the bathroom and forgetting about their "hot" mic. In this brave new media world, the rule appears to be: You wear a lavalier microphone at your own risk. This is why defense attorneys tell clients to not give interviews. No matter how good an interviewee a client may be, audio and video editors have an uncanny knack for isolating the less than flattering sound bites. Admitting to killing "them all" would fall into this category. When it comes to giving interviews, it's probably better for defendants such as Durst to keep silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt, especially doubt of the reasonable kind. +(CNN)"The Stomp" remains one of the most controversial plays in NCAA history -- when Duke's Christian Laettner lifted his foot and stepped on Kentucky's Aminu Timberlake during a critical moment of what has been called the greatest college basketball game ever played, the 1992 NCAA East Regional Final. Mention The Stomp in a diner or bar in Kentucky and you best be prepared for a string of expletives -- from the blue-haired elders to the wealthiest thoroughbred trainers -- about how Laettner is the vilest human on Earth. Then, the woulda, coulda, shouldas begin: Laettner should've been kicked out; he should never have been in the game to hit that miraculous shot; Kentucky should've advanced to the Final Four. The Stomp returned to headlines this week after ESPN aired a "30 for 30" documentary called "I Hate Christian Laettner," detailing the life of one of the best players to ever play college ball and why he remains a lightning rod to this day. When it comes to The Stomp, Laettner says he decided to give a "little payback" while Timberlake lay helpless on the ground. If Kentucky fans needed more reason to hate Laettner, those words might've been it. But on Twitter, Laettner issued a video apology to Timberlake, the first time he'd ever done so: . Timberlake could've lashed back, but he's too classy for that. He is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He remains active in basketball, coaching an eighth-grade girls travel-team in Atlanta. (In full transparency, I coached with him last year.) He responded to Laettner, saying he appreciates and accepts the apology. But he makes it clear where his loyalty lies. At the end of his 23-second message, Timberlake's voice turns into a smooth baritone and he ends with: "Go Big Blue." Timberlake doesn't dwell on The Stomp. The thing he prefers to remember from that game was the honor of playing in it -- and the locker room speech by Coach Rick Pitino after the game. Pitino held up an old Sports Illustrated cover that said the Kentucky program was in shambles. Pitino told his players that although they lost on the court, his players had done something much bigger: They'd put Kentucky basketball back on the map. "It put a lot of things in perspective, especially for a young team in a program that had just returned from heavy NCAA sanctions," Timberlake says. "All I remember is working with our heads down, attacking every practice and every game to the best of our ability. And that speech just reminded us of what was accomplished through that hard work, even in a loss." That is a message, he says, that still resonates in his life: "Sometimes you don't see the full picture and don't reap the immediate rewards of your work, but 9 times out of 10 good things do happen." Timberlake has had fun with The Stomp over the years, even donning a "I Still Hate Laettner" T-shirt that was given to him and posing with fans when Kentucky and Duke played a couple years ago. He jokes that he's not sure if he was "a true hater" of Laettner like so many others. But that game will never quite sit well with Kentucky players and fans. However, Timberlake says the documentary gave him a new perspective on Laettner that he thought he'd never have. "I can really respect his accomplishments, his basketball career and his passion for the game," Timberlake says. Don't get him wrong. Timberlake still bleeds Kentucky blue. He'd love to see Kentucky play Duke for the title this year, this time with the Wildcats walking away as the winners. Face off against your favorite anchors in the CNN March Madness bracket challenge . +(CNN)Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been ordered to stand trial over her role in a controversial rice subsidy scheme that cost the country billions. The first court hearing will take place on May 19, a statement from Thailand's supreme court said. "This case falls under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions ... and the charges brought [against Yingluck] are accepted," the statement said. If found guilty, she could face up to 10 years in prison. On her Facebook page, Yingluck said she behaved with integrity and honesty during her time as prime minister. "I pledge that I have followed correct proceedings of the constitution, laws of the country in every way." The rice subsidy program, introduced in 2011, pledged to pay farmers well above the market rate for their crop. But critics said it wasted large amounts of public funds trying to please rural voters, hurting exports and leaving the government with large stockpiles of rice it couldn't sell without losing money. Anger over the scheme played a role in the protests that led to the downfall of Yingluck's government and a military coup in May last year. In January, Thailand's military-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) voted in favor of impeaching Yingluck for her role in the rice program. Though the vote was largely symbolic, as she had already lost her post, it carries a five-year ban from politics. CNN's Kocha Olarn and journalist Kiki Dhitavat in Bangkok contributed to this report. +Omoa, Honduras (CNN)Alexis González walks slowly and with some hesitation, using the outside wall of his house for balance. "I'm getting used to the prosthesis," the 16-year-old says. He tries to smile, but an expression of sadness quickly returns to his face. When he was 15, González made a decision that would forever change his life -- to leave Omoa, an impoverished village in Honduras -- with dreams of getting to the United States. At the end of the trek -- about 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) across Mexico and Guatemala -- he saw hope, school, a job and the chance to send money home. "Sometimes we don't even have food to eat and I also wanted to get a higher education," González says. His mother was singlehandedly raising nine children, working odd jobs in restaurants and the nearby fields. They lived in a single room, an adobe house with dirt floors built on a steep and muddy hill. Chickens being raised for food roamed around the structure. González says his father left the family when he was little boy. When Gonzalez left in January 2014, he didn't ask his mother for permission. He only left a letter telling her about his plans. "I wouldn't have let him go," his mother Mercedes Meléndez says. "When he left I went looking for him everywhere." She even went to Corinto on the Honduras-Guatemala border to ask authorities if they had seen him, she says. González says he traveled by land through Honduras and Guatemala with a teenage cousin. They took the bus and also walked and hitch-hiked in some places. Once in Mexico, they got on the cargo train migrants call "The Beast." Migrants get a risky, but free ride clinging to the outside of the train. Violent gangs sometimes board the train to rape, rob and kill migrants. Those without money to pay off the gangsters are thrown off, sometimes to their deaths in deep ravines or sharp rocks. González says he never faced any gangs. Things seem to be going well for him and his cousin for a while. They had been traveling for a few days on the train and were excited at nearing the U.S.-Mexico border and crossing into the land of their dreams. But they were also tired. They ate what they could, but were unable to sleep for more than an hour at a time. They were hanging onto the grate above the train car's couplers. "We used our own sweaters to tie ourselves to the train so we wouldn't fall off," González says. But tragedy was just around the corner. Somehow, he doesn't know how, he fell off the train while sleeping. He woke up bleeding profusely. "The train had severed my right leg and part of my left heel," he says. He was eventually rescued by the Mexican Red Cross and taken to a hospital where he recovered for a month. He stayed at a shelter for wounded migrants for another two months. There he was fitted with a prosthesis free of charge. It's not difficult to find stories of minors in Central America who have lost limbs, been kidnapped or died while trying to travel through Mexico with the dream of migrating to the United States. Juan Armando Enamorado, a 22-year-old who lives in the coastal town of Tela, Honduras, says he almost lost his life at 17 when he jumped off the train, fleeing from gangs. "They got on the train to steal money from people. When I heard they were coming, I jumped off the train traveling at more than 30 mph," he says. Enamorado says he was barely able to make it to the nearest town after walking for four days without food and very little water. Children are fleeing endemic poverty and drug violence in Central America. Last year, U.S. immigration authorities in the United States detained nearly 18,000 minors from Honduras as they were trying to cross the border without documents. Altogether, more than 67,000 minors, mainly from Central America, were detained, according to U.S. government figures. To understand why children are fleeing in droves, CNN traveled to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The second largest city in the country. It has the highest reported murder rate in the world. Violence is fueled by turf wars between two powerful gangs that control entire neighborhoods. The Honduran government is trying to change this harsh reality by deploying security forces to hotspots. Vilma Maldonado says her son was forced to leave because of death threats from gangs when he was only 15 years old. He left La Lima, just outside San Pedro Sula, four years ago at the age of 19. The last time she heard from him he was in Monterrey, Mexico, hoping to cross into the United States. "Sometimes I think he's dead," Maldonado says crying. "But then I seek refuge in God and try to think the opposite and ask God to take these ideas out of my mind because if I'm trusting God you have to have faith that my son is still alive." For Monsignor Rómulo Emiliani, Auxiliary Bishop of San Pedro Sula, the migration of Central American children to the United States is a regional disgrace. "It's something terrible, sad and shameful for us Hondurans that nearly 18,000 of our children have desperately left because of hunger and violence. It's a slap on our faces and there are people that don't care about these 18,000 children. "Can you imagine the trip for a child who's 4, 6, 10, 12 years old all the way to the United States? Many girls have been fondled and raped by the smugglers," Monsignor Emiliani says. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández says his country has fallen victim to powerful criminal organizations fueled by drug dollars and weapons coming from the north and drugs from the south, but insists his government is working hard to stem the tide. "We have our own responsibility. We accept that and we're doing our work. We are pushing this forward with all that we have. Other countries are responsible for this war that we're living," President Hernández says. Back in Omoa, Mercedes Meléndez, the mother of Alexis González, says she's deeply worried about her son. "He has told me that he's depressed. He has recently been better, but he used to say he wanted to die. I was getting very worried because he said that he wanted to kill himself," Meléndez says. The teenager says he now draws and writes to forget. He shows us a drawing of a family of four holding hands. He uses pastel colors and soft features in the drawing and inscribed words like "happy," "love," and "I love you" throughout. He may never be able to go to college or help his family the way he wanted. But asked if he regrets his decision to leave, he says he doesn't: the rewards were so high, it was worth the incredible risk. And for countless others like him -- from across Central America -- the same is true. And they will keep trying. +(CNN)A lot of people have ventured to Paraguay over the years in search of some sort of a dream. My great-great-grandfather, Jean Bourdain, was one of them. I've looked for this mysterious ancestor before -- in Uruguay, with my younger brother Chris. We were disappointed when our trail ran cold. We were left with a cryptic reference to the news that Jean had died in Asuncion, Paraguay. Which raised the questions: "What the hell was he doing in Paraguay?" And "Where is Paraguay, anyway?" Roots: Our Journeys Home . It's certainly a country few of us know much about. Landlocked by its better-known neighbors, Paraguay is probably best known for being a hideout for escaped Nazis and for a succession of truly spectacularly lurid, out-of-a-comic-book dictatorships -- the last being the administration of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner. It's certainly a country few of us know much about. Landlocked by its better-known neighbors, Paraguay is probably best known for being a hideout for escaped Nazis and for a succession of truly spectacularly lurid, out-of-a-comic-book dictatorships -- the last being the administration of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner. When I first looked at the possibility of making a television show there, many years ago, descriptions of the country by visitors were not promising: crime, corruption, counterfeiters, failed institutions, looted banks -- in short, a backwater. I thought I'd use the dubious quest for "The Missing Bourdain" as the spine of a show, a framework to investigate one of the least-known nations in the Americas. My crew, looking at various storytelling structures, settled on the terrific film "The Limey" as a rough template. In that film, Terence Stamp, playing a just-out-of-prison career criminal, voyages to Los Angeles in search of answers after the death of his daughter. In this week's "Parts Unknown" episode, I explore Paraguay (and my family's past) in similar nonlinear fashion. It's an amazing-looking show. Everybody who worked on it, handcrafted it, is convinced it's some of their best work. What I found out -- about Paraguay, about my family -- surprised me. I hope it entertains you. +(CNN)John Isner could not keep the United States in the Davis Cup on Sunday, so it was likely small consolation that his incredible tennis milestone remained unbeaten. While the American lost to Andy Murray in Scotland, putting Great Britain into the quarterfinals of the prestigious teams event, halfway across the world an absorbing battle was playing out between two of South America's most bitter rivals. In the end it didn't come close to matching Isner's 11-hour marathon against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, but the fourth rubber in the clash between Argentina and Brazil made its own piece of history. For six hour and 43 minutes, Leonardo Mayer and Joao Souza contested the second-longest singles match in tennis history -- and third longest of any format after a seven-hour doubles clash between Switzerland and the Czech Republic in 2013. Mayer eventually triumphed, after his 11th match point, winning 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 5-7 15-13 in front of a delirious home crowd in Buenos Aires to send the tie to a deciding rubber. It set the scene for Federico Delbonis to take on Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci in the decider -- with the winner to earn a clash with Novak Djokovic's Serbia, a 5-0 victor over Balkan rival Croatia. Delbonis had won the first set 6-3 when play was halted for the day due to bad light. The match will resume on Monday. Meanwhile, back in Glasgow, the British team celebrated after earning a home quarterfinal clash with France on July 17-19, the weekend after the completion of Wimbledon. "It was an incredible experience," said world No. 5 Murray, who beat Isner 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in two and a half hours to give his team a 3-1 lead and ensure a repeat of the result of last year's first-round clash between the two nations. "Playing in front of a home crowd is a bit more pressured, especially today, but I managed to fight my way through the first set and played really well after that." It was the second defeat of the tie for the big-serving Isner, who lost a five-hour five-setter against James Ward on Friday. The Swiss, without leading players Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, crashed out at the first hurdle with a 3-2 defeat in Belgium. Canada makes their way into the quarterfinals for the second time in three years after beating Japan 3-2. Vasek Pospisil led the tie-break victory by defeating Go Soeda in straight sets on Sunday. Canada will face Belgium in July, after Wimbledon concludes. France, beaten by Switzerland in last year's final, went through after beating Germany 3-2 -- losing both of Sunday's meaningless singles rubbers having already secured victory in the doubles 24 hours earlier. Australia conquered three-time champion Czech Republic, a semifinalist last year, with Bernard Tomic clinching victory in the fourth rubber against Lukas Rosol. Seeking a 29th title, but first since 2003, the Australians will next host Kazakhstan -- which defeated Italy 3-2 as Aleksandr Nedovyesov overcame Fabio Fognini in a five-set decider after trailing 2-1. +(CNN)On October 24, 1944, U.S. warplanes swarmed at the Leviathan of battleships, Japan's Musashi, splashing down torpedoes or dive bombing it. It took them four hours and more than 25 direct hits to put one of the two largest war ships in World War II to the bottom of the Philippines' Sibuyan Sea. This month, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and a team of researchers found a sprawling undersea wreck after an eight-year search for the Musashi. Japanese maritime expert Kazushige Todaka is 90% sure they found the right ship after the first images were published earlier in March. And that's a breakthrough. "I have heard countless stories in the past that the ship was discovered, but they all turned out not to be true," Todaka said. Unfortunately, Japanese war ships did not bear their names on their sides, so a full identification takes a while. But the wreckage matched the ship's description, and it had a mount for the Imperial Japanese Navy seal, a chrysanthemum which was made out of teak and rotted away in the ship's 70 years in the sea. On Thursday, Paul Allen's team treated the world to a live tour from the wreck at nearly 4,000 feet under the waves. An unmanned vehicle's spotlights lit up the pitch darkness, revealing crisp high definition images of massive rusted iron in crystal clear turquoise water. The live tour began with one of the Musashi's many death blows -- a warped bow. "What we see here is torpedo damage," said Robert Kraft, the expedition's leader. Torpedoes usually punctured the hull and exploded inside the ship, belling the metal outward. The remote operated vehicle puttered past more fatal damage, as Kraft and his team described it. A big dent pushing inward, he explained, was likely from a torpedo that barely missed the ship, exploding outside the hull, pushing it in. "It's the concussive force next to the ship," he said. The submersible showed multiple hits right under the Musashi's main gun, perhaps the most powerful naval cannon at that time. It weighed 270 tons, and gunners had to duck into a blast shelter before firing it to keep from getting killed. While in the Musashi's death throes, the gun discharged one time before everyone took cover and blew sailors off the ship's deck, Allen's researchers said. It was one of three such guns followed by rows of other guns. The Musashi was the most heavily armed ship of its time, the researchers said. But the giant had an Achilles heel. It was very vulnerable to torpedoes. The ship caught fire; it lost most of its propeller power and began to flail. U.S. warplanes went in for the kill. "No defenses would have saved her," an expedition member commented, as the submersible drifted past one gun turret or gun mount after the next. As the Musashi sank, parts of it, where air was trapped imploded. The wreck landed in pieces on the sea floor with some 1,000 crew members. About 1,300 more were rescued by other Japanese ships, including the executive officer. The camera appeared to spare viewers any skeletal remains, but among unfired shells and bent iron, small objects peered at the lens. Could the small chain have been a necklace? Pocket watch chain? Those wanting to answer those questions themselves will find the recording of the tour archived on Allen's website. Launched in 1940, the Musashi was, at the time, in the largest class of warship ever constructed, displacing more than 69,000 tons. It had a twin, the Yamato. The U.S. Navy sank the Musashi during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the central Philippines. Microsoft billionaire Allen has said his long fascination with World War II history was inspired by his father's service in the U.S. Army. To finally arrive at the wreck, Kraft's team scoured historical records from four countries and undersea topographical data before sending down detection devices, such as the Bluefins that have searched for missing airliner Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Nearly a decade passed before they had the wreck in their sites. "That moment of discovery was exhilarating," Kraft said. CNN's Euan McKirdy, Jethro Mullen, Yoko Wakatsuki and Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)Indiana is declaring a public health emergency in one county due to an epidemic of HIV. Gov. Mike Pence issued the order Thursday for Scott County, which has 79 confirmed cases of HIV since mid-December. The county averages about five new cases a year. "Scott County is facing an epidemic of HIV, but this is not a Scott County problem; this is an Indiana problem," Pence said in a news release. All the cases in the current outbreak are linked to injection drug use, primarily of the prescription opioid opana. The declaration requires law enforcement, emergency agencies and health officials to develop a response plan that also includes hospitals and health care providers. A team from the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention arrived Monday and is working with local and state health officials to stop the outbreak. Their recommendations include a short-term needle exchange program and public awareness campaign focusing on safe sex, needle disposal, addiction services, and HIV testing and treatment. HIV can take up to three months to appear in a person's system after they are infected. Health officials recommend people who have participated in risky behavior, such as needle sharing and unprotected sex, to be tested for HIV now and again in three months. "I am confident that together we will stop this HIV outbreak in its tracks," Pence said. +(CNN)Lewis Hamilton has conquered the world of Formula One but becoming a global superstar is a far bumpier ride. Sporting ability has been transformed into lasting celebrity by footballers like Pele and David Beckham and NBA star Michael Jordan. At the age of 30 -- and with the fastest car in the world at his fingertips -- Hamilton is at the peak of his powers. During Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, millions of hardcore Hamilton fans will bite their fingernails and hold their breath when their hero returns to the track in his Mercedes racing car. But will the Briton's quest for a third world title in 2015 even register with the average Joe? Half a billion TV viewers watch F1 across the year, a figure which pales in comparison with the 4.7 billion football fans who watch the English Premier League over the course of a season. Jon Stainer, managing director of leading sport and entertainment market research company Repucom, argues that Hamilton, however, is already gaining wider recognition. "On a global scale Lewis already sits in the top half of all celebrities across sport, arts and music," he told CNN. Repucom monitors celebrity trends by a monthly survey of the general public where 5,000 famous faces are rated according to certain parameters. Those who rank in their study of the world's top-20 faces includes actors Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio, singers Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, footballer Beckham and Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. "We look at celebrity awareness and other metrics like likeability, whether they are seen as trendsetters, the level of trust people place in them and whether people aspire to have a life like that celebrity. "We are starting to see Lewis go beyond the traditional Formula One audience into the mainstream audience. "Some of that is spurred on by his on-off relationship with [former girlfriend] Nicole Scherzinger. Those stories put him in the headlines beyond the back pages." Hamilton split from popstar and TV personality Scherzinger for the fourth time in February after a seesawing seven-year relationship. He may no longer be one half of motorsport's "Posh And Becks" but he's not been shy of socializing with stars from other spheres. Just 10 days before the Australian GP, Hamilton was partying at Paris Fashion Week with musician and producer Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian. Mixing with celebrity friends has raised Hamilton's profile, and for some of his fans that is part of his appeal, but there is also a danger of alienating his petrolhead devotees. The famous friends, bright red private jet -- complete with traveling pampered pooches Roscoe and Coco -- and forays into song writing might be at odds with the perceived image of a feisty F1 world champion. Marketing expert Steve Martin, who worked with Hamilton in his role as CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, warned the driver's lifestyle could be "a bit showy." "I'm not sure if in any walk of life people like showy people," he told CNN. "And so why should that be different on the international stage in a sporting context?" Christopher Thomas, a Hamilton super-fan from New York, says: "Hanging out with top celebrities isn't a problem as long as it doesn't interfere with his ability to race. "As long as he shows up to the race and does what he's supposed to, everything is fine." Hamilton has often split opinion with his emotional approach to racing. Unlike his seemingly unflappable Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, the Briton races with his heart on his sleeve. For some, that passionate impulse is exactly what draws them to him. "Lewis is cautious and aggressive all at the same time," says Brazilian fan Melissa, who shows her support for the Mercedes driver by referring to herself as Mel "Hamilton." "Sometimes I think I will have a heart attack watching him! "He does not live by certain standards. He is not hiding. He is authentic." Thomas agrees: "He's so popular because you see him show his emotions. He stays true to himself." Hamilton's fiery responses have helped make him a fearless, instinctive driver who gives no ground on track. Consider the mental resolve required to win both his world titles at the final race of the season -- or, in the case of his 2008 triumph with McLaren in Brazil, at the very last corner. But then there have been the meltdowns, which reached their nadir in a tumultuous 2011 season when Hamilton had an ongoing spat with Ferrari driver Felipe Massa -- at one point calling his driving skills "frickin' ridiculous" -- and controversially criticized the race stewards in Monaco. "A lot of commentators diss Lewis for being open about his emotional life," says Tom Roope, whose company The Rumpus Room creates Hamilton's digital media. "There is that Marmite-ness -- you either love him or hate him. "But I think people like the fact that he's not running around trying to be perfect." His hot-blooded impulses do allow a fleeting glimpse into the real Hamilton. Following Hamilton at grands prix over the last six years, he's not a very visible driver compared to others who can be seen chatting with team members and guests inside the motorhomes. He is courteous and friendly in media briefings, where he will often chew on a handful of sweets, but it is hard to get beyond the façade of the PR-trained F1 driver and understand what he is really like. Marketing and PR expert Martin believes Hamilton could improve his global popularity by opening up a little more. "If I were to do one or two things, I'd like to make him more natural, to make him relax and be more comfortable in his own skin," advised Martin, whose clients include footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, another athlete who has successfully transcended his sport. "When he talks to use a language that isn't so robotic. Humility and having a common touch is a very big skill that people forget. "Beckham is the best example, he can show humility, he's down to earth, he's a smiler and he takes the highs and lows in his career very well. "He has that continuous appeal that is so enduring, and you can take a lot of lessons from that." If Hamilton is to extend his celebrity beyond the sporting sphere, he could do well to follow Beckham's example in another area too -- philanthropy. The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy star retired two years ago but he has been an ambassador for children's charity Unicef for the last decade. He and his popstar-turned-fashion-designer wife Victoria have their own charitable trust. When Beckham signed for French club Paris Saint-Germain in 2013 he also donated his multi-million dollar wages to charity. Hamilton has also contributed to Unicef's campaigns and during a break last season he traveled to Haiti to see first hand the charity's work there with malnourished children. "Being involved in charity and community work is a way Lewis can develop his appeal beyond F1 and the sport audience," suggests Stainer. "That's how Beckham managed to mold and transform his character and marketability towards the end of his playing career. "Lewis can also touch the lives of more people but that is a difficult thing to do when you're at the peak of your career." Martin agrees that having a strategy for his career beyond sport is absolutely essential to maintaining a high profile. "We've worked with Lewis for a number of years and he's been brilliant but it's not about living in the moment, it's about having a plan that evolves," he added. "How does he make sure his appeal is so enduring that it lasts beyond his Formula One career?" Hamilton still has plenty of racing left in the tank. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is the oldest driver on the 2015 grid and the Finn will turn 36 in October. For now, at least, there is one relatively easy way for Hamilton, allied with Mercedes' powerful car, to crank up his kudos. "Win more championships," says Thomas. "And win more races in the U.S. and Canada. "F1 is still growing in the U.S. and when it comes to celebrity status the U.S. has a big deal to do with what happens globally. "If you're a celebrity in the U.S. then it transcends outwards into other countries." Could winning a third world title with Mercedes push Hamilton into the ranks of F1's greatest drivers and deeper into the public consciousness? "He's the favorite in 2015 because the Mercedes gap to the others is so big that even if it's reduced, it's probably still going to be there," Hamilton's biographer Mark Hughes told CNN over the winter. "Lewis is in a position to make it a great career and if he keeps winning titles he will be recognized as one of the giants." Hamilton has already raced his way to riches from rags, becoming F1's first black star, a winner of 33 grands prix and two world titles, against a backdrop of racing rivalry and a rocky celebrity romance. On Sunday, another chapter will be written in the double world champion's rollercoaster story when the 2015 season fires up around Melbourne's Albert Park. So, what next? "Lewis is a bit like a soap opera," says Roope. "It's amazing how much drama there is around him." "You need to create a story around somebody to have ongoing appeal," says Martin. "What makes great sports people, the ones that fans like over time, are those who come back from tremendous highs and lows -- that's a great story." +(CNN)He's a Rolls Royce footballer who honed his game in his parents' garage. And even at the age of 40, former Juventus star Alessandro Del Piero is still purring along, showing no signs of running out of gas. The record-breaking striker is currently enjoying an Indian summer to his football career, completing stints at Sydney FC in Australia and more recently at the Delhi Dynamos in the inaugural Indian Super League. Inevitably, the time will come when he finally decides to hang up his boots but that doesn't look like happening anytime soon -- not when he's still enjoying himself so much. "About football, I love every single moment -- the life with teammates, the atmosphere before a game, the free kicks, the goals. I love every moment like the first one," Del Piero told CNN's Human to Hero series. The man dubbed "Il Pinturicchio" ("the little artist") has enjoyed a glittering career for both country and club in Italy. During 19 seasons at Juventus he won 15 trophies including six Serie A crowns and a European Champions League title, as well as setting club records for appearances and goals. In all, Del Piero made 705 appearances for the Bianconeri -- including a record 478 in Serie A -- and scored 289 goals along the way. "I'm very proud about the records because I do everything for the club. I've had some great moments with the club, with the fans (and) with my teammates," he says. Raised in the town of Conegliano in northern Italy, Del Piero's love for football was fostered by his late father, Gino. "My childhood was fantastic. I trained and played every moment and in every space of my home," he recalls. "You know northern Italy is very cold -- you cannot play outside, so my father would move the car out of the garage to give me more space. I would play alone, with my schoolmates and try to imagine in my mind what it means to be a footballer." Del Piero turned professional at the age of 17, joining Serie B side Padova in 1991 before being snapped up by Juventus for €2.6 million two years later. His longstanding relationship with the "Old Lady," as Juventus is affectionately known, got off on the right foot almost from the start. Del Piero scored five times in 11 appearances in his debut season before making his breakthrough the following year, becoming a first-team regular standing in for injured star striker Roberto Baggio. The two men would go on to share a dressing room at international level, with both netting 27 times for their country, but their defining moments for the Azzurri could not have been more contrasting. While Baggio will forever be remembered for missing a penalty kick that handed Brazil victory in the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, Del Piero has cause to reflect on happier times on football's biggest stage. After being part of two unsuccessful campaigns in 1998 and 2002, Del Piero and Italy hit the jackpot in 2006 in Germany, beating France on penalties in a final remembered primarily for Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi. Victory in the final was a "beautiful" moment but Del Piero's most cherished memory of that tournament happened a few days earlier. "The most special moment in my head, and probably the heads of my teammates, was the semifinal," he says. "Definitely the final, when you take the cup and lift it to the sky, it's beautiful. But the semifinal was the most exciting. We played the home team for 120 minutes. There is a big connection between our two countries. It was incredible." An epic battle looked to be heading for penalties after a goalless 90 minutes, with extra time going the same way, before Fabio Grosso netted in the 119th minute followed by a Del Piero effort moments later. "I can't hide that my greatest victory is the World Cup. Since you're a kid you think you want to win that. It was massive," he says. Italy's third World Cup triumph came against a backdrop of turmoil in Italy's domestic league as Juventus and other Serie A teams were implicated in the "Calciopoli" match-fixing scandal. The repercussions would see former Juventus managing director Luciano Moggi banned for life by the Italian football authorities while the club was stripped of two Serie A titles won in 2005 and 2006, relegated to Serie B and docked nine points. The demotion to Italy's second tier saw some top players leave the club, including Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, France defender Lilian Thuram and Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But the ever-faithful Del Piero stayed put, helping Juventus secure the Serie B title and an immediate return to the top flight. "I think that staying with Juventus in Serie B, even before I knew how large the points penalty was going to be, was the best decision I could've made," Del Piero said last year. "I had an extraordinary season that gave extra meaning to everything that came afterwards, including the (Serie A) trophy I lifted on the last game at the Juventus Stadium." Del Piero also scored in that final league match against Atalanta in May 2012 and was afforded a hero's send-off with a 20-minute standing ovation after his substitution in the second half. "There were many people crying that day. I was very emotional. I tried to hide my tears by bowing down to pick up some scarfs and cleaning my eyes. It was a very special and touching moment ... it will stay with me forever," he recalls. A open letter to Juventus' fans confirmed his exit the following July before signing a two-year deal to play for Sydney FC in Australia's A-League in a deal worth AUS$4 million ($3 million). He was soon helping repay that fee, netting a trademark free kick on his home debut -- one of 24 goals scored during his time Down Under. Del Piero has since gone on to help promote the new Indian Super League, appearing in the inaugural competition late last year. So what plans does the veteran have for 2015? "My future plan is to find a good restaurant tonight and have a rest and then tomorrow is another day," he says cheekily before suggesting that his playing days may not be over just yet. "I have two or three situations to analyze. I want to take some time to make a good decision like I did in the past," he adds. "I would love to play again, I want to play with good people around me. I'm still training now -- I want to keep myself ready for a big decision." Watch this space. +(CNN)They're some of the toughest athletes on the planet, saying goodbye to loved ones for almost a year, as they traverse the globe's oceans. Hardened Volvo Ocean Race sailors must sleep in four-hour shifts, and survive on little more than freeze dried food and chocolate bars, if they hope to win the event. The prestigious competition kicked off from Alicante, Spain, in October last year, and will finish nine months later in Gothenberg, Sweden. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper Ian Walker, spoke about the journey so far. This is the 45-year-old Briton's third Volvo Ocean Race. "As the leading offshore race -- and the one that is most vulnerable to nature and synonymous with danger -- it could be described as the 'Everest of sailing.'" "We trained for six months, covering 16,000 sea miles. As a team, we usually do three weeks on the boat, one week off. When not offshore, we train six-days-a-week in the gym." "Everybody has four hours on deck, followed by four hours off when you eat and sleep. On the off-watch, you still have to get on deck and help for any sail changes, so it is quite disturbed." "Mainly freeze dried food with some savory and sweet treats like beef jerky, dried fruits, one chocolate bar per day, and nuts." "I'm the skipper, so overall in charge of safety and performance. I'm involved with all strategic decisions with my navigator, Simon Fisher, and I run one of the watches when on deck. Onshore, I'm also busy with media duties and management of our 15 shore team members." "It can be an emotional roller coaster and it can be tough not to take things personally if they don't go well. At sea, emotions can range from frustration, boredom, elation, being scared, loneliness... it is important to try to keep a level head at all times -- especially if you are the skipper!" "I have great respect for the ocean. It will always win in the end so you must respect it. I am also saddened by all the man-made debris we see in the ocean as we sail round the world." "A professional sailor with a fierce determination to win. Someone who is prepared to put the needs of the team above his own, and who is prepared to commit over 12 months of his life to being away from normal life." Photo Gallery: On board the 'Everest of Sailing' Insight: Can all-women team conquer sailing's 'toughest' race? Watch: Who are the people who sail across the globe? +(CNN)The story of the Jews in the United States is a testament to "American exceptionalism" and stands in contrast to a long history of discrimination and pariah status in Europe and Muslim lands. In fact, the economic prosperity and social standing of America's Jews shows that generally they have fared better than many other minorities. This positive record is a fulfillment of the assurance given to the Newport, Rhode Island, Hebrew Congregation in 1790 by President George Washington: "It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States ... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." Since then, American Jews have been appointed and elected to public offices as governors, senators, mayors, Cabinet officers and in the military, and today, most American adults are unaware of and don't seem to care who's Jewish. Thus it comes as a shock when at the University of California Los Angeles, a Jewish woman student applicant for the Student Council's Judicial Board is initially rejected after being asked: "Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?" According to The New York Times, the discussion that followed had "seemed to echo the kind of questions, prejudices and tropes -- particularly about divided loyalties -- that have plagued Jews across the globe for centuries." The minutes and video of the event suggest some student leaders seemed to be auditioning for the Salem witch trials and others for jobs as political commissars in Communist North Korea. And in February, at another University of California campus in Davis, Jewish students opposed to a Student Council resolution advocating a boycott of Israel were heckled by cries of "Allahu Akbar" and a Jewish fraternity house was daubed with a swastika. Chancellor Gene Block of UCLA called the dust up on his campus a "teachable moment." Yes, agreed. It seems UCLA's diverse body of students requires remedial classes in civics. Would UCLA students consider it appropriate to ask U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan similarly hostile and demeaning questions? Apparently it's necessary for the university to teach its student leadership that the U.S. Constitution bans religious tests for public office. While they are at it, they also can inform them that the Bill of Rights assures freedom of religion, speech and assembly to all citizens. California's university administrators might need to be reminded that Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to all Americans, and they have an obligation to ensure equal educational opportunity for all students. This includes, among other things, promptly and effectively addressing certain hostile environments. As for the UC Davis students, they need to learn that support for Israel is a legitimate American tradition. A century ago, Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis asserted: "Zionism is the Pilgrim inspiration and impulse all over again ... to be good Americans, we must be better Jews, and to be better Jews, we must become Zionists." Students are of course free to disagree with Brandeis but not to harass or intimidate Jews who support his argument. The events in California might be regarded as isolated incidents and youthful excesses of the type that has always marked campus life. Except of course that is not true. This type of hatred, stereotyping and bias is a worrying new development that suggests a generational problem. In our recent study, my Trinity College colleague, Ariela Keysar, and I found that 54% of Jewish students reported experiencing or witnessing ant-Semitism on campus during the six months of September 2013-March 2014. Our survey covered 1,157 Jewish students on 55 campuses. The patterns and high rates of anti-Semitism that were reported were surprising. Another finding was that female students were more likely than males (58% versus 51%) to report anti-Semitism. Jewish women seem more vulnerable on campus today. America's universities need to foster American exceptionalism and values. They should take special care to avoid following current "European fashion trends." The situation in France today demonstrates the price of failing to nip youthful extremism in the bud. Twenty years ago, complaints by Jewish students in Paris that they were subject to anti-Semitism from a strange coalition of Marxist, fascist and Islamist groups were ignored by complacent university and government officials. The dangerous streets of Paris are witness to what results when a country ignores problems and panders to extremist opinions. The army is currently deployed across France to protect synagogues and Jewish community buildings. But history has taught us what begins with the Jews doesn't end with the Jews. The French army also has to defend the nation's shopping malls, government buildings and of course, its cartoonists. +(CNN)Fox's smash hit series "Empire" had its season finale on Wednesday night, and the ratings once again grew. According to Deadline, the drama reached 16.5 million viewers, up 10% from the 14.9 million who tuned in the week before. The show has managed to grow its total audience every week since its premiere, a rare feat in the television landscape. Deadline notes that it's the best showing for a new series in a decade. Most fans were not disappointed with Wednesday night's season finale. As the show aired, #EmpireFinale was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, and the show got its most tweets ever during the two-hour finale. The show about the passionate Lyon family and the drama surrounding them and their record label has been a TV phenomenon, with ratings growing weekly. Its soundtrack scored a rare success this week, debuting in the No. 1 spot on Billboard's top 200 album chart, topping Madonna's "Rebel Heart." Danny Strong told Deadline that he and fellow "Empire" creator Lee Daniels have steered the series to be both socially conscious (issues of race and sexuality were central to the plot) and night-time soapy. "I think that's one of the secrets of success to the show," Strong said. "That it's working on both levels, and the layered character drama grounds the juicy soap turns. So the soap turns are a blast, but we have this drama there that also keeps it emotional and real." In January, the network announced plans for a second season. +Moscow (CNN)Kim Jong Un is expected to attend World War II anniversary celebrations in Moscow at Russia's invitation, a Russian official speaking on condition of anonymity said Thursday. North Korea accepted Russia's invitation, but Russia is waiting on Pyongyang to make the official announcement about the May trip, the official said. This would mark Kim's first official foreign trip since inheriting the leadership in late 2011. "The invitation was sent to Kim Jong Un. North Korea accepted the invitation. The leadership of North Korea is expected to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Moscow," the Russian official said. The official later clarified: "By leadership, we're talking about Kim." So far, North Korean state media has not issued any statement about the invitation. This year's Victory Day marks the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Chatter over whether Kim would make his first official overseas trip during the pivotal anniversary started in late December after Russian state media reported that Moscow had extended an invitation to Pyongyang. On December 22, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told Itar-Tass: "First signals are given from Pyongyang that the North Korean leader plans to come to Moscow and attend celebrations." Recently, Russia and North Korea have been fostering warmer relations. If Kim appears in Russia along with other world leaders, he may look like a minor figure, said Dr. Leonid Petrov, an Asian studies professor who specializes in the political history of North Korea. "In a setting with a large crowd of state officials, in group pictures, he would look like a minor figure instead of what he's portrayed in North Korean media as supreme leader, invincible marshal, jack of all trades. "So I think if Kim Jong Un decides to go to Moscow, he's going to look like a very lonely, lonely figure." The Kremlin has invited 68 world leaders to its Victory Day celebrations on May 9, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as quoted on Russian network RT. He was quoted in Russian media as saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping will also attend. In the last year, Russia and North Korea, two historical allies, have increasingly established stronger ties as Russian President Vladimir Putin faces international backlash over the war in Ukraine. The two countries declared 2015 their "Friendship Year." Both countries have been slapped with sanctions by the United States and are facing international isolation. "North Korea is a convenient friend for Moscow -- it's anti-American and it's in a key place of Asia," Petrov said. "Russia lost many of its traditional allies -- it needs friends, both economically, politically, strategically." Ties between North Korea and Russia date back to World War II, when Kim Jong Un's grandfather and founder of the country, Kim Il Sung, trained as a communist guerrilla leader in the Soviet Union. Throughout Kim's subsequent reign, the Soviet Union backed the nation. After the Soviet Union crumbled in the early 1990s, North Korea became increasingly reliant on China. Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, visited Moscow several times, with his last visit in 2011. The late Kim rode into Russia in an armored train (he disliked flying) and met with both Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. "Moscow undertook a diplomatic offensive" with North Korea, said Petrov, of Australian National University. "It absolved $10 billion of Soviet-era debts from the account books and started rebooting relationships between North Korea and Russia." Last year, Russia forgave 90% of North Korea's $11 billion debt. CNN's Alla Eshchenko reported in Moscow, and Madison Park wrote and reported in Hong Kong. CNN's Jessica King contributed to this report. +(CNN)Israel's ruling Likud Party pulled off a victory in Tuesday's election -- and it was a stunning one. During the campaign, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had come in for heavy criticism from across the political spectrum, for reasons ranging from concerns over his frosty relationship with the White House, to his fixation on the Iran nuclear issue, to allegations over Netanyahu's household expenses. Yet despite this unpromising backdrop, Likud is on course to win 30 seats in the Knesset, six seats more than the main opposition Zionist Union -- headed by Isaac Herzog and Tsipi Livni, and an obvious favorite of the Israeli media establishment and Europe, Washington, and the West Bank. The blow to the Zionist Union is particularly painful because some opinion polls had actually had the party leading Likud as the campaign drew to a close. (Likud wasn't the only winner of the night --the new center-right party Kulanu (All of Us), which focuses on the economy, also had a good showing, securing 10 seats). Still, Likud's resounding hasn't settled the eventual makeup of the government -- in the coming weeks, the work of negotiating a coalition will begin. With this in mind, there is a good chance that President Reuven Rivlin will ask Netanyahu to form a national unity government, either with the Zionist Union, or as the head of a right-wing coalition (although the bitter rivalry between Herzog/Livni and Netanyahu during the campaign makes the latter more likely). Overall, the election results seemed to reflect the rightward shift of the electorate, with even voters who self-identify as centrists consistently expressing conservative positions on both the Palestinian issue and broader questions of national security. Meanwhile, the numbers for the left in Tuesday's election -- a four seats for Meretz, 24 for the Zionist Union and 14 for the Arab List suggests the bloc is some 20 seats short of a viable coalition. As a result, the international community and the Palestinian leadership will have to face the reality that negotiations over the Palestinian state will be conducted with the center-right. So, what can we expect from the new Netanyahu government? Issues that dominated the campaign, namely security and the economy, will likely dominate. For a start, Netanyahu will try to improve his record on domestic and social issues by introducing more proactive policies tied to housing and land reform. The issue of housing requires especially painful economic and bureaucratic changes over the Israel Land Authority and planning and zoning processes. But to address these Issues properly, Netanyahu will have to confront land owners and the housing constructors, meaning key structural reforms are unlikely in the short term. In addition, Netanyahu will also have to repair the fractured relationship with Washington, something that may not be easy given that ties with the Obama administration will largely depends on whether a nuclear deal over Iran is reached, and what shape such a deal takes. That raises the question over what direction the government will take over national security, and on this, the government can probably be expected to pursue the status quo. This is despite the fact that growing instability and the proliferation of non-state hostile actors suggests that Israel should instead move beyond a short-term approach and toward building a long-term, comprehensive national security strategy that could make it an integrated regional power. Making such a change would require a political process capable of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rather than merely kicking the can down the road. Restarting communication with the West Bank leadership and properly engaging with the Arab Peace Initiative would be steps in the right direction. All that said, this will be Netanyahu's fourth term in office, and so there is plenty of evidence with which to judge his likely trajectory. And that suggests that he will find it easier to focus on issues tied to the economy than making any real steps forward on building a comprehensive long-tern national security strategy. Those hoping that the prime minister might rethink his national security policies are likely to be disappointed again. +Washington (CNN)Ted Cruz is back in his favorite place: the spotlight. As the first candidate to quit the charade of "exploring" a presidential run and actually jumping in, the Texas Republican senator presented an image Monday of decisiveness and vision -- all before an auditorium of mostly supportive young evangelicals. Now comes the hard part. Cruz must make inroads with wide swaths of the GOP if he hopes to break through as a top-tier candidate. He doesn't have many friends in the party establishment thanks to his hard-line tactics on issues like Obamacare. And he's facing steep competition for the conservative vote from the likes of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Even evangelicals, Cruz's target audience during his launch speech at Liberty University, aren't firmly in his column. The firebrand's decision to jump-start the 2016 election season now is an implicit admission of the daunting challenges he will face in a crowded GOP field where multiple Republicans will vie for the same social and evangelical support base. "Ted is clearly a player," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a Christian public policy ministry. "But the competition this cycle is very steep." By choosing Liberty University in Virginia, which was founded by fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell, to roll out his long shot campaign, Cruz made clear he won't cede the Christian right to another candidate. "From the dawn of this country, at every stage, America has enjoyed God's providential blessing," said Cruz, roaming the stage with a microphone like a megachurch preacher on a Sunday morning. "Over and over again, when we faced impossible odds, the American people rose to the challenge. You know, compared to that, repealing Obamacare and abolishing the IRS ain't all that tough." Liberty offered Cruz a ready-made crowd: young evangelicals in a vast auditorium who had little choice but to pack the stands, because the announcement came during their compulsory weekly convocation. This is exactly the kind of coalition of youthful Christian idealists Cruz must win over and get to work in early voting states if his presidential hopes are to catch fire. But Cruz won't have this political territory all to himself. Several students sat in the audience within view of the cameras wearing red T-shirts emblazoned with "Rand," referring to Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is also likely to make a play for young conservatives. Meanwhile, Walker, with his governing record and history of facing down a recall and trade unions, seems to have eclipsed Cruz in the minds of many conservatives who are desperate to take back the White House. "When the grass roots look at a guy like Scott Walker -- he can not only bridge the divide, we believe, in the Republican Party, but he might be the one who can bridge the divide like he did in Wisconsin," said Jennifer Stefano, a Pennsylvania tea party activist. "That's what I think is dominating Ted Cruz -- he has not made as many headlines as in 2013, as when he tried to stop and defund Obamacare." Cruz must also face off against Paul, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Dr. Ben Carson to win evangelicals -- a tough task. "It's a crowded field to begin with and it's almost as if, within the Republican contest, there are some early sub-primaries: Who is going to be the establishment candidate? Who is going to be the social conservative candidate?" said David Yepsen, who was for years the dean of Iowa caucus reporters from his perch at the Des Moines Register. Meanwhile, a CNN/ORC International Poll last week put Cruz as the choice of 4% of likely Republican voters. So if he seems unlikely to win, why would Cruz get in -- and so early? Paradoxically, the size of the task facing Cruz and the tempered expectations for his bid may also mean that the risks that often weigh against a presidential candidacy -- the potential damage to a political career that can be caused by a poorly run campaign -- may not apply. Perkins said he had been assured by Cruz personally that he believes he can create a path to the nomination -- and ultimately the presidency -- despite the fact that he would be taking aim at the White House with the almost unanimous disapproval of the Republican establishment. Announcing now could give Cruz more time to test messages beyond those tailored for evangelicals. He used his speech Monday to also slam Common Core education standards and immigration reform, areas where establishment GOP favorite Jeb Bush is perceived to be vulnerable. He also joined the hawkish Republican barrage on foreign policy, slamming President Barack Obama over his row with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his record on Iran and combating "radical Islamic terrorism." But should he fall short in his 2016 bid, a successful campaign that positions Cruz as the leader of the evangelical right would certainly boost his political brand and position him for a future presidential run. And at only age 44, there's plenty of time for that. His Texas Senate seat, meanwhile, seems to be his as long as he wants it. He doesn't have to run for re-election until 2018, so a presidential bid wouldn't get in the way of the day job. So in a sense, Cruz may not have that much to lose. Another reason to get in early is Iowa. The state is going to be crucial for Cruz's hopes because it is the most fertile early voting territory for his chosen campaign path. A win in the first-in-the-nation caucus could crown Cruz as the undisputed champion of the social and evangelical conservative wing of the party. But he is going to be facing proven Iowa campaigners. Huckabee won the state in 2008 and Santorum won a recount over the eventual GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, in 2012. Both have substantial networks of support and, crucially, know many caucus voters personally in a state where the personal touch counts for everything. "I think Cruz has generated some excitement in Iowa, and he is a new face," said Yepsen. "But it is going to be a while before he closes the sale with a lot of activists." An added bonus for Cruz getting in now: The early bird gets the best coverage. In a matter of weeks, Republican presidential announcements from the massive GOP field will draw little more than a shrug, so getting out ahead of expected announcements from Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio could be a good idea. When Democrat Hillary Clinton makes her official plunge into the 2016 race, any Republican candidate may struggle to dominate media coverage for several weeks. Monday also happened to be the fifth anniversary of the day Obamacare was signed into law. Because Cruz has spent endless hours trying to overturn it -- winning the appreciation of conservative activists in the process -- Monday was a good moment to highlight the point. Then there is money. Cruz, unlike some other potential Republican candidates, may have to work extra hard to raise the campaign funds he needs to mount a viable campaign. His early announcement gives him time for a post-announcement spurt before the next quarterly fundraising figures close at the end of the month, and a full three months to put up an impressive number in the next quarter. +(CNN)Growing up in Germany, everything Felix von der Osten learned about Native Americans came from the books of 19th-century German writer Karl May. May's most beloved characters, a noble Apache leader named Winnetou and his cowboy blood brother Old Shatterhand, are said to be more popular today in Germany than the works of Thomas Mann, the 20th-century Nobel Prize-winning author of "Death in Venice." It wasn't until von der Osten drove through South Dakota last year, bearing witness to modest homes and trailers on tribal land in the majestic Black Hills, that he realized how one-dimensional his perceptions were. Intrigued, the 25-year-old photographer began researching Native American history. What he learned about its brutal conquest and fraught modern existence inspired him to return to Indian Country to capture the good, the bad and the ugly. "I wanted to show a slice of life (through) the beauty and richness of the culture," he said. "I didn't want to do reportage. I wanted to do slow and thoughtful photographs, like historical documents." By chance he landed in Montana's Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, home to 7,000 members of the Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) and the Assiniboine (Nakoda) tribes on 675,147 acres of land near the Canadian border. His American girlfriend had distant relatives living there who supported his idea and invited him to stay in their home. His first stop upon arriving in October was to present his idea to the Fort Belknap tribal leadership. With their approval, he spent his first week walking around without his camera, introducing himself to tribal members and building relationships. "The most important thing was I sat down, listened and learned," he said. "I opened my ears and let them talk so they could teach me." Over time, they opened their homes to him and his camera. His choice of a Pentax 67 medium-format roll film camera forced him to carefully consider each shot, to "create images" in his head before taking them. It left him with a focused body of work. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. He captured sacred tribal rituals and ceremonies along with the more mundane, familiar aspects of life: the tribal basketball team, a horse grazing in a field, a girl sitting on a bunk bed with a stuffed pony, the inside of a casino. Through conversations with tribal members, he also learned of the harsh realities of life on the reservation, from the difficulties youths face in pursuing educational opportunities to the drug and alcohol addiction killing some members. He put the camera away for some of his most memorable experiences -- a sit in the sweat lodge, dinner with his host family -- the ones that formed lasting relationships and earned him the nickname "the man who crossed the ocean." By revealing just a slice, he hopes to arouse curiosity in viewers and inspire them to learn more "to connect the dots." It's something he plans to continue doing by returning this summer to learn and experience more. "The story's not finished," he said. "It's a big sensitive topic and you have to be very careful, and I want to be careful." Felix von der Osten is a German photographer. You can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. +(CNN)During a conversation with a professor at an Ivy League college, a mother nudges her daughter to share how she's president of her school's "survivors-of-bulimia" group. Hoping to impress the Yale admissions committee, a student writes an essay about the time she was so engrossed in a discussion with a French teacher she admired that she urinated on herself instead of interrupting the teacher or leaving the room. Looking to give their child an edge, parents hire a college admissions consultant when their child is in the eighth grade and know the total tab will be roughly $50,000. How I wish I could report that those three nuggets were pure fiction, morsels from my imagination for a great storyline for a novel or television series. But sadly, they are all-too-real examples included in a provocative new book "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania" by award-winning New York Times op-ed columnist and bestselling author Frank Bruni. Those examples, Bruni said, should really be "wake-up calls" for any parents or students currently engaged in, or one day likely to be consumed by, the "What school will I get into?" annual game. "This says that we are attaching a level of importance to this that is just completely bonkers," Bruni said during a recent interview. Student goes 8 for 8 in Ivy League college admissions . For many families in the United States, the challenge isn't getting into the right college. It is being able to afford the school of their choice, or any school for that matter. But for many middle- and upper-income families, the college admissions process is as frenzied as ever with the belief that one school can make or break a child's future. I had to ask Bruni, whom I met during my time covering presidential politics, how exactly college admissions became so insanely intense and ridiculously competitive. We both laughed that the process was definitely not nearly as manic or as charged when we both went to college in the '80s. Bruni points to a number of factors all mixed together, creating "this kind of perfect storm of just absolute fixation, panic, etc." about where kids are going to go to school, whether it's exclusive enough and whether they've "breached the inner sanctum." There's the economic pessimism over the past decade, combined with a widening chasm between the haves and have-nots, he said. "I think all of that has made parents feel anxious on behalf of their kids and has made them feel like their kids have to have anything that might be a leg up, and if an elite school is a leg up, well, then dammit, let's get them that." Adding to the dangerous brew, says Bruni, is the "whole test prep and college coaching industry." Yes, it has become an industry, with parents and students willing to pay thousands of dollars to consultants for an extra edge. That "industry" didn't exist just three decades ago when Frank and I were applying. 5 ways community colleges are fixing higher education . The final piece of the puzzle are the colleges, which have essentially become businesses, marketing themselves and using their acceptance rate as a bragging right. "So when you have colleges drumming up extra applications so that they can then claim an acceptance rate below 15%, that becomes part of the discussion that adds to the anxiety because you look at these numbers and you think, 'Oh my God, if I don't begin doing SAT prep as a freshman in high school, if I don't hire the private tutor,' " I won't get in -- or so the thinking goes, said Bruni. But how much does where you go really determine how successful you will ultimately be? Consider the Fortune 500 and the alma maters of the heads of the 10 companies with the highest gross revenues back in the summer of 2014. There was only one Ivy League school on the list (Dartmouth), Bruni says in his book. When you look at the Fortune 500 executives in the top 30, you see Cornell, Princeton and Brown, but also the University of Central Oklahoma, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota, he writes. The point is there isn't one exact path to the corner office, and an Ivy League degree or a degree from another prestigious private university is neither a requirement nor a guarantee. National politics is another case in point. Sure, there are presidents who hail from the Ivies (George W. Bush, Bill Clinton) but there are many who don't: Ronald Reagan went to Eureka College, a small school in Illinois, and Richard Nixon got his undergraduate degree from Whittier College in Southern California. Looking at other national politicians who either ran for or could run for president someday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Vice President Joe Biden graduated from the University of Delaware, Paul Ryan from Miami University of Ohio and John Edwards from North Carolina State University. Bruni said a big reason for writing the book was that when he surveyed the accomplished people he has known and interviewed, there didn't seem to be any "exaggerated concentration" of people coming from the most selective colleges. "So the amount of importance that parents and kids seem to be attaching to the selectiveness of where they went to school did not seem to me to jibe at all with the ingredients of success as manifest in the people I've met who were successful and even more to the point content," he said. "And so I felt like that contradiction really needed to be pointed out in a bold way." Part of what fuels the perception that the most successful among us always attend the most selective schools is what we see and read about people who've made it. For instance, take the "30 Under 30" list, which Forbes magazine puts out every year. Bruni writes about how back in 2013, a website called the 60second Recap noted how every time honorees attended a school like Harvard, Stanford or Princeton, it was mentioned in the profile. But if they hadn't graduated from such a school, Forbes didn't mention their alma mater. "So why do we get the impression that so many of the world's most glittering people went to these schools? Because when they've gone to those schools, we make it part of their biography because we think it explains something. And when they haven't gone to those schools, we skip right over it because we think it's actually contradictory evidence when it may be anything but." One of the most poignant stories that Bruni shares in his book is the letter Matt Levin's parents wrote to him the night before he received his first college response. Levin, like many of his classmates at Cold Spring Harbor High School on Long Island, had Ivy on his mind. He hoped for admission to Yale, Princeton or Brown, and he did everything to be a standout candidate: studying with a tutor for the SATs, playing on the varsity baseball team, earning one of the highest grade point averages as a junior and volunteering for more than 100 hours of community service. The letters came, and Levin got rejected by all three. His mom and dad, in their letter, wrote, "Your worth as a person, a student and our son is not diminished or influenced in the least by what these colleges have decided. If it does not go your way, you'll take a different route to get where you want." A letter to my son as he leaves for college . "What I love about Matt Levin's parents and that story is ... they were saying, we know you've been filled with these aspirations. We may have been agents of filling you with them," said Bruni. "What they were saying is this is one metric in a life with many of them. Do not turn this metric into a bludgeon that you are beating yourself up with, and that's what I think parents need to do." Is it possible to restore any sanity to the entire college admissions process? Bruni said what we can do is try to change the conversation and begin to also talk about the negative consequences of this push to get into the most selective school. "If we give kids too much of an impression that the name on their diploma is going to be everything, we run the risk of also telling them that their diploma is going to do the work for them." Kids who feel that way often end up in therapy or completely incapable of carving out a life, he said. "If we talk about all the things that happen, all the negative things that attend an over-concentration on getting into an elite school, then maybe we will begin to not concentrate as much on getting into elite schools." Bruni hopes parents and students read his book, but he especially hopes graduating seniors read it before they head off to school. Because while we spend so much time worrying about where our kids are going to get in, we spend less time on what they are going to do and explore when they get there. "So my dream audience are kids going off to college, and kids who are going off to college ... being made to think about more than the name on their sweatshirt and being made to ponder what they're going to do with this extraordinary privilege." Do you think going to an elite college gives you a leg up when it comes to professional success? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook. +(CNN)A gloved hand reaches for a scantily-clad backside. It could be an image from the hit television series "Mad Men," which documented the ribald world of advertising in 1960s America. Except this is 2015 and "Who squeezes them in Harelbeke?" is the poster strapline for the elite E3 Harelbeke competition in Belgium, accompanied by that gloved cyclist's hand poised to pinch a woman's bottom. Unlike the wind provocatively lifting up her skirt, the controversial advertisement wasn't dreamed up out of thin air. It's inspired by previous winner Slovak Peter Sagan, who pinched a podium girl's behind at the 2013 Tour de Flanders -- something he later apologized for, saying "I promise to act more respectfully in the future." A week earlier, he was also pictured on the E3 Harelbeke podium, making an ass-grabbing motion towards another flower girl. E3 Harelbeke's organizers chose to celebrate his antics in their 2015 campaign, sparking a global debate about sexism in cycling that has raced far beyond the billboard. "Old Boy's Club" "A guy grabbing a woman's ass is very much indicative of a level of sexual assault," said Kathryn Bertine, former professional cyclist and director of "Half the Road," a documentary about female racers. "This poster makes cycling look very outdated. They're relying on a 'good old boys club' tactic to help them sell a product -- and in this case that product is racing." Judging by E3 Harelebeke's provocative standards, the poster could even appear tame compared to previous years. In 2011 organizers opted for a naked woman lying in a field, while the silhouettes of miniature riders traversed her bare backside. More baffling was last year's poster featuring a woman straddling three other females curled into the shape of a bike. "Such provocative imagery may have been seen by some in the 1950s and 1960s as a basis for selling products, but marketing communications are a rather more sophisticated and progressive activity than they were 50 years ago," said Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University. "I think E3 Harelbeke are rather out of kilter with the way that most people think today." "A playful nod" Cycling's world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has since requested the poster be removed, to which the E3 Harelbeke organisers have agreed -- not that they necessarily see it as offensive themselves. "Personally, no I don't think it's sexist," Marc Claerhout, E3 Harelebeke manager, told CNN. Could he see why others might find it offensive? "I don't know. You have a lot of publicity where you see more than some underwear," he said. "And we didn't mean it as sexist." The organization has since withdrawn the poster, releasing an official apology to "anyone who might find it intimidating, discriminatory or sexist." "The organization launched this campaign as a playful nod to the stage incident two years ago in which a rider got ready to squeeze the buttocks of a flower girl," it added. Removing the poster is one thing -- but the UCI missed an opportunity to make an example of a tournament which has used seemingly sexist campaigns for years, said Olympic road race champion, Nicole Cooke. "Telling the race organizers to remove the posters is not much of a deterrent," added the retired cyclist whose autobiography "The Breakaway" highlighted sexism within the sport during her over decade long career. "A whopping fine and canceling the race would have sent out the strong message that there is no place for sexism in cycling. Instead, the race has received huge publicity." Celebrating sexual assault? The poster also glorifies what would be seen as sexual assault in any other workplace, said Laura Bates, founder of the "Everyday Sexism Project." "It contains a direct reference to an incident of sexual assault, which shouldn't be treated as something to celebrate and joke about," she added. Similarly, Belgium's Institute for the Equality between Men and Women, said the image violated 2007 anti-discrimination legislation and "incited sexual intimidation." It's unlikely the same image would have been used in a female tournament. "Not only is the poster sexist -- this race doesn't even have a women's field," said Bertine, who has long campaigned for a women's edition of the Tour de France equal to the men's -- a race often seen as the ultimate prize in cycling. "Here we are, fighting these battles to make equality happen. And posters like this are not helping to pave the way for cycling," she said. She sees the problem not with the majority of "supportive" male cyclists, but with the lack of female representation among race directors and promoters. Money talks . Indeed, sponsorship is a big factor is getting a race like the Women's Tour de France off the ground, said Alex Russell, one of two females on the board of British Cycling. "A lot of it comes down to whether something has a market value -- and it's not necessarily down to gender," she said. "We've introduced a women's tour in Britain and we have got financial support for that. But you can't just jump to mass spectators and mass broadcasting because these things grow incrementally." Former World Road Race champion Cooke points to the discrepancy in prize money as another big obstacle for women within the sport. "The inspiration for the poster is the 2013 Tour de Flanders, for which male winner Fabian Cancellara received €20,000 ($22,000) for his efforts. In comparison, when I won this event, I was happy for the team to split the modest €1,000 I received amongst the other riders," she said. "The biggest change I would recommend to provide protection, security and credibility for female road riders, would be the introduction of a minimum wage, as there is in place for male riders," added Cooke. "Cycling cannot be allowed to exist outside the laws of society, like some sort of medieval anarchy." It seems that rather than a podium girl's bottom, the one being put under the spotlight at this year's event, will be the organizers themselves. +(CNN)ISIS' recent video showing a child shooting a man whom the extremist group claimed was an Israeli spy is the latest example of how the militants exploit children in their propaganda. As ISIS encourages foreign fighters to bring their families into the parts of Syria and Iraq where it imposes its brutal rule, the catalog of children taking part in shocking acts is grim and growing. The deeply disturbing cases shine a light into the range of ways the militants are using children to further their aims. In August, an Australian man who had taken his young family to join ISIS in Syria posted a photo on Twitter of his 7-year-old son using both hands to hold up a man's severed head. "That's my boy," the father wrote alongside the photo, which was reportedly taken in ISIS' Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. In a video the jihadist group released in January, a boy with long hair wearing a black sweater and military fatigue pants appears to shoot two men in the back of the head. The boy then stands over one of the bodies, fires two more times, and later raises his pistol in the air. Last month, when ISIS publicized its immolation of the captive Jordanian fighter pilot Lt. Moath al-Kasasbeh, one of its videos showed a young boy watching a public screening of the killing in Raqqa and saying that he would "burn the pilot" himself if he had the chance. Those examples reflect a broader effort to induct children into ISIS' campaign of violence. ISIS has also promoted videos of young boys training as fighters, some of them wearing the militants' black masks, holding bullets and waving the group's flags. The jihadist movement has called the boys the "cubs of the caliphate," a reference to the way ISIS fighters refer to one another as "lions." It has taken over schools with the purpose of indoctrinating children. Human Rights Watch has said that ISIS and other extremist groups "have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training and have given them dangerous tasks, including suicide bombing missions." The United Nations has said there are confirmed reports of children as young as 12 undergoing military training. One 15-year-old boy told CNN in November how he was regularly strapped into an explosive vest and handed a pistol, an AK-47 and a radio to stand guard at an ISIS base in Syria. Another boy told CNN last year that ISIS forced his father to send him to one of its children's camps in northern Syria when he was just 13. "For 30 days we woke up and jogged, had breakfast, then learned the Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet. Then we took courses on weapons, Kalashnikovs and other light military stuff," said the boy, who later fled to Turkey with his family. Some of the militants at the camp were kind, joking and laughing with the younger recruits, he recalled. Others made the boys watch hideous things. "They used to bring young [kids] to the camp to lash them," said the boy, whose real name was withheld because of fears for his safety. "When we go to the mosque, they order us to come the next day at a specific time and place to [watch] heads cut off, lashings or stonings." "We saw a young man who did not fast for Ramadan, so they crucified him for three days, and we saw a woman being stoned [to death] because she committed adultery," he said. Syrian activists say that some of the boys indoctrinated and trained at such camps are now being killed on the front lines of battle. CNN is unable to independently verify those claims. The militant group, also known as ISIL and the Islamic State, is aggressively using social media to try to lure more young people to join its ranks. The decision of three British teenage girls to travel to Syria last month was a stark example of ISIS' ability to attract young Westerners. Another young British woman who left Scotland to join ISIS in 2013 now appears to write a blog about her life under the extremists' rule, describing perks and offering reassurances to those who might follow in her footsteps. Western officials, though, say that ISIS is pushing a false narrative of what things are really like in its territory. But officials also admit they're struggling to counter the relentless wave of propaganda churned out on social media by ISIS members and supporters. "There's no question what we're combating with ISIL's propaganda machine is something we have not seen before," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told CNN last month. +(CNN)Formula One star Fernando Alonso returned to work at McLaren on Wednesday following his freak accident in winter testing. The Spanish double world champion was ruled out of the opening race in Australia by doctors treating him for the effects of a high speed crash. Alonso has been training hard for his planned comeback at the Malaysian Grand Prix in nine days' time and used the McLaren simulator to hone his mental preparations. The CNN-sponsored team announced the news on Twitter, showing McLaren sporting director Eric Boullier and Alonso at the team's headquarters in Woking, England. Alonso was concussed and airlifted to hospital after losing control of his McLaren at the penultimate winter test at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on February 22. The 33-year-old watched the Melbourne race from his home in Dubai after doctors indicated returning to racing three weeks after a high impact was too risky. McLaren had explained that Alonso's "accident was caused by the unpredictably gusty winds at that part of the circuit at that time." After getting back to race preparation in the simulator, McLaren tweeted that it had been a good day for Alonso, "focusing on operational work and practicing qualifying and race procedures." The media enjoyed a guessing game in Australia about just how Alonso might have reacted to events in Melbourne, where Lewis Hamilton and his mighty Mercedes dominated while Alonso's McLaren teammate Jenson Button finished in last place. Dane Kevin Magnussen, who was deputizing for the recuperating Spaniard, was unable to start the race because of engine problems on his way to the starting grid. Alonso left Ferrari at the end of the 2014 season to rejoin McLaren, which is experiencing teething as it renews technical partnership with Japanese engine manufacturer Honda for 2015. In his response on Twitter, Alonso chose to focus on congratulating Spanish rookie Carlos Sainz, who finished ninth on his Toro Rosso debut and who was inspired by Alonso as he plotted his own racing career. "Congratulations to @carlosainz for the great weekend in Australia!! And of course to Hamilton and Mercedes for the win!! See you in Malaysia," Alonso's message read. Meanwhile, Boullier is focused on finding improvements in the car's pace and performance for the next race on Sepang's sizzling circuit, which is also very physically demanding on the drivers. "We know we have a mountain to climb as far as performance is concerned," the Frenchman said in a McLaren statement. "In two weeks' time we'll be racing in Sepang [Malaysia], where the weather is bound to be extremely hot and humid. "I'm not going to be rash enough to predict a form upswing in so short a time frame, but we'll be working flat out between now and then to make performance and reliability gains in any and every way we can, of that you may be 100 per cent certain." +(CNN)You think March Madness is all about basketball? Think again. Sure, millions will be watching the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament to see whether Kentucky's bid for an unbeaten season can be quashed or whether a 14 seed can make it to the Final Four. But the popularity of the tournament also spawns another kind of madness -- one that includes college applications, vasectomies and HDTV upgrades. What are the odds? (Probably a heck of a lot better than picking a perfect bracket.) Here are some of the more unusual aspects of the Big Dance: . Glass slipper, golden payoff . Cinderella teams don't just provide a couple weeks' entertainment; according to some studies, their success has long-term effects. Thanks to exposure from the NCAAs, such teams as Florida Gulf Coast and George Mason see rises in applications and endowments. Academics call it the "Flutie Effect" after the charge Boston College received from a last-second 1984 win against Miami, thanks to a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Doug Flutie. (Go ahead and watch it again, we'll wait.) Experts debate how much of an influence athletic wins have on admissions, but there's no question a Cinderella turn gives schools greater exposure, which certainly can't hurt. George Mason, which went to the Final Four in 2006, and Gonzaga, which broke into nationwide consciousness in the late '90s, saw applications go up after their turn on stage. Money in the basket . March Madness pulls in more national TV revenue (as of 2013) than any other postseason sports franchise: $1.15 billion. A lot of that money comes from fast-food franchises, which know you like to eat while watching the games. And those franchises may benefit more from losses than wins. According to WalletHub, there's a 19% increase in pizza orders and a 9% rise in dessert orders by fans after their teams lose. Investors certainly know it: Buffalo Wild Wings stock has traditionally gone up in March. Making the cut . Doctors report up to a 50% rise in the number of vasectomies during the NCAA tournament. Well, if you have to spend a few days resting on the couch ... Everybody into the pool . According to a survey by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 50 million Americans participate in March Madness pools. Productivity, shmoductivity, part 1 . All that bracket-filling costs employers an estimated $1.2 billion in unproductive workers (assuming each worker spends an hour filling out a bracket). That may be low. WalletHub puts the figure at $1.9 billion. For all that, employers say the tournament is a net positive on morale. Productivity, shmoductivity, part 2 . Twenty-seven percent of respondents to one 2014 survey say they watch games at work. (That could explain the morale situation.) Would you like an upgrade with that? According to the same 2014 survey, 12% would upgrade to HDTV if their favorite team made it to the Sweet Sixteen. (As of 2014, 59% of U.S. households have HDTV.) Bet on the humans . Of the 76 champions, almost one-third -- 25 -- have had mascots based on a human figure, such as Hoosiers and Tar Heels. Fourteen have been bear-related (largely thanks to UCLA's Bruins, who have won 11 championships) and 10 have been feline (Kentucky's Wildcats, mainly). Perhaps you should play the lottery . Odds of picking a perfect bracket are 9.2 quintillion to 1, assuming each team has a 50% chance of winning every game. Odds of winning Powerball: about 175 million to 1. Good luck! Face off against your favorite anchors in the CNN March Madness bracket challenge . TBS, TNT and truTV all air portions of the NCAA tournament. Those networks are part of Time Warner, as is CNN. +(CNN)For the second time in his career, Madison, Wisconsin, police Officer Matt Kenny is being investigated for using lethal force. But the cases and their circumstances are different, very different. Friday's death of Tony Robinson, an unarmed biracial 19-year-old, has made Madison the latest epicenter of protests of black males killed by white officers. Eight years ago, it was a different story. Kenny shot and killed a man who pointed a pellet gun at him. He was exonerated of any wrongdoing and received a commendation. The dead man was white. It started as a 911 call. The caller reported a man with a gun on his front porch. What the dispatcher didn't know was the man that Ronald Brandon was talking about was himself. Three officers rushed to the scene, including Kenny. They knew they were facing a potentially life-threatening situation. They were unaware that Brandon's ex-wife, Susan, was also calling 911. "My ex-husband is sitting outside and I think he just called 911," she said. "He's got a pellet gun ... He's drunk." As she talked to the dispatcher, the squad cars arrived outside. "I think he called you because he wants to end his drunkenness," Brandon said. "I hear the sirens coming. Jesus criminy. It's not a real gun. I think he wants to be taken away." The officers never learned that the weapon Ronald Brandon pointed at them was a pellet gun. The call with that information came 40 seconds before they arrived. Kenny shot him dead. Investigators ruled the shooting a "suicide by cop." For his handling of the incident, Kenny was awarded the medal of valor, the department's highest honor. Last week's shooting hasn't earned commendations. It's polarized a community. Because Robinson did not have a weapon, his death spurred memories of other unarmed black men killed by police: Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York. Over the weekend, protesters filled streets in Madison. On Monday, demonstrators packed the Wisconsin State Capitol. They chanted and carried a banner with a familiar message: "Black lives matter." The incident started Friday night when authorities got a call that a black male was yelling and jumping in front of cars, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said. When Kenny went to the apartment where the report came from, he heard some commotion and forced his way in, Koval said. "Once inside the home the subject involved in this incident -- the same one allegedly out in traffic and that had battered someone -- assaulted my officer," Koval said. After that, according to the chief, "The officer did draw his revolver and subsequently shot the subject." Kenny has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. "It's a stressful period for him and his family, but he also understands that a family here has suffered a tragic loss and he understands that there has to be an investigation," said James Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. Under Wisconsin law, officer-involved shootings are investigated by an outside agency, in this case the Division of Criminal Investigation. Once the division completes its investigation, the report will go to the local district attorney, Koval said. Palmer declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, but said there are some circumstances when an unarmed person could still be seen as posing a deadly threat to a police officer. "The real fear for any officer when he's being attacked, generally speaking, is that their weapon will be taken away," Palmer said, "and an unarmed individual can become armed very quickly." Concern is a word often used by the police chief as the investigation continues. Concern for his officer. Concern for the community. Kenny, 45, is a 12-year veteran of the Madison Police Department. Koval calls him "a very conscientious dedicated public servant," but acknowledges that a second shooting in eight-year's time is, well, concerning. "Any loss of life is very tragic," the chief said. "Twice is concerning for anyone. We are concerned for him and the community." And the community is looking for its concerns to be addressed. CNN's Gary Tuchman, Brian Todd, Catherine E. Shoichet and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report. +(CNN)Things have been messy between singer Chris Brown and his now ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran, and it looks to be about to get messier. Oprah Winfrey's network, OWN, posted a teaser Tuesday for Tran's interview with Iyanla Vanzant. The inspirational speaker and host of "Iyanla: Fix My Life" fires off at Tran: "He betrayed you. He lied to you. He did it all publicly," before asking, "How did you find out that he had a baby by another woman?" Brown has been the subject of rumors that he fathered a daughter with another woman while in a relationship with Tran. He has neither confirmed nor denied the stories, but the story heated up when Tran tweeted on March 4, "Listen. One can only take so much. The best of luck to Chris and his family. No baby drama for me." The tweet was later deleted. Brown and Tran have had an on-again, off-again relationship for years. In 2012, Brown posted a video on Twitter questioning whether it was possible to be in love with two people. At the time, the singer had broken up with Tran after once again growing close to singer Rihanna, whom he assaulted while they were dating in 2009. "I love Karrueche very much but I don't want to see her hurt over my friendship with Rihanna," Brown said in the video. "I'd rather be single allowing us to both be happy in our lives." Brown and Rihanna eventually reunited but then broke up again, and he and Tran, who bills herself as a model and entrepreneur, resumed seeing each other. On Wednesday, Brown commented from his Instagram account on a racy photo Tran posted of herself in a swimsuit while on vacation. The singer advised her to "Continue to be a lady beautiful." Vanzant's interview with Tran airs at 8 p.m. ET March 28. +Los Angeles (CNN)Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled an emergency $1 billion spending plan Thursday to tackle the state's historic drought. A staggering 11 trillion gallons are needed for California to recover from the emergency. Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León said the legislation will include two bills that will speed up contracting funds to "manage the drought and strengthen our infrastructure." According to the California State Water Resources Control Board, the package will specifically accelerate $128 million from the governor's budget to provide direct assistance to workers and affected communities. Proposition 1 funding, which enacted the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, will funnel $272 million into safe drinking water efforts and maintenance of water recycling infrastructure. Some $660 million from Prop 1 will also be accelerated for flood protection in urban and rural areas. As part of the changes, Brown said additional measures will crack down on water inefficiency as California enters the fourth year of a worsening-water crisis. "This unprecedented drought continues with no signs yet of letting up," said Brown. "But we have a lot of good policies coming." To exacerbate matters, weather conditions are continuing to diminish natural resources. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which Californians rely on heavily during the summer for their water needs, is at a near record low. The March snowpack measurement came in at 0.9 inches of water content in the snow, just 5% of the March 3 historical average for the measurement site. The overall water content for the Northern Sierra snowpack came in at 4.4 inches, just 16% of average for the date. Central and southern Sierra readings were 5.5 inches (20% of average) and 5 inches (22% of average) respectively. Only in 1991 has the water content of the snow been lower. "The drought isn't letting up, so we can't let up either," Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins said. "This legislation will deliver relief to Californians harmed by the drought and help us manage the significant problems the drought continues to cause. Since our skies are still clear, our job is too. And making sure we meet emergency needs, prepare for short term problems and advance longer-term projects are an important part of that effort." Brown anticipates his emergency package to move into action immediately. He has recently created a Drought Task Force to expedite the legislation. +(CNN)Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has died. He was 84. "It is with deep sadness that we inform you that after a brief illness John Malcolm Fraser died peacefully in the early hours of this morning," according to a Fraser family statement sent to Australian media. The office of current Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed Fraser's death to CNN. Fraser was Australia's 22nd prime minister, from 1975-1983. He began his mandate as a caretaker prime minister amid a constitutional crisis. Fraser will be remembered for his significant influence in changing relations of countries within the British Commonwealth, according to the National Archives of Australia. He is also credited with shaping Australian ties with East and Southeast Asian countries, according to the National Archives. People we've lost in 2015 . +(CNN)Early Intervention changes lives. Respite care keeps families together. Both save states money over time. Alas, both -- along with a huge swathe of other vital services -- are under attack by the administration of Bruce Rauner, the new Republican governor of Illinois. This is happening for two reasons. First, Rauner has a problem. He promised to lower taxes despite a $6.2 billion structural budget deficit. Unwilling to think about new revenue, all he can do is cut programs. Second, Rauner's cuts are taking place against the backdrop of a bigger attack on disability. Too many right-wing politicians and pundits see disability as a wedge issue with which they can divide interest groups, pit people who need help against each other and rip apart the core social safety net. Meanwhile, they reassure their base, which is filled with individuals who also need help from the state, that only they really deserve benefits. Like Rauner, other governors are cutting services in the name of austerity. Kansas, under Sam Brownback, has pushed disabled people off Medicaid, making services less effective and efficient. Scott Walker, in Wisconsin, has proposed cutting long-term care services in such a way as to limit individual choice of caregivers and service providers, empowering the healthcare industry and not disabled Americans. Florida has gutted benefits to severely disabled individuals in workers' compensation cases and eliminated countless positions in the Department of Health. And that's all just at the state level. Nationally, the new Congress began the year with a sustained attack on Social Security Disability Insurance, which some analysts see as a way to threaten the whole foundation of Social Security. Last December, House Republicans insisted that the ABLE act, a bill intended to help people with disabilities and their caregivers save money, only be offered to those who were disabled before the age of 26, a limitation aimed at excluding people who become disabled through work, disease, accident or age. Now Bruce Rauner is adding to this troubling pattern. The Rauner budget slashes state spending by over $4 billion, much of the savings gleaned by eliminating or reducing eligibility for programs based in the Department of Human Services (DHS). Each cut will come with costs to families and individuals who need the state's help most. Moreover, many of the cut programs actually save the state money over time. Take, for example, Early Intervention, which provides services to children with developmental delays from birth to age 3 at little cost to the parents (there are means-tested co-pays). At their best, these therapies not only help children with disabilities learn new skills, but also teach parents to better understand their children. Right now, a child who is at least 30% delayed in any category -- for example being at least 30% less able to use speech than a typical child of their age -- is eligible for services. Now, as explained to me by a spokesperson for DHS, the program has to save $23 million (they did not explain how this number was picked). The plan is to take every child who is 30-49% delayed (about 10,000 children), re-test them, and remove eligibility from thousands of those deemed the least deserving until the arbitrary dollar amount is reached. Over the long term, this is not only bad for children, but is bad for Illinois' budget. The program is extremely economically efficient. For each dollar spent on programs like Early Intervention, according to studies by people such as the Nobel Laureate James Heckman and the Rand Corporation, the state saves at least $7 in future services. Those savings are, in fact, most likely to be realized most dramatically with precisely the children that DHS is trying to exclude. Children with only mild delays can, with Early Intervention, avoid requiring the more expensive special education services in school when they are older. Everyone wins. Despite this Gregory Bassi, acting secretary of DHS, is undeterred. At a recent state Senate budget hearing, which I attended, Bassi kept saying that the program was too expensive and seemed unable to address the long-term costs of short-term savings. He even, in a revealing moment, said that his own nephew ought to get booted from the program because the nephew's parents make too much money (a spokesperson clarified that Bassi actually has two nephews in the program, both of whom have benefited from the therapy). Respite programs, which the Rauner budget eliminates entirely, provide qualified assistance to people who care for people with disabilities. Sometimes, such a program just enables the caregiver to do errands or have some private time, essential to maintaining one's ability to function in a challenging home environment. The programs also provide emergency backup should the caregiver have a medical problem or some other issue. Like Early Intervention, the program is cost efficient. Without respite, families are more likely to disintegrate. In such cases, the person with a disability is likely to end up in a state-run facility. This is both vastly more expensive and, most importantly, generally bad for the institutionalized individual. In fact, the Rauner budget is packed with what Illinois Senate Appropriations Committee chair Heather Steans, a Democrat, called, "penny wise, pound foolish" proposals. Throughout, the governor and his administration have found ways to re-write definitions of disability in order to save money. They will likely end up paying more as a result of increased use of emergency rooms, rates of incarceration and homelessness. Violent encounters between police and people with disabilities will only become more common. People who now receive aid that allows them to live more independently will end up institutionalized or in nursing homes. Not only that, but many of these programs bring in matching funds from the federal government or other sources, and the state is surrendering those dollars as well. So why make these cuts, given their likely long-term costs? It may be that the Rauner administration just doesn't care about long-term fiscal health so long as next year's budget looks good. But I see the Rauner attacks on disability-related services as just the latest example of lawmakers trying to re-define disability in a way that saves them money. Questions about the fundamental necessity of disability benefits infuse right-wing speech on the issue. Thom Tillis, the new senator from North Carolina, was filmed in 2011 calling Republicans to "divide and conquer" by separating the sympathetic disabled -- people with conditions like Down syndrome and cerebral palsy -- from the unsympathetic (people he implies are just lazy). That's a rhetoric I see at play regularly, though most lawmakers are too smart to say it out loud. Recently, for example, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky falsely claimed that 50% of all individuals on disability were "gaming the system." Fraud is, in fact, somewhere around 1%. While defending Paul's claim, a Fox News host told a woman that her bipolar disorder was "something made up." I don't hear that type of explicit hateful language from the Rauner administration. Everyone I've talked to is saying that they want to help the most vulnerable. They just have a big budget deficit, so they have no choice but to make these draconian cuts. But there are always choices. Rauner is just following the right-wing playbook. Rule out making up the shortfall by increasing taxes and thus raising revenue. Play different groups of needy against each other. Tell the public that only some people really deserve help. Divide and conquer. +Washington (CNN)Democrats who have gleefully watched Republican infighting for years are about to feel some heat of their own. As the party works to retake control of the Senate in 2016, Democrats are looking at a Senate landscape that could feature titanic intraparty clashes starring big personalities who have been waiting years for a shot at the big time. It's a big shift from recent years when Republicans, riven by long-standing ideological fault lines, faced divisive and attention-grabbing primaries, usually pitting a party favorite against insurgents from the conservative grassroots. Memorably, in 2010 and 2012, the fights were so damaging that Republicans failed to pick up winnable Senate seats by nominating flagrantly unprepared candidates. Democrats, for the most part, have not had to face the same problem. But that might be changing. While the fields of candidates are still taking shape, a platoon of Democrats are mulling Senate bids in Ohio, Florida, Maryland, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois. While many of them have yet to formally declare campaigns, none possess the kind of field-clearing star power that could help Democrats avoid a primary bonanza, and few show signs of putting their ambitions aside for the sake of party unity. Republican primary battles aren't going anywhere in 2016, and on the presidential level, Democrats continue to line up behind Hillary Clinton as their nominee, without a whiff a serious primary challenge. But there is a different story unfolding in the next race for the Senate, where the question is whether Democrats will cleave along ideological and generational lines in primary fights, jeopardizing the party's hopes of regaining control of the the Upper Chamber. "The great irony of Democrats celebrating fissures amongst Republicans in recent years is that historically they're much less capable of confronting the extreme elements within their party than the GOP," said Josh Holmes, a former top strategist to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. "Now we're watching several years of pent-up liberal aggression about to spill into divisive primaries that will undoubtedly complicate things considerably for their Senate chances." Democrats scoff at the idea, claiming that no potential candidate has the ability to fumble away a Senate win against the many Republicans up for re-election next year. Of the nine Senate seats rated as toss-up or competitive the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, seven of them are held by Republicans elected in the tea party wave of 2010. Democrats need a net gain of five seats to take back the Senate. "Unfortunately for the numerous vulnerable Republican senators, there are no Todd Akins here, and there isn't a single state on the map with a Democratic primary that will negatively impact our ability win the state," said Justin Barasky, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's communications director. Akin, of course, was the GOP nominee in Missouri in 2012 who derailed his own campaign with a comment about "legitimate rape." Last cycle, Barasky said, Democrats witnessed hotly contested Senate primaries in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Hawaii. All of those fights were in blue states, of course. But none of them resulted in a November loss for Democrats. Republicans, though, are hoping to breathe life into the narrative, especially with Democratic primaries brewing in the competitive states of Florida and Ohio. "Democrats are facing messy primaries in key Senate races across the country, and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight," said Andrea Bozek, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "The infighting is so bad that it's not just limited to candidates in key races, but is even playing out between Harry Reid and the DSCC in Washington." The most crowded lane, for now, appears to be in Maryland, where five-term Sen. Barbara Mikulski is retiring. In a state that reliably goes blue in federal elections, the retirement has at long last opened a door for a raft of Democrats in Congress eyeing higher office. With the exception of House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, nearly every Democrat in Maryland's eight-member congressional delegation has signaled some kind of interest in the Senate seat. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake have also been floated as contenders. Despite the microscopic ideological differences between the likely candidates, the race has already been heralded as a battle between the party's play-it-safe establishment and its restive liberal wing. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, declined to stay neutral and promptly endorsed Rep. Chris Van Hollen for the seat, a sign that the national party apparatus might be in his corner. The DSCC, however, has not picked a side in the race. Progressive groups, meanwhile, have championed a known figure from their community: Rep. Donna Edwards, who joined the race last week vowing to protect Social Security and Medicare, "no ifs ands buts or willing-to-considers." That was seen as a poke at Van Hollen, who said in 2012 he was "willing to consider" entitlement changes as part of deficit negotiations. But even if the primary turns into a pitched battle over progressive priorities, there is little chance the nomination fight would hinder Democratic hopes in Maryland, which hasn't seen a GOP senator since Charles Mathias in 1987. And Mathias, a civil rights advocate and skeptic of Ronald Reagan, was one of the most liberal members of the Republican Party. Republicans are also hoping for Democratic carnage in Ohio, where Sen. Rob Portman is up for re-election. National Democrats have endorsed former Gov. Ted Strickland for the nomination, but the news did not force P.G. Sittenfeld, an up-and-coming 30-year-old Cincinnati city councilman, out of the race. Democrats are skeptical that Sittenfeld can raise the kind of money to compete against Strickland and Portman, but if he does, his candidacy will make for a stark contrast against the 73-year old Strickland. In an interview, Sittenfeld spoke critically of Portman, calling him "a 25-year creature of Washington" who is "out of touch" with Ohio. But the next-generation rhetoric could also stir inevitable questions about Strickland's age. "I fit the mold for new leadership," Sittenfeld told CNN in an interview, careful to note his admiration for Strickland and stressing that he is running against Portman. "If you put together 100 people into the Senate, wouldn't you want at least one person from the largest generation in American history, the most technologically savvy generation in American history?" Sittenfeld asked. "How can we invest in technology and innovation to solve problems when we are rehashing stale battles?" As in Maryland, there appear to be no major early-stage differences between Strickland and Sittenfeld on the issues, which again suggests that the Democratic primary boom of 2016 is more about timing and opportunity than anything else. With a presidential election on the ballot, increased voter turnout is expected to give Democrats a lift in the general election. "There is an ideological reason for running, but let's not separate that from a path to victory," said Nathan Gonzales, editor of the Gonzales & Rothenberg Report. "Primaries happen when multiple candidates see a good opportunity. Democrats have good opportunities in multiple states this cycle, specifically in Maryland. The Democratic nomination is incredibly valuable because Maryland is a Democratic state. Lots of candidates see paths to victory and think, 'Why not me? Why not now?' " And while primaries can drain financial resources and drive uncomfortable headlines, the contests are not necessarily damaging, Gonzales said. "Crowded and expensive primaries do not prohibit general election victory," he said. "That doesn't mean that a party can't win." Brad Todd, a Republican consultant who worked on several top tier Senate races in 2014, said the primaries might boost Democrats. "Some of those primaries will animate elements of their base, including some donors, more than the general elections," he said. But Todd said the rush of primary activity for Democrats does not compare to the pitched tea party-versus-establishment battles that have roiled his party for years. "I don't see that happening with Democrats as much as it does with Republicans since all of their candidates are pretty much orthodox liberals," he said. "There's no such thing as a centrist Democrat anymore, so there won't be nearly as many sabers to rattle against them in primaries." +WASHINGTON (CNN)During his upcoming speech to Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lay out the details of what he understands to be the nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran, hoping it will prompt lawmakers to question the administration and delay the March 24 deadline for a political agreement. A senior Israeli official traveling in Netanyahu's delegation, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the Israeli government had "a good understanding of the agreement we can draw conclusions from." "We know what we know. And believe me, we know a lot of information about this agreement," the official told reporters aboard the flight to Washington. "The Prime Minister is going to Congress to explain what they don't know about this agreement that it is a bad agreement." Will speech backfire? The official said Congress has "no understanding" of the deal shaping up. He described the Prime Minister's speech as a "last chance" to speak directly to Congress before a March 24 deadline for a political framework agreement about the elements believed to be in the deal. The official would not disclose how the Israeli government reportedly had more information on the deal than the U.S. Congress, but noted that many of the parties were leaking details of the talks. However, in congressional testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee last week, Secretary of State John Kerry said, "Anybody running around right now jumping in to say, 'Well, we don't like the deal' or this or that, doesn't know what the deal is. There is no deal yet. And I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce." The official suggested Netanyahu would urge lawmakers in his Tuesday address to pressure the Obama administration to push the deadline so more discussion can take place about what he perceives is a dangerous deal that leaves Iran with the ability to develop a nuclear weapon down the line. "There is no sacred date," the official said of the March 24 deadline. "It can be put off. It is not fixed. They can change it" The official said that as the March 24 deadline approaches, Netanyahu will warn "be careful of giving up compromises. They are compromises and they are not good." Obama hinted last week that he did not see the need for any additional extensions, saying the talks have, "sufficiently narrowed and sufficiently clarified that we're at the point where they need to make a decision." That deadline was agreed to by the five parties and Iran, which is why Kerry is having marathon meetings with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Geneva beginning again this week. 6 questions about Netanyahu's visit . Netanyahu spoke with Kerry on the eve of his trip, the official said, adding that despite the fraught political tone of Netanyahu's visit, the United States and Israel continue to communicate through intelligence channels. Intelligence and national security officials, this official said, met last week with National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Wendy Sherman, the lead U.S. negotiator for the Iran talks. "The objective of Israel is to get a better agreement," the official said. "We want a good agreement. We are not against all agreements and the Prime Minister never said we were." +(CNN)Golden beaches and grand hotels can all be found in Mauritius, but there is much more to this island paradise. The country, located some 500 miles east of Madagascar, has been attracting global investors for decades. But there is also a healthy local appetite for business development -- one of the many reasons the country has been hailed as an African success story. One company demonstrating this entrepreneurial drive is fresh food suppliers SKC Surat. "My father Sooklall Surat, started as a farmer with one hectare of land," says Suren Surat, who is now CEO of the company his father founded sixty years ago. "The land was next to our house, where we lived. My father was the first grower at that time, the pioneer for growing strawberries and artichokes in Mauritius." Suren Surat has been part of the company from the beginning. The family had enough offspring to start a cricket squad, but the team dedicated its efforts towards business success. As a kid, Surat would get up early to help his father on the small farm before going to school. "Whatever he was growing, people were coming to buy in our garden, wholesale...So my father decided to go retail," Surat remembers. Shift to retail . The family's first stall was in Curepipe market in the country's highest town. It was here, not far from the famous extinct volcanic crater "Trou aux Cerfs", that the family business started to really grow. Lychees, pineapple and mangoes all bloom in Mauritius' tropical climate, but the weather stops oranges, apples, and plums from sprouting. When Sooklall Surat started importing foreign fruit, others followed suit. Import/Export . Sooklall's brother Shyam focused on selling fresh produce from abroad, attracting customers with foreign tastes. He built a busy operation, but the fast flow of goods didn't stop the family monitoring the fruits and vegetables. "We say you need to be able to talk to the fresh produce -- this is the success of the business," says Suren Surat. 'Work is work' Estimates say the Mauritian economy grew by 3.5% in 2014 and will top 4% in 2015 -- impressive statistics in a country which the World Bank says does a better job of supporting business than Japan, France and Spain. In such a competitive market, guts, good relations and hard work are essential. Suren says that the business keeps the family together, with different members taking control of areas like import and distribution. "We've seen many local companies, Mauritius companies, who are family business who split," says Suren Surat. "But luckily I have to say our grandparents, our mother, father have taught us how to manage." The company's next leaders will have to do more than manage the fresh produce. Recently, the family started the islands' first dairy, and is soon to open its sixth supermarket franchise. It's all part of the strategy to keep things fresh on the island that is home to over 1.3 million people. "The future is very very important," says Shyam Surat. "I would advise any people, mainly in Africa or this part of the islands, to grow more fruit and veggies. And this is the future because people have to eat." More from Marketplace Africa . Read this: Top 10: Africa's 'Cities of Opportunity' Read this: South Africa's plums blossom into big business . Editor's Note: CNN Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and also focuses on the continent's key industries and corporations. +(CNN)Italian fashion designer Stefano Gabbana and Elton John are in a war of words on social media, calling for boycotts of each other's work. The argument stems from comments about in-vitro fertilization in Panorama magazine, in which Gabbana and longtime collaborator Domenico Dolce spoke about "synthetic" children born from "rented" wombs. "No chemical children: life has a natural course, there are things that shouldn't be modified," the magazine says in a quote attributed to both designers. The magazine also promises insights from the designers on "the importance of relationships within conventional families with very, very traditional values" in an interview that hit Italian newsstands last week. John, who has two children with husband David Furnish through IVF, issued a strong repudiation of the statements on Sunday and pledged to boycott the Dolce & Gabbana fashion line. In response, Gabbana defended his "freedom to speak" and called on fans to boycott John. Sir Elton appears to be winning the social media war with the hashtag #BoycottDolceGabbana, which by Monday morning had been used more than 35,000 times on Twitter since John invoked it on Sunday. By comparison, Gabbana's #boycotteltonjohn has been used just 1,600 times on Twitter, according to social media search tool Topsy. "How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfill their dream of having children," John said Sunday on Instagram. "Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again." The sentiment quickly gathered support from such celebrities as Ricky Martin, Al Roker and Courtney Love. Tennis star Martina Navratilova tweeted her support for John's post, saying "My D&G shirts are going in the bin — don't want ANYONE to wear them." Parents and IVF advocates also joined the boycott. "My son is NOT synthetic. His life was made possible through #IVF & I couldn't be more grateful," writer and infertility advocate Jenn Palumbo said in a tweet. The comments from Dolce and Gabbana struck some as hypocritical coming from a couple that was romantically involved until 2005 (they continued working together after the breakup). Still, Gabbana has dropped hints in interviews of his "traditional" views toward family structure. He told an Italian publication in 2006 that he once asked a female friend to be a surrogate mother because he was "opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two gay parents." Gabbana was quick to react to this controversy, calling John a "fascist" in an Instagram comment that was later deleted, according to CNN affiliate TGCom24. He also sought to discredit reports that they told Panorama in this instance they objected to same-sex adoption, even though Gabbana took that position in his 2006 interview. By Sunday evening, Gabbana's Instagram feed was full of screengrabs and reposts from people who supported his right to voice his opinion. "It's a shame that you are not allowed to say what you like," one person said in a comment on Gabbana's Instagram. "You have every right to say what you want, especially as you weren't disrespectful nor immature like Elton was. His comments are unnecessary, cheap and childish." Gabbana issued a statement saying he and Dolce had not intended to judge others. "We firmly believe in democracy and the fundamental principle of freedom of expression that upholds it. We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices," the statement read. Dolce also defended his views in statement and said he was not applying them to other people. "I'm Sicilian and I grew up in a traditional family, made up of a mother, a father and children. I am very well aware of the fact that there are other types of families and they are as legitimate as the one I've known. But in my personal experience, family had a different configuration....I was talking about my personal view, without judging other people's choices and decisions," the statement read. CNN's Alba Prifti contributed to this report. +(CNN)Britain's Prince Harry is preparing for a new chapter in his life. After nearly a decade with the British military, he has announced in a statement that he is leaving the armed forces. "Moving on from the Army has been a really tough decision," he said in a statement released Tuesday. "I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the chance to do some very challenging jobs and have met many fantastic people in the process. ...[T]he experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life." "Captain Harry Wales," as he is known, from his official title and name of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, began his formal military duties in 2005 at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The younger son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana seemed to thrive in a military setting. He managed to curb his wild ways (for the most part), served two tours in Afghanistan and achieved the rank of captain in 2011. He has also qualified as an Apache Aircraft commander. Prince Harry does have a few more responsibilities before he returns to civilian life. He'll spend the last two months of his operational service attached to Australian Defence Force units in Darwin, Perth and Sydney. "We have prepared a challenging program that will see Captain Wales deploy on urban and field training exercises, domestic deployments, as well as participate in Indigenous engagement activities," said Air Chief Marshal Mark Binski of the Australian Defence Force. "While all our units are highly capable, we have selected those units that best utilise Captain Wales' skill sets and give him some experience of the diverse range of capability we have within the ADF." Work with wounded soldiers will prepare the prince for the position he will take up in August. He will work in a volunteer capacity with the Ministry of Defence's Recovery Capability Programme and the London District Personnel Recovery Unit. Both groups assist wounded or sick soldiers either return to duty or transition to civilian life. "Wounded warriors" are a special interest for Prince Harry. He helped spearhead and continues to champion the Invictus Games, a competition for former military personnel who have been wounded in the line of duty. Prince Harry will still have royal duties to attend to while he is finishing his military service. He will accompany Prince Charles on a trip to Turkey at the end of April, for commemorations marking the battle of Gallipoli. And he will undertake an official Royal tour of New Zealand in May, after his service with the Australian Defence Force is complete. "This is a big, bold step for Prince Harry," said CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster. "The military provided him with an escape from public life. He thrived being 'just one of the guys.' But, as I understand it, he feels he's reached a natural crossroads in his career. The next steps would be staff college and desk jobs and that's not for him. He's passionate about the military, though, and I don't think will ever lose that connection." +(CNN)A Black Hawk helicopter that went down in waters off the Florida Panhandle three days ago -- killing 11 service members -- had aborted a training mission due to bad weather before it crashed, a military official said Friday. On the same day that officials released the names of the seven Marines who were aboard, new details emerged Friday on the fatal mission at the Santa Rosa Sound near Eglin Air Force Base. As officials continue to investigate why the aircraft went down in thick fog Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman -- commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) -- told reporters that the Black Hawk was one of two that had to abort exercises involving water "insertion and extraction techniques" before the crash. "My understanding is ... that they were flying as we normally do -- two aircraft together," Osterman said. "As they went in, they encountered bad weather and made the decision to wave off and to abort the training mission. At that point, the one helicopter obviously made it back and determined that the second helicopter was not back with them in that return." The crash occurred at night -- hours after the two helicopters had successfully completed the same training exercise in daylight. The Black Hawk helicopters were training near Eglin as heavy fog shrouded the sound -- a narrow body of water between mainland northern Florida and a barrier island -- about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the military said. "The fog was moving in and out," Osterman said. "I think they had done the pre-assessment before going in, said that everything appeared to be OK, but then -- even in route -- made the decision (that) the risk was too high." The second helicopter lost communication with the missing aircraft and returned to begin the search operation, Osterman said. That operation has transitioned from rescue to recovery, with the military focused on recovering the helicopter, military officials said. Searchers found the helicopter at the bottom of the sound, and the bodies of the seven Marines and four Army National Guard members who were aboard. The bodies of at least two National Guard members were recovered Thursday, and the remains of the other two were believed to be in the underwater wreckage 25 feet below the surface, the Guard said. The crew members were with 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion from Hammond, Louisiana, according to a statement from the Louisiana National Guard. Osterman said the remains will be taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification and forensic examinations before being turned over to the soldiers' families for burial. On Friday, MARSOC, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, identified the seven Marines who perished in the crash as Capt. Stanford H. Shaw, III, 31, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey; Master Sgt. Thomas A. Saunders, 33, of Williamsburg, Virginia; Staff Sgt. Marcus S. Bawol, 26, of Warren, Michigan; Staff Sgt. Trevor P. Blaylock, 29, of Lake Orion, Michigan; Staff Sgt. Liam A. Flynn, 33, of Queens, New York; Staff Sgt. Kerry M. Kemp, 27, of Port Washington, Wisconsin; and Staff Sgt. Andrew C. Seif, 26, of Holland, Michigan. They gave all: Profiles of those killed in helicopter crash . The names of the four Louisiana National Guard members were not released. "To have such a tremendous group of Marines -- obviously the experience that they had, the cohesion and teamwork and everything else that they exhibited -- it definitely hit us all hard by having that many at one time," Osterman said of the deaths. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Mark Giuliano, chief of the Eglin Air Force Base's fire department, said a couple of military boats already were in the water for safety purposes as part of the exercise but that "nobody saw anything because of the dense fog." "People said they heard a loud bang, and that was it," Giuliano said Thursday. The second Black Hawk -- which, like the first, was assigned to the 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion based in Hammond, Louisiana -- safely returned to the base, some 40 miles east of Pensacola. "Whatever the trouble was with the one aircraft, it did not involve the second helicopter that was participating in the exercise," Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland said earlier this week. Giuliano said the fire department, which has a unit on Santa Rosa Island near the crash site, was called to help at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 90 minutes after the crash. The military boats that were part of the mission already had been searching for survivors and wreckage, he said. Military officials have said it's too early to know whether the fog contributed to the crash. The 11 service members, all men, were involved in a seven-day training exercise of amphibious operations, said Capt. Barry Morris, a spokesman for the U.S. Marines Corps Special Operations Command. It involved small boats, and inserting and extracting Marines from the water via helicopter. Morris would not say which phase of the training the Marines were in Tuesday night. The initial search was hampered by dense fog, to the point that searchers on boats "could not see," Giuliano said. On Wednesday morning, after searchers got a sonar hit, a diver found the bulk of the wreck at the bottom of the sound, Giuliano said. Divers then went into the water "to start retrieving the aircrew," Giuliano said, without specifying how many bodies were recovered. The helicopter had broken into several pieces in a "high-impact crash," he said. The Coast Guard has hired a salvage company from Mobile, Alabama, to take the wreckage from the water, Giuliano said. On Wednesday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the crash was "a reminder to us that those who serve put themselves at risk, both in training and in combat." "We will work with the services to ensure that ... their family members will be well cared for." Osterman said the 2,500 MARSOC troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and other conflict zones during the last eight years -- earning seven Navy Crosses, 19 Silver Stars, 207 Bronze Stars and 189 Purple Hearts. "It is a very tight organization, and many of these Marines and sailors associated with MARSOC are more senior Marines," Osterman said. "Their families are all very close. In this particular case, they were all from the same team so they were very, very close. And everyone immediately rallied together." CNN's Ed Payne, Greg Botelho, Jason Hanna, John Newsome, Brian Carberry, Victor Blackwell, Jamie Crawford and Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)Football is the most widely played sport among French youths. Yet, it struggles to attract and retain girls. How can football serve as a tool of socialization when it remains the domain of young boys and men? Algeria coach Christian Gourcuff, who has a coached a number of Ligue 1 clubs, notes that for a long time, women's football "was a sport totally marginalized." Stereotypes abounded that the sport was too rough, too masculine for girls to play. They were much more likely to compete in basketball, ride horseback, or dance, such as Maïmouna Coulibaly, whose dance company, Les Ambianceuses, is internationally recognized (though overshadowed by her brother, Amedy Coulibaly, the kosher supermarket shooter in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre). But change is afoot. Since the late 1980s, the French Football Federation (FFF) has promoted the sport to women and girls. "Over the past 10 years, there has been a considerable development of the women's game," said Gourcuff. Former player and ex-Paris Saint-Germain official Jean-Michel Moutier concurred. Over the past decade "girls have significantly increased the level of play," he said. "I am agreeably surprised by the quality of certain female football matches." The sport's increased television presence helps significantly, especially broadcasts of the women's World Cup. "That has changed a bit the image of women's football," Gourcuff said, "notably among young girls." Farid El Alagui, who now plays for Scottish club Hibernian, noticed a dramatic difference in how women's football is perceived back home. "If you look at the French national team," he said, "they've been really good." Les Bleues are presently third in FIFA's world ranking and hopes are high for their success at the women's World Cup in Canada between June 6 and July 5. The professional women's league is also responsible for encouraging more girls to play. "There are big clubs like Paris Saint-Germain," El Alagui said, "who are very good and the level of play is quite high." Such examples foster confidence to try to the sport. "I think a lot of girls want to play football," he said. "They're just scared." However, enrollment statistics paint a less exuberant portrait. At ASVCM only seven out of 345 players in the club's football school are girls, and two more play with the club's youth teams in competitions. Such statistics are mirrored nationally. During the 2013-14 season, there were 50,516 licensed girls in the Under-6 to Under-20 demographic, as compared to 997,511 for boys of the same age. While few in number, the young girls at ASVCM -- a local sports club based in a town 12 kilometers south of Paris -- are welcomed and respected, observed Catherine Ledemé, who has volunteered with the club for more than a decade. "They are often the 'mascots' of the team," she said. Moreover, they excel on the field. The football section's president Marc Girard proudly boasted that two of ASVCM's young players are in formation with PSG's women's team. For Ledemé, who week-in and week-out ensures the club's conviviality, "football has strong social values." She supports girls playing football, regardless of the game's stereotypes or image, a sentiment indicative of changing or changed attitudes. More is needed, but the continued success of the women's league and national team will perhaps inspire more girls to take up the sport. +(CNN)Its a high stakes game of stick or twist with billions of dollars at stake. Traditionally at this time of year, a clutch of nervous owners in charge of struggling clubs in England's top flight grapple with the prospect of relegation, and the enormous hole it threatens to blow in their finances. Do they stick by a floundering manager hoping he can regroup and lead his team out of the mire, or do they get rid and hope the appointment of new coach can transform its fortunes? On Monday, Sunderland's American owner Ellis Short elected to twist and fired the club's Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet, confirmed by a statement on its official website. Less than a year ago Poyet masterminded a miraculous run of form that saw the north east outfit triumph at Chelsea and Manchester United in order to stave off the threat of demotion. Now that task is for someone else as Short and Sunderland try to protect the cool $106m it pocketed last season, with one eye on the new television deal in 2016 that's worth over $7.8 billion to the Premier League's 20 clubs. "It's inevitable Sunderland will have been thinking about money," Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy and marketing at Coventry University, told CNN. "Particularly television money, because it now accounts for over 50% of most, if not all, Premier League clubs' turnover. "It'd be very easy to say they are thinking long term about money and long term about the next television contract but in reality, very often it is short term thinking. "Whilst I'm sure Sunderland are mindful of what's going to happen in 2016, they'll be even more mindful of what's going to happen in the summer of 2015 if they go down." The tipping point came Saturday when fellow strugglers Aston Villa fired in four unanswered first-half goals against Sunderland, having scored four away goals in its previous 14 Premier League matches. Some fans streamed out of the Stadium of Light before halftime while one group tried to storm the home dugout to confront Poyet. It left Sunderland just one point away from the drop zone and was enough to convince billionaire Short to swing the axe, the financial implications no doubt rattling round his mind. Even though Cardiff City, which finished bottom of the Premier League last season, still banked $92.1m for its efforts, the disparity between tiers one and two in England is vast. "Most obviously, the TV revenues from the Premier League deal," Chadwick answered when asked what Sunderland stands to lose if it does fall through the trapdoor. "Also attendances tend to diminish rapidly so your two biggest sources of revenue are almost instantaneously undermined. "I wouldn't want to put a figure on it but you're talking tens of millions heading up towards potentially hundreds of millions." Ironically, Aston Villa were marshaled to victory on Saturday by its new manager Tim Sherwood, installed in the wake of Paul Lambert's sacking in February. Villa's American owner Randy Lerner, who is in the process of trying to sell the club, decided to act after a miserable run of form that saw them score just 12 goals in its opening 25 EPL matches. After Saturday's win, the Birmingham club is now three points clear of the relegation places and Short will be hoping for a similar bounce when he appoints a new man. According to Chadwick, research shows a change of manager at this late stage of the campaign can provide all-important impetus, but he argues there are few "impact managers" available at present. And he suggests the approach of Short and Lerner proves American owners still don't fully understand the dynamic of English football as well as they perhaps should. "It's easy to succumb to fan pressure and results but there's a particular culture in football generally -- obviously inside clubs as well -- and I'm not sure American owners are in tune with that," he said. "We've seen it with Aston Villa -- this is probably a prime example of an owner that many people speak highly of even now but I don't think they understand local communities or the somewhat parochial nature sometimes of English football still. "So they are making decisions that are not entirely culturally consistent with their experiences and the experiences of English football clubs." Chadwick also says the bumper television revenue afforded to clubs in modern football has created a tiered Premier League in which few teams outside the established giants can realistically expect to compete at the top end. "In one sense, it's always been like this," he said. "You go back to the 1980s when Liverpool were dominant -- some teams knew they weren't going to be champions. "I think the television revenues have cemented that position of the dominant teams. "Whilst the Premier League would argue it's a progressive system in the sense that the collective deal does allocate finances to clubs that perhaps those in Spain don't have, even so, such is the magnitude of the payments made to the achieving clubs its almost inevitable you will get the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and the rest dominating. "For the likes of the north east clubs Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough it is great if they can get there, even better if they can stay there." +(CNN)Personal details including the passport numbers of U.S. President Barack Obama and 19 other world leaders at last year's G20 summit were inadvertently released by Australia's immigration department, British newspaper the Guardian reported Monday. An official mistakenly sent the passport, visa and other details of all leaders at the summit to local organizers of the Asian Cup football tournament, which was held in Australia in January, the newspaper reported. The recipient immediately destroyed the data and the information was not distributed further, a spokesman for Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection told CNN. Besides Obama, world leaders at the summit, held in the Australian city of Brisbane in November, included Russian President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, among others. A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection told CNN in a statement that the "breach was immediately referred to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner." "The Department has reviewed and strengthened its email protocols to limit and contain future breaches."READ MORE: Mixed fortunes for leaders as summit comes to a close . +Kampala, Uganda (CNN)Gunmen on a motorcycle have shot and killed Uganda's lead prosecutor in the 2010 bombings that killed 76 people who were watching the World Cup finals. Joan Kagezi stopped at a roadside produce stand in a Kampala suburb Monday evening to buy some fruit when her assailants approached, according to police. "Criminals riding on a motorcycle ... stopped next to the parked car she was driving and shot her twice in the neck and shoulder through the window on the driver's side," Kale Kayihura, the inspector general of police, said Tuesday. Kagezi was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Kagezi was the lead prosecutor in the case of 13 terror suspects now before the High Court in Kampala. The blasts erupted in an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby center while crowds watched the World Cup finals on TV. Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the 2010 championship hosted by South Africa. Kagezi also was in charge of the nation's International Crime Division. Kayihura called her death a big loss for the country and promised to hunt for her killers. "The murder of Joan Kagezi should only serve to increase our resolve to hunt down and bring to justice all those elements bent on disturbing the security and development of our country," Kayihura said. +(The Hollywood Reporter)It's official: AMC is moving forward with its "Walking Dead" companion series in a major way. The top-secret drama, which went through the pilot process with the title of Cobalt, will join the flagship series on the network as the cabler continues to focus on scripted fare. In addition to ordering the pilot to series, AMC has preemptively renewed the drama for a second season. The first season will consist of six hourlong episodes — just like the flagship series did. The drama will premiere on AMC in the "late summer," with season two set for 2016. Robert Kirkman, who created The Walking Dead comic series, co-wrote the pilot with Dave Erickson ("Sons of Anarchy"). Kirkman and Erickson exec produce alongside "Walking Dead's" Gale Anne Hurd and Dave Alpert. Erickson serves as showrunner, while Adam Davidson directed the pilot. "Walking Dead" VFX guru Greg Nicotero will also exec produce the series. While AMC has been tight-lipped on its premise, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the series is a prequel that takes place in Los Angeles at the onset of the zombie outbreak. AMC on Monday confirmed that the companion series is set in Los Angeles but revealed nothing more beyond that it will focus on new characters and storylines. The drama is still untitled. Read more: AMC's 'Walking Dead' Prequel: All the Details (So Far) Cliff Curtis ("Gang Related") stars as Sean Cabrera, a teacher who shares a son with his ex-wife. "Sons of Anarchy's" Kim Dickens is set to co-star as Nancy, a guidance counselor who works at the school with Sean and is seeing him romantically. Frank Dillane ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince") co-stars as Nancy's son Nick, who has battled a drug problem; and Alycia Debnam Carey ("Into the Woods") is set as Nancy's ambitious daughter Ashley, who is the polar opposite of Nick and has dreams of leaving L.A. for Berkeley when the apocalypse strikes. See more: 'Walking Dead' Comes to Life: From Comics to the Small Screen . The "Walking Dead" companion — first announced in September 2013 — could give AMC a zombie drama in every quarter, given the six-episode freshman season's summer bow. The flagship, which resumes production in the summer, airs the first half of its season in October and the second half in February. The off-shoot series comes as "The Walking Dead" evolved to mega-hit status. The zombie drama, overseen by showrunner Scott M. Gimple, ranks as TV's No. 1 drama series among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. "We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the No. 1 show on television. From the beginning of 'The Walking Dead' on AMC, we've been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did 'turn.' Through this new series, we're going to find out," AMC president Charlie Collier said in making the announcement Monday. "Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson and their writing team, along with an incomparable set of producers, cast and crew have created something remarkable and clearly distinct. We respectfully follow the request of 'Monty Python' as we bring out (the latest of) our Dead." Read more: 'Walking Dead' Creator's Exorcism Drama 'Outcast' Lands Cinemax Series Order . "We feel empowered by this two-season commitment, a serious show of faith from our network partner AMC," Kirkman said. "I personally take it as a sign that they believe, like we do, that we've accomplished our goal of developing something original that can pay tribute to the original show and expand the world I created while at the same time having something new to say with this story. I'm very grateful that we now have the opportunity to tell this amazing story and show the fans that we really haven't scratched the surface yet when it comes to 'The Walking Dead.'" Read more: New 'Tomorrowland' Trailer Debuts: Alternate Realities and Evil Hugh Laurie . AMC Global — the cabler's international network, has acquired the international televisions rights to the series, which it will air within 24 hours of the U.S. premiere — something Fox International Channels does with the flagship series. The new series comes months after AMC opted to focus on original scripted fare and ditched nearly all of its unscripted programming (save for "Comic Book Men" and "Talking Dead"). It joins a roster of dramas including the fifth and final season of "Hell on Wheels," "Halt & Catch Fire," "Turn," "Better Call Saul" (already renewed for a second season), "Badlands" (due in late 2015/early 2016), "Humans" and "Night Manager" as the network looks to its future beyond "Mad Men." On the pilot side, the network has Afghanistan drama "White City" and controversial comics adaptation Preacher in the works. The latter, which recently earned a pilot pickup, is in consideration for 2016. See more: 'The Walking Dead's' Most Shocking Deaths . For comics scribe Kirkman — who oversees Image Comics imprint "Skybound" — "The Walking Dead" companion gives him three scripted shows on cable after his most recent comic-to-TV entry, "Outcast," was picked up to series at Cinemax. (He has four total, including "Talking Dead," which he exec produces.) Not to be outdone, Kirkman's Image/Skybound title "Thief of Thieves" is also in development at AMC with Alpert attached. Kirkman is also attached to executive produce an adaptation of David Schulner's comic "Clone" for Universal TV and Syfy. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Eastern Europe, here comes the cavalry. The U.S. Army says it will soon be sending armored Stryker vehicles on a 1,100-mile convoy through six European countries to show solidarity to allies in the wake of recent Russian actions in the Ukraine and Crimea that have Eastern Europe on edge. The move was first reported Thursday in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. U.S. Army Europe posted the Stripes story on its website on Friday. The convoy is "a highly visible demonstration of U.S, commitment to its NATO allies and demonstrating NATO's ability to move military forces freely across allied borders in close cooperation," U.S. Army Europe spokesman Lt. Col. Craig Childs, said in a statement, according to the Stripes report. The troops and vehicles involved will be moving from training exercises conducted as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, the report said. They'll move through Latvia and the Czech Republic as they make their way to Vilseck, Germany, about a 40 miles drive from the Czech border. The troops involved are from the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which are based at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, and they will be accompanied by the Army's 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, which will provide aerial reconnaissance, the Stripes report said. The move is unusual because long-distance movement of heavy military vehicles such as the 18-ton Strykers is usually done by rail. The trek is being called a "Dragoon Ride," after the unit's nickname, the Dragoons. Troops will camp out along the route. "For those participating in it, Dragoon Ride is a unique opportunity," Stripes quoted Childs as saying. "Soldiers and their leaders will have numerous opportunities to engage with local communities along the route, deepen their appreciation for the cultural diversity within the alliance and enhance the relationships that are essential to building and maintaining mutual admiration, respect and trust among allied militaries." The convoy will be the latest in a series of displays the U.S. and its NATO allies have taken under Operation Atlantic Resolve, during which the U.S. "is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region, in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine," according to the Defense Department's website. The displays have come as close to 300 yards from the Russian border as U.S. Army Strykers participated in an independence day celebration in Nava, Estonia, last month. Other recent actions include the Air Force's movement of 12 A-10 Thunderbolt "tankbuster" attack jets to an air base in Germany and this month the placing of hundreds of tanks and military vehicles in Latvia, where they'll soon be matched up with 3,000 troops from Fort Stewart, Georgia. Tension with Russia extends to the air too. Adm. William Gortney, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that "this past year has marked a notable increase in Russian military assertiveness." Russian heavy bomber aircraft flew more patrols outside Russian airspace "than in any year since the Cold War," though he did not offer a specific number. There have also been increased Russian air patrols across the coastlines of Europe. +(CNN)"Hey dude -- can you turn your music down?" If anyone says this to you while you're wearing your earbuds, take note: You are probably endangering your hearing. More than one billion teens and young adults are at risk of losing their hearing, according to WHO (that's the World Health Organization, not the rock band). It's not just old folks who suffer hearing loss. Just by listening to music at what you probably think is a normal level, or hanging out in loud bars, nightclubs and music and sporting events, you can permanently damage your hearing. By analyzing listening habits of 12- to 35-year-olds in wealthier countries around the world, WHO found nearly 50% of those studied listen to unsafe sound levels on personal audio devices and about 40% are exposed to damaging levels of music and noise at entertainment venues. It doesn't take much time to damage your hearing at a sports bar or nightclub. According to the WHO, "exposure to noise levels of 100 dB, which is typical in such venues, is safe for no more than 15 minutes." Once you lose your hearing, it won't come back. Rapper Plan B and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin know that all too well. They both suffer from tinnitus, hearing loss that causes a permanent and irritating ringing in the ears, because they didn't protect their hearing. Now they've joined forces with a British hearing loss association to warn others. "I suffer from tinnitus," says Plan B on actionhearingloss.org. "When I first developed it, I thought it was trains rushing by my house as I live near a railway line. It was really loud and an extremely high pitched ringing in my ears. I now have to wear special earplugs when I go to bed to help stop my ears from ringing." "Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don't think about until there's a problem," says Martin. "I've had tinnitus for about 10 years, and since I started protecting my ears, it hasn't got any worse (touch wood). But I wish I'd thought about it earlier." When it comes to personal listening devices, the level of damage you can cause to your ears is directly correlated to how long you listen and how loud the sound. "Unsafe levels of sounds can be, for example, exposure to in excess of 85dB for eight hours or 100dB for 15 minutes," says WHO. Eighty-five decibels isn't all that loud. According to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, it's about the level of city traffic that you'd heard from inside your car. Some 360 million of us have already suffered moderate to severe hearing loss, according to the UN Health Agency Worldwide. While that number does include factors out of our control, such as aging, genetics, birth defects, infections and disease, about half of all cases were avoidable. That's why WHO has launched the Make Listening Safe initiative. Part of the campaign is to encourage manufacturers to create audio safety features on devices and then educate consumers on how to use them. WHO is also calling on governments to create and enforce recreational noise legislation. "Parents, teachers and physicians can educate young people about safe listening, while managers of entertainment venues can respect the safe noise levels set by their respective venues, use sound limiters and offer earplugs and 'chill out' rooms to patrons," says WHO. In the end, it's up to each of us to protect our own hearing. The good news is that it's easy to do. When it comes to your personal audio devices, such as your smartphone: . -- Turn the volume down. Don't go above 60%. -- Wear noise canceling earbuds, or better yet, headphones. -- Take "listening breaks" or only listen for just an hour a day . -- Get an app for that. Download a smartphone app to help monitor safe listening levels. And the next time you go to a bar, nightclub, sports event or concert, use ear protection. Martin does. "Now we always use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors, to try and protect our ears," says Martin. And his kids never go to a concert without big, noise-canceling headphones. +(CNN)Schools in New York City have decided to observe two Muslim holidays and close schools for them. After all, for decades, kids have gotten Christian and Jewish holidays off. Why not add Muslim holidays to the list? Conservative Family Research Council president Tony Perkins went predictably apoplectic, saying that it was evidence of "discrimination" against Christians. To Perkins, "family" apparently does not include "non-Christian families." Perkins' position is that kids get Easter and Christmas off, but we call those holidays "winter break" and "spring break." I hate to ally myself with such people, but I sort of agree that Mayor Bill de Blasio's decision is a bad one. However, not for the reasons expressed by Perkins. I simply find it to be a problematic endorsement of religion by the secular state. I cannot support the government endorsing religion of any kind. There was once a time when most people considered the United States to be a "Christian" country. However, that notion was never the intent of our founders and is not consistent with a pluralistic and enlightened nation. Unfortunately, even recent events have shown us that there are a lot of ignorant Americans who still think Islam is "un-American." Because of that, I support measures that tell Muslims that they are our brothers and sisters, too. Nobody should feel less welcome or "American" on the basis of the religion they practice, or whether they believe in any religion at all. But this is the wrong way. First of all, virtually every recognized religion is practiced in New York City. Unfortunately, now only three of them have some kind of "officially acknowledged" status. Christians, Jews and Muslims have their holidays off, but what about New York's other religions? What about my religion? March 6 has long been "The Day of the Dude," and as a Dudeist minister, should I not demand respect for my beliefs, by insisting that the school district "take 'er easy" on that date every year? Pastafarianism is a recognized religion. Pastafarians believe that every Friday is a holiday. Perhaps it is time for us all to be touched by the noodly appendage of the Flying Spaghetti Monster on a weekly basis. By selecting only three "approved" religions for respect, we send the message that we value the beliefs of some over those of others. Such a mentality has no place in a secular country -- even if we have a history of recognizing some Abrahamic religions' holidays. Because therein lies a theory behind the establishment clause. We don't rank belief systems here. In Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), the U.S. Supreme Court gave us a three-part test to determine whether governmental conduct violates the Establishment Clause: (1) the governmental action must have a secular purpose, (2) it must have a principal or primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and (3) it may not foster an excessive governmental entanglement with religion. De Blasio's action violates, I think, all three prongs. De Blasio should have used this opportunity to change direction, and state that there would be no official religious holidays — that selecting just the Abrahamic vein of religion as officially recognized by the state is simply improper. This would send the right message -- that the government is not going to get involved in matters of religion, at all. This is not to say that I disapprove of any "cultural" days off, or even simply pragmatic decisions. For example, in some school districts in New York, 60% of the students were absent on Chinese New Year. The New York State legislature authorized local districts to call off school that day, as a practical approach to empty chairs. Further, it did not improperly send a message that certain religions were valued over others. I see no problem with kids taking religious days off, if their family's beliefs require them to. Schools can accommodate that kind of thing as easily as they can accommodate kids who get stuck home with the flu. I don't have a problem with even teaching about different religions; in fact, I support doing so. But what de Blasio did here was wrong. Montgomery County, Maryland, officials handled it the right way; they removed all mention of religious holidays on their 2015-16 school calendar, including Rosh Hashana and Christmas. Those days are simply "days off" as far as the government is concerned. Myself, I intend to continue to observe The Day of the Dude every year by takin' er easy for all you sinners. I don't expect you to -- and as much as I would like the government to mandate that we all do so every March 6, that would simply rot the Lemon, so to speak. +(CNN)If ignorance is bliss, then America must be a pleasure junkie, because we sure are chasing that dragon. The most recent example: A school in New York sought to celebrate "National Foreign Language Week" by having the pledge of allegiance read in a different language every day. You get one guess as to what happened when it was Arabic day. Complaints came in from both Jewish parents and people who had lost family in Afghanistan, according to the school superintendent. What language do they speak in Afghanistan? Not Arabic. The main languages are Dari and Pashto. Perhaps this complaint illustrates why we need more education, not less. Unfortunately, this wasn't an isolated incident. Earlier this year in Florida, parents were up in arms because a school taught about Islam in a history class. And, there are perennial stories about "Americans" offended by a Spanish recitation of the pledge. Because of the outcry, Pine Bush students will now not hear the pledge in Italian, Spanish, Japanese, or French, as planned. That they were deprived of such a pedagogical exercise is bad enough. What is worse is that the school district felt that it had to apologize. The district's statement was a surrender to ignorance. "The intention was to promote the fact that those who speak a language other than English still pledge to salute this great country. We sincerely apologize to any students, staff or community members who found this activity disrespectful." Instead of the Pine Bush students learning about other languages and cultures, they learned that the "heckler's veto" and phony tales of "offense" trump open mindedness and the quest for knowledge. At least they do in modern-day American education. Perhaps this is a lesson best learned now, because once they get to college, it will be even worse. Our universities were once places where ideas were safe to flourish, and we went to question what we knew. Today, they are places where disfavored ideas are all but banned. According to students, Dixie State (Utah) bans posters that "mock" anyone, including former president Bush. Last year, Smith College's president apologized and there was a student outcry because students had "hurt feelings" when alumna Wendy Kaminer argued at a panel discussion moderated by the college president against using the euphemism "the n-word" in historical discussions. She believed that using the actual word, in context, was proper (and it is). Yes, censorship of ideas and speech is no longer a top-down or parent-driven phenomenon. Now students themselves insist on being insulated from anything that might make them question their beliefs. Instead of debating an anti-abortion protester, Oregon University students preferred to call the campus police -- who briefly took their side. George Will was slated to speak at Scripps College in a program specifically designed to challenge students' prevailing views. But, since he challenged the feminist view of sexual assault on campus, Scripps pulled his invitation. When I went to college, I enjoyed challenging my beliefs. I still do. I hope that my children constantly do the same. That is how we grow. If we cannot tolerate foreign languages, or distasteful ideas, even in an educational setting, what hope do we have? When we have orthodoxy of thought, the very notion of liberty begins to shrivel up and die. When the cry of "I'm offended" can shut down debate over philosophies, or learning about other cultures, or learning other languages, then what have our educational institutions become? How much further will this enforced ignorance and orthodoxy need to go before education is just another word that comes untethered from its meaning? And the very inspiration for this column, a debate over the pledge of allegiance, makes the problem even more glaring. A rote and thought-free-chant of mindless allegiance can't even be expressed in a different language? Is America really so fragile that if a citizen proclaims "fidelità agli Stati Uniti" that it means anything less because it is in Italian? Perhaps this highlights more than the fact that we should step away from the brink of ignorance while we can. Perhaps a good place to start is by doing away with enforced orthodoxy of thought and speech in the first place. Perhaps a good place to do that would be by doing away with the pledge of allegiance itself. Perhaps if we pledged to uphold the Constitution, instead of a piece of cloth, we would be reminded of what really built this nation -- the Spirit of the Enlightenment. No views are so sacred that they need not be challenged. Whether we are talking about learning to say the Pledge in Japanese, or hearing a speaker who challenges our beliefs, that is what education is about, not enforced ignorance. +(CNN)In an unusual turn of events last week, a terror plot suspect's desire to talk to local media put him at odds with his attorneys and landed a Cincinnati television station in federal court. At issue was a taped audio interview with Christopher Cornell and whether the station could broadcast that interview. Cornell is accused of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol. The 20-year-old -- who claims in the interview that he is affiliated with ISIS -- was arrested on January 14, months after his social media habits and talk of jihad put him on the FBI's radar, according to court documents obtained by CNN at the time of his arrest. Two days after his arrest, a court order was issued barring public contact with Cornell, who is being held at the Boone County Jail across the river in Kentucky. Last week, Cornell made a collect call to CNN affiliate WXIX, said news director Kevin Roach. That phone call initiated what ended up being an hourlong interview, Roach said. Cornell's attorney, Richard Smith-Monahan, argued that WXIX was in contempt of court for violating a January order "directing the detention facility holding the Defendant not to permit outside contact by anyone with the Defendant without [defense counsel's] express approval." Cornell spoke with reporter Tricia Macke. In that interview, he refuses to tell Macke how or when he first came in contact with ISIS, but he did give the reporter details on a plot to kill President Barack Obama, members of Congress, as well as an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Washington. "I would have took my gun," he said. "I would have put it to Obama's head. I would have pulled the trigger. Then I would unleash more bullets on the Senate and House of Representative members. And I would have attacked the Israeli Embassy and various other buildings full of Kafir who want to wage war against us Muslims." When Macke asked him why he would plot such an attack, he said "Obama is an enemy of Allah, therefore an enemy of us, of Islamic State." He said his plan for an attack on the U.S. Capitol was retaliation for "the continued American aggression against our people and the fact that America, specifically President Obama, wants to wage war against Islamic State." Cornell told Macke he was planning what would have been a "major attack" to take place in Washington on September 20, repeatedly referring to himself as a member of ISIS. "I'm with the Islamic State," he said at one point. "I have connections with many brothers over there. We've been corresponding for quite some time now, actually. The FBI finally caught on this past year." Cornell told Macke that he used "encrypted messaging" to communicate with ISIS members. He said they discussed "how we should wage jihad in America. We should form our own groups and alliances with the Islamic State," he continued. Cornell said he was serious about his plans. "I'm very dedicated," he told Macke. "Like I said, I'm a Muslim. I'm so dedicated that I risked my life. That should say a whole lot." He also warned that there were others like himself. "We are indeed here in America," he said. "We're in each and every state. We're here in Ohio. We're more organized than you think." The interview was taped in three 20-minute segments and was recorded by the jail and WXIX. Roach said the jail's taping system only allows for 20 minutes of taping at one time, so each time the recording would stop and the phone call ended, Cornell called the station back to tell his side of the story. CNN listened to the audio recording. During the 6:30 p.m. newscast on Thursday, the station aired a brief clip of the audio recording, previewing a longer story that was to air later that night, in the 10 p.m. newscast. According to Mike Allen, legal analyst and attorney for WXIX, a producer from the station called him about 7:30 Thursday evening; Cornell's attorney had filed a "show of cause" order in Cincinnati's federal court and an emergency hearing was scheduled for 8:30 p.m. During that hearing, the judge continued the case for Friday morning and WXIX agreed to delay broadcasting the interview until Friday, pending a decision. In addition to the contempt of court argument, Smith-Monahan was also asking the court to issue a restraining order against the station, an order that would keep the station from broadcasting the interview with Cornell, according to court documents. During the hearing, which lasted five hours, a lieutenant at the Boone County facility testified that one of Cornell's attorneys had given him a phone. In that testimony the lieutenant stated that he reminded the attorney that giving Cornell a phone meant he would be able to call anyone he wanted to, which seemed at odds with the spirit of the January court order. At the end of Friday's hearing, U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith ruled that the order prohibiting Cornell from contact with the public was vaguely written and the station was not in violation of the order. Additionally, the judge ruled it would be unconstitutional for the news station to be barred from broadcasting the interview, according to Allen. The judge also stated in court that while Cornell has the right to remain silent, he also has the right to freedom of speech. "At the end of the day, the judge made the right decision," Allen said. CNN on Saturday reached out to Smith-Monahan, Cornell's defense attorney, but so far has received no response. WXIX aired a portion of the interview on Friday night, and plans to broadcast more this week. CNN's Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +Moscow (CNN)Russia's president shares "political responsibility" for the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, the late politician's daughter said Friday in her first TV interview since his death in central Moscow last week. Zhanna Nemtsova, who said she has no faith in the Russian investigation into the killing, said she believes his death will only deter other opposition voices, rather than embolden them. "I cannot blame him (Putin) directly, (but) I would say that our authorities, including the president of Russia, have political responsibility as the head of state," Nemtsova told CNN's Matthew Chance. Nemtsova says she has no evidence about who ordered the murder, but that "it's evident that it's politically motivated." Nemtsov, 55, was shot dead last Friday night as he walked near the Kremlin with his girlfriend. A former deputy prime minister, he was one of Putin's harshest critics and had been arrested several times for speaking against the government. No one has been arrested, though Russia's Federal Security Service chief has said there are suspects. The Kremlin has suggested Nemtsov may have been killed by enemies of Russia intent on creating political discord, but many Nemtsov supporters suspect Putin's administration of involvement. How Boris Nemtsov's murder serves notice to Vladimir Putin's enemies . Putin this week called the killing a "disgrace" and a tragedy, and he promised to bring those responsible to justice. But Nemtsova, 30, said she does not believe that will happen. She said investigators have not contacted her and she knows nothing of the case except what is in the media. "I don't know where his cellphone and his personal belongings are, so I know only those things which are released or published in the press and nothing else, nothing else," she told CNN from Germany, where she is staying for a few days. "As I have already said, I don't have any faith in this investigation." Nemtsova said she loved her father "more than anyone else in my life" and that the two were very close. "I think that he died a hero," she said. "He was a very brave man, and he was clever, he was a great thinker and he was a brilliant physicist," having published dozens of articles on the subject, she said. He was also an economist and pacifist, she said, who most recently had been critical of the Kremlin's handling of the Ukraine crisis. "I know that some Russian officials kept saying that he was not dangerous, but ... in an authoritarian regime, any person who does not agree with politics -- who criticizes the official standpoint -- is dangerous," Nemtsova said. "That's why, I think, if you look at other regimes, like in Russia, you will see that all opponents to the official line are in danger, under threat." Nemtsov was a top official with the Republican Party of Russia-Party of People's Freedom, a liberal opposition group. He served as deputy prime minister in the late 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin. Early in his career, he was governor of Nizhniy Novgorod, a major economic hub. "I think that now, Russia has crossed the line after this murder, and people will be frightened to express their ideas which contradict ... the official standpoint," Nemtsova said. CNN's Matthew Chance reported from Moscow. CNN's Melissa Gray reported and wrote from Atlanta. +(CNN)Two former neighbors of Justin Bieber have filed a lawsuit against the pop star, claiming he and his bodyguards repeatedly harassed them and their family, vandalized their house with eggs and threatened them with anti-Semitic remarks. In the lawsuit Jeffrey and Suzanne Schwartz say Bieber hosted frequent loud parties and spat in Jeffrey Schwartz' face after he complained about the pop star driving his Ferrari at dangerous speeds down the street of their gated community in Calabasas, California. The suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, also alleges Bieber's bodyguards dismissed Jeffrey Schwartz's complaints by taunting him repeatedly with "what are you going to do about it, Jew boy?" The suit seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial. Representatives for Bieber did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday afternoon. The lawsuit comes after Bieber, 21, pleaded guilty last July to a misdemeanor vandalism charge stemming from a January 9, 2014 incident in which the Schwartzes' house was pelted with dozens of eggs. Bieber agreed to pay $80,900 in restitution for damages to the house and was placed on two years' probation. It's the latest chapter in a string of legal troubles for the polarizing former teen idol, who in recent years has been convicted of careless driving and resisting arrest and is facing dangerous driving and assault charges after his ATV collided with a minivan last August in Canada. Thursday's lawsuit alleges a nine-month pattern of "offensive" behavior by Bieber and members of his entourage from March 2013 to January 2014. The Schwartzes, who lived next door to Bieber, claim the harassment escalated after a March 27, 2013 episode in which Bieber spat in Jeffrey Schwartz' face and threatened to "f---ing kill" him. The following year, after the egging episode made headlines, the Schwartzes say they and their children were subject to "constant harassment" by Bieber's entourage, fans and the media. The couple are seeking damages on the grounds of assault and battery and infliction of emotional distress. Bieber sold the Calabasas house for $7. 2 million last year to Khloe Kardashian and has since been renting a $60,000-a-month home in Beverly Hills, according to Forbes. +Port Gibson, Mississippi (CNN)An African-American man is found hanging from a tree in the Mississippi woods with bedsheets around his neck attached to a limb 15 feet above the ground. There's no chair in sight. His feet are 2 to 3 feet off the ground. His hands are not bound. Is this a suicide? Or is it a lynching -- a shadow from the South's history of racial violence re-emerging? Those were the big questions Friday, one day after authorities found a man's body with bedsheets around his neck in Port Gibson, a small town of just over 1,500 people in rural Claiborne County, about 60 miles southwest of Jackson, the state capital. Evidence collected so far doesn't suggest foul play in the death, law enforcement officials said. For that reason, suicide is the early theory as the likely manner of death, the officials said. Claiborne County Sheriff Marvin Lucas on Friday identified the man as Otis Byrd. Even though authorities have confirmed his name, they still have a lot of work ahead to figure out how Byrd died and who is responsible. "It could take a week, it could take two weeks, it could take months," Lucas said. Authorities expect to receive a preliminary report next week on what caused Byrd's death, Donald Alway, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Jackson, said Friday afternoon at a press conference. He said 30 agents from the FBI, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and other agencies are looking for friends and family of the victim "that might help paint a picture on the cause of death of Mr. Byrd." Agents have finished searching the area where the body was found and are looking at a "storage location" Byrd owned that might yield information, Alway said. Alway said the FBI is communicating with the family and won't comment on rumors circulating about the death. "The community deserves answers," he said. "The family deserves answers." The body was found at 10:21 a.m. Thursday, deep in a forest about 500 yards from the house Byrd was renting, according to Lucas. A skullcap had been pulled over his head, the sheriff said. That house was the last place where Byrd had been seen on March 2, according to the sheriff. He was reported missing a week later, spurring a search. The body was found by staffers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks who were taking part in the search, Lucas said. Thursday was the first time authorities looked specifically in the wooded area where the body was found, according to the sheriff. A family member who did not want to be identified said Byrd was not acting out of the ordinary in the days before he went missing. He went to church, he worked and occasionally ventured to a casino, according to the family member, who described Byrd as a "good, hardworking man." Byrd had been in prison. He was convicted in 1980 of murdering a woman, but was paroled in 2006, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. No one has given any indication publicly whether Byrd had enemies. What distinguishes a suicidal hanging from a lynching? Thomas Martin, a veteran crime scene investigator and president of Crime Scene Forensics LLC, said he knew nothing about the Mississippi case but had investigated other deaths by hanging or strangulation. Injuries to the dead person indicate lynching, he said, because it means the dead person struggled with other people before being hanged. When people are strangled by somebody else, investigators sometimes find the deceased has grabbed at the ligature and left finger marks and even bits of fingernails around his neck, he said. The direction of the ligature is another indicator, Martin said. When people hang themselves, the rope often rides up directly behind the ears, he said. When a person is hanged by other people, the ligature moves differently on the neck, he said. Martin said these are general observations and that "the facts are what make or break the case." Mississippi NAACP chapter President Derrick Johnson issued a statement calling on "federal authorities to immediately investigate the hanging death of Mr. Otis Byrd." The FBI already is looking into any federal civil rights violations and has a forensics team on the scene. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi are also investigating, according to a spokeswoman for the Justice Department. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation also is investigating. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack told WAPT that "it's too early to say what happened or speculate about the cause or the manner" of death. "We don't know what happened out there," Pack said. "We don't know if it was a suicide, if it was a homicide. That's why we investigate these types of cases." Lucas, who is himself African-American, said Friday that he's worried people will jump to the conclusion that Byrd was murdered and that race was a factor. "I don't want the community to go excited saying it was a white-on-black thing. That's the worst thing that can happen, is people making it into a race issue," Lucas said. "And that's my biggest fear. And I don't want that to happen. CNN's Ed Lavandera and Jason Morris reported from Mississippi, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Evan Perez, Alexandra Jaffe and Wesley Bruer contributed to this report. +(CNN)Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and . . . a criminal? A sanitation worker in an Atlanta suburb already served two weekends in jail -- and faced several more until officials relented Monday-- after authorities charged him for doing his job too early in the morning. Kevin McGill, a garbage collector in Sandy Springs, Georgia, had been sentenced to a total of 30 days in jail for violating the city's noise ordinance that states that "trash collection must be conducted between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m." He was cited one recent morning after starting work about 5 a.m. McGill said that when he appeared in court, he was "stunned" when he learned he'd have to serve time for collecting garbage too early. "The solicitor said, 'It's automatic jail time,'" McGill told CNN affiliate WSB. McGill said it was the first time he'd violated the ordinance, but the solicitor "didn't want to hear nothing I had to say." "I was shocked," McGill told WSB. City spokeswoman Sharon Kraun said McGill appeared in court with his employer and agreed to a plea deal, which included a 30-day jail sentence. The court said the sentence could be served on weekends, and Kraun confirmed Monday that McGill already spent two weekends behind bars. After news of McGill's punishment went viral, the solicitor's office announced Monday that prosecutors would amend his sentence, saying in a statement, "The actions of the court with regards to Mr. McGill's sentence for violating the city's noise laws was disproportionate to a first-time offense." "As such, the court has amended its sentence to time served and further probation (is) suspended," the statement said. Chief prosecutor Bill Riley told WSB that the jail sentence was his idea because, he said, "fines don't seem to work." "The only thing that seems to stop the activity is actually going to jail," McGill said. Still, McGill said being locked up with "real criminals" was hard, and so was being away from his family. "I just want this to be over with," he told WSB before getting word of the "time served" adjustment. "I'm away from my family, my wife, and she's got to take care of the two little boys and I have four dogs." +(CNN)Winter will end. The sun will shine again. But if you can't stand another day of toe-numbing temperatures, start thinking about an escape to one of TripAdvisor's picks for the world's best beaches. The travel site announced 332 winners of its annual Travelers' Choice awards for beaches Wednesday. The awards are based on the quantity and quality of traveler reviews for beaches gathered over 12 months. In addition to a global winners list, top beaches are listed by regions and countries, including lists for Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, the South Pacific, the United Kingdom and the United States. The world's best beach? That would be Baia do Sancho on the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. For the second year in a row, the golden crescent hugged by rocky cliffs has earned the No. 1 spot on the global list. Grace Bay in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, has also retained its ranking as the No. 2 Travelers' Choice beach in the world. Here are TripAdvisor's top 10 beaches in the world: . 1. Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil . 2. Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos . 3. Rabbit Beach, Lampedusa, Italy . 4. Playa Paraiso Beach, Cayo Largo, Cuba . 5. Playa de Ses Illetes, Formentera, Spain . 6. Anse Lazio, Praslin Island, Seychelles . 7. White Beach, Boracay, Philippines . 8. Flamenco Beach, Culebra, Puerto Rico . 9. Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands, Australia . 10. Elafonissi Beach, Elafonissi, Crete, Greece . TripAdvisor offers booking and rate comparisons at hotels and resorts in each location. World's most spectacular cliffside beaches . On the Travelers' Choice list for the United States, Florida made huge gains on Hawaii this year. According to TripAdvisor search traffic, interest in top 10-ranked Florida beaches is up on average 69% year-over-year. Last year's list featured Hawaiian beaches in seven of the top 10 spots, with only two Florida beaches listed in the top 10. This year, six Florida beaches ranked in the top 10, with only three in Hawaii. This year's No. 1 U.S. beach, Siesta Beach in Siesta Key, Florida, edged out last year's top ranked Lanikai Beach in Kailua, Hawaii. Here are 2015's top 10 U.S. beaches: . 1. Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, Florida . 2. St. Pete Beach, St. Petersburg, Florida . 3. Ka'anapali Beach, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii . 4. Wai'anapanapa State Park, Hana, Maui, Hawaii . 5. Pensacola Beach, Pensacola Beach, Florida . 6. La Jolla Cove, La Jolla, California . 7. Kailua Beach Park, Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii . 8. Clearwater Beach, Clearwater, Florida . 9. St. Augustine Beach, St. Augustine, Florida . 10. Beach at Panama City, Panama City Beach, Florida . +(CNN)A documentary on the life of late singer Amy Winehouse will be released in Britain on July 3, just weeks before the fourth anniversary of her death, the film's production company says. "Amy" seeks to "truly capture not just the great artist that she was, but also the funny and loving person that most people didn't get a chance to know," the filmmakers said on Facebook after announcing the film in 2013. It will feature "extensive unseen archive footage and previously unheard tracks," Deadline reported Wednesday. No U.S. release date has been set, Deadline reported. Despite releasing just two albums before her death of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 on July 23, 2011, the British singer's smoky voice and songwriting won widespread acclaim and six Grammy Awards. "Amy" follows a poorly received biopic, "Fallen Star," released in 2013. The film was not authorized by the family and, unlike "Amy," featured none of the star's music. Winehouse's father, Mitch Winehouse, called that film "rubbish." The team behind the new film includes Asif Kapadia, who directed the documentary "Senna," on the life of Brazilian Formula 1 racer Ayrton Senna. The film won two BAFTA awards. The Winehouse family said in a 2013 statement that it was behind Kapadia's take on the singer's life. "The award-winning producers of Senna presented a vision that would look at Amy's story sensitively, honestly and without sensationalising her," the family statement said. "We want this to be a tribute to her musical legacy." A life cut short: Remembering the tragedy of Amy Winehouse . +(CNN)More than two decades as a judge, prosecutor and defense lawyer could not prepare Susan Criss for the Texas murder trial of millionaire Robert Durst. The aftermath of the sensational 2003 trial of the scion of a New York real estate empire in many ways upended the life of the 54-year-old Galveston County-born lawyer who presided over the case. Durst admitted at trial that he killed neighbor Morris Black in Galveston and chopped up the body. There was the awkward encounter with Durst in an upscale Houston mall in 2005. Durst had already been acquitted after his attorneys argued that he killed Black in self-defense. Or the time, month's later, when the severed head of a cat was left near the doorstep of Criss' home. Criss said she believes Durst was behind it but admits police found no evidence. Fearing for her life, Criss said she stashed handguns throughout her house in case of a home intrusion. She put away the butcher knives in her kitchen. There was the strange instant message that she said brought FBI agents and surveillance cameras to her home. "I've been living with this," the former judge said in an interview Friday. "It's affected me in many, many ways." The emotions came rushing back when Durst -- the focus of HBO's true crime documentary series "The Jinx" -- was charged with first-degree murder this week in the 2000 killing of his longtime confidante, Susan Berman. Durst's lawyer has denied his client was involved in Berman's death. "Everything he does is totally unexpected," she said. Durst, 71, appeared to be preparing for life on the run when FBI agents arrested him in a New Orleans hotel on Saturday. In his room, agents found more than $40,000 in cash, a handgun, marijuana and a neck-to-head latex mask to alter his appearance. He's being held on drug and weapons charges in Louisiana as he awaits extradition to Los Angeles. The last time Durst was accused of murder was in Galveston. Though he was acquitted in the death of his neighbor, Durst later served nine months in prison on felony weapons charges stemming from that case. Days before Christmas 2005, Criss ran into the man whose real estate developer family is among New York's wealthiest at Houston's The Galleria mall. Durst, who was on parole at the time, was on his cellphone. He had his head down. "I was glad because I could get my composure," Criss recalled. It was the first time Criss had seen Durst outside court, "in the free world," as she put it. "I needed to not show any fear," she remembered thinking. "I got my poker face on." "Hey, I know you," she said Durst told her. He appeared startled and dropped his phone. Fumbling to pick up the pieces of his phone, Durst said, "You're Judge Criss. I did not recognize you without the robe," she recalled. "How are you doing, Bob." Durst told her that he couldn't believe she stopped to talk to him. "I have a job to do but it's not personal." There was small talk about cases Durst's lawyers were working. "I thought, 'Oh my God, how do I get out of this? How do I exit,'" said Criss, who then wished Durst a happy holiday. Durst said he was impressed that she had stopped to chat. "He seemed genuinely touched," Criss said. She turned around and walked away. She wanted to look back at him but didn't want to seem concerned. "I started calling my mom and staff and my friends -- You're not going to believe who I saw? They said I should call security. For what? To tell them he's shopping." The Galleria mall was not listed on the places Durst could go during his parole, said Criss, who was a witness at a subsequent parole hearing. The former judge said police officers told her that Durst had also been spotted outside the home where Morris Black was killed. A secretary in the district attorney's office saw Durst driving behind the Galveston courthouse, Criss said. A condition of Durst's parole was that he could only visit places where his parole officer permitted him, Criss said. His parole was not revoked. When court officials called Durst's lawyer Dick DeGuerin to inquire about his presence near the courthouse, the lawyer said his client was visiting a psychiatrist in the area. DeGuerin could not be reached Friday for comment about what Criss said about his client. "There could be no good reason to come back to these places," Criss said. She started to become concerned. In "The Jinx," Durst described the time he spent living in Vermont with his first wife, Kathleen, running a health food store in the 1970s. In 1982, Kathleen McCormack Durst went missing. Durst said he last saw her when he dropped her off at a train station in Katonah, New York, and she headed to their Manhattan apartment. Her family said they believe she's dead and that Durst is to blame. The case has never been solved. Durst has denied any involvement in her disappearance. "It's a nightmare watching it unfold because you could see that justice isn't going to be done," Criss said of the Durst case and its many tentacles. One day in June 2006, Criss said, that nightmare arrived on a walkway just feet from the doorstep of her home. She blames Durst. "It was part of severed cat and it had been cut right behind the shoulders," Criss said. "So it had the head and it had the two front legs. It was a small, pretty little gray cat. It was placed very carefully. It wasn't just tossed. It was very neatly laid there. It was perfectly cleaned. This had obviously had been killed somewhere else and brought here." The animal's head was perfectly severed. "What was the key piece of evidence in our case that wasn't there that would have given no doubt whatsoever that this was not self-defense -- the severed head," Criss said, referring to Morris Black, whose dismembered body was recovered but not his head. Criss thought of the two dachshunds she had at home. She checked and the dogs were fine. "I was in a panic," she recalled. "I was just distraught." The police were contacted. Even the Galveston police chief arrived at the scene, Criss said. A veterinarian determined that the cat had been killed by a person. Forensic tests found no DNA under the claws. There was no evidence linking Durst to the incident. "They thought I was paranoid and crazy, that I was overreacting," Criss said. Galveston Det. Rick McCullor said he was part of the investigation but declined to comment further. In an email to the Bonnie Quiroga, head of the Galveston Office of Justice Administration, Criss talked about getting blinds for her windows and cameras for the courthouse. She recommended getting the door locks fixed. CNN obtained a copy of the email. "His message is he knows where I live (and) this is what he is capable of," she wrote. Criss said she thought about evidence at the murder trial. The medical examiner testified that the person who dismembered Black knew exactly what tools cut through muscle and bone. Then the judge started receiving instant messages from unknown senders. One said, "Did you like your package?" Criss contacted the FBI, which, she said, for nine months had cameras set up around her home. Criss said agents determined the message was sent from London. They found no link to Durst. The agent involved in the case did not return requests for comment. Criss started carrying a gun. Her parents always reminded her to keep her doors locked. "There was a period of time after that where I not only did carry a gun, I had guns and weapons hidden throughout my home," she said. "What if he breaks in and the gun is at the other end of the house? People did think I was crazy." She hid the butcher knives in her breadbox. "If something happen, I'd know where they were," she said. "I lived like that. I believe that somebody really bad came to my home to send a message to me." Criss' obsession with the Durst case is such that she has been working on a book she wants to title "Descent into Madness." The final chapter keeps changing. "Every time you think you've reached the highest level of weirdness, we go again," Criss said. She knows more than she needs to know about Durst and his peculiarities: How he used to prepare for court sessions in the holding cell doing naked jumping jacks. How whenever he's arrested, officers find guns, drugs and stacks of Metamucil. She learned the reason for the last item from listening to 32 hours of Durst's recorded jailhouse phone calls. "This man, his day, every day of his life, is defined as a success or not a success by how going and doing No. 2 went," she said. "That was a part of the conversations with him... It had to happen at a certain time of day or his whole day was shot. The court staff used to joke that rearranging the court schedule was going to upset Bob's schedule." A few years back, while Criss was campaigning for re-election and working the polls, a man approached her. Criss said it was a juror from the Durst trial, a man who had befriended the defendant, visited him in jail and dined with him at times. He must have seen a media report about the severed cat head. "It seemed like he's inappropriately happy to be asking me this question -- 'Hey, did anything ever happen about that cat head at your house?'" Criss recalled. "I'm thinking to myself: You son of a bitch. I lied. I know the police weren't doing anything about it. I said, 'Oh yes, the police think they know who did. His demeanor changed and he couldn't get away fast enough." +(CNN)During the three years that I was serving as a member of Tunisia's Constituent Assembly, I would frequently walk to work through the gate of the Bardo Museum so I could get a glimpse of the mosaics, and perhaps enjoy the adjoining herb garden. The museum, in downtown Tunis, serves not only as a physical reminder of Tunisia's Roman, Jewish, Christian and Islamic heritage, but is also connected to the Tunisian parliament. I used to love these peaceful moments on the way to work. Sadly, they will likely never feel quite the same again. On Wednesday, that kind of mood was shattered as the museum came under siege. More than two dozen people were killed as gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs opened fire, sending men, women and children scrambling through the Lion Gate to escape. The members of parliament who were evacuated were, ironically, discussing an anti-terror bill in a committee. Two of the attackers -- who were killed during the assault -- have been identified, and the security minister on Friday indicated the pair had been activated from a sleeper cell, although at the time of writing authorities had yet to announce a link to a specific jihadist group. However, the attack followed the release of videos purportedly from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria threatening Tunisia. Meanwhile, individuals associated with the banned Tunisian organization Ansar Al-Sharia declared allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. All this has left some wondering if the museum attack marks a shift in strategy for ISIS. Have Salafist terrorists moved beyond their usual guerrilla-style operations to suicidal attacks outside Iraq and Syria? If they have, then our political leaders -- who have already been vocal about their commitment to combating terrorism, and have been collaborating with Turkey to prevent Tunisians entering Syria -- will need to redouble their efforts. The threat posed by terrorism to Tunisian citizens and our guests can't be downplayed, much less ignored. However, the reality is that a comprehensive strategy is still wanting, a point made in a recent report published by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies, Tunisia's foremost think tank on political, economic and environmental matters. Indeed, the institute, which has tracked the upsurge in Salafi jihadi recruitment in Tunisia based on fieldwork and interviews with Tunisian jihadists, has documented how the phenomenon has largely unfolded outside the media's view. So, how should we respond? Some MPs have demanded the immediate passage of a new anti-terror law, and have been dismissive of the need to focus on human rights at a time of crisis. However, Wednesday's attack doesn't change the fact that we already have an anti-terror law that applies; simply passing a new version of a law will not stop a repeat. Instead, Tunisians should build on the stable institutions we have in place to implement some of the key ideas contained in the institute's report. For example, rather than rely exclusively on the Tunisian security apparatus for short-term gain, we need to better engage the Tunisian public in our common struggle against Salafi terrorists. Part of this means beating the terrorists at the recruitment game. Tunisians yearn for a sense that the state recognizes their humanity, dignity and value as individuals, not just as potential voters and taxpayers. With this in mind, it is clear that the Tunisian state has done a poor job of "recruiting" its citizens into the fold, which has left space for terrorists to make a pitch for young Tunisians who feel alienated and who have lost hope. Of course, a robust police response is required to contain Salafi jihadism. But this must be matched by an equivalent civil response to uproot the problem. That is why as law enforcement fans out across the country to investigate and protect, I hope also to see educators and trained social workers traveling to rural and impoverished areas of Tunisia to demonstrate that the state has recovered the kind of humanity that was lost during decades of police-state, authoritarian stagnation. Wednesday's attack was tragic. But to move forward, we must not be tempted to fall back on our past. +(CNN)A manager at an Indiana Veterans Hospital has been placed on paid administrative leave after sending a "completely and totally unacceptable" email apparently mocking mental illness. The email, sent by Robin Paul, "in no way reflects the attitudes of our staff toward our patients," Roudebush VA Medical Center Director Tom Mattice said in a statement posted on the hospital's Facebook page. Paul, a licensed clinical social worker, had been managing the Seamless Transition Integrated Care Clinic, which is responsible for assisting new veterans with their VA benefits, services and programs, to include mental health, according to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Her email, first published by the Indy Star this week, was sent December 18 to members of her team and shows four photos of an elf in different scenarios. Two of the photos have struck a nerve with the veterans and mental illness communities. In one photograph, the elf appears leaning over what looks like a straw and coffee grounds on a paper plate, with a post-it note that says, "Out of XANAX - Please help!" The caption reads, "Self-medicating for mental health issues when a CNS would not give him his requested script." In another, the elf is hanging from a string of Christmas lights. "Caught in the act of suicidal behavior (trying to hang himself from an electrical cord)," the caption says. John Thomas is a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars and serves as a leader at an Indianapolis American Legion post. He said the email makes him sick and angry. "I can't understand anybody who would do anything like this to us," Thomas told CNN affiliate WISH. Hospital leadership was allegedly made aware of the email a couple of months ago, according to the Indy Star, and had "administratively addressed" the incident with Paul. But since the story went viral, the Roudebush VA Facebook page has been inundated with commenters calling for Paul to be fired. Matthew Conrad on Facebook said, "Robin Paul's continued employment is an insult to every Veteran who has served this country." Mattice announced Paul's leave, and a pending investigation, Tuesday evening. But many say it's not enough. "FIRING her would be the first step in showing you are truly committed to the veterans' health and well-being. Action speaks louder than words," Elizabeth Sanchez wrote on Facebook. Two of the country's largest veterans organizations have also criticized Paul's actions. "It is absolutely inexcusable that a VA supervisor would make light of any issue that veterans face," VFW National Commander John W. Stroud said in a statement. "The VFW demands she be replaced as program manager." The American Legion also expressed their discontent, saying they take "health care for veterans very seriously." "Veterans suffering from TBI and PTSD should not be held up to ridicule," their statement read. John Crimmins was one of a few who came to the hospital's defense. "As a veteran who receives care at the Rodebush VA Medical Center, I find this apology to be acceptable. We're all prone to doing stupid things. I'm sure Ms. Paul has received a reprimand for her actions. She doesn't need to lose her job. Now, let's move on," he wrote on the VA's Facebook page. Mattice, who was not available for comment Wednesday, did not elaborate on the investigation into the incident, or why it took so long to move forward with placing Paul on leave, but instead asked for forgiveness. "I ask veterans to accept my apology for this failure, and to allow us to continue to demonstrate to you our commitment to your health and well-being," he said. This incident is the latest in what has been a tumultuous year for the Veterans Affairs Department. CNN's months-long investigation into deaths due to long wait times for veterans at VA hospitals led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. CNN's attempts to reach Paul were unanswered as of Wednesday afternoon. +(CNN)The recent controversy over a video showing University of Oklahoma students, who also were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, reciting a racist chant revealed a key difference in approaches to parenting. The university said Levi Pettit and Parker Rice encouraged their brothers to sing the lyrics, which included multiple references to the "n-word" and mention of lynching. The two young men were expelled. And the fraternity was shut down. What caught my attention was the reaction of the families — the Pettits and the Rices. They couldn't have been more different. That convinced me that this story wasn't just about racist and juvenile behavior, but also about parenting. Who raised these kids? And shouldn't they have been taught better? At some point, didn't it occur to these young men that they were not only shaming themselves, but also their families? In Dallas, protesters gathered outside the Rice home, holding signs with messages such as: "Racism is taught." Parker Rice issued a statement, which was delivered to the Dallas Morning News by his father, Bob Rice. In it, Parker apologized for actions that he called "wrong and reckless." However, Bob Rice had no response to the controversy. He told reporters: "At the moment, we are not doing interviews." That is not good enough. Parenthood isn't like politics. It doesn't come with a "no comment" button we can press when the job gets uncomfortable. We haven't heard from Levi Pettit. His parents, Brody and Susan, addressed their son's misbehavior in a statement, which was given to the newspaper and posted on the family's website. It read in part: . "As parents of Levi, we love him and care for him deeply. He made a horrible mistake, and will live with the consequences forever. However, we also know the depth of our son's character. He is a good boy, but what we saw in those videos is disgusting. While it may be difficult for those who only know Levi from the video to understand, we know his heart, and he is not a racist. ... "Of course, we are sad for our son -- but more importantly, we apologize to the community he has hurt. We would also like to apologize to the entire African-American community, University of Oklahoma student body and administration. Our family has the responsibility to apologize, and also to seek forgiveness and reconciliation." That's an impressive statement. I applaud the Pettits for stepping up and refusing to blindly defend their son, as many parents might have done. They did what parents are supposed to do: They took responsibility for the actions of the person they raised. Who knew that would be so controversial? Ever since the apologies were offered, there's been discussions in this country about whether it's really necessary for parents to apologize for the actions of their grown children. Last week, while hosting a radio show in San Diego, I brought up the story of the video and pointed to the different approaches that the Rices and the Pettits have to parenting -- all the way from "we are not doing interviews" to "our family has the responsibility to apologize." The Pettits had the right idea, I insisted. A caller disagreed, saying he didn't see why he should have to apologize if his adult son did something wrong. "He's his own person," he said. Based on what I've heard in the last few days, I would imagine that there are many people who agree with the caller. They seem to believe that, when their son or daughter turns 18, their job is finished. They can't wait to wash their hands of any additional responsibility, and they might even frame their retreat as a way of advancing the principle that everyone should take responsibility for his own actions. That sounds good. But I don't think it's either/or. Of course, individuals should take responsibility for their actions. Yet, as the Pettits demonstrated with their statement, when something goes terribly wrong, there is usually enough responsibility to go around. When appropriate, parents can take a slice. Besides, I bet a lot of parents believe -- as I do -- that we should never stop loving our children. But at some point, it's perfectly fine for us to just stop claiming them as our own? It just looks like some parents can't wait to find the exit. Here's an idea. We tell people to drink responsibly. We tell them to drive responsibly. We need to start telling them to parent responsibly. After all, parenting a child is the most important job that many of us will have in this world. And there is no date of retirement. +Montabaur, Germany (CNN)Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's voice isn't heard in a recording of the final moments of Germanwings Flight 9525. But investigators say he was the one at the controls inside the cockpit, deliberately locking out the plane's captain and setting the plane on a crash course for the French Alps. Andreas Lubitz had medical note for day of crash, hid illness, officials say . The only sound the recorder picked up from Lubitz as the Airbus A320 went down, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said, was the co-pilot's steady breathing. Authorities didn't mince words Thursday as they blamed Lubitz for the crash, but questions are still swirling over the 27-year-old's past. Officials say Lubitz passed a psychological test when he was hired, had no known ties to terrorism and showed no sign of medical distress during the flight. It seems, Robin said, that Lubitz "wanted to destroy the aircraft." But why? Lufthansa CEO 'speechless' It's a question police were trying to answer as they searched Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf. Police spokesman Markus Niesczery said a team of five investigators went "through the apartment looking for clues as to what the co-pilot's motivation might have been, if he did indeed bring the plane down." About 85 miles (136 km) away in the town of Montabaur, the house where Lubitz's parents live was shuttered and guarded by police. A group of men, perhaps investigators, were the only ones granted access. This town in western Germany is where Lubitz pursued his love of flying from a young age. At a club on the outskirts of Montabaur, pilots who knew Lubitz said they were shocked to hear what investigators said. They said the man they know never would have deliberately crashed a plane. Between the ages of 14 and 20, Lubitz was a regular fixture at the gliding club. "(He was) a very normal young person, full of energy," Klaus Radke said. "What can I say? He had a bright future. He made his hobby into his job. What more can you hope to achieve?" The authorities' explanation doesn't ring true for Peter Ruecker, another pilot who knew him from the flight club. "Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me," Ruecker told the Reuters news agency. "He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet," Ruecker said. "He was just another boy, like so many others here." A neighbor told Reuters that Lubitz "was very interested in things which are going on around him." "It's a very good family," the neighbor said. "They have a good connection within the family and they are engaged in the community." An 8-minute descent to death . Lubitz had been with Germanwings, a budget airline owned by Lufthansa, since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time, the airline's media office said. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters that Lubitz "interrupted" his training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but added that such an interruption isn't uncommon. Spohr said he couldn't give any information about why the co-pilot had stopped and then restarted his training. If it was for medical reasons, he said, then that information would have been private before the crash, he said, but it will be part of information gathered during the investigation. Most of Lubitz's training took place at the Lufthansa flight training center in Bremen. He also trained in the United States, spending six months at facility in Arizona as part of a required program to get his license, a Lufthansa spokesperson said. Spohr said Lufthansa pilots get medical testing but do not undergo regular or routine psychological testing once they are flying. However, the airline does consider an applicant's psychological state, along with other factors, when hiring pilots, he said. Lubitz and the captain passed a psychological test when they were hired, he said. "We don't only look at competence but we also give a lot of room to psychological capabilities," Spohr said. "He was 100% set to fly without restrictions," he added. "His flight performance was perfect. There was nothing to worry about." Students, singers among the victims . 5 cases of pilots intentionally crashing . Diana Magnay reported from Montabaur. Catherine E. Shoichet and Ashley Fantz reported from Atlanta. CNN's Fred Pleitgen contributed to this report from Cologne, Germany. CNN's Mark Thompson, Eliott C. McLaughlin Laura Smith-Spark, Bharati Naik and Sara Sidner also contributed to this report. +(CNN)When I received an advance copy of a book called "Moody Bitches" last month, I was immediately intrigued. I have been called moody, and the "b" word, but never have both terms been used -- at once -- to describe me. (At least not that I know of!) Had I been labeled a moody "b" in the past, I certainly would have taken it as a major insult. But today, if someone called me that, I think I would say, "Thank you for describing who I am and who we, women, are. There is nothing wrong with being moody, emotional or irritable." That provocative title, "Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You're Taking, the Sleep You're Missing, the Sex You're Not Having and What's Really Making You Crazy," got me thinking about whether our emotionality, our monthly ups and downs during our menstrual cycle, should be viewed as such a negative after all. Opinion: Are drugs stifling women? "Women have this idea that we are supposed to not be moody and we're supposed to tamp down that moodiness," said Julie Holland, author of "Moody Bitches" and a psychiatrist who has practiced in New York for 20 years. "It's like a problem to be fixed and really, I think it's our greatest asset. It's certainly our greatest psychological asset." After all, our empathetic nature helps us understand nonverbal babies -- and not-always-the-most-communicative husbands and partners. Our intuition helps us sense people's motivations. Our emotions help us realize when something is wrong in our lives. So, why on earth have all of those qualities come to be viewed as a source of weakness, not strength? And why is at least one in four American women taking some form of psychiatric medication, including antidepressants, versus one in seven men, according to Holland? Some of these women definitely should be taking antidepressants and other medications, but the question is why are so many other women taking them when they don't need to be? This is you on stress? Those were just some of the many questions a group of us chatted about over coffee recently: Holland, CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin, Cosmopolitan executive editor Leslie Yazel and me. Yazel, a mom of a 4-year-old, wondered if people are afraid of being unhappy. "I do think that people are afraid to be sad and they're afraid to be scared," Holland said. "I think we spend a lot of time and energy pushing down emotions that are uncomfortable for us. I don't want to cry right now. I don't want to be angry. I don't want to be scared so we push it down, but the problem with pushing it down is it takes a lot of energy and it ends up creating a lot of tension." Social media, with the endless barrage of gorgeous-looking pictures from family and friends who appear to be having the most perfect lives, certainly doesn't help. In fact, a recent study showed that heavy Facebook users experience envy, which could lead to extreme sadness and depression. "Everyone's Instagraming their best, most fabulous, freakin' pictures, and they're looking so skinny and beautiful and so happy, and they're going on vacation ... and then you compare it to your life," said Hostin, a mom of two. It's not a real or genuine life, Holland said. "It's plastic." But when more and more women medicate away their emotions when they don't need to be taking antidepressants or any other psychiatric drugs, they create a "new normal," she said. Postpartum depression: One mom's mission becomes a movement . "It's like doping and biking, or steroids and baseball. If everybody is doing it, then the ones who don't are at a disadvantage," said Holland, who is also the author of the best-selling memoir "Weekends at Bellevue." "If everyone is getting boob jobs, then people who don't end up feeling flat-chested." And when it seems more normal than not to be on mental health meds, the bar is lowered for when women will go on antidepressants, she said. Women who are medicating away their emotions when they don't need to be might not realize there are major effects to their decision. Notably, they find it more difficult to cry -- and tougher to orgasm. "I certainly talk to my patients about sexual side effects. It comes up all the time. In our first meeting, I ask ... 'Is it hard for you to climax because this may end up being an issue? It's going to be even harder' ... but it's not like it's in the advertising," Holland said. "It may be in the small print on the back of the ad, or they may say it at lightning speed during the TV commercial." Women today are subjected to a barrage of advertising -- from daytime talk shows to women's magazines -- about the medications they could take to make them feel better. Women's desire for sex is complicated, not strictly hormonal, study says . "Twenty years ago, when I started my practice, I had somebody come to me and they would have symptoms, but they didn't quite know what was wrong and what they needed. And now people come to me and it's like, 'Well can you explain the difference between Effexor and Wellbutrin, and can you tell me which one I should take?' " The conversation "advanced from 'Is there something wrong with me? Do I need medicine?' to 'Which medicine is right for me?' " said Holland, who points to how nine out of 10 of the big pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than on research and development. What we're also seeing, Holland said, is a growing belief by women in the workplace that they need the meds to control their emotions at the office. She tells the story of a woman who called her up in tears and said she needed new antidepressants because clearly her current meds weren't preventing her from crying at work. When Holland asked her what caused her to cry, she said her boss was being difficult. Holland said what was needed was a plan to confront her boss, not a prescription for a new medication. "I hate to see us medicating away our sensitivity and emotionality for the comfort of other people in the workplace. I think it's a big mistake." Thinking about trying to control our emotionality for the comfort of others reminded me of a college relationship, which I shared with Hostin, Yazel and Holland. My boyfriend at the time told me one of my problems (he clearly thought I had many!) was that my highs were too high and my lows were too low. He said I needed to live in the middle. "You should be more like me, like a man," joked Holland. Clearly, that relationship didn't last very long! As we wrapped up, I asked the women what the biggest takeaway was for them following our conversation about Holland's thoughtful new book. "Don't give up your awesome orgasms," said Yazel. (Amen to that!) "So it's OK to be a moody 'b'?' " Hostin asked. "It's OK to be a moody 'b,' " Holland replied. "Our sensitivity and our emotionality is an asset. It's not a liability. It's not a symptom that needs to be medicated away." How concerned are you that so many women who don't necessarily need antidepressants are taking them? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook. +(CNN)He doesn't wear a uniform or hold an official rank, but Hadi Al-Amari is a powerful military leader in Iraq. He leads the Hashd Al-Shaabi, a predominantly Shia paramilitary force doing much of the fighting in the critical battle to take Tikrit from ISIS extremists. Ousting ISIS from Tikrit is important for dozens of countries in the United States-led coalition trying to thwart the Islamist extremist group's quest to grow its caliphate. Iran isn't a part of this coalition, but it is also working to defeat ISIS -- something that's provoked both relief and alarm in Washington. Al-Amari is confident his men, with help from the Iraqi army and some Sunnis, can crush ISIS in Iraq without this coalition's help. He's sure because the Iranians are advising them. "We don't need it, and we won't need it," he said. "Anyone who puts their faith in the international coalition to liberate Iraq is putting their faith on a mirage." Iran knows what it's doing, in his view. "Yes, we declare to the world, we have Iranian advisers, and we're proud of them, and we thank them deeply for participating with us because Iran has more experience than anyone else on Earth in fighting terrorism." Does it matter that Iran is advising militias fighting ISIS? Does it matter which countries are taking part in the fight against ISIS -- including that one of them, Iran, is a longstanding U.S. foe? When asked questions along those lines Wednesday in Washington, it seemed that even top U.S. military officials didn't have easy answers. The view is that defeating ISIS is good, while relying on and possibly strengthening Iran is not. In other words, Iran's involvement in Iraq is a mixed blessing. To make sense of this all, one needs to understand not only the international landscape and Iraqi politics, but Islam itself. The religion's two major sects are Sunni and Shia. In Iraq, Sunni Arabs comprise 15% to 20% of Iraq's population, with about half of them in urban areas like Baghdad, Mosul and Tikrit, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. About 18% of Iraq's population is Sunni Kurds. That means the vast majority of Iraqis are Shiite Muslims. And it matters. During his decades-long rule, Saddam Hussein -- a Sunni whose hometown is Tikrit -- gave positions of power to Sunnis, and marginalized Shiites, experts say. Many Shiite families fled to Iran and the country gave them housing and jobs and schooled their children. That imbued Iraqi Shiites who have returned home with a fierce allegiance to Iran. Shias have led Iraq since Hussein's ouster, often alienating Sunnis in the process. This has fueled major sectarian rifts that peaked when Nuri al-Maliki was prime minister, leading to not only millions of disaffected citizens but a weaker central government and military that ISIS frequently overran in 2013 and 2014. Haider al-Abadi took over as Prime Minister last year in part to address these deep divisions. Still, some Sunnis haven't seen the change they want: For instance, Sheikh Naim al-Gaoud in February called for direct U.S. arming of Sunni tribes like his or at least pressure to make Iraq's government help them more in the fight for Anbar province. And Shiite militias sometimes have done more to hurt than help the cause of unity. The advocacy group Human Rights Watch has documented what it calls escalating "abuses by militias allied with Iraqi security forces in Sunni areas," pointing to instances in which residents have been forced from their homes, kidnapped and executed. Such treatment has happened in remote areas as well as the Iraqi capital, according to the group. "Sunnis are a minority in Baghdad, but they're the majority in our morgue," an Iraqi Health Ministry doctor told Human Rights Watch last July. Just a few days ago, Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said people "must always act with self-control," according to the New York Times. Still, there's hardly a guarantee such calls for restraint will be answered, especially amid the chaos of war. The fear is that mostly Shia militias, like the one led by al-Amari, will inflame the tinderbox of sectarian strife -- with Human Rights Watch warning of revenge attacks on Sunnis in Tikrit. Add to this equation the fact that ISIS is made up Sunni Muslims who consider Shias heretics and apostates, slaughtering them in large numbers. Civilians and troops alike have faced their wrath: The most glaring incident may have been last June, when the militant group overran an Iraqi military base once known as Camp Speicher -- which, notably, is near Tikrit -- and claimed to kill some 1,600 air force cadets, the vast majority of them Shias. Given these harsh realities, it's not necessarily cut and dried what a Sunni citizen in Tikrit will think if either Shia militias or the Shia-led Iraqi military battle the Sunni group ISIS. "Do I choose the Iraqi military (which is working with the U.S.-led coalition) or ISIS? Do I choose leukemia or the plague? ... Which groups do they dislike more?" said Stephen Biddle, a strategy expert and the award-winning author of "Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle." "It's not like the Sunnis love ISIS; most don't. But some think the Shiite government is a bigger threat than ISIS." So what should the United States do? Jessica Stern, a lecturer on terrorism at Harvard University who this month published, "ISIS: The State of Terror," says it's imperative to address the sectarian divisions in Iraq and continue pushing for changes in its government. She notes that "the anti-Sunni, Shia-promoting government of Maliki" was a big reason ISIS was able "to take root" in Iraq. "Many Sunnis feel under siege. ISIS is saying, 'We're going to protect you. ISIS is presenting itself as a savior of Sunnis," she said. But, as Biddle points out, reform in a bureaucracy comes slow. There's been talk for years about healing Iraq's sectarian divide. What's to say talk will translate into action anytime soon? Biddle thinks the U.S. should consider sweetening the carrots offered to the Iraqis as incentives -- and start carrying bigger sticks -- to spur it to get its act together. The biggest stick would be pulling out of the fight against ISIS. "Right now we seem to be limping along with whatever they do," he said. "We're not offering them many goodies to do what we want and not making them feel like they're going to suffer much either if they don't do what we want." Enter Iran. It's part of this quandary because it shares a border with Iraq, has its own interest in fending off ISIS, and is predominantly Shia. It's also a staunch foe of the United States, which its leaders have cast as the "Great Satan." That lack of love is mutual, with Washington leading a years-long standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program. (There are ongoing talks aimed at resolving that impasse, but critically no deal yet.) Yet ISIS is likewise America's enemy, with President Barack Obama saying that the goal is to "degrade and ultimately destroy" that group. It's not in Iran's interest to have Iraq devolve into a sectarian war, says retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a CNN military analyst. "The Iranians are smart enough to know that's a possibility, so they would be telling the Shia-led militias not to make this a Sunni v. Shia fight," Francona said. But what should the United States think about Iran's efforts to defeat ISIS by backing Shia-led militias? Speaking at a congressional hearing Wednesday about the White House's request for use of force to fight ISIS, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff opined that Iran's involvement in helping Iraqi forces is a good thing. "Anything anyone does to counter ISIS is in the main a good outcome," Gen. Martin Dempsey said. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter suggested that the matter was more nuanced. The U.S. is worried about Iran's role, he said. "It is something that is concerning to us," he said of Iran's role, "in particular because the sectarian danger in Iraq is the principal thing that can unravel the campaign against ISIS." CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report. +(CNN)The world is watching for what could turn out to be either a historic achievement for international diplomacy -- or, just as easily, a disappointing failure -- as negotiators sit down this week in the tranquil lakeside city of Lausanne, Switzerland, to hammer out a framework nuclear deal with Iran before March 31. Here are some of the key things you need to know as the next major deadline approaches in the Iran nuclear talks: . 1. The road to Lausanne has been a long one. This latest round of talks are part of a process that has been going on for two years, through both public and private diplomatic channels. In 2013, tensions between the world powers and Iran began to thaw a bit after the election of reformist Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who pledged to end the crippling weight of international sanctions on Iran's economy. In November of that year, officials from the five permanent member nations of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China -- along with Germany, began nuclear negotiations with Iranian officials in Switzerland and signed what came to be known as the Geneva Agreement or Joint Plan of Action, offering limited sanctions relief for Iran in return for that country rolling back aspects of its nuclear program. The deal was heralded as an interim step toward a larger, more comprehensive agreement, which would further lessen the economic pressure on Iran and give the six world powers -- referred to collectively as the P5+1 -- certain assurances that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful in nature, as it claims. Several rounds of talks have taken place since the Joint Plan of Action was reached in an effort to bring about that comprehensive agreement. But this interim agreement has been extended twice over a failure of the parties to meet previous deadlines for a final deal. 2. There's no guarantee they'll reach a deal. While both sides stand to gain from a potential agreement, they also have certain "red lines" they aren't willing to cross -- key issues that could sink the prospects of a deal even if everything else is agreed to. For Iran, a major sticking point is the pace of sanctions relief. They want the international community to lift all U.N. sanctions at the beginning of the agreement, whereas the P5+1 powers would rather see those sanctions phased out as Iran demonstrates its commitment to the deal. Iran also wants a high cap on the number of centrifuges and other nuclear hardware it can continue to operate, and for the restrictions imposed on it in the deal to last only a short period of time. This platform is diametrically opposed to the P5+1 position: that Iran should maintain a relatively small nuclear infrastructure and that the moratorium on Iran's nuclear activities should last at least a decade. And of critical importance, particularly to the United States, is the insistence that Iran be held to a minimum one-year "breakout time" -- a technical terms reflecting the amount of time it would take for Iran to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon if it decides to walk away from the agreement. So even as negotiators express some optimism about the progression of talks, it's clear that there are major gaps to bridge, which may be why some U.S. officials have put the odds of reaching a deal at 50% or less. 3. Even if there's a deal, it's not the deal. While the focus this week is on the March 31 deadline, it's important to note it isn't the final deadline. The parties are seeking to reach what's being called a framework agreement -- essentially a political understanding of the main principles of the final deal. But if they're able to come together on the big issues, they still have until the end of June when the Joint Plan of Action expires to iron out the details. So that means the talks won't be finished this month. Officials have been vague about the format this framework deal might take as well as how much of it will be made known to the public and international stakeholders. The United States would prefer a written accord, but Iran has balked at putting anything in writing until a comprehensive deal is reached. 4. There are a lot of stakeholders. There are seven countries at the negotiating table, but far more following along from the outside. Israel, for instance, as one of Iran's primary geopolitical foes in the Middle East, is watching the talks keenly. Israeli officials are regularly consulting with their P5+1 allies on a regular basis and are trying to influence the outcome of the deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been one of the most vocal critics of the negotiation process, publicly butting heads with the Obama administration in an effort to derail the talks. Saudi Arabia's government is equally concerned about the prospects of a deal, fearing it could give Iran greater leverage in the region. And there are those who fear that a nuclear agreement will spur other countries in the region to develop nuclear programs -- a means of deterring Iran if it decides to restart the military dimensions of its newly legitimized nuclear program. But there are also stakeholders in the international community that would welcome the opportunity to trade freely with Iran once sanctions are eased, giving them access to vast Iranian markets. 5. Domestic politics matter. Aside from Netanyahu, many of Iran's most ardent detractors are in the U.S. Congress and in Iran, and they will continue to make their views known. The chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, is introducing legislation that would compel the administration to put any deal it reaches to a vote in Congress, something that the administration adamantly opposes. Administration officials say Congress has already been consulted throughout the negotiating process, and that, at the end of any final agreement (potentially a decade from now), will play a role in repealing U.S. unilateral sanctions. But Congress is not satisfied to take a back seat in these talks -- a fact that was demonstrated this month when 47 Republican senators signed a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran, suggesting a future president can easily retract any agreement the Obama administration signs. In Iran, Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say on any nuclear agreement Iran would reach with world powers. And he is mindful of hard-line clerics in Iran who are opposed to a deal with the West that imposes restrictions on what they see as Iran's right to a nuclear program. Khamenei has sent mixed messages about the negotiations. He has voiced support for the efforts of Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the lead negotiator. But he has continually voiced distrust for the United States and has dismissed the idea that a nuclear deal would lead to cooperation in other areas. The internal struggle between power centers in both the United States and Iran is a key variable that could derail the already complicated negotiation process. +(CNN)Whoever wins the general election on May 7 will face international challenges reaching to the heart of a question that has bedevilled every London government since 1945: what is, or should be, Britain's role in the world? As one of World War II's victor countries, Britain helped shape the post-war international architecture. Notably, it gained a permanent seat, plus veto power, in the U.N. Security Council, which it retains to this day. But these battlefield laurels disguised fundamental weakness. The two world wars severely depleted Britain's human and material resources. The heyday of the world's largest-ever empire and of London and Liverpool's control of a vast maritime trading network had passed. As the Cold War took global grip, the United States purposefully pushed Britain aside. The U.S. took over its military bases, its spheres of influence, and its markets. Conscious of its decline, London clung, slightly pathetically, to what it termed its "special relationship" with Washington. Maintaining this key U.S. relationship is the most important foreign policy challenge facing Britain's prime minister after May 7. Whether that person is the Conservative party's David Cameron or the opposition Labour party's Ed Miliband makes no difference. Barack Obama's arrival in the White House now looks like a watershed for bilateral relations. Unlike many of his post-war predecessors, Obama was no Anglophile. Indeed, his grandfather's unhappy experience in colonial-era Kenya gave him reason to dislike the English. Obama the dispassionate analyst also found scant objective reason to prioritize the British alliance or Europe generally. Looking at the EU, he saw one dominant, friendly power -- and its capital was Berlin, not London. Looking the other way, to Asia, Obama saw opportunities and threats of far greater moment, centered on rising powers such as China and India -- hence his subsequent "tilt" to Asia. Britain's principal value to the U.S. lies with its defense capabilities. It proved a loyal if not especially effective ally in Afghanistan and Iraq. Although capacity has steadily declined in the past 30 years, Britain was seventh in the world in 2013 in terms of military spending and remains a dependable U.S. deputy within NATO. But the pre-election consensus is that the next British government will be obliged to slash defense spending again, probably below the 2% of GDP threshold to which NATO members are pledged to maintain. Big cuts in army and air force numbers are in prospect. Maintaining even one modern aircraft carrier has become a real struggle. It is likely, on these trends, that Britain would be unable to contribute separately to any new international campaign, but would be obliged to place its troops under U.S. command, as General Raymond Odierno, U.S. army chief of staff, recently suggested. America's top politicians, soldiers and diplomats, such as U.N. ambassador Samantha Power, are applying increasing pressure on Britain over defense expenditure, but with little joy so far. In time, this impasse could lead to a permanent rift. Worse still, in the U.S. view, is the possibility that a Labour-led government, potentially beholden to the unilateral nuclear disarmers of the Scottish National party, could slacken its commitment to Trident, the UK's nuclear missile submarine fleet. The SNP says the country can no longer afford a nuclear deterrent, morally or financially. Washington's worries about Britain's role have been exacerbated by the lack of fight, as some see it, displayed by London when faced with the prospect of Scottish independence and the inevitable break-up of the United Kingdom. Similar concerns apply to Britain's EU membership, which Cameron has placed in doubt by promising a national referendum by 2017. The U.S. greatly values Britain as an informal, surrogate voice within the EU. But Washington's interests aside, the EU is Britain's biggest trading partner and a natural ally in terms of democratic values, and legal, social and cultural norms. An exit from the EU would satisfy minority hardline nationalists in the UK Independence party. But it would seriously undermine Britain's standing in the world, in relation to Europe and to the emerging Brics powers. All this matters more than ever because, amid the developing disorder of the post-Cold War world, old certainties are being uprooted and new or revived threats are multiplying. The aggressive behavior of Vladimir Putin's Russia is one obvious example. Another is the rise of international terrorism, most recently in the form of ISIS, also known as the Islamic State. Another is China's hegemonic ambitions in the East China and South China seas, at the expense of neighbors such as Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. On these issues, it seems that Britain, by design or not, has little concrete to contribute. London allowed Germany and France to take the lead on Ukraine diplomacy. Embarrassed by public criticism, Cameron belatedly sent a few army advisers to help train Kiev's forces. Similarly, London's military contribution to the fight against ISIS has been minimal, and confined to Iraq. Members of Parliament recently expressed strong dismay that Britain was doing so little. And as for Japan, ostensibly an important British ally, recent defense cooperation agreements do not disguise the likely infeasibility of sharp-end assistance. Indeed, as some see it, there is far too much British kow-towing to China. Disturbed by this evidence of decline, Britain's political class comforts itself by arguing the country still leads by example. It still maintains a generous overseas aid budget, it mounts successful humanitarian missions such as in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak, it remains a top five world economic power, and sometimes (though not always) it uses its U.N. and other platforms to stand up for democratic values and human rights. All this is true. But it is small consolation for a country that, 100 years ago, was a superpower with truly global reach. In the election campaign, foreign policy and the key 21st century international issues, such as climate change, have barely got a mention so far. This is not an accident. Britain's horizons are narrowing. Its strength and global ambitions are fading. Its post-imperial destiny is that of a second-tier power. The trick is not to appear second rate. +(CNN)It's been more than 13 years since 2,753 people were reported missing in lower Manhattan after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Although death certificates have been issued for all 2,753, the work to identify each victim continues. In fact, it's far from over: Some 40% of the victims have not yet been identified, according to the city's Office of Chief Medical Examiner. The most recent identified victim is Matthew Yarnell, a 26-year-old New Jersey native who worked for Fiduciary Trust on the 97th floor of the South Tower. Yarnell's mother said Friday that the news "was a bit of a shock," but that it means that she can "finally put everything to rest." "It kind of opened up all of the old wounds and old pains initially," Michele Yarnell told CNN's Brooke Baldwin. "I guess it kind of put to rest any -- I wouldn't say doubt -- (because) we weren't doubtful about the outcome, but it kind of gave us closure." According to the medical examiner, Yarnell's DNA samples were recovered during the original recovery effort from 2001 to 2002. Until this week, they resided with other remains that have not been identified. A recent retesting, however, yielded a new result. "Every time there's a new development in a DNA processing or technique, they go back and they recheck every single remain that they have in the repository at the museum," she told Baldwin. "And this time (Matthew's) matched." The identification of Yarnell puts the total number of identifications from the World Trade Center at 1,640, meaning there are still 1,113 more to go. Daunting, but not insurmountable. "The ME's office is not going to give up," Michelle Yarnell said. "I hope for everyone that lost a loved one there, that they'll have that closure someday, and, hopefully, sooner rather than later." +(CNN)Hillary Clinton held a closed door meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday. Although the former secretary of state, senator and first lady has not declared, it is treated as a foregone conclusion that Clinton is running for president. Likely to launch her campaign in April, Clinton is regarded as the front-runner — if not the only Democratic candidate — and the inevitable Democratic nominee. There is an assumption that since Clinton supported Obama, the black community will now embrace her. But there are more than a few who didn't get that memo. At this stage of the game, many African-Americans may not be excited about a candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. And after two terms of the nation's first black president, she should proceed with caution. Clinton need look no further than the 2008 contest, when black voters doused water on her presidential prospects. Early on, Clinton was the favorite of black folks, lest you forgot, and it did not hurt that President Clinton had been regarded as the "first black president" with high approval among African-Americans. Then, support for a senator named Barack Obama blew up after the Iowa caucuses. And Clinton found herself apologizing for her husband's comments about Obama's win in the South Carolina primary. President Clinton was relieved of his black card privileges for the remainder of the 2008 election season when he compared Obama's win in the Palmetto state to that of Jesse Jackson in 2004 and 2008, suggesting that Obama, like Jackson, would not win. The misstep was an affront to many African-Americans, as were Hillary Clinton's suggestions on the campaign trail that Obama was only good for making speeches, but not for taking action. And let's not forget her assertions that she was the candidate for "hard-working Americans, white Americans." We can chalk up some of that rhetoric to spirited campaign-trail junk-talking, and obviously much has happened since the 2008 election. President Obama made Clinton his secretary of state, and she served as a capable top diplomat and a loyal member of the Obama Cabinet. But that does not mean black voters will completely forget the bitter, racially tinged presidential campaign politics of seven years ago. Black voters are among the most loyal of the Democratic Party base, and their record high turnout for Obama was an important part of his victory. However, with a charismatic Obama no longer on the ballot, maintaining the same level of enthusiasm for any other candidate is a challenge. theGrio.com: Blacks are treated 72% as well as whites . Moreover, as for Clinton, who (understandably?) has her own ideas and may not agree with the President on certain issues, any criticism of Obama could cost her some black voters. Remember that Clinton voted in favor of the unpopular, costly and deadly Iraq war. That support cost Clinton in 2008. And while she has remained silent on the recent re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton's strongly pro-Israel stance on Mideast peace now appears at odds with the emerging consensus among major groups in the Democratic base, including blacks, Latinos and young voters. However, it is likely that foreign policy will not pose as great a challenge to Hillary Clinton as economics. Because she is tied to the Wall Street wing of her party and commands sky-high speaking fees, people may take a closer look at her approach to tackling inequality and the shrinking of the middle class, and whether she is too concerned about offending the wealthy. The nation is hurting, despite the economic turnaround, and this is felt particularly strongly among blacks, who still have high unemployment rates, a rising wealth gap compared to whites, and, for many, no recovery in sight. And while police shootings of young black men continue to stir outrage in the community, Clinton has remained relatively quiet on the subject. She will have to prove that she can identify with this frustration and offer ideas for reform in local law enforcement. This, rather than her email account, is what concerns the black electorate. theGrio.com: Let's stop the 'struggle equation' Perhaps a populist, more down-to-earth challenger such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren or former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb could appeal to black and working-class voters, and unlike Clinton, would not have to fight the perception of living in a protective security bubble, or lacking core beliefs other than being in power. It is safe to assume that if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination that she will ultimately win the majority black vote in the general election, but that may not be enough. Let's remember President George W. Bush won re-election in 2004 with just 11% of the black vote. Had Mitt Romney been able to duplicate that number of black votes, he would be president now. Obama won in no small part because blacks turned out for him in record numbers in 2012, particularly in swing states like Ohio. Clinton can't assume she'll inherit that same level of black voter enthusiasm. Support for Barack Obama does not necessarily translate into support for another Democrat. This means Clinton must fight for votes like anyone else: knock on doors, kiss babies, clap off beat at the AME church, and do whatever it takes. +(CNN)There is a controversy brewing about Starbucks and its new "Race Together" campaign. The ubiquitous coffee shop company was mocked for its decision to have its employees write the words "race together" on its coffee cups and start a discussion on race. But what's so bad about that? Shouldn't we commend Starbucks for trying to be good corporate citizen, to walk the talk, as it were? Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the company's new campaign this week, which he described as "an opportunity to begin to re-examine how we can create a more empathetic and inclusive society." In other words, grab a cup of coffee and let's talk about race. "We have problems in this country with regard to race and racial inequality," Schultz said in a video to corporate employees. "We believe we're better than this, and we believe the country is better than this. There is a need for compassion, empathy and love towards others." And he has indicated that the new move is not mandatory for its employees. This is what Schultz calls "conscious capitalism." It is an example of businesses who want to serve the community, get ahead of the curve rather than pander to what they think customers want, and show that they care about something other than getting paid. theGrio.com: Creflo Dollar is further proof that prosperity gospel is full of 'false profits' Of course, we would be foolish to think that Starbucks or any company would engage in such a strategy separate and apart from a profit motive. After all, the company, like any other money making enterprise, wants to make more money. And capitalism is all about making money. And yet, there are different pathways to getting there, and maybe Starbucks is showing us a new way. Perhaps you think that their approach is corny, and yes, the company has faced a lot of attacks online for their stance. But the attacks are distracting us from a very important problem, one which many people would rather not discuss, with or without their coffee. Clearly some people do want to talk about race, and there is a desperate need to confront the issue head on. What we are witnessing as a society is a new movement led by black women and spurred by the killing of black people such as Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride and Eric Garner, John Crawford and Tamir Rice, and many more, whether by police or by armed vigilantes. theGrio.com: Blacks are treated 72 percent as well as whites . People of all colors and persuasions have participated in #BlackLivesMatter, #ICantBreathe and #HandsUpDontShoot protests and die-ins across the nation. Race is part of the town hall, the public square. It always has been, but what is different now is that the issue is once again being placed on the front burner. It only makes sense that actors and players in society, including corporations such as Starbucks, would want to become part of that new dynamic. At a time when so many corporations are coming under fire for their questionable, exploitative, even deadly business practices, Starbucks is trying to be a responsible corporate citizen and part of the solution. Corporate America makes a great deal of money, and just as some corporations have benefited historically from slave labor and exploitation, some corporations today attempt to get ahead by cutting corners, underpaying their workers with poverty wages, cheating their customers with bad mortgages or polluting the environment. Meanwhile, other companies take a completely different approach and realize that by giving back to the community, supporting worthwhile causes, and initiating important discussions not only helps their bottom line, but improves society's bottom line. Of course, we cannot pretend that having a talk about race over coffee will solve America's problems, just as President Obama's "beer summit" over the racial profiling of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates fell short of fully capitalizing on one of those "teachable moments." theGrio.com: Let's stop the 'struggle equation' Race in the United States is not merely about who likes or who doesn't like you, or who calls you the N-word or does not want to live next to you. Racism is a system of power dynamics and institutions that must be made to change. But these institutions are made of people, and people do have to talk. And drink coffee. And who knows what can happen when people start to talk about race? Maybe they will even think about things in a different way. So, let's not attack Starbucks for doing the right thing and getting the ball rolling on race. The only thing worthy of criticism is that other companies haven't done it, and that's something that needs to change. More: What Starbucks' #RaceTogether campaign missed . +(CNN)Muhammadu Buhari has ruled Nigeria before, as one of a line of military strongmen who dominated the country between 1966 and 1999. A military coup brought Buhari to power in late 1983 -- closing a brief period of popular rule by Shehu Shagari -- and another military coup ousted him from power in August 1985. Buhari's 20-month rule was known for what he described as a "war on indiscipline," a tough regime which some say was marred by human rights abuses. The 72-year-old retired major general's experience as a military ruler has been viewed as a plus by some and a minus by others in present-day Nigeria, where the government has been locked in a deadly battle with the militant group Boko Haram. This year alone, the extremists have killed at least 1,000 civilians, Human Rights Watch says. The ongoing violence in the Northeast has put security -- along with corruption and the economy -- at the top of the election agenda. Prior to this year's polls in March, Ayo Johnson, a documentary filmmaker and analyst on African affairs, told CNN that voters would opt for whoever could make Nigeria feel safe. "Many Nigerians will not forget (Buhari) was a military leader, during a dictatorship," Johnson said. "Or maybe they will feel that they need a military leader to address fundamental problems such as terrorism." Buhari has campaigned as a born-again democrat to allay fears about his strict military regime, while stressing that Nigeria's security needs to be the next government's focus. "It's a question of security. Whether I was a former military officer or a politician through and through, when there is insecurity of this scale in the country, that takes the priority," he said from his campaign plane. In another interview with Amanpour in February, Buhari blamed President Goodluck Jonathan's government for repeated setbacks in the fight against extremists. "The misappropriation of resources provided by the government for weapons means the Nigerian military is unable to beat Boko Haram," he said. Asked by Amanpour about abuses allegedly committed during his own previous leadership, Buhari said there was "a degree of accuracy" in the claims. But he said he had ruled Nigeria as part of a military administration. "When that military administration came under my leadership, we suspended -- as a military then -- part of that constitution that we felt would be difficult for us to operate and as also a consensus," he said. "I think I'm being judged harshly as an individual that what happened during a military administration can be extended under a multiparty democratic system." Buhari's campaign was fiercely anti-corruption. He ran under the slogan of "new broom," and his supporters were often pictured holding brooms in the lead-up to the vote. The 2015 presidential race was Buhari's fourth attempt at leadership since he was ousted from power in 1985. In 2003, Buhari -- then with the All Nigeria People's Party -- lost to Olusegun Obasanjo in an election during which EU observers reported widespread irregularities. He lost again to Umaru Yar'Adua in the 2007 election, which was widely condemned for rampant vote-rigging, violence, theft of ballot boxes and intimidation. After Yar'Adua's death in 2010, Jonathan rose from vice president to president and Buhari challenged him in the 2011 elections as a candidate from the Congress for Progressive Change. Buhari had helped found the party a year earlier, saying it was "a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party, the ANPP." Buhari is a Muslim from Nigeria's poorer North, while Jonathan hails from a Christian and animist South that is rich with oil. After Jonathan's victory in 2011, amid accusations of vote-rigging, violent riots broke out in the North. Armed protesters took to the streets chanting Buhari's name, and more than 800 people were killed in the post-election violence. Buhari's office issued a statement calling reports of burning of places of worship places a "sad, unfortunate and totally unwarranted development." "I must say that this is a dastardly act (that) is not initiated by any of our supporters and therefore cannot be supported by our party," said Buhari's spokesman Yinka Odumakin. "I must emphasize that this is purely a political matter, and it should not in any way be turned into an ethnic, religious or regional one." Read more: Nigeria election -- what you need to know . Ahead of this year's election, Jonathan and Buhari signed a nonviolence pact, the Abuja Accord, in January. On March 26 they renewed their pledge and reiterated their commitment to "free, fair and credible elections." But violent protests broke out a day before the final results were announced. Protesters fired gunshots and torched a local electoral office in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state as they marched to protest the elections, amid claims of vote-rigging and voter intimidation. Both candidates called for calm, with Buhari, who contested this year's vote as part of the All Progressives Congress, tweeting: "Fellow Nigerians, I urge you to exercise patience and vigilance as we wait for all results to be announced." After the protests in Rivers, his party demanded the elections there be canceled. But Nigeria's electoral commission decided the results would stand, saying it "did not believe the allegations were substantial enough to require the cancellation/rescheduling" of the Rivers poll. According to his campaign website, Buhari is from Daura in Nigeria's northern Katsina state and is married with eight children. His military training began in 1963 and included stints in the United Kingdom, India and the United States. Buhari was the first chairman of the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation, the site says. Elements of Buhari's biography were questioned in the run-up to the March 28 election. After weeks of speculation and an ongoing legal battle over allegations that Buhari failed to complete his secondary school education, a Nigerian court on March 25 cleared the way for him to run in the presidential race after adjourning the case until April 22. As a Sunni Muslim from the North, Buhari appears to have moved to address any concerns his appointment could be detrimental to non-Muslim Nigerians -- approximately half the country's population, according to the CIA Factbook. A blog post on his campaign website headed "Buhari will never Islamise Nigeria" describes a campaign ceremony in January in Imo state. Imo Gov. Rochas Okorocha, it says, "dismissed suggestions of plans by Muhammadu Buhari to 'Islamize' Nigeria," telling the audience Buhari's long-time cook and driver were Christians and his youngest daughter had married a Christian. Buhari has also not been immune to the violence plaguing northern Nigeria. Last year, he was targeted in a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people in the city of Kaduna. An earlier blast in the city the same day had been aimed at a Muslim cleric. A day after winning the country's presidency, Buhari told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that fighting corruption and curbing violence were at the top of his agenda. The economy is another major issue the new leader has to contend with, as the country overtook South Africa last year as the continent's largest economy. But as many as 70% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, surviving on less than a dollar a day. +(CNN)Vladimir Putin lies. Blatantly. Publicly. And, apparently, without chagrin. But a year since the annexation of Crimea, what does that mean for the West's ability to deal with him regarding Ukraine? In February 2014, "little green men" -- the Ukrainian term for professional soldiers wearing Russian combat fatigues but no identifying insignia -- seized key installations and checkpoints around Crimea. The Russian President's website reported the following exchange at a March 4, 2014, news conference: . Question: "The people who were blocking the Ukrainian army units in Crimea were wearing uniforms that strongly resembled the Russian army uniform. Were those Russian soldiers, Russian military?" Vladimir Putin: "Why don't you take a look at the post-Soviet states? There are many uniforms there that are similar. You can go to a store and buy any kind of uniform." Question: "But were they Russian soldiers or not?" Vladimir Putin: "Those were local self-defense units." Within weeks, Putin admitted they were Russian troops. At the same news conference, Putin said he saw no possibility of Crimea joining Russia and said Moscow would do nothing to "provoke" that. Two weeks later, he presided as the Russian parliament passed legislation annexing Crimea. In a documentary shown on Russian television last Sunday, Putin said he gave the order to take Crimea on February 23, 2014. So, it is clear that Putin can and does lie. But with that in mind, how should Western leaders who must deal with him actually do so? First of all, they should bear in mind Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" dictum. Second, while Putin may play fast and loose with the truth, he appears to be a rational actor who calculates costs and benefits. The challenge for the West is to structure agreements so that it remains in his interest to observe them. Take the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limits U.S. and Russian strategic forces to no more than 1,550 deployed strategic warheads on 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The agreement requires data exchanges, notifications and on-site inspections. The Russians might be able to cheat a little, but not in a way that would give them a militarily significant edge without the United States having time to react. And the Kremlin has incentives to observe the treaty. If Russia violated it, the United States could relatively quickly add 1,000 strategic nuclear warheads to its deployed ballistic missile force. The U.S. government concluded last summer that Russia violated a 1987 treaty by testing a banned intermediate-range ground-launched cruise missile. As far as is publicly known, Moscow has not taken the more serious step of deploying the missile. Washington now seeks to persuade Russia to come back into full compliance and has threatened a variety of costs, including possible military countermeasures -- on top of the opprobrium of Russia's European and Asian neighbors, who would be targeted by such a missile. (It could reach little, if any, of the United States.) The costs of noncompliance for Moscow could be significant. The question now topping the agenda is whether the West can trust any Russian promises regarding a settlement to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Sadly, the track record offers little encouragement. Russia effectively did nothing to implement the first Minsk ceasefire, which was agreed to last September. It did not withdraw its military equipment or secure the Ukraine-Russia border. The Minsk II ceasefire reached in February fared little better at the outset. A Kremlin spokesman dismissed the idea that Russia was a party to the agreement -- even though Russia's ambassador signed it. Russian forces backed those of the separatists attacking the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve in the first days after the ceasefire supposedly had begun. (Putin's continual denials that Russian troops are in eastern Ukraine have zero credibility after the Crimea case.) Since then, the ceasefire seems to have taken better hold, though it remains fragile at best. At the same time, concern has grown that the port city of Mariupol could be the next separatist/Russian target. What can the West do to stabilize the ceasefire? An assault on Mariupol (or elsewhere in eastern Ukraine) would probably trigger severe costs in the form of a new round of Western economic sanctions on Russia and the provision to Ukraine of greater military assistance, including defensive arms. As Hans Binnendijk and John Herbst recently suggested in The New York Times, the United States and European Union should tell the Russians now what costs would be imposed if there is an assault on Mariupol, in order to help deter such an attack. The West may not be able to trust Putin on the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. But it can do more to raise the potential costs and affect his calculation, and hopefully dissuade him from further military action that would probably bring down the entire Minsk II agreement. +(CNN)FIFA president Sepp Blatter has told Iran to end its "intolerable" ban on women attending football matches. Writing in the FIFA Weekly magazine published by world football's governing body, Blatter described the situation as one that "cannot continue." Iran's ban was put in the spotlight at the Asian Cup in Australia earlier this year, when thousands of female Iranian fans watched their team without restriction. At the match against Iraq, activists unfurled a banner showing the face of Ghoncheh Ghavami, a British-Iranian woman jailed for trying to watch a volleyball match against Brazil in 2014, and called for the ban to end. The measure was imposed following the 1979 Islamic Revolution because the idea of mixed crowds was deemed un-Islamic. Iran is in the running to host the 2019 edition of the Asian tournament, for which the United Arab Emirates is also bidding. But the ban is widely expected to scupper its chances of securing the event. Blatter wrote: "I raised the topic at my meeting with the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, and came away with the impression that this intolerable situation could change over the medium term. "However, nothing has happened. A collective stadium ban still applies to women in Iran, despite the existence of a thriving women's football organization. "This cannot continue. Hence my appeal to the Iranian authorities -- open the nation's football stadiums to women." During last year's football World Cup, CNN reported how fans in Iran gathered to watch games in venues that defied a ban on public screenings. At one coffee shop in the capital, Tehran, the tense game against Argentina -- a game Iran lost only to an injury-time Lionel Messi goal -- was watched by a large mixed crowd. "100 percent it's better this way," said Negar Valayi. "It doesn't happen often. It would be great if we have more of this." "It's actually much better to watch it with a bunch of people around because it makes you feel more excited," said Roya Marzbahan. Hoardings advertising the World Cup throughout Tehran that summer had featured no pictures of women. And state TV broadcasts of matches employed a delay of several seconds in order for images of female fans deemed too racy to be censored. Blatter also hit out at football's continental confederations for failing to elect any women onto governing body's executive committee. The committee includes three women -- one of whom has voting rights and two of whom are co-opted -- but they are elected directly by the FIFA congress following a change to the statutes in 2011. "This was hard work because the members of FIFA's executive committee are elected by the national associations... and there was never, never a proposal for a woman to be finally in FIFA," the 78-year-old said at an event in Switzerland. "We had to take the decision, and I did it in 2011 at the end of the congress, [that] we must have at least one woman on the executive committee." He described football as a "macho" sport and warned: "We should change in the future." +(CNN)"Fraggle Rock," the long-in-the-works adaptation of the Jim Henson 1980s puppet TV show, is getting a shot in the arm with the help of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The actor has come aboard to star in and produce the feature adaptation. He joins New Regency and The Henson Co., who also are producing. "Rock" was a Canadian series that became a hit internationally (it played on HBO in the U.S.). It followed the adventures of a group of cave-dwelling puppet creatures called Fraggles. In their world was a race of small, industrious creatures named Doozers, who lived in the caves, as well as the Gorgs, furry giants who looked at Fraggles as nuisances. First Look: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone's biopic . Regency initially partnered with Ivan Reitman's The Montecito Picture Co. to produce the adaptation, hiring Jim Byrkit and Alex Manugian to write the script, as well as John Stevenson (the co-director of "Kung Fu Panda") to direct. See more: Snowden doc filmmaker Laura Poitras talks "Citizenfour" reception . Gordon-Levitt's boarding indicates the project is getting a fresh start, and a new director and writers will be hired. Read more: Joss Whedon teases even more to-be-revealed characters in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" Gordon-Levitt recently wrapped an untitled Christmas comedy with Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie and currently is shooting Oliver Stone's "Snowden." He is repped by WME. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Kanye West is known for rankling people on stage. Now it's his turn to get a virtual smackdown. One music fan in the UK wants him out of the Glastonbury Festival so bad, he's started a petition to make it happen. In his petition, Neil Lonsdale describes the rapper as an "egotistical, maniacal, disgrace." He calls on organizers to replace the "Yeezus" singer at the Glastonbury Festival this summer. West is booked to headline the festival, which runs between June 24-28. His performance is Saturday. "Kanye West is an insult to music fans all over the world," Lonsdale says in the change.org petition. "We spend hundreds of pounds to attend glasto, and by doing so, expect a certain level of entertainment." The petition urges West to "pass his headline slot on to someone deserving." Lonsdale is not the only music fan upset by his scheduled performance. By early Friday, the petition had nearly 80,000 signatures. West and the festival's organizers have not responded to the petition. The festival is held in Somerset, England, and features various types of music. Past performers have included the Gorillaz and Stevie Wonder. +(CNN)It's no secret that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a young, liberal fanbase that shows its devotion in distinctly millennial ways. Her positions on wage parity, same-sex marriage and women's rights (to name a few) have earned her the nickname "The Notorious R.B.G." thanks to a Tumblr of the same name dedicated to her. There are tattoos, muscle tees and YouTube serenades paying homage to the soft-spoken justice, who has been on the nation's highest bench for 21 years -- longer than some of her followers have been alive. So it seems appropriate that her fans would celebrate her 82nd with social media memes, the Internet's favorite tool for honoring/mocking public figures. Here are some of the tributes wishing Justice Ginsburg a #NotoriousBday. CNN's Ariane de Vogue contributed to this report. +(CNN)Team Cookie or Team Boo Boo Kitty? If you're a fan of the hit TV show "Empire," you will totally get that reference to one of the main rivalries on the series. If you aren't a fan, you may soon be in the minority. The show has become something of an industry phenomenon, with ratings growing every week. According to Variety, two weeks before the season finale, which is set to air on March 18, ratings were up 53% from its January 7 premiere in the coveted 18-49 demo and total viewership had risen 45%, from 9.9 million to 14.3 million. Eight straight weeks of growth is almost unheard-of these days in broadcast TV, which has faced fierce competition from cable and streaming services. But Fox's "Empire" is doing the damn thing. The show revolves around the character of record label owner Lucious Lyon (played by Terence Howard) and his family, which includes three sons vying to take over his company and an ex-wife who took the fall for him and returns from prison intent on getting what's hers. "You're so beautiful," Empire, and here are some of the reasons why: . Taraji P. Henson . Henson has been in the industry for a minute, and despite critically acclaimed roles in films like "Hustle & Flow" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (the latter of which earned her a best supporting actress Oscar nomination), her career hadn't really taken off. Not so now. Henson has sunk her teeth into the role of Lyon family matriarch Cookie. The character is hard-core and street smart and loves her family fiercely, even as she is also motivated by making money. The show's co-creator, Danny Strong, told Entertainment Weekly that fans can thank Henson for the now infamous "Boo Boo Kitty" nickname that viewers have come to love. When Cookie sneeringly calls her ex-husband Lucious' new lady love, Anika Calhoun (played by Grace Gealey), "Boo Boo Kitty," you want to yell at the screen, "Get her, Cookie!" "So, basically Taraji is a genius," Strong said. "She's a comic genius, but she's also an incredibly powerful dramatic actress, and we're utilizing all that in Cookie." Watch for Henson to snag nominations next award season. It's old school soapy . Think "Dynasty" and "Dallas" for the 21st century. It has all the things that make prime-time soaps so delicious: sex, scores to settle, family tensions, violence and did we mention sex? Set in the world of the music industry, there is plenty of glitz and glamor that is balanced with some seedy, dark underworld shenanigans to keep the plot moving at a pace that has viewers eagerly awaiting the next episode. That's a feat given how so many audiences have gotten used to being able to binge watch to scratch that "and then what?" itch. It's new-school hip . "Empire" has fully embraced everything that makes a modern drama modern. One of the primary story lines has been about homophobia, as Lucious Lyon and his son Jamal (Jussie Smollett) battle over Jamal revealing he's gay. It comes amid tons of conversation in this country about gay rights. Series co-creator Lee Daniels, himself an openly gay man, has said he wants to expose the problem of homophobia in the black community. "Homophobia is rampant in the African-American community, and men are on the DL (down low, meaning living a double life and sleeping with both men and women). They don't come out, because your priest says, your pastor says, mama says, your next-door neighbor says, your homie says, your brother says, your boss says (that homosexuality is wrong)," The Wrap reported Daniels saying during the Television Critics Association press tour in January. "And they are killing African-American women. They are killing our women. So I wanted to blow the lid off more on homophobia in my community." The music is off the hook . The show has managed to improve on what "Glee" did and succeed at what the now-canceled NBC drama "Smash" tried to do: fully incorporate music into the show and cross over to the actual music industry. Smollett has been the breakout star in this area. His mellow voice has carried some of the soundtrack's more popular tunes, including the anthem to individuality, "Good Enough," which has more than 1 million listens on the streaming music service Spotify. Superproducer Timbaland (best known for work with artists including Jay Z and Justin Timberlake) and his protegee Jim Beanz are responsible for the show's sound. Beanz told Rolling Stone the music has to be authentic and original. "One of the things that Tim told me is, 'If it sounds like something you've heard before, don't do it,' " he said. Of course the show has cashed in on the songs by making them available on iTunes. Fingers crossed for a possible "Empire" tour featuring Smollett and other co-stars including Bryshere Y. Gray, who portrays youngest Lyon son Hakeem and who in real life raps under the moniker Yazz the Greatest. The awesome guest appearances . You could have knocked us over with a feather when Courtney Love popped up on the show. Love had a bit role on this first season, as has supermodel Naomi Campbell and '80s actor Judd Nelson. The series has been hyping appearances from music stars like Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige and Patti LaBelle. Given the popularity of the show, there's no telling who will pop up on season 2. Henson and Howard . The love/hate relationship between Cookie and Lucious Lyon is everything. They have heat and many fans are rooting for the fictitious couple to reunite. Chalk it up to the longtime friendship between Henson and Howard, who also co-starred in the film "Hustle and Flow." Howard told BlackTree TV that he and Henson had to do a "chemistry read" to show that they clicked. The end result has been magical. "We have so much fun," Howard said. +Washington (CNN)Updates on Scott Walker, Marco Rubio and John Kasich, an economic twist on the old adage "All politics is local," and an overseas vote where President Obama would love to see an anti-incumbent backlash -- those stories filled our Sunday trip around the "Inside Politics" table. The official White House line will be something like this: The Israeli people are making their choice, the United States admires their vibrant democracy and looks forward to a close friendship and strategic partnership with the next Israeli government no matter who wins. But it's no secret President Obama is no fan of Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli prime minister's recent address to a joint meeting of the Congress exposed the rawness of the relationship. So as the votes are counted and the coalitions debated in the week ahead, the White House has both a personal and professional interest. NPR's Steve Inskeep took a firsthand look at the Israeli campaign in the final days and offered his take on the uncertainty. "Now, Israel's political system is so complicated that even if (Netanyahu's) party ends up not being the leading party, there are scenarios where he could end up in a governing coalition," said Inskeep. "But it's interesting to note that Isaac Herzog, the Labor Party leader, who's his biggest challenger, wants to change Israel's approach to the world -- has been talking about trying to end Israel's isolation in the world, which would suggest changing a lot of policies that have infuriated this White House or frustrated this White House over the last several years." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tend to be at the top of GOP presidential polls these days, and a good deal has been written of late about a growing rivalry. But Maggie Haberman of The New York Times took us inside some recent big-money conversations during which Walker took a more diplomatic approach when asked about his potential nomination rival. Walker was in New York City last week for fund-raising meet and greets, and he met with some hedge fund executives who were very impressed by him. New York Observer owner Jared Kushner was also on hand. "He was asked how he would beat Jeb Bush, and he surprised a bunch of people by saying Jeb Bush is the front-runner," said Haberman. "Now, that's contrary to a lot of other things he said publicly last week." "But that is his sell to people who could give him money, which is: 'No, no, (Bush) is the front-runner but I'm the slow and steady guy who's going to come up behind, just like when I ran track when I was younger.'" Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at times appears to be the odd man out in the early GOP presidential rankings. Jeb Bush's aggressive entry into the race raised some questions about whether there would still be space for Rubio to tap Florida's deep fund-raising well. Then came the Scott Walker boomlet, and talk among some conservatives that the Wisconsin governor -- not Rubio -- might be the best pick for a new generation GOP standard-bearer. But Rubio has continued to build his team and travel to the early states on the nomination calendar, and Robert Costa of The Washington Post shared news of a developing relationship between the senator and the party's 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney. "He's spoken with Romney twice since Romney decided not to get in the race," said Costa. "And he has had meetings this week with people like Lanhee Chen, Romney's former policy director, and texts often with Spencer Zwick, Romney's former finance director." "I think Rubio, if he nurtures those relationships, we'll see him continue to rise in the donor community and with consultants and voters." Ohio Gov. John Kasich is about to make his first New Hampshire foray of the 2016 cycle and is getting some encouragement from important players in the first-in-the-nation primary state. Kasich, who is exploring running but hasn't been as aggressive as many other GOPers in terms of travel and staff recruitment, will be in New Hampshire on March 24 for the Politics and Eggs breakfast, a rite of presidential passage sponsored by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. Word from people familiar with the trip is that Kasich is being encouraged to be more active in New Hampshire by former Gov. John H. Sununu and his son, former GOP Sen. John Sununu. Two New Hampshire GOP activists also report that former GOP Sen. Judd Gregg also believes Kasich -- like Gregg, a budget hawk during his time in Congress -- would be a strong addition to the GOP field. There is a crowded field of Republicans testing the waters for 2016 -- and the people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina are grateful. They don't have as much reason to be grateful to the Democrats, who so far seem to be fixated on a single candidate. The lack of a big field will likely spare Hillary Clinton a damaging mess, as California Gov. Jerry Brown suggested last week. But, party loyalties aside, perhaps he would have a different take if his state were near the top of the nominating calendar. Julie Pace of The Associated Press reminded us the early presidential attention is an economic engine in those early states. "When you have robust primaries in both parties, you have tons of money flooding into Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina, on television ads, on hotels, transportation, campaign headquarters," said Pace. "And there is some concern that on the Democratic side, we're just simply not going to see that this time around." "And it's a reminder that politics has become such a big business beyond just the campaigns and the super PACs." +(CNN)One of 10 people killed in the collision of two helicopters in Argentina, France's Florence Arthaud has been described as a "national treasure" by fellow sailor Shirley Robertson. "Florence held the hearts of her nation when she won the Route de Rhum in 1990 -- a crazy sprint across the Atlantic, alone in very fast boats, an event watched live across the country with millions coming to see their heroes set off," Mainsail presenter Robertson told CNN. Along with Camille Muffat and Alexis Vastine, the 57-year-old Arthaud was one of three sports stars killed in the collision as two helicopters transported the athletes to a gorge in northwestern Argentina to film the reality TV show "Dropped" for French broadcaster TF1. According to Robertson, Arthaud had inspired a generation of French sailors. "Brave and brilliant, nothing was impossible," added Robertson of Arthaud. "A true role model to the yachtswomen who would follow, she led the way. "Her sense of adventure continued and she was well known for her TV documentaries bringing the power and passion of the sea into the living rooms of her adoring public. The nation will mourn this heroine's loss." Known as the "little girl of the Atlantic," Arthaud was the daughter of Jacques Arthaud, the director of the Arthaud publishing house. "A true character, she made her mark in the sport through her determination and showed to the whole world that sailing was not merely a sport for men; that women could now also take part in the adventure and succeed," said the French Sailing Federation in a statement on its website. Despite being left in a coma after a car accident at the age of 17, Arthaud crossed the Atlantic for the first time when she was 19, going on to win a number of races including the 1997 Transpacific race that traverses the Pacific Ocean. The boat that she had sailed to win the Route du Rhum -- Pierre 1er -- also helped her establish a women's singlehanded west to east transatlantic record, as Arthaud notched a time of nine days 22 hours and five minutes. "Her death has moved the French sailing world," added the French Sailing Federation. "All our thoughts are with her family and her loved ones." Boxer Vastine, 28, and swimmer Camille Muffat, 25, were also killed in the crash. Top French athletes among 10 dead after 2 helicopters collide in Argentina . +(CNN)Two extremists who attacked a landmark museum in Tunisia, killing 23 people, got weapons training at camps in Libya, an official said Friday. The suspects were activated from sleeper cells in Tunisia, Security Minister Rafik Chelly said. He did not say which group activated them, or with whom they trained. "They left the country illegally last December for Libya, and they were able to train with weapons there," he told private broadcaster AlHiwar Ettounsi TV. Like Tunisia, Libya saw its longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi ousted during the regional wave of revolutions known as the Arab Spring. But unlike its neighbor to the west, Libya has been fraught with more instability and violence -- much of it perpetrated by Islamist militants, like those behind the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Such violence has been rare in Tunisia, at least on the scale of what happened Wednesday at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Still, it is not a total shock, given that up to 3,000 Tunisians have left to fight as jihadists in Iraq and Syria, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization in London, not to mention others who have joined radical groups closer to home. Already, authorities have arrested nine people in connection with the attack, including four directly linked to it, according to a statement from Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. And in an audio message posted online Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said targeted "crusaders and apostates" with "automatic weapons and hand grenades." CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. That bloodshed is "just the start," the ISIS message warned -- a threat that may or may not be hollow, but nonetheless adds extra urgency for Tunisian investigators. The nation's security forces are working to break up other cells like those behind the recent Bardo Museum attack. But that's not necessarily going to be fast or easy. "We know they can launch operations, but we must piece together clues in order to conduct an arrest," Chelly said. As investigators continued their work, Tunisians turned out Friday to mark the North African nation's independence from France. Those commemorations were more somber this year, but they were also in many ways more significant. "I'm here to celebrate 59 years of our independence," said Adib Adela, 38, a school inspector in Tunis. "The most important thing now is to properly investigate and to find those responsible." Tunisia has been shaken by the terrorist attack, though it was foreigners -- 19 of them tourists who'd been on two cruise ships that docked in Tunis -- who made up the vast majority of victims. Fifteen victims' bodies are at a morgue in the capital, a forensic official said. Some of them haven't been identified two days after the attack, according to the official, and all are foreigners. The fear is that many other tourists won't come back. Already, the parent companies of the two ships that had most of the victims, Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises, have announced the cancellation of all scheduled stops in Tunis for 2015 and substituted them with other ports. That means some foreigners won't be coming to Tunisia as once expected. But it doesn't mean all tourists will stay away -- as illustrated by a movement online of people vowing, "I will come to Tunisia." Beyond tourism, Tunisians also hope to get support from other countries as they fight terrorism. "I hope other countries will support Tunisia, like they supported France after Charlie Hebdo," said Amir Foudieli, 33, who works for an export company, referring to the January massacre at the satirical magazine's offices in Paris. "We are Tunisian, this is our country. Not theirs, they (the terrorists) are bastards of children. We have centuries of history." CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Victor Blackwell and journalist Yasmine Ryan contributed to this report. +(CNN)Madonna, saying something controversial? Perish the thought. The object of her scorn fighting back? Of course. The mayor of Rochester, Michigan, has written an open letter to the venerable pop star, taking her to task for saying she never wanted to go back the town where she went to high school. "I can't be around basic, provincial-thinking people," she told Howard Stern last week on his SiriusXM satellite radio program. You could almost hear the steam coming out of Mayor Bryan Barnett's ears. "It's like someone calling one of your kids ugly," the Detroit Free Press quoted Barnett as saying. "You're not going to let that go by without a response." In his letter, published Monday in the Free Press, Barnett said the city's recent achievements are anything but provincial. "Our school district is one of the top performing in the state and boasts two Blue Ribbon Schools, the most in Michigan. Our Universities are among the fastest growing in the Midwest and are rich with cultural and ethnic diversity," he wrote. Buying Madonna's house: A tale of fame and misfortune . "We design and build more robots than any other city in North America, and Rochester Hills residents and businesses have been granted over 900 patents, nearly one a day, over the last three years. Not a typical achievement you would associate with 'simple or basic' people," he wrote. He also noted the city was also named one of the 10 best places to live by Money magazine. "We are many things, Madonna, but basic and provincial minded we are not!" Barnett wrote. "I invite you back to Rochester Hills to see who we are and what we believe in. While we certainly don't need your stamp of approval, I am quite confident we would earn it." Not surprisingly, some Rochester Hills citizens weren't thrilled with Madonna's comments. "Makes me proud to live in Rochester Hills after reading this letter to Madonna by @MayorBarnett," Twitter user LoganBrown97 wrote. And although Madonna hasn't responded to the fracas, she of course found some defenders on social media. "Why is everyone mad Madonna said Rochester was basic?" Twitter user itsleah wrote. "It IS basic. I thought that was the appeal? Small towns AREN'T for everyone, dummies." Of course, Madonna is no stranger to controversy, and she's angered organizations a lot bigger and more powerful than Rochester City Hall. Remember the 1980s, when her "Like a Prayer" video angered the Catholic church? Or the 1990s, when it seemed a camera couldn't turn her direction without capturing simulated masturbation? Then there was last year, when she had to backtrack after posting an Instagram photo of her son boxing, captioned with a take on the N-word. And in January, some took offense after she posted photos of civil rights icons altered to appear like the cover of her new album. Heck, this isn't even the the first time the singer has dissed a place where she grew up. In a 1987 interview with Jane Pauley, she called Bay City, Michigan, where she was born, a "little smelly town in northern Michigan." A few moments later, Madonna followed up by saying she had "great affection" for the place. So far, no such love for Rochester Hills. Nor has the pop icon accepted the mayor's invite to return to her hometown for a visit. +(CNN)Food & Wine magazine has released its annual list of the best new chefs across America. Making the cut in 2015 are a chef with a doctorate in neuroscience, a one-time "Top Chef" contestant and a culinary artist who plays blues guitar in his free time. The 11 chefs and their restaurants, which will be profiled in the July issue of Food & Wine, span the country as well as the culinary spectrum, specializing in Spanish tapas, rustic Italian, modern American, farm-to-table and even the breakfast and lunch rush. What they all have in common is a willingness to take risks while satisfying the palates of many, says Food & Wine Editor in Chief Dana Cowin. "I was surprised, and delighted, by how personal these restaurants are," said Cowin. "The chefs seem to be cooking to please themselves, and in the process have dazzled diners." Cowin noted a trend: The chefs are nodding toward the past while innovating. "Chefs are also looking to their families as touchstones," she said. "We've seen a lot of paeans to grandmothers. In fact, Olamaie is named for one of the two chefs' grandmothers. Tim Maslow of Ribelle took over his father's restaurant, Strip T's, and reinvented the food, while leaving the décor the same. Carlos Salgado of Taco Maria was born into a family that had a Mexican-American restaurant and now he's elevated that traditional cooking." Though many of the chefs are looking to a simpler time in their lives for inspiration, picking the top cooks in the country is no simple task. First, Food & Wine editors reach out to a "trusted group of nominators" around the country, which includes writers for the magazine, past honorees and industry insiders, for their picks. They're looking for chefs who have been creating dishes and running a professional kitchen for five years or less. Editors also comb local magazines and newspapers to find out who is generating buzz regionally. Once the group of candidates is whittled down, Food & Wine visits the restaurants to taste the local fare anonymously. This year's selections include a former scientist, chef Katie Button of Curate in Asheville, North Carolina; "Top Chef" season 4 contestant Zoi Antonitsas of Westward in Seattle; and blues-lover Bryce Shuman of Betony in New York City. "Top Chef" host Tom Colicchio, famed restaurateur Thomas Keller and international megachefs Daniel Boulud and Nobu Matsuhisa are past honorees. The July issue of Food & Wine hits newsstands in mid-June, and the honored chefs will be in attendance at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado, that month. A complete list of this year's Food & Wine top chefs is below. See the gallery above for more on the chefs and their cuisine. Bryce Shuman; Betony; New York City . Michael Fojtasek and Grae Nonas; Olamaie; Austin, Texas . Zoi Antonitsas; Westward; Seattle . Jake Bickelhaupt; 42 Grams; Chicago . Jonathan Brooks; Milktooth; Indianapolis . Katie Button; Curate; Asheville, North Carolina . Jim Christiansen; Heyday; Minneapolis . Tim Maslow; Strip T's and Ribelle; Boston . Ori Menashe; Bestia; Los Angeles . Carlos Salgado; Taco María; Costa Mesa, California . +(CNN)Singer Angie Stone was arrested Tuesday near Atlanta and charged with domestic aggravated assault, according to CNN affiliate WGCL. Officials said Stone got into a tussle with her daughter, Diamond Stone, on Monday at her home in Lithonia, Georgia. "A police report quoted her daughter as saying Angie Stone came into her room demanding her to clean it up. Diamond Stone said her mother also told her to control her children, who were running around the house half-naked," WGCL reported. "A fight broke out, according to police. Diamond Stone could not remember who lashed out first, the report stated. She said her mom struck her with a metal stand, knocking out her front teeth, police said." Stone is known for her R&B hits "Wish I Didn't Miss You," "Brotha," and "I Wanna Thank You." Diamond Stone was not charged in relation to the incident. A call to Stone's representatives was not immediately returned. +(CNN)Christopher Nowak says none of his friends were surprised when he and his wife decided to use a down payment for a home on a monorail car instead. After all, this was no ordinary monorail car, and Nowak is not your average collector. This was the front cab of an original monorail train that transported millions of visitors throughout Walt Disney World in the 1970s and 1980s. The original Mark IV monorail trains were retired in 1989 to make room for a new generation of models, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Nowak and his wife are Disney fanatics who honeymooned at Disney World and once visited all the Disney parks in the world (minus Paris) in a month. He's also a self-described artist, inventor and collector of "weird old vehicles," including an articulated bus he claims to have transformed into a mobile nightclub. The couple from Chico, California, purchased the cab in 2014, dreaming of the day they might use it to drive their kids to school or bring it to the annual Burning Man festival (Nowak declined to say what he paid for the rail car.) But plans change. Nowak listed the item last week on eBay for $260,000 with a starting bid of $169,000. More than 1,500 people were watching the auction as of Saturday night, though no one had bid. The listing itself was pulled from eBay on Sunday. Nowak, who owns a sound and lighting custom stage design company, had told CNN he and his wife needed the money to fund their next big project, but he declined to provide details. "My wife and I had plans for it, but we're kind of strapped for cash, so we figured, let's put it out and see what happens." The listing provided some insight into what Nowak might have had in mind for the cab. "Some people have train cars in their back yard, imagine your own monorail guest room, or man cave. Mount it on a bus chassis and drive it around!! Turn it into your kids' ultimate clubhouse," the description on the eBay page read. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a very serious piece of Disney history." The listing said the vehicle is available for viewing in Tampa, where Nowak left it with a friend after buying it from a seller in Georgia via eBay last year. CNN could not independently confirm its authenticity. Nowak says he did not receive a title or certificate of authenticity when he purchased the cab but he is confident that it's the real deal. "I guess there's chance it could be a reproduction, but I'm not too worried," he said. The listing promised free shipping, but Nowak is not sure that he's ready to part with the item. "I'm sure I'd have salty taste in my mouth if it gets sold, but we'll see what happens," he said. "If this thing gets sold, I know that in 20 years, I'll look back and think that of all the things I got rid of, this is the coolest." +(CNN)Things got testy on "CNN Tonight" when conservative commentator Ben Ferguson charged that rappers like Trinidad James are profiting off the n-word. "I'll be honest with you," Ferguson told James on Monday night. "I think you know that we should probably get rid of the n-word, but in reality, I think many rappers are afraid they will lose out on money and sales and street cred if they don't stop using the word." The two were part of a panel discussion about who can say the n-word. The panel also included CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill. "I'm making money off of doing music and being creative, sir," James responded. "I'm not making money just because I use the n-word. Nobody goes to buy an album because it's full of the n-word." To which Ferguson responded: "Trinidad, you wouldn't be on this show tonight if it wasn't for using the n-word in your rap music. Let's be honest." Trinidad James is the rapper whose hit song, "All Gold Everything," is heard playing in the background as the house mother of the University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon house -- known as Mom B. -- was caught on a Vine video repeating the n-word seven times on camera. The woman, Beauton Gilbow, was bombarded with claims that she's just as racist as the fraternity members who were caught singing a racist song on a bus earlier this month. In a previous interview with CNN, James said he was willing to give the house mom a pass -- though he said he didn't condone her use of the word. But when Ferguson said Monday the rapper was only on the show for his use of the word, the third panelist -- Hill -- quickly jumped in. "He wouldn't be on the show if a white woman hadn't said the n-word on a tape," he said. "White people have been saying the [n-word] long before Trinidad was born." Watch the full exchange above. +Leicester, England (CNN)"God save King Richard!" A cry rings out in the bright spring air as the simple oak coffin of Richard III is carried away from the tower block-filled campus of the University of Leicester for the final time. The medieval monarch's skeleton has been kept at the university since its discovery beneath a council car parking lot in the city sparked excitement around the world in August 2012. But on Sunday the bones -- which have been studied by archaeologists and experts from all fields in the years since -- ended their tenure as scientific specimens and became, once more, the mortal remains of a king. Some 35,000 people lined the streets of Leicester and the surrounding towns and villages as the cortege wound its way through the countryside to the site of Richard's final battle, Bosworth, where he died in 1485, before returning to the city for a commemoration at Leicester Cathedral. The day began on the freshly-mown lawns in front of the university's Fielding Johnson Building, where a crowd gathered for a solemn service of farewell, dignitaries dressed in their Sunday best alongside students and local families clad in jeans and waterproof jackets in case of a March shower. Leicester University student Anna Boyer, from North Carolina, said she and her classmates had come to watch the ceremony "so I can say I was here," adding: "It's an important historical event -- we don't have things like this in the States." Leicester alumni Sara and Leeroy Paskell brought their daughters Saoirse, 6, and Orlaith, 9, to watch the cortege pass by. "We thought it would be nice for the children to see it," said Sara Paskell. "It is amazing to be part of history, it makes me really proud of the university and of Leicester." That pride is something which those who helped in the search for Richard III share. Leicester University's president and vice-chancellor Paul Boyle said the discovery of the bones had been a "defining moment" which "reshaped history," and pointed out that the university had been custodian of Richard III's remains for longer than he ruled England. Genetics expert Turi King, who proved the identity of the bones by matching their DNA to a living relative of the monarch, Michael Ibsen, said: "It has been an amazing project to be part of -- we all feel very privileged to be involved." King, who read Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" at the university service and laid a white rose -- a reminder of Richard's heritage as a member of the House of York -- on the coffin, said she considered the commemorations the end of a chapter in his story, but not the end of the story itself; she is still working to sequence his entire genome. Michael Ibsen and another living relative of Richard III, Wendy Duldig, were there as the hearse carrying the coffin pulled away from the somber grey-brown bricks of the Fielding Johnson Building; accompanied by archaeologist Richard Buckley, who led the dig which uncovered the King's bones, they walked silently behind as the cortege's journey began. Thousands of people lined the route of the procession, out through the Leicestershire villages visited by Richard III on his way to the Battle of Bosworth. Perched on fold-up picnic chairs they gathered on roadside verges, along pavements decorated with bunting, flags and paper chains of white Yorkist roses, and in pub car parks to be entertained by folk dancers as they waited for the coffin to pass by. At Fenn Lane Farm, thought to be the closest location to the spot where Richard III died, earth from three key points in his life was placed in a casket carved with his symbol, a boar. The casket, and the procession, then made their way to Bosworth, where they were greeted by men dressed in medieval armor. Here, Richard's role as a "warrior king" was commemorated and tributes were paid to the others who died fighting alongside him. A beacon, which will burn until he is laid to rest on Thursday, was lit on the battlefield. Back in Leicester, thousands more gathered around the cathedral and in nearby Jubilee Square. Waiting to go in to the service, Judy Ellis, from the nearby town of Hinckley, said there was a "real buzz" around the city. "It's quite exciting, coming over on the train I met people who'd come from all over the world to be in Leicester today." Ellis, who named her son Richard, said she had used the parking lot where the king's remains were found. "Four days before the dig started I parked my car over that grave!" she said. Adults -- some carrying single white roses and others wearing boar badges -- in village churches along the route watched the services play out on a big screen as children ran around in the late afternoon sunshine while they waited for Richard's return. In 1485, the defeated king's body was treated with little sense of occasion. It is said to have been slung naked over a horse and taken to Leicester, where it was put on display for three days before being hurriedly crammed into a too-small plot in the Grey Friars Church. More than five centuries on, those who sparked the search for Richard III's remains were determined to put right that ancient wrong by giving him a more fitting farewell. Philippa Langley, who led the "Looking for Richard" project, said its aim was "to give Richard what he didn't get in 1485 ... to recognize what went on in the past, but not repeat it, to make peace with the past." To that end, the king's skeleton is to be given two things it did not have before: a coffin and proper burial rites. The coffin is a simple affair: English oak and yew, made by Richard's relative Michael Ibsen who, as chance would have it, is a cabinet maker by trade; it is carved with the king's name and a white rose. The burial rites are somewhat more complicated: they have entailed the rebuilding of parts of Leicester's cathedral, a guest list numbering into the thousands and delicate questions of location and religion. But with those puzzles overcome, the first of several high profile pre-reinterment services was held Sunday evening: The coffin was carried through the city on a gun carriage, accompanied by two "knights" in full suits of armor, riding on horseback, to the cathedral. Those who had gathered to pay tribute to Richard III threw roses into the procession's path as it passed the new visitor center which has been built over his original resting place. As the city's church bells tolled and dusk began to fall, the coffin was lifted onto the shoulders of the pallbearers and taken into the cathedral, accompanied by four official "mourners" -- descendants of some of those who fought with Richard at Bosworth. Once inside, it was covered with a heavily-embroidered cloth, and a Bible and specially-commissioned crown were laid atop the casket, the latter by a local Brownie, 9-year-old Emma Chamberlain, whose height meant a step had to be placed next to the coffin to allow her to reach it. In his sermon, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols alluded to Richard III's controversial reputation and "tumultuous life," which had seen moments of "astonishing brutality." Nichols said the king's short reign was "marked by unrest and the fatal seepage of loyalty and support" but insisted that he was also "a man of prayer, a man of anxious devotion" and one who had done good for his people. As those who had attended filed back out into the darkening spring evening, one final illuminated tribute was paid: the initials RIII and a crown were projected onto the cathedral's tower, while nearby, white roses surrounded a statue of the king. As she left the service, Victoria McKeown, who won a ticket to the event, said the experience had been "brilliant" and the memorial "absolutely lovely." "It's a lovely way to spend a Sunday evening -- not like being at home doing the ironing," she told CNN. "It's part of history: I can say 'I've been to a king's funeral.'" +(CNN)As the seventh full week of testimony in the first-degree murder trial against former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez came to a close this week, witnesses described him as acting strangely and glaring at the victim two nights before the killing. Hernandez is on trial in Fall River, Massachusetts, in connection with the shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was found dead June 17, 2013. The former tight end had signed a five-year contract extension worth $40 million but, less than a year later, Hernandez was charged with the murder of the man who was dating the sister of his fiancée. Hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, the Patriots dropped him from the team. Two of Hernandez's closest associates are co-defendants in the case. Evidence collected in Lloyd's death led to two more murder charges against Hernandez in a separate case in Boston. He is accused of shooting Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in July 2012, allegedly over a spilled drink. Two witnesses who saw Hernandez at the Boston nightclub Rumor just 48 hours before Lloyd's killing said he looked angry and aggressive. Lloyd was with Hernandez at the club that Friday night. On Thursday, prosecutors called witness No. 100: Kasey Arma, a nightclub promoter. She told jurors she danced with Aaron Hernandez at the club in the early morning of June 15, 2013. Hernandez approached her. "He walked by me and he tapped my hip." Arma testified that she danced with Hernandez for about 10 minutes. "He was pleasant and kind of charming," she said. Then he left abruptly. When he returned about 10 minutes later, Arma said, Hernandez grabbed her arm and took her to another part of the club. His demeanor changed. He was "very aggressive," she testified. Then, she said, he asked her "to show what I could do with that thing," referring to her backside. "He was irritated and very aggressive," she told the jury. During cross-examination, defense attorney Michael Fee showed surveillance video of Arma dancing with Hernandez. There was bumping and grinding, mostly with her backside to him. It was uncomfortable to watch in court. Jurors watched the video with laser focus. Fee asked Arma, "What kind of dance is that called?" Arma said she didn't know. Some of the female jurors appeared to chuckle softly. Earlier in the week, witness Kwami Nicholas testified that he also saw Hernandez at Rumor and the ex-player "seemed like he was angry about something." Hernandez's mouth looked like a "grunt," he said. Nicholas, a college student, was at the club with friends -- some of whom were friends with Lloyd. When Lloyd was talking closely with one of his friends, Hernandez looked angry, according to Nicholas. Hernandez was standing near the DJ at the time, about 15 feet away from Lloyd and his friend. Nicholas said Hernandez glared at them for a few minutes. During tough questioning from Fee, Nicholas stood his ground. The defense showed jurors Nicholas' initial recorded interview with detectives in which he gave a different description of what he saw and was less critical of Hernandez. Nicholas also remembered Hernandez "storming out of the club." "He looked angry," Nicholas told the jury. As Hernandez walked down the street, "he motioned back with his arms as if to say get away from me." Prosecutors played surveillance video backing up Nicholas' description. During that video, Lloyd is also seen following Hernandez at a distance. Though prosecutors are trying to establish that Hernandez was angry, jurors still don't know why. Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez's fiancée and mother of his baby daughter, was not in court to see the dirty-dancing video. She hasn't been seen in court since March 6. But Jenkins' name did come up in court regarding a defense motion to suppress evidence gathered from Hernandez's house in November 2014. Jurors were not present for that debate. The prosecution showed before-and-after photos of a closet in Hernandez's home in North Attleboro. One photo from June 2013 showed the sneakers Hernandez wore the night Lloyd was killed. It also showed the shoes Hernandez associate Carlos Ortiz wore the same night. The two pairs of shoes rested on top of a bunch of other shoes. In the second photo, taken in November 2014, the same closet is seen with all of the shoes except the ones Hernandez and Ortiz were wearing the night of the shooting. They were no longer in the closet or any other part of the house. Prosecutors wanted to link Jenkins to the disappearance of the shoes. McCauley referred to the defendant's jailhouse comments that "she does what I want," referring to Jenkins. McCauley also told the judge that Hernandez "was directing her (Jenkins) to give money to Tanya Singleton at the time where he had just recently told her not to talk." He added, "We know she didn't talk and then was held in contempt." Tanya Singleton is Hernandez's cousin. Court observers wonder when Jenkins will be back. The last time Jenkins was in court, a reporter noticed she was no longer wearing her engagement ring. However, Jenkins is facing perjury charges for allegedly lying to investigators and has been granted immunity to testify at the trial. Will testimony about Hernandez's liaisons with other women -- and negative texts about Jenkins -- affect her testimony? Does her absence mean she'll turn on her fiance? The answers may be a few weeks away. There are indications the Commonwealth may wrap up its case by mid-April, . Much testimony focused on the shoes Hernandez wore the night Lloyd was shot. A Nike consultant testified that Hernandez was wearing Nike Air Jordan Retro 11 Lows in a size 13. About 93,000 pairs of that shoe were made, significantly fewer in a size 13. The shoe's sole makes a distinct impression, according to Lt. Steven Bennett of the Massachusetts State Police. The consultant testified under questioning from defense attorney Jamie Sultan that other Nike shoes-- more than 3 million -- make the same impression . Yet Bennett, who works in crime scene services, testified that the footwear impression left near Lloyd's body was "in agreement" or consistent with the Air Jordan Retro 11 Lows size 13. Although he did not have the shoes that Hernandez wore that night, he an identical pair to make his determination. Bennett did so by creating a transparency of the sole and laying it over a photo of the footwear impression. Jurors watched as he drew lines showing how the sole aligned with the impression. What may have been a key moment for the prosecution was quickly derailed by defense attorney Jamie Sultan. Sultan questioned the science behind analyzing foot impressions, and he introduced a March 2014 report from Bennett saying the partial footwear impression lacked certain detail and quality to make a comparison. Sultan hammered Bennett on that report. Bennett admitted that his reexamination helped the prosecution. McCauley was able to undo some of the damage, allowing Bennett to explain that it was only after gaining access to Air Jordan Retro 11s in December 2014 that he was able to make a comparison. He testified that what he thought was a lack of distinction were actually gaps in the design of the sole. It's clear from the testimony and the filing for a search warrant in November 2014 that investigators overlooked the shoes worn by Hernandez, Ortiz and Ernest Wallace -- another co-defendant -- the night of Lloyd's death, despite having a photo of them from June 2013. Seventeen months into the investigation, they searched Hernandez's house again. None of the shoes were found. The prosecution brought in three separate witnesses who either owned or worked for companies in the industrial park along John Dietsch Boulevard where Lloyd's body was found. With these witnesses and collected surveillance videos, prosecutors gave jurors a road map of the route they say Hernandez drove to the Corliss Landing crime scene. While the car's make and model aren't distinguishable in the video, jurors could see its lights go by at specific times that match when Hernandez, Wallace, Ortiz and Lloyd would have been in the car. Tanya Singleton arranged for her aunt to drive her and Wallace to Georgia in the days after Lloyd's death. Testifying for the prosecution, Euna Ritchon said Singleton asked her on June 21, 2013, to move up her planned trip to visit her daughter in Georgia. She brought Wallace with her. At the time, Singleton was married to Ritchon's nephew, TL Singleton. He died in a car crash a little more than a week later. Ritchon also testified that Wallace suggested using back roads to drive out of Connecticut and through New York to avoid tolls. She said Wallace carried his clothes in a black trash bag. Prosecutors were attempting to get jurors to link it to the black trash bag Shayanna Jenkins removed from her house just a few days earlier. Prosecutors say that bag held the gun used to kill Lloyd. After spending the night at the home of Ritchon's daughter, Wallace boarded a bus to Florida. That's where he surrendered to police. Wallace has pleaded not guilty to the charge of an accessory after the fact of a slaying in Lloyd's death. +(CNN)The widow of the man whose life was portrayed in the acclaimed film "American Sniper" has penned a heartfelt letter to him on their 13th anniversary. Taya Kyle posted her letter March 16 on the Chris Kyle Facebook page, where she proclaimed, "I miss you and I love you. I feel you in my heart and soul so strongly. I am more blessed to have been your wife than anything else in my life." "Today, I have a choice. I can bury myself under the covers and acknowledge the pain of missing you and mourn the future anniversaries without you," she wrote. "Or, I can celebrate never having a day without you in my heart because you loved me enough to leave me a lifetime of memories and beauty." Kyle, a Navy SEAL, has been credited as the most successful sniper in United States military history. Bradley Cooper was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Kyle in this winter's film "American Sniper," which was based on Kyle's bestselling autobiography. The film, directed by Clint Eastwood, has become the highest-grossing war movie ever. Why 'American Sniper' is a smash hit . Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were shot and killed at a gun range in 2013 by Eddie Ray Routh. A Texas jury found Routh guilty of capital murder in February, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jury finds Eddie Ray Routh guilty in 'American Sniper' case . +(CNN)It was a ding, just a "minor concussion," that got Chris Borland thinking that playing football might not be worth the millions that come with being an NFL player. Borland was a rookie linebacker in his first training camp in August when he got his "bell rung," he told ESPN's "Outside The Lines." What did he do? He kept playing that day, and through an excellent rookie season. But the thought of the permanent damage that might be happening to him kept nagging at him. He talked to his teammates and family, read about concussions and their effects, each day coming closer to the decision that he finally announced this week. At age 24, not even yet in his prime as an NFL player, Borland told his team he was retiring because he was worried about the long-term effects of head trauma. "I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," he told ESPN. "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk. ... I'm concerned that if you wait (until) you have symptoms, it's too late." It was after that self-described "minor concussion" in the preseason that Borland threw himself into researching what had happened to other football players. In the end he didn't want to leave his teammates in a bind, but, "I know this is right for me." He said teammates' reactions to his retirement were mixed. One of his best friends told him that he was crazy to walk away from the money. Borland, a third-round pick from Wisconsin, had signed a nearly $3 million contract for four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and banked a $600,000 bonus. The guys who wanted him to come back would say to the 49ers top tackler, "That's a lot of money. Why don't you get your money and get out," Borland recounted to ESPN. The thought made him uncomfortable because he doesn't want to do anything just for a big paycheck. He didn't want to be wrong when it comes to this: "Who knows how many hits are too many?" Borland is one of a handful of players to retire young but possibly the first to retire before concussions became an issue for him. He's also now part of a shift in thinking about what repeated head injuries can do to an athlete. Reports show an increasing number of retired NFL players who have suffered concussions developed memory and cognitive issues such as dementia, Alzheimer's disease, depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. "For me, it's wanting to be proactive," Borland said. "I'm concerned that if you wait (until) you have symptoms, it's too late. There are a lot of unknowns. I can't claim that 'X' will happen. "I just want to live a long, healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise." Passionate reactions to his decision came quickly, with many supporting him. Others say that while the move might be smart for Borland, and even encourage other players to speak out and stand up for their health, there will always be plenty of guys eager to replace players like him. Borland told ESPN that he wasn't saying no one should play football. He said youth players and their parents should do things: 1) Get informed about concussions and 2) Never let anyone play . Last August, thousands of former NFL players and their families reached a deal in a class-action suit that called for the NFL to cover the cost of concussion-related compensation, medical exams and medical research for retired players and their families. The suit alleged that the NFL deliberately misled players about scientific data that the medical community had found about the risks associated with concussions. In July 2014, a federal judge granted preliminary approval to the landmark deal but she has yet to give final approval to the settlement. Chris Dronett was one of the plaintiffs. Her husband, former Denver Bronco Shane Dronett, committed suicide in 2009 when he was 38. After his death, scientists found evidence of CTE in his brain. Borland named three players he said made him rethink a life in the NFL. "I've thought about what I could accomplish in football, but for me personally, when you read about Mike Webster and Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, you read all these stories. And to be the type of player I want to be in football, I think I'd have to take on some risks that as a person I don't want to take on," he said. Webster had a career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs from 1974 to 1990. He was the first former NFL player to be diagnosed with CTE. After he retired, he was diagnosed with amnesia, dementia, depression, and bone and muscle pain. He was 50 when he died. Duerson killed himself with a gunshot to the chest. He had sent a text to his family asking that his brain be sent to Boston University School of Medicine, which was researching CTE. BU neurologists confirmed the NFL veteran had the disease. Easterling, who played eight seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, committed suicide in 2012. He apparently suffered dementia. An autopsy revealed he had CTE. Some on social media said Borland's decision made them think about former NFL linebacker Junior Seau. He was 43 when he was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest. Friends and family members say multiple concussions were to blame for the suicide, but an initial autopsy report found no apparent brain damage. Portions of Seau's brain were sent to the National Institutes of Health, which found "abnormalities ... that are consistent with a form" of CTE. He will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer. The NFL has reported that in 2013, 228 concussions were diagnosed from practices and games. At least 261 were diagnosed the previous year, the league said. In its statement about Borland's retirement, Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president for health and safety, said: "We respect Chris Borland's decision and wish him all the best. Playing any sport is a personal decision. By any measure, football has never been safer and we continue to make progress with rule changes, safer tackling techniques at all levels of football, and better equipment, protocols and medical care for players." Miller added that the league understands there is more work to do to improve player safety. Complaints keep coming. In July of last year, ex-NFL players Christian Ballard and Gregory Westbrooks filed suit against the NFL Players Association, alleging the union withheld information about head injuries. Opinion: Why are these NFLers retiring early? CNN's Jill Martin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Sam Smith does not want his weight to "Stay With Me." The Grammy-winning singer has shed 14 pounds and is crediting author Amelia Freer with his new slimmer look. Freer is a nutritional expert and writer of the book "Eat. Nourish. Glow." Smith gave her a shoutout on an Instagram photo that shows his weight loss. "Three weeks ago I met a woman who has completely changed my life," he wrote. "Amelia Freer has helped me lose over a stone in 2 weeks and has completely transformed my relationship with food." Freer said she decided to dedicate herself to helping people change their lives via healthier eating years ago, when she was working as an assistant to Prince Charles, according to the Daily Mail. "I used to arrive home exhausted (not because of the job, it turns out, but because of my terrible diet), with no energy to cook, so I would have cheese on toast or a plate of pasta with a glass of wine, slumped in front of the TV," she said. "I was tired all the time. My tummy looked and felt like a football most days, and I still had acne. I took several courses of the acne drug Roaccutane, and that's when my body said, 'Enough!' " After visiting a nutritionist and learning about the effects of food on the body, Freer decided to become one. Smith has been open about his struggle with weight, even touching on it during a speech in February after one of several Grammy wins. "Before I made this record, I was doing everything to try and get my music heard," Smith said. "I tried to lose weight, and I was making awful music, and it was only until that I started to be myself that the music started to flow and people started to listen." +Coral Gables, Florida (CNN)Former President Bill Clinton on Saturday defended his family foundation's practice of taking money from foreign countries, arguing that while he doesn't agree with all of the policies of countries that contributed, he feels the foundation has "done a lot more good than harm." The Clinton Foundation admitted last month that a 2010 donation from the Algerian government was not properly approved under the guidelines the Obama administration put in place with the foundation when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state in 2009. Bill Clinton defended the donations as something that went to worthwhile projects. "The UAE [United Arab Emirates] gave us money. Do we agree with everything they do? No. But they are helping us fight ISIS and they built a great university with NYU open to people around the world," Clinton said at a foundation event in Florida. "Do I agree with all the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia? No." Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are among the countries that donated to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton continued: "You've got to decide when you do this work, whether it will do more good than harm if someone helps you from another country. ... I believe we have done a lot more good than harm." The story became a controversy for the Clintons, one where even some Democrats questioned the practice. Hillary Clinton is the party's presidential frontrunner in 2016 and is expected to announce her presidential aspirations next month. Republicans jumped on board the story, too, using it to question the Clintons' ethics and whether, as president, she would give preferential treatment to countries that have donated to the foundation. Democrats that did publicly defend the Clintons noted that the foundation disclosed all of their donation on their website. On Saturday, Clinton did the same. "My theory about all this is disclose everything. And then let people make their judgments," Clinton said. "I'm going to tell you who gave us money and you can make your own decisions." Clinton concluded his defense of the foundation, stating that he thinks organizations should "bring people together across great divides, around things that they can agree on and find something to do to make peoples lives better." The Clinton Foundation was founded by Bill Clinton after he left the presidency in 2001. To date, the foundation has raised over $2 billion that goes toward a wide variety of projects, including health and wellness, economic development and leveling the playing field for women and girls. Many of their projects focus on international issues, such as rebuilding Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and providing access to low-cost HIV and AIDS treatment. Those were primarily the projects backed by foreign countries. The former president's comments were the only moment any Clinton mentioned the foreign fundraising controversy. Neither Hillary or Chelsea Clinton mentioned the issue. At no point Saturday did any of the Clintons address the fact that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email account for the four years she served as America's top diplomat, a practice that skirted legal standards in place. The former secretary of state spent 18 minutes on stage Saturday and didn't mention question about her email, instead focusing on the foundation and a new report they will put out on women and girls participation. That didn't bother the over 1,000 overachieving millennials at the Clinton Global Initiative University meeting who couldn't have cared less about the swirling email and fundraising controversies that have defined the Clintons the last few weeks. Saturday's event is the university-focused branch of the Clinton Foundation. It brings philanthropic minded students from around the world together to talk about their projects and pitch the foundation for funding. This year brought together students looking to do a wide variety of things, from increasing women's inclusion in science and math fields to harvesting potable water from fog. In total, the foundation will hand out $900,000 to the different students. The general sense among the event attendees was: "What controversies?" "I am here for me. I am here for learning, exploring, meeting new people and expanding my knowledge about nonprofit management and social change," said Armel Arnaud Nibasumba, a Middlebury College student born and raised in Burundi. "I don't really care if they address those political issues that are going on." A few students, including Victoria Arild from Menlo College, said they hadn't heard of the controversies. "I am here because my college, I had the privilege of them funding me," she said, before shrugging off questions about the email issues. +(CNN)Saudi and allied warplanes struck rebels in Yemen on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia threatening to send ground troops and inserting itself into its southern neighbor's civil war, potentially opening up a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East. The swift and sudden action involved 100 Saudi jets, 30 from the United Arab Emirates, 15 each from Kuwait and Bahrain, 10 from Qatar, and a handful from Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, plus naval help from Pakistan and Egypt, according to a Saudi adviser. The Egyptian state news agency on Thursday quoted Egypt's Foreign Ministry as saying Egypt's support also could involve ground forces. What do those countries have in common? They're all predominantly Sunni Muslim -- in contrast to the Houthi rebels, Shiite Muslims who have taken over Yemen's capital of Sanaa and on Wednesday captured parts of its second-largest city, Aden. The Saudis consider the Houthis proxies for the Shiite government of Iran and fear another Shiite-dominated state in the region. "What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border," CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said of the Saudis. The airstrikes did not include warplanes from the United States, which has worked with Yemeni governments -- including that of recently deposed but still battling President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi -- to go after al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, a senior official in President Barack Obama's administration said "there will be no military intervention by the U.S." But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday did tell foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman that the United States commends the military action and is supporting it through intelligence sharing, targeting assistance and logistical support, according to a senior State Department official. How did Yemen get to this place? Houthi supreme leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi spoke live Thursday night in Yemen on al-Masirah TV, saying, "If any army try to invade our country, we will prove that Yemen will be a grave for those who invade us." He added, "We call on the invaders to stop the attacks and if the airstrikes do not end then we will escalate in the needed manner." Iran denounced the military intervention. Marzieh Afkham, a spokeswoman for the country's Foreign Ministry, said the operation will throw an already complicated situation into further turmoil and disrupt chances at a peaceful resolution to Yemen's monthslong internal strife. It also won't help a region already facing terrorist threats from groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, she said. "This is a dangerous action against international responsibilities to respect countries' national sovereignty," Afkham said, according to a report in Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Iraq -- 60% of whose citizens are Shiite, with about 20% being Sunnis -- offered similar, albeit a bit more muted opposition to what its Foreign Ministry called "the military interference of the Gulf Cooperation Council," which is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. "We call on the Arab states to live up to their role to support national dialogue (that includes) all political forces to find a political solution for the crisis," the Iraqi ministry said. The Houthis are a minority group that has emerged as the most powerful player in Yemen. In addition to airstrikes, the Saudi adviser said 150,000 troops could take part in an operation in Yemen. Just a day in, the coalition airstrikes are already costing the Houthis. Hundreds of explosions ripped through Sanaa overnight, said journalist Hakim Almasmari, who is staying in the capital. The Health Ministry reported 18 dead and 24 wounded in Sanaa, the Houthi-run Saba news agency said. While Sanaa was a focus -- airstrikes destroyed the Houthis' combat and control operations there, the Saudi adviser said -- it wasn't the only place struck. Compounds and military installations in Saada and Taiz also were targeted. By Thursday afternoon, the Saudis controlled Yemeni airspace, the adviser said, and the military threatened to destroy any naval ships trying to enter Yemeni ports. The military operation, dubbed al-Hazm Storm, was launched after the Houthis rebuffed an initiative by the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said in a speech Thursday. It was done in accord with a joint Arab defense treaty, al-Arabi said. Specifically, the strikes aim to support Hadi, who was ousted in January after talks with the Houthis faltered, but still claims to be Yemen's rightful leader. "We are determined to protect the legitimate government of Yemen," said Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, in announcing the beginning of the military campaign. "Having Yemen fail cannot be an option for us or for our coalition partners." Why is Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen? Jubeir told CNN's "The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer" that Saudi Arabia was concerned that the Houthis had control over Yemen's armed forces ballistic missiles and air force, and the fact that Iran backs the Houthis was troubling. "This is really a war to defend the legitimate government of Yemen and protect the Yemeni people from takeover by a radical militant group aligned with Iran and Hezbollah," he said. American military commanders said they didn't know about Saudi Arabia's action until the last minute. "We have been discussing this matter with the United States in principle for many months," Jubeir said. "We have been discussing this matter in more detail as the time approached and the final decision to take action didn't really happen until the last minute, because of circumstances in Yemen." Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Thursday proposed a joint Arab military "to deal with these challenges." But at least one major player in Yemen besides the Houthis -- the General People's Congress, which is the party of longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh -- thinks the Saudis and their partners should stay out. The GPC says the airstrikes have already led to civilian casualties. The best way to stop the bloodshed is to bring everyone to the negotiating table, the group said. "The (party) expresses its rejection of the attack on the Republic of Yemen and the capital, Sanaa, considering what (is) happening is an internal affair," the GPC said. "... The General People's Congress (calls on all parties) to return to and accelerate the completion of a national, historic agreement that ... maintains unity and democracy." Meanwhile, the last person to be elected president of Yemen -- even if he was the only one on the ballot -- is out of the country and will soon be headed to Egypt to petition Arab officials, according to Yemeni officials. The location of Hadi had been a mystery for days, with conflicting reports about whether he'd left Yemen and where he'd gone. Saudi Arabia's state news agency, SPA, reported that Hadi arrived Thursday in Riyadh, where he met with the Saudi defense minister and intelligence chief. But two Yemeni officials close to Hadi said that the deposed president is in Oman. They said that his next stop, on Friday, will be an Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Meanwhile, some 3,000 to 5,000 troops from the Saudi-led coalition are expected to reach Aden, the Yemeni city that was Hadi's last known location, in the next three days, according to the officials. Their aim is to make that port city safe enough for Hadi to return after the Arab League summit. Whether the rest of Yemen will be secure at that point is another matter. Unfortunately, there has been little in the last few months to inspire optimism that peace is around the corner. Opinion: Why Yemen has come undone . CNN's Elise Labott, Becky Anderson, Nick Paton Walsh, Michael Pearson, Anas Hamdan, Salma Abdelaziz and Mustafa al-Arab contributed to this report. +Washington (CNN) A huge Obama foreign policy decision, a big immigration question and interesting steps related to Hillary Clinton, John Boehner and Marco Rubio filled an informative Sunday loop around the 'Inside Politics' table. There's nothing like a signature hire to quiet those who think you might blink and skip the fight. At issue is Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who remains a single-digit blip in Republican polls. So weak have his early poll showings been that many GOPers to this day say they would not be shocked if he decided not to move from exploratory candidate to official candidate. But a new hire sends a signal. Veteran South Carolina GOP strategist J. Warren Tompkins is signing on to run a pro-Rubio super PAC. That same PAC is in line for seed money from Florida billionaire Norman Braman. Tompkins is a protege of the late GOP Gov. Carroll Campbell and legendary South Carolina strategist Lee Atwater. His hiring is seen as a signal in GOP circles that Rubio is close to launching. For those of us who lived through the Clinton White House years, and especially the Monica Lewinsky scandal, it was interesting to say the least listening to Hillary Clinton a few days ago wax nostalgic about her relationship with Newt Gingrich. And the former House speaker shared similar fond memories in a conversation with Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast. But don't break into "Kumbaya" or order the marshmallows. "He said, if she becomes president, she'll be a hard worker; she'll be pretty practical," said Kucinich. "However, he doesn't think she's going to get there because of what's happening with the Clinton Global Foundation and because of the foreign money. He's testifying to the Homeland Security Committee next week and he says he's going to bring up the problem of foreign money in American politics. " It's been a rough start for the Republican Congress and House Speaker John Boehner. But Boehner sees a chance to get two big-ticket items on their way to passage, and through those debates to get the House back on a more productive track. Robert Costa of The Washington Post shared his reporting on the speaker's calculations -- including one health care bill where he struck up an alliance with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. "There's two pieces of legislation to really keep an eye on that he wants to muscle through," said Costa. "One is the Republican budget: He wants to just get it through the House, get a compromise with the Senate. And the next is the Doc Fix bill, which is how Medicare reimbursements are done for doctors. Boehner wants to solve that long-term and it looks like he is going to have the votes to get it done." President Obama meets with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this week, and is open to slowing the withdrawal of U.S. forces. A big change, but with a bigger goal in mind. Julie Pace of The Associated Press shared inside reporting on the administration's willingness to leave up to 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan for the time being. "There's one big reason why the President is going to have some flexibility in the drawdown, and that's because he's very focused on one specific aspect of this plan, and that is pulling out all U.S. troops by the end of 2016," said Pace. "That would allow him to make the case at the end of his presidency that he had fulfilled his promise to end the war in Afghanistan." The always intense political debate over immigration policy heated up last spring during a dramatic surge in the number of young children illegally crossing into the United States. The surge undermined what was already a long shot chance of congressional consensus on immigration reform. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports that both policymakers and political strategists are watching to see if there is a similar seasonal surge this year. "Now we're getting back into the spring season, when it's a little bit easier to travel, and we'll see if the numbers go up again," said Inskeep. "If they do, of course, we're going to have another series of news stories about a really sensitive issue that's been very difficult for either party to solve." +(CNN)Organized labor is up in arms about President Barack Obama's effort to obtain fast-track authority to finalize a free trade agreement in the Asia Pacific that involves 11 nations. The agreement, union leaders argue, threatens to take even more jobs away from Americans. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent a clear message to members of Congress, warning, "There is such a dramatic impact on the standard of living and lowering of wages and a loss of jobs -- this will have a major impact, and then we will not forget this vote for a long time." The AFL-CIO announced that it would withhold donations to political action committees until this controversy cleared up. The tension between organized labor and Obama is not new. The struggles have been going on since 2009 when the President allowed the Employee Free Choice Act to wither in Congress. The act would require that a union be deemed as legitimate when it had the support of a majority of employees and imposed tough penalties on employers who tried to punish workers from forming unions. The President avoided making any strong appeals for the bill, though it was greatly desired by labor organizations as a way to increase membership. When Democrats chose Charlotte, North Carolina, for their 2012 political convention -- a city not friendly to labor -- unions were livid. "There is broad frustration with the party and all elected officials," one labor leader said, "broad frustration with the lack of a union agenda." Even though unions were crucial to administration victories such as the Affordable Care Act, President Obama has often been extremely tepid when it comes to the rights of unions. Organized labor has not been that surprised. The truth is that unions have been on the defense against Democratic presidents for decades. In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter treated unions like one more special interest in Washington that needed to be brought down while President Bill Clinton demonstrated lukewarm support to these organizations as he aggressively pursued global free trade policies that labor opposed. "It will cost jobs," warned Michigan Democrat David Bonior said of the North American Free Trade Agreement that Clinton endorsed. "It will drive down our standard of living. If we don't stand up for the working people in this country, who is going to?" In the past few decades, many Democratic politicians no longer believed that organized labor was a major player within their party, as they had been during the creation of the New Deal and Great Society. As organized labor became a smaller part of the American workforce, Democratic politicians were not as determined to court their vote. A larger number of Democrats since the 1970s have been elected by upper middle class suburban constituencies in which unions are not a big presence. These voters have been more concerned in a style of liberalism that revolves around quality of life issues, such as environmental regulation, than they are with middle class jobs. Many Democrats leaders embraced a vision of economic policy that centered on deregulation and free markets. New voices that came into the Democratic Party after the 1960s wanted to challenge Republicans by offering a more centrist vision of economic policy. The opportunities for Democrats to embrace a more pro-union agenda have only intensified with the fierce assault taking place among conservatives. The Koch brothers have unleashed fierce financial assault against unions. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin and potential Republican presidential candidate, has stripped away the power of public unions and signed a right to work law that barred unions from collecting dues from employees who weren't in unions. Unions are under assault, and the movement is looking for help. Democrats, and some Republicans, often talk about needing to deal with the problem of economic inequality. Much of the talk is often vague and offers little in the way to real solutions. Shoring up the strength of unions is one area where the government can help protect jobs for middle class Americans. Without strong unions, the battle against economic inequality and insecurity will never really get started. As George Gresham, the president of United Health Care Workers East wrote in The New York Times, "By defunding unions and weakening union members via 'right to work' laws, corporations and those that do their bidding remove workers' primary means of raising wages, securing pensions and improving workers conditions. Workers' main vehicle for advancing themselves and their communities is jeopardized." Democrats need to listen to what the AFL-CIO is saying. They need to push back against President Obama, even if this creates political opportunities for Republicans, so that the party does not abandon what has been at the heart and soul of their agenda. As Democrats continually watch Republicans outdo them in terms of organization and pursuit, they need to look to labor more as an ally than an enemy in the battle for the White House and Congress in the coming years. +(CNN)Admit it, you've been secretly itching for a new cause since last year's Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS left your teeth chattering and raised $115 million. This one's goofier and tastier, and won't leave you needing a change of clothes. It's the #TwizzlerChallenge. So what's this challenge all about? Think of the spaghetti scene from "Lady and the Tramp," except substitute a Twizzler for the noodle. Chomp and chomp and chomp until your lips meet in the middle, then smooch. Simple enough. You're supposed to do a video, of course, and challenge others to do the same for a good cause. The ball got rolling almost two weeks ago on Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars," a fundraiser for autism programs. A tweet from sportscaster Fred Katz challenged the "Today" show's Willie Geist and Uzo Aduba, who plays Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on "Orange Is the New Black," to share a "Lady and the Tramp" licorice. It took off from there. Next thing you knew, Geist was repeating the stunt with Meredith Vieira and the #TwizzlerChallenge was on. Geist and Vieira challenged Matt Lauer and Kathy Lee Gifford. They were good sports about it, but you may want to close your eyes here. This isn't for the faint of heart. The challenge is starting to invade social media. Just search the hashtag #TwizzlerChallenge. It sounds like a sweet deal for the folks at Twizzlers. Their candy is on the lips of America. And to their credit, a couple of Twizzlers executives took the challenge and donated $10,000. The money goes to New York Collaborates for Autism. The group funds and creates schools, programs and services for people with autism nationwide. Since 2006, "Night of Too Many Stars" has raised over $22 million. If this challenge is even half as successful as the Ice Bucket Challenge, that number will triple. See you at the candy counter. +(CNN)The trailer for "Mission: Impossible 5" is out, offering the first glimpse of the latest installment in the action-packed franchise. Tom Cruise is back in the role of spy Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation," which hits theaters July 13. Cruise shared news of the trailer's release Sunday on Twitter. The film was originally scheduled for release next winter. Paramount moved up the release date to July 31 to get a head start on this year's anticipated action flicks, including the next Bond movie, Variety said in January. The trailer promises the outlandish stunt work we've come to expect from the franchise: Cruise hanging off the side of a moving vehicle, a motorcycle chase and Cruise jumping off a building . Co-stars Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames return, and Alec Baldwin joins the cast. +(CNN)Opening statements in the murder trial of movie theater massacre suspect James Holmes are scheduled for April 27, more than a month ahead of schedule, a Colorado court spokesman said. Holmes, 27, is charged as the sole gunman who stormed a crowded movie theater at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado, and opened fire, killing 12 people and wounding 58 more in July 2012. When the trial began in January, some 9,000 potential jurors were summoned, and jury selection was expected then to continue until May or June, when the trial would finally start. The jury selection process, however, appears to be moving faster than expected, according to court spokesman Rob McCallum. In January, Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. told the first pool of potential jurors that if chosen for the jury, they cannot read, watch or hear anything about the case. "This will require great effort on your part," the judge said three times. Holmes, a one-time neuroscience doctoral student, faces 166 counts, including murder and attempted murder charges. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted of the most serious charges, he could face a death sentence. Prosecutors have charged in court that Holmes "intended to kill them all," referring to patrons in the crowded cinema watching the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises." Holmes colored his hair a comic-book red and told police he was "The Joker" upon arrest after the mass killing. Holmes was heavily armed and "dressed head-to-toe in protective gear," authorities said. He wore black contact lenses to conceal his eyes. His AR-15 jammed during the shooting, police said, and they arrested him in the parking lot. The trial itself could last four months. If there's a conviction, the death penalty phase could last another month, which means court proceedings could last until fall. CNN's Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report. +(CNN)Debra Milke spent 22 years on death row, convicted of conspiring with two other men to kill her son allegedly for an insurance payout. On Monday, a judge ruled that the Arizona woman is innocent and dismissed all charges against her. This makes Milke only the second woman exonerated from death row in the United States. More importantly, the judge's decision finally clears Milke after years of legal back-and-forth in a case where she steadfastly maintained her innocence. Key to the case's dismissal was prosecutorial misconduct, mainly that of a detective, Armando Saldate, who said Milke confessed to the crime to him -- even though there was no witness or recording. Prosecutors withheld from the jury Saldate's personnel record which showed instances of misconduct in other cases, including lying under oath. The two men with whom Milke was accused of conspiring were tried separately and are still on death row. A day after seeing Santa Claus at a mall on December 1, 1989, young Christopher Milke asked his mother if he could go again. Milke's roomate, James Styers, took the boy; then called Milke saying Christopher had disappeared. Instead, Styers and a friend drove the boy out of town to a secluded ravine where Styers shot Christopher three times in the head, prosecutors said. Styers and the friend were convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Milke was implicated based on alleged testimony from Styer's friend, Roger Scott. The detective, Saldate, said Scott told him that Milke was involved in a plot to kill her son. And during her trial, prosecutors floated a likely motive: A $5,000 life insurance policy she had taken out on the child. But neither Scott nor Styers testified to a plot in court. No other witnesses or direct evidence linked Milke to the crime other than Saldate's testimony. Saldate further said that Milke confessed to her role in the murder plot during interrogation and said it was a "bad judgment call." There was no recording of the interrogation, no one else was in the room or watching from a two-way mirror, and Saldate said he threw away his notes shortly after completing his report. Milke offered a vastly different view of the interrogation and denied that she had confessed to any role. The trial became a he-said/she-said contest between the two. Ultimately, the jury believed the detective and convicted Milke of murder. What prosecutors didn't tell the court was the detective's long history of lying under oath and misconduct. Saldate had been suspended five days for taking "liberties" with a female motorist and lying about it to his supervisors. Four confessions or indictments had been tossed out because Saldate had lied under oath. Judges suppressed or vacated four other confessions because Saldate had violated a person's constitutional rights. In 2013, after more than 20 years in jail, an appeals court overturned Milke's conviction. "The Constitution requires a fair trial," Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. "This never happened in Milke's case." "The state knew of the evidence in the personnel file and had an obligation to produce the documents," Kozinski said. "... There can be no doubt that the state failed in its constitutional obligation." Milke was released on bail, and the court said she couldn't be tried again. The state appealed the decision to the Arizona Supreme Court. Last week, the Arizona Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. And on Monday, all charges against Milke were finally dropped. The ankle bracelet she had been wearing while on bail was removed. And Milke left the court room, sobbing in relief. The case is now closed. Debra Milke is finally a free woman. +(CNN)ISIS militants kidnapped 20 foreigners working at a Libyan hospital, then released them -- under the condition, if they want to live, that they stay put so they can treat members of the Islamist extremist group, a hospital official said. About 30 gunmen tied to the group calling itself the Islamic State stormed Ibn Sina Hospital in Sirte on Monday while a bus was waiting to take the workers to Tripoli, Libya's capital. The medical workers were later released and sent back to their homes near the medical facility, a hospital official said Tuesday. But they can't go far, with ISIS militants ordering them not to leave Sirte, according to the official. One of those kidnapped, a doctor from Uzbekistan, was told he is safe as long as he didn't leave, and he treated any militants who were wounded, the hospital official said. "They told him that, for your life, you (stay) and work in the city," the official added. Like the doctor, the other medical workers aren't Libyan. Most are from the Philippines, with others from Ukraine, India and Serbia. The kidnappings came days after people of Filipino, Austrian, Czech, Ghanaian and Bangladeshi descent were taken from Libya's Al-Ghani oil field, an operation that Libya's internationally recognized government blamed on "ISIS militias." The abductions are more evidence of the turmoil Libya has experienced since 2011, the start of an uprising against longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Sirte was Gadhafi's hometown, where he was killed, and where his loyalists held out the longest. In the years since, Sirte has become a home to ISIS. The coastal city, halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi, is where terrorists kidnapped 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt in separate incidents in December and January. That mass abduction was followed by mass slaughter -- one that, in ISIS' distinctive, depraved style, was videotaped and disseminated as propaganda, showing jihadists standing behind their orange-clad, handcuffed victims and then beheading them. "The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden's body in," a masked English-speaking jihadi said on the video, "we swear to Allah, we will mix it with your blood." Like the Egyptians, the medical workers kidnapped Monday are foreigners, having come to Sirte to work. They also have skills that could help ISIS. The Ibn Sina Hospital official believes the extremist group went after the workers -- who'd been trying to flee Sirte's precarious security situation -- because they make up the only medical team there and might be needed to treat ISIS militants. The large-scale kidnapping illustrates how ISIS has become a disruptive force in Africa. The group's main foothold is in Iraq and Syria, where it has ruthlessly conquered territory and threatened to take more despite efforts by local governments and a U.S.-led air campaign. ISIS branched out into Libya last year, with CNN reporting in November that fighters loyal to the group had complete control of Derna, a city of about 100,000 near the Egyptian border. Militants who've pledged allegiance to ISIS also have made their mark in points westward, forming chapters in cities including Sirte, Benghazi and Tripoli, according to Noman Benotman, a former Libyan jihadist now involved in counterterrorism as head of the Quilliam Foundation. Besides its actions in Derna and Sirte, ISIS' Libyan branch claimed responsibility for a January attack on a luxury hotel in Tripoli that killed 10 people, one of them American David Berry. But ISIS isn't just active in Libya. Earlier this month, Boko Haram -- another Islamist extremist group with its own reputation for mass abductions and craven brutality -- pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This bond gives ISIS a gateway to West Africa and specifically to Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and Boko Haram's home. +(CNN)"Wait up 2015 CNN Fit Nation Team and Dr. Sanjay Gupta-- you want me to climb up Stone Mountain -- that is over 1,500 feet straight up. Are you nuts?" I screamed. Yes. This is actually what I signed up for when I uploaded my video to the CNN Fit Nation website in December. "But climbing mountains on Sunday morning -- you got to be kidding me," I exclaimed. But it was all part of the process I realized I was going to take on as I learn how to be a triathlete. After our first initial week with a trainer and nutritionist, the six of us were introduced to a whole new way of how to approach fitness and how to incorporate it into our lives. I knew it was going to be a difficult task, especially for someone like me heavily involved in civic affairs and community service. At Lifetime Fitness, our nutritionist walked us through a number of exercises on how we should look at food, nutrition and our calorie intake. After being on several diets over my lifetime, what he said was simple. To look and review your intake and replace it with other foods such as fruit and vegetables -- these small steps can be major impact on your training. Tackling nutrition and calorie intake can also be exactly how I viewed the climb up Stone Mountain. I put these nutritional issues on the backburner for years. It was pretty much like looking at the mountain that I was about to climb that morning -- where do I start, where do I begin? -- and telling myself that it was going to be an arduous task. My training schedule has also been an uphill battle. In January and the first weeks of February, I started strong with my gym, running and swim workouts. However, as life pressures got in the way, I saw myself withering off. But luckily I have been inspired by my 2015 CNN Fit Nation teammates to keep me on track. Their updates have been truly inspiring and have helped me think about the struggles I face in my training activities. As I get older, I realize that fitness and nutrition are key to long-term health; however, the support of friends and family is also important to help tackle your health. My team members of the CNN Fit Nation have been there for me. I recently weighed myself when I visited the doctor's office. It has been six weeks since I hit the scale. I actually lost 20 pounds. What! Really! Uphill battles are hard to see when you are in the middle of them. But you keep moving. Just like that Sunday afternoon in January, I could not wait to be on the mountaintop and see the view from Stone Mountain with the members of 2015 CNN Fit Nation. And guess what? After all this huffing and puffing over the last six weeks, I can't wait to see the view in September at the Malibu triathlon. It's just another uphill mountain to climb. +(CNN)A Los Angeles police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of a local truck driver had his father's help in fleeing California and traveling to Texas, court documents filed Thursday said. Henry Solis, a Los Angeles Police Department rookie, is accused of killing 23-year-old Salome Rodriguez Jr. early in the morning of March 13 in Pomona. Solis disappeared shortly after the shooting. Items left by Solis at the crime scene allowed Pomona police detectives to identify him "as the individual responsible for killing Rodriguez," according to an affidavit signed Thursday by FBI Special Agent Scott Garriola. The document goes on to say that Solis made "incriminating statements about his role in the murder" to friends, family members and others, and said he would never be seen again. The affidavit says his father, Victor Solis, quickly left his home in Lancaster after receiving a call from him. The elder Solis was seen a day later in El Paso, Texas, at the home of family members. He told FBI agents he drove his son to El Paso, dropped him off at a bus station and doesn't know where he is. Federal authorities haven't said if Victor Solis would face charges for helping his son leave California. CNN's Tina Burnside contributed to this report. +(CNN)I was in Florida last year when I got a call asking me to pose for a calendar. What? A calendar? As in Sports Illustrated swimsuit? Victoria's Secret angels? Cover girls. Pinups. Movie stars. Glam. I agreed, and now I am Ms. December. But it isn't quite what you think. The caller on the other end that day was Patti Tripathi. She was an anchor at CNN Headline News at a time when there were few Indian-American women in high-profile media jobs. Tripathi has her own media company now, but more recently she launched a nonprofit called Saris to Suits. She was asking me to help. She began by telling me her story. She was 12 when her family immigrated to the United States. Indian parents often have to save a lot of money to ensure a good marriage for their daughter. Tripathi said that was a big reason why her family left. We spoke about similar experiences as Indian teenagers in America. She was not allowed to go to the prom or wear shorts, except to play tennis. She had an 8 p.m. curfew and her father expected she would be married soon after college. Tripathi felt like a burden. She did everything she could to stand on her own. And she did. My father was not as stern but he had a hard time watching his little girl become "Americanized." I, too, longed to be independent, far more so than was expected of a Bengali girl in the 1970s. At an all-girls convent school in Kolkata, I used to climb up three flights of stairs to reach my classroom. On every landing were oversized portraits of national leaders, most of them Indian. Hundreds of girls in white uniforms made the stampede-like dash up the stairwell. It was impossible to stop but I always looked up when I arrived at Indira Gandhi. There she was, in her trademark white sari and what I thought was a Cruella de Vil slice in her hair. In a nation that valued boys more than girls, I was in awe that we had a female prime minister. Gandhi's political career turned out to be less than stellar, but it was 1971 and I was not yet 9 years old. I wanted to grow up to be just like her. Regal. Smart. And most of all, in control of my destiny. I know so many other Indian girls felt the same. We had dreams. Big dreams. We wanted to be someone, do something rewarding with our lives. Yet for so many girls in India, dreams are vanquished by nightmare life scenarios. They are denied education and married off within months of their first period. I have met women who were abducted and forced into prostitution or lived with physically and mentally abusive men. Those problems are not limited to India or the rest of South Asia. They exist in the immigrant communities in the United States, in which abuse and crimes are underreported because of the stigma that still exists. Women are often ashamed to talk about these things. As an Indian-American journalist, I have told stories with hopes of casting light on the world inhabited by many South Asian women. I have mentored girls in my hometown of Kolkata. And always wondered: What else can I do? Some of that desire stems from my own circumstances in life. As a newborn, I was left on the steps of an orphanage in north Kolkata. It happened to be run by an American missionary, Helen Benedict, who happened to meet my adoptive mother at the Indo-American Society. My mother was honing her English speaking skills there. That was in 1962 and my parents were childless after 10 years of marriage. It's not hard to guess the rest of the story. Instead of growing up in harsh surroundings, I was raised in a professor's house. And, instead of a future that might have been filled with darkness, I faced one that was bright. I had loving parents, attended good schools and traveled around the world. There is not a day that goes by when I don't think about the life I might have led had it not been for that fateful meeting between an American missionary and a Bengali woman pining to become a mother. I shared my story with Tripathi and told her I would help. Tripathi put together Saris to Suits as an empowerment tool. She wanted to raise money to help South Asian women. She also wanted to inspire them, she said. They needed strong role models. They needed to know that they could break out of the molds that were cast for them. She was putting together the 2015 Saris to Suits calendar and wanted to feature South Asian women who had found success in America. They were doctors, lawyers, corporate leaders. One was a weightlifter from Pakistan who struggled with balancing her sport and her Muslim attire. Another was Miss America 2014. I felt honored to be in such fine company. I would be the only journalist in the calendar. It would most certainly be my only chance in life to pretend I was a glamour girl. Some of the women opted to wear saris, the traditional dress of India. Some wore salwar kameez, a long tunic and pants. And some of us were in suits or our work attire. The 2014 calendar, the first one Tripathi published, raised money for various organizations that help South Asian women. One of them was Raksha (which means protection). Based in Atlanta, Raksha provides support for the South Asian community in a number of ways. Most of its clients are women who are dealing with abusive marriages, divorce and issues with their children. Raksha's executive director, Aparna Bhattacharyya, told me why the calendar was important. "I think it is a reminder that there are women overcoming obstacles and that they have the potential to achieve their own goals for themselves," she said. "I think it is powerful for young South Asian women to see role models that look like themselves -- role models who are making change and following their dreams." Her words took me back to my school in Kolkata where I gazed upward at Indira Gandhi's face. In it, I found strength. I am of course, a far cry from the likes of Gandhi, but perhaps I can inspire a teenager out there to be the architect of her future. Maybe a young woman in a sari will be able to put on a suit for the first time in her life. Besides, it's kind of cool to be in a calendar. +(CNN)Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion was a gilded cage for former Hef companion Holly Madison. In her new memoir, "Down the Rabbit Hole," Madison -- one of the stars of the Playboy-centered E! reality series "The Girls Next Door" -- says that living in the mansion wasn't all sex and good times. "Life inside the notorious mansion wasn't a dream at all -- and quickly became her nightmare," the promotional material states, according to Us Weekly. "After losing her identity, her sense of self-worth, and her hope for the future, Holly found herself sitting alone in a bathtub contemplating suicide." Madison also details stories of backstabbing Bunnies and very strict house rules. Some of Madison's revelations won't be news to anyone who's ever read about the recent life of Hefner, the Playboy founder, whose most recent marriage was to Crystal Harris in 2012. Former spouse Kimberley Conrad described Hefner as "very controlling," and he's a man of routine. The 88-year-old has a passion for old movies and old friends, and he keeps more than 2,000 scrapbooks about his life. The mansion -- except for Hefner's bedroom -- is kept immaculate. And the sex? A "couple times a week," Hefner told The New York Times in 2010. Madison is now married to promoter Pasquale Rotella and has a young daughter. Her memoir is due out in June. "I'm excited to finally share my story and what I've learned from my personal experiences both inside and outside of the Playboy Mansion," she told Us. "I think my stories will surprise people, and I'm looking forward to lifting the veil of mystique and clearing up the misconceptions so often associated with my life." +Madison, Wisconsin (CNN)Friends called him Tony. Family knew him by his middle name, Terrell. Now, Tony Terrell Robinson Jr.'s name is written on signs carried by demonstrators who say they're demanding justice after a police shooting ended the unarmed teen's life. As Wisconsin state investigators begin their inquiry into the controversial case, details are emerging about the 19-year-old biracial man. Turin Carter described his nephew as a person who had struggled to fit in. "A lot of his identity was formed because of his racial ambiguity. ... Terrell felt (like) a misfit most of his life," Carter said . At one point, Carter said, his nephew's desire to fit in led him astray. "Terrell just wanted to be loved, honestly ... and as a result, made some poor decisions, and I think that's something we can all relate to," he said. Last year, Robinson found himself in jail after stealing an Xbox and TV during a home invasion. An adviser with the Robinson family attorney told CNN the teen fell on hard times after his dad lost his job and then his apartment, forcing Robinson to live with friends. He pleaded guilty in December to armed robbery and was sentenced to probation. That same month, he wrote a post on Facebook slamming police: "The only thing cops are trained for is to shoot first and ask questions later." Court documents from the case include letters the family wrote, asking the court to show mercy and vowing that the teen would never repeat his mistake. "Tony has made a grave decision, one which may cost him his freedom, but before a decision is made I want you to know him as his family does. A loving son, a responsible older brother and a kindhearted, incredibly intelligent young man with hopes and dreams to become successful and to move forward in life," wrote Lorien Carter, his aunt. "Growing up impoverished, and without his father, Tony managed to excel in school and sports. Graduating high school a semester early, he was on a great track." His grandmother, Sharon Irwin, described him as "a great kid in between being a teen and a man." "What he did was wrong. Following behind a boy he just met. He didn't want to go yet did it anyway," she wrote. "That is one of his issues. Impulsive. The other is being a follower." Carter said his nephew's run-in with the law last year had nothing to do with last week's shooting. Robinson paid his debt to society and was trying to find his way and better his life, according to his uncle. "They try to associate his past with this act, to paint a picture about the type of kid he was," he said. "He was a good, kindhearted kid who was very happy and just wanted to be accepted and wanted to be loved." A GoFundMe page collecting donations for Robinson's family says he was hoping to go to college and study business. Recent social media posts from the teen point to a troubling time in his life. In one post, he wrote, "I hate my mind." Another said, "I don't need help im not crazy." A post from January says, "My soul is dying." According to the Wisconsin State Journal, citing court documents, Robinson dealt with anxiety issues, depression and ADHD. Robinson's mother, Andrea Irwin, stressed that her son was never violent. "My son has never been a violent person, never," she told CNN affiliate WKOW. "To die in such a violent way baffles me." During a confrontation before Friday night's shooting, Officer Matt Kenny suffered a blow to the head, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said. He has been placed on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate the shooting. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said officials aren't going to put the teen on trial. "That's not what this is about. What this is about is finding out exactly what happened that night and to determine, then, responsibility," he told CNN's "AC360." "We know that he was not armed, and as far as the police chief and I are concerned ... the fact that Tony was involved in any kind of transgression in the past has nothing to do with this present tragedy." Ryan Young reported from Madison. Catherine E. Shoichet wrote the story in Atlanta. CNN's Justin Lear, Sara Weisfeldt and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report. +(CNN)Pit bulls may not be the first dogs everyone thinks of when it comes to cute, cuddly canines. But one photographer aims to change that with a new series of portraits. Some very cute images of pit bulls wearing flower crowns started popping up on Facebook this weekend after the Sean Casey Animal Rescue in New York posted them. They are the brainchild of New York-based photographer Sophie Gamand, who is partnering with shelters in New York to create pit bull portraits that make you say "awwww." With "Flower Power: Pit Bulls of the Revolution," Gamand says, she hopes to "challenge the way we look at pit bulls" by giving them a softer image. Gamand and Sean Casey Animal Rescue staff members credit the images with increasing pit bull adoptions since the postings. Who knows, could this canine couture be part of the latest trend in weddings? +(CNN)Budi, an adorable baby orangutan, is on the road to recovery after an animal shelter in Indonesia rescued him. The 15-month-old was on the brink of death after he was kept in a chicken cage and fed nothing but condensed milk for the first year of his life. He had been kept as a pet in Ketapang, Indonesia, his caretakers said. Now Budi is well enough to eat on his own, walk and climb. "After weeks of physiotherapy, medical treatment and a nutritious diet, Budi's muscles are developing well," said United Kingdom-based International Animal Rescue. But Budi's development remains slow due to the extreme malnutrition, his caretakers said. Budi was in quarantine for awhile, they said, but has been introduced to another infant orangutan, Jemmi, rescued by another shelter. Neither orangutan had met another animal of its kind since being taken from their mothers just after birth, and they eyed each other with curiosity. When Budi arrived at International Animal Rescue's Orangutan Rescue Center in Ketapang, his condition was extremely critical. His body was swollen with fluid due to a severe lack of protein. His limbs were misshapen because he was never fed properly. Budi's "eyes fill with tears ever time he's moved by the doctors and he screams in pain," said Dr. Karmele Llano Sanchez, International Animal Rescue's program director in Indonesia. "It's really amazing that Budi has been able to survive this long." It's unclear how Budi became someone's pet, said Dr. Ayu Handayani. The owner said that she was afraid to give the animal any fruit and believed that giving Budi only condensed milk was enough, Handayani said. Eventually, the caretakers said, when Budi is strong enough, he will be released into the wild. +(CNN)Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore, died early Monday morning, according to a statement released by the office of Singapore's current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He was 91. Lee passed away peacefully at Singapore General Hospital at 3:18 a.m., the statement said. He had been in the hospital with pneumonia since February 5. Born in 1923, Lee co-founded the city state in 1965 when it declared its independence from Malaysia and was its prime minister for more than three decades. "The first of our founding fathers is no more," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is Lee's son, told the nation in a televised speech Monday. "He fought for our independence, built a nation where there was none and made us proud to be Singaporeans," Lee said. Building up Singapore was his passion, the Prime Minister said, reading out a quote from his father: "At the end of the day what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life." Lee's body will lie in state at Parliament House from Wednesday through Saturday. A state funeral will be held Sunday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a condolence statement and said Lee "helped Singapore to transition from a developing country to one of the most developed in the world, transforming it into a thriving international business hub." President Obama called Lee a visionary who helped him formulate U.S. policy of "rebalancing to the Asia Pacific," when the two met in Singapore in 2009. "He was a true giant of history who will be remembered for generations to come as the father of modern Singapore and as one the great strategists of Asian affairs," the President said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also praised the advice he got from Lee, calling it "the most valuable and insightful I have received." "He was, of course, a uniquely astute analyst and observer of Asia, and it is largely through his life's work that Singapore became one of the United States' strongest strategic partners in the region," Kerry said. Former President George H. W. Bush said he respected Lee's effective leadership of a "wonderful, resilient and innovative country in ways that lifted living standards without indulging a culture of corruption." He added, " Because of the example set by Lee Kuan Yew's singular leadership, I am confident that the future will be bright for Singapore." China's foreign ministry called Lee "a uniquely influential Asian statesman," and Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott said "our region owes much to Lee Kuan Yew." Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesia's foreign ministry also praised Lee's leadership in their condolence notices. Singapore's President Tony Tan Keng Yam called Lee the "architect of our modern Republic," in a letter to Lee's son, the current prime minister. "Few have demonstrated such complete commitment to a cause greater than themselves," President Tan said. +(CNN)A sergeant wipes away a tear while kneeling before a battlefield cross at a Memorial Day ceremony for fallen service members at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. Seven Air Force recruits plunge into the deep end of a swimming pool, their hands and feet bound, in a training exercise meant to prepare them for stressful real-world operations. An Air Force captain jumps rope in a Texas gym despite missing her left leg, which was amputated after being diagnosed with cancer. These striking images are among the winning entries in the 2014 Military Photographer of the Year competition, open to photography by U.S. service members only. Winners of the annual contest, judged by the Stars and Stripes newspaper, were announced this month. The Military Photographer of the Year honor went to Air Force Staff Sgt. Vernon Young, a photojournalist with Airman magazine, the official magazine of the U.S. Air Force. The judges recognized Young for the strength and breadth of his images, among them a F-16 pilot refueling in midair, a soldier whacking golf balls into the Afghan desert and a Navy lieutenant celebrating after winning a game of cards. The contest is part of the Defense Department's Visual Information Awards Program, designed to recognize and promote excellence among military photographers, videographers, journalists, mass communication specialists and graphic artists. +(CNN)One person died and another was severely injured after a cliff collapsed on the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco, the National Park Service said. The two people fell about 70 feet (21 meters) Saturday when part of the Arch Rock overlook at Point Reyes National Seashore gave way. The day before the collapse, the Point Reyes National Seashore had posted a photo on Facebook of a fissure in the rock structure -- with a warning to use caution. "Visitors using Bear Valley Trail to Arch Rock -- watch out! At the very end of the trail, the cliff is breaking away -- seen here in a photo taken Wednesday," the government organization said. The NPS said hazardous conditions had been reported to it on March 19. John Dell'Osso from the Point Reyes National Seashore told CNN that it had posted warnings after being notified last Thursday that a crack had formed in the arch. "We posted all kinds of notices up and down that particular trail, which is how probably how 99% of the people who would hike that far would (go), and all around our visitors' center in Trail Heads, just to warn people of the hazard that was out there," Dell'Osso said. "We didn't know what could happen and what unfortunately did happen is on Saturday afternoon a large portion of that overlook actually collapsed down onto the beach and partly onto the ocean," he said. "The tragedy is that there were two people that were standing out there who fell with all of that rubble." On Monday, the Marin County Sheriff's Office named the deceased as 58-year-old Nancy Blum, from California. It said she had been hiking about 6:30 p.m. Saturday "when a structural collapse of the rock occurred." After emergency personnel reached Blum and her hiking companion, she was flown to Bear Valley Ranger Station, where she was pronounced dead. The National Park Service and the county coroner's office are investigating the cause of Blum's death. "The cause of death will be pending the completion of toxicology studies," the sheriff's office said in a statement. Bluffs along the California coast are known for being unstable, according to the park service. The Arch Rock trail that runs along that part of the coast has been closed until further notice. CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report. +(CNN)Jeffrey Williams admitted he fired the shots that struck two officers in Ferguson, police said, but claimed he wasn't aiming for them. Nonetheless, the 20-year-old from the St. Louis area has been arrested for the shootings of two police officers during last week's protests in Ferguson, Missouri, a prosecutor said Sunday. Williams has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault, a count of firing a weapon from a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal activity, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said. He described Williams as a frequent protester in the city -- which some took issue with. Bishop Derrick Robinson, an area organizer, said he spoke to Williams on Sunday. "I asked him why would he say that he was a protester because it makes us look bad -- because so many things that we've done to rebuild our community," Robinson said. "It sets us like five steps back to say that it was a protester who did it, but he admitted to me that he'd never protested." For more than 200 days, protests have taken place in Ferguson since the August shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted. At the time of his arrest, Williams was on probation for receiving stolen property. The prosecutor thanked the public for the information that led to the arrest. He said police served a search warrant on Williams' residence where they seized a .40-caliber handgun, "which has been tied to the shell casings that were recovered" at the scene of the shooting. Williams is being held on a cash-only $300,000 bond, McCulloch said, adding that it's possible Williams could face more charges and that others could be charged in the case. One element of the case that authorities have yet to sort out is intent, McCulloch said, adding that Williams has acknowledged firing the shots but has said he wasn't aiming at the police officers. Investigators are not sure they "buy" Williams' claim that he opened fire after a dispute with other individuals, McCulloch said, but he didn't rule it out. "It's possible he was firing at someone else," he said, urging any other witnesses with information to come forward. The shots rang out from a hill overlooking the city's police station shortly after midnight Wednesday, at the end of a protest against the Ferguson Police Department, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at the time. Officers saw "muzzle flashes ... about 125 yards away," Belmar said. "We could have buried two police officers," Belmar told reporters last week. "I feel very confident that whoever did this ... came there for whatever nefarious reason that it was." Public donations poured in to be used toward a reward to find the gunman and any accomplices, Belmar said. Authorities offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of person or persons responsible for the gunfire upon the two officers, according to the St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers website. McCulloch said the tipster whose information led to Williams' arrest is eligible to receive the reward. Protesters said they had nothing to do with the shooting, and that the shots came from a grassy hill away from the crowd. "In no way are they representative of the thousands of people ... who have been protesting," said Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman. Belmar believes someone targeted the police, who have faced heated criticism for months, he said. "These police officers were standing there, and they were shot just because they were police officers," he said. The department has been criticized since the shooting death of Brown and, more recently, since a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report documented a pattern of racial discrimination in the city. Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigned Wednesday. "We are actively addressing the issues that have raised concerns of fairness and fair treatment. We support peaceful protesting. However, we will not allow, nor tolerate, the destructive and violent actions of a few to disrupt our unifying efforts," the mayor of Ferguson and the City Council said in a statement Sunday. While many protesters have decried the Ferguson Police Department, neither of the officers shot last week were from the city. One is from Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb 13 miles south of Ferguson. The officer -- a 32-year-old with seven years' experience -- was shot at the high point of his cheek, just under his right eye, Belmar said. The other was hit in the shoulder and the bullet came out the middle of his back, Belmar said. He is a 41-year-old officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, who has been in law enforcement for 14 years. Both men have been treated and released. CNN's Carma Hassan, Sara Sidner, Jason Carroll, Shimon Prokupecz, Evan Perez and Alina Machado contributed to this report. +Venice, California (CNN)Actor Harrison Ford was "banged up" and hospitalized Thursday afternoon after a 1940s aircraft he was piloting crashed during a forced landing on a golf course, his publicist said. "Harrison was flying a WW2 vintage plane today which had engine trouble upon takeoff," Ina Treciokas said. "He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely. He was banged up and is in the hospital receiving medical care. The injuries sustained are not life threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery." His son was with him at the hospital. "Dad is ok. Battered, but ok! He is every bit the man you would think he is. He is an incredibly strong man," Ben Ford tweeted. Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Patrick Butler, who wouldn't identify Ford as the patient, said the pilot suffered moderate trauma and was "alert and conscious" when he was taken to the hospital. He said the pilot, the only person on board, was in fair to moderate condition. The 72-year-old actor was in a two-seat, single-engine 1942 military trainer that went down on Penmar Golf Course near Santa Monica Airport. Patrick Jones, an investigator with National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters that the plane's engine failed. A man who lives near where the plane came down told CNN he heard the plane in trouble. "I heard it having problems and then he turned around," Jens Lucking said. "When he was right by the house, the engine cut out and then he turned around." The plane clipped a tree top as it glided back toward the airport, officials said. It landed on its belly with the landing gear collapsed underneath and the left wing touching the ground. There is a mark in the ground behind the plane where the aircraft sliced into the grass. Ford had just taken off when the plane experienced some kind of problem. He was trying to return to the airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. Tom Haines with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said he had flown with Ford in the past. "He's a very skilled pilot. He's very safety-conscious and goes to training routinely for all of his aircraft," Haines said. Santa Monica Airport is a small facility with one runway, originally built in 1919. But now it is basically in the back yard of a very dense beach community. There have been many complaints about the air traffic and golfers and neighbors say aircraft fly too close to homes. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA said the plane was a Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR. According to FAA registry, the plane is owned by MG Aviation Inc. The plane was not equipped with a flight data recorder, Jones of the NTSB said. It is not the first aviation-related incident for the star of the "Star Wars" and the Indiana Jones film franchises. In 1999, Ford had to make an hard emergency landing in a California riverbed while flying in a helicopter with a flight instructor. MG Aviation also was the owner of that aircraft, according to a Los Angeles Times report. He missed time during the filming of "Star Wars: Episode VII" last year in Buckinghamshire, England, when he broke one of his legs on the set. CNN's Kyung Lah reported from Santa Monica and Steve Almasy reported and wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Rosalina Nieves and Sam Stringer contributed to this report. +(CNN)A sixth suspect in the shooting death of a top Russian opposition figure blew himself up after a standoff with police in the capital of the Chechen Republic, state-run television reported Sunday. Beslan Shavanov, 30, was holed up in a building in Grozny when police arrived to arrest him Saturday afternoon, Russia 24 reported. Police surrounded the building and Shavano tried to escape, throwing a grenade at police officers before blowing himself up, the station said. The news came as Russian authorities reported making five other arrests in connection with Boris Nemtsov's killing. One of those arrested claims to have an alibi, according to Russia's Sputnik News. "At the time of the murder, I was at work as I usually am every day. There are many people, my colleagues, who will confirm this," the news agency quoted Tamerlan Eskerkhanov as saying in Moscow's Basmanny District Court. Two of the suspects have been formally charged and three "remain under the status of suspects," court spokeswoman Anna Fadeyeva told Sputnik. Nemtsov, one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics, was shot in the back on a Moscow bridge as he walked with his girlfriend near the Kremlin in late February. Surveillance video showed someone darting from the sidewalk and into a nearby car right after Nemtsov collapsed. Putin has been informed of the arrests in connection with Nemtsov's death, Russian media said, citing Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov. Two of the other suspects are Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev, Bortnikov said in a televised statement. The others are Ramzan Bakhayev and Shagit Gubashev, Anzor's younger brother, according to a Sputnik report that also said Dadayev was the only one of the five to plead guilty -- though to what crimes was not clear. Bortnikov said those detained are from the southern region of the North Caucasus, which for years has been a hotbed of unrest and rebellion against Moscow. Dadayev had previously served as an officer in a Chechen police battalion, Albert Barakhayev, secretary of the Security Council of the Caucasian republic of Ingushetia, told the official news agency TASS. Dadayev was the deputy commander of one of the Chechen Republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs groups, Sputnik reported, adding that Gubashev worked at a security firm in Moscow. Gubashev was arrested between the town of Malgobek and the village of Voznesenovskaya, while Dadayev was arrested in the city of Magas, Barakhayev told TASS. The slain opposition leader's daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, told CNN she is "not surprised both of them (are) of Caucasus origin. It was predictable." Nemtsova said the only things she knew about the arrests came from media reports, as authorities did not contact her immediately. Later Saturday, a southern Russian law enforcement official told state news agency RIA Novosti that two more men were arrested. The two suspects in the second arrest were not named, but one of them was driving with Dadayev, and the other man is Gubashev's younger brother, Barakhayev said. Like Gubashev and Dadayev, those two suspects are also ethnic Chechens, according to Barakhayev. After Nemtsov's shooting Putin blamed extremists and protesters who he said were trying to stir internal strife in Russia. Many opposition sympathizers and people close to Nemtsov have pointed the finger at Putin and the Russian government he leads. They note that Nemtsov -- the deputy prime minister under former President Boris Yeltsin -- is the latest in a list of Putin's opponents who have been killed or imprisoned. Nemtsov had also been arrested several times for speaking against the government. In her first TV interview since her father's death, Nemtsova told CNN that Putin shares "political responsibility" for her father's assassination. She spoke from Germany. "I don't believe in the official investigation," she said Saturday. Other opposition figures previously jailed or killed include Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist critical of Russia's war in Chechnya. She was gunned down at the entrance to her Moscow apartment in 2006. There was also business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who backed an opposition party and accused Putin of corruption. Khodorkovsky landed in jail after a conviction on tax fraud, which he said was a ploy to take away his oil company. The government rejected the claim. Putin pardoned him in 2013. Former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium, his tea spiked in a London hotel during a meeting with two former Russian security service men in 2006. He had blamed the agency for orchestrating a series of apartment bombings in Russia in 1999 that left hundreds dead and led to Russia's invasion of Chechnya later that year. The Kremlin has staunchly denied accusations that it or its agents are targeting political opponents or had anything to do with the deaths. CNN's Catherine Shoichet, Ben Brumfield, Elena Sandyrev, Brian Walker, Greg Botelho, Joshua Berlinger and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report. +(CNN)The gift of an inquiring mind can be both exhilarating and torturous. My job is to ask tough questions, but when it comes to faith, God, and religion, the more questions I ask in my quest for truth and understanding, the more complex the answers become. I was a bit of a rebellious child. My mom might tell you differently, but I never saw that as a bad trait. I felt that if I questioned authority, fought for the underdog, battled for the things that people told me were impossible, I would be different. Change the world maybe. That same rebellious spirit also led to things that definitely were not good for me, like hanging with the wrong crowd and getting into the type of trouble that I would rather not put in print. That's when I "found God." I became a "born-again" Christian when I attended a Young Life camp in high school. My home life wasn't exactly going swimmingly, and this group really embraced me. I loved the Christian notion of community, giving back, praying for others and making friends that cared more about doing good than getting drunk, smoking pot and having sex. I opened my arms to Jesus and fully embraced Christian morals and principles. I decided that I was going to be "that good girl" and go on to do great things. I started off at Westmont, a beautiful Christian college nestled in the heart of Santa Barbara, California. What a safe place that was. It was also extremely nurturing. The professors dedicated bountiful amounts of time to our individual spiritual development, and regularly prayed with us. My peer group was all about what ministry you signed up for, not what sorority you were rushing. We lifted each other up, had intimate sunrise Bible studies on the beach and spent hours hanging out with friends, talking about how to lead a godly life. As glorious and fulfilling as all that appeared, two years into college, the world became much larger to me. More complex, diverse, intellectually and spiritually challenging. It became the world of church, religion and faith versus the world of ideas, cultures, and philosophies. I found myself more drawn to Carl Jung than the book of Corinthians. A good friend gave me a book, The Myth of Certainty. It posed these questions: . "Do you ever feel somewhat schizophrenic about the relationship of your faith to the rest of your life? Do you find yourself compartmentalizing different aspects so that tensions between them are minimized?" The answer to all of these for me was: yes. I started to read a lot. I wanted to mesh with a myriad of thinkers, and religious scholars. I needed to make a change. I left Westmont after my sophomore year and transferred to USC's School of Journalism. I discovered I had too many questions about faith to pursue a life of ministry, but I felt good about this transition. To me, it made perfect sense, because like ministers, true journalists love people, listen well and want to make a difference within this universe. Meet the friendly atheists next door . The key difference is, in journalism, if we gather the "facts," we can usually find the answers to what we're looking for. When it comes to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, those answers rest in faith. As a journalist, I seek intellectual certainty. When it came to my faith, I felt intellectually embarrassed. There was so much I just couldn't explain. When I started working on a documentary about the growth of atheism, I found myself in a profound place of reflection. In the days when I thought I was going to pursue a life of ministry, I experienced and felt many things that were unexplainable. What was that? God? A higher power? Energy? Or just good karma for trying to lead such a generous and selfless life? There is no way to know. My stepfather, who grew up in -- but later left -- the Mormon church has a perspective on religion that I find intriguing. He doesn't believe in a God with a long white beard and flowing robes who sits upon a cloud guiding our daily lives. That concept is too abstract. But while he may not embrace "God-liness," he does believe in "Good-liness." God, he told me in one of our many colorful spiritual discussions, is the "good" in humankind. He and I definitely agree that the concept of God should not be dismissed as having no meaning. To the contrary, it has a very important meaning, for it refers in symbolic language to the highest dimension of human existence, our spirituality. After years of spiritual reflection and inquiry, I am at a place where I don't want to feel guilty, hypocritical, judgmental, closed-minded or arrogant. So, where do I stand now -- 30 years after "finding God," questioning my faith, committing sins, seeking hazardous adventure and trying to love life and people to the best of my ability? I am a "seeker." A constant seeker within this world, among people and, of course, for spiritual enlightenment of all kind. Because if I did possess the truth -- the "final answer" -- I am convinced I would spend the rest of my years missing out on the enrichment and surprise of seeking it. I guess I just love my exhilarating and torturous life. +(CNN)Denmark has slammed as "unacceptable" comments by Russia's envoy to Denmark that joining NATO's missile defense shield would make Danish warships "targets for Russian nuclear missiles." In August last year, Denmark said that at least one of its frigates would be equipped with a radar that would allow it to contribute to NATO's missile defense shield. In an opinion article published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten on Saturday, Russian Ambassador Mikhail Vanin said he did not think the Danes fully understood the consequences of joining the missile shield. "If this happens, Danish warships become targets for Russian nuclear missiles," he wrote. Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs Martin Lidegaard said Vanin's remarks were unacceptable. "Russia knows full well that NATO's missile defense is defensive and not targeted at them (Russia)," Lidegaard said."However, I would not over-dramatize this. Right now we disagree with Russia on many important issues, but we also cooperate, for example, in the Arctic and it is important that the tone between us does not escalate. We certainly are not contributing to that." Tensions between Russia and NATO member countries have been mounting since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and claims its military has been involved in the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied its military is involved. In April 2014, NATO foreign ministers said they had "decided to suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation between NATO and Russia" over the issue. The United States and NATO allies have been conducting military exercises as part of "Operation Atlantic Resolve," which the United States describes as "a demonstration of our continued commitment to the collective security of NATO and dedication to the enduring peace and stability in the region, in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine specifically." On March 2, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow told the alliance's annual meeting on arms control: "Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and its continuing destabilization of Eastern Ukraine have put the European security system -- and all the rules and agreements that underpin it -- under severe strain." Last Monday, state-run Russian media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered his Northern Fleet "to full alert in a snap combat readiness exercise" in the Arctic. At least one Russian leader described the drill as routine and unrelated to the "international situation." Conversely, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov told Tass news agency that Russia was "deeply concerned" about NATO drills near its border. NATO says the long-term goal of its missile shield is "to merge individual Allies' missile defense assets into a coherent defense system, providing full protection for NATO European populations, territory and forces against ballistic missiles threats." NATO has previously asked Russia to participate in the system, but negotiations were deadlocked over Russia's demand for a legally binding treaty guaranteeing the shield would not be used as a deterrent to Moscow's own systems. +(CNN)A lawsuit that's stirring concern among drinkers of some California wine starts with a history lesson. The deaths of Napoleon Bonaparte, Simon Bolivar, King George III, King Faisal I and other prominent figures have been attributed to arsenic poisoning, the first paragraph of the 30-page complaint says. And, now, drinkers of some California wine have become "unwitting 'guinea pigs' of arsenic exposure," thanks to the negligent and misleading actions of dozens of California wineries, according to the class action complaint filed March 19 on behalf of two California couples. The lawsuit does not include any allegations of physical injury or death due to arsenic consumption associated with drinking the wines named in the complaint. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and a court order requiring the defendants disclose on the bottles the risks of consuming inorganic arsenic in wines and engage in "corrective advertising" regarding their conduct. News of the lawsuit, which broke last week, struck fear in the hearts of frugal wine consumers nationwide, prompting many to share lists on social media of labels named in the lawsuit, all but declaring the outcome a foregone conclusion. The complaint names 28 companies that represent 83 low-cost labels familiar to supermarket wine aisle shoppers: Cupcake, Franzia, Flipflop, Rex Goliath and Korbel, among others. Even the maker of Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Zinfandel varietal (affectionately known among fans as "two-buck Chuck"), was called out for allegedly failing to warn consumers that it contained "dangerously" high levels of inorganic arsenic. But should consumers start looking to other winemakers or other wine-producing states for gallon-sized bottles of zinfandel? Or is the lawsuit a fearmongering tactic being used to drum up business for the beverage-testing company used for the lawsuit, as some defendants and industry insiders have insinuated? Most of the defendants said their wine was safe to drink when contacted by CNN. Some declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Others referred CNN to the Wine Institute, a California trade group that called the claims "false and misleading." "We are concerned that the irresponsible publicity campaign by the litigating party could scare the public into thinking that wine is not safe to consume, which is patently untrue," said the group, which represents 1,000 California wineries, including 10 of the defendants. The lawsuit alleges that three separate labs "skilled in arsenic testing" independently confirmed that the defendants produce wines containing "dangerously" high levels of inorganic arsenic, in some cases up to 500% more than what is considered acceptable. "Put differently," the complaint states in bold letters, "just a glass or two of these arsenic-contaminated wines a day over time could result in dangerous arsenic toxicity to the consumer." A spokesman from the public relations firm representing the plaintiffs and BeverageGrades, which performed the analysis, said the company is confident that its data is "based on sound scientific research." Because the company expects testing methodology to be at issue in litigation, it declined to reveal specific data or testing methods. "We understand the public interest in this story and look forward to resolving the litigation to make these products safer for consumers. And we hope the winemakers will take these findings just as seriously and work to make sure their wines are safe," spokesman Rob Feldman said. Without seeing the lab results, experts suggest reserving judgment based on the following issues to arise from the lawsuit: . Arsenic is found in air, soil and water throughout the world. Therefore, it can also found in grains, fruits, vegetables and seafood due to absorption through soil and water. "Plants take up trace amounts of arsenic from the soil, and we have been ingesting these trace amounts for all of human history. Generally, these amounts are at levels well below that associated with either acute or chronic toxicity," said Cornell University's Gavin Lavi Sacks, director of undergraduate studies for the viticulture and enology program in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Arsenic occurs in inorganic and organic forms. The FDA describes organic or naturally occurring arsenic as "essentially harmless." Inorganic arsenic has been classified as a human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency. The first time the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set limits for arsenic levels in food or drink was in 2013, when it proposed to limit the amount of inorganic arsenic in apple juice to 10 parts per billion. Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly through smoking, drinking contaminated water, eating food prepared with contaminated water or eating food irrigated with arsenic-rich water, can lead to health risks such as cancer and skin lesions. According to the lawsuit, inorganic arsenic makes up the "overwhelming majority" of arsenic in wines at issue, despite the winemakers' ability to limit inorganic arsenic through "responsible winemaking procedures" and "sophisticated testing equipment." Without providing specific data, the plaintiffs said their analysis found inorganic arsenic "far in excess" of what's allowed in drinking water based on the EPA's standard for arsenic in drinking water: 10 parts per billion. But the EPA limit for water is based on total arsenic, including both organic and inorganic forms, leading some to question whether it's the best basis for comparison. This standard is set to protect consumers served by public water systems from the effects of long-term, chronic exposure to arsenic, EPA spokeswoman Tara Johnson said in an email. It's based on how much water people typically drink daily, which ranges from one to two liters, she said. However, the EPA standard for arsenic in drinking water "is of limited use when considering any potential health risks related to arsenic in wine," FDA spokeswoman Lauren Sucher said in an email to CNN. "People drink far more water than they do wine over their lifetimes, and they start drinking water earlier in life. Thus, both the amount and period of exposure are different and would require separate analyses," she said. Seeing as the USDA recommends drinking about 10 cups of water a day and no more than two alcoholic drinks (about 1 cup of wine) a day, "a sensible concentration limit for arsenic in wine should be at least 10-fold higher than for drinking water, and possibly higher, since we also use water for cooking and cleaning," Sacks of Cornell University said. This is roughly the case in countries that have established limits for arsenic in wine, which leads to the next point: . The U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau regulates the production of alcoholic beverages, and part of this process is testing wine for arsenic, said Erika Holmes, spokeswoman for Washington State University's Viticulture and Enology school. Even though the FDA has not established a standard for acceptable levels of arsenic in wine, California wine exports are tested and found to be below the established limits for export, Holmes said in an email. Countries that import California wine also test for arsenic using their own standards: 100 parts per billion in Canada and 200 parts per billion in Europe -- 10 to 20 times higher than the drinking water limit in the United States. "It's certainly appropriate to look to other countries' regulations for guidance," Sacks said. "Their regulators are presumably looking at the same body of research that U.S. regulators would look to if they were to establish a mandatory limit for wine." The day CBS News aired a segment on the lawsuit, the company that performed the analysis sent out a news release offering its services to provide "reassurance from arsenic in wine" through "a tool for screening their offerings to ensure the quality of their supply chain." Neither BeverageGrades nor its CEO, Kevin Hicks, is a party to the lawsuit. But Hicks' appearance in the segment prompted detractors to cry conflict of interest. In a statement to CNN, Hicks said it was concerning that some winemakers would point to this as a conflict of interest "instead of focusing on making sure their product contains the lowest amount of contaminants possible." He also defended his company's right to offer its services to retailers, saying he will continue to do so. "The arsenic data in my testing is based on years of scientific research and operating a commercial chemistry lab for over two years. As a commercial lab no one should be surprised that BeverageGrades has been offering lab testing services to the alcohol beverage industry since July 2013." A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the brand Barefoot was a named defendant in the lawsuit. It is not. This story has been corrected. CNN sincerely regrets the error. +(CNN)When American writer Avijit Roy was hacked to death on a Dhaka, Bangladesh, street in full view of horrified onlookers, blogger Washiqur Rahman doubled down. Fundamentalists were choking free thought in his secular nation, he wrote. But they couldn't silence it. His friends warned him to be careful, to watch what he posted online. But Rahman dismissed those concerns, saying his Facebook profile page didn't even bear his picture. They don't even know what I look like, he told them. On Monday, the 27-year-old Rahman fell victim to the same brazen act that killed Roy, hacked to death by two men with knives and meat cleavers just outside his house as he headed to work at a travel agency. He was so maimed -- with wounds to his head, face and neck -- that police identified him through the voter identification card he was carrying. His death was the second time in five weeks that someone was killed in Dhaka for online posts critical of Islam -- but they are hardly the only two who've paid a steep price. In the last two years, several bloggers have died, either murdered or under mysterious circumstances. "The despicable murder of Avijit Roy last month should have led authorities to step up protection measures for bloggers and others at risk. The killing of Washiqur Rahman today is another clear example of the Bangladeshi government's utter failure to ensure the safety of those at risk," said Abbas Faiz of Amnesty International. "How many more bloggers will have to be attacked before action is taken?" As shocking as Rahman's death was, the reaction from some quarters was equally disturbing. On his Facebook page (for which he picked a custom URL that translates to "unbeliever"), Rahman had posted a picture with the hashtag #IamAvijit. After his death, someone left a comment, "Now you are." Another wrote, "I felt sorry when I first learned of your death. But then I saw what you wrote and I am not." On his page, Rahman reposted a cartoon depicting Prophet Mohammed from the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. He wished a happy birthday to author Taslima Nasreen, who was forced to flee Bangladesh due to death threats from fundamentalists. And he "liked" a picture of sausages wrapped in crescent rolls that someone had captioned, "Pigs in burqas." Posts threatening him were numerous. "Get ready for the afterlife," one person commented on one of his posts. "See you in hell," said another. He used to write under the pseudonym "Stupid Man" on a blog but switched to posting on Facebook after 2011. On Facebook, he is credited for a series, "Jaw-crushing answers to insulting comments of atheists." There, he posted questions that critics of Islam often raised and then answered them. But he paired the answers in such a way that they highlighted the contradiction within Islam. For example, one question asked what proof was there that the Quran was the word of God. The answer, "Mohammed said in his own words that the Quran is the word of God. Since Mohammed is the messenger of Allah, his claims are true." He placed the question next to one that asked, "What is the proof that Mohammed was the messenger of Allah?" The answer, "The Quran claims that Mohammed was the messenger of Allah. And since the Quran is God's word, its claims must be true." Asif Mohiuddin, a blogger who himself was wounded by machete-wielding attackers in 2013 but survived, remembered Rahman as a great satirist. "I named him the George Carlin of Bangladesh," he told the International Humanist and Ethical Union. "He wanted with all his heart, a true secular country, where everyone can practice their freedom." The irony is that the people who killed Rahman weren't even familiar with his writings; they were simply following orders, police said. Of the three involved in the Monday morning attack, two were quickly caught by bystanders. In confessions to police, the pair -- both students at Islamic schools -- said they didn't know what a blog was, nor had they seen Rahman's writing. They said they were acting on orders from another person who told them killing Rahman was a religious duty, Police Commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarkar told reporters. The third person is still to be apprehended. That appears to be par for the course in the killings of bloggers in Bangladesh. The only person arrested in the killing of Roy, the U.S. blogger, is Farabi Shafiur Rahman, who had called for his death in Facebook posts. There has been no conviction in the January 2013 attack on Mohiuddin. And no convictions in yet another case -- the hacking death of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, also in 2013. "The Bangladeshi government must urgently establish accountability in this murder case and others," the Committee to Project Journalists said after Rahman's death. "Otherwise the rest of the country's bloggers, commentators and journalists covering sensitive topics remain at grave risk of being attacked as well." Bloggers, unlike political parties, aren't an organized force -- and that makes them an easy target for radicals, said Imran Sarker, who heads the Blogger and Online Activists Network in Bangladesh. "They want peace, they talk of humanity. If you strike them with stones, they don't strike back. They try to reach you with flowers," he said. "So, if you want to sow fear and stifle progressive thought, they are easy to pick on." But the deaths -- of Rahman, of Roy, of Haider -- have emboldened the movement, rather than chill them into silence. "No one is cowering in their homes because this is happening. Because this has been happening regularly for a long time," he said. "We want to take the society forward. We know we have a lot left to accomplish." CNN's Omar Khan, Kunal Sehgal and Ravi Agrawal contributed to this report. +(CNN)As a November dawn breaks over an Irish bar in downtown New York, the early risers inside are hunkered down to watch Lewis Hamilton begin his chase for a second Formula One world title. It's mid-morning in Brazil and Melissa, her husband Alex and their four-year-old daughter are also glued to the TV to watch their hero in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. On the verdant Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, three thousand miles from the desert showdown, another Hamilton fan anxiously waits for the Mercedes man to race to his fate. These supporters, and others around the world from Estonia to South Africa, had voiced their hopes in video messages and their supplications on social media. When Hamilton flicked down his visor, revved the Mercedes' engine and hit the throttle, a global surge of support roared. "We came out at 6am on Sunday morning to watch the race in a bar in Manhattan," New Yorker, and self confessed No.1 Hamilton fan, Christopher Thomas told CNN. "We met up with fans from all over; we had a guy from the UK and one guy even took a bus from Boston just to watch the race. "We also made videos and sent them to Lewis' website using the hashtag TeamLH." In Brazil, self-styled Melissa "Hamilton," who is married to Alex "Senna," also used the hashtag to communicate with her idol. She told CNN: "I support Lewis every day but during the races I am aware of everything, even practice and all the interviews. "At all times he knows he can count on our support, in good times or bad. I am extremely proud to be a fan of his." When Hamilton won in Abu Dhabi -- in easier circumstances than expected thanks to an engine problem for rival Nico Rosberg -- and sealed the 2014 championship he was quick to thank his fans in the post-race media conference. "I always say we win and lose together," he smiled. "The love and energy that I get from my fans... It really made me believe that I can do anything." Racing in a global championship has helped Hamilton gain fame across international borders. In 2015, the F1 series will visit an air-mile clocking 20 countries. But when the 30-year-old Briton lines up for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, he will do so as the most famous face on the grid. "Lewis has over three million Facebook fans -- with a third of those coming from the UK -- and he has 2.6 million Twitter followers," explained Jon Stainer, managing director of leading sports and entertainment market research company Repucom. "He has a very strong following. Compared to other F1 drivers, Lewis is also right up there in most of the sport's key markets in terms of celebrity awareness. "In the big markets -- Brazil, China, India and the UK -- he scores in the top three. Fernando Alonso is the only other [ever-present] driver." Tom Roope, whose company Rumpus Room runs Hamilton's digital media, decided to tap into the racing star's global appeal in the build-up to the sizzling Abu Dhabi finale. "We saw that Lewis' fans were talking to one another and so we came up with the protocol #TeamLH," explains Roope. Rumpus Room then devised a real time app, which enabled them to record and upload video messages of support. These twin projects enabled Roope and his team to have a better understanding of the geography and demographic of Hamilton's followers. "His fanbase is enormously international," he said. "Around 50% of them are from the UK but then there are a lot in Asia, Brazil and the U.S. 30,000 fans uploaded videos from 50 countries. "There was also a surprisingly high female following, which is probably connected to [his former girlfriend popstar] Nicole Scherzinger." The video messages was then edited into four films, which were broadcast daily on Hamilton's social platforms over the race weekend. The final film on race day had a million views on Facebook in one day alone. Our story. Here it is. #TeamLHmovie. Thank you all so much #TeamLH @mercedesamgf1 . https://t.co/HbuiT4jRrw . Hamilton himself explained the concept, and the emotional response it generated within him, after the race. "This weekend the guy who does my website put together a collage of different clips of messages from people," he said. "I really didn't know what to expect. When I got it there was something happening in my heart. I can't really explain it." Thomas and his fiancée Julliana Sanchez, as well as Melissa and her family and the Reunion Island fan, were featured in the films. "It was important to us personally," Thomas said. "It's a big deal for us making a video and seeing him acknowledge his fans." Thomas, who is originally from Guyana in South America, has also been galvanizing global support for Hamilton through social media for the last five years. He explained: "The idea percolated at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2010. My brother-in-law Shaka had a huge painted banner -- it looked like something a five-year-old did -- but at the bottom it said '#LewisNation -- We Believe.' "We started using it and Twitter was soon blown up with #LewisNation. The initial idea was to unite crew members in North America but when I go on Twitter and Facebook I see people from India, the Philippines, the UK and Germany. "It's a global base and we are trying to make it bigger. Right now, we use #LewisNation to meet up at races but we've started work on a website." Hamilton's mass appeal is not just because he's an F1 driver and now a double world champion. He has something the other 17 drivers simply don't have -- a narrative to rival a bestselling novel, a blockbuster script. Born in Stevenage, a commuter town 30 miles north of London, he broke boundaries when he debuted in 2007 as F1's first black driver. He revealed on his website when his career began he "tried to ignore that fact" but has now "really started to appreciate the implications." Hamilton's mixed heritage -- his mother is white British and his father's family have roots in the Caribbean -- and a rags-to-riches success story have both helped him connect with a wider fanbase. "There's a crossover that appeals to many, many backgrounds," said Thomas. "He's diverse, but not just [in] race but in his social likings too. "He hangs out with top celebrities like Jay-Z and Kanye West. This hip-hop style and the fact that he spends a lot of time in the U.S. make him one of the few drivers who actually appeals to Americans." Roope agreed: "Lewis is a bit different. He invites a whole new set of people into F1, people who might be put off by the rich, white, middle-classness of it all." Hamilton has also always worn his heart on his sleeve against a backdrop of fierce racing rivalry -- usually with his teammates --- and an on-off romance with Scherzinger. There have been some mesmerizing moments on track, and some famous meltdowns off it. Perhaps most remembered was his outburst at the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton had been penalized by race stewards after finishing sixth and exclaimed to the media: "It's an absolute frickin' joke. Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G says." Many of Hamilton's fans -- though not all -- warm to these moments of human frailty as much as his derring-do on the racetrack, and draw inspiration from both. Melissa races go karts in Brazil and, although she credits her husband Alex for his practical support, she also takes heart from Hamilton. "Lewis is a fighter, he faced many prejudices and difficult days but he never gave up on his dream; he teaches us that," Melissa explained. "In addition to his talent as a wonderful driver, he has a big heart, a great willpower. "Many friends are astonished to see me kart racing because I dispute championships with many men, and women on the track are in the minority. "I win often but women suffer some kind of prejudice. I do not really care, I care to always do my best and be inspired by the best drivers." Melissa has met Hamilton at many Brazilian Grands Prix. "All my meetings with Lewis are fantastic and happy. He is a charismatic and kind person. He really loves his fans." Thomas, like Melissa, has met Hamilton "tonnes of times" in and around grand prix weekends. "He seems like a down to earth guy," Thomas revealed. "He's not one of those guys who signs an autograph and shoves it back to you. He actually talks and spends time with you." Thomas and his fiancée Sanchez are so impressed with the British racer that they graced him with a special honor. "The first person we invited verbally to our wedding was Lewis," Thomas explained. "We met him in the pit lane at the U.S. Grand Prix last year, he hung out with us, took selfies and we alluded to the fact that we were getting married and said 'hey you're the first invite.' "We are trying to set a date around the summer break. We can't set the date on a race weekend!" Being a global personality offers the ability to change people's lives even in a small way but for Hamilton, the relationship he has with his fans appears to be mutualistic. "Lewis is genuinely indebted to his fans," said Roope. "He always sees his fans as the core of his powerbase." When he drives out of the garage in Australia, the world champion may be racing to end the season as No.1 but he also carries the hearts and hopes of millions. Does Lewis Hamilton have what it takes to transcend the track and become a global sporting superstar? Find out in Part II published on Thursday. +(CNN)A highway crash involving three buses and a freezer truck in northern Peru killed at least 37 people, the country's Ministry of Health said Monday. Six others were in critical condition after the Monday morning crash on a highway near the city of Casma, in the Ancash region, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of Lima, the capital. One of the buses entered an oncoming lane and struck another bus as the other two vehicles approached, the state-run Agencia Andina news agency reported, citing a fire department official. Bus travel is an essential form of transportation for Peruvians going north and south between cities along the Pan-American Highway, which hugs the Pacific coast. +Washington (CNN)The Justice Department is preparing to bring criminal corruption charges against Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, alleging he used his Senate office to push the business interests of a Democratic donor and friend in exchange for gifts. People briefed on the case say Attorney General Eric Holder has signed off on prosecutors' request to proceed with charges, CNN first reported. An announcement could come within weeks. Prosecutors are under pressure in part because of the statute of limitation on some of the allegations. Menendez told reporters Friday night he has "always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law." He added: "And I am not going anywhere." Menendez said that because of an ongoing investigation he couldn't answer questions at the news conference, held in Newark. The case could pose a high-profile test of the Justice Department's ability to prosecute sitting lawmakers, having already spawned a legal battle over whether key evidence the government has gathered is protected by the Constitution's Speech and Debate clause. The FBI and prosecutors from the Justice Department's public integrity section, have pursued a variety of allegations against Menendez, who has called the probe part of "smear campaign" against him. The government's case centers on Menendez's relationship with Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist who the senator has called a friend and political supporter. Melgen and his family have been generous donors to the senator and various committees the senator is associated with. RELATED: FBI agents search office of Florida doctor known as Senator's donor . Investigators have focused in part on plane trips Menendez took in 2010 to the Dominican Republic as a guest of Melgen. In 2013, after word of the federal investigation became public, Menendez paid back Melgen $58,000 for the 2010 plane trips calling his failure to properly disclose the flights an "oversight." Menendez said he has been friends with Melgen for more than 20 years and the two families have spent holidays and other special occasions together. One of the highest ranking Hispanic members of Congress, Menendez is a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has become one of the Obama administration's most vocal Democratic opponents on two key foreign policy matters -- President Obama's decision to ease the trade embargo against Cuba and also his effort to engage direct negotiations with Iran over that country's nuclear program. Menendez advocated on Melgen's behalf with federal Medicare administrators who accused Melgen of overbilling the government's healthcare program, according to court documents and people briefed on the probe. Melgen was among the top recipients of Medicare reimbursements in recent years, during a time when he was also a major Democratic donor. Melgen's attorneys have denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors also are focusing on whether Menendez broke the law in advocating for Melgen's business interest in a Dominican Republic government contract for a port screening equipment. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, at the time, considered donating port screening equipment to the Dominican Republic, which would have hurt the contract of Melgen-controlled company. Menendez, now serving his second full term as senator, led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2009-2011. During a Senate subcommittee hearing in 2012, Menendez didn't mention ICSSI, Melgen's company, by name, but he did press Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Rooney about an unnamed company who had a contract to X-ray cargo that went through all Dominican ports -- a contract that, he said, Dominican authorities "don't want to live by." "If those countries can get away with that, they will," the senator said. "And that puts American companies at a tremendous disadvantage." Menendez's office said at the time the senator's interest was based on his efforts to combat narcotrafficking in the region. Other lines of inquiry against Menendez had included allegations he solicited prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, and that he violated the law helping win permanent U.S. residency for two Ecuadorian banking magnates, the Isaias brothers. The prostitution allegations collapsed after the purported prostitutes recanted their story, and the FBI didn't find evidence of wrongdoing in the Isaias matter, according to people briefed on the probe. The FBI probe has already spawned a legal battle between the government, Menendez and his former aides. Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals briefly posted, apparently by accident, documents detailing legal efforts to block certain evidence and testimony the government wants to use. The documents were quickly put back under seal, but not before a reporter with the New Jersey Law Journal secured a copy and later published a story. According to the documents, Menendez's lawyers have sought to claim emails and testimony from aides is protected by the constitutional protections given to members of Congress in carrying out their duties. The speech and debate clause prohibits questioning of members of Congress about "legislative acts or the motivation for legislative acts." The fight centers in part on the Justice Department's attempt to compel testimony from Menendez's aides, some of whom have refused to answer questions to a grand jury. According to the documents, the government wants to question aides about a series of 2012 calls and meetings on Melgen's fight with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency. Among these is a meeting among Mendedez, Sen. Harry Reid and then Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The government is also pushing to use emails between Menendez's office and a CBP official about the Dominican ports issue. A federal district court ruled in favor of the government to compel testimony from Menendez's aides, but the appeals court reversed the ruling and ordered a hearing. "The parties primarily dispute the legislative character of Senator Menendez's two conversations with [then acting CMS administrator Marilyn] Tavenner and his meeting with Secretary Sebelius," the appeals court said. "These communications are not manifestly legislative acts because they are informal communications with executive branch officials, one of whom was at the time a presidential nominee whose nomination was pending before the United States senate." +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)The U.S. military has pulled its remaining personnel out of Yemen due to the deteriorating security situation, the U.S. State Department said. The evacuation involved about 100 Special Operations forces members from the Al Anad airbase, sources in the region familiar with the situation told CNN. The State Department called it a temporary relocation. Those evacuated, which include Navy SEALs and members of the Army's Delta Force, were the last American forces stationed in the Arab nation, which is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist group also known as AQAP. "We ... continue to actively monitor terrorist threats emanating from Yemen and have capabilities postured in the area to address them," State Department Spokesman Jeff Rathke said late Saturday. "As we have in the past, we will take action to disrupt continuing, imminent threats to the United States and our citizens." The United States closed its embassy in Sanaa last month, after Houthi rebels took over the Yemeni capital. And hundreds of al Qaeda members escaped two Yemeni prisons Thursday and Friday, raising further security questions. "There is no military solution to Yemen's current crisis," Jeff Rathke said. "We urge the immediate cessation of all unilateral and offensive military actions." The United Nations is taking the situation seriously. The Security Council will meet at 3 p.m. ET Sunday to discuss Yemen, the French mission said Saturday via Twitter. For years, the U.S. military has worked closely with Yemen's government to go after AQAP, together carrying out numerous attacks like the 2011 drone strike that killed prominent al Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki. And U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed this cooperation as a pillar in his anti-terrorism campaign. "Yemen has never been a perfect democracy or a island of stability," Obama said in January, promoting the policy of "partnering and intelligence-sharing with that local government" as the best approach in a bad situation. "The alternative would be for us to play whack-a-mole every time there is a terrorist actor inside of any given country," the President said. But while there have been drone strikes as recently as last month, these cooperative efforts have been hampered by Yemen's growing difficulty in maintaining unity and peace. These include the rise of the Houthis, their battles with forces loyal to ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and the presence of not only al Qaeda fighters but other militants. On Friday, for instance, ISIS purportedly claimed responsibility for bombings at two mosques in Sanaa what, if true, would mark that group's first large-scale attack in Yemen. The claim came in a statement posted on a site that previously carried ISIS proclamations, but couldn't be immediately authenticated by CNN. Those blasts killed at least 137 people and wounded 357 others, according to Yemen's state-run Saba news agency. While ISIS and al Qaeda are both Sunni groups that espouse extreme versions of Islam and violent opposition to the West, that doesn't mean they will be working together anytime soon. In fact, AQAP strongly rebuked ISIS in a video released in November, characterizing its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's declaration of an Islamic caliphate as illegitimate. More than anything, the idea of the group calling itself the Islamic State violently flexing its muscles speaks to the chaotic situation there. With no one really in control, that means numerous groups -- including those with a history of killing civilians and lashing out at the West -- have been more room to operate and a better chance potentially to take over. Meanwhile, the main players for control of Yemen's government -- those siding with Hadi, who still claims to be president after being deposed earlier this year, and the Houthis, a minority group that's strongest in the northern part of the country -- remain very much at odds. Just two days ago, a Yemeni jet commanded by the capital's Houthi conquerors fired missiles at a palace housing Hadi in the port city of Aden. No one was injured, but the direct strike nonetheless marked an escalation in the deadly fighting between the two sides. The airstrikes came on the same day opposing Yemeni military forces -- some under the Houthis, others led by officers loyal to Hadi -- battled in Aden, said Aden Gov. AbdulAziz Hobtour. At least 13 people died and 21 others were injured in those clashes, according to Hobtour. Hadi took to the airwaves of Adan TV, a station he recently started, on Saturday in his first televised speech since escaping house arrest. He called on all political factions to take part in upcoming talks in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, condemning the Aden strike and urging Yemeni troops to refuse orders from Houthi officials. Hadi tied the Houthis to Iran, which he was said supported the "coup" that led to his departure from Aden. "The Iranian agenda of the Houthis will not last," he said. After Hadi spoke, the Houthi-run SABA news agency responded, saying the Supreme Revolutionary Committee has decided to mobilize forces and "directed security and military institutions to carry out their duties to confront (the) dirty war." "The Committee announces the decision to call proud sons of the Yemeni people in all regions to unite, collaborate and cooperate with members of the armed and security forces in the face of terrorist forces in all parts of the country," the report said. Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a top member of the Houthi Political Council, said Hadi's speech won't help Yemen reach a peaceful resolution and accused him of reneging on a deal last September to transfer power. "We blame Hadi for not implementing this deal that drew the road map that would have solved Yemen's ongoing crises," Al Bukhaiti said. "Hadi will be held responsible for the country's failures and that chaos that could follow." Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Sanaa, and CNN's Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Ed Payne and Laura Koran contributed to this report. +(CNN)Jeremy Clarkson won't have his contract renewed as host of "Top Gear" after he apparently busted his producer's lip and verbally abused him, the BBC announced Wednesday. Clarkson, who hosted one of the most-watched television shows in the world, was suspended on March 10 after what the British broadcaster previously described as a "fracas" with producer Oisin Tymon on March 4. Wednesday, the BBC released the findings of an internal investigation into the incident. Ken MacQuarrie, who conducted the investigation, said Tymon had been "subject to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Jeremy Clarkson" at a hotel in North Yorkshire after a day of filming. "During the physical attack Oisin Tymon was struck, resulting in swelling and bleeding to his lip," he said. The physical attack was halted after about 30 seconds by the intervention of a witness, MacQuarrie said, but Clarkson continued to use "derogatory and abusive language" for a sustained period of time. MacQuarrie said Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologize over subsequent days and had reported the incident to BBC management. BBC Director General Tony Hall issued a statement announcing Clarkson was being dropped. "A member of staff -- who is a completely innocent party -- took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed," he said. "I know how popular the program is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion." "Top Gear," fronted by Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, has made a name for itself globally with risky stunts and a brand of blokish humor that often toes the line and regularly steps over it. Clarkson is determinedly anti-politically correct on the topics he rails about, both on the show and in his newspaper and magazine columns. In his statement, Hall referenced the BBC's diversity, saying it was "a broad church." "We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price. Common to all at the BBC have to be standards of decency and respect," he said. North Yorkshire police issued a statement Wednesday saying they had asked for the BBC's report on the incident. "The information will be assessed appropriately and action will be taken by North Yorkshire Police where necessary," they said. On March 10, the BBC announced that "Top Gear's" March 15 episode had been pulled and this week it canceled four live "Top Gear" shows scheduled for next week in Stavanger, Norway. However, it said the programs would be rescheduled and that all other live dates would "run as scheduled." Hall said the BBC would "look to renew 'Top Gear' for 2016" and that he had asked BBC controller Kim Shillinglaw to "look at how we put out the last programs in the current series." After his suspension by the BBC, Clarkson changed his Twitter profile to "I am probably a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show,Top Gear." On Wednesday, the wording became past tense: "I used to be a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show,Top Gear." Co-host Richard Hammond tweeted: "Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We're all three of us idiots in our different ways but it's been an incredible ride together." Fans had earlier expressed outrage at the BBC decision to suspend Clarkson. Even media baron Rupert Murdoch commented on speculation that Clarkson would be sacked, posting a tweet Tuesday night in which he described the presenter as a "funny man with great expertise." An online petition to have Clarkson reinstated has been signed by more than a million people. Fewer than 10,000 people signed a counterpetition calling for him to be fired. Last week, a fan dressed as the "Stig" -- the anonymous racing car test-driver who was once a regular feature of the show -- drove to the BBC's London headquarters in an armored tank to present the "Bring Back Clarkson" petition. Clarkson later thanked his supporters in a tweet shared more than 22,000 times. According to the BBC website, Clarkson is credited with changing the face of modern motoring journalism. It also adds: "Terrifyingly, he might just be the most influential man in motoring." Clarkson has been at the helm of the program since 1998, and for more than a decade has fronted the relaunched version with Hammond and May. The trio's long-distance challenges in a mix of elite and sometimes barely roadworthy vehicles has earned the program cult status. In 2013, Guinness World Records named "Top Gear" the world's most widely watched factual program, with an estimated 350 million global viewers. The show is sold to 214 territories worldwide. Local versions have been made in the United States, China, Russia, Australia and South Korea. While Clarkson's abrasive style has proven popular with viewers, his on- and off-air comments have earned him a reputation as a politically incorrect maverick who often walks a fine line between humor and offense. Last year, he apologized profusely after being accused of mumbling the n-word in a clip that wasn't aired. "I'd actually used the word I was trying to obscure. I was mortified by this, horrified. It is a word I loathe," Clarkson said in video statement posted online. He's been accused on other occasions of racism, including characterizing Mexicans as "lazy and feckless" and using the word "slope" over footage of an Asian man crossing a bridge during a "Top Gear" special in Myanmar. Producer Andy Wilman later apologized, calling it a "light-hearted word play joke," and saying that the team was not aware that it was offensive to Asians. Last week, Clarkson launched into an expletive-filled rant at a charity auction in north London, verbally attacking his BBC bosses. A CNN reporter who was at the event said Clarkson swore often as he talked about his suspension from the show, saying the BBC had "f**ked themselves" and had ruined a great show. Clarkson later brushed off the incident, saying the rant was meant "in jest" and was designed to increase bids for the prize being auctioned -- one last lap of the "Top Gear" race track. CNN's Rosie Tomkins and journalist Monica Sarkar contributed to this report. +(CNN)Everywhere you look there are two-wheeled drivers waiting ominously for passengers to hop on board. They're the backbone of public transport in Uganda and the fastest way to get around the capital city, Kampala. The boda boda motorbike taxi is a staple used by all sectors of society. Traditionally, the usual way of catching a ride was to venture into any street corner packed with tens of boda bodas or simply waiting for one to pass by. But now, a new local startup are bringing this classic mode of transport into the technological age by providing the ability to hail a boda boda at the click of a smartphone. "Bodas are the main thing getting people from A to B," says Alastair Sussock, co-founder of SafeBoda, "and we're trying to professionalize this transportation in the city." The motorbike taxis have their greatest popularity globally in Uganda, with over 80,000 riding the streets of Kampala, according to Sussex who wants to seize upon the country's burgeoning young population. Uganda has more than 24% of the population aged between 10 and 19 years old, according to UNICEF -- and Sussock wants them to get on their bikes. "Young people use smartphones in Kampala and it's one of the youngest countries in the world," he says. For now, the Uber-like startup operates mainly in the northern districts of Kampala, where a click on the SafeBoda app -- in addition to the traditional method of hailing them on the street -- will bring you a Safeboda bike, complete with a uniformed driver in a bright orange jacket, helmet and fully trained in road safety. He'll even have a helmet for you. Safety has long been a concern for those riding boda bodas as the bikes are a leading cause of death and head injury in Kampala. A study conducted at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, by researchers at Makerere University, identified approximately 40% of trauma cases at the hospital to be due to boda-boda accidents. I request a SafeBoda to take me to meet the team in the upmarket area of Kisementi, in Kampala's central district. As i stand waiting, at least 10 regular boda bodas pass by beeping to get my attention and business. A driver called Richard Lalunga then arrives who I spot clearly in the distance thanks to his bright orange jacket and orange helmets -- one on his head and one on his handlebars. Lalunga has been a boda driver for four years and joined SafeBoda four months ago to learn more about road safety. He explains how he now earns more than ever before due to a loyal customer base stemming from his safe driving. The ride was in fact calmer than those taken with other bodas, and unlike some, as we ride along the congested streets no kerbs were scaled or mounted to avoid the traffic. The name stands - safeboda. The dangers lie in the low use of helmets -- by both drivers and users -- alongside risky driving and poor road safety practices. This makes many fearful of catching a two-wheeled ride but the team at SafeBoda are trying to lure people back on board. They're reinventing the boda boda reputation to prove they can be safe, as well as fast and economical. "It's a market-based approach to road safety," says Sussock, an economist, who believes that as word spreads about the skills of his drivers, the income -- and safety -- of his drivers will rise and reflect this. "People in Uganda don't wear helmets," says Sussock. "So how do we get them to wear helmets?" The answer, is by providing one. Driver training is provided in partnership with the Ugandan Red Cross and takes place for up to three weeks to cover road safety and bike maintenance -- and it seems to be working. Since its inception in November 2014, the fleet of drivers at SafeBoda has reached 50, currently occupying four areas towards the north and center of the city. The main need for safe driving is in the congested streets of downtown Kampala where the company plans to expand into next. "If we train people and make them good and responsible drivers, we're going to save lives," says Ricky Rapa Thomson, who manages the drivers. "But implementing has been a challenge," he says about the difficulties in changing the mindsets of a population. The team are dreaming big, with plans to expand to 100 by the end of March and 800 by the end of 2015. "With over 1,000 drivers we can begin to change the entire boda industry," says Sussock. More from African Start-Up . Read this: Bike tour gives taste of township life . Read this: This 'eco stove' does more than cook your dinner . Editor's Note: Every week, African Start-Up follows entrepreneurs in various countries across the continent to see how they are working to make their business dreams become reality. Follow the show on Twitter. +Dusseldorf, Germany (CNN)Years before he was at the controls of a Germanwings plane that plunged into the French Alps, Andreas Lubitz told the airline he worked for that he'd had a bout with depression. Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 who authorities accuse of deliberately crashing the plane, told his Lufthansa flight training school in 2009 that he had a "previous episode of severe depression," the airline said Tuesday. Email correspondence between Lubitz and the school discovered in an internal investigation, Lufthansa said, included medical documents he submitted in connection with resuming his flight training. The announcement indicates that Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, knew of Lubitz's battle with depression, allowed him to continue training and ultimately put him in the cockpit. Lufthansa, whose CEO previously said Lubitz was 100% fit to fly, described its statement Tuesday as a "swift and seamless clarification" and said it was sharing the information and documents -- including training and medical records -- with public prosecutors. What was mental state of Germanwings co-pilot? It's a development that will likely be a part of the crash investigation, but it's only one piece of the puzzle, CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest said. "We need to know what happened after he returned in 2009 and finished his training, because that tells us whether there was the correct procedure and process," he said. A Lufthansa spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday that Lubitz had a valid medical certificate, had passed all his examinations and "held all the licenses required." Check out the latest from our correspondents . The details about Lubitz's correspondence with the flight school during his training were among several developments as investigators continued to delve into what caused the crash and Lubitz's possible motive for downing the jet. Earlier, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf said Lubitz suffered from suicidal tendencies at some point before his aviation career. Medical records reveal that Lubitz was suicidal at one time and underwent psychotherapy before he got his pilot's license, prosecutor's spokesman Christoph Kumpa said. Kumpa emphasized there's no evidence suggesting Lubitz was suicidal or acting aggressively before the crash. Investigators are looking into whether Lubitz feared his medical condition would cause him to lose his pilot's license, a European government official briefed on the investigation into last week's crash told CNN on Tuesday. While flying was "a big part of his life," the source said, it's only one theory being considered. Another source, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, also told CNN that authorities believe the primary motive for Lubitz to bring down the plane was that he feared he would not be allowed to fly because of his medical problems. Lubitz's girlfriend told investigators he had seen an eye doctor and a neuropsychologist, both of whom deemed him unfit to work recently and concluded he had psychological issues, the European government official said. Lubitz told the neuropsychologist that he was too stressed with work, the official said. But no matter what details emerge about his previous mental health struggles, there's more to the story, said Brian Russell, a forensic psychologist. "Psychology can explain why somebody would turn rage inward on themselves about the fact that maybe they weren't going to keep doing their job and they're upset about that and so they're suicidal," he said. "But there is no mental illness that explains why somebody then feels entitled to also take that rage and turn it outward on 149 other people who had nothing to do with the person's problems." Reports say a cell phone video shows the nightmarish final seconds of Germanwings Flight 9525, but a police spokesman said the accounts were "completely wrong." French magazine Paris Match and German newspaper Bild reported that a video recovered from a phone at the wreckage site showed the inside of the plane moments before it crashed. "One can hear cries of 'My God' in several languages," Paris Match reported. "Metallic banging can also be heard more than three times, perhaps of the pilot trying to open the cockpit door with a heavy object. Towards the end, after a heavy shake, stronger than the others, the screaming intensifies. Then nothing." The two publications described the video, but did not post it on their websites. The publications reported that they watched the video, which was found by a source close to the investigation. "It is a very disturbing scene," said Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of Bild online. An official with France's accident investigation agency, the BEA, said the agency is not aware of any such video. Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, a French Gendarmerie spokesman in charge of communications on rescue efforts around the Germanwings crash site, told CNN that the reports were "completely wrong" and "unwarranted." Cell phones have been collected at the site, he said, but that they "hadn't been exploited yet." Menichini said he believed the cell phones would need to be sent to the Criminal Research Institute in Rosny sous-Bois, near Paris, in order to be analyzed by specialized technicians working hand-in-hand with investigators. But none of the cell phones found so far have been sent to the institute, Menichini said. Asked whether staff involved in the search could have leaked a memory card to the media, Menichini answered with a categorical "no." Reichelt told "Erin Burnett: Outfront" that he had watched the video and stood by the report, saying Bild and Paris Match are "very confident" that the clip is real. He noted that investigators only revealed they'd recovered cell phones from the crash site after Bild and Paris Match published their reports. "That is something we did not know before. ... Overall we can say many things of the investigation weren't revealed by the investigation at the beginning," he said. While investigators search for clues to Lubitz's motivation, recovery workers continue the grim task of searching for the remains of those killed in the March 24 crash. The remains of at least 78 people on board the plane have been identified so far using DNA analysis. Naffrechoux warned Monday that "it may not be possible to find the human remains of all the 150 passengers, as some of them may have been pulverized by the crash." But French President Francois Hollande, speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, was more positive, saying that it should be possible to identify all the victims by the end of the week. A simple stone memorial has been set up at Le Vernet, where grieving relatives of those killed have laid flowers and held prayers. Germanwings crash compensation: What we know . Who was the captain of Germanwings Flight 9525? The BEA, France's accident investigation agency, said its ongoing safety investigation was focusing on a more detailed analysis of the flight history leading up to the crash, based on the audio recovered from the cockpit voice recorder and any other available data. "A deliberate act by a man with a disturbed psychological profile is a possible scenario," BEA spokeswoman Martine Del Bono told CNN. "The first step of the investigation is to describe more precisely what happened." This will be based mainly on analysis of the cockpit voice recorder, to be supplemented by data from the flight data recorder if it is found, she said. "But we will also look at other events with possibly similar scenarios, try to understand if there are systemic weaknesses which may contribute or facilitate such scenarios. "We will in particular look at the cockpit door locking as well as the criteria and procedures applied to detect specific psychological profiles." CNN's Pamela Brown reported from Dusseldorf and Frederik Pleitgen from Cologne, while Catherine E. Shoichet wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark, Josh Levs, Pamela Boykoff, Antonia Mortensen, Sandrine Amiel, Margot Haddad, Anna-Maja Rappard and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. +(CNN)If you haven't yet been asked by friends or co-workers to Meerkat, chances are you will soon. The livestreaming app took Austin by storm last week, with media outlets -- including CNNMoney -- calling it "the new SXSW sweetheart," "the coolest cat" and the festival's "big star." The San Francisco-based startup launched February 27 and has been adding users rapidly ever since. Even Jimmy Fallon is streaming his life using Meerkat. As part of our Instant Startups series (see the videos above), CNNMoney correspondent Laurie Segall reached out to Meerkat founder Ben Rubin with some questions. And he agreed to answer them -- on Meerkat, of course. What questions do you have about the app, SXSW or entrepreneurship? Do you dream of launching your own startup? Now is your chance to ask the experts how. Leave your questions in the comments below or ask them directly on Meerkat or Twitter at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. What: Live chat with Meerkat's Rubin . When: Wednesday, from 2 to 2:45 p.m. ET . Where: On Meerkat and Twitter . Follow on Meerkat: @benrbn and @lauriesegallcnn . Follow on Twitter: @CNNTech . Hashtag: #CNNInstantStartups . Hope to see you there! +(CNN)China has executed three men convicted of plotting a knife attack that killed 31 people at a railway station in the southwestern city of Kunming last year. The Kunming City Intermediate People's Court said that Iskandar Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz and Hasayn Muhammad were put to death Tuesday. It said they had committed intentional homicide, led a terrorist group and organized the mass knifing, which also wounded 141 people. The names of those executed suggested they were Uyghur, a mainly Muslim ethnic group from Xinjiang, northwest China. Authorities had blamed terrorists from the region for the attack. The train station attack shook the country and state media labeled it "China's 9/11." Dressed in black and wielding long knives and machetes, several assailants stormed the station on March 1, 2014 seemingly hacking at anyone in sight. Authorities said police shot four perpetrators dead on the scene and captured another. It was the deadliest of a recent spate of violent incidents that have been blamed on Uyghurs. CNN's Shen Lu in Beijing contributed to this report . +Boston (CNN)Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's own words may determine whether he lives or dies, even if he never speaks a word at his trial. The admitted Boston Marathon bomber has sat in silence as people who lost limbs sobbed or glared at him from the witness stand. He slouched in his chair as jurors watched videos of him both before and after two nail-packed pressure cooker bombs exploded, killing three people, claiming 17 limbs and hurting more than 260 others. He didn't utter a peep as his tweets and words he had scribbled on the side of a pleasure boat flashed up on a big screen and were quoted in court. At issue: Was Tsarnaev a terrorist looking to punish the United States for policies he believed were harmful to Muslims? Or, was he a goofball stoner who simply followed the lead of his older, more radical brother? The defense team tried to portray Tsarnaev as a confused college kid who, like countless others, watches Comedy Central and cracks crass jokes. "I wanna study a broad or two," he posted on his Twitter account as @J_tsar. He jokes about not seeing commercials featuring the Trix rabbit, and about "whale watching" outside a McDonald's fast-food restaurant. Miriam Conrad, a member of his defense team, tried Tuesday to apply a more benign spin on tweets the government contends show him as a would-be jihadist eager for martyrdom and a free pass to paradise. His brother was dead and police knew who he was; they were scouring the Boston suburb of Watertown for Tsarnaev when he slipped under a tarp and climbed aboard the Slip Away II, a fishing boat dry-docked in a Watertown backyard. He hid for hours before being discovered. Bleeding, he picked up a pencil and wrote what Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb called his "manifesto." Tsarnaev wrote he was jealous that his brother, Tamerlan, had achieved paradise by dying like a holy warrior; he was killed the night before during a gunbattle with police. The indictment against him says Tsarnaev helped in his brother's demise by running him over and dragging him along the road as he tried to run down police. About the bombings, Tsarnaev wrote on the boat that he didn't enjoy killing innocent civilians, but that circumstances excused it. "The US Government is killing our innocent civilians but most of you already know that," he wrote. "Know you are fighting men who look into the barrel of your gun and see heaven, now how can you compete with that. We are promised victory and we will surely get it." Streaks of blood cover portions of his message. More than a dozen bullet holes obliterate parts of words. So ended one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. history. While in the boat, he wrote that he couldn't stand to see the U.S. government "go unpunished" for killing Muslims. "We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all." He ended with: "Now I don't like killing innocent people it is forbidden in Islam but due to said " -- the word was lost to a bullet hole -- "it is allowed." Tsarnaev's connections: Who's who . Judge George O'Toole viewed the boat Tuesday afternoon so he could rule on a defense request to show the entire boat "in context" to the jury. He turned down requests by the media to accompany him. The defense said the government only presented about 45 tweets out of about 1,100. Many were benign, about girls, cars and food as well as sleeping and disliking studying, the defense argued. On Monday, FBI agent Steven Kimball testified about two Twitter accounts used by Tsarnaev. One account shows he tweeted on the day of the April 15, 2013, bombing: . "Ain't no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people" His last tweet was on April 17. He sent it while on the run: . "I'm a stress free kind of guy" His other account carried seven tweets, including this: . "strive to be a better muslim, be greedy with your time, devote most of it to the Almighty for it is his satisfaction that you need #islam" The jury also has now seen Tsarnaev in videos, trailing his brother onto Boylston Street. Both carried heavy backpacks. He paused for four minutes, standing next to a tree in front of the Forum restaurant. In front of him stood a line of children who were leaning over the barricade and watching the race. He put his backpack down at his feet and made a phone call. Timeline of the bombings, manhunt and aftermath . When his brother's bomb went off a block away, heads swiveled in surprise in the direction of the noise. And there was Tsarnaev walking through the crowd, looking back over his shoulder as his own bomb went off 12 seconds later. Martin Richard, an 8-year-old standing in the line of kids, took the full brunt of the blast, which tore him apart. The bombs went off at 2:49 and 2:50 p.m., about the same time as he exchanged phone calls with his brother. The next video showed Tsarnaev in the crowd running. Other videos show him carrying on as usual: buying milk and swiping his card at his college gym. But FBI agents were already in pursuit, collecting store security videos and looking for somebody suspicious in the marathon crowd. By Wednesday night, authorities had a good idea who they were looking for. By Thursday night, his photo had been released to the public. By the next morning, his brother was dead, and Tsarnaev was hiding in the boat, writing of martyrdom and paradise. +(CNN)Barring a revelation from his parents or girlfriend, we may never know what was going through the mind of Andreas Lubitz in the moments leading up to the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. What we now know is that all indications point to Lubitz as the perpetrator of the crash, locking the pilot out of the cockpit and setting the aircraft on a fatal trajectory into a remote mountain range in the French Alps. Every day, more details come to light, as the world struggles to make sense of why a 27-year-old German man would apparently choose to deliberately crash a plane with 150 people on board, including himself -- and remain so calm while doing it. When investigators searched Lubitz's home in Dusseldorf, they found medical leave notes "slashed," suggesting Lubitz was hiding an illness or illnesses from his employers. The dates for which Lubitz was excused from work included the day of the crash, though investigators have not yet revealed the reason he was excused, if any reason was written on the notes by his doctor. We do know, from a German aviation source, that Lubitz passed his annual pilot recertification examination last summer. An official with Lufthansa, the parent company of the budget airline Germanwings, said that the exam only tests physical health, not psychological health. "He was 100% fit to fly without restrictions," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters at press conference last week. "His flight performance was perfect. There was nothing to worry about." Spohr added that Lubitz had "interrupted" his training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but that such an interruption isn't uncommon. Lubitz suffered from "generalized anxiety disorder," with severe depression symptoms dating back to 2009, according to French newspaper Le Parisien. While the main medical clinic in Dusseldorf denies it was treating Lubitz for depression, German investigators found antidepressant medications in Lubitz's apartment, according to published reports that CNN has not yet been able to independently confirm. Die Welt, a German newspaper, over the weekend cited an unidentified senior investigator, who said Lubitz suffered from "severe subjective burnout syndrome" and severe depression. "Someone who has a significant depressive episode or depressive disorder will oftentimes get an antidepressant alone, and many times will have a good resolution of those symptoms," CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta told Poppy Harlow Sunday on "CNN Newsroom." "People who relapse or develop more of what is called a psychotic depression in addition may have symptoms of psychosis. Maybe they could be having delusions or hallucinations, but the idea is having breaks with reality." One of the medications Lubitz was prescribed is said to be Agomelatine (an antidepressant medication), according to Le Perisien. Antidepressants can sometimes make people suicidal, especially those suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Other times, they can make patients manic or psychotic. The drug's list of warnings and precautions include metabolic changes -- such as weight gain -- and the potential for cognitive and motor impairment. "Has potential to impair judgment, thinking and motor skills; use caution when operating machinery." In 2010, Lubitz received Olanzpine injections (an antipsychotic medication) "to treat OCD," according to Le Perisien. Doctors advised Lubitz to be more active, practice a new sport and regain self-confidence. "This is a powerful medication," said Gupta. "If this is true, it sort of reads into the severity of just how bad the psychosis was, at least at one point in his life." There are other things besides psychosis for which the drug may be administered, but that's the most common use. One of the side effects is blurred vision. Citing two officials with knowledge of the investigation, The New York Times Saturday reported that Lubitz sought treatment for vision problems that might have put his career at risk. If he was prescribed this medication as an injectable five years ago, was now taking it as an oral antipsychotic and wasn't taking it because of it was causing these detrimental side effects, "that could be very concerning, as well," said Gupta. Authorities have not ruled out that Lubitz's vision problem could have been psychosomatic. Many people have been asking how likely it is that depression could result in this sort of horrific action. In a word: "Unlikely," says Dr. Charles Raison, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona. "Most people would just kill themselves," he says. "It's very, very rare for depression to cause people to kill other people. This leads me to believe there's something else going on, like a personality character flaw." Forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere agrees. "It has to be a very severe depression to the point that there's a psychosis that's a result of that depression," he says. "That's different than the schizophrenia part of psychosis. With this kind of depression, it's so deep that you actually break with reality." Remember, Lubitz was in his late 20s -- and the odds of mental illness presenting at this age are much higher for someone in their 20s or 30s. "Sometimes people lose touch with reality slowly. Other times, they lose touch really quickly," says Raison. "Bipolar psychotic states can develop in as little as a day or two. I'm most curious what was going on in this guy's life the week before this happened. Did anyone see any changes with his behavior? Did he stop sleeping? There's a pretty good chance something would come up in speaking with the people in his life." "If a story doesn't make sense, it means you don't have the real story," says Raison. "Even people who are psychotic will tell you a crazy story. It's crazy, but it makes sense." More details are needed on Lubitz's story. Perhaps the most chilling revelation so far is that Lubitz not only decided to do what he did, but that he ignored the pilot's pleas to think about the lives on board and change his mind. "It tells you he's at peace with what he's doing," says Raison. "If you were uncertain or anxious, you might still open the cabin door (when the pilot was banging on the door and yelling to be let in). Calm determination to do this tells you he really believed in what he was doing." "If you look at school shooters, they go into a dissociative state," says Gardere. "They've been planning for quite some time. They go into this personality where they can calmly go into murder mode -- robotic and calm. Even when they're shooting or doing something rageful, they behave in a calm manner. (Lubitz) knew when he got onto that plane that he wasn't coming back." On Monday, Britain's most senior psychiatrist told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that when a pilot is "acutely depressed or suffering from... any mental illness" that impairs his or her ability to fly, he or she cannot fly an aircraft. "We don't let pilots fly with depression, not because we're worried that they're going to murder everybody on board. That's such an extraordinary possibility that -- that's not depression -- but because they're impaired in concentration, memory and attention, which isn't good for a pilot," said Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and an adviser to the British army. Wessely added that the Germanwings plane crash might open a discussion on "relaxing the laws of (doctor-patient) confidentiality in different countries," though in the United Kingdom, as well as in many other countries, a doctor is obliged to go to the authorities if he or she believes that people are genuinely being put at risk by one of their patients. CNN's John Bonifield contributed to this report. +(CNN)The FBI has increased its reward for information on missing American Robert Levinson from $1 million to $5 million, it announced Monday. Levinson, a retired FBI agent, vanished after traveling to the Iranian island of Kish in March 2007 and is one of the longest-held U.S. citizens in history. The FBI announced the reward increase on the eighth anniversary of Levinson's disappearance -- and the day before his 67th birthday. "Levinson traveled to Kish Island, Iran, on March 8, 2007, working on behalf of several large corporations, and his whereabouts, well-being and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance have been unknown since that time," it said in a statement. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement asking Iran to cooperate with the investigation into Levinson's whereabouts. "He has spent more than 2,900 days separated from those who love him, and is one of the longest held U.S. citizens in history. Year after year, the family has endured the pain of his absence. It is time for him to come home," Kerry said. "We remain committed to the safe return of Mr. Levinson to his family and appreciate the support and assistance from our international partners. We remain concerned about Mr. Levinson's health given his age and the length of his disappearance." Iran's government repeatedly has said it is not holding Levinson and does not know his whereabouts. The FBI says he was in Iran as a private investigator. But news reports in 2013 said he was working as an independent CIA contractor when he disappeared. That prompted his family to speak out, saying they kept it quiet for years that Levinson was working for the CIA, because the U.S. government had warned them that revealing it would put him in more jeopardy. The FBI, White House and CIA have not publicly acknowledged any connection between the CIA and Levinson. It's unclear exactly who is holding him, but U.S. officials have said they believe he is somewhere in southwest Asia. Whoever his captors are, in 2010 they sent a "proof of life" videotape and photographs of Levinson to his family. In the video, he asked the U.S. government for help: "Please help me get home," a gaunt-looking Levinson said on the tape, citing his 33 years of service in the FBI as a reason for that help. The photographs showed him with a large beard. +Moscow (CNN)The Ukrainian girlfriend of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov faces constant psychological pressure from Moscow authorities and fears she will be implicated in his death, her mother told CNN. Model Anna Duritskaya, 23, was walking with Nemtsov on Friday night when a gunman shot the politician about 100 meters (330 feet) from the Kremlin. "She was crying and she was saying Boris had been killed and he's lying next to me," said her mother, Inna Duritskaya. "She was in such shock she couldn't say anything else." Duritskaya said her daughter was questioned until 2 a.m. Monday. She said she fears authorities will implicate her daughter in the death because they have threatened to take her attorney away from her. The model had been staying at the apartment of an aide to Nemtsov under constant police guard. Late Monday, Yevhen Perebyinis, a spokesman for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, tweeted that Duritskaya had left Moscow for Kiev. The assassination has spawned a flood of conspiracy theories. Nemtsov was one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics, and many suspect the Kremlin of either direct or indirect involvement. Inna Duritskaya said her daughter knew the risks of getting involved with the prominent opposition leader. "Of course when I heard she was dating him it was a bit of a shock," she said. "Then when I met him in person I liked him a lot as a person. He was straightforward, he treated my daughter very well, she was happy. And I couldn't influence it anyway; my daughter did what she wanted to. Of course, I was worried and scared, but I couldn't change it anyway." Thousands of Nemtsov supporters gathered Sunday in Moscow to mourn the death of the 55-year-old, who was deputy prime minister during President Boris Yeltsin's administration. The event took place the same day Nemtsov was supposed to lead a rally in Moscow decrying Russia's policies on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Saturday that Nemtsov was about to reveal information that would be damaging to Russian interests, Ukraine's state-run Ukrinform news agency reported. "A few weeks ago I had a conversation with him on how to build relations between Ukraine and Russia, as we would like them to be," Ukrinform quoted Poroshenko as saying. "Boris said that he was going to make public the strong evidence for participation of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. Someone was very afraid of that. Boris was not afraid, the executioners were afraid. They killed him." Putin condemned the killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting, the Kremlin said. The President also wrote to Nemtsov's mother, saying he shared her grief, and promised to bring those behind the killing to justice, the Kremlin said. Police said they are looking for a man with short hair who stands between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported. The shooter was wearing blue jeans and a brown sweater. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is offering a reward of 3 million rubles ($49,000) for information leading to the arrest of the killer. It said the tipster will be guaranteed anonymity. On Monday, the Russian television station Dozhd published an interview with Anna Duritskaya after her release. Duritskaya told the interviewer she did not see who killed Nemtsov, but that when she turned around she saw a light-colored car driving away. Duritskaya said that her wish was to go home to Ukraine to see her mother and that she did not believe she could attend Nemtsov's funeral on Tuesday. Speculation has pointed blame at everyone from Putin, to a Putin associate, to someone just irked by Nemtsov's business activities. "I doubt it was a direct order from Putin, but it was this toxic atmosphere of hatred," Russian pro-democracy activist Garry Kasparov said. "It has been propagated by Russian television 24/7." Nemtsov's friend and political colleague Ilya Yashin blamed Putin more directly: "It's clearly a political murder," Yashin said. "I don't know who killed Boris, but I know that it's the government and personally Putin who are responsible for it." Putin offered a different theory: that the killing was a contract hit, but one meant to fire up political strife, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. One man near the site of Nemtsov's memorial said he thinks the killer was a Putin opponent. "I don't think Putin did this," he told CNN. "I think this was some radical group that wants to make Putin look bad." Nemtsov had said he was at risk for assassination. He told the Russian newspaper Sobesednik last month that he was "a little bit" afraid his mother's fears that Putin would have him killed would come true. But he added, "I'm not afraid of him that much. If I was afraid I wouldn't be heading an opposition party and do what I'm doing." Opinion: The complicated life and tragic death of Boris Nemtsov . Critics of Putin have in the past suffered miserable fates. Last year, a Moscow court sentenced five men to prison for the 2006 killing of Russian journalist and fierce Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. Business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused Putin of corruption and spent 10 years in prison and labor camps. Late last year, Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was found guilty of fraud in a politically charged trial. Russia's official news agency reported Monday that a request by Navalny to attend Nemtsov's funeral had been denied. And before his death, Nemtsov had been arrested several times for speaking against Putin's government. Kasparov, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation's International Council, suggested the killing was linked to the Kremlin's own insecurity. "If you are popular your critics don't have to be shot down in front of the Kremlin," Kasparov tweeted. "Putin is just food in a prison, eat it or starve." CNN's Diana Magnay reported from Kiev, Ukraine; Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta; and Alla Eshchenko reported from Moscow. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Matthew Chance in Moscow contributed to this report. +New Delhi, India (CNN)A mob, consisting of thousands of people, stormed a prison compound in India's far northeast, dragging out a rape suspect before beating him to death on the streets on Thursday, authorities say. Police say they tried to stave off the mob with tear gas and opened fire, killing one person. The crowd targeted a 35-year-old suspect, identified as an undocumented Bangladeshi settler, who died of his injuries before officers could rescue him, said L.L. Doungal, the director-general of police in the remote Nagaland state, where the attack took place. The mob that broke into the main jail in the state's Dimapur district was comprised of "thousands" of people, Doungal told CNN. "Many of them were students in uniform," he said. The suspect was accused of raping a local woman on February 23. Tensions between the native Naga and undocumented Bangladeshi migrants in the district have been simmering for some time, police said. On Thursday evening, thousands of people who were demanding the cancellation of trade permits for Bengali-speaking settlers, tore into the prison complex and pulled the suspect out. Police initially used tear gas and bamboo canes to rescue the inmate, but were not successful, Doungal said. "There were students in uniform. So, we had to use minimum force," he said. The crowd planned to lynch the suspect, but he died from critical injuries suffered in the attack. "We retrieved his body before it could be (hanged)," Doungal said. Dimapur town has been placed under curfew, according to the officer, as the situation remains volatile. +Kano, Nigeria (CNN)More than 50 people were killed and scores wounded in a series of suicide bombings in northern Nigeria on Saturday, witnesses and authorities told CNN. The blasts occurred in Maiduguri, the capital of the tumultuous Borno state, at the city's main market, a fish market and a bus station. Four suicide bombers -- three women and a man -- carried out the attacks, according to witnesses. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bloodshed. But the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has been behind many similar attacks in northern Nigeria and beyond, killing hundreds in recent months as part of its terrorist campaign to bring its twisted version of Sharia law to the region. Clement Adoda, a Borno state police spokesman, said at least 54 people were killed and another 139 wounded in the suicide attacks. Suleiman Bulunkutu said he and others involved in the rescue operation had taken about 50 bodies to the Maiduguri General Hospital morgue. "This toll doesn't include those taken to three other hospitals," Bulunkutu said. "Therefore, the‎ final (death) toll may be higher." In the first blast, a woman dressed in a hijab got off a motorized rickshaw and blew herself up outside the Baga Road fish market around 11:20 a.m. (5:20 a.m. ET), fish trader Mohammed Boni said. The next attack took place about an hour later outside Monday Market, the main one in the city, where people were lined up to go through security. Those measures -- in which people are checked for explosives and guns -- were set up because of the spate of Boko Haram attacks in the city and region. Two women joined the female security line, one of whom "blew herself up, causing minimal casualty," said witness Abdulkarim Musa. Then, as people gathered to help, the second woman detonated her explosives, said Musa, who was waiting outside the market in the male security line. The third attack occurred at a bus station. "He came in our midst near the bus station and pressed a remote device he was holding in his hand," a wounded survivor who requested anonymity for his personal safety said from Maiduguri General Hospital. Such attacks, sadly, are nothing new for Borno State, one of those hit hardest by Boko Haram and the Nigerian military's campaign to stop them. The terrorist group has not only bombed crowded markets but attacked churches and mosques, raided villages, and kidnapped people young and old -- most famously the more than 200 girls taken last April from a school in Chibok. +London (CNN)An investigation is underway after a canine competitor died the day after taking part in Crufts, one of the world's most prestigious dog shows. An autopsy indicates he was poisoned. Three-year-old Irish setter Thendara Satisfaction -- known to his owners as Jagger -- took second prize in his class at the event in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday. But just a day later, after returning home to Belgium, he became ill. Owner-breeder Dee Milligan-Bott told CNN Jagger was "finding it hard to breathe" so a veterinarian was called, but the dog died before he could get there. "The vet thought it was suspicious, so carried out an autopsy," she said. "They found cubes of beef in his stomach that had at least two types of poison inside. Pieces of beef had been stitched together so that the poison didn't come out. "He had enough in his system to kill a horse, according to the vet," said Milligan-Bott, who is at a loss to explain why Jagger was targeted: "We can't fathom why anyone would do this." "I've been doing this for 30-odd years and I think I would have to give up on everything if I believed that someone who shows and breeds dogs would kill a dog. We all do this because we love dogs. If you hate me for being successful, then stick a brick through my window or something. But why would you involve a dog?" Toxicology tests are being carried out. The vet has reported the dog's death to Belgian police, and Milligan-Bott said she would likely contact West Midlands Police in the UK too. A spokesperson for the Kennel Club, organizers of the Crufts dog show, said there had never been such an incident in the history of the competition, which dates back to 1891. "We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear this terrible news and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Jagger's owners," said Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club, in a statement. "We understand that a toxicology report is due next week and that this matter has been reported to the police - we will work with them and help however we can." Television personality and writer Clare Balding, who hosts TV coverage of Crufts in the UK, took to Twitter to express her shock at the news: "Everyone at #Crufts2015 horrified at death of Irish Setter Jagger & post-mortem found poison. Awful for all concerned," she tweeted. +(CNN)A migrant worker whose life ended in Washington after police shot at him 17 times. A father of four killed by an officer during a traffic stop in Texas. A man killed during a robbery investigation in California. After three Mexican citizens were killed by police in the United States in the past month, Mexico's Foreign Ministry says the U.S. Justice Department should step in. "Given that these incidents cannot be looked at in isolation, the Mexican government has called for the U.S. Department of Justice through its civil rights division to monitor the investigation of these three cases to assure that they're conducted with transparency and where appropriate, the proper criminal or civil responsibility is determined," Mexico's Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The Mexican government's statement comes amid a debate that has surged across the United States about whether police are using excessive force, particularly when they deal with minority groups. "Adding to our consternation over the third case of a Mexican killed by an excessive use of force in less than one month, is our deep concern for the effect of the break in trust between the Hispanic community and the police forces that could result from these actions," the foreign ministry said. Investigators said they're still piecing together information on all three cases. No charges have been filed. Here's a look at what we know so far: . Protesters at a city council meeting in Grapevine, Texas, this week chanted a familiar refrain: "Hands up! Don't shoot!" For the demonstrators, the chant -- which started as a call to action after the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri -- has become a rallying cry for another case. Police shot 31-year-old Rubén García Villalpando in the Dallas suburb of Euless, Texas, on February 20. Investigators say the case started when a burglar alarm sounded at a business. Villalpando's car, which was in the area, was followed by police in what authorities described as a high-speed chase. Eventually, Villalpando pulled over. Villalpando was unarmed, but in early reports about the shooting, police said an altercation erupted after he disobeyed an officer's commands during a traffic stop. The traffic stop was caught on camera, but police haven't released the dash cam video to the public. "There will be more information released as the investigation continues. This additional information may shed more light on Mr. Villalpando's actions that night," police and city officials said. "We look forward to the time that the community can review the dash cam video of this incident, which we believe will answer many questions and correct some misconceptions about this incident." Villalpando's family said they've seen the video, and even though it doesn't show the officer or the shooting, they said one thing is clear: Villalpando was unarmed and did nothing to threaten the officer who stopped him. Fernando Romero said it was jarring to hear what his brother-in-law said in the video as he gets out of the vehicle. "My brother-in-law is out of the car with his hands up," Romero said, "and the first thing he asks is, 'Are you going to kill me?'" Marta Romero, Villalpando's wife, said her husband made a mistake when he didn't stop when the officer tried to pull him over. But she said he was trying to cooperate and turn himself in. "He was painted like a criminal who was involved in a robbery and had assaulted an officer, and in the video you don't see any of those things," she said. "You see the opposite, a man who is scared, who is simply trying to calm the situation, who sees that the police officer has a weapon in his hands." Police say Ernesto Javier Canepa Díaz, 28, was killed February 27 after a shooting broke out during a robbery investigation. "At this time we need the process to continue in order to know what happened," Santa Ana, California, Police Chief Carlos Rojas told CNN en Español. He declined to comment on the investigation, but said Canepa had been arrested in the past for various crimes, including narcotics possession, possessing stolen property, domestic violence and resisting police. When police came across his car last week, he was wanted for a series of robberies, Rojas said. "He did not cooperate with the police and we know that a police officer shot various times at him and he died at the scene," Rojas said. And police, he said, found a replica of a gun inside the car. "We do not know if this is the reason why the police officer used force. That will be investigated," Rojas said. Canepa's family said they don't believe police were justified in opening fire. "Whatever it was, he did not deserve to die this way," said Mayte Canepa, Ernesto's sister. "He did not deserve for them to shoot at him like they did." The Orange County Register reported that at a press conference on Tuesday, Canepa's brother, Andres, described police as "a gang with a badge." The officer who shot Canepa has been suspended with pay until the investigation is finished, police said. A proud laborer from Mexico, Antonio Zambrano-Montes picked fruit in the orchards of Washington state, but when his most valuable tools -- his hands -- became injured last year, he fell into deep despair. He couldn't work or send money to family in Mexico, two routines that shaped his life. It was this misfortune that distressed Zambrano-Montes in the days before he and police in Pasco, Washington, clashed in February, in a confrontation that ended with officers firing 17 bullets, hitting Zambrano-Montes several times and killing him. He was unarmed but was accused of pelting police with rocks. Police have said that Zambrano-Montes, 35, was throwing rocks at cars and trucks when confronted by officers. He then allegedly stoned two officers, and police resorted to deadly force, authorities said. Officers had used a Taser on him, but it wasn't effective, police said. The shooting now haunts his family, due in no small measure to how the hail of police bullets was captured on videos and posted on YouTube by bystanders. Zambrano-Montes' family said his limited English left him unable to understand the officers' commands, shouted in English. His mother, Agapita Montes, said she didn't see her son throwing rocks in the videos. "The only thing I can see is that he's running, he raises his hands and they still shoot him. Why? I ask myself. Why?" Montes said. Erlinda Zambrano, an aunt of Zambrano-Montes, also found it very difficult to accept the police version of events, she said. "We are living with profound pain from how he died, and it's something very bad and terrible," the aunt said. "I look at the videos now and I cannot sleep because it's too hard." CNN's Michael Martinez, Gustavo Valdes and Alina Machado contributed to this report. +(CNN)Nineteen-year-old Tony Robinson was not armed when a Madison, Wisconsin, police officer fatally shot him, Police Chief Mike Koval said Saturday. "We have to be clear about this," Koval said. "He was unarmed. That's going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, the public, to accept, to understand ... why deadly force had to be used." The officer who killed Robinson, 12-year department veteran Matt Kenny, had used deadly force before, shooting and killing a man in 2007, the chief said. Kenny was exonerated of any wrongdoing and even received a commendation, the chief said, adding that the incident was "concluded to be a suicide by cop" situation. Kenny was responding Friday evening to a reported disturbance at a Madison residence when Robinson attacked him, Koval said. Robinson had a criminal history, according to the state of Wisconsin public records. These records were first reported by the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper. Wisconsin Circuit Court documents indicate that Robinson pleaded guilty in December of last year to an armed robbery that occurred April 25, 2014. The Madison Police Chief said that Robinson was unarmed, but his officer was assaulted and an investigation is underway. Koval, on Saturday, refused to comment on Robinson's past police criminal history or past interactions. In a press conference, he stated, "I could but I choose not to. I am not here to do a character workup on someone who lost his life less than 24 hours ago." "I frankly think it is, for our purposes today, wholly inappropriate and I am not going to blemish anyone's character particularly someone's as young as his," Koval said. But he also said that the public records were available to all. After the shooting, protesters in the university town took to the streets and converged on City Hall, chanting "Black lives matter." Koval called for calm, while acknowledging the protests are reminiscent of those that followed the deaths of black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, after confrontations with police. Police described Robinson as African-American. "In light of so much things that have happened not just across the country, but in our own community, it's understandable that the reaction at the scene and of some of our citizens is extremely volatile, emotional and upsetting," the police chief told CNN affiliate WKOW-TV. "And we understand that. That's absolutely appropriate under these circumstances. We would urge, obviously, that everyone exercise restraint." Koval said he visited the home of Robinson's mother late Friday and met Robinson's grandparents outside the house. They talked and prayed, the chief said, but they advised him to put off visiting Robinson's mother "based on the dynamics" of the situation. "I couldn't even begin to get my hands around the enormity of the loss and the tragic consequences," he said. "Nineteen years old is too young." Robinson's mother, Andrea Irwin, told CNN affiliate WKOW that she didn't understand what happened. "My son has never been a violent person, never," she said. "To die in such a violent way baffles me." Irwin said Robinson served as a father figure to her other children. "He was our caretaker and so gentle," she said. The incident started when authorities got a call that a black male was yelling and jumping in front of cars, Koval said. Dispatchers identified him as Robinson, according to 911 audio obtained by WKOW. A little later the dispatcher says, "Apparently Tony hit one of his friends, um no weapons seen." About four minutes later, the dispatcher says, "I got another call for the same suspect at [the same address]. He tried to strangle another patron." About 30 seconds later, an unidentified officer says, "Shots fired, shots fired." When Kenny went to the apartment, he heard some commotion and forced his way in, Koval said. "Once inside the home the subject involved in this incident -- the same one allegedly out in traffic and that had battered someone -- assaulted my officer," Koval said. After that, according to the chief, "The officer did draw his revolver and subsequently shot the subject." Backup officers and others at the scene performed CPR on the young man, who later died at the hospital. Kenny suffered a blow to the head, but is being treated and will be released, Koval said. Kenny has been placed on administrative leave with pay. Koval said he's not sure what Robinson was doing at the house in the first place. "His relationship to the home is unclear to me, although there were certainly familiar acquaintances. This was not a random place. He had hung out." In a statement Saturday, state Attorney General Brad Schimel said he "can only imagine the heartbreak" of Robinson's parents and added he's "concerned for the officer ... who, I imagine, is experiencing great trauma as well." "They are all in my thoughts and prayers," Schimel said. Under Wisconsin law, officer-involved shootings are investigated by an outside agency, in this case the Division of Criminal Investigation. Once DCI completes the investigation, the report will go to the local district attorney, Koval said. Some were demanding answers sooner rather than later. On Friday night, dozens of demonstrators came out to the area around the apartment, which police had blocked off. A group also moved toward City Hall before dispersing early Saturday. "Who do we trust?" some called out, prompting the response, "No one!" And in another refrain, they chanted, "Black lives matter." The protesters' sentiments were echoed online, where some adopted the #WillyStreet hashtag in reference to Williamson Street, where the shooting happened. "Praying for Madison tonight," wrote one activist. "Stand up, sit in, walk out - until u get answers. And until there are no more hashtag eulogies." Mayor Paul Soglin spoke to the raw feelings, calling what happened "an enormous tragedy." "We've got a family that's really hurting," Soglin said, according to WKOW. "And we've got a city and neighborhood that's feeling pretty well hurt itself." Some of the protesters were members of the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition that was formed last summer after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson. The group wants more reactive policing in African-American neighborhoods, said group member Brandi Grayson. She said Madison police park on street corners in African-American neighborhoods and wait for something to happen, which leads to residents being hassled. That doesn't happen in white neighborhoods, she said. She said Young, Gifted and Black will be working with church groups on Sunday and will hold more rallies Tuesday and Wednesday. CNN's Faith Karami and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report. +Boston (CNN)It was 9:35 on a slow Thursday night in April 2013 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Chief John DiFava was about to call it quits. On his way out, he saw one of his rookie swing-shift officers, Sean Collier, sitting in his cruiser. He stopped to say goodnight. "I chatted with him for a few minutes. I told him to be safe and I left," the chief told a crowded courtroom on Wednesday. He estimated the conversation lasted three, maybe four minutes. "Did you ever see Sean Collier alive again after that?" Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb asked. "I did not." Less than an hour later, Collier lay bleeding in his patrol car after being ambushed and shot in the head. His car door was open, and his foot was lodged between the gas and brake pedals. DiFava and other officers, assisted by surveillance videos, 911 callers and a lone bicyclist who happened to be passing by, recounted Collier's last moments in the death penalty trial of admitted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The bicyclist, MIT mathematics Ph.D. candidate Nathan Harman, pointed to Tsarnaev in court and identified him as the man with "a big nose," who he saw leaning into Collier's squad car. He said Tsarnaev appeared to be alone. Tsarnaev, who was 19 at the time, does not dispute that he was present when Collier was killed on the evening of April 18, nor does he deny that he participated in the bombings three days earlier that killed three people and hurt more than 240 others. Prosecutors say Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, killed Collier because they wanted his gun. But their efforts to take it were thwarted by a safety holster. The FBI had released photos of the pair five hours earlier, and they were on the run. But Tamerlan, 26, would not survive the night. He was killed in a chase and gunbattle with police that began with reports of an "officer down" at MIT. The MIT police, who are designated as special officers by the Massachusetts State Police, patrol the sprawling campus in Cambridge. Collier's beat was the area of North Quad near Main and Vassar streets. He had been handling a routine call about a citizen who was upset his car had been towed. A young man called 911 about 10:20 p.m. and reported hearing loud noises outside his window. "They don't sound exactly like gunshots," the caller told dispatcher David Sacco. He wasn't sure what they were. Maybe somebody banging on trash cans. Sacco tried to summon Collier on his police radio. No response. He sent an emergency alert. Nothing. He tried texting him. Still no response. "It became an amount of time that wasn't comfortable," he said. Sgt. Clarence Henniger had returned to the station at the end of his shift, and had just passed Collier on the way in. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. But when he heard dispatch couldn't raise Collier, he went back out to check on him. His car was in the same spot. "I parked about 8-10 meters away from Officer Collier's car," Henniger said. "When I arrived at the cruiser I looked inside and that's when I observed a wound to the head, to the temple. I observed a wound to the neck and I observed a wound to his hand." Prosecutor Weinreb asked: "Was there blood?" "Yes sir," the witness responded. "Where?" "All over the car and his body." Jurors heard Henniger's frantic call over the police radio: . "Officer down! Officer down! Get me help! Officer down." He called for an ambulance, shouting, "Get on it!!!" He and another officer pulled Collier out of the squad car to attempt to revive him. "The amount of blood on his body made it difficult to get a grip on him," Henniger said. The other officer urged Collier to "Hang in there, just hang in there," and asked "Who did this to you?" Collier did not respond. Cambridge police officer Brendan O'Hearn joined them, and took over applying chest compressions. "His face and neck were covered with blood. There was some type of wound to his head," O'Hearn said. Collier was gurgling and blood was coming from his mouth . "There was blood everywhere," O'Hearn added. Weinreb asked, "Did it transfer to you?" "All over me." Collier became the fourth victim of the Tsarnaev brothers. Campus surveillance cameras captured the encounter between Collier and his killer. The footage was shot from a distance and at times, it is difficult to determine whether the cameras captured one person and a shadow or a pair walking closely together. The video shows Collier's patrol car idling near the front of the Koch Institute building, and a person or two people rounding the corner and walking towards it. The brake lights flash on, then off, and then off again. Two people can be seen running back around the corner. Off to the side, somebody on a bicycle rides by without stopping. Harman, the grad student on the bicycle, often used the word "they" in his testimony at first, but said he saw just one person as he pedaled past. "When I went by, the front door was open, the driver's side door," he said. "There was someone leaning into the driver's side door." He said the person -- although he used the word "they" -- was bent at the waist and leaning into the patrol car. "They stood up, startled, as I rode my bike by them," he added. Later in his testimony, he began referring to "they" as "he." "I only saw one person," he said. "He sort of snapped up, stood up, and turned around. He looked startled. We made eye contact." Asked to describe who he saw, Harman added, "I remember thinking he had a big nose." He looked across the courtroom at Tsarnaev, pointed, and said, "He's right there." The prosecution's case has brought one dramatic day of testimony after another in the federal courthouse overlooking Boston Harbor. On Tuesday, prosecutors displayed photos of what they called Tsarnaev's "manifesto," scrawled in pencil on the sides of a dry-docked pleasure boat where he sought refuge April 19. Blood streaks and bullet holes punctuated his words, which he does not deny writing. The only issue in dispute is whether it is a confession or something else. +(CNN)Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson is about to be out of a job. Jackson and city officials in the St. Louis suburb have announced his resignation, effective March 19. It's the latest fallout after a Justice Department investigation slammed his department's tactics. Speculation has swirled for months that Jackson would step down, and critics have pointed to several key points as signs that the police chief was in hot water. Here's a look at some key moments leading up to his resignation: . A police officer shoots and kills Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teen. The incident exposes feelings of distrust between Ferguson's black community and its Police Department, which is overwhelmingly white. Anger begins to simmer on that first day, when Brown's body isn't removed from the street for four hours. Protests erupt. Among demonstrators' demands: that the Police Department release the name of the officer who shot Brown. Jackson reveals the name of the officer who shot Brown, Darren Wilson. On that same day, the department releases surveillance video that he says shows Brown robbing a store. Jackson says he distributed the store videotape "because the press asked for it," noting he couldn't withhold it indefinitely. The chief adds, "we needed to release that at the same time we needed to release the name of the officer involved in the shooting," though he doesn't elaborate on why . Critics accuse him of inflaming tensions rather than getting the situation under control. In a YouTube video, Jackson apologizes to Brown's parents. "I'm truly sorry for the loss of your son. I'm also sorry that it took so long to remove Michael from the street," he said during his video statement. Investigators were doing "important work" trying to uncover the truth and collect evidence during those four hours, Jackson said, but "it was just too long, and I'm truly sorry for that." "Overnight I went from being a small-town police chief to being part of a conversation about racism, equality and the role of policing in that conversation," he says in the video. "As chief of police, I want to be part of that conversation. I also want to be part of the solution." That night, he meets with protesters, agreeing to march with them. But even that meeting turns ugly; a scuffle breaks out and arrests are made. Jackson tells CNN's Erin Burnett he plans to stay in his job as police chief. "I intend to see this thing through. And I've been working with a lot of community members to work on some progressive changes that will bring the community together and to open up dialogue and getting us all talking about serious issues and actually creating solutions to problems," he says. "So, yes, I think I can -- I think I can see this through and come out on the other side with the community, the region and even the country a whole lot better." The Justice Department slams the Ferguson Police Department for tactics that federal investigators say targeted African-Americans. Investigators also find evidence of racist jokes being sent around by Ferguson police and court officials. Asked about his reaction to the report by CNN's Sara Sidner, Jackson keeps mum, saying that he needs to analyze it further before he comments. Asked what he'll do in response, he says he will "take action as necessary." The city says it has reached a deal for the police chief to resign, effective March 19. Jackson confirms his resignation in a letter, saying "it is with profound sadness that I am announcing I am stepping down." In a text message response to CNN, Jackson says, "It's a really hard pill to swallow." CNN's Sara Sidner, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Dana Ford and Jason Carroll contributed to this report. +(CNN)The man suspected of killing a deputy U.S. marshal at a motel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has died, Brittany Stewart in the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office said Wednesday. The cause of death is pending autopsy, she said. Jamie Croom, 31, was wounded in a shootout with Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells. It can be one of the most dangerous tasks for a law enforcement officer: serving an arrest warrant to a fugitive murder suspect. When Wells tried to do that Tuesday, he lost his life. "Wells was part of a team executing arrest warrants on a fugitive wanted for double homicide in Baton Rouge," the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release. "The team engaged in gunfire with the fugitive and Wells was shot. He was immediately transported to Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary, Louisiana, where he died." Wells, 28, was trying to arrest Croom, who is suspected in the deaths of a brother and sister in New Roads, Louisiana, CNN affiliate WAFB said. "Our deputies and law enforcement partners face untold dangers every day in the pursuit of justice in cities nationwide," said U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia A. Hylton said in a news release. "The fugitive who killed Deputy Wells was extremely dangerous, wanted for double homicide and intentionally evaded justice. ... When a public servant dies in the line of duty, it is an immeasurable tragedy felt by all. Our thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Wells' family, friends and colleagues." Officials would not elaborate on exactly what happened, but The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge said there was a shootout. Authorities said Croom shot and killed Wells at a Baton Rouge motel. Wells, 28, was based in Mississippi but was on temporary assignment in the Baton Rouge area, the Sun Herald newspaper said. He was married and came from a law enforcement family. Despite the risks, Wells loved his job. "It was his passion," longtime friend Alex McGee told the paper. "I tipped my hat to him because he knew the dangers and wanted to do the job anyway." Croom, the suspect, was taken to a hospital after he was wounded, WAFB said. He was wanted in the shooting deaths of the two siblings in February and was also on probation for firearms charges. That double homicide stemmed from a feud over a loan made to one of the victim's relatives as well as an alleged break-in at the suspect's grandmother's house, Croom's older sister Latonia Croom Duncan told CNN. Duncan said the family reported threats and a shooting at her grandmother's house to police, but said there was never any follow-up. She said her brother called her the night of the homicides, which took place at a nightclub. "He called me and said he loved me and that he'd be gone," Duncan said. "He said he wasn't going back to jail. Before he'd go back to jail, he said, he'd rather be dead." CNN's Devon M. Sayers, John Newsome, Sam Stringer and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Two police officers shot and wounded while standing guard outside the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department early Thursday were deliberately targeted in what a police official called an "ambush." Such ambush-style attacks were the leading circumstance in the surging number of shooting deaths of law enforcement officers, according to the nonprofit, Washington-based National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The shootings were a chilling low point in the protests in the St. Louis suburb since a Ferguson police officer shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in August. The demonstrators were out again late Wednesday -- in response to the announcement hours earlier of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson's resignation -- when shots rang out from a hill about 125 yards from where the protesters had gathered, according to witnesses. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shootings were an "ambush" intended "for whatever nefarious reason" to inflict harm on the officers. The officers -- one shot in the face, the other in the shoulder -- have been released from the hospital. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decried the shootings as a "heinous assault (that) was inexcusable and repugnant." Calling the shooting a "cowardly action," Holder said, "I condemn violence against any public safety officials in the strongest terms, and the Department of Justice will never accept any threats or violence directed at those who serve and protect our communities." The number of law enforcement officers shot to death in the line of duty rose more than 50% in 2014, the law enforcement group said in a report released in December. Many of those shootings occurred during police interactions with suspects such as traffic stops, responses to disturbances or attempted arrests. Such was the case in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday, when Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells was killed in an exchange of gunfire after going to arrest a fugitive murder suspect at a motel. However, ambushes were the largest single category of circumstances in the shooting deaths of officers in 2014, according to the group's report. Fifty officers were killed by firearms -- 15 in ambush attacks -- in 2014, the Memorial Fund said. That's compared with five ambushes among 32 shooting deaths in 2013 and six ambush deaths during 2012, according to the FBI. But those ambush numbers have trended higher before in previous years: The FBI counted 15 officer deaths by ambush each year in 2011, 2010 and 2009. Ambush situations were the biggest category of circumstance behind 543 officers feloniously killed from 2002 to 2011: 23.2%. Ambush killings are nothing new. The FBI defines two types: . One is by "entrapment and premeditation," which is a scenario "where the officer was lured into danger as the result of conscious consideration and planning. These attacks are generally accomplished from cover or hiding; however, they can occur without cover or hiding," the agency said. The second are ambushes of "unprovoked attacks," which are "generally accomplished without hiding; however, they can occur with or without cover," the FBI said. Harry Houck, a consultant and former New York Police Department detective, said officers could be second-guessing themselves as scrutiny of the police increases. "If an officer is afraid to immediately react the way he's supposed to," he said, "that could cost him his life." According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund 2014 report, 126 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers died in the line of duty in 2014, compared with 102 and 123 the previous two years. Most of the on-duty deaths considered "non-felonious" were from traffic accidents or health reasons. CNN has not analyzed each case and cannot authenticate the group's findings. After the findings were released in December, Holder said: "These troubling statistics underscore the very real dangers that America's brave law enforcement officers face every time they put on their uniforms. Each loss is both tragic and unacceptable -- a beloved father, mother, son or daughter who never came home to their loved ones." He said that the Department of Justice is doing its own analysis of officer deaths in 2014 "so we can mitigate risks in the future." The report's release came amid simmering distrust and tension between police and some communities across the country. It was published less than two weeks after the December 20 ambush killing of two New York City police officers. Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, approached Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos as they sat in their marked patrol car in Brooklyn on December 20 and shot them to death. He killed himself shortly afterward. The police memorial fund invoked the memories of Liu and Ramos' deaths in a December statement. "With the increasing number of ambush-style attacks against our officers, I am deeply concerned that a growing anti-government sentiment in America is influencing weak-minded individuals to launch violent assaults against the men and women working to enforce our laws and keep our nation safe," said Craig W. Floyd, chairman and CEO of the police fund. "Enough is enough," he said. "We need to tone down the rhetoric and rally in support of law enforcement and against lawlessness." That angry rhetoric isn't confined to the case of Ferguson -- or of Staten Island, New York, where the death of Eric Garner in July after police attempted to subdue him spurred national protests and preceded the slayings of Liu and Ramos, said Steve Groeninger, a spokesman for the memorial fund. Groeninger said the uptick in ambush-style attacks was "punctuated" by the New York officers' slayings, but there were other targeted attacks against law enforcement in 2014 that concern the fund. They included: . • In Las Vegas in June, Jerad Miller and his wife surprised two police officers as they ate lunch, shooting them to death. Witnesses said the Millers placed a "Don't Tread on Me" flag and a swastika on one officer's body. The couple then died in a murder-suicide as police closed in. • In Jersey City, New Jersey, in July, police said a man assaulted a Walgreen's security guard and took his gun in order to carry out the ambush-style killing of an officer, according to the Jersey Journal. • Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were ambushed and shot outside police barracks in Blooming Grove in September. The hunt for the alleged killer, Eric Frein, lasted almost seven weeks. He was captured at an abandoned airport on October 30. Frein was hit with terrorism charges in November for allegedly admitting that he shot the officers to change the government and "wake people up." But the number of shootings by police officers also is on the rise. According to data collected by the FBI, there were 461 justifiable homicides in 2013 -- the highest level since 1994 and the most recent year available. The figures are incomplete, however, because the shootings are self-reported and not all police departments provide them. The total number of fatal shootings by police officers is much higher -- 1,010 in 2013 and 1,134 last year, according to the nonprofit Fatal Encounters. The group started collecting the data in 2013. Its source of information is different from the FBI's. The group's founder, Brian Burghart, said the figures create a toxic environment for police, as well as suspects. "When it comes to an eye for an eye, that people are addressing the problems with violence, the numbers are always going to go up on both sides," he said. This week, Wisconsin residents took to the streets to protest the police killing of Tony Robinson, a 19-year-old who was unarmed. Robinson's shooting was the fourth involving an officer in Wisconsin in the last three weeks. The others hardly made headlines: One involved an armed robbery, another a domestic abuser who put a knife to his girlfriend's throat, and another involved an assailant with a fake gun. Last April, Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney shot Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill man, more than a dozen times. The officer said he opened fire when Hamilton grabbed his baton and struck him with it. Manney was not charged criminally. Instead, he was fired for not following protocol. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke accused politicians of fueling what he called an "assault" on policing. "War has been declared on the American police officer," Clarke told CNN on Friday. "And I'm tired of politicians taking all of the maladies of the American ghetto and blaming them on the American police officer. ... They jumped in, early on, instead of offering calm words, they threw gas on an already smoldering fire." Experts say the numbers alone don't tell the whole story. "We need to know the circumstances in each individual case," said Houck, the consultant and former New York Police Department detective. CNN's Michael Martinez contributed to this report. +(CNN)A Los Angeles police officer wanted on murder charges "should be considered armed and dangerous," according to authorities. Police in Pomona, California -- about 30 miles east of L.A -- issued an arrest warrant Monday for Henry Solis, an LAPD rookie, in the shooting death of a local man over the weekend. According to witnesses, shots were fired in the predawn hours Saturday after a struggle between a shooter and a victim before a compact car was seen rushing off. The victim -- identified as 23-year-old Salome Rodriguez Jr. -- later died at a Los Angeles hospital. Investigators looking for clues discovered an abandoned car about three blocks away from the scene that belonged to Solis. Authorities soon began looking for the 27-year-old cop to question him, but so far, he has not turned up. "The suspect knows he is wanted, and that police are actively searching for him.," Pomona police said in a statement. The LAPD is helping them look for him. Solis, who is still in his probationary phase, was off duty when the killing happened and has not reported back since. Police have not said how Solis may have been involved in the killing, CNN affiliate KTLA reported. Residents have built a memorial to Rodriguez, a trucker, at the street corner where he collapsed. Sunday afternoon, they held a vigil and played his favorite songs. They said he put God and family first. "He was just sweet," Sandra Soto told KTLA. "He was my best friend." CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report. +London, England (CNN)Along the dangerous northeastern border between Kenya and Somalia, a wave of terror has people in fear for their lives. The ongoing threat from the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab means that remote villages and citizens suffer indiscriminate attacks. In the ongoing conflict, women and children remain faceless victims of beatings, rape and unwarranted assaults. But one courageous woman has dedicated herself to protecting these countless victims. Amran Abdundi runs the Frontier Indigenous Network, a group that provides sanctuary, first aid services and valuable health information to numerous displaced women in the region. Last night, Abdundi's inspiring work was recognized at the esteemed Index Freedom of Expression awards in London -- the Kenyan women's rights activist was the winner in the campaign category. CNN's African Voices sat down with the soft spoken and unassuming awards winner, who celebrated her 34th birthday the same day as her win, to discuss her ongoing mission, fighting on in the face of death threats and empowering young girls through education. CNN: What does this honor mean to you? Amran Abdundi: I feel good about winning the award -- I will celebrate with the team when I go back home. But I will continue to do more and more. I hope to show my people how ... to fight for their rights. I want to give [them] the message to look [out] for their futures. CNN: How did you get involved in women's rights along the Kenyan-Somali border? AA: I started working with Frontier Indigenous Network in 2006 -- [back then] we were just two staff and 10 volunteers and [now] there are four staff with 20 volunteers. When I first began, I was just doing it in our village and now I move around all over the place up to the Somali border. On the border, there are many issues women are facing; small girls are raped or beaten, rival clans fight, maybe because of land or because of outsiders. But everyday people are dying. Also there is Al-Shabaab. They come to the border and physically stop people from crossing over into Kenya. You never know who is Al-Shabaab, they look like me and you. But they stop people from crossing the border by beating them. When [refugees] are coming, if they want to cross into Kenya, they have big, big problems. Journalism . Safa al Ahmad, Rafael Marques de Morais (Saudi Arabia, Angola) Arts . Mouad Belghouat aka El Haqed (Morocco) Digital activism . Freedom of information website Atlatszo.hu, managed by Tamas Bodoky (Hungary) Campaigning . Amran Abdundi (Kenya) CNN: Through your organization, you've set up shelters along the border and provide relief and medical assistance to refugees. AA: Yes, when we see them or hear they are suffering there, I go in and find them. We take them to Dadaab [the largest refugee camp in the region]. If I take them to the refugee camp, they will get the assistance there. For the ones who have been beaten or raped, I organize for medical assistance. CNN: And how many women are crossing the border? AA: There are just so many. In Somalia, they don't have things there, they don't have good security, they are just running because of bad security in their country -- mothers with their children, others are young. CNN: You've also helped establish a local radio-listening project where women share their experiences and treatment options. Why did you decide to start this? AA: It's about how women are suffering in this place. I used to go to villages looking for them -- seeing what problems they are facing and maybe they don't have the power to talk. I go there and talk to them, then I take them to the radio station. I share how they have suffered. CNN: The region is quite unstable. Is it not dangerous doing this kind of work? AA: It's very, very dangerous. There is this place called Mandera, it's just near the border inside Kenya. That place, every time, people are fighting. People are just coming from Somalia to Mandera. There is fighting and you might just be walking and they will shoot you. But I never faced any problems. CNN: Are you not fearful for your life? AA: I worry but what can I do? I have to save my people. I have to look for those who are suffering. CNN: What is the reaction from men about your work? AA: When I started it was so difficult for me because in our place men are not the same as women. Men are the ones that talk. So when I started this, for example forced marriages, the small girls when they are 13 or 15 they just get married. They do not go to school. They face circumcision. But they have no voice. You'll see a 15-year-old getting married and in 20 years she'll come back with children and without anything. We go there and we advise them to go to school, advise their parents against forced marriage, tell them to take the children to school, stop circumcision. CNN: Last year your organization identified small arms and light weapons were fueling local violence and spent much of its resources mapping conflict zones. You succeeded in creating a regional agreement to stem the illegal arms trade and halt smugglers. How did that work? AA: Yes, I would hear there are some gunmen or they want to do something around the villages, or maybe they want to attack the villages and destroy it or take livestock . We report it to the police and then sometimes I go with policemen, never alone. For now, we don't have that problem with guns anymore -- they've stopped. Read this: Veiled musician raps for respect in Egypt . More from African Voices . +Los Angeles (CNN)The search for a rookie Los Angeles Police Department officer suspected of homicide has expanded into an international manhunt, focused on the border cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The FBI said Friday it believes AWOL policeman Henry Solis is armed and dangerous and drove 800 miles across the desert from Southern California to El Paso with his father in a pickup a week ago. The FBI is offering $25,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Solis in connection with the death of Salome Rodriguez, 23, who died after a fight between the men in a downtown Pomona, California, bar. "The pattern suggests he crossed into Mexico, but he has family and friends living in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez," said Scott Garriola, special FBI agent who runs the fugitive task force from the Los Angeles Bureau. "So he could be on either side of the border." "It's a quick bus ride from the interior of Mexico to other parts of the country and Central America." The FBI, Pomona Police and Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to comment on whether Victor Solis might face charges for allegedly helping his son flee to El Paso. Garriola said Solis is a veteran of the Marines and "he has extensive training and weapons" understanding. Authorities posted three photos of Solis, with and without facial hair, and said he may now have a full beard. Police said after the early morning bar fight Solis pursued his victim on foot in the nightclub district and shot him multiple times. Garriola said Solis then reportedly called his father in Lancaster, California, and later that morning they began the trek to El Paso. Victor Solis said he dropped off his son at a bus stop in El Paso and his son made some incriminating statements "not only about his actions that day but also that he would never be seen again," Garriola said. Henry Solis worked in the Devonshire Division of the San Fernando Valley, where he rode with a training officer. Earlier this week, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck fired Solis and appealed for him to give up. "You have dishonored this police department, your country and your service to your country," Beck said. Marine Corps records say Solis served in Iraq from April to November 2007, earning several medals, including for the Iraq campaign, global war on terrorism service and Marine Corps good conduct. The personnel file also shows Solis was an aircraft maintenance technician and a security guard. Garriola said he was confident Solis will be caught, and said he shared Beck's opinion of Solis. "It's a brother law enforcement officer, he served our country, we echo that same indignation." +(CNN)A North Carolina man facing murder charges in the death of a "Food Network Star" contestant had human remains in his woodstove, authorities say. Robert Jason Owens is accused of killing former contestant Cristie Schoen Codd, 38, and her husband, Joseph Codd, 45. Cristie Codd was five months pregnant, according to CNN affiliate WHNS in Greenville, South Carolina. Owens was a contractor and had worked at the couple's home in Leicester, a community 15 miles west of Asheville, authorities said Friday. Relatives reported the Codds missing Sunday after they could not reach either of them. When authorities went to their home, some things looked out of place, which prompted an investigation, according to Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan. He did not elaborate on what was unusual, but authorities had said earlier that the couple's cars and dogs were at home. A day after they were reported missing, authorities received a call about suspicious activity around Owens' home in Candler. "They (caller) identified that someone had come out and very suspiciously had left things in a Dumpster," Duncan said. "We responded and were able to locate items that we knew belonged to Cristie Schoen Codd." When investigators did an initial interview with Owens, he confessed to taking items from the victims' home, authorities said. Duncan said they obtained a warrant to search Owens' home and found human remains. "Parts of those were recovered from a woodstove at that residence," Duncan said. Those remains, he said, are undergoing a forensic analysis to determine whether they belong to the Codds. In addition to the remains, Owens' wife told investigators that her husband confessed to killing Joseph Codd, according to the sheriff. Duncan declined to provide details on the motive or whether the suspect confessed to killing Cristie Schoen Codd as well. "From that point, there's not really a whole lot of detail we can get into," he said, citing an ongoing investigation. Owens faces various charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, murder of an unborn child and breaking and entering, according to WHNS. It said Owens allegedly broke into the couple's house and stole a laptop, gun and jewelry, citing investigators. It's unclear who his attorney is. Cristie Codd was a finalist on season eight of "Food Network Star," which airs on the Food Network. +(CNN)One of the nine suspects was killed. Another was shot in the stomach. All eight responding officers were injured, including one 10-year veteran who required surgery. It's the aftermath of an all-out melee in a Walmart parking lot in Cottonwood, Arizona, a town of 11,000 people about an hour's drive south of Flagstaff. But details are murky outside of the injury and arrest reports. What's known, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety statement released by spokesman Raul Garcia, is that someone at the store called the Cottonwood Police Department a few minutes before midnight Saturday to report that a woman who worked at Walmart "had been assaulted in the store by multiple suspects." The suspects were in the parking lot when police responded, and they immediately attacked the officers, the DPS statement said. Two suspects were shot, one in the abdomen and one fatally, while one of the suspects shot a Cottonwood officer in the leg, according to DPS. "I heard about eight to 10 shots," Louie Solano, an eyewitness, told CNN affiliate KPHO. "It was a lot of noise. It looked like a riot in the middle of the parking lot. I mean it was unbelievable," he said. Investigators believe the nine suspects were all from the same family. "We believe they are from Idaho because of the license plate on their vehicle," DPS spokesman Bart Graves told CNN. The condition of the suspect who was shot in the stomach was not known. Seven other suspects were taken into custody, the statement said, and "a total of eight officers and another (Walmart) employee were assaulted in the parking lot during the fight. Seven of those officers sustained minor injuries to include lacerations and bruising." The Walmart employee, who was a loss prevention officer, had a broken arm, Graves said. The 31-year-old officer who suffered the gunshot wound was flown to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he underwent surgery. The veteran officer is expected to make a full recovery, according to the statement. The Cottonwood Police Department and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office directed media questions to DPS. Asked for additional information, Arizona DPS spokesman Bart Graves said, "This is a very complex investigation, we are still sorting things out and there are a lot of witnesses to talk to, so we are in the early stages." He added, "We were asked by Cottonwood police to conduct a criminal investigation." CNN's Brian Carberry contributed to this report. +(CNN)The emissions sticker on David Kassick's car was expired. That's what first caught the attention of Lisa Mearkle, a police officer in Hummelstown Borough, Pennsylvania, who ordered Kassick, 59, to pull over on February 2. Instead, Kassick fled. Moments later, he lay dead on the ground in a yard near a relative's home. On Tuesday, Mearkle was arrested on a homicide charge following a state police investigation into the shooting. Mearkle's attorney, who described the use of deadly force in the case as justified, said he is girding his client for national scrutiny as the case finds itself on a growing list of officer-involved shootings. The final moments leading to Kassick's death were captured on video which Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico Jr. said was critical in bringing the homicide charges. It was around 4 p.m. on February 2 when the 15-year police veteran first attempted to pull Kassick over, according to the charging documents. Instead of pulling over, Kassick took off and Mearkle gave chase, flipping on her lights and sirens. Less than a mile away, Kassick pulled into the driveway of a relative he'd been staying with and ran off on foot into the backyard, with Mearkle following close behind. As they ran through the yards behind Grandview Drive, the charging documents said, Mearkle fired her stun gun, automatically engaging a built-in audio and visual recording device. Marsico described the video: . "She's running, she's tasing him, he falls to the ground. He's sort of writhing around on the ground a little bit," Marsico said. Standing several feet behind his prone body, Mearkle shouts for Kassick to show his hands. Despite the commands, Marsico said there were multiple points in the videos where Kassick is seen reaching beneath himself, his hands obscured to Mearkle. Holding the Taser in her left hand, court documents said, Mearkle drew her gun in her right hand and, while continuing to shout "show me your hands," fired twice into Kassick's back. Kassick was pronounced dead at the scene. He was unarmed. Marsico said the video was critical in determining the first criminal charges brought against a police officer in a shooting like this in his 15 years as district attorney. "He was face down on the ground, no weapon had been displayed. He didn't approach her, he didn't come toward her, he didn't verbally threaten her in any way," Marsico said of Kassick. "It's our position that her use of deadly force was not necessary." CNN has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the video, which it has not independently viewed. Mearkle later told investigators she thought Kassick had been reaching into his jacket for a gun, according to court documents. "What was she supposed to do?" Mearkle's attorney, Brian Perry said. "She felt that this was the only option that she had." "Keep in mind she had tased this individual four times and was screaming commands to him and he kept reaching under," Perry said. Mearkle was placed on electronic monitoring on Tuesday after posting $250,000 bail. "This was an extremely difficult case for all involved but in the end, we are servants of Justice and must now allow the judicial process to conduct a fair and impartial review of the allegations that have been presented," the Borough of Hummelstown said in a statement. Hummelstown Borough announced on Wednesday that Mearkle had been suspended from the Police Department without pay. +(CNN)They died in separate shootings. Separated by more than 2,000 miles, they lived with the peril and uncertainty that hundreds of thousands of U.S. law enforcement officers face each day. One was a 14-year veteran; the other a rookie on his first day out on his own. Two law enforcement officers, one in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and another in San Jose, California, were shot and killed in encounters with suspects Tuesday. Such encounters are all too common. The number of law enforcement officers shot to death in the line of duty rose more than 50% last year, according to the Washington-based National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. "Officers were obviously crying, grieving," said Officer Alberto Morales, a San Jose police department spokesman."They will do so for some time, as will many of us in the department." They were grieving for San Jose police Officer Michael Johnson, a veteran killed while responding to a report of a man threatening to kill himself, police said. The suspect in the San Jose shooting was found dead on his balcony with a gunshot wound, authorities said. Thousands of miles away, officers grieved the shooting death of Wisconsin State Trooper Trevor Casper, 21, of Kiel, according to the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. The suspect -- a suspected bank robber -- was killed. Casper had successfully completely his field training recently. He was on his first solo assignment, Capt. Anthony Burrell told reporters Wednesday. It's unclear whether the suspects were fatally shot by law enforcement officers or died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Johnson, a veteran, was killed while responding to a report of a man threatening to kill himself, police said. Part of his job was to work with new officers. Police received a call Tuesday evening about a "despondent, intoxicated man, who possibly had access to a weapon, including a rifle," said San Jose police Chief Larry Esquivel. When officers arrived at the scene, they were met with gunfire, said Esquivel, adding that investigators were still trying "to understand what truly happened." Johnson was the first San Jose officer killed in the line of duty in 14 years. The last officer killed in the line of duty, Jeffrey Fontana, was in the same academy graduating class, Esquivel said. "It's unfortunate for any of our officers to lose their lives, whether it's that class or any class," he said. It's not known whether the suspect was wounded in the exchange of gunfire, the police chief said. "SJPD grieves as we offer our condolences to the family of our brother," the police department tweeted. Morales said the death had shaken many officers. "Our hearts, prayers go out with the family of Michael, our brother. This is a very, very difficult time right now." He remembered Johnson's smile and bright eyes, how he was "full of life and cared a lot about his job." "It's a tough thing to relay to your fellow officers who have to go out there to continue to do this job," Morales said. "But rest assured, that we will keep him in our memories as we go out there and continue to do the job that we love to do, and I'm sure he loved to do." In Wisconsin, Casper was killed after chasing a bank robbery suspect in Fond du Lac, authorities said. He had been sworn in as a state trooper in December, according to media reports and a Facebook page dedicated to his memory. "Trevor Casper was a lively young man," Burrell recalled. "He was very excited about his opportunity to be a trooper... He always had a smile on his face. When we met several times, I always asked if he was having fun and his response was, 'I sure am,' with a smile on his face." Gunfire rang out when the trooper was pursuing a car that matched the description of one used in a bank robbery, CNN affiliate WITI-TV in Milwaukee reported. The suspect, identified as Steven Timothy Snyder, also died, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. No other details of the pursuit were available. Police believe the suspect may have shot and killed a man in his 60s after leaving the bank, the station reported. Authorities are not looking for any additional suspects. Lt. Col. Brian Rahn of the Wisconsin State Patrol said the rookie officer's handling of the fatal encounter was "absolute textbook -- from the time he made contact with the vehicle until the event was over." The Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an investigation, a requirement for officer-involved shootings in the state. "Our son Trevor was an amazing young man who from a young age would do anything to help anyone," the trooper's family said in a statement posted on Facebook. "It did not surprise us when he selected a career in law enforcement. Even as a young child he was always helping others. Trevor had a soft and good heart. He truly believed his sole purpose in life was to serve and protect others." When his family asked Casper whether he was ready for a career as a trooper, "Trevor proudly told us that he was 'born ready to do this job.' Trevor was so very proud of his career as a Wisconsin State Trooper. As a family we are so deeply honored that our son served as a law enforcement officer with the Wisconsin State Patrol and we share in their grief and loss. We are so deeply saddened by this loss and wish to thank everyone who has assisted us during this time," the statement added. The shooting occurred on the four-year anniversary of the death of Fond du Lac police Officer Craig Birkholz, who was shot and killed during a standoff with a suspect, WITI reported. "Our hearts go out to his fellow officers, his friends, and especially his family," said a statement on the Wisconsin Professional Police Association's Facebook page. "May we never forget his sacrifice and that of his loved ones who shared and supported his devotion to our common security." A total of 1,501 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty between 2004 and 2013 -- an average of one death every 58 hours, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. CNN's John Newsome, Shane Deitert and Sam Stringer contributed to this report. +Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)Gunmen detonated bombs and sprayed people with bullets as they raided a hotel in Somalia's capital late Friday afternoon, killing a Somali diplomat and at least five other people in an attack claimed by Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab, officials said. Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari, Somalia's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, was among those killed in the attack at the the Makka Al Mukarama hotel in Mogadishu, the Somali government said. The attack began around 5 p.m. when a car bomb exploded at the hotel's entrance, according to witness Aden Hussein, who said he was meters away from the hotel when the blast happened. Gunmen then went inside the hotel, shooting people, Hussein said. One of the attackers, wearing a belt with explosives, blew himself up inside the hotel, police Capt. Ahmed Abdi said . A few hours after the assault began, state-run media reported that security forces stormed the building and killed the remaining assailants. The attackers killed at least six people, Abdi said. The hotel, which is along a highway leading to the country's presidential palace, is popular with lawmakers, journalists and business people. An Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, told CNN that the group was behind the attack. He said Al-Shabaab fighters were conducting an operation at the hotel against what he said were spies and government officials. Al-Shabaab has been active in Somalia for years. Initially its goal was implementing a stricter form of Islamic law, or Sharia, by warring against the Somali government. It has since shifted its focus to launching terror attacks in Somalia and beyond. Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote from Atlanta. +Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)A siege that started with gunmen detonating a bomb and spraying bullets in a hotel in Somalia ended Saturday with at least 20 people dead, authorities said. Among the dead was a Somali-American woman, Fahia Bashir Nur, 45, of Alexandria, Virginia, according to her uncle, Yusuf Kheire. He said Nur and her mother were dining in the hotel when the attack began. The mother lost an arm in the attack and was hospitalized. The attack, which lasted hours, began when gunmen raided the hotel in Mogadishu on Friday evening. Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari, Somalia's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, was among those killed in the attack, the Somali government said. "He will be remembered for his strong personal commitment to protecting and promoting human rights for all," Nicholas Kay, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Somalia, said of Bari-Bari. Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. The attack started about 5 p.m. local time when a car bomb exploded at the hotel's entrance, according to witness Aden Hussein, who said he was nearby when the blast happened. Gunmen then stormed into the hotel and opened fire, Hussein said. They overpowered the hotel's security guards, said police Capt. Ahmed Abdi, adding that the gunbattle between Somali special forces and the attackers lasted at least 17 hours. One of the attackers, who was wearing a belt with explosives, blew himself up inside the hotel, police Capt. Ahmed Abdi said. Some members of the terror group "stormed into the first, second and third floors of the hotel where rooms are located and held several people hostage," according to a statement from the African Union Commission in Somalia, a peacekeeping mission. The Makka Al Mukarama hotel, located along a highway leading to the country's presidential palace, is popular with lawmakers, journalists, business people and Somalis returning home from abroad. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the attack as a "heinous and inhuman act" in an interview with state-run Radio Mogadishu during an official visit to Egypt. In a statement, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said Al-Shabaab's "talk of 'legitimate targets' and 'justification'" exposes "the sham logic behind their lust for terror." "These terrorists contradict Islam and betray Somalia," he said. The injured, along with the bodies of the dead, could not be removed from the hotel until after the hours-long gunfight. More than 10 people, most of them Kenyan nationals who worked at the hotel, were rescued, police said. Al-Shabaab said it targeted the hotel because its guests are spies and government officials. The terror group has been active in Somalia for years. Initially, its goal was implementing a stricter form of Islamic law, or Sharia, by warring against the Somali government. It has since shifted its focus to launching terror attacks in Somalia and beyond. "We reiterate again that there will be no safe haven for the crusaders and apostates in Somalia, and that our attacks on them will continue until the enemy of Allah (is) defeated and his law is implemented fully in Somalia," the group said in a statement. CNN's Faith Karimi wrote from Atlanta, and Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu. CNN's Ray Sanchez, Merieme Arif and Jason Hanna contributed to this report. +Beijing (CNN)Native to a remote region of China, this tiny mammal, known as the Ili pika, doesn't know it's a member of an endangered species -- and neither do most people. Rarer -- and some would argue cuter-- than the panda, there are less than 1,000 of these teddy bear-like creatures living in the Tianshan mountain range in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China, says conservationist Li Weidong. Li discovered the pika, formally known as Ochotona iliensis, in 1983 and named it after his hometown, Ili. Last July, Li spotted and photographed the elusive creature for the first time since the early 1990s. He estimates its numbers have declined by almost 70% since its discovery. "I discovered the species, and I watched as it became endangered," he told CNN. "If it becomes extinct in front of me, I'll feel so guilty." In 2008, the animal was listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but there's no official organization or team dedicated studying or protecting it, according to Li. The mammal, only 20 centimeters long, lives on sloping bare rock faces and feeds on grasses at high elevations. Li says the pika's habitat has been affected by global warming. Due to rising temperatures, glaciers have receded and the altitude of permanent snow has risen in the Tianshan mountains, forcing the pikas to gradually retreat to mountain tops, Li said. Ili pikas were originally found at elevations between 3,200 to 3,400 meters, he said. Now they have retreated to elevations of 4,100 meters. "They have nowhere else to retreat," he added. It's also a solitary animal and is not as vocal as other pika species, so if predators are near, Ili pikas are not able to alert each other, Li said. Disease may also be a factor in its decline. In 1983, when Li first came across the mammal, nobody knew what it was. Two years later, Li found another two and it was declared a new species. In the decade following, Li and his colleagues conducted a number of studies, including a census at 14 different sites. However, in 1992, Li left Ili to work with Xinjiang Academy of Environmental Protection in the regional capital Urumqi. No studies were conducted on Ili pika in the following decade. No one saw the pika, either. In 2002 and 2003, Li, with a team of volunteers, conducted a fresh census. Despite spending 37 days searching the mountains for the pikas on seven separate trips, they came up empty handed. However, by analyzing droppings and snow tracks, Li, along with Arizona State University biologist Andrew Smith, was able to conclude that the Ili pika population had seen a dramatic decline. Together they calculated that there might be 2,000 mature animals, down from 2,900 in the early 1990s. The research, published in 2005, recommended that the animal should be listed as endangered. In 2007, Li retired early to throw himself into searching for the pika. Last year, he organized a group of 20 volunteers to conduct another survey with infrared cameras. This time, on the second day of the field trip, they finally spotted a pika, who jumped and stepped over Li's feet while he was trying to photograph it. The volunteers dubbed it a "magic rabbit." They concluded that there were fewer than 1,000 Ili pikas, said Li. "This tiny species could be extinct any time," he said. "They don't exist in the sites where they used to be anymore." Li funds the research with himself, along with donations and occasional grants from organizations like the World Wide Fund for Nature. He says he has spent more than $32,000 of his own money over the past three decades and he has to raise funds to pay for gas. But what upsets Li most isn't the lack of funding. It's the lack of official recognition for the Ili, and other pikas' plight. The Ili pika isn't included on China's List of Wildlife under Special State Protection -- part of the country's 1988 Wildlife Protection Law. The Department for Wildlife and Forest Plants Protection, under the Ministry of Forestry, said it was in the process of updating the list but declined to give any further details. Li and his volunteers have been calling for the establishment of a nature reserve to help protect the animal. "I'm almost 60, and soon I won't be able to climb the Tianshan Mountains," he said. "So I really hope that an organization will have people study and protect the Ili Pika." +(CNN)Lindsey Vonn lifted her crystal globe prize with pride after winning the World Cup downhill title for a seventh time, Wednesday. A crystal ball might be more useful for the American star, who has faced plenty of slippery slopes in her dramatic skiing career. The 30-year-old has twice fought back from a career-threatening right knee injury but this season she has been back to her brilliant best. At the final meeting of the ski season in the pretty French resort of Meribel, Vonn raced to more records on the women's World Cup tour -- a seventh downhill season title and her 18th crystal globe overall. The sparkly spheres are handed out to winners of the World Cup individual disciplines. "This downhill title probably means more to me than the others because I've been through so much," Vonn told CNN's Alpine Edge. "It means everything to me, this is what I've been working so hard for for the last two years. "This season definitely got off to a better start than I expected and I've had some ups and downs for sure but to come away with a globe after a long season is something that I'm really proud of, so it couldn't be better for me right now, I'm so thrilled." Vonn, who credits boyfriend Tiger Woods with inspiring her recovery, fended off the challenge of Austria's Anna Fenninger to claim the downhill crown by 103 points. Despite the softening snow, the American won the downhill race with a fastest time of one minute, 29.87 seconds while Fenninger finished off the pace in eighth. As she crossed the line, she punched the air and screamed at the crowd when she saw she was in first position. After receiving her crystal globe, she celebrated with her team by popping champagne and spraying it over her nearby supporters. Vonn and Fenninger will renew their rivalry Thursday for the super-G title, where Vonn holds an eight-point lead over her challenger. If Vonn wins tomorrow she will equal Swede Ingemar Stenmark, who owns an overall record of 19 crystal globes. "I'm not thinking about that," Vonn insisted with a laugh. "It's always hard to get titles - it's a long season, and it takes a lot to win the crystal globe but tomorrow I'm just going to be focusing on skiing my best, just as I did today." +(CNN)Mikaela Shiffrin is on course to make skiing history after claiming her third consecutive slalom victory on the World Cup circuit on Saturday. The young American is hoping to become the first woman to win both the discipline's world title and overall crown in successive seasons. Shiffrin, who retained her slalom title at February's world championships in Colorado, now has a 90-point lead going into next week's World Cup finale in France. "I think the first couple races of the season I was pretty arrogant and was like, 'I'm just going to win these, I guess.' And I didn't. I wasn't even close," said Shiffrin, who has won the slalom Crystal Globe two years running. "When you're racing at a high level -- or doing any sport at a high level -- everybody's going for the win. I learned that I can't take my foot off the gas and expect to win. These last races, I was pushing everything. Any race that I won this season, I was giving my entire heart into it. I'm proud of that." A day after her 20th birthday, Shiffrin won by a comfortable 1.41 seconds at Are in Sweden as she claimed the 14th World Cup win of her career, with Slovakia's Veronika Velez Zuzulova second and Czech Republic's Sarka Strachova third. Slalom title rival Frida Hansdotter finished sixth in front of her home fans. Tina Maze missed a chance to close the gap on overall World Cup leader Anna Fenninger, who did not race, as the Slovenian finished back in 16th. Defending champion Fenninger has a 30-point lead following the Austrian's victory in Friday's giant slalom in Are, where Shiffrin was fourth and Maze 20th. Fenninger has an 86-point lead in the giant slalom standings from fellow Austrian Eva-Maria Brem -- who was third on Friday -- while Shiffrin is another 35 points back. Meanwhile, Marcel Hirscher clinched the men's giant slalom title ahead of the finals in Meribel as the Austrian finished second in Saturday's penultimate race in Slovenia. The 26-year-old now has a 128-point advantage as he seeks to win his fourth successive overall title as closest rival Kjetil Jansrud finished 23rd in Kranjska Gora. France's Alexis Pinturault won on Saturday to be second in the giant slalom standings ahead of American Ted Ligety and third in the overall competition. Olympic champion Ligety has won the last two giant slalom Crystal Globes but has dropped off the pace after a disappointing second half of the season. On Saturday, he was fourth behind France's Thomas Fanara. "This is the first time since the change in the ski rules (after the 2011-12 season) that I've caught the globe in GS," Hirscher said. "For me, it was two years with a lot of thinking and disappointment against Ted. "I was 2.7 seconds behind Ted in the first race with the longer skis. We realized that we are so far away from Ted and that was the beginning of a long way and a lot of work, a lot of test and some different setup things. Many people worked really hard for this success." Like us on Facebook . +Lynchburg, Virginia (CNN)Sen. Ted Cruz, the conservative firebrand from Texas, became the first Republican to announce his campaign for the presidency, and he spent Monday morning telling a crowd at the largest Christian university in the world to imagine what the country will be like when he takes office, and pitching his personal history as a key part of his campaign. "These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience Monday, roaming around the circular stage at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, opening his remarks by spotlighting his family history and his own path to Washington. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Cruz drew on the past only to focus on the future, repeatedly and emphatically asking the Liberty University student audience to "imagine" the U.S. under conservative leadership -- laying out his vision for the country and a Cruz presidency. The senator from Texas, who burst into the national limelight with his staunch opposition to Obamacare and his willingness to shut down the federal government, presents a direct challenge to the expected bids of establishment Republicans such as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- candidates Cruz coyly refers to as the "mushy middle." Monday's event was the last part of a carefully coordinated media rollout, following Cruz's announcement of his candidacy in a 30-second video message posted on Twitter shortly after midnight on Monday, roughly 24 hours after the Houston Chronicle first reported his planned announcement. Ten thousand students from Liberty University crowded into the university's main arena for Cruz's announcement. The venue choice at this socially conservative campus aims to give Cruz an early boost among evangelical voters, who will be key to boosting presidential hopefuls in states like Iowa and South Carolina that have early nominating contests. It was a youthful crowd, as students are required to attend the University's tri-weekly convocation address. Not all in the audience were guaranteed Cruz supporters: Several attendees sported red "Stand with Rand" shirts, repping Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who is slated to announce his candidacy early next month. Jerry Falwell Jr., the university's president and son of its founder and evangelical icon, introduced Cruz as a senator who "has gone against the tide" and a "man of great character," all while stressing that the university does not endorse candidates for office. Falwell picked up on Cruz's assertion that millions of evangelical Christians did not vote in 2012, pointing out that "if any candidate can energize that group, it will make a huge difference in any national race." Asked after the speech how he prepared for the event, Cruz said he "spent some time in prayer" thinking about the message he wants to convey. "At the end of the day it's listening to the people about the vision for turning the country around," Cruz told CNN, adding that he was "incredibly" encouraged and inspired by the support. Cruz's announcement came on the five-year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which Cruz has fought in the Senate to repeal. Cruz marked the anniversary by pledging to repeal "every word" of the healthcare law as president. Cruz also jabbed at Common Core education standards -- which Bush supports -- and repeated his pledge to abolish the IRS, instead suggesting Americans could file their taxes on a postcard. And Cruz drew the longest and loudest applause from the audience when he prompted the audience to "imagine a President who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel." Cruz's advisers envision a three-pronged strategy that focuses on dominating the tea party faction and competing in the libertarian and Christian conservative circles. A constant and vocal critic of the Obama administration, Cruz is perhaps best known for his stalwart fight against Obamacare in 2013, which led to a tense standoff between Democrats and Republicans and ultimately resulted in a 17-day government shutdown. The showdown was punctuated by Cruz's 21-hour speech on the Senate floor. While popular in conservative and tea party circles, Cruz has a long way to go in terms of broader support in the GOP base, according to public opinion polls. A CNN/ORC International survey conducted this month on the hypothetical Republican primary showed Cruz came in with 4% support among Republicans and independents who lean Republican. But the field is still relatively open, with the top contender -- Bush -- coming in at 16% support, followed by Scott Walker at 13%. But Cruz has relatively strong favorability numbers. According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, he is viewed in a positive light by 45% of Republicans, compared with only 8% who don't have a favorable opinion of him. Still, 46% say they haven't heard enough about him to form an opinion. Jason Miller, an adviser to Cruz's campaign, confirmed that the campaign's fund-raising target is $40 million, and the campaign believes it can raise $1 million in the first week. Cruz this month finished an early-voting state tour to Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire -- and he's scheduled to return to New Hampshire on March 28 to speak at a brunch in Rockingham County. Depending on the Senate schedule this week, he could possibly make more early-state trips, according to advisers. After his speech Monday, he'll head up to New York for media appearances and a fund-raiser. Cruz developed a loyal following when he won his 2012 primary battle in Texas as a little-known candidate, forcing then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst into a surprise runoff and ultimately defeating the establishment Republican. Along with two other first-term senators who are expected to run for president (Rand Paul and Marco Rubio), Cruz will likely face questions over experience, an issue that Republicans brought up in 2008 against Barack Obama, who was also a first-term senator at the time. Before running for the Senate in 2012 -- his first campaign for public office -- Cruz was solicitor general of Texas and argued before the Supreme Court. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Born in Canada to a Cuban father and American mother, Cruz was a dual citizen until he renounced Canadian citizenship in 2014. He faced questions over whether he would qualify for the presidency, though law experts consider him a natural-born citizen because he was born to an American mother. Cruz was swarmed by students and reporters after he descended the stage and started to exit the arena. He took photos and signed autographs for about a half hour, as his team tried to escort him through the crowd. One girl who was raising money selling baked goods offered to give Cruz a dozen cupcakes for free but he pulled out his wallet and gave her $20. A pair of enthusiastic sisters shouted out to Cruz to tell him that, like his own daughters, they were also named Caroline and Catherine and were two years apart. "That's just cool," he said, as he gave them both high fives. "That is awesome." One student who said she was Hispanic said she and her whole family were behind him. "You have the Hispanic vote," she joked, then proceeded to start talking to him Spanish. While Cruz's father is Cuban, he's not fluent in Spanish. "We grew up speaking Spanglish. My grandmother would be like 'Nino, throw me the remote control'," he said This is who we are as a people. We got to tell that story," Cruz said. CNN's Adam Levy and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report. +(CNN)The birthplace of Coca-Cola, "Gone with the Wind" and Martin Luther King Jr. is still home to the busiest passenger airport in the world. More than 96 million passengers went through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2014, an increase of 1.9% over 2013, according to Airports Council International's preliminary passenger traffic data, released Thursday. With more than 86 million passengers last year, Beijing Capital International Airport remained in second place and continued to close the gap just a bit more with Atlanta, according to the worldwide association of airports. It saw an increase of 2.9% over 2013. ATL24: 24 hours in the world's busiest airport . London's Heathrow Airport continued to hold on to third place for another year, with more than 73 million passengers, an increase of 1.4%. Toyko's Haneda Airport was fourth with nearly 73 million passengers, a 5.7% increase over 2013. The airports in fifth, sixth and seventh places swapped spots. Los Angeles International Airport moved up from sixth to fifth, Dubai moved up from seventh to sixth, and Chicago O'Hare International Airport dropped from fifth to seventh. There were no changes to Paris Charles de Gaulle (eighth place), Dallas/Fort Worth (ninth) and Hong Kong (10th). Passenger traffic continued to grow around the globe, with the world's airports serving more than 6.6 billion passengers in 2014, an increase of 5.1% over the previous year, according to the report. Though the news was mostly good for Atlanta, the city did lose some bragging rights. Chicago/Atlanta airport rivalry heats up . Chicago O'Hare took the top spot from Atlanta in the number of takeoffs and landings, officially known as aircraft movements. A spokesman for the Atlanta airport says its carriers are adding more aircraft with higher passenger capacity, which means fewer planes. O'Hare took first place with 881,000 movements, followed by Atlanta with 868,359 and Los Angeles with 708,674. Rounding out that list were Dallas/Fort Worth, Beijing, Denver, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Houston and London. Airport movements in both Chicago and Atlanta actually decreased compared with 2013. Chicago's movements dropped by 0.2%, and Atlanta's dropped by 4.7%. Hong Kong's airport is still the busiest cargo airport in the world, transporting more than 4.4 million metric tons of cargo in 2014. Memphis, Tennessee, home to FedEx, came in second place with 4.2 million metric tons and Shanghai was third with nearly 3.2 million metric tons. (One metric ton equals 2,205 pounds.) Rounding out the top 10 were cargo airports in Incheon, South Korea; Anchorage, Alaska; Dubai; Louisville, Kentucky; Tokyo (Narita); Frankfurt, Germany; and Taipei, Taiwan. The Airports Council International preliminary traffic report was based on data from 1,095 airports worldwide. A final version will be released later in the year. +(CNN)I've dressed up in the same type of costume on Halloween for years -- always a superhero. Not one character in particular. "Just any excuse to put on a wig and a cape," I'd tell friends. Last year, I found a more specific persona. I would be Wonder Woman. See, this Halloween was different: I'd been diagnosed with a brain tumor just weeks before, and donning this costume was a lighthearted way to feel empowered ahead of the biggest fight of my life. It was Saturday, October 25, 2014 -- earlier than usual for me to think about a costume for my favorite holiday. But this year, I wouldn't be able to party on the same day as everyone else. I was organizing one last massive celebration to honor my life and the people I love before my brain surgery two days later. It all started early one morning in September while I was wrapping up my work as a digital producer for CNN's "New Day." As I was typing at the computer, letters were dropping off the right side of the screen. I started to feel strange and went to the nurse's office in my building to ask for help. My speech began to slur, my hands were tingling, and my head was pounding. I also forgot my co-workers' and bosses' names. The nurse thought I could be having a stroke and called an ambulance. Within an hour, I went from thinking I might have a migraine because I needed new glasses to being rushed to the hospital. I was 28 years old. They stripped off my clothes in the emergency room to hook me up to the machines that would reveal I wasn't having a stroke. Great news! But then, what was going on? First Person: Shopping for a new coat unleashes old memories . After an MRI, we had the beginning of an answer. When I looked at the scan of my brain, sitting there, big as an orange, in the left hemisphere was a large black spot. My speech came back fully after a few hours, but a terrible headache lingered all day, and I was kept in the hospital overnight without discussing with the medical staff the full details of what was found on the scan. My family and I were scheduled to meet with a brain surgeon the next morning. About 6 a.m., I was asleep when a resident came into my room and woke me up. He wanted to talk about my case, he said. "My parents are coming later, and we're meeting with the doctor," I told this stranger. "Ms. Moskowitz, we suspect you have a meningioma." He could have been speaking Russian. "We see you have a brain tumor, and you'll have to have surgery to have it removed," he said in a calm, even tone. I don't remember what I asked him after that, but once he left, I felt hopeless and alone. Tears poured out of my eyes, and I sucked in air when I ran out of breath. It was the most afraid I've ever been in my life. When my parents arrived, we met with the surgeon, who offered more clarity. He suspected that the tumor was slowly growing deep in the left ventricle of my brain for years. And the incident at work? Perhaps a miniseizure related to the tumor, but they couldn't be sure. I was told the mass wasn't life-threatening at that point and probably was not cancer, but the location was very deep and unique. The tumor was growing in an open tunnel in my brain and would eventually grow big enough to block the flow of spinal fluid. Surgery was recommended sooner rather than later. First Person: Caught in grief's riptide . After my terrible experience earlier in the day with the resident who loved to share bad news and disappear, I knew I didn't want to have my surgery at this hospital. It was time to shop around for a brain surgeon. Two weeks after the incident at work, I saw a doctor at NYU who talked about the surgery in dire terms. There was a 10% chance I would need a shunt to help drain excess fluid from my brain for the rest of my life. Unsatisfied with that option, I kept browsing. Wonderful colleagues and friends within the CNN Medical Unit helped me find Dr. Jeffrey Bruce at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Bruce is a tall, commanding man with the confidence and swagger you'd hope for in a brain surgeon. Somehow, his description of the seven-hour procedure and what would come later didn't seem as scary as before. We booked the date for the surgery at the end of October. "This is just like a pebble in my brain," I told friends. "They'll get it out, and I can move on with my life." Two days before the operation, my friends and family gathered at a bar in Brooklyn for that pre-Halloween, prebirthday, presurgery party. I wore a short blue wig with my Wonder Woman outfit and set up a photo area to document everyone's costumes. We all laughed and danced for hours, and at the end of the party, whoever was left did the Hora. We ran in and out of a circle, joyfully raising our hands in the air. Ghosts and pumpkins mingled with birthday decor. Although I was born at the end of November, I wanted to cover all my holidays since I had no idea what the future would hold. First Person: The only Cuba I've ever known . What if they took the tumor out and it was cancer after all? What if they couldn't get the whole thing during the operation and had to do radiation later? What about that shunt? What if ANYTHING went wrong and I would never be myself again? At the hospital, my family bickered about who got a chair in the waiting room as I sat silently, waiting to be whisked through the double doors and into the rest of my life. Once I was on the operating table with the IV in, the anesthesiologist started the magic medicine, and I barely started to count before I was knocked out. I woke up one brain tumor lighter and surrounded by the people I love. I spent five days in the hospital, mostly sleeping from the antiseizure medicine. Real Halloween came and passed. Friends and co-workers came to the hospital to tell me stories about their holiday adventures and share pictures of their nights. If I was ever lonely or uncertain about my place in the world before, having this experience was a relatively quick way to discover that I have tremendous love and support in my life. My recovery has taken a lot of hard work. I went straight from the hospital to inpatient rehab to weekly outpatient care, working on speech, occupational therapy and memory recall. I did so well there, I was named February's "Patient of the Month." When my doctor recently told me I've had the best recovery she's ever seen over her 20-year career, I burst into tears of joy. The experience has given me confidence in my resilience and more perspective than before on the importance of living in the present, because things could always be worse -- completely out of nowhere and totally unexpectedly. That fact was solidified when just a month after my surgery, my best friend's sister died from a brain aneurysm. Survivor's guilt overwhelmed me, but so did a sense of gratitude. I don't have an answer as to why I'm OK and my friend is gone, but I know it makes me push harder as I sweat through spin class and linger longer while I stare at sunsets and beautiful views. My zest for life itself -- the good and bad -- is so much stronger than before. I returned to work part-time, working one day a week starting in February. I'm at two days a week now and hope to be back producing digital content full-time for "New Day" by May. Though I'm now at the edge of 30 with a new identity as a survivor, I don't consider myself a superhero. At least not until next Halloween. +Maui, Hawaii (CNN)When she was just 4 years old, Chelsea Elliott went blind in her left eye. Then, two years later, she lost hearing in her right ear. Now 24, Elliott might have been spared years of struggle if her rare eye condition -- known as Coats disease -- had been caught earlier. Not wanting other children to feel the same frustration, anger and limitations, Elliott launched a nonprofit that offers free vision and hearing screenings to school-age children -- particularly from lower income communities. Here's a stunning statistic: 25% of U.S. children ages 5-17 suffer from vision problems, according to the National Commission on Vision and Health. Nonetheless, eight states still fail to require vision screenings at schools. Undetected and untreated, eye disorders can result in delayed reading and poorer academic outcomes. Elliott's organization, the Half-Helen Foundation, has screened nearly 9,000 children in Texas and Hawaii since its 2013 launch. As you might guess, the name honors Helen Keller -- who overcame blindness and hearing loss as an infant. Before her death in 1968, Keller learned to speak and then eventually earned degrees from Radcliffe College and Harvard University, inspiring countless people around the world. "When I learned about Helen Keller for the first time in the fourth grade, I surmised that I am half blind and half deaf like half Helen," said Elliott. "What better role model than to name a nonprofit after the most extraordinary woman who overcame obstacles being blind and deaf?" Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for CNN Heroes 2015 . I talked with Elliott about the motivation behind her work. Below is an edited version of our conversation. CNN: You do vision screenings right in the schools. How does it work? Chelsea Elliott: We use our tool, the Spot camera. This device allows us to test for the six most common vision impairments in children in seconds. We are looking to see if they're near-sighted, if they're far-sighted, if they have astigmatism, or if they're at risk for conditions like lazy eye or strabismus or if there's a difference in pupil size. The Spot camera is a hand-held autorefractor that takes a picture of a child's eyes. It has multi-colored Infrared light -- a red, blue and green light that flashes. Children tell me it looks like a video game. Often I'm trying to get the child to look straight into the camera. So once I capture their attention, the camera will capture the image and the screening is done. It's that quick. We learn so much more about a child's vision health in a fraction of the time it takes to do a basic eye chart test. After the screening, we deliver referral reports to the school health aide to distribute to the families. The families communicate directly with us if they need assistance in seeking corrective wear or access to an eye care professional. If a child passes, all the better. But if a child fails, then we've found one who we can help, and that's one less child who has to know the struggle or the headaches or the frustration from not being able to see. See more CNN Heroes . CNN: Your efforts first started in Texas. Why did you choose to focus on Hawaii next? Elliott: The state of Hawaii currently does not require vision or hearing screenings in schools. So it has been left to the hands of service or civic organizations. Only certain schools on the island were receiving vision screenings, when it was convenient. It wasn't being done (systematically). So I reached out to some civic groups here that had been conducting screenings and asked if I could come out and present how we do our work. And they, in turn, invited me to come out for a year and pilot our Maui 528 program. It's the perfect pilot group size. With 21,000 students and the technology available, we calculated it would actually take us about 528 hours to screen all 21,000 students. CNN: How can a vision problem affect a child's education? Elliott: A child's learning can be set back several years by not being able to see the words on the page or if they're at a slant, if they're blurred, if they're nonexistent. They lose that self-confidence in their learning, that drive to push them forward, all because they were never screened for a potential condition that is easily correctable. It's so commonly assumed that you can see a problem. I was 4 years old, and I had no visual symptoms. A common misunderstanding with the need for these services is that if a child has a vision problem, they'll tell you. How can they tell you if that's the only reality they know? Because preventative care is the most important thing we can provide, and we have a way now to conduct it so efficiently and effectively, there's no reason not to provide this service. I would like to see every state require preventative screenings in order to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to the best education possible. That's our way forward. CNN: Where does the name of your organization come from? Elliott: When I learned about Helen Keller for the first time in the fourth grade, I surmised that I am half blind and half deaf like half Helen. So that became the nickname from fourth grade on. And then when I graduated from college and I realized what my purpose was in this life, I realized what better role model than to name a nonprofit after the most extraordinary woman who overcame obstacles being blind and deaf? Helen Keller did so many extraordinary things with her life, I can only hope to be half as wonderful as she is. Want to get involved? Check out the Half-Helen Foundation website at www.halfhelen.org and see how to help. +Minneapolis (CNN)Unexpected car repairs can blow anyone's budget. But when you're struggling to make ends meet, the impact can extend well beyond your bank account. As a social worker in Minneapolis, Cathy Heying repeatedly saw how car problems could create a domino effect that endangered her clients' health, their jobs, even their homes. For years, she wished someone would do something about the problem. Then one day Heying realized, "Oh dang, I think that somebody might be me." In 2008, she quit her full-time job and enrolled in automotive school. Five years later, armed with a degree in auto technology, Heying founded The Lift. Her nonprofit garage provides steeply discounted car repairs to low-income individuals. The approach is simple: Heying sells parts at cost, with no markup, and charges $15 an hour for labor; the going rate in Minneapolis is around $100 an hour. The result? Big savings for her customers. And for those who can't pay in full, she will work out payment plans. To date, Heying has provided affordable car repairs to more than 300 low-income individuals, saving them more than $170,000 and keeping them on the road to success. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for CNN Heroes 2015 . I talked with Heying about her career change and what she's learned from her work. Below is an edited version of our conversation. Kathleen Toner: One day you're a social worker, the next you're in automotive school. What was that like? Cathy Heying: Imagine a scene of a 38-year-old woman and 18-year-old boys. I want to talk about feelings and people, and they want to talk about cars. That sums it up. It was a huge culture shift and a huge knowledge shift. I had to use my brain very differently. I did not grow up working on cars. I did not have a father that wrenched on cars. It was not part of my life growing up. I taught myself a few things (like) changing oil. But for the most part, I had no skills around car maintenance. I cried all the way to school the first day 'cause I was like, "What have I done?" So it was terrifying and overwhelming. And at least three solid times in that first quarter, I was like, "I'm quitting. I cannot do this." See more CNN Heroes . I give credit, at least in that first quarter, to one of my instructors who's now on the board of The Lift, who kept saying, "I know that you have a good vision here, and I'm going to help you get through this." And when I really thought about it, going to school is nothing compared to people who are trying to raise their kids on minimum wage, who are living with a broken-down car in subzero weather. Basically, I needed to buck up. Toner: What's it like being a mechanic? Heying: It's physically hard. You find yourself in all sorts of crazy positions, digging under things. You're lifting tires. You're wrenching on things. But it is mentally challenging, and it can be really frustrating. Because you have all the pieces and for some reason, something is not working, and it's like, "What is it?" And to really think thoroughly and understand full systems and how those systems play together, it is, I think, way more difficult than I think the average person thinks it is. I think of being a mechanic a lot like being a doctor. People come in, they give you a list of symptoms. You try to ask a lot of questions to narrow it down until we get an accurate diagnosis. And sometimes we get it wrong, but most of the time we get it right. But it is an art and a science mixed into one. It's a very satisfying job, when you can have a car come in not starting and you send it out the door running. At the end of the day, you can feel really good because you can look back and be like, "This is what I did today." Toner: You're also helping some of the mechanics on your staff. How so? Heying: Different members of our staff have struggled with poverty and crisis in their own lives. Some of them have had interactions with the criminal justice system. Two of the three techs that we have I met when they were both experiencing homelessness. And they are all trained, formal, certified technicians. And so that is another piece of the work that we do at The Lift. We take a chance on folks who other places might not be willing to take a chance on. Toner: You save your clients a lot of money. How do they react? Heying: For the most part, people are ecstatic when they get the bill. And that just makes such a huge difference in people's lives. We had a customer in here a few weeks ago who is sleeping in his car. And he had just gotten released from the hospital because he had frostbite because he didn't have heat in his car. And so it's not just about getting people to and from work or to and from school, even though that's a really important piece of it. It's really about protecting people's lives. For many people, having a car that works and that is safe holds the rest of the pieces together. And it really allows them to remain independent, to remain self-sufficient, to meet the basic needs of their lives and do it with dignity. Want to get involved? Check out The Lift Garage website at www.theliftgarage.org and see how to help. +(CNN)There's one big debut and several finales coming up in a busy week of television. The newest late night entry is one of six things we think you should tune in to this week. 1. 'The Late Late Show with James Corden,' Monday to Friday, 12:35 a.m. ET, CBS . Who is James Corden, you might ask? He's a household name in the United Kingdom, best known here for "Into the Woods" and "Doctor Who." He's also the brand-new host of the CBS "Late Late Show," replacing Craig Ferguson. His first show promises a fresh take on late night talk shows, especially with avant garde comedian and rapper Reggie Watts leading the house band. So far, Corden already has scored quite a coup for his first show: Tom Hanks will be his first guest. With so many late night shows out there, Corden hopes he can stand out thanks to his time slot. "I think in the time slot we're in, we have a carte blanche in a way to make a looser show and for it to feel like a more fun environment," Corden told The Hollywood Reporter. If Corden's promos are any indication, we're in for something different. 2. 'Pretty Little Liars,' Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC Family . After five seasons, 120 episodes, 123 texts and nine deaths, fans will find out just who has been tormenting the "liars" all this time: The identity of "A" will be revealed! At least that's what ABC Family promises for Tuesday night's season finale. 3. 'The Mindy Project,' Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. ET, Fox . This season has been a big one for doctor Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) -- she moved to California and she's having a baby after all. Little has been revealed about this week's season finale, but the episode's title, "Best Man," suggests there could be a wedding involved. 4. 'Inspector Gadget,' Friday, Netflix . Go Gadget go! A brand new series for a new generation hits Netflix this week. Little has been revealed about Netflix's foray into kids' programming with a dash of nostalgia. 5. 'Hart of Dixie,' Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET, CW . The Rachel Bilson primetime soap airs what could be its final episode. 6. 'Saturday Night Live,' Saturday, 11:29 p.m. ET, NBC . After three weeks off, "SNL" returns with "Furious 7" star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hosting this week's show with musical guest George Ezra. +(CNN)Angelina Jolie's essay in the New York Times revealing that she had her ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed to lower her risk of cancer provoked an outpouring of support as the news spread across social media. Jolie, 39, wrote that she had opted for the surgery after blood tests revealed markers that might have been an indication of early cancer. Two years ago, she underwent a double mastectomy for similar reasons. Jolie's mother died of ovarian cancer, and the actress has a gene mutation that makes her chances of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer much higher than the overall population. Many were inspired by her decision and her choice to open up about the surgery. Others saw an opportunity for helping educate women and advocate for their health, a cause near and dear to Jolie's own heart. Some worried for the star, who wrote in her op-ed that "the fact is I remain prone to cancer." The Internet being what it is, others took Jolie's announcement as a chance to mock. Most, however, weren't having any of it. +(CNN)With its snow-capped mountains and picturesque deserted hamlets, the Bleone Valley, where a Germanwings jet crashed Tuesday, is a stunningly beautiful but sparsely populated spot. Tiny villages are scattered along the gorge, which rises from the apple and pear orchards and the gray stone riverbed of the valley floor to heights of more than 2,000 meters (1.2 miles) above sea level. Many of these villages, which were bustling communities in the 19th century, now lie abandoned or survive with just a handful of inhabitants. One dead-end road, the D107, winds its way through Prads-Haute-Bleone, passing churches and a campsite that offers a peaceful retreat for summer hikers. But the remoteness -- which appeals to small numbers of holidaymakers looking to ski in winter or take restorative walks through the green hills in the warmer months -- may make reaching the wreckage of the Germanwings plane difficult. Gilles Gravier, director of the tourist office in Val d'Allos, told French newspaper Liberation the crash occurred in a particularly steep spot on the Trois Eveches mountain, and may have been witnessed by skiers on the area's slopes. "There is no access by road; emergency crews are coming in by air, using helicopters," he said. Capt. Benoit Zeisser from the Gendarmerie in the nearby town of Digne told CNN the aircraft was lying in "difficult terrain." Sandrine Boisse, the president of the tourism office at the Pra Loup ski resort, said she heard the plane crash and called the police and the local government office to find out what had happened. "It was about 11 (a.m.) here. I was outside the garage, and we heard a strange noise, " she said. "And at first we thought it was an avalanche, but it was strange at this time because it was 11. "Something was wrong. ... We didn't know what." Her husband was skiing nearby and saw a plane flying at low altitude, she said. French President Francois Hollande warned "it will take some hours for the emergency services to reach the crash site." Photographs posted on Twitter hours after the plane disappeared from radar showed helicopters preparing to take off, and emergency vehicles lining up ready to receive the victims' remains. The bodies of those on board the plane are expected to be taken to the gymnasium at the local high school in Seyne les Alpes, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the crash site, which will be used as a temporary morgue. French police in the region have pleaded with locals and visitors to stay away from the site, urging them "not to clutter the roads," leaving them clear for emergency vehicles. +(CNN)A 30-year-old California woman was abducted from a male acquaintance's residence in the Bay Area and is being held for ransom, police said Tuesday. The male acquaintance, also 30, witnessed the kidnapping of Denise Louise Huskins from the Vallejo home, and he is not a suspect in the case, said Vallejo Police Lt. Kenny Park. "Ms. Huskins' whereabouts are unknown, and we are treating this matter as a kidnap for ransom," Park told reporters. "We're worried about Ms. Huskins' welfare. We don't know where she's at. And that's why we're coming to the public asking for their help." Huskins, who has been living in Vallejo the past year, is from Huntington Beach in Southern California, police said. She works as a physical therapist, police added. She is employed at a Kaiser Hospital, CNN affiliate KGO reported, citing her Facebook page. A cousin of Huskins, Amy Mattison, told CNN affiliate KPIX that the 30-year-old man is Huskins' boyfriend and she was abducted from his residence. Park declined to comment on the nature of the relationship between Huskins and the 30-year-old man who saw and reported the kidnapping. About 75 people from the Solano County Search and Rescue Team were searching for Huskins in nearby woods and on Mare Island, Park said. Huskins' 2000 White Toyota Camry was found in Vallejo and may have been moved from the residence, Park said. Authorities don't know when her vehicle was moved, police said. Park didn't disclose the amount of the ransom being sought. "All I can tell is there was a ransom demand," Park said. Police are asking the public's help in locating Huskins, who was described as white, 5-foot-7, 150 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. Vallejo police asked the FBI to help their investigation. CNN's Stella Chan contributed to this report. +(CNN)Idaho wildlife officials have retrieved 2,000 dead snow geese that fell from the sky this week. The birds, whose carcasses were collected over the weekend, appear to have died of avian cholera, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said Tuesday. "The migratory birds were on the return leg of their migration from the southwestern United States and Mexico to their breeding grounds on the northern coast of Alaska," said Steve Schmidt, a regional supervisor. They died near Dubois, Terreton and Roberts -- all in the eastern part of the state. It's unclear where the geese picked the bacteria from, but authorities are scrambling to ensure that other birds don't feed on the carcasses and spread the disease. "The important thing is to quickly collect as many of the carcasses as possible, to prevent other birds from feeding on the infected birds," Schmidt said. "Biologists observed about 20 eagles in the vicinity of some of the carcasses. Because of a delayed incubation period it is uncertain where these eagles might be located, if and when the avian cholera affects them." Though the official lab results are not out, officials said the cause of death points to avian cholera. Humans are not considered at high risk of getting the disease, according to U.S. health officials. +(CNN)America used to be a place where we said, "Give me liberty or give me death." We live by a credo that "freedom isn't free," and that our Constitution is worth dying for. How inspirational it is to believe that this is the wind of thought that blows underneath the Eagle's wings. Unfortunately, whenever that wind becomes just a little too gusty for comfort, we find out just how little relationship our poetic credo has to our collective guts. The latest example: Nine seconds of video of a number of boys singing an offensive song. Immediately, the University of Oklahoma expelled two of the boys for their speech. Forget whether you like the speech or not. That is not relevant. These boys got kicked out of a public school for singing a song, on their own time, in a privately rented bus, simply because the government didn't like the content of their song. Opinion: What's the right way to face racism? Censors overstepping their bounds is no surprise. What surprises me is how readily the public supported the expulsions, and how many supposedly intelligent people were willing to turn the First Amendment on its head, because of nine seconds of video. I don't like the song or its message either. I can't imagine anyone reasonable who would. But I want to live in a country where the government does not listen to my songs and then decide whether or not I should be punished, based on what words I used. That is not freedom. I understand that most of us hate racism. We are on a mission to eradicate it from all corners. But I am not willing to trade the First Amendment for a society where we don't need to hear racist words. In Abrams v. United States, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a passage that ultimately became the cornerstone of a liberty-based view toward free speech, and which became the dominant theory in First Amendment jurisprudence. In Abrams, Holmes gave us "the marketplace of ideas." And what a brilliant theory it was. Holmes noted that if someone was completely confident in the belief that they were right, then it would seem logical that they would want to suppress dissenting views. "If you have no doubt of your premises or your power, and want a certain result with all your heart, you naturally express your wishes in law, and sweep away all opposition." Those who wish to eradicate racism are certain that they are right. I believe in a racism-free world. I have marched in counterprotests against the Ku Klux Klan. I've stood up in places you don't want to be, against violent neo-Nazis. And I would do it again. But I feel no kinship with anyone who would harm the First Amendment to fight racism. Some things are worse than racism -- like a loss of the right to speak your mind and think your own thoughts. Unfortunately, that is a price that too many of us are willing to pay. I am not. As certain as I am that my views on race are correct, I cannot shake Holmes' wisdom from my mind. He wrote: . "But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas -- that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That, at any rate, is the theory of our Constitution." For that reason, I would gladly protest against the KKK, but I would never abide any government official denying the KKK its right to speak. I understand those who would wish to do so. They want to eradicate racism, and the end will justify the means. However, we have slowly been descending into a place where we are trading this for freedoms that are far more precious than the freedom to avoid having our feelings hurt by offensive statements. Of course, some say that these were more than "offensive." The song was a "threat." After all, it did mention lynching black people. But was that really a threat? An idiotic ditty in an all-white bus? To call it a threat is disingenuous. What about the disruptive nature of the song? Should other students have to go to school with people who clearly despise them, and who carry these offensive racist thoughts? Yes. They should be free to have these thoughts, they should be free to say these things. If it crosses the line into action, or even imminent incitement to action, that's another story. In this case, that never happened. The First Amendment prevails here. Opinion: The danger society doesn't talk about . It is easy to claim that these Sigma Alpha Epsilon boys did not deserve First Amendment protection. Many have said so. But, when you hear that, your immediate reaction should be one of skepticism. The First Amendment is not there to serve as a comforting blanket of civility. In fact, it is there precisely to protect the sharp edges. It is there for the KKK, the Nazis, SAE, and you alike. It is there for words that shock us, challenge us, and that bother us. You should want to protect the SAE boys -- not that they deserve it. You should do so because the day will come that your speech is unpopular. Once, speech in favor of racial equality was considered to be "bad speech." Once, professors were kicked off campus for not being "anti-gay enough." But, today, the thought of equality and tolerance have won out in the marketplace. Let that victory stand, without trying to cement it with the force of law, and without destroying the very liberty that allowed these "good thoughts" to flourish in the first place. +Hong Kong (CNN)Nestled in a tranquil hillside, Hong Kong's newest Buddhist monastery features bulletproof VIP rooms and the world's second tallest statue of the Goddess of Mercy -- a Buddhist deity. The monastery is funded entirely by Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, who contributed $193 million from his personal foundation to the building project. The premises, styled on Tang dynasty buildings, sprawl across a lush, green area of 500,000 square feet - around nine football fields. It can accommodate up to 400 to 500 visitors daily, but will not be open to tour groups in order to preserve the sacred atmosphere. Li initiated the project in 2003 to promote Buddhism in the city and construction took five years to complete. At a height of 76 meters (250 feet), the Goddess of Mercy statue overlooks the site and a breathtaking view of Hong Kong's harbor and several islands. The monastery also features several grand halls, including one which houses three ornate 24-karat gold plated Buddhist statues, where people can meditate, and learn about Buddhism. But perhaps the most intriguing feature is the bulletproof dormitory rooms. One of the three dormitories that provide housing for visiting monks from all over world has built-in bulletproof windows to protect "important guests." "We installed the bulletproof glass windows because we hoped there could be a place to protect our important guests such as the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand and other top monks," Walter Ngai Kai-shu, secretary general of the monastery told local media. The rooms are still empty, and Ngai added that they were not designed for Li or any specific individual, reported the South China Morning Post. Visitors are not allowed to bring joss sticks, meat, alcohol, or other food offerings in order to be environmentally friendly --- instead the monastery will provide water. "There are many other ways to offer the Buddha apart from joss sticks," Ngai told local media. Currently, a dozen monks, mainly from Hong Kong and Southeast Asia reside inside the monastery. It will be open to the public on April 15, but registration and booking is now available online. CNN's Shen Lu contributed to this report. +(CNN)A group of foreign medical students are thought to have traveled to Syria to work in ISIS-controlled hospitals, a Turkish lawmaker told CNN Sunday. The group of 11 people includes seven Britons, an American, a Canadian and two Sudanese, Mehmet Ali Ediboglu said. Ediboglu, an opposition Turkish lawmaker, told The Observer that he had spoken with the students' families, who were convinced their loved ones wanted to work for ISIS and were asking him for help tracking them down in neighboring Syria. "They have been cheated, brainwashed. That is what I, and their relatives, think," Ediboglu said, according to the newspaper. But he also stressed that the group did not travel with the intention of joining the battle. "Let's not forget about the fact that they are doctors," he told The Observer. "They went there to help, not to fight." Eight of the group are medical students who've just graduated and three others are in their final year of medical school, he said. They'd been studying in Khartoum, Sudan. Now, at least seven of their mothers and fathers are living near the Turkey-Syria border, pleading for their return, according to The Observer. In an interview published Monday in Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News, the group of parents said they were worried and vowed not to leave Turkey without their children. Dr. Maumoon Abdulqadir said he was sending a message to his daughter, Lena, who is one of the students. "I know you want to help people and be of use. But you can do this in another way," he told the newspaper. "There are many who need your help. But this is not the way. Please, come back." British officials said they are aware of the report. "We are providing consular assistance to their families and we have informed the Turkish police to try and ascertain their whereabouts," the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement. Officials have warned that a growing number of foreign fighters are traveling to join ISIS' ranks. Estimates about how many medical personnel the group has recruited are harder to come by. Last year, a 19-year-old Colorado woman was arrested at Denver International Airport as she was about to embark on a journey to an ISIS camp, where she hoped to serve as a nurse. CNN's Nimet Kirac and Radina Gigova contributed to this report. +(CNN)An online group claiming affiliation with Islamic State terrorists has threatened American military members and their families in the past, and over the weekend, a new threat surfaced on the Web. A group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division posted the names, photos and addresses of about 100 U.S. troops online, calling for attacks against them. The file, posted online Saturday before being removed, claimed to have hacked military databases and said it was leaking 100 names "so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you." The possibility of lone-wolf attacks in the United States, the type that this message calls for, is a threat officials take seriously. A U.S. law enforcement official said that all 100 or so troops named in the file are being contacted. It is believed that ISIS members and sympathizers have been scouring social media sites trying to glean as much information as possible about service members, and have even threatened the spouses of military personnel online. One military wife recalls recently staying up all night and deleting every Facebook picture of her children, every post that mentioned them or where they went to school. She Googled herself, trying to figure out how easy it would be to find where the family lived. In the morning, she went to her car and scraped the military decal off the front window. As the spouse of a Special Forces soldier, she's always tried to be conscious of how much she advertises that she and her three young children are a military family. "It's hard because I am so proud of what my husband does, but lately so many spouses that I know are actually scared that they could be targets of ISIS or someone who sympathizes with ISIS," she told CNN in January, asking that CNN keep her name out of the story for that reason. Pro-ISIS hackers have never been responsible for a major cyber breach but some experts worry their capabilities are growing. J.M. Berger, co-author of "ISIS: the State of Terror," told CNN, "There are indications some former members of Anonymous and TeaMp0isoN (another hacking group) are now hacking on behalf of ISIS." The large majority of those within such hacking collectives are thought to hold very different views. In the wake of the attack against the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January, hackers affiliated with Anonymous declared online war on ISIS and al Qaeda. Regarding this weekend's threat targeting troops, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service notified the Marines named in the file, a Marine Corps spokesman said. But the spokesman told CNN that the threat has yet to be verified. The Navy reminded service members to limit the amount of personal information they share online. On Sunday, a Defense Department official told CNN that it cannot confirm the validity of the posting of troops' information, but said it is investigating. The FBI is also looking into the post, a law enforcement official told CNN, adding there are questions about the credibility of the person or persons who posted it. In January, military families were spooked by an online message on Central Command's Twitter account which was in all caps. It read: "AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING. WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS." The tweet included a link to a statement that said, in part, "We won't stop! We know everything about you, your wives and children. U.S. soldiers! We're watching you!" The Twitter hacker managed to post other threatening messages, propaganda videos and some military documents until the accounts were disabled. Central Command quickly made public assurances that it was relatively easy to hack Twitter, no serious security details were revealed and it would find who was behind the hack. Army wife Ashley Broadway-Mack said the messages just amplified the anxiety she already feels after recent terror attacks targeting military personnel, law enforcement officers and civilians. She and other family members told CNN in January that they first began to think about the possibility in May 2013 when a uniformed British soldier in London was murdered by two men who shouted "Allahu akbar," or "God is great." Others started to fear the possibility of their service members or themselves being targeted after the killing of a Canadian soldier during an October attack on the country's Parliament. Attacks and plots in Australia have them concerned, too, they said. In September, the Australian Prime Minister said a plot to kidnap a member of the public, behead the victim and then drape him or her in an ISIS flag had been thwarted. In December, a self-styled Muslim cleric held hostages in a Sydney cafe for 17 hours, a drama that ended with the deaths of two hostages. The gunman, who was known for sending hate mail to military families, was killed. The slayings in Paris, for which al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken responsibility, have prompted Broadway-Mack to think about security at North Carolina's Fort Bragg. "Before the incident in Canada, I honestly didn't think ISIS was a threat to our family or other military families," she said in January. "I worry about the hundreds, thousands of folks going to and from work in uniform. They, too, could be targets. I think of other areas around the country where there's a large military presence -- an attack, ambush, lone terrorist is something I fear. "I hate to say it, but I honestly no longer think if, but when and where," she said. "I think it's only a matter of time." In late November, the FBI issued a warning to U.S. military members that ISIS was calling for attacks against them, a law enforcement source told CNN. The source said that "overseas based individuals are looking for like-minded individuals in the U.S. to carry out these attacks." The warning asked members of the military to "review their online social media presence for any information that might attract the attention of violent extremists." The bulletin also said authorities were concerned that ISIS members were "spotting and assessing" individuals in the United States who may be interested in carrying out attacks inside the country against members of the military, a U.S. counterterror official told CNN. Lori Volkman, who is married to a commanding officer, told CNN in January that she she knows military members and spouses who have stopped openly carrying their uniforms to their car after a visit to the dry cleaners. Some have stopped wearing clothing with military insignia and are more careful when they open their wallet to avoid showing military IDs or payment cards. The small, simple changes don't mean military family members are running scared, Volkman said. But it was difficult when her young daughter was watching television and saw the news about the Centcom hack and the threat that ISIS was coming for soldiers. "She turned and looked at me and you could see it registering -- we're soldiers. She had a very worried look," Volkman said. "But kids are comforted by whatever their parents tell them. We can't live our lives in fear and we try to reassure them." A blogger and communications firm CEO, Volkman wondered how she would even begin to scrub her online presence. Angela McCormick Ricketts also said in January that she's thrown her hands up about the matter of online privacy. Her memoir, "No Man's War" is a critical success. She's done a lot of press and is omnipresent online. "I'm probably screwed if ISIS starts targeting yappy military spouses, so it's too late now! There's also a part of me that thinks that's what they want -- to make us always looking over our shoulders. So no. No to all of it," she said. It's a matter of principle, she and others said. Why should families bend to fear and stop sharing online when social media has helped many of them get through 14 years of nonstop war? Though the military has at times struggled with how much freedom its members should have on social media, relatives have wholeheartedly embraced it. Military families appear to use social media at higher rates than civilians, according to data from the Pew Research Center. Social media as we now know it wasn't even around when the Afghanistan war began. Facebook launched in 2004, almost exactly a year after the United States invaded Iraq. Now, dozens of military spouses have blogs and Facebook caters to the community. A 2014 survey by military advocacy group Blue Star Families found that 75% of 6,200 respondents considered the use of social media to be very important. CNN's Paul Cruickshank, Mariano Castillo, Barbara Starr, Kevin Bohn, Mary Kay Mallonee, Pamela Brown and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report. +(CNN)Earlier this month, Shahindokht Molaverdi, Iran's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, led an official delegation to the United Nations in New York to attend the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. In her March 11 speech to the commission, Molaverdi said that "the Islamic Republic of Iran has always had the empowerment of women and improving their status...on its agenda." Molaverdi described the significant progress Iranian women have made in education and science, citing unilateral economic sanctions and violence against women as factors that have impeded the full realization of women's rights. There was little in her speech to suggest that domestic factors -- including Iran's laws and policies -- play a significant role in depriving Iranian women of real gender equality and empowerment. Unfortunately, Molaverdi's comments stood in sharp contrast to reality. On the day she delivered her speech, Amnesty International released a report raising concerns about the possible passage of two bills before Iran's parliament that would further restrict women's rights. One would prohibit voluntary sterilization as part of the country's efforts to boost population growth and strengthen the place of what are deemed "traditional" families in society. The other would "further entrench gender-based discrimination, particularly against women who choose not to or are unable to marry or have children," Amnesty said. A day later, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, released his fourth report to the U.N. Human Rights Council describing the dire state of human rights in the country. His report cited the concerns about gender discrimination that Human Rights Watch and others had raised during Iran's 2014 Universal Periodic Review, a review of every U.N. state's human rights record every four years by the Human Rights Council. The sobering reality, all too familiar to Molaverdi, is that Iranian women face discrimination in many aspects of their lives, ranging from issues related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody, to restrictions on dress and even access to sports stadiums as spectators. The proposed passage of more restrictive legislation in the name of protecting the family is just the latest step in the rollback on women's rights in recent years. To many, the discrepancy between what Molaverdi said in her speech, and what women face in Iran, smacked of diplomatic subterfuge. Activists and journalists rightly responded by highlighting the many violations of women's rights in Iran, and called out Molaverdi for failing to present an accurate and complete picture of the challenges that Iranian women face. Yet there was little acknowledgment by critics of the behind-the-scenes struggle that Molaverdi, who is often an outspoken critic of regressive measures restricting women's rights at home, and many others are waging every day as they try to carve out much-needed space for Iran's beleaguered rights activists. Just two days before the U.N. session, Iran's conservative Kayhan daily, thought to be close to the Office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, published an article that showed just what Iran's women's rights activists are up against. The author questioned the wisdom of allowing an official delegation to attend events such as the U.N. commission, describing its notion of "gender equality" as "unacceptable to the Islamic Republic." The article accused Molaverdi of "negligence" for participating in events that could damage Iran's reputation and interests, and accused the 150 or so people who attended the session as representatives of Iranian groups of doing so without full and proper vetting by Iran's security and intelligence agencies. What's striking about Kayhan's attack is that Iran's powerful security and intelligence apparatus has for years acted to repress independent groups, including women's rights activists. Groups like the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grassroots effort designed to operate within the law to collect signatures supporting the repeal of laws that discriminate against women, were targeted as security officials detained their members on spurious "national security" grounds. But those hostile to women's rights in Iran remain unrelenting. Anyone who fails, willingly or unknowingly, to heed their threats may face reprisals, as several activists who attempted to attend similar U.N. events in previous years found out. Yet Kayhan's attack also reflects the resilience and adaptability of women's groups in Iran as they continue to challenge the state's monopoly on the women's rights narrative. While Iranian women lost some important legal rights after the 1979 revolution, their social and economic stature increased on average as they gained wider access to education, health care, and birth control. The image of the compromised and submissive woman engendered by Iran's discriminatory legal system bears little resemblance to the private and public lives of many Iranian women today. So while we rightfully condemn the disconnect between what Molaverdi said at the United Nations, and what Iranian women face, let us not lose sight of another reality: the paradox that exists in Iran between the state's regressive laws and policies against women, and the tireless and undaunted drive for change and equality by those who will not be denied. That effort, at the very least, deserves our respect. +United Nations (CNN)Tour groups and diplomats breeze past a nondescript display of 35 blown-up photos printed on poster board. Suddenly, one tourist catches a glimpse of the subject of one of the photos: a man whose eyes have been gouged out. Manjula Sharma, visiting the United Nations from India, gasps when she realizes what she is looking at. "How could anybody do this?" she said, while looking at the photos with a pained expression. "It's not war. It's not drought. It's not natural calamity. It's torture." The exhibit is tucked away behind the lobby of the U.N. Secretariat Building. It's a no-frills exhibition of photos taken by a man who is being called "Caesar," a Syrian government defector whose job it was to take photos of dead detainees for the military police. Caesar claimed to take up to 50 photos a day, and brought nearly 27,000 images like these out of the country. Captions on the photos show that many of them were taken inside military hospitals, and accuse Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in the torture and killings. The photos show emaciated bodies. Some have eyes gouged out, some have genitals removed. And many are covered with wounds, the flesh peeling from their bodies. It's a sight that gave pause to Anders Frantzen, who works at the United Nations and was running late to a meeting. "I told myself I really wanted to come back here and take a proper look. It looks like something you haven't seen since the Second World War. It's very bad," Frantzen said. "It's difficult to put a face, an image to the numbers we hear about. So you see these pictures (and) it sort of puts things in a new perspective." While the photos have been shown before Congress and in media reports, many people, like Sharma, had no idea they existed. That's partly why Mouaz Moustafa, senior political adviser to the Coalition for a Democratic Syria, said he placed the photos in this location. He wanted to bring awareness to the public and put pressure on U.N. Security Council member states to vote for the International Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria. "If you ask anyone about ISIS from Mississippi to Alabama, everyone is so well aware of this obviously evil entity," Moustafa said. "If you compare it to the horrendous crimes of the Assad regime, it doesn't get, I feel, it doesn't get the same coverage." The Syrian Mission to the United Nations did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the exhibit. The exhibit will be at the United Nations until March 24. +(CNN)Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and will return for "Captain America: Civil War," are cementing themselves as Marvel's main movie executors. The brothers will direct both parts of the studio's "Avengers: Infinity War," taking over the billion-dollar franchise from Joss Whedon, who directed the first two Avengers films. (The second one, "Avengers: Age of Ultron," opens May 1.) They'll film "Infinity War" in one long shoot beginning sometime in 2016, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Marvel's 'Secret Wars:' What newcomers need to know . No writers are attached, but the brothers will likely reunite with "Winter Soldier's" Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They collaborated on "Civil War," which the Russos will begin shooting next month. The new deal raises the question of the status of the Russos' deal with Sony. The duo signed a three-year first-look deal with the Culver City-based studio in March. Working on an Avengers movie is an all-consuming endeavor, so how active they will be within that deal remains to be seen. How Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman have changed their looks through the years . "Civil War," for which the brothers are in preproduction and which is considered to be a mini-Avengers movie because of the large cast of heroes, has a May 6, 2016, release date. "Infinity War - Part 1" and "Infinity War - Part 2" are slated to be released May 4, 2018, and May 3, 2019, respectively. The "Infinity" get is a massive feather in the duo's caps and marks the latest in an incredible career trajectory. The Russos began in television comedy, directing episodes of "Arrested Development" in the early to mid-2000s, and continued to work in the field in 2012 with "Happy Endings" and "Up All Night." It was their work on some of the geeky episodes of "Community," however, that led to "Winter Soldier," a movie that grossed $717.7 million worldwide. With Marvel deal, Sony opts to lease rather than sell Spider-Man . Badass Digest first reported that the deal was closing. The Russos are represented by WME and Jackoway Tyerman. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Blue Bell ice cream has added another product to the list of items it's recalling over potential contamination with listeria. The company said Monday that it's recalling 3 oz. institutional/food service cups of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream after a test detected listeria in one of the cups recovered from a Kansas hospital. There have been no illnesses reported from the cups, Blue Bell said. The contaminated cup was produced at a plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, in April 2014, the company said. Earlier this month the company recalled a group of products that were made at a plant in Texas as Kansas health officials said three people had died in the past year from a listeria outbreak that could be linked to Blue Bell Creameries products. A total of five people have contracted the serious infection in Kansas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All five of them were hospitalized at the same hospital before developing listeriosis, the CDC said. At least four of them had eaten milkshakes made with Blue Bell ice cream before developing the infection. "We are devastated and know that Blue Bell has to be and can be better than this," Paul Kruse, Blue Bell CEO and president, said in a statement. "Quality and safety have always been our top priorities. We are deeply saddened and concerned for all those who have been affected." Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with listeria, primarily affects the elderly, pregnant women, newborns and people with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC. Symptoms of a listeria infection are fever and muscle aches, sometimes associated with diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the CDC. In the United States, an estimated 1,600 people become seriously ill each year; approximately 16% of these illnesses result in death. Cervical infections caused by listeriosis in pregnant women may result in spontaneous abortion during the second or third trimesters or stillbirth. The CDC advises that individuals and institutions should check their freezers for the recalled products and throw them away. In a statement on its website, Blue Bell said "this recall in no way includes Blue Bell ice cream half gallons, pints, quarts, 3 gallons or other 3 oz. cups." This is the first product recall in the 108-year history of Blue Bell Creameries, the company said. CNN's Debra Goldschmidt, Amanda Watts and Jacque Wilson contributed to this report. +(CNN)Ferguson's police chief is gone. So is the city manager. And the top court clerk was fired for sending racist emails. But are these high-level changes enough to satisfy all residents? Absolutely not, they say. Protesters amassed in front of the Ferguson Police Department on Wednesday night, demanding the entire force be disbanded and calling for Mayor James Knowles to step down. "Racist cops have got to go," some chanted. "The people, united, will never be defeated," others said. Amid the protests, two officers were shot -- one in the face, the other in the shoulder. They were hospitalized in serious condition, and it's not clear who the shooter was. So what will it take to calm Ferguson? DeRay McKesson told CNN that protesters want the entire police department dissolved. McKesson was part of a group that appeared to be the largest crowd since November when a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The killing was the spark that started a national wildfire of dialogue about police brutality. Many have decried rampant racism within the Ferguson Police Department. And a scathing 102-page Justice Department report backed up some of their claims -- citing widespread and systemic discrimination against blacks, including targeting them disproportionately for tickets. On Wednesday, Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced he's stepping down, effective March 19. He'll still get one year's worth of pay and insurance. CNN legal analyst Mark O'Mara said the entire department needs to be gutted. "The Department of Justice report revealing unquestionable racist bias that permeated the entire department cannot be ignored, and the problems it reveals cannot be fixed from the inside," O'Mara wrote. "If there are a few good cops in the Ferguson Police Department, they need to leave, and they need to go elsewhere to continue their proud law enforcement career without being overshadowed by their involvement in a poisoned organization." But city officials believe the police department can be reformed without being eliminated, the mayor told reporters. "We continue to go through that report and talk about where the breakdown was," Knowles said. "The city of Ferguson looks to become an example of how a community can move forward in the face of adversity," he added. "We are committed to keeping our police department and having one that exhibits the highest degree of professionalism and fairness." Even if protesters get their wishes -- the resignation of Knowles and the disbanding of the police department -- they still won't get what they originally wanted: charges against Wilson. A local grand jury decided not to indict Wilson in November for the shooting death of Brown, who died August 9. The Justice Department launched its own investigation to see if there were any federal civil rights violations. "There is no evidence upon which prosecutors can rely to disprove Wilson's stated subjective belief that he feared for his safety" when he shot Brown, the Justice Department report said. Wilson resigned from the police department in November, citing security concerns. But he remains a controversial figure in Ferguson. When resident Sue Schmidt defended Wilson at Tuesday's City Council meeting, she heard vocal objections from the crowd. "I'd like to say a lot of people in this room owe Darren Wilson an apology," Schmidt said, prompting laughter by some in the audience. "The same Justice report that you're basing all your opinions on cleared him 100%." It's not clear who else may resign or get fired after the critical Justice Department report, which said Ferguson operated a vertically integrated system -- from street cop to court clerk to judge to city administration and City Council -- to raise revenue through increased ticketing and fining. Read the Department of Justice report . The investigators also found evidence of racist jokes being sent around by Ferguson police and court officials. One November 2008 email said President Barack Obama wouldn't likely be President for long because "what black man holds a steady job for four years." Another email joked that African-American women should use abortion to control crime. "Our investigation has not revealed any indication that any officer or court clerk engaged in these communications was ever disciplined," the Justice Department's report said. After the report came out, the city's top court clerk was fired for sending racist emails, and two others were being investigated, the mayor said. But the mayor hasn't resigned -- to the ire of many protesters Wednesday night. "You got rid of Jackson, but we want Knowles" gone, protester Kayla Reed said. Knowles said other reforms are already underway in an attempt to "move this city, its residents and our entire community forward." But the community is clearly at odds about how to move forward. +(CNN)A photo of what appeared to be a homeless person reading a copy of Vogue has been deleted from the Instagram account of the style editor who posted it amid criticism that it showed how "out of touch" she is. Vogue style editor-at-large Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, a member of German royalty who has been with the magazine since 2012, posted the photo Saturday from Paris, where she is covering fashion week. "Paris is full of surprises....and @voguemagazine readers even in unexpected corners!" the caption read. Style news website Fashionista, which first reported on the picture, called it the latest example showing how "disturbingly out of touch" she is. "... The things she writes, both in Vogue and on social media, often straddle the line between entertaining/aspirational and disturbingly out of touch. On Saturday she crossed that line," the article said. Some commenters on the photo appeared to agree, calling the photo "shameful," "cruel" and "in poor taste." In response, von Thurn und Taxis, who often goes by "TNT," posted the comment: "Why cruel? The person to me is as dignified as anyone else!" Others started coming to her defense, saying there was nothing wrong with the photo, before it disappeared from her feed about five hours after it was posted. Vogue and TNT did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment. Do you think the photo crossed the line? Let us know on this Facebook post. +(CNN)Latest developments: . Full story: . Saudi Arabia has launched military operations in neighboring Yemen, where for months Houthi rebels have intensified their violent campaign against the government, the Saudi ambassador to the United States told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. Adel al-Jubeir said the operation consisted of airstrikes on more than one city and in more than one region. Yemen, a longtime stronghold for one of al Qaeda's most dangerous branches, has been plunged into chaos since the Houthi rebels began seizing control of the capital and other areas of the country in recent months. The unrest has led to the withdrawal of U.S. special forces from Yemen, seriously undermining counterterrorism efforts there. How did Yemen get to this place? "We are determined to protect the legitimate government of Yemen," al-Jubeir said. "Having Yemen fail cannot be option for us or for our coalition partners." A leading member of the Houthis' political wing, Ansar Allah, said force will be met with force. "This is a clear aggression and we will respond by a counteraggression," Ali Al Imad told CNN Arabic. "The Saudi move will unite all the people of Yemen against the Saudis and the kingdom will pay the price." If the Saudis try to invade with ground troops, he said, they will fail. "They probably will try to avoid that, but If it happened then they will pay a very high price," Imad said. The Saudi airstrikes appear to be targeting military compounds, headquarters and weapons storage areas. Journalist Hakim Almasmari, who is staying in the capital of Sanaa, said hundreds of explosions have caused residents to stay in their homes. "I do expect the Sanaa of a couple of hours ago to be a different Sanaa in the morning," he said. A senior Arab diplomat told CNN that the Gulf Cooperation Council soon will issue a statement that the Yemenis have asked for military assistance and the GCC is prepared to step in. It will be signed by all GCC countries except for Oman. Not all countries will contribute military forces, the source said. Arab and senior administration officials from the United States told CNN that an interagency U.S. coordination team is in Saudi Arabia. The sources said the Saudis have not specified what they want yet, but will likely ask for American air support, satellite imagery, and other intelligence. "We can help with logistics and intelligence and things like that, but there will be no military intervention by the U.S.," a senior administration official said. Al-Jubeir said the United States is not involved in the airstrikes against the Houthis, who are Shiites in a majority Sunni nation. But the coalition includes more than 10 nations, he said, meaning more than the six GCC countries will be involved. Yemen, which has been in turmoil for months, shares a border with southern Saudi Arabia. "We hope that the wisdom will prevail among the Houthis and they will become part of the political process rather than continue radical approach to try to take over Yemen and destroy it," Al-Jubeir said. Earlier Wednesday, rebel forces captured parts of the port city of Aden and a nearby Yemeni air base recently evacuated by U.S. forces, officials in the country said, with one rebel spokesman claiming that Yemen's president fled Aden as his opponents advanced. The rebels late Wednesday morning captured al-Anad air base, an installation that the last Yemen-based contingent of U.S. special operations forces evacuated over the weekend because of the deteriorating security situation in the country, said Mohammed AbdulSalam, a spokesman for the Houthi rebels. The rebel forces -- Houthis and some allies in the Yemeni military -- then advanced on Aden, the nearby port city where President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi had taken refuge for weeks. There were conflicting reports Wednesday about Hadi's whereabouts. But one Houthi spokesman, Mohammed AlBukhaiti, said Hadi left Aden on a boat with a Saudi diplomatic team as the rebels approached the port city. AlBukhaiti told CNN that Hadi went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But a Saudi Arabian source told CNN's Nic Robertson that the President was still in Yemen in the early hours Thursday. Earlier, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, "It's pretty clear (Hadi) left voluntarily," without saying where Hadi had gone. She clarified that circumstances in Yemen caused him to leave his residence, but that rebels did not expel him. Two senior administration officials said it's unclear if he left Aden. The rebels' advance illustrated the growing power the Houthis have enjoyed since taking over Sanaa in January, and illustrated a further collapse of a government that had been a key U.S. ally in the fight against then Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. For years, Yemen had allowed U.S. drones and special operations forces to stalk AQAP in the country. Now, that arrangement is in tatters, along with any semblance of peace in the Middle Eastern nation. Underscoring rebels' increasing strength, Houthi-commanded Yemeni air force jets on Wednesday dropped bombs on or fired missiles at the presidential palace in Aden for the third time in a week, causing minimal damage and injuring no one, two Hadi aides said. The airstrikes happened before reports of Hadi's departure from Aden emerged. Hadi had been staying at the Aden palace since last month, when he fled the capital, Sanaa, after a Houthi takeover there. The United States "strongly condemn(s) the recent offensive military actions taken in Yemen that have targeted President Hadi," Psaki told reporters Wednesday. The Houthi militants -- Shiite Muslims who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni country -- moved into the capital, Sanaa, in September, sparking battles that killed a few hundred people before a ceasefire was called. In January, they surrounded the presidential palace and Hadi resigned and was put under house arrest. But Hadi escaped in February, fleeing to Aden and declaring that he remained the country's leader. The Houthis took control of military forces stationed near Sanaa, including the air force. Some of the forces aligned with the Houthis also are loyal to Hadi's predecessor, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who resigned in 2012 after months of "Arab Spring" protests inspired in part by a 2011 revolution in Egypt. By last week, opposing Yemeni military forces -- those loyal to the Houthis, and those answering to Hadi -- battled in Aden, with Hadi's forces temporarily pushing out the rebels on March 19 after at least 13 people were killed. On Wednesday, with the U.S. forces gone, Houthi-aligned forces took over al-Anad air base, about 40 kilometers from Aden, said AbdulSalam, one of the Houthi spokesmen. The number of casualties, if any, wasn't immediately available. Some Hadi supporters evacuated the base, and Houthi forces arrested some top officials who were there, including Hadi's defense minister, AbdulSalam said. No deaths or injuries were immediately reported in the rebels' subsequent takeover of Aden's airport and the central bank. CNN's Elise Labott, Becky Anderson, Nick Paton Walsh, Greg Botelho, Michael Pearson, Anas Hamdan, Salma Abdelaziz and Mustafa al-Arab contributed to this report. +(CNN)Tiger Woods won't be playing at Arnold Palmer's charity tournament next week, but he still hopes to be lining up with the golf legend at the season's opening major. While the 85-year-old Palmer has vowed to overcome a shoulder injury to fulfil his ceremonial tee-off role at the Masters, Woods is still trying to get his game in shape. The former world No. 1 has competed only twice this year, missing the cut at the Phoenix Open in early February before withdrawing in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open due to his ongoing back problems. "Tiger called me personally to let me know that he wouldn't be playing here at Bay Hill," Palmer said on his PGA Tour event's website. "He said that his game is not quite ready yet and that he was disappointed that he won't be able to play in the tournament, which has always meant a lot to him. I'm sorry that he won't be playing. We'll certainly miss him, but I understand and appreciated that he called me." Woods has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational a record eight times, the last of which came in 2013. However, he has not added to his total of 14 major wins since 2008, but hopes to be in contention at Augusta from April 9-12. "I've put in a lot of time and work on my game and I'm making strides, but like I've said, I won't return to the PGA Tour until my game is tournament ready and I can compete at the highest level," the 39-year-old said on his website. "I hope to be ready for the Masters, and I will continue to work hard preparing for Augusta." Palmer first hosted the Bay Hill tournament in 1979 and it took his name from 2007. It raises money for two Florida hospitals named for the seven-time major winner and his late wife Winnie. "I am so proud of what has been accomplished at the hospitals over the past 25 years. It is always a privilege to know that we are making a difference in the lives of families throughout the community," said Palmer after his medical center was named one of the best for children in the U.S. for 2014-15. He hurt his shoulder in December after tripping on carpet when he was about to make a speech at a PGA Tour father/son event. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy will make his first appearance at Palmer's March 19-22 tournament, which features a restricted field, while top-five players Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Jason Day will also take part. Like us on Facebook . +March 20, 2015 . Today's coverage begins with a pair of presidential proposals, including an executive order and a suggestion to mandate voting. Then, science takes over in reports on celestial events, extraordinary auroras, and miniature satellites that are mapping our world. We'll feature a random segment involving rats and Mozart, and we'll show you a car that literally can fly. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. WEEKLY NEWSQUIZ . Click here for a printable version of the Weekly Newsquiz (PDF). 1. Rescue workers in what Pacific island nation described a scene of absolute devastation after a massive cyclone made landfall last weekend? 2. What was the name of the cyclone that made landfall in the answer to question 1? 3. Name the legislative branch of Israel's government, which is also known as the Israeli parliament. 4. What Italian city, which features 409 bridges, is slowly sinking and tilting to the east? 5. What U.S. city just logged its most seasonal snowfall since the winter of 1872? 6. What kind of weapons were outlawed in warfare in 1925, though they have been used in some conflicts since then? 7. Name the ancient region of the Fertile Crescent that many historians consider the "cradle of civilization" and that stretched over what is now the nation of Iraq. 8. Habib Essid is the prime minister of what North African country, whose capital witnessed a terrorist attack at a museum on Wednesday? 9. What celestial phenomenon occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow over our planet? 10. A 1990s study found that rats more quickly and effectively find their way through mazes after repeatedly hearing music from what composer? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Formula One star Fernando Alonso will not race in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on the advice of doctors treating him for the effects of a high-speed crash. The double world champion was concussed and airlifted to hospital after losing control of his McLaren at the penultimate winter test in Barcelona last month. The Spaniard is now recovering at home but doctors have indicated returning to racing in Melbourne three weeks after after the high impact could be too risky. Alonso commented on Twitter: "It will be tough not to be in Australia, but I understand the recommendations. A second impact in less than 21 days "NO". McLaren explained in a statement: "Fernando's doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion." Kevin Magnussen -- who effectively lost his seat to Alonso when the Spaniard returned to McLaren after his Ferrari exit -- will race alongside Jenson Button in the Australian Grand Prix on March 15th. Alonso's return to the starting grid in McLaren colors has been delayed by his freakish crash at the Circuit de Catalunya, home to the Spanish Grand Prix. McLaren had explained that Alonso's "accident was caused by the unpredictably gusty winds at that part of the circuit at that time." Turn Three, where the accident took place, is an area of the circuit where cross winds are known to affect the balance of the cars. The 33-year-old posted a video on social media on Friday to thank his fans for his support and update them on his condition. Standing in a garden, a smiling Alonso said: "As you can see I'm completely fine. I will rest and keep you updated next week with progress and see you very soon on the track." But his return to the racing asphalt has now been delayed until at least the Malaysian Grand Prix at the end of March despite doctors saying he has no symptoms of illness. "Having performed an exhaustive series of tests and scans -- some of them as recently as yesterday evening -- Alonso's doctors have informed him that they find him asymptomatic of any medical issue; that they see no evidence whatsoever of any injury," McLaren said in a statement. "They therefore describe him as entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives alike." However, in order to limit the risk of a secondary concussion Alonso has accepted the advice not to race but has continued his preparations for the new F1 season. "Fernando's doctors acknowledge that he feels fit and well, and that he regards himself as ready to race," the statement continued. "They are comfortable with the fact that he has already recommenced physical training, with a view to preparing for a return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Honda car for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Indeed, his doctors are supportive of that ambition." Alonso chose to leave Ferrari at the end of the 2014 season and rejoin McLaren, which is also renewing its technical partnership with Japanese engine manufacturer Honda for 2015. The Spaniard -- regarded by his peers as the best driver on the grid -- is chasing a third world crown but, so far, he has not had chance to gauge the possibilities of realizing that ambition with McLaren. Early reliability problems meant Alonso had only completed 117 laps in the MP4-30 race car before his preseason was curtailed by the crash. +Kano, Nigeria (CNN)Hundreds of troops from Chad and Niger launched a ground and aerial offensive against Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria on Sunday, according to residents and military sources from Niger. The sweeping offensive is taking place along the Niger-Nigeria border, sources said, effectively opening a new front in the fight against the Islamist terror group. This comes a day after Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS in an audio message purported to be from leader Abubakar Shekau. Latest developments in the fight against ISIS . "Early this morning, troops from Niger and Chad launched ground and air raids against Boko Haram into Nigeria, and the operation is still continuing," said a military official in the border town of Diffa, Niger. "It is an intensive operation that is aimed at pulverizing Boko Haram and crippling their capability," according to the source. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment publicly about the operation. ‎Residents said artillery fire and fighter jets pushed Boko Haram fighters into the Damasak district of Nigeria, which is a Boko Haram enclave. "Around 6 a.m., soldiers from Niger and Chad in huge numbers confronted Boko Haram around the Doutchi area outside Diffa and later crossed the bridge into Nigeria," said Diffa resident Ari Boubakarna. "We heard huge explosions from artillery fire and fighter jets, but the explosions receded ‎as the troops moved further into Nigeria," Boubakarna continued. A journalist working in Diffa saw ‎troops headed toward the border with Nigeria, where Boko Haram fighters had taken up positions. ‎"They left in a huge convoy of over 200 vehicles, some of them fitted with machine guns, including armored tanks, ambulances, water tankers and cargo trucks, which indicate they were going for a prolonged operation," the journalist said. ‎Residents lined up the streets to offer water and tea as the troops drove out of Diffa, residents said, adding that soldiers promised to capture Shekau alive.‎ . ‎Another contingent of troops, backed by air support, moved out from the town of Bosso, Niger, according to residents. "Soldiers in large numbers crossed into Nigeria this morning, and we could hear thunderous sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from the direction of Malam Fatori," Bosso resident Tandja Moumouni said. Nigeria and its neighbors have recently mounted a coordinated offensive against Boko Haram militants in the Borno state, where the Islamist group has seized a large swathe of territory. Nigeria shares a border with Niger, Chad and Cameroon there. As a part of this alliance, thousands of troops from Niger and Chad were stationed in Bosso and Diffa in January. ‎The offensive has succeeded in reclaiming some of the territory seized by the group. Nigeria has vowed to liberate all of its territories from Boko Haram before the general elections, which begin on March 28, to enable displaced residents return to their homes for the elections. +(CNN)With tensions running high after the shooting of two officers in Ferguson, Missouri, state and county police took over protest security in the St. Louis suburb Thursday. St. Louis County Police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are assuming "command of the security detail regarding protests," St. Louis County Police said, while Ferguson Police will remain responsible for "routine policing services" in the city. The takeover came less than a day after two police officers standing guard outside Ferguson police headquarters were shot in what St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called an "ambush," spurring a manhunt for those responsible for targeting the line of officers. "We could have buried two police officers," Belmar told reporters. "... I feel very confident that whoever did this ... came there for whatever nefarious reason that it was." Belmar said several people "have been very forthright" with investigators, but authorities haven't released the names of any possible suspects. Investigators believe they have identified two people they want to question in the shooting, and one of them might be the shooter, a law enforcement official said. Police are also trying to find anyone who may have helped the shooter get away. This isn't the first time that county police and state troopers have stepped in to handle protest security. When clashes between police and protesters boiled over last year, Missouri's governor declared a state of emergency and tapped the State Highway Patrol to take over. After that emergency declaration expired in December, Ferguson Police resumed command of protest security. Officers from other agencies have continued to provide backup at larger protests. At a candlelight vigil Thursday night near the scene of the shooting, religious leaders led prayers for the wounded police officers and protesters. Dozens of demonstrators gathered again outside the police headquarters Thursday night. This time, Jeff Roorda of the St. Louis Police Officers Association said, the security situation on the streets is different. "It's a very tense situation, as you can well imagine," he told CNN's "The Situation Room." "In my communications as a union official with police commanders, I've been assured that tactics will be different tonight. I assume that means not only more officers, but a wider perimeter, with coverage, perhaps, of these blind spots from which the shots were fired last night." Shots rang from a hill overlooking the station out shortly after midnight Wednesday, at the end of a protest against the Ferguson Police Department. Officers saw "muzzle flashes ... about 125 yards away," Belmar said. Protesters have disavowed any ties to the shooting, saying the demonstrators believe in nonviolence. "As the protest was dying down, someone, somewhere got violent. Now who they were and what group they were affiliated with, we don't know," said Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman. "In no way are they representative of the thousands of people...who have been protesting." Belmar believes someone targeted the police, who have faced heated criticism for months, for a reason. "These police officers were standing there, and they were shot just because they were police officers," he said. That department has been under fire since one of its officers, Darren Wilson, shot and killed black teen Michael Brown in August, and more recently since a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report came out documenting a pattern of racial discrimination. Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigned from his post Wednesday. While the demonstrators' focus was Ferguson, neither of the wounded officers works in that St. Louis suburb's Police Department. One is from Webster Groves, a city about 13 miles south of Ferguson. The officer -- a 32-year-old with seven years' experience -- was shot at the high point of his cheek, just under his right eye, Belmar said. The other wounded officer was hit in the shoulder and the bullet came out the middle of his back, Belmar said. He is a 41-year-old from St. Louis County Police who has been in law enforcement for the past 14 years. Both men were treated and released from St. Louis' Barnes Jewish Hospital. Brown's parents condemned the shooting as "senseless," saying such violence against law enforcement "will not be tolerated." So did the White House, with a tweet signed with President Barack Obama's initials offering prayers for the wounded officers and calling "violence against police ... unacceptable." And U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who visited Ferguson in the aftermath of Brown's shooting and unrest that spurred, decried what happened as a "heinous and cowardly (and) repugnant attack." "What happened last night was a pure ambush," Holder said. "This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson. This was a damn punk who was trying to sow discord." Iresha Turner says police banged on her door in the middle of the night. "I opened the door and stood back. I look at my chest, there's a red dot on it," she said. "I have my hands up, start crying. I said, 'please, don't shoot me." Turner was one of three people who were questioned for hours by investigators Thursday and eventually released. But they never saw the shooting and had no idea who opened fire, she said. Turner thinks police questioned her because she was in a car of people who sped away after the shooting -- not because they had anything to do with it, she said, but because they were scared after hearing gunshots. It's not known what connection, if any, the shooter or shooters had to Wednesday night's protest. One irony is that, for some protesters, Wednesday was a day to celebrate: They'd called for Jackson's resignation for months, and finally it was happening. But for others, it was not enough. That's why they congregated in Ferguson, to demand changes like disbanding the city's entire Police Department and ousting Mayor James Knowles. Some chanted, "Racist cops have got to go." Others held signs with slogans such as "They don't really care about us!" and "Black lives matter." "It was a great group (with) great, great energy," protester Markus Loehrer said. Three were arrested in a crowd Belmar characterized as agitated and "pretty rowdy" at times. Demonstrator DeRay McKesson told CNN that one fight that occurred had nothing to do with the protests. At its peak, some 150 protesters congregated Wednesday night in front of the Ferguson police station, Belmar said. About 70 law enforcement officers from multiple departments came in to stand in front of the station, as they have on many other nights -- with the turnout of demonstrators the highest since the November grand jury decision not to indict Wilson. There's the manhunt, of course. And then there's the likelihood of more protests and the possibility of more violence as well. Even though Jackson, City Manager John Shaw, Ferguson's top court clerk and two police officers are gone or on their way out, some activists are vowing to keep pressing for change. "We aren't satisfied with this," Reed said of the police chief's exit. "It's a step in the right direction, but it's not what total justice looks like in Ferguson." Jackson expressed optimism that, in his view, the Justice Department report concluded that Ferguson "can do the tough work to see this through and emerge the best small town it can be." But what are the prospects after Thursday's shooting? Loehrer worried that the shooting will undercut the protesters' message against discrimination and violence. "It's a shame that somebody had to take advantage of this great group," he said, "to do something so despicable." And Belmar said it underscores the fact that, eight months after Brown's death, the streets of Ferguson are still simmering and law enforcement officers there are on edge. "This is beginning at times to be very difficult for any law enforcement agencies, anywhere, to really wrap their arms around," he said. "I want everybody ... to understand how difficult this is." CNN's Holly Yan, Joe Sutton, Sara Sidner, Jason Carroll, Shimon Prokupecz, Evan Perez, Don Lemon and Tina Burnside contributed to this report. +(CNN)Even with the national chapter shutting the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house at the University of Oklahoma, the school president said the university's affiliation with the fraternity is permanently done as a campus group called for the expulsion of fraternity members. The members have until midnight Tuesday to get their things out of the house, university President David Boren said in a Monday afternoon news conference. "The house will be closed, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't be back," he said, adding that the university is exploring what actions it can take against individual fraternity members. A Saturday video showing party-bound fraternity members on a bus chanting a racial epithet found its way anonymously to the school newspaper and a campus organization, which both promptly publicized the nine-second clip. David Boren: Not just another college president . The students on the bus clap and pump their fists as they boisterously chant, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me." By Sunday night, SAE's national chapter had suspended the University of Oklahoma members and threatened lifelong suspensions for anyone responsible for the chant, but Boren took it a step further. He appeared at a campus rally and told students over a bullhorn, "I have a message for those who have misused their freedom of speech in this way. My message to them is: You're disgraceful. You have violated every principle that this university stands for." He said that he was angered, outraged and saddened by what he saw in the video. Boren stressed that the fraternity members' behavior is not indicative of what University of Oklahoma students, nicknamed Sooners, represent. "It was unbelievable that this could have possibly occurred with UO students," he said. "Sooners are not racists. They're not bigots. They are people who respect each other and care about each other." He called for zero tolerance. "The only way you put a stop to it is have zero tolerance when it is found out. Clearly, I think some of our students wanted this exposed. They wanted this video out there, and I've asked them to please let me know when they're other things like this that happen," Boren told CNN. The student newspaper, The Oklahoma Daily, received the video in a Sunday email, said print Editor Katelyn Griffith. The fraternity celebrated its Founder's Day on Saturday, and the video showed members traveling to a formal event that evening, she said. "We decided that this was definitely a story they needed to cover without question," she told CNN. "This was something that we knew wouldn't be tolerated by the students at OU and the university at large." Unheard, a campus organization launched in response to the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, received the video Sunday via anonymous text and immediately moved to "let our community and our university know that this behavior is not tolerated, that's it's unacceptable and it's extremely, extremely offensive," said the group's co-director, Chelsea Davis. This mentality is not new to campus, and it's not confined to one fraternity, Davis told CNN, but it's the first time people have been caught on video. "Unfortunately, it took them getting caught on video camera for this to happen, but this is definitely not something that is brand-new. It's not something that's only seen within this one organization," she said. Davis said the only acceptable response is to expel -- not suspend, as that would send the wrong message -- all the students involved. "I was hurt that my fellow peers that I walk to class with every day, people that I see every day, could say such hateful things about me and my culture, about my friends, about my brothers and my sisters," she said. At a news conference, Boren said the school was looking into punishing the individuals involved, especially against those "who have taken a lead" in the chanting. While expulsion is an option, any punishment must be "carefully directed" if it's to pass constitutional muster. One key will be whether the offending students created a hostile environment on campus, he said. Boren emphasized that "there is no room for racists and bigots" at Oklahoma. "I think some of the students themselves may take themselves off the campus, and I hope they do because this is not a place that wants racists," he told CNN later. That sentiment echoed throughout campus, as a large crowd of students attended a protest at the university's North Oval, some of them arriving with tape over their mouths with the word, "Unheard," written across it. Other students took to social media to express their disappointment, with one person urging students to change their profile picture to an image that says in Sooner crimson, "Not on our campus," the "ou" in "our" offset in gray. OU is shorthand for the University of Oklahoma. Unheard posted the video online Sunday with the comment, "Racism is alive at The University of Oklahoma." It was addressed to @President_Boren, the university president's Twitter handle. Boren quickly threatened to throw the fraternity off-campus if the allegations were true. The SAE's national chapter also moved promptly, saying in a statement it had closed the chapter "following the discovery of an inappropriate video." The group further apologized for the "unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video." "I was not only shocked and disappointed, but disgusted by the outright display of racism displayed in the video," SAE national President Bradley Cohen said in a statement. A group of students gathered to pray over the racist insults. One of them told CNN affiliate KFOR-TV he was "nauseated, frustrated," but he was happy with the SAE headquarters' decision. "We should be past this. This is disgusting," he said. Spray paint marked a wall of SAE's fraternity house at the university. "Tear it down," the graffiti appeared to say. Police posted squad cars in front of the house. Members of the Oklahoma football team protested, marching in lieu of meeting and practice. Backlash extended beyond campus as well, with hip-hop star Waka Flocka Flame saying on Instagram that he was canceling an upcoming show for the SAEs. "All races partying have a good time and enjoying themselves together peacefully. That's what Waka Flocka is all about. For that reason, I must say I'm disgusted and disappointed in the actions of the SAE fraternity at University of Oklahoma and I will be canceling my scheduled performance for them next month. Racism is something I will not tolerate," the Atlanta rapper wrote. CNN's Ben Brumfield, Chuck Johnston, Nick Valencia, Tristan Milder, Lindsey Knight, Justin Lear and Emanuella Grinberg contributed to this report. +(CNN)Some of the 100 fraternity brothers of the now-disbanded Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of Oklahoma have received death threats after the release of a video in which a racist chant was heard, a lawyer for the chapter's board said Friday. Attorney Stephen Jones said other members of the former chapter of the fraternity have been physically assaulted, though he wouldn't go into specifics. Jones told a news conference that he had been retained by the board of trustees -- the alumni advisers for the chapter -- "to assist them in evaluating certain legal issues and other matters that may impact local chapter of SAE." There are no plans right now to sue the university, which shut down the chapter's house and disbanded the SAE chapter, he said. The national chapter of SAE also revoked the OU chapter's charter. The school also expelled two members of the fraternity, but Jones said he is not representing them. Jones said the actions on a nine-second video that showed some members yelling a racist chant that included a reference to lynching were inexcusable. There was "no justification for what occurred. Zero," he said. Jones said he is involved to protect the due process and First Amendment rights of members. The fraternity's national office said it is investigating the incident in the video to see if it needs to take action against any of the students. "We are committed to following the due diligence and protocols that we have set forth in our fraternity laws," the national SAE office said after the news conference, "as they are designed to enable us to make deliberate, thoughtful decisions that reflect our commitment to our standards and to our members." The office also has said it was looking into incidents involving other chapters. "Several other incidents with chapters or members have been brought to the attention of the headquarters ... and each of those instances will be investigated," the national office said in a statement. It said some of the incidents date back more than 20 years. Another chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity is under fire over alleged racial slurs -- this time in Seattle. University of Washington students are accusing fraternity members of offensive comments during a protest to raise awareness about racism last month. "People were called monkeys and apes by members of SAE," said Maggie Negussie, president of the university's Black Student Union. SAE's university chapter denied the allegations, saying an investigation determined the culprits were not members of the fraternity. An investigation into the "grossly insensitive comments" is underway, said Denzil J. Suite, the university's vice president for student life. The university is gathering information to determine who was behind the remarks, but a preliminary report by some students accused the SAE fraternity, according to Suite. "If and when we can determine what occurred, we will take appropriate steps," he said. About 1,000 people were marching across the street from the fraternity house when the incident occurred, Negussie said. She said the marchers opted to ignore the offensive words. "At that time it was more important to continue marching ... but that is not the only time," she said. "There are many of us who have those stories." Negussie also accused the University of Washington fraternity of not allowing black students at its parties. When CNN asked for videos or photos, she said members are reaching out to witnesses. Michael Hickey, president of the fraternity's university chapter, said the chapter was notified of the protest incident on February 25 -- the same day it happened. "We were naturally concerned and shocked by these allegations, as we pride ourselves in the diversity of our chapter membership and racism is against the moral ethics of our local and national organization," he said in a statement. However, he said, an investigation determined that fraternity members were not behind the insults. The culprits were on a nearby sidewalk and not on the fraternity house property, he said. "We have determined this due to eyewitness accounts from our members viewing nonmembers of SAE yelling offensive comments on the sidewalk near our chapter house," he said. He asked witnesses to come forward and pledged to punish any members found to have been involved. "We continue to seek any information or eyewitnesses to the incident," he said. CNN's Elise Miller contributed to this report. +(CNN)Levi Pettit, who was expelled from the University of Oklahoma for spouting a racist chant at a fraternity activity, says he's "deeply sorry." "Although I don't deserve it, I want to ask for your forgiveness," Pettit said as he read from a prepared statement at a news conference on Wednesday. "There are no excuses for my behavior. I never thought of myself as a racist. I never considered it a possibility. But the bottom line is that the words that were said in that chant were mean, hateful and racist." Flanked at the podium by African American leaders who he'd been meeting with at the Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Pettit, who is white, said he planned to spend the rest of his life trying to undo the damage he'd done. Pettit's parents released a statement apologizing for his behavior earlier this month. But it wasn't until Wednesday that he spoke out himself. "Some have wondered why I haven't spoken out publicly. The truth is, I've had a mix of pain, shame, sorrow and fear over the consequences of my actions," he said. "I did not want to apologize to the press or to the whole country first, until I came here to apologize to the community most directly impacted." Pettit read from a letter he'd written the university's president apologizing for his actions and said he's committed to taking steps to prevent racism in the future. "Over the past week or so, I've met with a number of pastors and leaders in the community to seek understanding of the meaning behind the words that I spoke on that bus," Pettit said. "Meeting with a few people does not change what I did, but it has begun to change me, and my understanding of those hateful words." His comments come more than two weeks after a nine-second clip surfaced showing party-bound fraternity members on a bus making racial slurs against blacks. In it, students at the now-disbanded Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma clap, pump their fists and laugh as they hurl racial slurs and make a reference to lynching. School officials expelled Pettit and another student, Parker Rice, because of their alleged "leadership role" in the racist chant. Rice has also apologized, saying he'd made a "horrible mistake" and that the chant was "wrong and reckless." Pettit declined to answer reporters' questions Wednesday about how he learned the chant, but said he now knows that the words he used never should be repeated. "I'm also upset and embarrassed that I failed to stand up as a leader and stop this chant. I now have a clear understanding of what lives behind the words," he said. "From this point forward, I will be the leader that I should have been on that bus and stand up against racism in any form." CNN's Faith Karimi, Eliott C. McLaughlin and Justin Lear contributed to this report. +(CNN)Could it get any cuter than seal pup kisses? The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Department of Interior this week shared a photo of a Weddell seal nuzzling up to what looked to be its mom in Erebus Bay, Antarctica. The expression of the mother is priceless. The photo was taken in October by USGS scientist William Link. Link, a statistician, was helping researchers tag newborn seal pups. He confirmed Friday that the adult seal was the baby's mom. It's hard to know what she was thinking when her baby nuzzled up to her in this photo, but Link said the animals flare their noses when disturbed, "so this Mom was pretty relaxed," Link told CNN Friday. "I have a great shot a few seconds later where Mom yawned hugely. She looked utterly content, to me." The agency's public affairs department had asked scientists for interesting images to post on social media. As the Instagram caption notes, the Weddell seals of Erebus Bay have been studied extensively for over 40 years. "Because of its isolation, this population is undisturbed by human activities. The Weddell seal population is healthy and stable, and thus gives a good example for studies of animal population dynamics." Link said it was a privilege to see the animals up close. "I was awed," he said. "It's incredible that animals can live and thrive in such harsh conditions. It's hard to describe the remoteness and isolation of the spot -- bitter cold, high winds, no life to be seen except for the seals, an occasional skua or an emperor penguin." After a seal pup is born, Link said its mom spends all her time close to her baby in a very small area, with hardly any interaction with other seals. "Mom doesn't even leave for a swim until the baby is nearly ready to be weaned, and even then doesn't get to eat. So while baby puts on a couple of hundred pounds, Mamma loses about twice that much," he said. For more information on the seals, visit WeddellSealScience.com. +(CNN)If you think "my teen would never sext," you might be mistaken. And if you think the only teens who sext are the ones engaging in high-risk behaviors, like drinking, using drugs or skipping school, keep reading. Studies suggest that sexting is more common than many parents might realize or want to admit. More than half the undergraduate students who took part in an anonymous online survey said they sent sexually suggestive texts when they were teenagers, according to the study by Drexel University, which was published last year by the Journal of Sexuality Research and Social Policy. Nearly 30% said they included photos in their sexts, and an astonishing 61% did not know that sending nude photos via text could be considered child pornography. Another study, this one by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, found that while students who admitted sexting were 32% more likely to report having sex the next year, sexting by teenagers was not linked to risky sexual behavior over time. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that teens who sexted were not more likely to have multiple sexual partners, use drugs or alcohol before sex or not use birth control. Sexting may be the new "normal' when it comes to adolescent sexual behavior, the study concluded. "There are now a few pieces of research, which are sort of converging on the same finding, namely that this is not a rare behavior," said Elizabeth Englander, a professor of psychology at Bridgewater State University and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center. "I'm not saying that it's healthy or that it's harmless, but it's not a situation where kids who are depressed are doing this or kids who have very bad self-esteem are doing it," said Englander, who researched sexting, as well as a host of other teenager behaviors, for her recent book "Bullying and Cyberbullying." "It appears to be widespread. It's engaged in by many kids who are functioning well and not having problems and it's not very unusual or rare." You're probably thinking: "I check my kids' phones. No sexting happening in this household." But there are plenty of apps teens can use to send messages their parents can't find later. Snapchat, Cyber Dust, VaporChat and others allow users to send messages that disappear on both the sender and recipient's phones after a certain period of time. These apps are used by kids and adults alike to send a variety of messages -- from perfectly harmless to potentially dangerous. Brutally Honest: Is it OK to spy on your kids? Diana Graber, who teaches "cyber civics" to middle schoolers in Aliso Viejo, California, was blown away by the response she got from eighth graders when she, for the first time, included a session on sexting. When she asked her students if they knew what a sext was, everyone in the class said they did, but what they didn't know was what the penalties for sending a sext could be, including how it could be prosecuted as a felony under child pornography laws in some states. "They had no idea what the consequences were," said Graber, co-founder of CyberWise.org, a digital literacy site for parents, educators, and tweens and teens. "I mean that was a complete surprise to literally all 28 kids, so it occurred to me that no one's ever bothered to tell these kids they couldn't do that." Graber said she experienced another first that day. A few students wanted to hang around after the class, which is held at the end of the school day, to talk more about sexting and related things. "That's never happened to me before with this class ... and I realized that I had created a safe space for them to talk about something that was super relevant to their lives." She now plans to make it part of her "cyber civics" curriculum, and believes parents and educators need to be talking to kids at even younger ages about sexting. It should be part of sex education, she said. "We know that throwing the book at them, it's too much too late, so that's not working," said Graber, who offers tips for parents on how to help children have safe online relationships. "It's very normal teenage behavior ... and we need to get with the times and get ahead of the problem, and just have these very easy to have discussions." Englander, the psychology professor and researcher, says in her experience, it's not that adults aren't warning teens about the criminal consequences for underage sexting or how devastating it could be to a teen if their nude photo became public. The problem, she says, is kids don't hear the warnings because the reality doesn't fit them. In a online article, she used an example of telling someone to use a seat belt because half the car rides in the country result in someone going through the windshield. Since half of car rides don't result in someone going through the windshield, a person might not listen to that warning, she says. "If you want to convince somebody that something is a danger, you have to convince them that you know what you're talking about, " said Englander. "So you can't say to kids 'Oh, you are going to go to jail if you sext.' It's not 100% impossible but even in the early cases of sexting, when (law enforcement) did prosecute kids, they didn't go to jail." "People have a hard time with this. It's not that I'm saying we shouldn't teach kids that child pornography is a crime. It is a crime, but if we emphasize that that's the big danger then we've lost our audience." Englander said what she is most troubled by is not how widespread sexting might be but how teens feel after they sext, especially if they felt pressured to do it. In her own research, she said she found that 92% of the teens who said they were not pressured to sext reported no problems afterward, but that number is only 68% for teens who felt pressured into doing it. "They felt crummy afterwards," said Englander. "That was actually the most common result, that they just felt worse." Lori Cunningham, founder of Well Connected Mom, a site specializing in simplifying technology for families, said parents need to remind their children about their own self-worth. "And that no matter how tempting it is to want to be 'liked' by someone, they are worth more than degrading themselves for someone else's enjoyment," said Cunningham, a mom of two in Los Angeles. "If parents aren't having this conversation, their kids could be going through some tremendous pressure." Cunningham also says parents need to be actively involved in their children's online lives. In an eBook, she outlines the points parents should go over with their child when they get a phone, including setting up a contract so they understand their phone will be monitored. "Phones are a privilege, not a right. They should only be given to kids with the expectation that mom or dad will be checking it on a daily basis." What all the experts believe is that parents and educators should be talking to kids about obeying the law, protecting their privacy and reputation, and respecting everyone's right to keep their bodies private, but also their own values about the issue. "Your kids can go into these things knowing absolutely nothing, having no idea of what you think is right or wrong, having no idea of the facts or you can talk to them about it. Those are the only two choices," said Englander. "I don't think in today's world you can assume that they're never going to run across sexting, they're never going to see it, they're never going to know it happens." "That's a big assumption to make." +(CNN)"Dancing With the Stars" season 20 kicked off its 10-year anniversary celebration in its glittered ballroom with an introduction of the new season's cast from returning hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews. Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and former pro dancer Julianne Hough each resumed their season 19 seats at the judges' table. Season 19's Sadie Robertson also attended the premiere, not sitting far from a new, 14-karat-gold-plated Mirror Ball trophy revealed at the start of the show. Since it's week one, here's a breakdown of the new contestants. Fourteen-year-old "Hunger Games" actress Willow Shields and pro partner Mark Ballas danced a cha cha to start the night. "It was like a glass of alka seltzer: sparkling and bubbly," Goodman said. The show's youngest competitor earned 25/40. Read more: 'Dancing With the Stars': A look back at each season's cast (photos) Business tycoon and Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec — who was introduced to partner Kym Johnson with an offer of his Ferrari if they won — filled the second dance slot with a cha cha. "You have really sharp legs," Hough said. The judges gave the pair 28/40 for their dance. R5 bass player Riker Lynch and Allison Holker did not utilize the ballroom floor, but performed a jive on stage to a circle of fans. "I can't wait to see you do the next dance next week," Tonioli said. A second cousin to the Houghs, the blonde-haired musician earned 31/40. Recognized for wearing a bikini while eating a cheeseburger in her 2015 Carl's Jr. Super Bowl commercial, model Charlotte McKinney and partner Keo Motsepe — who taped her breasts down during practice — danced a jive, which earned 22/40. Grammy-winner Patti LaBelle said, "I'm here to show America that Miss Patti can dance." Bedazzled in a gold gown, LaBelle and Artem Chigvinstev danced the Foxtrot that Goodman said had "a lovely naturalness about it." They earned 25/40. Bachelor Chris Soules, who is engaged to his own blonde Whitney that was present in the audience, performed a country-esque jive with partner Witney Carson. Despite Hough saying, "your feet were a little loose," the pair earned 26/40. NFL free agent Michael Sam and Peta Murgatroyd got their "Uptown Funk" on for a cha-cha that earned them a 26/40. Tombioni said it "was hot," but Goodman said his feet were "atrocious." Five-time Olympic-winning medalist Nastia Liukin and five-time Mirror Ball trophy winner Derek Hough gave the audience a Foxtrot performance that scored 30/40. "It was sweet and delicious," Goodman said. LMFAO singer Redfoo and Emma Slater brought a colorful "Juicy Wiggle" cha cha. "You dance like your hair: a little wild and unkempt," Goodman said before the two earned 22/40 for the premiere, but Redfoo replied: "I'm just so dedicated to learn the technique." Read more 'Dancing With the Stars' Season 20 Cast: Who Are They, and Why Are They Famous? Double amputee Noah Galloway and Sharna Burgess danced an inspiring cha cha. The pair earned a 26/40 for their emotional performance and Burgess was praised for her creative choreography. "Three's Company" actress Suzanne Somers and Tony Dovolani channeled her thigh master infomercial for a 25/40-scoring cha cha. Somers told audiences that she came onto the show to prove that "blondes have more fun." Singer-actress Rumer Willis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy saved the highest score for last. The pair danced a chandelier-lighted Foxtrot and earned 32/40."This could be your season," Goodman told Val. Parents Bruce Willis and Demi Moore cheered from the audience. Redfoo and McKinney were at the bottom of the scoreboard and are in jeopardy of being sent home next week, while Willis and Lynch's scores are sure to secure them past week two. Tune in to ABC at 8 p.m. on Mar. 23 to see which couple will be sent home. See the original story at The Hollywood Reporter's site. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)T.J. Maxx has pulled a T-shirt from its shelves after a shopper tweeted an image of the shirt featuring the phrase "Hang Loose" and an illustration of a noose, leading to an uproar on social media. Beachwear company Tavik made the shirt, hence the surfing term "Hang Loose," but the inclusion of the noose led posters on social media to draw connections to lynching and suicide. "In which a t-shirt company manages to be completely tone deaf in not one, but two ways," one tweeter wrote. Tavik PR manager Kelly McElroy said the company regrets the design. "We sincerely apologize for any offense caused by this T-shirt. This item was released without going through proper protocols and is not related to anything other than surfing." "At T.J. Maxx, we take product matters very seriously and appreciate that this T-shirt was brought to our attention," T.J. Maxx spokeswoman Doreen Thompson said. "As soon as we became aware of the offensive T-shirt message, we initiated the process to remove this item from our stores. "We mistakenly purchased a few hundred units of the item, and unfortunately, with thousands of products coming into each of our stores every week, our product review process missed this item. We would like to apologize to our customers for any offense this may have caused." Tavik is taking steps to make sure the shirt isn't sold elsewhere. "This T-shirt will not be sold by TAVIK or any other retailer," McElroy wrote in an email. "We immediately pulled this item from all retailers and have destroyed our remaining units." +(CNN)A man armed with an assault rifle held his family hostage and shot and killed a Navajo Nation police officer Thursday evening, the Native American tribal government said. The suspect fled, and was shot to death hours later. The slain officer, who was not immediately identified, was one of two Navajo Police officers shot after a domestic violence call came in around 4 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) Thursday, according to a statement from the Navajo Nation. The officers were responding to a report that a man with an AR-15 rifle was holding his family hostage. That same man shot at the Navajo Police, then ran. A manhunt ensued involving officers from the Navajo Nation's Window Rock and Crownpoint districts. It ended with word around 10:30 p.m. that the suspect was shot to death in the northern Arizona city of Red Valley, just over the border from New Mexico, according to the Navajo Nation government. It was not immediately clear how he died -- whether it was from a shootout with police or a self-inflicted wound. The wounded officer is being treated in the Shiprock-Northern Navajo Medical Center. The officer's condition was not immediately known. "We send our condolences to the family of the Navajo Police officer who gave his life in the line of duty," Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said. "... The family will be in our prayers." The Navajo Nation straddles northeast Arizona, northwest New Mexico and southeast Utah, compassing some 27,000 square miles -- an area larger than West Virginia. Along with a distinctive, centuries-old culture, the autonomous jurisdiction boasts what its website calls "the largest and most sophisticated form of American Indian government." CNN's Christine Sever contributed to this report. +Boston (CNN)Jurors in the Boston Marathon bombings trial were shown a key piece of evidence Tuesday: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's writings on the inside of the boat he used as a hideout. Prosecutors presented photos of three panels of the boat that had messages written in pencil. Boston police Officer Todd Brown, a bomb squad member who cleared the boat of explosives, was on the witness stand to talk about the writings. Tsarnaev is charged with 30 counts related to the April 15, 2013, bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. A fourth person, an MIT police officer, was ambushed and killed in his patrol car three days after the bombings as Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, allegedly ran from police. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after a gunbattle with police. On Tuesday, Brown identified Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in court as the man he saw come out of the boat and get taken into custody. In the writings on the panels, some of Tsarnaev's words were struck out by bullet holes. "I'm jealous of my brother who ha (bullet hole) ceived the reward of jannutul Firdaus (inshallah) before me," one of the writings said, referring to the word for paradise. "I do not mourn because his soul is very much alive. God has a plan for each person. Mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions." Tsarnaev's connections: Who's who . Tsarnaev's defense has argued that he indeed participated in the bombings, but that he was influenced by his radicalized brother. In his writings on the boat, Tsarnaev asked Allah to allow him to reach the highest levels of heaven. "The US Government is killing our innocent civilians but most of you already know that. As a (bullet hole) I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished. We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all. Well at least that's how muhhammad (bullet hole) wanted it to be (for)ever," Tsarnaev wrote in the boat. Also Tuesday, prosecutors called on FBI agent Steve Kimball to discuss two Twitter accounts linked to Tsarnaev. One, @J_tsar, contained 1,100 tweets and was the more mainstream of the two. "I shall die young," @J_tsar tweeted on April 12, 2012. And four days later, on the day of the 2012 Boston Marathon, a tweet from the account read, "They will spend their money & they will regret it & they will be defeated." Timeline of the bombings, manhunt and aftermath . Prosecutors argued that these tweets indicate an attack on the Boston Marathon was on his mind a year before the bombings. Tsarnaev attorney Miriam Conrad, who opted not to cross-examine the bombing survivors who testified during the first week of the trial, got Kimball to acknowledge that some of his information about the tweets came from other agents and that he didn't check them out for himself. Conrad also established that some of the tweets appeared to be rap lyrics. CNN's Ann O'Neill reported from Boston, and Mariano Castillo wrote in Atlanta. +(CNN)Another Kardashian heard from. Usually the Kardashian-industrial complex is dominated by comments and social media postings from Kim, followed closely by Khloe and perhaps one of the Jenner children. But on Sunday, it was Rob, the youngest of the four Kardashian siblings, who drew most of the attention. In an Instagram post, Rob Kardashian compared his sister to the sociopathic Amy Dunne, the murderous wife played by Rosamund Pike in "Gone Girl." "My sister kim, the b**** from Gone Girl,,," he posted. He accompanied the text with a photo of Pike's character drenched in blood, fresh from (spoiler alert!) killing her ex-boyfriend. He also unfollowed his entire family, though he changed his mind later. It's not the first time Rob has been at odds with the heavily spotlighted Kardashian clan. He missed out on Kim's wedding to Kanye West, with various (unnamed, of course) gossip sources reporting at the time that he wasn't getting along with members of his family. Khloe Kardashian, who has stayed close to Rob, told Wonderwall.com that he may have a "kind of social anxiety." "I just feel, especially over the last year, Rob has become very introverted and has a kind of social anxiety," she said. "He's definitely not at his happiest place that he once was, and I know he can get to that happy place and he will." +(CNN)The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging an Alabama law that will force those under 18 seeking an abortion to go through an adversarial process that's akin to a trial. Generally, laws in the United States require parental consent for a minor to obtain an abortion. But for some children, parental consent is impossible or even dangerous. This class of minors must seek a judicial bypass. While the bypass is a common feature of abortion laws in other states, this Alabama law may have gone too far. Here are the suspect provisions of this "bypass by trial": . • Alabama has turned what is supposed to be an informal, child-centered hearing into more of a trial. • The court can appoint a Guardian ad Litem -- normally an appointed lawyer for a child in, say, a divorce proceeding or a hearing involving unfit parents -- for the fetus. • The minor may be cross-examined by the district attorney and possibly the minor's parents. • Information about the minor's pregnancy may be disclosed to her family, friends and employers, and they might even be brought to court to testify -- against the minor. When it comes to abortion, minors are supposed to enjoy the same constitutional right of privacy as adults, free from undue state interference. However, the Supreme Court has also specifically articulated reasons why the constitutional rights of children are not identical to the rights of adults. Children are vulnerable and unable to make critical decisions and, of course, parents have a right to participate in raising their child. States may pass laws that subject minors seeking an abortion to an additional requirement: parental involvement. However, if the state chooses to require parental consent for a pregnant minor to get an abortion, the state also must provide an alternative procedure for obtaining that authorization -- one that "bypasses" having to get Mom and Dad's permission. The Supreme Court has required that these hearings "must assure that resolution ... be completed with anonymity and sufficient expedition to provide an effective opportunity for an abortion to be obtained." Plus, and perhaps most importantly, the procedure bypassing parental consent cannot be a thinly veiled mechanism for an "absolute, and possibly arbitrary, veto." In plain language, hearings must be quick and quiet, and they cannot be held in kangaroo court. The problem is, this does not give a lot of detailed direction to courts about how exactly to conduct these hearings. It's not surprising that court procedures vary wildly, and that sooner or later, a state like Alabama would experiment with state abortion law. Our system was specifically designed to allow states to experiment with social and economic legislation. Of course, that state prerogative is also tempered by a federal court's power to strike these laws down if they are unconstitutional. In this case, the ACLU's position is that creating an adversarial hearing goes too far. A hearing is fine, it seems, but something approaching a trial rises to the level of an impermissible "undue burden" on the right to have an abortion. This has been defined by the courts as placing a substantial obstacle in the path of the adult, or minor child seeking the abortion. The federal court that reviews these state statutes will be charged with determining whether Alabama's law violates established Supreme Court bypass requirements. But what about the actual bypass requirements themselves? They are a creation of the Supreme Court. Striking down an act of a state legislature is one thing -- challenging settled Supreme Court precedent is entirely another. What if the constitutional standards for bypass procedures contain something of an intrinsic paradox? Consider how it applies in this case. In Alabama, a judge at one of these hearings is required to waive the parental consent requirement if the judge finds either: . (1) that the minor is mature and well-informed enough to make the abortion decision on her own; or . (2) that performance of the abortion would be in the best interest of the minor. Abstract concepts like "mature" and "best interest" are rather amorphous at best. (True story: A respected law professor advised many classes of students that when confronted on the bar exam with a question about a child, do the following: Write "best interest of the child" somewhere in the first sentence; then write "whatever the heck you want" for the rest of the answer.) So then, the court must determine whether the minor is mature -- mature enough that she may have the court's permission to have an abortion. This means the court can then arrive at this Kafkaesque, perplexing alternative: A particular minor is too immature to have an abortion -- with the result being that this immature minor ... should therefore be ... a parent of an infant? It gets stranger: What about a finding that it is in the best interest of the young mother to have the baby, even though she is deemed too immature to have an abortion? How would it be in the best interest of the immature mother to have a child? State courts and legislatures are not completely to blame; after all, the law of minors and juveniles is always going to be about some difficult but arbitrary line-drawing. Whether we're considering the drinking age, the driving age or the voting age, we've learned over the centuries that kids mature at different ages. Plus there is no easy legal formula to address the myriad situations of messed-up families. Unfortunately, legislatures must draw some lines -- lines that will not always be workable in every situation. And there are surely situations where the bypass might actually be effective: for example, a very young pregnant minor with completely absent parents, who needs court intervention. The problem is, if it creates an undue burden in one situation, then it's constitutionally suspect. But ultimately, building up the procedural hurdles for a pregnant minor almost by definition encroaches upon the limits set some time ago by the Supreme Court. It's a procedure that needs to be defined; teen pregnancy certainly isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Neither are lousy families, unfortunately. Whether the boundary lines of judicial bypass ebb toward the autonomy of minors, or back toward the state interest in the fetus, the broader social "findings" of judicial bypass proceedings will always remain the same: It's all very sad. +(CNN)Think it's taking you longer to get to work? Has your job moved farther from your home? You're probably right on both counts. A new study from the Brookings Institution says the number of jobs within a typical commute distance for residents in major metro areas of the U.S. fell by 7% between 2000 and 2012. Despite trends that indicate a greater desire for millennials to live in dense urban areas, suburbs are still doing well, according to some researchers. Employers have tended to move toward the suburbs, away from city cores -- and away from many workers, the study says. Moreover, even if you already live in the suburbs, it doesn't mean you live close to the suburb where the jobs are. "Suburban residents saw the number of jobs within a typical commute distance drop by 7%, more than twice the decline experienced by the typical city resident (3%)," Elizabeth Kneebone and Natalie Holmes wrote in the study's summary. The issue disproportionately affects poor and minority residents, the authors added. "Residents of high-poverty and majority-minority neighborhoods experienced particularly pronounced declines in job proximity," they wrote, observing that 61% of high-poverty tracts and 55% of majority-minority neighborhoods experienced declines in job proximity between 2000 and 2012. High-poverty neighborhoods were defined as tracts with poverty rates above 20%. The Brookings study comes as metro areas are coping with increased stresses on infrastructure. Tuesday's New York Times was filled with letters complaining about a subway fare increase and crowds at all hours in the New York system. In Atlanta, one suburban county recently added mass transit for the first time since 2010 -- even as the Georgia legislature has been gutting portions of a transportation bill. And a Detroit man garnered nationwide headlines in February because of his 21-mile commute -- a hefty chunk of which he walked due to a lack of transit options. The Brookings study observes that solving commuting issues "will require collaborative solutions" across jurisdictions. "The dynamics that have shaped these job proximity patterns across and within metro areas did not emerge by themselves," Kneebone and Holmes wrote (PDF). "Local, regional, and state leaders put them in play (whether purposefully or by default) through policy decisions. To foster growth that is truly regional in its reach and that does not exacerbate inequality or leave low-income and minority residents behind, communities will need to coordinate and collaborate as they plan and implement policy decisions that affect metropolitan development patterns." +Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush's money machine expectations, Al Gore's Iowa trip, Rand Paul's Iran strategy and John Boehner's next move were all topics around the "Inside Politics" table this Sunday. Jeb Bush is going to be doubling down on his contrast with Hillary Clinton on transparency, using the emails he released from his time as governor of Florida -- and maybe the U.S.'s largest e-retailer. While Bush has already released the first chapter of his e-book on his website, Ron Fournier of the National Journal reports that Bush is in serious negotiations with Amazon for a big deal that would have the full memoir published across all its platforms, including Kindle. "He'll use the emails to draw a narrative of his time in Florida -- the highs, the lows, but also some mistakes, some errors," said Fournier. Many recent presidential candidates have written books before or during their runs for the White House, but all have to prove themselves in the race for campaign cash. One of the big early tests for presidential candidates is to prove they can raise the money for the long haul. And the first lap in the money primary winds up at the end of this month, when candidates have to report their first-quarter fund-raising totals. CNN's John King reveals that there is a bit of an expectations game clash underway as we head into the final weeks of the quarter. Team Bush got a bit dismayed when several allies started talking about a record-smashing $100 million quarter for his "Right To Rise" political action committee. Now, some Bush allies are bragging that a $50 million figure would still be a big deal. Are they trying to truly lower expectations -- or just create space for a bigger number to be a bigger deal? We'll know in three weeks. After Hillary Clinton's email controversy, there's been a lot of talk about who would step in if she bowed out as a potential Democratic presidential candidate. One high-profile politician who's planning his first trip to Iowa in over a decade has a lot of Hawkeye State Democrats buzzing, according to CNN's Jeff Zeleny. "(Former Vice President Al Gore) says he's not running. I'm sure he's not, but he's doing a climate leadership workshop that's getting everyone there sort of excited," said Zeleny. "By then, Hillary Clinton will probably already be in the race, but Democrats in Iowa who are hungry for a different type of politics might be signing up for these workshops May 5 through the 7th in Cedar Rapids." As the deadline nears for a nuclear policy agreement between Iran and six world powers including the U.S., all eyes will be on Sen. Rand Paul. Paul has been trying to shore up his foreign policy credentials to satisfy the more hawkish elements in the Republican Party, but Bloomberg's Lisa Lerer questions whether his attempts are working. "This past week he signed on as a co-sponsor to legislation giving Congress final say over any deal that's struck by the administration," said Lerer. "It's unlikely to be enough to satisfy parts of the Republican base and also satisfy key donors for the party who are very concerned about Israel." "He also came under fire this past week for not applauding vociferously enough during Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's speech. I think a lot of eyes will be on him this month as we delve into these issues." As Congress' slugfest over Homeland Security funding ends, NPR's Juana Summers looks ahead to more tough fights for House Speaker John Boehner, including appropriations battles and the fall's debt ceiling fight. One of the keys to the outcome of these future clashes is Boehner's plan to handle the House GOP's contentious tea party members. "Is Boehner willing to continually antagonize the far right wing of his party and pass legislation with Democrats? Or will he be passing bills with only Republicans?" asks Summers. "And that, I think, will tell us a lot about what the Congress will look like in the next few years to come." +(CNN)For the first time ever, we're getting a live-action "Star Wars" movie without the man who composed the "Star Wars" theme. "Star Wars: Rogue One," the recently-announced "Star Wars" spinoff movie starring Felicity Jones, will not include the soaring music of Oscar winner John Williams. Williams originally scored "Star Wars" and every other episode since then, including the upcoming "Force Awakens" later this year. However, composer Alexandre Desplat has revealed that he will be working on 2016's "Rogue One." The film's director, Gareth Edwards, worked with Desplat last year on "Godzilla." A "Star Wars" movie without that iconic Williams sound is certainly something that fans will have to get used to, and Desplat has a big job ahead of him. Williams' work will also be absent from the next Steven Spielberg movie, "Bridge of Spies," it was announced this week. For the past three decades, Williams has scored every single Spielberg film, but the new movie, starring Tom Hanks and due out October 16, will be scored by Thomas Newman, best known for the score of "American Beauty." Movie studio DreamWorks attributed Williams' absence to a "minor health issue, since corrected." Williams' best known non-"Star Wars" music is almost entirely from Spielberg films, including "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" and "Jurassic Park." Another upcoming Spielberg movie, "The BFG," will include a Williams score. +(CNN)In November 2002, the world was captivated by the biggest archaeological discovery ever made relating to Jesus: a 2,000 year-old ossuary -- or bone box -- bearing the tantalizing inscription in Aramaic: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." If it was true, this was the first physical evidence ever found of Jesus' existence. And yet, if this amazing ossuary was false, then it was one of the greatest forgeries in history. Underlying the question of the authenticity of the ossuary is an even bigger theological problem: whether or not Jesus actually had any brothers. Though the debate's origins are ancient, the answer still divides Catholics and Protestants. For Catholics, Mary, Joseph and Jesus are a family unit unto themselves. Yet Catholic theology also holds that Jesus was God's son, born of the virgin -- and that Mary did not give birth to other children, divine or otherwise. 'Finding Jesus': John the Baptist Q&A . So who are these "brothers" that the Gospel of Mark mentions? The Rev. James Martin, author of the book "Jesus: A Pilgrimage," calls the relationship between James and Jesus "very complicated." "He's called clearly the brother of the Lord, and the Greek uses the common word for brother," Martin says. But Catholics also believe in Mary's perpetual virginity, so Martin surmises that James and the other brothers were Joseph's children from a prior marriage."It makes sense that Joseph would have been older and Mary was younger, so I see them in a sense as stepbrothers." Other Catholic scholars see James and Jesus as cousins, an idea that began in the fourth century, when St. Jerome, who translated the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament into Latin, argued the point against the theologian Helvedius, who said Mary and Joseph had other children. 'Finding Jesus': Shroud of Turin Q&A . Jerome countered that these children were instead born to Mary of Clopas, Jesus' aunt. Jerome used his linguistic facility to argue that "adelphios," the Greek word used for Jesus' brothers and sisters, could refer to cousins, as well as to siblings. Protestants, however, see Jesus' family as free of ambiguity, with Mary and Joseph having several children. One of them is Jesus -- but the question then becomes, which one? Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, offers the Protestant view that Jesus and James were full brothers, with Jesus being the elder. "The New Testament says nothing about Mary being a perpetual virgin, it says she virginally conceived Jesus, and it certainly implies that she went on to have more children after that, and his brothers and sisters are in fact his brothers and sisters," Witherington says. Is Judas in hell? Jesus is presented as the older brother who leaves the family and walks about in Galilee and Judea, has a ministry and leaves James and the other brothers and sisters in charge of the family, according to the scholar. What's more contentious for some Protestants, is the fact that Jesus, as the eldest in the family, essentially forsook his obligation as next-in-line to head the family after Joseph died. Instead he followed his divine destiny, as ordained by his father in heaven. 5 things you didn't know about Jesus . That left James to fill the void. Whatever he was -- brother, step-brother or cousin -- we know that James became important in the early Christian church because of his relation to Jesus. Paul, the apostle who transformed the new religion from a local phenomenon into a movement throughout the Roman Empire, says as much in his letter to the Galatians: . "Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him 15 days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother." James and Peter and Paul were the prime movers of this new faith, with James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem until he was martyred in 64 CE, forgiving his killers with his last breath, just as his brother Jesus had done. Given his importance to the early Christian Church, why wouldn't he be connected to his brother, or even stepbrother, on the burial box containing his bones? Michael McKinley is co-author, with David Gibson, of "Finding Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery.: Six Holy Objects That Tell the Remarkable Story of the Gospels." +(CNN)If you (or, more likely, your kids) are still singing those "Frozen" tunes over a year later, you'll have a brand new set of tunes in the not-too-distant future. Disney officially announced the most obvious sequel in recent years, "Frozen 2," on Thursday to stockholders, along with more major movie news. The original creative team of Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho will return, and Josh Gad (Olaf himself) was on hand to make the announcement. Cast member Kristen Bell also shared the news with her Twitter followers. No release date yet, fans, but don't "let it go," as you should know soon. +Boston (CNN)Dun Meng knew to pull over his Mercedes-Benz SUV to respond to a text message that night in April 2013. That's when a man got out of another car, jumped into his SUV and pointed a gun at him. "He asked me, 'Do you know the Boston Marathon explosion?' " Meng told a crowded courtroom Thursday, speaking in halting English. An interpreter who spoke Meng's native Mandarin sat next to him but was not needed. "He asked, 'You know who did it? I did it and I just killed a policeman in Cambridge,' " Meng said a man later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev told him. Meng was on the witness stand in the death penalty trial of admitted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tamerlan's younger brother. He recalled seeing the flashing lights of police cars in Cambridge earlier that night. "After that, how did you feel?" Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb asked. "Terrified. The whole world is looking for him at the time. ... I thought it was just a typical robbery." There was nothing typical about the days after the Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and hurt more than 240 others. Timeline of the bombings, manhunt and aftermath . Prosecutors say Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev had earlier killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier because they wanted his gun. But their efforts to take it were thwarted by a safety holster. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was 19 at the time, does not dispute he was present when Collier was killed on the evening of April 18, 2013, nor does he deny that he participated in the bombings three days earlier. He is being tried on 30 charges -- 17 of which carry the possibility of the death penalty. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, would not survive the night. He was killed in a chase and gunbattle with police that began with reports of an "officer down" at MIT. It was after Collier's killing that Meng encountered the Tsarnaev brothers. Tsarnaev's 'manifesto': OK to kill civilians . At the time, he was working on his master's degree at Northeastern University. Meng, a partner at a company that created a food delivery app, recalled feeling tired after work. He drove along the Charles River with no destination in mind. He pulled over after receiving a text message. "I'm a traffic engineer, and I know it is unsafe to text while I'm driving," he said. A car pulled up quickly and stopped. A man in the car walked over. Meng said he thought the man wanted directions. Instead, the man pulled open the SUV door and climbed in. Meng said Tamerlan Tsarnaev demanded cash. He said he had about $45 on him. "He said, 'That's not enough. Where's your wallet?' So I give him my wallet, but there's no cash in the wallet." The man pulled the magazine out of his handgun. He showed Meng it was loaded. "I'm serious," Meng testified that the man told him moments before admitting to being the Boston Marathon bomber. "So don't be stupid." Jurors see Tsarnaev's writings on boat . After he handed over the cash, Meng said the man ordered him to drive. He said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev followed in a Honda but later got in the backseat of the SUV. "He ordered me to every direction," he said of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. "We had a conversation. ... He asked me my name and he asked me where I'm from. First few minutes my hands were shaking and I was having trouble driving. I was very scared." Meng said his name was Manny. The man laughed when he thought Meng said Nanny. "I said I'm Chinese. He said, 'OK, you are Chinese. I am Muslim and Muslims hate Americans.' I responded, 'I'm Chinese. Chinese are very friendly toward Muslims.' " At one point, the carjacker asked Meng for the PIN code on his bank card. "I tell him the PIN code," he testified. "It started with 86, somebody's birthday. He asked me if I was born in 1986, and I said yes." Meng testified that he asked Tamerlan Tsarnaev: "Are you going to kill me tonight? He told me, 'I'm not going to kill you. Just relax, man.' " The witness pointed to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as the man who later sat in the backseat behind him. The men played a CD as they drove around. "I would say weird," he said of the music. "It sounded religious." New surveillance footage revealed . At one point, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went into a gas station convenience store to pay for gas and load up on snacks, Meng testified. Tamerlan fiddled with a GPS device. Meng unbuckled his seat belt, opened the SUV door and got away, dashing across the street to another service station. He never looked back. Meng begged a worker to call the police. He hid there until officers arrived. It was "the most difficult decision in my life," he said. "I could feel he was trying to grab me. His hand was so close to my left hand I could feel the wind." Cambridge police Officer Michael Nickerson had to talk Meng out of a gas station storage room when he arrived. "He was trembling," Nickerson testified. "He was very scared. You could tell he was a victim of something." Tsarnaev's connections: Who's who . CNN Ann O'Neill reported from Boston, Ray Sanchez wrote from New York. +(CNN)The beauty of Afghanistan -- a country blemished by wars, upheaval and the inhumane treatment of women by extremists -- has almost been forgotten by the world, and by many Afghans themselves. In the last few decades, little attention has been paid to the other Afghanistan: the sweet melodies, the kind people, and the beautiful land full of ancient wisdom and intersecting traditions. This is understandable. It would be irresponsible to solely focus on those positives while families are torn apart and the noise of war rings in people's ears. Generations of Afghans have had their homes surrounded by battles and their lives punctuated by fear. Afghanistan has been the largest refugee-producing country for 32 years. One out of every four refugees worldwide is Afghan, according to the United Nations. Recently, I was watching an engrossing reality TV show featuring singers when a friend peered over my shoulder and asked about the program. I explained that it was "Afghan Star," Afghanistan's answer to "American Idol." She was shocked by the set and the sophisticated arena stage where the stars were standing. That stage could easily have been in New York, Los Angeles, London or Rome. This, I realized, is the Afghanistan no one believes exists, or has ever existed. Afghanistan has a rich tradition of music, poetry, and songs that have influenced its neighbors and any region of the world exposed to the Silk Road. After all, the famous Sufi poet Mawlana Jalalideen Rumi was from modern-day Afghanistan. I grew up across the river in Tajikistan, hearing Afghan songs and tales of the parties in Kabul, and learning about Afghan singers, who are beloved across the region. I started watching "Afghan Star" last year after hearing about contestant Dawood Pazhman from Afghanistan's remote northeastern province of Badakhshan, who traveled 16 hours (sometime on foot) to Kabul to audition for the show. This year, another contestant, Panj Shanbe Maftoon, also traveled from that remote region for a chance to audition. Panj Shanbe told TOLO TV, which produces "Afghan Star," that he did not have enough to eat and didn't have money for his commute to Kabul. But he knew, he said, that in this day and age, in his new Afghanistan, he can hope, dream, and make things happen. Panj Shanbe's story was so compelling, I have tuned in every week for months now to see what he will sing and whether he will be safe from elimination. He is now among the top three contestants. As I watched every show, the beacon of hope of a new Afghanistan became clear to me. Young men and women auditioned, speaking of peace and coexistence, supporting one another outside of tribes or ethnic lines. They wanted what my own children want -- the freedom to explore being a young adult and to follow their dreams. This is the new Afghanistan -- the struggles around poverty, religion and resilience are ever-present, but hope shines through in ways that make everyday life brighter. "Afghan Star" is a source of pride, happiness and escape for many Afghans. When you talk to any Afghan around the world, they know all about the contestants and the judges. They openly give their opinions and feel that they are a part of the process; anyone around the world can vote via SMS and call-ins. The panel of judges acts as an amplifier for the voices of the vulnerable, bringing attention to orphans, poverty, and the plight of women. This grounded attitude is meaningful because each one of the judges is a living legend in Afghanistan -- superstars who also have their own war stories to tell. The stalwart female judge, Shahla Zaland, comes from a family of famous composers and singers. Last year told the contestants a heart-wrenching story about her father's life abroad as a refugee and how she believes her father "died of homesickness." Her presence on the panel of judges is a reminder that women are strong, women do not need to be veiled, and that female contestants who audition should be championed. There is a beacon of hope in just looking at how much the show has changed in its 10 seasons. During the first season, after years of the Taliban's ban on music, a female contestant performed without a hijab, resulting in death threats. The young woman had to go into hiding. This season, for International Women's Day, the show celebrated Afghan women. Male contestants dedicated songs and presented flowers to the women, singing of the strength of Afghan mothers. A young woman performed, dancing with her hair flowing freely. The show ended with a dedication to Afghani poetess Nadia Anjuman. Anjuman studied literature in secret during the Taliban occupation, becoming a well-known published poet before her husband killed her at age 25. He found her writings inappropriate and a stain on his honor. The beautiful irony is that Anjuman's words live on in books and songs today. Shahla Zaland performed a song that put Anjuman's poetry to music. Wearing an Afghan flag around her shoulders, her hair uncovered, she brought Anjuman's words to life: . "I am not that weak willow tree that trembles with the wind. "I am an Afghan woman and so I wail." With three contestants left, the show will end Friday night, appropriately on Nawruz, the Perisan New Year celebrated in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Iran. Though Panj Shanbe was my initial reason for watching the show, I will be happy no matter which contestant becomes the "Afghan Star." The reality is we are all winners because of one TV program. Those living as refugees and those living abroad by choice, away from the homeland, get a taste of the music and culture of their birth country, sparking renewed belief in the new Afghanistan. And people in Afghanistan are given glimpses of what the new Afghanistan can look like -- a vision of young men and women free from war, who can pursue their dreams. +(CNN)Vin Diesel has been paying tribute to his friend Paul Walker as fans eagerly await the release of "Furious 7." On Monday, he revealed a very personal way that he has remembered Walker: by naming his daughter after the late actor. Diesel told "Today's" Natalie Morales that he and girlfriend Paloma Jimenez named their baby girl Pauline. The actor said he felt the presence of Walker in the delivery room with him. "There's no other person that I was thinking about as I was cutting this umbilical cord," Diesel said. " I just ... knew he was there." Diesel has been honoring Walker a lot lately and recently had some special words at an advance screening of "Furious 7." The actor spoke told the Los Angeles audience last week that "this was a very very personal and important film for us." "This was a labor of love. It was in some ways the hardest movie I ever had to do," Diesel said. "Because the relationships that you see on film are so real. When the tragedy happened, I lost my best friend. I lost my brother." Walker, 40, was killed in a car crash in November 2013 in Southern California while taking a few days off from filming the seventh "Fast and Furious" movie. The film was finished using previous footage and stand-ins including Walker's two brothers. The producers have said they don't plan on killing Walker's character off in the new movie. "Furious 7" debuts in theaters on April 3. +(CNN)Iraqi forces appear to be slowly closing in on an important tactical victory against ISIS. But as they press forward in their attempt to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS insurgents, there is an important question that the United States and its allies should be asking: Could this victory actually undermine the only sustainable strategy for ensuring Iraq's stability? The reality is that short-term tactical victories won't be enough to defeat ISIS, especially as the reliance on Iran-backed Shiite militias is only likely to exacerbate tensions with the largely local Sunni population. Indeed, the crucial ground war component of the campaign has so far been heavily reliant on the Shiite militias, whose track record of sectarian violence is well-documented, and their involvement threatens to drive more Iraqi Sunnis into the arms of ISIS. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the involvement of these groups "will only be a problem if it results in sectarianism." But based on past experience, many locals are understandably more frightened by their designated "liberators" than they are of the vicious extremists of ISIS who have ruled their towns over the past eight months. Historically, Iraq hasn't always needed Shiite militias under Iran's command to fight Sunni extremists. Al Qaeda was expelled from northern Iraq in 2007, when its harsh rule antagonized tribal leaders that had supported the anti-U.S. insurgency, prompting them to make common cause with the Americans in what became known as the "Awakening" movement. Unfortunately, once its goal had been achieved, Baghdad rounded on the Awakening, betraying promises of integration into the national army and polity and instead arresting and killing its leaders along with trusted Sunni elected representatives. The United States looked the other way, deeming it a "domestic" political matter. That simply emboldened then-Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to deepen his purge of Sunni elected representatives, and to parlay the 2010 election result into a governing coalition despite his own list drawing fewer votes than a rival bloc that included many Sunni leaders. This undermined the work that the United States had done in persuading Iraq's Sunnis that fighting al Qaeda and voting in elections was the best way to advance their communal interests. Put simply, al-Maliki's actions made a mockery of any Sunni confidence in the electoral system or the national government. It was the resulting Sunni alienation that allowed al Qaeda's successor, ISIS, back into those communities. The growing fear among many Sunnis has been compounded by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's statement to parliament that any Iraqi choosing to stay neutral was effectively aligning themselves with ISIS -- remarks that create an atmosphere that enables violence against ordinary Sunnis, many of whom feel caught between the extremists and a Shiite-led government from which they have been systematically oppressed and alienated. And ISIS has undoubtedly capitalized on the permissive environment created by such alienation, which persists despite the Obama administration having convinced itself that al-Abadi would somehow prove to be more inclusive than his predecessors from the same Shiite Islamist party. All this suggests that the "Awakening" experience, which showed that Iraqi Sunnis will reject violent extremists if they believe they will get a fair shake from the system for doing so, is as vital as ever to the prospects of defeating ISIS. But the outcome must be different from the last Awakening. Sunnis willing to fight ISIS should be given control over their own affairs in northern Iraq in the way that Kurdish aspirations have been accommodated. The alternative, of relying on sectarian forces to drive out the extremists, is more likely to ensure their return than to prevent it. Getting to a new political order in Iraq that offers the prospect of sustainable stability and progress will require compromise, not only among Iraqis but also among the regional sponsors of its contending factions -- Iraq has become a key battleground in the regional struggle between camps led by Iran and the Saudis. Creating a political order capable of stabilizing Iraq will require a new security "grand bargain" negotiated between the key stakeholders. Short-term tactical victories won't defeat ISIS, and militia involvement will more likely strengthen its appeal. The reality is that ultimately, only a political deal that guarantees Iraqi Sunnis' inclusion, equality and protection -- one that is implemented by Iran and its allied Iraqi militia -- can resolve the ISIS problem. And unless all of the key stakeholders are willing to negotiate a new way of living together, Iraq is likely to remain a battleground where the United States finds itself inadvertently reinforcing the problem. +(CNN)On Friday, ISIS claimed responsibility for Yemen's deadliest terror attack. A day earlier it claimed responsibility for the worst terror attack in Tunisia. Last week it welcomed into the fold Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist group with thousands of fanatical fighters that dominates territory the size of New Jersey. All this came in the wake of the group's rapid expansion across Libya, its assimilation of a powerful Egyptian terrorist group, and the founding of small chapters in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Algeria, where its new affiliate last year beheaded a French hiker. The group's momentum may have stalled in Syria and Iraq, but its supporters from the Atlantic to the Hindu Kush appear to be heeding its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's call to "erupt volcanoes of jihad." By far the most surprising development was its claim of responsibility for the twin suicide bomb blasts that killed over 130 in Houthi-Shia mosques in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday and another attack in the north. ISIS was only thought to have a fledgling presence in Yemen and had only claimed one previous attack, the assassination of a Yemeni security official north of Aden earlier this month. Al Qaeda in Yemen, or AQAP, has for years been the dominant Jihadi group inside Yemen, but it denied involvement in the mosque attacks, saying it was against its principles to target mosques, bolstering the ISIS claim. This indicates ISIS has very quickly built up an operational capability inside Yemen in the months since jihadis inside the country released an audiotape declaring allegiance to Baghdadi last November. Only two developments could explain this: defections from AQAP or the return home of Yemeni ISIS veterans skilled in urban warfare and explosives. There is no love lost these days between the two groups. Since Baghdadi declared ISIS had expanded into Yemen late last year there has been an escalating war of words between them, with ISIS claiming AQAP was not doing enough to target Houthis and AQAP declaring that the ISIS caliphate was illegitimate. While AQAP has acknowledged previous internal disagreements about whether to support ISIS, there have been relatively few defections. Its charismatic leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, al Qaeda's global number two, is extremely popular among the group's rank and file. In recent months the group has reaped a recruitment windfall from Sunni tribal anger over the Houthi takeover of Sanaa, allowing it to expand its operations across Yemen. But ISIS appears now to have laid down the gauntlet, declaring its attacks Friday were the "tip of the iceberg." In targeting the Houthi mosques in Sanaa, ISIS would be quite deliberately repeating the sectarian strategy of its founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who launched a devastating suicide bombing on Golden Mosque in Samarra in February 2006, which plunged Iraq into a full-blown sectarian civil war. Al-Zarqawi correctly calculated that the Shia, infuriated by the attack on their most sacred shrines, would violently retaliate, driving Sunnis into the embrace of the jihadis. Yemen appears now to be on the brink of a similar civil war. The terrorist attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunisia on Wednesday that killed 23 was the worst terrorist attack on tourists in the Arab world since the 1997 massacre in Luxor, Egypt. It would also be ISIS' most spectacular act of international terrorism since it carried out coordinated suicide bombings on American and international hotels in Amman, Jordan, in 2005. But Tunisia is right on Europe's doorstep, just 30 miles across the sea from the southern Italian island of Pantelleria. ISIS has so far offered no proof to back up its claim it was responsible. Yet several factors give the claim credence. Firstly, as of late Friday no other group had claimed responsibility. Secondly, Tunisian investigators have established that two members of the cell that carried out the attack trained in the Derna and Benghazi region of Libya late last year. In November, CNN reported that ISIS was running several training camps in the Green Mountains between these two eastern Libyan towns where it was instructing recruits from across North Africa, including Tunisians. Thirdly, up to 3,000 Tunisians have traveled to Syria and Iraq, many to fight with ISIS. Five-hundred are believed to have returned home, including a significant number of trained killers, skilled in handling automatic weapons. The three most powerful new ISIS affiliates are in Egypt, Libya and Nigeria. Last November the Egyptian Sinai-based jihadi group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to ISIS. Bolstered by the return home from Syria of Egyptian ISIS veterans, in recent months the group has escalated its campaign of attacks against security forces in the Sinai and across Egypt and has put out its own gory beheading videos. The threat it poses to Western tourists was underlined last summer when it killed an American oil worker in the deserts southwest of Cairo in a carjacking. In Libya, ISIS is taking advantage of chaos and simmering civil war to rapidly expand. Last autumn it established a foothold in eastern Libya, bolstered by the return of 300 Libyan ISIS veterans and the arrival of a top deputy of al-Baghdadi. It is now the dominant force in Derna, has a presence in Benghazi and controls part of the town center in Sirte, on whose beaches it beheaded more than a dozen Egyptian Christians in February. It also has a growing presence in Tripoli, where its fighters in January carried out an attack on the five-star Corinthia hotel that killed several Westerners. In Nigeria, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS earlier this month and brought celebrations to the streets of Raqqa, ISIS' headquarters town in Syria. Boko Haram hopes it will bring a recruitment, fundraising and propaganda windfall. "The merger with the Islamic State was a strategic, calculated, and long-term decision coming from the top of the Boko Haram leadership and communications structure," wrote Jacob Zenn, an expert on the group, in a just released West Point Combating Terrorism Center study on ISIS' growing array of affiliates. Though military operations by Nigeria and Chad have eroded Boko Haram's safe haven in northeastern Nigeria in recent weeks, the group still has formidable capacity to terrorize the region. A signature tactic: beheading its enemies with chain saws. For reasons of geography, there appear to be fewer organizational ties between ISIS and Boko Haram than between ISIS and its affiliates in Libya and Egypt. "The numbers of Boko fighters who have fought or trained with ISIS in places such as Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Libya and returned to Nigeria is believed to be small: fewer than 20 fighters and video-propagandists," Zenn, who was recently briefed by Nigerian intelligence officials, told CNN. ISIS' expansion into the southern shore of the Mediterranean has alarmed European governments. Italian fishermen operating off the south coast of Italy are so concerned they could be targeted by ISIS gunmen launching from Libya in speedboats that they have demanded protection from the Italian navy. Then there is the threat of trained European fighters returning home from the killing fields of Iraq and Syria. Over 3,000 Europeans have traveled to fight in Syria and Iraq, many with ISIS. More than 750 have returned. Among their number, according to Belgian counterterrorism officials, was a Belgian terrorist cell dispatched by ISIS from Syria to carry out a major terrorist attack in the heart of Europe. The plot was thwarted when several of the cell were killed in a gunbattle in eastern Belgium in January. European officials told CNN ISIS is increasingly pivoting toward plotting attacks in Europe. There is also concern ISIS could infiltrate non-European Union passport holders into Europe. Last year more than a hundred-thousand refugees arrived in Italy from Libya, according to the United Nations. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Thursday that Europe faced the greatest terrorist threat in its history, the starkest warning yet from a head of a European government since ISIS set up its caliphate in Syria and Iraq. "The problem is not if there will be another attempted attack in France and in Europe, but to know when and where," he said. +(CNN)The first state visit to the United States of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah was supposed to take place in early March. But the visit was delayed because Republican leaders had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress during the same time period. According to two Afghan government officials involved in the planning for the visit, the Afghan government believed American media attention would be largely focused on Netanyahu, so the first U.S. visit of the new Afghan president was delayed by two weeks, which is a useful reminder that there is a sound reason why congressional leaders shouldn't unilaterally extend invitations to foreign leaders. Ghani and Abdullah arrived in Washington on Sunday and have had much to discuss with the Obama administration. For the Afghan government, the timetable of President Barack Obama's proposed troop withdrawal is the key issue. Obama says that the last American troops will leave Afghanistan at the end of 2016. This happens to roughly coincide with the end of his second term in office and also fulfills his campaign promise to wind down America's post-9/11 wars. Ghani is clearly uncomfortable with the pace of this U.S. troop withdrawal, telling CBS' "60 Minutes" in January, "deadlines should not be dogmas" and that there should be a "willingness to reexamine" the withdrawal date. Is Obama's withdrawal plan a wise policy? Short answer: Of course not. One only has to look at the debacle that has unfolded in Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2011 to have a sneak preview of what could take place in an Afghanistan without some kind of residual American presence. Without American forces in the country, there is a strong possibility Afghanistan could host a reinvigorated Taliban allied to a reinvigorated al Qaeda, not to mention ISIS, which is gaining a foothold in the region. Needless to say, this would be a disaster for Afghanistan. But it would also be quite damaging to U.S. interests to have some kind of resurgent al Qaeda in the country where the group trained the hijackers for the 9/11 attacks. It would also be disastrous for the Democratic Party, should it win the presidency in 2016, to be the party that "lost" Afghanistan. After all, the Democratic Party is viewed by some as weaker on national security than the Republicans and it is inevitable that without some kind of residual American presence in Afghanistan, al Qaeda would gain sufficient strength to launch an attack from the Afghan-Pakistan border region against American interests somewhere in the world. On Tuesday, President Obama announced that the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan would be slowed and the remaining 9,800 troops would stay there through the end of 2015. But this welcome development does not change the central issue, which is the Obama administration's withdrawal date of December 2016 for all U.S. forces. Merely because the Obama administration will be almost out the door at the end of 2016 doesn't mean that suddenly at the same time that the Taliban will lay down their arms, nor that the Afghan army will be able to fight the Taliban completely unaided. Nor does it mean that al Qaeda -- and ISIS, which is beginning to establish small cells in Afghanistan -- would cease to be a threat. An easy way for potential Democratic presidential candidates such as Hillary Clinton to distinguish their national security policies from Obama's would be to say that they are in favor of some kind of long-term U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and to argue that it would be needed to avoid an Iraq-style outcome. Similarly, as the Republican Party starts ramping up for the 2016 campaign, potential candidates such as Jeb Bush can distinguish themselves from the isolationist Rand Paul wing of the party by saying that they are committed to a long-term presence in Afghanistan. This U.S. military presence in Afghanistan doesn't have to be a large, nor does it need to play a combat role, but U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan to advise the Afghan army and provide intelligence support. Such a long-term commitment of several thousand American troops is exactly the kind of force that the Obama administration was forced to deploy to Iraq following ISIS's lightning advances there over the past year. Selling a longer-term U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would be pushing against an open door with that nation's government. Consider that within 24 hours of being installed, the new Afghan government led by Ghani and Abdullah signed the basing agreement that allows American troops to stay in Afghanistan until December 2016. Consider also that the Afghan government has already negotiated a strategic partnership agreement with the United States lasting until 2024 that would provide the framework for a longer term U.S. military presence. Consider also that many Afghans see a relatively small, but long-term international troop presence as a guarantor of their stability. It is also not in Pakistan's interests for Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban or be thrust into another civil war. The Pakistanis have seen for themselves repeatedly the folly of allowing the Taliban to flourish on their own soil, most recently in the Taliban attack in December on the army school in Peshawar that killed 132 children. It is in Pakistan's own interest that the Afghan army is able to fight effectively against the Taliban, which is more likely if they continue to have American advisers at their side. Other regional powers such as the Chinese worry about Chinese Uighur separatists establishing themselves on Afghan soil. The Russians are similarly worried about Islamist terrorist groups located in Afghanistan and so will not stand in the way of a small long-term U.S. military presence in Afghanistan as that would dovetail with their own security concerns about the country. Keeping a relatively small, predominantly U.S. Special Forces, presence in Afghanistan to continue to train the Afghan army past December 2016 is a wise policy that would benefit both Afghans and Americans. Both the Democratic and Republican parties should adopt such a plan in their platforms as they gear up for the 2016 campaign. And Obama should do his successor a favor by leaving this important decision up to the next President. +(CNN)The terrorists who attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis, Tunisia, last week were wearing suicide vests but failed to detonate them before being gunned down by police, Tunisia's President told CNN. "They had them, but they didn't work, because the police turned up and they were shot down and they didn't have the time to get these vests to work. Because had they done so, we would have had major catastrophe," President Beji Caid Essebsi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. A third museum attacker remains at large, Essebsi said. Previously two suspects had been identified -- Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaou -- though it wasn't immediately clear if they were the pair killed at the museum by Tunisian security forces. Essebsi told Amanpour 15 arrests had been made since Wednesday's attack, in which 23 people were killed. Most of the victims were foreigners and 19 were tourists who'd been on two cruise ships that docked in Tunis. Essebsi said he believed the attackers were members of ISIS who had been trained in Libya. This echoed comments made by Tunisia's Security Minister Rafik Chelly on Friday, who said two attackers had been given weapons training at Libyan camps and had been activated from sleeper cells. In an audio message posted online Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The message said the group had targeted "crusaders and apostates" with "automatic weapons and hand grenades" in bloodshed that was "just the start." CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. An uncle of suspect Yassine Labidi, Abeld Malik Labidi, told CNN on Friday that no one he knew had seen any signs of extremism in his 26-year-old nephew. He said Yassine Labidi was one of the two gunmen killed at the museum. "It's true that Yassine carried out this terrorist attack, he was killed; his head, his body, we don't have it back," he said. But, he said, he believed Yassine and other young Tunisians like him were also victims of terrorism -- of the recruiters who paid them money, organized the logistics and took them to places like Syria and Libya to train as fighters. Laura Smith-Spark and Claudia Morales contributed to this report. +(CNN)Once again, the lure of ISIS may have ensnared another group of foreigners -- this time, medical students suspected of traveling to Syria to work in ISIS-controlled hospitals. The group of 11 people includes seven Britons, an American, a Canadian and two Sudanese, Turkish lawmaker Mehmet Ali Ediboglu told CNN on Sunday. Ediboglu, an opposition lawmaker, told The Observer that he had spoken with the students' families, who were convinced their loved ones wanted to work for ISIS, and were asking him for help tracking them down in neighboring Syria. "They have been cheated, brainwashed. That is what I, and their relatives, think," Ediboglu said, according to the newspaper. But he also stressed that the group did not travel with the intention of joining the battle. "Let's not forget about the fact that they are doctors," he told The Observer. "They went there to help, not to fight." In a joint statement, the students' and doctors' families said their children are humanitarians who went "to Turkey willingly to offer voluntary medical help to those refugees who are in need of medical care on Turkey's borders." They have since "disappeared," the statement said. "We have heard from the British, Turkish and Sudanese authorities that we have so far met, but we hope that the respectable governments of these countries would enforce, speed up and coordinate more effective measures to ensure the safety of our children wherever they are and bring them back to us as soon as possible," the statement said. Eight of the group are medical students who've just graduated, and the three others are in their final year of medical school, he said. They'd been studying in Khartoum, Sudan. At least seven of their mothers and fathers are living near the Turkey-Syria border, pleading for their return, according to The Observer. In an interview published Monday in Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News, the group of parents said they were worried and vowed not to leave Turkey without their children. Dr. Maumoon Abdulqadir said he was sending a message to his daughter, Lena, who is one of the students. "I know you want to help people and be of use. But you can do this in another way," he told the newspaper. "There are many who need your help. But this is not the way. Please, come back." British officials said they are aware of the report. "We are providing consular assistance to their families and we have informed the Turkish police to try and ascertain their whereabouts," the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement. Officials have warned that a growing number of foreign fighters are traveling to join ISIS' ranks. Estimates about how many medical personnel the group has recruited are harder to come by. Last year, a 19-year-old Colorado woman was arrested at Denver International Airport as she was about to start a journey to an ISIS camp, where she hoped to be a nurse. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Nimet Kirac and Radina Gigova contributed to this report. +(CNN)An American health care worker who came down with Ebola while volunteering in West Africa arrived Friday at a National Institutes of Health hospital in Maryland for treatment, the NIH said. A chartered aircraft flew the patient to the United States from Sierra Leone, where the person tested positive for the deadly hemorrhagic fever while volunteering at an Ebola treatment center, the NIH said. The patient was in serious condition Friday, the NIH said. Details about the patient's identity weren't released. The patient is the second with Ebola admitted to the NIH hospital. Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, was admitted to NIH in October after she contracted the disease while treating Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan. Pham recovered and was released free of disease. Duncan died. Nurse who contracted Ebola sues hospital company . NIH is one of only four hospitals in the United States that have biocontainment units and has been practicing for years to treat a highly infectious disease such as Ebola. More than 10,000 people have died in a West Africa epidemic of Ebola that dates back to December 2013, according to the World Health Organization. Most of the deaths have been in the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. CNN's Athena Jones and John Newsome contributed to this report. +(CNN)My name is Mark Goodacre, and I am a professor of New Testament and Christian origins in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. I was series adviser and one of many on-camera experts on CNN's "Finding Jesus," which airs on Sundays. I also appear in each episode of the program. Viewers were invited to tweet and post their questions on the "Finding Jesus" Facebook page during the latest episode, "The Gospel of Judas." Below are some of the most interesting, and my answers to them. They have been edited for style and clarity for this article: . Yalanda M. Price: What do scholars know about the man named Judas? What is his story? Mark Goodacre: Judas is actually a pretty mysterious figure in the New Testament. In fact, the relative lack of information about him in the Gospels has provided the invitation, across the centuries, for people to speculate about who he was and what could have possibly motivated him to hand Jesus over to the authorities. We know very little about his back story from the Gospels. He appears in the list of 12 disciples called by Jesus, but does not become a main character in the drama until the Passion Narratives. In John's Gospel, he is the disciple who is concerned about Mary wasting money anointing Jesus (John 12.4-6). Soon afterward, he is arranging to hand Jesus over to the authorities. His story ends with his dramatic suicide (Matthew 27.3-10), and Luke tells us that his stomach burst open and his intestines gushed out when he died (Acts 1.18-19). Mark Goodacre answers your questions about the Shroud of Turin . Kristine Spillman Adams: My understanding was always that Judas betrayed Jesus not because he was a villain, but he thought Jesus would start an earthly war when arrested. He was trying to get Jesus to establish a literal, physical kingdom on Earth. Goodacre: This is one of the great mysteries of the last week of Jesus' life. What motivated Judas to betray Jesus? John hints that it was financial greed (John 12.6), and Matthew says that he betrayed Jesus for "thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew 27.14-15). It is true, though, that many have speculated that Judas may have been some kind of zealot or freedom fighter, and he has often been depicted in this way in film and fiction. With this theory, he was trying to force Jesus' hand. It has sometimes been said that perhaps the word "Iscariot" is a corruption of the word "sicarii," which means "dagger bearer," and that would provide some backing to that theory. However, John identifies Judas as "Son of Simon Iscariot", which makes the "sicarii" theory less likely. In the end, we may have to accept that we simply will never know the answer to the question about Judas' motivation. Candida Moss answers your questions about John the Baptist . Betsy Wilson-Roark: Are you confident that you now have all of the pages and the current translation is accurate? Are there still words or phrases that are missing or ambiguous? Goodacre: That's a good question. Well, we probably have as much of the Gospel of Judas as we will ever have. Several additional fragments of the Codex Tchacos, in which the Gospel of Judas is featured, came to light after Bruce Ferrini, the dealer who owned the codex for some time, went bankrupt. Now, it is estimated that we have something like 90% to 95% of the text. With regards to translation and interpretation, this process will continue for years to come, as it always does with newly discovered ancient texts. I think the original translators in 2006 did a sterling job, all the more so as they were working with an incomplete, damaged and very complex Coptic text that had been lost for centuries. But I also greatly admire April DeConick's important contribution and the key adjustments in our understanding of the Gospel that this has brought about. I was delighted to see both the earlier and the newer interpretations of the Gospel of Judas dramatized so effectively in "Finding Jesus." Amarylis Didley West: Is there a place that we can find and read the Gospel of Judas? Goodacre: The National Geographic website on the Gospel of Judas does feature the original translation from 2006. As far as I am aware, there is no online version of the newer edition featuring the newer fragments and the revised translation. Watch the latest episode anytime on CNNgo . NJ Robinson: Good question would be did Jesus know Judas would betray him when/before he chose him? Goodacre: The Gospel writers themselves single out Judas as the one who would betray Jesus (more accurately "hand him over") as soon as they introduce him (e.g. Mark 3.19), but they, of course, are writing with the benefit of hindsight. We can only guess as to what was in the mind of the historical Jesus. Our lack of knowledge about this and many other aspects in the life of the historical Jesus are what makes the story so compelling for writers of historical fiction. If you would like to read more about Judas, a good starting point is provided in this article on the Society of Biblical Literature's Bible Odyssey website. It is written by "Finding Jesus" contributor Bruce Chilton. And if you would like to read more about the Gospel of Judas, "Finding Jesus" contributor April DeConick discusses it on Bible Odyssey. Is Judas in hell? +(CNN)The A320, the aircraft involved in a crash in France on Tuesday, has for several decades been a key component in the rivalry between manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. The twin-engined A320 entered service in 1988, some two decades after its single-aisle rival, Boeing's 737. As of March 2015, there have been a total of 11,537 orders for the A320, with 6,452 deliveries to date and slightly fewer aircraft flying globally by more than 300 operators. Airbus says the entire fleet has accumulated 150 million flight hours in more than 85 million flights. The A320 family ranges from the smaller A318 (about 100 seats), to the upgraded A321 (about 185 to 220 passengers depending on the class configuration). The short to medium-range A320 is the most popular version with a range of about 3,300 nautical miles or 6,150 kilometers. It has a wingspan of 35.8 meters (with wing fins called sharklets), a length of 37.57 meters and a maximum payload of 16.6 tonnes, according to Airbus. The aircraft -- Flight 9525 -- involved in Tuesday's crash was operated by Germanwings, a subsidiary of German flag carrier Lufthansa. Airbus said the 150-seat aircraft, which had been flying between Barcelona, Spain and Dusseldorf, Germany, was 24 years old, having been delivered to Lufthansa from its production line in 1991. It said the A320 had accumulated approximately 58,300 flight hours in 46,700 flights. It was powered by CFM 56-5A1 turbofan engines, the latest versions of which are capable of delivering up to 33,000 pounds of thrust. The aircraft manufacturer said it was sending a "go-team of technical advisers" to assist French authorities at the scene of the crash. Germanwings' fleet includes 15 active A320s, according to another database, planespotters.net. The A320-200 can seat up to 180 passengers in a single-class configuration. The Germanwings plane was carrying 150 people, including six crew members. According to information from the Aviation Safety Network accident database, there have been 55 incidents involving the A320, not including Tuesday's crash. In December 2014, an Airbus A320 operated by AirAsia Indonesia crashed into the Java Sea en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore. All 162 people on board Flight QZ8501 were killed. "The A320 has a fantastic safety record," said Phil Seymour, the president of the International Bureau of Aviation. "There have been a couple of incidents, but generally speaking, they're safer than most aircraft out there now." Seymour adds that at 24 years old, the aircraft involved in the crash was probably nearing the final years of its working life, but that would not affect safety. "Airlines would usually consider retiring an aircraft at the 25-30 years point because maintenance costs increase beyond that. "These things fly day-in and day-out and are designed to go on and on. Airlines usually only decide to retire them because maybe there's a younger aircraft that doesn't use as much fuel and doesn't cost so much to run." The A320 is a twin engine single aisle aircraft seating 150 passengers in a standard two classes configuration. The first A320 entered service in March 1988. By the end of February 2015 nearly 6,200 A320 Family aircraft were in operation worldwide. To date, the entire fleet has accumulated some 150 million flight hours in over 85 million flights. The worst A320 incident in terms of fatalities was the 2007 crash of a TAM Linhas Aereas plane that killed all 187 on board, plus a further 12 people on the ground when it failed to stop and went off the runway during landing in Sao Paulo in wet conditions. In 2009, in an incident known as the "Miracle on the Hudson, pilot Chesley Sullenberger landed a U.S. Airways A320 on the Hudson River in New York when the plane lost lost power in its engines after hitting a flock of geese. All on board survived. CNN's Barry Neild contributed to this report. +(CNN)The man who attacked a security area at the New Orleans airport with a machete and wasp spray also had a bag of Molotov cocktails and a car containing smoke bombs and gas cylinders, authorities said. The suspect, Richard White, 63, died Saturday after treatment for three bullet wounds he suffered when a sheriff's lieutenant fired at him to halt the Friday night attack, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said. Sheriff Newell Normand said earlier that investigators hadn't been able to talk to White, who officials said suffered from some type of mental illness. He said White's wife and children had been very cooperative. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was back open and fully operational, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. He praised security officials for acting quickly and heroically and doing everything they could to stop the attack. The incident began when White, carrying a bag, entered one of the lanes at the security checkpoint for Concourse B and began spraying Transportation Security Administration agents and bystanders with a can of wasp spray, the sheriff's office said. He then pulled a machete from his waistband and began swinging it at agents and others in the area. "What I saw originally was one of the officers getting sprayed with the wasp spray," said TSA agent Carol Richel, whose arm was hit by one of the bullets fired at White. The officer being sprayed with wasp spray picked up a bag and threw it at White to slow him down, but the suspect still barged through, Richel told reporters. Richel, who was not armed, yelled for everyone to run as she made her way toward the sheriff's lieutenant, who she knew had a weapon. "I was calling, 'Run, run' for them to get away from him, and I was calling for the (lieutenant) so she was there and alert," Richel said. "I didn't hear him say anything," she said. "Once I yelled for the checkpoint to be cleared, I looked over my shoulder and he was coming after me. And I ran as fast as I could and thank God the officer was as close as she was, because I wouldn't be here today." She said the man came "within inches" of whacking her with the machete. "This man was swinging very hard, very hard with that machete," Richel said. "And if he would have made contact with anybody, it would have been terrible." Normand said Lt. Heather Slyve fired three shots, ultimately stopping the attacker. He said investigators believe it was the first shot that went through Richel's upper right arm. Richel showed off a bright pink bandage on her arm and said the bullet went through her tricep. "Originally, I thought the machete hit me. I didn't realize it was a bullet," she said. "I knew he was close, so I honestly thought he hit me and she shot him." When White approached the checkpoint, he was carrying a bag that he dropped as soon as the first agent confronted him, Normand said. "What the bag revealed was six half-pint mason jars with cloth wicks into a liquid that we now know to be gasoline -- what you would commonly refer to as a Molotov cocktail," Normand said. A grill lighter and plastic letter opener were also in the bag, and next to his body investigators found powdery material and wicks, which they determined were from crushed smoke bombs. "The fact that he ended up dropping the bag (when) the TSA agent threw an item at him was huge in the short 40-second span ... of this event," Normand said. "Had he been able to hold onto the bag, he might not have continued to chase the TSA agents through the checkpoint. He might have gone somewhere else." The bomb squad found more smoke bombs in his car, and in the trunk were three gas tanks -- one for Freon, one for oxygen and one for acetylene, a compressed gas used in welding and metal-cutting. Normand said their intended purpose wasn't clear. Normand said "there is a mental illness component" in their investigation of the suspect. "No one at this point in time has any notion about what may have triggered this behavior," Normand said. "And not unlike dealing with the mentally ill, sometimes you will never know what actually triggers some of this type of behavior." People who had recently interacted with White described him as very cordial, calm, cool and collected, Normand said. They reported having no suspicions about him and said nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It wasn't clear why White was at the airport. Contrary to earlier reports, Normand said Saturday, White was no longer a taxi driver. CNN's Janet DiGiacomo, Joe Sutton, Tony Marco and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)Three teen British girls suspected of traveling to Syria to join ISIS appeared on surveillance video in Turkey before they went to their destination. Images show the teens boarding a bus in Istanbul, Turkish HBR television reported. It's the first sighting of the girls since they left London almost two weeks ago. Authorities have said they have no reason to believe the girls are still in Turkey and believe they have crossed into neighboring Syria, parts of which have been taken over by Islamist terror group ISIS. The three east London classmates -- Shamima Begum, 15; Kadiza Sultana, 16; and Amira Abase, 15 -- boarded a Turkish Airlines plane from London's Gatwick Airport to Istanbul on February 17. A British counterterrorism officer said police had tried to reach out to the girls using the Turkish media and social media to persuade them to return home. The girls' parents have also publicly begged for them to come home. Days before they left for Turkey, at least one of the girls allegedly contacted a young woman, Aqsa Mahmood, who left her home in Scotland to travel to Syria in 2013 and is accused of trying to recruit others via social media. An attorney for the Mahmood family said the family was "surprised, horrified" that the contact had not prompted police action "because they understood that Aqsa's social media content was being closely monitored by the security services." "And the real concern that arises is that if a known member of ISIS who's now a poster girl for ISIS, seen to be recruiting and spreading propaganda, is in touch with young people in our country -- that one would expect the courtesy of a knock on the door of these families, to advise them that their children may be on the cusp of radicalization or going off to Syria," Aamer Anwar said. The Mahmood family condemned their daughter's actions, describing them "as a perverted and evil distortion" of Islam. But they also said the UK security services "have serious questions to answer" over their failure to intervene after one or more of the missing girls got in touch with her. Turkey has become the most traveled route for volunteers trying to join Syria's many armed factions since an anti-government uprising erupted more than three years ago. Initially, Ankara maintained an "open door policy," allowing hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees to flee to safety in Turkey. Turkish border guards looked the other way, taking few steps to stop activists, volunteers and journalists from crossing into Syria. But with the rise of the ultra-violent Islamist group ISIS in Syria, the Turkish government increasingly came under criticism at home and abroad for not doing enough to stop jihadists from going through Turkey to get into Syria. Some critics have accused Ankara of actively supporting ISIS against rival Kurdish rebel groups, charges the Turkish government has angrily denied. Last year, the Turkish government showed CNN new barricades, thermal cameras and fences aimed at better fortifying the border. Historically, the Turkish-Syrian border, which runs more than 800 kilometers (500 miles), has been notoriously difficult for Turkish security forces to control. Before the Syrian civil war, both smugglers and Kurdish separatist guerrillas were known to operate illegally between the two countries. Turkish government officials have bristled in response to accusations that they are not stemming the flow of foreign fighters joining ISIS. Millions of tourists visit Turkey every year, where visas can be obtained upon arrival for citizens of many countries. +(CNN)The United States and Great Britain have pulled their last forces out of strife-torn Yemen, raising fears that the failed state will become even more of a breeding ground for terror groups plaguing the Middle East and the West. Over the weekend, the United States evacuated the last of its special operations forces -- including Navy SEALs and Army Delta Force troops -- amid the deteriorating security situation in the country, the U.S. State Department said. On Monday, a security source in the region familiar with the situation in Yemen told CNN's Nic Robertson that British special forces had also left Yemen in the last few days. The British Ministry of Defence declined to comment. The U.S. move came a day after terrorists bombed two mosques in the capital, Sanaa, on Friday, killing at least 137 and wounding 357 others, according to Yemen's state-run Saba news agency. The terror group ISIS, based in Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack. It also followed months of fighting between government forces and Houthi rebels, who on Sunday seized the international airport in Taiz. The rebels now control both the airport and Sanaa. Yemen has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, allowing U.S. drones and special operations forces to stalk terrorists in the country. Now, that arrangement is in tatters, along with any semblance of peace in the Middle Eastern nation. While State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Saturday that the United States would continue to "take action to disrupt continuing, imminent threats to the United States and our citizens," the move left some wondering what role the U.S. could play with no forces on the ground. The country closed its embassy in Sanaa last month. "I don't think there is an active role for the U.S. other than intelligence and trying to see where the dust is going to settle," said U.S. Sen. Angus King, a Maine Independent who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. That raises the possibility of the already unstable country becoming an even more fertile environment for terror groups to collaborate, grow and export violence, according to Robin Wright, a security and defense analyst with the Woodrow Wilson Center. "It's becoming much like Syria, much like Afghanistan was at the peak of its instability," she said. On Sunday, U.N. officials said the country appeared to be on a "rapid downward spiral." The Security Council again deplored the violence and called for an end to the fighting and for Houthi rebels to return government facilities to the elected government of President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi. But officials said recent events "seemed to be leading the country further away from a peaceful settlement and towards the edge of civil war." In addition to counterterrorism issues, all sorts of geopolitical influences are at work in Yemen -- chief among them the regional power play between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Houthi rebels are Shiites with ties to Iran, who have long felt marginalized in majority Sunni Yemen. Sunni Arab countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council want to limit the influence of Iran, particularly Saudi Arabia, said CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona. "They believe now that Iran is in control in Beirut, in Damascus, in Baghdad and now on their southern border in Yemen," Francona said. "So the Saudis are beginning to feel a little threatened here and are hoping the Yemen situation doesn't spiral out of control." The Saudis and other Gulf Arab nations have called for every effort to be made to roll back the Houthi gains and hand full control back to Hadi's government. On Monday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi criticized regional governments over their stance on the fighting. Al-Houthi said his group was striking back at al Qaeda and ISIS in self defense, and said he found it "very strange" that nearby governments would condemn the group for such acts while welcoming the United States, which he called "the umbrella of tyranny in the world." Yemen: What you need to know about how we got here . There's little reason to believe the Security Council's calls for peace will have much impact. Last month the council slammed the rebels for taking over democratic institutions and holding officials under house arrest, with little effect on the fighting. Last week, a Yemeni jet commanded by the Houthi fired missiles at a palace housing Hadi in the port city of Aden. No one was injured, but the direct strike marked an escalation in the deadly fighting between the two sides. That same day, Yemeni military forces -- some under the Houthis, others led by officers loyal to Hadi -- battled in Aden, leaving at least 13 people dead in the clashes, Aden Gov. Abdul Aziz Hobtour said. The fighting is taking a huge toll on Yemen's people and economy, said Rafat al Akhali, the country's former youth minister. Aside from the direct impact of fighting, people are losing jobs and businesses are closing, he said. There's still time, he said, to implement a political solution to the crisis. "I don't think we're past the point of no return yet," he said. Francona was less sanguine. "I don't see anything stopping a major war going on," he said. CNN's Hakim Almasmari, Catherine E. Shoichet, Richard Roth and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report. +(CNN)In the past eight months, ISIS has seeded itself in some dozen countries around the globe. Indicative of this was the announcement on Saturday that the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram had pledged its "allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims," ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The global spread of ISIS raises key questions about whether these new affiliates signal an intensification of the threat of terror. It also has important implications for the debate in Congress over Obama's request for a new authorization to fight ISIS. Lt. Col. Michael Waltz, a U.S. Special Forces reserve officer who has just returned to the States after advising the Nigerian Ministry of Defence in its fight against Boko Haram, told me, "So far the pledge (to ISIS) seems to be legit." Waltz says there is some debate about the timing of the pledge, because Boko Haram has recently come under effective attacks by Nigerian forces allied with the armies of neighboring African countries that are also threatened by the group: "Some folks in the region are saying it's a sign of desperation, as the regional offensive by Nigeria and its neighbors has knocked Boko Haram on its heels and out of a number of its sanctuaries. The Chadians have been particularly effective." But Waltz also says there is some evidence that the Boko Haram pledge to ISIS "has been in the works for some time." The group's increasing alignment with ISIS is demonstrated by Boko Haram's recent beheadings of its victims and its more professionally edited video releases of recent weeks that have mimicked ISIS' slick videos. Virginia Comolli, whose book "Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency," will be published next month, agrees that the more sophisticated Boko Haram media releases of the past couple of months point to "some sort of inspiration" that Boko Haram is drawing from ISIS and that recent beheadings "might also be a form of copycat but, I shall note, they are not completely new" for Boko Haram. Comolli also emphasized to me, "lately the government had been able to take back a number of towns under Boko Haram control. Boko Haram has always been very resilient and adaptable, changing and upping its game when needed. The pledge might be exactly that: Boko Haram has recently suffered some serious blows and feels it needs to try something different to strengthen its position." Some 5,000 have died in Boko-related violence during the past half-decade, while more than 1.5 million have been forced out of their homes, but Boko has generally not attacked Western targets. Its affiliation with ISIS could change that although, for the moment, it's not clear how the Boko-ISIS alliance would work from an operational standpoint. Hilary Matfess, a researcher at the Nigeria Social Violence Project at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, told me, "Boko Haram would be the largest group to pledge allegiance to ISIS, but it's not certain what kinds of logistical or operational support that ISIS could provide an African affiliate." Since August, Boko Haram is one of some 30 terrorist groups that have issued statements of support for ISIS or have gone further and pledged their allegiance to ISIS, according to IntelCenter, a Virginia-based company that tracks terrorist organizations. Of most concern are the groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIS, since this allows ISIS some measure of command and control over these organizations and also means that these groups will likely more closely align with ISIS' goal of creating a caliphate across the Muslim world as soon as feasible and use the most reprehensible of tactics to do so. In addition to Boko Haram, terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Yemen have pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to IntelCenter. What could this mean for the wider jihadist terrorist movement? It's worth taking a closer look at how the Libyan branch of ISIS, which affiliated with it in November, has played out on the ground in Libya. A senior U.S. government official told me that there is some debate in the U.S. intelligence community about whether ISIS' Libyan affiliate is more of a "wannabe" ISIS, and a "rebranding" of a local group that wanted to take advantage of ISIS' fearsome brand, than a group that takes orders from ISIS central command in Syria and Iraq. On January 27, ISIS gunmen attacked the Corinthian Hotel in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, killing 10. Five of the victims were foreigners and one was an American. And last month ISIS released a video showing members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority being beheaded on a Libyan beach, apparently by members of ISIS' Libyan affiliate. The video showed the victims in the orange jumpsuits that ISIS forces its victims to wear. Both the attack on the Corinthian Hotel and the beheading of the Christians do suggest some measure of command and control by ISIS' core of its Libyan affiliate, according to the U.S. government official, who says Libyan fighters frequently go back and forth between Libya and Syria and Iraq. The increasing globalization of ISIS raises some interesting questions for the Obama administration and for Congress. Last month Obama put forward a proposal for a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force specifically targeting ISIS. Obama's AUMF proposal mentions combating ISIS in its heartland of Syria and Iraq, but it doesn't mention the dozen other countries where ISIS now has a presence or foothold. Interventionist Republicans will likely want to see an AUMF that specifically targets other groups allied to ISIS that are outside of Syria and Iraq. Many Democrats will be uncomfortable about such an expansion. The ball is now in Congress' court to decide how geographically wide the scope of the fight against ISIS should be. It will be an interesting debate: on one side, those who want to prolong indefinitely what is already America's longest war, against jihadist terrorist groups like ISIS that have affiliates from Algeria to Afghanistan; and, on the other, those who want to circumscribe that war both in time and in space. Given the fact that a broadly written AUMF that was passed in the days after 9/11 has allowed the United States to conduct military operations in half a dozen Muslim countries over the course of the past 14 years, a new authorization that specifies both a sunset provision and also a specific geographic scope would be a useful check on executive power. And such an authorization could be amended if a substantial new threat from an ISIS affiliate emerges. +(CNN)Latest developments: . • Transponder data shows that the autopilot on Germanwings Flight 9525 was reprogrammed by someone in the cockpit to change the plane's altitude from 38,000 feet to 100 feet, according to Flightradar24, a website that tracks aviation data. • Police searched Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Thursday, the city's police spokesman said in televised comments. A team of five investigators went "through the apartment looking for clues as to what the co-pilot's motivation might have been, if he did indeed bring the plane down," police spokesman Markus Niesczery said. Full story: . The co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 purposely crashed the plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, officials said Thursday. "We at Lufthansa are speechless that this aircraft has been deliberately crashed by the co-pilot," said Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said the co-pilot, 27-year-old German national Andreas Lubitz, apparently "wanted to destroy the aircraft." It's unknown whether Lubitz planned his actions, Robin said. But he "took advantage" of a moment in which the pilot left the cockpit and "activated the descent," which can only be done deliberately. New details released Thursday appeared to support the startling revelation that someone set the plane on a crash course. Transponder data shows that the autopilot was reprogrammed during the flight by someone inside the cockpit to change the plane's altitude from 38,000 feet to 100 feet, according to Flightradar24, a website that tracks aviation data. The plane's cockpit audio recorder captured horrific sounds. The captain, somehow locked out of the cockpit, can be heard banging on the door, Robin said. And screaming can be heard on the audio recording for the final few minutes of the flight. For those on board when the plane plunged into the mountains, Robin said, death was instantaneous. Who was co-pilot Andreas Lubitz? Police searched Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf on Thursday, looking for clues about his possible motive. A search is underway for the plane's second "black box," the flight data recorder, which could shed more light on the plane's final minutes. And the French government has asked the FBI to help investigate the crash, a law enforcement official said. Investigators so far say they're baffled about why Lubitz would have crashed the plane . Lufthansa does "not have any clues," Spohr said. The picture of the plane's final minutes comes largely from what was discovered in the mangled cockpit voice recorder. The pilot and co-pilot had normal exchanges during the beginning of the flight, Robin said. When the pilot stepped out to go to the bathroom, he asked Lubitz to take over. It's unclear whether the pilot entered a code to try to get back into the cockpit when he returned, or whether Lubitz "put the lever on lock," which would have prevented the code from working, Spohr said. The most plausible explanation of what happened next is that Lubitz, "through deliberate abstention, refused to open the cabin door ... to the chief pilot, and used the button" to cause the plane to lose altitude, Robin said. The disaster is not being described as a "terrorist attack," and the killing of 150 people would generally not be described as a "suicide" either, Robin said. Spohr agreed: "If a person kills himself and also 149 other people, another word should be used -- not suicide," he said. Lubitz was not known to be on any terrorism list, and his religion was not immediately known, Robin said. 5 cases of pilots intentionally crashing . He had been with Germanwings since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time, the company said. Lubitz had trained at the Lufthansa flight center in Bremen, Germany. He only had about 100 hours of experience on the type of aircraft he was flying, but he had all the necessary certifications and qualifications to pilot the aircraft alone, the prosecutor said. He had passed medical tests, Spohr said. The audio recording showed his breathing to be steady, with no sign that he had a heart attack or other medical issue. Lufthansa does not have standard psychological testing for pilots once they are hired, Spohr said. The company considers an applicant's psychological state when hiring, he said. The co-pilot was "fully qualified to pilot the aircraft on his own," Robin said. A man in Montabaur, Germany, who belonged to the same flight club as Lubitz, said he couldn't believe it. "The way I know Andreas, this is inconceivable," Peter Ruecker said. An 8-minute descent to death . Relatives and friends of the victims traveled on special Lufthansa flights to an area near the site where their loved ones perished. Seyne-les-Alpes, a nearby town, is serving as a staging post. Mayor Francis Hermitte predicted that 200 to 300 people would come to the area Thursday. Most are not expected to stay overnight, he said. But in case they do, he said, local residents have offered accommodations for them. Lufthansa is providing "financial support" to relatives of the victims, Spohr said. He declined to go into details. The families of the two pilots are also in France, Robin said, but they are not in the same place as the passengers' relatives. The bodies of the crash victims will not be released to family members until all DNA identification work has been done -- a process likely to last several weeks, he said. While some human remains have been recovered, many have not. The task is treacherous for search crews working on steep slopes in icy weather. Workers were dropped by helicopters and tied together for safety. Mother, daughter among 3 American victims . The doomed flight was traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, when it crashed Tuesday. Germanwings said the plane reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, and then dropped for about eight minutes. The plane lost contact with French radar at a height of about 6,000 feet. Then it crashed. The 144 passengers and six crew members came from 18 countries. About half were from Germany, and 35 were from Spain. Students, singers among victims . CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Ashley Fantz, Richard Allen Greene, Jason Hanna, Greg Botelho, Frederik Pleitgen, Nic Robertson, Pierre Meilhan, Richard Quest, Hala Gorani, Stephanie Halasz, Khushbu Shah, Bharati Naik, Ingrid Formanek, Sandrine Amiel and Erin McLaughlin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Three French sports stars were among 10 people killed when two helicopters collided in Argentina on Monday evening, authorities said. The helicopters were reported to be heading to a gorge in northwestern Argentina for the filming of the reality TV show "Dropped" for the French broadcaster TF1. Eight French passengers and the choppers' two Argentinian pilots died in the midair crash near the town of Villa Castelli in La Rioja province, Argentina's state news agency Telam reported, citing local authorities. The dead included the famed sailor Florence Arthaud, who in 1990 broke the record for crossing the North Atlantic alone; the swimmer Camille Muffat, who won three medals at the 2012 Olympics in London; and the boxer Alexis Vastine, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Members of the TV production team were among the other French victims, French authorities said. Former French soccer star Sylvain Wiltord, a contestant on the show who wasn't involved in the crash, expressed his shock. "I'm sad for my friends," he tweeted. "I'm shaking, I'm horrified, I'm lost for words." Muffat's boyfriend, William Forgues, told CNN's French affiliate BFMTV of his shock at hearing the news of the 25-year-old swimmer's death. Clearly emotional, he said her agent had called him soon after midnight, herself in tears, to tell him of the crash. Muffat, he said, was known as "madame 100%" because she succeeded in so many things. He said she was happy and satisfied to be taking part in the show. "To be over there was her choice, 100%," he said. At the 2012 London Olympics, Muffat won the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle, silver in the 200-meter freestyle and bronze in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. French President Francois Hollande expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement. The sports stars "made France shine so brightly" during their careers, the statement said. The crash happened within moments of takeoff in good weather conditions, Telam reported, citing witnesses who spoke to a local radio station. The helicopters, which belonged to local governments in the region, collided about 100 meters (328 feet) above the ground, the news agency said. Police and investigators were at the scene of the crash. A manslaughter investigation has been opened in France into the incident, to be led by the Air Transport Gendarmerie, a representative for the Paris prosecutor's office said Tuesday. It is standard procedure to launch an investigation if French nationals die abroad. Five national police officers were en route from Paris to Argentina on Thursday, authorities said. Their mission there is to collaborate with the Argentinians and assist in the identification of victims. The TV show involved sports stars being helicoptered into remote areas while blindfolded and then having to survive in the wilderness, according to French media. "We learn with immense sadness of the accident that occurred during the filming of the show 'Dropped,' " TF1 said in a brief statement. TF1's staff "come together in this terrible time with the pain of the families and those close to the victims," it said. CNN's Nelson Quinones, Laura Akhoun and Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report. +(CNN)Wedding bells are on the horizon for Bristol Palin and 2011 Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer. Meyer, 26, proposed to Palin, 24, Friday night at a Rascal Flatts concert in Las Vegas, Palin said on her blog. "The lead singer, Gary LeVox, dedicated 'Bless the Broken Road' to us, and then Dakota got down on one knee and proposed!" she wrote. "It's amazing to see what happens when you place everything in life in God's hands." Friends and well-wishers congratulated the couple on the news. As one person said in a comment on Meyer's Instagram, "This is so 'MERICA that my mind is blown right now." Meyer received the nation's highest military honor for braving enemy fire in 2009 to recover 36 American and Afghan troops in Afghanistan. He was the third living recipient -- and the first Marine -- to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Palin, the oldest daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has stayed in the public eye since her mother's failed vice presidential bid through appearances on "Dancing with the Stars" and a Lifetime show about raising her son, "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp." She also released a best-selling memoir in 2011, "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far." She was previously engaged to Tripp's father, Levi Johnston. The couple met last year when Meyer visited Alaska to film "Amazing America," Sarah Palin's show on Sportsman Channel, Bristol Palin said in her blog post. "He met Tripp during that time, and I've seen him in a few places where our paths have crossed since. He's visited us in Alaska, and I've visited his wonderful family in Kentucky," she wrote. "He's wonderful with Tripp and I'm so proud to be marrying him." The couple shared news of their engagement on social media. "I'm definitely the luckiest guy ever," Meyer said in an Instagram of the pair tagged #shesaidyes. Bristol Palin shared an Instagram picture of a ring and another of the happy couple smooching. "Truly the luckiest girl in the world, cannot wait to marry this man!!!!" she said. The couple started recently began sharing images on social media of themselves together. Palin posted a photo last week of the couple out in the snow with Tripp. Meyer has also shared a few pictures of him with Sarah Palin. "Thank you for being the amazing person that you are. I appreciate your leadership and dedication to our country!" he said in a post on her birthday in February. Sarah Palin also congratulated the couple, noting that Meyer "flew up North" to ask Bristol Palin's father and grandfather for her hand in marriage. "Our families couldn't be happier for Bristol and Dakota! We're honored to welcome Dakota into our family. He's an American hero and patriot whose service to our country -- like all his fellow Medal of Honor recipients -- has been above and beyond the call of duty; but even more important is he's a good and kind man who loves Bristol and Tripp, and is loved by them," she said on Facebook. "Yes, God working behind the scenes to turn beauty from ashes. Had tough circumstances in their lives not occurred, and had they reacted differently to those circumstances, they'd have never met." +(CNN)In a side room at the American University of Nigeria, four girls chat and giggle. One teenage girl in particular catches our attention. She looks familiar. Then we realize why. We met her just a few weeks after Boko Haram had attacked her school and abducted almost 300 students. As the Boko Haram trucks carrying them began to speed away to the militants' territory, she and her friend bravely jumped, barely escaping with their lives. She was one of the lucky ones. School, she says, from that day on became a reminder of what almost happened. A place she never wanted to return. But now she is back and the change in her is remarkable. She dreams of remaining in the classroom as a teacher, so that just like her tutors, she can influence and inspire young minds. Studying with her here are 21 other girls from Chibok. They, too, escaped Boko Haram. Like hundreds of others across Nigeria's North East, they were targeted simply for going to school. Choosing to go back to class is a statement of their courage and focus on education, which they hope will bring change back home. "My people need my support," one girl says. "And me going to school will make that change," She wants to be a surgeon. In a part of the world often lacking the most basic health care infrastructure, she has chosen to bring value to her community. One of three students we spoke to who want to study medicine, she's extraordinarily focused and firm in her responses. It is hard to imagine sitting with her now what she and the other girls have been through at Boko Haram's hands, what they almost lost. Some questions, though, they can't answer: any questions about the night of the attack, any reference to the friends still missing. These are too hard. Enrolled on scholarships at the university, these girls are the lucky ones, and they know it. There are 46 other Chibok girls who also escaped Boko Haram, but there are no funds available to pay for their education. Dr. Margee Ensign, the school's vice-chancellor, is hoping to change that by raising funds through the university's foundation. "The world paid, and rightly so, a lot of attention to the close to 300 that were kidnapped," she says. "We heard through various people that some had escaped that night and when it came to our attention that about a dozen wanted to come to AUN, we thought, we can do that!" She did more then just raise the funds. When the parents agreed to release their girls into her care, she and her security director traveled -- just the two of them -- to the outskirts of Chibok to go and get the girls, in spite of the insecurity. Even on campus, though, the specter of Boko Haram is never far away. The American University is in Adamawa state, one of the states in North East Nigeria that is under a state of emergency. This calls for constant vigilance at the school: Cars are searched by hand and guards and sniffer dogs are on constant patrol. For the girls, to remain in school, they must draw upon all their reserves of courage. It is a reality these extraordinarily self-possessed young ladies softly acknowledge. When I ask how it is they are able to persevere, one girl says with a slight smile, "I'm very brave and determined." She really is. All the girls are. But they're hoping a day will come when they won't have to be. +(CNN)Rubén García Villalpando was supposed to arrive home from work on a Friday evening in February. But he never again pulled into the driveway of the home in suburban Dallas where he lived with his wife and four children. The 31-year-old welder died that night after a police officer shot him twice in the chest. Villalpando was unarmed, but in early reports about the shooting, police said an altercation erupted after he disobeyed an officer's commands during a traffic stop. It wasn't until hours after the shooting that his wife says she got a call from police, telling her what had happened. Now, questions swirl through Marta Romero's mind. How will their children grow up without a father? Will authorities take the case seriously or toss it aside because of her husband's immigration status and the fact that the man who opened fire was a police officer, not a civilian? And what happened that night to make something so horrible happen? "If my husband had killed a police officer, he would be in jail," she said. "But since it was the opposite, will they just leave it this way? Because an officer killed a man, because he killed an illegal and nothing more? What are a human's rights then? Now an animal gets more rights than a man." Villalpando is one of three Mexican nationals killed in U.S. police shootings in the past month, sparking sharp criticism from Mexico's Foreign Ministry and a call for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate. Pressure for authorities to take a deeper look at the controversial case is also coming from north of the border. At a City Council meeting in Grapevine, Texas, last week, Romero and her children were among a group holding signs that said "Justice for Ruben" and chanting, "Hands up! Don't shoot!" -- the phrase that started as a call to action after the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and has now become a rallying cry across the country in protests against police violence. Police said it's too soon to say exactly what happened that night. Investigators have interviewed dozens of witnesses and plan to share their findings with prosecutors. No charges have been filed. "I do not know now whether to believe in the authorities here or not," Romero said, "because if a police officer acted like this, what can another official do? I don't know. I want to trust them, because they are the ones who are taking care of us in this city. But I don't know what they can do." The case already has one piece of evidence that wasn't available to investigators looking into Brown's death: a police cruiser dash cam video. But police haven't released it to the public. "There will be more information released as the investigation continues. This additional information may shed more light on Mr. Villalpando's actions that night," police and city officials in Grapevine said last week. "We look forward to the time that the community can review the dash cam video of this incident, which we believe will answer many questions and correct some misconceptions about this incident." Villalpando's family members said they've seen the video, and even though it doesn't show the shooting, they said it's clear there was no good reason for the officer to open fire. Villalpando was unarmed, they said, had his hands in the air and did nothing to threaten the officer who stopped him. It all started, police say, when a burglar alarm went off February 20 at a business in Grapevine. Officer Robert Clark of the Grapevine Police Department spotted Villalpando's car in the area and started to follow him. Soon, according to police, the pursuit turned into a high-speed chase, with the officer following Villalpando from Grapevine into the neighboring town of Euless, Texas. A Grapevine Police statement released after the shooting said the dash cam video shows Villalpando's car "weaving through and around the heavy traffic and driving onto the highway attempting to evade Officer Clark." Eventually, Villalpando pulled over. His family said they believe he didn't stop for police right away because he was scared. He was an undocumented immigrant who had lived in the United States for 15 years and he knew any encounter with police could end with him getting deported and separated from his children, Romero said. U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement last fall that undocumented immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children could be eligible for work permits as part of a new executive action gave them hope, but also made them even more nervous about making sure they steered clear of trouble until the paperwork came through, she said. "He was nervous. He knew that to have problems with the authorities was serious. ... We couldn't have a criminal record," she said. "That is what he had in mind. What is going to happen to me now? Now I am not going to be OK. They are going to deport me." Fernando Romero said it was jarring to hear what Villalpando says in the video as he gets out of the vehicle. "My brother-in-law is out of the car with his hands up," he said, "and the first thing he asks is, 'Are you going to kill me?'" There's no sound of any fighting or altercation, but what you do hear, he said, is the profanities the officer repeatedly shouts as Villalpando approaches with his hands up. It's hard to hear exactly what was said, according to Romero; the family believes the officer made a comment claiming Villalpando was drunk. Police in Euless, who are leading the criminal investigation into what happened, told CNN the video does contain foul language. The Grapevine Police dispute the family's assertion that Villalpando did nothing threatening, saying that "contrary to clear instructions" he continued to walk toward the officer after being told repeatedly to stop. But there's a key thing that's not shown on the video, police and the family said: the shooting itself. Still, Fernando Romero said the sound of gunshots is clear, piercing through the roar of rush-hour traffic. His sister, Villalpando's widow, was so devastated after seeing the video he had to carry her out of the police station. Grapevine Police said the video shows the officer did everything he could to keep the situation under control until backup arrived. "We believe the dash-cam video, as well as information that has already been in the media, clearly demonstrates that Officer Clark was doing everything in his power, including the use of strong language, to keep Mr. Villalpando at a safe distance until backup arrived and an arrest [was] safely accomplished," Sgt. Robert Eberling said in a written statement released Thursday. "Members of the media have also been diligent in reporting some of the possible explanations for Mr. Villalpando's actions on the night of February 20, including a previous high-speed chase and a prior arrest for DWI, and a fear that he would be deported. Officer Clark had no way of knowing Mr. Villalpando's nationality at the time the traffic stop was initiated and it may not have been evident on a highway in the late evening." Marta Romero said her husband made a mistake when he didn't stop when the officer tried to pull him over. But she said he was trying to cooperate and turn himself in. "He was painted like a criminal who was involved in a robbery and had assaulted an officer, and in the video you don't see any of those things," she said. "You see the opposite, a man who is scared, who is simply trying to calm the situation, who sees that the police officer has a weapon in his hands." Now she said, she's seeking justice, hoping the police officer will face the appropriate charges for killing her husband. But she knows the family's search for answers won't be easy. In addition to the doubts swirling in her head, she is faced with questions from her children, even as she tries to explain to them that their father won't return. The most devastating of all, she said, is, "Mommy, when is my Papa going to wake up?" Police in Euless said they're also asking plenty of questions. Investigators have interviewed more than two dozen witnesses and are searching for more people who might have seen what happened, Euless Police Lt. Eric Starnes said . Clark, who's worked for the Grapevine Police since May 2014, is on administrative leave pending the investigation. Grapevine Police did not respond to CNN's request to speak to Clark about the incident. The burglar alarm that spurred the officer's initial response, police later said, turned out to be false. As for the video,Grapevine Police said they still want the public to see it, but for now, they're holding off on releasing it because prosecutors have asked for evidence not to be released to the public while an investigation is pending. "While we understand the interest of the community in the requests to release the video, we must balance those needs with the direction from the District Attorney's Office and the respect for the judicial process," police said Thursday. "We recognize that much of the sentiment being expressed is based on the understandable grief concerning Mr. Villalpando's death. We appreciate the support of our citizens and the fact that they are keeping an open mind and waiting for the results of a complete and thorough investigation." CNN's Gustavo Valdes and Alina Machado contributed to this report. +(CNN)Stylists, a fashion commentator and a luxury-brand exec are speaking out about a movement that sneers at Hollywood's implicit deal: gratis gowns in exchange for money or mentions. Not surprisingly, fashion designers providing free couture dresses don't exactly feel the same way. "Because it has now become a thing where people spend months and make five dresses for them," Tom Ford has said. "If you wear one of those dresses and a company has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars or has paid you, then yeah, you say who it is." In other words, ladies who look like a million bucks (and have been paid that much or more from deals with brands like Dior or Chanel) can't expect not to be asked about what they're wearing. Reese Witherspoon supports #AskHerMore: "It's hard being a woman in Hollywood" Notes Hollywood stylist Cristina Ehrlich of awards-season red carpets: "These women in many cases are being paid a great deal of money to wear these dresses. It's serious business. Is this the venue to get into baby seals or Save the Whales? I'm not sure it fits." One vice president of a major European fashion house asks: "If you asked these actresses straight out, 'Which is more important to you, the money you're paid to wear these dresses or talking about issues?' They'd take the money any time, believe me." Is red carpet coverage sexist? Battle lines drawn at Oscars over #AskHerMore . Stylist Karla Welch suggests a two-pronged response: "How about ask her both? Feminism and turning it out on the carpet shouldn't be mutually exclusive. There needed to be a backlash to mani-cams and, to be honest, there could be some better journalism from fashion experts." Outgoing Fashion Police host Kathy Griffin agrees: "Any actress can choose to steer the conversation. The worst [media] can do is nervously cut to commercial. I support any movement that gives women increased power from where their only recourse was just to wear Spanx and smile. Men, however, should be asked exclusively about their penis size." The Hollywood Reporter's 25 most powerful stylists of 2015 . What do you think celebs should do? ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +Jerusalem (CNN)Benjamin Netanyahu appears poised to keep his job as Israel's Prime Minister, declaring victory Wednesday following a bitter campaign punctuated by his last-minute appeals to right-wing voters. For weeks, Netanyahu's Likud party trailed in opinion polls to the Zionist Union alliance that characterized him as a divisive leader not up to the task of making the lives of ordinary Israelis better. Those polls turned out to be wrong. Instead, the Likud party grabbed at least 29 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, according to unofficial numbers from the Israeli election committee, based on 99% of the vote. Its leaders will have the first chance at forming a coalition government. The Zionist Union came in second, with at least 24 seats. "Against all odds, against all odds, we achieved this huge victory for Likud," Netanyahu told jubilant supporters not long after the polls closed Tuesday. "We achieved the huge victory for our people. And I am proud, I am proud for the people of Israel that in the moment of truth, knew to make the right decision and to choose the real material things over immaterial things." Rather than courting voters in the middle, Netanyahu pivoted more to the right with appeals concerning Israel's security. Two weeks ago, he made a controversial speech to the U.S. Congress warning of any deal with Iran on its nuclear program. Then, a few days ago, he declared there would be no Palestinian state so long as he's Prime Minister -- reversing an earlier position and putting him at odds again with the Obama administration's support for a two-state solution. On Tuesday, he released a video on Facebook claiming leftists were bringing "huge amounts" of Arabs by bus to vote against Likud. Arabs make up about 20% of Israel's population. "The right regime is in danger," Netanyahu said. "We have an urgent wake-up call. Bring your friends, bring your family, vote for Likud." Those appeals appear "to have energized that right-wing base," according to CNN's Elise Labott. Netanyahu still has to form a new government, a process that President Reuven Rivlin said he hopes will start Sunday. If the Likud leader does so -- as expected -- it will leave Israel not much different than it was before the election, with a conservative Netanyahu still the dominant force facing a dug-in opposition. 5 questions about Netanyahu's apparent victory . Isaac Herzog, who led the Zionist Union, called Netanyahu to concede defeat. But he and fellow opposition leader Tzipi Livni won't go away, with Herzog insisting that "nothing has changed." "This is not the time for coalitions and governments," Herzog said, apparently ruling out joining forces with Netanyahu as the Labor Party has done before. "I think what Israel is most in need of is an alternative voice that continues to say the truth. "And I'm telling everyone, 'Believe, a change will come.' " Official results will not be released until next week, with the process of building coalitions expected to take much longer. No party has ever won a majority of seats in the Knesset, meaning coalition governments are as old as the modern state of Israel. The victory goes to the party leader most suited to put together a 61-seat majority. Aaron David Miller, an ex-adviser to the U.S. government on Arab-Israeli negotiations now with the Wilson Center, predicts former Israeli Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon will be the "kingmaker" in any coalition government deal based on the support his Kulanu party got Tuesday. How does Israel's parliament work? There's no guarantee Netanyahu will form such a coalition and stay as prime minister. But he's got a better chance than anyone, and overnight he vowed to work "quickly and responsibly to form a new government." "Our country's everyday reality doesn't give us the luxury for delay," Netanyahu said. If he does lead the next government, he will soon go down in history as the prime minister with the longest continuous tenure in Israel -- thanks to his back-to-back-to-back election wins. Many woke up Wednesday questioning all those polls suggesting that Netanyahu's latest six-year term could be coming to an end. Israeli media outlets released surveys suggesting that either the Zionist Union would win the vote or, at least, finish in a dead heat with Likud. Exit polls from Israel's three major broadcasters showed the two parties neck and neck, not the apparent five-seat advantage that Likud appears to have secured. So what happened? Pollster Avi Degani, who predicted a Likud win all along, said other pollsters relied too heavily on Internet technology and should have done more surveying by phone. "The Internet does not represent the state of Israel and the people of Israel," Degani said, referring to modern statistical methods. "It represents panels, and the panels are biased strongly to the center." As Netanyahu's win reverberates, one question remains: Did he gain extra seats because of an 11th-hour surge, or were the major polls skewed from the beginning? Why were the election polls so wrong? Netanyahu maintained hard-line positions on settlements and negotiations with Palestinians, but his opposition appeared more open to talks and more focused on economic, social and other issues within Israel. Saeb Erakat, the Palestinian chief negotiator with Israel, said, "The results of the Israeli elections show the success of a campaign platform based on settlements, racism, apartheid and the denial of fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people. "Such a result would not have been possible had the international community held Israel to account for its systematic violations of international law," said Erakat, who works under Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Opinion: Will Netanyahu win seal Iran deal? The post-election view from Hamas, the Islamist political and militant movement that controls Gaza and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, appeared more resigned. "Hamas doesn't see any difference between the Israeli parties because they all share the denial of our people's rights and keeps assaulting them (people)," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, suggesting that it didn't matter much who prevailed Tuesday. "We assure that the Palestinian resistance is strong and can impose the facts." Miller, the Wilson Center scholar, says he doesn't think that Netanyahu will necessarily hold his hard campaign line on the Palestinians forming their own state if and when he starts his next term. But that doesn't mean an elusive peace deal is coming anytime soon. "I think the two-state solution, sadly, is in a Bermuda Triangle, sandwiched between a situation that's too hard for it to be implemented and too important for all of the parties -- including the Prime Minister, despite what he said," Miller said. Opinion: The danger of Netanyahu's win . CNN's Oren Liebermann reported from Jerusalem, and Faith Karimi and Greg Botelho wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN's Larry Register, Dana Ford and Kevin Flower contributed to this report. +(CNN)Robert Durst appeared to be prepared for life on the lam when FBI agents arrested him in New Orleans. The millionaire heir, according to court documents, had more than $40,000 in cash with him -- and a neck-to-head latex mask to alter his appearance. The new details about Durst, who's been charged with first-degree murder, emerged Wednesday in court documents supporting a search warrant for his Houston home. It's the latest twist in a whirlwind week for Durst, the subject of HBO's true-crime documentary "The Jinx." He's gone from a man battling suspicions that he killed three people to a frail 71-year-old on suicide watch. Durst, whose real estate developer family is among New York's wealthiest, has a net worth of about $100 million and had been withdrawing large sums of money from various bank accounts, including daily withdrawals of $9,000 over 35 days since October, the court documents said. He's being held on drug and weapons charges in Louisiana as he awaits extradition to Los Angeles to face charges in the 2000 killing of his close friend. It's not the first time he's been accused of murder. He admitted to killing and dismembering his neighbor in a 2003 trial, but he was acquitted after arguing he acted in self-defense. And while he's never been charged in his first wife's 1982 disappearance, her family members say they believe she's dead and that he's the one to blame. FBI agents are also investigating whether Durst could be connected to other unsolved murder cases. The agency is putting out a call to local authorities to examine cold cases in locations near where Durst lived over the past five decades, a U.S. law enforcement official said. Unsolved cases in Vermont, upstate New York, the San Francisco Bay area and Southern California are among those getting a new look. Durst's apparent plans to flee began to unravel on Saturday, after an FBI agent approached him from behind at a New Orleans hotel and said, "Mr. Durst?" Although Durst had checked into the hotel under the name "Everette Ward" and carried a Texas ID card with that name, he turned around when the agent called him by name, according to court documents. In his hotel room, agents found more than $40,000 in cash, mostly in $100 bills packed into small envelopes, a loaded revolver, the rubber mask that covers the head and neck, his actual birth certificate and passport, and marijuana. On Tuesday, authorities made it clear they weren't done looking into Durst, even though he's behind bars. At the Houston condominium building where Durst owns three units and lived for many years, authorities seized compact discs, bank statements, handwritten notes, credit cards and checks, stationery, a cell phone, boxes of court documents, photos and a trash bag of court transcripts. They also left with copies of books that detail the disappearance of his first wife and his legal troubles: "Without a Trace" and paperback and hardcover copies of "A Deadly Secret." Journalist Matt Birkbeck, who wrote "A Deadly Secret," said he'd heard Durst read his book, but didn't realize he still had two copies. "When I first heard that, I was somewhat shocked," Birkbeck told CNN, "and a little disturbed." The Los Angeles County district attorney filed a first-degree murder charge against Durst on Monday. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Prosecutors accuse Durst of "lying in wait" and killing Susan Berman, a crime writer and his longtime confidante, because she "was a witness to a crime." Berman was shot in the head in her Beverly Hills, California, home in December 2000, shortly before investigators were set to speak with her about the disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, in 1982. Durst has long maintained he had nothing to do with Berman's death or his wife's disappearance. He's confined to a Louisiana prison's mental health unit after being deemed a danger to himself. On Tuesday, an appeals court granted a request from the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office to move Durst to the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center's mental health unit in St. Gabriel, about an hour's drive from New Orleans. Lawyers for the sheriff's office argued that the jail where Durst was being held until Tuesday night can't accommodate inmates with acute mental health conditions. The appeals court agreed. Durst's lawyer Dick DeGuerin said he "did not believe" his client was mentally ill, and that he should remain in Orleans Parish to give the legal team better access to him before a evidentiary hearing scheduled for Monday. DeGuerin has said it's no coincidence authorities arrested Durst the day before the HBO documentary's final episode aired. He said he wasn't surprised about the search of his Texas condo, either. "They're acting like a bunch of Keystone Kops, particularly after being embarrassed by the TV program," he said. "And I'll be even more surprised if they find anything of any evidentiary value whatsoever." Authorities have been mum about what evidence led them to arrest Durst on Saturday, the day before the finale of "The Jinx" aired. Court documents reveal some details about their case against him. Four forensic experts concluded a letter sent to police telling them to search for a cadaver in Berman's home was likely written by Durst. For viewers of the HBO documentary, that might not come as a surprise. In "The Jinx," Berman's stepson stumbles upon a signed letter from Durst to Berman's home in Beverly Hills. The handwriting looks similar to the "cadaver" letter that tipped off police to the killing, and both letters misspell the word as "Beverley." In the documentary, Durst denies he has anything to do with writing the "cadaver" letter, and that he has anything to do with Berman's death. Court documents mention another anonymous letter, sent from New York in January 2001, to a Los Angeles police detective. It was titled "Possible motive for Susan Berman murder" and stated that Berman suspected Durst of being involved in his wife's disappearance. It also said Durst planned to visit Berman around the time of her death. In a 2003 murder trial, Durst admitted he'd killed neighbor Morris Black in Galveston, Texas, and chopped up the body. He was acquitted after his attorneys argued he had acted in self-defense, though he later served nine months in prison on felony weapons charges stemming from that case. DeGuerin told reporters Monday that his client didn't kill Berman. "He's ready to end all the rumor and speculation and have a trial," DeGuerin said. It's not clear when a trial would take place. Durst waived his right to fight extradition to Los Angeles, but because prosecutors in New Orleans are pursuing charges against him, he remains jailed there. Investigators believe he planned to travel from New Orleans to Cuba, a law enforcement official told CNN. Investigators found a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and about 147 grams (5.2 ounces) of marijuana in Durst's hotel room in New Orleans, according to court documents. He was booked on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance. Court documents filed Tuesday say Durst will receive medications while imprisoned, "including but not limited to hydrocodone as needed for pain." CNN's Evan Perez, Chandler Friedman, Jeremy Grisham, Dave Alsup, Holly Yan, Chris Welch, Shimon Prokupecz and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report. +(CNN)The death of the founding father of Singapore last Monday is an appropriate occasion to reflect on nation building. As prime minister for its first three decades, Lee Kuan Yew raised a poor port from the bottom rungs of the third world to the first world in a single generation. As it prepares to mark its 50th anniversary as a nation, Singapore is today an ultra-modern metropolis of almost six million people with higher per capita GDP than the United States, according to the World Bank. Lee's achievement in building a successful nation contrasts sharply with the results of Washington's expenditure of over $4 trillion and nearly 7,000 American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. Some say Singapore's story is sui generis: Something that could only happen in that time and place. But its remarkable performance has less to do with miraculous conditions than with Lee's model of disciplined, visionary leadership. Leaders of other aspiring-to-develop nations, and even the U.S., should take pages from Lee Kuan Yew's playbook to address current challenges. We know many of Lee's lessons on the role of government leadership in development because my co-authors and I asked him directly two years ago to reflect on them -- points we captured in our book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World. Five stand out. First, Lee insisted that governance was first and foremost about results. In his words, "the acid test of any legal system is not the greatness or the grandeur of its ideal concepts, but whether, in fact, it is able to produce order and justice." About the core purposes of government, he was crystal clear. In terms America's founding fathers would recognize, he believed that "the ultimate test of the value of a political system is whether it helps that society establish conditions which improve the standard of living for the majority of its people, plus enabling the maximum of personal freedoms compatible with the freedoms of others in society." Second, superior performance requires superior leadership. Lee demanded of leaders both intellectual and moral superiority. Contrary to modern Western democratic theory that emphasizes citizens' participation in governance, his views were closer to Plato's conception of the "guardians," or China's historical Mandarins. Good government requires most of all leaders who put the public good unquestionably above their own personal interests. He was disappointed by many of his counterparts who failed that test. Third, successful societies guarantee strict equality of opportunity for all individuals, but are realistic about the fact that this will yield substantial inequalities in outcomes. For Lee, the essence of a successful society was intense competition on a level playing field that allows each individual to achieve his or her maximum. Few things offended him more than denial of equality of opportunity on the basis of caste (India), class (Europe), race (the U.S. during segregation), sex, or other irrelevant attributes. As he put it, the leader's objective was to "build up a society in which people will be rewarded not according to the amount of property they own, but according to their active contribution to society in physical or mental labor." Fourth, about democracy, particularly Western liberal democracy, Lee had serious reservations. In part, this attitude stemmed from his own experience, but it also reflected a deeper philosophical aversion to ideologies. As he liked to say, "the acid test is performance, not promises. The millions dispossessed in Asia care not and know not of theory. They want a better life. They want a more equal, just society." Lee enjoyed engaging American critics who insisted that without democracy Singapore could not develop an advanced economy. In contrast, he argued that what most countries needed was more "discipline," rather than democracy. He noted that the U.S. had been building democracy and giving aid to the Philippines for over a century. But, he asked, how many people from Singapore sought to leave it for the Philippines? Many people in the Philippines, he noted, wanted to move to Singapore. On one occasion, with a broad smile, he continued, "and you will notice that since the Vietnam War and the Great Society, the U.S. system has not functioned even for the United States." Fifth, which leaders did he most admire? From the recent past, he focused on three: Charles de Gaulle, Deng Xiaoping, and Winston Churchill. "De Gaulle, because he had tremendous guts; Deng, because he changed China from a broken-backed state, which would have imploded like the Soviet Union, into what it is today; and "Churchill, because any other person would have given up." On the current scene, the leader who impressed him most was the new president of China, Xi Jinping. As he said just before Xi took office: "I would put him in Nelson Mandela's class of persons. A person with enormous emotional stability who does not allow his personal misfortunes or sufferings to affect his judgment. In a word, he is impressive." As China's leaders attempt to follow in Lee's footsteps in building a Mandarin-Leninist led nation that overtook the U.S. last year in GDP (measured by PPP) to become the world's largest economy, and democratic India seems poised to grow at rates that will compete with China, we can reflect on lessons from Lee Kuan Yew and place our bets. Governing a nation in which two of every three citizens believe their country is headed in the wrong direction -- and have believed so under Democratic and Republican Presidents for all of the 21st century -- American leaders should ask whether it is time to focus on the acid test of performance rather than the litmus test of ideology. +(CNN)She stood there, injured and holding a knife, outside her Florida home. That image is horrifying enough, but nothing compared to what police say they found inside. All three of that woman's children were unresponsive when officers encountered them Friday evening, including a 7-year-old girl who was reported dead soon thereafter, according to the Palm Bay police department. One of them, a 6-year-old boy, died later. A 5-month-old boy is seriously injured. Their mother, identified by police as Jessica Lacey McCarty, didn't comply to officers' request that she drop her knife. So officers fired several "less lethal" bean bag rounds at her, after which she was taken into custody, according to police. And on Saturday, Palm Bay police announced on the department's Facebook page that McCarty was being charged with two counts of murder in connection with her children's deaths. The 33-year-old woman is also facing an attempted murder charge regarding her infant son, who was in critical condition at a nearby hospital. After initially being taken to a hospital after suffering what police called "non-life threatening injuries," McCarty was moved to the Brevard County Detention Center, where she's being held without bond. She will face a judge within 24 hours to address the charges, according to the Palm Bay post from around midday Saturday. "A crime like this is beyond words," police Capt. Josh Resh said. "It is unthinkable that someone could do this to innocent children." Authorities' first indication of trouble came in a 911 call just before 6 p.m. Friday from a woman claiming to have killed her three children. McCarty's boyfriend -- the father of one of the children -- placed his own call to police seconds later, after arriving home to the grim scene. How and why did the children die? Authorities are waiting on results from an autopsy, scheduled for Sunday, to definitively figure that all out. "We are still trying to verify the sequence of events, how and why they occurred," Palm Bay police Lt. Mario Augello said. "... This is still a very active criminal investigation." Regardless, the episode shook those in the victims' neighborhood in Palm Bay, which is about 70 miles southeast of Orlando on Florida's Atlantic coast. It started with the sirens and about 10 armed officers coming down the street, telling him to get inside, neighbor Davion Lewis CNN affiliate WESH. But for neighbor Becky Johnson, learning why they had come was even more horrifying. "It's inexcusable, unthinkable, ... shocking," Johnson said. "You think of your own kids." +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)A coalition of Middle Eastern forces continued pounding rebel targets in Yemen from the air on Friday, the second day of a campaign aimed at the Houthi group. While it was hard to immediately determine the extent of the damage and destruction, the resounding sounds of huge explosions heard around Sanaa on Friday night suggested that the Saudi-led strikes were taking a toll. The strikes' target is Houthi rebels, a Shiite Muslim minority group that has taken over the capital and, on Wednesday, captured key parts of the Yemeni port city of Aden. Aden was where President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi had moved because of the rebel advance. Hadi has since left Yemen, and on Friday he'd arrived in Egypt for a summit of Arab League representatives. Many nations in the Arab League are now participating in the armed effort against the Houthis and presumably to return Hadi to Yemen as its leader. While he's not in Yemen, the fierce fighting there continues. Not surprisingly, the Houthis are bearing the brunt of the bloodshed -- and not just in Sanaa. That includes at least 10 killed in the northwestern province of Saada, home to the Houthi's leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi, Houthi commanders said. More than a dozen more people were wounded, as 15 locations saw airstrikes. Five Houthis died were hurt in an attack by fighters loyal to Hadi on a Houthi post about 6 miles (10 kilometers) outside Al Anad airbase, two security officials in Lahj province said. That's where U.S. Special Operations Forces involved in fighting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had been based as recently as this month. Hadi has also ordered the closure of all Houthi-controlled media -- including Yemen TV and Saba TV. The Houthis, though, responded by raiding two TV channels and the prominent Al Masdar newspaper. Al Jazeera's office in Sanaa was also targeted, with Houthis looting security cameras and damaging equipment, the Qatar-based network said. The nations stepping into Yemen's civil war are predominantly Sunni Muslim, and they are working to rescue a government that has strong Sunni support. The Houthis are allied with majority Shiite Iran. Saudi Arabia, the largest contingent in the intervention dubbed al-Hazm Storm, considers the Houthis to be proxies for the Shiite government of Iran and fear another Shiite-dominated state in the region. "What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border," CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said of the Saudis. The kingdom says Hadi, who is out of the country, pleaded for military intervention in a letter. "I ask you, based on the principle of self-defense in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, and on the basis of the Charter of the Arab League and the treaty of joint Arab defense, to provide instant support by all necessary means, including military intervention to protect Yemen and its people from continuous Houthi aggression," read the letter, which was posted by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that the United States commends the military action and is supporting it through intelligence sharing, targeting assistance and logistical support, a senior State Department official said. The other nations participating in the military action are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Egypt, a Saudi adviser has said. The adviser also included Pakistan, saying its military was offering naval support. But on Friday, that country's Defense Ministry said it had only vowed to defend Saudi Arabia, according to a local media report. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have spoken about the possibility of sending ground troops. Saudi Arabia has blockaded the Houthis, effectively cutting off their supply lines. By Thursday afternoon, the Saudis controlled Yemeni airspace, the adviser said, and the military threatened to destroy any naval ships trying to enter Yemeni ports. Supreme leader Al Houthi spoke live Thursday night in Yemen on al-Masirah TV, saying, "If any army tries to invade our country, we will prove that Yemen will be a grave for those who invade us." Iran denounced the military intervention. Marzieh Afkham, a spokeswoman for the country's Foreign Ministry, said the operation will throw an already complicated situation into further turmoil and disrupt chances at a peaceful resolution to Yemen's months-long internal strife. It also won't help a region already facing terrorist threats from groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, she said. "This is a dangerous action against international responsibilities to respect countries' national sovereignty," Afkham said, according to a report in Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. At least one major player in Yemen besides the Houthis -- the General People's Congress, which is the party of longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh -- thinks the Saudis and their partners should stay out. The GPC says the airstrikes have already led to civilian casualties. The best way to stop the bloodshed is to bring everyone to the negotiating table, the group said. Opinion: Why Yemen has come undone . Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Yemen, and CNN's Greg Botelho and Ben Brumfield wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Samira Said, Becky Anderson, Nick Paton Walsh, Anas Hamdan, Salma Abdelaziz and Mustafa al-Arab contributed to this report. +New Delhi (CNN)The quest to be educated in India has literally scaled new heights. Images of parents and family members clambering up school buildings and clinging on window ledges to pass cheat sheets to their children have left authorities in despair. The incident took place on Wednesday in the state of Bihar, where students were writing their year-end grade 10 examinations. Examples of cheating incidents are not hard to find in India. But, even compared to previous events, this seems to be unprecedented in its blatancy. Bihar Education Minister PK Shahi told reporters that children won't learn if they're constantly helped by family members. "Government can only hold fair examinations with the help of the parents, society and the children," he said. "This is a collective responsibility." In a developing economy like India, education is a precious commodity. With more than 1.2 billion people, proper schooling could hold the key for much of the population to get out of a vicious cycle of poverty. Earlier this week, a father in the city of Mathura was caught strapping his 8-year old daughter to a motorcycle after she refused to attend school to take her assessment. Tied with a multi-strand rope to the back of a bike, onlookers captured images of the trussed girl, her bare feet hanging low, scraping the asphalt. According to local police officials, the girl's parents offered her several incentives, such as chocolates and toys to entice her, however when the girl was still reluctant, her father decided to take matters in his own hands. After photos started making the rounds on social media, police officials took the man into custody and charged him with "breach of the peace." He is now out on bail. "Even after he got out, the father showed no remorse. He has five children to feed and he believes the only way they can get out of this poverty trap is through education," a senior police official handling the case told CNN. The flaws in India's education system are well-documented. The country has a literacy rate of only 74%, compared to 95% in China. Women suffer particularly badly here; only 64% have formal education. Earlier this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a nationwide campaign urging parents to send their children, especially daughters, to school and properly educate them. According to the United Nations, India has the largest youth population in the world, with more than a quarter of citizens aged between 10 and 24. +(CNN)"Completely false." That's how police are responding to allegations that they beat the man arrested for shooting two police officers during protests in Ferguson, Missouri, last week. Jeffrey Williams, 20, has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault, a count of firing a weapon from a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal activity. Police have said he admitted to firing the shots that struck the officers. But Williams' lawyer says he has little confidence in such statements. "He's scared. You know, this has been pretty traumatic for him," attorney Jerryl Christmas said about his client on Monday. "One thing that is clear is that he has a large amount of bruising on his body that I noticed that I'm very concerned about. It appears that whatever statements he made, he was without the advice of counsel, and when I look at the bruising, it's hard for me assess if these were voluntary statements that he made." Christmas told CNN that Williams has bruising across his back, and a knot on his head. "He said he was bruised by the police when he was taken into custody. And he was in a lot of pain when he was being questioned," Christmas said. "They used a lot of force on him." Opinion: Why would you want to be a cop? Police deny the accusation. "With regard to the allegations that Jeffrey Williams was 'beaten' by police, the St. Louis County Police Department calls these allegations completely false," Sgt. Brian Schellman said in a statement. "Immediately following the arrest, arresting officers transported Williams to St. Louis County Police Headquarters where he was interviewed by Crimes Against Persons Detectives. This entire interview was video and audio recorded." Schellman also said that Williams was seen by a nurse, who released Williams as "fit for confinement." Williams is being held on a cash-only $300,000 bond, according to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch, who said it's possible Williams could face more charges and that others could be charged in the case. The prosecutor thanked the public for the information that led to the arrest. He said police served a search warrant on Williams' residence where they seized a .40-caliber handgun, "which has been tied to the shell casings that were recovered" at the scene of the shooting. One element of the case that authorities have yet to sort out is intent, McCulloch said, adding that Williams has acknowledged firing the shots but has said he wasn't aiming at the police officers. Investigators are not sure they "buy" Williams' claim that he opened fire after a dispute with other individuals, McCulloch said, but he didn't rule it out. The tough task ahead for Ferguson's next police chief . After speaking to his client, Christmas said that it's clear to him there was no intent to target police. For more than 200 days, protests have taken place in Ferguson since the August shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted. According to his attorney, Williams was not part of the protest community, and does not have a history of violence. "I clearly think that we don't have the right person in custody," Christmas said. CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Racist emails -- like one that depicted President Obama as a chimpanzee -- resulted in three Ferguson, Missouri, city employees resigning or being fired, the city spokesman said Friday. Police officers Capt. Rick Henke and Sgt. William Mudd resigned Thursday over the emails discovered during the U.S. Department of Justice investigation of racial prejudice in the city's police and judicial system, city spokesman Jeff Small said on Friday, citing the city attorney. The city's top court clerk, Mary Ann Twitty, was fired earlier this week in connection with the emails, Small said. Several employees forwarded the emails but until now none had been disciplined, the report said. Examples of the racist emails include one sent in October 2011 that showed a photo of bare-chested dancing women, apparently in Africa, with the caption "Michelle Obama's High School Reunion." A June 2011 email described a man trying to put his dogs on welfare because the canines were "mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and have no ... clue who their Daddies are." Some critics have called for the department to be disbanded and for Police Chief Thomas Jackson to resign. In a Friday interview with CNN's Sara Sidner, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said Jackson was not copied on any of the emails. When asked if Jackson and the city manager may be fired, Knowles said, "We're going to do our due diligence and hold people accountable." Knowles also said he doesn't think the department will be disbanded. When asked about what happens next in Ferguson, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday, "We are prepared to use all the power that we have, all the power that we have to ensure that the situation changes there. And that means everything from working with them to coming up with an entirely new structure." When a reporter asked if that included dismantling the police force, Holder replied, "If that's what's necessary then we are prepared to do that." Holder ordered the investigation after a white police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown last summer, setting off months of sometimes violent street protests in the town outside St. Louis. The DOJ declined to bring charges against Wilson, who has since left the force. No state charges were filed either. In a separate report, the Justice Department described what it said was a "pattern and practice" of discrimination against African-Americans by the Ferguson police and municipal courts. That discrimination included racist emails. Ferguson is a town of 21,000 that is 67% African-American. Among the findings in the report: . From 2012 to 2014, 85% of people subject to vehicle stops by Ferguson police were African-American, 90% of those who received citations were black, and 93% of people arrested were black. In 88% of the cases in which Ferguson police officers reported using force, it was against African-Americans. From 2012-2014 black drivers were twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during traffic stops, but 26% less likely to be found in possession of contraband. President Obama said Friday that although he doesn't think the abuses of power in Ferguson are typical of America, there are individuals and possibly whole departments in American law enforcement that may struggle to prevent prejudice in their ranks. "I don't think that is typical of what happens across the country, but it's not an isolated incident," Obama said in an early morning interview on SiriusXM's Urban View channel. "I think there are circumstances in which trust between communities and law enforcement has broken down, and individuals or entire departments may not have the training or the accountability to make sure they are protecting, serving all people, and not just some." Knowles has outlined a number of reforms the city implemented to address some of the Justice Department's concerns, and said the city "must do better" to address racism. "We must all work to address issues of racial disparity in all aspects of our society," he said Wednesday. Ferguson police chief mum on federal report . CNN's Sara Sidner contributed to this report. +(CNN)You would be pressed to find a designer who appealed to the imagination as much as Alexander McQueen. A favorite with A-listers and fashion editors alike, he was renowned for his Gothic sensibilities, innovative textiles (think shells, horns and hair) and highly conceptual runway shows, as well as his bad boy antics behind the scenes. (Along with the usual drinks, drugs and parties, he once claimed to have stitched profanities into the lining of a jacket for Prince Charles.) Five years after his death, interest in the designer hasn't waned, least of all in his home town of London, where, starting this month, he's being commemorated with an extensive, expensive retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a re-staging of the 2011 exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, summarizes and contextualizes McQueen's 18-year career through an elaborate display of 244 garments and accessories. "Savage Beauty at the V&A is the largest and most ambitious fashion exhibition the museum has ever staged," said curator Claire Wilcox at a press preview. The V&A has already sold 70,000 advanced tickets, and extended the exhibition by two weeks to meet demand. At the Met, Savage Beauty attracted over 660,000 visitors by the end of its four-month run, making it one of the museum's top 10 exhibitions of all time, up there with a King Tut stop in 1978 and a Mona Lisa loan in 1963. Bringing Savage Beauty to London can be seen as a "homecoming," as it was described by V&A director Martin Roth at the press preview, if not an act of repatriation. The son of cab driver and a school teacher, Alexander "Lee" McQueen grew up in London's East End. After dropping out of school at 16, he honed his tailoring skills on Savile Row, graduated with an MA in fashion design from the city's prestigious Central Saint Martins college, and used the V&A's archives to research his collections. He once said of London: "It's where my heart is, and where I get my inspiration." That love was largely reciprocated. In 2011, thousands of British devotees petitioned to have Savage Beauty brought to London after its spectacular New York debut. Fashion journalist Melanie Rickey was one of the most vocal proponents. A longtime fan, she has coauthored the upcoming release Inferno: Alexander McQueen (Laurence King), a coffee table book of interviews and images from photographer Kent Baker, which documents March 1996 collection Dante. "I was agitated because (Savage Beauty) really is meant to be in his hometown," Rickey says. "Everything about him is London, so to not have it in London would have been a crime." Along with hounding the brand's corporate honchos and the V&A itself, Rickey started an online petition to have the exhibition brought to the city, and instigated the Twitter hashtag #BringMcQueenExhibitionHome. "It's like the (Elgin) Marbles: They're probably a lot more powerful in Greece than they are sitting in the British Museum." Ultimately, such advocacy may have been unnecessary. According to Kate Bethune, senior exhibition research assistant for Savage Beauty, it had been Roth's ambition to bring the exhibition to London since he assumed the directorship in September 2011. The V&A exhibition, which was announced last April, even begins with a newly added London gallery dedicated to McQueen's roots in the city and his early shows. Curators called on Sam Gainsbury, who produced all of McQueen's shows from 1996 on, to act as the exhibition's creative director and bring McQueen's pieces to life. "A lot of (McQueen's) colleagues say he started his collections with the concept of a show," Bethune says. "He always wanted people to have a strong reaction to what he was going." The most theatrical highlights include the Romantic Primitivism gallery, covered with fake bones like an ossuary, and a blacked-out room where a Kate Moss hologram floats in a diaphanous dress, trapped in a glass pyramid. The room-sized Cabinet of Curiosities has 27 screens showing moments of his most imaginative runway shows: women walk on water, a model's gown is spray-painted by robotic arms, a church is converted into a catwalk. But Bethune believes the real draw will be the groundbreaking pieces made from unconventional materials, which blur the line between fashion and art. Fairytale gowns feature throughout and there's a whole section dedicated to McQueen's tailoring skills, but it's the garments made from razor clam shells, pheasant feathers, and synthetic hair; or embellished with impala horns and baby crocodile heads that really standout. The accessories -- extravagant headpieces, Swarovski mesh chain mail, impossible shoes -- seem like sculptures. "McQueen was an artist whose medium of expression was fashion," she says. "He absolutely changed the way we look at fashion." Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty runs from March 14 - August 2, 2015 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. For more information, visit www.vam.ac.uk/savagebeauty . +(CNN)Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage will remain in place while the state appeals a federal judge's decision to strike it down. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday issued a stay of U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon's decision this week to end the ban. "We are glad the court has granted the stay because it provides current stability in Nebraska's marriage licensing process," Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement. Nebraska was set to begin offering marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday. "The discrimination enshrined in our constitution hurts our clients and countless other Nebraska families," the ACLU of Nebraska said on its Twitter account. "We will keep fighting." The ACLU of Nebraska filed the lawsuit challenging the state's ban. Same-sex marriage licenses are offered in 37 other states. The number of states offering same-sex marriages has surged since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in 2013 that invalidated part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. States like Illinois, Hawaii, Minnesota and New York joined the fold voluntarily, while others were ordered by state or federal judges to offer and recognize the unions. Cases involving Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee are expected to be decided in June by the U.S. Supreme Court, which may settle the issue nationally once and for all. CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report . +London (CNN)Archaeologists have started excavating about 3,000 skeletons from the Bedlam burial ground in London, used from 1569 to at least 1738. Also known as Bethlem and the New Churchyard, more than 20,000 Londoners are believed to have been buried there. The ground was used by "a varied cross-section of society throughout the years since the burial ground was open," Nick Elsden, project manager from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) told CNN. And they include those who could not afford a church burial or chose to perish there for religious or political reasons. The ground also contained the overflow of bodies when other cemeteries became full. Bedlam, now a synonym for chaos, took its name from the Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem in London which nursed the mentally ill. Among the deceased are victims of the English Civil War, the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in the following year. The site was found at an entrance of the city's new Liverpool Street Crossrail station -- part of a £14.8 billion ($22 billion) project that will expand London's railway network. A team of 60 archaeologists will work six days a week on the project, expected to finish in September this year. Hundreds of skeletons found under Paris supermarket . Elsden said the excavation reveals a great deal about how Londoners lived from the 16th to the 18th century. "A large sample of the population from that period will enable us to look at the lifestyle, looking at Roman London and what the Romans were doing in the suburb area, outside the city walls." He said the skeletons will be cleaned and closely examined by experts who will assess their remains to determine their diseases, ages and sexes. "Specialists will look at the DNA of the disease that killed the person rather than their own DNA," he added. Roman skulls unearthed deep beneath London . The findings are timely as well -- this year marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Plague in London. "1665 was the very last recorded episode of plague. There were 400 years of regular plague, and suddenly it stops," Jay Carver, Crossrail's lead archaeologist, said. "And what we want to be able to find out, from sampling the graves of that date, is why that is. And what it is about the bacteria that causes bubonic plague that suddenly changed at that point." Londoners also assisted in the research by helping to search parish records to identify people who were buried in Bedlam. "And that was a huge exercise which couldn't have possibly been done by our own team," Carver said. Skeletons found holding hands after 700 years . The result is a database of more than 5,300 names and backgrounds of those buried at Bedlam, including political activists John Lilburne and Robert Lockyer -- part of a movement known as the Levellers --as well as Ambrose Nicholas, the Lord Mayor of London in 1575. A Roman road that runs underneath the site has already produced artefacts such as horseshoes and cremation urns. Carver describes the Bedlam dig as a personal career highlight. "[It's a] great use of an engineering scheme, but at the same time addresses the historical importance of each these sites." London rail excavation unearths suspected 'plague pit' +(CNN)Scientists have raised concerns about a large, rapidly thinning glacier in Antarctica, warning it could contribute significantly to rising sea levels. They say they've discovered two openings that could channel warm seawater to the base of the huge Totten Glacier and bring the threat of potentially disastrous melting. The glacier is bigger and thinning faster than all the others in East Antarctica. It contains enough ice to raise the global sea level by at least 11 feet (3.4 meters), according to researchers from the University of Texas at Austin who were among the authors of a new study published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. Scientists had previously detected warm water on the seaward side of the glacier. But until now, they had found no evidence that it could threaten coastal ice. "We now know there are avenues for the warmest waters in East Antarctica to access the most sensitive areas of Totten Glacier," said Jamin Greenbaum, a University of Texas Ph.D. candidate and the lead author of the study. The two gateways on the seafloor that lead to the base of the glacier offer an explanation for why Totten Glacier has been melting so fast. Scientists have already warned about the consequences of melting ice in West Antarctica. NASA said last year that glacial retreat in some areas "appears unstoppable." The increase in sea levels that would be caused by the melting of all the ice in Totten Glacier is estimated to be roughly equivalent to the contribution from a collapse of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The United Nations' report on climate change last year estimated sea levels could rise between 1 foot and 3 feet by 2100. Such a rise could displace tens of millions of people from coastal areas around the world. But that calculation doesn't factor in the latest research on Antarctica. "While the Totten melt may take several centuries, once change has begun our analysis reveals it would likely be irreversible," Greenbaum said in comments cited by the Australian Antarctic Division. To prevent the process from becoming unstoppable, atmospheric and oceanic conditions would need to change so that snowfall outpaces coastal melting, the researchers said. The scientists gathered their data through a series of aerial surveys using technology that can scan the ice and seafloors in areas that are inaccessible to icebreakers. The team included researchers from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. +(CNN)Ashley Judd is taking on Twitter trolls, who she says make social media an unsafe space with violent threats. Her vow to fight online harassment came after she says she was attacked for expressing an unpopular opinion about a basketball game on Twitter. Judd, a diehard Kentucky Wildcats fan who regularly attends March Madness games, told MSNBC that her tweet to the effect of "I think Arkansas is playing dirty" was met with vile language and sexually charged threats. Judd retweeted messages that are too explicit to include here. "Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for what they write and not allowing this misinterpretation and shaming culture on social media to persist," Judd said. "And by the way I'm pressing charges." The actor, who is also an advocate for women's rights, added: "The amount of gender violence that I experience is absolutely extraordinary, and a significant part of my day today will be spent filing police reports at home about gender violence that's directed at me on social media." Twitter, trolls and sports collided recently in another high-profile social media fight involving former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling. Schilling had congratulated his daughter on joining her new college's softball team in a tweet that was met with sexually menacing replies. He tracked down some of the men who sent inappropriate tweets, resulting in one reportedly being fired from his part-time job with the New York Yankees. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has admitted the company has a less than stellar track record for cracking down on abusive tweets. "We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years," Costolo wrote in a February memo. He told employees that he was embarrassed and took "personal responsibility" for the company's failure to address abuse. Costolo said he was committed to addressing the issue. This month the company updated its terms of service to directly combat so-called "revenge porn" that is posted to the site. Revenge porn is sexually explicit material posted online without the consent of one or more participants. Just today, the company debuted a new feature it says will make the process of reporting abusive tweets to law enforcement more seamless. The site will now email a report that can be shared with law enforcement after a user reports an abusive tweet. "While we take threats of violence seriously and will suspend responsible accounts when appropriate, we strongly recommend contacting your local law enforcement if you're concerned about your physical safety," Twitter says. David Goldman contributed to this report. +Baghdad (CNN)About 75% of the besieged Iraqi city of Tikrit is now back in government control, the head of a key paramilitary force taking part in the attack told CNN on Thursday. The other 25% is in the hands of about 150 ISIS fighters who continue to hold out, said Main Al-Kadhimi, commander of the Hashd Al-Shaabi militia. There has been no independent confirmation of such a significant advance by the Iraqi forces. But they have been making progress in recent days. ISIS' spokesman, Abu Mohammed al Adnani, called reports of coalition-member victories "delusional and fake." He spoke of the coalition's use of fighter jets, heavy artillery and tanks, saying it is a "nightmare and will go eventually." On Wednesday, joint Iraqi forces gained control of Tikrit Military Hospital, a few blocks south of the presidential palace. It's part of their ongoing quest to wrest control from ISIS, which captured the city last year. The predominantly Shiite militia has been working with Iraqi troops as well as Sunni fighters to try to regain Tikrit. Tikrit, best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, fell in June to ISIS, which has captured large areas of Iraq and Syria for what it says is its Islamic caliphate. On March 1, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salaheddin province. ISIS wasn't making it easy, however. The Sunni extremist group blew up a key bridge near Tikrit, preventing the joint Iraqi forces from using it to cross the Tigris River to approach the city from the east. Nevertheless, forces have made progress, forcing ISIS fighters to retreat toward the city center from front-line positions, Hashd Al-Shaabi's media office said. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. If Iraq regains control of the city, it could mean that retaking Mosul -- a city 10 times bigger -- is possible. The Tikrit offensive involves around 30,000 fighters. Also assisting is Iran, which has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, Iranians may be operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the consensus was that Iran's involvement was positive in military terms. "Anything anyone does to counter ISIS is in the main a good outcome," he said. But Dempsey also voiced concern over what might happen after ISIS is defeated. A key question, he said, is "whether the government of Iraq will remain on a path to provide an inclusive government for all of the groups" in Iraq. Tikrit could act as an important testing ground, with some observers concerned that if the predominantly Shiite militias seize control, thanks in part to the support of majority-Shiite Iran, they could carry out reprisal attacks against the remaining Sunni population there. Such attacks could inflame already simmering sectarian tensions within Iraq and make future efforts to retake Mosul and bring peace to the country yet more difficult. In a possible sign of the problems to come, a number of posts on social media appear to show Iraqi soldiers in extremely graphic "selfies" with the heads of alleged ISIS militants, or striking odd poses with bodies behind them. Most of the photos are thought to have been taken during the Iraqi military offensive to retake Tikrit and other areas in Salaheddin province, which started 10 days ago. Two senior security officials in Samarra told CNN, on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media, that they are looking into these claims and they are also investigating similar incidents. They did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the images. Anthony Cordesman, a security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said sectarian division was an issue to be "extremely concerned" about as Iraqi forces gain ground in Tikrit. "It's already been very clear to Iraqis that this is an Iranian-led operation and not one which has the support of the coalition," he said. As some Iraqis question why the United States has not taken more decisive action, he said, "this may be a case where Iran may be gaining very serious influence." If there are reprisals in Tikrit and it becomes a "Shiite-on-Sunni struggle," Cordesman said, then not only will Iran's influence increase "but you can see the country divide and Islamic State (ISIS) be replaced by a conflict between Iraqi Shiite and Sunni." Strong leadership will be needed from the government in Baghdad, headed by al-Abadi, militia leaders and senior religious figures to prevent this outcome, he said, with a lot already being done on this front. The top Iraqi Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, he said, "very clearly says that Iraqis must act as Iraqis, not divide along sectarian lines." The challenge will be ensuring that fighters on the ground, some angered by the killings of their relatives by ISIS, do not seek vengeance against Sunni communities whom they suspect of supporting the group. While Iraqi forces piled the pressure on ISIS in Tikrit, the Sunni extremist group continued to flex its muscles in Iraq's western Anbar province, where it is finding a support base among the predominantly Sunni population. More than 40 Iraqi soldiers were killed when ISIS blew up the Iraqi army headquarters just outside Ramadi, an Anbar provincial leader told CNN on Thursday. Militants dug a tunnel and detonated hundreds of homemade explosives, said Sabah Al-Karhout, head of the Anbar Provincial Council. ISIS launched a new offensive on Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Wednesday morning, Faleh al-Issawi, the deputy head of the council, said in a statement. The city is being attacked "from all directions," with ISIS firing more than 150 mortar rounds and rockets, he said, and explosives-laden vehicles used to attack security checkpoints and a bridge. Officials believe "this is an ISIS response to the Tikrit operation that is ongoing in the north," al-Issawi said. U.S.-led coalition forces carried out 13 airstrikes in Iraq between Wednesday and Thursday morning, a statement said. Five hit ISIS targets near Kirkuk, and three struck ISIS units and a vehicle near Falluja. Elsewhere in Anbar province, Iraqi security forces have managed to wrest back most of the town of Karma, near Falluja, from ISIS, said Sabah Al-Karhout, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council, on Wednesday. Iraqi security forces were fighting side by side with Shiite Hashd Al-Shaabi units and local tribesmen, Al-Karhout said. ISIS is also battling in many places far from Tikrit, including Syria, where the militant group is more on the offensive, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group. Clashes continued Thursday between the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or Kurdish YPG, and ISIS fighters in Ras al Ayn, a Syrian strategic border town with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory said in a statement. Hundreds of ISIS militants launched a large-scale offensive Wednesday in the town, the group said. Dozens have been killed from both sides. CNN's Ben Wedeman reported from Baghdad, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Hamdi Alkhshali, Kareem Khadder and Arwa Damon contributed to this report. +(CNN)In an audio message purportedly from an ISIS spokesman, the group announced that a pledge of allegiance from Nigerian-based Boko Haram has been accepted by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The 28-minute message, which cannot be independently authenticated by CNN, was posted online by ISIS supporters. The message says that the caliphate, or Islamic State, has expanded to western Africa and congratulated "our jihadi brothers" there. The spokesman, Abu Mohammed al Adnani, encourages people to join fighters in Africa if they cannot make it to Iraq or Syria. Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, announced in an audio message last week that the Islamist terror group was going to ally with ISIS. Jacob Zenn, a terror expert who lives in Nigeria, told CNN on Saturday the alliance would make sense for both groups. "Boko Haram will get legitimacy, which will help its recruiting, funding and logistics as it expands," Zenn said. "It will also get guidance from ISIS in media warfare and propaganda. Previously Boko Haram was a sort of outcast in the global Jihadi community. Now it is perhaps ISIS's biggest affiliate. "ISIS gets more international legitimacy as a global caliphate." Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is sin," has been waging a yearslong campaign of terror aimed at instituting its extreme version of Sharia law. Boko Haram's tactics have intensified in recent years, from battling Nigerian government soldiers to acts disproportionately affecting civilians -- such as raids on villages, mass kidnappings, assassinations, market bombings and attacks on churches and unaffiliated mosques. Much of this violence has taken place in Nigeria. But neighboring countries, such as Cameroon and Chad, have also been hit increasingly hard. What Boko Haram's pledge of allegiance to ISIS means . CNN's Paul Cruickshank contributed to this report. +(CNN)The campaign to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, involves a curious mixture of Iraqi forces -- the army and air force, federal police, powerful Shia militia as well as Sunni tribal fighters. It's a cast of about 30,000 fighters with an opaque command structure. And that makes it tough to be precise about numbers -- but by several estimates only one-third of those fighters are from the regular army. A CNN team that's seen the offensive at close quarters noted that Iraqi army commanders appeared to be taking a subordinate role to leaders of the Shia militia, notably Hadi al Ameri, leader of the Badr Organization. Iranian military advisers are on hand, and highly influential on the battlefield. As ISIS fighters in the area probably number in the low thousands, it might seem odd that the Iraqi army is unable to take them on alone. After all, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) received $20 billion of U.S. money between 2005 and 2012 -- for equipment, bases and training. So just why are the ISF incapable of reclaiming territory seized by ISIS? And how long will it be before they can stand on their own feet? The answers go back to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003; Iraq's military is starting over -- for the second or third time in a decade. One of the most controversial acts of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, was to disband the Iraqi army. The decision, taken in May 2003, "immediately created a large pool of unemployed and armed men who felt humiliated and hostile to the U.S. occupiers," as James P. Pfiffner put it in 2010. President George W. Bush told his biographer Robert Draper in 2006: "The policy had been to keep the [Iraqi] army intact; didn't happen." The reasons have been disputed ever since. In some places there were riots among demobilized soldiers; at the same time training of Iraqi police was a desperately slow process because of the rapidly growing insurgency. In 2004, as in 2014, the security forces buckled as a Sunni insurgency spread through northern and western Iraq. Billions of dollars were spent creating a new Iraqi army from scratch. But it took two years to build a force of just 40,000 men in three light infantry divisions, so unofficial sectarian militia filled the vacuum -- militia that never quite went away. Over a seven-year period, more than $4 billion was spent on renovating and building Iraqi bases. Logistical and maintenance support: $2.6 billion. Supply of equipment: $3.4 billion (in addition to what the Iraqis bought themselves.) Training and staffing the Iraqi police: a cool $9.4 billion. With U.S. assistance and the "Sons of Iraq" program to coax Sunni tribes into fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, violence did diminish in 2009 and 2010. But once U.S. forces left at the end of 2011, and with them intelligence-gathering and training programs, things began to unravel. By then, the Iraqi security forces in their many guises had become an unwieldy machine that was more a welfare program than a fighting force -- providing wages to soldiers who lacked motivation and were frequently absent from duty. The only effective units were special forces such as the Golden Division. Sophisticated U.S. equipment, such as M-1 Abrams battle tanks, was not maintained. Corruption was rife -- and political interference in the military grew exponentially. As then Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tightened his grip on power between 2006 and 2013, the high command of the Iraqi military became a political football -- with loyalty to al-Maliki prized above competence. He bypassed the defense and interior ministries and used elite units to pursue political enemies. The Institute for the Study of War reported in 2013, "the lack of oversight on military appointments has allowed al-Maliki to choose his preferred officers (nearly all Shia) to head the most significant command positions in Iraq." Al-Maliki also began integrating Shia militia into army units. At the same time, the phenomenon of "ghost soldiers" went unchecked -- men who were either dead or AWOL but whose wages were still being paid, often to corrupt commanders. So the army, in numbers, looked much stronger than it was. In fact, by the time ISIS rolled south, the effective fighting force was less than a quarter of its peak strength of 400,000. Nearly half the army -- four divisions -- collapsed in short order as ISIS fighters stormed south from Syria in the early summer of 2014. ISIS used speed, discipline and ruthlessness in equal measure -- attributes the Iraqi army didn't have. It had also cultivated allies among members of Sunni tribes ready to act as a fifth column, and its fearsome reputation for wholesale executions of prisoners led many soldiers to strip off their uniforms and flee. The desperate situation in the summer of 2014 and an imminent threat to Shia shrines in Samarra prompted a rapid mobilization of Shia militia that had already been active around the elections -- including the Badr Organization and the Asaib Ahl al-Haq. Some members of these militia had gained combat experience fighting for the al-Assad regime in Syria. In June, the most respected religious authority among Iraqi Shi'ites, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, appealed to Iraqis to mobilize against the enemy. The call was directed at and answered by hundreds of thousands of Shia, determined to protect gains made since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. The militia -- called al Hashed al Shabi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) -- were trained, equipped and most importantly led by Iranian military advisers and quickly became battle hardened. What they lacked in military skills, they made up for in determination. The Iranians have invested heavily in the PMUs. The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Gen. Qassim Suleimani, seems to have spent more time in Iraq than Iran since last summer and has been photographed around Tikrit. According to several analysts, it is Suleimani that has been organizing and directing the Shia militia in what appears to have been a more deliberate and better planned assault than previous operations. Christopher Harmer of the Institute for the Study of War says the role of both the Iranians and the Shia militia are evidence of the enduring weakness of the ISF. And he says that "if the Tikrit operation is successful it presents a lot of problems for the Iraqi government's legitimacy -- somewhere down the road the Iranians and the PMU are going to demand payback." The role of Suleimani and al Quds -- a foreign terrorist organization in Washington's view -- means that US airpower has not been made available. "The U.S. may not like Iranian influence in Iraq," says Harmer, "but what it absolutely cannot do is provide direct support to an Iranian-led military operation." The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, alluded to the dilemma when in Baghdad on Monday. "What I'm trying to sort out, actually, is the degree to which their near-term embrace of the assistance they're receiving from Iran is a reaction to the existential threat [posed by ISIS], or whether it is something longer-term," he said. Soon after taking office, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi fired 26 commanders and pushed 10 others into retirement. At the time a statement on his website stressed "the need to restore confidence in the security forces through real action and by combating corruption at the individual and institutional levels." U.S.-led efforts to train a new Iraqi army designed to defeat ISIS are well underway. The aim is to stand up 12 brigades each of about 5,000 troops -- including three brigades of Kurdish peshmerga. These should be ready for operations by the end of this year; the first brigade has already completed basic training. But as Harmer notes, "the Iraqi Security Forces are yet to go head-to-head with ISIS and win without help from the PMUs. ISIS is demonstrably more capable than the ISF." Clearing ISIS from well-entrenched defenses around Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, seems well beyond the army's capability. In November, Gen. Dempsey said that roughly 80,000 effective troops would be needed in any attempt to win the city. That's problematic for several reasons. Kurdish officials told CNN last month that the longer the battle for Mosul is delayed, the tougher it will be. They claim that they cannot maintain the siege of the city on three sides indefinitely. The Iraqi government is under political pressure to reclaim the city and re-establish its authority there. But above all, the need for Shia militia outside the direct control of the government to help retake largely Sunni cities is fraught with peril. Human Rights Watch has already cataloged incidents of sectarian retaliation against Sunni communities by the militia. Tikrit is an especially sensitive area: in June last year, ISIS massacred by its own account as many as 1,600 air force cadets, the vast majority Shia, at Camp Speicher. Some families of the murdered recruits, and a few survivors, have claimed local Sunni tribes may have helped ISIS or even handed over the recruits after promising them safe passage. HRW Middle East Deputy Director Joe Stork says that "past fighting raises grave concerns that Tikrit's civilians are at serious risk from both ISIS and government forces, and both sides need to protect civilians from more sectarian slaughter." Tit-for-tat atrocities are fuelled by a stream of social media videos showing abuses committed by all sides. ISIS' use of children: Propaganda and military training . During the Tikrit operation, both Prime Minister al Abadi and Hadi al Ameri of the Badr Organization have publicly called for civilians to be spared and human rights to be respected. Only when the city is taken, will we know whether their appeals were heeded. Harmer says he believes a majority of Iraqis want to see their country survive; far fewer want a return to sectarian conflict akin to civil war. But it remains a possibility. One of the greatest challenges -- politically -- will be to absorb the Shiite militia and Sunni tribal brigades into the Iraqi Security Forces, rather than have them operate as independent armies. They are meant to constitute a new National Guard, but the mechanics and timing remain problematic. The leaders of these militia have tasted power; their men have shed blood. They are not going to just hand over the reins -- even if and when ISIS are beaten. And they won't have to fear a strong army for a long time to come. CNN's Ben Wedeman and Kareem Khadder contributed to this story. +(CNN)I like to think I'm a pretty optimistic person. Even at dark moments for this country -- after 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina, for example -- my tendency is always to scout out the sliver of hope for future progress. But I've got to be honest with you, sometimes that optimism only goes so far. The morning after the 2004 election, when voters in 11 states passed constitutional bans on marriage equality, I never thought I'd see committed and loving gay and lesbian couples getting married in my lifetime -- in Alabama of all places. What's more, I certainly never thought that, 50 years after a march for voting rights went from Selma to Montgomery, that the first couple to get married there would be a courageous African-American couple, Tori Sisson and Shanté Wolfe, who camped out overnight on the sidewalk outside the courthouse just to be the first in line. They slept on that chilly pavement despite the ravings of Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court, who has issued baseless edict after baseless edict urging the state's probate judges to ignore a federal court ruling (which supersedes a state ruling) and to refuse to treat LGBT people equally under the law. Even today, more than half the counties in the state are refusing to issue licenses to gay couples. In an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday, Chief Justice Moore even compared refusing marriage licenses to gay couples to refusing to enforce the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (which upheld the legal status of slaves as property). I'm not a trained lawyer, but the logic seems to be that the refusal to treat people like slaves under the law is similar to the refusal to grant gay and lesbians their equal rights to marry under the law. That logic is not only faulty (restricting rights is not similar to expanding them) but offensive. The 13 states that still ban same-sex marriage . Many are highlighting the echoes of the past in Alabama right now; of Gov. George Wallace actually blocking two African-American students from entering the auditorium of the University of Alabama as they tried to desegregate the school; of civil rights battles come and gone. Me? I'm focused on the future. In just a few months, the U.S. Supreme Court could end this chapter of our history once and for all. Even with Alabama entering the marriage equality column, there are still 13 states that deny these couples their equal rights. That's why this spring, the Supreme Court will hear a case that will determine whether the U.S. Constitution can tolerate that kind of discrimination. Federal judge: Alabama judges must issue gay marriage licenses . We've all got to raise our voices in support of couples like Tori and Shanté. But, after Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, and Shelby v. Holder, the case gutting the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013, sometimes it seems like the voices of the American people don't get heard by those nine Justices. That's why I'm so inspired and excited about a new idea from the Human Rights Campaign and Robbie Kaplan, the lawyer who represented Edie Windsor in the case that famously struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. Together, they've launched the People's Brief. The idea behind the People's Brief is an original twist on the legal concept of the "amicus curiae" (Latin for "friend of the court.") The legal system allows those who are not party to a case, but who have interests in the case, or information relevant to it, to submit their opinions, information, or testimony on the matter at hand. It's a way of guaranteeing that the court is not missing any relevant facts or opinions just because those who hold them are not parties to the litigation. The People's Brief marks the first time that the American people -- the 58% of Americans who support marriage equality, anyway -- can make their voices heard in an official brief to those justices. The People's Brief will serve as a poignant reminder to the Court that gay marriage is an issue that impacts the lives of both gay and straight, of those who are the family, friends, and loved ones of gay people, and of those who simply value a society where the rights of all people are treated with equal dignity. By going to www.thepeoplesbrief.com, you can sign your name, review the brief -- and it'll be bundled up with thousands of others and sent to those nine Justices for review. The number of people who sign the People's Brief will make that point in a way that no legal argument could. In past civil rights struggles, such as the one that took place half a century ago in Selma, Alabama, well-intentioned people far from the fray had no easy way to express their support. Now modern technology is being harnessed in a creative way to allow people to do just that in the struggle for marriage equality. I think that's pretty forward-thinking for a Court that still doesn't allow cameras or online case filings. In fact, I think it's long overdue. I've signed my name to the People's Brief, and I hope Americans from all backgrounds will do the same or just try to learn more about marriage equality. No one said progress is easy, but true social change is worth fighting for. Today, I'm optimistic that if change can come to Alabama, there is no reason why it can't come to all 50 states. Fair-minded folks shouldn't be silent at this moment. It's time to put your name on the right side of history. Lend your voice to a chorus too large to be ignored. +(CNN)Icelandic photographer Sigga Ella wanted to show that people with Down syndrome are more than a chromosomal abnormality. They are diverse and they're unique, just like everyone else in the world. Ella's series, "First and foremost I am," consists of 21 portraits of people ranging from 9 months to 60 years old. She chose the number 21 to represent chromosome 21, the location of the most common genetic mutation causing the condition. It is currently on exhibit at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography and will be featured in May at the Warsaw Festival of Art Photography. Ella shot the photos in 2013 and 2014 as part of a final project at The School of Photography in Reykjavik. She recently shared the images with CNN iReport. The inspiration started with a radio interview Ella heard in which people were discussing ethical questions brought up by prenatal tests to detect birth defects. She hopes her photos shine a light on "the beauty and diversity of mankind" and make us wonder if a future without that diversity is desirable. "I am not against prenatal/genetic testing for abnormalities but I think we need to stop and think what's next. ... It's necessary to open the discussion and educate people more about Down syndrome. It's not a disease or a flaw. Parents of children with Down syndrome ... wouldn't exchange them for anything in the world." The title of the series, "First and foremost I am," comes from a newspaper article by Halldora Jonsdottir, a 30-year-old woman who is also featured in Ella's project. "I have Down syndrome but FIRST AND FOREMOST I AM Halldora," Jonsdottir writes. "I do a million things that other people do. My life is meaningful and good because I choose to be positive and see the good things in life. I go to work, attend school and have hobbies." Jonsdottir goes on to say, "Who is perfect? Who can say, that we who have Down syndrome are worth less that anyone else? We are all different and would it be so great if we were all alike?" Ella staged the portraits against a floral background because she wanted the subjects "to stand out but also underline that all kinds of flowers can grow and flourish together." The photo shoots lasted from one to three hours. She said she didn't give any coaching or direction for how they should pose; she just talked with them and waited for the right moment to shoot. "My favorite part of this project was how relaxed the atmosphere was. No one was pretending to be anything, the emotions were real and some of the times, there was such genuine happiness." +(CNN)The massive meteorite split in two shortly before smashing into Earth, wiping out large numbers of species. The devastating event took place on our planet many millions of years ago, but researchers are only now beginning to discover what happened. In a remote part of Central Australia, the two pieces of asteroid left what geophysicists say is the largest impact zone ever found on Earth, spreading over an area 400 kilometers (250 miles) wide. "The two asteroids must each have been over 10 kilometers across -- it would have been curtains for many life species on the planet at the time," said lead researcher Andrew Glikson of the Australian National University. The team published its research in the journal Tectonophysics this month. The crater caused by the asteroids vanished long ago. But Glikson said the researchers stumbled across scars from the impacts during drilling for geothermal research. Traces are buried more than 2 kilometers inside the Earth's crust, under an area near the borders of South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. "There are two huge deep domes in the crust, formed by the Earth's crust rebounding after the huge impacts, and bringing up rock from the mantle below," Glikson said. The researchers are still trying to figure out just how long ago the shattering event happened. The surrounding rocks are 300 million to 600 million years old, according to the team, but they haven't been able to find the sort of evidence left by other meteorite strikes. A big meteorite strike that is believed to have led to the extinction of many dinosaur species 66 million years ago launched a plume of ash into the air that now shows up as a layer of sediment in rocks. But the researchers say they haven't come across a similar layer in sediments from about 300 million years ago. "It's a mystery -- we can't find an extinction event that matches these collisions. I have a suspicion the impact could be older than 300 million years," Glikson said. The discovery of the huge asteroid impacts could lead to new insights about the Earth's history. "Large impacts like these may have had a far more significant role in the Earth's evolution than previously thought," Glikson said. CNN's Jessica King contributed to this report. +(CNN)Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) has taken delivery of the Izumo, the largest Japanese military vessel to see service since World War II. The warship was unveiled at a ceremony at the Yokusuka naval base near Yokohama, also home to the U.S Navy's Seventh Fleet. The Izumo has a crew of 470, and with a standard displacement of 19,500 tones (24,000 tonnes at full load, according to military publication Jane's), it is as large as the storied Yamato-class battleships which fought U.S. naval forces in the Pacific theater of World War II. The wreck of one of the two Yamato-class battleships, the Musashi, was discovered early in March 2015 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. At 241 meters (791 feet) in length, the Izumo is 51 meters (167 ft) longer than the Hyuga, another helicopter carrier which was, until now, the MDSF's largest vessel. Regional neighbors and rivals questioned the legitimacy of such a ship for purely defensive purposes, pointing out that, due to its size and deck configuration it could be repurposed as an aircraft carrier -- a class banned under Japan's pacifist constitution. "The Izumo proves that Japan has the technical capabilities and demand to develop aircraft carriers. It's also possible that Japan may explore the possibility during the Izumo's service," Li Jie, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Chinese state-backed Global Times newspaper. However, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters in Yokohama that the MSDF did not intend to use it in this way. "We are not thinking about using this as an aircraft carrier," he said, saying that the lack of hangers and service bays, along with a deck unsuitable for takeoffs and landings, meant that the Izumo wasn't designed for fixed-wing aircraft. He said that it needed to be as large as it is so it could host joint operations and act as a command center. He insisted that the new addition to Japan's maritime forces was designed for peaceful purposes. "The vessel can serve in a wide range of roles including peacekeeping operations, international disaster relief and aid." He added that its helicopter capabilities -- it can host seven anti-submarine patrol helicopters, plus two rescue and transport helicopters, the Japan Times reported -- would aid in the detection of sophisticated Chinese submarines. Japan, along with the Philippines and Vietnam, is engaged in territorial disputes with China over the sovereignty of islands in the South China Sea, and Kazuhisa Ogawa, a defense analyst at the Strategic Research Institute of International Change in Japan, says that, in combination with Japan's other helicopter carriers, the Izumo could be used to "regain remote islets." He also downplayed China's suggestions that the size of the Izumo represented an escalation of Japan's military ambitions, telling CNN that although it is the biggest Japanese military ship since World War II, it is only a fifth of the size of the USS George Washington. "It would cost five times Japan's current defense spending for the SDF to have an independent operational capability. The Japanese public would not take that kind of risk," he said. The commissioning of the Izumo comes amid heightened tensions between Japan and its neighbors China and South Korea. In July. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe allowed for a reinterpreting of Japan's constitution, paving the way for more active military engagement overseas. The Chinese government has also invited the Japanese leader to attend a ceremony in the Chinese capital in September to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Japan's handling of its wartime aggression is frequently criticized by China and other Asian nations -- it is often accused of downplaying its actions during the war. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday that the Chinese government had contacted "all relevant countries" with a view to attending. The Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said that, as the celebrations will feature a military parade, Abe is "unlikely to attend." It quoted an unnamed Foreign Ministry official as saying: "While the Japanese government is demanding China improve the transparency of its defense spending, attendance of the prime minister is impossible." Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has previously said that China should work on developing a future-looking cooperative relationship with Japan, rather than highlighting Japan's previous, 70-year-old indiscretions. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo contributed to this report. +(CNN)England footballer Adam Johnson has been suspended by his club Sunderland until a police investigation has been completed, the Press Association reported Monday. Sunderland's statement made no mention of why Johnson had been arrested, but earlier on Monday, a northeast England police force confirmed a 27-year-old man was in custody "on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16," though Durham Constabulary would not confirm if the individual in question was the Sunderland player. "He remains in police custody and is helping officers with their inquiries," added the statement, referring to the 27-year-old man. "Sunderland AFC has confirmed that Adam Johnson has been suspended from the club, pending the outcome of a police investigation. No further comment will be made at the present time," the club told the Press Association. English Premier League club Sunderland refused to comment when contacted by CNN over the arrest of the 27-year-old Johnson. The last of his 12 international appearances for the senior England team was in August 2012. He started his career with Sunderland's local rival Middlesbrough, making his debut at the age of 17, and was sold to Manchester City for a reported fee of £7 million ($10.8 million) in early 2010. Johnson helped City to win the 2011-12 Premier League title but was bought by his hometown team Sunderland for a reported £10 million ($15.3 million) at the start of the following season. +Manila (CNN)Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila." Four decades later, and a crowd is gathered at the same venue in this sweating, sprawling city -- known as the Araneta Coliseum -- for a very different contest: a basketball game between two of the country's pro teams. And yet, the Coliseum cannot seem to escape its boxing legacy. The most famous athlete on court today just happens to be a boxer. Manny "the Pacman" Pacquiao is the coach, as well as one of the shortest players on the roster at just five foot, six inches (168cm) tall, of team Kia Carnival. But the Filipino is best known around the world as one of the greatest boxers of his generation, the first fighter to win championship belts in eight different weight divisions. But despite his on-court distraction, he's not finished in the ring. Pacquiao is little more than two months away from the most highly anticipated battle of his career. On May 2, he will finally go toe to toe with American welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas -- the fight most boxing fans have wanted to see for years. But for today, he seems more concerned that Kia Carnival trails several points behind the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. In the locker room, Pacquiao, who only played for a few unremarkable minutes in the second quarter, gives a short half-time speech to fire up his players. He speaks mostly in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines, peppering his locker room speech with English expressions like "offense" and "man-to-man defense." Seemingly inspired, the team charges back on court shortly after. Surprisingly, Pacquiao says he gets more nervous on the basketball court than when he faces a barrage of punches in the ring. "My hands [get] cold!" he says with a laugh, while rubbing both hands together in the air. "I believe in my heart that my second sport is basketball," he says later, explaining that it is a vital part of his cross-training for boxing. But he adds that he's choosing to spend fewer minutes playing in professional basketball games these days to avoid injuries ahead of the Mayweather showdown. "I can say [this will be] one of the most important fights in my career," Pacquiao says, during an exclusive interview with CNN. We speak at his cavernous home in a wealthy, gated community in Manila. He is dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a red Nike t-shirt with his photo on it accompanied by the slogan "Spirit. Soul. Body." A diamond-crusted gold watch glitters on his wrist. Several giant paintings bearing quotations from the Old Testament decorate the walls. The Mayweather fight "has been five years in the making," he says. "And finally it's happening. I think the fans deserve it." In fact, if it wasn't for a chance encounter at another basketball game, the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps may never have agreed to a fight. Last January, the two boxers happened to attend the same Miami Heat game in Florida. Pacquiao says the meeting in Miami gave both sides "confidence to push" for the fight. In doing so, the 36 year old says he's fulfilling the wishes of the two eldest of his five children. "My son and my daughter, they really wanted this fight to happen," he tells us. "Three years ago [they said] 'Daddy, I want you to fight Mayweather. I want you to fight Mayweather.' I said, 'Why? It's not my fault. He doesn't want to fight.' And now finally now it finally happened. They really, really want to watch the fight." Of course, the battle in Vegas will be much more than the fulfillment of the dreams of fans and Pacquiao's children. There is serious money riding on this fight. It's estimated that the May 2 bout will break all financial records in the history of professional boxing. The Pacman is believed to be earning around $80 million for the fight, while Mayweather -- who is undefeated -- is expected to earn 20% more. Asked how the whopping paycheck makes him feel, Pacquiao replies "I feel blessed and I owe a lot to the fans. First to God but also the fans because of their support." The Philippines' most famous son has come a long way from a childhood mired in poverty and hunger. His rags-to-riches story explains part of the enormous appeal he enjoys in a country where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. "He is a receptacle of hope," says Recah Trinidad, a veteran columnist at the Philippines Daily Inquirer. "Everybody believes Manny should win. They are joyful because they see themselves in Manny, because Manny comes from deep, deep down in the soil," Trinidad adds. As a boy Pacquiao eked out a living selling donuts in the street, recalls his childhood friend and member of his corner, Buboy Fernandez. The two were neighbors in General Santos City, a city on the southern island of Mindanao. It was there that Pacquiao was introduced to boxing. As a teenager, he earned extra money to feed his family by battling in underground boxing fights. "I remember when I started boxing, I earned two dollars, only two dollars," Pacquiao recalls. He says two of his friends died competing in these unofficial bouts. Now a multi-millionaire and superstar, Pacquiao says he and his wife are trying to teach their children to appreciate the life of comfort they now enjoy. To prove the point, he says he transferred his children from an academy for international students to a school with no air conditioning. "I want them to experience, so they can meet hungry families," he says. "So they will not mistreat other people or treat other people different," he adds, making a slapping gesture. When Pacquiao travels through the perpetually grid-locked traffic of Manila, he moves in a black armored Escalade with the license plate "8" on the front. A pair of motorcycle cops escort his convoy. His gym, located in the working class neighborhood of Sampaloc, is decorated with huge posters of the champion, as well as an undeniably cute cartoon statue of the goateed fighter that could be described as "Pacman Junior." Cameras from more than a dozen Filipino television crews click and whir as Pacquiao spars in the ring for an hour with Fernandez, the stocky trainer who winces when he occasionally takes hits to his round belly. Some of the younger neighborhood boxers who have gathered to watch appear to have adopted haircuts and goatees similar to the man whose rapid-fire punches helped earn him the local nickname "Pacific Storm." But Fernandez says Pacquiao hasn't started the most intense period of his training yet. This will begin in the next few days when Team Pacquiao flies to Los Angeles to work with Freddie Roach, the American coach who helped the Filipino achieve global stardom over the last decade. "My relationship to Freddie Roach is amazing," Pacquiao says. "Since I met him, that was in 2001, and until now, I didn't change my trainer because we understand each other. We communicate." But Roach will not be available to work with Pacquiao until after March because he is in China training another boxer. As for Pacquiao, he has at least one more professional basketball game to coach in Manila before he flies to the U.S. Since his rise to superstardom, Pacquiao's activities and interests have multiplied. In addition to basketball and scuba diving off the beaches of Mindanao, he has dabbled in singing, acting and politics. Several years ago, he won an election to a seat in the national Congress. Pacquiao proudly points to legislation he says he helped pass aimed at curbing the scourge of human trafficking in the Philippines. But one local newspaper has also highlighted that Paqcuiao has one of the lowest attendance rates in the entire legislative body, pointing out that the boxer could boast more championship belts than days physically spent in Congress. Pacquiao insists that instead of networking in the capital, he focuses on helping poor people in his electoral district. "If you compare my accomplishments to other Congressmen, I think I did a lot," he says. Some critics argue Pacquiao's boxing has suffered due to his many other distractions. "He's spreading himself thin," says Recah Trinidad, the newspaper columnist. Trinidad points to Pacquiao's knock-out at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012. "I hope Manny could win [on May 2], I've been praying," Trinidad says. But the journalist fears Pacquiao may not be able to break through Mayweather's much-vaunted defense. "He's got to adopt a more mature style of boxing. He cannot rely on what we call an explosive, kamikaze style," Trinidad tells CNN. Back on court at the Araneta Coliseum, Pacquiao's Kia Carnival still trails by several points. But they soon manage to pick up some momentum and for the first time, take the lead. The boxer stalks the sidelines, watching closely, exchanging high-fives when his players come on and off the court. When the final horn sounds, Pacquiao's underdogs have beaten their better-ranked opponents -- an upset unlikely to be lost on him as he plots his own success against a more fancied opponent in the ring. +Jerusalem (CNN)A newly released ISIS video shows a child shooting a man the group claims is an Israeli spy. The video identifies the man as 19-year-old Mohamed Said Ismail Musallam, an Israeli citizen of Palestinian descent. In the video, ISIS shows Musallam's Israeli passport and claims he's an agent sent to infiltrate the group. The 19-year-old's family told CNN Tuesday that he had no ties with the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, and had, in fact, been recruited by ISIS. "Mohamed told me and his brother that ISIS took him," according to Said Musallam, his father. "They sent him money through the Western Union. They said you will have girls, money, cars, villas, paradise, but afterwords he discovered that there is nothing." It wasn't long before Musallam's family members didn't recognize him when they talked to him on Skype. The man they knew as a kind and funny brother and son who was once a volunteer firefighter had grown a long beard and was carrying a rifle. His father tried to help him get home, sending him money and even enlisting the Red Cross. But his son never made it back to Israel. About a month ago, Said Musallam said, he was told his son was taken by ISIS when he was on his way back and trying to cross the border. A video posted Tuesday on ISIS-affiliated social media accounts shows a man who appears to be Musallam on his knees, wearing an orange jumpsuit. An adult ISIS fighter and a child -- both in fatigues -- stand behind him. The adult, speaking French, gives a command to the child to go forward with the killing. The child steps in front of the man and raises what appears to be a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and shoots Musallam in the forehead. The man immediately falls forward to the ground. The child appears to then fire at least two more shots into the body. Ahmad Musallam said he'd seen the video of his brother and was devastated by his death. "I used to take care of him and babysit him when Mom went to work," he said, crying. "Mohamed is not a brother. He is a son." But he refuses to show the video to his parents, who still can't believe their son is dead. An issue last month of ISIS' English-language propaganda magazine, Dabiq, included a purported interview with Musallam and described his alleged work for the Israeli spy agency. In the ISIS video, Musallam seems to be reading what appears to be a prepared confession, saying he is an Israeli intelligence agent working for Mossad, sent to infiltrate ISIS. Musallam's family members said they believe he was coerced in the video, forced to lie about ties to Israeli intelligence. "Mohamed is not an agent. Mohamed doesn't have a shekel. If he was an agent he would have lived a beautiful life," his mother, Hind Musallam, said. "We could have been living a different life and I would not be working cleaning houses so we can live." This isn't the first time ISIS has used children to drive home its message. An ISIS propaganda video released in January -- one that CNN could not independently verify -- shows a boy with a pistol apparently shooting two men in the back of the head. The boy then stands over one of the bodies, fires two more times, and later raises his pistol high. Last August, a photo posted to Twitter from an ISIS stronghold showed a 7-year-old boy holding a man's severed head and his father's words, "That's my boy." ISIS has featured children as fighters before, calling them the "cubs of the caliphate" (the adult jihadis call each other "lions") and has encouraged foreign fighters to bring their families. It has taken over schools to indoctrinate children. Human Rights Watch says ISIS and other extremist groups "have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training and have given them dangerous tasks, including suicide bombing missions." CNN's Stefan Simons, Cynde Strand, Ben Wedeman, Kevin Flower, Catherine E. Shoichet, Faith Karimi, Greg Botelho and Jessica King contributed to this report. +(CNN)Mention the words "sand" and "golf" together, and the chances are you'll leave many players shuddering at the memory of being trapped in bunkers after another wayward shot. But in other parts of the world, sand golf is a version of the game in its own right. The idea of playing a round without verdant fairways to stride down or lush greens to putt (and, of course, miss) on seems strange, even wrong. Sometimes needs must, though. Half a century ago, expat oil workers with an enthusiasm for golf had nowhere in Abu Dhabi to play. In the baking desert heat, with little or no irrigation possible, the equation was simple: they either had to adapt to the surroundings or there'd be no golf at all. The result was an incarnation of the game in which the only grass to be seen is artificial, found on a mat carried around by players to serve both as a tee and a surface from which to strike when the ball is on the fairway. Fairways? They consist entirely of sand and are indicated by marker posts. If the ball lands outside them, it's in the sand golf equivalent of the rough -- stony terrain that the unwary player may soon find is home to a few snakes and a lizard or two. Greens? Well, they're known as "browns," built from clay and topped with a mixture of sand and oil to provide a true putting surface, a formula arrived at through trial and error. It's an odd environment, this golfing world with a palette of golden-brown colors. And with rapidly developing irrigation and growing techniques enabling grass courses to be built in desert climes, it's an increasingly unusual one. Back in 1961, determined British oil workers created a sand course on an atoll known as Das Island, around 100 miles off Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf. It was the country's first-ever golf club. As the expat population grew, so did the demand for the game, and in 1971 sand golf moved into Abu Dhabi proper with the opening of a course near the Sea Palace. Its success brought a move to the Equestrian Club, attracting close to 500 members. In the 1990s, the sand game's fortunes took a dive as the site was earmarked for a nine-hole grass course. But although many sand course players changed surface and took up the more conventional game, several battled on and the 18-hole Al Ghazal sand course was created near Abu Dhabi airport, with its front nine occupying part of an archaeological site, in 1997. Sand golf also exists in parts Australia and Africa but Al Ghazal (which translates as "gazelle" -- gazelles peer from behind a fence by the second brown,) is the only one that can be described as "world class," says Dennis Cox, an expert on the game, because the scale and scope of its layout rivals its grass counterparts. The course found a place in the international spotlight when a World Sand Golf Championship, boasting star names including Colin Montgomerie was played in 2004 and 2005 (won by Greg Owen and Thongchai Jaidee,) but the tournament fizzled out as showpiece events went to showpiece grass courses. Maybe that's understandable when you consider some of the extra elements involved in the sand game -- the browns, for example, must be swept for a few minutes after use so that they are left smooth and footprint-less for following players, while unexpected hazards can include burrows dug by desert lizards. Cox warns that a tradition is under threat, with a form of golf that was once commonplace in danger of becoming just a memory. Other, smaller clubs have fallen by the wayside, while Al Ghazal's location near an expanding airport presents an obvious threat to its future. But even if the sand game were to fade into obscurity in the emirate, it is still played in parts of Africa. In Libya, still racked by instability following the ousting of Muammar Gaddaffi, courses -- the bulk of which can be found in the capital, Tripoli -- are of sand, with no grass versions existing. Once smart and well-kept, they have now slumped into neglect, with few people to play on them or look after them. David Bachmann, who formerly worked at the Austrian embassy in the city, wrote on his In Tripolis blog about the experience of playing sand golf in and near the city. Recounting his experiences of Tripoli's tattered nine-hole Ghargharesh course, he wrote that it was one for diehards only, "golf fanatics that would come every weekend to play a round on this challenging course." And he imagined that the skeleton of the clubhouse, on which work had long since stopped, might one day boast "marble, chandeliers and state-of-the-art locker rooms... overlooking the deep blue Mediterranean with the sun setting over the sea." For now, and against the odds, fans of this form of the game will just have to make do with being kings of their very own sand castles. +(CNN)Chelsea's good week continued when the Blues beat West Ham 1-0 in the English Premier League to maintain a five-point lead over Manchester City atop the table. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho -- who picked up another trophy Sunday in the League Cup final -- had never lost to West Ham in the top flight and Belgian attacker Eden Hazard ensured three more points when he netted in the first half Wednesday at the Hammers' Upton Park. "The game was very difficult," Hazard told Sky. "One big battle against a good team with very good players. "It's always difficult when you don't score the second goal to kill the game. But one goal was enough. It's not always like this. "The goalkeeper, the defense we have are very strong. It was very good." Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois made a string of good saves in the second half but West Ham boss Sam Allardyce lamented his team's finishing -- plus the refereeing. He felt Hazard's goal was offside. "When you look back on the season and they say these things even themselves out, that's the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard," the under pressure Allardyce told Sky. Nigel Pearson, manager of last-place Leicester, also felt aggrieved after his team lost 2-0 to reigning league champion Manchester City. Leicester didn't get a penalty when City striker Wilfried Bony appeared to foul Jeff Schlupp in the box in the first half or when Fernando fouled Andrej Kramaric in the second. Leicester struck the woodwork, too. City -- reeling following back-to-back defeats to Barcelona in the Champions League and Liverpool -- only really came to life after David Silva's opener in first-half stoppage time. Leicester's veteran keeper Mark Schwarzer thwarted City to keep it close but could do little on James Milner's 88th-minute effort. The win was "very important because it was a very difficult week with two bad results against Liverpool and Barcelona," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who rested club captain Vincent Kompany. Elsewhere, four teams vying for Champions League spots all won. Manchester United claimed all three points at Newcastle when Ashley Young took advantage of keeper Tim Krul's error in the 89th minute; Arsenal doubled third-last QPR 2-1; surging Liverpool shut out second-last Burnley 2-0; and League Cup finalist Tottenham defeated Swansea 3-2 in a game overshadowed by French striker Bafetimbi Gomis collapsing to the turf. United defender Jonny Evans might have been fortunate to escape unpunished at St. James' Park, since he appeared to spit in striker Papiss Cisse's direction when they clashed in the first half. Cisse then appeared to spit back at Evans. Arsenal remained third, with United in fourth on 53 points, two better than Liverpool, four better than Southampton and six better than Spurs, who have a game in hand. In Wednesday's other match, Stoke extended Everton's league slide by blanking the Toffees 2-0 at home. Barcelona reaches Copa del Rey final . In Spain, meanwhile, Barcelona reached the Copa del Rey final by easing past Villarreal 6-2 on aggregate. Holding a 3-1 lead after the first leg, Barcelona won away by the same score Wednesday, helped by Neymar's double. Barcelona faces familiar foe Athletic Bilbao in May's finale. Bilbao advanced 3-1 on aggregate over Espanyol, prevailing in the second leg 2-0. Barcelona topped Bilbao in the 2009 and 2011 finals. +(CNN)From the sweltering heat of the Sahara Desert to the subzero temperatures at both North and South Poles, Fiona Oakes' running obsession knows no bounds. Dubbed the "Queen of the Extreme," the record-breaking runner has completed more than 50 marathons and ultramarathons, but she remains determinedly modest about her feats. "I don't keep my medals, I don't know where they are. I don't have trophies -- people have cabinets of trophies -- the dogs have chewed most of mine," Oakes told CNN's Human to Hero series. "I don't have cuttings from newspapers ... I'm not interested. I would never say to people: 'I am this' or 'I am that' -- it's not something that I'm predisposed to shout about. I don't think I'm very special at all, to be honest." Perhaps the 48-year-old needs to rethink her definition of special given her punishing schedule is religiously maintained despite her suffering from a potentially crippling knee complaint -- a legacy of reconstructive surgery during her teens. "I had a tumor (in my right knee) when I was 14 years old, it wasn't discovered until I was 17, by which time I had lost an awful lot of weight -- I think I weighed around five stone," she explains. "In the end I had radical surgery to remove the kneecap and knee joint. It was in plaster for about three years. I was told that I wouldn't walk properly again, let alone do anything like running. It's painful when I run, but I can manage it because I know what to expect." Oakes started running properly just over a decade ago and soon found her stride, winning her first half-marathon in a course-record time before stepping up to compete over 26.2 miles and beyond. Today, she routinely finishes conventional marathons in around two hours, 50 minutes and has a personal best of two hours, 38 minutes -- a shade over the A standard required to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games. When she's not pounding the tarmac in city marathons, Oakes competes in some of the world's toughest endurance races counting the Volcano Marathon in Chile's Atacama Desert -- an 150-mile ultramarathon run at altitudes in excess of 4,400 meters (14,600 feet) -- and the similarly challenging Marathon des Sables where competitors run six marathons in six days through the Sahara Desert among her conquests. She still winces at the memory of competing in that 154-mile Saraha event, dubbed the world's toughest footrace. "The Marathon des Sables in 2012 was appallingly tough. The week before I went I broke two toes -- a horse stood on my foot. "Trying to complete the Marathon des Sables is a tough ask, but trying to complete it with broken toes was brutal. For the whole week I lived on painkillers ... it was just appalling, but it did toughen me up," she says. The following year, Oakes broke three world records becoming the fastest woman to run a marathon on each continent -- clocking an aggregate time of 26 hours, 18 minutes and 43 seconds -- as well as recording the fastest aggregate and elapsed times for running marathons on all seven continents plus the North Pole -- a place she remembers warmly. "I think my favorite marathon has to be the North Pole, purely because it's a marathon on the top of the world. It's such an unrealistic place to be actually running a marathon, and also I caught a glimpse of a polar bear -- which has to be one of the highlights of my life." There is no let up in her schedule when she's crosses the finish line -- once she's got her breath back it's straight back to the day job running an animal sanctuary at her home in Asheldham, Essex. With 400 animals including horses, pigs, sheep and dogs to care for around the clock as well as keeping up her training routine of 100 miles every week, it's no surprise that Oakes has little time for anything else. "My life is very, very regimented, it's hard to fit in the running around caring for the animals. I have to get up at 3.30 in the morning and I work through till probably nine or 10 o'clock at night," she says. "People forget that if you train for something very, very hard it has a detrimental effect on the people around you. I have no personal or family life. Every minute of my time that is not spent caring for my animals is spent dedicated to running. "It might be that whenever someone else is having a Christmas day lunch, I'm putting my running shoes and going out to run 30 miles." Running has helped her raise money for the animal sanctuary and also allowed her to promote a positive image of veganism, though Oakes, who hasn't eaten animal products since her teenage years, is keen not to sound too preachy. "I don't like to dwell on the vegan thing because (you) quickly gets marked as some sort of fruitcake or an animal rights extremist and I don't want to appear to be telling people what to do -- it's a personal thing," she says. But she cannot deny feeling a deep sense of satisfaction about helping change the perception that vegans somehow lack energy because of their diet. "I became so frustrated by constantly being told you can't do (running) as a vegan (and that) vegans are weak, vegans will keel over if they try to do something extreme. I wanted to prove my point. "I just want to be an example to say that if these people are considering this lifestyle, it can be done on a plant-based diet." As if to hammer home her point, Oakes recently attempted to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents -- running in a "cow costume" to raise awareness of animal cruelty. Her hopes of completing the Triple 7 Quest were dashed at the last though when poor weather prevented her flying from Chile to Antarctica to complete the final leg of the race. "It was really devastating at the finish, but I couldn't wait, I had to come home for the animals. I'm not at an extendable budget with time so I had to leave," she said. Next month, Oakes will be off on her travels again, returning to Morocco to compete in her third Marathon des Sables, before heading back onto the road to compete at the Berlin Marathon later in the year where she aims to better her 17th-place finish achieved in 2006. "I'm always focusing on what I'm about to do next," she says, before quietly conceding running isn't always her favorite activity. "I don't particularly enjoy running. The training is extremely difficult and I do push to the absolute limits. I enjoy the results that are achieved from the running ... I like to take on challenges that would be almost impossible and prove that I can do it." +(CNN)If it were easy, any company or government could do it. But flying an Ebola patient halfway around the world -- while keeping that person alive, and everyone safe -- is complicated. Probably no one knows that better than Phoenix Air, a Georgia-based company that is the go-to for transporting Ebola victims by air. Since August, it has made approximately 40 trips -- about half to Europe, the rest to the United States. "We're like a fire truck sitting in the firehouse. The bell goes off and within a matter of hours we can be out the door and underway," said Dent Thompson, vice president and chief operations officer at Phoenix Air. He described the system that goes inside the company's modified Gulfstream G-III aircraft. It consists of three major elements: . Once the plane has landed and the patient has left, the whole system is sealed. The aircraft then flies to a high-security hanger in Cartersville, Georgia, where it undergoes a complete decontamination process, which can take up to 24 hours. Everything inside the liner, including the liner, is sterilized multiple times. The liner and everything in it is then removed, put in special boxes, and taken to a federally licensed incinerator where everything is destroyed. "We like to say it's more sterile than the surface of the moon when we're done with it," Thompson said. Phoenix Air began developing its system way before the current Ebola outbreak. It worked with the Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to build a system that could safety transport patients with contagious diseases. Then, the main concerns were SARS, swine and bird flu. It took years to work out the kinks and get the system approved, and by the time the work was done, the need had sort of petered out. But Thompson said Phoenix Air held onto the system, knowing -- unfortunately -- the need would arise again. He got a call from the State Department in July. By August, the company had completed its first Ebola flight, safely delivering Dr. Kent Brantly to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. A few days later, it brought Nancy Writebol to the same hospital for treatment. And on and on and on. Thompson said other groups are now developing systems similar to Phoenix Air's, including the U.S. government. But so far, none has flown. "Other organizations have built systems, but we're the ones still doing it," he said. More than 10,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak, mostly in the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. +Lausanne, Switzerland (CNN)As nuclear talks with Iran neared the endgame, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shied away from predicting success. Difficult issues remain on the table as the world's most powerful diplomats meet in Switzerland with Iranian nuclear negotiators, Kerry told CNN on Monday. "We are working very hard to work those through. We are working late into the night and obviously into tomorrow. We are working with a view to get something done," he said. "There is a little more light there today, but ​there are still some tricky issues. Everyone knows the meaning of tomorrow." Negotiators have set Tuesday as their deadline for a basic deal. A comprehensive deal, including technical additions, is supposed to be negotiated by June 30. World powers are seeking the outlines of an agreement they say would stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon for at least 15 years. In exchange, Iran would get out from punishing sanctions that have crippled its economy. Kerry's comments to CNN came after uncomfortable rumblings about the talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, made headlines. The assertion: Iran backpedaled the day before on an important detail of a possible deal to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb. On Sunday, an Iranian negotiator told journalists that Tehran would not send fissile material to Russia, which diplomats had earlier told journalists was part of the plan to put potential bomb-making materials out of reach. "The export of stocks of enriched uranium is not in our program, and we do not intend to send them abroad. ... There is no question of sending the stocks abroad," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. But on Monday, a senior U.S. State Department official said the rumblings in the press should quiet down. Negotiators had not yet decided any specifics about the disposal of fissile material, and Iran has made the comments many times before, the official said, citing a list of previous examples of such statements in press reports. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi sounded optimistic as he briefed reporters on the talks' progress earlier Monday, saying that the diplomats were "narrowing down" their differences and working out ways to resolve sticking points. "These marathon-like negotiations have reached the final stage," he said. Things have been tense in Lausanne as the deadline for an agreement looms, with talks snagged on three important points: . • How quickly or slowly Iran will be allowed to advance its nuclear technology in the last five years of the 15-year agreement. • How quickly crushing U.N. sanctions will go away. • Whether sanctions will snap back into place if Iran violates the deal. Iran wants them gone for good. But international negotiators want merely to suspend them, so they can reapply them as leverage if Iran does not keep the bargain. Agreement on the points is crucial, a Western diplomat said. "There cannot be an agreement if we do not have answers to these questions," the diplomat said. In the background, a vocal critic of a possible deal spoke out again. Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the deal he believes is taking shape. "This agreement as it evolves is fulfilling our deepest fears and even worse," he said after a meeting in Israel with visiting U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Netanyahu also attacked Iran for its support of Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have overtaken many parts of that country. He said Iran was trying to take over the whole Middle East with the nuclear deal and its influence in Yemen. Conservative Washington lawmakers are threatening new sanctions if Tehran doesn't comply with demands, which could throw a wrench into negotiations. U.S. negotiators are working to reach an agreement in part to prevent this kind of congressional punishment. They fear it could prompt hardliners in Tehran to push for killing the talks, which would scuttle the chances of a deal altogether. Aside from the three tough points, negotiators on both sides have shown optimism. U.S. officials have said most of the other elements were solvable if those three major hurdles could be overcome. Iran's Araghchi agreed. "Getting to an accord is doable. Solutions have been found for numerous questions," he said. Iran would like sanctions lifted as soon as a deal is signed. But diplomats says it's not so simple. Iran could see unilateral sanctions relief in the areas of trade, oil and banking, but sanctions adopted by the United Nations are more complicated. Many are related to proliferation and transfer of missile technology and are tied to certification by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran's nuclear program does not have a military dimension. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif showed some optimism about finding a path through the deadlock. He said he believes the world powers "have realized that sanctions, pressure and an agreement will not go together. It's only to translate that understanding and realization into the agreement that we are negotiating." U.S. officials said that all sides, including Iran, agree that sanctions would be lifted in phases over time as Iran confirms its compliance to the deal. But they acknowledge there is still disagreement on the actual formula. Iran also wants to be allowed to develop more advanced centrifuges while the deal is in effect. New machines would enrich uranium much faster than current machines. U.S. and European officials worry that could enable Iran quickly to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. Diplomats say the first 10 years of the 15-year deal would have the most stringent restrictions, which would be relaxed over the last five. "We are not asking them to do nothing (in technology development), but they want to do more than we want them to do," a Western diplomat said. But the diplomat added, "After 15 years, they can do what they want." Diplomats said Iran has agreed to a cap of fewer than 6,000 centrifuges that it can operate to enrich uranium. That figure is down from the 6,000 the sides were speaking about when the talks started Thursday, but substantially more than the several hundred the United States had originally wanted. Iran currently runs about 10,000 centrifuges, but it has around 19,000 in its stockpile. U.S. officials maintain the number is not that important, because there will be other restrictions on the levels of enrichment and type of centrifuges Iran can operate, which they believe will extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon -- known as the "breakout time" -- to at least a year. While the focus this week is on the March 31 deadline, it's important to note it isn't the final deadline. Even if a pact is reached Tuesday, it's unclear what form it would take, and the United States and Iran have varying needs. The parties are seeking to reach what's being called a framework agreement -- essentially a political understanding of the main principles of the final deal. But if they're able to come together on the big issues, they still have until the end of June when the Joint Plan of Action expires to iron out the details. So that means the talks won't be finished this month. Officials have been vague about the format this framework deal might take as well as how much of it will be made known to the public and international stakeholders. The United States would prefer a written accord, but Iran has balked at putting anything in writing until a comprehensive deal is reached. U.S. officials say they will need to quantify Iran's commitments before submitting the agreement to Congress. But U.S. and Western diplomats say that Iran is looking simply for an "understanding" of what has been agreed to before a formal accord is reached. CNN's Jim Sciutto, Nimet Kirac and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. +London (CNN)Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are to spend the next four days in the United States, visiting the nation's capital and Louisville, Kentucky. The couple arrived in Washington on Tuesday evening. Many people will remember Charles from the day in July 1981 when, as a dashing young prince, he kissed his shy bride, Diana, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in front of the eyes of the world. But many things have changed since then, including their divorce, Diana's death in a car accident in 1997 and his marriage to Camilla, now Duchess of Cornwall. Here are five things to know about the Prince of Wales: . While a lot of attention in recent years has been focused on his sons, Princes William and Harry, Charles is next in line to the British throne. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has ruled for more than 60 years (in fact, in September she is expected to overtake her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria for the title of Britain's longest-reigning monarch.) Her longevity is welcomed by her subjects, but it means that Charles, at age 66, has spent a long time as a monarch-in-waiting. He's also now a grandfather, thanks to the birth of Prince George in 2013. Charles and Camilla tied the knot on April 9, 2005. The couple first visited the United States together as newlyweds, and Camilla was confronted by hard-core Princess Diana fans with abusive placards. Polls at the time found that between 57% and 73% of Brits opposed Charles' new wife being known as queen. If you go back even further, to 1997, the year Diana died, an Ipsos MORI poll put it at 86%. But there's been a change in sentiment since they married. A new poll conducted by ComRes for CNN found that only 35% now oppose Camilla being known as queen. Nearly one in four said they liked her more now than they did 10 years ago. In an exclusive interview with CNN royal correspondent Max Foster, Charles opened up about the couple's relationship. He met Camilla years before he wed Diana, who famously said in a 1995 BBC TV interview that "there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." Reporter's notebook: Interviewing the royal couple . The prince has admitted talking to his plants in past TV interviews, inviting ridicule from some quarters. But as part of his interest in sustainability, he has championed organic farming and gardening for many years, including on his large country estates. He has a fully functioning organic farm at Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire, England, and founded his own organic food brand, Duchy Originals, which now turns a healthy profit and helps fund his charitable foundation. According to his official website, he's an advocate of traditional rural skills and enjoys hedge laying. Charles has riled some people over the years with his outspoken views on architecture, which prioritize the traditional over the modern. In 1984, he made headlines when he described a proposed modern extension to the National Gallery in London as "a monstrous carbuncle," according to news reports from the time. He's also invited controversy by reportedly writing to ministers -- and even the Prime Minister -- on subjects close to his heart. This intervention in the public sphere has troubled those who believe the royals should not get involved in such debates and worry that, once king, Charles may not remain above politics in the way that his mother has. In a piece published by The Architectural Review in December, Charles explained his thinking on architecture, saying "designing places according to the human scale and with Nature at the heart of the process has always been my central concern." The future king has often been photographed on the ski slopes of Europe and in the past has also tried his hand at water skiing, surfing and scuba diving. He was a keen polo player for more than four decades, only retiring from the sport in 2005. This is despite breaking his arm in two places when he fell off a pony during a polo match in 1990. He also climbed in the saddle as a jockey on a number of occasions. His website also describes him as an "experienced watercolourist" who likes to paint in the open air at home and on his travels. +Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)Joint Iraqi forces now have control of Tikrit Military Hospital as they continue their offensive to liberate the city from ISIS. The joint forces raised the Iraqi flag from the hospital premises Wednesday as they continued their offensive into the city from four sides, the Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary force said. The predominantly Shia militia has been working with Iraqi troops as well as Sunni fighters to try to regain Tikrit from ISIS. The hospital is a few blocks south of the presidential palace. Tikrit, best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, fell in June to ISIS, which has captured large areas of Iraq and Syria for what it says is its Islamic caliphate. On March 1, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province. ISIS wasn't making it easy, however. The Sunni extremist group blew up a key bridge near Tikrit, preventing the joint Iraqi forces from using it to cross the Tigris River to approach the city from the east. Nevertheless, forces have made progress, forcing ISIS fighters to retreat toward the city center from frontline positions, Hashd Al-Shaabi's media office said. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. If Iraq regains control of the city, it could mean that retaking Mosul -- a city 10 times bigger -- is possible. The Tikrit offensive involves around 30,000 fighters. Also assisting is Iran, which has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, Iranians may be operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the consensus was that Iran's involvement was positive in military terms. "Anything anyone does to counter ISIS is in the main a good outcome," he said. But at the same time, Dempsey said, the United States is concerned about what role Iran might seek in the longer term once ISIS is defeated. While Iraqi forces piled the pressure on ISIS in Tikrit, the Sunni extremist group continued to flex its muscles in Iraq's western Anbar province. ISIS launched a new offensive on the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Wednesday morning, Faleh al-Issawi, the deputy head of the Anbar Provincial Council, said in a statement. The city is being attacked "from all directions," with ISIS firing more than 150 mortar rounds and rockets toward it, he said. Some 17 explosives-laden vehicles have been detonated at various security checkpoints and in the city center, he said. One vehicle targeted a bridge that provides access to the city from the north. This is "the fiercest attack by ISIS" seen on Ramadi, al-Issawi said. Iraqi forces have imposed a curfew on the city. Al-Issawi said the Iraqi air force was urgently needed. "We need air cover to repel these attacks but did not see the Iraqi air force do anything -- we only saw one airstrike by the coalition hitting one target," he said. Officials believe "this is an ISIS response to the Tikrit operation that is ongoing in the north," he added. He said there had been 10 casualties among Iraqi forces in the area but did not specify how many were killed and how many injured. In the 24 hours from Tuesday to Wednesday morning, there were 13 airstrikes in Iraq and two in Syria, the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS said in a statement. The strikes in Iraq were concentrated near Mosul, Al Qaim and Falluja. There were none in the Tikrit or Ramadi areas. Elsewhere in Anbar province, Iraqi security forces have managed to wrest back most of the town of Karma from ISIS, said Sabah Al-Karhout, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council. Al-Karhout, speaking to CNN by telephone, said 80% of Karma, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Falluja, was now under the control of Iraqi security forces after a large-scale operation that started Tuesday at dawn. Dozens of ISIS militants were killed in clashes with Iraqi soldiers, he said. The second phase of the operation is to clear any remnants of the ISIS force from the town and to remove any mines and bombs left behind. Iraqi security forces were fighting side by side with Shia Hashd Al-Shaabi units and local tribesmen, Al-Karhout said. Health officials in Falluja told CNN that the Falluja general hospital received the bodies of 25 ISIS militants killed in the Karma battle. ISIS is also battling in many places far from Tikrit, including Syria, where the militant group is more on the offensive, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based nongovernmental organization. "Hundreds of ISIS militants launched a large scale offensive on Ras al Ayn, a Syrian strategic border town with Turkey on Friday," SOHR said in a statement Wednesday. "They made some advances there and seized Tal Khanzir." Clashes are still ongoing between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (Kurdish YPG) and ISIS fighters, with dozens killed from both sides, SOHR said. CNN's Kareem Khadder reported from Baghdad, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Jamie Crawford and Azadeh Ansari contributed to this report. +(CNN)Russian police moved with surprising speed to arrest five suspects, all of them Chechens, in the killing of opposition figure Boris Nemtsov. They tried to arrest a sixth suspect, but he reportedly threw a grenade at the arresting officers and then blew himself up. Yet that speed has only raised more questions about who wanted Nemtsov dead -- and why? Conspiracy theories are rife, but so far, none seem totally convincing. • The Kremlin did it. Some members of Russia's opposition -- and Nemtsov's daughter -- are convinced Russia's government was behind Nemtsov's killing. But why? And why now? Nemtsov, 55, had been an opposition leader for years and had recently been overshadowed by younger members of the opposition such as Alexey Navalny. So killing him now doesn't seem to make sense. Some of Nemtsov's supporters claim he had become a bigger threat to the Kremlin, pointing to information he was allegedly uncovering on Russia's military role in Ukraine that could undermine the Kremlin's claims that its forces fighting in Ukraine have been just "volunteers." But the dramatic staging of the killing -- he was shot in the back on a famous Moscow bridge against the backdrop of Red Square and the Kremlin, where Putin has his office -- seems a bit too obvious. And how exactly does it help Putin to look like a killer? • The West did it. Some Russian politicians and media personalities close to the Kremlin charge that Putin's foes in the West orchestrated the killing to damage the Russian President's image and ignite a civil war in Russia. But why would Washington want to destroy someone who was championing democracy and who is friendly to the United States? (Conspiracy theorists reply: to create a "sacrificial lamb" and blame the slaughter on Putin.) • It was the Chechens. Here, the plot thickens. The key suspect, Zaur Dadayev, reportedly initially confessed to being involved with the shooting. But then, Russian media reported, he denied involvement. Russian officials have alleged that Dadayev, a former security officer and fervent Muslim, decided to punish Nemtsov for supporting the rights of the French Charlie Hebdo journalists to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. But Nemtsov's allies point out that he was not anti-Muslim and rarely spoke of the cartoons -- he was by no means a central figure in the cartoon story. To make things more complicated, the strongman leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, praised Dadayev as a brave soldier, a religious man and a "real patriot." But on Tuesday, Putin awarded Kadyrov the Order of Honor, and the Chechen leader pledged he would die for Putin. A further twist is that Chechens reportedly are fighting in Ukraine -- on both sides of the battle line (for the Ukrainian government and for the Russian-allied separatists.) That's led some back to the theory that Nemtsov was killed because of his allegedly explosive information on Russia's role in Ukraine. • The Ukrainians did it. Many Russians are convinced that what they call the "fascist" Kiev government would stop at nothing to frame Putin. After all, a significant number of people, fed by domestic propaganda, still believe the Ukrainian air force shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine despite much of the evidence pointing to Russian-backed rebels as the culprits. • It was domestic extremists. Supporters of this theory are mainly in the opposition camp. They accuse the Kremlin of whipping up hatred against the so-called Fifth Column -- "traitors" who are trying to undermine Russia from within. Photos of opposition leaders labeled "traitors" have been posted in Russian cities, while at an anti-Ukraine rally in Moscow just days before Nemtsov's assassination, Russians loyal to Putin carried signs and placards with pictures of those "traitors," including Nemtsov. But whatever the reality of what happened in Moscow, high-profile killings in Russia, especially ones with a political connection, are rarely solved. Chechens were convicted of killing journalist Anna Politkovskaya, for example, but there still is no explanation of why they did it or who organized the murder. Now, with Nemtsov's killing, Russian officials and Kremlin-friendly media have whipped up a sandstorm of theories, confounding the most intrepid attempts at establishing the truth. Will things play out any differently this time? +(CNN)It's a golfing paradise forged from the ashes of the space race. And, according to owner Dave Pelz, it might just be the best back garden on the planet. One thing is certain, no self-respecting golfer would emerge from a stint patrolling the perfectly coiffured turf at Chez Pelz in Austin, Texas any worse around the greens. "They say it's the world's best backyard," one of golf's most renowned short game coaches, and former NASA employee, told CNN's Living Golf show. "It's my dream. I have a dream job and I live in my dream house. I live with my dream girl. I'm a happy guy." It's no wonder Pelz is content. His named is etched in the evolution of golf. His students, including five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, have amassed a combined 20 majors between them and as one of golf's most fertile brains, Pelz has 26 golf patents to his name. The 70-year-old still works with Mickelson prior to major tournaments and the player known as "Lefty"credits Pelz with helping to elevate his game to the elite level. "I was 0-for-43 in majors before I met him, and I've won four, plus a Players Championship since," Mickelson was quoted as saying prior to capturing his fifth major -- the British Open -- in 2013. "That says it all about him, in my book." The septuagenarian pioneered the use of statistics back in the 1970s and 80s, his analysis of the game sculpted by a 15-year stint working for space agency NASA. His insistence on short game practice, and invention of clubs to help players hone their skills in that department, have informed the modern professional's approach. "I did space research and golf research on my own time," explained the brains behind the two-ball putter, one of the best-selling clubs of all time that helped golfers line up their putts more accurately. "NASA has the most unbelievable equipment in the world and that was the dawn of the space race. Sputnik had just gone up. "We were trying to catch the Russians in terms of space exploration. And I got in a wonderful group of scientists and learned to do honest to God research." Pelz banked a place at Indiana University thanks to a golf scholarship and chose to study physics. He famously played the legendary Jack Nicklaus 22 times and lost to the 18-time major champion on every occasion, but made significant improvements to his game once he began working for NASA. Using the one variable at a time method favored by scientists, Pelz began grading his own performance using the methods he'd picked up at the Goddard Space Flight Center. And gradually, piece by piece, he began to deconstruct each facet of his game and isolate the improvements he needed to make. "I started measuring my own putting," he said. "I started measuring my short game. I started measuring my driving. "I learned how to measure things at Goddard Space Flight Center because they had the best instruments in the world and I learned the practical application of the scientific method. "I finally started understanding my game after 10 years of research. It's funny to say from a person who went to college for four years on a golf scholarship. "Those thousand lessons that taught me virtually nothing ... they might not have been teaching right but it was also partly I wasn't listening and I wasn't looking for the things that I needed to look for. "All of a sudden I qualified again for the U.S. Amateur (America's leading competition for amateur golfers) and I'm not practicing at all like I used to but my game was better. I was a better player." Despite this spike in quality, Pelz was still hesitant when it came to the prospect of throwing his lot in on the PGA Tour with other professionals. "I had a serious thinking period," he explained. "And I thought the game really doesn't need another good player. "I believed by now that if I really worked hard I could be a really good player and I might be able to make it on the Tour, but I'd never be the best player in the world. "I didn't have that kind of practice time in me. At this stage I'm 35 now and I got so involved in the research of golf, in finding out about my own game, I thought 'I could help a lot of players.' "What the world really needs is for somebody to tell them what they're doing wrong so they can score better and enjoy the game more. "That's really what golf is about. It's really not what you shoot, it's whether or not you are improving." While Pelz's brain power is not in question, his business acumen is -- by his own admission. After taking a year-long leave of absence from Goddard and securing funding from a group of friends, he embarked on a journey that would eventually lead to his space age backyard in Austin. But it was a bumpy ride to say the least. "I'm a terrible businessman to this day," he joked. "I don't do anything in my company except teach golf and do golf research. My wife is the CEO. She runs the company and makes all the decisions. Of that first year in business he recalls: "I spent all the money and lost every dime. And they said 'Well, here's some more.' I lost that the second year. "Then they said: 'We're out. That's all the money we have. We're not going throw money down a rat hole. You don't know what you're doing in business.' Which is true, I did not." However, by this time Pelz had hit upon the idea that would help him make an indelible mark on golf -- the importance of the short game. After three years studying players on the PGA Tour he deduced they were neglecting one of the most important areas of the game -- from 100 yards in. His calculations underlined the short game accounted for as much as 65% of golf, and also happened to be the one area in which most professionals struggled. Most players had a range of clubs that essentially fulfilled the same function -- to hit the ball long distances -- while they relied on just one club to take care of business from 100 yards out or closer. Pelz said: "Thirty five years ago nobody even talked about short game -- the term wasn't used. It was golf. "When I was taught golf I was taught that it was a drive and a shot to the green and then you putted. "But if you can't get to the green you can't play golf so everybody practices the long game and they didn't even call it the long game. That was just the game. "But I did my research and I measured how many shots people hit and it turns out everybody does hit the first two shots. "They hit the ball off the tee, then they hit the ball at the green -- most people miss the green -- then they hit a chip shot or a pitch shot, sometimes it's not very good and they do another one and then two or three putts. "So the truth is there are two long shots and three or four or five short game shots every hole and people don't think about these. They just think it looks like it's easy to do. "It is easy to do if you know how to do it but it's not easy to do right if you don't know how to do it and you never practice it. "If all you practice is the long game, practicing that for the rest of your life will not help your short game because they take different swings. They are truly different games." Pelz's breakthrough came just at the right time. With money running out he had mortgaged his house, resigned from his role with NASA and was relying on the players he was working with to fund his fledgling start-up. At year five he had reached break even point, and would continue to do so until year 21, when he finally started making money. By this time his portfolio of players was ever expanding, and grew to include Mickelson, widely regarded as one of the finest short game exponents ever. "I've worked with over 100 players now on the tour and Phil Mickelson and everybody says, 'oh he has a natural god-given talent with a short game," Pelz said. "No he's not. He's very talented but he also works very hard. He has practiced and practiced and tested and experimented." The pair still work together, but it is often missed by the mainstream media as they tend to meet two weeks out from a major tournament. Pelz is still as enthusiastic about golf as he ever was, especially about the dynamics of the short game and how important it is to keep practicing. While some players will never be able to match the game's power hitters no matter how hard they train, short game is one area pros and amateurs can make huge strides in. "I will never hit it as far as Rory McIlroy," Pelz said. "I can't do it. Now you give me that kind of (extensive) practice and I will kill him in the short game and putting. "That's saying a lot because he's good at short game and putting. He's not bad but he's not practicing it 12 hours a day, every day, seven days a week. "So I'm saying no matter what you do you'll never conquer the full power game as much as you can conquer the short game and putting for amateurs. I think there's a lot of potential for amateurs. "I want them to focus there and enjoy the game more." +(CNN)Lionel Messi has set the stage for a potentially season-defining week for Barcelona, scoring both goals as his team went four points clear at the top of the Spanish league on Saturday. The 2-0 win at tiny Eibar, a side playing in La Liga for the first time and which has now lost eight games in a row, may not seem like an unexpected achievement. But, with a European Champions League last-16 decider at home to Manchester City on Wednesday and then the "El Clasico" crunch clash with bitter rival Real Madrid next Sunday, every win is vital at this stage of the campaign. "We're going into the Clasico as leaders and in perfect form," Barca coach Luis Enrique said. "But first we have to focus on City because qualification is at stake. Then we'll see what happens at the weekend." Messi has now scored 43 goals this season, first netting a 31st-minute penalty after Borja Ekiza unluckily handled the Argentine's blocked shot and then bulleting in a header from Ivan Rakitic's corner 10 minutes after the restart. "Eibar didn't look like a team that has just lost seven in a row," said Enrique, who welcomed back Brazil star Neymar from suspension to resume his role up front with Messi and Luis Suarez. "They played good football and they fully deserved their great start to the season. I don't think they'll have any trouble avoiding relegation." The result puts even more pressure on second-placed Real Madrid to win Sunday's home clash with Levante. The European champion's coach Carlo Ancelotti has been criticized after a poor run of results since the turn of the year, while world-record signing Gareth Bale has particularly been vilified by national sports paper Marca following Tuesday's home defeat by Schalke. Real can take some small consolation in the fact that city rival Atletico Madrid could only draw 0-0 at Espanyol, meaning the defending champion stayed fourth in the table following Valencia's 2-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Friday. Atletico defender Miranda was sent off in time added on at the end of the first half for a foul on Abraham. Diego Simeone's side hosts German club Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday as it seeks to overturn a 1-0 deficit and seek to match last season's achievement of reaching the Champions League final. Barca, also looking to join Real in the quarterfinals, faces a City side reeling after Saturday's 1-0 defeat by relegation-threatened Burnley. It left Manuel Pellegrini's team five points behind English Premier League leader Chelsea, which has two games in hand ahead of Sunday's home clash with Southampton. "We must continue to fight but the chances of winning the title are far as things stand," said Pellegrini, whose team must overcome a 2-1 deficit at the Nou Camp next week. "There is still a chance, but it is more difficult after this result. We needed to create more chances than we did and find more space in and around their defense." The Chilean refused to blame the referee for not awarding what appeared to be a clear penalty for City in the dying minutes, when Pablo Zabaleta was brought down in the box. "Was it a penalty? Maybe, but the referee decides these moments and I don't think that was the most important thing in this game," he said. "The issue for us at present is that we are not winning the games that we normally do, especially against teams we are expected to beat, and that is because we are not scoring goals." City, seeking to retain its EPL title, is only one point ahead of third-placed Arsenal after Arsene Wenger's team won 3-0 at home to West Ham on Saturday. The London side has now won four games in all competitions since suffering a shock 3-1 home defeat by Wenger's former club Monaco in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie last month. "We have to believe that we can do it," the Frenchman said of Tuesday's trip to the principality. "This time Monaco are favorites so we have to go there, give absolutely everything and come out of the game with that feeling." Monaco moved up to fourth in the French league on Friday, beating nine-man Bastia 3-0 as Anthony Martial scored twice and Lavyin Kurzawa missed a penalty. Italian club Juventus, another side in Champions League action next week, went 14 points clear in Serie A with a 1-0 win at mid-table Palermo on Saturday. Spanish substitute Alvaro Morata ended Palermo's six-month unbeaten home run with a curling winner to maintain the Turin team's momentum ahead of Wednesday's trip to Borussia Dortmund. The German side, which trails 2-1 after the first leg thanks to goals from Morata and Carlos Tevez, drew 0-0 at home to Cologne Saturday to remain in mid-table after a second successive scoreless draw in the Bundesliga. Defending champion Bayern Munich moved 14 points clear at the top with a 4-0 win at Werder Bremen, as Poland striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice to add to his goal from the midweek Champions League thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk. Thomas Muller, who netted twice in the 7-0 routing of the Ukrainian side, opened the scoring while David Alaba bagged the second goal. Third-placed Leverkusen, meanwhile, triumphed 4-0 over Stuttgart on Friday, with Josip Drmic scoring two. Wolfsburg, eight points ahead of Leverkusen, hosts second-bottom Freiburg on Sunday. Like us on Facebook . +(CNN)If the wheel was man's greatest invention, putting two wheels together comes as a close second for Dani Foffa, CEO of Foffa Bikes. His eponymous company builds bespoke urban bicycles with a stylish design that has been lauded by magazines like Vogue and GQ. London-based Foffa tracks his passion for cycling back to his childhood in Venice, Italy, where biking in the city's winding narrow streets was a rare treat. He spent his early professional career as a business analyst, before a nagging feeling that there was more to life encouraged him to start designing and building bikes, initially from his office garage. "I started refurbishing vintage bikes up and reselling them online. And the demand just grew very gradually, steadily, to the point that it was time for us to get our own brand in the bikes, and open up our first shop. I took my chances, I quit my job, and clearly I have no regrets," says Foffa. His company has built over 5,000 bespoke bikes since 2007, and they were named as one of the ten best commuter bikes by The Independent, a UK newspaper. Foffa says that he was encouraged to start the company when he saw a gap in the market for comfortable bicycles designed for cycling in the city, which also looked good. "In the same way that we decide what to wear, we think that the bicycle should be an extension of your personality," says Foffa. He adds that he always relished the sense of liberty that biking afforded him, and wants to introduce the simple pleasure of a bike ride to as many people as possible. "Bikes are great for the environment, great for the health, they are the quickest and probably the cheapest way of commuting around town. And they link with that sense of adventure, that freedom that comes with it, which no other invention, as far as I'm concerned, was able to offer me." +(CNN)Solar Impulse 2 has landed safely in Oman on the first leg of its quest to be the first plane to fly around the world fueled only by the sun's rays. The solar-powered plane took off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates early on Monday with pilot Andre Borschberg at the controls for the 400-kilometer (250 mile) flight. The journey was expected to take about 12 hours, but high winds of up to 11 knots delayed its landing, forcing Borschberg to fly in a holding pattern above Muscat until they dropped to safe levels. Once safely on the ground, Borschberg said he was "extremely happy" and "looking forward to the rest of [the] adventure." Solar Impulse 2's visit to Oman is a short pit-stop on its marathon 35,000-kilometer, five month journey across the globe, via India, Myanmar, China and the U.S. The plane is expected to be on the ground for just eight hours before it takes off again -- this time with pilot Bertrand Piccard in charge -- bound for Ahmedabad in India. The potentially historic flight had originally been due to take off on March 1 but its departure was postponed because of concerns about the weather after strong dust storms created hazy conditions. "We have had a lot of sandstorms in Abu Dhabi, and also a lot of wind, sea breezes, higher than the limit," said the team's meteorologist Luc Truellemans in an interview posted on Twitter and YouTube. By Monday morning, the skies had cleared sufficiently for takeoff, though there was a slight delay while technical checks were carried out, as pilot Andre Borschberg explained on Twitter. Eventually the plane got off the ground, under the watchful eye of fellow pilot Piccard. Monday's journey to Oman was a relatively short one, compared to some of the longer legs, which will take up to five or six days and nights. Borschberg and Piccard will spend a total of 500 hours behind the controls over the entire trip, taking it in turns in the tiny 3.8-square meter single-seater cockpit. Before the takeoff, Piccard admitted the pair "had "butterflies in the stomach" at the thought of getting underway after working on the project for so long. On Sunday, the pair joked about tossing a coin for the right to fly first, before tearfully revealing that they had already decided who would be doing what. "Andre has worked on this airplane ... for 12 years, from the feasibility study until now; it is more than natural that he takes the first step," said Piccard. Borschberg added: "Bertrand deserves to fly the last leg, and to make the arrival in Abu Dhabi, completing the vision he created 15 years ago." The pair will also split ocean-flying duties: Piccard will take on the five-day, five-night journey across the Pacific, while Borschberg will tackle the Atlantic. Solar Impulse's 72-meter (236-foot) wingspan makes it wider than a Boeing 747, but the plane weighs just 2.5 tons, lighter than a large SUV. The tiny cockpit will be packed with essentials for the journey -- enough food and water for a week -- as well as a parachute, life raft and oxygen bottles in case of emergencies. Borschberg and Piccard, who piloted an earlier version of the plane across the U.S. in 2013, are no strangers to adventure. Borschberg is a former fighter pilot, and Piccard was part of the first team to circumnavigate the earth nonstop in a balloon in 1999. +Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)It is a strangely formal, yet troubling scene. A room in a far flung corner of Afghanistan where a serious lecture is happening, to an audience that seems part ideological, part curious; some are just impoverished, hoping for a quick job. At the front of this room stands an Afghan freshly back from fighting in Syria, and intent on recruiting other Afghans to fight alongside him for ISIS. "Brothers, I am here to tell you", the recruiter begins, "about the mujahideen in Syria." All faces are hidden in the footage, yet the motivations are clear. This seems to be part of ISIS's first moves into Afghanistan, a bid to bolster their ranks for the fight in Iraq and Syria by vacuuming up disgruntled former Taliban fighters -- or even just students looking for a cause. But it's a troubling move nonetheless. There's no shortage of battle-hardened militants here. And as NATO leaves, the Taliban looks strong if a little fractured -- and the possibility of peace talks ahead with the Afghan government could alienate some of the group's more radical elements. The man is one of five recruiters, he says -- some foreign, others Afghan like him, spread out across the country. His message is broadly ideological. "Jihad is now obligatory not only in Afghanistan, but also in many other places in the world," the recruiter tells the room. "The Christians and Jews have not only attacked Afghanistan, but they have also attacked Muslims in Syria, Iraq and Palestine. So Jihad is obligatory on us in these places." His reception is mixed, but to one audience member the ideological appeal is clear. "My aim is to fight infidels," the man says. "In Syria, or if they ask me to in Afghanistan, I will." Another man says he would prefer to stay home and go to university, but he is attracted by the recruiter's offer of money. "I definitely need the money," he says, "but will stay here and hope peace comes." Concerns are growing about how ISIS may expand into Afghanistan. When asked why ISIS might be on the rise here, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told CNN's Fareed Zakaria: "The reason it's happening is because (the) collapse of Yemen, Syria, Iraq has created an environment where instead of one weak link in the interrelated system of states, now there are wider spaces." Ghani added: "They have -- it's one of the most well-endowed finance -- well-financed organizations. And the techniques are spreading." The United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, told the Security Council that ISIS's presence in Afghanistan was "of concern," but was most troubling in its "potential to offer an alternative flagpole to which otherwise isolated insurgent splinter groups can rally." A senior U.S. official told CNN that "the terrain is there" for ISIS to grow in Afghanistan. This is "something everyone is keeping a very close eye on. Afghanistan government is concerned. Pakistan government is concerned," he said, before adding that disaffected Taliban might also be attracted to the group. The path to CNN's filming with the recruiter was complex. An Afghan cameraman working for CNN was introduced at first to militants seeking to recruit fighters to assist an al Qaeda-linked group in Syria. Weeks later it emerged they were in fact working for ISIS. The group the militants say they come from -- Khorasan -- is better known as a radical part of the al Qaeda faction of al-Nusra, in Syria, where many Afghans fight. Yet ISIS experts say some of Khorasan's militants have defected to join ISIS, and those defectors in turn sent recruiters to Afghanistan to try to bolster their ranks. At the meeting that our cameraman was permitted to film, the militants produced application forms that bear the logo of the Islamic State -- the name the group prefers to be called -- although they appeared to be using the group's older nomenclature of ISIS on the documents. While these recruiters seek to attract fighters to Syria, their presence in Afghanistan at this pivotal time will fuel fears that the country remains vulnerable to being used as a sanctuary for a new wave of extremists. +(CNN)Is it an April Fool's gag or flame-grilled brilliance? We'll have to wait until April 1 to find out. Burger King ads in Japan promise a limited-edition perfume for April Fool's Day to make you smell like a couple of all-beef patties. The name may lose something in translation, but Flame-Grilled Fragrance will sell for 5,000 yen (about $41) and comes with a free Whopper. How's that for an offer? It's a one-day sale, according to Burger King, and only available at stores in Japan. Sorry, rest of the world. Burger King did this a few years back in the United States with the fragrance Flame. Flame was billed as "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat." Yep, pretty much says it all. If that doesn't get your senses sizzling or whet your appetite for seduction, there are plenty of others -- what shall we call them -- interesting scents that have been available in recent years. Here are some of our favorites. We haven't sampled them, we just like the names. 1. bacōn by fargginay -- because everything's better with bacon . 2. Cannabis Santal Eau de Parfum -- when you want to smell like pot, but don't want to have the munchies. 3. Secretions Magnifique from Etat Libre d'Orange -- when you want to smell like "blood, sweat, sperm and saliva." Let's move on. 4. Eau De Pizza Hut -- Pizza Hut Canada released this a few years ago when it reached 100,000 Facebook fans. 5. Kiss cologne spray -- when you want to rock 'n' roll all night and not smell like it all day. 6. Dirt by the Demeter Fragrance Library -- we're guessing this one has an earthy smell. 7. Patton men's cologne -- brought to you by the U.S. Army. This is what you what to smell like when you're ready to take on the world, or at least the Nazis. 8. Lobster by the Demeter Fragrance Library -- you'll come out of your shell with this scent. Don't forget the drawn butter. 9. Eau de Stilton -- the folks that make the UK's famous blue cheese came up with this one. We're looking for a crackers cologne to pair it with. CNN's Junko Ogura and Brian Walker contributed to this report . +(CNN)When Chinese photographer Wang Wenlan first pressed the shutter on a borrowed Soviet camera in 1967, he was a teenager taking photos to kill time during Chairman Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. "I made rolls of film out of a motion-picture reel I found. The photographic paper was left over from printing Mao's portraits," Wang told CNN. Five decades later, Wang, 61, is one of the country's top photojournalists. His work is a rich chronicle of China's fast-changing society. "Still images are fragments, sections and points that connect the history," Wang says. "The whole process of China's reform over the past four decades -- whether going forward or stalling -- I've been determined to and have managed to document it all." One of his most famous series of photographs tracks China's relationship with the bicycle -- once a family's most precious asset but now fast vanishing from the streets. Photography was an outlet for Wang during the dark days of the Cultural Revolution, when China was convulsed by violent class struggle. His family were labeled "capitalist roaders" and unlike most other kids, he couldn't join the red guards. Despondent, 14-year-old Wang wandered around Beijing with friends in similar situations, snapping pictures and portraits to distract himself. Taking photos turned into more than a pastime in January 1976, when Premier Zhou Enlai died - beloved by many for his role in tempering the worst of Mao's excesses. Wang went to Tiananmen Square with his camera, capturing the unprompted outpouring of grief, both then, and again in April that year. "I was in deep grief," Wang said, "And I felt I should record the collective grief." He kept the film secret from the military, which then employed him as a photographer, transferring it to friends. The photos were published in the early 1980s. From then on, Wang saw that his camera was much more than a memory keeper. "I didn't get photojournalism until then," he said. "My biggest regret was not to capture anything meaningful during the Cultural Revolution period; it would've been a precious record." In the decades following, Wang has photographed not only major events -- from Tangshan Earthquake in 1976 and the overthrow of the Gang of Four, to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 -- but also intimate moments captured in China's changing countryside and growing cities. From April 3, Wang will have the first overseas exhibition of his work in the United States at the University of Iowa. Curator Judy Polumbaum -- a Chinese media scholar and former colleague of Wang -- said his work is a great window to examine contemporary China. "It reflects not only the many changes in Chinese society emerging over the past several decades but also the endurance of tradition, and the often striking and sometimes amusing clashes between tradition and change," she said. The clash between tradition and modernity is stark in the lead picture of the exhibit — an elderly farmer looks on as a groom carries his bride through the field and "the couple's Western wedding garb contrasting with this longstanding custom," she says. Wang has spent most of his career at the China Daily, the country's official English-language paper, which he joined in 1980 before its official launch. Back then, it broke the mold, using large photographs rather than the stamp-sized images used in most other Chinese newspapers at the time, he says. It was also unafraid to feature ordinary people on its pages, rather than national leaders -- something Wang found he excelled at. "Thanks to the China Daily, I stood out. It was an irreplaceable platform." Wang finds himself nostalgic for the 1980s, when ideas emerged and collided after the Cultural Revolution ended. "People thought nothing was impossible," he said. "We reflected on the past and were determined to move on. It was a special time; the air was filled with ideals, enthusiasm and all kinds of possibilities." Today's China is different, he said. "The country's goal has shifted toward a transition to a market economy since the 1990s," he said. "Individuals also have since switched their focus onto consumerism and incomes from ideals." Throughout his career, Wang's focus has changed a great deal as well. He said he used to focus on the technical and artistic aspects of photography, but now, with smart phones, he says anyone can be a photographer. To Wang, what matters is the perspective, he said, pointing at his head. Wang says he's felt obligated to observe and criticize through his lens over the years. "My job isn't to chant slogans." "I take photos first. It's great if they can be published; if not, they'll eventually be part of the history." Next year will mark Wang's 40th year in photojournalism. He is planning to have a photo exhibition and wants to call it "Unfinished." The name was inspired by the alternative title of Franz Schubert's Symphony No.8. "China is unfinished," said Wang, who is also fan and critic of classic music. "It's always a work in progress." +Bethlehem, West Bank (CNN)In the biblical city of Bethlehem, Sana Jamaani is warmed up and ready to run. This isn't her first race, but she says it is her most important. "I'm running in the Holy Land," Jamaani smiles. "I'm running in Palestine." More than 3,000 runners came to the West Bank for the Palestine Marathon on Friday. For Jamaani, this isn't just a race for time. It is a run for recognition. "It means that you run for peace," Jamaani says. Two weeks before this marathon, more than 25,000 runners took part in the Jerusalem Marathon. The race was a celebration of sport in a citywide event that drew international attention and competition. The course took runners through old and new Jerusalem. They were free to run. But in Bethlehem, runners say they run to be free. "We are trying to inspire people to take their own rights," says organizer Signe Fischer, "and the right of movement is the only right that you can physically just claim. You can put on your running shoes and just take it." The Palestine Marathon is put on by the Palestine Olympic Committee and the Right to Movement, a nonprofit organization that uses running as a means of activism. They focus their efforts on what they see as one of the most basic rights: movement. Many of the runners are Palestinian, and their movement is limited, Israel says, for security reasons. The marathon course took runners along the West Bank separation barrier, into the Aida refugee camp, and under guard towers. Nader al-Masri won the marathon. He is from Gaza, and he says he had to wait five hours at the Erez border crossing to compete. He arrived in Manger Square at the finish line to a hero's welcome. "I saw parts of the wall all over. It's very hard, but I'm still proud of myself as a Palestinian," says al-Masri. In its third year, the marathon drew runners from all over the world, pilgrims of a sort making a journey to the holy land, not for religion, but for sport. "It's an achievement," said Jamaani after finishing. "Everyone looks for an achievement in life, and one of them was crossing this line, especially in the Palestine Marathon." For runners like Jamaani, the marathon is a statement made one step at a time. +(CNN)Is Philae still alive? The answer to this particular cosmic cliff-hanger was left unresolved towards the end of last year. The tiny space probe bounced across the surface of Comet 67P before touching down away from its intended landing zone. It returned plenty of data from the surface but ended up in a shady spot where there wasn't enough sunlight to keep it powered -- so then it went to sleep and nothing has been heard since November. In the months since, mission scientists have not been able to pinpoint its exact resting place. But now the comet-chasing mother ship Rosetta -- in orbit around 67P -- is to begin listening for signs that the lander has survived the cold and dark. Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA), which is leading a consortium that includes NASA to find out more about the composition of comets and how they interact with the Sun, believe that if enough sunlight falls on Philae's solar panels it could revive. As the comet gets closer to the Sun and more light illuminates the lander, the chances improve. Lander system engineer Laurence O'Rourke told CNN that Philae needs 5.5 watts of power to reboot itself, nine watts to switch on the receiver to accept communications and 19 watts to activate its transmitter and allow two-way communication with the orbiter. Modern energy-saving domestic light bulbs consume 20 watts or lower so it doesn't need much to re-establish contact. On Tuesday, @ESA_Rosetta tweeted: "Excited! I have some opportunities to listen for @philae2014 to find out if he's awake!" Rosetta and Philae's love affair on Twitter . On the Rosetta mission blog, lander project manager Stephan Ulamec says: "It will probably still be too cold for the lander to wake up, but it is worth trying. The prospects will improve with each passing day." The mission website adds that Philae could already have woken up but does not yet have sufficient power to communicate with Rosetta. It says Rosetta will transmit to Philae between March 12 and March 20, listening for a response. Problems began for the lander when devices designed to anchor Philae to the surface failed. The gravity is so weak that without the harpoons intended to fire from the feet, the probe bounced across the comet. However, the mishap could prove to be a happy accident. O'Rourke explained that as the comet nears the Sun, Philae's original landing spot would have exposed it to temperatures that would have burned out its electronics. In that position it most likely would have died by now. From lander pictures, mission controllers think Philae, which is about the size of a washing machine, is tucked up underneath a cliff face, affording it some shade. Beginning Thursday, mission controllers will send what O'Rourke described as "blind commands" to Philae in the hope that the lander has enough power to receive instructions even if it can't respond. Philae will be told to save power for the transmitter. O'Rourke admits that it's a "long shot" but the team will try again in April if this attempt fails. If Philae revives it could be witness to an amazing show as the comet makes its closest approach to the Sun in August. "I think we are going to see some amazing images at that point," said O'Rourke. Even if Philae never wakes up, all is not lost. The mission has detected organic chemicals on the comet surface, though full details of that discovery have yet to be revealed. And the Rosetta mission is already changing perceptions of comets. O'Rourke says instead of a comet being a dirty snowball he now thinks of it as being "an icy dirtball." He described discoveries of dust and large "boulders" circling the comet after they were blown off by the Sun during previous orbits, and an image that appears to show a structure the size of a football pitch that has been lifted and then deposited next to the hole. "The Rosetta mission is not just about the lander. It's about orbiting and following a comet -- watching it wake up and then go to sleep again, finding the secrets held by comets. Every day is a new discovery," he said. Scientists have already applauded the mission's success to date. "The Rosetta radar experiment will reveal for the first time how a comet is put together," cosmochemist Denton S. Ebel told CNN in November. CNN Interactive: Rosetta and its mission . Opinion: How comet mission helps search for alien life . +(CNN)I can't remember exactly when my teenage fascination with computers collided with the federal government, but I will never forget the morning in 1983 when two FBI agents showed up on my parents' doorstep. I had gone to bed around 4 or 5 a.m. after spending hours on my computer, which was pretty common for me back then, at age 18. A few hours later, my mom woke me up telling me there were a couple of men here to see me and that they said something about it being official or federal business. I had a slight fear this day would come, because only a couple of days earlier, I had a strange call from a friend asking me what I would do if we were visited by the police or some type of investigation team. Two men sitting at my kitchen table pulled out badges and stated they were with the FBI. They said they needed to talk to me. Let me start with a little history: I got my first taste of computers in the mid-1970s in junior high school. We had a teletype terminal that had been brought to our school with an acoustic modem attached. We were shown how it worked and some of us had a chance to do some math testing. I did not get to use it the first time, but I stayed after school that evening to see if I could get a chance to try it out. The teacher dialed into the central office computer, logged in and started the math program. I felt like a new world opened for me. For the first time in my life, I saw something that made me imagine what I wanted to do when I grew up. That junior high school computer math program lead me to computer classes in high school. There, I learned of an Explorer Scout group sponsored by IBM. For the next couple of years I built a friendship with a group of people who had interests similar to mine -- some closer than others. We would play with computers at school, in Explorer Scouts, in stores like Radio Shack and at home. Finally in 1982, I bought my first computer. Some of my friends already had computers and now my time came and I finally got my own. I purchased a Heathkit H-89, which we built in a friend's basement. At the same time I also bought a Hayes 309 baud Smartmodem. I used my computer and modem to log onto electronic bulletin board systems, or BBS, and create more friendships and acquaintances. We were a curious group and we were eager to learn more and more about the different computers made and how they worked. We ended up getting into about a dozen computer systems -- from the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York to a major international bank system in Los Angeles to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, one of only two U.S. laboratories dedicated to nuclear weapons research. We were really just looking around and playing games on these systems; we didn't want to harm anything. This was pretty easy because computers back then were built with a basic set of login information, all of it written in the manuals. We didn't see any harm in it. We would share information with each other about any particularly interesting system we connected to and, when we got together for Explorers, we'd talk about exploring, not harming systems. At some point, we started calling our group the "4-1-4s," a name we came up with after hanging out at a local park. We noticed etchings on the tables with numbers like 1-9 and 2-7, gang signatures that came from the streets where they operated. Since we all lived in the Milwaukee area, we more or less jokingly gave ourselves the gang name of 414s for the Milwaukee area code. As the months went on, we started to notice issues staying connected with our modems for any length of time. Then, the FBI showed up at my home. Remember, back then home computers were very new, so there were no computer hacking laws. After about a year of back and forth with the FBI, three of us were eventually charged under a federal provision against harassing phone calls, which carried a maximum of six months in prison and a $500 fine each. As I sat before the judge with my lawyer, he asked why he should not give me prison time. I had recently met the love of my life and we were expecting our first child. So I explained that I would like to be around to see the birth of my baby and live a happy and normal family life. The judge agreed to a plea deal with a stipulation that I could not own a modem during the time I remained on probation. Under the deal, we were charged with misdemeanors that carried two years' probation and a $500 fine. Our records would be expunged under the federal youth corrections act. Today, more than 30 years later, I'm still fascinated by computers: I'm employed as a network engineer and, at home, I tinker around on about half a dozen computers. Oh, and I'm still married to the love of my life. The things that we did set the stage for more than just our personal career paths: We helped create several federal laws that are still on the books for computer crime and password safety. It makes me proud as a network engineer working partially in security knowing that, in a way, what we did as a group made for safer computing today. There are still lots of issues with people using simple passwords, companies leaving too many doors open and just the massive amounts of computing power available to work on decoding and breaking into systems. We could have caused some damage to these companies and many were surprised that we just looked around and played games. Today, hacking is a whole different world. +(CNN)For the first time, the U.S. Air Force has resurrected a B-52 bomber that had been in long-term storage at the Boneyard, the portion of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona, where the military sends aircraft that have been retired from the fleet. The 53-year-old Stratofortress, tail number 61-1007, nicknamed the "Ghost Rider" had been in storage at the desert in the care of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) since 2008. Thousands of aircraft are stored at the Boneyard, where the dry desert environment helps preserve them. Some are scavenged to supply parts to planes still in the fleet. Others are brought back into service. Ghost Rider, after upgrades, will become the first B-52 to return to duty from the Boneyard. Though the dry desert air inhibits corrosion, the baking heat can have other adverse effects, including causing dry rot in the tires and fuel lines. The lines and fuel bladders in Ghost Rider were completely replaced, Tech. Sgt. Stephen Sorge, a fuels specialist from the 307th Maintenance Squadron, said in an Air Force report on the project. Once that work was done, the plane's engines were tested again in January. On February 13, Ghost Rider flew again, a three-hour flight from Davis-Monthan to its new home, Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. The resurrection process took 70 days, according to the Air Force report . "I've been flying the B-52s since the '80s and it surprised me that after almost seven years ... she cranked up just fine and we had no issues with the flight control systems," Col. Keith Schultz said in the Air Force report after piloting the eight-engine jet on the 1,000-mile flight. Schultz, who with more than 6,500 hours flying B-52s is the most experienced active pilot of that aircraft in the service, led a co-pilot and a navigator, the minimum three-person crew, on the flight to Louisiana. The B-52 would normally fly with a crew of five. "Those were the only three seats we had activated for egress," he told the Shreveport Times. For safety reasons, Ghost Rider made the entire flight with its landing gear down, at a speed of only 288 mph and at a height of 23,000 feet, well below its top speed of 650 mph and ceiling of 50,000 feet, according to the Times report. It also flew without some of the other things aviators have come to rely on. "We were fortunate to have had good weather the entire trip as the inertial and navigational equipment had not been installed," Schulz said in the Air Force release. Ghost Rider will replace another bomber at Barksdale that was damaged by a fire during maintenance. "We had an oxygen leak with a spark and it caused a cockpit fire. There was so much damage it was actually more economical to bring this one out of the desert," Schultz told the Times. For a time, Ghost Rider will sit beside the damaged B-52 for transfer of usable, updated equipment, the Times reported. It is expected to resume active service next year. As of May 2014, the Air Force reported there were 76 Stratofortresses in its fleet, 58 in the active force and 18 in the Air Force Reserve. Besides Barksdale, B-52s are based at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. +(CNN)Prince Bishop, a 14-1 long shot, stormed from the back of the field to secure a shock victory in the the Dubai World Cup. With just over half of the world's richest horse race gone Prince Bishop, ridden by jockey William Buick, trained by the UAE's Saeed bin Suroor and owned by Dubai's Crown Prince, was in last place and looked well out of contention. Huge heart . But an astonishing second half of the race saw the eight year old storm to the front, overtake race favorite California Chrome, and somehow pull away to win by a full four lengths and secure the $10 million prize. "He was slow away from the gate and we had a lot of ground to make up," Buick admitted in an interview after the race. "We got onto the back of California Chrome on the last turn. Prince Bishop has a huge heart and he gave me his all today. I'm dreaming. I'm waiting to wake up." No match . All the pre-race talk had centered on favorite California Chrome, trained by American Art Sherman. Last year saw California Chrome come close to winning the prestigious Triple Crown after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. But despite looking well placed going into the final straight, California Chrome was no match for Prince Bishop's superb late burst. $2 million . "He lost a lot of ground on both turns, but he ran his eyeballs out. I'm just happy he comes back home in one piece," Sherman said after the race. "He tried every inch of the way. It was great. I enjoyed it very much. It is way different to anything anyone can believe. It is something you have to see once." Sherman will not feel too bad for long. Second place still scoops a cool $2 million. +(CNN)As cheap oil and Western sanctions continue to batter Russia's economy, President Vladimir Putin slashed Kremlin salaries -- including his own -- by 10% Friday, according to state news service Tass. Government documents released in 2014 put Putin's annual salary at nearly 3.7 million rubles -- worth about $61,000 today thanks to soaring inflation. Putin's ruble reduction for his top ministers comes some two months after he canceled their holiday vacations, citing the same economic woes. "The Government and its various structures cannot afford such extensive holidays, at least not this year," Putin told government ministers at the time. "You know what I am talking about." But it wasn't just top Cabinet members that would feel the pinch. "President Putin also reduced the wages of Kremlin administration, government staff and the Chamber of Accounts by 10% as well," according to Tass. +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)Oversized military trucks painted in desert beige hauled tanks in the same camouflage color down a dark highway late Saturday past glowing billboards in the Saudi Arabian town of Jazan. With the border with Yemen little more than 20 miles away, the trucks captured on a video distributed by the news agency Reuters also carried a message: Suggestions of a ground incursion into Yemen, which is in the throes of a Houthi rebel uprising, may be more than just talk. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have both spoken about the possibility of putting boots on the ground before. And on Saturday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen said he expected coalition troops to be in Yemen within days. Saudi leaders have said that if troops do go in, they won't leave until they have degraded the Houthis' ability to do battle, CNN's Ian Lee reported. The Houthis are apt guerrillas. A fight on the ground could prove bloody and lengthy. Politically, the situation appears to be heating up. Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of former Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been removed from his post as ambassador to United Arab Emirates, according to two aides of the nation's current President, Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. Hadi fled the country in February amid the Houthi uprising. He went to Aden and declared that he remained the country's leader. Also on Sunday, pro-Hadi fighters took over Aden's airport, according to security officials in Aden, but that airport hasn't been operational for weeks. Yemen's ex-president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Shiite, still holds influence over large parts of the Yemeni army, and his troops are also fighting the government. In a taped speech played on Yemen Today TV on Friday, he called for the airstrikes to stop and offered in return not to run for president in the next elections. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Shiite Houthis, who deposed the Yemeni government and seized territory in a series of offensives, began its military action last week. It answered Hadi's call for intervention with an unrelenting air campaign called "Decisive Storm." Hadi slipped out of Yemen last week and has gone to the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend the Arab League summit, where he is rallying support with leaders of member nations for operation Determination Storm. Support is already broad. The coalition nations participating in the bombardments make up about a third of the league's membership. On Saturday, Hadi called the Houthis out: "You violated the sovereignty (of Yemen), and you bear the responsibility for what happened and what is going to happen." Dozens have died from the coalition bombardment. Houthi commanders put the death toll at 48. Most of the dead are civilians, they said. Airstrikes have hit Houthi militant groups, smashed their big air defense guns and crumbled key infrastructure that links major towns with the capital, Sanaa, a Saudi official has said. The coalition has destroyed Yemeni army weapons caches and military facilities. Saudi naval special forces have also rescued dozens of diplomats, the official said. And many U.N. representatives have fled the unrest. Saudi Arabia has set up a blockade, effectively cutting off Houthi supply lines, and its air force controls Yemeni airspace. They have threatened to attack ships that might supply the rebels. The Shiite Houthis are allied with Iran, a majority Shiite nation. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of beefing up the Houthis' weaponry for their offensive. Hadi denounced them on Saturday as Iran's "puppet." "I say to the puppet of Iran, and those who are with him, you destroyed Yemen with your immature politics, and creating internal and regional crisis," he said. The conflict splits the region along religious lines. Determination Storm's coalition comprises the majority Sunni nations of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Sudan. On Saturday, Houthis claimed to have shot down a Sudanese jet and captured the pilot. They distributed photos of a pilot and wreckage to back up the claim. Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitter rivals. Having Yemen become an Iranian satellite country on its border would be unacceptable to the kingdom. Iran has sharply denounced the Saudi-dominated armed intervention. And two Arab League members, Lebanon and Iraq, have voiced opposition to Determination Storm, Lee reported. Both countries are majority Shiite. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to Yemen on Sunday to criticize nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group of nations. He accused Iran of trying to use the conflict in Yemen to "take over the whole Middle East." The United States voiced approval of the airstrikes. It's supporting them logistically and aiding coalition forces in locating targets, but it is not participating in active battle. The unrest in Yemen led to the withdrawal of U.S. special forces earlier this month, seriously undermining counterterrorism efforts in a country that has been a stronghold for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). For years, Yemen had allowed U.S. drones and special operations forces to stalk AQAP in the country. Now, that arrangement is in tatters. On Saturday, the coalition struck al Anad Airbase, which was used as the headquarters for U.S. counterterrorism operations, Houthi commanders said. Houthi rebels had taken control of the base. Houthi rebels and the government began doing battle in 2004, but arrived at a ceasefire in 2010, according to the CIA World Factbook. The country has seen much unrest in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising. Arab Spring wasn't supposed to turn out like this . Yemen was plunged into chaos when the Houthi rebels, who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni country, began seizing control of the capital and other areas of the country last fall. Houthis moved into Sanaa in September, sparking battles that killed a few hundred people before a ceasefire was called. In January, they surrounded the presidential palace and Hadi resigned and was put under house arrest. In February the Houthis took control of military forces stationed near Sanaa, including the air force. But the chaos is not limited to the Houthi uprising. In the area of the southern port city of Aden, opposing Yemeni military forces -- those allied with the Houthis, and those supporting Hadi -- have fought for more than a week. CORRECTION: Pakistan is not participating in airstrikes over Yemen, the Pakistani embassy in Washington said. CNN previously included Pakistan in an illustration of coalition member countries participating the operation Determination Storm. The illustration said the country was contributing 15 jets. That illustration has since been updated. Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Sanaa; CNN's Ben Brumfield wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Jason Hanna and Ian Lee contributed to this report. +Montabaur, Germany (CNN)On the surface, Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz seemed, in the words of those who had known him, normal, capable, even fun. But, German prosecutors said Friday, he was clearly trying to hide something in the days before he sent Germanwings Flight 9525 plowing into a mountain, killing himself and 149 others aboard. Investigators searching Lubitz's Dusseldorf apartment said they found documents revealing he'd been declared unfit for work. The letter, Dusseldorf prosecutor Christoph Kumpa, said, was found "slashed" in a dust bin. The revelation only adds to the myriad questions swirling around Lubitz, 27, whom authorities say deliberately destroyed the plane. The biggest question of all, still, is why? Lufthansa CEO 'speechless' That's the question police were hoping to answer as they searched Lubitz's apartment. Police spokesman Markus Niesczery said a team of five investigators went "through the apartment looking for clues as to what the co-pilot's motivation might have been, if he did indeed bring the plane down." They didn't find a goodbye note or anything directly explaining the crash, the public prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf said in a statement. They say it will be a few more days before they can say anything more publicly about what they found. Outside the apartment, neighbors contacted Friday said they didn't know Lubitz and are simply flummoxed by all the attention to the quiet suburban neighborhood featuring a handful of businesses, restaurants, running rails and a lake. Meanwhile, about 85 miles (136 kilometers) away in the town of Montabaur, the house where Lubitz's parents live was shuttered and guarded by police. A group of men, perhaps investigators, were the only ones granted access on Thursday. On Friday, there was no activity at all. Montabaur, in western Germany, is where Lubitz pursued his love of flying from a young age. At a club on the outskirts of town, pilots who knew Lubitz said they were shocked to hear what investigators said. They said the man they know never would have deliberately crashed a plane. Between age 14 and age 20, Lubitz was a regular fixture at the gliding club. "(He was) a very normal young person, full of energy," Klaus Radke said. "What can I say? He had a bright future. He made his hobby into his job. What more can you hope to achieve?" The authorities' explanation doesn't ring true for Peter Ruecker, another pilot who knew him from the flight club. "Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me," Ruecker told the Reuters news agency. "He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet," Ruecker said. "He was just another boy, like so many others here." An acquaintance said Lubitz was health conscious. He was a recreational athlete and didn't smoke. "I can't imagine that he was mentally ill, depressed and sad. He doesn't seem like that," Johannes Rossbach told CNN. "So I was shocked when I heard that." An 8-minute descent to death . Before Tuesday's crash, Lubitz appeared to have a "clean bill of health," according to a Germanwings representative. Then came Friday's announcement of the discovery of documents revealing an illness that apparently made him unfit to fly a plane -- in the eyes of at least one doctor. Prosecutors didn't reveal what the illness was, but said the discovery "leads to the preliminary conclusion, that the deceased kept his illness secret from his employer and his professional environment." The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that Lubitz suffered from mental illness. Meanwhile, a Dusseldorf clinic said he'd gone there twice, most recently 17 days ago, "concerning a diagnosis." But the University Clinic said it had not treated Lubitz for depression. Lubitz had been with Germanwings, a budget airline owned by Lufthansa, since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time, the airline's media office said. Officials say he passed a psychological test when he was hired, had no known ties to terrorism and showed no sign of medical distress during the flight. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters that Lubitz "interrupted" his training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but added that such an interruption isn't uncommon. Spohr said he couldn't give any information about why the co-pilot had stopped and then restarted his training. If it was for medical reasons, he said, then that information would have been private before the crash, but it will be part of information gathered during the investigation. Reuters reported that a German newspaper , Bild, said Lubitz had been treated for depression about six years ago. Citing internal documents forwarded by Lufthansa to German authorities, Bild reported that Lubitz had suffered a "serious depressive episode" around the time he took a break from his pilot training in 2009, Reuters reported. The Bild report said he then spent about 18 months getting psychiatric treatment. Lufthansa officials and German prosecutors declined to comment on the Bild story, Reuters said. Most of Lubitz's training took place at the Lufthansa flight training center in Germany. He also trained in the United States, spending six months at facility in Arizona as part of a required program to get his license, a Lufthansa spokesperson said. A former trainer at the facility said the training is "extremely stressful." "What made the hairs stand up on my neck in this case is that the co-pilot took some time off during training. For me that is very inexplicable and highly unusual," Oly Olson said. "Usually the pilot trainees either progress or wash out, I never saw anyone take a break." He clarified his remark, saying some people left due to a death in the family. Spohr said Lufthansa pilots get medical testing but do not undergo regular or routine psychological testing once they are flying. However, the airline does consider an applicant's psychological state, along with other factors, when hiring pilots, he said. "We don't only look at competence but we also give a lot of room to psychological capabilities," Spohr said. "He was 100% set to fly without restrictions," he added. "His flight performance was perfect. There was nothing to worry about." Students, singers among the victims . 5 cases of pilots intentionally crashing . Diana Magnay reported from Montabaur. Catherine E. Shoichet and Ashley Fantz reported from Atlanta. CNN's Fred Pleitgen contributed to this report from Cologne, Germany. CNN's Michael Pearson, Mark Thompson, Eliott C. McLaughlin Laura Smith-Spark, Bharati Naik, Sara Sidner and Jason Kravarik also contributed to this report. +Jerusalem (CNN)In a sea of Jewish parties campaigning at Hebrew University, Ayman Odeh was the star attraction. But this powerful new face in Israeli politics is not Jewish. While he is an Israeli citizen, the charismatic 41-year-old lawyer is of Palestinian descent -- one of 1.6 million Israeli Arabs living in Israel. Under Odeh's leadership, Israel's tiny, splintered Arab parties have teamed up for the first time to form a slate known as the Joint List. Come election day on Tuesday, they are poised to take as many as 15 seats. This could potentially make them the third-largest party in the Knesset after Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and his main rival, the Zionist Camp coalition, potentially giving them the balance of power. It is a game-changer, giving a significant voice to one-fifth of the population that has long complained of being treated as second-class citizens. His most immediate goal is to deny a new term to Netanyahu, who he says has led the "most racist government in history." "Netanyahu says the danger to Israel is not Palestinians in the West Bank, but rather Arabs in Israel. What is that telling me as a citizen of Haifa?" he asked in an interview on Saturday. "With 15 seats in the Knesset, no one will ever be able to ignore us again." Until now, Arab parties have failed to unite because of deep ideological differences. They run the spectrum from communist to Islamist. But a law passed by the last Knesset, sponsored by the right-wing party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, raised the threshold of votes a party must receive to be admitted to the Knesset. Many believed Lieberman's goal was to push the Arab parties out of the Knesset. It's a theory that was given credence when, in recent televised debate, Lieberman warned Odeh, "You are here for now." "Why are you even here?" Leiberman said to Odeh. Baiting him by accusing him of "representing terror groups," Lieberman turned to Odeh and said, "You're not wanted here." Odeh politely noted that his Joint List was polling well ahead of Lieberman's party. "I'm very wanted in my homeland," he said. "I'm part of the scenery. I resemble it." With that calm, dignified response, Odeh attracted political star status among Jews and Arabs alike. At the Hebrew University forum, event students campaigning for the Labor Party and the left-wing Meretz Party wanted to take selfies with him. More importantly, he has given hope to the 1.6 million Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship that they might finally enjoy social and economic equality. In the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood of Haifa where Odeh grew up, the shopkeepers and restaurant owners welcome him as a native son. Odeh goes door to door with the ease of a natural politician, speaking about the importance of turning out to vote to ensure the Joint List gets enough seats to change the face of the Israeli government. Over hummus and stuffed vegetables, he speaks about a 10-year plan to close the social gaps between Israel's Jews and its Arab population, speaking about issues such as education, housing, employment for women, public transportation in Arab towns and recognition of unrecognized Bedouin communities in the Negev. Growing up, he says he identified with Malcolm X. But as he got older, he began to feel he should follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. With a large block in parliament, Odeh says he would have a greater platform to press for better treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories and to speak out about the need for a Palestinian state living beside Israel. "What makes people vote is the hope of change," he said. "We have been ceding hope again and again. But we are 20% of the population. We can prevent the right from forming a government." There is some skepticism here that Arabs will finally have a say in how the government is run, but most are hopeful. Sitting on a stoop chopping celery stalks for the grocery store across the street, Sami Abuliat says Odeh is a good spokesman for Palestinians living inside Israel. "We've asked for so many rights we don't we won't get," Abuilat says. "The big eat the small. But united, we can be strong. This is a good first step." If, as many expect, Likud or Labor fail to strike deals with smaller parties to get the 61 seats needed to form a government, they may be forced to join together in a "national unity" government. That would make the next biggest group of parties, and Odeh, the official opposition. It's a position he says he would prefer over joining an Israeli government, which he says dedicates a large chunk of its budget to policies that discriminate against the Palestinians. The Prime Minister is required to brief the leader of the opposition at least once a month on diplomatic and security matters. Odeh would be entitled to a seat on Israel's foreign affairs committee in the Knesset and is obligated to address the Knesset after every speech by the Prime Minister. He would also protected by the Shin Bet security service. He would have the ear of foreign leaders, who would reach out and meet with him to hear his views. Odeh says he needs the help of Israeli Jews, who he hopes one day will become a greater voice in the cause of social justice for all Israelis. "Arabs alone cannot make a democracy strong. It has to be Arabs and Jews," he says. "My dream is one day we will build a real Arab-Jew party, and I tell Jews to come join us and build a true democratic party in this country." It's a message that resonates back at Hebrew University, where some Jewish students are joining the fight against what they call institutional discrimination in Israel. "It is not only a struggle of the Palestinian minority living in Israel. It is the struggle of the Palestinian minority together with democratic Jews like myself," says Ofer, a student with the Jewish communist Hadash party. It's not a vision shared by most in Israel, but Odeh's message to students is "this is your chance." By finding their voice and using their vote, he says, they can make the dream of equality a reality. +(CNN)How can I describe life in Crimea after a year under Russia's control? You start saying things like "Let's not talk about this on the phone" and become careful about the Facebook pages you "like." Because total surveillance and control has become routine -- like it was in the Soviet Union. In just one year so much has been lost and many Crimeans seem to have forgotten rights that were part of everyone's life. There is a growing level of censorship, inequality and political repression of those who don't agree with the government. In everyday communication, Crimeans, including those who support Putin and Russia, have to think about what they do and say. Thanks to the activities of the FSB (Russia's secret police) denunciation -- where a citizen tells the authorities about the wrongdoing of another -- is popular again. In the Soviet Union, especially in the late 1930s, denunciations written by Soviet citizens about their neighbors, friends and even relatives resulted in millions of victims in prisons and Gulag camps. Now in Crimea, no one feels safe. Anyone who doesn't like you can write a denunciation and the next day you will take part in a "joyful" conversation with the security services. Significant changes have also taking place in the most basic of rights, like freedom of movement. Now, there are two borders manned by armed -- and sometimes angry -- men who always have questions about where you are going and why you want to pass. For ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, things have been very difficult and thousands fled to mainland Ukraine in the first months after annexation. Their fears were confirmed when Ukrainian activists and young Tatars began to disappear. Some were later found dead, others are still missing. Ukrainian patriots also left in the first month or two after occupation -- it would have been dangerous and uncomfortable to continue living on the peninsula. The next wave of migrants were those who hoped to adjust to the new rules, but could not. They started leaving when it became clear that things would get worse economically and politically. They have been replaced by a new set of arrivals from Russia: Officials, police, FSB and other authorities. After annexation, many who had worked for the Ukrainian government in the police, army and security services swapped allegiances to the Russian side. The Kremlin was happy to have them but has put special stamps the new recruit's personal files, which say they are "inclined to betrayal." One of the main arguments of pro-Russian locals is that the average salary in Russia is much higher. Indeed, since annexation, salaries have increased, especially in the public institutions like hospitals and schools. The salary increases caused a kind of post-referendum euphoria, which quickly fizzled in late 2014 when a strong dollar meant higher prices for everything from food to gadgets. Then wages were cut again, by anywhere from 30% to 70% depending on the industry. Many doctors and teachers were greatly dissatisfied with wage cuts, but no one protested because in Russia, you must obtain permission for a public assembly. Of course, permission is mostly given to people or organizations loyal to the Kremlin. Tourism, a formerly dependable income source for many Crimeans, has been hit very hard. More than half of all tourists who used to visit Crimea in the summer were Ukrainian and last year tourism was down by 50%. Last summer, the peninsula was empty and many hotel owners had almost no customers. Despite of the deteriorating economic and human rights situation, many of those who were for the annexation of Crimea continue to support Russia. As strange as it may sound, the harder life becomes here in Crimea, the more people support Putin and hate Ukraine. In a little over a year, the Russian propaganda machine has turned Ukraine from "brother state" to Russia's main enemy. For some Crimeans 2014 was a year of tragedy and farewell to their homeland. Others saw a dream realized. What things will look like in another year is unclear, but what is clear is that nothing will be the same again. +(CNN)History has repeated itself at Indian Wells with the surprise withdrawal of Serena Williams from the semifinal due to a knee injury. Williams' withdrawal comes 14 years after her sister Venus pulled out minutes before the semifinal in 2001 -- also with a knee injury -- a move which led to a tournament boycott, amid claims of racism, that only ended this year. Williams had been due to play Romanian Simona Halep on Friday night, but instead posted news of her withdrawal on Instagram. "Four months ago I began a journey to play Indian Wells and it was amazing. I never dreamed I could do it. But I would not have been able to do this without my fans. Though it ended early due to injury this year, I have to say I cannot wait to try again next year. Thanks everyone. I love you so much!" Williams posted. Back in 2001, crowds booed a young Serena as she took on Belgian Kim Clijsters in the final of the competition now known as the BNP Paribas Open. Despite being on home soil, spectators backed Clijsters in scenes former tennis champion and broadcaster Pam Shriver said were difficult to watch. "You would expect the crowd to be so supportive of the U.S. player, so it clearly was the exact opposite. Because she was American, because she was so young, because she was African-American, predominantly white audience. It was tough, it was tough to listen to," Shriver told CNN's Open Court. Shriver watched as spectators booed Serena's father Richard and sister Venus, as they walked down the steps to take their seats for the match. "That's when we realized this crowd is still really upset by what happened in the semifinals," Shriver said. Minutes before the highly-anticipated semifinal between the two sisters, Venus pulled out due to a knee injury. Her withdrawal seemed to add credence to rumors, which the family denies, that the result of the match had been pre-determined by their father, who kept a tight control on his daughters' careers. Despite the booing, Williams beat Clijsters to take the title. But the issue did not end there. Days later, Richard Williams gave a press conference and said the booing amounted to racial abuse, Bill Dwyre, who covered the match for L.A. Times told Open Court. "Richard Williams had said that the n-word had been used and that the booing was racially motivated. ... that was the beginning of Serena never coming back." After 14 years of refusing to play at Indian Wells, Serena Williams, who with her sister has dominated the world rankings for more than a decade, said that she was "following her heart" by deciding to rejoin the tournament. "In order to forgive you have to be able to really let go of everything," she told reporters at a pre-match news conference. Serena said she discussed it with her father in a "really emotional" conversation and he agreed. "He said it would be a big mistake if I didn't go back and I thought that was really admirable," Williams said. Before the match, she told reporters that, by returning, she felt like she'd already won. "I don't think I need to hold the trophy at the end of it. I feel like I'm already holding the trophy. I've never felt that way before," she said. "Just being here is a huge win not only for me but for so many people and it's a wonderful feeling." Williams' early exit gives Halep a free pass to the final. +(CNN)The collapse of marriage in our poorest communities -- and its tragic impact -- is a familiar story. But increasingly, marriage is becoming a marker of class privilege in America, something increasingly reserved for the affluent. If progressives want to tackle the scourge of inequality, then the retreat from marriage is an issue they can't ignore. The reality is that the retreat from marriage is pervading the working middle class -- the two-thirds of Americans without a college degree. This is occurring even as in upscale America, marital bonds remain comparatively strong. "This is the marriage gap, and it's something new in America," declares a manifesto on "marriage opportunity" unveiled in a recent Washington Monthly cover story. It was penned by four astute social and political analysts, David Blankenhorn, Jonathan Rauch, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Bill Galston. (Full disclosure: I'm a signer of their statement.) "Over the past several decades, the norm of marriage has eroded across all economic and educational classes, but much less among the elite," they write. "But for millions of middle- and lower-class Americans, marriage is increasingly beyond reach, creating more fractured and difficult family lives, more economic insecurity for single parents, less social mobility for those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, more childhood stress, and a fraying of our common culture." True, overall U.S. marriage rates have fallen from 72% of U.S. adults in 1960 to just 51% in 2012, according to The Economist. But drill a little deeper into the data, and a marital class divide emerges. Less than half of men with high school degrees are married, compared with 76% of men with college degrees. The pattern is similar among women, except that those with graduate degrees have somewhat lower marriage rates than those with four-year college degrees. And because the college-educated tend to look for mates with similar education and earning power, their unions push them even higher up the income scale -- further widening the economic gulf between marital haves and have-nots. Marriage in America, it seems, is becoming another luxury item for economic elites to enjoy. So why should we worry? "Declining marriage rates may not be concerning on their own, but while Americans are forgoing marriage, they are not forgoing childbearing," say Isabel Sawhill and Joanna Venator of the Brookings Institution. More than 40% of children are born outside wedlock today (including nearly three-quarters of black children). And a raft of social research shows that children who grow up in married, two-parent families do better in school and in life than those who don't. It's true that more children are being raised by cohabiting couples, but in the United States (unlike some European countries) these relationships tend to be unstable and short-lived. Some see the decline of marriage as stemming from a tectonic cultural shift -- the rise of feminism and the surge of women into work -- that has blurred the old division of familial labor between male breadwinners and female homemakers. But economic changes, mainly the disappearance of manufacturing jobs, automation and wage stagnation, have played a big part in the story, too. Liberals are eager to talk about their favorite economic fixes for inequality: raising the minimum wage, bolstering unions and taxing the rich to pay for new social benefits for families of modest means. But they seem uncomfortable talking about marriage, which is seen as an unwelcome distraction from issues of economic power. It's tempting to blame such reticence on President George W. Bush's ill-fated Healthy Marriage Initiative, which triggered a flurry of new federal marriage promotion programs over the previous decade. A centerpiece of Bush's "compassionate conservatism," the initiative managed to polarize the social policy community while having a negligible impact on falling marriage rates. In truth, though, liberals have a long tradition -- at least since Daniel Patrick Moynihan's warnings in the 1960s of the consequences of family breakdown in black communities -- of shying away from "cultural" explanations for poverty and inequality. They need to get over it. Inequality as we know it today arises from the intricate interplay of economic and cultural changes, and won't be reversed simply by redistributing income from affluent to downscale families. High marriage rates in upper middle-class America make the link between family structure and economic success abundantly clear. For example, economists Robert Lerman and W. Bradford Wilcox estimate that the median income of families with children would be 44% higher today if America had the same marriage rates we had in 1980. Today, a record number of Americans -- one in five adults 25 and older -- have never been married. It's probably not because our society is evolving away from a fundamental social institution that has endured for, oh, most of human history. In fact, researchers say aspirations to marriage are as high as ever, but the practical barriers are getting harder to surmount. Which brings us back to the "marriage opportunity" manifesto. Rather than actively promoting marriage -- something government has shown it doesn't really know how to do -- the opportunity agenda aims at removing impediments to marriage, especially for non-elite Americans. This includes a raft of familiar policy proposals for boosting the economic prospects of low-income workers and making taxes more family-friendly. Intriguingly, the four authors point to the one cultural shift that's bucking the trend toward diminishing demand for weddings -- the public's dramatic turnaround on same-sex marriage. They envision a possible political bargain in which conservatives accept gays as allies in fortifying marriage, and liberals recognize that family breakdown is magnifying America's disparities of wealth and income. Could expanding marriage opportunity really become common ground in America's intensely polarized culture wars? It seems like an extravagant hope. But Blankenhorn and company are emphatically right that both progressives and conservatives have a big stake in reversing the retreat from marriage. +(CNN)Lewis Hamilton laid down a daunting marker for his Formula One rivals at Saturday's qualifying for the opening race of the 2015 season. The world champion will start on pole for the Australian Grand Prix, as he did last year and has done on three other occasions in his career. While the British driver failed to finish the 2014 race -- the only time he did not convert first on the grid to first at the checkered flag -- he is more hopeful this time as he seeks his first victory in Melbourne since winning his only other world title back in 2008. Hamilton was over half a second quicker than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, and nearly 1.4 seconds faster than third-placed Felipe Massa of Williams. "We had a difficult season last year here, so definitely as a team, as a whole, we're hoping for a better start, for both cars to succeed tomorrow," the 30-year-old said. "So we're going to work as hard as we can to make sure we do that and lots of work to be done tonight for the race tomorrow, because that is going to be a huge challenge still and obviously a good fight, hopefully, with Nico." Rosberg, runner-up in last year's championship amid considerable tension between the two drivers, said his teammate "drove like a champ." "Lewis was in impressive form today, he did an awesome job and nailed it all the time," said the German, who had an engine cutout in the second session and then ran wide in Q3. "For me, the speed was there but I just didn't get it together today. So it wasn't a great day. "Lewis was quick but I didn't get my laps together today so I'm not too worried about pace -- I'm not worried about pace at all. On Friday, in the long runs, my pace was very strong so yeah, hopefully it can be the other way tomorrow." The veteran Massa said he achieved his goal of being the "best of the rest" as he finished just ahead of Ferrari's new signing Sebastian Vettel and the German's teammate Kimi Raikkonen. "The Ferraris looked strong and were pushing us hard," said the Brazilian, who has failed to finish in seven of 12 starts at Albert Park including last year. "It will be a tough battle tomorrow so we need to get the start right and have a good strategy to secure a podium and really start the season on a high note." Massa's Williams teammate Valtteri Bottas qualified sixth but will face a fitness test on Sunday morning after experiencing back pain in the first two sessions. Four-time world champion Vettel played down Ferrari's big improvement on last season's speed. "Let's keep our feet on the ground. So far this weekend, it's gone well and we've had no problems with the car," said the former Red Bull star. "It's a shame that third place escaped us, as that would have made us the first team behind Mercedes, but it wasn't by much. We lost third place because my first run wasn't quick enough: I'm not very pleased with myself, because there was still some performance to be found. "First and second are a long way in front, but anything can happen during the grand prix. There's not much of a gap between third and fourth on the grid, so I think the podium is a realistic goal." Last year Vettel was upstaged by new teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified second and then finished runner-up in his home race only to be disqualified for a fuel-flow infringement. On Sunday he will start in seventh place as Red Bull's Renault-powered car struggled to match the Mercedes engines, while Vettel's replacement Daniil Kvyat was 13th after failing to reach Q3. "We suffered a bit this time last year, but there are a few more issues this year which weren't expected," said Ricciardo, who was third in the 2014 championship. "I'm really happy with seventh as realistically that's the best we could have done today." Red Bull's feeder team Toro Rosso had an encouraging start with its two rookie drivers. Carlos Sainz Jnr., son of the former rally champion, qualified eighth while Dutch 17-year-old Max Verstappen -- whose father Jos raced in F1 -- was 12th. Lotus rounded out the top 10 with Romain Grosjean ninth ahead of teammate Pastor Maldonado. Sauber's new pairing of Felipe Nasri and Marcus Ericsson qualified 11th and 16th respectively after they were able to take to the track when last season's reserve driver Giedo van der Garde waived his court-won right to line up in Melbourne. The Dutchman, who was successful in his legal battle to have an agreement for a race seat upheld, released a statement after Friday's practice sessions saying he would continue to negotiate with Sauber to resolve the situation. McLaren, meanwhile, confirmed all the preseason evidence that its new relationship with engine supplier Honda is yet to bear fruit. With Marussia having failed to get its hastily-prepared car ready in time, the English team -- which has won 12 drivers' titles and eight constructors' crowns -- will start at the back of the grid. Former world champion Jenson Button was 17th and Kevin Magnussen -- filling in for new signing Fernando Alonso, who is recovering from concussion -- was 18th. "This level of performance wasn't a surprise for us: we knew from winter testing that the pace wasn't there, so we knew we weren't going to be competitive here," Button said. "However, there's a good feeling about the car -- I know we're so far off, but the basic car is there beneath me, and we're adding to our experience and learning with every lap we do. "It's going to be a really difficult race for us -- we haven't done a race distance yet, and my longest run is 12 laps -- but we want to do the best we can because there's so much learning to be had." Like us on Facebook . +(CNN)Forget the pyramids, Tahrir Square and the Nile. Egypt is ready to ditch Cairo and build a shiny new capital if the government has its way. Fed up with pollution, traffic gridlock, a packed population with soaring rents and creaking infrastructure, Egypt is teaming up with a developer in the United Arab Emirates to build a city in what could be one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure programs. The yet-to-be-named city will spread out over 150 square miles, or roughly the size of Denver, and could eventually be home to 7 million people, the developers and government announced Friday. The current capital of Cairo, while full of history and vibrant charm, is home to more than 18 million people, and living in and getting around the city can be maddening and frustrating. The government says the idea is to reduce congestion in Cairo, which is projected to double in population in the coming decades. An exact location was not announced, but the city is expected to be built east of Cairo. It will be closer to the Red Sea -- between two major highways -- the Suez and the Ain Sokhna roads. The ambitions are big. In addition to the new embassies and government buildings, it plans to have an international airport bigger than Heathrow, solar energy farms, 40,000 hotel rooms, nearly 2,000 schools and 18 hospitals -- all linked together by over 6,000 miles of new roads. But if the dream is big, the bill will be bigger. The total cost is estimated at U.S. $45 billion, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced at an economic development conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. The unveiling of the new capital was paired with a glitzy website with renderings showing a lush and technological urban scape of glass towers and pools. The plan is backed by a group that describes itself as "a private real estate investment fund by global investors focused on investment and development partnerships" led by Emirati developer Mohamed Alabbar. Alabbar made his name as the founder of Dubai's Emaar Properties, primarily known for developing the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Egypt is not the first country to plan on moving its capital from established big cities to rural greener pastures. Myanmar has only recently completed its move from crumbling Yangon to the new city of Naypyidaw. Nigeria moved to Abuja in the 1990's, and Brazil carved its capital Brasilia out of the wilderness over 50 years ago. And then there was another crazy idea of building a capital on a square of swampland that seemed mainly to be a boondoggle for wealthy land speculators at the time. That city? Washington, D.C. +(CNN)Students en route to Yangon, Myanmar, to protest an education bill were met with violence from police Tuesday, according to multiple media reports and international watch groups. "We all watched while a young man was beaten extremely hard and repeatedly by about three or four policemen in heavy riot gear," U Zarni, a spokesman for the Cooperative Committee for Trade Unions, told CNN. Students are seeking changes to an education bill that they say limits academic freedom and have been in negotiations with authorities, but these have been curbed because of the crackdown. The violence Tuesday occurred in Letpadan, a town of about 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yangon, the nation's largest city. The students' march began in Mandalay, about 640 kilometers (400 miles) north of Yangon. Zarni said the students had been "given the red light" on proceeding to Yangon. "They had decided they would drive into the city, meet with other students there for 15 minutes of talks and then disperse," Zarni said. "But within about an hour of being given this information, they were told that wasn't the case." "Some students decided they would try, thinking the police would just take them away, but the police were so brutal." Police arrested about 40 to 50 people, according to Zarni. "They broke a reporter's camera and cheered about it. They hit women. They hit monks who were also there. They went into the monastery and detained everyone who had run to hide in there," Zarni said. Human rights issues have been at the forefront in Myanmar, also known as Burma, as the country emerges from decades of authoritarian military rule, with elections planned for late this year. "The public and we are losing confidence in the democratic transitions," Zarni said. Khin Lay, director of the Triangle Women Support Group, agreed. "Students, human rights, women's rights -- we're all extremely angry about the way we have been treated over the years," said Lay. "But we've been waiting for the 2015 elections with patience because we believe in the democracy movement, and we're hoping that we have the opportunity to exercise our right to vote. So they should show us some respect, too." +(CNN)The Palestinian issue dominates international news coverage of Israel, with images of missiles, terror tunnels and failed peace negotiations frequently splashed across TV screens and newspapers. So you would think that security would be the central issue in Tuesday's Israeli elections, right? The short answer is no. Poll after poll in Israel has confirmed that the public views the high cost of living as the top issue for voters in this election. Indeed, even a majority of Israel's Arab citizens within the pre-1967 borders -- most of whom identify with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza -- view socioeconomic issues as the priority for Tuesday's parliamentary poll, rather than advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. What explains this apparent indifference? First, despite what the polls suggest, peace and security actually remain the most important underlying issue in Israeli politics. The main parties recognize that they need to cross the credibility threshold on this issue, and they therefore include former high-ranking army officers and diplomats among their ranks. Whatever they may say to pollsters, many voters continue to vote primarily on this issue. However, because most such voters are staunch supporters of the right or the left and have already made up their minds, they are unlikely to shift their vote between these two blocs, so their votes are not in play in these elections. This wasn't always the case -- a significant group of voters once swung back and forth between right and left. However, for some time now, the majority of Israelis have shared a consensual position on the Palestinian question. In principle, they continue to favor a two-state solution and they are prepared to make extensive compromises in exchange for genuine peace -- greater concessions than in the 1990s at the height of the peace process. However, in practice, that same majority believes that even if an Israeli government were to agree to more compromises than they view as acceptable, Israel would still not obtain the minimum required in terms of peace and security to make the deal worthwhile. Why? Experience has certainly taught middle Israel to be deeply skeptical of the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, irrespective of the complexion of the Israeli government. In 2000, for example, a Labor-led government agreed to a Palestinian state in all of Gaza, 97% of the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, including the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount. Yet not only did Yasser Arafat reject the deal, but the Palestinians launched an unprecedented wave of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Add in the fact that subsequent unilateral Israeli withdrawals from south Lebanon and Gaza resulted in tens of thousands of rockets being launched at Israeli civilians, and the 2008 decision by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to reject Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's peace proposal -- a plan similar to the Clinton parameters that Arafat rejected in 2000 -- and Israeli wariness is easy to understand. Since then, leaks from the recent round of peace talks have only served to strengthen the Israeli public's skepticism -- the Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly prepared to accept a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, only for Abbas to refuse to engage positively with a wide-ranging American peace outline including this element, according to Israel's Channel 2, even when he was presented with it directly by President Obama himself. As a result of all this, much of the electorate is determining its vote based on other issues, where voters hope political change in Israel can actually make a real difference to their lives. Indeed, the most likely candidate for kingmaker following the elections is Moshe Kahlon's centrist party Kulanu, whose agenda is to lower the cost of living in Israel. (Kahlon won fame in Israel by dramatically lowering the cost of cell phone use through the introduction of wide-ranging competition into the market.) In keeping with the mood of the public, the ex-Likudnik presents a moderate image on the Palestinian issue and has appeared to try to steer away from discussing issues of peace and security. In fact, one senior Israeli official told me that Kahlon's team has been advised against even mentioning the word "peace" for the rest of the campaign. That says it all. +(CNN)It has been one of the world's longest and deadliest civil conflicts. Since the first incidents more than three decades ago, an estimated 40,000 lives have been lost. It has been, some say, a battle by activists among Turkey's Kurdish minority for independence. It has been, others say, a guerrilla war by rebels who have punctuated their campaign with terrorist acts. Whatever it has been to the parties involved, the leader of the militant group at the forefront of the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey says it is time now for it to be over. "Our struggle came to the point it cannot continue as it is," Abdullah Ocalan, longtime leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said earlier in March from his jail cell. In a letter read to thousands gathered in the southeastern Turkey city of Diyarbakir to mark Persian New Year, Ocalan called for "a new era" with Kurds gathering as "a democratic society with the right to a democratic identity -- within Turkey and on the constitutional citizenship basis." He urged fighters under his command to lay down their arms, stop their war against the Turkish state and join a "congress" to focus on the future. Ocalan's letter is nothing less than historic. As recently as 2012, the long-simmering war between the PKK and the Turkish government had heated to the point that the International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution organization monitoring the conflict, counted more than 700 dead over 14 months. "We're seeing the longest pitched battles between the (Turkish) army and the PKK, we're seeing a widespread campaign of kidnapping, suicide bombings and terrorist attacks by the PKK. They're very much on the offensive and unfortunately this is matched by much harder line rhetoric on both sides," Hugh Pope, chief author of an International Crisis Group report, told CNN in 2012. Perhaps vocally underscoring the cultural split between the Turkish government and the country's Kurdish population, when Ocalan's letter was read to crowds March 21, it was read in two languages -- Kurdish first, then Turkish. The letter was read by Sirri Sureyya Onder, deputy of Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party. Onder is one of the few people regularly allowed to meet Ocalan at the prison where he is held on Imrali Island. "Saturday officially showed us all that we have moved on to the negotiation period from the dialogue period we've been working on," Onder told CNN in a phone interview. About a fifth of Turkey's population is Kurdish -- a minority long living under cultural oppression, most of them in the underdeveloped southeastern part of Turkey. By 1998 -- 14 years after the insurgency began -- Turkey counted up to 18,000 PKK guerrillas living in the mountains. The next year, Ocalan -- a hero to some, a villain to others -- was captured in Kenya by Turkish authorities, reportedly with the help of the CIA. The United States, the European Union and Turkey classify the PKK as a terrorist group. Ocalan was sentenced by the Turkish government to life in prison for treason, and for years, he was the sole prisoner of Imrali. It's an Alcatraz-like island fortress best known in the West as the locale for the 1970s book and movie "Midnight Express." Now, he gets to choose fellow inmates. Ocalan began the PKK in 1978 as a Kurdish separatist group in Turkey, part of a larger separatist movement by Kurds scattered throughout the region. Northern Syria, southern Turkey and northern Iraq have been home to millions of Kurds for thousands of years. There are also millions of Kurds in Iran, where they make up about 10% of the mostly Persian nation's population. Violence flared in August 1984 when fighters from the PKK, which has a Marxist-Leninist philosophy, killed two Turkish soldiers. As the years passed and the death toll mounted, the PKK proved to be a militant leg of a regional ethnic struggle to carry on the Kurdish culture. But there have been periods of calm and times of talk. In 2009, Turkish intelligence officials allegedly met with high-ranking PKK members in Oslo, Norway, to begin a series of secret talks. In mid-2011, the talks were interrupted by new clashes. The armed fights were followed by a hunger strike by Kurdish political prisoners in 2012, who ended the strike after 67 days upon Ocalan's request. Things picked back up when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced talks with the imprisoned Ocalan in December 2012. Since then, the Turkish government has lifted language bans, released political prisoners and continued talks with Ocalan despite opposition criticism. In return, the jailed leader notably pronounced disarmament intentions and called for a ceasefire in his Persian New Year's letter in 2013. On May 8 of that year, the PKK announced a slow withdrawal from Turkey. But tensions between the sides sparked again when the predominantly Kurdish-populated city of Kobani was invaded by ISIS in October and Turkey didn't directly intervene. Talks between the PKK and the Turkish government continued, though. But at Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace last month, senior government officials met with pro-Kurdish parliamentarians and declared a "road map" accord on the way to a stable solution. Onder said that Ocalan's letter "shows us that the ... road map decided at Dolmabahce is now a concrete step -- one that suits the spirit and the context of the resolution period." But the government view over the accord seems to be divided. Erdogan told reporters that he does not fancy the declaration. Erdogan was not present at Dolmabahce either. Onder said, "Despite the President's opposing remarks, the Turkish government took responsibility about its Kurdish problem for the first time." +(CNN)Pablo Picasso once asked: "Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face or what's behind it?" Jessica Todd Harper's photo book "The Home Stage" does all three simultaneously. "The Home Stage" contains intimate, psychological portraits that Harper has created of herself, her family and friends, and their children. The book weaves in some photos of other people's families as well, and includes writing by Alain De Botton and Alison Nordstrom. Using her camera like a paintbrush to stroke the canvas that is her environment, Harper explores the experiences of parenting and childhood. As a mother to twin sons and a daughter, her photos contain a wide range of raw emotion, ranging from comfort and conflict to sleepiness and satisfaction. Harper's first photo book, "Interior Exposure," focused on the early years of her marriage and adult family life. She says her latest book is like a natural segue, as "The Home Stage" includes many photos of children. The title -- "The Home Stage" -- has more than one particular meaning or reference. "One is to convey that stage in life when you're anchored to the home with young children," Harper said. "It also references how the home is the first stage in which children learn how to live in every situation. In my particular pictures, many of them have a stage-like quality. There's reference to tableau vivant of the past, these constructed images." Harper's mother was a big fan of the arts, and she would take young Harper and her sister to local art museums where they would copy paintings by hand, progressing from crayons to charcoal and, eventually, to pastels. "I wanted to be just like Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent; those were the artists that I would copy a lot as a child," she said. "I think those images got very much stuck into my deep psyche." She emphasizes that her photos are not the everyday snapshots that many parents post on Facebook -- the photos of children at various stages in their lives, attending birthday parties or riding tricycles. The book's pictures "aren't documents," Harper said. "They're making everyday moments have an eternal quality. It reminds us of our more general purpose in life, the meaning in everyday small things." The combination of Harper's color palette and the use of natural light fills every inch of her photos with rich detail. Many of Harper's photos contain several generations of her family, highlighting connections between the present, past and future. While the people Harper photographs are predominantly those most familiar with her, she makes an effort to not allow her camera to completely consume the lives of her subjects. "I try to do a very good job of not being overbearing. ... I bring out the camera only when I have a very specific idea in mind. My children know that I'm an artist, I'm a photographer. They know that, but I don't think that they see that even in the top 10 of the ways that they relate to me, it's not as subjects," she said. "I want to keep it that way because otherwise they become so self-conscious and they start doing things which are not natural or genuine." Each photo draws the curtain to reveal Harper's home stage -- Harper lying in bed with her son Marshall, her husband playing in the backyard with their children, her daughter sitting in a high chair. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Regardless of the subject matter of the photos, Harper says there is one thing that ties all of them together: light. Throughout "The Home Stage," Harper also manages to effectively create a balance between carefully planned compositions and naturally occurring moments. While Harper recognizes that raising young children can be intense and tiresome, she emphasizes it is vital to take the initiative to create memories -- not simply wait to capture certain moments. This is evident with the self-portrait she made holding her son Nicholas, stopping her family in the midst of their dinner preparations. "At the time, I felt like so many parents. I felt tired and distracted and busy trying to get things done. I felt a little bit of guilt about making this picture," Harper said. "And yet I knew somewhere in the back of my head that there was an imperative that I must take moments. ... You're just so busy that if you don't purposefully force it, then it wouldn't happen." In one photo, viewers are witnesses to an intimate familial relationship as they simply see a mother as she lays her hand gently on her son's back. "It's a universal mother-and-child gesture," Harper said. "It doesn't even matter particularly who that individual mother or that individual child is because of the way they're framed and photographed. You can't see their faces. It's just the way that her hand is resting on his back. It's ownership and protection and love." Jessica Todd Harper is an American photographer based in Philadelphia. Her book "The Home Stage" is available on Amazon, and the photos are on display at The Print Center in Philadelphia until March 28. +(CNN)British military advisers are training Ukrainian troops in Ukraine, the UK said Thursday, as part of efforts to support the government in Kiev as it combats pro-Russian separatists in the east. Prime Minister David Cameron announced last month that Britain would send military advisers to Ukraine and provide an additional 15 million pounds ($22.3 million) in humanitarian aid. An uneasy truce has been in place since last month between the Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Last month, UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Parliament that Britain was "providing additional nonlethal support" in the form of advisory and training teams. "This support, provided at the request of the Ukrainian government, will help their armed forces develop and maintain the capacity and resilience they need, and help reduce fatalities and casualties," Fallon said. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has been monitoring the ceasefire, said Wednesday that its observers had witnessed continued fighting in areas around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne, east of the port city of Mariupol. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the presence of foreign military instructors in Ukraine did nothing to reduce tensions, Russian state news agency Sputnik reported. "Obviously, this is not helping in the building of trust or in easing the tensions in the conflict. It can be simply said that this is not aiding in the settlement, that's a fact," Peskov is quoted as saying. The United States has promised to support an upcoming training program for Ukraine's National Guard forces. Russia is under continued pressure from the West to end its support for the separatists. Moscow denies claims by Kiev and the West that it has trained and equipped the rebels, as well as sending Russian troops to fight alongside them. In what Kremlin observers may see as another sign of defiance, Russia signed a treaty Wednesday with Georgia's breakaway territory of South Ossetia. Russia sent its tanks into Georgia in 2008 and subsequently encouraged separatists in its South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions to declare independence from Tbilisi. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the "so-called treaty on alliance and integration" in a statement Wednesday, and repeated NATO's call for Russia to reverse its recognition of the territories as independent states and to withdraw its forces from Georgian soil. "This so-called treaty is yet another move by the Russian Federation that hampers ongoing efforts by the international community to strengthen security and stability in the region," he said. "It violates Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia's international commitments. "It does not contribute to a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia." CNN's Vasco Cotovio and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report. +(CNN)Incumbent Goodluck Jonathan phoned former military leader Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday to concede defeat in Nigeria's presidential elections, Buhari's party says. Jonathan acknowledged the phone call and his defeat in a written statement to his countrymen. "I thank all Nigerians once again for the great opportunity I was given to lead this country and assure you that I will continue to do my best at the helm of national affairs until the end of my tenure," he said. The Independent National Electoral Commission is still announcing the final tally in the polls, but early numbers indicate Buhari, now the President-elect, has an overwhelming majority of votes. Buhari ruled Nigeria from late 1983 until August 1985 after ousting his predecessor in a coup. His 20-month rule was known for what he described as a "war on indiscipline," a tough regime that some say was marred by human rights abuses. The 72-year-old retired major general's experience as a military ruler has variably been viewed as a plus or minus in present-day Nigeria, where the government has been locked in a deadly battle with the militant group Boko Haram. His campaign has focused on security and ending corruption in Nigeria. Read more: Who is Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari? Violent protests after elections Saturday sparked calls for calm from the two main candidates and a warning by the United States and Britain against political interference. Demonstrators fired gunshots and torched a local electoral office in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state on Sunday as they marched to protest the elections amid claims of vote-rigging and voter intimidation. After the protests in Rivers, Buhari's All Progressives Congress demanded the elections there be canceled. "There's been so much violence in Rivers state that it's just not tenable," party spokesman Lai Mohammed said. But the People's Democratic Party disputed the accusation, saying the election was "credible and the result reflects the overwhelming wish of the people of Rivers state to support President Goodluck Jonathan." Both candidates took to social media to call for calm. "I want to urge all Nigerians to also wait patiently for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to collate and announce results," Jonathan said on his Facebook account. "Fellow Nigerians, I urge you to exercise patience and vigilance as we wait for all results to be announced," Buhari said on Twitter. Jonathan and Buhari last week issued a pledge reaffirming their commitment to "free, fair and credible elections" after their signing of the Abuja Accord in January. In his statement Tuesday, Jonathan said; "I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word." He advised anyone upset with the results to follow due process and stay away from further violence. "As I have always affirmed, nobody's ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian. The unity, stability and progress of our dear country is more important than anything else," he said. Read more: Democracy was the real winner . More than 800 people were killed in post-election violence across Nigeria's north in 2011 after charges that those elections were illegitimate. Nigeria's vote had been scheduled for February 14, but on February 7, Nigeria's election commission announced it would be postponed for six weeks because of security concerns, with the military needing more time to secure areas controlled by Boko Haram. The controversial decision was unpopular among many Nigerians and led to widespread protests. Jonathan has been criticized for not doing enough to combat Boko Haram, which is waging a campaign of terror aimed at instituting a stricter version of Sharia law in Nigeria. On Saturday, residents in the northeastern state of Gombe said at least 11 people were killed and two more injured in attacks at polling stations, apparently by Boko Haram extremists. CNN's Christian Purefoy reported from Lagos, Nigeria, while CNN's Susannah Cullinane and Stephanie Busari wrote from London. +(CNN)Thomas Muller might be a World Cup winner with Germany but at home he has a different title: managing director of carrots. That's because his wife, Lisa, is an aspiring dressage rider with her own designs on conquering the sport she loves. And the hours they spend at stables just outside Munich seem to be paying dividends, Lisa picking up her first title at national level over the weekend. While the 25-year-old hones her craft in the world of prancing horses, Thomas takes a keen interest in breeding, as well as reveling in the solitude of an environment that is a stratosphere away from the pressurized spotlight he is used to. "I come here to watch if everything's fine," he told CNN in the couple's first joint television interview. "And for the carrots. I'm the managing director of carrots! I watch the dogs. Sometimes I help a little bit but it's her business. "I enjoy it a lot. They make me feel comfortable, the attitude and what they look like and [the way they] live their lives. It's fun. It's easy to relax around horses." At 25, Muller is as decorated in the world of soccer as they come. He has a glut of domestic trophies, including three German Bundesliga titles, and claimed the European Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup crowns with Bayern Munich in 2013. Last year in Brazil he landed the ultimate prize when Germany powered its way to a first World Cup triumph since 1990, memorably beating hosts Brazil 7-1 in the semis before edging past Argentina in the final. But you won't hear much talk of that landmark moment in Muller's career around the stables. "He's interested in horses so when we are together we talk about horses and not really about football," Lisa explained. "He knows more about horses than I know about football." While Muller has enjoyed overwhelming success at an early stage in his career, Lisa's path is a more arduous and exhaustive one. Though she has been riding horses since her Granddad introduced her to the sport aged four, it takes time to build a strong bond with a horse in dressage. And though her recent victory at the Grand Prix in the Bavarian town of Kreuth shows she is clearly in tune with her horse Birkhofs Dave, Lisa says her learning curve is a lengthy one. "You have to do eight years to learn everything but then you still don't know everything. You always keep learning," she said. "It's not like other sports, you always train yourself, you have to get a harmony between the horse and yourself. "It has its own mind, its own feelings. You have to become a team and that's why it takes so much time. Every horse is different so you have to feel it. "I want to get better and better. Maybe at some point I will be very good, that's my dream. [The Olympics] would be a dream. "I think for every sportsman it's a dream and you want to reach it but just a few people can reach it. Maybe, maybe not." According to Lisa's coach, Götz Brinkmann, that is a distinct possibility. Last year's qualification for the prestigious Piaff-Förderpreis -- a national series for riders aged 25 or below -- underlined her potential. "I've never had a student that developed that fast no matter what horses they had," Brinkmann told CNN. "She's got the will and she's got the talent and she doesn't stop. She keeps on working. And not so many riders have the ability and that makes her fortunate in a way. "I think she'll be able to be successful on an international level for sure." Muller is of the same opinion. Though he is forbidden from riding himself -- to prevent sustaining an injuries that might impact on his football career -- he has taken a keen interest in the relationship between his wife and Birkhofs Dave. Both the couple's disciplines rely on a high skill level, but also strong communication, and though the competition is fierce, Muller has high hopes for the pair. "The potential is there," he said. "He's our best talent I think and the number one in our stable and for Lisa. "But it's no guarantee for success because in Germany there's a lot of opponents. A lot of good riders and a lot of good other horses. Like in football. "She has no pressure. I want that she's happy with the horses, with the work and with the competitions. But it's not easy. "It's very tough to get up in Germany in the dressage sport. She needs time to develop her quality. We're on a good way and we need to go for it." Muller can also see parallels in the way some horses with potential develop into thoroughbreds, whether in racing or dressage circles, while some fall by the wayside. "There are some talents and they grow up and go to the top," he said. "And some talents don't get to the top. "It's interesting to watch, the development of the different horses from when they come to the stable and when they leave. But he [Birkhofs Dave] stays for sure." Muller has his own sideline at the stables too -- breeding. "Breeding is a little bit for fun," he explained. "For sure I want to breed the best horse I can. But it's difficult and a bit of luck. But I try my best to optimize. "My dream is one day that Lisa rides a horse that I bred. But that's a long way to go." Though she often goes to watch Thomas play at Bayern Munich's home stadium -- the Allianz Arena -- Lisa doesn't even remotely fit the WAG stereotype. The wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers are often portrayed as carefully manicured, fashion-obsessed shopaholics -- an image cultivated by the tabloid newspapers. But Lisa, who chose not to travel with Thomas to the World Cup in Brazil last year, has not one scrap of jealousy when it comes to the superstar treatment her famous husband gets. "I don't," she said. "You have the bad sides also. Everyone comes and wants to get a photo, a selfie or an autograph. That would be too much. I can't do that like Thomas can do it. "He's so easy going. And I want to do my horses by myself. I can groom them the best, I can ride them the best and I love them the most. "They're my partner, my brother. I can tell them every problem. They're the most important part in my life." This statement provoked a laugh from her husband: "I have already accepted it," he joked. "Maybe I'm number five. But it's OK." +(CNN)In 1971, a physicist conceptualized the existence of a fourth fundamental element in the electronic circuit, besides the three that were already in use at the time. His name was Leon Chua and he believed -- for reasons of symmetry -- that an extra component could one day be constructed to join the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor. He called it "memristor", a portmanteau of the words memory and resistor. It took 37 years for our engineering abilities to catch up with that idea: the first memristor was built by Hewlett Packard in 2008. And today, many researchers believe it could spark a revolution in computing. Simply put, the memristor could mean the end of electronics as we know it and the beginning of a new era called "ionics". The transistor, developed in 1947, is the main component of computer chips. It functions using a flow of electrons, whereas the memristor couples the electrons with ions, or electrically charged atoms. In a transistor, once the flow of electrons is interrupted by, say, cutting the power, all information is lost. But a memristor can remember the amount of charge that was flowing through it, and much like a memory stick it will retain the data even when the power is turned off. This can pave the way for computers that will instantly turn on and off like a light bulb and never lose data: the RAM, or memory, will no longer be erased when the machine is turned off, without the need to save anything to hard drives as with current technology. But memristors have another fundamental difference compared with transistors: they can escape the boundaries of binary code. Initially, the technology will be mostly used to create super-fast memory chips that contain more data and consume less energy. This alone would make regular computers much more powerful, but down the line, the memristor could also take on the processing. Jennifer Rupp is a Professor of electrochemical materials at ETH Zurich, and she's working with IBM to build a memristor-based machine. Memristors, she points out, function in a way that is similar to a human brain: "Unlike a transistor, which is based on binary codes, a memristor can have multi-levels. You could have several states, let's say zero, one half, one quarter, one third, and so on, and that gives us a very powerful new perspective on how our computers may develop in the future," she told CNN's Nick Glass. Such a shift in computing methodology would allow us to create "smart" computers that operate in a way reminiscent of the synapses in our brains. Free from the limitations of the 0s and 1s, these more powerful computers would be able to learn and make decisions, ultimately getting us one step closer to creating human-like artificial intelligence. Transistors are based on silicon, a rigid material whose properties are used to manage the flow of electrons, and thus information. In 1975, Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel, formulated a famous law which states that the number of transistors in an electronic circuit doubles approximately every two years. This has so far proven accurate and set the pace for the constant increase in computing power, but the trend might soon come to an end. There is a physical limit to the number of transistors that we can pack on a chip, and we are already approaching the miniaturization threshold of this technology. It is inevitable that, one day, we will need to move away from silicon based computing. The memristor technology is a candidate for this crucial step: "It could mean the end of the silicon era, giving us lower power consumption, the ability to compute more information, increased data storage and completely new logic patterns for our computers," says Rupp. Memristors don't require a silicon layer and different materials can be used as a substrate. This could create a new class of microchips, that could eventually be integrated in everyday items such as windows, clothes or even coffee cups. After manufacturing the first ever memristor, Hewlett Packard has been working for years on a new type of computer based on the technology. According to plans, it will launch by 2020. Simply called "The Machine", it uses "electrons for processing, photons for communication, and ions for storage." "I think there is a race going on," says Rupp. "There is a strong driving force, but at the same time it's very important that there are players like HP, because they want to get to the market, show everyone that this is real." At the moment, manufacturing costs are still high, but the benefits are worth it: "Memristors operate at a lower power consumption, with a faster speed, and with a higher volume density of information than anything we have based on silicon microchip transistors," Rupp told CNN. Much like a particle in the realm of physics, the existence of the memristor was theorized long before we could actually build one. Now that we have that capability to manufacture it, the "missing fourth element" of electronics -- despite its less than catchy name -- might be the key to many further human discoveries. Read more from Make, Create, Innovate: . Behold the 'Internet of Sheep' Will you soon be able to 'swallow the doctor'? Meet the world's first 1,000 mph car . +(CNN)There are superyachts. And then there are superyachts for "ladies." Introducing La Belle, the 80-meter gold and crystal-encrusted superyacht described as a floating "boudoir for women," by its female designer. "There will not be any boy's toys -- such as pool tables or beer kegs -- on board," Italian designer, Lidia Bersani, told CNN. "But there will be a fantastic spa with a beauty center, large mirrors, and huge wardrobes," she said of the concept yacht, which she claims is the first designed specifically for women. Bersani came up with plans for the five-deck La Belle because "I felt, as a lady, it was my duty to design something especially for us, where we can feel a woman's touch. "There will only be off-white, ivory, and cream colors. All surrounded by furs, silk, gold, pearls, crystals, live music, aromatics and flowers," she added. Not that all women are on board with Bersani's "warm and romantic" bejeweled boat. "I don't know any woman who lives in a dream world where these things are desirable," said Maria Jaschok, director of the International Gender Studies Centre at Oxford University. "It feels somehow remote, like some sort of little girlish dream, traveling in that eternal pink cloud." Bersani, who also designs apartment interiors, defended the hyper-feminine yacht, saying: "I don't know a single woman who does not like flowers and is not dreaming of diamonds. "If you get married, the most amazing day in your life, you want to be dressed in an amazing white long dress, looking like a princess, with a gold diamond ring on your finger, around romantic music, happy people, and plenty of flowers." In the ultra-elite world of superyachts, female owners are practically unheard of, but that doesn't mean women don't have a huge influence over the spending of their billionaire partners. "In terms of superyacht owners, I'd say they were upwards of 90% male," said Rory Trahair, of superyacht brokers Edmiston. "That said, superyachts on the whole are designed for the preferences of a couple -- for their interests, design, style, and taste. "And while the person chartering a superyacht is often male, the person in charge of the holiday is often his wife or girlfriend." Male or female, Trahair envisioned few clients looking to buy a "radical, gold yacht" such as Bersani's. "It could be regarded as patronizing -- a bit like Barbie, where the assumption is that everything has to be pink," said Trahair. Earlier this year, plans were revealed for world's biggest private boat -- the $1 billion, 222 meter Triple Deuce. And they're only going to become more lavish, according to Trahair. "We've launched yachts in the last few years that have multiple pools, helipads, a squash court. There are few things now a yacht can't have," he said. "Whereas a jacuzzi was a luxury in the early 2000s, now if you've got just one, it's rather frowned upon. You need to have a few and you need to have an infinity plunge pool that doubles as a helipad." Whether there will also be a market for gender-specific vessels, remains to be seen. Photo gallery: Fantastical superyachts of the future . Experience: Secret life of a superyacht stewardess . +Atlanta (CNN)This is a tale of two storms. The one that (kind of) hit Atlanta and the one that hit everywhere else. Atlanta's was anti-climactic. Everywhere else was worse. Ask folks along a line from Arkansas to Virginia. Unlike last year, when city officials were caught completely by surprise, Atlanta was prepared this time. But the storm stayed north of town. It did do some damage, slicking up roads and knocking out power to tens of thousands of people. Still, Snowmageddon 2015 it wasn't. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal did his part. He ordered a state of emergency for 51 northern counties. Authorities were ready too. There were more snow plows, more trucks to spread brine and they were out in force ahead of the bad weather. And people helped out by staying home or leaving work early. Still, social media wasn't about to give the governor a break. "As a stockholder of a grocery store here, I appreciate you guys invoking a false panic again. #ATLsnow," tweeted Tommy Sale. North of the city, there was lots of snow, especially in the mountains, but Atlanta mainly got rain. It was a disappointing prospect for those who had their hearts set on making a snowman from a rare snowfall. "Serious question, how am I supposed to build a snowman with rain?" asked Angelica Monteon. "lol, a little imagination and your freezer," responded Ashley Hamilton. Other parts of the South found enough snow to put together more than your basic snowman. In northeast Mississippi they were channeling "Star Wars" and the ice planet Hoth in creating a snowy version of an Imperial walker. In Alabama, the snow inspired a host of Elsas, Annas and Olafs to spread their wintry magic "Frozen" style. By early Thursday, the storm system had largely left the Deep South behind, instead spreading a blanket of white on the Carolinas and northward. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory noted that this marked the second time in two years that a major winter storm covered his entire state. There were no casualties or major injuries, thankfully, but the central part of the state got up to 7 inches while a few inches fell in the east. It wasn't just that snow fell, but the type of snow -- heavy stuff that snapped branches and weighed down power lines, especially in Durham and Wake counties. That led to some 224,000 Duke Energy customers being in the dark at one point, a number that had fallen to about 78,000 by 6:25 p.m. Thursday. "The biggest issue for us, especially Greensboro to the east, was power outages," McCrory said. "That is something that ... we didn't anticipate." Thankfully, though, North Carolinians were ready in other ways. They heeded officials' warnings by stocking up, staying off the roads and staying safe. The storm did leave behind its share of slippery misery. North of Atlanta, Interstate 75 was in gridlock Wednesday afternoon. Catching flights was a nightmare in some southern cities. Atlanta, Dallas and Charlotte were the hardest hit. Some 1,600 flights were canceled at all U.S. airports on Wednesday. Nearly 900 have been scrubbed for Thursday. In Alabama, Joe Day and some friends thought it would be better for them to drive home to Evansville, Indiana, instead of worrying with canceled flights. They didn't make it far. They were stuck on I-65 about 30 miles north of Birmingham. Day says a hill and snow-covered roadways led to backed-up traffic for miles. In Tennessee, 30 weather-related deaths have been reported in the past 10 days. A small child died in Mississippi after the car she was in hydroplaned. And a student from the University of Mississippi in Oxford was killed in a sledding accident Wednesday. The South's fascination with snow is a bit bemusing for those who live north of the Mason-Dixon line. After all, in Boston, they were over winter about 70 inches ago. "How's the snow treating you, southern US folks? Having fun yet?" asked Canadian L.M. Murphy on Twitter. "DON'T MOCK OUR SOUTHERN SNOW PANIC!" warned Whitney Waddell in Nashville. And then there was this bit of empathy from points north. "I love all the snow pictures of my southern friends because they actually appreciate the snow," tweeted Abby Kreuser. +London (CNN)Each year, people all over the world gather together to celebrate International Women's Day. We've trawled through all the global events -- most of which fall at the beginning of March -- to bring you the coolest conferences, gigs, walks and other events that you shouldn't miss. The list is jam-packed with inspiring women from all walks of life -- among them scientists, comics, musicians, coders, activists and actors. Whatever you're into, there's probably something for you here. SheTalksYVR Conference . Surrey, British Columbia, Canada 7 March 2015 . Inaugural event features 15 women speakers all from the west coast of Canada with a diverse array of backgrounds will each talk for eight minutes. The topic: How they are changing their world. Slated speakers include entrepreneur and founder of the Ladies Who Lunch network Maria Kritikos; magazine publisher and pro-marijuana activist Jodie Emery; and Bethany Borody co-founder of Ghana-based consultants Amplify Governance. All proceeds from event go to She Talks Scholarship for a young, emerging female leader. 5th WOW - Women of the World Festival . London, 1-8 March 2015 . An eight-day extravaganza of comedy, theatre, literature, debate and networking celebrating women and looking at the issues that matter to women today. This year's focus is on male violence against women and speakers include Caitlin Moran, Sarah Brown and Safak Pavey, the first disabled women elected to Turkish parliament. Highlights include a headline gig by U.S. electro-pop maverick tUnE-yArDs and legendary British actress Juliet Stevenson leading a celebration of the life and work of poet Emily Dickinson. #makeithappen Women's Walk . Accra, Ghana, 5 March 2015 . A 12-kilometer walk through central Accra in support of gender equality organized by Eventstreet Africa. Walk starts near University of Ghana, Accra and ends at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection where Minister Nana Oye Lithur will speak on gender equality and women's empowerment. For more information, email eventstreetafrica@gmail.com or call +233 268 576 249. QUEENS OF NOIZE Celebration of Women in Rock . Sydney, Australia, 6 March 2015 . Female-fuelled rock n' roll tops the bill on this one-night mini-festival, which showcases female and female-fronted bands from the local music scene. Bands playing on the night include Sydney hard rockers Lillye, high-energy party girls Tequila Mockingbyrd and three-piece Brace for Whiplash. Mums and Girls Code . Luxembourg, 4 March 2015 . Introductory English-language workshop in coding that mums and their daughters can get involved in. Presented by Microsoft Luxembourg, Geek Girls Carrots and Workshop4Me. They are riffing off this year's #makeithappen theme with fun coding activities to empower women and girls. WeCon Women's Empowerment Conference . Austin, Texas, U.S., 7 & 8 March 2015 . Second year of this community conference and resource fair for women, girls and anyone else in Austin. A variety of workshops and discussions are on offer for adults on a wide variety of issues including gender, sexuality, race, disability and much more. For teens and girls, there are workshops like Songwriting 101 -- and parents of young children will be pleased to hear that free childcare is available. The Empowerment Bridge: Building a Lifetime of Opportunity for Women and Girls . New York, U.S., 4 & 5 March 2015 . High-powered annual forum that brings together leaders to look at ways of empowering women and girls gloally to bridge the gaps in opportunity so that they can support themselves financially and become more independent. Previous speakers include Chelsea Clinton and U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Highlights this year include speaker Sakena Yacoobi, Executive Director of the Afghan Institute for Learning, a recipient of many awards for her efforts on behalf of Afghan children. Women in Science Breakfast . Auckland, New Zealand, 9 March 2015 . Eat a continental breakfast at the Stardome Observatory and Planetarium, then hear three pre-eminent female scientists discuss their work and careers. Speakers are Jilly Evans, co-founder of biotechnology firm PharmAkea Therapeutics, physicist Cather Simpson who is Director of the Photon Factory at the University of Auckland and forensic scientist Jill Vintiner, Forensic Programme Manager at the Environmental Science Group. International Women's Day in Tech City . London, 6 March 2015 . Third edition of this celebration of women's work in creative and technology industries in London's top tech hub, Tech City. Attendees will be treated to an evening of demos, food, wine and craft beers. Exhibitors that have signed up so far include: ethical fashionistas Birdsong London and designer and wearable tech researcher LingQL . Women in Peace and Conflict 2015 . Liverpool, UK, 4 March 2015 . Annual conference at the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies to celebrate International Women's Day. speakers are yet to be announced but this year's themes include women's involvement in front-line activities, anti-war campaigns and pacifist activism and how gender affects violence in conflict. Leading Women also has something special planned for this day - but you'll need to wait until International Women's Day to find out what! +(CNN)Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Thursday accused the six world powers involved in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program of "deception, trickery and backstabbing" in their dealings with Tehran, according to Iranian state media. He also criticized a letter sent by 47 U.S. Republican senators to Iran's leaders, which threatened to scupper any deal if a Republican President is elected next year, Iran's official Press TV reported. "Of course, I'm concerned because the other side is into deception, trickery and backstabbing," Khamenei is quoted as saying in a speech in Tehran. He suggested that the letter was part of a U.S. strategy of last-minute reversal aimed at undermining a comprehensive deal covering Iran's nuclear ambitions, Press TV said. "This is part of their ploys and tricks," said Khamenei. Iran faces a March 24 deadline to reach a deal over its nuclear program. Several interim agreements have been made in recent months, though a long-term pact so far has been elusive. The six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany, a group known as the P5+1 -- are seeking a deal that will ensure that Iran doesn't develop nuclear arms. Officials in Tehran have publicly insisted they want a nuclear program for energy purposes, not to create atomic weaponry. The Republican senators' decision to write to Iran's leaders has stirred up a political firestorm in the United States. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the letter Wednesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, calling it a breach of "more than two centuries of precedent" and factually incorrect. Did 47 Republican senators break the law in plain sight? "It purports to tell the world that if you want to have any confidence in your dealings with America, they have to negotiate with 535 members of Congress," Kerry said. "That is both untrue and a profoundly bad suggestion to make." Sen. Tom Cotton, a freshman Republican from Arkansas, penned the letter, which asserted that a lasting agreement would need congressional support. He wasn't shy about his attempts to undermine the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran and said Tuesday that the letter is "about stopping Iran from getting a nuclear deal." Hillary Clinton blasts Cotton Iran letter . CNN's Brian Walker contributed to this report. +(CNN)At first glance Esther Okade seems like a normal 10-year-old. She loves dressing up as Elsa from "Frozen," playing with Barbie dolls and going to the park or shopping. But what makes the British-Nigerian youngster stand out is the fact that she's also a university undergraduate. Esther, from Walsall, an industrial town in the UK's West Midlands region, is one of the country's youngest college freshmen. The talented 10-year-old enrolled at the Open University, a UK-based distance learning college, in January and is already top of the class, having recently scored 100% in a recent exam. "It's so interesting. It has the type of maths I love. It's real maths -- theories, complex numbers, all that type of stuff," she giggles. "It was super easy. My mum taught me in a nice way." She adds: "I want to (finish the course) in two years. Then I'm going to do my PhD in financial maths when I'm 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I'm 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people." And in case people think her parents have pushed her into starting university early, Esther emphatically disagrees. "I actually wanted to start when I was seven. But my mum was like, "you're too young, calm down." After three years of begging, mother Efe finally agreed to explore the idea. A marvelous mathematical mind . Esther has always jumped ahead of her peers. She sat her first Math GSCE exam, a British high school qualification, at Ounsdale High School in Wolverhampton at just six, where she received a C-grade. A year later, she outdid herself and got the A-grade she wanted. Then last year she scored a B-grade when she sat the Math A-level exam. Esther's mother noticed her daughter's flair for figures shortly after she began homeschooling her at the age of three. Initially, Esther's parents had enrolled her in a private school but after a few short weeks, the pair began noticing changes in the usually-vibrant youngster. Efe says: "One day we were coming back home and she burst out in tears and she said 'I don't ever want to go back to that school -- they don't even let me talk!' "In the UK, you don't have to start school until you are five. Education is not compulsory until that age so I thought OK, we'll be doing little things at home until then. Maybe by the time she's five she will change her mind." Efe started by teaching basic number skills but Esther was miles ahead. By four, her natural aptitude for maths had seen the eager student move on to algebra and quadratic equations. And Esther isn't the only maths prodigy in the family. Her younger brother Isaiah, 6, will soon be sitting his first A-level exam in June. A philanthropic family . Not content with breaking barriers to attend college at just 10 years old, Esther is also writing a series of math workbooks for children called "Yummy Yummy Algebra." "It starts at a beginner level -- that's volume one. But then there will be volume two, and volume three, and then volume four. But I've only written the first one. "As long as you can add or subtract, you'll be able to do it. I want to show other children they are special," she says. Meanwhile, Esther's parents are also trying to trail blaze their own educational journey back in Nigeria. The couple have set up a foundation and are in the process of building a nursery and primary school in Nigeria's Delta region (where the family are from). Named "Shakespeare's Academy," they hope to open the school's doors in September. The proposed curriculum will have all the usual subjects such as English, languages, math and science, as well as more unconventional additions including morality and ethics, public speaking, entrepreneurship and etiquette. The couple say they want to emulate the teaching methods that worked for their children rather than focus on one way of learning. "Some children learn very well with kinesthetics where they learn with their hands -- when they draw they remember things. Some children have extremely creative imaginations. Instead of trying to make children learn one way, you teach them based on their learning style," explains Efe. The educational facility will have a capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 students with up to 30% of students being local children offered scholarships to attend. Efe says: "On one hand, billions of dollars worth of crude oil is pumped out from that region on a monthly basis and yet the poverty rate of the indigenous community is astronomical." While Paul adds: "(The region has) poor quality of nursery and primary education. So by the time the children get secondary education they haven't got a clue. They haven't developed their core skills. "The school is designed to give children an aim so they can study for something, not just for the sake of acquiring certifications. There is an end goal." Read this: 92-year-old student inspires a generation . Read this: Nigerian soul superstar Nneka is back! More from African Voices . +(CNN)Prince William arrived in Beijing on Sunday -- the first visit to China by a senior member of the British Royal Family in three decades -- and he might have been expecting a dose of culture shock. But chances are he'll feel right at home. From television shows and etiquette lessons to private schools and mock Tudor housing developments, China has been embracing British culture with a passion. Chinese viewers are captivated in their millions by shows like "Sherlock Holmes" and "Downton Abbey," with the former's star, Benedict Cumberbatch, so popular he has his own Chinese nickname -- Curly Blessing. The fascination with Edwardian England depicted in Downton has created a growing demand for butlers, and the country's elite are donning tweeds and taking up deer stalking. "Downton Abbey depicts traditional British, high-class lives. It something that I and many other Chinese are curious about," said student Cherrie Zhang. It's not just television shows. Affluent Chinese parents are sending their children to British schools after some of the most notable names in British education have established campuses in China. Harrow, Wellington College and Dulwich College have all opened sister schools in the country. And the obsession with British culture has taken a bizarre turn in Thames Town, a housing development on the outskirts of Shanghai that resembles a quaint English town, complete with replica red telephone booths. It's crucial that Prince William capitalizes on these cultural ties during his high-profile visit, which is being viewed as the first real test of his diplomatic skills. "It will tell us something about how he will handle one of the most important diplomatic relationships when he comes to throne," said Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Sydney and a former British diplomat. "And I think China will put some capital in his visit because this guy is not a politician, who come and go, but (someone who) will be around for quite a while." Cultural exports are viewed as a growth area that the prince can promote. China spent 17 million pounds on UK TV programs and formats in 2013, a 40% increase on the year before, but they form a small part of the overall trade balance. And while London has been successful in attracting Chinese investment, UK companies have not thrived in China the same way as some of their U.S. and German counterparts. Previous trips by Royals have been gaffe ridden. When the Queen and Prince Philip spent time in China in 1986, the Queen's husband caused offense when he told a group of British students: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed." Prince Charles, William's father, has never visited China but described the country's leaders as "appalling old waxworks" during his visit to Hong Kong in 1997. His close ties with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, have also angered China's leaders. Prince William will visit Beijing's Forbidden City, attend the Chinese premiere of the British-produced children's animated movie "Paddington" in Shanghai and launch a campaign to celebrate British innovation during the three-day trip. Before China, he is spending three days in Japan. The prince will also get a chance to champion one of his favorite causes -- combating the illegal trade in wildlife -- when he visits an elephant sanctuary in southwestern China . "If he can make some kind of link in China, if he can instinctively show he gets it, that could be an important thing," Brown said. But the relationship between the UK and China comes laden with "stacks of historic baggage," Brown adds, and the prince will have to tread carefully, particularly over the former colony of Hong Kong, where the push for a free vote has strained ties between Britain and China, the current landlords. British lawmakers were denied permission to visit the city on a "fact-finding" mission last year amid heated pro-democracy protests. What's more, it's not clear how much "star power" Prince William has in China, especially without his glamorous wife Kate, who at eight months pregnant won't make the trip, and his young son George. An informal survey conducted by the UK's Telegraph newspaper in Beijing showed that many struggled to recognize the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge -- one thought the couple were in the movie "Titanic" -- and there are fears his visit will struggle to attract interest among ordinary Chinese. "The Royal Family are not really a big deal to me," said Zhang, the Downton Abbey fan. Serena Dong in Beijing contributed to this report . +(CNN)After a handful events in two months, Hillary Clinton has filled her March with a mix of women's events, nonprofit speeches and at least one paid appearance. In January and February, Clinton headlined three events -- only one of which was in the United States. But as Clinton moves closer to her expected 2016 presidential campaign announcement, the former secretary or state has at least seven events scheduled for the month of March. Most of Clinton's events are focused on one thing: women. Clinton starts her month by headlining the 30th anniversary gala for Emily's List -- a pro-Clinton organization that focused on helping Democratic women win elected office. At the D.C. speech on March 3, Clinton is expected to give a nod to the group's importance to Democrats and highlight the reason more women are needed in politics. Emily's List has been energized by Clinton's campaign and has pledged to raise and spend more money than any other election cycle because of the prospect of a Clinton White House. The following week, Clinton will headline two New York events tied to her 1995 speech to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing -- a speech Clinton regularly references in pitches to women. In that speech Clinton said, "If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights once and for all." On March 9, Clinton teams up with Chelsea, her daughter, and Melinda Gates to release a report through the Clinton Foundation that looks at "the gaps that still remain" in women's participation in the economy and politics. The following day -- on March 10 -- Clinton will headline the United Nation's Women Empowerment Principles annual gathering in New York. Clinton will use the speech to outline the findings in the Clinton Foundation report and "reflect on progress made in implementing the agenda set in Beijing two decades ago," the organizers said in a release about the event. On March 16, Clinton will be inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame at an event in New York. Clinton is not Irish -- her family is of English, Scottish, French, and Welsh descent -- but she is being honored because of "her dedicated work on Irish Peace Process." "Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the unsung heroes of the success of the Irish peace process," said Irish America co-founder Niall O'Dowd. In 1998, Clinton put together the Vital Voices Conference of women in Belfast, a body that pressed for a piece agreement. The former secretary of state cited her experiences in Ireland during a number of speeches in 2014. O'Dowd is a longtime Clinton supporter, though,and was a member of her 2008 campaign finance team. Some Republicans have questioned how active Clinton was in the Northern Ireland peace process. The Washington Post Fact Checker wrote in 2008 that Clinton "seems to be overstating her significance as a catalyst in the Northern Ireland peace process, which was more symbolic than substantive," but that she did play "a helpful role at the margins." On March 19, Clinton will headline her only confirmed paid speech of the month when she heads to Atlantic City for the American Camp Association, NY & NJ Conference. Susie Lupert, the group's executive director, tells CNN, "Yes, just like most nonprofits and conferences, she is being paid for her appearance." But she would not confirm how much she is being paid. On average, Clinton makes between $200,000 and $300,000 per speech. Near the end of the month, on March 23 in Washington, D.C., Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the award celebration for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting from Syracuse University. Robin Toner, who graduated from Syracuse, was the first woman national political correspondent for the New York Times. Syracuse Dean Lorraine Branham said Clinton is a "vivid example — like Robin — of a pioneering woman at the top of her profession." Clinton headlining an event honoring political journalists is somewhat unique because for decades she has held a dim view of the profession. In a 1996, according to the diary of the late Clinton confidant Diane Blair, Clinton said the media are "complete hypocrites." At an event in 2014, Clinton said "journalism has changed quite a bit in a way that is not good for the country and not good for journalism." "A lot of serious news reporting has become more entertainment driven and more opinion-driven as opposed to factual," she said. "People book onto the shows, political figures, commentators who will be controversial who will be provocative because it's a good show. You might not learn anything but you might be entertained and I think that's just become an unfortunate pattern that I wish could be broken." Clinton's presidential campaign has become a forgone conclusion and Democrats close to Clinton expect she will announce some official move towards the presidency in April. +(CNN)A statue of a sitting Buddha that made its way from a temple in China to a market in the Netherlands revealed an extraordinary secret -- a 1,000-year-old mummified monk. The mummy was discovered, encased in a cavity in the statue, when a private buyer brought it to an expert for restoration. It's unclear when or how the statue was removed from China. But it wasn't until a team of researchers and scientists did a CT scan -- a comprehensive three dimensional x-ray image -- last year, did they discover the mummy's organs were missing. "We thought it would be lung tissue, but instead we found little scraps of paper covered with Chinese characters," said Vincent van Vilsteren, an archaeology curator from Drents Museum. The mummy was found sitting on a bundle of cloth covered in Chinese inscriptions, revealing its identity as a Buddhist monk called Liuquan who may have practiced "self-mummification" to prepare for life after death. The process of self-mummification is a known tradition in countries like Japan, China and Thailand, and was practiced over a thousand years ago. The elaborate and arduous process includes eating a special diet and drinking a poisonous tea so the body would be too toxic to be eaten by maggots. The few monks that were able to successfully complete the process were highly revered. "We suspect that for the first 200 years, the mummy was exposed and worshiped in a Buddhist temple in China... only in the 14th century did they do all the work to transform it into a nice statue," said van Vilsteren. Researchers are still waiting on DNA analysis results in hopes to trace the mummy back to its exact location in China. The statue is now housed in the National Museum of Natural History in Budapest and will move to Luxembourg in May as a part of an international tour. +(CNN)Since Friday, social media debates such as #thedress were silenced. There was more sobering news. Leonard Nimoy, "Star Trek's" beloved Mr. Spock, had died. His co-stars, fellow celebrities and fans reacted with heartfelt tributes from around the world and all the way to space, where astronaut Terry W. Wirts flashed a Vulcan salute aboard the International Space Station. As the weekend went on, billboards from the company Outfront Media (formerly CBS, owners of "Star Trek") showed up around Atlanta. Longtime friend and co-star William Shatner remembered Nimoy "like a brother." George Takei wrote, "Today, the world lost a great man, and I lost a great friend. We return you now to the stars, Leonard." And Zachary Quinto, who played Spock in the recent "Star Trek" movie reboots, said, "my heart is broken." The hashtag #LLAP, which stands for "Live long and prosper" and which Nimoy used to sign his tweets, was trending across several social media platforms after the news of his death. The outpouring on Twitter and elsewhere left no doubt about Nimoy's indelible mark on pop culture. Nimoy's career also inspired some of the most brilliant minds in space and science. NASA posted a 1979 photo of Nimoy and the "Star Trek" cast -- some sporting '70s leisure suits -- visiting the space shuttle Enterprise. And then there were the ordinary fans -- Trekkies, aspiring actors and science geeks who related to Nimoy's brainy Spock character -- who posted personal messages and remembrances. Nimoy in 2010: "I feel very fulfilled" with my work . Paul Roth, 39, chief information officer at Chesapeake Systems in Baltimore, posted a teary-eyed photo using the #LLAP hashtag. "Leonard Nimoy showed a young, nerdy, bullied me that not only could science be important and valued, but it could literally save entire ships, planets, and galaxies of lives," he said. "As I grew up, he taught me that reason could be tempered with humor. That learned adults still had more to learn. That feminism and opposing prejudice was vital. And that there is no age too late to reinvent yourself." Neil Macdonald from Widnes in the United Kingdom wrote on Instagram: "I have been and always shall be your friend." And, Molly Desormeaux, an acting student in Montreal, Quebec, said: "Leonard Nemoy is one of the reasons why I still believe that acting can change peoples' lives." Nimoy: "Fringe" cast impressed me the most . We'll give Nimoy himself the last word. The actor, filmmaker and author, who was an active user of Twitter up until his death, shared a final thought Monday that exemplifies the fleetingness and beauty of life. CNN's Daphne Sashin and Christina Zdanowicz contributed to this story. +(CNN)The police may have found the missing dress. You know, the white custom Calvin Klein gown that adorned actress Lupita Nyong'o when she attended Sunday's Academy Awards. The one encrusted with 6,000 white Akoya pearls that Fortune estimated was worth $150,000. The dress that Nyong'o, who won a best supporting actress Oscar last year for "Twelve Years a Slave," reported stolen Wednesday from her room in the swanky London Hotel off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Yes, that old thing. The L.A. Sheriff's Department got a tip Friday and looked in an abandoned bathroom on the second floor of the same London Hotel, the department said in a press release. The tip, they said, came from "a media representative" who got a call from an anonymous caller. The investigators went to the hotel and found a black garment bag underneath the bathroom counter. Inside the bag they found a white dress "resembling the one" worn by Nyong'o. Sounds like it would be hard to mistake the dress, but the sheriff's department is working with the dress owners to find out if it's the real thing. Calvin Klein also expressed guarded enthusiasm over the dress's potential return. "All of us at Calvin Klein are thrilled to know that the dress has potentially been located. This was an amazing collaboration between the brand and Lupita and the dress looked truly exquisite on her," Francisco Costa, Women's Creative Director of Calvin Klein Collection, said in a press release. "Once it's returned to us, we will be able to have the dress restored and archived, as it now represents an important moment for the brand." CNN's Deborah Doft and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +(CNN)ISIS militants in northern Syria released 19 Assyrian Christian hostages on Sunday, according to Rami Abdelrahman, the chief of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Abdelrahman has a network of activists on the ground in Syria. On Saturday, the observatory -- citing an Assyrian commander -- said that ISIS planned to release 29 Assyrian Christian hostages. ISIS captured at least 220 Assyrians, all Christians, on February 23 during an attack on the villages around the town of Tal Tamer in the northern Syrian province of al-Hasakah. The Syrian Observatory said Saturday that a self-proclaimed ISIS court ordered the release, citing an Assyrian commander. The "court" told the commander that the fate of the other kidnapped Assyrians has yet to be decided by ISIS Sharia jurists. The Syrian Observatory said its information indicates ISIS has taken the hostages to the Mount Abdelaziz area, southwest of Tal Tamer. The founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, Osama Edward, puts the number of Assyrian hostages at more than 262. Edward is based in Sweden but has family in the area that was attacked, and says his information is from the network's team on the ground. The number of hostages has climbed steadily, from an initial estimate of between 70 and 100 people seized on Monday to 150 as of Wednesday, with women, children and the elderly among them. The number of people executed by the terrorist group has also climbed steadily. Since the declaration of its "caliphate" last June, ISIS has killed 1,969 people, the Syrian Observatory said Saturday. Nearly two-thirds of them -- 1,238 people -- were civilians. Six were children and eight were women, the group said. Of the rest, 95 were fighters from the al Qaeda-affiliated rebel group al-Nusra Front, the Syrian Observatory said, and 511 were officers and soldiers of regime forces. ISIS also executed 125 of its own members for "exceeding the limits in religion," the Syrian Observatory said. "We in SOHR believe that the real number of people that had been killed by (ISIS) is higher than the number documented by SOHR because there are hundreds of missing and detainees inside the (ISIS) jails, loss of communication with about 1,000 men of al-Shaitaat tribe, (and) dozens of Kurds who have still been missing" since ISIS attacked the Syrian town of Kobani in September. CNN's Samira Said in Abu Dhabi and Hamdi Alkhshali in Atlanta contributed to this report. +(CNN)In his writings, author Avijit Roy yearned for reason and humanism guided by science. He had no place for religious dogma, including from Islam, the main religion of his native Bangladesh. Extremists resented him for openly and regularly criticizing religion in his blog. They threatened to kill him if he came home from the United States to visit. On Thursday, someone did. As usual, Roy defied the threats and departed his home in suburban Atlanta for Dhaka, where he appeared at a speaking engagement about his latest books -- one of them titled "The Virus of Faith." He has written seven books in all. As he walked back from the book fair, assailants plunged machetes and knives into Roy and his wife, killing him and leaving her bloodied and missing a finger. Afterward, an Islamist group "Ansar Bangla-7" reportedly tweeted, "Target Down here in Bangladesh." Investigators are proceeding on the notion that Roy's murder was an extremist attack. His father, Ajay Roy, filed a case of murder with the Shahbagh police Friday without naming suspects. No one came to their aid as they were hacked down, a witness said. "I shouted for help from the people but nobody came to save him." But at night, secularist sympathizers marched through a street holding torches; by day, others held a sit-in to protest Roy's killing. The government condemned the attack. Who was the software engineer, a U.S. citizen from Alpharetta, Georgia, who drew such rage from some and adoration from others? Software was his career, but writing and blogging were his calling. And he did not speak alone. Roy founded the religion critical blog Mukto Mona, which served multiple writers. He called it "an Internet congregation of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists and humanists mainly of Bengali and South Asian descent who are scattered across the globe." Its mission was to promote science, secular philosophy, democracy and religious tolerance in articles by academics and activists. Its headers contain quotes by famous scientists, including one attributed to Albert Einstein condemning the doctrine of heaven and hell as a means of enforcing ethics: . "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary." To the most devout and to extremists, Roy's criticisms amounted to blasphemy. He took aim at the sentiment in a blog post headlined, "Happy Blasphemy Day, Happy Birthday 'Mukto Mona.'" Some who felt oppressed by religion said he spoke for them. "Avijit Roy, your voice of reason and your passion for free thinking will never die. You were a voice to so many voiceless," a fan wrote after his death. Very. Roy and the blog's other critics took off the gloves when it came to religion, particularly Islam. Roy was a fan of Bill Maher's harsh reproach of Islam and a critic of Reza Aslan, who has countered Maher's standpoint. His blog called Aslan "an Islamic apologist, who obviously feels threatened by the growing Atheist movement in the U.S. and worldwide." Roy likened women in burkas to "living zombies," tweeting out a cartoon of one standing next to a child dressed as a ghost for Halloween. Yes. He began one of his final articles by writing that January's Charlie Hebdo massacre in France was "a tragic atrocity committed by soldiers of the so-called religion of peace." He doled out scathing criticism after another Bangladeshi blogger was hacked to death outside his home in 2013 by assailants with machetes. "The virus of faith was the weapon that made these atrocities possible," Roy wrote. But he also criticized Christianity. "So, Pope Francis thinks 'evolution is real'! And it is still a major headline news in this century," he recently tweeted. To Roy, God was an outdated notion. Roy sought enlightenment in doubt, criticism and reason. Question everything, was a theme in his online posts. Never think you've found the truth. He was a science geek who admired Charles Darwin, evolutionary psychology and astrophysics, according to a Facebook account in his name. CNN could not independently verify it belongs to him. Roy was a fan of "Cosmos," the TV series explaining the science behind the origin of the universe, and of the geek sitcom "The Big Bang Theory." Mukto Mona contains sections titled "Science" and "Rationalism," but most of the articles hold science up to religion as a litmus test, which it invariably fails. "To me, it is a rational concept to oppose any unscientific and irrational belief," Roy said. That's likely. He regularly attended a February book fair in the Bangladeshi capital, and last year, after he launched "The Virus of Faith," the death threats began streaming in. They landed in his email inbox and cropped up on social media. "A well-known extremist ... openly issued death threats to me through his numerous Facebook statuses," Roy wrote. His book "hit the cranial nerve of Islamic fundamentalists," Roy wrote. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks, an online Bangladeshi bookstore pulled it after extremists put pressure on it. But is seemed the author was safe in Alpharetta. "Avijit Roy lives in America and so, it is not possible to kill him right now. But he will be murdered when he comes back," the Islamist wrote, according to Roy. He couldn't let that stop him, Roy's friend Michael De Dora said. "Avijit was very idealistic," he said. "His understanding was that he wouldn't be killed, that if anyone ever tried to attack him or hated him, that they could just kind of have a chat and he would convince them ... that they could at least have a dialogue." He never had a chance to. They attacked from behind. CNN's Ray Sanchez, Lonzo Cook, Greg Botelho, Farid Ahmed and John Couwels contributed to this report. +(CNN)Two people were shot Saturday at a nightclub party in Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring rappers T.I., Young Jeezy and Yo Gotti. Both victims are expected to survive, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a news release. Police are searching for a suspect. "Preliminary information and evidence gathered on the scene indicates that an unidentified suspect fired several shots from inside the club striking the two victims," Charlotte police said in a news release. "This is an ongoing, active investigation." The shooting occurred around 7 p.m. at the Label nightclub, which is part of the popular N.C. Music Factory Complex. The nightclub was hosting a series of parties to celebrate the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. The club reopened a few hours later for a P. Diddy concert. "We feel the security is adequate to avoid an additional incident, and we want to make sure that the patrons enjoy the tournament weekend," Label attorney Ken Harris told CNN affiliate WSOC. "There is always a very high level of security at Label." CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report. +March 2, 2015 . On Monday, CNN Student News puts some stamps on its passport in taking you to Russia, Israel, Syria and the Silk Road. Hear why there's controversy in the U.S. government over an upcoming speech by the leader of a close ally. Measure the longest train journey on the planet. And discover the truth behind the colors of "#TheDress" -- and why people see its picture differently. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Brazilian police worked for five months to track down a fugitive American pastor accused of dozens of sexual assaults in Minnesota. Victor Arden Barnard, 53, was arrested Friday at a home in a gated community, said the Public Security Secretariat of Rio Grande do Norte state. A 33-year-old woman was detained, police said. Both were transported to a federal jail in Lagoa Nova in Natal, awaiting extradition to the United States, authorities said. Barnard is suspected of 59 counts of sexual assault in Minnesota. He is accused of sexually abusing two young girls who were members of his church, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The last U.S. sighting of Barnard was last year in Raymond, Washington. The fugitive was featured on CNN's "The Hunt With John Walsh" last year and again last week. Barnard was featured on the U.S. Marshal's 15 Most Wanted List along with a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. In addition to the sexual assault allegations, he was also wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. As a pastor, Barnard inspired his congregants with his charisma and apparent devotion to the teachings of Jesus Christ. "I had never met anybody that I thought loved the word of God as much as Victor Barnard did," said Ruth Johnson, a former member of Barnard's River Road Fellowship. Barnard set up a so-called "shepherd's camp" in the mid-1990s in Pine County. Several congregants moved to the rural area about 100 miles north of Minneapolis to be a part of the camp. In June 2000, the pastor allegedly convinced some members of his congregation to hand over their firstborn daughters to live with him in a secluded campsite. Lindsay Tornambe's name was called, and her parents allowed their 13-year-old daughter to join the group of girls at the camp, called "The Maidens," under Barnard's supervision. She and other congregants said the girls got up early, sewed, cooked and cleaned. "Everything that a wife would do, they did for him," Johnson said. Barnard proclaimed he was Christ on Earth. "He taught that in the Bible, the church was the bride of Christ and because he was Christ in the flesh, the church was supposed to be married to him," Tornambe said. "At that time, I didn't really understand the fullness of what it meant." The complaint filed in Minnesota says Tornambe alleges she was sexually abused by Barnard from the ages of 13 to 22 while she and her parents were members of River Road Fellowship. She told investigators the group of 10 young girls and women were known as Alamoths, or maidens. Her group was sent to what she thought was a summer camp, the document says. Tornambe told investigators Barnard sexually assaulted her one to three times a month until she left in 2010 to be with her parents, who had moved to Pennsylvania. In fall 2011, Tornambe was contacted by another former maiden who shared a similar story: She said she was molested by Barnard from the time she was 12 until she was 20, although she said the number of sexual acts varied each month. Tornambe and the other woman went to the police in Minnesota. Barnard had moved to Washington state after an admission to affairs with married women caused the religious group to split, the complaint says. The ministry operated in a secluded area of Pine County from about 2000 until 2011 or 2012, Chief Deputy Steven Blackwell of the county sheriff's office told CNN last year. The fellowship left the property shortly after a new sheriff was elected and began investigating the ministry, Blackwell said. Afterward, The Salvation Army started running a family camp there. CNN's Brian Walker contributed to this report. +(CNN)Astronauts on the International Space Station completed a spacewalk Sunday despite the appearance of water inside an astronaut's helmet, NASA reported. In a tweet, the space agency said astronaut Terry Virts experienced water inside his helmet, just as he did Wednesday, but "it's a known issue; no concern." The spacewalk lasted five hours and 38 minutes, NASA said. "Crews have now spent a total of 1,171 hours and 29 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 187 spacewalks," the agency said in a release. NASA previously said the suit worn by NASA astronaut Virts has a history of "sublimator water carryover." Water in the sublimator cooling component can condense when the suit is repressurized after a spacewalk, causing a small amount of water to push into the helmet, NASA said. NASA said International Space Station managers had "a high degree of confidence" in the suit. On the upcoming spacewalk, Virts and Barry Wilmore installed antennas to provide data to visiting vehicles and deploy 400 feet of cable along the edge of the station. Virts said he first noticed traces of fluid and dampness in his helmet Wednesday while he was waiting for the crew lock cabin to repressurize. He and Wilmore had been outside the space station for nearly seven hours working on the station's robotic arm and performing some maintenance. Virts immediately alerted fellow astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti about the water, and she alerted Mission Control in Houston. Cristoforetti helped Virts out of his helmet and examined it. She confirmed the presence of moisture, mostly in the helmet absorption pad, or HAP, describing it as "wet and cold." At the request of Mission Control, Anton Shkaplerov used a syringe to draw as much water as he could from the top of the helmet. Water had collected in the white plastic at the top and around both ear cups. Shkaplerov estimated there was 15 milliliters of water in the helmet. That's a far cry from the amount of water that accumulated in Luca Parmitano's suit during a spacewalk in July 2013. Between 1 and 1.5 liters of water backed up in the suit and helmet, prompting fears Parmitano could drown in his own helmet. The spacewalk was cut short, and NASA implemented some changes to its suits, including the addition of absorbent padding in helmets. There was another intrusion of water into the helmet during another spacewalk on December 24, 2013. NASA commentator Rob Navias said it was noticed at the same point in the mission as Wednesday's leak -- during the repressurization of the crew lock, the area from which astronauts enter and exit ISS while in space. +(CNN)Don't listen to the haters, Dakota Johnson: You made your famous mother proud. The "Fifty Shades" actor received mixed reviews for her appearance this weekend on "Saturday Night Live." Despite a few crowd-pleasing moments, a controversial sketch starring Johnson as an ISIS recruit dominated conversation of the episode. Amid the furor, Johnson's mother, Melanie Griffith, chimed in Sunday with a totally unbiased view. "She killed it!!! Wow! I loved her poise, her comic timing, her grace, loved everything she did!!" Griffith said on Twitter. +(CNN)It's a controversial question that's sparked debate since officials revealed the identity of the masked man known as Jihadi John. Was Mohammed Emwazi, the man with a British accent who's appeared in numerous ISIS beheading videos, pushed toward extremism by authorities? Or was he someone who'd long been heading down a militant path? A London-based advocacy group that worked with Emwazi says emails he sent them paint a picture of a desperate man hounded by authorities who saw his plans for a new life crumble as he tried unsuccessfully to get help. And a report from the Daily Mail, also citing emails purportedly sent from Emwazi to the British publication, said the Kuwait-born Londoner saw himself as a "dead man walking" and contemplated suicide because of his alleged harassment by authorities. But some analysts say the emails are only part of the story, arguing that investigators targeted Emwazi because they already saw he had links with terrorist groups. "You can't start the story at how he's been treated by UK officials. You certainly can't start the story from the email trail," said Rashad Ali, director at the counterextremism consultancy CENTRI and a fellow of the Institute of Strategic Dialogue. "You have to go back to why the intelligence services got in contact with him. Well, because he was part of a group of a people who were going to join Al-Shabaab -- a very extremist organization and jihadist group that got involved in horrific terrorist attacks in Somalia." Emwazi felt he was being harassed by authorities and tried to seek legal help to stop it, according to CAGE, the human rights and Muslim advocacy organization that worked with him. One email details Emwazi's account of his detention at a British airport, when authorities stopped him from traveling to Kuwait in 2010 and questioned him for hours. "I told them that I want to be left alone, as I have an ambition of moving from the UK and settling in Kuwait. That is why I found a job and a spouse!! But they laughed," Emwazi wrote in a message dated June 3, 2010. "One of them got aggressive with me, he pushed me to the wall. ... I was just baffled I did not know why he had done that after this long 6hour interview, fingerprinting and searching. When I asked for their names they said 'We don't give out our names.' " Emwazi wrote that the way he was treated by British security and intelligence officials reminded him "of criminals that you see on TV who have committed a serious crime, only I was a person never charged or arrested for anything. I was a person looking to start a new life in my country Kuwait!" That's a key detail, CAGE spokesman Amandla Thomas-Johnson said. "If someone is going to carry out some violent attack in any kind of way, then the law is there to be in force and apprehend them," he said. "In the UK, he wasn't arrested once, prosecuted or cautioned whatsoever." British authorities have not responded to CNN's requests for comment on the case. In the emails, Emwazi pleaded for CAGE's help. "Please help me as I don't want to stay in the UK because I have found a Job in Kuwait, found a spouse in Kuwait and thus found a new start for my life in Kuwait. Kuwait is where I'm from, I was born their. I just want to go their and start my new life again!!" Emwazi wrote that he had also made a formal complaint at the Independent Police Complaints Commission, before going into detail about how he was apparently "assaulted by the police officer" as he attempted to leave for Kuwait. But it was a difficult complaint to prove, Thomas-Johnson said. "The IPCC says there's no camera in the room where this took place, so we can't really do much about it except put a black mark against the officer," he said. "These things happen in the shadows and the dark. So it is very difficult to independently verify once it's taken place. There isn't much of an opportunity to gain redress and accountability." Details from court papers reported in British media paint a different picture. They say Emwazi was part of a group of extremists sometimes called the "North London Boys" who allegedly funneled money and recruits to Al-Shabaab. The Guardian has reported that Emwazi was part of a terror cell with links to the failed London bomb attacks in 2005. To British authorities, his face was a familiar one for more than five years. But authorities lost track of him in 2013, according to friends. He changed his name and made his way to Syria. Analysts who've studied ISIS recruiting say they aren't buying the argument that harassment from authorities turned Emwazi into "Jihadi John." "I think it's an absurd claim," said Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation. "It was not the cause of his radicalization. The reason the intelligence services harassed him was because they suspected him of trying to join the Shabaab in Somalia." Ali argued that abuse at the hands of officials is not an excuse for terrorism. "People do not turn around, when harassed and have grievances, and become terrorists," he said. In addition to the emails released by CAGE, another series of emails from Emwazi came to light over the weekend. The messages were sent in 2010 and 2011 to the Daily Mail's security editor, Robert Verkaik. The Daily Mail published excerpts from those exchanges, including Emwazi's description of an incident where he tried to sell his laptop through a website, but only stated his surname. When he met a potential buyer at a London underground station, he says the person he met shook his hand and said "nice doing business with you Mohammed." "I NEVER TOLD THIS PERSON MY FIRST NAME!!" wrote Emwazi to Verkaik. "& I NEVER GIVE OUT MY FIRST NAME!! IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO KNOW MY FIRST NAME!!" He also hinted at suicidal thoughts. "Sometimes i feel like im a dead man walking, not fearing they may kill me. "Rather, fearing that one day, I'll take as many pills as I can so that I can sleep for ever!! I just want to get away from these people!!!" Verkaik said he met Emwazi in 2010 when he was investigating his claims of being harassed by police and intelligence. Emwazi's concerns bordered on paranoia, Verkaik wrote, and he desperately wanted his story to be told. "Like many young Muslim men at the time, he appeared to have a grievance. But this man was different," Verkaik wrote. "In him was a warped sense of injustice that could never justify the barbaric acts of murder that he has gone on to carry out in Syria." CNN's Brian Todd and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report. +Caracas (CNN)Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday an unspecified number of Americans were arrested "a few days ago" for engaging in espionage and recruitment activities. The President said they included an American pilot of Latin American origin, arrested in the southwest border state of Táchira. He said the pilot was found in possession of "all kinds of documents" and was being interrogated by the authorities, though he did not identify him. The Venezuelan government has made many similar claims in recent years, without ever substantiating them. Maduro also announced Saturday a series of measures, including visa requirements for U.S. citizens and the downsizing of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, to counteract what he called U.S. "interference" in his country. Venezuela has in recent weeks accused the United States of being behind an alleged coup plot. Speaking at an "anti-imperialist" rally in the capital, Maduro said visas would now be required for all U.S. visitors and that the U.S. Embassy in Caracas would now need foreign ministry approval for any meetings. The Embassy, which he said had more than 100 staff, is to be reduced to a number closer to the 17 Venezuelan diplomats based in Washington. Moreover, a group of prominent U.S. officials, current and retired, will be banned from entering Venezuela because of what Maduro said was their involvement in "bombing Iraq, Syria and Vietnam" and other "terrorist" actions. The officials include George W. Bush, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA Director George Tenet and several current members of Congress, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Bob Menendez and Mario Diaz-Balart. Following the Maduro's announcement Diaz-Balart reacted via Twitter, saying he has "always wanted to travel to a corrupt country that is not a free democracy. And now Castro's lap dog won't let me!" The move comes after the U.S. government last month approved a law under which Venezuelan officials allegedly involved in human rights violations are to have their visas revoked and their U.S. assets frozen. A relatively small, but noisy crowd, dressed mostly in revolutionary red, applauded and cheered the measures announced by the President from a platform outside the presidential palace in downtown Caracas. Four missionaries from Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Devils Lake, North Dakota were released by Venezuelan authorities on Saturday, a church official said. Pastor Bruce Dick said the missionaries arrived in Venezuela on February 20 and were detained a few days ago. "We love the Venezuelan people and have served alongside them for over 12 years," Dick said. "We have been praying along with hundreds or thousands of others for their release and for those in Venezuela who also have been affected by this." It is unclear if the detention and release of these Americans is connected to Maduro's charges of espionage. Journalist Phil Gunson reported from Caracas. CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez, Florencia Trucco and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report. +(CNN)A Chilean girl's plea via social media for an assisted suicide caught the attention of the person the teen thinks could make it happen: President Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet visited 14-year-old Valentina Maureira on Saturday after the girl's video went viral and spurred debate in Chile about euthanasia. Valentina was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 6. Her older brother died from the same disease. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening disease that damages the lungs and digestive system. Valentina's family has already witnessed how the disease can be terminal. Valentina's suffering includes vomiting and headaches that are constant, according to her father, Freddy Maureira. The teen recently posted a video on her Facebook page, asking Bachelet to allow her to end her life. "I am tired of living with this sickness," Valentina says in the video. "Please authorize an injection so I can sleep forever." Bachelet visited Valentina on Saturday for more than an hour at the hospital. The country's minister of health also attended. During the visit, the President learned details about Valentina's health, whose condition has reportedly slightly improved, CNN Chile reported. The teen thanked Bachelet for the visit, and her father said he is holding on to hope for a lung transplant for his daughter, according to CNN Chile. Before the visit, the President had already stated her position on the impossibility of an assisted suicide for the girl. Not even the President can agree to Valentina's request because Chilean law does not allow euthanasia, Presidential spokesman Alvaro Elizaldo said. "But what are we doing?" Elizaldo said last week. "The health ministry is in constant contact with Valentina's family, and we will provide all the emotional and psychological support and medical treatment to improve her living conditions." Valentina's case has caused an overwhelming response on social media. People took to Facebook and Twitter to discuss the debate on assisted suicide. One Twitter user posed the question in a tweet: "After the case of Valentina Maureira, should euthanasia be legal?" Doctor Andres Castillo, chief of pediatrics at Catholic University's Clinic Hospital, said that at the moment, Valentina's condition is stable." After her diagnosis, doctors expected her to live to about 17, which would give her three and a half more years to live. +(CNN)A Massachusetts teenager faces a pretrial hearing in April on involuntary manslaughter charges for allegedly sending text messages urging a friend to commit suicide, even after he expressed second thoughts, authorities said Saturday. Michelle Carter, 18, was indicted on February 5. Conrad Roy, 18, of Fairhaven and Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, was found dead in his car of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning on July 13, Sgt. Kevin Kobza, public information officer for the Fairhaven Police Department, said Saturday. At one point the night of Roy's death, he exited the vehicle and communicated to Carter that he was having second thoughts about taking his own life, Kobza told CNN. Carter then urged him via text message to get back in the car, Kobza said. Upon searching Roy's cell phone, police discovered "hundreds" of texts between Roy and Carter, many which contained language from Carter that encouraged Roy to take his own life, Kobza said. "Instead of attempting to assist him or notify his family or school officials, Ms. Carter is alleged to have strongly influenced his decision to take his own life, encouraged him to commit suicide and guided him in his engagement of activities which led to his death," Gregg Miliote, director of communications for the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, said in a statement. Carter's lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, said Saturday that the evidence will show this was not manslaughter and that Carter attempted to console Roy on "many occasions." "The facts that have been given out to the public at this point put her in the worst possible light," Cataldo said. "My heart goes out to the family, but this was a young man who planned this for months and months." On a Twitter page confirmed by the District Attorney's Office to be Carter's, several photos and tweets about Roy have been posted since his death. One tweet reads, "I can't believe today already marks 4 months without you. I love you and miss you always Conrad..." In September 2014, Carter organized a softball tournament in Roy's memory and raised $2,300 for mental health awareness, according to Kobza. Carter was arraigned on the indictment on February 6 in New Bedford Juvenile Court, released on $2,500 bail and told not to use social media, according to Miliote. Carter was indicted as a youthful offender because she was not yet 18 when the alleged crimes occurred. Youthful offenders are tried in juvenile court but the proceedings are public, Cataldo said. Because of a familial relationship he has with the victim's family, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn recused himself from the investigation and prosecution of this case, the District Attorney's Office said. Carter's pretrial hearing is set for April 17. +Moscow (CNN)This was supposed to be a rally led by Boris Nemtsov, had he lived two more days to see it. But after the Russian opposition figure was gunned down Friday night, Sunday's rally in Moscow took on a different theme. Instead of gathering to criticize Russia's policies on Ukraine, thousands of people came together to mourn the death of the former deputy prime minister. And as they united near the site of Nemtsov's death, conspiracy theories swirled over who killed the staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin as he walked near the Kremlin with his Ukrainian model companion. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko added fuel to the conspiracists' fire by saying Saturday that Nemtsov was about to reveal information that would be damaging to Russian interests, according to Ukrinform, the state-run news agency. "A few weeks ago I had a conversation with him on how to build relations between Ukraine and Russia, as we would like them to be. Boris said that he was going to make public the strong evidence for participation of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. Someone was very afraid of that. Boris was not afraid, the executioners were afraid. They killed him," Ukrinform quoted Poroshenko as saying. Russian authorities originally declined to issue a permit for the march when it was billed as an opposition rally. But they agreed to allow the procession honoring Nemtsov, said People's Freedom Party leader Mikhail Kasyanov. Nemtsov was a top official in the party. The 55-year-old was walking home from dinner with a companion, 23-year-old Anna Duritskaya, when he was killed. The model later called Ilya Yashin, a friend and political colleague of Nemtsov's, and said several men had pulled up in a car, and one opened fire, Yashin said. Russian TV station LifeNews spoke with a snowplow driver, who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the slaying. He was identified as "Sergey B." "I got on the bridge, looked into the rear mirror and saw a man on the ground. I immediately realized he didn't feel well. I drove a little bit further and pulled over," the driver said. "I realized we needed to call the ambulance and police." In a statement on its website, the Investigative Committee for the Russian Federation said the shooter likely used a Russian-made Makarov pistol and 9 mm shells were collected at the scene. Police say they are looking for a man with short hair who stands between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-9, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported. The shooter was wearing blue jeans and a brown sweater. Several possible motives were being investigated, the committee said, including the prospect that the shooting was a "provocation to destabilize the political situation in the country." The committee is also exploring the possibility that the killing is related to the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris or Nemtsov's business activities, it said. The committee is offering a reward of 3 million rubles ($49,000) for information about the crime, several media outlets reported. Investigators interviewed Duritskaya, who was not wounded. She was reportedly being kept under guard at an apartment, and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has requested that Duritskaya be allowed to return to Ukraine, according to TASS, a Russian news agency. Putin quickly condemned the killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting, the Kremlin said in a statement. The President also wrote to Nemtsov's mother saying he shared her grief and promised to bring those behind the killing to justice, the Kremlin said. But some of Nemtsov's fellow critics suspect involvement by either Putin's administration or a supporter of the President. "It's clearly a political murder. It's definitely a contract one," Yashin said. "I don't know who killed Boris, but I know that it's the government and personally Putin who are responsible for it. They've been constantly promoting a hatred towards everyone who doesn't support their course and thinks different." Putin had a different theory: that the killing was a contract hit, but one meant to fire up political strife, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Nemtsov himself had said he was at risk for assassination. He told the Russian newspaper Sobesednik last month that he was "a little bit" afraid his mother's fears Putin would have him killed would come true. But, he added, "I'm not afraid of him that much. If I was afraid I wouldn't be heading an opposition party and do what I'm doing." Last year, Nemtsov spoke to CNN's Anthony Bourdain. "I'm (a) well-known guy, and this is a safety because if something happens with me, it will be scandal not only in Moscow city but throughout the world," he said then. Critics of Putin have in the past suffered miserable fates. Last year, a Moscow court sentenced five men to prison for the 2006 killing of Russian journalist and fierce Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. Business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused Putin of corruption and spent 10 years in prison and labor camps. Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko accused state security services of organizing a coup to put Putin in power. He was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium and died in London in 2006. No killer has been caught. And before his death, Nemtsov had been arrested several times for speaking against Putin's government. The most recent arrests were in 2011, when he protested the results of parliamentary elections, and in 2012, when tens of thousands protested against Putin. While Nemtsov certainly had his share of enemies in Russia -- especially those who disagree with his stance on the Ukrainian conflict -- many left notes for the slain politician on the bridge where he was killed. "To Boris Nemtsov," one letter read, "Thank you for your example of courage and honesty." Human rights activists did not mince words in assigning blame for Nemtsov's murder. Tweeted Garry Kasparov, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation's International Council: "If you are popular your critics don't have to be shot down in front of the Kremlin. Putin is just food in a prison, eat it or starve." In a column on how Nemtsov had been harassed for his regular criticism of the Kremlin, Human Rights Watch's Tanya Cooper lambasted Peskov, the Putin spokesman, for saying the killing appeared to be an attempt to destabilize Russia -- a statement Cooper said could prejudice the investigation. "Russia has become the kind of place where a top opposition leader can be murdered just steps away from the president's office," she wrote. "A country in which people are told to hate one another for difference of opinions is a dangerous country to live in." Frederik Pleitgen and Alla Eshchenko reported from Moscow; Holly Yan and Eliott C. McLaughlin reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow and Laura Smith-Spark in London contributed to this report. +(CNN)Chelsea claimed the first silverware of the English domestic season and Jose Mourinho's first trophy of his second spell in charge with a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Sunday. Deflected efforts either side of halftime from Chelsea captain John Terry and leading scorer Diego Costa dashed Tottenham's hopes in the all-London League Cup final. Chelsea had suffered a chastening Christmas defeat to the same opposition in the English Premier League, with Harry Kane starring, but the promising young English striker was kept largely quiet in the showpiece occasion. The first half saw Tottenham edge the possession and carry more of the attacking threat, with Dane Christian Eriksen's free kick rattling the Chelsea crossbar. But chances for either side from open play were in short supply and it was from a free kick that Chelsea went ahead just before the break. Willian's delivery from the right brushed Danny Rose's head and fell invitingly to Terry whose shot went into the net after taking a deflection off Eric Dier. Tottenham might have felt hard done by and the sense of injustice would have deepened on 56 minutes as Cesc Fabregas found Costa down the left and his firm strike took another wicked deflection, this time off Walker, who was credited with the own goal, to leave goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with no chance. It seemed to take the sting out of the Tottenham challenge and although Kane had a late half chance, it was Terry who typically snuffed out the threat with a timely tackle. It was the fifth time Chelsea had lifted the English League Cup and third under Mourinho. The Portuguese claimed it in his first season with the west London club in 2005 and after returning to the Stamford Bridge hot seat last season has broken his mini-trophy drought. Mourinho, whose side is also well-placed to go through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, was clearly reveling in his latest success, his 21st career trophy as a manager. "'It is important to feel like a kid at 52 years old," he said. Man of the match Terry is hoping it will pave the way for further triumphs. "It's the first trophy this season and it's massive. It meant an awful lot to us when we won it in Jose's first year in 2005 as well," he said. "That could be the start of something very good. We have to kick on and we have got the league to focus on, but it's a great day and a great win." Man City blow . Chelsea was also boosted by an earlier result in the EPL as its nearest title rival Manchester City was beaten 2-1 at Liverpool. City had hoped to cut the gap at the top on Chelsea to just two points with a win at Anfield, but instead suffered a chastening reverse. Jordan Henderson put Liverpool ahead with a thumping shot after just 11 minutes only for Edin Dzeko to draw City, defending the EPL title, level midway through the first half. Liverpool, looking to boost its own chances of Champions League football next season, dominated after the break and deservedly took three points after Philippe Coutinho scored a superb late winner with a curling shot which flew past Joe Hart. Arsenal stayed third by beating Everton 2-0 with Olivier Giroud and Tomas Rosicky scoring late in each half to give the Gunners a boost after a Champions League defeat to Monaco in midweek. +(CNN)Victor Arden Barnard, an American pastor wanted for 59 counts of sexual assaults in Minnesota, was arrested by Brazilian authorities on Friday, the office of the governor for the State of Rio Grande do Norte said Saturday. The 53-year-old suspect was wanted by the Pine County, Minnesota, Sheriff's Office for allegedly sexually abusing two young girls who were members of his church, the U.S Marshals Service said. Barnard -- who was featured on CNN's "The Hunt With John Walsh" in 2014 and again earlier this week -- was last seen in the United States in Raymond, Washington, in 2014. In April of that year, prosecutors in Pine County, Minnesota, issued a criminal complaint that accused him of 59 felony counts of criminal sexual conduct. The manhunt began after a two-year investigation into allegations from two women about Barnard's alleged conduct while he was preaching to a religious group in Finlayson, Minnesota. Barnard was featured on the United States Marshal's 15 Most Wanted List along with a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. He was also wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. A 33-year-old woman was also arrested, Brazilian authorities said. As a pastor, Victor Barnard inspired his congregants with his charisma and apparent devotion to the teachings of Jesus Christ. "I had never met anybody that I thought loved the word of God as much as Victor Barnard did," Ruth Johnson, a former member of Barnard's River Road Fellowship, told "The Hunt." David Larsen, a former leader of the River Road Fellowship, said he helped Barnard set up a so-called "shepherd's camp" in the mid-1990s in Pine County to help bring more people into the church. Several of his congregants, including Johnson, moved to the rural area about 100 miles north of Minneapolis to be a part of the camp. In June of 2000, the charismatic religious leader allegedly convinced some members of his congregation to hand over their firstborn daughters to live with him in the secluded campsite. Lindsay Tornambe's name was called and her parents allowed their 13-year-old daughter to join the group of girls at the camp, called "The Maidens," under Barnard's supervision. She and other congregants said the girls got up early, sewed, cooked and cleaned for Barnard. "Everything that a wife would do, they did for him," Johnson said. Barnard proclaimed he was Christ on Earth. "He taught that in the Bible, the church was the bride of Christ and because he was Christ in the flesh, the church was supposed to be married to him," Tornambe said. "At that time I didn't really understand the fullness of what it meant." The complaint filed in Minnesota says Tornambe alleges that she was sexually abused by Barnard from the ages of 13 to 22 while she and her parents were members of River Road Fellowship. Tornambe told investigators the group of 10 young girls and women were known as Alamoths, or maidens. Her group was sent to what she thought was a summer camp, the document says. Tornambe told investigators that she estimated that Barnard sexually assaulted her one to three times a month until she left in 2010 to be with her parents, who had moved to Pennsylvania. In fall 2011, she was contacted by another former maiden who shared a similar story: she said she was molested by Barnard from the time she was 12 until she was 20, although she said the number of sexual acts varied each month. Tornambe and the other woman went to the police in Minnesota. Barnard had moved to Washington state after an admission to affairs with married women caused the religious group to split, the complaint says. The ministry operated in a secluded area of Pine County from about 2000 until 2011 or 2012, Chief Deputy Steven Blackwell of the county sheriff's office told CNN in 2014. The fellowship vacated the property shortly after a new sheriff was elected and began investigating the ministry, Blackwell said. The Salvation Army now runs a family camp there, he said at the time. CNN's Florencia Trucco and Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report. +(CNN)As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the United States, some former security leaders from Israel have come out against his speech to Congress, set for Tuesday. Speaking at a Tel Aviv press conference, retired Maj. Gen. Amnon Reshef, one of the founders of Commanders for Israel's Security, said the speech -- expected to take a hard line on Iran's nuclear ambitions -- is "a terrible mistake" that will further damage the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. He also said the speech could harm Israel's security by damaging Israel's relationship with other countries. On Friday, Meir Dagan, the former head of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, told one of the leading Israeli newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth: "The person who has caused the greatest strategic damage to Israel on the Iranian issue is the prime minister." Dagan, who was the director of Mossad from 2002 to 2010, continued, "I've seen leaders who made decisions and then later admitted that they had erred. Nobody is immune from mistakes. The difference between him and others is the willingness to take responsibility. He is strong on talk, not in action." Recent polling by CNN affiliate Channel 10 Israel shows Israelis split on the speech, with 38% supporting it and the same percentage opposing it. The remaining 24% are undecided. But another poll from Panels Politics, an Israeli polling institute, indicates 53% of Israelis believe the speech will have no effect on the negotiations between six world powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. Another 30% believe the speech will affect the negotiations. Reshef said this year's elections, which will take place on March 17, exactly two weeks after Netanyahu's speech, are crucial for the peace process. Even after years of failed negotiations, Israel has the opportunity now to restart negotiations with the help of moderate Arab states, he said, while warning that going the wrong direction could push peace further out of reach. Reshef would not specify which political leaders would be the best for negotiations, but he said he trusts Israeli voters to decide for themselves in the upcoming elections. Commanders for Israel's Security is a nonpartisan group of nearly 200 veteran senior security members from the Israel Defense Forces; Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency; and the police. It is committed to a regional political-security initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The group also seeks to normalize relations with moderate Arab states such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. 6 questions about Netanyahu's visit . +(CNN)Pleading innocence, immunity and ignorance, the city of Cleveland responded to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tamir Rice's family by saying the 12-year-old's death was his own fault. In November, Cleveland Officer Timothy Loehmann fired the fatal shots at Tamir within two seconds of arriving outside a recreation center where the sixth-grader was playing with a pellet gun. In the 41-page response to the family's lawsuit filed Friday, the city says that Tamir's injuries "were directly and proximately caused by the failure of Plaintiffs' decedent to exercise due care to avoid injury." The response further says that "Plaintiffs' decedent's injuries, losses, and damages complained of, were directly and proximately caused by the acts of Plaintiffs' decedent, not this Defendant." The city also claims it is entitled to all "full and qualified" immunities under state and federal law. As to the scores of other allegations in the lawsuit, the city responds by saying that they are untrue, that the independent investigation by Cuyahoga County is still going on, or that the city "is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth." Cuyahoga County's medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide but has issued no determination as to whether the events that caused the boy's death constitute a crime. Cleveland authorities have repeatedly said that Loehmann mistook Tamir's fake gun for a real one. A witness called 911 on November 22 to say there was "a guy with a pistol" and that although the weapon was "probably" fake, Tamir was scaring people. It doesn't appear the dispatcher relayed the information to Loehmann and Officer Frank Garmback. Video of the incident shows the two pull up on the snowy grass near a gazebo where Tamir is standing. Within two seconds of exiting the police car, Loehmann shoots the 12-year-old. The boy died the next day of injuries to "a major vessel, intestines and pelvis." In the video, neither Loehmann nor Garmback appears to provide medical assistance to the boy, and Police Chief Calvin Williams has said that Tamir did not receive first aid until an FBI agent arrived on the scene four minutes later. An attorney for the Rice family says the city's response to the lawsuit is indicative of well-documented problems within the Cleveland Police Department. "The Rice family maintains that Tamir was shot and killed unnecessarily by Cleveland police officers," Rice family co-counsel Walter Madison said in a statement. "Their tactics that preceded his death and the subsequent victim blaming are examples of the institutionalized behavior that has beset the Cleveland Police Department. The Rice family's lawsuit seeks to eliminate certain institutional behaviors and practices that have no place in our diverse community." Rice family co-counsel Benjamin Crump said the family was "just in disbelief" after reading the response. Crump went on to attack the police department's assertion, put forth in December, that Loehmann gave Tamir three verbal commands to put his hands up. "It is just incredible that the police officer, based on what we see on the video surveillance recording, gave Tamir three verbal commands to put his hands up and drop the weapon, based on what we see in the video. It was less than 1.7 seconds. The car hadn't even stopped. It's unbelievable." CNN could not immediately reach the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department for comment. Cleveland Police Department spokesperson Ali Pillow declined comment and referred questions to a city spokesman, who couldn't be immediately reached. In December, the U.S. Justice Department released the results of a two-year investigation that found Cleveland officers use guns, Tasers, pepper spray and their fists excessively, unnecessarily or in retaliation. The police force has used unnecessary and unreasonable force at a "significant rate," employing "dangerous tactics" that put the community at risk, the investigation stated. It was also reported in December that Loehmann's previous employer, the Independence Police Department in a Cleveland suburb, had numerous complaints about the officer, including that he was "distracted and weepy" and "emotionally immature" and had demonstrated "a pattern of lack of maturity, indiscretion and not following instructions." He also showed "dangerous loss of composure during live range training" and an "inability to manage personal stress," the department said. In December, Crump called for Loehmann and Garmback to be charged and decried what he said was a police tendency to let grand juries determine whether to charge officers involved in shootings. In Tamir's case, he said, "several things were done inappropriately," which is probable cause to charge the officers. "There is nothing written anywhere in the law that says police officers are to be treated differently from any other citizen," Crump said. "We cannot have children playing cops and robbers on a playground and police officers coming and claiming their lives." Loehmann and Garmback have been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation. CNN's Kristina Sgueglia, Catherine E. Shoichet and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +(CNN)California's Silicon Valley is one of the most prosperous places in the United States -- home to tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Apple. Yet even this region isn't immune from the scourge of child poverty. I visited Silicon Valley in November for CNN's Change the List series. Readers of this website voted for me to do a story on child poverty. There, I found children living in tents, homeless shelters -- even a garage, which I found particularly ironic given that Google and Apple link their company origins to garages in this valley south of San Francisco. Instead of going on about all that's wrong with Silicon Valley and this country as a whole, where one in five kids lives below the poverty line, I want to bring some good news: We can fix this. Child poverty isn't inevitable. It's a choice. And we can choose to end it. Here are four ways we can start to do that. If you don't like these, go to this Google Form (yeah, Google) and suggest a solution of your own. Your ideas may end up in a future column. (Side note: Google declined to comment on "The poor kids of Silicon Valley." Facebook and Apple, meanwhile, did not respond to my repeated email requests for comment.) The idea: Housing is too expensive for poor families, especially in markets such as Silicon Valley. But making affordable housing more available can reduce this burden. Evidence it works: Increasing federal housing subsidies would reduce U.S. child poverty by 20.8%, according to a 2015 Children's Defense Fund report. That would lift 2.3 million kids out of poverty. The annual cost would be $23.5 billion. For more info, read this report: "Ending Child Poverty Now." What you can do: Support vetted California organizations that provide free or subsidized housing to low-income families, including Family Supportive Housing and Samaritan House. Or: Petition Facebook, Apple or Google to fund subsidized housing projects in their own backyard. The idea: Working families can't afford to raise their kids, and better wages would help them do it. The federal minimum wage is worth considerably less now than it was in the 1960s, adjusted for inflation, according to the Congressional Research Service. The federal minimum wage was worth $9.27 in 1963, using July 2013 dollars. Now it's $7.25. Evidence it works: Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, and boosting the tipped worker wage to $7.07, could reduce U.S. child poverty by 4%, according to the Children's Defense Fund report. That would help lift 400,000 American kids out of poverty. To see how something like that plays out, I visited the Idaho-Washington border. Idaho's minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Washington's is $9.47. The difference is $4,618 per year. On my visit, I met Amanda Palmen, a 27-year-old gas station worker. She told me that that wage difference is enough to help her two girls more comfortably -- and get off the SNAP program. What you can do: Petition for a $10.10 federal minimum wage. And learn more about minimum wage laws in your state. The idea: Kids who attend high-quality preschools are more likely to graduate from high school and tend to earn more as adults. Every child should have that chance. Additionally, expanding child care subsidies could help. Spending $5.3 billion would reduce U.S. child poverty by 3%, or 300,000 kids, according to the Children's Defense Fund report. Evidence it works: Meet the poorest kids in Iceland, a country with a low child poverty rate and nearly universal enrollment in early education, starting at age 2. In America, meanwhile, despite advances in many states, only 40% of 3-year-olds are enrolled. (Rates do go up for 4- and 5-year-olds, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.) Petition in favor of "preschool for all." Or support these vetted groups: . The idea: The thing poor families lack is money. Give it to them and let them decide how to spend it. Evidence it works: Cherokee, North Carolina, pays tribal members a biannual stipend, just for being alive. And social ills have declined. The money comes from a casino, which the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation owns. In 1996, the tribal council voted to distribute 50% of the casino profits evenly among its 15,000 members, according to Vice Chief Larry Blythe. A Duke University researcher has been studying the impact of these payments for two decades. She follows 1,420 kids, comparing the lives of those who get the casino money with those who don't. The results are startling. For the poorest families, a yearly $4,000 payment reduced by 22% the odds that children would commit minor crimes by their late teens. The poorest kids were one grade year ahead when researchers checked in with them at 21. Mental health also improved. Kids who were lifted out of poverty by the payments saw behavioral problems decrease by 40%. For more info, read this op-ed: "The argument for the basic income." What you can do: Start a petition asking Congress to sponsor a "basic income" bill. +(CNN)In his first interview since Islamic State militants burned alive a Jordanian pilot, the King of Jordan spoke to CNN's Fareed Zakaria about why and how the country is going after the terror group. Last December, ISIS captured Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh after his plane went down during airstrikes that were part of the United States-led coalition to defeat the group. For more than a month, al-Kasasbeh's family, hailing from a high-ranking tribe considered especially loyal to Jordan's royal family, implored ISIS to let him go. Hope that he could be spared ended in early February when a video emerged showing the 29-year-old pilot in a cage, being burned alive. King Abdullah II, an instrumental supporter of the global coalition, then said Jordan would be relentless in retaliating against ISIS. The country unleashed airstrikes. To Zakaria, Abdullah reiterated his commitment to stop ISIS. He called its fighters "outlaws" who twist Islam and use "intimidation" as their biggest weapon. The King told Zakaria that he didn't watch the video of the pilot's slaying. "I -- many of us refused to see what I think is propaganda," Abdullah said. He felt "disgust, sadness for the family" and his "heart went out to the father, the mother, the brothers, the sisters," the King continued. "His wife, they'd only been married for five months. (I felt) anger as the son of the Arab army, Jordanian armed forces. God bless his soul. He's a brother in arms. "All soldiers past and present were disgusted by the brutality of what Moath was put through," Abdullah said. During his interview with Zakaria, the King repeatedly referred to ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, as Daesh. That's an acronym for al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham. Many in the Middle East prefer to use Daesh because, to them, the acronym ISIS suggests the terror group is a legitimate state. They refuse to give the militants that much credit. "I think if ISIS, or Daesh as we call them, try to intimidate Jordanians ... just (has) the reverse effect," Abdullah said. "If you look at our history, we're a country that's used to being outgunned and outnumbered. We've always punched way above our weight. I think, if anything, Daesh has us as a tiger by the tail." The pilot's killing "just motivated Jordanians to rally around the flag," he said. "The gloves have come off." ISIS is "always trying to intimidate, scare, put fear in people's hearts," the King told Zakaria. "They are trying to invent falsely a linkage to a caliphate, link to our history in Islam that has no truth or bearing to our history." ISIS is recruiting "deluded young men and women" who "think this is an Islamic nation." U.S. President Barack Obama has caught flak for saying he didn't want to refer to ISIS members as Islamic extremists because their actions are not Islamic. "I think he is right," Abdullah said. "This is something that has to be understood on a much larger platform. (ISIS) is looking for legitimacy (that) they have inside of Islam." "I'm a Muslim," the King said. "These people (ISIS members) ... are on the fringe of Islam." "The barbarity with the way they executed our brave hero (the pilot), I think, shocked the Muslim world, especially Jordanians and people from this region," Abdullah said. In the wake of the pilot's death, a Jordanian government spokesman vowed an "earthshaking retaliation." Zakaria asked Abdullah if Jordan's action has lived up to that fiery rhetoric. "Earth-shattering from all military capabilities is not something that happens overnight," he answered, saying that airstrikes have continued. "There are continued operations going on in Syria. We are coordinating with our friends in Iraq." He said there is a "long-term approach" to fighting ISIS but didn't give any more details. The war against ISIS is as much Jordan's war as that of any other country in the coalition, he said. "It is our war. It has been for a long time," he said. "These are outlaws, in a way, of Islam, the minute they set up this irresponsible caliphate to try to expand their dominion over Muslims." ISIS cannot argue that Jordan and other Muslim nations should not attack them because they're fellow Muslims, he said. The militants "try to make themselves look as victims," he said. "What about the hundreds if not thousands of Muslims they have killed in Syria and Iraq over the past year and a half?" Jordan has a "responsibility to reach out to eastern Syria" and to western Iraq where people have been "executed in large numbers" by ISIS, Abdullah insisted. "So this is our war," he said. "We have a moral responsibility to reach out to those Muslims to protect them and stop (ISIS) before they reach our border." Zakaria asked Abdullah what he thinks about the perception some have that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is interested in combating ISIS, meaning al-Assad and Abdullah have common enemies. ISIS has gained strength by exploiting the unrest in Syria during its ongoing civil war. That war is the result of unrest in Syria that originally started in 2011 within the context of the Arab Spring, protests for democracy or changes in government that raged in parts of the Middle East and North Africa in 2010 and 2011. Syrian protesters, in 2011, wanted to bring change to the government which they said stifled expression in the harshest ways. The al-Assad regime violently cracked down on the demonstrators, chaos erupted throughout Syria, and eventually many on the international stage came to believe al-Assad should go. The King told Zakaria that the "history of dealing with" the al-Assad regime and the "history of dealing with" ISIS are two separate things. "What has taken prominence at the moment is ISIS, Daesh," he said. Abdullah rhetorically asked whether both issues can be dealt with at the same time. "This has to be decided by the international community," he said. "We believe there has to be a political solution" in Syria, and that has "not been clarified at the moment." +(CNN)A man suspected of killing two people during a "street race" has turned himself in to Los Angeles Police. Henry Gevorgyan, 21, surrendered to authorities Saturday night in connection with the fatal hit-and-run that left two onlookers dead. He was charged Sunday with murder, according to LAPD spokesman Officer Jack Richter, and held at the LAPD jail in Van Nuys with bail set at $2 million. The crash happened Thursday in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Chatsworth. Gevorgyan was driving a gray Ford Mustang and was allegedly racing another vehicle "and struck several pedestrian spectators," police said. Authorities said he fled the scene of the accident along with the driver of the other car. One man died at the scene, another died at a local hospital from his injuries. A third pedestrian is hospitalized in stable condition. "Many view this as an entertainment, glamorous activity. I think it's important for the public to know that this is illegal, dangerous and an all too deadly activity," Capt. John McMahon told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS. Video from the scene showed the smashed Mustang on a sidewalk. The car reportedly spun 180 degrees before landing between a fire hydrant and a utility pole. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash has not been found. +(CNN)After spending much of her 2008 campaign seemingly running away from the fact that she is a woman, Hillary Clinton is showing signs that 2016 is going to be a different story. It seems that Hillary has found her outer woman, which is to say, she's found the person that she wants to present on the campaign trail, and that person is resolutely female. This time she seems to have decided to fully embrace her womanhood as an asset in her quest for the White House and to trust that the voters will do the same. Of course, Hillary hasn't officially announced that she will be running for president -- and Universal Studios has not officially announced that there will be a sequel to the blockbuster "50 Shades of Grey." But it's hard to imagine 2016 happening without both of those things, seeing as how they both have such excellent prospects of success. Hillary recently spoke at a Silicon Valley conference for women in the tech field with the theme of "Lead On." That lent itself nicely to the professional goals of the members of the audience as well as to Hillary's own leadership goals. She spoke of the dearth of women not only in the tech field, but in the ranks of Fortune 500 CEO's. In fact, one recent diversity study found that the major S&P 1500 company boards had more men with the name John, Robert, William, or James on them than women of any name combined. Left unsaid in her speech was any reference to the complete lack of a female occupant of the Oval Office thus far, but the thought could not have been far from anyone's mind, let alone Hillary's. Clinton was comfortable talking at length about her own experiences being pregnant and giving birth while working as a partner in a law firm, and using that as a launching pad to discuss the importance of women in the workforce both here and around the world. And from there she highlighted her own work on behalf of the women of the world as secretary of state. She segued into the discussion of the plight of working middle-class families that will be so central to the 2016 race, and the centrality of women's economic issues to those struggles of the middle-class. From there it was a natural progression to talking about 21st century families and the importance of things such as paid leave. And all of that dovetailed perfectly into closing remarks about the future that revolved naturally around the birth in September of Clinton's first grandchild, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky. That brought up Hillary's new role as a grandmother, and the perspective it has given her on the future and what needs to be done to guarantee that it's the best possible future. The Silicon Valley address could serve as a template for how Clinton intends to approach her career goals from the vantage point of being a woman seeking her own place in the workforce. In the coming weeks, which serendipitously happen to be part of Women's History Month, Hillary's speaking schedule is heavy with events and gatherings that center around women. If she's not running for president, then she could be gearing up to get a talk show on the Lifetime network. All of which stands in stark contrast to Hillary's last presidential campaign. In 2008, she seemed to think that she had to reassure voters that a woman could be president, primarily by not accentuating the fact that she was a woman. This time around, there seems to be a shared assumption that, of course, a woman would make an excellent president, in part simply by virtue of being a woman. In that previous campaign, Hillary ran as the most experienced candidate, primarily to draw a distinction between herself and her relatively less experienced challenger, Barack Obama. But now, almost eight years later, Clinton can let her experience speak for itself. She has more of it -- almost too much, from one perspective: She'll be 69 by the time the 2016 election takes place. So this time instead of highlighting her experience, she's highlighting the experiences she has in common with the women, mothers and grandmothers out there. Of course, Hillary's message will have to resonate beyond female voters. Fortunately, the dynamics of the 21st century economy and the place of the family within it lend themselves to a family-friendly feminism. We live in a society where women are necessary breadwinners whose income is counted upon for families to make it. Gender pay equality and supportive work environments benefit spouses, children, extended families and entire communities. Today, feminism, family and economic issues intertwine like never before. Hillary's stressing of the importance of women's workplace issues both to the family and to the struggles of the middle-class puts the Republicans on the defensive as they try to co-opt middle-class economic issues. Potential GOP presidential candidates are already trying to position themselves to steal the thunder of the Democratic nominee when it comes to issues of wage inequality and middle-class stagnation. But how exactly do they propose to reinvigorate a middle-class that is overwhelmingly composed of families with two wage-earners if they don't fight for women's workplace issues? For instance, child care may be thought of as a woman's issue, but it's really a family issue, virtually by definition, and an economic issue on top of that. Among topics that are sometimes seen as more traditional women's issues such as family planning, access to birth control and the right to choose, Hillary has the advantage in that she can make her stance clear, based on her life experiences as a woman. It's the Republicans with extremist views on these issues who have to dance around their real beliefs and avoid making outrageous and absurd statements such as embarrassing pronouncements about rape and pregnancy. If Hillary seems more comfortable running as a woman, it's partly because society at large seems more comfortable with a populist-tinged feminism than it was in 2008. Patricia Arquette's Oscar night speech in support of equal pay for women -- although predictably dismissed by right-wing media such as Fox News -- was enthusiastically received by the public in general. In fact, far from being thought radical, Arquette's statements backstage were thoroughly deconstructed by the left for not being progressively correct enough. Women have been steadily making strides in the years since Hillary's 2008 campaign, and as they did, they smoothed the way for one of their own to run for the highest office in the land without having to play down her gender. Hillary is now wisely embracing her gender as a way of capturing the same "hope and change" historical quality of Obama's presidency. Voters always want change, and Hillary Clinton has been a constant on the political stage for decades now. She's certainly no stranger to Washington, or to the West Wing of the White House. But electing her president would still represent massive change on a fundamental level. Hillary Clinton wants 2016 to be the Year of the Woman. And she wants to be The Woman. +(CNN)A volcano in Russia led to the cancellation of flights in Alaska over the weekend. "We canceled two roundtrip flights between Anchorage and Bethel, and Anchorage and Nome after an advisory of low visibility," Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Halley Knigge said. Ash from Russia's Shiveluch volcano was the culprit behind the flight disruptions Saturday, said Jeff Freymueller, a scientist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The volcano erupted Friday, shooting ash into the atmosphere some 30,000 feet. Winds blew the ash cloud across the Bering Sea and into western Alaska, Freymueller said. Shiveluch, which has been erupting consistently, caused a similar incident in January, he said. The airline will only operate flights when it's safe to do so and will not fly into areas of reported ash. Alaska Airlines was uncertain if additional flights would be canceled, but said it's monitoring the situation. Three volcanoes are erupting on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula: Shiveluch, Klyuchevskoy and Karymsky. Volcano grows Japanese island . +Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama's effort to bridge the trust deficit between African-Americans and law enforcement, the money wars heading into 2016, a little CPAC history and a "do not reply" mandate fill our Sunday trip around the "Inside Politics" table: . 1. Winning CPAC once meant little, but are Rand Paul's multiple wins just the ticket? Rand Paul won his third consecutive CPAC presidential straw poll this weekend, and most political journalists yawned -- and understandably so. There have been 20 previous CPAC straw polls, and only in four of those cases has the winner ended up as the Republican presidential nominee. And in all four of those cases, it was in the actual election year. Never has a winner in the year before the presidential vote -- like this year -- gone on to win the nomination. So Sen. Paul shouldn't rush to measure the White House drapes. But he is now in special company: He's in a tie for CPAC wins (three) with Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. Mitt Romney is the all-time leader with four CPAC wins. Ron Paul has two. So winning once is more or less meaningless, but winning twice or more? The Pauls -- Rand and Ron -- are the only two men with at least two CPAC wins who have not appeared on the GOP ticket. (Kemp was Bob Dole's VP nominee.) It's one more way, we can assume, that Rand Paul hopes to get some separation from his dad heading into 2016. 2. POTUS hopes for action -- and legacy item -- in law enforcement arena . Washington will be consumed this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress and the continuing fight over funding the Department of Homeland Security. But Nia-Malika Henderson of The Washington Post took us inside another big event: a report from the task force Obama established post-Ferguson to study the tensions between law enforcement and African-Americans. "The White House has said that they have been surprised by so many areas of commonality between these activists and law enforcement officials who were on this task force," said Henderson. "Other people say the gulf is as wide as you might imagine." Henderson adds that the President doesn't want this report to gather dust on the shelf but casts doubts over whether this will be part of Obama's record. "Whether or not it will be a legacy item, we'll have to see. That will probably depend on legislation, and that seems fairly unlikely." 3. The super PAC campaign: Millions are OK, but billions rule . There is always a money race in presidential politics. But the times are changing. Candidates need to raise cash for their actual campaign committees, but that effort is taking a back seat to the bigger money chase. Jonathan Martin of The New York Times shared some reporting on the race to win over big -- as in billionaire -- support for the super PACs that now dominate the world of political finance. Martin noted it's March 1, and "not a single candidate has set up an actual campaign committee." "They have, though, set up super PACs, and this has dramatically changed politics. The donors most coveted now are billionaires with a 'B,' those [who] can stroke seven-, eight-figure checks and the year of the bundlers who can raise a few hundred thousand dollars is seemingly passe." 4. Go West: The states are blue, but the money chase is bipartisan . It's not really a risk to say California, Oregon and Washington will go blue --Democratic -- in the 2016 presidential race. So why, then, are many Republican hopefuls heading West, especially to Silicon Valley? It's all about the cash. Obama dominated high-tech fundraising in 2008 and 2012. Bloomberg's Lisa Lerer traveled West recently as Hillary Clinton made a pitch for help this time around. She reports that Clinton has many friends, but that there is a fierce and bipartisan competition for money out West. "This time she'll ... have competition from an unlikely source, Rand Paul, who's opened an office there. He's hoping to tap into the libertarian vein of some of the Silicon Valley money. Jeb Bush has also been meeting with tech executives." "It's not clear who's going capture this new and growing source of wealth for elections that are supposed to cost over $1 billion on each side, but one thing's sure. We'll see lots of candidates and staffers making many trips down the 101." 5. DO NOT REPLY: Your government's guide to a partial shutdown . A temporary fix keeps the Department of Homeland Security running at full steam this week, but Congress will be trying to find a longer-term solution next. So department workers still have to prepare and sort out whether they would have to work -- or would be furloughed -- in the event funding expires. Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post gave us a glimpse at the contingency planning, obtaining a memo sent to relevant workers as it appeared Congress might not reach even a temporary deal before the Friday night deadline. "Buried deep in there on page 23--- a little note to the 15% of DHS workers who might have been furloughed: you can check your email but you cannot hit reply," said O'Keefe. "You were allowed to check for the status of the furlough but to hit reply or to engage anyone on email might result in severe penalties." "So you would get paid after a shutdown, but you weren't allowed to check your email. Perhaps a silver lining to the possibility of the shutdown." +(CNN)"There's a baby. There's a baby." The frantic voices of rescuers can be heard on the body cam video showing the moment baby Lily was found one week ago. The 18-month-old girl hangs upside down after her mother's car crashed and flipped into a frigid Utah river some 14 hours earlier. A firefighter is seen lifting her tiny body, wrapped in pink, from the red car where Lily's mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, 25, lost her life. The car landed on its roof in the Spanish Fork River. From the murky waters, the rescuer hands baby Lily to a police officer. He dashes up the rocky banks of the Spanish Fork, pressing the infant close to his chest for warmth. "Got it," the officer is heard saying. Lily is freezing. "Come on, baby," he says. "She's definitely hypothermic." In the ambulance, the officer pats little Lily on the back in an attempt to get her breathing. Lily is on her side. She looks pale, her tiny arm appears stiff. "Come on, sweetie," the officer implores. "Come on, sweetie." On the ambulance to a hospital, rescuers perform CPR. They try to warm her. "We're almost there," one rescuer is heard to say. "Are you getting a pulse?" "I can't feel anything," says another. At the hospital, as Lily is rushed into the emergency room, she vomits. "We've been doing CPR on her," the officer tells emergency room personnel. "She's been throwing up a little bit." Those moments captured by the body cam video -- which first aired on CNN affiliate KSL -- were crucial. "If anything had been different, she might not have made it," emergency room doctor Brock Royall told the station. In the ER, Lily opened her eyes as CPR was performed to get her heart pumping, Royall said. Another important factor was a car seat. Lily was in the proper car seat for her age, and the seat appears to have been properly attached. Even though the child was trapped and upside-down, her body remained in the seat and above the frigid water. Doctors say that such low temperatures are dangerous, but even more dangerous if the baby had gotten wet. "She seems to be doing great," said Officer Jason Howard of the Spanish Fork Police Department. "We were able to get together with her and her family. She was happy and smiling. Seemed to be a normal and happy, healthy baby." Howard said the toddler temporarily was staying with an aunt and uncle. Her father, Deven Trafny, 34, was out of town on a job at the time of the accident, CNN affiliate KUTV reported. He rushed to his daughter's side as soon as he heard. "(I) came in, I put my finger in her hand, and I told her her Dad was here, and I love her," he told reporters Wednesday. "I haven't left her bedside since, and I've just been here just sitting next to her waiting for her to get better so she can come home." Trafny said that Lily is awake and has been singing nursery rhymes. Video of the two of them at a hospital shows her waving at a camera. "She knows everything she knew before anything happened. It's amazing. Doctors say it's amazing," he said. How did toddler survive car crash in Utah river? Lily might have died unseen with her mother had a man not gone fishing in that particular spot last Saturday. The angler waded into the river around noon, then noticed the car wheels-up in the water. The fisherman called emergency dispatch. The water was so cold that, when the rescue was over, seven of the men involved had to be treated for hypothermia. They heaved the car onto its side and saw Groesbeck in the driver's seat. It was clear to them that she was dead. Lily was still strapped into her seat, where she may have been for 14 hours, if the wreck occurred at about 10:30 Friday night, as police believe. Trafny described Groesbeck as the love of his life, according to KUTV: "I'm going to miss her a lot. I still have to deal with that." But he also considers himself lucky to still have his daughter -- healthy and alive. "I'm just blessed. I'm counting all my blessings right now," said Trafny. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, Dana Ford and John Newsome contributed to this story. +(CNN)Cristiano Ronaldo reached 30 La Liga goals for the season but could not prevent Villarreal from grabbing a share of the points in the Bernabeu Sunday in an entertaining 1-1 draw. Ronaldo put Real ahead with a second half penalty after being pulled down and had 13 shots of goal in a lively display, but his team was unable to secure a fourth consecutive win. Gerard Moreno's thumping low strike 26 minutes from time spoiled the home party and Real has seen its lead at the top cut to two points after Barcelona's win Saturday. The arch rivals meet in El Clasico on March 22, with the title very much up for grabs. Villarreal, coached by Marcelino, even fielded an understrength side as it bids to progress in the Copa del Rey and the Europa League, but should have been ahead early when Iker Casillas made a fine save from Moreno and then Dani Carvajal spectacularly headed Moi Gomez's follow-up effort off the line. Real was turning up the heat and Gareth Bale went close for the European champions with a header, while Raphael Varane went even closer with a header that also just missed the target. Ronaldo was a constant threat and after the break he was pulled down inside the area by Eric Bailly and converted from the spot. Bale and Ronaldo should have doubled the scoreline, but Real was made to pay for its wasted chances when Moreno stunned the home crowd with the leveler. Champion Atletico Madrid missed the chance to close to within five points of Real at the top after being held to a 0-0 draw at Sevilla earlier Sunday. Valencia moved to within a point of Atletico after beaing David Moyes's Real Sociedad 2-0 with a double from Pablo Piatti. Wolfsburg wins thriller . In the Bundesliga, VfL Wolfsburg kept up its dogged pursuit of Bayern Munich with a 5-3 win at Werder Bremen in a thrilling eight-goal encounter. Wolfsburg striker Bas Dost scored a double to make it 14 goals in his last nine appearances but his side still trails Bayern by eight points despite its impressive recent form. The match had been under threat due to a security alert in the north Germany city of Bremen, but it was downgraded with extra police on duty at the 42,000-capacity Weserstadion stadium. Earlier police had made two temporary arrests and searched an Islamic cultural center. Monaco holds PSG . In Ligue 1, Monaco, so impressive in beating Arsenal in midweek Champions League action, held Paris Saint-Germain to a goalless draw. PSG was hoping to leapfrog Lyon at the top, but could not break down the stubborn Monaco defense, keeping its 10th clean sheet in the last 11 matches. Lyon, beaten 2-1 at Lille Saturday, still leads title holder PSG by a point at the top. +(CNN)Fifty years after its premiere, "The Sound of Music" is still among millions of fans' favorite things. The Julie Andrews film, about the von Trapp family and its "problem" governess, Maria, is beloved enough to have spawned audience singalongs. The performers who played the von Trapp children remain close, doing joint interviews and publishing a book. The film even prompted a live NBC musical, which -- though it was roasted by critics -- still managed stupendous ratings. Of course, there remains one notable dissenter: Christopher Plummer, who has long had a grudging opinion of perhaps his most famous role. "It was so awful and sentimental and gooey," he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011. That may have been its charm. The movie, which premiered on March 2, 1965, went on to earn five Oscars -- including best picture -- and grossed more than $110 million in its initial run, equal to about $800 million in today's money. That made it one of the most successful movies of all time at the box office, up there with "Gone With the Wind," and it wasn't truly surpassed until "The Godfather" came out in 1972. It even helped save 20th Century Fox two years after the studio's debacle with "Cleopatra." No wonder the Mad magazine parody was called "The Sound of Money." So, what ever happened to Liesl, Friedrich, Greta and all the rest? Click the gallery to find out. You'll find it's "Something Good." +(CNN)Cleveland's mayor apologized Monday for the city's "poor use of words and our insensitivity" in the Tamir Rice case. Mayor Frank Jackson told reporters the city was apologizing to the Rice family and the people of Cleveland for the wording of a legal filing last week, which said the death of Tamir, a 12-year-old who was shot by police in November, was the sixth-grader's own fault. "We did something that ... is hurtful to the family, that is disrespectful to them and the victim as well as the city of Cleveland," he said. The wording in the legal filing, Jackson said, was standard language used in legal defense, and the insensitivity "was not intended." But now, he said, the city will be rewording its filing -- a decision he pushed for as soon as he found out about it. "What I care about right now is that the family of Tamir Rice and the people of the city of Cleveland understand and realize that we are sorry for what we have done and that we apologize to them," Jackson said. Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Rice family, said the mayor's apology didn't go far enough. "I don't want him just to apologize for the poor word use and the grammatical phrases," Crump told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Monday. "I want him to apologize for the death of this 12-year-old child, one of his citizens, at the hands of what we believe were police officers who were improperly trained." Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann fired the fatal shots at Tamir in November within two seconds of arriving outside a recreation center where the 12-year-old was playing with a pellet gun. "They never even gave him a chance," Tamir's mother, Samaria Rice, told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." The whole world has seen the same video like I've seen, and I'm sure the whole world is saying, 'You guys never gave him a chance.' With that being said, it can never be justified." Cleveland authorities have repeatedly said that Loehmann mistook Tamir's fake gun for a real one. Cuyahoga County's medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide but has issued no determination as to whether the events that caused the boy's death constitute a crime. In its 41-page response to the family's lawsuit filed Friday, the city says that Tamir's injuries "were directly and proximately caused by the failure of Plaintiffs' decedent to exercise due care to avoid injury." The response further says that "Plaintiffs' decedent's injuries, losses, and damages complained of, were directly and proximately caused by the acts of Plaintiffs' decedent, not this Defendant." Another attorney for the Rice family has said the city's response to the lawsuit last week was indicative of well-documented problems within the Cleveland Police Department. "The Rice family maintains that Tamir was shot and killed unnecessarily by Cleveland police officers," Rice family co-counsel Walter Madison said in a statement. "Their tactics that preceded his death and the subsequent victim blaming are examples of the institutionalized behavior that has beset the Cleveland Police Department. The Rice family's lawsuit seeks to eliminate certain institutional behaviors and practices that have no place in our diverse community." CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. +(CNN)Flying with your cute little bundle of doggie love? Each airline has its own rules about how to bring a small dog in the cabin or a larger dog in its crate with the checked luggage. Not in the checked luggage, as an independent Chihuahua discovered on Tuesday. The dog was discovered in its owner's checked luggage by Transportation Security Administration officers at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. Luckily for the dog, the TSA screens all checked luggage. The officers in search of more dangerous items found the dog and called the owner, who had not intended to bring her darling dog on her Tuesday trip. The woman's husband took the misbehaving pooch home. The TSA's security procedures do not prohibit you from bringing a pet on your flight, but a more breathable crate is suggested. On the other hand, traveling with torch lighters that look like grenades? Those are always prohibited. Crazy things Americans tried to take on planes in 2013 . +(CNN)For the second time, a Georgia woman's execution has been postponed -- this time because of concerns about the drugs to be used. Kelly Renee Gissendaner was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. ET Monday. "Prior to the execution, the drugs were sent to an independent lab for testing of potency. The drugs fell within the acceptable testing limits," the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement. "Within the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, the Execution Team performed the necessary checks. At that time, the drugs appeared cloudy. The Department of Corrections immediately consulted with a pharmacist, and in an abundance of caution, Inmate Gissendaner's execution has been postponed." The 47-year-old was originally scheduled to die on Wednesday, but that execution was called off because of winter weather. A petition saying the mother of three has turned her life around, even earning a theology degree while in prison, had garnered about 80,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning. Organizers plan to deliver it to Gov. Nathan Deal, though in Georgia, the governor has no authority to grant clemency. Gissendaner has become a "powerful voice for good," the petition says of the woman convicted of orchestrating her husband's death in 1997. "While incarcerated, she has been a pastoral presence to many, teaching, preaching and living a life of purpose," the petition states. "Kelly is a living testament to the possibility of change and the power of hope. She is an extraordinary example of the rehabilitation that the corrections system aims to produce." On Sunday night, about 200 people attended a vigil at Emory University's Cannon Chapel, where they sang her praises. "Killing her is not going to bring anything back. It's not going to undo what's been done," priest Kelly Zappa told CNN affiliate WSB. The pleas did not sway Georgia's high court or its board of pardons. In a 5-2 decision Monday afternoon, the state Supreme Court denied her request for a stay, and it also dismissed a constitutional challenge claiming that her sentence was disproportionate. And the State Board of Pardons and Paroles said Monday evening that its decision last week to deny clemency in the case stands. Not since Lena Baker, an African-American convicted of murder and pardoned decades later, has Georgia executed a woman. The state was scheduled to snap that 70-year streak last week before Gissendaner's execution was first postponed. Just hours before she was scheduled to die by injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson last Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Corrections announced it had postponed the execution until Monday at 7 p.m. "due to weather and associated scheduling issues," department spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said. Gissendaner was convicted in a February 1997 murder plot that targeted her husband in suburban Atlanta. She was romantically involved with Gregory Owen and conspired with the 43-year-old to have her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, killed, according to court testimony. Owen wanted Kelly Gissendaner to file for a divorce, but she was concerned that her husband would "not leave her alone if she simply divorced him," court documents said. The Gissendaners had already divorced once, in 1993, and they remarried in 1995. Details of the crime, as laid out at trial and provided by Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, are as follows: . Kelly Gissendaner and Owen planned the murder for months. On February 7, 1997, she dropped Owen off at her home, gave him a nightstick and hunting knife, and went out dancing with girlfriends. Douglas Gissendaner also spent the evening away from home, going to a church friend's house to work on cars. Owen lay in wait until he returned. When Douglas Gissendaner came home around 11:30 p.m., Owen forced him by knifepoint into a car and drove him to a remote area of Gwinnett County. There, Owen ordered his victim into the woods, took his watch and wallet to make it look like a robbery, hit him in the head with the nightstick and stabbed Douglas Gissendaner in the neck eight to 10 times. Kelly Gissendaner arrived just as the murder took place, but she did not immediately get out of her car. She later checked to make sure her husband was dead, then Owen followed her in Douglas Gissendaner's car to retrieve a can of kerosene that Kelly Gissendaner had left for him. Owen set her husband's car on fire in an effort to hide evidence and left the scene with Kelly Gissendaner. Police discovered the burned-out automobile the morning after the murder but did not find the body. Authorities kicked off a search. Kelly Gissendaner, meanwhile, went on local television appealing to the public for information on her husband's whereabouts. Her and Owen's story started to unravel after a series of police interviews. On February 20, Douglas Gissendaner's face-down body was found about a mile from his car. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be knife wounds to the neck, but the medical examiner couldn't tell which strike killed Douglas Gissendaner because animals had devoured the skin and soft tissue on the right side of his neck. On February 24, Owen confessed to the killing and implicated Kelly Gissendaner, who was arrested the next day and charged. While in jail awaiting trial, Kelly Gissendaner grew angry when she heard that Owen was to receive a 25-year sentence for his role in the murder. (Owen is serving life in prison at a facility in Davisboro, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.) She began writing letters to hire a third person who would falsely confess to taking her to the crime scene at gunpoint. She asked her cellmate, Laura McDuffie, to find someone willing to do the job for $10,000, and McDuffie turned Kelly Gissendaner's letters over to authorities via her attorney. Kelly Gissendaner has exhausted all state and federal appeals, the attorney general said in a statement last week. In the clemency application, Gissendaner's lawyers argued she was equally or less culpable than Owen, who actually did the killing. Both defendants were offered identical plea bargains before trial: life in prison with an agreement to not seek parole for 25 years. Owen accepted the plea bargain and testified against his former girlfriend. Gissendaner was willing to plead guilty, her current lawyers said, but consulted with her trial lawyer and asked prosecutors to remove the stipulation about waiting 25 years to apply for parole. According to her clemency appeal, her lead trial attorney, Edwin Wilson, said he thought the jury would not sentence her to death "because she was a woman and because she did not actually kill Doug. ... I should have pushed her to take the plea but did not because I thought we would get straight up life if she was convicted." Her appeal lawyers also argued that Gissendaner had expressed deep remorse for her actions, become a model inmate and grown spiritually. They said her death would cause further hardship for her children. For her last meal, she requested an extravagant one: two Burger King Whoppers with cheese (with everything), two large orders of fries, popcorn, cornbread, a side of buttermilk and a salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, cheese, boiled eggs and Newman's Own buttermilk dressing, the Corrections Department said. She also requested a glass of lemonade and cherry-vanilla ice cream for dessert. According to the Death Penalty Information Center: . • Between 1973 and 2012 -- the most recent data available -- 178 death sentences were imposed upon female offenders. These sentences constitute about 2% of all death sentences. • Five states -- North Carolina, Florida, California, Ohio and Texas -- account for over half of all such sentences. • As of December 31, 2012, there were 61 women on death row. • Women on death row range in age from 28 to 79. They have been on death row from a few months to over 26 years. Currently the only woman on Georgia's death row, Gissendaner would be the second woman in the state's history to be executed. The first was Baker, an African-American maid who was sentenced to death by an all-white, all-male jury in 1944. She claimed self-defense for killing a man who held her against her will, threatened her life and appeared poised to hit her with a metal bar before she fired a fatal shot. Sixty years after her execution, Georgia's parole board posthumously pardoned her after finding that "it was a grievous error to deny (her) clemency." Such pardons are rare, but so are executions of women. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, only 15 women have been executed in the United States since 1977. CNN's Holly Yan, Tina Burnside, Greg Botelho, Tristan Smith and John Murgatroyd contributed to this report. +(CNN)ISIS militants in northern Syria released 19 Assyrian Christian hostages Sunday, an activist group said. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, all but one of the hostages were among the at least 220 Assyrians captured on February 23 during an attack on villages in the northern Syrian province of al-Hasakah. The Syrian Observatory had said previously that a self-proclaimed ISIS court ordered the release of 29 Assyrian Christian hostages, citing an Assyrian commander. The reasoning behind the release was not immediately clear. It was also not clear why only 19 people were let go Sunday. The "court" told the commander that the fate of the other kidnapped Assyrians has yet to be decided by ISIS Sharia jurists. When the decision was announced that at least some of the hostages would be released, Graeme Wood, with The Atlantic, said he was pleased to hear about it, but not entirely surprised. "ISIS has claimed for a long time to follow rules, and it claims that these Sharia courts will impose limits," he told CNN. "They can attempt to get credibility by showing that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of Sharia law." Also this weekend, the Syrian Observatory reported that ISIS has killed 1,969 people, since the declaration of its "caliphate" last June. Nearly two-thirds of them -- 1,238 people -- were civilians. Six were children and eight were women, the group said. Of the rest, 95 were fighters from the al Qaeda-affiliated rebel group al-Nusra Front, the Syrian Observatory said, and 511 were officers and soldiers of regime forces. ISIS also executed 125 of its own members for "exceeding the limits in religion," the Syrian Observatory said. "We in SOHR believe that the real number of people that had been killed by (ISIS) is higher than the number documented by SOHR because there are hundreds of missing and detainees inside the (ISIS) jails, loss of communication with about 1,000 men of al-Shaitaat tribe, (and) dozens of Kurds who have still been missing" since ISIS attacked the Syrian town of Kobani in September. Samira Said reported from Abu Dhabi. Dana Ford reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Melissa Gray also contributed to this report. +(CNN)The faded downtown of a small town in Georgia, made famous by an appearance on "The Walking Dead," can now be yours for the right price. Nine buildings in downtown Grantville are for sale on eBay, and the seller says it's a bargain. Jim Sells, Grantville's former mayor, bought the buildings in a foreclosure deal about four years ago during the recession. Sells and another investor are now putting them on the market for the starting bid of $680,000. The town was the setting for "Clear," an episode in season 3 of the hit AMC television show, in which protagonist Rick Grimes returns to his abandoned hometown to look for weapons. A Facebook page offers walking tours of the town's filming locations. But soon that won't be Grantville's only claim to fame, Sells says. The former mayor says four movies are slated to be shot in Grantville in upcoming months. 'Walking Dead' tourism comes to life in Georgia . Since the sale was announced, Sells says, thousands of people have checked out the listing. He says potential buyers are asking "lots of serious questions about revenues and property taxes." Sells says Grantville has plenty of potential but has been overlooked by developers. "It's a great picturesque little town," he said. "This is a bargain price." The eBay sale will end March 26. No returns or exchanges, the listing says. +(CNN)Rafael Nadal lifted his first trophy since last year's French Open and closed in on a long-standing ATP Tour record Sunday by claiming the Argentina Open crown. Argentina legend Guillermo Vilas leads the way with 49 wins in clay-court tournaments, but today's "King of Clay" drew nearer to the leading mark by winning his 46th title in Buenos Aires. He also claimed his 65th title from 93 tour-level finals, breaking out of a tie with legends Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg for fifth place in the all-time list. Nadal has been hampered by injury and illness since his Roland Garros triumph last June and lost out to Fabio Fognini in the semifinals of the Rio Open last week. It was a dispiriting defeat -- his first in a clay-court semifinal for 12 years -- but, moving from Brazil to Argentina, the Spaniard was largely untroubled in reaching the final and duly swept aside home player Juan Monaco 6-4 6-1 in the Estadio Billoch Caride. Nadal was playing in the first event for the first time in 10 years and his victory is a morale-booster after going out early in Qatar and exiting the Australian Open ahead of his clay-court swing in South America. The 28-year-old from Mallorca took his career record against Monaco, who was playing his 20th career final, to 6-1 and was never seriously troubled in the title match. The only thing to delay him was multiple rain delays which had the players scurrying on and off the court. A single break of service gave him the opener but he pulled clear immediately in the second and three further breaks saw him wrap up victory in just short of an hour and a half of action. Nadal is the seventh successive Spanish winner of the ATP 250 event, and it is a boost for his preparations for his challenge for a remarkable 10th French Open title in May. +(CNN)I think back to 56 years ago: What if? If my father had not been brave and hungry for a better future in America, there would be one fewer public administrator, one fewer third grade teacher and one fewer student in medical school in my family. Had so many young people not given their youth, their energy, their strength and their love for this country, the America we know would not exist. I owe the America I know to my father and the many men that toiled long ago in the fields of our past. I owe my success to my father Herminio, mother Juanita and countless others that dreamed of a better tomorrow. They dreamed of a better tomorrow never knowing if they would reap the slightest of benefits from their hard work. Today I stand as a testimony to that dream. As a teenager, my father left his life of poverty in Mexico for the promise of a new life in the United States in 1959. The hard, physical work of picking crops in the fields of California, Arizona and Texas, earned him less than a dollar a day, once room and board was subtracted. The Braceros program granted him a work visa and when he finished the program, he began his path to citizenship. My father did not complete any formal education past fourth grade. In that era in Mexico, you had to pay for school past a certain grade and my father's family couldn't afford it. He was limited to menial work and low wages. Unlike my father, I wasn't born into a life destined for backbreaking labor. My dad brought us into a world with endless possibilities. The sky was truly the limit and for the first time in his life, my father had hope -- for us. Our upbringing was humble, but my parents provided for all 12 of us children. They taught each and every one of us the importance of education. Our childhood was filled with the joys of love, laughter and belief in God. My father created paradise in a modest, two-bedroom home in the inner city of San Antonio, Texas. Our eggs came fresh every morning from the miniature chickens we raised. We were raised to live off the land, just like our father did as a younger man. We had a goat, a turkey, a potbelly pig, ducks, geese and chickens. Many of my fondest memories were of feeding and tending to our animals. One would assume that we lived on a farm. But balancing a life of dual identities was not an easy feat for either my siblings or me. I recall having to wake up early on Sunday mornings to feed the chickens and collect the eggs, while my friends were going to the zoo, water park or the mall. When Mondays came around, I dreaded talking about what I did that weekend. I didn't want to be judged, so I always made something up. The frustration of not being able to fit in gave way when I started getting positive feedback at school. I was outperforming my peers in English and writing, and I was finally getting recognition by my teachers and classmates. I felt that I finally was doing something like everyone else. I excelled at school. I decided to take a chance and apply for college. I started at the University of Texas at San Antonio in fall 2002 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and a Master's in public administration. I was the first in my family to get a college degree -- I'm the seventh out of 12 children. All of my siblings after me went to college and today we have a public administrator, a teacher and a medical school student in the family. Now, I work in an urban school district as a site coordinator for the federal initiative Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. The program sets out to make a college education a reality for underrepresented students and communities experiencing high poverty. I work to remove those barriers so that every one of my students has a chance at a life like the one that was given to me by my parents. I have given myself to a life of service. I am now responsible for helping many young children reach their potential and live a life our ancestors could only dream of. I am the dream. I am an American. And I am the proud son of an immigrant. Are you a first-generation American? Share your story with CNN iReport. +(CNN)Waiting for Benjamin Netanyahu to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, there was a whole Winston Churchill aspect to it all. Many Israeli analysts believe Netanyahu sees his speech to Congress warning of the dangers of a nuclear Iran akin to that of the late British Prime Minister's famous address to parliament in 1939 warning of the pending danger of Nazi Germany. Indeed on the tarmac, Netanyahu, with his wife, Sara, at his side, somberly declared his visit to Washington a "crucial" and "historic" trip and himself the "messenger" of all the Israeli people, even those who don't agree with him. "I fear for the fate of the State of Israel and therefore I will do everything I can to ensure the security of our future," he told reporters before boarding. 6 questions about Netanyahu's trip . In the days leading up to the trip, Netanyahu laid the symbolism for embarking on what aides believe he views as his date with destiny, starting with a visit to the grave of his father, who he often says warned him about the dangers of missing threats to the Jewish people before it is too late. On the eve of his trip, he vistied the Western Wall, the holiest site of Judaism. There Netanyahu declared his solemn obligation to protect Israel, saying "we must unite" against the nuclear deal shaping up with Iran "that could endanger our very existence. " On board the El-Al 767 to Washington, Netanayhu holed himself up with aides working on his speech. A pilot told us he heard the Prime Minister several times yelling from the cabin, "No, no -- stronger, stronger." I sat in the back cabin with about 50 journalists -- print reporters, TV correspondents and crews and photographers. I'm told that's about double the number of press who normally travel with him. Obama and Netanyahu: A clash of world views . With 12 hours to kill, the journalists chatted about Bibi, the visit and how his planned address to Congress has morphed into an international showdown of mythic proportions. We even found the movies on the plane steeped in symbolism: "The Imitation Game" -- an Academy Award-winning story about how a lone genius mathematician defeated all odds to crack Nazi codes and help save Europe from Hitler's grasp. Then there was "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" a tale of a group of oppressed people led by a brave revolutionary who hopes good will triumph over evil. Okay, maybe that"s a stretch. I did say it was a very long flight. Bibi, as he is called, never came back. Officials traveling with him said it was because he was busy with the speech. I never thought I would come to appreciate the access the American diplomatic press corps gets aboard the Secretary of State's plane. A senior official did come back to brief the reporters just before landing, telling us the Prime Minister would be laying out the details he understands to be part of the nuclear deal shaping up with Iran and urge Congress to press the Obama administration to push back the March 24 deadline for a political framework. Netanyahu, the official said, saw the speech as a "last chance" to avert a bad deal with Iran, which could threaten Israel's future. We arrived at Andrews Air Force Base to a snowy evening and took the motorcade to Washington. Time will tell if this was indeed a historic flight or a flight of fancy. +(CNN)All of these women left a mark on the world that would change people's thinking for decades -- in some cases centuries -- to come. They wrote books that revolutionized people's view of society; made scientific discoveries that transformed medicine as we know it; and brought about laws that shook up the establishment. In celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, Leading Women takes a look at just seven of the many females throughout history who changed the world for the betterment of all. The American author's best-selling 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" helped popularize the anti-slavery movement. Legend has it Abraham Lincoln greeted Beecher Stowe at the White House by saying: "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war," in reference to the civil war. Her novel followed the life of black slave Uncle Tom, and was the second best-selling book of the 19th century after the Bible. British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a group known for extreme forms of protest such as chaining themselves to railings and going on hunger strikes. "We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers," she said during a court trail in 1908. Sadly Pankhurst never lived to see her dream become reality, dying three weeks before a law was passed giving women equal voting rights with men. "What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again" -- Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl." The wisdom and wit of 13-year-old Jewish schoolgirl Anne Frank, written while hiding in Amsterdam during the Second World War, is one of the most widely-read books in the world with over 30 million copies sold. Her story of life under German occupation is a powerful record that has been translated into 67 languages and adapted for both film and theater, with her home itself turned into a museum. Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, just weeks before it was liberated. French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir's 1949 book "The Second Sex" became a landmark feminist work. It analyzed the treatment and perception of women throughout history, and was deemed so controversial that the Vatican put in on the Index of Prohibited books. "All oppression creates a state of war; this is no exception," said De Beauvoir, who along with partner Jean Paul Sartre was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. British chemist and x-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin's research was key in revealing the structure of DNA. Her x-ray photographs of the double helix were used by scientists Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins, who in 1962 were jointly awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on the DNA model. However Franklin missed out on a Nobel Prize herself, dying from ovarian cancer in 1958 at 37. American Billie Jean King was one of the greatest competitors Wimbledon had ever seen, taking home a whopping 20 titles. But she is perhaps best known for a one-off match dubbed "The Battle of Sexes" against Bobby Riggs in 1973. The bespectacled 29-year-old King beat 55-year-old Riggs in front of a worldwide television audience of 50 million. She later went on to form the Women's Tennis Association and has campaigned for equal prize money for female players. "When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope," said 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai. The Kenyan political activist founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 in an effort to empower rural women who had started reporting their streams were drying up, their food supply was less secure, and they had to walk further than ever before for firewood. The movement has since spread across the world, campaigning on climate change and teaming up with the United Nations Environment Programme. This is by no means the definitive list of women who changed the world, and narrowing it down to just seven was a tough call. Who would you include? Leave your suggestions in the comments box below. +(CNN)Riding the crisp green waves that break into a whirl of foam on Costa Rica's Pacific shore, Rupert Hill looks like he could surf before he could walk. However, for the 37-year-old owner of Surf Simply, a surfing resort in Nosara, the sport was an early love that blossomed later in life. He first paddled out to the big blue when he was a teenager, but his professional life took a different turn when he embarked on a fine art degree in London. In the end, the pull of the waves was too strong and Hill decamped to Costa Rica with a goal to create a surfing school with a difference. "I wanted to create a really intimate space that was a long way away from the putting the lots of people in the water kind of business model that surf schools often are. I wanted to just have a few people, 12 people each week, and then this area is somewhere where they can completely decompress and just focus on being coached how to surf better," he says. A large chunk of the school's training is devoted to theory classes, and Hill also films his students while they're surfing so that he can show them what aspects of their technique they need to improve: "The first time you see yourself surfing, it's kind of mortifying. It's a little bit like hearing yourself sing for the first time. But, like most sports, it's the best coaching tool we have," he says. Hill's fine art credentials have not gone to waste though, as his creative training helped him design the website as well as the resort logo. While following his passion for surfing was important, Hill stresses that figuring out how to make money out of it was equally significant. "The business side of it has to work, the numbers have to make sense. Otherwise, what you've got is a brilliant hobby that's not a business," he says. Hill says that, while he feels fortunate that his work fulfills him, it still involves ordinary tasks that can sometimes be mundane. "I don't think anyone is going to find a job that they love all the time, but if you can find something that you love most of the time, you're luckier than most people in the world." +(CNN)In 1796, in his final annual address to Congress, President George Washington called for the creation of: . "...a National University; and also a Military Academy. The desirableness of both these Institutions, has so constantly increased with every new view I have taken of the subject, that I cannot omit the opportunity of once for all, recalling your attention to them." The Military Academy was soon built at West Point. But despite leaving $22,222 for its establishment (a lot of money back then) in his last will and testament, Washington's National University never came to pass. Instead, lawmakers chose to rely on state governments and religious denominations to build and finance new colleges and universities. Today, the American higher education system is in crisis. The price of college has grown astronomically, forcing students and parents to take out loans that now exceed $1.2 trillion in outstanding debt. Many of those loans are falling into default as graduates struggle to find work. The latest research suggests that our vaunted universities are producing graduates who haven't learned very much. The time has come to revive George Washington's great idea, in 21st century form. Advances in information technology that would have seemed like pure magic in colonial times mean we can now create a 21st Century National University that will help millions of students get a high-quality, low-cost college education — without hiring any professors, building any buildings or costing the taxpayers a dime. To see how, it helps to understand the three ways the federal government currently supports higher education. Two of them are well known. First, the Defense Department, National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies spend hundreds of billions of dollars financing university-based research, contributing to countless scientific breakthroughs and commercial innovations. Second, the U.S. Department of Education provides $150 billion annually in grants and loans to help students pay for college. As tuitions rise and states continue to slash funding for public universities (Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently proposed $300 million in new cuts), the federal government has become the college financier of last resort. But there is a third essential federal role in higher education that is far less well known. In many ways, it's the most important of them all, and the key to creating a 21st Century National University. In addition to funding colleges, the federal government approves colleges. It does this through a little-understood process called accreditation. To be eligible for those billions of research and financial aid dollars, colleges must be accredited. Technically, accreditors are nonprofit organizations run by consortia of existing colleges. But in order to make a college eligible for federal money, accreditors must first be approved by the federal government. Without that approval and the money that goes along with it, both colleges and accreditors would immediately close up shop. In other words, Uncle Sam ultimately decides who gets to be an American college and grant college degrees. So, here's the big idea: In order to build a 21st Century National University, all the federal government has to do is something very simple: Approve itself. In George Washington's days, this would have been only the first step of a process subsequently involving the construction of an actual university. Doing this today would accomplish little in solving the higher education crisis, because physical universities cost billions of dollars to construct from scratch and can still only enroll a handful of the many students who can't afford a good education. Fortunately, there's no need for new buildings — or, for that matter, administrators, libraries, faculty, and all the rest. Existing colleges and universities, flush with federal dollars, have already created all the essential building blocks for National U. Anyone with an Internet connection can log on to Coursera, edX, saylor.org, and many other websites offering high-quality online courses, created by many of the world's greatest universities and taught by tenured professors, for free. Tens of millions of students have already signed up for these courses over the last four years. Yet enrollment in traditional colleges hasn't flagged, and prices have continued to rise. The reason is clear. The free college providers can't (or won't) give online students the one thing they need more than anything else: a college degree. Elite universities like Harvard and Stanford don't want to dilute their exclusive brands. Nonelite universities don't want to give away something they're currently selling for a lot of money. That's where the federal government comes in. With some authorizing language from Congress and a small, one-time start-up budget, the U.S. Department of Education could create a nonprofit, bipartisan organization with only two missions: approving courses and granting degrees. Don't worry, federal bureaucrats won't be in charge of academic matters. Instead, National U. would hire teams of leading scholars to evaluate and approve courses. Some of the decisions shouldn't be difficult. For example, this week, edX is launching a free, nine-week-long online course called "Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science." It will be taught by Dr. Eric Grimson, who is the chancellor of the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dr. John Guttag, who leads the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory's Data Driven Medical Research Group. The course materials mirror those taught to some of the smartest students in the world on MIT's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It seems likely that this is a good course. National U., moreover, wouldn't be limited to courses from existing colleges. Any higher education provider, public or private sector, could submit a course for approval. Those that aren't already accredited would pay a fee to cover the cost of evaluation. National U. would also map out which courses students need to take to earn an associate or bachelor's degree. This won't be difficult, since existing colleges have already established a standard set of requirements: a certain number of approved lower- and upper-division courses, plus an approved sequence in an academic major, adding up to 60 or 120 credits. Once students complete the credits, National U. will grant them a degree. While many of the courses will be free, students will bear small costs for taking exams through secure online channels or in-person testing facilities. (Textbooks will be free and open-source). Students will also pay a modest fee of a few hundred dollars for the degree itself, enough to defray the operating costs of National U. Lower-income students will be able to pay for those expenses using the same federal grant and loan programs they currently use to pay tuition at accredited colleges. Since National U. will likely be much cheaper, this will actually save the taxpayers money in the long run. If it all sounds too good to be true, keep in mind that free online courses from the likes of MIT are a very recent phenomenon. Higher education policies just haven't adapted to them — yet. The federal government's higher education approval powers are long-established. Now it just needs to use them on behalf of students, instead of traditional colleges and universities that are charging far too much. George Washington was right all along. +(CNN)In Washington's polarized political environment, support for Israel has been a rare area of bipartisan cooperation -- at least until now. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress on Tuesday threatens to undermine the nearly 67-year tradition of bipartisan support that has endured since President Harry Truman became the first head of state to recognize Israel. Netanyahu is driven not only by his concerns about Iran's nuclear threat -- the topic of his address -- but also by domestic political considerations. Israel will hold its national elections just two weeks after his visit to Washington. Netanyahu is fighting for his political life as he faces a tougher than expected re-election campaign. He has been widely blamed at home for having failed to lower the high cost of living, an issue that his rivals have eagerly exploited. Netanyahu has tried to offset some of this criticism by focusing on his perennial issue: Iran. A major televised address in Washington concerning Iran's threat, interrupted only by standing ovations from American lawmakers, has the potential to be far more effective than any campaign ad in projecting gravitas, reinforcing his security credentials and reminding voters of his vast experience -- in contrast to his rivals' inexperience -- in foreign affairs. Yet Netanyahu's speech, while possibly giving him a short-term boost at home, will harm Jerusalem's relations with Washington, not Iran's nuclear program. Speaker John Boehner's late-January invitation to Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress was coordinated with neither the White House nor the State Department. It was, in essence, a political ploy aimed at undermining President Obama as he strives to reach a historic deal over Iran's nuclear program. In defiance of the Obama administration, and rejecting advice from leading figures in Israel and key supporters of Israel in the United States, Netanyahu accepted the invitation. By antagonizing the White House, Boehner and Netanyahu have put Democratic members of Congress in a bind, forcing them to choose between two unenviable options: either attend the speech out of respect for a close ally, but in so doing flout the president -- their party leader -- or demonstrate loyalty to Obama by snubbing the leader of a major U.S. ally. Two senior Senate Democrats with sterling pro-Israel credentials, Richard Durbin and Dianne Feinstein, tried to diffuse this latest crisis between Washington and Jerusalem by offering to meet with the Israeli premier behind closed doors but were rebuffed by Netanyahu. Feinstein had previously noted that an invitation to address Congress during the Israeli election period was "highly inappropriate." In politicizing his visit to Washington, Netanyahu has allowed his bad blood with Obama to spill over into his government's increasingly complicated relationship with the Democratic Party. Netanyahu no doubt believes that Obama is misguided about the pending deal with Iran. Indeed, there are good reasons to be skeptical of any agreement with a regime that has long engaged in deception and concealment with respect to its nuclear program. Less than two weeks ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran was continuing to evade questions about evidence of past work on designing nuclear weapons. Yet Netanyahu's move is counterproductive. Democrats on Capitol Hill who were inclined to support additional sanctions on Iran now feel compelled to back the president. In a rare move, five former Israeli ambassadors have publicly called on Netanyahu to cancel his speech. Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan has accused Netanyahu of having caused Israel "heavy strategic damage on the Iranian issue" by antagonizing the administration. Netanyahu's foray into partisan politics is hardly a new phenomenon. He has never hid his preference for the Republican Party. During his first term in office, Netanyahu irked President Bill Clinton by meeting with the Rev. Jerry Falwell, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other detractors of the President a day before coming to the White House. A key Netanyahu supporter is U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a major Republican donor who also owns the pro-Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Adelson poured millions into Republican challenger Mitt Romney's coffers, saying he was willing to spend $100 million to defeat Obama. That July, Netanyahu's senior adviser, Ron Dermer, helped orchestrate Romney's visit to Israel in what amounted to an implicit endorsement of Obama's rival. Dermer, a former U.S. citizen who once worked for Republican pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz, is Israel's current ambassador to the United States. It is Dermer who coordinated the invitation to Netanyahu with Boehner but never mentioned the invitation to Secretary of State John Kerry when they met a day before Boehner's announcement. This time, Netanyahu may have gone too far. National Security Adviser Susan Rice did not mince words when she called Netanyahu's latest move "destructive to the fabric of the relationship" between the United States and Israel. Although the U.S.-Israel relationship is strong and resilient, rooted in common values and shared interests, Netanyahu is subjecting it to an unnecessary test with unknown consequences by choosing to play partisan politics. +(CNN)Its famous Yellow Wall -- the largest free-standing grandstand in Europe, with a capacity of 25,000 -- has helped enable German football club Borussia Dortmund achieve the rare feat of transcending the relationship between a club and its fans. So special is this club that 3,000 of its own supporters dipped into their pockets as part of a crowdfunding exercise, started in 2013, to help finance a new documentary based on one of Dortmund's founding fathers. These Dortmund fans, along with sponsors, raised €250,000 ($265,000) in the process -- the biggest sum at the time ever raised for a film through crowdfunding in Germany. "This fan-club relationship is a legacy from our fathers, who made it clear that we have to engage and we have to fight for our club. It's part of our story," Marc Mauricius Quambusch, one of the film's three creators, told CNN. One of those fathers, and seen as the most important, was Franz Jacobi, who in 1909 along with 17 others helped found the club -- and it is "Am Borsigplatz geboren: Franz Jacobi und die Wiege des BVB" ("Born at the Borsigsquare: Franz Jacobi and the cradle of BVB") that tells his story. Founding fathers . Mention Dortmund and images are conjured up of back-to-back German Bundesliga title wins in 2011 and 2012, the Champions League triumph of 1997 or how it became the first German side to win a European competition with the Cup Winners' Cup in 1966. Without 21-year-old Jacobi and his disciples, however, none of that success may have ever materialized. For it was those brave 18 that gathered inside a pub called Wildschutz just off Dortmund's Borsigplatz, with the aim of establishing their own football club in response to the Catholic Holy Trinity chaplain Hubert Dewald's refusal to allow his youth group members the chance to kick a ball around. Jacobi and co. managed to resist Dewald's overtures and so "Ball Spiel Verein Borussia" ("Ball Games Club Borussia") was born. "When we started making the film I was aware of our story but not so deeply," Dortmund fan Quambusch says of a film inspired by a similar crowdfunding project dreamed up by Fortuna Dusseldorf supporters in 2012. "It's so interesting -- one so deep and with so much drama." "It's also a love story, it has everything you need," Quambusch adds, referring to Jacobi having originally dragged his friends to the city as he was in love with the pub owner's daughter, who he would later go on to marry. "If you were to try to write something, it would be exactly the same story as this." A legacy . Jacobi's DNA today still runs through the club that he helped to establish. Dortmund president from 1910 to 1923, Jacobi laid the foundations of a club which prides itself on harboring a real sense of involvement and belonging for its supporters. Permitted to stay at home in Germany during World War I as he was the oldest son of the family and his father had died, Jacobi wrote postcards to those club members who were away fighting, while also helping to take care of their wives and children. Heinrich Unger, Dortmund's maiden president and Jacobi's best friend, was one of those fighting, and he would go on to write what turned out to be the club's first ever song during his time in the trenches -- part of that song is still included in one of Dortmund's official anthems, "Wir Halten Fest Und Treu Zusammen" ("We are standing together"). "This was the beginning of the so-called 'Borussia Family,' where it was more than a club," Quambusch says, recalling a term used by Jacobi. "We have always been democratic and I think he always wanted the club members to have rights and votes, and to engage. I think Jacobi would be proud of the club today." The Borussia Family . Jacobi's "Borussia Family" is not a term used officially by the club and its supporters now, but its meaning continues to resonate. With Dortmund dangerously close to bankruptcy just a decade ago, fans came together to do all they could for their club, while as well as donating to fund the new film, supporters also contributed old photographs to help shed light on Jacobi's story. "I thought it was a great idea to make the film by our own people so I donated," Dortmund fan Jorn Pansch, who also donated for his mother and brother, tells CNN. "We've had so many more new members in recent years and it's great to bring them our history because what is the future without the past? "The film remembers many, many people, where we came from, which way we've grown up -- it made me proud to be a part of it and it shows fans and supporters stand behind the club." This relationship is no one-way street, though, with Dortmund in response offering up €50,000 ($53,000) towards the project, while providing it with valuable exposure via its social-network sites. All the money raised from the film will go into social projects in Dortmund -- historically an industrial and working-class area -- where the club was founded. "Today's fan engagement has partly come about from all those years ago with Jacobi, but also because Borussia is located in a city that is very emotional when it comes to football," Quambusch says. "Borussia has always had fans that have traveled for the club and tried to struggle with the club officials and are engaged. It's a typical Dortmund thing." ESPN FC German correspondent and Dortmund fan Stephan Uersfeld adds: "The core of the fans are very close still and the club as well is close to the fans. "Everyone still has the feeling they can do stuff and actually change things at the club." 'Struggle to survive' Boasting the highest average attendance in the world, as well as the Yellow Wall, there are not many more awe-inspiring sights in football than the Westfalenstadion when Dortmund fans are in full voice. In an age when one bad performance from the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid can bring with it a chorus of boos from its supporters, Dortmund fans have stood by their team for the most part this season, despite relegation from the Bundesliga having threatened a club that was German champion in 2012. "We always need to struggle to survive in different periods, and I think maybe that's a legacy from Jacobi's time," Quambusch says of a club that was relegated in 1972 and narrowly escaped the same fate in 1986. "The ups and downs make the club more exciting, and there have been so many extreme emotions in every direction. "I think it makes the good things much more enjoyable and wonderful because if you always win and are always top of the table it becomes boring. "When you are a Dortmund supporter you never know what you are going to get." Pride . That sentiment most likely applied to Jacobi himself, whose body today lies buried in Dortmund following the club's decision to move it into the area after originally being located 300 kilometers away in Salzgitter. Fifty-seven years after helping to form "Ball Spiel Verein Borussia," Jacobi found himself in Glasgow, having put aside his fear of flying aged 78 to watch his team beat Liverpool in the 1966 European Cup Winners' Cup final. "That was a very special moment for him -- he said it was a big moment for him and he was really proud," Quambusch says of Jacobi, who died 13 years later at the age of 90. "If you're planning a club 57 years ago, and 57 years later you are top of Europe and you are the first European cup winner in Germany, that must be a fantastic moment." Born at the Borsigsquare: Franz Jacobi and the cradle of BVB is released in German cinemas and on DVD on March 15 . +Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN)Bangladesh authorities say they have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of American blogger Avijit Roy who was hacked to death on a Dhaka street last week. The person, Farabi Shafiur Rahman, had called for Avijit Roy's death in numerous Facebook posts, according to Roy's parents. And within minutes after the Thursday attack, Rahman posted photos of the crime scene, said Col. Ziaul Ahsan of Bangladesh's elite anti-crime unit, the Rapid Action Battalion. In a Facebook comment last year, Rahman allegedly wrote, "Avijit Roy lives in America. So it's not possible to kill him now. But when he returns home, he will be killed then." In an earlier post, the same person wrote, "It's a Bengali Muslims holy duty to kill Avijit." Extremists resented Roy for openly and regularly criticizing religion in his blog. They threatened to kill him if he came home from the United States to visit. As usual, Roy defied the threats and departed his home in suburban Atlanta for Dhaka, where he appeared at a speaking engagement about his latest books -- one of them titled "The Virus of Faith." He has written seven books in all. Roy was killed Thursday as he walked back from a book fair with his wife. Assailants plunged machetes and knives into Roy and his wife, killing him and leaving her bloodied and missing a finger. Witnesses said no one came to the couple's aid as they were hacked down. Rahman, the man in custody, also allegedly posted threats against the owner of the online bookstore, Rokomari.com, forcing it to stop selling Roy's books. And last year, he was detained -- then released -- for comments he allegedly made in support of the death of another blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider. Like Roy, Haider too was hacked to death. He too had written critically about religion on his blog. CNN's Ray Sanchez, Lonzo Cook, Greg Botelho, Farid Ahmed and John Couwels contributed to this report. +(CNN)Texas is nearly out of its lethal injection drug. If scheduled executions this Wednesday and the next go forward, the state will have completely exhausted its supply of pentobarbital. "We're exploring all options," said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, " including the continued use of pentobarbital or an alternate drug(s) in the lethal injection process." In recent years, states across the country have struggled to maintain a supply of lethal injection drugs as manufacturers either stopped producing the drugs or barred their use in executions. The European manufacturers of pentobarbital, an anesthetic, explicitly banned U.S. prisons from using its drug in executions. Tennessee has said it will electrocute inmates if it can't get the drugs it needs. Other states have sought out substitutes or gone with one drug instead of the traditional three-drug cocktail. In April, Oklahoma used midazolam as a substitute for pentobarbital as part of a three-drug cocktail in an execution that went awry. Clayton Lockett, a convicted rapist and murderer, writhed and convulsed after the drugs were administered. It took 43 minutes for him to die. Texas gets its pentobarbital from compounding pharmacies, which are not subject to Food and Drug Administration oversight, something opponents of the death penalty have decried. The state leads the nation in the numbers of executions. Last year, it put to death 10 people. This year, it has executed three so far. +(CNN)It's outrage time again. This time it's over a "Saturday Night Live" commercial parody that aired over the weekend. The subject (take a deep breath and prepare to be shocked): ISIS. Yes, that barbaric terrorist group was ridiculed in a parody of a Toyota Camry commercial. The original Toyota ad depicted a father driving his daughter to the airport. He then tearfully says goodbye as his daughter heads off to join the U.S. Army. In the "SNL" parody, the daughter is played by Dakota Johnson, star of the hugely successful S&M film "50 Shades of Grey." (Good to see America has gotten over being offended by the mainstreaming of S&M.) As the parody commercial ends, however, it's revealed that the daughter is not joining the Army, but ISIS. We then see a pickup filled with ISIS fighters drive up as a worried Dad comments to his daughter: "You be careful, OK?" Johnson replies reassuringly: "Dad! It's just ISIS." The father then turns to an ISIS fighter and says, with emotion, "Take care of her." In reply, the militant whispers: "Death to America." And ... cue the outrage!! Twitter lit up instantly. Twitter user @ematrudo called NBC and "SNL" "Tasteless Scum!" And Steve Bucci of conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation even went as far as to tweet: "SNL ISIS skit also draws a moral equivalence between ISIS murderers and the U.S. Military (based on the spoofed commercial), that is wrong." Some, apparently in the minority if the media coverage is any indication, also praised "SNL": . But my favorite tweet was this one: . @kmorrison is 100% correct. The sketch mocked ISIS and on some level those who would fall for its sales pitch, like, perhaps, the three young British girls who reportedly headed to join them. Comically skewering ISIS is exactly the right thing to do -- it should be done even more. In fact, in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and even in Iraq, where ISIS is slaughtering people, brave Muslim comedians are ridiculing ISIS on TV, in YouTube videos and in cartoons. And I can assure you that if ISIS were to catch these comedians, it wouldn't just tweet about its outrage, it would kill them. So why do these comedians take the chance? Because, they say, it undermines ISIS, and also, for many, it is cathartic to laugh at the terrorists, as opposed to shivering in fear about them. This is the same reason Mel Brooks featured "Springtime for Hitler" in his hit musical comedy, "The Producers": It was a way of using comedy as revenge. Brooks saw it as a way to rob Hitler of his power (even if posthumously) by causing audiences to laugh at him. What's more, the "SNL" parody makes an important but subtle point. On the side of the ISIS pickup, the Arabic writing does not state a religious expression. Rather it says, "I love cats." As someone who worked at "SNL" for eight years, I can assure you this was not happenstance, but rather was by design. To me, the "I love cats" line shows that "SNL" grasps what many on the right refuse to. As I heard firsthand when I attended the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism two weeks ago, ISIS will despicably use any means to recruit people. Consequently, as ludicrous as it may seem, saying "we love cats" to young girls is not beyond ISIS. When I look at the outrage over this "SNL" political parody, I have to wonder: Weren't we all "Je suis Charlie Hebdo" just a few weeks ago? Remember when we stood firmly with political satirists. Well, apparently that sentiment ended for some as soon as they saw political satire they didn't like. I understand that some will be offended by political comedy with which they don't agree. But in a time when freedom of expression is under attack, if you are offended by political satire on TV, then change the channel. +Havana, Cuba (CNN)Photos published in Cuba's state-run press on Monday show Fidel Castro meeting with five Cuban intelligence agents who served lengthy prison sentences in the United States. Castro reportedly met the agents Saturday at his home in Havana, ending speculation over why the former Cuban President had not yet seen the men, who are referred to as "the five heroes" by Cuba's government. The last of the agents returned to Cuba in December following a prisoner swap that also freed U.S. State Department contractor Alan Gross, who was jailed in Cuba. The swap coincided with an announcement of a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba. Castro's wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, is also shown, as is his nephew Alejandro Castro Espín, the son of Cuban President Raul Castro and a colonel in Cuba's Interior Ministry. These "anti-terrorist heroes never did any harm to the United States," Fidel Castro wrote in an article published in the daily Communist Party newspaper Granma on Monday, which said he met with them for five hours. "They tried to prevent and impede terrorist acts against our people." U.S. officials have said the men were part of a spy ring that monitored the anti-Castro Cuban exile community and military installations in Florida. Castro on Monday though said the men were not spying on U.S. military capabilities, stating that a now-shuttered Russian spy station allowed the Cubans to be aware of any impending U.S. attack on the island. "That center allowed us to be aware of any object that moved thousands of miles from our country," Castro wrote, referring the Lourdes spy base in Cuba, which Russia closed in 2001. The men were arrested in 1998 and charged with carrying out a slew of intelligence gathering activities. Seven other agents agreed to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors, but five of the agents refused to switch sides. The men were lauded as heroes by the Cuban government, which held large demonstrations demanding their release in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Agents Rene Gonzalez, 58, and Fernandez Gonzalez, 51, returned to Cuba in 2014 after serving their prison sentences. The remaining three agents -- Gerardo Hernandez, 49; Antonio Guerrero, 56; and Ramon Labañino, 51 -- were transferred to Cuba a part of a prisoner swap after serving 16 years in U.S. prisons. Last month, all five were presented with the Hero of the Republic award, the highest honor presented by the Cuban government. Many Cubans though wondered why the men had not yet met with Fidel Castro, who had championed their cause during his final years as President. In the article published on Monday, Castro said he had not seen the men previously to allow them time with their families and to undergo extensive medical checkups. +(CNN)For the uninitiated, skydiving can be scary enough: leaping out of a plane, free-falling at 120 miles per hour, keeping your presence of mind as you pull the cord on your parachute. Now imagine having a seizure and losing consciousness more than 9,000 feet above the earth. That's what happened to Christopher Jones, 22, of Perth, Australia. His experience was captured on a video that has more than 4.4 million views on YouTube. "Halfway through the skydive, he had a seizure and rolled onto his back," WA Skydiving Academy business manager and chief instructor Robin O'Neill told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Instructor Sheldon McFarlane, who was wearing a helmet camera, struggled to catch up with Jones. McFarlane finally managed to grab Jones at about 4,000 feet and pull the rip cord. Jones regained consciousness and landed uneventfully, O'Neill said. McFarlane told the ABC he wasn't concerned. Thanks to two "AADs" -- automatic activation devices -- Jones' parachute was going to automatically deploy, he said. Nevertheless, the instructor wanted to make sure the situation was completely under control. "At no time was I worried he was going to hit the ground without a parachute, but given the circumstances and where we were I thought it would be better to get him under parachute earlier than later," McFarlane said. "I managed to catch him on my second attempt and deploy his parachute." Jones, who described the incident on YouTube as "possibly the scariest moment of my life," told the ABC that skydiving was a substitute for his dream of becoming a pilot. He had been cleared by his doctor to jump. "I've always wanted to have the feeling of flight, so I just thought, considering I can't fly a plane due to my condition, I thought I'd give it a go," he said. Jones told the ABC that he'd been seizure-free for four years but was not intending to pursue a skydiving career. +Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)For almost a week, avalanches caused by heavy snowstorms have killed 196 people in the mountainous province of Panjshir, Afghanistan, officials said on Monday. Ten new avalanches were reported early Monday morning, without any casualties. Over the weekend, a total of 40 avalanches hit the area, said Bab Jan Hakimi, head of disaster response at the Afghan Red Crescent Society. Rescue operations and emergency assistance by air and ground are still ongoing, Hakimi said. However, authorities fear the toll will grow much higher since rescue personnel have yet to reach the worst affected areas. President Ashraf Ghani, who visited the area on Saturday, declared three days of mourning in Afghanistan for the victims. Panjshir is a small, mountainous province north of the capital, Kabul. Its residents are generally poor, earning their living as farmers, shepherds or operators of small businesses such as groceries. CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported from Kabul, Afghanistan and journalist Naomi Ng wrote from Hong Kong. +(CNN)Adi Shankar had the idea for "Power/Rangers" when he was 7 years old. "This was before the Internet, and my access to TV and video games was pretty limited," the producer recalled Thursday, in the midst of the "Power/Rangers" frenzy. "So all you really had was (to) tell people stories. So I'd tell people 'Captain Planet' stories, and then I started telling them these dark 'Power Ranger' stories. "And I got into trouble," he added. "Because the parents were like, 'This guy, he's ruining our children!' " That was more than 20 years ago for Shankar. But the producer, now 30, got his wish when his dark version of the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," directed by friend Joseph Kahn, made it online -- and proceeded to rack up more than 11 million views on YouTube in less than two days. Fans buzzing over bloody 'Power/Rangers' 'bootleg' In some ways, Shankar is still getting into trouble. Not only did the video explode the Power Rangers mythology, showing the impact of serving as "child soldiers," in Shankar's phrase, but the video became a legal football after the owner of the franchise, Saban Entertainment, claimed infringement. First it was taken down from Vimeo and then YouTube. However, it was reposted in both places late Friday after lawyers reached agreement, Deadline reported. Among the additions: a disclaimer from Shankar that his "bootleg" is "my take on the FAN FILM. Not a pilot, not a series, not for profit, strictly for exhibition. This is a bootleg experiment not affiliated or endorsed by Saban Entertainment or Lionsgate nor is it selling any product. I claim no rights to any of the characters (don't send me any money, not kickstarted, this film is free)." Saban Entertainment has its own plans to reboot the popular '90s franchise with a theatrical film scheduled for 2016. 'An interesting experiment' So who are these guys, anyway? Kahn is a famed music video director, probably best known for Britney Spears' "Toxic," Eminem's "Without Me" (for which he won a Grammy) and Taylor Swift's "Blank Space." He's also handled a number of commercials and the films "Detention" and "Torque." Shankar is a producer of such films as "The Grey," "Killing Them Softly" and "Dredd." This isn't the first time he's made a "bootleg" short. Previous videos have included one featuring Marvel's Punisher character and one drawing from Marvel's Venom character. In a Reddit AMA, Kahn said that "Power/Rangers" was "self-funded." A special effects house, Ingenuity Engine, "worked six months on this and took a bath financially," he added. Shankar declined to give a budget for "Power/Rangers," which was shot over a few days last year, but says it was mainly financed through favors and the principals' money. "It was all favors," he says, noting that star James Van Der Beek "is one of my best friends." The film also starred "Battlestar Galactica's" Katee Sackhoff. Both Shankar and Kahn like to subvert concepts and cliches. Kahn said he was drawn to "Power/Rangers" because "it was an interesting experiment to play with reboot culture and tone control. ... I didn't come into it to please a fan base, per se, but to experiment with pop culture." And Shankar? Even his look tries to upset stereotypes. In the video he made to explain "Power/Rangers," he's wearing eye makeup like the 1970s Alice Cooper, a look he adopted "because I don't want to be (an Indian) stereotype," he told CNN. 'Kind of a war brewing' Shankar comes by his outlook honestly. The Indian-born producer had an itinerant childhood thanks to his father's job, traveling frequently -- various Indian cities, China, Singapore -- before moving on to the next place. He came to the United States at 16. He says he thinks of his childhood as "jarring," with the only constants comic books, movies and television. "Just moving around so much, literally every two years," he said. "I didn't feel like I had a friend until I was 18. If you're moving to a different school, let alone a different country every couple years, it's kind of jarring as a kid. There was no consistency for me in a cultural context" except for American movies and pop culture. He attended school at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he founded a successful ad agency, and then moved to Hollywood, which he describes as "a dream of mine." Though both men were successful before, "Power/Rangers" has given them new visibility -- partly thanks to the bottom-up enthusiasm for the project. Both filmmakers wax philosophical about the impact. "Internet changes things," Kahn tweeted after congratulating supporters. "New world, new rules." Shankar observes that "Power/Rangers" is just another marker in a continuing debate between creativity, intellectual property and fan-driven culture. "There's kind of a war brewing between the old world and the new world," he said. "The Internet has kind of been a nuclear warhead on a lot of businesses and a lot of industries. ... It's kind of bizarre to be thrown in the middle of it. I'm literally just a fan making a fan video." It's not about dollars and cents, he added: "Is that what we're about? We're one massive consumerist mosh pit?" In the meantime, he's got plenty of other projects cooking, including a crime thriller set in a world of both puppets and humans that's like "a really dark, violent 'Muppet Movie.' " It all comes down to the same impulse that drove him to tell stories when he was 7, he says. "I'm just a creative dude," he said. +(CNN)The Chinese government has declared the Internet to be the new battlefield in its fight against "pornography and unlawful information." The chilling reality is that the main casualty of this cyberwar is freedom of expression. China's Internet model is one of extreme control. The authorities use an army of censors to stifle dissent. In January, the Orwellian "State Internet Information Office" announced it had shut down scores of websites and more than 100 social media accounts for "distorting history of the Communist Party and the nation." Under the guise of a campaign to ensure social stability, the Chinese authorities suppress online debate on a range of legitimate issues. Dozens of phrases are censored on social media including any mention of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown or the recent Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. Thousands of websites, including Wikipedia, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter remain blocked. While the new battlefield is virtual, the impact on people's lives is real and devastating. Since President Xi Jinping came to power, hundreds of people have been detained solely for expressing their peaceful views online. It is women's rights activists, anti-corruption and environmental campaigners, and those urging debate on political and legal reforms who fall foul of online censors. Su Changlan was detained by police in October 2014. Her apparent "crime" was to have posted comments online in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests. She faces charges of "inciting subversion of state power," and a potential sentence of life imprisonment. Liu Ping, a 45-year-old mother and grassroots activist, languishes in jail right now. Last June, she was sentenced to six years in prison on the charge of "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" for publicly calling on the Chinese government to step up the fight against corruption. Liu Ping's online posts of photos of her holding banners calling for transparency, and transcripts of Skype chats with foreign media, were used to condemn her at her trial. The paradox is that President Xi has made great mileage out of his own anti-corruption drive. The persecution of Liu Ping, and many others that raise these issues only underlines the hypocrisy of the current leadership. This online attack is part of the worst crackdown against freedom of expression in China in more than a decade. Under President Xi, it is an assault on all fronts: in academia, in the media, civil society and online. Ilham Tohti, an economics professor at Central University for Nationalities in Beijing and the founder of the "Uyghur Online" website was sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2014 on charges of "separatism." The charge was based on his online articles, university lectures and interviews with foreign media. He worked to peacefully build bridges between ethnic communities and often criticized government policies that promoted discrimination. I have not seen evidence that his words did otherwise. The Chinese authorities abuse the law to suppress online freedom and target critical voices, yet have the guile to portray such persecution as evidence of the rule of law in action. Far from relenting, the government is introducing a swath of regressive legislation and regulations in a further assault against online privacy and freedom of expression. A new, vaguely worded draft anti-terror law lacks sufficient safeguards and gives the authorities virtually a free rein to collect information on individuals' online activities. All Internet and telecommunication service providers operating in China would be required to give the government backdoor access to their systems and details about the encryption used. Yes, the government has a responsibility to ensure national security and to combat serious crime, but such measures must be targeted and proportionate to the threat. Internet companies doing business in China must also take all possible efforts to avoid contributing to human rights abuses. At the international level the Chinese government looks to legitimize its actions. China's charismatic "Internet Czar," Lu Wei, extolls the concept of "internet sovereignty" and promotes it as an acceptable global model. This initiative must not go unchallenged. Internet sovereignty in China equals censorship and persecution; a web to trap thousands of individuals peacefully expressing different views online. While the immediate outlook is bleak, there is hope. The Internet has proved invaluable to the development of human rights -- revolutionizing access to information and improving transparency and accountability. For every online critic the Chinese authorities imprison, there are scores more prepared to speak out despite the risks. It is with these courageous individuals that those of us who value online freedom must stand united. The battle to promote Internet sovereignty and silence all critical voices is one the Chinese authorities must not be allowed to win. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author . +Beijing (CNN)If you live in China and haven't watched -- or at least heard about -- "Under the Dome," you must have been living under a rock. The almost two-hour documentary on air pollution in China produced by a famous TV journalist has quickly gone viral since its online release Saturday, clocking millions of views on various video sites and stirring ferocious debates across Chinese cyberspace. The air pollution that's choking Asia . Here are five things to know to put the phenomenon in context: . The slickly produced video shows journalist Chai Jing presenting a comprehensive slide show, intercutting with fast-paced footage of her travels across China and the rest of world, to find answers to three questions: What is smog, where does it come from and what can be done to tackle it? As shocking levels of air pollution continue to choke much of China regularly, the video has struck such a chord with the audience that, in two short days, it's easily attracted over 100 million views -- a hugely impressive number even in the world's most populous nation. Many Internet users have compared it to "An Inconvenient Truth," the Oscar-winning documentary on former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's effort to raise awareness on the dangers of global warming. Chai, 39, was already a household name before last weekend thanks to her career at China Central Television, the state-run national broadcaster. As a long-time CCTV anchor and investigative reporter, Chai stood out from her peers by covering sensitive topics -- ranging from the environment to homosexuality -- in a country where many journalists at state media stay away from such potential landmines. Her choice of stories and style of reporting -- calm but tenacious -- have earned her legions of fans nationwide -- with some nicknaming her "the Goddess" for her elegance and intelligence on air. Plenty of detractors, however, consider her a leading elitist voice for the country's liberal intellectuals. After writing a best-selling autobiography chronicling her time at CCTV, Chai quit her job last year to take care of her daughter, who had been born with a tumor. Declaring a personal war against smog as a worried mother, Chai tries to dig deep in her self-funded documentary. With her former CCTV connections opening doors, she followed and interviewed top environmental and energy officials and experts in China -- and received surprisingly candid responses. While there is no obvious hero in the video, the villain seems to be clear. A former chief engineer of the state-owned oil conglomerate Sinopec brushes off Chai's suggestion that his powerful industry -- which oversees pollution standards for itself and has rendered environmental authorities toothless -- should become more socially responsible. Tracing the main source of tiny and dangerous pollutants in China to extremely inefficient energy exploration and use, Chai sees the solution in dismantling entrenched interests of the state energy sector -- and also appeals to the public for less reliance on cars and more proactive reporting of polluters. Admiration from celebrity and ordinary viewers -- many said to be moved to tears -- poured in almost immediately. In countless reposts of the video links, people praise Chai for her courage to address the sensitive topic head on and spread the knowledge to the masses. One text message of gratitude to Chai from the new minister of environmental protection -- who had been appointed only a day earlier -- has fueled suspicion among her critics that the video was nothing more than a government PR move. They point to the positive coverage of the video's massive online launch across state media, including an in-depth interview with Chai on the website of People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper. Also, the timing: The video was released just days ahead of China's annual parliament session, during which legislators are expected to rubber-stamp the Communist leadership's policy agenda. President Xi Jinping had declared keeping the sky blue in the country as a top priority. Some argue that the energy industry makes a convenient political target, as Xi's ongoing anti-corruption campaign had netted a former senior leader whose power bases included the state oil sector. Others even see the video as propaganda to prepare people for mass layoffs in overbuilt and inefficient state industries as the government restructures the economy. Questions have also arisen on the science in the video -- including Chai's apparent linking smog to her baby daughter's tumor. And the cacophony surrounding it seems to have caught even China's seasoned censors off guard. Heated arguments have raged online, including blaming pollution on China's political system due to its lack of accountability. By late Sunday night, although the video remained online, all mention of it had been scrubbed from homepages of web portals and news sites. With discussions on the video shifting to social media, a common consensus seems to have emerged: Love it or hate it, Chai's documentary has stirred an important debate in a country where authorities censored air pollution data from the U.S. embassy as recently as November. Some internet users have compared "Under the Dome" phenomena to the discussion over "the dress"— you can fight over the color but what's important is that it's being talked about. +Charleston, South Carolina (CNN)Thirty years or so ago, the synagogue in Washington DC where I was attending Yom Kippur services received a bomb threat. As we evacuated the building, I was concerned that people didn't seem to be taking it seriously. I was visiting from Europe, where terrorism was a fact of life, and I was scared. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Europe, and even beyond, far-left and far-right extremists, the IRA, radical Palestinians, and a variety of other groups carried out thousands of terror attacks, big and small, that left thousands dead or injured. Jewish, Israeli -- and American -- sites were targets of some of the most notorious attacks: from the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, to plane and cruise ship hijackings, to attacks on airports, synagogues, and simply places where Jews congregated, such as the Jo Goldenberg kosher deli in Paris, where six died and 22 were wounded in a bloody attack in August 1982. In Rome, where I lived for parts of the 1970s and '80s, we tended to avoid certain streets where El Al and U.S. airlines had their offices. The first big story I helped cover as a young reporter was a bloody attack at the city's Fiumicino airport in December 1973. A dozen years later, the daughter of friends was killed in another Palestinian attack there. The main synagogue in Rome has been under tight guard since Palestinian attackers threw hand grenades and sprayed machinegun fire at worshippers after services in October 1982, killing a toddler and wounding dozens. I don't want to discount the gravity and horror of recent terror attacks against Jewish targets in Europe, such as in Copenhagen and Paris. I just want to add some perspective. Many things have changed over the decades. Post-Cold War power vacuums and Middle East upheavals have given rise to radical Islamism and globalized Jihadist terror networks whose message, fanned out via the internet and social media, strikes a chord in disaffected youth. To be sure, Jews are being targeted. But it is important to recognize that Jews are being targeted as part of a violent campaign against western democracies and western values in general. Today's victims of Islamist terror include Christians and Muslims as well as Jews. In the Middle East and Africa, women, children, students, and cultural heritage -- history -- are also directly targeted. In some ways, today's Jihadist terrorists can be seen as harnessing various types of terrorism we saw in earlier decades: the anti-Jewish/anti-Israel terrorism of radical Palestinian groups and the anti-establishment, even anarchistic terrorism of homegrown groups whose aim was to sow fear and destabilize society as a means to bring down the system. Anti-Semitism takes many forms. Criticism of Israel is legitimate (and sometimes necessary), but it can, and sometimes does, cross the line. This isn't new either, however. Jews in Europe have been regarded -- and scapegoated -- as surrogates for Israel for decades. In 1967-68, after Israel defeated Arab states in the Six-Day War, Poland's communist regime staged an "anti-Zionist" campaign that forced most of the remaining Jews out of the country. At least 13,000 Jews emigrated, according to Dariusz Stola, who is now the director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Other experts put the figure as high as 20,000. This was -- and remains -- by far the most widespread episode of anti-Semitism in post-Holocaust Europe. Twenty years later, in 1988, a report by the Anti-Defamation League warned that a significant number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States now reflected "a politically-related anti-Israel component." A JTA news report at the time quoted ADL National Director Abraham Foxman as noting that the phenomenon was new in the United States, but "it's been a common occurrence in European countries." Particularly worrisome, the report said, were Israel-related anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses. Sound familiar? After the Holocaust, it was common to view Jews in Europe as sitting with their suitcases packed, just in case. But -- unlike Poland's "anti-Zionist" campaign -- terrorism did not prove an existential threat to Jews and did not prompt a mass exodus. Nor should -- or will -- it now. The Nazis, followed by Communist rule in half of the continent, almost succeeded in making Europe Judenrein. Following the most recent terror attacks, Jewish and European national leaders have made clear that this is not an option. Moreover, despite the terrorist threat, European governments have refused to budge in their defense of democratic values. It is wise to be on guard, of course, and there is indeed ample cause for alarm -- even fear. But we should also be on guard against something else -- against a facile temptation to cry wolf that can all too easily distort alarm into alarmism -- and fear into fear-mongering. +(CNN)Real Madrid's star-studded attacking force might be struggling to fire, but Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has no such problems with his wealth of talent up front. Sunday's 6-1 demolition of Rayo Vallecano put the Catalan side one point above Real at the top of Spain's La Liga, with Lionel Messi setting more records as he netted a hat-trick while fellow forward Luis Suarez also scored twice. Even without suspended Brazil star Neymar -- the third prong of Barca's striking line -- Enrique was able to happily reflect on a result that fully rubbed salt in Madrid wounds following Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao. "We're elated, but the objective is to be leading at the end of the season. I already said that everybody could lose a game, so we have to keep playing well and win every match," he said. "It's heavy having to win every single match. Each game is more important than the last." By contrast, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti is feeling the strain after also dropping points last weekend against Villarreal. "There is no link-up play, our play is too based around individual play, we need another way of attacking, with faster play and fewer touches," said the Italian, who must rouse his troops for Tuesday's European Champions League last-16, second-leg tie at home to Schalke. "It is quite confusing to see what we're doing at the moment in attack. The ball doesn't move around quickly." While Real's front trio of top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale are struggling to match their form from the first half of this season, Barca's star men are moving into menacing mode ahead of the rival teams' "El Clasico" clash at the Nou Camp in a fortnight. Messi's 32nd career hat-trick is a record for a Spanish club player, and took him past Ronaldo as the La Liga leader on 24 trebles. The Argentina star also drew level with the Portugal captain as the Spanish league's top scorer this season on 30 goals. It's the sixth successive season in which he has topped 40 goals, with 41 from 38 games so far this campaign. Suarez has now scored six goals in his last four games, and 13 from 26 overall appearances since joining from English club Liverpool after a World Cup that ended in a lengthy ban for his bite on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini. "Suarez and Messi are having more and more chemistry, and today we all saw what they bring to the team," Enrique said. "I like (Ivan) Rakitic wherever he plays on the field. He always knows what to do with the ball and is one of the best signings we've ever had." "(Gerard) Piqué has always known how to score, above all on set plays. It's a perfect solution for games when our opponents collapse defensively." Both teams had a player sent off in front of a crowd of over 87,000, Barca's best this season: Rayo defender Tito for a foul on Suarez in the 55th minute that allowed Messi to make it 3-0 with a retaken penalty; and Dani Alves for tripping Alberto Bueno, who also netted the resulting spot-kick. Barca's 20th win from 26 league games put the club seven points clear of third-placed Atletico Madrid after the defending champion's 1-1 home draw with fourth-placed Valencia later Sunday. Koke put Atletico ahead in the first half but Shkodran Mustafi headed an equalizer with 12 minutes left, while Valencia teammate Javi Fuego received two late yellow cards. Sixth-placed Villarreal beat Celta Vigo 4-0, while Real Sociedad beat Espanyol 1-0 in a mid-table clash. In Italy, second-placed Roma missed a chance to put pressure on leader Juventus after being held 0-0 at struggling Chievo Verona on Sunday. It left Rudi Garcia's team eight points adrift of Juve, which hosts Sassuolo on Monday. Third-placed Napoli also drew, blowing a two-goal lead against Inter Milan as Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi, with an 87th-minute penalty, canceled out second-half goals by Marek Hamsik and Gonzalo Higuain. In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen moved up to fourth with a 3-0 win at Paderborn as South Korea striker Heung-Min Son scored two late goals after a 73rd-minute opener from Greece defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos. In France, Lyon restored a one-point lead at the top of the table with a 5-1 win at Montpellier, as young midfielder Nabil Fekir scored twice. In England, Premier League side Liverpool faces an FA Cup replay after being held 0-0 by second-tier Blackburn. +Seoul, South Korea (CNN)North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. The missiles were fired from North Korea's west coast into the sea, which is also known as the East Sea, around 6:30 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. Monday (4:30 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. ET Sunday), the official said. They were fired from an area near Nampo City, located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of Pyongyang. The two projectiles were estimated to have flown about 490 kilometers (304 miles) before falling into the sea east of the peninsula, according to the South Korean official, who asked to remain anonymous citing government policy. Considering the speed, altitude and distance the missiles traveled, they are assumed to be Scud-Cs, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. The missiles were fired as the United States and South Korea began annual military drills, which United States Forces Korea describes as "nonprovocative training" that are "an important component of readiness" for defending South Korea. The annual joint military exercises, called Foal Eagle and Key Reserve, have long sparked tension between North Korea, South Korea and the United States. North Korea's state-run KCNA slammed the joint military exercises Monday, saying that the drills are "nothing but a smokescreen" by the United States and South Korea "to cover up their surprise invasion of the north." "The situation on the Korean peninsula is again inching close to the brink of a war," KCNA said, noting that North Korea's military "will never remain a passive onlooker in this grave situation." North Korea was informed on February 24 when the joint drills would be held, said Kim Min-seok, the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman. "North Korea in the past did fire (projectiles) in a very similar manner," he said during a briefing Monday. "On several occasions, they fired (projectiles) from the west coast to sea off east of the Korean Peninsula." He added that North Korea fired about 90 ballistic missiles and rockets during last year's Foal Eagle and Key Resolve drill. "Our military is strictly warning North Korean military of the reckless and the provocative act. We will firmly and strongly respond to any North Korea's provocation through solid united defense posture," South Korea's Kim said. CNN's Paula Hancocks and Sara Mazloumsaki contributed to this report. +(CNN)Slain Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov knew criticizing the Kremlin was dangerous, but thought his fame would protect him. The 55-year-old was walking home from dinner with his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya when he was gunned down in Moscow on Friday. Nemtsov had been arrested several times for speaking against Putin's government. The most recent arrests were in 2011 when he protested the results of parliamentary elections and in 2012 when tens of thousands protested against Putin. In an interview with CNN's Anthony Bourdain last year, Nemtsov spoke of the deaths of other Kremlin critics, but said his fame offered some protection. "I'm a well-known guy, and this is a safety because if something happens with me, it will be scandal not only in Moscow city but throughout the world," he said then. After Nemtsov was shot, Putin condemned the killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting, the Kremlin said in a statement. But critics of Putin have in the past suffered miserable fates. Last year, a Moscow court sentenced five men to prison for the 2006 killing of Russian journalist and fierce Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. Business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused Putin of corruption and spent 10 years in prison and labor camps. Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko accused state security services of organizing a coup to put Putin in power. He was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium and died in London in 2006. No killer has been caught. In their 2014 interview, Nemtsov told Bourdain he believed Russia's existing power structure was like 19th century Russia, with one person in control and no real freedom of press, real competition or elections or an independent judiciary or rule of law. "You are in the typical country of crony capitalism," he said. "If you have a good relationship with Putin and his people around, you will have a good relationship with governor or mayor -- it doesn't matter. If you are in the city you have a chance to raise money, to be successful ... you know, to buy real estate in the south of France or Switzerland, to open accounts in Swiss banks. "But, if something happened between you and Putin and you are governor, you will be in jail." Nemstov said in most places around the world, wealth provided opportunity and independence, but said that it was different in Russia. "To be wealthy, you must be loyal. If you want to be independent, forget about business, forget about raising money," he said. "If you are rich, you are a slave. If you are rich, you are very much dependent." Many people preferred to be able make money and not speak out, he said. "This is a country of corruption," Nemtsov said. "For Putin's Russia, this is a system. This is not a problem." "If you are corrupted, but you are loyal, and you serve the Kremlin, you are first of all rich and secondly you are in a very safe position." +Irbil, Iraq (CNN)Iraqi forces are doubling down efforts to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS, even uniting Sunni and Shiite fighters in the mission. The Iraqi army, along with Sunni and Shiite militiamen, attacked ISIS strongholds in the area Monday, the state-run Iraqiya TV reported. Iraqi warplanes and helicopters are also striking targets in and around Tikrit. It's part of a wide-scale offensive ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday. Tikrit fell to ISIS in June of 2014, after the group's capture of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. Tikrit is best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. ISIS, the radical Sunni militant group, has been on a murderous campaign to establish a caliphate across swaths of Iraq and Syria. Iraqi forces approached Tikrit from several fronts, Iraqiya TV reported, engaging with ISIS north of the city at al-Alam and south of the city at al-Dour. The element of surprise probably was not a factor, as reports of Iraqi troops amassing near Tikrit were widely shared. What awaits the Iraqi army is most likely a long, hard slog and not a quick rout. Tikrit is a big city, and the army and its associated militias have had problems recapturing much smaller towns from ISIS. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. While Iraqi forces have gained some territory in the area, it has generally been under ISIS control for the last eight months or so. The joint Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit include Iraqi troops, members of the Shia al-Hashed al-Shaabi militia, members of the Sunni Sons of Salahuddin brigades, and other Sunni tribal fighters. The offensive involves around 30,000 fighters in all. Al-Abadi, who is also commander in chief of the armed forces, said on Twitter that he will "oversee the operation to liberate Tikrit" from ISIS. In short, this is the biggest test for an army trying to claw back territory that fell to ISIS last summer after a string of dramatic defeats. Last June, Tikrit was the scene of the bloodiest massacre ever perpetrated by ISIS militants. They captured more than a thousand Iraqi soldiers, who laid down their arms and donned civilian clothing in an attempt to flee a base once used by U.S. forces. ISIS subsequently executed as many as 1,700 soldiers, and posted the video of the killing online. There is concern that Iraqi forces, eager for revenge, may kill combatants and civilians alike. The U.N.'s envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, urged all armed forces in Tikrit to do their utmost to spare civilians. U.S. and other coalition troops have been conducting a crash course to retrain and upgrade the Iraqi army, and several thousand Iraqi troops have passed through the course. This offensive will tell whether that training has made a difference. The offensive also highlights the role played by neighboring Iran in the fight against ISIS. The semiofficial Iranian FARS news agency reports that Qassim Sulaimani, the commander of the elite Iranian Al-Quds Brigade, is helping oversee the operation to retake Tikrit. Iran has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. If the offensive succeeds, it means that retaking Mosul, a city 10 times bigger, is possible. But Tikrit is almost 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Mosul, and much of the territory in between is under ISIS control. Al-Abadi has said the immediate goal is to liberate Salah ad-Din province, of which Tikrit is the capital, and then focus on adjacent Al-Anbar province, a similarly Sunni-dominated province. After that, retaking Mosul is an option. If, however, the Tikrit offensive fails, it could spell disaster for Baghdad. There will be political recriminations, the already fragile morale of the Iraqi army could collapse, the Kurdish autonomous region could decide to break from Iraq, and it would provide ISIS with a victory it hasn't seen since last summer. Ben Wedeman reported from Irbil, and Mariano Castillo reported from Atlanta. CNN's Yousuf Basil, Holly Yan, Kareem Khadder, Hamdi Alkhshali and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report. +London (CNN)Britain's Royal Mint has unveiled a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which will gradually appear on coins in the United Kingdom. It is the fifth portrait of the British monarch to be used on coins during her 63-year reign. Production of the new coins began Monday, and they will appear in circulation later this year, the Royal Mint said. The new design depicts the Queen wearing the royal diamond diadem crown from her coronation. Artist Jody Clark said he researched images online when deciding which crown to use. "I think it's the most familiar and I wanted to make some clear distinctions between the (most recent) portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS, as Her Majesty really hasn't aged too much in the years since." "FRBS" refers to Rank-Broadley's fellowship in the Royal British Society of Sculptors, a professional organization that advances the art of sculpture. A panel selected Clark's design from a number by specialist designers across Britain invited to submit anonymous work. The design was then submitted to the British chancellor and the Queen for final approval. Clark is a member of the Royal Mint's team of designers and engravers. He is the first mint engraver to produce a definitive royal coinage portrait in more than a century, the organization said. "Jody's achievement is something that we can celebrate as a proud moment for The Royal Mint. Capturing a portrait on the surface of a coin demands the utmost skill, and is one of the most challenging disciplines of the coin designer's art," chief executive Adam Lawrence said. "This change of royal portrait will make 2015 a vintage year for UK coins, and it will be hugely exciting for us all to see the new design appear on the coins we use every day." Royal coinage portraits are usually updated every 15 to 20 years, the Royal Mint said. The last portrait was created by sculptor Rank-Broadley in 1998. +(CNN)In the center of China's eastern Zhejiang Province lies Commodity City, which photographer Richard John Seymour says is the largest small-commodity wholesale market in the world. The shopper's paradise, in the city of Yiwu, covers 46 million square feet and has about 62,000 booths, with 100,000 suppliers exhibiting 400,000 kinds of products. The sheer enormity of the place posed challenges for London-based Seymour, who visited Commodity City twice last year. "I tried to see as much as I could in the days that I was there, and became very quickly exhausted by the constant sensory overload," he said via email. "I spent a total of four days constantly walking around Yiwu and wouldn't say I got near to seeing all of the stalls." Seymour's "Yiwu Commodity City" photo project began in January 2014, when he established both the style and content of his photos: the sellers in their environments in addition to the monotony of the market itself. When Seymour returned to Yiwu in August, he felt well-prepared to begin shooting. During this visit, he also came to better understand the atmosphere and dynamics of the market. "The atmosphere of the market was quite unusual in that one gets the sense that it really is home to a community," he said. "The second trip I made to the market was during school summer vacation, and because of this there were children in a huge number of the stores who obviously (spent) the day in the market with their parents. There were also children running and playing throughout the market, riding scooters along its vast corridors, chasing each other around, etc. It gave the impression that this was more than just a place of business, but a place of life, something that took me by surprise." The photos are like an endless delivery of presents, as each and every shot unwraps an assortment of contents within the identically square-shaped booths of the sellers. "Shooting Yiwu in a repetitive way, for me, becomes a very interesting way of describing the place, as each store becomes describable only by the items for sale within it," Seymour said. An estimated 40,000 visitors make their way into Commodity City every day. Many of them are retail buyers. Because of the large number of visitors and their diverse backgrounds, buyers and sellers typically communicate utilizing translators that work in the market permanently. "There is a broad mix of people in Yiwu, buyers and sellers come from all over the world. However just from my own experiences and those of others I spoke to, the fastest growing markets are of Middle Eastern and African buyers," Seymour said. There are thousands of orders placed at Commodity City that are later sold to consumers in many different countries. "I learned a great deal during this project," Seymour said. "If there was one thing that particularly stands out, it was the scale of production in China. ... Everything in Yiwu is a one-of-a-kind sample. Orders are made in Yiwu, but the factories nearby manufacture the items, so what you're seeing in the market is actually not for sale. This is why the stores are so visually rich, because there is no need for multiple samples, every item is different." What makes Seymour's photos so striking is how they encompass a mixture of familiar sights with unknown wonder. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "Possibly the most interesting aspect of this project was when I occasionally encountered an item that was very familiar to me in such a strange place," he said. "We tend to adopt quite personal emotions to our belongings, and if we see something in our own home every day then it naturally fosters quite an intimate relationship. What was interesting was then seeing one of these items halfway across the globe, a constant reminder that we have a connection with places around the world (that) we know next to nothing about." Many of the items shown in the photographs are very ordinary. There are woolen hats, artificial flowers, mannequins and even cooking utensils. But there are also mysterious sellers barely visible in their booths. Just as the city of Yiwu is surrounded by mountains, the sellers at Commodity City are boxed-in by their very own mountains of commodities. "For me there (is) quite a beautiful metaphor in Yiwu, there is a kind of beauty in the numbness of the expressions in contrast with their colorful surroundings, perhaps highlighting the perils of untapped consumption," Seymour said. "The inhabitants of these spaces become almost swallowed by the objects that make them their living. They are, quite literally, consumed." The "Yiwu Commodity City" photos are part of a larger series by Seymour titled "Consumed," and it was completed in collaboration with the Unknown Fields Division, a nomadic design studio that works to show how distant landscapes connect to the rest of the world. Seymour's photos ultimately leave viewers to reflect upon the possibility that Commodity City may in fact be the origin of many of the products they currently own. "I definitely view the items I see in many shops differently now that I have seen (Yiwu). I'll often see a particular item whilst walking around London and think to myself, 'I'm sure that came from Yiwu,' " Seymour said. According to China's state-run news agency Xinhua, more than 60% of the world's Christmas decorations are made in Yiwu and wholesaled at Commodity City. The likelihood is relevant well beyond Christmastime, however. Whether enjoying the beach, purchasing clothing or even playing games at the local fairground, consider if the "Made in China" label imprinted on those inflatable beach balls, shirt buttons, and cuddly teddy bears perhaps connects all the way to one of the Commodity City booths. "I believe that more and more, we are defining our environments not as the spaces themselves, in terms of the buildings or architecture, but rather by the objects and devices that we buy and surround ourselves with. ... I would like that message to carry through universally," Seymour said. Richard John Seymour is a photographer based in London. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter. +(CNN)The estimated number of people killed in eastern Ukraine since April 2014 now exceeds 6,000 "in spite of successive ceasefires," the UN Human Rights Office announced in a statement on Monday. The escalation in fighting in recent weeks, particularly near Donetsk airport and in the Debaltseve area, resulted in hundreds of deaths, both civilian and military, according to a new report. The report paints a picture of "merciless devastation of civilian lives and infrastructure," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. He called for all sides to adhere to the Minsk agreement, which calls for a ceasefire in many of the conflict's hotspots. The fighting has inflicted extreme humanitarian hardship on civilians. "Many have been trapped in conflict zones, forced to shelter in basements, with hardly any drinking water, food, heating, electricity or basic medical supplies," Zeid said in a statement. The notion that civilians remained in the conflict zone of their own will is "misguided," he said. "Many people stay because they fear for their lives if they try to move. Many others stay to protect children, other family members, or their property. And some are forced to stay against their will, or are simply physically unable to leave," Zeid said. A series of terror attacks in Mariupol, as well as in Kharkiv and Odesa, which are outside of the conflict zone, have set a bad precedent, he said. "Should this trend continue, this would represent a new and very deadly chapter in this conflict, expanding the areas where the rule of law and the protection of human rights are effectively absent," Zeid said. The UN arrived at the new estimated death toll of over 6,000 by tallying 5,809 documented deaths and assessing that many more must have been killed in recent fighting in other areas, particularly Donetsk airport and around Debaltseve. +(CNN)She grew up in Kenya under colonial rule, when women didn't get an education. Now in her 90s, Priscilla Sitienei is changing that, attending elementary school -- and inspiring a generation. She started five years ago as a kindergartner at a boarding school near Eldoret. She's in fourth grade today. "I had grandchildren and great-grandchildren who shunned school," she says by phone from Ndalat. "That made me mad. I decided I have to show them that education is important." During colonial times, some Kenyan hospitals did not keep birth records. Sitienei's exact age is unclear, but she says she was born around 1923, when a famine plagued her hometown. Growing up, relatives told her she barely survived that famine as a toddler, which gave her a rough estimate of her birth year. If confirmed by the Guinness World Records, she would be the oldest pupil in elementary school. The last such honor by the Guinness World Records went to another Kenyan, Kimani Maruge, who in 2004 was named the oldest person to begin primary school. Five years later, he died at age 90. Though Sitienei worked as a traditional midwife for decades, she says there's still a lot to learn. "My favorite subject is math," the nonagenarian says. "Now that I'm in school, I know the right dosage to give the women who I help deliver their babies." Sitienei got married at a young age and focused on raising her 10 children. "I could not go to school even if I wanted," she says. "In my time, educating a woman was considered a waste of time and money." She enthusiastically describes her love for school and her fellow pupils, some of whom she helped bring into this world. "They call me 'Gogo,' " she says, using the word for grandmother in her local Kalenjin tribe. "We play in swings during recess, we talk. I like school." Sitienei has a special dorm room tucked away in a corner, where she doles out wisdom to her proteges. Outside her door is a sign that says "education has no age limit." David Kinyanjui, the principal of Leaders Vision Preparatory School, describes her as a model pupil. "She advises our girls, she advises our boys," Kinyanjui says. "She participates in everything, including PE (physical education). She's also good at math and science, and she's such a good storyteller." Sitienei's enthusiasm is already paying off. Her three great-grandchildren are her classmates. They have friendly competitions on who'll make the best grades. Last year, Sitienei was the leading student in third grade. "Her great-grandchildren could not believe she did better than them. That really motivated them; one of them even cried," the principal says. Now they work even harder to beat her. CNN's Lillian Leposo contributed to this report. +(CNN)Around 2002, I was browsing in a used book store in Pittsburgh, and there it was: "The Ethics of Star Trek" by Judith Barad and Ed Robertson. Coincidentally, I was working at that time on integrating ethics into engineering education at Penn State University. I immediately bought the book, and after reading it through, realized that it could be the basis for an engaging course for our first-year engineering students. I first offered the course, The Ethics of Star Trek, in the fall of 2003 -- and I've been teaching it ever since. My children grew up watching the shows that followed the original series, which continued the tradition established by "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry of tackling current events like war, genocide and pollution. It was good family entertainment that also prompted reflection on issues of the day. And it was this exploration of both space and the issues of the day that inspired me to try to apply these moral lessons to students. First there was the friendship between Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy, aka Bones. Plato described the human soul as composed of three aspects: spirit, reason and emotion. Internally, we each strive to balance these three forces. If we manage to do this well, we become a more virtuous person and attain a fourth virtue: justice. By placing Kirk (spirit), Spock (reason) and Bones (emotion) into challenging situations, we get to observe this interplay of these forces, and we get to hear them say what would otherwise be an internal dialogue. Why is Spock so critical here? Because Vulcans worship logic and rationality. Even though he's half human, he suppresses his emotions. It's no surprise that he is the science officer, since science is founded on rationality. Mr. Spock, then, can be trusted to give reasoned scientific analysis in any situation, uninfluenced by emotion or spirit. And since they wouldn't even be in space without science, Spock may be the most important character for the success of the adventure. So, how was all this applied in a classroom? The "Star Trek class" is a one-credit seminar for first-year students that meets once a week, one of about 60 different seminars offered by the College of Engineering. Students read relevant chapters in the book, and then every other week we watch a related "Star Trek" episode. In the other weeks, we sit in a large circle and have an open and often lively discussion about the ethical ideas and their application to the students' lives. One of the recurring plot elements in "Star Trek" is the discovery of new creatures. This often raises the question of the proper relationship and attitude toward these entities. Are they intelligent? Is their intent malicious? In one episode, "Arena," the Enterprise engages in battle with an alien vessel, flown by the Gorn, that has attacked an Earth colony. In the heat of the battle, another unknown species, the Metrons, transports Kirk and the Gorn captain to a barren planet. They are told that because of their violent tendencies, they must battle to the death, with the ship and crew of the loser to be destroyed. As the two captains battle, the Metrons project the scenes onto the Enterprise's main view screen on the bridge. As the crew observes the battle, and thinks more about it, Spock realizes that the Earth colony may have been the invader, and the Gorn vessel may have been justified in its attack on the colony. Kirk also begins to see this as a possibility. When he finally subdues the Gorn captain, Kirk decides to show him mercy and spare his life, even though it may result in the destruction of the Enterprise and her crew. Surprised by this action, the Metrons decide that there may be hope for humans after all, and that we are not primarily savages. This episode has been used in the following week's discussion in various ways, depending on the current events that form the backdrop to the semester. One of my favorite approaches is to have the students consider the ethics of eating meat. I supplement the "Star Trek" background with arguments by other philosophers and commentators. It always makes for great discussion because the question hits home, literally, in the gut. At the heart of this question is: What is it about another creature that qualifies it for ethical consideration? Is it rationality? Is it power? Is it utility to humans? Many of the students' arguments are essentially biological -- we are omnivores. They argue further that we are at the top of the food chain and can therefore do whatever we want. For these students, I often start by asking them if they have a pet. If they do, I ask them if I can eat their pet. Or better yet, under what circumstances might it be OK to eat their pet? A key issue that arises from this is that we humans see ourselves as more than just animals; we have reason and a sense of right and wrong, a sense of justice. As the discussion evolves, various indicators of other species' moral standing are investigated, including rationality, ability to experience pain and suffering, utility to humans, and perhaps that these other creatures have intrinsic value regardless of their use to people. Often, students come away with a commitment to reduce animal suffering, and to reduce their consumption of meat overall. My favorite Spock-centered episode is a two-parter, "The Menagerie," which uses scenes from the original pilot, "The Cage." Here we see Spock's human side at its best. Captain Pike, whom Spock used to serve with, has been injured to the point where he can live only as part of a machine, and he can only make a device beep once for yes, and twice for no. (OK, admittedly it's a flaw in the technological imagination.) Spock kidnaps Pike and commandeers the Enterprise, all for as yet unclear reasons. What we find out is that Pike and Spock had visited a planet (in the pilot) where aliens could make you experience any reality they dreamed up for you. They narrowly escaped, and the planet was placed off limits by the Federation. Spock intends to deliver Pike to this planet so that he can live out his life in a reality unconfined by his physical impairment. Along the way, Spock faces a court-martial where a guilty verdict would result in death. Yet his loyalty and love of Pike override his awareness of the irrationality of his actions. (In the end, the court-martial is dropped, and Pike lives long and prospers.) Nearly every episode had a moral lesson or dilemma like this, meaning that not only was "Star Trek" great entertainment, but a show that could really make you think. That's why I was saddened to learn of Leonard Nimoy's passing Friday. But it is also something that allows me to take some comfort, because I know that his legacy as Mr. Spock, science officer of the starship Enterprise, will live on. +(CNN)Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader slain Friday night a stone's throw from the Kremlin, was a true original, one of the towering figures of his country's post-communist political odyssey. We do not know yet who it was who shot him four times in the back. Various theories have been floated. But by far the most plausible is that his killers wanted to silence one of the most determined and courageous Russian campaigners for personal and political freedoms. Whether Nemtsov offended by attacking the authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin's regime, the jingoistic imperialism of his Ukrainian campaign or even the massacre of journalists at Charlie Hebdo, it comes to the same thing in the end: He stood up consistently for the values of the Western Enlightenment against its motley army of enemies. Born in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Nemtsov began as an atomic physicist but rose to prominence in the early 1990s as the reformist governor of Nizhny Novgorod province. President Boris Yeltsin took a liking to him and brought him to Moscow. "What a stubborn nature," he wrote of Nemtsov. "Reminds me of myself." Nemtsov was the first person Yeltsin anointed as his political successor. (Unfortunately, he was not the last.) After Putin's election in 2000, Nemtsov hoped at first that the new President would keep his promise to restore order while preserving democracy. Soon disillusioned, Nemtsov became one of Putin's most biting critics. He was a natural politician -- emotional, gregarious, articulate. Like Yeltsin -- but unlike Putin -- he enjoyed meeting ordinary people and was energized by electoral campaigns. Some snickered at Nemtsov's extravagant personality, his hints of bravado and weakness for the fairer sex. But his determination and talent commanded respect. Yet it is also true that, by the mid-2000s, Nemtsov was widely viewed as a spent force. And when the Levada Center polled Russians in 2013, 6% approved of his actions, while 48% disapproved and 46% claimed to know nothing about him. Along with all other Russian liberals of the 1990s, he failed to forge a connection to the discontented groups outside Moscow. He titled his first book of memoirs, "The Provincial," but to true provincials he looked like the elite. As one analyst told me, when Nemtsov turned up at far-flung rallies in a sparkling, immaculately ironed, white shirt, it symbolized the class divide between him and his audience. By the wave of protests in 2011-12, his generation's day had passed. The new activists in their 30s and 40s had a different sensibility, a new cadence of speech to fit the Internet age. On the stage before the anti-Putin demonstrators, Nemtsov often bombed. He understood this. "Khvatit!" he said, in his last interview, when the host tried to tease out of him a confession of presidential ambitions. "Enough already!" But the dwindling appeal of Western-style liberalism did not stop him. Nemtsov's doggedness during the last decade -- plugging away despite public indifference or scorn -- makes it the most impressive chapter of his career. Having been chauffeured to his government office in the 1990s, Nemtsov marched in the rain among bedraggled crowds in the 2000s as police wheeled out noise-making machinery to drown out the sound of his bullhorn. He endured the eggs and ammonia hurled at him by pro-Kremlin hooligans. Not shrinking from arrest, he spent more than a few nights in holding cells. Even as the boyish charmer turned into a graying baby boomer with reading glasses that slipped down his nose, Nemtsov refused to slacken. Shut out of national politics, he ran for mayor of Sochi -- and got 13.6% of the vote. (Even had the election been fair, he would probably have lost.) Undeterred, he won a seat as deputy in the Yaroslavl Regional Council. Swallowing his pride, he battled on because he cared about Russia and because, well ... politics was what he did. The killing comes at a time when the Kremlin is clearly nervous. With the ruble and growth rate both plunging, glimmers of opposition have already appeared in unexpected corners. Five deputies in the usually subservient Duma have tabled a bill to repeal the sanctions Putin slapped on European food imports, calling them unconstitutional. If the economic slide continues, Putin's high ratings are likely to fall. In undemocratic states, the killing of a major opposition figure is sometimes the spark that lights the fuse. In the Philippines, after Ferdinand Marcos' military thugs shot Benigno Aquino on the tarmac at the Manila airport, this set off the "people's power" movement that eventually swept the dictator from office. The murder of Orlando Letelier by Augusto Pinochet's agents helped to discredit the Chilean leader. And yet Russia is in a poisonous state of division. The country's Westernized fringe may be galvanized into opposition. But as war fever bleeds into economic anxiety, a pervasive resentment and directionless aggression seem more likely in the short run than a united uprising for civil and political rights. Meanwhile, the wait for answers continues. The attack took place in an area saturated with video cameras. Within hours, one television station was showing footage of the killing -- albeit from a considerable distance. Nemtsov was almost certainly under surveillance at the time. If the Kremlin did not know before, it very likely knows by now who the killer was. Its next decision will be how to use the information for its own purposes. Whether or not the actual perpetrators are caught and punished, all know who created the climate of hatred in which liberal politicians are likened to "jackals who hang around foreign embassies" and a "fifth column" of traitors. Nemtsov in his later years was never a threat to Putin's regime. Hardly a radical revolutionary, he cooperated with the authorities to avoid violence by moving the site of the first major Moscow demonstration in December 2011, and he participated in discussions with then-President Dmitry Medvedev about reforms of the political system. Having come to symbolize for most Russians the disorder of the 1990s, he had little chance of rising to the top again. Indeed, he was the kind of liberal -- unbowed, unabashedly pro-Western, unpopular -- whom the Kremlin loved to hate. Now it will have to find somebody else. +(CNN)We can't settle iPhone vs. Android or "Star Wars" vs. "Star Trek" for you. But we can settle another long-running geek debate: . Those short, animated loops that have captivated the Web for decades? They're pronounced like a brand of peanut butter. Steve Wilhite created the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, while working for Compuserve in 1987. When he received a Webby Award in 2013 for it, and delivered his five-word acceptance speech (that's all the Webbys allow), he flashed a GIF on the big screens at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York. And, in a flash, it all became clear: . "It's pronounced JIF, not GIF." Of course, in the grand tradition of heated debate, a flat statement of fact by the creator wasn't enough to sway some partisans. On Twitter, "GIF" became a trending topic as some folks pushed back. "Graphics Interchange Format. Graphics. Not Jraphics. #GIF #hardg," wrote Web designer Dan Cederholm. "So instead of GIF, we've got to say JIF? YEAH RIGHT," chimed in October Jones, creator of the "Texts From Dog" Tumblr and book. "And I suppose those animals with long necks are called 'JIRAFFES.'" And, of course, the peanut butter brand was getting lots of free publicity along the way. The always amusing HAL 9000 account (yes, somebody tweets as the robot from "2001") posted an "animated JIF" -- which is to say, a swirling, animated jar of the tasty, high-protein spread. Animated GIFs were a staple of the early Internet. Remember The Dancing Baby? That's a GIF. They fell out of favor as more advanced graphics technology emerged. But in the past couple of years, the Web has remembered how much fun it is to watch ridiculous things happen over and over again. Wilhite has argued for the soft-G pronunciation for years. Yet no less an authority than the White House has posted an image on its Tumblr feed advocating for the hard-G. And the Oxford English Dictionary says both pronunciations are acceptable. So, here's wishing Mr. Wilhite "Jood Luck." +Hong Kong (CNN)Australia's transport safety chief has always described himself as a pessimist. But Martin Dolan, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, says that as search teams scour the depths of the Indian Ocean for any sign of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, he is confident they will find the plane, if the aircraft is in the areas where they are looking. "If anything, I'm slightly more optimistic than six months ago, because we have more confidence in the data, and we have proven the search equipment and techniques work to the necessary standards," Dolan said. But as the first anniversary of MH370's disappearance approaches, with no trace of the missing plane found, not everyone shares his outlook. That includes many of the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew on board, who say not a single day goes by without wondering what happened to their loved ones. And for many, the decision in late January by Malaysia to officially declare MH370 an accident, enabling the insurance payout process to begin in accordance with international protocol, was painfully premature. "How can they say that, when there is no proof that the plane has crashed?" asked Wen Wang Cheng, whose son Wen Yung Sheng was one of 153 Chinese nationals on board. "We have to get the facts," Wen said. What families have been told, they say, simply isn't good enough. Anger, frustration, and distrust pushed some relatives, including Wen, to fly from China to Kuala Lumpur last month, to demand more. But when families submitted a letter to Malaysia Airlines asking for authorities to explain the declaration and status of the investigation, a written response from the company's CEO revealed little that hadn't already been said. At 12:41 a.m. local time on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, en route to Beijing. Less than an hour later, the Boeing 777-200ER was flying over the South China Sea. Air traffic controllers in Malaysia radioed the crew to contact controllers in Ho Chi Minh City for its onward journey through Vietnamese airspace. The crew acknowledged the request, thanking Kuala Lumpur controllers with a routine reply: "Good night, Malaysian Three-Seven-Zero." Minutes later, the plane disappeared from radar. Malaysian authorities revealed days later that military radar had tracked the plane as it turned back to the west, flew across the Malay Peninsula, and up the Strait of Malacca, before flying out of radar range and vanishing once again. The search area widened, then shifted off the coast of Western Australia, when it was determined through careful analysis of a series of messages or "handshakes" between the plane and an Inmarsat telecommunications satellite, that MH370 eventually turned south, and flew for hours into the Indian Ocean. Roughly a week's sail from the coast of Western Australia, ships with specialists and equipment capable of searching depths that regularly exceed 4,000 meters (13,123 feet), work around the clock, methodically ticking off sections of sea floor. In early February a new ship, the Fugro Supporter, joined the search carrying the HUGIN 4500, a programmable unmanned submarine, now scanning areas that other equipment couldn't safely cover, including steep mountain slopes. The ship joins the Discovery and Fugro Equator, both operated by a Dutch survey firm, along with the Malaysian-contracted GO Phoenix. "I asked specifically to come on this job, because it's a very exciting opportunity to do something that will potentially help a lot of people," James Hancock, a surveyor who usually works in the oil industry in the North Sea, told CNN's Anna Coren, as he prepared to embark on a trip on the Fugro Discovery that could last up to six weeks. Since October, more than 24,000 square kilometers -- roughly 40% of what the ATSB calls the "priority search area" -- has been scanned, with the remainder of the work scheduled to be finished by May before weather conditions worsen as the southern winter approaches. For now, teams are searching mostly using devices called towfish, which are dragged close to the ocean floor on cables up to 10 kilometers long. It's tough work, even when conditions are perfect. A number of cyclones, producing waves of up to 16 meters, put the brakes on the search in early February. Dolan is careful to point out search efforts are meeting or exceeding expectations, dismissing concerns over stormy weather or delays in installing equipment as "part of the deal." The current search area is the result of months of analysis and reexamination of satellite data by an international team of experts, combined with aircraft performance factors such as fuel range, speed, and altitude. Search ships are focused along the so-called 7th arc, or "partial handshake," where international investigators believe the plane ran out of fuel. "The thing that really impresses me most about this investigation was how much information we were able to gain through mathematics and science," said CNN Safety Analyst David Soucie. But Soucie, a former FAA accident investigator, is not optimistic that the deep-sea search teams will find what they're looking for. "I know that they've searched in the most probable areas where it would have been, and it's not there," he said. Jeff Wise, a science journalist and author of "The Plane That Wasn't There," took that skepticism a step further, saying it's time to reexamine all the clues. His latest theory contends that investigators may have misinterpreted a key component of the Inmarsat satellite data, and that MH370 may have instead flown north toward Kazakhstan. "This is not a normal investigation. They need to throw out the book," said Wise. "This is unlike anything that's happened in aviation." But Michael Exner, an engineer with decades of experience in the mobile satellite communications industry, says the data "accurately and unambiguously" shows MH370 went down near the 7th arc. "The current ATSB search strategy remains the best search strategy," Exner said. "They are looking exactly where I expect the plane to be found." The ATSB's Dolan cautioned that search teams have placed equal priority on all areas within the 60,000 square kilometer search zone. "We haven't given up. Quite the opposite," he said. If search teams succeed in locating the wreckage of MH370, Australia, which has been leading the search at Malaysia's request, will also lead salvage and recovery efforts, according to the ATSB Chief Commissioner. But Malaysia, Australia, and China, which had the majority of the passengers on board the flight, have not yet made a decision on whether a recovery will occur, Dolan said. It is unclear what will happen if search teams complete their current mission without finding any sign of the plane. Australia has allocated roughly $48 million to the current phase of the search, with Malaysia promising to contribute equally to the cost. In January, the Malaysian government said it is committed "to continue all reasonable efforts to bring closure to this unfortunate tragedy." One possibility is that the deep-sea search could be extended outside the boundaries of the current priority area, north or south along the 7th arc. The ATSB would not comment on the likelihood of expanding the search, saying that it was a "decision for governments." Malaysia also plans to release an interim statement detailing the progress of the investigation into MH370 around March 8 -- though some experts believe it will not contain any information investigators do not already have. Aviation experts say there is a key reason the search should continue until MH370 is found. "Without knowing what caused it, you can't fix it, you can't make sure it doesn't happen again," said Soucie. "And I think that's really the biggest tragedy of this, if they don't find the airplane." For the families of the 239 passengers and crew on board, who have had nothing but hope and prayers to carry them through the past year, it's about finding answers. "It's very difficult to hear the world closure, when there is no closure," Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of lead steward Patrick Gomes, told CNN's Andrew Stevens. And while Gonzales says she holds out hope her husband could return home alive, she is prepared for a difficult discovery. "If it's there and there's debris, we can have closure and we can lay him at peace. Because I don't think he's at peace right now." The search for MH370 continues. CNN's Andrew Stevens, Anna Coren, Tim Schwarz, Felicia Wong, Chieu Luu, and Judy Kwon contributed to this report. +(CNN)She was the first person to contract Ebola in the United States, and now she's suing the hospital where she got infected. Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, filed a lawsuit Monday against the hospital's parent company, Texas Health Resources. She claims the company made her "a symbol of corporate neglect -- a casualty of a hospital system's failure to prepare for a known and impending medical crisis." THR ignored Ebola warnings, its chief medical officer "made numerous patently false statements to Congress," and the company "wholly failed to ensure that appropriate polices, procedures, and equipment were in place," leaving health care providers untrained, unprotected and at risk for exposure, the lawsuit says. "I was hoping that THR would be more open and honest about everything that happened at the hospital, and the things they didn't do that led to me getting infected with Ebola," Pham said in a statement. "But that didn't happen and I felt I was left with no choice but to turn to the courts for help." The company's CEO, Barclay Berdan, sent a letter to employees Monday night after news of the lawsuit broke. "Nina and so many others of you served very bravely during a most difficult time as we all struggled to deal with the first case of Ebola to arrive in a U.S. hospital's emergency room," the statement read. "Texas Health Resources values our strong culture of caring and compassion, and we view all employees as part of our family. That's why we have continued to support Nina both during and after her illness, and it's why she is still a member of our team." According to the suit, the hospital chain failed to provide proper training to handle Ebola. Pham contracted the disease last fall while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who started showing symptoms after arriving in Dallas from Liberia. "In a cruel twist, after watching Mr. Duncan go through the horrific and painful course of the disease as she desperately tried to save his life, Nina herself was diagnosed with Ebola just two days after Mr. Duncan's life was taken by it," the lawsuit states. Because the hospital initially discharged Duncan when he arrived seeking treatment, it hurt his chances of beating the virus, the lawsuit says. "Had THR heeded the CDC and other warnings and ensured its hospitals were ready for Ebola, Mr. Duncan would have had the best opportunity to possibly survive," it says. Pham also claims that the hospital failed to provide her with the necessary protective equipment, despite CDC warnings. "Based on what she could learn from the Internet, on the first day she cared for Mr. Duncan, Nina put on a regular isolation gown covering her front and back, double gloves, a surgical mask with plastic shield and double booties. Importantly, Nina's neck and hair remained exposed. Nina was not even (provided) disposable scrubs or a change of clothes. She had to wear the scrubs she wore that first day home, taking out of the hospital clothing that was potentially carrying the virus," the lawsuit says. When her mother learned she was treating Duncan, she tried to persuade her to call in sick or even quit, but Pham replied, "Mom, I can't abandon him. He is my patient. It's my job. I'm going back," according to the lawsuit. Texas Health Resources spokesman Wendell Watson issued a statement in response to the lawsuit: . "Nina Pham served very bravely during a most difficult time as we all struggled to deal with the first case of Ebola to arrive in a U.S. hospital's emergency room. Texas Health Resources has a strong culture of caring and compassion, and we view all our employees as part of our family. That's why we have continued to support Nina both during and after her illness, and it's why she is still a member of our team. As distressing as the lawsuit is to us, we remain optimistic that we can resolve this matter with Nina." Comparing the conditions facing nurses to what one would expect in a poorly developed country, the suit further states that after Duncan died, Pham was told she was at "no risk" for Ebola "and that she could freely see her friends and family." Two days later, she found out she had Ebola. "THR quickly learned that Nina and her dog Bentley had enormous public support and sympathy. So THR began trying to use Nina as a PR tool to save its plummeting image. While Nina laid in isolation, heavily medicated and facing a potentially gruesome death, THR had its PR department calling Nina. The PR Department was trying to release information and use Nina as part of its THR-corporate-driven #PresbyProud campaign," the lawsuit says. Pham's lawsuit also says Texas Health Resources violated her privacy by sharing her medical records. In his letter to employees, Berdan said the company had Pham's permission to release information. "THR was sensitive to Nina's privacy, and we adhered to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules in determining what information to share publicly," the CEO said. "We had Nina's consent to share the information about her that was released." Another nurse treating Duncan, Amber Vinson, also contracted Ebola. Both nurses recovered after being sent to hospitals specially equipped and staffed to handle Ebola -- Pham at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, and Vinson at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Pham is still employed and is getting a paycheck from Texas Health Resources, but has not returned to work, CNN affiliate KTVT said. She is still suffering fatigue and body aches, but her lawyer told the affiliate it's not clear whether the ailments are from Ebola or from the experimental drugs Pham received. She also experiences anxiety and frequent nightmares and suffers from the stigma of being the Ebola nurse and she may not nurse again, the lawsuit says . "Professionally, she doubts whether she can ever be a critical care nurse again -- in part because of the emotional stress and anxiety over the trauma she experienced and in part because of the fear and stigma that follows her. So despite only just beginning to pursue her dream of a career in critical care nursing, Nina is now faced with the possibility of never returning to her passion," the lawsuit says. The lawsuit seeks damages for past and future physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses, loss of earning capacity and loss of reputation the lawsuit says. It does not set an amount for damages sought. "The fact is, I'm facing a number of issues with regard to my health and my career and the lawsuit provides a way to address them," Pham said in her statement. "But more importantly, it will help uncover the truth of what happened, and educate all health care providers and administrators about ways to be better prepared for the next public health emergency. "I particularly want to express my continued sympathy to the family of Mr. Duncan, as it was my privilege to care for him. I also want to acknowledge my fellow nurses, and the many friends, family and strangers for their ongoing concern and support." CNN's Karan Olson, Chandler Friedman and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +(CNN)When Jeb Bush spoke last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, the likely GOP presidential hopeful did better than expected. Of course, that could have been because expectations were so low. You remember "Bush Derangement Syndrome." When George W. Bush was president, it afflicted liberals who thought the chief executive couldn't do anything right. Now that Jeb might run for president in 2016, the condition vexes conservatives who believe that when it comes to choosing the GOP nominee, the former Florida governor is all wrong. During Bush's speech, a few dozen supporters of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky -- wearing red T-shirts with the words "Stand With Rand" -- walked out and later blasted Bush as insufficiently conservative. But what should really count for a lot is that Bush is sufficiently competent. He's the grownup in a roomful of extremists who -- as they compare union members to ISIS (Scott Walker) or vow to abolish the IRS (Ted Cruz) or bash the media (Chris Christie) -- seem most interested in applause lines. Bush is a serious person with a serious shot at the presidency, something that you just can't say about all Republicans who appear to be running. As someone who is bilingual and whose wife hails from Mexico, Bush can hit Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, where it hurts by carving into her Latino support. In his 1998 gubernatorial election, and 2002 re-election, Bush received over 60 percent of the Latino vote. And it's no secret that, for many Latinos who might vote for Bush, the make-or-break issue is immigration. That's because many Latinos see immigration as a way of determining a candidate's character. Latinos will be watching to see if Bush stands up to the pressure from extremists to join the GOP's closed border chorus. They're used to being thrown under the bus by politicians who sacrifice Latinos to gin up support from non-Latinos. And they won't put up with it. So which way is Bush going to go on immigration? For many years, he extolled the contributions of immigrants and expressed dismay that elements of his party are closed-minded and mean-spirited on the issue. He even acknowledged that, to many, the party is seen as "anti-immigrant." Lately, though, Bush has injected more nuance into his views -- and turned them mushy in the process. On the question of whether undocumented youth should have a path to citizenship, for example, Bush at first supported the idea, then he opposed it. And most recently, he has said that he could support such a path if Congress mandates it. On the Arizona immigration law, Bush apparently likes the concept of enlisting local police to be "the eyes and ears" of the border patrol. But he has also been sympathetic to critics who worry that this will lead to ethnic profiling of Latinos. Too often, Bush leaves the impression that he'll say whatever he needs to say to avoid conflict. So it was actually refreshing to see Bush use his appearance at CPAC -- which took the form of an onstage interview by conservative talk show host Sean Hannity -- to once again speak plainly. In response to questions, Bush emphasized the need to secure the U.S. border, insisted that immigration policy should be driven by economic concerns and the need for high-skilled immigrants, and reaffirmed support for giving undocumented immigrants driver's licenses and in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The crowd booed that last one. Bush criticized President Obama's executive actions to prioritize deportations, but also bashed Republicans in Congress for protesting that policy by holding up funds for the Department of Homeland Security. Finally, in response to what is often the most contentious aspect of this debate, Bush also stressed the need to create a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants who are currently in the United States. "I know there's disagreement here," he said. "The simple fact is that there is no plan to deport 11 million people. We should give them a path to legal status where they work...and contribute to our society." More boos. The way Bush sees it, the GOP is good at being against things but "we have to start being for things again." In response to a heckler, Bush stared out into the crowd to address his critic. "I'm marking you down as neutral," he told the heckler. "I'll look forward to being your second choice." Not even close. In the Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll of 3,007 participants, Bush came in fifth out of 17 candidates with just 8 percent of the vote. First place went to Rand Paul, who earned 25.7 percent. Clearly, Bush has a long way to go in convincing conservatives that he's their best choice. But his appearance at CPAC set exactly the right tone. Voters in both parties have plenty of candidates telling them what they want to hear just to get their support. What they need are more candidates who tell them what they need to hear: the truth. That won't make the candidates popular. But it does make them credible. Score 1 for Bush. +(CNN)It's time for leaders in Israel and the United States to call off their war of insults before they cause serious, lasting damage. Heading into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address on Tuesday to a joint session of Congress, both sides should immediately agree to a cease fire. The speech itself is a terrible mistake. Arranging it without prior consultation with the White House was not only an affront to Barack Obama but to the Presidency itself. One would have thought that after all the uproar, Netanyahu would have caught a "cold" and postponed, but now that he plans to go ahead, he should at least give a measured, thoughtful address -- not the barn burner for which he is known. But let's be clear: he also deserves a respectful hearing in Congress from both sides of the aisle. Blame for the deterioration in relations is shared here in America as well as in Israel. This conflict began on a personal level. Those close to Obama and Netanyahu say the two men took an instant dislike years ago and have since descended into loathing one another. Obama, they say, regards Netanyahu as headstrong, bombastic and reckless. Netanyahu sees Obama as weak, unreliable and priggish. The Obama team also accuses Netanyahu of timing his Congressional speech to rally Israeli voters behind him in elections two weeks away -- Bibi as Churchill standing up to the Nazis -- while Netanyahu's team is convinced Obama is desperate for a deal to burnish his legacy -- the Nobel laureate who brought peace. Each thinks the other endangers the future of the world and each has allowed his top lieutenants to viciously attack the other in the press. But in recent months what began as personal antipathy has deepened and widened into a serious split over the best way to head off Iran's aggressive push to become a nuclear power. The Iranian threat has long been vexing; former Defense Secretary Bob Gates once told me it was the toughest problem he saw in nearly a half century serving of distinguished service in national security. There are no obvious solutions acceptable to key parties. The Obama administration believes that a compromise agreement with Iran limiting -- but not dismantling -- its nuclear capability is better than to have current talks fall apart, risking an armed showdown. The Netanyahu government believes the agreement which Obama appears ready to accept will let Iran eventually wriggle free and build a bomb. In truth, there is merit to both points of view -- and the devil here is not only in the details but in the very structure of an agreement. As Obama believes, a negotiated settlement is far preferable to a possible war or learning to live with a nuclear Iran. But what is alarming not only to Israel but to other American friends in the region -- and rightly so -- is that the U.S. and its partners in the negotiation with Iran (Russia, China, the UK, France, Germany) have made repeated concessions to get an Iranian signature without getting major concessions in return. Consider: The U.S. and Israel started down the negotiating path saying publicly that Iran must totally dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions against Teheran. Leaks since then have shown that in pursuit of a deal, the U.S. is now willing to accept more and more centrifuges in Iran -- 6,500 by latest count. Washington and Tel Aviv once talked of an agreement that would last at least 20 years. ​ According to the latest leaks, the agreement may only cover 10 years and then give the Iranians a chance to bust loose. This is only the beginning of a long litany of differences. In defense of U.S. compromises, Secretary of State John Kerry makes a persuasive point that a temporary agreement reached 18 months ago containing compromises has worked far better than critics have conceded and therefore, those now at the table deserve a benefit of doubt. But administration critics are also right in arguing that the Obama administration seems to be betting that if just given a few years grace, an odious regime which sponsors terrorism across the Middle East will suddenly change spots and become a partner for peace. In times past, American and Israeli leaders have sometimes had bad blood and still made substantive progress. President Jimmy Carter could barely stand Israeli leader Menachem Begin but they and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat shaped the Camp David accords in 1978. Despite sometimes bitter words during Israel's recent dust-up with Hamas -- especially directed by Israel against Secretary Kerry -- Obama ensured that Israel was well supplied militarily, particularly with the Iron Dome missile defense system that saved countless Israeli lives. But today's rift seems far more perilous. It is not only personal but substantive and comes at a moment of spreading turmoil across the Middle East. Israel should remember that America is its best friend in a world where anti-Semitism is once again raising its hideous head. The United States should appreciate that for Israel, a nuclear Iran could pose instant annihilation. America also has Arab friends in the Middle East who have vital interests here -- friends like Saudi Arabia who, if an agreement is weak, will feel compelled to pursue their own bomb, unleashing a lethal arms race. This is a moment that demands that leaders in both Israel and the United States lower their voices, take their differences indoors and begin restoring broken bonds of trust. In private talks, they should work hard finding ways to bridge differences between them, starting with creative proposals coming recently from veteran U.S. diplomats. Dennis Ross, for example, argues that if the U.S. could greatly strengthen an inspections regime -- a much bigger team who could go anywhere, any time in Iran -- and could enshrine in legislation that Iranian violations will bring military action, that would go a long way toward allaying opposition fears. Martin Indyk proposes that, drawing upon ideas embraced by President Clinton in Middle East negotiations 15 years ago, the U.S. could enter a formal treaty with Israel, voted upon by Congress, that would provide a U.S. "nuclear guarantee" to Israel in event of an Iranian breakout. In short, the moment is dire but not hopeless. What is clearly needed is a cease fire. Secretary Kerry seemed to be pointing in that direction Sunday when he said Netanyahu is welcome to speak in the U.S. on Tuesday. Others should now take up the cause, recognizing that our real adversaries are not in Tel Aviv or Washington but among those in Teheran who support terror and mayhem across the Middle East. +(CNN)It looks like the Republicans in Congress have failed again. House Republicans defeated a plan pushed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to fund the Department of Homeland Security, money that congressional Republicans have been holding hostage in their effort to overturn President Obama's executive order on immigration. McConnell proposed that there would be a separate vote on the immigration issue. When Speaker John Boehner proposed an even narrower compromise, funding the Department for only three more weeks, his caucus said no. The final bill provides funding for one more week, at which point Congress needs to take up the issue again. Yet from a different perspective, congressional Republicans are achieving their goal. Once again they are using up a valuable chunk of President Obama's political time. Congress has already squandered several months rather than addressing bigger questions, such as economic inequality or climate change, which the White House hoped to put at the center of political debate even if the Republicans refused to do anything about these problems. While the odds of the president making progress on key issues is extremely slim, President Obama has not even had a chance to introduce issues fully into public debate -- a key function of presidents who hope to build the groundwork for future legislative breakthroughs and shape the national conversation -- or to even to attempt to make progress on issues, like tax reform, where there is potential support for a bipartisan breakthrough. Using up the legislative clock has been central to the Republican strategy since the 2010 midterm elections, a tactic that the Democrats have found difficult to fight back against. The strategy has been pretty straightforward. Each time that President Obama tried to introduce a new issue to the nation, whether that has to do with immigration reform or economic inequality, Republicans have instantly shifted public attention elsewhere by threatening extreme action on some other area of policy. This is what Republicans did in 2010 and 2011 when they warned that they would not raise the debt limit ceiling if Democrats did not accede to their budget demands. Congress spent many months wrangling over the budget as they faced the real possibility of the federal government going into default. This was all that anyone in Washington was talking about. The GOP did the same with the threat of a government shutdown. Even though the possibility of repealing the Affordable Care Act is remote, Republicans keep bringing it up for a debate, forcing Democrats to defend the program and spending more time on a proposal that nobody really thinks stands a chance of passing. The "tea party" faction of the House Republicans has been pivotal to this strategy as was clear this week. Since they have shown repeatedly that they are willing to employ the most extreme measures to defend their principles, and that they won't allow Boehner to rein them in for "practical" political considerations, Democrats can't afford to take the threats lightly. Republican leaders can and have said to the White House they would like to find reasonable solutions to these problems, but with a nod to the Republican caucus, remind Obama that they don't have full control. While it is true that these tactics have hurt the name brand of the GOP and place Republican presidential candidates at greater risk in 2016, many congressional Republicans have been willing to suffer hits in the polls because the tactic has allowed them to continue using up time on the legislative calendar. Aside from vetoing bills, President Obama doesn't have many options other than to watch the clock tick away. Now the GOP has done it again. Even if there is a resolution that continues funding for the Department of Homeland Security, months have been consumed on Capitol Hill. When the year began President Obama wanted to make economic inequality a defining theme for the year. He wanted to use the limited power he had to bring more attention to the growing divide between the rich and the poor, as well as the struggles facing middle class Americans. But he has only had limited success. Instead, he and his party have been consumed with this struggle over the budget bill. When House Republicans pushed their "stop-gap" measure to fund Homeland Security for just another week, they were following the standard game plan. By avoiding permanent solutions to budgeting problems, and keeping the debate over these issues in play for even more time, the GOP continues to eat away at the president's political clock. Usually political extremism does not have the virtues that Sen. Barry Goldwater claimed in his famous 1964 speech to the Republican Convention, but it sure can have short-term political benefits in Congress. Just ask Mitch McConnell, who can barely contain his grin. +Jerusalem (CNN)At times, he got raucous applause during his speech in Washington on Tuesday. But the reactions to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's message that may matter most came in Israel and Iran -- where emotions ran high, both in support and in opposition. In an address before the U.S. Congress punctuated by one-liners, Netanyahu claimed that ongoing talks about Iran's nuclear program "would all but guarantee that Iran gets nuclear weapons, lots of them." He portrayed Iran's leaders as untrustworthy and bloodthirsty, intent on annihilating Israel and threatening its allies. That viewpoint, not surprisingly, didn't play well in Tehran. While the speech wasn't carried live, Iranians quickly pounced with heated condemnations of Netanyahu and characterized him as a liar. TV banners labeled the speech an example of "Iranaphobia," with commentators saying that it humiliated U.S. President Barack Obama and deepened the wedge between Israel and its longtime allies. "This speech was a sign of the weakness and extreme isolation of radical groups," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said of what she called "a deceitful theater play." "... The continued lies of Netanyahu regarding the aims and intentions of the peaceful nuclear program of Iran are repetitive and sickening," she said. The reaction in Israel was more diverse, albeit predictable, reflecting the divisions there ahead of its March 17 election. Isaac Herzog -- the Labor Party chairman hoping to become Israel's next Prime Minister -- said that Netanyahu's speech, "as impressive as it may be, did not prevent the Iranians' nuclear program" nor did it impact talks now underway in Montreux, Switzerland, to address it. What the speech did accomplish, according to Herzog, is "greatly undermine ... the relationship between Israel and the United States," with Obama opposing Netanyahu's speech as a political move that threatened to thwart the nuclear talks. "It will not change the position of (Obama's) administration and will only broaden the crisis of our great friend and our strategic ally," Herzog said of the speech. "That price, we will have to pay." On the other side of the debate are people such as Danny Danon, a former Israel deputy defense minister. "Prime Minister Netanyahu sounded the alarm for the survival of our country," Danon said from Jerusalem. "We are worried. And I am very proud of our prime minister, ... who said exactly what we feel: It is a bad deal." The speech and the reactions to it came ahead of a March 24 deadline in which negotiators from six world powers, plus Iran, are trying to reach a long-term deal about Iran's nuclear program. That looming date is why Netanyahu said he was compelled to address Congress at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner (and without the advance knowledge of Obama). Prior to boarding a plane Sunday in Tel Aviv, the Prime Minister called his foray to Washington "a crucial trip, even a historical one." The Iranian nuclear deadline isn't the only one looming for Netanyahu, or even the most immediate one. Because of Israeli elections in two weeks, the man who has called himself the "messenger of all the people of Israel" might not be that for much longer. While it happened some 6,000 miles away, his speech in Washington on Tuesday could sway hearts and minds back home -- some admiring his strong leadership in protecting Israel and others, like Herzog, upset over how he has roiled relations with Obama and undermined peace efforts. Given Israeli election guidelines, TV networks pulled Herzog's speech from air for fear it could be construed as campaigning. Netanyahu's remarks were on a 5-minute delay for the same reason. Nachshon Carmi said he is "totally" convinced Netanyahu primarily aimed to speak to voters at home as much as to affect the American government's decisions on Iran. "I think this is a classic move of distracting the voters from domestic issues to foreign policy," Carmi said in Jerusalem. A fellow Israeli citizen, Malynnda Littky, disagrees. She thinks that Netanyahu had every right to make his case in Washington if he believes an Iranian deal could affect Israel's future. "He's giving a speech on a topic he knows a lot about and is important to us," Littky said. "But it's still just a speech." Given longstanding issues with the Palestinian territories and the fact that Israel is surrounded by nations with predominantly Muslim populations, Israeli leaders have ample experience with being isolated and on the defensive. They've also proven a willingness time and again to act out, if they feel doing so will safeguard their national security. Iran has been a case in point. Netanyahu has been the loudest voice in speaking about international efforts aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. If the rest of the world can't act to stop this from happening, he's suggested, then Israel will. There's precedent about how that might be done: Israel bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. At the time, then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin drew a line in the sand, essentially vowing that no Israeli enemy could develop weapons of mass destruction and that Israel would defend itself "with all the means at our disposal." That mentality is what appears to be driving Netanyahu, who has been adamant and consistent in expressing his distrust of Iran (whose supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted last year that Israel should be "annihilated.") The Prime Minister has been just as forthright in challenging international efforts to strike a deal with Tehran, an effort that's been accelerated since a more conciliatory Hassan Rouhani became Iran's president in 2013. Several interim agreements have been made in recent months, though a long-term pact so far has been elusive. The Switzerland talks aim to bridge "gaps" between the various parties, with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif telling CNN on Tuesday that "we're starting to move forward, but it's a lot of work." So is Netanyahu having a disruptive effect on these negotiations? "He's trying to," Zarif said. "But I don't think trying to create tension and conflict helps anybody." One thing that Netanyahu has certainly done is get the attention of Iranians. News about what happened in Washington was the biggest item in Iranian media and high on the minds of people on the streets of Tehran. In addition to citizens and TV commentators, Iranian officials took notice as well. But that doesn't mean they are taking much stock in what Netanyahu said. Massoumeh Ebtekar, Iran's Vice President for Environmental Affairs, told AFP from Paris that she didn't think Netanyahu's opinion "carries much weight." "They are making their efforts to derail the deal," Ebtekar said of Israeli officials. "But I think the more logical lobbies on both sides are looking forward to a solution." There is a widespread opinion in Iran that Netanyahu has long been singularly intent on going after Iran, even before he started his second stint as Prime Minister in 2009. His position is often conflated with that of the United States, a view that could be exacerbated by the loud reception Netanyahu got as he entered the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday and all the times cheers and applause interrupted his speech. Of course, just because Iranians are mindful of what Netanyahu said doesn't mean they will change their minds. Changing minds in Israel, ahead of the coming election, is another matter. Whether Tuesday's speech will do that can't be ascertained until there's credible polling after his remarks, or arguably once citizens go to the polls in two weeks. Until then, polls from various Israeli news outlets suggest a tight race. Some project Netanyahu's Likud party winning fewer seats than the so-called Zionist alliance opposing him, though exactly who will end up as prime minister depends on which parties join forces after the votes are cast. Most Israelis don't think that Netanyahu has any hope of impacting opinions and policies out of Iran with his speech, Bar-Ilan University professor Eytan Gilboa said. But many are worried about what Gilboa calls the worst crisis in the decades-long relationship between Israel and the United States, with Tuesday's speech doing little to help change the perception "there is very little trust between" Obama and Netanyahu. Speaking from Jerusalem, Carmi said he understands the depth of this division but doesn't think the damage is irreparable. "The connection between Israel and the United States goes so deep and is on so many levels," he said. "Yes, we're going through a bad time. But we'll get over it." CNN's Kate Bolduan reported from Jerusalem, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Jim Sciutto contributed to this report from Switzerland, and CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr and Frederik Pleitgen from Tehran, Iran. +(CNN)The case of a Georgia woman, whose execution was postponed for a second time Monday, is once again shining the national spotlight on one of the most fundamental questions we as a nation face: When do we put our own citizens to death? But it's an issue on which this country is all over the place. "As it relates to crimes against individuals ... the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim's life was not taken." That was Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008). You might think at first the Department of Justice isn't listening. After all, the U.S. federal government lists dozens of capital offenses that are punishable by death, and not all of them involve a victim's life being taken. They fall into three main categories: 1) homicide offenses; 2) espionage and treason; and 3) nonhomicidal narcotics offenses. While most of them involve the death of a victim, not all of them do. But what happened to all that "shouldn't expand death penalty to crimes where the victim's life was not taken" language from the Supreme Court? Doesn't the Department of Justice have to listen to the Supreme Court? They do, and they have. The Department of Justice has read the high court's fine print in Kennedy v. Louisiana: "Our concern here is limited to crimes against individual persons. We do not address, for example, crimes defining and punishing treason, espionage, terrorism, and drug kingpin activity, which are offenses against the State. As it relates to crimes against individuals, though, the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim's life was not taken." Ah. As with most things, there are exceptions to the rule -- though reasonable minds may differ on the reasoning behind those exceptions. Apparently, when we are talking about crimes against people, the death penalty should not be expanded to nonhomicide-type crimes. If it's a crime against the state, well, it's game on. After all, treason is one of three crimes mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, so there's a good argument that the federal statute authorizing death for treason is "constitutional" -- because it's actually in the constitution. (Yet another reason why federal court is not a place where defendants want to be -- it's no secret defense attorneys would rather be in state court, where the penalties are less severe and where everything isn't illegal). While it varies from state to state, as a very general proposition, the death penalty is almost universally reserved for the crime of murder. Murder is a subcategory of the broader class of homicide, and death penalty crimes are normally a subcategory of murder. As another very general proposition in the States, murder -- plus something on top that makes it more egregious -- is what will qualify as a capital crime. It would be nice to say that capital murder in the states is always defined as an intentional killing, but even that has exceptions. In fact, in some states, you can be executed for a victim's death even if you didn't actually pull the trigger and even if you never intended a death to result. If you commit an inherently dangerous felony, and a death results, you can be charged with "felony murder," which in some states qualifies you for the death penalty. According to the Supreme Court, this is constitutional, as long as the defendant significantly participated in the felony and was recklessly indifferent to human life. Ultimately, it's nearly impossible to articulate a simple rule for determining which crimes our society deems worthy of the death penalty. Society's view of the death penalty is constantly evolving, and so is the view of appropriate death penalty crimes. As a general rule, horrific murders qualify, but sometimes a nonhomicide crime such as espionage qualifies. If you are in the armed forces, even more crimes can get you executed, such as desertion. That's particularly paradoxical that we might order our military personnel to intentionally kill in times of war and then execute them -- as was the case of Pvt. Eddie Slovik -- for refusing to intentionally participate in the killing. Of course, we have long recognized that military justice requires a degree of martial discipline that the civilian world simply doesn't. While the husband-wife execution of convicted spies (and nonkillers) Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were certainly high profile at the time, the modern reality is that every person executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 participated in a crime in which a victim died. So what exactly will earn you the death penalty? The message is anything but clear. For crimes against the person, it has to be pretty awful: A killing plus something that makes it even worse than your garden variety homicide. If your crime is against the state, however, the Supreme Court will give the state some leeway in killing citizens. +Moscow (CNN)Four days after he was gunned down by an unknown assailant in the heart of Moscow, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and outspoken Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov was laid to rest Tuesday in a ceremony attended by hundreds of mourners. His coffin was lowered into the ground at the Troyekurovskoe Cemetery before family, friends and dignitaries, after being carried in procession through Moscow. Mourners laid wreaths, some with ribbons in the colors of the Russian flag, reflecting tributes to a man whom supporters called a true Russian patriot. Earlier, a stream of people took part in a somber memorial service at the Sakharov Center in Moscow. Some held flowers as they filed past the open casket of the prominent Kremlin critic and paid respects to his mother, Dina Eydman, and his children Anton and Zhanna. Hundreds more lined up in the cold outside. Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister under President Vladimir Putin who is now a leading opposition figure and worked closely with Nemtsov, was among the mourners to speak at the service. He said he believed Nemtsov, known for his outspoken views, was killed out of revenge for his politics. He also said he thought the killers would be brought to justice, under the next government of Russia if not the current one. The assassination has spawned a flood of conspiracy theories. Though politically marginalized in recent years, Nemtsov was one of Putin's most vocal critics, and many suspect the Kremlin of either direct or indirect involvement. Putin has vowed to bring those responsible to justice. No one has yet been arrested and authorities have put forward a number of theories, including that the murder was an act of "provocation" intended to destabilize Russia, that it was connected to the conflict in Ukraine, that Islamist extremists were involved or that it was linked to Nemtsov's international business affairs. The Moscow Investigative Committee said in a statement on its website Tuesday that "all scenarios" are being considered and that it is taking all necessary steps. "Eyewitness are being questioned, CCTV footage is already being analyzed. Evidence has been collected. A number of tests were carried out -- among them are ballistic, medical examination and trace evidence," it said. The memorial service was hosted by Pavel Sheremet, a Russian journalist known for leaving a Russian state TV channel in protest at the Kremlin's current policies on Ukraine. Other prominent Russian figures at the service included Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova, and former Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin. Russian economist Yevgeny Yasin, who served as economy minister between 1994 and 1997 and is now an academic, said: "Nemtsov always said everything that others were afraid to say." Evgeniya Albats, editor-in-chief of The New Times magazine, described Nemtsov in a speech as an amazing friend and a fearless politician. She added, "This murder is impossible to forgive. It's on Putin's conscience." Foreign dignitaries included U.S. ambassador to Russia John Tefft, who said Nemtsov would be remembered as a Russian patriot, and former UK Prime Minister John Major. Major told CNN: "It's clearly a very sad day for Russians, it's a very sad day for Boris' family, and I'm personally extremely saddened by what has happened. "I knew him in the 1990s, I admired him, I admired what he stood for, and I hope now a thorough investigation will determine who is responsible for this outrage." The opposition politician was shot Friday night as he walked across a bridge about 100 meters (330 feet) from the Kremlin with his girlfriend, Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, 23. Duritskaya -- the only known witness to the shooting -- left Moscow for Kiev late on Monday. She had been staying at the apartment of an aide to Nemtsov under constant police guard. Her mother, Inna Duritskaya, told CNN on Monday that her daughter faces constant psychological pressure from Moscow authorities and fears she will be implicated in his death. The Moscow Investigative Committee said Duritskaya was not detained while in Moscow and that she was offered witness protection, which she turned down. Duritskaya was free to leave at any point but wanted to give her testimony and contribute to the investigation process, "understanding the important of it for the investigation," the statement said. "It is needless to state how important her testimony is." Edward Lucas, a senior editor for The Economist and a senior vice president at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told CNN that the manner of Nemtsov's death was highly suspicious. "The circumstances of his shooting point very much to official involvement," he said. "If it was some random, ragtag extremist militia from eastern Ukraine killing him, I doubt they would've been able to do it with such precision in the heart of Moscow." Lucas also said that the recent history of politically motivated killings in Russia suggested that the investigation would come to little. "One of the signal things that they all have in common is that they are not cleared up. We have a lot of bluster at the time of the death, promises of investigation, but either the culprits are never found or the culprits who are found are very unconvincing ones and the people who gave the orders are never identified." Meanwhile, he said, the Kremlin continues to pump out propaganda which suggests opposition activists or those critical of Russia's involvement in Ukraine are traitors to their country. Some of Nemtsov's supporters accuse the Kremlin, if not of direct involvement, of creating an atmosphere of hatred which fostered the killing. Not everyone who hoped to attend Nemtsov's funeral has been able to do so. Latvia's former foreign minister and European Parliament member Sandra Kalniete said she was denied entry to Russia on Monday night on spurious grounds. Speaking to CNN by phone from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, Kalniete said she was finally told she was refused entry "according to Russia's code of law regarding the defense and security of the Russian state and the general health of the public." She had intended to represent Latvia and the European People's Party -- the biggest parliamentary group in the European Parliament -- at the funeral, she said. "Like many I admired him, I admired his joyfulness and eloquence," Kalniete said. "My wish was not to cause any danger to Russia. I just wanted to go to pay tribute to a political personality, Boris Nemtsov." The European People's Party said it was the third time a member of the European Parliament had been stopped at the Russian border. Thousands of Nemtsov supporters gathered Sunday in Moscow to mourn the death of the 55-year-old, who was deputy prime minister during President Boris Yeltsin's administration in the 1990s. The event took place the same day Nemtsov was supposed to lead a rally in Moscow decrying Russia's policies on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said last weekend that Nemtsov was about to reveal information that would be damaging to Russian interests, Ukraine's state-run Ukrinform news agency reported. Putin condemned the killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting, the Kremlin said. The President also wrote to Nemtsov's mother, saying he shared her grief, and promised to bring those behind the killing to justice, the Kremlin said. Police said they are looking for a man with short hair who stands between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches, Russia's official Sputnik news agency reported. The shooter was wearing blue jeans and a brown sweater. Russia's Investigative Committee is offering a reward of 3 million rubles ($49,000) for information leading to the arrest of the killer. It said the tipster will be guaranteed anonymity. CNN's Matthew Chance and Alla Eshchenko reported from Moscow and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Ivan Watson, Emma Burrows and Lucy Pawle contributed to this report. +(CNN)NASA's tractor-trailer sized Dawn spacecraft will snuggle up to Ceres on Friday, getting close enough to be pulled into orbit and to complete the first mission to a dwarf planet. "I'm just delighted that Dawn is now on the doorstep of Ceres," Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division said in a news conference on Monday. Dawn is expected to begin orbiting Ceres around 7:20 a.m. ET, but NASA says it may take an hour or two to confirm it. Ceres was discovered in 1801 (Pluto wasn't found until 1930) and was the first object found in our solar system's main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It's about 310 million miles from Earth and was initially classified as planet, then later demoted to an asteroid, only to be reclassified again as a dwarf planet. The early images from Dawn already have mission scientists excited. "Ceres has really surprised us," said Carol Raymond, Dawn's deputy principal investigator. "The first images have produced some really puzzling features." One of the puzzles -- two bright white spots that showed up in photographs taken by Dawn in February. "These spots were extremely surprising to the team, and they have been puzzling to the team and to everybody who's seen them." The spots are in a 57-mile wide (92 kilometer) crater. The spot in the center of the crater is about twice as bright as the spot on the side of the crater. "This extreme brightness was really unexpected," Raymond said. The Dawn team is "really, really excited about this feature because it is unique in the solar system." Raymond says the brightness is consistent with highly reflective materials such as ice or salts. This might help add more credence to a discovery made in 2014 by ESA's Herschel infrared space observatory. The telescope detected water vapor around Ceres coming from the same area where the spots are located. "It might be related to that water vapor emission," Raymond said. Herschel's scientists also said their research showed Ceres has an atmosphere. Raymond said her team is keen to confirm that. Scientists expect to learn more as Dawn is gradually lowered to about 235 miles above the surface of Ceres in December. "The mystery will be solved," she said. But Ceres seems to have lots of oddities. "We see many strange features," Raymond said. "We see smooth areas, some areas that are chaotically fractured and we see craters of all sizes." One of the other things scientists noticed is how round Ceres is. Being round is very important because it is the main characteristic of a planet -- a title that Ceres had -- then lost. Ceres was demoted to an asteroid because 19th century astronomers couldn't be sure it was round. But it was bumped up to a dwarf planet when that category was created in 2006. According to the International Astronomical Union -- the group that came up with the definition -- a dwarf planet is similar to the eight main planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) except it has a lot of other stuff orbiting with it around the sun. The IAU recognizes five dwarf planets: Eris, Pluto, Ceres, Makemake and Haumea. Scientists say there could be many more of these small worlds that haven't been discovered. Dawn was launched on September 27, 2007, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its journey has taken it past Mars and on a short layover at the asteroid Vesta. On Friday, Dawn will make its closest approach yet to Ceres, flying about 25,000 miles from it, according to Robert Mase, project manager for the Dawn mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "That's about 10 times closer than the moon is to the Earth," he said. But the beautiful images coming in from Dawn will stop for awhile. "We're now on the dark side, so we're going to have a blackout for about the next month until we get back over toward the lit side of the body," he said. But he says the "floodgates will open" when its main science mission starts in April. Dawn will stay in orbit around Ceres for years, even after its primary mission ends in June 2016. But at some point, it will run out of hydrazine, the fuel used to guide the spacecraft. Between now and then -- mission managers hope Dawn will help solve the mysteries of Ceres and add to our knowledge of how our solar system formed. +Kano, Nigeria (CNN)Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group already blamed for numerous horrific attacks in West Africa, posted a graphic video online Monday showing the apparent beheadings of two men who the group said were suspected spies. The six-minute video shows two men with their arms tied to their backs. They are made to face the camera on their knees, with another man towering over one of them brandishing a knife. The knife-wielding man reaches toward the throat of one of the kneeling men, then the video switches scenes to show what appear to be the bloody severed heads of the two men placed on their headless bodies. The SITE Intelligence group, which monitors extremist activities, released a translated transcript from the video, including what SITE called an "interrogation" of one of the two men. The man identifies himself as a farmer from the Nigerian town of Baga. He says he was told by a policeman that if he provided information about "the residents who live in here ... I will become rich and never go back to be a farmer again." The apparent beheadings then follow on the video. SITE said the video, which included Arabic, English and French subtitles, was posted online via Twitter and "borrows certain elements from productions" of beheadings by ISIS. The video was posted by the media division of Boko Haram, SITE said. Although this is the first purported beheading video Boko Haram posted online.‎ the group has previously issued more detailed and extremely violent beheading videos directly to journalists through intermediaries. Unlike the video posted Monday, previous ones have shown the actual decapitations. ‎In October 2014, Boko Haram handed out a 10-minute video showing the decapitation of a Nigerian military pilot the group said it had seized a month earlier after shooting down his fighter jet during a mission against Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria. ‎In April 2014, the Islamist group released 16-minute video showing what it said was the beheading of a soldier its fighters captured in a battle in Sambisa forest‎, the group's main enclave. In February 2014, another video showing the beheading of an alleged informant who led the military to a Boko Haram camp in Sambisa forest during an offensive was issued by the group. And in February 2010, Boko Haram released a 12-minute video in which two policemen were beheaded in an undisclosed location. Those videos all ended with a speech from an "executioner" warning that the group would carry out similar punishment for anyone it captures supporting the Nigerian government against it. ‎Observers of Boko Haram, which has inflicted years of terror on northern Nigeria, note that its actions in the past six months have frequently mimicked those of ISIS -- from punishments such as stoning and beheading of its victims to taking territory and an increasingly sophisticated use of social media that's very much in the ISIS "style." Jacob Zenn, who follows Boko Haram's operations and propaganda closely, recently told CNN, "It's clear Boko Haram is leaning toward ISIS in terms of doctrine, ideology and an emphasis on holding territory after operations." In terms of ideology, Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said that kidnappings and hostage-taking are approved in the Quran, a claim ISIS also makes. "Our hostages are Christians or corrupted Muslims who follow the Christian way," he said last year, referring to schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Nigeria, most of whom remain missing. ISIS later referred to the Chibok abductions in its kidnapping of hundreds of Yazidi women and girls. Zenn and other analysts point out that recent Boko Haram videos have resembled the polished media productions of ISIS. Zenn notes they "have the same choreography and lens angles as ISIS." Boko Haram has begun using ISIS symbolism in its media productions and operations. The Nigerian press noted with alarm last July that Boko Haram militants had been seen raising ISIS' rayat al-uqab flag along the Nigerian-Cameroon border. Recent videos have featured the same flag. CNN's Tim Lister contributed to this report. +(CNN)My name is Mark Goodacre, and I am a professor of New Testament and Christian origins in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. I was series adviser and one of many on-camera experts on CNN's "Finding Jesus," which premiered Sunday evening. I also appear in each episode of the program. Viewers were invited to tweet and post their questions to Facebook during the show. Below are some of the most interesting, and my answers to them. Vance Lipsey: Is there a better way to check the shroud than carbon dating? I've been told carbon dating is very inaccurate. Goodacre: Actually, carbon dating is an excellent way to ascertain the date of an artifact. Many are disappointed, not surprisingly, that the shroud dated to between AD 1260 and 1390. I recall my own disappointment (but not surprise) on hearing the results back in 1988. But the scientists doing the carbon dating were not amateurs, and the samples were tested in three separate labs. Moreover, the carbon date cohered with other evidence that the shroud was a medieval forgery, like the fact that there is no evidence of its existence until the 14th century. Cynthia Restivo: So I know the carbon dating was off, but wasn't it later shown that the piece of cloth used for the testing was a section that had been repaired after some fire damage or something? Which would explain why it dated different? Goodacre: No, that's not been established. Those who defend the authenticity of the shroud often say the sample might have been taken from a part of the shroud that was repaired after it was damaged by fire in the 16th century. But this is special pleading. The scientists who took the sample knew what they were doing. Professor Christopher Ramsey noted that the unusual weave on the sample matched the weave on the rest of the shroud perfectly. Beth A Hafele: So were Jesus' wrists nailed or his hands? All shows and movies have his hands nailed. Goodacre: One of the curiosities about the Turin Shroud is that the figure appears to be nailed through the wrists. This has long intrigued those who have studied crucifixion because there is some anatomical plausibility here -- nails through the wrists would support the body better than nails through the palms of the hands. It is just possible that the bones of the only crucified victim we have, Jehohanan, show a nail mark above the wrist, but this is disputed. There are two further factors here. One is that victims of crucifixion may often have been tied instead of (or as well as) being nailed. Also, some dispute whether the shroud figure is nailed through the wrists. (See Antonio Lombatti's graphic.) Virginia McCoy: Once again, Mary Magdalene is totally ignored. They used the Gospel that described Peter as having discovered the empty tomb. When other Gospels describe Magdalene as the one that discovered it and then she called out to others. Goodacre: Well, you will be pleased to hear that there is an entire episode devoted to Mary Magdalene in this series, and her identity and role are fully explored, including her presence at the empty tomb. I think you'll enjoy it. Jacques Lemire: About the @CNN program on Jesus. Good stuff, but I am not sure about Jesus crying out in pain. A psalm: The lamb is silent. Goodacre: I found Adam Bond's portrayal of Jesus' death in the drama really compelling, and his cry is quite arresting. It's true that Isaiah 53:7 says "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." Many early Christians saw this as a prophecy of the way that Jesus, their Messiah, died. It is apparently fulfilled in Jesus' silence during his trial (e.g. John 19:9-10), but in all four Gospels, Jesus is vocal on the cross, and in the end he cries out with a loud voice (e.g. Mark 15:34 and 37), so the drama makes good sense there. Thanks again for watching and for all your great questions, and apologies that we could not answer all of them. I was really thrilled to be involved, and I loved working with the production team behind "Finding Jesus." I think they have put together a superb series, which blends visually compelling drama and intelligent commentary from a wide range of experts. I look forward to hearing everyone's reactions to the remaining five episodes! +(CNN)Venezuela has given the U.S. Embassy in Caracas 15 days to downsize its staff from 100 personnel to 17. "With respect to bringing the number of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela to 17, a period of 15 days will be given to decide which staff will stay in our country," said Venezuela's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on Monday. Venezuela's official news agency AVN (Agencia Venezolana de Noticias) said the U.S. Embassy has been asked to reduce its personnel to a staff of 17 to match the number of Venezuelan personnel working in their embassy in the United States. Last month, the U.S. government approved a law under which Venezuelan officials allegedly involved in human rights violations are to have their visas revoked and their U.S. assets frozen. Following that decision, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that that Americans will need visas to visit Venezuela. Moreover, a group of prominent U.S. officials, current and retired, will be banned from entering Venezuela because of what Maduro said was their involvement in "bombing Iraq, Syria and Vietnam" and other "terrorist" actions. The officials include George W. Bush, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA Director George Tenet and several current members of Congress, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Bob Menendez and Mario Diaz-Balart. On Saturday, Maduro also said an unspecified number of Americans were arrested "a few days ago" for engaging in espionage and recruitment activities. The President said they included an American pilot of Latin American origin, arrested in the southwest border state of Táchira. He said the pilot was found in possession of "all kinds of documents" and was being interrogated by the authorities, though he did not identify him. The Venezuelan government has made many similar claims in recent years, without ever substantiating them. "There have been a lot of anti-American rhetoric again coming out of the Venezuelan Government with a lot of baseless allegations," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf on Monday. +(CNN)Slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov isn't the first critic of President Vladimir Putin to turn up dead. Some Putin opponents claim it isn't a coincidence that critics of the powerful leader and his government have been killed or landed behind bars. But the Kremlin has staunchly denied accusations that it's targeting political opponents or had anything to do with the deaths. Here's a look at some cases of outspoken critics of Putin's government who've ended up in exile, under house arrest, behind bars or dead. The business magnate backed an opposition party and accused Putin of corruption. He spent more than 10 years behind bars on charges of tax evasion and fraud. In statements to CNN, Khodorkovsky said his prosecution was part of a Kremlin campaign to destroy him and take control of Yukos, the oil company he built from privatization deals in the 1990s. The Kremlin denied the accusation. At the time of Khodorkovsky's sentencing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "allegations about some kind of selective prosecution in Russia are groundless. Russian courts deal with thousands of cases where entrepreneurs are prosecuted." Due for release in August 2014, he was released nearly a year earlier, in December 2013, after Putin signed an amnesty decree pardoning him. His release, along with the pardoning of dissident Russian punk band Pussy Riot and a group of Greenpeace protesters, was widely seen as an attempt to improve the country's image before the Winter Olympics in Sochi last February. Khodorkovsky is now living in Switzerland. He told CNN's Christiane Amanpour last month that he wants to see regime change in his country. "I think that my country doesn't deserve a new era of authoritarianism," he said. "But at the same time, I don't want a revolution." She was a vocal critic of Russia's war in Chechnya. Her home was a safe place, until it became the scene of her murder. She was shot four times at the entrance of her Moscow apartment in October 2006. Last year, a Moscow court sentenced five men to prison for the killing. Authorities alleged that an unidentified man asked Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, whom the jury found was a mastermind of the slaying, to kill Politkovskaya in exchange for $150,000 because of her reports of human rights violations and other issues, the Moscow city court said. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said her work chronicling human rights abuses in Chechnya led to threats against her and angered Russian authorities. Shortly after her death, Putin denied any Kremlin involvement in her killing, saying that Politkovskaya's "death in itself is more damaging to the current authorities both in Russia and the Chechen Republic ... than her activities." The former Russian agent was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium, his tea spiked in a London hotel during a meeting with two former Russian security servicemen. After leaving the Russian Federal Security Service, he blamed the agency for orchestrating a series of apartment bombings in Russia in 1999 that left hundreds dead and led to Russia's invasion of Chechnya later that year. In a statement from his deathbed in London in November 2006, he said he had no doubt about who was to blame for his imminent death. "You may succeed in silencing me, but that silence comes at a price," Litvinenko said at the time. "You may succeed in silencing one man, but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life." Officials have always dismissed the accusation as "nonsense," but suspicions linger. A Russian federal intelligence service spokesman went as far as to say that Moscow had not carried out any "physical liquidation of unwelcome personalities" since the Soviet era. The two prime suspects in the poisoning, Andrei Lugavoi and Dmitry Kovtun, are Russian nationals. Both are former agents of the Russian security services. But both deny involvement, and the Russian government refuses to extradite either to Britain to face trial. In January 2009, a masked man shot and killed Markelov, a Russian human rights lawyer known for his work on abuses by the Russian military in Chechnya. The gunman also shot Baburova, a journalist from Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, when she tried to intervene. Markelov was known for his work on high-profile cases. He represented the family of a Chechen woman killed by a former Russian colonel in March 2000. He held a news conference hours before his death opposing the early release of Col. Yury Budanov, who had been convicted of strangling a Chechen teenage girl and was freed after serving eight years of a 10-year sentence. At the time, Novaya Gazeta Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Muratov suggested that Baburova was killed when she tried to stop the lawyer's killer, but he said he couldn't dismiss the possibility that she was also a target. Russian authorities said members of a neo-Nazi group were behind the killings, and two neo-Nazis were convicted for the deaths. The Chechnya-based human rights activist was kidnapped outside her home there in July 2009 and found dead in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia later the same day. Her body was riddled with bullets, Russian prosecutors said -- several shots to the abdomen, and one to the head. Estemirova had spent years investigating human rights abuses in Chechnya. She told CNN in 2007 that she was investigating dozens of abductions and murders that had become the norm in Chechnya, where security forces were fighting a dirty war against separatist rebels. The head of the group Estemirova worked for, Memorial, accuses the Kremlin-backed Chechen leadership of ordering her killing. Her death drew the ire of European leaders. "How many more Natalya Estemirovas and Anna Politkovskayas must be killed before the Russian authorities protect people who stand up for the human rights of Russian citizens?" Terry Davis, then the Council of Europe secretary general, said at the time. The Guardian reported shortly after Estemirova's death that Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and his aides had threatened her. Kadyrov denied involvement in her killing, calling it a "monstrous crime" that was carried out to discredit his government. The powerful Russian businessman's falling-out with his government left him self-exiled in England. Berezovsky accused the Kremlin of killing Litvinenko. And for years, he bankrolled the effort of Litvinenko's widow to push for an inquest into her husband's death. In 2013, he was found dead inside his house with a noose around his neck. Was it a suicide? The coroner's office said it could not say. In 2013, during a phone call to a television show, Putin said he could not rule out that foreign secret services had a role in Berezovsky's death. However, he added that there is no evidence of this. A corruption-fighting lawyer, Navalny famously branded Putin's United Russia party "the party of crooks and thieves." He has been a prominent organizer of mass street protests and has attacked corruption in Russian government, using his blog and social media. The Kremlin critic was arrested in December just after hours after he was found guilty of fraud in a politically charged trial . Navalny was detained after he broke house arrest and went to join a protest against the court's verdict. In court, he got a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for the fraud conviction, while his brother, Oleg, also convicted of fraud, was given a prison term of the same length. The brothers denied charges of embezzling 30 million rubles ($540,000) from a Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics company Yves Rocher between 2008 and 2012. Before the December ruling, he was under house arrest after he was convicted in 2013 of misappropriating $500,000 worth of state-owned timber, in what he told CNN was a fabricated case. The Telegraph reported that the Kremlin denies fabricating the case. A spokesman for Putin said the President only learned of the sentence from the media. Nemtsov, 55, was a top official with the Republican Party of Russia/Party of People's Freedom, a liberal opposition group. He had been arrested several times for speaking against Putin's government. The most recent arrests were in 2011, when he protested the results of parliamentary elections, and in 2012, when tens of thousands protested against Putin. Most recently, he had been critical of the Kremlin's handling of the Ukraine crisis. After his death Friday night, opposition leader Ilya Yashin said his friend had been working on a report about Russian troops and their involvement in Ukraine. In an interview with Newsweek magazine just hours before his death, Nemtsov said Russia was "drowning" under Putin's leadership and was swiftly becoming a fascist state. "Due to the policy of Vladimir Putin, a country with unparalleled potential is sinking, an economy which accumulated untold currency reserves is collapsing," he said. The former deputy prime minister accused Putin of using "Goebbels-style propaganda" -- a reference to Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany's propaganda minister -- to brainwash his countrymen. Nemtsov was scheduled to lead an opposition rally in Moscow last Sunday. But two days before the event, he was shot dead as he walked home from dinner with his Ukrainian model girlfriend. The killing took place just meters away from the Kremlin. The Kremlin suggested Nemtsov may have been killed by enemies of Russia intent on creating political discord. But many Nemtsov supporters suspect Putin's administration of involvement. CNN's Matthew Chance, Ivan Watson, Alla Eshchenko, Laura Smith-Spark, Holly Yan and Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report. +(CNN)An armored truck carrying several million dollars worth of gold was robbed while it was stranded on Interstate 95 in Wilson County, North Carolina. According to the Wilson County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to an armed robbery of more than $4 million in gold, just before 7 p.m. ET Sunday. The armored truck was paused after experiencing mechanical issues during a trip from Miami to Massachusetts. The two guards, employed by Transvalue Inc., were forced to the ground and robbed at gunpoint by three men driving a white van. The guards' hands were then bound behind their backs before they were instructed to walk into a nearby wooded area, the sheriff's office said. "Transvalue Inc. deeply regrets the events that transpired yesterday evening," Chief Executive Officer Jay Rodriguez said in a statement to CNN. "We are pleased that our crew was not harmed. At this time we are working with the authorities to try and resolve this matter." The FBI has also been notified, according to Public Affairs Special Agent Shelley Lynch. The FBI is "coordinating with our law enforcement partners to determine whether a federal crime has been committed". Meanwhile Transvalue is offering a $50,000 reward for any information leading to the arrests of the suspects responsible, according to Rodriguez. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Wilson County Sheriff's Office at 252-237-2188. +(CNN)A New York man says his smartphone blew up in his pocket and that he wound up in a hospital. Erik Johnson of Lindenhurst says his iPhone 5C spontaneously erupted in extreme heat while it was in his pants pocket, giving him second- and third-degree burnson his leg the size of a football. He was headed to a wake for his cousin in New Jersey on February 14, Johnson said, and he dropped his car keys. "When I went to bend over, I heard a pop," he told CNN. "I heard a sizzling, and I ended up ripping my pants off to stop it from burning me." Johnson said he didn't know what was causing the pain at first and there was no warning -- just an extreme burn and a lot of pain. In a panic, he quickly started ripping at his pants as the phone began to melt the edges of his pocket shut, he said. "I was trying to get it out of my pocket," he said. "It started burning right through my pants. It was burning my leg, and I had to get my pants off somehow." Johnson's brother, who was with him at the time, decided driving him to the hospital would be faster than dialing 911, Johnson said. They drove to the Bayonne Medical Center in New Jersey. After being evaluated in the emergency room, Johnson was taken by ambulance to the Burn Center at Staten Island University Hospital. The burn center confirmed to CNN that he spent 10 days there receiving treatment. "I still can't believe it," Johnson said. "I've never dealt with anything like this before." He works as an operating engineer in New York City, maintaining escalators, cranes and forklifts. He said now he is at home with family in Lindenhurst, and a nurse comes in every day to change his bandage. In the meantime, he said, he hasn't even thought about buying a new phone. Mike Della, a personal injury lawyer on Long Island who is representing Johnson, says despite two phone calls and a letter, Apple had not yet responded to his queries about why his client's phone suddenly exploded in heat. CNN reached out to Apple, and the company stated that it is looking into the incident. Johnson purchased the phone last year and had not been using a battery case or third-party charger, Della said. "First and foremost, we have to find out how this happened and prevent it from happening ever again," Della told CNN. "That's the whole goal here. Is the product safe?" Della said because of this case, he now is quick to take extra precautions with his phone. "Now, every single time I have my iPhone, instead of putting it in my pocket, I put it in the seat next to me because of this case," he said. "My wife does the same thing, and so does everyone else at the (law) firm. It's a little scary." "You shouldn't have to worry about your phone exploding," he said. +Dili, East Timor (CNN)Stacey Addison, who says she was detained for months in East Timor because she unwittingly shared a taxi with a stranger carrying methamphetamine, is headed home. Addison boarded a plane Tuesday on the first leg of her journey back to Oregon. "I am thrilled to report that Dr. Stacey Addison has gotten her passport back, and is now on a plane returning home here to Oregon," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) said. "This is terrific news for Stacey, for her family, and for all the Oregonians who have followed Stacey's story and helped support her from afar," Merkley said in a statement. Addison, 41, was detained in September in the small Southeast Asian nation in a drug case in which she says she's innocent. She was released in December but she still couldn't leave because her passport -- seized during the investigation -- had not been returned. Former East Timorese President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, hosted her temporarily at his home. Addison's arrest in September was an unexpected bump in what had been a multi-year trip around the world. She said she had been traveling solo since January 2013, having quit her job as a veterinarian to explore the globe. On September 5, she was sharing a cab from near the Indonesian border to the East Timor capital of Dili. On the way, a fellow passenger asked to stop to pick up a package at a DHL office, her mother, Bernadette Kero of Oregon, has told CNN. After the man picked up the package, police surrounded the car and arrested the occupants, according to Kero. The package was found to contain methamphetamine, Addison has said. She initially was held for four nights, and a judge released her -- but prevented her from leaving the country while the case was still being investigated -- after the man testified that he didn't know her, Kero said. In late October, during a court appearance where she thought she'd retrieve her passport, a judge ordered her arrest again and sent her to Gleno prison outside Dili. Paul Remedios, a lawyer representing Addison, said at the time that the court detained her again because there was a warrant for her arrest, and that the reason for the warrant was unclear. Kero told CNN in November that the case was a "nightmare." Journalist Wayne Lovell in Dili and CNN's Greg Morrison from Atlanta. CNN's Kristina Sgueglia in New York and Jason Hanna in Atlanta also contributed. +(CNN)On the basketball court, Karl Turk forgets that he walks with a limp and a cane. He'll get so caught up in the moment that he'll gesture with his hands to make a point and his cane will go flying. He's in the zone. Now, the man who was told he might never walk again is coaching his team in the state playoffs. Turk is the head basketball coach at West Oso High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. His team just clinched the district championship after an undefeated district season and are playing in the Texas State Basketball playoffs. It's an impressive run for his first season as head coach -- and an inspiration to his young players. "Coach shows us to never give up on any of your dreams," says 14-year-old starter Creighton Avery, who has known Turk since he was 9. Turk has been obsessed with basketball since he was a boy growing up in Indiana. When he was 5 years old, he learned to read by studying the sports pages with his grandfather. By the time he was 13, he was dreaming of playing for the Indiana Pacers. All that changed on January 21, 1994. That night, the 14-year-old watched the Chicago Bulls beat his Pacers in an intense game. He walked to bed. He woke up paralyzed. He was rushed in an ambulance to the hospital. For two weeks, he was completely paralyzed from the waist down and had temporarily lost some of his eye sight. After numerous tests, Turk was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, a rare disease that causes inflammation of the spinal cord. Turk and his family were facing the harsh truth about what his quality of life would be like. He had to cope with the fact that he may not walk again. "Most patients do not recover well," said Turk. He spent the next 66 days in the hospital. A turning point came when Reggie Miller, the Indiana Pacers' all-star player and Turk's favorite basketballer, heard about what Turk was going through and paid him a visit in the hospital. Miller and Turk spent the next couple hours discussing each of their stories. The basketball player told him about growing up with pronated hips and having to wear leg braces, similar to the ones Turk was wearing at the time. He talked about what it took to be in the NBA: that many good ball players failed to embrace and work on what they were not good at, and personality and character weeded many good players out. "Reggie inspired me and helped me to embrace who I was," Turk said. "For that moment, I felt he believed in me and saw my potential for greatness." It's a message that stuck with him as he entered high school in a wheelchair and began to adjust his dreams. There was hope he could walk on his own again but he would have to have assistance. Turk participated in a rigorous physical therapy regimen and by his senior year he shed his last leg brace and began to walk with a cane, which he continues to walk with today. "I keep that last leg brace today on my desk as a reminder of where I have come from," said Turk. Turk attended Indiana State University, where his dream to play college basketball turned into dreams of wanting to coach. In 2004, he met Coach Ronnie Arrow, the head basketball coach at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, at a summer basketball camp and later worked for Arrow as the school's director of basketball operations. "When you first see him, you may think he can't do what others can," Arrow, now retired, told CNN. "But he gets the job done no matter what." All Turk wanted was to coach his own basketball team. But it wasn't so easy. From 2009 to 2010, he applied for 10 high school head coaching positions and numerous assistant coaching positions. He only received one interview. The forced sabbatical led him to wonder if he really had a future in coaching. "I knew my resume was competitive," he said. "I knew my passion for the game wasn't exceeded by anyone." He began to wonder if "having a cane and an unusual gait" would prevent him from ever coaching. In the two years when he didn't have a team to coach, he studied other coaches' methods and sought their advice on how he could improve. In 2010, he was hired as assistant coach at West Oso. And in 2014, almost 10 years after moving to Corpus Christi, he became the head coach. He has strived to embody the ideals that Reggie Miller imparted to him all those years ago in the hospital. "I want my students to know that I care about them, that I work for and belong to them," said Turk. "So often, it's the messenger more than the message, I want to be the messenger that my students embrace." In his dreams, he can still play basketball. In reality, he has fallen down in practice, and during games. There isn't much room on the sidelines to walk up and down, and he often trips over his athletes' feet. "It hurts me that there are things that I cannot physically demonstrate -- a lot of the footwork stuff with stops, turns and jumps." But his players don't seem to mind. "We don't notice his disability, we see him as a great coach," said starter Creighton Avery. "He is always positive and inspires us." +(CNN)As the world digests the shock of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov's brutal murder in front of the Kremlin on Friday, everybody is trying to determine who was behind it. The Russian authorities were quick to throw out a number of theories, which ranged from the CIA to Ukraine, and even to Nemtsov's relationship troubles. While most people have discounted these out of hand, there are a surprising number of people who have bought into the statement, released by Vladimir Putin's spokesman, that "Boris Nemtsov was only slightly more than an average statistical citizen" -- implying that the Russian President would have no reason to want him dead. First of all, that is not true. Nemtsov may not have been a significant threat two years ago when oil prices were high and Russians were feeling politically apathetic -- but with oil prices down 50%, the ruble down 50%, the economy shrinking and companies firing people, a charismatic opposition politician like Nemtsov is a real and direct threat to Putin, who is terrified of experiencing a Ukraine-style revolution in Russia, especially when there is an unpredictable economic crisis brewing. Nemtsov's corruption exposés laid out, in damning detail, the truth behind the personal wealth of Putin and his cronies; one doesn't need to be an expert to see the similarities with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kiev following popular uprisings in February of last year. Nemtsov was also preparing a paper documenting the experiences of Russian soldiers in Ukraine -- one that could have dealt a catastrophic blow to the Russian propaganda machine about the Ukrainian conflict. And he was instrumental in organizing the March 1 anti-war rally in Moscow -- a protest march he would have led, had he not been gunned down just hours before. The benefit of this murder to Putin wasn't just that it eliminated one opponent of the President, but that it will terrorize an entire class of dissidents. READ MORE: Other critics of Putin who ended up dead . Putin has a history of viciously attacking the most important person in any given group of enemies, in order to send a message to the rest of them. In 2003, he did this by arresting and imprisoning the richest oligarch in the country, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. When Khodorkovsky was put on trial in 2004, Putin allowed the television cameras film the wealthiest man in the country sitting in a cage. Imagine that you were the 17th richest man in Russia, and you saw a man more successful and influential than you sitting in a courtroom cage. What would you do? Anything you could to avoid meeting the same fate; in the case of Russia's oligarchs, they all fell into line and were never a problem for the President again. The same thing happened with the murder of investigative journalist and vocal Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. Although Kremlin involvement in her killing was never proved, the number of brave, outspoken investigative journalists in Russia dropped to only a handful after her death. Now, in 2015, one of the most vocal opposition leaders has been gunned down directly in front of the Kremlin. In addition to the political benefits of Nemtsov's demise, his killing also sends a clear and chilling message to anyone else who is similarly outspoken against Putin: It doesn't matter how well known you are, how many heads of state in the West know you, or how many people would be outraged by your death. If you cause problems, you can and will be killed. Not only does this have a powerful effect on other opposition leaders, but it puts a primordial fear into the minds of average Russian citizens, who may now think twice before taking to the streets to protest corruption, the war in Ukraine, or the poor standards of living. No matter your agenda, is it worth your life? The West needs to act urgently, with actions, not words. This is the most brazen high-profile assassination of a political opposition leader in modern Russian history. So what can be done? Firstly, create, without any delay, an independent international inquiry into Nemtsov's assassination. No investigation conducted solely by the Russian government would be credible under the circumstances, because it cannot impartially examine the possible complicity of Putin or the Russian secret service in this act. There are statutory instruments in place for this kind of investigation, using the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations. Secondly, Boris Nemtsov was a passionate supporter of "Magnitsky sanctions," visa bans and asset freezes targeted specifically at kleptocrats and human rights abusers. It would befit his legacy if European governments would finally impose these sanctions, and stop accepting the billions of dollars which beneficiaries of the corrupt Putin regime are able to keep safely in Western banks. These sanctions will also act as a real consequence if the Russian government refuses to cooperate with an independent inquiry into Nemtsov's murder. The only reason that someone was bold enough to kill Boris Nemtsov was because a string of previous murders were met with words of condemnation, but no real action from the West. Yushenkov, Politkovskaya, Shchekochikhin, Klebnikhov, Estemirova, Markelov, Magnitsky and now Nemtsov. How many others need to die before real action is taken? This is a watershed moment, not just for Russia, but for the West. We have a responsibility to the future Nemtsovs of this world to make sure that these assassinations will no longer go unpunished. +Yaounde, Cameroon (CNN)Cameroon's security forces are predicting a drawn-out battle with Boko Haram as evidence filters out that the insurgents are now recruiting there. "We don't doubt that Boko Haram is recruiting in Cameroon," said Col. Joseph Nouma, commander of Operation ALPHA, a special military operation set up by Cameroon's government to fight the Nigerian terrorist group. He says communities bordering Nigeria have been emptied of men between the ages of 10 and 45. "Many of them are found across the border in Nigeria, training with the terrorists," he told CNN. This has made it difficult for the country's defense forces to adequately estimate the power of the terrorist group. Nouma said the number of militants may be greater than is widely believed, though there is no reliable estimate of the group's strength. "Boko Haram is a permanent metamorphosis, dying every day but recruiting every day as well," says Col. Jacob Kodji, interim commander of the 4th Military Region. "And this complicates a lot of things for us." Nouma agreed: "We kill them, but they keep on coming." Boko Haram is a Nigerian-based Islamic group whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. They have carried out a campaign of terror in northern Nigeria, killing thousands, taking hundreds captive, and occupying swaths of territory in Borno state. As many as 200,000 Nigerians have fled to neighboring countries, creating an urgent humanitarian situation, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported last month. For the past two years, Boko Haram fighters have been carrying out cross-border raids on Cameroon, slaughtering hundreds and torching entire neighborhoods. But as the country's defense forces -- later joined by battle-hardened Chadian troops -- turned up the momentum against the insurgents, the terrorists began to swell their ranks with Cameroonians. Nouma said he believes "most of the worst attacks we have suffered" were carried out by Cameroonians fighting for Boko Haram. Also, the militants' ability to hit several different places at once, and with precision, suggests that "there are people over here giving them information," Nouma said. In January, Boko Haram struck Fotokol, a Cameroonian town separated by only a bridge from Gambarou, Nigeria, a stronghold of the Islamist extremists. The attackers killed more than 400 people. Cameroonian and Chadian soldiers stationed there managed to kill 150 invaders. Among them was the son of Ahmadou Moustafa, a Fotokol resident. For two months, Moustafa didn't know the whereabouts of his son, Akim, or what he was doing. He didn't find out until the aftermath of the fighting, when locals removed the veil on one of the dead attackers to reveal his 15-year-old boy's face. "I was really shocked and embarrassed at the development," Moustafa said. While it's difficult to fathom the appeal of extreme, violent doctrine among young Cameroonians, ambient poverty and chronic unemployment in the Far North region may explain why some there are lured to Boko Haram pay. The government's 2010 National Population and Housing Census found the region to be the country's poorest, with 60% of the population living in poverty. Joseph Mbah Ndam, an opposition member of Cameroon's parliament, told CNN that the government of President Paul Biya "has for over 30 years now failed to create jobs for the youths. And in such circumstances, they may be easily manipulated into joining such hate groups." A senior government official from the region, who would not be named, agreed, saying that "in a context of such extreme poverty, it couldn't be otherwise." "No significant economic project has been carried out there ... the Far North is the most populated in the country, but has been completely abandoned," the official explained. "So it's not surprising that youths should be sensitive to calls by Boko Haram." Desperate youths aren't the only recruits, however. Very often, police are bribed into collaborating. In January, Abdoulaye Farikou, senior inspector of police in Balaza, was arrested by the military and accused of using his position as head of the Identification Unit in the Far North region town to issue Cameroonian ID cards to militants coming in from Nigeria. Security officials say such a move makes it easy for Boko Haram to infiltrate Cameroon and gather vital security information. Along with the presence of some 6,000 Cameroonian troops and plans to deploy some 20,000 more over the next two years, the government now has come up with a $135 million program to finance 94 development projects. Part of the money will be used to increase cereal production by 30% in the Far North region, where child malnutrition now stands at some 70%, according to Economy Minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi. Other investments will be made in road construction, railway development, mining and social services. "We can't easily win this war with military means alone," said Mijiyawa Bakary, the regional governor. "The development package government has put in place will definitely keep many young people busy, and therefore will not be charmed by the false promises of the terrorist group." But development projects can only be carried out in a climate of peace, and officials here hope that the Multinational Joint Task Force -- about 8,500 troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin -- will defeat Boko Haram and lay that groundwork. +(CNN)Anna Duritskaya, the Ukrainian model who was with opposition politician Boris Nemtsov when he was shot in Moscow, is now the focus of intense interest. A beautiful brunette more than 30 years his junior, she had been his girlfriend for 2½ years. So what is known about her? The 23-year-old had been out for dinner with Nemtsov on Friday night. She had suggested getting a taxi, but Nemtsov didn't want to, preferring to walk, Duritskaya's mother said. As the pair crossed a bridge in central Moscow, the 55-year-old Kremlin critic was gunned down by unknown attackers. His girlfriend was holding his hand and heard what sounded like a clapping sound, her mother, Inna Duritskaya, told CNN. Nemtsov went limp and fell to the ground, fatally shot in the back. Duritskaya is the only known witness to the shooting, which occurred 100 meters (330 feet) from the Kremlin but appears not to have been captured on security cameras. Inna Duritskaya said her daughter called her right after she called police to raise the alarm. "She was crying and she was saying Boris had been killed and he's lying next to me," Inna Duritskaya said. "She was in such shock she couldn't say anything else. Just, 'Mum, Boris is killed, and he's lying next to me.' " On Monday, the Russian television station Dozhd published an interview with Anna Duritskaya. She told the interviewer that she did not see who killed Nemtsov, but that when she turned around, she saw a light-colored car driving away. In an interview with CNN, Ilya Yashin, a political ally and friend of Nemtsov's, said that Duritskaya had telephoned him immediately after the shooting and said there were several men in the car containing the shooter. Over the weekend, Russian authorities questioned Duritskaya about what she saw. While in Moscow, the model was staying at the apartment of an Nemtsov aide under constant police guard. But Moscow's Investigative Committee insisted that she was not detained and could have left at any time. "She said she wanted to give the testimony and took part in investigative activities understanding the importance of it for the investigation," a statement released Tuesday said. "We received no complaints from Anna Duritskaya or her lawyer during her stay in Moscow. Only today, after investigative activities are over she left Russia." The model left the Russian capital Monday night bound for Kiev, Ukraine, said Yevhen Perebyinis, a spokesman for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry. Inna Duritskaya told CNN that while being questioned, her daughter faced constant psychological pressure from Moscow authorities and that she fears she will be implicated in his death. In a Skype interview with Dozhd, Anna Duritskaya indicated her continued presence in Moscow after the shooting was not from choice -- and seemed to appeal to be allowed to leave. "Now I have a status of a witness, I gave all evidence possible, I don't understand why I'm still on the territory of Russia. I want to go to my mother who is ill, who is in very difficult psychological condition," she said. "During three days, they have been taking me together with security in police cars to the Investigation Committee and conduct the investigation. They are not explaining when they are going to release me and the reason they are keeping me here." Perhaps not. According to the Investigative Committee, Duritskaya signed a witness protocol and confidentiality agreement, which is standard procedure in Russia. It states that she will not share information she gave to investigators or any preliminary findings of the investigation, the committee said. "Leaving Russia, Duritskaya expressed a wish to continue to cooperate with the investigation and to participate in any ongoing investigation if needed," it added. Inna Duritskaya said her daughter knew the risks of getting involved with the prominent opposition leader. "Of course when I heard she was dating him, it was a bit of a shock," she said. "Then when I met him in person, I liked him a lot as a person. He was straightforward, he treated my daughter very well, she was happy. And I couldn't influence it anyway; my daughter did what she wanted to. Of course, I was worried and scared, but I couldn't change it anyway." Duritskaya's reported return to Kiev means she was unable to attend her partner's memorial service and funeral Tuesday. CNN's Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report. +(CNN)There's a $30,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of a bank robbery trio known as the Black Hat Bandits, suspected in a two-month string of robberies across Maryland and Virginia, the latest coming Monday. They've earned their name for the black hats they wear during their heists, and the feds say they're becoming increasingly dangerous. "In an escalation of violence, the Black Hat Bandits have become more brazen at each robbery having threatened bank customers and tellers, most recently holding a gun to a customer's head, and jumping teller counters in attempts to gain access to bank vaults," according to an FBI wanted poster. An FBI statement last month provided more details: "During each robbery the black hat bandits have been described as carrying handguns and wearing winter coats, sunglasses, black hats (either a winter knit cap or wide brimmed hat) and facial disguises such as ski masks or a fake beard." The bandits pulled off their most recent robbery Monday during lunch hour at a Wells Fargo bank in Falls Church, Virginia. It marked the crew's eighth bank robbery this year. "We now confirm that this is a three-person crew: two who take over the bank and one who waits in the car," an FBI spokesperson told CNN affiliate WJLA. No one was injured in the holdup, which unfolded after two black-clad men -- one African-American, one white -- entered the bank with firearms, robbed the bank and fled in a vehicle waiting outside, police told the station. Hours after the robbery, investigators were at the scene gathering evidence, which included a footprint in the snow, WJLA reported. It was the second Falls Church bank robbery in recent weeks, but the February 21 robbery of an Apple Federal Credit Union two blocks from Monday's crime scene was the work of a lone gunman, not the Black Hat Bandits, authorities told WJLA. The robbers who committed Monday's robbery are described as in their 40s and between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall, according to the FBI. Other banks which the Black Hat Bandits are suspected of robbing include a Bank of America in McLean, Virginia, on January 2; a BB&T in Fairfax, Virginia, on January 16; a Bank of America in Vienna, Virginia, on January 20; an Essex Bank in Arnold, Maryland, on January 30; and a SunTrust Bank in Waldorf, Maryland, on February 5. In one of their more audacious undertakings, the robbers hit two banks on February 18. First, they hit a BB&T in Vienna, Virginia, before traveling to a Wells Fargo in Sterling, Virginia, 40 minutes later. "One of the suspects put his gun to a customer's head while demanding everyone to 'get down,' and demanded money from a victim teller. In both robberies the subjects fled the banks with an undisclosed amount of money," the FBI said in a statement. The FBI is asking anyone with information on the bank robberies in Virginia to call 202-278-2000. Those with information on the Maryland heists should call 410-265-8080. The public can also submit anonymous tips at https://tips.fbi.gov. +(CNN)The family of Ibragim Todashev, an associate of Tamerlan Tsarnaev who was killed during an FBI interrogation, plans to sue the agency. Todashev's parents filed a "notice of claim" Monday, saying they plan to seek $30 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. The claim argues the FBI has given "no viable justification" to account for shooting and killing Todashev during a 2013 interrogation in Todashev's apartment in Orlando, Florida. The interrogation occurred about a month after the Boston Marathon bombings and centered around another crime linked to bombing suspect Tsarnaev: a 2011 triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts. Todashev admitted to his direct role in slashing three people's throats in Waltham and said Tsarnaev was involved as well, a federal law enforcement official told CNN in 2013. It was during that interview that Todashev was shot dead. The Council on American Islamic Relations Florida filed the notice of the Todashev family's intention to sue on Monday. "We are seeking answers and justice for someone who was shot seven times by an FBI agent in his own home after hours of interrogation," said Ali Kurnaz, a spokesman for the civil rights group. Many things that happened that day don't add up, Kurnaz said. "Todashev was unarmed with any gun, knife, explosive or other deadly weapon," the notice says. "Todashev did not pose a threat of serious bodily harm." The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials who spoke to CNN after the shooting painted a different picture of what happened during the interrogation. One law enforcement official said Todashev attacked the FBI agent with a broom handle, gashing his head before the agent opened fire. At the time, the official stressed that the shooting was justified and done in self-defense because the agent felt threatened. A U.S. government official briefed on the investigation rebuffed the idea that Todashev wasn't a threat -- noting, for instance, that he could have taken the agent's gun. "He was armed. Maybe it wasn't a weapon, but he had a long object," the official said. And because of Todashev's martial arts expertise, "he was a weapon himself." But from the outset, that argument didn't add up to the Todashev family. "My son was definitely unarmed, because he never had a gun," father Abdulbaki Todashev told CNN in 2013. "He couldn't attack them or fight them; he couldn't do anything because even two men could easily handle him." The elder Todashev suggested his son may have been provoked. "If you question someone for eight hours, you can provoke him into anything," he said. Last year, Florida State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton said after an investigation the FBI agent's actions were justified. "(Todashev) went down, but he was not incapacitated. He came up again in an aggressive manner, and the officer then fired the second volley of three or four shots. Which at that point essentially incapacitated Mr. Todashev," Ashton said. "It would seem almost superhuman, but everything that we have learned in the investigation would show an individual who has a great deal of tolerance of pain and would more or less fight beyond it. "It seemed to me that if the goal was to get away, he could have gone out that back door and gotten away instead of going towards the officers." CNN's Susan Candiotti, Evan Perez, Phil Black and Carol Cratty contributed to this report. +March 3, 2015 . You may not be familiar with the city of Tikrit, but what's happening there now could be a sign of things to come in the war against ISIS. You may not know the name Steve Fossett, but today marks a significant anniversary of one of the adventurer's records. And you may not know how many times glass can be recycled, but we'll tell you on today's edition of CNN Student News. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Workers digging underneath a Paris supermarket have made an unsettling discovery: as many as 200 skeletons. The grocery store, Monoprix, was doing some renovations in January and workers removing an underground wall discovered the bones. The area was apparently part of a cemetery for the Hospital of the Trinity, according to CNN affiliate, France's BFM-TV. The cemetery operated from the 12th century to around the 17th century. Researchers and archeologists are conducting carbon dating and DNA testing to try to figure out when and why the people died, the affiliate said. It's clear they all died around the same time, lead archeologist Isabelle Abadie told BFM-TV, because of the way the bodies were neatly arranged. "What's surprising is the bodies were not thrown in (the graves) but were carefully placed there in an organized manner. The individuals, men, women, and children, were placed head-to-toe," to fit as many as possible in the grave, Abadie explained. Paris suffered several plague epidemics during the times that the hospital was in operation, as well as a smallpox outbreak in the 17th century. Archeologists working the site have found eight common graves in an area that is 100 square meters, with seven of the graves containing between five and 20 skeletons each and another site with more than 150 skeletons, BFM-TV said. The groupings suggest that whole families were buried together. Abadie told BFM-TV that when the cemetery was shut down centuries ago, most of the remains were moved to the Catacombs of Paris. "But apparently the job was not done well," she said. CNN's Alanne Orjoux contributed to this report. +Los Angeles (CNN)America's Skid Row sits in downtown Los Angeles. This pocket of 2,000 men and women constitutes the nation's biggest concentration of homeless people living and sleeping on public sidewalks, in scattered camps under tarps. Not surprisingly, sanitary conditions are appalling. This quarter of despair is now at the center of national attention for another reason: This week, Los Angeles police and a homeless man in a tent engaged in a confrontation, ending with officers fatally shooting the man known only as "Africa," an apparent reference to his home continent. It was all captured on video by bystanders. Police allege "Africa" tried to reach for an officer's gun, prompting the police gunfire against him. "Skid Row is a 54-block area that has the largest homeless number of individuals in the country," said Jerry Jones, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. He's based in New York City. "New York City has the largest homeless population, but Los Angeles has the highest unsheltered population in the country, which has led to the destitution you see today," he added. New York City's unique right-to-shelter mandate ensures "temporary emergency shelter to every man, woman, and child who is eligible for services, every night," the city's website says. But not in Los Angeles, where two-thirds of the county's 40,000 homeless people are unsheltered, Jones said. So many live on the streets of downtown Los Angeles -- and elsewhere. In some American minds, Los Angeles may conjure up images of a great American city cursed with an abandoned urban core. That's an old memory. Today, downtown Los Angeles enjoys a renaissance, right down to the new hotels and mall surrounding the Staples Center, where professional basketball and hockey are played, often to championships. But not on Skid Row. (That's its official designation. Even Google maps label it so.) There are few champion moments here. The only exception may be the everyday heroes who labor in 107 charities and agencies feeding and comforting the lost souls bivouacked on the street. The triple-digit number of social service agencies, however, is often cited as one reason that Los Angeles endures as the nation's Skid Row capital: There's a $54-million-a-year charitable infrastructure anchored to the poverty district. Nobody seems to be going anywhere. That doesn't deter Ryan Navales, manager of government and public affairs for the Midnight Mission, which strives to lift people out of poverty. His work and those of his peers is like that of Sisyphus to the rock, the mythic figure whose endless labor was to push a rock to the top of a mountain and then have to do it all over again after the rock rolled downhill. "Skid Row has become less transient," Navales said. "The history of skid row goes back to a transient neighborhood associated with the railroad. The true definition of transient is short term. Now it's long term. It's become a neighborhood." The century-old Midnight Mission now serves 3,000 meals daily to the homeless, Navales said. Navales cites a shortage of affordable housing as a reason for how "there's no place for people to go." He asserts his agencies and others offers hope to those who feel hopeless. Navales knows from personal experience. He once worked for Microsoft as a network administrator in the 1990s, but he lost it all, including his family. Drug addiction obliterated his life. "After destroying my family, in and out of jail, in and out of treatment, I was living on the streets and doing what people have to do on the streets to support a really gnarly heroin habit," Navales said. "In August of 2011, I was brought to the Midnight Mission homeless," he added. "I had a backpack on." He now wears a suit, on Skid Row's front line, trying to relieve and unravel the nation's Gordian knot of poverty. CNN's Paul Vercammen contributed to this report. +McAllen, Texas (CNN)For residents of this town just across the bridge from Mexico, it's hard to understand how a Washington political fight could end up threatening the livelihood of people charged with securing the border. "What incentive do they have to keep protecting us if they're not getting paid?" asked Cecilia De La Cruz as she sat at a coffee shop with a friend. "It is troubling." The latest example of congressional dysfunction has real world implications here, where thousands of agents monitor the U.S. border with Mexico. The agents, along with other employees vital to national security such as TSA screeners, will have to show up to work without being paid if Congress misses a Friday deadline to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded. Thousands of other agency workers will be furloughed. The employees are caught up in a fight over immigration policy. Republicans want to tie funding for the department to legislation that would roll back President Barack Obama's immigration executive orders -- a nonstarter for Democrats. The battle reached a fevered pitch last week when Congress narrowly missed a deadline to avoid a partial DHS shutdown, giving themselves an extension until March 6 to broker a deal. Speaker John Boehner could try to avert another showdown by holding a vote as early as Tuesday on a DHS bill that doesn't touch Obama's immigration order. But the political intrigue isn't registering for some residents here. Angelea Remorin, a nurse who works nights at a hospital, said she wasn't concerned yet because she hadn't read or heard anything about the potential shutdown. "Me, personally, I peek into the news every now and then, but it's things like ISIS, you know, those big headline things, that I look at on the news," she said. "None of my friends have been talking about (the shutdown), and I haven't been keeping up with it." At the coffee shop with De La Cruz, Ronaldo Delacruz said he'd heard of the potential shutdown but didn't feel unsafe. "I don't know what's going to necessarily happen to the department itself," Delacruz said. "I don't know how that's going to affect the protection of the border or border patrol, but I guess we're going to find out." Marco Solis said he was mad after hearing that Congress agreed to keep DHS running for only a few days. He said he wonders why lawmakers don't realize how their decisions affect local areas. "They're a bunch of incompetent men who just can't figure it out," he said. "And I know not all of them are men, but say predominantly, old white men screwing up this country." Local employees of the Department of Homeland Security stationed along the border said they weren't allowed to speak to newsgroups on the record because of orders directly from Washington. But speaking without attribution, they did express frustration with Congress for defunding their department in 2013 as part of the broader government shutdown and possibly again later this week if a longer term funding bill isn't passed. The agents argued they have families to feed and mortgages to pay, just like anyone else. Chris Cabrera, the vice president of the Local 3307 National Border Patrol Council, a union for border agents, echoed those sentiments. He said that in the McAllen area, about 2,000 agents would be affected by this funding bill. He said the problem is in Washington, where Congress won't feel the direct effect of a possible funding gap. As a border patrol agent for 13 years who also felt the effect of the 2013 shutdown, he remembers how it went down last time. "It's pretty much out of our hands" he said. "The sad part is that we're the football in this political game, and we're just caught in the middle getting tossed around while somebody is trying to push their own agenda, one way or the other." In the meantime, he said he's working with local agents to help them send letters to their mortgage companies to alert them of the possible problems because most of them are considered essential personnel and will have to continue working without a paycheck. For now, he said that's all that the union can do to help. "At some point, people will jump ship," he said. "I don't think there's going to be a rush for the door, but we will have some people that are gonna say 'Enough is enough. This is twice in two years, and I'm done with this.' " If a shutdown were to happen later this week, Cabrera said that nonessential personnel, such as administration positions in the department, would not report to work. Agents would continue to work securing the border, but depending on how long the shutdown lasts, they'd eventually have to work in some of the administrative positions as well to make up for employees who were furloughed. "Most likely what will happen is that they'll have to pull agents who do frontline work, processing work, or stuff in the station," he said. "They're going to have to backfill them -- you know somebody has to answer the phones at the front of the building." He added that he believes the cartels in Mexico are keeping up with American news so that they can take advantage in case DHS does shut down. "They know," Cabrera said about anyone across the border hoping to bring people or drugs. "They scout us when our shift changes. They know everything that's coming along. And when they see stuff like this, when it hits the media, they start mobilizing." McAllen Mayor Jim Darling agreed and said he believes cartels and gangs are more tuned in about what's going on in Washington than his own constituents. "I would think there's Gulf Cartel guys listening to Washington right now," he said. "If they think there's a porous border, they're going to come and make some money." Darling says that Washington's actions have a "ripple effect" across the country, of which they should be more aware and considerate. "I don't know about you, but I seriously doubt a congressman can go without a paycheck," he said. "It's a bipartisan problem, and they have to come up with a bipartisan solution, and they're not." +(CNN)A photography teacher at a Southern California high school appears to have committed suicide by hanging herself in a classroom. Jillian Jacobson, 31, was found Monday at El Dorado High School, said Lt. Eric Point, with Placentia Police. There was no indication of foul play, and every indication that she took her own life, he said. According to Steve Concialdi with the Orange County Fire Authority, students had been waiting outside the classroom to get in. Another teacher opened the door. When they went inside the classroom, they found Jacobson hanged. They quickly brought her to the ground and called 911, said Concialdi, but she was declared dead at the scene. If you're in crisis or contemplating suicide, please contact The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Students posted tributes to the teacher on social media, saying she would be greatly missed. One called her caring; another said she was a beautiful soul. Crisis counselors are expected to be on campus all week to support staff and students. CNN's Stella Chan and Sonya Hamasaki contributed to this report. +(CNN)Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has freed a Saudi diplomat it kidnapped three years ago, Yemeni Foreign Ministry officials told CNN. Tribal leaders involved in negotiations with al Qaeda over the last month handed Abdullah Al Khalidi to Saudi authorities on Monday, two Yemeni government officials said. Unknown gunmen kidnapped Al Khalidi, the Saudi deputy consular, in 2012 as he was leaving his residence in the Mansoora district of Yemen's business capital of Aden. He was later handed over to al Qaeda, where he appeared in al Qaeda video last year pleading to the Saudi government to ensure his safe release. Al Qaeda was demanding a ransom for his release and threatened to kill him if the ransom was not paid. CNN was not able to confirm whether Saudi Arabia or his family paid a ransom in exchange for his release. A Yemeni Foreign Ministry official told CNN that his government was not involved in the negotiations for Al Khalidi's release. "The Yemeni government does not negotiate with terrorists. Ransoms that are paid to terrorists motivates them to conduct more kidnappings," said the official on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to media . The Saudi Interior Ministry announced Monday that Al Khalidi reached Riyadh safely and is undergoing medical checkups. Al Khalidi had been living in Aden for four years when he was kidnapped. Last week, a Frenchwoman working for an international organization was kidnapped, along with her Yemeni translator, in Sanaa. Two four-wheel drive vehicles were used in the kidnapping attempt, according to eyewitnesses. Their whereabouts remain unknown. Kidnappings of foreigners is common in Yemen with tribes or al Qaeda-linked militants often demanding a ransom for their release or using them as a bargaining chip in their dealings with the central government. Al Qaeda is believed to have been behind most of the kidnappings since 2012. Gunmen kidnapped an Iranian diplomat, Ahmed Bakht, in Yemen in 2013, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Bakht was an Iranian national employed within the Iranian Embassy in Yemen and was kidnapped while traveling through the diplomatic quarter in Sanaa when gunmen blocked the road ahead of him and abducted him. +(CNN)As expected, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a rousing speech to Congress, rich in historic imagery and replete with literary references. Yet a speech filled with powerful words is no substitute for a strategy for actually preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. As national security adviser Susan Rice told the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Monday, "Precisely because this is such a serious issue, we must weigh the different options before us and choose the best one. Sound bites won't stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon." The Obama administration, on the other hand, is making a strong and credible case that the deal it is pursuing would block Iran's pathways to developing the fissile material necessary for a bomb and extend the time for Iran to produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build a bomb from today's estimated three months to at least a year. Without a deal, Iran would revert to building up its stockpile of nuclear uranium, while the international community would lose the ability to monitor and track Iran's activities. At the top of the list of questions the Prime Minister failed to address is how such a scenario in the wake of "no deal" would actually make Israel safer? As Rice said: "Here's what's likely to happen without a deal. Iran will install and operate advanced centrifuges. Iran will seek to fuel its (plutonium) reactor in Arak. Iran will rebuild its uranium stockpile. And, we'll lose the unprecedented inspections and transparency we have today." If no deal that the United States and five other powers actually might strike with the Iranians would be acceptable to Netanyahu, how does he propose to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat? He spoke about ratcheting up international sanctions against Iran and keeping them in place until Iran ceased regional aggression, sponsorship of terrorism and threatens to annihilate Israel. But years of extraordinarily tough sanctions did not persuade the Iranians to abandon their nuclear program or prevent them moving it forward. Neither did cyberwarfare or a series of assassinations of Iranian scientists. And if the United States was seen as walking away from a possible agreement, the international sanctions regime would likely crumble, not strengthen. Iranian hard-liners who oppose an agreement would be back in the driver's seat in Tehran, while those would want to see Iran rejoin the international community would be discredited and sidelined. It is doubtful that Netanyahu really believes sanctions would end the Iranian nuclear program. That leaves one other option -- military force. Of course, Israel could order a military strike on Iran any time it chooses, but Israel's ability to inflict significant damage on Iran's widely dispersed and heavily defended nuclear facilities is limited. When the discussion turns to military action, what is really meant is U.S. military action. It is understandable that a foreign leader speaking in the U.S. Congress would shy away from openly asking Washington to attack another country, especially after the experience of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which Netanyahu also lobbied for. We should recall Netanyahu's September 2002 testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, six months before the U.S. assault on Baghdad began, when he said: "It's not a question of whether Iraq's regime should be taken out but when should it be taken out; it's not a question of whether you'd like to see a regime change in Iran but how to achieve it." Netanyahu may have learned from that experience. He knows that the U.S. public is weary of war and has no appetite for another military adventure in the Middle East. That's why he advocates policies that would put the United States on a path to military action without mentioning the words "military action." This Israeli leader, who faces a tough election back home in two weeks, has mastered the art of policy vagueness. He applied the same strategy to the failed negotiations with the Palestinians last year, declaring he was in favor of a two-state solution but never putting forward a detailed proposal for where the border should be drawn -- or on any other substantive issue for that matter. His biggest demand once again was rhetorical -- that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This is an Israeli leader who believes in the power of words -- especially his words. But words are no substitute for a strategy -- and that's where Netanyahu once again failed himself, his country and his audience. +(CNN)Here's a pair of twins no one will have trouble telling apart: One is white, and one is black. Thanks to a rare quirk of nature, Lucy is the alabaster-skinned redhead, and Maria has their part-Jamaican mother's dark skin and hair. Images of the Aylmer sisters of Gloucester, United Kingdom, rocketed around the Internet this week when a British newspaper carried their story. "I can't stop crying! This is all so amazing," Lucy Aylmer posted on Facebook. The girls were born to a white father and a biracial mom in 1997, according to the Daily Mail story that started all the fuss. 'No one ever believes we are twins," the newspaper quoted Lucy Aylmer as saying. "Even when we dress alike, we still don't look like sisters, let alone twins." Appearing Tuesday on "Good Morning Britain," the sisters said they're always facing doubters who can't believe they are related, much less twin sisters. Some even asked whether Lucy was adopted, she told the show. "It was pretty hard," she said. "It went on in secondary school as well, and it wasn't very nice." Maria said they've been told the chances of such an occurrence are "one in a million." The BBC, reporting on a similar case in 2011, said it was more like 1 in 500. No matter the odds, the sisters say they're happy with how they look. "Maria loves telling people at college that she has a white twin -- and I'm very proud of having a black twin," Lucy told the Daily Mail. "My family is beautiful," she posted on Facebook. +London (CNN)In his teenage years, there was little to set Mohammed Emwazi -- a quiet, hardworking boy with a few friends -- apart from his classmates. That's according to Joanna Shuter, his former head teacher at Quintin Kynaston Community Academy in northwest London. Now 26, Emwazi has gained international notoriety after being identified as the ISIS militant nicknamed "Jihadi John" who's appeared in beheading videos of Western hostages. But in his school days, it was a different matter. When he joined Quintin Kynaston at 14 or 15, he was little trouble himself but was the focus of some bullying. "He was bullied a little, but because he was quiet and he was reserved ... generally he was fine," Shuter said. "There were no massive behavior problems with him, and by the time he got into ... (his last years) he had settled, he was working hard, he achieved great grades for him, and he went to the university of his choice." He just didn't stand out as troubled, she said. "If there had been any concerns about Mohammed, they would have been picked up, and we would have intervened and tried to support him in any way that we could have done." Born in Kuwait, but brought up in London from the age of 6, Emwazi was one of the school's many students from an immigrant background. The school's intake is 70% Muslim, said Shuter, with many students coming from large housing estates in what is a multicultural area of London. But its ethos was one of tolerance and integration, with all students encouraged to feel part of the school community. Staff made great efforts to get to know the 1,400 students in the school so that nobody would feel excluded or left behind, Shuter said. They also reached out to the sometimes insular, conservative Muslim communities that many of their students came from, she said, to try to help students who could feel torn between different cultures. Nonetheless, Emwazi was somehow drawn in by radical influences, most likely outside of school or through social media. And he was not alone. At least two other students who attended Quintin Kynaston also allegedly later turned to Islamist extremism. One, Mohammed Sakr, only overlapped at the school by a few months with Shuter. He was reportedly killed in a U.S. drone strike in Somalia in 2012. "He was very outgoing, jolly, sporty kind of person and fun," Shuter said. Shuter sees social media as the greatest danger facing young people and their families today. "I think social media is terrifying because it does have the power to influence young people in a way that as adults we have no power to control," she said. She still finds it hard to believe that Emwazi could be the apparent killer with the London accent recorded on ISIS videos. "My blood just ran cold," she said of when she first heard the news. "When I hear the name, I just find it incredible to marry what I've clearly seen on the TV with the person that I knew. It literally makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I can't believe what has happened to him and the influences that clearly have completely changed him. "I think it's horrific, the idea that a young man like that could become somebody that people say is the poster boy for (ISIS). I just think it's shocking." The London-accented voice is all too familiar to anyone who's watched the videos released by ISIS of the killing of Western hostages. CAGE, a London-based advocacy group that worked with Emwazi, has released audio of a phone conversation from 2009 in which he talks about members of the UK security services questioning him. They asked about his attitude toward the July 7, 2005, terror attacks in London and the 9/11 attacks on the United States, he says. "We're going to keep a close eye on you, Mohammed," he alleges they told him. CAGE has painted a picture of a young man driven to extremism by unwarranted harassment by security services. It says emails he sent the group paint a picture of a desperate man hounded by authorities who saw his plans for a new life crumble as he tried unsuccessfully to get help. But some analysts say the emails are only part of the story, arguing that investigators targeted Emwazi because they already saw he had links with terrorist groups. +(CNN)After postponing its first execution of a woman in 70 years because of "cloudy" lethal injection drugs, Georgia has indefinitely postponed at least one other execution until it can analyze the cocktail it uses for the procedures, the state said Tuesday. Kelly Renee Gissendaner was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. ET Monday, but for the second time in less than a week, it was called off. The state postponed the first planned execution because of "weather and associated scheduling issues," department spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said. "Prior to the execution, the drugs were sent to an independent lab for testing of potency. The drugs fell within the acceptable testing limits," the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement. "Within the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, the Execution Team performed the necessary checks. At that time, the drugs appeared cloudy. The Department of Corrections immediately consulted with a pharmacist, and in an abundance of caution, Inmate Gissendaner's execution has been postponed." Repeating the "abundance of caution" wording, the department issued a news release Tuesday, saying, "The scheduled executions of Kelly Renee Gissendaner and Brian Keith Terrell have been postponed while an analysis is conducted of the drugs planned for use in last night's scheduled execution of inmate Gissendaner." Gissendaner, 47, is condemned to die for a 1997 murder plot in which she conspired with boyfriend Gregory Owen to murder her husband. Terrell was convicted in the shooting and beating death of a 70-year-old friend of his mother's after the man called police to say Terrell had stolen checks from him, according to the Georgia attorney general's office. Gissendaner has already requested an extravagant last meal: two Burger King Whoppers with cheese (with everything), two large orders of fries, popcorn, cornbread, a side of buttermilk and a salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, cheese, boiled eggs and Newman's Own buttermilk dressing, the Corrections Department said. She also requested a glass of lemonade and cherry-vanilla ice cream for dessert. Terrell was scheduled to die between March 10 and 17. Last year, Oklahoma issued a months-long moratorium on executions after murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett convulsed, writhed and lay alive on a gurney for 43 minutes before dying. It was the state's first time using a new, three-drug cocktail for an execution. The constitutionality of lethal injection drugs has made headlines since 2013, when European manufacturers -- including Denmark-based Lundbeck, which manufactures pentobarbital -- banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions. Thirty-two states were left to find new drug protocols. +(CNN)Igniting a live man in a cage; severing the heads of dozens; kidnapping, raping and selling women and children -- ISIS' shocking maltreatment of its captives has become regrettably predictable. But that has made their latest decision on the fate of 19 Christian prisoners all the more surprising to some. On Sunday, ISIS released them. Ten other Assyrian Christians are expected to join them in freedom after a short time in captivity. All but one of the Christians released were part of a group of 220 Assyrians captured last week during offensives on northern Syrian villages, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In the shadow of its sadistic mercilessness, the sudden reversal leaves many asking: Why? The group has not explained its decision. Here are some possible answers. It was not a militant commander but an ISIS Sharia judge, said Osama Edward, who heads the Assyrian Human Rights Network, based in Sweden. Some of Edward's family members are among the captured Christians. His rights group keeps contact with local people, via phone and Internet, and has a field team in Syria, he said. The Sharia judge asked the Christians if they were part of any militia, Edward said. Then he pronounced them not guilty of violating Sharia law and ordered them released. The Assyrian Christians were all from the village of Tal Goran. They have returned home but are keeping quiet for now. Can Christianity survive in the Middle East? "They were so tired," Edward said. They had a closed meeting with a bishop, and then ate and went home. "They were treated well," contacts in Tal Goran passed on to Edward. "Nobody was tortured." Not to Graeme Wood, who published a detailed analysis on ISIS' religious inner workings this week in The Atlantic. He was pleased to hear about it, but he felt it fit into ISIS' plans. "ISIS has claimed for a long time to follow rules, and it claims that these Sharia courts will impose limits," he told CNN. "They can attempt to get credibility by showing that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of Sharia law." It's possible. It did win them points with Assyrian activists. "It's a good sign to show that 'we can talk,'" Edward said. ISIS has taken heat even from other Islamists who accuse it of rogue justice, especially against Muslim civilians they've condemned as "infidels" out of hand. It's part of the reason al Qaeda has rejected the group, Wood wrote. That reduced some of ISIS' chances of receiving international moral and financial support, leaving the terror group to make up the gap with other funding. And it has led to a violent split with another jihadi group in Syria, the al-Nusra Front, according to The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Other Islamist groups in Syria have frowned on ISIS for not submitting to decisions from Sharia courts. The main issue drawing anger from other Islamist groups revolves around Muslim civilians, who are ISIS' most common victims. And the released captives are Christians. But Christian activist Edward thinks the ISIS Sharia court decision was, in part, a nod to Syrian Sunni Muslim tribal leaders who negotiated for the Christians' release. First, the tribes care deeply about their Christian neighbors and don't want them killed, Edward said. It also makes the Sunni tribal leaders look good and gets a rapport started between them and ISIS. ISIS has a very narrow definition of who is a real Muslim and who is an apostate. Foremost, a Muslim must practice Sunni Islam in its eyes. The group is quick to practice "takfir," which amounts to the excommunication of a Muslim, for things as seemingly petty as shaving off one's beard or voting in an election. ISIS is quick to kill anyone it condemns, because it wants to create a fanatically pure caliphate with only the strictest devotees, Wood wrote. ISIS has executed 125 of its own members for doing things that broke with its strict take on Islam, the Syrian Observatory said. Yes. Even in the strictest interpretation of Islam, there is a provision for sparing Christians, Wood wrote. Social media posts indicate that ISIS carries out mass killings regularly, but "exempted from automatic execution, it appears, are Christians who do not resist their new government." They are required to pay a special tax and acknowledge the new ruling power. That's exactly what the judge ruled, Edward said. The released Assyrian Christians agreed to acknowledge ISIS as their new masters and to pay the tax. ISIS is still holding two of Tal Goran's Christian villagers, Edward said. They should be released as soon as the taxes are paid. He is hoping for the same deal for the other Christian villagers, including for his family. CNN's Samira Said and Dana Ford contributed to this report. +(CNN)Tunisia's tourism industry has been thrown into disarray by a terror attack on Wednesday that left at least 17 foreign visitors dead and prompted urgent warnings over security. Only just recovering from the impact of the Arab Spring uprisings four years ago, Tunisia has once again emerged as a winter sun draw for tens of thousands of travelers. But following Wednesday's attack and siege at the prestigious Bardo Museum in central Tunis, the country's tourism industry is once again facing jeopardy even as authorities and operators scramble to ensure the safety of visitors currently in the country. A significant number of foreign tourists were inside the museum at the time of the attack, which government officials said was the work of "Islamists." Prime Minister Habib Essid said Polish, Italian, German and Spanish tourists are among those killed, with another 20 tourists plus two Tunisians wounded in the attack. MSC Cruises said its ship, MSC Splendida, is currently docked in the Tunis port of La Goulette and some of its passengers had been on tours of the city, including the Bardo at the time of the attack. "All the tourist coaches on tour were immediately recalled to the port and all other tours on the ground were immediately suspended," MSC said in a statement. Another ship, the Costa Fascinosa, docked in Tunis at that time, has a manifest of more than 3,000 passengers, its parent company Costa Cruise said. As details of the incident emerged, several foreign governments put out warnings urging their citizens to stay away from the scene of the attacks, around an area that includes the national parliament building. The U.S. Embassy in Tunis issued an alert that also reiterated standing advice about the potential for violence in Tunisia and the risk of kidnappings. Its warning cautions against trips to Tunisia's central, southern and border regions. Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) also urged UK citizens to stay away from the affected areas of Tunis and to "follow the instructions of Tunisian security authorities." Its warning also carried longstanding advice: "There is a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including places visited by foreigners." With tens of thousands of foreign visitors likely to be in Tunisia right now and many more contemplating travel there, travel operators have been rushing to formulate a response to the attack. It's not immediately known if flights will be added to accommodate any sudden surge in departures or whether tour operators will pull out of the country -- responses that followed a terror attack in Kenya last year. Thomson and First Choice, a UK-based travel operator that carries thousands of vacationers on package trips to Tunisia, said it had canceled organized excursions to Tunis as a precaution. A statement said it would follow FCO advice, which overall remained unchanged for Tunisia. "Thomson and First Choice customers stay in beach destinations, not Tunis, and we can confirm that none of our customers or staff were affected by the incident that took place there today," it said. "As a precaution however we have canceled excursions to Tunis for the coming days. "Customer safety is of paramount importance to us and we continue to work closely with the FCO and the British Consulate to monitor the situation. Tunisia remains a popular destination for us and customers are enjoying their holidays as normal." In its advisory, the UK Foreign Office points out "424,707 British nationals visited Tunisia in 2014. Most British tourists stay in the coastal resorts and most visits are trouble free." Indeed, Tunisia's largely unsullied reputation as a safe north African destination for Europeans seeking low coast beach breaks has clawed back some of the popularity it enjoyed before 2011. In 2010, the country welcomed 6.9 million tourists to its beach resorts and numerous historic sites. In 2011, the year in which an uprising ousted longtime President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali -- an event credited with triggering the Arab Spring -- that number fell below 4.8 million. With calm restored in recent years -- despite security concerns from neighboring Libya and ongoing political tensions -- those numbers have been on the rise, helped by costly advertising campaigns. Recently reported statistics put visitor numbers still 10% lower than their pre-2011 levels, but numbers had been expected to rise again -- particularly with a new "Star Wars" film renewing interest in the country's role as a key location in the original movies. In a 2013 interview, Tunisian tourism minister Jamel Gamra said up to 20% of Tunisia's population -- equivalent to 2 million people -- relied on the tourism industry. He told the Inter Press Service he was optimistic that visitor numbers would continue to grow. "The sector has big potential and we aim to reach 10 million tourists by 2016, a growth of one million tourists per year," he said. "Tunisia also has more freedom and democracy now, which is very important for economic growth and prosperity and has a positive effect on the tourism industry." +Los Angeles (CNN)No one knew him by his real name. But on the harsh streets of Skid Row that became his home, he was known as Africa. Surveillance footage, police and homeless community activists paint wildly different pictures of the man -- one who could be violent, benevolent, troubled and altruistic. Africa was shot and killed by Los Angeles police Sunday after he scuffled with officers. The shooting, caught on video, has renewed accusations of police brutality because it showed him already on the ground. Police say he tried to reach for an officer's gun. The Los Angeles County coroner's office has identified Africa, but is not releasing his real name pending notification of relatives. Africa came to the United States from the continent about a decade ago, said a friend who would only be identified as Nick G. Like Africa, Nick had also been homeless on the streets of Skid Row -- a decrepit area wrought with poverty and despair. "He wanted to get away from here, he wanted to go back home," Nick said. "He was very depressed. Very, very depressed. He had a good side to him, a good heart." Africa kept a tent outside the Union Rescue Mission homeless shelter. Even though the shelter was right in front of him, he didn't want the help. Instead, Africa often helped the shelter's employees. "Our cleaning guys -- he would help them organize cleaning of (the) sidewalk," said the Rev. Andy Bales, the shelter's CEO. He described Africa as gentle and kind -- but with an erratic side. "I attribute the erratic behavior to this difficult environment out here." Less than an hour before he was killed Sunday, a nearby security camera showed Africa apparently dealing drugs -- the sad and only real currency of Skid Row's economy. The footage then shows Africa getting into a fight with the man in the orange tent next to him, violently tipping the tent and kicking the man. Police arrive and talk to Africa, but he jumps into the tent -- prompting officers to draw their guns. Africa then jumps out, swinging his arms at police. Los Angeles police say he tried to grab an officer's gun, and that's when he was shot. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck called the incident "an extreme tragedy." "We feel great compassion in the LAPD for people who live in conditions of homelessness, and often mental illness, with no treatment," Beck said. "We prepare our officers to deal as best they can with them, but the reality is this is much more than a problem that the police alone can solve." Bales said the dismal conditions of LA's Skid Row makes it a tinder box for more problems. "There is no other major city in the U.S. that has a skid row like ours," he said. "2,000 human beings living on the street. Until we deal with that, we're going to continue to have an explosive situation." On the sidewalk where Africa was shot, a modest memorial sits atop a small pile of belongings. "RIP Cameroon," one cardboard sign reads "Rest in Peace Africa." It's unclear when the Los Angeles County coroner's office will release Africa's real name. From there, it's unclear where Africa's remains will go. CNN's Kyung Lah reported from Los Angeles; Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. +(CNN)She is being called Zephany Nurse, though it is not the name with which the 17-year-old South African girl grew up. Zephany means "hidden by the Lord," a fitting name for a girl who was allegedly kidnapped at birth and found thanks to an improbable coincidence. South African Police have been mostly quiet about the case. A police spokesman, Andre Traut, confirmed that a woman was arrested last week and charged with kidnapping and falsely pretending that she was the girl's biological mother. Zephany was a newborn when she was taken from a Cape Town hospital in 1997. She is 17 and in her final year of school. In fact, according to local reports, that's how she crossed paths with her biological parents, Celeste and Morne Nurse. According to the South African Press Association, an independent news agency, students at their second daughter's school unknowingly solved the kidnapping. The second daughter, who was born four years after Zephany was kidnapped, started eighth grade at a Cape Town school this year, according to SAPA. Fellow students told her there was a girl in her final year of school who looked just like her, the news agency reported. The two girls became friends, according to SAPA, and eventually, Morne Nurse made up an excuse to meet his daughter's new friend. He, too, was taken by the similarities and contacted the police, SAPA reported. A DNA test was done, and last week police arrested the 50-year-old woman who had raised Zephany. The woman made an initial appearance before a judge who ruled that she would remain behind bars at least until her next hearing. The shocking revelation has no easy conclusion. While Zephany's biological parents have said in interviews over the years that they never lost hope of finding her, for now, the girl is in the custody of the social services. The Nurses have been allowed to visit Zephany for short periods, South African media reported. And on Tuesday, Zephany herself released a statement, via the Centre for Child Law, which is representing her. "I want to say thank you to all the people who supported me through this, for continuously praying and never giving up on looking for me," she said. "Under the circumstances, I am doing fine." +(CNN)About 15 years ago, I was doing research on inheritance laws in Malawi and their impact on women. Part of my research methodology was to engage in focus group discussions with women in village settings. In order to do this in any village in Malawi, one has to seek permission from the village chief. And so I did. The chief told me to come back the next day so that he can have time to mobilize the women, as well as give them proper notice of the proposed discussion. When I came back the next day, the "women" had indeed gathered waiting for me. However I noticed that the "women" were not women, as such. They were... kids. Teenage girls. I said to the chief "I was hoping to talk to women and not to kids or girls, as I don't think they would understand much about inheritance." His response was, "but these are our women; look, they have babies with them and they are all married." I was shocked. Then it dawned on me, "aah, girl-child marriages." After asking, I found the girls' ages ranged from 13 to 18, with two being 24. This then spurred me into action and it was the beginning of a decade-plus journey of understanding girl-child marriages in my country and fighting for the practice to end. What I found out was disheartening as the statistics came in. I was horrified to learn that Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. It is ranked eighth of the 20 countries that are considered to have the highest rates of child marriage by the U.N. Population Fund. On average, one out of two girls in Malawi will be married by their 18th birthday, according to the United Nations. In 2010, half of the women (50%) aged 20--24 years were married or in a union before age 18 (compared to 6.4%of boys), while 12% of women married before they were 15 compared to only 1.2% of men. Child marriage is in both rural and urban areas. It is also higher than the regional average for sub-Saharan Africa (37%). 'Law, save the girls!' Being a lawyer, I looked to the law. "My hero the law, save the girls," I thought! Yet, I soon found out that this was a complex story. The Constitution of Malawi, which is the supreme law of the land from whom all legal authority is derived, has provided for some measures of protection for all children. However the same Constitution defines children as those aged 16 and below. The United Nations defines children as those aged 18 and below and so to that extent the Constitution does not comply with international standards on definitions of childhood. The Constitution also allows marriages of persons aged 18 and below and it does not have a cut-off point where marriage is actually prohibited. This means for all intents and purposes, the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi allows child marriages. Alas the law had failed me! False hope? But there was hope in the air. In February, Malawi's parliament passed the Marriage, Divorce & Family Relations Bill of 2015 into law. This law was born amid the outcry against girl-child marriage, as the country had realized the dangers of girl-child marriage. Save for a few areas, it is a very progressive piece of legislation, particularly from a women's rights perspective. Among other things, the law prohibits marriage for anybody below the age of 18. So, does it mean that the Constitutional provisions fall away? The spanner in the works is that since the Constitution allows marriage below the age of 18, the new law to the extent that it prohibits child marriage is invalid. So whilst many have celebrated the new law, I haven't, as girls remain shackled by a Constitutional provision that basically allows child marriage. So until the Constitution changes and recognizes children as those aged 18 and above, and therefore puts marriage age at 18 giving many girls the opportunity to go to school and get educated, I will remain sad as I was 15 years ago. 'Guarantee for poverty' I will remain sad because I know the cost of child marriage. It deprives girls of education and undermines their self-confidence and self-identity. It also makes them prone to physical and emotional abuse by their so called husbands. Further to this, girl-child marriage inevitably means early parentage and higher risks of maternal mortality. As if this is not enough, studies have shown that girl-child marriage is a risk factor in the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as young wives do not have much bargaining power to negotiate safe sex with older men. Girl-child marriages need to be prohibited tough the Constitution because they are a violation of every conceivable human right including the right to life, health, education, human dignity and development. What I know for sure child marriage is a guarantee for poverty among girls in my country and I want it to end. No ifs or buts. More from African Voices . More from Opinions . The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of Seodi White. +(CNN)This has to be one of the least convincing scandals. During the four years that Hillary Clinton was secretary of state she used (brace yourselves) a personal email account! Perhaps she thought this was a way of ensuring that Barack Obama didn't read her emails. Either way, Republican attempts to turn this into Hillary's Roswell fall short of the mark. On a scale of one to Watergate, I'd give this three. It is true that by using a commercial account, Clinton opened herself up to being hacked. It is also true that the rules of the National Archives and Records Administration stipulate that personal emails should only be used in "emergency situations" -- and as a historian I recognize the need for transparency and for keeping a record of everything written and sent for the appreciation of future generations. And we'll recall, by the way, that officials in George W. Bush's administration did something like this -- using nonofficial email accounts for official business -- and were hounded by the Democrats for it. But whenever Clinton pinged an email to an official government account, then the conversation would still have been archived, and her office insists that emails from her personal account were handed over anyway. The suggestion that she thought she might have "something to hide" would only make sense if she had used her personal account on some occasions but not others. She would have to have been blessed with the gift of clairvoyance to know back in 2009 that there would some day be controversy surrounding her handling of a siege of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya -- and that it might be best to use personal email so as to cover her tracks in the future. Clinton may be many things, but the Republicans have yet to throw the witchcraft charge. Jeb Bush is angry about Clinton's email farrago and has tweeted that transparency matters. He is keen that we should know that he has a website that documents all the email exchanges that he had as governor of Florida. Why on God's Earth he's chosen to construct this archive, I can't imagine. It's the kind of grand gesture that politicians imagine the voters will be swayed by but actually leaves us thinking, "Don't you have better things to do than this?" Or else wondering if there's been some careful selecting of the emails to put the former governor in a good light. Oh, there are some critical communications in the Jeb Bush archives. But I'm suspicious that he appears never once to have been contacted by a Nigerian prince to say that he has $12 million that he's trying to transfer out of the country or by a Russian lady looking for a husband. Perhaps such conversations took place through Bush's personal account -- in which case, we need to know what he said in reply. Of course there is a serious context to all of this: the Benghazi hearings. There is still much that the public has yet to be told, and Clinton's emails may well be critical to discerning the truth. But there is a far less serious context to "email-gate," too: the presidential election. Literally every small slip that Clinton has ever made is obviously going to be turned into a huge thing -- including such breaches of office etiquette as using the wrong email account. Sources also told me that she sometimes puts her feet up on the desk and may have used the office phone for personal calls. Wicked, wicked woman. +(CNN)Lake Waban on the southern edge of Wellesley College is best known for its shoreline trails offering a scenic reprieve from campus life. Freshman Katy Ma sees it in a different light after learning about Xie Bingxin, the influential 20th century Chinese writer and activist who attended the Massachusetts single-sex college in the 1920s. In one of Bingxin's poems, she describes the tranquil waters of Lake Waban as her only source of comfort in bouts of homesickness. Now, Lake Waban provides Ma with a tangible connection to a woman from another time, someone who rose to prominence after walking the same grounds as her. And, not just any woman, but someone who shares Ma's cultural roots. "Knowing that someone lived in the exact spot where you are right now, and knowing that so much came out of her life inspires you to think that you can accomplish just as much," she said. It's a big deal for Ma, who says she never learned about a single Asian-American in school. As far as she knew growing in Philadelphia, the white men featured in public monuments were the only people who made noteworthy contributions to history. She knows better now thanks to her involvement with activist group SPARK Movement, which is putting women on the map, with a little help from Google. Ma and a group of girls around the world spent the past five months researching locations of significance in the lives of women who don't always get a mention in history class. Starting this week, their stories will be featured on Google's Field trip app tagged to significant locations in their lives. For Bingxin, it's Wellesley University. For dancer Janet Collins, it's New York's Metropolitan Opera, where she became the first African-American prima ballerina. For 19th century journalist Annie Smith Peck, it's Musho, Peru, the village at the base of Mount Huascarán, which she scaled in 1908 in a record-setting feat. For journalist Nellie Bly, it's the site of Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, now Roosevelt island in New York, where she went undercover for a story. Most of the women have Wikipedia pages or obits online; far fewer have parks, squares or monuments named for them. "Every single one of these woman is a rock star," Ma said. "These women have been edited from history not because they didn't make meaningful contributions to society but because someone deemed their stories not worthy of being told." The initiative started in 2013 when SPARK approached Google with data showing that women and people of color were underrepresented in the popular doodles featured on its search homepage. The Google Doodles team has since made strides toward balance the ratio. The encounter led to talks about another SPARK project on representation of women and people of color in parks, monuments and public spaces -- "all the places outside a school textbook where we learn about who's important in the world," SPARK Executive Director Dana Edell said. The conversations led to Google's Niantic Labs, creator of Field Trip. The app displays geotagged stories within a certain geographic radius created by different publishers. Users can choose to be alerted to locations in a certain category. Google agreed to publish the stories if SPARK created them. After all, SPARK's vision fit into Field Trip's goal to help people "discover the stories around them," said Google's Yennie Solheim Fuller, who worked with SPARK. "It's one thing to read about a landmark while sitting on your couch," she said. Visiting it in person creates a sensory experience that's harder to forget, and telling a story about the place has the potential to create an even stronger connection, she said. "We're hoping it brings more awareness to those locations and stories," she said. "What I really hope is that people learn something cool about a place and a woman, and feel inspired to do something similar in their community." The initiative launched on Monday featuring 119 women in 28 countries representing the arts, science and technology. The hard part was not finding women, 15-year-old SPARK member Ajaita Saini said. Pinpointing locations to feature was the greater challenge, sometimes because of lack of information; in other cases, it was hard to choose just one. Take for example, Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man so she could fight in the Revolutionary War. The coordinates of her birthplace will show up for anyone using the app in the vicinity of Plympton, Massachusetts. The app also features Mary Anning, a 19th century British self-educated fossil hunter who was unable to publish her discoveries in her lifetime. The app highlights the British shore where she made some of her most significant findings, including the first complete skeleton of a long-necked Plesiosaurus. Saini, a student at Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies in New Jersey, knows firsthand that women's contributions to science, technology, engineering and math don't usually make it into the lesson plan. Through this project and other SPARK initiatives, she hopes to change that. "It's time we recognized the female scientists, researchers, musicians who are invisible to us," she said. "They definitely existed, we just don't learn about them." +(CNN)In 1984 Margaret Thatcher met Mikhail Gorbachev (before he became Soviet leader) for the first time. Asked of her impressions, she said: "We can do business together. We both believe in our own political systems. He firmly believes in his; I firmly believe in mine. We are never going to change one another." "Doing business together" might sum up the Washington-Tehran relationship today. They have overlapping interests in Iraq, Afghanistan, perhaps even in Yemen -- as well as the shared goal of an agreement on Iran's nuclear program, if not how to reach it. The Obama administration has a keen interest in coaxing Iran back into the "community of nations" because it is a regional power, a major player in a volatile part of the world. Were the nuclear talks to leave Iran as a "threshold state" -- capable of becoming a nuclear power in short order -- Turkey, Egypt and others in the region also might be tempted also to go nuclear. And Israel might carry out its threat of a military strike on Iranian facilities. But U.S. and Iranian interests converge in more immediate ways. Defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- the most high profile and urgent objective of U.S. foreign policy -- requires Iranian help, and quite a lot of it. Beyond coalition airstrikes, ground forces are comprised of the Iraqi security forces, Shia militias and Iranian advisers and officers. In some areas, the Iranian air force has been active. On Sunday, Iraqi troops and the militias began an offensive to retake Tikrit and the province of Salahuddin from ISIS. Next to Mosul, Tikrit may be ISIS' most important holding in Iraq. On the frontlines, according to the Iranian Fars news agency, was none other than the leader of Iran's Quds Force (or Revolutionary Guard Corps), Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani -- often dubbed Iran's spymaster -- has huge influence in both Baghdad and Damascus. And the Revolutionary Guards have influence over the powerful Shia militia in Iraq known as Hashid Shaabi that is an important component of the fightback against ISIS. The Institute for the Study of War observed that "the presence of an Iranian general, other Iranian advisers, and Shia militias on the ground alongside Iraqi Sunni fighters to retake a major Sunni provincial capital will be a significant test case for the success of similar future anti-ISIS operations." And not only is Iranian help needed in defeating ISIS, but Iranian restraint will be required in preserving Iraq as a single and (dare one hope) stable state thereafter. To many observers, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set the stage for ISIS' rise through his increasingly sectarian and anti-Sunni policies. But now the excesses of some Shia militia in Iraq threaten to alienate the Sunni tribes that Maliki's successor, Haidar al-Abadi, is trying to woo. In a veiled reference to alleged abuses by Shia militia of Sunni civilians, Prime Minister Abadi ordered all forces taking part in the Tikrit operation to take "utmost care in protecting civilian lives and property." But he needs Tehran's help in reining in the Hashid Shaabi. A similar environment may yet produce a U.S.-Iranian "understanding" in Yemen. The Iranian-backed Houthi militia -- a Shia sect -- is now in power (at least in the capital, Sanaa). The Houthis are, ostensibly, hostile to the United States, and Washington would rather see President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi back in charge. But the Houthis and Yemeni troops are battling al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which the U.S. regards as one of al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliates. Even so, the same risk as in Iraq applies: Sunni tribes in Yemen may side with AQAP as the lesser of two evils, effectively partitioning the country. There is no clear-cut link between the negotiations on a nuclear deal and U.S.-Iranian co-operation elsewhere. Last week, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Congressional hearing: "I really don't think that the negotiations, one way or the other, will have much bearing on what [the Iranians] do in Iraq or any place they are trying to exert their influence, meaning Syria or now Yemen." In any case, a substantive agreement on Iran's nuclear program does not seem imminent. Ahead of yet another meeting in Switzerland with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that "unless Iran is able to make the difficult decisions that will be required, there won't be a deal." And he was at pains to insist the U.S. would not settle for anything less than a comprehensive, watertight agreement. "No deal is better than a bad deal because a bad deal could actually make things less secure," Kerry said. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is in the U.S. to tell Congress that the deal being discussed is a bad one -- simultaneously injecting himself into the partisan rancor of Washington and seeking to derail what would be the signature foreign policy achievement of Obama's second term. Netanyahu appears to have accepted he is now part and parcel of the toxic atmosphere in Washington, saying he was going "because the American Congress is likely to be the final brake before the agreement between the major powers and Iran." David Rothkopf, no fan of Obama's policy on Iran, wrote in Foreign Policy last month that "Netanyahu's decision to accept [House Speaker John] Boehner's invitation to address the U.S. Congress on the dangers of the Iran nuclear deal is a case of sending the wrong man at the wrong time to give the wrong speech in the wrong place." In the days running up to Netanyahu's speech, U.S. officials have lined up to warn of its consequences. National Security Advisor Susan Rice said the speech would be "destructive of the fabric of the relationship" between Israel and the U.S. Rarely if ever has the U.S.-Israeli relationship become so imbued with such animosity. Last summer, Israeli ministers ridiculed Kerry's efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza; Netanyahu has also repeatedly lectured Obama about the realities of the Middle East. Now Kerry seems to take almost gratuitous pleasure in telling Netanyahu he is wrong. Last week he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that interim agreements with Iran had made Israel safer, and the Israeli Prime Minister "was wrong" to oppose them, just as he had been wrong in his enthusiastic support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Some have even suggested that Netanyahu's aggressive opposition has only energized U.S. officials in the belief that "if they're doing something that really pisses off Bibi, they must be doing something right," as Rothkopf colorfully put it. No one would pretend that America has more in common with the Islamic Republic of Iran than with Israel. But right now, Obama may just feel he's more likely to find common ground with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani than with the Israeli Prime Minister. Even so, the opportunities to "do business" should not be exaggerated. Iran is still supporting -- with fighters, equipment, training and lines of credit -- Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, which the U.S. is trying to oust. Iran and Syria first bonded over a mutual loathing of Saddam Hussein, but the relationship has been sustained because the Syrian regime was the only non-Sunni government in the Arab world, and Damascus and Tehran see themselves as the "axis of resistance" to Israel. Iranian training of militia such as the Jaysh al-Shabi has been critical to the Assad regime's survival. A former Syrian Prime Minister, Riyad Hijab, said after defecting that "Syria is occupied by the Iranian regime. The person who runs the country is not Bashar al-Assad but Qasem Soleimani." Sanctions have made it difficult for Iran to afford its hefty subsidies to the Assad regime -- so ironically, a nuclear agreement and the easing of sanctions might have the unintended consequence of allowing Iran to continue its support of Assad. Nor is there any sign that Iran is ready to soften its support for the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, its frontline proxy in the confrontation with Israel. Eighteen months ago, columnist Ali Hashem quoted an Iranian source as saying that "Hezbollah to Iran isn't a card to play with. Hezbollah today is the crown jewel of the resistance bloc," answerable not to the Iranian President but to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. There's no sign that posture has changed, and it's a reminder that on all these issues, President Rouhani is not the only -- or even the most powerful -- decision-maker in Iran. All the same, the achievement of a nuclear deal - and the gradual lifting of U.S. and international sanctions against Iran -- would surely change the mood music. It might open other doors and enhance dialogue on other issues. And regardless of progress on the nuclear front, the U.S. and Iran will continue to share antipathy for the apocalyptic vision of ISIS, and an interest in buttressing Iraq as a viable state. Even as a candidate for the presidency, Obama set out a vision for engaging with Iran, not least to help bring stability to Iraq. "My decision making, with respect to military options versus diplomatic options, a containment strategy versus a strike strategy," he told the New York Times in November 2007, "is going to be informed by how is that going to impact not just Iran, but how is that going to impact the stability of the region and how's that going to impact our long-term security interests." Eight years on, it is diplomacy and containment that are the centerpiece of his administration's thrust for a signature achievement on the world stage. And it can't hurt that the United States and Iran find themselves on the same side, for now, in Iraq. +Hong Kong (CNN)A Canadian pastor is missing after going on a trip to North Korea in late January, his family and church say. The Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, went to North Korea on a humanitarian trip as he had done over a hundred times before, said Lisa Pak, a spokeswoman for his church, based in Mississauga, Ontario. On January 30, Lim traveled to North Korea from China with a companion from the church who last spoke with him the following day. Lim was scheduled to return February 4 from what was described as a "routine" trip to Rajin, in northeastern North Korea, where his church supports a nursery, orphanage and nursing home, according to the Light Korean Presbyterian Church. So far he has failed to show. The church has formally requested help in finding Lim from Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, and has contacted the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which provides consular help for citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia, which do not have diplomatic ties with North Korea. After not hearing from Lim, Pak said they thought he could have been caught up in North Korea's recent Ebola policy. Lim's church and family waited the 21-day incubation period that he would have been under quarantine. In October, North Korea announced it was taking "preventive measures" to "control the infection by Ebola." Tour groups to North Korea announced that the country would restrict its borders to international tourists because of concerns about Ebola. This week, tour groups indicated that North Korea may be easing its Ebola policy. Tour operators, including Koryo Tours, Young Pioneers Tours and Uri Tours, announced on their websites that the country would ease its ban on foreign tourists. Nick Bonner, Koryo Tour's co-founder and director, told CNN on Tuesday, "We're pleased to announce that today marks the first time in more than four months that tourism in North Korea begins to resume as normal." Lim's family released a statement, thanking the Canadian government for its efforts to find the pastor and asking for privacy. In 1986, Lim immigrated to Canada from South Korea with his wife and son. He speaks fluent Korean and leads a 3,000-member church. Pak, the church's spokeswoman, said she doesn't believe Lim would have engaged in any type of proselytizing, which is prohibited in North Korea. "He knows the language, he knows the nature of the government, so we don't see that as a legitimate reason that he would be detained," she said. "We don't believe that's the way he would have behaved. He's very wise about that." Previously, North Korea has detained Westerners on religious grounds. Cases include American Kenneth Bae, who was detained for two years after North Korea accused him of trying to bring down the government through religious activities. Bae was released in November. Another American, Jeffrey Fowle, was arrested after leaving a Bible at a club in North Korea and released after five months in detention. Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a U.S. citizen sentenced to eight years of hard labor and believed to be a Christian activist, was released from North Korea in 2010 after a visit to Pyongyang by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. CNN's KJ Kwon contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea. +(CNN)Judge Judy Sheindlin's contract has been renewed through 2020, it was announced Monday by Armando Nunez, president and CEO of the CBS Global Distribution Group. The new contract includes a first-look production deal with Queen Bee Productions, which is owned by Judy Sheindlin. This past season, Queen Bee and CBS launched "Hot Bench," a show that quickly has become one of the highest-rated new hits on daytime television, averaging 2.3 million viewers a day (when multiple airings are combined). The show "Judge Judy" is already set through the 2017 season. It is typical that the creator's deal is renewed before they renew the show itself. That is expected shortly. Other than the extension through 2020, there were no details announced about the contract for Sheindlin, 72, who has been starring on Judge Judy since September 1996. She is reportedly is among the highest-paid personalities on television, earning about $45 million a year under her old contract (and without factoring in earnings from Hot Bench). "I'm thrilled to be working with my CBS family for five more years and very excited about this new adventure in production," said Sheindlin. "I loved the experience of creating and developing Hot Bench and look forward to replicating its success with more new, compelling and smart TV." Said Nunez: "She is a true television icon who entertains and inspires millions of fans each day on Judge Judy. We look forward to continuing to provide our station partners with her highly successful show and to working with her to create the next generation of hits." "Judge Judy" is the highest-rated regular series in all of TV syndication, regularly outdrawing such iconic shows as Wheel of Fortune and top-rated talkers like Ellen and Dr. Phil. In its 19th season, Judge Judy is averaging 10.3 million viewers a day. Among court shows, it has been the top program nearly since it went on the air. It now has been No. 1 in the genre for 969 consecutive weeks. "Judge Judy" is produced by Big Ticket Pictures, a division of CBS, and is distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Randy Douthit is executive producer and director. Hot Bench was created by Sheindlin and is executive produced by Douthit and Maureen FitzPatrick. It features a panel of three judges -- Patricia DiMango, Tanya Acker and Larry Bakman -- who take viewers behind the scenes to share in their deliberations before a verdict is rendered. Hot Bench also is produced by Big Ticket Pictures and Queen Bee Productions and is distributed by CTD, which distributes 10 five-run shows in syndication. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)What a difference a couple of years makes. A federal judge has struck down Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage, calling it an "unabashedly gender-specific infringement of the equal rights of its citizens." U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon's decision Monday means that same-sex marriage is now against the law in fewer than one in four states. Nebraska state officials immediately appealed the ruling to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Bataillon denied a state request to stay his decision. And so, beginning Monday the state must "treat same-sex couples the same as different sex couples" when it comes to marriage rights, the federal injunction reads. As the dominoes fall in favor of same-sex marriages, the question now seems to be which state will be the last? The number of states offering same-sex marriages has surged since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in 2013 that invalidated part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. States like Illinois, Hawaii, Minnesota and New York joined the fold voluntarily, while others -- most recently Nebraska and Alabama -- were ordered by state or federal judges to offer and recognize the unions. The case involving Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee is expected to be decided sometime in June by the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's the situation in the 12 states that currently ban same-sex marriages: . The state's constitutional ban on gay marriage, passed in 2004, was struck down twice last year -- once by a state court judge and again by a U.S. District Court judge. Local officials issued some 400 marriage licenses following the state court decision, but the state Supreme Court blocked the issuance of more licenses pending its review of the case. A decision could come soon. Georgia is one of just two states with no legislative action or pending legal decisions whatsoever on same-sex marriage. The other is North Dakota. However, lawsuits are pending to overturn the state's 2004 ban. The state's ban is being challenged in state court, where a judge last year ruled the law is unconstitutional, and in federal court, where a U.S. District Court judge took the rare step, for a federal judge, of backing such a ban. The ban remains in place pending Louisiana's appeal of the state court ruling. On the federal level, a ruling is pending out of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which heard arguments in the case in January. Last year, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriages had no "legitimate purpose." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit later overturned the ruling, reinstating gay marriage bans in Kentucky and four other states. The Kentucky ban is part of the U.S. Supreme Court case scheduled for arguments in April and a decision by June. A U.S. District Court judge ruled last year that the state's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, resulting in the issuance of more than 300 marriage licenses. That ended when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted a stay. The court later reinstated Michigan's ban in the same ruling that reinstated Kentucky's ban. Its fate will be decided by the Supreme Court decision due by June. A state court judge ruled in November that Missouri's 2004 constitutional ban on gay marriage was illegal. Attorney General Chris Koster appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court. But that court has indicated that it will not rule on the case until after the U.S. Supreme Court decision. Just a few days after that state court ruling, a U.S. District Court judge struck down the state's marriage ban, but that decision has been stayed pending appeals. While the state ban is in effect, officials in the St. Louis area have issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. A U.S. District Court judge granted an injunction last year against the state's same-sex marriage ban, describing it as unconstitutional. The judge, however, postponed his ruling from going into effect to give the state time to appeal. A federal appeals court heard arguments in the case in January. In the meantime, the same-sex marriage ban is still in effect. Same-sex couples are challenging the state's ban in U.S. District Court, but a federal judge issued a ruling on January 20 delaying the proceedings until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules. U.S. District Court Judge Karen Schreier struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban in January, but blocked enforcement pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The state's ban was struck down in January 2014 by a federal judge who said it serves "no legitimate governmental purpose." But, as in many other states, enforcement was delayed pending appeals. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard the case last month and a ruling is pending. A federal appeals court judge upheld a ban last year on same-sex marriages in the state. That decision is part of the U.S. Supreme Court case expected to be finalized this summer. In November 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the state's ban. That decision also will be part of the U.S. Supreme Court case. +New York (CNN)When prosecuting attorneys began their closing arguments in the terrorism trial of an accused al Qaeda operative on Monday morning, they spoke of blood. "Blood. Mangled bodies and dead families," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Zainab Ahmad. "Abid Naseer was going to place a car bomb in a crowded ... shopping center and watch people die." Naseer, 28, is accused of communicating with al Qaeda and conspiring to attack the Arndale shopping center in Manchester, England, in April 2009. Naseer has maintained throughout the two-week trial that he is innocent, repeatedly denying all charges and insisting that he was in the United Kingdom to find a wife, not to plan an attack. The case is now in the hands of the jury, who began deliberations Tuesday. Judge Raymond Dearie instructed the jury to "judge the facts and the facts alone." Naseer is charged with three criminal violations: providing material support to al Qaeda, conspiring to provide material support for al Qaeda, and conspiring to use a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence. Prosecutors accuse Naseer of using email addresses with female names to communicate with al Qaeda in planning the bomb attack. The "female-sounding" email addresses were created to attract less attention, prosecutors say. Naseer, a Pakistani national, was in the United Kingdom on a student visa at the time of his arrest. Prosecuting attorneys pointed to the fact that Naseer had dropped out of classes after only a week as further evidence of his guilt. Naseer had no intention of completing his studies because "that was never the plan," Ahmad said, arguing that Naseer applied for a student visa as a means of entering the country to carry out the attack. "If law enforcement hadn't stopped him, he would be the martyr in heaven he so wanted to be. If he had not been stopped, hundreds of men, women, and children would be dead," Ahmad said. The Manchester plot was allegedly part of a three-pronged plan that also included attacks on the New York City subway system and on a newsroom in Copenhagen. The New York plot originated with a man named Najibullah Zazi, who is believed to have corresponded with the same al Qaeda contact as Naseer. Zazi pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and was the first witness in Naseer's trial. Naseer's 2009 arrest in England was part of a massive sweep in connection with an alleged plot to carry out bomb attacks in Britain. He was extradited in January 2013. A number of British intelligence agents -- disguised with makeup and wearing wigs -- testified that they tracked Naseer in 2009 as he visited the Manchester mall that was to be attacked. Prosecutors also accuse Naseer of using "coded language" in his emails to update al Qaeda on his progress. Email records show that Naseer sent an email on April 3, 2009, to a man named Sohaib, who Naseer says he met randomly in an online chatroom. Records also show that Naseer used two email addresses to email Sohaib exclusively from public computers and used different email addresses on his personal computer for all other correspondence. The email address belonging to Sohaib has since been identified as one belonging to a member of al Qaeda. The April 3 email reads, in part, "We both parties have agreed to conduct the nikah after the 15th and before 20th of this month. I have confirmed the dates from them and they said you should be ready between those dates." "Nikah" refers to an Islamic marriage ceremony. Naseer was arrested in Manchester five days after sending the email. Prosecutors allege that the wedding ceremony Naseer mentions was coded language for an attack. The dates mentioned in the email, they argue, were not referring to a marriage, but rather Naseer signaling to al Qaeda when to expect the attack to happen. Naseer, who has been representing himself, denied all charges. He told jury members that prosecutors were only able to produce circumstantial evidence, with no witnesses offering direct information of Naseer's role in the alleged plot. They also did not offer any outright proof of any link to al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization, he said. "Did anyone come forward, take the stand, and say Abid Naseer is the one responsible?" Naseer asked the jury. "We all know the answer. It is a two-letter word: no," he said. Naseer argued that he dropped out of school because the courses, taught in English, were too difficult for him. A 2008 trip to Pakistan, during which prosecutors allege Naseer received al Qaeda training, was really a trip to visit his ailing mother, Naseer said. He said that he had no knowledge at the time that Sohaib was connected to al Qaeda in any way, and simply thought he was chatting with someone he met online. All correspondence mentioning multiple women and the planning of a marriage were genuine, he said. "[I was] young and a bit desperate and wanted to settle down," Naseer said, noting that there was nothing out of the ordinary about his search for a wife. Naseer spent the majority of his closing argument reading from transcripts from earlier testimony, highlighting pertinent quotes he felt supported his cause. "We're not here to speculate, we're here to prove facts," he said. Evidence in the trial included documents seized from a 2011 raid in Abottabad, Pakistan, in which Osama bin Laden was killed. "Striking America at home is of the highest and top importance and is the main way to reach what we want," one letter said. "The impact on Americans from a strike inside America cannot be compared with hitting them outside the country." Naseer is not mentioned by name in any of the seized documents. He says he "had no involvement in the activities mentioned." FBI Agent Alexander Otte, who oversaw the evidence collected in the raid, testified before the jury that he watched as military forces walked off a plane with bags of seized evidence and the body of Osama bin Laden. Other witnesses included multiple police officers and detectives from the Manchester and London police departments, forensic investigators, a linguistic specialist and an al Qaeda expert. Surveillance officers who observed Naseer for several weeks prior to his arrest also testified. The jury must reach a unanimous vote of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt for a guilty verdict. If convicted, Naseer faces life in prison. +(CNN)Gen. David Petraeus pleaded guilty Tuesday to one federal charge of removing and retaining classified information as part of a plea deal, court documents show. According to the documents, Petraeus admitted removing several so-called black books -- notebooks in which he kept classified and non-classified information from his tenure as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan -- and giving them to his biographer, Paula Broadwell. On November 9, 2012, he resigned from his CIA post, citing personal reasons. Petraeus allegedly provided classified intelligence to his lover, Broadwell, while he was director of the CIA. The married mother of two and former military officer was writing a book about the general at the time. During his time as commander in Afghanistan, Petraeus kept personal notes including classified information in eight 5-by-8 inch black notebooks. The classified information including identity of covert officers, war strategy, notes from diplomatic and national security meetings and security code words. David Petraeus fast facts . In August 2011, according to the court documents, Petraeus dropped off the notebooks to a house in Washington, D.C., so Broadwell could access them. He later retrieved them and brought them to his home in Arlington, Va. After Petraeus resigned in 2012 he told the government he had no classified materials in his possession. That turned out not to be true when the FBI in April 2013 conducted a search of his house and found the black notebooks in an unlocked desk drawer in a first floor study. When he was questioned by the FBI, he lied and claimed that he had never provided classified information to anyone not authorized to have it, according to the court documents. The relationship came to light during an FBI investigation into a complaint that Broadwell was allegedly sending harassing e-mails to another woman who was close to Petraeus, a U.S. official told CNN in January. Petraeus now works for New York private equity firm KKR & Co. Lawyers for Petraeus declined to comment. +(CNN)Say what you will about the "Sharknado" franchise, but there's no doubt, it's swimming in irony. Take a couple of a key casting choices announced this week. "Shark Tank" star and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will play the President of the United States in "Sharknado 3." Care to venture a guess on his Veep? Try political commentator Ann Coulter. It's a match made in Twitter heaven. "Will Ann Coulter Be Eaten Alive In Sharknado 3?" a hopeful sounding Political Pirate tweets. Yes, there actually is one, or as much as there's ever been one. This time around a sharknado will tear into in the nation's capital, before roaring down the Eastern Seaboard and into Florida. Anyone taking bets on how long Cuban and Coulter will last? The first two "Sharknado" films churned up a storm of laughs and flooded the Twitterverse with clever one liners. #Sharknado2TheSecondOne was the top-trending hashtag on Twitter the night it first aired. "No sharks were harmed or actors paid in the filming of Sharknado 2," said Annie B. "#Sharknado2 was filmed in just 18 days," tweeted comedian Jeff Dwoskin. "Credit to everyone, it totally looks like a 24 day shoot." There are a raft full of D-list celebrities in this one. Back are regulars Ian Ziering as Finley "Fin" Shepherd, and Tara Reid as April Wexler. And a few other tasty offerings. Bo Derek plays the mother of Reid's character, April. NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick plays a pool lifeguard. And Jerry Springer appears as Mr. White, a manic tourist. "Great fun being in #Sharknado3," the talk show host says. "But -- spoiler alert — it doesn't end well for me." With this cast, things should go swimmingly. +Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN)Police have arrested more than 500 parents in and around the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar for not allowing their children to get the polio vaccine, an official said Tuesday. Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Riaz Khan Mehsud told CNN that the 513 arrests took place Monday and Tuesday as part of a government campaign to administer polio vaccines in parts of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Those arrested will be released on bail if they sign an affidavit stating that they will let their children get vaccinated, according to the deputy commissioner. Pakistan's vaccination rate is inordinately low for a number of reasons, including attacks on medical workers, the displacement of people due to ongoing military operations and a lack of trust by some families. Whatever the reason, the fact that a large number of children are not immunized is having an impact. Such vaccines are credited with wiping out polio in most parts of the world. But Pakistan is an exception, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership that includes the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The South Asian nation leads all others in new polio cases in recent years, and has nine of this year's 10 reported cases. In 2014, Pakistan had 327 cases. The next closest country was Nigeria, with 36 cases. Authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province hope to ensure that 2.7 million children there get vaccine drops. They've learned about more than 13,000 cases in which parents have not done so since a provincial campaign began two weeks ago, Mehsud said. Dr. Bilal Ahmad, a UNICEF team leader based in Pakistan, called authorities' unprecedented move a last-ditch effort to clear polio from "cluster" zones where large numbers of families have refused to get their children vaccinated. "First the workers (try to) convince them, then their supervisors, then senior members of the community," Ahmad said. "(This government action) is the final step in eradicating this issue." Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that primarily affects young children, sometimes leading to paralysis and death. The virus is easily preventable through immunization, but there's no cure once it is contracted. It went from being a health issue to a security issue after U.S. intelligence officials used a vaccination program to help in their hunt for Osama bin Laden in 2011. Under cover of the program, the CIA sought to collect DNA samples from relatives of the al Qaeda leader to verify his presence in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. CIA policy: Won't use vaccination programs as part of operations . Those administering the vaccines have become targets, with the National Emergency Operations Center reporting that more than 70 medical workers have been killed in attacks since December 2012. And in June 2012, Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur announced that polio vaccines would be banned in another Pakistani province -- North Waziristan -- because of drone strikes there. Bahadur called the strikes "worse than polio." CNN's Sophia Saifi reported from Islamabad, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this report from Atlanta. +(CNN)Wrapped up in a long brightly-colored scarf, which does little to contain her free-flowing curly hair, Nneka sits back quietly as she tries to bring to mind her very first memory of music. "I was a kid," the Nigerian singer finally says, her thoughts traveling back to Warri, the Niger Delta city where she grew up. "While I was doing my domestic work in the house, sweeping, waking up at 5am in the morning, there was this bird [singing] -- and I never forgot the melody," she continues, breaking a warm smile. "Funny wise, like 25 years later I was in Lagos and I heard the same melody -- it was amazing!" Nneka's first musical recollection might be firmly rooted in her birthplace, but the award-winning singer's career was destined to begin thousands of miles away from home -- the daughter of a Nigerian father and a German mother, Nneka moved to Hamburg at the age of 19 to study anthropology. Whilst attending university, she also started exploring her musical talents, and soon found herself performing in various clubs opening up for top reggae and hip-hop names. In 2005, she released "Victim of Truth," a much-lauded debut that fused soulful beats, tasty hip-hop-and reflective ballads with politically-charged lyrics and black consciousness. Since then, she went on to enjoy further chart success, tour extensively and collaborate with global stars like Lenny Kravitz and Damian Marley. And now, the soulful singer is back with a brand new, self-released album -- "My Fairy Tales" is a formidable collection of rich afrobeat grooves, reggae-tinged beats and uplifting rhythms that reaffirm her place as one of the continent's most exciting -- and relevant -- artists. CNN's African Voices caught up with Nneka in London to talk about music, memories and the current situation in Nigeria -- as well as present her with the questions you sent via the #AskNneka and #CNNAfrica hashtags. CNN: In the past, you've dealt with issues ranging from the environment and politics, to religion and love -- what are the themes that you're emphasizing at this moment? Nneka: What is happening in Africa at present concerns me a lot. Boko Haram has always been an issue obviously for the past five, six years -- funny wise, there's a track in the album called "Pray For You" which I recorded when not too many people knew what was going with Boko Haram in the West. I'm talking about the problems and possible solutions, and what are the reasons for the problems that we have. We as Nigerians, we're not united, that has always been the issue... that's our problem, tribalism, and what belongs to whom. I also talk about children and the future, bringing children into this world... Everyone's living in a cage and then you bring your child into that kind of society, where your child is forced to live in fear. People are afraid to express themselves politically, and even in their home -- I remember the way we grew up, I didn't look my father in the eye until I was 22; you call your father "Sir, Sir, Sir" -- apparently it's a form of respect, OK, but respect should not be mistaken with fear. I was afraid and that's the thing, that's the colonial mentality: we mistake fear for respect. He [Goodluck Jonathan] says he wants to tackle Boko Haram, obviously every Nigerian is asking why now, he could had done it a long time ago...but I'm not good at the whole blaming game, I don't want to blame anybody but I pray that he comes up with a good idea for us if he is an honest and genuine guy. But I know that Fela [Kuti] would definitely not be cool with him, Seun [Kuti] is not cool with him, and many other musicians who are very outspoken are not cool with him. CNN: What is the power of music and how can it influence things to bring positive change? Nneka: Music is very powerful, music is big; music is even more powerful than politics at present. Beyonce would definitely draw more crowd than [Nigerian president] Goodluck Jonathan if she was going to hold a speech -- if Beyonce is going to talk about Boko Haram, many people are going to listen, and if she had something to tell Nigerians about love or whatever, many people are going to listen. CNN: How do you see the political and security situation now in Nigeria? Nneka: All I can say is that we do need proper leadership. Yes, that's just easier said than done, but we also need ourselves to take more things into our own hands -- so if we want change, we have to show that we want change, peacefully -- I love Malcolm X but I'd rather go for Martin Luther [King] -- peacefully. And be part of it, not just blame our leaders and making sure that you, yourself, contribute to the change that you want to see. YOUR QUESTIONS . Nneka: My personal life always inspires me, in the first place, and then I try to expand it to the world. I try not to go too personal so that people can have their own interpretation of the song and also relate to it in their own special way. Nneka: I like The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, I like Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, I like the Bible. Right now I'm reading The Humans by Matt Haig. Read! Just read, educate yourself! Nneka: The way forward is going to be easier said than done, but tribalism is not they key. What we need is unity and to appreciate each other as Nigerians, as Africans, regardless of tribe and regardless of religion -- imposing your religion on other people is only going to create war and turmoil, there has to be another way. Nneka: Being on tour for like five months; I mean you get used to the life, but [it's hard] when you're coming back home and then realizing that people move on when you're not around. Nneka: It is successfully already, that's why everybody is in it. That's all I can say to that, it's flourishing and they know it's flourishing and that's why they're all there -- the Chinese, the Americans, the Europeans and the rest of them. +(CNN)It's the day the music died. In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, a small aircraft carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson crashed a few miles from Mason City Municipal Airport, near Clear Lake, Iowa. Pilot Roger Peterson also died in the crash. The voice of the hit songs "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day" was silenced forever. A few months later, the Civil Aeronautics Board blamed the accident primarily on the pilot's lack of qualification and certification to fly solely by instruments and secondarily on an inadequate weather briefing. (PDF). Now, the National Transportation Safety Board, the successor to the aeronautics board, may be taking another look. The NTSB received a letter from aviation enthusiast L.J. Coon, a self-described retired pilot and aircraft dispatcher, asking it to look at other possible contributing factors to the crash. They include the aircraft's weight and balance calculations (for passengers, baggage and fuel), possible issues with rudder panels and possible carburetor Induction icing, Coon told CNN in an email. "You have gotten our attention," the NTSB wrote in February, saying it would examine the information he provided, Coon's email said. The NTSB never fully closes a case, but any petition to re-examine a crash needs to show that there is new information suggesting the original probable cause is incorrect, NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said. The agency has two months to review the petition and decide whether there's new information that would make it revisit the case. In 1959, Holly, Valens and Richardson were part of the Winter Dance Party, a tour that had started in Milwaukee and traveled to small cities in Minnesota and Iowa. The musicians had traveled in subfreezing temperatures in unheated buses, and people were getting sick. Holly booked the four-seat aircraft to fly to Fargo, North Dakota, where he planned to finally do laundry and rest in advance of the group's next concert in nearby Moorhead, Minnesota. Country legend Waylon Jennings, then Holly's bass player, gave up his seat to a sick Richardson. Jennings, who died in 2002 at age 64, was haunted by his decision for years to come. Dion and the Belmonts were also on the tour, but Dion gave up his seat on the plane after hearing the $36 per-person price tag. He was the only headliner not on the plane and the only headliner who didn't die that night. Fans remember 'the Day the Music Died' The crash has inspired generations of artists. Lou Diamond Phillips played Ritchie Valens (originally Valenzuela) in the 1987 hit movie "La Bamba." Gary Busey played Holly in the 1978 movie "The Buddy Holly Story." Don McLean, who was inspired by Holly's music, memorialized that day as "The Day the Music Died" in his 1971 song "American Pie." +(CNN)She's leaving. She's not leaving. Dame Maggie Smith, whose tart-tongued Lady Violet Crawley has most of the best lines on "Downton Abbey," caused a fuss this week when she implied that her beloved character won't be around much longer. "I mean, (my character) certainly can't keep going," Smith told the Sunday Times. "To my knowledge, I must be 110 by now. We're into the late 1920s." No more Dowager Countess?!? You could almost hear the genteel wails of protest on both sides of the Atlantic. The speculation about Smith was hurriedly squashed by a "Downton" publicist, who said Smith, 80, has agreed to stay with the series "for as long as the show runs." But that didn't stop rumors about the demise of "Downton" itself from continuing to crop up. Smith even hinted during her interview with the Times that the next season of the hit show would be its last. "They say this is the last one, and I can't see how it could go on," Smith let drop. Creator Julian Fellowes is developing another period drama, "The Gilded Age," for NBC and has been noncommittal about how much longer the show might endure beyond season six, which is filming now. "It won't go on forever -- I'm not a believer in that," he told The New York Times in a recent interview. "But I can't immediately now tell you where the end will be." It is hard to imagine "Downton," which just wrapped its fifth season on PBS in the United States, without the wit and wisdom of Lady Violet, whose acerbic commentary leaves few around her unscathed. So let's hope Smith just misspoke. And until season six, which airs this fall in the UK and early next year in the United States, here are some of our favorite Dowager Countess zingers. -- Isobel: "How you hate to be wrong." Lady Violet: "I wouldn't know, I'm not familiar with the sensation." -- Robert: "They do say there's a wild man inside all of us." Lady Violet: "If only he would stay inside." -- Isobel: "I admire it when young people stand up for their principles." Lady Violet: "Principles are like prayers; noble, of course, but awkward at a party." -- Lady Violet (to Cora): "I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I'm with her, I'm reminded of the virtues of the English." Matthew: "But isn't she American?" Lady Violet: "Exactly." -- Isobel: "I take that as a compliment." Lady Violet: "I must have said it wrong." +(CNN)If the 20th century was the century of the skyscraper, then the 21st century is shaping up as the century of the "plyscaper." Despite its historical reputation for great city fires -- London in 1666, the Great Chicago fire of 1871 and San Francisco in 1906 -- wood is making a comeback as a construction material. Next year in Vienna, construction will begin on a 275-foot building made almost entirely of wood, while Stockholm may build a 34-story wooden apartment by 2023. Others are in the pipeline from Canada to Australia to Europe. With faster construction times and a softer environmental impact, could the building material of the past be the future of construction? Vancouver-based architect Michael Green says the momentum is gaining as new engineered woods allow for greater strength and heights in buildings. His firm MGA recently completed a 29.5m (97 feet) wooden building, the Wood Innovation and Design Center in Prince George, Northern British Columbia. But he said news of taller wooden structures is sprouting up all the time. "There seems to be a new announcement every two or three weeks," Green said. "We've got one in Vancouver for 18 stories and in Vienna there's one for more than 20 stories. "We've done research in high earthquake zones that show 30 stories is feasible; we certainly think we can go to 40 and higher." He said new developments in engineered woods -- small wood components that are glued together to make large panels for building -- are a game-changer for construction. Mass timber panels, in particular, cross-laminated timber (known in the industry simply as CLT) are becoming established as a quicker, greener and eventually cheaper alternative to concrete and steel. One great bonus of the material is the speed of construction; panels can be made to measure in the factory complete with openings, windows and doors. While the main advantages of working in wood are manifold -- it's flexible, robust and easily worked -- Green says wood may be the only material to address the growing problems of urbanization. "Wood has not been an urban material so we looked at how it could be a contributor to urban environments," he said. "There are a whole host of advantages. "Steel and concrete have huge carbon footprints. Concrete accounts for about 6-8% of man's greenhouse gas emissions, whereas wood stores carbon dioxide and gives us a vehicle to create carbon-neutral buildings." The energy used to harvest wood, he said, is much less than the enormous amount required to produce concrete and steel. "There is no other building material that is grown by the Sun," he said. "We've calculated that the North American forests grow enough wood for a 20-story wood building every 8-10 minutes." Ultimately, building in wood, Green argues, creates an economic incentive to plant more forests. "The climate story is really happening at both ends of the argument -- by using more wood we encourage countries around the world to plant more trees. "About 20% of man's carbon footprint comes from deforestation, this creates an important incentive for reforestation," he said. In terms of carbon footprint, a 20-story plyscraper put against its counterpart in concrete and steel is the equivalent of taking 900 cars off the road for a year, MGA estimates. But the established nature of concrete and steel means that CLT will not replace urban building materials overnight. Concerns over fire and inherent problems with its acoustic qualities (apartments need additional acoustic measures to keep noise from traveling) have meant that the construction establishment has been slow to come to the party. In Vienna, for example, the Austrian fire services are working with architects to test their plans. "The main factor is that everyone wants to build higher and higher buildings. An 84-meter-high building in Europe is not usual and there are a lot of necessities that have to be realized," fire service spokesman Christian Wegner told The Guardian newspaper. "A few of us were upset because it was crazy to present an idea like this that has not been discussed with everyone yet. "They have to carry out special tests on the correct combination of concrete and wood. We also want to develop a more fail-safe sprinkler system. I expect they will pass the tests but if they develop the building as they say they will, it will be a serious project." Green counters that CLT is as fire resistant as other new-builds made by traditional means and likens its ability to burn to trying to set a redwood on fire with a lit match, with any charring creating an insulation layer that protects the wood underneath. Even so, the industry remains largely skeptical of a process that -- while having obvious advantages in terms of speed -- is still on par with steel and concrete construction in terms of cost. "It will become cheaper but it's too new to be significantly less expensive," Green said, adding that the difficulty lies in competing with a well-honed and century-old system of designing, building and budgeting for concrete and steel. "The culture of building and the culture of developing buildings is very conservative," he said. "The hardest part of my job is not the engineering and the design or the innovation, it's really about changing the public's perception of what's possible." Ultimately, buildings of the future are likely to be a mixture of wooden components and concrete and steel; combining the stability of concrete with the flexibility and speed of wood. Leading timber specialist at the engineering group ARUP, Andrew Lawrence, said that shear walls -- the core of tall buildings which provide stability against the lateral force of the wind or seismic activity -- are likely to continue to be made from concrete and steel. However, the real savings from wood come when all the cost elements of making a tall building are taken into account. "Clients are missing a trick with wood," he said, adding that dollar-for-dollar as a pure construction material wood can still struggle to be cheaper than concrete. "What you need to do if you want an economic wood solution is to think about all the aspects from outset. "You will save on the program because it's all dry and is quick to erect and potentially, if you're making an office building, you can leave a lot of the wood exposed, saving on the cost and time of installing finishes." Apart from having a sustainable solution, Lawrence says, clients will gain a building that looks good too. "If you leave the wood exposed, you can have a really nice environment inside the building," he says. "There are studies that show that people are happier inside wood structures." +(CNN)England's abject cricket World Cup record endures. Its team has been eliminated before the group stages of the competition has even finished after a demoralizing defeat to Bangladesh, who qualified for the quarterfinals. It means England, who invented the game of cricket but has never won the World Cup, still hasn't been past the last eight stage of the one-day tournament since 1992. Chasing a target of 276 off its 50 overs in Adelaide, Australia, England slumped to 260 all out, with only Jos Buttler offering any meaningful resistance. The wicketkeeper struck a brisk 65 after England's top order failed to lay a platform for victory, before he was dismissed by Taskin Ahmed. England captain Eoin Morgan failed again with the bat, lasting just three balls before succumbing to Rubel Hossain for no score. It marks another miserable display from one of cricket's supposed powerhouses on the world stage, its only victory in the 2015 competition coming against minnows Scotland. Whereas other teams in the tournament have taken an aggressive approach, some posting totals of over 400, England's modus operandi has looked slovenly and outdated. "Pretty poor to be knocked out of a World Cup so early, it is very disappointing," Morgan said at the post-match presentation. "I can't put my finger on it at the moment. I'm gutted. We've struggled and fought our way since we arrived -- one of our big things was to fight hard and try to get through to the quarterfinals. "Our expectations are much higher than this. I've no idea what happens from here -- it's a surprise we're out this early. There will be an inquest over the next few weeks and we'll go from there." Coach Peter Moores is bound to come in for renewed criticism, and the clamor for the return of one of England's best one-day players -- Kevin Pietersen -- is sure to grow louder. South African-born Pietersen was sacked after the disastrous tour to Australia in 2014/15, the England and Wales Cricket Board saying he was a disruptive dressing room influence. "It's a hollow feeling at the moment," Moores said after England's defeat. "You feel like you have let people down." Despite committing a year to prepare for the World Cup, England dismissed Alastair Cook as skipper less than two months before the tournament in Australia and New Zealand began. Mahmudullah was Bangladesh's hero, scoring the country's first ever century at the World Cup, as it recorded one of the biggest wins in its history. England now face a dead rubber against Afghanistan on Friday while Bangladesh has cemented its place in the last eight. +(CNN)A man who says he's Mohammed Emwazi's father has reportedly said there is no proof that his son is the masked ISIS killer known as "Jihadi John." "There is nothing that proves what is being circulated in the media, especially through video clips and footage, that the accused is my son Mohammed, who is being referred to as the alleged executioner" of ISIS, Jassem Emwazi told the Kuwaiti newspaper al Qabas. Jassem Emwazi said there are only "false rumors" circulating about his son. The elder Emwazi told the newspaper he has hired an attorney. The lawyer, Kuwait-based Salem Al-Hashash, told CNN on Tuesday that he was representing Jassem Emwazi and planned to file lawsuits against anyone who has claimed that Mohammed Emwazi is Jihadi John. The lawyer called the father a "victim of libel" and said that he would soon hold a news conference. Last week, two U.S. officials and two U.S. congressional sources confirmed to CNN that "Jihadi John" is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner. Jassem Emwazi's statements to al Qabas appear to contradict reports this week that his wife recognized Jihadi John's voice as her son's when she saw footage that shows the man, whose face is covered, brandishing a knife and threatening ISIS hostages. Emwazi told British newspaper The Guardian that the stories about the couple recognizing the voice were false. "Lie, lie, lie," he reportedly said. Mohammed Emwazi was born in Kuwait in 1988 and moved to the United Kingdom with his parents and sister when he was six, according to CAGE, an advocacy group for people suspected of involvement in terrorism. CAGE interacted with Emwazi before he joined the terror group, a member has said. CAGE released a recording last week that it said it taped of Mohammed Emwazi in 2009. In that recording, Emwazi is heard talking about been questioned by British intelligence service regarding a July 2005 terror attack in London. CNN's Samira Said, Roba Alhenawi and Nic Robertson contributed to this report. +Los Angeles (CNN)Thousands of veterans who are patients at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System have been waiting months just for an appointment, CNN has learned. Email your story ideas and tips to CNNtips@cnn.com. What's more, administrators in charge of the massive VA facility in greater Los Angeles may have been hiding wait times, and may have misled Congress on the delays and exactly how long veterans are being forced to wait for care, according to new information obtained by CNN. This revelation means that the scandal over delays in care and wait times for veterans, which embroiled the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs last year and even led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, is apparently not over. And the changes promised by the VA and the Obama administration may not be working. The detailed new evidence comes from the Los Angeles VA's own internal documents obtained by CNN, and numerous medical and administrative sources confirmed the information. It is particularly significant as the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Medical Center is the nation's largest VA health care system, caring for hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans. The VA documents show more than 12,700 appointments, which the VA calls consults, had been waiting more than 90 days to be addressed, as of mid-January. Even new patients seeking care at the Los Angeles VA for the first time can wait months to see a doctor there. Records show on January 15, more than 1,600 veterans who were new patients were waiting 60 to 90 days for appointments. Another 400 veterans have waited up to six months, and 64 veterans had been waiting six months to a year for their appointments. The documents provided to CNN show the lengthy wait times are still happening, within the last several months, and sources say the backlog is happening even now. And yet last month, the VA's acting director for the Western region overseeing the Los Angeles VA told Congress that veterans who are new patients there only have to wait a few days for appointments. "The average wait time for a new patient right now is about four days," Dr. Skye McDougall, the acting director of the Desert Pacific Healthcare Network, Veterans Health Administration, testified before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. But McDougall's statement is simply not true. According to the Los Angeles VA's documents dated January 15, the actual average wait time for new patients at the VA was 48 days. A half-dozen medical and administrative sources inside the LA VA system corroborate these waits. The wait times since then have not changed significantly -- coming down slightly to a wait time of 44 days for new patients as of March 1, according to another VA document -- and are still roughly 10 times what McDougall testified they were. The delays in appointments are even taking place at Los Angeles clinics for mental health, where documents show more than 300 veterans have been waiting more than 30, 60, even 90 days for treatment. At the congressional hearing, McDougall was specifically asked about mental health wait times for new patients, a growing national concern as hundreds of veterans are committing suicide every year. The uncounted: War's true toll . Asked how long the wait time is for mental health at the Los Angeles VA, McDougall testified that the same number -- a four days' wait for new patients -- applies for mental health. But that is also not true, according to the documents and sources inside the VA who spoke with CNN. A new LA VA chart shows as of March 1, new mental health patients in Los Angeles are waiting an average 36 days just to get an appointment. Los Angeles VA officials would not talk to CNN about the discrepancies but instead sent a statement saying that the "Greater Los Angeles and VA nationwide continues to work very hard to get Veterans off waiting lists and into clinics to get the care they have earned and deserve." The VA sent CNN new "retrospective data" showing primary care average wait times of four days, specialty care wait times of 7.5 days, and mental health wait times of 2.5 days, as of January. The VA explained that the chart for new patients obtained by CNN "does not include same day appointments or in some cases same week appointments for those Veterans who need care quickly...." New patients, the VA told CNN, "typically account for less than 10% of all Veteran appointments and are not representative of the whole patient population." Despite the "retrospective data," the real truth, say the sources CNN has interviewed, is reflected in the internal LA VA documents obtained by CNN -- that wait times for many patients at the Los Angeles VA Medical Centers extends into weeks and months and are a serious problem. This news of continuing delays in Los Angeles comes a year after reports of cover-ups and turmoil at the VA, which became a national scandal, where wait times, veterans' deaths and even secret waiting lists were revealed at VA hospitals across the country. Congress even passed a new law last fall to help veterans get care more quickly, as a direct result of the scandal. And since the scandal, Congress has approved $16 billion extra for the VA in an attempt to hire more doctors and nurses and to build more facilities. The VA removed its 14-day scheduling goal to discourage engaging in "inappropriate scheduling practices," and President Barack Obama also appointed a new VA secretary, Robert McDonald, last summer. Vets not impressed with VA reforms . Sources in the Greater Los Angeles VA say despite the scandal last year, the new secretary, the new laws and all the attention, not much has changed. Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here. +Los Angeles (CNN)Conrad Hilton, the younger brother of celebrity heiress Paris Hilton, has reached a plea deal: He would admit guilt to misdemeanor assault against flight attendants in exchange for a federal felony charge being dropped, court papers says. The deal would require prosecutors to recommend probation for Hilton, who also allegedly called passengers "peasants" on a London-to-Los Angeles flight last summer. Hilton, 20, is scheduled to appear Thursday in federal court, but he is not expected to plead guilty at that time, said spokesman Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office. Hilton, who is free on $100,000 bond, was initially charged with a felony that could have carried a prison sentence up to 20 years upon a conviction. The misdemeanor charge carries up to a six-month prison sentence and a fine of at least $5,000, but federal prosecutors have agreed that they would "recommend that defendant be sentenced to a term of probation," court records said. The class B misdemeanor accuses Hilton of assaulting two flight attendants aboard a British Airways flight on July 31, 2014, "by intentionally using a display of force that reasonably caused (the attendants) to fear immediate bodily harm," according to court documents filed last week. Hilton signed court papers last week that state he "repeatedly entered the bathroom to smoke marijuana and tobacco" during Flight 269 from London to Los Angeles, court papers said. Read the plea deal . "He also become belligerent toward some of the flight attendants," according to court papers signed by Hilton and his attorney. His attorney couldn't be immediately reached for comment Wednesday. At one point, Hilton told one flight attendant multiple times that "I am going to f------ kill you," according to the court papers. Hilton also "punched at, but missed" another flight attendant, the court documents said. A more complete description of events aboard the flight was provided in initial court papers filed in early February. Those alleged Hilton threatened and intimidated flight attendants, scared parents and disengaged a bathroom smoke alarm. The court documents alleged Hilton punched the bulkhead next to an attendant's head, missing his face by about 4 inches, and told the crew, "I could get you all fired in five minutes. I know your boss!" "My father will pay this out, he has done it before. Dad paid $300,000 last time," Hilton allegedly told a flight attendant. Hilton's father is Rick Hilton, the grandson of the Hilton Hotel empire's founder, Conrad Nicholson Hilton. Rick Hilton and his wife of more than 30 years, Kathy, are parents of four children: Paris, Nicky, Barron and Conrad. Conrad Hilton left his seat five minutes after takeoff, even though the "fasten seat belt" sign was still on, authorities said. Another flight attendant said Hilton rose from his seat at least 20 times during the 10½-hour flight, court documents said. Read the initial federal complaint (Warning: profane language) When Hilton became enraged because a flight attendant was following him, he shouted several times that "I am going to f------ kill you!" and used other vulgarities, court papers said. Passengers became frightened and disturbed, authorities said. A French family was seated behind Hilton, and the father got out of his seat and leaned "over his kids in a protective gesture" during one of Hilton's rants, a flight attendant told authorities, according to court papers. Hilton yelled several times, saying "I will f------ own anyone on this flight; they are f------ peasants." Hilton also accused the flight attendants of "taking the peasants' side" and then said he was angry because he had just broken up with a girlfriend, court papers said. He bragged that he was already banned by other airlines. At some point during the flight, the attendant saw Hilton go into a bathroom and smelled cigarette smoke coming from it, authorities said. The flight's pilot, who was second-in-command to the captain, "noticed the smoke detector above the bathroom ceiling had been stuffed with paper towels, apparently to prevent the smoke alarm from sounding," court papers said. The pilot later confronted Hilton, and Hilton surrendered a used pack of cigarettes and a lighter, authorities said. Hilton returned to his seat and fell asleep. The captain authorized crew members to form a "restraint team" to constrain Hilton before he woke up, authorities said in court papers. The crew used a blanket and handcuffs on Hilton about 75 minutes before the plane landed, authorities said. He awoke while being restrained and began screaming obscenities, court documents said. "As Hilton was being restrained, he told the flight attendants he was a model and that they were 'going to ruin my career,' " according to an affidavit by FBI agent David Gates filed in court in early February. Later, in an interview with the FBI the same day, Hilton said he started his travels in Mykonos, Greece, had a connection in Athens, and then traveled to London, authorities said. He took a sleeping pill before boarding the flight to Los Angeles, court papers said. Hilton admitted to calling people "peasants" on the flight, but he "denied having a confrontation with a flight attendant near the start of the flight but acknowledged having other issues with flight attendants," the affidavit said. Hilton allegedly told the FBI agent: "I told all of them I could get all of their jobs taken away in less than 30 seconds," the affidavit said. +(CNN)There is only one likely outcome for Baghdad's current military offensive to reclaim Tikrit: defeat for ISIS. The campaign to restore central government authority over the restive Salahudin province is seen as both symbolic and strategic for Baghdad which has invested too much already for it to afford losing this battle. ISIS are said to have booby-trapped much of the city in an attempt to slow down the government assault. However, the task at hand has been made easier for Baghdad given that most civilians in Tikrit have already fled -- both to Kurdistan in the north as well as south to Baghdad -- leaving behind mostly ISIS jihadists who defend the city, according to Iraqi constitutional specialist Zaid al-Ali, who is from the city. Initial reports of the multi-pronged attack on Tikrit have been encouraging. Iraqi forces have already cleared a number of areas on the outskirts and are expected to continue advancing towards the city center as both heavy artillery and helicopter gunships pound ISIS militants who have taken up defensive positions. Another crucial element for the success of this battle will be the varied make-up of the groups involved in the fight. The joint Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit include Iraqi troops, members of the mainly Shia Hashd al-Shabi paramilitary force, members of the Sunni Sons of Salahuddin brigades, and other Sunni tribal fighters. The offensive involves around 30,000 fighters in all. Although the campaign is Iraqi-led, help from outside is also going to play an important role. Though the United States has not conducted any airstrikes in this campaign yet, this may well change as the battle develops. Iran, in stark contrast to the U.S., provided Iraq with immediate and much-needed military assistance when the security crisis escalated last June. The Iranians are heavily invested in this current campaign and are also not going to let the Iraqis lose. Unlike in Syria, the Americans and Iranians both share a common enemy and a common friend in Iraq, but due to wider political considerations neither Washington nor Tehran will admit that there is any form of tacit cooperation in Iraq. However, the campaign for Tikrit is just another front where such cooperation is likely to be already happening behind the scenes. Baghdad will make use of U.S. intelligence that will almost certainly be shared with the Iranian officers who are advising the Iraqi army. General Qasim Suleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, who has played a key role in the fight against ISIS, was reported to be near Tikrit just hours after the military campaign was officially launched. Iran provides military advice, support and weapons not just through the central government in Baghdad but also directly to a number of increasingly powerful Shia militia groups that now operate under the state-sponsored paramilitary committee, the Hashd Al-Shabi, known as the "Popular Mobilization Units." The two key Iraqi leaders of this paramilitary command, Hadi al-Ameri and Abu Mehdi al-Mohandis, were also pictured together with General Fadhil Barwari, the commander of Iraq's elite Special Operation Forces. Though there are few civilians left in Tikrit, all eyes will be on the Iraqi security forces -- and especially the Shia militias --- to see if abuses are carried out once the enemy is routed. Prime Minister Abadi already warned the anti-ISIS fighters to protect civilians and properties in the area and also gave the "misled" ISIS militants a last chance to lay down their arms before the troops made their advance. The battle is an especially emotional one for the Shia soldiers and fighters as Tikrit is the site of the Camp Speicher massacre last June, where 1,700 Shia soldiers were captured, separated from their Sunni comrades and then summarily executed in an atrocity that was documented by ISIS as a powerful propaganda film. However, it is encouraging that both Shia and Sunni fighters are supporting the army in its effort to defeat ISIS. The cooperation between Shia and Sunni fighters will be crucial not just in the ongoing offensive in Tikrit but will also set the stage for further cooperation in the strategic campaign to recapture Mosul. Politically, these groups may not see eye-to-eye and of course there remain deep ethno-sectarian tensions in Iraq and beyond, but regardless of these differences they all view ISIS as a common threat and enemy that must be defeated. To be sure, the Sunni tribesmen involved in this campaign are more anti-ISIS than they are pro-government, but that they can work with the pro-government Shia militias is both good news and good progress for a country believed to be ripping itself apart along ethno-sectarian lines. +(CNN)Here are some of the names you might be hearing about as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev goes on trial in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings: . • Dzhokhar "Jahar" Tsarnaev: Born July 22, 1993, Tsarnaev and his family immigrated to the United States and applied for political asylum when he was 8. A popular student, Tsarnaev attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and was captain of his high school wrestling team. He received a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Tsarnaev was known on campus for selling marijuana, according to court testimony. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in September 2012, seven months before the bombings. Federal agents say surveillance video captured him near the second blast site, where 8-year-old Martin Richards was killed. After the bombings, Tsarnaev returned to campus and stayed there until the FBI publicly identified him as a suspect. Tsarnaev texted a friend to come to his room and take whatever he wanted as he would not be coming back. He and older brother Tamerlan went on the run, allegedly killing an MIT officer, carjacking an SUV and engaging Watertown, Massachusetts, police in a firefight. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed, and Dzhokhar was discovered the next day, badly wounded, hiding in a boat. • Tamerlan Tsarnaev: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, born October 21, 1986, was an accomplished boxer. He won the New England Golden Gloves heavyweight division in 2009-2010. Known for his flashy clothes and in-your-face self-confidence, Tamerlan aspired to join the U.S. boxing team despite being only a permanent resident and therefore ineligible. In early 2011, Russia asked the FBI to look at Tsarnaev's activities. After interviewing Tsarnaev and family members, the FBI said it "did not find any terrorism activity, domestic or foreign, and those results were provided to the foreign government." In January 2012, Tsarnaev left New York for Russia. It's not clear what he did while there, but Tsarnaev's father has said his son was with him at all times. He returned to the United States in July 2012. Seventy-two hours before the bombing, he was seen working out at the Wai Kru mixed martial arts gym with his younger brother. He was killed following a gunfight with Watertown police after his brother tried to free him with a stolen SUV but ran him down instead, according to an indictment against the younger Tsarnaev. • Anzor Tsarnaev: Anzor Tsarnaev is the father of the Tsarnaev brothers. Originally from Chechnya, the family was exiled by Russians and settled in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan before seeking political asylum in the United States. The elder Tsarnaev fixed cars for a living, making ends meet through welfare. He and wife Zubeidat divorced in 2011, and he returned to the Russian republic of Dagestan, where he now lives. • Zubeidat Tsarnaeva: Mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva worked as a home health aide before switching to facials and skin care, both at a local spa and in her Cambridge home. She was charged with shoplifting in summer 2012 and soon after moved to Dagestan. If she returns to the United States, she could be arrested for failing to resolve the shoplifting charges. She has phoned several times during her younger son's incarceration. • Ailina Tsarnaeva: Ailina Tsarnaeva is the sister of the Tsarnaev brothers. At age 16, she entered an arranged marriage that produced a son and lasted little more than a year, according to an investigative piece by The Boston Globe. Last year, Tsarnaeva was arrested and charged with aggravated harassment, accused of making a bomb threat against the mother of her boyfriend's child. She denies the charge. Her last known address was in North Bergen, New Jersey, near her sister and the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. • Bella Tsarnaeva: Sister Bella Tsarnaev also reportedly has a child from a failed marriage, according to The Boston Globe. She was arrested in New Jersey on marijuana charges, and she entered into a pretrial intervention program. • Katherine Russell: Raised as a Christian in Providence, Rhode Island, "Katie," as she was known in high school, went to Suffolk University in Boston but dropped out before graduating. She married Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2010 in a small, private ceremony officiated by a Boston imam. She worked as a home health aide to support the couple's young daughter. Her last known apartment was just blocks from the last listed address of Ailina and Bella Tsarnaeva, her sisters-in-law. By all indications, Russell has chosen to be near -- and with -- her dead husband's family in New Jersey, rather than with her parents in Rhode Island. Russell had one dust-up with the law -- a June 2007 arrest for stealing $67 in goods from Old Navy. She acknowledged the theft and gave back the merchandise, according to court records. • Ruslan Tsarni: The uncle of the accused bombing suspect, he widely condemned the attack on the Boston Marathon, saying nephew Tamerlan "messed up his life, that's why he decided (to) take lives of innocent people." • Ibragim Todashev: Ibragrim Todashev was Tamerlan's sparring partner at the Wai Kru mixed martial arts gym near Cambridge. The two bonded over Chechnya and religion, sometimes laying out rugs to pray to Mecca inside the small gym. Todashev moved to Florida in fall 2011, not long after a brutal triple slaying in Waltham, Massachusetts. One of the victims was fellow sparring partner Brendan Mess who, along with two friends, were nearly decapitated, with marijuana strewn over their bodies. Authorities began taking a closer look at possible involvement by both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Todashev, who was allegedly writing out a "confession" when, authorities say, he tried to attack an FBI agent. The agent fatally shot Todashev, whose family maintains he is innocent. • Dias Kadyrbayev: Dias Kadyrbayev, a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's, pleaded guilty to "obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation," and he also pleaded guilty to conspiracy with his actions in the days immediately following the bombing. Kadyrbayev was charged with four counts, including obstructing justice and conspiracy for throwing Tsarnaev's backpack into a trash bin after discovering it contained fireworks with gunpowder, and removing a jar of Vaseline and a computer thumb drive. Investigators later recovered the backpack at a landfill. Kadyrbayev also took Tsarnaev's computer to his off-campus apartment, where the FBI later seized it. He is awaiting sentencing. 13th Juror: Fishy case could silence accused bomber's pals . • Azamat Tazhayakov: In July, a jury found Azamat Tazhayakov guilty of obstructing justice and conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the removal of a backpack with potential evidence from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room after the bombings. Tazhayakov was another friend of Tsarnaev's and was Kadyrbayev's roommate. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who were temporarily living in the United States on student visas while attending the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Tazhayakov is expected to appeal. • Robel Phillipos: Robel Phillipos, also a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's, was convicted in October on two counts of lying to federal agents investigating the 2013 bombing. Prosecutors said Phillipos lied to investigators about being in Tsarnaev's college dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth after the bombings. Phillipos knew Tsarnaev from high school. According to court documents, Phillipos hadn't seen or talked to Tsarnaev for at least two months before the bombing. Phillipos has filed a motion for judgment of acquittal and new trial. +(CNN)A decade ago al Qaeda would meet potential recruits face to face; now ISIS engages in one-to-one dialogue while sat 2,000 miles away. With what it says is a $2 billion budget, the group produces slick videos in which sexy bearded jihadists are paraded as potential husbands and burka-clad jihadi brides carry Kalashnikovs while extolling the virtues of the utopian Caliphate and a "guaranteed ticket to paradise." Aqsa Mahmood, 19, left home for university one morning in November 2013 never to return. Instead of going to classes, she travelled to Syria; last February she married a jihadi fighter, and since then she has become a notorious poster girl for ISIS. What is so unusual about Aqsa is that she was given every chance in life: privately educated and offered freedoms that many other Muslim girls would envy. And while most were quick to condemn the Mahmood family for missing the signs of radicalization, 18 months on they remain none the wiser as to what prompted her to run away -- Aqsa's parents had actually warned their children of the need to avoid extremist websites. Following the terror attacks in London on July 7, 2005, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted those responsible were motivated by an "evil ideology," a "perversion of Islam that promoted absurd grievances," and that they had nothing to do with the war in Iraq, but he was wrong: the Iraq "adventure" opened the gates of hell, and today young Muslims are being seduced by an updated narrative. For over a decade mosque leaders have been asked to eradicate extremism but they are no more than glorified gatekeepers whose lives bear little relevance to those of most modern day Muslims. The need to tackle radical preachers has crushed political debate and created a dangerous vacuum which is now being filled outside of mosques. Every new atrocity is invariably followed by useless public statements of sorrow from so-called "Muslim leaders," further increasing the anger felt by the younger community -- successfully drawing young Muslims away from the path of violence takes more than routine declarations that "Islam is a religion of peace." It is easy enough to dismiss the words of wannabe radical jihadists as little more than the posturing of nihilistic adolescents, but the steady stream of recruits to ISIS cannot be ignored. Several years ago al Qaeda recruitment propaganda included videos of men with long beards ranting in Arabic in front of a black flag, followed by grainy footage of a truck blowing up as it drove towards Americans. It wasn't particularly effective as a recruitment tool, but then they only needed a handful of recruits to change our society for ever. Today ISIS runs a powerful, slick, modern social media machine distributing messages daily across many different platforms. Their propaganda contains the same violent, distorted interpretation of Islam but it is more advanced than anything al Qaeda ever produced, and the authorities cannot police it or compete with it. For many, the greatest shock has been young girls like Aqsa wanting to leave behind their Western comforts and freedoms to join ISIS, but why should it be a surprise that young Muslim women are as angry as their male counterparts? There is no single road map to recruitment, but for a teenager becoming a Jihadi bride or fighter is much more appealing than becoming a suicide bomber, however distorted that logic may seem to us. Full of adolescent frustration, young Muslims are being lured into a romanticized and glamorous world which bears no relation to the misery actually inflicted by ISIS. It doesn't matter if the narrative is false, because ISIS is winning the propaganda war: the inability of the mainstream to deal with the anger felt by the Muslim community provides cannon fodder for the hatemongers. ISIS is left unchallenged on double standards of foreign policy, Israel, rendition, torture, or Assad's reign, which has left 200,000 dead, because there is nothing that Western governments can say without being accused of duplicity and double standards. Aqsa's family describe her as a "bedroom radical" of the type the British Government has been desperate to combat by trying to shut down websites and social media. Yet last year the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence found "little evidence to support the contention that the internet plays a dominant role in the process of radicalization." A concentration on social media avoids the real world social relationships which help create terrorists. Many young Muslim people asserting their identity in an Islamophobic society detest the hypocrisy of their elders, whose cultural and sectarian traditions they consider irrelevant to modern day Islam. While mosques pay lip service to the "brotherhood of man" they exclude 50% of the community by discouraging women from attending, and anyone below the age of fifty is told to shut up and show respect. As for racial unity, it is at best tokenistic and at worst institutionally racist. Young British Muslims live a schizophrenic existence, stuck between their immigrant parents' cultural identity and that of the West which doesn't want them. Extremists exploit this identity crisis by offering them a new life. Most parents wouldn't know if their teenagers were drinking or having sex, let alone being groomed by ISIS; many young Muslims -- already adept at living a double life -- will hide their digital footprint in exactly the same way. In many cases, there is tremendous relief for parents when a teenager comes home one day and announces she is becoming religious, rather than saying she is pregnant or on drugs, but it also gives rise to a false sense of security. The failure to deal with the grooming of underage girls by ISIS is a child protection issue: when a paedophile makes contact with a child, he builds up trust over several months, convincing the child not discuss anything with her parents. When the time is right he convinces the child to leave her family and join him. The process is identical in radicalization by ISIS. Thousands of young people across Europe are at risk of being trafficked to Syria for marriage and holy war. In any other situation, they would be regarded as children -- yet pin the ISIS label on them and the knee jerk reaction is one of condemnation. The exploitation of the politics of fear combined with tougher terror laws has created a climate of fear for Muslims who are portrayed as threatening a "civilized" way of life. We are quick to forget recent history: the disastrous treatment of the Catholic community in Northern Ireland produced a sense of burning injustice which acted as a recruiting sergeant for the IRA for more than four decades. Today, Muslims are being dealt with in the same way. +(CNN)The big search is over. That's the message out of Indonesia, where national search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo announced that the main search-and-recovery operation surrounding doomed commercial airliner AirAsia Flight 8501 officially ended Tuesday. "These past two months have been the hardest times for all of us at AirAsia and for the families of QZ8501 passengers," AirAsia Indonesia CEO Sunu Widyatmoko said. "No words can express how grateful we are for all the prayers, love and support given us." He was referring to the nightmare that the airline and, especially, the loved ones of the 162 people on board the Airbus A320-200 jet have been experiencing since its crew lost contact with air traffic controllers on December 28. Indonesian Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan later explained the plane climbed rapidly, then stalled shortly before it crashed. Unlike Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared a year ago and still hasn't been located, there has been less mystery and more closure over Flight QZ8501. That's because searchers did find remnants from the AirAsia aircraft and the remains of some passengers in the Java Sea. That included the jetliner's fuselage, the last major piece of which was recovered late last month and brought into a Jakarta port earlier this week. As of Tuesday, authorities had identified the bodies of 94 who had been on the AirAsia plane, with six other bodies still in Surabaya's Bhayangkara Hospital. Yet that leaves scores of other families still waiting. The decision to call off the main search stems from the fact no more human remains were found in the past week, Soelistyo explained. But that doesn't mean authorities won't be looking at all. There will be a smaller-scale operation, involving divers and three vessels, over the next week, according to Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency. After that, the plan is to call off the search entirely. +New York (CNN)A federal jury Wednesday found Abid Naseer guilty of plotting with al Qaeda to bomb a shopping center in 2009 in Manchester, England, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said. Naseer, 28, was convicted on three criminal violations: providing material support to al Qaeda, conspiring to provide material support for al Qaeda and conspiring to use a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence. The Manchester plot was allegedly part of a three-pronged plan that included attacks on the New York City subway system and on a newsroom in Copenhagen. None were carried out. The New York plot allegedly originated with Najibullah Zazi, who is believed to have corresponded with the same al Qaeda contact as Naseer. Zazi pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and was the first witness in Naseer's trial. Naseer, a Pakistani national, was in the United Kingdom on a student visa at the time of his arrest. Among the evidence presented, prosecutors pointed out that Naseer had dropped out of classes after only a week. Naseer had no intention of completing his studies because "that was never the plan," Assistant U.S. Attorney Zainab Ahmad argued, saying that Naseer applied for a student visa as a means of entering the country to carry out the attack. Naseer maintained throughout the two-week trial that he was innocent, repeatedly denying all charges and insisting that he was in the United Kingdom to find a wife, not to plan an attack. He represented himself. He told jury members that prosecutors were only able to produce circumstantial evidence, with no witnesses offering direct information of Naseer's role in the alleged plot. They did not offer any outright proof of any link to al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization, he argued. Naseer's arrest in England was part of a massive sweep in connection with an alleged plot to carry out bomb attacks in Britain. He was extradited in January 2013. +(CNN)Selma, it seems, is everywhere. The Ava DuVernay film of that name continues to draw audiences and plaudits, while this month marks the 50th anniversary of three pivotal civil rights marches from the Alabama city -- the first two stopped by brute force, the third a triumphant procession to the state capital of Montgomery led by Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Bunche, Maurice Davis and other activists. Now, the events that seared those marches into the American consciousness are the subject of a photography show at the Steven Kasher Gallery in New York. "Selma March 1965" brings together -- for the first time, anywhere -- pictures by three essential witnesses of the civil rights era: James Barker, Spider Martin and the man Kasher calls "the single greatest civil rights photographer" -- Charles Moore. The pictures in the gallery above include Moore's work in Selma and from other parts of the South, including some of the riveting, award-winning photos he made in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. (Two weeks after his Birmingham pictures appeared in a landmark issue of Life magazine, a letter to the editor succinctly captured the elemental power of Moore's work. The Birmingham pictures, wrote a reader from Indiana, were "superb and bone-chilling.") "The quality, the depth, the sense of reality that he brings to the work is unparalleled," Kasher said of Moore's civil rights shots. Kasher's own bona fides on the topic, meanwhile, are well-established: He's mounted photography shows on the civil rights movement in 30 different public venues since the mid-1990s. "It's important to remember that Charles was a white Alabaman," Kasher said. "He was the photographer at the Montgomery Advertiser -- hardly a bastion of integration -- who became very sympathetic to the movement. I knew Charles pretty well, and he had many sides to him -- sides he was able to reconcile and that allowed him to shoot with a deep understanding of so many different points of view. He was not parachuting into these marches and protests in the South. He had roots there and was fully engaged. "Of course, there are lots of really good pictures of the era by, say, Bruce Davidson, Bob Adelman and others, but they're Northerners -- and I think that shows. There's a sense in many of the photos made in the South by Northern photographers that what they were capturing was somehow exotic. For Charles, this was home." At his very best, Moore invested his pictures with an unsettling intimacy. Whether he was chronicling the overt, graphic suppression of human rights or framing a profoundly human moment -- as in his unforgettable shot of bloodied poet Galway Kinnell in Selma -- Moore's photographs often feel as if he was shooting with Robert Capa's famous dictum ringing in his ears: "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough." Moore was always, always close enough. John Loengard, who was a staff photographer at Life and later the founding picture editor for People magazine and for Life, the monthly, in the late '70s and '80s, calls Selma "a not particularly dramatic event, photographically." He does, however, have high praise for Moore's Birmingham work, specifically, and his legacy in general. "There's no question that Charlie made some phenomenal pictures," said Loengard -- who, incidentally, took one of the most memorable photos of the civil rights era: a Life cover of Medgar Evers' weeping widow and son at the slain activist's funeral in June 1963. "And he did a terrific job, for example, on a cover story on (Alabama Gov.) George Wallace in the first few months of People." Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Whatever else Moore might have shot, and however routinely excellent his output over the course of his long career, there's little doubt he'll always be remembered and honored for his work during those fraught years of the early and mid-1960s. "What's especially significant to me about Charles' civil rights work," Kasher said, "is his clear affinity with nonviolence at the same time that he's depicting the irrationality and brutality of the segregationists. "In his famous picture of a police dog attacking a black man in Birmingham in '63, for example, the figure in the photo is a perfect symbol of nonviolence. You know, the man is standing there, taking it, not fighting back, amid this incredible rush of hatred and violence and as another dog is charging right at Moore's -- at the viewer's -- face. It's a terribly complex image, swirling with information, but in the middle of it is this unmistakable emblem of the movement -- an emblem of the power and bravery of civil disobedience." Charles Moore was an American photographer known for his images documenting the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Some of his photos are included in "Selma March 1965," a photography show taking place at New York's Steven Kasher Gallery from March 5 to April 18. +(CNN)The Ferguson Police Department has demonstrated a pattern of racial discrimination, the Justice Department said Wednesday. But while some experts say the numbers alone tell only part of the story, the 102-page report merely reaffirmed many residents' beliefs. In Ferguson, just over 67% of residents are black. But among the findings, the report shows that 85% of traffic stops, 90% of citations, 93% of arrests and 88% of use-of-force incidents involved African-Americans, the Justice Department said. St. Louis Alderman Antonio French said the police department's behavior amounted to "taxation by citation." He told CNN the arrests affected not just Ferguson residents but also residents of nearby communities who pass through Ferguson en route to other locales in the area. Justice Department: No Darren Wilson charges . The statistics sound damning, but former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, who dealt with the Justice Department during his five-year tenure as chief, said, "The numbers can be deceiving because the population is overwhelmingly black." The numbers alone don't paint the full picture, he said, explaining that he'd need more than mere statistics about each stop to draw solid conclusions. Read the report . Parks served as chief in LA from 1997 to 2002, and after the Justice Department determined in 2000 that the LAPD had engaged "in a pattern or practice of excessive force, false arrests and unreasonable searches and seizures," he had to overhaul the department, combating corruption and even jailing former police officers. Based on that experience, Parks said the report released Wednesday shouldn't be taken at face value, but rather should be used to help determine "what is really going on in Ferguson and what to do to correct it." Politics may even be at play, Los Angeles-based community activist Joe Hicks suggested. Attorney General Eric Holder wanted to bring civil rights cases against Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Michael Brown in August, and Florida neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin in 2012 -- but neither case panned out. The report may be Holder's way to "extract a pound of flesh, if you will, from the Ferguson Police Department." (Also Wednesday, the Justice Department closed its investigation into Wilson, declining to bring criminal charges against him.) Still, the report likely didn't surprise some residents who spoke to CNN in August, during the height of the protests. Patricia Pendelton, 41, a nurse who lives a few blocks from where Brown took his last steps, said older and female African-American residents aren't affected as much, but her sons -- ages 17, 19 and 21 -- have had different experiences. They and other young black men have been stopped for reasons as spurious as looking suspicious, she said. "How does a person look suspicious? What do you have to be wearing to look suspicious?" she asked before mimicking an offending police officer's questions: "'Where you going? What you doing? How you doing it?' It's none of your business." Outside his bustling barbershop, Mike Knox recalled how one of his sons, an A student, was arrested with several other kids in the parking lot of an auto parts store. They'd met there because it was a central location to rendezvous before a game of basketball. When Knox, 33, picked his son up, police told him he hadn't been charged, just taken away by police, he said. The father of four said he himself had been pulled over for DWB, or "driving while black," a common complaint among African-Americans in Ferguson. Maurice Phipps, 22, a Ferguson resident of eight years, relayed a similar story: A Ferguson officer once pulled him over and said he was looking for a suspect with dreadlocks. "And I got a box cut," he said, pointing to his dyed-blond 'do. Being a lifelong resident of the St. Louis area, Knox knows Ferguson well. When he was a kid, St. Louis police walked the streets and handed kids Cardinals baseball cards, so he's seen real community-oriented policing. But there's a rift between the community and police in Ferguson -- as well as in surrounding areas such as Hazelwood and Florissant, he said. "They all do it. People are just tired of that happening. Why should we get pulled over every time we get in the car?" he said, adding that he struggles with what to tell his kids. "You don't want to tell them the police are bad. I tell them, 'Keep it moving,'" he said. "If you let your attitude take over, that can be you laying on that ground." Even white residents have complained of run-ins with police. Tom Steigerwald, 31, who has lived in Ferguson since 1994, said Ferguson has always been a diverse town, and race isn't much of a factor among residents. "It's always diverse, but they always got along," he said. But the police? "They all got a power trip problem, a lot of them," he said. Following Wednesday's announcement, Michael Brown's parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., released a statement saying they were disappointed that Wilson would not face federal charges in their son's death. But the report on the police department could provide a silver lining. "We are encouraged that the DOJ will hold the Ferguson Police Department accountable for the pattern of racial bias and profiling they found in their handling of interactions with people of color," the statement said. "It is our hope that through this action, true change will come not only in Ferguson, but around the country. If that change happens, our son's death will not have been in vain." +(CNN)New figures indicate that about 11 million people have signed up for health insurance during this latest sign-up period of Obamacare, of which about half will be from the uninsured population, based on previous estimates. Once again, the supporters of the law celebrate with proclamations that "it's working." One could say that assessment is true, if the definition of "working" means enrolling people into anything called health insurance. To be sure, the law's implementation is progressing, but there is no cause for celebration. It is indeed true that millions of Americans are now newly enrolled into health insurance, but it is disingenuous to tout this as a great success. An estimated 71% of the new insurance arises through Medicaid, using 2014 calculations based on analysis by Haislmaier and Gonshorowski of data from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare. The harsh reality awaiting these low-income Americans is undeniable: according to 2013 data from a 2014 Merritt Hawkins study, 55% of doctors already refuse new Medicaid patients. According to the HSC Health Tracking Physician Survey, 2008, the percentage of doctors that refuse new Medicaid patients dwarf by about 8 to 10 times the percentage that refuses new private insurance patients. Such "insurance" from Obamacare not only fails to provide access to doctors, but research in the top medical journals such as Cancer, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation and Annals of Surgery, show that Medicaid beneficiaries suffer worse outcomes than similar patients with private insurance ... all at an added cost of another $800 billion by CBO estimates to taxpayers after the decade. It is not hyperbole to call Medicaid a disgrace at its annual cost of about $450 billion, and expanding it rather than helping poor people buy private insurance is simply inexplicable. Health care access for middle-class Americans is also significantly worsened by Obamacare's private insurance decrees. The law already forced termination of health insurance for millions of Americans estimated as 4.7 million by the Associated Press -- insurance they personally had chosen to buy. The Congressional Budget Office now projects that a stunning 10 million Americans will be forced off their chosen employer-based health insurance by 2021 -- a tenfold increase in the number that was initially projected back in 2011, at the onset of the law. Along with that forced change of coverage, many suddenly find themselves without access to their chosen doctors. Despite the assertion that the law increases insurance choices, the Obamacare exchanges do quite the opposite for those dependent on them and their government's subsidies. McKinsey reported 68% of Obamacare insurance options only cover narrow or very narrow provider networks, double that of the previous year. For cancer care, the majority of America's best hospitals in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network are not covered in most of their states' exchange plans. The "narrow network" strategy is about to hit even more Americans in 2015, as Obamacare exchanges from California to New Hampshire further restrict access to top doctors and hospitals in an attempt to quell insurance premium increases caused by the law itself, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times. And a study in late 2014 commissioned by the prestigious American Heart Association determined that the specialists essential to diagnose and treat stroke, one of the most disabling and lethal diseases in the United States, are in severe shortage under Obamacare insurance exchange plans. Indeed, unless one has the financial resources or power to skirt the new system, many of America's top doctors and hospitals are no longer available. Obamacare has forced Americans onto a far more government-dominated health care pathway than in the past. Coupled with population aging, the 107 million under the government's Medicaid or Medicare insurance in 2013 will rapidly increase to 135 million just five years later, a growth rate tripling that of private insurance. By the end of the decade, a full 140 million Americans will have their health care access directly controlled by government insurance, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. More doctors than ever already refuse Medicaid and Medicare due to inadequate payments for care, and that will only accelerate as government lowers reimbursements. Less appreciated is that inadequate payments to doctors by government insurance substantially increase private insurance premiums. Back in 2008, a shortfall of over $88 billion of payment from Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries added more than $1,500 extra per year in premiums and $1,800 extra in total out-of-pocket costs to every family of four with private insurance. As the government increases its role as insurer, it increases its hold on payments to doctors and hospitals, so it will be able to reduce reimbursements and dictate access to limited networks of doctors and hospitals. And with increasing enrollment into government insurance, private premiums will undoubtedly rise even more. It is therefore absolutely critical for the new Congress to reject Obamacare and instead help individual Americans and their families, particularly middle class and poor Americans -- the people most harmed by Obamacare. Any legitimate health reform plan must be focused on three goals: 1) help consumers find affordable private insurance suited to their personal needs; 2) liberate the poor from Medicaid so they have actual access to medical care, as well as the dignity of personal choice of doctor; and 3) add substantive mechanisms that reduce health care costs by competition and value-seeking by consumers. The plan should not replicate the false claims of Obamacare supporters that recent slowdowns in health spending from economic downturns were somehow caused by Obamacare. The Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment (PatientCARE) Act put forth this month by leading Republicans in Congress tries to do just that. This bill, also known as Coburn-Burr-Hatch, represents a serious plan to expand access to health care and reduce the nation's health care expenses. The Coburn-Burr-Hatch proposal incentivizes people to buy insurance they value, and it generates affordable options, instead of forcing the purchase of expensive insurance that individuals don't want. Current harmful barriers to interstate cooperation and anti-competitive impediments are reduced. Health savings plans are liberalized to allow everyone, not just the affluent, control over their health care dollar. Medicaid reforms provide options for individuals to buy private coverage, and the government provides significant financial support for lower income Americans. And no one is forced to spend their hard-earned money on something they do not want. As the Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday about the legitimacy of subsidies under the ACA, Americans must recognize the bigger picture about U.S. health reform. Contrary to the mantra that the GOP has no plan other than to repeal Obamacare, the truth is that it is the supporters of Obamacare are the ones who are single-minded. They are focused on maintaining the ACA without regard for legitimate reforms to improve health care access and quality and without finally addressing what always was the most important problem with US health care -- its cost. Responsible leadership must focus on empowering patients instead of the government, before private health insurance and with that access to the excellence of America's medical system are eliminated for all but the affluent. Empowering individuals -- regardless of socioeconomic status -- with choices and information in order to facilitate access to care from the best doctors and hospitals in the world should be the thrust of any change to American health care. That's an American solution, and it's up to our elected officials to make sure it finally happens. +(CNN)When food giant Nestle USA (to which I am, alas, not related) last month announced plans to remove all artificial flavors and colors from its chocolate candies, it understandably made headlines. According to the company, by the end of 2015, none of a group of 250 chocolate products including Butterfinger and Baby Ruth will contain artificial flavors or colors such as Red #40 or Yellow #5. With the expectation that these chemicals will also disappear from the company's other candies, it looks like the end of the use of artificial flavors and colors in anything but the cheapest food products. If that proves to be the case, it will be a welcome shift. Nestle USA intends to advertise the reformulated products with a "No artificial flavors or colors" claim on package labels. If sales of the "no artificial" candies grow as expected, the company will surely extend the removal to all of its other colored and flavored food products. After all, Nestle's international parent company -- and the company's competitors -- will have to take notice and find ways to remove these chemicals from all their product lines. Nestle USA has undeniable clout. It accounts for a quarter of the $100 billion in annual revenues of the more than century-old, privately held parent corporation, which itself is the largest food company in the world. This move surely will not only reverberate through the candy industry, but also affect every other major food company. In substituting natural for artificial flavors and colors, Nestle USA is responding to what its customers are saying. The company's own research indicates that Americans prefer their beloved candy brands to be free of artificial flavors and colors, while other surveys find majorities of respondents saying that artificial chemical additives negatively influence their buying decisions. 7 chemicals in your food . Nestle is also responding to decades of complaints from consumer advocates about the potential health risks of these chemicals, especially the dyes. Studies in experimental animals have linked high doses of food dyes to health problems, among them organ damage, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions. In humans, studies link food dyes to hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in young children. The credibility of these studies and their implications for human health remain hotly debated. In the 1970s, for example, Ben Feingold, a physician in California, suggested that food additives caused children to become hyperactive. Much of the evidence for the "Feingold hypothesis" rested on anecdotal reports by parents, whereas double-blind, controlled clinical trials produced contradictory results. On the basis of current evidence, some artificial food dyes have been banned, while others remain in use despite suggestions that they too might be harmful. But the makers and users of food dyes argue that the chemicals are safe at current levels of usage. As a result of all this, and in the absence of convincing evidence of their safety, the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest has campaigned since the 1970s to remove food dyes and other chemicals from foods, and has continued to petition the Food and Drug Administration to ban them. Kraft removing artificial dyes from some mac and cheese . The opposing views complicate the regulatory status of food dyes. But after one clinical trial reported that dyes induce hyperactivity in half the children studied, the British government asked companies to stop using most food colors; the European Union requires a warning notice on many foods made with them. In the United States, the FDA does not permit artificial food dyes to be used unless the manufacturers can meet safety requirements. But the amounts of these substances in the country's food supply have greatly increased in recent years -- soft drinks, breakfast cereals, frozen desserts and even salad dressings all contain artificial coloring agents. True, the FDA considers a dye to be safe if there is a reasonable certainty that no harm will result from its intended use. But that standard is vague enough to cause concern. Given the unresolved scientific questions, it is reasonable to ask why artificial colors have to be in foods at all. From the standpoint of manufacturers, such additives are essential for covering up and hiding unattractive colors in processed foods. To the public, red candy seems to taste better than the drab variety. And while natural colors exist, they are less stable or more expensive to produce. But for Nestle to have taken the action that it has, the company must have found substitutes it can live with. And appealing to consumers' preference for "natural" makes good business sense. The truth is that whether artificial colors do or do not cause health problems in adults or children, they are there strictly for cosmetic purposes. For that reason alone, getting rid of them is a good idea. +(CNN)I am a friendly, hard-working Ohio native. It's how a lot of my friends in New York describe Midwesterners. It's as if we're assembled at "The Flyover Wonder Bread Factory," devoid of color or depth. We supposedly represent all that is wholesome in America. That may be true, but "friendly and hard-working" is so ... bland. If you think I'm being a tad harsh, ask anyone who isn't from the Midwest to describe someone born and raised in America's Heartland. My favorite definition came from a colleague raised in Florida. She struggled to describe us at first, then said, "Simple." Um, like the Amish? "No," she said, flustered. Even my fellow Midwesterners have a hard time coming up with interesting descriptors. CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos is a proud native of North Muskegon, Michigan. First thing out of his mouth, "Friendliness!" After that, he struggled, too. "Boy, let me see...um...not easily agitated?" I rolled my eyes. "That is so bland, Danny." He paused, then said, "I'll take bland over the rap Florida gets any day." Even my new friend, Jared Zak, from Wisconsin struggled. The best he could come up with was "hearty." I asked these questions after interviewing Eric Dayton, who wants his native Minnesota to divorce itself from the Midwest. "We're Midwest if you're looking at it from New York City or from anywhere on [the East] Coast," Dayton told me. "But then again, that's someone else's definition. I think it's time for us to claim our own." Dayton and his brother, Andrew, whose father is the state's governor, are Minneapolis businessmen whose clothing store and restaurant have a decidedly local flavor. Eric Dayton, after touring Scandinavia (many Minnesotans are of Norwegian descent), became enthralled by the region's strong identity. It proudly embraced its chilly weather, its food, its culture, its... Northiness. So why, he questioned, didn't Minnesota? When Dayton got home he hired a Minnesota company to make stocking hats for his clothing boutique that said, "North." They sold out and Dayton's idea headed, well, north. Minnesotans just got it, he said. I admit, I didn't get it, until I thought more about it. Minnesota -- or should I say Minneapolis -- is criticized, by some of my compatriots, for being "Minnesota nice," the sort of "nice" (fake) that isn't remotely the kind of "nice" (sincere) for which Midwesterners are renowned. But, hey, I have an open mind. You could argue that Minnesota, along with North Dakota, parts of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, are in the Northern region of the United States. And, you could argue Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are Eastern states. The only truly Midwestern states are Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Go ahead, argue among yourselves, but know that Mr. Dayton isn't talking only about geography when it comes to labeling Minnesota -- "The North." He's talking about image and, although he won't say it, branding. "The New York Times had done an article highlighting different Thanksgiving side dishes," Dayton told me. "For Minnesota, they named grape salad as our signature side dish. And no one in Minnesota had ever heard of grape salad... it was kind of a harmless example, but if we don't tell the rest of the country who we are, we end up with grape salad." That story got under my skin, especially when I looked up the NYT idea of Ohio's signature side dish: English pea and onion salad. It gets worse. The Times extolled the salad's "deliciousness" by saying it "calls to mind the processed-food delights that, for decades, characterized the cooking of the Midwest." Seriously? The New York Times isn't solely to blame for the Midwest's image problem. Politicians are, too. Andrew Cayton is a distinguished professor of history at Miami University in Ohio. He wrote a book called "The Identity of the American Midwest: Essays on Regional History." "The Midwest," he told me, "has always been a dynamic and diverse place, but that image doesn't fit with what people want to believe." And, by people, Cayton means politicians who routinely use the Midwest as code for a place in time that never actually existed: crime-free and populated with hard-working people who all look and worship the same. "Arguing about the Midwest," Cayton says, "has become arguing about America as a whole." So, listen up, campaigning politicians! Stop trying to bond with the Midwest with your bowling prowess (or lack thereof) and for goodness' sake, stop eating corn dogs at state fairs. And while I'm at it, political reporters, please stop interviewing voters in diners! I'm not maligning bowling (my dad, Tony, is in the Amateur Bowling Hall of Fame) or corn dogs, but those things don't represent the modern Midwest. It is so much more dynamic and, yes, diverse. Chicago is not like Detroit. St. Louis is not like Pittsburgh. Indianapolis is not like Columbus, or Dayton or Cleveland or Cincinnati. And, Minneapolis is not like any of them, either. Minnesota boasts 10,000 lakes and a corresponding love of cold-weather sports, such as pond hockey. Yet, I'm from Canton, Ohio, and I have never touched a hockey stick (although those other "Northern" states certainly have excellent puck-handling abilities). Minneapolis also has a thriving cultural community, is home to 19 Fortune 500 companies and has a cuisine all its own that is not based on processed foods. And, at the moment -- it has what many polite Midwesterners can't abide by -- attitude. You know, Minnesota nice. Definition? As my pal from Wisconsin puts it, "sarcastic, pretentious and exclusionary." "I know. Arrogant Minnesota," Dayton joked. "That's what everyone thinks of when they think of Minnesota. Right? No, again, this isn't about being better. It's not a relative thing. It's just I think there are a lot of great things happening in Minnesota. It's not being recognized. I think it's important for the reasons we've discussed that there is recognition of what we have to offer. And so it's just putting forth our story. It's not trying to make it look better than it is. It's not comparing ourselves to anyone else." I don't know if Dayton will be successful, but I do understand why he wants Minnesota to define Minnesota. You don't attract the best and the brightest with "friendly." "There is a competition for talent," Dayton said. "And it's a national competition, even an international competition." Maybe Ohio should join the rebranding club and become "The East." 'Cause you know what? I may be friendly and hard-working, but I'm not simple. So stop asking me if I've ever gone "cow tipping." Or I just might go all Minnesota on you. +(CNN)The U.S. Navy doesn't just do stuff "for fun," says the command master chief of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, but what 30% of the ship's crew will be up to over the next year or so can at least be termed pretty cool. And it will certainly be unprecedented. Some 1,200 of the Reagan's crew will be executing what the Navy calls a three-hull swap, serving aboard three different carriers in one tour of duty as the service juggles assets to meet mission requirements. The 1,200 are calling themselves "The Three Presidents Crew," as they will serve aboard three of the Navy's carriers named after presidents: the Reagan, the USS George Washington and the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The crew will even have its own insignia and hull number, CVN 220, the sum of the hull numbers of the Reagan (CVN 76), the Roosevelt (CVN 71) and the Washington (CVN 73). Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David Frederick aboard the Reagan came up with the logo. "I am honored that my art will be a part of the legacy of this 'Three Presidents' crew, and I hope that it will bring attention to the hard work of all the Sailors who are involved in this crew swap," he said. The swap will begin this summer. The George Washington will go from its home port in Japan to San Diego, where a crew swap with the Reagan will take place. While the George Washington crew takes the Reagan to replace the Washington in Japan, the Three Presidents crew will board the George Washington, which will be headed for Norfolk, Virginia, and an overhaul. The 1,200 will sail with the Washington around South America, then they will fly back to San Diego to crew the Roosevelt, which is taking the Reagan's current spot there. "Think of how difficult a three-hull carrier swap would be to carry out," Capt. Chris Bolt, the commander of the Reagan, said in the ship's publication, The 76er. "It's never been done before." "We are just moving assets around so we can continue to meet mission requirements. That's exactly what this is all about. It's not because the Navy said, 'Let's do this for fun,' " Spike Call, command master chief of the Reagan, said in The 76er. Seven of the Navy's 10 active aircraft carriers are named after presidents. As one commenter on the Reagan's Facebook page said, maybe next time, the Navy could add a fourth carrier to the hull swap and come up with ... the USS Mount Rushmore. Hmmm, the Navy does have the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), but there is no carrier for Jefferson. So say we sub in the Reagan and come up with CVN 292. Apologies to the USS Rushmore (LSD 47). +(CNN)In September 2002, then-former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a U.S. congressional committee "there is absolutely no question whatsoever" that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was developing nuclear weapons at "portable manufacturing sites of mass death." Once Hussein had nuclear weapons, Netanyahu warned, "the terror network will have nuclear weapons," placing "the security of the entire world at risk." Fast forward to this week, and Netanyahu was back, this time as prime minister, to make virtually identical claims about Iran. Yet not only has the U.S. intelligence community disagreed with Netanyahu's assessment of Iranian nuclear intentions, so does Israel's, according to leaked documents. Indeed, more than 200 retired security officers have publicly criticized Netanyahu as a danger to Israel's security. Sadly, Netanyahu's presentation reinforces caricatures regularly advanced by American and Gulf Arab pundits -- caricatures of Iran as aspiring Middle Eastern hegemon, bent on overthrowing an otherwise stable regional order. It's a misguided perspective that is actually hurting the United States. In Netanyahu's view, America should only improve relations with an Iran that stops its regional "aggression," its support for "terrorism," and its "threat[s] to annihilate ... Israel." In other words, America should not improve relations with an Iran whose regional influence is rising. In reality, Iran's rise is not only normal, it is actually essential to a more stable region. As nuclear talks with Tehran enter a decisive phase, rapprochement with a genuinely independent Iran -- not a nominally independent Iran whose strategic orientation is subordinated to U.S. preferences -- is vital to halting the decline of America's strategic position. Washington has long worked to consolidate a highly militarized, pro-American Middle Eastern order. Yet these efforts -- pursued across Democratic and Republican administrations and intensified after 9/11 -- have clearly failed. As a result, the Middle East today is less stable, more riven with sectarian and ethnic conflict, and more violent than at any point in its modern history. And America, in a textbook illustration of "imperial overstretch," has made itself weaker, both regionally and globally. America's quest for Middle Eastern hegemony has failed for many reasons. For a start, seeking dominance impels Washington to replicate, in multiple venues, its Faustian bargain with imperial Iran from 1953 until the last shah's overthrow in 1979, providing substantial and effectively open-ended support to governments acting against the desires of their own publics. While American elites argue that America benefits from such arrangements, they are ultimately unsustainable, as Iran's 1979 revolution demonstrated. A determination to dominate the Middle East keeps locking Washington into these kinds of relationships; for its own sake, the United States needs to stop trying to be the Middle East's hegemon. That means embracing a regional balance of power -- not the chimera of American dominance misleadingly labeled as "balance," but an actual balance in which major regional states, acting in their own interests, constrain one another. Under any political system, Iran would be a significant regional actor, due to its geostrategic location, hydrocarbon resources, and large, educated population. But the Islamic Republic -- which Iranians built themselves as a participatory Islamist system representing their interests, not those of rulers beholden to foreign powers -- has a legitimacy America must accept to foster a truly stable Middle East. Iran has gained influence in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen by backing political structures that, in Tehran's judgment, will produce governments committed to foreign policy independence. Washington needs cooperation with just such an Iran against common foes like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and to balance counterproductive policies of America's regional allies. Washington's self-damaging drive for Middle Eastern hegemony is inextricably linked to its unconditional support for an increasingly extreme and unrepresentative Israel. A myth prevails that America's bond with Israel flows from "shared democratic values" and response to the Holocaust. In fact, Washington only started providing Israel with significant military assistance and diplomatic impunity after the 1967 War, when Israel seized pivotal territory from Egypt and Syria, two Soviet allies opposed to American regional dominance. For the remainder of and after the Cold War, U.S. officials calculated that ensuring Israel's military superiority over its neighbors helped America pursue hegemony over the Middle East, even as occupying millions more Palestinians clearly made Israel less democratic. (The U.S. government's own demographic data show that the number of Arabs under Israeli control -- in "Green Line" Israel, Gaza, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and the West Bank -- exceeds that of Israeli Jews, making the Israeli state a minority regime for the people it governs). A state representing all these people would not occupy Arab populations or seek ever greater freedom of military initiative in its neighborhood. Israel's pursuit of these policies -- facilitated by U.S. guarantees of its "qualitative military edge" -- conditions Washington's commitment to keeping over 100 million Arabs under U.S.-backed autocracies and puts America on a war footing with an Iran unwilling to join this inherently unstable regional order. The reality is that Israel's concern about Iranian nuclearization is not that Tehran will use (at the moment nonexistent) nuclear weapons against a nuclear-armed Israel. Instead, as then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak explained in 2012, it is that a nuclear Iran would "restrict our range of operations." But this is precisely what a truly stable balance of power requires. America needs constructive relations with all major regional states, including Iran, so that they constrain one another's reckless impulses. +(CNN)Gold bars. Each weighed between 25 and 27 pounds, together about 275 pounds. The bars' total weight in gold is worth about $4.8 million. That much adds up. But what about the story of how they got swiped on Sunday from a truck alongside Interstate 95 in North Carolina? Investigators are trying to figure that out, including how two armed security guards could have been so quickly pounced upon, bound and then robbed so soon after pulling over in Wilson County, as they've told authorities. "There's suspicion about everything going on in this case," Wilson County Sheriff Calvin Woodard Jr. said Wednesday in a news conference about the case. He also released composite sketches of two of the three suspects, one of whom he described as a heavyset Hispanic male with a Cuban accent and the other as a dark-skinned Hispanic male with a white mustache and goatee who was dressed in black. He showed reporters a photo of the white van they allegedly got away in, as well as an image of the traffic cones they used -- which came from a Florida company that doesn't do business in North Carolina. What he couldn't say definitively was whether these men had some help. There are a lot of questions, in fact, that can't be answered. Authorities say the initial statements from the two guards who work for TransValue Inc., a Florida-based company that transports valuables, were a bit confusing due to the guards' spotty English, though Woodward said police now have a clearer picture after bringing in Spanish-speakers to translate. These two men, both of whom have worked for TransValue for several years, set off early Sunday morning from Miami with a truck full of gold protected by a padlock and presumably their firearms. They were headed for Bridgewater, Massachusetts, "to a place ... where they handled such things," Woodard explained. They stopped to get gas in Dillon, South Carolina, then hit the interstate once again. The guards later told police they smelled gas, with one of them getting sick. So they pulled over. That leads to the first big question about the men's story: Did something happen to their vehicle to cause the gas smell? Not according to a Wilson County mechanic, who "did not determine any type of issues" with the truck, according to Woodard. So the sicker guard gets out of the vehicle. He says he's quickly met by two suspects, who yell out, "Policia, policia." They ask him to go to the ground then tie him up with three zip ties, according to Woodard. After this, the other guard gets out of the vehicle. He encounters the same men -- one of them wearing a red traffic vest -- who repeat that they are police. He says that he, too, eventually gets to the ground and is bound with duck tape. But weren't these armed guards? Yes and no. Neither man had a gun on them when they exited their vehicle, violating their company's protocol, the sheriff said. And did anyone see them get bound and led into the nearby woods? No, at least no one who has contacted police. But people called authorities around 6:49 p.m. Sunday after they spotted the men, still bound, coming out of the woods, according to Woodard. By then, the $4.8 million in gold and the three men suspected of taking it were gone. That's left authorities trying to track those valuables down and piece together exactly what happened. Investigators have already gone to South Carolina, and they're getting help from the FBI. They're all working to get information out of places between Florida and North Carolina, to try to corroborate the guards' stories and uncover any evidence that might identify the suspected thieves. Woodard says TransValue has been "very cooperative" in the investigation, as have the company's two guards. Neither was injured beyond some scratches on their legs from going into the woods. "Right now, (the guards) are still considered victims," Woodard said, declining to answer whether or not authorities believe this was an inside job. "... But we're investigating every avenue." +Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)Iraqi forces appeared Wednesday to be making progress on the third day of a major offensive intended to push ISIS fighters out of the city of Tikrit. The Iraqi soldiers are reportedly approaching the city from five directions, as they seek to prevent ISIS militants from either escaping from Tikrit or sending in reinforcements to bolster its defense. The operation is part of a wide-scale offensive to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday. It has highlighted the role played by neighboring Iran in the fight against ISIS, at a time when the United States and five other world powers are negotiating with Tehran on a controversial deal to curb its nuclear program. The semiofficial Iranian FARS news agency reports that Qassim Sulaimani, the commander of the elite Iranian Al-Quds Brigade, is helping oversee the operation to retake Tikrit. Iran has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, there may be Iranians operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well. Despite the reported Iranian assistance, the Iraqi forces face no easy task as they seek to advance on Tikrit. Besides the direct threat posed by ISIS fighters, they must also avoid the large numbers of homemade bombs that litter the approaches to the city. Iraq has not asked the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS to provide air cover for the operation to retake Tikrit. ISIS released a number of propaganda images Wednesday, showing several vehicles and dozens of ISIS militants with their weapons, which it said were part of a military reinforcement of Salahuddin province. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the photographs. How the U.S. and Iran found common interests . Why battle for Tikrit will defeat ISIS . Tikrit fell to ISIS in June of 2014, after the group's capture of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. Tikrit is best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. ISIS, the radical Sunni militant group, has been on a murderous campaign to establish a caliphate across swaths of Iraq and Syria. On Monday, Iraqi forces approached Tikrit from several fronts, Iraqiya TV reported, engaging with ISIS north of the city at al-Alam and south of the city at al-Dour. The element of surprise probably was not a factor, as reports of Iraqi troops amassing near Tikrit were widely shared. What awaits the Iraqi army is most likely a long, hard slog and not a quick rout. Tikrit is a big city, and the army and its associated militias have had problems recapturing much smaller towns from ISIS. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. While Iraqi forces have gained some territory in the area, it has generally been under ISIS control for the last eight months or so. Prime Minister al-Abadi, who is also commander in chief of the armed forces, said on Twitter that he would "oversee the operation to liberate Tikrit" from ISIS. The joint Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit include Iraqi troops, members of the Shia al-Hashed al-Shaabi militia, members of the Sunni Sons of Salahuddin brigades and other Sunni tribal fighters. The offensive involves around 30,000 fighters in all. Rights group Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged government forces to protect civilians from revenge attacks by pro-government militias as they fight to retake Tikrit. The rights group said it had documented "numerous atrocities against Sunni civilians by pro-government militias and security forces" after they recaptured other towns. Human Rights Watch also warned that ISIS could seek to use civilians as human shields. "All commanders in Tikrit need to make sure that their forces protect civilians and allow them to flee the combat zone," said Joe Stork, the group's deputy Middle East and North Africa director. "Past fighting raises grave concerns that Tikrit's civilians are at serious risk from both ISIS and government forces, and both sides need to protect civilians from more sectarian slaughter." CNN's Ben Wedeman reported from Baghdad and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Mariano Castillo and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report. +Brisbane (CNN)Bras hang from the antlers of a pair of moose heads above the bar inside an old music hall. Dim red light shines on classic leather booths. You push through a crowd dancing to a live rockabilly band and head to the toilet, tipsy. Then something weird happens -- you exit the washroom and find yourself in a different bar. The early 1900s dance hall with chandeliers has vanished. Suddenly, you're in a whimsical bar with a pirate serving drinks. No, you haven't had too much to drink and the washroom isn't a passageway through a time-space continuum. You've simply stepped into the maritime-themed Mermaid Bar. Inside Lefty's Old Time Music Hall, the Mermaid Bar is an example of the latest nightlife trend in Brisbane -- hidden bars. Sultry old days . "We actually didn't mean to turn the Mermaid into a secret bar," says Mick Dwyer, general manager of Lefty's. "We were just lazy and didn't publicize it." The story behind the hidden bar takes in a bit of sultry local history. Before Lefty's moved in, the building was occupied by the Velvet Cigar, a longtime strip club. Jamie Webb, owner of local restaurant Peasant and Cabiria, took over the place and renovated it, preserving some of the old establishment's bawdy touches. "We loved the mirror too much to take it down," says Webb, referring to the long mirror that still runs the length of one wall. "It used to be in front of the dance floor for the girls, but we turned the dance floor into booths." "If you look at the floor, you can still see some of the holes where dancing poles used to be," says Dwyer. A list of prices for services rendered by different girls still hangs inside the toilet. The bar counter upstairs is where customers once paid for extra services from dancers before entering a small room (now the Mermaid Bar, which sells beer in cans). Mermaid Bar: Secret escape . "There are actually three entrances to the Mermaid Bar," says Webb of the hidden bar. "It's my favorite place. It's a lot of loud fun out there at Lefty's sometimes, and the Mermaid is like my escape." The small Mermaid is bright, with light shining through the windows. Sharks hang from the ceiling and paintings of mermaids adorn the walls. People love the Mermaid for different reasons. "Some like the bartender dressed up as a pirate," says Dwyer. "Some say it's the cannon on the pirate ship model behind the bar." That pirate bartender, Dean Moready, says the apple rum made from fresh-pressed apple juice is the real crowd-pleaser. About those bras on the moose antlers . While the Mermaid is a rum bar, Lefty's is a whiskey bar -- each has about 100 varieties of rum or whiskey, and a food menu. Three bands usually perform each night at Lefty's and the bar always gets busy after 9 p.m. So what's up with the bras on the moose heads? "I once dared a customer on a hen night to sling a bra to the horn to win a free shot," says Webb. "She did and it has become a tradition ever since." "We have a strict bra-only policy." Lefty's Old Time Music Hall and Mermaid Bar, 15 Caxon St., Brisbane, Australia; daily 5 p.m.-3 a.m.; +61 555 9447539 . More hidden Brisbane bars . The Mermaid is one of a handful of secrets bars in Brisbane. It only takes a willingness to push past a few unmarked doors to find more secret drinking holes scattered around the city. Walrus . A bar at a famed historic hotel -- how secret can that be? Turns out the airy courtyard bar in the landmark Regatta Hotel is just a smokescreen for the Walrus, the secret bar hidden beneath it. An unassuming doorway that looks like the entry to a basement storeroom is marked with just a small sign hinting that something grander might exist behind it. "It really was a storeroom," says a manager at the Walrus. "We have been hoping to make use of the space, but it wasn't until after the big flood in 2011 that we renovated the place into an underground bar." The bar has a few treasures -- apart from it's spiced house rum -- including rare Black Tot Last consignment rum (A$250 per shot) and a handful of bottles of Appleton Estate 50-year-old Jamaica Independence Reserve Rum. Regatta Hotel, 543 Coronation Drive, Toowong, Brisbane, Australia; daily 5 p.m. till late; +61 7 3870 9595 . Cobbler . Though you might have difficulty finding it, the Cobbler really is on Browning Street. Apart from a street number, however, there's no sign outside to indicate its presence. Curtains shield the loft-style Cobbler from the street, but brush past these and you'll find a spectacular drink library downstairs, and an upstairs room featuring graffiti on walls and sofas. Warning: it can sometimes take a while for drinks to come while the bartenders juggle bottles and chat with regulars. Cobbler Bar, 7 Browning St., West End, Brisbane, Australia; Monday 5 p.m.-midnight, Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 4 p.m.-midnight Friday 1 p.m.-midnight, Saturday 3 p.m.-midnight; +61 430 217 621 . Bar inside Kwan Brothers . Kwan Brothers is a hip restaurant in the trendy suburb of Fortitude Valley that serves Asian street food-inspired dishes. After chowing on pork bao bao (pork buns) and pineapple fried rice, you're ready for a drink. Step through a sliding door at the rear of the restaurant and you'll find a little publicized bar that's dark and cozy. Kwan Brothers, 43 Alfred St., Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia; Monday-Thursday noon-3 p.m., 5-11 p.m., Friday-Sunday noon-11 p.m.; bar open till late; +61 7 3251 6588 . +(CNN)The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered probate judges in the state to stop issuing licenses for same-sex marriages. In February, a federal court decision in Mobile County had cleared the path for same-sex marriages to begin in the state. The 134-page order Wednesday was supported by six justices. One dissented and another concurred to most of the opinion and in total to the result. Past and present clash over same-sex marriage in Deep South . Marriage is between one man and one woman under Alabama law, the order states. "Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to this law. Nothing in the United States Constitution alters or overrides this duty," it says. Probate judges have five business days to respond to the order if they don't think they are bound to uphold it. "Same-sex couples in #Alabama should not lose hope because of out-of-step Supreme Court ruling; #marriage fight is far from over. #ALMarriage," tweeted Equality Alabama. The Liberty Counsel, which filed an emergency petition to the state's Supreme Court said on its website that "the ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court offers the most forceful and clearly articulated rebuttal to date of the imaginative arguments for same-sex "marriage" employed by federal courts." In his dissent, Justice Greg Shaw wrote that he didn't think the case was properly filed nor did the court have jurisdiction. He also said the public interest groups involved in the case cannot sue in Alabama's name. Shaw added that the federal courts should have stayed an order striking down Alabama's marriage law until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on it this fall. Then there were 12: Nebraska ordered to end same-sex marriage ban . CNN's Chandler Friedman and Matt Tettelbach contributed to this report. +(CNN)Modern women are suffering from an energy crisis. Competing in the workplace, caring for aging parents and trying teenagers, and busier than ever, we use anything we can to duct-tape our lives and ourselves together: comfort foods, alcohol, energy drinks, and an expanding array of antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, painkillers and amphetamines. All in an effort to maintain our unnatural pace. Welcome to the increasingly altered states of America. Americans are about 5% of the world's population, yet we take half its pills, and 80% of its painkillers.This over-medication has led to record numbers of opiate overdoses and also to a growing number of women taking antidepressants -- one out of four and counting, according to a report issued by the pharmacy benefit manager, Medco. This is creating a "new normal," bringing closer the tipping point for when other women will seek chemical assistance. Like steroids in baseball, when everyone starts doing it, the players who don't are at a disadvantage. The overuse of psychiatric medication is called cosmetic psychopharmacology, and it's like cosmetic surgery: as more women get breast implants, the rest of us feel flat chested. But the new normal isn't normal at all. Certain antidepressants called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) create artificially stable and elevated levels of serotonin, the brain chemical that helps regulate mood, which can dampen empathy and emotional reactivity, while higher doses can engender apathy. Women are naturally moody. Our moods change, and this emotional fluidity helps us to be adaptable and resilient. We are dynamic and responsive to our environment. There is a biological advantage to this sensitivity; we need to know what our nonverbal babies need, what our mates are thinking and to sense danger in our surroundings. Moodiness -- being sensitive, caring deeply and occasionally being acutely dissatisfied -- is actually a natural source of power. It helps to ensure not only our survival, but that of our offspring. Women's emotionality is a sign of health, not disease, and it is our single biggest psychological asset. Yet many of us are being convinced to medicate it away. The pharmaceutical industry spends billions in payments to physicians and direct to consumer advertising. Nine out of 10 pharmaceutical companies spend less on research and development than marketing.Steady doses of antidepressant advertising aimed at women advance the question from "Should I take an antidepressant?" to "Which one should I take?" These medications can have more far-reaching effects than most people realize, blunting empathy, passion, and sensitivity. SSRIs dampen sexual desire and response, making it difficult to climax and interfering with the evaluation of potential romantic partners. SSRIs also make it hard to cry, an important signal to ourselves and those around us that something is very wrong. Tears, and the emotions beneath them, can offer a profound lesson in how people's behavior affects others. We cry when we're touched by the poignancy of humanity, or when we're angry, or frustrated by injustice. And yet, women apologize for their tears, especially in the workplace, where we've been socialized to shut down expressed emotion; it interferes with our typical agenda of forward-momentum, and it makes people uncomfortable. The problem with shutting it down is that we're stifling a piece that we need, that our partners and families need, and that society needs, particularly as women continue to ascend to the upper reaches of business and government. The world needs more compassion, sensitivity, intuition and empathy. War, rape, murder, and corporate malignancy will flourish in their absence. Change comes from discomfort -- and awareness that something is wrong. Sadness and fear are not always symptoms to be medicated. Anxiety and tension come foremost from the denial of emotions, from their repression. My patients want to feel better, but really what many of them need is to get better at feeling. The shame that for centuries has been used by our culture to separate men from their true feelings is now spreading to women, who, by their biology, are the last and much needed connection to this natural place. As we embrace new technologies, we need to be careful that we don't go too far away from nature and what's natural for us as social primates. We insist on all natural products in our baby food and household cleaners. Why don't we insist on natural moods for ourselves? If we can live in a way that is more aligned to what is genuine for us, we will be calmer, more at peace and more fulfilled. But we are drowning in artificiality. There is a "plastic vortex" of garbage the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean, synthetic fillers in our breasts and faces, virtual sex partners on our computers and artificially enhanced rationality from serotonergic antidepressants. We compulsively consume this fakery without satiation or satisfaction, because it is impossible to fill up on something that is almost enough. We need a course correction, away from the synthetic, so that we can live lives that honor how we feel. But to do that, we must be able to feel, to be our moody, authentic selves. That is the first step to wellness and to wholeness. Medicating yourself into complacency may leave you unshaken, but it also may leave you unfeeling and apathetic, making it impossible to address the causes of your pain. Don't put the alarm on mute. +(CNN)Early Thursday -- during the ongoing protests that continue to shake Ferguson, Missouri -- two police officers were shot. Such violence and lawlessness should never be tolerated. But the unrest during which it occurred demonstrates that the people of Ferguson have lost all confidence in their police department. And the resignation of the police chief this week won't be enough to restore faith in law and order. Everyone in the department needs to step down so the department can be rebuilt from the ground up. It is easy to see why. After a police officer shot Michael Brown, the U.S. Department of Justice conducted an investigation into the Ferguson Police Department. What investigators found was a "pattern and practice" of discrimination against African-Americans. In a town with a black population of 67%, black people represented 85% of vehicle searches, 90% of the traffic violations and 93% of the arrests. There is no way to justify this. Now, the Department of Justice has an opportunity to gut the Ferguson Police Department and rebuild it from scratch. In fact, it's more than an opportunity: It's a necessity. In the court of law, there is an old closing argument that goes like this: You sit down, pour yourself a bowl of stew and find that the first piece of meat that you taste is rancid. You don't put just that piece aside; you throw out the whole bowl. Lawyers use this story to say that if you catch a witness lying about one thing, then you can't believe anything they say. Unfortunately, it is an analogy that can be applied to the Ferguson Police Department. The Department of Justice report revealing unquestionable racist bias that permeated the entire department cannot be ignored, and the problems it reveals cannot be fixed from the inside. If there are a few good cops in the Ferguson Police Department, they need to leave, and they need to go elsewhere to continue their proud law enforcement career without being overshadowed by their involvement in a poisoned organization. In fact, everyone in the Ferguson Police Department needs to leave, from the top to the bottom. The police department should be completely reconstituted under Department of Justice control in a manner that ensures that citizens of Ferguson receive the type of public service they pay for and deserve -- and more importantly, in a manner that protects their rights, not only as citizens of Ferguson, Missouri, but as constitutionally protected citizens of our country. A completely rebuilt Ferguson Police Department, established with a charter to enforce the law with equality, could serve as an example for every law enforcement agency in the country. A new Ferguson Police Department could show what a concerted, roots-up effort toward nonracist behavior in a police department can be. Under Justice Department leadership, the Ferguson Police Department could become a model for practices such as equipping all police with body cameras, community policing and better use of force training. If we can create from the ashes of the Ferguson Police Department a model that works, it may provide some consolation for minorities who have been disproportionately targeted by law enforcement. And if the black community in Ferguson -- in fact, people of every race in Ferguson -- can look back five years from now and see an unbiased organization of public servants who give respect and get respect, who reduce fear rather than cause it, then perhaps the tragedy of Michael Brown's death will stand for something. +(CNN)The reputed leader of one of Mexico's most ruthless cartels walked with his head bowed Wednesday as federal forces escorted him into an armored vehicle in the country's capital. Authorities closed in on Zetas boss Omar Trevino Morales in predawn darkness, capturing him in an operation without firing a single shot, said Monte Alejandro Rubido, head of Mexico's national security council. There are 11 pending criminal cases against him, and the crimes Trevino is accused of committing make him "one of the most dangerous and bloodthirsty criminals in Mexico," said Tomas Zeron, director of criminal investigations for the Attorney General's Office. Speaking later in the day to reporters at Mexico City's airport, Zeron said the drug kingpin's legal situation would be assessed after he makes a statement to investigators. U.S. officials have requested his extradition, Zeron said. Known as "Z-42," Trevino was arrested at about 3 a.m. in San Pedro Garza Garcia, a suburb of the industrial hub of Monterrey. In a simultaneous operation, five others were arrested, including the cartel's suspected financial operator, Rubido said. For the Mexican government, Trevino's arrest marks the second high-level capture of a purported drug boss in a week. Servando Gomez, leader of the Knights Templar drug cartel, was captured Friday in the state of Michoacan. The capture of the cartel leaders is a victory for President Enrique Peña Nieto, though the Zetas and Knights Templar are not as powerful as they once were. Still, reports of violence, corruption and extortion continue to flow from the areas of northern Mexico where the Zetas operate. The U.S. State Department was offering a reward of $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Trevino Morales. The Mexican government offered an additional $2 million. Trevino Morales is believed to have been at the helm of the Zetas since 2013, inheriting the post from his brother, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. Miguel Angel, or "Z-40," was known as a ruthless drug lord with a reputation for burning his enemies alive and ordering mass killings. His arrest in July 2013 was praised as a turning point. But while certain cartels have been weakened after their leaders are captured, critics are quick to point out that the criminal organizations survive, and new leaders rise. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration praised Mexico's government for arresting Trevino, saying he facilitated and oversaw "huge drug shipments into the United States and elsewhere." He faces federal drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering charges in several jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C. and south Texas. "The Zetas represent the worst in global organized crime: violence, intimidation, corruption, and brutal killings," DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a statement. "Today's arrest strikes at the heart of the leadership structure of the Zetas and should serve as yet another warning that no criminal is immune from arrest and prosecution." CNN's Joshua Gaynor contributed to this report. +(CNN)Two Australians held by Indonesian authorities for nearly a decade appear to be just days away from execution by firing squad. Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, members of the so-called "Bali Nine" sentenced on drug smuggling charges, were transferred Wednesday from prison to a maximum security facility where they will be isolated before being put to death. Australia has repeatedly appealed for clemency for the pair. They have been jailed since April 2005 for a failed bid to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia. OPINION: Why executions won't win Indonesia's drug war . Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday said "Australians are feeling sick in their guts at the prospect of execution for these two." "We abhor drug crime, but we abhor the death penalty. We think that these two Australians deserve to be punished, but they certainly don't deserve to be executed," he said. The Prime Minister said people should not let anger affect Australians' relationship with Indonesia. The two men will be given 72 hours notice of their impending appointment with a 12-member firing squad once they arrive on the island of Nusakambangan. But precisely when is unclear. They are among a number of people from different countries who are also scheduled for execution. The Bali Nine were arrested after Indonesian police received a tip from Australian Federal Police. Chan, 31, was called the ringleader of the plot, and Sukumaran was described as Chan's collaborator in the scheme. Seven other people who participated in the plan are serving lengthy prison sentences. Police caught four people at the Denpasar airport with more than 8 kilograms of heroin strapped to their bodies. Another four -- including Sukumaran -- were arrested at a hotel in the village of Kuta. Chan was detained after a boarding a plane to Sydney -- he wasn't carrying any drugs but was named by others as the mastermind of the plot. The Indonesian administrative court last week dismissed a case filed by lawyers of the two Australians against President Joko Widodo. The attorneys wanted a review of the president's decision to deny them clemency. Todung Mulya Lubis, who represents the pair, said a challenge had been submitted to the administrative court and lawyers were still waiting for a court summons. "There should be no execution as long as there is a legal process going on," Lubis said. Sukumaran and Chan have become model prisoners during their time behind bars, according to fellow inmates and the jail's chief warden. Sukumaran is studying fine arts and has set up a class for fellow inmates. Chan has found spirituality, which he uses to counsel inmates with drug problems. Their rehabilitation is genuine, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said. "Andrew and Myuran are the model of what penal systems the world over long to achieve," Bishop told the Australian Parliament in February. Indonesia has long taken a tough line on drug smugglers, and Widodo has made it clear he doesn't intend to introduce a policy of leniency. In December, six prisoners were killed by firing squad, including five foreigners from Brazil, the Netherlands, Malawi, Nigeria and Vietnam. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff issued a statement saying the execution of one of her countrymen had "severely affected" relations with Indonesia. CNN's Camille Feanny and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report. +(CNN)A court in Turkey this week sentenced two cartoonists to 11 months and 20 days in prison for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Soon after, the court changed the jail sentence to a fine of 7,000 Turkish lira or about $2,700 each. Cartoonists Bahadir Baruter and Ozer Aydogan draw for the weekly satirical magazine Penguen. Founded in 2002 with a weekly average of 65,000 readers, the irreverent comic book -- similar in many ways to the French magazine Charlie Hebdo -- regularly skewers Turkish politicians. A defamation suit was filed against an August cover of Penguen in which a cartoon figure of Erdogan is welcomed to the presidential palace by a public servant. Erdogan tells him, "But this is so dry. We could have at least slaughtered a journalist." In a statement to the press, the Penguen team explained that a citizen who described himself as an Erdogan supporter "sent an email to the Prime Ministry Information Center. ... According to the notice, the employee (in the cartoon) 'made the gay signal with his fingers.' " Turkey's public prosecutor eventually launched an investigation, claiming that both the speech bubbles and the "hand drawing" insulted Erdogan. While the court ruled Wednesday in favor of Erdogan, a full-length explanation of the verdict will be released in a week to 10 days. It is so far unclear whether the judge ruled that the speech bubbles or the "gay hand gesture" or both were an insult. The ruling comes amid an increase in criminal cases lodged against journalists, students and public figures for "defamation against a public officer." In 2014, Turkey was ranked one of the world's worst jailers of journalists by the media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders and its press status "not free" by Freedom House. The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Nils Muižnieks, expressed his concern about the ruling against Penguen as well as the surge in criminal cases against people accused of insulting Erdogan. "This sentence is misguided and, along with a pattern of criminal prosecutions, sends a chilling message to media professionals and all those who want to exercise their right to free expression," Muižnieks said. Ann Harrison of freedom of press advocacy group PEN International told CNN, "We have long called for decriminalization of defamation, particularly of state officials, as to criminalize criticism of authorities severely stifles reporting and public debate." Harrison noted that special mandates from the United Nations, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Organization of American States have called for the abolishment of criminal defamation laws. Penguen announced it will appeal the decision. The magazine also defiantly released a new cartoon mocking the case. "We will continue drawing our cartoons," Penguen announced in a statement. "We hope this case will be the last example of the intimidation effort on free thought." +(CNN)India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has told all news channels not to air a controversial documentary about rape in India -- warning that the excerpts "appear to encourage and incite violence against women." The BBC Storyville documentary was originally scheduled to air Sunday, but due to the "intense level of interest" in the program, the BBC aired it Wednesday in the UK on BBC Four "to enable viewers to see this incredibly powerful documentary at the earliest opportunity," the broadcaster said in a statement. The documentary was released online and the hashtag #IndiasDaughter was trending in the UK after it aired. The documentary featured an interview with one of the men convicted in an infamous 2012 gang rape case that sparked massive outrage and protests in India. An Indian court restricted the publication and airing of the film in India as well as the dissemination of excerpts from it after Mukesh Singh's comments were released in several media outlets. Singh appeared to show no remorse and blamed the rape victim for being out at night, according to the documentary called "India's Daughter." "The media is likely to be seen as a voice for the perpetrator of such crimes by providing him a medium to communicate his views on the matter repeatedly," said a letter sent to media outlets by the Indian government. Despite the ban, the documentary can be seen on YouTube in India. Singh told the documentary crew that his victim "should just be silent and allow the rape." "A decent girl won't roam around at 9 o'clock at night," he told the BBC. "A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Boy and girl are not equal. "Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes." He suggested that they "had a right to teach them a lesson." In a statement, India's home minister said the documentary crew violated the conditions granting the jail interview, which stipulated that the authorities be shown all unedited footage. Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Wednesday that permission would not be granted to anyone in the future to interview prison inmates after the uproar over the documentary. "The government has taken necessary legal action and obtained a restraining order from the court disseminating the contents of the film," according to the statement. India's constitution guarantees free speech with a caveat that it could be restricted when speech is deemed a threat to public order, incitement to an offense or an act of contempt of court. In December 2012, a young woman was savagely attacked and raped by a group of men aboard a public bus in New Delhi and later died from her injuries. Mukesh Singh, who was driving the bus, is now on death row and has filed an appeal. His comments in the documentary have stirred fierce debate about whether airing his interview gives him a platform to share his misogyny, versus those who say it increases awareness and understanding of the horror of rape. The documentary's director, Leslee Udwin, wrote that she was "deeply saddened" by attempts to silence the film. "India should be embracing this film -- not blocking it with a knee-jerk hysteria without even seeing it. This was an opportunity for India to continue to show the world how much has changed since this heinous crime," she wrote for India's NDTV. Udwin later spoke to NDTV, urging everyone to watch the film before rushing to judgment on it. "I appeal to the Prime Minister to not let it go out of hand because it is getting out of hand. Countries around the world will very soon be saying: 'How dare India ban a documentary that is in the public interest?' I urge you to see the film as soon as possible," she said. "Please see the film and then talk about it." Several supporters of the film echoed the notion that even airing the repugnant views increases awareness and points to a more systematic problem. One said that it is the role of journalism to report "on the sickness," and actress Freida Pinto asked: "Airing the truth a crime? How?" One journalist expressed concerns that the use of prior restraint amounted to censorship by the government and set a precedent. The debate in social media caused hashtags #NirbhayaInsulted and #IndiasDaughter to trend in India. Many criticized the documentary for giving rapists a platform to share their thoughts and justify rape. One asked why "rapists are treated as celebrities." Lawyer and prominent feminist Indira Jaising called the filmmaker "irresponsible." "Creating public space for them, encouraging tolerance of any form of violence, what the film will do, it will project justifications for rape -- which I think is completely wrong. It's going on public view where young people will be seeing it, there's no guarantee these convicts won't be seen as natural role models for most." Many questioned how Udwin was able to obtain 16 hours of interviews with the imprisoned Singh. The home minister told the upper house of Parliament on Wednesday that no one would be allowed to "leverage" the 2012 gang rape for commercial purposes. He also said that the filmmakers violated the conditions for the shoot inside Tihar prison and that officials would determine who granted permission for the interview. One prominent feminist said she opposed airing the documentary because it infringed on India's laws. Singh and three other convicts are currently appealing their death sentences. Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association, said she didn't have a problem with people viewing the film but said the timing was not appropriate. "The concern is that the airing of the documentary will result in a media trial -- that will essentially leave the judiciary with no option but to uphold the death penalty," she said. "My main problem, how can we screen this documentary when there's an appeals process underway?" Krishnan suggested that the documentary's title, "India's Daughter," inferred that Indians were badly in need of a rescue mission, leaving the impression of a "white savior" complex. "India's Daughter" is directed by Udwin, a British woman who spent two years on the project. She said she was inspired by the mass protests that followed the gang rape case in Delhi. Among the voices in the debate, some were critical of what they perceived as Western bias that depicts India as a place of misogyny when rape and sexual assaults are universal. "I have tried to convey that while we in India are in fact engaged in confronting the violence and discrimination against women here, it does not help for people in other countries to imagine that such brutality is India's 'cultural' problem; that India's 'backwardness' is the problem; or that gender violence is 'worse out there in India,'" Krishnan wrote. CNN's Madison Park reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh reported from New Delhi. +(CNN)To beat the world's best golfers you often have to be flawless -- and that's what Inbee Park managed at the HSBC Women's Champions tournament, playing 72 holes without dropping a shot. The South Korean triumphed by two strokes from teen prodigy Lydia Ko, who took Park's world No. 1 ranking last month -- at 17 the youngest player of either gender to reach the summit. Ko, born in Korea but raised in New Zealand, had to settle for second place at Sentosa in Singapore on Sunday -- International Women's Day -- after winning her previous two events. "She played great all week," Ko said of her 26-year-old rival, who will stay second when the new rankings are released next week. "No bogeys around here and on a course where you can hit a good shot and you can get bad luck. That's pretty phenomenal." Park, who finished 15 under par, won not only $210,000 for winning the LPGA event but also $7,500 from a bet with her dad -- with the stakes at $500 for a birdie and $1,000 for a bogey. "This week was just incredible," said Park, who has held the No. 1 ranking for a total of 73 weeks in two periods and now has career prize money of nearly $10.3 million. "I don't think I can even believe myself that I didn't make any bogeys for 72 holes." Park led the tournament from start to finish, and closed with two-under-par 70 -- a score matched by Ko -- as she claimed her 13th LPGA Tour title. She has now played 92 holes without dropping a shot, going back to the third round of last week's Honda LPGA Thailand, where she tied for seventh. "It's good to have a family here and they are big energy," said Park, who got married last October. "This week just went so quick. I didn't have to think about golf when I'm not on the course, so I think that was a big help." Former world No. 1 Stacey Lewis finished third, two shots behind Ko, as the American finished with a par 72. "It was fun being in the final group. That's where you want to be. But even par usually doesn't cut it," said Lewis, who won the tournament in 2013. +Kiev, Ukraine (CNN)The bodies of all 33 workers killed in coal mine explosion Wednesday in eastern Ukraine have been recovered, officials with the Donetsk regional authority said. Preliminary information indicates the explosion at Zasyadko mine was caused by methane gas, according to DAN, the official news agency for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). "This did not happen because of shelling," an emergency services official told the news agency. The explosion occurred just before 6 a.m. local time, when 230 people were at the mine, the official website for separatist-controlled Donetsk city said. Of those, 157 were evacuated in the initial hours after the blast, including 14 injured and one dead, according to the website. Fifteen rescue teams are working at the scene, it said. Zasyadko mine is one of the most dangerous in terms of methane in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform, which reported that 240 people had died at the mine since 1999 -- 101 miners were killed in a single accident in 2007. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaking at a Cabinet meeting, accused the pro-Russian separatists who control the area of denying Ukrainian rescue teams access to the site, Ukrinform reported. He urged Russia to tell the separatists to allow in the rescue workers. "You took millions of Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhansk hostage and are now brutalizing miners' families by not letting in help," Ukrinform quoted him as saying. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also called for rescuers to be allowed in. "I demand Ukrainian rescue workers and investigators to be granted access at the site of the tragedy," he tweeted. However, DPR representative Denis Pushilin said Ukraine had not offered help with the rescue, and the DPR will ask Russia or separatist authorities in Luhansk for help if needed, according to the separatists' news agency. Separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko issued an order to close the mine a month ago, but managers ignored the order because the mine legally belongs to Ukraine, Ukrinform cited the separatist news agency as saying. A shaky ceasefire is currently in place in Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region, the center of a months-long conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces. Journalist Victoria Butenko reported from Kiev, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report. +Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)A Turkish Airlines jet carrying 224 people skidded off a runway Wednesday morning at Kathmandu's airport, forcing those on board to evacuate and effectively shutting down Nepal's lone international airport, authorities said. The Airbus A330's crew first tried landing the plane around 7 a.m. Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday), getting very close to a runway but not touching down, according to passenger Deepak Malhotra. That was followed by an announcement that the aircraft couldn't land due to poor visibility. About 45 minutes later, though, the crew tried again. This time, the Turkish Airlines plane did get on the ground but it didn't stay on the runway, according to airport officials. The aircraft skidded off, screeching to a stop with its nose pitched down. Pictures showed passengers and crew going down evacuation slides and walking through heavy fog. Despite the rough landing, there were no reports of serious injuries, according to a Turkish Airlines spokesman. Still, the incident did manage to knock out air travel in and out of the Tribhuvan International Airport, the only way in for foreigners wanting to explore Mount Everest and other nearby peaks in the Himalayan Mountains. That's because part of the now-immobile Airbus A330 was covering a section of the runway. Nepal doesn't have the heavy-duty machinery required to move it, said Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, the head of the mountainous Asian nation's Civil Aviation Authority. And large cargo planes that could be brought in to help with the job have nowhere to land now. Having them land anywhere else in Nepal isn't an option either. Instead, authorities are exploring possibly flying in needed equipment to India and then driving it over to Nepal. Until then, all international flights into Kathmandu have been called off until further notice. That includes 40 arriving and 40 departing flights canceled Wednesday. Journalist Manesh Shrestha reported from Kathmandu, CNN's Sugam Pokharel reported from India and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. +Hong Kong (CNN)"Go back home!" "Locusts! You're not welcome here!" These were just some of the insults hurled at Chinese shoppers Sunday as hundreds of Hong Kongers surged through through the old neighborhood of Yuen Long, an area close to the city's border with China. It was the latest in a series of angry protests that have seen brawls erupt in humdrum shopping malls, with demonstrators singling out the "parallel traders" who crowd into Hong Kong to purchase tax-free products and then resell them for a profit back in China. "I've grown up here, and ever since a lot of the Chinese started coming into Hong Kong, things have changed," said Suen, a law student who only gave her surname. Clad in a mask to protect against police wielding pepper spray, she took part in the protest with her mother. Local residents say the traders are not only disturbing the peace, but are driving up the price of food, rent, and gutting local neighborhoods of their character - the city has become a blur of jewelers, pharmacies and other businesses that cater primarily to Chinese shoppers. "Previously there were a lot of indigenous places like restaurants, but all of them have closed," said Suen, standing across from a store selling baby milk powder - the top item on many Chinese tourists' shopping lists. "It's very difficult to be very welcoming." Tensions have long been simmering between Hong Kong and the motherland, and parallel trading is just one of the thorny issues brought about by the influx of mainland Chinese to the city. A series of food scandals -- most notably in 2008 when melamine-tainted milk powder caused infant deaths across China -- led to shortages of baby milk formula in Hong Kong as Chinese flocked to buy up the city's supplies. The ensuing uproar led the government to introduce a law limiting the purchase to two tins per traveler leaving the city. Last year, 31 million Chinese visitors traveled to Hong Kong, accounting for 78% of all tourists, according to the government. But the numbers hide that the visitors aren't all sightseeing tourists in the traditional sense. There are the day-trippers, wheeling suitcases and carting boxes of goods and supplies across the border, but there is also an increasing number of wealthy mainland Chinese who are buying up luxury properties, and visit the city on a regular basis. According to the Global Property Guide, developers say as much as 40% of new home buyers are from China. Residents blame them for causing a hike in real estate prices in what reports say is already the most expensive property market in the world. Both the Chinese and Hong Kong government have encouraged mainland tourists to visit the city and boost the local economy. Relaxed restrictions have made it easy for Chinese residents to get a hold of individual multiple-entry permits -- some mainlanders enter hundreds of times a year on a single pass. This has infuriated protestors, particularly the younger generation, who want the government to scrap the permits. In a speech last Tuesday, the city's pro-Beijing leader C.Y. Leung announced that his government would examine restricting mainland visitors, acknowledging the pressure the crowds have had on the everyday lives of Hong Kong residents. But the permit controversy is just one symptom of a deeper conflict. When it comes down to it, it's simple: Many Hong Kongers just don't feel very Chinese. According to a recent survey by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the number of Hong Kong residents identifying primarily as "Chinese" has dipped to an all-time low since the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997. The majority of respondents said they were "Hong Kongers first, and also Chinese." Earlier in 2012, plans to add Chinese civic education into the Hong Kong public school curriculum caused an uproar, resulting in a city-wide protest with locals claiming it would "brainwash" school children with pro-mainland propaganda. Hong Kong, ruled under China's principle of "One country, two systems," means the city is a officially part of China, but is allowed rights and freedoms unseen in other Chinese cities. But there's one key privilege Beijing has refused to grant to Hong Kong: Free and open elections for their own leader. Frustrated Hong Kongers have tried everything to demand greater voting rights, from hunger strikes to massive street occupations, with no luck. That's why people in Hong Kong feel an increasing sense of resentment and helplessness when it comes to solving the complex, growing rift between their city and mainland China. A small but growing minority of disgruntled activists go as far as to say Hong Kong should not belong to China at all. "We Hong Kong people have our own culture, we have our own currency, we have all the requirements to build a country." said Julian Li, a member of a radical pro-Hong Kong group. "For decades we have been fighting against civic rights, democracy. However, no matter how much we have been working, it's like we're begging for something that will never happen." Many mainland Chinese are bewildered by the anger directed at them. "It's normal for people to spend money and shop here, why are they protesting?" said a Chinese tourist waiting at a bus stop to get away from the angry crowds. She said her suitcase was loaded with make-up and clothing that is much cheaper to buy in Hong Kong than across the border in her hometown of Zhuhai. "There's definitely an element of discrimination against mainlanders here. I'm not saying everyone is like that in Hong Kong, but there are certain people who are very prejudiced," she added. Another Chinese resident who makes weekly visits to relatives in the city was sitting on a curb away from the ruckus. She said her friends have considered boycotting Hong Kong altogether. "My friends on WeChat say, don't come to Hong Kong, let's burn our travel permits," she said as she thumbed through the receipts of her latest purchases. "We should all just be more considerate and tolerant of each other, we're just here to shop. Let's just be happy," she said. +(CNN)With the passing of Leonard Nimoy, fans worldwide mourned the loss of the legendary performer who gave life to the Vulcan first officer on Star Trek. As Spock, Nimoy touched audiences with his commitment to the principles of science and logic, and his embrace of "infinite diversity in infinite combinations." Nimoy's portrayal has inspired generations to pursue careers in space, science and technology, to embrace the uniqueness of others, and to appreciate the same in themselves. It is difficult to measure the impact of Nimoy's iconic role, particularly on the science and technology communities. For decades, many of the best and brightest inventors, explorers and engineers have credited Star Trek with sparking their imaginations. For many, Spock holds a sacred spot as not only one of the most beloved characters in all of science fiction, but the earliest example of Star Trek's enduring legacy of inspiring innovation in the real world. Spock first appeared on our television screens in 1966 with the premiere of the original Star Trek series. Since then, the show has earned a reputation for predicting future technologies with remarkable accuracy. At a time when the computer age was only just beginning and the idea of handheld communication devices or tablet computers were fantasies of a far-off future, Spock could be seen working with many of these technologies aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. As we soon discovered, his incredible tools and gadgets weren't so distant after all. Soon, we moved closer to realizing these devices in our own world with the development of the integrated circuit. Portable and handheld computers were suddenly possible, and some scientists turned to Star Trek for inspiration as they sought to design the next wave of modern marvels. One such scientist was Martin Cooper, inventor of the first mobile phone, who has credited the handheld communicators used by Captain Kirk and Spock as the source of his inspiration. Even though Cooper's original cellular telephone wasn't as compact as Spock's, and most consumers couldn't afford one for some time, it wasn't long before they would become ubiquitous in our world. The same is true for the handheld computers Spock used to record scientific data. About the size of a notepad, and sometimes equipped with a stylus, these handy gadgets would go on to appear in every incarnation of the Star Trek franchise. They are known as PADDs — Personal Access Display Devices — and it's hard to ignore their influence on the the real thing. From their design and function to the name of today's most popular tablet computer, Spock may well have been the first iPad user. Another technological wonder that first appeared in Spock's hands was known as the tricorder. This mobile scanning device could be used to take readings while on an away mission to an alien planet. This data might include atmospheric conditions, radiation levels, or even the chemical composition of an object. The version Nimoy used on set was bulky and had to be worn with a shoulder strap. However, tricorders would soon become one of the most versatile and sought-after pieces of Treknology. Today, our smartphones can deliver many features of the Tricorder, while more specialized scientific and medical instruments are able to duplicate some of the more advanced scanning capabilities. It wasn't just computers and productivity gadgets that Spock brought to life on screen. He was often a proponent of passive resistance and non-violent solutions. Along with his fellow crew mates, he presented us with new ideas like weapons "set to stun" that formed the core of the Star Trek ethos. As we still wrestle with violence in our world, today's scientists and law enforcement are working toward breakthroughs in non-lethal weapons in an effort to prevent unnecessary loss of life. The original Star Trek series predicted or even inspired these and many other technologies in only three seasons on television. Of course, the franchise would continue this tradition with four more television series and twelve movies. Over the course of nearly 50 years, Star Trek has given us many more ideas that we've realized, like touch-screen and voice-control computer interfaces, and others we haven't quite mastered yet. Tech concepts like the universal translator, the holodeck, the replicator and, of course, the transporter hold the potential to radically change our world — and they might not be as far off as we think. Our iPhones and tablets have made touch screens commonplace, and we can communicate with Siri or Google through voice commands just like the computer on the Enterprise (though maybe not as effectively). We can instantly connect with others across great distances and even across language barriers thanks to recent advancements like Microsoft's Skype Translator technology. Meanwhile, 3D Printers allow for on-demand fabrication of many objects, and immersive virtual reality devices may soon make holographic adventures as common as video games. Scientists have even been able to transport particles of matter across distances, perhaps taking the first steps toward transporting people through space one day. As we say goodbye to Leonard Nimoy, let us remember him not only for his work as an actor on Star Trek, but for his remarkable role in the world of science and technology. Through Spock, Nimoy challenged us to understand our human nature, including our scientific curiosity, and in the process helped inspire countless men and women to reach for the stars. This is one more way that Nimoy will be remembered, in the hearts and minds of so many scientists, helping us all to "live long and prosper." +(CNN)And breathe. Real Madrid squeezed through to the quarterfinals of the European Champions League -- but only just. The 10-time-winner escaped a humiliating exit from the tournament after going down 4-3 at home to German side Schalke allowing it to sneak through 5-4 on aggregate. Had it not been for Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice to ensure his place as the record goalscorer in European football competitions, then it could have been far more embarrassing. As it was, Real's players were met with the waving of handkerchiefs and whistles on an evening which threatened to spiral from disaster into ignominy. Real's malaise has been well documented but this latest chapter, where it was hugely fortunate to escape with its hands still on the trophy, offered yet more questions than answers. Carlo Ancelotti's team have endured a difficult few weeks, but if his players had arrived at the Bernabeu hoping to silence the sniping critics then they failed miserably. This was a dire display from one of the most expensively assembled teams on the planet, who but for arguably the world's greatest player, would have succumbed to one of the most embarrassing defeats in the club's illustrious history. Make no bones about it - Real was rumbled. Schalke, produced a fine performance, full of courage, energy and a zest which their opponent could scarcely match. Had it not been for one player on the opposing side then perhaps this would have been one of the most famous nights in Schalke's history. Unfortunately, that one player was Ronaldo. As lethargic and lackadaisical as Real was throughout the contest, Ronaldo's two goals, both headers, ensured its place in the next round. Nobody has scored more goals than Ronaldo in European club football -- his 77th and 78th taking him to the top of the chart ahead of his nemesis, Lionel Messi. His latest efforts may not have been the most spectacular, but they were so very precious given the nature of the tie. Leading 2-0 from the first leg in Gelsenkirchen, Real was firm favorite to progress. No team in the history of the competition had lost the first leg 2-0 at home and managed to progress -- and Schalke appeared unlikely to alter that statistic. Coached by Roberto di Matteo, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2012, Schalke arrived hoping to give a good account of themselves, according to the Italian. Fifth in the German league, this was hardly a team which was supposed to send Madrid into a meltdown -- and yet that's what came to fruition. But, given the recent form of the Carlo Ancelotti's side, perhaps this was not so unexpected. Last weekend's league defeat at Athletic Bilbao brought about a new wave of criticism for Ancelotti. Toppled from the summit by arch rival Barcelona, Real has struggled in recent weeks for consistency by its own high standards. Its astounding 22-game winning streak was curtailed by Valencia on January 4 and the style and swagger which was so evident during that run soon fell away. A 4-0 defeat by champion and city rival Atletico in February was difficult to stomach as was the defeat in the Basque country to Bilbao -- but Real's problems stretch beyond results. Real began slowly, in fact, slowly would have been an improvement on what was quite a dreadful opening period. Those in white shirts appeared to be running in slow motion as Schalke took the contest to its opponent with a zest and spirit which Real could not match. Having already fired several warning shots, Schalke finally made the breakthrough its energy and enterprise deserved when Christian Fuchs fired home after good work by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Real, abject in the extreme, appeared bereft of ideas, short on confidence and as if those on the field had merely stumbled upon the stadium's turf without actually meeting one another. Fortunately, in Ronaldo, Real has a man who has power beyond those of his fellow mortals. Schalke's lead lasted just five minutes -- Ronaldo finding both time and space inside the penalty area before heading home from close range. That strike, his 40th of the season, should have settled the home side down. Yet, what followed, was another example of Real's fragility. First, Huntelaar, once a Real player, pounced upon Raphael Varane's dreadful backpass only for his effort to lack the necessary power. Soon after, the Dutchman struck the crossbar with a fine volley from 25-yards which left Iker Casillas, the Real goalkeeper, clutching at thin air. Schalke sensed its opportunity and with four minutes of the first half it finally struck when Max Meyer, the 19-year-old, fired home after Casillas had fumbled Huntelaar's effort. Real was reeling -- and yet it was Ronaldo once again who got it out of trouble. Fabio Coentrao, the left-back, produced a fine cross and Ronaldo eased away from his marker to head his second of the game. That should have been that for Schalke, at least Real might have felt that way when Karim Benzema put his side ahead for the first time on the night. The Frenchman danced his way through the defense before coolly netting Real's third of the evening with eight minutes of the second period played. While Real continued to threaten in attack, its defense remained suspect. Leroy Sane, just 19 years of age, was the next beneficiary of the home side's reluctance to put pressure on the ball. The midfielder was allowed both time and space to take aim and curl a quite sumptuous effort into the far corner past the watching Casillas. Real, unbeaten at home in the Champions League since April 2011, remained vulnerable, particularly at the heart of the midfield. It was one of those midfielders, Luka Modric, back from injury, whose mistake gave Huntelaar the opportunity to set up a pulsating finish. Modric's loose pass allowed the forward to take the ball in his stride before unleashing an unstoppable effort which crashed in off the underside of the crossbar. As the whistles rang out, those in blue poured forward with the impressive Sane forcing Casillas into a fine stop as the visitors edged closer and closer to an all important fifth goal. With the clock ticking down, Schalke threw everyone forward in search of a dramatic winner -- but when the ball broke to Benedikt Howedes, the defender could only fire his shot straight at Casillas. The referee's whistle brought relief, though the howls of derision from the home supporters gave the players an idea of their recent failings. "Getting through to the next round is very important for us, sometimes you have to suffer and this will make us stronger," said Modric. "We have to get back to playing the way we were at the start of the season, we have a lot of quality and I think that we're going to see a much better Real Madrid in the next game." Porto power through . In the night's other game, Porto trounced Swiss side FC Basel 4-0 to secure a 5-1 aggregate victory. Porto, winners in 2004 under Jose Mourinho, eased home courtesy of goals from Yacine Brahimi, Hector Herrera, Casemiro and Vincent Aboubakar. "You have to applaud the entire team for this fantastic performance against a very difficult opponent who came here determined to qualify," Julen Lopetegui, the Porto coach, told reporters. "We deserve to be in the Champions League quarterfinals even if we came through qualifying. "I am very happy and very proud of my players who showed a lot of character." +(CNN)The image of the braided Kurdish female fighter, donning military camouflage and taking up arms against the militant group ISIS, may have done more to promote the Kurdish cause in the West than anything else in recent years. The Iraqi Kurds have long been pro-Western in orientation, but Western powers have often only moderately addressed their pleas for support, in part out of fear of empowering the secessionist minority to seek independence. Now, with soccer moms in Middle America tweeting photos of Kurdish female fighters, Western governments may find it harder to explain their tepid Kurdish policies to their constituencies. Jacob Russell's sensitive photo essay brings much-needed nuance to the recent proliferation of images of Kurdish female fighters. Since last summer, international media -- and Kurdish politicians who have recognized the public relations value of the images -- often objectified these women. Images of smiling young female fighters brandishing weapons with a hint of glamour ("girls with guns," as Russell calls this type of portrayal) tend to portray more of the photographer's assumptions about the woman's emancipation than her actual experiences as a Kurdish woman in combat. Russell consciously avoids this uncomplicated portrayal of female fighters. "I was wary of making images that fed into this idea of the heroic strong women fighters," he said. "I think that the female fighters are used quite cynically by Kurdish leaders (who) know very well how attractive this image is to the Western media." Having lived in Kurdistan for nearly two years, Russell understands that many women join the Peshmerga or other Kurdish forces for unglamorous reasons. Many of the women he photographed turned to the Peshmerga to escape abusive marriages or other forms of repression women continue to face there. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "A lot of the women's backstories were quite difficult," he said. "It seemed like this unit provided an alternative network for women who maybe would struggle in normal Kurdish society, because despite being relatively progressive (within the Middle East), it is still quite a conservative society." Russell explores the theme of sisterhood, and in one image he captures the women in an intimate moment in the back of a pickup truck, their fingers intertwined. That photo, he says, is his favorite from the shoot. "I think that image is one of the more expressive ones that (shows) what really seems to be going on there," he said. "I didn't want to take pictures that conveyed the idea that this was all about hardcore fighters going into battle and killing lots of (ISIS) fighters. That just didn't seem to be the case." Russell remarks that the image of the female fighter carries an important social role, conveying to the world the (relatively) progressive values that Kurds pride themselves on. The women now serve a political role, too. As Western governments eye more military engagement with Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria, these women may boost the Kurds' international standing. Jacob Russell is a photographer based in Lebanon. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter. +Paris (CNN)International arrest warrants have been issued for three men suspected of having carried out a 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris, the spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor said Wednesday. Six people were killed and 22 injured in the attack on the Jo Goldenberg kosher restaurant on Rue des Rosiers in the French capital's central Marais district. The three suspects live in Ramallah, West Bank; Jordan; and Norway, the prosecutor's spokeswoman, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, told CNN. According to CNN's French affiliate BFMTV, a live grenade was thrown into the restaurant, in the heart of Paris' historic Jewish quarter, in August 1982 when it was packed with customers. The attackers then opened fire with guns. Investigators attributed the attack at the time to a Palestinian splinter group, BFMTV reported, but no group claimed responsibility. News of the arrest warrants comes at a time of at a time of heightened sensitivity in France over religion and terrorist threats. Four people were killed in a terror attack in January on a kosher supermarket in Paris by an Islamist extremist, Amedy Coulibaly, who also shot a policewoman. Two other gunmen killed 12 more people in an attack on the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, targeted because it published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Several cemeteries were also vandalized last month, with the damage including swastikas scrawled inside two Jewish cemeteries. CNN's Sandrine Amiel reported from Paris, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. +(CNN)Italian authorities have arrested 42 people suspected of belonging to a mafia network in southern Italy, some of whom are accused of extorting tens of thousands of euros from businesses monthly, police said Tuesday. Among the evidence: A piece of paper, hidden in a bicycle handlebar, that listed businesses that the crime syndicate was extorting, according to the Carabinieri, Italy's military police. The Carabinieri said they made the arrests while raiding homes in 11 provinces. The crime network is based in Casal di Principe, a village roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Naples, police said. The mafia network extorted shop owners to the tune of 200,000 euros a month and extorted operators of slot machines and online gambling a further 100,000 euros monthly, the Carabinieri said. The arrests stem from an investigation that started in October 2012. Investigators also found notebooks with the group's organizational chart and names of jailed associates who still were on the mafia payroll, according to the Carabinieri. The note in the bicycle handlebar was among other "pizzini," or little pieces of paper allegedly used by mafia members to exchange information, that investigators discovered in the probe, the military police said. In Villa Literno, close to Casal di Principe, investigators discovered a bunker that allegedly was used to hide fugitive affiliates of the mafia, the Carabinieri said. An anti-mafia prosecutor in Naples filed charges against the 42, including mafia association, extortion and illegal possession of weapons. +Boston (CNN)Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's attorney made one thing clear during her opening statement in the Boston Marathon bombing trial: He did it. "It was him," defense attorney Judy Clarke told jurors. Tsarnaev carried one of the pressure cooker bombs on April 15, 2013, and placed it near the finish line, she said. He was there when a police officer was killed. He was involved in a shootout with police. The accused bomber will not sidestep any of his actions, Clarke said. So, why even a trial at all? Because there's disagreement over why Tsarnaev did it, Clarke said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was influenced by his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Clarke said. He was enlisted by his brother to commit these horrific acts, she said. The first day of the trial provided jurors with a peek at the strategies of the prosecution and defense. Based on their opening statements, both sides agree on the basic facts around the attacks -- who carried them out and how. But both sides presented divergent views of why Dzhokhar Tsarnaev carried out the attacks. The goal of the Tsarnaev brothers was to kill as many people as possible, U.S. prosecutor Bill Weinreb said during his initial statement to jurors. The prosecutor described in detail the deaths of three victims near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon and painted a picture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as a holy warrior committed to violence. More than 260 others were maimed or injured by two pressure cooker bombs that exploded within 12 seconds of each other. A fourth person, an MIT police officer, was ambushed and killed in his patrol car three days after the bombings as Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, allegedly ran from police. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after a gunbattle with police. So it is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who is on trial, charged with 30 counts related to the bombings. Weinreb said Tsarnaev's actions after the bombings -- going to Whole Foods to buy a gallon of milk, hanging out with friends -- show that he didn't care about what he did. To the contrary, the prosecutor told jurors, he believed he had done good. The motive for the attacks can be found in the boat that ultimately became Tsarnaev's hideout before his arrest, he said. There, Tsarnaev allegedly wrote messages explaining that he believed the U.S. government is an enemy of Islam. Boston Marathon bombing timeline . Tsarnaev listened to jihadist lectures and songs, and had an online presence in which he espoused a radical view of Islam, Weinreb said. He had a collection of magazines published by al Qaeda, one with instructions for building the same type of bomb used in the Boston Marathon attack, he said. The defense pinned the radicalization on Tamerlan. Clarke showed two side-by-side photos in court: One of the brothers smiling, and one of them carrying backpacks linked to the attacks. The attacks were "incomprehensible, they're inexcusable," she said, but also asked, who turned Tsarnaev from the smiling kid into a bomber? It was Tamerlan who self-radicalized, and Tamerlan who influenced his brother to follow him, she argued. At the outset of the trial, Weinreb spoke in detail to the jury about the lives ended by the pair of bombs at the marathon. Martin Richard, an 8-year-old spectator, was standing with his family cheering runners on when the second bomb exploded just feet away. Martin was only 4 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 70 pounds, the prosecutor said. The bomb blew large holes into the boy's chest and organs -- "tore large chunks of flesh out of Martin's body," Weinreb said. The boy died. The first witness the prosecution called Wednesday was Thomas Grilk, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association. Grilk provided some facts about the marathon, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Aloke Chakravarty also asked him to talk about the day of the bombings. The prosecution played videos of the first explosion, then the second, showing people scrambling in the aftermath. Grilk let out a long sigh as one of the videos was paused. "Every day you walk outside, you are in that area," testified Shane O'Hara, the manager at Marathon Sports, a running store close to where the bombs went off. He was emotional as he vividly recounted what sounded to him like a loud cannon, and the instant cloud of smoke that covered the windows. O'Hara recalled stepping outside to the smell of gunpowder and burning hair, and cries for help. The decisions about who to aid first -- those among the injured needing help before others -- still haunt him, he said. There were cries, sirens and screams, he said in answer to prosecutors' questions. He sniffled as a photo of the blown-out storefront was shown in the court. He told the jury the plea he heard from one of the injured: "Stay with me, stay with me." Wednesday's testimony centered on the stories of the survivors. Tsarnaev's lawyers opted not to cross-examine any of the witnesses who testified to what they lived through that day. Colton Kilgore and Rebekah Gregory were part of a large group who were present to cheer on a family member. Kilgore took the witness stand and described the videos he shot after the blasts. It was an instinct to record the scene, he said. "I was blown through the air. There was a deafening explosion," he said. He saw bodies and faces also tumble through the air. His videos captured the chaos, the cries for help, people using any material they could find to help perform first aid. At one point, Kilgore recalled, he sat on something hot, only to realize he was sitting on pieces of burning metal and shards. Gregory testified that she was watching the race, but also looking after her 5-year-old, Noah, who was a bit bored. After the blast, she couldn't feel her legs. "My bones were literally laying next to me on the sidewalk," she said. "At that point I thought that was the day I would die." Her first instinct was for Noah's safety. She asked God to take her if she was indeed dying, but to let her know that Noah was OK. Somehow, she said, despite the confusion and her pain, she could hear his voice calling her. Noah was injured. Gregory now wears a prosthesis. Sydney Corcoran was a high school senior on the day of the bombings. Her testimony centered on her near certainty that she would die that day. She passed out and awoke to a group of men attending to her, putting pressure on her leg, trying to find where she was bleeding. One man put his forehead on her head and told her she would be OK. But then, another man said he could see her eyes were going white, she testified. "I could feel my body going tingly and I was getting increasingly cold. I knew I was dying," she told the jury. It took nearly two months of juror interviews -- 256 people over 22 court days -- to select the jury in the bombing trial. The group includes 18 people from across the socioeconomic spectrum, but the group is almost exclusively white. Race has been an issue raised by Tsarnaev's defense during four unsuccessful attempts to move the death penalty trial from Boston. His attorneys argued that the way the court issues jury summons led to picking a panel that's older and whiter than the community at large. But prosecutors argued that the jury had been picked properly. "The prosecution got exactly what they wanted," said CNN legal analyst Mark Geragos, a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles. Middle-aged white jurors tend to be more likely to support death penalty verdicts, he said. "It's a target demographic for a death penalty jury." Just one juror seemed to combine youth and ethnic diversity. A college student who is taking a break from his studies, he said his mother was born in Iran and converted from Islam to the Baha'i faith. The Slip Away, a boat in which Tsarnaev sought cover after the police gunbattle, also is expected to be a key piece of evidence. The prosecution is seeking to remove a panel on which Tsarnaev allegedly scrawled incriminating messages so jurors can see it. Weinreb has said the boat is too large to bring into the courthouse. The defense, however, wants the jury to see the entire boat, complete with bullet holes. Defense attorney David Bruck argued that cutting out a panel would take the written words out of context and wouldn't fairly reflect Tsarnaev's state of mind. Court papers have already given the public a glimpse of several statements Tsarnaev allegedly wrote inside the boat: . "The U.S. government is killing our innocent civilians," he allegedly wrote. "I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished." "We Muslims are one body. You hurt one, you hurt us all." "Now I don't like killing innocent people. It is forbidden in Islam but due to said (unintelligible) it is allowed." "Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop." CNN's Ann O'Neill reported from Boston, and Mariano Castillo wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Sonia Moghe contributed to this report. +(CNN)The sun cuts across Lake Nicaragua, casting shadows across lush flora and brightly colored boats. Rowing in unison, two girls paddle a canoe to school. Life on Lake Nicaragua is peaceful, rustic and isolated, but this could change with the pending completion of a canal that builders are likening to Panama's famed waterway. Headed by Hong Kong-based consortium HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company (HKND), the $50 billion Nicaragua Canal (also called the Nicaragua Grand Canal and Interoceanic Canal) would create a gargantuan new shipping route through Nicaragua by connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. HKND was granted a 50-year concession by the Nicaraguan government in 2013 to build and operate the 278-kilometer (172 miles) canal, reportedly with the option for an extension. Construction will run from the Rio Punta Gorda on the Caribbean Coast to Brito on the Pacific. At up to 1,700 feet wide and 90 feet deep, the canal, if completed, will be deeper and wider than the Panama Canal. HKND announced the start of construction of the canal with a ceremony on December 22, 2014. The canal will run through Lake Nicaragua (among other areas), Central America's largest lake and freshwater reservoir, which not only preserves an integral part of Nicaragua's ecosystem, but directly supports numerous communities. By some estimates, 30,000 people will have to be relocated to carve a path for the canal. The prospect is nothing short of alarming for those living in the area, and those who cherish its untouched splendor. With the pending completion of the canal in 2019, Lake Nicaragua may be impacted in ways only time will reveal. Environmental experts worry that the shallow waters of the lake won't be able to withstand the dredging that will come with construction. Additionally, communities will likely be displaced and wetlands may become more vulnerable to destruction. "In terms of the canal impact on Lake Nicaragua, one big concern is the damage to the quality of the water; the ship traffic will pollute the water with toxic sediments and industrial chemicals and introduce destructive invasive species, plants and animals," Dr. Jorge A. Huete-Perez, vice president of the Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences and director of the Molecular Biology Center at the University of Central America told CNN. "Dredging of the lake for the construction of the canal will render the lake a 'dead zone' because of hypoxia, eutrophication and turbidity." In January, London-based scidev.net reported that an independent commission of experts -- including scientists from the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Science, Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences and International Council for Science -- had reached similar conclusions, warning of "unintended adverse consequences that could do economic, environmental and social harm." Like other critics of the canal construction, Huete-Perez wants greater transparency from HKND and the Nicaraguan government. "This whole thing has been fast-tracked without public consultations or the opportunity for an informed, documented debate," said Huete-Perez. On January 9, 2015, HKND responded to concerns about the lake's impact on communities in a statement on its website. "From July 21 to July 30, 2014, we and our environmental and social impact advisor, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), held scoping meetings across Nicaragua. Approximately 5,000 people participated in the scoping meetings, including housewives, students, professionals, agricultural producers, fishermen, artisans, businessmen and scholars," reads the company's statement, in part. The company says it held a press conference broadcast in real time to the public to announce the route of the canal and comment on the technical, geological, cultural and environmental impact of the project. Some skeptics doubt the hyper-ambitious canal is realistic. Pedro Alvarez, chairman of civil engineering at Rice University, has expressed doubts that it will ever be completed. He worries that it will be abandoned. His greatest concern is severe damage to Lake Nicaragua. Despite the concerns of environmental experts, the project is underway, making a visit to this beautiful area more compelling than ever. Largely unmarred by development, Lake Nicaragua is a sight to behold. During my recent guided visit with Nicaragua Vacations, I took a boat tour through the Islets of Granada, home to 365 scattered islands with majestic views of Mombacho volcano. At times, there was no other boat in sight -- only the rustle of a hidden howler monkey in the bushes and the volcano, ensconced in clouds and morning fog. The feeling of being everywhere and nowhere at once is part of Lake Nicaragua's charm. Another part of its charm is the people who live on it. At Padre Nello School on Lake Nicaragua, about 90 children canoe to school each day. Jicaro Island EcoLodge works with Padre Nello to bring clean water to the children and educational projects that encourage sustainability on the lake. Guests of the lodge can arrange visits. The islets are just southeast of the city of Granada (population approximately 120,000), where colonial buildings defy time, narrow alleyways lead to garden courtyards, charming boutiques are full of local art and street carts overflow with everything from iguanas to cashews. While Granada pulses with Old World charm, Lake Nicaragua stands still with nature as its compass, mostly untouched by modernity. For now. Nicaragua Vacations; +1 866 347 4012 . Jicaro Island Ecolodge, Granada Isleta, Nicaragua; +505 2558 7652 (hotel), +505 2558 7702 (reservations) CNN's Frida Ghitis also contributed to this report. Kristin Braswell is a Brooklyn-based journalist. She's contributed to Essence, ABC News, NPR and Ebony, among others. +(CNN)Robots serve you drinks, you can skydive on deck and a mechanical arm hoists you 300 feet into the air to view the ship. You could be forgiven for thinking you had been transported into the future on board the new $1 billion cruise ship Quantum of the Seas. As its name suggests, it is very much a quantum leap in boat building. The latest brainchild of Royal Caribbean, which has branded the newest member of its fleet the "smartest cruise ship in history," it is basically a fun palace on the high seas. Everything, it seems, is a first: the first bumper cars, skydive simulator and bionic bar on a ship. And among the 19 restaurants on board, there is something for everyone. Those of a literary slant can even dine at Wonderland, with waitresses dressed up in characters from the novel by Lewis Carroll. Such are the maverick creations on board from bow to stern, it is a vessel befitting of the Mad Hatter. "This is the smartest cruise ship," says Harri Kulovaara, executive vice-president of maritime at Royal Caribbean and head of the design process behind the project. "This is probably going to be a big change for the industry and the future." And this is not just Royal Caribbean's prediction. "It's unique and unusual, and we just had fun -- pure and simple," is the assessment of Carolyn Spencer Brown, the editor of Cruise Critic, after spending eight days on Quantum. "Royal Caribbean are always raising the bar when it comes to putting stuff on board you'd never thought you'd see on a cruise ship. "They just do things well before anyone else and their ships are traditionally the ones you get most excited about," adds Spencer Brown, who estimates she has been on 300 cruises as part of her job. "You keep on thinking when they come up with something crazy they've hit the wall and there can't be anything new, but there always is. They keep doing things no-one else has thought of." There are bigger cruise ships out there: Allure and Oasis -- both part of the Royal Caribbean fleet -- although not quite with the same box of tricks. Kulovaara likes to think Quantum has something for everyone -- it even has its own "godmother," American actress Kristin Chenoweth. But what exactly does a price tag of nearly $1 billion buy you? The vessel is 16 stories high, has room for 4,500 passengers and a 1,500-strong crew. It also boasts 18 decks, 2,090 state rooms, is the length of 41 London buses and weighs 167,800 tonnes. Built in Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, its first voyage at the end of last year was from Southampton to New York, and an eight-day Caribbean cruise on board starts from $1,333. The project was first discussed in 2009 and the build took three and a half years. Finland-born Kulovaara, now based in Miami, takes great pride in the fact the vessel was delivered just two minutes late. Kulovaara, who has been with the company since 1995, is proud of the open-thinking mentality that appears to have gone into the design process. "I don't remember any major elements that we did not get on the ship," he says. "It's come together nicely. We have a group of people that love to innovate and look to the future. With this, we started to think about the next generation. "When we start a new design, we think of the customer and what can we do. We put the customer right in there. How can we provide a better vacation? We constantly explore novel options, what's possible on a ship. We have people pushing innovation that just have that in their DNA." That involves bringing partners on board, including the team behind RipCord by iFly -- provider of skydiving on the deck in an enclosed capsule -- which has long been a company aspiration. "We've actively looked at having that on board before the technology was not enclosed and also too noisy," adds Kulovaara, who spent his childhood summers sailing in the Finnish Arctic. "The technology moved on and the energy could be used in a constant loop so there wasn't such wasted energy." It was the same for the North Star, a capsule -- modeled on the London Eye -- that gives holiday makers a 360-degree view of the deck but can also protrude over the side of the boat with just the sea below. It is not something for vertigo sufferers. "North Star looks simple but it's very complex so adding to the ship design was huge," explains Kulovaara, who says he only got involved in studying naval architecture in order to make him a better yachtsman. "Some of our best resources were working on that for 18 months before the product was started." At the Bionic Bar, passengers can order drinks by iPad and watch as huge bionic arms make any beverage of their choosing. The tech thrills don't end there: Kulovaara claims Quantum has the most advanced WiFi on board any ship. He says the connectivity, set up by O3b, is as fast as logging on at home or at work -- achieved by using a satellite in much lower orbit than would normally be the case. "It's comparable to anything on land, so this is a revolution." The company is confident it is winning the cruise wars, and reviews of the vessel have, to date, been very positive. There are, however, rivals. Spencer Brown cites the examples of both Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival for their own innovations. "Norwegian has this completely nuts rope course on deck 16 with a gang plank which looks down over the sea. They were also the first for alternative restaurants and led the way with outdoor spaces and great party areas with bars and restaurants outside," she says. "Carnival are doing some fun design work with Carnival Vista (launching in 2016). It's like a ship within a ship with a separate family zone and a Cuban-themed area for adults. "So Royal Caribbean are leading the way but it's nice to see it's got competition." There is a pressure on Royal Caribbean to raise the bar for its next creation, though Kulovaara is not concerned. "This is about 1% great idea and 99% execution," he says. "History tells us that we like to push the envelope and will continue to do that and create very unique experiences." +(CNN)The attack on Tunisia's famed Bardo Museum is just the latest evidence that parts of North and sub-Saharan Africa have become a magnet for Islamist extremism. Tunisia -- lying just across the Mediterranean from Europe, but bordered on one side by Libya and on the other by Algeria -- has until now not suffered the kind of large-scale terror attacks seen in both those nations in recent years. But it has emerged as a place of increasing concern as the threat of Islamist extremism has intensified in the region. Islamist terrorists also have struck in Algeria, where they killed at least 37 hostages at a gas field in 2013, and in Libya, where terrorists killed the U.S. ambassador and three others in 2012 and where ISIS has established a beachhead in the east. Al Qaeda's North African offshoot Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has its roots in Algeria, has captured territory in Mali and taken hostages -- often Europeans -- in countries such as Niger and Mauritania. So what is the world doing about it? The United States has created a military command in Africa and also established a special operations base in Djibouti, which borders Somalia in the Horn of Africa. France has sent troops to Mali. And, as CNN recently reported from Chad, Western militaries have trained special forces from several northern African nations to take on the Islamists. Here's a country-by-country look -- although not exhaustive -- at how Islamist extremism has reared its head across a swath of Africa. Algeria is home to a long-running Islamist insurgency. In perhaps the highest-profile incident, Islamist militants attacked the In Amenas oil and gas plant in southern Algeria in January 2013. At least 37 hostages, including three U.S. citizens, died in the seizure of, and ensuing special forces assault on, the remote facility. Dozens of assailants also died in the days-long siege. The attack was the work of the Mulathameen Brigade, which translates as the "Signatories in Blood Brigade." Last September, another Islamist group beheaded a 55-year-old French hiker, Herve Gourdel, after seizing him as he walked in Djudjura National Park in central Algeria. Days earlier, the outfit -- Jund al Khilafa, a splinter group of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb -- had pledged allegiance to ISIS. Militants affiliated with AQIM had previously also kidnapped foreigners in Algeria, including Italians and Spaniards. In 2007, AQIM launched a suicide bombing campaign in Algeria, which included a deadly bombing against the U.N. headquarters in Algiers. In January, a suicide bombing and gun attack on a hotel in the capital, Tripoli, killed 10 people, including an American. The attack was swiftly claimed by Wilayat al-Tarabulus, ISIS' name for the province. Politicians in Tripoli disputed the claim. Besides its growing presence in Tripoli, ISIS is now the dominant force in Derna in eastern Libya and controls parts of the town center of Sirte, the hometown of former Libya strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Before the advent of ISIS, an Islamist group called Ansar al Shariah was blamed by the United States for carrying out the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. State Department computer expert Sean Smith and former U.S. Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, then acting as security contractors, also died. In 2012, Islamist extremists capitalized on chaos in Mali after a military coup and uprising by Tuareg tribesmen to seize control of a large piece of northern Mali, an area the size of France. France intervened militarily in early 2013 and helped to push back the Islamists. Since then, Mali's government has battled various rebel factions, mostly in its northern region, with the help of French and African forces. Recent attacks include a shooting earlier this month at a bar popular with expatriates in the capital, Bamako, which killed five people, including French and Belgian citizens, authorities said. A North African jihadist group, al-Murabitun, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Mauritanian news agency Al Akhbar. AQIM issued a warning to France via jihadist websites in January, following terror attacks in Paris, stating that "France pays the cost of its violence on Muslim countries and the violation of their sanctity," citing the presence of its soldiers in Mali. According to analysis by Jane's Defence Weekly, despite the shift of jihadist activity east toward Libya, "Mauritania is still an aspirational target for jihadist groups due to its military co-operation with France and Algeria." Jihadist groups including AQIM and the Mulathameen Brigade operate in the porous border areas between Mauritania, Algeria, Mali, Niger and Libya. Militants have in the past kidnapped foreign workers for ransom, including three Spaniards in 2011, according to Jane's. However, since 2011 jihadist activity in the country has declined. Mauritanian troops joined the fight against AQIM militants in Mali. Militant group Boko Haram has waged a campaign of terror in mostly northern Nigeria for over a decade. It has attacked the country's police, military, banks, bus stations and crowded markets, as well carrying out a string of church bombings. Perhaps the most notorious incident came last April, when Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 200 teenage girls from a boarding school in Chibok, in Borno state. Most of the girls remain missing. In January this year, hundreds of Boko Haram gunmen seized the town of Baga and neighboring villages in northern Nigeria, as well as a multinational military base, leaving bodies scattered everywhere and as many as 2,000 people feared dead. The group's stated aim is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. Earlier this month, in an audio message purportedly from leader Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS. It had previously declared ties to AQIM. Al-Shabaab started with a goal of waging a war against the Somali government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or Sharia. It has since shifted focus to terrorist attacks in Somalia and beyond, notably neighboring Kenya. Its most high-profile attack came in that country in 2013, when gunmen struck at Nairobi's upscale Westgate mall, pulling out weapons and gunning down shoppers. The gunmen were accused of torturing some hostages before killing them. As many as 67 people died in the siege. The group has carried out numerous attacks in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere. Just last week, its target was government offices in the city of Baidoa. It has also recently called for attacks on shopping malls in the United States, Canada and Britain. The Pentagon said this week that a key Al-Shabaab operative connected to the Westgate mall attack, named as Adan Garar, was killed recently by a U.S. drone strike. In September, Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was also killed in a U.S. airstrike near Barawe city. Gunmen who besieged the Bardo Museum in Tunis are thought to have claimed 23 lives, most of them foreign tourists. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told national radio that the assailants were Islamists, but authorities haven't been more specific than that. Nine arrests have been made in connection with the attack. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in an audio message posted online Thursday. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the audio statement. The attack occurred even as the country's democratically elected Parliament was meeting to discuss new anti-terror legislation. Up to 3,000 Tunisians are believed to have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight as jihadists, more than any other country, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization in London. The fear is that many of these fighters will return to North Africa to join ISIS-affiliated groups there and carry out attacks. Al Qaeda's North African affiliate is also a threat. In late 2012, AQIM set up a branch in Tunisia called the Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade, a 60-strong Jihadi outfit composed of Tunisians, Algerians, and some Libyans. The group, believed to include fighters driven out of Mali by French forces, has been responsible for a string of attacks on Tunisian security services in mountainous Djebel Chaambi region along the Algerian border. CNN's Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank contributed to this report. +Beijing (CNN)China has linked violence in its far-western Muslim region of Xinjiang to ISIS and says Chinese nationals have fought for the extremist group. The Communist Party chief of Xinjiang -- the region's top official -- told reporters Tuesday to view mounting violence there in the context of a global jihadist movement, especially with the rise of ISIS -- also known as the Islamic State or IS. "Some extremists in Xinjiang have participated in the IS and I think this further proves that intentional extremist forces cannot be ignored," said Zhang Chunxian on the sidelines of the annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament. "As countries around the world have realized the dangers of IS... we will work with others to stop it at its source." A spate of violent attacks in Xinjiang -- a resource-rich area long inhabited by the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs -- has killed hundreds of people in the past two years. The government has blamed the incidents on Muslim Uyghur separatists seeking to establish an independent state. China's state media had earlier reported on Muslim Uyghur militants trying to flee the country and join ISIS training camps in preparation for attacks back home. "We cracked some cases involving people who had just returned after directly participating in fighting," Zhang revealed. "Such cases sometimes involve 'lone wolves' and other times involve groups." "The IS situation is historically unprecedented," he added, addressing criticism on the Xinjiang government's lack of transparency. "To solve such cases... to ensure people's safety, we sometimes have to keep things confidential and take our time." Exiled Uyghur activists have long disputed the Chinese government's assertions, pointing to the lack of evidence and accusing the authorities of using the alleged ISIS connection to justify their increasingly harsh rule in the region. Over the past decades, the arrival in Xinjiang of waves of Han Chinese, the country's predominant ethnic group, has fueled ethnic tensions. Amnesty International has said Uyghurs face widespread discrimination in housing, education and employment, as well as curtailed religious freedom. Other critics have attributed the rise of violence in Xinjiang to Beijing's repressive reign there -- a claim the government vehemently denies. +Washington (CNN)Maryland authorities said Wednesday that a former state correctional officer has been arrested in connection with a recent spate of shootings, including one on the Intercounty Connector in Maryland and one at Fort Meade, where the National Security Agency office is located. Officers stopped Hong Young, 35, of Beltsville, Maryland, at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The officers recognized Hong's vehicle -- a 1999 Lincoln Town Car -- as matching authorities' description of a car seen in surveillance footage near some of the shootings. A gun in the car matched evidence found at the shootings, authorities said at a press conference, and Young was arrested. Young is in the hospital and under police guard, though when reporters asked why he was being treated, officials would only say he was arrested without incident. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, weapons violations and reckless endangerment. Young worked as a correctional officer at a Jessup facility from 2012 until his resignation in 2014, Maryland Secretary of Public Safety Stephen Moyer said. There was nothing significant in his employee file, Moyer said. Police said that there are no links to terrorism, and no motive has been determined. No one was killed in the five shooting incidents, four of which occurred Monday and Tuesday, according to police reports. -- February 24 in Hanover, Maryland. a man who had stopped at a Costco said a man pulled up beside him in a Lincoln Town Car at 7:30 a.m. and began firing at him. The victim's vehicle was hit several times and the victim was grazed. The assailant drove away. -- March 2 in Laurel, Maryland. Police received a call at 2:50 a.m. that shots had been fired at a Walmart. There were no damages or injuries. -- March 2 in Columbia, Maryland. A call came in to law enforcement at 4:51 a.m.a bout shots fired at a movie theater at Columbia Mall. Surveillance footage captured a Lincoln Town Car at about the same time shots were fired, police said. Though several employees were there, no one was hurt, authorities said. There were bullet holes in the theater glass and a shell casing was found at the scene. -- March 3 in Prince George's County. Multiple shots were fired at an overpass on the InterCounty Connector in the afternoon, striking a tree service truck with two passengers inside. -- March 3 at Fort Meade. Shots struck a building near the NSA office at about 6 p.m. Along with the gun, evidence shows Young was the shooter in all but the Walmart incident, though that investigation is continuing, police said. Though no one was killed in the incidents, they stirred memories of the deadly Washington, D.C.-area sniper attacks in 2002. Ten people were killed in Washington, Maryland and Virginia during that rampage, which went on for three weeks. CNN's Holly Yan and Laurie Ure contributed to this report. +(CNN)It's the home of British politics, steeped in history, tradition and centuries-old pomp. But could the ornate splendor of the UK's Houses of Parliament be about to offer a solution to London's housing crisis? In all honesty, probably not. However, that hasn't stopped housing campaign group, Generation Rent, from proposing to transform the Palace of Westminster into affordable new homes. The group's eye-catching idea is to move the seat of British democracy from one of London's most exclusive neighborhoods to a new location in the city of Hull, northern England. The vacant House of Commons and House of Lords (the UK's upper legislative chamber) left behind would be converted into 364 flats of varying size and scale with prime office space facing the River Thames. According to a press release on the proposal from Generation Rent, 335 MPs from all over the UK currently rent second homes so they can carry out their parliamentary duties more effectively. They claim expenses for doing so cost the taxpayer £5.26 million ($8 million) in 2013 alone. By moving the seat of government to Hull, a city with the cheapest housing rent in England, millions could be saved in expenses as well as staffing costs, the group claims. Westminster is one of the most expensive boroughs for property in London, according to research from house moving firm, Delivery Quote Compare. The ever-rising cost of property in the UK capital, meanwhile, is making it increasingly difficult for many to buy or rent in central areas of the city. A January report from rental referencing company, Homelet, also found that average rental prices in Greater London were more than double that of those found in the rest of the UK . "We hope our proposal gives MPs a sense of humility and some urgency to ending the housing crisis," said director of Generation Rent, Alex Hilton. Yet even if the Generation Rent proposals were seriously considered, they could come unstuck by the dilapidated state of the parliament building itself. Speaker of the House, John Bercow, said Monday that repairs needed to bring the nineteenth century structure up to scratch could come close to £3 billion ($4.6 billion). A 2012 study entitled "The Restorations and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster" found that the building could suffer permanent damage if work was not undertaken to stem leaks, repair crumbling stonework and remove asbestos. +(CNN)CNN has learned that the manufacturer of the endoscope involved in two superbug deaths at UCLA never obtained permission to sell the device, according to an official at the Food and Drug Administration. Olympus started selling its TJF-Q180V duodenoscope in 2010, but the FDA didn't notice until late 2013 or early 2014 that the company had never asked for clearance to put it on the market, according to Karen Riley, deputy director of strategy for the FDA's Office of External Affairs. "Why didn't we notice it? I don't know," Riley said. "Can you imagine a prescription drug getting out on the market that didn't go through the approval process?" asked Dr. Steven Nissen, the chief of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, who's testified to Congress about device safety problems. "Devices need to be regulated more vigorously. This is really disturbing." In a statement, Olympus said it didn't think needed the FDA's permission to sell the device, but now at the request of the agency, it has applied for that permission. That application is still pending. Seven hospital patients at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center were infected with the deadly superbug CRE -- also known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae -- from October to January, according to hospital officials. Two of those patients died. The patients caught CRE after routine endoscopic treatments. Hospital officials believe two medical scopes that still carried the deadly bacteria even after disinfection guidelines were followed were the cause of the superbug outbreak. The medical center has contacted 179 others who had endoscopic procedures between October and January and is offering them home tests to screen for the bacteria. Four other patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have also been infected with the superbug linked to a contaminated duodenoscope, according to a statement released by the hospital. The medical scope was used in all four patients, between August and January 2015. Sixty-four other patients who had a duodenoscope procedure with that particular scope are being informed by mail, "out of an abundance of caution." According to FDA rules, a manufacturer must seek clearance for a new model if it includes changes that "could significantly affect the safety or effectiveness of the device." The TJF-Q180V duodenoscope, used to check out ducts in the gastrointestinal system, includes a modification to the exact part of the device that's been implicated in the superbug outbreaks. With this new model, Olympus sealed up that part of the device, known as the elevator channel, hoping to make it more impervious to infection. "The company clearly made these modifications to make the device safer, but it seems to be that it wasn't safer," Riley said. Last year, at the FDA's request, Olympus applied for permission to sell the scope. That application is still pending. Riley emphasized that duodenoscope procedures can be lifesaving, so the agency doesn't want to take them off the market. "More than 500,000 of these procedures are done every year in the U.S., and the risk of bacterial transmission is actually really very, very low," she said. "We believe the benefits outweigh the risks." In its statement, Olympus wrote: "The emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms is a challenge to the entire health care community. Olympus is working with relevant medical societies and our customers in research of this emerging issue and the development of additional safeguards to prevent infection associated with [duodenoscope procedures]." Riley noted that the other two duodenoscope manufacturers, Pentax and Fujifilm, did apply for and were granted clearance to market models similar to Olympus' TJF-Q180V. Now the FDA is asking all three companies to submit evidence that the scopes can be thoroughly cleaned -- and so far it's not going well. Riley said twice the companies have submitted data that failed to show that cleaning could get rid of 99.9999% of all microbes on the scope -- the FDA's standard for disinfection. "We're still working with them to get good data," she said. Riley said she doesn't know if the FDA will penalize Olympus for selling the device without permission. Diana Zuckerman, a device safety expert, said they should. "It's like with kids. How do you teach your children to behave if there are no consequences when they misbehave?" she said. +March 4, 2015 . Today's show begins with coverage of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the U.S. Congress. We'll explore the leader's history, why he traveled to Washington, why his speech was controversial, and how the White House responded. We also feature a Character Study of a woman who calls herself "just another statistic" but whose work is focused on helping save lives. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN)Jaquita Gonzales still tries to call her husband on his cellphone. A pair of work shoes still sits outside the front door of their home in Kuala Lumpur waiting to be reclaimed. His uniform still hangs in a cupboard. Twelve months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without a trace, Gonzales hasn't given up hope. She can't. Neither can her children, other family members and friends. Not until there is some conclusive evidence on the fate of the airliner -- one way or another. "Now and then, every once in a while I call his phone and it goes to voicemail," she says. "You never know, he might pick it up, or someone who has them would let them have the phone and you know, the hope is still there." She's not alone. Families of victims we spoke to hold on to the slimmest belief that MH370, which disappeared barely an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 last year, did not crash and that the 239 passengers and crew on board are alive. "No evidence means there is still a little bit of hope. We tap into that hope in order to go on day by day," says Gonzales. But she lives a life in limbo. Neither able to move on, nor go back. Her comfortable home in the suburbs of Malaysia's capital remains virtually the same since her husband of nearly 30 years, Patrick Gomes, left for work on the evening of March 7 as lead purser on the MH370 red-eye bound for the Chinese capital. The only real sign that time has moved on, amid the family photos and plaques celebrating her husband's work achievements is a newspaper on top of a stack in the living room with the word "LOST" splashed across its front page. Gonzales' lifeline, apart from family, is her work. She runs a private school and daycare center for about 70 children and spends about 12 hours a day there. Keeping busy, she says, keeps her sane. But not a day goes by without her thinking of Patrick. "I can be driving and I just have to pull off the road and weep. Everywhere I go I see Patrick," she says. "In our home, with my children, with our friends. There are so many times around the home when I say Patrick you are supposed to be doing this for me, where are you. He helped me with ironing, with cooking." Like Gonzales, many other families CNN has spoken to say they live in hope that their loved one are still alive even though it seems now a virtual impossibility. But along with hope and the pain, many families also share a deep anger. Anger at the Malaysian authorities and Malaysia Airlines who, Gonzales says, are ignoring them. Requests for information are unanswered and attempts to talk to key officials are rebuffed, she says. Grace Nathan's mother was on MH370. For almost a year she and her family grieved in private. But now she has gone public after what she describes as the Malaysian authorities continued "mishandling" of the disappearance. "There is a lack of transparency, a lack of communications between us and the relevant authorities,' she says. "Whenever we've written to them or asked them for answers they have never replied. "It's not like they haven't learned. I would put it that they just don't care. They just want to move on. They don't really care about what we feel or what we have to say." One recent decision by Malaysian authorities has caused bitter resentment among many families. In late January, the government televised a pre-recorded announcement from the civil aviation chief that the passengers and crew of MH370 were "presumed lost" after the plane crashed as a result of an accident. Families were not been given any advance warning of the announcement and, even though it clears the way for compensation claims, they say there is just no evidence to support the statement. It also came just before Chinese New Year, a time of celebration. More than 150 passengers on the flight were Chinese nationals. To add insult to injury, families say, the government had planned to make the announcement at a press conference but canceled the briefing when next-of-kin rushed to the venue. Nathan says she only heard that the government was planning to make the statement when local media rang her. "They rang to say 'can we come and record your reaction when this declaration is made?' Our reaction was 'what declaration?' We didn't know anything about it. "I haven't spoken to the media at all since the accident happened but after that treatment I decided it was time that we said something. It was a group decision that we speak to the media because (the authorities) never respond to anything we write to them or ask them about," she adds. CNN contacted both the Malaysian Government and Malaysia Airlines for a response to the families' claims, but did not receive an answer. For relatives like Gonzales and Nathan, each day is a struggle, a struggle to stop being overwhelmed by memories. "I am just going through the motions,' says Grace. "I am dead inside, I have stopped being happy. Every day basically I just force myself to get through the day." +(CNN)New York City public schools will now observe two Muslim holidays, officials announced Wednesday, making the district -- the nation's biggest -- one of the few to put Islamic holy days on its calendar. Under the change announced by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and city Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, there will be no class for Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, starting next September 24. Another Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr -- a festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan -- will become a holiday for those in summer school starting in 2016. "This is a common-sense change," de Blasio said Wednesday, "and one that recognizes our growing Muslim community and honors its contributions to our city." The decision affects some 1 million students in New York City. While it's not known exactly how many of them are Muslim, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said that almost 1 million of the more than 8 million people in the city's five boroughs practice Islam and a 2009 Columbia University study found that roughly 10% of New York City public school students are Muslim. The move isn't a surprise, given de Blasio's campaign pledge to alter the school calendar with Muslim families in mind. "Muslim students and their families who observe Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha shouldn't have to choose between an instructional day and their religious obligations," said Farina. "This new addition will also enable a teachable moment in the classroom for our students to learn about religious tolerance and the societal contributions of various cultures." Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and the parent of three public school students, said a plan in which students wouldn't have to choose between education and faith "a win for our children and for future generations in this country." "Muslims are a part of the fabric of this country," she said. "We make our country proud, and today, New York City made us proud." New York City joins school districts in other states, including New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont, that similarly observe Muslim holidays, according to a news release from Farina's office. And Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha join other religious holidays already on New York's public school calendar. In addition to holidays like Easter that always fall on a weekend, students already have Christian holidays such as Good Friday and Christmas off, as well as the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. CNN's Lorenzo Ferigno and Rob Frehse contributed to this report. +(CNN)Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen says he has found the wreck of a long-lost World War II Japanese battleship near the Philippines. The philanthropist posted images on Twitter that appeared to show the Musashi, once one of the two largest warships in the world. The discovery was made aboard his superyacht, the MY Octopus, as part of an expedition that Allen launched. The search has taken Allen and his team of researchers more than eight years. The images and video were taken by an unmanned submersible deployed from the vessel. "Since my youth, I have been fascinated with World War II history, inspired by my father's service in the U.S. Army," Allen said in a statement. "The Musashi is truly an engineering marvel and, as an engineer at heart, I have a deep appreciation for the technology and effort that went into its construction. I am honored to play a part in finding this key vessel in naval history and honoring the memory of the incredible bravery of the men who served aboard her." He used his Twitter account to publicize the find. In one tweet, he said one image showed the bow of the ship, which features a distinctive chrysanthemum -- the flower is the emblem of Japan's royal family -- and a huge anchor. The other underwater photograph shows one of the Musashi's valves on which the Japanese characters for "main valve handle" and "open" are legible. He said the writing on the valve was proof that the ship was of Japanese origin. The director of Japan's Kure Maritime Museum told CNN after viewing the information posted by Allen that it appeared that the vessel was the Musashi, although further pictures were needed to know for sure. The Musashi was one of two Yamato-class battleships constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1940, it was, at the time, the largest class of warship ever constructed, displacing more than 69,000 tons. The Musashi sank on October 24, 1944, during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the central Philippines. According to U.S. Navy documents, torpedo planes from U.S. aircraft carriers scored at least 10 hits on the battleship over the course of four hours. Navy dive bombers also hit the ship 16 times, but it was the torpedo hits that doomed the Musashi. "She went down by the bow, capsizing when the forward flying (U.S. forecastle) deck was submerged," said the Navy report, based on survivor accounts. Two of those survivors, the executive officer and the chief engineer, told how they escaped the sinking. "The executive officer swam off from one of the upper levels in the tower. He saw the propellers as Musashi disappeared," the Navy report said. "The chief engineer climbed over the side amidships as Musashi lurched to port. He walked and scrambled around the girth against the roll, climbing over the bilge keel. Finally, he was thrown off into the water and swam away to port. There were no explosions." More than 1,000 of the Musashi's crew were killed during the battle and sinking. The 1,300-plus survivors were taken aboard by other Japanese warships, according to the U.S. Navy report. Allen said that his superyacht, the MY Octopus, had found the wreck at a depth of around 1 kilometer (3,281 feet). A statement released by Vulcan, Allen's company, said that the team combined historical data with advanced technology to narrow the search area, and that Allen had "commissioned a hypsometric bathymetric survey of the ocean floor to determine the terrain" before searching the area with a Bluefin autonomous underwater vehicle. Kazushige Todaka, the maritime museum director, said that, given the location and the depth at which the wreck was found, he was "90% sure" that the ship was the Musashi. "I was really surprised because the location of the sunken ship has never been identified since it went down. I have heard countless stories in the past that the ship was discovered, but they all turned out not to be true." Todaka said Allen's team had been in contact with the museum about the ship's potential location and its expedition. "It's a wonderful discovery, if it's true, as we have long been looking for the battleship," he said. "It's fateful that the discovery was made on the 70th anniversary of (the end of) World War II. The memory of the war has been fading away after 70 years, and the survivors of the war are disappearing. It is very meaningful discovery and a good chance for us to remind ourselves about the war and its tragedy." He added that images of the entire body of the ship will be needed to be 100% sure that the discovery is indeed the Musashi. The Vulcan statement added that the team is "mindful of the responsibility related to the wreckage of the Musashi as a war grave and intend to work with the Japanese government to ensure the site is treated respectfully and in accordance with Japanese traditions." Since leaving Microsoft, the company he co-founded in 1975, billionaire Allen has immersed himself in a variety of commercial and charitable pursuits. He is the owner of several U.S. sports teams -- including the Seattle Seahawks -- and backed SpaceShipOne, the prototype commercial spaceplane that won the 2004 Ansari X Prize. His estimated net worth is $17.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine. CNN's Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)There seems to be an ever-growing list of people, places and things that will turn you gay. Maybe we should think of these as the brigade of evil, homosexual nouns. There were the Teletubbies and SpongeBob SquarePants a decade ago. Now, as these views thankfully get more fringe, the theories are becoming increasingly bizarre and awesome. Among the homo nouns, there's the Common Core, according to a Florida lawmaker (education policy is super gay, obviously); Taylor Swift, who an op-ed writer for The Christian Post, Larry Tomczak, claims is being used by Ellen DeGeneres to "attract young girls" to her show (uh-huh); the Disney princess movie "Frozen," according to radio hosts in Colorado (that dress!); and now, according to a potential 2016 Republican presidential contender, Ben Carson, there's prison. Yep, prison. Stay away from crime, kids. Turns ya gay. Carson, who, let me reiterate, is a potential presidential candidate from a major American party, and a neurosurgeon to boot, told CNN's Chris Cuomo in an interview that aired Wednesday that "a lot of people ... go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay." Asked if being gay was a choice, Carson replied in a word: "Absolutely." This level of ignorance is so last century, so near-irrelevant, that I'm hesitant even to respond. But no one who holds these beliefs belongs in a race for the 2016 White House. Ordinarily, I'm the kind of gay person who likes to give people room to evolve. I know not everyone "gets it" automatically. That's OK, as long as you aren't hateful about it, are willing to listen and don't try to restrict the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I'm from Oklahoma, a deeply conservative state, and I've seen friends, family and co-workers evolve. People who thought being gay was a sin -- or that it was a choice, or fixable -- now support same-sex marriage. People change. But presidential candidates don't get that leeway. Carson should know better. (In fact, he later apologized, regretting his words but saying the science on the issue of sexual orientation isn't clear.) These views belong in another decade, not modern America. This apparently still needs to be said: Being gay is not a choice. Don't believe me? Well, ask a gay person. As I mentioned, I'm one of those (despite never having seen "Frozen" in its entirety), and I can tell you that, for me, it wasn't a choice. It's not something I would want to undo, but it also isn't like I woke up one day and was like, huh, you know what would really mix it up this winter? Dating dudes instead of ladies. Science backs me on this. I'm not going to roll through all the details, but Mark Joseph Stern from Slate sums it up pretty well: "In study after study, biologists have found that homosexuality, at least in men, is clearly, undoubtedly, inarguably an inborn trait." And even if it were a choice, who cares? A person's religion is a choice. Yet the United States offers certain protections based on religion. People still deserve rights. Carson, meanwhile, opposes same-sex marriage. That's a stance that, again, thankfully, is getting exceedingly rare in national politics. It's also an issue that, along with transgender rights and employment discrimination against LGBT people, should be a focal point in the 2016 campaign cycle. I hope that America is evolved enough not to elect a candidate who opposes LGBT rights. I do think we live in that country these days. It's a country that mostly laughs at someone saying prison would "turn" someone gay. But the point remains that saying so both belittles a serious issue of violence -- that of men raping other men in prison, which has nothing to do with turning anyone gay and everything to do with criminal activity. And it's a serious lapse in logic. Being around a bunch of dudes -- or ladies -- in prison doesn't change a person's innate sexual attractions. It's so obvious I shouldn't have to say it. And the American people damn sure shouldn't have to listen to it. Especially coming from a 2016 presidential contender, it's almost laughably irrelevant. Almost. +Los Angeles (CNN)Federal agents on Tuesday raided more than three dozen "maternity hotels" in Southern California where foreign women give birth, allegedly for the sole purpose of having a U.S.-citizen baby, authorities said. The "maternity tourism" sites included apartment complexes in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties where authorities believe the businesses housed the foreign nationals about to give birth, federal officials said. Those targeted residences are believed to have catered largely to women from China, who paid $15,000 to $50,000 for lodging, transportation and food, according to a statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those fees don't necessarily include medical care, authorities said. Authorities are looking for evidence of bringing in and harboring of undocumented visitors; conspiracy, fraud and misuse of visas and permits; tax evasion and false tax returns; and willful failure to file report of foreign bank and financial accounts, court papers said. "Based on the results of the investigations to date, it appears the women pay cash for prenatal visits and the actual delivery," U.S. authorities said. "As part of the package, clients were promised they would receive Social Security numbers and U.S. passports for their infants, which the mothers would take with them when they left the U.S." Some of the packages included recreational trips to Disneyland, shopping malls and even to a firing range, authorities said. "Any women encountered at the search locations will be interviewed and those identified as potential material witnesses will be directed when and where to report for further questioning," authorities said Tuesday. Investigators weren't expected Tuesday to comment further on the outcome of the raids, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. In all, authorities obtained warrants for 37 locations and ended up searching more than 50 sites, including consensual searches, Kice said. The purported tourism businesses promoted themselves on the Internet and through social media, authorities said. One firm in Rancho Cucamonga, California, advertised in Chinese and branded itself as "You Win USA Vacation Resort." Operators of that firm couldn't be immediately reached for comment Tuesday. Chinese women have been flocking to the United States to give birth, lured because the country grants American citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, CNN Money reported last month. That CNN Money account was cited in an affidavit filed Monday in a federal California court by Homeland Security Investigation agent Eric Blair, who asked a judge for a warrant to search Rancho Cucamonga apartment buildings for large sums of cash and evidence of contraband and a crime. The judge granted the warrant. Read one affidavit . "Perpetrators of visa fraud schemes typically charge $40,000 to $60,000, which is a fee able to be paid by the wealthy in China," Blair stated in court papers. In 2012, about 10,000 Chinese women gave birth in the United States, more than double the 4,200 in 2008, according to Chinese state media. Blair alleged that the birthing houses "will generally advise foreign national clients to fly to tourism points of entry such as Hawaii or Las Vegas and to avoid traveling directly to Los Angeles International Airport. This advice is due to heightened security by (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) officials at LAX based on the volume of fraudulent visas and false statements and entry documents that CPB officials have experienced over the last decade related to birth tourism." One operator of the alleged maternity tourism schemes in California was providing bank statements claiming he had monthly gross receipts of $213,968.79 and an annual income of $1,283,812.74, Blair said in court papers. Those bank statements were provided by an Internal Revenue Service special agent, Blair said. Many of the families want an American child because a foreign passport could be the family's ticket out of China if they grow weary of pollution or food safety scares. President Xi Jinping's widespread anti-corruption campaign has given rich Chinese yet another reason to be on edge. "If things become economically or politically uncertain in one's country of origin, the children have a place to come to," Leti Volpp, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told CNN Money last month. The children can "then sponsor their parents when they turn 21," Volpp said. The desire to leave China is especially pronounced among the wealthy. Almost two-thirds of Chinese with more than 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in the bank have emigrated, or are planning to, according to a Hurun report released last year. One advertisement for a Hacienda Heights location "claims that the apartments are extremely suitable for expectant mothers and their accompanying families," Blair said in court documents. "The apartment will allow expectant mothers to experience the American lifestyle during their stay." In an interview with CNN Money in February, Felicia He, 27, said she paid tens of thousands of dollars to give birth in California. That interview occurred well before Tuesday's federal announcement of raids. "I started getting ready for the trip around the end of my first trimester," He said. "I asked my friends who have given birth before in the U.S. for a doctor recommendation; then I found a place to stay in the area for a few months, and purchased my plane ticket." He, who gave birth last year, said a U.S. passport for her baby means access to better education opportunities. Foreign status opens the door to exclusive international schools in Beijing, where she lives with her husband, and the option for the child to study abroad for high school and college. There is one catch, though. Getting a U.S. passport for a baby means the child will eventually be responsible for U.S. taxes. CNN's Sophia Yan in Hong Kong contributed to this report. +(CNN)Samuel Eto'o wanted to buy a watch. It was in London that he decided to purchase one particular model, one which cost $15,000. For a former Premier League footballer, a hero in his native Cameroon, and one of the most successful African footballers of all time, the prospect of buying a watch was hardly the most daring of ordeals. So after taking a glance at the watch and getting out his credit card, he says he asked the sales assistant for some help. "I asked the saleswoman -- who was also black like me -- 'Could you show me that watch please?' "First, I saw her turn and look at her coworkers like, 'Uh, what should I do?' "Eventually, she let me see the watch. I looked at it and said, 'OK, I'll buy it.' "I took out my credit card and when she went to go run it through the machine, she came back and said that it was declined. "I asked her, 'Was it declined or did you not want it to be accepted?' because this has happened to me many times and she told me, 'No, it was declined.'" Eto'o, who played in London with Chelsea last season, called his brother who was nearby and it was he who brought a new credit card so the transaction could be completed. While Eto'o does speak English, his brother has a far wider vocabulary and was able to ask just what had occurred moments earlier. "My brother can afford this and the way you're treating him shows that you think just because he's black, he can't afford this watch," said the sibling. Eto'o then takes up the story, saying the lady in the store said she was wary of him because "we had some Nigerians in the store the other day who came with fake credit cards." "If one of my own makes a mistake, they judge us all. Tomorrow, if a white man in Africa makes a mistake, we should judge all white people? No! "The security guard from Senegal kept trying to justify what the lady said and I asked him where he's from. When he told me, I said, 'Ahh. If I gave you my name, you will recognize who I am?' "He shrugged and I said, 'I'm Eto'o.' He went, 'Nooooo! Just yesterday, my wife and I were talking about you! Can I take a picture with you and send it to my wife?' "I said, 'Yes, we can take a picture, but you made a mistake because you can't judge people by the color of their skin,' so he told me it wasn't because of our color. "I told the lady, 'In my next interview, I'm going to tell them about this and I'll name the store so everyone can know that you treat people differently here,' added Eto'o referring to the saleswoman. "She then realized that I could have reported what she had just done, but it was a mistake. It was a mistake of her to categorize. "I don't think she's a racist person, but she stereotyped all black people as 'those people'." Eto'o tells this story to demonstrate his belief that racism is not just football's problem but one that society as a whole must combat. The Cameroon international has played across the world in England, Italy, Spain as well as a spell in Russia with Anzhi Makhachkala. He says he has experienced racism on and off the field, most famously during his time playing for Barcelona. In 2006, during a game against Real Zaragoza, Eto'o was subjected to "monkey chants" -- and the forward came close to walking off the pitch. He says it was only because of persuasion by his teammate Fran that he stayed on and helped his side to a 2-0 victory. In 2010, while playing for Inter Milan at Cagliari, Eto'o was again subjected to racist chanting which caused a three-minute stoppage to the contest. The referee addressed both captains while a message was also broadcast inside the stadium warning supporters the game would be abandoned if the chanting did not stop. Eto'o went on to score the only goal of the game as Inter triumphed 1-0. "You have to understand that football is just a reflection of what we have in society," said Eto'o. "It's not that football is here and society is here -- no, it's a reflection of what goes on in society. "Football is a great opportunity for certain people, who sometimes think they're better than you or different than others, to express their views as right ... or as a chance to hurt other people. "The first time I experienced racism wasn't on a football pitch, but the truth is that I never thought that that could happen to me on a football pitch because football is a passion, it's a feeling that touches millions of people. "Sometimes, the fact that you're a footballer makes you think that racism can't happen to you because you bring that passion and you express a lot of things. "When it happened to me, I couldn't believe it and in that moment, I decided to walk off the pitch." Eto'o, now 34, believes there has been progress within the game in recent years and has decided that it is safe enough for his children to return to stadiums. In 2007, he said he did not want his kids having to watch him being booed and subjected to racist abuse. "I said that back then because racist incidents almost seemed to be fashionable," Eto'o explains. "When you arrive at a football ground, this is going to happen -- when there's a black player, this will happen. "In that moment, I said, 'No, my kids aren't going to go and see that because it will be very difficult to explain.' "If you tell a child, go to the right and you'll get a reward, he'll always go to the right because he wants the reward. A child comes to see his father play, have fun, make people happy and what does he see? "He sees people booing his father for being black, they make monkey noises, they throw bananas at his teammates and all that. "But we see more and more that authorities are fighting, people are increasingly against what happens in football grounds and in society is getting better." Eto'o was presented with the European Medal of Tolerance from the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation following a ceremony in London earlier this week. For a man who has won three European Champions League titles, his assertion that this particular award is his "biggest" gives an insight into Eto'o's mindset in dealing with the scourge of racism. "It's the most important," Eto'o said of the award. "It's something that affects us all and to recognize the little work that I've done, the truth is that I'm very, very happy because you can win the Champions League, you can win championships, you can score goals, but to represent a fight that affects millions and millions of people ... it's one of a kind." Eto'o also defended Russia's record of dealing with racism, despite FIFA, the sport's world governing body, expressing its concerns over how the country's authorities deal with the problem. According to a report published earlier this month by the FARE network, an anti-racism body, and the Sova Center, which conducts research on nationalism and racism, there were more than 200 cases of discriminatory behavior within the Russian game over two seasons. The fans of CSKA Moscow, one of Russia's most famous clubs have been serial offenders in terms of racism with UEFA, the game's European governing body, handing out punishments on numerous occasions. Yet, Eto'o, now playing in Italy with Sampdoria, retains fond memories of Russia. The four-time African Player of the Year joined Anzhi in 2011 following a deal which made him the highest paid player in the world on a reported salary of $13 million a year. He scored 36 goals in 71 appearances before joining Chelsea in 2013 -- but he rejects any suggestions that Russia is a hotbed for racism ahead of the 2018 World Cup. "At the World Cup in Russia, you'll see that there won't be incidents like this," he added. "I hope there aren't because I've played there and I had a great time there and I know the efforts that the Russians are making to try to improve certain things that have happened there, and we have to support these efforts. "Football is beautiful. Football is beautiful because whether you win, draw or lose, you can go and shake your opponent's hand whether they're white or black or red or blue. "This is football. This is where football wins, but when there are incidents like this, it's shameful, but it doesn't mean this will happen in the World Cup just because it's in Russia. "I was there and I lived a beautiful experience." +(CNN)A runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport reopened Friday morning, a day after a Delta Air Lines plane skidded off it before halting near the icy waters of Flushing Bay. Runway 13 remained closed until the plane could be removed and brought into a hangar. It reopened at 10:30 a.m. ET Friday, according to Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Delta plane slid off the runway Thursday morning, with its nose busting through a fence before skidding to a halt mere feet from frigid waters. Delta Flight 1086 briefly circled New York due to issues with snow and ice before touching down shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, passenger Jared Faellaci told CNN. Almost as soon as it did, those aboard realized something was wrong -- the aircraft's wheels seemed to have little to no traction, sliding for about 20 seconds. "You didn't feel the wheels take," Faellaci said. Then it was a matter of "where we are going to end up," he said. About 4,500 to 5,000 feet down Runway 13, the MD-88 veered to the left and mercifully stopped on a small embankment. A little farther, and the plane -- with 127 passengers and five crew members -- would have been in Flushing Bay rather than on the airport's snow-covered ground. Contrary to what Delta said in a statement, the aircraft's slides did not deploy, according to Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye. Still, with help from first responders, everyone was able to get off and onto buses that took them to LaGuardia's Delta terminal. Video showed passengers exiting the plane into the subfreezing temperatures as emergency vehicles converged on the area. Twenty-four people suffered injuries that were non-life threatening. Three of those were transported to nearby hospitals, the New York City Fire Department tweeted. Faellaci said he was thankful for the plane's crew, first responders and God that it wasn't much worse. "It was cause for a moment of prayer and a moment of reflection, as people were scared," he said. "The pilot did a phenomenal job." The plane left a relatively balmy Atlanta shortly after 9 a.m. LaGuardia was dealing with snow and freezing fog as the flight approached its destination about two hours later. Before touching down, the plane's pilot said weather problems could cause a delay. Still, little prepared passengers for what happened. Faellaci said he was reminded of the U.S. Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River in 2009. All 155 people aboard that flight -- heading from LaGuardia to Charlotte, North Carolina -- famously survived thanks to the skills of pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. The landing of Delta Flight 1086 was terrifying for many. "There were people that were calm, there were people that were praying, there were people that obviously were frantic, there were people that were crying," Faellaci said. Jihad Lateef, another passenger, was traveling with his brother. "When the plane landed it was like me falling off of the top bunk -- didn't really know what was going on -- I just felt a hit, boom," he told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." "I just prayed." The Port Authority chief said plows had cleared the runway minutes before Flight 1086 touched down and that two other landing pilots had reported "good braking" action on Runway 13. Still, that doesn't mean the pilot did anything wrong. "I think the pilot did everything he could to slow the aircraft down," Foye said. "Obviously, the pilot and the co-pilot's efforts were reflected in the fact there were only minor injuries." After the plane stopped, emotions ratcheted down some but not entirely. Faellaci said there was some "panic and shoving your way to the front" to get off, though "for the most part it was very orderly." Passengers spent a few minutes standing in the snow -- carrying little more than their wallets and phones -- before buses took them into the warmth and comfort of the terminal. Four minutes after the plane landed, all of LaGuardia Airport shut down to air traffic. One of its two runways -- the one not involved in the incident -- reopened a few hours later. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report. +(CNN)Wednesday's terrorist attack, which killed 23 people, hit Tunisia where it hurt by targeting its flourishing tourism industry. The deadly attack on the prominent Bardo Museum near Tunisia's parliament in the country's capital, Tunis, is the latest instance of an armed assault carried out by gunmen willing to fight to the death, a tactic that has been widely adopted by jihadist terrorists in recent years, including in North Africa. Such attacks mimic the 2008 Mumbai assaults in which 10 gunmen from Pakistan went on a rampage in the massive Indian port city. They took hostages and killed more than 160 people over a three-day period, in an attack that drew sustained global TV coverage. The gunmen attacked iconic Mumbai targets such as the Taj hotel, which is frequented by Westerners. The Mumbai gunmen embarked on their attack knowing that it was a "fedayeen" mission -- meaning "those who sacrifice themselves" -- and that they would probably fight to the death. Only one gunman survived. In this week's Tunisia attack, the gunmen took hostages, two gunmen died in the assault, and three survived and are being hunted by the Tunisian government. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said the attackers at the Bardo Museum had specifically targeted tourists to hurt the country's economy. This seems a likely outcome of the attack, as tourism is vital to Tunisia's economy, providing 15% of GDP. Tunisia is also the only country where the Arab Spring produced a successful, lasting democratic transition, making it attractive to tourists who are avoiding going to countries like Egypt, which did not weather the Arab Spring as well as Tunisia. Already, some tour companies are canceling excursions to Tunis. In January, in Tunisia's neighbor Libya, the local branch of ISIS mounted a similar attack on the upscale Corinthia Hotel in the capital, Tripoli. Two gunmen, one of them a Tunisian, killed 10 people, including an American. Both gunmen died in the attack. This attack served ISIS' purposes of sowing greater instability in Libya and expunging Western influence from the country, as the hotel was where many foreign businessmen stayed. A senior US official told one of us that the U.S. intelligence community estimates that jihadist terrorist groups such as ISIS now control a twelfth of the landmass of Libya, which is one of the largest countries on the African continent. This is a sobering finding for Tunisia, which had been largely immune from the kinds of terrorist attacks that have recently plagued Libya and other North African countries. While the museum attack in Tunisia and the hotel attack in Libya may help terrorist groups to achieve their strategic goals, more often than not, armed assaults by terrorists against so-called soft targets such as hotels, supermarkets and malls do not achieve much beyond the tactical successes of global news coverage and causing mayhem. In September 2013, Al-Shabaab, the Somali al Qaeda affiliate, killed 67 people in a fedayeen-style armed assault on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Four gunmen carried out the attack, which unspooled over a four-day period. The Westgate attack received much global news coverage and was designed to put pressure on the Kenyan government, which had sent troops to Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab. However, a year and a half after the attack on the mall, Al-Shabaab continues to lose territory in Somalia, and the Kenyan military has continued to battle the terrorist group. The plague of Mumbai-style armed assaults by jihadist terrorists is not confined to Africa. In January, Mumbai-style tactics were used in Paris when Cherif and Said Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly conducted armed assaults on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket over a three-day period. All three gunmen were killed. In a videotape, Coulibaly said ISIS inspired him. The Paris attacks received considerable coverage around the world but had no impact on France's willingness to continue its involvement in coalition airstrikes against ISIS. +(CNN)One-year-old Viktoria lives almost entirely in the dark. She was born in Donetsk, as the crisis in eastern Ukraine was taking hold last year. Now, she and her parents stay in a putrid cellar that also serves as a bomb shelter, on the outskirts of the city. They are usually packed in tight with dozens of other people. It takes torchlight to see their faces: children, women, men and the elderly, sitting in a sea of filth. There is no water and no toilet, just buckets overflowing in a space where people have to eat and sleep. This is the world Viktoria has experienced so far, the place where she is having to learn to talk and walk. It's an extraordinary contrast with just a few years before, when Donetsk was a thriving city that helped host the European Football Championship. Now the streets are empty and most of the shops are closed. The shelling is so incessant that our driver tells me it feels like having techno music playing constantly in the background. I hear a lot about the politics of the Ukraine conflict: which leader has said what to whom, the provenance of arms, the big picture. What is missing from the debate is the people -- it is ordinary citizens who are suffering the most. Behind the grand headlines, there are children in desperate need who are suffering now and who will continue to suffer the consequences of the crisis in years to come. Around 1.7 million children are affected by the conflict in Ukraine -- including more than a thousand who are seeking refuge in bomb shelters in Donetsk. These are not modern bunkers. They are freezing holes, normally in the cellar of a house, which are simply unfit for human habitation. If a building collapses in a bombing, everyone will be buried. That is why in Debaltseve, for example, aid organizations are bringing body bags with them. Children are unbelievably stressed. They have seen friends and relatives die. They are afraid to even step outside of the cellars, as they fear they will never come back. On a recent U.N. aid convoy into Donetsk, UNICEF delivered more than 27 metric tons of essential hygiene supplies, education kits and drinking water. We made sure we prioritized the neediest children -- those in underground bomb shelters as well as those who are living with disabilities, who have been orphaned or who are affected by HIV. But this is not the sort of childhood one would imagine for 21st century Ukraine. In a country where children are too often institutionalized, the ongoing crisis can only exacerbate the problem. Social systems are collapsing and children are bearing the brunt. In an orphanage for babies born to HIV-positive women, we found there were no tests to check if babies were HIV positive or not, let alone the necessary medication to treat them. These babies are in limbo -- nobody wants to adopt them and their status is not known. This area of Ukraine had one of the highest level of HIV before the conflict began. Now we just have no idea how bad the situation has become. Elsewhere, we found children in detention in Donetsk who hadn't seen relatives in more than a year. In a center for children with disabilities, mothers told us they had no insulin for their diabetic sons and daughters. We have to help these children now, but also plan for when the fighting stops -- people will need new homes, and we'll have to deal with unexploded ordnance and the terrible psychological damage on children, among other things. This is not a case of delivering aid now and that's the end of the story. We need to commit for the long term. Until then, though, the needs are huge and resources are scarce. In December, UNICEF called for additional support of $32.4 million to scale up its humanitarian response to address the urgent needs of children and families in conflict-affected areas in Ukraine. Today the needs are even greater. In the basement shelter, Viktoria's parents cradle her tightly. They ask me the same question again and again: "When will it all be over?" +(CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the Congress this week was as eagerly anticipated in Tehran as it was in Washington. The Iranian reaction to the speech has been a combination of indignation and indifference. While some of Netanyahu's remarks are already being exploited by competing factions within the Iranian state, the likeliest impact of the speech is tied to Netanyahu's baseless charge that Iran's vendetta against the Jewish people is an ancient mission. The earliest official reactions were predictably the most vigorous in denouncing Netanyahu's message to the American people. Ali Larijani, the powerful speaker of the Iranian parliament, painted Netanyahu as the leader of a "tin pot regime" that is not as concerned about Iran's nuclear program as it is of Tehran's growing regional influence. The hardline Kayhan newspaper, the key official outlet linked to the office of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the speech "trash talking" but it also made sure to use it an ammunition against its rivals in the moderate faction. The paper, skeptical of President Hassan Rouhani's nuclear negotiations with the Americans from the beginning, said Netanyahu's comments present an awkward truth for the pro-negotiation faction in Tehran: the Israeli leader and his American supporters are openly signaling the dispute with Iran can only be resolved once there is a change of regime there. Iranian media coverage of Netanyahu's speech mentioned the controversy in the U.S. around its timing but the hardline outlets warned against reading too much into it. As one hardline newspaper, Khorasan, put it, "although it is undeniable that Obama and Netanyahu disagree on Iran, the [recent] remarks of the two [leaders] shows that they both seek the same goal." The idea that the U.S. and Israel share the same strategic goal to rein in Iran but are in disagreement about how to achieve it is the cornerstone of the hardliners' stance in Tehran. The moderate outlets, supportive of President Rouhani, have put a different spin on Netanyahu's speech. Unlike the hardliners, they are not painting the Obama-Netanyahu fallout as some orchestrated good cop-bad cop ploy to maximize concessions from Tehran. Instead, they emphasize that there is a genuine difference in opinion between the U.S. and Israel. The moderate faction sees the controversy around Netanyahu's speech to the Congress and his failure to squeeze the Obama White House to toughen its negotiation terms with Tehran as an indication that Netanyahu is the one who is isolated. The hardliners and the moderates were in full agreement on one point, and that was the delight they shared about the absence of some 60 out of 232 Democratic members of the Congress from Netanyahu's speech. It is too early to gain a good insight into the reaction of ordinary Iranians to Netanyahu's speech. But one aspect of his speech is bound to create backlash among ordinary Iranians outside the corridors of the state: his invocation of festival of Purim, which commemorates the salvation of Jewish people in ancient Persia. The historic event is recorded in the Book of Esther but Netanyahu's characterization implied that the Persian people's history of anti-Semitism and the pursuit of agenda to destroy the Jewish people is an ancient mission. "Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us," Netanyahu said. With that line, he put the ruling Islamists in Tehran on par with ruling Persian empires that have come before them. As is already evident in the Persian-language social media, this will not go down well with ordinary Iranians, many of whom are not supporters of the Islamist system in Tehran and will resent the charge of eternal Persian anti-Semitism. They wish Netanyahu had made more effort to distinguish between the Islamist rulers in Tehran -- many of whom undoubtedly harbor anti-Semitic views -- and the people of Iran whose history with the Jewish nation is far more amicable than Netanyahu's portrayal of history suggests. What is more instantly measurable is the impact of Netanyahu's speech among officials in Tehran. The Iranian response to Netanyahu's speech to the Congress is best described as one that reflects the clash of visions between moderates and hardliners in the echelons of power. For the moderates, the controversy around his speech and the cold-shoulder Netanyahu got from the White House is itself a vindication of President Rouhani's gamble on reaching a diplomatic solution to Iran's 12-year nuclear saga. The hardliners have been quick to paint Netanyahu's visit to Washington as an example of the insincerity of the Americans in dealing with Iran, but not even the hawks in Tehran are claiming that Netanyahu's presence in the U.S. Congress is grounds to shift Iran's nuclear diplomatic strategy. +(CNN)The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was attacked in Seoul, and is in stable condition, receiving treatment at a local hospital, according to the U.S. embassy. According to Seoul police, Lippert was slashed on his right cheek and hand with a knife measuring about 10 inches long at 5:42 p.m. ET on Wednesday. A South Korean news agency reported that the suspect was opposed to the joint South Korea-U.S. military drills that launched earlier this week, but Seoul police said the motive for the attack and how it was organized are under investigation. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed the ambassador had been attacked while giving a speech in Seoul Thursday morning, and said that the South Korean embassy is coordinating with local law enforcement on the attack. "We strongly condemn this act of violence. The ambassador is being treated at a local hospital. His injuries are not life threatening," she said. South Korean president, Park Geun-hye condemned the attack: "This incident is not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador, but an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and it can never be tolerated." She pledged a "thorough investigation and strengthening" of protection. Lippert is a longtime friend and confidant of President Barack Obama, who has been a member of his inner circle since the President's time as senator. According to National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan, Obama called Lippert to wish him well. "The President called U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Mark Lippert, to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in his thoughts and prayers, and to wish him the very best for a speedy recovery," Meehan said in a statement. According to local police chief Yoon Myung-seon, the event was organized by the Korea Council For Reconciliation and Cooperation, and the suspect in the attack was a member of the council. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the suspect is a 55-year-old man with the last name "Kim," who authorities say was opposed to the joint South Korea-U.S. military drills that kicked off earlier this week. Yonhap reported that the suspect came up from behind, pushed Lippert down on a table and started attacking him. In July 2010, Kim received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese Ambassador to South Korea, Yonhap said. South Korea's YTN news channel reported that Lippert was about to deliver a speech at a breakfast being held at Sejong Hall in Seoul. The report says nothing specific about the attack, only that yelling was heard and then the bloodied ambassador was taken to the hospital. The suspect was reportedly detained and is currently under investigation. Lippert has been close to Obama ever since he arrived in the Senate in 2005. Lippert worked with Obama on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and traveled the world with the senator as he garnered the foreign policy experience that helped pave the way for his presidential campaign. When Obama declared he would run for president in the 2008 race, Lippert was by his side again, and was on the road with the candidate and ultimately served as the chief foreign policy adviser for the Obama campaign. In 2007, Lippert was deployed as a Naval Reserve Lieutenant to Iraq to work as an intelligence officer with Navy SEALS. A Wall Street Journal profile of the diplomat published that year detailed an anecdote in which Lippert received an email on his Blackberry from then-Sen. Obama which read, "I miss you, brother." Lippert's deployment was not without irony, because he was in Iraq at a time when his boss was actively campaigning against what he said was a "dumb war." After his deployment, Lippert returned to Washington and served as deputy national security adviser and chief of staff for the National Security Council in the Obama White House. In October 2009, however, he decided to return to active duty. He was deployed to Afghanistan and he also served as an intelligence officer for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group in Virginia Beach. "He is a close friend, and I admire and respect his devotion to our country and answering the call to active duty service," Obama said in a statement at the time. Lippert was nominated to be the top Asia policy official in the Pentagon in 2011, amid stories that he had clashed with former national security adviser, retired Gen. James Jones, while he served on the NSC. Bob Woodward reported in his book, "Obama's Wars," that Jones resented Lippert and another former Senate aide Denis McDonough, who later was to become White House chief of staff, referring to them as part of the "politburo" who he thought thwarted the effective framing of policy. Woodward reported in the book that Obama affectionately referred to the two close aides by the Dr. Seuss nickname of "Thing One and Thing Two." Obama nominated Lippert to serve as ambassador to South Korea last year. CNN's Barbara Starr, Jim Acosta and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report. +(CNN)The attack on Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, allegedly by a knife-wielding Korean progressive activist at a breakfast meeting in Seoul, was a rare and shocking reminder of the ongoing conflict that continues to divide the Korean Peninsula. Despite the ever-present backdrop of inter-Korean tensions, security in downtown Seoul is typically quite relaxed. But on Thursday morning local time, the alleged assailant, who has been tied to Korean nationalist and anti-U.S. protests, reportedly shouted his opposition to annual U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and called for Korean reunification as he cut the ambassador on the face and hand with a 10-inch knife. This breakfast meeting with Lippert was taking place at a building directly across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. And the scene was probably not too different from a similar breakfast meeting I attended with the ambassador at a downtown hotel only a week before the attack. Lippert moved freely without a security detail or security screenings at the entrance to the venue, and was accompanied by only one or two embassy staff. Indeed, even since 9/11, it is relatively easy to enter most large buildings in downtown Seoul, and security procedures have been generally perfunctory. In part this is because direct confrontations between South Korean citizens and U.S. government representatives in South Korea have been rare, and violent political attacks are unusual. True, there have been periodic group protests against the U.S. military presence in South Korea or against U.S. policy. But these protests have generally been conducted peacefully, a far cry from the environment of the 1980s, when pro-democracy protesters against a then-authoritarian South Korean government attacked and burned U.S. government facilities. Yet although downtown Seoul has been relatively safe and public security has often been lax, violent attacks on public figures in South Korea are in fact not unprecedented. The attack on Lippert brings to mind a May 2006 attack by a knife-wielding assailant on Park Geun-hye, South Korea's current President, while she was campaigning in local elections in Daejeon. (Her calm demeanor despite receiving a facial laceration contributed to her reputation as a politician and future President who is cool in the midst of a crisis.) The attack on Park wasn't the only time the dangers inherent in South Korea's lax security environment have been exposed: Back in 2008, a lone arsonist burned to the ground Seoul's unguarded Namdaemun, or South Gate, a South Korean cultural treasure. And of course, there is the backdrop of the ongoing inter-Korean confrontation, which plays out within Korean democracy in the form of a bitter confrontation between progressive and conservative factions. There is speculation that some members of South Korea's progressive movement have ties with North Korea, and some of them have allegedly been somewhat willing to foment violence to stir up conflict within South Korean society. Most recently, some members of South Korea's left-leaning United Progressive Party, which had won seats in South Korea's National Assembly, were disbarred and convicted of plotting a violent insurrection, leading to the dissolution of the party itself. And while this hard-core group represents a fringe element within South Korean society, it still remains active in part due to North Korean ideological and financial support. All this said, the overwhelming initial Korean public response to the attack on Lippert has been one of outrage, condemnation and sympathy. Indeed, far from revealing gaps in the U.S.-South Korea alliance or fomenting discord over whether joint military exercises should move forward, the incident is likely to strengthen South Korean feelings of support for the alliance with the United States. Still, the incident also serves as a reminder that even in the most seemingly safe and pro-American environments around the world, there is a risk that some zealous critics of U.S. policy may resort to violence against official U.S. representatives overseas. And that's especially so in regions such as the Korean Peninsula, where longstanding tensions still cast a shadow over security considerations. +(CNN)Warner Bros. has won a bidding war for the movie rights to "It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War," a memoir by Lynsey Addario. Jennifer Lawrence is attached to star in a package that also includes director Steven Spielberg and producer Andrew Lazar. See more Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films . Addario is a war photographer who has spent time in war zones ranging from Afghanistan to the Congo to Somalia. She is one of the few females in a predominantly male club and was also at one point kidnapped. Wynn Wygal, an exec at Lazar's Warners-based banner Mad Chance Productions, was instrumental in bringing in the book. This is the second major project to be thrown in development centering on a real-life figure to which Lawrence is attached. In January, she and her "Hunger Games" director Francis Lawrence boarded "The Dive", the true love story of Cuban diver Francisco 'Pipin' Ferreras and the French-born diver Audrey Mestre. Lawrence is currently shooting Joy, in which she portrays Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano. Spielberg, Lazar and Warners first teamed to make "American Sniper" before Spielberg left the project over budgetary concerns. This look at war will be a take two. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +Omaha, Nebraska (the Heartland Project)When Ryan Sallans, an activist in the Nebraska transgender community, first went to the doctor in 2005 to talk about what he medically needed to do for his gender transition, his doctor wanted to offer medical help. That was the good news. The disconcerting news was the doctor had to Google the issue first to figure out the best medical advice. "My provider just did a Web search to figure out what dose of hormones I should be on, and put me on the highest dose," Sallans said. That could have been a dangerous choice. "Starting too high of a dose too quickly can cause a lot of health problems, particularly to cardiovascular health." Fortunately, Sallans didn't have any health complications. But his experience left him with a mission. He volunteers to speak with medical institutions, as well as with businesses and colleges, to urge them to be more LGBT inclusive. While a growing number of medical schools are teaching future doctors how to address health concerns that can be specific to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, studies show current doctors only get about five hours of training, if they get any at all. The transgender life: What to know, say and understand . For members of the LGBT community who live in more rural and conservative areas like Nebraska, the struggle to get good, or at least up-to-date, medical care may be even more difficult. In general, legal protections and institutional supports for LGBT Nebraskans are already thin, spotty or nonexistent. On March 2, the United States District Court struck down Nebraska's ban on marriage for same-sex couples, but that ruling is on appeal. Then there were 12: Nebraska ordered to end same-sex marriage ban . Without the legal institution of marriage, LGBT Nebraskans typically lack family health benefits, unless their employers provide them to same-sex partners. A 2014 study from the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles found that states without LGBT legal protections in place see lower rates of health insurance coverage for LGBT residents than states with protections. That plays out in Nebraska. A 2014 study from researchers at the University of Nebraska Omaha found that LGBT residents in the rural parts of the state have lower rates of health insurance coverage than their counterparts in urban areas. Time to close HIV's racial disparities . Even when LGBT Nebraskans have health insurance, they struggle to find providers versed in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender heath care needs. Research shows that LGBT individuals often experience health issues linked to being regular targets of discrimination or social stigma. Discrimination has been linked to higher rates of substance abuse, suicide and stress-related illnesses, which can include heart problems, obesity, eating disorders and cancer. If the available doctors are not familiar with the increased rates of these issues, they may provide inadequate care. Patients who find their doctors do not understand their issues may also delay treatment, often with bad health outcomes, said Jay Irwin, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a researcher in LGBT health. Sometimes patients are turned away by providers who don't want to treat LGBT patients, particularly if there are no laws to prohibit such discrimination. Irwin has completed studies that focus on the health care challenges of lesbians in rural areas and found that many people feel isolated and are afraid to come out -- or risk discrimination in the medical office. Supreme Court same sex marriage decision could impact election . Nebraska's sheer size doesn't help. Sixteenth largest in the nation by geography, members of its LGBT community often live far from large cities with significant LGBT populations and with teaching hospitals with staff members who have experience working with members of that community. The Human Rights Campaign's 2014 Healthcare Equality Index named four Nebraska health care facilities, all in Omaha, as leaders in LGBT health care equality. Omaha is on the state's eastern border with Iowa. LGBT residents in western Nebraska -- for instance, places like North Platte -- have to travel 270 miles in either direction, to Omaha or Denver, Colorado, to reach facilities designated as leaders by the Human Rights Campaign. People who work within the health care system have seen some improvement when it comes to treating members of the LGBT community. Jill Young is the client services manager at Nebraska AIDS Project's Scottsbluff, Nebraska, office in the western part of the state. She recalled when she started working there in the late 1990s she saw medical staff refuse care to LGBT people with HIV/AIDS. HIV deaths among African-Americans drop 18%, CDC says . "We had nurses, for example, who said they wouldn't serve patients with HIV/AIDS," Young said. "But we've come a long way since then." Young has seen more hospitals in the region adopting policies that are supportive of LGBT residents, including one that just started recognizing same-sex partners' wills as legal documents that will allow them access to their partners when they are being cared for in areas restricted to immediate family only. But she said she still sees too many LGBT residents traveling great distances to get care and she still sees too many patients who don't seek medical care until it is too late. "We still go to the hospital," she said, "and see people who are days away from dying." Eric Yarwood, 44, has more experience than he would like with Nebraska's health care facilities. He spent over 100 days last year at hospitals in Omaha for complications related to germ cell cancer. He had nine rounds of chemotherapy, three stem cell transplants, his third surgery two weeks ago and five more days for followup last week. For all but four of the days he was in the hospital, his partner, Aaron Persen, 36, was at his side every evening. "Aaron and I are a unit," Yarwood said. "I can count on my fingers the number of times he didn't come." While the couple has found the overwhelming majority of physicians and medical staff to be "genuinely supportive" of their relationship, there still were a few instances when they felt uncomfortable and unaccepted, once with a physician and another time with a nurse. "I'm not sure how often the medical staff works with gay couples or receives training on how to work with gay couples," Yarwood said. Same-sex marriage fast facts . Yarwood's prognosis is good, and the couple looks with optimism to a future of having more access to LGBT-inclusive health care facilities and a more inclusive state overall. "Hopefully, by the time we get through the cancer and save a little money," Persen said, "Nebraska will follow most other states and allow our relationship to be legally recognized." +London (CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters are trying to create "an atmosphere of hysteria" and "fear-mongering," the Iranian foreign minister said Thursday. "The only explanation that you can have here is that some people consider peace and stability as an existential threat," Javad Zarif told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "Because a deal cannot be threatening to anybody unless you want conflict and tension and mistrust and crises." In a highly controversial speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that far from stopping Iran, the deal currently being negotiated in Switzerland would pave Iran's way to nuclear weapons. Zarif told Amanpour that Netanyahu's speech had "no effect on the negotiating table." He spoke from Montreux, Switzerland, where Iran, the U.S. and five other countries are trying to hammer out an agreement that would trade sanctions relief for guarantees on Iran's nuclear program. Zarif told Amanpour that he believed negotiators were "very close" to such a deal, but only if everybody avoided "the path of confrontation." "Everybody has to make tough choices. We have made the choice to engage in negotiations, although we believe that this entire exercise was unnecessary -- this was a manufactured crisis." "People have been predicting for the past 20 years that Iran was a year away from making a bomb, and that prediction has been proven wrong time and again," Zarif said. "But unfortunately that is a reality, that this hysteria that has been fanned continues to be fanned. And we try to resolve that problem." While the details of a definitive deal are still decidedly out of reach -- "I'm not prepared to negotiate on the air" -- Zarif told Amanpour that he had hope for a "win-win situation for all." "The object of this exercise is to ensure that Iran's nuclear program will always remain peaceful, and to remove all the restrictions that have been imposed on Iran, in our view unjustifiably," he said. "You can either have sanctions and continue to seek that path of confrontation, or try to resolve this issue through negotiations and through an agreement." As Iran negotiates its nuclear future, a war against ISIS is being waged in neighboring Iraq. Tehran has supplied the Baghdad government with advisers, weapons, and ammunition, and one of its top generals, Qassim Sulaimani, has been sent to the country, according to the semiofficial Iranian FARS news agency. The Pentagon has suggested that Iranians could themselves be participating in the fight, which Zarif denied. "We do not have forces on the ground in Iraq. We have always had advisers helping the Iraqi government and the Iraqi army," he said. "We were the first to come to the assistance of the Iraqis, both in Baghdad as well as in Irbil, when the ISIS started moving in in massive numbers last summer." "Everybody knows that without our assistance, things would have been different in Iraq," he added. "We hope that this could unite Iraqis." The United States, which also has military advisers in Iraq and has launched an air campaign against ISIS, adamantly denies that it coordinates with Iran in the fight against their common enemy. "This is a global threat," Zarif said. "You see the implications in Europe, you see the fact that they are recruiting from Europe. So this is a global problem, it requires global cooperation and global work." Full transcript of Amanpour's interview with Foreign Minister Zarif. +(CNN)Many years ago I performed at the Surf Ballroom, in Clear Lake, Iowa, which was the last stop on Buddy Holly's final tour. He was killed in a plane crash in 1959 that also took the lives of singers J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens. By this time, Buddy Holly and I had had a pretty long history together. The concert that I performed at had all the old members of his group. Donna, who Ritchie Valens wrote a song about, was also there. Peggy Sue, who Buddy Holly sang about, was there too. The Picks were there -- they sang background vocals on Buddy's records -- as well as singer Tommy Allsup, who claimed that years later he got his wallet back from the crash site. Unfortunately some fans at this show were selling crash-site photos, which I thought was in extremely bad taste. I think the prospect of the National Transportation Safety Board delving into the crash again, which might mean exhuming bodies and all the rest, would be in similarly bad taste. I think there's a reason we say, "rest in peace." Buddy Holly would have the same stature musically whether he would have lived or died, because of his accomplishments which, in retrospect, nobody -- and I mean nobody, not the Beatles the Rolling Stones or anyone else -- can beat, for these reasons: By the time he was 22 years old he had recorded some 50 tracks, most of which he had written himself and each of them, in my view and the view of many others, a hit. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the template for all the rock bands that followed. No rock 'n' roll records can touch songs like "Rave On," "Think it Over," "Not Fade Away," "Peggy Sue" and many, many more. He was also a sensitive, ballad composer and singer, which people often overlook, with songs like "Moondreams" and "True Love Ways," among many. As a paperboy, I cut open the stack of papers on February 3, 1959, and saw that Buddy Holly had been killed in the plane crash. The next day I went to school in shock, and guess what? Nobody cared. Rock 'n roll in those days was sort of like hula hoops and Buddy hadn't had a big hit on the charts since '57, nor had the others in the plane crash. Americans in those days were always looking ahead. Death was not lingered over. We'd had enough of that in World War II. Death and grief did not go with the exuberance and bright colors of the 1950s. Since then we have embarked on what I would call the "American death trip." One simply has to look at the slew of autopsy shows on television and the endless regurgitation of Marilyn, Elvis and JFK death details to get my point. Furthermore, because of the ever-growing psychological power of the media, we seem to think we can reach back half a century and touch things as if they are real. We live in a virtual nostalgic world because of this. Fortunately, Buddy Holly's music is forever young and all any young person has to do is listen to it and his life will be changed forever. +(CNN)Diplomacy can be dangerous. U.S. diplomats have come under attack in various places in the last few decades. Here's a look at U.S. diplomats who have been killed in the line of duty. The first U.S. ambassador assassinated while in office was John Gordon Mein, the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala. According to a telegram from the embassy in Guatemala City, a young man dressed in fatigues and carrying a sub-machine gun on August 28, 1968, ordered Mein's vehicle to stop and for the ambassador to get out. He did, then ran -- prompting a cry of "Shoot him, kill him." Mein was shot and fell to the ground about 12 yards behind his limousine. Cleo Noel Jr., the U.S. ambassador to Sudan, was nearing the end of a March 1973 reception in the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum when terrorists stormed in. The gunmen took Noel and another American, as well as diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Belgium and Jordan, according to a U.S. intelligence memo. The captors' demand: Free various people, mostly Palestinian guerillas, then imprisoned in Jordan, Israel and the United States. This spurred negotiations that didn't go anywhere, ending instead with the killing of Noel, fellow U.S. diplomat George Curtis Moore and Belgium's Charge d'Affaires. U.S. authorities say the assailants belonged to the Palestinian terrorist movement known as "Black September," claiming that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed off on the attack. Ambassador Rodger Davies, who had been in Cyprus for less than months, hunkered down in a hallway on August 19, 1974, hoping he was safe from those involved in a nearby demonstration. Instead, a bullet penetrated the embassy compound and struck his heart, killing him instantly. Antoinette Varnava, a 31-year-old local who was part of the small embassy staff for about a decade, also died in the violence. U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Francis Meloy, his economic counselor Robert O. Waring and their Lebanese driver disappeared in June 1976 as they crossed the Green Line, the division between Beirut's Christian and Muslim sectors. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found a short time later in mainly Muslim west Beirut, which was then controlled by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's guerrillas. Two former Muslim guerillas were convicted in the kidnapping and killings, only to be freed in 1996. About eight months after President Jimmy Carter appointed him as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs was taken from his car while heading home from the embassy. His captors took the Foreign Service veteran to the Hotel Kabul, where Dubs died in a shootout between captors and Afghan police -- a violent death that, whomever fired the fatal bullets, the U.S. State Department considers an assassination. A former eight-story hotel facing the sea transformed into America's embassy in Beirut turned into a war zone in April 1983, when a truck loaded with explosives was rammed into its entrance. The result was horrific. Offices were pancaked on top of each other, the elevator shaft and stairwell destroyed, the cafeteria full of bodies and rubble, recalled the then U.S. ambassador Robert Dillon, who himself was dug out of the rubble. While 44 people inside the embassy survived the blast, 17 Americans, 25 Foreign Service nationals, 10 contract workers and 10 visa applicants and passerby did not. In 2008, Dillon said the attack was believed to have been carried out by a family "under the direction of members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards." On August 7, 1998 -- around the exact same time a bomb went off at the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 11 -- a huge explosion tore through the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) lists eight people as having died in the attack on its memorial remembering Americans who died while serving the U.S. government abroad in a foreign affairs capacity. Twelve Americans total were killed. Those are both jarring numbers, but they're still a fraction of the more than 200 people total killed in the attack, in addition to more than 4,000 wounded. In May 2001, a U.S. jury found four purported al Qaeda members guilty on all charges stemming from the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. As his wife of 34 years looked on, Laurence Foley was shot dead outside his home in Amman, Jordan, by a lone gunman in December 2002. A public servant for close to 40 years, the Boston-born Foley was serving as executive officer of the USAID mission in Amman at the time. U.S. officials were quick to label Foley's killing a murder, with the head of the AFSA calling it a "brutal terrorist attack." They later implicated Iraqi-based terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for providing "financial and other support to the terrorists who assassinated" Foley. Exactly 11 years after the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania, terrorists struck at Americans again -- this time some 5,000 miles away in the Libyan city of Benghazi. That's where Ambassador Christopher Stevens was when mortar and rocket fire struck a U.S. diplomatic annex there. Stevens didn't survive, nor did State Department computer expert Sean Smith or Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, two former U.S. Navy SEALs then acting as security contractors. The attack was first portrayed as violence by an angry mob responding to a video made in the U.S. that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. But officials later determined that it was a terrorist attack. Anne Smedinghoff, a 25-year-old public diplomacy officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, was delivering books to a school in southern Afghanistan when a suicide bomber smashed into her convoy. She died in that April 2013 attack, as did four others. "We thought she was relatively safe in the embassy compound," her father Tom Smedinghoff told CNN. "But as it turned out, Anne really wanted to do a lot more." +(CNN)A Florida man arrested in the United Arab Emirates for comments he posted on Facebook said he's sorry for his remarks. "I said some pretty derogatory things that I do regret saying," Ryan Pate said. Pate, who is a helicopter mechanic for Global Aerospace Logistics, an aerospace company based in Abu Dhabi, was on vacation in Florida when he was notified by the company that there would be "steps taken against (him) due to a medical condition." The 30-year-old said he was on Facebook when he got the news that his pay would be suspended, so he immediately expressed his anger there. "I did slam them verbally," he said. "I called them backstabbers." Pate's fiancee, Jillian Cardoza, said it was the "perceived lack of sympathy from his company" that "embodied his comments that he made on Facebook." When Pate returned to the UAE in February, he was was arrested for "cyber slander against the UAE and his employers," U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Florida, said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry. "The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi is in contact with (Pate) and providing all possible consular assistance," State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said. Harf confirmed Pate was arrested on February 16 and was released on bail on February 24. Pate said he did not insult the UAE, the culture or Islam, but Cardoza said she understands her fiance's comments were still "offensive to not only the company he made them at, but in a larger sense the Arab population." "What I said was very wrong," Pate said, "I apologize for it." Pate said the prosecutor has told him that he faces a fine, possible prison time and deportation if convicted. "It really all rests on what the judge wants to do with with situation," Pate said. Pate's next court appearance is scheduled for March 17. CNN's Samira Said and Nick Salter contributed to this report. +London (CNN)Britain needs more women as spies -- and it could do worse than look to recruit them on popular parenting website Mumsnet. That's according to a report released Thursday by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee. The report recommends targeting women, including mothers and those who are middle-aged or mid-career, to help break through "the permafrost" of men in middle management "who have a very traditional male mentality and outlook." The idea that a new cohort of British spies could be signed up via Mumsnet, more usually associated with debates on pregnancy, childcare and homemaking, may surprise some. But lawmaker Hazel Blears, a committee member, said recruiting more women to the three intelligence and security agencies the committee oversees is a crucial way to change the intelligence agencies' sometimes hidebound culture. The current setup fosters "a management culture which rewards those who speak the loudest or are aggressive in pursuing their career and does not fully recognise the value of a more consultative, collaborative approach," she said. But women's life experience and other qualities should not be overlooked, she said. In a sign of the changing times, the latest film iteration of British spy James Bond has had a female boss -- "M," played by Judi Dench. But while women currently make up about 37% of the employees across the UK intelligence agencies, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee report, they make up fewer than one-fifth of those in senior roles. The recruiting idea has met with some amusement in the Mumsnet community. "If they need someone whose special skill is getting melted chocolate down her dog-haired jumper and not noticing, I'm their woman," posts one Mumsnet user. "I would LOVE to be a spy. Like actually LOVE it. And no one would suspect me. I am too boring and frumpy," writes another. A third, more skeptical, comments: "Yes, people who can't help but type their every passing thought into an online forum would make great spies." Besides using women-focused outlets like Mumsnet to reach a new pool of talent, the committee recommends certain steps to make working for MI5, MI6 and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) more tempting for women. These include offering better career management, encouraging women to set up their own informal support networks and not limiting their options if they have children. "Women who have successfully been filling operational roles mustn't be sidelined after they have children. They still have the first class skills that the Agencies helped them to build, so these should be used," Blears said. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright -- who similarly looked into the position of women in the CIA -- backed the UK report and what it said about the value of women in the intelligence agencies. "Diversity should be pursued -- not just on legal or ethical grounds, important as these are in their own right -- but because it will result in a better response to the range of threats that threaten national security," she said. +London (CNN)Mohammed Emwazi, the British-Kuwaiti ISIS fighter the world knows as "Jihadi John," was fuming with righteous indignation when he met with a representative of Cage Prisoners -- a Muslim advocacy group now known as CAGE -- shortly after being deported from Tanzania in August 2009. In a meeting recorded by the advocacy group, he claimed his plans for a safari vacation were ruined when he was detained at the airport and sent back first to Amsterdam and then to Dover, England, where he was subjected to several interrogations by British security officials. He said they accused him of traveling to Tanzania so he could link up with the terrorist group Al-Shabaab in neighboring Somalia and revealed they had been listening in on his phone conversations even before he made the trip. Emwazi said that during the questioning he denied any connection to extremism and stated that innocent people had been killed in the 2005 London transport system terrorist attacks and that the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States were wrong. Father: No proof my son is 'Jihadi John' But more than a dozen British administrative court documents obtained by CNN paint a very different picture of Emwazi and explain why he was on British security services' radar before he made the trip. The documents reveal British security services believed Emwazi was part of a radical West London recruitment network for terrorist groups in East Africa. Last week, two U.S. officials and two U.S. congressional sources confirmed to CNN that "Jihadi John" is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner. One figure in the group -- a 30-year-old British-Iranian identified only as "CE" who was allegedly trained by al Qaeda terrorists in Somalia in 2006 -- was later placed under a "control order," a British administrative measure to restrict the freedom of movement of terror suspects. A December 2011 court document pertaining to CE's case named Emwazi as part of his extremist network. According to the document, British Home Secretary Theresa May "maintained she has reasonable grounds for suspicion that since his return to the United Kingdom in February 2007, CE has continued to associate regularly with members of a network of United Kingdom and East African-based Islamist extremists which is involved in the provision of funds and equipment to Somalia for terrorism-related purposes and the facilitation of individuals' travel from the United Kingdom to Somalia to undertake terrorism-related activity. The Secretary of State maintains that members of the network include BX, J1, Mohammed Ezzouek, Hamza Chentouf, Mohammed Emwazi, Mohammed Mekki, Mohammed Miah, Ahmed Hagi, Amin Addala, Aydarus Elmi, Sammy Al-Nagheeb, Bilal Berjawi and others." Some of these men are now dead. Others are wanted. CE told British officials that Mekki and Emwazi often stopped by his wife's apartment. Several of the visits were in early 2011, according to the document. Many of the young men in this network grew up within a few blocks of Emwazi in West London. According to the court documents, security services believe five members of the group -- CE, Berjawi, BX, Ezzouek, Miah and Chentouf -- attended an al Qaeda training camp in Somalia in 2006 in which they may have been instructed in the use of explosives. The camp was run by two veteran al Qaeda operatives, Saleh Nabhan and Fazul Mohammed, who instructed the British group to return to the United Kingdom "to carry out facilitation activities and to recruit individuals to work on behalf of al Qaeda and/or Al-Shabaab," according to the British government. Nabhan and Fazul Mohammed were the most-wanted al Qaeda operatives in Africa and, according to a 2009 U.S. State Department cable, their training camps offered far more advanced instruction than that offered by Al-Shabaab. Nabhan, a Kenyan operative, was suspected of playing a key operational role in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998, as well as a bomb attack on a resort in Mombasa in 2002, and on the same day, a failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasa's airport. Fazul Mohammed, who was born on the Comoros Islands, was also suspected of playing a key role in the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998. He wrote in a 2009 memoir that Western recruits should be provided with training rather than instantly dispatched as suicide bombers within Somalia "to build sleeping cells around the world." Nabhan was killed in a U.S. Navy SEAL raid in September 2009 and Fazul Mohammed was killed in an ambush in Mogadishu in June 2011. Authorities recovered a document on a thumb drive found on his body -- probably authored by a British recruit -- proposing an attack on targets including Eton College and the five-star Dorchester and Ritz hotels in the United Kingdom, similar to the 2008 Mumbai, India, attacks that killed more than 160 people. The author proposed two months' training in Somalia for British and Western recruits selected for the attack, including target reconnaissance, hostage-taking, weapons and counter-surveillance. According to the court documents, at least one member of Emwazi's circle -- J1, a 36-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker to the United Kingdom -- had links to the al Qaeda cell that attempted to bomb the London transport system on July 21, 2005, two weeks after bomb blasts on London Underground trains and buses killed 52 people and wounded 770. According to the British government, J1, a Christian convert to Islam known in Islamist circles as Abdul Shakur, contacted bomber Hussain Osman by phone on the morning of the July 21 attempted attack. In October 2009, two months after Emwazi's alleged aborted attempt to wage jihad possibly in Somalia, three members of his west London network -- Bilal Berjawi, Mohammed Sakr and Walla Eldin Rahman -- traveled to join the terrorist group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, according to the documents. British security officials estimate that a total of more than 100 British extremists traveled to join the group, according to published reports. The Lebanese-born Berjawi, from St. John's Wood in West London, swiftly rose to a senior position in Al-Shabaab and likely continued to work closely with the senior al Qaeda operative Fazul Mohammed, according to a profile by Raffaello Pantucci, the director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute. According to the UK court documents, Berjawi remained in contact with the radical network he and Emwazi belonged to in the United Kingdom while in Somalia. Berjawi and Sakr were killed in U.S. drone strikes in early 2012. It is possible one of them authored the blueprint for attacks on luxury London hotels found on Fazul Mohammed's body in Mogadishu the previous year. By 2013, Emwazi's West London radical network had a new cause célèbre: the jihad against the Assad regime in Syria. Drone strikes and infighting in Al-Shabaab had made life increasingly difficult for foreign fighters in Somalia. Two members of Emwazi's network managed to leave Britain despite being under "terrorism prevention and investigation measures" (TPIMs), which means the monitoring of terror suspects who can't be charged. Their current whereabouts are unknown, but one possibility is that they traveled to Syria. TPIMs were introduced by the British coalition government in 2012 to replace the previous control order system. According to Robin Simcox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society who has conducted extensive research on control orders, the new system removed authorities' power to relocate terror suspects, making it easier for them to re-engage with their radical networks. Both of Emwazi's associates moved back to London and then fled the country. Ibrahim Magag -- a British-Somali man previously identified as "BX" under the control order regime -- fled in December 2012 after using scissors to cut through the strap of his GPS location monitoring device. British authorities believe he hailed a London taxi, and disappeared. He had previously attended the training camp run by the senior al Qaeda operatives Nabhan and Fazul Mohammed in Somalia in 2006 and was involved in fund-raising for al Qaeda in East Africa, according to the court documents. In 2010, prior to the introduction of TPIMs, a British judge had ruled he was "too dangerous to allow him to be in London for even a short period." Nevertheless, the British secretary of state wrote in court documents that "Magag is not considered to represent a direct threat to the British public. The TPIMs notice in this case was intended primarily to prevent fund-raising and overseas travel." His whereabouts today? Unknown. Mohammed Mohamed -- a Somali-born radical previously identified as "CC" -- went on the run in November 2013 after entering a west London mosque and removing his GPS monitoring device. Security cameras captured him leaving the mosque, disguised as a woman wearing a burqa. In 2008, Mohamed had traveled to Somalia, where Al-Shabaab provided him terrorist training. He was detained in Somaliland in 2011 and deported to the UK. According to the court documents, he was involved in facilitating travel for others to Somalia and fund-raising for Al-Shabaab, and was planning attacks potentially against Western interests in Somaliland before his arrest. He remains wanted by British security. It's unknown if Magag or Mohamed rekindled their ties with Emwazi in London before leaving the country. In 2013, Emwazi himself traveled to Syria, joined ISIS, and began guarding Western hostages. In August 2014 he was dubbed "Jihadi John" -- the menacing, taunting, hooded face of ISIS -- when he orchestrated the brutal beheading of American journalist James Foley, the first of many victims murdered on camera. +(CNN)How do Republicans try to breathe new life into an old scandal? We've seen it time and time again. Here's how it works: . Step One: Republicans, with nothing in their arsenal to use against Hillary Clinton, selectively leak to reporters a "scandalous" tidbit -- often one that has been previously reported. Step Two: The new media bites. Step Three: The media hyperventilates and suffocates the airwaves with repetition of the same story. Step Four: Upon further examination, the story falls apart. This is exactly how the latest media hype, this time over Hillary Clinton's use of emails at the State Department, has played out. And it presents yet another chapter in the Benghazi hoax. The New York Times story about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account at the State Department is a perfect example of "gotcha" journalism, where reporters will take any bait the Republicans give them without proper vetting. The New York Times has a history of this. (Whitewater, anyone?) The Times story suggests Secretary Clinton broke federal rules in relation to her email. But the Times' main source for this allegation says Clinton violated no laws. Yes, Clinton used a private email account to communicate while she was secretary of state. But so did secretaries of state before her. According to the State Department spokesman Marie Harf, John Kerry is the first secretary of state ever to rely primarily on official State Department email. Clinton asks State to release emails: What you need to know . In October 2014, 18 months after Clinton left, the State Department was engaged in the process of updating its records preservation policies. The State Department asked every secretary of state dating back to Madeleine Albright to provide records, including emails, from their time in office. Clinton responded to the State Department's request for emails, providing the department with over 55,000 pages of emails. She did so months ago. Clinton has been fully transparent and has asked the State Department for these emails to be made public. Republican investigators seeking to hype the current Benghazi investigation leaked the issue to keep a dying investigation alive. And once again, reporters bit. In the days since The New York Times posted its story, there have been dozens and dozens of stories written on the topic. Why? Because the Clintons are held to a double standard when it comes to media scrutiny. Their perfectly usual, above board behavior is spun as secretive and unaccountable -- while Republicans are left relatively unscathed. Mitt Romney used his private email account to discuss political business, and when he left the governor's office, his administration destroyed records rather than turn them over to state archives. Scott Walker's County Executive's office used a secret email system, which investigators determined was being used to engage in campaign work on county time and to avoid public records disclosure laws. Mike Huckabee's office had files, including emails, cleaned and physically destroyed, including "travel records, calendars, call logs, and emails." Why hasn't their behavior been scrutinized over and over again? Because their last name isn't Clinton. In the end, all we are left with is the benign fact that Hillary Clinton used a personal email account at the State Department. This isn't even a revelation -- it has been known for years. Looks like the Republicans wasted their breath, once again, for nothing. +(CNN)Don't bogart that spoon, man. Lemme get a hit off that cone, dude. Pass the bowl ... of ice cream? Could Ben and Jerry's, the counterculture snack empire gone mainstream, be planning a marijuana-infused ice cream? "Makes sense to me. You know, combine your pleasures," co-founder Ben Cohen said in an interview with HuffPost Live that's been buzzing among marijuana aficionados since it aired last month. Like attitudes about marijuana itself, the story went mainstream this week. It makes some sense. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield noted that the duo has some experience with, uh, substances. And the company already gives a nod to the marijuana culture with flavor names such as "Half Baked." Marijuana is becoming more mainstream, too. Four states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and attitudes nationwide have been changing in favor of pot, which remains banned by federal law. In January 2014, a CNN/ORC poll found that 55% of Americans favored the legalization of marijuana. Only 16% thought that in 1987, CNN reported at the time. In Colorado, where recreational marijuana use is legal under state law, edibles containing weed now make up nearly half the market for pot products, according to the Denver Post. Alas, pot fans, Cohen and Greenfield no longer control the company. They sold it to Unilever Inc. for $326 million in 2000. "If It were my decision, I'd be doing it," Greenfield told HuffPost Live. "But fortunately, we have wiser heads at the company that figure those things out." A spokeswoman for the company told AdWeek magazine that there aren't any current plans for pot ice cream, but she left the door open to the possibility. "Ben & Jerry's hasn't given serious consideration to the possibility of cannabis-infused ice cream," spokeswoman Kelly Mohr told AdWeek. "Perhaps it's high time." Of course, all this does make you wonder: What would you munch on if you got the munchies from a bowl of Ben & Jerry's? Is weed legal in your state? CNN's Lisa Respers France contributed to this report. +(CNN)All you need is luck, to misquote one of Liverpool's most famous exports, The Beatles. But Liverpool's footballers won't mind one bit that a fortunate goal sealed a vital win at Swansea to set up a pivotal clash with Manchester United at the weekend. One of English soccer's biggest rivalries is renewed on Sunday with vital points at stake in the race for a place in next season's European Champions League. Jordan Henderson knew little about his winner in Wales, the ball flying in after Jordi Amat's clearance struck him, but it helped make it seven wins out of eight for the Reds. A sixth consecutive clean sheet away from home pulled it within two points of Manchester United in fourth, with just four points separating Liverpool from Manchester City in second. "It's a great result," Henderson told Sky Sports. "The first half was disappointing but I felt as though we did better in second half, passed the ball and created a few chances. "It was a great pass by Daniel, I got a little fortunate with the finish but you've got to be in the right position to score. "Overall we're delighted with three points and we now look forward to Sunday. We can't wait for it, we are high on confidence and have great momentum but United played well the other day. "It'll be a tough one but at Anfield we go in confident and hopefully we'll get the result we need." In a lackluster start, Daniel Sturridge dragged a shot wide of post for Liverpool before England international Adam Lallana fired a fierce half-volley right at Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. From then on Swansea asserted control. Martin Skrtel had to be alert to clear as Swansea's French striker Bafetimbi Gomis -- starting for the first time since collapsing on the pitch at Tottenham earlier this month -- headed at goal. Gomis then played a neat one-two with Wayne Routledge before forcing Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet into a fine low save. Next to threaten Liverpool's net was Iceland international Gylfi Sigurdsson, whose effort was arrowing for the top corner before Mignolet intervened. Just before halftime Jonjo Shelvey, a former Liverpool player, went close with a shot from a right wing corner that was deflected wide by Alberto Moreno. But having had a chance to regroup, Liverpool came out galvanized after the break and were soon on the front foot. First Fabianski made a brilliant save to keep out Philippe Coutinho's near post effort before the Pole was then in action again to deny Joe Allen. Though Liverpool were in the ascendency, its opening goal was down to a stroke of luck. As Henderson galloped onto a through ball Swansea's Spanish defender Amat got there first, but his clearance ricocheted off the Liverpool player and into the net past Fabianski. From then on Liverpool did a fine job of squeezing the life out of the game and playing on the counter, striker Daniel Sturridge hitting the post late on as Swansea left gaps at the back. Reading seal Wembley berth . In the FA Cup -- England's premier cup competition -- second tier Reading sealed a trip to Wembley to face Arsenal in the final four after beating Bradford 3-0. Goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Garath McCleary inside nine minutes punished third tier Bradford, before Jamie Mackie added a third in the closing stages. Reading will face Arsenal in April while the other semifinal sees Aston Villa play either Liverpool or Blackburn, who meet in a replay. +Boston (CNN)She knew something awful had happened. It was smoky and all she could hear were muffled screams. Her foot was turned sideways and her legs wouldn't work right. And her good friend, Krystle Campbell, was just lying there on the ground. Karen Rand -- she's Karen McWatters now -- dragged herself across the pavement. She wanted to get closer to Krystle so they could talk and take comfort from each other in the midst of so much chaos. "I got close to her, " she recalled. "For some reason, I got close to her head and we put our faces together." Krystle said that her legs hurt. They were the last words she'd speak. The two women held hands until Krystle's went limp. McWatters was the fifth witness of the first day of the terror trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of detonating pressure cooker bombs with his brother to punish the United States for policies they believe inflict suffering on Muslims. Three people were killed in the blasts: Campbell, a 29-year-old manager for a restaurant chain; Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy; and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old grad student. More than 250 others were injured. And the first day of the trial -- after opening statements -- revolved around a number of survivors of the attack, who recounted in detail the chaos of that day. Prosecutors called them to the stand to paint a picture of the havoc and pain the bombings inflicted. Tsarnaev's attorneys chose not to cross-examine any of the survivors. McWatters fought her emotions as she looked at a photograph that showed her and her friend of eight years lying amid a heap of dazed and broken people. Their two faces, side by side, stand out among the jumble of limbs. Krystle's mouth is open, but she is very pale. "I was really scared," McWatters testified, "and I remember screaming for someone to help us. Everybody was screaming, everybody was screaming for help. It seemed like a long time before help got to us, but it probably wasn't." By the time first responders reached Krystle, it was too late. "They were doing CPR on Krystle and I started to think she didn't make it," McWatters said. She grabbed her friend's cell phone and tucked it in her pocket. By the time she arrived at the hospital, shock had set in. She was confused. For a while, that phone led hospital staffers to believe she was Krystle Campbell. When Krystle's parents rushed to her bedside and saw she wasn't their daughter, they were heartbroken, McWatters said. Krystle's boyfriend recognized her and called her parents. Two days later, doctors told her they were taking her leg. Her body was broken, and it hurt like crazy, she said. But not as much as losing her friend. Campbell's death was the first to be described in detail at Tsarnaev's trial. But descriptions of the other two deaths at the marathon and the death of a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will come soon. There were runners conquering a 26.2-mile feat nearby, but Noah's attention was elsewhere, playing with rocks and pretending to be a scientist. The 5-year-old thought it was a very cool idea to handle the rocks, his mother, Rebekah Gregory, told jurors. Gregory recalled that she thought it lucky that Noah was happy playing scientist. The next thing she remembers is being hoisted and thrown back. Other witnesses used similar phrases: Blown through the air, deafening explosion, cries for help. Shane O'Hara, the manager at Marathon Sports, a running store near where the bombs went off, said it sounded like a loud cannon, followed by an instant cloud of smoke that covered the windows. O'Hara recalled stepping outside to the smell of gunpowder and burning hair. The decisions about whom to aid first -- those among the injured needing help before others -- still haunts him, he said. There were cries, sirens and screams, he said in answer to prosecutors' questions. He sniffled as a photo of the blown-out storefront was shown in the courtroom. He told the jury the plea he heard: "Stay with me, stay with me." Outside, Gregory tried to sit up, but could not rise much. "My first instinct as a mother was where in the world was my baby, where was my son," Gregory said. She couldn't see her legs, but she saw her bones lying next to her on the sidewalk, she testified. "At that point I thought that was the day I would die," she said. Gregory lifted her arms and her bones were sticking out of her flesh. Somehow, over the cacophony, she heard Noah calling for her. She wasn't imagining it. Colton Kilgore, who was also part of Gregory's group and another of Wednesday's witnesses, remembered the terrified boy looking for his mother. Boston Marathon bombing timeline . The day's testimony was dramatic and emotional, most likely as the prosecutors wanted it. Anyone who follows the news has seen footage of the bombings and read accounts of what happened. The power of the survivors' testimonies in the courtroom was in the details that made what some would call an unimaginable crime into something very real. They shared small memories, like what people said in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Gregory told the jury about how she knew Noah was being cared for. Then she focused on the tourniquet that was being twisted on her leg by aid-givers. "We have an amputee," she saw one of them mouth. What they told her aloud was something along the lines of "This is really, really bad, but we will help you." Another survivor, Sydney Corcoran, testified that after the blasts -- which left her ears ringing "just like leaving a concert" -- she was hurt but didn't know that she was severely injured. She limped to a railing, grabbed it, and passed out, she said. Eyes open again shortly afterward, she found herself on her back, with a group of men applying pressure on her thigh, trying to figure out where she was bleeding. "I remember a man putting his forehead to my head and telling me I'd be all right," she said. Corcoran was a senior in high school. After the one man told her she would be OK, another said he could see her eyes going white. "I could feel my body going tingly and I was getting increasingly cold. I knew I was dying," she testified. In court, she was asked if she knew why she was feeling cold. "I was dying. The blood was leaving my body. I was bleeding out," she answered. It felt like she was sliding into sleep. Almost peaceful, Corcoran said. Like she was going to go to sleep and fade away. Doctors saved the teen, but her life was not spared the pain of the attack. Corcoran awoke in a hospital and saw her father, she testified. Because she was intubated, she motioned for a pen and a paper and wrote a question for her father. Was her mother alive? "Once he looked at what I'd written he started to cry," Corcoran told jurors. The father responded: "She's OK, but her legs are gone." CNN's Ann O'Neill reported from Boston. CNN's Mariano Castillo reported from Atlanta. CNN's Sonia Moghe contributed to this report. +Hong Kong (CNN)Disgraced former People's Liberation Army (PLA) general Xu Caihou has died of bladder cancer, Chinese state media has reported. He was 71. Xu, who passed away at a hospital on Sunday, became one of the highest-profile figures in China's military to be caught up in President Xi Jinping's war on corruption last year, when the government launched an investigation into him on the back of bribery allegations. The court decided not to prosecute Xu due to his illness, but said his illegal income, including the bribes he was determined to have accepted would be handled in accordance with the law. Formerly a vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, the body which runs the two-million strong PLA, Xu was also expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and had his rank of general revoked, according to a statement from the state-run Xinhua news agency. A seven-month investigation, which began in March last year, found that Xu took advantage of his position to assist the promotion of other people. He confessed to accepting bribes personally and through his family. He was also found to have sought profits for others in exchange for bribes taken through his family members. The amount he received was "extremely huge," the statement added. In Chinese President Xi Jinping's annual New Year speech, he reiterated China's "zero-tolerance" stance towards corruption, vowing to keep "waving high the sword against corruption" and "fastening the cage of regulations." 2014 saw Xi take down two top officials in China's fight against corruption, in addition to Xu. He took down former domestic security czar Zhou Yongkang, likely soon to become the most senior Chinese official ever to face corruption charges, and Ling Jihua, a top aide to ex-President Hu Jintao. State media have touted the trio as the three biggest "tigers" caught in Xi's now-two year old anti-graft campaign, which has a stated goal of targeting both "tigers and flies" -- high-and low-ranking officials. +Orlando, Florida (CNN)Kaka grins as he recalls being mobbed by a boisterous crowd chanting his name at a Florida airport arrivals hall in the early summer of 2014. "It was very nice ... a good surprise for me," he said, wistfully casting his mind back to images of football fans waving flags and hollering his name. The graceful Brazilian midfielder once of Sao Paulo, AC Milan and Real Madrid has become used to such fevered adulation over the years. A glittering decade playing in Europe brought Champions Leagues, Scudettos,La Liga titles and, of course, a devoted following. But it wasn't the loyal apostles of Madrid's Ultras Sur, the Curva Sud Milano or even his compatriots in the unmistakeable yellow of A Selecao with whom he won a World Cup in 2002 that provided the heroes welcome in question. Instead it was a passionate crowd festooned in the less heralded purple and white of Orlando City, one of the newest franchises in Major League Soccer. Only founded in 2010, the team will make its MLS bow this week. But interest was high that a former Ballon d'Or winner would be coming to play his football in a place more commonly associated with Disney World and Universal Studios. Local news stations carried live pictures of Kaka's plane touching down. Leaving the airport to officially sign his contract even became a mission in itself, so keen were the Orlando natives to get a glimpse of their first designated signing. "When I arrived in the airport, this crowd (was) singing the team songs, singing my name. Also (at) my presentation downtown, I was very, very happy," Kaka said. "Now, the city is start(ing) to enjoy this moment and everybody's looking forward to our, first game on March 8." Such frenzied devotion in the U.S., so long resistant to the charms of the world's most popular sport, may seem strange to fans in Europe and South America, football's historical and cultural heartlands. The MLS is now approaching its 20th season but has long been pejoratively regarded outside North America as a retirement home for once top-level players -- a plastic, commercially driven product devoid of any real identity offering one last payday before the limbs give out. Aged 32 and no doubt the recipient of a handsome remuneration package, there will be many who question whether Kaka is merely jetting in to boost his bank balance before calling it a day. Relaxed and polite as ever, Kaka himself is having none of this. In all honesty, it's hard to imagine a man as conscientious and clearly committed to his faith moving anywhere solely for the money. There was once a time when every Kaka goal resulted in a lifting of his jersey to reveal a T-shirt which stated "Jesus loves you" or "I belong to Jesus." These days, the celebration of choice is usually the upward point and grateful look to the heavens. "In every moment of my life, not just on the field, but also off the field, my faith, Jesus Christ and the bible helped me a lot. "So every time that I can I do my prayer, I read the bible, go to the church. These things help me a lot to stay in good peace on my mind." His faith was never more important than as an 18-year-old in Sao Paulo when he suffered a serious neck injury. "All the doctors said look you are lucky to walk in this moment, so you need to be happy you can walk," he said. "And my question was 'but I can play?' Everybody said 'we don't know, we have to wait.' So, in that moment, the faith helped me a lot. "God always supported me at every moment and after two months I start to play as a professional player. It was a very important moment of my life." Talking of moments, Kaka describes how moving to the U.S. was always a long-term ambition. Upon meeting Orlando City majority owner Flavio Augusto da Silva in Brazil a number of years ago, the pair discussed the potential of working together. Moves to LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls were mooted in the interim but never materialized for various reasons. It was then the Orlando opportunity arose which he was only too happy to take. Kaka points to other high-profile players like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco being attracted to the league as proof of its appeal and progress. "There's a lot of good players that could have another team in Europe but they chose to come here. I think it's a good moment to be in this league. In a few years, we will listen a lot about the MLS," he said. He might just have a point. The forthcoming MLS season marks the first of a new eight-year TV deal and media rights partnership with ESPN, FOX Sports and Univision. On top of this, average attendance across the league for the 2014 season was the highest in recent MLS history, according to data on the MLS Attendance blog. Yet questions remain over the long-term profitability of some teams. A report from Forbes magazine in late 2013 found only 10 out of 19 MLS franchises were making any money. Critics might also argue that the players mentioned by Kaka are past their very best with the possible exception of the 28-year-old Giovinco. Unsurprisingly, the former FIFA World Player of the Year doesn't see it that we way. He reveals he still harbors ambitions of continuing his international career and even making the World Cup in Russia 2018. Last October saw a surprise recall under returning Brazil manager, Dunga. "I have a three-year contract with Orlando, and at least these three. In four years, we have another World Cup," said Kaka, who will be 36 in 2018. " If I feel good and Brazil needs me (it) will be a good way to stop playing. So I hope I can play another World Cup." Just mentioning the World Cup in the presence of a Brazilian can be tense after the trauma of last year's incredible semifinal in Belo Horizonte. The 7-1 home-turf mauling at the hands of eventual winners Germany was variously described in the unforgiving Brazilian press at the time as "an historic humiliation" and the "humiliation of all humiliations." Never before has a Brazilian side looked so inept, so fragile, so lacking in class, flair or bereft of that ephemeral quality known locally as "joga bonito." "That was very hard for us," said Kaka even though he wasn't selected for the tournament. "That defeat in our country, in the semifinal World Cup it's very, very difficult. But I think we can use this to change some in the Brazilian football. "A lot of players play outside (of Brazil). Most of them play in Europe, but we have to change something organization in the soccer in Brazil. "For me, the most important thing is the organization and the calendar. It's a lot of games, so the players can't play every game in a good shape. "The level is a little bit down in this moment. Also, the youth team is not what (we're) used to being in Brazil, so we need to wake up." Kaka hopes that many of his compatriots will keep up with the MLS and his career in Orlando now that he's exhibiting his much admired talents there. "We have a Facebook page in Brazil, Orlando City Brazil, and a lot of fans (are) enjoying the page. A lot of Brazilians are looking here now," he said. "I think this season will be great for us in Brazil. A lot of people will see the Orlando City playing in MLS." And despite earlier talk of an extended international career and making World Cup 2018, there really is only one goal at the forefront of his mind. "My goal is always to win. I hope one day I can win the league with Orlando City," he said. "For this year, probably we want to arrive in the playoffs. Let's put the target a little bit down, but I still have ... this goal that we can win the league one day." +Moscow (CNN)Ever since Vladimir Putin came to power, there have been killings of politicians, of human rights activists, of journalists. Boris Nemtsov, one of Russia's most prominent opposition figures, is only the latest victim. The key thing all these crimes have in common is that none of them get properly resolved. Of course, the Kremlin will issue condemnation and condolences, as it has done over the assassination of Nemtsov. But the killers and the people who ordered the killings don't usually end up facing justice -- and if you are an opposition politician in Russia, or a human rights activist, or a journalist, you will know this. If the dangers weren't clear enough, the circumstances of the most recent killing are a stark reminder. It was late Friday night. Boris Nemtsov and his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya, a Ukrainian model, had eaten dinner at plush restaurant on Red Square. Afterwards, despite the chilly weather, they decided to walk back to his apartment, perhaps to take in the stunning views. The Kremlin looks spectacular at night. It was on this short journey, in the heart of Moscow, that the gunman struck, leaving Nemtsov dead within sight of the red Kremlin walls -- walls which, by the way, bristle with security cameras. In the days since, thousands have made pilgrimage to the place where the outspoken Putin critic was shot to pay their respects, leaving a mountain of flowers and personal messages. An opposition rally on Sunday, which Nemtsov was meant to lead, was canceled and replaced with a mourning march past the crime scene. It was the biggest pro-opposition rally in the Russian capital for years. But few who took part could have missed the symbolism, the real message the killers -- whoever they are -- sent by gunning down such a prominent Kremlin critic in the shadow of its towering walls. It's this: if you oppose the Kremlin, if you criticize its power, if you stand for greater democracy and reform, as Boris Nemtsov did, this could happen to you too. It's hard to predict what impact this message will have. "Yet another terrible page has been turned in the history we all share," wrote Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the once-jailed oligarch-turned Kremlin critic now in exile. "What the next page holds is up to each and every one of us," he said, commenting on the death of Nemtsov. The statement was issued under the banner "We Are Not Afraid". But many Russians I've spoken to since the killing are, in fact, very afraid. And while the hope among opposition activists is that Nemtsov's killing may at least invigorate their ranks, one very real possibility is that it will do the exact opposite: further silence an already very quiet minority opposed to the rule of Vladimir Putin. +Atlanta (CNN)A suburban Atlanta police officer is dead after an apparent ambush, while his colleague's life was spared by his radio. Fulton County Police officer Terence Green, 48, was killed Wednesday in Fairburn, Georgia. A second officer was shot in the hip, but suffered no injuries. "It was actually his radio -- the bullet went through -- the radio saved him. It penetrated the radio," said Fulton Police Chief Cassandra Jones. The incident occurred when police were searching a neighborhood after reports of gunfire from the home of Amanuel Menghesha, 42. Menghesha allegedly fired at the officers without warning, authorities said. He "appeared to have gone on a rampage," said Fulton County Assistant Chief Gary Stiles, who described it as an "ambush." Police said the officers were shot with an "assault style rifle." Menghesha was then shot by other officers. Green was shot in the head and died at a local hospital. The suspect was transported to the same hospital, but his injuries do not appear to be life threatening. Charges are pending. The suspect was known to police, and had "violent tendencies," Jones said. Police say weather and poor visibility also played a factor. There was dense fog in the area at the time of the incident. "This is a call that I pray every night, every day, 10 times a day that I never get. And when you get it, you're not ready for it, but you have to lead and you have to go on because you have to stand there and be that strength for your officers, but it's one that you just can't even imagine," Jones said in a news conference. "It's like losing a child because they're all my children." Green, a 22 year veteran of the police force, is survived by his parents, brother and four sons. CNN's Melanie Whitley contributed to this report . +(CNN)Back in 2010 Britain's politicians broke new ground. They were long used to haranguing each other in the UK's rowdy House of Commons -- but they'd never had American style pre-election head-to-head debates. It is necessary and long-established political fare in the U.S. -- but over here in the UK, it was novel. It seemed to go well -- political points were scored, and polls were commissioned looking for advantages gained or lost. It was a drama of sorts, even though no knock-out punches were landed. Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative party won the election, but not by enough to go into government alone. For the past five years he's been governing in coalition with the UK's third party, the Liberal Democrats. And their leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, has mostly backed Cameron in Parliamentary debates against the opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband. Britain's broadcasters, keen to channel lively politics onto prime time TV and boost ratings, have been working the corridors of power themselves over the past year to try to nail down a repeat -- or two -- of the 2010 knockabout. What's at stake isn't just the proposed debates ahead of May's general election -- but the enshrining of such debates permanently into Britain's political architecture -- just like in the U.S. But while Cameron and Miliband have hired former White House election advisers to edge them in to the lead, no one can agree on what form a debate should take, how many there should be, or even who should be invited. Cameron has insisted on just one debate involving the leaders of seven leading UK parties -- giving equal airtime to the Greens, the Scottish Nationalists and the upstart rightwing UK Independence Party (UKIP), among others. But Miliband's Labour party is holding out for at least one head-to-head debate with Cameron. No one seems to be budging but both of the UK's largest parties could use the bump in the polls such a debate might bring. Part of the problem is the British electorate, which has changed since 2010, boosting the fortunes of some of the country's former political outliers. The rightwing UKIP, which has pledged to take the UK out of the European Union, has made massive gains in the past year -- mostly at the expense of Cameron's Conservatives. In Scotland, the September independence referendum (which narrowly failed) so reinvigorated the Scottish National Party that they could hit what is usually a key Labour stronghold, undermining Miliband's bid for power. All of this has made the whole process of nailing down precisely who will be allowed in the debate that much more tortuous. For the big leaders who drive that conversation, it is about how each outlier can help them -- and hinder their rivals. It once looked like it would become as much of a British institution as rain, or fish and chips, but now the election debate seems in danger of not happening at all. On the upside, you can still tune in to House of Commons TV most days of the week to get your fix of one lawmaker bellowing at another. But do it soon -- I hear that even those everyday raucous exchanges are being scrutinized for being a bit old-fashioned. +(CNN)Daniel von Bargen, the talented character actor perhaps best known for playing George Costanza's imbecilic boss Mr. Kruger during the last season of "Seinfeld," has died. He was 64. Von Bargen, who also stood out as Commandant Edwin Spangler on the ABC sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle," died Sunday after a long illness, his friend, actor Bob Colonna, said. Cincinnati TV station WLWT also reported the news. Other details of his death were not known. In February 2012, von Bargen was seriously injured when he shot himself in the temple in an apparent suicide attempt, distraught because he had been battling diabetes and was set to have two toes removed. The versatile von Bargen rose from the dead as the satanic Nix in the Clive Barker horror film "Lord of Illusions" (1995); played a futuristic sheriff in "The Postman" (1997), directed by and starring Kevin Costner; and portrayed a Southern lawman who pursued George Clooney's character in the Coen brothers' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000). The Hollywood Reporter: Bruce Sinofsky, Oscar-nominated director, dies at 58 . An expert at playing authority figures, von Bargen was a member of the Air Force on NBC's "The West Wing" and in the 1996 film "Broken Arrow," a SWAT communicator in "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), a cop in "Basic Instinct" (1992) and "Super Troopers" (2001), a secret service agent in "I.Q." (1994), a warden in Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" (1997) and a federal agent in "The Majestic" (2001). The Hollywood Reporter: Leonard Nimoy called "irreplaceable" by Tom Selleck . His film résumé includes the notable films "Company Business" (1991), Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" (1991), Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" (1993), "RoboCop 3" (1993), "Crimson Tide" (1995), "Looking for Richard" (1996) and "Snow Falling on Cedars" (1999). He also guest-starred on such TV shows as "Spenser: For Hire," "All My Children," "NYPD Blue," "The X-Files" and "The Practice." A native of Cincinnati who graduated from Purdue University, von Bargen joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, after college. He appeared in a David Mamet production of "Uncle Vanya" opposite Christopher Walken, then attracted Hollywood's eye in 1989 when he played Maj. Manley Battle in the Larry Gelbart satire "Mastergate" on Broadway. The Hollywood Reporter: Hollywood's 100 favorite films . On "Seinfeld," his Mr. Kruger was the incompetent owner of Kruger Industrial Smoothing (a company that tried and failed to remove the green tint from the Statue of Liberty) and the boss of George (Jason Alexander) — by then finished with the Yankees — in Season 9 of the NBC hit. And on "Malcolm in the Middle," von Bargen played the hard-nosed, eyepatch-wearing Spangler, the head of cadets at Marlin Academy. He clashed often with the troublemaking Francis (Christopher Masterson), the oldest of Malcolm's (Frankie Muniz) brothers. In 2013, von Bargen starred in "The Treatment" at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York. "I feel a huge wave of sorrow and relief at the passing of this remarkable man," Colonna said. "I treasure the years when I worked with him at Trinity Rep and in a couple of TV films. I admire his excellent body of work in the movies. And I mourn for the darkness and pain that were his final years. God bless him. He was a hell of a guy." People we've lost in 2015 . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Cabela's not a cat, but the young pit bull mix apparently had a few lives to spare. Tampa police found her shot and bleeding, tied to a set of railroad tracks in the city's Sulphur Springs neighborhood on Wednesday. Folks called after they heard someone fire a gun. Cabela was hit by three shots -- two to the neck and one to the shoulder. Officers freed the pup from the tracks and rushed her to Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Center, where Dr. Jamie Davidson and staff stabilized and named her. The dog will have to have her front right leg removed because of the damage from the gunshots, but should be rehabilitated within a week, the vet said. "Dogs rebound quick," said Davidson, adding Cabela is in great spirits. "Really, after everything that this dog has gone through ... she's the sweetest," she said. "I mean she's not angry with people. She's not growling. She's been really really good." The cost of Cabela's treatment will run several thousands dollars, but will be picked up by the clinic. Once she's healthy, Cabela will be spayed, vaccinated and set up for adoption, where she will be paired with a "good family," Davidson said. +(CNN)The maker of a controversial documentary about rape in India, Leslee Udwin, told CNN she is shocked by the Indian authorities' move to ban the film without even having seen it. The storm over "India's Daughter" blew up out of nowhere and is "based on nothing," Udwin said, in an interview for CNN's "The World Right Now with Hala Gorani." "The tragedy here is it's a missed opportunity for India to actually show by embracing the film... to show the world that India is as concerned as the rest of the world is to put gender inequality on the agenda," she said. The BBC documentary featured an interview with one of the men convicted in an infamous 2012 gang rape case in New Delhi that sparked massive outrage and protests in India. An Indian court restricted the publication and airing of the film in India as well as the dissemination of excerpts from it after comments by Mukesh Singh, the interviewed convict, were released in several media outlets. Singh appeared to show no remorse and blamed the rape victim for being out at night, according to the documentary. The government has also asked Google to remove excerpts of the film from video sharing site YouTube. A Google India spokeswoman, Paroma Roy Chowdhury, said it would comply on the Indian YouTube site, "as we are required to do so by the local law." A statement from the company read: "While we believe that access to information is the foundation of a free society, and that services like YouTube help people express themselves and share different points of view, we continue to remove content that is illegal or violates our community guidelines, once notified." Udwin told CNN the restrictions appear to have been motivated by fear of "public disorder." "I presume they mean protests," she said. It was, in fact, the street protests, not the brutality of the crime, that first inspired Udwin to make the film. But Udwin, who spent 16 hours interviewing Singh in prison over the course of three days, said the experience was chilling. "He told me everything that happened that night, he told me everything about his attitudes towards society, women, hanging, all sorts... He blamed her -- the society blames girls, the society itself," she said. "Look here's the thing: All this hysteria... people must understand these men are products of a learned attitude. They are programmed, they are brainwashed. The society itself tells girls to stay indoors after dark." Udwin said she had done everything she could to elicit a human response from Singh. She even had a list of the girl's horrific rape-inflicted injuries, from which she died, read to him in Hindi while she recorded his face. "There were a few twitches but there was no remorse, there was no emotion, I don't think he is capable of emotion," she said. Singh, who was driving the bus on which the girl was attacked while traveling home from the movies with a male friend, is now on death row and has filed an appeal. But all Singh says about how he, and the other men convicted over the rape, have been treated is to ask why such a fuss is being made about them when "everybody's doing it," Udwin said. At the heart of the matter, she said, is the issue of gender inequality. From birth, boys in India and many other countries are accorded a higher status than girls, so it's unsurprising that they go on to treat women as lesser beings. She compares gender inequality to a cancerous tumor that shows its spread through offenses against women. The dead girl's father, who is also interviewed in the film, explained that in order to send his daughter to medical college, he sold a piece of ancestral land -- a big deal in India, Udwin said. "When he did that, his whole family was in revolt," said Udwin. "They said, 'Why are you selling it to educate a girl?' "Now that is a comment that is in the documentary, uttered by the father. Why is nobody saying to me, 'How dare you put that comment in the documentary'?" In a statement, India's home minister said the documentary crew violated the conditions granting the jail interview, which stipulated that the authorities be shown all unedited footage. But Udwin strongly rejected that claim. "It would appear that the home minister has been utterly misinformed," she said. "The permissions to interview this man were absolutely cast iron and all of the conditions imposed by them were obeyed by me and my team." Udwin also speaks out for the "massive swaths of Indian people who are so forward looking, who are so embracing of change and are agents of that change. "There are extraordinary women's groups who have been working for generations towards this change. Those protests were so admirable -- that's what took me out there." And she stresses that the issues of gender inequality and sexual violence against women are not confined to India. The film ends with a series of statistics on sexual violence from other countries, she said, including the United States and United Kingdom. This means that "no viewer is is left off the hook at the end of the film in terms of thinking, 'This is something that happens to people over there.' This happens to us, to every country," Udwin said. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report. +(CNN)As many as 13 senior leaders of al-Nusra Front, including the terror group's military commander, were killed in two Syrian airstrikes Thursday, a Middle Eastern security source who was briefed by Syrian intelligence told CNN. Abu Hammam al Shami was among those killed in the strikes against al-Nusra, al Qaeda's largest affiliate in Syria, the source said. Syria's state news agency SANA also reported al Shami's death. The special operation that took place in Hobait, in Idlib province, was part of a wider effort by Syrian forces to destroy areas believed to be gathering points for al-Nusra militants around the province, according to SANA. According to a 2014 al-Nusra video, al Shami joined the group after years of training in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also killed in the northwestern province of Idlib was a senior Saudi operative in the group, the source said. There were initial indications that al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani was wounded in one of the strikes, the source said Thursday. But on Friday, the source told CNN the latest assessment of Syrian intelligence was that al Jolani was not injured. The strikes took place in the towns of Salqin and Hobait, both near the city of Saraqeb in Idlib. One strike targeted a meeting of senior al-Nusra Front leaders; the other was on a home being used as a base, the source said. A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition that is hitting ISIS targets in Syria said its planes weren't involved. "Within the last 24 hours, we have not conducted any airstrikes within 200 miles of the province of Idlib," the spokesman said earlier Thursday. Al Shami was featured in a March 2014 video released by al-Nusra Front, in which he discussed his failed attempt to mediate between his militants and ISIS after rising tensions between the groups. The video included a biography by the group of al Shami, which was translated by the Long War Journal. It said that in the late 1990s, al Shami traveled to Afghanistan, where he was trained in a camp run by Abu Musab al Suri, a veteran Syrian jihadi strategist. Al Shami then trained in al Qaeda camps, where he met one of the 9/11 hijackers and personally swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden. By the time of the 9/11 attacks, al Shami had started to train recruits in Afghanistan and was named as the head of the Syrian jihadist contingent within al Qaeda. After the fall of the Taliban, he fled Afghanistan with senior Egyptian al Qaeda operative Sayf al Adel, the group said in the video. Al Shami began operating in Iraq, where he began working with al Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, conducting training for the group during the Iraqi insurgency, the al-Nusra video stated. In 2005, al Shami returned to Afghanistan for a short period, at the request of al Qaeda's leadership. When he got to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, one of bin Laden's top deputies, Attiyah Abd al Rahman, tasked al Shami with leading al Qaeda efforts in Syria, but he was arrested as he traveled through Lebanon, according to the video, and was detained for five years. After being released, he found his way to Syria, where he joined al-Nusra, the group said. CNN's Jamie Crawford contributed to this report. +(CNN)A year later, it still sounds impossible: A sophisticated $270 million airliner carrying 239 people disappears, leaving very few clues about where it went. But did the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 really have to be such a mystery? Maybe not. Lingering questions -- and the trauma experienced by friends and family of passengers and crew of the Boeing 777-200ER -- all might have been avoided if already proven technology had been put into place. Believe it or not, in our modern world, airplane tracking technology has yet to enter the 21st century. Take GPS for example. Why aren't air traffic controllers using it to constantly track all commercial airliners? How about communicating with satellites? Why don't all airliners stream their so-called black box data to satellites in real time? The technology is available. Yes, it's expensive, but so is searching hundreds of thousands of square miles of vast ocean. Let's break it down. Flight 370 had eight ways to communicate with the ground while in flight: . • Five very high frequency and high frequency radios that could transmit and receive voice and data transmissions. • Two transponders that could send identification and altitude data to air traffic control radar screens. • One satellite transceiver that could transmit and receive text messages and phone calls. Despite this technology, the world lost track of the flight with the airline industry codename MH370. To understand why, you first have to know a little about the technology and the gaps in the system. Throughout most of the world, air traffic controllers still track airplanes with radar -- which uses technology dating back to the 1940s. Radar is reliable, but it is limited. It comes with large gaps in coverage areas. Aircraft flying more than about 200 miles from land over oceans are not tracked by air traffic control radar screens. Radar covers only about 2% or 3% of the planet's surface, experts say. The rest is a virtual aviation no man's land. If an aircraft's transponders are turned off, an aircraft can be seen only through so-called primary radar. In these cases, air traffic controllers see only a blip on radar screens. The blip isn't identified and the plane's altitude is unknown. In a nutshell, here's the electronic communication from Flight 370 after it left Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014: . • Nearly 30 minutes after takeoff, the plane sends a text via satellite that confirms it's headed to Beijing, as expected. • Later, the plane sends a final radio call as it transitions between Malaysia air traffic controllers to controllers in Vietnam. But air traffic controllers in Ho Chi Minh City never heard from the crew. • Three minutes after the radio call, the plane's two transponders mysteriously cease transmitting. • But primary radar operated by the military in Malaysia and Thailand is able to track the 777 for limited periods without its transponder being on. • Later, an orbiting satellite checks in with the plane's satellite transceiver, kind of like a cell tower pinging a mobile phone. The aircraft responds electronically -- "shaking hands" with the satellite. This provides evidence that Flight MH370 ended somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. All of these clues offer us only a few scraps of information that leave investigators with very little to go on. It leads them to an almost inescapable conclusion: Whatever happened on MH370 was likely deliberate, experts say. We might know more if the plane's transponders had remained active. In the wake of the tragedy, some called for airlines to modify their transponders to prevent anyone from being able to shut them off in flight. But many pilots oppose that idea as a safety issue. They want to be able to turn off any electrical system on board in case of a fire or other in-flight emergency. We might know more about what happened to MH370 if air traffic controllers used orbiting satellites to track airliners, instead of radar. In the United States it's called the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen. An aircraft outfitted with this system determines its location using GPS and transmits that data back to controllers by radio -- which has a greater range than radar. The technology is called Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, or ADS-B. It is the keystone component of NextGen. But still, when an aircraft flies over the ocean, it will be out of range. So the industry is testing a space-based system -- where planes would determine their position via GPS satellites and report those coordinates via communication satellite network wherever they are in the world. There are numerous technical details that need to be worked out, but moving from spinning radar domes to orbiting satellites could eventually make blind spots in airliner tracking a thing of the past. Another emerging technology that might have helped us know more about what happened is called AFIRS, the Automated Flight Information Reporting System, developed by a Canadian company called FLYHT. AFIRS monitors what the flight data recorder, one of the so-called "black boxes," is seeing. It starts transmitting key information automatically when it senses trouble or at the command of the flight crew or dispatchers on the ground. Canada's First Air is among the first airlines to equip its fleet with AFIRS, which costs $100,000 per plane. If all airliners were equipped this way, we could know a flight was in trouble even if the crew could not communicate by other means. It could make searching for the black boxes a thing of the past. In the months since MH370 was lost, international aviation authorities have moved toward tracking airliners more closely. The International Air Transport Association has announced new tracking mandates for member airlines, but there are no plans to require streaming data. And this week, Australia's air traffic control manager, Airservices Australia, announced a test partnership with Malaysia and Indonesia to track long-haul flights over remote ocean routes. They'll use satellite-based positioning technology to track flights at least every 15 minutes -- improving on the previous tracking rate of every 30 to 45 minutes, Airservices Australia said in a statement. "The system can be increased to real time monitoring should an abnormal situation arise." Would any of these improvements in airline communication technology have helped the world learn what happened to Flight 370? Possibly. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure. Although technology continues to shrink the planet in terms of communication, the tragedy offers a bitter reminder of how easy it still is to lose an entire airliner full of people. +Hong Kong (CNN)A Canadian pastor, who went to North Korea on a humanitarian trip in late January, is being held in the reclusive Communist state, his family said early Thursday. The family of Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim said they received notice from Canadian officials that Pyongyang has confirmed that the pastor is being held. "The Lim family and the church community is asking fellow Canadians and the international community to continue praying for his release and safe return home," a family spokeswoman said in a short emailed statement. Lim, 60, went to North Korea on a humanitarian trip as he had done over a hundred times before, said Lisa Pak, a spokeswoman for his church, based in Mississauga, Ontario. On January 30, Lim traveled to North Korea from China with a companion from the church who last spoke with him the following day. Lim was scheduled to return February 4 from what was described as a "routine" trip to Rajin, in northeastern North Korea, where his church supports a nursery, orphanage and nursing home, according to the Light Korean Presbyterian Church. In 1986, Lim immigrated to Canada from South Korea with his wife and son. He speaks fluent Korean and leads a 3,000-member church. Pak, the church's spokeswoman, said she doesn't believe Lim would have engaged in any type of proselytizing, which is prohibited in North Korea. "He knows the language, he knows the nature of the government, so we don't see that as a legitimate reason that he would be detained," she said. "We don't believe that's the way he would have behaved. He's very wise about that." Previously, North Korea has detained Westerners on religious grounds. Cases include American Kenneth Bae, who was detained for two years after North Korea accused him of trying to bring down the government through religious activities. Bae was released in November. Another American, Jeffrey Fowle, was arrested after leaving a Bible at a club in North Korea and released after five months in detention. Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a U.S. citizen sentenced to eight years of hard labor and believed to be a Christian activist, was released from North Korea in 2010 after a visit to Pyongyang by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. CNN's KJ Kwon contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea, and Tina Burnside from Atlanta. +Kano, Nigeria (CNN)Suspected Boko Haram gunmen shot dead and slit the throats of 68 people -- including children -- in an attack on a village in Nigeria's Borno state, according to survivors and vigilante sources. The attackers then burned down the entire village of Njaba, the sources said. Dozens of gunmen invaded the remote northeastern village before dawn Tuesday, singling out boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 19 and killing them alongside their parents, witnesses said. Njaba village lies about 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Karimu Lawani, who escaped to Maiduguri after hiding with eight other people behind the barn of a neighbor, said the attackers came into the village at around 5 a.m. "They shot dead anyone that tried to flee but spared children younger than 13 years old," Lawani said. He and other survivors counted the victims of the massacre before leaving the village some hours later. His account was supported by Faltama Bisika, 62, who lost four grandchildren in the attack. "They hurled petrol bombs into homes and opened fire on anyone trying to flee. They particularly targeted teenagers and elderly people," Bisika said. News of the attack was slow to emerge due to lack of communication following destruction of cell phone towers in the region in previous Boko Haram attacks. "I only got information of the attack on my village last night," said a civilian vigilante from Njaba who asked not to be named. The vigilante said his father was among those killed. The vigilante said he left Njaba for Maiduguri in June to join others fighting against the Islamist radical group. He said he believes the attackers came from Gwoza -- a town on Nigeria's mountainous border with Cameroon that Boko Haram seized last June -- because Njaba "lies on the route to Gwoza from Maiduguri." +(CNN)A new Justice Department report on Ferguson's police and courts could not be more clear: Change is needed. The 102-page report details widespread and systemic discrimination against blacks at the hands of officials -- painting probably the clearest picture yet of what the rule of law looks and feels like in the Missouri city. It includes 26 recommendations. The report is scathing in its critique, and clear about what needs to happen next, but it doesn't address the question: Who, if anyone, is responsible for what took place? Are individual officers to blame? Is the police chief? What about city officials who repeatedly pushed police to increase revenue through ticketing, resulting in disproportionate targeting of African-Americans? Writing for CNN, criminal defense attorney Mark O'Mara argues in favor of gutting the entire police department, and starting from scratch. So far, one person has been fired; two more are on administrative leave. Are more heads likely to roll? "When the attorney general said that the Department of Justice has made certain recommendations, those aren't necessarily just recommendations. The Ferguson police department and municipal courts will have to reform. This is a must-do situation. We're talking about wholesale reform," said CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin. "And I would be very surprised that any of the leadership remains." Mayor James Knowles said the two employees on leave are awaiting the results of an internal investigation. "Department of Justice officials informed the city of Ferguson that a review of city emails uncovered explicit racial bias by three individuals who are employed by the city of Ferguson police department. Let me be clear: This type of behavior will not be tolerated in the Ferguson police department or in any department in the city of Ferguson," he told reporters Wednesday. "The three individuals were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. One has since been terminated." A source said the two employees "will not survive the investigation." CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin criticized the mayor's response, seemingly suggesting that more needed to be done in the wake of the Justice Department report. "You read this report, and, one officer loses his job? You know, you translate the bureaucratic gobbledygook of the mayor, that's all that happened there," he said. Surprisingly to some, controversial Police Chief Tom Jackson remains at the helm. So does Knowles. Although the report is limited to correcting action going forward, people affected by past abuses do have the option of filing civil lawsuits against specific individuals. Such cases are not easy to bring, according to Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "In a court of law, the findings of this report wouldn't even be admissible," he said. "Basically, you'd have to prove each allegation." Joy gave an example of person who paid a $100 fine that was unjustly levied. Finding lawyers who would take an individual case like that would be tough, he said, because there is no guarantee they could recover on behalf of their client, and the amount of damages could very widely. Practically, that person may be out of luck. But if the Justice Department gets its way, illegal or improper behavior on the part of police and courts in Ferguson could soon be a thing of the past. "It is time for Ferguson's leaders to take immediate, wholesale and structural corrective action," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "The United States Department of Justice reserves all of its rights and abilities to force compliance and to implement basic change. Nothing is off the table." CNN's Sara Sidner contributed to this report. +(CNN)One is a 21-year-old California man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Another, a 17-year-old Virginia student charged with helping recruit for the radical Islamist group. Charges against both were released Wednesday, and they are just the latest in a growing number of similar cases from the United States. More than 20,000 foreigners have gone to fight for ISIS, the terror group that controls portions of Iraq and Syria, experts have told Congress. National Intelligence Director James Clapper said 180 Americans have tried to go to fight in Syria. It's unclear how many of those were attempting to join ISIS. Here are some of their stories: . Arrested at George H.W. Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport before a flight to Europe, Wolfe was charged in June "with attempting to provide material support to terrorists," authorities said. He "planned to travel to the Middle East to provide his services to radical groups engaged in armed conflict in Syria," according to a complaint. On February 2, 2014, an undercover agent met with Wolfe and his wife and they watched a YouTube video about foreign fighters in Syria, officials said. Wolfe allegedly discussed the activities of ISIS, they said. The 18-year-old from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, pleaded guilty at a Minneapolis federal court to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS . Yusuf was stopped by the FBI from boarding a flight to Turkey from Minneapolis/Saint Paul Airport in May. Yusuf and another man, Abdi Nur, were charged in late November with conspiring to aid ISIS. Conley's plan to join ISIS and serve as a nurse at a jihadist camp ended in September with a guilty plea on a terror charge in a Colorado federal court. Arrested in April, the 19-year-old was at Denver International Airport about to embark on a journey to Germany and eventually to an ISIS camp near the Turkish border. She told investigators she was going to Turkey to await word from her suitor, an ISIS member she met on the Internet, whom she planned to marry. The Cincinnati 20-year-old was on the FBI's radar for months as he posted about violent jihad on social media. The feds said they arrested him before he could hatch his alleged plot. Reminiscent of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, he planned to set off pipe bombs at the U.S. Capitol, and when employees and lawmakers fled the building, he and an accomplice would shoot them, according to a criminal complaint. Cornell allegedly told an informant he had been in contact with people overseas, and that he had aligned himself with ISIS. The attack, according to the complaint, would be a way of supporting the extremist group. The Stoughton, Massachusetts, man was first placed on the FBI terror list for 2009 crimes but since has been suspected of joining ISIS, officials said. He's fluent in both English and Arabic, and if his college degree in computers is any indication, he has a way with technology. Then there's his interest in radical Islam. Put it all together, and authorities said former Boston resident and U.S. citizen Ahmad Abousamra could be a good fit inside the ISIS social media machine that's become renowned in recent weeks for spewing brutal propaganda across social media. The son of a Palestinian father and Italian-American mother, the 22-year-old from Vero Beach, Florida, is believed to be the first American suicide bomber to die in Syria. The former high school football playecr killed himself in May 2014 when he drove a truck full of explosives into a Syrian army position and detonated it, U.S. officials said. Three teenage girls who set out from a Denver suburb apparently bound for Syria to join extremists were sent home to their parents after they were stopped in Germany, U.S. officials said. The teens -- two sisters of Somali descent and a friend whose family is Sudanese, according to a Denver community leader -- were detained when their flight landed in Frankfurt on Friday after the FBI flagged their passports. The 21-year-old California man was arrested last summer, but was indicted on Wednesday. The FBI said he attempted to offer himself and material support to work under the direction and control of ISIS. His arraignment is scheduled for later this month. The 17-year-old Virginia student has been charged with helping recruit for ISIS, federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday. The teen lives in a suburb of Washington and is accused of helping a slightly older adult travel to Syria. The adult is believed to have joined ISIS there. The student is also accused of distributing ISIS messages. Arrested last month in New York and Florida, they are accused by the federal government of attempting to join ISIS and of fostering plans to kill the President and shoot law enforcement officers. The three men face charges that include attempting and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. None were U.S. citizens, but Saidakhmetov, 19, and Juraboev, 24, had permanent resident status. Habibov, 30, was in the United States legally, but overstayed his visa, police said. The 20-year-old was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Nur "conspired to join ISIL and travel from Minnesota to the Middle East to engage in a campaign of terror," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said in November, using another acronym for ISIS. Kahn was arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago in October. The 19-year-old is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. In a letter to his parents, Kahn wrote that he was leaving the United States and on the way to join ISIS, court documents said. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. This 33-year-old man from New Hope, Minnesota, died in late August while fighting for ISIS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. McCain's uncle said his nephew had gone to Syria to fight as a jihadi. The 19-year-old Somali-American woman slipped away from her parents in late August. She told them she was going to a bridal shower, but instead hopped a flight to Turkey and joined ISIS, Reuters reported. Another woman is suspected of helping her leave the country. U.S. authorities said he is an ISIS sympathizer. Morgan was arrested on August 2 on arrival at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport from Frankfurt, Germany. A federal grand jury in North Carolina charged him with illegal weapons possession. The court documents make no mention of the ISIS connection, but U.S. officials said his Twitter postings support the terrorist group. Federal authorities accuse him of funding ISIS, trying to send jihadists to Syria to fight with the terrorist group and plotting to do some killing himself, by gunning down U.S. troops who had served in Iraq . The 30-year-old faces three counts of trying "to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization" (namely, ISIS), one count of attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States, two counts of having an unregistered firearm silencer and one for possessing guns or silencers "in furtherance of a crime of violence," court documents say. The federal investigation into Elfgeeh began in early 2013, but he wasn't arrested until May 2014. Some 100 other Americans are believed to have either fought in Syria since 2011 or been arrested before they could get there, according to Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst. So far, no U.S. citizen involved in fighting or supporting ISIS or any other militant group has been charged with plotting to conduct an attack inside the United States, but that's the fear. Also, in none of the successful terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11 -- such as the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 or Maj. Nidal Hasan's massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 -- did any of the convicted or alleged perpetrators receive training overseas. Former jihadist Mubin Shaikh said many of those who are attracted to ISIS or other militant causes are struggling to combine their Muslim and Western identities. "When you're dealing with first-, second-, even third-generation individuals from various ethnic backgrounds, there are still problems of acculturation and integration," he said. They ask: "Who am I supposed to be? " That's the challenge mosques and Western governments will have to deal with, Shaikh said. +(CNN)NASCAR driver Kurt Busch will not be charged with domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend, the Delaware Department of Justice announced Thursday, citing a lack of evidence. Busch was accused by Patricia Driscoll of grabbing her by the throat and slamming her head against the wall in his motor home at Dover International Speedway in September. "After a thorough consideration of all of the available information about the case, it is determined that the admissible evidence and available witnesses would likely be insufficient to meet the burden of establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Busch committed a crime during the September 26th incident," Delaware Department of Justice public information officer Carl Kanefsky said in a statement. "Likelihood of meeting that high burden of proof is the standard for prosecutors in bringing a case. For this reason, the Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges in this case." In a statement Thursday, Busch said he is grateful that the prosecutors decided not to file charges. "I wish to thank my family, friends, fans, and race team who stood by me throughout this nightmare with their unwavering support," Busch said. "Thanks also goes to my legal team for making sure that the truth got out and was fully provided to the prosecutors. As I have said from the beginning, I did not commit domestic abuse. I look forward to being back in racing as soon as possible and moving on with my life." While Busch will not be charged, he must stay away from Driscoll for one year, a Kent County, Delaware, family court commissioner ruled in February. Driscoll had requested a no-contact order against Busch. Stemming from the family court ruling, NASCAR suspended Busch indefinitely shortly before the Daytona 500. That decision was upheld after appeal. CNN has reached out to NASCAR for an update on Busch's status but did not immediately hear back. "Patricia and I are very disappointed that Kurt will not be prosecuted for the abusive acts he committed in September," Driscoll's attorney, Carolyn McNeice, said Thursday. "The (attorney general's) decision, however, only makes the order that we received for protection from abuse that much more important. "As you can see, in some cases, this is the only protection the victim will get. This civil no contact order is a critical tool for protecting victims." Busch's attorney, Rusty Hardin, previously has said that he would appeal the family court ruling and would continue to work to clear Busch's name. At the no-contact hearing, Busch testified that he believes Driscoll is a trained assassin for the U.S. government and that she once showed up wearing a gown covered in blood. Driscoll is a defense contractor and is authorized to carry weapons. McNeice has said that her client denies Busch's allegations. +(CNN)Southerners, don't pack your sweaters or heavy coats away just yet. You're probably going to need them for a few days. A cold front is headed across the country. Enjoy the warmth until it gets where you are, because after that temperatures are going to drop 20 degrees or more before you know it. And it's not just the South that will have to put up with the cold. Almost a third of the people in the United States are bundling up and looking up to the sky. Another widespread winter event was shaping up Wednesday afternoon, and it looks as if it will last through Thursday. About 92 million people are under some sort of winter weather warning, watch or advisory. The wintery weather will eventually extend nearly 2,000 miles, from New Mexico to Massachusetts. For once, Boston won't be worried about a being a segment leader in snow totals. Looks likes that will be Kentucky, where some spots could see 6 to 10 inches. Other areas will have to worry about heavy rain dumped by the slow moving front. Cities in southeast Missouri, western Kentucky, northern Tennessee and western Pennsylvania might get 2 to 4 inches. Rain will transition to snowfall across many states as colder air pushes in behind the front as it moves to the southeast. The National Weather Service warned that flooding could be an issue, especially across the lower Ohio Valley and western Mid-Atlantic regions. CNN affiliate WCHS reported a mudslide in Mingo County resulted in one woman going to the hospital. There are concerns about ice and the potential for power outages. Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee will get the brunt of the icy weather. Some areas could see more than a third of an inch of ice accumulation. Sleet and ice are expected to make things messy in the Dallas area. The precipitation was causing problems at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where more than 630 arrivals and departures were canceled or delayed. Nationwide, more than 3,800 flights were delayed, according to the air traffic tracking website FlightAware. At least 1,750 were canceled. Things will be worse Thursday, at least as cancellations go. More than 2,000 flights with U.S. ties have been scrubbed. So far this season Boston has seen 105.7 inches -- almost 9 feet -- of snow. That's just 1.9 inches short of the record set nine years ago. More snow is expected from this system, but it's only likely to be 1 inch Wednesday as the forecast models indicate the majority of snow will stay south of the city. There is a slim chance of snow on Thursday, followed by days of sunshine and temperatures near 40 by Monday. CNN meteorologists Dave Hennen and Matt Daniel contributed to this report. +(CNN)Hey, nature, thanks for reminding us that you are not to be played with. Unless you are an adorable Australian quokka. We would play with them all day long. From battling water creatures to lions opening car doors, animals have taken center stage on social media. And this is not your typical animal kingdom. Check it out: . This bald eagle protecting her eggs in the snow in Pennsylvania has captured the Internet's heart. There is even a live stream. According to Mashable, digital media producer Benjamin Savard was working on a video for the science department at Middlebury College in Vermont on Monday when he put a GoPro in a waterproof case inside an octopus tank. The octopus grabbed it, took some selfies and then snapped a shot of Savard. Which, of course, brings to mind the epic battle last month between an octopus and crab on an Australian beach. This octopus at the Seattle Aquarium decided enough was enough last month and tried to escape its tank. Land creatures are not to be outdone, however. A video from 2014 gained attention this week, showing a lion opening the car door of a family driving through a safari park in South Africa. As someone in the car says, "Oh, my gosh, I didn't know they could do that." We are still giggling at the #WeaselPecker phenomenon: a photo of a weasel hitching a lift on the back of a flying woodpecker. The memes, people, the memes! Finally, our beloved quokkas, a type of rodent, are the new stars of Instagram as folks in Australia clamor for selfies. +(CNN)Blame Joshuah Purdy Brown. Or, if you prefer, P.T. Barnum. It's thanks to those 19th-century promoters that the elephant rose to become the circus's king of beasts -- the living symbol of "The Greatest Show on Earth." "This is something that has been a big deal historically," says circus historian Janet Davis, an American studies professor at the University of Texas. Traditionally, she observes, elephants are the stars of the parade when circuses come to town. There was even a 19th-century phrase, "to see the elephant," a euphemism used by soldiers for seeing battle, recognizing the wonder and rarity of these giant animals. On Thursday, Ringling Brothers, part of the Feld Entertainment firm, announced that it would be ending use of elephants by 2018. It's a startling change for the show, which has made the giant pachyderms a centerpiece of its presentation for decades and weathered criticism for their treatment from animal rights groups. CNNMoney: The Greatest Show on Earth will soon be without elephants . Brown was perhaps the first to make elephants a part of the circus atmosphere. The modern circus only dates back to around 1770, the invention of an Englishman named Philip Astley, who added jugglers, acrobats and clowns to his equestrian show. (The term "circus" comes from the ancient Romans, although the Roman version was closer to a sporting event featuring soldiers, and it could be quite bloody.) Astley's circus was such a huge success that he created one in Paris, and his students and acolytes -- knowing a good idea when they saw one -- brought the circus to other cities. To this day, the ringmaster wears elegant riding clothes because of the circus' equestrian roots. Brown, a shrewd marketer who was also responsible for making the circus a tented traveling show, added a "menagerie" to the event to help combat the form's sometimes seedy reputation. "Circuses in this era were really for adults, and not marketed for children at all," says Davis. Brown's show, by adding a menagerie tent to the circus tent, could market their shows as educationally uplifting by "showing people the wonders of the animal world," she adds. By the 1850s, elephants were regular circus attractions. Then came Barnum. In the early 1870s, the clever entrepreneur, who had made his fortune with such acts as the "Feejee Mermaid," singer Jenny Lind and a New York-based museum of curiosities, created P.T. Barnum's Museum, Menagerie and Circus. "They had exotic animals from the four corners of the earth, and you had to go through the menagerie first and then you went to your seat in the big top," Deborah Walk, curator of collections for the Ringling Museums, told PBS for a 2010 documentary called "Circus." "There was no way to miss the menagerie -- it was all part of the educational outreach to get people to go to the show." Barnum and his partner made the circus an efficient business, running it on the railroad to far-flung destinations and transporting their animals long distances. "Elephants become this incredibly important signature part of the circus," says Davis. The beasts were huge attractions. When Barnum announced he was going to bring a white elephant back from Asia, a competitor whitewashed his own elephant and engaged in a media war. (The clash popularized the term "white elephant.") Another Barnum purchase, the African elephant Jumbo, was the centerpiece of his circus, and when Jumbo died in 1885, the victim of a train accident, the news made worldwide headlines. The attitudes towards elephants, and circus animals in general, started changing in the early 20th century, says Davis. For one thing, until World War I, the circus was the king of the entertainment circuit: "There were no movies, radio or television to compete with the wonders of the circus ring and little traffic congestion or parking problems to impede those who sought to attend," wrote Bob Brooke in History magazine. And in recent decades animal-rights activists have increasingly protested against the use of performing mammals such as elephants and killer whales, demanding better treatment for them. Ringling Brothers and other circus companies have dealt with numerous challenges over the last half-century, including ever-splintering attention for entertainment dollars and the rise of acrobat-based shows such as Cirque du Soleil, which is now a global empire. But "The Greatest Show on Earth" is still hugely popular, and Davis believes the loss of elephants won't affect the circus' bottom line. Still, she says, there is something special about the majestic animals. At a show she attended in 2013, the elephants had their own space, and a bunch of children were standing nearby, watching them in awe. "It was very moving," she says. "This physical proximity to these animals is powerful." When it comes to circus animal acts, are more changes to come? Are lions and tigers next? Davis wonders. "In a way, the elephant is kind of the bellwether animal. I would imagine this is a kind of catalyst," she says. "I would imagine that we have not heard the last of the kind of changes that are afoot in terms of animals and circuses." +(CNN)The family of Michael Brown, the teen killed last year by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, will file a civil wrongful death lawsuit in the case "very shortly," attorney Anthony Gray said Thursday. Neither he nor attorney Daryl Parks would say exactly when the suit would be filed, but they said that they disagreed with the grand jury's and the Justice Department's decisions not to charge Wilson in the shooting. "They have accepted (Wilson's) self-defense," Parks told reporters. "We do not accept his self-defense." The slain teen's parents, Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, were in attendance at the news conference but did not speak on advice of their attorneys, Parks said. "The last 24 hours have been tough for them," he said. Word of the lawsuit comes a day after the Justice Department determined there was not sufficient evidence to charge Wilson in Brown's death but found in a separate investigation that the Ferguson Police Department showed a pattern of racial bias. Brown Sr. and McSpadden released a statement Wednesday saying they were disappointed that Wilson would not face charges, but, they added, the federal report on the police department could provide a silver lining. "We are encouraged that the DOJ will hold the Ferguson Police Department accountable for the pattern of racial bias and profiling they found in their handling of interactions with people of color," the statement said. "It is our hope that through this action, true change will come not only in Ferguson, but around the country. If that change happens, our son's death will not have been in vain." In November, a grand jury cleared Wilson and, in an uncharacteristic move in grand jury proceedings, the prosecutor released all the evidence that was considered. Gray said the civil lawsuit will rely on "pretty much the same evidence," but it will be cast differently. The jury in the civil lawsuit will be asked to make a determination based on a lower burden of proof -- by a preponderance of evidence, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, Parks said. Summing up the crux of the Brown family's case, Parks said, "There were other alternatives available to (Wilson). He did not have to kill Michael Brown." +Seoul, South Korea (CNN)A man opposed to joint South Korean-U.S. military drills attacked the American ambassador in Seoul, slashing his face and arm as he was about to give a speech Thursday morning, authorities said. North Korea quickly called the stabbing a "knife attack of justice" and said it reflected "anti-U.S. sentiment" in South Korea. Authorities have obtained an arrest warrant for the knifing suspect, Kim Ki-Jong, an official at Seoul Central District Court said Friday. He was detained immediately after the attack, with authorities having time to formally arrest him or let him go. Kim, 55, who has a history of unpredictable behavior, could eventually be charged with attempted murder and other charges. A police official, Yoon Myeong-seong, also told reporters that Kim had previously visited North Korea seven times between 1999 and 2007, and that authorities were "intensively investigating" a possible connection between his visits to the reclusive state and this attack. The U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was in stable condition after undergoing more than two hours of surgery, in which he got 80 stitches to his face. He will probably remain hospitalized for three to four days, said Dr. Jung Nam-shik at Yonsei Severance Hospital. In 2010, Kim received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese ambassador to South Korea, according to the Yonhap news agency. The motive for his attack Thursday? He wanted an end to the South Korean-U.S. military drills to improve North-South relations, police said. The drills are held annually despite predictably harsh criticism from North Korea. The North Korean government believes the attack is "just punishment for U.S. warmongers," according to its official news agency, KCNA. South Korean President Park Geun-hye, on the other hand, condemned it. "This incident is not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador," she said, "but an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and it can never be tolerated." U.S. diplomats have been attacked, killed in past . Lippert was attacked while attending an event organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which advocates peaceful reunification between the two Koreas. The U.S. Embassy did not request special security for the event, Seoul police said. Three police officers were on duty at the building's entrance, and 25 others were on standby. Kim sat down at a different table than Lippert, then got up and ran to the ambassador's right side yelling something that sounded like anti-American sentiments. "When the man jumped on the ambassador, I stood up and jumped on the man, and they both fell on the ground," a witness, Jang Yoon Seok, told CNN affiliate YTN. "Luckily I got on top of the man's back and could press him to the floor. Then others came to hold him on the floor." Jang said he later saw the knife on the table. It had a wooden handle and did not look particularly sophisticated, he said. Seoul police said a knife, about 10 inches long, was used in the assault and the suspect brought it from home. Videos showed the suspect pinned on the floor, rolled into a blanket and carried out of the building. He was heard shouting, "The South Korea-U.S. military drills must stop." The drills began earlier this week. Explaining the joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises . After the attack, Lippert -- clutching his right cheek and holding a bloodied arm -- was photographed hurrying out of the Sejong Cultural Institute in central Seoul. The cut to his face runs from his right cheekbone to his lower jaw and is about 4 inches long and about an inch deep, Dr. Jung said. Fortunately, there was no damage to his facial nerve. Lippert also suffered five gashes in his left arm and hand, but he is not likely to have permanent damage to his arm function. "The ambassador was very calm. People around him were taken aback, but he was very calm," said Dr. John Linton. "He was speaking with his doctor on what to do. It was surprising." As the ambassador left and headed to the hospital, investigators arrived, hoping to figure out exactly what happened. While there are videos showing what happened at the event, none of them will be from closed-circuit surveillance cameras, said Yoon, the Seoul police chief. The only such camera outside the building did help authorities determine exactly when Lippert and Kim came in. Was the attack part of a larger plot? Did Kim have any help, implicit or explicit? Not if you ask him, according to the Seoul police chief. "Kim insists that this was done by himself," Yoon said. "But police are still investigating if he acted alone and what his motive was." Park, South Korea's President, told Lippert by phone that she was surprised and deeply troubled to hear about the attack -- an incident similar to one targeting her several years ago -- the Asian nation's Foreign Ministry said on its website. The South Korean leader vowed that authorities will "take necessary measures ... with utmost seriousness and urgency" to get to the bottom of the latest attack. She also promised to keep close ties with the United States "so that the incident would not have any negative implications on the (South Korean)-U.S. alliance," according to the ministry. For Park's American counterpart, President Barack Obama, the attack is personal as well as political. That's because Lippert is a longtime friend and confidant, having been part of Obama's inner circle for years. Obama called Lippert "to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in his thoughts and prayers, and to wish him the very best for a speedy recovery," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said. Lippert has been close to Obama ever since he arrived in the Senate in 2005. Lippert worked with Obama on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and traveled the world with the then-senator as he garnered the foreign policy experience that helped pave the way for his presidential campaign. When Obama declared he would run for president in the 2008 race, Lippert was by his side again, and was on the road with the candidate and ultimately served as the chief foreign policy adviser for the Obama campaign. Obama nominated Lippert to serve as ambassador to South Korea last year. Thursday afternoon, Lippert tweeted that he was recuperating. "Doing well & in great spirits! Robyn, Sejun, Grigsby & I - deeply moved by the support!" he tweeted, referring to his wife, his son and his dog. "Will be back ASAP to advance US-ROK alliance!" He then added in Korean, "Let's work together!" CNN's Judy Kwon, Paula Hancocks, Alexandra Jaffe, Stephen Collinson, Barbara Starr, Jim Acosta and journalist Hyoungjoo Choi contributed to this report. +(CNN)Archaeologists searching for a lost city in the jungles of Honduras have discovered the urban remains of what they believe is a vanished ancient civilization, National Geographic reports. A writer and photographer for the magazine accompanied a team of scientists to Honduras' Mosquitia region on the trail of a legendary "White City" or "City of the Monkey God." The expedition was launched after aerial light detection scanning -- known as LIDAR -- uncovered what appeared to be man-made structures below the rainforest, National Geographic said. Seeking to confirm the discovery, a team of U.S. and Honduran archaeologists, a LIDAR engineer, an ethnobotanist, anthropologists and documentary filmmakers entered the remote region. They were protected by Honduran Special forces, the magazine said. Writer Douglas Preston said the team emerged February 25, after documenting the ruins of a "vanished culture." "In contrast to the nearby Maya, this vanished culture has been scarcely studied and it remains virtually unknown. Archaeologists don't even have a name for it," Douglas wrote. Archaeologists no longer believed in the existence of a single "White City," he said, instead believing there had been an entire civilization with many cities. The expedition found earth works, including an earthen pyramid as well as a collection of stone sculptures, thought to potentially have been burial offerings. Archaeologist Oscar Neil Cruz from the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) estimated they dated from A.D. 1000 to 1400, Douglas wrote. The researchers were greeted by wildlife which appeared never before to have seen humans, wandering unafraid through their camp. "This is clearly the most undisturbed rain forest in Central America. The importance of this place can't be overestimated," ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin told National Geographic. The team left their finds unexcavated and are keeping the exact location of the site secret in an attempt to prevent looting. But in his article, Douglas warned that that the area was nonetheless under threat, with illegal logging for cattle farming within a dozen miles. IHAH director Virgilio Paredes Trapero told National Geographic that the forest and valley could disappear within eight years unless action was taken. "The Honduran government is committed to protecting this area, but doesn't have the money. We urgently need international support." +(CNN)In "Game of Thrones," Yunkai might be a fictional city ruled by an oligarchy of slave merchants, but the scenes had to be filmed in the real world. The citadel of Ait-Ben-Haddou in Morocco near Ouarzazate (pronounced Wa-za-zat) was chosen as the location, and is one of the most popular film-making destinations in the region. And scenes set in the ancient city of Astapor, which was a big part of the final episode of season three, was filmed in Essaouira -- also in Morocco. But the creators of "Game of Thrones" were not the first to use the region's beauty as the backdrop for a major international production. More than a decade before them, Ridley Scott chose the North African country to film the gory glory of ancient Rome in his epic "Gladiator" starring Russell Crowe. And so did the producers of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" which starred Jake Gyllenhaal. Indeed, big foreign productions seeking a Middle Eastern backdrop (and possibly an academy award) have long chosen Morocco for its relatively cheap price tag and safety -- and nearly half of the films shot in the kingdom are made in Ouarzazate. According to Amine Tazi, who runs two of the town's biggest studios, foreign directors come for the dramatic light as well as the wide variety of landscapes. But Morocco's appeal goes far beyond the beautiful vistas. Filmmakers can find experienced local crews that help productions save half the cost they'd pay in Europe or the U.S. "Logistically, [Ouarzazate is] very good," says Tazi, general manager at Atlas & CLA Studios. "Everything is very close by. Hotels are close by. People are very movie friendly and very efficient." Tazi's studios also offer dozens of set options -- from Styrofoam Egyptian temples to plaster-cast Tibetan Palaces. National Geographic used one of his sets in the mini-series "Killing Jesus" -- the seven-week production was filmed by a crew of 250 people and included 4,500 extras. Bargain Hunting . Atlas Studios opened in 1983 to host the Michael Douglas classic "The Jewel of the Nile." Since then, around 200 TV shows and films have been shot there, including "Babel," starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. "Morocco is one of the countries that goes out of its way to welcome film makers," says Tony Reeves, writer of the Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. "Technical crews in Morocco are well sought after -- builders, painters, extras, electrical resources." But in recent years productions have been hit by the global financial crisis and the uncertainty following the Arab Spring which ripped through North Africa. Between 2008 and 2013, Tazi's revenue dropped by 50%. Such a slowdown hit Ouarzazate'seconomy, where many of the 100,000 citizens rely on the cinema industry from employment. "The city is poor. There [are] few job opportunities," says resident Abdelaziz Bouydnayen, who once played Osama Bin Laden in a National Geographic documentary. "We are all just waiting...There are millions of dollars that come into this city, but the city is still poor." In the past decade, both of the town's theaters have closed leaving residents without a place to watch the films shot in their back yard. Changing Times . Yet, a series of recent developments have started to show the start of a revival. Last year, 22 films used Tazi's studios -- up from 12 in 2013. Foreign film projects spent $120 million in 2014, according to the country's film commission -- up from $23 million the previous year. And part of the reason filmmakers keep coming to Morocco are the tax-incentives -- foreign crews are exempt from paying value added tax. But the other reason is the experience of Moroccan talent. "Making stories of biblical proportions requires that there be casts of hundreds" says Roma Downey, who is producing the upcoming TV series "A.D." in Morocco. "To wrangle that many people and have them be so focused and understand what they're doing is a big part of what they're doing. It save time, saves money." Tazi is so confident that the current boom will continue that he plans to build a brand new Roman-themed set this year. He's hoping to keep the cameras rolling and action going in Morocco's Hollywood. More from Marketplace Africa . Read this: Teenager brings poop power to Kenyan school . Read this: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions . +(CNN)With the discovery of a gray, fossilized jawbone in a remote corner of Ethiopia, a student at Arizona State University may have changed our understanding of our earliest ancestors. The partial lower jaw is the oldest known fossil evidence of the genus Homo, to which modern day humans belong, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Science. The jawbone has been dated to 2.8 million years ago -- which predates the previously known fossils of the Homo lineage by approximately 400,000 years, according to Arizona State University. Chalachew Seyoum, a graduate student from Ethiopia, came across the fossil -- the left side of a lower jaw with five teeth -- while on a field expedition in the Afar region of eastern Ethiopia in 2013. "Honestly, it was an exciting moment," Seyoum said, according to a news release from the university. "I had good experience in field surveying and knew where potential sediments are. I climbed up a little plateau and found this specimen right on the edge of the hill." The age of the fossil means it could help fill in an important gap in our knowledge. Fossil found by fisherman may reveal new type of ancient human . It also means the Homo genus could have evolved nearly half a million years earlier than previously thought. Researchers have previously found fossil remains dating back 3 million years or more, such as the skeleton of "Lucy," the famous 3.2 million-year-old remains of the species Australopithecus afarensis. Those remains were found in 1974 not far from the site of the latest discovery. Scientists have also found fossils that are 2.3 million years old and younger, which are in the genus Homo and are closer to modern day humans. But until now there has been little fossil evidence from the 700,000 years in between -- a crucial period in the evolution from hominids like Lucy to the Homo genus. "The importance of the specimen is that it adds a data point to a period of time in our ancestry in which we have very little information," said William H. Kimbel, director of ASU's Institute of Human Origins, in the university's news release. "This is a little piece of the puzzle that opens the door to new types of questions and field investigations that we can go after to try to find additional evidence to fill in this poorly known time period." The jawbone, found in the Ledi-Geraru area of the Afar region, combines features seen in Australopithecus afarensis with those seen in later specimens of the Homo genus, according to the study. Professor Kaye Reed, of Arizona State University, said the discovery was the result of years of searching in the area. Surveying began in 2002, she said, but researchers only began to pick up fossils in the area where the jawbone was found in 2012, having realized the sediments there were old enough to yield Australopithecus afarensis specimens. "Instead, we were rewarded with a much more exciting discovery," she said. Already the team has been able to establish that this early human ancestor walked on two legs and lived in a dry, arid climate, Reed said. Researchers are still working to determine what it ate and whether it used stone tools. "It's an excellent case of a transitional fossil in a critical time period in human evolution," said Kimbel. Paleolithic skull may shed light on humans' path from Africa . +(CNN)"Beauty" has found its Beast. The new live-action "Beauty and the Beast," which cast Emma Watson as Belle, will also star "Downton Abbey's" Dan Stevens as the Beast. Watson herself welcomed her co-star on board after the news was reported in the Hollywood Reporter. The animated Disney character was voiced by Robby Benson in the 1991 film. The film, to be directed by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters," the final two "Twilight" films), also named its Gaston, the conniving lout who pursues Belle, though she resists his advances. He'll be played by Luke Evans, a musical theater veteran who starred as Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" films. After Watson tweeted her congratulations, Evans immediately responded with a side-by-side set of photos of him and the animated character. The resemblance was striking. Now, if only Disney will cast Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth and the rest, we'll have a real movie on our hands. No release date for "Beauty and the Beast" has been announced, and filming has yet to begin. +(CNN)ISIS has again destroyed cultural treasures, this time bulldozing the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, the nation's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said. "ISIS continues to defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity," the ministry said in a statement. "They violated the ancient city of Nimrud and bulldozed its ancient ruins." The extent of the damage wasn't immediately clear, according to Iraqi state broadcaster Iraqiya TV. "Our ministry condemns these criminal acts," the statement said. "Letting these lost gangs go without punishment will encourage them to destroy humanity's civilization, the Mesopotamian civilization, inflicting irreversible priceless damages and losses." Photos: Precious monuments lost in conflicts . Nimrud was a city in the Assyrian kingdom, which flourished between 900 B.C. and 612 B.C. The archaeological site is south of Mosul in northern Iraq. The razing of Nimrud comes a week after a video showed ISIS militants using sledgehammers to obliterate stone sculptures and other centuries-old artifacts in the Mosul Museum. That museum held 173 original pieces of antiquity and was being readied for reopening when ISIS invaded Mosul in June, according to Qais Hussain Rashid, the antiquities ministry's director general of Iraqi museums, who spoke to Iraqiya TV last week. Nimrud and nearby Nineveh are the sites where two Assyrian kings, Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.) and Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.), recorded successful military campaigns on the walls of their palaces, according to the World Monuments Fund, a group dedicated to saving the world's most treasured places. "Depicted in the reliefs are marauding troops in foreign lands, rendered in a style marked by lively action and attention paid to topographic and ethnographic detail," the fund's website says. "The palaces of Sennacherib at Nineveh and Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud are vestiges of the political, cultural and artistic height of the Assyrian Empire. The remains of these palaces, the only Assyrian palaces left preserved and decorated with reliefs, are now protected against vandals and function as site museums where visitors can appreciate ancient wall reliefs in their original setting," the fund said in a website posting before this week's ISIS assault on Nimrud. King Ashurnasirpal II made Nimrud the royal seat and the military capital of Assyria, Encyclopedia Britannica's website says. Buildings at Nimrud "have yielded thousands of carved ivories, mostly made in the 9th and 8th centuries B.C., now one of the richest collections of ivory in the world," the encyclopedia says. ISIS has destroyed other ancient and deeply meaningful sites in Iraq. Officials have said ISIS has blown up shrines such as the tomb of Jonah. Opinion: Destruction of antiquities proves folly, hypocrisy of ISIS . +(CNN)Australia lodged a formal complaint Friday over the treatment of two drug smugglers sentenced to death in Indonesia during their transfer to an island where they are expected to face execution. During the transfer, a senior Indonesian police officer was pictured in photos with the Australian pair on a flight. Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were being taken from Kerobokan prison in Bali to Nusakambangan island in Central Java, where they will be held in a maximum security facility before facing a 12-man firing squad. The date of the execution is not yet known, although the convicted will be informed at least 72 hours before they are put to death. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs said it had lodged a formal complaint with the Indonesian embassy in Canberra over the treatment of the prisoners during the transfer, which took place before dawn on Wednesday. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Australian media that an undue show of force, including armored vehicles and dozens of officers in helmets and balaclavas, was also used during the transfer. "I just cannot comprehend it. They are two men who are described by their own prison governors as model citizens, two gentlemen who pose no risk to anyone," she told the ABC's AM program. "I cannot comprehend the manner or the method of their transfer to the so-called execution island." A spokesman for Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the photos were taken without the consent of the officer involved, Commissioner Djoko Hari Utomo. "The officer was inquiring about the physical condition of Mr Chan," Arrmanatha Nasir told CNN in regard to one of the images. "It is regretful that this photo is being used by the media to portray something more than what it really is." Australia's complaint comes after Indonesia dismissed a last-minute proposal to save the pair's lives through a prisoner swap. Nasir told CNN that there are no Indonesian laws that would allow or provide for an exchange. "Indonesia does not have legislation or laws or any other legal instruments that will enable the issue of a prisoner exchange to be conducted," he said, adding that the Australian government had been informed of this stance. Sukumaran and Chan, members of the so-called "Bali Nine" smuggling ring, have been held by Indonesian authorities for nearly a decade. They are expected to be held in a maximum security facility on Nusakambangan where they will be isolated before being put to death. They are among a number of people from different countries who are also scheduled for execution. Australian government and opposition parliamentarians attended a candlelight vigil at dawn Thursday, as a spectacular sunrise lit politicians from across Australia's political spectrum, united in opposition to the impending executions. "We appeal to the Indonesian president to grant a stay of clemency," Bishop told the gathering. She reminded the Indonesian government that legal avenues remained open, before appealing for mercy on behalf of the convicted men's families. "I've spoken to the families. They are going through an unimaginably difficult time and I ask that you think of the families who are praying that their son, brother, grandson can have their life spared. We appeal again to President Widodo, the leader of a strong and proud country, to show mercy and forgiveness and spare the lives of these two young Australians." Australia has repeatedly appealed for clemency for the pair. They have been jailed since April 2005 for a failed bid to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia. OPINION: Why executions won't win Indonesia's drug war . Prime Minister Tony Abbott said people should not let anger affect Australians' relationship with Indonesia. "We abhor drug crime, but we abhor the death penalty. We think that these two Australians deserve to be punished, but they certainly don't deserve to be executed," he said. The Bali Nine were arrested after Indonesian police received a tip from Australian Federal Police. Chan, 31, was called the ringleader of the plot, and Sukumaran was described as Chan's collaborator in the scheme. Seven other people who participated in the plan are serving lengthy prison sentences. Police caught four people at the Denpasar airport with more than 8 kilograms of heroin strapped to their bodies. Another four -- including Sukumaran -- were arrested at a hotel in the village of Kuta. Chan was detained after a boarding a plane to Sydney -- he wasn't carrying any drugs but was named by others as the mastermind of the plot. The Indonesian administrative court last week dismissed a case filed by lawyers of the two Australians against President Joko Widodo. The attorneys wanted a review of the president's decision to deny them clemency. Todung Mulya Lubis, who represents the pair, said a challenge had been submitted to the administrative court and lawyers were still waiting for a court summons. "There should be no execution as long as there is a legal process going on," Lubis said. Sukumaran and Chan have become model prisoners during their time behind bars, according to fellow inmates and the jail's chief warden. Sukumaran is studying fine arts and has set up a class for fellow inmates. Chan has found spirituality, which he uses to counsel inmates with drug problems. Their rehabilitation is genuine, Bishop has previously said. "Andrew and Myuran are the model of what penal systems the world over long to achieve," she told the Australian Parliament in February. Indonesia has long taken a tough line on drug smugglers, and Widodo has made it clear he doesn't intend to introduce a policy of leniency. In December, six prisoners were killed by firing squad, including five foreigners from Brazil, the Netherlands, Malawi, Nigeria and Vietnam. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff issued a statement saying the execution of one of her countrymen had "severely affected" relations with Indonesia. CNN's Steve Almasy, Camille Feanny and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report. +(CNN)The photographs released by ISIS in its stronghold of Raqqa are dated March 2015. The first ones show a large crowd, mostly men, but also among them a handful of women and children, all looking up. Three men on top of a building, faces covered in black balaclavas, stand on either side of their victim, while a fourth seems to be taking a photo or video. Their victim is thrown off the building. In the last photograph, he is seen face down, surrounded by a small crowd of men, most carrying weapons, some with rocks in their hands. The caption reads "stoned to death." The victim brutally killed because he was accused of being gay. There are at least half a dozen documented cases of men being similarly killed by ISIS. What's even more sickening for Nour, a gay Syrian man, is the onlookers' reaction. "It's too much to watch, and people are just standing there in these images and watching, and they are not doing anything, and their facial expressions are really scary because they are not even scared of what is going on," says Nour, who's also an LGBT rights activist. "They might be a little bit excited or maybe happy to get rid of homosexuals in the city." Though in Istanbul, fear of persecution continues to haunt Nour, who asked us to conceal his identity as he waits and hopes for asylum in America and continues to campaign for rights for people who are LGBT -- lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans. As a teenager, over a decade ago, Nour suffered because of his sexuality. "The worst bullying was at school," he remembers. "I was approached in the street a number of times, verbally abused and sometimes physically abused." There was no one to protect him. His family rejected his sexual orientation, his country criminalized it. Article 520 of the Syrian Penal Code of 1949 states: "Any unnatural sexual intercourse shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of up to three years." Nour left Syria in 2012, before ISIS took over huge swaths of the country, after seeing a video of two men being beheaded. According to the voice on the clip, they are accused of being spies. Then toward the end, the voice speaks about "shaking the throne of God." "Whenever we hear this in video or audio, we know that this is exactly meant for gay people," he says. "It was the moment of clarity, the moment of understanding; this place is not safe anymore." The pictures released by ISIS and other videos refer to gay men as the tribe of Lot, who, according to readings of the Quran and the hadith, or prophetic traditions, sinned by refusing Prophet Lot's call to cease their homosexual activity and led to the destruction of Sodom. One hadith states, "When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes." Since the revolution turned war in Syria, the situation for the nation's LGBT community has become even more dire. "LGBT people in Syria need help, and they need to be supported. We tried to reach out to some groups, international entities, and they said that LGBT people in Syria are not our priority, and that would mean that our lives are not worthy for them to rescue," Nour says. This week, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a nongovernmental organization based in New York, started "Don't Turn Away," an awareness-raising campaign calling for action to protect LGBT Syrians and Iraqis from ISIS' merciless brutality. On its website, the group states, "What is clear is the Islamic State's intent -- to spread terror among an already persecuted population in the region and to warn against any kind of 'moral' transgression." The commission is calling on governments and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to expedite resettlement and refugee applications for LGBTs. Sami and his partner are among those waiting. Dressed in matching outfits, they already consider themselves married, laughing about how they first met online. They too, like Nour, don't want their identities revealed. When Sami's family found out about his relationship, he says, his brother tried to beat him up. He started to receive threatening phone calls from family and strangers. This past summer, while the couple was walking in the streets in Damascus, a car tried to run them over. "I was able to pull myself away, but my husband couldn't," Sami recalls. "The car hit his leg and he fell to the ground." There is no doubt that it was a deliberate attempt to kill them. Two hours after the attack, Sami's phone rang. "There was a man who said this time you could have made it, you could have survived, but the next time you will not." The couple fled to Turkey a few months ago, but they can't shake the fear that their relationship could cost them their lives. They share housing with other Syrian refugees, where they have to continue to pretend that they are straight. When the ISIS photographs emerged, one of their housemates made a sickening comment. "He made an absurd joke about how he was so amused, had too much fun watching homosexuals. He says now gay men can fly." They say they will never return to Syria. And neither will Nour. "It's too damaging for my psychological state, because I have been abused too much from my family, friends, school. It's not safe for me psychologically or physically," he says. Opinion: ISIS's warped take on morality . +March 5, 2015 . There's a lot of content for civics, social studies and history teachers today. Our first story centers on the trial that's begun for an accused Boston Marathon terrorist, and we examine the status of the death penalty in the U.S. From there, we take a look at the role of millennials in today's workforce, and we explore what could be the wreck of a World War II-era Japanese warship. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is making headlines again. On Wednesday, images began circulating from the city of Raqqa in Syria of a man being thrown off a building, allegedly after a conviction for a homosexual act. The scene is sickening and horrifying. And it's meant to be, because ISIS is not only killing individuals it accuses of homosexuality -- it is trying to spread terror among people who do not conform to traditional ideas about what women and men should look like, do, or say. This latest execution is the eighth that ISIS has claimed it carried out for sodomy. In addition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has reported the murders of four more men, also accused of sodomy, who were killed in similar style by ISIS in Syria. ISIS is allegedly also responsible for stoning at least three women in Syria accused of adultery. It's clear that these chilling spectacles are staged with the intent to terrorize. Some of the men were photographed either being thrown from the tops of tall buildings or stoned or shot to death (and in some cases both). In its social media postings about the executions, ISIS shows victims being brought to a city center, with militants purporting to read from a self-styled "court" ruling before conducting the execution in front of a crowd. A final picture usually depicts a lifeless body. The militia's propaganda machine gathers local communities and posts images on social media with a clear intention: to warn against any kind of transgression and spread terror. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), of course, condemns these acts. But it is also important to note that we have very little information on the executions themselves. Indeed, despite our efforts, and those of other independent observers, neither the accusations nor the exact nature, time, and location of the executions can be corroborated. We know nothing about the victims' sexual orientation or gender identity. Without evidence or independent confirmation, we must therefore be cautious about assuming anything about the individuals involved. Still, whatever the uncertainties in these individual cases, as IGLHRC and the women's rights organization MADRE have asserted, the public and gruesome nature of these executions, and ISIS's previous threats against those who commit what they deem to be "sodomy," raise concerns for anyone in Iraq or Syria who does not conform to traditional ideas about "proper" women and men. And the reality is that these most recent executions are certain to heighten alarm and psychological suffering among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals -- and indeed terrorize the population generally -- in the areas under ISIS's control. For Iraqi individuals who are perceived to deviate from prevailing gender norms, living under the rule of ISIS means living with the constant shadow of a potential death sentence, as pointed out in our report with MADRE and the Baghdad-based Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. Where do we go from here? There are no shortcuts or easy answers to stopping the violence of ISIS. The antidote to their bleak worldview will be long-term and hard-won, rooted in the tenacity and wisdom of resilient local communities. However, the international community must act urgently to protect lives and help those fleeing violence today. Internal and external resettlement of persecuted people should be stepped up with greater financial support to U.N. agencies and human rights NGOs who work directly with vulnerable people. Meanwhile, applications for asylum by persecuted individuals should be expedited. We cannot sit idly by while ISIS commits wanton violence in the name of protecting "morality." +(CNN)Many years ago, a colleague told me how frustrated her husband was by "Amazon Mom," a special membership program offered by the retail giant that provides discounts, recommendations and other information to help parents during the crazy toddler years. In bold print, the company says the program is "open to anyone, whether you're a mom, dad, grandparent, or caretaker." But still it is called "Amazon Mom," irking my colleague's husband to no end since he was the one ordering the majority of diapers and other products for their babies. 'Dad' gets a makeover in Super Bowl ads . My friend's husband was not alone. A petition created a few years ago calls on Amazon to change the name of the program from "Amazon Mom" to "Amazon Family." But the drive didn't get much traction. That changed after the recent death of a beloved dad blogger, Oren Miller, who created a Facebook group for dad bloggers in 2012 that has grown to more than 1,000 members. In 2013, Miller called on men and women to sign the petition to get Amazon to change the name of the program. "Why did Amazon bother changing the name of its parenting program when the program started in the UK? What made them realize they couldn't get away with calling it 'Amazon Mom,' and why do they get away with it here?" Miller wrote. "Someone actually started a petition to change the name to 'Amazon Family' in the US, and so far it has less than 100 signatures. Why is that? Why are we OK with letting England be more progressive than we are here when it comes to fatherhood? They have a queen! They are ruled by a freakin' queen! We can do better than that!" he wrote. No more dumb old dad: Changing the bumbling father stereotype . I had the pleasure of interviewing Miller for a story last year on whether modern dads get enough credit. The 42-year-old stay-at-home father of two, who fought perceptions of fathers as nothing more than babysitters in essays on his blog, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014. Miller, of Owings Mills, Maryland, died Saturday. Now, members of the dad blogging community are rallying in his honor, trying to step up the pressure on the Internet powerhouse to finally change the name of its program and get with the times. Mike Heenan, a stay-at-home father of two in Northern California and founder of the blog At-Home Dad Matters, never got to meet Miller but says that when Miller welcomed him into his community of dad bloggers, it changed his life. "He got me writing again, inspired me to publish, to contribute, to tell my story ... to be a better dad for my daughters." Heenan, like several other dad bloggers, took to Twitter using the #AmazonFamilyUS hashtag to call for Amazon to make the change. "The push for inclusivity in the parenting arena has been well received by many a brand in the past few years and, like Oren, many of us think the change to 'Amazon Family' is a no-brainer," Heenan said. Judgy moms and dads face off in hit ad . Buzz Bishop, a father of two in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of the blog Dad Camp, points out how Amazon calls its program "Amazon Family" in Germany, Japan, Austria, France and Canada as well as the United Kingdom. "So why is it called 'Amazon Mom' in America?" Bishop wrote in a blog post. "We are continuing a cause that was once championed by the creator of the Dad Bloggers Facebook group, Oren Miller," wrote Bishop. "In his name, we want to finish the job." The petition has gotten over 4,800 signatures. Amazon has not commented on the movement. In the meantime, Miller's supporters won't stop pushing. I hope they never do. Do you think Amazon should re-name its "Amazon Mom" program "Amazon Family"? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook. +(CNN)In the two years since "Lean In" became a best-seller and sparked countless conversations about gender equality, author Sheryl Sandberg says she has gotten one question over and over from men: What can they do? Now the Facebook chief operating officer is giving them some specific answers by aligning with one of the most popular athletes on the planet. If LeBron James is encouraging men to lean in for women, don't you think some of his 19 million Twitter followers will get the message too? That's certainly what Sandberg and her LeanIn.org colleagues are hoping, following their brand new partnership with the National Basketball Association and the Women's National Basketball Association and the creation of a public service campaign called #LeanInTogether. In a 30-second video of NBA and WNBA all-stars, we see James of the Cleveland Cavaliers holding up a poster, which says "All-Star Dad." Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat says, "When men lean in, everyone wins," and then touts how he leans in for his wife, mother and grandmother. "Help women aim high," says Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks. The significance of the message and the men who are relaying it is twofold, says Sandberg. To truly bring about equality at home and at work, men need to be part of the discussion, and we need to bring the discussion to where men are, she says. Sheryl Sandberg at BlogHer: Not every woman has to be a CEO . "The conversation about equality has long existed by women, for women, in women's forums where women are, and that will continue, and that's important. But bringing it to the center of the court, bringing men to the center of that conversation -- people like LeBron James and Steph Curry (of the Golden State Warriors) and Dwayne Wade, saying 'I'm in for equality and here's why' -- I think that could be transformative," said Sandberg in a phone interview. What Sandberg and LeanIn.org are also hoping to do is show men specifically what they can do, providing a series of tips about things they could start doing at home and at work, and as managers, as soon as they finish reading this story. Many of the suggestions might seem like common sense to many women -- such as male managers giving women credit in meetings and men sharing 50-50 in household and child care duties at home. But Sandberg says with the list of "simple, clear, everyday things, practical things" men can do that are based on real data, men will see not only how they can help but how they individually will benefit. For instance, research shows that boys and girls with a more involved father are healthier, mentally and physically, happier, have stronger emotional attachments and relationships, are at lower risk for substance abuse and are more successful at work and at home, Sandberg said. For girls, there's an extra benefit, she said. By age 14, if a girl sees her father doing child care and housework, her concept of the array of things she can do professionally is much broader than that of girls who don't see their fathers doing household chores, she said, pointing to a study by the University of British Columbia and published in a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "The way men react when you tell them children of more active fathers of any income level, no matter how active a mother is, do better -- a lot of men, particularly those with wives who are home (and who say) 'I'm covered. My kids are in good hands' ... they are motivated," said Sandberg. Despite 'Lean In,' workplace equality remains abysmal . Dads might think they are doing all they can by telling their daughters they can be anything they want, but if Mom is still doing all the cooking and cleaning, their girls aren't getting the full message. "What really matters is seeing what you do. You have to walk the walk. She needs to see equality to believe it." Another huge goal, Sandberg says, is showing men they won't lose out in the workplace when there is more equality in the executive suites and in boardrooms. "If you've long been in the majority and long held power, and you see change, you could naturally be nervous that this wasn't going to help you," said Sandberg. Men need to realize it's not a zero sum game, she said. "When companies do better, there are more jobs, more promotions, more salaries for everyone. When companies do worse, there's less for everyone," she said. She mentioned a recent study by the International Monetary Fund, which found that if women were in the workforce at the same percentage as men in the U.S., our country's gross domestic product would grow by 5%. "We haven't seen 5% GDP growth in a long time. ... That's a lot of jobs for a lot of people, so understanding that this is beneficial for everyone, I think, is huge." Work-life balance not just a women's issue . Sandberg's #LeanInTogether comes as emphasis seems to be growing on getting boys and men to think about gender equality. Sandberg will be one of the opening night speakers at a four-day conference on engaging men and boys that begins Thursday in New York. The conference is sponsored by The Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook University. In January, a U.N. conference sponsored by Iceland and Suriname, which I was honored to attend as a panel participant, brought together ambassadors, other policymakers, and athletes and artists, with the goal of changing the discourse among men on gender equality. An overriding message repeated at the conference was that we can't keep telling men what to do. We need to show them what many men are already doing every day at home and at work. "Dad' gets a makeover in Super Bowl ads . That is why the recent focus on caring dads in ads during this year's Super Bowl was so applauded by men like sociologist Michael Kimmel, who is spearheading this week's New York conference on men and masculinities. "This provides a counternarrative to all the action hero, buffoon images that we see," Kimmel told me when I talked to him days before the Super Bowl. Kimmel said very few men, fewer than 10%, can relate to the way the media depict masculinity, according to a study conducted by Dove Men+Care. Kimmel was hired by the brand as an adviser to help analyze its research. Men today are spending far more time doing housework and helping with child care and are enjoying more egalitarian relationships than any generation in American history, and their ideas about what it means to be a man have begun to shift as well, said Kimmel, who is the author of more than 20 books including "Manhood in America: A Cultural History." Sandberg says we need to recognize and support the new definitions of masculinity and hopes the message from stars like James and Wade goes a long way toward doing that. "I am increasingly convinced that unless we fully accept men as caregivers, we can't fully accept women as leaders," she said. "We've got to stop calling it 'Mommy and me.' As long as we are calling it 'Mommy and me,' we are communicating to women that this is their job ... and we have to do both sides of this." Admittedly impatient about gender equality (I'm impatient too!), Sandberg concedes we have a long way to go until the gender equality problem is solved and LeanIn.org can close its doors. "We have been fighting for equality for too long," she said, noting that women starting earning about 50% of college degrees back in 1981. "Thirty-four years is plenty of time to get 50% of the top jobs, and we're not close. We're at 5(%) in the Fortune 500. And so we have to change, we have to change more. We have to get more people involved." Enter King James. Do you think NBA stars like LeBron Jones and Dwayne Wade can help encourage men to 'lean in'? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace (@kellywallacetv) on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook. +(CNN)Every time a snowstorm bears down on Danbury, Connecticut -- which has happened a lot this winter -- students and parents turn to Twitter to find out whether schools will be closed. They rarely get a straight answer. Instead, Danbury residents see jokes, meme-filled videos and teasing references to snow days at fictional high schools from "Glee" or "Grease" -- all courtesy of Mayor Mark Boughton, a social-media prankster whose @MayorMark account provides actual updates about school closings amid all the buffoonery. "Attention: West Beverly Hills High School is closed for tomorrow. #90210," read one recent mayoral tweet. Boughton always gets around to the real news eventually. But first come the wisecracks. He was in especially rare form Tuesday night, tweeting almost a dozen snow-day jokes, Storify user and freelance journalist Kristin Hussey chronicled, as yet another storm hit Danbury. Parents and students tuning in for real news about snow days might find this running gag irritating. But on Twitter, at least, many students seem to get the joke. "@MayorMark you better get each and every one of us a therapist after all of stress you're causing us," wrote one. "The kids take it tongue in cheek. They understand, because it's sort of a tradition around here," said Boughton, who told CNN he's been trading jokes about snow days with students on Twitter for several years now. "We go back and forth. But it's all in good fun." One twist of the whole thing is that Boughton doesn't even make the call about closing Danbury schools. That decision is left to Superintendent of Schools Sal Pascarella, who confers with Boughton by phone and then sends an automated update to every parent's phone. But Boughton, who ran for governor of Connecticut last year and has 18,000 Twitter followers, usually posts his school-closing tweets first. Finally, after hours of build-up, the mayor gave people of Danbury the news at 6:21 a.m. Wednesday: Schools would open two hours late. The mayor says he wants to help young people engage with public servants -- and show them that he can be funny. "I have a very serious policy side ... but I like to have a good chuckle," he said. "That's who I am. In the end, I think it (social media) is about being yourself." He says he rarely gets complaints about his Twitter feed, and that "parents think it's hysterical." But maybe not all Danbury parents. "As a parent, has it been helpful? No," said Stephanie Pabon, whose 6-year-old son attends a Danbury magnet school. "Because as a parent I don't have time for Twitter." +(CNN)Patrick and Sue Ellen Kilgallon knew the storm was coming. They tried to get out of northern Kentucky on Wednesday night. Instead, they got stuck in the snow on Interstate 65. The Florida couple and their two dogs were still there Thursday morning, more than 14 hours later, unable to get back to the Sunshine State. "We're just sitting here praying, hoping to get out," Patrick Kilgallon told CNN on Thursday. They were among hundreds of motorists who had been stranded on I-65 near Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and on Interstate 24 near Paducah after a storm so intense that road crews just couldn't keep up. Gov. Steve Beshear said Thursday afternoon that some traffic had begun to inch along. "We have finally cleared some emergency lanes on the sides of the roads, and the traffic now northbound on I-65 is beginning to move slowly and to clear out," he told CNN. "It will take several hours to clear it out, because it's backed up so much. But it is moving again, thank goodness." Video shot from news helicopters above the interstate showed that by 4 p.m., cars and many tractor-trailers were rolling along, once they cleared a hill near Elizabethtown. But in some places, the vehicles that still had gas had to maneuver around those that didn't. And Thursday evening, traffic was still at a standstill in Hart County between mile markers 71 and 74, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said. The Kentucky National Guard was helping motorists, taking some to nearby warming centers and returning others to their cars where the highways were passable, Lt. Col. Kirk Hilbrecht told CNN. 94 million Americans say: 'Enough with winter, already' Beshear told CNN that officials had been prepared. "We did everything we could in advance," he said. There were no reports of any deaths or major injuries, the governor said. "I-65 was literally a parking lot for 15 hours," said Rev. Janette Wilson, who was stuck on the highway while headed from Chicago to Selma, Alabama. "The thing that troubles me the most was the lack of preparedness for the storm and the inability of the Kentucky emergency response team to investigate ... the impact on people on the road." No one checked whether people had run out of food or gas, or gave those stranded an update, she told CNN's Anderson Cooper. Wilson said they were stuck on the road and not moving between 2:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. A morning weather report indicated that over a 15-hour span, 21 inches of snow had fallen on Elizabethtown, about 50 miles south of Louisville. Other parts of Kentucky, along with parts of Ohio to the north and Tennessee to the south, had more than a foot of snow. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet published a hotline number for motorists stranded on the highway. The Kilgallons gassed up Wednesday night and tried to beat the storm as they traveled south for Florida. But 25 miles from Louisville, they hit "nothing but dead stop" on I-65. Kilgallon has a scanner in the car and said she has heard that a tractor-trailer collided with several cars, and while the truck was moved, there were not enough tow trucks to move the other vehicles involved in the accident. The Kilgallons had a few snacks left and are rationing the water they have left, Patrick Kilgallon said Thursday afternoon. They ran the engine on their new Jeep all night to keep warm and prevent the ice from encrusting the car too deeply, he said. Asked whether she was upset with Kentucky officials, Sue Ellen Kilgallon said no. "I think they're doing the best they can," she said. "I'd cry if it weren't so amusing." CNN's Steve Almasy, Chuck Johnston, Brandon Miller and Carol Costello contributed to this report. +(CNN)It was a sophisticated attack with sophisticated devices. Authorities quickly identified the Boston bombing suspects, but almost immediately after Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during the manhunt for the perpetrators and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured, investigators privately questioned if more people were involved. If there were others, perhaps a bomb maker is on the loose. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told police he and his brother built the bombs, but court documents show some people involved in the case had their doubts. The bombs were described as powerful pressure-cooker explosives controlled remotely. There were fuses from Christmas lights and detonators constructed from model car parts. The twin bombings in April 2013 killed three people and wounded more than 250 others. "These relatively sophisticated devices would have been difficult for the Tsarnaevs to fabricate successfully without training or assistance from others," prosecutors wrote in a filing opposing a move by Tsarnaev's lawyer to throw out statements he made in the hospital. Two years after the attack Michael Marks, a former special agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, agrees on the technical aspects of the bombs. "These were two relatively sophisticated devices that went off almost simultaneously. They had a very, very short delay," he said. "It would be my opinion that they had somebody who was more of a skilled bomb maker, an engineer if you will, assist them in saying these are the steps you need to go through and then assemble the device to make it safely and to make it function the way they want." They were the kind of bombs that need testing to make sure they work the way you expect. "There has been no evidence that the two brothers actually tested and tried out making a bomb and detonating it," CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem said. "Now it could be luck that they put this thing together, put it at the Boston Marathon finish line, and were able to detonate them so close to each other and sequentially. But it was a pretty sophisticated attack." Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told FBI agents he and his brother built the bombs following instructions from al Qaeda's Inspire magazine. No one has been publicly named as a possible co-conspirator. Investigators have focused on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's suspected ties to militants. In 2012 the older Tsarnaev spent six months in Russia. Authorities have questioned how much exposure he may have had to radicals and whether he could have received training there. There are other clues that the brothers would have needed help with the bombs. There wasn't trace evidence -- black powder from fireworks -- found in either home, their cars or anywhere associated with them, the court documents said. Also, investigators apparently were troubled that they recovered one remote-controlled detonator at the scene of the bombings when there should have been two. That suggested the other was being kept to use with other bombs. Marks said investigators didn't find circuit testers. "You want a separate circuit tester in order to test the functionality of the components without it being hooked up to the actual device, for your own safety," he said. The trial underway in Boston will center on not whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did it, but why he did it. The prosecution will paint a portrait of a cruel co-conspirator, an equal partner in hideous crimes. A man who planned to kill and did. But the defense will draw the accused as a boy living in the shadow of a mastermind older brother. Younger, struggling in school, abandoned by his parents. An easy victim of deep manipulation. The question of how he was influenced is essential to the case. Kayyem, who said she believes the brothers acted in tandem without outside help, said she think the defense strategy will be to create enough doubt within the jurors' minds of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's mental state leading into this. "So this idea that there might be some evil hand out there telling Dzhokhar what to do -- whether it's his brother or someone who's a bomb maker -- fits nicely into that narrative," she said. +(CNN)They were not-so-affectionately dubbed the "bed-wetters" by then-Obama senior adviser David Plouffe. The definition: Democrats who run to the hills every time there's a bump in the road. The Chicken Littles. The woe-is-us crowd. Well, they're at it again. Not surprisingly, it's because of the Hillary Clinton email brouhaha, an unforced error that is now ricocheting around the political world. And the home team stands in place, just watching, somewhat stunned. But Democrats don't actually have the luxury of standing by and seeing how this all plays out. Hillary Clinton is their candidate; their putative nominee. "Their only viable plan is to make her the best candidate possible," says one senior Democratic strategist. "And from time to time, this may require an intervention." Now might be a good time. But while the anxious Democrats shake their heads about the state of affairs — and the lack of serious alternatives in the presidential lineup — they might do well to look at themselves. Over the past six years, there's been a sharp structural decline of elected Democrats everywhere below the presidential level. Sure, we all know about how the Republicans regained control of the Senate in 2014, but what about the fact that blue-state governors fell like tent poles? Or that GOP governors now outnumber the Democrats by almost two-to-one, 31 to 18. Or that Republicans have complete control of nearly three times as many state legislatures as the Democrats, 30 to 11. And down the ballot, Democrats under Obama have lost more than 900 state legislative seats: the worst showing of any modern president. That's eye-popping. So, the conventional judgment that the Clinton behemoth is just too big — too well funded, too well supported, too historic — all helps account for the paucity of alternatives, to be sure. But there's much, much more to it than the phenom of Bigfoot Hillary. It's the phenom of Barack Obama, too — and the very strong counterforces he's generated around the country. The gains at the presidential level have not been cost-free: The country is polarized, the Democrats are often on defense and they're losing ground. One result: a thin presidential bench, which is painfully evident. Clinton asks State to release emails: What you need to know . And if you take a peek at those blue-state governors who might be president, consider this: At 76, Jerry Brown, an able leader, is probably past his sell-by date for a presidential bid. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made very few moves to raise his national profile. And Democratic governors are very thin on the ground in the heartland. Any time you have Republicans winning the gubernatorial races in Massachusetts, Illinois and Maryland, Democrats should pay attention. As has been the case with other presidents, for Obama party-building has not been on top of the agenda. But it shows. And so when Hillary Clinton runs into some trouble, the Democrats ought to worry. The Republicans have a deep and varied field; the Democrats have one real horse in the race no matter how much she stumbles out of the gate. Speaking of Hillary Clinton, part of the problem right now is situational. Those Democrats who want to defend her say there's a problem -- they're not quite sure what they're defending, because they're not sure exactly what happened, or why. In other words, the wagons are circled, but the surrogates are left outside. Next, while Team Clinton may have considered the upside of waiting to announce her candidacy (Why not let the GOP battle it out? No need to give the GOP early target practice?), the downside is now obvious: How do you mount a defense with no real or organized apparatus to respond? If you're out there making personal appearances, it looks odd to ignore the elephant in the room. No matter how much you tweet about it. Clinton's stumbles fuel Democratic critics . Bottom line, there is no organized pushback and there is no Plan B. (OK, Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders, we know who you are, and that you're probably running, but still.) Or at least no Big Plan B. The pre-presidential league on the Democratic side is not exactly overflowing with big-time candidates. (Unless you think Vice President Joe Biden is running or Secretary of State John Kerry is running, which they likely are not. Same for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.) So "bed-wetters," beware. The truth is simple: Your job is to defend Hillary Clinton, not to bury her. Yes, it can be hard. Even annoying. But think about it this way: If you don't, her problems become your own. +(CNN)If you were the member of a minority group and tried to create a system to control and oppress the majority, you could not have done a better job than the white leaders of Ferguson, Missouri. Let's start with the demographics. Ferguson is small -- roughly 20,000 residents -- and is 67% black and 29% white. Over the past decade, Ferguson's population has changed from majority white to majority black. Its elected officials did not. Five of six City Council members are white, as is the city's mayor. How does this happen in a city two-thirds black? Two answers: timing of elections and type of elections. Ferguson, like most municipalities, holds elections in April of odd-numbered years. However research shows that such "off-cycle" elections reduces voter turnout. Ferguson also holds nonpartisan elections, which means that there are no party labels on the ballot. This not only reduces the likelihood that people will vote, it also has been shown to reduce what voters know about the candidates. Although Missouri does not track the race of its voters, according to an article in The Washington Post, Catalist, a private voter data firm, performed a study and found that the voting rules operating in Ferguson effectively suppress the black vote. In the national election in November 2012, the study found, voter turnout between blacks (54%) and whites (55%) was virtually identical. But because of the vast racial differences in the city's population, it resulted in an electorate that was 71% black and 28% white. Fast-forward five months later in April, when whites were three times (17%) more likely to vote than blacks (6%). That resulted in an electorate that was majority white: 52% versus 47%. That is how a majority-black population winds up with almost all-white elected representatives. Ferguson's law enforcement officers are also not representative, with roughly 94% of its police force being white. Similarly Ferguson's local judges are nonrepresentative. I'm sensing a pattern here. Local judges are appointed by the Ferguson City Council upon nomination by the mayor for a two-year term. The Ferguson Municipal Court is also all-white. But the black citizens of Ferguson apparently keep the police and local judges very busy. In 2013, Ferguson had the highest number of warrants issued in the state, when you control for size: 3.6 pending arrest warrants per household and 2.2 arrest warrants on average per person. And 95% of people arrested for jaywalking in Ferguson are black. While 67% of the population is black, 86% of vehicle stops involve a black driver. While 29% of the population is white, 12.9% of vehicle stops involve a white driver. Blacks were almost twice as likely to be searched as whites, even though searches of blacks were less likely than whites to result in contraband being found (21% vs. 34%). Nobody said racism made sense. But for Ferguson, it has made money. In prior years Ferguson tried to raise sales tax but learned the hard way that it did not result in increased revenue because people voted with their feet and took their wealth with them. Ferguson turned to a different revenue source: collecting traffic fines and penalties from the largely black population. Those revenues constitute Ferguson's second-highest revenue source. Once a resident gets a ticket and does not appear in court with an explanation, an arrest warrant is likely issued. Once arrested, the resident may sit in jail for a very long time, while the fees and fines continue to accrue. A class-action lawsuit filed this month against the city of Ferguson has challenged this funding system, calling it a "modern debtors' prison scheme." The remarkable part of this story is how patient the black residents of Ferguson have been. It took the death of a teenager to get them mad enough to protest and the nation got mad with them. Between the class-action lawsuit and the Department of Justice's involvement, blacks in Ferguson should know the world is watching. The arc of history is long and bends towards justice -- and help is finally on the way. +Hong Kong (CNN)China says its military budget will increase by 10.1% in 2015, the latest in a series of double-digit increases that will narrow the still-significant gap with the United States on defense spending. According to a budget report released at the start of China's National People's Congress - the annual meeting of the country's rubber stamp parliament -- defense spending will total 887 billion yuan ($144.2 billion) this year. "Building a solid national defense and strong armed forces is fundamental to safeguarding China's sovereignty," Premier Li Keqiang told thousands of delegates gathered in the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The increase underscores China's intention to prioritize military spending even as economic growth slows. It also comes amid unease among China's neighbors about the pursuit of its territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Traditionally, the People's Liberation Army army has been focused on protecting its own borders, but recent missions have seen it join U.N. peacekeeping efforts in places like South Sudan, and fighting piracy in Somalia. Analysts say that China's spending on defense is notoriously opaque and the budget includes paramilitary forces such as the People's Armed Police as well as the People's Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force. Paul Burton, Asia Pacific director at IHS Aerospace, Defence & Security, estimates that actual spending is 35% higher than the announced budget. "China's expanding strategic reach and extensive modernization requirements will continue to require significant investment over the next decade," Burton said. China's defense budget is still dwarfed by what the U.S. spends on its military -- $598 billion, according to 2014 figures provided by IHS. But, while China's budget has increased by double digits every year since 2010, U.S. spending has declined since then. China's defense budget grew by 12.7% in 2011, 11.2% in 2012, and 10.7% in 2013, according to China's state news agency Xinhua. Alexander Neill, a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in Singapore says China is likely to prioritize spending on its naval power -- its force has traditionally been focused on winning land battles. "A growing chunk of budget is going toward China's navy, particularly its submarine force and its seaborne nuclear deterrent," he said. China's first aircraft carrier went into service in 2012 and a second is thought to be under construction. Neill also said that the PLA is likely to make its pay more competitive to attract higher quality recruits, such as college graduates. A U.S. congressional report released last month said that many are still drawn from rural areas with limited education. It added that the country's one-child policy, which has created the "little emperor" phenomenon of spoiled children, produces recruits who "may not be tough enough to withstand military discipline," the report added. "Serving in the military, in a Chinese cultural sense, is not a sought-after professional career," Neill said. "If the PLA can offer competitive salaries, they may be able to attract a new stratum of specialist talent." CNN's Jason Kwok designed the graphics in this report. +(CNN)A California man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS was indicted Wednesday, charged with attempting to support terror and other counts. Adam Dandach, 21, of Orange, California, was arrested July 3 and initially charged in a complaint of making false statements on a passport application with plans to fly from Orange County's John Wayne Airport to Istanbul, Turkey, and eventually reach Syria, the FBI said. Dandach was initially indicted in July on charges of making the false statements, and he pleaded not guilty, authorities said. But on Wednesday, a superseding indictment accused Dandach of attempting to provide himself and material support to work under the direction and control of ISIS, the FBI said. The new indictment accuses him of lying when applying for a replacement passport and then presenting the passport to an airline employee to travel to Istanbul, the FBI in Los Angeles said. Dandach is also accused of trying to obstruct the investigation by instructing a website administrator to delete his post history, authorities said. Virginia teen accused of being ISIS recruiter . Dandach, who is also known as "Fadi Fadi Dandach," is scheduled to be arraigned March 16. Dandach and his attorney couldn't be immediately reach for comment Wednesday. He is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a terror group; two counts of making of a false statement on a passport application to facilitate international terrorism; and one count of obstruction of justice, authorities said. "If convicted of all the charges in the indictment, Dandach would face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison for the material support charge, up to 25 years for each of the two passport fraud charges, and a statutory maximum of 25 years for obstruction of justice offense," the FBI said in a statement. CNN's Rosalina Nieves contributed to this report. +Washington (CNN)A 17-year-old Virginia student has been charged with helping recruit for ISIS, federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday. The teen, whose name was not disclosed, was taken into custody last week, the officials said. Prosecutors are seeking to charge him as an adult but currently have charged him as a juvenile, one of the law enforcement officials said. The case remains under seal. It was first reported by The Washington Post on Wednesday. The Post, citing officials and neighbors, reported that investigators spent more than a month watching the teen and his home before he was arrested. The teen, who lives in a Virginia suburb of Washington, is accused of helping a slightly older adult travel to Syria. The adult is believed to have joined ISIS there, a separate law enforcement official said. The teen is also accused of distributing ISIS messages to a network of contacts, one of the officials said. The teen is an "intelligent kid," a man who hired him to write for a digital currency news website said Wednesday evening. Dustin O'Bryant, the editor of the website Coin Brief from Alabama, said: "He did not come across as radical in any way." The teen wrote freelance articles for the website for seven months last year. He was told not to bring religion into his writing, O'Bryant said, adding he had noticed the young man had written online posts about his faith. The teen complied, he said. The website editor said he was "extremely, extremely surprised" to learn of the arrest from reporters calling him. He hadn't spoken to the teen since February, when the young man said he was dealing with personal matters but wanted to start writing for the website again at some point this year. Give me two weeks to three months, the boy told him. O'Bryant said he is shocked by the charge. "I hope there's some sort of misunderstanding here, and that he didn't know what he was doing," he said. He added that he didn't realize the teen was in high school because he had college courses on his resume. More than 20,000 foreigners have gone to fight for ISIS, the radical Islamist group that controls portions of Iraq and Syria, experts have told Congress. National Intelligence Director James Clapper said 180 Americans have tried to go to fight in Syria. It's unclear how many of those were attempting to join ISIS. It was also unknown if the man the teen allegedly helped is a U.S. citizen. The names: Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West . Others have been prevented from going there or providing support. Also Wednesday, a 21-year-old California man arrested last summer was indicted, changed with attempting to support terror and other counts. Adam Dandach, of Orange, California, was accused by the FBI in the indictment of attempting to provide himself and material support to work under the direction and control of ISIS. He will be arraigned March 16. California man accused of trying to join ISIS . In February, three men from New York -- Abdurasul Juraboev, 24; Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19; and Abror Habibov, 30 -- were arrested and charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. An unsealed criminal complaint accused one of the men of discussing a potential attempt to assassinate President Barack Obama. One had discussed hijacking a flight and handing it over to ISIS, the complaint said. Four women from Colorado have been accused of attempting to join ISIS. Three Denver teenagers, who investigators say were recruited via social media, were stopped in Germany in October and sent back to the United States. After being arrested in spring 2014, Shannon Maureen Conley was one of the first Americans sentenced for conspiracy to support ISIS. Two men who have appeared in horrific ISIS propaganda videos could be from the United States or Canada, according to analysts. The individuals, both of whom are shown wearing masks covering everything but their eyes, spoke in what sounded like North American accents. One was in a video entitled "Flames of War," which shows the execution of a handful of men. The other militant is the speaker in ISIS' first propaganda video out of Libya, which ends with the graphic beheading of more than a dozen Egyptian Christians. CNN's Brian Todd and Pamela Brown reported from Washington. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz reported from New York. +(CNN)As a manager at several prominent media outlets, Katharine Zaleski did not understand the demands on working moms and often belittled their work ethic. Then she became a mom, and everything changed. In a widely shared piece this week for Fortune.com, the journalist-turned-startup executive apologizes for disparaging the mothers she worked with in her 20s at the Huffington Post and Washington Post. Zaleski said she committed multiple "infractions," against these women, including scheduling late-afternoon meetings or happy hours without considering that mothers with after-work responsibilities wouldn't be able to attend. She even didn't disagree "when another female editor said we should hurry up and fire another woman before she 'got pregnant.' " Now a mother to a young daughter, Zaleski said she was wrong to undervalue mothers' contributions by counting hours logged in the office and not the actual work done. "I wish I had known five years ago, as a young, childless manager, that mothers are the people you need on your team," she wrote. "There's a saying that 'if you want something done then ask a busy person to do it.' That's exactly why I like working with mothers now." Zaleski's piece has been shared more than 1,000 times and has been hailed on social media by many commenters who applaud her for seeing the error of her ways. "Your message is so important and it's about time it was addressed," said Heather Bouvier on Twitter. "THANK YOU for writing this. There are so many people like your then-childless 28-year-old self who need to read it. Seriously, thank you from the bottom of my heart," wrote Alice Gomstyn on Facebook. Since the essay was published Tuesday, Zaleski told CNN she's received more than 2,000 emails from readers who admit they've committed similar infractions in the workplace. "I'm so motivated and thrilled," she said. "I couldn't be more psyched for the responses." But not all the responses have been positive. Some people refuse to accept Zaleski's apology and accuse her of borrowing from similar apologetic essays by other new moms. "This woman has basically stolen another woman's post about her views on mothers with children in the workforce for her own personal gain!!," wrote one commenter on Zaleski's essay. Others accuse Zaleski of writing the essay just to promote the new company she co-founded, Power to Fly, an online platform that matches women with technical skills to freelance projects they can do from anywhere. "This woman & her shameless self-promoting article disgust me. No awareness. No integrity," Kitten Holiday said on Twitter. Zaleski said that notion is "just silly," and she's taken a huge risk leaving a stable job to start a company that is a part of the solution. Zaleski said her company, which launched in August, enables women to work from home so that they can "be valued for their productivity and not time spent sitting in an office or at a bar bonding afterwards." But some critics say encouraging mothers to work from home only perpetuates a problem. "I like this article a lot, but wish the solution wasn't to have a company that helps mothers find jobs that keep them tucked away at home, but to change the dominant culture to create better, more supportive workplaces where flexible schedules are encouraged," said Suzanne Pekow Carlson on Facebook. Others say they wish Zaleski went further, and instead of only addressing the challenges of the working mother, wished she'd included other caregivers, like dads. "I hope the convo ... expands beyond just working moms to working dads, folks taking care of sick parents, etc.," ABC's Karen Travers said on Twitter. "I don't understand why we still refuse to acknowledge that our society needs to be more flexible for PARENTS. It is not just the woman's burden," said Margaret Weingart Berger on Facebook. And said another commenter on Zaleski's essay, "If it takes this woman becoming a mother to understand the value of working mothers and have compassion for them, then I guess we can't expect men to understand and have compassion because they will never be able to be mothers themselves." Zaleski said she finds the criticism "frustrating," but said she refuses to dwell on the negative. She wants to "stay focused on helping women find fulfilling work they can do from home." She said her essay represents her "own personal experience," which happens to mostly involve working with mothers. But she's glad her piece has opened a dialogue and she hopes the conversation continues. Women not supporting women "is a systemic problem in our society," Zaleski said. Serena Markstrom Nugent, posting on Facebook, agreed. "To the women mad at her (Zaleski) and saying too little too late: She not only had not had kids but was very young and ambitious. In the spirit of not tearing down other women, I would say cheer her on for where she is on in the journey," she wrote. "Still young, still learning, and at least at this point, it appears, part of the solution." Still other critics suggest the issue isn't as simple as parents versus non-parents in the workplace. Instead, they say, it's about the lack of empathy that exists between colleagues whose circumstances are different from their own. "Why is it necessary to 'walk in someone's shoes' before we understand their perspective?" said Ann OConnell on Facebook. "Until we strive to have understanding and compassion for people regardless of our personal circumstances or life choices, we will remain selfish and self-centered as a whole." +(CNN)A suspect from Ohio learned a valuable lesson this week: Don't taunt authorities on social media, especially when you're a wanted man. Andrew Marcum, 21, jumped in and posted his two cents after authorities shared his picture on Facebook as a featured warrant of the week. Allegations against the Lemon Township resident included burglary, kidnapping, domestic violence and criminal endangering, the Butler County Sheriff's Office posted in a message accompanying its post. Apparently not intent on going down without a fight, a man bearing the name Andrew Marcum responded to the post. "I ain't tripping half of them don't even know me," he posted. In addition to sharing the suspect's name, the Facebook account is several years old and had other photos resembling Marcum, including one with a large tattoo spelling his last name on his back. Authorities took the man's post seriously enough to respond to it. "Andrew Marcum, if you could stop by the sheriff's office, that'd be great," they posted. Sheriff Richard K. Jones raised the stakes by moving their pleas to Twitter. He posted a picture of a jail cell that apparently awaited the suspect. Marcum's purported post appeared Monday, and authorities arrested him a day later. "Thanks to our social media friends for helping turn up the heat on this week's featured warrant," the Sheriff's Office tweeted. "Marcum in custody." Jones posted the suspect's arrest mug shot, showing him in tears. +(CNN)After months racing not only to treat Ebola but to find ways to prevent it, health authorities will launch a vaccination campaign Saturday in one of the areas that has been most devastated by the disease. The trial, using vaccines developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, will be administered in Basse Guinee, a region that has had the highest number of Ebola cases in Guinea. Another vaccine will be tested in a subsequent study, according to a press release from the World Health Organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. "We have worked hard to reach this point," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said. "... If a vaccine is found effective, it will be the first preventive tool against Ebola in history." Patient Zero -- i.e. the first case in the current Ebola outbreak -- is thought to be a 2-year-old Guinean boy who contracted the virus in December 2013 and died a few days later. Since then, the vast majority of the more than 23,900 cases and more than 9,800 deaths reported by WHO have come in Guinea and neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. There are new Ebola cases every day, including 132 in the last week of February (which is up from 99 reported the previous week). While Liberia didn't have any of these new incidences, Guinea did -- especially in Forecariah and Conakry. Still, authorities in Africa and their partners around the world have had significant successes generally in combating the deadly disease. The progress -- as measured in the rate of new cases, with January's incidences being the lowest in seven months -- has been so significant that health authorities' focus has shifted from slowing the spread to ending the epidemic. This positive movement has come as a result of steps like better disease control, public awareness campaigns and attention to burial practices. But the tool that has been used to eradicate many other contagious diseases -- vaccines -- has been elusive. That's why, over the past six months, WHO has been working with scientists, ethicists and policymakers to try to create both better treatment therapies and a vaccine that will stop people for getting Ebola in the first place. Health workers in the Guinea trial will start with a new Ebola case and then trace all of that patient's contacts, giving each of them the option of getting vaccinated. John-Arne Rottingen, from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said this program is happening at the request of Guinean authorities and called the participation of residents there "vital" to its success. "The Ebola epidemic shows signs of receding but we cannot let our guard down until we reach zero cases," WHO official Marie-Paule Kieny said. "An effective vaccine to control current flare-ups could be the game-changer to finally end this epidemic and an insurance policy for any future ones." +(CNN)Ben Carson suggested to CNN on Wednesday that prisons can turn straight people gay. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called being gay a lifestyle choice, like drinking alcohol. I guess the next thing these two presumed 2016 presidential hopefuls will tell America is being black is a choice, too. Like it or not, it's no wonder Jeb Bush is emerging as the Republican Party's 2016 frontrunner. Of course, there is that awkward little name thing, something he seems fully aware of -- despite only being in the exploratory phase of a potential campaign, Jeb has already declared he's not just another Bush.  "A lot of people know my dad, they know my brother. As in everybody's family, we're all a little different," he reportedly told a crowd in Las Vegas this week. And he seems to keep trying to distance himself from his family. "Do you have brothers and sisters? Are you exactly the same?" he insisted. Yet Jeb is banking hard on the same vault of donors and operatives his father George H. W Bush and his brother George W. Bush used in their presidential campaigns. He's already raising lots of money, asking donors recently not to give more than a still eye-popping $1 million to his super PAC. "They didn't need to be persuaded," Howard Leach, a Republican fundraiser for Jeb, told the Washington Post. So, what exactly is in a name like Bush? Apparently, a whole lot of cash, which helps win presidential nominations and elections. And if Jeb wins the nomination in 2016, it will likely be less "joyfully," as he promised last year, than ruthlessly. After all, we're still more than 18 months from the election and Jeb's locking in many of the same kinds of consultants that worked with his brother and father. "Those who hold out can sense a distinct chill," noted a recent New York Times article. Jeb's campaign is seeking to hire "donors, advisors and operatives," wrote the Times, with "deep connections to the Bush family's past presidential campaigns and administrations." Those same family members from whom Jeb swears he's different? And if consultants don't abide by Jeb's rules of loyalty and decide to work with other 2016 Republican aspirants? "Swift rebuke follows," the Times notes, pointing to the example of IMGE, a technology company that reportedly fell out of favor with the Bush campaign after one of the firm's founders indicated IMGE was hoping not to be tied to a single candidate. None of this is to suggest that Jeb Bush doesn't have appeal as a candidate -- I like some of the things he did as Florida governor, like his record of cutting $19 billion in taxes and supporting school choice programs. (Although I'm not a fan of his willingness to grant illegal immigrants amnesty in any shape, fashion or form.) He seems more equipped to lead America and get things done than some others in the already cramped horse race like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who seems more concerned with telling people off than sounding presidential. Then there's Rick Santorum and Huckabee, caring Christian men, but both too consumed with running for president of morality than bringing the entire country together after years of Obama supposedly dividing us on race, religion and sexuality. But what troubles me a little about Bush's early attempts at "corning the market" is that he's relying on the same consultants that have cycled through the last 20-plus years of elections -- some of whom worked for Romney's campaign. This raises the question of why, if Jeb doesn't want the public to view him as just another Bush running for president, he seems to be relying on the Bush network of consultants? The same playbook that helped get his brother and father get elected president isn't going to work for this Bush. The demographics of the country have changed, but it seems unlikely the Republican Party and its operatives have changed with it. The truth is that any Republican candidate who wins the nomination will have to refrain from business as usual. He (let's face it, the GOP won't nominate a woman) will have to hire minorities and women in meaningful campaign positions and have a strategy to aggressively compete for minority votes. This is something Romney didn't do nearly enough of. Jeb is only in the "pre-presidential" phase, ruminating over the idea. But he appears to be assembling a lot of the same old (white) faces of recent losing Republican campaigns we've seen before. As a black conservative who would like to see a Republican in the White House again, I hope Jeb isn't Romney 2.0. +(CNN)Foreign intervention in Yemen's chaos has dramatically raised the stakes in the Arabian Peninsula, threatening to expand what is already a civil war into a conflict pitting Iran against Saudi Arabia and an Arab coalition. The Saudis launched Operation "Decisive Storm" last Wednesday with dozens of airstrikes in an effort to blunt the advance of Houthi militia and allied army units on the port of Aden -- and to protect the last bastion of Yemen's internationally-recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. There were also strikes in and around the capital, Sanaa, which resumed early Monday. Many analysts were surprised at the speed and scale of the Saudi air campaign, which the Kingdom said would continue until the Houthis -- a Shia minority that has swept across the country in the last six months -- retreated and laid down their arms. Essentially the Saudis are trying to bomb the Houthis to the negotiating table. The Houthis have responded by threatening a campaign of suicide bomb attacks inside Saudi Arabia. Iran, which has supported the Houthis as fellow Shia, described the Saudi offensive as a "dangerous move that would kill any chance at peaceful resolution of the crisis." Yemen is becoming the latest battleground in a contest for regional superiority between Saudi Arabia and Iran that goes back to the overthrow of the Shah during Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. It now resembles Syria, or Bosnia 20 years ago: a patchwork of shifting fiefdoms where force is the only means of influence. There is a real risk that Yemen will collapse as a state, with a revived independence movement in the south, the Houthis in the north, and the Sunni heartland in between. Adam Baron, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and expert on Yemen's tortured recent history, says, "It's not difficult to divine Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners' motivations for taking this action." The Houthis were on the verge of overrunning Aden, a strategic port that overlooks straits through which 20,000 merchant ships pass every year. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, 3.8 million barrels of oil a day passed through the Bab el Mandab Straits in 2013. But Baron believes the Kingdom's "decision to launch a full-scale military action truly risks inflaming the situation further. It will be seen as an act of aggression by most Yemenis and risks taking the situation to a place that no-one will be able to control." As in Afghanistan, factions in Yemen do not respond well to foreign intervention. In 2009 the Saudis took military action against the Houthis in support of then President Ali Abdullah Saleh, using airstrikes and special forces, but were unable to subdue them. Now the Houthis have at least some of the $500 million in military equipment provided by the U.S. to Yemen since 2010, and they have proved to be capable fighters. They staged a lightning invasion of the capital, Sanaa, last September, taking advantage of popular discontent and an unwillingness among many army units to resist them. Since then they have moved on the Red Sea port of Hodeida and surged south toward Aden. They have also grafted themselves onto parts of the army in the battle against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that is now raging in central and southern Yemen. Whether Saudi and Egyptian ground forces will become involved in the conflict is the big unknown. An Arab League summit in Egypt at the weekend agreed to form a joint military force, but that will take months at least to build. In the meantime, Saudi tanks and armor have been moved closer to the Yemeni border, but Saudi officials say there are no immediate plans to launch a ground offensive. Yemen has history as a graveyard of foreign forces. In the 1960s Egypt intervened in Yemen's civil war on behalf of the anti-royalists -- an operation that sapped the Egyptian army and contributed to its failure against the Israelis in the 1967 war. The extent of the Houthis' backing from Iran is hotly disputed. President Hadi said at the weekend that Iran was behind Yemen's turmoil and the Houthis were no more than its stooges. The Houthis deny receiving help from Iran, but as the conflict worsens, they may indeed turn to Tehran for the sort of military advice that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are providing in Iraq -- and for funding and oil. Saudi and Iranian involvement in Yemen threatens to deepen sectarian distrust in a country where Sunni and Shia have historically not been enemies. This would suit both AQAP and ISIS (Islamic State in Syria and Iraq) which announced its sudden and murderous arrival in Yemen this month with massive suicide bombings at two Houthi mosques in Sanaa, killing at least 150 people. As the International Crisis Group puts it, a "long history of coexistence is beginning to break down" in Yemen. Baron says one critical question is whether ISIS and AQAP will now go head-to-head in trying to kill as many Houthis as possible. For the United States, which worked hard to "stand up" the Hadi government and encourage its campaign to eradicate AQAP, recent events have been a disaster. There will be less actionable intelligence against one of al Qaeda's most potent affiliates, and its Sunni allies in the Middle East (and especially the Gulf) will have even less interest than before in dialogue with Iran on issues from its nuclear program to Iraq. U.S. options have also diminished with the hurried withdrawal of some 100 military personnel from al-Anad airbase in the south of Yemen hours before it was seized by the Houthis. Drone operations from the base had at least blunted AQAP's freedom of action, even if they failed to eradicate the group. The unseen hand in Yemen's collapse is former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was badly injured in a bomb attack in 2011, and eventually (very eventually) persuaded to cede office to Hadi after 33 years in power. But he was allowed to remain in the country and has not given up his political ambitions. Last fall, he was sanctioned by both the United Nations and the U.S. for undermining efforts to forge a new political settlement in Yemen. Baron believes Saleh is biding his time -- waiting for an opportunity to inject his son, Ahmed Ali, into Yemen's complex political equation. Ahmed Ali was formerly commander of Yemen's Republican Guard, and parts of the armed forces are still regarded as loyal to the Saleh clan. For now, Saleh has a marriage of convenience with the Houthis, but few expect it to survive. When he was President, Saleh launched a series of brief wars against the Houthis between 2004 and 2010. "Neither trusts the other; their recent cooperation notwithstanding, they are competing for political dominance, especially in the northern tribal highlands and the military," says the International Crisis Group. For the people of Yemen, the brief flash of hope that came with the Arab Spring is now a distant memory. Last week, at least nine protesters were killed in the central city of Taiz and more than 100 injured by Houthi militia. Aden has been rocked by looting and score-settling among rival clans. "Human rights in Yemen are in free-fall as even peaceful protest becomes a life-threatening activity," according to Said Boumedouha of Amnesty International. For the past three years, different parties and factions have fought over the state's few assets while the standard of living of ordinary Yemenis has continued to plummet. A U.N.-led effort to agree on a new constitution has been mired in squabbling, with all parties failing to honor commitments. "Even more damaging, those with most influence -- the Saudis and Iranians in particular -- are taking steps to undercut the negotiations," says the International Crisis Group. "This combination of proxy wars, sectarian violence, state collapse and militia rule has become sadly familiar in the region. Nobody is likely to win such a fight," the ICG says. But for now, such a fight seems destined to continue. +(CNN)Australian cricket great Shane Warne has been criticized for promoting an unhealthy drinking culture, following post-match interviews at cricket's World Cup final in which he repeatedly quizzed players about their drinking plans. Acting as part of the commentary team for Australian broadcaster Channel Nine, Warne interviewed the victorious Australian players at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the wake of their comfortable win over New Zealand. Broadcast live and amplified throughout the stadium, the exchanges -- in which Warne seemed preoccupied with how much the players planned to drink -- prompted a backlash on social media using the hashtag "#thirsty." To wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Warne asked: "You feeling thirsty?" He continued the theme with Steve Smith, asking: "What about you, gonna have a bit of a drink tonight too Smitty? Gonna get thirsty as well? The boys are thirsty they seem." Shane Watson and Josh Hazlewood were subjected to a similar line of questioning: . "So what's the plan, besides lots of drink and that, how long's that gonna last? Just one night, two nights?" asked Warne. The comments sparked an immediate reaction on Twitter, with users criticizing Warne for setting a poor example to young cricket fans, and one labeling him a "bogan" -- Australasian slang for an unsophisticated person -- for his line of questioning. Some Twitter users played on Warne's publicized fondness for the Tinder dating app, which has seen the former cricketer hit the headlines in recent times. Not all responses were critical, with British journalist Piers Morgan among those coming to Warne's defense. Warne, a noted bon vivant who was often photographed with drink in hand after wins during his playing days, took to Twitter to tell his detractors to "get stuffed." Warne's interviews provoked further discussion on Australian television Monday when, on the "Today" show, Channel Nine presenter David Campbell criticized the example he set. "I hate this," he said. "There is a stadium full of young men and women who look up to these guys, and it would have been nice if one of those cricketers was accountable enough to say 'Nothing will be better than what I did on this field, Warnie'." "We can't sit around here... going 'We have a drinking problem' and then sit there and celebrate that." The boozy indiscretions of professional athletes often make the news in Australia, although players from the footballing codes of rugby union, rugby league and Australian rules are more commonly in the spotlight. Members of the successful Australian team partied late into the night Sunday, with coach Darren Lehmann tweeting a picture of team members celebrating in their uniforms as the sun came up, with drinks in hand. Warne's inquiries about the team's plans to celebrate were apparently not in vain. At about 3 a.m. he posted a picture on Instagram of himself holding the World Cup trophy alongside Australian captain Michael Clarke, the latter with a drink at his side. +(CNN)The President repeated an unfortunate and ill-fated claim while campaigning hard for Obamacare. You remember it. "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it." With that false sloganeering, Barack Obama made sure he thoroughly owned a piece of the scorn spawned every time an insurance company changed or canceled plans after the ACA became law. Bad move. He's apologized, but history will record the affair as his "Read my lips, no new taxes" moment . Yet, there are worse moves politicians can make. Republicans are making one now. Republican leaders are stepping up to offer woefully inadequate stand-ins for Obamacare. They're offering these salves because they're hoping the Supreme Court issues a death blow to the federal exchanges that are now facilitating health coverage in 37 states and they want to have a possible alternative. There is plenty of potential the case, King v. Burwell, will succeed in halting the insurance subsidies that federal exchanges require to function. The Republican leadership is smart. They understand some of the anxiety already percolating up now could transform into a true panic. But in trying to contain fear, they're guaranteeing they'll own the anger that comes next. A collection of three congressmen, including Senate Finance committee chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), recently acknowledged the dire need for an alternative in the wake of Obamacare's demise and issued a "blueprint" that nods toward some of the key concepts. Rather than subsidize the cost of heavily regulated insurance plans, this proposal would free up the market more, including more price variability, and offer tax credits to help defray the cost for people making up to three times the poverty level. In place of Medicaid expansion, the Republican plan would cap the federal Medicaid support, linking it to the Consumer Price Index. The plan effectively kills universal access by offering people a one-time chance to sign up for coverage, and it doesn't require that anyone obtain coverage, making the individual insurance market unsustainable yet again as primarily those who already know they're in ill health will flood the market and premiums will become unaffordable. If anything, the massive outreach campaigns required to push traffic to HealthCare.gov demonstrate the difficulty in getting young, healthy people to act in their own best interests. While this outline potentially salvaged some semblance of the broad health care access the ACA is achieving, Senator Hatch showed his hand with a subsequent Washington Post op-ed he shared with two other senators. Insisting that "Republicans have a plan to help Americans harmed by the Administration's actions," you might be forgiven if you didn't realize the harm was simply enforcing one's civic duty to purchase affordable health insurance. Instead, Hatch and his colleagues hope to soften the blow by offering a transitional period so that marketplace health plans aren't immediately canceled after the Supreme Court issues its ruling, expected in June. The senators would generously allow states to develop their own plans, something only the intellectual powerhouse of Massachusetts managed to accomplish prior to the ACA. With most of the affected 37 states having one or more government branches controlled by a party that preferred the status quo prior to the ACA, such state-level innovation isn't likely. Louisiana governor and distant Republican presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal advocates a starker response: let's roll out the welcome mat for the apocalypse. He argues that canceling the subsidies in all 50 states would reduce taxes by $48 billion, so canceling them in 37 states is a great start. Jindal actually thinks the Supreme Court's potential decision against the ACA presents Republicans with an electoral "solution" -- the chance to bask in the glory earned by a massive tax cut. The White House got a bit desperate in the run up to Obamacare, that much is clear from the poor vetting they applied to President's own stock stump speeches. Beyond his unclear rhetoric, they pushed the law through both chambers of Congress hurriedly and didn't allow it to receive the normal careful editing and revisions in a joint committee. The President leaped to sign the bill, warts and all, as it very well could have flitted away altogether. Now one of those warts has turned cancerous. It surprised everyone involved with debating and covering the ACA at the time of its passage, including the lawyers behind this suit, to learn the bill erroneously specifies only state-run exchanges can dole out subsidies. Yet in their giddiness over the law's potential demise over its own inconsistencies, the Republicans are getting sloppy too. The case is driven by a small nonprofit outfit called the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which while it has tentacles throughout the Republican establishment, means that the case itself, at one point, couldn't be blamed as the GOP's own strategy. But now that multiple Republican leaders have stepped up to offer these farfetched fix-it plans, and several leaders have even supplied the court with amicus briefs in support of the plaintiffs, there's simply no separating the GOP itself from the Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell. Republicans aren't promising that you can keep your plan if you like it. They're promising, that for millions of Americans now receiving their health care through the federal marketplace, you won't be able to keep any plan at all. Over 9 million people would lose health insurance altogether if the plaintiffs win in King v. Burwell, and many more will suffer due to the destabilized markets that in many cases will shut down altogether as rates skyrocket and insurers pull out. None of the Republican plans can realistically come together to fill the gap anytime soon, so a gulf will emerge between states with the political will to operate their own exchanges and the red and purple states that don't have such fortitude. We suffered a rocky transition into the ACA, no question, but hospital systems, providers and patients are just now getting the lay of the land. We are seeing some great advantages, particularly in fields like mine. In rehabilitation medicine, we're seeing that serious injuries that once blocked access to insurance are no longer a barrier. The White House isn't making the mistake of owning what comes next. They're frank: there are no contingency plans. Republicans, apparently, want to own the next wave of insurance cancellations, while refusing to make a simple edit to a bill that for once guaranteed health care for the poor, injured and disabled. So be it -- 2016 is in sight. +(CNN)Researchers say Dr. Ben Carson may be a brain surgeon, but science shows he's dead wrong about how sexual orientation works. Wednesday on CNN, Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and potential Republican presidential candidate, said he "absolutely" believes being gay is a choice. But scientists say decades of research overwhelmingly shows sexual preference is inborn, not a choice. "It doesn't seem to be the social environment, it doesn't seem to be the parents or peers that make you gay," said Gerulf Rieger, a lecturer in the department of psychology at the University of Essex in England. "It seems to be something that comes from within." "Sexual orientation is biologically determined," added Cynthia Struckman-Johnson, a professor of psychology at the University of South Dakota. "I don't think any educated person aware of the research would argue differently." In a statement Wednesday, Carson apologized for what he said on CNN, and softened his words, saying the verdict is still out on whether people are born with their sexual preference. "I do not pretend to know how every individual came to their sexual orientation," he added. While science is seldom definitive about anything, especially something as complicated as why we love who we love, researchers say the preponderance of the evidence shows sexual orientation is not chosen. They point to studies showing children are aware of their sexual orientation at a young age. Plus, genetic studies suggest homosexuality runs in families. Finally, researchers have found that the very structure of the brain -- specifically, regions of the hypothalamus -- differs in gay and heterosexual men. "Ask a bunch of straight guys [if they could switch to being gay] and they would tell you, 'Are you kidding me?" Rieger said. "So the other way around doesn't work either." So what was Carson's scientific support for his argument that being gay is a choice? He pointed to prisons. "A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight - and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question," Carson told CNN's Chris Cuomo. Experts on sexual activity in prisons challenged the very premise of Carson's statement, calling it "preposterous" and "appalling." "To, in any way, suggest that a person would go in as a heterosexual and then somehow become a homosexual as a result, that's simply preposterous. There's no evidence to support that," said Robert Dumond, a mental health counselor who's testified to the Department of Justice about rape in prison. Prisoners do engage in homosexual practices, but that doesn't mean they've gone from straight to gay, the experts said. Prisoners are often raped, they say, or coerced to engage in sex in exchange for protection from violent prisoners. "They're physically forced or forced through blackmail to engage in sex," Struckman-Johnson said. "To have someone say this is chosen is just showing such great disregard for what we know about the world of sexual assault in prison." Opinion: Prison doesn't make people 'come out' gay . The prisoners who are perpetrating the rape are often either gay to begin with, or are heterosexual and rape to subjugate other prisoners. "It's more about power than sex," said Chris Hensley, a criminologist at the University of Tennessee who's done extensive research on sexuality in prison. "These men don't see what they're doing as homosexual, and they will leave their incarceration heterosexual." Other prisoners do willingly engage in homosexual activity, but the experts say it's more of a way to release sexual tension and have some degree of intimacy. "It doesn't mean they would choose someone of the same gender in any other situation," Struckman-Johnson said. Critics of these studies point out other research they say indicates that orientation is a choice, namely studies that show sexual orientation can change over the course of a lifetime, and that "socialization" can alter orientation. Overall, the scientists with whom we spoke said they were shocked at Carson's arguments. "I'm deeply saddened on multiple levels that someone in the 21st century would take this position," Dumond said. Jen Christensen contributed to this report. +(CNN)A suicide bomb attack in Iraq this week was carried out by an American jihadist, ISIS claims. The terrorist group released a photograph on Tuesday of a masked fighter it identified as Abu Daood Al-Amriki, an alleged American jihadist who committed the suicide attack. The claim grabbed headlines, but days later, neither CNN nor U.S. government officials have been able to confirm the identity of the attacker. ISIS claims the attacker used an explosives-laden vehicle to mount an attack in Samarra, Iraq. Two senior Iraqi security officials confirmed that an attack matching the description did take place -- that a suicide attacker rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a convoy of Iraqi forces. At least three Iraqi security forces were killed in the attack, the sources said. But ISIS has not released the birth name of the alleged American suicide bomber, or shown his face. U.S. officials tell CNN that for the moment there is nothing to corroborate the claim. +(CNN)For the first time in over a decade, Shania Twain is hitting the road in North America. Following her two-year Las Vegas stint, the country-pop queen will embark upon the 48-date "Rock This Country Tour" (although the tour will actually rock two countries -- the U.S. and Canada). Gavin DeGraw will open for Twain from June 30-Aug. 23, with singer/actor Wes Mack opening from June 5-June 28. Tickets go on sale for most North America dates on Friday, March 13 at 10 a.m. local time via www.axs.com. $1 from each ticket will go toward the Shania Kids Can Foundation. Check out the tour dates below and start playing "Come On Over" on repeat ASAP. Jun 5 Seattle, WA KeyArena at Seattle Center . Jun 7 Vancouver, BC Pepsi Live! At Rogers Arena . Jun 9 Vancouver, BC Pepsi Live! At Rogers Arena . Jun 11 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place . Jun 12 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place . Jun 14 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre . Jun 15 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre . Jun 19 London, ON Budweiser Gardens . Jun 20 London, ON Budweiser Gardens . Jun 22 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre . Jun 24 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre . Jun 25 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre . Jun 27 Ottawa, ON Wesley Clover Parks . Jun 28 Montreal, QC Bell Centre . Jun 30 New York, NY Madison Square Garden . Jul 1 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum . Jul 3 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena . Jul 7 Newark, NJ Prudential Center . Jul 8 Boston, MA TD Garden . Jul 10 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center . Jul 11 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena . Jul 13 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse . Jul 15 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena . Jul 16 Miami, FL AmericanAirlines Arena . Jul 18 Greenville, SC Bon Secours Wellness Arena . Jul 19 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena . Jul 21 Washington, DC Verizon Center . Jul 22 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center . Jul 25 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills . Jul 26 Moline, IL iWireless Center . Jul 28 Minneapolis, MN Target Center . Jul 29 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena . Jul 31 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena . Aug 1 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena . Aug 3 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center . Aug 4 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center . Aug 6 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena . Aug 7 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center . Aug 9 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center . Aug 10 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center . Aug 12 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Arena . Aug 14 Denver, CO Pepsi Center . Aug 15 Salt Lake City, UT EnergySolutions Arena . Aug 17 San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose . Aug 19 Anaheim, CA Honda Center . Aug 20 Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center . Aug 22 San Diego, CA Valley View Casino Center . Aug 23 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center . The "Rock This Country Tour" will also be Twain's farewell tour. See the original story at Billboard.com. ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved. +Boston (CNN)Bill Richard knew his son wasn't going to make it. But the father of three told his wife he couldn't stay by 8-year-old Martin's side. The boy's body was torn apart by an explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. His skin had changed color. A crowd hovered over him, frantically trying to help, but he was dying. Speaking from the witness stand at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial on Thursday, Richard told jurors he was faced with a heartbreaking choice. "I knew in my head that I needed to act quickly, or we might not only lose Martin," he said. "We might lose Jane, too." Moments after the blast, Richard had stumbled toward Jane, his 7-year-old daughter. His pants and sneakers were torn apart. His legs felt like they were on fire. He could barely hear. And the air smelled "vile," he said, like gunpowder, sulfur and burned hair. But he soon realized the situation was much worse for his daughter. "She tried to get up and she fell. That was when I noticed her leg," he said. "She didn't have it. It was blown off." So Richard left one son to die near the marathon finish line, and shielded his other son's eyes from the carnage as they raced to the hospital, hoping that doctors could save his daughter's life. "It was," Richard said Thursday, "the last time I saw my son alive -- barely." Richard's description of the explosion's horrifying aftermath capped a day of dramatic testimony as survivors shared their stories in the second day of the high-profile trial. Tsarnaev's attorneys admit that he carried out the 2013 attacks, which killed three people and injured more than 260 others at the marathon. A fourth person, an MIT police officer, was ambushed and killed in his patrol car three days after the bombings as Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, allegedly ran from police. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after a gunbattle with police. And now, his younger brother sits in court facing 30 federal charges related to the bombings. His attorneys say he was influenced by his slain brother to participate in the attacks. They argued Thursday that now isn't the right time for jurors to hear the string of harrowing stories from survivors of the explosions, arguing that testimony should be part of a later phase of the trial, when jurors will decide what penalty Tsarnaev should face. But the judge sided with prosecutors, who argued the testimony was necessary to support their indictment. On Thursday, jurors relived the moments after the marathon bombings through the eyes of some of the people most affected by the blasts. Defense attorneys didn't ask them any questions. Jeff Bauman was suspicious as soon as he noticed a black backpack on the ground near the finish line. "I thought it was weird," he said Thursday. "If you are at the airport, if you see any unattended luggage, you notify authorities." But this was Boston, he thought, where stuff like that doesn't happen. Still, he told a friend they should move. An explosion came two seconds later. "I saw a flash, heard like three pops and I was on the ground," Bauman said from the witness stand Thursday. "At first I opened my eyes and saw the sky. The first thought was, that was a big firework." Bauman's ears were ringing, and everything was muffled, but he heard the screams. The first bomb had exploded. "I looked down and saw my legs, and it was pure carnage," he told jurors. "I could see my bone." Bauman testified about becoming aware of his injuries -- burns, wounds on his back, and his legs. "I knew my legs were gone. I know that instantly," he said. He kept repeating to himself, "This is messed up, this is messed up, this is messed up." Then the second explosion. "We are under attack," he thought to himself. All he wanted to do was call his mom. When Boston Police Officer Lauren Woods saw people running by, screaming, she ran against the grain, toward Boylston Street, the last leg on the marathon route. One of the first victims Woods came across was Lu Lingzi, a graduate student at Boston University. Lu was vomiting profusely, Woods recalled Thursday. Others were already performing CPR on her, and the officer attempted to clear Lu's airway. "I smelled the residue of smoke," Woods said. "Smelled like fireworks, cannons." Paramedics arrived, and eventually told Woods the young woman was not going to make it and they had to move on to other people. Lu became one of the three fatalities at the scene. It smelled like gunpowder, Alan Hern told the jury, and "kind of felt like we were underwater." Hern's wife -- who was pregnant -- was running the race. He found her uninjured, but hysterical from the explosions and ensuing chaos, he said. There were powder marks on her jacket. Hern, a high school football coach, then went searching for his 11-year-old son, Aaron. A figure covered in black soot and hair standing straight up caught Hern's eye, and he knew it was Aaron, he testified. His son's left thigh was cratered, mangled flesh and blood, Hern said. "It was like something you'd see in a war movie," he said. "His eyebrows were singed and his hair was sticking straight up." Another of Thursday's witnesses, Roseann Sdoia, also referred to it as something out of a movie. Before she hit the ground from the blast, she said, it registered in her mind that she had lost her leg. "When I looked down, my leg was tucked under me, but blood was pouring out," she told jurors. In front of her lay a socked foot. She started thinking -- Did I wear socks today? She decided she hadn't worn socks that day. It was someone else's foot. "It was almost like I was starring in a horror movie," she said, "as was everybody else around me." Doctors had to amputate her leg below the knee. Traveling from the marathon finish line to the hospital, Bill Richard went from one terrifying scene to another. "You know it's not going to be good when you see the look of horror on doctors' faces," he told the court Thursday. "Jane was devastatingly injured." Doctors amputated her left leg below the knee and removed more than 20 shrapnel pieces from her body, he said. Richard soon learned that, as he'd feared, Martin didn't survive the bombing. His wife, Denise, was also hospitalized after the attack. She lost sight in one eye. The father said his own injuries were much less severe than the wounds many other victims suffered. The ringing in his ears never stops, and he lost some of his hearing. But Richard said he could still hear the lawyer questioning him at Thursday's trial. He can still hear music. And the most important thing. "I can still hear," he said, "the beautiful voices of my family."​ . CNN's Ann O'Neill reported from Boston. Mariano Castillo and Catherine E. Shoichet wrote the story in Atlanta. +(CNN)There were three Selma to Montgomery marches in March 1965, and Rosa Parks had missed the first one. Parks, whose act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, moved to Detroit two years later for safety reasons. Death threats, in Alabama, were too much for her to endure. For eight years, Parks, a working-class woman, toiled at the Stockton Sewing Co. in Michigan, making dishrags, for low wages. But on March 1, 1965, she abruptly quit to join U.S. Rep. John Conyers' staff in Detroit. The voting rights movement in the South, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., coupled with the assassination of Malcolm X that February, had re-energized her appetite for direct political action. On Sunday, March 7, Parks was at home in Detroit watching the ABC television premiere of "Judgment at Nuremberg" when the broadcast was suddenly interrupted by a news flash from Selma, Alabama. A peaceful throng of voting rights activists had marched onto the steel-arched Edmund Pettus Bridge that spanned the Alabama River, only to be brutally assaulted by police and Alabama state troopers, most of them wearing gas masks. Before being arrested and beaten these protesters had been headed to the state capital in Montgomery, a distance of 54 miles, to demand federal protection of blacks' right to vote. That Sunday afternoon, 25-year-old John Lewis, then chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and today a U.S. congressman from Georgia's 5th District, had been tear-gassed and billy clubbed as he tried to cross the bridge. The sight of him being beaten sickened Parks. Lewis had emerged as the bravest and youngest of the major civil rights leaders of the Kennedy-Johnson era, even speaking at the March on Washington in 1963. As a Freedom Rider in the South, he was arrested 24 times, and proud of it. Therefore on March 9, to protest "Bloody Sunday," as the incident became known, Parks walked down Detroit's wide Woodward Avenue in full solidarity with Brother Lewis and the others arrested in Selma. "The Edmund Pettus Bridge for me was wrought in symbolism," Parks recalled years later. "The photos taken that day made me think of the bridge as a battlefield, like at Lexington and Concord. It was the start of a turning point." So when King -- who had been in Atlanta for "Bloody Sunday" -- telegrammed Parks about returning to Alabama to take part in a third mass march from Selma to Montgomery, her immediate answer was "Why, of course." Once back in Montgomery in late March at King's request, Parks looked around to see what had changed since the '50s. "One of the first things I did was look at the buses," she told me in 1997. "And yes -- they were integrated. ... That felt good." On March 25, Parks, the "Mother of the Movement," spoke eloquently in Montgomery though her soft voice was barely audible over the crackling speakers. Per usual, King stole the show that day with a rousing piece of oratory. "We are on the move," the Nobel Peace Prize-winning preacher shouted, "and no wave of racism will stop us!" That evening King flew back to Atlanta in high spirits, deeming the third Selma-to-Montgomery march an unqualified success. Yet Parks, near broke, took a bus back to Atlanta the next day, deeply depressed. There was too much white hatred still in Montgomery to feel victorious. Her great fear was that Selma was only a stride forward, in basketball parlance, not a slam-dunk. America was still poisoned by the curse of institutional racism. The fight for voting rights was just beginning. True ballot-box equality was still a long way off. Even after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that summer, Parks remained somewhat skeptical. She knew Southern white bigots would concoct evil new ways to disenfranchise black people. As America reflects on the significance of the 50th anniversary of Selma this weekend, it's important to honor the martyrs of "Bloody Sunday" in a lasting way. Certainly, the fact that Barack Obama, an African-American, is U.S. President proves that Lewis didn't get his head dented in vain. But the recent egregious findings of the Department of Justice following the Michael Brown case as well as other incidents resulting in the deaths of unarmed men of color still give us reason to pause. "I remember feeling something was not right," Parks recalled shortly after the third Selma march. "Even though the march was over, I felt that everything was not right." One thing "not right" on the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches is the sad fact that the Edmund Pettus Bridge hasn't been renamed the John Lewis Bridge. Continuing to honor Pettus -- a Confederate general, U.S. senator and white supremacist -- is insulting to America's civil rights heroes. When the bridge was built in 1940, Jim Crow ruled Alabama. Dallas County blacks had no say in the bridge being named to honor a Reconstruction-era white supremacist. Thankfully a group of conscientious students has recently started a petition drive to rid the iconic bridge of Pettus' name. But let's go further than just removing Pettus' name; let's rename the bridge for someone who deserves our admiration. I'm not a historian who thinks Confederate memorials should be boarded up. Places such as Jefferson Davis' Beauvoir estate along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the pedestaled statue of Robert E. Lee in New Orleans (turning his back to the North) need historic preservation. But the Edmund Pettus Bridge -- which in 2013 was declared a National Historic Landmark -- isn't symbolic of the Civil War in a meaningful way. It is, however, the modern-day battlefield where the voting rights movement was born. There is no more fitting tribute to the death of Jim Crow than to rename the "Bloody Sunday" bridge after Lewis. I urge President Barack Obama, the National Park Service, the state of Alabama and the city of Selma to "do the right thing." Like the Statue of Liberty, the John Lewis Bridge would become a sacred place for visitors to reflect on noble American traditions -- in this case, peaceful protest and voting rights. The "We Shall Overcome" year of 1965 would, at last, be given its historical due in Selma. "I'm with the kids," the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a close associate of King's, recently said in supporting the Edmund Pettus Bridge being redesignated. "Let's change it." +(CNN)The suspect behind the knife attack on the American ambassador to South Korea had a long, troubled history and often blamed the U.S. for tensions in the Korean Peninsula. Kim Ki-Jong, 55, was quickly overpowered and taken into custody after he attacked U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert with a fruit knife Thursday morning. Police say Kim's motive for the attack was to improve North-South Korean relations and to stop the annual military exercises held jointly by the U.S. and South Korea. It wasn't the first time Kim has taken drastic steps to make his point. -- In 2010, Kim was given a suspended jail sentence for hurling a concrete block at a Japanese envoy to South Korea, according to the Yonhap news agency. That incident is believed to be the first attack on a foreign ambassador in South Korea. -- Kim allegedly harbored sympathies for North Korea, according to Korean media reports. Yonhap reported that Kim had visited North Korea six times between 2006 and 2007, had attempted to erect a memorial for former North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il in Seoul, and once set himself on fire in front of the presidential office. -- He was frequently seen at protests, wearing a beret and blaming U.S. policies for straining relations between North and South Korea. Kim was a member of the Korea Council For Reconciliation and Cooperation, which hosted Lippert at the Thursday event where the attack occurred. The group advocates reunification of the Koreas as well as humanitarian aid to North Korea. Kim was one of its 181 members, but wasn't on the list of those invited for the event, according to police. But he was allowed in because an event staff recognized him from the organization. A witness who was sitting next to Lippert during the attack said Kim was known for having "unpredictable behavior" in the organization. Even though he appeared somewhat disheveled Thursday morning, he was able to enter the event because the staff was familiar with Kim, police said. Immediately after he allegedly slashed the ambassador in the face and arm, Kim was tackled to the floor. As he was transferred to a hospital Kim shouted, "The South Korea-U.S. military drills must stop." Every year, the United States and South Korea hold joint military drills, which both countries say are defensive and non-provocative in nature. But the exercises also draw criticism from the North Korean regime, which characterize the drills as rehearsals for an attack on the regime. Kim also told South Korean reporters that he had planned the attack for 10 days, and claimed responsibility for burning a U.S. flag at the embassy in the 1980s. A website associated with Kim, displayed a photo of him with protesters holding a sign that read: "Stop war exercises that block North-South Korean dialogue." The picture was taken at February 24, in front of the U.S. embassy, according to his website. It also contains a picture of an American soldier inside a red crossed-out circle. On Thursday, Kim shouted at reporters, saying that the U.S. was to blame for blocking family reunions of North and South Koreans who have been separated since the Korean War. On the website, he lamented that "the whole atmosphere of the Korean peninsula is freezing up like a frozen soil." CNN's KJ Kwon and Paula Hancocks in Seoul contributed to this report, as did CNN's Judy Kwon and Sol Han from Hong Kong. +Seyne-les-Alpes, France (CNN)It's a dangerous task as well as a grim one. The rescue workers battling to gather the pulverized pieces of Germanwings Flight 9525 and the remains of the 150 people on board must contend with high winds as well as treacherous terrain. They climb up a rugged mountain, appearing to cling to its side by their fingernails. Bit by bit, bag by bag, high wire daredevils hoist body bags hundreds of feet up to waiting helicopters, trying to remain stable in the high winds. Rescuers pin red flags on the earth when they discover new fragments. Winched down from helicopters on to the steep, icy slopes, where debris lies scattered across hundreds of meters, workers have had to be tied together in two-person teams. One is there to carry out the investigation and recovery. The second is charged with ensuring their safety as they're buffeted by the weather. Complicating matters, very few of the bodies have been found whole, Yves Naffrechoux, captain of rescue operations, told CNN on Friday. And winds have picked up, making it difficult for helicopters to ferry the workers to the site in the French Alps in the first place, he said. Authorities have deployed 45 Alpine police officers to help forensics teams -- not accustomed to working in mountain ravines -- recover the bodies safely, Naffrechoux said. His team is based out of Seyne-les-Alpes, a normally sleepy Alpine village that since Tuesday's crash has been transformed into a hub for the recovery operation. The leaders of Germany, France and Spain have visited. The families of the victims have laid flowers and prayed at a nearby memorial. Journalists have flocked to the spot as they report the latest developments. Meanwhile, the rescue workers have continued their hazardous mission. Before anything could be recovered, the position of the bodies and debris had to be mapped. Human remains must be treated with due respect despite the tricky conditions. The workers are now removing more bodies from the site, Naffrechoux said. The priority remains to find all the bodies and the elusive second "black box," the plane's flight data recorder, he said. Investigators hope, once found, it could yield more clues into what happened on the flight deck of the Germanwings plane before it slammed into the mountainside at about 430 miles per hour. Already, the Marseille prosecutor, Brice Robin, has revealed that cockpit audio indicated that German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz "wanted to destroy the aircraft." The recovery teams are trying to construct a road to access the site more quickly and aid the transportation of bodies to a DNA testing center where they are kept in refrigerated units, said Naffrechoux. It's hoped the process will take 10 to 15 days, depending on weather, he said. Testimonials posted by France's Interior Ministry from rescue and recovery workers at the scene also give an insight into the tough conditions at the remote crash site. Cmdr. Emmanuel G., of the Criminal Research Institute from the National Gendarmerie, said it was a "really complicated" process. "We are working in two-person teams, whether it's alongside (police) mountain guides, the local gendarmes or the alpine firemen and emergency teams," he said. "We do not know how to continue in this situation otherwise, we really need them to ensure our security at all times." "It's the first time police technicians and gendarmes are working together," an unnamed technician in one of those two-person teams is quoted as saying. "We have total trust in each other. He's holding my life in his hands." CNN's Antonia Mortensen and Nic Robertson reported from Seyne-les-Alpes and Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported from London. CNN's Karl Penhaul, Ariana Williams and Dheeptika Laurent contributed to this report. +(CNN)Angelina Jolie's decision to remove her breasts and ovaries to prevent cancer (as she detailed in today's New York Times op-ed) might sound extreme, but breast cancer experts say she was spot on. "I understand what Angelina Jolie did, and I would have done it, too," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. Brawley said if he were Jolie's doctor he would have advised her to do what she did because her mother, aunt, and grandmother all had ovarian cancer, and her mother had breast cancer as well. Plus, Jolie has a gene that gives her about an 87% chance of getting breast cancer sometime in her life. "She has one of the particularly bad breast cancer genes," Brawley said. The decision is made even easier by advances in breast reconstruction and by hormone treatments that help ease women into menopause, which is induced by removing the ovaries. The ovary surgery was a no-brainer, doctors say, and some wondered why she didn't do it sooner. In her op-ed, Jolie explained that every year she's had a blood test called CA-125, to monitor for ovarian cancer. But that test often has false positives and false negatives, said Dr. Dr. Funmi Olopade, director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago. "You really can't rely on it," she said. Instead of screening, experts in cancer genetics recommend that women at a very high risk for ovarian cancer, like Jolie, remove their ovaries as soon as they're done having children. "I can't emphasize enough how important this is," Olopade said. Olopade was glad to hear Tuesday morning that Jolie had decided to move forward. "What she's done is really important to save her life, because there's no way to detect ovarian cancer," she said. Jolie's decision about her breasts (also documented in an op-ed), however, is not so clear cut, Olopade explained, because it would have been perfectly acceptable if Jolie had decided to keep her breasts and to get regular MRIs instead. "We have lots of survivors who went that route, and they've done well," she said. Some made the decision to keep their breasts because they couldn't afford a good plastic surgeon for breast reconstruction, she added. "Celebrities have access to that kind of surgery, but that's not the life everyone lives," Olopade said. Brawley added that Jolie's decision likely wouldn't be right for someone with a different kind of breast cancer gene mutation. For example, some women have a mutation that gives them a 15% chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetime. That's not much higher than the 12% chance a woman has of getting breast cancer even if she has no mutation at all. He says he worries that some of these women with just a slightly increased risk will hear about Jolie's decision and want to remove their breasts, too. "To get surgery in their situation is really overkill," he said. "Most of these women would be just fine if they took tamoxifen for five years and got regular mammograms." But all in all, doctors say they're glad Jolie has been so public with her decision making. "These very publicly shared medical sagas from respected figures play a very powerful role in creating these teachable moments," said Dr. Ken Offit, chief of clinical genetics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. CNN's John Bonifield also contributed. +(CNN)Two U.K. charities have stopped funding a Muslim advocacy group that had earlier helped ISIS's masked murderer "Jihadi John," now identified as Mohammed Emwazi, before his radicalization, the group said. The human rights and advocacy group CAGE in London said it accepted the loss of funding from the Roddick Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. But CAGE blamed a "neo-conservative" leadership on the U.K.'s Charity Commission for pressuring the two charities to halt funding. "We respect their decision. We thank them for their past support. Both of these charities have played a significant role in contributing to the development of Muslim civil society here in the UK," CAGE spokesperson Amandla Thomas-Johnson said Friday. The termination of funding came after the Charity Commission "took robust action" and cited how "public statements by CAGE officials heightened concerns about the use of charitable funds to support their activities," the commission said in a statement. The commission didn't specify those statements by CAGE, but stated that "in our view, those statements increased the threat to public trust and confidence in charity and raised clear questions for a charity considering funding CAGE's activities as to how the trustees of those charities could comply with their legal duties as charity trustees," the commission said. "CAGE is not a charity but has been in part funded by British charities. As it is not a charity and given the nature of its work, and the controversy it has attracted, the Charity Commission has been concerned that such funding risked damaging public trust and confidence in charity," the commission said. "As the regulator of charities, we expect all charities and trustees to ensure that all charitable funds are used according to their charity's purposes and in the way that the public would expect," the commission said. CAGE said it had worked with Emwazi and indicated that British authorities' tactics pushed him to radicalize. CAGE said that emails he sent the organization paint a picture of a desperate man hounded by authorities who saw his plans for a new life crumble as he tried unsuccessfully to get help. Emwazi felt he was being harassed by authorities and tried to seek legal help to stop it, according to CAGE. Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner, was a "polite" and "beautiful young man" who would drop into the CAGE office with treats to thank the group for helping him, the group said. Emwazi came to CAGE in 2009 looking for support when he felt that British authorities were -- in the words of Asim Qureshi, CAGE's research director -- "harassing" him. But Emwazi has now been identified by U.S. officials as the masked man in ISIS videos showing beheadings of Western hostages. More than a dozen British administrative court documents obtained by CNN reveal British security services initially believed Emwazi was part of a radical West London recruitment network for terrorist groups in East Africa. The two charities gave sizeable funds to CAGE. The Rowntree Charitable Trust has given 271,250 British pounds, or almost $408,000, to CAGE since 2007, the commission said. The trust had pledged a total of 305,000 pounds, or almost $459,000, the commission said. The Roddick Foundation gave CAGE of 120,000 pounds, or more than $180,000 between 2009 and 2012, the commission said. In acknowledging the funding losses, CAGE criticized the commission. "This is just another manifestation of their objective of pursuing a Cold War on British Islam," Thomas-Johnson said. "CAGE will remain committed to its principle of speaking truth to power and calling for accountability and transparency. We will not hesitate in performing our role as whistleblowers and as advocates for due process." Supporters of CAGE tweeted their criticism of the Charity Commission and the two philanthropies' decision to terminate funding. One supporter remarked that "if @UK_CAGE is not there to provide us with a counter-narrative when it comes to 'radicalization'.... who will?!" The commission said it will soon conclude its "open cases" into the two charities and publish a report and lessons " for other charities which fund non-charitable bodies." +Concord, New Hampshire (CNN)Scott Walker brought his Midwestern swagger to New Hampshire on Saturday, leading a crowd of activists to cheers as he sought to draw a contrast to his top-tier rival in the unofficial GOP presidential race, Jeb Bush. The Wisconsin governor, amid charges from critics that he's a flip-flopper, also acknowledged that he had changed positions on immigration reform but argued that he's remained consistent in everything else. Walker was met with great fanfare at his only open event during his two-day stop to the first-in-the-nation primary state. Activists gathered at Concord High School for a training event that was hosted by the New Hampshire GOP and headlined by Walker's appearance. Jeb Bush makes 2016 debut in New Hampshire . The contrasts made against Bush were subtle, but Walker emphasized his modest roots as the son of a preacher and reiterated his penchant for shopping at Kohl's while armed with coupons. "I actually stopped by Kohl's and bought this sweater in the rack where it's 70% off," he said, pointing to the sweater he was wearing. "And we paid one dollar for it with our Kohl's Cash ... so, living the high life," he added. Walker has used his humble beginnings and department-store bona fides in Iowa as well, a strategy aimed to cement the fact that he didn't grow up with "fame and fortune," as he frequently says. On Saturday, he also put on a cap handed to him by an audience member with the logo for Gun Owners of New Hampshire. "You've got a first-rate record on the Second Amendment; we hope you'll wear the hat often and keep up the good work," the man said. Walker wore it for the rest of his time on stage. (While he may have donned the cap-and-sweater look Saturday afternoon, he was set to sport a tux later that night for his speaking appearance at the Gridiron Club's annual white-tie dinner in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama was also scheduled to speak at the dinner.) Answering a question from another audience member, Walker laid down his staunch opposition to Common Core, a set of testing standards that Bush defended as usual during his visit to New Hampshire on Friday. Walker also stood against re-authorizing the No Child Left Behind Act, another topic on which the two Republicans disagree. Those comments came after Walker argued, in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times on Friday, that Bush would represent a step towards the past, rather than the future. "We had Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney. If it's just whoever's next up, that hasn't worked so well for the Republican Party in the past," he said. "Jeb's a good man. You're not going to hear me speak ill will of Jeb...I just think voters are going to look at this and say, 'If we're running against Hillary Clinton, we'll need a name from the future -- not a name from the past -- to win.' " In his remarks Saturday, Walker also hit the President over foreign policy and took a shot at Hillary Clinton for giving "Russia a reset button." On domestic policy, he laid out his small-government vision for a system in which success is measured by "how many people are no longer dependent on the government." Asked by reporters Saturday to respond to flip-flopping accusations by his critics, Walker said the "the only major issue out there was immigration." Indeed Walker reversed his stance earlier this month when he acknowledged that he's no longer in favor of legislation that would let undocumented immigrants remain in the United States. He said Saturday that his change in tune reflected the will of the public. "This is one where we listened to the people all across the country, particularly border governors who saw how this President messed that up, and that's an issue where I think people want leaders who are willing to listen to the people on that," he said. Any other accusations of flip-flopping, he added, "are just ridiculous." Critics have argued that Walker has been taking a tougher line against abortion in an effort to woo conservatives during the primaries. The governor recently expressed support for a ban on abortion after 20 weeks, after first declining to state his position during his re-election bid in the fall. And critics point to an ad by his campaign in which Walker said he supports legislation that leaves "the final decision to a woman and her doctor." Walker said Saturday he's remained steady in his views on abortion. "I'm pro-life. My position is consistent on that," he said. "They're taking an ad out there that talked about what the law did in the state (that) was endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life, so it's a pro-life law." He also defended his support for the federal ethanol mandate that helps Iowa farmers, despite opposing it in Wisconsin in the past. Walker's more private itinerary included meetings with New Hampshire business and political leaders, including Massachusetts' former senator, Scott Brown, who resides in New Hampshire and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate seat in the state last year. +(CNN)A Spanish dolphin trainer who was accused on social media of abusing the animals has been found dead, a source with the Spanish National Police told CNN on Saturday. Jose Luis Barbero was expected to become vice president of the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, CNN affiliate WSB reported. He was found dead inside his vehicle in the public parking lot of the Palma de Mallorca airport on the island of Mallorca, the source said. The source said the case is being treated as a suicide. Georgia Aquarium Chairman and CEO Mike Leven issued a strongly worded statement that said: . "Georgia Aquarium began a search for truth in hopes of disproving these unsubstantiated claims. Sadly, (Barbero) and his family received death threats, and groups and individuals rushed to judge him. He was not given the right or the privilege to be considered innocent until proven guilty ... His death is untimely, unnecessary and unjust." Barbero, 59, went missing recently and authorities had started searching for him. In February, videos circulated of animal trainers in Spain allegedly hitting and kicking dolphins. Posters on social media claimed Barbero was one of them. The Georgia Aquarium questioned the authenticity of the videos but put his employment on hold. The video footage is grainy and dark, and faces are difficult to make out. Trainers are making fast foot and hand motions in the dolphins' direction, but it is unclear if these are blows. CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the videos. Barbero's employer in Spain, Marineland Mallorca, denied the allegations and said it planned to take legal action against Barbero's accusers, according to the Georgia Aquarium. +(CNN)Airport authorities are clearly doing something right in Singapore. For the third year in a row, Singapore Changi Airport has earned the World's Best Airport title at the annual SkyTrax World Airport Awards, which were announced Wednesday in Paris. "It is a great honor to be named World's Best Airport by SkyTrax for the third year running," airport CEO Lee Seow Hiang told SkyTrax. "This recognition is particularly pleasing for us as it comes at a time of transformation at Changi Airport." The airport handles 5,000 arrivals and departures a week by 80 international airlines. This month, Changi awarded a $234 million construction contract for the expansion of Terminal 1. The World Airport Awards, also known as the Passenger's Choice Awards, were launched by air transport advisory group SkyTrax in 1999. The 2015 awards are based on more than 13 million surveys completed by 112 nationalities of airline customers between May and January. Incheon International Airport near Seoul is the No. 2 airport in the world, also for the third year running. Germany's No. 3-ranked Munich Airport retained its 2014 rank, as did No. 4 Hong Kong International. This year's No. 5-ranked airport, Tokyo International (Haneda), climbed one rung from No. 6 in 2014. The world's top 10 airports, according to SkyTrax: . 1. Singapore Changi Airport . 2. Incheon International Airport . 3. Munich Airport . 4. Hong Kong International Airport . 5. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) 6. Zurich Airport . 7. Central Japan International Airport . 8. London Heathrow Airport . 9. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport . 10. Beijing Capital International Airport . North America didn't have an airport in the top 10 this year. Vancouver International Airport, the No. 1 airport in North America for a record sixth consecutive year, fell in the global rankings from No. 9 in 2014 to No. 11 this year. +(CNN)Gunmen killed 19 people and sent tourists scrambling for cover in a siege at a museum in Tunisia's capital on Wednesday. The North African nation's Prime Minister called it a cowardly terrorist attack and warned that three suspects were still on the loose. Tunisian security forces killed two attackers as they ended the hostage siege at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, Prime Minister Habib Essid said. But the death toll, which included 17 tourists and at least one Tunisian security officer, could climb. Polish, Italian, German and Spanish tourists were among those killed, Essid said, with another 20 foreign tourists and two Tunisians wounded in the attack. "It's a cowardly attack mainly targeting the economy of Tunisia," the Prime Minister said. "We should unite to defend our country." The scene played out at a popular tourist destination in the heart of Tunisia's capital in a building linked to where the nation's parliament meets. Lawmakers there were in the middle of a committee meeting when they heard gunfire erupt. "The tourists were frightened and they were running in different directions. We opened the doors and we got them to enter to the Parliament," lawmaker Mehrezia Labidi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. An administrator told lawmakers to lay down on the ground as a gunbattle broke out between terrorists and police, said Sabrine Ghoubatini, a member of parliament. It wasn't long before the building was evacuated. Photos on Twitter showed security forces in bulletproof vests and black helmets and masks, guns drawn, in the area. Authorities set up a large security cordon around the targeted museum. Rescuers carried wounded tourists away on stretchers. Essid didn't specify where the attackers came from. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui called them Islamists in remarks on national radio. The museum, housed in a 19th century palace, bills itself as "a jewel of Tunisian heritage." Its exhibits showcase Tunisian art, culture and history, and it boasts a collection of mosaics, including one of the poet Virgil, as well as marble sculptures, furniture, jewels and other items. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But it happened just days after a Tunisian jihadist tweeted that a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was coming soon, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. In his message, the jihadi claimed to belong to Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia, a group that in December pledged allegiance to ISIS, even though that vow didn't seem to have fully registered with the Islamist extremist group. His post comes after an ISIS fighter in Raqqa, Syria, recently appeared in a video questioning why jihadis in Tunisia had not pledged fealty. "This raises the possibility that the museum attack could be ISIS' debut on the Tunisian stage, timed to precede a pledge of allegiance from Tunisian jihadis for maximum impact," CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said. Tunisia has seen far less militant violence than other nations in the region that were part of the Arab Spring uprisings, like neighboring Libya. But it hasn't been immune to it. The government has been battling a jihadist presence in the Chaambi Mountains. There have been several apparent political assassinations. And in February, the country's Interior Ministry announced the arrests of about 100 alleged extremists and published a video allegedly showing that the group possessed a formula for making explosives and a photograph of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Up to 3,000 Tunisians are believed to have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight as jihadists, more than any other country, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization in London. "There are hundreds that have returned from the battlefield, yet we haven't seen this kind of activity in Tunisia yet," said Rick Francona, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and CNN military analyst. "I think it was only a matter of time. And today was the day." Tunisia is where the Arab Spring took root in December 2010, when a poor, 26-year-old man set himself on fire in front of a Tunisian government building after police confiscated his vegetable cart, sparking protests there. Protests throughout the Middle East and North Africa soon followed, with revolutions toppling governments in some countries. While violence and instability have continued to shake Egypt, Libya and Syria, in many ways, Tunisia has been the exception, with The Economist going so far as to name it "Country of the Year" for 2014. "The idealism engendered by the Arab spring has mostly sunk in bloodshed and extremism, with a shining exception: Tunisia," the magazine wrote. "... Its economy is struggling and its polity is fragile; but Tunisia's pragmatism and moderation have nurtured hope in a wretched region and a troubled world." While it has been more peaceful than other countries, Tunisia has seen its share of violence and political turmoil. There was cautious optimism after the October 2011 elections -- the country's first since its independence in 1956 -- that involved 60 political parties and thousands of independent candidates vying for seats in the country's new Constitutional Assembly. The next two years saw some crackdowns on media freedom, as well as criticisms of efforts to criminalize blasphemy and inject strict religious discourse in mosques. In 2013, two opposition leaders were assassinated. But analysts say Wednesday's attack could have been carried out by people who care more about fomenting terror or establishing a strict Islamic caliphate -- ISIS' aim -- than Tunisian politics. The country has also been batting socioeconomic problems such as youth unemployment. Young people who can't get jobs are finding that joining extremist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda is a way out. Up until now, these recruits have largely done their fighting away from home. Experts think that by taking the fight to Tunisia, they'll hurt their cause not just by hurting the tourism-reliant economy, but also by alienating most of their countrymen. "They're already isolated and marginalized, and they further isolate and marginalize themselves by these actions," said Mubin Shaikh, a former undercover counterterrorism operative. "... This will just further isolate and alienate these groups from the rest of the public." Travelers warned of risks as Tunisia reels from attack . CNN's Samira Said, Ashley Fantz, Alanne Orjoux, Gul Tuysuz, Sandrine Amiel, Antonia Mortensen, Laura Perez Maestro, Vasco Cotovio, as well as journalists Shokri Shihi, Barbie Latza Nadeau and Livia Borghese, contributed to this report. +(CNN)For years, they've wanted six seasons and a movie, and at 3:01 a.m. ET Tuesday, fans got it ... almost. There's no movie yet, but "Community's" much-awaited sixth season made its debut. Not even cancellation by NBC could kill the fan favorite sitcom, as Yahoo streamed the first two episodes of the new season early Tuesday. The show appears to have suffered no decline in quality in the move to Yahoo, though cast member Yvette Nicole Brown (now on CBS' "The Odd Couple") had to leave the show for family reasons. The premiere briefly touches on this in its own way, with Shirley's absence sounding a lot like the setup for a spinoff (as the character Abed points out, along with several other inconsistencies throughout the episode). The "new Shirley," as Dean joked, is Paget Brewster's Frankie, who exists to play the disapproving authority figure to antagonize the former study group. Soon, the group was running a Prohibition-esque bar before they could learn to live with Frankie. And how about the end of the first episode, which gave us a look at the spinoff, "The Butcher and the Baker," with Shirley and Steven Weber as a Southern lawyer? Episode two got even more out there, with Dean Pelton's adventures in 1990s-style virtual reality and a less-successful plotline involving Britta's parents. Most interesting was the introduction of Keith David as '90s tech genius Elroy. Critics praised the show, with The Hollywood Reporter's Amy Amatangelo saying, "Everything fans loved about Community remains -- the first two episodes are chock-full of increasingly bizarre pop-culture references (Portuguese Gremlins, anyone?) and meta commentary. The show has seamlessly transferred to an online venue." Time's James Poniewozik also liked it (despite some reservations about the plot), writing, "The first thing that matters is if the latest reboot still has the comedy goods, and it does." Soon after the show went online, devoted fans on Twitter had their say. +Selma, Alabama (CNN)In a passionate speech about racial progress in America, President Barack Obama on Saturday told thousands of people who gathered here to commemorate the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" that "our march is not yet finished. But we are getting closer." Obama emphasized that a day of commemoration is not enough to repay the debt paid by the marchers who were brutally beaten 50 years ago as they demonstrated for voting rights. "If Selma taught us anything, it's that our work is never done," the President said near Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the confrontation between authorities and marchers was captured in film and photographs that jolted the nation. Read President Obama's prepared remarks . The President said that what civil rights marchers did years ago "will reverberate through the ages. Not because the change they won was preordained; not because their victory was complete; but because they proved that nonviolent change is possible; that love and hope can conquer hate." He hailed the marchers as heroes. The President said that "the Americans who crossed this bridge, they were not physically imposing, but they gave courage to millions. They held no elected office. But they led a nation." The "Bloody Sunday" anniversary marks 50 years from the day hundreds of people were brutally attacked by Alabama state troopers as they marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest racial discrimination in voter registration. About 600 people participated in the planned 50-mile journey on March 7, 1965. The marchers were protesting discrimination that kept black people from voting. But as the marchers approached the foot of the bridge, state troopers used force and tear gas to push them back. As events were underway Saturday in Selma, hundreds of people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York to symbolize their unity with the Alabama commemoration. Television coverage of the event in 1965 triggered national outrage and eventually led Congress to pass the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, which mandated federal oversight over elections in states with histories of discrimination. 50 years later: Memories from 'Bloody Sunday' nurse . Many of the nation's leaders, activists and celebrities were in Selma on Saturday attending various activities taking place in memory of the historic event. On Saturday, Rep. John Lewis -- one of the demonstrators bloodied by troopers 50 years ago -- and nearly 100 other members of Congress from both parties joined the President at the bridge in Selma -- a bridge that still bears the name of Pettus, a Confederate general who was also a Ku Klux Klan leader. "We must use this moment to recommit ourselves to do all we can to finish this work. There's still work to be done," said Lewis, adding this is an opportunity to "redeem the soul of America." The President said that though progress has been made, racism is still too prevalent in America. "We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation's racial history still casts its long shadow upon us," he said. "We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character -- requires admitting as much." The President called on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the law that required certain states with a history of racial discrimination at the polls to "pre-clear" any changes to the law with the federal government before implementing them. Efforts to revive key provisions of the act have stalled in Congress. John Lewis's memories of the march . Reflecting a sense of change in the half century since Bloody Sunday, and with Selma again in a national media spotlight, the mood in the crowd Saturday was of unity, and talks were focused on how to move America forward. But some current Selma residents worried that after the dignitaries leave their town -- with a population 82% black and with more than 40% of its people living below the national poverty level -- will fade from view except for its historical significance. Many black residents of Selma say they still live in a divisive society and still feel the sting of racism, with true change yet to come. Geraldine Martin, 59, has lived in Selma all her life. She was 9 years old on "Bloody Sunday" and with her mother had just welcomed a little sister, Belinda, to the world on that day. The two sisters grew up in Selma less than a decade apart. They graduated from Selma High School and both had to make decisions about whether to stay in their hometown when few opportunities existed for young people. "We need to reevaluate our education system," said Geraldine, who became a special education teacher at Selma High. "We need incentives for young people. I am hoping today's events will help us move forward." Opinion: Selma's historic bridge deserves a better name . Belinda shook her head. She left Selma after high school and now lives in Atlanta. Her view of Selma has changed over the years -- looking in from the outside. "I don't see how Selma will move forward without togetherness," said Belinda. "There is no diversity in Selma. People don't live together. "I want to ask white people: 'So why are you so angry at us? Is it really the color of my skin or something deeper?'" Maybe, she said, the attention on Selma this weekend will help spark a relevant dialogue. 50 years later: The house where MLK stayed . CNN's Moni Basu reported from Selma. CNN's Slma Shelbayah wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN's Steve Almasy and Douglas Brinkley contributed to this report. +(CNN)Seeing a rainbow often fills people with a sense of joy, regardless of whether it is their first or 19th time witnessing the colorful creation. Rainbow Gatherings -- annual events that take place throughout the world -- encompass a vibrant mixture of the environment and people to produce a similar feeling of excitement. Photographer Matjaz Krivic's "Somewhere Under the Rainbow" series was shot over 19 years at Rainbow Gatherings in various countries. According to Krivic, the meaning behind the name of the events originates from an ancient Hopi Native American prophecy about "Rainbow Warriors." Rainbow Gatherings involve a temporary community of people who meet to share their similar ideals -- peace, harmony, freedom and respect. Those participating in the gatherings collectively refer to themselves as a "Rainbow Family." The community, which welcomes a wide spectrum of ages, comes together to embrace nature and establish an alternative space away from society's popular culture of consumerism, materialism and mass media. Those who attend are not required to pay any form of money, not even for food, and the gatherings do not have rigid structures of dominance nor one specific leader. Instead, Rainbow Gatherings are essentially idealistic movements driven by the convergence of its community's beliefs in a more equitable society and its people's love and tolerance for one another. "The magic hat goes around and you put money if you have or if you want," Krivic said. "(But) nobody needs to pay for the food. Everybody is welcome to go and eat there." Krivic says that Rainbow Gatherings also tend to take place in regions of the world that "need to be healed" after having experienced devastating conflicts. Past gatherings include those held in Serbia, Bosnia and Ukraine. "I really don't like what's going on in this world. ... There's just so much stuff happening," Krivic said. "You can always go to (Rainbow Gatherings) and stay there and have a nice time, and you don't even have to pay for it. It will be a nice time, nice energy, not aggressive." One of the most enjoyable aspects about Rainbow Gatherings is the many workshops and activities that are available, where people engage in and learn about everything from yoga and tai chi to meditation and healing techniques. Another significant part of Rainbow Gatherings is the all-encompassing sound. "I like the music, I'm an audiophile. I like all sorts of music, but when I go there it's live, it's there," Krivic said. "It's like two guys playing and eventually it's like 50 people playing and the music is just so beautiful." The first Rainbow Gathering took place in Colorado in 1972, and it is believed to have been organized by youth counterculture "tribes" from Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Since then, the gatherings have extended to other areas in the United States as well as a number of different countries. The international gatherings generally take place during the summer, before August's full moon. According to Krivic, the exact locations of some of the Rainbow Gatherings are revealed through hand-drawn maps and presented to those who have attended a gathering in the past. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Krivic has had a diverse range of experiences at Rainbow Gatherings, and maintaining a consistent photographic process over the years has enabled him to witness firsthand the growth of his photography. Ever since his first Rainbow Gathering, Krivic has been using the same two film cameras and lenses. "The gatherings didn't change," Krivic said, "but my photography did change -- a lot. ... I consider photography differently now." Krivic says a key consideration when taking photos was the use of film cameras as opposed to digital, which he believes do not fit in with the atmosphere of the gatherings. He also had to carefully decide who to photograph. "I had some friends and I could take photos of them, and then eventually when I was going on and on, it just became like a family," he said. "It's like people that you know for 20 years and you see them every year." Just as every person sees a rainbow in their own unique way, "Somewhere Under the Rainbow" enables viewers to let their vision roam freely around every corner of the photos, leaving them to cultivate their own perspectives and ripen their imaginations. In one photo, Krivic takes viewers to Pakistan in 1998, where a man mesmerizes viewers as he stands in pristine blue water holding a mango in his hands. It's then 2003 in France. Light rays power through colossal trees, illuminating tents and tepees and dosing the atmosphere with warmth. Viewers later discover a delicate morning hug between a man and woman at last year's Rainbow Gathering in Hungary, with a sunflower softly blooming out of a ukulele. As for Krivic, he feels that "Somewhere Under the Rainbow" is not finished and will never be. "I will never complete it. I will always go because I like it," he said. "I will take photos again of friends, and just go on with it." Matjaz Krivic is a photographer based in Slovenia. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. +March 26, 2015 . Almost a year after the controversial prisoner exchange that freed him, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Get a recap of the events that led to yesterday's development. Also covered: the planned merger between two U.S. food companies, an annual migration of sharks, and the sinking levels of the world's lowest lake. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)What's better than the sun on a March day in Europe, at the tail end of winter with spring on the doorstep? No sun, apparently. That was the verdict of many around the continent, who found Friday morning's solar eclipse picture perfect. Millions from around North Africa, the Middle East as well as Europe woke up with a chance to see the rare cosmic event. For some of them, it was a partial eclipse; but others -- say if you were at the North Pole, or in Svalbard or the Faroe Islands between Iceland and Norway -- got the full deal. Such eclipses are basically as old as the galaxy itself, happening when the moon and sun are at just the right distance from the Earth and they appear to be of the same apparent size in the sky -- even though the sun is actually about 400 times larger. An eclipse happens when the moon passes right in front of the sun, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow on the Earth. That means what used to be morning suddenly looks like nighttime again, until the sun and moon get out of each other's way. Staring at the sun anytime can be a bit dangerous, even when it's there, not there, then there again during an eclipse. That's where the term "eclipse blindness" -- which is really retinal burns -- comes from. Luckily, a lot of those peering into the skies Friday came prepared. At least that was the case for famous Bayern Munich footballers Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina, who looked cool looking up in their 3-D movie-type glasses. Or a bunch of children at Stockport Grammar, a British school not far from Manchester. One of them looked more like a welder than a stargazer but didn't seem to mind, giving a thumbs-up to the view. Not everyone was similarly enthused; not because they don't love a good eclipse, but because they don't like a bad one. CNN's Nick Thompson in London, for instance, went out hoping for an out-of-this-world experience and instead saw little more than a bunch of clouds. He wasn't alone, as many in Britain in particular didn't get the big show they'd hoped for. Clouds be damned, some folks there used a sun costume, along with an Earth-and-moon prop, to put on a show of their own. If the sun won't come out for you, then you might as well be the sun, their reasoning went. Even in the United Kingdom, whether you were Glasgow University students cheering when a glimpse of the eclipse emerged from the clouds or a bird soaring the sky, there was a lot of enthusiasm for the eclipse. And there were even more cheers elsewhere, in Berlin, Beirut and beyond. Norwegians, especially, got some of the most spectacular perspectives. Eclipses aren't everyday events, and they're getting less common. While there will be more full eclipses, they will get rarer and rarer as the moon moves away from the Earth at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) every year. That means there will come a time when the moon will appear to be too small to cover the sun. But don't sweat it just yet: NASA calculates this will take about 563 million years, meaning there's still time to catch another eclipse. Weather permitting, of course. CNN's Dave Gilbert contributed to this report. +(CNN)The tragic news that Germanwings Flight 9525 was deliberately crashed into the French Alps by a pilot deemed "100% fit to fly" challenges the common understanding of the phrase. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said co-pilot Andreas Lubitz apparently "wanted to destroy the aircraft," taking advantage of the pilot leaving the cockpit and most likely refusing to open the cabin door after activating the plane's descent. The CEO of Lufthansa -- of which Germanwings is a subsidiary -- said Lubitz had been "fit to fly." But for most of us, the prosecutor's preliminary finding that the 28-year-old German purposefully caused the deaths of 150 people on March 24 puts him squarely outside that term. In fact "fit to fly" does not mean the pilot's psychological state has necessarily been assessed. Simon Mitchell is a pilot and visiting fellow at Cranfield University's Safety and Accident Investigation Centre in southern England. Over the last few years the aviation industry has been considering the amount of time spent examining pilots' skills compared to the time spent examining how they thought, Mitchell said. Many organizations had begun assessing the safety of particular airlines when considering which carriers their members should fly on, he said. "It's not uncommon for those corporations to have in their assessment matrix a look at pilot selection procedures," Mitchell said. "Increasingly we're looking at their all-round personalities and ability to work in teams and what they're like as people. "Apart from 'do we want to ensure we haven't recruited somebody who might have some sort of mental disorder,' there's also a very good reason in a day-to-day way. You want to recruit somebody who works well in a team," he said. "The airline industry is quite unique in the amount of trust and liability it places in the hands of a very small number of employees," Mitchell said. "If you look at the value of the aircraft and the immeasurable value of the lives being flown in that aircraft, you come up to a huge number -- in the hundreds of millions, if not billions -- of dollars of risk associated with that asset. In effect, a medium to large sized company is being placed in the hands of a few employees. "It is important that these airlines take a great deal of care -- not just about whether that pilot can fly -- but how fit that person is to carry that sort of responsibility." On Thursday, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said the company's pilots did not undergo regular or routine psychological testing once they were flying. But he said Lufthansa did consider an applicant's psychological state, along with other factors, when hiring pilots. "We don't only look at competence, but we also give a lot of room to psychological capabilities," Spohr said. The pilot and co-pilot on Germanwings Flight 9525 had passed the test the airline used to evaluate applicants, he said. But Mitchell said aviation regulations only required a physical and not a psychiatric medical examination, looking at a potential pilot's fitness to fly in terms of factors such as heart attack risk. Those being examined were legally required to declare any mental disorder, but there was no standard psych testing from a regulatory point of view, he said, with airlines and industry bodies failing to reach consensus on types of tests to be used. "The doctor is supposed to note any evident issues that he notices -- but what is he going to notice in half an hour's medical? The rest of it relies on your medical history and you being honest," Mitchell said. The Federal Aviation Administration told CNN that U.S. scheduled airline pilots must renew medical certificates every year if they're less than 40 years old and every six months if older. "Pilots must complete an official FAA medical application form, and have a physical examination conducted by an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner," it said. "The FAA medical application form includes questions pertaining to the mental health of the pilot. The AME can defer a pilot to the FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine if he or she believes that additional psychological testing is indicated. All existing physical and psychological conditions and medications must be disclosed." On its website, the FAA guidance for AMEs states: "The FAA does not expect the Examiner to perform a formal psychiatric examination. However, the Examiner should form a general impression of the emotional stability and mental state of the applicant." In terms of a pilot's fitness to fly on a particular day, Mitchell said attempts by many companies and airlines to introduce random drug and alcohol testing had hit problems with unions. "When crew report for duty, they obviously are seen by other company personnel and they're also supposed to stop someone who's not fit for duty," he said, adding that was not a particularly robust system. "It does rely on a professional crew member turning around and stopping the flight." In the short term, the industry needed to be sensitive to the fact that the crash was "an incredibly tragic event," Mitchell said. "We need to be conscious in short-term not to exacerbate stress of the families in the first days," he said. "It is important as an industry to recognize the amount of trust that's been put in our hands and ensure the system is robust enough to live up to that." But managing an industry with global implications was complex, Mitchell said, pointing out that Lubitz was able to lock out the other pilot because of strengthened security measures introduced after the September 11 hijackings. "It's horribly, tragically, ironic that an unintended consequence of trying to mitigate one risk has actually facilitated an equally horrendous act -- that wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't done something to try to mitigate the other risk." Was 9/11 safety precaution a flaw? John Newsome and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report. +(CNN)What does it take to help a single dolphin entangled in fishing line? In the recent case of a dolphin calf rescued off the eastern coast of Florida, about two days of effort involving seven boats and 35 people from 12 institutions and organizations. And that was after four weeks spent finding him and evaluating his situation to see whether it warranted intervention. With spring approaching, marine experts say it's a good reminder to look after your belongings when you take to the water. From plastic bags to swimming trunks to crab pots, marine life can get entangled in all manner of human debris. With limited time and resources, experts can't save them all. "You really want to make sure you keep all your hands on your stuff," said Elizabeth Stratton, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries' assistant marine mammal stranding coordinator for the southeast region. "We feel a special responsibility in cases where an animal's health is in danger because of debris introduced by humans," said Stratton, who was involved in last week's rescue. So where does an intervention begin? A couple spotted the calf off the coast of Fort Pierce with monofilament line wrapped around his rostrum, or snout. The mammal was riding the wake of their boat. They reported it January 18 to the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, which set out to find the calf and his mother. The group found the pair and took more pictures, which were sent to the NOAA Fisheries on February 9 for evaluation. The photos revealed monofilament line wrapped around the calf's upper jaw, cutting into the tissue to the bone, threatening his ability to eat or possibly leading to infection. Veterinarians who reviewed the photos deemed the injuries potentially life-threatening. "We can't disentangle every animal," Stratton said, "but If it comes back as life-threatening, we mobilize to do disentanglement." The next step was to find the creatures again. Through characteristics on the mother's dorsal fin, the group was able to identify her through records on file and target her home range for a search. After a two-day search, the group found the dolphins on Friday and approached for intervention. The process took about an hour, from netting the calf and his mother to sending them on their way, Stratton said. Apart from the fishing line both mother and son were in good condition. Rescuers gave the calf a long-lasting antibiotic and radio-tagged the mother before releasing them to the ocean "where they belong," Stratton said. The moral of the story for humans: "Be conscious of your gear." To report an injured marine mammal, call 877-WHALEHELP (877-942-5343). +March 11, 2015 . Whether you teach geography, social studies or history, we have content for your classroom today on CNN Student News. Go inside a Middle Eastern country at the center of international scrutiny. Get a sense of what kinds of historic artifacts ISIS has destroyed, and examine signs that the terrorist group may be weakening. And see what's key to the survival of the typewriter. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)If death is the big sleep, as it is sometimes called, is there anything wrong with a dying person choosing a medically induced smaller sleep -- deep sedation -- to avoid the pain of a terminal illness? Is it OK for a patient to choose to spend his or her final days on this mortal coil in what would amount to a medically induced coma? Or is it simply euthanasia in disguise? Members of the French Parliament offered resounding support Tuesday for the proposition that is should be permissible for doctors to induce sleep until death in terminally ill patients who are in pain. They approved a bill allowing that by a vote of 436-34. There were, however, 83 lawmakers who declined to vote -- a measure of just how contentious the issue has been. The bill goes now to the French Senate. Should it become law, doctors would be allowed to administer "deep sedation until death" to terminally ill patients who request it, and for whom palliative care would not ease the pain. The law would also allow doctors who have stopped life-saving measures to administer deep sedation, if they deem it appropriate, to terminally ill patients who are unable to give their consent. "Everyone has the right to a death that is dignified and soothed," the proposed law says. And health professionals, it continues, should "implement all the means at their disposal to fulfill this right." What the law entails, according to Jean Leonetti, the member of Parliament who proposed it, is simple: "Sleep before death to avoid suffering." What it also entails is legal protection for doctors who, in fact, already sedate some dying patients, and who are sometimes taken to court by relatives as a result. Euthanasia is illegal in France, though President Francois Hollande promised in his 2012 campaign that he would reopen the issue. Polls show that more than 90% of French people support the proposal -- an astonishing majority for any proposal -- and Hollande has said it would represent a big step forward. But, as might be predicted, the proposed law has proved divisive in the extreme. Some lawmakers on the left of the political spectrum said in advance they would abstain from Tuesday's vote because they thought the bill did not go far enough toward legalizing euthanasia. And some on the right said they, too, would abstain, because they saw the law is a way of legalizing euthanasia in disguise. CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris contributed to this report . +(CNN)It recalled one of the most memorable moments in comic book history, but for critics on social media, one comic book cover went too far, and it's now been pulled. DC Comics pulled the cover for the upcoming "Batgirl" #41, which portrays the Joker threatening a frightened Batgirl with a gun, with "Joker makeup" on her mouth. The Twitter hashtag #changethecover had been trending since Friday, when the cover was revealed. It's a variant, aka an optional cover, which tends to grab the attention of collectors but won't be the main cover seen in most stores. For the month of June, DC's variant covers are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the iconic villain. The cover recalls Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon's encounter with the Joker in the classic story "The Killing Joke." In it, he brutally attacked Barbara, kidnapping her, and it was heavily implied that she was sexually assaulted. After being shot, the character remained in a wheelchair for decades, until DC retconned Barbara's fate in 2011, allowing her to walk again and be Batgirl. The criticism of the cover spread over a few days, though others defended it with their own hashtags. DC Comics (owned by Time Warner, which also owns CNN) said in a statement late Monday that artist Rafael Albuquerque's cover was going to be pulled. "Regardless if fans like Rafael Albuquerque's homage to Alan Moore's THE KILLING JOKE graphic novel from 25 years ago, or find it inconsistent with the current tonality of the Batgirl books -- threats of violence and harassment are wrong and have no place in comics or society," they said. "We stand by our creative talent, and per Rafael's request, DC Comics will not publish the Batgirl variant. " Albuquerque said in his own statement, "My Batgirl variant cover artwork was designed to pay homage to a comic that I really admire, and I know is a favorite of many readers. 'The Killing Joke' is part of Batgirl's canon and artistically, I couldn't avoid portraying the traumatic relationship between Barbara Gordon and the Joker." He continued, "For me, it was just a creepy cover that brought up something from the character's past that I was able to interpret artistically. But it has become clear, that for others, it touched a very important nerve. I respect these opinions and, despite whether the discussion is right or wrong, no opinion should be discredited. He concluded, "My intention was never to hurt or upset anyone through my art. For that reason, I have recommended to DC that the variant cover be pulled. I'm incredibly pleased that DC Comics is listening to my concerns and will not be publishing the cover art in June as previously announced." Albuquerque added in a tweet on Monday night that he was never threatened (the "threats" DC referenced were aimed at those objecting to the cover, per "Batgirl" writer Cameron Stewart). Stewart tweeted more: "I stand behind Rafael as an artist and a friend, and think he made the right decision. The cover was not seen or approved by anyone on Team Batgirl and was completely at odds with what we are doing with the comic. So, we have the creators of the book and the artist himself all agreeing that the cover was inappropriate. There's no 'censorship' here." That didn't stop the controversy on social media. It was just the latest brouhaha involving portrayals of women in comic books and variant covers in particular. In September, Marvel Comics canceled future variant covers from artist Milo Manara after a "Spider-Woman" No. 1 variant cover caused an uproar for being "over-sexualized." (The company later said there was no connection between the two events.) +(CNN)Marvel is going back to war. The massively popular superhero entertainment factory has the third "Captain America" movie on the way, "Civil War," which will include Iron Man and quite possibly, the new Spider-Man. It's based on a story arc from almost a decade ago, which tackled issues of freedom versus security, with the two heroes going toe to toe against one another. This summer, Marvel plans to revisit that storyline as part of the much larger return of "Secret Wars," its biggest crossover event of the 1980s. The effects of this will be huge to the comics, ending 33 of the company's titles. CNN spoke to writer Charles Soule, who has gained acclaim for his work on "Superman/Wonder Woman," "Swamp Thing," The Death of Wolverine," "She-Hulk" and more. He gave us the scoop on the return of "Civil War," one year before it hits the big screen. CNN: What can fans expect from your "Civil War" storyline? Soule: "Secret Wars" is an opportunity to revisit some of the great Marvel stories of the past. One of those is "Civil War," and I got the call to work on that. "Civil War" happened in 2006 and 2007, and in that story Captain America and Iron Man went after each other based on an ideological difference on superheroes in the world. What I'm doing is taking that story in a different direction. CNN: Will this be a way for those who are interested in the upcoming movie to dive into that story? Soule: Absolutely. If you look at the ideas that that story had, Iron Man thought superheroes should have to register with the government, and become something of a police force. Captain America thought that that was restricting the central freedoms of this country. It was a debate of security versus freedom. We're taking that basic idea and expanding it to a larger canvas. The Registration Act is all in the past at this point. It's more of a world drastically changed based on a superhero war, and it's a huge story and it's fun to be able to involve every Marvel character there is. CNN: Is this one of the biggest stories you've worked on? Soule: I've been on big books but this one feels huge. It affects every character in one way or another, and it deals with some central issues to the modern world. That's not always something you get to do in a Marvel story. CNN: So this will have many twists and turns away from the original story? Soule: The idea is to take some of the events in the original storyline and spin them off into entirely new stories. Without spoiling, this deals with a world that has been ravaged for quite some time when we pick up the story. I felt the original "Civil War" explored those questions very well. If I was going to play in this sandbox, I wanted to ask my own questions. +(CNN)A neglected maid, a hit man and a shoe expert are heading to theaters this weekend with the releases of "Cinderella," "Run All Night" and "The Cobbler." Here's what The Hollywood Reporter's critics are saying about the weekend's new offerings (as well as which film will likely top the weekend's box office). Director Kenneth Branagh's film stars Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden and Helena Bonham Carter in a retelling of the fairy tale about a young woman whose oppressive stepmother stands in the way of her feelings for a dashing prince. THR film critic David Rooney writes in his review that "anyone nostalgic for childhood dreams of transformation will find something to enjoy in an uplifting movie that invests warm sentiment in universal themes of loss and resilience, experience and maturity." More: The best and worst adaptations of "Cinderella" Liam Neeson, Ed Harris and Joel Kinnaman star in director Jaume Collet-Serra's crime film about a hit man trying to save his estranged son from a revenge plot. THR chief film critic Todd McCarthy writes in his review that the film is Neeson's "latest slab of amped-up urban mayhem" and "consists entirely of angry threats, pointed guns, hiding out from and eluding same, and mad dashes down mean streets on foot and in vehicles." More: Liam Neeson says he's quitting action movies in two years . Director Alex Gibney's documentary focuses on Scientology and its ties to Hollywood. "This impeccably assembled and argued film represents a brave, timely intervention into debates around the organization that have been simmering for some time," writes THR film critic Leslie Felperin in her review. Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen Barkin and Dan Stevens star in director Thomas McCarthy's comedy about a dissatisfied shoe repairman who is magically able to live his customers' lives by wearing their footwear. THR film critic John DeFore describes the film as "likeable but ordinary" in his review. A woman isn't pleased when she learns her husband is cheating on her in director Anthony Burns' dark comedy. Katherine Heigl, Patrick Wilson and Jordana Brewster star. "The kind of blithely confident, creatively impoverished dud that leaves you slightly stunned someone greenlighted it, the movie has the distinction of feeling like a bad idea from its very first frames," according to THR film critic Jon Frosch's review. More "Cinderella": Lily James, Richard Madden guess why British actors keep getting cast in Disney fairy tales . Pianist Seymour Bernstein is the subject of this documentary from director Ethan Hawke. THR film critic Stephen Farber writers in his review that "the film is a loving portrait of Seymour Bernstein," although "one might want to know a little more about his personal history." ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Embattled Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigned Wednesday, a week after a scathing Justice Department report slammed his department. Jackson and the city "have agreed to a mutual separation," Ferguson officials announced. "It's a really hard pill to swallow," Jackson said in a text message responding to CNN's request for comment. He also confirmed his resignation in a letter to Ferguson's mayor. "It is with profound sadness that I am announcing I am stepping down from my position as chief of police for the city of Ferguson, Missouri," Jackson said, adding that serving the city as police chief "has been an honor and a privilege." The resignation will go into effect March 19, Jackson said, to "provide for an orderly transition of command." "I will continue to assist the city in any way I can in my capacity as private citizen," Jackson wrote. But even though he's about to be out of a job, Jackson will still collect a paycheck. Jackson will receive a severance payment and health insurance for one year, the city said, with Lt. Col. Al Eickhoff assuming his duties during a nationwide search for a new chief. Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said he couldn't go into details about the personnel discussions behind the decision to give Jackson a year of severance pay. "I think it's fair to say that in many executive level private industries, you would get a similar treatment," he said. Knowles said the police chief decided to resign "after a lot of soul searching." "I think it's important that we recognize that the chief made this decision because he wanted to do this," Knowles said. "He thought it was the best for the city and the Police Department." Hours after the announcement, protesters gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department. "Fight back," many chanted as they faced a long line of police officers. At least two people were arrested, CNN affiliate KMOV said, but it was not immediately clear why. As of late Wednesday night, the protest was largely peaceful. Jackson's resignation is the latest fallout from the Justice Department report, which exposed problems in the city's policing tactics and faulted Ferguson's officers for seeing residents as "sources of revenue," a practice that federal investigators said disproportionately targeted African-Americans. The investigators also found evidence of racist jokes being sent around by Ferguson police and court officials. Ferguson City Manager John Shaw stepped down Tuesday. The report mentions both men by name. Two police officers resigned last week and the city's top court clerk was fired in connection with racist emails, city spokesman Jeff Small said on Friday. Last week, Jackson declined to comment on details in the report. "I need to have time to really analyze this report so I can comment on it," Jackson told CNN Thursday. When asked what he planned to do about the report's findings, the chief said he would "take action as necessary." After his resignation Wednesday, he said in a written statement to CNN's Don Lemon that he was encouraged by the report's conclusion, which says that Ferguson "has the capacity to reform its approach to law enforcement." "We agree that Ferguson can do the tough work to see this through and emerge the best small town it can be," he said. Knowles told reporters Wednesday that the city is still analyzing the report. "We continue to go through that report and talk about where the breakdown was," he said. "The chief, being an honorable man, decided we needed to talk about the way moving forward was with someone else. He left." City officials, he said, still believe the Police Department can be reformed without being eliminated. "The city of Ferguson looks to become an example of how a community can move forward in the face of adversity," the mayor said. "We are committed to keeping our Police Department and having one that exhibits the highest degree of professionalism and fairness." When Jackson became Ferguson's police chief in 2010, it was supposed to be a relatively easy way to cap his career in law enforcement. After some 30 years with the St. Louis County Police Department, serving as commander of a drug task force and SWAT team supervisor, being a police chief of a smaller department should have been less stressful. The shooting of Michael Brown last year changed everything. Brown, an African-American teen, was unarmed when he was shot by a white Ferguson police officer. The incident exposed feelings of distrust between Ferguson's black community and its police department, which is overwhelmingly white. Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, won't face any criminal charges for the shooting. In November, a grand jury decided not to indict him. Last week the Justice Department said Wilson's actions "do not constitute prosecutable violations" of federal civil rights law. He resigned from the department in November, citing security concerns. But that hasn't stopped criticism of the department from local residents and top federal officials. Even before the Justice Department report was finished, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said it was "pretty clear that the need for wholesale change in that department is appropriate." Critics have accused Jackson of inflaming tensions in the St. Louis suburb with his response to the shooting. Over the past six months, Jackson has defended his officers and vowed to work with the community. "I intend to see this thing through. And I've been working with a lot of community members to work on some progressive changes that will bring the community together and to open up dialogue and getting us all talking about serious issues and actually creating solutions to problems," he told CNN in November. CNN's Jason Carroll contributed to this report. +Washington (CNN)It doesn't matter how many times Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now says he still wants a two-state solution with the Palestinians. The White House is refusing to take him at his word. "We take him at his word when he said that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership, and so that's why we've got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don't see a chaotic situation in the region," President Barack Obama said in an interview with The Huffington Post published Saturday. These are the President's first public comments since Netanyahu's party captured the most seats in Tuesday's parliamentary election. Netanyahu has said in at least three post-election interviews that he still believes in Palestinian statehood, despite his pre-election flip-flop on the issue in what experts called a desperate appeal for conservative votes. Only on Thursday, two days after the election, did President Obama congratulate Netanyahu by phone on his victory. White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined to say whether Netanyahu clarified his position on the two-state policy during that phone call. But Obama told the Prime Minister that the United States would "reassess" aspects of its relationship with Israel after Netanyahu's earlier provocative statements opposing the creation of a Palestinian state. Administration officials have said the United States is now considering signing on to a U.N. resolution which supports a Palestinian state. Regarding comments Netanyahu made Tuesday about Arab Israeli voters going to the polls "in droves" -- comments described by some as racist -- Obama told The Huffington Post that that kind of "rhetoric" was "contrary to what is best of Israel's traditions. That although Israel was founded based on the historic Jewish homeland and the need to have a Jewish homeland, Israeli democracy has been premised on everybody in the country being treated equally and fairly." Obama added: "If that is lost, then I think that not only does it give ammunition to folks who don't believe in a Jewish state, but it also I think starts to erode the name of democracy in the country." U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, who invited Netanyahu to address that controversial joint meeting of Congress earlier this month, plans to visit Israel at the end of the month. While the speaker's office says the trip was planned well before the Prime Minister's re-election, it will come around the deadline for an initial nuclear deal between Iran, the United States and other world powers. +(CNN)At least a dozen tourists on two cruises that visited the Tunisian capital, Tunis, are among more than 20 people who were gunned down this week at the country's Bardo National Museum, officials said. Details of the victims in Wednesday's attack have been slow to emerge. Some of the bodies remained unidentified at a morgue, a forensic official said Friday. Here's what is known so far: . Among the first victims to be named was Briton Sally Adey. The UK Foreign Office confirmed her identity. She was a 57-year-old retired solicitor who was on a dream vacation with her husband, Robert, Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported. The couple were married in 1984 and have two children -- Molly, a 20-year-old university student, and Harry, a 23-year-old musician, the newspaper said. Julia Holden, a close friend of the Adeys, gave a statement to CNN that said, "Sally Adey was a much loved daughter, wife and mother. The family are devastated by her loss. They are also saddened for others who have lost people they love, and for those who have been hurt." Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said consular staff were helping Adey's family. "The extremists, the terrorists, they hate democracy," UK Prime Minister David Cameron said. "They hate the idea that people should be able to choose their own government. But we must not let democracy, freedom, the rule of law, the things that we hold dear and people in Tunisia hold dear -- we must not let them be defeated or undermined by these extremists and terrorists. "That is the battle we are engaged in, but I'm confident, if we stick to our values, we will win through." Two more victims were named as Spanish couple Antoni Cirera Perez and Dolores Sanchez Rami. They were on a cruise that stopped in Tunis. Francisco Cabezas, a sportswriter with the newspaper El Mundo, wrote that his neighbors for eight years had loved children and walking in the mountains. Perez loved Formula 1 races. The sportswriter wrote that he recently invited the couple over to meet his baby daughter, Adria. They were ecstatic to hear the cries of a baby, he said. Perez instructed him softly, "Let her cry, that is what she has to do." President Francois Hollande, who said he stood firm with Tunisia, confirmed that three French citizens were killed and seven others wounded. He told reporters at an EU Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, that two of the wounded were in serious condition. The five who are slightly hurt are expected to return shortly to France. Bruno Masarotto, a spokesman for the Town Hall of Aussillon, in southern France, confirmed that Jean-Claude Tissier, a former municipal councilor for Aussillon, was one of the French citizens killed. Tissier, 71, was a hairdresser and had two sons, one of whom is deceased, he said. Fellow hairdresser Serge Fournes said he and Tissier were part of the same theater group. He said it was a "paradox" that his friend, who was passionate about art, should die in a museum. Fournes said Tissier lived with his girlfriend. Media reports said the couple was on vacation together, but the girlfriend's condition wasn't known. A second victim was named as Christophe Tinois, 59, from Castelsarrasin, in southern France. The Castelsarrasin Town Hall confirmed his death and said Tinois had worked with the horse-riding community there. He had at least two daughters. Friend Jean-Luc Terriers said the girls' mother died about two or three years ago and that Tinois took care of her until the end. He had recently met another woman and they were in Tunis on a cruise, he said. It wasn't clear whether she was hurt in the attack. The Town Hall has organized a tribute ceremony for Tinois on Saturday morning. The name of the third French victim has not yet been confirmed. Two Colombians were killed, Javier Camelo, and his mother, Miriam Martinez Camelo. Javier Camelo also held Australian citizenship. His father survived the attack. He is a retired Colombian army general. The family was on a trip to celebrate the son's graduation. Four of the victims were from the country's northern Piedmont region. The media office of Turin City Hall named them as: Orazio Conte, 54, a Turin city administration employee; Antonella Sesino, also 54 and a city administration employee; Francesco Caldara, 64, a retiree; and Giuseppina Biella, 70. A vigil was held Thursday night in Turin to support the families of the victims and stand against terrorism. In a telegram from the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed "strong condemnation to all the acts against peace and the holiness of human life." The Italian Foreign Ministry told CNN that six Italian tourists were wounded. Russia's Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of a tourist, Galina Potapenko, who was born in 1962, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Her remains were "found among the earlier unidentified bodies of foreign tourists," it said. Another tourist, Nadezhda Lukyanova, was being treated for a wound to her arm at a military hospital in Tunis, Tass cited the ministry as saying. The two women had met up in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, where Potapenko lived, and traveled to Italy together, the Russian Embassy said earlier, according to Tass. They reached Tunisia on an Italian cruise. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said three Japanese nationals were killed and three others wounded. Public broadcaster NHK and other local media said the dead were all women: Machiyo Narisawa, 66; Chiemi Miyazaki, 49; and Miyazaki's 22-year-old daughter, Haruka Miyazaki. Haruka Miyazaki had just graduated from a university, the media outlets reported. Two Poles and a Belgian were listed among those killed. Three Tunisians were also among the dead. CNN's Junko Ogura, Karl Penhaul, Ray Sanchez, Livia Borghese, Jessica King, Claudia Rebaza, Richard Allen Greene, Sandrine Amiel, Emma Burrows and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report. +(CNN)Three and a half decades after calling for homosexuals to be stoned, former Bob Jones University President Bob Jones III has apologized. "I take personal ownership of this inflammatory rhetoric," Jones said. "This reckless statement was made in the heat of a political controversy 35 years ago." The weekend apology came days after the conservative Christian school in South Carolina received a petition asking for an apology for a statement Jones made to the Associated Press in 1980 at the White House. "I'm sure this will be greatly misquoted," Jones said at the time. "But it would not be a bad idea to bring the swift justice today that was brought in Israel's day against murder and rape and homosexuality. I guarantee it would solve the problem post-haste if homosexuals were stoned, if murderers were immediately killed as the Bible commands." When he made the comments, Jones was part of a group of fundamentalist ministers who went to the White House with 70,000 signatures on a petition opposed to extending provisions of the Civil Rights Act to homosexuals. "Upon now reading these long-forgotten words, they seem to me as words belonging to a total stranger -- were my name not attached," Jones said in Saturday's statement. "I cannot erase them, but wish I could, because they do not represent the belief of my heart or the content of my preaching." Bob Jones University has long been a center of controversy for its fundamentalist stances. In 1975, the school adopted rules banning interracial dating. BJU received national attention on the issue in 2000 when George W. Bush, then a presidential candidate, visited the campus. The uproar over the ban prompted the school to drop it. The petition by BJUnity, a group that bills itself as a network "for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and straight affirming people affected by fundamentalist Christianity," garnered more than 1,900 signatures. "We are grateful that Bob Jones III has taken responsibility for these words; words that have caused deep harm for many more people than any of us knows," the group's website said. "This means a lot to us because it represents the beginning of a change in the rhetoric and conversation." +(CNN)There are many things that immigrants could teach those of us who are U.S.-born. The biggest lesson may simply to be grateful for our rights and privileges. That includes the little things we take for granted. Like a small plastic card that not only allows us to drive on public roadways but also provides us a sense of identity. Imagine not having a driver's license and not being able to obtain one because the government prohibits it. Erika Andiola doesn't have to imagine. Until recently, the 27-year-old Phoenix resident and co-director of the Arizona Dream Coalition was barred from having a driver's license by Arizona. The reason: she is an undocumented immigrant born in Mexico and brought here as a child by her mother. Given that she arrived in the United States when she was 11 and has lived on this side of the U.S.-Mexico border longer than she lived on the other side, Andiola considers herself an American and this country her home. Under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which was initiated by the Obama administration, more than half a million undocumented youth were given a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit. Andiola is one of the recipients, having been granted DACA protection in November 2012 and a renewal since then. From that point, had she lived in another state, the process for getting a driver's license might have been much smoother. But she lives in Arizona, which -- in the 20 years from 1989 to 2009 -- welcomed illegal immigrants and their labor to build homes in Phoenix, work in restaurants in Tucson and make beds at ski lodges in Flagstaff but then tried to expel them when their chores were done. To push them out the door, legislators passed a spiteful law in 2010 that roped local police into enforcing federal immigration statutes and essentially sanctioned ethnic profiling of Latinos. In August 2012, on the same day that DACA took effect, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer issued an executive order preventing the program's recipients from obtaining driver's licenses or other public "benefit." Brewer's order was challenged in court. Two years later, in July 2014, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Arizona policy as a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. With that, the estimated 22,000 DACA recipients who are also residents of the Grand Canyon State were free to apply for driver's licenses and take their driving tests like anyone else. Andiola got her Arizona license earlier this month, after paying a $25 fee that she'll have to pay every two years each time she renews it. I wondered what traveling that road taught her about that piece of plastic she carries with her. And I was curious about whether she had given any thought to how the native-born see driver's licenses compared to people like her. "There is a pretty big difference," Andiola said. "I think it's because we fought really hard for it. People born here might not ever think about their driver's license unless they buy a drink or get stopped by police. For us, it's a reminder of the fruits of our labor. Think about how many minds we had to change so people could come out of the shadows." Other privileges get taken for granted by the native-born, she said, such as the ability to apply for financial aid to attend college or pay the lower in-state tuition that you're entitled to pay as a state resident. "When it comes to higher education, I don't think a lot of people really understand what they have unless they have to struggle to get it," Andiola said. "I have nephews who are citizens. I'm trying to make them understand how it was such a big deal, in my case, to attend college and pay in-state tuition and have it taken away. It was a big hurdle, and I almost dropped out. I want them to understand some of the privileges they have." Finally, there's the right to vote. Undocumented immigrants can't do it, and yet many of those U.S. citizens who can don't bother going to the polls. "Look at what we've done to bring change," she said. "Imagine how much someone can accomplish when they vote. A lot of Americans don't learn the political process. And you don't feel you need to until you struggle to drive, to vote, to just be allowed to stay with your family." Listen to her, America. This is an exemplary country, and it'll stay that way as long as those of us who were born here and have these rights and privileges learn to appreciate them, treat them with care and put them to good use. +(CNN)Just as meteorologists feared, Tropical Cyclone Pam pummeled the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. It is the strongest storm to make landfall, since the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013. The government declared a state of emergency, as the death toll continues to rise. Thousands are in critical need of shelter, food and water -- including many children. Aid workers on the ground are reporting massive destruction. Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale told CNN that the cyclone's destruction was the worst his country had ever experienced. He described the storm as a "monster." Officials are reporting that 90% of the homes in the Vanuatu capital are damaged or destroyed. With communication still down between many of the islands, the full extent of this storm's devastation is still unknown. Full toll of Cyclone Pam on Vanuatu unclear . If you would like to contribute to the efforts of those in place to help the victims of this storm, please check out the groups listed below. Though it may take days to realize Tropical Cyclone Pam's full toll on Vanuatu, these organizations are poised to help. ADRAAmeriCaresAustralian Red CrossCARE InternationalInternational Medical CorpsInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesMedical SantoOxfam AustraliaSamaritan's PurseSave the Children AustraliaSave the Children USAUNICEF New Zealand UNICEF Australia UNICEF InternationalWorld Food ProgrammeWorld Vision . +(CNN)Six months ago this week Omar received a panicked phone call from his friend and fellow student. "I was in my dormitory writing a paper and a friend called me in desperation from a bus. He said they were being shot by police," Omar explained. He has not heard from his friend since. Omar is a student at the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teacher Training College of Ayotzinapa, in Guerrero state. His friend is one of 43 students who were subjected to enforced disappearance in September of 2014. As the days and weeks passed, the Mexican authorities stalled and obfuscated. Despite worldwide attention on the issue, they have, for months, failed to properly investigate all lines of the case, especially the worrying allegations of complicity by armed forces. In January, I traveled to the Ayotzinapa college. There, in the college hall, surrounded by murals of Mexico's revolutionary leaders, I met the families of the disappeared students. For the past six months, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, as well as other relatives and community members, have been campaigning relentlessly, demanding answers from the authorities about what happened to their loved ones. It was an emotional and difficult meeting; there were tears of sadness and disappointment. Mothers and fathers spoke of counting the seconds since they last saw their sons, and expressed frustration at how they and their boys have been portrayed as troublemakers by the authorities and the media. These are people who have lived in poverty, whose communities have been historically abandoned by the state; for many, their missing son was the first of their families to go to school. Now, so many hopes and dreams have been shattered. I have witnessed all kinds of human tragedies, but there can be few things as painful as the torment of not knowing where a loved one is. The past months have been a roller-coaster for these families, and all of us who support and accompany their struggles. But a constant factor has been the Mexican government's failure to respond effectively and address these grave human rights violations. A prime example of this is how, on November 7, 2014, the authorities announced that human remains had been uncovered in a rubbish dump and a nearby river in Cocula, and the then-attorney general Jesús Murillo Karam announced weeks later that he was prepared to close the case. According to the prosecutor, he was satisfied that the findings of his office's investigation were sufficient proof of what happened. However, only one of the missing students has been identified through DNA tests. Other human remains are still being tested, and it seems that the whole investigation so far has been based only on the testimonies of three gang members. You don't have to be attorney general to know that this is far from conclusive proof. But amidst the sadness of the families I met, there was a calm and steely resolve. These 43 mothers and fathers have decided they cannot accept the silence or half-answers they have been given by the government, instead they are demanding the truth. One father explained to me how the horror of that day has transformed them all from peasant farmers to detectives and campaigners. If the authorities won't push for proper investigations, then they will. They have been campaigning vocally for the truth ever since. The tragic reality is that these 43 students were only the most recent we have heard of in a long line of the disappeared. According to official figures, 24,748 people have disappeared or gone missing in Mexico since 2007, and almost half of them during the current administration of President Peña Nieto. Fortunately the international community has stepped up. Recently the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights established a Group of Independent Experts to review the official investigation into the enforced disappearance of the students. In February, the United Nations' Committee on Enforced Disappearances produced recommendations on how to deal with disappearances in Mexico. The committee concluded that there is a context of generalized disappearances in a great part of the country. It has asked the government to prevent acts of intimidation and harassment toward the families of the disappeared and has suggested setting up a DNA database of missing people and a registry of disappearances. However, even these international calls are going unheeded. Just hours after the U.N. committee published its conclusions and recommendations, the Mexican government disregarded them. This is a worrying sign that the government is not stepping up and taking this human rights crisis seriously. On March 3, Mexico appointed Arely Gómez González as the new federal attorney general. We had hoped that she would forge on where her predecessor failed and get to the root of the corruption and impunity that lies behind this terrible tragedy. However, her recent statements -- that the disappearance of the 43 students is an "isolated case" and that there is no confirmation of grave human rights violations in this case -- are shocking. For Omar and the others waiting for news, it is only full accountability and pursuit of justice that can address the horrors they have seen and experienced. "The government's response has been nothing but disrespectful and insensitive," Omar said. "I'm alarmed about what happened but I'm not afraid. We will never give up our fight for justice." Amnesty International and I will be there alongside them every step of the way. +Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN)At least six people have died and more than 60 were injured after the roof of a partially built cement factory collapsed Thursday in southwestern Bangladesh, police and fire officials told CNN. Many of those injured were in critical condition, said Mohammed Bakir Hossain, the top government physician of Bagerhat district. Mohammad Niazmur Rahman, the fire and civil defense official coordinating the search and rescue effort, said early Thursday evening that two people had been pulled alive from the rubble and as many as 30 others are believed to be still trapped. Deputy inspector general of police of Khulna range SM Monir Uz Zaman said the number of those still trapped was unclear "as we're not sure how many people were working inside." The collapse took place around 1 p.m. (3 a.m. ET) in Mongla, a port city in the Asian nation's Bagerhat District. The factory is owned by Sena Kalyan Sangstha, a welfare organization for former Bangladeshi troops and their beneficiaries, according to Rahman and other local officials. Video from Boishakhi TV showed medical workers tending to the injured as they were wheeled into a local medical facility caked in dust. Deadly incidents at factories and other buildings, sadly, are nothing new in Bangladesh. The worst happened on April 24, 2013, when a nine-story building that housed five garment factories collapsed. Rescuers managed to save the lives of more than 2,400 people, but more than 1,100 died in the horrific accident. And a November 2012 apparel factory fire on Dhaka's outskirts killed at least 117 people, some of whom jumped from the building to escape the flames. Most of the dead were women, almost half of them burned so badly that DNA tests were needed to identify them. That blaze led to the convictions of 13 people for gross negligence of safety measures and spurred widespread criticism about the state of workers' rights in Bangladesh. The government responded by revamping laws so that workers no longer need approval from employers to form trade unions, and every factory that sells within the country also has to pledge 5% of their profits toward a workers' welfare fund. The government also boosted minimum wages from $38 to around $68 per month. Yet this hasn't stopped more deadly incidents, including the January deaths of at least 13 people when a fire broke out inside a Dhaka factory. Farid Ahmed reported from Dhaka and Harmeet Shah Singh from New Delhi. Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Sugam Pokharel and Kunal Sehgal contributed to this report. +(CNN)Eight American aid workers who were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone have been flown back to the United States where health authorities will watch them closely for signs of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three more exposed workers are due to arrive back in the United States on Monday. The returning workers are clinicians for Partners in Health, a Boston-based aid group. None of them is showing symptoms of Ebola, but all had contact with a colleague who's been diagnosed with the disease and is being treated at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. While in West Africa, the workers "came to the aid of their ailing colleague," according to a Partners in Health statement. As the CDC investigates who else might have had contact with the Ebola patient, more workers might be flown back to the United States, according to Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the CDC. The workers are being housed near hospitals that specialize in treating Ebola patients, and if they show signs of the disease, they'll be admitted as patients. Nurse who contracted Ebola sues hospital company . Four of the clinicians arrived Saturday to housing on the campus of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, according to spokesman Taylor Wilson. The workers have voluntarily agreed not to leave their housing. "They will be monitored so they'll stay there," Wilson said. Another aid worker was flown to Atlanta over the weekend and is being housed near Emory University Hospital, and three more workers are scheduled to arrive in Atlanta on Monday, according to Nancy Nydam, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Health. As in Nebraska, the workers in Georgia must stay in their housing for 21 days after the date of their exposure to Ebola. "Twice a day, we'll have visual monitoring either face to face or we'll Skype with them, or do FaceTime," Nydam said. "And if it's Skype or FaceTIme, they'll have to be in a place where we can clearly identify that they are where they're supposed to be." Three more exposed workers arrived Saturday at the National Institute of Health in Maryland. These workers "will remain restricted from public places" and have "limited movement, including no mass transportation," according to a statement from Christopher Garrett, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health. The heath care worker with Ebola was in serious condition Friday, the NIH said. Details about the patient's identity weren't released. The patient is the second with Ebola admitted to the NIH hospital. Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, was admitted to NIH in October after she contracted the disease while treating Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan. Pham recovered and was released free of disease. Duncan died. Emory, the NIH and Nebraska are three of only four hospitals in the United States that have biocontainment units to deal with a highly infectious disease such as Ebola. More than 10,000 people have died in a West African epidemic of Ebola that dates back to December 2013, according to the World Health Organization. Almost all of the deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. CNN's Carma Hassan, Joe Sutton and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. +(CNN)An investigation by the Charlottesville, Virginia, Police Department has found no "substantive basis" to support the allegations of a University of Virginia student that she was gang raped at a fraternity there. The allegations were first revealed in a story in Rolling Stone magazine that was initially widely circulated and then increasingly widely doubted. "That doesn't mean that something terrible didn't happen to Jackie" on the day in question, Police Chief Tim Longo said regarding the UVA student and her allegations. And Longo said he welcomes any further information that may still be out there. That said, there remains one thing we certainly do know — that gang rapes just like what Jackie originally alleged do happen -- too often, and all over America. Here's one measure: Today the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics released a new report showing that 80% of college rapes and sexual assaults go unreported to police, and 67% of such attacks by non-students go unreported. It would be a terrible and infuriating mistake to use the confusion around Jackie's story as a convenient way to discount this reality. While Rolling Stone's reporting was clearly shoddy, for example, some writers who initially poked holes in Jackie's story did so for ideological motives. For instance, even before the reporting lapses were revealed, conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg called Jackie's story unbelievable. "It is not credible," Goldberg wrote in the Los Angeles Times. "I don't believe it." Instead, Goldberg insisted, Jackie's account was "a convenient conversation for an exposé of rape culture," something, incidentally, Goldberg also doubts to be real. "'Rape culture' suggests that there is a large and obvious belief system that condones and enables rape as an end in itself in America," Goldberg later wrote in National Review. It's all hogwash, says Goldberg, alleging that the very idea of "rape culture" is just "an elaborate political lie intended to strengthen the hand of activists." In other words, whatever the reality of what happened to Jackie, Goldberg and others were skeptical because they simply don't believe rapes like that happen with the participation of groups of assailants, let alone the complicity of bystanders. This is where they're mistaken. On October 24, 2009, in Richmond, California, a 15-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by a group of young men in a courtyard outside their high school homecoming dance. Six assailants were eventually tried and ultimately pleaded guilty or were convicted. Over two hours, as the assault occurred, as many as 20 other people watched. "As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated," said Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department. The witnesses didn't report the crime to police. On August 12, 2012, a 16-year-old girl who was incapacitated by alcohol was raped by two high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio. In the backseat of a car and later in the basement of a house, the two assailants stripped their victim naked and took turns, one inserting his fingers into her vagina, the other forcing his penis into her mouth. This is not in dispute. Both football players were convicted of the crime. As the crimes were taking place, friends took pictures that were shared with other friends. Ultimately, Ohio investigators confiscated 17 cell phones used in sharing the pictures. Some of those at the party even posted pictures of the unresponsive girl, being carried by her wrists and ankles, on Twitter with words like "rape" and "drunk girl." In Steubenville, four adults have been indicted after being accused of covering up the incident, including the school superintendent. On May 11, 2014, an 18-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by three students at a party after their high school prom. The three alleged assailants, all prominent athletes, have been charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and are awaiting trial. According to police, at least one person witnessed the assault in the room where it took place and several other people at the party knew it was happening. But no one stopped it. In June 2014, a 16-year-old girl went to a party where she was allegedly drugged and raped. She doesn't remember what happened, only passing out and waking up the next morning with her clothes messed up. But weeks later, the young woman received text messages of photos showing her unconscious and undressed, apparently taken at the same party. The photos went viral on the Internet, with Twitter users posting photos of themselves in the same awkward position, mocking the alleged victim. When the Houston Press asked someone who posted such a picture on Twitter why he did it, he simply said he was "bored at 1 a.m. and decided to wake up" his Twitter feed. This is by no means an exhaustive account of incidents in which young women have been gang raped while bystanders have either cheered the crime, hidden it or stood by in silence. And while we don't know whether something terrible happened to Jackie, it would be truly tragic if we let this incident cast doubt on all allegations of rape and sexual assault. Too often rapists are given the benefit of the doubt, even in the case of overwhelming evidence, while female victims are shamed (see multiple Bill Cosby allegations). Anti-feminists have it wrong. No one, myself included, wanted Jackie's story to be true. That's absurd and offensive. We should not use this case to undermine the pervasive reality of rape culture. Whether Jackie was or wasn't sexually assaulted doesn't change the fact that many women have experienced sexual assault. When feminists raise our voices about rape and sexual assault, we aren't cheering on victimhood. We're screaming for something to be done. +(CNN)The U.S. Navy rescued two Saudi Arabia air force pilots from the Gulf of Aden, a U.S. military official said Friday. The pilots had ejected from their F-15 aircraft after it suffered mechanical failure, Saudi officials told U.S. sources. The two were not seriously injured. The USS Sterett, a guided-missile destroyer, coordinated the search, while the USS New York looked for the men. A rescue helicopter flew from Djibouti to retrieve them on Thursday. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition military operation to quell a rebellion by Houthi militias in Yemen. The United States supports the operation, but is not participating in it. Three U.S. Navy ships are standing by in the Gulf of Aden for future recovery operations. U.S. manned aircraft are not permitted to fly in Yemen airspace under the current rules of engagement. +(CNN)Nigerians go to the polls on March 28 in a tight contest, which is getting extra attention after the original date was rescheduled at the last minute. Many voters will be holding their registration card in one hand, and their mobile in the other -- making democratic history with the help of tech. In Africa's largest mobile phone market, programs to encourage citizens to get involved in the election have been gaining traction. "Nigerians are looking for information," says Femi Longe, co-founder of Co-Creation Hub which meshes tech and social issues. "Technology is helping people get involved in the conversation around democracy and elections, which is very important, as the general interest in the air has waned since the voting date was changed." As incumbent Goodluck Jonathan prepares to face-off against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, Longe and his team have developed TechSQUAD -- a gang of geeks who work on web-projects that help citizens vote. Pre-Vote Prep . One such project is Govote.ng, a popular website that is focused on the registration process -- that's crucial as in Africa's most populous country, with over 170 million citizens, the logistics can be staggering. "Most Nigerians have no idea where they are registered," explains Longe. "We want to simplify the entire election process, [and] make it responsive to users." People log on to the site to see whether they are registered with the Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and, if not, they can find out how and where to register. TechSQUAD says approximately 10,000 people visit the site each day. Finger's Influence . Other squads concentrate on the next step. Youth charity YIAGA has set up ThumbPower which gets Nigerians to "use your thumb wisely." Sections like "Who can vote" and "Where and When" set out the process in language anyone can understand. Interactive maps connect users to local activists and the countdown clock is a reminder that the new elections date is approaching fast. "The rescheduling of the election ... did affect the level of voter enthusiasm," explains YIAGA Program Manager, Cynthia Mbamalu. "While there are certain concerns about security and the guarantee of free, fair and credible elections, the interest in this election is founded on the belief that this time votes will count." Personality Problem . This election will be the first since Nigeria re-calculated it's GDP and pulled ahead of South Africa to become the continent's biggest economy. With a nominal GDP of $510 billion, and an oil sector that makes up 96% of total export earnings, the outcome of the vote will be closely watched by policy makers and businesses all over the world. Politicians, however, stand accused of relying on personalities rather than policies when it comes to winning votes. "The strength of a leader's personality and his key personal networks are playing a very strong role," says Jasper Veen, Nigeria Director at National Democratic Institute. "Both flag-bearers occasionally attempt to articulate policy positions -- it is still a far cry from policy-based politics." And this is set to be a particular issue in this poll, as some seek a strongman who can defeat Boko Haram militants in the North-East -- the main justification authorities used when explaining the decision to delay the vote by six weeks. To fight this popularity contest, TechSQUAD collaborated with The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) to produce ngmanifesto.org, which explains what the parties plan to do to improve education, the economy and infrastructure. And once a government is elected, the site will track whether election pledges become reality. 'Quick Count' Technology will also play a big role on voting day. A representative volunteer network of 4,000 observers trained by Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) will corroborate official election results using a system of text messages. The SMSs are coded so they cannot be intercepted, and also to ensure the data can be organized and communicated quickly. The process aims to bring transparency to the elections, and will be assisted by Niger's Former Prime Minister, Mahamadou Danda, who is part of a smaller team of international observers organized by the National Democratic Institute. Such independent observation is likely to speak to the thousands of citizens concerned with governance in the country. A recent Afrobarometer poll found that 68% of respondents are "not very" or "not at all" satisfied with the way democracy is working in Nigeria. Another approach to inspire citizens to get involved in the election is the Nigerian Constitution App which has been downloaded almost 1 million times according to The Indigo Trust. By making the constitution available on mobile phones, the app aims to teach citizens about national laws and inspire them to vote. And there's also BudgIT -- a site that publishes state and federal budgets for all to see. The list of election-based websites and apps goes on -- too many to mention here. But, while the election outcome is yet to be seen, it seems that the tech involved could bring a formidable force to the ballot box. More from Marketplace Africa . Read this: Cooking up a recipe for tasty profits in UAE . Watch this: Banana fiber transforms lives in Uganda . +(CNN)Three decades ago, Steve McCurry took arguably the most iconic picture of all time. Yet even after all this time, the pre-eminent photographer brims with enthusiasm when he talks about "Afghan Girl." "I knew she had an incredible look, a penetrating gaze," he recalls. "But there was a crowd of people around us, the dust was swirling around, and it was before digital cameras and you never knew what would happen with the film. "When I developed the picture, I knew it was special. I showed it to the editor of the National Geographic, and he leaped to his feet and shouted, 'that's our next cover'." Not only did "Afghan Girl" become the magazine's next cover, but the most successful in its distinguished history. The striking portrait of 12-year-old Sharbat Gula, a Pashtun orphan in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the Afghan-Pakistan border, was taken in December 1984 and published the following year. The woman, now in her forties, has recently been found to be living in Pakistan. When McCurry reflects upon its popularity, what excites him most is the impact that this single image has had on the real world. "People volunteered to work in the refugee camps because of that photograph," he says. "Afghans are incredibly proud of it, as the girl is poor but shows great pride, fortitude and self-respect. "It drew attention to their plight, and inspired a lot of people." It also led the National Geographic to set up the Afghan Children's Fund -- and meant that to this day, McCurry is never charged a fare by appreciative Afghan taxi drivers. The portrait forms the centerpiece of a major retrospective exhibition of McCurry's work, which opened recently in Monza, Italy, and will run until 6 April. "It's great to look back on my work and see how themes and connections have emerged. But I am never even remotely thinking of retiring," the 64-year-old tells CNN from his studio in New York. "There are so many new places and stories that fascinate me. I have a long list of places to visit: Iran, Madagascar, Mongolia, Russia. "I believe that when you find something you love, you should do it your whole life. Why would you retire from doing what you love? It's just not what we do." The famous photograph is just one of thousands of extraordinary pictures that McCurry has taken over a 40-year career, during which he has won dozens of awards. One which is displayed prominently in his retrospective exhibition was taken in Kuwait in 1991, during the first Gulf War. It shows three camels silhouetted against an explosion of fire and smoke. "Saddam Hussein had blown up 600 oil wells," he recalls. "It was an environmental catastrophe. Lakes of oil were leaking all over the country, and seeping into the Gulf. "Half of it was on fire. There were geysers of oil spurting out of the earth, making it like midnight during the day." He spotted the camels running along the edge of an oilfield, and followed them in his jeep. But they had been blackened by the oil, and there was no way to capture a picture of them against the black cloud behind. "Suddenly they ran in front of a burning area, and they were illuminated by fire," he says. "I took the shot, and then realized I had driven into a minefield. "I had to carefully back out, following the tire tracks I had made on the way in to avoid getting blown up." For many years, frontline war photography like this was McCurry's stock in trade. Indeed, it enabled him to make his name. Born in Pennsylvania in 1950, McCurry -- whose right hand was permanently damaged when he fell down some stairs at the age of five -- studied theater arts at Penn State University. Two years after graduating, he moved to India in search of a freelance photography career. His big break came in the late 1970s, when he disguised himself in Afghan clothes and crossed illegally into Afghanistan, just before the Soviet invasion. There he took a set of searing photographs of people who were being attacked by their own government. "As soon as I crossed the border, I came across about 40 houses and a few schools that were just bombed out," he says. "They were literally destroying whole villages with helicopter gunships. "This was a profound situation that really needed to be told, and few people could get access to it because it was too remote. "I got completely caught up in the story. That's when I knew that this was what I did -- this was me." Against a background of the Cold War, the Russians backed the Afghan army and Americans supported the Mujahideen. The lens of the Western media quickly swung towards the region, and McCurry happened to be already embedded. His pictures were soon appearing in The New York Times, TIME and Paris Match -- but not before McCurry had escaped from Afghanistan by crossing the tribal areas on foot, with his precious film sewn into his clothing. This was the beginning of many years of war photography, which he now describes as "the gritty period" of his career. He covered the Iran-Iraq war, the Gulf wars and several conflicts in Afghanistan, as well as those further afield in Lebanon, Cambodia and the Philippines. "When you're working in a war zone, you're living moment to moment with people trying to kill you," he says. "There are so many ways I could have been killed, with guns, bombs and shrapnel. You live with fear you could cut with a knife. "Several times I was held up at gunpoint. My camera and money have been robbed, people have broken into my hotel room while I was sleeping. "Many times I thought that I had pushed things too far, that it was not a good idea to enter this skirmish or battle. Many times I have thought that this isn't going to end well. "But I have found that I get completely consumed by the importance of the story I am telling, the feeling that the world has got to know. It's never about the adrenaline. It's about the story." Has frontline reporting become more dangerous? "It has always been dangerous, but now there is the added dimension of trying to grab headlines," he says. "You might have got kidnapped or shot in the past, but not beheaded. There was no wish to create a heinous piece of theater. "But we can't give in. These stories have to be reported, and writers and photographers have to continue telling them." McCurry's portfolio is far broader than his war photography, however. He has worked all over the world, from the jungles of central Africa to the mountains of Tibet, each time seeming to capture the soul of the people he photographs. "My camera acts as a shield when I'm photographing something horrific, as it's easier to look at distressing sights through a viewfinder," he says. "But when I'm not in a war zone, having a camera helps me talk to people, interact, and get involved. "To take a good picture, you need to spend time with people until they trust you and forget that you're there to photograph them. "I try to make eye contact when I take a portrait, as it seems to allow you to understand the person, to see their story written on their face." The advent of the digital camera, he says, has made his job easier. "I'm not one of those photographers that hankers after the good old days," he says. "Digital photography is better than film ever was." Although everybody is taking pictures with camera phones, he says, this is "just noise", and doesn't "dilute the value" of a truly great photograph that will endure and be memorable." "There has to be an emotional component to the picture that you connect with on a profound level," he says. "Once you see it, you can't forget it, and it is so compelling and powerful that it becomes part of the cultural landscape." Like "Afghan Girl"? He pauses. "Yes, like that." Steve McCurry - Oltre lo Sguardo runs until April 6, 2015 at Villa Reale di Monza. +(CNN)Through his work in fashion, Erik Schnakenberg was drawn to the classic Americana style that has seen a revival in the past decade. He was turned off by the price tag of American-made clothing: basic crew-neck tees starting at $50, unembellished selvedge denim jeans priced at $250 and up, Oxford cloth button-downs cut and sewn in Los Angeles ranging from $150 to $300. "It's that effortless design that most guys look good wearing, but it wasn't really happening for anyone except at the higher price point," Schnakenberg said. To help shrink the gap, Schnakenberg and his Los Angeles neighbor, Sasha Koehn, started a business with a goal of lowering the barrier to "made in USA" fashion. Buck Mason has been up and running since late 2013, offering a focused collection of American-made garments. Prices range from $24 for a t-shirt to $155 for its most expensive pair of jeans, about 25% to 50% less than comparable brands boasting the "made in USA" label. How do they keep costs down? By focusing on just a few items and cutting out the middleman so they can sell directly to customers through their website and storefront in Venice, California, they say. With the help of the Internet and social media, they have been able to build their brand and find an audience without the help of chains or department stores. "It didn't make sense for us to not do it this way," Koehn said. "Maybe that's us being naive or not thinking like a traditional business manager, but I don't see how we could have got this started any other way." Brands selling directly to customers is nothing new in retail, and it's still a big gamble for most. Traditional middlemen such as department stores, chains and boutiques help legitimize brands and expose them to consumers faster than brands may be able to build their own fan bases. But some small businesses are finding the cost of that exposure too onerous. By selling directly to consumers, brands increase their margins, control inventory based on their own projections and don't have to worry about returns from retail store customers. They also have complete control over pricing and may be able to offer lower prices to consumers, said Jack W. Plunkett, CEO of market research company Plunkett Research. Fueled by venture capital investors, there has been strong growth in new direct to consumer brands, and not only in clothing, Plunkett said. But very few actually manufacture in the United States because of the high cost of doing business, especially compared with global competitors. For Buck Mason, manufacturing in the United States is a matter of principle and direct to consumer a means to that end, Schnakenberg said. "It's that idea of looking at our product and taking pride in creating something from scratch. We may not sell 100 million t-shirts, but we can say we're to create one thing and make it all here and be part of the process," Schnakenberg said. To make direct to consumer work, Buck Mason and other plucky entrepreneurs are mixing aspects of traditional business models with customized approaches to production and marketing, taking on much of the work typically done by outside parties. They sell through their own websites and stores, retaining absolute control over branding and merchandising. They build audiences through social media, using it as a branding tool and a forum to seek customer feedback on styles and colors, forming relationships in the process. But it takes more populating a Web store or Instagram feed with aspirational images of attractive people to reduce margins. Brands offering specialty products that stand out have a better chance of surviving, depending on the product and its place in the global market, Plunkett said. "Overall, this is positive for the sustainability of U.S. manufacturing, but there are many cases in which it will be extremely difficult to have competitive prices when manufacturing here," he said. Instead of designing various products in different colors and styles, fledgling brands have found success in getting just a few items right, developing a cult-like following and adding products based on customer feedback. It's a model that has worked for Adele Berne and Mike Kuhle, who launched the e-commerce arm of their New York storefront, Epaulet, in 2008 with a button-down shirt for men and women made in the city. From day one, they have sold directly to consumers through their website and store, using social media to build a fan base that enjoys geeking out as much as they do over fabric origins and stitching details. Since then, they have expanded to accessories and footwear, and they offer custom suiting and shirts. Along the way, they have earned a reputation for offering quality products sourced and made in the United States and Europe. They partner with esteemed brands including shoemaker Alden and suit maker Southwick on products and offer a handful of other brands for sale. Through social media, Kuhle says, Epaulet has cultivated a fan base interested in the stories behind the brand, its creators and its manufacturing partners. Their customers see the value in paying more for products made in the U.S. or Europe, and they keep coming back. "Your product has to be unique, and it has to be something people want, whether it's filling a void for something people don't know they want yet, or it's something you see in market that you could do better," Berne said. Buck Mason launched with a simple T-shirt, working with a knitter in Los Angeles to develop a slub cotton before sending it to a mill outside the city. When it sold out, the company started working on a five-pocket selvedge denim jean sourced from North Carolina and cut and sewn in Los Angeles. It's an a la carte approach to production that takes more time and attention than the full-package manufacturing typically used by larger brands to fill big orders under one roof. The upside is that it keeps shipping costs down and allows Buck Mason to respond faster to market demands by placing small orders with a quick turnaround. Chris Sutton started out making one pair of jeans at a time in his Cincinnati, Ohio, workshop. As demand for Noble Denim grew, Sutton and his wife, Abby, scaled up production by partnering with a Tennessee factory that, like most remaining textile manufacturers, had seen better days. As the Suttons learned more about the factory's history and the town it once supported, they realized it needed more business to create sustainable employment opportunities. It was "hipster and naive" of them to think they could make a significant impact with small runs of premium jeans, Abby Sutton said, and they started pondering new products. They tested the waters with a small run of sweatshirts. After selling out within days, the couple decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new business. Sweatshirts sold under the Victor label will be made from organic cotton in the same factory as Noble Denim. Unlike Noble, which is sold in a few stores, Victor will be sold directly to consumers through the company's website and its brick and mortar store in Cincinnati. Cutting out the middleman allows Noble to control its brand instead of relinquishing control to wholesalers and create "stability" in terms of sales expectations, Abby Sutton said. "Everyone is oddly reliant on each other but not in way that encourages innovation." It also creates a quicker "feedback loop" through which the Suttons can listen and respond to customer feedback. That's how they heard from people who said they could not afford to support the "made in USA" movement even though they wanted to. Through Victor, whose products range from $25 for a tee to $85 for a hooded sweatshirt, the Suttons hope to rehab American-made style's reputation as exclusively high-end and inaccessible, she said. "There are people who value the idea of U.S.-made but have never taken the step," she said. "If we can make it for the same price as a Gap sweatshirt, hopefully people will see it as easy choice." +(CNN)Superheroes have always had a special place in my heart. I grew up in Zambia in the 1980s, an era that marked the beginning of the country's worst economic crisis. My childhood memories are of a prolonged state of emergency that was characterized by acute food shortages and an economic decline where the basic needs of the average Zambian family were barely met. My siblings and I -- and our gang of friends from around the farmlands -- spent countless hours sitting on a deserted piggery wall, perfecting our extra-terrestrial code language. Our goal was to send an SOS out to the superheroes in the galaxies, and had our code language been refined enough to reach across the chasm of space, perhaps a spaceship would come down to Earth to save us from our dreary lives and carry us away into outer space. Searching for superheroes . Rewind to just a few years earlier -- in the mid to late 1970s and before the economic decline -- when superheroes like Superman, Spiderman, Batman and the Incredible Hulk were huge deals for anyone growing up. In our childhood eyes, these were powerful, all-embodying beings, and their brands were merchandised on T-shirts, caps, lunchboxes, toys, and just about everything. They influenced many aspects of the childhood experience to such an extent that I spent a lot of my formative years aspiring to become a superhero when I grew up. But then disillusionment set in. It dawned on me that I would never be a superhero seeing as most of them were male -- and all of them white. The frantic search for an alternative and relatable superhero that followed only resulted in more disillusionment. So many years later, in the year 2015, it is somewhat bewildering to experience today the same disillusionment when I see so little representation of cultural minorities in popular media. This is a big deal to me. I am of that school of thought that believes that radio, television, film and other media of popular culture provide the symbols, myths and resources through which we constitute a common culture. Meet Ananiya . The danger of excluding cultural minorities from popular media is that this limited view starts to paint a constrained picture of what a person should look like, how they should behave and live to the negation of alternative experiences of being human. These deliberations are the basis for my graphic novel, "The Revolutionist." A work in progress, "The Revolutionist" is set in the near future, on a satellite colony that is located a little off the orbit of mainland Earth, and administrated by a corporation. Social conformity in the interest of the collective is subliminally reinforced through symbolism and iconology, while the economy is purely corporate-driven. Exploitation of human by human, and robot by human gives rise to the resistance. Ananiya was only 13 years old when she joined the resistance. Now at 17, she has recently been appointed as an agent in the Covert Operations Division. In the ensuing standoff where the Corporation increasingly maintains control with an ironclad fist it is not long before the resistance galvanizes into a full-blown revolution. As the masses are thrust into a state of emergency, Ananiya's world is characterized by curfews, police raids, censorship and propaganda. Will the revolution overcome? With this literary and visual offering, I describe a world that is both like -- and at the same time very much unlike -- our own. As a young, black female, my protagonist, Ananiya, is the most unlikely hero for the revolution. It would, indeed, be accurate to read her as the antithesis of the typical hero who more often than not is male, white, straight and privileged. Hey, maybe someday the nine-year old version of me can grow up to become a superhero after all. See Milumbe Haimbe's work here . Read this: Modern African art in the spotlight . Read this: Why I'm still sad about child marriage . Read this: Why Ebola is not Liberia's 'single' story . More from African Voices . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. +(CNN)For Max, the passage of Indiana's new religious freedom law feels a lot like high school. Max is transgender. The 26-year-old was born a female but identifies as a man. That was a tough experience in Evansville: looking like a girl, everyone treating you like one, but not feeling at home in your skin. Classmates made fun of him. He withdrew. He and his parents fought. Now they don't talk. Making it to his mid-20s feels like a victory to him now, as does knowing that he has friends who support him, friends who are straight and gay and transgender. He had just gotten to a point of feeling accepted when the Indiana state legislature passed the Religious Freedom Act. "This law makes me feel like I'm being bullied all over again," he said. "If I go into a restaurant and the owner doesn't like me because I'm transgender, because their religion has told them that I'm bad, does that give them the right to refuse to serve me? Proponents of the law, including Gov. Mike Pence, say that's not what the law will do. He has said it's intended to prevent the government from forcing anyone to do something that opposes their religious beliefs. Some businesses and Indianans are behind him. Nationally influential Christian evangelist Franklin Graham, who lives in North Carolina, tweeted this week, "Thank God for politicians like @GovPenceIN who are not afraid to take a stand regardless of political consequences." But there is a tidal wave of opposition throughout the state and across the country. Critics say the law is a thinly veiled mechanism to legally sanction discrimination. Protests have raged throughout the state and elsewhere. Some religious leaders oppose it. Civic groups, corporations and state governments, such as Washington state and Connecticut, are vowing not to to do business with Indiana. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has blasted the law. So has the N.C.A.A. Its college basketball tournament is hosting the Final Four in Indianapolis this weekend. Some businesses in the state are reacting by placing signs in windows that read, "We serve everyone." Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a vocal opponent of the law, demanded: "Fix this law. ... Do so immediately." He and others contend that because Indiana, unlike other states, has no statewide law protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination, this religious freedom law is a license to discriminate. Hundreds of protesters joined Max in a demonstration on the streets of Evansville Monday. Some said they would consider leaving the state because the law makes them feel unwelcome. Lee Flowers, 27, organized a rally in Evansville to protest the law. He grew up in Indiana, but now he's afraid to go into businesses with his boyfriend. "This is very personal," he said. "It hurts me. It really does. This is shameful for Indiana. Is anyone infringing on someone's religion? No. This is about giving people the legal defense to refuse business to someone they don't like based on sexual orientation." Casey Samson of Samson Family Leather in Lebanon told CNN that he read the law, which runs four pages. He feels that the law merely protects his right to refuse to sell to a customer whose beliefs he thinks offend his Catholic faith. That doesn't include gay customers, he insists. "We have no issues serving a same sex couple at all," he said. "The law is strictly protecting people from the government to forcefully make them do something against their will." CNN asked him to give an example of what might offend him, and cause him to refuse to sell to someone. "Anything that promotes hate or a derogatory statement that someone believes is OK," he answered. "I don't want to take my personal time making a product that spews hate into the world." That's never happened in Samson Family Leather's 35-year history, he said, but it could and that's why he thinks the law is needed. The owner has shared his opinion with local media, and that has sparked a fierce backlash from many in the community, he said. "We've been called homophobic and hypocrites," he said. "We've also experienced a very large amount of support."Our phones have not stopped ringing from people all over the state and country. We've gotten e-mails saying 'I appreciate you standing up. Thank you for standing up for our rights.' " Indiana pastor Mike Woods told CNN Monday that he supports the law, too. "As someone who walks in my religious freedom all the time, I'm glad I have something to protect me," he said. "I don't see the law as discriminatory. I just see it protecting people from any type of business or anyone trying to infringe on their religious rights." Woods blamed Pence's office for its "inability to educate" people about what the law says. There should have been public meetings about it, Woods said. The Indianapolis Star reported that the ceremony where Pence signed the bill into law on Thursday was "deliberately low-key and private" and closed to media. The governor's staff office, it said, refused to provide names of people who surrounded Pence as he signed. To Samson, the law doesn't explicitly use the word discrimination and that, to him, means it won't lead to discrimination. The law states that the government can't "substantially burden a person's exercise of religion" and that individuals who feel like their religious beliefs have been or could be "substantially burdened" can lean on this law to fend off lawsuits. An often used example: A florist who doesn't want to sell flowers to a gay couple or a baker who doesn't want to make their wedding cake. Those are arguably businesses that can choose which client to hire and which to reject, proponents of the law say. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said it's likely that a refusal to serve a gay person wouldn't stand under the law, but a refusal to provide a service for a gay wedding would. "Indiana isn't the first state to establish this law," Samson said. "It's nothing new for the U.S. and the state of Indiana." Samson is right that Indiana isn't the first state to adopt a religious freedom law, but the situation is a little more complicated than that. Indiana is the 20th state to adopt a "religious freedom restoration" law. For instance, bills in Arizona, Georgia and Ohio with similar wording were proposed. The effort in Arizona failed in 2014. Georgia's bill has not been voted on and the legislative session ends Thursday. The Ohio bill stalled in 2014. A similar bill is proposed in Arkansas. In Little Rock Monday night, protesters demonstrated against a bill called the Conscious Protection Act. As the bill's creator, Republican Rep. Bob Ballinger left a meeting Monday, protesters shouted: "Shame on you!" In the past, religious freedom laws were enacted with broad support. Many were passed before the recent movement for gay rights and before the majority of states came to recognize same-sex marriage. But when it was introduced in December, the bill that became Indian's religious freedom law incited fierce debate among faith leaders, businesses and residents, the Indianapolis Star newspaper reports. Mark Ivy watched as that debate raged over the holidays and into the new year, hoping that the bill would not pass. He lives in Farmersburg, Indiana, where about 1,100 people live. Indiana recognized gay marriage last October. Ivy married his longtime partner in December. "I understand politics in Indiana. I know it's conservative. I get that this is about politics," he said. "Because I can see it as politics, I'm not mad." But he also said that he feels the law is "about bigotry, plain and simple." "It's taking us back decades, removing so much progress toward equality in Indiana," he said. Ivy worries that the law could not only allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He wonders if it "could conceivably be used for Jewish businesses to refuse service to Muslims and Christians. Hindus could bar Bhuddists. Protestants and Catholics could shun each other," Ivy wrote in a CNN iReport. "Mainline church members could say, 'No' to evangelicals." On social media, debate over the law showed no signs of letting up. In response to Christian leader Graham's tweet supporting the law, someone with the username Mary M tweeted, "amen using his God given right." Jennifer Watson tweeted them back: "NO: as an elected official, his rights are not God given, they are voter given." CNN's Rosa Flores, Justin Lear, Sonia Moghe, Jeremy Diamond and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +Islamabad (CNN)Pakistan has ordered a stay of execution of a man who was convicted of manslaughter while he was 14 years old. Shafqat Hussain, 24, was scheduled to be hanged on Thursday, but a government official confirmed Wednesday night with a tweet that Hussain will not be hanged and that his case will be reviewed for another 72 hours. "We are still unclear on what investigation can be done in 72 hours," said Shahab Siddiqui, Hussain's lawyer. "We will be coordinating with the government and are happy to provide any documentation they would need." Hussain's case has triggered outrage from human rights campaigners, who complain he did not get a fair trial and had confessed to murder after being severely tortured by the police. His family says Hussain, at the age of 14 was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for kidnapping and killing a child while he was employed as a security guard in 2004. Unable to afford legal counsel the state appointed him a defense lawyer, whom, according to human rights groups, failed to provide any evidence or claim that Hussain was a juvenile. This meant Hussain was tried as an adult in an anti-terrorism court. A social media campaign with the hashtag #SaveShafqat trended in Pakistan and a small protest was held in the capital to raise awareness about his case. Shafqat was calm when he thought he was going to be executed, Manzoor Hussain, his brother told CNN. "He had said that if I don't get justice in this world, I will get it in my afterlife." "I can't tell you what kind of night my family has had. I close my eyes and I want to forget. I can't express the agony we have gone through, waiting and not knowing." Hussain was initially due to be hanged on January 19, but under international pressure, Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar called for a stay order. Addressing parliament, the minister called for an investigation into the young man's age. Two months later, another death warrant was issued for Hussain, with an execution date set for March 19. Since then Hussain's lawyers handed in a plea of clemency to the president's office with documentation that the inmate was a minor at the time of his arrest. Attention to his case comes in the wake of an announcement by Pakistan that it would lift its moratorium on the death penalty for all cases -- not just for those tried in anti-terrorism courts. Pakistan lifted the death penalty moratorium for terrorism cases following the attack on an Army Public School in Peshawar, which left at least 145 teachers and students dead. It was the deadliest act of terror in the country's history. The decision to lift the moratorium on all cases affects more than 8,000 prisoners currently on death row, the largest number in the world. The lifting of the moratorium has caused an uproar of criticism by human rights groups in Pakistan and abroad. "It's like responding to a blood bath by indulging in blood lust themselves," Zohra Yusuf, the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told CNN. "Executions on this scale tend to brutalize society." Earlier this week the European Union released a statement on its website calling Pakistan to "reinstitute the moratorium and to respect fully all its international obligations, in particular the principle of fair trial." The statement also said that Pakistan is a party to an international covenant "that specifically prohibits the use of the death sentence for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age."​ . +(CNN)The expulsions of two students by the University of Oklahoma for their role in a racist chant will likely not be the last word on the scandal. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members can appeal the decision. More students might be expelled. And beyond the immediate issues around the now infamous incident, the university could experience a trickle-down impact for months, maybe years to come. Writing to the two students Tuesday, just two days after a video of frat members singing the racist song surfaced, OU President David Boren said they were being booted for "leading a racist and exclusionary chant which has created a hostile educational environment for others." They were given until close of business Friday to contest the decision. No word yet on whether either will. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin said she believes there will be a constitutional challenge to the expulsions. "It's sort of one of the first things you learn in law school ... you may disapprove of what someone says but you still defend their right to say it," she said. Hostin added: "I think there'll be the arguments that these students were students, and that in our educational systems we want people to have, maybe, even a heightened level of freedom of speech." Also unknown at this point is whether other students who appear in the video will be expelled or otherwise punished. Already, the Greek letters sigma, alpha and epsilon have been removed from the frat house's facade, the house will be closed as of midnight Tuesday and the university will board up the windows, following up on separate decisions by the university and the SAE national headquarters to shutter the Oklahoma chapter, Boren said. Sigma Alpha Epsilon is no stranger to scandal and sanctions . But he seemed to say that individual punishments could be a bit trickier. "Well, legally, our concern is we have to demonstrate exactly how the educational experience of our students was threatened or disrupted by their actions," Boren said, "and it really has to focus on the students on the bus. Did the other students have their educational experience disrupted?" While he unwaveringly declared "there is no room for racists and bigots" at his university, the very thing that could keep the SAE fraternity brothers Oklahoma Sooners is Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance," but it also provides the parameters for determining if someone is violating the federal law, Boren said. Any punishment must be "carefully directed" if it's to pass constitutional muster, although he made it clear he hopes some of the students involved won't wait for legal issues to be sorted out. "I think some of the students themselves may take themselves off the campus, and I hope they do because this is not a place that wants racists," he said. So far, no students have dropped out -- voluntarily -- but the video has cost the university's football team a top recruit as offensive lineman Jean Delance said Monday he was de-committing from the Sooners and considering other teams. It's an issue that Ber Thaddeus Bailey, director of diversity, OU student government, worries about. "I am concerned about the trickle-down effect from this incident," he said. "I do want to encourage those who are considering the University of Oklahoma that this is a great place to study, and we are going to continue to progress." CNN's Chris Cuomo contributed to this report. +(CNN)Andrew Paul Tahmooressi, the Marine reservist who made international headlines during his seven-month imprisonment in Mexico, has been released from a Georgia jail, where he was held Wednesday night. Tahmooressi was arrested in Twin City, Georgia, on Wednesday for "driving under the influence, reckless driving, improper passing and an open container violation," according to a statement from Emanuel County Sheriff J. Tyson Stephens. A spokesman for the family confirmed Tahmooressi's release, saying his client, "is very appreciative of the professionalism of the involved Sheriff's Department during the course of his custody." Jonathan Franks said Tahmooressi "continues to struggle with PTSD" and that this incident must be seen in that context. Tahmooressi made news around the world after his arrest on March 31, 2014, at a Tijuana, Mexico, checkpoint. Mexican customs agents found three firearms in his truck, including a .45-caliber pistol, a pump shotgun and an AR-15 rifle. The country's strict federal gun laws prohibit anyone from illegally bringing weapons into the country. Tahmooressi maintained that he took a wrong turn on the California side of the border into Tijuana and accidentally crossed the border. In November, after 214 days, he was freed. A Mexican court said it found no cause to prosecute Tahmooressi on charges of carrying two firearms used exclusively by the military, possessing cartridges used exclusively by the military and carrying a firearm without a license . The court also recommended he be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Tahmooressi was held overnight in Twin City, about 180 miles southeast of Atlanta. He was released after posting a $4000 property bond. +(CNN)Former male model Elo used to make a living from his good looks. But after modeling for 10 years the self-confessed car nut had earned enough money to indulge his passion. He started by buying several cars, as well as customizing them for clients across the world, and in 2001 he founded the London Motor Museum. Today is has nearly 250 automobiles. "When I was modeling, the best part of my modeling career was (that) I was expressing what my client wanted me to do," he says. "I still express what (clients) want me to express, but this time in a three-dimensional form with an engine and an exhaust and some wheels. And that is ultimate satisfaction." During his fashion model days, Elo owned seven cars and would drive a different one each day of the week. What started as a passion gradually demanded more and more of his time, and after a while Elo felt that he came to a crossroads. "I had to weigh between continuing modeling or stopping modeling to just do cars. So I chose the latter," he says. "My friends told me 'You're absolutely crazy, look at all these beautiful women, look at all this traveling around the world.' And I'm like 'Are you out of your mind? Look at that beautiful steel!' That's the best." Today, the car-lover's collection includes gems such as the 1937 Lincoln Zephyr, and a low-riding customized Cadillac which used to belong to Snoop Dogg -- the so-called "Snoop de Ville". But what gives Elo the most satisfaction is something less material: the feeling of freedom. "When I drive a car, I feel like I am leaving all my worries behind, and it's just staying behind whilst I'm going forward," he says. +(CNN)For decades, no one has been able to convict millionaire Robert Durst. Not after his wife's disappearance. Not after his friend's suspicious death. Not even after he admitted he killed and dismembered his neighbor. But it may be Durst who does himself in with 11 words he muttered in a restroom: . "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." Those comments were picked up on a microphone he was wearing for the HBO documentary series about him called "The Jinx." Apparently, the real estate heir didn't turn his microphone off when he went to the bathroom. Durst now sits in a New Orleans jail after his arrest Saturday in connection with the 2000 death of his longtime friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles. On Monday, California prosecutors said Durst was "lying in wait" when he shot and killed Berman because she "was a witness to a crime." She had been shot in the head shortly before investigators were supposed to come ask her about the disappearance of Durst's first wife in 1982. Durst will be transferred to Los Angeles to face a first-degree murder charge. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. When he goes to trial, could those 11 words be admitted in court? Here, several legal experts weigh in: . Yes: . His lawyer could argue that he absolutely did. "Here's what his attorneys are going to say: They are going to say that he had an expectation of privacy," HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson said. "And as a result of that, putting this in context, he excused himself and went into a private bathroom." No: . That argument might not fly, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "That whole theory of the Constitution is that you have an expectation of privacy under certain circumstances when you're dealing with the police. But here, he's dealing with filmmakers." Furthermore, Toobin said, Durst had a microphone on. "You can't have an expectation of privacy when you're wearing a microphone. Yeah, he maybe forgot, but that's not good enough." Yes: . The defense very well could, said Jackson, the HLN analyst. "The attorneys are going to further argue that there was governmental action in as much as HBO was working very closely with the authorities. And they're going to say, isn't it coincidental how his arrest comes on the heels of the final episode of this HBO documentary?" No: . CNN legal analyst Paul Callan doesn't think that defense will work. "In criminal law, the police can't wire somebody up. They have to give you Miranda warnings if they're going to take a statement from you," he said. "However, if a civilian is tape-recording you, as was the case here with HBO, that's admissible in court if it's relevant to the crime committed." Yes: . He could. Susan Criss was the judge during Durst's 2003 murder trial in which he admitted to shooting an elderly neighbor and then dismembering him. She remembers how prosecutors didn't use many of his admissions. "In our trial, he had been recorded on the phone talking to his wife and friends, making a lot of admissions, and the state never used that," she said. "But he was aware that he had been recorded saying things that could implicate him in the murder that we were trying." No: . Probably not. Section 1220 of the California Penal Code says "evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule when offered against the declarant in an action to which he is a party in either his individual or representative capacity." In this case, Durst is the declarant who spoke those words, and if they're used against him, they could be fair game. Yes: . It's a card the defense could certainly play. "It will be up to (defense attorney) Dick DeGuerin to talk about, and I think he's going to have a field day with the idea that it wasn't an answer in response to a question, (so) that's meaningless," CNN legal analyst Mark Geragos said. Already, one of Durst's attorneys has said not to read too much into his client's offhand remarks. "Your honesty would lead you to say you've said things under your breath before that you probably didn't mean," attorney Chip Lewis told Fox News' "Justice With Judge Jeanine." "We want to contest the basis for his arrest, because I think it's not based on facts, it's based on ratings," DeGuerin told reporters Tuesday in New Orleans. "So we will continue to fight for Bob. We want to get to California as quickly as we can so we can get into a court of law and try this case where it needs to be tried." No: . The prosecution could argue Durst knew what was going on. "Earlier in those interviews, in a previous interview for that very program, there was a break where he was caught practicing his testimony. And so he realized ... he had a mic on," said Criss, the judge from Durst's earlier trial. "This is a third time he's made that mistake. That's amazing." CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. +New Delhi, India (CNN)A passenger train overshot a stop and jumped its tracks in northern India on Friday, killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 50 others, a railway spokesman said. The train was headed from Dehradun to the Hindu holy city of Varanasi when it overshot an intended stop more than halfway along the route, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, railway spokesman Neeraj Sharma said. Two coaches and the locomotive derailed. Video from the site, shown by CNN affiliate IBN, showed emergency workers pulling passengers from the train as a crowd looked on. The cause of the incident will be investigated, Sharma said. CNN's Harmeet Singh reported from New Delhi. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. +(CNN)An Iraqi man watching his first snowfall in his new American hometown was shot and killed by an unknown assailant, according to Dallas police. Authorities have stepped up patrols in the neighborhood where Ahmed Al-Jumaili lived -- and died -- in their effort to find out who killed the 36-year-old early Thursday, as he and his brother stood in the parking lot of his apartment complex watching the snow. Al-Jumaili's wife was with them taking photos. Dallas police spokesman Jeff Cotner said Al-Jumaili, who recently immigrated to the U.S., had never seen snow and "just like all of us, a pretty snowfall brings the child out in us." There is "extreme heartache ... and no shortage of sadness for this beautiful young man who had just come to this country 20 days ago," said Alia Salem, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. CAIR became involved in the case immediately after the shooting, according to Salem, because of "a heightened sense of awareness with regard to hate crimes against Muslims." Salem said the Muslim community wanted to know whether the shooting death was random or whether Al-Jumaili was targeted. Police say they have no indication so far that it was a hate crime. When shooting broke out, Al-Jumaili cried "I'm hit!" according to Cotner, basing that on statements from witnesses and the victim's relatives. He ran to his apartment nearby and died a few hours later. Police did not say where Al-Jumaili was struck or how many times he was shot. Some residents reported seeing two to four men enter the apartment complex on foot through a vehicle gate before the shooting, according to Cotner. He said there was no interaction between the men and Al-Jumaili and his family. In black-and-white soundless surveillance video, one person who appears to be carrying a rifle is seen running just ahead of a second person, Dallas police Officer Monica Cordova said. The second person is shown walking at a slower pace, holding what appears to be a handgun in his right hand. Approximately 13 seconds later, another person comes into view and passes by the camera, followed by a fourth individual who is walking, she said. From the vantage point of the camera, it is difficult to make out any of the features of the suspects or even the gender, although police have said they are looking for four black males. Witnesses say multiple shots were fired from what is believed to be a rifle. Cotner said police are conducting tests to find out whether more than one rifle was used in the shooting, but he said he could not reveal the make or model of the weapon. Cotner said Friday that other than that, police have little to go on. "We can't solve this crime alone," he said. Authorities are appealing to the public to contact them with any information that might help the investigation. North Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and an indictment, police said. Salem is encouraging anyone with information about the shooting to share it. She said there are online campaigns underway to help raise funds for the family's expenses, as well as an effort to raise additional funds to contribute to the reward. CNN's Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +(CNN)His satire took Egypt, and the world, by storm. But now, Bassem Youssef -- Egypt's most famous satirist known as his country's Jon Stewart -- has the public profile of a politician in retirement, leading study groups at the Harvard Kennedy School. "Well, you know, sometimes circumstances are not the best for you to continue a political satire show," Youssef told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that aired Monday. "Sometimes jokes kind of are annoying." His show -- literally called "The Show," or "Al Bernameg" -- ran for three seasons during Egypt's turbulent and utterly confusing post-Arab Spring days. Youssef's biting satire left nothing unscathed -- whether the president, political and militant Islam, or the military. "There is room for satire and comedy as long as it's acceptable by the people controlling the atmosphere." His incredible story from cardiac surgeon to satirist to political target is the subject of a documentary currently in production, directed by a senior producer for Stewart, with whom Youssef developed a close relationship. "It's talking about political satire, humor, how (people can) be all for a certain program or a joke, but when the joke turns on them, they kind of like turn on you," he said. "And so maybe we were an equal opportunity satirist, but they were not (an) equal opportunity audience." The chances are small that his show would be allowed back on air, if he even wanted to do so -- "The question is will I be allowed to do, make fun of whatever (I want)?" ("Who said that my country's authoritarian? Come on," he joked. "I mean, don't put words in my mouth. We are -- it's a very, very good, democratic country; please, please.") But he is far from idle, seemingly casting around for ways to occupy his immense talent. At Harvard, he is a visiting fellow working on "political satire and humor, and how they interact with political, social and even religious taboos." He is careful not to say he is teaching, as "Harvard professors are very touchy when resident fellows come here and say they teach." He is also writing a script for a movie comedy, and building a platform to identify talent in the Arab world and allow more people to experience the extreme and unexpected success he did. "Satire didn't begin or end with my program. I mean, it is a part of people's culture, a part of people's thoughts. So if one program is off, there are people who will find other ways." His program showed the Arab world in a new light for many in the West, and he said he hopes more will follow in his footsteps. It's a counterbalance, if you will, to the messianic image propagated by ISIS. "I don't want to even call them extreme Muslims. I think they are a bunch of lunatics, who instead of playing 'Grand Theft Auto' on video games, they want to do it in real life." It may not often reach a Western audience, but Youssef said that YouTube is filled with Arabs making fun of ISIS -- for example, setting the group's favorite "anthems" to images of belly dancers. "It happens with all religions ...," he said. "So they are crazy, and they are a threat for me as much they are a threat to you." Despite all Youssef's projects, many simply want him to return to the airwaves. Is he eyeing, Amanpour asked, the seat that will soon be vacated by his mentor, Stewart? "The day that I actually have been chosen to replace Jon Stewart will be like -- it will be glorious," he said. "But I don't think that Americans would like to take their political satire from a Middle Eastern guy with a thick accent. I think this is going to be even more difficult than electing a black president. "But you know, let's hope." +(CNN)Let's just say -- hypothetically -- you found yourself in possession of Ecstasy while in Ireland on Tuesday. No worries. Everything was cool, because it wasn't illegal Tuesday. Wednesday could be a different story. An appeals court ruling invalidating one section of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 made the controlled substances it had regulated legal for at least one day. The Independent newspaper of the United Kingdom said Ecstasy, ketamine and magic mushrooms were three of the temporarily legal drugs. The Court of Appeal ruled those drugs and others had unconstitutionally been added to Section 2 of the law. "We prepared for this possibility. Legislation was prepared and approved in advance by Cabinet," Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said in a written statement. The government had to get the new legislation through parliament so the drugs added to the law since 1977 could be considered illegal again. It should happen within 24 hours, the Department of Health said Tuesday. Drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin remained illegal as did the sale of "psychoactive substances." The Independent said past convictions for some drug offenses will be called into question but The Journal of Ireland said the court's decision will impact only cases currently in the judicial process. +(CNN)The family of Ashley Summers may have reason to be hopeful again. In May 2013, when police discovered three young women who had been imprisoned inside a nondescript Cleveland home for nearly a decade, Summers' family and law enforcement hoped one of the women would be Ashley, who disappeared in Cleveland around the same time as the other women. But the discovery turned out to be unrelated to Ashley's case and there was no new information about her whereabouts. But nearly eight years since she was last seen or heard from, the family's optimism has been restored by an unlikely discovery her step-grandmother made on the Rhode Island Most Wanted website in January. An ATM surveillance photo -- released by the Warwick, Rhode Island, Police Department in late October -- depicts an unidentified woman with a familiar face, Special Agent Vicki Anderson of the FBI Cleveland Division said. "This is an incredible lookalike," Anderson said of the photo. The resemblance to Ashley, who would now be 21, is "strikingly similar," she added. The woman in the photo, along with an unidentified man she appears with, was being sought by Rhode Island police as a suspect in a string of check and identification thefts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the FBI said. Ashley's step-grandmother alerted the FBI about the photo, Anderson said. "There's nothing that tells us that it is her, but there's nothing telling us that it's not her either," Anderson said. Still, she considers the surveillance footage to be a breakthrough in the case, given that the FBI has found no legitimate sightings or social media activity by Ashley since she disappeared on July 6, 2007. "It's the best lead we have," Anderson said. "We've had other supposed lookalikes, but nothing that has looked this similar. We consider this a huge tip for us." Because it is not possible to see the license plate of the car the couple was driving, Anderson said the FBI will rely exclusively on help from the public. "The FBI is utilizing a billboard campaign, social media and any news outlet that will air these photos for us," Anderson said. In the 2013 case, two of the missing women had been identified and police said they had disappeared within four years of when Ashley went missing -- and within five blocks of where she was last seen. "At first, when they said the third girl wasn't identified, I was hoping one would be Ashley," Debra Summers, her aunt, told CNN at the time. But the family's nightmare continued. "There is no new information that's come to light about her: Ashley Summers is an active, open investigation," Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said at the time. "I can assure you that her disappearance was part of our questioning of the three subjects that we brought in." +(CNN)Pope Francis has said that all he wants is to go out one day to a pizzeria "without being recognized." Wishful thinking, perhaps. But when you're the the leader of the Catholic world pizza comes to you. Pizzeria owner Enzo Cacialli personally handed the pope a pie on Sunday as his motorcade drove through Naples. But, not just any pizza: a Naples-style thin crust creation with "Il Papa" spelled out in dough and topped with yellow cherry tomatoes, a reference to the Vatican flag. A video shows Cacialli, co-owner of Pizzeria Don Ernesto, hopping a barrier with the pie in hand as the Popemobile approaches. "Papa! Papa!" he yelled as he ran toward the open-top vehicle, apparently unimpeded by papal minders. The video shows Pope Francis reaching down and receiving the offering. After the hand off Cacialli pumps his fist in the air, victorious, as the crowd cheers. "I gave him the pizza and with a smile he said 'thank you,'" Cacialli told CNN. Cacialli comes from a pizza-making family. His says his father made a pizza for President Bill Clinton when he visited Naples in 1994. When Cacialli learned Pope Francis was going to be in town he decided to follow in his father's footsteps. "It's really hard for me to understand what I managed to do," Cacialli said. "Giving a pizza you made with your own hands to the Pope is very emotional. It's really hard for me to express the value of this gesture for a man we really love and value, for a beautiful person full of humanity." Cacialli is still waiting to hear whether Pope Francis enjoyed the edible offering. +(CNN)A Louisiana judge ruled Monday that Robert Durst, the millionaire real estate heir charged with first-degree murder, will be held without bail. That's no big surprise. In 2001 -- the last time he was accused of murder and released on bail -- Durst fled to Pennsylvania, where authorities caught him after he tried to shoplift a sandwich from a supermarket. As the attorneys sparred in court and witnesses testified Monday, they revealed new details about the investigation that led to Durst's March 14 arrest, and set the stage for what will surely be a fierce legal battle. After the hearing, Durst's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, spoke with CNN's Jean Casarez. Here are some key details from Monday's hearing and the interview: . Durst, who appeared in court wearing an orange prison uniform and shackles, was arrested after federal agents tracked his cell phone, according to information presented in court Monday. Investigators knew he'd left his Houston condo with five suitcases on March 10. And, since a warrant allowed them to track his cell phone, they saw when it pinged a tower 85 miles east, in Beaumont, Texas. But suddenly, he had stopped using it. Investigators thought the trail had gone cold. "They had no indication of his movement," said Jim O'Hearn, an investigator for the Orleans Parish district attorney's office. But then, authorities tracked him to New Orleans after he called his voice mail twice from a Marriott there, O'Hearn testified. That's where FBI agents found and arrested him. Last week, court documents revealed Durst had a loaded .38-caliber revolver, 5 ounces of marijuana, his passport and birth certificate, a neck-to-head latex mask with salt-and-pepper hair attached and more than $40,000 cash, mostly in $100 bills. Among his possessions, he also had a UPS tracking number. The package was later intercepted by the FBI, prosecutors said in court Monday. It contained clothing and more than $100,000 in cash. It's a case Durst even has made himself. In "The Jinx," the HBO documentary that featured him, Durst said: "You can't give someone charged with murder bail because they're going to run away, of course. Goodbye, $250,000. Goodbye, jail. I'm out." In a seconds-long news conference after the hearing Monday, Durst attorney DeGuerin said he had no hope for bail and the judge's decision was not surprising. The legal team, however, did obtain "a lot of information," he said, and a preliminary hearing was set for April 2. "All in all, I think this has been a very good day for us," he said on the courthouse steps. He walked off without elaborating. DeGuerin cast doubt Monday on the validity of the Los Angeles arrest warrant that led to Durst's detention, and argued that items found in the hotel room search shouldn't be admissible because detectives may not have had a search warrant at the time. He also said a detective and prosecutor interrogated Durst for three hours without his attorney present. Since the weapons and drugs charges Durst faces in New Orleans are based on what investigators say they found in his hotel room, this is likely to come up again. But prosecutors argued that the matter at hand Monday was whether he is a flight risk or a danger to the community. The judge sided with the prosecution Monday. But this is just the first step in what will likely be a lengthy legal battle. "As long as Louisiana wants us here, well, we'll stay here. We'll fight," DeGuerin said Monday. But the bigger courtroom fight will likely unfold in Los Angeles, where the district attorney filed a first-degree murder charge against Durst last week. Durst awaits extradition to Los Angeles to face that charge. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Prosecutors accuse Durst of "lying in wait" and killing Susan Berman, a crime writer and his longtime confidante, because she "was a witness to a crime." Berman was shot in the head in her Beverly Hills, California, home in December 2000, shortly before investigators were set to speak with her about the 1982 disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst. Robert Durst has long maintained he had nothing to do with Berman's death or his wife's disappearance. "I just don't think that they had sufficient evidence to have him arrested," DeGuerin said Monday. "They had a lot of suspicion. They've always had a lot of suspicion. And that television show just added to that suspicion." It's not the first time Durst has been accused of murder. He admitted to killing and dismembering his neighbor in a 2003 trial, but he was acquitted after arguing he acted in self-defense. FBI agents have also asked local authorities to examine cold cases in locations near where Durst lived over the past five decades, a U.S. law enforcement official said. On Monday, police said there was a connection between Durst and a college student who disappeared from Vermont's Middlebury College in 1971. In response to a question at a Tuesday news conference from CNN, Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley said: "There's nothing in the files to indicate (Durst) was questioned" at the time of her disappearance. "We don't know if they ever had any personal contact," the chief added. The connection in the case was one of proximity, Hanley said. Durst owned a health-food store in Middlebury, and Lynne Schulze was last seen across the street from the store near a bus stop. She had purchased dried prunes from the store earlier. DeGuerin brushed off the accusation, saying that his client "may have been in Chicago when Jimmy Hoffa disappeared." Other cases in upstate New York, the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California are also getting a new look. Durst was placed on suicide watch, according to police, but DeGuerin said last week that Durst needed to be in a hospital setting, not because of the possibility of suicide, but because he has serious medical conditions. The 71-year-old is suffering from hydrocephalus, which required brain surgery a couple of years ago, DeGuerin said. Doctors implanted a stent on the right side of his head, the attorney said last week. "At the same time he was in the hospital he had an operation on his esophagus to remove cancer. So he's got some serious health issues. ... He's lost a lot of weight. He's not in good health," DeGuerin said. Durst appeared in court Monday with his head shaved, the stent prominent. DeGuerin also said that Durst is "mildly autistic" and has received treatment in the past from one of the country's leading experts in Asperger's syndrome and autism. "He's quiet and he's reserved and he's actually bashful. But he's always been looked upon as a little bit odd," DeGuerin said. "And what we discovered 15 years ago was that he's autistic, mildly autistic, but it explains a lot of his, what others look upon as unusual or bizarre behavior." But DeGuerin said his client's health struggles don't mean he's incompetent to stand trial. And DeGuerin said they're eager to go to court and fight the accusations against him. "He's a little frail and he has some memory problems sometimes," DeGuerin said. "But he's not incompetent." CNN's Anne Woolsey, Amanda Watts, Jean Casarez and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report. +New Delhi (CNN)A gang of robbers struck a Christian school in eastern India on Saturday, and one of them raped a 71-year-old nun, a senior official said. The man apparently did so, because she resisted the robbers, said P.B. Salim, chief administrator of the West Bengal state's Nadia district. Previously, a church official had told CNN sister broadcaster CNN-IBN that three or four of the men had raped the woman. A group of seven to eight men allegedly barged into the school and its attached staff residence during pre-dawn hours, and the elderly Sister Superior raised an alarm and resisted, Salim said. The rape was apparently punishment for it. Later, the men tied her up along with two other nuns and the building guard. The robbers then made off with cash worth a few hundred thousand rupees (thousands of dollars), laptops and other articles, Salim said. The attacked nun is under medical care. "Physically, she is better. But the mental trauma will take its own time to heal," Salim said. "It is a very, very shameful act, first of all, to rape any woman, any female," Father Dominic Emmanuel of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese said in televised comments. "But this one becomes even worse because, first of all, she is an old lady and then on top of it, she is a nun. She is a religious (and) has consecrated her life to God and all her life she has remained a virgin." The investigation into the burglary and rape is ongoing, and no arrests have yet been made, Salim told CNN. A series of rape cases involving girls, foreign tourists and a physiology student who died following a brutal gang rape in 2012 has hurt India's international reputation. Crowds have taken to Indian streets to protest against rape. The nation's lawmakers introduced tougher laws and punishments for sexual crimes and harassment. Despite such action, India continues to see episodes of sexual violence. For instance, five men were arrested in Kolkata in January and charged with raping a Japanese tourist. Police said the men operated as a gang and targeted single, Japanese tourists. In December, an Uber driver was charged with sexually assaulting a passenger. The incident that grabbed the world's attention was the rape of a woman by five men on a bus in 2012. She later died of her injuries. Anti-rape activists complained when the Indian government restricted the showing of a BBC documentary about rape that included comments from one of those men. He provoked outrage around the world by blaming the victim and saying the woman "should just be silent and allow the rape." Official data in India show that rape cases have jumped almost 875% over the past 40 years -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011. But campaigners say sexual assaults are underreported because of stigma and cultural factors. Experts say the causes of the high number of rapes include the nation's patriarchy, widespread poverty and lack of law enforcement in rural areas. +(CNN)Police in Mesa, Arizona, know some things about Ryan Elliot Giroux, accused in a string of shootings that left one man dead and five people wounded. He's 41, has an extensive criminal record and served time in prison, according to online inmates records. He's on probation. Giroux used to have tattoos indicating white supremacist beliefs on his face but apparently had them removed, according to photos. One thing investigators don't know: What caused Giroux to allegedly go on a deadly rampage. On Thursday morning, Giroux made his first court appearance. He faces multiple charges, including murder, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, aggravated assault and burglary. The prosecutor requested $2 million bond and the judge imposed it. Grioux has been sent to prison twice for felonies, including an attempt to commit aggravated assault. He was sentenced to seven years and six months behind bars in July 2007, but was released in October 2013, according to online inmate records. His probation runs through October 2016. He also had a run-in with authorities in Santa Monica, California. He allegedly committed assault with a knife in the early morning hours of March 26, 2006, and was detained by witnesses, said Santa Monica Police spokesman Sgt. Rudy Camarena. Giroux was arrested on accusations of attempted murder and parole violation, but police records weren't immediately clear on how the case was resolved, Camarena said Thursday. Police are looking for a motive in the first shooting on Wednesday, but say the other violence happened as the suspect tried to rob people and get away from authorities. The first shots were fired after the suspect got into an argument at the Tri-City Inn with three people that he likely knew, according to Det. Esteban Flores of the Mesa police. One man shot at the Tri-City Inn died, Flores said. Police identified him as David James Williams, 29, reported CNN affiliate KNXV. The motel is across the street from the East Valley Institute of Technology. According to a police press release, the suspect next shot a man during a carjacking at a nearby restaurant and drove away in a stolen Honda Accord. Grioux tried to carjack another vehicle but failed, police said, and crossed the street to break into an apartment, where he shot and tried to rob a fifth person. He went to another apartment complex and shot a sixth person, police said, before fleeing to a condominium complex. Flores said Mesa's SWAT team found Grioux in a vacant second-floor condo. Police used a Taser stun gun to subdue him. Police said one man is in critical condition at a hospital, KNXV reported. The other victims, including the mother of the slain man, were treated and released from hospitals, KNXV reported. Authorities on Thursday released a photo of a bruised Giroux in which he had a tattoo on his neck but no tattoos on his face. An Arizona Department of Correction's photo released earlier showed a heavily tattooed Giroux, with the words "Skin" and "head" tattooed over his eyebrows. The number 88 was on his left temple, with additional ink on his chin and neck. "Those are typical tattoos that you do see sometimes on white supremacists, but we don't know if that has anything to do with what happened today," Flores said. Neo-Nazis use the number 88 as an abbreviation for "Heil Hitler." H is the eighth letter in the alphabet, so the Nazi salute becomes 88 in shorthand. Flores said he believes all of the shooting victims were white, with one being white and of Hispanic descent. "I have no information that his (Giroux's) affiliations or beliefs had anything to do with what occurred today," Flores said. News of the shootings caught the attention of the state's senior U.S. senator. "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families impacted by the tragedy in Mesa today," U.S. Sen. John McCain said in a statement released Wednesday. "Our deepest thanks are with the Valley police and first responders who assisted the victims and tracked down the perpetrator to bring this dangerous situation to an end." Mesa is about 20 miles east of Phoenix and is Arizona's third-largest city. CNN's Stephanie Elam, Amanda Watts, Steve Almasy, Jason Hanna, Tina Burnside, Tony Marco, Stella Chan and Michael Martinez contributed to this report. +Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)A Yemeni jet commanded by the capital's Houthi conquerors fired missiles at a palace housing Yemen's deposed President in the country's south Thursday, injuring no one but marking an escalation in deadly fighting that's erupted between forces for and against the ousted leader. The jet flew from Sanaa, which Houthi rebels overtook in January, to the palace in the port city of Aden, where the jet conducted the strikes Thursday afternoon, a senior air force official said on condition of anonymity. Deposed President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi was at the Aden palace compound when the first missile struck the grounds, but he then fled safely, a Hadi aide said, also on condition of anonymity. A second missile struck near the compound, but, like the first, injured no one, two officials in Aden said. Another Houthi-commanded air force jet fired a missile in downtown Aden about a half-hour later, again injuring no one, Aden Gov. AbdulAziz Hobtour said. It wasn't immediately clear what the missile struck, or what the intended target was. The airstrikes came on the same day opposing Yemeni military forces -- those commanded by Houthis, and those led by officers loyal to Hadi -- battled in Aden, leaving at least 13 people dead and 21 others injured, Hobtour said. The Houthis, a minority rebel group that holds sway in the nation's north but has less influence elsewhere, took control over military forces stationed near Sanaa, including the air force, as it overtook the government there in January. Hadi initially was put under house arrest in Sanaa, but he escaped last month, fleeing to Aden and declaring himself to still be president. Some military forces still are loyal to Hadi, including troops from his native province in the south. On Thursday, clashes erupted in Aden when a special forces commander loyal to the Houthis, Abdul Hafez Al Saqqaf, ordered hundreds of his troops to create checkpoints at all roads leading to Aden's airport. Watch: Who are the Houthis? The clashes were reported to be taking place on four different fronts in the airport and a surrounding military base. Passengers were stranded at the airport, with flights canceled throughout the day. Al Saqqaf's forces gave up much of their ground in Aden after pro-Hadi forces struck them with heavy artillery and tanks, a pro-Hadi military commander said on condition of anonymity. Some of the wounded in Thursday's fighting were in critical condition, officials said, suggesting the death toll could rise. The Houthis entered Sanaa in September, demanding a greater share of political power. They took control over a period of months, seizing the presidential palace in January. The unrest has plunged Yemen deeper into chaos. Hadi had issued a presidential decree replacing Al Saqqaf two weeks ago, but the decree was not implemented. Journalist Hakim Almasmari reported from Sanaa. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote from Atlanta, and CNN's Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Brian Walker contributed to this report. +(CNN)Milan has Moxy, while much of Europe is painted Blu. Jaz in the City is playing in Amsterdam come September. EVEN increases the odds of a good night's sleep, while Tune is in harmony with scaled-down budgets. And then there's the vibrant Vib and a new venue, Venu, soon arriving in Dubai. These statements begin to make sense once you realize that they're all the names of modern hotel brands. According to Chekitan S. Dev, a professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, hotels traditionally have been named after an owner or a place. But more recently, he says, "the naming process has evolved from an off-the-cuff process into something far more systematic." So what's behind this influx of idiosyncratic hotel names, replete with misspellings and unexpected word usages? Look to millennials and psychographics -- the study of personality, attitudes, interests and lifestyles. Psychologists say the millennial psychographic is made up of independent-minded, adventurous individuals in search of new experiences. Hospitality brands are crafting their marketing strategies accordingly. "Hotel companies are lazering in on consumer needs by using psychographic data in a big way," says Matthew Von Ertfelda, Marriott's vice president for insight, strategy and innovation. The explosion of social media also has a starring role in the name game. Brands of the 21st century need to have handles that resonate in the global, online world, say the pros. "Thanks to social media, millennials are the first global generation," says Dr. Donna Quadri-Felitti, academic chair of New York University's School of Professional Studies Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism. "And since this generation is so enamored with texting and tweeting, hotels really have to think how names will play in the new media world." For social media purposes, the number of characters in a name counts. Spelling is often sacrificed in the quest for brevity. But another reason for purposeful misspellings may be legal. Spelling is often set into an uncommon form to retain meaning while being trademarkable. "The odder the name, the less likely someone has already captured it," says Cornell professor Dev. "That's important in terms of intellectual property protection." It may explain why Venu and Vib are missing an "e." Venu is a just-announced lifestyle brand, launching its first property in Dubai in 2017. According to parent company Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts, it's designed to give travelers "the freedom to write their own story, their own narrative, to build their own scene." Best Western's new hotel entry, called Vib, is pronounced "vibe." "We tried to come up with names that celebrated individuality, while also connoting a vibrant spirit," says Dick Lew, a partner at Houston-based Acumen Design, a branding firm brought in to hone the name and the image. Hence Vib, which is derived from "vibrant." Color also plays a big part in hotel branding. "We incorporated a bright persimmon red in the design and the logo, in order to reflect the (Vib) brand's bold personality," says Lew. Moxy, the new Marriott partnership with IKEA, is going after "a sassy, determined, individualistic consumer," according to Marriott's Von Ertfelda. The first Moxy opened at Milan's Malpensa Airport in September and more are coming in Europe this year. "Naming Moxy was a four-month process involving a great deal of brainstorming," says Von Ertfelda. "Once we came up with it, we knew we had a name with emotional resonance that hit a global sweet spot. "At the same time, though, our lawyers noted the name had to be 'ownable and trademarkable.'" The change of spelling from moxie to Moxy achieved that. According to Von Ertfelda, senior creative director Maria Rezende-Heiston selected hot pink for the Moxy logo to "appeal to those who aren't afraid to express themselves" while using a "curved font to convey a sense of rhythm, fluidity and independence." Color is also key to hotel operator Carlson Rezidor, which is hueing (sic) toward Red and Blu. Blu came about in 2009, after airline SAS withdrew from a partnership with Radisson. After the split, Radisson SAS, a collection of European design hotels, needed a new name. "We wanted to replace SAS with an equally short name," says Rose Anderson, vice president of branding for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. "We liked using blue from the old SAS logo, because it brought in the heritage of the former brand. "At the same time, we were looking for a word with positive worldwide connotations ... and blue is the world's favorite color." So blue or bleu became Blu, a trademarkable spelling. Carlson Rezidor recently announced a new Red brand that will, according to Anderson, "build on the Blu concept and further leverage Radisson's brand awareness." New brands are also being dubbed with what may seem to be random nouns. But there's nothing random about them. Last year, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) rolled out EVEN, a new brand cultivated for the growing wellness-minded audience, with two properties in the United States. EVEN expresses the desire for the balance travelers are seeking, says an IHG spokesperson. In its logo, specific colors were chosen to represent elements of nature. The four vertical bars of the logo are off-kilter, while the EVEN letters are composed on a flat horizontal line, representing the brand promise of helping guests stay in balance. Malaysia-based Tune Hotels provides "five-star beds at a one-star price." The group has more than 40 properties worldwide, including five in London. Some in its management group were previously senior executives in the music business. It makes sense, then, that a travel company with a musical name would attempt to strike a global chord. Adding to the medley of avant garde brands, Germany's Steigenberger Hotel Group's Amsterdam hotel Jaz in the City will open in September, with others scheduled to follow. According to Steigenberger Hotel Group, coming Jaz in the City properties will be "hip and happening hotels" that "move to the rhythm of today's curious global traveler" who has a "desire to embrace authentic experiences in a city hotel." You can't explore the hospitality industry's desire to appeal to the millennial mindset without nodding to W Hotels by Starwood. The brand now seems to have been ahead of its time with hotels that opened in pre-social media 1998. "Starwood was the first hotel company to look directly at the customer as it evolved a new brand," says Paul James, global brand leader of W Hotels Worldwide, St. Regis and The Luxury Collection. W's target customer was a fashionable, high-energy individual -- someone who'd now likely be described as having a millennial psychographic. Starwood defined the brand by adding its "Whatever, Whenever" tagline to the simple W logo. Cornell's Dev says Starwood further imbued the brand with meaning by using words like witty, warm and welcoming in its advertising and marketing material. More than 15 years later, the W Hotel brand has more than 70 properties open or in development worldwide. Journalist Laura Powell started covering the travel industry for CNN in the 1980s. Her focus is on international travel news and trends. Read more of her work at www.dailysuitcase.com. Twitter: @dailysuitcase. +(CNN)A massive power outage spread across Turkey on Tuesday, blacking out a broad swath of the country and affecting some flights. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said all possible causes were under investigation, including terrorism. Trams and subways were idled in Istanbul -- with more than 14 million inhabitants, the largest city in the country and the fifth largest in the world. Homes and offices were left without electricity. "I am sitting in my apartment," CNN producer Gul Tuysuz reported from Istanbul. "No lights. No electricity." The capital, Ankara, some 250 miles from Istanbul, also was affected. The outage extended to 45 of Turkey's 81 provinces. The semiofficial Anadolu Agency quoted Energy Minister Taner Yildiz as saying the cause of the outage was unknown. Yildiz, speaking during a visit to Slovakia, said he could neither confirm nor deny that a cyberattack had triggered the blackout, the Anadolu Agency reported. Flightradar24, which maps real-time flight data on the Internet, tweeted that the outage was "affecting flights," and said 11 of its 16 air traffic monitoring systems receivers -- as distinct from the country's air traffic control system -- were not working. The Turkish Electricity Transmission Co. blamed the outage on a problem with transmission lines, Anadolu Agency reported. The utility said an investigation was in progress, as were efforts to restore power, the news agency said. The outage began at 10:36 a.m. (3:36 a.m. ET). Nearly two hours later, according to Anadolu Agency, about 15% of the power had been restored to Istanbul and Ankara, including in some subway stations. Power also was beginning to flow again to a number of provinces that had been cut off, the agency reported. By midafternoon, Yildiz said, 90% of Istanbul's power had been restored. "Crowded places such as metro stations have been given electricity, and we believe the rest of the country should be fully powered shortly," he said. CNN"s Gul Tuysuz contributed to this report from Istanbul. +(CNN)For a generation of moviegoers in the early 1990s, "Pretty Woman" was a cultural touchstone. The breezy comedy had all the key elements of romantic fantasy: a plucky, down-on-her-luck heroine, a rich, dashing prince and a Cinderella love story with a fairy-tale ending. Most of all it had a lesser-known actress named Julia Roberts, whose radiant smile and coltish charm lit up the screen. The movie, which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Monday, grossed $463 million worldwide and made her the biggest female star in Hollywood. But how does it stand up today? Not everyone is a fan. Some critics complain the Garry Marshall film, whose female lead is an unrefined prostitute rescued from the streets by Richard Gere's elegant millionaire, degrades women and glorifies materialism. Here are some of the leading pro-and-con arguments about the movie. First, the cons: . It whitewashes the realities of prostitution . The movie glosses over the less-than-glamorous motivations that can lead women into sex work, says Katie Hail-Jares, a board member of the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP USA). Most sex workers that Hail-Jares encounters through street-based outreach are not in it for a lark, or because they lack the drive to succeed, she says. They do it out of economic necessity after encountering roadblocks to traditional employment such as lack of education, a criminal record or sexual discrimination, she said. On one hand Roberts' character, Vivian, is a compelling protagonist who dispels the stereotype of the drug-addicted "crack whore" with little ambition, Hail-Jares said. On the other hand, the movie implies that by virtue of her beauty, drive and apparent drug-free lifestyle, Roberts is the exceptional sex worker who -- unlike her pal Kit, for example -- deserves a better life. "What's problematic is how it portrays sex work at large, like she's the only one worth saving," said Hail-Jares, a Ph.D. candidate in criminology at American University. "You get the sense that she's not the norm, and that allows us to get invested in her while not necessarily worrying about the welfare of other women who fall into the (sex worker) stereotype." Vivian's exit from sex work thanks to Gere's character is also troubling, she says. "In the movie she's able to fill economic void with Edward's money but in reality that doesn't happen," she says. It's demeaning to women . Like "My Fair Lady," the movie is another reimagining of "Pygmalion," the George Bernard Shaw play about a crass, impoverished girl given a redemptive makeover by a sophisticated male mentor. Daryl Hannah was one of numerous well-known actresses who turned down the part, saying it was "degrading for the whole of womankind." The Vivian character is clearly intelligent, and values love over money. But she also has no apparent career goals beyond becoming the kept woman of a wealthy businessman. "'Pretty Woman' may be a fantasy but it's a deeply sexist, consumerist fantasy," wrote Rachael Johnson last year for Bitch Flicks, a feminist movie site. "Admire Julia and Richard's beauty, and sing along to Orbison or Roxette, but never forget that it is one of the most misogynist, patriarchal, classist, consumerist, and lookist movies ever to come out of Hollywood." It celebrates greed . Although he is dutifully appearing on TV this month to promote "Pretty Woman's" anniversary, Gere in the past has publicly dismissed the movie for glorifying Wall Street corporate raiders like his ruthless Edward character, who dismantles struggling companies. "It made those guys seem dashing, which was wrong. Thankfully, today we are all more skeptical of those guys," he told Woman's Day magazine in Australia in 2012. The movie also depicts Vivian's evolution from streetwalker to Beverly Hills socialite through an orgiastic shopping spree during which Gere promises to spend "an obscene amount of money" on her. "Ideologically, 'Pretty Woman' is a love song to consumerism and capitalism," said Bitch Flicks' Johnson. "'Pretty Woman' depicts a world where everyone is either a card-carrying member of the corporate caste or an obliging subordinate ... It is obsessed with things (hotel suites, private jets, fancy clothes) and encourages the audience to share its obsession with things." And now the pros: . No, it actually empowers women . Despite her lowly profession, Vivian is no pushover. One of the film's earliest scenes shows her refusing Kit's suggestion that they work for a pimp, saying "we say who, we say when, we say how much." Later, she negotiates the terms of her relationship with Edward and is quick to speak up when she feel she's being mistreated. She humanizes him and even takes over driving Edward's borrowed Lotus when he can't handle a stick shift. "She dictates the way she wishes to be treated; when he offers her the status of a mistress, she dictates the status of a full equal," writes Brigit McCone in a more recent Bitch Flicks piece titled, "Why 'Pretty Woman' Should Be Considered a Feminist Classic." "Let us never forget that when the prince rescues her, she rescues him right back." Its shopping scenes are revenge-fantasy bliss . Ask some "Pretty Woman" fans to name their favorite scene and they don't mention Vivian's swoony moments with Edward. They talk about that part in the middle when she hits Rodeo Drive for a shopping spree. Spurned at first by snooty salespeople, Vivian later buys a slew of expensive outfits with Edward's money and then returns -- dressed to the nines and carrying handfuls of shopping bags -- to one boutique that had shunned her. "You work on commission, right?" she asks a bitchy saleswoman. "Uh, yes." "Big mistake. Big. Huge," she says, turning on her heels to leave. "I have to go shopping now." That's why in the 1997 comedy "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion," Michele (Lisa Kudrow) tears up while watching the movie, saying, "I just get really happy when they finally let her shop." Lighten up. As slick entertainment, the movie works . Sure, its story is ridiculous on many levels. For all its modern trappings (and R rating) it's also deeply old-fashioned: Take out the sex and prostitution and it could be a Disney movie. But Gere and Roberts, despite their 18-year age difference, have genuine chemistry. The interplay between her goofy exuberance and his bemused stoicism is mostly effective. And Roberts' charisma carries the movie through its weaker spots. The script also has some zingers, as when Edward asks, "What makes you think I'm a lawyer?" and Vivian answers, "You have that sharp, useless look about you." On paper "Pretty Woman," initially conceived as a gritty drama, shouldn't work. But it does -- if you don't think too much. "All these years later, it holds up remarkably well, if you can turn off that think-piece portion of your brain," wrote Stephanie Merry this week in the Washington Post. "(Is she a feminist icon? Is she only worthy of love when in Rodeo Drive's finest? Is this just "My Fair Lady" with sex? Just give up already and embrace the absurdity.)" +Washington (CNN)The U.S. ambassador who resigned his post in 2012 amidst official criticism that he used a private email account for official business told CNN Friday that he was "very surprised" to learn that his boss at the time, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had been doing essentially the same thing at the same time. "I was very surprised to learn of the double standard," former Ambassador to Kenya and Air Force General Scott Gration told CNN. Gration noted that Cheryl Mills, the then-State Department Chief of Staff "obviously knew Secretary Clinton was using commercial email, yet she stated my use of Gmail was one of the reasons I had to move on." The retired Air Force Major General, who flew 274 combat missions over Iraq as a fighter pilot and served as President Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan, recalled he had been "prohibited from sending a Gmail message to a State Department computer except in an emergency." Considering that "Department of Defense dot mil accounts, USAID accounts, and every Kenyan account used the same routers and security firewalls as a Gmail account," he took issue with State Department protocols. "It didn't make sense to me that the State Department would ban my 'Gmail.com' while letting all other commercial and foreign accounts through its computer firewall," he told CNN. A spokesman for Hillary Clinton declined comment. Spokespeople at the State Department repeatedly declined to address whether any sort of double standard had been applied and instead continually noted that in the State Department Inspector General report about the U.S. embassy being run by Gration there were "several concerns with management and leadership" discussed, not just about his use of private email. The Inspector General report charged that Gration "lost the respect and confidence of the staff to lead the mission" and "damaged the cohesion of Embassy Nairobi's country team." Gration said he makes "no apology for 'rocking the boat' in the State Department to improve physical security, to enhance cyber policy, and to conduct several other initiatives that the State Department Inspector General misrepresented to build the case that Secretary Clinton's Chief of Staff used to terminate my tenure as the U.S. ambassador in 2012." The State Department's continued referencing of the other allegations against Gration came amidst fruitless attempts by CNN to ask the department spokespeople to explain why it was acceptable for Secretary Clinton to use private email to conduct official business given that the 2012 Inspector General's report against Gration repeatedly hammered him for the use of "commercial email for official government business" which was considered to be "flouting of direct instructions to adhere to Department policy." As CNN reported Thursday, the report stated clearly that It "is the Department's general policy that normal day-to-day operations be conducted on an authorized information system, which has the proper level of security controls," the report stated. "The use of unauthorized information systems increases the risk for data loss, phishing, and spoofing of email accounts, as well as inadequate protections for personally identifiable information. The use of unauthorized information systems can also result in the loss of official public records as these systems do not have approved record preservation or backup functions. Conducting official business on non- Department automated information systems must be limited to only maintaining communications during emergencies." Asked if he was subsequently surprised to see this controversy erupt about his then-boss doing essentially the same thing, Gration told CNN "I'm not surprised when any political issue becomes a controversy. I learned long ago to do your best, do what was right, and to have a thick skin. I still wake up each day without regrets because I still have my integrity. That said, illegal, immoral, or unethical activities should be investigated properly, not just for political gain, but because we demand this of our public leaders. That's the only way we can preserve trust in our system of governance. Punish crimes and forgive mistakes." Gration said that his "experience was somewhat different than Secretary Clinton's use of her commercial account, yet I was 'fired' for the use of Gmail in the U.S. Embassy, my insistence on improving our physical security posture, and other twisted and false allegations. I've chosen to move on and to be better, not bitter." He said that "the State Department Inspector General investigators and Diplomatic Security cyber investigators conducted a full and formal investigation into my use of Gmail and the State Department computers" and "they dismissed the allegations against me." The former ambassador and his wife currently live in Kenya, where he is executive chairman of a company that works to bring international investment and innovation to Kenya and East Africa. He is no longer involved in US politics and diplomacy. +(CNN)Have Rick and his fellow survivors finally found a place they can settle in for the long term? That was the question left still unanswered at the end of Sunday night's season finale of "The Walking Dead," and a finale record 15.8 million viewers tuned in to find out the answer. Rick was back in "Ricktatorship" mode, telling the residents of Alexandria that he knew what it took to survive and they should follow him. That led up to one of many moments where we gasped during the 90-minute finale. Here are five of the biggest gaspworthy moments: . 1. Morgan is back . We've literally been looking for him all season, and Rick's old friend Morgan -- going all the way back to the first episode -- made a return appearance, wielding a stick he used to kick walker, and human, butt when necessary. And it was definitely necessary once he was captured by two men wearing W's on their heads, who, we would later learn, wanted to turn Morgan into a walker in order to join a horde of walkers they controlled. 2. Daryl looks done for . It was Daryl who happened upon that horde, and he and Aaron were soon surrounded and forced into a car, with little chance of escape -- that is, until Morgan rescued them. We rarely believe what we hear when there are rumors that Daryl might die, but that was a close one. 3. Carol and her casserole . Melissa McBride continues to steal scenes left and right lately, and her threatening of Pete while lending him a casserole may be one of the best scenes in the series' history so far. 4. Glenn gets shot . We seriously thought Glenn was a goner after a vengeful Nicholas shot him, then left him for a large group of walkers to attack. Somehow, Glenn survived and attacked Nicholas, but stopped short of killing him. That's our Glenn, always doing the right thing when it comes down to it. 5. Rick's memorable walker encounter . Just when you thought you'd seen everything, Rick literally squeezed a walker's neck then discharged a round causing the walker to spray out blood -- a walker he presented to the residents of Alexandria, in a bid to lead them toward survival. Rick was then rudely interrupted by Pete, who slashed Reg's throat in a fit of anger. At that point, Deanna told Rick to off Pete, which he did. Phew! It was one of the most intense episodes of the already hyperintense series, and our group of survivors somehow made it through. Fans on Twitter were into it. "That was the most intense hour and a half of my entire life," one tweeted. +(CNN)Four years. At least 220,000 people killed -- more than one every 10 minutes. Millions displaced. The Syrian civil war is a human calamity and it's getting worse, according to a furious new report from more than 20 aid groups. U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at protecting civilians caught up in the conflict have failed miserably, the humanitarian organizations say in the report released Thursday. "This spiraling catastrophe is a stain on the conscience of the international community," says the report, whose signatories include Oxfam and Save the Children. "We're worried that, as we approach the fourth anniversary, this could turn into a situation of acceptance -- 'Oh, that's just the way it is over there' -- and that mustn't be," Nigel Timmins, deputy director for Oxfam Great Britain, told CNN. It highlights the paltry results of a Security Council resolution passed in February 2014 that called for an increase in humanitarian aid, a halt to attacks on civilians, an end to kidnapping and torture and the lifting of sieges of populated areas. "In the 12 months since Resolution 2139 was passed, civilians in Syria have witnessed ever-increasing destruction, suffering and death," the report says. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, has reported that 2014 was the deadliest year so far in the grinding conflict that began in March 2011 as an uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and splintered into a chaotic civil war. More than 76,000 people were killed in the violence in Syria last year, nearly 18,000 of them civilians, according to the observatory. The conflict has brought allegations of atrocities carried out by al-Assad's forces and enabled ISIS' savage rule over parts of the country. Attempts at peace talks involving the government and opposition have so far gone nowhere. As the war threatens to sow further chaos in the region, the United States and its allies are bombing ISIS targets in Syria and working to arm and train rebel groups. The aid groups' report, entitled "Failing Syria," reeled off a list of worsening problems reported by international agencies: . The report called on Security Council members to "use their influence with the warring parties and their financial resources to put an end to the suffering of Syrian civilians." In Washington, a group of Syrian Americans and other supporters gathered near the White House on Wednesday to mark the four years of bloodshed and read the names of 100,000 people who were killed in the violence. A U.N. aid official told CNN of the crisis unfolding at one particular refugee camp in Syria that he had just visited. "What I saw yesterday really shattered and devastated me," said Pierre Krahenbuhl, the head of of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees who has been working in conflict zones for 20 years. Around 18,000 Palestinian refugees in the Yarmouk camp are in "dire" need of food and health aid, he said Wednesday, describing seeing enfeebled men and a fainting pregnant woman waiting for assistance. The ongoing conflict is adding to the plight of the camp's inhabitants. "You have inside the camp a number of armed groups and of course you then have government armed forces around it," Krahenbuhl said. "There is this link between the presence of armed groups inside and the suffering taking place." +(CNN)About to have a baby? Congratulations! Now, please keep your feet on the ground. A passenger on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Charlotte, North Carolina, had to make a stop in Greensboro when she went into labor on Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate WXII. Thankfully, the baby, named Nylah, waited until her mother had landed to arrive on airport property. Mother and child were later transported to Women's Hospital in Greensboro, where the hospital said both were doing well. The flight took off for Charlotte after the woman left the aircraft. There have been a couple of airline-related births recently. A child was born on Southwest Airlines Flight 623 shortly after takeoff on December 9. The aircraft departed from San Francisco bound for Phoenix but diverted to Los Angeles International Airport. A nurse and doctor on board assisted with the delivery. On December 31, Delta Air Lines Flight 2566 from San Francisco to Minneapolis was diverted to Salt Lake City when a passenger went into labor during the flight. The woman was taken by the local fire department to the University of Utah Hospital, where she gave birth to a boy. US Airways requires passengers with a due date within seven days of flight to provide a doctor's certificate, dated within 72 hours of departure, "stating that he or she has examined you and determined that you are fit to fly." If the mother on Tuesday's flight had been flying American Airlines, which owns US Airways, she might not have been able to travel. American hasn't created a single policy for both brands, and its policy is more restrictive. A medical certificate is required for travelers wishing to fly within four weeks of their delivery dates "in a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy," according to the airline's website. She couldn't travel on domestic American flights of less than five hours within seven days before and after a the delivery date without a medical certificate and permission from the airline. Delta Air Lines doesn't restrict pregnant women from flying, but the airline doesn't waive ticket change fees and penalties for pregnancy. It recommends that pregnant travelers check with their doctors after the eighth month of pregnancy. Southwest Airlines recommends that female travelers consult with their doctors before traveling at any stage of pregnancy and warns specifically against air travel beginning at the 38th week of pregnancy. Southwest goes into even more detail. "While air travel does not usually cause problems during pregnancy unless delivery is expected within 14 days or less, in some cases, traveling by air has been known to cause complications or premature labor. "Depending on their physical condition, strength, and agility, pregnant women may, in some cases, be asked not to sit in the emergency exit row." +(CNN)Hillary Clinton's lawyerly news conference Tuesday, at which she doggedly parried suggestions that her use of a private email server to conduct official State Department business was improper, might extinguish the matter for most Americans -- but it doesn't get Clinton out of the woods politically. The real possibility of lasting political damage to the former secretary of state will come if her emails reveal any favoritism to any of the foreign donors who contributed to the welter of powerful charitable organizations housed at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. This is the multibillion-dollar foundation Hillary Clinton leads alongside ex-President Bill Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea. What we already know about the foundation's donors is controversial: Some of the corporations, banks and foreign governments that have funded foundation projects have abysmal human rights records and have been involved in everything from drug money laundering to aiding terrorism in violation of American law. The Clintons can make a plausible case that it's best to solicit money from companies and foreign governments -- even ethically challenged ones -- and put it to good use attacking problems of global poverty. As Bill Clinton recently told reporters: "You've got to decide when you do this work whether it will do more good than harm if someone helps you from another country." It's an interesting and important debate, and most Americans would probably approve the idea of putting "bad" money to good use. But the argument only works if Clinton's work as secretary of state was completely separate from the foundation's tip-toeing around ethical challenges. To figure that out requires analyzing the history of what began as the William J. Clinton Foundation shortly after he left office in 2001. Different initiatives were added over the years to combat AIDS, climate change, poverty and other ills; the most high-profile of these projects, the Clinton Global Initiative, added in 2005, brings world leaders together to tackle the world's problems. To make things even more complicated, the foundation's website says its mission is supported by the Clinton Presidential Center in Arkansas, which includes an archive of the President's papers. The foundation recently co-sponsored a Black History month event with the center. The foundation's thicket of relationships with corporate donors and foreign heads of states is difficult for outsiders to penetrate and understand. And with 350 employees spread across 180 nations, running the foundation is an expensive proposition: in 2012, the various initiatives spent $214 million according to The New York Times but still ended up $8 million in the red. Who gave, and why, is hard to figure out. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The Clinton Foundation does disclose its donors, which isn't required by law. But the disclosure is limited; dates and exact amount of the donations aren't disclosed. Donations are listed in value ranges and updated annually with only the previous year's donor getting an asterisk by his or her name." Hillary and Bill Clinton have put some safeguards in place to put distance between her job as secretary of state and the inner workings of the foundation. During Hillary Clinton's years as secretary of state, the high-profile Clinton Global Initiative split off from the larger Clinton Foundation, and Bill Clinton says he had no direct involvement in its day-to-day operations. Hillary Clinton also stayed away from the foundation during her time at the State Department and agreed to subject possible conflicts to the department's ethics office. It was only after she resigned that she formally joined the foundation and added her name to its title. Ideally that would settle the matter, but there's the possibility that the elaborate formal safeguards may have been breached or ignored. An investigation by The Wall Street Journal found that "at least 60 companies that lobbied the State Department during her tenure donated a total of more than $26 million to the Clinton Foundation," raising questions about whether the firms were using the donations to curry favor with the secretary of state. In one well-publicized case, Hillary pressed a state-owed Russian airline to buy American planes from Boeing. The effort worked: Boeing ended up with a $3.7 billion contract. (To be sure, secretaries of state are always lobbying foreign countries to purchase American products. It's part of their job.) But weeks after Clinton's persuasion (what she called a "shameless pitch"), Boeing donated $900,000 to the foundation. A CNN investigation by Alexandra Jaffe recently showed that half a dozen banks that gave money to the Clinton Foundation were involved in ethically questionable behavior and might have used donations to the foundation and/or its CGI spinoff as a way to gain favor with the Clintons and enhance their tarnished reputations. In 2012, the British bank Standard Chartered paid $667 million in fines for violating sanctions against Iran and HSBC paid $1.92 billion to settle claims of illegally doing business for customers in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Myanmar and allowing drug dealers to launder money through the bank. Both banks have been major contributors to the foundation. As Jaffe notes, "the fact that the foundation partnered with banks that were actively under investigation raises questions over what restrictions, if any, the foundation placed on its fundraising operation." And according to The Washington Post, seven nations donated millions to the foundation during Clinton's time as secretary of state, including a $500,000 gift from Algeria that the foundation failed to clear in advance through the State Department's ethics office. That sort of corner-cutting, and the cozy-seeming connections between Clinton and various corporations and governments, will be tough to explain on the campaign trail. If emails suggest Clinton was aware of the corporations, banks and nations sending money to her foundation during her time at the State Department -- or worse, took action to help encourage the flow of donations -- the issue would almost certainly derail her likely presidential campaign. It's much too early to count Hillary out, of course. The Clintons can credibly argue that the money they collected has funded more than a billion dollars' worth of good works, from lowering the price of HIV-fighting drugs in developing countries to advancing green technology and educating girls and women. But there's no scenario in which voters can be expected to ignore or support the former secretary of state if she is shown to have been simultaneously arranging pay-to-play deals with businesses and governments seeking help or favors from the U.S. government while she was in office. What will matter is not why or how Hillary stored her emails but whether the actual emails show her in ethical quicksand from which no presidential candidate can escape. +(CNN)A ballerina dancing in a music box and a girl sat in an armchair drinking tea surrounded by flowers. This is how two of China's most popular websites chose to celebrate International Women's Day Sunday, unleashing a storm of criticism, especially on social media, which ridiculed their home page "doodles" as sexist stereotypes. "May the world treat you gently," the video-sharing site Youku told its female users. Search engine Baidu had no explicit message for its visitors, but the rotating ballerina turned into a bride and then a mom with a stroller. Internet users were quick to point out how the efforts of Baidu, China's biggest search engine, and Youku, dubbed China's YouTube, contrasted with global rival Google. Its doodle depicted women in several different professions, including a scientist, artist, astronaut, chef, musician, teacher and volleyball player. "This is how you define women and celebrate them!" said Weibo user @Zoexiaoyizi of Baidu's music box. "Google's doodle just makes their stupidity even worse." Guo Weiqing, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said that the companies' choice of imagery suggested that women are there only to be taken care of and look pretty -- and the real world of business should be left to men. "Internet companies conveying such a narrow definition of women isn't good. It's exactly the opposite of the International Women's Day mission, which is fighting for gender equality," he told CNN. Baidu and Youku didn't immediately respond to calls for comment. The doodle uproar came as Chinese authorities detained several women right's activists this weekend. Some of them had planned to hold a nationwide protest against sexual harassment. On Monday, five were still being held police, said an activist and a friend of the women, who asked not to be identified. Beijing traditionally cracks down on activists during important meetings like this week's National People's Congress (NPC). "In other countries, doing such things on International Women's Day is natural, while in China you get detained for fighting for women's rights," she said. "Everything we've done is mild and done legally -- we call for gender equality in the college entrance exam and more toilet spots for women," she added. Under Chairman Mao Zedong, women famously "held up half the sky" but there is a growing sense that Chinese women today face more, not less, discrimination than in the past. The New York Times reported last month that women make up fewer than one in 10 board members at the country's top 300 companies. And China's state-run media often appears more concerned with women's looks and marital status than equal rights. Showing the same tin ear as Baidu and Youku, the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, published an online gallery entitled "Beauty with brains." It featured 18 snapshots of female journalists covering the NPC in Beijing this week. And during the Lunar New Year holidays last month, a television gala watched by 690 million people included comedy skits mocking overweight and unmarried women. Incensed feminists called for an end to the annual televised extravaganza in an online petition. Just weeks earlier, Zhou Guoping, an influential writer, enraged many when he said that "a man can have thousands of ambitions but a woman only one" -- to give birth. Guo, the professor, said that more and more women aren't happy with the gender roles Chinese society ascribes to them, and this year's string of "sexist incidents" reflects men's concerns that women aren't as "feminine" as they once were. "They hope women will return to the way they're supposed to be." CNN Intern Harvard Zhang contributed to this report . +(CNN)Nigerians go to the polls Saturday to determine who will lead Africa's most populous nation. The stakes are high in this election as the nation faces intensified attacks by extremist group Boko Haram. With security catapulting into a key issue, which candidate will voters trust to keep them safe? As Nigeria decides, here's what you need to know: . Nigeria is home to about 173 million people and is considered a powerhouse in the region. Its stability is crucial to combating the growing risk of Islamist terrorists, who thrive on instability. As Boko Haram seeks to extend its tentacles with its recent pledge of allegiance to ISIS, Nigeria has teamed up with neighboring Chad and Cameroon in a counteroffensive against the terror group. And it appears to be working, with its military saying it has recaptured several key cities from the militants. The next leader will have to ensure the gains stay on track. As we have learned with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, any unaddressed local insurgency has the potential to spiral into an international problem. And let's face it, the world does not need another failing state, especially one with such a massive population. Nigeria is also one of Africa's largest oil producers and is a major supplier of crude oil to the United States. It hosts many international oil companies and workers. The key issues are power, security and the economy. But with the rise of Boko Haram, security has taken center stage. Just this year alone, the extremists have killed at least 1,000 civilians, Human Rights Watch says. One of the militants' most brutal acts was the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls last April, a majority of whom are still missing. Boko Haram has become increasingly brazen, seizing towns in bloody attacks and declaring them Islamic caliphates. Militants have bombed schools, churches and mosques; kidnapped women and children; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders alike. Although the current government is "having successes here and there" in its fight against Boko Haram, it's not winning the war against the terror group, says Ayo Johnson, a documentary filmmaker and analyst on African affairs. And despite recapturing some key towns from militants, he says, the government's big picture on security is still hazy. "This elections will come down to who can protect Nigeria," Johnson says. "Who can make Nigerians feel safe." Nigeria overtook South Africa as the region's largest economy last year. The government has made tremendous gains on the economy, Johnson says, but those gains have been buried under the constant threat of Boko Haram. But many complain that the country's vast wealth from oil exports does not trickle down to the average citizen. As many as 70% of Nigerians live below the poverty line and survive on less than a dollar a day, according to the CIA World Factbook. Nigeria is under economic pressure because of falling crude oil prices worldwide and a weakened currency. Corruption has been a hindrance to building a stable economy despite years of democracy, analysts say. There are 14 candidates on the ballot, but the race is more of a rematch between the current president and a former military ruler. The two faced off in the last election in 2011. President Goodluck Jonathan: . Jonathan rode a wave of popularity in 2011. At the time, he portrayed himself as a man of the people. During campaigns, he talked about growing up without shoes, a message that resonated with average Nigerians. But in recent years, his popularity has plummeted, with Nigerians saying he has not delivered on his promises for change. Key officials have defected from his ruling People's Democratic Party to the newly formed All Progressives Congress. Muhammadu Buhari: . The retired general has unsuccessfully run for election three times. Buhari ruled Nigeria in the 1980s following a military coup and was known for his tough regime, which some say was marked by human rights abuses. But he has pledged to make fighting graft and insecurity a priority if he wins, which might appeal to those who've run out of patience with the current government. His military rule background could be a plus or a minus. "Many Nigerians will not forget he was a military leader, during a dictatorship," Johnson says. "Or maybe they will feel that they need a military leader to address fundamental problems such as terrorism." The election was originally scheduled for February 14, but was delayed for six weeks. In addition to the presidential elections, Nigerians will elect governors in 36 states. Like their U.S. counterparts, the nation's governors have a lot of clout. Not only do they set priorities for federal funds, they are also responsible for security in their states and are thus the first line of defense against extremists, especially in the North, where militants have free rein. In populated cities such as Lagos, governors manage economies larger than those of some African countries. To avoid a runoff, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote and at least a quarter in two-thirds of the states. If no candidate wins, a runoff election will be held seven days later. CNN's Christian Purefoy contributed to this report. +(CNN)A bill that would allow Utah to use firing squads to execute some death-row prisoners passed in the state Senate on Tuesday. The measure, which passed 18 to 10, will be sent to Gov. Gary Herbert, who has not said whether he will sign it into law or veto the bill. Herbert released a statement on the legislation, which would add death by firing squad as an option in a state that uses lethal injection. "Our statute is clear that lethal injection is the method by which (an execution) will happen. We have no intent to change that," he said. The law would give the state the option to use a five-member squad in cases where the drugs necessary for lethal injection aren't available 30 days before the date set for the execution. "Our state, as is the case with states around the country, is finding it increasingly difficult to obtain the substances required to perform a lethal injection. We are dedicated to pursuing all reasonable and legal options to obtain those substances to make sure that, when required, we are in a position to carry out this very serious sentence by lethal injection," the governor said. Eight people are on Utah's death row. Utah banned death by firing squad in 2004, though inmates who chose that option before the law changed still ended up being shot to death. The last execution by firing squad was in 2010, and it was also the most recent execution in Utah. A Utah firing squad also executed Gary Gilmore in 1977, the first death by capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty the prior year. In recent years, states have struggled to maintain a supply of lethal injection drugs as manufacturers either stopped producing the drugs or barred their use in executions. Texas nearly out of execution drug . The European manufacturers of pentobarbital, an anesthetic, explicitly banned U.S. prisons from using its drug in executions. Some states have sought out substitutes or gone with one drug instead of the traditional three-drug cocktail. In April, Oklahoma used midazolam as a substitute for pentobarbital as part of a three-drug cocktail in an execution that went awry. Clayton Lockett, a convicted rapist and murderer, writhed and convulsed after the drugs were administered. It took 43 minutes for him to die. Last week, Georgia postponed an execution because the drugs appeared "cloudy." The state also indefinitely postponed at least one other execution until it can analyze the cocktail it uses for the procedures, officials said. Georgia halts executions to analyze lethal drug cocktail . CNN's Tony Marco contributed to this report. +(CNN)Robert Downey Jr. may be Iron Man in the popular Marvel superhero films, but he recently dealt in some advanced bionic technology himself. Downey recently presented a robotic arm to young Alex Pring, a Central Florida boy who is missing his right arm from just above his elbow. The arm was made by Limbitless Solutions, a volunteer group started by Albert Manero, a University of Central Florida engineering PhD student, to make free bionic arms for kids. Through 3-D printing technology, Alex and others have had the chance to get a robotic arm so they can use their limbs again. Alex received his robotic arm in the summer, then later had it upgraded to resemble a "Transformers" arm. This past Saturday, Alex received an even more impressive gift, from "Tony Stark" himself. Downey met with Alex in an Atlanta hotel room. The actor showed the child two arms, one from Downey's movies and one for Alex: a real, working robotic Iron Man arm. As they both tried theirs on, they compared the lights inside their palms. The video was posted Thursday by Downey as well as Microsoft, which arranged the meeting as part of its social media campaign, The Collective Project, celebrating students using technology to change the world. It very quickly went viral on social media. Alex is 7, in first grade and a huge superhero fan. His mom told him they were going to Atlanta to meet Manero and a specialist who were working on a new arm for the boy. "He didn't question it much, so we kind of just went with it," his mom, Alyson Pring, told CNN. "Afterward, I asked, 'Why were you so quiet?' He said, 'I was freaking out!' " After giving him the new arm, Downey invited Alex to hang out with him in Atlanta this summer when he's filming the new Captain America movie. Manero met Alex through E-Nable, a volunteer network that matches people who have 3-D printers with children who need limbs. Alex's mom wanted to get him a replacement hand because he was being teased. "Whenever people saw him, they'd say, 'What's wrong with your arm?' " Alyson Pring said. "Now it's, 'Your arm is amazing, you're so cool ... it helps educate people to maybe think twice before saying something like, 'Why are you like that'?" The prop master for the Marvel movies built the case for Downey Jr.'s arm and the case for the little boy's arm. The college students made the actual arm for Pring, from the design to the painting to the robotics, said David Beauparlant, marketing manager at Microsoft. "You couldn't even do this stuff not too long ago. It's amazing what the 3-D printing can do," he said. To find out more about Alex and the Collective Project, here's our recent story on the topic of 3-D printed limbs. +(CNN)Lynn Smith used to lead a fast-paced life as the owner of a London-based film props company. However her first love has always been art. Taking the plunge into the unknown, Smith decided to sell her business, say goodbye to her friends, and move to Mauritius to pursue a career as an artist full time. "I was passionate about my business as well, it was amazing, my job was wonderful," Smith says, "but I always wanted to be an artist since I was very, very young. A teacher put me off it at school and I didn't go down that road, and I regretted it." Smith chose Mauritius because she had fallen in love with the lush beauty of the tropical island on previous trips to visit her son, who lives there. Her studio, where she paints portraits and carves sculptures out of marble, clay and bronze, is by the sea, and Smith says she is endlessly inspired by the natural beauty of her adopted home. "I go out every day driving around, every day you see things that are inspirational. Getting up in the morning I sit on the terrace, I look out to the sea, to the islands," she says. The artist, who goes by the moniker Lynni, says her new life is a dream come true, but a dream that she created not by wishing for it, but working to make it happen. "If you want to do something you just have to get off your backside and do it yourself because nobody else is going to do it," she says. "All my life I blamed that careers teacher and then I realized it was stupid to blamer her, it was my fault. I didn't follow my dream. And it got to the stage where I realized it's time to follow my dream," she adds. +New Delhi, India (CNN)Do not generalize India as a country of rapists. That was the firm message from the German ambassador in New Delhi after a professor back home was accused of turning down a male Indian student's application for an internship due to the South Asian nation's "rape problem." Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger never did such a thing, according to her and the University of Leipzig. The university points out four of her 30 students and two of her laboratory interns come from India; while it wasn't clear how many of them were men, the university said 29 of its 44 Indian students total are male. Still, Beck-Sickinger has admitted making a mistake by engaging the rejected intern candidate with talk about rape in Indian society and how the issue spurred "many (other) female professors in Germany (have) decided to no longer accept male Indian students for these reasons." "It was never my intention to make a defamatory comment about Indian society," she said, according to a statement posted on the website of the University of Leipzig. "I do not have anything against Indian students -- on the contrary. I sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings I may have hurt." Marital rape: Why is it legal in India? The firestorm began with a recent post on the social-networking site Quora. It featured what appeared to be screenshots of email excerpts involving someone in the University of Leipzig's biochemistry department. They fell under this provocative headline: "What should an Indian male student do if he is denied an internship opportunity on the basis of India being projected as an unsafe country for women?" The post didn't identify Beck-Sickinger, blacking out the name of the emails' author. But it did lead with this statement that was later linked to her: "Unfortunately I don't accept any Indian male students for internships. We hear a lot about the rape problem in India which I cannot support. I have many female students in the group, so I think this attitude is something I cannot support." The thing is, Beck-Sickinger says she "never wrote" such a message, claiming this email was "put together from individual segments taken from different mails." "I do not reject students because of reasons of race or gender, " she added. "I am by no means racist or xenophobic in any way." Here's what the University of Leipzig says did happen: The professor told the candidate "the laboratories are fully occupied." The Indian applicant "didn't accept" this rejection, the university says, and went back-and-forth with Beck-Sickinger over email. During that exchange, Beck-Sickinger wrote things that she later regretted -- excerpts of which were posted to Quora and the university acknowledged as legitimate. Speaking about how Indian men might be stereotyped due to reports about alarming instances of rape in their native country, she said, "I fully agree that this is a generalization and may not apply to individuals. However it is also unbelievable that the Indian society is not able to solve this problem for many years now." India bans rape documentary . Beck-Sickinger referred to regular reports of "multi-rape crimes" and abuse of female tourists that, "for me ... demonstrate the attitude of society towards (women)." Such incidents have moved other female professors to reject male Indians "and currently other European female associations are joining." "Of course we cannot change or influence the Indian society," she added, "but only take our consequences here in Europe." The idea that the professor wouldn't accept male Indians for internships -- as reported by Quora and denied by the University of Leipzig -- riled up some in India, a number of whom wrote on the Quora thread. One user, identified as Sas Vijay, said, "Don't leave this issue. It is a serious fault to generalize people on such grounds. File a complaint." Another user, posting as Hemanth Sriteja, wrote, "I don't wanna come to an era where I should say 'Hii (sic), I'm from India, I'm not a rapist." One person echoing that view publicly is Michael Steiner, Germany's ambassador to India. "Your oversimplifying and discriminating generalization is an offense to these women and men ardently committed to furthering women empowerment in India; and it is an offense to millions of law-abiding, tolerant, open-minded and hard-working Indians," Steiner wrote Monday in a letter posted on the embassy website. "Let's be clear: India is not a country of rapists." The ambassador urged Beck-Sickinger "to learn more about the diverse, dynamic and fascinating country and the many welcoming and open-minded people of India so that you could correct a simplistic image, which — in my opinion — is particularly unsuitable for a professor and teacher." CNN's Harmeet Shah Sing and journalist Kunal Sehgal reported from India, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report. +(CNN)Angelina Jolie took the stage Saturday at Nickelodeon's 28th Annual Kids' Choice Awards and delivered a message of hope to anyone who's ever felt out of place. In her first public appearance since revealing that she underwent a second preventive surgery to lower her risk of cancer, Jolie attended the show with her children, Shiloh and Zahara. She hugged them before she went to the stage to accept the favorite villain award for her role as Maleficent in the live-action reimagining of "Sleeping Beauty." "When I was little, like Maleficent, I was told that I was different. And I felt out of place -- too loud, too full of fire, never good at sitting still, never good at fitting in," the 39-year-old actor and humanitarian said. "And, then one day I realized something, something that I hope you all realize: Different is good," she said, prompting enthusiastic screams from the young crowd. "And, as your villain, I would also say cause a little trouble -- it's good for you." Jolie's career has been full of unconventional twists and turns, from her breakthrough role in the biopic "Gia" to her current role as an actor, filmmaker and special envoy of the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees. Her personal life also has made front page headlines over the years, including her adoption of children from developing countries and her candor in discussing her health. Jolie, 39, wrote Tuesday in a New York Times essay that she had opted for the surgery after blood tests revealed markers that might have been an indication of early cancer. Two years ago, she underwent a double mastectomy for similar reasons. Jolie's mother died of ovarian cancer, and the actress has a gene mutation that makes her chances of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer much higher than the overall population. Jolie's revelation provoked an outpouring of support as the news spread across social media. "It is not easy to make these decisions. But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue. You can seek advice, learn about the options and make choices that are right for you. Knowledge is power," she wrote. +(CNN)I'm Candida Moss, and I am professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame. I was an adviser on the "True Cross" episode and served as one of the many on-camera experts in CNN's "Finding Jesus" series, which airs on Sundays. Viewers were invited during the show to tweet and post their questions on the "Finding Jesus" Facebook page. Below are some of the more interesting questions and my answers to them. They have been edited for style and clarity for this article. What's "true" about the cross that killed Jesus? Lynn Santos: Where might there be other pieces of the "true cross"? Is anyone attempting to carbon date these relics ? Moss: There are churches all over the world that claim to have fragments or splinters of the true cross. These aren't being carbon dated and there are a few reasons why. First, carbon dating is expensive, and your average church doesn't have the funds for this kind of endeavor. Second, carbon dating is seen as intrusive and a little destructive. Even if only about 10 milligrams of wood are needed, you're still chipping away at a holy object. This isn't something that churches like to do, especially as -- and this leads me to my third point -- almost all carbon dating tests end up discrediting the relics that are being tested. So, it's not in the best interest of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches that claim to possess relics to have them tested. Matt Marino: Are you able to tell what type of wood the cross was built from? Moss: Unless we know with complete certainty that we have a fragment of the true cross, then we won't be able to assert what kind of wood was used. Nonetheless, we can make some best guesses. A number of scholars have thought that the cross was made of cedar because cedar is a sturdy wood found in the region. There is also evidence from the crucifixion of other criminals. In 1968, the remains of a crucified man named Yehohanan ben Hagkol were found during excavations in northern Jerusalem. We know he was crucified because there was a spike embedded in his ankle bone. The Department of Botany at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem concluded that the wood underneath the nail was olive wood. So perhaps that's a possibility. Daniel Pronych: How can we be certain the Romans didn't reuse Jesus' cross? Moss: This is a great question. Hewn wood and nails were more valuable in the ancient world than they are today. There are examples of the Romans discarding tools and other implements (for instance after the battle of Masada, when they left behind pottery vessels rather than haul them away), but this usually took place in situations where carrying these tools was more effort than it was worth. The Romans were efficient and would likely have reused the instruments of torture if they could. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that wood was scarce around Jerusalem in the first century A.D. and that the Romans had to travel 10 miles to secure timber for the siege of Jerusalem (Jewish War 5.522-23). Josephus was writing about a period of war some 40 years later but, all the same, we can imagine that the Romans wanted to conserve the wood that they had. In other words, you're absolutely right: We can't be sure the cross upon which Jesus was crucified wasn't reused in the execution of other criminals or in some other kind of construction. How well do you know the life of Jesus? Take the quiz. James Faubel: If the crucifixion of Christ was so important to Christians, why are there no images of Christ on the cross in Christian art until about the seventh century A.D.? Prior to that time, the depictions are usually of a lamb on the cross. Moss: It is certainly true that early on (first-third century) Christians did not use the image of the cross in their art. This in part seems to have been because crucifixion was so shameful and humiliating. Depicting a cross would be akin to using an image of an electric chair or a hangman's noose. So, early on, Christians used images of Daniel in the lion's den, Jonah and the whale and the three young men in the fiery furnace in the funeral art as symbols of resurrection and conquest of death. Beginning in the fourth century, things began to change. Constantine's vision was really instrumental in this process. The cross began to be retrieved as a symbol of power, so that instead of being a symbol of shameful death it became an emblem of victory over death. There are a lot of really interesting studies of the emergence of the cross in early Christian art; I'd recommend Robin Jensen's "Understanding Early Christian Art" as a great place to start. +(CNN)In the final days of the Israeli election campaign, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disavowed the two-state solution and said there would be no Palestinian state on his watch. He also earned universal condemnation for his panicked warning to his followers on election day that Arabs were "voting in droves" -- a comment that will resound to his shame and can neither be forgiven nor forgotten unless he apologizes clearly, sincerely and without reservation. And now, facing international uproar and a stern U.S. response, Israeli officials have started backing away from these statements. The Israeli ambassador to Canada, Rafael Barak, said Wednesday on CBC TV, "This is an election campaign and you have to take with a grain of salt what was said at the last minute when the polls say you are going to lose." Netanyahu himself, in an interview on NBC, tried to qualify his words about a two-state solution, saying what he meant to say was that a Palestinian state was not viable under present conditions. He knows that stance is totally unacceptable to Israel's chief ally, the United States, and to the rest of the international community. And he should not be allowed to slip off the hook so easily. Indeed, far from taking this statement with a grain of salt, the world is likely to look back at his previously stated support for a two-state solution and take that with more than a grain of salt. The fact is, rhetorical if not actual support for a two-state solution has served Netanyahu well for the past several years, and has provided him with a convenient shield against international pressure to end the almost 48-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Also helping Netanyahu was the presence in his Cabinet of Israeli politicians who actually do believe in a two-state solution and worked hard to make it happen -- notably former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who headed up the failed 2014 negotiations with the Palestinians. Livni wanted to move forward in the talks, but found herself hemmed in and frustrated by Netanyahu's aides -- and apparently by the prime minister himself -- at every turn. Now, as he constructs a coalition of ultranationalists and ultra-Orthodox, those shields have been stripped away. Netanyahu must now face the world having bared his true face and exposed his true beliefs -- and the international community, led by the United States, must respond accordingly. What should this involve? To begin with, Washington should not wait for others to draft a U.N. resolution condemning the settlements. It should take the initiative, in consultation with its international partners, in drafting a resolution that lays out the detailed parameters for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The resolution should of course state unequivocally that the solution rests in an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines, with equivalent land swaps to incorporate some of the major settlement blocs within Israel. It should also reiterate Israel's right to security. And it should state clearly and unambiguously that the settlements are illegal under international law and must stop. Words are important -- but more important are deeds. Whatever he says about the two-state solution, the next Netanyahu government is virtually certain to blast ahead with settlement-building. It is on that basis that he and his administration should be diplomatically isolated and condemned. In his campaign statement, Netanyahu took pride in approving the construction of a huge suburb on the southern fringes of Jerusalem in order to block Palestinian construction from neighboring Bethlehem. He boasted that the building was not simply to provide housing for Jews rather than Palestinians, but that it was to make it harder for the Palestinians to establish a coherent, territorially contiguous state. Netanyahu's statement was a moment of truth for him, for Israel and for the world. He was admirably blunt and concise. He left no doubt what he intended. Now, the world must hold him to account. +(CNN)In the 1950s it was cancer. Hush, hush, whisper, whisper. "They called it the 'C' word, and it didn't get talked about in doctor's offices," said Beth Kallmyer of the Alzheimer's Association. "It certainly wasn't talked about in the general public, it was whispered." Today it's Alzheimer's, and 55% of patients and their caregivers say their doctors never told them they have the devastating disease, according to a special report of the Alzheimer's Association released this week. Compare that to one of the big four cancers -- breast, colorectal, lung and prostate -- more than 90% said their doctors had no problem giving them the diagnosis. "Alzheimer's not being talked about, many doctors are not giving the diagnosis," added Kallmyer in a webcast. "We need to change that. It's a disease, it's nothing to be ashamed about." "This is very current, very well done, and pretty dramatic findings, let's be honest," said Dr. Pierre Tariot, director of Banner's Alzheimer's Institute. "I am reminded of the rather sobering fact that as many as 60% of people who have a dementia die without the dementia having been diagnosed by their doctor." Why the silence? This is not the first report to show doctors are sidestepping this tough conversation. But why? That's been studied too, and the reasons doctors give range from diagnostic uncertainty and fear of causing emotional distress to time constraints, lack of support, and stigma. "There is an element of stigma here towards brain and mental health problems in general," said Tariot. "I would call it professional awkwardness. I can't really help this condition, why invest time and energy talking about it, it makes me squirm." "I think the comparison of Alzheimer's to cancer is appropriate," said Dr. Tom Price, Medical Director for Emory University's Geriatric Clinic. "I give patients a new diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease many times a week, and every time it is uncomfortable, and I've been doing it for over 10 years. It is easier to talk about cancer now that there are so many new and effective treatment strategies, and cause of optimism with survival from cancer at an all-time high." What's at stake . Alzheimer's advocates stress the importance of giving a patient all the facts, as early as possible, so they can work with their family to organize legal and health directives and have time to fulfill life-long desires. It's just as important for the caregiver. "Imagine it's your spouse," said Tariot. "Personality changes, memory is different, language and communication is different, you don't know what is going on. Then you start getting answers, and you get a sense of how to play to his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Here are travel tips, communication tips, and safety issues; here are ways to stay happy and joyful, even though this is a new chronic illness." There's another critical factor as well: access to clinical trials that might help slow the illness. "Right now, the big studies that are underway in prevention are really looking at people in the early stages of Alzheimer's," said Kallmyer. "So by waiting, they can lose out on clinical trials as well." Addressing the 'gap' "We want to be clear that we believe physicians are well meaning, but there's a gap there somewhere," said Keith Fargo, Director of Scientific Programs for the Alzheimer's Association. "We saw doctors say lack of time, lack of resources, so we think the answer to this mostly has to do with education and providing more resources." Experts CNN spoke to agreed. "As a field, we have failed," Tariot told CNN. "It isn't just the doctors in the trenches. Medical schools, professional organizations and health care systems have not recognized the importance of identification and management of people with dementia." "I think that medical school curriculum does need to update to include neurodegenerative diseases in their 'giving bad news' training -- Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, for example," said Price. "We do need to educate all providers to be aware that hesitance to give the diagnosis reduces the ability of the patient and family to make some choices and planning that is essential for emotional and financial well-being." +(CNN)I am atheist -- and I am black. Yes, we exist -- even if many in the media sometimes don't notice us. In a CNN special that aired on Tuesday, for example, people of color were not as well-represented as American atheism's more familiar face: You know, white males. In fact, African-American atheists represent a still small -- though growing -- segment of American atheists at large. Does this mean that blacks and other minorities generally just don't gravitate towards nonbelief, or are there other factors which keep us hidden? There is a harsh truth to face here. Most blacks identify as religious. Belief in God is touted with pride, and the church is intricately tied to tradition, history and culture. It is not uncommon to assume that I attend services as a black woman. The question often isn't if I go to church -- it's where. And even if one doesn't go to church, surely they still have faith -- because our people have endured and overcome so much hardship that it had to be the work of a god. All of this makes the words "black" and "atheist" hard for many to imagine in the same sentence. It can be extremely difficult to discuss religion objectively in the black community. Many have social, emotional and financial stakes invested in this institution, so for one to even say they have doubts is like committing treason. To openly identify as an atheist in the midst of heavy religious influence can be next to impossible, and good luck finding other blacks who also don't believe. It is very important to note however, that the Internet has made it easier for black atheists to find each other, and there is a large community of us online. Though I was raised secular -- a rarity in my community -- I've had to endure ostracism from family and friends as a result of openly identifying as an atheist. However, my journey is far from tragic. In founding my organization, Black Nonbelievers, in 2011, I have been fortunate to connect with others who were either raised secular like myself, or who were brought up extremely religious and left it behind. And they have done so bravely, defying the perception and expectation that all blacks blindly accept religion. The Friendly Atheists Next Door . My experience in the secular community as a black atheist has ranged from feeling totally welcome to feeling totally isolated, and even ignored. On the one hand, there is common ground shared -- our nonbelief and even discontent with religion unites us. On the other hand, there is a notion that since we share this common ground that there are no other issues to address. The lack of people of color at secular events is a problem -- partly because there is unawareness of such events existing, but also because there is limited effort placed in accommodation and care. We are sometimes treated as if we are invisible, or even as an afterthought -- which does not make the few persons of color feel welcome. Fortunately, all is not lost. Progress has been made. There are now a number of secular groups that have helped to bring about more diverse representation for people of color, women and children. There is a more concentrated focus on support for the LGBT demographic, as well for others who come from marginalized and disfranchised backgrounds. There are support systems for people who have lost loved ones, yet they have no religious affiliation. Moreover, there is a tremendous amount of literary and artistic talent. Such representation is now reflected at organized events, in leadership, as well as in media coverage. While the number of visible minority atheists is still small, we are here and we're here to stay. We will continue to grow, in both the black and secular communities. We can lead the charge for this change. The more we make our presence known, the better our chances of working together to turn around the disparities we face, and bolster the recognition we so rightly deserve. We are not alone. +(CNN)Here's one reboot that would be out of this world. TV Wise is reporting that Fox is very close to pushing the button on a new season of "The X-Files," which aired from 1993 to 2002. The original stars, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, are said to be on board for the revival of the hit show about a pair of FBI agents who investigate the paranormal. If social media are any indication, fans really want to believe. It appears that timing will play a crucial factor in whether the project gets off the ground, as both Anderson and Duchovny have other commitments. Anderson stars in the hugely popular BBC drama "The Fall," while Duchovny's NBC series "Aquarius" is set to debut in May. Both actors are fully aware that fans really, really want to see them back as professional partners/lovers Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. In February, Duchovny said during an appearance on CBS' "The Talk" that bringing the show back was a very real possibility. "It looks good; that's all I'll say," the actor said. "It looks very good." Fox has confirmed that it is eyeing a reboot. Series creator Chris Carter is reportedly also on board for the new project. The truth is still out there: Fox eyes 'X-Files' reboot . The show was so popular that it spurred two feature films, a spinoff series about Mulder's nutty sidekicks the Lone Gunmen, a comic book series and a board game. +(CNN)The fiancée of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez said at a hearing Friday that she was asked to conceal a box and take it out of her Massachusetts home after the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013. Shayanna Jenkins' testimony came outside the presence of the jury during a hearing on the limits of her testimony. But it signaled where the prosecution intends to take its questioning of the key witness, who took the stand before the jury later Friday. She is testifying after being granted immunity. Hernandez, the ex-tight end who had a $40 million contract until he was charged with murder, has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating the death of Lloyd, a semi-pro football player. He has also pleaded not guilty to other weapons charges. His co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, have also pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. "You took that box out and concealed it. Were you attempting to do it in a way so that people didn't know what you were doing?" Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley asked. "That's correct," Jenkins said. The weapon in the case has not been recovered. The prosecution has said Hernandez's high school sweetheart removed the weapon from their North Attleboro home after Lloyd was killed on June 17, 2013. The state also alleges that she lied to a grand jury several times about the presence of guns in the home. She faces possible jail time if found guilty of perjury charges. Jenkins has pleaded not guilty. Jenkins testified she was "instructed" to take the box out of the home, and that it was "important" for her to get rid of it. On the day after Lloyd's killing, prosecutors have said Jenkins received a coded text message from Hernandez. Search warrants said Hernandez asked his fiancée to remove something from their basement. The text message said: "Go ... in back of the screen in movie room when u (sic) get home an (sic) there is a box ... jus (sic) in case u were looking for it!!! Member (sic) how you ruined the big tv ... WAS JUST THINKIN bout that lol wink wink love u TTYL....K" Asked about the text message Friday afternoon, in the presence of the jury, Jenkins said she didn't know what it meant. Jenkins also told the jury that she met her fiance's two alleged accomplices in the killing of Lloyd and gave them $500 in cash as police were questioning Hernandez about the slaying. Jenkins testified that she took Hernandez to a police station on June 18, 2013, and that he asked her to give Wallace money. Wallace was comforting to her, Jenkins told the jury. "He said everything would be OK," she said. She went to a bank ATM and withdrew $500 to give Wallace. "I don't remember the dollar amount he asked for but I remember telling him that was the amount I could take out," she testified. Hours after Lloyd's death, Jenkins said, Hernandez appeared "normal" and his two alleged accomplices appeared "fine." Jenkins, 25, and Hernandez are the parents of a daughter who was just a year old when her father was arrested on June 26, 2013. Her sister Shaneah was dating Lloyd, 27, who was shot six times, according to prosecutors. At one point, McCauley asked Jenkins if she ever saw guns in the home. She told the jury that she saw one "in the kitchen junk drawer." Prosecution witnesses have testified that Lloyd was shot to death with a .45-caliber Glock handgun. McCauley approached Jenkins on the stand with a Glock similar to the one used in the murder. "Is that a secured firearm?" she asked, moving back slightly. "Yes." McCauley asked if the Glock's shape was similar to the one she saw in the junk drawer. "Yes," she responded. "Color?" "Yes." Size? "I'm not sure," she told the jury. Jenkins' testimony resumes next week. CNN's Lawrence Crook III and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report. +(CNN)The father of a Los Angeles police officer wanted for murder has been charged with making a false statement to an FBI agent, the FBI said Thursday in a press release. Victor Manuel Solis, 53, was arrested in Lancaster, California, in connection with the ongoing search for Henry Solis, a rookie officer with the L.A. police who is believed to have entered Mexico from El Paso, Texas, the FBI said. An FBI complaint said a video recording at the border crossing showed father and son entering Mexico together at 5:40 a.m. March 14, even though the elder Solis told an agent he dropped his son at an El Paso bus station and didn't know where he went. Victor Solis "knowingly and willingly lied during the interview in order to thwart law enforcement investigative efforts," the complaint said. Henry Solis is accused of killing Salome Rodriguez Jr. early in the morning of March 13 in Pomona, California. Items left by Solis at the crime scene allowed Pomona police detectives to identify him "as the individual responsible for killing Rodriguez," according to an FBI affidavit. Victor Solis told the FBI on March 16 that his son called on March 13, said he wanted to spend some vacation time in El Paso, and rode with his father to that Texas city, the complaint said. Victor Solis said that after dropping off his son at the bus station, he later crossed into Mexico alone, the complaint said. The FBI said Victor Solis will be taken to El Paso for prosecution. Henry Solis' whereabouts are not known.. +(CNN)Ferguson's municipal judge has resigned and the city's court cases are getting moved after the U.S. Justice Department said the court discriminated against African-Americans. "To help restore public trust and confidence in the Ferguson municipal court division, the Supreme Court of Missouri today transferred Judge Roy L. Richter of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, to the St. Louis County Circuit Court, where he will be assigned to hear all of Ferguson's pending and future municipal division cases," the Supreme Court said in a statement Monday. "Extraordinary action is warranted in Ferguson, but the court also is examining reforms that are needed on a statewide basis," Chief Justice Mary R. Russell said in the statement. The announcement came the same day Municipal Court Judge Ronald Brockmeyer resigned as Ferguson's judge. "Mr. Brockmeyer recognizes that the Department of Justice report, as well as recent media reports, regardless of their accuracy or validity, have diminished the public's confidence in the Ferguson Municipal Court," his attorney Bert Fulk said in a statement. "Mr. Brockmeyer believes that it is paramount to begin immediately on promoting the public's confidence in the Ferguson Municipal Court. Promoting the public confidence in the Ferguson Municipal Court will help Ferguson begin its healing process." The Justice Department's report said Brockmeyer approved the creation of additional fees, "many of which are widely considered abusive and may be unlawful, including several that the City has repealed during the pendency of our investigation. These include a $50 fee charged each time a person has a pending municipal arrest warrant cleared." Just about every branch of Ferguson government -- police, Municipal Court, City Hall -- participated in "unlawful" targeting of African-American residents for tickets and fines, the Justice Department concluded. The millions of dollars in fines and fees paid by black residents served an ultimate goal of satisfying "revenue rather than public safety needs," the Justice Department found. Document: Justice report finds systematic discrimination by police in Ferguson . Its report detailed how Ferguson operated a vertically integrated system -- from street cop to court clerk to judge to city administration to city council -- to raise revenue for the city budget through increased ticketing and fining. The investigators also found evidence of racist jokes being sent around by Ferguson police and court officials. One November 2008 email said President Barack Obama wouldn't likely be President for long because "what black man holds a steady job for four years." Another email joked that African-American women should use abortion to control crime. "Our investigation has not revealed any indication that any officer or court clerk engaged in these communications was ever disciplined," the Justice Department's report said. The DOJ's probe came after public outcry over the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in August. Wilson, who was not indicted on any charges, has resigned from the police department. CNN's Michael Martinez contributed to this report. +(CNN)UPDATE: Jonathan Hyla said in an phone interview Monday that his interview with Cate Blanchett was mischaracterized when an edited version went viral around the Web last week. "She wasn't upset," he told CNN. "When you watch the entire interview in the full context, you can see she instigates a lot of the ridiculousness that ensues in the interview." Blanchett ended the interview laughing, Hyla said, and "she was in on the joke." This article has been updated and includes the unedited interview. If you're going to interview Cate Blanchett, please have some good questions prepared. Blanchett was talking to Jonathan Hyla of the Australian TV show "The Project" in conjunction with "Cinderella," but Hyla's offbeat questions led to an awkward few minutes. Hyla thought he'd begin the interview on a casual note, saying Blanchett would be a good person to have a beer with. Blanchett was having none of it. "This date is not going well; I do not drink beer," she responded. After some more back-and-forth, with an apparently sometimes testy, sometimes punchy Blanchett trying to steer the topic of conversation back to the film, Hyla finally tried another angle. "How were you able to get that cat to do what you wanted (it) to do on a leash?" he asked about a cat Blanchett's nasty stepmother has in the film. "I tried to put my girlfriend's cat on a leash, and it just never works for me." That was enough for Blanchett. "That's your question? That's your f***ing question?" she asked. She stood up and awkwardly presented her hand. The interview was over. Hyla took it well. He later posted that it was "the best worst interview I've ever done." Hyla later tweeted the unedited interview after an edited version went viral. +(CNN)He's a virtual unknown to American audiences, but James Corden proved he had what it takes as a late night host. Corden's debut as the fourth host of CBS' "Late Late Show" on Monday night was one of the smoothest first episodes of any new talk show hosts in recent memory. Ignoring the usual five minutes or so of monologue jokes, Corden launched right into a star-studded pre-taped bit that showed how he got the job of host: by picking up one of CBS president Les Moonves' Willy Wonka-esque golden ticket dropped by Chelsea Handler (a joke referencing rumors that she was in talks for the job Corden won). Corden received advice from Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Meryl Streep as he trained to be the best host he could be. In a nod to one of his influences, Graham Norton, Corden brought out his two guests, Mila Kunis and Tom Hanks simultaneously. In the midst of their conversation, Kunis, who was sporting a ring, seemed to confirm (with a "maybe") that she had just married Ashton Kutcher, though that still hasn't been confirmed and it may be that Corden, Hanks and Kunis are pulling our leg. The highlight of the show, however, was Corden and Hanks' rapid fire rundown of his movie career, which has to be seen to be believed. Corden's predecessor, Craig Ferguson, sang the new show's theme song, and Corden - who co-starred in the musical film "Into the Woods" - ended his first show with an original song. If Twitter reaction is any indication, Corden charmed enough viewers to draw viewers back Tuesday night. +(CNN)Every year, animal handlers travel throughout England and Wales to compete at agricultural shows. Jooney Woodward's "Best in Show" is a documentation of those competitions, with photos that place a spotlight on the handlers and their animals. "When you go to (the shows), they tend to be all about the animals -- people photographing the animals," Woodward said. "I just wanted to turn my attention onto the people because they're so committed to what they do. They're really devoted and hardworking." While those involved with the competitions are the focus of many press photographers, Woodward's work stands out for its distinctive portraiture style. "My work is a bit more composed. I use a medium-format camera and a tripod, so it is a bit more static in a way," she said. "I think everybody is so proud of their animals that when I said to them that, 'I'd love a portrait of you and your cow,' everyone was more than willing to give up their time and help because they're so passionate about what they do." The "Best in Show" portraits lead viewers down a winding pathway to ponder those inexplicable yet noticeable connections and bonds that exist between the handlers and their animals. Woodward's photos also contain subtle details. For example, the symbols and signs on the wall behind Wendy and her Hereford yearling heifer Mandalay Juliette are just as significant as the handler and her animal. "It's just the way (Wendy) had gone through the effort of decorating the pen (with Union Jacks) where the cows were being kept," Woodward said. "There's also a sign behind (her) ... and there's a picture of a gentleman with a cow, who is actually her husband who had died a few years ago. ... I just thought that was nice, something quite sentimental about that." There are not only sentimental subtleties within "Best in Show," but also fun and interesting ones as well. This is especially evident in the photo of the traditional Welsh pigs being judged, as Woodward points out there is an advertisement for sausages behind the pigs. Regardless of what elements make up Woodward's photos, the emotions and aesthetics remain particularly important. Woodward said that when photographing Jamie and his Jersey cow, his happiness and smile made her want to "share that sense of enjoyment" that handlers have when competing with their animals in the shows. What drew Woodward to Harriet and her guinea pig Gentleman Jack were the similar colors radiating from both of them. Her photo of the pair won the National Portrait Gallery's Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize in 2011. "(Harriet) was like a steward, she was sort of judging the guinea pigs. And she also had her own guinea pig with her, which had red as well," Woodward said. "I just thought that was incredibly striking. I thought, 'I've got to get a shot of that.' " The dynamics of the competitions foster a community atmosphere in which everybody becomes acquainted with one another after having traveled to different shows for so many years. Woodward said this was an enjoyable aspect of her work because "you get to see lots of familiar faces." Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. She has learned about the pride the handlers have toward their animals, and many of her presumptions about the competitions have now changed after having worked on "Best in Show." "I think when I first started going, I was sort of thinking the shows would be more novelty, fun things for these people," she said. "But, actually, it isn't really; it's quite a serious thing, because they can make money from breeding." In addition to handlers earning significant money from breeding, they are also able to achieve recognition for their livestock. Those competing have a lot at stake when they make the decision to travel and compete, because the shows are just as much business events as they are social gatherings. The competitions are also rather family-oriented, and Woodward said that while adults compete, their sons, daughters and grandchildren are involved as well. The younger generations are likely to one day take over the responsibility of running the family farms, and everyone that participates seems to have a strong sense of pride and passion for agriculture. "I think it's something I will always document for the rest of my life, and see how things change," Woodward said. "It was challenging, insightful and fun." Jooney Woodward is a British photographer based in London. You can follow her on Instagram. +(CNN)Europe is in the midst of a political and economic crisis that threatens to unravel decades of European integration and derail the world's recovery from the great recession. To understand this crisis, let's compare two countries. Country A is a small nation with a long history of tax evasion, government debt defaults and a dysfunctional business and regulatory climate. It allows workers to retire in their 50s, and pays double pensions when they do. It lied about its budget to get into the eurozone. Country B is a large, historically powerful nation with a record of low government debt. Country B even ran budget surpluses, including a 2% surplus just before the financial crisis hit in 2008. It entered the eurozone with an honest accounting of its finances. If you guessed that country A is Greece, you are correct. If you believe Greece has caused the crisis in Europe because of its fiscal irresponsibility, then you are safely in the mainstream opinion about the matter. But what do we make of fiscally responsible country B? Its virtuousness must mean it is weathering the crisis. And it must be Germany, right? Wrong. Country B is not Germany. Country B is Spain. Far from prospering, Spain is doing terribly. Spain's unemployment rate is 23.7%, down from a high of almost 27% in 2013. More than a fifth of its workers have been jobless for the last four years. More than half of its young people are out of work and have been for years. There is regularly talk of a lost generation in Spain and Greece. Like Greece, Spain's investment bubble burst when the financial crisis hit and it had to seek a bailout (although a much smaller one) to prevent its domestic banks from collapsing. Spain's economy also shrank during the crisis and its debt to GDP ratio has shot up dramatically. If Greece and Spain have such wildly different approaches to fiscal prudence, what can explain the crisis they both find themselves in? The answer is not fiscal virtue. Something else is going on. That something else, in large part, is the euro. Joining the eurozone meant Spain and Greece gave up the power to create money, the power to devalue their currency to restore competitiveness, and the power to set interest rates. These are not trivial concessions, especially in a currency union like the euro where transfers between rich and poor sectors of the economy are limited, strict budget rules deny individual countries the flexibility to react to a crisis, and trade between euro-area nations is severely imbalanced. The inability to set interest rates in line with the economic conditions meant that in the early 2000s, Spain and Greece couldn't raise interest rates to cool their over-heating economies. The over-heating was largely caused, by the way, by the frenzied (and ultimately reckless) lending in both countries by German and other core European banks. The European Central Bank set interest rates in line with economic conditions in Germany and France that proved too low for Spain and Greece (and Ireland). Read: 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis . The over-heating of the Greek and Spanish economies led to inflation and investment bubbles. As those bubbles burst, the banks neared collapse, and their rescue led ultimately to a sovereign debt crisis. The inability of Spain and Greece to print money meant they had to borrow from their partners in Europe or default and be ignominiously tossed out of the EU. Strict budget rules of Eurozone membership also required Spain and Greece to impose austerity measures in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. They were required to raise taxes and cut spending even as unemployment reached astronomical levels. Austerity helped create a depression of historic magnitude in Greece and a severe recession in Spain. The policies also created runaway public debt. Greece's debt is now 175% of GDP. Spain's debt to GDP ratio is 100% -- a level not seen in Spain in more than 100 years. Because Spain and Greece cannot devalue the euro, the only way they can become competitive is through internal devaluation. This means Greece and Spain are in for years of high unemployment, reduced living standards, falling wages and deflation. In other words, massive impoverization. Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, famously said: "The euro is forever." That may or may not be so, but it doesn't mean that countries like Greece and Spain should stay in the euro forever. Contrary to popular opinion, this crisis cannot be explained away with a moral tale of Greek fiscal irresponsibility. The facts suggest otherwise. +(CNN)Us Weekly magazine has retracted a story about model and reality star Kendall Jenner and her father, former Olympian Bruce Jenner. "We would like to retract the story entirely and have removed it from our website. We sincerely apologize to Ms. Jenner and her family," the magazine said Thursday on its website. Us Weekly had quoted the sister, a member of the Kardashian family, as saying she supported her father, who has made entertainment headlines over rumors that he is becoming a woman. "He's a wonderful man. And just because he's changing shoes now, so to speak, doesn't make him less wonderful. I will always love my dad, whether he's a man or a woman," the magazine quoted her as saying. But Kendall Jenner said she never said that. "How is it legal for someone to 'quote' someone and publish it if in fact you never said what was quoted?" she tweeted. Us Weekly said on its website: "The interview was allegedly conducted by an independent freelance journalist at the Saturday, March 14, taping of Comedy Central's roast of Justin Bieber in Los Angeles. When Ms. Jenner denied, via Twitter, that the interview took place, Us Weekly immediately reached out to the freelance reporter. "He stood by the interview, and continues to maintain that the quotes are accurate. However, after attempting to reconfirm his account, editors of Us have concerns about the veracity of this interview and the circumstances under which it was obtained." Bruce Jenner has not commented publicly on speculation that he's transitioning to a woman, so any comments from his relatives would essentially be confirming the rumors. CNN's attempts to get comment from him, his agents and his mother about the rumors have gone unanswered. +(CNN)Utah's governor signed a bill Monday that brings back firing squads as a potential way to execute some death row prisoners. Lethal injection remains the primary method for carrying out executions in the state, Gov. Gary R. Herbert said in a statement. A firing squad would only be used in the event the necessary drugs cannot be obtained. "Those who voiced opposition to this bill are primarily arguing against capital punishment in general and that decision has already been made in our state," said Marty Carpenter, a spokesman for Herbert. "We regret anyone ever commits the heinous crime of aggravated murder to merit the death penalty and we prefer to use our primary method of lethal injection when such a sentence is issued. However, when a jury makes the decision and a judge signs a death warrant, enforcing that lawful decision is the obligation of the executive branch," he said. Utah banned death by firing squad in 2004, though inmates who chose that option before the law changed still ended up being shot to death. The last execution by firing squad was in 2010, and it was also the most recent execution in Utah. A Utah firing squad also executed Gary Gilmore in 1977, the first death by capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty the prior year. CNN's Tony Marco contributed to this report. +(CNN)A year ago, when Dr. Stephane Hugonnet was dispatched to Guinea to investigate a series of unexplained deaths, he had little idea that he'd be contending with an outbreak that would quickly spread from a small southern rainforest village, across borders, and around the world. The Ebola outbreak, ravaging primarily Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is a year old today. According to one official count, it's infected 24,000 people and killed 10,000. And it's managed to do so because of an institutional failure on several levels: weak public health systems locally and a painfully slow response globally. But in order to get to where we are, we need to go back to how it began. It takes a village . Before the virus ravaged West Africa, before the deaths soared into the thousands, before the outbreak triggered global fears, Ebola struck a toddler named Emile Ouamouno . The 2-year-old boy is who researchers with The New England Journal of Medicine believe was the first person to contract the disease in December 2013. Emile lived in a rainforest village in southern Guinea. How he got infected, no one is sure, but Ebola can be spread from animals to humans through infected fluids or tissue. One thing that is certain, within a month Ebola not only took Emile's life, but also those of his mother, sister and grandmother. From there, it spread like wildfire, passing to neighboring villages and beyond when people attended the grandmother's funeral. Where they went, the virus followed. By the time Dr. Hugonnet landed in Guinea, he didn't yet know that it was already too late. Hugonnet leads the Global Capacities, Alert and Responses team of the World Health Organization, and was one of the first doctors on the ground. "We were following this rumor of a small cluster of unexplained deaths in Guinea," he said in a first-hand account of the early days of the crisis. "When the lab results came back, we learned that there was Ebola Zaire in West Africa. This was a first." Hugonnet was working with a team of logisticians, a medical anthropologist, laboratory technicians, virologists and infection prevention and control specialists. It was an impressive collection of professionals with the goal of rapidly assessing the situation and getting it under control, keep it localized. But this outbreak was different, Hugonnet said. "Person-to-person transmission had quickly spread from a rural area to a large urban city," making it harder to contain, he said. "And, the outbreak was becoming multi-national; cases were confirmed in Liberia and were suspected in Sierra Leone." From those early days, the outbreak would mushroom. In July, Patrick Sawyer became the first American citizen to die at a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. His case raised fears the virus could spread beyond the countries at the heart of the outbreak. And it does. International flights took the disease as far as Spain and the United States. On August 6, a businessman with Ebola died in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. He had been to Sierra Leone for work. Five days later, a Spanish Catholic Brother died in Madrid. And on September 20, . The Spanish Catholic Brother with Ebola, Brother Miguel Pajares, dies in Madrid. September 20, a Liberian named Thomas Duncan arrived in Dallas to visit relatives. He had been unknowingly exposed to the Ebola virus -- and he became the first known case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. He died a few days later. Meanwhile, the disease took an ugly toll in West Africa . By September, it had orphaned about 3,700 children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Scared relatives didn't want to take them in, and officials worried the number of kids without parents would rise higher -- much higher. "Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's regional director. "We cannot respond to a crisis of this nature and this scale in the usual ways. We need more courage, more creativity, and far, far more resources." Why didn't we? In a scathing new report, published Monday, Doctors Without Borders puts the blame squarely on a "global coalition of inaction" that waited months to respond to the epidemic. "The Ebola epidemic proved to be an exceptional event that exposed the reality of how inefficient and slow health and aid systems are to respond to emergencies," said said Dr Joanne Liu, the organization's international president in the report, "Pushed to the Limit and Beyond." For example, by March 21, 2014, 78 victims had died, mostly in Guinea. The World Health Organization said at the time that while the Ebola outbreak is serious, it is "relatively small, still." "For the Ebola outbreak to spiral this far out of control required many institutions to fail," said Christopher Stokes, the director general for Doctors Without Borders. "And they did, with tragic and avoidable consequences." Local hospitals were overwhelmed. International response was weak. By October, when Sierra Leone was reporting a rate of five infections an hour, UNICEF said it had received only 25% of the $200 million it needed for emergency assistance for families affected by Ebola in the region. A significant challenge remains ahead, Doctors Without Borders says. "To declare an end to the outbreak, every single person in contact with someone infected with Ebola must be identified. There is no room for mistakes or complacency; the number of cases weekly is still higher than in any previous outbreak, and overall cases have not significantly declined since late January." It's sobering news a year into the outbreak. Although the headlines have faded a bit from public view, the threat has not. CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report. +Beijing (CNN)In China, you can often tell what the Communist Party is thinking by watching TV. For years, the typical on-screen Chinese family looked something like this: Glowing parents doting over one precious child. The taglines drummed it home: "One hope." "One joy." "One responsibility." Lately, the perfect television family has changed. In a recent commercial, a boy begrudgingly shares a toy with his younger sister, then they all gather together with a large brood to watch the televised Lunar New Year Gala. The message appears to be: Two is better than one. The change is extraordinary. Since the early 1980s, the Party has enforced a draconian one-child policy on most Chinese to curb population growth. When the propaganda didn't work, local officials have resorted to abortions, heavy fines, and forced sterilization. It's perhaps the most hated policy in China. Now, under relaxed restrictions announced just over a year ago, couples like Yang Xue and Chang Zi'an, both professionals working in Beijing, are eligible for a second child to join their baby girl -- 11-month-old Tao Zi, or Little Peach. Chang was an only child but sometimes wished for a sibling while growing up. "Once my cousin visited and we shared a bed for several nights," says Chang, now an engineer. "I enjoyed that feeling. I wished I had a brother who could share a bed with me every night." Chang and his young family live in Tongzhou, on the eastern outskirts of Beijing, where high rise apartments compete with mega malls. Some call the area "Tong-afornia," because its sprawl of young professionals is a bit like parts of the Golden State. They are ideal candidates, it would seem, to have a second child. The Party is in a race against the clock. China faces a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce. The government says the country could become home to the most elderly population on the planet in just 15 years, with more than 400 million over the age of 60. Researchers say healthcare and social services will all be burdened by the greying population, and the world's second largest economy will struggle to maintain its growth. "China has already begun to feel an unfolding crisis in terms of its population change," says Wang Feng, a professor at Fudan University and a leading demographic expert on China. "History will look back to see the one-child policy as one of the most glaring policy mistakes that China has made in its modern history." Perhaps surprisingly, Wang says that the one-child policy was both ineffective and unnecessary, since China's fertility rates were already slowing by the 1980s. The Chinese government still maintains that it was necessary to keep numbers down. But with around 150 million one-child families and a shrinking population, the Chinese government is moving cautiously, rather than doing away with the policy altogether. In January 2014, China said it would allow couples to have a second baby if the mother or father was an only child themselves. But, to the surprise of many, the new rules haven't yet sparked a baby boom. Nationwide, nearly one million couples have applied to have a second child, state media reported in January. Health officials had said that the policy would lead to as many as two million new births when the policy change was first announced. Yang and Chang both have good jobs, but rent in Tongzhou is sky-high. And they want to send little Tao Zi to a private bilingual English and Chinese pre-school to help her in the ultra-competitive Chinese education system. Even if they were richer, they say they wouldn't want a second child. "Money is only part of the problem," says Yang. "Your energy and your time is also important. We both have to work. It is hard enough to raise her as a success. It will be miserable if we had to go through that again." As for his cousin's sleepovers, Chang wants to clarify. "It was great having him over, but I was also happy when he went home." CNN's Shen Lu contributed to this report . +(CNN)There's been plenty of talk lately about how dangerous stereotypes can be when it comes to the empowerment of our girls and young women. For instance, the #LikeAGirl campaign, which took a hammer to the notion that doing anything "like a girl" should be viewed as an insult, has become an international sensation. Less discussed, though, is the reality that our boys face damaging stereotypes too. That was the motivation behind a recent workshop held by SheKnows Media, a leading women's lifestyle media company. A group of New York City tween boys ranging in age from 8 to 10 got together as part of the company's Hatch program, which focuses on teaching digital literacy and citizenship to the next generation. The boys were shown dozens of advertisements perpetuating hypermasculine stereotypes, such as images of men all muscled up and not wearing shirts. In one ad for a big truck, the boys heard the tag line "Can a truck change how people feel about a guy?" Is the 'be a man' stereotype hurting boys? Another advertisement, this one for a clothing company, showed a man from the waist down along with the caption "Wear the pants." "That's a man wearing the pants so that shows that men are in charge," said one of the boys, who's 9. What was clear was that this group of boys knew what the advertisers were trying to get them to think, but they weren't exactly buying it. "I play with girl toys and boy toys. I don't really care which one is meant for boys or for girls. I just play with them. They're toys," said another boy, also 9. "Man up" might mean toughen up and be unemotional, said another boy, who added that his image of what a man should be is completely different. "If I were to describe the perfect man, the words would be smart, not judgy, and kind," said the 10-year-old. 'Dad' gets a makeover in Super Bowl ads . These boys certainly can't speak for all tween boys, but their comments reflect what appears to be growing attention surrounding the use of gender stereotypes for boys as well as girls. Seventy-six percent of men who took part in a recent online survey by SheKnows Media admitted using phrases like "man up" and "be a man" toward boys. Of the more than 1200 men and women surveyed from across the country, 73% said boys are most often described as "aggressive," 69% said "strong" and 53% said "athletic." When the men were asked about stereotypes during their teen years, 72% said they became aware of physical attractiveness and 50% said they grew more conscious about weight. Kids as young as 5 concerned about body image . The awareness starts even earlier, according to a recent analysis of existing research on kids and body image by Common Sense Media, a child advocacy group. It found that over a third of boys ages 6 to 8 think their ideal weight should be thinner than their current body weight. "These are problems that are often thought of as problems for girls, but boys are just as impacted and they're exposed to unrealistic body images," said Ellen Pack, vice president of marketing for Common Sense Media, which is partnering with SheKnows Media to help parents understand the impact that media and technology are having on children. "The proportion of undressed males in advertising has been steadily on the rise since the 1980s," said Pack. "The same kinds of inappropriate messages that we're giving to our girls, we're giving to our boys too -- that they don't measure up, that they're not adequate." At the same time, there does appear to be more open-mindedness on what being masculine means to men and boys today, based on the poll's findings. Of the men surveyed by SheKnows, 78% said it was OK for boys to cry, 65% thought it was fine for boys to wear pink, and 55% of men said boys should be able to play dress-up. "You should be able to do your own things and do what you want," said one of the boys, who is 8. Sheryl Sandberg teams up with the NBA to get men to lean in . The takeaway for parents is that they, more than anyone or anything else, influence the stereotypes their boys will encounter and what impact those stereotypes will ultimately have on them. "We found the single most significant driver of their perception of what's OK for boys was their parents," said Samantha Skey, chief marketing officer for SheKnows Media. "It wasn't pop culture or Adam Levine or Usher. It was their parents," she said. "If their parents think they're strong and appropriately masculine, then they are. Period." Pack, of Common Sense Media, says parents should be talking about the issue to their boys when they are young, even as young as 5, and should call out stereotypes when they see them. "Don't just turn your eyes. Use it as an opportunity to engage in a conversation with your kids and challenge assumptions," Pack said. "When you are seeing things on TV that you think are unrealistic, point it out." I, for one, wish we could wipe out "be a man" and "man up" from all of our vocabularies. But, actually, why do we need to remove the language? We just need to change what it means. The tweens involved in the Hatch workshop offer some real-life evidence that that may be already happening. "When you go your own way, it feels good because you feel free and you can do what you want to do, and you don't have to do what other people say," one of the boys said. What do you think is the best way to empower boys and young men to tune out negative gender stereotypes? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter @kellywallacetv or CNN Living on Facebook. +Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN)Pakistani Armed Forces paramilitary personal stormed the headquarters of one of the country's most powerful regional opposition political parties in a predawn raid on Wednesday, seizing a stash of weapons and arresting several wanted criminals, officials said. The Rangers arrived unannounced early Wednesday morning, arrested five men and sealed off the party's headquarter for four hours. According to a press release from the MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) one of their party workers was shot fatally by rangers during the raid. "All telephone lines have been disconnected and premises ransacked. Computers and other electronic items have been confiscated. The Rangers also destroyed the electronic surveillance system that had been set up following the May 2013 bomb attacks by the Pakistan Taliban (TTP)," the release said. Rangers officials have not responded so far to these accusations. In a statement to the media, the Pakistan Rangers released a list of those arrested, including Faisal Mota, a former MQM worker who had been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia for the murder of journalist Wali Khan Babur. Speaking to the media, Rangers spokesperson Col.Tahir Mahmood also confirmed that a large amount of illegal weapons had been seized during the raid. "The weapons that we had were legal and there as a precautionary measure to deal with real threats from the Taliban against our party and its workers," Faisal Sabzwari, a senior MQM party leader told CNN. MQM is based in Karachi and is one of Pakistan's largest political parties. It has the second-largest contingent in the provincial assembly, with 54 of 130 seats. It styles itself as a voice for the downtrodden, the middle class and immigrants from nearby India, but political rivals accuse the party of using heavy-handed tactics, including intimidation, to stay in power. "The raid is meant to send a clear message that law enforcement agencies and Rangers in particular are not going to bow to any political convention," said Zarrar Khuhro, a senior journalist and political analyst in Karachi. MQM's party leader Altaf Hussain, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London called for calm, but criticized the raid saying that "it should not be the role of the armed forces to conduct extrajudicial operations on lawful organizations, least of all the headquarters of a democratically elected political party." Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said late Wednesday night that the raid was legal. The MQM has the clout to shut down the city in an hour, sparking general strikes which could last for days, locals say. In the aftermath, locals say businesses in Karachi have shut down, and gas pumps and schools are closed for fear violent protests could erupt in the streets. +(CNN)Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce Monday that he is launching his campaign to become the 2016 Republican nominee for president. Cruz has been positioning for this nomination almost since he entered the upper chamber in 2012. His announcement takes place at a bastion of conservatism, Liberty University, the institution founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell. Cruz is going to run from the right. He has spent much of his short career in Washington blasting the "mushy middle" of his party (which might be news to most Democrats), which he dismisses as a "failed electoral strategy." During a recent visit to New Hampshire, where he vowed to eliminate the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service, Cruz said that "I'm pretty sure, here in New Hampshire, y'all define gun control like we do in Texas: Gun control is when you hit at what you aim at." Fifty years ago, another Republican senator ran this kind of campaign, Arizona's Barry Goldwater, who took on President Lyndon Johnson. Cruz will test the conventional wisdom that Goldwater's strategy was and remains a failure. When Republicans voted to nominate him in 1964, Goldwater told the delegates that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice no virtue." When the icon of moderate Republicans, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, spoke to the convention, the delegates hissed and booed. The outcome was far from great for the GOP. Johnson defeated Goldwater in a landslide election that brought in huge liberal Democratic majorities that passed the exact programs that conservatives abhorred. Although Goldwater was clearly wrong when he ran in 1964, Cruz thinks that the times have changed. Is he right? Right now, the chances are not great. If Cruz really sticks to this strategy of extremism, he faces very long odds of making it to the White House. The strategy might help him to garner some primary votes against Jeb Bush in red states, but it is not an approach with a great track record. Even as the Republican Party has shifted to the right in recent decades, Republican candidates who have obtained the nomination, and those who have also won the presidency, always developed campaign themes that allowed them to appeal to broader coalitions than voters on the extremes. Ronald Reagan had anti-communism and tax cuts to attract voters into one big tent, and George H.W. Bush had a thousand points of light. His son George W. Bush emphasized policies tied to "compassionate conservatism" to prove that he was not an extreme zealot. Even Republicans who didn't win in the general elections, like John McCain and Mitt Romney, did not win the primary and caucus tallies by only playing to the base. Notwithstanding the conventional wisdom, even in primaries it seems that Republican voters understand the importance of finding someone who has the potential to win in November. This coming election will be tough for Republicans. As all the experts have shown, the electoral college math does not favor the GOP. Some experts have predicted that Democrats have over an 80% chance of winning the Electoral College. According to the Washington Post, if one looks at the states where the margin was narrow in the 2012 election, five currently favor Democrats (Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania) while in others, like Colorado, Democrats have a very good chance of winning as a result of demographic trends, namely growing minority populations that favor their party's nominee. Barring any dramatic changes in the coming months, Democrats will also have a very strong and seasoned nominee in Hillary Clinton. Cruz is also not just someone who defends extremism but a politician who can easily be tied to the congressional obstructionism that has turned off so much of the electorate. The Republican Party has been dragged down by the kind of politics that voters have observed in Washington. In 2014, congressional approval ratings plummeted to 14%. As the new year began, the approval ratings were only slightly better: just 16%. This is the congressional Republicanism where Cruz comes from. Many voters who like conservatism and the GOP don't love what their representatives are doing on Capitol Hill. The kind of scorched earth, always say no to anything politics has not done well in terms of the favorability ratings. There have been few practitioners of this style of legislative politics as prominent as Cruz. During his campaign for the presidency, he might pay the price for the kind of politics that brought him great attention in Congress. When Goldwater squared off against Johnson in 1964, the President predicted that there would be a "frontlash" of Republican and independent voters who would move way from the GOP just because Goldwater was at the top of the ticket. This was Johnson's response to predictions of a backlash in the South from Democrats who were angry about civil rights. The frontlash, Johnson explained to Bill Moyers is "liberals, independents, moderate Republicans." The electorate is not as likely to experience any dramatic swings like we saw in Midwestern states in 1964, where solidly Republican areas went Democratic because they were scared off by Goldwater, but a Cruz campaign could be exactly what Democrats need to cement victories in the swing states where the outcome is still uncertain. Monday, Cruz will bask in the spotlight of his announcement. But Republicans are going to have to really think hard about whether they want to put all of their electoral eggs in this volatile basket which, at least based on the history, has a very slim chance of winning. +(The Hollywood Reporter)Sam Simon, the nine-time Emmy Award-winning comedy writer and producer who helped develop "The Simpsons," made millions after leaving the show in 1993 and then donated his riches to charity, has died, his foundation announced on Facebook. He was 59. Simon was diagnosed in February 2013 with terminal colon cancer. Yet through it all, he tried to remain upbeat and keep his sense of humor. "The Museum of Broadcasting called and said, 'We were thinking about doing an archive interview with you. Do you mind if we did it now?' " Simon said with a laugh on Marc Maron's WTF podcast that first ran in May 2013. During his brief career, the influential Simon also served as the showrunner on the sitcom "Taxi" at the age of 23; wrote for and produced the comedies "Cheers" and "The Drew Carey Show"; and created a Fox series for the legendary stand-up comic George Carlin in the mid-1990s. Simon also wrote the 1991 film "The Super," a 20th Century Fox comedy starring Joe Pesci as a New York slumlord. Most recently, Simon was a consultant on the Charlie Sheen series "Anger Management" and hosted a show on Radioio.com. He showed up frequently on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show and in March 2013 thanked the acerbic host for being "the perfect friend." Story: Terminally Ill 'Simpsons' Co-Creator Vows to Give Away Fortune . A cartoonist and Stanford graduate, Simon developed "The Simpsons" with Matt Groening (who came up with the characters based on his family) and producer James L. Brooks. All three had worked on "The Tracey Ullman Show," where Bart Simpson and his family got their start as animated sketches shown before and after commercials. "The Simpsons," centering on TV's "first fully self-aware dysfunctional family," as Simon put it, debuted on Fox on December 17, 1989, and is now the longest-running primetime series in American history. Ken Levine, an Emmy winner who has written for "The Simpsons" and other sitcoms, described Simon's contribution to the show during a 2009 interview published in Stanford Magazine. "Sam brought a level of honesty to the characters," Levine said. "Is it too bizarre to say he made cartoon characters three-dimensional? His comedy is all about character, not just a string of gags. In 'The Simpsons,' the characters are motivated by their emotions and their foibles. 'What are they thinking?' -- that is Sam's contribution. The stories come from the characters." Simon also is credited with assembling the show's elite writing team that included Al Jean, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Mike Reiss, Jon Vitti and Conan O'Brien. Story: James L. Brooks on 'Simpsons' journey . "I remember Sam coming into the room, and me pitching to him and initially being really intimidated," O'Brien told Vanity Fair in 2007. "He's hilarious. It was fun to try and make him laugh. I remember that about Sam. If I could make Sam laugh, I was excited." Tired of the grind, Simon exited the show in 1993 after four seasons but worked out a deal tied to home video sales that he said paid him "tens of millions" every year. The agreement also guaranteed him executive producer credit long after he departed, and his name appears in the credits of every episode. A couple of years after he left, Simon knew he would have enough money to retire from show business. He was in his mid-30s. As detailed in The Hollywood Reporter's 2013 Philantrophy Issue, Simon's charitable contributions include founding the Malibu-based Sam Simon Foundation (worth nearly $23 million as of 2011) that rescues the hungry and feeds stray dogs. His other pet charities include PETA, which in February thanked him for his support by naming its Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters The Sam Simon Center; international nonprofit Save the Children; and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a global marine conservation organization. His generosity led the latter in 2012 to name one of the four ships in its fleet of vessels -- used to hinder whaling and illegal fishing -- the M/Y Simon. Simon also turned a Malibu spread into a canine haven that rescues dogs from kill shelters and trains them as companions for the deaf. "The sort of lifetime achievement stuff that I'm getting now is kind of like Tom Sawyer's funeral because they all know I'm sick," Simon told THR's Gary Baum. "I am getting buildings named after me and awards and stuff. The truth is, I have more money than I'm interested in spending. Everyone in my family is taken care of. And I enjoy this." In May 2014, it was revealed that Simon spent $60,000 to rescue an abused thoroughbred. Simon, who won eight of his Emmys for writing/producing "The Simpsons" (many after he left) and one for producing "The Tracey Ullman Show," was married to and divorced from actress Jennifer Tilly (1984 to 1991) and Playboy Playmate Jami Ferrell (for mere weeks in 2000). Neither marriage produced any children. Born June 6, 1955, Simon grew up in Beverly Hills in an era when the neighborhood was "quaint," as he put it. Groucho Marx lived across the street, and he recalled walking into his parents' room as a youngster and finding the legendary comic and his mom sitting on the bed. (He stressed they weren't about to have sex.) Another time, Elvis Presley returned the dog that Simon had lost. While at Stanford, Simon drew cartoons for the local newspapers in San Francisco and the school paper and landed a job at Filmation Studios doing storyboards for "The New Adventures of Mickey Mouse" and "Heckle & Jeckle." Simon scored his first TV writing gig on the animated "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" in 1979. He mailed in a script to "Taxi" (co-created by Brooks) that was accepted, and that led to a staff writing position and then the job as showrunner. Simon also went on to direct episodes of the Carlin show, "The Drew Carey Show," "Friends," "Norm" and "Anger Management." An avid poker player, Simon re-created his home game in a penthouse at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas for a Playboy TV show in 2009. The show also featured Tilly -- a very good player -- as well as comedians Dave Attell, Norm Macdonald, Jeffrey Ross and Artie Lange. Another one of Simon's more eclectic pursuits was working the corner at amateur fights and serving as president of Sweet Science Inc., which managed boxer Lamon Brewster. His fighter stunningly knocked out Wladimir Klitschko to win a share of the heavyweight championship in 2004. During his chat with Maron, Simon noted that the way to know when to put down your ailing dog is to "list the three things he loves to do. When he can't do those any longer, it's time. "One of my three things is laying in bed and watching TV. So by that criteria, I will never be euthanized." Later, talking about all the millions he's given to charity, he added: "I kinda like it when people talk about me as a special person. But I know I would be a nut if I didn't have a lot of money." People we've lost in 2015 . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)A previously unknown species of catfish has been named for the wide-eyed, puckered-mouth "Star Wars" character it resembles. Its scientific name is Peckoltia greedoi, and it is known for its large, dark eyes, puckered lips and protruding bristles. But you can call him Greedo, in honor of the bounty hunter from "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope." You might remember him from the cantina scene on Mos Eisley, where he was killed by Han Solo while attempting to collect on a debt for Jabba the Hutt. "I think it was the whole package that evoked Greedo, but particularly the eyes and the underslung mouth," said Jonathan Armbruster, biological sciences professor and curator of fishes at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History. Armbruster made the connection in September with colleagues David Werneke, Milton Tan and Chris Hamilton. But, like many things in academia, it took a while to make it official. The specimens were found in 1998 by researchers along the Gurupi River in Brazil. Armbruster obtained them in 2005 from a museum in Porto Alegre for a manuscript he was preparing on the genus, "thinking they were unusual." He designated them as another existing species, Peckoltia vittata, in a 2008 paper, "although I had not been comfortable with that designation." He examined them again in September and discovered they were different from Peckoltia vittata. After talking it over with his colleagues, they realized he was a clear ringer for Greedo. "As a 7-year-old kid, I watched "Star Wars" in the theater, and it was a life-changing experience for me," said Armbruster. "I became a lifelong fan, and I now share that with my son. Greedo has always been a personal favorite of mine." Greedo became the object of controversy when Lucasfilm re-released the original Star Wars trilogy in 1997. A reworked scene showed Greedo firing a shot at Solo before Solo fired back. In the 1977 release, Han is the only one to fire, prompting backlash from fans and giving rise to the phrase "Han Shot First." +(CNN)Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based Islamist terror group, has pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to an audio message purported to be from Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau. In the audio, which was posted online Saturday, the speaker says Boko Haram is announcing its "allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi," which is another name for ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. CNN has not been able to independently authenticate the message. But Jacob Zenn, an expert on the terror group and is with the Jamestown Foundation, said the recording appeared to be authentic. He said that while other messages have been faked, the speaker in this one is Shekau. "Boko Haram joining the ISIS fold makes sense to both groups," he said from Abuja, Nigeria. "Boko Haram will get legitimacy, which will help its recruiting, funding and logistics as it expands into (French-speaking) West Africa. It will also get guidance from ISIS in media warfare and propaganda. Previously Boko Haram was a sort of outcast in the global Jihadi community. Now it is perhaps ISIS's biggest affiliate. "ISIS gets more international legitimacy as a global caliphate." Zenn said the allegiance will be official when an ISIS leader such as spokesman Abu Mohammed al Adnani issues a statement. Boko Haram has had two main factions -- one led by Shekau and the other comprising former members of Ansaru, a Boko Haram offshoot. Ansaru had been operating from around 2012 as the Nigerian wing of AQIM (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). After the French-led intervention in Mali in 2013, a significant number of Ansaru members re-integrated with Shekau, Zenn told CNN. The prerequisite for Boko Haram joining ISIS coalition was a coming together of two factions. ISIS connected with former Ansaru fighters within Boko Haram and pressed them to further unify the group's ranks. The result was the formation of a unity general command between the two factions. That involved bridging of some ideological differences between the al Qaeda-like Ansaru and the ultra extreme "takfiri"-like Shekau. The pledge follows a period during which Shekau's faction had been mimicking ISIS, including praising al-Baghdadi and featuring his image in their videos and photos. Zenn said that until recently there had been little feedback from ISIS, apart from a few references to Nigerian jihadis in recent issues of the English-language Dabiq magazine. It appears that a month ago ISIS set up a Twitter account on which Saturday's message was linked, Zenn said. The Twitter handle was mutually promoted by Boko Haram and ISIS. In July, Shekau voiced support for ISIS, and declared a overtaken town in northeast Nigeria to be part of an Islamic caliphate. But he also said he was praying for al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar. U.S. intelligence officials have some doubts the two groups would get along. The CIA's analysis has been that Boko Haram is very African and rooted in that region's Islamic practices, even if they have similar fundamentalist interpretations of Islam. And ISIS's Arab leadership and membership tends to have racist attitudes toward blacks, not unlike the society they come from. ISIS leaders view Shekau as inferior, partly for racist reasons, the CIA indicated at a briefing for reporters. Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is sin," has been waging a yearslong campaign of terror aimed at instituting its extreme version of Sharia law. Boko Haram's tactics have intensified in recent years, from battling Nigerian government soldiers to acts disproportionately affecting civilians -- such as raids on villages, mass kidnappings, assassinations, market bombings and attacks on churches and unaffiliated mosques. Much of this violence has taken place in Nigeria. But neighboring countries, such as Cameroon and Chad, have also been hit increasingly hard. CNN's Steve Almasy and Evan Perez contributed to this story. +London (CNN)The handwritten checklist looks like something any teenaged girl might make ahead of a vacation trip: makeup, bras, underwear, boots, an epilator. But this list was apparently made by the three UK schoolgirls suspected of traveling from London to Syria to join ISIS, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper, which has seen the document. The girls' families told British lawmakers Tuesday they had no idea what the girls were planning, and said they were baffled by the teenagers' decision to leave their homes and families. The three East London classmates -- Shamima Begum, 15; Kadiza Sultana, 16; and Amira Abase, 15 -- boarded a Turkish Airlines plane from London's Gatwick Airport to Istanbul on February 17. They are thought to have crossed the Turkish border into Syria within days. Relatives also had harsh words for police, who they said failed to keep them informed after a close friend of the girls headed to Syria in December. Amira Abase's father, Hussen Abase, told lawmakers at a hearing of the Home Affairs Select Committee that he had no idea his daughter was planning to go or that she might have been radicalized. Sahima Begum, the older sister of Shamima Begum, said her sister had been into "normal teenage things," like watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," reading and playing games on her phone. There was nothing to indicate she was radicalized, she said. Fahmida Aziz, first cousin of Kadiza Sultana, said that if the family had spotted any signs of radicalization, "we would have been very effective in stepping in and querying" that thinking. She also said she had no idea how her cousin accessed the money needed for the trip. Committee chairman Keith Vaz said it was "every parent's nightmare that this should happen" and said he could only imagine the families' distress and anguish. Who are the missing UK girls? The families' criticism of law enforcement hinges on a February 5 letter from the police which was given to the three girls to give to their parents, rather than being sent directly to the parents. The families claim they were not told about a 15-year-old friend of the girls going to Syria weeks earlier -- and say that had they known, they might have been able to prevent their daughters from traveling too. Metropolitan Police Chief Bernard Hogan-Howe apologized for his officers' failure to get the letter directly to the parents, in his testimony before the committee. But he also pointed out the difficulties for police in conducting what was at that time a missing person inquiry for the first girl who left, with no sign that these three were planning to follow suit. Hogan-Howe said police were reviewing their procedures in light of what had happened. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley told the committee there was a "steady flow" of girls trying to travel to Syria, perhaps one or two a month. He said subsequent police investigations indicated the three girls had paid in cash for their plane tickets to Turkey at a local travel agency, using money linked to the theft of jewelry from their families. None of the girls was reported missing until several hours after the flight had left for Istanbul. However, the families' lawyer asked how they had managed, as minors, to board the flight without being challenged. CCTV footage also later showed that the girls spent much of the next day waiting at a bus station on the outskirts of Istanbul -- raising more questions about why they were not spotted then and whether UK police had communicated effectively with Turkish authorities. Rowley said that two people have been arrested in relation to child abduction in relation to the first girl who went missing, who has not been named. Asked how the UK might be able to get the girls back, Rowley cited an incentive: As long as they're not connected to terrorist offenses, they'll be able to return to their families. Rowley said police have no evidence that the girls have been involved in terrorism-related activities, and if that remained the case, they wouldn't be treated as terrorists upon their return. Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West? The list was reportedly found in the bedroom of one of the girls and handed to police after her family realized she was missing. It detailed items to buy, such as underwear, a mobile phone and cosmetics, and estimated travel costs, apparently totaling £2,190 ($3,296). The biggest single cost was the three plane tickets to Turkey, the newspaper said, at just over £1,000. The list, written on a page from a diary planner, had initials indicating which of the girls was to buy what or who the items were for. It's not clear where they would have gotten the money to meet the costs. Over the weekend, the girls' families asked for an apology from London's Metropolitan Police over the force's handling of the case. The police said in a statement Saturday that after the first girl went missing in December, a police officer spoke to seven of her school friends at Bethnal Green Academy -- including Shamima, Kadiza, and Amira -- as potential witnesses who might have information about the missing girl. A deputy principal at the girls' school was present for the meeting and afterward contacted the parents of the seven girls, on the advice of police, and told them that the girls' friend, referred to only as "Girl 1," had been reported missing. An officer who then spoke to the same group of girls on February 5 gave them the letters addressed to their parents asking for further help from their daughters, the police statement said. But not all the letters were passed on. "With the benefit of hindsight, we acknowledge that the letters could have been delivered direct to the parents," the police statement said. "However, the parents were already aware from the Deputy Head that Girl 1 had been reported missing, all the teenagers were all being co-operative, they were all being treated as potential witnesses and there was nothing whatsoever to indicate that they themselves were planning to travel to Syria." What is ISIS' appeal for young people? Days before they left for Turkey, at least one of the girls allegedly contacted a young woman, Aqsa Mahmood, who left her home in Scotland to travel to Syria in 2013 and is accused of trying to recruit others via social media. She has posted tips for girls and young women wanting to travel to Syria to marry jihadis, as she did. Her blog also has links to advice posted by another jihad supporter, which recommends that those traveling to Syria seek to pack the essentials but not too much, since they may need to move often and at short notice, while remaining inconspicuous. Missing teens seen on video in Turkey before going to Syria . +Selma, Alabama (CNN)Crowds massed at a bridge in Selma, Alabama, Sunday to remember and reflect upon the sacrifices of another crowd that gathered at the same bridge half a century ago on a day that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday." Walkers marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the afternoon to commemorate those freedom-marchers who were clubbed and tear-gassed by state troopers as they peacefully filed across on March 7, 1965. The crowd was massive. It was shoulder to shoulder near the bridge and several blocks away. There were so many people that walking is a bit misleading -- people just really moved inch by inch along the way. The protest decades ago against the denial of civil rights to Americans based solely on the color of their skin, and the television coverage of the bludgeoning dealt them, hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. On Sunday at Selma's Brown Chapel AME, a historically black church, leaders in the religious and political realm as well as community organizers gathered to hear speeches, sing hymns and remember what happened 50 years ago. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was in the audience. Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke, as did Rev. Al Sharpton. An important figure in the decades-long fight for civil rights, former Atlanta Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young remembered the struggle in the 1960s but wanted everyone to keep pushing forward and thinking about achieving economic equality today. "We've got to focus on ourselves not as problems but as visionaries," he said. "We have come a long, long way, but I have enjoyed every bit of it," Young remarked. Several people remarked at how much it meant that the day before, on Saturday, America's first African-American President, Barack Obama, made a rousing speech on racial progress in a diverse country. He said that the struggle against discrimination continues today. Looking back, the "Bloody Sunday" march was triggered when a law officer shot a black man dead the month before. But it was about more -- the right to vote for all Americans. About 600 people were going to march 50 miles to the state capital in Montgomery before they were forcibly stopped. Sunday's festivities started with a breakfast and end late with a dance. A string of parades, receptions, reflections, films and discussions will fill the time in between. The commemoration marking 50 years since "Bloody Sunday" continues on Monday. "Our march is not yet finished. But we are getting closer," Obama said Saturday, his words echoing into a crowd of thousands lined up in front of him. Obama emphasized that a day of commemoration is not enough to repay the debt paid by the marchers who were beaten 50 years ago as they demonstrated for voting rights. "If Selma taught us anything, it's that our work is never done," the President said near Edmund Pettus Bridge. Read President Obama's prepared remarks . The President said that what civil rights marchers did years ago "will reverberate through the ages. Not because the change they won was preordained; not because their victory was complete; but because they proved that nonviolent change is possible; that love and hope can conquer hate." He hailed the marchers as heroes. The President said that "the Americans who crossed this bridge, they were not physically imposing, but they gave courage to millions. They held no elected office. But they led a nation." The President called on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the law that required certain states with a history of racial discrimination at the polls to "pre-clear" any changes to the law with the federal government before implementing them. Efforts to revive key provisions of the act have stalled in Congress. 50 years later: Memories from 'Bloody Sunday' nurse . Many of the nation's leaders, activists and celebrities were in Selma on Saturday attending various activities taking place in memory of the historic event. On Saturday, Rep. John Lewis -- one of the demonstrators bloodied by troopers 50 years ago -- and nearly 100 other members of Congress from both parties joined the President at the bridge in Selma -- a bridge that still bears the name of Pettus, a Confederate general who was also a Ku Klux Klan leader. "We must use this moment to recommit ourselves to do all we can to finish this work. There's still work to be done," said Lewis, adding this is an opportunity to "redeem the soul of America." John Lewis's memories of the march . Reflecting a sense of change in the half century since "Bloody Sunday," and with Selma again in a national media spotlight, the mood in the crowd Saturday was of unity, and talks were focused on how to move America forward. But some current Selma residents worried that after the dignitaries leave their town -- with a population 82% black and with more than 40% of its people living below the national poverty level -- will fade from view except for its historical significance. Geraldine Martin, 59, has lived in Selma all her life. She was 9 years old on "Bloody Sunday" and with her mother had just welcomed a little sister, Belinda, to the world on that day. The two sisters grew up in Selma less than a decade apart. Opinion: Selma's historic bridge deserves a better name . Belinda left Selma after high school and now lives in Atlanta. Her view of Selma has changed over the years -- looking in from the outside. "I don't see how Selma will move forward without togetherness," said Belinda. "There is no diversity in Selma. People don't live together." CNN's Moni Basu reported from Selma. CNN's Slma Shelbayah wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN's Steve Almasy and Douglas Brinkley contributed to this report. +Tunis (CNN)Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi confirmed that a third person took part in last week's Bardo museum terror attack in an interview Sunday with French TV Station iTele. "There were for certain three terrorists," Essebsi said. "There is one on the run. He will not get far." Previously two suspects had been identified -- Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaou -- though it wasn't immediately clear if they were the pair killed at the museum by Tunisian security forces. He said Yassine was "known to the security services, he was flagged and monitored," but not known or being followed for anything special. Authorities have arrested nine people in connection with the attack, including four directly linked to it, according to Essebsi. The development came a day after the bodies of four Italian tourists slain in the attack arrived back in Italy, an official with the Tunis Crisis Center told CNN, but 14 victims' remains still lie in the morgue. Most of the 23 victims were foreigners, making the process of identification more complicated. Nineteen of them were tourists who'd been on two cruise ships that docked in Tunis. French, Spanish, Italian, British, Japanese, Russian and Colombian citizens are among those to have been formally identified so far. The bodies of the Italians were met in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who paid his respects to the victims and their families in a brief ceremony. Eleven people who were injured in the attack remained in the hospital in Tunisia on Saturday, the official at the Tunis Crisis Center said. An uncle of Yassine Labidi, Abeld Malik Labidi, told CNN on Friday that no one he knew had seen any signs of extremism in his 26-year-old nephew. But he said Yassine Labidi was one of the two gunmen killed at the museum. "It's true that Yassine carried out this terrorist attack, he was killed; his head, his body, we don't have it back," he said. But, he said, he believed Yassine and other young Tunisians like him were also victims of terrorism -- of the recruiters who paid them money, organized the logistics and took them to places like Syria and Libya to train as fighters. He had known his nephew well, he said. "After the revolution of 2011 he started to pray, before he would drink beers from time to time, like a young Tunisian. He wasn't extreme in any way." The only thing that raised questions was that Yassine had disappeared for about a month, he said. Although his nephew said he'd gone to the Tunisian city of Sfax to work, his family now suspected he had been in Libya because of the phone numbers he called from. "When he came back his behavior was the same: he was still himself, calm, serious. Nobody noticed anything, even the neighbors I spoke to," said Abeld Malik Labidi. "He said hello to everyone, he prayed, he took his coffee, even on the day of the attack he took his coffee with his family and went to work." Abeld Malik Labidi said Yassine's father, sister and brother had undergone lengthy interrogations by anti-terror police since the attack. Officers had seized his nephew's computer and phone, as well as taking samples of his fingerprints, he said. A cousin of Yassine, who asked not to be named, told CNN that the family was shocked by what had happened. "We are all shocked, we lost someone even if what he did was wrong, may God forgive him. Those he killed were innocent, why would you go and harm Australians or Japanese ... our Islam doesn't mention about killing people, Islam has never been this," he said. He also said he had no idea how his cousin had been radicalized, saying he was "a normal Tunisian guy ... but not an extremist." Security Minister Rafik Chelly said on Friday that the two extremists who attacked the museum got weapons training at camps in Libya. The suspects were activated from sleeper cells in Tunisia, he said. He did not say which group activated them, or with whom they trained. "They left the country illegally last December for Libya, and they were able to train with weapons there," he told private broadcaster AlHiwar Ettounsi TV. Like Tunisia, Libya saw its longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi ousted during the regional wave of revolutions known as the Arab Spring. But unlike its neighbor to the west, Libya has been fraught with more instability and violence -- much of it perpetrated by Islamist militants. In an audio message posted online Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, which it said targeted "crusaders and apostates" with "automatic weapons and hand grenades." CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. That bloodshed is "just the start," the ISIS message warned -- a threat that may or may not be hollow, but nonetheless adds extra urgency for Tunisian investigators. CNN's Claudia Rebaza reported from Tunis and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Radina Gigova and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +New Delhi (CNN)In an unusual public raid in India, thousands stormed a jail and dragged out a rape suspect before beating him to death on the streets, authorities said Friday. The 35-year-old suspect, who was described as an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, died from severe injuries before officers could rescue him, said L.L. Doungal, a police official in the remote Nagaland state, where the attack occurred Thursday evening. "There were thousands of them. Many of them were students in uniform," Doungal said, referring to the mobs involved in the incident. The suspect was accused of raping a local woman last month. Since the attack, tensions have grown between the native Nagas and Bangladeshi migrants in the district, police said. Thousands of protesters demanding cancellation of trade permits for Bengali-speaking settlers tore into the prison complex Thursday and pulled out the suspect, Doungal said. Police initially used teargas and bamboo canes to rescue the man, but it didn't work, he said. "There were students in uniform. So, we had to use minimum force," Doungal added. Later, police opened fire, but it was too late to save the suspect. Protesters had planned a public hanging, but the suspect died from injuries in the attack, according to authorities. "We retrieved his body before it could be hung," Doungal said. Dimapur town has been placed under a curfew. "The situation is still volatile," he said. India made international headlines this month when it banned a documentary showing an interview with a convicted rapist, who blamed his victim and said she "should just be silent and allow the rape." Outrage has grown following the incident, which gives a window into the violence against women in the nation. The woman in the documentary incident was attacked by five men on a public bus in 2012. She later died from her injuries, sparking an outcry worldwide. New Delhi police said the interview was banned because of its potential to breed disorder. Filmmaker: India's ban on documentary is 'based on nothing' CNN's Faith Karimi contributed to this report . +(The Hollywood Reporter)Albert Maysles, who collaborated along with his late brother David in a documentary film career that included the troubling 1970 concert documentary "Gimme Shelter," has died. He was 88. The director and cinematographer, an Oscar nominee, died Thursday at his home in Manhattan of natural causes, Stacey Farrar, marketing director at the Maysles Center in New York, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. "Gimme Shelter" -- which chronicled the 1969 Rolling Stones tour that culminated in the Altamont Free Concert, in which a fan brandishing a gun was stabbed to death by a Hells Angels security man — stood in a stark and more enduring counterpoint to the myth of the documentary "Woodstock," a depiction of the glorified 1969 free concert whose own dark side was left out in its pre-conceived, celebratory style. Their most well-known film, "Grey Gardens" (1975), was a profile of Jacqueline Onassis' eccentric cousins -- mother and daughter Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier -- who lived in a dilapidated, cat-packed estate in East Hampton, New York. The brothers worked with fellow directors Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer on the film, which was remade as a Tony-winning Broadway play and as an award-winning 2009 HBO drama that starred Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. Just prior to "Gimme Shelter," they filmed "Salesman" (1969), which covered six weeks in the lives of four door-to-door Bible salesmen. The brothers, who preferred the moniker of filmmaker rather than director, often focused on musical figures. Maysles was a cameraman on D.A. Pennebaker's "Monterey Pop" (1968), about the celebrated California music festival that featured electrifying performances from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. TCM Classic Film Fest: Albert Maysles on Freeing Cameras, Capturing Truths (Video) During that period of their career, they also collaborated on such direct cinemas as "What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A." (1964), "With Love From Truman" (1966) and "Meet Marlon Brando" (1966), which premiered at the New York Film Festival. In 1968, they made "Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic," and the following year, they shot "Horowitz Plays Mozart," also for TV. "People are people. We're out to discover what is going on behind the scenes and get as close as we can to what is happening," he said of their cinematic style. There were often emotional reactions to their films; fans applauded them for the trust they developed with their subjects, allowing them to reveal long-repressed feelings or telling insights. Their style -- with their subjects caught by a hand-held camera and shotgun mike -- was in the tradition of such documentarians as Frederick Wiseman. However, cinema verite "purists" argued that the Maysleses sometimes exploited the content, particularly in regard to the omniscient editing of "Gimme Shelter," where their flashback storytelling style created a dramatic foreboding and "imposed" a narrative on the Stones' tour. Flashbacking from Mick Jagger reviewing their footage, with Altamont's horrific memory in the recent past, "Gimme Shelter" punctuated a feeling of dread as the events moved inexorably to the tour's cataclysmic end. Originally, the "free concert" was planned to happen in San Francisco, but logistics went askew and it ended up at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California. Muddled by inadequate planning and the darkness at the fringes of the peace/love zeitgeist, the concert was a ghoulish nightmare. Admittedly, the Maysleses straddled a line between artistic license and nonfiction narrative. "Al and Dave often argue that all they're doing is filming what's there. The detail is comment: fingers scratching, soft focusing. A filmmaker is always making comments," cinematographer Haskell Wexler once opined in a Village Voice article. He and his brother, who died in January 1987 at age 55, received an Oscar nomination for the 28-minute short "Christo's Valley Curtain" (1974), about the artist's first public work. That year, Albert shot film of the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman 1974 heavyweight title bout in Zaire that would become the 1996 Oscar-winning documentary "When We Were Kings." Maysles won three Emmys, two for his work with his brother on "The Last Romantic" and "Soldiers of Music" (1991) and one for "Abortion: Desperate Choices" (1991). In 2001, he shot "Lalee's Kin: A Legacy of Cotton" for HBO, a depiction of rural poverty in the Mississippi Delta that he created with Susan Froemke and Deborah Dickson, with whom he also worked on "Desperate Choices." Maysles also filmed half-hour portraits of filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Robert Duvall and Jane Campion, and he remained quite active in his later years. Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2015 . He was born November 26, 1926, in Boston and raised in nearby Brookline, Massachusetts. He got a B.A. at Syracuse University and a masters at Boston University, where he subsequently taught. During World War II, he was stationed at the U.S. Army's Headquarters Intelligence School in Oberammergau, Germany. In the mid-1950s, Maysles traveled to Russia, where he made a 1955 film on mental health care and psychiatry in Russia. It was shown on NBC's "Today" show and by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. In 1957, the brothers began working as a team. They traveled from Munich to Moscow by motorcycle and made a film about the Polish student revolution, 'Youth in Poland," which was televised by NBC. Next, they worked on an experimental TV project for Time Inc., with Maysles shooting Primary and Yanqui No! In 1962, they formed their own company. They made "Showman," a portrait of movie magnate Joseph E. Levine that brought them attention. The film was acclaimed on the festival circuit, but the Maysles dubbed it an "expensive resume." They subsequently won a Guggenheim Fellowship in Experimental Film. People we've lost in 2015 . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)A Russian property developer, a Chinese outfit operating shell companies and Venezuelan officials ripping off the state-owned oil companies -- all of them are accused of coming to a bank in the European principality of Andorra to "wash" their money. Now the U.S. Treasury is casting a spotlight on the alleged misdeeds of senior managers at the Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA), several of whom have been arrested in the past few days. The Treasury Department has alleged that "high-level managers [at BPA] accepted payments and other benefits from their criminal clients." The Andorran authorities took over the running of the bank after the Treasury revelations, and the director general of the Banca Privada, Joan Pau Miquel Prats, was arrested late Friday. Two more bank officials were arrested Sunday. Tiny Andorra, nestled in the rugged Pyrenees mountains, has two big neighbors. One is France. And the scandal has spread to its other neighbor, Spain, where corruption among public officials is a hot-button political issue. Prats had driven BPA's expansion into Spain, through its acquisition of Banco Madrid, in 2011. Banco Madrid caters to wealthy private clients and came under investigation by Spanish financial authorities last year. Since the BPA scandal broke, the commission that investigates illicit financial activity, Sepblac, has raised questions about accounts held by influential Spanish political and business figures at the Banco Madrid. They have not been named. The Central Bank has taken control of Banco Madrid and sent in two inspectors to examine accounts there. The bank's board, which included Prats and a former high-ranking official of the Central Bank, resigned on Thursday. Spanish officials say some 20 suspect operations at the bank are being examined. Spanish authorities are separately investigating substantial assets held at the Banca Privada d'Andorra by members of the Pujol family, who have long been prominent in the politics of Catalonia, a region of Spain that includes Barcelona. The director of the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, said that "BPA's corrupt high-level managers and weak antimoney laundering controls have made BPA an easy vehicle for third-party money launderers to funnel proceeds of organized crime, corruption and human trafficking through the U.S. financial system." BPA has correspondent accounts with four banks -- HSBC, Citigroup, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank -- through which hundreds of millions of dollars passed. Senior managers at BPA tailored services to their clients to disguise the origin of funds, the Treasury said. One manager provided "substantial assistance" to a Russian client, Andrei Petrov, described by the Treasury as a "third-party money launderer working for Russian criminal organizations." Petrov had also received a line of credit from Banco Madrid and is alleged to have bribed local officials in the resort where he set up a property development company. He was arrested in Spain two years ago and is accused of helping launder some 56 million euros ($59 million) in proceeds from Russian criminal organizations. Petrov is yet to go on trial. According to the U.S. Treasury, Petrov has links with one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, Simeon Mogilevich. BPA is also alleged to have helped Venezuelan money launderers siphon funds from the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela. "This money-laundering network worked closely with high-ranking government officials in Venezuela, resident agents in Panama, and an Andorran lawyer to establish Panamanian shell companies," the Treasury said. BPA processed about $2 billion in transactions by shell companies related to the scheme. Treasury said another senior official at BPA accepted bribes in return for processing bulk cash transfers for a Chinese money launderer, Gao Ping, who was arrested in Spain in September 2012. "Through his associate, Ping bribed Andorran bank officials to accept cash deposits into less scrutinized accounts and transfer the funds to suspected shell companies in China," it said in a statement. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has reacted to the growing scandal by downgrading Andorra's rating. Andorra is highly dependent on its banking sector, which makes up some 20% of its GDP. Spain has long battled the presence of Russian organized crime on its soil. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, wealthy Russians came to Spain for its climate and what were then lax financial controls. Among them were more than a few "vory v zakone," the top echelon of Russian organized crime, according to Spanish officials. Spanish prosecutor Jose Grinda Gonzalez told U.S. officials five years ago that these individuals had no known jobs and unknown sources of income, yet they lived in large mansions. Grinda's remarks were reported in a diplomatic cable later published by WikiLeaks. Grinda had prosecuted Zakhar Kalashov, a Georgian-born, Russian citizen widely regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the Russian mafia. Last year, before he completed his nine-year sentence, a Spanish appeals court deported Kalashov to Russia, where he is now a free man. Another Spanish prosecutor, Fernando Bermejo, told US officials in 2009 that there was large scale money-laundering going on in Catalonia and "many, many" members of the Russian mafia were active there. Because of growing international cooperation, Spanish prosecutors have stepped up their pursuit of alleged gang leaders, money launderers and embezzlers from Eastern Europe. Among the latest to be detained is a former finance minister from Ukraine, Yuriy Kolobov. He was detained at a luxury development in Alicante earlier this month, after prosecutors in Kiev charged him with embezzlement and is awaiting extradition. Kolobov was a minister in the government of President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Ukraine during street protests a year ago. Helena Cavendish de Moura contributed to this report . +(CNN)Five Muslim women stand tall in a boxing ring, slowly winding strapping around their hands. A spotlight is trained on them and the audience draws close, hanging on their every word. "How can we be truthful if we have to hide out of shame, feel humiliated for feeling, for saying, doing, thinking as we please? How can that be freedom, how can that be truth?" Performed at Southbank Centre's WOW -- Women of the World Festival -- Common Wealth Theatre's "No Guts, No Heart, No Glory," tells the true story of Muslim female boxers from Bradford in the north of England, and how they are using the sport to transcend religious and gender barriers. The critically acclaimed show -- in which the women stamp, dance, shout, swear, punch, and even crowd surf -- was partly inspired by Ambreen Sadiq, a former UK national champion, and one of Britain's first Muslim female boxers. Her journey to success wasn't easy -- as a victim of bullying at the age of 13 she found respite in boxing after being introduced to it by her father and brother. "I got bullied quite a lot growing up, my dad's Pakistani and my mum's Portuguese," Sadiq told CNN. "I got stick from both sides, from white and black people. I felt like I wasn't accepted. I used to move schools so many times just to feel accepted. "People would stay stuff about how I looked... everyone said that's a boy's sport, what are you doing that for? You're going to look like a man, like a transsexual. "I was bullied from such a young age, I felt like it was never going to stop. Boxing helped me to control that anger." It was a transformative experience for Sadiq -- she went from being quiet, having few friends and getting into fights to plucking up courage to start conversations, and thereby build self confidence. "Instead of punching someone in the face I'd punch the bag," she added. "If anyone came up to me and said anything I could just walk away from it -- whereas before I'd just straight punch them in the face or something. So it's helped me a lot with discipline." It's sometimes hard to imagine Sadiq as a boxer -- her movements are calm and assured, and a kind smile is never far from her lips. "Boxing has made me the person I am today, and I'm so proud of the person I am," said the 20-year-old trailblazer, who is now looked up to by girls from all kinds of communities wanting to follow in her footsteps. "I've had a lot of girls -- not just Asian girls -- coming up to me and asking, how do you stop people saying it's a boy's sport? How can you convince your parents to let you box?" While boxing for many is just a sport -- albeit a violent one -- when it comes to women and Muslims participating it can feel more like a cause, with Sadiq often finding herself explaining her motivation to girls. "What's the difference if a boy boxes or if a girl boxes? When we're in that ring we look like boxers -- we don't look like a girl or a boy. "You come into that gym, you come into that show, you come into that ring thinking I'm a boxer, not that I'm a girl or I'm a boy." The role of Nicola Adams -- the first ever female boxer to win an Olympic gold medal -- has also been key in the fight for acceptance. Sadiq tells the story of how several years ago her coach Alwyn Belcher, who also worked with Adams, originally refused to train women -- that is, until he turned up to coach the GB team (believing they'd be men) only to find an enthusiastic bunch of women ready to work. "That's the day he met Nicola Adams," recalls Sadiq with a laugh. "He said from that day he thought girls were better boxers -- because they like to listen." Since Adams' success at the Olympic Games, females boxing once a week increased by 79% according to a 2013 Sport England study, but even the production of "No Guts, No Heart, No Glory" highlighted the barriers women potentially face. Cast member and aspiring medical student Freyaa Ali said there was a girl who had wanted to participate in the show, but was ultimately prevented from doing so by her relatives. "It wasn't even the boxing and it wasn't even the speech, it was the dancing we do in the ring. I'm incredibly lucky to be able to do this, and I was just so sad for her. You know there are certain women out there who can't do what we're doing right now." "I think that's what makes me even more passionate about doing this -- we want to give them a voice and give them a reason, so they know they can have confidence to do stuff like this." If women do feel restricted by their religion or gender, Ali urged them to take things step by step. "Go for it, just go for it. I think maybe talk to your parents first, and just tell them Mum, Dad, this is what I want to do, I want to box, I want to dance, I want to act, or whatever she wants to do. "Tell them, you know what? Its OK what I'm doing, I'm not going to be going out of my boundaries and doing bad things, I'm going to stick to my limits and stick to my religion, it's not harming anyone. "My parents would say, if you're happy, we're happy. I think anyone's parents would say that wouldn't they? "The first step is trying it and opening that door. Once you can open it an inch you can open it a mile." +Perth, Australia (CNN)In the Swan Valley on the outskirts of Perth, a petite, blonde woman opens the front door. Dressed in skinny jeans, a gray t-shirt and black heels, Danica Weeks welcomes us inside her family home. Her warm smile and sparkly green eyes briefly disguise the deep-seated grief and sadness that constantly envelops her. The mother of two young boys can't move on. Her life is stuck on March 7, 2014, when she kissed her husband Paul goodbye at Perth International Airport. He was heading to Mongolia, where he would begin work as a mechanical engineer at one of the mines. It was a big job with enormous opportunity that could set up his young family. Unable to wear jewelry at the work site, he gave Danica his wedding band saying that if anything was to happen to him, she should give the ring to the first son that marries. Wearing it on a simple chain around her neck, she touches it as she speaks. "I'm so glad that happened, that I've got this for the boys," she said. "And for me, because I may never get anything. It may be the only piece of him that I have that is so close to us." Paul Weeks, 39, left Perth that day and flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for his flight on to Beijing. Just after midnight on March 8, he boarded Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Weeks had no idea about the plane's disappearance until she got a call from a news reporter asking if her husband was on board the missing Boeing 777. "My life stopped that day, so that's what I remember. I'm purely now just existing. People say you're coping. I wouldn't call it coping; it's existing." She has yet to tell her eldest son Lincoln, 4, that his father whom he adored will never come home. She can't make sense of it herself. How is a 4-year-old going to understand? She tells him Daddy is working in Mongolia -- the truth is just too painful. "You create your own scenarios in your head and you can't bear to think that someone -- your best friend, amazing husband, the father of my children -- went through any of that. I don't want that for him. It's the not knowing that really destroys you." The past 12 months have been a roller coaster of emotions for Weeks. Initially she thought the plane had crashed but when no debris appeared she clung on to hope. When the "pings" were discovered and authorities believed they would find the black boxes within days, she was told to prepare for her husband's memorial service. When that turned out to be wrong, her heart sank once again. Now there are days when her grief paralyzes her and she can't get out of bed. There are other days when she affords herself the small luxury of daydreaming and imagines him walking in the front door. "When I'm alone and I think 'what if he comes back?' I see our wedding pictures and I think if he was to come back it would be amazing (for me) and for the kids. Jack has grown so much -- he was 11 months when Paul left. We're coming up to his second birthday. "We've gone through all the 12 months of special days and I look at Jack and he's the spitting image of Paul. He would be blown away by how much he's grown. He should be here seeing all of that and the reason we don't know why is so painful. "I can't even explain the pain -- it's unbearable." We discuss the current search underway in the southern Indian Ocean more than 1,000 miles from where we are sitting in her home. Weeks looks deflated -- she's physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. "They're very optimistic about this latest search. I can't share in that anymore. I've thrown my emotions and hopes into so many other searches. It's too much for me now. I won't come back. Half of my soul was on that plane with Paul and now nearly a year on ... I don't think I will ever find myself again." Week's eyes well up with tears as she talks about her husband whom she met at the Munich Beer Festival 15 years ago. Since then, they had been inseparable -- until now. Her greatest fear is if nothing is found in the 60,000 square kilometer priority search area -- due to be completed by May - the authorities will call off the search operation. No country has said this but it doesn't stop Danica from thinking it. "You know, that's so unfair -- where does that leave us? We can't move on beyond MH370. They may be able to but they don't come home to an empty house and 2 young children that should have their father here. They (the Malaysians) are legally and morally committed to bringing them all home and that's what they should do". When asked what she'll be doing on March 8 -- one year since MH370 disappeared and since she last saw Paul -- tears stream down her face. "Probably crying a lot. I never thought we'd reach a year and not know. You go through every anniversary, Lincoln's birthday, Paul's birthday, Christmas. You think we'll know by then and it's a year on." While her loss and pain is palpable, there is an incredible strength within Weeks. She has to remain strong, she says, for the sake of her boys. "I will keep searching. I will never stop searching for him. He gave everything to us. He is amazing. I know that if the shoe was on the other foot, he wouldn't stop looking for me. "And I will never stop looking for him either." +March 31, 2015 . Iran's controversial nuclear program, U.S. oil production, and the wealth of American presidents are three topics covered this Tuesday on CNN Student News. We're delivering a random fact about the height of a historic conqueror, and we're examining what it takes for rescue dogs to locate avalanche victims. And we have a follow-up on a pair of eagles who are excellent parents. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)Even if you're sweating on the treadmill and grunting at the weight machine, you're probably still forgetting 57 important muscles that define part of who you are and how others perceive you and even help manage your mental well-being. They're in your face. Face Love Fitness, a pop-up boutique in downtown Manhattan, offers face workouts and massages to keep the skin and muscles of the face and neck healthy, looking young and feeling good. "The popular notion that one should avoid touching one's face for fear of creating wrinkles is completely incorrect. Skin responds beautifully to mindful touch," says Rachel Lang, an esthetician (skin care therapist), who co-founded the Face Love skin gym with massage therapist Heidi Frederick and personal trainer Kate Gyllenhaal. Not all skin experts agree. Some dermatologists, including Dr. Patricia K. Farris, a clinical associate professor at Tulane University, say that exercising facial muscles is counterintuitive to dermatologists. They treat lines and wrinkles caused by facial muscle movement, called dynamic wrinkles, with the muscle relaxing medication botulinum toxin, commonly known by the brand name "Botox." "I do think there could be some value to relaxation and stress relief provided by massage, but exercising facial muscles will not make you look younger and may even make you look older," says Farris. But proponents of massage say healthy, youthful skin is well-worked skin. "When you stimulate pressure receptors under the skin, as you do in a moderate pressure massage, you increase the temperature of the skin, you slow down the physiology, you reduce the release of stress hormones and enhance immune function" according to Tiffany Field, Ph.D., director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. "Just as massage and exercise contributes to health in general, it would also be expected to contribute to skin health." This is the philosophy at the skin gym, where they say the massage and movement is detoxifying and increases oxygen and blood circulation to the skin, which can result in fewer wrinkles, a firmer jaw line, improved skin tone, and even reduced headaches and eyestrain, according to Lang. "It is like any exercise, you need to do it two to three times a week for the best results." It may look a little silly, contorting your facial expressions as Lang drags a plastic roller across your face, or trying to lift your eyebrows against the resistance of an elastic band across your forehead, but the effect of working out your face is pleasantly refreshing. Under the skin there is an area of fatty tissue called the subcutaneous layer. It diminishes with age. The loss of this area contributes to decreased firmness, giving facial skin an older, tired look. Exercising the facial muscles tones and lifts the skin because your facial muscles are attached to your skin and the bone like a web that forms the shape of your face. Through the massages and resistance training, Face Love Fitness claims muscles in the face become stronger and taut, rejuvenating the appearance of the face. "This is great for everyone, it doesn't matter what age or gender or skin type. This is beauty and health anti-aging from the inside out. It supports and amplifies whatever routine you already have and will give you positive results regardless of your skin condition," says Lang. "Because it refreshes and detoxifies, the massages are also good for hangovers," she adds. "We all know that keeping the body fit with exercise is essential. Why do we stop at the neck?!" asks Gyllenhaal. +(CNN)As long as 7,000 years ago, the Chinchorro people who lived along the desert coast of what is now Chile and Peru were mummifying the bodies of those who died. But, after millennia in which the mummies have remained well preserved, those ancient remains are now in danger of rapid decomposition, Harvard scientists have warned. The culprit? According to the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, in a news report published Monday, rising humidity that helps microbes flourish on the mummies' skin is to blame. As a result, scientists at the University of Tarapaca's archeological museum in Arica, northern Chile, have already seen some of its 120 prized examples of Chinchorro mummies start turning into a "black ooze," it said. Egypt dig unearths 3,600-year-old mummy . The role of rising humidity was confirmed through testing on skin samples by Harvard professor Ralph Mitchell and researcher Alice DeAraujo, according to the news release. Their findings will help conservationists in Arica -- an arid area where humidity levels have been increasing in recent years -- safeguard their precious relics. Egypt's mummies get CT scans . But Mitchell said he was concerned about potentially hundreds more mummies buried just below the sandy surface in the valleys of northern Chile. "You have these bodies out there and you're asking the question: How do I stop them from decomposing? It's almost a forensic problem," he is quoted as saying. A "complicated process" was used to prepare the mummies, said Marcela Sepulveda, professor of archaeology at the University of Tarapaca, cited in the news release. It involved removing the brain and organs, replacing them with natural fiber and ash, stitching the body back up with reeds and covering the skin with a paste of manganese, ocher or brown mud, depending on the period. The Chinchorro people mummified human remains for more than 3,000 years. The oldest of the mummies date back some 2,000 years before the ancient Egyptians mummified their pharaohs. Scan reveals 1,000-year-old mummified monk hidden in statue . +(CNN)Five full weeks into Aaron Hernandez's murder trial, prosecutors have called 77 witnesses. Jurors have yet to hear from the former NFL star's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick or owner Robert Kraft. But this week did bring emotional testimony and important developments in the case against Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to killing Odin Lloyd in 2013. Check out some of the key moments you might have missed this week. A DNA analyst from the Massachusetts State Police crime lab said she found that Hernandez's DNA matched the DNA taken from a marijuana joint found near Lloyd's body at the crime scene. Lloyd's DNA also was found on the blunt. The DNA analyst, Diane Biagiotti, testified to finding a partial DNA match from Hernandez on the shell casing found in the dumpster of the Enterprise rental car office. But under cross-examination, lead defense attorney Jamie Sultan got Biagiotti to acknowledge there's a high likelihood that DNA from chewing gum could have transferred to the shell casing found in the dumpster. The office manager at the rental car office, Keelia Smyth, testified that she put the shell casing and the gum together after finding the items in the Nissan Altima returned by Hernandez on June 17, 2013. She said she threw them in the trash bin outside of her office. Inside Hernandez's downward spiral . It was revealed by Sultan that the state never submitted the gum for DNA testing. The state has not yet explained why. We may hear the answer during the state's redirect of Biagiotti on Monday. Hernandez is seen on surveillance video buying gum, and he also offered some to Smyth. Biagiotti said under cross-examination that it's highly unlikely to find DNA on any shell casing. One reason is because the heat from the gun wipes away any DNA, she said. The shell casings found at the crime scene did not have enough DNA on them to produce a DNA profile. Hernandez's family was in court on Friday after a week's absence. Hernandez's mother, Terri Hernandez, told CNN' that she thought Friday "went very well" for him. Testimony this week also focused on fingerprints from Hernandez and Lloyd that were found inside the rented Nissan Altima. The car also had fingerprints of Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, who are also charged with killing Lloyd. They have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. State Trooper David Mackin, a fingerprint expert with the Massachusetts State Police crime scene services, reported finding the fingerprints of Wallace and Ortiz in a Chrysler 300 that Hernandez rented. Prosecutors call it the "getaway car," which was ultimately found abandoned in Bristol, Connecticut. But no prints were found on the .22-caliber gun recovered on the edge of a wooded area near Hernandez's home. Hernandez is charged with illegal possession of that gun. In addition, no prints were found on any of the shell casings, including the casing found stuck to the blue bubblegum in the dumpster outside the Enterprise office. Another key find: tire treads of the rear passenger tire of the Altima matched a tire impression found at the crime scene, according to court testimony. Shaquilla Thibou, Lloyd's younger sister and the last family member to see him before he was killed, took the stand Monday. About an hour before his death, she said she watched him get into a silver Nissan Altima as she sat in a friend's car outside her home. Thibou, who was 19 at the time of her brother's killing, told jurors that when Lloyd first walked to the car, he opened the front passenger door. He stopped and then opened the back passenger door and entered the car. "The light came on and there was a shadow in the back seat," she said. Then she saw the Altima pull away. It was 2:32 a.m. Thirty minutes later, Thibou returned to her home and charged her dead phone. She noticed a text from her big brother. Thibou was not allowed to share with jurors what was said in those texts. The judge ruled there is not enough proof the text message meant Lloyd feared for his life, legally called "a dying declaration." That means that the jury did not hear that at 3:07 a.m., Lloyd texted his sister asking, "U saw who I'm with?" At 3:11 a.m he checked in again, texting "hello." Finally, at 3:19 a.m. Thibou answered, "my phone was dead who was that?" At 3:22 a.m., Lloyd responded, "Nfl." A minute later, he sent his last text, "just so u know." During grand jury testimony, Thibou admitted she thought her brother was bragging. When reliving the moment when police came to her home to tell her family that Lloyd had been shot to death, Thibou began to cry silently, wiping her tears after Assistant District Attorney William McCauley gave her a tissue. During cross-examination, defense attorney Michael Fee introduced a photo of Lloyd taken by Thibou. It showed Lloyd smiling and sitting in the driver's seat of the black Suburban that Hernandez loaned him. On Wednesday, jurors got an up-close view of the clothes Lloyd was wearing the night he was shot six times. Massachusetts crime lab forensic chemist Sherri Menendez held up Lloyd's bullet-riddled dark blue Old Navy sweatshirt and then his red plaid shirt. Jurors craned their necks to get a better view of the bullet holes in the sweatshirt. The shirt was stained with blood. Menendez tested the bullet holes for gunshot residue consisting of what she described as burned particles and vaporous lead. During her testing of bullet holes on the front of the sweatshirt, she found both and was able to determine that Lloyd was shot from as close as 3 feet. The autopsy showed the final two shots were fired into his chest while he was laying face up in the ground. Just weeks before Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder, he toured rental apartments with New England Patriot employee Kevin Anderson, real estate agent Barbara Scardino testified Thursday. She said she was initially contacted by Anderson to find some apartments to show Hernandez. He had previously called her to help other Patriot players find homes and apartment rentals, sometimes second residences near Gillette Stadium. This means the Patriot staff knew about Hernandez's second home. In early May of 2013, she showed Anderson and Hernandez four apartments. Hernandez settled on the two-bedroom condo in Franklin, Massachusetts, referred to as his "flophouse." Hernandez's home in North Attleboro and his condo in Franklin are each about 15 minutes away from the stadium. Hernandez's Franklin neighbor, Carol Bailey, also took the stand, telling jurors that she met another man that also stayed in the condo. It was Hernandez's friend Wallace. Bailey paid close attention to Hernandez and Wallace, seeing them come and go during their short stay there. During her one attempt to talk to Hernandez and say hello, she says he sort of grunted back, calling it a "nondescript" noise. She also testified that she often heard loud voices that sounded "locker room-ish" coming from the apartment as well as a strong "skunk-like" smell seeping into her apartment from their shared wall. After mid-June, she never saw him again. A representative from Sprint, Justin Darrow, started off the week with a light moment. He appeared nervous and stopped to take a moment while answering a question. He then turned to Judge Susan Garsh and apologized. "It's a big case. Sorry." Showing no emotion, Garsh struck the comment from the record. Darrow went on to testify to multiple calls between Sprint cell phone client Ernest Wallace and Odin Lloyd, Aaron Hernandez and Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, the night before and morning of Lloyd's death. Prosecutors say they believe Hernandez was using his fiancee's phone to call Wallace. Jenkins granted immunity . Darrow also explained how cell sites (or towers) in the Sprint network tracked the phone calls, and thus tracked the direction they were driving. Another cell phone representative also testified. T-Mobile engineer Patrick Quinn testified about the data transmissions from Lloyd's cell phone beginning on June 17, 2013, at 2:32 a.m. That's when Lloyd was picked up outside his home in the Nissan Altima. Data transmissions are the automatic updates that are sent to cell phones. Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg methodically walked Quinn through data transmissions received on Lloyd's cell phone via multiple cell towers along the route he traveled from Dorchester to the industrial park in North Attleboro. The last cell tower was just 400 yards from Lloyd's body. +(CNN)Families of children killed at the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut have filed lawsuits against the estate of the shooter's mother, saying Nancy Lanza was careless and negligent in leaving a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle unsecured in her home. Adam Lanza, 20, used the assault rifle to kill 20 first-grade students and six adults in Newtown on December 14, 2012. The younger Lanza was mentally unstable and used his mother's Bushmaster to kill her before he went on the rampage at the school, and then killed himself. At least eight lawsuits have been filed in Connecticut courts since January on behalf of relatives of 16 people killed in the massacre -- four adults and 12 children. Court documents also list two people who suffered serious injuries. In December, the parents of nine children killed at the mass shooting, along with one teacher who survived, filed a separate lawsuit against the businesses behind the Bushmaster rifle. Report finds missed chances to help Newtown shooter . The wrongful death lawsuit, filed one day after the second anniversary of the killings, named Camfour, a gun distributor; Riverview Gun Sales; as well as the Freedom Group, the company that owns Bushmaster. It blamed the numerous lives lost in just 264 seconds on the shooter's weapon of choice, the Bushmaster. Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, the law firm for the families in the Bushmaster lawsuit, is also representing some families in the cases against Lanza's estate. The lawsuits were first reported Friday in the Connecticut Post, which said Nancy Lanza is believed to have had insurance on the home worth more than $1 million. "Unlike our case against Bushmaster, Camfour (the distributor), and Riverview for the negligent entrustment and marketing of combat AR-15's designed for the military to inflict mass casualties against the enemy to civilians like Nancy Lanza, we expect this claim to be resolved quickly," attorney Josh Koskoff said of the estate lawsuits. The lawsuits claim that Nancy Lanza kept the rapid-fire Bushmaster in her home "unsecured" and that her "carelessness and negligence" contributed to the pain and suffering of the victims. A look at Newtown in 2013 . One lawsuit accused Lanza of allowing her son access to weapons "despite the fact that she knew, or should have known, that his mental and emotional condition made him a danger to others." The administrator of Nancy Lanza's estate, Samuel Starks, this month asked the courts for an extension to reply and asked that the cases needed to be consolidated. CNN's attempts to reach Starks were unsuccessful. +New York (CNN)Cardinal Edward Egan, who led the Archdiocese of New York for nearly a decade, died Thursday at 82, the archdiocese announced. Egan was pronounced dead of a heart attack at NYU Langone Medical Center at 2:20 p.m. "Thank God he had a peaceful death, passing away right after lunch today," Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Egan's successor and current archbishop of New York, said in a statement. Egan was appointed archbishop of New York in 2000 and later cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Egan retired from the archdiocese in 2009. As the leader of one of the largest Catholic communities in the country, Egan oversaw a growth of more than 200,000 registered parishioners and welcomed Pope Benedict XVI on a visit to New York City in 2008 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of New York. "Cardinal Egan spread love and knowledge, and brought comfort to countless New Yorkers and others across the country and the world who sought his guidance and counsel -- especially in the aftermath of 9/11," said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. Egan served previously as the bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut, from 1988 to 2000, when the diocese was at the center of a child sex abuse scandal. The Bridgeport diocese in 2001 paid $15 million to 26 plaintiffs to settle sexual abuse claims against eight priests. Egan apologized for his involvement in the scandal in a letter read across the New York archdiocese in 2002, though he later retracted that apology in an interview with Connecticut Magazine 10 years later. "I should never have said that," Egan said. "I did say 'If we did anything wrong, I'm sorry,' but I don't think we did anything wrong." Egan was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1932 and was ordained in Rome at the Pontifical North American College in 1957. Funeral arrangements are pending, the archdiocese said. People we've lost in 2015 . +(CNN)They are being remembered as people who "meant so much to so many." Yvonne Selke and her daughter, Emily, were aboard Germanwings Flight 9525 that crashed Tuesday in the French Alps. They, along with the other 148 people on board that flight, are presumed dead. "I just keep saying over and over, it's surreal. You always see these things on the news and you think it's horrible, but you never know anyone involved," said Haley Holmes, a close friend of Emily Selke's. "I think what people need to know about them, and what people should know about them, is that they were two -- not two Americans on a plane, not a mother and daughter on a plane -- but Yvonne and Emily -- two amazing, loving people who left behind friends and family who love and miss them a lot," Holmes told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°." Emily Selke had belonged to Gamma Sigma Sigma's Zeta chapter at Drexel University. She was a membership vice president while at the sorority and "an integral part of our growing chapter," according to the chapter's Facebook page. "She embodied the spirit of Gamma Sigma Sigma," the sorority said. "As a person and friend, Emily always put others before herself and cared deeply for all those in her life. Emily will be greatly missed by her fellow sisters of Zeta." A music industry major, Emily Selke graduated with honors from the Philadelphia university, according to the school. She then went on to work around Washington for Carr Workplaces, a company that offers office space, meeting rooms and virtual offices, company spokesman Robert Beach said. "We cherished Emily's work ethic, enthusiasm, humor and overall presence," said Beach, calling her "dedicated, helpful and always willing to go the extra mile." "Her genuine, bright smile and quick wit will be missed," he added. Yvonne Selke worked for Booz Allen Hamilton. Betty Thompson, an executive vice president with that consulting firm, described Yvonne as "a wonderful co-worker and a dedicated employee" in a statement to The Washington Post. Holmes said Yvonne Selke was "a lovely spirit to be around," fiercely loyal to the people she loved. "Our entire family is deeply saddened by the losses of Yvonne and Emily Selke. Two wonderful, caring, amazing people who meant so much to so many. At this difficult time we respectfully ask for privacy and your prayers," the Selke family said in a statement. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday that three Americans were on the plane. The third American was Robert Calvo, according to Desigual, the clothing company for which he worked for in Spain. Students, singers among the victims . +(CNN)Fortunately, the intensive diplomatic efforts to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and another war didn't stop after 47 Republican senators, led by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, appeared to try to goad Iran's leaders into forgoing a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute. Neither have they stopped since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered what was effectively a reelection campaign speech on the House floor. Despite so many concerted efforts to sabotage our diplomats, our negotiators are still hard at work to secure an agreement with Tehran that, if successfully concluded, will go down in the annals of diplomatic history as marking a new era for U.S.-Iran relations. Indeed, progress toward a political framework would move us closer to attainable safeguards on Iran's nuclear program as well as jump-start a more productive relationship that could pay extra dividends for years to come. Before President Obama's phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last fall -- the first direct contact between U.S. and Iranian heads of state in more than 30 years -- such an agreement seemed unthinkable. Now, with clear-eyed diplomacy, negotiators from the U.S. and five other countries, plus Iran, are in reach of delivering a peaceful resolution to the decade-long impasse over Iran's nuclear program. Diplomats have tackled thorny, complex nonproliferation issues that have never been comprehensively addressed in a multilateral agreement before. They have labored to eliminate Iran's potential pathways to a nuclear weapon while allowing the country to maintain a limited nuclear energy program, but under what is arguably the world's most locked-down nuclear inspections regime. U.S., German, British, French, Chinese and Russian negotiators are continuing to build on the solid success of the preliminary nuclear accord negotiated last year, the so-called Joint Plan of Action. That plan continues to grant inspectors daily access to Iran's nuclear facilities in order to verify its adherence to the agreement. As a result, Iran's nuclear program will be frozen for the first time since its inception, as diplomats craft a comprehensive resolution to this standoff. If and when a final agreement is reached, the President may temporarily waive some sanctions if Iran's compliance can be verified. Congress has, for its part, authorized the President to provide limited, temporary and reversible sanctions relief so long as doing so advances U.S. national security interests. As former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and countless other national security experts have attested, such a diplomatic solution to this crisis is squarely in the national interests of the United States. In exchange for Iran following through on its promises to constrain its program in accordance with the agreement, the U.S. Congress will be asked to lift sanctions permanently. If Tehran demonstrates its long-term commitment to limit its nuclear program to exclusively peaceful purposes, then when the time comes, Congress should be ready to lift the sanctions. In the interim, it is crucial that all parties scrupulously adhere to the terms of this landmark agreement. While Iran must not install unauthorized centrifuges, attempt a secret program or otherwise fail to adhere to the agreement, the U.S. Congress also has responsibilities under the agreement, including appropriations for its execution and refraining from imposing new sanctions in violation of either the letter or the spirit of the deal. All this suggests that to jeopardize such progress at this critical stage would be reckless, if not foolhardy. Of course, history suggests that we should be cautious. And the stakes are indeed extremely high. But the last thing the world needs is another major war in the Middle East. Members of Congress should therefore join the preeminent statesmen, military officers and the overwhelming majority of the American public in welcoming what is poised to be a diplomatic success -- one that could protect U.S. security and prevent further instability in the Middle East that would result from a nuclear Iran. We should ensure that our diplomats have the support they need to reach the finish line and that our President is able to cross it. +(CNN)Hillary Clinton made it clear Tuesday that when it comes to her emails, which traveled through a private server during her time at the State Department, we'll all just have to trust -- and she'll verify. Using strong language, the former secretary of state insisted that despite concerns from both sides of the aisle on issues including national security, accountability and transparency, there's simply nothing to see here. "I went above and beyond what I was requested to do," she said. "I fully complied with every rule," she declared. And in case you were wondering if there was going to be an independent review of her emails, there isn't. Nor will she turn over her server. "The server will remain private." There you go. Defiant, unfazed, undeterred. You can believe fact checkers will work overtime to parse the bit about complying with every rule. Even the White House has disagreed with that. As for everyone else, the question isn't whether Clinton did enough Tuesday to satisfy House Republicans, who will no doubt continue to hammer her on decisions she made while at State. Nor is it whether she did enough to satisfy Republican voters, who have a crystallized view of Clinton that goes all the way back to the '90s. The perception that this is just another in a long line of instances where the Clintons flouted the rules is fairly unshakable. Likewise, her cadre of loyal surrogates, who showed just how unhinged they are willing to sound to defend the irreproachable HRC in recent days, are sure to keep on circling the wagons and telling us that she is the victim of a right-wing smear campaign and -- wait for it -- media bias. The audience for whom this press conference mattered most was Democratic and independent voters, who may admire Hillary Clinton, but as history has proved, simply cannot be counted on to vote for her in 2016, especially if someone else comes along on her left. Remember, Clinton wasn't defeated in 2008 by Republicans. She was beaten by a little-known, inexperienced Democrat. That means that the half of the country that was predisposed to like her politics and who already knew who she was chose someone else. And the other half of the country did, too. She's just as vulnerable, if not more, to the same kind of usurpation in 2016, thanks to an even greater sense of inevitability on the left, and the reflexive rush to protect her from valid questions and criticism isn't helping to dissolve it. Instead of insisting she did nothing wrong and smugly placating nosy reporters, she should have promised these voters that transparency and accountability -- two words she didn't utter Tuesday -- are the cornerstones of good government and any future administration she were to run. She should have assured them that the rules do apply to her, just like anyone else, and that in the future she'll pay closer attention to them. Finally, she should have told them that the last thing she wants is to take the trust of the voters for granted, and that she'll comply with any independent investigation that's offered. Defiance has paid off for the Clintons in that they've made it through some truly breathtaking scandals unscathed. But if Clinton wants 2016 to turn out differently than 2008, she and her surrogates can't keep insisting to voters that she is above scrutiny. +(CNN)"Every day, we cried" -- these were the words spoken over and over to me by a colleagues as we sat down after another long day for a rare drink in Monrovia, Liberia's bustling capital. She was reminiscing about the period in September and October when the Ebola outbreak was at its peak. "Of all the pain that we faced, the cremation was the hardest," she explained. I knew exactly what she meant -- cremation was as far away from the norm for burials in West Africa as one can imagine. As the Ebola outbreak wanes in Liberia, it is easy to imagine the heroes as the myriad of foreign doctors, nurses, epidemiologists and logisticians that have come to support the country in their days of need, and yes, these expatriates have definitely brought to bear much knowledge, expertise and resources on controlling the outbreak. But there is a group of heroes who are unlikely to make any headlines or be celebrated as such. They are the thousands of Liberian citizens that have gone door-to-door asking questions, looking for the ill, offering advice, day after day, after day for months on end. When they do find an ill person who may have Ebola, they begin the painful process of convincing them that it is safer to be an Ebola treatment unit than at home. Often the question that follows is: "What happened to all those that went in before me? What happened to them?" Thankfully, Liberia appears to be on its way back. It currently has the lowest numbers of confirmed cases of Ebola since the onset of the second phase of the outbreak in the middle of last year. The streets are full of activity and schools have reopened. Across the country, there is an unmistakable sense that people are desperate to get on with their lives. At the Grand Royal Hotel, on Tubman Avenue, the main road through Monrovia, the manager sits in the popular café in the front garden. Most of his guests are still members of the large contingent of development workers from all over the world, or members of the armed forces and police services that form part of the U.N. military mission in Liberia, UNMIL. He admits that while this has been good for business, he would rather have his "normal" clients back. Monrovia is an interesting place -- it feels very West African. The food is familiar -- fish, plantain, rice... with lots of red pepper. The power situation is still very poor and most people in Monrovia rely on generators. It has a lovely but underutilized beach front; the perfect setting for a cold bottle of "Club" lager in the evening. There are quite a few restaurants and supermarkets -- mostly run by Lebanese entrepreneurs. As we drive past the Presidential "mansion" -- I ask why it looks empty and I am told that there was a fire in it a few years ago and that the renovation is not yet complete. President Sirleaf uses the office of the Foreign Ministry, and otherwise lives in her private residence, I am told. From the outside, with all the horror stories of Ebola in the popular press, it is easy to imagine Liberia as a country on the brink, especially with its history of protracted conflicts and civil war. But there is nothing further from the truth. Yes, it was ill prepared for an outbreak of this severity and magnitude, as many other countries would have been, but sometimes there is nothing as powerful as grief to unite people in seeking a better future. Out of this crisis, must emerge a new country. While the stories of dictators, civil war and Ebola are true, they cannot be Liberia's "single" story. With a beautiful beach front right at the heart of the city, there is no reason for Monrovia not to be the favorite destination of West Africa's emerging middle class. With lots of mineral resources, Liberia has so much potential. But, its most obvious resource and probably its most underutilized are its human resources. The University of Liberia is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in West Africa, but has known better times. The government of Liberia needs to think strategically and creatively on how to channel the goodwill of the world and the determination of its people into programs and projects that will put Liberia on a new trajectory. It may be impossible to imagine in 2015, but one only needs to look east to Rwanda for how a country can emerge from the most tragic of circumstances to become a proud and resilient country. Liberia will be back, but it will take leadership and courage. Despite the long hours of work, the tedious meetings, the long nights writing reports and re-strategizing, my best memories of Monrovia will be good ones; of a beautiful county and a resilient people. More from African Voices . Read this: The African weapons beating Ebola . Read this: From surf spots to boardrooms, Liberia's ill economy fights back . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. +Tikrit, Iraq (CNN)While Iraqi government and allied forces were on the defensive Friday in Ramadi, they remained on the offensive in Tirkit -- trying to win over not only the strategic city, but the hearts and minds of its nearby residents. Iraqi forces steadily bombarded the last part of Tikrit still controlled by ISIS, with fighting described by one wounded man as intense. Still, even as it fends off this assault, the militant group continues with its barbaric tactics. "Yesterday, bodies floated down the (Tigris) River from the hospital," said Saber Kraidi, an eight-year Iraqi military veteran. "They were people from Tikrit executed by ISIS." The Iraqi military is joined by some Sunni fighters and a predominantly Shiite militia, working together to retake the city best known to most Westerners as the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein. They are working on not just winning the battle, but securing the peace. Members of the Badr organization, a powerful Shiite armed group, handed out food and supplies Friday to residents of the Sunni village of Albu Safah, whose 30 families have been holed up the last 10 months amid the fighting. The village's leader, Haji Jamid, said the Shiite fighters' efforts were working. "They're good," Jamid said. "If someone is sick, they'll take them to the doctor, even at 2 or 3 in the morning. "If it weren't for them, ISIS would have slaughtered us." In June, Tikrit fell to ISIS, which has conquered large areas of Iraq and Syria and claimed them as part of its Islamic caliphate. There have several attempts to take it back since then, all of them failures. The latest push began this month, involving around 30,000 fighters. By Thursday, the government controlled about 75% of the besieged city, with about 150 holdout ISIS fighters controlling the rest, said Main Al-Kadhimi, commander of the Hashd Al-Shaabi militia. There was no independent confirmation of such a significant advance by the Iraqi forces. But they have been making progress in recent days. That includes gaining control of Tikrit Military Hospital, a few blocks south of the presidential palace, on Wednesday. The goal is that, if Iraqi and allied forces can take Tikrit, then they'll have more realistic hope of similarly winning back Mosul -- a city that's nearly 10 times bigger. Yet, even if ISIS is losing ground in Tikrit, that doesn't mean it's not a dangerous, destructive force elsewhere. Case in point is happening about 100 miles south of Tikrit in Ramadi, which the extremist group began assaulting on Wednesday. Faleh al-Issawi, deputy head of the Anbar provincial council, has said officials believe the Ramadi assault "is an ISIS response to the Tikrit operation." More than 40 Iraqi soldiers died when ISIS blew up the Iraqi army headquarters near Ramadi in Iraq's western Anbar province, an Anbar provincial leader told CNN on Friday. ISIS fighters there dug a tunnel underneath the army headquarters and detonated hundreds of homemade bombs, Sabah Al-Karhout, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council, said Thursday. The headquarters are located in the Albu Diab area, just 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north of Ramadi. Al-Karhout denied reports that the U.S.-led coalition had bombed the headquarters. So, too, did the U.S. government, with its Baghdad embassy stating Friday that no coalition aircraft were even in the area . A statement released early Friday by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS said the Iraqi security forces had successfully repelled the ISIS attack on Ramadi, despite coming under attack from several directions. "The successful defense of Ramadi by Iraqi Security Forces is another example of their increasing ability to defeat Daesh in multiple locations and prevent the terrorist group from gaining ground," said Lt. Gen. James L. Terry, the coalition force's commander, using another name for ISIS. "The ISF continues to hold terrain in some locations while making gains in others." In an audio message posted Thursday, ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al Adnani called reports of victories by coalition members against the extremist group "delusional and fake." He spoke of the coalition's use of fighter jets, heavy artillery and tanks, saying it is a "nightmare and will go eventually." CNN's Ben Wedeman reported near Tikrit in Iraq. CNN's Kareem Khadder and Jamie Crawford contributed to this report. +(CNN)A 20-year-old man from the St. Louis area has been arrested in connection with the shooting of two police officers during last week's protests in Ferguson, Missouri, a prosecutor said Sunday. Jeffrey Williams was arrested late Saturday, and he has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault, a count of firing a weapon from a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal activity, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said at a news conference in Clayton. "The demonstrations were pretty much over (when the officers were shot). People were leaving, and that's when this happened," he said, describing Williams as a demonstrator who had taken part in protests on numerous occasions. At the time of his arrest, Williams was on probation for receiving stolen property, and McCulloch said he believed Williams had an outstanding warrant after not reporting to his probation officer for several months. The prosecutor repeatedly thanked the public for the information that led to the arrest. He also said that, because of the public's assistance in the case, police were able to serve a search warrant on Williams' residence where they seized a .40-caliber handgun, "which has been tied to the shell casings that were recovered" at the scene of the shooting. Williams is being held on a cash-only $300,000 bond, McCulloch said, adding that it's possible Williams could face more charges and that others could be charged in the case. One element of the case that authorities have yet to sort out is intent, McCulloch said, adding that Williams has acknowledged firing the shots but has said he wasn't aiming at the police officers. Investigators are not sure they "buy" Williams' claim that he opened fire after a dispute with other individuals, McCulloch said, but he didn't rule it out. "It's possible he was firing at someone else," he said, urging any other witnesses with information to come forward. Bishop Derrick Robinson, an area organizer, challenged the idea that Williams was a well-known protester. "I asked him (Williams) why would he say that he was a protester because it makes us look bad -- because so many things that we've done to rebuild our community. It sets us like five steps back to say that it was a protester who did it, but he admitted to me that he'd never protested," said Robinson, who spoke to Williams on Sunday. Robinson added: "We won't allow this to distract us from our mission, and from purpose, because we will continue to fight." The shootings occurred Wednesday night. The shots rang out from a hill overlooking the city's police station shortly after midnight Wednesday, at the end of a protest against the Ferguson Police Department, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at the time. Officers saw "muzzle flashes ... about 125 yards away," Belmar said. "We could have buried two police officers," Belmar told reporters last week. "I feel very confident that whoever did this ... came there for whatever nefarious reason that it was." Public donations poured in to be used toward a reward to find the gunman and any accomplices, Belmar said. Authorities offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of person or persons responsible for the gunfire upon the two officers, according to the St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers website. McCulloch said the tipster whose information led to Williams' arrest is eligible to receive the reward. He declined to provide any information on the tipster or the nature of the tip. Protesters said they had nothing to do with the shooting, saying the demonstrators believe in nonviolence. "As the protest was dying down, someone, somewhere got violent. Now who they were and what group they were affiliated with, we don't know," said Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman. "In no way are they representative of the thousands of people ... who have been protesting." Belmar believes someone targeted the police, who have faced heated criticism for months, he said. "These police officers were standing there, and they were shot just because they were police officers," he said. The department has been under fire since one of its officers, Darren Wilson, shot and killed African-American teen Michael Brown in August, and more recently since a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report documented a pattern of racial discrimination. Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigned Wednesday. "We are actively addressing the issues that have raised concerns of fairness and fair treatment. We support peaceful protesting. However, we will not allow, nor tolerate, the destructive and violent actions of a few to disrupt our unifying efforts," the mayor of Ferguson and the City Council said in a statement Sunday. While the demonstrators' focus was Ferguson, neither of the wounded officers works for that police department. One is from Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb 13 miles south of Ferguson. The officer -- a 32-year-old with seven years' experience -- was shot at the high point of his cheek, just under his right eye, Belmar said. The other was hit in the shoulder and the bullet came out the middle of his back, Belmar said. He is a 41-year-old officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, who has been in law enforcement for 14 years. Both men were treated and released. CNN's Michael Martinez, Ed Payne, Carma Hassan, Sara Sidner, Greg Botelho, Catherine E. Shoichet, Holly Yan, Joe Sutton, Sara Sidner, Jason Carroll, Shimon Prokupecz, Evan Perez, Don Lemon, Tina Burnside and Alina Machado contributed to this report. +New York (CNN)Crews searching at the site where a building exploded in New York's East Village found two bodies in the rubble Sunday. The victims' remains have not yet been officially identified, but authorities believe they are the two people who were reported missing after Thursday's blast, New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters. The men reported missing last week, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locon, were thought to have been at a sushi restaurant at the time of the explosion. Crews are still searching the scene, Nigro said, even though it's unlikely there are other victims. Three buildings collapsed and four others were damaged Thursday by the explosion and raging gas-fueled fire that followed. Nigro declined to discuss details about what caused the blast, saying an investigation is ongoing. Investigators are looking into whether a gas line was "inappropriately accessed" at the building where the explosion occurred, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters Friday. Gas utility inspectors checking on work in the building's basement left the premises about 30 minutes before the explosion. In August, Con Edison shut off gas lines at the building for 10 days after discovering they'd been tampered with, according to Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for the utility. Images from the scene . Before last week's blast, the restaurant's owner had smelled gas and contacted the building's owner, but didn't contact authorities. That was a "major mistake," New York Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Esposito said Sunday. "They should have called 911," he said. "We don't know what the outcome would have been. But that's what they should have done." Nicholas Figueroa's body was one of those recovered from the rubble Sunday, family spokeswoman Awilda Cordero told CNN affiliates NY1 and WABC. "Thank you to everybody for all the effort they did," she said. "Yes, it is Nicholas. They found him." Figueroa, who had recently graduated from college, was on a date at the sushi restaurant and went to the back to pay when the explosion occurred. The family is devastated, she said, but relieved to learn that his body was found. "They've been waiting and waiting. ... This is just the beginning of doing something that they needed to do," she said. Locon, an employee at the restaurant, was reported missing by his brother, police sources said last week. "I saw that young man every day, every single day we had a chat to say 'hello how's business,'" Michael Schumacher, who owns a grocery store near where the explosion occurred, told WABC. "Kid worked hard for his family" Schumacher said. CNN's Julia Talanova reported from New York. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta. CNN's Ray Sanchez, David Shortell and Jamie Wiener contributed to this report. +Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)The Afghan woman is dragged onto a roof and hit with a stick, as a horde of angry, screaming men swarm around her. At one point, video shows her standing with her face covered in blood. She is pushed and falls over, and her beating continues with feet, with rocks, with boards. Then, in the last part of the video, her body is engulfed in flames -- though it's not known whether, by that point, she was already dead. This horrific scene played out in Kabul on Thursday. It's already had ripple effects, including a United Nations statement on Friday condemning what it called "the brutal killing and burning of a 27-year-old mentally ill woman." That corresponds with what the woman's parents told CNN affiliate Tolo News, saying their daughter suffered from mental health problems for the last 16 years. It's not known whether her attackers knew this, or that it would have mattered. What motivated the mob, according to witnesses, was a belief that the targeted woman had burned the Quran. CNN hasn't seen any proof that she set a copy ablaze. Afghanistan's Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs has found no such evidence, either, according to Tolo. Mark Bowden, acting head of the U.N. Afghanistan mission, said that burning the Quran hurts efforts to promote "understanding and mutual respect between cultures and religions." "However, the brutal murder of this woman is an unspeakably horrendous act," Bowden said, "that should result in those responsible being prosecuted, to the fullest extent possible, under Afghan law." Nahid, a 45-year-old woman who goes only by one name, told CNN what she saw and heard outside the Shah Do Shamshera shrine, which is opposite a mosque by the same name. A group of women were shouting at the eventual victim, accusing her of burning the Quran, according to Nahid. The woman yelled back. This got the attention of men nearby. Police tried to close gates to keep them out but it didn't work, said the witness, noting that many men jumped a fence and began beating the accused woman. The hits and kicks ended after someone poured fuel on the woman and lit her on fire, said Nahid, who watched from inside the shrine. "(They) burned her and then threw her corpse away in the Kabul River," she said. As of Saturday, 11 people had been arrested in connection with the woman's death, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Seddiqi. Seddiqi said that the investigation is ongoing. President Ashraf Ghani ordered two investigations related to the case -- one into the beating itself and another including religious scholars. His government is "committed to protecting and safeguarding all Islamic values," including prohibitions on burning the Quran (if that is, indeed, what this woman did). That's a responsibility of the nation's security and legal system, Ghani said, not of individual Afghans. "No individual is allowed to make oneself a judge and use violence to punish others in degrading manners," the President said. "Launching personal trials and choosing who to punish stands in clear contradiction to Sharia and Islamic justice." CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported from Kabul, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. +(CNN)A Michigan woman lost her Planet Fitness membership over the "inappropriate" manner in which she complained about a transgender woman in the locker room, a gym spokeswoman said. Yvette Cormier's membership was not canceled for simply raising the issue, "as we welcome all feedback from our members," said McCall Gosselin, director of public relations at Planet Fitness Corporate. Rather, it was the manner in which she expressed her concerns that club management felt was inappropriate, resulting in the cancellation, Gosselin said. Cormier stands by her actions in a case that has drawn attention to transgender rights. "This is all new to me. I didn't go out to specifically bash a transgender person that day. I was taken aback by the situation," Cormier told CNN. "This is about me and how I felt unsafe. I should feel safe in there." The mother of two says she was acting out of concern for her safety and the privacy of other female gym members when she raised the issue on Saturday, February 28. She went to the front desk after someone who looked like a "man" entered the women's locker room while she was changing. "I wanted to know why there was a man in the women's locker room," she told CNN. "He looked like a man, and that's what stopped me in my tracks." She said the front desk employee told her about Planet Fitness' "no-judgment" policy, which allows people to use changing room based on "their sincere, self-reported gender identity." Unsatisfied, she said she called Planet Fitness' corporate headquarters and heard the same thing. "That should be something they pointed out when I signed up," she said. "If you have male parts you don't need to be in the women's locker room. I don't care what you are; I don't care if you're gay lesbian, transgender or transvestite. I am uncomfortable with you as a male in my locker room, in my restroom." She returned to the gym Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday "to get the word out" to other women that they "let men in the women's locker room," she said. "Every day I said 'just so you know, there's a man they allow in this locker room and they don't tell you that when you sign up,' " she said. The next day, she found out that her membership had been canceled. Cormier said Planet Fitness needs to do a better job of informing members of its policy allowing members to use whichever locker room corresponds with their gender identity, which refers to a person's psychological identification as a man, woman or another gender. "The manner in which this member expressed her concerns about the policy exhibited behavior that management at the Midland club deemed inappropriate and disruptive to other members, which is a violation of the membership agreement and as a result her membership was canceled," Gosselin said in a statement on behalf of Planet Fitness. "Planet Fitness is committed to creating a nonintimidating, welcoming environment for our members. Our gender identity nondiscrimination policy states that members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity." LGBT advocates applauded the Planet Fitness policy, saying it was necessary to ensuring the safety and privacy of transgender individuals. Planet Fitness has the right to allow members to use whichever locker room corresponds with their gender identity, Alison Gill, senior legislative council for the Human Rights Campaign, told MLive. Even though gender identity is not a protected class under Michigan anti-discrimination laws, transgender individuals still have the right to use whichever bathroom they feel comfortable using, attorney Jay Kaplan with the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project told MLive. "A transgender woman would be much more at risk for her safety if she had to use the men's bathroom," he said. Cormier does not see it that way. But she agrees with LGBT advocates on one potential solution: unisex, single-stall bathrooms. +(CNN)The next time the people of Capracotta, Italy, hear the folks in Boston complain about a snow season of more than 100 inches, they'll be like: "That's nice. We've been known to get that much in one day." In 18 hours, actually. It's not an official record yet, but it looks like the Italian village got 100.8 inches (256 centimeters) on Thursday, setting the all-time mark for most snow in 24 hours. Pescocostanzo, about 21 miles (34.6 kilometers) away, only got 94.5 inches (240 cm). That's more than Boston got in January and February combined, but just short of the 105.7 inches the city totaled so far for the whole season. One of the photos posted on MeteoWeb, the Italian weather website that reported the immense snowfall, showed a resident standing on top of the accumulation shaking hands with a neighbor. She is in a second-story window. The town, which has about 1,000 residents and sits at an altitude of 4,662 feet (1,421 meters), is prone to heavy one-day snowfalls, MeteoWeb reported. You might conclude it's in the Italian Alps given all that snow, but that's not the case. It's about a three-hour drive east of Rome, roughly halfway down the Italian Peninsula, not far from the Adriatic Sea. But it is in the mountains and is vulnerable to weather coming from the northeast. The World Meteorological Organization will confirm whether the snowfall actually surpassed the 24-hour snowfall record -- 75.8 inches -- from Silver Lake, Colorado, set in 1921. MeteoWeb reported that the snow fell in 18 hours and that in unpopulated areas at higher altitudes, it is likely accumulations were much more significant. CNN meteorologists Dave Hennen and Taylor Ward contributed to this report. +(CNN)Nick Gordon, Bobbi Kristina Brown's boyfriend, says he hates her father, singer Bobby Brown. The conflict is one of many revelations in a newly released promo for an upcoming episode of "The Dr. Phil Show." In the clip, Gordon cries and laments missing Bobbi Kristina and her mother, the late Whitney Houston. "I miss Krissy and Whitney so much," a tearful Gordon says. "I want them back." Brown was found unresponsive in a bathtub on January 31 at her home in Roswell, Georgia. She has remained hospitalized after doctors placed her in a medically induced coma. Police have said they are treating her case as a criminal investigation. Gordon, who tweeted that he gave Brown CPR after finding her in the tub, has complained via social media about not being allowed to see her. "Let me be very clear, Mr. Gordon was offered an opportunity to potentially visit Bobbi Kristina and he declined to meet the terms of any possible visit," Bobby Brown said last month in a statement through his lawyers. The terms were not revealed. "In an effort to do all he can to visit, Nick has repeatedly offered to meet with Mr. Brown privately to discuss his request in person, rather than through lawyers," lawyers Randall M. Kessler and Joe S. Habachy said in a statement. "Those offers have also been rejected. We hope Mr. Brown has a change of heart." Gordon began living with Houston and her daughter after the superstar singer took him in when he was a teen. After her death, he and Bobbi Kristina became romantically involved. In a Facebook post on Friday, Bobbi Kristina's aunt Leolah Brown wrote an open letter to Dr. Phil, claiming that Gordon is being investigated by the police regarding what happened to her niece. "If Nick Gordon does not have the courage to speak with my brother Bobby Brown and/or law enforcement about what happened the day my niece's body was found in a bathtub, he does not deserve to have a platform to speak to anyone of your caliber until this investigation is concluded," she wrote. Gordon appears with his mother in the "Dr. Phil" clip, and the talk show host questions his sobriety. "You've been drinking a lot though, right?" Dr. Phil asks before telling Gordon, "I want you to go straight to rehab." According to People, Gordon did check into rehab after filming. The episode is scheduled to air Wednesday. +(CNN)Robert Durst's wife mysteriously disappeared decades ago. It's an unsolved case that hasn't stopped haunting him. Years after she went missing, prosecutors argued Durst was hiding out from investigators digging into that case when he killed a neighbor, dismembered the body and skipped town. Jurors acquitted him in a high-profile 2003 murder trial after his lawyers said he'd acted in self-defense. Now the 71-year-old millionaire real estate heir from one of New York's wealthiest families is behind bars, accused of murder again in another case that some say is tied to his wife's disappearance. FBI agents arrested Durst Saturday night in New Orleans. Investigators say they believe he was behind the 2000 slaying of Susan Berman, a crime writer and Durst's longtime friend, who was shot dead in her Beverly Hills home. "As a result of investigative leads and additional evidence that has come to light in the past year, investigators have identified Robert Durst as the person responsible for Ms. Berman's death," Los Angeles Police said in a statement Sunday. Police, who described him as a "cold case murder suspect," didn't specify what new evidence pointed them toward Durst. The arrest comes amid heightened interest in the eccentric heir, who's now the focus of the HBO documentary series "The Jinx," which explores whether he had any connection to his wife's disappearance and investigators' suspicions that Berman was killed because she knew what happened to her. Durst has long maintained he didn't kill Berman or have anything to do with his wife's disappearance. Investigators found him Saturday at the JW Marriott hotel in New Orleans, where he was staying under a false name and was carrying a fake driver's license, according to a law enforcement official who's been briefed on the case. He'd paid in cash, and authorities believe he was preparing to leave the country and flee to Cuba, the official said. He was jailed without bond and was awaiting an extradition hearing Monday morning. "We will waive extradition and get to Los Angeles as soon as possible to answer the charges," Chip Lewis, Durst's lawyer, told CNN on Sunday. Durst's brother said in a written statement that he was thankful for the arrest. "We are relieved and also grateful to everyone who assisted in the arrest of Robert Durst," Douglas Durst said. "We hope he will finally be held accountable for all he has done." Accusations about what Robert Durst has done depend on who you ask. His one-time wife, Kathie Durst, went missing in 1982. No one has been charged in her disappearance. And according to The New York Times, she's been declared legally dead. Robert Durst has said the last time he saw her was when he dropped her off at a train station in Westchester, New York, so she could head back to medical school in the city. He secretly divorced her in 1990, Court TV reported. Her family has said Robert Durst is to blame for her disappearance and hailed his arrest over the weekend as a sign they could be close to getting answers. "The dominoes of justice are now starting to fall," Jim McCormack, her brother, said on Sunday. "Through our faith, hope and prayers the last domino will bring closure and justice for Kathie." This isn't Durst's first run-in with the law. In 2003, he admitted he'd killed and dismembered Morris Black, his neighbor in Galveston, Texas, but argued he'd shot Black in self-defense during a struggle. Prosecutors argued he'd planned Black's killing in order to steal his identity and escape the attention of New York investigators looking into his wife's disappearance. Durst testified that he hid out in Galveston and posed as a mute woman because he was afraid as he faced increasing scrutiny in the case, Court TV reported at the time. "It seemed to me the big problem was Robert Durst," he said, referring to himself in the third-person. "I wanted to not be Robert Durst." Durst is an heir to a fortune thanks to his family's New York City real estate investments. The Durst Organization was founded by his grandfather and is now run by his brother and cousin. After a civil lawsuit in 2006, Robert Durst cut ties with his family and 10 Manhattan skyscrapers in return for a $65 million settlement, The New York Times reported. In 2000, his friend and longtime confidant, Susan Berman, was killed in her California home. The killing, CNN's sister network HLN reported in 2012, occurred just after police reopened the investigation into Kathleen Durst's disappearance. "She was a confidante of Robert Durst. She knew him well. They knew each other and were very, very close," CNN's Jean Casarez said. "And it was just days before investigators were to fly out to California to talk with her about what she may have known about the disappearance of Kathleen Durst that she was shot execution-style in her living room." For years, speculation has swirled about who could be responsible for Berman's death. She'd written books about her family's mafia ties and explored the history of Las Vegas, and some suspected she might have drawn the ire of a killer through her work. Investigators in the past homed in on one key piece of evidence: a postcard sent to authorities that tipped them off that Berman's body was inside her home. A police handwriting analysis said the writing on that card looked like Durst's, author Miles Corwin told CNN in 2004. But Corwin, who shadowed investigators working on the case as part of his book "Homicide Special: A Year With the LAPD's Elite Detective Unit," said at the time that police didn't have enough evidence to charge Durst in the killing. "They don't have enough to arrest him," Corwin said in 2004. What's changed since then? In "The Jinx," Berman's stepson reveals a letter from Durst he found among her possessions. That could be a key development, said Michael Daly, a special correspondent for The Daily Beast. "You look at the letter, and the handwriting is astonishingly similar," Daly said. The Los Angeles County district attorney reopened the Berman homicide investigation last week. Investigators haven't said whether the documentary series played a role in this weekend's arrest. HBO, which is owned by CNN's parent company Time Warner, praised the series' director and producer in a statement Sunday. "Years in the making, their thorough research and dogged reporting reignited interest in Robert Durst's story with the public and law enforcement," HBO said. CNN's Jack Hannah, Kyung Lah, Carma Hassan, Shelby Lin Erdman and Linh Tran contributed to this report. +(CNN)Well, it was weird while it lasted. On Wednesday, lawmakers in Ireland rushed to close a loophole that temporarily made it legal to possess Ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine, ketamine, magic mushrooms and a host of other recreational drugs. The loophole was inadvertently opened the day before, when an appeals court invalidated one section of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. The court ruled that Irish governments had been unconstitutionally adding substances to Section 2 of the law for decades. "We prepared for this possibility. Legislation was prepared and approved in advance by Cabinet," Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said in a written statement. "The emergency legislation ... will re-instate the status quo ante and re-control all drugs that were controlled prior to this judgment." The emergency law moved through the Irish legislature and was signed by the President on Wednesday, meaning that the drugs would become illegal to possess again at midnight, a Department of Health spokeswoman told CNN. Varadkar said the temporarily legalized substances -- which include a wide array of synthetic or "head shop" drugs -- "all have very significant health risks that outweigh any perceived recreational benefits," according to the Irish Times. The original schedule of substances listed in the 1977 law -- including cannabis, cocaine and heroin -- were untouched by the appeals court ruling and remained illegal. Varadkar also told the Irish Times that the court ruling could affect "dozens" of cases, although The Journal of Ireland said the court's decision will affect only cases now in the judicial process. +(CNN)A British boy whose parents were once arrested for pulling him out of a hospital now appears to be free of cancer, a family spokesman said Monday. Ashya King, 5, had proton beam therapy and appears to have had no cancer for months, Jonathan Hartley said. Is proton therapy the 'magic bullet' for cancer? The family is in Spain. Ashya's parents, Brett and Naghmeh King, are afraid to return to the United Kingdom for fear of arrest, though they are in talks to return, Hartley said. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said in September that it would not arrest the parents. That announcement came after they were arrested in Spain while authorities decided whether to charge them and extradite them to Britain. The Kings had serious concerns about the medical treatment that Ashya was receiving at University Hospital Southampton. So they defied doctors' orders and took him out. Dr. Hernan Cortes Funes, who's overseeing Ashya's treatment, agrees with the assessment that Ashya is cancer-free, he told CNN on Monday. Still, there is a high chance of recurrence, he said. Funes gave CNN details: . In August, Ashya had surgery in Britain to remove the tumor. The kind of tumor Ashya had is very aggressive and can often relapse in the brain or the spinal cord. The standard treatment is radiotherapy in the brain and spinal cord, which can cause serious side effects or even death. Ashya's parents wanted to instead do a new proton therapy, which is conducted by only a few sites in Europe. One is in the Czech Republic. Since Ashya was born in Marbella, southern Spain, his family contacted a hospital there and then took Ashya to have proton therapy in Prague in September. The next month, the boy began rehabilitation in Marbella. Initially after the proton therapy, Ashya was mute and had no movement. But after three months of intensive treatment, he can walk generally unaided. He has also been swimming and playing with toys, Funes said. His family comes to see him every day. Ashya has difficulty speaking but continues to improve. He can say a few words, and he can give simple answers when asked questions such as whether he is hungry. Medical officials in Madrid will make a molecular profile of the tumor that was removed to help identify the risk of relapse. Doctors have requested a sample from Southampton. The surgery conducted in Southampton was excellent, Funes said. +Fall River, Massachusetts (CNN)Is there hidden meaning in recorded jailhouse calls with former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez after his arrest? Defense attorneys and prosecutors are in a pitched battle over whether a jury should be able to hear them during his ongoing murder trial in its eighth full week of testimony. Snippets of the conversations are contained in motions filed by both sides. The transcribed excerpts include Hernandez talking with his fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, and also with his cousin Tanya Singleton. There's also a debate about calls between Singleton and co-defendant Ernest Wallace. Prosecutors contend calls involving Wallace, Singleton, and Jenkins, in particular, are proof of an ongoing conspiracy to conceal evidence after the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd. The defense argues the calls are irrelevant, prejudicial and contain hearsay. Aaron Hernandez trial: The latest developments . Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating Lloyd's killing with the help of Wallace and Carlos Ortiz. Wallace and Ortiz have pleaded not guilty and are being tried separately. Singleton and Jenkins both face charges of their own stemming from Lloyd's killing. Singleton has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact, accused of helping Wallace escape to Florida. Singleton, suffering from terminal cancer, is expected to be called as a state's witness. She previously served time for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a grand jury. In calls between Singleton and Wallace -- after he was arrested but before she was jailed on the contempt charge -- prosecutors contend she is passing on information from Wallace to Hernandez. At trial, authorities suggest Hernandez was reaching out to Wallace the night Lloyd's bullet-riddled body was discovered. Jurors have been shown surveillance video and phone records authorities say show Hernandez borrowing his attorney's cell phone to call Wallace that night from the North Attleboro police station parking lot after Hernandez took apart his own phone. During previous cross-examination, the defense has argued there is no proof of what that call was about and there was nothing unusual about taking a battery out of a cell phone, then putting it back together. Hernandez's fiancée, Jenkins, has pleaded not guilty to lying before a grand jury. Prosecutors suspect her of getting rid of the murder weapon after receiving a coded text message from Hernandez a day after Lloyd's killing. The jury has seen a home surveillance video of her removing a trash bag from the house and driving away with it in a car. The handgun, believed to be .45-caliber Glock, has never been found. Court documents state all jailhouse calls are recorded, and detainees are notified by signs and recorded messages that their phone conversations are being monitored. Below are excerpts of some of the calls the defense wants to quash and prosecutors want the jury to hear: . July 12, 2013 -- Call between Tanya Singleton and Ernest Wallace . Wallace: "You tell Ink, tell Ink, I love him, man. I love him." Singleton: "I will." Wallace: "Tell him no matter what, don't think I'm la-la-la'ing. I'll never go against the grain, you hear me?" Singleton: "Yup." Wallace: "Tell him we gotta work together. Tell him we gotta work together." July 17, 2013 -- Call between Singleton and Wallace . Singleton: "... He said you and him all the way, you know." Wallace: "All right. I love that ... man." Singleton: "He love you, too. ..." Wallace: "I'm riding." Singleton: "That's what he said." Wallace: "... I'm riding, you know what I mean. I'm riding." Singleton: "Yeah, that's what he said. And I'll let her know that you know." Wallace: 'Cause, yo, this la la la got us all into this, man, and they gotta know." Singleton: "I know, yeah. it's gonna be fine. I'm gonna call your lawyer today." On August 3, 2013, Jenkins tells her fiancé Hernandez that his cousin Singleton has been jailed for refusing to testify at a grand jury in his case. Hernandez: "... The longest she'll do is like probably less than a month ... until the grand jury is don(e), investigation, do you know what I mean?" "The only good thing about Tanya being locked up is she's gonna lose weight." In another call between Jenkins and Hernandez, Jenkins apparently isn't happy that he's asking her to put money into Singleton's jail canteen account. The defense argues it has no relevance to the murder charge. Jenkins: "I don't know why you keep. ..." Hernandez: "She's got no money in jail." Jenkins: "... Why do I have to keep being the one to do that? That's what you're not understanding." Hernandez: "All right -- well --" Jenkins: "I'm trying to follow what my lawyers are telling me to follow, and then you keep trying to have me do other things." Hernandez: "Not really, but I'm saying whatever works for you." Some excerpts are singled out by both defense and prosecutors for different reasons. In a call dated July 23, 2013, the defense suggests Hernandez appears to be doing an act of kindness for his loyal cousin by setting up a trust fund for her children. Hernandez: "I set up an account, don't tell nobody, for Jano and (Eddie). ... "So, don't tell nobody. I don't want nobody to know about it. And I ain't even telling my own girl, nobody. ... " 'Cause it already started off at $100,000 for them. ..." In their motion, prosecutors appear to suggest it's a payoff disguised as a gift. Will the calls be played in court? On Wednesday, Judge Susan Garsh will hear arguments and then decide whether the state can admit the jailhouse calls as evidence or if they will be barred. +(CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coasted to victory in Tuesday's elections, defying pre-election polls showing his Likud party trailing his main rival, the center-left Zionist Union. Ever the master politician and brilliant tactician, he used the politics of fear to galvanize his right-wing base, which ultimately secured him a fourth term. Israel, however, may not fare as well as its leader did at the polls. In a matter of days, Netanyahu exposed his true attitude toward Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, in the process threatening to further erode an already strained relationship with the White House. Less than two weeks ago, Netanyahu declared that his speech of June 2009 at Bar-Ilan University, where he publicly endorsed a demilitarized Palestinian state, is no longer relevant. On Monday, he continued on this theme, announcing that a Palestinian state would not be established under his watch. These comments were tactical moves aimed at mobilizing his base, but so was his Bar-Ilan speech a maneuver aimed at appeasing U.S. President Barack Obama and quelling criticism from abroad. Ultimately, political expedience led Netanyahu to reveal what many critics had long suspected: He has never supported a two-state solution. In the last six years of his premiership, Netanyahu has spoken out repeatedly against a withdrawal to the 1967 borders, with mutually agreed land swaps -- the basis for a two-state solution; insisted that Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people -- a condition no Palestinian leader can accept; and presided over unprecedented settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians regard as their future capital. Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister has disparaged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at every opportunity, asserting that he encourages terrorism -- a claim that was contradicted by the head of Israel's top security service -- and repeating the mantra that Abbas is not a legitimate peace partner. In 2011, he reportedly quashed the Palestinian leader's draft peace agreement that had been secretly negotiated with former Israeli President Shimon Peres. In a less guarded moment, Netanyahu told Israeli writer Etgar Keret that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "insoluble." Netanyahu's duplicity on the Palestinian issue has led to a highly dysfunctional relationship with the Obama administration, which has tried, in vain, to broker an Israeli-Palestinian agreement. He made a farce of last year's John Kerry-brokered peace talks by increasing settlement work fourfold during this negotiating period. Adding fuel to the fire, Netanyahu has repeatedly injected himself into U.S. politics, most recently with his acceptance of an invitation by House Speaker John Boehner to address Congress -- a move that was widely seen as a partisan ploy to undercut the White House. Obama has yet to respond to Netanyahu's most recent statements, which can only serve to further damage Washington's ties with Jerusalem while contributing to Israel's growing isolation. One European government after another has begun to turn its back on the Israeli government, taking steps to recognize a Palestinian state since it appears less and less likely that one will emerge as a result of negotiations. But criticism of Netanyahu's approach to the Palestinian issue has also come from none other than the Israeli security community, many of whose members are alarmed at Israel's deteriorating position in the international community in general and its schism with Washington in particular. A broad array of former generals, ex-heads of Israel Defense Forces military intelligence, and former chiefs of the Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence services have long argued that the status quo is unsustainable and that a two-state solution is vital to Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state. In the last month, nearly 200 of these former high-ranking security officials launched a campaign demanding a change in leadership in light of what they view as Netanyahu's failure to take any diplomatic initiative while harming one of Israel's greatest security assets: its relationship with the United States. Israelis did not heed the ex-security officials' warnings when they voted to retain Netanyahu as their Prime Minister. But while Netanyahu's come-from-behind victory may attest to his shrewd political instincts, it will also come with a high cost for his country. +Washington (CNN)The State Department is reviewing Hillary Clinton's emails to determine what can be released to the public, not whether she did anything wrong, according to a senior department official. Clinton aides and department officials stressed this week that the former secretary of state did not violate State policy when she exclusively used a private email account for government work. However, it is currently unclear whether Clinton broke a State guideline dating back to 2005 that suggested "normal day-to-day operations be conducted on an (authorized information system), which has the proper level of security control." Those guidelines were filled with exemptions that could allow Clinton to use a private account. The department official was careful to say that the people reviewing the documents are "not going to prejudge the outcome of the review of Secretary Clinton's 55,000 pages of emails." Clinton was not automatically in violation of State Department policy when she exclusively used a private email during her four years as America's top diplomat, the source added, contradicting other media on Thursday. "Under federal regulations, there is no prohibition on using a personal email for official business as long as any records are preserved," the official said. "Reports claiming that by using personal email she is automatically in violation of that FAM [Foreign Affairs manual] are inaccurate." Clinton's use of private email was never hidden from anyone, according to a former State Department official. The former secretary of state sent thousands of employees message from that account and in her four plus years at the State Department, nobody raised a red flag and say that she couldn't conduct her email communication in the manner she was conducting it, the former official adds. There were no big internal discussion among State Department lawyers, either, about Clinton's use of private email. The former official said it was simply accepted as her form of communication. Clinton's exclusive use of a private email system has quickly ballooned this week into a controversy for the presumed Democratic frontrunner for president in 2016. Experts have said it doesn't appear Clinton violated federal laws, but that hasn't stemmed the issue that has become more about bad optics and politics. Clinton tweeted on Wednesday night that she asked State to release her emails. "I want the public to see my email," her tweet said. "They said they will review them for release as soon as possible." The State Department acknowledged Clinton's request after the tweet, and a senior official said the review could "take several months." And while State officials said their review will focus on what can be released, the inquiry will also have to determine what is not suitable for dissemination given its sensitivity. If the department has to withhold documents, questions are likely to be raised about whether Clinton broke State Department guidance for transmuting sensitive but unclassified materials. On Friday, Marie Harf, a state department spokeswoman, said she was "not going to speculate" about whether there is sensitive information in Clinton's emails. "We just don't know what would happen in that situation, there are so many variables and factors, I just really don't want to speculate," Harf said. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Clinton's closest aides at State were well aware that Clinton communicated using a private email address. "Neither career foreign service officers nor State Department lawyers suggested that Mrs. Clinton use a department email address," the Times reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the inner workings of State Department under Mrs. Clinton. Clinton's spokesman failed to comment to CNN questions about those revelations by the Times. A senior State Department official did say on Friday that administration officials who engaged in email exchanges with her would been party to the fact she used a private account, although it is unclear how many administration officials she actually emailed. Several Clinton former senior staffers have said they used to get their instructions from her verbally. The questions around Clinton's email use have captivated political watchers over the last week and allowed Republicans to cast Clinton in a similar way they did her husband, former President Bill Clinton: As a secretive politician pushing the boundaries and rules and regulations. Charges of hypocrisy have also surfaced given that an inspector general's report from 2012 - while Clinton was secretary - repeatedly cited Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration's use of "commercial email for official government business" saying it was against policy to do so "except in emergencies," which created morale problems, "confusion and discouragement within the embassy community." Gration, who resigned his post in 2012 before the IG report became public, was criticized for a number of other things in the document, but it was clear that his using commercial email instead of State Department email was a real concern. At the time, Clinton was using her own personal email account to conduct official business. Clinton set up a server at her home in New York to keep her emails, meaning she and her aides were in possession of the documents, not the State Department. When the representatives from State asked for all her records in 2014, Clinton sent them the 55,000 pages of emails. A Clinton aide said they provided "anything that pertained to her work" at State, but it is impossible to verify the former secretary of state did send everything. State Department guidelines require employees who use private email accounts to back up those documents on government computers so that the department can archive them and they can be available for Freedom of Information Act requests. Clinton aides argue that they complied with State rules when they sent the documents to the department, but that did not happen until 2014, over a year after Clinton left the department. In addition to directives from State, federal guidelines from Clinton's four years leading the department do not appear to outlaw the exclusive use of personal email devices. The National Archives and Records Administration, the government agency that regulates the Federal Records Act, issued guidance in 2009 -- the same year Clinton took over at State -- that allowed agency employees to use personal accounts as long as they ensured "that federal records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the appropriate agency recordkeeping system." Before that, the archives agency said they did not "specifically address this issue." It wasn't until 2014 - when President Barack Obama signed an update to the Federal Records Law - that a timeline was set up to mandate how quickly emails had to be turned over by people who used personal devices. David Chalian, Jim Acosta, Brianna Keilar and Chris Frates contributed to this report. +March 23, 2015 . Yemen, Russia and India are three of the countries we're reporting on this Monday. Find out which controversial world leader may be headed to Moscow, discover how conservation efforts aim to help tigers in the world's second-most populated country, and watch one of the short films that won a young moviemaker a trip to the White House. Also featured: a newly named catfish. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +Ferguson, Missouri (CNN)Ferguson's police chief is ducking questions about his department and his future there in the wake of a scathing federal report. "I need to have time to really analyze this report so I can comment on it," Chief Tom Jackson said Thursday in an exclusive interview with CNN. He spoke one day after the Justice Department released its 102-page report, which found rampant racism within the Ferguson Police Department. It specifically faulted officers for seeing residents as "sources of revenue," a practice that disproportionately targeted African-Americans. DOJ: No charges for Officer Darren Wilson . When asked what he thought about the report, and what he planned to do about it, the chief said he would "take action as necessary." Asked whether that meant he would remain at the department, Jackson repeated himself: "I'm gonna take action where necessary." Later, in response to the same question, he said: "I will let you know." Brown's family to file civil lawsuit 'shortly' Many have called for the chief to step down since the shooting death of Michael Brown. Brown, a black teenager, was shot by a white officer in August. His death triggered widespread protests, and calls to change policing practices in America. Obama: Ferguson police abuse 'not an isolated incident' Sara Sidner reported this story in Ferguson. Dana Ford wrote it in Atlanta. +(CNN)Another flight brings another complaint about an airline interfering with a passenger breastfeeding her baby. The mothers who complain about instances of airline employees interfering with their breastfeeding or pumping aren't covering up and going away; they are tweeting out their complaints in 140 characters or less, sometimes in multiple posts, other times taking pictures of longer reports. Kristen Hilderman is the latest mother to say she was hassled while breastfeeding. The Vancouver mother was returning to Canada from a vacation in Costa Rica with her family on Sunday night when, she says, there was a problem on the final leg of her trip. Hilderman was feeding her 5-month-old son on board United Airlines Flight 438 as the aircraft taxied along the runway before taking off from Houston to Vancouver. To describe what happened next, she took a picture of her typed recollections and posted it to Twitter. "A male flight attendant named Keith walked up to our row and said to my husband (loudly, so that everyone around could here ), 'Are you two together?'" Hilderman wrote. When her husband said yes, Hilderman said, the flight attendant "tossed a blanket at him ... and said tersely, 'Then HERE, help her out.' " When she twice asked what he was supposed to help her out with, she said, the flight attendant ignored her. Passengers on the plane were supportive, she said, and told her they hadn't known she was breastfeeding until the flight attendant singled her out. "I've been breastfeeding my son in myriad public places since he was born, and never has anyone made me feel so uncomfortable and ashamed for feeding my baby without putting a cover over his head," she wrote. United Airlines spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm said that the airline reached out to Hilderman on Monday night via Twitter and that airline officials "look forward to speaking more with her and to our crew member to understand what happened." "On our general approach to breast feeding, we welcome nursing mothers on board and we ask that crew members do their best to ensure their comfort and safety as they do with all customers," Dohm wrote in an email. "We also ask nursing mothers and passengers seated near them to be mindful of one another's space and comfort." Hilderman, who filed a complaint with the airline, said United had not contacted her beyond their tweeted reply but said she has found support from allies on social media. Why are we so squeamish about breastfeeding? Delta passenger Lauren Modeen, who needed her breast pump on a January flight but was forced to check it as luggage, started a Boobs on Board Facebook page that's gained over 1,100 followers in the past month. "Before social media, the majority of these harassment stories went unheard," Modeen wrote in an email. "As a result, airlines faced little pressure to improve and pave a better way for mothers and children." She wants her Facebook page encourage airlines "to publicly post their explicitly clear pro-breastfeeding/pumping policies inside every airplane so the rules are not left to interpretation by an airline employee, and in turn harass/shame/bully a mother." United, Delta and other major U.S. airlines say breastfeeding is allowed on their aircraft, although United doesn't post its policy on the airline website. American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Airlines do. Though you can't please everyone in the air, women are allowed to breastfeed in flight, says veteran flight attendant and author Heather Poole, who is also a mother. "Which means if breastfeeding bothers you, maybe try looking away, closing your eyes," said Poole, author of "Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet." And remember that baby could be crying instead, giving you another reason to complain. "Better a happy baby than a crying baby." +(CNN)If you thought Simon Cowell was mean, wait till you hear what this judging duo had to say on New Zealand's spinoff of the popular singing contest "X Factor" on Sunday. Married couple Natalia Kills and Willy Moon, who both were on the judging panel of the show, slammed the 25-year-old contestant Joe Irvine, after his rendition of Michael Buble's "Cry Me A River." But it wasn't how he sang that ticked them off. "I'm disgusted at how much you've copied my husband, from the hair to the suit," said Kills, referring to Irvine's new makeover for the show. "You're a laughing stock. It's cheesy, it's disgusting...you make me sick," the British singer added. Her husband Willy Moon called him "creepy" and likened him to Norman Bates, the killer in the horror film, "Psycho." Mediaworks, the owner of the New Zealand television channel TV3, which airs the show, has decided to sack the duo for their scathing remarks. "Last night on X Factor both Kills and Moon made comments that were completely unacceptable," said Mark Weldon, Mediaworks chief executive. "We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of X Factor judges and they will leave the show, effective immediately," Weldon said in a statement on TV3's website. The couple's comments sparked outrage on Twitter. In just a day, 77,534 people signed a petition to kick the duo off the show. TV3 was quick to respond, saying that it does not condone "bullying." Irvine, who handled the comments calmly on stage, tweeted a smiling photo and thanked his supporters. Kills and Moon did not directly respond to the accusations, but Kills tweeted, thanking her fans for understanding her "passionate opinions." The native singer, Moon, who rose to fame after his song was featured in an Apple ad, was lambasted in the media earlier this week. He reportedly used abusive language at a woman in a bakery in Auckland over a parking space brawl. TV3 apologized on his behalf, saying he regretted the incident and his language, but Moon has distanced himself from the statement on social media. Thankfully, it isn't up to the judges whether or not Irvine makes it to the next round -- voters will decide his fate on Monday night's results show where fellow judges Stan Walker and All Saints singer Melanie Blatt will continue to appear. Two new judges will be announced before next week's show. CNN's Tim Hume contributed to this report. +(CNN)On Saturday, just hours after four suicide bombers set off a series of blasts in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri that left at least fifty people dead and scores more wounded, the militant organization thought responsible for the attacks, Boko Haram, reportedly announced that it was swearing allegiance to the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). According to a report quoting the SITE extremist monitoring organization, an audio recording purportedly from Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, hailed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "caliph" and declared: "We announce our allegiance to the Caliph...and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity." This latest development is not entirely unexpected given the increasing convergence between the two groups over the course of the last year as well as the severe pressure that the militaries of Nigeria and its neighbors have recently (if somewhat belatedly) brought to bear on it. In fact, the "shout-outs" exchanged regularly between Boko Haram and ISIS were not just rhetorical flourishes, but indicative of a veritable courtship as the former appropriated more and more of the latter's symbolism, tactics, and ideology. This isn't the first time that Boko Haram has adapted itself to conform with a larger extremist network that could aid it: previously the group underwent a similar evolution after Shekau took over from its slain founder, Muhammad Yusuf, in 2009 and aligned it with al-Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which gave Boko Haram training as well as facilitated its carrying out of Nigeria's first suicide bombings in 2011. Despite the assistance that Boko Haram received from AQIM and other aligned groups in the years since, the Nigerian militants' ideology and brutal tactics have progressively drawn closer to those of ISIS. Like ISIS, Boko Haram has progressed far beyond asymmetric terrorist attacks to sophisticated military operations resulting in its successfully overrunning and effectively controlling large parts in northeastern Nigeria and displacing millions of people. Just two weeks ago, in his most recent annual Worldwide Threat Assessment, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned the U.S. Congress that "Boko Haram will probably continue to solidify its control over its self-declared Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria and expand its terror campaign into neighboring Nigerian states, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad." The timing of Shekau's pledge of allegiance is not without its strategic logic. Notwithstanding its string of victories through the beginning of this year, Boko Haram has been reeling in recent weeks from a series of military defeats at the hands of the Nigerian armed forces as well as a multinational force from neighboring countries, including Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The Nigerian government and its regional allies have been pushing back and, in quite a number of instances, retaking towns. Likewise, ISIS has seen its rampage through Syria and Iraq stall and it has increasingly been put on the defensive by operations like the massive Iranian-backed Iraqi offensive to retake Tikrit this past week. Thus for both groups the new linkage provides a much-needed propaganda fillip at a just the right moment. So what does the pledge mean moving forward? At least in the short term, the merger will not have much immediate impact on the battlefield: the different social and political contexts in which each operates and the vast geographical distance separating the two groups means that each will have to face its foes with little more than moral support from each other, notwithstanding some evidence of possible collaboration in cyberspace and in terms of media production. However, finding the military noose tightening around him, and with the approbation of his new ISIS overlord who has embraced all manner of brutal tactics ranging from mass kidnappings and executions to the burning alive of a captured Jordanian pilot, Shekau can be expected to give even freer rein to the gruesome tactics for which he stands out, even among company such as this. And with Nigerians scheduled to cast ballots in a hotly contested presidential election on March 28, it is virtually guaranteed that militants, who reject democratic politics along with other "infidel" ideas, will target the electioneering and voting processes as well as try to exploit whatever disputes and tensions arise from them. Saturday's quadruple bombing in Maiduguri may just be the start of an intensified campaign of terrorist attacks. Over time, however, it could lead to the internationalization of a threat that has up to now largely been confined geographically. There is the risk that fighters from North Africa and other areas finding it harder to migrate to the ISIS caliphate's territory in the Levant, may well choose to move to the Boko Haram emirate instead. In fact, the international support recently pouring in for the multinational African anti-Boko Haram force from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and others may render the Nigerian militants' fight all the more attractive to these foreign jihadists. On the other hand, Boko Haram's success as a movement has largely been the result of its denunciations of the Nigerian political elites resonating with the many ordinary citizens as well as its ethnic appeal to the Kanuri population in particular, both of which advantages could be lost if it becomes merely another "province" of a far-flung "Islamic State" focused on a broader jihadist cause. All this suggests that it remains to be seen whether the potential benefits of affiliation with ISIS -- including possible new streams of recruits, funding, and media and other support -- will offset Boko Haram's recent battlefield losses or outweigh the damage that it will incur as result, including greater attention from Western militaries and security agencies. What is clear, however, is that Boko Haram has shown once again that it remains one of the fastest-evolving jihadist groups, one that bears close watching not only for its challenge to the security of Africa's most populous country and its biggest economy, but for its not insignificant threat to the wider region. +(CNN)Once again the global community waits to see if the United States and its partners can really halt Iran's quest for nuclear power through a verifiable accord or if Tehran is trying to buy more time for a clandestine nuclear weapons program it is suspected of having. True, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently denied it seeks anything more than nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's repeated claims in public forums that "We do not have nuclear weapons, and we do not intend to produce them," have failed to convince the United States, European Union and Israel. Suspicion is well-warranted. Iran reluctantly disclosed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA — only after U.S.-led detection — its clandestine enrichment of uranium at an underground facility near Qum, testing of bridge wires to explode the detonators of atom bombs at the Parchin military facility near Tehran, and development of an advanced multipoint trigger system for nuclear warheads. Even the IAEA director noted on March 2 that the agency still could not "provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities." As a result, the chief ayatollah's words seem more intended for defusing the international storm rather than changing domestic policy. Moreover, Khamenei has made it amply clear to Iran's citizens in the text of an infographic on his website, also reproduced by the state-controlled news media, that "Iran must not cease or slow down" but should "continue nuclear research, expansion, and progress." He has threatened as well, repeatedly, that Iran will unleash a "crushing response" against any nation with which it clashes, making his stated intent to continue nuclear activities more ominous. However, economically strapped and internationally isolated, Iran's citizens are putting pronounced pressure on President Hassan Rouhani and Khamenei. A November 2014 Gallup Poll indicates 70% of Iranians hope their leaders will accept an agreement. They expect the country's economy will jump-start through reduction or elimination of sanctions. So Iranian politicians and clerics, even those on the National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Committee, have gradually begun acknowledging that sooner or later "some sort of a result [i.e., nuclear deal]" will have to be accepted by Tehran. Ordinary Iranians' desire to reach a pact with the West is understandable. Iran's economy ranks only 32nd in the world, according to data from the World Bank, despite its vast energy resources and well-educated public. Consequently its people's prosperity has fallen to a lowly 107th among the world's societies, according to the Legatum Institute. Plunging oil prices have recently added to domestic woes, with that country facing deeper deficit in revenues much needed for development projects. Iranian leaders realize their regime remains vulnerable not only to externally imposed sanctions, but more so to internally generated widespread discontent, which erupted and was violently repressed in 2009. Regime preservation has multiple facets, however. It's not just about keeping citizens fiscally happy. Nuclear weapons work well in deterring external adversaries. Processing such technology generates much pride at home, too. Fifty-six percent of Iranians responded favorably to its continued development when polled in January. Consequently there will be countervailing internal pressure on Iran's leaders to withstand fully meeting obligations under the Nonproliferation Treaty, irrespective of whether a deal is reached, even if the socioeconomic cost to their citizens and fever-pitch global consternation continue to rise. But Iran's leaders also know full well that agreeing to a pact that lifts most or all sanctions will boost the economy and thereby generate additional resources to enhance the regime's popularity at home and influence abroad. This central goal of Iran's presence at the negotiating table was made crystal clear during the Supreme Leader's Nav Roz, or New Year, public address on March 21: "Removal of sanctions is part of the subject of negotiations, not of the results ... removal of sanctions should occur without any deal when an agreement is reached." "We can see a path forward here to get to an agreement ... [and] very much believe we can get this done by [the deadline of] March 31," stressed a senior State Department official traveling with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Lausanne on March 25. Negotiators have even added three more months to resolve the technical details of the overall agreement. Diplomacy may, as the Obama administration has stressed repeatedly, indeed be the most efficient and least dangerous way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Certainly neither the American nor the European publics want another drawn-out war in the Middle East. But as the United States and other world powers work fervently toward clinching the long-awaited nuclear agreement with the Islamic republic, it is important for Western negotiators and politicians to bear two central considerations in mind: (1) Irrespective of mechanisms written into the deal, will verification actually be possible on the ground to ensure Iran both limits and becomes fully transparent about its nuclear program? (2) Would the world collectively or the United States independently be able to enforce punitive actions, such as re-establishing sanctions, if Iran fails to comply fully and in a timely manner? Iran's President continues to suggest that his country seeks a "win-win deal which would serve the interests of all the parties," as does his negotiating team. But many Western and Middle Eastern leaders fear the United States and its allies will not be able to truly enforce nuclear limits upon Iran through any treaty. Certainly not only many Asian and African nations, but even two of the superpowers, Russia and China, see little if any threat from Tehran and would much prefer to reopen large-scale trade with Iranians than argue about atomic fission. Last November, Russia even entered into an agreement to build at least two nuclear reactors in Iran. Once sanctions are lifted, multinational corporations will likely invest heavily in Iran and resist having to pull out subsequently. Not surprisingly, influential hard-line Iranian leaders including Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, who heads Iran's judiciary, trumpet: "Our country and our negotiating officials ... are the real winners in these talks." Four years ago Iran's Revolutionary Guards declared: "The day after Iran's first nuclear test is a normal day ... but for some of us there will be a new sparkle in our eyes." Even if a deal is done, will Iran gamble that with the exception of the United States and Israel, nations can come to live with it eventually reaching the threshold of nuclear breakout or wielding nuclear weapons? +(CNN)Six weeks into the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, jurors in Fall River, Massachusetts, are getting more pieces of a time line leading up to the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée. Taking center stage this week -- videotape never before seen in public, taken from Hernandez's own home security system. Prosecutors are using that grainy footage to suggest Hernandez is holding a .45-caliber handgun -- the same kind police say was used to kill Lloyd. Hernandez is seen on camera pulling into his driveway minutes after Lloyd was shot to death in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez' Boston home. "In my opinion, the firearm shown in the video stills is a Glock pistol," Glock sales manager Kyle Aspinwall testifies. Hernandez, Ernest Wallace, and Carlos Ortiz are seen on the same security video, recorded at about 3:30 a.m. on June 17, 2013, after the men walk into Hernandez's home. All three have been charged with murder in the death of Lloyd and have pleaded not guilty. Wallace and Ortiz are being tried separately. The video is time-stamped minutes after workers in a nearby industrial park describe hearing loud noises like fireworks -- the moment prosecutors say Lloyd was gunned down after getting out of a car driven by Hernandez. Jurors lean forward in their chairs, peering into monitors and scribbling notes as Aspinwall, a former Massachusetts state trooper and New Hampshire police chief, takes them frame by frame through video during two days of testimony. Aspinwall tells jurors Hernandez appears to be holding the pistol by its muzzle as he's standing at his basement door. The defense will have none of it. They attack Aspinwall's credentials. Aspinwall is well-schooled in Glocks but admits he doesn't consider himself a gun identification expert. Hernandez's lawyers then show a different part of the video time-stamped a few seconds earlier with Hernandez holding what appears to be a shiny object in one hand, suggesting it may be an iPad. "Glock pistols don't have white glows to them, do they?" defense attorney James Sultan asks. "No, they do not," Aspinwall answers. Sultan then displays a soft-pellet gun similar in shape to a Glock, suggesting it could also be the object Hernandez is holding. Prosecutors dispute the suggestion. "Are you aware of anybody going pellet gun shooting at 3:30 in the morning?" Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg asks Aspinwall. University of New Hampshire law professor Michael McCann calls the Glock expert's findings powerful; yet, he thinks the defense did a solid job of raising questions about the fuzzy video. "The jury might think that the defense is just throwing things against the wall," he says. "But on the other hand, the jury may feel like it could be one of a dozen things. That's reasonable doubt." One thing not in dispute: the alleged murder weapon remains missing. So does a solid motive. Prosecutors could be laying the groundwork for showing more surveillance video of Hernandez -- who at the time was a star receiver for the New England Patriots -- partying with Lloyd and Hernandez's personal barber at Rumor nightclub two nights before Lloyd's death. Investigators say Hernandez was angry that Lloyd was talking to some people that night. Hernandez and Lloyd are not seen together on a camera pointed at the club's bar, and they appear to be separated for a time when they leave, but so far there's no testimony about what may have gone wrong. What might Hernandez's fiancée say? Akil Joseph, a longtime friend of Lloyd's who takes the stand, tells jurors he talked with Lloyd at the club and says he appeared "normal." When Azil Joseph leaves the stand, he keeps his eyes locked on Hernandez until he walks past the defense table. Cameras show Hernandez leaving the bar, but they do not show the moment when a parking valet testified he saw what he believed to be a gun in Hernandez's waistband. The valet's hotel security boss tells jurors he didn't see a weapon under the football player's shirt. Near the club, Hernandez is in his SUV with Lloyd and another friend. Hernandez offers a ride to Jennifer Fortier, his babysitter, who happened to be nearby with a friend. Fortier tells jurors Hernandez and Lloyd were smoking pot. Despite her objections, Hernandez drives her and the friend to Hernandez's so-called "flophouse" about 20 minutes from Gillette Stadium, the Patriots' home field in Foxborough. Fortier testifies that Hernandez "tried kissing me." "I told him 'No, I'm your nanny. I can't do this,'" she adds. "He said he understood ... and he wasn't mad at me." +(CNN)When an officer kills an unarmed suspect, the question arises time and again: Can a police department investigate a high-stakes case involving one of its own, without bias? For Wisconsin residents decrying the death of unarmed teen Tony Robinson, the question isn't even an issue. "The investigation is being conducted by the state. We have a new law here in Wisconsin where departments are no longer conducting their own internal investigations for officer-involved shootings," Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said. In fact, Wisconsin is one of only two states with such legislation. The other is Connecticut. And that brings some comfort to Robinson's family. "I trust Wisconsin and the way they're handling the investigation," Robinson's uncle Turin Carter told reporters. "We spoke to investigators from DCI (Department of Criminal Investigation). We trust them, and we trust them to handle this with integrity and to treat it as it comes. We don't want our biases involved, we don't want anybody else's. We want them to act strictly as fact-finders, and that's what we believe in, and we have confidence in that." Wisconsin's law, which was enacted just last April, requires "an investigation that is conducted by at least two investigators ... neither of whom is employed by a law enforcement agency that employs a law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death." After that, investigators must provide a report to the district attorney. If the district attorney determines there are no grounds to prosecute the officer involved, then the investigators must release their report to the public. Connecticut's law requires the state's Division of Criminal Justice with investigating any deadly force by law enforcement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The state's chief attorney can appoint a special prosecutor, and the law also allows anyone to make a written request to the chief attorney to appoint a special prosecutor, the NCSL said. After that, Connecticut's Division of Criminal Justice must submit a report to the state's chief attorney detailing whether the use of deadly force was appropriate. While such laws are rather novel, a dozen other states have proposed measures about appointing special prosecutors for, or providing independent investigation in, officer-involved deaths, according to the NCSL. They include California, Connecticut, New York, Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, West Virginia, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma. "Typically it doesn't work when you have to police yourself," said Mel Robbins, a CNN legal analyst who has began her career as a New York City public defender and now practices criminal law for Legal Aid Criminal Defense Society. "This is why we have whistle blower protective statutes because people inside an organization will do everything they can to shut that person up. "Having laws that require an outside agency to investigate would actually help police and prosecutors," she said. "There's a suspicion that many have that police are corrupt. Many are not, but that is the perception. To begin to address that, these laws are needed." She noted the case of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Cleveland boy who was playing with a pellet gun when an officer shot him dead in November 2014. After they were pressured from the child's family and the public, the police released surveillance footage that showed that officers who arrived on the scene before the shooting did not administer first aid to the boy. Robbins thinks it's best to let a unit of prosecutors within the attorney general's office to review police-involved shootings rather than create an entirely new outside agency. CNN legal analyst and former New York City prosecutor Paul Callan said there are several reasons why outside entities, such as special prosecutors, aren't tasked with reviewing police shootings. "Traditionally, elected district attorneys think they've done a fair and reasonable job with cases," he said. "And frankly they perceive (appointment of a special prosecutor) as an insult and an attack on their integrity. It implies they are incapable of investigating police."There are "powerful political forces lobbying against this kind of legislation," Callan said. It's also very costly to create parallel investigative structures just for police shootings, he said, and when budgets are already stretched thin, the idea of creating a new bureaucracy isn't appealing. Callan also noted the possibility that the appointment of a special prosecutor could work against minorities in certain situations. "For the first time we are seeing minorities coming to political power in large U.S. cities and getting to the point where they can elect African-American or Hispanic district attorneys," he said. "If a special prosecutor is appointed by a governor -- maybe a governor who is white who would appoint someone who is white -- does that really work to answer the call (for justice)? In the end you could have minorities deprived of power and not treated fairly by the system." Though Wisconsin's law has been in place for less than a year, it has already been applied in another officer-related killing. Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney shot Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill man, more than a dozen times last April. The officer said he opened fire when Hamilton grabbed his baton and struck him with it. Manney was not charged in the death, but he was fired for not following protocol. Robinson's death stirred memories of two other unarmed men killed by police: Michael Brown, who was shot by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, who died at the hands of New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo. But there are stark differences between Robinson's case and the two others. After Brown's death in August, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson asked the neighboring St. Louis County Police Department to investigate. The case was not investigated by the state and was referred to a grand jury -- just like in Garner's case. "The decisions of grand juries not to indict the officers involved in the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown raised two primary concerns," the NCSL said. "First, many were worried that since the evidence on which grand juries base their assessment is sealed, there is no opportunity for public scrutiny of their decisions. "Second, there was apprehension over the decision not to appoint a special prosecutor in either case. Some are concerned that police may receive favorable treatment due to the close proximity in which law enforcement and district attorneys work." Robinson's case won't just by handled by state investigators; it'll go through another layer of scrutiny by the district attorney's office, Koval said. "The State of Wisconsin's Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) has the exclusive authority to investigate all elements of the officer involved shooting -- forensics, interviews, technology feeds, etc.," Koval wrote on his official blog. "This investigation is then turned directly over to the second layer of review, the District Attorney's Office, who then makes a ruling on the question of whether there is criminal culpability on the part of my officer." After the deaths of Brown and Garner, President Barack Obama announced the "Task Force on 21st Century Policing," aimed at strengthening trust between communities and officers and identifying which practices can be improved. The task force's interim report, released this month, calls for independent investigations and independent special prosecutors in officer-related deaths. "The importance of making sure that the sense of accountability when, in fact, law enforcement is involved in a deadly shooting is something that I think communities across the board are going to need to consider," Obama said. "We have a great opportunity, coming out of some great conflict and tragedy, to really transform how we think about community law enforcement relations so that everybody feels safer and our law enforcement officers feel, rather than being embattled, feel fully supported." CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Julie In and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report. +(CNN)The terror that came to Tunisia on Wednesday -- the deadliest attack on tourists in the Arab world since the 1997 massacre in Luxor, Egypt -- was a long time coming. Tunisia has been widely seen as the only success story of the Arab Spring with a new progressive constitution, a freely elected secular President and Prime Minister, and a moderate Islamist opposition so far committed to democratic principles. But economic progress has lagged well behind. High unemployment has created frustrations among the young and a significant number have looked for answers in radical Islam. Political opening in Tunisia has given radicals more breathing room, their numbers swollen by the release hardened Islamist militants during the 2011 Tunisian revolution that swept away decades of autocratic rule. One of those who was freed from jail was Seifallah ben Hassine -- also known as Abu Iyyad -- a veteran Tunisian Jihadi who worked with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in the 1990s and founded the Tunisian Combatant group. Soon after he was released he founded Ansar al Shariah in Tunisia, a pro-Jihadi movement which has up to 40,000 followers. The group has a similar outlook to its namesake in Libya which the United States says carried out the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, and according to Geoff Porter, a terrorism expert at North Africa Risk Consulting, there are real and fluid links between the two groups. Three days after the Beghazi attack, Ansar al Shariah in Tunisia organized a mob attack outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia which put American lives at risk. According to the U.S. government, the group has also been responsible for several other attacks, including attempted suicide bombings at Tunisian tourist destinations. In October 2013, a Tunisian suicide bomber blew himself up outside a beach hotel in Sousse, killing only himself. Another was arrested in Monastir before he could blow up his device. The two had reportedly tried to travel to Syria but had been persuaded enroute by Jihadis in Libya to bring Jihad home. In 2013 two secular Tunisian politicians were assassinated by Islamist extremists. The United States said Ansar al Shariah was implicated in the attacks. In the last two years, Tunisian security forces have increasingly cracked down on Ansar al Shariah, but the movement still has a significant following. Ben Hassine fled to Libya where he is now believed to be based. The Syrian Jihad has been the single biggest factor in the worsening security situation in Tunisia. Over 3000 Tunisians have flocked to fight Jihad in Syria and Iraq, many of them joining ISIS. And about 500 are believed to have returned stretching the resources of security services. In December 2014 ISIS released a video calling on Tunisians to pledge allegiance to ISIS and carry out attacks, including assassinations. The Tunis museum attack took place just days after a Tunisian Jihadi tweeted that a pledge of allegiance by Tunisian Jihadis to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was coming soon, according to the SITE intelligence group. The Tunisian Jihadi who posted the message Sunday claimed to belong to "Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia." In December, a grouping by the same name had pledged allegiance to ISIS. But the earlier pledge appears not to have fully registered with ISIS. An ISIS fighter in Raqqah, recently appeared in a video questioning why Jihadis in Tunisia had not pledged fealty. The Tunisian Jihadi replied "Wait for the glad tidings of what will bring you joy. ... The delay of the public pledge of allegiance was for the sake of preparation." The statement raises the possibility that the museum attack could be ISIS's debut on the Tunisian stage, timed to precede a pledge of allegiance from Tunisian Jihadis for maximum impact. While pro-ISIS twitter accounts lit up in celebration after the museum attack, there had been no credible claims of responsibility as of late Wednesday. Tunisian security officials are worried about spillover from an increasingly chaotic Libya. ISIS has taken advantage of a simmering civil war in Tunisia's neighbor to rapidly expand. It is now the dominant force in Derna in eastern Libya and controls parts of the town center of Sirte, the hometown of former Libya strongman Moammar Gadhafi. And it has built an increasingly significant presence in Tripoli itself, carrying out a gun attack on the Corinthia Hotel in January. A number of Tunisians are also believed to be training with ISIS in a half dozen training camps the group operates in the Green Mountains between Benghazi and Derna in eastern Libya. In late 2012 al Qaeda's North African affiliate AQIM set up a branch in Tunisia called the Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade, a 60-strong Jihadi outfit composed of Tunisians, Algerians, and some Libyans. The group is believed to include fighters driven out of Mali by French forces. The Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade has been responsible for a string of attacks on Tunisian security services in mountainous Djebel Chaambi region along the Algerian border. "They have been the most active terrorist organization in Tunisia to date," Porter told CNN. "It is rumored, but not confirmed, that they are getting additional personnel from Algeria because members of AQIM in Algeria have been fleeing intensified Algerian military operations." Andrew Lebovich, a North Africa security analyst based in New York told CNN that the Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade issued a statement late last year threatening to attack Tunis. "Most of their attacks have been in the Djebel Chaambi region but it's possible they have extended their operations closer to the capital," he said. The museum attack is the biggest crisis faced by Tunisia since the revolution. It is likely to significantly impact Tunisia's tourism industry, worsening the economic outlook and increasing the sense of frustration on which extremists thrive. There is also concern Tunisian security forces, traumatized by the attack on the capital, could once again embrace repression in their struggle to contain the Jihadi threat. "The Parliament was debating tougher anti-terrorism laws when the museum attack took place. The worry now is that Tunisia's security services will crack down hard on Islamists increasing tensions and making the problem far worse," Lebovich told CNN. +Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)For Iowa's economy, corn is everything. So it's no surprise that the Republican governor and other powerful voices in state agribusiness are vocal backers of the Renewable Fuel Standard, a federal rule that requires gasoline to be comprised of up to 10% in renewable fuels. One of those is ethanol -- with corn often a key ingredient. "Don't mess with the RFS," Gov. Terry Branstad said Saturday, offering a not so subtle warning as he kicked off a daylong agriculture summit that featured a string of likely Republican presidential candidates. The RFS is a major issue that White House hopefuls are forced to address whenever they visit the No. 1 corn-producing state that also goes first in the presidential nominating calendar. But it's a less popular policy for small government conservatives, who decry the mandate as federal overreach in the private sector. In his first 2016 visit to Iowa, Jeb Bush sought to delicately explain his desire to see the RFS disappear over time. "The market's ultimately going to have to decide this," he told the audience at the event, which took place at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Bush acknowledged that the mandate, which passed in 2007, has helped lower dependence on foreign oil and boost corn-heavy economies. "But as we move forward over the long haul, there should be certainty for people to invest," he argued, saying ethanol will no longer need help from the government. "So at some point we'll see a reduction of the RFS need, because ethanol will be such a valuable part of the energy feedstock for our country." He declined, however, to suggest when exactly that may happen. In his remarks, Bush also defended his position in favor of legal status for undocumented immigrants after they meet a wide set of requirements. And while attending a fundraiser Friday night in Des Moines, he stood by his support for Common Core, the controversial testing standards that have become a point of contention for conservatives. Election 2016: Jeb Bush makes his first Iowa foray . Bush's frank statements on the RFS and his defense of some of his most controversial views indicated that the former Florida governor plans on sticking with his positions as he gets ready to hit the campaign trail, no matter how unpopular they may be to certain audiences. Still, he was not totally immune to at least some pandering. Bush told the crowd that he'll be cooking some "Iowa beef" Sunday when he's back home with his family in Florida, adding that he'll probably make some "really good guacamole," too. Talking about campaigning for his father's presidential campaigns in Iowa, Bush said he went to at least 50 counties. "I remember eating really well -- eating really, really well." With a John Deere tractor towering near the stage, each candidate sat on stage for a 20-minute Q&A with Bruce Rastetter, an agribusiness entrepreneur and major Republican donor in Iowa. The audience of close to 1,200 was comprised largely of farmers and other leaders in the agriculture industry. While Bush took a mild approach to the RFS, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas flat out opposed it, saying Washington shouldn't be "picking winners and losers." "I have every bit of faith that businesses can continue to compete and continue to do well without having to go on bended knee asking for subsidies, asking for special favors," he said. "I think that's how we got in this problem to begin win." Ethanol proponents argue that because oil companies own gas stations, consumers are unable to access ethanol and therefore it needs the government's support to break through oil's stronghold of the market. Cruz acknowledged that his view wouldn't be well-received, but tried to argue that it proved his authenticity. "Look, I recognize that this is a gathering of a lot of folks who the answer you'd like me to give is, 'I'm for the RFS, darn it.' That'd be the easy thing to do. But I'll tell ya, people are pretty fed up, I think, with politicians that run around and tell one group one thing, tell another group another thing." Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry took a similar stance and defended his decision to request a waiver that would exempt Texas from the federal mandate. If individual states want to require that ethanol be used in gasoline, that's fine, he said, but not the federal government. "I philosophically don't agree that Washington, D.C. needs to be making these decision that affect ... our agriculture industry," Perry said. Other contenders offered entirely opposite positions. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for example, said he "absolutely" supports the RFS. "That's what the law requires. So let's make sure we comply with the law. That should be the minimum," he said, drawing applause from the crowd. Rick Santorum, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2012, ticked off what he called a "laundry list" of benefits, including more energy independence and more jobs for farmers. "It is very important for rural Americans," said the former senator from Pennsylvania. For his part, Mike Huckabee argued that the ethanol mandate was a matter of national security. "America needs to do three things to be free: feed itself, fuel itself, fight for itself," the former Arkansas governor said, adding that relying on foreign governments for energy leads to a weakened United States. Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, hit back at criticism that politicians like him simply support the RFS for political reasons. "The decisions are made not just frankly for what's best for Iowa -- that's not the rationale. You can't make a decision and say, 'It's good for Iowa. Gee, they're the caucus state, we better suck up to them.' We better make decisions that are good for every consumer," he said. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who's had a strong showing in polls since he visited the state in January, made clear that while he's generally a free market guy, he believes ethanol is being blocked from consumers and needs government assistance. "Right now, we don't have a free and open marketplace, and so that's why I'm willing to take that position," he said. But, similar to Bush, Walker said that he expects ethanol can one day compete openly and "you no longer need in the industry to have these subsidies." The audience at Saturday's event was largely subdued, given the tone and dialogue of the summit was more substance, less red meat. Those who supported the RFS, however, received a strong response from the crowd. As for those who opposed it, Bill Couser, who co-chairs a campaign called America's Renewable Future which pushes the ethanol mandate, said he's not ready to write anyone off quite yet. But those candidates can expect to hear a lot more from him in the coming months. "Maybe I didn't like a few of their answers, but it's going to give me some time to go help them understand the issues," he said. +(CNN)Some viewers of the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Sunday night took to social media to vent about the opening monologue, saying one controversial joke by Jamie Foxx crossed the line. Foxx, the actor and musician who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles, hosted the second annual awards show in Los Angeles. "We got some groundbreaking performances, here too, tonight," Foxx said. "We got Bruce Jenner, who will be doing some musical performances. He's doing a his-and-her duet all by himself." There have been reports that Jenner, an Olympic gold medalist, plans to transition from male to female. However, Jenner has not spoken publicly about any such possibility. Many television viewers took to social media to complain that the joke was offensive to people struggling with issues of gender and sexual identity. The hashtag #iHeartRadioMusicAwards remained a top trend Monday. "Jamie Foxx just made a terrible, disgusting joke about Bruce Jenner's rumored transition on this trash awards show," tweeted @laurennostro. "Seriously #JamieFoxx? #BruceJenner jokes?" wrote @AngelaPquigley. "You're disgusting, that's not ok. It wasn't funny, just mean spirited and lazy." Foxx's joke wasn't the only part of the show that made headlines. Pop princess Taylor Swift continued her recent hot streak by winning artist of the year and song of the year for her hit "Shake It Off." Swift also played guitar onstage while Madonna sang her new song, "Rebel Heart." And Justin Timberlake received the iHeartRadio Innovator Award for his achievements as an entertainer. The former N'SYNC heartthrob, who has earned critical praise and commercial success as a solo artist and an actor, said he wasn't one of the cool kids growing up. "They called me different. They called me weird," he said in accepting the award. "Thankfully my mother taught me that being different was a good thing. That being different meant you could actually make a difference so I wanna thank my mom..." In his monologue, Foxx also took potshots at the "Blurred Lines" copyright-infringement battle and the health of a famous 1990s record executive. Those jokes found more acceptance than the Jenner quip. "Marvin Gaye had the number one song, featuring Pharrell (Williams) and Robin Thicke," Foxx said, setting up for his punch line: . "Marvin Gaye just made $7.4 million just last week. He's making beats in heaven. It's crazy," he joked. "He might be dead, but he ain't dead broke." Gaye's children had sued Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke over the 2013 hit "Blurred Lines," which jurors decided borrowed elements from Gaye's soul classic "Got to Give It Up." The performers were ordered to pay $7.4 million for copyright damages and infringement. The crowd laughed again when Foxx turned to Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight, who has been charged with murder in the hit-and-run death of a man run over by a truck. "He will not be here tonight," Foxx said of Knight. "He founded Tha Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and now he needs a seeing-eye dog." Knight collapsed in court recently, as a result of ongoing health issues, after a judge set his bail at $25 million in the murder case. He hit his head during the fall, knocking himself out. +(CNN)Two Los Angeles police officers were wounded in gunfire late Sunday, and police told local media they believe the officers were targeted. They were on duty in South L.A., when gunfire erupted in the early evening, grazing both of them, said Officer Cory Meisner. They both sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene. One of the officers had to have bullet fragments removed from his arm later, according to the LAPD. The Los Angeles Times reported that the officers had been driving through the neighborhood dressed in plain clothes. The officers returned fire, and several suspects scattered, Det. Meghan Aguilar told the newspaper, adding that the officers believed that they were targeted. But a public information officer for the LAPD disputes that possibility. "The officers were in plain clothes," Rosario Herrera told CNN. "This cannot be called targeting. The narcotics officers from the 77th division were driving in an unmarked police vehicle around 64th and Broadway when they were shot at and they returned fire." Three individuals were detained for questioning, according to Herrera, but were not arrested. The names of the injured officers have not been released. +(CNN)Spring is in the air and streaming movies, TV shows and specials will be here to further brighten our days. From original Netflix series to new offerings from Amazon Prime, Hulu, iTunes and Acorn, there's plenty to do on rainy days and the cool spring nights. "And Now ... Ladies and Gentlemen" "Bandolero" "Barnyard" "The Beautician and the Beast" "Bound" "Buffalo Soldiers" "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" "Down to Earth" "Leprechaun 3" "Leprechaun 4: In Space" "Leprechaun 6: Back 2 tha Hood" "Suicide Kings" "Sunset Strip" "Underworld" "Whiteboyz" "Wrong Turn at Tahoe" "Life Partners" "Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage" "All Hail King Julien" season 1 . "Derek: Special" "Starry Eyes" "The Quiet Ones" "Delta Farce" "Preservation" "Wilfred" season 4 . "Halt and Catch Fire" season 1 . "Crank" "Pioneer" "The Awakening" "Broken" "Burning Bridges" "Confusion Na Wa" "Finding Mercy" "Finding Mercy 2" "Flower Girl" "Forgetting June" "Knocking on Heaven's Door" "Lagos Cougars" "Lies Men Tell" "Mad Couple" "Mad Couple 2" "Marvel's Daredevil" season 1 . "Matters Arising" "October 1*" "Onye Ozi" "Ties That Bind" "The Identical" "Video Game High School" season 3 . "The Babadook" "Goodbye to Language" "Kink" "Hot Fuzz" "Baby Daddy" season 4 . "Chris D'Elia: Incorrigible Standup" "They Came Together" "Noah" "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" "Sons of Anarchy" season 7 . "The Nutty Professor 2: Facing the Fear" "National Treasure" "The Brothers Grimm" "Ken Burns: The Roosevelts" "Amistad" "Death Wish 1 & 2" "Escape from Alcatraz" "French Connection II" "Mommie Dearest" "My Old Lady" (Prime member exclusive) "Suicide Kings" "The Thing Called Love" "Kicking & Screaming" "Saved!" "Leprechaun" "Leprechaun 2, 3 & 5" "Bloody Sunday" "Godzilla" "Star Trek: The Motion Picture, II, III & V" "Groundhog Day" "Tusk" (Prime member exclusive) "Little Women" "Submarine" "The Better Angels" (Prime member exclusive) "Craig Ferguson: Does This Need to Be Said?" "Ping Pong Summer" "Still Life" (Prime member exclusive) "They Came Together" "Noah" "Son of a Gun" (Prime member exclusive) "Sons of Anarchy" season 7 . "Lay the Favorite" "The Quiet Ones" "America: Imagine the World Without Her" "Louie" season 4 . "The Red Road" season 2 premiere . "Taken 3" "Big Eyes" "Cut Bank" "The Last Knights" "Electric Slide" "A.D" series premiere . "Mad Men" new episodes return . "Wolf Hall" series premiere . "If There Be Thorns" "American Odyssey" free series premiere . "Salem" season 2 premiere . "Women in Black 2" "Sonic Highways" free series premiere + complete season . "Better Call Saul" season finale . "Louie" season 5 premiere . "The Comedians" series premiere . "The Messengers" series premiere . "The Gambler" "Yellowbird" "With This Ring" "DC Batman v. Robin" "Cake" "The Marine 4: Moving Target" "Turn" season 2 premiere . "Deadliest Catch" season 11 premiere . "Justified" series finale . "Orphan Black" season 3 premiere . "Wedding Ringer" "The Boy Next Door" "The Man With the Iron Fists 2" "The Pyramid" "Beyond the Reach" "Alex of Venice" Paddington (4/17) "Girls" season 4 . "Looking" season 2 . "Inside Amy Schumer" season 3 premiere . "Jupiter Ascending" "Mea Culpa" "Black Sea" "Jupiter Ascending" "Citizenfour" "Adult Beginners" "24 Days" "Black Sails" season 2 . "American Sniper" "Strawberry Shortcake: Best in Show" "Mommy" "DC Batman Unlimited Animal Instincts" "Weird Loners" series premiere . "19 Kids & Counting" season 12 . "90 Day Fiance" season 1 . "Cake Boss" season 10 . "Deadliest Catch" season 10 . "Fast N' Loud" season 5 . "Finding Bigfoot" season 5 . "Gator Boys" season 4 . "Gold Rush" season 4 . "Gypsy Sisters" season 2 . "Homicide Hunter" season 3 . "How It's Made" season 16 . "Long Island Medium" season 6 . "Man vs Wild" season 6 . "Monsters and Mysteries in America" season 1 . "Moonshiners" season 3 . "My Cat from Hell" season 4 . "My Crazy Obsession" season 2 . "My Strange Addiction" season 4 . "MythBusters" season 15 . "Nightmare Next Door" season 7 . "Pit Bulls and Parolees" season 5 . "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta" season 6 . "Street Outlaws" season 2 . "The Little Couple" season 8 . "Too Cute" season 4 . "Unusual Suspects" season 6 . "Shadows and Fog" "Stardust Memories" "Teen Wolf" "Candyman" "The City of the Lost Children" "Donnie Brasco" "Enough" "House of Flying Daggers" "On the Waterfront" "Seven Years in Tibet" "Starship Troopers" "VeggieTales: Dave and The Giant Pickle" "VeggieTales: Larryboy and The Fib From Outer Space" "American Odyssey" series premiere . "Bunnytown" season 1 . "Doc McStuffins" season 1 . "Handy Manny" seasons 1-3 . "CSI" seasons 1-14 . "CSI en Espanol" seasons 1-14 . "Wilfred" season 4 . "Hot in Cleveland" season 6b . "The Soul Man" season 4 . "Walk of Shame Shuttle" season 1 . "Resident Advisors" season 1 (Hulu exclusive) "The Messengers" series premiere (Hulu original) "Deadbeat" season 2 premiere . "Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip" "Sons of Anarchy" season 7 . "A Place to Call Home" season 2 . "Lovejoy" series 6 . "McCallum" "The Driver" "Time Team Set 8" "Murdoch Mysteries" movies . +(CNN)An unseasonably warm winter has left parts of Alaska's Iditarod trail without snow, exposing grass and gravel and forcing the famous dogsled race to move 225 miles north. Opening ceremonies in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kick off Saturday in Anchorage. When the race begins Monday, mushers will cross the starting line in Fairbanks instead of Willow, the traditional starting point. It's the second time in the race's 43-year history that the starting point has moved from Willow to Fairbanks because of weather-related issues, an Iditarod spokesperson said. The first time was in 2003. While cities across the northeastern United States have seen record snowfall this winter, Alaska received less snow than usual. Anchorage collected only 20 inches of snow this season, compared with a seasonal average of 60 inches. Race organizers made the unanimous decision in February to move the race after determining that conditions were worse than last year in critical areas, and "therefore not safe enough for the upcoming race," Iditarod Chief Executive Stan Hooley said in a press release. While snow has fallen east of the Alaska Range over the past couple of weeks, other parts of the trail did not get much or any of it, Hooley told CNN affiliate KTVA-TV in February. The racing course spans a 1,000-mile trail across the Arctic tundra, ending in Nome. The race usually takes 10 days to finish, although Dallas Seavey finished the race in 2014 in a record time of eight days, 13 hours, four seconds, and 19 minutes. The lack of snow could be attributed to a highly amplified jet stream that brought warm air from the Pacific to the region, said meteorologist Dave Snider with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. "It's the same weather pattern that brought the east coast such snowy and cold weather this season. Alaska was simply on the warmer side of this weather pattern," he said. Warm sea surface temperatures along the Alaska coastline are another reason for milder conditions, he added. +(CNN)Israel has again voted for a national leader who acts as if he considers one-fifth of its country's citizens -- including me and my family -- to be an existential threat. We were born into the wrong tribe, so to speak. Campaign season shed light on the troubling reality in Israel -- that tribalism trumps democracy and ethnicity trumps citizenship. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Arabs were "being bused to the polling station in droves," people around the world were justifiably horrified. And Monday, in response to the outrage, he apologized for his statement, offering that he knew his comments "offended members of the Israeli Arab community." But Netanyahu's policies speak much more loudly than his half-apology. And with him poised to serve a fourth term, many Palestinian citizens of Israel fear, with good reason, that his victory means it is open season for anti-Arab racism in the Knesset and in the streets. Israel's war on its Palestinian citizens is nothing new; our rights have been under attack for years (imagine a proposal that forced Jewish Americans to sign a "loyalty oath" to the United States as was proposed for Palestinians and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel). However, the majority's attempt to further entrench institutionalized racism and deny the rights of indigenous Palestinians has achieved frightening momentum. The controversial "Jewish Nation-State Bill" that previously floundered in the Knesset has been resurrected. The bill, if passed, would codify the principle of preserving a Jewish ethnic majority. There are versions of it that establish Hebrew as the sole official language and recognize Jewish religious law as a "source of inspiration for the Knesset." Even Israel's Supreme Court has come under attack in recent years for occasionally defending minority rights, which some view as a threat to the legal privileges afforded its Jewish citizens. In response, the government changed the Supreme Court's composition to tilt it further to the right. Today, the sole Arab Supreme Court justice, Salim Jubran, very often serves as a dissenting voice in judgments where the court favors legislation demeaning to Israel's Palestinian citizens. Opinion: How Obama handed Netanyahu victory . The 2011 Admissions Committees Law — upheld in 2014 by the more conservative Supreme Court, which includes the first Israeli settler jurist — allows hundreds of localities in Israel to essentially reject applicants seeking to buy homes built on state land because the applicants are deemed "unsuitable." The law caused an outcry among Palestinian citizens and human rights groups, who assert that it's simply a thinly disguised effort to discriminate against Israeli citizens on the basis of ethnicity. Simply put, the law enforces segregation within Israel, helping to keep Palestinian citizens out of Jewish communities. Attempts to marginalize Palestinian citizens of Israel also extend to the political sphere. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's successful push to raise the threshold required to win seats in the Knesset was a move designed to exclude Palestinian lawmakers. Ironically, that move backfired, prompting four Arab parties to create the Arab Joint List, whose members span a wide ideological spectrum. Despite their political differences, they were united by one important mission, and that was to defend the rights of Palestinians, whether they reside within Israel or in the occupied territories. The Joint List won 13 seats and took third place in the parliamentary election. While their unity and strong showing is encouraging in the face of Israeli efforts to divide and weaken the Palestinian community, the fact that they were forced to unite on the basis of ethnicity rather than ideology is a reflection of Israeli politics, which draws boundaries among its citizens on the basis of ethnicity and religion and openly participates in ugly, xenophobic electioneering. Opinion: Will Netanyahu win seal Iran deal? The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that the essence of democracy is "to rule and be ruled in turn," but as Hassan Jabareen, head of Adalah: The Legal Center for Minority Rights in Israel, puts it, in Israel, "Arabs are always ruled and Arab citizens are always in the opposition, never in the coalition, no matter how many seats they win." It is very telling that Netanyahu could well form his coalition with Avigdor Lieberman, who called for beheading disloyal Arab citizens of Israel and whose party Yisrael Beiteinu only won six seats in the Knesset, and not with the Arab Joint List, which won more than twice as many seats and is calling for equality and an end to Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, which has lasted nearly half a century. If Netanyahu's re-election is an ill omen for the Palestinian citizens of Israel, it is even worse news for the 4.5 million Palestinians under occupation who are ruled by a state that denies them all rights. When Netanyahu said on the eve of the election that he would not allow the creation of a Palestinian state, he was making it clear that the occupation will continue as long as he remains in power. Opinion: The danger of Netanyahu's win . Renouncing Palestinian statehood rallied Netanyahu's base by reminding them of how much he has done to preserve and extend Israel's grip on its West Bank settlements, built in violation of international law and considered illegitimate by official U.S. policy going back decades. In fact, blocking the creation of a Palestinian state has been Netanyahu's life's work. Over the years, he has rhetorically "accepted" Palestinian statehood while continuing to steal the very land that would comprise a Palestinian state. The lip service he has paid to Palestinian statehood and his desire to return to the bankrupt "peace process" has provided him with a useful smokescreen behind which he continues to actively realize the vision he revealed in his recent political campaign when he ruled out a two-state solution -- a vision of a greater Israel where Palestinians live under apartheid rule, without a state and without equal rights . The policies that Israel's electorate has chosen are directly at odds with U.S. interests, not to mention American values. Citizens around the world, including in the United States, are increasingly frustrated with Israel's treatment of Palestinians and its role in helping to fuel armed conflict in the region, as demonstrated by its current effort to scuttle U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Netanyahu is expecting to attempt to resume business as usual with Washington, offering occasional platitudes about peace in exchange for the freedom to deepen the occupation and strip away the rights of Israel's Palestinian citizens. Given what is at stake, it will be dangerous for America -- and for Israel -- if President Obama plays along. +(CNN)A chiseled boxer's Instagram feed shows him making constant references to the Bible and enjoying gospel singing with his wife. Another features his formidable opponent counting stacks of money, hanging out in strip clubs, and flashing diamond watches and Ferraris. Welcome to the world of boxing promotion, circa 2015. American Floyd Mayweather and Filipino Manny Pacquiao are set to officially announce their heavily anticipated boxing match at a press conference in Los Angeles Wednesday. With the combined purse for the May 2 bout in Las Vegas reported to touch $300 million pending viewership numbers, the incentives to self-promote could not be higher. "Nowadays you have to be on social media to launch the fight and to build hype," says boxing promoter Nisse Sauerland, CEO of Team Sauerland. "It couldn't be done without it." Thirty-eight year old Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts), who favors the moniker "The Money Man" or "TBE" (The Best Ever), boasts nearly five million Instagram followers, 5.65 million followers on Twitter and 9.2 million Facebook likes. He famously confirmed the fight via Shots, a photo sharing social media application that he's invested in, and displays links to his clothing brand, The Money Team, on all his accounts. Along with professing to the be the best fighter of all time, he could also stake a claim to be one of the greatest social media users in sports. "I think they're both playing their roles," says Sauerland, who promotes over 45 boxers. "You've got the bad guy and the good guy, really. You've got the guy who throws the money around (Mayweather), that's his image, and Pacquiao, he's the hope of a nation." Although Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 knockouts) also sports millions of followers, his social media numbers lag behind that of his opponent. The 36-year-old Filipino counts 1.7 million followers on Twitter and just 647,000 on Instagram, although his popularity on Facebook is much closer, with 6.3 million page likes. Has this disparity had an impact on Pacquiao's share of the fight's heady purse, which is reported to be split 60/40 in favor of Mayweather? "If you have five million Twitter followers it does give you power in negotiation, because it reflects popularity, " says Sauerland. "But Mayweather needs Pacquiao too; you need a storyline to make a good fight ... (Pacquiao) is the route to make it the biggest purse in history." The disparity is probably due to Pacquiao's less flashy posts. Without exception, they show him in training, in church, or with family -- always with a nod to Jesus in the text -- as well as his nationality, says sports media consultant Daniel McLaren and Cast Digital chief executive officer. "Manny is a little bit more of a private person; he's not going to be as outspoken and give away as much, so he's always going to have a smaller following," he says, while noting that Instagram is less popular outside of North America and Europe. Pacquiao's followers in his home country are more likely to track his moves on Facebook and Twitter, adds McLaren. Either way, both fighters are likely to experience a surge in followers. "If the only place you can find out what's happening behind the scenes in the lead-up to the fight is via their social media feeds, you're going to follow them," McLaren says. "So I think they will see quite a big increase in followers and the amount of mentions they're getting as the fight gets closer." Athletes who participate in individual sports are more inclined to be active on social media, says McLaren, because they don't receive regular salaries, and product endorsements can be a much larger portion of their income. "A boxer or a golfer or a tennis player has to use it as a commercial platform or a brand building platform," he says. "If you have the choice between a different number of athletes to sponsor, and one has a million Instagram followers while the other doesn't go on social media, then it's a no-brainer." Sauerland agrees. "Every fighter nowadays should be on social media, and if they're not, then they're not doing a good enough job at promoting themselves," he says. "It doesn't matter who you are, whether you're a club fighter or a superstar." "It'll be an interesting fight," adds McLaren, "just because they are so different." +(CNN)You may have heard that Israeli politics is extremely complex. But one of the most important forces at play there is actually rather straightforward: When Israelis feel safe and strong they tend to support moderate parties. When they feel vulnerable they move to the right. Understand that, and you will understand Israel -- and why President Barack Obama may have inadvertently given Benjamin Netanyahu a helping hand. Israelis know they need American support to survive in a hostile, increasingly unstable and radicalized neighborhood, but they don't believe they can trust Obama to help keep them safe. And the president, despite taking numerous measures to support the Jewish state, has done a dismal job of persuading Israelis that he has their back. This reality helps explain how Netanyahu and his rightist Likud party pulled off an upset victory this week, despite opinion polls showing them trailing the main opposition Zionist Union heading into Tuesday's election. Clearly, it's not all Obama's fault. Netanyahu's opponents also failed to address security issues, believing a focus on pocketbook matters would be enough. And Netanyahu is a skilled, articulate and shrewd politician. But Obama, like it or not, was one of the reasons for Likud's success. When Netanyahu traveled to Washington a couple of weeks ago to warn the U.S. Congress about an impending "bad deal" with Iran over its nuclear program, Obama refused to meet with him, claiming he didn't want to influence Israel's elections. Few believed this was the real reason -- it's no secret the two men don't particularly like one another. Through much of his presidency, Obama has failed to convince Israelis thay they can trust him. And his handling of the recent spat with Netanyahu only added to the problem. By appearing to dismiss Netanyahu's warning of a "nuclear nightmare" over the Iran talks by arguing that the prime minister was offering no "viable alternatives," Obama missed an opportunity to reassure security conscious Israelis that the United States will safeguard their survival. His tacit acknowledgment that there might be no alternative to an imperfect deal was of little comfort to Israelis who have spent years hearing genocidal threats from the Iranian regime. Opinion: Will Netanyahu win seal Iran deal? The fact that Obama has become one of the key reasons why Netanyahu continues to win elections in Israel is ironic considering Israelis are profoundly worried about the deteriorating ties with the United States, a relationship they consider key to ensuring their country's survival. One recent poll showed only 37% of Israelis believe Obama has a "positive" position towards Israel, a mood that has undoubtedly helped Netanyahu enormously, despite the fact that large numbers of former security officials have said Netanyahu is endangering the country by undermining ties with Washington, and despite Israelis saying close relations with the United States are the second most important factor for Israel's security, behind only Israel's own military strength. All this left a genuine opening for Obama to influence the Israeli electorate, because Israelis desperately want to trust the American president -- and they remain America's biggest, most loyal fans, according to a recent Pew poll. 5 questions about Netanyahu's apparent victory . Yet despite the positive sentiment in principle, Israeli voters -- especially on the right -- have been skeptical that Obama has their best interests at heart. This point was underscored in a recent poll that asked Israelis recently if they believed President Obama would agree to a deal that Israeli officials considered harmful to Israel's security. Of those that responded, 61% said yes, he would do so. However, 95% of Labor supporters said no, Obama would do no such thing, while 93% of Likud voters said they believed Obama would disregard Israel's security. The worry over security extends beyond a nuclear deal with Iran to include the other key foreign policy issue -- the possibility of a Palestinian state. A majority of Israelis still support the creation of two states, one for Israelis and another for Palestinians. And despite the last-minute statements from Netanyahu dismissing the idea, it is important to remember that polls have consistently shown Israelis continue to support the establishment of a Palestinian state, as long as Israel's security can be assured. The trouble is that right now, many Israelis don't believe they can preserve their security with a Palestinian state just a few miles from their major cities, not least because previous territorial withdrawals -- from Gaza and from southern Lebanon -- have simply created launch pads for attacks against Israel. So when rightist leaders such as Netanyahu say Israelis will not be safe with a Palestinian state, voters are inclined to believe them. All this suggests that if Obama wants to persuade the Israeli public to push its government towards compromise, he needs to rebuild the public's trust in him. Israelis want peace, but they also need to be reassured that their safety and survival is a paramount concern of their U.S. ally. And if President Obama cannot assure them of this? Well, they will simply wait until there is a president they feel they can trust. It's not that complicated. +(CNN)It's probably the most important advice Nigerian movie superstar Ramsey Nouah ever received: "My friend said," Nouah recalls,"'you look like a great actor, why don't you act?'" That was some 25 years ago, when Nouah was looking for funds to cover his school examination fees. Nouah took his friend's suggestion and started auditioning for TV shows. He quickly landed a role in a successful soap opera, and soon after he made his debut in Nollywood, Nigeria's mighty movie making machine. Today, Nouah is one of the industry's most popular names, having starred in dozens of films and won several accolades. His latest movie -- "Thy Will Be Done," by director Obi Emelonye -- became last month the first Nollywood film to premiere at London's BFI IMAX, Britain's biggest cinema screen. CNN's African Voices caught up with Nouah to talk about Nigeria's film industry and present him with the questions you sent via the #AskRamsey and #CNNAfrica hashtags. CNN: How have you seen Nollywood change and grow over the years? Ramsey Nouah: There have been several phases in Nollywood, like in everything in life. We started off Nollywood almost like making bread out of stone; there was nothing, no investment, no structure, nothing on the ground to actually help the industry but we've brought it this far and we are very happy. CNN: How do you see the political situation in Nigeria and what do you think about the recent security tensions? RN: I find it quite dicey, it's a case of uncertainty, not knowing what is going to happen ...however I'm actually endorsing the present government because he [president Goodluck Jonathan] has contributed immensely to the growth of our industry -- call me selfish call me what but I've been in this industry for 25 years, no government ever spoke about my industry like this one. He gave us audience, he listened to us, he gave several grants to help the industry, he sent so many of the practitioners outside to big film schools ... he's giving money for distribution -- so for all these reasons. There was a point where there was a nosedive, when it was hitting the rocks because it was predominantly dependent on DVDs, and the quality of the production was poor. It was successful up to a point until piracy came in and intellectual properties weren't protected and practitioners weren't getting their worth. But now there is the cinema, which is growing drastically in Nigeria and that has really helped bring back Nollywood. So I would say right now it's getting better ... because cinema culture is beginning to come -- if you're going to shoot a cinema movie then you've got to be thinking about the quality of the production and of the story. CNN: So what have you learned throughout this journey? RN: I learned a whole lot of lessons, when the chips were high -- many people knew me and everything but I was so deeply passionate about the industry that I wanted growth and I wanted something better. I wanted Nollywood to look like Hollywood and Bollywood, I wanted it to have that appeal ... and at some point in my industry it wasn't happening. Because I'm one of the very top actors, knowing that with my influence I could make a difference, I decided at some point ... to be like "look guys, lets upgrade, the new technologies are coming, how do we move forward." Most of the people I was working with wanted to live in that mindset, and I felt "no, I need to make a change,"... and then I was just picking movies deliberately that I knew would stand the test of time as I grow old. Ramsey Nouah: I think my greatest inspiration is my passion for my art. My passion is my major drive, I love what I do and I like the competition, I like the circumstances that surround my industry and how to make it better -- if it was too easy and too fluid, maybe if it wasn't as challenging, my passion would have died but I think the challenges make it stronger for me. Ramsey Nouah: I'm not very certain -- I've come to learn about life that never say never. I was thinking maybe in the next 10 years I'll probably be behind the camera, directing and working on my own flicks but at the same time,of course, if in the next 10 years I am still good enough to tell a story and get into characters then I will still be there acting. Besides that, of course, humanitarian stuff mostly. Ramsey Nouah: I think it's a public service kind of thing that everyone is beginning to think that "OK, we can make a change" ... and most of my colleagues are thinking, "if people believe in me that I can do it then I can make it happen." For me, I'm too much of a creative person than a politician so it's going to be really hard, but I never say never ... I'm not ruling it out and I'm not saying that I'm keen or I'm going to go there. Ramsey Nouah: I stay under the radar (laughs). I don't know I'm not a scandalous person by nature so I guess that's what it is. Ramsey Nouah: Yes, yes my pair, my partner -- of course, I will, some time hopefully soon, we're looking forward to working on another very good blockbuster some time in the future. Ramsey Nouah: I am spearheading the "New Nollywood," so it's more of getting a good production out and getting a good production out is quite capital intensive. You need investors and you need to explain to the investors and let them know what they're going to benefit if they do get involved. So it's a long thing, unlike how we just used to do cheap movies and it was like quick -- people could actually tell most of our stories from the beginning, they could tell the end already. I want that to change, hence I don't do too many of them movies anymore, but the cinema movies are now coming out and when that starts to come out then it would give room to people getting more from the movies. Ramsey Nouah: I usually like to unwind by playing my sports: I like to play squash a lot, and I love adventure so basically when I'm not working I like to do crazy things, the things that people would least except that I'd want to do like skydiving ,bungee jumping, mountain climbing, all of those things. Read this: 'Netflix of Africa' brings Nollywood to world . Nneka: Nigeria's soul superstar is back - and as outspoken as ever . More from African Voices . You can follow Ramsey Nouah on Twitter and on Facebook. +(CNN)Tampa police have arrested a pair of teenagers in last week's shooting of a young pit bull mix that was left for dead. The 17-year-olds face aggravated animal cruelty and armed trespassing charges after tying the hound, now named Cabela, to railroad tracks and shooting her multiple times. Surveillance video from the area showed a group of individuals walking the dog along the tracks in the city's Sulphur Springs neighborhood before later running away, said Detective Patrick Messmer. Neighbors heard gunshots and police were called. Cabela was purchased to be used in dog fighting, but she wasn't any good at it so they wanted to get rid of her, according to Messmer. "This appears to be an isolated incident," he said. "It doesn't appear that there was a large amount of dog fighting that goes on in the neighborhood." On March 5, police found Cabela tightly tied to the tracks and shot three times -- twice in the neck and once in the shoulder. "Nothing gets you ready ... to see a dog -- a helpless animal -- tied so tight to a railroad track around the neck that it's literally pinned down," said Sgt. Rich Mills, who freed her. "She was literally pinned down. She could not get away even if she tried." Once freed, Mills rushed Cabela to Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Center. Initially, it was thought the young dog would have to her right front leg amputated because the damage was so severe, but a metal rod was inserted and she's recovering. In fact, Cabela's already walking on her repaired leg. Rehabilitation will take four to six weeks, according to Dr. Jamie Davidson. Breaking: an arrest made in case of Cabela-dog shot and tied to tracks-more info at 9:30 p.m- @TBVES @TampaPD pic.twitter.com/FDWN0uvSE9 . Donations started pouring in once word of the injured pup got out. "A little overwhelming, but really touching that so many strangers were willing to help Cabela, from all around the world," said Davidson. Donations have ranged from $20 to several hundred dollars and came from as far away as Germany and England. The teens in the case were identified by police from the surveillance video. One of them has a lengthy record and was already known to authorities. Messmer says other arrests are possible. +(CNN)A convoy of U.S. Army armored vehicles is drawing crowds, cheers and tears as it makes an 1,100-mile journey from the Baltics through Poland and the Czech Republic to Germany. The trek is being made by troops from the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment and is dubbed a "Dragoon Ride" after the unit's nickname, the Dragoons. It is designed to show solidarity to allies in the wake of recent Russian actions in Ukraine and Crimea that have Eastern Europe on edge. "The engagements will provide a highly visible demonstration of U.S. commitment to the residents in each of the nations and the resolve of NATO as an alliance," according to a Pentagon statement. According to reports from the route, it seems to be delivering on that. "This really means a lot to us. We see that we are not alone, that there is someone to defend us," Zdzislaw Narel, 60, told The Associated Press as the convoy made a stop in Bialystok, Poland . "I've read about the former times. For me, what's happening now is a little scary. I think it (the American presence) makes people feel safer," Viktorija Maciulyte, 18, told Stars and Stripes newspaper at a stop in Panevezys, Lithuania. Troops say they can see the effects, too. "The older people start getting emotional. I had one lady came up to me crying," Spc. John Zagozdon, 25, told Stripes. "They were all really grateful." "It makes a difference when you see U.S. soldiers parked in your parking lot," Capt. Jon Challgren is quoted as saying in the Stripes report. The convoy, which began on Saturday, is expected to take 11 days to its end at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, about 40 miles from the Czech border. It is being supported by NATO military units and U.S. Air Force planes and Army helicopter units for reconnaissance and resupply, according to an Army statement. +(CNN)A Georgia police chief who said he accidentally shot and seriously injured his wife while the couple were sleeping in bed has resigned, the Peachtree City Police Department said Wednesday. William McCollom stepped down as chief of police in Peachtree City nearly a week after a prosecutor announced that although the New Year's Day shooting appeared accidental, McCollom could eventually face a misdemeanor charge accusing him of recklessly taking a gun to bed after drinking alcohol and taking sleeping medication. The shooting in Peachtree City, an upscale community of 35,000 people south of Atlanta, left Margaret McCollom paralyzed below the waist. "I have had had two families in Peachtree City -- my police family and my personal family. In light of the recent tragedy in my personal family, I need to continue to focus my time and efforts there," William McCollom said in a message posted Wednesday on the police department's Facebook page. Medics and police rushed to the McColloms' home early on January 1 after the chief called 911 to say he accidentally shot his wife as both were sleeping -- by inadvertently moving a gun that he had taken to bed with him. "The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, put it to the side, and it went off," McCollom says in a recording of the 911 call. Later in the call, the operator asked McCollom, "Were you asleep also when this happened?" "Yes," the chief, 57 at the time, replied. Last week, Scott Ballard, district attorney for a several-county area that includes Peachtree City, said a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe found the following: . -- McCollom went to bed on New Year's Eve after consuming alcohol and sleep medication. -- After barking dogs awoke him in the middle of the night, he got up, picked up his Glock 9mm gun from a dresser and checked the house. After finding nothing, he returned to bed, placing the gun under the sheets. -- McCollom woke up to the sound of a gunshot that struck his wife's right side. A wound on his right hand corroborates his claim that his palm blocked the ejection of a spent shell. -- Forensic analysis of the sheets shows that the gun was fired from under the sheets. Investigators concluded there was no evidence to suggest McCollum intentionally shot his wife, and that he didn't appear to have any motive to harm her, Ballard said. Still, Ballard said he would ask a grand jury on April 15 to indict McCollum on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct, "since the chief took a loaded gun to bed with him after ingesting alcohol and sleep medication." Margaret McCollom has been staying at a spinal cord rehabilitation center, being treated for paralysis below the waist and other complications, Ballard said last week. McCollom was named the police chief in October after being interim chief for three months, CNN affiliate WSB reported. Magazines and websites regularly rank Peachtree City as one of the best places to live and raise a family. The community's trademark: Residents putter around in golf carts on the community's 90-plus miles of paved pathways. CNN's Ralph Ellis contributed to this report. +(CNN)The owner of a Chinese restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya has been arrested following an uproar over its policy of banning African customers at night, according to reports. Owner Zhao Yang was arrested for operating a restaurant without a valid license shortly after local press ran a story alleging that Kenyan reporters were turned away from the restaurant -- for being African. Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper carried a story Monday that its reporters had been barred entry to the restaurant, being told by a guard at the entrance that "the time for Africans is over" when the journalists arrived at 7 p.m. Only locals accompanied by Chinese, European or Indian patrons would be admitted, the newspaper reported. It also reported that two local politicians, "loyal patrons" Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju, had been admitted, the latter being a friend of the owner. Kenyan social media users were quickly up in arms about the ban, taking to Facebook and Twitter to voice their displeasure, using the hashtag #noblacksallowed. The establishment, known only as Chinese Restaurant, in the Kilimani neighborhood of Nairobi, has subsequently been closed after it transpired that it lacked several necessary licenses, said reports. The Daily Nation reported that the Chinese-owned eatery lacked liquor, health or change-of-use licences -- the latter needed as the property had been converted from a residence to a restaurant. Co-owner and restaurant manager Esther Zhao told the newspaper that the "no Africans at night" policy had its roots in security concerns. "We don't admit Africans that we don't know because you never know who is Al-Shabaab and who isn't," she said, referencing the Islamist militant group that is active in Kenya and neighboring Somalia. "It is not like it is written on somebody's face that they are a thug armed with a gun," she said. The restaurant's owners appeared to admit culpability in a statement reproduced in the newspaper. "Because of the concern of the business environment at night and the bad memory of (a robbery in) 2013, we adopted certain measures. Unfortunately, some of the measures were inappropriate, we sincerely apologize for this," the management said in a statement. China is the largest outside investor in African economies but resentment against Chinese in Kenya and other African nations is significant as many Africans often regard Chinese businesses as, in the words of one Chinese journalist, "resource predators" or "environmental vandals." One Kenyan reporter commenting on the restaurant's ban likened the policy to a new form of colonialism in Africa. There is this Chinese restaurant next to Nairobi hospital and my two colleagues Patrick Mayoyo and Dennis Onsarigo and ... +(CNN)You're late for your flight, sweaty from having dragged your luggage to the check-in counter, and stressed about making it through security before boarding begins. For some of us, this is the rule, not the exception. For most of us, it's a pretty unremarkable scenario. Not so fast, says the Transportation Security Administration. Typical airport behavior like this could make you a suspicious traveler who should be subjected to questioning and additional screening -- and possibly referred to the police for investigation, detention or arrest. That should seem far-fetched, but it isn't. The TSA continues to use pseudo-scientific "behavior detection" techniques that have given rise to persistent allegations of racial and ethnic profiling at our nation's airports. Through a program called Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, the TSA employs thousands of "behavior detection officers" who scrutinize travelers to look for signs of "mal-intent" in airport screening areas. The officers typically spend less than 30 seconds scanning an average passenger for over 90 behaviors the TSA associates with stress, fear or deception. When the officers perceive clusters of such behaviors in any given individual, they refer that person for secondary inspection and questioning. The SPOT program relies on theories about "micro-expressions," involuntary facial expressions that supposedly appear for milliseconds despite one's efforts to conceal them. Behavior detection officers look for such micro-expressions while scanning passengers' faces or engaging in casual conversation with them. It's as nutty as it sounds. Setting aside that the officers' perception of these behaviors is inherently subjective, there's just no evidence that deception or "mal-intent" can reliably be detected through observation, especially in an unstructured setting like an airport screening area. The fact that many people find such settings inherently stressful only compounds the problem. If TSA's behavior detection officers look for stress in a stressful environment, they're going to find it, along with plenty of false positives. Just about everyone outside the TSA who has reviewed the SPOT program has decided that it's unscientific and a waste of money. An exhaustive review by the Government Accountability Office found the SPOT program lacked a scientific basis, that the behavioral indicators it relied on were subjective, and that the TSA had no effective means to test its effectiveness. In no uncertain terms, the GAO recommended that Congress curtail funding for the program. An independent scientific advisory group that reviewed the SPOT program also concluded that "no scientific evidence exists to support the detection or inference of future behavior, including intent." And during a congressional hearing on the program, Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina observed, "To my knowledge, there has not been a single instance where a behavior detection officer has referred someone to a law enforcement officer and that individual turned out to be a terrorist." Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, stated, "I am concerned that TSA will continue to spin its wheels with this program instead of developing a more effective and efficient approach." Despite this withering criticism, SPOT remains in place and has cost taxpayers well over $1 billion (that's with a b) since its inception in 2007. Repeat: over a billion dollars on a misguided program that doesn't work. Equally troubling is that SPOT has given rise to persistent allegations of racial and ethnic profiling -- an unfortunately inevitable result when law enforcement or border agents single people out based on hasty, gut-level judgments about them. Allegations of profiling by behavior detection officers have come not only from travelers, but also from numerous other officers. Over 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport said that profiling was rampant there. One of the officers told reporters, "They just pull aside anyone who they don't like the way they look -- if they are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if they are Hispanic." Another officer submitted an anonymous complaint saying, "The behavior detection program is no longer a behavior-based program, but it is a racial profiling program." The TSA has not revealed what, if any, steps it has taken to ensure that unlawful profiling does not occur in airport screening. Nor has TSA explained why -- despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary -- SPOT contributes meaningfully to aviation security. That's why the ACLU submitted an FOIA request to TSA seeking information on its use of behavior detection. We've received no response, so we're taking the TSA to court to get the information the public needs to fully evaluate it. People expect that when they travel, they will be screened for weapons or explosives that could bring down an airplane. They don't expect -- nor should they -- that officers will make probing judgments about their intentions based on little more than their facial expressions, or that they will be stopped, questioned and perhaps even searched because of their race or ethnicity. It's time for TSA to explain and justify the SPOT program. Or better yet, listen to those who say it's a waste of money and scrap it entirely. +(CNN)Those Hannibal Buress jokes about Bill Cosby? They've been no laughing matter to Buress, he told Jimmy Kimmel. "It's definitely a weird situation," the comedian said on Wednesday's show. "I get a lot of messages from people about it." Well, maybe some of them are a laughing matter. One of those messages, Buress continued, was a "death threat from a male bodybuilder-slash-stripper on Facebook." And there was a twist: He and the bodybuilder had one mutual friend. It made for an awkward situation, Buress said. "Having to hit your friend up and say, 'Hey, man, can you tell your buddy to stop saying he's going to murder me?' " Buress kickstarted the recent Cosby controversy by referencing the rape allegations against the "Cosby Show" star in a routine. One video of Buress' stand-up went viral. Since October, when Buress' video was posted, more than 20 women have made or reiterated abuse claims against Cosby. Cosby himself has not directly addressed any of the accusations. His attorney, Martin D. Singer, has called the accusations "ridiculous." A concert with Bill Cosby: It's complicated . Buress, a star of "Broad City" and "The Eric Andre Show," is currently on a comedy tour. +(CNN)It's seen a rapacious Leonardo DiCaprio rip-off the gullible, Sarah Jessica Parker ponder sweet amor and an air-headed Brad Pitt harbor intentions of blackmailing a CIA agent -- all just a bridge away from the madness of Manhattan. In the old times, Brooklyn's historic Navy Yard would be lucky to attract the stars of the silver screen to a USO show. Today, its home to one of the largest film studios outside of Hollywood. The "Wolf of Wall Street", "Sex and the City Two" and "Burn After Reading" are just a few of the major motion pictures shot at Steiner Studios in recent times. More than 40 feature length and TV productions were filmed here in the last year alone. Studio chairman, Doug Steiner, opened the site just over 10 years ago. "It was really awful looking with wild dogs -- literally wild dogs -- roaming the streets here," Steiner said. "I liked the industrial landscape a lot and the opportunity. To me Brooklyn was a great opportunity waiting to happen because of the proximity to Manhattan." At its peak during World War II, the Brooklyn Navy Yard employed some 70,000 people. But the 1.2 square kilometer site fell into steep decline in the 1960s when the sailors moved out. Today, the yard is a vastly different place -- and not just because of the Hollywood A-listers strutting around. A non-profit corporation has been regenerating the location with the aim of creating new employment opportunities since the turn of the century. Steiner studios was one of the first tenants but others have followed. One former warehouse represents the corporation's biggest project to date, with more than 90,000 square meters of space up for grabs and the potential creation of 3,000 new jobs. "I think our influence on Brooklyn in general has been quite substantial," said David Ehrenberg, CEO of the Brooklyn Naval Yard Development Corporation. "We were the first entity that started investing substantially back into these old buildings on the Brooklyn waterfront. "And to some extent (we) proved a concept -- that manufacturing and industrial and creative companies would want to take root in Brooklyn," Ehrenberg said. Being at the forefront of these wider trends has helped attract a new type of workforce to the area. Steiner says housing prices within half a kilometer have risen up to ten times. Some 1,500 people already work at the studio, which is set on a path of rapid expansion. It is benefiting from the explosion in demand for high quality content across mobile devices - and Steiner sees it as part of a wider trend. "Old media has always been based in New York City and continues to be based (here), film and television has been anchored in LA and high-tech has always been in northern California," Steiner said. "But I think right now we're seeing everything coming together in New York." +(CNN)A medical helicopter crashed into the parking lot of a St. Louis hospital, killing the pilot. The helicopter went down late Friday in the parking lot on the campus of St. Louis University Hospital, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. The St. Louis Fire Department said on Twitter that it responded to a helicopter accident and a subsequent fire that had been extinguished. Pictures from the scene showed charred smoky remains as authorities combed through the accident site. No patients, employees or hospital visitors were affected, Keller said. The St. Louis Fire Department confirmed the pilot was the only fatality. The pilot's identity has not been released. No other information was immediately available. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, according to the hospital spokeswoman. +(CNN)The health of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who has been in hospital with pneumonia since February 5, has deteriorated further, the government said Wednesday. The Prime Minister's office had said Tuesday that Lee, 91, who is on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of Singapore General Hospital, had an infection and was being treated with antibiotics. "Mr Lee Kuan Yew remains critically ill in the ICU and has deteriorated further," the office said in its latest update. Later Wednesday, a top government spokesman dismissed as a hoax a report that Singapore's founding father had died. A message about Lee's supposed demise, purporting to be from the current Prime Minister, had circulated online. "We have reported this to the police and they are investigating this hoax. Our website was not hacked, it was a doctored image," Farah Rahim, senior director for the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information said. Born in 1923, Lee co-founded the city state in 1965 when it declared its independence from Malaysia and was its prime minister for more than three decades. Lee was succeeded as prime minister by Goh Chok Tong in 1990, before Lee Kuan Yew's son Lee Hsien Loong took power in August 2004. The elder Lee has been credited with Singapore's remarkable transformation from a colonial trading post to a prosperous financial center. However, he has also been a divisive figure, attracting criticism for stifling media freedom and for the harsh treatment of political opponents. +(CNN)Cycling's international governing body for a long time failed to tackle widespread and well-known doping problems in the sport and gave special treatment to Lance Armstrong, according to a damning new report. The investigation by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) slams the way the world body -- the International Cycling Union, or UCI -- operated over a lengthy period and calls for a series of changes to its governance. The report highlights multiple instances in which top UCI officials protected, defended and made decisions favorable to Armstrong despite concerns that he was doping. Current UCI president Brian Cookson, who was elected to his post in September 2013, told CNN Monday that he had written to one of his predecessors, Dutchman Hein Verbruggen, to "consider his position" as the honorary president of the world governing body in the light of the findings. Both Zerbruggen and Irishman Pat McQuaid, who Cookson unseated, both come under intense scrutiny in the report for their dealings with Armstrong. "UCI exempted Lance Armstrong from rules, failed to target test him despite the suspicions, and publicly supported him against allegations of doping, even as late as 2012," it says. The UCI "saw Lance Armstrong as the perfect choice to lead the sport's renaissance" after a devastating doping scandal at the 1998 Tour de France, according to the report. "The fact that he was American opened up a new continent for the sport, he had beaten cancer and the media quickly made him a global star," it says. But Armstrong's spectacular downfall in 2012, which saw him stripped of his Tour de France titles and dropped by sponsors, helped intensify scrutiny over how he managed to get away with doping for so long. Under Cookson, the UCI set up the independent three-person commission to investigate the causes of doping in cycling and allegations that the UCI and other governing bodies were ineffective in their responses. In one case, the commission says, the UCI limited the scope of a supposedly independent investigation into allegations that Armstrong had tested positive in a drug test at the 1999 Tour de France. UCI officials and Armstrong's team became heavily involved in the drafting of the investigation's report, which was released in 2006. "The main goal was to ensure that the report reflected UCI's and Lance Armstrong's personal conclusions," the commission says. "The significant participation of UCI and Armstrong's team was never publicly acknowledged." Between 1992 and 2006, UCI's top officials focused on protecting cycling's reputation rather than trying to root out "endemic" doping practices of which they were well aware, the commission's report says. "Not only did UCI leadership publicly disregard the magnitude of the problem, but the policies put in place to combat doping were inadequate," it says. The report highlights McQuaid's decision to allow Armstrong to participate in the 2009 Tour Down Under even though the cyclist hadn't been in the testing group for the required period of time. The commission says although there is no direct evidence of an agreement between McQuaid and Armstrong, McQuaid "made a sudden U-turn and allowed Lance Armstrong to return 13 days early" to take part in the competition, "despite advice from UCI staff not to make an exception." "There was a temporal link between this decision, which was communicated to UCI staff in the morning, and the decision of Lance Armstrong, which was notified to Pat McQuaid later that same day, to participate in the Tour of Ireland, an event run by people known to Pat McQuaid," the report says. The report says the commission found no evidence to support allegations of corruption over payments made to the UCI by Armstrong. But it adds that "requesting and accepting donations from Lance Armstrong, given the suspicions, left UCI open to criticism." CNN wasn't immediately able to reach McQuaid, but Verbruggen issued a lengthy statement Monday, claiming "wild conspiracy theories and accusations have been properly debunked once and for all." He said: "I have studied the CIRC report and I am satisfied that it confirms what I have always said: that there have never been any cover-ups, complicity or corruption in the Lance Armstrong case or, indeed, in any other doping cases." Armstrong, who cooperated with the commission's investigation, thanked it for "seeking the truth and allowing me to assist in that search." "I am deeply sorry for many things I have done. However, it is my hope that revealing the truth will lead to a bright, dope-free future for the sport I love," he said in a statement. "In the rush to vilify Lance, many of the other equally culpable participants have been allowed to escape scrutiny, much less sanction, and many of the anti-doping 'enforcers' have chosen to grandstand at Lance's expense rather than truly search for the truth," said Armstrong's attorney, Elliot Peters. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, USADA, which banned Armstrong from cycling for life in 2012, welcomed the commission's work. "The report confirms that, for more than a decade, UCI leaders treated riders and teams unequally -- allowing some to be above the rules," said USADA Chief Executive Travis T. Tygart. "The UCI's favoritism and intentional failure to enforce the anti-doping rules offends the principles of fair play and is contrary to the values on which true sport is based." Cookson told CNN that the world governing body would be stepping up its fight against drugs cheats, working closely with the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), national federations and, if necessary, law enforcement agencies. But the 63-year-old Briton still believes cycling has taken strides forward in the fight against drugs cheats. "Large numbers of riders are competing without doping," he said. "I want to encourage them and support them. I think it's possible to compete successfully in our sport without doping." However, Cookson reacted angrily to other aspects of the report, which suggested amateur cyclists and junior competitors were involved in doping. Of older cyclists, competing in Masters categories, Cookson gave a damning verdict. "The only people they are fooling is themselves, they are deluded," he said. But his harshest words were reserved over allegations that drugs were being peddled to young cyclists. "The people involved should be subjected to criminal proceedings because that's child abuse. I'm astonished and appalled by those findings," he said. CNN's Kevin Dotson and Paul Gittings contributed to this report. +(CNN)Blame it on Beyonce. Ever since the superstar songstress released her surprise self-titled album in December 2013, it seems like dropping music with little to no fanfare has become a thing. The latest artist to do so is rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose eagerly awaited sophomore album was set for release March 23. Instead, "To Pimp a Butterfly" was made available on iTunes and Spotify early Monday. Lamar, who has been hailed as the savior of hip-hop, got a major shout-out from fellow artist Taylor Swift. Among the other artists who've surprised fans: . Drake . The rapper thrilled fans in February when he snuck out "If You're Reading This, It's Too Late." Like Beyonce, he clued fans in via an Instagram post. The 17-track project was billed as a mixtape. The rapper also released a short film titled "Jungle." U2 . The shock in the band's album "Songs of Innocence" was not only that it was released but that iTunes subscribers had no choice but to get it. Apple made the album part of an automatic download in October as part of the iPhone 6 announcement. U2 frontman Bono later apologized, and Apple distributed info to customers on how they could delete the album after some complained that the automatic download was invasive. David Bowie . In 2013, the legendary rocker unexpectedly released "The Next Day." It was his first new project in a decade, and fans were thrilled, as the famously private Bowie had been off the grid for a while. Wolfmother . The Australian trio received much less attention than some others when they dropped "New Crown" in March 2014 with no promotion or marketing. Kid Cudi . The rapper's "Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon" arrived online in March 2014 and led Billboard to ask, "Is the Beyonce approach working for other 'surprise' albums?" "I wonder when this is done frequently, does the surprise factor wane?" one executive told Billboard. "If there are a lot of releases promoted this way, it will become less impactful. If mid-level and lower-level artists pile in, will the surprise get applied to the point where the public doesn't care anymore?" +(CNN)In 2007 I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to prevent my getting ovarian cancer. It was a surgery of the kind that Angelina Jolie recently underwent, as she revealed Tuesday in a New York Times op-ed. Two years ago, Jolie divulged that she'd had a prophylactic double mastectomy -- I had done this as well, in 2012. Along with the effects of the surgeries themselves, we now also share a related fallout: surgical menopause. This change can be big and, for me, happened almost immediately. There is little easing into it: the age-inappropriate night sweats, hot flashes, weight gain, mood swings. When I had my ovaries removed at age 37, I suddenly felt less vibrant and beautiful, and instead experienced the slow creep of feeling old. What will this transition mean to someone like Jolie, so identified for her attractiveness and glamour? (She may keep that part of her transformation private, but -- as with her disclosures about the surgeries -- it might do some good to discuss that, as well.) I've been talking and writing about BRCA1 since I learned more than 10 years ago that I carried this insidious, inherited genetic mutation. I've discussed how these operations have affected my relationship with my husband and our two children. But often it takes someone as public, as gorgeous, as famous as Ms. Jolie to powerfully move the conversation about cancer prevention surgeries forward. Her transparency helps normalize the experience of women considering their own options. It chips away at the stigma surrounding this treatment decision and offers women a new shorthand for explaining such a difficult choice to their families. When I underwent each of my surgeries a few friends looked at me sideways. They weren't familiar with BRCA and or how surgery could statistically reduce my chances of developing cancer. Now Ms. Jolie has changed this. Her willingness to share such intimate experiences means more people will become educated and more BRCA survivors will feel free to speak of their scars. And there are many resources for BRCA-positive women. In June, I will be speaking at the annual FORCE conference (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), which has partnered with another wonderful organization, the Basser Research Center for BRCA (part of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania). Both are leading the way in the scientific research and understanding of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. They also provide resources around risk assessment, prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship, as well as links to chat rooms and local support groups. It's not often a writer finds her circumstances so closely in sync with a Hollywood star. But I like to think Ms. Jolie and I, two women who truly have nothing in common, are linked in our determination to be proactive. We have looked fear in the face and made the only decisions that made sense for our families and our selves. +(CNN)The fallout at Sigma Alpha Epsilon continues. Just days after a video surfaced of frat members singing a racist song, another video is making the rounds. This one appears to show the fraternity's house mom laughing and saying the n-word. Two students expelled over racist chant . The Oklahoma Daily, the university's student newspaper, posted a Vine dating from 2013 that shows an older woman talking over a rap song, saying "ni****" seven times in quick succession. The woman, who is seated with an Oklahoma shirt behind her, laughs before repeating the racial epithet. The sound of "All Gold Everything" from Trinidad James -- a black, Atlanta-based rapper -- can be heard in the background. Black OU SAE alumnus: 'They are not my brothers' The student newspaper reports that the woman appears to be Beauton Gilbow, who was the SAE chapter's house mom. She responded in a statement Tuesday. "I have been made aware that a video of me that is circulating on social media and in the news. I am heartbroken by the portrayal that I am in some way racist. I have friends of all race and do not tolerate any form of discrimination in my life. "I was singing along to a Trinidad song, but completely understand how the video must appear in the context of the events that occurred this week," said Gilbow. Before the Vine came out but after the fraternity chapter was suspended, the woman known as "Momma B" told CNN affiliate KOCO-TV that she was blindsided by the overall controversy. "I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me," Gilbow said. "This has been my life for 15 years. And it's tough." Opinion: Are frats 'a form of American apartheid'? +(CNN)There is always champagne at these things, but this art opening is an actual party. Purple light bounces off the white walls in the massive foyer of London's Royal Academy; punk music falls down the stairs and Kenneth Anger's homo-erotic biker short Scorpio Rising is playing on a TV screen. Jarvis Cocker is here, and so are Bob Geldof and Rupert Everett. There are the requisite grey ladies in fur and chapeaux, as well as twenty-somethings in backpacks huddled in groups, downing their drinks before walking into Pace London's booze-free exhibition space for the opening of A Strong, Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser. While his name may ring few bells outside of the seasoned London art community, eminent gallerist Robert Fraser, who ran a gallery in London during the Sixties and again in the Eighties, was a seminal part of the Swinging Sixties scene. His notoriety hinged on scandal, parties and friendships with the most famous rock stars of the era, as well as an undeniable talent for spotting art's Next Big Thing. This is the eminent dealer who sold art to Paul McCartney, and hosted John Lennon and Yoko Ono's first joint exhibition; the Savile Row-clad Etonian whose Mayfair galleries attracted the likes of Marlon Brando, Marianne Faithfull and William Burroughs in the 60s and 80s; the silver-tongued heroin addict who introduced Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat to Britain, and was arrested -- and, in his case, imprisoned -- for drug possession with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards during the 1967 Redlands Bust. Curated by the artist Brian Clarke, A Strong, Sweet Smell of Incense -- a winking reference to the police report describing the bust -- aims to blend the rebel, the art connoisseur and the hedonist to present a rounded image of an unsung star of the 60s. "There are oceans of anecdotes by Robert, and some of them are true. But the anecdote isn't enough to convey the kind of energy that he had, this kind of magnetic energy that drew you to him -- or repelled you depending on your own energy," says Clarke, arguably the world's most well known stained glass artist. I first met Clarke three weeks before the opening at his spacious cottage-cum-mansion in London's tony Notting Hill neighborhood. A literal portrait of Fraser painted by Basquiat hangs prominently in the living room, surrounded by works by Warhol, Francis Bacon and others. Clarke, who was a close friend of Fraser's and was the first artist exhibited at his 80s gallery, is still finalizing the exhibition selection, but his energy is easy, if a little manic. Harriet Vyner, a long-time friend of Clarke and Fraser, and author of the Fraser biography Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser, has been collaborating with him on the catalog. She's on hand to add her own anecdotes to the ocean. "I remember going to Seditionaries, (Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's 70s punk shop) on the King's Road, and it felt a bit scary, but that was part of the thrill," she says. "And that's what people often felt about going to the Robert Fraser gallery in both incarnations." The idea for the portrait came from Pace London's managing director Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst a year ago, when Clarke told her he'd been entrusted with Fraser's archive. (Fraser died of AIDS-related illness in 1986 at the age of 49.) "The 'light bulb moment' really struck when we realized that Pace founder, Arne Glimcher, was setting up his first gallery in Boston at the time Fraser was opening his own gallery in London," Dent-Brocklehurst writes in an email. "We're exploring our own DNA with this exhibition while paying tribute to one of the most flamboyant dealers and aesthetes. "There's a buzz in London right now around the exhibition and many artists, museum directors, celebrities, aspiring artists, art students are all very keen to rediscover Robert's personality." To hear Clarke speak about Fraser is to have assumptions alternately challenged, rebuked and confirmed. He makes no excuses and offers no explanations for Fraser's "more hedonistic side," but emphasizes his generally quiet demeanor and modesty. The overall impression is of someone with an acute eye for talent (he showed Bacon, Warhol, Dennis Hopper, Richard Hamilton, Jim Dine, Robert Mapplethorpe and Jean Dubuffet) and a rebellious, destructive streak. This is reflected in the exhibition itself, which is set up like an archive. Works from the luminaries Fraser knew, showed or admired are on the walls, while personal effects -- a thank-you note from Ed Ruscha, a Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks poster, arrest warrants, an opium pipe with the gold rim worn to silver -- are kept behind glass cases. In one corner, there's a recreation of his desk. Take a few steps, and you're looking at the drum from The Beatles' 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, which Fraser art directed. Other elements reflect their personal relationship. A Gerhard Richter that recalls a joint trip to Berlin to see his works in person. An inscribed copy of an Edward Burne-Jones biography was gifted from Fraser to Clarke. There was more to Fraser, it seems, than the people he associated with. "There is always around Robert this aura of all these celebrities and things like that, and it's true that they were there, but it wasn't anything that he either curried or boasted about," Clarke says. "He was not a respecter of persons. He liked people or he hated them." He was often reluctant to discuss his connections and friendships, even with those close to him. Clarke remembers discussing Truman Capote with Fraser at length during a stay in New York. He didn't realize the two were friends until Capote came over to their table a few nights later to hug Fraser. Similarly, Vyner remembers Fraser fawning over Prick up Your Ears, John Lahr's 1978 biography of playwright Joe Orton, without once mentioning that he was an early backer of Orton's productions. (She would discover this while researching Groovy Bob.) "For all of the inevitable references to the hedonistic side of Robert, he had a very sophisticated intelligence in terms of visual art, and genuinely in terms of culture," Clarke says. "So whilst he was not inclined to talk culture, he was eminently capable of it." Back to Pace. A party-goer and I get to chatting about the exhibition, the party, and Fraser. She enjoyed the party, but didn't -- doesn't -- know much about Fraser the man. "The exhibition is so chaotic and eclectic," she says. "Maybe that was him as a person?" Around 9:00 pm, security guards are shepherding the reluctant crowd out of the building, into the cold night. On the steps, a particularly drunk kid tries and fails to goad someone into a fight, while the less inclined start hailing cabs and mapping how to move the night into Soho. I recall something Clarke told me a few weeks prior, an effort to summarize the spirit of Fraser's galleries and its infamous parties, studded with stars and doused in glamor and excitement. "When you were with Robert, you felt there was nowhere really much better to be. You knew that you would not have more fun anywhere else, that's for sure, and you would not be more stimulated," he'd said with a kind of wistfulness. "It was brief and short-lived, but that light burned bright." A Strong, Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser is on at Pace Gallery London, Burlington Gardens until March 28, 2015. +London (CNN)Having been Tony Blair's spokesman and strategist for a decade and more, having been at his side through election campaigns, wars and peace processes, political and personal crises, scandals galore, having spent thousands of hours facing down possibly the most questioning media on the planet, and having done thousands of talks and interviews since leaving TB's side, I am very experienced in answering difficult questions. But right now, I am struggling and I thought a little bit of crowd sourcing with the highly intelligent men -- and especially the women -- who visit CNN.com might help. This is something I would never have considered before the advent of the blogosphere and social media, but where better now to start than at the home of the likes of Christiane Amanpour and Becky Anderson. So here is the situation. As you might know from a chat I had on CNN with Christiane last month, I have written my 11th book. It is called "Winners: And how they succeed." It looks at hyper-achievers in sport, business and politics, interviews some of the biggest and most successful names alive -- and analyses some who are dead -- and tries to draw general lessons for all of us. It is going very well thank you. Not least thanks to media interest and a host of events, at which it has been snapped up variously at gatherings for students, business people, football fans, environmentalists and political activists, it has gone within four days of publication to Number 1 in the UK hardback non-fiction charts. I would be lying -- something I am not prone to do whatever the haters may say -- if I said I was not seriously chuffed about this. As my former Downing Street colleague, now of Portland PR, Steve Morris, said at the launch: "If you write a book called 'Winners' and it goes straight to the charity shops, don't be surprised if people call you a loser." Fear of failure being a bigger driver for most of my interviewees than any joy in success, this was not something I was prepared to allow. So what is the problem as I look down from the top of the Sunday Times charts at those reviewers who said it was awful? (I would incidentally have preferred no stars in the Mail on Sunday to the one that they gave me. Please take note for next time.) The problem is women, or more precisely how I talk about them. At every single one of the nine or so events I have so far done about the book, and in several of the many interviews, I have been asked -- usually but not always by a woman -- a version of this same question: "Do men and women win in different ways?" And I don't really know what to say. So help me please CNNLand. At the first event, hosted by the Financial Times, my partner Fiona and my daughter Grace were sitting in the front row, squirming as I told how I had written a chapter on the Queen, named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the most impressive current political leader, interviewed and profiled U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour as my main voice on leadership, done the same with Arianna Huffington as a great innovator, talked to gymnast Nadia Comaneci about her "perfect 10," and presented Paralympian athlete and Tanni Grey-Thompson and Australian surfer Layne Beachley as two of the best interviews about resilience. As Grace said afterwards -- well to be honest she heckled me at the time with the words "shut up Dad, this is embarrassing," -- I was answering a question I had not been asked, namely "why aren't there more women in the book?' rather than the one I had been asked, "do men and women win in different ways?" At my next outing, in front of the amazingly bright international postgrad students at Hult International Business School, with Grace not there to heckle, but Fiona sitting three yards from me, the same question came again almost word for word. As the above names were reeled out once more I sensed I needed something more than a list. I needed an argument, the likes of which I used to specialize in framing and honing. So I waffled a bit about glass ceilings and how Fiona's generation had won the battle for women's equality in the eyes of the law but Grace's generation needed to win the battle in terms of the culture of the land. I thought that was quite good, and dare I say a rather decent soundbite. But moderator René Carayol clearly didn't agree and handed his microphone to Fiona to ask her for her view. She said it was still a man's world and women had essentially to do twice as many jobs as men. Men also didn't appreciate either that reality, or that it therefore becomes harder for a woman to win than a man in many sets of circumstances. She got a round of applause before the twitterati took to social media to say she had put me in my place. The row in the car on the way home was reasonably good-natured, considering my partner of 36 years was basically confirming I was not a new man and suggesting I talked absolute tosh about whether men and women win in different ways. At my next event, a Labour fundraiser, thankfully neither Fiona nor Grace could make it. So when the same bloody question came up again I started off with my list of names but stupidly mentioned the Queen first promoting a left-leaning chorus of "for heaven's sake she is hardly typical," so that by the time I got to Fiona's point, I was struggling again. God knows what would have happened if I had said Margaret Thatcher was in there, in the section comparing her leadership to David Cameron's (sic). But here is the thing. Afterwards a woman who shall be nameless -- but she does work for Harriet Harman, the chief architect of Labour's new feminism and the proud leader of the pink campaign bus tour (which I love by the way) -- said this to me: "You have to come back and do more in the campaign. Because I think there is something of a crisis of masculinity in UK politics right now." In other words there's me trying to get the right answer to a question that has genuinely been troubling me, and an arch feminist says I need to do more of the Alpha Male thing. You can't win, said I. So come on. Help me. This question has come up everywhere I have been. I have more events to do. I have more interviews. And the next time I sit down with CNN's woman winners, Christiane or Becky, I need to have a better answer than the ones I have been deploying thus far. Free signed book and invite to a future event for the best suggestion. Either here in the UK now or in what I believe Americans call the fall when it comes out there. +(CNN)Preliminary exit poll estimates released by Israel's three major broadcasters late Tuesday show an election too close to call. Millions of Israelis cast their votes to determine their country's next Prime Minister and the makeup of its parliament. Channel 2 Israel reports the Likud party, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has a slight lead over the Zionist Union, led by Isaac Herzog -- 28 seats, over 27 seats. Channels 10 and 1 show the two tied with 27 seats each. The incumbent claimed victory ahead of a final count. "Against all odds, we achieved this huge victory," Netanyahu told his cheering supporters. "Now we should form a strong and stable government that will be able to take care of the security, safety and welfare of each and every citizen of Israel." The Zionist Union responded by saying in a statement that the Likud party "keeps misleading." "The rightist bloc has shrunk. Everything is possible until the real results are in, when we can know which parties passed the electoral threshold and which government we can form. All the spins and statements are premature," it read. Official results are not expected to be published until next week, and the process of building coalitions could take much longer. Gabriel Sassoon, foreign communications adviser for the Herzog campaign, said: "The fat lady has far from sung in this case. We do not know. The parties are neck and neck and it's a matter of coalition negotiations and let me tell you, it's entirely possible to form a center-left coalition at this point. Israel is tired of nine long years of Netanyahu." Election ballots are for political parties rather than individual candidates. Israel has a proportional representation system, meaning a coalition government is likely to be formed within its 120-seat Knesset. How does Israel's parliament work? CNN's Elise Labott described the early results as a "stunning turnaround" for Netanyahu, who took a sharp turn toward the right during the final days of the hotly-contested campaign. "It seems to have worked. He seems to have energized that right-wing base and now he is neck-and-neck with Isaac Herzog, even inching a little bit ahead of him," she said. "We'll have to see who's able to form the coalition with the other parties, but it does look as if Prime Minister Netanyahu has fought his way back and has a very good chance of forming this government." Before polls closed Tuesday, Netanyahu released a video on his Facebook page urging his supporters to vote, suggesting that leftists are bringing "huge amounts" of Israel's Arab citizens to the polls to vote against his Likud party. "The right regime is in danger, the Arab voters are coming in huge amounts to the polls," Netanyahu said. "The leftists are bringing them (Arabs) in huge amounts to polls using buses. ... We have an urgent wake-up call." Arabs make up about 20% of Israel's population. According to the early exit poll estimates, an Arab coalition ranked as the third largest party. Arab citizens of Israel face defining moment in election . Moshe Kahlon, a former Likud minister who now heads the Kulanu party, said Netanyahu's statement "clearly shows he is feeling the pressure." "These remarks were inappropriate and regrettable," Kahlon said. Polls closed at 10 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET). Following the release of exit poll estimates, President Reuven Rivlin said that citizens need a ruling government as soon as possible. "The President will work with all the election bodies to start the consultations process ASAP. We hope to start as soon as Sunday," his office said in a statement. Herzog comes from Israeli political royalty. His grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, was the first chief rabbi of the state of Israel. His father, Chaim Herzog, was an Army general, an ambassador to the United Nations and the President of Israel. Before entering politics, Herzog served with a military intelligence unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, rising to the rank of major, and worked as a lawyer and served as the director of the Israel Anti-Drug Authority. He began his political career in 2003, when he first won a seat in the Knesset with the Labor Party. He held a variety of ministerial positions, including minister of housing and construction, minister of tourism and minister of welfare and social services before becoming leader of the Labor Party in 2013. In those elections, he also became the leader of the opposition, as Netanyahu won another term as Prime Minister. Herzog has pegged his bid for the premiership on social reform, vowing to "change the nature of the division of wealth." He has also promised to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu served for six years in the Israeli Army in an elite commando unit until he was wounded in a rescue operation during an airplane hijacking in 1972. In 1976, Netanyahu's brother was killed in a raid to try to free hostages in Uganda from an Air France jet hijacked by pro-Palestinian terrorists. Netanyahu set up an anti-terror institute in his name. His outspokenness on the threat of terrorism attracted attention, and he was given high-profile diplomatic assignments. In 1988, he was elected to the Knesset. In 1996, he became Israel's youngest Prime Minister. He was defeated three years later after signing an interim peace agreement with then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. In 2009, he again became Prime Minister. CNN's Labott says Netanyahu's emphasis on security -- particularly speaking out loudly on Iran -- and his counteroffensives against Hamas in Gaza have boosted his popularity in Israel. But Labott says peace with the Palestinians remains elusive, and Netanyahu is finding himself increasingly alienated from Western partners. As negotiations with Iran near a crucial state, Netanyahu has sided against the White House, telling the U.S. Congress this month that a proposed agreement was "a bad deal" and would not be supported by Israel, which would stand alone if necessary to defend its people. Five key challenges for next Prime Minister . CNN's Susannah Cullinane, Kevin Flower and Oren Lieberman contributed to this report. +Boston (CNN)The defense in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev rested Tuesday afternoon after presenting only four witnesses. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday. The defense case lasted less than two days, while the prosecution presented more than 90 witnesses over the course of a month. Federal prosecutors rested their case Monday with grisly testimony about how the bomb Dzhokhar Tsarnaev placed near the marathon's finish line tore through the bodies of 8-year-old Martin Richard and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old grad student. A second bomb placed by Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, killed Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager. The short presentation in the sensational trial wasn't surprising, given that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's attorney, Judy Clarke, acknowledged during opening statements that "it was him," referring to her client's culpability. Testimony ended with an FBI fingerprint investigator who talked about numerous pieces of evidence with Tamerlan's fingerprints and not Dzhokhar's. Earlier, a computer expert testified about computer searches on Tamerlan's computer -- including gun stores, transmitters, fireworks firing system, detonator and Boston Marathon -- in the weeks before the bombing. Similar searches were not found on Dzhokhar's computer. Jurors first will be asked to determine whether Tsarnaev is guilty of 30 counts. Because 17 of those counts carry the death penalty as a possible punishment, a second phase of the trial will follow if the jury convicts him. In the penalty phase, jurors will be asked to weigh aggravating factors, such as the heinousness of the crime, versus mitigating factors, such as Tsarnaev's family history and his youth. He was 19 at the time of the bombings. The defense, which began calling witnesses Monday afternoon, has argued that Tsarnaev, known to friends as Jahar, fell under the sway of his more extremist older brother after their parents moved back to Russia. Jahar Tsarnaev was flunking out of the University of Massachusetts and had lost his financial aid at the time of the bombings. Prosecutors William Weinreb, Aloke Chakravarty, Nadine Pellegrini and Steve Mellin presented witnesses who told the story of Tsarnaev's alleged scheme with Tamerlan to build and detonate pressure cooker bombs as an act of jihad. The brothers, Muslims of Chechen descent, allegedly sought to kill Americans at an iconic public event to retaliate against U.S. policies they believed harmed and oppressed Muslims abroad. Prosecutors delved into Tsarnaev's text messages and Twitter posts and showed jurors militant material found in his laptop, phone and iPod. They included writings available online from top leaders of al Qaeda. They used data mined from a GPS device and store receipts to trace the purchase of the pressure cookers, BBs and ammunition. Jurors saw photos of pressure cooker parts, fuses, Christmas lights and other bombmaking materials found in the Tsarnaev family's Cambridge apartment, where Tamerlan lived with his wife and child. And they showed security surveillance videos of the brothers in the crowd near the finish line: In one, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev can be seen blending in with the crowd behind the Richard family for four minutes. He appears to slide a backpack off his shoulder near a tree and walk off, glancing over his shoulder. He broke into a run as the bomb went off. After the surveillance photos were released to the public three days after the bombing, the brothers allegedly embarked on a desperate -- and deadly -- attempt to escape. Jurors heard from carjacking victim Dun Meng and saw the brothers on convenience store surveillance video shortly before Meng's escape. He can be seen jumping out of his leased Mercedes SUV at a gas pump and running across the screen as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev casually strolls through the store, picking up an armload of snacks. Prosecutors also used ballistic evidence to link the brothers to the shooting of a campus cop at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a gunbattle with police in Watertown. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died as a result of that gunbattle. The defendant, allegedly attempting to run down police, instead ran over his brother in the stolen Mercedes. Jurors also viewed a boat in which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sought refuge during the ensuing manhunt, which put Boston under a "shelter in place" lockdown. He used a pencil to scrawl what prosecutors called his "manifesto" on the sides of the boat. It was pocked with bullet holes and streaked with blood. He wrote he was jealous that his brother had achieved paradise by dying like a holy warrior in the gunbattle with police. He asked God to make him a martyr, too. Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty, although his attorneys do not dispute that he participated in the bombings. Clarke asked jurors in her opening statement to keep their minds open to an alternative explanation. The defense began its case with two witnesses called to offer scenarios that differ from the version of events offered by FBI witnesses. One focused on the the defendant's Twitter posts a year before the marathon, including mundane matters such as whether he should sleep in or get breakfast. Another challenged the way the FBI used GPS points and store receipts to document the purchase of pressure cookers, BBs and ammunition -- allegedly by Tamerlan Tsarnaev. CNN's Aaron Cooper contributed to this story. +(CNN)An employee at the Tulane National Primate Research Center near New Orleans has tested positive for a potentially deadly strain of bacteria kept at the facility. The employee is not sick, and Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the bacteria are not likely to be a threat to the general population. The worker tested positive to exposure of Burkholderia pseudomallei, which can cause can cause melioidosis, or Whitmore's disease. "It is predominately a disease of tropical climates, especially in Southeast Asia and northern Australia where it is widespread," according to the CDC website. The CDC is waiting on additional test results to determine if the exposure occurred at the research center or somewhere else, McDonald said. The CDC and U.S. Department of Agriculture are at the campus, continuing an investigation that began in November when two monkeys were diagnosed with Whitmore's disease. Six others have antibodies indicating exposure to the bacterium. Since then federal health officials have been working with state and local officials to investigate the source. Blood tests have been conducted on nearly 70 primates at the center, with one testing positive for antibodies, McDonald said. According to the CDC, "the bacteria causing melioidosis are found in contaminated water and soil. It is spread to humans and animals through direct contact with the contaminated source." +(CNN)Michael Graves, an American architect and designer, died Thursday at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, of natural causes, according to his firm. The award-winning architect died "suddenly and peacefully" from natural causes, according to a statement from Michael Graves Architecture and Design. He was 80. Graves was one of the most revered contemporary architects, known for his postmodern designs, and won hundreds of prizes in his field. He started his practice in 1964, which designed over 400 buildings worldwide. Architecture critics hailed him as one of the original American voices in architecture as he has designed hundreds of buildings for corporations, governments, foundations and universities. Among his noted works are The Portland Building in Oregon, The Humana Building in Louisville, Kentucky, the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indiana, and the Team Disney building in Burbank, California. He has been praised for making buildings functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. For many Americans, Graves might be best known as the designer of household items. One of his best known designs was the Alessi stainless steel teakettle with a red bird at the tip that sang when water had boiled. Graves helped propel Target and its collaborations with designers to massive popularity. His line for Target included practical items from tea kettles and drying racks to whimsical kitchen equipment like an avocado scooper and large bamboo salad tongs. His Target line came with a simple, idealistic premise: "Good design should be affordable to all." His designs were also sold at JCPenney and Black & Decker. He was awarded the National Medal of the Arts, as well as the Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture. Born in Indianapolis, Graves received his training at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard. In 1962, he began teaching at Princeton University. In 2003, Graves became paralyzed from the chest down after suffering what started out as a sinus infection. Graves recalled being severely ill and examining the ugly sheets and bad design in hospitals. He decided: "It's far too ugly for me to die here." The illness phased in a new chapter in his life. Struggling in hospital rooms made him determined to improve health care facilities and designs, including more user-friendly hospital furniture for patients. "I wouldn't have been a health care nut if it hadn't been for my paralysis, so something good came from this," he told CNN in 2011. Michael Graves: Why hospital rooms don't work . Throughout his illness, Graves continued to sketch. "Whether I was paralyzed or not, I would draw, because drawing for me is like playing the piano," he told CNN. "You've got to keep practicing, got to keep doing it. It's not that you lose it, but you don't draw as well if you don't draw every day." +(CNN)A year-and-a-half ago, when the Jesus edition of Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard's ongoing book series about the deaths of famous people was released, O'Reilly did the talk show circuit to promote the book. To "60 Minutes" O'Reilly professed that his "Killing Jesus" is not a religious book. It was purely historical, said the Fox News host. He said it investigates the political circumstances surrounding the most famous death of all time. When asked why Jesus was killed, O'Reilly said, "He was upset that the Jews were taxing -- and overtaxing, extorting -- the folks." Jesus was executed, according to O'Reilly, not because he claimed to be God, but because he interrupted the "money flow" of taxes to the Romans and the Jewish temple leaders. As a theologian, I must say that O'Reilly buried the lead. The death of Jesus of Nazareth, at least historically speaking, was just one more ignominious execution of a peasant Jew in a long line of such executions. A century before Jesus' death, the Romans crucified about 6,000 slaves on the roads leading to Rome, putting to an end the Third Servile War. Like Jesus, these slaves stood up to the Roman Empire and were quickly defeated. Crucifixion was common. Five things Bill O'Reilly flubs in 'Killing Jesus' Jesus' death was unique because of its theological and religious import. At least that's what his earliest followers decided upon reflection. Jesus was not the messiah that the Hebrews had anticipated. In fact, he'd done just about the opposite of what was expected: preached peace, lived in relative obscurity, and died young. Jesus was most definitely an outsider -- on this O'Reilly and I agree. He lived in the outer reaches of the empire, a non-citizen with few rights. Even his Galilean accent was considered backwoods in the metropolis of Jerusalem. Whether it was the Roman occupying force or the powerful temple leaders, they must have thought, "Jesus is not like us." So it's pleasantly surprising that the TV movie based on O'Reilly's book casts a Muslim actor, Haaz Sleiman, as Jesus. Sleiman was raised in Lebanon. He is thick-featured and broad-shouldered. And he is robustly hirsute, the very opposite of the wispily-bearded Ted Neely from the Jesus Christ Superstar of my youth. Speaking of Ted Neely, he is just one in a long line of blue-eyed Jesuses in art and film. For a long time, the actors chosen to play Jesus have looked more like O'Reilly and me than like a Judean. Sleiman is a welcome break from that tradition, but some people have voiced displeasure at his casting. Having a Muslim portray the founder of Christianity, they contend, is an offense. Sleiman disagrees. "My religion is inclusivity," Sleiman told me, and he is an effective evangelist of that religion. He is unashamed to talk about his connection to God, his respect for all three Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- and in the "beauty and magnificence of humanity." To play Jesus, Sleiman said, he simply focused on the divinity that he believes is available to all human beings, a divinity that Jesus was specially aware of. When Bill O'Reilly portrays Jesus as a champion of low taxes and an opponent of big government, he's not committing a mortal sin. He's doing what so many have done before: seeing in Jesus what they want to see, and making Jesus into someone who looks, talks, and thinks like they want him to. So maybe the best thing that Christians can do during this Holy Week is to watch a Muslim portray Jesus. In that portrayal, we might be reminded that Jesus himself didn't look like the dominant culture of his day, and he practiced a religion that the Romans did not understand or respect. We live in an uneasy time between Christians and Muslims, between Christianity and Islam. And it wasn't so different in the first century. Then, an obscure figure who was little understood preached peace and died a sacrificial death. Now a Muslim actor is bringing him to life, and that is no more scandalous than Jesus' own life. +(CNN)On and off for over 40 years, I have had the privilege of roaming around the West Wing of the White House, usually as a member of the staff, sometimes as a journalist or visitor. For all that time, almost everything has been pretty much the same -- from the configuration of furniture in the oval to the four Norman Rockwell sketches hanging in the hallways. But this past weekend, making a visit, there was something that was brand new and entirely welcome: There among the stream of visitors touring the West Wing were many families of every color, especially African-Americans. You may not think that is so different, but it is. For as long as I have known, the West Wing has essentially been the preserve of whites, especially white men. My wife Anne and I, along with 10-year-old grandkids Gabriel Barnett and Maya Gergen, were there for a superb, two-hour tour by a young man, Clay Dumas, once a college intern working with me and now an aide to the President. (He also happens to be white.) Like most staff members over the years, Clay spoke with near reverence about his President as he pointed out many photos of Obama on the walls. What seemed so natural to him was what was what also struck me as new: Photo after photo showed people of color working and meeting their President alongside and of equal standing with whites. Of course, it didn't take a visit to the white house to know that Barack Obama has promoted diversity. Still, before seeing up close, I had not appreciated how deeply his approach has permeated day-to-day life. This White House appears to be a model of racial, ethnic and gender integration. To be sure, earlier presidents had already taken steps down this path. President Bill Clinton was the first to name a cabinet in which women and people of color outnumbered white males. President George W. Bush surprised some when he continued that tradition. But in the West Wing itself, white men continued to dominate the inner circles. President Obama's efforts to allocate power in new ways have sometimes raised hackles. That three of the most influential people around him are African-American women isn't the issue, insist critics sotto voce; rather it is whether two of them, Valerie Jarrett and Susan Rice, are the right people for their jobs. Both have come under periodic barrages. But to be fair, it isn't as if there hasn't been a string of white males in the past who have been even less suited for powerful White House jobs. As I left the White House this past Saturday, I knew that I would continue to grind my teeth over many of President Obama's policies along with his leadership style. But as a white southerner inspired by the civil rights movement, I must say that I was also impressed and grateful that he has made the West Wing such a welcome home for Americans of every color and background. It's about time. I will write my young friend Clay and tell him that one day, accompanied by his grandchildren, he will return to the West Wing and be proud that he served under the first president to turn diversity into a living reality at the White House. That is one of the positive legacies of this President that deserves greater recognition. +(CNN)American missionary Phyllis Sortor, who was kidnapped last month by masked gunmen in central Nigeria, has been freed, a U.S. official confirmed Friday. Officials refused to provide details of her release, but said it involved some form of negotiations. Five men abducted Sortor, a missionary from Seattle with the Free Methodist Church, from her workplace February 23 and demanded a ransom of 60 million Naira ($301,500), Kogi state police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said. Sortor runs a nongovernmental organization that educates nomadic Fulani children, the police commissioner said. Kogi state is located away from the areas where Boko Haram operates, making it likely that the kidnapping is not related to them. But there is the possibility that an offshoot group could have kidnapped Sortor, or that she might be sold to another group. +Lenakel, Vanuatu (CNN)Jacobeth Nilah wails in pain in the storm-battered hospital. The 9-year-old girl suffered a head injury when the roof of her family home fell on top of her as Tropical Cyclone Pam raged over the South Pacific island where she lives. The storm, one of the most powerful ever to make landfall, killed her mother and brother. Now, Jacobeth's life hangs in the balance, says Dr. Lawrence Boe. If she's not airlifted soon, she could die in the stricken hospital whose equipment was damaged in the cyclone, the doctor told CNN on Tuesday. She needs surgery and a bed in an intensive care unit. Dr. Boe is the only doctor at the hospital, which is the only hospital on Tanna, one of more than 80 islands that make up the nation of Vanuatu. Cyclone Pam raked across the archipelago with 155 mph (250 kph) winds over the weekend, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 11 people. The storm also cut off communications between the capital, Port Vila, and many of the outer islands like Tanna. That left Dr. Boe unable to reach anyone in the capital to ask for supplies or a medevac for Jacobeth, who lies in a room with dozens of other patients who were injured in the storm. Dr. Boe used a CNN satellite phone on Tuesday to raise the alarm. He said he thinks authorities are going to send some help. He listed to CNN some of the basic but vital resources the hospital is lacking: "Water and food for the patients and some medical supplies to deal with the injuries. IV fluids and rehydration fluids for dehydration." "Water would be number one on the list," he said. Tanna is an hour-long flight from the capital. And the town of Lenakel, where the hospital is situated, is another 45 minutes of rugged driving from the airstrip. Aid groups have expressed serious fears about the potential scale of the devastation left by the cyclone on the more remote islands of Vanuatu, where many people live in rickety homes made of thatch or metal sheets. The death toll currently stands at 11, according to Vanuatu authorities, five of them from Tanna. But officials say it will take days or even weeks to get a full picture of the destruction. The country's roughly 260,000 citizens are spread across about 65 inhabited islands. Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale has called Cyclone Pam "a monster," saying it has set back the development of his country, already one of the poorest in the region, by years. One aid organization has said it could be one of the worst disasters ever to hit the Pacific. The storm flooded many of the wards of the hospital on Tanna, which lies near the southern end of the archipelago. Half of the hospital is unusable. As the cyclone pummeled the hospital and its surroundings, the patients cowered in two rooms. Uprooted trees now litter the building's surroundings. Its flagpole was snapped in half. Volunteer nurses have come to help the dozens of patients. One baby was born Monday and now lies on a bed in the ruined maternity ward. Her parents, Alina and Ron Loman, haven't chosen a name yet. They're just happy their child is healthy amid so much destruction. CNN's Ivan Watson reported from Lenakel, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Pamela Boykoff and Hilary Whiteman contributed to this report. +(CNN)Ted Cruz is going on Obamacare. The newly announced Republican presidential candidate told CNN's Dana Bash on Tuesday that he will sign up for health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act -- a law he has been on a crusade to kill. "We'll be getting new health insurance and we'll presumably do it through my job with the Senate, and so we'll be on the federal exchange with millions of others on the federal exchange," Cruz said. Asked whether he would accept the government contribution available to lawmakers and congressional staffers for their health care coverage through the ACA, Cruz said he will "follow the text of the law." "I strongly oppose the exemption that President Obama illegally put in place for members of Congress because (Senate Minority Leader) Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats didn't want to be under the same rules as the American people," Cruz said, before repeating: "I believe we should follow the text of the law." Under the Affordable Care Act, members of Congress and some designated congressional staffers are required to obtain health care coverage through the D.C. Health Link Small Business Market. The Office of Personnel Management's guidelines state that lawmakers and their staff receive a "government contribution" if they get health care coverage through the ACA. But some lawmakers have declined to accept the contribution, saying they do not want to get special treatment. After the interview, a Cruz spokesperson clarified that he wouldn't take the contribution. Cruz's admission comes one day after CNN first reported that the senator would no longer have access to health benefits through his wife's employer, Goldman Sachs. Heidi Cruz, a managing director at the firm's Houston office, has gone on unpaid leave for the duration of the senator's presidential campaign and will not have access to the company's benefits during that time. Cruz's campaign appeared caught by surprise Monday by questions about the senator's health care. Asked how Cruz's family would be covered after his wife lost her Goldman Sachs benefits, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler repeatedly answered that he didn't know. It's a deeply ironic development for the Texas conservative firebrand, who vaulted to fame during his few years in the Senate in large part by denouncing President Barack Obama's landmark health care law. He led an effort to defund the law that contributed to the 2013 government shutdown. Cruz denied that there was anything ironic about him going on Obamacare, saying he was simply following the law. "I believe we should follow the text of every law, even laws I disagree with," Cruz told CNN. "It's one of the real differences -- if you look at President Obama and the lawlessness, if he disagrees with a law he simply refuses to follow it or claims the authority to unilaterally change." After the publication of this story, Cruz advisers said there was nothing unusual about the senator signing up for insurance coverage through his employer. They argued that Obamacare has wiped out the individual market, leaving Cruz with few options. Cruz said he will continue advocating for repealing the law. "What is problematic about Obamacare is that it is killing millions of jobs in this country and has killed millions of jobs," Cruz said. "It has forced millions of people into part time work. It has caused millions of people to lose their insurance, to lose their doctors and to face skyrocketing insurance premiums. That is unacceptable." CNN's Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report. +(CNN)Last month, my husband and I took our daughters to a Columbia University women's basketball game. We live nearby, had already attended a men's game and were excited for our girls, one of whom plays basketball, to watch college women in action. When we walked into the arena, my mouth practically dropped to the floor. Only a handful of people were there, quite a contrast from the nearly packed house for the men's team. It must be winter break, I thought. It wasn't. Sure, the Columbia women's team hasn't had a great season for years -- and this year wasn't much different. Still, only a handful of spectators to cheer on women who were clearly standouts in their high schools to make it to a college basketball team? I sat on the bench, cheered the women and fumed. How to Super Bowl #LikeAGirl . A few weeks later, the Princeton women's basketball team did something no other Ivy League men's team had done before, racking up 30 wins and zero losses during the regular season and beating the Ivy League season record of 28-0 held by the 1970-71 Penn men's team. (Princeton ended up losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament, finishing with a 31-1 record.) The Princeton team garnered national headlines, which was great, but I still wondered what it was going to take for women's sports to get the same attention as men's sports -- meaning an equal number of fans, TV rights, marketing endorsements, you name it. Is such a day even possible? Consider salaries alone. The average salary for a WNBA player is $72,000, which doesn't include bonuses and benefits, while the average salary for an NBA player is around $5 million, or about 70 times what the average female basketball player makes. And look at the differences in coverage. The Final Four teams for the men's NCAA basketball tournament got front page attention in Monday's New York Times. The women? A story without a photo deep in the sports section. I met Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, during a spectacular and inspirational women's conference in Jacksonville, Florida, last week called Generation W, where I moderated panels on issues affecting women. "This connection with sports and masculinity is a very tough nut to crack. People have been trying to crack it for a long time," said Hogshead-Makar, who has devoted her career to the advancement of girls and women in sports. Why has coverage of women's sports stopped post-Olympics? More than 40 years after the enactment of Title IX, a law that says that any school receiving federal funds cannot discriminate based on sex, there are still huge disparities, she said, with men getting $190 million more per year in college athletic scholarships than women. "It's appalling what these huge differences are. Any fifth-grader can walk into your average high school or college softball baseball facility and say, 'Duh, that's not equal.' " Hogshead-Makar, who is chief executive officer of the advocacy group Champion Women, said even though Title IX requires that women get the same access to media and support that men get, it's not happening. "The coupling of sexism and sport, having this be an exclusionary practice, is still a strong one," said the 1984 Olympic champion. Attitudes about women and sports still have a long way to go before we get to true gender equality, based on a recent poll by Always, the brand that brought us the viral #LikeAGirl video sensation. While a majority of the 1,800 men and women polled said both genders were equal in math and science, they said sports was the one area where they believe there are differences. A significant percentage of both women and men said men are better at sports, with 32% of women feeling that way and 47% of men, the poll found. Hilary Knight, a member of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, called the findings "disappointing" but said women's sports is still young, with Title IX only a few decades old. "It's just a gradual growth process that we kind of have to see through," said Knight, who appears in the most recent #LikeAGirl video, this one released for International Women's Day this month, showcasing women proudly talking about how they shoot, score and do chemistry like a girl. Knight admits the changes in women's sports might not come during her hockey career but says she believes they will eventually come, especially as more women play the game. When she started playing hockey 15 years ago, there were few girls who did. Today, you walk into a local rink and you'll find girls' and boys' teams, she said. "It's a slow process, but as long as you are changing the stereotype, and you are really empowering women and girls to feel proud of who they are and not hindering their progress in any way, I think we are going to see sport get to where it needs to be." Michele Yulo, whose 9-year-old daughter, Gabi, plays basketball and baseball on boys' teams, also thinks it will take time to create the opportunities for women, which will help change the mindset about women and sports. Her main focus, she says, is on making sure girls like her daughter can play the sports they love. In June, her daughter will play in an all-girls baseball tournament in Orlando organized by a program called Baseball for All, which was founded to ensure that girls can play baseball when they are young and continue playing the game when they are older. "What I think is gaining traction is an awareness of female athletes in general and recognition of their strength, skill and determination -- and that yes, this has some effect on the popularity and growth of women's sports programs," said Yulo, creator of the blog Princess Free Zone. "There seems to be a greater push for girls and women to be taken seriously in sports." Girls' and women's sports are growing in popularity as participation increases, said Deborah Slaner Larkin, chief executive officer of the Women's Sports Foundation. Slaner Larkin points to U.S. women's soccer star Alex Morgan, for example, who has over 1.5 million followers on Twitter, and how the upcoming Women's World Cup in Canada is a trending topic worldwide. That said, girls have more than 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play sports than boys do in high school and about 63,000 fewer participation slots at the college level, according to Slaner Larkin. "Once sports are recognized as a birthright for both genders, the rest will fall into place," she said. Helping get us there, she said, is a new generation of moms who played sports as a result of Title IX, which became law in 1972. "These women identify as athletes and women's sports fans, and they will now pass down their experiences to their daughters," she said. Getting women into the stands is key to winning television coverage and the big salaries that come with that exposure, said Michael Graber, a sports cinematographer and father of two girls. "In sports TV, the tail wags the dog. The money goes where the audience is," said Graber, who is the husband of Diana Graber, the co-founder of the digital literacy site CyberWise.org. "Money will go to women's sports as soon as an audience wants to watch women, so the best way to support women athletes is by attending women's sports in the first place." John Furjanic of Chicago said he and a friend took their young daughters to a DePaul University women's basketball game for Valentine's Day for the third year in a row. "In my humble opinion, any father who doesn't take their young daughters to watch women's sports (at all levels -- grammar school through pro) is missing a chance to expose their children to the opportunities that await them," said Furjanic, whose daughter is 7. "Long-term, parents taking kids to women's games and women's teams promoting themselves in schools has to be helpful to establishing widespread popularity, generations at a time." Getting more people into the stands and seeing more girls play more sports will bring about change, many women say. So too will seeing new leaders emerge who believe in gender equality in all areas, including sports. "Sports are a microcosm of life," said Slaner Larkin. "As we begin to see a more diverse group of men and women in leadership and decision-making roles throughout the industry, we should also see significant changes in media, sponsorship and other fundamental areas of support." Hogshead-Makar, the former Olympic champion, told me about a case she recently learned about involving dramatically unequal facilities for the women's softball and men's baseball teams at a public high school in Indiana. "It tells the baseball players you're more important," she said. "That's equally as unhealthy, as for a girl to hear that she's not as important as for him to hear that he's more important." "When the leadership says, 'We're going to make this just as important,' " change will come, she said. What do you think it will take for women's sports to get the same attention as men's sports? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter @kellywallacetv or CNN Living on Facebook. +Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)Joint Iraqi forces have started what they believe will be the conclusive push to retake the Iraqi city of Tikrit from ISIS, a paramilitary force participating in the offensive said Tuesday. The forces have started "the decisive operation" to liberate Tikrit just over a week after the overall operation began, advancing toward the city from several directions, according to a statement from the predominantly Shiite paramilitary force Hashd Al-Shaab. ISIS wasn't making it easy, however. The Sunni extremist group blew up a key bridge near Tikrit, preventing the joint Iraqi forces from using it to cross the Tigris River to approach the city from the east. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces on March 1 to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province. Tikrit, best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, fell in June to ISIS, which has captured parts of Iraq and Syria for what it says is its Islamic caliphate. In the past few days, forces progressed roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) down one road toward the city and, by Monday, were about a mile from its center. ISIS fighters have retreated toward the city center from frontline positions, Hashd Al-Shaab's media office said Tuesday. Al-Shaab's forces appear to be leading the fight for Tikrit, with support from the Iraqi army and Sunni tribesmen. Also assisting is Iran, which has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, there may be Iranians operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. If Iraq regains control of the city, it could mean that retaking Mosul -- a city 10 times bigger -- is possible. The Tikrit offensive involves around 30,000 fighters. CNN's Jason Hanna contributed to this report from Atlanta. +(CNN)Sorry, Spotify, but it appears Taylor Swift has found someone else to fill that "Blank Space." Billboard reports that most of Swift's albums are streaming on TIDAL, the music service recently purchased by Jay Z via his S. Carter Enterprises. In November, Swift refused to allow from Spotify to stream her new album "1989" and pulled the rest of her catalog from the site. The singer has been outspoken about her beliefs that the current state of the music industry is making it hard for artists (Spotify reportedly pays between $.006 and $.0084 per stream) and has endorsed the buying and selling of digital and physical albums rather than streaming. Taylor Swift pulls her music from Spotify . Music sales have declined sharply in the past few years, and in July, Swift wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal about the future of the music industry in which she touched on the issue. Customers "are buying only the (albums) that hit them like an arrow through the heart or have made them feel strong or allowed them to feel like they really aren't alone in feeling so alone," she wrote. "It isn't as easy today as it was 20 years ago to have a multiplatinum-selling album, and as artists, that should challenge and motivate us." Spotify CEO Daniel Ek responded in a blog post to the singer/songwriter's decision to deny her music to his 40 million-plus customers. His company was not the enemy, he said. "Spotify has paid more than two billion dollars to labels, publishers and collecting societies for distribution to songwriters and recording artists," Ek wrote. "When I hear stories about artists and songwriters who say they've seen little or no money from streaming and are naturally angry and frustrated, I'm really frustrated too. The music industry is changing -- and we're proud of our part in that change -- but lots of problems that have plagued the industry since its inception continue to exist." In January, Jay Z's company bid more than $56 million for TIDAL, which is billing itself as "the first music streaming service that combines the best High Fidelity sound quality, High Definition music videos and expertly Curated Editorial." It's available in the U.S. and UK for $19.99 a month. According to Billboard, Swift's "1989" album, which was the biggest seller of 2014, is not currently on TIDAL. But it does include new releases like Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly" and Modest Mouse's "Strangers to Ourselves." +(CNN)The caller sounds extremely worried. He tells a 911 dispatcher that he hit someone with his car. "We need an ambulance right now," the caller tells the California Highway Patrol. Police have said singer-songwriter David Crosby hit a jogger with his car Sunday evening in Santa Ynez, California, near where the Hall of Fame musician lives. On Tuesday the highway patrol released two 911 calls from the incident in which the frantic caller pleads for medical help for the man. The operator tells him the highway patrol is on the way. He asks the caller if the person is walking. The caller says he didn't see the man because of the setting sun and again worries about medical assistance. "I need an ambulance, man. Ambulance. Fast," the man tells 911. They're on the way, he's told as the call disconnects. Later, Crosby calls back, worried that the ambulance was not there yet. "We need the ambulance now. This guy is hurt," the caller says. Another 911 dispatcher tells him the ambulance is already en route and transfers him to a medical services dispatcher. Crosby was driving at approximately 50 mph when he struck the jogger, California Highway Patrol Spokesman Don Clotworthy said Monday. The posted speed limit was 55. The jogger, identified as Jose LuQuin Jimenez, was in fair condition Tuesday, a spokesman for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital said. The man suffered multiple fractures, Clotworthy said earlier. "Mr. Crosby was cooperative with authorities and he was not impaired or intoxicated in any way," said Clotworthy. According to the spokesman, the jogger and Crosby were on the same side of the road. Pedestrians are supposed to be on the left side of the road walking toward traffic, Clotworthy said. Joggers are considered pedestrians. Crosby is known for weaving multilayered harmonies over sweet melodies. He is part of the celebrated rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash, and was also a member of the Byrds. "David Crosby is obviously very upset that he accidentally hit anyone. And, based off of initial reports, he is relieved that the injuries to the gentleman were not life threatening," said Michael Jensen, a Crosby spokesman. "He wishes the jogger a very speedy recovery." CNN's Dana Ford, Tony Marco and Steve Almasy contributed to this report. +(CNN)If Azealia Banks is asked to leave the United States, that will probably be OK with her. "I hate everything about this country," the rapper told Playboy interviewer Rob Tannenbaum. "Like, I hate fat white Americans. All the people who are crunched into the middle of America, the real fat and meat of America, are these racist conservative white people who live on their farms. Those little teenage girls who work at Kmart and have a racist grandma -- that's really America." Those comments were preceded by remarks about race and racism, topics she frequently addresses on her no-holds-barred Twitter feed. "It's always about race. Lorde can run her mouth and talk sh*t about all these other b***hes, but y'all aren't saying she's angry. If I have something to say, I get pushed into the corner," she said. "Really, the generational effects of Jim Crow and poverty linger on. As long as I have my money, I'm getting the f**k out of here and I'm gonna leave y'all to your own devices." Her comments weren't limited to issues. Banks also lashed out at fellow artists Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. "In American society, the game is to be a nonthreatening black person," she said. "That's why you have Pharrell or Kendrick Lamar saying, 'How can we expect people to respect us if we don't respect ourselves?' He's playing that nonthreatening black man sh*t, and that gets all the white soccer moms going, 'We love him.' "Even Kanye West plays a little bit of that game," she added. She did approve of Jay Z, noting that "hasn't played any of those games." The interview appears in Playboy's April issue. +Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN)Demonstrators took to the streets across Brazil on Sunday, protesting corruption and demanding the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Her administration is struggling amid a weak economy and a massive corruption scandal involving the country's state-run oil company. "I love Brazil. I love my country. And I am tired of corruption. We are tired of corruption. It doesn't matter which political party you are from, we are tired of being robbed," a protester told CNN in Sao Paulo, where people packed the main Paulista Avenue. In Rio de Janeiro, they gathered along Copacabana beach, while in the capital, Brasilia, protesters marched on government headquarters. The mood was festive. Many demonstrators wore the country's colors -- green, blue and yellow -- waved flags, and chanted: "Out Dilma." Amid complaints about the economy, protesters say they are incensed because Brazilian investigators are unraveling a huge money-laundering and bribery case centered around Petrobras, the country's national oil company. Dozens of politicians, some in Rousseff's party, are accused of accepting millions in payments. The President has not been implicated in the investigation, but she was the Energy Minister and chairwoman of Petrobras during much of the time that the alleged corruption took place. Why are protesters furious with Brazil's President? Sunday night Rousseff sent two of her ministers to address the nation at a televised press conference. The justice minister and the general secretary said that the government was listening and would announce changes in several days designed to combat corruption. The announcement did little to quiet the protests in some cities. Many protesters banged pots and pans and honked car horns. CNN iReporter Bruno Teles with Avant Drones shot aerial footage of the crowds in Sao Paulo. He said, "Brazilians are tired of such corruption, lies and [the] bad economy." Before becoming the country's first female president in 2011, Rousseff, from the Workers' Party, was chief of staff to former President Lula da Silva. She won re-election in October, in one of the tightest races in recent years, but has since seen her approval rate plummet along with the economy. Brazil is headed into recession again this year, inflation is up and the currency is at a 12-year low. Rousseff's approval rating down to 23% from 42% at the end of 2014, according to DataFolha. The economy is expected to contract this year and the real has plummeted 23% against the dollar. Barbara Arvanitidis reported from Sao Paulo. Dana Ford reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Patrick Gillespie and Shasta Darlington also contributed to this report. +(CNN)Terrence Howard would like a little bit more reality on his hit show "Empire." The actor, who plays hip-hop recording mogul Lucious Lyon on the series, recently told Entertainment Weekly that's he's "mad that we don't say n****r in the show." "Why is TV showing something different from the reality of the world?" Howard asked. "Why is there a thing called censorship that stop people from hearing everyday talk? We use n***** every day. It's become part of a conversation. Why aren't we using it in the show?" He expanded on his thoughts during an appearance Monday on "Access Hollywood." "Well, I believe if we're gonna really tackle racism, if we're gonna tackle bigotry, if we're gonna tackle homophobia, we need to attack it dead-on. You don't just sit up, you know, let's give a little aspirin right here; no, we need to take the sutures, open up the problem and reach in and grab it," the actor explained. "And since n****r is used in almost every conversation in most black neighborhoods, why is it that we don't hear it on TV anymore? Are white people afraid of it? Did they create the word? But if this is something that we use on a daily basis, then let's address what it really means." And what does the word mean to the "Empire" star? "Oh, it could mean love; sometimes it's a noun; sometimes it's a verb; sometimes it's an adjective; it's all, there's a spirit attached to it, you know," Howard said. "My dad uses it. My brothers use it. I use it. I'm sitting here, I'm hoping maybe I won't use it with my son, but I don't know if I'll be honest if I didn't use it with my son. You know, my friends use it. I call my white friends 'what's up, my n****?' You know, that's, it has taken on this term to us, but it's blown out of proportion outside the world, so I don't know." But co-star Taraji P. Henson, who plays his ex-wife, Cookie Lyon, is not feeling it. When TMZ asked whether she believed the Fox series should be using the word, she responded, "Naw, you might piss people off." David Rambo, one of the show's writers, told TMZ that as a white man, he didn't think he could make the call on whether to use the word. Context is everything, he said. "It's a powerful word," Rambo told TMZ. "It's such a huge issue. It came up a lot in our writers room." +(CNN)Newly released al Qaeda documents, including letters to and from Osama bin Laden in the year or so before his May 2011 death, show an organization that understood it had severe problems resulting from the CIA drone program that was killing many of the group's leaders in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. As a result of this pressure, al Qaeda officials were seriously considering relocating elements of the organization to other countries such as Afghanistan or Iran. They also entered into ceasefire discussions through intermediaries with elements of Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, although the documents suggest that nothing came of these discussions and there is no evidence in the documents indicating that the Pakistani government had any clue about bin Laden's location or presence in Pakistan. CIA efforts to spy on the group and kill its leaders were so effective that in June 2010 an al Qaeda official urged bin Laden, "You should have fewer exchanges of correspondence with us during this period. Make the period between contacts longer and further apart. Take excessive caution and care, especially this year." This was wise counsel. Within a few weeks of this letter being written, the CIA would track bin Laden's trusted courier to his longtime hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and on May 1, 2011, a U.S. Navy SEAL operation ordered by President Barack Obama killed al Qaeda's leader. The new al Qaeda documents are part of a trove of many thousands that the SEALs recovered at bin Laden's compound. Several were released during the Brooklyn trial last month of al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer. Seventeen of these documents had also been released around the first anniversary of bin Laden's death. It's long past time for the government to release more of these thousands of captured documents -- with any necessary redactions for national security purposes -- as they help us to understand better what precipitated the decline and fall of the terrorist group that once dominated the attention of the world, just as ISIS does today. The documents show how al Qaeda's 9/11 operation unleashed so much force against it, including the CIA drone program, that it had to hide in the shadows and couldn't pull off any successful operation in the West for many years before the death of bin Laden. The documents demonstrate that almost a decade after 9/11 al Qaeda was struggling to get any kind of operation going against Western targets. In a report on "external operations," an al Qaeda official explained that a plot to attack the U.S. Embassy in Russia had fizzled and that despite sending al Qaeda members to the UK to hit "several targets" these operations had also come to nothing. Al Qaeda had also sent "three brothers" on a terrorist mission to Denmark, a country that bin Laden loathed because of the publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, but had "lost contact with them." Given all the problems the group was having, an al Qaeda strategist suggested refocusing efforts on carrying out terrorist attacks using the "simplest things such as 
household knives, gas tanks, fuel, diesel and others like airplanes, trains and cars as 
killing tools." 2011: U.S. offers details about bin Laden raid . A major theme of the documents is how much punishment the CIA drone program was inflicting on al Qaeda. Al Qaeda officials considered moving to Nuristan, a remote mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, or to other parts of Pakistan such as Sindh or Balochistan and even to Iran, which had been a key sanctuary for a number of al Qaeda's leaders after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Al Qaeda mulled opening an office in Iran, but "we backed off this idea due to financial costs and other considerations." In a letter to bin Laden, an al Qaeda official provided a vivid description of the death by drone of Mustafa Yazid, then the No. 3 leader of the group, on the night of May 22, 2010. The al Qaeda official wrote that Yazid was staying at the house of a "well-known" supporter of al Qaeda when a drone started making "distinctive loops that we all know and all the brothers have experienced. They all know that if a plane starts doing these turns, it is going to strike." Yazid and his wife and three daughters and granddaughter were all killed in the drone strike, according to the official. The official lamented that drones are "still circling our skies every day" and the only relief from them came when weather conditions worsened and there was cloud cover. The official wrote but "then they come back when the sky is clear." Al Qaeda had tried to use jamming technology and to hack into the drones "but no result so far," according to the al Qaeda official. Underlining al Qaeda's weakness, during the summer of 2010 the group was contemplating some kind of ceasefire with the Pakistani government and had entered into negotiations with it via intermediaries to explain that al Qaeda's battle was "primarily against the Americans. You became part of the battle when you sided with the Americans. If you were to leave us and our affairs alone, we would leave you alone." Highlights of bin Laden documents released in 2012 . The documents show that such a ceasefire was purely tactical rather than the beginning of some kind of rapprochement between al Qaeda and the Pakistanis. At one point an al Qaeda official referred to "bin Laden's call to jihad against the apostate government of Pakistan." Apostasy is a grave crime in Islam and punishable by death in the eyes of members of al Qaeda. According to the documents, Pakistani intelligence officials "reached out to" al Qaeda through longtime jihadist sympathizers who had formerly held positions in the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, as well as the leaders of militant groups such as the Haqqani Taliban faction that have contacts with the ISI. The documents suggest that nothing came of these discussions, and there is no evidence in them that the Pakistanis had any idea that bin Laden was in Pakistan or indeed was even alive. Bergen in 2013: Bin Laden's life on the run . Moreover during the course of reporting the book "Manhunt," about the CIA's long search for bin Laden, I spoke to several senior U.S. officials who said that the U.S. intelligence community was covertly monitoring the communications of Pakistani army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI director Ahmed Shuja Pasha the night of the bin Laden raid and they were both surprised about him being in Abbottabad. The documents did show one area of real success for al Qaeda, which was kidnapping for ransom, a tactic ISIS has been using so effectively. In 2008, al Qaeda had captured Afghanistan's former ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Khaliq Farahi. After two years of negotiations he was exchanged for $5 million. An al Qaeda official told bin Laden that some of this money would be a "gift" to him "from all the brothers." Bin Laden cautioned al Qaeda's leaders to be careful with the ransom money, as it might have to last the terrorist group several years. The documents show that al Qaeda's leaders were in contact with Tayeb Agha, a close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. Agha has met with U.S. officials on a number of occasions to discuss peace negotiations. 2011: How U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden . Far from the image of the isolated man in the cave that was prevalent before he was killed, the documents portray bin Laden as a hands-on manager of al Qaeda. In a 10-page letter that bin Laden wrote in August 2010, he had reams of advice for the al Qaeda-aligned group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, ordering that the group not attack Sufi Muslims in Somalia and also suggesting a plan to assassinate the President of neighboring Uganda who had sent his troops to fight Al-Shabaab. Bin Laden gave detailed notes about how Al-Shabaab could raise its agricultural output by using small dams for irrigation, and he suggested planting palm olive trees imported from Indonesia. He also advised Al-Shabaab against cutting down too many trees because it is "dangerous for the environment of the region." Bin Laden had lived in nearby Sudan in the mid-'90s, establishing a number of business and farming enterprises. Bin Laden, something of a micromanager, told his top lieutenant to "send us the resumes of all the brothers who may be nominated now or in the future for important management positions." He also cautioned against sending any emails, including even encrypted ones, urging that hand-delivered letters were the only safe method of communication. Bergen on 2012 documents: Seized documents show delusional leader and micromanager . Bin Laden also ordered that some of the tens of thousands of documents leaked by U.S. Army Pvt. Bradley Manning to WikiLeaks in 2010 be translated so that al Qaeda could better understand "the enemy's policies in the region." And he suggested that his lieutenants reach out to Ahmed Zaidan, an Al Jazeera reporter based in Pakistan who had interviewed bin Laden in the past, so that he could have plenty of time to prepare a report to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Bin Laden said he didn't want Zaidan to interview any members of his family, but he told his team to get in touch with the reporter "promptly" to get a sense of the questions he wanted bin Laden to answer. Bin Laden was killed four months before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. As the new al Qaeda documents make clear he died knowing that his dream of another terrorism spectacular in the West was just that: a dream. And the organization that he had founded was in deep trouble because of the CIA drone program. Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said bin Laden had lived in Somalia. +Los Angeles (CNN)Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight collapsed in court Friday shortly after a judge set his bail at $25 million in a murder case, an amount Knight's attorney said was excessively high. The attorney earlier indicated such a bail was probably higher than his client could post. Knight bent over in his chair at the defense table, with his attorney beside him, and two deputies rushed to him as he was facedown. Moments earlier, the judge ruled that Knight "has a great potential to flee and apparently has so in the past." "In this court's opinion, $25 million is reasonable, and it is so set," said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen. Attorney Matthew Fletcher told CNN affiliate KABC that Knight hit his head on a chair and knocked himself out. Fletcher later saw Knight in the holding cell, and "he was dripping sweat ... like somebody threw a bucket of water on him," Fletcher told the station. "And he wiped the sweat off his head and said, 'I haven't had my medication,' and I said since when, and he said since yesterday. That's when I went back in and told the judge 'You need to make an order that he gets his medicine and he hasn't been fed' and the judge said, 'Well, they offered him food at some point today,' and I said well that's not what I've heard," Fletcher told the affiliate. Knight, who suffers from diabetes and blood clots, was taken to the hospital, the attorney said. Knight's condition was not immediately available. He has collapsed before while in custody. Knight has been held in solitary confinement, Fletcher added. When asked about the $25 million bail, Fletcher said, "It's just laughable." The bail in other prominent murder cases "at most is $5 million," Fletcher told the affiliate. "The heads of the Mafia, $5 million (bail)," Fletcher said. Prosecutors sought the $25 million bail, he added. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 13. Knight, 49, has pleaded not guilty to several charges that accuse him of running over two men -- killing one of them -- in January after an argument. Knight is charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of hit-and-run, with an allegation that he committed a serious and violent felony while out on bail, prosecutors said. The man who died was Terry Carter, 55, a former rap record label owner. The second man is Cle "Bone" Sloan, 51. The deadly incident happened on January 29, after a flare-up on the set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the highly influential and controversial rap group N.W.A. The argument spilled over to the parking lot of Tam's Burgers in Compton. The incident is the latest run-in with the law for Knight, who founded the wildly successful Death Row Records in 1991 and signed artists such as Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger when the rapper was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996. Shortly afterward, Knight spent several years in prison for violating parole on assault and weapons convictions. That prison time -- along with Shakur's death, feuds between Knight and a number of rappers, and desertions by Dr. Dre, Snoop and others -- contributed to the label's bankruptcy in 2006. In August, Knight and two other people were shot while inside a celebrity-filled Sunset Strip party hosted by singer Chris Brown on the eve of the MTV Video Music Awards. At the time of his most recent arrest, Knight was free on bail in a robbery case. CNN's Rosalina Nieves, Paul Vercammen, Carma Hassan and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)Nearly 70 years ago, comic strip detective Dick Tracy showed off his first two-way wrist radio, inspiring baby boomers to babble into their knuckles in pursuit of bad guys like Pruneface and the Mole. The gadget was updated to a TV phone in 1964, heralding a fantastic future for mobile communications. A half-century later the future is finally here, with a new wave of Tracy-esque devices certain to accelerate following the much anticipated debut of Apple Watch in April -- which became official with the company's "Spring Forward" preview on Monday. In classic fashion, consumers huddled around Apple stores to get a peek, some even showing up wearing padded wrist "hoodies" to make room for the watch when it goes on sale next month. Naturally, Apple faithful were urged on by Tim Cook, who tweeted: "Got some extra rest for today's event. Slept in 'til 4:30." Arianna Huffington weighed in on Twitter, too: "Looking forward to a smart watch that tells me not to cram too many things into too few hours." Analysts project sales of 25 million the first year and nearly 70 million by 2018. Prices for the new watch range from $349 to a reported high of $17,000 for an 18-karat gold version to make any Rolex show-off feel at home. Enthusiasm for Apple Watch -- and its long line of apps -- could lift the fortunes of Samsung, Sony, Pebble and others pitching their own interactive watches, making the human wrist the most coveted piece of real estate since the redevelopment of Times Square. If Apple Watch does indeed take off, it would reignite the emerging -- but tricky -- market for wearable devices following Google's sudden move in January to halt public sales of its Glass product, which failed to catch on in light of what the Wall Street Journal said were concerns over "privacy, technical shortcomings and a lack of obvious uses." The company is going back to its drawing board and hopes to re-introduce Glass later this year. As the wearables wrist race heats up, it's worth considering how these meta-timepieces -- with their tactile messaging, biometric loops and eye-controlled display screens -- could alter everyday behavior and spur new codes of etiquette, not to mention a few novel personality disorders. One of the most awaited features of Apple Watch will be its "taptic" engine, a sensory feedback tool derived from gamer joystick technology that allows for personalized tapping vibrations -- a "Yo"-like blip for a work pal or an echo of your own heartbeat captured through an embedded cardio sensor. Of course, your intended recipients will need their own Apple Watch to "feel" your greeting. Early adopters will have to be extra careful with these taps -- imagine the explaining needed when someone inevitably sends a sonic valentine of their beating heart to their boss, or their child's soccer coach. Taptic wrist vibes can also carry a purpose -- reminding you to pick up a carton of eggs on your way home from work, or delivering an insistent flick from a client demanding a call-back. Therein lies a brave new response in human conditioning. All of us are accustomed to electronic signals -- an alarm clock in the morning or a pop-up calendar invite on your phone. But there's something Manchurian Candidate-like about a digital prompt delivered palpably to your wrist. Sure, the watch is a transmitter, but it's the person who's being programmed. In the not-so-distant future, that driver you see lurching toward the off-ramp or the friend whose face glazes over at lunch could be in the grip of a taptic command from their watch. As an accessory, smart watches are perfect for new spatial positioning technology, such as Apple's iBeacon, which can triangulate a user's exact location inside a building and allow targeted messaging when deployed in, say, a supermarket. Wall Street Journal tech columnist Christopher Mims recently extolled the promise of iBeacon synched to your wrist device. He wrote: "Imagine walking into a grocery store with a shopping list on your watch, which knows your location so precisely that it can plot a route through the store, saving you the frustration of wandering from aisle to aisle, wondering where that one particular item is." That sounds great -- until the day our shopper, now utterly dependent on the beaconing system, discovers in a panic that she left her watch on her bedroom dresser. "How will I ever find the A-1 sauce?" will come the cry. You laugh now, but look what's happened to legions of drivers, who can no longer navigate their own cities without relying on GPS. Look for more pile-ups at the deli counter once users let their watches do their shopping. The real question is what strategies smart-watch wearers will devise so as not to appear to be staring at their wrists all day. Anyone who's ever been trapped in an interminable business meeting or on an awkward date knows there are only so many ways you can discreetly glance at your watch before it becomes obvious. Now, suppose you're trying to follow someone's Instagram or Twitter feed or the score of the Yankees game, or perform any of a myriad functions that phone users have been doing for years, but which might look a little ruder when applied to your wristwatch. Definitely expect to see more people fiddling with their sleeves, admiring their nails and earnestly cupping their brows with their opposite hand, in order to get a better look at the action on their watch. Many users may end up simply removing their watches and dropping them in their laps alongside their phones, so they can tap with one hand and swipe with the other. As an unexpected boon to evolution, Apple may soon be responsible for helping humans achieve a new level of ambidexterity, along with super-strong eye muscles. Of course, a constantly raised wrist puts a strain on the shoulder, which suggests we'll soon be hearing about exercises designed to prevent watch fatigue. Some enterprising type might come up with a fashionable i-sling or support cushion to keep the arm and wrist sufficiently elevated to allow for hours of uninterrupted tapping and finger sketching. With so many digital features to track personal fitness -- including Apple Watch's "accelerometer," which will measure total body movement, as well as the number of steps and calories burned in a day -- the new wearables aspire to promote extreme wellness. The flip side is that such constant self-assessment will also lead to an increase in hypochondria and OCD symptoms among many wearers who already went nuts with their Fitbits. And get ready for a new universal facial expression to emerge on elevators, subways and at the dinner table, as users learn to open their little round retina using just their eyes. It will be unblinking, mesmerized and Zombie-like, with a hint of chin dribble: the Smart Watch Stare. I'm looking forward to practicing my own version. And if Pruneface is out there listening, I'm coming for you. +(CNN)Ever heard of Grand Marais, Minnesota? Located on the north shore of Lake Superior along the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Grand Marais is Budget Travel's Coolest Small Town in America for 2015. Winner of the travel magazine's 10th annual award, Grand Marais typifies the small American town that is both hip and humble, the magazine says. The population must be less than 10,000 people for winning towns. "Budget Travel defines a 'cool' small town as one with an energetic vibe, often blending community spirit with a vibrant arts scene, unique local history and gorgeous scenery," Editor in Chief Robert Firpo-Cappiello said in a statement. "With a population of only 1,351, Grand Marais is a great example of that something extra small towns often have -- in this case, a very happening outdoors scene right alongside music and contemporary art." High temperatures in Grand Marais right now are hovering in the 30s and 40s but are bound to warm up. The most romantic place to propose . After Budget Travel readers nominated 385 small towns across the country last year, the magazine's editors picked 15 great spots they thought fit the bill of cool small towns. The public had the final say: The magazine's website collected 103,961 votes in five weeks, with voting closing on March 4. While not entirely immune to robo-voting, editors tried to prevent it by allowing just one vote per 24 hours per IP address. Previous winners include Berlin, Maryland; Lititz, Pennsylvania; Hammondsport, New York, and Beaufort, North Carolina (a tie in 2012); Lewisburg, West Virginia; Ely, Minnesota; and Owego, New York. Top 10 Coolest Small Towns in America 2015 . 1. Grand Marais, Minnesota (population: 1,351) 2. Chincoteague, Virginia (population: 2,941) 3. Hillsborough, North Carolina (population: 6,087) 4. Allegan, Michigan (population: 4,998) 5. Washington, North Carolina (population: 9,744) 6. Delhi, New York (population: 3,087) 7. Fort Myers Beach, Florida (population: 6,277) 8. Huron, Ohio (population: 7,149) 9. Snohomish, Washington (population: 9,098) 10. Old Orchard Beach, Maine (population: 8,624) +Washington (CNN)House Speaker John Boehner said Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is "innocent until proven guilty" after the U.S. military charged him with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, but emphasized in an exclusive interview with CNN's Dana Bash that he was more concerned about the circumstances of his release. Bergdahl's attorney also released a statement on Wednesday, outlining his defense of the soldier and containing a two-page letter from Bergdahl describing the torture he endured, which included months spent chained to a bed and further years spent chained on all fours or locked in a cage. Shortly after the charges were announced, Bergdahl's attorneys released a lengthy statement that includes a letter sent to Milley earlier this month outlining their defense of the soldier. "In light of the nearly five years of harsh captivity Sgt. Bergdahl endured, the purpose of his leaving his unit, and his behavior while a prisoner, it would be unduly harsh to impose on him the lifetime stigma of a court-martial conviction or an other than honorable discharge and to deny him veterans benefits," attorney Eugene R. Fidell writes in the letter. The statement includes a two-page accounting from Bergdahl of his time in captivity, in which he recounts months spent chained to a bed, then further years spent chained on all fours or locked in a cage. Read the statement and Bergdahl's letter . Bergdahl said for years his body and health declined due to malnourishment, and sores on his wrists and ankles from the shackles grew infected. "My body started a steady decline in constant internal sickness that would last through the final year," he said. Bergdahl was frequently beaten, at times with copper wire or a thick rubber hose, and forced to watch Taliban videos, he said. He had no concept of time, and was repeatedly told he would be killed and would never again see his family. "I was kept in constant isolation during the entire five years, with little to no understanding of time, through periods of constant darkness, periods of constant light, and periods of completely random flickering of light and absolutely no understanding of anything that was happening beyond the door I was held behind," he wrote. Bergdahl tried a dozen times to escape, he wrote. In his interview with Bash, Boehner said "like any American, you're innocent until proven guilty." "And these charges are coming. There will be a trial," Boehner said in an interview taped Wednesday to air Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Boehner said the "more troubling part" of Bergdahl saga is the fact that the U.S. government traded five Taliban fighters for Bergdahl's release, and that recent reports indicate one has returned to the battlefield. He expressed concerns about other detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, which President Barack Obama is working to close, "ending up back on the battlefield and threatening Americans here and abroad." Obama "violated the law" in failing to alert Congress before the prisoner swap occurred, Boehner added. "And I still believe that's the more troubling part of this," he said. "We've made clear in the past that we won't negotiate with terrorists, and but yet here we did." Military officials announced Wednesday afternoon they would charge Bergdahl with one count each of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Bergdahl left his post in Afghanistan before being captured and held captive for five years. For that, he faces charges that carry a maximum penalty of life in a military prison, and he could also have to forfeit pay and be stripped of his rank, Army Col. Daniel King said as he announced the charges. Bergdahl faces a military procedure similar to a grand jury that will whether charges are appropriate, King said. Then, he could face court martial proceedings. The decision comes nearly a year after Bergdahl returned to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange and since the Army began a formal investigation into his disappearance from his unit in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. The Army concluded its investigation into the circumstances of Bergdahl's capture in December. Until now, it has been in the hands of Gen. Mark Milley, head of U.S. Army Forces Command, who made the decision to charge Bergdahl. Several U.S. military officials CNN has spoken with suggested privately that the process took longer than expected. Ahead of Wednesday's announcement, officials said Milley only had a few choices. Though the sense had been that Bergdahl must be held accountable for his actions, there had been little appetite for a lengthy term in military confinement given the five years Bergdahl was held by the Taliban. Now 28, Bergdahl was taken by the Haqqani terrorist network. But the circumstances of Bergdahl's departure from his base and how willingly he left have not been clear. King said he couldn't offer those details on Wednesday, and that they're being treated as evidence for the upcoming proceedings against Bergdahl. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Arizona, called the charges an "important step" on Wednesday. "This is an important step in the military justice process towards determining the accountability of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl," he said in a statement. "I am confident that the Department of the Army will continue to ensure this process is conducted with the utmost integrity under the Uniform Code of Military Justice." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, meanwhile, lambasted the "unevenness" of Obama's swap of five Taliban prisoners for Bergdahl. "I wouldn't have done this trade for a Medal of Honor winner," he told CNN. "No military member should expect their country to turn over five Taliban commanders to get their release. Nobody should expect that. It's not the nature of his service that drives my thinking it's just the illogical nature of the swap." Some members of Bergdahl's platoon have criticized him, labeling Bergdahl a deserter. "I was pissed off then, and I am even more so now with everything going on," former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl's platoon when he went missing on June 30, 2009, told CNN last year. "Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him." Bergdahl was freed in May when President Barack Obama agreed to swap five Taliban prisoners who had been detained in Guantanamo Bay to secure Bergdahl's freedom, sending those detainees to Qatar. Obama announced Bergdahl's release to fanfare in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by the Army sergeant's parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl. His hometown of Hailey, Idaho, had planned a parade to celebrate Bergdahl's homecoming but later canceled that celebration amid security concerns stemming from the unanswered questions surrounding his disappearance and the resulting controversy over his release. After returning to the United States, Bergdahl had been on active duty at an administrative job at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. There, the Army assigned Bergdahl a "sponsor" to help him adjust to life in his new post. Upon returning, Bergdahl refused to meet with his parents -- and months later, Army officials had said he was communicating with them but still had not met them face to face. The five figures the United States exchanged to secure Bergdahl's release were Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari. They were mostly mid- to high-level officials in the Taliban regime and had been detained early in the war in Afghanistan because of their positions within the Taliban, not because of ties to al Qaeda. The detainee swap for Bergdahl has become increasingly controversial in recent weeks after a report published by the office of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said one of the 17 intelligence agencies operating under its umbrella had judged that a prisoner released in the exchange had since contacted the Taliban. CNN's Ted Barrett and Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report. +Tikrit, Iraq (CNN)Two men in blue smocks were mopping up blood spilled in the main entrance to the Dijla Hospital south of Tikrit when we arrived there mid-morning Friday. The air shook with outgoing rockets and artillery roaring toward the center of the city. We were escorted by men from the Badr Brigade, the biggest and best-organized Iranian-backed force fighting ISIS. As we got out of our car, a man wearing a vest with the emblem of the Iraqi Red Crescent beckoned urgently to video journalist Mary Rogers to come inside. He led her to a gurney surrounded by four or five men, some wearing blue disposable surgical gowns, others in dark green military fatigues. They were huddled over a man naked to the waist, a thick plastic tube inserted in his side, red with blood, leading to a bottle filling up with more blood. The wounded man -- no one knew his name -- had been shot in the head, the chest and the leg. He was motionless. The head doctor, in dark green combat fatigues, told me the man was in critical condition. All the while, the windows of the building shook from the concussion of the bombardment of central Tikrit. From the sound, it was clear that artillery and rocket launchers were nearby. Several other wounded fighters were in the entrance, but their condition was much less grave. One, who identified himself as Sadiq, had been shot in the upper thigh, but was fully conscious. He told producer Kareem Khadder he had been shot in central Tikrit that morning, recalling at the time he was uncertain whether it was shrapnel or a bullet because the fighting was so intense. While Mary and Kareem were doing that interview, I walked around the hospital to see if there was anything else that might help us put together a report. It was a ramshackle place, it looked like much of the facility had been in a state of neglect for a while, perhaps because until recently it was in no-man's land. When I went back to see where Mary and Kareem were, I was told Mary was down a corridor where an "operation" was about to take place. Mary was invited to film the operation. I found her putting on a surgical gown and blue shoe covers. Several men rolled a gurney through the corridor in our direction. The same critically wounded man was wheeled into a side room. He never made it into the operating theater. A different set of doctors or medics started working on him, pumping air into his lungs, then applying CPR. His chest took a final heave, as the doctors tried to find a pulse, but there was no pulse to find. There was no "operation." This was a last, desperate attempt to stop this unknown man from dying. His face was yellow and waxy. He was dead, but the doctors didn't call time of death, . In the meantime, our escorts were calling us to leave, we needed to move to our next destination, which they had told us was the position from which artillery and rocket launchers were at work. Mary, who was at the far end of the gurney, wedged her way out and we went outside. She went to the car, I chatted with a pair of Iraqi journalists in the entrance. They had been here for more than two weeks. I bade them farewell, and walked toward our car. And then, everything changed. I heard a commotion behind me, and the doctor I had spoken to before passed me, shouting, "Grab all the cameras! Get the cameras!" "What's the problem?" I asked him. He didn't provide an explanation. "Give us your cameras now!" he barked at me. A group of militiamen had surrounded Kareem, and was insisting he give them his small camera. More militiamen, plus some of the hospital staff gathered around him, shouting angrily that all cameras must be surrendered. Right next to me a tall man with a military shirt over running pants raised his rifle, about to shoot in the air. This is going to get very messy, I thought to myself. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and there was no shooting. But everyone was very agitated. Much shouting ensued between our entourage and the local militiamen. Our chief escort, Ma'in Al-Kadhimi, was gesturing wildly and arguing with them to calm down, but he wasn't having much luck. He is a commander of the Badr Organisation, but these men were with the Soldiers of the Imam Brigade (Kataib Jund Al-Imam in Arabic). It's a separate group, and clearly Al-Kadhimi, who was treated with deference by his own men, didn't enjoy the same esteem here. In the meantime, I joined Mary in our car, concerned that too many of us arguing with this large group would only make matters worse. Kareem was busy negotiating outside the hospital. We locked the car doors and did our best to pretend we were simply waiting patiently to move. Soon a group of men armed with AK-47 assault rifles gathered outside the car, knocking on the window and angrily gesturing that we must give them the camera. Mary discreetly pulled out the data card with the footage she had just shot and replaced it with an empty one. It's an old trick that sometimes works in situations like these. Although I could understand everything this crowd was saying, I feigned ignorance. This went on for about 45 minutes. Some in our entourage were trying to keep the crowd from banging on the car windows and wrenching open the locked doors. Kareem hid his small camera in one of the cars and saw the big camera being taken away by several people. Kareem followed the camera to make sure it was safe. Inside, everyone was shouting, with Kareem refusing to do anything before someone explained what was going on. The armed men wanted the sequence of the dying fighter deleted, and weren't going to take "no" for an answer. Kareem then went inside one of the rooms to carry on negotiations. Armed men barred Kareem from leaving the room. Eventually, Kareem said we should delete the sequence of the dying man, after our Iraqi security guard had said we needed to do just that -- otherwise, we were in trouble. Kareem looked at the camera and noticed the card was missing. A media-savvy member of the Soldiers of the Imam Brigade insisted we were hiding the card with the footage. Finally Kareem returned and said that if we didn't hand over the camera there would be trouble. The atmosphere was such that we realized that not handing over the camera would make matters much worse. So we gave Kareem the camera and waited. A few minutes later, he returned. They know the data card is empty. They want the one with the pictures, he said. So we gave it to him. Soon Kareem was back. "They don't know how to delete the pictures of the dying man," he said. So Mary went with him inside the hospital to delete the footage of the dying man. To cut a long, tense story short, Mary didn't delete the footage. Someone else did, all the footage from the hospital. After about an hour and a half, we finally left the hospital compound. Our escort, Al-Kadhimi, was shaken. He, and we, were reminded that with all the different armed groups fighting on the Tikrit front, there might be unity against ISIS, but that's about where it ends. +New York (CNN)A missing eighth-grade student who was found dead near his Pennsylvania home on Sunday died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the county medical examiner. Cayman Naib, 13, vanished Wednesday after leaving his home in Newtown Township without his wallet or his phone, according to his parents. A K-9 unit located his body Sunday afternoon some 150 yards away from his home, said Mark Hopkins, chief of Greater Philadelphia Search and Rescue. Hopkins said Naib was under snow, and in a "sleeping position." Brian Razzi, chief of administration at the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office, determined Monday that it was a suicide. Naib's parents confirmed the news on Facebook. "For those who have been following the Naib family's sad and incredibly devastating news, we have just learned from the medical examiner's office that Cayman took his own life," wrote Becky and Farid Naib. "The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head." They said the gun had been taken from the home. "The police have informed us that despite being fitted with a trigger lock, the gun was still able to be fired," they said Monday. The Naibs said Cayman's suicide most likely occurred Wednesday evening, just hours after he walked out of his home upon receiving an upsetting email from his school. "Cayman left within 30 minutes after he received an email from school regarding overdue homework (we do not blame the school) and most probably did not do any preplanning," read a Thursday facebook post. "He is a good kid, and has no substance abuse or other issues, this is the first time he has ever done anything like this," the parents wrote. A search for the teen had drawn hundreds of volunteers, who traded messages and posted updates on a Facebook page called "Find Cayman." "The family would like to reiterate their profound gratitude and appreciation for all the thousands of friends, family, community, law enforcement, local, county, and federal, search and rescue, fire departments, the school communities ... and even perfect strangers who came out to volunteer, supported them with prayers and good wishes, and have loved them through this heartbreaking ordeal," read a Monday post on the site, since renamed "Celebrating Cayman." "Their only solace throughout these past few days has been the closure they have received from the community's efforts to find Cayman." CNN's Kristina Sgueglia, Dana Ford and Renee Wunderlich contributed to this report. +(CNN)Mexican radio station MVS fired prominent journalist Carmen Aristegui on Sunday, after more than six years of collaboration, according to a statement published on its website. Aristegui also hosts a nightly television talk show on CNN en Espanol. The termination of Aristegui's employment at MVS comes after the radio station fired her colleagues Daniel Lizarraga and Irving Huerta. The same team of journalists who exposed possible conflict-of-interest real-estate deals involving Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife, unleashing a scandal that the government has yet to put to rest. Aristegui told journalists Monday that her entire team was fired. "Our lawyers say that we are going to fight this. Our lawyers say that this is an outrage against freedom of expression." "This team of journalists is ready to fight for their freedom of expression," she said. On Thursday, MVS radio stated that it had fired Daniel Lizarraga and Irving Huerta for "compromising resources and brands of the company without authorization." Daniel Lizarraga was featured in the introduction video of MexicoLeaks, which launched last week. The online platform encourages citizens to anonymously send documents of public interest. MexicoLeaks is formed by a group of organizations including Mexican media outlets and societal groups, to "serve as a tool to send information of public interest ... through secure technology which will guarantee the anonymity of the source," according to its website. The objective is to "build justice and democracy in society." The information received through MexicoLeaks will be verified, analyzed and published by the collaborating organizations. Aristegui's team of journalists is listed on the website as one of the participating groups. MexicoLeaks tweeted over the weekend, "Freedom of expression is a right. We are looking for information that proves crimes, human rights violations, corruption." The launch of MexicoLeaks comes months after massive protests against Mexican authorities regarding the disappearance of 43 students in southern Mexico last September. Authorities later arrested Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca, calling him the "probable mastermind" in the mass abduction. +Paris (CNN)French police have arrested four people linked to Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman and hostage-taker at a Parisian kosher supermarket on January 9, a Paris prosecutor's spokesman said. A French policewoman is among the four taken into custody, French national police said. The policewoman worked at the Fort de Rosny-sous-Bois, northeast of Paris, the spokesman said. According to Le Figaro newspaper, the Fort de Rosny-sous-Bois is the location of an important intelligence center. Coulibaly killed four hostages in the grocery store before police shot and killed him. His attack followed one on the office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. France has been under a heightened state of alert since January's terror attacks in Paris that killed 17 people. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, authors of the deadly attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, were killed days later after two violent standoffs. The brothers were accused of killing 12 people in a massacre at the magazine offices. Coulibaly, suspected in the slaying of a police officer, was killed by security forces after he shot and killed four hostages during the siege at the kosher market. Charlie Hebdo has a controversial history of depicting the Prophet Mohammed, often in an unfavorable light, which has angered many Muslims around the world. Earlier cartoons depicting Mohammed spurred protests and the burning of the magazine's office three years ago. Since the attack, European nations have carried out raids on suspected terror cells with links to ISIS in Syria. +(CNN)President Barack Obama said Saturday that he learned Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email account for government business "through news reports" and was glad his former secretary of state asked for those emails to be made public. "The policy of my administration is to encourage transparency, which is why my emails, the BlackBerry I carry around, all those records are available and archived," Obama said in an interview with CBS News. "I'm glad that Hillary's instructed that those emails about official business need to be disclosed." Clinton used a private email account -- housed in servers at her New York home -- for the four years she served as America's top diplomat, a practice that skirted legal standards in place and has some Republicans calling for investigations. On Wednesday night, the former secretary of state tweeted that she "asked State to release" her email, a request accepted by the department. Obama backed Clinton's request, telling CBS that he thinks "the fact that she is putting them forward will allow us to make sure that people have the information they need." While Obama commented on the issue Saturday, Clinton didn't mention it during an 18-minute appearance on stage at a Clinton Global Initiative event at the University of Miami. Clinton took no questions from reporters at the event. Instead, Clinton's remarks to about 1,000 students focused on the foundation's work, including a new report she will roll out Monday about the underrepresentation of women and girls. "There's so much that needs to be done," Clinton said on the issue of equaling the playing field for women and girls. As she regularly does, Clinton said there is "a lot of unfinished business" to do on the issue. Obama sat down with CBS after the president spoke at the 50th anniversary of the "Bloody Sunday" marches in Selma, Alabama. "If Selma taught us anything, it's that our work is never done," the President said while standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the symbol of the Selma marches. "Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer." Clinton did not go to Selma, instead opting to attend her Clinton Foundation event in Florida. "Watched @repjohnlewis & @BarackObama in #Selma," she tweeted. "Let's answer their call to keep fighting for voting rights, civil rights, & human rights." Clinton mentioned the anniversary on stage, tying the marches and event into her work toward leveling the playing field for women and girls. "You can see how progress is made by looking at what happened this weekend in Selma, Alabama, where our country is marking a historic anniversary of the long march towards equality and a more perfect union, and also recommitting to carry the cause forward into the 21st century," Clinton said. "So whether it's women's rights or human rights, civil rights or LGBT rights, we're counting on all of you to lead the way, and that's what the no-ceilings initiative at the Clinton Foundation is really all about." +(CNN)The cost of college has rapidly increased over the past 30 years. Students today face annual costs, between tuition and living, that can easily exceed $10,000 at a community college, $18,000 at a public four-year college (in-state), and $40,000 at a private four-year school. It's unsurprising that today's students often graduate with large debt loads. More than two-thirds of students graduate with debt. And the average amount of debt owed is about $30,000. Given the cost of college, students and families need to know that they're making a good investment. That's why we need to move to a system where we measure learning outcomes, not just time spent in a classroom accumulating credits. A college degree is the only sure path to middle-class security, and because young people and their parents know that, the cost of college, and the availability of loans and other aid, has become a powerful political issue. But for all the attention paid to the price of college, we haven't given enough thought to whether students and their families are getting their money's worth. Is American higher education worth the price? Are students and their families getting what they're paying for? There's plenty of evidence that for many of them, the answer is no. In 2006, a government study found that nearly 70% of college graduates could not perform basic tasks like comparing opposing editorials. In a 2011 book, "Academically Adrift," researchers studied 2,000 students at two dozen universities over four years and found that 45% of them showed no significant gains on a test of critical thinking, complex reasoning, and communication skills after two years of college. Even at the end of four years, 36% of the students hadn't gained those skills. Given the evidence, maybe it's not a surprise that employers aren't impressed by recent college graduates. Employers want the skills that higher education says it provides to students: the ability to critically think, communicate, work in a team, write effectively, and adapt. Yet only about one-quarter of employers say that colleges and universities are doing a good job in preparing students effectively for the challenges of today's global economy. A recent Gallup poll found that only 11% of business leaders strongly agreed that college graduates have the skills necessary to succeed on the job. In addition to money, these graduates have spent hours and hours in classrooms and taking tests, but the time doesn't seem to have translated into learning. Why is this? Perhaps it's as simple as this: We measure education in terms of time, rather than learning. A four-year degree attests that you have acquired 120 credits. That's an accidental result of the credit hour system, which was created by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie more than 100 years ago, for the purpose of providing struggling professors with pensions. At the turn of the 20th century, Carnegie created a $10 million free pension fund to help professors retire. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which was set up to administer the fund, determined that only "full-time" faculty would qualify for pensions, which they defined as teaching 12 "credit units," with each unit equal to one hour of faculty-student contact time per week, over a 15-week semester. While originally a narrow measure of faculty workload, the credit hour quickly morphed into much more. The Carnegie Foundation warned against using the credit hour as a proxy for student learning, but the temptation of an easy-to-understand and seemingly standardized measure was too great to resist. It just made organizing the whole higher education enterprise much easier. If credit hours truly reflected a standardized unit of learning, they would be fully transferable across institutions. An hour in Arizona is an hour in New York. But colleges routinely reject credits earned at other colleges, suggesting that even though they use credit hours themselves, they know they are not a reliable measure of how much students have learned. Many students, however, believe the fiction that the credit hour is a standardized currency and assume that credits will transfer from one school to the next. This is an unfortunate and costly assumption, as community college students in Louisiana will tell you. Until recently, Louisiana students with an associate degree typically lost between 21 and 24 credits when transferring to a four-year state school. That's a year of time and money lost. Given that nearly 60% of students in the United States attend two or more colleges, the nontransfer of credits has huge costs, not only to individuals, but also to the federal government and states that are financing this duplicative classroom time. If higher education doesn't trust its own credits, why should anyone else? And Louisiana students aren't alone; transfer students across the country lose credits, which lengthens their time to get a degree. So we have two problems: Students who have earned credits -- at great expense in time and money-- can't use or transfer them. Others who have accumulated costly credits haven't learned much. And then there's a third dimension: Millions of people who have learned a great deal have no "credit" because they learned it at the wrong place — that is to say, not at a "college." Someone who has spent the last 10 years working as a nurse's aid in a hospital who decides to go get a nursing degree has to start from scratch, taking introductory courses he could probably teach, because colleges treat those without credits as blank slates. Employees at a biotech company with a high-quality on-the-job training program might learn more than someone in a two-year college science program, but unless this training is attached to an accredited institution of higher learning, the learning won't "count." For the millions of adult workers looking to retrain and reskill, the focus on time rather than learning, especially when between family and work, their time is scarce, is a daunting proposition. State and federal governments add to the problem, because while they spend hundreds of billions on higher education each year, most of it is for time served, in the form of credit hours, rather than learning achieved. We need to stop counting time and start counting learning. What could that look like? We don't have to wonder; some schools are experimenting with measuring learning rather than time—some for decades. One relatively new program is Southern New Hampshire University's College for America, or CfA, an online "competency-based" Associate of Arts degree aimed at working adults. The program has no courses, no credit hours and no grades. The school has broken down what students with a degree from CfA should know and be able to do, what it calls competencies. CfA worked closely with employers to identify the competencies employers were looking for, like communication, critical thinking and teamwork. Then faculty designed real-world tasks and projects to determine whether students had mastered each competency. Unlike in credit-hour courses, CfA has no seat-time requirements. Students can move through the program as quickly as they can demonstrate mastery of the competencies. Someone who worked at a PR firm might whiz through the communications competencies and spend more time on the math competencies. And the faster students can progress, the less they will ultimately pay. Students pay $1,250 for all-they-can-learn in six months. This means they can spend their precious time and money learning what they don't already know, rather than wasting it on what they already do. Students at CfA can be confident that their time and money are well spent and, at the end, they will have a very clear picture of what they know and can do. CfA is not the only one to offer this to students, nor the only model. Hundreds of schools, from Antioch to the University of Michigan to Purdue University, are looking to offer competency-based certificate, associate, and baccalaureate degree programs. How are universities staying afloat financially with such low tuition? In many cases, the answer is surprisingly simple—and, sadly, not commonplace in higher education—by focusing on what students need in order to, wait for it, learn. Fancy amenities, great football teams and sprawling college campuses may bring attention, but they have little to nothing to do with student learning. Some competency-based programs don't focus on research -- faculty are hired for specific expertise, like curriculum design, English literature or advising. Other programs use technology and data analytics to help students and faculty understand where students are doing well and where they are struggling. This allows for more targeted, personalized support by faculty. There is, however, a downside for students: Self-paced competency-based programs do not fit in neatly with the historically time-based credit hour, making it difficult for students in these types of programs to receive state and federal support. Without access to these dollars, the programs will remain one-offs and unavailable to the majority of Americans who could use them. Only recently has the federal government recognized the role it could play in encouraging the move from seat time to learning by redirecting some of its nearly $150 billion-plus financial aid budget. The U.S. Department of Education is encouraging innovation by colleges looking to experiment with alternatives to the credit hour, and there is strong bipartisan interest in both the House and Senate to explore innovative ways of paying for learning, rather than time. As higher education becomes increasingly necessary and expensive, measuring time rather than learning is a luxury that students, taxpayers and the nation can no longer afford. Paying for what students learn and can do, rather than how or where they spent their time, would go a long way toward providing students and the nation with desperately needed, high-quality degrees and credentials. +(CNN)Dante Alighieri, the father of the Italian language, is turning in his grave. Believe it or not, the land where Latin originated and from which many other European languages descend is becoming "illiterate." Not only have Italians long forgotten the language of their Roman Empire, but they hardly know how to speak and write proper Italian. They've been negatively dubbed "asini" (donkeys), as in "stupid." If you take a look at Italian language forums and debate websites it's clear that many Italians are clueless on grammar and don't even know how to use verbs properly. At age 15, Italian students rank below the OECD average literacy level and Eurostat reports that Italy has the lowest percentage of university graduates aged 30-34 in the European Union. The media reflect society. Evening news bulletins are full of speakers and commentators making grammatical errors and even mispronouncing words. How could Dante's land become "ignorant" and will the government's plans to institute yet another education reform succeed in turning some donkeys -- if not into nerds -- at least into smart pupils? The decline in language skills is a trend affecting most of the Western world, but the fact that this is happening in Italy, home to some of the world's oldest universities, is quite alarming. The Romans built an empire united by the Latin language, but Italians seem to have lost such heritage. Italians were once "literate" -- as in "Latin-speakers and Latin-writers" -- grammar-savvy, poetry lovers, rhetoric freaks and great philosophers. Now they've forgotten what a conjunctive verb is, mistake adjectives for nouns and write Machiavelli with a double "c." Oh -- and they don't know how to break words into syllables. True, one could say Italian is a tough language, one of the most complex in the world. But that's not a good excuse. The Italian people's declining knowledge of their language is turning into a national emergency. It's not just lazy students who are responsible. The percentage of lawyers who every year flunk the written examination to become a judge is scary. When I attended university, the most dreaded exam of all was the essay on Italian literature and history. Few of my buddies passed it at the first go, others had to take it thrice and many just gave up. So how did we fall so low? Fine, ICT, smartphones and SMS are partly to blame. Abbreviations, misspellings and the introduction of many English words into Italian have impoverished language skills. Yet on its own that explanation is too reductive. The loss of Latin teaching in schools is at the root of the problem. Learning Latin assists in learning Italian and other languages as well as opening the mind to all fields of knowledge. It's been no secret across generations of scholars that being familiar with the complexity of Latin phrase structure and idioms is positive for students. Up until 1970, Latin was taught in primary and middle schools: kids learned to translate works by Virgil without using a dictionary and to recite chunks of the "Divine Comedy" and poems by Carducci, Leopardi and Manzoni. But today the teaching of Latin is restricted to specific humanist and scientific high schools -- called gymnasiums or lyceums -- and at university level depending upon the faculty. The crisis has dealt a further blow to the love of classics. Enrollment at classical lyceums, where also ancient Greek is also taught, is low: Only 31,860 out of a total 530,911 high school students have enrolled this academic year. Desperate attempts by modern writers to revive classical culture by translating Boccaccio's "Decameron" and Machiavelli's "The Prince" into modern Italian haven't produced great results. So far just one academy in Rome -- Vivarium Novum -- has succeeded in bringing the "dead language" back from the grave. Pupils here exclusively speak in Latin and are kicked-out if they get caught saying a few words in Italian. But the academy is an isolated case, looked upon as a bit "out of this world." Families think learning Latin and Greek is pointless because it won't help their kids find a job, which is wrong. The trouble is that students have already lost their memory. Not in the literal sense, but symbolically. The "ars mnemonica" -- the art of exercising one's memory, that boring yet useful technique which implies rote learning of phrases, lyrics, novels and even entire epics -- belongs to the past. If you don't sharpen mental skills, how can there be good writing? The truth is that Italian education is badly in need of a restyle. A series of education reforms in the past few years has lowered the quality of teaching by reducing public resources and the hours of Latin and Italian language learning, which teaching unions say has had a negative impact on pupils' text comprehension skills. Latin teaching should be given more space but in a new way: Not through useless translations (what do kids care about Seneca's "Treaty on Birds?") but through open debates and analyses on ancient texts that are still worthwhile studying today. And teachers should also get a makeover. Their mindset is old. If there are "bad" students it's because there are also "bad" teachers. Pupils want to read more than just one contemporary novel per month. They want teachers who are passionate about their jobs rather than lazily coasting towards retirement. Language teaching depends on its appeal. It must be sexy. And right now it's not. +Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)Nepal's only international airport remains closed two days after a Turkish Airlines plane skidded off the tarmac and blocked the airport's only runway. Officials said Tribhuvan International would reopen at 10 a.m. local time Saturday as preparations to move the plane continue. "We do not know now if it will take longer than then to move the plane," Purna Chudal, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, told CNN. More then 160 flights have been canceled since Wednesday's incident, leaving more than 24,000 passengers stranded as officials struggle to remove the immobile Airbus A330 off the runway, Chudal said. The timing of the incident is problematic for Nepal's tourism industry, which is gearing up for the 2015 climbing season. Foreigners heading to Mount Everest and other nearby peaks in the Himalayan Mountains transit through the airport. The authority initially said it would reopen the airport at 10 a.m. Friday, later revising that to 5 p.m., but workers were unable to remove the aircraft by that time. They were able to lift the plane's nose -- originally pitched down -- and change its tires. The main challenge now is to push the grass-grounded plane back onto the runway. Officials say the area under the plane needs to be firmed up -- a process that involves digging into the ground and filling it with gravel -- before push back can commence. The Turkish Airways incident didn't result in any major injuries but the plane has remained aground as Nepal doesn't have the necessary equipment to move it. Cargo planes were unable to fly in heavy-duty machinery because there was nowhere to land. A specialized aircraft carrying experts and aircraft removal equipment from India reportedly arrived on Thursday. Tribhuvan airport is usually closed between midnight and 6 a.m. but will remain open for 24 hours for the next few days until the backlog is cleared. More than 12,000 people fly in and out of the airport daily. The facility services about 80 international flights per day. Domestic service -- operated by by 18 and 40-seater jets -- was not disrupted. Journalist Manesh Shrestha reported from Kathmandu and CNN's Maggie Hiufu Wong wrote this story from Hong Kong. +(CNN)It may not provide the answer to life, the universe and everything, but when the Large Hadron Collider at Geneva's CERN starts up again this month, particle physicists are planning to give this question their best shot. Having finally nailed down the elusive Higgs boson particle in 2013 -- the elementary particle that has unlocked some of the universe's longest-standing secrets -- physicists are now on the trail of dark matter. And with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) -- the 27km (17 mile) circumference particle accelerator that occupies a tunnel on the Franco-Swiss border -- now tricked out with new magnets, more powerful energy beams and a tighter vacuum, scientists are hoping to shine a light on some of the universe's more arcane phenomena. "Higgs was the final piece of the jigsaw of what we call the Standard Model of particle physics," Dr Mike Lamont, operations group leader at the facility, told CNN. "But we know that this model is not complete." "One of the big things we know is out there -- but we don't yet understand -- is dark matter. "There's a lot of astronomical observations to support the fact that this stuff exists, so this is one thing that we might hope shows up." Dark matter is currently a hypothesis. It is a type of matter that can't be seen but whose presence can be inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter, radiation and even the very structure of the universe. Physicists believe this unseen material makes up about 85 percent of all the matter in the universe. Regular matter, which we are made of along with all the stars, planets and other tangible cosmic material, accounts for just around 4 percent of the mass-energy of the known universe. In other words, the vast majority of what constitutes reality still eludes us. Particle physicists will no doubt be on the edge of their seats when the new souped-up collider is put through its paces this month, although it can take months for the data to be processed. "There are a number of theories that give you dark matter candidates -- one of the favourites is supersymmetry," Lamont said, adding that the team got no sign of it at all in the facility's first three-year run. "What the physicists are hoping is that with the step up in energy we will be able to explore a bit more of parameter space and that something dramatically new will show up. "If it does, it's Nobel prizes all around; it really will be a major breakthrough. If it's not, then it's back to the drawing board." The increased energy of the new collider will be key to the new studies. The energy of collisions in the LHC in 2015 will be 13 TeV (teraelectron volt) compared with 8 TeV in 2012 during its last run. While the facility is a big industrial user of power -- about 180MW when it's running at full tilt -- it's not quite powerful enough to dim the lights or send the air-conditioning down in surrounding areas. "We have a dial that tells us how much energy we're using - it would be equivalent to about 10% of the total power in the Geneva canton," Lamont said. But anyone expecting a "Bride of Frankenstein" scenario of flashing lights and crackling electrical discharges is going to be disappointed. According to Lamont, while the machine is tremendously powerful, it operates within a vacuum, making it relatively quiet. "The beam itself does hum, we can hear it oscillating, but the collision energy between one proton and another -- while it's a huge amount of energy for a proton -- is like a house fly hitting another house fly at 5 miles per hour. "The beam, however, does have a huge amount of energy and we have to be very careful with it." He said the proton beam is launched at a tangent to the ring and when the energy of the beam needs to be absorbed, they use a graphite block to damp it. "Now that really does give a good bang," Lamont said. "We had microphones down there and this you could hear." While there are billions of protons per package sent hurtling through the collider at a rate of 11,000 times per second, only 20 or 30 protons per package will actually collide to produce an effect that can be studied. Scientist must monitor equipment that registers hundreds of millions of collisions per second typically over 12-hour periods. "The experiments need this because the interesting stuff like the Higgs is extremely rare. Only very rarely do these collisions produce something interesting and this is the big challenge for us -- to trigger the interesting stuff," he said. The Higgs may have gone a long way to answering the questions thrown up by the Standard Model, but Lamont says there will still be plenty of good physics to be examined by what is effectively the world's biggest machine. "We're planning a major upgrade in 2023-25 -- there'll be new more powerful focusing magnets installed and some other upgrades and this will allow us to multiply by five the number of collisions we can deliver. "That program is planned out until 2035 ... there are some interesting milestones coming up." He remains sanguine, however, about the possibility that after weeks of collisions and months and sometimes years of study, scientists and researchers may have actually moved further away from answering the mysteries and paradoxes of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. "Maybe the universe is a bit simpler than we think it is," Lamont said. Read more from Make, Create, Innovate: . Behold the 'Internet of Sheep' You will you soon be able to 'swallow the doctor' The end of electronics as we know it? +(CNN)Thick fog forced authorities to suspend the air search Wednesday for seven Marines and four Army aircrew, feared dead after their Black Hawk helicopter crashed into waters off the Florida Panhandle. The helicopter was first reported missing at about 8:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. ET) Tuesday. Hours later, searchers found debris around Okaloosa Island near Eglin Air Force Base, base spokesman Andy Bourland said. This debris washed up on both the north and south sides of Santa Rosa Sound, which connects mainland northern Florida and a barrier island. The air search is expected to resume midday Thursday, the spokesman said. A spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said that boats will continue scouring the waters throughout the night Wednesday, weather permitting. Human remains have washed ashore in the area near Eglin. Base spokeswoman Jasmine Porterfield didn't specify what was found, noting the search-and-rescue mission remained underway. Still, there was little hope for a miracle, with Gen. Martin Dempsey -- chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- expressing his condolences. He said the crash was "a reminder to us that those who serve put themselves at risk, both in training and in combat." "We will work with the services to ensure that ... their family members will be well cared for." The Air Force, Coast Guard and civilian agencies participated in the intensive search focused on where they believe the aircraft went down, in waters east of the town of Navarre and the Navarre Bridge and near Eglin testing range site A-17. Porterfield said approximately 100 people were involved in canvassing the ground and the waters, looking for debris: "It's a huge effort underway." "We're working closely with all the parties involved to locate our Marines and the Army crew that were onboard," added Capt. Barry Morris, a spokesman for the U.S. Marines Corps Special Operations Command. "And, really, just our thoughts (and) prayers are with the Marines, the soldiers and the families of those involved in the mishap." No one is saying what caused the accident, with Eglin spokeswoman Sara Vidoni indicating only that there's no indication of anything suspicious. There was heavy fog in the area when the aircraft went missing, though the Eglin spokeswoman said it's too early to tell whether that had anything to do with the crash. "There is training in all conditions -- that's part of the military mission," Vidoni said. "They were out there doing what the military does." According to Morris, the service members -- all men -- were involved in a seven-day training exercise of amphibious operations. It involved small boats and inserting and extracting Marines from the water via helicopter. Morris would not say in which phase of the training the Marines were on Tuesday night. The UH-60 helicopter wasn't alone when it went down. A second Black Hawk -- assigned to 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion based in Hammond, Louisiana -- safely returned to the base, some 40 miles east of Pensacola. The aircraft were both assigned to the Louisiana Army National Guard out of Hammond and taking part in what the U.S. military called a "routine training mission involving the Marine Special Operations Regiment" out of Camp Lejeune. "Whatever the trouble was with the one aircraft, it did not involve the second helicopter that was participating in the exercise," Bourland said. The Army aircrew members belonged to the Army National Guard unit out of Louisiana, part of a unit that Gov. Bobby Jindal said "have fought courageously overseas in defense of our nation and here at home." By 11:15 a.m., relatives of all four of those guardsmen had been notified, though their names won't be released publicly until the Coast Guard recovers their bodies or calls off the search, said Col. Pete Schneider, a Louisiana National Guard spokesman. "They have protected what matters most during times of crisis," Jindal said. "These soldiers represent the best of Louisiana, and we are praying for them and their families." Morris said the Marines involved in the crash were all "highly-trained" members of that service's special operations command. They were based out of Camp Lejeune, an expansive North Carolina base that is home to about 170,000 active deputy, dependent, retired and civilian personnel. The pilots were instructor pilots, Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis told reporters. He said the whole crew had several thousand combined hours of operation flying the Black Hawk. In January, two Marines died when their helicopter went down at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California. And last March, an F/A-18C Hornet's pilot died after a crash about 70 miles east of Naval Air Station Fallon in western Nevada. This week's crash involved a UH-60 Black Hawk, a twin-engine helicopter introduced into Army service in 1979 in place of the iconic UH-1 Huey. Other branches have modified the Black Hawk for their own uses, including the Navy's SH-60 (the Sea Hawk), the Air Force's MH-60 (the Pave Hawk) and the Coast Guard's HH-60 (the Jayhawk). The Army's UH-60 helicopter, which has a maximum speed of 173 mph, has an airframe "designed to progressively crush on impact to protect the crew and passengers," according to the service. As Morris, the Marine spokesman, pointed out, those who get on such aircraft or take part in other military exercises aren't always out of danger just because they're off the battlefield. "We have a requirement to conduct realistic military training," he said. "And unfortunately this mishap happened." CNN's Jason Hanna, John Newsome, Victor Blackwell, Jamie Crawford and Brad Lendon contributed to this report. +(CNN)Turkey has arrested a person -- working for an undisclosed nation's intelligence service -- on suspicion of helping three British girls who are thought to have entered Syria to join ISIS, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday. This person was working for a country that is part of an international anti-ISIS coalition, Cavusoglu said. Separately, a Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the suspect is not Turkish, and is not a citizen of the country for which he was working. Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West? Britain's Foreign Office on Thursday released a statement about the arrest. "We are aware that an arrest has been made by the Turkish National Police and that the Metropolitan Police have informed the families of the three girls," the statement read. "There has been close cooperation between ourselves and the Turkish authorities, and the Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with his Turkish counterpart. As soon as the UK received this information it was acted upon appropriately." Girls' ISIS checklist: Makeup, underwear . CNN's Atika Shubert contributed to this report from London. +(CNN)Imagine sitting on a dusty, busy street in New Delhi, crowded with vendors and people running quickly about the market. A woman's lapis-colored sari swishes past you in the golden-colored dusk. You've been here since morning. A tourist extends a hand with a crumpled paper bill. You try to lift your hand to accept, but you can't. The muscles are paralyzed, and your mind can't command them to move. You use your knee to balance your arm and grasp the rupee. Then you use your foot to pick up your bag and head home for the day. This is everyday life for Bipin Kumar. Kumar, known as BK, contracted polio as a child, and he has learned to adapt to how he moves and lives. Kumar has no brothers or father to provide for him, so he moved to New Delhi 10 years ago to pursue the only means of income he could -- begging on the streets. Photographer Elena del Estal was in India last year when the World Health Organization announced that polio had officially been eradicated from the country. It had been exactly three years since the last contracted case. Del Estal was fascinated by this. She couldn't help but wonder about those already living with the crippling effects of this horrible disease. She traveled to a small village near Kolkata to meet a little girl who was India's last case of polio. This gave her the inspiration to begin a long-term project on those suffering in a country that's now "polio-free." First she met a boy named Dharmender who lived in Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India. Even though his village was poor, his family took good care of him. Del Estal spent time with him and accompanied him during a surgical procedure in New Delhi. She said that while Dharmender is very fortunate to have the opportunity for surgery, he will still never have a "normal" life. "His daily life is hard. ... Everybody around him was working and having a family, and he cannot have this," Del Estal said. "So on one hand, it's (a) hard situation, and on the other hand, it's easier than the other boy I met." She's speaking of Kumar, the young man who moved to New Delhi to support himself and his elderly mother back home in a village up north. Del Estal first met Kumar when she was wrapping up the first segment of her project. From the beginning, she said, he was very trusting, allowing her into his daily life. Del Estal was intent on capturing an authentic portrayal of Kumar's life -- the everyday logistics of moving through a city without one's limbs at command. She said she was amazed at how adept he was at maneuvering his world. He could carry notebooks with his neck, grasp a pencil in between his clutched fingers, smoke a cigarette using his feet and prop his arms on his knees to move them forward. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Between the two of them -- Del Estal speaking a little Hindi and Kumar speaking a little English -- they wove a patchwork language of friendship and understanding. Kumar told her of his love interest -- a girl who had feelings for him as well -- but her parents would never allow their union. Del Estal said that while Kumar wants a job, employment is next to impossible for someone in his condition. But his spirit is tenacious. He knows how to read and write and he is skilled at taking care of himself. Before heading to the main bazaar in New Delhi every day, he washes and dresses himself. There are no days off for him. As shops open and tourists fumble through a foreign world in flip-flops and Bermuda shorts, Kumar positions himself in a visible location and smiles and greets everyone who passes with, "Namaste." Del Estal has been so impacted by his friendship that she said her next plans are to do a project on his life. "I want to go to his village to meet his mother and keep taking pictures about his life because he is such a beautiful person," she said. "It's such a sad (circumstance) yet amazing life. I want to keep documenting his (story)." Elena del Estal is a Spanish photographer based in India. +(CNN)Warning: This article contains offensive language. Slut, ho, hussy, heifer, bitch -- long before I ever heard those words flow in a rap song, I heard them first in my own home, my own neighborhood. And too many times, they were directed toward me or one of my grade-school girlfriends. You see, for generations, black girls have been so conditioned to being called these over-sexualized names -- first by our slave masters, then our mothers, sisters, friends and eventually the world -- that today many times we don't even take offense. We deny our pain or hurt feelings. We even make excuses for the name-callers because it's difficult to decipher, especially for young girls, when the offender means it in a tough love, sisterly kind of way or a "he didn't mean it in that kind of way," as Little League standout Mo'ne Davis said on ESPN's SportsCenter on Monday. She was explaining why she had forgiven Bloomsburg University baseball player Joey Casselberry recently. Davis emailed the university to ask for Casselberry to be reinstated. Here's what he had tweeted after hearing that Disney plans to produce a movie based on Davis' life titled: "Throw Like Mo": . "WHAT A JOKE. That slut got rocked by Nevada." Ugly, jealous, hateful words meant to intimidate and objectify a 13-year-old girl. But Davis was quick to respond with a class beyond her years: "Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance," she told ESPN. "... I know right now he's really hurt and I know how hard he worked to get where he is. I mean, I was pretty hurt on my part but I know he's hurting even more," said Davis, the first girl in Little League World Series history to earn a win and pitch a shutout. Bloomsburg immediately kicked Casselberry off the team but now says it will review the matter. I hope the school sticks to its decision. It was the right call and the university's action spoke volumes about its integrity -- and how it values women and girls. Surely, Bloomsburg University believes that sports are meant to teach more than simply how to hit, catch and run. We talk about using sports to build character, leadership and respect for others. Casselberry seems to have missed those lessons, or maybe he just thinks they don't apply to women. His promising college baseball career doesn't have to end over this mistake. Let the school review the situation next season; see then if Casselberry has had time to truly understand his actions. Good for Davis, for rising above the hateful remark — and also above the outrage on social media, where millions rose to her defense — to offer such a gracious response. But it should go without saying: It's never OK or excusable to attack a successful 13-year-old girl with such a chauvinist remark. Neither little girls, no matter their ethnicity, nor grown women are open targets for sexist, ignorant public attacks. The incident provides a good opportunity, however, for we in the black community to consider how we value our daughters. And we must take note that our sons are watching closely as they try to navigate what it means to respect a young woman today. Men who grow up to disrespect women do not only learn those lessons by watching TV or playing video games. And though it may be convenient to blame pop culture, rap music is not responsible for teaching men to disrespect women. We parents own much of the blame. Overworked, frustrated mothers and fathers often cannot find the words or the courage to have a conversation about sex with their children who are not even teens yet. But that's when the questions start for most kids. Just about every day in my old neighborhood, a playmate would get called out of her name for violating an unspoken rule about how a 9-year-old girl should behave: "Get your trifflin' ass in the house, you little hussy. Why are you dressed like a little slut?" an angry mom would yell down the street. Every little girl I knew heard that rant, including myself. And as kids do, it wasn't long before we were all giggling and calling one another those very same names. I don't really know how other mothers talk to their young daughters, or at least I didn't back then, but in my black neighborhood, often the conversation between mothers and daughters was not pretty. You had two choices: develop a tough skin or believe the ugly words and let your innocence be destroyed by their cruelty, even if unintended. Too many of my friends were destroyed as they struggled with the confusing messages and lack of forthright explanation and support on sexuality. It led to young teenage pregnancies, abusive boyfriends and destructive behavior. Who knows what those beautiful girls, once so full of ambition and curiosity about the world, would have become if they'd been called: beautiful, strong and smart. Maybe they would have been just like Mo'. +Atlanta (CNN)A report on lab safety at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put together by a committee of external experts calls the agency's commitment to safety "inconsistent and insufficient." The report, which was completed in January but posted on the agency's website this week, also says "laboratory safety training is inadequate." The report was put together by an external group of 11 experts in biosafety, laboratory science and research. In the report, they say they are "very concerned that the CDC is on the way to losing credibility." The agency created the advisory group to improve lab safety in July in the wake of two mishaps and other issues that were uncovered through procedural reviews. One incident occurred in June when dozens of employees in a bioterrorism lab working with the deadly anthrax virus, were at risk because of a failure to properly follow sterilization techniques. The head of that lab resigned after the incident. This followed a May incident in which avian influenza samples, thought to not be dangerous, were unintentionally mixed with the deadly H5N1 influenza virus and then shipped to a USDA lab. Then in December, with the advisory group already working to reduce lab safety risks and improve the culture of safety, employees in the Ebola lab were potentially exposed to that virus when a technician mistakenly transported the wrong specimens from a high-level lab to a lower-level lab. Internal investigations were done after each incident, and various changes were recommended such as cameras being added to some labs and certificates being required to transfer samples from some labs, following the Ebola incident. The four-page report summarizes the groups findings and offers recommendations following visits to CDC labs, meetings with CDC staff and a survey about the laboratory safety culture at CDC. The report recommends all CDC labs go through an external review and accreditation process. They suggest the College of American Pathologists for clinical labs and the American Biological Safety Association for research labs. To that point, the committee says in the report, "The CDC must not see itself as special. The internal controls and rules that the rest of the world works under also apply to CDC." Other recommendations include: . -- Funding for lab safety programs and standardized training. -- Implementing risk assessments. -- Establishing a system of responsible science and accountability. -- Rewarding researchers who run safe labs. -- Hiring a director to oversee lab safety. In response to the recommendations, CDC Chief Operating Officer Sherri Berger said in a statement, "It's critical that we continue to solicit feedback on how we can improve our operations, especially functions as critical as lab safety. We brought this group of external experts together over the summer to assist us with identifying and implementing solutions, of which many are already underway." +(CNN)Scene: A warm beach in the Caribbean (because as long as I'm setting a scene...), March of 2015 . Two women, both, curiously, named "Sally Kohn," recline and sip their drinks at they stare at the blue-green water, occasionally checking their addictive mobile devices for new emails, conversing about the third season of "House of Cards" and the political mess in Washington. They're both bold progressives and Democrats more by default than enthusiasm. The two Sallys are debating whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren should respond to the calls from the Boston Globe and others for her to enter the 2016 race, challenging likely frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Sally "Idealistic" Kohn desperately and impatiently wants the world to be a fairer and more just place and thinks progress toward that goal could immeasurably be helped by a bold leader articulating and pushing for big ideas at the top of the national and global political hierarchy. This Sally is wearing a skimpy bikini. Sally "Pragmatic" Kohn wants the world to be better too, but she's all-too-aware of how progressive idealists are chewed up, spit out and drowned out by party politics. She is conscious that Barack Obama wasn't even that progressive and knows how much more centrist he became in the first six years of his presidency. This Sally is skeptical of how much politics can be changed from the inside as well as how much politics these days can change the world, especially given entrenched partisanship. She is wearing swim trunks, a long-sleeve UV protective t-shirt and two hats. Sally (Idealistic) Kohn: Elizabeth Warren is like the Obi-Wan Kenobi of American politics today -- she's our only hope. There's no one else speaking as sharply and powerfully about inequality and economic populism. Plus she has solutions. [She takes a sip of her piña colada.] . Sally (Pragmatic) Kohn: I couldn't agree more. Which is exactly why we shouldn't waste Warren on a dead-end presidential campaign. [She gulps her margarita.] . Sally I. Kohn: First of all, you don't know it's a dead end. Barack Obama was the underdog in 2008 and look what happened. Plus, Warren is much more popular at this point now than he was then. Sally P. Kohn: Yeah, but in the latest CNN Democratic primary poll, Warren trails Hillary Clinton by 52 points. Even Joe Biden fared better. Sally I. Kohn: Those are national polls. Primaries are run state-by-state. And in a different poll, Democratic primary voters in Iowa and in New Hampshire favored Warren over Clinton, so.... Sally P. Kohn: In fairness, that poll was run by Warren backers. And anyway, nationwide 79% of Democrats have a favorable view of Clinton. Just 37% have a favorable view of Warren. Sally I. Kohn: Because 63% don't know her yet. That's why she needs to run. Sally P. Kohn: But be honest, the path to her winning is hard to see. Sure, Barack Obama did it once, but do you really think the Clinton machine will allow itself to be defeated twice? Sally I. Kohn: Ah, and that's reason two why Warren should run -- because even if she can't win, she will help shape the political debate and push Hillary Clinton to the left, especially around economic justice issues. Sally P. Kohn: Maybe, but then in four or eight years when Warren would really have a shot at the presidency, she'll be a Mitt Romney-esque already-ran, not a bright shiny new candidate. That never helps. Sally I. Kohn: All the more reason to run now. Now is her moment. Now is our nation's moment, crawling out of the economic crisis, still riddled with unprecedented economic inequality, we don't need Elizabeth Warren to be president in four years or eight years or 16. We need her now. Sally P. Kohn: I agree that Warren is transformational and has the bold vision we need right now. And isn't that exactly why she shouldn't run? National big money political campaigns are where good ideas go to die. Sally I. Kohn: Maybe Elizabeth Warren can be the candidate to change all that, the candidate for the people, not the political process -- who even appeals to and unites independent and conservative voters who know the economy is ridiculously rigged for the rich and want government to stop aiding and abetting injustice. [They both laugh uproariously at the suggestion that politics could ever be about people, not big money.] . Sally P. Kohn: What I will say is that now is definitely the moment for a woman president! And Hillary's the one with the best shot. Plus, for all her coziness with Wall Street and hawkish foreign policy, she's still a bajillion times better than any of the Republican options. Heck, they have Congress for a few months and can't even govern themselves out of a paper bag. And if Hillary might not do as much as we'd like to fix economic inequality, let's be clear -- Republicans would just make it worse, like they did before. Which is what really worries me about Warren. There's a reason they're called "spoiler candidates." I don't want her to spoil the Democrats' chance to elect a woman this election. Sally I. Kohn: But no, that's exactly why she has to run -- to make the party stronger, to make Hillary less economically centrist and quick on the military trigger. We need a bold progressive candidate we can rally behind in the primaries. And if Warren wins, great. Her vision also appeals to the broad majority of working people. And if she doesn't win the primaries, still great -- we've sent a clear message to Hillary and forced her to be more populist. Sally P. Kohn: Maybe... Or maybe Warren runs and wastes all her political capital, making too many compromises to be a viable candidate and losing her pedestal as an irreverent outsider and then being defeated anyway, so she's diminished in some of the power and leverage she had before, too. She's a great leader now, right now, as is. The magnifying glass of a national campaign could expose her imperfections or even burn her up in the sun.... [She reaches for the suntan lotion.] . Sally I. Kohn: ... or it could magnify her reach and impact. [She, too, reaches for the suntan lotion.] . Sally P. Kohn: Maybe we just see things too differently. [They both stare down at their drinks and take another sip.] . Sally P. Kohn: Hey, my margarita is half-empty. Sally I. Kohn: Oh, my piña colada is half-full. Sally P. Kohn: Either way, we both need more, eh? +(CNN)Saudi Arabia is leading a military campaign against Shiite rebels in Yemen, bringing the wider region directly into a complex conflict that has festered for months. The Saudis say they want to restore the Yemeni government, a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda, which was kicked out of the capital by the rebels earlier this year. "Having Yemen fail cannot be option for us or for our coalition partners," said Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, referring to the other nations in the region supporting the campaign. Here are answers to key questions about the escalating conflict in Yemen. Analysts say it can be summed up in one word: Iran. The Saudis "perceive this as a threat from the Iranians," said CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona. "They look at the Houthis as nothing more than a proxy Iranian force, just like we can look at Hezbollah as a proxy Iranian force in southern Lebanon." Analysts say that Shiite-majority Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia are locked in a strategic contest for influence across the Middle East. Now, the epic chess match has spread into Yemen, Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor. "What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border, because they already feel they've got enough problems on their northern border," said Francona, a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer. Iran, northeast of Saudi Arabia, is considered to exercise powerful influence within the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in war-torn Syria and within the Shiite-led Iraqi government. The Saudis and other Gulf nations appeared to make an implicit reference to Iran in a statement about the start of the military campaign, describing the Houthi militias as "backed by regional powers" that are aiming for "hegemony" in Yemen. The Iranian government, for its part, condemned the offensive, calling for an immediate halt to Saudi-led airstrikes, state media reported. The chaos in Yemen appeared to be careering toward a full-blown civil war. The Houthis, whose power base is in northern Yemen, started protests against the central government in the capital, Sanaa, last summer. But they stepped up their campaign in September, seizing multiple government buildings. Attempts to strike political deals between the two sides had no effect, and the Houthis pushed into other areas of the country. The crisis intensified in January, when the Houthis displayed their clout by storming the presidential palace and putting President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi under house arrest. Hadi escaped to the southern city of Aden in February and declared that he remained the legitimate president. Since then, Hadi's supporters have repeatedly clashed with the Houthis and their allies, prompting the United Nations to warn of an impending civil war. The Houthis also have support from forces loyal to Hadi's predecessor, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who resigned in 2012 after months of Arab Spring-inspired protests. The deepening chaos has led many governments to pull embassy staff out of Sanaa. The United States recently withdrew its remaining special forces in Yemen, dealing a blow to counterterrorism efforts in the country. Rebel forces captured parts of Aden and a nearby airbase Wednesday. Early Thursday, the Saudi-led strikes began. The airstrikes appear to be only the start of the campaign. Saudi Arabia has also pledged 150,000 soldiers to the coalition that's intervening in Yemen, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV network reported Thursday, raising the possibility of a ground offensive. "The airstrikes will be the kickoff of the campaign," Francona said "They'll want to knock down the air defenses and create a corridor with which they can move their troops in there." It wasn't immediately clear if other nations in the coalition were offering any ground troops. A ground offensive isn't a decision that Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud would take lightly. "Saudi Arabia, all these years, has avoided sending troops into Yemen. It's a quagmire for the Saudis," CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer said in January. Beyond the military campaign, the Saudis and their allies say they want to find a political solution for the violence-plagued nation. The aim is to bring back Yemen's "security and stability through establishing a political process," said a statement from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said American forces are not involved in the airstrikes. But Francona said he thought the United States most likely assisted with information needed to pick out targets. "The Saudis don't have the intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capability to determine all of these targets," he said. "They've had to have had some help, and I think it probably came from us." Arab and senior Obama administration officials tell CNN that an interagency U.S. coordination team is in Saudi Arabia. The sources said the Saudis have not specified what they want yet, but will probably ask for American air support, satellite imagery and other intelligence. "We can help with logistics and intelligence and things like that, but there will be no military intervention by the U.S.," a senior administration official said. A Saudi adviser told CNN that 10 countries are involved in the coalition: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan. But it was unclear how many of those countries other than Saudi Arabia were taking an active military role. The Saudi adviser told CNN that the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar had contributed fighter planes to the operations. It brings another disturbing angle to the conflict. Yemen is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by U.S. officials to be the most dangerous branch of the terrorist network. The Sunni Muslim extremist group, also known as AQAP, has taken advantage of Yemen's weak government to plan and launch terrorist attacks against the West. Operating from its heartland in central Yemen, it considers both the Shiite Houthis and the pro-U.S. Yemeni government as its foes. Houthi forces have clashed with AQAP and its allies in central Yemen. And bomb attacks have repeatedly hit Shiite gatherings in the capital. There are also concerns about ISIS' growing influence in Yemen. The Sunni militant group that controls large areas of Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for attacks on Shiite mosques in Sanaa that killed more than 130 people this month. AQAP and ISIS looked set to be "the big winners" from the deepening chaos in Yemen, CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said Wednesday before news of the Saudi airstrikes emerged. But the big question now is whether the Saudi-led coalition will take any action against the Sunni terrorist groups. CNN's Nic Robertson contributed to this report. +Atlanta (CNN)As U.S. Air Force fighter jets and bombers carry out airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Air Force officials are waging a campaign of their own on Capitol Hill. The target: Sequestration cuts expected to take effect in 2016 that, officials say, will threaten U.S. air superiority. Air Force Secretary Deborah James told lawmakers last month that "enough is enough" when it comes to downsizing the Air Force, defending President Obama's $534 billion Pentagon base budget request to the defense appropriations subcommittee. "Given the state of the world ... the No. 1 thing we have to stop is this downsizing," James said. Despite the concerns of defense officials, lawmakers insisted that $10 billion will need to be cut from the Air Force's portion of the President's proposed budget, which, in total, exceeds spending caps by nearly $35 billion. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, called the President's base budget "a fantasy" but expressed a desire to find a bipartisan compromise to provide some relief from spending caps instituted in 2013 after budget disagreements between President Obama and Congress. Until a compromise is reached, Cole said the committee will have to make "a lot of tough decisions" related to cutting billions from the Air Force's spending request. But will cuts actually threaten the United States' standing as the most modern and capable air fleet on the planet? Despite writing the blueprint on how to build the world's greatest air force, Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force's chief of staff, says the United States will not be able to maintain the Air Force's strategic gains once next year's sequestration cuts take effect. He says other nations are now using the U.S. model to build their own air fleets, a trend that could degrade the strategic advantage U.S. air superiority provides to the military. However, some experts say that downsizing the Air Force and even cutting its budget won't necessarily threaten U.S. air dominance. Jerry Hendrix, the director of the defense strategies and assessments program at the Center for a New American Security and a former Navy captain, says the United States is still comfortably ahead of every other nation in terms of overall air capabilities. Despite the fact that the U.S. Air Force has a quarter of the number of fighter squadrons it did 25 years ago, it is still larger than the air forces of the next seven countries combined, said Hendrix. It is also the only nation with an operational fifth-generation fighter jet. Air Force officials argue that the force is currently older and smaller than it has ever been and that further budget cuts would hinder its ability to modernize and maintain effective command structure. "The option of not modernizing isn't really an option at all," Welsh said. "Air forces that fall behind the technology curve and joint forces without the full breadth of air, space and cyber power ... will lose." The irony lies in that the Air Force's emphasis on investing in a fleet solely made up of high-end aircraft may be one of the key factors drawing down the size of the force, says Hendrix. He agrees that more spending should be shifted toward air and maritime power due to their increasing roles in U.S. military strategy but says mistakes were made in terms of how the Air Force has balanced its commitment to maintaining the size of the fleet with its desire to modernize. "Air Force leadership has failed to balance the idea that quantity has a quality of its own," he said, adding that the Air Force should still pursue high-end aircraft but should supplement the fleet with older, cheaper aircraft models, like the F-16, for low-end operations instead of immediately phasing them out when a new generation is introduced. In order for the Air Force to maintain air superiority, Hendrix says, officials and lawmakers need to start having a real conversation about the best way to mitigate downsizing that also promotes modernization. Then they need to work out a budget and find a way to work within it. +London (CNN)It's a phenomenon that's been linked to a dragon, a black squirrel and Tiangiou, the magical dog of heaven. Mythologies from across the globe have blamed them all for eating the sun. In reality, solar eclipses, like the one that can be seen across parts of the Northern Hemisphere today, are down to an amazing coincidence. The moon and sun are at just the right distance away from the Earth that they appear to be of the same apparent size in the sky even though the sun is about 400 times larger than the moon. On occasion, the sun, moon and Earth are perfectly aligned so that when the moon passes in front of the sun it casts a shadow on the Earth, blocking the light. But that's not the whole story. A total eclipse can only be seen in the narrow corridor known as the "path of totality" --- or the "inner umbral shadow." The area where the sun's rays are only partially obscured is called the "penumbra." Today the moon's shadow falls across parts of North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Millions will be in the penumbra part of the shadow and able to see a partial eclipse but if you want to catch the full majesty of the 2015 totality it will require a trip to the North Pole, Svalbard or the Faroe Islands between the UK and Norway. You can find out whether you will be able to see the eclipse by watching our animation. Solar eclipses are relatively common -- partial eclipses are visible somewhere on Earth most years -- but not necessarily in the same region. You might wait hundreds of years between two total eclipses at the same place. And not all eclipses are the same. The moon follows an elliptical orbit around the Earth which means it is sometimes closer to us -- at "perigee" -- and sometimes further away -- at "apogee." At apogee, the moon doesn't appear quite big enough to completely obscure the sun during a solar eclipse and an observer sees a ring of brilliant light around the moon. This is called an annular eclipse. At perigee (as now) the sun will be completely blocked by the moon during totality. This gives scientists a chance to study the sun's atmosphere and help solve a cosmic conundrum. Astronomer Robert Massey of the UK's Royal Astronomical Society explained that the sun's atmosphere or corona is a massive 2 million degrees Celsius but the sun's surface only around 5,500 Celsius. He said this temperature difference has long mystified scientists. "The eclipse at totality allows us to see the inner most regions of the sun's atmosphere even if it's only for a few minutes -- it's very hard to do otherwise," he said. Perhaps the brief window will give solar experts a chance to collect more data. But you don't have to be an astronomer to appreciate the incredible spectacle of an eclipse. CNN would like to see your pictures and videos and hear of your experiences by using CNN's eclipse iReport assignment-- but please take care. NEVER look directly at the sun -- it is dangerous and can cause permanent damage to your eyes. Regular sunglasses are NOT safe either. Special filters are needed. Ahead of last year's eclipse in the United States, NASA advised CNN readers: "Even at maximum eclipse, a sliver of sun peeking out from behind the moon can still cause pain and eye damage. Direct viewing should only be attempted with the aid of a safe solar filter." NASA suggested some old tricks for viewing indirectly, like punching a hole in cardboard and projecting the light seeping through it onto a surface away from the sun. You can find more safety advice on NASA's eclipse website. A total solar eclipse is a phenomenon that won't last forever. The moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) every year. There will come a time when the moon will appear to be too small to cover the sun. But don't worry, you still have to time to catch one -- NASA calculates this will take about 563 million years. +Kano, Nigeria (CNN)Suspected Boko Haram gunmen decapitated 23 people in a raid on Buratai village in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, residents and a politician said Saturday. Scores of attackers invaded the village at 11 p.m. Friday when residents were mostly asleep and set homes on fire, hacking residents who tried to flee. "‎The gunmen slaughtered their 23 victims like rams and decapitated them. They injured several people," said Ibrahim Adamu, a local politician who fled. "They burned a large part of the village and we are afraid some residents were burnt in the homes because most people had gone to bed when the gunmen struck," said Adamu, a ward councilor in the village. A paramedic ‎at a government hospital in the nearby town of Biu said 32 people from Buratai were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds and burns. "The injured victims said a lot of people were beheaded by the attackers," the paramedic said. Buratai now has been attacked twice by Boko Haram in the past year. In September, the Islamist insurgents launched an attack on the village that was repelled by soldiers deployed to guard the home of a Nigerian army general from the village. The soldiers killed 20 of the gunmen. It is not clear whether the attack was in reprisal over their loss in the previous attack or was linked to the Nigeria general elections ‎that commenced Saturday. Boko Haram vowed to disrupt the elections. The militant group ISIS earlier this month said that a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram has been accepted. +Atlanta (CNN)Former CIA director and retired Gen. David Petraeus remains a trusted adviser to the White House on its strategy in Iraq, despite being convicted of leaking classified information to his mistress and biographer, then lying to the FBI. The National Security Council and Obama administration have been consulting with Petraeus on matters related to Iraq and ISIS, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirmed on Monday. Earnest did not elaborate how long Petraeus has been advising the White House since his fall from grace, but Newsweek reports the retired four-star general has been in the role since last summer. "Gen. Petraeus is somebody who served for a number of years in Iraq. He commanded a large number of American military personnel in that country," Earnest said. "He is, I think, legitimately regarded as an expert, when it comes to the security situation in Iraq. So I think it makes a lot of sense for senior administration officials to, on occasion, consult for him advice." Once considered a possible presidential candidate, Petraeus plead guilty to one federal charge of removing and retaining classified information earlier this month as part of a plea deal approved by Attorney General Eric Holder. According to court documents, Petraeus admitted removing several so-called black books -- notebooks in which he kept classified and non-classified information from his tenure as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan -- and giving them to his biographer, Paula Broadwell. After he resigned from his CIA post in 2012, Petraeus told the government he had no classified materials in his possession. That claim turned out to be false as the FBI found the notebooks when they conducted a search of Petraeus' house in 2013. When he was questioned by the FBI at the time, he lied and claimed he never provided classified information to anyone not authorized to have it, according to court documents. Earnest says he is unaware of any particular security precautions put in place by the White House when it consults with Petraeus, despite his legal problems and lack of CIA security clearance. Petraeus is currently the chairman of a global institute for private equity firm KKR. +(CNN)A U.S. Navy SEAL was killed in a parachute accident in Perris, California, near Riverside, a U.S. Navy official told CNN on Wednesday. He was identified Thursday as Special Warfare Operator 3rd Class Jason Kortz, 29, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado. "Jason distinguished himself consistently throughout his career. He was the epitome of the quiet professional in all facets of his life, and he leaves an inspiring legacy of natural tenacity and focused commitment for posterity," the Navy said in a news release. Kortz joined the SEALs in September after enlisting in the Navy two years earlier. He was married, the Navy said. Initial indications are the parachute failed to open during a jump as part of a training exercise. Kortz was part of a West Coast-based Navy SEAL team. +(CNN)The transgender community is celebrating several milestones thanks to one teen doing her part for transgender visibility. Activist and YouTube star Jazz Jennings will star in a reality show debuting on TLC this summer, the network announced last week. "All That Jazz" will feature the 14-year-old and her family dealing with typical teen drama through the lens of a transgender youth. It's the latest show to focus on transgender individuals, along with Discovery Life's "New Girls on the Block" and ABC Family's "My Transparent Life," on the heels of Amazon's Golden Globe-winning comedy, "Transparent." Opinion: 'It's a girl!' Not so fast ... "Jazz's story is universal, yet unique, and we're proud to partner with her family to share it with TLC's audience. Jazz may be known as an author and activist, but she's first and foremost a teenage girl with a big, brave heart, living a remarkable life," TLC General Manager Nancy Daniels said. Wait, there's more. Jazz is also the latest face of Clean & Clear's "See The Real Me" digital campaign. Jazz appears in a video for the skincare company sharing the trials of growing up transgender. "I've always known exactly who I am. I was a girl trapped in a boy's body," Jazz said in the video, which encourages teens to be "your true self." The Internet welcomed the news, applauding Clean & Clear and TLC for giving Jazz a platform. "All this support is so overwhelming! I love you all so much," she said in a tweet in response to the outpouring of support. Then, Jazz lent her image to the NOH8 campaign, a marriage equality movement started in response to California's Proposition 8 against same-sex marriage. Why all the fuss? Recognition of transgender people in the media shows mainstream America "we're real people," said Christine Connelly, a member of the board of directors of the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth who came out as transgender woman five years ago. What makes Jazz so "special," in the words of transgender actor Laverne Cox? Her trajectory is unique, starting with her early debut in the public eye at a time when stories of transgender people -- adults or children -- were scarce. Experience how one family reacted when their daughter said she's a boy. CNN Films presents "Raising Ryland," a short film available exclusively on CNN Digital on Wednesday, March 18. "She was the first young person who picked up the national spotlight, went on TV and was able to articulate her perspective and point of view with such innocence," Connelly said. She even co-wrote a children's book in 2014 based on her experience, "I am Jazz," about a transgender girl. Her parents also demonstrated their unwavering support for her early on, something transgender children can't always count on, Connelly said. Jazz and her family first appeared in the public eye in a 2007 television interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters. She was 6 years old and had just started appearing in public as a female, in what the report called "one of the youngest known cases of an early transition from male to female." The segment with Walters said Jazz was diagnosed with "gender identity disorder," a term long considered stigmatizing by mental health specialists. It was eliminated from the American Psychiatric Association manual in 2012 and replaced with "gender dysphoria," a condition in which people feel strongly that they are not the gender they physically appear to be. Jazz and her parents said she began gravitating to "girl things" at an early age and insisting she had the wrong genitalia. At home, she wore dresses but in public she wore pants to maintain a "gender neutral appearance." That all changed at her fifth birthday party, when she wore a one-piece bathing suit and told her friends she was a girl, her parents told ABC. The interview catapulted Jazz and her family into the spotlight. Jazz has appeared on various television networks and news outlets, including an ABC update with Barbara Walters at age 11, a segment with Katie Couric, a report on 60 Minutes, and an Oprah Winfrey Network documentary, "I am Jazz: A Family in Transition." The exposure has shaped Jazz into a transgender advocate and spokesperson who uses social media to connect with fans and followers. She has more than 20,000 Instagram followers and 33,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, where she posts her speeches, DIY craft tutorials and musings about being a transgender youth. Occasionally, she responds to questions in video Q&As, fielding tough questions about her hormone treatment and bullying with grace and ease. She began using testosterone blockers at age 11 to stop her from growing body hair, "or else I would have a hairy beard right now, which I don't so I'm thankful for that," she told fans in her most recent Q&A video. Her outreach has earned her recognition from some of the country's top LGBT advocacy groups. In 2012 Jazz became the youngest person ever to be recognized in the Advocate's annual list of "Top Forty Under 40." She was honored at the 2013 GLAAD Awards and named a Human Rights Campaign youth ambassador in 2014. She also made TIME Magazine's "Top 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" and Huffington Post's "14 Most Fearless Teens of 2014" list. It may seem like a charmed life but Jazz says she still faces bullying and mistreatment from people who don't understand her. The comments on her social media accounts are littered with profane attacks on her and her family. The question came up in her Q&A: "How do you feel when people judge you?" Clearly, it's a topic she's given some thought to. "I don't care what people think. The only opinion that really affects me is my own opinion of myself because I determine the way I am, not anyone else," she said. "If someone says something hurtful to you or makes you feel down on yourself then you just gotta stay positive and keep moving forward because they might not know much about you or they may not understand the situation." +(CNN)A group of medical students -- including an American, seven Britons and a Canadian -- may be the latest Westerners to join ISIS. It's become a familiar story: Young people give up their futures in Western democratic nations to join the terrorist network establishing a self-declared Islamic state in the Middle East. Last month, three teenage British girls suspected of wanting to join ISIS may have gone to Syria, authorities said. Their fates remain unknown. An estimated 3,400 Westerners have gone to join ISIS in its bloody quest to establish an Islamist state in Iraq and Syria, said Nicholas Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Analysts and U.S. officials agree: ISIS is skilled at luring Westerners, attracting far greater numbers than al Qaeda. How is it doing this? ISIS recruits are often young -- sometimes disillusioned teenagers trying to find purpose and make their mark. "The general picture provided by foreign fighters of their lives in Syria suggests camaraderie, good morale and purposeful activity, all mixed in with a sense of understated heroism, designed to attract their friends as well as to boost their own self-esteem," counterterrorism expert Richard Barrett wrote last year in a report called "Foreign fighters in Syria." Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East studies at The London School of Economics, put it more bluntly: . "ISIS provides these deluded young men and women with an adventurous trip." Many recruits come from educated, well-to-do backgrounds, like 25-year-old Abu Anwar of Britain. He said he had no problem leaving a comfortable lifestyle to join ISIS. "I'm from the south of England. I grew up in a middle-class family," he told CNN. "Life was easy back home. I had a life. I had a car. But the thing is, you cannot practice Islam back home. We see all around us evil. We see pedophiles. We see homosexuality. We see crime. We see rape." The names: Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West . Some are lured by the possibility of dying as a martyr so they can enjoy a sumptuous afterlife. Others may succumb to more tangible promises. ISIS loyalists are told they will receive gifts from Allah, wrote Aqsa Mahmood, a young British woman who left Scotland to join ISIS and now is an ISIS recruiter. Such gifts include "a house with free electricity and water provided to you due to the Khilafah (the caliphate or state) and no rent included," Mahmood wrote. ISIS' slick propaganda videos resemble trailers for Hollywood action movies. One hourlong video showed a collection of bombings, executions, kidnappings and beheadings. As one roadside bomb blasts a vehicle into the sky, two men in the background of the video chuckle. ISIS now has the most sophisticated propaganda machine of any terrorist organization, said Matthew Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center. "It turns out timely, high-quality media, and it uses social media to secure a widespread following," he said. Even the U.S. State Department admits ISIS' propaganda prowess "is something we have not seen before." "It's something we need to do a lot more work on," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said last month. "We are seeing 90,000, I think, tweets a day that we're combating." "We are way behind. They are far superior and advanced than we are when it comes to new media technologies," Maajid Nawaz, a former jihadi and author of "Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism," told CNN last year. "... It is very attractive for angry young Muslims when they see these sorts of videos and they hear language that resonates with them." The slick strategy offers a big edge over al Qaeda. ISIS "has proven far more adept than core al Qaeda -- or any of al Qaeda's affiliates -- at using new media tools to reach a broader audience," Rasmussen said. Recruits are also being lured by ISIS' success in its endeavor to create an Islamic state, analysts say. The intelligence community determined that ISIS' battlefield successes gave it "some recruitment success," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in September. "Militant groups across the Muslim world see the success ISIS has had so far in Syria and Iraq and opt to join it -- often leaving behind organizations plagued by infighting," CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen wrote in a CNN.com column. "This is a political cult using religion and a perversion of Islam as the shield," said Steve Hassan, founder of Freedom of Mind, a group dedicated to exposing destructive cults and cult behavior. "But in fact, it's a systematic effort to create an army of basically tranced-out followers." That type of brainwashing is what turned Canadian Damian Clairmont into an ISIS militant, said his mother, Christianne Boudreau. "It's so easy for them to get to our children, to access our children," she said. Clairmont died fighting in Syria last year. While ISIS' recruiting success gets a lot of attention, it is hardly drawing a huge percentage of young Westerners. About 130 Canadian citizens have traveled to the Middle East to join ISIS, Canada's intelligence agency estimated last year. About 1,200 French fighters have joined ISIS as well. Roughly 600 British nationals are believed to have gone to Iraq and Syria, according to research groups, along with another 600 from Germany. In the United States, National Intelligence Director James Clapper has said 180 Americans have tried to go to fight in Syria. But it's unclear how many of those were attempting to join ISIS. Once foreigners go to Iraq or Syria to join ISIS, their odds of going back to their families can be slim. Video clips of foreign jihadists burning their passports show that many have no interest in returning home. Western leaders acknowledge there's work to do. "It needs every school, every university, every college, every community to recognize they have a role to play, we all have a role to play in stopping people from having their minds poisoned by this appalling death cult," British Prime Minister David Cameron said last year. The U.S. government is trying to step up its efforts to counter ISIS propaganda by beefing up a small State Department agency to make it the heart of the fight against the militants' messaging. "We're seeing their approaches continue to evolve," Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, told CNN. "We need to continue to make sure ours are evolving and we're combating it in the most strategic way and using every interagency resource." But she acknowledged that the United States still has a lot to do. "We're really going to pick it up now," Psaki said. "We have new people in charge of the office. And we will see what happens over the coming months." Several anti-ISIS efforts are already in place. Some European countries have laws that penalize membership in groups such as ISIS, said Barrett, the counterterrorism expert. And U.S. State Department official Richard Stengel said an anti-ISIS messaging campaign has helped prevent youths from joining. "They're reading the messages, they're hearing the messages -- not just from us but from the hundreds of Islamic clerics who have said that this is a perversion of Islam, from the hundreds of Islamic scholars who have said the same thing," Stengel said in October. But Barrett said some officials might not be doing as much as they think. "Policymakers often underestimate the impact of what is happening in these closed circles even as they overestimate the impact of their own." CNN's Josh Levs, Joshua Berlinger, Paula Newton, Jethro Mullen, Catherine E. Shoichet, Mariano Castillo, Laura Koran and Elise Labott contributed to this report. +Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Grieving women carried her coffin high on their shoulders in scenes many said they had never witnessed before in the Afghan capital. Men are traditionally pallbearers in Kabul, where days earlier a mob of male attackers beat and kicked 27-year-old Farkhunda before tossing her off a bridge, setting her body on fire and throwing it in the river. Like many Afghans, Farkhunda used only one name. Early reports suggested that Farkhunda was mentally ill, but her tearful father, Nadir, told CNN affiliate TOLOnews she was a religious teacher who taught the Quran to children. He said there was no way his daughter would burn pages of the holy book, which has been cited as the motive for the horrific attack. Twenty-six people have been arrested in connection with the brutal killing, Afghanistan's Interior Minister Noorul Haq Ulumi said Monday in a statement before parliament. Farkhunda's parents said the killing was instigated by a local mullah of the Shah-e-Do Shamshera Mosque in the city's center, who had been angered by Farkhunda's accusations that he was distributing false tawiz. Tawiz are pieces of paper containing verses of the Quran which are sometimes worn as pendants to ward off evil and bring the wearer good luck. TOLOnews reported that "in order to save his job and life," the mullah reportedly began shouting accusations that Farkhunda had burned the Quran. Witnesses said a crowd gathered and hauled Farkhunda into the street. "We were asking the people to stop beating her and let us ask what religion she belongs to," one witness told TOLOnews. "But the people didn't listen to us and kept beating her." Afghanistan's Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs said it had found no evidence Farkhunda burned the Quran. Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the killing as "heinous" and ordered a commission to investigate it fully. Farkhunda's father said those guilty of killing his daughter should face justice: "I don't want blood of my daughter go in vain." Thirteen police officials have been suspended in connection with the attack, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Seddiqi. He earlier confirmed 11 people had been arrested. "We're very interested particularly to see what happens in terms of the investigation of the police behavior," said Patricia Grossman, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. "That was, for us, one of the most troubling aspects of this case -- that the police did not intervene adequately and properly to save her when there was an opportunity to do so." On Sunday, as they watched Farkhunda's casket being carried to her grave, the crowd shouted "Kabul police officials should be fired," according to Afghan human rights activist Ramin Anwari. Government officials, ministers, journalists and civil society members were among the thousands of people who attended her funeral, Anwari said. Many of them are expected to attend a large rally planned for Tuesday outside Afghanistan's Supreme Court in Kabul to call for justice for Farkhunda, he said. A Facebook page has been created in support of the cause. On Friday, the United Nations issued a statement condemning the killing "in the strongest terms." "We are encouraged by initial reports of the arrest of several suspects, but call on the authorities to investigate this incident fully and bring to justice all persons who actively participated in the killing, or aided and abetted it," said Elzira Sagynbaeva, the representative in Afghanistan for UN Women. She said the rise in cases of violence against women and girls in Afghanistan had become a "major concern" and must not be tolerated. Grossman of Human Rights Watch said the attack was unusual because it took place in public and in the capital. However, she added,"Violence against women is rampant in Afghanistan. That's the kind of thing we'd like to see people address beyond this particular case." CNN's Greg Botelho and Jessica King contributed to this report. +(CNN)Confucius said: "Study the past if you would define the future." In Iraq, the past is glorious and long. This is where the world's first cities were built and where writing and organized government were first developed more than 5,000 years ago. This is the land that gave the world its first great literary work -- the Epic of Gilgamesh, king of the city of Uruk -- over 1,000 years before Homer, and over 2,000 years before Christ. ISIS, like so many iconoclastic extremist groups through history, seeks to destroy the record of the past. In the past week, video has circulated showing neatly dressed figures wielding rather new-looking sledgehammers and destroying archaeological objects in the Mosul Museum. The spectacle would be ridiculous and pathetic if it were not so tragic. Although there are suggestions that some objects destroyed are only copies, many are said to be unique and irreplaceable objects that had survived thousands of years -- until now. ISIS has been busy trying to damage the famed Nergal Gate entry to the ancient city of Nineveh -- a city with a history reaching back thousands of years -- and most recently it is reportedly bulldozing the site of Nimrud, capital of the 9th-century B.C. Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II, and source of the famed Nimrud ivories. These ivories were first cleaned by none other than Agatha Christie while accompanying her archaeologist husband, Max Mallowan, during his excavation. All attacks on archaeological sites and artifacts are brutal assaults on our collective human memory. They deprive us of the evidence of human endeavors and achievements. The destruction eloquently speaks of the human folly and senseless violence that drives ISIS. The terror group is destroying the evidence of the great history of Iraq; it has to, as this history attests to a rich alternative to its barbaric nihilism. Worse, these acts of destruction supposedly in the name of religion are dishonest and hypocritical: the same ISIS also is busy looting archaeological sites to support its thriving illegal trade in antiquities, causing further incalculable harm. The smashed artifacts of the Mosul Museum and the destruction at Nineveh and Nimrud speak to a wider ignorance of archaeology and the meaning of the artifacts that archaeologists recover, study and preserve. These objects are the material record of humanity. They are not just for scholars, they are for everyone. They are the text of the past that helps define our future. Archaeologists clearly need to do more to expand a global understanding of, and appreciation for, the heritage of the past. But it is not just a question for teachers, professors and museum curators; there needs to be much greater awareness and protection of the past across society, in Iraq, in the United States and around the world, from the government to the public. We need more archaeology education globally; in Iraq and in other ISIS-affected countries, but also among people everywhere in order to help communities -- from children on up -- understand the fragility of the archaeological record and its critical importance to understanding the human story. Ancient Mesopotamia, modern Iraq, is at the heart of the human story: home of the first cities, states and empires. The law Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon over 3,700 years ago, is the first great legal text of the world; it begins a heritage leading to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. The heritage of Iraq is our heritage, too. What can we do in response to this assault on our heritage? Providing educational opportunities and empowering communities to learn more about their cultures and histories, and those of others, is one of the best ways to eradicate destructive hatred and violence. +(CNN)Federal and local authorities are investigating a deadly shooting by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in Washington State. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agent fired when a suspected "illegal border crosser" assaulted him during a patrol along the U.S.-Canadian border on Thursday. The reported shooting happened near the Huntington Border Crossing which connects the cities of Sumas, Washington, and Abbotsford, British Columbia. It is one of several area border crossings between the U.S. and Canada and is located east of Bellingham, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia. The Bellingham Herald newspaper, citing police radio dispatches, said the man was struck in the head. "The agent had been hit by pepper spray but wasn't seriously injured, according to police radio traffic," the newspaper said. The shooting apparently happened on an east-west road less than 1,000 feet from the border. Video from CNN partner CTV Network showed a covered body lying on the roadway, surrounded by police and investigation vehicles. The Border Patrol agent and the shooting victim have not been identified. The FBI and Whatcom County Sheriff's Office are assisting in the investigation. CNN's Tina Burnside, Greg Morrison and Christine Sever contributed to this report . +(CNN)Before this week, David Boren didn't need to add to his resume. It was impressive enough already. The 73-year-old University of Oklahoma president was also a former governor, former U.S. senator and Rhodes scholar. Boren has become the face of the school's stand against racism after a highly visible and passionate condemnation of a video that appears to show Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members chanting a racial epitaph. It started with a bullhorn at a campus rally. "I have a message for those who have misused their freedom of speech in this way. My message to them is: You're disgraceful. You have violated every principle that this university stands for." It continued with a press conference, saying fraternity members had until midnight Tuesday to get out of their house. "The house will be closed, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't be back," Boren said, adding that the university is exploring what actions it can take against individual fraternity members. And it extended to network television. "Sooners are not racists. They're not bigots," Boren told CNN in one of his many public reprimands. "They are people who respect each other and care about each other." Boren spent nearly 30 years in elected office before becoming the 13th president of the University of Oklahoma in 1994. He was a U.S. senator from 1979 to 1994, where he was the longest serving chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Before that, he served four years as Oklahoma's governor. He campaigned as a reformer, with a broom as his symbol, and when elected, he became the youngest governor in the state. He was 33 at the time. Boren is the first person in Oklahoma history to have served all three positions, according to his university biography. Boren graduated from Yale University in 1963, in the top one percent of his class. He was selected as a Rhodes scholar and earned a master's degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University, England, in 1965. Boren received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. Both his father, Lyle, and his son, Dan, served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Zero tolerance is the only answer to racism, Boren said. Not just for the school, but the nation. "It's not just the Greek system, it's not just colleges and universities. It's Ferguson, Missouri. All sorts of elements of our society are involved," he said. For now, Boren said the school is looking into punishing the individuals involved, especially any of those who led the chants. "We're trying to determine if we have enough evidence and if we can meet the federal standards to prevail in court, and, if so, we'll take action," Boren said. "This is not a place that wants racists or bigots on our campus or will tolerate it so I think you have to send a very strong signal." In the meantime, Boren said he will work with students who are calling for a change, including Unheard, a campus organization that formed in response to the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Unheard, along with the university newspaper, anonymously received the video showing the fraternity chant and made it public . Boren started meeting with the group in January, well ahead of the SAE video. Both sides described the sessions as "constructive," the Washington Post reported Monday. "They are very constructive. They have very good ideas and we're going to make it better. We're determined to make it better," Boren told CNN. +(CNN)As more details about the infamous ISIS executioner "Jihadi John" become known, certain basic questions continue to be raised. Is Islam as a faith to be blamed for Mohammed Emwazi's voyage to ISIS, otherwise known as the Islamic State? Or is the "War On Terror" responsible, and is this merely "chickens coming home to roost?" The temptation is to come to simplistic answers. Confronted with such brazen depravity as shown in ISIS propaganda videos, many take what their propagandists say very seriously: That they are, indeed, doing what their faith tells them to do. On the other hand, few believed ISIS when it was claimed they would negotiate with the Japanese authorities to release one of their citizens captured in Syria, who was later killed. Taking ISIS at their word is probably not the most sensible course of action -- it is obviously quite wrong -- and duplicitous -- about a number of things. There have been other neo-religious movements in both Muslim and Christian history. The "Assassins," for example, which began in the 11th century, was a radical, heterodox movement of Muslims, which eventually died out -- in its own time, similar to ISIS today, it was decried and depicted as deviant by Muslim religious authorities as well as most Muslims. Among Christendom, many of the Nazi leadership in the 20th century espoused an ideology called "Positive Christianity." It obviously never attracted much of a following, and historians claim, "Only a few radicals on the extreme wing of liberal Protestantism would recognize such a mish-mash as true Christianity." Why, then, are we not prepared to expunge Islam from the mix when interrogating ISIS ideology? While most churches, Protestant and Catholic, rejected the "Positive Christianity" of Nazi Germany, there is no corresponding action from the world of Islam. The problem is, that's not entirely possible. Unlike Christendom, Islam does not admit a hierarchical, ecclesiastical authority -- so, no "Muslim Church" or "Islamic Pope" exists. Having said that, nevertheless, there are systems of religious authority in Islam. They are more akin to academic peer review structures -- indeed, the concept of the modern university comes from the medieval Muslim seminary. Since the dawn of ISIS, numerous Muslim religious authorities have denounced the claim to authenticity by ISIS, on religious grounds -- none have given it that prize of legitimacy it so craves. That is, except for ISIS itself, and for some odd reason, some in the West who insist on taking ISIS at its word. Religious authorities at large, and Muslims in general, may recognize ISIS members as Muslims, albeit gravely deviant ones who ought to be treated as criminals. Just as Europeans en masse rejected the claims of Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass killer, who claimed "Christianity" as a motivator, without denying he considered himself to be a Christian. In both cases, it is important to understand how this ideology is internally justified, and on what basis, particularly in terms of establishing methods for immunizing vulnerable people from possible recruitment strategies. That doesn't, nevertheless, entail recognizing their claims as accurate -- only that they take them seriously, and others may too. That question of "vulnerability" has also been brought up a great deal in the last couple of weeks. There were some in the UK who argued that Jihadi John was subjected to a type of harassment by the British security services that proved to be a causal factor in his radicalization process. In one interview, the lobby group, Cage Prisoners, insisted in response to a question about responsibility for the beheadings in Syria: "The man who cut off their heads, and if you take that back a step, the people who potentially helped in his radicalization; in this case, the security services." Specialists in the field of radicalization took great exception to the implication, with experts from the likes of Exeter University and Kings College London describing it as "absurd," and "bizarre." Certainly, there are questions to be raised with regards to the British security services -- including how Jihadi John, who was known to them, was allowed to leave the country, as well as how suspects are interrogated and questioned. There shouldn't be any sensitivity about this -- the British security services do the job that they do precisely so Britons live in a society open enough to be able to ask these questions without fear or reprisal. Nevertheless, the suggestion that the British security services somehow radicalized Jihadi John is peculiar. There are many high-profile members of ISIS in Syria and Iraq who underwent no harassment of any sort -- for example, Lotfi Arrifin, a youth leader in a Malaysian political party. There are also many who have undergone far more invasive encounters with other security establishments worldwide, at the hands of authoritarian governments in the Arab world and elsewhere -- they did not suddenly register for service in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. Does it make them more vulnerable to possible recruitment? It very well could -- but that's not a foregone conclusion. Otherwise, given the scale of autocratic oppression in recent history, we should have seen far more members of ISIS. There will be those who contend radical Islamist theology is all we need to look at in understanding radicalization -- there will be others who will place all attention on domestic issues such as the security services, or foreign policy. The reality is, however, there is no template for explaining the voyage an individual takes in becoming a member of ISIS or any other radical Islamist group. For different individuals, different factors make them vulnerable to recruitment. More often than not, a recruit will find him or herself looking for some kind of "meaning" in this world -- and repugnant though ISIS ideology may be, it does provide a sense of certainty. What makes recruits more attuned to that kind of absolutism as opposed to going down other paths? It may be many things that condition them before they accept radical Islamism as their "savior." In all cases, nevertheless, there are two things we ought to keep foremost in mind. We must understand the context of the paths these recruits go through, to avoid others doing the same -- and we must always keep in mind that regardless of the context, only one person has responsibility for their actions. Each one of them, themselves. +(CNN)The FBI is asking detectives across the country to dust off their cold case murder files and see whether millionaire heir Robert Durst could be connected to any other unsolved crimes. Durst, the focus of HBO's true crime documentary series "The Jinx," was charged with first-degree murder last week in the 2000 killing of his longtime confidante, Susan Berman. Now the FBI is putting out a call to local authorities to examine cold cases in locations near where Durst lived over the past five decades, a U.S. law enforcement official said. Unsolved cases in Vermont, upstate New York, the San Francisco Bay area and Southern California are among those getting a new look, the official said. Durst's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said it's a sign that authorities are desperate. "They seem to be going to such great lengths to pin something else on him," DeGuerin said. "They must not have much of a case to begin with." Durst, who authorities believe has a net worth of $100 million, has lived in numerous places and owned property in at least four states, according to court documents and public records. In "The Jinx," Durst describes the time he spent living in Vermont with his first wife, Kathleen, running a health food store in the 1970s. In 1982, Kathleen McCormack Durst went missing. Durst says he last saw her when he dropped her off at a train station in Katonah, New York, and she headed to their Manhattan apartment. Her family members say they believe she's dead and that Durst is the one to blame. The case has never been solved. He's also lived in Galveston, Texas, where he admitted to shooting a neighbor and dismembering the body in 2001. He was acquitted in a 2003 murder trial after arguing he'd acted in self-defense. Last week, police searched condos Durst owns in Houston as part of the investigation into Berman's death. She was shot dead in December 2000 in her Beverly Hills, California, home. Investigators know Durst was in California the week Berman died. It's a detail Durst shrugs off in the HBO documentary, in which he denied he had anything to do with Berman's death and said, "California's a big state." Authorities investigating a decades-old cold case in Vermont said Monday that there's a connection between Durst and the case of Lynne Schulze, a college student who disappeared from Middlebury College in 1971. "We are aware of the connection between the disappearance of Lynne Schulze and Robert Durst," Middlebury Police Capt. Tom Hanley said. "We have been aware of this connection for several years and have been working with various outside agencies as we follow this lead." Hanley elaborated Tuesday on the nature of the connection, saying Durst owned a health food store where Schulze shopped the day she disappeared. But there is no evidence the two had met, Hanley said. DeGuerin's attorney brushed off the accusation Monday. "You know, he may have been in Chicago when Jimmy Hoffa disappeared," he said. "He's an easy target." The name of the health food store, "All Good Things," was also the title of a 2010 film starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst that was a thinly veiled fictional take on the Durst case. After seeing the film, Durst reached out to director Andrew Jarecki and said he wanted to be interviewed. The interviews with Durst became the basis for "The Jinx." Durst says in the documentary that he had traveled during the week of Berman's death to Trinidad, California, a small coastal city in northern California. "It was very rural, very pretty," he says. And it was a place, Durst says, where he lived "off and on." In Eureka, about 20 miles south, Durst has been part of another investigation. Authorities there say they haven't ruled out the possibility he could be connected to the disappearance of Karen Mitchell, who went missing in November 1997 when she was 16 years old. The police chief said investigators were interested in learning what Durst has to say about that case now that he's behind bars. "We are certainly interested in any information that may or may not come out of interviews with Mr. Durst," Police Chief Andy Mills said. "If information comes to us that allows us to further our investigation, then we will certainly take the opportunity to do that." According to local news reports at the time of Mitchell's disappearance, she was last seen leaning into a light blue car that she might have gotten into. A witness gave police a description of the man behind the wheel, which resulted in a sketch of a gray-haired man with glasses -- a drawing that journalist Matt Birkbeck says looks remarkably like Durst. "He wears these wide-rim glasses. He was wearing those glasses back in the day and it's also in the composite," said Birkbeck, whose book, "A Deadly Secret," chronicles Durst's life and run-ins with the law. "Durst apparently knew Karen Mitchell. Karen had volunteered at a homeless shelter in Eureka, which Durst had frequented, which he had a habit of doing in different cities," Birkbeck said. He'd also gone to a shoe store that Mitchell's aunt ran at a mall in Eureka, Birkbeck said. The former lead investigator on the case, Dave Parris, retired several years ago and could not be reached for comment. In 2003, he told The Journal News that there were similarities between Durst and the composite sketch. "He's a lead we're following," Parris told the newspaper, "and with all the information we've learned about him, I'm not fully comfortable that I can eliminate him from our investigation at this point." Investigators looking at other cases across the country have their work cut out for them, Birkbeck said. "In 2002, when my book was first published, we reported that police found six addresses in the San Francisco Bay area alone. Some of them were properties, some of them were post offices, some of them were warehouse facilities. There were other address in Northern California, Southern California, as well as other parts of the country," he told CNN's "Erin Burnett: Outfront." But the investigation is nothing new, he said. "They've been looking at this for several years now," he said. "I guess with recent events, they've really expanded their scope." CNN's Jean Casarez contributed to this report. +(CNN)Patrick Sondenheimer loved his work as a pilot. But the 34-year-old captain of Germanwings Flight 9525 was also a loving father, his grandmother said. "I am devastated," said his grandmother, who asked for privacy for the family. "His death came so sudden and it leaves my whole family in shock." Sondenheimer is one of 150 people who died last week when the plane crashed in the French Alps on its way from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany. Authorities have accused the plane's co-pilot of deliberately downing the jet, but are still investigating what caused the crash and trying to pinpoint what his motive may have been. Investigators haven't officially released the captain's name, and in many German media reports he's described simply as "Patrick S." But several relatives confirmed his identity to CNN. He had logged more than 6,000 hours of flight time, had been with Germanwings since May 2014 and had worked with Lufthansa and Condor before that, the Germanwings press office said. The married father of a 3-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter switched to flying for the budget airline so he could be closer to his family, the Independent reported, citing German media. In a leaked transcript that purportedly documents the flight's final moments, Sondenheimer -- locked out of the cockpit after a bathroom break -- pleads with the co-pilot to let him back in as the plane plunges down toward the French Alps. "Open the damn door!" he says at one point in a recording from one of the plane's so-called black boxes, according to a report published by German tabloid newspaper Bild. The recording, according to Bild, also includes the sounds of loud metallic bangs that sound like someone trying to knock down the cockpit door. "He deserves the German Medal of Honor for his heroic attempt to break into the cockpit," his grandmother told CNN. As details emerge about Sondenheimer and Flight 9525's final moments, a chorus of social media users has also hailed him as a hero. Over the weekend, Sondenheimer's father and other family members visited a memorial for the victims in the French Alps. Francois Balique, mayor of Le Vernet, met with them there. He described the captain's father as a broken man, with many questions about why the crash had happened. Investigators haven't said much about the captain, but they've emphasized that it seems he did everything he could to try to get back into the cockpit after he was locked out. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said last week that "violent blows as if to break down the door" are audible in the cockpit voice recording. "He must have realized what was going on," Robin said. "And if he'd been able to open the door ... the captain would have done it." CNN's Felix Gussone, David Fitzpatrick, Bharati Naik, Tim Lister, Pamela Brown, Karl Penhaul and Dorrine Mendoza contributed to this report. +(CNN)Iran's judicial system believes in the ancient concept of "an eye for an eye" -- literally. On Tuesday, a man convicted of blinding another man in an acid attack was himself forcibly blinded in one eye, according to Amnesty International and Tasnim News, a semi-official news website. The punishment is believed to be Iran's first case of Qasas, meaning retribution in kind, Tasnim News said. Amnesty International denounced the sentence. "This punishment exposes the utter brutality of Iran's justice system and underlines the Iranian authorities' shocking disregard for basic humanity," said Raha Bahreini, Amnesty International's Iran researcher. "Meting out cruel and inhuman retribution punishments is not justice. Blinding, like stoning, amputation and flogging, is a form of corporal punishment prohibited by international law. Such punishments should not be carried out under any circumstances." The acid attacker had been hired by the victim's wife to throw acid in his face, Tasnim News said. Amnesty International said the attack occurred in 2009 in the city of Qom. The defendant was blinded in his left eye at Rajai Shahr Prison, but the blinding of his right eye was postponed, Amnesty International said. The man was ordered to pay "blood money" and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Amnesty International said punishment has been delayed for another Iranian man in a "retribution in kind" case. That man had been sentenced to be blinded and made deaf, Amnesty International said. CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Elwyn Lopez in Atlanta contributed to this report. +London (CNN)As the petition to reinstate Jeremy Clarkson as the presenter of Top Gear grows to include almost 700,000 signatures, it seems the controversial star has an influential ally -- UK Prime Minister David Cameron. "I don't know exactly what happened," the PM told the BBC. "He's a constituent of mine, a friend of mine. He's a huge talent. "Because he is such a huge talent and he amuses and entertains so many people, including my children, who'd be heartbroken if Top Gear was taken off air, I hope this can be sorted out, because it's a great programme and he's a great talent. "Every organ has to be free to manage its talent. I don't want to interfere in the running of the BBC. I hope it can be sorted out. "The prime minister has many responsibilities, sadly, securing the future of Top Gear isn't one of them." Cameron and Clarkson are part of a group dubbed as "The Chipping Norton Set" -- wealthy media, politics and showbiz individuals who live in the affluent part of central England known as the Cotswolds. Jeremy Clarkson: Hated by liberals, loved by the elite . Clarkson was suspended for allegedly hitting a producer, the BBC reported on Wednesday. The BBC said Clarkson, one of the corporation's highest earners, had "a fracas with a BBC producer" in a statement released on Tuesday. "Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," they said. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday." The BBC reported that the next two episodes, and possibly the third and final show of the series, will not be aired. The BBC director-general Tony Hall said that the incident is being investigated. Using the hashtag #BringBackClarkson, which is trending worldwide, some Twitter users lamented that the show would not be the same without him. Clarkson himself also took to Twitter, posting an apology (of sorts) to Labour leader Ed Miliband -- for knocking him down the news agenda. He also retweeted a "suffering" fan. "Save Clarkson?" his co-host James May tweeted. "Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful." But a "Sack Jeremy Clarkson" petition is also doing the rounds, gathering 16,500 signatures so far. Some will be glad to see the back of him. Former CNN host Piers Morgan, who has had a series of run-ins with the presenter, also waded in with a cheeky jibe. This is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy. In May last year, the television presenter asked forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show. Clarkson had mumbled the n-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired. Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines when Argentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used -- interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War. Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said on the BBC Newsbeat website that the use of the plate was purely coincidental. Top Gear was named as the world's most widely watched factual program in the Guinness World Record 2013 Edition book, with an estimated 350 million global viewers. The show is sold to 214 territories worldwide. In a previous article on their website, the BBC said "Jeremy Clarkson is not a man given to considered opinion." In their statement, the corporation declined to comment any further. +(CNN)Was the Middle East better off under dictatorships? It is certainly tempting to think so when one looks at conflicts in the region today, from Yemen to Libya to Syria. Those three countries have followed different trajectories since the start of the Arab Spring in 2011, but what they have in common now is instability that is not likely to be overcome in the short term. While this instability is making the West -- particularly the United States -- uncomfortable, it is also a direct result of the West's own stance towards dictatorships in the region prior to and during the Arab Spring. The West's shortsightedness in handling the Middle East throughout its modern history has directly contributed to its current devastation. Before 2011, what the West most valued in the Middle East was stability rather than democracy. Arab dictatorships were tolerated for decades despite their cruelty because they served Western economic, political, and security interests. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak was seen as the bulwark of peace with Israel. In Libya, a reformed Moammar Gadhafi was courted for potential investment and trade agreements. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad was a predictable leader who maintained the Golan Heights as a conflict-free zone. In Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh was regarded as an ally against al Qaeda. Dictatorships kept the status quo manageable. Government suppression of activism and of the alternative voices of civil society and independent media meant that top-down decisions were rarely contested. This pretty much guaranteed that Western interests would be served without too many complications. In return, Arab dictators enjoyed Western financial and military aid and political reassurances. Yemen was the epitome of this dynamic. Saleh courted and was courted by American diplomats who turned a blind eye to his transgressions, from arms smuggling to forcing new businesses to include him as a "partner" so that he could ensure a cut in the profits, while most Yemenis lived below the bread line. READ MORE: How we got here in Yemen . Saleh's value was in engaging in the "war on terror" through allowing American drones to strike al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The fact that he used this engagement as an excuse to ask for military assistance for Yemen -- which in reality was used to equip what would become a private army -- was considered a small price to pay by the United States. When the reality of living under dictatorships became exposed with the Arab Spring, the West could no longer ignore it and had to publicly declare support for the uprisings. But the West did not have a long-term strategy for handling the aftermath of dictatorships -- and the results have been catastrophic. Libya saw hasty international military intervention without a vision for stabilizing the country, and today is falling apart. Syria saw diplomatic toing and froing that eventually dragged the West into a messy war. Yemen was for a while thought of as an acceptable compromise because of the Gulf Cooperation Council's initiative that ended the uprising through a negotiated transition from Saleh to his deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. But the long-term implications for this transition were ignored and Yemen today is paying the price. Yemen summarizes all the ills of dictatorships and their handling by foreign patrons. The West was naïve to think that Saleh would simply accept his removal from power. In an ironic turn of events, he has found in the Houthi rebels-- who had been marginalized under his rule and became even more so under Hadi -- an unlikely ally to regain influence. Saudi Arabia was also naïve in thinking that Houthi rule in northern Yemen would be better than having a political presence for the Muslim Brotherhood -- the Kingdom's staunchest political foe -- in Sanaa. The Saudis and the West ignored the simmering sectarian tensions between the Zaidi Houthis and the Sunni tribes of Yemen, not to mention the popular anger at U.S.-led drone attacks that sometimes killed civilians. They also ignored Iran's rising ambitions; why would the Houthis -- Iran's allies -- limit themselves to northern Yemen if they could also expand southwards and rule the whole country? The situation in Yemen today shows that even though the status quo under dictatorships may have appeared stable, beneath the surface volcanoes were preparing to erupt. Dictators may keep a country secure, but they do that at the expense of their own people. They may support the West's interests, but they will turn against them whenever their own interests are threatened. Although many today lament that the Arab Spring has turned into an Arab Winter, the conflicts emerging across the Middle East are largely the result of the political, economic, and social ills of dictatorships and the conditions that had sustained them. They have come to the surface because the lid has been lifted. But the current misery in the Middle East still does not mean that the region was better off under dictatorships. The aftermath of dictatorships is always messy, and democratic transition is never linear. Those with nostalgia for the days of Arab strongmen should remember that autocratic regimes plant the seed of future unrest and therefore only offer false, temporary security -- even if "temporary" takes a few decades to pass. +(CNN)As the world awaits a possible nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran, let us not forget: This is the second time in two years that President Barack Obama has pursued a nonproliferation deal with an unreformed regime in the Middle East. In doing so, he has ignored the regimes' fundamental nature and the catastrophic costs these efforts have inflicted upon regional stability and U.S. national security. This month brought familiar news: more chemical weapons attacks allegedly by dictator Bashar al-Assad against his fellow Syrians. Just in June, the administration declared the success of its deal to remove al-Assad's chemical weapons, which had been prompted by his August 2013 sarin attacks on Syrian civilians and the threat of U.S. airstrikes in response. The deal did yield an important victory -- the removal and destruction of more than 1,200 metric tons of al-Assad's chemical weapons arsenal, which he can no longer use to threaten Syrians and Israel or fall into terrorist hands. However, with his actions as evidence, it was a deal that al-Assad likely knew he could manipulate. Even while the deal was underway, al-Assad continued to attack Syrian civilians and the opposition with weaponized chlorine bombs, exploiting a loophole in the agreement. The deal was also fundamentally flawed in that it relied upon al-Assad to declare his stockpile voluntarily without sufficient third-party verification. Just weeks after claiming success, the administration quietly acknowledged that al-Assad had secretly retained some of his most lethal chemical weapons. Al-Assad has also failed to destroy some of his chemical weapons facilities, as the agreement required. The deal made al-Assad a partner of sorts to the administration despite the grisly, mass atrocities he continued to commit. During implementation, the administration limited its support to the moderate opposition and did little else to pressure the regime to restrain its attacks on civilians or to allow a political transition. About 50,000 more Syrians were killed in the conflict during these months -- mostly at the hands of the regime -- and the displacement of millions of Syrians throughout the region continued. Meanwhile, ISIS further exploited the civil war, expanding into security voids. There are several troubling parallels between the administration's deal with al-Assad and the one it is now pursuing with Tehran. Both represent deep cynicism or a fundamentally naïve understanding of the regimes with which we are negotiating. In both cases, the administration has tried to reach common ground with the world's foremost sponsors of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and al Qaeda -- which these regimes have funded, trained or sheltered. All of this was true before the administration started these negotiations, and it remains true today. Neither Tehran nor al-Assad has changed ways and chosen normalization with the international community. To the contrary, external factors forced them into situations in which they had to cooperate at least ostensibly on isolated issues -- al-Assad on chemical weapons due to threatened airstrikes and Tehran on its nuclear program due to crippling sanctions. Both have only reluctantly engaged and have taken steps to delay, obstruct and circumvent verifiable agreements. As continues to be the case with al-Assad, Tehran has been emboldened by the administration's approach. It has increased lethal support to al-Assad in Syria, deployed troops and supported sectarian militias in Iraq, and ramped up aid to other militant groups, including the insurgent Houthis in Yemen. These activities are now exacerbating the very humanitarian and terrorist crises that Iran helped cause by preventing political compromise in Iraq and Syria. As was the case with al-Assad, a deal will effectively make Tehran a partner to the administration in which the White House accepts the Iranian regime's legitimacy by virtue of the agreement. And there will still be little confidence that Tehran will actually honor the terms of any deal it accepts. Even while negotiations have been underway, Iran has been caught procuring illicit nuclear technology. The regime has a track record of concealing nuclear facilities and obstructing the International Atomic Energy Agency's access to others, including its infamous Parchin base. As IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed again this week, Tehran has still only partially answered one of the IAEA's long-standing, 12 questions on possible military dimensions of its passed nuclear activities. Amid his continued calls for "death to America," Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted his demand just last week that sanctions be lifted immediately as a part of any deal, not as a result of verified observance of a deal. Tehran has demonstrated repeatedly that it will not allow verification of its passed activities or allow actual compliance to be a prerequisite for further sanctions relief. Without a complete understanding of Iran's program, the international community does not have the information it needs for a responsible deal. A regime so committed to supporting terrorism, violently oppressing its own people and others, threatening U.S. national security and destroying Israel cannot be trusted. And without trust and verification there can be no acceptable deal. The world has witnessed the results of such a naïve arrangement before -- an unprecedented rise of terrorism, a grave humanitarian crisis and a blatant disregard for human life. We are seeing it once again in response to the administration's efforts with Iran. As we learned with Syria's al-Assad, making a deal with a terrorist-supporting tyrant yields disaster down the road. Let's not make that mistake twice. +(CNN)Is there anything Monopoly can't do? Over the course of its 80-year life, it's been played underwater, underground, in space (OK, just the tokens) and on giant game boards. It's used chocolate and featured real money. There have been games that barely lasted the night and marathon contests that went on for weeks. Not bad for a game that, according to lore, maker Parker Brothers originally rejected for containing "52 fundamental errors." March 19 marks the official 80th anniversary of the world's best-selling board game, now manufactured by Hasbro. Its circuitous history, like its game board, has been filled with several interesting turns. Here are a few: . Legend has it that Charles Darrow, an unemployed salesman, invented the game in his kitchen in 1930. But the roots of Monopoly actually date back a few more decades, to a game called the Landlord's Game created by Elizabeth Magie in 1903. The Landlord's Game was meant to be educational, illustrating economist Henry George's belief -- inspired by the Gilded Age -- that property ownership by individuals is inherently unfair. Magie's game was an underground success, leading to a number of offshoots, including the one that Darrow tweaked. Parker Brothers bought her patent for $500 in 1935, closing the loop. As for Darrow, he was inspired in 1932 by a version created by a New Jersey Quaker community that made Atlantic City the locale of the game. Darrow added colors and other design elements -- "a look and feel to his board that would prove immensely appealing," writes Philip E. Orbanes in "Monopoly," a 2006 history of the game. Darrow's game was initially rejected by Parker Brothers for three errors -- not 52 -- but when his independent sales took off, Parker Brothers bought the game from him. The date? March 19, 1935. The numbers are staggering. Monopoly has been translated into 47 languages. It's played in 114 countries. It's sold more than 275 million copies. Hasbro prints $30 billion in Monopoly money each year, and well more than $3 trillion has been printed since 1935. Not bad considering each standard game comes with $20,580 -- though it's in the rules that the bank can never go broke, so make up some scrip if you need it. Incidentally, the Monopoly Man -- named Rich Uncle Pennybags -- was likely based on mustachioed financier J.P. Morgan. Even before numerous editions of Monopoly were widely licensed, there were local board variations depending on the country. Boardwalk, for example, is Mayfair in Britain, Schlossallee in Germany, Kalverstraat in the Netherlands and Rue de la Paix in France, after major streets in London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris. Other streets have also drawn from local geography. The new "Here & Now" U.S. edition, however, opened the voting to enthusiasts -- and Pierre (population 14,000), the capital of South Dakota, won pride of place as Boardwalk. (Lima, Peru, won the World Edition.) Pierre was one of 60 cities in the running, Mayor Laurie Gill said, and was "in the bottom of the pack" when she was informed of the contest. Being a competitive sort, she was determined to push Pierre past perhaps more logical cities such as New York or Los Angeles. "It's our energy and the fact we engaged our citizens," she told CNN. "I was doing radio and press releases and working with our school district, and our Chamber of Commerce utilized social media. It became a big deal here." One consideration for visitors: Pierre is on the Missouri River, but it lacks a literal boardwalk. (There are paths.) Still, given the city's triumph, you probably wouldn't want to play Monopoly against an energized Pierre resident. Pierre may be doing better than Atlantic City, which has struggled since the mid-2000s to return to its gambling heyday. Still, the New Jersey resort does have Monopoly to thank for some of its fame -- not that it was appreciated at one time. In the early '70s, a city commissioner proposed renaming Mediterranean and Baltic avenues, since both had other names in different parts of town. The idea caused an uproar among Monopoly fans and the idea was eventually shot down. "Baltic and Mediterranean are the streets we know," wrote one commissioner. "Without them, we could never pass Go." Do you put money from Chance and Community Chest in the center of the board and collect it when landing on Free Parking? Not in the rules. Do you give $400 for landing on Go instead of $200? Not in the rules. Do you allow secret side deals? Uh-uh. (Admittedly, there is now a set of "House Rules" that allow for variations, but they're not official.) The dismissive line "Do not pass Go, do not collect $200," which has worked its way into a few songs, is from Monopoly. And the game also gave us the term "Monopoly money," as in worthless currency. There aren't many movies featuring the game, but "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has a famous scene with William Redfield and Danny DeVito arguing over DeVito's play. Stay tuned, though: a Monopoly movie is back on after several years in Hollywood purgatory. So forget the classic definition of "Monopoly money." Hasbro has taken quite a bunch to the bank. The original set featured a top hat, iron, shoe, thimble, battleship and cannon. Over the years, some pieces have been retired -- including a purse, rocking horse and lantern -- and others have been added. The latest? A bag of money and a cat. And they're all still made of metal, just as they've been for decades. Want to win at Monopoly? Though there's some chance involved (pardon the pun), the low-rent light blues and the mid-market oranges are the most desirable, according to a study done for Maxine Brady's 1974 "The Monopoly Book." The oranges and reds are the most likely to be landed on. The more upscale greens will pay off eventually, but they're expensive to develop, so you'd better have another form of cash flow in the short term. Or you could just do what millions have done since Darrow's day: Land on someone else's hotel, get mad and turn over the game board. Hey, it worked in college. +(CNN)You'll see some familiar faces in the Final Four. Duke beat Gonzaga 66-52 on Sunday, giving Blue Devils' coach Mike Krzyzewski his 12th trip to the semifinals of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Justise Winslow and Matt Jones each scored 16 to help Duke win the South Region. Gonzaga, led by 16 points from Kyle Wiltjer, was hoping to earn its first trip to the Final Four. Here's how the Final Four, to be played in Indianapolis, has shaped up: . Next Saturday, Duke will face Michigan State in the first semifinal. In the next game, top seed Kentucky will battle Wisconsin. The winners will meet on Monday, April 6, for the national championship. One other tournament game was played Sunday. Michigan State overcame Louisville 76-70 in overtime to win the East Region. The victory was sweet vindication for the Spartans, who had an up-and-down season and came into the East Region as a No. 7 seed. This will be the seventh Final Four for coach Tom Izzo, who led Michigan State to the national title in 2000. Krzyzewski has won four national championships at Duke, which was the top seed in the South Region. +(CNN)Nineteen-year-old Tony Robinson was not armed when a Madison, Wisconsin, police officer fatally shot him, Police Chief Mike Koval said Saturday. "We have to be clear about this," Koval said. "He was unarmed. That's going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, the public, to accept, to understand ... why deadly force had to be used." The officer who killed Robinson, 12-year department veteran Matt Kenny, had used deadly force before, shooting and killing a man in 2007, the chief said. Kenny was exonerated of any wrongdoing and even received a commendation, the chief said, adding that the incident was "concluded to be a suicide by cop" situation. Robinson was shot after allegedly assaulting Kenny, who was responding Friday evening to a reported disturbance at a Madison residence, Koval said. Afterward, protesters in this university town took to the streets and converged on City Hall, chanting "Black lives matter." Koval called for calm, while acknowledging the protests are reminiscent of those that followed the deaths of black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, after confrontations with police. Police described Robinson as African-American. "In light of so much things that have happened not just across the country, but in our own community, it's understandable that the reaction at the scene and of some of our citizens is extremely volatile, emotional and upsetting," the police chief told CNN affiliate WKOW-TV. "And we understand that. That's absolutely appropriate under these circumstances. We would urge, obviously, that everyone exercise restraint." Koval said he visited the home of Robinson's mother late Friday night and met Robinson's grandparents outside the house. They talked and prayed, the chief said, but they advised him to put off visiting Robinson's mother "based on the dynamics" of the situation. "I couldn't even begin to get my hands around the enormity of the loss and the tragic consequences," he said. "Nineteen years old is too young." Robinson's mother, Andrea Irwin, told CNN affiliate WKOW that she didn't understand what happened. "My son has never been a violent person, never," she said. "To die in such a violent way baffles me." Irwin said Robinson served as a father figure to her other children. "He was our caretaker and so gentle," she said. The incident started when authorities got a call that a black male was yelling and jumping in front of cars, Koval said. Dispatchers identified him as Robinson, according to 911 audio obtained by WKOW. A little later the dispatcher says, "Apparently Tony hit one of his friends, um no weapons seen." About four minutes later, the dispatcher says, "I got another call for the same suspect at [the same address]. He tried to strangle another patron." About 30 seconds later, an unidentified officer says, "Shots fired, shots fired." When Kenny went to the apartment, he heard some commotion and forced his way in, Koval said. "Once inside the home the subject involved in this incident -- the same one allegedly out in traffic and that had battered someone -- assaulted my officer," Koval said. After that, according to the chief, "The officer did draw his revolver and subsequently shot the subject." Backup officers and others at the scene performed CPR on the young man, who later died at the hospital. Kenny suffered a blow to the head, but is being treated and will be released, Koval said. Kenny has been placed on administrative leave with pay. Koval said he's not sure what Robinson was doing at the house in the first place. "His relationship to the home is unclear to me, although there were certainly familiar acquaintances. This was not a random place. He had hung out." In a statement Saturday, state Attorney General Brad Schimel said he "can only imagine the heartbreak" of Robinson's parents and added he's "concerned for the officer ... who, I imagine, is experiencing great trauma as well." "They are all in my thoughts and prayers," Schimel said. Under Wisconsin law, officer-involved shootings are investigated by an outside agency, in this case the Division of Criminal Investigation. Once DCI completes the investigation, the report will go to the local district attorney, Koval said. Some are demanding answers sooner rather than later. On Friday night, dozens of demonstrators came out to the area around the apartment, which police had blocked off. A group also moved toward City Hall before dispersing early Saturday. "Who do we trust?" some called out, prompting the response, "No one!" And in another refrain, they chanted, "Black lives matter." The protesters' sentiments were echoed online, where some adopted the #WillyStreet hashtag in reference to Williamson Street, where the shooting happened. "Praying for Madison tonight," wrote one activist. "Stand up, sit in, walk out - until u get answers. And until there are no more hashtag eulogies." Mayor Paul Soglin spoke to the raw feelings, calling what happened "an enormous tragedy." "We've got a family that's really hurting," Soglin said, according to WKOW. "And we've got a city and neighborhood that's feeling pretty well hurt itself." Some of the protesters were members of the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition that was formed last summer after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson. The group wants more reactive policing in African-American neighborhoods, said group member Brandi Grayson. She said Madison police park on street corners in African-American neighborhoods and wait for something to happen, which leads to residents being hassled. That doesn't happen in white neighborhoods, she said. She said Young, Gifted and Black will be working with church groups on Sunday and will hold more rallies Tuesday and Wednesday. CNN's Faith Karami and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report. +(CNN)Nigerians are scheduled to head to the polls this Saturday in what will be the most closely watched elections in Africa this year. The poll will test the strength of an electoral process that has been marred by violence and flawed results throughout the country's short democratic history. The stakes are high, and there is a very real danger of prolonged violence across the country if the electorate questions the legitimacy of the outcome. The conduct of the elections will have long lasting repercussions on both Nigerians and the U.S.-Nigeria relationship. Against the backdrop of these elections is the ongoing threat and destabilization caused by Boko Haram, a group that has killed more than 10,000 people in northeastern Nigeria during its five-year campaign of terror, and kidnapped hundreds more, including young girls. These actions have shocked and horrified Americans. What many Americans may not recognize is how important the relationship with Nigeria is for the United States. We have economic and security interests that are at stake in this election, especially as Nigeria has been one of our strongest allies in the region since military rule there ended. In the last decade, the U.S. has trained and equipped thousands of Nigerian soldiers who have participated in peacekeeping missions in Mali, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia, helping bring a measure of peace and stability to nations in the West Africa region. But now we need Nigeria to be a front-line ally against terrorism, particularly as Boko Haram pledges fidelity to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, Nigeria also has the largest economy in Africa and has the continent's largest population. Indeed, it has been identified as one in the next set of prominent emerging economies, making it a tantalizing target for U.S. private investment. It is also Africa's No. 1 oil producer, although an increasingly diversified economy -- for example in the agriculture sector -- provides a myriad of opportunities for more robust trade with the United States. Ultimately, a stable Nigeria will mean real economic opportunities for Americans -- a win-win proposition. Yet despite this potential, the uncertain electoral environment and other serious challenges stand in the way of a deeper bond. The reality is that endemic corruption remains an obstacle to more cooperation, especially when you consider the Nigerian military's poor performance fighting Boko Haram, despite security spending reportedly being around $6 billion last year -- clearly, much of the money meant for the military is not being spent on salaries, equipment or materiel. Similarly, weak governance remains an impediment to Nigeria's progress and enhanced ties with the United States. Nearly 70% of those in areas in the north live in absolute poverty, according to recent data, as compared to about 50% in southern areas of the country. Such failure on the part of the government to address poverty and inequality facilitates Boko Haram's recruitment effort and foments internal instability. The Nigerian people clearly believe that these issues must be addressed. According to an Afrobarometer survey released in January, 74% of Nigerian citizens said that their country is going "in the wrong direction." Half of Nigerians surveyed expressed significant concern about political intimidation or violence in the current election environment. If the Nigerian leadership rises to the challenge of tackling these difficult issues, there is nothing standing in the way of even closer ties between our two countries. But it is not just about the leadership -- this election offers the chance for all Nigerians to choose their future, and decide which policies will shape the next four years. Their example, for better or worse, will be watched -- and perhaps even replicated by other African states. The decisions made in the coming days and weeks will shape U.S.-Nigeria relations for years to come. But more importantly, they will determine the future for Nigeria's people. The world is watching Nigeria's historic choice with great expectation and even greater hope. +Dulles, Virginia (CNN)Two quick-thinking passengers in the third row of a United flight to Denver tackled and subdued a man who was heading toward the cockpit, other travelers on the plane told CNN on Tuesday. The incident started shortly after United Flight 1074 took off around 10:15 p.m. Monday from Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington. The Boeing 737 jet was supposed to take its 33 passengers and six crew members to Denver, but turned back because the unnamed passenger "failed to comply with crew instructions," United Airlines spokesman Luke Punzenberger said. Joshua Lindstrom told "Anderson Cooper 360˚" Tuesday night that a man was acting strangely as he moved up the aisle. "The flight attendant gave some sort of command to stand back, and he turned and started heading toward the cockpit. And the guy in 3E was a lightning bolt and just jumped out of his seat and took the guy down to the ground." The hero's seatmate piled on and grabbed the out-of-control passenger's legs, Lindstrom said. Passenger Donna Tellam told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" the men reacted so quickly she thought they were air marshals. She said the unruly man had come down the aisle, screaming about the plane going too slow and flailing his arms. A flight attendant used plastic ties to bind the man's wrists as the plane headed back, she said. Earlier, a government official with direct knowledge of the incident told CNN that the detained passenger had run toward the cockpit screaming "jihad, jihad." Lindstrom told Cooper he didn't hear those words but after the flight was back on the ground the man who tackled the unruly passenger mentioned it. "He said, 'Did you hear it? Like he said 'jihad' a couple times (while he was being restrained)," Lindstrom said. "... In the end it was more surreal than it was scary. It was wild." Lindstrom said two other people helped keep the man on the floor for the 20 minutes or so that it took the flight crew to return to Dulles. During that time, the subdued man's mood would change. The man was rattling on about someone trying to bring the plane down, then become despondent and cry, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." A cell phone video shows the man, bruised on his face, being held down. At one point, he pleads, "Please stop, please stop, they said call it off." At another, the man seems to cry as he says, "I'm so sorry." "Don't move," one passenger says, apparently trying to calm the man. "You're OK. We're going to get you off this plane, buddy." The plane returned to Dulles around 10:40 p.m., said Kimberly Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which runs the northern Virginia airport. Airport police took the unruly passenger off the plane, and airport firefighter-EMTs transported him to a nearby hospital, according to Gibbs. As of late Tuesday evening, the passenger had not been arrested or charged with a crime, officials said. There is nothing, so far, in the tackled man's background to suggest he has a connection to terrorists, the government source said. No weapons were found after he was subdued. By then, the other passengers -- none of whom was injured -- had been rebooked on new Denver-bound flights. Some opted to take the first flight to Colorado on Tuesday, while others chose to leave later, according to Punzenberger, the United spokesman. Opinion: Pilot: How safe are you on a plane? CNN's Rene Marsh reported from Dulles Airport, and CNN's Steve Almasy and Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Tina Burnside, Javi Morgado, Holly Yan and Diane Ruggiero contributed to this report. +(CNN)Rand Paul's goal to run for two offices in 2016 cleared a hurdle Saturday after the Kentucky GOP decided to move forward with a proposal to hold a presidential caucus rather than a primary. The plan allows the first-term U.S. senator, who's running for re-election and making a likely bid for president, to get around a Kentucky law that prohibits candidates from appearing on the same ballot twice. Rand Paul searches for green light on caucus proposal . After Paul met with the party's 54-member executive committee in Bowling Green for a two-hour session, the group voted unanimously to appoint a smaller committee that would decide the rules and regulations of how a caucus would be held. The final vote would come in August when a larger gathering of the Kentucky GOP is scheduled to meet and hear a more detailed plan from the task force. "We thank the members of RPK for their unanimous support and look forward to continuing this process," said Paul's top adviser, Doug Stafford, in a statement. Kentucky law allows the state party to determine the details of its presidential preference vote, but not the primary for other elected offices in the state. In other words, Paul's name for his Senate re-election bid would still remain on the May 2016 primary ballot, but the presidential vote would likely move up earlier in the year to March. The senator appeared at the meeting to address some concerns about a caucus, namely the increased cost, as well as the lower voter turnout typically associated with caucuses. He has pledged to raise money through his donor network to help offset the costs, and proponents of the caucus argue that the significant media attention expected and Kentucky's earlier placement in the nominating calendar would spur just as much turnout. Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Democrat, issued a scathing statement Saturday, saying a Republican caucus next year "could create potential chaos in our electoral process" and promised to "monitor the situation" in the coming months. "In the meantime, I call on the Republican Party of Kentucky to provide details on how all their voters would be able to participate and how the party intends to uphold the integrity of the process," she said. +(CNN)"Scandal" star Kerry Washington stood up for same-sex rights in a fiery speech Saturday night that brought a cheering crowd to its feet. Washington made the remarks in her acceptance speech at the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, where she received the Vanguard Award for promoting equality. In addition to calling for more representation of the LGBT community in Hollywood, she also called out marginalized communities for turning against each other, encouraging them to come together. "Women, poor people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people: we have been pitted against each other and made to feel like there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of 'other,'" she said. "As others, we are taught that to be successful, we must reject those other others, or we will never belong." She also challenged black people who don't support gay marriage to resist "messages of hate." "We can't say that we believe in each other's fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each others' existence and the truth of each other's hearts. We must be allies. And we must be allies in this business because to be represented is to be humanized. And as long as anyone, anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake and we are all vulnerable." Watch Washington's full speech below. +(The Hollywood Reporter)A rebellious young woman, a sniper and an aging rocker are heading to theaters this weekend with the releases of "Insurgent," "The Gunman" and "Danny Collins." Find out what The Hollywood Reporter's critics are saying about the weekend's new offerings (as well as which film will likely top the weekend's box office). Read More: 'Insurgent': Veronica Roth on Tris Holding Guns, That Mystery Box and Major Book-Movie Changes . The second installment in the film series based on the YA book trilogy stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer. Robert Schwentke took over directorial duties for the film, which centers on a young woman who confronts the authorities in her society. THR film critic Sheri Linden writes in her review that the series "offers a more cohesive and involving second installment," wihile Schwentke "brings a flair for taut and flavorful action." Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Mark Rylance star in director Pierre Morel's action film about a sniper on the run in the Congo. "This is pretty boilerplate stuff that takes itself way too seriously," writes THR film critic Leslie Felperin in her review. A rock star regrets his life choices after he finds a long-lost letter to him from John Lennon in writer-director Dan Fogelman's dramedy. Al Pacino, Jennifer Garner and Annette Bening star. According to THR chief film critic Todd McCarthy, the film "doesn't take long to reveal itself as thoroughly cutesy, cornball stuff." Read his full review here. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Police in Charlottesville, Virginia, will publicly discuss on Monday the results of their investigation into an alleged gang rape of a University of Virginia student, which was initially reported last year in Rolling Stone magazine. The police findings could put to rest a complicated controversy about the alleged gang rape of a female student at a fraternity party. The accusation has been controversial because of the nature of such a crime and because the accusation itself has been clouded by subsequent questions about the Rolling Stone article. After the account was published last fall, Rolling Stone magazine later apologized for discrepancies in its article about the alleged gang rape after friends of the victim expressed doubts about the woman's account and the accused fraternity chapter denied key details. CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter described Rolling Stone's announcement as falling short of a full-scale retraction. It remains unclear what really happened to the female student, Stelter said. "We are in the phase here where Rolling Stone is trying to figure that out," Stelter said in December. "They've apologized, but not retracted. So they're not saying the story is false. They're just saying there are some questions they need to figure out the answers to still." The Charlottesville Police Department will hold its press conference at 2 p.m. ET on Monday. Rolling Stone editors had chosen not to contact the man who allegedly "orchestrated the attack on 'Jackie' (the woman who was the subject of the article) nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her," a decision the magazine said it regretted. "In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced," Rolling Stone said in December. Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana later tweeted that "the truth would have been better served by getting the other side of the story." University of Virginia pledges zero-tolerance in rape cases . The article chronicled the school's failure to respond to that alleged assault. It prompted an emergency meeting by the school's governing board and the announcement of a zero-tolerance approach toward sexual assault cases. According to the magazine, Jackie, who at the time had just started her freshman year at the Charlottesville school, claimed she was raped by seven men at Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, while two more gave encouragement, during a party. However, the University of Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi chapter did not have a party the night of September 28, 2012, the date when the alleged attack occurred, or at all that weekend, the chapter said. The chapter's lawyer, Ben Warthen, told CNN that is proved by email and fraternity records. Warthen said there were other discrepancies in the accuser's account. For example, the accused orchestrator of the alleged rape did not belong to the fraternity, the fraternity house has no side staircase, and there were no pledges at that time of year. Jackie told the magazine she hurried out a side staircase after the incident and said her attackers egged each other on, asking, "Don't you want to be a brother?" CNN's Greg Botelho, Melissa Gray and Sara Ganim contributed to this report. +(CNN)When Longmont, Colorado, police officer Billy Sawyer responded to a 911 call from a pregnant woman who was stabbed and had her fetus ripped out, he wasn't prepared for what they would see. "She was barely conscious. It was very hard to keep her attention at the moment," Sawyer told CNN's Erin Burnett. " And she was covered in blood. It was one of the most horrific crime scenes I have seen." The officer grabbed a pair of gloves and tried to find where she was injured. Michelle Wilkins was weak and in shock when police arrived. Despite her shock, Wilkins was able to tell Sawyer that she had responded to a Craigslist ad and had been attacked. She didn't know at that moment that she had lost her child, but her ability to communicate the events helped save her own life. "She's an amazing woman to have that will and that drive to survive and do what she did and be able to contact the police and tell us where she was at, where inside of that location she was at, and speak to me as I entered the residence, direct me to her location," Sawyer said. "I mean, she is the only reason why she's alive right now." The grisly cutting of the fetus from Wilkins began when she responded to a Craigslist ad about baby clothes for sale. The 26-year-old Wilkins, who was seven months' pregnant, arrived at the seller's home Wednesday in Longmont. Stabbed in the stomach and bleeding, Wilkins called 911. Another officer, Phil Piotrowski, told CNN affiliate KDVR. that the scene was almost too much to bear. He had to take a moment to collect himself. "When I walked in and looked at her for a short moment, I actually had to walk out for a second because my head wasn't able to wrap around it." Still, given what Wilkins had endured, it left him impressed. "She is probably one of the strongest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet," Piotrowski said. Michelle Wilkins' uncle Chris Wilkins said, "She's alive because professional first responders execute perfectly." But Piotrowski believes Wilkins is the one who "saved her own life." The fetus died, but the mother survived and "is improving minute by minute, hour by hour," according to Chris Wilkins. She's reported to be in critical but stable condition. Dynel Lane, 34, a former nurse aide, is being held on $2 million bail while prosecutors weigh charges against her, including murder. Lane is accused of stabbing Wilkins and removing a female fetus. The murder charge would reportedly depend on whether the fetus was old enough to have lived outside of her mother's body. In a statement obtained by KDVR, Michelle Wilkins' family says, "We cannot begin to fathom the depths of depravity and evil which drove her attacker, and trust that between law enforcement and our legal system; they will make sure justice is carried out." CNN's John Fricke contributed to this report. +(CNN)Fox and the TV Academy's choice for this year's Emmy host is Andy Samberg. The actor and comedian, star of the network's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," will emcee the live awards show on Sept. 20 — marking his first time hosting a major television event. "Buckle your seat belts, Emmy viewers!," said Samberg in a statement. "Like, in general you should buckle your seat belts in your car. In fact, even if you're not an Emmy viewer, you should buckle your seat belt. It can be dangerous on the road. Also, if you're not an Emmy viewer, you should strongly consider becoming one this year, because I'm hosting, and it's gonna be a wild ride. So buckle your seat belts." Read More: Emmy Comedy Clarification: TV Academy Says Rule Changes "Just a Start" Samberg isn't a stranger to award shows. He joined Lonely Island collaborators Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer in a Oscars performance just last month. He also took home a 2014 Golden Globe for his work on "Brooklyn" and, of course, nabbed an Emmy for himself for writing "Saturday Night Live" tune "D--- in a Box." Read more: The uncensored, epic, never-told story behind 'Mad Men' "The moment the Emmy Awards' host was brought up, we said it had to be Andy," said Fox Television Group chairmen and CEOs Gary Newman and Dana Walden. "He is fearless, hilarious, an award-winning comedian, singer, writer and actor with incredible live TV experience. We know he'll deliver the laughs and give viewers an incredible night they will enjoy." Getting his start on "Saturday Night Live," Samberg becomes the latest alum of the show to move into hosting. NBC had Seth Meyers perform the duties last year, and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler just wrapped their three-year stint hosting the Golden Globes — to much critical acclaim. Read more: Fox plots "Empire" Season 2: Lee Daniels courts Oprah, pushes for less "opulence" "It's wonderfully fitting that we have Andy Samberg, an Emmy Award winner himself, as our host for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards," added TV Academy chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy. "Andy has excelled in all aspects of the television universe, both from behind and in front of the camera. His humor, insights and charisma will be an exciting addition to our annual celebration of television's best and brightest." Returning to Sunday night, Fox will air the Emmys from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. E.T. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)A British military health care worker in Sierra Leone has tested positive for Ebola, a UK health agency said. Medical experts are assessing what to do next, including whether or not the evacuate the infected individual to the United Kingdom for treatment, according to a Public Health England spokesperson. An Ebola outbreak has devastated parts of West Africa, with Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia being the hardest hit nations. The vast majority of the more than 24,000 confirmed, reportable and suspected cases, as well as the nearly 10,000 reported deaths, have been in those three countries, the World Health Organization reports. In some cases, citizens of other nations have come down with the deadly disease while working there -- as, apparently, is true for the UK military heath care worker whose diagnosis was announced Wednesday. Authorities are investigating how this person was exposed to the virus and tracing individuals in recent contact with the diagnosed worker, said the Public Health England spokesperson. "Any individuals identified as having had close contact will be assessed and a clinical decision made regarding bringing them to the UK," the spokesperson said. Pauline Cafferkey, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United Kingdom, was discharged from London's Royal Free Hospital in January after battling the virus. She is a public health nurse in Scotland's South Lanarkshire area who was part of a 30-strong team of medical volunteers deployed to West Africa by the UK government last month in a joint endeavor with Save the Children, according to British media outlets. +Norman, Oklahoma (CNN)Trinidad James isn't mad at Beauton Gilbow. The rapper's hit song can be heard playing in the background as Gilbow, the house mother of the University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon house -- known as Mom B. -- repeats the n-word seven times on camera. It appears overboard considering that the hook of the song, "All Gold Everything," uses the word only three times per succession. Gilbow has been bombarded with claims that she's just as racist as the fraternity members caught singing a racist song on a bus last weekend. It's an allegation she's firmly denied, and the Atlanta rapper who wrote "All Gold Everything" is willing to give her a pass, though he wouldn't condone her use of the word. He doesn't hate her, though. "I'm not going to be that person," he told CNN. "It's a rock and a hard place. I can't be as upset at that lady. I'm upset at the fraternity because what they're saying is a chant that's just completely disrespectful to the black race. As far as that lady goes -- man, that's an old lady, man. Let that lady be." The Trinidad-born rapper, whose real name is Nicholas Williams, said he doesn't like giving interviews about race and the n-word because his views are complex and hip-hop stars can be hypocrites when it comes to the topics. "It's hard to ridicule somebody for something that you continue to use in your music," he said. "Every (hip-hop) artist is using the n-word in their music -- hit records with the n-word in it. You can't be upset when somebody says it. You can't. It's hard to differentiate when you can use it. If we don't want the word used and the word holds such a negative connotation, then we shouldn't use it at all, period." He compared it to children hearing their parents curse, "and they told you not to curse. You wanted to curse. You cursed." Context matters, he said. If you're using the word in a negative way, talking down to someone or being sarcastic, that's wrong. "But if it's somebody that you've been rocking with or we're listening to music or whatever, I can't be upset," he said. "It's humanly impossible for you to be upset at a different race saying it when you're saying it in your music. That's crazy to me." He has a different take on the fraternity members caught clapping, pumping their fists and chanting, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me." SAE no stranger to scandal . "I don't respect that at all. What kind of world are we living in here?" he asked. He took it personally, he said, because he and other hip-hop artists travel the country to perform for fraternities, and to know any fraternity member would harbor such vile feelings toward him "burns my heart." As fellow Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame noted when he canceled an upcoming show for the University of Oklahoma SAEs, Trinidad James said people of all races attend his concerts and have a great time together. "These fraternities are places that us as hip-hop artists, we come and do amazing shows for these fraternities, like I just did Texas Tech, I just did Texas A&M, Delta Chi, Sigma Chi, and those guys were great. And I've done a show actually at Oklahoma last year," he said. "So to see that that chapter feels that type of way toward the black race, it hurts, man. It sucks." He even takes a special pride in performing in front of these audiences, he said. "We go really hard for these college kids. I didn't go to college, so for me, I feel really good when I can make kids who are doing the right thing and going to college ... have a good time because college is so strenuous on the mind and it's so hard when you've got to pay tuition and books, trying to survive as a young adult, so that's why we try to come and make sure the kids have a great time. If you go look at the shows, it's an amazing time." As far as the chances that he'd ever perform in front of Oklahoma's SAE chapter in the future, forget about it, he said. He doesn't care if they were resurrected as an all-black fraternity, he said. "I don't want nothing to do with that because that's ridiculous. I feel like anything they do now is just to cover it up and make it look better," he said. And while it's disturbing to see young people voicing racist leanings, Trinidad James said he'd prefer to know where someone stands over being misled. Fraternities considering booking him in the future can keep that in mind, he said. "I would rather you didn't even book me for the shows. I'm not no hired monkey," he said. "Just don't be cool with me. Don't talk to me. If you feel that way about me that you would want to hang me from a tree then don't talk to me. I would stay away from you because obviously my skin color offends your life." CNN's Nick Valencia conducted the interview from Norman, Oklahoma, and Eliott C. McLaughlin wrote from Atlanta. +(CNN)George Zimmerman says he bears a grudge against President Obama, accusing him of inflaming racial tensions around the Trayvon Martin case. Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder in 2013 over Martin's death, made the allegations against Obama in a video posted on his lawyers' website. The February 2012 killing of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, by Zimmerman, a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, stirred fierce debate about race and the justice system. Zimmerman, who is now 31, said he shot Martin in self-defense during a confrontation in Sanford, Florida. But critics allege the death was spurred by racial profiling. In the new video, Zimmerman claims it was Obama who stoked racial tensions surrounding the case. He cites the President's remarks in March 2012, when the case was still being investigated, in which Obama said, "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon." "To me, that was clearly a dereliction of duty, pitting Americans against each other solely based on race," Zimmerman says in the conversation with his lawyer Howard Iken, who does not appear on camera. Zimmerman notes that Obama's press secretary at the time, Jay Carney, had said previously that the White House would not wade into the case, calling it "a local law-enforcement matter." Asked if he felt there was one government agency or official who brought the most unfairness to his situation, Zimmerman is quick to respond. "By far, the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama," he says. Zimmerman's comments are the first since the U.S. Justice Department announced last month that it wouldn't bring any civil rights charges against him. He says that he feels that "the Department of Justice process worked," but also that it should have investigated whether his civil rights were violated. "They had various numerous examples of bounties place on my head, credible threats placed against myself and my family," he says, adding that "the President and the Attorney General and the federal government declined to do anything about it." Zimmerman says he has a clear conscience over Martin's death. "Only in a true life or death scenario can you have mental clearness to know that you cannot feel guilty for surviving," he says. +(CNN)"India's Daughter," the BBC Four documentary about the infamous 2012 gang rape in Delhi, premiered in the U.S. last week. If you haven't seen it, you have likely heard selections from the film's interview with Mukesh Singh, who is on death row for the crime. "A decent girl won't roam around at nine o'clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he says. "When being raped, she shouldn't fight back. She should just be silent." Certain other men interviewed for the documentary say such things as, "In our culture, there is no place for a woman" and that if a daughter or sister "engaged in pre-marital activities ... I would put petrol on her and set her alight." Note: Those men are not rapist-murderers. They are their lawyers. Many (I'd like to think most) of us cringed at these comments and their garishly clear misogyny. But these words were not just a window into one uniquely deranged soul. Let's be clear: Singh is just reading -- perhaps more loudly and cruelly than others, but still -- from a cultural script we all share. Yes, we all. Perhaps your first thought when you heard or read those words was, "Violence against women is really bad...in India." And in many ways, of course, it is. Reports this weekend of a robbery at a Christian school in eastern India, in which, officials said, one of the assailants allegedly raped a 70-year-old nun, add to the narrative. But as unfathomable as this brutality is, we must resist the temptation to presume some sort of American violence-against-women exceptionalism, making others the bad guys while crowing about "how far women have come" in the United States. Or to say, "Sure, we still have issues, but not like that." I know that temptation is there. Our global human rights organization, based in the U.S. and India, works to inspire individuals and institutions to drive the culture change needed to make violence against women unacceptable. When I describe our work -- including our campaigns and issues in both countries and beyond -- the questions people ask often reveal their at least initial assumption: that we here in the U.S. are working solely to stop violence against women in India. Yet we do have issues in the U.S., issues "like that." We have mass murderer Elliot Rodger, who before he killed six people and injured 14 others in Isla Vista California last year, wrote his own 137-page version of that same misogynist script. We know from "The Hunting Ground," documentarian Kirby Dick's film about sexual assault on college campuses -- also now in theaters -- that multitudes of women, and many men, have had violated their right to an education free from violence. We know that women are leaving the tech industry, Wall Street, and Internet feminism in droves due to untenable discrimination and violence. We know that women (and people of all genders) are assaulted by strangers and intimates every day. And what of the response? As Zak Cheney-Rice noted, discussing "India's Daughter" in Mic.com, "from India to the U.S., citizens and officials alike display a troubling inclination to sympathize with rapists and vilify their victims." A United Nations report released last week, marking the 20th anniversary of the landmark women's rights conference in Beijing, confirms that (as The New York Times put it) "violence against women -- including rape, murder and sexual harassment -- remains stubbornly high in countries rich and poor, at war and at peace." Everywhere. We can't relegate such violence to "the other," to the "not here, not us, not me." To do so is not only incorrect, it is damaging. Yes, we must be concerned for the human rights of all the world's citizens. Yes, violence against women varies in form and degree. But to imagine that violence against women happens only, or mostly, "somewhere else," is exactly what keeps the culture of violence alive at home. Concern for others does not absolve us of responsibility for ourselves. Likewise, the extreme actions or words of a few marquee misogynists, wherever they live, do not absolve us. We must all ask ourselves: To what degree do we repeat those scripts, or stay silent when we hear them from others? Our actions, and inactions, fuel the culture from which both extreme and everyday violence and discrimination emerge. We cannot furrow our brows about India, or any of those "others" -- abusive men in fraternities, for example -- and be done. Indeed, "India's Daughter" premiered in the U.S. with the intent of drawing attention to gender inequality and sexual violence worldwide. So let's bring about the day when the next buzzworthy documentary is about the women and men and allies of all genders who have stepped up, together, to say no more: not in my home, not in my school, not in my country, not anywhere. +London (CNN)British Prime Minister David Cameron formally asked Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve his country's Parliament on Monday, opening the way for campaigning ahead of the May 7 general election. The procedural step means there are officially no members of Parliament until it reconvenes on May 18 for the swearing-in of members and the official state opening of Parliament on May 27. Addressing media outside the official prime ministerial residence at 10 Downing St., Cameron said that Britain had been "on the brink" when he came into office. "Of course, we haven't fixed everything, but Britain is back on her feet again." Cameron said the nation faced "a stark choice" in 38 days. "The next Prime Minister walking through that door will be me or (Labour Party leader) Ed Miliband," he said. "You can choose an economy that grows, that creates jobs, that generates the money to ensure a properly funded and improving NHS (National Health Service) ... and a government that will cut taxes for 30 million hard-working people ... or you can choose the economic chaos of Ed Miliband's Britain," Cameron said. "After five years of effort and sacrifice, Britain is on the right track. This election is about moving forward -- and as Prime Minister here at No. 10 that's what I will deliver." Miliband launched Labour's Business Manifesto on Monday, saying that a second Conservative term would threaten Britain's EU membership and pose "a clear and present danger" to British firms and prosperity. "There are two futures on offer at this election," Miliband said. "To carry on with a Conservative plan based on the idea that as long as the richest and most powerful succeed, everyone else will be OK. Or a Labour plan, a better plan, that says it is only when working people succeed that Britain succeeds." Miliband also referenced Cameron's March 23 announcement that the Conservative leader had ruled out standing for a third term -- before the election that will decide whether he even gets a second term in the top job -- saying the Conservative candidates would be "vying against each other for who can be the most extreme on Europe." Cameron and his Conservative Party won the last election in 2010, but not by enough to go into government alone. Without a majority in Parliament, a government becomes dependent on MPs, or lawmakers, from other parties to get its program voted through the House of Commons, the chamber that passes laws and legislation. For five years, Cameron has been governing in coalition with the UK's third party, the Liberal Democrats. Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister, has mostly backed Cameron in parliamentary debates against Labour's Miliband. "For the first time ever, the Liberal Democrats go into this campaign with a record of action in government to be extremely proud of," Clegg said Monday. "We have kept the government in the center ground and shown that we are the only party that can build a stronger economy and a fairer society." The right-wing UK Independence Party, or UKIP, which has pledged to take the UK out of the European Union, has made massive gains in the past year -- mostly at the expense of Cameron's Conservatives. Last year, in a backlash against the EU, UKIP caused a political earthquake and won elections to the European Parliament in Britain, and some commentators have likened its impact on UK politics to that of the tea party in the United States. It is unclear how UKIP will perform in the May 7 UK general election. Some of its supporters appeared to be casting protest votes last year and could return to the established Conservative and Labour parties when more is at stake. On Monday, UKIP leader Nigel Farage tweeted: "UKIP is the party of real change for real people. If you #VoteUKIP on May 7th, you'll get MPs willing to hold the government to account." Meanwhile, in Scotland, the September independence referendum (which narrowly failed) so reinvigorated the Scottish National Party that it could hit what is usually a key Labour stronghold, undermining Miliband's bid for power. Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond quit after the referendum, and Nicola Sturgeon now heads the party. "The general election on May 7 is a fantastic opportunity for Scotland to make Westminster sit up and take notice," Sturgeon said Monday. "By holding the balance of power in a hung Parliament, SNP MPs can work with others to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street -- and ensure that Scotland's priorities become priorities at Westminster," she said. Eligible Britons must be registered by April 20 to vote. +Moscow (CNN)Russia was ready to put its nuclear forces on alert over the crisis in Crimea last year, such was the threat to Russian people there, President Vladimir Putin said in a documentary that aired on state TV on Sunday night. Asked if Russia was prepared to bring its nuclear weapons into play, Putin said: "We were ready to do it. I talked with colleagues and told them that this (Crimea) is our historic territory, Russian people live there, they are in danger, we cannot leave them. "It wasn't us who committed a coup, it was the nationalists and people with extreme beliefs." But this was the worst-case scenario, he added, in the documentary broadcast on state-run channel Rossiya One. "I don't think this was actually anyone's wish -- to turn it into a world conflict." It wasn't known when the interview was originally taped. It aired even as speculation mounted about Putin's health, following an absence of several days from the public stage. He reappeared in public Monday. Russia formally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula last March, after Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following street protests that turned bloody. Russia called his ouster a coup by radical Ukrainian nationalists. Before Crimea was formally absorbed by Russia, unidentified armed men had taken control of its administrative buildings and key military sites. A referendum was held on March 16, 2014 -- a year ago to the day -- on secession from Ukraine. Ukrainian officials at the time denied there was any threat to Russian citizens in Crimea. On Monday, Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Putin had ordered Russia's Northern Fleet and other military units to be placed on full combat alert for snap checks, state media reported. "The main aim ... is to evaluate the capabilities of the Northern Fleet to fulfill tasks on ensuring Russia's military security in the Arctic," Shoigu is quoted as saying by Russia's Tass news agency. The exercise will involve 38,000 military personnel, 41 warships, 15 submarines and 110 planes and helicopters, Shoigu said, according to Tass. In the documentary, titled "Crimea: Way Back Home," Putin said Moscow had had no choice but to act. "Crimea isn't just any territory for us, it is historically Russian territory," he said. Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula that has been part of Ukraine since 1954, has a majority Russian population and strong cultural and historical ties to Russia. It is also home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, at the Sevastopol naval base. But Putin said he had never thought of "dismembering" the peninsula from Ukraine until Yanukovych's ouster. "We cannot leave this area and the people who live there to whims of fate, to let the people of Crimea be thrown under the wheels of this nationalist bulldozer," he said. "I set certain tasks. I did say what and how we should do, but immediately stressed that we would do so only if we are absolutely convinced that the people who live in the Crimea want it." The vast majority of people who voted in the referendum approved secession from Ukraine. But the vote, staged while armed men controlled the region, was dismissed as illegal by Ukraine's then-interim government in Kiev, the European Union and the United States. The West responded with financial sanctions against selected Russian figures and Crimean secessionist leaders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Berlin on Monday, reiterated that Europe does not consider Russia's annexation of Crimea to be legal. "It is important that we work for a peaceful solution, and we will not give up before the full sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine has been restored," she said. "This not only includes Crimea but also now in our daily work the areas around Luhansk and Donetsk." Unrest broke out in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions following Russia's absorbing of Crimea. A fragile truce is currently in place but the conflict between pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces there has claimed thousands of lives. Merkel warned that the European Union was ready to impose more sanctions if necessary against Russian interests to help ensure that a peace plan hammered out in Minsk, Belarus, last month is fully implemented. Putin told the documentary-makers he was certain the United States was behind the ouster of Yanukovych, which Moscow views as an illegal armed coup. "Formally, the opposition was primarily supported by Europeans, but we knew very well ... that the real puppeteers were our American partners and friends. It was them who helped prepare nationalists (and) combat troops," he said. He also said that sanctions should have been imposed against those who orchestrated what he called a coup, rather than those involved in Crimea's annexation. Putin insisted in remarks to reporters last month that there was no chance Crimea would be returned to Ukraine. And it appears Russia is taking no chances. In the documentary, Putin said Russia's Bastion high-precision coastal missile defense systems had been deployed to Crimea to protect the territory -- "in such a way that they were seen perfectly well from outer space." This can only be done following a decision by the supreme commander in chief, he said. "So, at a certain point, we deployed these coastal systems Bastion to make it clear that Crimea was under safe protection," he added. CNN's Alla Eshchenko and Emma Burrows reported from Moscow, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. +(CNN)Sen. Rand Paul, who is expected to announce on April 7 that he will be running for the presidency, is garnering a great deal of attention as he travels around the country promoting his brand of libertarian conservatism. The Kentucky senator's widely publicized appearance this month at the South by Southwest festival at Austin, Texas, was one opportunity he used to appeal to a tech-savvy audience. His particular blend of ideas -- a combination of libertarianism and Republican conservatism -- stands out from the rest of the pack. Younger Republicans, the much-desired millennial vote, seem attracted by what they are hearing. What accounts for his appeal? In an era when so many Americans seem frustrated with shallow, personality-based politics, there seems to be genuine interest in a candidate who is fighting for a set of ideas. For many disaffected younger Republicans, Paul offers a version of the conservative agenda that seems foreign to the modern GOP. For almost half a century, "big government conservatism" has ruled the party. Although conservatism is theoretically about limited government, the historical reality has been much different. On national defense, the hawks of the GOP have been victorious. Even while railing against the dangers of a big federal government, Republicans have lined up to support higher defense spending and a massive military-industrial complex. Though the GOP has little tolerance for many social safety net programs, the party has accepted sizable government support to industry, such as the financial bailout known as TARP in 2008 and subsidies for certain economic interests. Paul has been a vocal critic of the neoconservative turn that the GOP has embraced in recent decades, during which the party moved beyond support for high national security spending and toward a bolder vision of aggressive nation-building and regime change. For some Republicans, including Paul, these policies were at the heart of the failures of George W. Bush's presidency and a sharp departure from the party's principles. Similarly, Paul has been one of the few Republican voices to argue that post 9/11 surveillance policies have dangerously curtailed civil liberties. At the local level, he has criticized the militarization of police forces and the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement officers. Paul has also backed away from some tenets of social conservatism that don't sit well with a growing number of Republican voters. He has been an outspoken advocate of giving states the right to legalize marijuana. He has been attuned to the ways in which younger generations of Republicans are not on board with the evangelical fervor of the 1970s conservative movement and want to move in a different direction. While many Republicans have talked about the need for their party to tackle issues involving race and inequality in ways that are different from Democrats, most have been unwilling to offer any substantive ideas. Indeed, the recent budget blueprint from congressional Republicans exposed how thin discussions of a Republican anti-poverty program are. Their budget centers around cuts to key social safety net programs such as Medicare and regressive supply side tax cuts. But Paul, who has appeared to be supportive of a stringent budget, has also been willing to put forward bolder ideas, including criminal justice reform, that deal directly with the conditions that have devastated African American communities. Can Paul really win? That is unclear. Republican strategist Matthew Dowd told The New York Times: "It's one thing to be interesting; it's another thing to be compelling. They've got to see him sitting in the Oval Office. And I do not think Rand has crossed that threshold yet." There are many skeptics who don't think that he has what it takes and that he has a controversial record. Paul's extremely critical remarks about key aspects of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 will certainly come back to bite him, as will some of his blistering attacks on the Federal Reserve. Paul is also trying to make the case for a libertarian conservatism that is not pure. Paul is still a Republican, so he will continue to fit his ideas within the broader agenda of the GOP. He is also a politician at heart and will make compromises that he believes are essential to survive. While Paul argues that he is trying to take some of the ideas that libertarians liked about his father and make them politically viable, some of his supporters smell a sellout. Arguably, we have seen this recently when he signed the controversial letter to Iran led by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas (a neoconservative mentored by the hawkish Bill Kristol), switched his approach to the issue of same-sex marriage and gave support to an aggressive war against ISIS. "This is more than a flip-flop. This is a backflip," the editor of an anti-war website told the Daily Beast. "This was the last straw. I've put up with a lot from that guy! I've had to defend him like a Jesuit. I'm done. Let somebody else do it." But if Rand Paul can sell primary voters that his blend of ideas still offers something distinct from the rest of the Republican candidates, at a minimum he can help reshape the debate within the GOP by raising questions about some of the party's core positions. +(CNN)Look to the skies above London and you'll see the usual suspects -- rainclouds, planes and pigeons. But by the end of the year, you might just see something else. Longer than a soccer pitch and filled to the brim with helium, at 302 feet long, the Airlander 10 will be the world's biggest aircraft. Part blimp, part plane, part helicopter, it was originally created by British design company Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) for military surveillance by the U.S. Army. But budget cuts doomed the project and HAV bought the airship back across the pond, where it seemed set to remain on solid ground until the company received a £3.4 million ($5.1 million) grant from the UK government. Thanks to this recent injection of financing, designers and engineers are now readying the craft for first flight tests scheduled for later this year. While the concept has been around for nearly a century, airships fell out of fashion following the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, when the German passenger craft erupted into flames while trying to dock, killing 36. While an airship might seem like a craft from a time long passed, it has been given a 21st century design overhaul and HAV hopes to have airships back in the skies over the UK by 2016. Chris Daniels, HAV head of partnerships and communications, said: "The sole problems existing old-style airships had (were) having lots of ground crew, limited ability to carry payloads and to be susceptible to weather conditions. We solved all those problems with a new concept -- a hybrid aircraft. So a mix between a wing and an airship." The Airlander 10 -- named because it can carry 10 tons -- is made of a bespoke fabric of carbon fiber, kevlar and mylar, while the pressure of the helium inside maintains the aircraft's shape. Diesel fuel helps the Airlander take off and land and powers the propellers. The spacious cockpit is currently configured to accommodate a pilot and one observer but Daniels says this can easily be reconfigured to end-user specifications. The airship also has green credentials -- its creators say the current version uses 20% fuel burn of existing aircraft, can be fitted with solar panels, uses near-silent 325 hp V8 engines and can stay airborne for five days while carrying its maximum payload. The vehicle can also operate in extreme weather conditions (+54 to -56 degrees Celsius). While the previous U.S. Army project had military applications in mind, this time HAV plans to split end use 60:40 between civlian and military applications. Daniels says that they've had incredible interest from at home and abroad. The U.S. Coastguard has expressed interest in using the hybrid airships to monitor the nation's coastline. Meanwhile Swedish firm OceanSky, in conjunction with the government, wants to use the Airlander as an air transport system for wind turbines. Daniels explained: "At the moment, the only way of doing (transporting the equipment) is basically plowing a 50m-wide highway through pristine Nordic forest, which is not a good thing to do and they don't want to destroy ecological environment." Showing the versatility in air transport operations the airship could have, Daniels said the charity Oxfam is keen to task the aircraft on aid relief missions following natural disasters, while HAV is in talks with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to help conduct scientific research. Using airships for military purposes such as reconnaissance and surveillance is not a new idea and today faces stiff competition from drones. Tim Robinson, editor-in-chief of AEROSPACE Magazine, said: "The Airlander does have one big benefit over UAVs. It can lift a heavier payload than most drones so allows for radars, better cameras, multiple sensors, etc. Payload weight is one of biggest limiters of UAVs -- so that would be extremely attractive to militaries looking to put larger or heavier sensors on board. It is also manned (piloted) which gives it more flexibility in being able to deploy to where it is needed." Robinson also highlighted commercial possibilities for the Airlander, such as long-range cargo airships and humanitarian missions. "The ability of the airship not to need runways or airports would be very attractive for disaster relief. While helicopters can also land anywhere, they are limited in payload and range -- plus the Airlander is much more efficient thanks to its hybrid 'lifting body' design." He added: "Imagine a large airship being able to land with a medical emergency department on board, right at the scene of the disaster." But the aviation expert is also cautiously optimistic about the future of the Airlander. He said there had been several "false dawns" in bringing about the return of the airship in previous years, including two military surveillance airship projects from the U.S. Pentagon which were ultimately sidelined "because they weren't confident in the technology." While Robinson calls it "the most promising lighter-than-air vehicle project we have seen in a long time," only successful first flight tests at the end of the year and further demos and trials will show off the Airlander 10's true capabilities. Until then, keep your eyes fixed to the horizon, where you might just see the future of aviation re-emerge through the clouds. More from Tomorrow Transformed . +(CNN)A dark intersection. A church van full of parishioners. And tragedy. That's about all police in Glades County, Florida, had to work with early Monday, hours after a van with 18 people inside ran a stop sign, crossed a four-lane highway and plunged into a shallow water-filled ditch. Eight people died. Ten others, including a 4-year-old child, were injured, according to police. Investigators don't know why it happened, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Greg Bueno told CNN affiliate WPBF. The driver died, and police haven't been able to interview passengers yet. "Our hearts go out to the families of the victims," Bueno said. "It breaks your heart to see something like this happen." Some relatives of the crash victims, all of whom were from the Independent Haitian Assembly of God in Fort Pierce, gathered at the rural intersection Monday morning. Others went to the church. "We've lost a lot of family members, church family," Phillipe Dorce, who said he lost his father, told WPBF. "All we can do is pray (to) God to help us out. Pray for us. It's very sad for us." Linda Dolce told the news site TCPalm.com that her grandmother died in the crash. She'd arrived from Haiti six years ago. "She loved singing and helping people," TCPalm.com quoted her as saying. "She was exciting; she was the best lady to us." Laura Lochard told the site that her uncle died in the crash, leaving behind four children, the youngest of which is 16, whom he brought to the United States from Haiti. He was like a father to her, too, she said. "It's never easy to lose a person, but I have to be strong," she told the site. "I'll never forget his smile." A pastor at the church, Sereste Doresma told CNN that parishioners had attended a revival in Fort Myers and had left Sunday afternoon. "This is a very difficult day for us today," he said. The van apparently was traveling east on State Road 78 when it ran a stop sign at U.S. Highway 27 early Monday, authorities said. It then crossed all four lanes of U.S. 27 and stopped in a ditch that was partially filled with water. No one saw the accident on the rural stretch of roadway that's frequented mostly by commercial traffic, Bueno said. One of the passengers flagged down a passing vehicle, whose driver called police, the trooper said. Police had to remove the seats of the van to remove passengers, Bueno said. Among other things, investigators are looking into the capacity of the van. It appeared to be rated for 16 passengers, Bueno said. Of the passengers, all were adults except for the 4-year-old, who was in stable condition at a hospital, Bueno said. Two of the adult passengers were in critical condition, he said. Passengers were being treated at four hospitals. +New Delhi (CNN)Police in India's farthest northeastern state of Nagaland have arrested 43 people in connection with the killing of a jail inmate accused of rape. The suspects are being questioned over a range of offenses, including arson, rioting, attempted murder and murder, said L.L. Doungal, the police chief of Nagaland, where the attack occurred Thursday evening. They're alleged to be among a crowd of thousands of people who stormed a jail in the Dimapur district, and dragged out the suspected rapist before beating him to death in the street. The 35-year-old victim had been accused of raping a local woman last month. "There were thousands of them. Many of them were students in uniform," Doungal said when news of the attack first emerged. The dead man was initially identified as an undocumented Bangladeshi settler, but now police say they still are determining his nationality. "I am not ruling out that he's not a Bangladeshi. I am also not denying that he is not an Indian. We are verifying his nationality," said G. Akheto Sema, an additional director-general of Nagaland's police, when asked about local reports suggesting the attacked man was an Indian citizen. Dimapur town remains under a curfew, Sema said, amid growing tensions between native Nagas and Bangladeshi migrants in the district. Thousands of protesters demanding the cancellation of trade permits for Bengali-speaking settlers tore into the prison complex Thursday and pulled out the suspect, Doungal said. Police initially used teargas and bamboo canes to rescue the man, but it didn't work, he said. "There were students in uniform. So, we had to use minimum force," Doungal added. Later, police opened fire, but it was too late to save the suspect. Protesters had planned a public hanging, but the suspect died from injuries in the attack, according to authorities. "We retrieved his body before it could be hung," Doungal said. With English as its official language, Nagaland is located in the extreme northeastern end of India, along the border with Myanmar. Home to about two million people, the state is spread over 16,500 square kilometers, with a relatively high literacy rate of 67%, compared with other densely populated parts of India. Ethnic tensions are rife in Nagaland and other provinces of the impoverished northeast region. Some local groups want greater autonomy, and there's general discontent over the alleged neglect of the region by successive central governments. CNN's Faith Karimi contributed to this report . +(CNN)A key Al-Shabaab operative, who was connected to the Westgate mall attack in Kenya, was killed recently by a U.S. drone strike, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. Adan Garar, a member of Al-Shabaab's intelligence and security wing, was killed Thursday in southwestern Somalia as he traveled in a vehicle, according to Pentagon news release. Garar was responsible for "coordinating the terror group's external operations, which target U.S. persons and other Western interests in order to further al Qaeda's goals and objectives," the Pentagon said in the statement. In September, Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was also killed in a U.S. airstrike near Barawe city. Al-Shabaab has been blamed and taken responsibility for attacks on city streets, at markets, at prisons and a U.N. compound in Mogadishu. It's most high-profile attack came in 2013 at Nairobi's upscale Westgate mall, when terrorists casually walked into the building, pulled out weapons and began gunning down shoppers. The gunmen were accused of torturing some hostages before killing them. As many as 67 people died in the siege. +(CNN)The misuse of outer protective garments may have led to the exposure of a potentially deadly strain of bacteria at the Tulane National Primate Research Center near New Orleans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. An employee at the center has tested positive for the bacterium, which is kept at the facility. The employee is not sick, and Jason McDonald, a CDC spokesman, said the bacteria probably aren't a threat to the general population. Inspectors from the CDC and the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the misuse of outer garments "could have led to the bacteria clinging to inner garments and getting carried out of the select agent lab where research was being conducted with the bacteria on mice," a news release said. "Additionally, CDC and APHIS inspectors determined that Tulane primate center staff frequently entered the select agent lab without appropriate protective clothing, which would increase the risk of bringing the bacteria out of the lab or becoming infected themselves." The bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, was being tested on mice in a biosafety level 3 lab at the Covington, Louisiana campus. It can cause can cause melioidosis, also known as Whitmore's disease. All research with the agent at the facility was suspended on February 11 and will remain suspended until it can be shown that there are no more risks and that proper procedures are being followed, the CDC said. The CDC says the primate facility can resume that research when Tulane officials show inspectors that: . • Entity-wide procedures exist to ensure animals accidentally exposed in the future are managed appropriately; . • All personal protective equipment procedures are thoroughly reviewed and revised appropriately to lessen the risk of future breaches; . • All Tulane primate center personnel are trained on any new or revised protective clothing procedures; and . • Improved entry and exit procedures to the outside enclosures housing non-human primates are in place to stop any further transmission among the animals." The CDC and U.S. Department of Agriculture say they have completed their investigation, which began in November when two monkeys were diagnosed with Whitmore's disease. Six others had antibodies indicating exposure to the bacterium. According to the CDC, "the bacteria causing melioidosis are found in contaminated water and soil. It is spread to humans and animals through direct contact with the contaminated source." It is not transmitted between humans or animals, "and the risk of acquiring melioidosis is low," the CDC said. Melioidosis "is predominately a disease of tropical climates, especially in Southeast Asia and northern Australia where it is widespread," according to the CDC website. +(CNN)One person was killed Wednesday when severe weather ripped through the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas. The death was reported in Sand Springs, a suburb of Tulsa, after the storm system ravaged a mobile home park, said Maj. Shannon Clark with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office. "Right now, rescue efforts are continuing and officers are aiding the injured and helping those who need immediate medical care," he said. "It's very tough conditions right now -- very touch and go. The conditions my people are working in right now are deplorable at best." Earlier, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Tulsa. A confirmed, "extremely dangerous" tornado was spotted near Sand Springs, moving east at 45 mph, the weather service said. The tornado warning included downtown Tulsa. Large, damaging hail the size of baseballs and hurricane-force winds were possible. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the area until late Wednesday night. More severe weather tore through the Oklahoma City area. Another tornado was spotted about 15 miles south of town south in Moore, said Sgt. Jeremy Lewis with the city's police. "We have about a 2-mile square area with significant damage, mainly roofs off homes and downed trees," he said. "Right now, we have the area secured, we have crews in there making sure that gas lines, electrical line, all that's turned off. " Trees had to be cleared so law enforcement and emergency vehicles could get through. "You know, this isn't the first time we've done this so ... unfortunately, we've gotten pretty good at getting people back into their residences as quick as we can," Lewis said. "We just have to make sure that it's safe. Lewis said a temporary hospital was treating patients with minor injuries. The original Moore Medical Center was destroyed two years ago in a tornado. Staff took cover in temporary shelters as the storm approached. "Their building did sustain a little bit of damage, but they were able to reopen once the storm passed and start taking patients in," Lewis said. The city asked folks to stay away, saying they had things under control. "Do not enter the tornado damaged area. Moore Police/Fire have not requested mutual aid," the city of Moore tweeted. " A call for volunteers will be made when needed." Moore Public Schools called off classes for Thursday. "School has been canceled tomorrow Mar 26 due to damage across the district," the school district tweeted. "Updates tomorrow morning - Thanks for your patience." CNN's Sean Morris, AnneClaire Stapleton and Dave Alsup contributed to this report. +(CNN)He was proud of his son for making good grades. So Officer Robert Wilson III climbed out of his squad car in snow-bound north Philadelphia to get him a gift. While shopping for a game, he died in the line of duty. Wilson was standing at the counter across from employees at the GameStop store when two brothers, Carlton Hipps and Ramone Williams, walked in carrying guns, police said. They allegedly stuck up the store with at least five patrons and two employees inside. "They said they thought it was going to be an easy target," said police spokesman Capt. James Clark. The store is in a quiet cul-de-sac. Williams and Hipps had not seen the police car outside, where Wilson's partner Damien Stevenson sat. Nor did they notice Wilson, who was in uniform. Wilson confronted them, and a firefight broke out, police said. The officer, an eight-year veteran, stepped away from others in the store to keep them out of the crossfire, police said after watching the store's security camera footage. He was a hero and a warrior, Clark said. "He fought until the very, very end, firing at both of them." Hipps and Williams ducked out of sight at times behind movie posters as they trained their fire on Wilson, Clark said. Within 30 to 40 seconds, 50 shots fell, he said. "Officer Wilson was shot multiple times in the body and once in the head. That is the shot that ultimately killed him," the captain said. With Wilson down, the two men ran out of the store, where Stevenson intercepted them. The officer wounded Hipps in the leg, and Williams ran back inside the store. He stood around, trying to act like he was just another customer when they arrested him, police said. He later gave them a confession. Both brothers have been charged with Wilson's murder and with attempted murder on Stevenson. The brothers told police that it was their first robbery attempt, but it wasn't their first run-in with the law. Williams, who is 26, has been arrested twice before, and Hipps, who is 30, six times, police said. He was released from jail in 2009, Clark said. In the brothers' home, police found an AK-47. The guns used in the robbery were bought on the street, police said. They want to find out who provided them. At the GameStop, residents have started a memorial, and it's growing, CNN affiliate KYW reported. At the 22nd police district, where Wilson worked, the flag hangs at half-staff. Actor Dan Aykryod, who was in town on a promotional tour, made a donation to Wilson's family and encouraged others to do the same. Wilson was 30 years old. In addition to his son, he leaves behind a 1-year-old daughter. His son turns 10 on Monday. The game was also going to be a birthday present. CNN's Jennifer Moore and Tina Burnside contributed to this report. +(CNN)Dropping red meat, and sticking to a plant-based diet that incorporates fish may be the key to preventing colorectal (colon and rectum) cancers, according to a seven-year study published Monday. Pescetarians, as they are commonly referred, had a 43% lower chance of getting the cancer compared to people with omnivorous diets. Why focus on colorectal cancer? It is the third most diagnosed cancer, and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the US in 2014, according to American Cancer Society statistics. The disease is particularly dangerous because it is usually asymptomatic in its early stages, making it more difficult to detect when it's less deadly. Only 59% of those recommended for screenings receive procedures that are in line with the American Cancer Society's standards. The study, which followed nearly 78,000 people and was published in the Journal of American Medical Association, adds to the growing body of evidence touting the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Another study, reviewing data from 39 separate studies showing that a plant based diet leads to an average drop in blood pressure similar to 30-60 minutes of exercise per day. Yet another study from last year found an average weight loss of nearly 7.5 pounds for vegetarians. While evidence shows the health benefits of reducing red meat consumption, the recent study highlights the differences between even a fully vegetarian diet and a pescetarian diet. Within the sample group there was a 27% drop in the risk of contracting colorectal cancer if you switch from fully vegetarian to eating fish. The authors of the study suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may be the key to such a low risk of cancer in the pescetarian group. Nutritionist Lisa Drayer agrees. "In addition to other dietary factors, fish may provide added protection from its high content omega-3 fatty acids. This is consistent with previous research that has found omega-3s have anti-cancer activity and that they may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer." Some questions can be raised though, from observing the recent study's participants Seventh Day Adventists, a group that typically avoids alcohol and tobacco. But despite the caveat, Drayer is optimistic. "While the study is observational and cannot prove a cause/effect relationship, it is exciting to think that in addition to regular screenings, a diet rich in fish and fiber-rich foods may play an important role in reducing the risk of colorectal cancer." +London (CNN)London teenager Brusthom Ziamani only converted to Islam in April last year. But by August he was arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill a soldier, police officer or government official, with a 12-inch knife and a hammer found in his backpack. Ziamani was convicted in February of "engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts" and sentenced Friday at the Old Bailey to 22 years in prison. It's a case with chilling echoes of the shocking murder by two Islamist extremists of soldier Lee Rigby, mowed down and hacked to death with a machete on a street in Woolwich, in southeast London, in May 2013. On the morning of his arrest, Ziamani had told his former girlfriend he intended to attack and kill soldiers. He also showed her the long-bladed knife and the hammer in his bag. Police who had searched his home two months previously had found a handwritten letter in which he glorified the murder of Rigby, and stated that "we should do a 9/11, 7/7 and a Woolwich all in one day." Police said Ziamani, who was unemployed, had come under the influence of a banned London-based terrorist organization "that it is believed played a major role in influencing and shaping his radical views." That organization is Al Muhajiroun, also known as ALM. Handing down the 22-year sentence, Judge Timothy Pontius said the police had put together a "formidable and unassailable" case against the teenager. "Ziamani's coldblooded deliberation under the malign influence of ALM, of whom he was a willing student, showed in court that he was far from the naive adolescent that the (defense) tried to portray him as," he is quoted as saying in a police statement. "He is a man of intelligence and independent and articulate mind. He was within hours of carrying out his intention of murdering a soldier, police officer or government official to imitate the horrifying savagery carried out by the killers of Lee Rigby." The letter that came to light when counterterror officers from London's Metropolitan Police searched Ziamani's address in June gave an insight into an extremist mind-set that already had violence in mind. Found in a pair of jeans, according to police, the letter was messily written with many misspellings. In it, he tells his "beloved parents" that what he's about to do is an obligation for Muslims and asks them to forgive him for all the stress he's caused them in the past. "I'm a changed person," he said, saying he has to act to help his "brothers and sisters" in Syria and Iraq. Because he does not have the means to get to these countries, he will wage war against the British government here instead, he said, adding that it would give the authorities "a taste of there (sic) own medicine." Ziamani admitted writing the letter and was arrested on suspicion of committing a terrorism offense. He was released on bail, allowing police to continue their inquiries. Police believe he converted to Islam in April 2014 and point to his postings on social media as evidence of his rapid radicalization. In May he posted "Land of democracy = Evil," and in July he posted, "Forget the protests, the only way to liberate Muslim lands is Jihad." On June 20, Ziamani had used his phone to visit websites researching the locations for army cadet bases across London, police said. While Ziamani was out on bail, officers tasked with trying to divert vulnerable young people from the path to radicalization tried to meet with him three times, but he declined to engage with them, police said. Commander Richard Walton of the Counter Terrorism Command welcomed the sentence, saying he was "relieved an extremely dangerous individual" had been removed from the streets. "Ziamani was an impressionable young man who became radicalized, then rapidly developed an extremist, violent mind-set," Walton said. The work of police and intelligence officials had "probably prevented a horrific terrorist attack taking place on the streets of London," he said. +(CNN)The Queens, New York, district attorney called it "every subway commuter's worst nightmare." A man waiting for a train was pushed off the subway platform into the path of an arriving train on December 27, 2012. He died instantly. Erika Menendez of Queens, was charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime. Menendez told authorities she "pushed a Muslim off the train tracks" because she'd hated Hindus and Muslims ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Menendez, 33, was allowed Friday to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter, Brown said in a statement. The judge indicated he would sentence her to 22 to 25 years in prison on April 29. Conviction on the original charge would have resulted in a tougher sentence -- 25 years to life imprisonment, Meris Campbell, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said Saturday. The district attorney's office accepted the plea because Menendez promised not to appeal and because of Menendez's "substantial psychiatric history and serious drug problem," Campbell said. "We are assured she'll serve a substantial amount of time behind bars." The victim, Sunando Sen, 46, was not Muslim. A friend told CNN he grew up in a Hindu family. The incident happened at night at the 40 Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside, Queens. Witnesses told police a woman paced the platform and talked to herself before pushing Sen as the 11-car train entered the station. Security video showed a woman running from the scene. Menendez was recognized on a street in Brooklyn by a passerby who had seen the video and called 911, police said. "The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare -- being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train," Brown said Friday. "The victim was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself." A call and email to Menendez's defense lawyer were not immediately returned Saturday. CNN's Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. +(CNN)British law enforcement officers have arrested a 23-year-old man suspected of hacking the U.S. Department of Defense and swiping data from a satellite-based system used by the military to communicate with people worldwide, UK authorities said Friday. This arrest was one of 56 made this week in 20 separate operations conducted by regional organized crime units, Metropolitan Police officers and others. The others caught range from a family of suspected fraudsters and a 16-year-old believed to be behind hundreds of cyberattacks, according to Britain's National Crime Agency. Yet the arrest that the agency highlighted most was the one that targeted the world's most powerful last June 15. On that date, someone hacked into the U.S. Department of Defense's servers and got data related to its "Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services" system. This included contact information -- including their names, emails and phone numbers -- of about 800 people and info on approximately 34,400 devices, the National Crime Agency reports. None of the hacked material was considered confidential, nor did it apparently include "sensitive data" or anything that "compromises U.S. national security interests," the British agency said. Still, the person responsible for the hack cryptically played it up big in a post to Pastebin, a website that allows for anonymous posts. Alongside screenshots of the dashboard used to control the Defense Department database, the hacker wrote, "We smite the Lizards, LizardSquad your time is near" in apparent reference to a notorious band of black-hat hackers. "We're in your bases, we control your satellites," the hacker adds. "The missiles shall rein (sic) upon they who claim alliance, watch your heads... We're one, we're many, we lurk in the dark, we're everywhere and anywhere." The 23-year-old suspected hacker was not identified by name, with the UK National Crime Agency saying only that he was arrested Wednesday morning in Sutton Coldfield,a Birmingham suburb in the West Midlands region. The U.S. military has been targeted by hackers before. Some of those actions have been blamed on ISIS sympathizers, like the January temporary takeover of the U.S. Central Command's Twitter account and YouTube page. And last year, U.S. federal officials accused four men of hacking into computer networks of the U.S. military and Microsoft and stealing more than $100 million worth of software, some it related to the video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3." There's no indication that the June hack had anything to do with ISIS or involved the theft of anything of much monetary value. Still, hacks from groups such as Lizard Squad and Anonymous can have a significant impact. Jeffrey Thorpe, special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), said in the UK government statement that "this arrest underscores DCIS commitment and the joint ongoing efforts among international law enforcement to stop cyber criminals in their tracks." "DCIS special agents will use every tool at their disposal to pursue and bring to justice those who attack the Department of Defense," Thorpe said. CNN's Ed Payne and Claudia Rebaza contributed to this report. +(CNN)Police officer and former U.S. Army Ranger John Moynihan was honored at the White House less than a year ago as one of the nation's "Top Cops" for helping to save a transit officer wounded in a gunbattle with the Boston Marathon bombers. On Saturday, Moynihan, 34, was in a medically induced coma at a Boston hospital after being shot in the face at point-blank range in the city's Roxbury neighborhood the night before. The gunman was shot and killed. "He's a strong kid," Police Commissioner William Evans told reporters. "He's a fighter. He's going to pull through." On Sunday, after several hours of surgery to remove the bullet from his neck, Moynihan, who had been listed in critical condition, was in stable and improving condition, according to a Twitter posting by the Boston Police Department. A six-year police veteran and member of the youth violence task force, Moynihan was shot below the right eye. The bullet lodged behind his right ear, Evans said. In April 2013, Moynihan was among officers who helped save transit officer Richard H. Donohue Jr., who was shot during a gunfight involving Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the days after the marathon bombings. Police fired nearly 300 rounds within five to 10 minutes. One round nearly killed Donohue. Moynihan and other Massachusetts officers were cited for their "heroic and relentless" life-saving measures on Donohue, who nearly lost his entire blood volume on the Watertown street. An officer pressed against Donuhue's chest. Another forced air into his lungs. The wound near his groin was too high for a tourniquet. A 33-year police veteran, Donohue was pale and appeared dead as four officers laid him on a gurney. "He was essentially dead," said Dr. Heather Studley, who took over his care at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed that night; his younger brother is on trial now in a federal death penalty case in Boston. At a White House ceremony last May, President Barack Obama honored Moynihan and 52 other officers as "America's Top Cops." "There are officers here who were in the thick of two attacks last year: the shooting at the Washington Naval Yard and the bombing at the Boston Marathon," Obama said at the time. "On those awful days -- and we all remember them -- amid the smoke and the chaos, the courage of these officers shone through. And their quick thinking and level-headedness undoubtedly saved lives." In a statement Saturday, Donohue wished Moynihan a full recovery, reported CNN affiliate WCVB. "John played a part in saving my life, and that's something I will never forget," Donohue said. "His record of service speaks for itself. Everyone is wishing him well and we know he has the strength to pull through." At 6:40 p.m. Friday, Moynihan and other officers pulled over a car in an area where gunshots had been reported earlier, Evans said. The primary job of the task force, also known as the gang unit, is to remove guns from the streets. Six officers in separate cars, sirens blaring, were involved in the traffic stop, which was captured by surveillance cameras in the area. Moynihan walked up to the driver's side door. A man started to step out. "Without provocation, as the driver is getting out ... you can see his right arm come up point-blank and shot officer Moynihan right below the eye," Evans said. Evans described the officers approach as "very low key" and said they weren't "even close to having their guns out." After shooting Moynihan, the suspect ran, turned around and fired at the other officers -- emptying his .357 Magnum, according to Evans. Evans said a middle-aged woman was who driving by at the time suffered a flesh wound in the right arm. She was not identified. The shooter, identified as 41-year-old Angelo West, was shot and killed. Evans said West had several prior gun convictions. Two passengers in the car were arrested on unrelated charges involving an outstanding warrant and a probation violation. "None of our officers like to use their firearms," Evans said. "It's probably the worst thing we have to do in our profession, but here, clearly unprovoked, one of our officers is shot point-blank in the face." At a news conference, Evans and local leaders sought to allay community concerns at a time when officer-involved shootings have led to protests throughout the nation. Moynihan is white; West was black. "Our officers did what they had to do," the police commissioner said. The Rev. Mark Scott of the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston said Moynihan was shot "assassination-style." He called for calm in the predominantly black Roxbury section. "This is not about 'Black Lives Matter,'" he said, referring to a protest movement that emerged after the shootings. "It's about all-the-lives-in-the-community matter and it's about the police ... responding to a concern from the community." Evans said 1,071 guns were taken off the streets in Boston in 2014, with the youth violence task force and other units helping to seize more than 700. Moynihan is a decorated Army Ranger with stints in Iraq from 2005 to 2008, according to the police department. He won the Boston Police Department's Medal of Honor in 2014. His girlfriend and family have been at his bedside. CNN's Ann O'Neill contributed to this report. +(CNN)She married a man whose first wife mysteriously disappeared. And she stood by him even after he admitted killing a neighbor and chopping up the body. But who is Debrah Lee Charatan, the wife of millionaire heir Robert Durst? And what role has she played in his life? Charatan hasn't spoken publicly since her husband's arrest in New Orleans over the weekend, and CNN was unable to reach her for comment. In "The Jinx," the HBO documentary about Durst's life, she appears in a police interview from more than a decade ago. The series also includes excerpts from jailhouse recordings of phone conversations between Durst and Charatan. Charatan says she met Durst in 1988, six years after his first wife went missing. The two were married in a rushed ceremony just weeks before Durst's longtime friend Susan Berman turned up dead in Beverly Hills, California. This week, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Durst with first-degree murder in that case. It's an accusation he has long denied. He also has said he had nothing to do with his first wife's disappearance. In a 2003 trial, he admitted he'd shot a neighbor in Galveston, Texas, and dismembered the body, but was acquitted of murder after arguing he'd acted in self defense. Recorded jailhouse calls from Durst's imprisonment during that case suggest that Charatan was his rock. "Am I supposed to be smiling or am I supposed to be grim?" Durst asks in one conversation discussing how he should appear during his trial. Charatan quickly replies, "I would just have as close to no expression, yeah, that's what I think." She was also a driving force behind the decision to fire attorney Michael Kennedy, a lawyer Durst's wealthy real estate developer family had tapped to handle the case. The insanity defense Kennedy was planning to use, she said at the time, could have meant both Durst and Charatan were cut out of the family fortune. "What he doesn't want is me to get any of the trust money later on, since I'm not your wife because you were incompetent at the time, OK, that means they are the only ones who can make your decisions," she says in another call. Like Durst himself, Charatan is a powerful player on the New York real estate scene. "She's not some opportunistic woman who came into Bob's life for monetary gain. She was very successful, a millionaire several times over long before she met Bob," said Amir Korangy, publisher of TheRealDeal.com. Susan Criss, the retired judge who presided over the 2003 trial, said from listening to hours of tapes and testimony that it's clear that Charatan is motivated by financial gain. "It's very clear that she only cares about the money," Criss said. Some former friends and employees described Charatan in less than glowing terms. Former employees have successfully sued her for failing to pay commissions. According to sources, she only briefly lived with Durst and they are now separated, though still married. Why doesn't the HBO documentary feature any more recent interviews with her? Charatan didn't want Durst to participate in "The Jinx," Korangy said, and she hasn't spoken with him since it started airing. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet and Erin Burnett contributed to this report. +(CNN)Are your heroes disappointing you? You're not alone. Most people yearn for role models, for someone to admire and emulate. But then sometimes: Crash! Unless the superheroes perform their awe-inspiring work in the comic books or the movies, they eventually slide off the pedestal; or perhaps they get smashed down to the ground, breaking into too many pieces to repair. The admirer is left heartbroken or disillusioned. If you want to admire someone fully, you should not look too closely. If you want to admire them smartly, you should brace yourself for at least some measure of disappointment. In the political arena, the season of scrutiny and revelations is just getting started with Hillary Clinton and her email practices as secretary of state under the microscope. After a press conference at the United Nations on Tuesday, worries that she is too secretive and calculating are emerging again. For some diehard supporters, this is all about Clinton-hating Republican politics. But to people who may have held Clinton as a model and inspiration, it may raise doubts. Is Hillary a hero or is she not to be trusted? Or, is there an altogether different answer? For me, two individuals in particular were once important heroes. A couple of weeks ago, during a trip to the Middle East, I had the unexpected good fortune to meet someone I have admired for many years: the Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I had the opportunity to chat with her, and the conversation left me even more impressed with her. She's a truly inspiring woman. I tweeted a picture of the President and me, calling her "my hero," a word I seldom use. Moments later, I received a reply (since deleted) from a Twitter connection informing me that Sirleaf has a dismal record on gay rights and had very publicly announced she would refuse to sign a bill to end prison sentences for gay Liberians. The incident reminded me of what has happened with another woman I have admired greatly over the years, the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Suu Kyi endured decades of house arrest and great personal hardship to help gain freedom for her people from a harsh military dictatorship that entrenched itself for half a century. It seemed a hopeless quest, but she persisted courageously. Then, four years ago, the situation changed. The government of Myanmar (also known as Burma) freed her from arrest and she became a member of parliament and an influential political leader. The woman who stood firm for her principles has suddenly gone silent on one of the worst abuses still occurring in her country: the brutal treatment of Myanmar's Rohingya minority. This disappointed many of her admirers. Like Sirleaf on LGBT issues, Suu Kyi is making cold political calculations on the issue of the Rohingya, weighing cost against benefit, and setting aside principles in the process. Does that mean we should ignore these women's incredible track records? Should we ignore the fact that Sirleaf became the first woman to be democratically elected president in all of Africa, taking over a country racked by a brutal civil war and guiding it toward a better future; inspiring Africans to fight against corruption, showing women everywhere that they can make a difference? Should we ignore Suu Kyi's astonishing ability to draw international attention to a repressive regime, paying an enormous personal price and ultimately succeeding? Or should we ignore their deliberate blind spots on politically inconvenient issues, even if they concern human rights, which were supposed to stand at the core of what drove these leaders? The challenge is for each of us to make judgments based on our own values. Consider Thomas Jefferson, the man who composed one of the most remarkable documents in human history -- the Declaration of Independence. The words -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" -- are profound and history-changing. And yet, Jefferson, we now know, had a dark side, one that included not only slave ownership, but also the mistreatment of human beings he bought and sold. Human flaws come in all sizes, some small, some overwhelming. Men who have achieved the status of near saints were known as deeply flawed by those closest to them. Mahatma Gandi and Nelson Mandela were terrible fathers. Steve Jobs, the man who gave us our beloved iPhones and iPads, who made technology an irresistible, magnificent addition to our lives, turns out to have been a jerk in some ways. He was a genius, but he was, as one reviewer of his biography put it, "a world class asshole." Sports stars have broken the hearts of their admirers. From Lance Armstrong and all those who took performance-enhancing drugs to the athletes who abuse their spouses, the sound of heroes crashing off the pedestals has been deafening. And we can be sure there are many more peccadilloes that would be found if the lens closed in tightly enough. The fact is, there are no perfect human beings. The ancient Greeks took it even further, giving their gods deep, even devastating human-like shortcomings. They still had their strengths, but their weaknesses could compel their decision-making, taking them in disastrous directions. When mere mortals like the rest of us try to decide who is deserving of hero worship, we should temper our expectations. Humans will disappoint. The truth is I am almost allergic to hero worship (despite that recent tweet.) There are people I admire, but I think it's best to focus on the qualities of individuals when I find them to be inspiring and worthy of admiration -- whether it's a girl from Pakistan or a particularly courageous and wise public figure. I try to appreciate moments of heroism and impressive personality traits. There are talented, courageous, inspiring politicians, actors, activists, artists and writers. But when it comes to all-around superheroes, they belong in the comic pages and the movies. +Hong Kong (CNN)It wasn't supposed to work. But China's Great Firewall -- a massive Internet surveillance and content control system -- has, in many respects, been an unparalleled success. China has Internet companies worth billions of dollars and more web users than the population of the United States -- all while still being able to block information it deems counter to its interests. And now, some fear, the model is going global. "If you are sitting in Beijing, what's the problem?" asks Bill Bishop, China watcher and author of the Sinocism China newsletter in the latest episode of "On China." "You are still in power, you have 650 million Internet users, you have billions of dollars of economic value going to the Internet everyday, you've used the Internet to increase government transparency, investors love us and they can't throw enough money at our companies that have more than half a trillion dollars in market capitalization," says Bishop. Soon after China tip-toed onto the Internet in the late 1980s, it laid down the foundation of the Great Firewall but critics asserted that an Internet with Chinese characteristics would be no Internet at all. During a high-profile media tour in Beijing in 1999, MIT Media Lab founder and technology pundit Nicholas Negroponte declared that a "healthy disrespect for authority" was required for any successful Internet industry. A year later, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton announced that "liberty will spread by cell phone and cable modem" and that any attempt to control the Internet in China would be "like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall." Well folks, it's now 2015 and China has done the impossible. It's nailed the Jell-O. China has proven it can have its Great Firewall and enjoy great prosperity too. Lokman Tsui, associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and former head of free expression at Google Asia-Pacific, says that most Chinese are happy with the status quo. "Their lives have noticeably improved," he says. "The model has worked so far." Currently home to the world's largest Internet market, China is also home to some of the world's most valuable Internet companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba and Tencent, now estimated to be worth $66.1 billion. The government has fostered the development of the Internet by offering incentives for local entrepreneurs while building walls to keep big Western rivals out. The ban on Western social media sites like YouTube and Facebook has also given home court advantage to China's own Internet stars like Youku and WeChat. And contrary to Negroponte's declaration, respecting the strict rules that govern China's Internet has not gotten in the way of innovation as Chinese tech developers reinterpret existing business models and build out new mobile apps. "I haven't really come across anybody who would say that yes, because we don't have a free Internet, therefore we can't innovate," says Bishop. "From Beijing's perspective, there's this fear that if we open up the Internet then it will be chaos. So if the cost is good-enough or almost-good-enough innovation... it seems like a pretty straight forward equation from the perspective of the policymakers." And there are signs the Great Firewall is expanding its reach. Last week, the Chinese and English news websites of Reuters news agency became inaccessible in China, joining a number of foreign media destinations that are barred online in China. There have been ways to get around it. Through VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, web users in China can access restricted content. But in a recent crackdown, the Chinese government is shutting down VPNs -- Beijing's latest move to shore up its cyber-authority. "You can filter out keywords, you can filter by URL, you can block or poison DNS (domain name system), and increasingly now they identify VPNs," says Tsui. "The problem is that it's decided on a national level by the government," he adds. "It's this attitude that 'father knows best.'" And that "father" would be Lu Wei, the so-called Internet czar of China who was recently photographed smiling at Mark Zuckerberg's desk during a visit at Facebook's headquarters in California. "Lu Wei is really pushing this 'Internet sovereignty' model, where we can control the information, we can control the Internet within our borders and we will use our model," says Roseann Rife, the East Asia research director of Amnesty International. "More than that, the Chinese authorities are pushing this as a model for the globe and they are going to get a lot of acceptance or buy-in from a lot of different countries." Amnesty International fears the Great Firewall could become the next great export from China. "It would be a very attractive model for instance for Russia, for Egypt, or for other states," Rife says. "It would be obviously in China's interest for other people and other nation states to agree with them and their interpretation of Internet sovereignty." And instead of backing away, Western onlookers may be nodding their heads in agreement. Last year, the U.S.-based LinkedIn decided to censor some content on its Chinese site. And fear is mounting that Zuckerberg's recent charm offensive with Lu Wei reflects Facebook's desire to do whatever it takes to crack the China market. So would global Internet users rise up against a Facebook that censors its posts and monitors its users to comply with local laws in China? It's unlikely, says Bishop. "I actually think most users don't care." "At the end of the day, they're not going to give up Facebook because Facebook is operating differently in China." A Facebook that fits the firewall, and fortune at the expense of freedom. That is precisely China's vision of how the Internet should be. +(CNN)Iraqi forces battling to wrest Tikrit from ISIS are now in control of the city, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Tuesday on Iraqiya TV. Al-Abadi, who is also the top military commander, said on state television that the city was liberated. While al-Abadi has declared victory in the battle, pockets of fighting continues. Iraqi forces and Shiite militias are taking part in clearing operations. Iraqi forces reached the center of Tikrit and hoisted the nation's flag on top of the Governorate Building, al-Abadi said. Fighting continued on the outskirts of the city, he added. Tikrit had been under ISIS control since June. The push into Tikrit comes days after a series of U.S.-led airstrikes targeted ISIS targets around the city. The airstrikes made it possible for the Iraqi forces to move through the city. Troops reported finding dozens of roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings as they combed the city. At a Cabinet meeting before he declared Tikrit liberated, al-Abadi was already calling the operation a success. "The success of the Tikrit experiment will be repeated in other areas because of the results it has achieved on the battlefield, on a humanitarian level, protecting civilians as much as possible, in addition to the low casualties amongst our security forces," he said. Iraqi forces have tried multiple times to win back Tikrit since ISIS conquered the city as part of its campaign to amass an expansive Islamic caliphate but failed until now. This operation, however, was the biggest by the Iraqi military so far. "We managed to take (ISIS) by surprise," the Prime Minister said. "And our air force ... in addition to coalition air force, helping Iraqi forces, managed to deal severe blows to ISIS and the enemies of Iraq. And our ground forces with the blood of Iraqis, Iraqis alone with their own blood, were able to liberate this land." The latest push began after al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces on March 1 to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province. Militants have been under pressure ever since in the battleground city, which is the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad. The Iraqi forces were aided by a coalition made up of mostly Shiite militiamen and volunteers. The militia members, estimated to number around 20,000, are backed by Iran. The offensive marked the first very overt participation of Iranian advisers on the front lines. The victory in Tikrit sets the stage for Iraqi forces to take back an even bigger prize: Mosul. Mosul is Iraq's second-biggest city and the site of one of its military's biggest embarrassments, when Iraqi troops dropped their weapons and ran rather than defend their posts last June. A U.S. official said in February that up to 25,000 Iraqi troops plan to return to Mosul in April or May and, ideally, win it back. This comment came days after al-Abadi told the BBC that while there's still work to do, he felt confident Iraqis could recapture the key northern city. CNN's Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Jason Hanna and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. +(CNN)A Connecticut 17-year-old who was forced to undergo nearly six months of chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin lymphoma is in remission, her attorney said Monday. "Cassandra C.," as she is identified in court papers, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in September. Medical experts gave her an 85% chance of survival if treated with chemotherapy. Without it, doctors said at the time, she was likely to die within two years. After her diagnosis, the young woman and her mother missed follow-up appointments, prompting the hospital to contact the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. They were concerned it was a case of medical neglect. After an investigation, the department requested temporary custody of Cassandra. She was removed from her mother's home and placed with a relative. A judge then allowed her to return home under the supervision of Department of Children and Families on condition she agree to complete the recommended treatment. After two days of chemotherapy in November, Cassandra ran away for a week, according to court documents. When she returned home she said she wanted to discontinue the treatment. Her mother, Jackie Fortin, who said she is opposed to chemotherapy, said her daughter didn't want the treatment because she did not want to put the "poison" in her body. In December, a judge returned Cassandra to the custody of Department of Children and Families after hearing testimony from her attorney. She was admitted to Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford. Doctors surgically implanted a port in Cassandra's chest to administer chemotherapy medications, which began in spite of legal maneuvers to halt them. Now, she has just two treatments left, according to her state appointed attorney, Josh Michtom, who said she is feeling well and she is in good shape as far as her health is concerned. "She's seen in her case the side effects weren't bad and she's been well treated by the nurses and doctors and does want to complete the treatment," he said. In January, he and an attorney for Cassandra's mother failed in their effort before the Connecticut Supreme Court to make the case that Cassandra was mature enough to make her own medical decision. In a statement emailed to CNN on Monday, Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz said, "We are very pleased with Cassandra's progress toward a complete recovery. We understand how difficult this has been for Cassandra and her family, but we have had full confidence throughout that the medical professionals involved in her treatment would be successful in saving her life." The agency has denied CNN's request to speak with Cassandra or her physicians. Michtom said he will return to juvenile court next week to try to persuade a judge that Cassandra should be returned to her mother's custody. He will argue she is no longer in imminent risk of harm from her illness and that she wants to complete her treatment. According to Michtom, Department of Children and Families could have withdrawn its position for an order of custody but hasn't. He said the department sees Cassandra as a flight risk. In the meantime, Cassandra is said to spend her days reading, watching TV and drawing. "The hospital is effectively jail," Michtom said. +(CNN)Although much of the United States has been shivering this winter, there's been another worrying sign of warming temperatures farther north. The cap of sea ice that spreads across the Arctic Ocean in winter appears to have been the smallest on record this year, according to NASA. Not only was this year's maximum extent, reached on February 25, the smallest on the satellite record, it's also one of the earliest. Barring a late spurt of ice growth -- possible but unlikely, according to a NASA news release -- this sets a new precedent. The analysis is based on data from the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Arctic sea ice, frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and its neighboring seas, is in a state of constant flux. It increases its area in winter, usually peaking between late February and early April, and then shrinks in the warmth of spring and summer to reach its lowest extent in September. If this year's maximum extent, totaling 5.61 million square miles, was reached on February 25, it was reached 15 days earlier than the 1981 to 2010 average date of March 12, according to NSIDC. Only once before did the peak come earlier, by just one day in 1996. A peak of 5.61 million square miles is about 50,000 square miles below the previous lowest peak wintertime extent, reached in 2011, according to NSIDC. Scientists have been using satellite data to track changes in Arctic sea ice, a vital habitat for birds and marine mammals such as polar bears, seals and walruses, for over three decades. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ted Scambos, NSIDC lead scientist, puts the potentially record low maximum sea ice extent this year down to low ice extent in the Pacific and a late drop in ice extent in the Barents Sea. Strong southerly winds in early March also played a role, according to NOAA. Only the Baffin Bay area and the waters around Newfoundland had more ice than normal this winter, it said. Scientists say it doesn't necessarily follow that a low maximum winter extent will mean a record amount of shrinkage in sea ice over the summer, however. While the winter sea ice extent was low in 2006 and 2011, neither of those years saw an unusually low summer minimum, NOAA said. "The winter maximum gives you a head start, but the minimum is so much more dependent on what happens in the summer that it seems to wash out anything that happens in the winter," Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is quoted as saying by NASA. "If the summer is cool, the melt rate will slow down. And the opposite is true, too: even if you start from a fairly high point, warm summer conditions make ice melt fast. "This was highlighted by 2012, when we had one of the later maximums on record and extent was near-normal early in the melt season, but still the 2012 minimum was by far the lowest minimum we've seen." Meanwhile, the summer minimum ice extent reached in the Antarctic was one of the highest recorded, NOAA said. But this isn't cause for much optimism faced with evidence of a warming planet. "Over the span of the satellite record, Arctic sea ice has been declining significantly, while sea ice in the Antarctic has increased very slightly," the NOAA news release said. "Recent research demosntrates that the Antarctic gains do not balance out the Arctic losses: globally, sea ice extent has decreased over the past several decades." According to the NSIDC, sea ice in the Arctic appears to play a more important role in regulating global temperatures than that in the Antarctic. +(CNN)Around the world, parents are navigating deep, uncharted emotional waters after a young man decided to leave a band. Yes, Zayn Malik has quit One Direction. For parents bewildered by the sudden outpouring of grief, here are a few facts to use as anchors in the sea of despair. Malik left the band. He didn't die. He wasn't thrown out. He quit, because he's young and didn't want to do it any more. "I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight," he said in a statement posted on the band's Facebook page. Sound fair enough? In the world of One Direction fans, ABSOLUTELY NOT! A few more facts for emotional ballast: The band is staying together. The other four will continue to tour and make records and even work on their fifth album this year, the statement said. So, now that the facts are out there, how do parents cope with what may seem to be a completely over-the-top irrational response to a small change in line-up? Never, ever, underestimate the depths of adolescent emotion. "Teenagers are wired to feel emotional and to feel almost obsessive about things, and passionate and impulsive. So it makes sense biologically that they are this entrenched in 1D," says Dannielle Miller, an author and teen girl educator. After the loss of Malik, Miller says many teenagers are coping with a sense of loss they've never felt before. To them, it is real, and incredibly painful. "The last thing you want to do as a parent is to just think it's silly and to laugh at your child if she's really upset about this because her feelings will be very real to her," Miller says. (Or him, as the case may be). "If you choose to laugh at her or tease her about it, then she's not going to tell you when she's grieving about other things in her life that she's really struggling with." Arm yourself with some tissues and take a step back, advises child psychologist Dr. Louise Porter. "A parent's job is to understand that they're sad, even if we don't understand why. If we think it's an over-the-top reaction for the circumstances, that doesn't matter," says Porter. She advises against trying to placate and console. "You don't need to console, you don't need to give advice. There was a famous communicator by the name of Marshall Rosenberg who said 'don't just do something, stand there.' They just need us to hear the message that says 'you're sad.'" There's some scary stuff out there, not least the Twitter hashtag #cut4zayn or #cutforzayn. Fans are posting images of slashed arms, as a sign of devotion or warped attempt to pressure Zayn to change his mind. In one instance, a user posted a photo that appeared to show the bloodied words "I LOVE ZAYN" etched on his or her arm. There's a precedent, Miller says. In 2013, a similar hashtag started that urged fans to "cut for Bieber," after reports that singer Justin Bieber was caught smoking marijuana. "A lot of those pictures were since proven to be hoaxes, so a similar thing could be happening here now," Miller says. "But regardless, the reality is lots of teen girls do think that these pictures are real and are sharing them." Miller says seeing images of self-harm could encourage vulnerable girls to do the same. "As a parent it's really concerning because images of people self-harming can be quite triggering," she says. Look for signs of self-harm. Your child might start wearing clothes that deliberately cover their arms and legs, or become especially withdrawn. Miller advises parents to ask the children outright: Are you hurting yourself? "There's nothing wrong with being quite direct about it," she says. "Early intervention is always great because then she needs to learn a healthier way of dealing with stress." The Internet is awash with melodrama on the issue of Zayn and what next for One Direction. Girls are sobbing on Vine videos, while on Twitter fans are competing to express the extent of their grief. Experts say it's not necessarily a good idea to slap an outright ban on the Internet, no matter how strongly you feel about its negative influence. "The parent needs to ask the child is it better to be on the net or is it better to be off?" say Porter. "It's better to distance yourself from it at times when it's feeling overwhelming, and dip back into it as you need to, to touch base with other people." Miller advises clearly explaining to the child why it would be better not to log on. "Explain why, don't get cross at them. They're not doing anything wrong. They're grieving with what they see as their tribe." But she adds: "What you're seeing on there is a feeding frenzy of grief which really isn't helpful." She suggests offering to replay a One Direction concert, or if the pain is still too raw, go for a walk or do something else. The good news for parents is that the trauma should subside after a couple of days. And if it takes longer? "You don't want to rush children but if it's going on for a couple of days, you might say, "passively coping and just being sad probably isn't going to work for you in this or in life in general so what can you do to make yourself feel better," Porter says. Miller says for many teens, the partial break-up of One Direction signals an end of an era. But she says if the grieving goes on for longer than a couple of days it may be advisable to talk further and perhaps seek external help. Right now, grieving One Direction fans may not want to hear it, but for parents Malik's departure offers a great opportunity to teach an important life lesson. "This is quite a nice introduction to grief," says Porter, pointing out that the vast majority of Malik's fans don't know their idol. And after all, he hasn't died. Miller agrees. "For parents, this is an incredible opportunity to show your child how to be more resilient." "In doing this now, in what is really distant from them, then you're giving them a wonderful scaffold to fall back on when in the real world someone leaves them or breaks their heart. We all need to learn that skill," she says. Look for the silver lining. Miller says Malik has set a great example for his fans by choosing his personal happiness over fame, success and money. "That's something they should admire him for," Miller says. She suggests asking your child to tell you what other positive outcomes might come from this. A brilliant solo career? A happier Zayn? 1. Encourage teens to have a good cry. 2. Encourage them to self-talk themselves through this. "He hasn't died. So what might happen to Zayn next? What could happen to the band next. Could there be a great solo album out of this? Get them thinking in a more positive frame of mind," Miller says. 3. Get them moving. "Sitting in their room on the computer watching other kids cut themselves and talk about the end of the world is not helpful." 4. Encourage them to share how they're feeling with you and to be honest with you so you can check that they're coping. 5. Encourage them to not spend too much time online. And through all that remember, in the wise words of Malik: "It was 5 great years." +(CNN)There is plenty of noise surrounding the nuclear deal that is being negotiated with Iran. But for all the heat generated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress and an ill-conceived, panicky letter to Iran's leadership organized by Sen.Tom Cotton -- the latest debate is creating little light. Indeed, it may actually be obscuring the fundamental issue of Iran's own foreign policies -- and whether Tehran's destabilizing activities abroad should preclude a deal at all. Unfortunately, few in Congress have taken the time to consider the matter in a thoughtful, coherent manner. There are, of course, certain realities that should not be in dispute: Yes, Iran is a regional adversary to a number of its Gulf neighbors and Israel. And it does aim to provoke Sunni-led Gulf states and generally to sow seeds of sectarian Islam abroad. In addition, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp's Quds force is alleged to have provided training and weapons to a range of militants -- Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, Houthi rebels in Yemen, disenfranchised Shia Muslims in Bahrain, and even to militant groups in West Africa. Most recently, Iran has been directing military operations by U.S.-equipped Iraqi forces against ISIS militants in Iraq, forces that have been aided by U.S. airstrikes. Netanyahu grasped the irony, starkly warning "when it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy." (Although Sen. Marco Rubio appears to be confused, insisting at a March 11 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran must be unhappy with U.S. airstrikes against ISIS). Yet the question that Netanyahu did not answer, and which Sen. Cotton and his 46 colleagues have not even asked, is what exactly should be done about Iran's activities abroad? Many in Congress fail to grasp that Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his colleagues in Iran's Cabinet, with their U.S.-PhDs and understanding of plural democracies, are not cut from the same cloth as the hardliners in charge of Iran's Quds force (its commander, Qasem Suleimani turns up in Lebanon and Iraq despite a travel and asset ban). And yes, it was the Quds force that provided the explosives and operatives that led to significant U.S. casualties in the early years of the 2003 Iraq war. To answer the question of what to do about Iran's activities, it is important to understand that the nuclear agreement, while it has little to do with Iran's arms transfers or extracurricular activities in the region, can lay the groundwork for a far more serious engagement about Iran's role in the region -- and in a manner that addresses head-on the concerns of its Sunni neighbors, many of whom are eager to resume longstanding trading relationships with Iran. The reality is that Iran's reemergence into the international community in a postnuclear deal environment would allow the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to assert its interests in the region, and to lay out expectations of Iran as a constructive partner. It might even lead to quiet, back-channel diplomacy about the future of Syria without al-Assad. None of this is possible in the absence of the nuclear deal. Once Iran begins to navigate its relationships as more than the isolated, nuclear-threshold pariah state it currently is, there will be less tolerance internationally for destabilizing arms transfers and the training of would-be insurgents. And there is no need to rely on Iran's word that it will refrain from such activities. As U.N. Security Council resolutions are rewritten to lift the ban on uranium enrichment in Iran, the ban on Iranian arms transfers can and should remain in place, with U.N. member states required to report to the Security Council any violations of that ban by Iran. Ultimately, as important as the nuclear issue is, the real promise of a deal is only partially about limiting the country's nuclear ambitions -- it is also about returning stability to a shattered region, exhausted and impoverished by war. Iran, the United States and Gulf allies can be partners in such a process with clear eyes and no illusions about how difficult it will be. A nuclear deal is just the beginning. +(CNN)The president of Sierra Leone has an idea on how to curtail the spread of Ebola: Get everybody to stay inside. President Ernest Bai Koroma on Saturday launched a campaign called "Zero Ebola," in which almost all Sierra Leoneans are supposed to stay indoors March 27-29 and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays -- April 4, 11 and 18. "The campaign will provide an opportunity for communities to be directly involved in the drive to zero cases, to reflect and to pray for the eradication of this disease from our country," he said in a statement. Sierra Leona tried a three-day lockdown last September in what was primarily an informational campaign, with volunteers going door-to-door to talk with residents about the virus. In August, the Liberian government locked down one of the poorest neighborhoods in the capital of Monrovia in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. The move resulted in riots. No commercial activity is supposed to occur during the upcoming lockdown, Koroma said. Because March 29 is Palm Sunday, church services will be allowed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Health workers, journalists and public safety officers are exempted. Koroma noted that his country has made "tremendous progress" in the fight against the deadly disease as the Ministry of Health reported zero new infections Friday. He warned that the rate of transmissions may increase during the upcoming rainy season. "The economic development of our country and the lives of our people continue to be threatened by the ongoing presence of Ebola in Sierra Leone," he said. "The future of our country and the aspirations of our children are at stake." During Sierra Leone's lockdown last year, Doctors Without Borders said such an effort is unlikely to stop the spread of the disease. "Large-scale coercive measures like forced quarantines and lockdowns are driving people underground and jeopardizing the trust between people and health providers," the charity group said in a statement. "This is leading to the concealment of cases and is pushing the sick away from health systems." Sierra Leone has the largest number of confirmed Ebola cases -- 11,751 so far, according to the World Health Organization. WHO says Liberia has the highest number of deaths -- 4,264. So far, 10,194 have died from Ebola and 24,701 have been infected, according to WHO. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. The National Institutes for Health said Thursday it will admit an American health care worker with Ebola to its Maryland hospital. The person was volunteering at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last Tuesday that 15 American aid workers who had high-risk exposure to Ebola in Sierra Leone have arrived back in the United States for monitoring. None is known to be infected with the disease. CNN's Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report. +(CNN)A Colorado woman whose fetus was cut from her womb in a stabbing attack last week has been released from the hospital, relatives say. Michelle Wilkins thought she was answering a Craigslist ad for baby clothes on March 18 in Longmont. Instead, when she arrived at the purported seller's home, authorities say, she was attacked, beaten and her fetus was surgically removed. The baby did not survive. Dynel Lane, 34, has been held on $2 million bond as authorities weigh charges against the former nurse aide. While the attack on Wilkins has shocked her community for its brutality, many have also remarked on the 26-year-old's strength. Bleeding and stunned in a stranger's basement, Wilkins managed to lock herself in a room to prevent any further violence, called 911 and did what she could to stem the bleeding. Police officers Billy Sawyer and Phil Piotrowski, who responded to the call, told CNN affiliate KDVR they weren't prepared for the grisly scene. "She was covered from head to toe in blood," Sawyer said. Piotrowski told the station that Wilkins "saved her own life," describing her as " probably one of the strongest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet." Wilkins is now out of the hospital, according to a family statement posted on their GoFundMe page, and she's "in a safe location" and "surrounded by family and friends." More than $65,000 has been raised so far. +(CNN)Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch will read a specially-written poem at the "funeral" of Richard III, the King found buried beneath a parking lot -- his own distant relative. Oscar-nominated Cumberbatch, who is to star as Richard III in an upcoming TV adaptation, will read a verse penned for the service by Britain's poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. The 14-line verse, titled simply "Richard," will remain a closely-guarded secret until the service of reinterment at Leicester Cathedral on Thursday. All the organizers will say is that it is a "meditation on the impact of [Richard's] finding and on the legacy of his story." They also have revealed that it contains the phrase "grant me the carving of my name," recognizing that Richard III's grave was lost for centuries, with no tombstone to mark its location. In a statement, Duffy said it was "a privilege to be involved, in a small way" in the farewell to Richard, the last English King to die in battle, 530 years ago. Cumberbatch's reading will form part of a service of reinterment for the medieval monarch, which will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Key figures in the rediscovery and identification of the royal remains, including historians, archaeologists, scientists and relatives are expected to attend, along with members of the public who won a ballot for tickets. Queen Elizabeth II has written a message to be included in the order of service for the event, at which she will be represented by the Countess of Wessex. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Leicester and its surrounding villages as Richard III's coffin was carried out to the site of the Battle of Bosworth, where he was killed in 1485, and back in a procession. Since then, people have queued around the block to see it lying "in repose" in the cathedral where it will be reinterred in a tomb made of pale Swaledale fossil limestone from Yorkshire, set on a plinth of black Kilkenny marble. Richard III's remains were found in August 2012 by archaeologists searching for the remains of the Greyfriars Monastery, which had been covered over by a council car park. The skeleton has been studied at the University of Leicester ever since, allowing scientists to discover a host of details about Richard III's life -- and death -- by analyzing the bones. The university's genealogy expert, Kevin Shurer, has discovered that Cumberbatch is related to Richard III. "Benedict is Richard III's second cousin, 16 removed," Shurer explained. "He is linked in several ways, but ... the shortest is via Richard's mother, Cecily Neville's grandmother, Joan Beaufort. He also has more indirect links to both Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Jane Grey through other ancestors in his [family] tree. "It is great that Benedict has the opportunity to take part in the ceremony ... having him there will add another dimension to what has already been a momentous week." Shurer also helped confirm the link between the last Plantagenet King and living relatives Michael Ibsen and Wendy Duldig, whose DNA proved the identity of Richard III's remains. Ibsen, a Canadian-born cabinetmaker who now lives in London, built the English oak and yew coffin in which Richard III will be buried. Five things we've learned about Richard III from his remains . Richard III -- the mystery of the King and the car parking lot . +(CNN)The Pueblo Chemical Depot will begin destroying the United States' largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons Tuesday in southern Colorado. There are 2,611 tons of World War II-era mustard agent at the Pueblo depot. Here are nine things to know about these chemical weapons and how we got here: . 1. First use: April 22 marks the 100th anniversary of the first use of chemical weapons in modern warfare at Ypres in Belgium. 2. Huge production: From World War I to 1968, the United States produced nearly 40,000 tons of chemical weapons. These weapons were either nerve agents or blister agents. 3. Scary stuff: Mustard agent is a blister agent, which can cause skin redness and itching, eye irritation, scarring, and an increased risk for lung and respiratory cancer. 4. Into the sea: From 1967 to 1970, the U.S. Army disposed of thousands of chemical warfare agents and ammunition into the sea as part of Operation Cut Holes and Sink 'Em (CHASE). 5. No more: Congress passed a law in 1972 known as the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act prohibiting this kind of dumping. 6. Date of destruction: In 1997, the United States ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty and agreed to destroy all of its chemical weapons by April 29, 2012. 7. Work not done: 90% of the U.S. stockpile -- 30,500 tons -- was destroyed by the treaty date in 2012 at depots in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Utah and Johnson Atoll in the Pacific. The remaining 10% -- close to 3,100 tons -- is at two sites in Colorado and Kentucky. 9. Don't burn it: Residents in Colorado and Kentucky protested the use of incineration to get rid of the chemical weapons stockpile. The process of neutralization was adopted. 8. Pueblo's stockpile: The Pueblo Chemical Depot has about 780,000 shells containing mustard agent. 9. The last one: The Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, will have the remaining chemical agent stockpile, which is a fifth of the size of the one at Pueblo Chemical Depot. But the Kentucky site has a larger variety of chemical weapons, including nerve agent. +(CNN)Notwithstanding the polls, the valiant efforts of the Obama White House, a new unity on the Israeli left and a controversial term, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party appears to have swept to victory in Tuesday's Israeli elections. For many in Israel, the election turned on domestic economic issues and on personality. Pollsters had believed that the combination of rising prices, slowing growth and a controversial leader at the helm of the incumbent Likud would finally doom the man who was looking to notch a historic fourth term as premier on his belt. Not so much. While it will likely take some time for Netanyahu to form a new government, the reverberations of his victory will be felt fast in Washington. U.S. President Barack Obama has made no secret of his antipathy toward Netanyahu, and many believe that Obama has allowed disagreements over policy to spill over into personal animosity. And while the White House allowed it would work with whoever won the Israeli elections, it seems clear whom the President would have voted for had he been allowed to cast a ballot. So what will Obama do on the issues that have increasingly divided Israel and the United States? Some believe the President will be all the more constrained in his negotiations with Iran, especially now that Israel has doubled down on the man who took to a joint meeting of Congress to publicly excoriate Obama's hoped-for deal with the Islamic Republic over its nuclear weapons program. But the stronger likelihood is that the Likud victory will spur the administration to even more concessions to ensure a deal between Tehran and Washington. This is, after all, an administration that has written off the concerns of all of Iran's neighbors (and America's allies in the region) over a weak agreement that would likely do little more than pave the way toward a nuclear weapons capability for the ayatollahs. The reality is that where Obama might have been inclined to listen to the Israeli left (which differed little with the Likud over Iran), he will find it easy to dismiss the clamoring of the Israeli right, never mind that it represents the will of the people of Israel. Then there are the negotiations with the Palestinians. Obama has never appeared personally interested in the peace process, though his administration has made repeated attempts to bring both sides to the table. But now Washington will be in an even tougher place. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has all but abandoned the notion of bilateral negotiations toward Palestinian statehood, and has brought his case instead to the international community. He has promised he will continue to pursue recognition country by country, and through the United Nations, while at the same time seeking to prosecute Israel for "war crimes" through the International Criminal Court. In the waning days of the election, Netanyahu made Abbas' job all the easier by reversing his earlier commitment to a Palestinian state, suggesting there would never be one on his watch. The Palestinians returned the favor, announcing that they would redouble their efforts at the ICC. This all puts Obama in a sticky spot. It will be tempting to just let the Palestinians have at Netanyahu, and the President will likely want to do just that. But what about the broader implications of allowing the International Criminal Court to proceed with accusations by a nonstate actor against a nonmember of the court, all the while insisting it has jurisdiction? Few have any doubt that if unleashed to prosecute whom it wishes by parties without legal standing (because "Palestine" is not, in fact, a state), ICC prosecutions of U.S. officials will not be far behind. Until last week, Obama administration policy was to try to walk back the entire ICC mess. It is in the best interests of the United States to continue that fight, but best interests are not always the prime mover behind Obama administration policies. Of course, all involved in this could also act like adults with real issues at stake -- Netanyahu and Obama could do the right things and put behind them the fuss over the speech to Congress, the personal backbiting, and the public bickering. But that would require a maturity that neither party appears to embrace, more the shame for all of us. +(CNN)The national office of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity changed its tune. Just two weeks ago, the national office condemned a racist chant that resulted in the shutdown of the University of Oklahoma SAE chapter, saying, "The national fraternity does not teach such a racist, hateful chant, and this chant is not part of any education or training." The fraternity brothers probably "learned the song from fellow chapter members," SAE said. But in a Friday statement, the SAE national office said otherwise. The OU chapter, SAE said, "likely learned a racist chant while attending a national leadership school about four years ago." The fraternity invites hundreds of leaders to a six-day conference every year, SAE said. "While attendees have little social time, there are occasions when participants can gather socially," the statement said. "[Executive Director Blaine] Ayers said it is likely that during one of these social gatherings, some members shared the racist song that was recorded on video at the University of Oklahoma and shared through social media earlier this month." Ayers said the organization has no evidence the chant is widespread across the fraternity's 237 groups. "Our investigation to date shows no evidence the song was widely shared across the broader organization," Ayers said. "The song is horrific and does not at all reflect our values as an organization." But OU President David Boren, in revealing details of the university investigation on Friday, said the chant was an integral part of life in the local chapter. "Over time the chant was formalized in the local SAE chapter and was taught to pledges as part of the formal and informal leadership process," he said. "It is clear that during the four years since the chant was brought to the university campus, its existence was known by recent members and ... it became part of the institutionalized culture of the chapter." Boren said "alcohol was readily available at the fraternity house" on March 7 and some chapter members were drinking. He also said about a dozen high school students had been invited to the event and "were exposed to the chant." The chant was discovered by the school newspaper and a student organization, which received the video clip via anonymous messages. The video shows party-bound students on a bus clapping, pumping their fists and laughing as they chant, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** SAE." The university cut ties with Sigma Alpha Epsilon after the video surfaced, as did the national fraternity, and both launched investigations. The university has disciplined fraternity members with punishment ranging from permanent withdrawals to sensitivity training. Fraternity officers have issued apologies. SAE issued questions-and-answers about the controversy, noting the fraternity plans to hire a director of diversity and inclusion. About 20% of SAE members self-identify as a minority or non-Caucasian, SAE said. +Rome (CNN)Italy's highest court Friday will consider whether to uphold the 2009 murder conviction of American Amanda Knox, according to Judge Gennaro Marasca. The high court judge will either uphold the murder convictions of Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, or send the case back for another appeal, or potentially on to a different section of the court. Knox, a 27-year-old Seattle native, and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the 2007 killing of Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher. Knox and Kercher lived together in Italy at the time of Kercher's death. Sollecito and Knox were acquitted in 2011 on appeal, and then Knox returned to the United States. However, Italy's Supreme Court overturned the acquittals in 2013, and they were convicted last year after a retrial. If a new trial is ordered, Knox and Sollecito will buy a little time before a final decision is reached. But if the court upholds the conviction, the case will be closed for good -- and what happens to Knox next is uncertain. Conventional wisdom dictates that Knox will eventually face an extradition hearing or reach a deal with the Italian Justice Ministry to serve her 28-year sentence, but that could take years. The statute of limitations is double the sentence, meaning the Italians have 57 years to bring her back to the country. Knox, however, would benefit from the United States' extradition treaty with Italy -- under which the United States will not extradite a person who has been acquitted -- and from the U.S. Constitution's protection against double jeopardy. Sollecito, on the other hand, still lives in Italy, and has a lot more to lose than Knox does, at least in the short term. He would be scooped up immediately and hauled off to prison to start a 25-year sentence. All of his options will have been exhausted and he will have no choice but to go to directly to jail. Sollecito earlier said he would be in court on Wednesday to face the judge. "I've been living this for eight years," he told the Italian crime TV program "Quarto Grado." Not appearing in court would be like hiding in the corner during a tsunami -- it will take you away anyway." Rudy Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was convicted separately in a fast-track trial and is midway through a 16-year sentence for Kercher's murder. His case was confirmed by Italy's high court in 2010. Many commentators in the U.S. have reasoned that Italy may not ask the United States for Knox's extradition because it would cause a diplomatic rift between the two nations. But there could be a greater rift if it appears that Knox gets away with murder and her Italian ex-boyfriend pays for the crime. If Sollecito is languishing in prison and Knox is sipping Frappuccino in a Seattle Starbucks, Italians will not be pleased, says Alessandro Capponi, an Italian journalist for Corriere Della Sera who has been covering the case since Kercher was killed in 2007. "It will be seen as an injustice," Capponi told CNN. "You may not see people out on the streets, but if you ask 10 people what they think, those 10 people will tell you they see it as a complete injustice that only the Italian and the African are in prison. The Italians will say that the American gets away with murder and it won't be the first time." This is not the first time Italy and the United States have butted heads on matters involving American suspects accused of crimes in Italy. In 1998, an American Marine aircraft sliced through a ski lift cable in the Dolomites, sending 20 people plummeting to their death. Even after admitting to destroying the videotape of the deadly flight, only two of the four Marines were charged and convicted. Only one served jail time -- just over four months of a six-month sentence. In 2012, Italy's highest court upheld the convictions of 23 Americans (22 CIA agents and an Air Force pilot) for the kidnapping of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar, a suspeced terrorist, from a street in Milan. They were sentenced to between five and eight years in prison, but Italy has not yet asked for extradition. "Our relationship with the United States is full of these diplomatic tensions," said Capponi. "This will just be added to the list." Knox's case has been divisive from the start, and her supporters have come down hard on the Italian judicial system. Sollecito has never had the luxury of that attitude, knowing full well that he is in the hands of the system whether he likes it or not, so vocally criticizing it wouldn't be in his best interest. In fact, he has long suffered the impact of Knox's ardent campaigners who have mostly criticized Italy from the other side of the Atlantic. By almost any Italian precedent, Sollecito should not have had to be in prison during his initial trial -- but because Knox was deemed a flight risk, she had to stay in jail. Because Sollecito was her co-defendant, he did too, even though he had no ties to anyone abroad. "Knox could still beat the system, but Sollecito's game is up if the convictions are upheld," Nicola Canestrini, an Italian extradition lawyer familiar with both legal systems, told CNN. "He has no wiggle room and it could be that he serves the time for both of them, which will likely cause deep resentment here in Italy." Perhaps a little too late, Sollecito's defense team has been slowly inching away from Knox, especially since the latest conviction. Last summer, he held a press conference when his lawyers filed their appeal to the high court, in which his lawyer Giulia Bongiorno pointed out "certain anomalies" in Knox's testimony that have nothing to do with Sollecito. "We ask that the court to not extend the anomalies of Amanda's testimony to Raffaele," Bongiorno said at the time. Whether that is enough to get the high court to give Sollecito another, independent chance is yet to be seen. "I am not a crazy person. I am not a criminal. I am innocent," Sollecito told reporters last summer at the press conference. "But my name is Raffaele Sollecito, not Amanda Marie Knox." Now it is up to the judge to determine whether that makes any difference. CNN's Hada Messia contributed to this report. +(CNN)The family of an unarmed biracial 19-year-old killed by police in Madison, Wisconsin, is pushing for peaceful protests online and in the streets. "Our hands are stained with the blood of my nephew, and we are all left to deal with the aftermath," Turin Carter, the teen's uncle, told reporters on Monday. Carter stressed that his family wasn't anti-police, but said Tony Robinson's death "highlights a universal problem with law enforcement and how its procedures have been carried out ... specifically as it pertains to the systematic targeting of young black males." But he said the problem goes beyond the chants of "black lives matter" that have already been used at protests over the case. "I encourage everybody to show support regardless of race because this is truly a universal issue. ... We don't want to stop at just 'black lives matter,' because all lives matter," he said. The deadly confrontation has made Madison the latest epicenter of protests. Here's what we know about the Friday night shooting. The incident started when authorities got a call that a black male was yelling and jumping in front of cars, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said. Dispatchers identified him as Tony Robinson, according to 911 audio obtained by WKOW. A little later, the dispatcher says, "Apparently Tony hit one of his friends. No weapons seen." About four minutes later, the dispatcher says, "I got another call for the same suspect at [the same address]. He tried to strangle another patron." About 30 seconds later, an unidentified officer says, "Shots fired, shots fired." When Officer Matt Kenny went to the apartment, he heard some commotion and forced his way in, Koval said. "Once inside the home the subject involved in this incident -- the same one allegedly out in traffic and that had battered someone -- assaulted my officer," Koval said. After that, according to the chief, "The officer did draw his revolver and subsequently shot the subject." Koval said it's understandable why protesters are outraged. "He was unarmed. That's going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, the public, to accept, to understand ... why deadly force had to be used," he said. A neighbor in the duplex said she heard it all happen. Two brothers shared the other apartment in the duplex, and Robinson was their friend, Kathy Bufton said. "I heard rustling and things being knocked over and my kitchen ceiling actually kind of shook. ... I figured something was going on," she said. "I heard somebody go down the stairs. And then I heard the shots." There were 4-6 shots fired, Bufton said. For the family, that's a horrifying reality. "It takes one bullet from a trained gunman to end a life. It takes one bullet," Carter said Monday. "And we know how many were fired." This isn't the first time Kenny used lethal force. In 2007, he shot and killed a man in what the police chief described as a "suicide by cop." Kenny was exonerated of wrongdoing and received a commendation. During the confrontation Friday night, Kenny suffered a blow to the head, Koval said. He has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. "It's a stressful period for him and his family, but he also understands that a family here has suffered a tragic loss and he understands that there has to be an investigation," said James Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. Under Wisconsin law, officer-involved shootings are investigated by an outside agency, in this case the Division of Criminal Investigation. Once the division completes its investigation, the report will go to the local district attorney, Koval said. Palmer declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, but said there are some circumstances when an unarmed person could still be seen as posing a deadly threat to a police officer. "The real fear for any officer when he's being attacked, generally speaking, is that their weapon will be taken away," Palmer said, "and an unarmed individual can become armed very quickly." Wisconsin Circuit Court documents indicate Robinson pleaded guilty in December to an armed robbery that occurred last April. His mother, Andrea Irwin, painted a different picture of the teen: "My son has never been a violent person, never," she told CNN affiliate WKOW. "To die in such a violent way baffles me." The police chief refused to comment on Robinson's criminal history or run-ins with police. "I could but I choose not to," he said at a press conference Saturday. "I frankly think it is, for our purposes today, wholly inappropriate and I am not going to blemish anyone's character, particularly someone's as young as his." On Monday, Robinson's uncle told reporters his nephew wasn't a saint and had made some poor decisions, but was still a "good, kindhearted kid." "We paint him as a human being, a 19-year-old who made a terrible mistake at one point, which is completely dissociated from this act," he said. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, who said he met with Robinson's family the night of the shooting, said officials aren't going to put the teen on trial. "That's not what this is about. What this is about is finding out exactly what happened that night and to determine, then, responsibility," he told CNN's "AC360." "We know that he was not armed, and as far as the police chief and I are concerned ... the fact that Tony was involved in any kind of transgression in the past has nothing to do with this present tragedy." Because Robinson did not have a weapon, the death spurred memories of other unarmed black men killed by police: Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York. Over the weekend, protesters filled streets in Madison. On Monday, demonstrators packed the Wisconsin State Capitol. They chanted and carried a banner with a familiar message: "Black lives matter." Asked the difference between Ferguson and Madison, Carter said Monday the cases are "similar, but different," noting that his nephew's "racial ambiguity" was an important part of his identity. "Tony's racial ambiguity reinforces the fact that America's racial lines are completely, 100% blurred," he said. "My sister is a white mother of black children who had black and white relatives. We are all multiple races and we each have our own complex heritage." Among the protesters are members of the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition that was formed last summer after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson. The group wants more reactive policing in African-American neighborhoods, said group member Brandi Grayson. She said Madison police park on street corners in African-American neighborhoods and wait for something to happen, which leads to residents being hassled. That doesn't happen in white neighborhoods, she said. "In light of so many things that have happened not just across the country, but in our own community, it's understandable that the reaction at the scene and of some of our citizens is extremely volatile, emotional and upsetting," Chief Koval told CNN affiliate WKOW-TV. "And we understand that. That's absolutely appropriate under these circumstances. We would urge, obviously, that everyone exercise restraint." Koval said he knows it may be difficult for Madison to move forward after Robinson's death. He visited the teen's grandmother over the weekend but was advised by them to not visit the mother yet because the emotions are still too raw. "We need to start, as any healing or any reconciliation should, with an 'Im sorry,' and I've done that privately, and I'm attempting to do that publicly and that's the only way we can sort of begin the healing or the rift that may take years, if at all, to mend," the police chief said. "But the effort has to be there. So we have to acknowledge it, we have to own it, we have to say we are sorry at the outset for it and then we have to show affirmative steps in moving forward to bring the community back into the fold, as it were." CNN's Rosa Flores, Gary Tuchman, Brianna Keilar, Ralph Ellis, Joe Sutton and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)Hillary Clinton permanently deleted all the emails on the private server she used to do official business as secretary of state, the Republican lawmaker who subpoenaed the emails said late Friday. Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of the House committee investigating the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, said Clinton's lawyer informed him of the news. "Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server," Gowdy said in a statement. Gowdy had also asked that Clinton turn over her server to the State Department inspector general for an independent review. Clinton's lawyer, David Kendall, said no. In his letter to Gowdy, Kendall said the former secretary of state "chose not to keep her non-record personal emails." "Thus, there are no ... e-mails from Secretary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state on the server for any review, even if such review were appropriate or legally authorized," he wrote. But she "has maintained and preserved copies" of work-related, or potentially work-related emails she turned over to the State Department late last year. Kendall did not specify whether the emails were kept in paper or digital form. In December, Clinton turned over 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department. Clinton has asked that those roughly 30,000 emails be released to the public. State Department officials have said they will release them after they have been reviewed. "Representatives of Secretary Clinton's office have been in touch with the committee and the State Department to make clear that she would like her emails made public as soon as possible and that she's ready and willing to come and appear herself for a hearing open to the American public," Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said in an email. Gowdy said it wasn't clear when Clinton erased the server, but it appears to have been wiped after October 2014, when the State Department asked Clinton to return her official emails to the department. The chairman subpoenaed Clinton's emails regarding Libya and, last month, the State Department turned over about 300 emails to the committee. Clinton did not have an official government email account, so her personal server was the primary repository for her emails during her time as secretary of state. "Not only was the secretary the sole arbiter of what was a public record, she also summarily decided to delete all emails from her server, ensuring no one could check behind her analysis in the public interest," Gowdy said. But in his letter, Kendall said the federal law governing record retention requires that each federal employee individually decide what emails must be preserved. "The manner in which Secretary Clinton assisted the State Department in fulfilling its responsibilities under the act is consistent with the obligations of every federal employee," Kendall wrote. Gowdy has also subpoenaed the emails of about a dozen Clinton aides at the State Department. That request is still outstanding. +(CNN)Four years ago I was laughed out of the room when I said to a group of friends: "Pretty soon guys are going to decide their lives are more important than playing in the NFL. And they are going to stop playing." My friends accused me of going soft, being an elitist, being overly PC. Today, I'm certain they are not saying those things about the talented 49er linebacker Chris Borland, the latest NFLer to quit. He's 24 years old and the first player to retire directly because he wanted to avoid the traumatic brain injuries that have been linked to playing football. Borland played just one NFL season. "I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," he told ESPN's "Outside the Lines." "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk." He added: "I just thought to myself, 'What am I doing? Is this how I'm going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I've learned and knew about the dangers?' " His teammate, Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis, made the decision to walk away last week, and you can't help but think his decision might have influenced Borland. Willis says he isn't really sure what he'll do next, but he knows he won't play another game in the National Football League. Although fans around the globe are begging the 30-year-old, seven-time Pro Bowler to "unretire," Willis said his nagging foot and ankle injuries, and a desire for a happy life are why he walked away. "I have no regrets," said a tearful Willis in his press conference last week. "I gave this game everything I had and I am truly blessed. ... Honestly, I pay attention to guys when they're finished playing, walking around like they've got no hips and they can't play with their kids. They can barely walk. "People see that and they feel sorry," Willis said. "But they don't realize it's because he played a few extra years." Willis, who has a degree in criminology from Ole Miss, is a wise man. And while many sports fans are in shock that any guy lucky enough to play in the NFL would just walk away from fame and wealth, it sounds to me like Willis has his priorities right. It's refreshing. And Willis is not alone. At a time of year when most football fans are consumed by trade rumors and free agency moves, several other high-profile players have decided to hang up their cleats. And what's surprising is how young they are: . At 27, Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds was soon to step into the crazy world of free agency, where he was sure to be in demand by many teams. It looked like he was just about to get his huge payday. But instead, he's leaving the game. Unlike Willis, Worilds hadn't been plagued by injuries, at least not yet. And he'd only missed one game in the past three seasons. So why did he leave? He wants to do other things, he said. Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker, 26, announced he's also retiring after just four seasons. Another Pro Bowler who had been haunted by injuries, running back Maurice Jones-Drew, 29, called it quits in Oakland recently. He lasted nine years. Young, intelligent and charismatic, "MJD" was adored by fans until, like so many other elite players, he was slowed down by injuries. Jones-Drew, whom I worked with a lot when he was starting out in the league, is a smart and personable guy. It was clear when I met him that he was talented enough to succeed at anything he pursued. "Football has been a central part of my life for the past 24 years," Jones-Drew wrote when announcing his retirement on Twitter. "But now I'm excited about and looking forward to the next chapter of my life." Who knows, maybe MJD is the next Michael Strahan? That former New York Giant's successful exit from football has inspired so many younger players. Strahan's path has empowered others to value themselves beyond football. Every season, I get calls from NFLers who want my help finding a career after football. "How do I do what Mike did; that's what I want to do," they say. Once dubbed the "sack master," Strahan has transformed himself into such a daytime TV media darling you would think he was born to co-host ABC's "Live With Kelly & Michael." But even he had to decide when to quit the game before it got the best of him. It took 15 years. I will never forget how hobbled Strahan looked one early morning when an ESPN crew showed up at his door to do a "day-in-life" story on his off day. Bruised and still bloody that morning, he could barely get out of bed. Usually loquacious, he had trouble even talking because his swollen jaw was locked shut. He couldn't even brush his teeth properly. Shave? Forget it: hands too gnarly. And it was clear he had a severe migraine working his brain. There were very few laughs that day. Strahan was barely 30 then, and he looked like a defeated, old man. Now, every time I see him smiling for the cameras, I think how blessed he is to be healthy and enjoying his life after football. So maybe there is another way out for young players who are now better informed about the dangers of the game. Just maybe all the debates about the ugly side of football -- concussions, brain injuries, depression and suicides-- have done some good, after all. Today, a guy like Patrick Willis can walk away from the game a happy man: . "If I want to go fishing tomorrow, I'm going to go fishing. ... If I want to go home and watch my little brother play baseball, I can go to do that. ... Life is amazing right now." +San Rafael, California (CNN)At 74 years old, Marilyn Price still remembers the first time she rode a bike. "My father let go of my seat, and there I was on my own," she said. Years later, Price realized the power of biking to change lives. During a 1982 mountain biking trip in northern California, Price reached a point on the trail where she could see all of San Francisco. Looking out at the city, she thought of the children she met while volunteering at a soup kitchen there. And it hit her: She wanted to give them the same experience. "There's nothing like biking up a mountain and looking behind you to see all you've accomplished," she said. Price has since helped more than 25,000 at-risk children from the San Francisco Bay Area get off urban streets and into nature through her nonprofit, Trips for Kids. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for CNN Heroes 2015 . In addition to mountain bike excursions, the group provides bike mechanic training and the chance for young people to earn credit toward their own bikes. Today, Trips for Kids has expanded to 90 chapters around the world, serving more than 15,000 children each year. See more CNN Heroes . CNN's Allie Torgan spoke with Price about the impact of her efforts. Below is an edited version of their conversation. CNN: For many of the young people in your program, this is their first time on a mountain bike. How do they react? Marilyn Price: Many of them have never really left the city. To them, life is automobiles and buildings. Everything is concrete. But you bring them where there are no buildings, no cars, it is like, "Wow! I didn't know that this exists." I think we're planting a seed that there are alternatives to getting into trouble. They can get on a bike and go to a place that is very much unlike where they live and do something positive. It's giving them the notion that there is something else. CNN: And their experience goes beyond bike trips. What else do you offer? Price: The second is our Earn-a-Bike program, where kids in the community come after school. They learn bike mechanics, and while they're participating they are earning credit. They can use it to buy bikes or parts. They're buying bikes for themselves, for their parents or siblings. I just love the idea of having them work toward a goal. They're really learning skills that will help them in the future. The third (program) is our bike thrift shop, where anyone in the community can come shop for a discounted bike. We call it Trips for Kids Re-Cyclery. All of the bikes and bike gear are donated. It provides 60% of what we need to run our programs. And it is 100% an environmental program. We follow the three 'Rs' very rigorously: reduce, reuse and then recycle! CNN: Trips For Kids has grown well beyond San Francisco. Why do you think this model works so well? Price: It's easy to use the bike to introduce kids to the environment because the bike is universally loved by children. The bike allows us to introduce them to a healthy lifestyle and good work habits. (It's) a tool to impart these life lessons. Right now there are 90 chapters, literally around the world, that are repeating our experiences. They all do bike rides and then some of them, as they get more developed like we did, also start their own Earn-a-Bike programs or their own bike thrift shops to support themselves. CNN: Did you ever imagine your simple idea would have such an impact? Price: I wear my Trips For Kids T-shirt wherever I go. I went into the bank one day here in Marin County, and there was a young girl who was the teller. She looked at my T-shirt, and she said, "Wow -- you're with Trips For Kids? That was the best experience I've ever had. I will never forget it." I don't know how many stories there are like that, but it's planting that seed. I just love every minute of it. Seeing the results of what we were accomplishing just had me stick with it. Since I started the notion, I haven't given up and hope to continue forever. Want to get involved? Check out the Trips For Kids website at www.tripsforkids.org and see how to help. +Babylon, Iraq (CNN)ISIS has smashed priceless ancient statues in Mosul, bulldozed the ruins of Nineveh and Hatra, and dynamited centuries-old churches, mosques and shrines. In a battle between Iraqi forces and ISIS over control of Tikrit recently, the tomb of Saddam Hussein was squashed to rubble, though it's not clear which side did it. Luckily, the ancient city of Babylon is outside the extremists' grasp, south of Baghdad. For nearly 5,000 years it has stood as a symbol of the glory of ancient Mesopotamian civilization. Saddam Hussein renovated the ruins in the 1980s, leaving his own crude personal stamp on the bricks there. They bear his name and describe him as the son of Nebuchadnezzar, who had the reputation of being ancient Babylon's greatest king. One of Hussein's former palaces still peers down over the city. But it continues to be source of great pride for Iraqis who see themselves as the heirs of the world's oldest civilization. And many Iraqis know better than to buy the claims of their deposed despot. "This wasn't Saddam's," said Adnan Abu Fatima. "It belonged to our grandfathers, the Babylonians." Abu Fatima strolled through the ruins with his family. Saddam's vain brick inscriptions may annoy him, but ISIS' destruction appalls him. "The Mosul museum was destroyed. Why?" he wants to know from ISIS. "That is the heritage of your grandfathers. Why did you do that?" The defacers' reasoning? The artifacts, some of the oldest in ancient civilization, are from the "age of ignorance," ISIS says, before the advent of Islam. Antiquity is an integral part of Iraq's national identity. History is measured there not in centuries but in millennia, and Iraqi's take such vandalism to heart. They've had to watch since the U.S. invasion in 2003 how artifacts have been stolen. Baghdad's museum was plundered, during a lapse in U.S. security, and the priceless artifacts were smuggled around the world. The U.S. State Department has announced it will return more than 60 items on Monday, which had been sneaked into the United States. Safa ad-Din Hassan and other parents took Iraqi scouts on a camping trip near Babylon to teach them about their history and make ancient artwork with them. Hassan fled Mosul when ISIS overran it last year then later ransacked the museum. "When I saw what happened, I was determined to come her to preserve our antiquities from ISIS," he said. Iraq will defend its heritage against ISIS, said Mohamed Hattab from Iraq's Antiquities Department. "Babylon is our soul." It's a soul under assault by latter day barbarians, who have destroyed much of it in the North, which has been out of the defensive reach of Iraqi soldiers. The military has started a drive to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from the extremists. After the rage of a battle subsided, they moved in to the outskirt town of Awja to find the former dictator's tomb flattened. Video of soldiers standing on top of it was posted to YouTube. They celebrated the posthumous slap against their former tormentor. One man fired shots into the rubble toward Hussein's grave site. It was a piece of history they were glad to part with. CNN's Ben Wedeman reported and wrote from Babylon, and Ben Brumfield reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Yousuf Basil contributed to this report. +(CNN)Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made news this week when he told CNN's Dana Bash that he would get his health care through Obamacare. Previously, Cruz's family was covered under his wife's policy through her employer, the investment bank Goldman Sachs. But with her husband's presidential candidacy underway, Heidi Cruz has taken a leave without pay. So she has lost her Goldman Sachs health benefits. The story went viral, in part because Cruz once engineered a partial government shutdown to try to kill Obamacare. As part of his crusade, Cruz conducted a 21-hour talkathon on the Senate floor, during which he read Dr. Seuss' classic "Green Eggs and Ham." Spoiler alert: "Green Eggs and Ham" ends with the protagonist actually trying the food he thought he hated -- and liking it. Now that Cruz is likely to try Obamacare, my guess is he will have a similar experience. So, with apologies to Dr. Seuss -- who would no doubt have found a way to rhyme "President Bar" with "Obamacare" -- here is my updated version of "Green Eggs and Ham." President BarPresident BarI do not likethat President Bar . Do you likeObamacare? I do not like it,President Bar.I do not likeObamacare. Would you like ithere or there? I would not like ithere or there.I would not like itanywhere.I do not likeObamacareI do not like it,President Bar. Would you like itfor the Senate?Would you like itfor a minute? I do not like itfor the Senate.I do not like itfor a minute.I do not like ithere or there.I do not like itanywhere.I do not like Obamacare.I do not like it, President Bar. Would you try itin a pinch?Would you try itfor an inch? Not in a pinch.Not for an inch.Not in the Senate.Not for a minute.I would not like it here or there.I would not like it anywhere.I will not use Obamacare.I do not like it, President Bar. Would you? Could you?Back in Texas?Try it! Try it!In your Lexus. I would notcould notback in Texas. You may like it,You will see.It comes witha subsidy. I don't want a subsidyNot in a car! You let me be.I do not like it back in Texas.I do not like it in my Lexus.I do not like in the Senate.I do not like it for a minute.I do not like it here or there.I do not like it anywhere.I do not like Obamacare.I do not like it President Bar. Exchange! Exchange!Exchange! Exchange!Could you, would youon an exchange? No damn exchange! No subsidy!Not in a car, Bar! Let me be!I do not like it back in Texas.I do not like it in my Lexus.I do not like in the Senate.I do not like it for a minute.I do not like it here or there.I do not like it anywhere.I do not like Obamacare.I do not like it President Bar. Say! On CNN?Here on CNN!Would you, could you, on CNN? I would not, could not,on CNN. Would you, could you,in Des Moines? I would not, could not, in Des Moines.I simply could not bear to join.Not on CNN. Not back in Texas.Not on an exchange. Not in my Lexus.Not in the Senate. Not for a minute.I do not like it here or there.I do not like it anywhere! You do not likeObamacare? I do notlike it,President Bar. Could you, would youwith Harry Reid? I would not,could notwith Harry Reid! Would you if care wereguaranteed? I could not, even if it's guaranteed.I will not join with Harry Reid.I will not do it in Des Moines.I simply could not bear to join.Not on CNN. Not back in Texas.Not on an exchange. Not in my Lexus.Not in the Senate. Not for a minute.I do not like it here or there.I do not like it ANYWHERE!I do not likeObamacare!I do not like it,President Bar. But if your wife leaves Goldman Sachs,And you don't want to pay the tax,Try it! Try it! You may seeObamacare is good for me. Bar!If Goldman drops my policy,And I look at it honestly,I will try it, you will see. Say!I like Obamacare!I do! I like it, President Bar!I like that it is guaranteed.I'll even join with Harry Reid.But do not tell them in Des Moines.That it makes sense for me to join.I'll walk it back on CNN. I'll still attack it now and then.But I'll be on it back in Texas. I'll be on it in my Lexus.I'll be on it in the Senate. Signing up just took a minute.I secretly like it here and there.I love that it covers me everywhere! I do so like Obamacare!Thank you!Thank you,President Bar. +(CNN)Authorities at Sydney Airport stopped two Australian teenagers who were suspected of trying to leave the country to join ISIS. The brothers, aged 16 and 17, raised suspicion when they attempted to pass through customs, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday. "What we have here are two teenagers who have been intercepted on their way to a potentially very dangerous situation," Dutton said. The teenagers had return tickets to unnamed "conflict zones" in the Middle East, and a luggage search heightened suspicions that they were headed abroad to fight. The boys were later released into the custody of their parents, who were said to have no idea of their intentions. "These two young men...are kids, not killers," Dutton said, who added the matter had been referred to the Australian Federal Police. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the brothers were Australian citizens who had been lured by a "death cult." "These were two misguided young Australians, Australian born and bred, who went to school here, grew up here, imbibed our values, and yet it seems they had succumbed to the lure of the death cult and they were on the verge of doing something terrible and dangerous." The prime minister spoke directly to other susceptible Australians who were considering leaving to fight abroad. "My message to anyone who is listening to the death cult is block your ears. Don't even begin to think you can leave Australia," he added. Australia estimates there are at least 90 citizens fighting and supporting terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. Last month, the government announced plans to suspend or revoke citizenship for dual nationals involved in terrorism, and also strip certain privileges from Australian citizens who break anti-terror laws. +(Travel + Leisure)Quick, imagine a castle: it probably looks a lot like Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, the turreted inspiration for Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. Each year, more than 1.5 million travelers are inspired to make the steep walk or catch a horse-drawn carriage to reach this castle perched on a rocky outcropping in the Bavarian countryside. "People have always been interested in celebrities and powerful people and their homes," says Cordula Mauss, PR officer for the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces. "Immediately after the death of Ludwig II in 1886, the first tourists came and wanted to see what their king had built as his private residence." While castles, palaces and châteaux naturally pique such curiosity, not all have Neuschwanstein's European fairy-tale looks. Some of the world's most-visited palaces, found across Asia, feature red exteriors, pagodas, gates and carvings. Consider Bangkok's gold-spired Grand Palace, where Thai kings lived for 150 years, and where 8 million annual visitors now traipse through ornate rooms, manicured gardens and temples, including one that houses a revered Buddha carved from a single block of jade. Travel + Leisure: See more of the world's most visited castles . Some longtime royal residences have been repurposed as museums. St. Petersburg's riverfront Winter Palace, for instance, is the sixth-most-visited castle, thanks to the appeal of masterworks by Titian and da Vinci along with lavish restored interiors, where Catherine the Great once held court. America's closest approximation is California's Hearst Castle, though it fell short of Travel + Leisure's top 20 list with only 750,000 annual visitors. And while Windsor Castle squeaked in at No. 19, Buckingham Palace didn't make the grade (567,613 annual visitors), nor did Romania's Bran Castle (542,000) or a single Irish castle. Ireland's most visited, Blarney Castle, received 365,000 in 2013. That said, there can be a downside to having too many visitors -- these are delicate, historic structures that have existed for hundreds of years, and some, like Neuschwanstein, limit daily entries. But it's hard to stem curiosity when it comes to the lives of the blue-blooded. As Mauss puts it: "Who didn't want to be a prince or a princess or at least a knight when he or she was a child?" The Methodology: To tally up the world's most-visited castles, T+L gathered the most recent data supplied by the attractions themselves or from government agencies, industry reports and reputable media outlets. In most cases, it was 2013 data. Here are the top 10: . No. 1 The Forbidden City (Palace Museum), BeijingAnnual Visitors: 15,340,000 . Each day, tens of thousands of visitors pour through the Forbidden City to see the 178-acre walled compound that once shielded the Imperial Palace from public view -- while housing Chinese emperors and their extensive entourages. (To handle the volume, the government has started requiring advance ticket sales during festivals and holidays and prohibiting annual ticket holders from visiting during peak seasons). Bright red buildings topped with golden pagodas exemplify traditional Chinese architecture, while the Palace Museum showcases art, furniture and calligraphy. Source: China National Tourist Office . No. 2 The Louvre, Paris Annual Visitors: 9,334,0000 . The largest and most famous museum in the world -- displaying masterpieces like La Gioconda (the Mona Lisa) and the Winged Victory of Samothrace -- got its start as a palace. The U-shaped Louvre housed generations of French kings and emperors beginning in the 12th century, and the remnants of the original fortress that occupied the site (built for King Philippe II in 1190) can be seen in the basement of the museum. The building was extended and renovated many times. Head to the decorative arts wing for a glimpse of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie's opulent state apartments, built between 1854 and 1861. Source: Atout France, the France Tourism Development Agency . No. 3 Grand Palace, BangkokAnnual Visitors: 8,000,000 . Royal offices are still used within the Grand Palace, and state visits and royal ceremonies like the Royal Birthday Anniversary of the current King Bhumibol Adulyadej are held there each year. This was also the official residence of Thai kings from 1782 to 1925 and counts numerous buildings, halls and pavilions set around open lawns and manicured gardens. The palace's Temple of the Emerald Buddha is considered one of the most sacred sites in Thailand. Its Buddha was carved from a single block of jade, and his garments, made of pure gold, are changed in a royal ceremony three times a year to reflect the Thai seasons. Source: Thailand Tourist Services . No. 4 Palace of Versailles, FranceAnnual Visitors: 7,527,122 . When Louis XIV built Versailles in the late 1600s, it became the envy of other European monarchs in Europe, and the opulent estate retains an unmistakable allure. Versailles gets seven times the visitors of any other château in France (apart from the Louvre); it helps that it's easily accessible from Paris. No other palace in the world can match the grandeur of Versailles's Hall of Mirrors, dripping with chandeliers, and Marie Antoinette's bedroom, decorated with hand-stitched flowers. The vast grounds are free most days and an attraction in themselves, with 50 water fountains, a parterre (formal garden), a grand canal and other sites like the Grand Trianon, built for Louis XIV as a refuge from court life, and Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon. Source: Versailles Press Office . No. 5 Topkapi Palace, IstanbulAnnual Visitors: 3,335,000 . With a lovely setting overlooking the Bosporus and Sea of Marmara, Topkapi Palace was the royal residence for about 400 years until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s. The sultan lived with his wives, concubines, mother and children in the harem, under the fierce protection of eunuchs. Look for the Privy Chamber of Murat III, with its indoor pool, gilded fireplace and walls decorated with blue, white and coral Iznik tiles from the 16th century. The Palace Kitchens reopened in September 2014, displaying fine china and large cookware. And the complex also includes courtyards, gazebos, gardens and the Imperial Treasury. An emerald-and diamond-studded bow and quivers sent by Sultan Mahmud I to the ruler of Persia is just one example of the lavish gifts on view. Source: Go Turkey, Official Tourism Portal of Turkey . No. 6 The Winter Palace (State Hermitage Museum), St. Petersburg, Russia Annual Visitors: 3,120,170 . Catherine the Great and Nicholas I are among the Russian royals who occupied this green-and-white baroque palace along the Neva River from 1762 to 1917. Today, the palace is a museum with one of the finest collections in Europe, including works by Titian, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci (Benois Madonna). Much of the palace was destroyed by fire in 1837, but the beautifully restored interiors speak to the opulent tastes of the Russian elite. St. George Hall (a large throne room) features two tiers of windows, double Corinthian pink marble columns, patterned parquet floors and gilt bronze details. Source: State Hermitage Museum Press Office . Travel + Leisure: World's coolest bookstores . No. 7 Tower of LondonAnnual Visitors: 2,894,698 . This medieval fortress on the north bank of the River Thames was built to intimidate Londoners and keep out foreign invaders. The oldest part of the structure, the White Tower, dates back to the 12th century. While it originally served as a royal residence, the tower has become notorious for its use as a prison and the site of executions that included Henry VI and Lady Jane Grey. Millions flock to the tower today to see historical reenactments as well as the British Crown Jewels, among them, the Sovereign's Sceptre containing the Great Star of Africa, the largest colorless cut diamond in the world. In 2014, the tower's moat was filled with 888,246 ceramic red poppies in remembrance of British soldiers who died in World War II -- an example of art installations and events held regularly. Source: Association of Leading Visitor Attractions . Travel + Leisure: World's most-visited tourist attractions . No. 8 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna Annual Visitors: 2,870,000 . Austria's most-visited site is this Rococo palace, a summer retreat for Hapsburg emperors from the 1700s until 1918. Of the 1,441 rooms, the most famous is the Mirror Room, with white and gold Rococo decoration and crystal mirrors, where Mozart is said to have performed his first concert at age six. The palace's elaborate gardens can claim the world's longest orangerie and the site of the first zoo (est. 1752). The guided Grand Tour provides access to all 40 rooms open to the public, including the Gobelin Salon with tapestries from Brussels and the Millions Room, an office paneled in rare rosewood. Source: Schönbrunn Palace . No. 9 Alhambra y Generalife, Granada, SpainAnnual Visitors: 2,315,017 . Refined and expanded over centuries, this hilltop palace and fortress complex combines fortifications, gardens, churches and several palaces, notably the Alhambra, and the Generalife, the country estate of the kings of Granada and Andalusia. Both are remarkable examples of Islamic architecture from Spain's medieval period. Expect intricate arabesques, honeycomb vaunted ceilings (muqarnas) and courtyards with pools and fountains. Generalife's Moorish gardens feature large boxwood trees, rosebushes and willows and cypresses. Numbers swell in the spring and summer; to beat the crowds, consider a January visit. Source: Communications Office of the Alhambra and Generalife . No. 10 Shuri Castle, Okinawa, JapanAnnual Visitors: 1,753,000 . Shuri Castle was the seat of the kings of Ryukyu for more than 400 years. The castle was completely destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, and reconstruction work was only completed in the early 1990s. The results include eight Chinese-style gates or entrances, plus gardens, a study and a main hall with red-colored tiles on two layered roofs. The three-story red building houses two throne rooms and the royal family's private apartments. Ponds, bridges and miniature islands make up the royal gardens, added in 1799. Source: Japan National Tourism Organization . Travel + Leisure: Most romantic hotel fireplaces . Planning a getaway? Don't miss Travel + Leisure's guide to the World's Best Hotels . Copyright 2015 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. +(CNN)One of the two University of Oklahoma students expelled for their role in leading a racist chant has issued an apology, The Dallas Morning News reported. "I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless. I made a horrible mistake by joining into the singing and encouraging others to do the same," Parker Rice said in a statement printed by the newspaper. Earlier Tuesday, Rice and another student were expelled over their alleged "leadership role" in a racist chant by Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members, a decision that President David Boren says speaks to his school's "zero tolerance" policy for such "threatening racist behavior." The decision comes two days after a video of frat members singing a racist song surfaced and hours after Boren told CNN he would suspend or expel the group's ringleaders if at all possible. "At this point, all I can do is be thoughtful and prayerful about my next steps, but I am also concerned about the fraternity friends still on campus. Apparently, they are feeling unsafe and some have been harassed by others. Hopefully, the university will protect them," Rice reportedly said in his apology. Already, the Greek letters sigma, alpha and epsilon have been removed from the frat house's facade, the house will be closed as of midnight Tuesday and the university will board up the windows, following up on separate decisions by the university and the SAE national headquarters to shutter the Oklahoma chapter, Boren said. Fraternity's house mom sings n-word . Rice has not responded to multiple requests from CNN for comment. "For me, this is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this and make sure it never happens again. My goal for the long-term is to be a man who has the heart and the courage to reject racism wherever I see or experience it in the future," his apology read. It was only a nine-second clip, but the backlash has been disastrous. Party-bound students are seen on a bus clapping, pumping their fists and laughing as they chant, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** SAE." After the campus organization, Unheard, and the school newspaper received the clip via anonymous messages and publicized it, the university and the fraternity's national chapter acted swiftly to shutter the SAE house in Norman. Boren promised the university's affiliation with the fraternity was done. "I was not only shocked and disappointed but disgusted by the outright display of racism displayed in the video," said Brad Cohen, the fraternity's national president. "SAE is a diverse organization, and we have zero tolerance for racism or any bad behavior." Still, it could get worse. Oklahoma may not be the only source of embarrassment for the fraternity. "Several other incidents with chapters or members have been brought to the attention of the headquarters staff and leaders, and each of those instances will be investigated for further action," SAE said. It's likely that if the university hadn't acted, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division could have stepped in, said Barbara Arnwine, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance," according to the Justice Department. In this case, Arnwine said, the university likely found that fraternity members appear not only to have discriminated in their membership -- and backed that discrimination with the threat of lynching -- but they've also created a hostile environment. The university, she said, "would've been compelled to do something to sanction and prevent this fraternity from engaging in racial discrimination." Arnwine said she wasn't personally familiar with the school's code of conduct, but she'd be surprised if the fraternity members' actions weren't in violation of university rules as well. All of these reasons are grounds to sanction the fraternity and expel specific members who were involved in the singing, she said. "A very important part of the lexicon of civil rights law is that you cannot create a hostile environment where you make it so people of different races or religions or women feel they can't function at your institution without being subjected to unlawful discrimination," she said. It's unclear whether more students will be punished for the video, though Boren has promised the SAEs won't return during his tenure if he can help it. "The house will be closed, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't be back," he said at a Monday news conference. He later told CNN, "There seems to be a culture in some of these fraternities, and it just has to be snuffed out." The decision to shutter the fraternity was an easy one for Boren, he said. "If we're ever going to snuff this out in the whole country, let alone on college campuses, we're going to have to have zero tolerance, and we have to act right away," said Boren, a former Oklahoma governor and U.S. senator. "This is not a place that wants racists or bigots on our campus or will tolerate it, so I think you have to send a very strong signal." Hundreds of students have protested the fraternity's actions. Some of them arrived Monday morning on the campus' North Oval with tape over their mouths, while the Oklahoma football team and Coach Bob Stoops marched arm in arm across campus instead of practicing. The video infuriated Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker, who posted a profanity-laced video to social media. "I was angry and I was outraged," Striker said. "I apologize for the profanity, but I'm not apologizing about how I felt, because that's how I felt in my heart." The fallout from the video also cost the football team a top recruit as offensive lineman Jean Delance said Monday he was de-committing from the Sooners and considering other teams. Just as they protested loudly Monday, students on Tuesday were emphatic in expressing their relief and satisfaction that those allegedly responsible for leading the racist chant got their due. Ross Johnson, a senior studying drama and broadcast media, called the video embarrassing and unacceptable as he worried that it may be seen as a reflection on him in the future. "It sucks that I'm graduating in May. I feel I am probably going to have to explain this when I move," he said. "For people who don't know the University of Oklahoma, aren't part of the student body, it's a black eye that doesn't really deserve to be there. It's a small group of people who were acting foolishly." Another student, junior Jake Hewitt, applauded the university and the fraternity's national president for their handling of the incident. "I think it's really good that the president is showing strong support for the students in the community here and saying, 'This is not OK. It's not going to be acceptable on our campus.' It's a good strong move, and I hope if they find out more, they do more," he said. Shortly after the expulsions were announced, senior Omar Humphrey, an African-American modern dance student, told CNN, "I think it's rightfully so that they were (kicked out). ... That needed to happen. It wasn't fair; it wasn't right. I am, as most of the student body -- not just the African-American students -- we're all disheartened by the situation. It's just really hard to think that this is still going on today, and I'm still deeply saddened." He is still a "proud student," he said, and he understands that the fraternity members in question represent "just some microbial infestation that's on campus. It's on every campus, it's on every campus. It's unfortunate that we have to be seen in that light." Asked what he could say to the fraternity members if given the chance, Humphrey replied, "I pray for their humanity. I hope that they find maturity. ... I wish them well. " Unheard co-director Chelsea Davis said a racist mentality is not new to campus and is not confined to one fraternity. "Unfortunately, it took them getting caught on video camera for this to happen, but this is definitely not something that is brand-new. It's not something that's only seen within this one organization," she said. Sigma Alpha Epsilon is no stranger to scandal and sanctions . Davis said the only acceptable response is to expel -- not suspend, as that would send the wrong message -- all the students involved. "I was hurt that my fellow peers that I walk to class with every day, people that I see every day, could say such hateful things about me and my culture, about my friends, about my brothers and my sisters," she said. William Bruce James II, who was a member of the frat between 2001 and 2005, called the episode "devastating" -- not just because he's an Oklahoma alumnus but also because he's African-American. James told CNN that there was "never an inkling of this song or a whisper of anything like this" when he lived in the house. He said members of his pledge class "wouldn't let that happen," and if someone did dare to start such a chant they'd swiftly speak out and shut it down "whether I was there or not." Since the video surfaced, James said he's heard from many of his former fraternity brothers. Like him, they're offended and supportive of the decision to shutter the Norman chapter. "I don't know what happened to the culture of my home," he said. "That is not my home. That is not SAE. They are not my brothers." Opinion: Are frats 'a form of American apartheid'? CNN's Brian Carberry, Chuck Johnston, Nick Valencia, John Couwels, Greg Botelho and Ed Payne contributed to this report. +(CNN)Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was hiding an illness from his employers and had been declared "unfit to work" by a doctor, according to German authorities investigating what could have prompted the seemingly competent and stable pilot to steer his jetliner into a French mountain. Investigators found a letter in the waste bin of his Dusseldorf, Germany, apartment saying that Lubitz, 27, wasn't fit to do his job, city prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday. The note, Kumpa said, had been "slashed." Just what was ailing Lubitz hasn't been revealed. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Lubitz suffered from mental illness and kept his diagnosis concealed from his employer. A Dusseldorf clinic said he'd gone there twice, most recently 17 days ago, "concerning a diagnosis." But the University Clinic said it had not treated Lubitz for depression. German investigators said they still have interviews and other work to do before they'll be able to reveal just what they found in the records in Lubitz's apartment in a quiet, suburban neighborhood. They found no goodbye note or confession, authorities said. But the fact that investigators found "ripped, recent medical leave notes, including for the day of the offense, leads to the preliminary conclusion that the deceased kept his illness secret from his employer and his professional environment," prosecutors said. Authorities left Lubitz's apartment Friday night with boxes of papers and evidence folders after spending about 90 minutes inside. According to authorities in Germany and France, Lubitz was a co-pilot on Germanwings Flight 9525 between Barcelona, Spain, and Dusseldorf on Tuesday when he apparently locked the captain out of the cockpit, then activated a control causing the plane to descend toward rugged terrain. Germanwings said the plane dropped for about eight minutes from its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet before crashing. The only sounds, authorities said, were those of pounding on the cockpit door, Lubitz's steady breathing and, eventually, screaming passengers. An 8-minute descent to death . Lubitz and 149 other people on board the plane died in an instant, authorities say. Mother, daughter among 3 American victims . What could have prompted Lubitz to deliberately destroy the aircraft, killing everyone on board, remained the focus of investigators in Germany. Officials said Lubitz was not known to be on any terrorism list, and his religion was not immediately known. He had passed medical and psychological testing when he was hired in 2013, said Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings. While the ailment Lubitz had sought treatment for hasn't been revealed, that he was declared unfit for work is an important detail, aviation analysts say. Pilots are required to maintain their fitness to fly and must tell their airline if they're found unfit, CNN aviation analyst David Soucie said. Reuters reported that a German newspaper said Lubitz had been treated for depression about six years ago. Citing internal documents forwarded by Lufthansa to German authorities, Bild reported that Lubitz had suffered a "serious depressive episode" around the time he took a break from his pilot training in 2009, Reuters reported. The Bild report said he then spent about 18 months getting psychiatric treatment. Lufthansa officials and German prosecutors declined to comment on the Bild story, Reuters said. Who was co-pilot Andreas Lubitz? Although authorities have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder remains missing. It could shed crucial details about what happened inside the cockpit, authorities say. Rescuers have found bodies at the rugged crash site, but few of them are intact, Yves Naffrechoux, captain of rescue operations at Seyne-les-Alpes, told CNN. Dangerous and windy condition at the remote site, which covers more than a square mile, are hampering efforts to recover bodies and evidence, he said. Officials with experience traversing the French Alps are helping technicians who don't have alpine skills, he said. "Since they don't know the mountains, you need to provide them with equipment, you need to hold them with rope, give them crampons so they can work well and as precisely as possible, so that no evidence, no body part could escape their vigilance," Naffrechoux said. Workers are now looking into the possibility of building a road to the site, Naffrechoux said. Recovery teams have made good progress, a French senior paramilitary police official told CNN. Gendarmerie Lt. Col. Jean-Paul Bloy, who is coordinating the helicopter operations for the crash site, said there will be two aircraft deployed over the scene Saturday. There were five on Friday, Bloy said. As that difficult work continued, relatives and friends of the victims traveled on Lufthansa flights to an area near the site where their loved ones perished. They held prayers in Le Vernet, near Seyne-les-Alpes, a village serving as a staging post for the recovery operation. Flowers and pictures sat on the ground, candles flickering in the cold air. Germanwings said it was setting up a family assistance center in Marseille, France, with family briefings to start Saturday. Another flight carrying victims' relatives was due to arrive in Marseille from Barcelona on Friday. "Our focus in these darkest hours is to provide psychological assistance to the families and friends of the victims," said Thomas Winkelmann, a spokesman for the Germanwings executive board. It could be weeks before all the bodies are recovered, identified and released to the families, authorities said. Meanwhile, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued a temporary recommendation that cockpits always be staffed by at least two crew members. "While we are still mourning the victims, all our efforts focus on improving the safety and security of passengers and crews," the agency's director, Patrick Ky, said in a statement. Lufthansa and other German airlines have already adopted the rule, the airline said. An official with the German Aviation Association told CNN that it was only a matter of hours, or a day at most, for this rule to be implemented across all big German airlines. A pilot aboard a Germanwings flight Friday morning spoke out at the beginning of the trip to "reassure passengers that there will be two people present in the cockpit at all times." Lufthansa will now keep two crew members in cockpits . CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Greg Botelho, Claudia Rebaza, Frederik Pleitgen, Nic Robertson, Margot Haddad, Stephanie Halasz, Khushbu Shah, Bharati Naik, Ingrid Formanek, Sandrine Amiel, Rosie Tomkins, Will Ripley and Anna Maja Rappard contributed to this report. +(CNN)Three teenagers from northwest London were released on bail Sunday after their alleged plans to travel to Syria led to their arrest. Two 17-year-olds boys and a 19-year-old man were arrested "on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts," the Metropolitan Police said. The investigation started on Friday, after police learned the two 17-year-olds were missing and were believed to be traveling to Syria. They were traveling with a 19-year-old, police said. British authorities shared intelligence regarding the 17-year-olds with Turkish officials on Friday, and that night, the individuals landed in Istanbul on a flight from Barcelona, Spain, a Turkish official told CNN. The teens were stopped, along with another person who had been regarded as suspicious by Turkish intelligence working at the airport's risk analysis center, which monitors risky flights and runs checks on suspicious passengers trying to enter Turkey. Turkish authorities questioned the teens, the Turkish official said, and the Metropolitan Police said the three arrived back in London shortly before midnight Saturday and were arrested. "When we have intelligence shared with us there is no problem. We stop them and directly deport them. And of course Turkish intelligence is always on the lookout as well," the Turkish official said. Turkey on Thursday arrested a person who worked for an undisclosed nation's intelligence service on suspicion of helping the girls, according to Turkey's foreign minister. On Friday, a Turkish television network aired a video purportedly showing the girls preparing to cross the Turkish border into Syria. CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin, Arwa Damon and Karen Smith contributed to this report. +Jerusalem (CNN)Israel did not spy on closed-door talks over Iran's nuclear program involving the United States and other world powers, an Israeli official said Tuesday, denying a Wall Street Journal report. The newspaper reported late Monday on its website that Israel had obtained confidential information about the negotiations to help it argue against a potential deal. "These allegations are utterly false," the senior official in the Israeli Prime Minister's office told CNN. "The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies." The Israeli government's use of the information it allegedly gleaned -- sharing it with U.S. lawmakers and others to undercut support for a deal -- was what really angered the White House, the Journal reported Monday, citing current and former U.S. officials. "It is one thing for the U.S. and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal U.S. secrets and play them back to U.S. legislators to undermine U.S. diplomacy," a senior U.S. official briefed on the matter said, according to the newspaper. The Israeli espionage efforts included eavesdropping and also acquiring information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the report says. The senior Israeli official told CNN that "the false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel and the security and intelligence relationship we share." That's not to say Israeli officials haven't been asking around about the Iran nuclear talks, as participating parties race to get a framework agreement ahead of a March 31 deadline. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz and Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu's national security adviser, led an Israeli delegation that met early this week with a negotiating team from France, Israeli Intelligence Ministry spokesman Eyal Basson said. The same Israeli officials left France on Tuesday morning for the United Kingdom to meet with Britain's delegation on the Iran nuclear talks, according to Basson. Both France and Britain are among the Western powers in the P5+1, a group that also includes the United States, Russia, China and Germany, whose representatives have been across the table from Iran. While in Paris, the Israeli delegation did not meet with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal. The Israeli officials' apparent aim in France was not to "influence Paris' position in the negotiations, but to further develop the debate on the Iran nuclear talks," according to Nadal. Netanyahu himself has been clear on where he stands on this debate: He told the U.S. Congress earlier this month that a proposed agreement, as he depicted it, was "a bad deal." The Israeli leader predicted that not only would such a deal not stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, it would "all but guarantee that Iran gets (nuclear) weapons, lots of them." "This deal won't be a farewell to arms; it would be a farewell to arms control," Netanyahu said. "And the Middle East would soon be crisscrossed by nuclear tripwires." Iranian officials have said they want a nuclear program for peaceful energy purposes. And they also want an end to the crippling sanctions which the United States and others have instituted to pressure Tehran. U.S. officials have long insisted their goal is to make sure that Iran doesn't develop nuclear weapons. But U.S. President Barack Obama's administration also has been open to talks -- and felt undermined by some moves by Netanyahu, who appears poised to remain Israel's prime minister after an election last week. In particular, Netanyahu's speech to Congress stoked long simmering tensions with Obama, not least because it was organized by House Speaker John Boehner without the White House's prior knowledge. Some questioned where Netanyahu got his information on a proposed nuclear deal, particularly at a point when negotiations were in flux with no agreement in place. According to the Wall Street Journal report, the sharing of sensitive information about the talks took place before Netanyahu's address. It describes efforts by Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to lobby U.S. lawmakers before an interim agreement with Iran in November 2013 and briefings by Dermer and other Israeli officials in the early months of this year. But a spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington, Aaron Sagui, told the Journal that "Ambassador Dermer never shared confidential intelligence information with members of Congress." CNN's Oren Liebermann reported from Jerusalem, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Greg Botelho and Laura Akhoun contributed to this report. +(CNN)Computer hacking was once the realm of curious teenagers. It's now the arena of government spies, professional thieves and soldiers of fortune. Today, it's all about the money. That's why Chinese hackers broke into Lockheed Martin and stole the blueprints to the trillion-dollar F-35 fighter jet. It's also why Russian hackers have sneaked into Western oil and gas companies for years. The stakes are higher, too. In 2010, hackers slipped a "digital bomb" into the Nasdaq that nearly sabotaged the stock market. In 2012, Iran ruined 30,000 computers at Saudi oil producer Aramco. And think of the immense (and yet undisclosed) damage from North Korea's cyberattack on Sony Pictures last year. Computers were destroyed, executives' embarrassing emails were exposed, and the entire movie studio was thrown into chaos. It wasn't always this way. Hacking actually has some pretty innocent and harmless beginnings. The whole concept of "hacking" sprouted from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology nearly 50 years ago. Computer science students there borrowed the term from a group of model train enthusiasts who "hacked" electric train tracks and switches in 1969 to improve performance. These new hackers were already figuring out how to alter computer software and hardware to speed it up, even as the scientists at AT&T Bell Labs were developing UNIX, one of the world's first major operating systems. Hacking became the art of figuring out unique solutions. It takes an insatiable curiosity about how things work; hackers wanted to make technology work better, or differently. They were not inherently good or bad, just clever. In that sense, the first generation of true hackers were "phreakers," a bunch of American punks who toyed with the nation's telephone system. In 1971, they discovered that if you whistle at a certain high-pitched tone, 2600-hertz, you could access AT&T's long-distance switching system. They would make international phone calls, just for the fun of it, to explore how the telephone network was set up. This was low-fi stuff. The most famous phreaker, John Draper (aka "Cap'n Crunch) earned his nickname because he realized the toy whistle given away in cereal boxes emitted just the right tone. This trained engineer took that concept to the next level by building a custom "blue box" to make those free calls. This surreptitious little box was such a novel idea that young engineers Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs started building and selling it themselves. These are the guys who would later go on to start Apple. Wire fraud spiked, and the FBI cracked down on phreakers and their blue boxes. The laws didn't quite fit, though. Kids were charged with making harassing phone calls and the like. But federal agents couldn't halt this phenomenon. A tech-savvy, inquisitive and slightly anti-authoritarian community had been born. The next generation came in the early 1980s, as people bought personal computers for their homes and hooked them up to the telephone network. The Web wasn't yet alive, but computers could still talk to one another. This was the golden age of hacking. These curious kids tapped into whatever computer system they could find just to explore. Some broke into computer networks at companies. Others told printers at hospitals hundreds of miles away to just spit out paper. And the first digital hangouts came into being. Hackers met on text-only bulletin board systems to talk about phreaking, share computer passwords and tips. The 1983 movie "War Games" depicted this very thing, only the implications were disastrous. In it, a teenager in Washington state accidentally taps into a military computer and nearly brings the world to nuclear war. It's no surprise, then, that the FBI was on high alert that year, and arrested six teenagers in Milwaukee -- who called themselves the 414s, after their area code -- when they tapped into the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear weapon research facility. Nationwide fears led the U.S. Congress to pass the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 1986. Breaking into computer systems was now a crime of its own. The damage of hacking started getting more serious, too. In 1988, the government's ARPAnet, the earliest version of the Internet, got jammed when a Cornell University graduate student, curious about the network's size, created a self-replicating software worm that multiplied too quickly. The next year, a few German hackers working for the Russian KGB were caught breaking into the Pentagon. In 1990, hacker Kevin Poulsen rigged a Los Angeles radio station's phone system to win a Porsche, only to be arrested afterward. The cat-and-mouse game between law enforcement and hackers continued throughout the 1990s. Some hacked for money. Russian mathematician Vladimir Levin was caught stealing $10 million from Citibank. Others did it for revenge. Tim Lloyd wiped the computers at Omega Engineering in New Jersey after he was fired. But hacks were still more of an annoyance than anything devastating, though it was quickly becoming apparent that the potential was there. The stock market, hospitals, credit card transactions -- everything was running on computers now. There was a bone-chilling moment when a ragtag group of hackers calling themselves L0pht testified before Congress in 1998 and said they could shut down the Internet in 30 minutes. The danger was suddenly more real than ever. The ethos was starting to change, too. Previously, hackers broke into computers and networks because they were curious and those tools were inaccessible. The Web changed that, putting all that stuff at everyone's fingertips. Money became the driving force behind hacks, said C. Thomas, a member of L0pht who is known internationally as the hacker "Space Rogue." An unpatched bug in Windows could let a hacker enter a bank, or a foreign government office. Mafias and governments were willing to pay top dollar for this entry point. A totally different kind of black market started to grow. The best proof came in 2003, when Microsoft started offering a $5 million bounty on hackers attacking Windows. "It's no longer a quest for information and knowledge by exploring networks. It's about dollars," Thomas said. "Researchers are no longer motivated to get stuff fixed. Now, they say, 'I'm going to go looking for bugs to get a paycheck - and sell this bug to a government.' " Loosely affiliated amateurs were replaced by well-paid, trained professionals. By the mid-2000s, hacking belonged to organized crime, governments and hacktivists. First, crime: Hackers around the world wrote malicious software (malware) to hijack tens of thousands of computers, using their processing power to generate spam. They wrote banking trojans to steal website login credentials. Hacking payment systems turned out to be insanely lucrative, too. Albert Gonzalez's theft of 94 million credit cards from the company TJX in 2007 proved to be a precursor to later retailer data breaches, like Target, Home Depot and many more. Then there's government. When the United States wanted to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program in 2009, it hacked a development facility and unleashed the most dangerous computer virus the world has ever seen. Stuxnet caused the Iranian lab computers to spin centrifuges out of control. This was unprecedented: a digital strike with extreme physical consequences. Similarly, there's proof that Russia used hackers to coordinate its attack on Georgia during a five-day war in 2008, taking out key news and government websites as tanks rolled into those specific cities. Then there are hacktivists. The populist group Anonymous hacks into police departments to expose officer brutality and floods banks with garbage Internet traffic. A vigilante known as "The Jester" takes down Islamic jihadist websites. What exists now is a tricky world. The White House gets hacked. Was it the Russian government or Russian nationalists acting on their own? Or freelance agents paid by the government? In the digital realm, attribution is extremely difficult. Meanwhile, it's easier than ever to become a hacker. Digital weapons go for mere dollars on easily accessible black markets online. Anonymity is a few clicks away with the right software. And there are high-paying jobs in defending companies like Google or JPMorgan Chase -- or attacking them. As a result, law enforcement tolerance for hacking has fallen to zero. In 1999, the hacker Space Rogue exposed how FAO Schwarz's website was leaking consumer email addresses and forced the company to fix it. He was cheered. When Andrew Auernheimer (known as "weev") did the same thing to AT&T in 2010, he spent more than a year in prison until his case was overturned on a technicality. The days of mere curiosity are over. +(CNN)Well, I'll be the first to admit, I got caught off guard on this one. If indeed the assessment of the cockpit voice recording of Germanwings Flight 9525's final moments is an accurate one, it is shocking. It is inconceivable to me that a fellow pilot would use an airplane for his demise and the demise of his passengers. It is my hope that there is more to this uncanny, horrific tragedy than just an extraordinary suicide event. Although a report of normal breathing from the co-pilot in the moments before the crash indicates that he was not incapacitated, how can one really tell? A farfetched idea, but could he have suffered a fit of schizophrenia never diagnosed, or suffered some other mental disorder, perhaps brought on by medication? I know, it's not likely. As an airline pilot, I'm taking this incident personally. Why? A pilot betrayed the public trust. With all the other fears -- terrorism, disappearances of planes, aircraft malfunctions -- how do I reassure my passengers that they should not add medical illness, mental or otherwise, of the pilot to the list? For the moment, I'll have to believe that my customers are intelligent enough to realize that the Germanwings co-pilot is an anomaly. Sure, as with any profession, pilots have isolated cases of stress-related troubles. But we have mechanisms to deal with such problems. One mechanism is very simple: Don't fly. It is incumbent upon us to determine our own fitness for duty. As a matter of fact, on every trip, I have to confirm that status before I electronically sign the flight plan. Whether it's as simple as suffering from the common cold or suffering from the distraction of a nasty divorce, airline pilots can just say "no" to flying. As part of the hiring process, we completed a psychological evaluation. With my airline, one part of the evaluation involved a written test that asked obscure questions in different ways. Another part of the test involved pilots listening to an air traffic control recording made during the angst of a thunderstorm event while at the same time completing a battery of math and shape-orientation problems. We were then asked questions specific to the conversations between the air traffic controllers and pilots we'd heard in the recording. The test was a measure of our multitasking abilities and our abilities to deal with stress. In addition, the airline's doctor conducted an individual mental evaluation. Airline pilots in the United States are required by the Federal Aviation Administration to take a medical examination once every six months. The examination is mostly physical, but the doctor is expected to ask some basic mental health questions, most of them about depression or alcohol consumption. In addition to requiring pilots to indicate any prior health issues during the previous six months, the application for the exam also compels us to self-disclose the use of medications, specifically for the treatment of depression. If we have consulted a therapist, that also has to be disclosed. Yes, all bets are off if we deceive the system by hiding things from it, but by every indication, this rarely occurs. The consequence for deception is having your FAA pilot's license suspended. When it comes to experiencing stress, airline pilots are no different than anyone else. But we tend to deal with stress internally. I have been trained as a peer support volunteer in critical-incident stress management, a joint program between the pilots union and my airline uses as a debriefing method to talk pilots through any serious event experienced in flight. The idea is to mitigate any post-traumatic stress associated with such an event, and occasionally the process would uncover personal issues that would be referred to other support providers, like mental health professionals. I have found that my colleagues demonstrate an above-average ability to compartmentalize their problems and not let personal issues affect their job performance ... most of the time, of course. If personal issues invade the cockpit, mechanisms are in place to assist. What mechanisms? At my airline, both the company and the pilot's union work in unison. Programs to assist a pilot experiencing problems are just a phone call away. And if there is concern about a colleague's mental health, we can contact one of these programs on the other pilot's behalf, anonymously if necessary. In some circumstances a pilot can be removed from duty. At every recurrent training period, the curriculum includes a presentation reminding us of these mechanisms. No system is perfect. Yes, as with all human systems, somebody will fall through the cracks. Even a good psychiatrist can miss an impending suicide. Redesigning an airplane cockpit based on the infinitesimal chance that another Germanwings co-pilot is out there seems like an overreaction. If passengers require reassurance of my sanity, then it would be best to more actively promote the mechanisms already in place. We can start with education. As I fly back from London today, I am certain that the Gulf War Air Force hero beside me, who dealt with enemy missiles and raising a family, will do nothing other than an exemplary job. I am honored to call him my co-pilot. +Dhanusha, Nepal (CNN)At Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, hundreds of migrant workers line up daily at the immigration counters, clutching newly printed passports and boarding passes. Many of them, though, are clueless as to where they're headed. As a frequent traveler to the country, I've been approached many times by these men, asking me to help fill out their departure forms. Usually, when I ask what country they're traveling to, I get the same answer: "I'm not sure." They seem weary and lost but still hopeful that they can make their lives better. This time, however, I'm at the airport to follow up on the repatriation of the most unfortunate of these migrant workers -- far too many of them make the return journey in caskets. Almost every day, the remains of three or four workers arrive back in Nepal from the Middle East, according to Bhola Prasad Siwakoti, the secretary of the Nepalese Ministry of Labor and Manpower. Every other day, at least one dead body arrives from Qatar, he said. "Nepali migrant workers have the lowest per capita income in Qatar," says Suryanath Mishra, who served as ambassador to Qatar from 2007 to 2012. "They get exploited the most out of all the migrant workers." He cites lack of education and technical skills as the main causes. We are waiting for the body of Kishun Das, who left Nepal for Qatar only eight months ago. The 38-year old was his family's breadwinner and the father of five children. His younger brother, Bishun, is at the airport to receive the body. He also works in Qatar and is in Nepal on leave. I ask him why he's alone. "We don't have money to bring other family members to receive the body," he says. "But they have been calling me every other minute asking for the update." His phone rings. "I'm at the administration filling out the paperwork." he tells the caller on his phone. "No, he isn't getting any compensation." With more than 350,000 migrant workers, Nepalis make up the second-biggest community in Qatar, after Indians, the embassy in Qatar claims. When contacted about the deaths of foreign workers in Qatar, a spokesman for the labor ministry said that all workers deserve to be protected against exploitation. Saad Al-Mraikhi estimated that some 400 Indian and Nepalese workers die each year in Qatar. "It is desperately unfortunate that any worker should die overseas, in a foreign land, away from their family," the spokesman said. "But it would be wrong, we believe, to allow the statistics to be consistently distorted to suggest that all deaths in a population of 1.5 million people are apparently the result of workplace conditions, either directly or indirectly, which is the prevailing and erroneous narrative." Al-Mraikhi spoke about recent changes in his country, including the introduction of a wage protection system, improved living conditions and increased penalties for companies that violate rules. "While the vast majority of workers in Qatar are fairly treated, we recognise that a minority are not. That is why we are reforming labour laws and practices," he said in a statement. As we wait at the airport, a Qatar Airways plane lands. At 7:40 pm, it is the last of three that depart and arrive every day. Before Qatar won the right to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and embarked on a hugely ambitious, holistic construction plan to support it, it was a single flight a day. Hundreds of passengers disembark from the plane. "They are mostly migrant workers returning home," an airport official tells us. We spot a cargo worker transporting a bright red box carrying the body of Kishun. Even in a country where even a fight between two stray dogs can gather a sizable crowd, coffin arrivals don't seem to attract many spectators. The scene has become all too common. The coffin is loaded on to a jeep provided for free by the Nepali government. We follow it on the journey to the family's village in Dhanusha district, a seven-hour drive from Kathmandu. "Normally, vehicles are not allowed to drive on this highway after 8 p.m. because of the dangerous condition of some of the roads at night, but since I'm carrying a coffin, the police let me go," the driver of the jeep tells us. The Nepali government has eight vehicles designated to deliver coffins. They're kept busy. "They call me the coffin guy," the driver says with a dark smirk. At around 1 a.m., we stop at a roadside shack. All of us eat except for Das' brother. "I'm mourning. For religious purposes, I need to remain pure. So, I can't eat anything," he says. I see him buying alcohol shortly after. "I'm too stressed because of my brother's death. I need to comfort myself." Back in Qatar, where alcohol is banned, he and his friends manage to fulfill their needs courtesy of the local black market, he tells us. "It (the alcohol) is of very poor quality, but that is our only option," he adds. Even before we arrive at the village just at the break of dawn, we hear the howling. Dozens of villagers have already gathered at Das' home. His father cries out in agony, "Hey Lord, what have you done?" Then he faints. All the family members shout at the coffin. The wailing and shouting is almost deafening. And it goes on for hours. As a journalist working in South Asia, I have seen a lot of desperation and misery. But the screeching was so intense; it's something I will never forget. "He alone was taking care of his parents and his family. How will they survive now?" a villager asks. Most of the spectators are women. Most of the men from the village have gone to the Middle East to work. The few who are left behind start preparing for his cremation. Mishra, the former ambassador, says 55% of Nepali migrant workers deaths in Qatar are from "sudden" cardiac arrest, 20% die from work-related accidents, 15% from traffic accidents and an alarming 10% commit suicide. Nepali government records show more than 290 workers have died in the Gulf state in the past 420 days. Put another way, two Nepali workers die in Qatar every three days. These are young men dying in the prime of their life. "The cause of deaths needs to be investigated properly, and urgently," Mishra says. "In general, it is due to tension led by exploitation, adverse climate, poor working and living conditions and alcoholic intoxication." In Das' village, almost all the men we meet have spent time working in the Middle East. Many had recently returned from Qatar. They tell stories of hardship and of the deaths of their co-workers. Time and again, none of them seems to be convinced with investigations into their friends' and compatriots' deaths. And again, amongst the keening and wailing of his distraught family, no one is sure how Kishun Das, brought back home in a red coffin along hazardous roads, met his end in Qatar. +London (CNN)The BBC producer allegedly struck by Jeremy Clarkson will not press charges against the "Top Gear" host, his lawyer said Friday. Clarkson, who hosted one of the most-watched television shows in the world, was dropped by the BBC Wednesday after an internal investigation by the British broadcaster found he had subjected producer Oisin Tymon "to an unprovoked physical and verbal attack." Tymon went to a hospital emergency department to receive treatment for a split lip following the March 4 incident at a hotel in North Yorkshire, it said. North Yorkshire police said they had asked the BBC for a copy of the report and would assess whether further police action needed to be taken. "No one who was present at the hotel during the incident came forward to report an offense to the police. Nonetheless, we have a duty to investigate where we believe an offense might have been committed, and that is what we have been doing with this case," police said in a statement Thursday. "As is usual in these circumstances, we have made contact with Mr Tymon through his lawyers, to ask him to speak to us so we can ascertain how he wishes to pursue this matter." Tymon issued a statement through his lawyer Friday saying he had informed police he did not want to press charges. "The events of the last few weeks have been extremely unpleasant for everyone involved. The matter has taken a great toll on Oisin, his family and his friends," lawyer Paul Daniels said. "Quite simply, Mr Tymon just wishes to return now to the job at the BBC he loves, as soon as possible. Further, the BBC have, in his view, taken action with a view to addressing the issues at hand. "Mr Tymon agrees with the BBC's stated view that all parties should now be allowed to move on, so far as possible." Tymon had earlier said he was grateful to the BBC for their "thorough and swift investigation into this very regrettable incident." "I've worked on Top Gear for almost a decade, a program I love. Over that time Jeremy and I had a positive and successful working relationship, making some landmark projects together. He is a unique talent and I am well aware that many will be sorry his involvement in the show should end in this way," he said. Clarkson was suspended on March 10 after what the BBC initially described as the "fracas" with Tymon. Ken MacQuarrie, who conducted the internal investigation into the incident, said Tymon had been struck "resulting in swelling and bleeding to his lip." The physical attack was halted after about 30 seconds by the intervention of a witness, MacQuarrie said, but Clarkson continued to use "derogatory and abusive language" for a sustained period of time. MacQuarrie said Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologize over subsequent days and had reported the incident to BBC management. Announcing Wednesday that Clarkson's contract would not be renewed, BBC Director General Tony Hall said a "line had been crossed." "A member of staff -- who is a completely innocent party -- took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed," he said. "I know how popular the program is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion." In 2013, Guinness World Records named "Top Gear" the world's most widely watched factual program, with an estimated 350 million global viewers. The show -- fronted by Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond -- is sold to 214 territories worldwide. Local versions have been made in the United States, China, Russia, Australia and South Korea. After his suspension by the BBC, Clarkson changed his Twitter profile to "I am probably a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show,Top Gear." On Wednesday, the wording became past tense: "I used to be a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show,Top Gear." Co-host Richard Hammond tweeted: "Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We're all three of us idiots in our different ways but it's been an incredible ride together." On Friday James May also tweeted, saying: "I've written some blues lyrics: Oh I woke up this morning, And ... #Still Unemployed." Fans had earlier expressed outrage at the BBC decision to suspend Clarkson. An online petition to have Clarkson reinstated has been signed by more than a million people. Fewer than 10,000 people signed a counterpetition calling for him to be fired. Last week, a fan dressed as the "Stig" -- the anonymous racing car test-driver who was once a regular feature of the show -- drove to the BBC's London headquarters in an armored tank to present the "Bring Back Clarkson" petition. Clarkson later thanked his supporters in a tweet shared more than 22,000 times. While Clarkson's abrasive style has proven popular with viewers, his on- and off-air comments have earned him a reputation as a politically incorrect maverick who often walks a fine line between humor and offense. Last year, he apologized profusely after being accused of mumbling the n-word in a clip that wasn't aired. "I'd actually used the word I was trying to obscure. I was mortified by this, horrified. It is a word I loathe," Clarkson said in video statement posted online. He's been accused on other occasions of racism, including characterizing Mexicans as "lazy and feckless" and using the word "slope" over footage of an Asian man crossing a bridge during a "Top Gear" special in Myanmar. Producer Andy Wilman later apologized, calling it a "light-hearted word play joke," and saying that the team was not aware that it was offensive to Asians. Last week, Clarkson launched into an expletive-filled rant at a charity auction in north London, verbally attacking his BBC bosses. A CNN reporter who was at the event said Clarkson swore often as he talked about his suspension from the show, saying the BBC had "f**ked themselves" and had ruined a great show. Clarkson later brushed off the incident, saying the rant was meant "in jest" and was designed to increase bids for the prize being auctioned -- one last lap of the "Top Gear" race track. +(CNN)For years, Native Americans have called on Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to change the team's name. It's a dictionary-defined racial slur that's dehumanizing to Native Americans. And, in my view, that outweighs the arguments of Redskins advocates who defend the name as a symbol of team pride. But what about the thousands of high schools across the United States that have the name as its mascot? Where do they fit in the debate? Once you factor in freedom of speech, how should one approach this issue? Recently, in upstate New York, the Lancaster Central District School Board unanimously voted to retire its high school's mascot and moniker -- the "Redskins." The board called the mascot "a symbol of ethnic stereotyping" and said the school "cannot continue practices which are offensive and hurtful to others" -- namely Native Americans. Some students opposed the board's decision citing school legacy and tradition. A group of Lancaster High students hosted a walk out in protest with many carrying placards reading, "Redskins Pride" and "Once a Redskin, Always a Redskin." Coincidentally, around the same time in Delaware, the Conrad Schools of Science announced it will begin to take steps to drop its "Redskins" mascot before the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. Local school districts are responding to the growing chorus of voices who oppose antiquated Native American mascots. Furthermore, there's research that shows Indian mascots and monikers harm the mental health of Native American youths. According to one study, Native American students are reported to have low self-esteem and a suppressed sense of self-worth as a consequence of such images and language. Other research shows how all ethnic groups are hurt by poor representations of Native Americans. People "are more likely to negatively stereotype other ethnic groups as well," according to Wendy Quinton, clinical assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo. What the Conrad Schools of Science and the Lancaster school board decisions represent for Native Americans are hope -- for us and our kids -- that broader awareness is changing perspectives and that hurtful stereotypical nicknames should not have to be tolerated by any ethnic group. Still, there's the issue of free speech. Many have made the argument that Native Americans like me are trampling on the First Amendment when we call for the Washington football team to change its name. Even the ACLU has chimed in on the matter. On March 6, the organization said in a blog it does not support the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to cancel federal trademark protection of the Washington football team's use of the word "redskins." In June of last year, the USPTO had repealed six of the team's seven trademarks, finding the r-word is "disparaging to Native Americans." Although the ACLU agrees the team name is "offensive and perpetuates racism against Native Americans," it cannot support what it refers to as language policing. "... Because the First Amendment protects against government interference in private speech," staff attorney Esha Bhandari wrote. "It isn't government's role to pick and choose which viewpoints are acceptable and which are not." Here's the thing, folks -- no one has a First Amendment right to federal trademark protection. Tara Houska, a tribal rights attorney in Washington, said, "Freedom of speech is a fundamental right. In contrast, federal trademark protection is a privilege that one applies for at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office." I think the ACLU is confusing rights with privileges. The U.S. government isn't telling the Washington football team it can't use the word. According to the USPTO, Snyder and his ilk can keep using the team name -- he just won't have federal trademark protection. Last month, Democratic Rep. Mike Honda of California filed a bill that would ban existing and future teams that use the word from receiving federal trademark protection. He told me he's "disappointed" that the ACLU would defend the Washington team, which he refers to as "a multi-billion dollar company profiting off a racial slur." "The First Amendment is not the issue here -- no one, including the football team, would be prohibited from using the name," he wrote in an email. "The team would only lose their exclusive rights to it." And in the case of Lancaster High Schools, the government didn't step in -- the decision to retire the name was made by conscientious objectors in the community. Let's look at the issue from another angle. What do we do as responsible adults when we learn a habit or tradition is adversely affecting our children? We do everything we can to fix the problem. What we do not do is make excuses so we can continue the terrible habit. As the late Maya Angelou so aptly put it, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." America needs to do better as a whole with regard to Native Americans. This isn't just about Indian mascots. This isn't just about offensive racial slurs. This is about the dehumanization of Native Americans. And if history has shown us anything, it's that when one group dehumanizes another, bad things happen. Honda's bill, the USPTO's repeal and the Lancaster school board's decision are not examples of anti-free speech madness. They are acting like responsible adults in defense of children who are at risk. And as for me, I'll protect children first before I protect anyone's right to harm them. +(CNN)Today, Katie Meyler might be meeting with Google executives or maybe giving a talk at the United Nations about girls' education, poverty or Ebola. But just a few months ago, she was on the front lines fighting the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. "I think anybody that has any feelings for the countries in West Africa that were hit was feeling helpless," Meyler said. Meyler had spent the last nine years of her life in Liberia setting up the More Than Me Academy, a tuition-free school for at-risk Liberian girls. While she was on summer break last year, visiting her family in the United States, her mind kept going back to Liberia and the Ebola outbreak. She couldn't sit idle as her neighbors, friends and students were fighting for their lives. Meyler, who is not a medical professional, flew back to the front lines of a global epidemic, the last place most Americans wanted to be during the outbreak. Back in Liberia, Meyler quickly realized that fighting Ebola would be more complicated than administering medical care. With dozens of aid organizations descending on the country, few of them had a history or relationship with it. Meyler saw an opportunity to leverage her relationship with the community of West Point, the slum in which her school is located. Her ability to speak the Liberian-English dialect facilitated logistics. "The people knew what was needed," Meyler said. "They knew what to do. They just didn't have the resources." Her organization met with community leaders and they decided more ambulances were needed. In some instances, it took up to four days for an ambulance to show up. Meyler was able to bring in four ambulances and coordinate with the fathers of her students, who responded to calls by driving the ambulances. Meyler and community leaders identified what was most needed and then came up with steps to meet those needs, said Meyler. Next, they formed a group of active case finders, people who would go door to door in the poorest parts of West Point, looking for anyone that had fallen ill. Once a sick person was identified, a nursing team was dispatched to determine the next steps and treatment. The hardest part for Meyler, who often describes herself as a "big kid," was seeing children abandoned and orphaned by Ebola. According to UNICEF, 16,600 children have lost one or both parents to Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Meyler's school turned one of its guesthouses into Hope 21, a place to quarantine children suspected of having the Ebola virus. During the good times and the bad, Meyler took to Instagram to post photos and her thoughts. For nearly 100,000 of her followers, her Instagram became a window into the battle against Ebola. Social media have played a major role in the success of Meyler's organization since its inception nine years ago. To launch More Than Me, she did everything from fund-raising on MySpace to participating in clinical research studies. In 2012, the group was awarded a $1 million grant from JPMorgan Chase's American Giving Awards, after Facebook users voted for the organization. Long before Meyler became an Ebola fighter, she grew up in a working-class family from New Jersey. She always felt underprivileged, until she became involved in community service. That's when she decided to dedicate her life to helping people. Meyler has since won a number of awards and has been recognized for her work in Liberia. She was one of the Ebola fighters honored as Time's Person of the Year in 2014. "I'm not the same person that I was before Ebola hit," said Meyler. Reflecting on the months she spent fighting Ebola, she said, "The people on the front lines that were risking their lives were the people who were fighting for their own lives, who were fighting for their children's lives." Now it is about learning to live with Ebola, said Meyler, whose school has dozens of students who are Ebola orphans and survivors. Meyler continues to focus on girls and education in Liberia, meeting with tech giants and innovative education labs to come up with ways to better serve her students at More Than Me. +(CNN)A woman who claims she was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing has been charged with stealing money from funds set up for the victims. Joanna Leigh claims the indictment is retribution for her vocal criticism of the way One Fund Boston disbursed the funds. Authorities say Leigh, 41, collected almost $40,000 from One Fund and other sources after claiming to have suffered a brain injury during the attack. They say she received $8,000 payment from One Fund Boston, which was set up to compensate bombing victims. She's also accused of receiving $1,700 from a school fundraiser, collecting more than $9,000 in contributions from an online fundraiser and getting more than $18,000 in benefits from the Massachusetts Victims for Violent Crime compensation fund. The indictment says she also accepted free medical treatment. No one is contesting that Leigh was at the marathon on April 15, 2013, the day of the attack. But Boston Police and Suffolk County investigators say she wasn't hurt. She apparently did not claim any injury or seek any medical treatment until about two weeks later. "When she did begin to make those claims, she billed herself as a 'hero' who ran toward the second blast," authorities said. Leigh says the indictment is payback for her criticism of One Fund. She and others have claimed they weren't properly compensated by the fund because of the way it calculated payments. If someone's injury didn't require an overnight hospital stay, he or she received $8,000. Those who were hospitalized got $125,000 or more. "I don't think this is about me; I think this is because I spoke out about The One Fund," she told the Boston Globe on Thursday. "I think this is about killing the messenger." Leigh will be arraigned Monday. She intends to plead not guilty. The indictment comes as Dzhokar Tsarnaev stands trial for the bombing that killed three and left more than 260 people maimed or injured. CNN's Sam Stringer contributed to this report . +(CNN)Paolo Ballesteros looks so much like Kim Kardashian. And her little sister Kylie Jenner. And Dakota Johnson. And Jennifer Lopez. The actor and makeup artist from the Philippines is gaining fans thanks to his Instagram account, which features pictures of him transformed to look like various female celebrities. The 32-year-old, who hosts the Filipino show "Eat Bulaga," says he does it using just his skill with makeup and wigs. Ballesteros told The Huffington Post that he stumbled upon his ability after watching tutorials on YouTube. Soon he was able to transform himself to look like everyone from Cate Blanchett to first lady Michelle Obama. +(CNN)First, the women. Now, the men. It seems everyone is getting in on the "Ghostbusters" reboot action. But not everyone is happy about it. Deadline reports that Sony Pictures is planning an all-male "Ghostbusters" reboot starring Channing Tatum and directed and produced by brothers Joe Russo and Anthony Russo. The studio is also creating a production company, Ghostcorps, which will include Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, who were among the original "Ghostbusters" team, according to Deadline. "We want to expand the Ghostbusters universe in ways that will include different films, TV shows, merchandise, all things that are part of modern filmed entertainment," Deadline quoted Reitman as saying. The film "has a wonderful idea that builds" on the premise of an all-female "Ghostbusters" reboot expected to begin filming this summer. That film is expected to star Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. "It's just the beginning of what I hope will be a lot of wonderful movies," Deadline quoted Reitman as saying. All well and good. "Ghostbusters" is, after all, a well-loved comedy classic that gave the world the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. But the news, close on the heels the much-lauded all-female "Ghostbusters" reboot, has met with mixed reviews. "Couldn't u just let the girls have this one ONE FREAKING TIME?" Twitter user jessieroro13 posted. Others think perhaps it's time to derail the Hollywood reboot train, no matter which gender is in the driver's seat. "How about no #Ghostbusters reboots, redos or remakes," Twitter user EA_Creative wrote. "Why mess with perfection?" The all-female "Ghostbusters" film is expected to be out next year. All all-male version is tentatively expected to begin filming in the summer of 2016, to be released the following year, Reitman told Deadline. +(CNN)Lily wasn't moving when rescuers found her, hanging upside down in her mother's smashed car. It had flipped over into a frigid Utah river half a day before, and the baby was still strapped in her seat. As Officer Jared Warner dashed with the 18-month-old in his arms to an ambulance, she was barely alive. But she's doing better, her family said Monday. "Her improvement is astounding. Right now she's watching 'Dora (the Explorer)' and singing '(The) Wheels on the Bus' with Grandpa. She is smiling and laughing for family members. We're blown away by Lily's progress and so grateful to her rescuers," they said. Lily's mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, died in the crash that had landed their car on its roof in the Spanish Fork River. She was 25 years old. Lily might have died unseen with her mother, had a man not gone fishing in that particular spot Saturday. The angler waded into the river around noon, then noticed the car wheels-up in the water. "Where the car was, you couldn't see it from the roadway," police Lt. Cory Slaymaker said. The fisherman called emergency dispatch. Police and fire rescuers arrived and sprang into the water. The rest of what happened is now a frenetic blur for Officer Bryan DeWitt. "I don't remember doing anything but just doing it," he said. The water was so cold that, when the rescue was over, seven of the men involved had to be treated for hypothermia. They heaved the car onto its side and saw Groesbeck in the driver's seat. It was clear to them that she was dead. Then they noticed the baby. "She was definitely unconscious and not responsive," Warner said. But she was still alive, and rescuers were delighted to see it. She was still strapped into her seat, where she may have been for 14 hours, if the wreck occurred when police believe it did. The night before, a man living nearby heard a loud crash and stepped outside to check, but he saw nothing unusual, police said, and dismissed it. That was at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday. Groesbeck's car had probably just struck a bridge embankment. "The driver's side tire went up the cement barrier on the south end of the bridge, launching this woman and her baby into the freezing water," Slaymaker told CNN affiliate KUTV. The angler came along around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, 14 hours later. Groesbeck's death is tragic, but the survival of baby Lily is a story filled with hope. But just how did the baby survive the ordeal? Above all, said CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, the biggest factor was the car seat. Lily was in the proper car seat and the seat appears to have been properly attached, Cohen said. Even though the child was trapped and upside down, her body remained in the seat and above the frigid water. Doctors say that such low temperatures are dangerous, but would be even more so if the baby were wet. Dry cold temperatures are more survivable than wet cold temperatures, Cohen said. Another factor may have been that the girl, as a toddler, has baby fat. If she had been an infant, it might have been a different story, Cohen said. It's a reminder that the human body is tough. Lily apparently survived for 14 hours in extreme cold, without food or drink. A mystery arose from the rescue: The police officers who entered the water say they heard a voice calling for help. The mother was dead, but the officers said that they heard an adult's voice calling to them. "The four of us heard a distinct voice coming from the car," Warner told CNN. "To me, it didn't sound like a child's voice." The voice gave the rescuers a surge of adrenaline needed to push the vehicle upright, he said. The mother was dead. The child was unconscious, but her eyelids were fluttering, and the rescuers knew she was alive, Warner said. It's one of those things that doesn't have an explanation, he said about the voice. "It felt like I could hear someone telling me, 'I need help,'" DeWitt told CNN affiliate KSL. "It was very surreal, something that I felt like I could hear." Tyler Beddoes, a third officer at the scene, said the same. "All I know is that it was there, we all heard it, and that just helped us to push us harder, like I say, and do what we could to rescue anyone inside the car," he told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." The river is 10 feet deep in some places, police said, but the car hit a shallower spot. Images showed it only partly covered by water. Lily was not submerged, said Police Lt. Matt Johnson. Firefighter Paul Tomadakis freed her from the wreck. He "grabbed the baby in my arm, raised its head up out of water, as I tried to release the seat belt," he said. Then Warner took Lily into his arms. "The child was passed to me and I ran up and climbed into the ambulance with the child," he said. Police have no explanation for the wreck. No alcohol or drugs were in play, they told KUTV. There were no skid marks leading up to the impact. A tow truck hauled Groesbeck's car out of the river, and it will be inspected for possible mechanical failures. Groesbeck's family has set up a gofundme page for donations to help with medical expenses for Lily, and funeral costs for her mother. Late Monday, it had reached more than $35,500, surpassing its goal of $8,000. CNN's Melanie Whitley, Vivien Kuo, Elizabeth Cohen, Joe Sutton Jackie Castillo and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. +(CNN)Why is this Passover different than other Passovers? Because you may not have any gefilte fish at your table on Passover, which starts at sundown on April 3. February's record cold temperatures are to blame for the shortage of fish ingredients, reported Erica Marcus, a food writer at Newsday, the Long Island, New York, newspaper. "The traditional Passover appetizer is made from ground whitefish, carp and yellow pike," Marcus wrote. "All three are freshwater fish from the Upper Midwest, and all three are in short supply this spring because the Great Lakes are still covered with ice." While some restaurants reported having no supply issues, it may be a different story for the home cook. There's great debate within the Jewish community about the flavor of the classic gefilte fish dish, which isn't always the tastiest food at the table. "I've never seen what all the fuss is about," Marcus told CNN. "It's about as challenging a taste as tuna fish salad." The fishing boats just can't sail or fish on frozen lakes. Many of the Great Lakes are still partially frozen over, according to fisheries expert Ronald Kinnunen, an educator with Michigan State University's Sea Grant Extension Program. "Nobody's getting their fishing boats out," Kinnunen said. "I'm looking at the satellite images and Lake Superior's half covered in ice," he said. It's still iced over at the Mackinac Bridge, where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan come together at the Straits of Mackinac, he added. Blame an early Passover this year. Next year, it will likely be better for fishing. Passover doesn't start until sunset on April 22, much later in the month. The fish dish is not a religious requirement of the Seder dinner, but don't try telling that to cooks searching for the right ingredients for their classic recipes. If your mother or other host is mourning not having the dish at the table this year, offer to make chicken Kotletky or another offering from CNN Eatocracy's list of Passover recipes from around the world. +London (CNN)Captive Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko has sent a stark message to Russian President Vladimir Putin as she awaits trial in a Moscow jail. In a letter from prison, written in response to questions from CNN, she said: "If Putin wants to defeat Ukraine -- let's try to defeat me first!" "But if he wants peace and friendship between our nations as he claims," she added, "I am ready to make the first step towards it. "My freedom will be that first step towards peace and understanding in Ukraine." Savchenko has been held by the Russian authorities in pre-trial detention since last June. Her defiant message was written after CNN submitted a series of questions to the Ukrainian fighter pilot through one of her lawyers, Mark Feygin. We do not know under what circumstances Savchenko answered the questions, but Feygin says she wrote the responses on Friday as he was visiting her. Savchenko undertook a hunger strike for 83 days to protest her detention despite pleas from her family and her lawyers. She recently abandoned her fast after nearing death but has since resumed it, only drinking broth and milk occasionally to stay alive. Russia claims the 33-year-old is behind the killings of two Russian journalists hit by mortar fire at a checkpoint in eastern Ukraine, allegations she has always denied. Moscow says she then crossed voluntarily into Russia and sought asylum as a refugee. The Ukrainian government, however, insists she was kidnapped by rebel forces and that she is a prisoner of war. "I have already been in captivity for an hour when those Russian journalists died. I have not seen them, and our ways have never crossed.. The 'rebels' themselves told me that those journalists came under fire of their own 'makhnovtsi' [slang for 'anarchists']," Savchenko told CNN in her letter from jail. "And the investigators knew all about it since the very beginning! And they have nothing on me! They simply thought that it would be easy to "twist my arms" and receive another star for their epaulettes. But it's not going to happen!" she added. Savchenko's case has attracted wide international attention and turned her into a symbol of resistance against Russia in her home country, with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko awarding her the title "Hero of Ukraine," one of the nation's highest honors. She has also been voted into the Ukrainian parliament despite her captivity. Despite her critical situation, Savchenko appears to have retained her sense of humor just as much as her determination, writing that she was feeling "On the edge!...;) Close to Nirvana and enlightenment!;) Joking." "Holding on! But holding my body entirely on my the power of my will," she continued, "because I am so numb that I couldn't feel the needle when the blood sample was taken from my vein today. "Tottering, head is spinning, [blood] pressure 80x40, [blood] sugar 2.9, T [temperature] -- 35.7°C. But still be standing till 50kg [body weight]! Even longer if God let's me! Hasn't fainted even once and hasn't fallen off my feet." The military pilot told CNN she is being monitored "24 hours a day," which she finds "very annoying." "Protection and security measures are such that King Kong would not have been able to break away!;)," she joked again. "But in general all is very decent and polite! Treatment is reasonable." Savchenko's lawyer recently told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that President Putin holds Savchenko's fate and that she wanted to await trial out of jail. Several international dignitaries have urged Moscow to release her, including EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and the U.S. State Department, to no avail. But as Savchenko continues her hunger strike, is she willing to ultimately die in detention? "To die?! That's not our methods!!!;) I'll think of something better!...:;)," she said. "I'll be on hunger strike as I said until I am returned back to Ukraine, or at least [until] detention is changed to a house arrest at the Ukrainian Consulate in RF, which is actually a part of Ukraine in Russia. "There is no point starting eating in prison. The bite doesn't go down the throat here in this cage! And the truth must win after all!!!" CNN reached out to Russian authorities for an update on Savchenko's case, who referred us to their last statement on Savchenko, dated from 20 February, where they call on the media to "Let the investigators to finish their job. Let the court of justice to determine Savchenko's degree of guilt of and punishment for the crimes she is charged with." Savchenko is currently scheduled to appear in court on May 13. +(CNN)The director of "Midnight Rider" has pleaded guilty to charges related to the 2014 death of a crew member while filming. Randall Miller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass Monday morning in Wayne County (Georgia) Superior Court, Deputy Clerk of Courts Betty Taylor said. The National Transportation Safety Board announced on March 24 the probable cause of the accident was trespassing by the film's crew. As part of the plea deal, Miller will spend two years behind bars and then serve eight years of probation. The deal prohibits him from directing films or being in any supervisory position in movies that would make him responsible for the safety of others for a period of 10 years. Miller, who was also ordered to pay $20,000 in fines and perform 360 hours of community service, was remanded in to custody of the sheriff to begin his sentence. A freight train hit members of the crew of the Gregg Allman biopic while they were working on a railroad bridge in February 2014. Camera assistant Sarah Elizabeth Jones, 27, was killed. The production had applied to the railroad company for permission to film on the bridge but was denied, according to the Savannah Morning News. Several other crew members were injured in the incident, CNN affiliate WTOC reported. 'Midnight Rider' pair surrender to authorities . Jones was mourned throughout the film community. Friends set up a Facebook group, Slates for Sarah, and her death was noted in the Academy Awards' "In Memoriam" montage. Three additional members of the production staff faced charges related to the incident. As part of the plea agreement with Miller, charges were dropped against Jody Savin, Miller's wife and business partner, Taylor said. Miller and Savin are listed as owners of Unclaimed Fright Productions Inc., the film's production company, according to the indictment. Jay Sedrish, the film's executive producer, also received 10 years of probation. As part of his plea deal, he will be banned from supervisory positions in films for 10 years. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000. A third member of the crew, first assistant director Hillary Schwartz, was found guilty after a bench trial, according to District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office. Schwartz was sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. Like the others, he was ordered not to be involved in the safety of film crews. Schwartz had made a deal to provide testimony for the state if the case went to trial, according to the district attorney's office. Jones' parents were in court for the pleas and the trial of those involved in the death of their daughter, addressing the court before the sentencing of each, according to Johnson's office. CNN's Todd Leopold and Carolyn Sung contributed to this report. +Dingzhou, China (CNN)Bian Xiuzhi carefully pulls back the clear plastic from her tattered photo album. She wants to show me her favorite photograph of her son. It's from a few years ago. It shows Bian Liangjing standing proudly in front of a temple gate. "This is the best one because he looks so handsome," she laughs as tears fall on to the album. Bian was on his way back from Singapore after working on a construction site to earn money to pay for his dentist's license. His boss decided it was cheaper to fly through Malaysia. He boarded the Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 flight in Kuala Lumpur on March 8 last year when it disappeared barely an hour into its journey. No trace has ever been found despite an extensive search. But his mother is convinced he's coming back. "If it is one year, if it is two years or three, I am looking forward to his return. I know he is still alive," she says. I first met family members of those who were on the airliner that night as they stood in shock at the arrivals hall of Beijing airport. I saw them every day for a month as they grappled with confusion and mixed messages from Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government. I was there when many received text messages saying "none of those on board survived." Many had to be wheeled out on gurneys. Some lashed out at the cameras. The news cycle moved on but the families are still here. They are still in pain. And all the family members I speak to say their loved ones are alive. They never speak in the past tense, they cling onto each theory that is circulated and they refuse to sign any documents to start financial settlements. "I think psychologically it is understandable, they choose to believe that their loved ones are still missing, so they can still have hope for them to return," says May Lam, a psychiatrist at The University of Hong Kong. She says the families need constant support from social workers and the government and they need to be helped to gradually accept their loss. But many say they are treated like an inconvenience. Families complain of harassment by local communist party officials, several have been detained by Chinese police for holding meetings and some say they have been barred from speaking to the international media. Both the Chinese and Malaysian governments maintain they are doing everything they can to help. Meanwhile, Bian Liangjing's family, like all the others I have met, is stuck in a vortex of grief. His brother shows me to the room where they would sleep as young boys and the corner where they kept their toys. Bian Liangwei says they were best friends and that his older brother looked after him. "When he was here, everything was OK with our family, now everything is up to me. I hope he is somewhere alive. I just know he wants to come home soon to us," he says through his tears. +(CNN)There were 10,000 runners and walkers at the Rodes City 10K on Saturday. Asia Ford was among the last. But a photo of her finish has caused a sensation online, thanks to a police officer who kept her going when she was about to give up. The race in Louisville, Kentucky, was another milestone for Ford, who has lost 217 pounds in her quest to live a healthier life for her children. According to CNN affiliate WAVE-TV, Ford trained for months for the event. But around mile 5, breathing became a challenge. "I messed up and forgot to eat this morning," she wrote on her Facebook page, adding that she was still recovering from a bout of pneumonia. As she struggled to finish, to move forward and to catch her breath, her son Terrance stepped in to offer a supporting hand. Emergency medical service crew weren't far behind, just in case. But Ford wouldn't let breathing problems or an empty stomach hold her back. Louisville police Lt. Aubrey Gregory was impressed. "The EMS guys got out to check on her, and she said I'm not stopping, I'm not stopping," Gregory told WAVE-TV. "So I said I'm not going to let her stop, we're going to do this together. So I got out and I grabbed her hand. I had to meet this inspirational woman." Flanked by her son and the lieutenant, Ford walked the remaining 1.2 miles. Photos show her face twisted in a grimace, Lt. Gregory leaning toward her, talking about health, trying to keep her mind off the pain. "I almost had a slip up with my breathing," Ford wrote on Facebook, "but a police officer by the name of Mr Gregory got out and took my hand to finish the race with my baby and I and WE MADE IT!!!" Ford's story has racked up well north of 1 million likes on Facebook. In the comments, people shared notes of encouragement and congratulations for Ford. "As someone who has also lost 200lbs...I know how HARD you worked for this wonderful moment," wrote Jennifer Bruce. Many praised the officer for helping and for caring. "Now that's community service," opined one commenter. Others noted that this is a welcome good news story, especially after a spate of high profile police shootings. Ford's son Terrance expressed a similar sentiment to WAVE-TV, saying "with all the stuff that's going on with police it's nice to know there good people out there." Terrance also said his mother's tenacity "makes me push harder to do the things I want to do in life." As for Lt. Gregory, he and Ford will be honored by Louisville's mayor for "health and compassion." "It was a great moment," the officer told WAVE-TV, "and I'm glad she let me be a part of it." +(CNN)Amy's Kitchen Inc. says it's recalling nearly 74,000 cases of its products that could contain listeria. In a statement released through the Food and Drug Administration on Sunday, Amy's Kitchen said that it was voluntarily recalling the products after learning from one of its suppliers that it may have received organic spinach that was possibly contaminated with listeria monocytogenes. The California-based organic and natural food company said it wasn't aware of any reports of illness connected with its products, but was recalling them "out of an abundance of caution." The recalled products, which are listed on the FDA's website and were distributed throughout the United States and Canada, include multiple types of vegetable lasagna, tofu scrambles, spinach pizza, enchiladas, brown rice and vegetable bowls and stuffed pasta shells. Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with listeria, primarily affects the elderly, pregnant women, newborns and people with weakened immune systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the United States, an estimated 1,600 people become seriously ill each year; approximately 16% of these illnesses result in death. Cervical infections caused by listeriosis in pregnant women may result in spontaneous abortion during the second or third trimesters or stillbirth. CNN's Jacque Wilson contributed to this report. +(CNN)It's the Internet bromance that's electrified China. Two men from different worlds — a BuzzFeed editor from New York and a man in southern China known as "Brother Orange" — have united dramatically after social media helped them bond over a stolen iPhone. Matt Stopera, 27, was greeted with bouquets of flowers, hordes of photographers and screaming fans as he arrived in Meizhou, southern China Wednesday, embracing Li Hongjun -- a restaurant owner who somehow came across the iPhone that Stopera lost in New York over a year ago. Li doesn't speak English and Stopera doesn't speak Chinese — but Chinese social media users are convinced they are soul mates. The star-crossed pair first connected when Stopera noticed strange photos in his iCloud image gallery of a man taking selfies with an orange tree. Confused, Stopera took to the Internet to see if anyone knew who the mysterious man was. The story went viral in China, where Internet users banded together to search for the stranger, who they nicknamed Brother Orange. That man was Li, from Guangdong province, who was snapping pics with Stopera's old iPhone without realizing the photos were being uploaded to the BuzzFeed writer's cloud account. With the mystery solved, thousands of Chinese Internet users demanded a "happy ending" and clamored for the two men to meet. Brother Orange made the first move. "Matt, I welcome you to come to Meizhou and try some local food," he said on Weibo, China's microblogging platform. That post was "liked" over 12,000 times. Matt quickly accepted. "Everybody wants me and Brother Orange to unite," he told CNN last month. While Stopera waited for his visa to be approved, the two swapped messages -- Stopera began learning Mandarin phrases, while Brother Orange posted videos of himself learning English. But when they finally met, the smiles and hugs said it all. According to images posted to social media, the two spent their first hours in China eating noodles and walking around tourist sites. They also planted a tree together. Chinese Internet users were over the moon. "Matt crossed the ocean to meet you, how touching!" said one. "It really is an international bromance." Another put it simply: "I wish you a happy ever after." CNN's Shen Lu contributed reporting. +(CNN)Congratulations, Internet haters! Well done, keepers of the one-true-way-to-talk-about-race! If we don't tamp down the backlash against Starbucks "Race Together" campaign, I fear that no major corporation will even try to talk about race again -- for maybe 10 or 20 years. Is that really what we want? Look, I get it. Asking baristas to hold conversations about race is a lot to demand of already hard-working employees. Not to mention, the topic should probably be called "systematic racism," not just "race." And there are legitimate questions about what Starbucks could realistically hope to accomplish, here. But for crying out loud! In the past 48 hours, racial justice activists have spilled more digital ink criticizing Starbucks for trying to fight racism than they have against other (actually racist) companies. The truth is that we cannot have it both ways. We cannot demand that companies address race, and then attack them when they try. Yes, it seems like harmless fun to pile on or retweet the snark. At some point, all of us have enjoyed the cheap thrill one gets by kicking around a big company online. But the cost this time is that no corporation will want to do anything creative or constructive on racial subjects for a very long time. In fact, some activists are responding with such little sympathy, empathy and grace, that other corporations are like to run the other way. Again, is that what we want? Mellody Hobson, an African-American member of the Starbucks board and a personal friend, is a major supporter of this campaign. How will other corporate boards react in the future when a minority member encourages the company to publicly address issues of racial inclusion? Starbucks is trying to make a positive difference. If the company gets rewarded, others will follow. But nobody wants their brand to get beaten up. At some point in the future, activists will launch an online petition or protest against a company guilty of some legitimately racist behavior. But how seriously will anyone take us, when even the "good guys" end up getting kicked in the teeth and called racist -- for trying to OPPOSE bigotry? Modern science tells us that bias lives on, in even the most dedicated anti-racist. The only cure is talking about it. Our country needs more open discussion of race, not less. Companies who try to further that discussion should be rewarded, even if their initial attempts are imperfect. We can put forward suggestions and criticisms in a constructive manner: "This is a great first step, Corporation! Here are five ways to improve the campaign -- and make it even better." I think any human anywhere would be open to hearing that kind of feedback. But nobody wants to be called an idiot, just for trying. Unfortunately, today's vicious backlash against Starbucks could become a case study in proving that -- when it comes to race -- no good deed goes unpunished. Ironically, after all this is over, Starbucks will still sell plenty of lattes. The people who will suffer the most are the ones who said they wanted a conversation on race in the first place -- but then wouldn't take "yes" for an answer. +(CNN)German investigators found antidepressants in the apartment of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz this week, according to published reports. Die Welt, a German newspaper, cited an unidentified senior investigator who said Lubitz suffered from a severe "psychosomatic illness" and German police seized prescription drugs that treat the condition. Lubitz suffered from a "severe subjective burnout syndrome" and from severe depression, the source told Die Welt. The New York Times also reported that antidepressants were found during the search of his apartment. CNN has not been able to confirm the reports. Investigators continued to work Saturday to piece together the secret life of Lubitz, who officials say was hiding an illness from his employers. He had been declared "unfit to work" by a doctor. They were expected to question his relatives, friends and co-workers as they try to pin down what could have prompted the seemingly competent and stable co-pilot to steer a jetliner into a mountainside on Tuesday. As their efforts continued, dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony for the victims of the crash at a church in a nearby town, Digne-les-Bains. There were 150 people on board Germanwings Flight 9525, including Lubitz. Relatives of the victims and local residents also gathered Saturday afternoon by a simple stone memorial set up near the crash site, in the village of Le Vernet. Flowers have been laid there, in the shadow of the snow-covered peaks of the French Alps. Much attention has focused on Lubitz's state of mind, with some media reports speculating that he may have had mental health issues. Investigators found a letter in the waste bin of his Dusseldorf, Germany, apartment saying that Lubitz, 27, wasn't fit to do his job, city prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday. The note, Kumpa said, had been "slashed." Just what was ailing Lubitz hasn't been revealed. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Lubitz suffered from mental illness and kept his diagnosis concealed from his employer. A subsequent New York Times report on Saturday, citing two officials with knowledge of the investigation, said Lubitz sought treatment before the crash for vision problems that might have put his career at risk. According to those unnamed officials, Lubitz also was being treated for psychological issues. Other media reports indicate he was treated for depression. Lubitz passed his annual pilot recertification medical examination in summer 2014, a German aviation source told CNN. An official with Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, said the exam only tests physical health, not psychological health, and that if Lubitz had vision problems that would have been discovered during the tests. "We can't believe it. If anything was wrong with his eyes during the physical exam we would have known," the official says. The Lufthansa official also said the company was never given any indication Lubitz was depressed, and that if he went to a doctor on his own he would have been required to self-report if he had been deemed unfit to fly. A Dusseldorf clinic said he'd gone there twice, most recently on March 10, "concerning a diagnosis." But the University Clinic said it had not treated Lubitz for depression. German investigators said they still have interviews and other work to do before they can reveal what they gleaned from the records found in the apartment and at his parents' home in the town of Montabaur. But the fact that investigators found "ripped, recent medical leave notes, including for the day of the offense, leads to the preliminary conclusion that the deceased kept his illness secret from his employer and his professional environment," prosecutors said. Germanwings corroborated that assertion, saying it had never received a sick note from Lubitz. Authorities left Lubitz's apartment Friday night with boxes of papers and evidence folders after spending about 90 minutes inside. Dusseldorf police said Saturday that a small team of French investigators had arrived in the city and that they were sharing information. Jean Pierre Michel, lead investigator for the French inquiry, told French TV from Dusseldorf that the French team would work in "full transparency" with their German counterparts. "We will interview people related to the investigation in the coming days. The hearings will be conducted in the coming days and weeks," he said, according to CNN's French affiliate BFMTV. Asked by a journalist about reports of Lubitz's possible mental illness, he replied: "The elements of the investigation are strictly confidential and we cannot address these matters today." No scenario can yet be ruled out, including mechanical failure, "as we do not have the necessary evidence," he said. The German tabloid newspaper Bild said Saturday it had interviewed an ex-girlfriend of Lubitz. The woman is not named in the story and CNN has not been able to verify the report independently. According to Bild, the ex-girlfriend said Lubitz was a very nice and sensitive man who needed a lot of care and attention, and he was very troubled. She said he would get into fights with her. The newspaper also cited the ex-girlfriend as saying that Lubitz had bad dreams that his plane was going down. Patrick Sondenheimer was the pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, according to Reiner Sondenheimer of Dusseldorf, Germany, who says he is a relative of Patrick's. Patrick Sondenheimer is the pilot believed to have been locked out of the cockpit by his co-pilot, Lubitz. CNN spoke to Reiner Sondenheimer at his Dusseldorf apartment. Also at the apartment was a woman who did not provide her name but said she was Patrick Sodenheimer's relative. That woman also said that Patrick Sondenheimer was on the doomed flight. Reiner Sondenheimer declined to say anything else, other than the family wanted time to grieve. The pilot has not been named by German authorities. Another Germanwings pilot who once flew with Lubitz, Frank Woiton, told WDR, a local broadcaster belonging to CNN's German affiliate ARD, that his impression of Lubitz was that he was "friendly" and that there was "nothing suspicious." Woiton also said Lubitz "was a good pilot and had a good command of the plane." Woiton's first job after he found out about the crash was the route Dusseldorf-Barcelona-Dusseldorf -- the same route as had been taken by Germanwings Flight 9525 a day earlier. He was praised in German media for the emotional announcement he made to passengers before takeoff, in which he said the crew, like everyone else on the plane, wanted to get home safely to their families. At the scene of the crash, two helicopters were being deployed above the mountainside by recovery crews Saturday. The weather has improved after high winds Friday made their complex task even more treacherous. Lt. Col. Xavier Vialenc, a spokesman for the Gendarmerie, told CNN there were about 40 officers at the crash site Saturday. Once at the crash site, recovery workers spend all day working there, he said. Back in Seyne-les-Alpes at the end of the day, they can see a psychologist if they choose and have a debriefing session with all the workers. Vialenc said the operations were going well so far and that the progress made was meeting their expectations. Yves Naffrechoux, captain of rescue operations at Seyne-les-Alpes, told CNN on Friday that rescuers have found bodies at the rugged crash site, but few of them are intact. It could be weeks before all the bodies are recovered, identified and released to the families, authorities said. What could have prompted Lubitz to deliberately destroy the aircraft, killing everyone on board, remains the focus of investigators in Germany. He had passed medical and psychological testing when he was hired in 2013, said Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings. Spohr also told reporters that Lubitz had "interrupted" his pilot training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but added that such an interruption isn't uncommon. Spohr didn't give a reason for the break. While the ailment Lubitz had sought treatment for hasn't been revealed, that he was declared unfit for work is an important detail, aviation analysts say. Pilots are required to maintain their fitness to fly and must tell their airline if they're found unfit, CNN aviation analyst David Soucie said. Who was co-pilot Andreas Lubitz? Although authorities have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder remains missing. It could shed crucial details about what happened inside the cockpit, authorities say. Lubitz was the co-pilot on Tuesday's flight between Barcelona, Spain, and Dusseldorf when he apparently locked the captain out of the cockpit, then activated a control causing the plane to descend toward rugged terrain. Germanwings said the plane dropped for about eight minutes from its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet before crashing. The only sounds, authorities said, were those of pounding on the cockpit door, Lubitz's steady breathing and, eventually, screaming passengers. Lubitz and 149 other people on board the plane died in an instant, authorities say. Most were from Germany and Spain. Mother, daughter among 3 American victims . CNN's Pam Brown, Frederik Pleitgen, Mary Kay Mallonee, Michael Pearson, Nic Robertson, Margot Haddad, Stephanie Halasz, Sandrine Amiel, David Fitzpatrick, Felix Gussone, Karl Penhaul and Anna Maja Rappard contributed to this report. +(CNN)The emotional two-hour season finale of Fox's "Glee" went full circle from the show's roots to the future, reminding Gleeks why they fell in love with the musical sitcom. Few would disagree that the show's first season was its best, winning over a dedicated fan base who stuck with the show through an uneven six seasons and the loss of star Cory Monteith. For its final episode Friday night, the show that made it cool to join the high school glee club focused on core characters introduced in the first season. The first hour of Friday's season finale, aptly titled "2009," was a retelling of the first episode, which included a memorable performance of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" by the original members of William McKinley High School's glee club. Instead of telling it again through Finn's perspective, the finale showed what led the other characters to join New Directions, culminating in an edited version of the performance that packed an emotional punch by featuring Monteith. The second hour brought us to the present day, with Will passing New Directions on to Sam so he can take charge of McKinley High as a fine arts school. We saw the characters' dreams come true in a requisite flash-forward to the future: Rachel (now married to Jesse) wins a Tony Award; Mercedes sings with Beyonce; Kurt and Blaine are successful Broadway stars; and most amazing of all, Vice President Sue Sylvester starts her second term in the Jeb Bush administration. The entirety of New Directions, past and present, gathered one last time in the auditorium, now named after Finn. They sang one last song before we saw a quote from Finn summing up the show: "See the world not as it is, but as it should be." Fans approved of the final episode, sharing tributes and celebrating the show on social media. +(CNN)Oh, Tom Hanks, why are you so awesome? The Academy Award-winning actor seems to be just the greatest guy. Hanx (as he calls himself on his Twitter account) is awesomely winning this game called life by being the most normal of dudes (well, as normal as you can be as a superstar). California's Los Altos Crier reported that the actor, a San Francisco Bay Area native, recently stopped by State Street in downtown Los Altos, where he bought four boxes of Girl Scout cookies and donated an additional $20 to the troop. He also hung around for a bit, taking pictures with fans who recognized him and bought cookies. Just the nicest, right? Here are a few other times Hanks was the coolest: . He danced with the weather lady . Hanks showed what a good sport he was and got his groove on in 2011 when he appeared on Univision. The actor joined anchor Chiquinquira Delgado while she did the weather and showed off his smooth moves. He goes the extra mile for fans . The superstar won even more hearts when he surprised fan Sarah Moretti backstage after his performance on Broadway in "Lucky Guy." Moretti, who has autism, was clearly delighted. We really, really like this: Tom Hanks sings Carly Rae Jepsen . He helped us deal with our grief . The actor adored his "The Green Mile" co-star Michael Clarke Duncan. After Duncan died in 2012 following a heart attack, Hanks had those attending his memorial service in stitches with one of his favorite stories about Duncan. It was a lovely eulogy for his friend. He loves the Kiss Cam . Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have one of the most loving and enduring marriages among Hollywood A-listers. The pair wed in 1988, and fans were thrilled when the couple was caught on Kiss Cam in 2012 during a Los Angeles Kings hockey game. The pair may have been even more excited than the crowd. He documents lost gloves . We aren't even sure why he does it, but Hanks likes to post on social media when he spots lost gloves and mittens. It's goofy and endearing. He loses stuff, just like us . Hanks took to Twitter on Friday to thank a Good Samaritan who returned his lost credit card. Now he can buy more Girl Scout cookies! +(CNN)Israel's next prime minister -- whether incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu or Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog -- will be faced with a myriad of international and domestic crises amid deepening tensions with the United States, its closest ally. Here are five key issues waiting in the new leader's inbox after Tuesday's election. 1. Repairing relations with the United States . There are any number of irritants -- from settlement construction to failed peace talks to Israeli military action in Gaza and Lebanon -- which have long tested the alliance between Washington and Israel. But ties have grown increasingly strained between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu, playing out over the last several years in a series of awkward photo-ops, anonymous quotes in U.S. and Israeli media and tense body language. Relations hit a low point recently with Netanyahu's speech to Congress criticizing President Obama's policy toward Iran about its nuclear program. Repairing ties with the White House becomes easier if the next government is formed under Herzog, who has pledged to "restore intimacy and trust" with the leadership in Washington. Repairing ties becomes more difficult if Netanyahu remains in office. For all its official praise for the "unshakable bonds" between the U.S. and Israel, the White House sees Netanyahu as the problem. If Netanyahu is re-elected, they will have to work with him. Personal relations may be fraught now, but Obama has never suggested watering down or delaying mostly military U.S. aid to Israel, which amounts to $3 billion a year. Privately, however, U.S. officials have warned the level of Washington's political support for Israel with allies and at the United Nations could be affected by Netanyahu's attitude toward the Obama administration. 2. Confronting Iran . World powers are pushing toward a framework nuclear deal with Iran before the March 31 deadline. The next prime minister will take office shortly before a July deadline for a final deal and will need to reach key understandings with Washington on what security and diplomatic guarantees the United States will provide Israel if the deal goes forward. In addition, Israel will want input on what constitutes a violation of the deal and what would trigger punitive measures if Iran reneges. If he remains in office, Netanyahu's differing perceptions of the threat posed by Iran will undoubtedly come to a head as that deadline approaches. Netanyahu has been clear he believes history has handed him the role of delivering the Jewish state from an existential threat posed by Tehran's nuclear ambitions. He worries that the agreement that emerges will leave Iran as a nuclear "threshold state" with the materials and expertise to quickly break out and build a nuclear weapon. Herzog has similarly said he would never accept a nuclear Iran and stresses all options are on the table, including the military options. But he has suggested as prime minister he would work closer with the Obama administration and other governments negotiating with Iran to strengthen a deal, rather than try and block the deal through the US Congress. Beyond the nuclear deal, the next Israeli will leader will face an increasingly emboldened Iran in the region. Beyond it's longstanding support to Hezbollah in Lebanon and backing of the al-Assad government in Syria, Iran has extended its involvement in Iraq's battle against ISIS and has provided support to Houthis in Yemen. Israeli officials say Iran is actively working to open up a front against Israel in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Iran said in January an Iranian general had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the area. 3. Solving problems with Palestinians . The breakdown last April of peace talks led by Secretary of State John Kerry led the Palestinians to take unilateral steps in international forums such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. In response, Israel has halted delivering tax revenues, which it collects on the Palestinians' behalf, seriously squeezing their economy. Now the Palestinians are threatening to halt security cooperation with Israel. Coupled with a lack of a viable peace process and a potential economic collapse of the Palestinian authority, the lack of security coordination would present a total breakdown of cooperation between the two sides. The next Israeli leader will need to stop this free fall before this dangerous cocktail of instability leads to further chaos and perhaps a third intifada. The differences between Netanyahu and Herzog seem to be more style than substance. During the campaign, Netanyahu has hedged on his longstanding support for a two-state solution, but has not abandoned the idea entirely. Herzog has pledged to restart the peace process, but has expressed skepticism about whether Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is a reliable partner. The new prime minister must also deal with an ever worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, where rebuilding has been slow after last summer's Operation Protective Edge. Egypt has basically cut off the border, further squeezing the strip. While there has been little violence since last year's war, Hamas has not been demilitarized and another round of fighting could be just another matter of time. Although Hamas belongs to a unity government with Abbas' Fatah party, Abbas continues to exercise little influence over the group. 4. Addressing growing social inequality . While Israeli voters traditionally cite security issues as a driving factor, the high cost of living has emerged as a major focus in this election season. Sky-high housing prices are of particular concern. Last month, Israel's state comptroller issued a report finding housing prices in the country rose by 55% between 2008 and 2014. Rising food prices are another key issue. In July 2011, Israel saw a massive wave of social protests centering on the expensive housing market and food prices. Dubbed the "cottage cheese" protests -- because of the rising cost of cottage cheese, a staple in many Israelis pantry -- they were emblematic of a broader concern that Netanyahu's relentless focus on security issues was at the expense of domestic issues. Polls indicate the growing frustration with the economy has resulted in a shift from Netanyahu to Herzog. Herzog has pledged to spend 7 billion shekels (about $1.75 billion U.S.) on affordable housing, health care and other social programs for the middle class, which he called the "sandwich generation." For the most part, Netanyahu has not addressed the economy in his few campaign events, focusing more on his strong security credentials. In recent days, he pointed to a 5% decrease in food prices and an increase in affordable housing during his tenure, but acknowledged that the rising costs of living and housing prices were not "fully addressed" by his government and promised to make the economy a top priority if re-elected. 5. Reversing Israel's isolation on the world stage . Israel's next prime minister will need to repair Israel's increasingly frayed ties with once-friendly countries and its deepening worldwide isolation. Leading opposition candidate Tzipi Livni, who once served as Netanyahu's main peace negotiator, accused Netanyahu of being responsible for a "diplomatic tsunami" against Israel. Indeed, Netanyahu's aggressive style has been cited as a major factor in strained ties with the United States and Europe -- a perception caught in a hot-mic conversation between President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011, in which Sarkozy lamented he couldn't "bear" Netanyahu, calling him a "liar." Obama replied, "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you." Regardless of who is Israel's next leader, Israel faces growing worldwide frustration over its policies towards the Palestinians, particularly settlement construction. The European Union, Israel's largest trading partner, is in the process of canceling tax exemptions on Israeli products made in settlements in the occupied West Bank and is considering plans to label the origin of other products made in settlements. Federica Mogherini, the EU's new foreign policy chief, is seeking a greater role in helping to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the absence of a viable peace process, several European nations have already recognized a Palestinian state, with several more promising to consider such a move. This makes Israel ever more dependent on U.S. diplomatic support, including its veto at the United Nations. Washington has traditionally defended Israel against Palestinians efforts to achieve recognition at the United Nations and legal action at the International Criminal Court. And it has lobbied its European allies against sanctions on Israeli exports. As with the United States, it would seem easier to repair these frayed ties under a Herzog-led government. If re-elected, Netanyahu will have his work cut out for him . +(CNN)One of the most pernicious phrases in the debate over how to counter extremist use of social media is "whack-a-mole." In national security circles, many believe that suspending social media accounts used by violent extremists is a pointless endeavor. They argue that, as in the children's arcade game "Whac-a-Mole," suspending accounts is a fruitless endeavor because, they claim, new accounts are created for every account that is suspended. To examine this assumption, technologist Jonathon Morgan and I collected data on millions of Twitter accounts, including tens of thousands used by ISIS supporters, and found substantial evidence to the contrary. In September 2014, Twitter began to crack down on ISIS supporters who used its platform, suspending tens of thousands of accounts over the course of several months. While many users did create new accounts during the first month of the crackdown, the number of new accounts plunged after September, even though suspensions increased. Twitter has indicated that its suspensions fell at least at the high end of our estimated figure, possibly even higher still. The result is that suspensions are outpacing the number of new accounts successfully created, possibly by a wide margin. The size of ISIS's support network on Twitter is shrinking as a result. Additionally, we found that the suspensions targeted some of the most active and effective users in the network, the professional activists who empowered ISIS to broadcast its propaganda to unsuspecting audiences by spamming hashtags such as #WorldCup and #CakeBoss. Not only has ISIS suffered a blow to its ability to spam others, its supporters on Twitter are so weakened that they are now hoist by their own petard. The hashtag that ISIS uses to promote its own messages has been taken over by opposing spammers, trolls and activists, who frequently tweet five times as much anti-ISIS content as ISIS can muster on any given day. ISIS content continues to be available online, of course. The number of suspensions is not sufficient to completely deny them the use of Twitter. But their audience is shrinking and their ability to game Twitter with manipulative tactics such as auto-tweeting "bots" has been significantly diminished. An estimated 10% of tweets sent by ISIS supporters are directed at rebuilding their social networks rather than disseminating propaganda, and that doesn't account for the additional impact of time lost to the process of creating new accounts and waiting for followers to find them. These are worthy goals, and they detract from ISIS's ability to accomplish its online strategy of intimidation, provocation and recruitment, which is discussed at more length in my new book with Jessica Stern, ISIS: The State of Terror. ISIS users call the suspensions "devastating" and their fury provides evidence that suspensions hit them where it hurts. But that doesn't mean suspensions are ineffective, any more than a cold day outside invalidates decades of temperature trends that show the impact of climate change. The view outside your window, especially if you are an analyst or journalist following a couple hundred terrorist accounts, will not always accurately reflect an online climate where tens of thousands of accounts are in play. While our study was only a preliminary look at this issue, it examined a body of data that dwarfs any existing study on the subject. While future research will help clarify the impact of suspensions over time, it is not likely to ever fully settle the complaints of the whack-a-mole crowd, who are as persistent as their favorite metaphor. Nevertheless, it's time to move the serious debate away from the question of whether suspensions are effective and toward more complex issues with a better grounding in the available data. There are complications that arise from the suspension process. One of the most notable we observed in our study was the question of how people in the network behave under pressure. Our analysis suggested that the social network of ISIS supporters on Twitter is becoming more insular, with users following each other more and becoming less and less exposed to outside influences. While it is harder to enter the network in the first place and to stay there as an active user, it is possible that this echo-chamber effect might lead new users to radicalize more swiftly and more intensely. Tampering with an online social network, through suspensions or other means, is a form of social engineering, and we need to better understand what that means for users. We would be better served by research into such new questions than by continuing a tired debate about whether suspensions are effective at degrading the size and online distribution networks of extremist groups. It's time to take this debate to the next level, and let the whack-a-mole mole stay whacked. +(CNN)The bot world is getting bigger. Paramount, Michael Bay and Lorenzo di Bonaventura are enlisting Akiva Goldsman to help the studio develop ideas and a team to work on future "Transformers" spinoffs and sequels, a source tells THR. The move signals that the studio is looking toward making its Hasbro toy-inspired franchise into a universe in the same vein as Marvel's "Avengers," Universal's monster universe (which will kick off with "The Mummy" in 2016) and Warner Bros.' DC Comics superhero universe. Paramount had no comment. MORE: 'Heroes' alum Masi Oka returning for NBC sequel 'Reborn' Bay has directed all four of the Transformers films, which have earned $3.8 billion worldwide. The most recent, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," starred Mark Wahlberg and opened summer 2014 to earn $1.1 billion worldwide. MORE: 'Once Upon a Time' stars on Hook and Ursula's "soul-crushing" history . Goldsman's recent work includes writing, directing and producing "Winter's Tale" and writing YA sequel "Insurgent." He's repped by WME and Hansen, Jacobson. MORE: DC Entertainment unlocks the secrets of 'Convergence' comic book event . Bay is working on his Benghazi project, "13 Hours," which he'll direct. He's repped by WME and Sloane, Offer. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)When Selena was breaking concert attendance records at home and abroad, there weren't a lot of crossover pop stars who looked like her in the United States. There was Rita Moreno and Gloria Estefan and ... well, that's about it. The March 31, 1995, death of the Mexican-American singer plunged many Latino listeners into mourning and brought her music to the attention of English speakers who would soon become fans. Selena Quintanilla-Perez started singing the Tejano music that eventually made her famous in her father's restaurant in Lake Jackson, Texas. Her father Abraham taught the family band and named them Los Dinos after his own group from earlier years. Selena's brother, A.B., played bass, and her sister, Suzette, played drums. When the family moved to Corpus Christi, the group started getting gigs at local parties and weddings. Selena was only 15 when she won female entertainer of the year at the Tejano Music Awards. That got her a record contract, and several albums followed. She eventually married her guitarist, Chris Perez. In 1994, she won a Grammy for best Mexican-American album for "Selena Live!" and seemed poised for mainstream stardom. When the president of Selena's fan club shot her to death the following year in a Texas motel room, her first English-language album was months from release. Her death made international headlines. She was 23 years old. Twenty years later, her influence is still being felt. Her official Facebook page still has more than 2 million likes, and fans are remembering the singer who crossed barriers and made them sing and dance to her blend of Tejano music. Fans will celebrate her life and legacy at the commemorative Fiesta de la Flor in Corpus Christi in mid-April. Here are five things you may not know about Selena. Selena had to learn Spanish. A third-generation Texan of Mexican descent, Selena didn't grow up speaking Spanish. Neither did her husband, Perez, who played guitar in her band and fell in love with her on the road. In his book, "To Selena, with Love," Perez said they practiced speaking Spanish before their first big publicity blitz in Mexico. "In Mexico, Selena mangled her conversations in Spanish like the rest of us, but not for long." "She said, 'It'll be cool. You watch. I'm going to learn Spanish and surprise everybody,' " Perez wrote. "She got better and better, to the point where I'd have to ask her to slow down so that I could understand what she was saying." She sold out the Astrodome. Selena performed several times at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome to sold-out crowds of more than 60,000 people. (It wasn't just any rodeo: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and the Osmonds have all played the event.) "We had 20 performances this year," Leroy Shafer, assistant general manager of the show, told the New York Times in 1995. "We had Reba McEntire, George Strait, Clint Black and Vince Gill. She had the highest-selling show concert at our show this year, at 61,041 in the Astrodome." Her album went to No. 1. Her 1995 crossover album, "Dreaming of You," went to the top of the Billboard 200 the first week it was released. She was the first Latin artist to debut atop the list. "There were supposed to be 14 tracks, but we had only recorded four of them, so we put together a tribute album of new and old songs," Nancy Brennan, then vice president of A&R at EMI, told Texas Monthly. "Making that album was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do, because we were listening to her voice all day and crying as we were mixing the songs." "Selena" (the movie) ignited Jennifer Lopez's career. Starring as Selena in the 1997 movie of the same name, Jennifer Lopez became the first Latina actress to be paid $1 million for a movie role. Lopez was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. "Getting to play the part of Selena was life-changing for me," Lopez told Para Todos magazine. "I got to immerse myself in her life, got to know her family, her home, her culture ... every part of her story. It was a special time in my life both professionally and personally. Playing her not only opened doors for me in the film world, but it inspired me to start my own music career. In a lot of ways, I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't had that experience." Selena's killer is eligible for parole in 2025. Yolanda Saldivar, the president of Selena's fan club, was sentenced to life in prison in October 1995 for Selena's murder. Saldivar must serve at least 30 years of her sentence before she is eligible for parole. Selena was meeting with Saldivar at a Corpus Christi motel to discuss her concerns that Saldivar had embezzled money from her when Saldivar shot her, according to trial testimony. Saldivar argued that she accidentally fired the shot, but the jury didn't buy it. CNN's Victoria Moll-Ramirez contributed to this story. +(CNN)A decision last week to ax the popular University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones rippled into Wednesday with demonstrations at the Oxford campus, powerful alumni denouncing the decision and wealthy donors threatening to withhold funding to the school. "It's a damn shame," Ole Miss alumnus Kelly English said about the decision, which he says felt like a "gut punch." English, a chef and restaurateur who has met the chancellor, called Jones "a man of integrity" who "cares deeply about the university." While the state board that voted not to renew his contract, which expires in September, cited "concerns centered on financial issues at the University of Mississippi Medical Center," the chancellor's advocates feel something sinister is at play. Jones was magnanimous in his response, saying that while he was disappointed not to be granted another four-year term, he was proud of his accomplishments and every disagreement he had with the board was the product of both parties trying to do what's best for the school. The financial issues at UMMC, though, were only part of the problem, he wrote. "I was informed a key concern for the board was my relationship to board members and the Commissioner and my unwillingness to adjust to the board's desired governance structure," he wrote. "Over the last couple of years, I have expressed concern and disagreement with the board in some areas, including the funding allocation plan that distributes state funds to various public universities, business issues at the medical center, and responsibility for managing the selection process for the position of vice chancellor to lead the medical center." Jones has been at the university's helm since 2009, when he took over for another popular leader, Robert Khayat, who retired. To hear Jones' supporters tell it, he's ushered in an era of unprecedented GPAs, test scores, enrollment and fund-raising, including three straight years of nine-figure gifts to the school. But he also took stands that ruffled many at the 167-year-old university. Among those were measures aimed at dissociating the school from its Confederate history -- the university athletics teams are the Rebels -- including asking the band to stop playing the fight song "From Dixie With Love." Under his tenure, the university also adopted a black bear as its mascot to replace Colonel Reb, a caricature of a plantation owner that had been removed as mascot in 2003. "He did amazing things for inclusion," English said. "He tried to rid Ole Miss of the good ol' boy network." Unfortunately for his alma mater, English said, that good ol' boy network "caught (Jones) in Jackson." When the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning -- fresh on the heels of Jones completing a reportedly successful round of chemotherapy for his lymphoma -- decided in a 9-2 decision not to renew his contract, the outcry was loud (though the board and Jones concur the decision was unrelated to his health). A protest Wednesday brought more than 2,500 Jones supporters to the Lyceum, event co-organizer Alex Borst said. It's the university's oldest building, which is located in the middle of campus and houses administrative offices. Borst, a sophomore International Studies major, said the board's decision has left him and his classmates "confused." "Chancellor Jones has always made himself available to students and always done what's in our best interest," Borst said. Khayat and famous alumni -- such as former New Orleans Saints quarterback (and Peyton and Eli's dad) Archie Manning and author John Grisham -- decried the move, as did numerous university groups, including the Faculty Senate, Staff Council, Alumni Association and Black Student Union. Supporters also quickly assembled a Facebook page, Twitter feed, website and even a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of protests, all pronouncing "I Stand With Dan," which has been adopted as a hashtag for the movement. Nic Lott was the university's first African-American president in 2000-2001. He took to Twitter to express his discontent with Jones' firing, calling him a "great leader who made tough decisions." "In my opinion, they've made an unforgivable decision," said alumnus Jim Barksdale, the former Netscape CEO billed by The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson as the university's most generous donor (he's reportedly given $30 million in the last decade and a half). And that decision could cost the university at least $20 million from one donor alone, as the newspaper reports that Anthony Papa, president of the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, said he would not move forward with the grant for a new science building if Jones wasn't reinstated. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning said in a news release that while it had no concerns regarding Jones' integrity or honesty, the majority of members simply could not find "a path forward to renewal." "Dr. Jones has provided strong leadership in many facets of the University of Mississippi during his tenure. However, the Board cannot overlook its longstanding concerns regarding the business and financial affairs at UMMC," the Saturday statement said. Borst said this explanation hasn't given Ole Miss students enough information to understand why Jones won't be reinstated. "They have to be hiding something, because they aren't giving us all the information," he said. CNN reached out to Jim Borsig, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning's commissioner, for comment. He has not yet replied. Jones has no intention of retiring or resigning before September, according to his statement. +(CNN)Student leaders at the University of California-Irvine vetoed a resolution on Saturday that would have banned hanging flags of any nation, including America's Stars and Stripes, in the lobby of student government offices, amid widespread criticism from students and alumni. The Legislative Council of the Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine's passed the resolution, "Flags and decoration adjustment for inclusivity," in a 6-4 vote Tuesday with the stated intention of creating a "more inclusive" environment. The resolution said "the American flag is commonly flown in government public service locations, military related entities, at homes, in foreign lands where the US government has a presence," and its "symbolism has negative and positive aspects that are interpreted differently by individuals." Its passage drew widespread opposition from the campus community and beyond for being offensive and unpatriotic. "As a military veteran, American citizen and taxpayer, I find this piece of 'legislation' highly offensive," a commenter said on the ASUCI 's Facebook student page, in one of the more mildly worded complaints. "This is a public school, supported by taxpayers, (yes, I know, most of you pay tuition, as well, but that does not cover the entire cost), and it is appropriate to display the United States Flag on campus. Please reconsider your actions and rescind this resolution." Current students also registered their dissatisfaction with the resolution, saying the resolution does not represent the student body as a whole. "As much as I hope that their decision gets vetoed and that the administration will take some accountability for allowing such a controversial issue to be voted on in the first place, I also hope that people will stop generalizing us and saying that they will refuse to hire UCI students or that the generous donations of our alumni will fall, or even worse that we are not proud Americans. The majority of us would be proud to stand out there and wave the flag ourselves if need be," another commenter said. The UCI administration issued a statement saying "this misguided decision was not endorsed or supported in any way by the campus leadership, the University of California, or the broader student body." Student-body President Reza Zomorrodian also publicly opposed the legislation, leading the Executive Cabinet of student government to convene on Saturday to veto the legislation. "We fundamentally disagree with the actions taken by ASUCI Legislative Council and their passage of R50-70 as counter to the ideals that allow us to operate as an autonomous student government organization with the freedoms of speech and expression associated with it," the executive cabinet said in a statement. "It is these very symbols that represent our constitutional rights that have allowed for our representative creation and our ability to openly debate all ranges of issues and pay tribute to how those liberties were attained." +(CNN)Sony Pictures is expanding its "Ghostbusters" movies with Ghost Corps, a collective headed by original "Ghostbusters" director Ivan Reitman and star Dan Aykroyd, that will oversee the expansion of the movie franchise beyond a cinematic universe into television and merchandising. The first order of business will be to develop a new male-oriented "Ghostbusters" that will be released after the much ballyhooed female-centric movie being put together by Paul Feig. The movie, which is to star Kirsten Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, shoots this summer and will be released July 22, 2016. New all-female 'Ghostbusters' cast chosen . Joe and Anthony Russo, the duo behind "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and who signed a first-look deal with Sony last week, are being tapped to produce and direct the new movie. Drew Pearce, who penned "Iron Man 3", will write the script while Channing Tatum, another Sony favorite after the 22 Jump Street movies, will also produce with his partners Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan. If all goes as planned, Tatum would also star in the movie. Read the original 1984 THR review of 'Ghostbusters' Reitman will also produce the new movie. Sony is one of the studios less franchise-rich than others, such as Disney or Warner Bros. or even Paramount, which is cranking out "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" movies. Female Ghostbusters? Why Studios Want More Women-Led Blockbusters . How seriously is Sony taking this? Enough that Reitman is moving his entire staff of his production banner The Montecito Picture Co. onto the studio lot to focus on this endeavor. Montecito and Ghost Corps will be separate entities, however. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. +(CNN)Latest developments: . • One of the pilots on board Germanwings Flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit when the plane crashed, a senior military official told The New York Times Wednesday, citing evidence from the cockpit voice recorder. • Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, said "we have no information from the bodies investigating the incident that would corroborate the report in The New York Times. We will not participate in speculation, but we will follow up on the matter." • Helicopters have airlifted some victims' remains from the site of the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps, the Gendarmerie said Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate France 2. Full story: . Investigators trying to determine what caused the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 have made a startling discovery in an audio recording, according to a New York Times report: One of the plane's pilots was locked out of the cockpit before the crash. "You can hear he is trying to smash the door down," a senior military official involved in the investigation told the newspaper, describing audio from the cockpit voice recorder, one of the plane's black boxes. "We don't know yet the reason why one of the guys went out," the official said, according to the Times' report. "But what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door." Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, said it was looking into the report. "We have no information from the bodies investigating the incident that would corroborate the report in the New York Times," spokesman Boris Ogursky said. "We will not participate in speculation, but we will follow up on the matter." The Times' report is a "terribly shocking revelation," CNN aviation analyst Peter Goelz said. But he and other experts cautioned that it's still unclear what could have been going on inside the cockpit. Possibilities range from a medical emergency to something more nefarious, like a suicide mission, CNN aviation analysts said. Officials previously said that hadn't ruled out terrorism, but it seems unlikely. French authorities revealed earlier Wednesday that they'd been able to access audio from the recorder, even though its external casing was damaged. But they disclosed few details about what the recording actually contained, saying only that there was one audio channel with voices on it that went all the way up to the time of the crash. "It is too early to draw conclusions to what happened," said Remi Jouty, head of the BEA, the French aviation investigative arm leading the probe. "There is going to be detailed work performed on that audio file to understand and interpret the sounds and the voices that can be heard." Finding the plane's second black box will also be critical to understanding the mystery of what went on inside the jet. That box, the flight data recorder, hasn't been found yet, but Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Wednesday that there's a high probability it will be. Investigators scoured dangerous terrain in the French Alps as they searched for clues in the wreckage. Workers dropped to the crash site from helicopters, Jouty said, and had to be tied together because the steep area in the mountains is so treacherous. Spohr said Tuesday's plane crash "represents the darkest hours" in the history of his company, which owns Germanwings. Officials are struggling to understand how an airplane that "was in perfect technical condition" with two experienced pilots "was involved in such a terrible accident," he said. But even worse, he said, is seeing the heartbreak of the relatives and friends of the victims who perished in the crash. "What they have gone through is, of course, incomprehensible," he said, describing what he said was an emotional meeting between the relatives and airline executives Wednesday. And now, he said, the company's focus will be taking care of them. Special Lufthansa flights will take relatives and friends of victims to southern France on Thursday, so they can be near the search scene, he said. "We need to understand what happened," French President Francois Hollande said. "We owe that to the families." The doomed flight was traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, when it crashed Tuesday in the French Alps. Germanwings said the plane reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, and then dropped for about eight minutes. The plane lost contact with French radar at a height of about 6,000 feet. Then it crashed. There were 150 people from 18 countries on board. Mother, daughter from Virginia among the victims . Teams have begun the daunting task of identifying the victims' bodies, but caution that it could take time to complete. Investigators are still trying to piece together what caused the crash. Jouty, the head of the investigation team, said the debris suggests the plane hit the ground and then broke apart, instead of exploding in flight. Radar followed the plane "virtually to the point of impact" in the Alps in southern France, Jouty said. The flight's last altitude recorded by radar was just over 6,000 feet. FBI agents based in France, Germany and Spain are looking through intelligence sources and cross referencing the passenger manifest of Germanwings Flight 9525, two senior law enforcement officials said. So far, their search hasn't turned up anything that "stands out" or anything linking the passengers to criminal activity, according to one official. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, Rene Marsh, Nic Robertson, Pierre Meilhan, Richard Quest, Holly Yan, Laura Smith-Spark, Greg Botelho, Mariano Castillo, Hala Gorani, Elwyn Lopez, Laura Akhoun, Stephanie Halasz, Lindsay Isaac, Karl Penhaul, Marilia Brocchetto, Vasco Cotovio, Alexander Felton, Erin McLaughlin and Pamela Brown contributed to this report. +(CNN)The odds seemed almost impossibly stacked against baby Lily, but she survived. Rescuers found the toddler Saturday, hanging upside down in her mother's car, which had flipped into a frigid Utah river a day before. If the wreck occurred when police believe it did, she may have been there for as many as 14 hours. Lily's mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, died in the crash. She was 25 years old. How did her 18-month-old survive? One of the biggest factors was the car seat. Lily was in the proper car seat for her age and the seat appears to have been properly attached. Even though the child was trapped and upside down, her body remained in the seat and above the frigid water. Doctors say that such low temperatures are dangerous, but would be even more so if the baby were wet. Dry cold temperatures are more survivable than wet cold temperatures. Ironically, the cold might have actually helped Lily survive, said Dr. Barbara Walsh, with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "She's going to have a lower heart rate. She's going to have a lower metabolism. She's going to need less sugar," Walsh said. "It's almost like the body is sort of knowing that it needs to shut down to protect itself." A variety of other factors were also likely at play. "We don't know what time the child was last fed, when she drank. Given that it's wintertime and she was in her car seat, she was probably wearing mittens, a hat. We tend to over bundle our children, so the fact that she was dry, she probably had on multiple layers because it's winter, and there's always a chance that she had just been sort of fed right before this happened probably all played a role," Walsh said. A final factor may have been that the girl, as a toddler, has baby fat -- a little extra insulation. If she had been an infant, it might have been a different story. "It's amazing. Children are very resilient, and I think sometimes we don't realize how much they actually can withstand," said Walsh. CNN's Ben Brumfield and Nadia Kounang contributed to this report. +March 17, 2015 . Today's program takes you to Vanuatu to show you why recovery efforts are so difficult in the hurricane-stricken nation. We're also visiting a U.S. city that just officially logged its snowiest winter since it started keeping records, and we're exploring a U.S. Army facility charged with the task of safely eliminating U.S. chemical weapons. Plus, see how two American rivers are "going green" as part of St. Patrick's Day celebrations. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News! +(CNN)The governor of Virginia has ordered an investigation after a black student at the University of Virginia was injured during an arrest early Wednesday. The university's Black Student Alliance distributed a photograph, showing what it said was Martese Johnson, 20, during his arrest. Blood splatters his shirt and covers his face. Video from the incident shows Johnson pinned to the ground, screaming: "I go to UVA! ... You f****** racists! What the f***? How did this happen?" An officer can be heard telling the student to stop fighting. On Wednesday night, hundreds of students rallied in support of Johnson. And Johnson himself took the microphone. "Regardless of your personal opinions and the way you feel about subjects ... please respect everyone here," he said. "We are one community. We deserve to respect each other, especially in times like this." Earlier, the Black Student Alliance issued a statement denouncing the incident. "Today, we are reminded of the gruesome reality that we are not immune to injustice; as University students, we are not impervious to the brutality that has reeled on news cycles around the country," the group said. "We have marched and shouted that we are Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, but the proximity of this morning's brutality to a member of our community has deepened that wound. It is no longer happening only on national television -- it is a reality here and now at the University of Virginia that we must face as a collective," it said. People are also speaking out on Twitter where #JusticeForMartese was trending Wednesday evening. The student's name had 16,000 mentions on Twitter in the past 24 hours. According to the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), uniformed ABC special agents arrested Johnson after he was refused entry to a licensed establishment and questioned. He was charged with public intoxication and obstruction of justice, ABC said in a statement, adding that Johnson was treated for his injuries at a local hospital and released. In a separate statement, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said that he has asked the Secretary of Public Safety to open an independent Virginia State Police investigation into the use of force. The special agents involved in the incident will be restricted to administrative duties, pending the results of the investigation. Johnson is a third-year student double majoring in Italian and media studies. He has no criminal record, according to his attorney, and holds a variety of leadership positions on campus. "As evidenced by both his academic and extracurricular achievements, Martese is a smart young man with a bright future," attorney Daniel P. Watkins said. "I have spoken with him several times today, and he is absolutely devastated by yesterday's events. Currently, we are preparing to investigate and defend this matter vigorously." The president of the University of Virginia urged anyone who witnessed the arrest, or who has information about it, to contact authorities. "We have not yet clarified all of the details surrounding this event, but we are seeking to do so as quickly as possible," said Teresa A. Sullivan. "Today, as U.Va. students, faculty, and staff who share a set of deeply held values, we stand unified in our commitment to seeking the truth about this incident. And we stand united in our belief that equal treatment and equal justice are among our fundamental rights under the law." CNN's Patrick Cornell contributed to this report. +(CNN)By all appearances Shaun Harrison was living an exemplary life. He was a dean at a Boston public high school. He mentored young people. And, Harrison regularly attended services at a local church for a decade, before leaving in 2012, according to the church's pastor. Now, Harrison is charged with armed assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He's also facing multiple weapons charges. Harrison is accused of shooting one of his students in the head. While he was working as "dean of academy" at English High, Harrison was also running a marijuana distribution enterprise, according to Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney, David Bradley. At an arraignment hearing Thursday, Bradley said the 55-year-old now-former dean shot a 17-year-old student he had allegedly hired to sell marijuana. The teenager, who called Harrison "Rev" told authorities he was regularly mentored by Harrison, according to police documents. Bradley said in a news release that the two got into a dispute after leaving Harrison's home Tuesday evening. They were walking along a street when Harrison then "produced a handgun, pointed it at the back of the victim's head and fired," Bradley said in a news release. The incident was captured on surveillance footage, but the police have not released it. The teen, who has not been named by police yet, was shot behind the right ear, according to a police report. He is expected to survive his injuries, Bradley's release said. Harrison had worked in various positions with the Boston Public Schools since 2010. He had been "dean of academy" at English High School since January 5, where "he provided services, like finding housing for homeless students or social services or disciplinary alternatives to suspension," said Denise Snyder, a representative for Boston Public Schools. His employment has been "terminated effective immediately," Snyder said. The Rev. Dr. Gregory Groover, pastor of the Charles Street AME Church where Harrison attended services said the allegations against Harrison aren't consistent with the man he knows. "I was stunned beyond description," Groover said when he heard about Harrison's arrest. Groover said Harrison was already an ordained Baptist minister when he came to the Charles Street AME Church. He recalled Harrison usually attended services alone, but he "got along with everyone." "He seemed to consistently care with a deep heart for saving young people who were in the streets or gang related, prison-involved," Groover said. "That was the population that his life seemed to center around." A not guilty plea was automatically entered on Harrison's behalf. He posted $250,000 bail and is under house arrest, according to police documents. He has been ordered to "stay away and have no contact with the victim" and wear a GPS monitor, the DA's release said. He is scheduled to be back in court on April 6. CNN's multiple attempts to reach an attorney for Harrison were unsuccessful. CNN's Aaron Cooper, Chuck Johnston and Alexandra Field contributed to this report. +(CNN)Reading the headlines out of Madison, Wisconsin, it's hard not to think about Ferguson, Missouri. But law enforcement's response to the shooting of 19-year-old Tony Robinson will not unfold in the same chaotic, violent and distrusting way as the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, Madison's top police leaders vowed. "I think it's very clear that Madison, Wisconsin, is not Ferguson, Missouri," said Jim Palmer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. The head of the state's largest law enforcement group told CNN Monday that the Madison police department, unlike the Ferguson department, has a strong relationship with the people it serves. Madison Police Chief Mike Koval has been out front and outspoken about Robinson's shooting since it happened late Friday night. The chief said he understands people are angry and want answers. "We have to say we are sorry at the outset for it and then we have to show affirmative steps in moving forward to bring community back into the fold," he said. Here are some ways Madison law enforcement appears to be responding differently than what was seen in Ferguson: . Difference in what police chiefs did after shooting . Madison: Within hours of the shooting, Koval went to Robinson's mother's home. "We need to start as any healing or any reconciliation should with an 'I'm sorry,' and I've done that privately, and I'm attempting to do that publicly and that's the only way we can sort of begin the healing or the rift that may take years if at all to mend," the police chief said. The mother didn't want to meet with him but the chief talked and prayed with the biracial teenager's grandparents in the driveway, he said. They told Koval to hold off on trying to talk to the mother because emotions were too intense. "I couldn't even begin to get my hands around the enormity of the loss and the tragic consequences," Koval said. "Nineteen years old is too young." He stressed that "the effort has to be there," in reaching out to the family. "We have to acknowledge it, we have to own it, we have to say we are sorry at the outset for it and then we have to show affirmative steps in moving forward to bring community back into the fold, as it were." Ferguson: A day after Brown, who was African-American, was killed, protesters took to the streets of the Missouri town. They were incensed that witnesses said Brown's hands were up and that the teen's body had remained in the street, in the sun, for four hours. A month went by before Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologized to Brown's family. "I'm truly sorry for the loss of your son. I'm also sorry that it took so long to remove Michael from the street," he said, in a videotaped message. A day after Brown's killing a vigil for him devolved into violence. Police tried to keep the crowd under control but clashes erupted. One officer was seen holding the leash of a barking dog, and St. Louis Alderman Antonio French said some officers wielded shotguns. Four days after Brown was killed and more than a day after riots erupted in Ferguson, Jackson spoke at a community forum, saying, the situation "has been a tragedy for the city and the country." Responding to criticism that he'd missed immediate opportunities to address tension in the town that turned into violence, he said, "It breaks my heart [that] some think I'm part of the problem." The police chief promised the crowd he would be part of the solution. But issues with how the department interacted with protesters and media continued. "Keep moving" was a common refrain that police told protesters and law enforcement threatened to arrest anyone who stood along sidewalks, whether they were resting or a reporter taking notes. In some cases, officers told demonstrators they couldn't stand for more than five seconds; some protesters were yelled at for walking too slowly. Such a tactic was a violation of the Constitution, a federal judge later ruled. In his videotaped message, Jackson apologized for that, too. "The right of the people to peacefully assemble is what the police are here to protect. If anyone who was peacefully exercising that right is upset and angry, I feel responsible and I'm sorry," the police chief said. Five ways the Ferguson police chief is in hot water . Difference in investigation procedures: . Madison: Under Wisconsin law, an outside agency is tasked with investigating police-involved shootings. In the case in Madison, that would be the Division of Criminal Investigation. Once DCI completes its work, findings will be delivered to the local district attorney, Chief Koval said. On Monday, Gov. Scott Walker issued a statement saying that another layer of investigation will come from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which will conduct an independent investigation -- a requirement of all officer-involved deaths. Ferguson: Chief Jackson asked the St. Louis County Police Department to conduct an independent investigation into Brown's killing. It was only a few days that passed between the shooting and when Jon Belmar, the chief of St. Louis County Police Department, told media what led to Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shooting Brown. "The genesis of this was a physical confrontation," Belmar said. Brown "physically assaulted" the officer, Belmar said, and the teen tried to get the officer's weapon. Differences with timing of releasing the officer's name . Madison: Chief Koval released the name of the officer who shot Robinson within hours of the incident. He is 12-year department veteran Matt Kenny. The chief volunteered that the officer had shot and killed a man in 2007. Kenny was cleared on any wrongdoing in that incident, the chief said, because an investigation determined that the man was killed in a "suicide by cop" situation. During the incident involving Robinson, Kenny suffered a blow to the head, Koval said. He has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. Ferguson: Three days after Brown was killed, Ferguson police backtracked on a promise made a day earlier to release the name of the officer. The reason the department gave? Threats made to another officer who was falsely accused on social media of shooting Brown, Jackson said. The chief said he thought the threats were "credible" and that "the safety factor far outweighs the benefit from releasing the name, which is minimal." Lawyers representing Brown's family blasted the decision, and accused the police of protecting their own and ignoring standard procedures. Difference in how authorities described victim's past . Madison: Wisconsin Circuit Court documents indicate Robinson pleaded guilty in December to an armed robbery that occurred last April. But when Koval was pressed for more details, he refused to talk about the teen's record or any run-ins with law enforcement. "I could but I choose not to," the chief said. "I frankly think it is, for our purposes today, wholly inappropriate and I am not going to blemish anyone's character, particularly someone's as young as his." Ferguson: Six days after Brown's shooting -- on the same day police released Officer Wilson's name -- police released surveillance video of a convenience store robbery in which Brown was allegedly involved before he died. The decision to release that video frustrated many, including others in law enforcement. Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson stated the robbery and shooting of Brown "are separate issues." "I told (Chief Jackson) I think both of those being released today was not needed and was not the way that we needed to go," Johnson told CNN. "Today is about taking care of this incident here, getting to those facts that are there, and Michael Brown and his family." Differences in mayor's reaction immediately after shooting . Madison: Less than a day after the shooting, Mayor Paul Soglin vowed that "there will be answers," the Wisconsin State Journal reported. "We all deserve to know the facts in this case," he said. "Tony Robinson's family deserves that, our community deserves that, and the Madison Police deserve that. When the answers come, we will be open and transparent in communicating them." The promise to be transparent in sharing results of an investigation were repeated on the city's web site. Ferguson: Ferguson Mayor James Knowles urged the community to stay calm and not escalate the situation. "We don't know what happened and there are lots of conflicting stories," Knowles said. "Unfortunately there will have to be some time taken to understand what happened. Hopefully we will get to an understanding and justice will be served." Speaking a day after a vigil for Brown devolved into a riot, Knowles said on CNN that "the events of last night are not indicative of who we are," and that the chaos was "not constructive" and only "bringing down the community." Difference in size and tone of rallies and tone . Madison: On Friday night, dozens of demonstrators gathered in Madison. "Who do we trust?" some called out, prompting the response, "No one!" And in another refrain, they chanted, "Black lives matter," a phrase that Ferguson protesters coined. Online the #WillyStreet hashtag, referencing to Williamson Street, where the shooting happened, trended. "Praying for Madison tonight," wrote one activist. "Stand up, sit in, walk out - until u get answers. And until there are no more hashtag eulogies." The demonstrations, which have been constant, have remained peaceful. Watch protesters outraged over police killing . Ferguson: Just hours after Brown was killed, a vigil for him turned violent as people hurled bottles at officers and kicked police cars parked on the streets. The often-violent demonstrations continued off and on for weeks, and protests around the country were held in solidarity. While many protesters were peaceful, in late November buildings were set on fire and destruction spread after a grand jury said it had decided not to indict Officer Wilson. Fire, chaos erupt in Ferguson after grand jury doesn't indict . CNN's Elise Miller, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Faith Karami, Kristina Sgueglia, Rosa Flores, Ralph Ellis, Joe Sutton and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. +(CNN)Nicholas Brendon, the actor who played Buffy's sidekick Xander on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," was arrested Friday on a charge of criminal mischief and property damage in Tallahassee, Florida. The actor, who has a recurring role on the CBS show "Criminal Minds," was in Tallahassee for a comic book convention. Tallahassee Police encountered Brendon, 43, at a hotel "in a state of confusion" with toothpaste on his face, rips in his clothes and pants wet from an overflowing toilet he allegedly caused, according to a police report. When officers checked the room, they found overturned furniture, the phone torn off the wall and water flowing from the bathroom to the hallway, the report said. In another room where Brendon was staying, they found a "prescription pill bottle" with one pill left out of 10 that had been filled earlier that day. Hotel management asked to press charges, the report said, noting that Brendon was cooperative as he was placed under arrest. Brendon was arrested under similar circumstances in October and February. His representatives responded to CNN with a statement that said, "Nicholas is battling a disease. He has been suffering from a lifelong desolation due to childhood trauma and he is finally coming to terms with what happened and where he sees himself in the future. This is the first time in his adult life that he is able to admit his troubles publicly, and he wants to do so while seeking the treatment that is best for him. This goes beyond a few months in a rehabilitation center, or a quick dose of anti-depressants: Nicholas' struggle will go on for years, but he has a strong support system behind him that will guide him through the uphill battle that is chronic depression." It went on, "This past weekend's chain of events was a cry for help. While it's been depicted that Nicholas is a raging alcoholic with an anger problem, that is not the case. In the coming months, as Nicholas seeks treatment and speaks out about his demons, we are hoping to clear up any misconceptions about his character and his illness. Nicholas has sought legal and medical counsel to guide him." +(CNN)Riders on a New York roller coaster took the long way down Sunday after Coney Island's historic Cyclone got stuck in its track on opening day. No one was injured in the mishap, which occurred about noon during the first run because of an "isolated mechanical issue," a Luna Park spokeswoman said. The park's operations team helped each passenger down "one by one," and the ride was closed the rest of the day for repairs, spokeswoman Erica Hoffman said. "Safety is the number one priority for our guests here at Luna Park," Hoffman said. "Nobody was injured, and those on the ride were safely evacuated and will be able to come ride again for free when it is open again." Images and videos shared on social media showed people slowly walking down the 88-year-old wooden roller coaster. "That thing was the scariest thing I ever did," 24-year-old David Zubin told amNY of the walk down. "The bricks, walking down, looked like it was going to break when you stepped on it." Steven Hernandez was waiting in line when the coaster got stuck. He and others watched in suspense, taking photos and video on their smartphones, as riders carefully climbed down stairs alongside the track. The 22-year-old from Brooklyn said he shows up for opening day at Luna Park every year. He heads straight to the Cyclone to be among the first 100 people who get to ride for free, he said. "People were trying to figure out why the Cyclone got stuck at the top," he said. "I go there every year, (and) that never happened." The Cyclone opened on June 26, 1927, during Coney Island's heyday as one of country's largest recreation areas. With more than 2,640 feet of track featuring 12 drops and 27 elevation changes, the Cyclone was long considered the standard against which "compact wooden twisters" were measured. An official New York City Landmark since July 12, 1988, Cyclone was listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places on June 31, 1991, according to NYC.com. Its status help preserve its spot in Coney Island after the Astroland amusement park closed in 2008 and reopened as Luna Park in 2009. See images of the situation . Hernandez received a complimentary ticket for his next ride after the park operators closed the ride for repairs. He looks forward to using it; the incident won't deter him from returning to the Cyclone, he said. "I've been riding that ride since I was 14," he said. "I love it." CNN's David Shortell contributed to this report. +Jerusalem (CNN)After a bitter campaign, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming victory as his main rival Isaac Herzog concedes. Many questions linger about exactly what this means for U.S.-Israeli relations and Israel's standing in the Middle East. CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott has been covering the Israel election in depth and took to Facebook to answer your questions about the election. Here are five highlights from the chat: . 1) How did the race go from exit polls saying it was a neck-and-neck race to Netanyahu claiming victory within a matter of hours? I know, right? It's a great mystery as to how the exit polls got it so wrong. There's one pollster here in Israel named Avi Degani who predicted that Netanyahu would win all along. He said that the polls here in Israel rely too heavily on modern methodology and aren't really suitable for people outside city centers like Tel Aviv. There's also the question of whether Netanyahu gained more seats because of the 11th-hour push to the right. Part of the explanation is that he cannibalized votes from the other right-wing parties. Also worth noting that Israeli elections always have surprises. In the last election, no one predicted the amazing turnout for Yair Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party won 19 seats. This time, he only won around 11. Why were the election polls so wrong? 2) What does Netanyahu have planned for his next term? That's the $6 million question. The Obama administration was waiting for the election to be over to see who they would be dealing with. They knew even if Prime Minister Netanyahu won re-election, they would need to re-engage with him. I think both sides realize that the U.S.-Israeli relationship is too important to continue as it has been. But I think the tone Prime Minister Netanyahu sets now will dictate how the White House deals with him. Opinion: Will Netanyahu win seal Iran deal? 3) What is Netanyahu's plan regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? In the final days before the election, Prime Minister Netanyahu made a big push to energize his right-wing base. He promised that there would not be a Palestinian state under his watch, backtracking from a commitment he made in 2009 for a two-state solution. Now the right wing that helped keep him in office is going to be looking for him to deliver on his campaign pledge. It's not encouraging. Now that he has a new mandate, perhaps he will feel more confident to explore possibilities with Palestinians. However the unilateral moves Palestinians have taken since the collapse of peace talks last summer doesn't give him much encouragement either. 4) Was Netanyahu's statement about not recognizing a Palestinian state a political move to get votes, or a true ideal he wants to hold up? It's a great question that nobody knows the answer to just yet. Even the Netanyahu camp would admit that they made a conscious effort to reach out to right-wing voters, many of whom do not want to see a Palestinian state. For many years Netanyahu has at least agreed to negotiate with the Palestinians, even if sometimes actions like continued settlement activity call into question his true commitment. It remains to be seen whether Netanyahu considers his re-election as a mandate from the right to govern in this hard-line way or whether he will try to soften these hard-line positions. In the hard-line way is how he appeared in the final days of the campaign. 5) As an American, what impact do the Israeli election results have on me? In other words, why do I need to care? I think Israel is a very important ally of the United States in a region where there is a hell of a lot of turmoil. The U.S. looks to Israel as a stable democracy with whom it shares, for the most part, similar values and interests. Clearly the relationship between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama has soured the ties between the two nations. Whether the two leaders can repair the relationship now that Netanyahu has been re-elected will, in large part, dictate how they work together. As an American, whether the U.S. has a friend in this volatile region does impact our national security. Read the full chat: . +(CNN)A teenage Australian jihadist suspected of having carried out an ISIS suicide attack developed a hatred for the West over the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, before settling on radical Islam as a vehicle for "violent global revolution," according to his purported blog. Jake Bilardi, an 18-year-old student from Melbourne, appears to have documented his path to radicalization and his experiences in ISIS-held territory in a blog, titled "From the eyes of a Mujahir: An Australian Mujahir in the land of the Khilafah." The blog has been deleted, but a cached version remains available online. CNN could not independently verify the blog's authenticity, but the biographical details detailed on the blog match Bilardi's. One of the final posts on the blog, which is credited to "Abu Abdullah al-Australi," purports to have been posted on January 13, as the author was "preparing to sacrifice my life for Islam in Ramadi." The Australian government said Wednesday it was working to confirm reports that Bilardi had carried out a suicide attack on behalf of ISIS, after the terror group claimed an "Abu Abdullah al-Australi" had been killed in a car bombing during an offensive in the city of Ramadi. The claims were made along with a picture that appeared to be of Bilardi, referred to as "Abu Abdullah al-Australi," apparently prior to carrying out the mission. The blogger describes having a "very comfortable" upbringing as the youngest of six in the Melbourne suburbs, where he was raised an atheist, excelled in his studies and "dreamed of becoming a political journalist." He describes how his older siblings educated him on various subjects, and how his brother's instruction on international politics held a special resonance for him, particularly after the September 11 attacks. "Being just five years old at the time of the attacks ... my knowledge of the operation was basically non-existent. Despite this, I was immediately drawn to the topics of al Qaeda and 'Islamic terrorism'," he wrote. "It was from here that my research into al Qaeda ... and groups with similar ideologies worldwide began. I spent every day researching online and reading the books I had begun collecting." The blogger writes that it was his reading on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and abuses committed by occupying forces, "that gave birth to my disdain for the United States and its allies, including Australia. It was also the start of my respect for the mujahideen that would only grow to develop into a love of Islam and ultimately bring me here to the Islamic State." Eventually, he wrote, he came to view democracy as "nothing but a system of lies and deception," one which "focuses heavily on providing the people with so-called freedom" but "throws celebrities and false reality into the spotlight to distract the people from what is really going on in the world." The wars "signaled the beginning of my complete hatred and opposition to the entire system Australia and the majority of the world was based upon," he wrote. "It was also the moment I realised that violent global revolution was necessary to eliminate this system of governance and that... I would likely be killed in this struggle." While the blogger said he had come to the conclusion that democracy was "something that can only and must be destroyed by violent revolution," he wrote, he "was never quite sure" what should replace it. "Socialism? Communism?? Nazism???" he wrote. Eventually, as his interest in jihadist groups deepened at about the time of the Arab Spring, he settled on Islam. "It was Islam that for me stood out as easy to understand and was shockingly consistent with established historical and scientific facts," he wrote. Following a stretch in which he turned his back on his growing extremist beliefs, which he described as "one of the most shameful periods of my life," the blogger wrote that he began to try to find a contact to help him join Jabhat al-Nusra or Ahrar al-Sham, two Islamist groups fighting in Syria. His attempts were unsuccessful. While he had initially rejected ISIS after "falling for the many lies being spread against them," he wrote that he began speaking to their members online, and, after witnessing their military successes, developed a desire to join the group. Eventually, he managed to find a contact who promised to get him into ISIS territory. Worried that his plot to leave Australia might be foiled by authorities, the blogger wrote that he developed his "Plan B," collecting materials for what he envisaged as a "string of bombings across Melbourne, targeting foreign consulates and political/military targets as well as grenade and knife attacks on shopping centers and cafes and culminating with myself detonating a belt of explosives amongst the kuffar." Victoria police confirmed Wednesday that chemicals that could be used to make an explosive device had been found in a search of his family's home in the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn. The blogger wrote that he abandoned his plans for an attack in Melbourne after realizing that buying bomb-making chemicals could draw the attention of authorities and ruin his bid to join ISIS. He did not reveal how he had been able to enter ISIS territory, but said that on entering the ISIS-held Syrian city of Jarablus, he "felt a joy I had never experienced before." In another blog post, entitled "Being white in the Islamic State: The abolition of racism" he wrote approvingly that the "Islamic State has been successful in eliminating racism and in building the world's only true multi-ethnic state." He said he signed up for a "martyrdom operation," or suicide attack, in Baiji, Iraq, which failed, before registering to undertake another in Ramadi, where he was "waiting for my turn to stand before Allah." Clarke Jones, an expert on radicalization at the Australian National University, said that Bilardi "blew away the profile of what most people think of when they think of people who are going to support the Islamic State." White and middle class, reportedly bullied at school and vulnerable following the loss of his mother to cancer, he more easily fit the profile of a school shooter than an Islamic terrorist, he said. "What it does show us is that there are a whole range of profiles," he said. Bilardi's aunt has linked the teen's troubles to the loss of his mother, while a former classmate at Melbourne's Craigieburn Secondary College described him as shy. Jones said Bilardi's case was also notable in that he did not appear to have been "groomed" by terror recruiters -- indeed, he wrote of initially struggling to make contacts among Islamic extremists -- and had radicalized himself through his own readings. "The PM here said Jake was brainwashed -- I don't think he was brainwashed. He was very calculated in what he did and documented it quite clearly," said Jones. In one of the blog posts, the blogger says that the warm welcome he and other foreign fighters had received in the Islamic State disproved "the Australian government's laughable claim that we are used as 'cannon fodder'." But Jones said his Bilardi's ultimate fate in a suicide mission was typical for foreign fighters in his position. He believed that in knowingly signing up for this fate, on two separate occasions, Bilardi had been seeking the kind of recognition and achievement that, as a vulnerable teen, he had been denied at home. "He wanted that 'religious prize'," he said. CNN's Hilary Whiteman contributed to this report. +New York (CNN)The house is primitive, constructed of baked mud and stone. The landscape is sparse and mountainous, with snow cover in the winter. The terrain is rugged and challenging for the long walks the owner liked to take with his sons. Photographs quietly introduced as evidence in the latest major terrorism trial in Manhattan federal court offer a rare look inside Osama bin Laden's lair -- years before al Qaeda flew hijacked planes into buildings or bombed U.S. embassies in Africa and even before the FBI placed bin Laden on its Most Wanted List. Still, bin Laden was preparing, hiding out in a remote, mountainous area of Afghanistan known as Tora Bora. A remarkable set of photos -- the first showing bin Laden in the hideout where he would seek refuge after 9/11 -- came to light only last month in the terrorism conspiracy trial of bin Laden lieutenant Khaled al-Fawwaz, a communications conduit for al Qaeda in London in the mid-1990s. Al-Fawwaz would arrange bin Laden's first television interview for CNN's Peter Arnett and Peter Bergen in 1997 and a sit-down for ABC News' John Miller a year later. But before then, al-Fawwaz called on a Palestinian print journalist, whose 1996 journey to Afghanistan yielded these photos. Bin Laden had declared war on the United States and wanted more people to know it, especially in the Arab world. He reached out to Abdel Barri Atwan, the founder and then-editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, an independent Arabic weekly published in London that had been critical of certain Arab regimes and the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Atwan had broken the story about bin Laden's first fatwa, or religious decree, stating his grievances against the United States, such as the presence of U.S troops in Saudi Arabia. He published the entire screed in August 1996. The next month, al-Fawwaz went to Atwan's office to offer him the first print interview with the emerging jihadist leader in Afghanistan. "I was told that Osama bin Laden was fond of my writing, he liked my style, and he wanted to meet me personally," Atwan recalled in an interview for Bergen's 2006 book, "The Osama bin Laden I Know." "I was hesitant, because it was very dangerous." Danger aside, in November 1996, Atwan was airborne to Afghanistan. The date-stamped photographs from his trip -- which Scotland Yard detectives discovered two years later in a search of al-Fawwaz's London home -- show a healthy, relaxed, sometimes smiling bin Laden, not yet 40, conversing, hiking, videotaping pronouncements, surrounded by children. The photos also show rare images of another man who has become an influential ideologue in the global jihadist movement -- Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, better known as Abu Musab al-Suri, a Syrian now in his mid-50s who has not been seen in public or heard from in a decade. Still, al-Suri is arguably the most influential strategic thinker in Islamist militant circles today. "A generation of jihadis were influenced by his teachings," said Paul Cruickshank, a CNN terrorism analyst who has written about al-Suri. "He wanted a global jihadist intifada, where people rose up and fought as individuals. "His teachings have deeply influenced jihadis in Syria -- how to build up an organization, how to win support for it," he said. Bin Laden, from Saudi Arabia, first went to Afghanistan in the 1980s to participate in the armed resistance to Soviet invaders, one of thousands of Arab fighters defending a Muslim nation. As the anti-Soviet jihad wound down, bin Laden began organizing al Qaeda, meaning "the base," around the border city of Peshawar, Pakistan. By 1992, Pakistan forced him and his fighters to leave. Bin Laden relocated to Khartoum, Sudan, welcomed by a new Islamist regime. But after four years headquartered there, in 1996, under pressure from the United States, Sudan made bin Laden go. By then, the ideologically in sync Taliban had taken control of Afghanistan, and bin Laden decided to move there. In May 1996, bin Laden settled in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. His mountain fortress in Tora Bora was a long drive up a dirt road he had built. Atwan was driven there in a red Toyota pickup in a twisting seven-hour drive through the mountains. As a photo of him shows, Atwan donned Afghan-style baggy trousers and a turban to get past security checkpoints and fit in. Atwan met bin Laden in his cave. It was small, 13 by 20 feet in Atwan's estimation, and as the new photos show, it was lined with shelves of books about the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed. Bin Laden liked to use the bookshelves as a backdrop for his videotaped edicts and interviews. The cave not only offered bin Laden a hiding place but also street credibility in the Muslim world, as the prophet is believed to have received the revelations of the Koran while camped in his own mountain cave. After hours of conversation and an inedible dinner featuring salty cheese and sandy bread, Atwan ended up bunking in the cave on a mattress that rested on boxes of grenades. "He wanted media exposure," Atwan recalled in the interview for Bergen's 2006 book. "He wants to say, 'Now I am an international figure; I'm not just a Saudi. I am aggrieved at Americans who are occupying Saudi Arabia who are desecrating the Holy Land.' " As seen in the photographs, bin Laden always carried a Russian-made Kalashnikov rifle. His comrades addressed him as "Abu Abdullah," for father of Abdullah, his eldest son. Two younger sons, Saad and Ali, then in their early teens, sometimes were at the compound. As one photo shows, Atwan and bin Laden took a two-hour walk around Tora Bora. "He loved that nature there. He loved the mountain. They were trying to have their own community, grow their foods," Atwan recalled. "It's like an oasis in Afghanistan." Bin Laden's three wives and more than a dozen children did not share bin Laden's joy in living the life of medieval peasants in the Tora Bora mountains, where the only light at night was from the moon and gas lanterns, and the only heat in a place where tremendous blizzards were common was a wood-burning metal stove. Hunger was a frequent companion to the bin Laden children who lived on a subsistence diet of rice, bread, eggs and that salty cheese. In December 2001, with U.S. troops retaliating for 9/11 closing in, bin Laden fled Tora Bora, eventually making his way to Pakistan, where U.S. Navy SEALs ended a decade-long manhunt by killing him in his Abbottabad hideout, an hour north of Islamabad. Atwan stepped down from the helm of Al-Quds in 2013 and recapped his journey in a deposition for the al-Fawwaz trial. Al-Fawwaz was convicted in Manhattan federal court on February 26 and faces a possible life sentence. Even in Tora Bora, Atwan felt bin Laden was vulnerable to intelligence agencies. "I thought this man would not last," Atwan said Tuesday. "He wasn't really well-protected. He was visible and moving freely." In 1996, bin Laden knew but certainly did not disclose the lethal plots he had set in motion -- the embassy bombings, the planes plot that would become 9/11. Atwan said, "He was very optimistic, and it never occurred to me that this would be the most be dangerous man in the world." With his pale skin, short red hair and beard, and green wool hat, Abu Musab al-Suri could pass for Irish. But he is Syrian, originally from the ancient city of Aleppo, fought in the anti-Soviet Afghan war, and lived in London in the 1990s. Al-Suri was close to bin Laden, which explains his comfortable presence in the 1996 photos of Tora Bora, seated next to al Qaeda's leader in his cave or hiking with him, carrying his own cameras. (Al-Suri also accompanied Bergen and Arnett on their visit to bin Laden in 1997.) The United States has since accused al-Suri of training recruits at al Qaeda's pre-9/11 al-Ghuraba and Derunta camps in Afghanistan, where operatives such as Ahmed Ressam, who planned to bomb Los Angeles International Airport in December 1999, learned how to kill with poisons and chemicals. Eventually, al-Suri publicly criticized bin Laden for making al Qaeda so hierarchical, for courting publicity and being so controlling, even calling him a "Pharoah" for his imperial leadership style. But al-Suri was no less militant. He set up his own training camp in Afghanistan and advocated a "leaderless jihad" featuring, as he put it, "spontaneous operations performed by individuals and cells all over the whole world without connection between them." Al-Suri summarized his philosophy in his 1,600-page treatise, "The Call for Global Islamic Resistance," which he published on the Internet in 2004. He coined the Arabic slogan nizam, la tanzim, meaning "a system, not an organization," to describe his belief that there should be no organizational bonds between "resistance fighters." Al-Suri advocated terrorist cells of no more than 10 men and envisioned more "lone-wolf" attacks, such as the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre carried out in 2009 by rogue U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was inspired by the radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, himself an al-Suri disciple. Strategically, al-Suri argued, a less centralized jihadist network would make operatives who were arrested less likely to expose fellow militants to intelligence or law enforcement agencies, because the fighters would not know who else was part of the movement. Al-Suri was forward thinking about al Qaeda evolving into an international ideology more than a centrally controlled organization. After 9/11, al-Suri appeared on the U.S. Most Wanted Terrorists list with a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. In 2005, al-Suri was tracked down in Quetta, Pakistan, and sent to Syria, where he was imprisoned. There were unconfirmed reports that he was released in 2012, followed by al Qaeda statements by leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and spokesman Adam Gadahn in 2014 saying, "May Allah release him." A decade after his arrest, al-Suri's whereabouts are a mystery. A gripping glimpse into bin Laden's decline and fall . Phil Hirschkorn is a fellow at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School and a former CNN senior producer. Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst. +(CNN)The FBI publicly identified Tuesday the man who died Monday while trying to use an unauthorized vehicle tried to gain access to the National Security Agency campus in Fort Meade, Maryland, as Ricky Shawatza Hall. His passenger who remained hospitalized Tuesday has not been publicly identified. On Monday morning, Hall attempted to gain entry at the National Security Agency headquarters, Jonathan Freed, NSA director of strategic communications, said in a statement. "The driver failed to obey an NSA Police officer's routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus. The vehicle failed to stop and barriers were deployed." NSA police on the scene fired on the vehicle when it accelerated toward a police car, blocking its way, according to the NSA. An NSA police officer was also hospitalized but not identified. The two men who officials say tried to ram the main gate at NSA headquarters were dressed as women, according to a federal law enforcement official. Investigators are looking into whether the men were under the influence of drugs following a night of partying, a federal law enforcement official said. A man reported his car stolen from a hotel not far away from NSA Headquarters and said he had been with two men who had taken his car. Cocaine was found in the vehicle. The Howard County Police Department confirms that a Ford Escape reported stolen in Howard County, Maryland, is the vehicle involved in the incident. The FBI said Monday morning that it was conducting an investigation with NSA police and other law enforcement agencies, and interviewing witnesses on the scene. The incident took place near one of the gates to the complex, far from the main buildings. The FBI said they did not think terrorism was related to the incident. "We are working with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted," the FBI said in a statement. White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident Monday. This is the second security incident this month involving the NSA. At the beginning of March, a former state correctional officer was arrested, accused in a string of Maryland shootings, including one at Fort Meade. Gunshots struck a building near the NSA office, according to a police report. Officers stopped Hong Young, 35, of Beltsville, Maryland, and recognized his vehicle as matching authorities' description of a car seen in surveillance footage near some of the other shootings. A gun in the car matched evidence found at the shootings, and Young was arrested, authorities said. Police said earlier this month that there were no links to terrorism in the case, and no motive has been determined. No one was killed in the five shooting incidents. In addition to the headquarters of the NSA, Fort Meade is home to 95 units from all branches of the armed forces and offices that report to several Defense Department agencies, according to the U.S. Army, which operates the base. About 11,000 military employees and 29,000 civilians work there, according to the Army. Some 6,000 people also live on the base, which began operations in 1917 as a garrison for World War I draftees, the Army said. CNN's Michael Pearson and John Newsome contributed to this report. +Paris (CNN)Police found the bodies of five infants in a home near Bordeaux, France, according to news reports. Four of the bodies were frozen, the reports say. The mother, 35, was hospitalized at Pellegrin Hospital in Bordeaux for gynecological and psychiatric examinations, the French television channel BFMTV reported. The hospital declined comment. The first body was found Thursday morning by the woman's companion, a 40-year-old man, in a freezer bag, BFMTV reported. Police discovered bodies of four other babies in a freezer that evening during a search of the family's home, the channel said. Officials with the Bordeaux prosecutor's office were scheduled to hold a press conference Friday afternoon. Autopsies will be conducted, BFMTV said. The woman's companion was taken into custody, the reports said. He told investigators that he had not known of the deaths and was devastated, according to reports. The couple is reported to have two daughters, aged 13 and 15, and to have led a seemingly routine life. The family home is in Louchats, a village of fewer than 1,000 residents about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest, in southwestern France. The country's worst case of infanticide was in 2010 when a mother in the village of Villers-au-Tertre in northwestern France was found to have killed eight of her babies. +(CNN)Lee Kuan Yew will forever be remembered as the man who transformed a mosquito-ridden colonial trading post into a prosperous financial center with clean streets, shimmering skyscrapers and a stable government. Born in 1923, Lee became Prime Minister in 1959 when Singapore, a tiny spit of land with no natural resources and a polyglot population of Chinese, Malays and Indians, was still British territory and beset by riots and unrest. He presided over Singapore's bitter split from Malaysia in 1965 and molded the independent country into the global economic powerhouse it is today. "I was trying to create, in a third-world situation, a first-world oasis," Lee told CNN in 2008. READ MORE: Obama: 'Lee a visionary' Lee's thinking also had an international impact. His brand of capitalism -- which stresses the role of government rather than the free hand of the market -- has provided a blueprint for China's landmark economic reforms. But Lee was also a divisive figure, attracting criticism for stifling media freedom and for the harsh treatment of political opponents. In 2013, protests over plans to allow more immigrants into the city-state indicated growing unease among Singaporeans about the vision of the country set forth by the People's Action Party -- the party co-founded by Lee that has ruled Singapore for five decades. Lee voluntarily stepped down as Prime Minister in 1990, the first Asian strongman to do so. However, he played a role in the country's Cabinet until 2011 when his eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, was elected for a second term as prime minister. The elder Lee retained his influence around the world. "This is one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries," U.S. President Barack Obama said during a meeting with Lee at the White House in October 2009. "He is somebody who helped to trigger the Asian economic miracle," Obama added. But there were indications Lee's health had been slipping in recent years. In 2010 he was admitted to the hospital with a chest infection and in early 2013, Lee -- then 89 -- was hospitalized and treated treated for "stroke-like symptoms." He was again admitted to the hospital on February 5 for severe pneumonia and more than six weeks later remained on a ventilator. A fourth-generation Singaporean, Lee's family originally emigrated from southern China. A bright student, he gained a place in the city's elite Raffles Institution and went on to study law at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge. He attributed his decision to go into politics to his experiences during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. "I learned how people survived and how people had to submit because you need to eat and your family needs to live, so I learned the meaning of power," he told CNN in 2002. The city Lee took control of in 1959 was still recovering from the ravages of war and could not have been more different from today's Singapore. However, Lee told CNN he had no "great vision of transformation." He concentrated on attracting investment and creating jobs; first finding a successful niche in electronics manufacturing by touting Singapore as an alternative to Hong Kong, which he said was in turmoil due to the Cultural Revolution in China. While Lee has been lauded for his economic accomplishments, he also created a Singapore bound by stringent laws and regulations that dictated most, if not all, aspects of society -- including media and political freedoms, censorship and even the selling of chewing gum. The country ranks 150th in Reporters Without Borders' 2014 Media Freedom Index, putting it just above the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico and Iraq. The New York Times, The Economist, the International Herald Tribune and the Asian Wall Street Journal have all been targeted with the "judicial harassment" employed by the Lee family, according to the media watchdog. In a 2014 article for CNN, opposition politician Dr. Chee Soon Juan criticized Singapore's authoritarian system, blaming a lack of dissenting views for economic inequality and worsening working conditions. "The ranks of the opposition, civil society and labor movement have been decimated in the last 50 years through imprisonment without trial and criminal prosecution, and nearly every newspaper, TV channel and radio station is owned and run by the state," Chee said. But in a 2008 interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Lee rebuffed charges that Singapore was too domineering or coercive a state. "I want social peace and stability within the country. I am not following any prescription given to me by any theoretician on democracy," he said. While Lee is likely to be remembered with affection and pride by many Singaporeans, a younger generation, with no memory of the poverty and violence that marked the country's birth, is questioning the Lee dynasty's control of Singaporean politics and pushing for greater democracy. In 2011, the People's Action Party lost six seats to the opposition, prompting Lee, then the party's "minister mentor" and another former prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, to resign. In a joint letter to parliament, the two explained they "decided to leave the Cabinet and have a completely younger team of ministers to connect to and engage with this young generation in shaping the future of our Singapore." How Singapore copes with these democratic demands will be key to its success in its second half-century, but those demands are unlikely to detract from Lee's achievements in its first 50 years. In 2010, Time magazine listed Lee as one of world's 100 most influential people. "The mark of a great leader is to take his society from where it is to where it has never been," wrote former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the article on Lee. "There is no better strategic thinker in the world today." +Atlanta (CNN)Nearly 30 years after the first U.S. stealth bomber took flight, the Air Force's aging fleet is primed for a makeover; albeit an expensive one. The Pentagon is looking to upgrade its stealth aircraft for the first time since the 1970s, developing a high-priority, super-classified, next-generation bomber. The Air Force plans to award a contract to build and develop the Long Range Strike Bomber to one of the industry's most powerful firms later this year and hopes to integrate them into the fleet by the mid-2020s. Competing for the prize are Northrop Grumman, the developer of the Air Force's current bomber, the B-2, and a partnership between aeronautic juggernauts Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Before the House Armed Services Committee earlier this month, William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, suggested the Air Force will offer a "cost-plus" contract to the winning firm, meaning the government will take on the risk of any cost overrun. "My belief on the LRS-B (Long Range Strike Bomber) is it's going to be more traditional in the sense that we are doing a little bit more cutting edge" development, LaPlante said. The Air Force has said it plans to leverage existing technologies to help keep the LRS-B affordable. However The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent, nonpartisan research group, warns "near-sighted, build-for-today acquisition strategies may render the issue of 'affordability' moot, as affordability must also be assessed in the context of a capability's mission effectiveness over its projected lifespan." Along with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the KC-46 tanker, the LRS-B is one of the Air Force's top modernization priorities, and some experts say its development will go far beyond simply upgrading an aging bomber fleet. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula told CNN this week that it is inaccurate to label the LRS-B as simply a "bomber" and that officials need to shed the "old think" way of categorizing airplanes into different mission areas. The new "Long Range Sensor Shooter," as Deptula calls it, will have the ability to create a self-forming, self-healing "combat cloud" capable of sharing information with other aircraft and conducting a diverse array of operation types. Pentagon officials have stressed the importance of developing the new long-range strike bomber calling it critical to national security and nuclear deterrence. It is "absolutely essential for keeping our deterrent edge," former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in January. "We need to do it. We need to make the investments. We'll have it in the budget." Deptula said the No. 1 reason to upgrade the long-range sensor force is to counter the constantly evolving threats around the world. "The Chinese, Iranians and Russians ... have built advanced anti-air systems and long-range fighters, to attack our bases and aircraft carriers," he said. Adm. William Gortney, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, expressed similar security concerns to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Thursday, telling lawmakers Russia is continuing to work on its program to deploy "long-range conventionally armed cruise missiles," that can be launched from its bomber aircraft, submarines and warships. Officials have been tight-lipped as to the specific capability expectations for the LRS-B, but indications are that it will be stealth, able to carry conventional and nuclear weapons and could possibly operate both with or without a pilot. Northrop Grumman teased an initial structural design for the aircraft in an ad during the Super Bowl, stopping short of highlighting specific features. Tim Paynter, a company spokesman, said the aircraft shown on TV is "representative of any future aircraft our customers may ask us to build." Generally speaking, Deptula said the LRS-B must have long-range capabilities, be able to carry a large payload, have high survivability and have sufficient adaptability to incorporate evolving sensor and weapon technology. Long-range capability provides the Air Force with the flexibility to persistently respond to threats around the world and reach deep into enemy territory to hit fixed and mobile targets unreachable by cruise missiles, Deptula said. Large payload capability allows for operations with fewer aircraft and increases loiter capability and efficiency, he said. Modernized stealth tactics and upgraded electronic warfare capabilities would allow the aircraft to enter enemy airspace without suffering prohibitive losses. The mysterious Long Range Strike Bomber program is the most expensive weapons system under the Air Force's $17 billion research, development, test and evaluation funding request for 2016. The Air Force requested $1.2 billion for the program under the President Obama's $534 billion proposed 2016 Pentagon budget. Since 2011, the Pentagon has said the LRS-B bomber will cost close to $550 million per airplane, projecting a $55 billion price total for 100 planes. Critics insist the actual cost of the LRS-B will exceed the initial $500 million estimate; yet Pentagon officials continue to publicly tout the cost figure. "It's like $550 million per copy," Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said this January. "It's an estimate based upon multiple reviews of the program and not a single source." LaPlante acknowledged the target cost of the LRS-B has increased due to inflation since the initial estimate was made in 2010, saying "$55 in 2010 is $57 or $58 today. We know that. But we put it in as a requirement -- to build 100 airplanes, it's going to cost $550 million (each). What that does is, that drives the design. Industry has to design to that number and we're going to assess against that number." Regardless of the exact cost, Deptula said price should not be quantified per individual aircraft, but rather within the context of what the LRS-B system will be able to accomplish compared to the cost of carrying out operations with less-advanced, shorter-range aircraft. "How can we not afford it?" he said, warning a failure to incorporate a combat cloud system could actually exacerbate budget demands. The Pentagon's Future Years Defense Program projects the LRS-B's budget will increase to $3.7 billion for research, development, test and evaluation in 2020, bringing the total development cost to roughly $24 billion, according to the CSBA. If Air Force buys 100 planes by the mid-2030s, the research group estimates the program's total cost will be closer to $90 billion. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments said intentionally planning to enhance an aircraft's capabilities over time could also reduce the up-front sticker shock of the LRS-B. "Instead of buying them with all desired mission functionalities when they first roll off the assembly line, it may be possible to equip new combat aircraft with the most essential systems and plan future block upgrades to keep pace with emerging technologies and threats as funding permits," the group said in a 2014 report. +(CNN)Dynel Lane, a former nurse's aide accused of stabbing a pregnant Colorado woman, was charged Friday with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, unlawful termination of pregnancy, and other crimes for allegedly cutting a fetus from the womb. Boulder County District Attorney Stanley L. Garnett was unable to file a murder charge under state law, and he highlighted how the coroner found that the fetus didn't show any signs of life outside the womb, Garnett said. The victim, Michelle Wilkins, 26, who was seven months' pregnant, survived this month's attack, which occurred when she went to a Longmont home to buy baby clothes advertised for sale on Craigslist. "Now, I understand that many in the community -- and heaven knows I've heard from a lot of them -- would like me to file homicide charges," Garnett told reporters. "However, that is not possible under Colorado law without proof of live birth. A prosecutor cannot file murder charges when a baby who is killed has not lived outside the body of the mother. For similar reasons, I cannot bring charges of child abuse resulting in death," the district attorney said. The fetus' lungs never inflated, Garnett said. The fetus' exact cause of death, however, isn't immediately known and is expected to be revealed when the final autopsy report is released in six to eight weeks, he said. Wilkins and her partner, identified only as Dan, named the female fetus Aurora, the prosecutor said. Lane, 34, appeared briefly in a holding room during an initial court appearance Friday, but she didn't enter the courtroom. Her attorneys waived a formal reading of charges at the hearing, which occurred before the prosecutor's press conference. "She could get a long sentence and very well could die in prison," the district attorney said about Lane, adding he couldn't immediately calculate the maximum number of years she faces if convicted of all counts. Lane was also charged with two counts of crime of violence, two counts of first-degree assault, and two counts of second-degree assault, Garnett said. Lane's next court date, a preliminary hearing, is May 5. She is being held on a $2 million bond. Earlier Friday, the Boulder County Coroner's Office said the fetus wasn't alive on its own after it was cut from Wilkins' womb. The female fetus didn't exhibit "any signs of life outside of the womb, therefore the circumstance is not being considered a live birth," Coroner Emma R. Hall said in a statement. Friday's finding came a day after prosecutors indicated that Lane wouldn't face a murder charge in the March 18 assault. Wilkins was released from the hospital on Thursday, relatives said. The coroner's office performed an autopsy on the fetus and said Wilkins was 34 weeks pregnant. "An autopsy has been completed," Hall said. "At this time neither the autopsy or the investigation have provided any evidence that the baby exhibited any signs of life outside of the womb, therefore the circumstance is not being considered a live birth. No evidence of trauma or injuries were found on the body. "Final autopsy results will be released once all testing and further studies are complete," Hall said. The coroner's finding apparently contradicts earlier claims made in police reports that the fetus "gasped" and that emergency room personnel described the fetus as viable. David Ridley, the 35-year-old husband of Dynel Lane, told police he found his wife "covered in blood" in the family home and later found "a small baby lying in the bathtub," a Longmont police report said. "He rubbed the baby slightly then rolled it over to ... see it take a gasping breath," the report said. Ridley took the baby and his wife to the emergency room of Longmont United Hospital, and the hospital told police the baby "would have been viable," the police report said. But on Friday, District Attorney Garnett said that Ridley altered his earlier statement to police. Without referring to Ridley by name, Garnett cited how media accounts took note of the police report and how a "witness observed Aurora taking a gasping breath." "However, upon a more thorough examination of this witness by the Longmont Police Department, the witness clarified that Aurora was still and her mouth was open, but she was not breathing, which is consistent with medical evidence from the autopsy," Garnett told reporters. CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this report. +(CNN)When Oakland Raiders NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew retired recently at just 29 years old, he said his life had been focused on football for 24 years and he needed a change. It's no wonder he wanted out. He has been playing football since he was 5 years old. Sound too young to strap on a helmet? Not really. Jones-Drew is no different from thousands of other boys whose parents introduce them to the gridiron just a few years out of diapers. Football is America's favorite sport. We pride ourselves on our toughness, on our ability to get back up when we're knocked down. What better sport is there to teach those lessons? But today, youth football is not looking like the best option. In 2012, an estimated 225,287 children -- down 9.5% since 2010 -- between the ages of 5 and 14 played Pop Warner football, in which the weight class for the 5-year-olds ranges from 35 to 79 pounds. With such lightweight boys competing with children more than twice their size, it's no wonder parents feel less inclined to put their kids in this sport. But not too long ago, parents thought nothing of sending their children out on the football field to run around and burn up a little energy. Many parents still insist youth football is safe. What could be healthier for a boy? Certainly, it beats sitting in front of a computer all day. That's exactly what Debra Pyka thought when she signed up her son, Joseph Chernach, for Pop Warner football in Wisconsin, then later in Michigan, when he was 11 years old, in 1997. If only she knew then that her son would be dead at 25. Joseph hung himself in his mother's shed on June 7, 2012. His brain was later found to have severe CTE, a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions in football. Joseph Chernach had played sports, including wrestling, pole vaulting and football most of his young life. But he spent almost four years playing Pop Warner football from ages 11 to 14. "My son was the class comedian, loved school, always fun to be around," Pyka told me. "But we noticed after high school Joseph changed. He got depressed, angry, paranoid and withdrew from sports and his friends. We just didn't know why. After learning about CTE, I knew he had it even before we got the results. The symptoms were all there." Pyka is convinced those early days playing Pop Warner football triggered her son's CTE. Last month, Pyka and her son's estate filed a lawsuit against Pop Warner football for $5 million, claiming the nonprofit failed to protect its youngest players and warn them and their parents about the permanent dangers of head trauma. The lawsuit further alleges that Pyka's son and other children were intentionally put in danger because Pop Warner used amateur coaches with short tenures, who were never properly trained in the game of football, injury prevention, concussion or head injury identification. So now, this mother is on a mission. She wants to stop children younger than 14 from playing tackle football in youth leagues. "I don't want any kids to suffer the way my son suffered, the way my family suffered. It's devastating. Young children should not be allowed to play tackle football until they reach high school," said Pyka. Since filing her suit, Pyka, a registered nurse, said she's found some solace by connecting with other parents who want to make football safer for children, but she also has received plenty of hateful emails criticizing her for allowing her son to play in the first place. Critics say that she knew what she was doing when she signed her son up to play football and some even suggest that Pyka should be charged with murder for allowing Joseph to sign up for football, Pyka told me, clearly upset. "I didn't sign my son up to get a brain disease," she said. "We wanted him to play sports, to be active. We knew nothing about concussions then. It wasn't discussed much. It's still not talked about enough today. Should we all be arrested for letting our kids play football?" Clearly, the lawsuit faces obstacles, especially since Chernach did play other sports and it may be hard to prove the CTE was triggered by injuries suffered while playing for Pop Warner. But Pyka and her attorney, Gordon Johnson, at the Brain Injury Law Group, which is representing Chernach's estate, insist this case is not just about winning. They are going after the economics of youth football leagues. And if they win the lawsuit it may be less possible for those leagues to buy the insurance policies that allow very young children to play tackle football. "We have to prove that Pop Warner was a substantial factor in him getting it [CTE], and we knew from research that playing under 12 is when you're most vulnerable," Johnson told media when he filed the suit. "The airing of these issues will benefit everybody," he added. Jon Butler, executive director of Pop Warner Little Scholars Inc., told me on Thursday via email: "Pop Warner has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of addressing player safety. ... While there is incredible sadness in this story, we question the merits of singling out four years of youth football amid a career of sports that lasted through high school." Still, when the lawyer talk is done, Debra Pyka won't get her son back. And amazingly, she did not sound bitter. And she's not out to end football. But "a 5-year-old playing football, it's ridiculous to have them out there banging their brains around." Some good has come out of all this, said Pkya. More people are talking about CTE. She said it's important that parents listen closely to NFLers like 24-year-old Chris Borland, the San Francisco 49ers linebacker who retired this week after just one season. Borland said he quit because he was afraid of brain injuries. He understands how his decision may affect parents and he has a message: . " Parents ... if you weigh the risk and decide this is something you want to partake in. ... It's a free country. ... But If I could relay a message to kids and their parents it would be twofold: Number one: make an informed decision. And number two: Don't play through concussions. Who knows how many hits is too many?" Considering the consequences, it just may be one of the toughest decisions a parent has to make. +(CNN)When one man sat down next to a second man in a St. Louis light rail car and asked him his opinion on the shooting of Michael Brown, it was not the beginning of a discussion. It was the start of an assault, police said. The second man, who was white, didn't want to answer the question. Then the first man, who was black, boxed him in the face. Two more African-American men joined in the beating, according to a police report about Monday's incident. It was caught on surveillance cameras on the MetroLink train and a passenger recorded it with a cell phone and posted the video online. It has gone viral. Police confirmed to CNN that the online images came from the attack. The victim, 43, was commuting home when a young man in a red T-shirt and cap walked up to him. The victim asked not to be named in media reports. The man asked to use the victim's cell phone. He declined, and the young man sat down beside him. "Then he asked me my opinion on the Michael Brown thing," the victim told KMOV, "and I responded I was too tired to think about it right now." The suspect, in his 20s, stood up. "The next thing I know, he sucker punches me right in the middle of my face," the victim said. The video showed the suspect unleashing a barrage of punches at the head of the victim, who covered himself with his hand and forearms. The two other men, also in their 20s, joined in, police said. As the train pulled into a station, a security guard saw part of the beating and alerted police. The man in the red T-shirt could be seen on video kicking at the victim's face before the train's doors opened and the assailants ran out. The train's surveillance cameras captured clear images of their faces, which MetroLink passed on to journalists. Police are looking for the three men. They face possible charges of third-degree assault, police said. It is a misdemeanor under Missouri law. The victim was left with bruises on his face and forehead, police said. The first punch dug the frame of his eyeglasses into the skin of his nose, the victim said. He declined to receive medical treatment. But then there was the emotional pain. On the video, people could be heard laughing while the man was beaten. "I think it was disgusting that people were sort of laughing and smiling about it," the victim said. "And no one offered to help. No one seemed to call 911." Condemnation of the beating has spread across social media, including from people who protested the shooting of Brown last year by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The officer was not indicted in Brown's death. St. Louis alderman Antonio French, a vocal community leader in the aftermath of Ferguson, tweeted his disappointment in the beating. "Mike Brown question sparks MetroLink beating caught on video," he wrote. "This is disgusting. We have a major problem, STL." CNN's John Newsome contributed to this report. +Hong Kong (CNN)A 16-year-old teenager has been charged for a tirade he posted on YouTube regarding the death of the late Singapore leader, Lee Kuan Yew. Amos Yee, a moppy-haired teenager posted an online video peppered with expletives that slammed the late leader, who died last week, as a "horrible person" and "undoubtedly totalitarian." He also made comments comparing Lee to Jesus Christ and Mao Zedong. Lee, highly revered in Singapore was buried Sunday with thousands gathering in a massive state funeral service. While admired for his role turning the former British colony into a financial power house, Lee was also criticized for tamping down on free speech in Singapore. On the day of Lee's funeral, Yee was arrested after Singapore police said it received more than 20 reports regarding his video, which police said contained "disparaging remarks against Christians." That YouTube video has since been removed. Critics say Yee's arrest highlights the restrictions on free speech in Singapore. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for the teen's immediate release. Yee faces three charges: intent to wound the religious feelings of any person; circulating obscene objects; and making threatening and abusive or insulting communications. He could face up to three years in prison. Deputy Commissioner of Police Tan Chye Hee said: "Police take a stern view of acts that could threaten religious harmony in Singapore. Any person who uploads offensive content online with deliberate intention of wounding the religious or racial feelings of any person will be firmly dealt with in accordance with the law." The Strait Times newspaper reported that Yee's bail was set at $14,500 and that Yee's father apologized to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is the son of Lee Kuan Yew. +Alexandra Carter, who is blind, feels passport officials discriminated against her because her eyes weren't focused in her application picture after they rejected it because of her non neutral expression . A blind woman claims she was refused a passport because her eyes were out of focus in her picture. Alexandra Carter, of Wigan in Lancashire, said she feels discriminated against after Passport Officials rejected her application because they said she did not have a 'neutral expression.' The 25-year-old said she feels her application was refused because her eyes were not focused in the picture due to a condition she has had since birth which makes her unable to move them herself. However officials have disputed her claims, and said the application was rejected because of her expression. Miss Carter has had to provide letters from her doctor proving her eyesight problems in order to have her application accepted. 'I feel disgusted,' said Miss Carter. 'I am a registered blind girl who was refused a passport because my eyes were not correct. 'I have nystagmus from birth which controls the movement of my eyes. It is impossible for me to take a picture where my eyes are focused. 'Within the application there was no box to tick about my disability. 'I rang up to see if I needed to do anything to prove my disability and was told no. I even went to the Post Office to explain my situation and I was told that as long as the photo met the other requirements specified it should be fine.' Nystagmus is an involuntary eye movement condition, which can cause reduced or limited vision. It occurs in infancy or in later life. But officials at the Passport Office in Liverpool in Merseyside rejected her initial application because of Miss Carter's expression in the photograph she provided. She has spent around £25 trying to get the photo right and had feared she was not going to be able to go on holiday with a friend to Santa Ponsa in Majorca - her first overseas holiday in 10 years. Miss Carter, 25, was born with nystagmus - a condition which means she can't focus her eyes independently . 'I have now had to write a letter explaining my disability as well as proof from my doctor and see if they will grant me a passport. I have taken new photos, but they are not much better - my eyes are beyond my control,' added Miss Carter. 'This matter is disgusting and discrimination against people who have eyesight problems. I should not have to explain a disability from birth to anyone. 'I live independently and don't need any help from anyone. I use a symbol cane to get around. 'It is something beyond my control and I just hoped they would be more understanding. I found I was treated with a lack of manners.' Miss Carter said she was concerned she would lose the £400 she had already spent on the much anticipated holiday with her childhood friend. Miss Carter was concerned she would not be able to go on holiday after her first application was rejected . The 25-year-old has had to write letters to officials and get a doctor's note to confirm her eye condition . 'I don't want in 10 years time when I re-apply for my passport to have to go through all this again.' Passport Office officials have now confirmed that her passport has now been sent out. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The letter sent to Miss Carter to explain why her application was refused stated the photo she had submitted was unacceptable because she did not have a neutral expression. 'This was not related to her visual impairment and, following her complaint, staff from Her Majesty's Passport Office have spoken to her to clarify this.' The rules about passport photos are particularly strict and include that the picture must have been taken in the last month and must not be cut down from a larger photograph. +Goals from winger Harry Wilson and striker Jerome Sinclair secured a 2-0 win for Liverpool U21s over Chelsea on Monday night. Sinclair's pace and and determination won a penalty in the first half which Wilson duly converted. The forward then added his own name to the score sheet after the restart, cutting in from the left flank and firing home his 22nd goal of the season from a tight angle. Liverpool U21s winger Harry Wilson scores from the penalty spot against Chelsea to put his side 1-0 up . Chelsea had started the brighter of the two sides and should have perhaps taken an early lead through Issiah Brown, but he could not direct an awkwardly bouncing ball into the net. That early scare prompted a response from the Reds though and Cameron Brannagan sent Sergi Canos through on goal soon after, although the Spaniard dragged his shot wide. The deadlock was broken when Sinclair powered his way into the Chelsea box in the eighth minute and was fouled by Fikayo Tomori, with Wilson scoring the ensuring spot kick. The second goal followed a similar routine - Sinclair's surging pace duped Tomori again and the young striker, dancing along the byline before whipping in from a seemingly impossible angle, was able to add to his already impressive scoring tally for the season. Liverpool U21s striker Jerome Sinclair scores from a seemingly impossible angle against Chelsea . Sinclair (pictured here in 2014) has been in superb form this season, netting 22 goals for Liverpool U21s . Isiah Brown (pictured against Huddersfield in January 2015) missed a chance against Liverpool U21s . +A video purporting to show the executions of two alleged spies has been released by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram. One of the men is made to make a full confession, explaining his 'crimes' to the camera, before they pair are beheaded and their bodies shown to the camera. The gruesome execution video echoes those posted by Islamic State and is the second released by Boko Haram. Scroll down for video . Brutal: A gruesome video allegedly showing the executions of two men accused of working as police spies has been released by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram . The video, called 'Harvest of Spies', was posted Monday on Twitter by Boko Haram, the SITE intelligence group said today. It starts by showing a man kneeling in the foreground with a group of Boko Haram fighters approaching him holding a flag used by militant Islamist groups. In a theatrical display previously seen in the execution videos released by ISIS, the men line up behind the victim. The video then cuts to show two men, identified as Dawoud Muhammad and Muhammad Awlu, led by Boko Haram fighters before being made to kneel. One Boko Haram fighter, whose face has been blurred by the militant group, stands behind Dawoud Muhammad, holding a large knife. Spy: One of the victims is made to confess his 'crimes' to the camera before the two are beheaded . Horror: After one of the men has spoken of how they have spied on Boko Haram on behalf of the local police force, the pair are beheaded by militant fighters . Mr Muhammad tells the camera that he is a farmer from Baga, northern Nigeria, and is then made to answer a series of questions at knifepoint. Mr Muhammad reveals that hat he had been approached by a police officer who offered him money in exchange for infiltrating Boko Haram. 'We went to see a man from Mijka and a police officer that was with him. The officer gave me 5,000 Naira (£16.20),' Mr Muhammad tells the camera. Mr Muhammad is made to confess that their mission has been to spy on the 'residents who live here' i.e. Boko Haram, and in exchange for spying, the police officers had promised him that he would 'become rich and will never go back to be a farmer again'. Promoting terror: The video emerged on a Boko Haram Twitter account on Monday . The camera pans from left to right in slow motion, showing Mr Muhammad and Mr Awlu on their knees as they are executed by Boko Haram fighters. The video fades before the actual beheadings take place, and then shows the two men's bodies with their heads placed upon their chests. The video does not reveal how the spies were caught by the militants and MailOnline has yet to confirm its authenticity. Boko Haram previously published only one beheading, of a Nigerian fighter pilot whose plane went missing in September. Mr Muhammad's home town of Baga, was the site of a series of mass killings carried out by Boko Haram in January this year which is believed to have resulted in 2,000 deaths and saw more than 14,000 people flee the city. +Luis Suarez has been added to a long list of former Liverpool greats returning to Anfield later this month for the charity match organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation on March 29. Suarez was not expected to be present as Uruguay have a friendly against Morocco in Agadir on Saturday, March 28 but his attendance was confirmed by Liverpool's official website on Thursday. Furthermore, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who will be captains on the day itself, have invited some of the players they most respected playing against in Thierry Henry, John Terry and Didier Drogba to take part. Luis Suarez is going to return to Liverpool on March 29 for a charity game . Fernando Torres, who exited Liverpool for Premier League rivals Chelsea, will be back at Anfield for the game . The game, organised by the Liverpool FC foundation, will see Xabi Alonso and Jamie Carragher link up again . Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina and Dirk Kuyt have already been confirmed to grace the turf once again in front of Reds fans. Current Liverpool first-team members not on international duty will also play, along with some of the club's academy players. Managers of the two sides, along with the final line-ups, are set to be confirmed in the near future. John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia have already confirmed they will be appear in the game. Goalkeeper Pepe Reina will also play again at Anfield for the match at the end of March . Steven Gerrard is set to captain one of the teams in the game, with Carragher taking the other armband . Chelsea duo Didier Drogba (left) and John Terry have also agreed to feature in the game . The game gives Liverpool fans one last opportunity to see Gerrard in action alongside the best players from the array of sides he has captained throughout his time at Anfield before he leaves for LA Galaxy at the end of the season. Proceeds raised from the event will help fund Liverpool FC Foundation's community programmes, which benefit thousands of young people and adults throughout the city of Liverpool, and also support Alder Hey's new Hospital in the Park as well as providing support packages to Claire House, Positive Futures, Centre 56 and Cash for Kids. +Gabriel was forced off with a hamstring injury after just 36 minutes during Arsenal's 2-1 victory at QPR on Wednesday night, and Arsene Wenger admitted the defender could be out for three weeks. The £16m January signing was making his second Premier League start for the Gunners having made his full debut against Everton last weekend, but he went down holding the back of his leg in the first half. Laurent Koscielny replaced the 24-year-old Brazilian, who is set to miss the crucial FA Cup quarter-final clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Arsenal's new signing Gabriel was forced off with a hamstring injury in the first half against QPR . Arsene Wenger says he expects the Brazilian defender to be out for around three weeks with the injury . Laurent Koscielny replaced Gabriel with just 36 minutes on the clock at Loftus Road on Wednesday night . 'Gabriel had a hamstring problem,' Wenger said after the game at Loftus Road. 'I don't know how bad it is yet, it is usually 21 days.' The former Villarreal centre back was given a torrid time early on by Bobby Zamora as he got used to the physical nature of the Premier League. Wenger added: 'We were nervous in the first half and QPR put a shift in physically. They paid for that in the second half.' Arsenal sealed the win with goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez, though in-form striker Charlie Austin gave Wenger's side a fright late on. Koscielny is expected to partner Per Mertesacker as the Gunners travel to play Louis van Gaal's Red Devils on Monday night, looking to reach Wembley for the second successive season. The former Villarreal centre back was given a torrid time by Bobby Zamora early on in the 2-1 victory . Per Mertesacker is expected to keep his place and partner Laurent Koscileny against Manchester United . +A horrific video has emerged claiming to show a nine-year-old child being brutally murdered by members of a Shia militia who accused him of being a supporter of the Islamic State terror group. The footage was purportedly filmed near the Iraqi city of Tikrit, where a coalition of 30,000 Iraqi Army soldiers and private Shia armies launched a campaign to oust ISIS militants earlier this week. The horrific film has not been independently verified and could easily be just the latest piece of propaganda to be released by the terrorist organisation. Nevertheless the sheer brutality of the clip calls into question the policy of allowing local armed groups to lead the fightback against ISIS. Scroll down for video . Sickening: A horrific video has emerged claiming to show a nine-year-old child being brutally murdered by members of a Shia militia who accused him of being a supporter of the Islamic State terror group . Threat: The video begins by showing a group of heavily armed men surrounding a young boy, who is forced to his knees and questioned about being an ISIS supporter . Defence: One soldier wearing camouflage trousers bravely steps forward and demands nobody shoot, asking 'What is wrong with you guys?', which leads to an argument among the men . The video begins by showing a group of heavily armed men surrounding a young boy, who is forced to his knees and questioned about being an ISIS supporter. 'Did you not fire at us?' one man towering over the boy shouts, to which the helpless child replies 'By God I did not fire one single bullet.' The armed men plead to be allowed to execute the young boy, who begs for them to spare his life. One soldier wearing camouflage trousers bravely steps forward and demands nobody shoot, asking 'What is wrong with you guys?', which leads to an argument among the men. The militiaman is ordered not to stand in the way of the terrified child, who crawls on his knees in a vain attempt to escape while pleading his innocence and warning the men that 'God is watching'. Seconds later a fighter to the left of the camera fires his automatic weapon several times, with the bullets striking the child in the head and killing him instantly. The camera then closes in on the dead child's face and shows brain and . The armed men (left) plead to be allowed to execute the young boy, who begs for them to spare his life (right) Horrific: A fighter to the left of the camera fires his automatic weapon several times, with the bullets striking the child in the head and killing him instantly . Although the video clearly shows the murder of a young child, reports that the execution was carried out by Shia militia battling ISIS militants near Tikrit could not be independently verified. The film has been widely shared by pro-ISIS social media accounts since it was first uploaded to LiveLeak yesterday as it plays into the terrorist sympathisers' narrative that the Iran-back Shia militia attempting to oust ISIS from Tikrit are no better than the jihadis themselves. This morning the United States' top general said Iran's direct support for an Iraqi push to dislodge ISIS from Tikrit could turn out to be 'a positive thing' if it does not inflame sectarian tensions. The statement by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reflected the delicate balance Washington is trying to strike between limiting Iranian influence and allowing Iraqi leaders to determine their own path towards defeating ISIS. Battle: Shia fighters fire their weapons during clashes with Islamic State militants near Tikrit yesterday . Rockets are fired from the back of Shia vehicles as they engage Islamic State terrorists near Tikrit . Shia fighters hide behind sandbags while fighting Islamic State militants near Tikrit yesterday afternoon . An armed Shia fighter takes up his position during clashes with Islamic State militants close to Tikrit . US officials say Iraq did not ask the US to provide air support for the Tikrit offensive, even though the US-led military coalition has been conducting air strikes in much of Iraq since August and has deployed hundreds of US soldiers to try to regenerate an Iraqi army that collapsed last June. General Dempsey said Iran and its proxies have been operating inside Iraq since 2004, but the Tikrit campaign signals a new level of involvement. He said that about two-thirds of the force seeking to retake Tikrit is comprised of Iranian-based Shia militia fighters. Iraqi government troops make up the other third. Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, is a predominantly Sunni city. Retaking the ISIS stronghold is considered vital if government forces are to succeed in their plan to force ISIS out of the oil rich city of Mosul, the terror group's Iraqi power base which lies just 140 miles north of Tikrit on Highway 1 - a road that effectively marks the front line in northern Iraq. +The last time Rudy Gestede faced Liverpool, he missed a penalty in the biggest game of his career so far as Cardiff lost the 2012 League Cup final in a shootout at Wembley. It took three years for Gestede to get another chance from the spot – scoring against Stoke City last month to help Blackburn through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup – and the striker will not be afraid to step up again if Rovers win a penalty at Anfield on Sunday. ‘Yeah, I would take it,’ said the Benin international. ‘That was a great final but penalties are a lottery and I missed mine. I remember it to this day. It’s still the biggest game I’ve played in. Rudy Gestede misses his penalty for Cardiff City during the 2012 League Cup final against Liverpool . It took three years for Gestede - now at Blackburn Rovers - to get another chance from the spot . The 26-year-old sent Stoke City keeper Jack Butland the wrong way in the previous round of the FA Cup . ‘I was younger then and I was a bit tired because it was the end of the game after extra-time. ‘That remains the only penalty I have missed. But it’s gone, it’s finished, it’ s behind me. It’s going to be a different game on Sunday.’ Gestede’s 15 goals this season have not gone unnoticed in the Premier League, and Blackburn rejected a £3.5milion offer from Crystal Palace in the January transfer window. After scoring against Swansea and Stoke in the earlier rounds, the 26-year-old sees Sunday’s game as another opportunity to showcase his talents. Blackburn face Liverpool in the FA Cup on Sunday, and Steven Gerrard could return to the Reds' starting XI . Gestede attempts to add to his tally of 15 goals this season in the recent defeat at home to Norwich . Gestede has the opportunity to move to the Premier League during January but chose to wait . He added: ‘If I can do well against Liverpool I can show Premier League clubs that the speculation was there because I’m a good player and not just because I’m tall and score a few goals with my head. ‘It was close with one club but I spoke a lot with the manager and he helped me to stay focused and think about Blackburn. ‘Nothing happened so in my mind I never left the club. It was a good chance to play in the Premier League but I wasn’t that disappointed.’ +Lance Armstrong welcomed an investigative report into the murky past of cycling's governing body and said he hopes it can help the sport move on from an era that will always be remembered for the doping by himself and others. The report turned up no evidence to sustain previous allegations that Armstrong paid the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) to cover up a positive doping test back in his heyday, yet it explains in great detail how the UCI acted favorably toward Armstrong - a rider dubbed 'cycling's pop star.' The Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) was requested by Brian Cookson, the current UCI president. Its report examined how the doping culture during Armstrong's era was allowed to fester under the previous UCI leadership of former president Pat McQuaid and predecessor Hein Verbruggen. Scroll down for video . Lance Armstrong pictured during his 2013 interview with Oprah where he admitted to doping. A new report published on Monday has found cycling leaders let doping flourish and broke their own rules so Armstrong could cheat his way to become a superstar the sport badly needed . 'I am grateful to CIRC for seeking the truth and allowing me to assist in that search. I am deeply sorry for many things I have done,' Armstrong said in a statement. 'It is my hope that revealing the truth will lead to a bright, dope-free future for the sport I love, and will allow all young riders emerging from small towns throughout the world in years to come to chase their dreams without having to face the lose-lose choices that so many of my friends, teammates and opponents faced.' Armstrong is trying to overturn a life ban imposed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He was stripped of his seven Tour titles for doping on every one of his wins from 1999-2005. Armstrong's attorney, Elliot Peters, said Armstrong 'cooperated fully' with senior investigators over two days, answering all questions 'without any restrictions' and providing 'all documents requested to which he had access.' In their affidavits provided to USADA - whose scathing report in 2012 exposed systematic doping by Armstrong and others - former U.S. Postal teammates Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis declared that Armstrong had told them separately that he tested positive for the performance enhancer EPO at the 2001 Tour de Suisse. Landis claimed that the test was hushed up as a result of a financial agreement with Verbruggen. Armstrong was tested five times during the 2001 Tour de Suisse. Three samples were tested for EPO and they came back negative, although there was a 'strong suspicion' that two of the 'A'' samples did contain traces of the banned blood booster, the CIRC report said — adding that it deemed inappropriate the fact that 'Armstrong and his entourage were informed by the UCI of these suspect test results.' A year later, Armstrong sent Verbruggen a letter containing a check for $25,000 as a donation toward the fight against doping. Although CIRC has 'not found any indication of a financial agreement' the report said the 'UCI did not act prudently in accepting a donation from an athlete' already under suspicion. A fan with an American flag running alongside Lance Armstrong during the parade after the 20th and last stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Paris, France in 2010. The report explains in great detail how the international cycling union acted favorably toward Armstrong - a rider dubbed 'cycling's pop star' The collusion between Armstrong and the UCI's leadership features strongly in the 227-page report. Armstrong's lawyers were allowed to draft parts of a supposedly independent report, which sought to debunk French daily L'Equipe's claims in 2005 that Armstrong's samples at the 1999 Tour later tested positive for EPO. The independent report into the '99 allegations, which was led by Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman, was heavily criticized because it 'specifically excluded an examination of the EPO test,' meaning it deliberately avoided addressing whether Armstrong used the substance. The Vrijman report coincided with an agreement between Armstrong and the UCI that he would donate $100,000 for the purchase of a Sysmex blood testing machine. This prompted allegations that his latest donation to the UCI's anti-doping cause was an indirect payment to help fund the Vrijman report and quash L'Equipe's story. The CIRC did not find 'any evidence to corroborate' such allegations but said the UCI acted improperly 'in soliciting and accepting donations from an athlete' under increasing suspicion. The close-knit relationship helped Armstrong on the '99 Tour when he tested positive for a banned corticosteroid. Armstrong did not declare pre-race that he was using medication — even though the argument he used for using a corticoid cream was to treat saddle sores. Rather than start disciplinary proceedings, the UCI accepted a backdated prescription and cleared him. Armstrong, having retired after the 2005 Tour, was also cleared by the UCI to make his comeback at Australia's Tour down Under in 2009 — despite not being eligible because he had not been in the UCI's doping testing pool for a six-month period beforehand. McQuaid first wrote to Armstrong, firmly telling him he could not race. But two days after that, McQuaid informed him that he could compete. The same day, Armstrong told McQuaid that he would race in the 2009 Tour of Ireland, which McQuaid was keen to promote in his homeland. In one email sent to McQuaid, written at the time of USADA's impending investigation, a UCI consultant refers to Armstrong as 'cycling's pop star' and states clearly that for the sake of its image the 'UCI has an interest that LA is acquitted.' Lance Armstrong and girlfriend Anna Hansen at the 84th Annual Academy Awards, Vanity Fair Party in Los Angeles in 2012 . +A 23-year-old man has been accused of threatening to shoot his neighbors if they didn't turn down their TV. Adam Myjer, of Pelham, New Hampshire, armed himself with a shotgun and tried to kick down his neighbors' door. Police say when the residents answered, he threatened to shoot someone in the face if the TV wasn't turned down, police told WMUR-TV. Adam Myjer, of Pelham, New Hampshire, armed himself with a shotgun and tried to kick down his neighbors' door . 'He then 'racked' a round into the chamber' Pelham police said in a statement. Myjer was holding a 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun. Police said a one-year-old was in the neighbors' apartment. Myjer was arraigned Monday on charges of reckless conduct and criminal threatening. His bail was set at $10,000 cash.Police say when the residents answered, he threatened to shoot someone in the face if the TV wasn't turned down, police told WMUR-TV. Police say when the residents answered, he threatened to shoot someone in the face if the TV wasn't turned down, police told WMUR-TV. Myjer was holding a 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun (pictured) Prosecutors say Myjer doesn't have a criminal history, but they call the situation dangerous. His case was assigned to the public defender's office. A message left for the office seeking comment from Myjer's public defender wasn't immediately returned. Bail was set at $10,000 cash-only. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Ryan Giggs insists Angel di Maria is not suffering from a crisis of confidence and expects him to play a major role in Manchester United's push for FA Cup glory and Champions League qualification. Di Maria became British football's most expensive signing when he joined United from Real Madrid for £59.7million last August but the Argentina World Cup star has struggled to justify that huge fee since scoring three times in his first five appearances. The 27-year-old wideman has netted only once in 19 games and been substituted in United's last three Barclays Premier League matches. Angel di Maria (left) has been backed by Ryan Giggs to show his quality for Manchester United . But United assistant manager Giggs is adamant Di Maria has a big part to play in the club achieving their end-of-season goals, starting with Arsenal's FA Cup quarter-final visit to Old Trafford on Monday night. 'I think his confidence is fine,' Giggs told Press Association Sport. 'He's a quality player and we'll be looking for him to produce because it is big game after big game now. Assistant manager Giggs denied claims that the 27-year-old was suffering from confidence issues . 'Players get used to different leagues, sometimes quickly and sometimes it takes a bit of time. 'He had a really good start to the season but with players who take risks and who can win games it's always difficult to be consistent because they will try things that other players won't do. 'They're capable of doing that and that's why they're match-winners and the best players.' United are involved in a thrilling race for Champions League football with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton still chasing a top-four Premier League finish as well as top two Chelsea and Manchester City. The summer transfer from Real Madrid has scored only once in 19 appearances for his new club . Louis van Gaal's side are currently fourth after losing only two of their last 18 league matches and, although the nature of United's performances have often been criticised, Giggs says that form counts for far more at this stage of the season. 'This is the time really when results are the top focus and then the performances will come and the confidence you get from that,' said Giggs, who again denied media talk of a rift with Van Gaal by saying they had a 'great working relationship'. 'I think we've tried a lot of systems this year and obviously the manager's new to the players and new to the league, so that's going to take time. 'But over the last three months or so we've only been beaten twice and we're in pretty good form. Fabricio Coloccini disposes Di Maria at St James' Park where the midfielder was later substituted . 'It's tight and all the teams up there are in relatively good form. 'It could come to a few head-to-heads and we've got to play a few of the top teams yet, so it's going to be exciting right to the end.' Before then, however, United are focusing on the FA Cup and opponents against whom Giggs memorably scored an FA Cup semi-final winner in the club's 1999 'Treble' year. United have won the competition a record 11 times - a total cup holders Arsenal matched last year by beating Hull at Wembley - but not since 2004 when Giggs was part of the side which beat Millwall 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium in his native Cardiff. 'We've got so much history in the cup that it's long overdue,' Giggs said. Adnan Januzaj replaces the winger who was taken off for the third consecutive Premier League match . 'The club as a whole, the players and the fans are desperate to get to Wembley. 'We've had great battles and tussles over the years with Arsenal, especially in the cup. 'Of course, I've got fond memories of the semi-final (1999) and they beat us in the final (2005), but hopefully we can get through to the semis because whoever goes through in this tie has a great chance of winning the cup.' Giggs won the FA Cup four times during a celebrated United senior playing career which spanned an incredible 24 seasons but admits he is learning all the time on the coaching front. The former Real Madrid man failed to make an impact during United's last match against Newcastle . 'I've enjoyed every minute working under Louis,' Giggs said. 'He's been brilliant with me and we've helped each other along the way. 'He's come into a new league which I know all about. I'm starting all over again with coaching and serving an apprenticeship and who better to learn from than someone who is a great leader and has won so much over the years? 'I'm learning all the time and just trying to prepare myself the best I can that if I do become a manager I'm best equipped.' Ryan Giggs was in Wales encouraging people to nominate a GrassrootsHero for the FAW & McDonald's Community Awards. To nominate visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk/awards . The former Manchester United star was in Wales to take a training session with a group of budding footballers . Giggs visited an AFC Whitchurch to help the McDonald's campaign to nominate a GrassrootsHero . +It boasts a beautiful town centre and a wealth of history to explore. But it turns out there’s another reason why tourists flock to York – it’s considered the world’s safest city. And three more British towns – Bath, Edinburgh and Brighton – help make up the top four safest places. York is considered the world's safest city, according to a new study which found only one per cent of people consider it to be risky . Cairo, Bangkok, Istanbul and Marrakech were the cities deemed most risky to visit on a short break. The survey by Post Office Travel Insurance of 2,075 UK adults showed that 72 per cent felt York was safe, compared to one per cent considering it risky, and 26 per cent having no view. In contrast, only seven per cent thought Cairo was safe – and 56 per cent felt it was dangerous to visit. But London didn’t even make the top ten – with 58 per cent deeming the capital safe and 16 per cent risky. A stolen wallet (24 per cent) was the most common occurrence for those who had had problems in cities. As many as 26 per cent felt they had been ripped off on city visits, with this figure rising to 43 per cent among those aged 18-24. Cairo (pictured), Bangkok, Istanbul and Marrakech were the cities deemed most risky to visit on a short break . Of the eight UK and Ireland destinations in the survey, the least-safe was Belfast with only 37 per cent deeming it safe. But although 53 per cent reckoned Manchester was safe, 20 per cent thought the city was risky - a higher figure than that for Belfast (19 per cent). Venice, Vienna, Dublin, Florence, Stockholm and Copenhagen made up the rest of the top ten safest cities. +Tim Sherwood has revealed Charles N'Zogbia's renewed impact at Aston Villa is down to extra training sessions carried out by the Frenchman. The Villa manager admitted he was told when arriving at the club that N'Zogbia might let him down. But Sherwood has handed the £9.5million winger two starts in a row, his first back-to-back since early December, and expects he can play a big part in the climax to Villa's season. Charles N'Zogbia escapes the challenge of West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob at Villa Park . Tim Sherwood revealed that N'Zogbia's improved form has been down to extra training sessions . N'Zogbia consistently troubled West Bromwich Albion's defenders with his direct running and pace in the second half of Villa's FA Cup win and set up Fabian Delph's opening goal. 'I said to him after the Newcastle game I have a long memory and I know how good he was at Wigan, what he possesses, and how scared managers are when he is flying,' said Sherwood. 'He can be anything he wants to be – I really mean that. I told him he needs to be a little bit fitter and needs to do a little bit extra than the other players and he said, 'No problem'. 'I am seeing him go and get clean kit after training and do his little bit extra and he gets rewarded for that. He is a grafter, he is similar to Emmanuel Adebayor. N'Zogbia holds off the challenge of Chris Brunt as Villa beat West Brom 2-0 on Saturday . 'People want to rubbish them but I have never had a problem with Adebayor or Charles N'Zogbia. I don't know who has been rubbishing him but I've heard he might let you down. 'I take him on face value and he ain't let me down yet. I have told him and told him straight he is one of the best players in the team who can effect a football match.' +Glenn Maxwell scored the second-fastest century in World Cup history as Australia secured their place in the quarter-finals with an exciting 64-run win over Sri Lanka. Maxwell brought up his maiden one-day international hundred off 51 balls, one more than Kevin O'Brien took during Ireland's famous win over England four years ago, as Australia ran up a daunting 376 for nine batting first in Sydney. Maxwell struck 10 fours and four sixes in his 102 while Steve Smith (72), captain Michael Clarke (68) and Shane Watson (67) were also among the runs as the tournament co-hosts made hay after winning the toss at the SCG. Glenn Maxwell celebrates his century during the Cricket World Cup match between Australia and Sri Lanka . Brad Haddin keeps wicket during the match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Sydney Cricket Ground . Xavier Doherty takes a catch in the outfield during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match in Sydney, Australia . However, Sri Lanka refused to go down without a fight and, despite losing Lahiru Thirimanne in the second over, they remained well in contention as the indefatigable Kumar Sangakkara became the first player to notch three consecutive centuries at a World Cup. The 37-year-old Sangakkara, who is retiring from ODI cricket after the tournament, scored 104 off 107 balls to follow up his tons against England and Bangladesh. Tillakaratne Dilshan, who hit Mitchell Johnson for six successive fours in the same over during his 62, and Dinesh Chandimal also clubbed quickfire half-centuries as Sri Lanka sought what would have been the third highest successful run chase in ODI history. Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka bats during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match at Sydney Cricket Ground . Shane Watson celebrates taking the wicket of Angelo Mathews during the match between against Sri Lanka . Maxwell gestures to the crowd during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match against Sri Lanka . Australian teammates congratulate Watson after he got a wicket during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match . With nine overs to go they were actually ahead of Australia's score at the same stage having reached 280 for four, but they immediately saw Chandimal retire hurt and that signalled the end of their challenge. Chandimal had blazed 52 off just 24 balls but he was struggling with a what looked to be a hamstring injury and was unable to continue. Once he departed, Sri Lanka subsided to 312 for nine and - with Chandimal not reappearing - Australia were able to celebrate their third victory in Group A and a place in the last eight. Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka is run out by Michael Clarke of Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground . Dinesh Chandimal bats during the match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Sydney Cricket Ground . Australia captain Michael Clarke misses a catch from Tillakaratne Dilshan during the match . Earlier it was man of the match Maxwell who provided the fireworks as Australia ran up another mammoth total at this year's tournament. He had a life on 95 when Sangakkara spilled a steepling catch running back, but still looked on course to claim O'Brien's World Cup record for the fastest ton. However, Maxwell - who admitted after the match he was not aware what the record was - just missed out before seeing his power-packed stay at the crease ended soon after by Thisara Perera. His innings proved the difference in the end though, as Sri Lanka's valiant run chase fell short despite Sangakkara's record-breaking ton. Kumar Sangakkara and Shane Watson of Australia collide during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match . James Faulkner missing a run out chance of Chandimal  during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match . +Peter Moores insists he has no regrets about returning to become England coach for the second time even though they face a humiliating early exit from the World Cup if they lose here on Monday against Bangladesh. Moores, a county championship winner with both Sussex and Lancashire, finds himself under increasing pressure to prove he has what it takes to succeed at international level after England's woeful showing at this World Cup. They need to defeat both Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval and Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday while hoping New Zealand also beat Bangladesh to ensure they claim the quarter-final place that should have been comfortable for them. England coach Peter Moores talks to the media during a press conference at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday . Moores insists he has no regrets about returning to become England coach for the second time . Moores finds himself under increasing pressure to prove he has what it takes to succeed at international level . But Moores, who often struggles to get his message across in public, cut a calm and quietly confident figure here as he contemplated a match that he cannot afford to lose for the sake of his reputation in the job. 'No regrets at all,' insisted Moores. 'I came in because I felt I could help make a difference. You have to be one of a lot of people working together and we know we've certainly been behind in the one-day format and have to get better. 'I've no regrets on taking on that challenge. As a coach you have only one focus now and that's the World Cup. It comes once every four years and we have one goal at the moment – to win tomorrow and stay in this tournament. 'I'm fine because we've got a very committed group of players and coaches and that's the most important thing. We're doing everything we possibly can to improve quickly and start to get the results we need.' Moores first spell as coach ended when he fell out with then captain Kevin Pietersen and both lost their jobs but he believes that it is too early in his second coming to judge him. 'Time will tell,' said Moores, who was described as the outstanding coach of his generation by managing director Paul Downton when he appointed him in the wake of England's Ashes debacle here last year. 'I'd love to say things change straight-away but they don't. England coach Moores speaks with Moeen Ali during an England nets session in Adelaide . England have endured some rotten World Cups since they went close in 1992 and must beat Bangladesh . England know they can not afford a slip-up or even a rainy day as they prepare to face Bangladesh . 'What we've seen so far is the emergence of some players who've had a really good time and others who have found challenges. The emergence of Mo Ali has been really exciting and Joe Root is starting to grow as a player. 'Individually we've seen people grow but there's work to be done with our younger one-day international players so that they can play the right kind of cricket. That's a long-term thing. 'Test match-wise it was great to finish with three wins against India last summer and identify a new-look line-up. There are some exciting things but there are some challenges too and we're in one at the moment with this World Cup. Mostly in coaching you get judged over time and on what you leave behind as well as what you do there and then.' England will not confirm their team to face a Bangladesh team they lost to in the last World Cup until the toss on Monday but Moores defended Gary Ballance and stayed in the nets with the out of form batsman to provide extra practice today when England's session was finished. 'Gary's had a tough time of it but that doesn't mean he's not a really good player,' said Moores. 'We know we've got a big game and we've thought about what our best team is. We're pretty clear on what that best XI is now. We'll announce it at the toss.' Ian Bell of England takes a catch during an England nets session at the Adelaide Oval . England's Alex Hales takes a catch during an England nets session on Saturday ahead of their next game . If Ballance stays despite a run of four failures since replacing Ravi Bopara on the eve of the World Cup then it would be confirmation for Alex Hales that they are really not sure whether he can reproduce his Twenty20 form over 50-overs. If Hales does not play now then clearly England do not rate him. England still seem reluctant to play a second spinner in James Tredwell but Chris Jordan appeared to be in the frame today, possibly at the expense of the maddeningly inconsistent Steven Finn. Or Ballance if England decide to play an extra bowler. 'It looks a good batting pitch and I expect it to be full of runs,' said Moores. 'There's pressure on us because we haven't played as well as we'd like to have done and we have to win the game. International cricket is about handling that pressure. It's part of the job and that's the challenge for the players tomorrow. We're up for that.' There was also discouragement for his old bête noire Pietersen, who appeared to be handed an England lifeline by new ECB chairman Colin Graves last week when he said he would be considered again if he played regular county cricket. 'It sounds like what Colin said was taken out of context and the policy on the KP situation has been made very clear by Paul Downton,' added Moores. Chris Jordan (left) is held back at the Adelaide Oval as he and his team-mates get prepared . England warm up during a nets session at the Adelaide Oval where they will meet Bangladesh . +Stuart Hogg has whipped up a storm ahead of Saturday’s Twickenham clash by insisting England have ‘no respect’ for Scottish rugby and are ‘all about themselves’. The Scotland and Lions full-back believes his country are very much perceived as second-class competition south of the border - and his thoughts echo those of skipper Greig Laidlaw who claims ‘England don’t rate Scotland very much’. Both players are bottling up their frustrations for the Calcutta Cup clash, with Hogg hoping to silence the critics with Scotland’s first victory of this year’s RBS Six Nations following defeats to France, Wales and Italy. Stuart Hogg claimed England have 'no respect' for Scottish rugby ahead of Saturday's Twickenham clash . Hogg breaks away to score the opening try during the Six Nations game against Wales in February . Hogg (centre) wants to record Scotland's first win of the tournament against England at Twickenham . ‘The English are a fantastic team but they’re pretty much all about themselves at times,’ Hogg told Sportsmail. ‘They don’t really respect us and we find that pretty frustrating. There will be a certain number of people that do respect us but, no matter how good our performance is, on the whole they don’t. ‘We’re not really in a position to make them respect us when we’re zero wins from three, so for that to happen we need to go down there and shut them up with a great performance and a big win.’ Hogg revealed that his frustrations were exacerbated during Glasgow Warriors’ European Champions Cup ties with Bath earlier this season when the Pro12 side won 37-10 in the first leg at Scotstoun before narrowly losing 20-15 in the reverse fixture at The Rec. Asked to explain his comments about the lack of respect, the 22-year-old Borderer said: ‘There are loads of different things. Take Bath, for instance, in the European games. We pummelled them at home in Glasgow and almost beat them down there, yet their coach never once mentioned us after the games. ‘After they went through, they said they had a tough pool with Toulouse and Montpellier, but never once mentioned us. That kind of sums it up for me and, with the way the lads go on with Greig Laidlaw down at Gloucester, it’s quite clear that they don’t respect us.’ Meanwhile, England centre Brad Barritt is a doubt for Saturday after injuring his ankle in Saracens’ 26-17 win at Wasps on Sunday. Hogg clings to the ball in Scotland's 22-19 defeat against Italy in their last Six Nations game . Brad Barritt injured his ankle in Saracens' win over Wasps on Sunday and is now a doubt for England . Barritt seemed destined for a recall against Scotland, with Luther Burrell unable to train last week, but the 28-year-old limped away from the Ricoh Arena after Wasps fly-half Andy Goode landed heavily on his right leg. Saracens’ director of rugby Mark McCall said: ‘It seems to be his ankle. The knee seems to be okay. I’m sure he’ll be close to selection for England next weekend, so fingers crossed it’s not as bad as it looked.’ If Barritt is fit to play, he is set to rejoin the back line along with Harlequins full-back Mike Brown. Up front, Northampton’s Courtney Lawes is expected to come into the second row in place of George Kruis. +Richard Johnson's striking blue eyes water as bright sunlight floods into the Royal Box at Newbury Racecourse and he casts his mind back to a Monday night in Stratford almost 21 years ago. ‘That was the first time I met him,’ he says. ‘He was a lot skinnier and younger looking, as we all were. It was my first year as an amateur and his first as a conditional because he’d been riding on the Flat in Ireland for a couple of years. It was towards the end of the season and he’d already ridden 70-odd winners and I had 10. But even before that I’d heard people saying “This Anthony McCoy rode a winner today, he was amazing”. It takes very little time in the racing world for word to get around. He was getting horses to win that other people couldn’t and all the people that you want to be talking about you were talking about him.’ If AP McCoy had been a postman, a plumber or a professor, Johnson would probably be talked about as the greatest jump jockey ever. He has been runner-up 15 of the 19 times McCoy has been champion jockey and that figure will probably be 16 come the end of the season. Johnson’s tally of nearly 2,800 winners far outstrips the totals of giants of the game such as Richard Dunwoody, John Francome and Peter Scudamore, all of whom won the title at least three times. Richard Johnson would be talked about as one of the greatest jump jockeys ever if it weren't for AP McCoy . Johnson has finished runner-up to McCoy in the race to be crowned champion jockey 15 times . When McCoy retires at the end of the season Johnson, 37, is favourite to finally achieve his dream but there is no hint of bitterness at the years of playing second fiddle. ‘My main ambition has always been to be champion jockey and AP has been the thorn in my side for a long time,’ he says. ‘But it’s not his fault. It’s my fault that I haven’t ridden more winners than him. I find it slightly strange when people say, “Now he’s retired you can give it a real kick”. I go for it every day of the week, every year. I’ll start off the first day of next season as always. ‘Obviously without AP it’s definitely going to help but you’ve got a host of young jockeys like Tom Scudamore, Sam Twiston-Davies, Aidan Coleman and older ones like Noel Fehily and Jason Maguire so there’s going to be no easy run of it.’ Johnson has ridden nearly 2,800 winners during his career but never been champion jockey . Johnson rides Royale Django as he wins Ladbrokes 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle at Southwell Racecourse . McCoy celebrates after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Synchronised in 2012 . McCoy has often credited the pressure Johnson puts on him for motivating him to ride on wet winter evenings as well as at the big occasions like the Cheltenham Festival. In 2009 he wrote: ‘Having Dickie as an adversary has, more than anyone else, spurred me on to ride more winners. The threat of him beating me to the title has made me more driven.’ At this, Johnson chuckles. ‘I’m not sure about that, I’ve just chased him a lot,’ he says. ‘It’s like running with Usain Bolt, he’s just turning back and laughing as he’s moving away.’ Many of the great sporting rivalries of the past have been characterised by sniping and swiping. But Johnson claims there is no room for that in racing, where jockeys know the perils every time they line up at the start and on a more basic level, they have to live with each other day in, day out. ‘The valets set up our gear every morning. It doesn’t matter how many winners you’ve ridden, it’s how long you’ve been riding. Because we started at the same time we’re usually sat next to or near each other. The longer you’ve been there the closer you get to the door. He’s been pushed out and I’m going to be next to the door. Cloud Creeper ridden by jockey Richard Johnson jumps the last to win Nicol & Fielding Mechanical Services Ltd Steeple Chase at Leicester Racecourse on Friday . McCoy credited pressure from Johnson as his motivation for riding so many winners . ‘Through the winter when we’re racing seven days a week there’s every chance we’ll be at the same meetings for days on end. I leave home at 4am and get back at 7pm. I rarely see my children [Willow six, Casper three and Percy, one] awake during the winter. I definitely see AP more than my children and probably my wife, Fiona.’ Johnson grew up on an arable and cattle farm in Hereford. He rode ponies as a child and as a teenager spent summers working at David Nicholson’s yard. ‘He offered me a job when I left school at 16,’ says Johnson, ‘I think my parents thought I’d go for two years, see a bit of life then go to agricultural college and come back and be a farmer.’ He would read copies of the racing newspaper Sporting Life, now defunct, at breakfast time. ‘Peter Scudamore was from the same county so I looked up to him,’ says Johnson. ‘When I understood racing a bit more Richard Dunwoody was the man I looked up to. He’s still someone I look up to today. Even though I’ve won more races, to be champion jockey would make me feel I belong in that bracket.’ The Cheltenham Festival is live on Channel 4. For tickets go to www.cheltenham.co.uk . +TUESDAY . Champion Hurdle, 3.20 . A race dominated by Irish entries, with Jessica Harrington’s defending champion, Jezki, ridden by AP McCoy. But Willie Mullins holds the strongest hand. He has three entries headed by unbeaten favourite Faugheen and dual champion Hurricane Fly. The New One, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by son Sam, bids to atone for last year’s unlucky third. AP McCoy (above riding Jezki) will ride the horse in the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday . WEDNESDAY . Queen Mother Champion Chase, 3.20 . Sprinter Sacre, the 2013 winner, and last year’s champion Sire De Grugy, finally go head to head. They must cope with form horse Dodging Bullets and, with front-runners Special Tiara and dual Festival winner Champagne Fever in the field, it will be fast and furious. Last year's Champion Chase winner Sire De Grugy will finally go head to head with Sprinter Sacre . THURSDAY . World Hurdle, 3.20 . With Rock On Ruby out and Mullins-trained mare Annie Power taking up her entry in Tuesday’s Mares’ Hurdle, the betting is dominated by Paul Nicholls’s pair Saphir Du Rheu and Zarkandar. The champion trainer says there is little between them. There are positive vibes for Nicky Henderson’s Whisper, while best of the Irish looks to be Lieutenant Colonel. Zarkandar (above) and Saphir Du Rheu dominate the betting in the World Hurdle . FRIDAY . Gold Cup, 3.20 . Carlingford Lough is McCoy’s last throw of the dice and he has claims in an open race featuring last year’s winner Lord Windermere, and the three horses who chased him home. They include 2014 fourth-placed Silviniaco Conti. He seems improved with an ulcer problem sorted. The concern is that his best form has been away from Cheltenham. Holywell, Road To Riches, Many Clouds and well-backed Djakadam head the clutch of new kids on the block on an upward form curve who must also be considered. AP McCoy will ride Carlingford Lough (both pictured above) in Friday's Gold Cup . Tuesday . 1.30 L’Ami Serge . 2.05 Vibrato Valtat . 3.20 Faugheen . 4.00 Annie Power . Wednesday . 1.30 Nichols Canyon . 2.05 Don Poli . 2.40 Activial . 3.20 Dodging Bullets . Thursday . 1.30 P tit Zig . 2.05 Big Easy . 2.40 Foxrock . 3.20 Saphir Du Rheu . Friday . 1.30 Peace And Co . 2.40 Black Hercules . 3.20 Many Clouds . 4.40 Le Mercurey . +In the dream scenario Steven Gerrard's final action in a Liverpool shirt will be the lifting of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium on May 30, his 35th birthday. It will be emotional. For more than 16 years Gerrard was Anfield's beating heart. The good times were great. He gave them Istanbul, a crazy, glorious night forever etched into the club's history. A year later, in 2006, it was his last-minute long-range strike that gave them life against West Ham in Cardiff. Steven Gerrard returned to Liverpool training earlier this week after almost a month out with injury . The club captain led Liverpool to Champions League glory against AC Milan in 2005 . In total there was a Champions League, a Uefa Cup, two FA Cups and three League Cups. Even in the bad times (and there were plenty as a Premier League title remained elusive) the local boy was a source of Scouse inspiration. When Roy Hodgson wobbled and King Kenny came back but could only lead them to eighth, punters in pubs from Formby to Fazakerley could take solace. 'At least we've got Stevie G'. From next season, however, they will not. They appear to be giant boots to fill. Imagining a Liverpool without Gerrard is like imagining The Beatles without Paul McCartney. But the show must go on and, in Jordan Henderson, Brendan Rodgers might just have the ideal replacement. A year later Gerrard inspired the Reds to an FA Cup win against West Ham . A Liverpool team without Steven Gerrard will be like The Beatles without Paul McCartney (front left) His goalkeeper certainly thinks so. After Wednesday's 2-0 win over Burnley Simon Mignolet cast an early vote for May's Anfield election. 'Jordan is a massive player for us,' he said. 'He is a very positive character who always works hard and leads by example. 'He's vocal both on the pitch and in the dressing room. He goes in front of us and everyone follows behind.' Can Henderson lead from the front like Gerrard? Can he carry the team on his back? Some would point to the penalty spat with Mario Balotelli as evidence that the 24-year-old is not cut out for the job. Jordan Henderson has led the team in Gerrard's absence as Liverpool have made a charge for the top four . Henderson has been in inspired form for Liverpool and struck sensational goals in his last two games . Gerrard, they say, would never have let the Italian take the ball. He would have shown him who was boss. The man himself said as much. But they would be wrong to criticise. Balotelli, being Balotelli, was always going to try and take the penalty. And why not? Have you seen his record? Out of 29 penalties he has scored 27. Aside from his unpredictability, scoring from the spot is one of few things consistent about madcap Mario and Henderson, who has never taken a penalty in such a high-stakes environment, will have known that. For the good of the team he made the right call not to make a fuss. Surely that is the mark of a good captain? Gerrard, a fine skipper, was the master of responding to adversity and Henderson is no stranger to ramming critics' barbs back from whence they came. Since Sir Alex Ferguson's trial by autobiography he has written promising new chapters in his Liverpool career. Against Burnley he hit a netbuster from distance and then slid to his knees in front of the Kop. Sound familiar? Henderson celebrates after finding the top corner against Manchester City last weekend . In the five games Hemderson has played since Gerrard's absence Liverpool have won all five matches . His accent may be more Wearside than Whiston but Henderson is now being talked up as a successor and for good reason. He is not alone. There is a growing clamour to hand the armband to the Emre Can. The midfielder-turned-defender has been impressive since his backwards switch and was first to pick up Dejan Lovren following his penalty miss at Besiktas. The '#beast' is only 21, however, and his time will come. Time will be up for US-bound Gerrard at Stoke or at Wembley. Whether it's in Brent or at the Britannia, Liverpool will bid a painful farewell to their talisman and he will be missed. But if Gerrard remained the player that so often dragged his side from the turf Rodgers would not have allowed him to leave and that is worth noting when the inevitable tears are shed at his watershed. In the six Premier League games that Gerrard has missed this season Liverpool have won them all . It is easy to get sentimental when it comes to such a figure. Gerrard deserves to be remembered as a legend because, in this world where the word is bandied about at the drop of the hat, he is one. The fact of the matter, however, is that his impact has lessened considerably in recent times. In the Premier League this season Liverpool have played 22 games with Gerrard in the side. They have won nine of those, drawn six and lost seven at an average of 1.3 goals for, 1.3 against and 1.5 points per game. Without Gerrard they have played six games and won them all with an average of 2.3 goals for to 0.3 goals against. Maybe those boots are not as big as they used to be. +A homeless person has written a funny apology note after they broke into a man's car and stole his blanket. Bert Palin, 82, from East Gosford on the NSW Central Coast, discovered the letter after returning home from a trip to Sydney's Redfern to visit family. When he opened the boot of the car he found his blanket folded neatly with the note placed on top. 'Hi, I borrowed your blanket for a little while because I was cold and didn't have anywhere to go,' the note read. 'I hope you accept my apology for taking your stuff without asking.' The person signed the note 'blankt [sic] thief' with a smiley face, before adding: 'P.S. the blank [sic] is really itchy.' Mr Palin told the NT News that he had accepted the apology but warned the thief to 'keep out of my car' in future. 'It was obviously a male or female of some education to have written it the way they did and to break into my car then say "thank you" and "P.S. your blanket was itchy"... it was breathtaking,' he said. 'I washed the blanket after that because I was concerned about it being itchy.' +A fishing guide who was accused of hurling abuse at his clients and defecating off the front of the boat has hit back at allegations made by disgruntled customers. Manager Allan Beale of Darwin’s Barra Base has been slammed over his alleged behaviour on the Australian travel website Trip Advisor. One client, under the name ‘robrobbo’ from Brisbane has penned his fishing safari experience with Beale as ‘so bad it was great’ after staying at the lodge with four other friends in February last year. Manager Allan Beale (left) of Darwin’s Barra Base has been running his business for more than 12 years . ‘Once we hit the water with Allan I think we were all looking around for the hidden cameras!’ the post read. ‘Abused at the boat ramp whilst attempting to help him launch the boat, abused when we hooked a fish, abused when we lost a fish, witnesses to the man himself defecating off the front of the boat…’ In response to these allegations, Beale told Daily Mail Australia the review was not true and are based on ‘one side of exaggeration’. ‘The reviews were pretty rude and distorted to the facts,’ Beale said. ‘Customer service is our business. We've been in the tourism business for more than 12 years and I'm saddened to read these false allegations after all these years.' Beale said the allegation was not true and are based on ‘one side of exaggeration’ - he also added that 'catfish are a pest' so he 'assists to minimise the population' Beale said fishing safari offers a great experience to all customers as well as meet client's best interests . Beale said one person had suffered a sore back during this trip so he suggested an alternative because the man couldn't handle the rough waves and everyone was happy to choose the other location for fish species . Another client, under the name ‘Les N’ from Perth also took to the travel website to post their ‘overrated and disappointing’ experience. ‘I wrote a review on Alan's Facebook account after he used pictures of my group holding fish up that quite frankly I couldn't believe we kept?’ the post read. ‘We came here to catch sailfish & Barra? What a joke, not one sailfish and 3 barra, not one was a keeper, we paid nearly $4000 and didn't take a fish home, great.' Beale, who runs the fishing safari, said customer service plays an important role in his tourism business . A 152cm Black Jewfish landed Finniss River 17th June 2013 by Gary Bez from Karratha at head . But Beale told Daily Mail Australia they had set off for Sail City to go hunting for sailfish but one person among the group had suffered a sore back during the trip. ‘One of the chaps had a sore back and he couldn’t handle the wave action so I told them that we couldn’t go out there because we needed to look after the client’s best interest,’ Beale said. 'I like to make 100 percent of my customers happy but when it comes to bad weather and body conditions, the reality is - it’s hard to give them that because we can’t control the weather. ‘I knew the wave action from the wind would double in the next two hours and the sailfish would have been around 60 kilometres away so it was definitely out of the question. ‘I explained it to them and they accepted that they couldn’t handle the distance so I gave them two safer alternatives – go black jewfish fishing at Peron Island or travel out to Jenny and Blaze Wide for Spanish Mackerel – everyone picked the Spanish Mackerel. ‘I don’t think it’s fair to make these sorts of allegations towards our business because all we can do is offer the best service as possible.' Beale said fishing safari offers a great experience to all customers as well as meet client's best interests . Beale, who runs the fishing safari, said customer service plays an important role in his tourism business . Darwins Barra Base will offer their clients the choice of Two Levels of Extended Fishing Safaris . Les N added: ‘Alan was the skipper the 1st day, what a miserable moany [sic] guy, all he did all day was tell us how much he was struggling to keep skippers & that his secretary was on stress leave. ‘Sorry mate we needed counciling [sic] after listening to your moaning all day,’ the post continued. But Beale responded: ‘During the day clients ask questions whilst fishing about work, fishing, staff and family and their business. This comment about me moaning about staff issues just shows how little he had to go to, to complain. ‘There are issues in these allegations – they are made up and completely false. ‘And as for the defecation claims – I never defecated and they are pure lies. ‘We don’t have commercial toilets. The truth of matter is, if someone has to go, then we have to go but you've got to do it in a safe matter.’ Beale added: ‘Send us an email and I'll look after you and ensure all the little issues presented in these reviews are better handled for you by me and my staff.’ For more information, please visit darwinbarrabase.com.au. +Paris St Germain thumnped RC Lens 4-1 to move top of Ligue 1 on Saturday as the French Champions geared up for their Champions League clash at Chelsea next week. David Luiz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Blaise Matuidi and Javier Pastore scored the goals that put PSG on 56 points from 28 games, two ahead of Olympique Lyonnais who can reclaim the lead if they beat Montpellier away on Sunday. Marseille are a further point back in third on 53 after thrashing Toulouse 6-1 away on Friday. David Luiz celebrates after putting Paris St Germain 1-0 up at home to Lens on Saturday . Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled his side's lead from the penalty spot after Gregory Van der Wiel was fouled . The Swede celebrates his penalty, which put PSG in total control of the game at the Parc des Princes . PSG visit Stamford Bridge for their last 16 return leg with Chelsea on Wednesday having drawn 1-1 at the Parc des Princes. Lens, who reduced the arrears to 2-1 through Yoann Touzghar after 68 minutes, stayed second from bottom on 22 points having lost seven of their last 10 league games and won none. The hosts dominated but Lens keeper Rudy Riou kept his team afloat with a string of fine saves before the northerners cracked on the stroke of halftime. PSG went ahead when Luiz wrongfooted Riou with a low, long-range free kick in thr 43rd minute as the Brazil defender netted his second league goal. Laurent Blanc's side doubled their tally on the hour when Sweden striker Ibrahimovic converted a penalty after Gregory van der Wiel was brought down by Bapiste Guillaume. Maxwell jumps on his team-mates to celebrate as the French champions went top of the table . Ibrahimovic holds the ball up under a challenge from a defender as PSG moved above Marseille and Lyon . Edinson Cavani holds off the tackle of Jean-Philippe Gbamin during what turned out to be a comfortable win . Touzghar narrowed the deficit from close range but Lens's hopes quickly vanished. PSG substitute Pastore had an immediate effect when France midfielder Matuidi tapped in from the Argentine's cross to make it 3-1 10 minutes from time. Pastore wrapped it up three minutes later by volleying home Ibrahimovic's fine lofted pass in the box. Van der Wiel almost added a fifth in the closing stages but his rising shot from the spot smashed against the bar. +Authorities reportedly discovered a Lamborghini discarded on a Texas highway over the weekend. The vehicle was discovered on the southbound side of the Dallas North Tollway, local media reported. Whoever was behind the wheel seemed to have ditched the car after slamming into a highway barrier, WFAA reported. Discovery: Authorities reportedly discovered a Lamborghini discarded on a Texas highway over the weekend . WFAA reported the Lamborghini did not contain any 'identifying information' inside. The expensive vehicle was taken to a Dallas police impound lot, the television station reported. Lamborghinis generally retail for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Dallas Police Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Luxury item: The vehicle was discovered on the southbound side of the Dallas North Tollway . +A video showing former NFL star Aaron Hernandez allegedly holding a gun and leaving his home with his two co-defendants just hours before the shooting death of Odin Lloyd has been played in court. The footage, taken by the extensive surveillance system in and around Hernandez's Massachusetts house, was captured on June 17, 2013, the day Lloyd was gunned down in a nearby industrial park. It shows the ex-New England Patriots tight end returning to his $1.3million property, where his infant daughter was being babysat, after celebrating Father's Day with his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins. After arriving back home at around 12.45am, he is filmed walking through the living room carrying a large black object, before putting it in his pocket. Prosecutors have claimed the item was a gun. Scroll down for video . Caught on camera: This video footage, which was played in Bristol County Superior Court on Monday, shows ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez (right) walking through his home carrying a large black object on June 17, 2013 . Evidence: Prosecutors have claimed the object Hernandez was holding (right) at around 12.45am that day - just hours before Odin Lloyd was shot dead at an industrial park in North Attleboro, Massachusetts - was a gun . On trial: The video also shows the ex-New England Patriots tight end (pictured in court on Monday) returning to his $1.3million property with his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins. Their infant daughter was being babysat inside . However, when the video was played for jurors on Monday, the object was indiscernible. Hernandez and Jenkins's babysitter Jennifer Fortier, 28, then testified she had not seen the item in the room. The footage also shows Hernandez and Jenkins being greeted the suspect's two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, who are also accused of killing Lloyd, who was dating Jenkins's sister. And it depicts Hernandez climbing into the front passenger seat of a Nissan Altima rental car and leaving his home at 1:09 am, with Wallace driving and Ortiz sitting in the rear driver's-side seat. The latter two men have pleaded not guilty to murder. They will be tried separately from Hernandez. At an earlier hearing, surveillance video - captured at a gas station south of Boston an hour after the trio had left Hernandez's North Attleboro home - was played to Bristol County Superior Court. It showed the former NFL player driving the Nissan. Prosecutors have previously said the suspects went to pick up Lloyd, then took him to the industrial park, where he was shot just before 3:30am. Departure: Footage played in court on Monday depicts Hernandez climbing into the front passenger seat of a Nissan Altima rental car and leaving his home at 1:09 am, with Wallace driving and Ortiz sitting in the back . The trio then drive off (pictured). Wallace and Ortiz are also accused of murder and are being tried separately . Babysitter: As the video footage was played for jurors, the object Hernandez was carrying on the night was indiscernible. His and Jenkins's babysitter Jennifer Fortier (pictured), 28, said she had not seen the item at all . The Nissan was returned to the rental car agency by Hernandez later that day. It had scrapes along the driver's side, while the driver's-side mirror was missing, according to previous testimony. Another surveillance video previously played shows Hernandez holding what is alleged to be a gun inside his living room just minutes after Lloyd, a semi-professional football player, was shot dead. Earlier on Monday, Judge Susan Garsh told the Fall River-based court that she had received a note from a juror. He was questioned privately at the bench. Trial then resumed. Court: At an earlier hearing, surveillance video - captured at a gas station south of Boston an hour after the trio had left Hernandez's North Attleboro home - was played to Bristol County Superior Court. It showed the former NFL player (pictured speaking with his attorney, Charles Rankin, during Monday's trial) driving the Nissan . Teary-eyed: Ursula Ward, the mother of victim Lloyd, listens to testimony during Hernandez's murder trial . On Friday, Diane Fife Biagiotti, a Massachusetts State Police crime lab DNA analyst, testified had she found the DNA of Hernandez and Lloyd on a marijuana cigarette recovered near Lloyd's body. She also said she found Hernandez's DNA on an empty shell casing that had been stuck to a piece of blue chewing gum and removed from the Nissan the suspect had returned to the rental agency. Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted. He was released from the Patriots hours after his arrest in June 2013. Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, leaves court on Friday (left). Right, Lloyd, who was killed in 2013 . Address: Earlier on Monday, Judge Susan Garsh (pictured) told the Fall River-based court that she had received a note from a juror. He was questioned privately at the bench. Trial then resumed . +The image of the woodpecker giving a small weasel a lift on its back became an internet sensation and went viral around the globe. The emergence of photographer Martin Le-May's incredible snapshot has sparked dozen of hilarious memes parodying his work. Fans went to town creating their own versions of the image using a number of famous faces, including Miley Cyrus in her infamous wrecking ball get-up, Madonna and Chelsea captain John Terry. Characters from the likes of Toy Story and Lord of the Rings were also featured in entertaining send-ups, as were world leaders such as Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un. This is not the first time that the online world has united in creating comical ways of lampooning a picture. Hours after Kim Kardashian posted the image of her oiled-up derriere the internet reacted in force. Most recently the two tone dress was given the meme treatment, with people creating graphics to mock the internet's fascination with the dress. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Creative: One internet wit used the image of a weasel riding a woodpecker to poke fun at Vladimir Putin and another targeted Miley Cyrus . The original: The incredible photograph shows the tiny brown weasel clinging to the back of the green woodpecker as it takes flight across Hornchurch Country Park in east London. It was captured by photographer Martin Le-May, who had been enjoying a walk through the park with his wife . Tongue in cheek: John Travolta in his famous white suit, pictured left, and Barack Obama, right, were also given the woodpecker treatment . Just the three of us: Will Smith's son Jayden, pictured left, and Chelsea captain John Terry, pictured right, were superimposed onto the birds back . To Mordor: Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, pictured left, and the Rock shows off his bulging biceps, pictured right . Another meme circulating featured a range of animals on top of the woodpecker, pictured left. Madonna, Mugabe, and Miley were superimposed on another fan's take on the picture, right . Simples: Aleksandr the meerkat and Kim Jong-un did not escape being mocked in these latest amusing memes . Wing and a prayer: Labour leader Ed Miliband enjoyed an in-flight snack, pictured right, and Alex Salmond, pictured right, waved the flag for Scotland. +If Eoin Morgan wanted to demonstrate that he is taking little notice of the outpouring of criticism that has greeted perhaps the worst of all England’s many under-achieving World Cups then he made a good job of it. The unthinkable possibility of a first-round elimination will become reality if England lose to Bangladesh here on Monday, yet the England captain talked as if nothing has been learnt from three abysmal defeats. The subject of England’s over-reliance on statistics has become the hot topic of a long week of introspection in Adelaide but Morgan does not seem to have noticed, judging by his first answer in Saturday's pre-match interrogation. Ian Bell of England takes a catch during an England nets session at the Adelaide Oval . England's Alex Hales takes a catch during an England nets session on Saturday . England know they can not afford a slip-up or even a rainy day as they prepare to face Bangladesh . ‘Having a break has given us time to reflect and the analysis has come through which backs up our feel of what happened during the Sri Lanka game,’ said Morgan. ‘It makes things a lot clearer moving forward. It keeps it simple.’ Well, to put it simply, England were thrashed by Sri Lanka in Wellington by nine wickets with 16 balls remaining, when 309 became not nearly enough. Does it need analysis to tell Morgan that England under-estimated what a winning score would be and then bowled like drains? Also, the key statistics in Gary Ballance’s World Cup are 10, 10, 10 and 6, his scores since being parachuted in to the side at the expense of Ravi Bopara on the eve of England’s first World Cup game against Australia. England warm up during a nets session at the Adelaide Oval where they will meet Bangladesh . Chris Jordan (left) is held back at the Adelaide Oval as he and his team-mates get prepared . Yet unless Morgan was being disingenuous to protect his man yesterday England, who tinkered with their team the day before the tournament, are now perversely going to be stubborn and again ignore the claims of Alex Hales. ‘The decision we made to put Gary at three was a huge one,’ said Morgan. ‘There wasn’t much between him and Alex at the time and it was just a feel we had. It is a big decision to change anyone in the side and it won’t be taken lightly nor quickly.’ No one is doubting that Ballance has a bright future but right now, when England’s need is most acute, he looks rusty and short of the dynamism needed at this tournament. If England really are determined not to pick Hales — and every indication here is that deep down they do not think he is the answer — then perhaps Bopara comes back into the frame with James Taylor returning to three. That would give England an all-important extra bowling option if their preferred tactic of bombarding the opposition with short deliveries from Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Steven Finn and Chris Woakes does not work again. Ravi Bopara (right) and Eoin Morgan of England look on during an England nets session at the Adelaide Oval . Defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide would pile the pressure on England coach Peter Moores . England have endured some rotten World Cups since they went close in 1992 and must beat Bangladesh . The big two of Broad and Anderson are just as big a worry as Ballance at three. Both have taken just two wickets in this World Cup and their return in tandem for the first time in one-day cricket in two years has not been the bowling panacea England were counting on after losing in Sri Lanka. ‘It’s a difficult one really,’ said Morgan. ‘They are exceptional bowlers but have not been putting the ball consistently in the right areas and haven’t been able to take early wickets.’ England need all their under-performing players to come through now. They should beat Bangladesh — who gained an unexpected point when their game against Australia in Brisbane was rained off — at the Adelaide Oval to keep their World Cup flame just about flickering. However, upsets do happen and Bangladesh have the ammunition to cause one. The simple truth is, at the moment, England do not look good enough to challenge the best teams here. And they don’t need an analyst to tell them that. +England know they can not afford a slip-up or even a rainy day as they prepare to face Bangladesh at the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The two meet at 2pm on Sunday, or Monday at 3.30am for those in the UK, at the Adelaide Oval with England aiming to avoid early elimination at the group stages. They are in a precarious position ahead of the game as they know they must beat Bangladesh then Afghanistan in their final two Group A games to have any chance of surviving. Ian Bell of England takes a catch during an England nets session at the Adelaide Oval . England's Alex Hales takes a catch during an England nets session on Saturday . England know they can not afford a slip-up or even a rainy day as they prepare to face Bangladesh . England warm up during a nets session at the Adelaide Oval where they will meet Bangladesh . Chris Jordan (left) is held back at the Adelaide Oval as he and his team-mates get prepared . They should be able to see off their next two opponents, but it is a task easier said than done. England have endured some rotten World Cups since they went close to winning in Australia in 1992 but to go out in the first round of a competition designed to guarantee progress for the big eight would make this the worst yet. Defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide would pile the pressure on coach Peter Moores and the man who appointed him in Paul Downton. Ravi Bopara (right) and Eoin Morgan of England look on during an England nets session at the Adelaide Oval . Defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide would pile the pressure on England coach Peter Moores . England have endured some rotten World Cups since they went close in 1992 and must beat Bangladesh . +Manchester United starlet Adnan Januzaj is prepared to play in any position to be given more opportunities under Louis van Gaal. The 20-year-old made his breakthrough last season in one of the few highlights of David Moyes' ill-fated reign at Old Trafford, but has been used sparingly by Van Gaal this term as the Dutchman prefers to play a 3-5-2 system without orthodox wingers. The young Belgian has started just eight games from 18 appearances this term but is prepared to play a variety of attacking roles. Louis van Gaal (right) speaks with Adnan Januzaj who has had is chances at United  limited this season . The young Belgian, who has started just eight games from 18 appearances this term, replaces Angel di Maria . 'My game is all about trying to make things happen,' Januzaj told the club's official website. 'We had the diamond at Cambridge and I played as a left-midfielder. I feel comfortable there as well. I think I can play well there without a problem. 'My favourite position is as a winger or a no.10. There are a lot of players here and I can play in different roles – it is just a case of taking any opportunities.' Januzaj shares a joke with United team-mates (L-R) Andreas Pereira, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera . The 20-year-old insists he can 'make things happen' from a variety of attacking positions . United, the former dominant force in the Premier League, have been criticised for not challenging for the title in Van Gaal's first season, although Januzaj insists a return to the Champions League was always a priority. 'I think that's the aim – to try to qualify for next year's Champions League,' he added. 'I played in it last year and it was very good to do so. I was really happy and you know you're waiting for that kind of opportunity again in the future.' +Arsenal target Virgil van Dijk should be aiming to secure a move to a top six Premier League side if he leaves Celtic this summer, according to John Hartson. Van Dijk has been linked with a number of clubs in England's top flight this season with Sunderland and Everton both being priced out of a deal to sign the 23-year-old in the January transfer window. Last month Southampton also watched the Dutch centre back during Celtic's 3-3 draw with Inter Milan in the Europa League. Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk (left) could play for a top six Premier League side, according to John Hartson . Hartson also believes that the 23-year-old is currently as good as Arsenal centre back Laurent Koscielny (left) Arsenal also enquired about the defender prior to signing Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal. And Hartson, who played for both the Gunners and Celtic, believes Van Dijk is as good as current Arsenal first-team centre back Laurent Koscielny. 'I like big Virgil. I think he's the full package. He's quick, he can leap and defensively he is sound,' the former Wales international said. 'Celtic did fantastically to keep hold of him in the summer. It was a fantastic bit of business by [manager] Ronny Deila, who no doubt has had a word in his ear and told him: "If you give me another year to 18 months, then you can have your move." 'He will keep improving with Celtic and in time, he will become a top-class centre-half that a lot of clubs will be interested in. 'Is he top notch? Is he as good as the Laurent Koscielny's of this world? 'I think he is. I think he is a top-six Premier League player. I really do.' Van Dijk (right) has courted interest from the Gunners, Southampton, Everton and Sunderland recently . +Ronny Deila has urged his Celtic players to embrace history - rather than fear it - when their aspirations of landing the Treble are put on the line in three showdowns with Dundee United. Celtic travel to Tannadice on Saturday in the Scottish Cup quarter-final - before a Hampden clash with Jackie McNamara's men in the League Cup final seven days later is followed by a Premiership meeting with the Tangerines the following weekend. Those three games will go a long way to determining if this Celtic team have the mettle to become just the fourth in the club's history to complete a clean sweep of domestic honours. Ronny Deila has urged his Celtic players to embrace history, rather than fear it, against Dundee United . Deila says his squad are fully aware that only Jock Stein's sides of 1967 and 1969 together with Martin O'Neill's class of 2001 had previously won the league, Scottish Cup and League Cup. But the Norwegian believes they should be inspired by the prospect of matching such heady feats rather than be daunted by it. 'Everyone is aware of that,' Deila said. 'That's a positive thing - and we really want it. But we have to do it on the pitch. Celtic's Efe Ambrose leaves the field dejected as St Johnstone celebrate their midweek win at Celtic Park . 'There is nothing to fear. These are positive things. We are not talking relegation. That's a hard pressure. We have everything to win and we are really looking forward to it. 'Dundee United have done a very good job this year. They have been a good team and are going to be a tough opponent. We have to be up for the game. 'The three games between them – they are going to be really tough. But to win the championship and trophies is going to be hard. Everybody knows that. The cup is one game so we have to do everything we possibly can before the game to be ready for it.' Celtic blew a chance to extend their lead over Aberdeen to nine points on Wednesday by losing 1-0 at home to St Johnstone. St Johnstone's Steven MacLean holds off Celtic's Jason Denayer during the game at Celtic Park in midweek . Yet, Deila was reluctant to be overly critical of his players, given the game was their eighth in 26 days. 'It is not the second and the third and the fourth game that is hard when you play so many games,' he insisted. 'It is when you come to the sixth and seventh after each other and also only having three days instead of four between games. 'It is a big difference because you can't get 100 per cent rested. You lose 10 per cent against Inter Milan and then go into the game against Aberdeen and lose another 10 per cent again because you can't rest. St Johnstone's Murray Davisdon clears the ball from Celtic's Virgil van Dijk during the midweek clash . 'You saw against St Johnstone that the first 25 minutes was good, we were controlling the game, playing quick and getting chances but suddenly it was like a click and the energy was out of the boys.' However, Deila fully expects his players to be back to their best by the time they arrive on Tayside. 'This is four days (rest) and that is an important thing. It is an extra day and also it is not 12pm but 3.30pm so I am glad we play on Sunday and we are going to bounce back on Sunday – I am confident of that.' As well as the absences of cup-tied pair Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, Deila has a number of injury concerns. Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong will miss the game against Dundee United as they are cup tied . 'Adam (Matthews) got a twisted ankle so hopefully he will be okay,' he explained. 'With Kris (Commons) and John (Guidetti) we will have to see but there are possibilities for both of them. 'With Emilio (Izaguirre) we have to think about what we will do. He is a possibility but we will be taking a risk with him. It is too early for (Mikael) Lustig or (Charlie) Mulgew.' Pressed on the prognosis for Izaguirre's broken finger, Deila said: 'Emilio doesn't need an operation but it might be a bit of a risk to play him.' John Guidetti could return to the Celtic squad to take on Dundee United at the weekend . +You can search far and wide for the answer to a problem, but sometimes it is right under your nose. When Arsene Wenger sent Francis Coquelin on loan to Charlton in November it looked to be the final nail in the Frenchman's Arsenal career. The Gunners manager admitted as much recently, revealing he was prepared to let the midfielder leave in December. Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin (right) controls the ball during his side's win against QPR . The Frenchman wore a protective mask at Loftus Road after fracturing his nose against Everton . Coquelin, pictured challenging Sandro, has become the Gunners' midfield enforcer in recent months . But a spate of injuries in midfield saw Wenger recall Coquelin in December. The 23-year-old hasn't looked back. He's grasped his chance to become a key member of Arsenal's midfield with both hands, despite his reluctance to return to Arsenal from Charlton fearing he'd simply be warming the bench. There's an argument to suggest he's the most vital component in Wenger's plans at the present moment; the central midfield enforcer they've been crying out for in recent years. Just weeks after his Arsenal career looked to be drawing to a close, Coquelin is on the verge of agreeing a new long-term contract to stay at the Emirates Stadium. Wenger would like to say Coquelin's emergence has been pre-planned; a managerial masterstroke that has helped Arsenal turn their stuttering league form around. But that is far from the case. Coquelin played five games on loan at Charlton this season but has returned to be a first team regular . Coquelin's stint in the first team has earned him a new long-term contract with the Gunners . The Frenchman midfielder has propelled himself above compatriot Mathieu Flamini in the pecking order . Following three substitute appearances after his return from the Valley, Coquelin was handed a rare start against West Ham on December 28 in place of the injured Mathieu Flamini. He hasn't looked back. His energetic and mature displays alongside Santi Cazorla in central midfield have been a revelation - none more so than in the win at Manchester City in January. The concern with Coquelin has always been about his physical stature. Can his slender frame handle the rough and tumble of Premier League football? He's answered those questions unequivocally in recent weeks. Having fractured his nose in the recent win over Everton, the midfielder insisted upon playing on - only coming off in injury time after taking another blow to the face. Three days later he was back on the pitch, sporting a protective mask, in the narrow win over Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. He's waited so long to prove himself in an Arsenal shirt, Coquelin's won't let a broken nose keep him on the sidelines now. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger admitted that he was willing to let Coquelin leave the club before his return . Wenger is still interested in Southampton's defensive midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (left) Coquelin, pictured in training, still needs to convince Wenger that he can play for Arsenal long-term . The big question is whether Coquelin is the long-term answer to Wenger's holding midfielder conundrum. After failing to sign an enforcer last summer, the Gunners will be back in the market for a midfield ball winner once more at the end of the season despite Coquelin's emergence. Morgan Schneiderlin, for the time being, is favourite to land the role provided Arsenal can strike a deal with Southampton, who will want at least £25milliom. That would leave Coquelin's regular place in Wenger's team selections under threat. For now Coquelin will be focusing on keeping his place in the team until the end of the season. The returns of Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere following injury spells will cast further questions over the Frenchman's role. But, for now, the shirt is Coquelin's to lose. Having waited so long for this chance - he'll be desperate to keep it that way. +The Football Association has written to Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion over what the governing body calls ‘disturbing crowd incidents’ during Saturday’s shameful FA Cup tie. In a statement the FA says all video footage will be studied to identify culprits and ‘ensure they face appropriate punishment’. Tony Pulis has called for West Brom fans found guilty of ripping up seats at Villa Park to receive lifetime bans, while similar sanctions are likely to befall home fans who goaded and shoved opposition players. Police clash with unruly fans in the aftermath of the FA Cup clash between Aston Villa and West Brom . The national lead officer for football policing has questioned the scheduling of the match on Saturday night . Villa face the prospect of a significant fine for failing to control their fans over three pitch invasions and the FA will want to establish whether any negligence was the cause. Villa have already issued an unreserved apology over the scenes at the end of a game which saw 17 people arrested overall. An FA statement read: ‘The FA has contacted both Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion to request their observations in relation to the disturbing crowd incidents which occurred during and after their FA Cup quarter-final tie on 7 March 2015. ‘As well as liaising with both clubs, The FA is working closely with West Midlands Police and notes that a number of arrests have already been made. ‘All available video footage will be studied by the relevant parties to identify anyone who has committed a disorder offence inside the stadium and ensure they face the appropriate punishment. ‘Whilst its investigation continues, The FA will make no further comment.’ Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-final . A Villa statement read: 'Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and West Midlands Police are all working together to investigate events which took place both during and after Saturday's FA Cup match. 'The Club will also cooperate fully with the Football Association. There will be no further comment until all inquiries are complete.’ The national lead officer for football policing questioned the scheduling of the match, which kicked off at 5.30pm. 'Saturday night football is here to stay, we appreciate that, Friday night football is due to be coming in,' he told BBC Radio Five Live. 'When you have these fixtures you have to be careful about which ones you play. All games have potential (for crowd trouble) but clearly some games have more potential than others. 'They are big clubs, not clubs that particularly have a troublesome following but when you have that sort of fixture, late on a weekend in particular, alcohol is a factor. 'If you give people four, five, six hours more drinking time, don't be surprised if in a highly-charged atmosphere, their behaviour isn't good. Villa fans leap over hoardings at full-time, and the decision to play the game at 5.30pm is being questioned . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . 'If you're looking at whether alcohol was a factor, there was disorder at a public house near the ground before the game, people being arrested coming into the ground for being drunk and disorderly, being drunk seeking entry to a football ground. 'If you looked at the people who came onto the pitch, a few of them looked like they were worse for wear from some substance and I don't think there is any coincidence that where there's alcohol involved, people's behaviour tends to deteriorate.' He added: 'I do think there is an issue here for the broadcasters because that game was scheduled for a 5.30 kick-off to meet the BBC's scheduling. 'Broadcasters as well as the football authorities need to start taking these issues seriously. 'What we want is a sensible dialogue so that we schedule the game appropriately. If you look at the four games for the FA Cup quarter-finals this week, you couldn't probably have picked a worse one to have on a Saturday tea-time than a local derby between two big clubs.' The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way safely off the field following the full-time whistle . Scorer Scott Sinclair (second left) is mobbed by a fan and team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish . Villa issued an apology for their fans' behaviour while West Brom vowed to take a 'zero tolerance' approach after promising to co-operate fully with the FA inquiry. And Baggies boss Tony Pulis has called for a lifetime ban for any of the club's fans who were found to be responsible for throwing seats. 'If that was the situation, and they've got CCTV cameras up there, those supporters should never come into another football ground. It is like people coming into someone else's house - you have to show respect.' West Brom forward Callum McManaman is escorted off the field after a row with an Aston Villa fan . The pitch at Villa Park can barely be seen s supporters cover practically every blade of grass . Pulis was also concerned about the ease with which spectators were able to get on to the pitch. He added: 'I am old enough to have seen isolated incidents happen like that. I don't want to have a go and take anything away from what happened on the pitch and what happened in the game. 'If one thing, Villa should look at the stewarding because with a game at this time of night, 5.30pm, you need to police it properly, and I am sure Villa will look at it.' +The national lead officer for football policing has questioned the scheduling of Aston Villa's FA Cup quarter-final against West Brom on Saturday after the match was marred by crowd disturbances. Villa fans invaded the pitch on two occasions while seats were torn out and thrown from the North Stand which was housing the Albion fans. The Football Association is launching an investigation while West Midlands Police made 17 arrests related to the game and are also seeking witnesses to a disturbance at the Witton Arms pub before the game, which kicked off at 5.30pm. Police clash with unruly fans in the aftermath of the FA Cup clash between Aston Villa and West Brom . The national lead officer for football policing has questioned the scheduling of the match on Saturday night . Four of those arrests were for drunk and disorderly behaviour and Mark Roberts from Cheshire Police believes more consideration should be taken over the scheduling of potentially heated fixtures. 'Saturday night football is here to stay, we appreciate that, Friday night football is due to be coming in,' he told BBC Radio Five Live. 'When you have these fixtures you have to be careful about which ones you play. All games have potential (for crowd trouble) but clearly some games have more potential than others. Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-finals . 'They are big clubs, not clubs that particularly have a troublesome following but when you have that sort of fixture, late on a weekend in particular, alcohol is a factor. 'If you give people four, five, six hours more drinking time, don't be surprised if in a highly-charged atmosphere, their behaviour isn't good. 'If you're looking at whether alcohol was a factor, there was disorder at a public house near the ground before the game, people being arrested coming into the ground for being drunk and disorderly, being drunk seeking entry to a football ground. 'If you looked at the people who came onto the pitch, a few of them looked like they were worse for wear from some substance and I don't think there is any coincidence that where there's alcohol involved, people's behaviour tends to deteriorate.' Villa fans leap over hoardings at full-time, and the decision to play the game at 5.30pm is being questioned . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . He added: 'I do think there is an issue here for the broadcasters because that game was scheduled for a 5.30 kick-off to meet the BBC's scheduling. 'Broadcasters as well as the football authorities need to start taking these issues seriously. 'What we want is a sensible dialogue so that we schedule the game appropriately. If you look at the four games for the FA Cup quarter-finals this week, you couldn't probably have picked a worse one to have on a Saturday tea-time than a local derby between two big clubs.' The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way safely off the field following the full-time whistle . Scorer Scott Sinclair (second left) is mobbed by a fan and team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish . Villa issued an apology for their fans' behaviour while West Brom vowed to take a 'zero tolerance' approach after promising to co-operate fully with the FA inquiry. And Baggies boss Tony Pulis has called for a lifetime ban for any of the club's fans who were found to be responsible for throwing seats. 'If that was the situation, and they've got CCTV cameras up there, those supporters should never come into another football ground. It is like people coming into someone else's house - you have to show respect.' West Brom forward Callum McManaman is escorted off the field after a row with an Aston Villa fan . The pitch at Villa Park can barely be seen s supporters cover practically every blade of grass . Pulis was also concerned about the ease with which spectators were able to get on to the pitch. He added: 'I am old enough to have seen isolated incidents happen like that. I don't want to have a go and take anything away from what happened on the pitch and what happened in the game. 'If one thing, Villa should look at the stewarding because with a game at this time of night, 5.30pm, you need to police it properly, and I am sure Villa will look at it.' +Andy Murray responded to an earsplitting welcome from his adoring Scottish crowd to put Great Britain 1-0 up in their Davis Cup first round against the United States. In front of a packed 7,700 crowd at a Union Jack-bedecked Emirates Arena in Glasgow he recovered from a brief lull to eventually crush American number two Donald Young 6-1 6-1 4-6 6-2 in just under two hours. The match was over quick enough for Murray to remain as the likely option to play in tomorrow’s doubles alongside brother Jamie in the event of the tie ending level today at 1-1. Andy Murray lets out a celebratory scream as the Brit beats Donald Young in the David Cup . The British No 1 sunk Donald in front of a home crowd in Glasgow, winning the match in four sets . Australian Open finalist Murray pumps the air after claiming victory for Great Britain . Murray beat Young during day 1 of the Davis Cup match between Great Britain and USA . British No 1 Murray won the first two sets against the American . 'To play in front of this crowd is very special and I’m glad I managed to play a good match and get the win,' said Murray. 'I played an extremely high level in the first two sets and it was tough to keep that intensity up. I had a slight lull in the middle of the third set and Donald settled down.' After getting a deafening reception when he walked onto the court Murray needed to control his emotions sufficiently to concentrate on beating the world number 47 from Atlanta. The pair knocked up in slightly surreal circumstances to the crowd singing along with Runrig’s ‘Loch Lomond’ and that seemed to inspire the former Wimbledon champion and unnerve the ex junior world number one. Donald Young fought back to take the third set 6-4 but was not able to stage a comeback . Murray saw out the match in the fourth set as Great Britain got off to the perfect start against the US . Australian Open finalist Murray celebrates after winning a point against opponent Young . Murray shows his frustration during the match against Young in Glasgow on Friday . Murray rattled through the first set, not dropping a point on serve as he took it in 21 minutes. He was equally unwavering in taking the second after just 47 minutes’ overall play with Young pressing too hard and making errors galore on the slow indoor court. The American lefthander found his range more in the third and when the Scot put in a poor game at the end of it was good enough to close it out. To the delight of a partisan but well-behaved crowd he regained his focus in the fourth set and took it after another two breaks. His fist pumping celebration spoke of how much it meant to him. British number two was up against the huge serving John Isner in the singles rubber that followed. +Laura Robson is set to begin her comeback after spending more than a year out through injury at the Miami Open later this month. The former British No 1 last played a match at the Australian Open in January 2014 before undergoing surgery on her left wrist. Robson had hoped to be fit for this year's first grand slam but did not make it and a subsequent plan to return at low-key events in the US, where she has been training, had to be shelved as well. Laura Robson is set to begin her comeback from a 14-month injury lay-off by playing in the Miami Open . The 21-year-old's name also no longer appears on the entry list for next week's WTA Tour event in Indian Wells but she has been given a wild card into qualifying in Miami in a fortnight's time. Wrist injuries are notoriously troublesome for tennis players and Robson's team's focus has always been on ensuring the Londoner is not rushed back before she is ready. Assuming her progress remains on track, Robson, who no longer has a ranking, will play her first match in more than 14 months in Florida. . 21-year-old hasn't played since the Australian Open in January 2014 following left wrist surgery . +Laura Robson looks set to make her return to action after a 14-month absence with a wrist injury after being given a wildcard into the qualifying event for next month's Miami Open. The former British No 1's last appearance was more than a year ago in the Australian Open when she went down 6-3, 6-0 to Belgian 18th seed Kirsten Flipkens in under an hour. Robson shelved plans to make her comeback in February at a low-key event in Arizona. Laura Robson looks set to make her return to action after a 14-month absence with a wrist injury . Robson shelved plans to make her comeback in February at a low-key event in Arizona . The 21-year-old had been considering a return at a $25,000 (£16,400) lower-tier tournament at a place called Surprise starting next Monday. Robson was struggling with wrist problems from late 2013 onwards and in late April of 2014 underwent surgery, putting her in a cast for the rest of the summer. She was able to return to training and practice later on last year, working mostly in Florida, but as with all wrist injuries in tennis it has proved a tediously long process, and the watchword has always been caution. +No Davis Cup match would be complete without some kidology, and some of that duly surrounds the match that everyone in Glasgow wants to see this weekend. Andy and Jamie Murray versus world champions Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday looks to be the pivotal rubber of the World Group first round knockout match between Great Britain and America, which begins this afternoon at the Emirates Arena. Yet the home side were trying to play down expectations that it would happen on Thursday. Middlesex's Dom Inglot was officially named to play with Jamie Murray while the former Wimbledon champion insisted it was 'unlikely' he would play on Saturday. (From left to right) Dom Inglot, Jamie Murray, captain Leon Smith, James Ward and Andy Murray fancy their chances of taking down the USA with the backing of a noisy Glasgow crowd . Murray admits he is unlikely to team up with brother Jamie in an all-sibling Davis Cup doubles pairing . Murray will face the USA's Donald Young in Friday's opening singles tie in Glasgow's Emirates Arena . Jamie Murray (left),  Andy Murray (centre) and Smith speak to the media on Thursday . The smart money, however, would be on a clash of two siblings as the emotional centrepiece of what ought to be a fascinating three days. If, as expected, the match stands at 1-1 by Friday night then GB Captain Leon Smith will surely opt to throw in his trump card against the world's leading pair - however unlucky that would be for Inglot, who has actually beaten them twice this year with Romania's Florin Mergea. The Murrays against the Bryans would have so many ingredients: brothers versus brothers, Wimbledon champions versus Wimbledon champions, the ultimate doubles specialists versus a supreme singles player. SNP versus USA? Let's not go there. Playing America in the Davis Cup is not what it was twenty years ago, but there is still a cachet about the fixture that was the original challenge match for this competition when it was invented in 1900. It is mostly the homecoming of the Murrays that will ensure that the indoor arena next door to Celtic Park will be noisily packed to the rafters when the match begins. Jamie, who has had a cold, on Thursday declared himself fully fit. The doubles will see a crescendo reached, and it is notable that one of the game's most experienced Referees, Stefan Fransson, has been allocated to the match to ensure that everything remains as orderly as possible. As Jamie pointed out, the crowd will be 'full of people we've known our whole life, a lot of familiar faces.' Andy acknowledged that part of the task for him will be to control his emotions over the three days: 'The beginning of the matches are normally where I find it would affect me most in Davis Cup. When you come out, the national anthem, the crowd getting right into it at the beginning. Yes, it's an emotional experience. And sometimes at the beginning of the matches you can be a bit fired up, amped up, whatever you want to call it. 'That tends to subside after the first 15 or 20 minutes. Than you just get down to trying to concentrate on the tactics, the process and trying to win the match.' The last time a significant American team came to these parts it was the Ryder Cup five months ago at Gleneagles. That ended in defeat and recrimination for the visitors, but their chances of success this time are greater and they are marginally the favourites. Not as much as they would be in times when they could call upon the likes of their now Captain, Jim Courier, whose relatively shallow pool of players means this will draw scant attention back home. Murray (right) will kick off the tie at Glasgow's Emirates Arena on Friday against Donald Young . Bob (left) and Mike Bryan field questions from the press ahead of the weekend's Davis Cup action in Glasgow . His biggest call has been to pick world number 47 Donald Young as his second singles player, who could find himself playing a deciding rubber against GB number two James Ward on Sunday afternoon. Young, now 25, was once the youngest ever junior world number one and has found some good form in the past month. But his achievements have never matched his natural gifts and his sometimes flaky temperament will be tested as never before if he faces the lower ranked Ward with the match still alive. Britain's own stocks are so modest that there has been a frisson of excitement around the 27 year-old London cabbie's son recent flirtations with the top 100. What he will not lack is motivation, and some of his best performances have come in the Davis Cup, such as when he beat America's Sam Querrey last year. James Ward chats with Captain of The Aegon GB Davis Cup Team Leon Smith ahead of the Davis Cup match . 'The two biggest passions in my life are Arsenal and playing for my country,' he said. ' I am patriotic. I think you have seen that in the past and I think you will see it here.' He begins today by playing American number one John Isner, who he beat in an exhibition match just prior to the Australian Open. That is unlikely to happen again over five sets against the 6' 10' giant with a sometimes unplayable serve, but against Young he would have a fighting chance. This tie being close presupposes that Andy Murray can shake off his sometimes erratic post-Melbourne form and win both his singles matches. Courier was keen to emphasise that this is not a formality: 'Andy' s one of the toughest nuts in the business, he has great offensive and defensive skills,' said Courier. 'That's what's made him such a great player, but everyone is beatable. If Andy's not sharp, he can be vulnerable and he's had some matches this year where he hasn't been as crisp as we've seen him in Australia.' As ever it is the younger Murray who will bear the greatest burden, with GB trying to pull off its first home win at this elite level of the competition since 1986. So, what’s the story with the Davis Cup, then? Now heralded as the world’s largest annual team competition, with 122 nations taking part last year, this World Cup of men’s tennis actually looked more like the old Ryder Cup when it began in 1900 — when Harvard’s tennis team came up with the idea of pitting the best Americans against the finest players from the British Isles. One of those students, Dwight Davis, bought the original trophy — hence the name. How does it work now? How long have you got? There are divisions and groups, relegation play-offs and zones. Having expanded to six teams in 1905, the Davis Cup responded to the onset of the Open era by going global in 1969. If you’re in the elite top 16, where Britain are now, it becomes a whole lot more simple. Straight knock-out matches, with the winner of the final walking off with the trophy. And Britain are good, are they? Since reaching the final in 1978, GB have plummeted to some pretty low depths over the years. Now ranked 11th, think of us as the West Brom of tennis, yo-yoing up and down between the top division and the Europe/Africa Zone 1. How does the scoring work? There are five matches — or rubbers — played over the course of three days, with a team point available in each rubber. It starts with two singles matches on the Friday, there’s a doubles rubber on the Saturday, then the reverse singles on the Sunday. It can all be over by Saturday afternoon, if one team wins the first three rubbers. Team GB will lean heavily on Andy Murray, who may yet play in the doubles — as well as his two singles rubbers — despite not being named alongside brother Jamie in yesterday’s draw. What happens if we win this one? A victory for Britain would see them progress to the World Group quarter-finals, to be played between July 17-19. Yes, that’s right, the same weekend as the Open Championship. Lose and it’s a relegation play-off in September. How do we get tickets? Despite over 20,000 tickets selling in around 10 minutes when they were made available back in November, there are now extra places available. See http://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/international-events/davis-cup/davis-cup-tickets/ for more details. +Fernando Alonso has expressed natural disappointment he is to sit out the season-opening Formula One grand prix in Australia, but is fully appreciative of the circumstances. On advice from doctors Alonso will have to wait for his competitive return with McLaren until the second race in Malaysia later this month. Although given a clean bill of health after sustaining concussion in a heavy crash in the second pre-season test in Barcelona on February 22, the fear of 'second-impact syndrome' has forced Alonso's hand. Fernando Alonso was involved in a high-speed crash during testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya . Alonso's McLaren is recovered back to the pits on the back of a truck after crashing in Barcelona . McLaren driver Alonso was taken by helicopter to hospital following the accident in Catalonia . Alonso tweeted his disappointment at not being able to make the season-opening F1 grand prix in Australia . The term refers to a second concussion occurring when the effects of the first are still subsiding, potentially resulting in severe brain injuries, or even death. Although the timespan between the accident and Alonso returning to the car for first practice in Melbourne on March 13 would appear to be sufficient, he is not prepared to take any risks. Via his Twitter account, Alonso said: 'It will be tough not to be in Australia, but I understand the recommendations. A second impact in less than 21 days 'NO' £countdownMalaysia.' For the Albert Park event Alonso's seat will now be occupied by Kevin Magnussen, demoted to reserve driver following the Spaniard's arrival after a full season with the team in 2014. A thrilled Magnussen, who will partner Jenson Button in Melbourne, tweeted: 'Shame about the circumstances but still I'm so excited to be racing in Melbourne. Can't wait!!' The 22-year-old Danish racer Kevin Magnussen will replace Alonso for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix . To which a sporting Alonso replied: 'best of luck at the race mate! £BelieveInMcLarenHonda.' Explaining the circumstances behind the decision taken to withdraw Alonso from Australia, McLaren have revealed doctors found the 33-year-old to be 'asymptomatic', with 'no evidence whatsoever of any injury' and 'entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives'. But given the prospect of second-impact syndrome Alonso was 'advised he should not compete in the imminent Australian Grand Prix meeting'. A McLaren statement added: 'Fernando has understood and accepted that advice. Fernando's doctors acknowledge he feels fit and well, and he regards himself as ready to race. Medical staff arrived on the scene to give Alonso treatment at the side of the road after the accident . A helicopter was sent to pick up Alonso and taken him to hospital from Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya . Alonso was taken to hospital by helicopter after being involved in a crash at speeds of up to 150mph . 'That being the case they are comfortable with the fact he has already recommenced physical training, with a view to preparing for a return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Honda car for the Malaysian Grand Prix meeting on March 27, 28 and 29. 'Indeed, his doctors are supportive of that ambition, satisfied as they are that he sustained no damage whatsoever during his testing accident on February 22. 'All at McLaren-Honda fully support Fernando's decision in respect of his doctors' advice.' Double world champion Alonso has returned to McLaren for this season after spending the past five years with Ferrari, burying the hatchet with Group CEO Ron Dennis following an ignominious campaign with the team in 2007. +Jonjo O’Neill has no doubts who he will be shouting for if two particular horses are galloping clear to the final fence in Friday’s Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup. One, Irish-trained Carlingford Lough, owned by JP McManus, ridden by soon-to-retire 19-time champion jockey AP McCoy, will be carrying a hill of punters’ money and a mountain of sentimental support. The other, Holywell, a winner at the last two Festivals and who showed his old sparkle when winning his warm-up race at Kelso last month under McCoy, is O’Neill’s main hope for a big win this week. Trainer and ex-jockey Jonjo O'Neill pictured at Cheltenham Racecourse ahead of next week's Festival . AP McCoy (left) and trainer Jonjo O'Neill pictured with Synchronised and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2012 . With McManus being O’Neill’s landlord and staunchest supporter, and McCoy his long-time ally, who helped deliver both the 2012 Gold Cup on Synchronised and 2010 Grand National on Don’t Push It, it might seem at best a difficult dilemma and at worst a nightmare scenario. But O’Neill is clear where his support will lie. ‘I will be shouting for Holywell. The rent may go up but we will talk about that later,’ he says, as he looks out over the famous strip of Cheltenham turf that has defined his career. The arduous climb to the finishing post was the scene of the two-time champion jockey’s 1980 Champion Hurdle win on Sea Pigeon and, even more memorably, the heart-stopping surge to the line on 1986 Gold Cup-winning mare Dawn Run. Don’t be fooled by the sparkling smile and twinkling eyes. O’Neill might come over like a cross between Father Christmas and your favourite uncle but he has not risen to the top of the racing ladder by being soft-hearted. ‘I knew if JP had a runner AP would ride it. He pays the retainer,’ he says. ‘Richie McLernon will ride Holywell and they get on really well. They have clicked and Richie has twice won on him at Cheltenham. He has won at two Festivals so hopefully he can make it three in a row.’ Holywell is one of O'Neill's main hope for a big win in the Cheltenham Gold Cup . McCoy (right) and O'Neil (left) pictured with John McManus after winning the Grand National . While O’Neill is determined to deny McCoy the big final Festival send-off the jockey is hoping for, that doesn’t mean he is not desperate to provide him with a winner despite the blow of one of their big hopes, last year’s World Hurdle winner More Of That, missing the meeting. They have become more than just employer and employee and no one is better placed to assess McCoy than O’Neill, a man who rode against a generation of former weighing room giants including Ron Barry, Dessie Hughes, John Francome, Peter Scudamore and Tommy Carberry. ‘There is a piece of everybody in him,’ says the man who has trained 25 Festival winners. ‘Some fellas are a great judge of pace but wouldn’t be able to produce a horse at a fence. He is the complete all-rounder. ‘He knows the pace, the tracks and the ground. He has ridden north, south, east and west and knows what every other horse in the race and their jockeys will be doing. He knows who to follow and who not to follow. ‘Basically, he is a freak and he loves winning, which is great.’ Regular Festival observers have learned to set their watch by O’Neill, who has only twice driven away from the last day without a winner since the turn of the century. The signs are again positive with 22 winners since the start of February an indicator that his string is back in form. O'Neill is determined to deny McCoy the big final Festival send-off the jockey is hoping for . O'Neill, who has trained 25 Cheltenham Festival winners, described McCoy as a freak that loves winning . That is in stark contrast to dark days when the whole of November, a blank December and January yielded only 11 victories. ‘It was very bleak,’ said O’Neill. The barren patch scuppered hopes of launching an outside challenge for the trainers’ title that had been made possible by a bright start to the season. That remains the O’Neill ambition but one hampered, he feels, by the wrong perception he is McManus’s private trainer. He says: ‘One day, hopefully, I will be champion trainer. We are an open house and there is nobody who enjoys us having winners for other people more than JP. ‘I knew we didn’t have the firepower [this year] but were expecting to have a better season with the better horses. Hopefully, they will finish off the season better.’ No one will be surprised if he does. Course specialist Johns Spirit in the Ryanair Chase and Taquin Du Seuil, winner of the JLT Novices’ Chase last season and possibly heading down the handicap route, both have claims and a Festival gamble on an O’Neill handicapper is almost obligatory. But it is Holywell, winner of the 2013 Pertemps Hurdle and what is now the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase last year, who leads the O’Neill charge. The trainer describes the eight-year-old, who is transformed by blinkers, as a ‘little con man’. If he dashes the McCoy’s Gold run, party pooper might be more appropriate. +Jockey Ruby Walsh has ended weeks of speculation by announcing he will ride favourite Faugheen in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle. The announcement means colleague Paul Townend will be on Faugheen’s Willie Mullins-trained stablemate Hurricane Fly, a dual winner of the race. Walsh, who is riding at Sandown on Saturday afternoon, said: ‘You can only ride one and you have to ride the one you think will win. Riding Faugheen, younger legs might be the difference but there is every chance I might be wrong. Ruby Walsh, pictured rising Faugheen at Kempton in December, has chosen his ride for Chetltenham . Walsh is congratulated by trainer Willie Mullins after winning 2014 Novice's Hurdle with Faugheen . ‘The drying conditions did not come into it. I think Cheltenham will put plenty of water on. Faugheen is the one I want to ride.’ In other Festival news, trainer Harry Fry has announced Rock On Ruby misses Thursday’s World Hurdle after working badly. Paul Townend will ride Hurricane Fly in the Champions Hurdle at Cheltenham . Walsh celebrates after riding Hurricane Fly to victory in the 2013 Champions Hurdle . +Toast Of New York has been ruled out of the Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 31 after suffering a setback. A stunning winner of the UAE Derby on World Cup night last March, Jamie Osborne's stable star ended his three-year-old campaign with a fantastic effort in defeat when beaten just a nose by Bayern in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita in November. Sheikh Joaan Al Thani's Al Shaqab Racing operation stepped in to buy the colt earlier this year, and Osborne had been preparing him for a tilt at the world's richest race where he would have been ridden by Frankie Dettori. Toast Of New York, pictured here with trainer Jamie Osborne, is set for a spell on the sidelines . Toast Of New York is, however, now set for a spell on the sidelines. The trainer said: 'He's had a setback and, sadly, he's going to miss the World Cup. I have to speak to the Al Shaqab team and I'm sure we'll be formulating another plan. 'It's very disappointing for Sheikh Joaan and his team, and obviously for everybody here but he'll be back.’ +England's plans for the Calcutta Cup showdown with Scotland have been undermined by yet another midfield injury – as Brad Barritt limped out of Saracens’ win at Wasps on Sunday. In the 58th minute of the Aviva Premiership encounter, the 28-year-old was contesting a high kick but landed awkwardly and his right leg bent backwards as home fly-half Andy Goode landed on it. He was treated on the field before being helped off. Initial indications were that Barritt had suffered a medial ligament strain in his knee, but that early prognosis soon changed. Brad Barritt, hopeful of an England return against Scotland, limped out of Saracens’ win at Wasps on Sunday . Barritt's injury after Andy Goode landed on his leg initially seemed to be to his knee, but was to his ankle . After his side’s 26-17 comeback win, Saracens’ director of rugby, Mark McCall, said: ‘It seems to be his ankle. The knee seems to be okay. We’re all hopeful it won’t be too serious. 'It didn’t look very good and Brad has been unlucky this season. I’m sure he’ll be close to selection for England next weekend, so fingers crossed it’s not as bad as it looked.’ Barritt was due to join up with the rest of the England squad at their Surrey HQ on Sunday night and he will face urgent medical assessments on Monday, as the coaches wait to discover if he will be available for Saturday’s RBS Six Nations clash with the Scots at Twickenham. With Luther Burrell of Northampton unable to train last week due to a calf strain, Barritt was seemingly destined for a recall at inside centre, but now his hopes hang in the balance. Saracens’ director of rugby Mark McCall is hoping Barritt's injury isn't as bad as it looked . Barritt (obscured by Goode) was penalised for this challenge on Goode in the air that caused the injury . Barritt was due for a recall to the England side as Northampton's Luther Burrell struggles with a calf strain . The Saracen was an heroic mainstay of England’s autumn victory over Australia in his last Test appearance, but a calf injury in that game kept him out for a month, then he damaged knee ligaments in his clubs’ European Champions Cup tie against Clermont Auvergne in France. That untimely setback meant Barritt was unable to retain the national No 12 shirt, as he surely would have done if he had come through that pre-championship weekend unscathed. Stuart Lancaster, England’s head coach, will hope that if Barritt isn’t cleared for a return against Scotland, Burrell does recover in time. The alternative option would be to pick Billy Twelvetrees at inside centre, but the Gloucester captain’s form has been alarmingly inconsistent this season. If Barritt is fit to play, he is set to rejoin the back line along with Harlequins full-back Mike Brown – despite Alex Goode’s superb efforts at No 10 for Saracens yesterday. Up front, Northampton lock Courtney Lawes is expected to come into the second row in place of George Kruis. England coach Stuart Lancaster's plans for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash may have to be rethought . Barritt, here tackling Wasps' Nathan Hughes, will undergo urgent medical examinations on Monday . Unlucky Barritt has recently recovered from calf and knee ligament injuries before the most recent blow . +Wasps director of rugby Dai Young described Saracens as a unique team to play against after his side lost a crucial Premiership match at the Ricoh Arena. Brilliant tries from Christian Wade and Elliot Daly, with two conversions and a penalty from Andy Goode, had seen Wasps build up a 17-3 lead after the first 20 minutes. But after that the Saracens pack became the dominant force with Richard Wigglesworth and Alex Goode controlling matters at half-back. Their tries came from Chris Wyles and Mako Vunipola with Alex Goode converting both and adding four penalties. Wasps director or rugby Dai Young believes his side can still make the play-offs at the end of the season . Nathan Hughes surges forward with the ball for Wasps during the Aviva Premiership match with Saracens . Wasps had stormed into a 17-3 lead through tries from Elliot Daly (right)  and Christian Wade . 'We knew what was coming from (them) as they don't play a lot of rugby, (they) kick the ball a lot to squeeze you and it's very hard to play against. 'If you can control it, you get options to play as we showed in the first 20 minutes but after that we struggled to deal with the aerial bombardment as we dropped the ball far too often.' Despite the loss, which was a huge blow to Wasps' chances of making the play-offs, Young was adamant that his team were moving forward. 'Nothing changes as a result of today, we are still a work in progress and we are still aiming for a place in the top six. 'We will address what went wrong today for our set-piece didn't function as well as we would have liked and we lacked a bit of control in the second half. 'However, we do have individual players who can lighten up any stadium as you saw in the first 20 minutes.' Christian Wade (left) beats Alex Goode to score a try for Wasps in an exciting first-half at the Ricoh Arena . Elliot Daly breaks clear to score a try during the Aviva Premiership match with Saracens . Saracens boss Mark McCall was complimentary to his side as they had stuck to their game plan after going 17-3 down. He said: 'We had the clarity of thought not to be spooked when they scored two tries in three minutes as we put the ball in the right areas to put pressure on them. 'You can see that they have people who can hurt you from long range as they've scored a lot of tries from inside their own half this season. 'We had chances to close it up late on, which we didn't take, but we did deprive them of a vital bonus point.' The only downside for the Saracens was the loss of Brad Barritt, who limped off in the second half following a heavy collision with Andy Goode. 'We are hopeful it isn't too serious and we have our fingers crossed because Brad must be very close to England selection next week,' added McCall. Chris Wyles slides over the line to score a try despite a last ditch challenge from Christian Wade . +Wasps lost the last remaining unbeaten home record in the Aviva Premiership as they suffered a 26-17 defeat at the hands of Saracens. Saracens have now beaten their opponents in 10 of their last 11 fixtures as Wasps threw away an early 17-3 lead. Brilliant tries from Christian Wade and Elliot Daly with two conversions and a penalty from Andy Goode had seen them build up that lead but after that first 20 minutes, the Saracens pack were too strong and ensured the visitors were deserved winners. Nathan Hughes is tackled by Brad Barritt  during the Aviva Premiership match between Wasps and Saracens . Saracens scored two tries through Jackson Wray and Chris Wyles with Alex Goode converting both and adding four penalties. Lock Bradley Davies returned from Welsh squad duties to start for Wasps but prop Jake Cooper-Woolley was ruled out with concussion. Italian international, Lorenzo Cittadini was his replacement. Saracens were able to include England's Alex Goode, Mako Vunipola, Brad Barritt and Richard Wigglesworth in their starting line-up. Wing David Strettle was rested so there was a call-up for Wyles. Elliot Daly celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during the match at The Ricoh Arena . A poor kick from Chris Ashton gave Wasps an early platform in the opposition 22 and when Saracens were penalised, Andy Goode made no mistake with his kick to put his side ahead. However that score was soon nullified when Alex Goode took his first kicking chance to tie up the scores. After 13 minutes Wasps were back in front with the first try of the game. Well-timed passes from Ashley Johnson and Daly gave Wade his chance and the wing powered away down the right flank to kick ahead deep into the opposition 22. Christian Wade Alex Goode to the ball to score the first try during the Aviva Premiership match . Saracens should have cleared the danger but the ball ran loose for Wade to pounce and score with Andy Goode converting with a superb touchline kick. Minutes later, Wasps extended their lead with an even better try. Inside his own half, Andy Goode fed Daly with seemingly nothing on but the Wasps centre mesmerised the visitors' defence by running 55 metres to score. Andy Goode converted and the hosts held a healthy 17-3 lead. Back came Saracens to mount a period of pressure and they were rewarded when Wray finished off a driving line-out for the try, which Alex Goode converted before adding a penalty. Daly breaks clear to score a try during the Aviva Premiership match between Wasps and Saracens . After 28 minutes, Saracens went ahead for the first time after Wasps lost a line-out in their own half. Vunipola brushed past Johnson's tackle before a neat chip from Wigglesworth saw Wyles collect and hold off the attentions of Wade for the touchdown. Alex Goode converted but his namesake missed a penalty for Wasps with the last kick of the half so Saracens led 20-17 at the interval. Within a minute of the restart, Ashton was yellow carded for a high tackle on Rob Miller but the home side could not take advantage as the wing returned with the scoreboard unchanged apart from Alex Goode's third penalty. Chris Wyles slides over to score his team's try despite the tackle from Christian Wade of Wasps . Saracens' pack became the dominant force with some skillful kicking from Wigglesworth keeping them on the front foot and they should have gained further reward but Alex Goode's penalty rebounded back off a post. Saracens suffered a blow when Barritt limped off to be replaced by Tim Streather but the visitors still led 23-17 at the end of the third quarter. When Saracens were penalised at a scrum, Andy Goode had a chance to reduce the arrears but surprisingly he was off target and the opposition made him pay. Clever play from Ben Ransom secured the visitors an attacking position and Wasps replacement Guy Thompson pulled down a driving line-out to go to the sin-bin and allow Alex Goode to boot his fourth penalty. +Brad Barritt's England return was scuppered after the Saracens centre had to be taken off with a serious-looking knee injury during a win over Wasps. Barritt, who was expected to replace Luther Burrell at 12 for England against Scotland next week, landed awkwardly after contesting a high ball with Wasps' Andy Goode. And it was reported that the 28-year-old may have suffered knee ligament damage, which would rule him out of the Six Nations, after he was treated off the pitch before limping off. Brad Barritt is treated on the pitch after falling heavily following an areal clash with Andy Goode . Barritt puts in a tackle on Wasps' Nathan Hughes earlier in the game, as Saracens ended Wasps' record . It is a blow to Stuart Lancaster, who had hoped to bring Barritt back into the team for the Calcutta Cup clash. Northampton flanker Tom Wood, an England team-mate of Barritts, tweeted his support, writing: 'Really hope that wasn't as bad as it looked mate. Hopefully see u tomoro'. Saracens held on, despite losing Barritt, to win 26-17, becoming the first team to win at the Ricoh Arena in the Premiership since Wasps moved there. Sarries scored two tries through Jackson Wray and Chris Wyles with Alex Goode converting both and adding four penalties. The big centre had been in line for a return to the England squad, but the injury looks likely to rule him out . Barritt had been expected to replace Luther Burrell at inside centre for next week's game against Scotland . +In a sport increasingly dominated by statistical analysis and calm dissection of performances it was reassuring to hear Dan Cole discuss the depth of anger felt by England’s players on reviewing their Ireland no-show. Cole, one of the few England stars to depart Dublin with his reputation enhanced last Sunday, revealed the extent of the frustration within the England squad at their misfiring display when their Grand Slam dream was broken by a series of tactical and technical blunders. Stuart Lancaster’s men held a debrief on Tuesday at their five-star Pennyhill Park retreat in Surrey and the video analysis made for uncomfortable viewing. Dan Cole has revealed the frustration felt by England's squad as they relived the Ireland defeat . Chief among their concerns was the spectacular first-half line-out fail which saw England hooker Dylan Hartley throw straight to 6ft 10in Ireland lock Devin Toner at the back when a clean catch and drive would have almost certainly yielded points. England’s repeated disciplinary infringements also led to a 13 to eight penalty deficit and Cole admits watching the match again was deeply frustrating. ‘There is room for emotion because you are frustrated with the game and there were a few things we’ve gone over,’ he said. ‘We didn’t plan to do a lot of the stuff that we did. Trust me we didn’t train what we did at the weekend. We didn’t do that on the training field. ‘There is that frustration and it comes out in anger or whatever from coaches and players because they are frustrated in that regard. It is not just a cool, calm dissection – sometimes it is but if a point needs to be raised it is talked about. England failed to take their chances and made some basic errors, before being punished by the Irish . ‘It was interesting, it was good, it was honest. I think there were some areas – a lot of areas obviously – where we didn’t perform like we should have done.’ Ireland outmanoeuvred England by denying them scrummaging opportunities and by failing to implement the expected ‘choke tackle’, therefore denying the visitors the chance to play to their strengths. Their British Lion half-back pair of Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray controlled field position with some outstanding tactical kicking. When England did have a chance to gain a foothold in the game, Hartley’s wayward throw to Toner cost them dear after George Ford opted to kick a kickable penalty to the corner. Cole was one of the few Englishmen to come out of the defeat in Dublin with any credit . ‘That line-out was a frustration. In international rugby if you get a set piece in the opposition 22 and especially 5m out you have to take it,’ Cole added. ‘You don’t really get another chance like that against sides like Ireland, and we didn’t really get one. I’m not saying that the game changed on that but it was an emotional swing. 'They steal the ball and the crowd lifts up. You score there and it is a different mentality. It wasn’t the reason we lost the game but next time we’ll probably throw away from the 6ft 10 bloke with long arms!’ The England prop will hope his side can bounce back against Scotland at Twickenham next week . While South African referee Craig Joubert took exception to much of England’s work at the break down, Lancaster and his team hope Frenchman Romain Poite will be more forgiving at Twickenham against unfancied Scotland next Saturday. Cole added: ‘Referees have their strengths and weaknesses, just like players do. Set-piece, open play, some refs will let you play stuff, others won’t. There is a variance but it is a case of being as clean as you can. If you are positive in your actions, you will be on the right side of the referee.’ +Daniel Vettori became the 12th player to take 300 one-day international wickets as New Zealand eased to a six-wicket victory against Afghanistan. The 36-year-old, who took an impressive 4-18, is the first New Zealander to pass the landmark and now sits in the esteemed company of greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram and Glenn McGrath. Afghanistan required a seventh-wicket partnership of 86 between Najibullah Zadran and Samiullah Shenwari to post a respectable 186 all out, having chosen to bat, but a 19-ball 42 from Brendon McCullum ensured there would be no shock in Napier. Daniel Vettori became the 12th player to take 300 one-day international wickets . Vettori of New Zealand celebrates taking the wicket of Afsar Zazai of Afghanistan at the Cricket World Cup . Vettori celebrates with Brendon McCullum after taking the wicket of Zazai during the Cricket World Cup match . Perhaps a mark of the man and an added insight into the where the focus of the team remains, Vettori said the landmark was something he would think about after the World Cup. 'Right now we are caught up in the middle of a World Cup,' he said. 'We have an important game on Friday (group game against Bangladesh), and then probably the most important of our careers the following Saturday (quarter-final). 'Maybe in a month, it will be the time to look back on it. I didn't go into the World Cup thinking about that milestone, I didn't believe I would take this many wickets in this few games.' Understandably stung from being smashed for a record-breaking 417 runs by Australia in Perth days earlier, Mohammad Nabi chose to bat after calling correctly at the toss. Afghanistan were made to pay for a choice that signaled a slight naivety within the camp, with their own coaching staff having previously admitted that bowling was the side's strong suit. The newcomers to the World Cup stage collapsed to 34-3 and then 59-6, as Vettori caused most of the damage after Trent Boult had Javed Ahmadi trapped lbw for just one. McCullum has developed into an imposing captain, known for his ingenuity and outrageously attacking fields – so his decision to bowl his spinner in just the third over was met with mild surprise. The decision was less genius and more to allow New Zealand's opening bowlers, Tim Southee and Boult, to switch ends. The 36-year-old is the first New Zealander to pass the landmark of 300 ODI wickets . New Zealand eased to a six-wicket win over Afghanistan at the Cricket World Cup on Sunday . He now sits in the company of greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram and Glenn McGrath . Vettori of New Zealand speaks at a post-match press conference following their Cricket World Cup win . Still, Vettori showed that he's as accurate in the third over as in the 15th as he struck with his first ball. Usman Ghani lost sight of the ball and saw his off stump disturbed. With his opening strike bowlers having switched ends, McCullum resumed the pace attack, and Asghar Stanikzai could only send a short ball from Boult into the geelful clutches of Martin Guptil. Southee, struggling with his line and length, was replaced by Vettori, who took No.300 by bowling Nawroz Mangal for 27 with the first ball of his third over. The Auckland-born spinner was on a roll and had Nabi (6) and Afsar Zazai dismissed off consecutive balls. Nabi was caught at slip, while Zazai was trapped leg before. That brought Najibullah to the crease for the hat-trick ball, and the batsman was welcomed by the sight of nine men around his bat, with no fielder outside the circle. However, he survived and showed maturity beyond his years in his partnership with Shenwari before departing after a run-a-ball 56 that ended when he top-edged a short and wide bouncer from Adam Milne to Vettori at third man. New Zealand's Ross Taylor gets a handshake from Afghanistan's Hamid Hassan (left) after the match . New Zealand are very much on course to end their World Cup victory drought . Shenwari, undoubtedly Afghanistan's best batsman in this tournament, was the anchor of his side's innings, and he made 54 off 110 balls before falling to Corey Anderson. An entertaining cameo from Hamid Hassan (16 off 21) took Afghanistan to 186, but for the fifth consecutive World Cup match New Zealand bowled out their opposition. The number of orange target T-shirts seemed to double after the resumption of play with the crowd undoubtedly expecting McCullum to send a few balls into the stand and help them earn a share of the pot of money for the 'one-handed crowd catch' promotion. But McCullum cleared the rope just once in his innings before being bowled by Nabi with one that kept a touch low. His departure unsurprisingly slowed the run chase, and when Kane Williamson picked out midwicket off Shapoor Zardan for 33, the Afghans believed they had a chance. Two comical run-outs saw Martin Guptill (57) and Grant Elliott (19) further add to the nerves of the McLean Park crowd, but Ross Taylor, the birthday boy, held his nerve to steer New Zealand home. The same side, the same outcome, the same feeling after the match – New Zealand are very much on course to end their World Cup victory drought. +Ireland clung on to claim a controversial five-run win over Zimbabwe to keep their bid to reach the World Cup quarter-finals on track. Ed Joyce's third one-day international century helped Ireland post 331 for eight - their highest ever score at a World Cup - but Zimbabwe looked like running down the record chase until a debatable John Mooney catch. Replays appeared to show Mooney had stepped on the rope when he held on to remove Sean Williams, who was four short of a century and seemingly in control of the pursuit. Alex Cusack (centre) of Ireland is congratulated by team mates after getting the wicket of Tawanda Mupariwa . Kevin O'Brien celebrates after Sean Williams is controversially caught out by John Mooney . Ireland celebrate after winning their pulsating World Cup clash against Zimbabwe and knocking them out . The third umpire was called to judge the catch, although Williams did not remain on the field of play after he instead opted to take the word of Mooney that he had taken the catch inside the rope. There was still drama to follow as number 10 Tawanda Mupariwa slapped 19 from the penultimate over, delivered by Kevin O'Brien, to leave Zimbabwe needing seven from the last six balls. But Alex Cusack held his nerve as he claimed the final two wickets, first getting Regis Chakabva to drag on before Mupariwa skied a catch William Porterfield gratefully accepted. While Joyce's 112 earned him the man-of-the-match award Cusack's four for 32 was just as invaluable, especially after he removed Zimbabwe skipper Brendon Taylor for 121. Ed Joyce celebrates making his third one-day international century and helping Ireland to 331-8 . Joyce scores many of his impressive runs as Ireland boosted their chances of World Cup qualification . Victory was Ireland's second over a full-member nation at the tournament after they opened their campaign with a win over West Indies. They will, however, most likely need to pull off one more shock in their final two pool games against India and Pakistan. Pakistan's surprise win over South Africa earlier in the day did Ireland few favours and their clash in Adelaide on March 15 looms as a potential decider. John Mooney celebrates getting the wicket of Sikandar Raza and helping them on their way to victory . Ireland stand for the national anthem during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup against Zimbabwe . Joyce became the fourth Ireland player to score a World Cup century although he was given a helping hand by a sloppy Zimbabwe fielding display. The Sussex batsman was twice dropped, while he edged his first ball just short of slip, but was otherwise imperious as he hit nine fours and three sixes. He joined in a third-wicket partnership of 138 with Andy Balbirnie, who was only three runs away from following Joyce to three figures after he was run out during the late-over scramble. Ireland took 108 from the final 10 overs to reach their highest ODI score, surpassing the 329 for seven they racked up during their famous World Cup win over England in Bangalore four years ago. Kevin O'Brien celebrates after taking the controversial wicket of Zimbabwe batsman Sean Williams . Williams reacts after getting out at the Bellerive Oval ground despite it looking like Mooney touched the foam . When Zimbabwe then crashed to 74 for four in reply Ireland were in total control only for Taylor and Williams to turn the momentum of the match in a 149-run stand. Taylor reached his century from 79 balls and Ireland's attack was looking toothless until Cusack produced a slower ball to fool the Zimbabwe skipper into spooning a catch to mid-on. Williams kept the scoreboard ticking over and had reduced the task to a manageable 32 from 20 balls when Mooney's controversial catch was claimed. It was a critical moment and while Mupariwa made Ireland sweat, as he hit Kevin O'Brien for back-to-back fours and then a six, Cusack cleaned up the tail in a thrilling finale. The Irish players congratulate each other after their final over victory over the African country . +Jonny Brownlee had to settle for fifth place in the opening World Triathlon Series race of the season in Abu Dhabi. The Olympic bronze medallist paid the price for slipping towards the back of a large leading pack at the end of the bike leg and was unable to close the gap to leading trio Mario Mola, Vincent Luis and Richard Murray on the run. Brownlee then lost out in a sprint finish to Joao Silva of Portugal but did at least have the consolation of beating great rival Javier Gomez, who could only manage sixth. Jonny Brownlee came a disappointing fifth after a poor bike leg in the World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi . Gomez's Spanish compatriot Mola was the class of the field over the sprint distance and pulled away during the second half of the five kilometres run to clinch a comfortable victory. Jonny's brother Alistair missed the race because of a minor ankle injury but, with Olympic qualification to be decided in August and September at the test event in Rio and the world series Grand Final in Chicago, none of the leading triathletes will want to peak too soon. Jonny, 24, said: 'I wanted better than that. I messed up everything I possibly could. That's what the first race is about. 'I thought my running was going well, but obviously not so well off the bike. I got into it later on but it was too late then. I just need to iron out the mistakes and sharpen up a little.' Brownlee celebrates after winning the silver medal in the men's Triathlon Final at Strathclyde Country Park . The women's race was once again dominated by world champion Gwen Jorgensen of the United States, with a disappointed Jodie Stimpson the leading British athlete in 17th. Stimpson, who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year, missed the front bike pack and was unable to make up any ground on the run, with a niggling Achilles problem not helping. Britain's former world champions Non Stanford and Helen Jenkins along with Commonwealth bronze medallist Vicky Holland all chose to stay at home and continue their training. The next round of the series takes place in Auckland at the end of March. The Olympic bronze medallist competes in the Men's ITU World Triathlon sprint event chased by Vincent Luis . +West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has again criticised referee Mike Dean for his handling of Saturday's London derby defeat by Crystal Palace. The Hammers, currently in ninth place in the Premier League, were beaten 3-1 by the Eagles at the weekend in a contentious contest. Allardyce felt that Palace striker Glenn Murray, scorer of two goals at Upton Park, before being sent off in the 69th minute, should have been dismissed by Dean in the first half for persistent fouling. Glenn Murray was sent off for Crystal Palace during the 3-1 win against West Ham on Saturday . Sam Allardyce was frustrated that Murray was not sent off earlier in the game . Allardyce said: 'The biggest problem for me was that Glenn Murray shouldn't have been on the field, not only because of persistent fouling but the level of his fouling. 'Mike Dean, whom I have a lot of respect for, is a very good referee, but he was too lenient with Murray by telling him 'that's your last chance' after the first booking. 'In that particular instance, Palace have been let off. Mike Dean has a massive responsibility on the fact that (Murray) was one of the main reasons why Crystal Palace won. 'And for me that is something disappointing. The fact a referee warns a player for a tackle he has just made, which normally gets a yellow card, and yet he is only warned because he has just had a yellow card. And that is frustrating.' Murray climbed highest to open the scoring for the visitors in the first half with a header . Murray got his second and Palace's third when he glanced a header past Adrian . Palace captain Mile Jedinak was caught on Sky Sports TV cameras apparently elbowing Diafra Sakho as they both challenged for the ball in the closing stages. Though the incident was not seen at the time by the match officials, the Football Association have since charged the player with violent conduct – and Palace have until Tuesday evening to appeal against that decision. Allardyce has welcomed any retrospective punishment, saying that the Australian midfielder deserves a ban for acting in a dangerous manner against the Senegal striker. He added: 'Jedinak was clearly in a position where Mike Dean couldn't see it. I think about how dangerous it was. It was a very dangerous thing he did. He could have seriously injured Sakho. And he will have to take the punishment – because I think he deserves it.' Mile Jedinak has been charged by the FA with violent conduct after catching Diafra Sakho with his elbow . The incident went unpunished during the game but Jedinak was retrospectively charged . Elsewhere, in his pre-match press conference, ahead of the visit of Chelsea to East London tomorrow night, Allardyce spoke about the chats he enjoyed with Dave Mackay, the former Tottenham, Derby, Hearts and Scotland enforcer, who died aged 80. Allardyce said: 'I knew Dave. He lived in around Nottingham, when I was at Notts County for three years (1997-1999). I spent many a good night with him talking away about his time in football, about management. 'It's a sad day. He was a terrific guy not just a terrific a footballer. In life, you take a lot of things from a lot of people. 'If you want to get better, you don't just read a book or do a Masters' degree at university; you learn a lot from listening to the experiences of people who have been great in their own careers.' +After another meek surrender, the widespread belief that Everton are far too good to go down may have to be re-examined. Once again, Roberto Martinez's team were dramatically less than the collection of their parts and the amiable Spaniard seems unable to identify what is rotten in the core of his team. Goals in each half from Victor Moses – a long-range header no less – and Mame Biram Diouf deservedly gave Stoke City the points as Mark Hughes' side rose to eighth in the table, a remarkable 14 points ahead of their beleaguered visitors. Stoke winger Victor Moses (centre) rises up to head home his side's opening goal en route to a 2-0 victory against Everton . The on-loan Chelsea forward points to acknowledge supporters after handing his side a first-half lead . Stoke substitute Mame Biram Diouf sealed the win with late goal after reacting to Marko Arnautovic's rebound . Everton manager Roberto Martinez looks concerned with his side collecting only one win from their last 12 games . The statistics for Everton are damning. Just one win in 12 league games, just one league clean sheet away from Goodison Park since September. Ross Barkley, their bright young hope, was kept on the bench while those who played laboured. Poor Aaron Lennon was barracked mercilessly by the Stoke fans after he snubbed them in January to join Everton and was substituted after 60 forgettable minutes. Gareth Barry picked up his 10th booking of the season, and a record 106th of his career, and will miss the next two games against Newcastle and QPR. The speed the 34-year-old moved about the Britannia, that might be a blessing for everyone. What is perplexing is the individual quality on show for Everton. Established internationals like Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka, Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy, Romelu Lukaku and others are the reason they are the sole English survivors in the Europa League. Stoke City (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6.5; Bardsley 6.5, Wollscheid 5.5 (Cameron 17 6), Wilson 6.5, Pieters 6; Nzonzi 6, Whelan 6.5; Walters 6, Adam 6.5 (Arnautovic), Moses 7; Crouch 6 (Diouf) Subs: Butland (Gk), Sidwell, Teixeira, Shenton . Booked: Begovic, Walters . Goal: Moses (32), Diouf (84) Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard 6; Coleman 5.5, Jagielka 6; Stones 6, Garbutt 6; Barry 5 (Osman 60 6), Gibson 6; Lennon 5 (Kone 60 6), McCarthy 6, Naismith 6.5 (Mirallas); Lukaku 5 . Subs: Robles (Gk), Besic, Barkley, Alcaraz . Booked: Barry, Naismith . Referee: Mark Clattenburg . Attendance: 26,431 . MOTM: Victor Moses (Stoke) CLICK HERE to see all the stats from the game, including Victor Moses' superb header, from our brilliant Match Zone . But standing just six points above the bottom three, an almost-inconceivable double – qualification for the Champions League and relegation to the Championship – is still possible. 'It is a tough and demanding period. But there is no such thing as fear, we showed last year we have a really talented squad. We have 30 points to fight for and we are going to give our lives to get as many as we can,' said Martinez. 'We are all disappointed, the fans, the players, everyone but we are going to recover for the next challenge which we are desperate to face. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, that is what happens when you have negative momentum. But we are not looking down, we want to get as many points as we can.' Stoke players walk out accompanied by their mascots for the game against Tottenham at the Britannia Stadium . Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam (right) battles with Gareth Barry, who picked up a record 106th Premier League booking during the game . Peter Crouch, who has equalled the record for headed goals in the Premier League at the weekend, attempts to go one better . Tottenham loan signing Aaron Lennon was jeered by snubbed Stoke fans before being hauled off on the hour mark . Everton fans seemed divided at the end, some booed and some encouraged their fallen idols. They will all be glad to see Leighton Baines back from injury in time to face Newcastle in their next league game on March 15. Without him, Everton's defence looked flimsy. After 32 minutes, Phil Bardsley's cross was met with a tremendous leap by Moses, who headed over Howard from 12 yards. Why Everton's centre-halves Jagielka and John Stones backed off to give Moses a free header was unclear and they immediately held a post-goal inquest. 'We restricted them to very few opportunites afterwards,' said Stoke boss Mark Hughes. Of those that did come, Lennon shot straight at Asmir Begovic and Romelu Lukaku dragged a shot wide, a feeble finish denoting a lack of confidence. Substitute Arouna Kone had the best shot which was well parried by Begovic. If anything, Stoke looked likelier to add a second once Diouf had replaced Peter Crouch, and so it proved. A quick Stoke counter-attack saw the ball cannon off Stones in Diouf's path. He led the charge with Marko Arnautovic and when the Austrian struck the post, Diouf followed up to prod in the rebound. Moses leaves Everton players standing as he leaps to meet Phil Bardsley's drilled cross in the first-half . Tim Howard stretches in vain as Moses bullet header passes the Everton keeper into the top left corner . Moses (right) looks undersized as he celebrates his strike with some of the Stoke's typically taller players . Everton keeper Howard looks dejected as he walks to retrieve the ball from the back of his net . Moses wheels away to celebrate his strike with Stoke team-mate Crouch as the Britannia Stadium erupts . Stoke's 2-0 victory means Everton have already conceded 41 Premier Leageu goals in 28 games. They let in just 39 in the whole of last season. 'We deserved it, Victor Moses was excellent, he showed strength to the end,' said a delighted Hughes. Stoke were everything Everton weren't, fully commmited to a gameplan. They even recovered from the loss of centre-half Philipp Wollscheid who limped off early, but it was Martinez who complained about the bad luck. 'Six of our 10 games left are at Goodison Park and that is a powerful tool for us,' he said in what was effectively a rallying cry for everyone at the club. Everton finished fifth last season and were predicted to make a tip at the Champions League. Instead they are relying on clubs like Burnley and QPR being worse than they are. 'This is a really talented squad but we are in a period where things are going wrong. The first time we allowed Stoke a cross into our box, they score from it from an unlikely source. We feel there was a foul on Phil Jagielka in the build-up for the second goal at a time when we were making chances.' Martinez talks a good game. Now his team have to play one. Respective Stoke and Everton managers mark Hughes (left) and Martinez have a difference of opinion during the game . Everton's leading scorer Romelu Lukaku (left) gets a shot away but Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic is equal to the task . Bardsley of Stoke City clashes with Evertonians James McCarthy (centre) and Luke Garbutt (right) during the second half . The referee has to intervene as Bardsley gets involved in an altercation with Everton players near the corner flag . Everton's travelling supporters look disgruntled as their side fail to meet expectations again . Marko Arnautovic of Stoke lets fly with a late shot that beats Howard but is denied by the goal post . Fortunately, Diouf is there to react to the rebound and seal all three points for the Potters with a late strike . Substitute Diouf is congratulated by Jonathan Walters (centre) and Nzonzi as Stoke complete a 2-0 victory . +Bafetimbi Gomis' collapse had those inside White Hart Lane holding their collective breath, with players, officials and fans fearing the worst after the Swansea striker's episode. As play was about to resume following a fine, early Nacer Chadli volley, hush fell upon the ground where three years ago Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest. There was a deathly silence as paramedics and medical staff tended to Gomis, who left the White Hart Lane pitch on a stretcher and wearing an oxygen mask after several minutes of treatment. Bafetimbi Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Medical staff attended to the France international for four minutes before he regained consciousness . Concerned Tottenham players look on as the Swansea forward is attended to my medical staff . Fortunately, good news soon emanated from the Swansea dressing room and, later in the evening, Gomis himself said he was 'feeling well' after fainting. It was the latest episode stemming from a long-standing fainting condition and one which left Brad Friedel, on the bench three years ago and watching from the stands on Wednesday, worried a similar incident to Muamba's was unfolding. 'It went through everyone's mind,' the veteran American said. 'Anyone who was at that game probably thought the worst immediately. 'It's not normal for someone to be standing there and collapse and you know it's going to be something serious. 'But after a minute or so the word got back, so that's why you didn't see the panic on the players' faces because everyone knew he was all right. 'It was something that had to be dealt with, of course, but it was nothing in the stratosphere of what went on with Fabrice.' Gomis, who has a history of blacking out, is taken off the field on a stretcher at White Hart Lane . Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentalib (right) holds his head in his hands as Gomis is taken off on a stretcher . Friedel's comments were echoed by Spurs winger Andros Townsend. 'It kind of brought your memory back to Fabrice Muamba,' he said. 'It didn't look good. 'When (Muamba collapsed) I wasn't here. I was on loan at Birmingham but seeing what happened with Gomis could have meant going down the same route. 'Thankfully he's okay, hopefully he can make a speedy recovery.' As worrying as the incident was, play continued and soon after Ki Sung-yueng drew parity for Swansea. Players from both sides appear shocked as referee Michael Oliver prepares to restart the game . On 17 March 2012, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane during an FA Cup quarter-final match between Bolton and Tottenham. The former Trotters midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest and received life-saving medical treatment from Spurs staff and consultant cardiologist Dr Andrew Deaner, who was at the game as a fan, from the pitch. Muamba was rushed to the nearby London Chest Hospital, accompanied by then manager Owen Coyle and striker Kevin Phillips, for emergency treatment while the game was abandoned. Medical staff rush to Fabrice Muamba's aid after the midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest in 2012 . Muamba's heart was reported to have stopped for 78minutes while the former Birmingham player received numerous defibrillator shocks on the pitch and in the ambulance. Despite fears that he would not survive, the 26-year-old made a miraculous recovery before being discharged from hospital on April 16 - although he was forced to retire from professional football. Ryan Mason and Townsend netted in the second half to give Spurs a lead Gylfi Sigurdsson chipped away at late on, yet Mauricio Pochettino's side ran out 3-2 victors. It was an important result following their Europa League and Capital One Cup disappointments, especially as defeat on Wednesday would have seriously dented their top-four ambitions. 'It was the perfect response,' Townsend said in a week they have lost big games against Fiorentina and Chelsea. 'To lose a cup final and have to play a very good side three days later is always difficult, but we knew we had to go out there tonight and start fast right from the off. 'We knew we had to get the crowd on our side and lift the doom and gloom from the weekend, and I think we did that. 'We got the early goal and it set us on our way to a great win.' Ryan Mason wheels away in celebration after scoring against Swansea on Wednesday evening . The result denied Swansea a third straight Premier League win, although midfielder Jack Cork does not think the performance or result was impacted by the Gomis incident. 'I was obviously worried,' he told Press Association Sport. 'When something like that happens, you're obviously worried, but the medical staff say he is fine so hopefully it's not too bad. 'The guys said 'don't worry about it, just keep your minds on the game, he is okay' blah, blah, blah. 'Ash (Williams) was just reassuring us saying don't worry about it and we had to carry on like it hadn't happened. 'In the first half we did okay, we played some okay stuff but the second half was tough for us. 'They overloaded certain areas and made space on the wings for the full-backs. 'It was tough for us but we had to try and keep a good shape and a couple of mistakes cost us the game.' +Bafetimbi Gomis' collapse had those inside White Hart Lane fearing the worst, but thankfully the Swansea striker is fine - in fact, manager Garry Monk revealed he wanted to carry on playing against Tottenham. Hush fell on the ground where Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest three years ago after the 29-year-old went down as play was about to restart following Nacer Chadli's wonderful, early opener. Paramedics and medical staff raced to tend to Gomis, who left the field on a stretcher and an oxygen mask after several minutes of treatment. Bafetimbi Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Medical staff attended to the France international for four minutes before he regained consciousness . The French striker later tweeted in French and then English, saying: 'I wanted to reassure you concerning my health , it actually looks much more scary than physically dangerous and I am feeling well now . 'I have been under a great deal of stress and fatigue due to my father health that requires me to go back and forth to France . 'I was disappointed that I couldn't help my team tonight but now everything is back In order . 'I also want to thank everyone for their support and get well messages .' Earlier in the evening, news emanated from the Swansea dressing room that it was nothing serious, with the 3-2 loss at Spurs one of several times he has fainted over his career. 'He is fine,' Swans boss Monk said. 'Coming off the pitch he was fine, talking and he actually wanted to stay on the pitch. 'It's something that we're well aware of and it's part of his history, but obviously he's had all the checks. 'We knew about this when he came to the club. He's had all the medical checks that you can possibly do and it's just part of his life. It's to do with low blood pressure. 'I didn't actually see the situation. Our physios went onto the pitch and they relayed the message but he was fine. 'Coming off the pitch, he was talking. He actually wanted to stay on the pitch but obviously precautionary wise, we have to make sure that we double check everything but we're well aware of the history.' Gomis, who has a history of blacking out, is taken off the field on a stretcher at White Hart Lane . Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentalib (right) holds his head in his hands as Gomis is taken off on a stretcher . Garry Monk revealed that Gomis wanted to carry on playing after collapsing . Monk is not sure whether Gomis, a summer acquisition from Lyon, lost consciousness or not in the incident which stems from a long-standing vasovagal condition. 'We're all well aware of it,' he said. 'He's had every single medical check that you can possibly have, and he's fine. It's just part of his life.' Despite that knowledge, the overriding feeling was still one of relief after the incident proved far less serious than first feared. Gomis has now gone to hospital as a precautionary measure, but Monk foresees 'no problem whatsoever' with him playing their next match against Liverpool on March 16. 'We'll clarify now with the club doctor and see what we do from here, see whether we pick him up or he gets his own car back,' the Swans boss added. Monk does not think the Gomis incident affected his players in the defeat at White Hart Lane - something backed-up by the fact Ki Sung-Yueng drew parity shortly afterwards. Tottenham winger Andros Townsend celebrates after firing home the third goal against Swansea City . Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason lashed in a right-footed shot for the second against Swansea City . Nacer Chadli (left) beats Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to score the opening goal . Spurs went back ahead through second-half strikes from Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend, before Gylfi Sigurdsson's late effort led to a nervy ending in what Mauricio Pochettino thinks was a deserved win. 'I'm happy for the players because they deserve this victory,' the Tottenham head coach said, 'It was a very important three points for us, I'm happy for the performance, it was fantastic. 'It was 3-2 but we shoot many times and had more than 60 per cent possession - only in the last minute did we put risk in the game. 'We were lucky to have a big save from Hugo (Lloris in stoppage-time) - one of the best 'keepers in world.' Pochettino also took time in the post-match press conference to wish Gomis a 'speedy recovery'. 'A lot of years ago I had the same problem with team mate Oscar Garcia, who was manager of Watford and Brighton,' he said. 'It's a difficult moment because it's your life. Football is not important when something happens like that. 'I was a player on the pitch and it was Oscar Garcia was my team-mate - he fell and then it was the same situation, but he was okay.' Ki Sung-Yueng stole in to prod home from an acute angle for Swansea equaliser . Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson reduced the deficit, volleying home a Jefferson Montero cross . +As Dave King joined hands with his allies to give a triumphant salute on the steps of Argyle House, a great roar emerged from those Rangers fans who had patiently waited to greet the new regime. The noise was more than three years in the making. After so many bitter disappointments, and so much anger directed at so many characters in this sorry saga, here was genuine belief that they finally had their club back. King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan were all elected as directors with around 85 per cent of the vote at Friday's general meeting. The same overwhelming number turfed Derek Llambias and Barry Leach, Mike Ashley’s two associates, out of the Blue Room. A despised board was routed. Dave King (centre) received almost 86 per cent of the votes from Rangers shareholders for power at Ibrox . The incoming directors have a resounding mandate for change but a mammoth task lies ahead. Rangers, in many ways, is unrecognisable to what it once was. As both King and Murray have said, their job is to fix a club that is broken. To find the glue that sticks the pieces back together again, the South Africa-based businessman believes they have to look back in time. Not just in terms restoring financial strength and success on the field, but also in the image and values the club projects. ‘As a day in Rangers’ history, it’s got the potential to be a watershed event,’ insisted King. ‘If you were to ask me sitting here today then I’m confident it will turn out to be that. ‘People ask when will we take the club forward – in actual fact we are taking the club forward to the past. ‘We want to restore the qualities of this club and that is part of the challenge we face here, in trying to build a competitive football team and living up to what the fans expect. Rangers supporters show their pleasure at the news that King at the decision of the shareholders vote . ‘There is a value system attached to Rangers Football Club and this has been lost over the past few years. ‘Rangers has been a club with traditional values. It’s had generational support and a pass-on from father to son. There’s been a consistency, an integrity and a loyalty. ‘Paul has referred to the fact the club has only had 13 managers in its history and that tells you there is a stickability about this club. ‘What we have seen over the last few years has been turbulence, change, lack of loyalty, lack of integrity. What has happened is the exact opposite to the values I associate with my club.’ King, Murray and Gilligan addressed staff inside Ibrox prior to holding a media conference, then travelled to Murray Park to speak with those on the footballing side of the business. In recent times, Rangers has been a place where employees have lived in fear of redundancy. Whole departments have pretty much disappeared. Morale has lurked somewhere south of dismal. A Rangers fan holds up a sign in protest against Mike Ashley, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach . ‘They very first priority is to get our arms around the club,’ said King. ‘You have the unusual situation of one board en masse going out and another coming in. Normally, there is a process of transition. ‘Much of what we know about the state of the club has been gleaned from newspaper reports. The club is broken, it’s broken in many areas. ‘There are footballing issues, infrastructure issues and scouting issues. Information gathering will be a big part of our immediate job.’ A new manager will also be considered but King stressed that the importance of getting the right man means it will not be rushed. It could well be that Kenny McDowall, the reluctant caretaker, still has a few games in charge beyond today’ s trip to Cowdenbeath. Rangers will have to come through the play-offs to reach the Premiership next season, but King is adamant failure to win promotion would not derail plans to radically strengthen the squad. ‘Promotion is going to be challenging and there is a possibility it won’t happen this year,’ he admitted. ‘We hope that with a full resumption of attendance and energy from the fans that it might give the team a pick-up for the rest of the season. We chatted to the fans outside and we are really optimistic we will see full houses for the rest of the season to help the team kick on. ‘I hope they can still get across the line, but with improved cashflow we will get up the following season. I would expect a huge improvement in terms of quality on the field next season, whatever league we are playing in. 800 Rangers shareholders turned up to show their support to King at Ibrox Stadium on Friday . ‘In terms of the manager, I have said before that we need more of a coach. We need someone with a different set of skills who is going to build, develop and bring youngsters through. We have to be very careful.’ King has already stated around £20million will be required in the short to medium term to get Rangers back on their feet. He intends to provide half of what is needed. The remainder will come from other wealthy fans, including Douglas Park – one of the Three Bears consortium - who was added to the board in the wake of Friday's result. Asked how much of the total sum would be used on the playing squad, King replied: ‘I have included other development issues such as a whole scouting network and maintenance of buildings. If you are asking for a rough figure, I would have to say it has to be more than 50 per cent.’ Just 15 per cent of the club's shareholders voted to keep Llambias (pictured) and Leach . In terms of the boardroom make-up, King insisted the fan groups deserved to be rewarded for their role in the revolution with representation. Llambias and Leach have gone but are still nominally chief executive and finance director. Asked if they would be sacked, King responded: ‘I wouldn’t think so.’ Have they a future? ‘I wouldn’t think so.’ Take from that what you will. Ashley still has the right to appoint two directors via the terms of the £10m loan facility the old board agreed with Sports Direct in January, although King stated the funds are in place to repay that debt if preferable. Llambias and Leach began the process of trying to draw down the second £5m tranche earlier this week. ‘If it is drawn down, I don’t think it would be a bad thing,’ said King. ‘It would nice to go in and find this £5m in the bank. I don’t think it is likely to happen now. For it to happen, it would have to happen through engaging with the board.’ Sandy Easdale abstained from using his voting block – now reduced to around 20 per cent – at the general meeting. Yet that stance is unlikely to lead to an unexpected truce. ‘My personal view is that would be challenging,’ said King when quizzed on whether he would work with current chairman of the football board. King (centre) will be joined by John Gilligan (left) and Paul Murray in running of the Scottish club . King has postponed his own instalment as PLC chairman until he has satisfied the financial authorities and the SFA that he is a ‘fit and proper’ person. The Castlemilk-born businessman remains adamant his 41 tax convictions in South Africa should not be a barrier to a return to the Ibrox boardroom. He will ‘formally engage’ with a new nominated advisor (NOMAD) - to replace WH Ireland – on Monday. ‘Either I am fit and proper or I am not,’ said King. ‘I wouldn’t have started this process if I didn’t think I was fit and proper. ‘I’ve had no discussions with NOMADs or other regulators that suggests there are concerns. ‘The only concerns that were aired came from the other side, who felt the need to flag this. ‘It was a mechanism to deflect away from their own failings. They had very little real arguments as to why there shouldn’t be a regime change. ‘If I was a concern then the NOMAD would not have engaged. The fact they are working with us tells you all you need to know. Me sitting on the board is not critical, but I don’t think it will be an issue.’ King will now start the process of rebuilding Rangers which has been beset in turmoil for the past four years . +Rangers Supporters Trust spokesman Chris Graham praised fans for the part they have played in forcing change at Ibrox before warning them: 'The hard work starts now.' The RST and Rangers First, another group aimed at fan ownership, had amassed almost 19,000 registered members between them going into Friday's EGM. A combination of shares purchased by each organisation, using cash raised from that backing and from proxies, saw them hold around 10 per cent of the voting power at the meeting. Rangers fans gather outside Ibrox stadium to hear news from the extraordinary general meeting . Rangers Supporters Trust Spokesman Chris Graham has praised fans' role in changing the club . Dave King (centre) received almost 86 per cent of the votes from Rangers shareholders for power at Ibrox . Fans show their delight for the incoming Rangers board of King, John Gilligan (left) and Paul Murray (right) Graham is delighted the club's followers have performed such a significant role in getting Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan on to the board and overthrowing previous incumbents Derek Llambias and Barry Leach but insisted there is still much more to do. Now he has urged supporters to keep investing in the two fan movements to ensure there is never a repeat of the financial turmoil experienced at Rangers in recent years. 'The response to both schemes has been amazing and it has been crucial, not just in winning the EGM but also in moving forward,' he said. 'It is important the fans want to have more of a shareholding in the club. I believe we can trust this board and I think they will run the club properly. 'We don't know what is going to happen in 10 years' time, though, so it's vital the fans have a big enough say to stop anything like we've seen in the last three or four years from happening again. Now they have that. And if there is a new share issue I think it's important they continue to up their shareholding to a more significant portion. 'It has been brilliant seeing how people have risen to the challenge. The Trust has been plugging away at this for 12 years while Rangers First is a more recent thing. But, to be honest, it's just great to see the fans getting behind the same objective, however they have chosen to do that. 'What the supporters have done has been crucial in winning the vote and it will be crucial going forward. Now it's really important we get working as soon as possible. There will obviously be a couple of days of celebration but there's going to be a huge rebuilding process at the club. 'It has been ripped apart over the last few years so the priority is to get the hard work started straight away. Some things can be done quickly and others will take a bit longer . 'I can understand where Kenny McDowall was coming from when he said it is going to take five years to fix the club. I think he was talking there about the football infrastructure and things such as scouting and youth development take a long time to come through if you start doing them properly. A Rangers fan holds up a sign in protest against Mike Ashley, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach . Just 15 per cent of the club's shareholders voted to keep Llambias (pictured, centre) and Leach at Ibrox . 'But Dave King was right, too, in the sense that there are things you can do in the short-term which would immediately improve the situation. Even just getting the fans back in the stadium is an improvement because there's increased revenue from that alone. On the football side, appointing a new manager will be an improvement and we'll possibly be able to bring in players in the summer who can improve the squad. 'What matters most is there are guys in the boardroom now who actually care about the club. They aren't just there to feather their own nests and that's the difference.' Although Llambias and Leach are no longer on the board, they do remain employed by the club as chief executive and financial director respectively. Severance deals must be struck and, although both men have dug their heels in this week, Graham thinks it's only a matter of time until they are driven out of the club. 'Leach and Llambias can make it a little bit difficult in terms of getting them to leave and I'm sure they will make it as hard as they can,' he said. 'They are obviously in this for themselves so they will try to get what they can out of the situation. 'The Sports Direct contract is obviously something which still needs to be looked at and there are big question marks over how a lot of contracts came to be latterly. That will need to be examined pretty closely but I don't think there is anything that's insurmountable as long as the people in the boardroom want to get it fixed. That's the big difference. There's nothing the club can't do as long as everybody is pulling in the one direction.' Tackling the influence of Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley (pictured) will be next on the Rangers fans' agenda . +Schalke have injury concerns over four players, including Benedikt Howedes and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, for Tuesday's Champions League game at Real Madrid. Defender Howedes and former Real striker Huntelaar picked up knocks in Saturday's 3-1 Bundesliga win at home to Hoffenheim along with midfielder Marco Hoeger and forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. 'Who will be able to play will be decided after the final training session,' coach Roberto Di Matteo told a news conference on Monday. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (centre) is an injury doubt for Schalke's Champions League game at Real Madrid . Schalke forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting picked up a knock in Schalke's win over Hoffenheim . Schalke goalkeeper Wetklo dives to make a save during a training session on Monday in Spain . Even without their injury problems, and midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng's suspension, Schalke would be facing a formidable task at the Bernabeu after losing 2-0 to the holders in last month's last-16 first leg in Gelsenkirchen. Real have stumbled recently in La Liga, losing top spot to Barcelona at the weekend after a 1-0 reverse at Athletic Bilbao, but should have little trouble getting past the Bundesliga side. Victory for Carlo Ancelotti's men would equal the Champions League record for consecutive home wins (12) and break the record for the most in a row overall. Real matched Bayern Munich's competition-best run of 10 straight victories at Schalke. Schalke manager Roberto Di Mateo is facing a formidable task in trying to beat Madrid away . Schalke lost 2-0 to holders Madrid in the first leg of the last-16 clash in Germany last month . Schalke's players go through their paces in training as they prepare to play Madrid on Tuesday . 'We have to have a perfect day as a team and hope our opponent is not on super form,' said Di Matteo who was coach of Chelsea when they won the 2012 Champions League. 'If we manage to get the first goal it will certainly be very, very interesting. The important thing is that we are solid and organised as a team. 'If we manage that we can dampen Real's attacking power.' +Real Madrid forward Isco has revealed his and and his team-mates' bitter disappointment after dropping points for the second successive game in La Liga. After being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal last weekend, Los Blancos lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, giving title rivals Barcelona the opportunity to leapfrog them in the table if they can beat Rayo Vallecano at the Nou Camp. Isco confessed to the Spanish media that Madrid's recent dip in form had left the players feeling out of sorts. Following the defeat by Bilbao he said, 'We leave here with a bad feeling in our stomachs because this is now two straight games without a win and that is a real shame.' Real Madrid forward Isco (right) shields the ball from Athletic Bilbao's Oscar de Marcos (left) on Saturday . Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (right) floats in a cross during the 1-0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao . Madrid's Welsh winger Gareth Bale (right) breaks away from the challenge of Bilbao's Mikel Balenziaga (left) Real Madrid full-back Marcelo tussles with Oscar de Marcos at the San Mames Stadium on Saturday . He added, 'Lately we have been lacking a bit of freshness up front and that is not normal for Real Madrid, but it is a matter of phases.' Isco is adamant Real can complete their turnaround before the crunch clash with Barcelona on March 22,  'The league is difficult but it is long and we'll go to Camp Nou in a couple of weeks with all the enthusiasm in the world. It is a decisive match.' Before then, though, Real will have to pick themselves up for the second leg of their last 16 Champions League tie with Schalke on Tuesday, whom they lead 2-0 on aggregate, and another La Liga match with Levante on March 15. Isco (centre) is confident that Real Madrid can turnaround their poor form in time for the clash with Barcelona . Gareth Bale looks dejected after Real drop points for the second league game running against Athletic Bilbao . +Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone concedes that a third place finish is the best the La Liga champions can hope for this season after losing yet more ground at the top after a 1-1 draw with Valencia on Sunday. Beating Real Madrid and Barcelona to the Spanish title last term, as well as reaching the final of the Champions League, were remarkable achievements but it appears Atletico will fall some way short of matching the Spanish giants this season. The draw at home to fourth-placed Valencia means Simeone's men have won only one of their last four La Liga outings and are now seven points adrift of leaders Barca and six behind second-placed Real with 12 games left. Koke's fierce low strike was too much for Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves to save . But Shkodran Mustafi (second right) headed in Valencia's equaliser in the 78th minute . Atletico manager Diego Simeone admits the limit of his side's ambition this season is to finish third . A resurgent Valencia are breathing down Atletico's necks a point behind in fourth and Simeone said he and the players are determined to hang on to third and secure a place in Europe's elite club competition for next season. Sevilla, who held Atletico to a 0-0 draw at their Sanchez Pizjuan stadium at the start of the month and are five points behind Valencia in fifth, are also still in with a chance of a Champions League berth. 'The league is long and we have always said that our championship is competing against Valencia and Sevilla,' Simeone told a news conference after the stalemate at the Calderon. Koke leads the celebrations after putting Atletico into a first-half lead . Koke is mobbed by his team-mates after his goal had put Atletico ahead against rivals Valencia . 'Neither could beat us in these last two matches and we still have the one-point advantage that we need to protect,' added the former Argentina captain. 'Reinventing ourselves the way we have and competing the way we are competing is a great achievement for the players. 'Hopefully when the season ends we will have secured that third spot.' Atletico were unfortunate not to take all three points on Sunday after Valencia rode their luck to steal a late equaliser that cancelled out Koke's first-half strike. Mustafi celebrates his header with Rodrigo Moreno in the draw at the Vicente Calderon . Mustafi's goal leaves Spanish champions Atletico are seven points adrift of leaders Barcelona . A Dani Parejo free kick ricocheted off the Atletico crossbar and centre back Shkodran Mustafi reacted quickest to nod home. Atletico have a trip to Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday before they host Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last 16, second leg on March 17. The Bundesliga side won last month's first leg in Germany 1-0. +Barcelona's crushing 6-1 win against Rayo Vallecano may have sent Barcelona to the La Liga summit on Sunday, but defender Gerard Pique isn't get too carried away just yet. The defender, who found the goal himself in the Nou Camp mauling, was quick to warn his fellow teammates of complacency as the Catalans overtook Real Madrid at the top. A hat-trick from Lionel Messi and a double from Luis Suarez helped Barcelona capitalise on Real Madrid's defeat on Saturday, but Pique knows there is still a long way to go yet. Gerard Pique celebrates after scoring his team's second during the La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano . Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez impressed throughout as Barcelona turned on the style to go top of La Liga . Messi bagged himself a hat-trick and Suarez scored two as the Catalans smashed Rayo Vallecano . He said: 'We're top, but the league is very long. Being leaders doesn't mean we've won anything. It's the result of a long road which we hope won't come to an end yet. 'We started well, we had a break, but now we're back and we're fine. Now we're in good form. That's more important at the moment than being top. 'I'm sure we'll drop some more points during the rest of the season, but we must try to make sure we lose less and are top at the end of the season.' . Cristiano Ronaldo reacts as Real Madrid are defeated by Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames Stadium . Pepe trudges off the field of play at the San Mames Stadium as Real Madrid fall to a 1-0 defeat on Saturday . +Roma were held 0-0 on Sunday against Chievo Verona as the capital side's title hopes took another blow in a Serie A match which was marred by a gruesome injury to youngster Federico Mattiello. The 19-year-old Mattiello, who is on loan at Chievo from Juventus, was stretchered off in tears after breaking his leg in a clash with Radja Nainggolan. It was Roma's eighth draw in nine league matches and leaves them eight points behind Juventus, who host Sassuolo on Monday. The draw was marred by a gruesome injury to youngster Federico Mattiello (left) who is on loan at Chievo . Players hold theirs heads in despair as they realise the severity of the injury to Mattiello during the game . Mattiello leaves the pitch after an injury during Italian Serie A match at the Bentegodi stadium . Third-place Napoli have the chance to close the gap on Roma to two points when it hosts Inter Milan on Sunday night. Elsewhere, crisis-hit Parma played again after postponing two matches. The financially-stricken club drew 0-0 at home to Atalanta, in Edy Reja's first match in charge of the visitors. Also, Empoli drew 1-1 with Genoa, Udinese beat Torino 3-2 and Cesena drew 0-0 with Palermo. Parma's Fabiano Santacroce competes for the ball with Atalanta's Mauricio Pinilla at Parma's Tardini stadium . Mattiello was injured in the 16th minute at Verona. Video images from the game showed the bottom half of the midfielder's right leg bending and initial reports said he has broken both his tibia and fibula. Mattiello was carried off to a standing ovation from the fans and the benches off both teams. It was only his third appearance for Chievo after joining from Juventus in January, but he has impressed and was regarded as one of Italy's promising talents. Players from both teams were visibly shaken by the injury and the match took a while to get going again after the restart. Roma's Gervinho is challenged by Chievo Verona's Ezequiel Schelotto and teammate Bostjan Cesar . Roma should have taken the lead at the end of the first half following a great counterattack from Juan Iturbe, who found Gervinho. The Ivory Coast midfielder raced down the right but his effort scraped the outside of the far post. Chievo also had chances with Valter Birsa firing wide from a good position and Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis twice denying Riccardo Meggiorini. It was a valuable point for Chievo, who moved six points away from the relegation zone. Udinese's Giampiero PinzI grabs a piggy back from Torino's Fabio Quagliarella at the Friuli Stadium . Parma has been sold twice this season and wages have gone unpaid for months. Its previous two matches - at home with Udinese and at Genoa - were postponed indefinitely because the club couldn't pay for basic services such as security and electricity. However, the league voted to give Parma a five million euro emergency fund on Friday to help the club finish the season. There were banners displayed at the stadium against current owner Giampietro Manenti as well as the Italian football federation and the league. It was a new start for Atalanta too after it sacked Stefano Colantuono on Wednesday, replacing him with Reja, but the former Lazio and Napoli coach was sent to the stands in the 63rd minute for dissent. Udinese's Antonio Di Natale celebrates after scoring match between Udinese and Torino at the Friuli Stadium . Parma winger Cristian Rodriguez was also sent off, three minutes from time, following a second booking. Empoli continued their push for survival as they extended their unbeaten run to six, denting Genoa's hopes of qualifying for Europe. Genoa took the lead in the 27th when M'Baye Niang muscled his way into the left side of the penalty area and fired into the far bottom corner for his third goal in as many matches. Empoli leveled with a somewhat bizarre equaliser as it was not entirely clear whether Mirko Valdifiori's corner had already gone over the line before Federico Barba ensured it went in. Torino's 12-game unbeaten streak ended despite taking the lead when former Udinese striker Fabio Quagliarella headed in Alexander Farnerud's cross. Empoli's midfielder Daniele Croce fights for the ball with Genoa's midfielder Iago Falque . Antonio Di Natale leveled moments later and Udinese took the lead in the 27th when Panagiotis Kone's header from a corner went in off the arm of Torino's Cristian Molinaro. Quagliarella hit the post shortly before halftime and Molla Wague headed home his first league goal to extend Udinese's lead after the break. Torino got back into the match in the 69th. A cross was headed out but only as far as Marco Benassi, whose volley was deflected into the net by Ivan Piris. The referee initially appeared to disallow the goal for offside, but changed his mind after consulting with his assistants. +Goals from David Luiz and Edinson Cavani helped Paris St Germain reach the semi-finals of the French Cup with a 2-0 win over Ligue 1 rivals Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday. Three days after the two teams played out a dull 0-0 league draw, they put on a much more entertaining spectacle. PSG, however, never looked under threat and recorded a morale-boosting victory ahead of next week's Champions League last-16 return leg against Chelsea. David Luiz (right) celebrates with his team-mate Edinson Cavani (right) after scoring in the third minute . PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot (left) tussles for the ball with Monaco forward Nabil Dirar (right) David Luiz lost his marker to head home from close-range early in the first-half and give PSG a 1-0 lead . PSG winger Ezequiel Lavezzi (left) controls the ball at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night . Centre back Luiz headed home from Ezequiel Lavezzi's free kick in the third minute as PSG made the perfect start against Monaco, whose coach Leonardo Jardim had made seven changes from the team who played on Sunday. They doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half, with Marco Verratti setting up Cavani in the penalty area to beat Maarten Stekelenburg with a low shot. PSG continued to dominate and Javier Pastore and Cavani both hit the woodwork. Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani (right) rounds Monaco goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to score . Monaco's Geoffrey Kondogbia (left) comes in with a challenge on PSG's Lavezzi during the French Cup . Monaco, who beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in their Champions League last 16 first leg last week, were never in contention and seemed short on ideas as they struggled for a foothold in the final 10 minutes. St Etienne reached the last four on Tuesday by beating third division Boulogne on penalties. Stade Brest take on Auxerre in an all Ligue 2 clash and amateurs Concarneau, who play in the fourth division, host Guingamp on Thursday. Monaco's Nigerian defender Elderson Echiejile (left) dribbles away from PSG defender Marquinhos (right) Following their 2-0 home win on Wednesday night, PSG are through to the semi-finals of the French Cup . +Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has shown an interest in signing Paris Saint-Germain star Edinson Cavani, according to French newspaper L'Equipe. The 28-year-old, who joined the Ligue 1 side for a record-breaking £55million back in July 2013, is a summer transfer target for Simeone as he looks to bolster the La Liga side's ranks. The Argentine recently spoke with the Uruguay forward, after being put in touch with Cavani through his international team-mate and Atletico defender Diego Godin. Edinson Cavani (right) - pictured on the front of L'Equipe - is reportedly a transfer target for Atletico Madrid . Tuttosport are reporting that Juventus are considering offering Carlos Tevez a contract extension . Cavani, nicknamed 'El Metador', has often been criticised for his level of performance since joining the French giants - scoring 15 goals in all competitions so far this season - with his contract set to run out in the summer of 2018. He would command a high transfer fee though, with it unknown whether the current La Liga champions would splash the cash to land the sought-after striker. Manchester United have also been linked with a £60m move for Cavani, with Radamel Falcao flattering to deceive since joining on a season-long loan from Monaco. Elsewhere, in Italian newspaper Tuttosport they headline with Juventus considering offering in-form striker Carlos Tevez a new contract, amid interest from former side Boca Juniors. The 31-year-old started off his career with the Argentina outfit, and could be tempted for a move back to his homeland, after an impressive spell in Italy with Juventus. Marca headlines with coverage of the Copa del Rey, while Corriere dello Sport focuses on Juventus . In January he was quoted as saying he would honour the end of his contract at the Italian giants - which runs out in June 2016 - but was currently not interested in extending it. So far this season Tevez has notched 21 goals in 31 appearances, as Juve sit pretty nine points clear at the top of the table - as they close in on a third successive Serie A crown. In Corriere dello Sport they also focus primarily on Juventus, as Massimiliano Allegri's side look towards the Champions League and their last-16 second-leg tie against Atletico Madrid. Cavani, Marco Verratti and Daniele Rugani have all been mooted as potential signings as Allegri's side look to increase the size and quality of their squad in the summer. Finally, in Spanish newspaper Marca the focus is firmly on the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. Barcelona take a two-goal lead into the second leg of their clash against Villarreal, while both Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao head into the decisive leg on level terms. +Liverpool's win over Manchester City on Sunday lifted them to within two points of the Champions League places and Brendan Rodgers' side are one of the hottest teams in Europe right now. Since the turn of the year, Liverpool - led by the form of Philippe Coutinho - have picked up 20 points from eight games at a remarkable two and a half points per game. Arsenal, with 18 points from eight games, and Chelsea, who have 14 from seven, have been the next best in the Premier League this calendar year, but Liverpool's quest for Champions League football has outstripped all their rivals. Liverpool, with the help of some stunning goals from Philippe Coutinho, are one of Europe's form sides . Brendan Rodgers' team have climbed to fifth in the Premier League table, just two points behind Man United . Arsenal have also begun 2015 well in the league, with 18 points from eight games since New Year's Day . In the top five leagues in Europe only Wolfsburg, who have won five and drawn one of their six games this year, have picked up points at a better rate. The German side have narrowed the gap to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich since the beginning of January, but still trail the champions by eight points. With striker Bas Dost in remarkable form - with 13 goals in his eight games since January 1 - and former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne pulling the strings behind him, Wolfsburg now look nailed on for a Champions League spot. In fact, qualification for Europe's biggest competition links all of the top form teams, with few of 2015's best performers actually challenging for the title in the top leagues around the continent. Brendan Rodgers celebrates Liverpool's win against Manchester City which continued their great form . In Spain, Valencia's excellent run of just one defeat and one draw in nine games this year has lifted them to within a point of Atletico Madrid in third place, though they are still eight points short of Real Madrid at the top of the table. The most remarkable upsurge in form comes from Caen, who have picked up 19 points from eight games, having only earned 15 from their 19 matches in the first half of the season. The run has seen them earn a 2-2 draw against PSG and beat Marseille 3-2 having trailed 2-0 in both games. Wolfsburg striker Bas Dost is Europe's sharpest marksman in 2015, with 13 goals in his last eight games . The Dutch striker has been a revelation in 2015, having only scored once before the turn of the year . Emiliano Sala scored against Marseille as Caen came back from two goals down . Remy Vercoutre, the Caen keeper, salutes the fans after his side's remarkable run continued in Marseille . On-loan Argentine foward Emiliano Sala, signed from Bordeaux at the end of January, has scored four times in the last three games as Caen have climbed from bottom of the league on New Year's Day to a comfortable mid-table spot, five points above the drop zone. Only in Italy have the team top of the league started 2015 with the best form. Juventus have earned 19 points from nine games - the same number as city-rivals Torino - to stretch their lead over Roma at the top of Serie A to nine points. The top two sides in Italy met on Monday night when they played out a 1-1 draw that keeps Juve on course for a fourth straight Scudetto. Seydou Keita equalised for 10-man Roma against table-topping Juventus . Carlos Tevez's free-kick had put Juventus ahead as they continue to dominate in Serie A . +John Carver will use his Holland World Cup stars to inflict yet more St James’ Park misery on Louis van Gaal – and says the Dutchman missed a trick in not taking Daryl Janmaat with him to Old Trafford. The Manchester United boss has already been on the receiving end of two defeats on Tyneside. First, with Barcelona in 1997, he was the victim of Tino Asprilla’s famous hat-trick in a 3-2 loss in the Champions League group stages. Ten years later he was back with AZ Alkmaar as they were beaten 4-2 in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, turning the tie with a 2-0 victory back in Holland. Van Gaal returns with United on Wednesday where he will come up against Janmaat and Tim Krul, two of the players who helped Holland to the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer. John Carver described Daryl Janmaat (left) as an 'exceptional player' ahead of Newcastle United's match . The Newcastle United boss (right) was surprised United didn't make a move for the impressive full back . And Carver said: ‘Daryl and Tim have been very helpful in terms of how Van Gaal organises his teams. ‘They actually came to me with the advice, which was nice, and it was a helpful insight.’ He added: ‘I’ve heard his record here isn’t very good and he’s lost twice, hopefully it will be third time unlucky. ‘I was there for that Barcelona game and I wouldn’t mind another night like that.’ Meanwhile, Carver admits that Newcastle’s £5million capture of Janmaat has proved one of the best pieces of business from last summer. Tim Krul (left) and Janmaat have been giving Carver insight into how Van Gaal sets his sides up . The 25-year-old was an ever-present in Brazil and, with United short of options on the right side of defence, Carver is surprised Van Gaal did not rival them for his signature. ‘I think Van Gaal perhaps had more pressing issues to sort out because let's not forget, when he came in he was talking about playing with three centre-backs,’ said Carver. ‘But even as a wing-back Daryl would have fitted into the system nicely. ‘He's a top, top player. We lost a top player in Mathieu Debuchy but replaced him with an exceptional player. That's good news. ‘He's been the most consistent player for us this season and is a great character. ‘He is a good defender and likes playing on the front foot and he gives you real quality going forward. The Dutch goalkeeper played under Van Gaal at the World Cup including his heroics in a penalty shoot out . ‘That's what we saw when we signed him. He's second on the list of assists in the Premier League for defenders and he’s been excellent for us.’ There has been talk of Van Gaal making a move for Janmaat at the end of the season. And the former Feyenoord star certainly talks highly of his former international boss. ‘He is a fantastic trainer and he has had a magnificent career,’ he said. ‘I have been very fortunate to work with him and I cannot say a bad word about him. ‘He is one of the best trainers I have ever worked with, and if you see how he works tactically, it is great. He always seems to know what to do to win a game.’ Louis van Gaal doesn't have a good record at St James' Park and has lost his last two games there . +Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has slammed the club for a lack of ambition under the tenure of owner Mike Ashley. The Magpies are 11th in the Premier League table having escaped with a 1-0 win over relegation threatened Aston Villa on Saturday. Shearer, who scored over 200 goals for Newcastle, believes the St James' Park faithful will consider giving up their season tickets soon because of the lack of investment and hope. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was among the crowd of spectators at St James' Park on Saturday . 'There is no excitement, no anticipation. It takes its toll, even on the most loyal fans in the country. Fans want to dream their team can be successful, whether that's in a domestic cup competition or in Europe,' Shearer told the Telegraph. 'Newcastle fans at the minute are showing why they are some of the best around, because they can't dream. They've been told the cups aren't a priority, that finishing 10th in the Premier League is more important.' The former striker calls for squad investment in the summer but doubts much will change under current owner Mike Ashley, and insists the club should pursue Cup glory more seriously. Newcastle legend, now a pundit with Match of the Day, has criticised the club's lack of ambition . Despite his injury problems Papiss Cisse has become a crucial player for John Carver at Newcastle . 'Unless the club are going to bring in a load of exciting players in the summer, which is highly unlikely when you look at the way it's been run, then I think people might look at giving up. I can only tell you what my mates are thinking about doing because of the lack of hope at the minute,' added Shearer . 'I'd dearly love us to have a cup run, I'd dearly love us to get to Wembley again, I'd much rather that than just finish in mid-table year after year. 'It's not going to happen because we've played a weakened team in every cup game. They've been playing weakened teams in cup competitions since 2007.' Cisse draws the congratulations after scoring the winner for Newcastle against Aston Villa on Saturday . The Senegalese international made a beeline for Jonas Gutierrez to celebrate his winning goal . Shearer is a hero at St James' Park having scored over 200 goals for the Magpies over a decade with the club . +A golden opportunity to register a rare victory on the PGA Tour slipped through the fingers of Paul Casey and Ian Poulter on Monday. But their failure opened the door for an even more heart-warming outcome: victory for two-time Open winner Padraig Harrington at the second play-off hole of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida. The crushing decline of Harrington has been documented well enough in the past six years. Padraig Harrington celebrates his Honda Classic golf win on Monday at Palm Beach Gardens . Harrington tips his hat to the crowd as he walks to the green on the second playoff hole . Ian Poulter plays his shot out of a bunker on the 14th hole during The Honda Classic . With Harrington in danger of falling outside the world’s top 300, it seemed a mystery why he didn’t put his name forward last month as a candidate to be Europe’s captain at the Ryder Cup in Minnesota next year. But the model Irishman, now 43, had the last word on Monday with his first win in seven years on one of the two main tours. Reduced to asking for invitations to play in America these days, he made full use of one at the Honda Classic. He led at halfway, and then in a see-saw final round he got the better of rookie American Daniel Berger having needed a birdie at the 18th to force a play-off. Jack Nicklaus opined that he could see tension in the Harrington swing during the third round, which was hardly surprising given all the problems he’s had on the course these last few years. Poulter of England and his caddie are seen during the continuation of the fourth round of The Honda Classic . After winning The Open in 2007 and 2008, followed by the US PGA Championship the same year, he suffered his first winless year for a decade in 2009. While the Irishman managed just one top-five finish in majors over the next five years, his ranking plummeted from world No 2 to 297 at the start of this year. After yesterday’s win, Harrington moves up to No 82 and qualifies for this year’s Masters. And some of the putting woes that have contributed to his fall re-appeared during the final round, only for Harrington to hold his nerve with a level-par 70 that set up the win. Harrington said: ‘Hopefully this isn’t an isolated win. I think I have found that mental edge I had been missing and hopefully I can be consistently contending. Believe it or not, when I get in contention I can still hit the shots.’ For Casey, it was the second week in a row he had experienced such frustration, after losing a sudden death play-off in the Northern Trust Open last week. For Poulter, who went into the water five times in a final round of 75 that left him tied third with Casey, it means the long wait to register a stroke-play success on American soil, stretching back over 150 events and more than 10 years, goes on. Harrington putts on the second playoff hole during The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort & Spa . The 39-year-old has won stroke-play events in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, but his sole victory in the US came in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona in 2010. ‘It’s just bitterly disappointing to put myself in the position I have, to play as well as I’ve played... and a couple of loose shots has cost me this tournament,’ said Poulter. ‘It’s a shame to hand tournaments away.’ A Monday finish at the Honda Classic proved a necessity after violent storms had wreaked havoc on Friday and Saturday. The two Englishmen began the last 11 holes of the final round on Monday with a one-stroke lead over Patrick Reed. Paul Casey watches his tee shot on the 15th hole during The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort & Spa . Both Englishmen will look to the positives after going so close. For Poulter it brings to an end a miserable 15 months during which he hasn’t finished in the top 10 in tournaments, never mind win. For Casey, it’s further evidence that his career is now firmly back on track. The 37-year-old turned his back on the European Tour to concentrate on America this year and his decision has been vindicated by his golf over the past fortnight. Barely inside the world’s top 100 at the beginning of February, he is on the verge of earning an invitation to play in the Masters in April. The scene now switches 60 miles south to Miami and the first event this year in which all the world’s best players are in the same place at the same time — the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral. +Even the world-renowned composer himself might have struggled to orchestrate better than Arsenal's 'Little Mozart' on his day. Rosicky earned that nickname during his five years with Borussia Dortmund, yet it was in Germany where he was labelled 'wasted talent' and Arsenal gladly signed the maestro in May 2006. 'When he is fit...' seem to be the same, old four words that crop up when Rosicky becomes the topic of discussion yet, even at the age of 34, he still knows how to make Arsenal tick. Tomas Rosicky earned the nickname 'Little Mozart' in Germany and he continues to make Arsenal tick at 34 . Olivier Giroud celebrates with Rosicky during their Premier League win against Queens Park Rangers . Rosicky has found minutes hard to come by at Arsenal previously but injuries can prove problematic . Pulling on the yellow of Dortmund from 2001, the all-round midfielder's potential was recognised. Remember Nike's Scorpion advert in 2002? Francesco Totti, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and Ronaldinho, among others, playing in a 'secret tournament' hosted by Eric Cantona. Then, among the world's finest footballers, was a 20-something Rosicky. More than a decade on he is in his mid-thirties, and getting better with age. Take the former Sparta Prague youth's cameo against Everton on March 1, for example. There was a moment when Rosicky chased the ball from Phil Jagielka, to Ross Barkley, to Steven Naismith, then back to Barkley, and won the tackle. It merited a standing ovation, before he settled the bag of nerves the Emirates Stadium had become with an 89th-minute goal to make it 2-0. 'This geezer's unreal, how is he 34? Still producing moments of class like that, he's a brilliant player,' one supporter said in his analysis on ArsenalFanTV afterwards. Rosicky scores against Everton previously as he came on as a substitute with just eight minutes remaining . Rosicky shoots to make it 2-0 to Arsenal against Everton on March 1 and settle their nerves . Rosicky should start against Manchester United but is not guaranteed to do so under Wenger . Rosicky mocked up as his nickname 'Little Mozart' 87 - vs QPR (March 4) 8 - vs Everton (March 1) 9 - vs Monaco (February 25) 14 - vs Crystal Palace (February 21) 18 - vs Middlesbrough (February 15) That's exactly how it comes – in 'moments'. The Czech Republic captain doesn't devastate week in, week out yet he is guaranteed to put in a shift. The mentality to pass sideways is lost on Rosicky, who prefers to move the ball quickly and forward, showing as much energy and pace as those with years on him in the Premier League. Yet Rosicky – a one-two kind of player, who bleeds the Arsenal way – has averaged just 19 games per Barclays Premier League season under Wenger in his nine years in north London. The injury-prone playmaker has been unlucky, rupturing his knee tendon in 2008 before requiring surgery on an Achilles tendon in 2012. It cost him more than two years, and a niggle has always seemed to be round the corner since. Minutes have been hard to come by. Eighteen against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, 14 against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and just nine in the 3-1 defeat by Monaco in the Champions League at the Emirates. His eight minutes against Everton led to a rare start against Queens Park Rangers, and Wenger should persist with the playmaker. There is no doubt the Arsenal manager likes the man due a testimonial next year if he signs a contract extension. 'If you love football, you love Rosicky,' purred Wenger after their 3-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup fourth round. Rosicky treated that match as an exhibition. His assist for Mesut Ozil's first half goal was ridiculous enough before a no-look pass led to a one-two that allowed Rosicky to score a volley in the second. You may remember it better for Phil Neville declaring he would 'two-foot him' if he tried that in his neck of the woods, but most saw it as sheer class from a thinker that views football akin to chess. Rosicky makes a no-look pass against Brighton which pundit Phil Neville found disrespectful . The Czech midfielder used the same move a number of times during Arsenal's 3-2 defeat of Brighton . During interviews Rosicky can look uneasy, like a teenager making a television debut, not a player just one cap short of a century for Czech Republic. Modesty, can be another way to put it. This week we heard Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 33, has years left. Can Rosicky keep being his tireless self? Well, a Jaguar Land Rover may be aged but, when it's only got so many miles on the clock, it runs as good as any. Rosicky has been seen to by mechanics on the treatment table far more than he deserves but, with him now fit, Wenger should start the 34-year-old against Manchester United on Monday, then watch him go. +Captain John Terry believes Chelsea's 'massive' Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham could be the start of something special for the Blues. Terry's goal on the stroke of half-time put Chelsea in front at Wembley and a Diego Costa shot that deflected in off Kyle Walker 11 minutes into the second half secured a 2-0 win. The trophy is the first Chelsea have won since Jose Mourinho returned to the club in 2013 but Terry hopes it is the first of many for the current crop. John Terry fires the ball home via a deflection off Eric Dier to put Chelsea in front before half-time . Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is left stranded after Terry's deflected effort flew past him and into the net . Terry wheels away to celebrate with Costa as Eden Hazard raises his arms in adulation . Asked how important the win might be for the development of the Chelsea team, Terry told Sky Sports 1: 'That's the first one, it's massive. It meant an awful lot to us (to win the League Cup) in 2004/05 in Jose's first year here. 'That (Sunday's win) could be the start of something special but we have to kick on and we have the league to focus on, but it's a great day and a great win today. 'The pressure was there before the game, obviously, but that's what cup finals do to you. I thought we played very well, handled the game very well and delighted with the win. 'I think it was fairly even first half, second half I thought we controlled it a little bit better and deserved winners.' The veteran skipper can't contain his delight after seeing his side win the Capital One Cup final . Costa (left) celebrates Capital One Cup success with Terry (right) after the match . Chelsea players celebrate Capital One Cup success with their manager Jose Mourinho (front) +It was an emotional day for Jose Mourinho as he lifted his first trophy since returning to Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday evening. It ended a 'drought' of 914 days since Mourinho last won a competition, and the Chelsea boss looked close to tears at the final whistle, before celebrating the success with captain John Terry and the rest of his team. Mourinho heaped praise on his players after winning the 21st trophy of his managerial career, above all on those who did not even play in the final but had played a big part in getting the Blues there, such as Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis. Jose Mourinho looks solemn as he oversees the Chelsea warm-up before the game at Wembley . Chelsea fans got a glimpse of Mourinho on the big screen as the teams waited in the tunnel before kick-off . The Chelsea manager leads his side out as fireworks go off before the Capital One Cup final . Eden Hazard and Mourinho share a joke as the teams line up for the national anthem before kick off . Mourinho and Hazard at teh end of the line-up as the pre-match pleasantries were completed . However, with another London derby against West Ham coming up in the Premier League in midweek, the Portuguese also said Sunday's celebrations would be kept to a minimum - 20 minutes to be precise. In lauding his entire squad, rather than just those who featured on Sunday, Mourinho said: 'We took the competition seriously. Everyone was fantastic in this run. 'All these guys are men of the match for me, maybe more than John (Terry) and maybe more than the lucky ones to play this final. A serious-looking Mourinho heads towards the technical area as the clock ticks towards the first whistle . Mourinho looks worried alongside Spurs manger Mauricio Pochettino in the opening stages of the game . But he showed his lighter side, squirting water at a cameraman during a break in the play . Mourinho was scribbling away in his pad during the first half at Wembley but never took his eye off the game . Cesar Azpilicueta receives the ball from his manager as the Chelsea defence held strong to take the trophy . 'I feel really sorry for the other ones who didn't play, so for me they are the man of the match because this is a team.' He added: 'I'm really proud of the guys, but celebrations in 20 minutes, (then) over, goodbye, train tomorrow, we have another game on Wednesday.' As the rain came pouring down at Wembley Stadium, the Chelsea manager seemed to be enjoying himself . Once you're wet.... Mourinho prowled the touchline as the rain battered north London in the second half . Mourinho and opposite number Mauricio Pochettino shake hands at the end of the final . Mourinho celebrates with John Terry at the final whistle, but dedicated the win to players did not play . Mourinho was spotted on the phone immediately after the final whistle before going to receive his medal . Mourinho was quick to praise Tottenham and their manager Mauricio Pochettino after the match as well. He said: 'I'm really happy. I think I should start by talking about Tottenham and about Mauricio, because they are a fantastic team. 'He's building a great team, they gave us a very difficult match and I feel sorry for them. He (Pochettino) is doing a fantastic work and is having a great evolution in his career.' The Portuguese was lost for words after climbing the Wembley steps to lift his first trophy in two years . Mourinho looked like he was overcome with emotions before the League Cup trophy was presented . The Chelsea boss finally gets his hands on the trophy and lifts it aloft to the acclaim of the fans . Mourinho lies on the floor in front of his team as he begins to enjoy the party on the pitch at Wembley . It was a different side to Mourinho on show as the Chelsea team celebrated with the League Cup . He's in there somewhere... Mourinho fights his way through the tape during the Blues' celebrations . Mourinho and his captain pose with the Capital One cup after a confident, and comfortable, display . Jose and some lucky Chelsea fans had some fun with the League Cup trophy after the match... But the Blues boss always had a tight grip on the prize - the first one of his second spell in charge . +Real Madrid youngster Fran Perez may soon be dubbed the new David Beckham after the midfielder scored a sensational goal from inside his own half. Perez picked up the ball more than 50 yards out before turning and lofting the ball over the Atletico Madrid Under 19s goalkeeper in the mini-derby. His goal held a striking resemblance to Beckham’s effort for Manchester United against Wimbledon in 1996. Real Madrid youngster Fran Perez picks up the ball before turning to take a shot inside his own area . Perez turns the midfielder before looking up and seeing the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper off his line . As a challenge comes in Perez gets an audacious shot away against Atletico Madrid Under 19s . The Atletico goalkeeper struggles to get his bearings as he realises the ball is heading over him . Perez' beautiful effort leaves the goalkeeper in trouble as the flight of the ball catches the stopper out . Fans celebrates as Perez beats the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper from inside his own half against Atletico . The shirt comes off as Perez celebrates his impressive David Beckham-esque goal in the mini-derby . Beckham too picked up the ball miles from goal before lofting the ball over an embarrassed Neill Sullivan as the number 10 helped Manchester United to a 2-0 victory. Perez may argue that his effort was actually slightly further out than Beckham’s, but there was certainly no argument that it was the standout moment of the match. And it may not be too long before we see Perez gracing the same pitch as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at the club. With an effort like that Perez may soon be gracing the pitch alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale . Perez' goal was reminiscent of Beckham's goal against Wimbledon for Manchester United in 1996 . +Juventus have made an offer to sign Diego de Girolamo from Sheffield United. The 19-year-old Chesterfield-born striker, who qualifies for Italy as his father Cozimo hails from Naples, is out of contract in the summer and is being courted by several clubs. He has impressed Juventus scouts playing for Italy at U18 and U20 level and Juve club officials held talks with his representatives in London on Friday. Diego De Girolamo of York City in action during the League Two match between Northampton and York City . De Girolamo of Italy U20 in action during the international friendly match between Italy U20 and Qatar U20 . De Girolamo is on loan at League Two York City but is out of action after contracting food poisoning while on international duty with Italy U20s last week. Southampton, Sunderland and Celtic have also expressed an interest in the young forward who has scored five goals in 16 appearances this season. Juventus would be able to sign him for a compensation fee of around £300,000 while a move to an English club could net Sheffield United closer to £1million at a tribunal. Chesterfield-born striker qualifies for Italy as his father Cozimo hails from Naples . +Bradford boss Phil Parkinson is relishing his side's return to the role of FA Cup outsiders after watching them keep their Wembley hopes alive with a gutsy goalless draw against Reading at Valley Parade. The Bantams' recent knockout heroics had made them narrow favourites to book their place in the semi-finals for the first time since 1911 despite the face they faced higher league opposition. But after watching Gary Liddle come closest in a clattering clash when he hit the woodwork late in the first half, Parkinson was keen to revive the siege mentality which helped them to wins over Chelsea and Sunderland. Phil Parkinson is congratulated by Jose Mourinho as Bradford shocked Chelsea at Stamford Bridge . Parkinson the manager collides with Garath McCleary of Reading during the FA Cup Quarter Final match . Parkinson said: 'We will go down there for the replay really as the underdogs and we will approach it in a positive fashion because we're at our best when we do that. 'We won at Stamford Bridge which was seen as a day out for us because no-one expected us to go and get a result. So we are still very much alive and kicking.' The draw will mean a rare return for Parkinson to the club for whom he made 361 appearances and as a player and was voted their best ever central midfielder in an online poll. Andrew Davies heads the ball wide of the Reading goal during the FA Cup Quarter Final match at Valley Parade . 'I'm looking forward to going back there because I haven't got down there many times since I left,' added Parkinson. 'Obviously I would have preferred to have gone through but the next best scenario is the replay.' Pavel Pogrebnyak and Oliver Norwood also hit the post for Reading who were bidding to make their own bit of history by reaching the last four for the first time since 1927. And Steve Clarke's men know they will probably never have a better chance than their replay against League One opposition which is scheduled for a week on Monday at the Madejski Stadium. Pavel Pogrebnyak heads the ball onto the post during the FA Cup Quarter Final match . Clarke had plainly set his side up to combat the physical nature of the Bantams who had stunned Sunderland in the fifth round and taken the lead inside the first four minutes. And the tone for a full-throttle but low-quality encounter was set in a robust opening minute as Billy Knott barged over Jamie Mackie and moments later Nathaniel Chalobah's challenge left James Hanson stretched out on the deck. The bruising encounter continued in the same vein from the first whistle to the last with Reading captain Alex Pearce playing the last three minutes with a broken nose after an accidental clash with Bradford substitute Francois Zoko. Stephen Darby applauds the fans following their team's 0-0 draw during match between Bradford and Reading . Bradford had stepped up the pace in the second half with chances for Hanson and Andrew Davies but it was Reading who came closest to snatching it when Norwood's late free-kick caused a mighty scramble in the home box. Clarke said he hoped the replay would attract a sell-out crowd at the Madejski Stadium but rejected his side's role as favourites and stressed the Bantams were still very much in the hunt for a semi-final place. Billy Knott strikes the ball as Daniel Williams of Reading closes in during the FA Cup Quarter Final match . 'We are both still in the hat and can look forward to the draw, and both teams will fancy their chances in the replay,' said Clarke. 'We hit the post twice and on another day we could have nicked it but it's probably a fair result and now we will look forward to them coming back to our place. 'I knew we were in the game from the first minute from the way we were challenging and getting the second balls. I knew we were determined to get them back to our place if that was the best we could do, and everyone was 100 per cent concentrated on that.' Jon Stead of Bradford City reacts after seeing a goalscoring chance missed during the FA Cup Quarter Final . +Bradford striker Jon Stead was disappointed his side could not battle past Reading and into the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The teams will have to do it all again at the Madejski Stadium after a hard-fought clash ended in a 0-0 draw in West Yorkshire. After the highs of victories over Chelsea and Sunderland, Bradford were left frustrated, with Stead telling BT Sport: 'It was a dogfight. Jon Stead (left) is disappointed his side couldn't beat Reading despite dominating for long periods . Hope Akpan (centre) goes past Francois Zoko during the FA quarter-final clash at Valley Parade . 'We are disappointed because we feel we can do better. 'In the second half we pinned them in for long spells but we needed a goal. We limited them to a few chances. 'We're still in the hat but there's a little bit of disappointment that we haven't gone through. It's half a job. Andrew Davies (5) heads the ball wide of the Reading goal in one of many chances Bradford had to score . Yakubu (right) bursts forward but was unable to score past a formidable Bantams defence at Valley Parade . 'We've still got to go and do the business down there. There's great belief in the players and the staff and we'll give it everything we've got.' Manager Phil Parkinson was more upbeat, saying on BT Sport: 'Were still in the hat so we're pleased with that. 'You've got to give Reading credit, they came and made it difficult. It was a cagey old affair. I thought our lads did excellently in a different type of way than Sunderland. Phil Parkinson (centre) was pleased with his side's overall performance in a tightly fought encounter . 'We had to be very professional and wait for the moment to arrive. Unfortunately it didn't. In the second half we had the momentum but we didn't have that touch of class in and around the box. 'We look forward to the replay. Everyone will be expecting Reading to win that one but you never know what can happen on the night. We know they'll approach it differently and look to open up. 'When we went to Stamford Bridge, it was a day out, no one expected us to get through.' Reading set out their stall early on to be hard to beat but manager Steve Clarke knows the job is far from done yet. The facial injury received by Alex Pearce showed how physically demanding the contest was . He said: 'We came here and decided to roll up our sleeves. We knew we'd have to battle, fight for every second ball and see if we could produce something. 'We hit the post twice and on another day we could have nicked something. But it was a fair result. 'There was never really a moment where I was too worried. We were in the game from the first minute, and we were determined to get them back to our place if that was the best we could do. 'I think both teams will fancy their chances so let's get it on.' +Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi believes his side's 4-1 win over Lens on Saturday night was the perfect preparation for their Champions League last-16 second leg against Chelsea. The French champions recorded their 15th league win of the season to regain first place - if only temporarily due to Lyon's game in hand - and Matuidi is confident that a positive result has set them up nicely for a trip to London. 'It was very important to go top of the table, even if it's only provisional. It's a good way to prepare for the Champions League match against Chelsea on Wednesday,' he told reporters. Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi believes that his side's league win has set them up for Chelsea . Matuidi came off the bench to score as PSG beat Lens to return to the top of Ligue 1 on Saturday . 'We are heading to London with plenty of confidence. I think we can still do better in terms of converting our chances into goals, but we're working on it. 'Wednesday's match will be a very tough one against a team full of confidence. But we're heading there to qualify.' The first leg of the tie, at Parc des Princes, saw Chelsea take the lead through Branislav Ivanovic, before Edinson Cavani equalised in the second half to salvage the tie. Laurent Blanc's side will know that they need to score in west London to have any chance of progressing, but the tie is firmly in the balance going into the decider. In the first leg at Parc des Princes, Branislav Ivanovic scored to put Chelsea 1-0 up, but PSG equalised . Javier Pastore celebrates with his PSG team-mates after scoring on Saturday; they head to London this week . +Tony Pulis has demanded life bans for West Bromwich supporters who ripped out seats and threw them at rival fans at Villa Park. The furious West Brom manager also branded as ‘mindless idiots’ the hundreds of Aston Villa fans who invaded the pitch and goaded his players during Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final in scenes reminiscent of the 1970s. The FA are investigating the trouble, with Villa facing a large fine or even a partial stadium closure if negligence is established. West Brom manager Tony Pulis was disappointed that fans ripped out seats at Villa Park . Pulis compared scenes with fans on the pitch at Villa Park to trouble in the 1970s . Thousands of Villa supporters celebrated their win against West Brom by storming the pitch on Saturday . Questions will be asked about the meagre number of stewards, who were overwhelmed by a rush of Villa supporters. In 2010 West Ham were fined £115,000 for failing to control their fans when violence flared at a League Cup tie against Millwall. West Brom could also face sanctions over their fans, with one Villa supporter revealing to Sportsmail that he suffered a bloody head wound caused by a seat flung down from the upper section of the North Stand. Estimates suggested up to 25 chairs had been used as weapons. Pulis said: ‘Those supporters should never come into another ground. It is like people coming into someone else’s house — you have to show respect.’ West Bromwich issued a stern statement on Sunday insisting they would show no tolerance towards any offenders. Chairman Jeremy Peace was said to have left the stadium in a rage. As thousands of Villa fans stormed on to the pitch to celebrate a 2-0 victory over their local rivals, many chose to swarm around West Brom players. West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace reportedly left the stadium furious about what happened . West Brom midfield player Callum McManaman was said to be involved in the most aggressive clash . Winger Callum McManaman was said to be involved in the most aggressive confrontation, while goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was repeatedly barged by yobs. Villa’s Fabian Delph, who scored his side’s first goal, said he was bitten by over-enthusiastic fans. ‘It was dangerous,’ he said. ‘Someone tried to take my boot off. People tried to kiss me and were biting me. It was scary.’ West Midlands Police said 17 arrests had been, while they are are also trying to identify people involved in a fracas before the match at the Witton Arms pub down the road from Villa Park. Villa issued a statement condemning the fans who poured over the barriers in the dying minutes of the game. ‘The club does not condone supporters invading the field under any circumstances. ‘We are very disappointed that what should have been a very memorable and proud moment was marred by the actions of those who could not control themselves. They have let both themselves and their club down. Villa could be in trouble from the Football Association for the crowd problems on Saturday . Fabian Delph scored in the game but the Aston Villa captain described the incident as 'scary' ‘The club extends its sincere apologies to the FA, the West Brom directors, Tony Pulis and all his staff and players.’ Pulis said: ‘It was like the Seventies and Eighties. I am old enough to have seen isolated incidents like that. Villa should look at the stewarding because with a game at this time of night, 5.30, you need to police it properly and I am sure Villa will look at it. ‘This is just hopefully an isolated incident with mindless idiots.’ +Scarlets boosted their European Champions Cup qualification ambitions by seeing at Parc y Scarlets. The home side remain outside of the top six, but are now just three points behind Connacht in the battle to book a place among Europe's elite. It was a deserved win for the Llanelli-based region, who put a big dent in Leinster's play-off hopes with just five rounds of action remaining. Both sides welcomed back Six Nations squad members with British and Irish Lions prop Cian Healy making his first Leinster start since September, while Wales centre Scott Williams had not pulled on a Scarlets jersey for six weeks. And the Scarlets' vice-captain came to the fore in a bright start from the home side, which was rewarded with a penalty from fly-half Steve Shingler after 10 minutes. However, Leinster began to grow into the game as the half wore on and on 18 minutes they showed the clinical edge of champions to claim the game's opening try. After Leinster had set up an attack in the home 22, former NRL star Ben Te'o cut an exquisite angle through the Scarlets midfield before stepping his way to score at the posts. Fly-half Jimmy Gopperth landed the simple conversion. The Wasps-bound number 10 added another three points following more pressure from the visitors, but Scarlets responded strongly and crossed for their first try just before the half-hour mark. Some slick handling by the home backs had Leinster on the back foot and Scotland back-rower John Barclay did well to squeeze in at the corner - although it needed the television match official to confirm the number eight had avoided touch in the process of touching down. Shingler was short with the conversion and it meant Leinster held a slender 10-8 advantage at the interval. However, a well-worked team try from the Scarlets wiped out that advantage 11 minutes after the restart. After strong work from the forwards which took play to the Leinster line, the home side appeared to have butchered an overlap. However, they regrouped well and silky hands from Kiwi centre Regan King put full-back Jordan Williams over. A long-range Gopperth penalty reduced the arrears to two points, then it needed a try-saving tackle from Barclay to deny opposite number Jack Conan, with James Davies claiming a crucial turnover. The outstanding Barclay was then involved at the opposite end of the field, bursting through to set up the Scarlets third try, finished off with an outstretched hand by replacement Rory Pitman. Shingler couldn't land the conversion and seven points separated the sides going into the final 13 minutes. Replacement Rhys Priestland landed a penalty to put more distance between the sides and Leinster left empty handed after a score by full-back Zane Kirchner was ruled out by the TMO in the final minutes. +Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde has told Ireland not to expect the same Welsh mistakes made in Dublin last year. Ireland ran out convincing 26-3 winners when the two teams last met at the Aviva Stadium in February 2014 but McBryde admits the Welsh management could have prepared the side better for that contest. And, with Ireland's visit to the Millennium Stadium on March 14 shaping up to be the game that could decide the destiny of this year's RBS Six Nations title, McBryde insists Wales will be ready this time. Gordon D'Arcy surges through for Ireland as they beat Wales 26-3 in last year's tournament . Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde has told Ireland not to expect the same Welsh mistakes as last year . 'I know from a coaching point of view we looked at ourselves and weren't happy with the way we prepared for the game that week,' McBryde reflected on Wales' visit to Ireland 13 months ago. 'We did not have the intensity in training leading up to that match and we were exposed on the day. 'We weren't pointing fingers, we were looking at ourselves as to how we could have prepared better for that game. 'It was a bitter pill to swallow because we were well-beaten and it was the first time in a long time that had happened to us. 'We really struggled to cope with their driving game but we've worked worked hard in that area and the boys showed against France what they're capable of doing.' Wales' 20-13 victory in Paris has revived Welsh hopes of doing what they did in 2013, namely becoming Six Nations champions after losing their first game in the tournament and they were boosted on Friday when skipper Sam Warburton and Dan Biggar returned to training after suffering knocks in France. Wales captain Sam Warburton (centre) is expected to play against Ireland after suffering a knock . But Ireland are three-fifths to a Grand Slam having beaten England in Dublin last weekend and McBryde accepts Wales face a big challenge to record their first win over the men in green since 2012. 'They're a very formidable outfit as they've proven,' McBryde said. 'You've got to have your wits about you playing them in regards to the tactical and technical approach to the game. 'But the France game was a reflection of what the players have been doing in training and some of the execution and accuracy under pressure which we we speak about constantly came to fruition. 'We've set the standard and now we've got to do it again.' . +The team behind Sgt Reckless have yet to decide if the gelding will run in the Arkle Challenge Trophy at Cheltenham after just one run over fences. Trainer Mick Channon, former trainer Henrietta Knight and owner Tim Radford will discuss the situation after the eight-year-old strutted his stuff in pleasing fashion in a schooling session over two miles after racing at Doncaster on Saturday. Ridden by Will Kennedy, Sgt Reckless put in a clear round of jumping as he came home ahead of his stable companion Paradise Valley. Sgt Reckless comes home in front to win an all weather maiden at Lingfield Park Racecourse in January . Watching on were Radford and the trainer's son Michael Channon jnr. 'We're in a horrible position in that everyone's telling us how to train him yet we know he's only half the horse if he hasn't got good ground,' said Channon jnr. 'The ground was good here at Doncaster and we would have loved to have been in a race. 'He jumped very well and Will Kennedy was more than happy. It's another step towards what we're going to do and we have to do what's right by the horse. 'He's in the Arkle and also in the County over hurdles. The Arkle is our dream. It's whether we're doing the right thing in terms of what we've got under our belt. Mick Channon and Henrietta Knight will again team up for the  Cheltenham Festival this year . 'We'll leave the decision to Mick (Channon), Hen (Henrietta Knight) and Tim (Radford). 'We've done everything right there. We know he's got the ability, but whether he's got the experience to go into the Arkle. 'I wish it wasn't this way. I just wish we could do what everyone is telling us to do, but we know the horse won't go in soft, horrible ground. 'Cheltenham is the Holy Grail, but we will do what is right for the horse. We all want to go to Cheltenham but is it right for the Sergeant?' Since making a successful debut over fences at Uttoxeter in late October, Sgt Reckless has finished fifth behind Faugheen in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and won a mile and a half maiden Flat race on the Polytrack at Lingfield in January. Ruby Walsh riding Faugheen clear the last to win The williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle Race at Kempton Park . +Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana believes captaincy is bringing the best out of team-mate Jordan Henderson. In the absence of Steven Gerrard, who returned to training this week after a hamstring injury which has sidelined him for six matches, the Reds vice-captain has taken the armband and led from the front. His goal against Burnley was his second in as many games - taking his tally for the season to five - and he also provided his 11th assist of the season for Daniel Sturridge to also score against the Clarets. Jordan Henderson (centre) has seen Liverpool unbeaten in his six games as captain . Henderson scored a stunning goal in the 2-0 victory over Burnley on Wednesday . The England international also scored a screamer against champions Manchester City in his previous game . Liverpool have not lost any of the 13 matches in which Henderson has worn the armband from the start and Lallana, who knows something about leadership from his time at Southampton, believes his England colleague has grown with the added responsibility. 'He is unbelievable. He has matured as a player over the last two seasons and he has kicked on another level even with the armband,' said the £23million summer signing. 'I was lucky enough to be captain at Southampton and it does give you that little bit extra and it seems it is doing the same to him. 'It is great to be playing with such good players and the results are on the up. 'We have a great rhythm and a good bit of consistency and are keeping clean sheets as well; we've turned a corner since Christmas and we are really looking good. Adam Lallana (centre) believes Henderson has come into his own after being handed the Reds armband . First choice captain Steven Gerrard (right) has returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury . 'It was a difficult start (to the season) but all the signings have bedded in now and we have players back fit and we have found a system we are playing really well and are causing teams problems. 'Confidence is a big thing in any team and we have that in abundance and I think it is showing.' Lallana's own improvement in form has also taken an upturn in line with the team's and there is no doubt he is benefiting from the 3-4-2-1 system which allows him the freedom, alongside Philippe Coutinho, to exploit the space behind the central striker. 'I've had a few injuries and been in and out of the team for whatever reason but I am thoroughly enjoying it at the minute,' he added. 'I am staying fit and contributing in the system the manager has got us playing.' Daniel Sturridge scores against Palace to set up an FA Cup quarter-final against Blackburn on Sunday . With Liverpool now at full pelt in the race for the top four, just three points behind third-placed Arsenal, they must now divert their attention to the FA Cup. Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn visit Anfield on Sunday with a place in the last four at stake. 'It is a great competition in which we have a great chance of getting to Wembley in the semi-final,' said Lallana. 'We won't underestimate Blackburn, we will dust ourselves down, recover well and go again Sunday. 'A lot of the big guns went out in the early rounds so it is good that we can maybe capitalise on that but Blackburn will not be an easy game. 'They will come here full of optimism and will want to cause an upset.' +West Brom boss Tony Pulis insists he has no problem with his Aston Villa counterpart Tim Sherwood following the latter's comments about the size of the two Midlands duo. Prior to Tuesday's Barclays Premier League clash between the teams, Sherwood - a contender to take over as Baggies boss in the recent past - described Albion as a 'good little club' before expressing his delight at having landed the manager's job at a 'massive football club' like Villa. Then, after his side won 2-1 in the game at Villa Park, Sherwood again made an apparent dig at West Brom, saying they will 'have to improve' for the next meeting - Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final at the same venue - if they are going stop the hosts triumphing again. West Brom manager Tony Pulis insists he does not have a problem with Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood . Sherwood said West Brom were a 'good little club' ahead of Aston Villa's 2-1 win against the Baggies . But Pulis said ahead of this weekend's derby: 'That is Tim - there are no problems with me or the chairman at all. 'Tim is Tim and he will be good fun for everyone around the West Midlands for the time he is at Aston Villa I'm sure.' Pulis stressed West Brom will not need to use either the words of Sherwood, for whom the win on Tuesday was his first since taking the Villa post last month, or the disappointment of their defeat in that game to generate any additional motivation for Saturday's contest. With his players only one match away from a Wembley semi-final, Pulis - a beaten FA Cup finalist in 2011 as Stoke boss - said: 'I don't need to pin that (Sherwood's comments) up in the changing room. 'We have a good group of lads here and they will want to win the game as much as Villa will. 'I don't think we need any (extra) motivation. It's a local derby, it's the quarter-final of the FA Cup and it's absolutely wonderful that we've got to this stage. These are big games that everybody should look forward to and we will certainly be looking forward to it. 'We've got as good a chance (of winning the competition) as any of the eight teams left in there. 'You go and ask Bradford. They will fancy winning it as well.' West Brom defeated non-league side Gateshead 7-0 in Pulis' first official game in charge of the Baggies . Pulis' first game officially in charge of West Brom following his appointment in January was the 7-0 FA Cup third-round victory over non-league Gateshead at the Hawthorns. Since then, Albion's run in the tournament has also seen them win 2-1 at Birmingham and 4-0 at home against West Ham. Overall, the Baggies have lost only twice in their 11 games in all competitions under Pulis so far. And asked if he had underestimated Villa on Tuesday night, the 57-year-old said: 'I have great respect for every club and every team. 'From the third round right the way through, and in every game we play in the Premier League or anything else - I have total respect for clubs, the people there and the supporters. 'I never underestimate anyone. I've been in the game too long to do that.' West Brom will be without injured forward Victor Anichebe (groin) and cup-tied midfielder Darren Fletcher for Saturday's tie. Pulis says he has a few 'knocks and niggles' in his squad to assess - winger Callum McManaman (foot) is a doubt, while forwards Saido Berahino and Brown Ideye have both been playing recently with pain-killing injections. Pulis also said the club 'have to go carefully' with Stephane Sessegnon, with the forward understood to have suffered a family bereavement, and it remains to be seen whether goalkeeper Ben Foster keeps his place after his costly late error in Tuesday's loss. +There was a time in 2012 when just about every selfie going was doctored by a grinning picture of John Terry, super-imposed in his full Chelsea kit and lifting the European Cup. Their captain popped up all over the internet, a subject of ridicule after missing the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena through suspension. This time he wore the Chelsea strip for real, lifting the Capital One Cup high up in the Wembley stands and dancing like a dad in front of their celebrating fans behind the goal in the West Stand. John Terry lifts the Capital One Cup after captaining Chelsea to victory over Tottenahm Hotspur . Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris watches as Terry's shot finds the back of the net during the first half . Diego Costa, Terry and Gary Cahill celebrate the opening goal of the game in London . Terry was man of the match here by a distance, driving this team towards their first trophy since Jose Mourinho returned with a performance that sent shivers down the spine. He scored Chelsea’s opener on the stroke of half-time, a finish that settled any anxiety and pretty much any doubt about the destination of this year’s Capital One Cup. After that, he was peerless. The Capital One Cup is a level or two down from the European Cup, or the three Barclays Premier League titles he has won at Chelsea during a 17-year career at Stamford Bridge — but one look at the Chelsea captain told you it really mattered. This was further confirmation, as if it were needed, of his class. His last-ditch tackle on Tottenham’s talisman Harry Kane, sprinting across to cover for his team-mate Gary Cahill in the final minutes here, evoked memories of the days when he was rated best in the world in his position. Former Atletico Madrid forward Costa had a hand in the second goal of the game on Sunday afternoon . Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino watch on from the sidelines . Goalscorer Terry celebrates with Costa during their Capital One Cup final win in London . It hurt like hell for Terry to miss out on the Champions League final, that one night in Munich when Chelsea finally realised their ambition to win the biggest club cup in European football. At the age of 34 he plays one season at a time now, waiting for the call from Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo or director Marina Granovskaia to tell him that he will be staying on for another campaign. That conversation is coming, ‘a formality’ according to Mourinho recently as Terry matured into a new role at the heart of the Chelsea defence. Incredible as it sounds, opposition managers and their players have yet to suss out that Terry has passed on the main responsibility of marking to his usual central defensive partner Cahill. That savvy move added another five years to Alessandro Costacurta’s career with AC Milan when it was put to him by Carlo Ancelotti at the turn of the millennium. Here, after lifting the first trophy since Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, Terry played like he could go on for another thousand years. Terry slides in to block a shot from Tottenham's top scorer Harry Kane during the second half . Mourinho has been instrumental in Terry's return to form, inspiring new motivation in his captain . Fellow defender Cahill has taken over many of the marking duties that Terry used to perform himself . Kane went cold here, frozen out by the discipline of Cahill — comfortably his best performance of the season — and the organisational ability of Chelsea’s captain alongside him. Cahill was terrorised by Kane in the 5-3 defeat at White Hart Lane on January 1, roughed up by the Tottenham striker and losing his guaranteed place in Chelsea’s team as a result. Terry is talking this team through games, just as Marcel Desailly did when he returned to Stamford Bridge after winning the World Cup with France in 1998. Terry has matured these past couple of years and it is at times like this when you begin to wonder what else he could have achieved if he had kept his nose clean. The rehabilitation will never quite be complete, never quite final because he has never spoken about the day in 2011 when he racially insulted Anton Ferdinand. He really ought to speak about it because even if the words he used at Loftus Road that day are unacceptable, society will accept an apology, or a least an explanation. Football can be a forgiving place. The Chelsea squad celebrate their cup success following the final whistle in the capital . Didier Drogba, Terry and full back Branislav Ivanovic celebrate their first trophy since Mourinho's return . Chelsea's captain and manager embrace after the Portuguese coach's first trophy since 2012 . Chelsea supporters see him differently, in awe as he added to his collection of trophies by hauling his team towards their first major honour of the new Mourinho era. This was a reminder of days gone by, taking those familiar with his career back to his goal for England in this stadium when he rose into the night sky to head home a David Beckham cross against Brazil in 2007. Those days are a distant memory and even England manager Roy Hodgson, admiring this performance from the stands, accepts that Terry will never play for the national side again. Everybody has moved on, and rightly so. He has played at the highest level and yet he reached new heights here, leading his team up the Wembley staircase and leading the celebrations when he collected the trophy. Dressed head to toe in Chelsea’s blue strip, Terry wouldn’t have it any other way. +Roberto Martinez insists he does not take the backing of Everton chairman Bill Kenwright for granted as he vowed to arrest the club’s worrying domestic form. Everton may have been impressive in Europe this season but results in the Barclays Premier League have been poor and a sequence of one win in 11 matches has seen them slide to the fringes of the relegation zone. The patience of some supporters has been stretched by those results but Kenwright is not a man who makes knee-jerk decisions and Martinez recognises how crucial that is, given that other chairman might not have been so tolerant. Everton manager Roberto Martinez insists he does not take Toffees chairman Bill Kenwright for granted . Kenwright and Martinez are all smiles on the day the Spaniard was appointed Everton manager in June 2013 . ‘Remember when you make a decision in becoming a manager of a football club you take that into consideration,’ said Martinez, whose side face Stoke on Wednesday night. 'I was always very aware of the support that I would get from the chairman. Bill Kenwright is a mad Evertonian who became a chairman. ‘It’s not the other way round. He’s not a chairman that gets to know the football club. I can feel that relationship. I had his support when we were flying in the league, when we were flying in Europe and I’ve got his support when we haven’t been able to get the wins we wanted in the league. ‘He is always supportive and hands on in terms of helping and that’s where a manager can be at his best – when he feels the support of his chairman. We always look forward. It is just support and pain – because when you don’t win and you are a proper Evertonian we all feel pain.’ Romelu Lukaku reacts after missing a chance during Everton's 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday . This might be the most scrutiny Martinez has faced in his career but he maintains the pressure is not comparable to the game he played in for Swansea in 2003 when their professional status was on the line. ‘It doesn’t get any worse than that because if you lose your status people lose their jobs around the club,’ said Martinez. ‘We were 2-1 down with two mistakes and that is a pressure situation when you have 50 minutes on the pitch to get it right as a player. ‘Those moments help me because I can see the seriousness of a situation and it is a serious position we are in, but I look at our squad and believe me it is a lot easier to win games with this squad. I am very confident we will improve.’ +Brendan Rodgers took radical steps to transform Liverpool’s season as he feared a failure to do so would leave him in danger of being sacked. Liverpool’s fortunes have transformed since Rodgers drastically switched his side’s system to an attack-minded 3-4-3 formation in December; they are the form team in the Barclays Premier League, having taken 27 points from the last 33. The memory of how bad things were in November, though, has not left Rodgers and he has admitted that his experience at Reading, when he was axed in December 2009 after just 20 matches in charge, triggered his decision to rip things up and start again. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers speaks to his coaches during a training session at Melwood . The former Swansea City manager shares a joke with Ivorian defender Kolo Toure in training . Rodgers chats to England full back Glen Johnson during the training session at Melwood . Rodgers is highly-regarded by Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owners, and he signed a new long-term contract last May but the 42-year-old knows none of that would have mattered had his side’s results continued on a downward spiral. ‘I certainly wasn’t going to roll over and die,’ said Rodgers, whose side face Burnley On Wednesday. ‘I love it here and I want to be successful. But after the Crystal Palace game (in November when Liverpool lost 3-1) in particular, I felt "it doesn’t matter how much support you have, the team is not functioning". ‘It could not go on, really. My experience at Reading told me that. That’s what I learned from that sacking. I went in with the full backing of the chairman, who was great to me. Even though it was a three-year project and they wanted me there, I got the sack after 20 games. ‘I learnt that it does not matter how much support you have in the boardroom, you have to get results – and you have to win. So I needed to make sure that I was going to make decisions which would allow us to get back to at least somewhere near where we were. Liverpool beat Premier League champions Manchester City 2-1 in their last league outing . Midfielders Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho both scored brilliant goals during the win . Rodgers admitted the fear of being sacked had driven him on to turn the club's results around . ‘I think the transformation in the team has been really good to see; to see the confidence, and everyone talking about the system and how dynamic it is, and the fluency. I should have done it earlier! I am an innovative coach and I needed to find a way to make us play better.’ At the lowest point in the campaign, when Liverpool tumbled out of the Champions League and were playing predictably, Rodgers’ was noticeably subdued, particularly before they drew at home to Basel in December. He needed to lift himself as much as his players. ‘We had a huge challenge, probably the biggest I have had as a coach or manager,’ said Rodgers. ‘We had no identity and everyone could see it. We just weren’t the team I had created over a couple of years with an identity for the way we played. ‘I knew I had to do something radical because I had seen enough of the players to know we were not going to be able to shape up and work and play as we had done for the previous couple of years with what we had got. It just wasn’t happening and that eats away at you.’ +He is notorious for remaining tight-lipped about his personal life in interviews. And last night Davis Cup team-mate Dominic Inglot must have hoped Andy Murray would extend the same privacy to his fellow players. Asked by Eurosport presenter Annabel Croft how the team would celebrate following victory over the United States, Murray was quick to point out that his 29-year-old team-mate has a ‘little girlfriend on the go here in Glasgow’. Quiet Andy! Murray, far left, with Anabel Croft, his brother Jamie, centre, and a mortifies Dominic Inglot . Tweet: Dominic Inglot appeared eager to set the record straight on Twitter following Murray's joke . Unfortunately for Inglot, he already has a girlfriend of six months at home in London. When asked for the name of the lady in question, a mortified Inglot replied: ‘You’ve actually landed me in this. Because I actually have a girlfriend that’s going to be watching this.’ The jokey stitch-up left Murray in hysterics as the team sheepishly shuffled away from the disastrous interview. A source close to the team last night explained that Murray was unaware Inglot has a girlfriend in London and did not know that the joke would backfire on his team mate. But a spokesperson for the Lawn Tennis Association last night dismissed the stitch-up as ‘pure banter’. Laura Lord of the LTA said it was ‘just a bunch of guys messing around’. Inglot, from Chiswick, was only playing his second Davis Cup match and, as a specialist in doubles, is not someone Murray habitually spends much time with although they are friends. Great Britain yesterday celebrated a 3-2 victory over the US to reach the quarter finals of the Davis Cup. Above, Murray celebrates during the First Round Tie of the Davis Cup . Last night he was said to be seeing the funny side of it after smoothing things over with his girlfriend, who has not been named. Inglot was not out celebrating last night in Glasgow but flew straight back to London with team mates as he is due to fly out to play in America tomorrow. Great Britain yesterday celebrated a 3-1 victory over the USA to reach the quarter finals of the Davis Cup. +A compensation payout should cover future medical costs and living expenses, not go towards paying for four TV sets, a pool table, a ride-on mower, a gaming machine, model cars, and fishing gear. This never dawned on a Canberra man who was awarded more than $1 million in worker's compensation and spent almost all of it on these luxury items in just four months. But now after blowing the cash he wants welfare too. 9 News' A Current Affair programme told the tale of Jason Cooper a former tiler who was placed on a Disability Support Pension and eventually awarded damages totalling $1,025,000. Scroll down for video . An elaborate gaming machine is one of the luxury gifts Jason Cooper bought himself . The Canberra man bought a beachfront house near Bateman's Bay on the NSW south coast for $410,000 . It all began at an NRL footy match in 2006, where the Canberra Raiders were leading the Brisbane Broncos 14-6 at the break. But things took a turn for the worse at Canberra Stadium during a half-time promotional competition. Mr Cooper was one of a few spectators chosen to take part in a competition where they had to catch a ball in a milk crate to win a prize, however he received spinal injuries during the event that he said prevented him from ever working again. He received a payout of $1.025 million. After receiving his payout, Mr Cooper bought a three bedroom house near Bateman's Bay on the NSW south coast worth more than $400,000. A large selection of classic model cars was another expense that Mr Cooper splashed out on . A new ride-on lawnmower made gardening a little easier for him . Mr Cooper also has an impressive collection of classic model sports cars . Centrelink said he could not access welfare until late 2017 because of his huge payout . The main problem was that he blew the rest in four months on a variety of personal items, and now believes he's now entitled to welfare. A Current Affair confronted Mr Cooper about his purchases, and he denied any wrongdoing. '"So I bought a house for $410,000. You want me to go spend it on alcohol or drugs or gamble it away?' he told the interviewer. 'A bloke got $3 million, mate, and blew it all away.' As well as substantial legal fees that were taken out of his payment he also blames his financial mismanagement on not being able to access internet banking to monitor his spending. Mr Cooper blamed his financial mismanagement on not being able to access internet banking . He was hurt after taking part in a competition where he had to catch a ball in a milk crate to win a prize as part of half-time entertainment at a Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos match in 2006 . The Canberra Raiders have stopped all half-time entertainment involving crowd participation at Canberra Stadium since Mr Cooper's accident . Purchase of house (including stamp duty and legal fees) $409,000 . Ride-on lawn mower $2,990 . Household items $2,887 . Haberdashery $575 . Television and telephone connection $410 . Blinds $690 . Microwave oven $350 . Ramps for lawn mower $296 . Car accessories $95 . Food $594 . Blinds $473 . Computer accessories $179 . Mobile telephone $199 . Gas connection $240 . Electricity (three months) $509 . Home and contents insurance $1464 . Car insurance $887 . Mobility scooter $5,500 . Fishing equipment $825 . Vacuum cleaner and steamer $859 . Mobility aid $850 . Trailer for lawn mower $199 . Outdoor setting $900 . Barbeque and gas cylinder $319 . Clothes and electrical appliances $1,200 . Pool table $1,025 . Computer $900 . Glass cabinet $200 . Plants and pots $335 . Garden hose $80 . Fire pit $280 . Coffee table $250 . Security system $790 . Linen, bedding, kitchen items $2,500 . Beds (2) $5,000 . Whitegoods $2,500 . Removalist $2,100 . Computer parts $469 . Televisions (2) and stereo system $4,500 . Car $9,500 . Repayment of loan (Ms K Ward) $4,000 . Repayment of loan (Mr D Gill) $20,000 . Solar power installation $5,700 . Total: $492,619 . After receiving his massive payout Centrelink said he could not access welfare until late 2017, but Mr Cooper wanted it now because he had run out of money. He went to the administrative appeals tribunal to have the ruling overturned but they told him his purchases were ‘unwise, irresponsible and unnecessary decisions’. Lawyer Sam Macedoni told A Current Affair that Mr Cooper failed to structure his compensation payout to provide for his future needs. 'Some of it is for medical expenses, some of it is for income you won't be able to earn and some for other reasons, so you just can't go and blow it,' Mr Macedoni said. A Current Affair's grilling of Mr Cooper took a comedic turn when the camera man was nearly run over by a car as he followed Mr Cooper across the road. Mr Cooper was placed on a Disability Support Pension and eventually awarded damages totalling $1,025,000 . Mr Cooper made it very clear to A Current Affair that he was hard done by because he could not receive any welfare . 'Come on mate you missed out on that. I was hoping you’d get run over,’ chirped Mr Cooper. To which the interviewer responded: ‘Jeez, it might be another payout.' ‘Not for me – for you! … If you don’t f****** watch where you’re going!’ shouted back Mr Cooper. The Canberra Raiders have since stopped all half-time entertainment involving crowd participation. +England are the embarrassment of the World Cup after a third humiliating defeat in three matches against Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Sportsmail's panel of experts — Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, cricket correspondent Paul Newman and cricket writer and Wisden editor Lawrence Booth — discuss the big questions arising from another World Cup failure. England captain Eoin Morgan plays a shot during the World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Wellington . England Gary Ballance (front) loses his wicket to Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan during the World Cup match . Is there any hope left for England at this World Cup? Nasser Hussain: If there is, it's because of the ridiculous format of this tournament. They should beat Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but the best we can hope for is some one-off brilliance in the quarter-final. Paul Newman: You would think not and yet the flawed format still gives them every chance of facing India, a team they have beaten in their past two meetings, in a quarter-final in Melbourne. That should not be possible after the way England have stunk the tournament out. Lawrence Booth: The bare minimum for them was a quarter-final. Now, if either Bangladesh or Afghanistan have a good day, they may not even make that. They've had four years to prepare, yet look further off the pace than ever. David Lloyd: Realistically, no. It's sad to see so much effort going into plans and strategy that just do not fit in modern international cricket. I've never seen a team leave the ball so much in the one-day game. If there's any width other teams just whack it. Joe Root bats for England during their match against Sri Lanka at Wellington Regional Stadium . England have slumped to three straight World Cup defeats against Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka . Can anything be done in the short-term? Hussain: They need variety in their bowling, and a more attacking No 3. If they get through to a quarter-final on a drop-in wicket against India or South Africa, four 85mph right-arm seamers aren't going to surprise anyone. Ravi Bopara offers something different, and Tredwell is England's best off-spinner. And I'd get Hales in for Ballance. Newman: They must play Alex Hales. Why not? Gary Ballance should not be learning the ropes in the biggest limited-overs tournament of all. England just do not seem to rate Hales and if that is the case what is he doing here? If he does not play in Adelaide on Monday they might as well send him home. And get Jos Buttler in earlier. Leaving him just 19 balls against Sri Lanka was criminal. Booth: They've got to stop going on about stats, which mean little in the new era of fielding restrictions, and go for broke with players who scare the opposition. Hales springs to mind. They should also pick their best spinner, James Tredwell, because four right-arm seamers aren't doing the job. Lloyd: Hales can be brought in but don't expect him to start blasting it. If he was a success from the word go it would be a bonus. So many people in the game say he should have been in the 50-over team for the past 18 months! England batsman Jos Buttler ducks a delivery against Sri Lanka at the Wellington Regional Stadium . Sri Lanka batsman Lahiru Thirimanne (left) dives to make his crease just in time against England . And what about the long-term? Hussain: There's no easy fix. But I wish selectors would show faith in their one-day players like in Test cricket: look at how they backed Joe Root. Give Hales 20 one- dayers to see what he's made of. Newman: Rip it up and start again. England need to work towards as separate a one-day team as possible, leaving Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, to name two, to focus on Tests. Bring in the likes of Sam Billings, Jason Roy and Ben Stokes and keep them together, ideally under a different coach working on modern limited-overs skills. Perhaps Paul Farbrace, who won the Asia Cup and World T20 with Sri Lanka, could step up while Peter Moores concentrates on Tests. I know split coaches didn't work last time but England prioritised Test cricket then. They have to give equal billing to 50 and 20-over cricket from now. Booth: England have to accept, finally, that the game has changed, and back more youngsters — the likes of Roy and James Vince. But the problem runs deeper: England is inherently a Test nation. Until they take 50-over cricket seriously, they'll always flop at World Cups. Lloyd: England need to show imagination in selection. Think about the words 'dynamic' and 'power' and pick the team accordingly. I'll throw in three names: Stokes, Roy and Adil Rashid. I'd implore England to look at how other teams are doing it — people like Aussie Glenn Maxwell, Corey Anderson of New Zealand and the dynamic Australian duo of David Warner and Aaron Finch. They show absolutely no fear at all. Sam Billings (pictured in January 2015) has been backed by Paul Newman to help reinvent the England set-up . 24-year-old Jason Roy (pictured playing for Surrey in June 2014), is another name being mooted for England . What do you think of Eoin Morgan as captain? Hussain: I've been disappointed with the way he's become infected with management-speak. Here's a player whose flair and inventiveness made him what he is. Instead, he's talking about statistics. But you do need a plan, and a captain's only as good as his bowling attack. Newman: Disappointing so far. Still looks out of form with the bat, hasn't been the pro-active, imaginative leader we hoped and seems to be in denial. He should be criticised for playing in the IPL rather than leading England against Ireland in May. If he doesn't want the captaincy, give it to Root. Booth: He has a bit more about him tactically than Alastair Cook. Morgan was given just the tri-series in Australia to prepare. What did the ECB expect? Lloyd: I like Morgan immensely but I shudder at the interviews he's giving. He's just talking statistics all the time! Forget stats — if we've got the players to make an impact, let them play in a different style, on instinct. He must also show more imagination in the field. Morgan's form for England has come under particular scrutiny during England's woeful World Cup campaign . Does Moores still have much to prove as coach? Hussain: Yes, lots. He's partly a victim of England's one-day struggles, but it's a worry to see some players going backwards. Turning round the Test series against India was to his credit, but he'll be judged on the rest of this World Cup and the Ashes later this year. Newman: I so want him to succeed, but there are worrying signs he looks out of his depth at international level. The players seem to like and respect him but he does not seem to be inspiring them. Booth: He has everything to prove. He was lucky to be re-appointed and results have mainly been poor. He inherited a shambles but at some point that stops being relevant. Lloyd: Peter is ageing by the day. I hope he is looking at what other coaches like Darren Lehmann and Mike Hesson are doing with Australia and New Zealand. Don't have any regard for reputations — swing from the hip. England's disappointing World Cup has raised questions over the future of coach Peter Moores . Can Kevin Pietersen really play for England again? Hussain: I've always believed in picking the best side, then man-managing it. But I feel there's too much baggage with KP now. Also, he's not the player he once was. If he was 24, rather than 34, you might give him another go. But the focus should be on England's one-day team, not Pietersen. Newman: Well, what a can of worms incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves opened. The suggestion is that nothing has changed regarding Pietersen but Graves' clumsy words undermined the management while the ECB's attempt to distance themselves from his comments by talking about 'positive influences' just made it worse. Booth: Would he really have saved England at the World Cup? He played nine ODIs in 2013 and averaged 28. And he'll be 35 soon. I loved watching him, but let's not pretend he's a panacea. Lloyd: If it is going to happen Kevin must be playing county cricket — red-ball and white-ball. If he commits to the English game and scores heavily then he should be back in the mix. Whether or not Kevin Pietersen should return to the England set-up remains a hotly contested debate . Sportsmail experts are skeptical that 34-year-old Pietersen's return would necessarily improve England . +Former England captain Michael Vaughan has challenged Kevin Pietersen to prove he wants to play for England by turning his back on the Indian Premier League and playing county cricket. Pietersen was axed from the England set-up in February last year in the aftermath of the 5-0 Ashes series defeat to Australia, but was given hope of a possible return by incoming chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Colin Graves. Graves said in a recent BBC Radio 5 Sportsweek interview that Pietersen, who left Surrey last autumn, has to play county cricket if he harbours any hopes of an England return and Vaughan agrees with this viewpoint. There have been calls for Kevin Pietersen to return to the England fold following World Cup struggles . Former England captain Michael Vaughan has challenged Pietersen to prove his loyalty by playing county cricket next summer instead of chasing the big dollars in T20 tournaments . 'You say it for a while you want to play for England - prove it!' he told BBC Radio 5 Live. 'Give up your IPL deal, go and play for, say, Surrey - freezing cold away at Derby.' Vaughan added: 'If Kevin is going to do exactly what he's been saying and he's desperate to play (for England), he will play county cricket and I will pretty much guarantee that he will score plenty of runs doing it.' Pietersen was in optimistic mood on Monday that an unlikely reconciliation may be achieved, tweeting: 'Incredibly humbling how supportive you've all been since the news broke yesterday from Mr Colin Graves. Gonna try work this out for sure!' Indications since Graves' interview appear to have been broadly less encouraging for the exiled 34-year-old batsman, however, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming IPL season in February. Pietersen hits out for his county Surrey during a NatWest T20 Blast match with Middlesex last summer . Pietersen has recently been playing for the Melbourne Stars in the Australian Big Bash league . Incoming chairman of the ECB, Colin Graves, also called on Pietersen to prove his form in county cricket . The ECB issued a statement on Sunday evening, insisting 'nothing has changed' in his status and adding 'only players who are playing consistent high-quality county cricket and who are seen as a positive influence will be selected for England'. Surrey de-registered Pietersen at the end of last season, and are not publicly inclined to reopen negotiations. Chairman Richard Thompson said: 'Our understanding at the end of last summer was that Pietersen had no intention of playing red-ball cricket. 'If not, he will not play for Surrey.' Vaughan and Pietersen together at an England training session at Lord's back in 2008 . Pietersen pats Vaughan on the back during England's Test match with India at the Oval in August 2007 . There was little engagement in the topic from Pietersen's former team-mate Joe Root who - along with his current colleagues - has more pressing issues to confront in Australia and New Zealand as England try to stay in the World Cup after three defeats in four matches so far. Root told the BBC: 'We're in the middle of the World Cup, and stuff like that is completely irrelevant to us.' +Kevin Pietersen has a vocal supporter in fellow former England captain Geoff Boycott as he clings to renewed hope that he might yet play international cricket again. New England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves has provided the first hint that Pietersen could resume a career which reached an apparently irrevocable full stop when he was sacked 13 months ago. Pietersen was in optimistic mood again on Monday that an unlikely reconciliation could be achieved, tweeting: 'Incredibly humbling how supportive you've all been since the news broke yesterday from Mr Colin Graves. Gonna try work this out for sure!' Kevin Pietersen has made no secret of his desire to return to the England setup but it seems unlikey . Indications in the 24 hours since Graves' BBC interview appear to have been less encouraging for the exiled 34-year-old batsman. The ECB issued a statement on Sunday, insisting 'nothing has changed' in his status and adding 'only players who are playing consistent high-quality county cricket and who are seen as a positive influence will be selected for England'. But BBC pundit Boycott has called for face-to-face discussions in which the governing body is 'fair' to Pietersen and does not 'lead him on' without a true intention to recall him as long as he plays well. He also suggested that, if key personalities such as ECB managing director Paul Downton and national selector James Whitaker disagree with Graves, they should leave their jobs. Graves stressed the pre-requisite of any conceivable progress must be a return to county cricket, something Pietersen's summer Twenty20 contracts in the Indian and Caribbean premier leagues will hardly help. New ECB chairman Colin Graves suggested over the weekend the door could still be open for Pietersen . His involvement in English domestic cricket for Surrey last summer was fleeting - exclusively in the NatWest t20 Blast - following his sacking by England. Downton has spoken on several occasions since then of the record-breaking batsman's apparent 'disengagement' with his team-mates while England were losing the final 2013/14 Ashes Test in Sydney by 281 runs. Surrey de-registered Pietersen at the end of last season, and are not publicly inclined to reopen negotiations. Boycott has identified clear communication between Pietersen and Graves as the starting point to ensure no new stumbling blocks are created. He told the BBC: 'It says to me that Kevin needs to get a meeting with Colin Graves as soon as he can - and, preferably, with Paul Downton and James Whitaker there after he has spoken to the chairman - because he wants to be clear. New England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves wants Pietersen (right) to play county cricket . 'It's all right the chairman saying he has to play county cricket. But if he does that and gives up a lucrative IPL contract and Downton and Whitaker are still not going to pick him, that's kind of like leading him on isn't it? And that's not fair. 'It needs to be put clear to him that if he plays well in county cricket then there's going to be a genuine - and I mean the word genuine - change of heart and change of opinion that he is going to be open for selection and that they are going to put bygones to one side. 'I don't think that it is fair to ask anybody to give up an IPL contract - because that's all he has. 'He only has Twenty20 around the world.' Boycott senses Downton and Whitaker could even be expendable, if there is a difference of opinion on Pietersen between them and former Yorkshire chairman Graves. He added: 'If Whitaker and Downton can't accept a change of plan or opinion from the chairman then they have to resign, don't they? Former England captain Geoff Boycott has warned the ECB to not 'lead on' Pietersen over a possible return . 'It's simple. They have to do what the chairman tells them, or go. 'We need to listen to our chairman from Yorkshire. He is no fool. He is very quiet and a nice man - but underneath he has got some steel about him.' There was, understandably, little engagement in the Pietersen topic from former team-mate Joe Root who has more pressing issues to confront in Australia and New Zealand as England try to stay in the World Cup after three defeats in four matches. Root is tipped by many as a future England captain, however, and opinions such as his could yet be pivotal to Pietersen's chances of a recall. He made it clear Pietersen is hardly uppermost in his mind at present, but also that he has a good working relationship with the South Africa-born batsman. Kevin Pietersen (left) has recently been playing for the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash competition . 'We're in the middle of the World Cup, and there's plenty of other stuff we need to be focusing on,' said Root. 'He doesn't really enter that. I've no problems with Kev. I've not spoken to him for a while, but he seems to be doing okay.' Pietersen, meanwhile, intends to seek an audience with Graves - well aware he and his advisers must somehow try to resurrect a county career before they can think about any more glory days with England. His world-class standing means he can command a budget-busting salary, but if he finds himself in a position where he needs a county contract at all costs, he could perhaps be re-entering a buyer's market. He closed his Monday tweet with a 'peace' motif - but it will surely be a vexed process if he is to get his wish. +Batsman Joe Root feels England need to make a convincing statement that they belong in the World Cup quarter-finals when they meet Bangladesh and Afghanistan in their final two group games. England must win both matches, against lower-ranked opponents, to have any chance of reaching the knockout stage. An early exit looms large after Sunday's nine-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in Wellington followed wide-margin beatings by co-hosts Australia and New Zealand. Joe Root has insisted that England must succeed in securing convincing victories in their next two games . Root snicks a ball down fine leg during England's defeat by Sri Lanka in their previous World Cup match . That has piled the pressure on, albeit in two games Root points out that England would have needed to win in any circumstance. 'If you play those two games at the start of the competition you still have to win them,' Root said. 'The way our schedule is, we have these games towards the end. If it was broken up a bit more it might look slightly different. 'But it doesn't take away from the fact that we want to win these two games convincingly.' England's hastened need to restore confidence is underlined by the fact that should they reach the last-eight they will now most likely play the highest-ranked team in Pool B. That will almost certainly be either South Africa or world champions India, who England did beat twice during the Tri-Series leading up to the World Cup. 'We don't want to just scrape through - we want to put in some really good performances and put to bed some of the things we've got wrong so far,' Root added. England captain Eoin Morgan was left with plenty to ponder after suffering his third defeat of the World Cup . Sangakkar and team-mate Thirimanne shake hands with Morgan after Sri Lanka's nine-wicket wi . 'We know that if we get through to the quarter-finals we'll be in a position where we have nothing to lose. 'There will be sides coming up against us who could potentially be quite timid and think they should beat us and that could work in our favour. 'By the time you get to that stage it's crunch time and every side is under pressure; not just us. Hopefully we can get those wins and build some momentum.' Root believes the gap between England and the best teams at the World Cup is not as large as their heavy defeats would suggest. 'I don't think that's fair,' he said. 'Yes, we have been beaten heavily in those three games, but I don't think that we are that far away from beating those sides. 'If we get the best out of every individual and all play as well as we can then we are just as good as sides like that if not better. It's about making sure, for the next two games especially, that we turn up and do everything we possibly can to put those performances in. 'That's got to come from the individuals to make sure they front up. Not just the senior players; not just exciting young players coming into the side. From everyone.' Root hit a career-best 121 from 108 balls against Sri Lanka but England's bowlers couldn't match his exploits . Steven Finn and James Taylor show their disappointment after England's third loss of the tournament . Root stood up to be counted in the Sri Lanka defeat when the 24-year-old became England's young World Cup centurion. His career-best 121 from 108 balls inspired England to a formidable 309 for six - the second successive match they had passed 300 - only for the bowlers to lack any penetration as twin tons from Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara eased Sri Lanka to victory in 16 balls. 'At the start of the day, if you'd given us 310 we'd have thought that a very good effort,' Root said. 'Whenever you get 310 on the board you are immediately putting sides under pressure to chase it. Unfortunately we didn't create that pressure with the ball and we didn't do anything to make it difficult for them from 10 overs onwards.' The ease of Sri Lanka's chase suggested England did not set their sights high enough and, while Root admitted more risks can be taken with the bat, they had left Sri Lanka with a record chase at the ground. 'There was no feeling turning up to the game that 270 was a par score,' he said. 'We got out there, we played it as we saw it, there were periods when Sri Lanka bowled really well at us. We got 310 which, on that wicket, I felt was a good score. 'In one-day cricket maybe we could have taken a few more risks, potentially we could have gone a bit earlier at them, be more aggressive earlier. But it's a fine balance. If you then lose two wickets - on that wicket, we'd done well to get to where we were. 'Unfortunately we couldn't quite create the pressure with the ball that they did. We weren't disciplined enough and we leaked too many boundaries.' +Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his desire to play for England again after incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves appeared to open the door on a shock return. Graves, who assumes the post in May, told BBC Radio 5 Live that the ‘first thing he’s got to do if he wants to get back is play county cricket’. Pietersen, sacked by England over a year ago, is currently unattached after leaving Surrey, but admitted he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by Graves’s remarks. Pietersen told Sky Sports: ‘The previous chat was clearly that I had been banned from playing for England, which for me was incredibly sad because I do feel my career was cut short and taken away from me at 33.’ Kevin Pietersen has revealed he 'loves' playing for England and could be set for a return to the set up . Colin Graves has revealed that Pietersen will need to play country cricket if he's to play for England . A county stint would almost certainly mean Pietersen having to sacrifice one or both of his Twenty20 franchise deals in India and West Indies, but he insisted: ‘This is not a deal about money. This is about me playing cricket for England, doing something I love. I will have to go away and see where my future lies. But this is really encouraging.’ Graves was later reported as saying: ‘If he does that and scores a lot of runs they can’t ignore him, I would have thought, but that is up to him. Forget personalities. Selectors pick the best players in form. That is their job.' An ECB spokesman sought to clarify the comment, adding: ‘Nothing has changed — only players who are playing consistent high-quality county cricket and who are seen as a positive influence will be selected for England.’ Pietersen's contract with Surrey expired last year so he could go and play in the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash but it's unclear if he'll return to his former employers. Chairman Richard Thompson told Sportsmail: ‘Our understanding at the end of last summer was that Pietersen had no intention of playing red-ball cricket. If not, he will not play for Surrey.’ The batsman's contract with Surrey ended last year but it's unknown if he'll return his former club . +Even when England put what looks like a challenging score on the board they are still brushed aside with contemptuous ease. Not for the first time in this World Cup they seemed like boys in the men’s world of modern one-day cricket. Sri Lanka, with the imperious Kumar Sangakkara to the fore, cruised to their target of 310 here in such a ridiculously easy manner that England appeared just as far away from competing in this tournament as they did when they were thrashed by Australia and New Zealand. It is frightening how far away England seem from the real challengers in this World Cup, astonishing how far they have been left behind in 50-over cricket since they should have won the Champions Trophy less than two years ago. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Cricket World Cup Highlights: England vs Sri Lanka . Kumar Sangakkara survives a run out chance against England's Eoin Morgan and James Anderson . Steven Finn and James Taylor show their disappointment after England's third loss of the tournament . Lahiru Thirimanne (left) and Kumar Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka to a comfortable win over England . Thirimanne plays a shot on the way to scoring a century as Sri Lanka made light work of England's bowlers . Thirimanne is almost down on one knee during his knock as he celebrates with Sangakkara (right) England should still reach the quarter-finals – and that in itself tells you all you need to know about the flawed format of this tournament – but it simply seems a matter of time before they are put out of their misery and sent home. The stark reality is that they need to beat Bangladesh and Afghanistan in their last two group games to advance to the last eight and while they should still do that it is fanciful to expect them to defeat anyone of note. England now need to win their next five games to lift the World Cup when they have won just seven of their last 24 one-day internationals. Even winning two on the bounce has proved beyond them in that time, let alone five. As ever it is the hope that gets you. When England had scored 309 for six they looked favourites at a Westpac Stadium where Tim Southee had destroyed them with swing when they were last here just nine days ago. But that was to overlook the sheer quality and experience of the Sri Lankan batting. They defeated England in all formats last summer and thrashed them in a one-day series before Christmas. Here they confirmed their superiority with a masterful display of one-day batting to romp home with 16 balls and nine wickets to spare. England simply never looked like containing nor dismissing them. England, desperate not to be seen to be chopping and changing again, kept faith with Gary Ballance but he looked even more rusty and nervy than in his three previous failures and it was no surprise when he fell cheaply again. England are adamant that Ballance, who averages over 50 in domestic one-day cricket, can be just as effective in the 50-over game as he is in Test cricket but the trouble is that he is trying to establish himself during a World Cup. James Taylor drops a catch on the boundary as England failed to build on their score in Wellington . England captain Eoin Morgan was left with plenty to ponder after suffering his third defeat of the World Cup . Sangakkar and team-mate Thirimanne shake hands with Morgan after Sri Lanka's nine-wicket wi . It is another indictment of England’s long-term one-day strategy that they threw Ballance into this side on the eve of the World Cup and it would appear they have no choice but to throw him out again. If Alex Hales, who England seem so reluctant to pick, does not play next week against Bangladesh in Adelaide then he really should despair about ever breaking into the 50-over side. England made a great start, reaching 62 after nine overs, but they ran into trouble when they resorted to their old-fashioned habit of consolidating in the middle overs when they lost Moeen Ali, Ballance and Ian Bell within 11 overs. It may seem harsh to criticise England when they have ended up scoring more than 300 but the one-day game has progressed so rapidly that you just cannot afford to score at four an over for 10 overs as England did here. The pace was picked up by the impressive Root, who has that knack of compiling run a ball hundreds in one-day cricket before stepping it up with the sort of improvised, expansive shots that have became simply integral. It was when James Taylor joined Root, and then when Jos Buttler was finally let loose for the last four overs, that it was possible to see a future where England really could compete with the big boys. Root, dropped on 17 at slip by Mahela Jayawardene, was superb in reaching 121 off 108 balls, with two sixes, as England accelerated against some indisciplined bowling, 164 coming off the last 20 overs, 106 off the last 10. Joe Root was at least one bright spot for England as he hit 121 off 108 balls including two sixes . Root celebrates with his team-mate James Taylor after reaching a century against Sri Lanka . The impressive Yorkshireman is the youngest Englishman, at 24, to score a World Cup century and upon him rest so many hopes over the next 10 years in all forms of cricket. He will be captain in all three forms before too long. The hapless Thisara Perera disappeared for 25 off the 45th over and was then hit for another boundary when he had to complete an over for Rangana Herath when he was struck on the finger by Buttler. Buttler was struck himself first ball when a nasty bouncer from Lasith Malinga thudded into his helmet but he recovered his poise to hit a quite brilliant unbeaten 39 from 19 balls. One of the many things that England need to improve in one-day cricket is making sure Buttler gets to the crease much earlier. When Suranga Lakmal was banished from the attack after bowling two high full tosses in the last over Sri Lanka speared to be wilting and they had been forced to use five bowlers to deliver the last 13 balls of the innings. Sri Lanka fans were in full voice as they watched their side ease to victory over England . Morgan talks to bowlers Steven Finn and James Anderson as England struggled against Sri Lanka . Fat chance. England perhaps had their opportunity when Root dropped Lahiru Thirimanne on three off Stuart Broad but from then on, with England failing to locate the swing that Southee gained here at the Westpac Stadium to take seven English wickets, it was all one-day traffic. Once Sangakkara joined Thirimanne the game was effectively over as the pair put on an unbeaten 210 after the loss of Tillekeratne Dilshan and only faltered when Thirimanne offered what looked like a simple chance on 98 but Moeen Ali did not even get a hand on it. It said everything about England’s plight. When Sangakkara, in his 401st one-day international, reached his 23rd century off just 70 balls Sri Lanka’s triumph was almost complete and England’s misery was acute. He really is a true great of the game and Surrey’s gain next summer will be Sri Lanka’s loss. England now slope off to Adelaide and face a long week of soul-searching before they meet Bangladesh. There is much to contemplate. Both in the immediate future and in the long-term in this form of the game. +Captain Eoin Morgan will not entertain thoughts of a premature World Cup exit even though a nine-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka left England on the brink of disaster. England suffered yet more pain at the Wellington Regional Stadium as centuries from Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara inspired a record pursuit of 309 for six. Defeat leaves England needing to beat lower-ranked Bangladesh and Afghanistan in their remaining pool games and, even then, it might not be enough to keep them alive. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Cricket World Cup Highlights: England vs Sri Lanka . Eoin Morgan talks to the press after another disappointing defeat for England at the Cricket World Cup . Kumar Sangakkara (centre) hit 117 not out and, alongside Lahiru Thirimanne, put England to the sword . Morgan was not willing to consider the prospect, however, of an early flight home after his side's third loss in four games at the tournament. 'It's not even a thought at the moment,' he said. 'Two games to win to get us into a quarter-final.' Morgan's side never got going in both of those games, but after Joe Root's career-best 121 had put England in the box seat at the half-way stage, the bowlers posed little threat as Thirimanne and Sangakkara embarked on an unbeaten 212-run stand to coast home with 16 balls in hand. 'It definitely is harder to take,' Morgan said. 'When you don't turn up for a race like those first two games it's scratched. Today when we turn up and we're beaten in the fashion we were is harder to take.' One-day captain Morgan (centre) leads England off the pitch in Wellington after their nine-wicket defeat . Thirimanne (left) and Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka to a comfortable win over England in New Zealand . Morgan bemoaned a bowling performance in which he claimed England simply bowled too many bad balls. Thirimanne certainly agreed, after he had suggested in his earlier press conference that batting against England's bowlers had been 'very easy'. The opener was asked to compare England's attack to Afghanistan, who almost pulled off a stunning win over Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament, and said: 'To be honest that day Afghanistan's bowlers did really well but there was a little bit for the seamers. 'Today it was very easy for me to be honest.' Morgan was at a loss to explain why his bowlers were so ineffective and will wait to see a statistical breakdown of England's bowling performance in the next couple of days when they will take time off after flying to Adelaide. Thirimanne plays a shot on the way to scoring a century as Sri Lanka made light work of England's bowlers . Thirimanne is almost down on one knee during his knock (left) as he celebrates with Sangakkara (right) 'No. I don't have a theory yet,' he said. 'We bowled a lot of bad balls. Over the next couple of days we'll get the HawkEye stuff back and the proof will be in that. My feeling is we bowled a lot of bad balls.' The skipper denied that the England attack was too predictable in the light of Thirimanne's observations, adding: 'In terms of being too predictable you look at the best sides and they're predictably good. When we're firing we are predictably good. 'We've got two tall guys who are effective, they've got pace and bounce, and two guys who swing the ball and Moeen who does his job. 'When we bowl well we put sides under pressure and create opportunities - today we didn't.' Root celebrates after reaching a century against Sri Lanka, but it wasn't enough to secure a win for England . Morgan, post-match, did not entertain thoughts of an early exit, instead remaining confident of progression . England were not helped by missing opportunities in the field, most significantly when Root grassed a chance at first slip off Stuart Broad when Thirimanne was on just three. The Sri Lanka openers then put on a century stand to pave the way for a chase that easily broke the previous record at the ground - 254 for four achieved by South Africa against New Zealand three years ago. 'You can talk about the chances we put down. Thirimanne was one,' Morgan said. 'It would have brought Sangakkara to the wicket earlier with more chance of him getting out. He played well. He came in an ideal situation.' England have now been soundly beaten by the three sides ranked higher than them in the group and, should they reach the knockout stages, there is apparently a large gap to be bridged if they are to make any impression. 'Losing any game is always a concern,' Morgan added. James Taylor drops a catch on the boundary as England failed to build on their score in Wellington . Sangakkara and team-mate Thirimanne shake hands with Morgan after Sri Lanka's nine-wicket win . 'Over the next few days, we'll have them off, and then we'll reconvene. Me and Mooresy will have a sit down along with the backroom staff and debrief the game and see where we've gone wrong and how we can get better.' Morgan is confident, though, that he will have no problem in lifting his young squad who now have an eight-day gap to stew over their latest defeat before they meet Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval. 'It's not a big deal getting those guys up,' he said. 'It's a World Cup everybody is like a kid at Christmas, they want to play and they want to win. That part of it is easy. 'It's simple things moving forward. I keep banging on about them because we haven't done them so far this World Cup. 'The simpler we keep it moving forward, the more obvious what we do or have to do over the next 10 days. That will be the message from me to the players.' +Former England spinner Graeme Swann has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board to realise their approach is 'out of date', saying that there is a 'stubbornness' about their selection policy and that they are 'living in the past'. Swann watched on as England slumped to another heavy World Cup loss, with Sri Lanka chasing down their 309 for six with ease, winning with nine wickets and 16 balls to spare. The defeat goes alongside reverses against Australia and New Zealand, with Scotland the only team England have beaten so far. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Cricket World Cup Highlights: England vs Sri Lanka . Former England spinner Graeme Swann (pictured in 2013) has hit out at the England and Wales Cricket Board . Wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh would take them to the quarter-finals, but Swann thinks the problems are evident. Writing on Twitter, he said: 'A positive thing that can come of this world cup is that maybe the top brass will realise just how out of date our approach is.' Swann also aired his views on BBC Radio 5 Live, adding that England had been overly pleased to get what he considered to be an average score. 'I think the problem lies not just with the bowling but the whole approach. It was a very self-congratulatory 310, everyone was saying 'brilliant'. These days that's about average and not a great score,' he said. 'We should be looking for 340, 350; The difference between the top teams and everyone else is immense. They're saying the is the limit when you bat, we're still looking at par scores.' Swann feels the answer could lie with former Nottinghamshire team-mate Alex Hales. 'There's a bit of stubbornness about the selection policy,' he added. 'I like Gary Ballance, he's a great lad, but I think even he'd admit that he shouldn't be in the team at the minute, he's in horrible form. 'We have a lad in Alex Hales, one of these new generation players who does go out and knock it about, he tries to smash everything for four and six. 'We need to get these young lads playing. We have too many people running it, too many people involved, too many plans and I think we're just living in the past.' Sri Lankan bowler Tillakaratne Dilshan dives to make a catch that sees England's Gary Ballance dismissed . Ballance (front right) leaves the field after losing his wicket to Dilshan during England's match with Sri lanka . England batsman Jos Buttler falls as he avoids a ball during the match against Sri Lanka in Wellington . England's James Taylor dives to try and stop the ball from crossing the boundary rope against Sri Laka . Former England captain Michael Vaughan added: 'We are watching a era of Cricket where if you are predictable you will end up with a predictable outcome.' Another ex-England player, Geoffrey Boycott, said the England team were not being realistic. Boycott has long spoken his mind about the national team's woes, and though he conceded to some positives, he sees plenty of work to be done. He told BBC 5 Live: 'I do think we could have got another 20-odd runs, there was a period where we were just cantering around. We are not a force to be reckoned with at all. 'The batting was quite good, but the bowling? No, no, sorry. It wasn't very challenging. 'They're not bad players, we don't have a bad side at all. But we're not firing on all cylinders in any department whatsoever. 'The sad thing for me, even Joe Root, (he gave) a nice interview, lovely lad, but there's no realism. They keep telling us 'we'll take the positives, we did well, we did this'. 'They are trying to tell us little things and we don't see them. They think ex-players like us are just watching to criticise, we're not, we want you to win. 'But we can only tell you what we see and you keep losing.' Opinions also reigned in from other nations, with ex-Australia spinner Shane Warne saying on Twitter: 'Broad & Anderson are averaging 80 with the ball you can't defend any total, also lacking fire power with bat.' Joe Root plays a shot for England while Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara stands on guard . England captain Eoin Morgan watches on after another disappointing display from his side . +Jose Mourinho won the first trophy of his second spell in charge at Chelsea - then immediately rang his wife at the final whistle to tell her the news. Mourinho completed a special day with a 2-0 Capital One Cup final win over Spurs coming a few hours after his side’s Premier League title rivals Manchester City had lost 2-1 at Liverpool. But as his players celebrated, the Chelsea boss was more concerned at telling his other half Matilde Faria who was waiting at home. Jose Mourinho lifts his third Capital One Cup for Chelsea after the Blues beat Tottenham 2-0 at Wembley . Mourinho rang his wife immediately after the match to inform her of the good news that Chelsea won . ‘I rang my wife,’ an emotional Mourinho explained. ‘She didn’t know the result. I had my son and my daughter here, but my wife was at home and didn’t know the score until I called.’ Mourinho, who was winning his seventh trophy with Chelsea and the 21st of a remarkable career, admitted lifting the League Cup made him feel like a kid again. ‘For me, it’s important to feel that I’m a kid,’ he said. ‘Before the game I had the same feelings as my first final however many years ago. The Portuguese manager roars with delight as he lifts the Capital One Cup for Chelsea on Sunday . ‘It’s important to feel the same happiness after the victory, and to feel a kid at 52-years-old. ‘I know I have a team to build, which is what we’re doing, but it’s difficult for me to live without titles, even with all the work that we are doing to be stable. I need to feed myself with titles. ‘In this country it’s much more difficult to win than in my first period.’ Mourinho stopped his players from reacting to City’s defeat against Liverpool so they could concentrate fully on the Wembley final. The Blues boss posed for fans as he walked onto the pitch with the Capital One Cup trophy . He said: ’I prepared the players for an impossible mission, which was not knowing the City result. Forget City. I knew that was an impossible mission, but I didn’t want the television on in the hotel or on the bus. ‘I told them I didn’t want any kind of manifestation or disappointment if City scored in the last minute, or Liverpool won. I wanted complete silence. We were successful on that. ‘But one member of my staff, Silvinho, jumped up in the bus. I wanted to kill the guy. He broke the rule.’ Chelsea striker Diego Costa celebrates his deflected strike, which made it 2-0 for the Blues . John Terry fires Chelsea ahead just before the half-time whistle as the Blues triumphed against Tottenham . Nemanja Matic, suspended for the final, then gave the pre-match speech to his team-mates. ‘He made the speech in the dressing room expressing his pain not to be playing, and asking the players to express the pleasure he couldn’t have to play this final,’ Mourinho revealed. Kurt Zouma was chosen as Matic’s replacement and played alongside Ramires in defensive midfield. Mourinho called him ‘our new Marcel Desailly’ and added: ‘We were preparing a bit, now and again, in some exercises for him to play that role in an emergency, and the kid did a fantastic job for us.’ Mourinho's son, Jose Jr (front), celebrates the Capital One Cup final triumph for Chelsea at Wembley . +The sight of John Terry lifting the Capital One Cup trophy aloft will spur Harry Kane on, although the Tottenham striker admitted that defeat on Sunday was 'the worst feeling in the world'. The 21-year-old striker was kept quiet by Chelsea at Wembley as Jose Mourinho won his first piece of silverware during a second stint in charge of the Blues. Terry opened the scoring before half-time and Kyle Walker put through his own net just before the break on an afternoon Tottenham were second best throughout. Harry Kane said losing the Capital One Cup final was 'the worst feeling in the world' The Tottenham striker wants the vision of John Terry lifting the trophy to spur him on in future . But, while Kane was down about the result, he believes Spurs have set themselves up for many more finals in the future. 'It's the worst feeling in the world losing, and losing in a final on the big stage even worse,' Kane told SpursTV. 'When you see Chelsea lift that trophy at the end it gives you that fire in your belly. 'It's disappointing - the lads gave it everything and I thought we played well. Kane down on his haunches as the Premier League leaders celebrate at the final whistle . 'In these big games you don't always get the luck you need and I felt Chelsea did with a couple of deflected goals which on another day wouldn't go in.' Mauricio Pochettino has taken huge credit for rapidly turning the fortunes around at White Hart Lane and told his players to be proud of their efforts. Asked what was said in the dressing room, Kane said: 'Just to be proud of ourselves. We've come a long way. It's a very young team with a new manager. 'To be in a final in the first season is great.' +Chelsea won their first trophy since the return of Jose Mourinho on Sunday as they got the better of Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final. John Terry's deflected effort and an own goal from Kyle Walker was enough to ensure the Blues took away the first competitive trophy of the season. Below, Sportsmail takes a look at the reaction from the Chelsea dressing room on social media after a day to remember at Wembley. Petr Cech - who was prefered to Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal - holds up the Capital One Cup . Courtois (far right, front row) attached the message 'first trophy of the season' to this picture on Instagram . Cesc Fabregas - again influential for Chelsea - takes a selfie with the cup in the dressing room . Fabregas (right) also posted another picture on Instagram with Eden Hazard (left) and Cesar Azpilicueta (middle) alongside him in the Blues dressing room . Felipe Luis (second left) celebrates Chelsea's Wembley win with Diego Costa (middle) and Co . Gary Cahill holds the Cup on top of his head after posting the message including 'what a team' on Twitter . John Terry holds up his man of the match award and the Capital One Cup after the game . Brazilian midfielder Ramires is all smiles as he gets a picture with the trophy . Chelsea's January signing Juan Cuadrado poses for a picture with the cup in the dressing room . Highly-rated Chelsea youngster Nathan Ake gets his hands on the trophy on the Wembley turf after the game . The Dutch Under 21 international also took a selfie with Chelsea's star man Costa after the match . +England's hopes of winning the Grand Slam is over after being comfortably beaten by Ireland in Dublin - who themselves moved to the top of the Six Nations standings and put themselves in pole position. Robbie Henshaw scored the only try of the game and Jonny Sexton kicked four penalties and a conversion as the Irish dominated Stuart Lancaster's side for most of the game. But the star was scrum half Conor Murray who terrorised his opponents with his clever kicking and quick thinking passing. Conor Murray (cetre) was the star for Ireland during their win over England in the Six Nations clash . IRELAND . Rob Kearney – 6.5 . Made a couple of important tackles when England threatened out wide, but not a major presence in attack. Tommy Bowe – 6 . Ireland didn’t play expansively so he was quite peripheral. One glaring fumble but largely tidy in defence . Jared Payne – 6 . Another who didn’t have much of an opportunity to run with the ball but he tackled and competed at rucks with gusto. Robbie Henshaw – 8 . He had already shown great courage and commitment over the ball, before his brilliant try settled the match. Robbie Henshaw (left) collects the high ball to score Ireland's only try in their victory over England . Simon Zebo – 7 . Soon set his stall out with swerving runs. Superb in the air; with one brilliant leaping catch above several opponents. Jonathan Sexton – 7.5 . Eventually withdrew injured but pulled the strings with typical authority and quick off the line in defence. Conor Murray – 9 . Enhanced reputation as one of the world’s best scrum halves. His kicking tormented England and one fine break early in the second half. Murray's kicking and passing game troubled the English throughout as he showed why he's rated so highly . Jack McGrath – 6.5 . He was asked to once again fill Cian Healy’s berth at loosehead prop and he did not disappoint as a physical deputy. Rory Best – 9 . The Ulster hooker is a stalwart of this team and was superb. Efficient at lineout, nearly scored early on and a ruck colossus. Mike Ross – 7 . England would have hoped to gain an advantage in the scrum, but the Leinster tighthead ensured that didn’t happen. Devin Toner – 6.5 . One crucial lineout steal in the first half. Eclipsed by his second-row partner around the field but a solid effort. Paul O’Connell – 8 . Another giant display by the veteran Lion. He kept carrying hard throughout and was a towering figurehead. Jonny Sexton kicked four penalties and a conversion to help the Irish seal their place at the top of table . Peter O’Mahony – 7 . The Munster flanker offered his side the abrasive, unglamourous work they needed to gain the edge up front. Jordi Murphy – 7 . Impressive over the ball despite conceding early penalty. Not a prominent ball-carrier, but played his part in momentous win. Sean O’Brien – 6 . Went off before the half-hour and seemed to be concussed after a strong drive out of defence. Good early impact. Replacements . S Cronin 6, C Healy 6, M Moore 6.5, I Henderson 6, T O’Donnell 6.5, I Madigan 5, F Jones 6. ENGLAND . Alex Goode – 7 . Composed under high ball, showed intent to run from deep, good escape from behind own line but beaten to kick for Henshaw try. Anthony Watson – 5 . Missed early high kicks and struggled in the air. Made one blistering run from deep but spoiled it with wild off-load. Jonathan Joseph – 6 . After two glorious performances, this wasn't his day. No chances to cut loose but he kept looking for work. Luther Burrell – 6.5 . Prevented Best from scoring a try amid early siege and often carried strongly in midfield to give his side momentum. Jack Nowell – 7 . Energetic and committed, couple of good kick-and-chase efforts and late on he threatened the Irish defence, to no avail. Jack Nowell (right) was England's best performer in a disappointing performance in Dublin . George Ford – 6 . Conceded turnover in the first minute and blew hot and cold from then on. Some nice touches but some lapses too. Ben Youngs – 6 . Looked bright and dangerous for a spell during the first half but couldn’t match Murray’s impact with testing box-kicks. Joe Marler – 6.5 . Heavily involved. Forceful hits, a few effective carries and strong over the ball, to continue his fine Test form. Dylan Hartley – 6 . His lineout throwing went awry a couple of times in the first half but he was full of intensity around the field. George Ford (left) kicked three penalties for the away side but he struggled with lapses in concentration . Dan Cole – 6 . One barnstorming charge late on, but by and large the Leicester prop was occupied with desperate fire-fighting up front. Dave Attwood – 7 . Prominent with early carries, aggressive in defence and showed staggering work-rate, especially during the first half. George Kruis – 5.5 . Kept trying in vain to pressurise the Irish kickers. Not among the leading carriers and quieter than in previous games. James Haskell – 6 . Strong defensive presence early on and he made the Irish fight for every yard, but a limited breakdown presence. Dave Attwood (centre) also gave a solid performance and showed terrific tenacity and fight . Billy Vunipola – 6.5 . As with earlier matches, he grew into it as time went on, after a slow start. Was at full throttle in the final quarter. Chris Robshaw – 6 . Not his best game. Conceded penalty in first minute, a fumble later and couldn’t impose order amid hasty chaos. Replacements . T Youngs 6.5, M Vunipola 7, N Easter 6.5, T Croft 6, R Wigglesworth 7, B Twelvetrees 6. +Emotional France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has launched a scathing attack on his own players following Saturday's lackluster 20-13 defeat to Wales in the Six Nations, saying the team has become 'the Father Christmas of international rugby' because it gives away so many points. His voice trembling with emotion, Saint-Andre looked on the verge of tears Sunday as he made it clear he feels extremely let down. 'International rugby is about combat, humility. But above all it's a collective sport. We don't need starlets,' he said.' In rugby, the team is the star and we need champions. Yesterday, I didn't see any champions, or not many.' Saint-Andre looked on the verge of tears Sunday as he made it clear he feels extremely let down . Brice Dulin scores a try for France during the RBS Six Nations match against Wales at the Stade de France . France, which has lost its past four games to Wales in the tournament, lost 18-11 to Ireland and narrowly beat Scotland at home in its opener. Next up is a tricky away match in Italy followed by a full-blooded showdown with England at Twickenham. Flyhalf Camille Lopez was particularly poor, missing two of his four penalty kicks - and Yoann Huget's first-half try was ruled out because of Lopez's careless forward pass. 'For my part, I don't think I played badly,' a defiant Lopez said. 'I tried different things ... Let's keep on daring.' France's scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Borde is joined by the rest of his dejected teammates at full time . His attitude may not have pleased Saint-Andre, who is likely to make sweeping changes for the game against Italy in two weeks' time. Asked if some players are now playing for their futures, six months ahead of the World Cup, Saint-Andre replied with an emphatic 'yes' - although he stopped short of saying some would never play for France again under his leadership. 'I only want players who are ready to go to the end of the world. If anyone thinks that international rugby is too difficult, then they have my telephone number,' he said. 'They can call me and I'll take someone else. I'll even take a 20-year-old lad who's never played in the Top 14 (French league) before.' Morgan Parra in action during the RBS Six Nations rugby match between France and Wales . Saint-Andre, one of France's best wingers, took over after the 2011 World Cup, where France lost 8-7 to New Zealand in a tense final. Almost all of that side has gone and Saint-Andre has been rebuilding ever since, although his habit of constantly tinkering with the side has not helped instill continuity. But he feels the players should take more responsibility and show more pride. 'I've covered and supported them for three years. At some stage you need to know how to win games at the highest level,' he said. 'The French jersey should not only be something you're proud of but also something that enables you to surpass yourself. You need to be a gladiator. It's thumbs up for Wales star Jamie Roberts after their win against France at the Stade de France . 'We've lost four in a row to the Welsh, this has to stop. We have guys who started playing (regularly) three years ago and now have 30 caps. It's time to stop hiding.' An irate Saint-Andre raised his voice several times during a passionate news conference. 'At some point you have to ask the right questions. We're at our level, that's the truth,' he said. 'It takes the Welsh 30 seconds to score three points and it takes us four minutes. We're the Father Christmas of international rugby and that's what I told the players.' However, Saint-Andre is no mood to quit. 'I've never abandoned ship, whether as a player, as a captain or as a manager. I've been given a role: to prepare this team for the World Cup,' he said. 'I'll fight every day to do that.' Sofiane Guitone looks dejected as France lose to Wales at the Stade de France on Saturday . +A driver had his supercar confiscated by police because he could not bear to screw a numberplate into its bodywork. Tsao He refused, saying the order by officers in Taiwan would spoil the bodywork of his £270,000 McLaren. The MP4-12C, which does 0-60mph in just 3.1 seconds, was seized when police saw it parked in a street bay without its front plate. A man in Taiwan refused to fit a front number plate to his McLaren MP4-12C (file picture) as he felt it would the spoil the supercar's bodywork . Mr He, 37, said: 'The car looks so perfect, I just couldn't bear to put holes in that beautiful body for something as ugly as a registration plate. 'I told them it was registered and I showed them the plate, which I keep under my seat. I couldn't believe it when they towed it away.' Police in Taichung also gave him a £230 ticket for overstaying in the bay while they waited for a tow truck. Mr He can apply for the car's return after he fits a plate but faces a fine to cover the cost of towing it away. A police spokesman said: 'The car failed to display the proper documentation and has been confiscated.' He added: 'When the owner is ready to obey the law and fit a registration plate he can apply for the return of his car but he will face a fine appropriate to the cost of towing the vehicle.' +Extraordinary footage has surfaced of Simon Ata, a Melbourne based break-dancing instructor whose gravity defying manoeuvres have made him a YouTube sensation. In his incredible newest clip, the staggeringly strong Melbournite manoeuvers himself in a vertical 180 degree rotation, casting the illusion he is walking in a circle. In another segment he pulls off one of his trademark moves, an eye-popping vertical push-up done on one hand. Break dancing instructor Simon Ata displays his eye-popping strength in a new YouTube video . Mr Ata told Daily Mail Australia the video was filmed over four sessions within a fortnight, and edited by his friend Dave Chea. ‘We had a list of moves we wanted to include but the sequence was pretty spontaneous,' he said. The trained dancer strategically altered his routine leading up to the newest clip. ‘I’ve been focussing on strength training lately and cutting back on the breakdancing. This meant I could break a longstanding plateau,’ he said. The video, titled 'Simonster Strength 2.0', has garnered over 50,000 views since being uploaded to YouTube this week. The trained dancer strategically altered his routine leading up to the clip, focussing on building his strength . The trained dancer said he mixes up his training every week to keep it from feeling repetitive . Mr Ata said he changes his training from week to week in order to evade feelings of monotony. ‘I believe fitness should never feel like a chore.’ Mr Ata believes that his mode of callisthenics -bodyweight strength training-is rapidly gaining traction in mainstream society. ‘I’ve noticed a huge difference even in the last few years, noticing more and more people training this way.’ When asked what advice he offered to those who wanted to pursue a similar path, Mr Ata said . ‘There's no substitute for hard work.’ You can see Simon Ata's official YouTube channel here . +Previous stunts have seen him dangling from a zip-wire and dancing to the Spice Girls at the 2012 Olympics. Now Boris Johnson has donned a hairnet and yellow gumboots to pose as a fishmonger presiding over a spread of fresh fish and seafood, including a vast yellowfin tuna. The Mayor of London tried his hand at tuna loining, salmon filleting and ‘pin-boning’ - the art of removing fish bones using tweezers - as he launched National Apprentice Week yesterday. Scroll down for video . Boris Johnson donned a hairnet and yellow gumboots to pose as a fishmonger over a spread of fresh fish and seafood . The Mayor of London appeared to be having an enjoyable time as he poked a fish at the seafood factory in Chessington . Mr Johnson met apprentices working at the New England Seafood factory, where he confirmed plans for a £1.8million scheme that will create more than 3,500 new apprenticeships across the capital. He said: ‘Our new programme will reach out to those companies yet to dip their toe into the rich pool of talent contained in our capital.’ The London-based New England Seafood has taken on 12 apprentices since 2012, five of whom have gone on to take up full time positions. The company supplies fresh and frozen fish and seafood to leading supermarkets including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. Around 190,000 16-24 year-olds have become a London apprentice since 2010. Previous stunts have seen Mr Johnson dangling from a zip-wire and dancing to the Spice Girls at the 2012 Olympics . +Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas admits the club have hit 'rock bottom' following Tuesday's 4-3 home defeat by Schalke in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti's side have hit a disappointing run of form after surrendering top spot in La Liga to rivals Barcelona following Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao having dropped two points six days earlier against Villarreal at the Bernabeu. Real still qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals despite Tuesday's defeat and Casillas is keen to look forward and stop the rot. Iker Casillas admits Real Madrid have hit rock bottom following Tuesday's 4-3 home defeat by Schalke . Gareth Bale, Alvaro Arbeloa and Cristiano Ronaldo look frustrated as Real Madrid were booed off the field . Casillas insists his Real Madrid team-mates acknowledge the home supporters following the loss . Speaking to Spanish sports paper AS, Casillas said: 'We have hit rock bottom in a resounding way but the positive is that next week we play again and we can forget the last ten days. Because they have been ten dramatic days. The Spaniard, who suggested Madrid have a chance of turning things around when they face Barcelona a week on Friday, admits Real must improve if the club are to progress any further in the Champions League. 'We are not up to the standards we should be as Madrid and the quarter-finals of the Champions League,' said the 33-year-old. 'We are in a privileged position and now what we have to do is think about tomorrow. We can't look back, nor can we remember those 22 victories or other things we have succeeded in.' Schalke players celebrate Leroy Sane's goal during the German side's shock 4-3 victory in the Spanish capital . A group of Real Madrid fans waved a white handkerchief after the final whistle following a disappointing result . Schalke took a 2-1 lead on 40 minutes after Casillas' unconvincing save from a Max Meyer shot led to Klass-Jan Huntelaar's first goal of the night. However, the Spain international insists it is not a time to scrutinise his own performance. 'I think a goalkeeper is always to blame. It was not one of my best games but it's not a time to think about yourself. Despite not doing what we should have done, we were able to get through. 'The sooner we get the fans on board the better. We weren't at our best.' Casillas failed to keep hold of Max Meyer's shot which led to Klass-Jan Huntelaar giving Schalke a 2-1 lead . At the final whistle, Casillas insisted Cristiano Ronaldo - who cut a frustrated figure for most of the night - acknowledged the fans. The former Manchester United winger did not appear to be too happy at the end of the game despite his side's progression in the Champions League. Ronaldo shook his head in disgust repeatedly and stared into the camera with a frosty glaze following Real Madrid's 4-3 defeat on the night. In fact, Ronaldo was so angry that he told reporters: 'I won't talk again until the end of the season.' Real Madrid fans jeered their side's players throughout the defeat and waved white hankies to show their unhappiness at the performance. Casillas insisted Ronaldo - who cut a frustrated figure for most of the night - acknowledged the supporters . Ronaldo left the Bernabeu angry on Tuesday night and has vowed not to talk until the end of the season . Ronaldo stands motionless as Schalke players celebrate scoring a goal at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday . +Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc has called for calm in the anticipated cauldron of Stamford Bridge as his side bid to oust Chelsea in Wednesday night's Champions League last-16 second leg. On the eve of the first leg three weeks ago Blanc spoke of Jose Mourinho being the arch provocateur and called for his players to keep their composure. Now the PSG coach has warned of striker Diego Costa's combative nature and the need for his side to balance risk-taking with being difficult to beat in a tie finely poised at 1-1. PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic plays a first-time pass as he prepares to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge . David Luiz (second left) returns to his former home turf in a bid to end Chelsea's Champions League run . PSG players are put through their paces on Tuesday night ahead of Wednesday night's second leg match . Ibrahimovic will lead the line for PSG while Luiz is keen to show Chelsea they were wrong to discard him . 'He likes contact, and provokes opposition players. That's part of his game. He thrives off that,' Blanc said of Costa. 'He really needs that to bring out the best in his performances. 'The most important thing is to not get caught up in the way he plays. 'He will try to provoke a reaction. We need to stay calm, not get caught up in his game. We need to be as effective as possible in stopping him. 'It's up to us to try to take some risks, but not lose our heads and take unnecessary risks. 'Paris Saint-Germain need to stand up and be counted. We also need to stay in the game. That's the difficulty. Yes, we need to attack, yes, we need to create chances, but we also need to stay solid.' Luiz looks to the heavens as he takes to the pitch for training on the eve of their must-win encounter . Laurent Blanc addresses his players, including (from left) Thiago Silva, Luiz and Ibrahimovic . Blanc gestures to make a point to his players on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge . The Frenchmen, eliminated on away goals at Stamford Bridge last term when they let a 3-1 first-leg advantage slip, must score to advance to the quarter-finals for a third straight season. Blanc avoided talk of revenge after Demba Ba's heroics last term - the striker's last-gasp goal earned Chelsea progress to the semi-finals - and called for his side to take their chances. The PSG boss said: 'Chelsea have a slight advantage, because they were able to score an away goal. It's up to us to try to do what Chelsea did in Paris. 'One of Chelsea's main threats is the fact they're very good on the counter attack, so I don't think we should go gung ho. 'We have to attack and we need to score a goal, regardless of whether Chelsea get one or not. Although injuries have hampered Ibrahimovic's involvement, Blanc is sure he will have an impact . Brazilian defender Silva sports a black eye after contact with Dimitar Berbatov last week . 'I hope we do better than Chelsea did in the first leg. Chelsea created only one chance and they scored from that. I hope we create more than one chance.' Blanc hopes Thibaut Courtois is busy, but beaten, in Chelsea's goal. Blanc added: 'Their goalkeeper's performance was what allowed them to start as slight favourites going into the second leg. Over the 90 minutes PSG played better than Chelsea. 'If we create chances tomorrow night and he plays very well again that will prove that PSG have once again been better than Chelsea. 'He was very good in the first leg and I hope he's not as good tomorrow night.' Luiz plays with a ball as his team-mates look on with stern glares as they prepare for Wednesday night . PSG traverse the Bridge turf under lights ahead of their bid for a Champions League quarter-final place . For all the millions they have spent - including paying £50m to Chelsea for David Luiz - PSG are still to break into Europe's elite. Blanc believes it will take time. 'It's very easy to talk about, it's less easy to go out and do it,' Blanc said. 'In order to progress as a club you need experience. Paris Saint-Germain have got a little bit more experience, but we're still a long way off having the same levels of experience as Chelsea. 'Chelsea took a long while to become one of the best sides in Europe. They also invested a lot of money to get there. 'We need to be patient. 'In order to become one of the top four or top six sides in Europe it does take time. We've started that process.' Diego Costa (left with Ramires) will try to get under the skin of PSG's players, says Blanc . One notable difference this season over last is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is available to Blanc. The Sweden striker was injured last term, but will come up against Chelsea captain John Terry and either Gary Cahill or Kurt Zouma. 'I don't think those two players (Cahill and Zouma) are going to be happy about facing Zlatan,' Blanc said. 'He's someone who loves the big occasion. He's a player who can score at any time, in any venue, against any opponent. 'I hope he shows that tomorrow night.' +Chelsea go into their second leg against Paris Saint-Germain with a small advantage due to Branislav Ivanovic's crucial away goal in Paris. The Blues will be wary of the threat posed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Co as they look to seal a spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Here, Sportsmail lists three reasons why Chelsea should be cheerful and three reasons why they should be fearful going into their match against the Ligue 1 outfit. Three reasons to be cheerful... Chelsea’s home comforts . At home, Chelsea are unbeaten in the Champions League against French opposition, keeping five clean sheets in six games (Won 4, Drawn 2, Lost 0) Ibrahimovic struggles to provide knockout blow . Zlatan Ibrahimovic may strike fear into the hearts of opposition defences, but the PSG striker’s record in the knockout rounds of the Champions League is not so terrifying...  (Group stages: A goal every two games, Knockout stages: A goal every 4.9 games) They all count... Half of Chelsea’s Champions League goals this season have been scored via set-pieces (nine). Interestingly, the same proportion of PSG’s goals conceded in Ligue 1 have been from dead-ball situations (12 of 24). Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has struggled during the Champions League knockout stages . Three reasons to be fearful... Terrific record . Laurent Blanc's men are unbeaten since January 10 (Played 14, Won 10, Drawn 4, Lost 0, Goal difference +16) Keeping it tight at the back . In the first leg at the Parc des Princes, Chelsea were largely dominated by PSG and restricted to just two shots — the second of which was Branislav Ivanovic’s opener. Chelsea to pay penalty . The Blues will be desperate to get the tie wrapped up in 90 minutes - their win percentage in penalty shoot-outs in Europe is just 25 per cent (won 1, lost 3). Chelsea were restricted to just two shots at goal during 1-1 draw with Paris-Saint Germain . +Nemanja Matic returns to the Chelsea team after serving a two-match ban in domestic football and Jose Mourinho admits the club has learned valuable lessons from the way he was allowed to leave for Benfica. Matic has become arguably the most important player in Mourinho's team, providing the midfield security and physical presence which allows others the freedom to create. The Chelsea boss insisted he would 'never' have allowed the Serb to leave Stamford Bridge but understands how it happened and applauded the board for showing the courage to sign him again for £22million, three years after he joined Benfica as a makeweight in a deal to sign David Luiz. Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea were 'brave' in deciding to bring Nemanja Matic back to Stamford Bridge . Matic has become an important member of Chelsea's first team since rejoining Chelsea . The 28-year-old has missed Chelsea's last two games against Tottenham and West Ham due to suspension . 'Chelsea were brave by bringing him back,' said Mourinho. 'If in this world you want to do the best for your club you don't protect yourself from possible critics. You simply do what you think is the best. 'We wanted a midfield player and we had on the table three or four but the best one he was a former Chelsea player. I don't say a player they lost but they were brave to say we are sure this is the right one, we are sure he is the best one, we are sure he is going to be a success here. 'Probably the next time Chelsea does a deal with a young player they will keep control. At these ages, the evolution of players can be good or bad. You can loan or even sell a player but you have ways of being in control of his future. 'Another aspect is the fact that Chelsea had so many managers in these years. It is difficult for the business people on the board. For one manager, Matic is the right profile of player, another one thinks Matic can go because I don't like him. This guy I like because he is fast, this guy I don't like because he is small. 'With a philosophy on the table, it is much easier for our board. If I was here, a left-footed player, 1.95 metres tall, would never, never, never leave. Never.' Matic was handed a two-match suspension for pushing Burnley's Ashley Barnes . Mourinho insists Matic wouldn't have been sold if he was in charge during the midfielder's first Chelsea spell . Matic was sent off against Burnley last month for a retaliatory push on Ashley Barnes and missed the Capital One Cup final against Tottenham and a London derby at West Ham, when young centre-half Kurt Zouma deputised in midfield. He returns to the team for the Champions League last-16 tie against PSG at Stamford Bridge, which is poised at 1-1 after the first leg in France. 'It is goof to have him back with we did well without him,' said Mourinho. 'So I've told him maybe he is not so important. It was a bit of a joke and he laughed, but I told him we won a final and beat West Ham at West Ham, so we did well without him. 'But he is important, of course he is. He is very important in the balance of our team. Our team was developed with Matic in that position and everybody feels comfortable with him there. 'Zouma did amazingly well for us in those two games, in that position, but Zouma is a central defender and will always sbe a central defender, while Matic is Matic and the team feels very good with him.' +Louis van Gaal ended his post-match press conference on a prickly note after being asked about the failings of Manchester United's on loan striker Radamel Falcao. Falcao was left as an unused substitute as United pressed for an equaliser in their FA Cup defeat to Arsenal, but Van Gaal was quick to defend his forward. The Dutch manager interrupted a journalist asking about the striker to defend his forward's record, and hit out at the press for enjoying the Colombian's dismal record, before ending with a sarcastic remark. Louis van Gaal (left) trudges away after the defeat, with Radamel Falcao (right) walking ahead of him . Van Gaal was in a bad mood at the press conference, pointing accusingly at a journalist for the question . As he left the room the Dutchman sarcastically remarked 'very good question', and gave a thumbs up . The United boss decided not to use Falcao despite chasing an equaliser, keeping the expensive star benched . 'He scored four goals and has 3 or 4 assists, so that is his contribution,' said a clearly annoyed Van Gaal. 'And he stimulates also the other players, so that's also an aspect of the profession.' 'But it is now easy for you to say that (criticism of Falcao), and that's why you are saying that. And you are very happy to say that, I see that in your face.' When the journalist then pointed out that four goals is not very much for a striker on £280,000 a week, Van Gaal seemed to agree, but continued to take issue with the line of questioning. The 63-year-old took issue with the line of inquiry about Falcao, interrupting a journalist's question . Falcao has scored four goals since joining on loan, a meagre return for £280,000 per week . Van Gaal issues tactical instructions during the game, but was unable to stem the tide against Arsenal . 'Yes,' he responded. 'I cannot change that. I cannot change facts, and you know that. But you can continue.' The United boss then called an end to his press conference, before leaving with a sarcastic jibe of 'very good question' to the offending journalist, and giving him the thumbs up. +All-rounders Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali are in doubt for England's final World Cup match against Afghanistan after suffering injuries during the 15-run defeat to Bangladesh on Monday. Woakes left the Adelaide Oval with a protective boot on his left foot after he began to feel pain while he was batting as England sought to keep their World Cup alive. Moeen suffered a side problem while he was bowling, although he was able to continue on and then take his place at the top of the batting order. Moeen Ali is a doubt for England's final game of the World Cup after picking up a side injury . Joe Root arrives at Sydney airport after England's shocking defeat by Bangladesh on Monday . England captain Eoin Morgan has come in for criticism as his side crashed out of the World Cup . An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesperson confirmed both players were set to undergo scans in Sydney on Wednesday. They will miss the training session that day as a result of the scans. Both payers could therefore be sidelined for Friday's match against Afghanistan, when England will look to finish a miserable campaign with victory in their first-ever one-day international against the Asian nation. Fast bowlers James Anderson (left) and Stuart Broad (right) have been far from their best all tournament . Ali and Chris Woakes will undergo scans on Wednesday which will mean they miss training as a result . Woakes left the Adelaide Oval with a protective boot on his left foot after he began to feel pain while batting . +Nedum Onuoha suffered a painful return to action on Wednesday night when he was forced off with a cut near his eye after clashing heads with QPR team-mate Steven Caulker. Onuoha was left with a sizable gash on his left cheek and had to be substituted during their 2-1 defeat by Arsenal at Loftus Road. Shaun Wright-Phillips revealed a photograph of Onuoha's cut on KICCA and wrote: 'Wish big chief all the best and it goes back to normal.' Nedum Onuoha (left) and QPR team-mate Steven Caulker clash heads during their match against Arsenal . Olivier Giroud talks to referee Kevin Friend (left) as Onuoha and Caulker feel the force of their clash of heads . Onuoha is forced off with the cut during QPR's Premier League defeat by Arsenal on Wednesday night . QPR defender Onuoha leaves the pitch holding his cheek after the clash of heads with team-mate Caulker . Onuoha's cut was revealed by Shaun Wright-Phillips on KICCA and he wrote: 'Wish big chief all the best' Onuoha had last played for QPR almost a month ago when they lost 1-0 against Southampton on February 7, and was making his return from a hamstring injury during a bloody and bruising derby. QPR were left in the Barclays Premier League relegation zone after the 2-1 loss as goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez kept Arsenal in third. Charlie Austin set up a nervous finish with his strike in the 82nd minute but it proved to be just a consolation for Chris Ramsey's side. +With 10 days separating West Ham United's loss against Chelsea with their next Premier League fixture, an away trip to Arsenal, the Hammers have jetted off to Dubai for a team break. Midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate uploaded a picture to Instagram with team-mates Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and Adrian with the caption 'ready to (go to) Dubai with my guys'. West Ham manager Sam Allardyce will be hoping the warm weather getaway will allow his players to freshen up ahead of their final 10 league games of the season. Cheikhou Kouyate (left) poses with his fellow West Ham players in an Instagram post before going to Dubai . Kouyate (right) wins the ball of Kurt Zouma but West Ham lost 1-0 on Wednesday against Chelsea . Winston Reid had to leave the game against Chelsea after eight minutes with a hamstring problem . The club are tenth in the Premier League after Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho's side with 39 points but are only three behind Stoke in eighth. But on Thursday, Allardyce was boosted by Winston Reid emphatically ending reports that he will depart Upton Park at the end of the season by penning a six-and-a-half year contract at the club. 'It's one of those things that took a bit of time, but we got there in the end,' Reid, 26, said upon announcing the news. Reid's game against Chelsea was curtailed after only eight minutes due to a hamstring problem but the New Zealand international hopes his team's break will allow him to recover swiftly. 'It's just one of those things with the injury,' Reid said. 'I had it a little after Crystal Palace and unfortunately it flared up again. It's just part of the game I guess. 'We've got some time to recover now, which is much needed.' Kouyate (centre) clashed heads with John Terry and was substituted three minutes before the end of the game . Sam Allardyce (left) jokes with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho during the game at Upton Park on Wednesday . West Ham are not the only side trying to turn their absence from the FA Cup into a positive. Southampton flew to Switzerland for a team break on Wednesday, a day after their win over Crystal Palace. +Santi Cazorla is used to controlling games from midfield for Arsenal with his tenacious passing, sublime touches and an eye for a goal. But it appears that the Spain international does not enjoy having things any other way, judging by a post on his Instagram account. An image of the Arsenal attacking midfielder having his hair cut with the amusing caption 'I'm NOT managing this situation!' appeared on Thursday. A picture was uploaded on to Santi Cazorla's Instagram with the caption 'I'm NOT managing the situation' Cazorla completed a full 90 minutes in Arsenal's victory against Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday . Cazorla (right) is denied from getting on the scoresheet by QPR goalkeeper Rob Green (centre) Cazorla played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal's 2-1 victory against Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday, as Arsene Wenger's side battled hard for three points that keeps their Champions League ambitions on course. Next up for the Gunners is the FA Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday. Their Premier League campaign resumes the following weekend, on March 14, against West Ham United at the Emirates. +At one minute to three, Tony Mowbray walked from the spacious Ricoh Arena tunnel, gave a thumbs up to the photographers clicking away and returned to the capricious game that is football management. By five o’clock, he must have been wondering quite what he’d thrown himself back into after a rollercoaster afternoon that did nothing to soothe Coventry City’s acute relegation anxieties. Mowbray had not stood on a touchline since October 19, 2013, when his Middlesbrough team were beaten 3-2 by Barnsley at Oakwell. The game has certainly not grown any kinder or more predictable in the meantime. Coventry's Jim O'Brien opens the scoring for the home side in just the fourth minute of the match . Coventry City: Burge, Phillips, Pennington, Martin, Stokes, O'Brien (Jackson 77),, Barton (Odelusi 62), Fleck, Nouble, Tudgay (Williams 63), Samuel . Subs not used: Webster, Turgott, Finch, Charles-Cook . Booked: O'Brien . Scorer(s): O'Brien 4, Odelusi 70 . Port Vale: Neal, Veseli, Inniss (McGivern 36), Robertson, Dickinson, Moore (Daniel 81), Brown, O'Connor, Marshall, Williamson (Dodds 77), Pope . Subs not used: Yates, Birchall, Lines, Johnson . Booked: Dickinson, Inniss . Scorer(s): Pope 40, Marshall 45, O'Connor 76 . Referee: Mick Russell . Attendance: 9,446 . The 51-year-old Yorkshireman, late of Hibernian, West Brom, Celtic and Teesside, spoke of restoring City’s glory days when he arrived in the week. But his short-term contract speaks of a more pressing mission - saving the Sky Blues, famously FA Cup winners in 1987 and staple of the top flight for many years, from the indignity of League Two football. They remain above the relegation zone - just, by a sole point - after this 3-2 defeat but the new boss will be under no illusions that this is no time for grand future plans, just steely focus and cast-iron resolve. The initial signs had been so positive. On the first sunny afternoon of Spring, the whole place seemed energised by Mowbray’s arrival and Coventry had a precious lead just four minutes in. From the left, the ball was worked into Dominic Samuel’s feet but he couldn’t get them synchronised to shoot. Instead, he passed backwards to O’Brien in plenty of space and he picked out the bottom corner with a perfectly-placed shot from 20 yards. Tony Mowbray issues instructions from the touchline during his first game in charge of Coventry . ‘We are staying up’, sang the home faithful, confident again that a club in the Premier League as recently as 2000-01 wouldn’t be playing fourth tier football next season for the first time since 1959. Mowbray - who spent most of the match stood, hands in pockets, on the edge of his technical area - betrayed little emotion. It was only a start, after all. The Sky Blues were well on top, looking threatening going forward and Samuel’s deflected shot from a good position had Chris Neal scrambling across. But Vale, who still harbour hopes of reaching the play-offs, slowly grew into the game and took command in the minutes just before half-time. First, Tom Pope was left with a straightforward side-foot finish after the ball was played across the penalty area, nobody seemingly wanting to take responsibility. There was a strong suspicion of offside, but the striker’s 11th goal of the season stood. Few will come as easily as that for him. Then, four minutes later, Coventry’s fragile confidence at the back was dented again. The impressive Mark Marshall played a neat one-two with Michael O’Connor around the home defence and produced an emphatic finish. The Coventry wide man wheels away in celebration after giving his side the perfect start . To make matters worse, Marshall had been released by Mowbray’s predecessor Steven Pressley last summer having been deemed unworthy of a new contract. Marshall politely declined to celebrate. The travelling masses were less diplomatic, chanting ‘that’s why you’re going down.’ Mowbray sent his players out five minutes early for the second-half and, having composed themselves following the double blow before the break, they started on the front foot. O’Brien’s flighted cleared by Neal’s legs just a fraction ahead of the onrushing John Fleck and Aaron Phillips curled an effort wide from range. But they couldn’t sustain the bright start, allowing Vale to dictate things again. Byron Moore volleyed over the bar after a clever piece of chest control and Marshall tested Lee Burge with a low drive. The former Middlesbrough and Celtic manager holds his arms aloft in appeal at the Ricoh Arena . Then, out of nothing, an equaliser. Frank Nouble, brought back into the side by Mowbray, bulldozed his way forward on the counter-attack before picking out Sanmi Odelusi bursting up on his right. After a touch to control, the substitute rifled home and in one swing of the boot, totally transformed the mood. A cloud of thick blue smoke rose in one corner from a flare as the home fans found their voices again. Not for long. From their next piece of attacking play, Vale were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out after O’Brien felled Michael Brown. Up stepped Michael O’Connor, bending the ball precisely around the wall and beyond the outstretched arm of Burge. Mowbray didn’t know where to look. Some welcome back to football this had been. +Louis van Gaal admitted he had not prepared for the possibility of matchwinner Danny Welbeck facing his former club at Old Trafford. The Manchester United manager, under pressure after this dramatic 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup quarter-final, expected Olivier Giroud to spearhead the Arsenal attack. Instead Welbeck scored Arsenal's glorious 61st minute winner when he clipped the ball beyond David de Gea and ran on to score in front of 9,000 travelling Arsenal supporters. Danny Welbeck slides the ball into an empty net to secure a 2-1 win for Arsenal against Manchester United . The former United striker celebrates in front of Arsenal's 9,000 travelling supporters at Old Trafford . Van Gaal, who sold Welbeck to Arsenal in the summer because he didn't believe he was good enough, said: 'In football it happens, but it was also a surprise that Wenger put him in that position. 'When a player returns to play his former club he will always be very motivated, but we gave the goal away. 'It is very disappointing because we gave the victory to Arsenal. The players are disappointed because they know it could have been different. 'This is a big blow, we have to recover. We are sportsmen so we have to recover. I cannot say that the motivation of the team was bad. 'We have to show fantastic fighting spirit, that is not the problem.' United finished with ten men after the dismissal of Angel di Maria in the second half. He was booked by referee Michael Oliver - who had an outstanding game - for diving and was then shown another yellow card for tugging at the official's shirt. Van Gaal added: 'Di Maria knows that he doesn't have to touch the referee. That is not so smart of him. Angel di Maria is shown a red card by referee Michael Oliver after picking up two bookings inside a minute . Di Maria heads for the Old Trafford tunnel after a moment of madness cost him a second yellow card . 'But controlled emotion is not so easy in a match like this, but I mentioned it before the game because I know these red cards are easily given. 'I cannot give a comment about the referee and you know why. He knows that he doesn't have to touch the referee. 'We have to see every decision of the referee in the circumstances because he whistles, but I want to see the video tape to see how he has decided it all.' Arsenal took the lead here when Nacho Monreal ended a brilliant move by Wenger's side in the 25th minute, but Wayne Rooney equalised four minutes later. The FA Cup holders, who will now play Bradford or Reading in the FA Cup semi-final, went on to score again when Welbeck read a disastrous backpass by Antonio Valencia. Welbeck barely celebrated his goal, his eighth for Arsenal since his move from United, but Wenger insisted he had added motivation to score. The Arsenal manager said: 'He has pace, he also has a bit of psychological consideration by playing against his old club, and I have to rotate a bit without affecting the players. Louis van Gaal and his assistant Ryan Giggs gesture on the touchline during United's defeat by Arsenal . Van Gaal opted to sell matchwinner Welbeck to Arsenal for £16million in last summer's transfer window . 'I thought we might need to counter attack, so I played him. He has had a great game. 'We want everyone to do well against their former club to show they are great players, but it is not aways easy to deal mentally with it. 'I only knew very late that he would play, but he has shown great mental strength. 'He just wants to win, he is a team player. He just wants to do well and he wants to produce s complete performance. 'He kept calm and De Gea made one or two outstanding saves.' Arsenal deserved to win and Wenger insisted that his team can respond to the challenge ahead as they target a sixth FA Cup since he became manager of the club. He also paid tribute to the 9,000 travelling Arsenal fans who made their way to Old Trafford on a Monday evening for this FA Cup quarter-final. Some of Arsenal's 9,000 travelling fans celebrate at Old Trafford after the final whistle . Van Gaal trudges towards the tunnel after seeing his side miss out on a place in the FA Cup semi-finals . He said: 'We started at a high tempo and without apprehension. We were in control. We could have scored more. 'The team was a bit down at 1-1 at half-time, because we felt that we should be winning. 'Mentally we were at the level I requested. It was a physical game, a committed game. We did that well without forgetting to play our football. 'Every win makes us stronger. Winning at Man City earlier in the season helped us to show that we can win big games. 'I have huge respect for the fans to come here. To come here on a Monday night, with 9,000 fans, shows you the huge size of the club. 'We will be favourites in the semi-final, but we have tricky memories from last year. 'It was our hardest game, we but we to focus now on the Premier League and then we have a big game against Monaco in the Champions League.' +This year’s renewal of the Queen Mother Champion Chase could double as an episode of Casualty given the two chief protagonists have hauled themselves off their sick beds to face the starter. Both Sprinter Sacre, successful in 2013, and last season’s hero Sire De Grugy have suffered well-documented issues, with connections striving to return their charges to the form which saw them dominate consecutive runnings of this feature. As the preparation of both horses has not been smooth — despite their trainers issuing upbeat bulletins — it might be worth opposing them with CHAMPAGNE FEVER (Cheltenham, 3.20). Champagne Fever, ridden by Ruby Walsh (right) wins the William Hill Supreme Novices Hurdle in 2013 . Racemail tipsters got off to a stunning start on the opening day. Robin Goodfellow (Sam Turner) and Captain Heath (Marcus Townend) napped 8-1 National Hunt Chase winner Cause Of Causes, while Townend also landed his next best bet (The Druids Nephew 8-1) to complete an 80-1 double. Turner also picked winners Douvan (2-1), Un De Sceaux (4-6) and Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen (4-5), while Peter Scudamore went for the first two Willie Mullins’ winners. But for an agonising defeat in the Arkle Chase 12 months ago at this meeting, the eight-year-old would have an undefeated record in three starts at the Festival after successes in the bumper and Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Admittedly, he can be a hit-and-miss character on occasion, falling at Thurles two starts ago before repairing his confidence with an easy win at Gowran. A fine effort in the King George Chase in December, when finding the three miles on soft ground beyond him, suggests the drop back to the two-mile trip will suit. And his stable are bang in form, with trainer Willie Mullins enjoying a memorable day on Tuesday. If the rain stays away, I could see Simply Ned out running his price as he has been kept fresh for this and has already finished in front of Dodging Bullets at Prestbury Park this season. Arabian Revolution (right) ridden by jockey Tony McCoy wins at Sandown Park Racecourse in January 2015 . Earlier on the card, DON POLI (Cheltenham, 2.05) has looked awesome in his two chase starts to date and is strongly fancied to lift the RSA Chase. He repelled a classy rival in Apache Stronghold with a degree of comfort at Leopardstown last time and looks a Gold Cup horse in the making. Apache Stronghold has gone on to boost that form with an accomplished defeat of Valseur Lido, and Don Poli has a great opportunity to follow up his triumph in a handicap hurdle at last year’s meeting. ARABIAN REVOLUTION (Cheltenham, nap, 4.40) is a sporting selection to win one of the season’s fiercest handicaps as he looks to have plenty in his favour in the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle. Like three previous winners, the selection boasts a victory at Sandown and the form of his recent run at Ludlow has since taken a marked boost with the winner Beltor, a Triumph Hurdle contender, hacking up at Kempton. I also like the move to equip Arabian Revolution with headgear for the first time, while the booking of Barry Geraghty is another huge positive. Don Poli, ridden by jockey Mikey Fogarty, winning the Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle last year . +And so finally it arrives. The clash we have been waiting so long for. The top-of-the-bill dust-up which for many is the highlight of the meeting and one which is quite simply too close to call. Nicky Henderson’s Sprinter Sacre versus Gary Moore-trained Sire de Grugy in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. Sprinter Sacre was the imperious winner of the race in 2013 but could not defend his title 12 months ago because of illness. In his absence, Sire de Grugy galloped away with his crown displaying the same disdain for the leaden-footed gallopers chasing him. Barry Geraghty riding Sprinter Sacre celebrates victory in the Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase in 2013 . Sprinter Sacre clears a fence on his way to winning the race two years ago . Both pack a killer punch and both are battled scarred giants. Both also hail from stables reluctant to admit the possibility of defeat. If they were boxers, they would probably be nose-to-nose, eyes bulging, refusing to be the first to blink. But underneath would be a grudging respect borne not only out of mutual ability but also shared battles against adversity. They have met once before in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton in December 2013. But it was a race memorable for the wrong reason as jockey Barry Geraghty pulled up Sprinter Sacre after the seventh fence with a fibrillating heart problem. It was an issue which kept him off the track until his second to Dodging Bullets at Ascot in January, a good performance off such a lengthy lay-off but one which only fuelled debate about whether the Sprinter Sacre of today is a shadow of the horse rated one of the best steeplechasers in his pomp. The delayed return had scuppered the pair’s first anticipated clash in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in December. Sire de Grugy, ridden by Jamie Moore, galloped to the crown at last year's Festival . But by then Sire De Grugy, who mopped up Britain’s four Grade One two-mile chases in Sprinter Sacre’s absence, had also been sidelined. In his case it was a hip injury which initially had Moore fearing his season might be over. But after a blip when Moore’s jockey son Jamie was unseated in last month’s Game Spirit Chase at Newbury, confidence was restored with a smooth winning performance at Chepstow. The debate over their relative merits and how much talent they retain has been endless but now the time for talking is over. Henderson (left), the most successful trainer in Festival history, has shown trademark patience in nursing Sprinter Sacre back into shape. He said: ‘It will be the clash of the Festival. It is what we wanted last year and didn’t happen. It will be a hell of a clash. They have got a crown that we want back. I think we have a chance. You can’t be confident but I am hopeful. He is in seriously good shape and doing everything we have remotely asked him to do. Sprinter Sacre (left) finished second to Dodging Bullets in comeback at Ascot in January . Moore celebrates with Sire de Grugy after claiming victory last year . ‘I am not saying he is back to his very best. When he was, he was absolutely ridiculously unbeatable. It didn’t matter what anyone threw at him. I am not saying he is still like that but he is in seriously good shape.’ But Jamie Moore is equally bullish for Sire de Grugy. He said: ‘I am hoping will see the same horse as last year and I am pretty sure they will. At the start of the season I thought he was working better last year. I think we will see the real Sire turn up and he will give them all a hell of race.’ The danger, of course, is that all the focus on the big two leads to a talented rival being underestimated, just as when Imperial Commander gatecrashed the 2010 Gold Cup billed as the Denman versus Kauto Star show. Lining up against them is Paul Nicholls-trained Dodging Bullets, whose breeder Frankie Dettori was thinking more Derby and Royal Ascot when he sent dam Nova Cyngi to stallion Dubawi. Barry Geraghty acknowledges the crowd after being lead into the winner's enclosure in 2013 . The three-time champion Flat jockey will be at the track to watch the form horse of the season and winner of both the Tingle Creek and Clarence House Chases run. Then there is Willie Mullins-trained Champagne Fever, who was just a head away in the Arkle Trophy Chase from winning at his third consecutive Festival, 12 months ago. Nicholls also saddles much improved Mr Mole, the mount of AP McCoy. The Cheltenham Festival is rightly billed as the Olympics of Jump racing. That make the two-mile Queen Mother Champion Chase the 100metres final. Fast, furious and compelling … and almost impossible to call. +Scotland may not have won at Twickenham since 1983 — but captain Greig Laidlaw insists there is no reason why Vern Cotter’s men should head south with an inferiority complex this weekend. From what he has seen in his first season in the Aviva Premiership with Gloucester, Laidlaw reckons England’s players are anything but invincible. They are good, he says, but no better than those currently wearing the dark blue. Scotland captain greig Laidlaw (above) insists that England are not invincible ahead of Saturday's clash . ‘I’ve always thought highly of the England players but seeing them down there just shows me that we can win,’ said Laidlaw. ‘They are not invincible, that’s definitely not the case. ‘I believe they are good players but you look at Glasgow Warriors when they played Bath in Europe this season and how well they did. ‘Bath were going well in the Premiership but Glasgow beat them at home and arguably could have won down there, too. It wasn’t really Glasgow’s first team as they had a lot of injuries that day — and it probably was close to Bath’s first team.’ Laidlaw’s emotions are running high ahead of the Calcutta Cup clash, especially after team-mate Stuart Hogg told Sportsmail he feels there is a lack of respect for Scottish rugby south of the border. Laidlaw made a similar point before the start of the Six Nations, based on the experiences of his first season with Gloucester, following his move from Edinburgh. Scotland full back Stuart Hogg (left) accused the English of lacking respect for Scottish rugby . For Laidlaw, a win at Twickenham will not only belatedly ignite Scotland’s Six Nations campaign, following defeats to France, Wales and Italy, it will give him bragging rights in the Gloucester dressing room and make him even more proud to be a Scot south of the border. ‘Respect has to be earned and that is something we’ll be aiming to do at the weekend,’ he said. ‘The England boys will respect us if we do a job on the field. ‘We’re not far away from getting things right but I’m getting pretty sick of telling people that, I really am. It’s up to us as players to step up, go again and put in that performance against England. ‘We have had some tough talking from the coaches this week and rightly so since the defeat to Italy — but it has been good as we have been shooting ourselves in the foot a lot of the time and we have to change. ‘We have now seen both sides of Vern Cotter this week. He is a hard man and rightly so. He has high standards and we have certainly seen what he is all about — and that’s good. We know what is expected of us and he is a very clever coach who wants to make sure we come away from Twickenham with a positive result.’ Laidlaw also has two very personal reasons for wanting to lead Scotland to what would be a famous victory at Twickenham. The first is to emulate his uncle, Roy Laidlaw, who helped his team to a Calcutta Cup win back in 1983. The other is to wipe out the memory of last year’s 20-0 defeat by England at BT Murrayfield. It still makes him bristle and was arguably his worst performance in a Scotland shirt. England captain Chris Robshaw lifts the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield last year after a 20-0 victory . Nothing went right for Laidlaw that day and, after missing two penalties and struggling to make any sort of impression on the game, the Scotland skipper was replaced by Chris Cusiter after 65 minutes. The boos that rang round the stadium at the final whistle hurt Laidlaw and he knows that defeat, on top of Scotland’s dreadful Six Nations campaign so far this season, makes it vitally important to put things right at the home of English rugby. ‘That was personally one of my worst games for Scotland, to be honest,’ he admitted. ‘I don’t think many of the boys played well that day for whatever reason. ‘It was made worse because we were playing England. It is the oldest game in the world and you want to do yourself proud — and we didn’t. ‘Vern’s analysis this week has been about going back a bit further into previous Six Nations tournaments and he has been on our case. He has certainly been on my case, that’s for sure, after he brought up that match. ‘We’ve had a look at that last game when we lost 20-0 and he pointed out mistakes in that match and told us we need to learn quickly and not make those same mistakes again. ‘We certainly want to turn around that defeat and how we have performed in this Six Nations, if we can, by winning at Twickenham and there is slightly more added spice to the fixture because it is England down there. ‘I’ve talked to my uncle Roy about their win in 1983 but that was a different group of players and the guys who won more than 30 years ago have made their own bit of history. ‘It’s up to us now to make our own bit of history and go down there and be strong and have the mentality that we can impose our game on them — and not worry about what is coming out of the other changing room.’ England centre Luther Burrell is mobbed by his team-mates after he scored a try in last year's match . Much will rest on the performance of second-row Jonny Gray, who turns 21 on Saturday. He has already come of age for Scotland and is calling the line-outs. In the absence of big brother Richie through injury, there is now even more responsibility on his shoulders. There was an indication against the Italians of how much Gray is respected by Cotter when, with Laidlaw taken off and vice-captain Ross Ford off injured, he was asked to fill in as skipper near the end of the game. It was a dream come true for the second row, who knows he has a huge role to play against England. ‘It’s very special to be a part of the Scotland squad in the first place, then to lead your country is something you grow up dreaming about,’ he said. ‘To have done that, even if for only a couple of minutes against Italy, was a huge honour and a very special feeling. Jonny Gray (above) will have a big role to play if Scotland are to upset the odds and beat England . ‘The result was hugely disappointing but we have to put that behind us now. ‘We have been looking at the England game and what we need to fix and we’re just training hard to try to get it right. ‘It will be a huge occasion in an amazing stadium against a tough England team. They have got a very strong pack and the driving maul is a real strength of theirs, so that is an area we will be working hard on this week.’ +Johnny Sexton is on course to start Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Wales, a match that Warren Gatland is delighted to see Wayne Barnes officiate. As Sexton and his hamstrings were coming through Ireland training unscathed, Wales coach Gatland was naming an unchanged team for the Millennium Stadium encounter and giving his seal of approval to English referee Barnes, an official with whom Wales ‘have a good rapport’. Barnes was called in to take charge of the match after Steve Walsh was ruled out and Gatland said Wales were delighted to have the Englishman on the whistle. Johnny Sexton begins running as he recovers from a hamstring injury sustrained against England . The Irish fly half is no longer a doubt for Saturday's trip to Cardiff as he returned to a training programme . ‘We have had him before, he is a referee we have got a good rapport with,’ said Gatland. ‘The players get on well with him and we are really looking forward to him taking control of the game. I am looking forward to meeting him on Friday just to get his thoughts on the Six Nations so far and things that he is looking for from us.’ Sexton remains on course to start in Cardiff, according to assistant coach Richie Murphy. ‘He didn’t do any contact but took part in full training. He ran all the plays, did all the defensive stuff and was running at 100 per cent. ‘He’s really happy where he is at. We’re expecting him to be fit at the weekend. Ireland's Johnny Sexton has won his battle to be fit to face Wales in the RBS 6 Nations on Saturday . ‘He’s a really important part of the package,’ added Murphy. ‘His direction and leadership are massive, those decisions he makes on the run. ‘We’re really happy he will be fit to play at the weekend, but I suppose the back-up is the whole squad doesn’t rely on just Johnny.’ Murphy also confirmed Jamie Heaslip is good to go, stating the No 8 took a full part in Tuesday’s training after recovering from the three vertebrae fractured against France, while the assistant also clarified Monday’s concussion return-to-play protocol confusion surrounding Sean O’Brien and Jared Payne, who suffered bangs against England. Sean O'Brien (right) makes a tackle in the win over England, but is not yet back in contact training . Jared Payne (left) is also still out of full training, but should return to contact later in the week . ‘They can be cleared within six days if they’re playing the following week, but that process can take longer if you don’t need them. ‘Both have finished their return to play protocols and did contact training. An eye will be kept on them over the next 24 hours but both are fit and healthy and look like they’re ready to play.’ It means Joe Schmidt will deal from a full deck on Thursday when unveiling his team. +Victoria police have revealed their romantic side in their search for the owner of a lost wedding ring. The silver wedding band, inscribed with the words 'I love Julie' and a date in 2005, was found on a nature strip in Glen Waverly, south-east of Melbourne. Officers have made it their mission to find the love-struck ring owner after the jewellery piece was handed in to them by a member of the public last week. Officers have made it their mission to find the love-struck ring owner after the jewellery piece was handed in to them by a member of the public last week . 'Glen Waverley police are hoping that love is not lost – even though the ring appears to be,' a spokesperson wrote in a media release aimed at hunting down the former-wearer. 'The ring is silver with a single diamond and appears to be a man's wedding ring judging by the size.' Social media users responded by predicting how the ring ended up in the field and what consequences the owner might face when discovered by the mysterious Julie. Social media users responded by predicting how the ring ended up in the field and what consequences the owner might face when discovered by the mysterious Julie . 'Coming soon: "Glen Waverly male found assaulted for losing wedding ring. Police wish to speak with Julie",' Michael Jon Ovcaric commented on the post. 'She probably cheated on him so he threw it out... Or he could of been drunk and threw it out the window?' Pasi Julian Levae guessed. Victoria police are asking anyone who believes they own the ring or knows who it might belong to to call Glen Waverley police station on 9566 1555. The silver wedding band was found on a nature strip in Glen Waverly, south-east of Melbourne . +Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says under-fire Gareth Bale will remain in the starting line-up against Schalke. The Welsh winger has been criticised by a section of Real's fans and the local media for a dip in form, having set up just one goal and failed to score in Real's last eight matches. According to a poll in Spanish newspaper AS 46 per cent of supporters would prefer to see Bale dropped form the team ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema. Garteh Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo were in high spirits on Monday despite the club's poor form recently . The Wales forward has been criticised by sections of the Real Madrid support in recent weeks . Real Madrid manager talks to Bale and Ronaldo during training on Monday ahead of Schalke clash . But Ancelotti has no qualms about starting him in the Bernabeu clash with Schalke, which Real Madrid go into with a two-goal cushion having won the first leg 2-0 away from home. 'If I had to replace those who were not playing at their best, I would have to change the whole squad,' the Italian told the Spanish media on Monday. 'The whole team needs to improve. I'm sure Bale is not happy with what he is doing and he understands that and wants to do better.' Ancelotti is confident his side can rediscover their best form, despite a disappointing draw with Villarreal and a defeat to Athletic Club in their last two games. A shortage of goals has been Real's biggest problem, with Benzema and Ronaldo also struggling. Bale (left), Fabio Coentrao and Ronaldo (right) were put through their paces on Monday . Former Tottneham players Bale and Luka Modric laugh and joke as they go through their warm-up . Ancelotti says he will keep faith with his misfiring strikeforce for the second leg of the Schalke tie . 'I have complete confidence in them (Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo),' he said. 'They have given us so much in the past and our identity is not going to change. 'There has been a general drop in form, not just of the three of them, but of the whole team. 'Right now the team is not helping our strikers much. 'We are not playing fast, we are passing the ball too much and we need to try to find the right pass to make the most of our strikers' potential.' Even so, there is now not much room for error if the Spanish giants are going to win titles in Europe or on the domestic front. After the Schalke game, Real will host Levante this weekend before travelling to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona on March 22. Ronaldo reacts to a decision during Madrid's loss to Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Saturday evening . Bale has been booed and jeered by Real Madrid supporters a couple of times . 'No team can make any mistakes from now on because otherwise you compromise the campaign,' he said. 'There is more pressure now at this stage of the campaign. 'In the Champions League, we want to do the best we can because this is the best competition in the world. 'We did well against German opposition last season and we hope to do the same this year.' Real hammered Schalke 9-2 on aggregate at the same stage and then beat Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich en route to lifting a record 10th European cup last season. The Spanish giants have won all of their Champions League games so far and will be bolstered by the return of midfield pair Luka Modric and Sami Khedira from injury. Real are without injured defender Sergio Ramos. +An Indonesian clothing company has come under fire over washing instructions printed on its sports shirts which said women should clean the shirts because 'it's her job'. Salvo Sports printed the controversial instructions on the shirts of Indonesian Super League football team Pusamania Borneo. 'Washing instructions: Give this shirt to a woman. It's her job,' the label reads, according to BBC. The controversial washing instructions on the shirts of Indonesian Super League side Pusamania Borneo . Salvo Sports, the company that prints the shirts, was forced to issue an apology after the instructions went viral on social media . Social media was quick to shame the company, which tweeted an explanation of its actions. 'The message is simply, instead of washing it in the wrong way, you might as well give it to a lady because they are more capable,' the company tweeted on Sunday. 'There is no intention to humiliate women. In contrast [we want to tell the men] learn from women how to take care of clothes.' The company has not said whether they will recall the shirts. 'The message is simply, instead of washing it in the wrong way, you might as well give it to a lady because they are more capable,' a tweet from the company reads . 'There is no intention to humiliate women. In contrast [we want to tell the men] learn from women how to take care of clothes' The shirt controversy caps off a rough week for the sporting industry, with claims of sexist behaviour at the highest levels of the sport making news. A women's international football match between Australia and England, played near a military base in Cyprus, has been overshadowed by claims British soldiers shouted sexist abuse at Australian players throughout the match. FFA Media Operations spokesman Adam Mark said a formal report was currently being prepared by the team in Europe, and it will be reviewed before any potential action is discussed or taken. England's FA and the Ministry of Defence are also investigating the claims. The women's international match was marred by reports of abusive comments and behaviour from British soldiers watching on from the stands . The match was played near a British military base in Cyprus, where it is believed many of the soldiers were based (Stock image) 'We're waiting for the report before commenting. It would be inappropriate to say anything at this time,' Mr Mark told Daily Mail Australia. The alleged incident comes just days after the launch of the 'Women in Football' campaign designed to promote equality in the sport and 'tackle sexism in the game'. Rachel O'Sullivan, a UK journalist for the Girls on the Ball website, claimed about 10 of the 50 soldiers abused the women at the game in Nicosia, Cyprus on Friday. 'They were making horrible comments, shouting, whistling,' Ms O'Sullivan said. 'One Australian player, No.6 [Uzunlar], they were harassing her over and over and over again, throughout the game. 'These are teenage girls and they were sexually objectifying them.' Football Federation of Australia and England's Football Association are investigating the alleged incident, which comes just days after the launch of the 'Women in Football' campaign designed to promote equality in the sport and 'tackle sexism in the game' 'We're waiting for the report before commenting. It would be inappropriate to say anything at this time,' Mr Mark told Daily Mail Australia . Sophie Downey, who also writes for Girls on the Ball, said she had been hesitant to report on the comments. 'At the end of the day we are just two young women who just love our football and want to support our team,' Ms Downey wrote. 'But we have sat through more than our fair share of women's games and we have never witnessed anything quite like it. Why should we keep quiet?' Servet Uzunlar, pictured in action with Sydney FC, was harassed 'over and over again', according to reports . She also said it was important to highlight such behaviour to ensure all fans understand it is 'offensive and unacceptable'. 'Until the opinion that it's just 'banter' and 'lads being lads' is challenged and dissipates, things will never change,' she said. A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman was taking a more open approach. 'These are teenage girls and they were sexually objectifying them,' UK journalist Rachel O'Sullivan, who reportedly the incident, said . 'Until the opinion that it's just 'banter' and 'lads being lads' is challenged and dissipates, things will never change,' one of the witnesses said . The match, which was a friendly fixture, is part of the lead-up campaign for both countries ahead of the Women's World Cup in Canada in June . She also said it was important to highlight such behaviour to ensure all fans understand it is 'offensive and unacceptable'. 'Until the opinion that it's just 'banter' and 'lads being lads' is challenged and dissipates, things will never change,' she said. A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman was taking a more open approach. 'Behaviour of the kind described is totally unacceptable and is not tolerated in the Armed Forces where abuse, bullying and discrimination have no place,' a spokesman told the Daily Telegraph. 'We are investigating these claims and if it is found that any UK personnel have fallen below the high standards we expect then appropriate action will be taken.' The British commander at the game with the soldiers said he too had heard nothing. The controversy comes after fans at Manchester United and Manchester City abusing Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro were broadcast by the BBC on Thursday night, prompting the London club to call for an end to sexism in football. The Asian Football Confederation also launched their inaugural AFC Women's Football Day on Sunday, hailing the events their member associations were conducting to develop and promote the women's game. +Luke Shaw will come through this, but he is playing like he has the handbrake on. Is he being overcoached? Shaw was substituted at half-time in the 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final loss against Arsenal at Old Trafford. What has happened to the marauding full back who played with such freedom for Southampton? He is only 19 and he will come again, but the player Manchester United signed for £30million would hit crosses on the run and did his best work at the top end of the pitch. Luke Shaw has struggled to recapture his Southampton form at Manchester United . Shaw was taken off by United manager Louis van Gaal during half-time against Arsenal . Shaw has not progressed in a similar manner to his former Southampton team-mate Nathaniel Clyne (right) He isn’t doing that now. It looks to me as if he’s thinking too much and that will be down to him trying to carry out instructions. Shaw is going to be a star, but when you consider how Nathaniel Clyne is developing, why isn’t Shaw doing the same? He is a young man, who has had his injuries, but he is struggling and was taken off at half-time in a reshuffle that ultimately didn’t pay off. +Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has won a trophy in his first season at every club he's managed, except for AZ Alkmaar. United lost 2-1 against Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final on Monday night at Old Trafford, all but ending Van Gaal's search for silverware in his debut season in England. Van Gaal won the Uefa Cup with Ajax in his first year, the La Liga title with Barcelona and the Bundesliga and DFB Cup with Bayern Munich previously. Louis van Gaal pictured on the sidelines during Manchester United's 2-1 defeat by Arsenal on Monday night . Van Gaal has won a trophy in his first season at every club he's managed, except for AZ Alkmaar . United lost 2-1 against Arsenal as they must now concentrate on qualifying for the top four . The Dutchman's night only got worse on Monday as former United players showed what they were lacking at the Theatre of Dreams. Nani scored for Sporting Lisbon, Paul Pogba sent Juventus 11 points clear at the top of Serie A with a screamer, and it was Danny Welbeck who found the winner for Arsenal at Old Trafford. United will now concentrate on finishing in the top four of the Premier League as they fight with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton for Champions League qualification. Van Gaal pictured during his time with AZ where he failed to get a trophy in his first season . +Andy Cole has revealed how he was made to feel 'small' by a perceived snub from Teddy Sheringham that led to the England pair not talking. The former Manchester United striker played alongside Sheringham at Old Trafford for four years but did not enjoy a relationship with his compatriot following an incident on international duty. Cole made his England debut from the bench in a 0-0 friendly draw with Uruguay in 1995 and, in replacing then-Tottenham forward Sheringham, felt the lack of acknowledgement from his future United team-mate was disrespectful. Andy Cole (right) played alongside Teddy Sheringham at Manchester United for four years - but the pair never got on following a perceived snub from Sheringham during an England international in 1995 . Sheringham - and David Beckham - congratulate Cole after scoring in a 6-0 win over Bradford City in 2000 . 'From my England debut against Uruguay, he was going to be substituted for me to come on to replace him, and he snubbed me on the line,' Cole said. 'I just thought to myself, 'I'm making my debut here and Wembley is a packed house'. And I felt so small. 'I don't think his apology would come, because I honestly do believe that he believes he was not in the wrong.' Despite a fantastic goalscoring record at club level, Cole only made 15 international appearances and scored just once - famously calling former England boss Glenn Hoddle a 'coward' for announcing he was dropping Cole through the press. 'I don't think it was damaging to my career,' Cole said of his remarks. 'I just think a lot of the media and a lot of Joe Public picked up on that and ran with it and ran with it, and exhausted it. And I remember when it came out, I mean of course it was going to be massive news. He was the England manager.' Cole and Sheringham celebrate on the pitch in 2000 but the didn't speak off it . The pair come face-to-face when Cole played for Manchester City and Sheringham at West Ham in 2005 . Despite a prolific goalscoring record at club level, Cole won just 15 caps for England . Kevin Keegan and Cole, pictured here on international duty, fell out briefly in October 1993 . Cole also had a high-profile falling out with Kevin Keegan in 1993 while at Newcastle, something the striker said was a consequence of tiredness more than anything else. 'I felt so tired, and I couldn't get myself going,' Cole told ITV, 'He [Keegan] said, 'Don't you fancy it today?' So I said to him, 'No I don't fancy it today.' So he said, 'Well if you don't fancy it you can do one.' So I said, 'Okay, not a problem to me,' and I just walked off. 'I got in a taxi and my girlfriend then, she was at home so I just ended up going to hers. And I remember I rang the doorbell and she said to me, 'What are you doing here, you've got a game tonight haven't you?' 'I said I just walked out of there, I couldn't be bothered.' Keegan added: 'We went to play the game, no Andy Cole and we lost, and we go in Friday for training, we've got a game on Saturday. Andy poked his head round [the door] and he just said, "Gaffer, what do I do now?" I said, "I'll tell you what to do, you go out, you train properly and if I think you are fit enough I will put you in the team tomorrow."' Andy Cole: Sports Life Stories - ITV4 10pm on Tuesday March 10) +Chris Brunt has been charged by the Football Association on suspicion of using insulting language to a match official in the aftermath of West Bromwich Albion’s FA Cup defeat by Aston Villa. It is believed Brunt, West Brom captain for the game, allegedly abused referee Anthony Taylor in the tunnel following the pitch invasion by Aston Villa fans. Brunt, who has until Thursday 6pm to respond, is expected to ask for a personal hearing and cite mitigating factors. Chris Brunt (right), pictured disputing a decision with Anthony Taylor, has been hit with an FA charge for allegedly abusing the latter after Saturday's FA Cup quarter final . Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Police clash with unruly fans in the aftermath of the FA Cup clash between Aston Villa and West Brom . The national lead officer for football policing has questioned the scheduling of the match on Saturday night . The charge, if proven, could carry a two-match ban, although Brunt will hope his mitigation can reduce that. An FA statement read: ‘It is alleged that in or around the tunnel area after the end of the fixture the player used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards a Match Official.’ +Thomas Aiken may not be defending his title, but South African players will look to maintain their stranglehold on the Africa Open in East London this week. England's Andy Sullivan is favourite to spoil their plans after winning the Joburg Open last Sunday, the 27-year-old claiming his second European Tour title in South Africa in the space of eight weeks. But home players have won the event every year since it began in 2010, with former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel winning the inaugural event and being followed into the winners' circle by fellow major winner Louis Oosthuizen (twice), Darren Fichardt and Aiken. Andy Sullivan in action during the pro-am ahead of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club . European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke hits an approach shot in practice ahead of the tournament . Aiken's win 12 months ago helped him top the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit and secure a place in the field for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, which is also being staged this week at Doral. That leaves the likes of Fichardt and George Coetzee to lead the home challenge, with Coetzee keen to keep the trophy in South African hands. 'It was my first time playing (in 2010) and it was a big deal to see all the foreign players pull into East London,' said Coetzee, who finished 24th in the defence of his Joburg Open last week. 'Since then the Africa Open always attracts a strong contingent of local and international players. The crowds are always fantastic, because they are lively but very neutral. They just want to watch some great golf and they cheer for everyone. It's fun to play in front of galleries like that. 'Personally, I would very much like to put my name below Thomas' on the trophy before the international players have their day.' Matthew Baldwin of England tees off on the fifth hole during practice at the stunning East London Golf Club . European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke is a notable name in the field but it is Sullivan, however, who looks most likely to gatecrash the home party. 'I think if I did I'd become one of the most hated people down here, so I'm not sure if I want to win this week,' Sullivan joked. 'But obviously it would be great to get a victory down here as well. 'It's quite hard because we go from week to week so it still has not sunk in yet. I am on the crest of a wave and just want to keep riding it and hopefully keep going this week. I'm looking forward to the task at hand, I think the wind is going to keep the scoring pretty fair and it should be fun. A buck crosses the fairway as home player Trevor Fisher jnr plays a shot . Thankfully for Graeme Storm the bucks stop with him able to hit his drive during the pro-am . 'It's a hell of a lot different to last week where we were just hitting the ball straight up in the air, it could be a massive change to what we are used to but I've had a couple of days in the wind now to get used to it and a feel for the course. We are professional golfers for a reason, we should be able to adapt.' Four of the players who finished runner-up to Sullivan last week - David Howell, Jaco van Zyl, Wallie Coetsee and Kevin Phelan - are in the field at East London, along with Oliver Fisher, who lost out in a play-off to Aiken 12 months ago. 'I have fond memories of the place, it was a good week last year and hopefully I can have a good week again,' Fisher said. 'Last year I started well here to set the season off on a good tone and it's always nice to get off to a good start.' +Open Championship venue Royal St George's has voted to allow women members for the first time in its history. A statement from the club read: 'The Royal St George's Golf Club is pleased to announce that, following an extraordinary general meeting held on 14th February 2015 and a subsequent ballot of the full members of the club, a resolution to alter the club's rules to make ladies eligible for membership has been duly passed. 'Under the club's rules, the resolution would only be passed if it obtained the support of three-quarters of the votes cast on the ballot. More than 81 per cent of the full members took part in the ballot and a decisive 90 per cent voted in favour of ladies being eligible for membership. Darren Clarke won The Open the last time it was held at Royal St George's in 2011 . 'The alteration of the club's rules has immediate effect and the club looks forward to welcoming ladies as junior and full members.' Royal St George's had been one of three clubs on the Open rota with a male-only membership policy. The club last hosted the Open in 2011 when it was won by Europe's Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke. Muirfield and Royal Troon are the other two courses to have male-only membership policies. Muirfield, which is owned and run by The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, is reviewing its membership criteria with a report due to be completed this month, while Troon announced in January its intention to undertake a 'comprehensive review' of its membership policy. Rickie Fowler hits a shot in the 2011 Open Championship amid a familiar St George's backdrop . St George's boasts a 60-foot bunker, the deepest in Britain, as a unique feature of the course . Troon has always considered itself a special case in this respect as it shares facilities with the Ladies Golf Club, Troon. And the club also confirmed in January it will share the responsibility of hosting The Open in 2016 with the Ladies' Club, with the formation of a joint Championship Committee. Royal Troon Captain, Bob Martin said: 'Royal Troon Golf Club has hosted The Open on eight occasions since 1923 and in 2016 we will share this responsibility with The Ladies' Golf Club, Troon as joint hosts of the 145th Open Championship. 'The clubs enjoy a close working relationship and we look forward to hosting a successful Open here in 2016.' The Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews ended its 260-year-old male-only membership rule in September . In a statement, Troon said it will 'undertake a comprehensive review to consider the most appropriate membership policy for the future', adding: 'The recommendations from this review will be presented to the membership for their consideration.' Scrutiny of the clubs intensified after the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews voted to end its 260-year-old male-only membership policy in September. A spokesperson for the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers later confirmed that the consultation over allowing women members at Muirfield is currently ongoing, with the findings due to be reviewed this spring. +The European Tour has confirmed that the British Masters, supported by Sky Sports, will return to the schedule for the first time in seven years in October, with four of Britain's top players taking turns to host the event. As revealed by Sportsmail's golf correspondent Derek Lawrenson, Ryder Cup stars Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood will help to select the venue each year, with Poulter first to assume hosting duties at Woburn from October 8-11. Poulter, who has a long association with Woburn, said: 'It is fantastic news that the British Masters is back on The European Tour schedule and I am proud and delighted to be bringing the tournament to Woburn Golf Club, which is obviously a place that means a great deal to me. Ian Poulter, here in action at the Honda Classic last week, will host the British Masters in October . Justin Rose (left) and Luke Donald will join Ryder Cup team-mate Poulter as co-hosts of the event . Lee Westwood is the final co-host of the tournament, which is returning to the European Tour schedule . 'British golf has been in a good place for a number of years now with the success we have had internationally, and as players we have all been keen to get more tournaments on British soil, and in England in particular, so we are grateful to Sky Sports and The European Tour for helping to make this happen. 'As a young boy I dreamed of becoming a professional golfer, and being able to watch my heroes play the game inspired me to chase these dreams. I am now passionate myself about encouraging young people to try to enjoy this game that I love so much, and I'm looking forward to working closely with Sky Sports and The European Tour on staging the British Masters at Woburn and making it an event that truly inspires young people. Poulter (left) and Rose share a laugh after their epic duel, won by the latter, at Woburn in 2002 . Sam Torrance (left) and Christy O'Connor Jnr are among the past winners of the prestigious event . Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano celebrates his 2008 win by diving into the lake by the 18th green at the Belfry . The legendary Seve Ballesteros holds his trophy after winning the British Masters at Woburn in 1986 . 'I know Woburn is going to be a great venue for a European Tour event having hosted the British Masters previously, and I'm sure the fans will come out and really support the event again. 'The British Masters was always one of our leading events and I have some great memories of my battle with Justin at Woburn back in 2002. He's obviously a good friend of mine and a great competitor, so it was a pleasure to go up against him at my home course. Hopefully I can put my local knowledge to good use once more and be up there challenging again this year.' It will be the 17th time that Woburn has hosted the British Masters and the first since 2002, when Poulter and Rose battled it out for the title, with Rose winning by a shot after a closing 65. This year's event will be staged on the Marquess course and have a prize fund of £3million. +No wonder England's renaissance man Paul Casey turned up at Doral yesterday for the WGC-Cadillac Championship with a broad smile on his face. Yes, it had to hurt a little that he had glorious opportunities to win the last two events on the PGA Tour and didn't close the deal in either instance. But this is a man who had fallen so far in America he hadn't registered a top-three finish here in five years, let alone two in a row. Now, after becoming the last man to earn a spot in this elite field and on the verge of earning his first invitation to the Masters for three years, it is not surprising the 37-year-old has no trouble dwelling on the positives. England star Paul Casey is standing on the brink of a Masters invitation for the first time in three years . 'I'm fine about not winning because the first thing was to earn loads of world ranking points to get me back into the top 50,' argued Casey, who has moved from 83rd to 45th — his highest ranking since 2012. 'I'm happy on the course, happy off it, and I really think I can build on what I have achieved these past two weeks. There's better golf ahead of me.' Casey has turned his professional life around after making what he describes as 'the hardest decision of my career'. Three months ago he resigned his European Tour membership and woke to headlines proclaiming he had spurned the chance to play in the Ryder Cup, since you have to be a member to make the team. 'I understood the stories and if it hadn't involved me, it's what I would have thought,' he said. 'But I haven't given up on the Ryder Cup. Anything but. My dream is to play in several more but I just haven't figured out how to yet. 'My energy has been focused on getting back in the top 50 because that's where I will be of most use to Europe.' 37-year-old Casey secured a third-place finish at the Honda Classic as he continues his renaissance . Casey was such a European Tour loyalist he served on any number of committees. 'It was such a difficult decision to resign that I took a few months to tell my manager Guy Kinnings because I felt I was betraying him and the Tour,' said Casey. 'But I was running out of second chances. I was going back and forth across the Atlantic and it was clearly affecting my golf. 'Now I feel so relaxed knowing I don't have to run myself ragged. I can't tell you the difference it is making.' Becoming a father has also helped. Golf author Keith Elliott highlighted long ago the positive effects the 'nappy factor' can have on a top pro and Casey is another paid-up subscriber. 'The great thing is I don't take my work home with me any more,' said Casey, who lives with wife Pollyanna and infant son Lex in Arizona. 'I used to hang around the golf course all day at home wasting time but now I'm much more savvy.' The world's top 50 players get invitations at the end of this month to the Masters, so no prizes for guessing the next target for one of Europe's best ball strikers. Ranked world No 3 in 2008, it's exciting to think where this second act might take him. Casey has scaled the world rankings from 83rd up to 45th, his highest placing since 2012 . +The WGC Match Play will move to Austin, Texas, in 2016 after the International Federation of PGA Tours announced a new four-year title sponsorship deal with Dell. This year's event, sponsored by Cadillac, will take place in San Francisco - beginning on April 29 - as Jason Day looks to defend the title he won in a thrilling final against Victor Dubuisson last year. In 2016, the event will not only move location but also time as it is moved to the week beginning March 21, with the host course yet to be announced. Rory McIlroy could be one of the players involved in the newly-named tournament in Austin, Texas in 2016 . The World No 1 plays a shot during at the first hole during the first round at The Honda Classic at PGA . 'We couldn't be more pleased to welcome Dell as a sponsor of the World Golf Championships and, beginning in 2016, as the new title sponsor of the Match Play,' said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem in a statement on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours. 'The Match Play has a tremendous future with Dell as the incoming title sponsor, the event's move to Austin and the new round-robin format that is being introduced this year.' Dell chairman and chief executive officer Michael Dell added: 'We're excited to sponsor the Match Play Championship, to showcase Dell technology to golf fans and to bring the world's greatest golfers to our hometown, Austin, Texas. 'We're also proud to support the championship's tradition of philanthropy that has raised millions of dollars for charitable causes.' The tournament will be known as the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play until 2019. Jason Day won the tournament last year and he'll be looking for the same result in San Francisco . +England, Wales and Scotland have all expressed an interest in hosting the Solheim Cup in 2019, the Ladies European Tour has announced. The three home nations are among 10 countries who could be in the running to host the biennial event with Denmark, Holland, Norway, Portugal Spain, Sweden and Turkey having also expressed an interest. A decision on which country will host the event is expected before the end of the year. England, Wales and Scotland have expressed an interest in hosting the 2019 Solheim Cup among 10 countries . 'We are delighted with the response from the interested nations all across Europe which shows the tremendous appetite for watching Europe take on the USA at golf,' said Ladies European Tour European Solheim Cup director Mark Casey. 'We look forward to working closely with all interested parties over the coming months to provide each country with the opportunity to present their strongest possible bid.' England has never before hosted the contest while Scotland played host in 1992 and 2000, with Wales hosting in 1996. Europe will be looking for a third consecutive win in the competition when it is played in Germany in September, while Iowa will play host in 2017. Europe won the last Solheim Cup against the USA in 2013 - their first ever victory on American Soil . +Andy Murray finds himself with the task of killing off America in the Davis Cup on Sunday after Great Britain’s scratch pair came tantalisingly close to doing the job for him. Taking their cue from James Ward’s heroics on Friday, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot almost mimicked his comeback before going down 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7, 9-7 to the Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob, in another epic, this one lasting three hours and 39 minutes. It left GB leading this World Group first-round match 2-1 with two to play, but it could so nearly have been all over as the British pair shocked the sport’s most feared duo with the force of their comeback. USA's Mike and Bob Bryan celebate after holding on to win the doubles rubber in their Davis Cup clash . Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray (right) battled back bravely from two sets down before losing decider 9-7 . The American Bryan brothers are the top ranked pairing in world doubles . British No 1 Andy Murray screams encouragement from the sidelines . Inglot and Murray put up superb resistance, spurred on by more passionate support. Inglot was impressive from the start in only his second Davis Cup tie while Jamie Murray recovered admirably from a terrible first two sets. By opting to rest Andy Murray, GB captain Leon Smith knew he could be sacrificing a doubles point, with the calculated trade-off that his No 1 player would be fresh for this afternoon’s reverse singles. He will tackle John Isner, whom he has beaten in all three meetings, and if he can extend that record, a home quarter-final will be secured against France, who have beaten Germany. Inglot plays a one-handed backhand to GB's American opponents Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday . The Bryan brothers, representing USA at the Davis Cup, celebrate after winning a point against Great Britain . Murray celebrates after winning a vital point against the Bryan brothers during his double's match . A buoyant Jamie Murray was confident his younger brother can finish it, partly due to superior team spirit. ‘It’s pretty obvious we are a much tighter team than the US,’ he said. ‘I didn’t feel the rest of their team were cheering much, while our guys were up on every point. ‘I don’t think Isner will be back-flipping out of bed tomorrow to play Andy. I guess with his serve he has a chance but I wouldn’t bet against Andy in this situation.’ So far this tie has uncannily mirrored last year’s first round between the countries in San Diego, when Murray sealed it in the fourth rubber after the Bryans had reduced the deficit to 2-1 by the Saturday night. Inglot and Jamie Murray played together a few times as juniors but are unfamiliar as professionals. Mike Bryan plays a forehand shot as he attempts to win a point back for USA in the Davis Cup in Glasgow . Andy Murray watches on while his brother serves (left) and the GB team discuss tactics (right) Bob and Mike Bryan of the USA line up alongside Murray and Inglot of Great Britain before the match . In contrast the Bryans are almost telepathic, having won 16 Grand Slam titles. Mike Bryan had no complaints about the atmosphere but did point out that the DJ ramped up the music after the home team won a game, while playing ‘a lullaby’ when the US struck back. While Inglot did not lose his serve throughout, Murray dropped his first four service games as they lost the first two sets before another massively committed crowd of nearly 8,000. Once Murray had held early in the third he stepped his game up and they held on to take the set. GB slipped behind 3-5 in the fourth-set tiebreak but after running off the next three points, Murray converted a volley on their second set point to take it 10-8, having saved a match point at 7-8. The USA bench started to look like death row as their banker pair struggled and the decider became desperately tight. But the older Murray brother could not hold on at 7-7, and was broken, with Inglot, ranked 38 in doubles, making several mistakes that belied his previous form. The USA are still in with a chance of completing an unlikely comeback from 2-0 down but they have done that only once in 40 Davis Cup ties, and Andy Murray looks mightily up for the contest. +This party was meant to be all about Andy Murray coming home to Scotland, but the guest of honour turned out to be the 28- year-old son of a London cabbie. Murray responded to the earsplitting support from the people who love him the most by delivering a winning start for Great Britain against America in their Davis Cup first-round knockout. But the ex-Wimbledon champion’s four-set win over Donald Young turned out to be a mere warm-up act, as Glasgow's Emirates Arena screamed on James Ward as he battled John Isner to a standstill to put the home side 2-0 up with three rubbers to play. James Ward dug out a sensational fightback against John Isner on Friday night . Andy Murray celebrates epic victory with team-mate Ward . Ward embraces Great Britain captain Leon Smith after near five-hour thriller . An emotional Ward finally clinched his sixth match point to sensationally beat the world No 20 6-7, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6, 15-13. He is transformed when in national colours. Murray seemed close to tears as he embraced him at the end of a career-best win that makes GB firm favourites to reach the quarter finals. Ward so often saves his best for Davis Cup, to the extent that it is fairly staggering to think that he has never cracked the world’s top 100. ‘This is by far the best atmosphere I’ve ever been part of in the Davis Cup,’ said Ward. ‘I’d prefer not to play five sets every time but the crowd was incredible and really helped.’ Against the USA in San Diego 13 months ago he put another tall man, Sam Querrey, to the sword with a comeback win to put Great Britain 2-0 up. Isner, though, is a tougher proposition altogether. American No 1 John Isner let slip a two-set lead against James Ward in Glasgow . World No 111 Ward did little wrong in the first two sets, except for blowing the five points that followed him going 4-2 up in the opening tiebreak. One thing apparent in this match was how Britain have got the court surface right in making it relatively slow and low, and he fashioned his rebound by keeping the ball skidding and attacking the American’s weaker backhand side. The 111-minute deciding set became a tug of war in which neither man would yield. Isner is, after all, the player who once won an 11 hour five minute match over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon. Ward forced two match points at 5-4, one at 10-9 and one at 11-10, then needed to save two break points at 11-11 before breaking to love to clinch the match. GB captain Leon Smith said: ‘It’s really tough for the USA now but they have Jim Courier as captain and he will not let them go down without a fight.’ Andy Murray and Jamie Murray roared on James Ward to victory in five-set thriller . The question now is whether Murray will put himself on the line in today’s doubles with brother Jamie for what would be a highly charged encounter with the world champion Bryan brothers. After Ward’s win he is surely much more likely to make way for Dom Inglot and save himself for tomorrow. Murray completed the first leg of his task when he took down USA No 2 Donald Young 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in just under two hours. Apart from an untimely dip at the end of the third set, Murray was in imperious form against world No 47 Young. By the time he had finished the warm-up the crowd had joined in a rousing singalong to Runrig’s Loch Lomond, and for Murray it was the perfect preparation. He said. ‘I used that energy and emotion very well at the beginning of the match. I had a bit of a lull but I couldn’t maintain the intensity I had in the first two sets.’ Murray compared the feel of the occasion to what he experienced at the 2012 Olympics, and he responded in much the same way. It was certainly different to the lacklustre defeat by Croatian teenager Borna Coric in Dubai last week. Murray was ever so slightly more pumped up yesterday. It might still come down to Ward in a fifth and deciding rubber, but after yesterday evening’s heroics that that may not be necessary. Andy Murray had put Great Britain 1-0 up in tie by beating Donald Young 6-1 6-1 4-6 6-2 . +The last rites of Caterham are due to be read over the next few weeks via a number of auctions to sell off the team's equipment. Caterham fell into administration towards the end of October after a dispute between the owners at the time and their predecessor in Tony Fernandes, the current chairman of Barclays Premier League team QPR. A crowd-funding project helped Caterham on to the grid for the final race of last term in Abu Dhabi after they had missed the previous two events in the United States and Brazil. Caterham crashed out of Formula One after hitting financial difficulties . The team was owned by Tony Fernandes, who is currently chairman of Premier League club QPR . Wyles Hardy & Co are selling off Caterham's items via auction over the next three months. Here, Sportsmail picks out three items that are up for sale: . Lot 18: 'Two 2011 Show Front Wheel Rims mounted with PIRELLI Wet Show Tyres' - Current bid, as of Monday afternoon: £200 (Bidding ends March 11, 10:14 GMT) Lot 664: 'A Caterham F1 Fully Functioning Race Car Steering Wheel, as Raced in the 2014 Season' - Current bid, as of Monday afternoon: £1,800 (Bidding ends March 12, 12:16 GMT) Lot 880: 'A Lotus Racing Formula 1 Full Racing Chassis Show Car' - Current bid, as of Monday afternoon: £22,500 (Bidding ends March 12, 15:32 GMT) However, despite then administrator Smith & Williamson doing all they could to put Caterham in the shop window, and conducting talks with numerous interested parties, no deal could be struck. What remains of the team's assets are now due to be sold off via auctions over March, April and May, and conducted by Hertforshire-based Wyles Hardy & Co. The first of the auctions - at the Caterham Sports Centre in Langley - runs for three days this week from Wednesday with the sale of race and pit lane equipment, 2014 chassis show cars, electronics workshop and test equipment. Further auctions include the sale of memorabilia, team clothing, branded goods, archive car panels and components, show car, as well as IT and office equipment. It represents a sad end for a team that entered F1 in 2010 with such high hopes and aspirations, only to endure countless problems along the way. +The BBC has apologised after John Inverdale made an x-rated comment during BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of the Cheltenham Festival. While interviewing former jockey John Francome and young jockey Lizzie Kellie, the presenter referred to 'rose-c*****' glasses live on air. Speaking to Kellie, Inverdale had said: 'This is looking at it through rose-c*****... rose-tinted glasses from the past... [I] apologise there for a slip of the tongue, but Lizzie your love of the sport just shines through.' John Inverdale, at Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday, made an x-rated comment live on air . After the incident, a BBC spokesperson said: 'It was a slip of the tongue and John apologised immediately afterwards.' It is not the first time Inverdale, who has over 30 years' broadcasting experience, has been forced to apologise for making inappropriate comments. In 2013 he sparked outrage when he said tennis player Marion Bartoli was 'never going to be a looker' live on air before her appearance in the Wimbledon women's singles final. Inverdale later apologised to Bartoli, while also claiming his comments were in part attributable to a bout of hayfever which had left him feeling under the weather. A jubilant Ruby Walsh enters the winners enclosure on board the Champions Hurdle winner Faugheen . +Few  would be surprised if Noel Meade's love affair with the Cheltenham Festival had turned sour and he had filed for divorce long ago. Four wins are outnumbered by a list of defeats, some of them crushing. But if you have to feel real pain to truly appreciate ultimate happiness, the Co Meath trainer could experience a legal high to catapult him over the grandstand if Road To Riches wins the Gold Cup on Friday. Road to Riches (right), ridden by Bryan Cooper, jumps the last to win The Lexus Steeplechase in December . Trainer Noel Meade has high hopes for Road To Riches in the Cheltenham Gold Cup . The winner of the Lexus Chase, who will be ridden by Bryan Cooper, is one of 18 remaining. He may have lost his place as shortest-priced Irish contender – that now is well-backed Willie Mullins-trained Djakadam - but Meade's hope is arguably the form horse from across the water. Few would have even dreamt of a Gold Cup challenge when the eight-year-old landed the Galway Plate in August. Back then he was a promising gelding beginning to bounce back from a disappointing slump thanks to a change in his diet and work routine. His only defeat since – behind Sizing Europe over two and a half miles at Gowran Park in October – came in a race that had not been on his original schedule and was a mistaken afterthought. When the gelding, owned by Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary, landed the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, defeating 2014 Gold Cup runner-up On His Own and AP McCoy's Gold Cup mount Carlingford Lough, hopes were raised that Meade might finally secure the feature Festival prize he craves. Bryan Cooper celebrates after riding Road to Riches to victory at the 2014 Leopardstown Christmas Festival . Meade celebrates after Road To Riches win the Galway Plate, ridden by Shane Shortfall (right) Meade, the seven-time Irish champion trainer who started training in 1970, saddled Harbour Pilot to twice finish third in the Gold Cup behind Best Mate. He said: 'Anyone who trains a jumping horse wants to win the Gold Cup. I would rather win one Gold Cup than 10 Grand Nationals. To me that is just an ordinary race compared to the Gold Cup. 'The Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle, they are the two cherries.' The latter race was a 'cherry' that was picked out of Meade's back pocket in 2005 when Harchibald cruised up to Hardy Eustace with long-time jockey ally Paul Carberry sitting motionless. It looked done and dusted until, in a dramatic final 50 yards, the rallying reigning champion trained by the late Dessie Hughes got his head back in front. It was a result as tough to take for Meade as the short-head 1998 Arkle Chase defeat of Hill Society by Martin Pipe's Champleve when he was still searching for his first Festival winner. Meade-trained Harbour Pilot (right) twice finished third behind Best Mate in the Gold Cup . Harchibald's (left) capitulation to Hardy Eustace in the 2005 Champio Hurdle was hard to take for Meade . Meade said: 'Harchie was the one that hurt the most. He was going to win and then didn't. I was watching with Dessie and he was nearly congratulating me. He had his hand on my shoulder and then, the next moment, it was just like someone had pulled a trap door from underneath me. 'Hill Society was also tough. Martin came over and said I am sure you have won but, luckily, Richard Dunwoody had ridden mine and said he thought we were beat. But the photo-finish went on for so long. 'When they called the result, I walked straight out and went back to the car park. 'I talked to the attendant for half an hour about the joys of parking cars at Cheltenham. It just me got away from the whole thing.' The disappointments meant Meade became used to a familiar refrain before each Festival. The trainer said: 'The same thing would start. 'Noel Meade has never had a winner' and at Cheltenham previews some fella in the audience would start getting on to you. You'd say it didn't bother you but of course it did.' Meade finally scored a Cheltenham winner with Sausalito Bay's victory in the 2000 Novice's Hurdle . When Sausalito Bay finally cracked the Festival for Meade, he knelt down and kissed the turf in the winner's enclosure that had eluded him . It is where he would love to be again and the trainer, who was hit hard by the recession, seeing his string half in number from a high of 150 horses, reckons he is bringing one of his strongest ever teams. There is Wounded Warrior in Monday's National Hunt Chase, Very Wood, winner of last year's Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, in Wednesday's RSA Chase and Apache Stronghold, the 'big white hope' and rated a future Gold Cup contender, in Thursday's JLT Novices' Chase. But it is Gold that Meade seeks most and he reckons he might be on the right road. 'Favourite Silviniaco Conti is the form horse but I don't think there is an awful lot between the Irish,' he said. 'My horse lost his way as a novice but we always thought stamina would be his forte and no horse was staying on better in the Lexus.' +Fit-again Ulster lock Dan Tuohy has been called into a 36-man wider training squad for Ireland's drive towards the RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam. The 29-year-old has missed Ireland's entire Six Nations campaign so far after damaging thumb ligaments in January. The nine-cap second row has not featured in Test action since February 2014, his Six Nations cut short and autumn internationals wiped out after twice breaking his arm. Dan Tuohy has been called into the training squad for Ireland's drive towards the Six Nations Grand Slam . Ireland's head coach Joe Schmidt shouts instructions to his players during a training session . Ireland were hugely impressive as they beat England 19-9 in their previous Six Nations encounter . Tuohy trudged out of Ireland's 26-3 Six Nations victory over Wales in Dublin last year, suffering his first arm fracture just nine minutes after joining the second-half fray. The former Gloucester and Exeter tight-five forward missed out as Ireland clinched the 2014 Six Nations title, before being ruled out of the autumn Tests after suffering another broken arm. The luckless lock is back fit and firing again however, and will be keen to make an impression as Ireland gear up to face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. Tuohy will find it tough going to break the match day 23 for the Millennium Stadium clash, with captain Paul O'Connell and Devin Toner inked in to start, with Iain Henderson impressing from the bench. Forwards: . M Bent (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), S Cronin, T Furlong, C Healy, J Heaslip (all Leinster), I Henderson (Ulster), M McCarthy, J McGrath, M Moore, J Murphy, S O'Brien (all Leinster), P O'Connell, T O'Donnell, P O'Mahony (all Munster), M Ross, D Ryan, R Strauss, D Toner (all Leinster), D Tuohy (Ulster). Backs: . I Boss (Leinster), T Bowe, D Cave (both Ulster), K Earls (Munster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster), R Henshaw (Connacht), F Jones (Munster), D Kearney, R Kearney (both Leinster), I Keatley (Munster), I Madigan (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), J Payne (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), J Sexton (Racing Metro), S Zebo (Munster). +Glasgow winger Sean Lamont has been ruled out of Scotland's remaining RBS 6 Nations games with a knee injury. Lamont suffered the injury during Glasgow's 26-5 win over Zebre in the Guinness Pro12 on Friday night. He has been replaced in the squad by fellow Glasgow winger Sean Maitland, who missed Scotland's opening three defeats in the tournament with a shoulder problem. Scotland winger Sean Lamont (centre) has been ruled out for the remainder of the Six Nations campaign . Lamont will be replaced by Glasgow team-mate Sean Maitland (left) for the rest of the tournament . Edinburgh forward Stuart McInally also comes into the squad ahead of the Calcutta Cup match against England at Twickenham on Saturday as cover for hooker Ross Ford, who is fighting to overcome the back spasm he suffered against Italy. The 24-year-old has scored three tries in seven appearances for Edinburgh this season and started at hooker during their weekend win over Treviso after being converted from a number eight. Glasgow back Peter Horne is also being monitored by the Scotland medical team after suffering concussion against Zebre. Stuart McInally (right) has been included in Scotland's squad as cover for hooker Ross Ford . Scotland's medical team are monitoring the fitness of Glasgow back Peter Horne (left) +Taulupe Faletau believes winning the RBS 6 Nations title this year would top Wales' comeback triumph of 2013. Two years ago Wales became the first team to win the championship after losing their first game and history could repeat itself should Warren Gatland's side overcome Grand Slam-chasing Ireland at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Wales lost their first game of the 2015 championship to England in Cardiff but back-to-back wins in Scotland and France have put them back into title contention. Taulupe Faletau takes on the French defence during his side's victory in Paris in round three . '2013 was great and the win against England at the end was probably the most satisfying I've had,' said British and Irish Lions number eight Faletau. 'To lose the first game in 2013 [to Ireland] and to have people on your backs and knocking you down... then to come back from that as a team was great. 'When the final whistle went against England it was amazing, but if we could replicate that it would probably be even better. 'Just doing it again I think would make it better.' Wales' title hopes seemed a distant dream when England recovered from a first-half deficit in the tournament opener to run out 21-16 winners. But successive wins on the road in Edinburgh and Paris have lifted Welsh spirits before confronting impressive Irish opponents who have already recorded victories over Italy, France and England. Faletau brings down France prop Uini Atonio as Warren Gatland's side triumphed at the Stade de France . 'The boys put a good shift in and we got the result we wanted in Paris,' Faletau said of last weekend's Stade de France success. 'It was a good day at the office for the pack and the platform we had at the scrum, especially for me, was noticeable. 'It's what we want going forward and the longer we spend together the more we seem to get better. 'Hopefully we can build on last weekend and keep our tournament alive.' Faletau seems set to lock horns again with his old Lions team-mate Jamie Heaslip as the Ireland number eight is on course to make a dramatic return from injury. Heaslip cracked three vertebrae when he was kneed in the back by France lock Pascal Pape in Dublin last month, but Faletau believes Ireland will do everything in their power to have the Leinster man available at the Millennium Stadium. Faletau seems set to lock horns again with his old Lions team-mate Jamie Heaslip in Cardiff on Saturday . 'He's a great guy and a great player who's made a name for himself for many years now,' Faletau said. 'He's an important player for Ireland and one of their leaders, so if we stop his game maybe it will slow the rest down. 'But there's another 14 players you've got to stop as well and Ireland are definitely favourites. 'They had a really good autumn series beating Australia and South Africa and they're on fire at the moment. 'They having lost for 10 games but we've just got to do our job, do all the work on the training field and hopefully that will translate onto the pitch.' +Holders India will confirm top spot in Group B if they can beat surprise packages Ireland. Follow the score as MS Dhoni's side look to maintain their 100 per cent record in Hamilton. William Porterfield's men need to win one from their final two pool games to progress out of their group for the second time in three World Cups. Already they have beaten two full-member nations, West Indies and Zimbabwe, but a third scalp is likely still required with Pakistan also still to play next Sunday. India have already qualified for the last-eight and could opt to rest some of their key players at Seddon Park, but Porterfield is not banking on the prospect. 'No, I don't think their guard will ever be down,' he said. 'Whatever they decide to do is out of our control. Whoever they decide to play, it doesn't really bother me. 'We've just got to keep all the momentum going and keep on improving at the little things we want to and keep taking things forward.' Ireland's status as a genuine threat to the established nations in world cricket has again been confirmed at this tournament, although it would arguably be their greatest giant-killing should they beat an India side unbeaten at this tournament. +England face a nervous run-chase to avoid the ignominy of being eliminated from the World Cup at the first hurdle after Bangladesh posted a challenging total here at the Adelaide Oval this morning. Mahmudullah, who had never scored a one-day international hundred in his eight-year career, hit the first century by a Bangladeshi in any World Cup as they reached 275 for seven, their highest one-day score against England, in this winner takes all Group A match. Only a direct hit from Chris Woakes to run out Mahmudullah ended a partnership of 141 with Mushfiqur Rahim that gives Bangladesh real hope of progressing to the quarter-finals at England’s expense. It had all looked so positive for England when Jimmy Anderson took two wickets in his first seven balls to reduce Bangladesh to eight for two after Eoin Morgan had won the toss and elected to bowl on Adelaide’s drop-in pitch. But Bangladesh recovered so well, with the ‘mighty atom’ Rahim eventually falling to Stuart Broad for 89, that England will face a tense chase if they are to avoid what would arguably be the worst of their many woeful World Cups. Now England, who brought in Alex Hales and Chris Jordan for Gary Ballance and Steven Finn, keep to hold their nerve against Bangladesh’s array of spinners if they are to live to fight another day in this World Cup. They really should be able to reach this target with ease but so low is confidence after three shattering defeats by Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in this tournament that nothing can be guaranteed. +Kumar Sangakkara joined Sachin Tendulkar in an exclusive club Sunday, becoming only the second batsman to pass 14,000 career runs in one-day international cricket. The 37-year-old Sangakkara was playing against four-time champion Australia in a World Cup match at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he passed the milestone in his 402nd ODI. He turned Glenn Maxwell for two runs down legside to reach 39. He stroked consecutive boundaries off the subsequent two deliveries and reached his 94th ODI half century from 45 balls. Kumar Sangakkara (right) is congratulated by Tilakaratne Dilshan after reaching 14,000 ODI runs . The Sri Lankan batsman reached the milestone during his 24th ODI century against Australia on Sunday . Sangakkara hit unbeaten centuries in his previous two World Cup matches against Bangladesh and England. India great Tendulkar holds the record with 18,426 ODI runs. Sangakarra flick a ball away during another excellent innings, but it was in vain as Sri Lanka were beaten . Only Sachin Tendulkar has more ODI runs than Sangakkara, but the Indian great is still 4,000 ahead . +Just for a moment, when he gained a thin edge to an attempted pull off Pakistan' s Sohail Khan in Auckland, it was possible to believe that Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was human after all. All other evidence suggests the South African known as AB is some kind of super power, a man so talented in so many sports that cricket was blessed when he decided to make taking one-day batting to another, exalted level his destiny. Nothing sums up England's out-dated methods at this otherwise expansive World Cup than to watch the extraordinary De Villiers going about his work. South African captain AB De Villiers leaves the field during the Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan . Joe Root leaves the field after being dismissed by Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka during the World Cup match . Okay, perhaps it is unfair to criticise them for not living up to a genius who has defied belief with the most spectacular batting in cricket history but De Villiers has become the benchmark now for everyone else to attempt to emulate. We are lucky he is a cricketer at all. De Villiers grew up in Pretoria playing hockey, football, rugby, tennis and badminton to international standard at age-group level while also being an accomplished sprinter and swimmer. These days, in his spare time, he plays golf off scratch on top of being an all-round cricketer who keeps wicket, bowls and fields to a high level for his country as well as indisputably the best limited-overs batsman in the world. Give him the throne of Albania and he would surpass even the legendary CB Fry. Mitch Marsh celebrates after taking the wicket of Eoin Morgan during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match . De Villiers looks on after the dismissal of teammate Rilee Rossouw during the match at Eden Park . And those who have suggested the current England team may be a bit too nice to succeed in this tournament might like to note that it is hard to find anyone with a bad word to say about De Villiers. Perhaps the suggestion of a receding hair-line, at the age of 31, is his only nod towards mortality. De Villiers has been around for 10 years now at the highest level but it is with two particular innings in the last two months that he has breathed life into the 50-over format and re-written the rules on what can be possible. First, against the West Indies in Johannesburg in January, De Villiers reached three figures in just 31 balls, going from nought to a hundred in 40 minutes and smashing 16 sixes, the same number as India's Rohit Sharma during his record-breaking 264 against Sri Lanka. A dejected Morgan looks on during England's game against Sri Lanka in Wellington, New Zealand . De Villiers talks to teammate Francois du Plessis during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match . Then, in this World Cup, he demolished the poor, hapless West Indians again with an extraordinary unbeaten 162, racing from a hundred to 150 in just 12 balls. De Villiers now holds the records for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in one-day international history. South Africa, at one stage looking set for a total of around 270, instead made the small matter of 408 for five. Extraordinary. De Villiers does not look particularly powerful, as Chris Gayle does, nor stocky and pugnacious like David Warner and Aaron Finch. There is plenty that is orthodox about his methods but also an incredible ability to hit full-length balls outside of off-stump to the leg-side for six. When he is in full flow he is a joy to behold and for a while, against Pakistan on Saturday, he looked capable of winning the match on his own until that thin edge saw his side consigned to defeat. South Africa are a notoriously fragile tournament team but in their captain they have a man capable of taking them all the way to the final. Root leaves the field after being dismissed during the World Cup match between England and Sri Lanka a . Younis Khan talks to AB de Villiers during the Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and Pakistan . The lesson for England to absorb is that the pioneers of this new impossible is nothing brand of one-day cricket are basically playing Twenty20 over 50 overs. Even now, while all evidence points to a different approach, they still prefer to treat a one-day international as a shortened Test innings. They do have the players capable of doing it the modern way, that's the frustration of England's World Cup so far. None more so than Jos Buttler, whose eyes positively lit up when asked if the World Cup had been exciting him. 'Definitely,' said Buttler. 'AB de Villiers is I someone I look at who has played some amazing knocks. Cricket's changed. The introduction of the IPL and Twenty20, people are coming up with things and the hitting at the end is nothing short of spectacular. England coach Peter Moores looks on during the Cricket World Cup match between England and Sri Lanka . Dale Steyn celebrates with De Villiers and the team after taking a catch to dismiss Ahmad Shahzad of Pakistan . 'As a fan of cricket you watch these guys perform at the top of their profession and you take a step back and enjoy it. De Villiers has been fantastic to watch. Brendon McCullum faced two guys who were bowling at 90 miles per hour (against Australia) and was swinging even harder. There's been some great moments as a fan to sit and watch and enjoy.' Sadly not many of them have involved England but what comes next is clear, whether they scrape into the knockout stages or not. England simply have to rip it up and start again in one-day cricket and build a new side around the likes of Buttler, Joe Root, Moeen Ali and those coming through like Jason Roy and Sam Billings. De Villiers has shown what is possible. Now England have to play catch up. And fast. Steyn celebrates the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan with AB de Villiers and Farhaan Behardien . +Everton manager Roberto Martinez has claimed John Stones and Ross Barkley are 'as good as it gets' for their respective positions. Martinez feels 20-year-old Stones is leading the way as a 'young centre-half' while 21-year-old Barkley is at the top as a 'No 10 in English football'. Both are England internationals and Martinez has backed Stones as a future captain of Everton. Everton's John Stones makes a timely interception on Stoke City's Victor Moses during their match . Everton manager Roberto Martinez has claimed Stones and Ross Barkley are 'as good as it gets' Barkley dribbles with the ball at the Emirates Stadium in March as Martinez hails his young talent . 'He has got the essence, the material, the responsibility,' Martinez told the Daily Telegraph. 'He understands what it takes for a player to be a leader by action. 'He's getting integrated into the Everton culture. It's been impressive how he's reacted every time he's had a game, how he became better the next time. 'Players with that sort of character need to be in the firing line. We can always replace a player with an experienced player but it's going to limit you. If we replace players with younger players who have incredible potential, we're going to have a period of learning, getting experience, but the benefits at the end will be untold. 'In terms of a young centre-half with potential, John is as good as it gets. As a No10 in English football, Ross is as good as it gets. Ross knows exactly what he wants. When you love the game as he does, and get an education as he has at Everton, it's not a surprise that we keep producing these characters.' Martinez has backed 20-year-old defender Stones as a future captain of Everton . +Everton midfielder Leon Osman has declared himself fit and raring to go after completing 90 minutes for The Toffees' Under 21s side against Sunderland. The 33-year-old spent nearly three months on the sidelines earlier this season after sustaining a split tendon during the Premier League game with Manchester City back in December. Osman made cameo appearances from the substitutes' bench in Everton's recent 3-1 win over Young Boys and 2-0 defeat by Stoke, but now having managed a full run out for the Under 21s, he is hoping to reclaim his starting spot. Everton midfielder Leon Osman (pictured in 2014) has declared himself fit and raring to go for The Toffees . Osman made a cameo appearance from the substitutes' bench during the 2-0 defeat by Stoke City . Speaking on Thursday to EvertonTV, Osman said, 'It's important for me to get as many minutes as I can on the pitch.' He added, 'The games came quick and close together, but I'm just trying to get myself out there as much as I can. 'It was good to get more minutes under my belt, I'm trying to get that last little bit of sharpness and hopefully then I can show that on the pitch for the first team.' Now, Osman is hoping to be involved from the off for Everton when they face Dynamo Kyiv in the last 16 tie of the Europa League next week. Osman was also used as a substitute against Young Boys during the Europa League round of 32 . While The Toffees have performed well in continental competition this season, the same cannot be said for their Premier League form, which seems them sit 14th in the table and with three losses in their last four games. Osman has revealed how frustrating that poor run has been for the team, and has issued a rallying cry to improve. 'It's not great being out injured for any player, I'm especially bad when I'm out injured and it's even harder when things aren't going well on the pitch for the team. 'But we're in it as a team. We're in it together whether you're injured, or if you're playing every week. We've got 10 tough games now before the end of the season, but 10 games we're very confident of getting results from.' The 33-year-old midfielder has called on his team-mates to turnaround Everton's poor Premier League form . +Alex Bruce has defended his dad Steve over the touchline bust-up with Gus Poyet – a spat which could yet land the two managers in trouble with the Football Association. The FA were last night going through referee Mike Dean's report of the unsavoury incident - which came during Tuesday's 1-1 draw between Hull and Sunderland at the KC Stadium – and could decide to bring charges against the pair. Poyet protested at Dean's decision to book Jack Rodwell for diving by kicking over a drinks carrier. He was sent to the stands by Dean before sarcastically applauding in Bruce's face and directing a comment which the Tigers boss later said was 'not very pleasant'. Hull City boss Steve Bruce (left) was involved in a touchline row with Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet . The two men argued after Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell was booked for simulation . Steve Bruce's son Alex (left) did not appear to make contact with Rodwell (right), who fell to the floor . That provoked a reaction from Bruce, who had to be restrained by the assistant referee as he attempted to get at the Uruguayan. Bruce Jnr was the defender who challenged Rodwell before the dive which sparked the clash, and he said: 'I didn't touch him. If that's what Gus was unhappy about then he was wrong, because I didn't touch him. He was just too quick for me.' Bruce has also attempted to play down the subsequent confrontation between his dad and Poyet. 'It was just handbags,' he said. 'In games like that there's always going to be a bit of a hoo-ha. It was a big game that everyone wants to win. 'Temperatures were high and I'm sure all the supporters enjoyed it.' Meanwhile, Bruce has accused Rodwell of using his arm to score Sunderland's late equaliser. 'I saw it. I was claiming for it when he put it in,' he said. 'To be honest, I thought it was going in anyway. He didn't need to touch it but he definitely put it in with his arm as it went in. 'We can't be too down about it. At least we weren't been beaten, that's the main thing, and that point could yet be crucial.' The incident during Hull's 1-1 draw with Sunderland could see both men punished by the FA . Alex Bruce has since attempted to play down the row between his father and Poyet . The 1-1 draw leaves both sides still fighting for their Premier League survival this season . Hull are 15th in the table with 27 points while Sunderland are just one point behind them in 16th . The pressures of a relegation battle are stressful for any manager and Bruce is no exception . +The Football Association will wait on referee Mike Dean's report before deciding whether to take action against Steve Bruce or Gus Poyet for their touchline spat on Tuesday night. Dean's report is due in to the FA on Wednesday, meaning if action is taken against the Hull and Sunderland managers it will be announced on Thursday at the earliest. Sunderland boss Poyet has refused to apologise for the behaviour which saw him sent off during the 1-1 draw at the KC Stadium. Hull boss Steve Bruce (left) and Sunderland's Gus Poyet (right) will find out if they will be charged this week . Bruce is held back by the assistant referee during his clash with Poyet on the touchline . Things turned sour when Bruce and Poyet began a slanging match and had to be pulled apart . Poyet was dismissed for kicking over a cooler box before clashing on the touchline with Bruce. The rival bosses were only kept apart by the assistant referee and both could face further sanction should the FA investigate the clash which was sparked when Poyet sarcastically applauded in Bruce’s face. But the Uruguayan blamed Dean for his reaction after he booked Jack Rodwell for diving. Poyet said: ‘Kicking a bottle of water is nothing serious. ‘I was not happy with Paul McShane (Hull defender) dancing like he was in the theatre, or like he’d been shot, and won a free-kick before that. ‘Jack then dived and got a free-kick against him, I just want fairness. ‘I have no regrets whatsoever. I now have to convince the officials not to put buckets of drinks around me.’ Jack Rodwell appeals for a foul but is booked for diving, a decision that led to Poyet's reaction . The two managers are restrained by match officials who try desperately to keep them away from each other . As the pair locked horns Bruce makes sure he gets his point across by bellowing in Poyet's direction . Poyet's side were lucky to escape with a point and will be fined £25,000 by the FA after six of their players were booked, including Lee Cattermole who picked up a two-game ban following his 10th yellow of the season. Bruce, meanwhile, did not reveal what Poyet had said to provoke his furious reaction. But he admitted it had been unsavoury. ‘I think it’s right that I keep what he said to myself,’ he said. ‘But it wasn’t very pleasant. It wasn’t “have a nice evening, Steve”. ‘But I don’t know why I reacted like that. We all do stupid things but it was handbags. ‘I thank the assistant referee for stepping in. I’ll have to buy him a beer. ‘I just think Gus had seen it differently about Rodwell diving. But the referee got it right. ‘All I said to his assistant was that Rodwell had dived. ‘These things happen in the heat of the moment. Grown men acting like a couple of children. They happen in big games. Let’s forget about it and go and have a glass of wine.’ Poyet was sent to the stands for his antics and could face further punishment after the game . The 47-year-old watches on with interest as his side searched for the equaliser at the KC Stadium . The result moves Hull five points clear of the relegation zone with Sunderland a point behind. And Bruce said: ‘We’re making a fist of it and I would say that is a point gained. We’re six clear of the relegation zone now if you take into account our goal difference. ‘We have to remember it’s our second season in the league. For Sunderland they’ve been there for eight.’ Dame N’Doye opened the scoring in the first half before Rodwell levelled late on, although the ball appeared to go in via his arm. Bruce said: ‘I didn’t see it to be honest, but if Rodwell has said he handled it then I suppose he did. These things happen.’ Hull striker Dame N'Doye (far left) shoots from inside the area to put the Tigers 1-0 up at home to Sunderland . Sunderland midfielder Rodwell heads in at the back post past a helpless Allan McGregor to equalise . +Playing Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals holds no fears for Doneil Henry - providing he does not have to take the train to Anfield. The Canadian's whirlwind beginning to life at Blackburn looks set to continue with a starting spot on Sunday. Injury problems in defence prompted Rovers boss Gary Bowyer to take Henry on a month's loan from West Ham on Wednesday, the same day they played Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship. Three hours after meeting his team-mates for the first time, Henry walked out onto the pitch at Hillsborough and was instrumental in the victory that just about keeps Blackburn's play-off hopes alive. Doneil Henry made a good start to his Blackburn career after joining on loan from West Ham . Henry said: 'I got a call from the manager in the morning and I was told I was going on loan and I was hopefully playing that night. 'I had to collect my stuff from Upton Park, sign some paperwork and then be on a train. I got on the wrong train, asked the ticket man if it was going to Sheffield to find out I had to get off and get on another train. 'After that finally I recognised some people in Blackburn kit at the train station and from there I was in safe hands. I met the team, did pre-game stuff and then just played. 'I was just really happy to play. It's been a while. I knew me thinking too much wouldn't be good, I just wanted to get on the pitch as soon as possible and establish myself in the team.' Henry began his career at home-town club Toronto and joined West Ham in January after being recommended to Hammers boss Sam Allardyce by former Toronto manager Ryan Nelsen. Nelsen played for Allardyce at Blackburn, where he was captain and a hugely popular figure. Canadian international Henry joined West Ham in January from MLS side Toronto . 'It was funny coming to Blackburn and walking through the facility and then seeing him amongst the boards,' said Henry. 'Ryan has been a mentor since he came to Toronto. He really has a lot of faith in me and has really guided me along my journey. I knew he was a big figure here and he was a solid defender everywhere he went. 'Junior Hoilett also played here, who's a close friend of mine, so I knew it would be a good move for me.' The 21-year-old has never been to Anfield before but did face Liverpool on their pre-season tour to North America in 2012. He knows securing the win needed to get to Wembley will be a huge task but has been impressed by the togetherness of the squad. Henry played against Liverpool in America in a pre-season game - but has never been to Anfield . Henry said: 'I'm still getting familiar with a lot of the guys but on the pitch it was great because there was constant chatter and communication and I just thought they believed in me from the get-go. 'When we get the test on Sunday, I think we'll definitely be ready. There's a lot of quality players in here so I think if we can go there and do our job, as long as we stay together as a team, it's definitely possible to get a result. 'I'm not going to shy away from the opportunity. These are the games where you can really see how far you are from the top level.' Bowyer is definitely without three defenders in injured trio Jason Lowe, Shane Duffy and Alex Baptiste, while Grant Hanley is a major doubt. But the Rovers boss has total faith in his new man, saying: 'Full credit to him and his character. 'He's been brought in to play games for us and we have to thank West Ham for allowing him to come to us. Everybody at West Ham spoke very highly of him and his performance on Wednesday backed that up. 'We wouldn't have any problems playing him on Sunday against Liverpool.' +Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara pointed the finger of blame at ref Craig Thomson after Paul Paton was sent off in an apparent case of mistaken identity during a stormy 1-1 draw with Celtic in the Scottish Cup. Paton was astonished to be shown a red card along with Virgil van Dijk after the Dutchman and Calum Butcher clashed on the ground following a poor tackle by Celtic captain Scott Brown on Nadir Ciftci – who appeared to kick Brown’s head in retaliation. McNamara vowed to appeal in a bid to clear Paton for next Sunday’s League Cup final against Ronny Deila’s men at Hampden, and it remains to be seen whether SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan will take retrospective action against Butcher, Ciftci or Brown, with TV pictures indicating they could all have seen red. Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara wasn't impressed with referee Craig Thomson's performance . Paul Paton was sent off in an apparent case of mistaken identity during a stormy 1-1 draw with Celtic . But the United boss claimed that, had the match official sent off Brown for the initial challenge, the ensuing melee and embarrassing card blunder would have been avoided. ‘I think we will be appealing,’ said McNamara, whose team were reduced to nine men in the second half when Paul Dixon was sent off for handling the ball in the box. ‘Paul Paton feels a bit hard done to for being sent off for nothing. He wasn’t even involved in the incident. But I think the ref should have dealt with the original bad challenge (from Brown) that sparked the whole thing off. But that went unnoticed. It was a two-footed challenge off the deck. It was a bad onebut it didn’t get dealt with properly. ‘We should be talking about the football rather than the ugly scenes. But, for me, the officials should have dealt with it first and we would not have had the problems we had today.’ Asked if he expects Brown to be hit with disciplinary action from the SFA, McNamara replied: ‘No comment.’ Ciftci scored United’s opener on the stroke of half time after Aiden Connolly appeared to go down easily in the box, with Celtic boss Deila later insisting the player should be punished for diving. Three minutes after the break, United’s Dixon was dismissed for blocking a goal-bound drive by Leigh Griffiths but the striker’s penalty was saved by keeper Radoslaw Cierzniak. Thomson ended up sending three players off, and United will appeal the red card of Paton . Griffiths had the last laugh, however, with a headed equaliser in the 71st minute to take the match to a replay at Parkhead on March 18. Ciftci was lucky to still be on the park after kicking out at Brown but McNamara claimed not to have seen the incident. ‘I need to see it. I haven’t looked back at the TV footage. And when Nadir gets tackled by Brown, the ball breaks and Butcher wins the challenge to put us through and I was looking at that next bit of play. I did not see what happened with van Dijk, Butcher or anyone else. I actually didn’t know the ref had got the wrong man until Paton came over and told me. It was a melee but the ref did not deal with the original bad challenge which sparked it all off.’ McNamara, whose side will now face Celtic four times in March, also defended young striker Connolly. ‘I don’t think he dived,’ he said. ‘I think he (Anthony Stokes) has caught him although he hasn’t caught him on the leg. It might have been soft but it was a penalty.’ McNamara had no complaints about the spot-kick award and red card when Dixon handled a shot by Griffiths. ‘Rules are rules but Rado made a great save. He didn’t deserve to lose a goal today. But we switched off for one moment and Griffiths peels off and scores a header. ‘We can take certain things from today’s game but Celtic will be saying the same. Cool heads will be needed for the final next week. The disciplinary side needs to be better. ‘It’s a chance for silverware and for the lads to create a bit of history. Will I be sick of the sight of Celtic by the end of our four games this month? Not if we beat them.’ +Ronny Deila has branded Dundee United’s Aidan Connolly a diver - then called on the SFA to prove they don’t just punish Celtic players for simulation. Connolly tumbled to win United’s goal from the penalty spot - scored by Nadir Ciftci - towards the end of the first half after ref Craig Thomson deemed he had been tripped by Anthony Stokes. In August, Celtic winger Derk Boerrigter was handed a two-match ban for diving to win a penalty in a 2-0 win at St Johnstone. And Deila insisted he was baffled as to why it’s only his team that is targeted – albeit he was seemingly unaware St Johnstone’s Brian Graham was also suspended for diving to win a penalty against Inverness in December. Celtic manager Ronny Deila wants retrospective action after claiming Aidan Connolly dived to win a penalty . The referee points to the spot after Connolly was brought down in the Celtic box during Scottish Cup clash . Celtic keeper Craig Gordon fails to stop Nadir Ciftci from giving Dundee United the lead at Tannadice . ‘The United penalty was a dive and hopefully it will be the same rules for everybody,’ fumed Deila. ‘We are the only team this season in the league to have a suspension for diving, Derk Boerrigter. ‘I said at the time it was no problem because that is the line that will be taken by everyone. But I don’t think anybody has had it since then. The Scottish players have been unbelievably good. They’ve not dived but if they do (like Connolly) it should be the same rules. ‘Is it the fault of the ref or the player they got a penalty? It’s both. But I accept people make mistakes. We have a rule where people look at things afterwards but I don’t see anybody else getting suspensions.’ Celtic defender Virgil van Dyke (right) was sent off after only nine minutes of the Scottish Cup quarter-final . In what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity, the referee also sent off Dundee United's Paul Paton . Dundee United had a second player sent off after Paul Dixon (3rd left) receives his marching orders . Deila will study footage of the melee that saw Virgil van Dijk ordered off alongside Paul Paton before deciding whether to appeal in a bid to clear him for Sunday’s League Cup final against United at Hampden. But Stefan Johansen will miss the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay at Parkhead on March 18 after being booked yesterday. ‘I have looked at some pictures but it’s hard to see what happened,’ said Deila. ‘Virgil just said there was a tackle and suddenly somebody was holding his legs. There was some kicking of each other to get off each other. It was nothing. 'Hopefully everybody can play in the next game. Will we appeal? We will see. I actually didn’t know until now that Stefan is out of the replay. It’s good we have a big squad.’ Leigh Griffiths missed his chance to equalise for Celtic from the penalty spot . Griffiths made up for his penalty miss by drawing Celtic level with a header . Celtic captain Scott Brown celebrates with Griffiths as the game finishes in a 1-1 draw . Deila didn’t fear any further disciplinary problems in the final but took a swipe at the abysmal Tannadice pitch. ‘There is going to be a high temperature, yes, but I’m not worried. It is fantastic. That’s why we love football. We are fighting for big things, trophies, and we have to keep our discipline. But the pitch made it a fight today. It was nothing about playing football. If you are going to develop players in this league, you have to have pitches you can play on.’ Meanwhile, the SFA compliance officer could be forced to look at footage from Dutch TV in which Celtic’s John Guidetti is alleged to have performed a song during an interview including the words ‘the huns are deid’. A recent petition lobbying the Scottish Parliament was launched by a group of Rangers fans who claimed ‘huns’ is a derogatory term used against Protestants. +David Luiz showed he was back in a familiar place on Tuesday ahead of PSG's clash with Chelsea in the Champions League last-16 second leg on Wednesday night. Luiz returns to Stamford Bridge having played there between 2011 and 2014, and is looking to spoil his former club's chances of reaching the next round. The Brazil defender posted a photograph on his Instagram and wrote: 'Right time to be back! #LondonCity #Amazing #BigBen #BeautifulDay'. David Luiz posted this on Instagram ahead of PSG's clash with Chelsea in the Champions League last-16 . Luiz moved to PSG from Chelsea in 2014 for £50million but will hope to get the better of his former club . PSG are in town to face Premier League leaders Chelsea as they go head to head in the Champions League . Luiz posted the snap after warning Chelsea they won't achieve success by simply sitting back when the two sides meet. The first leg of the Champions League tie ended 1-1, meaning a goalless draw would be enough to send Jose Mourinho's side through to the next round. But Luiz feels it would be foolish of his old club to invite pressure on themselves, considering the strength of the Ligue 1 champions' attacking options. 'I know how Jose (Mourinho) will prepare for this, he will be telling the boys to be patient and hit us on the counter attack,' Luiz told The Mirror. 'He knows that we need to score and that they don't, I know that is his way. We must be careful because I know that Chelsea have the ability to hurt on the counter attack, but they must be careful as well. 'To sit back and just defend against Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), (Edinson) Cavani and (Ezequiel) Lavezzi can also be very dangerous, so it is not just us who have to be careful.' Luiz spent three years in west London before his £50m summer transfer to the French champions . +League One and Two clubs have been asked to consider proposals allowing Premier League Under-21 clubs to take part in the Football League Trophy. Clubs were very much against the addition of Premier League B teams to the Football League pyramid when it was suggested in June 2014, and this has now been put forward as an alternative. The proposal was one of many aired at a recent meeting at St George's Park to discuss issues arising from the FA Chairman's England Commission. The Johnstone's Paint Trophy could involve Premier League 'B' teams in future if plans get the go-ahead . Youth squads from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea could soon be headed for the lower-tier cup . If the Football League do bring 'B' teams into the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, they could adopt a similar format to that suggested by Greg Dyke last year, meaning teams would: . It would see a change in format for the Trophy, with a group system being brought in. A statement from the Football League clarifying the situation read: 'Clubs have been asked to consider the concept of permitting 16 U21 teams from clubs with category one academies to participate in The Football League Trophy. 'The competition would feature 16 groups of four teams with one U21 team in each group, before a knockout stage leading to a final at Wembley Stadium. 'Given the previous concerns of the League and its clubs about Premier League B teams playing in the pyramid, any final proposal would also be accompanied by a change to the League's Articles of Association that would protect the current 72 club constitution, save for any changes to promotion/relegation that clubs wished to make. 'Therefore, having provided them with this comfort, clubs willingly debated the potential commercial, financial and player development benefits of having U21 teams in this competition from 2015/16. Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson holds the trophy last year - but a youth coach win it in future . Fans head to Wembley Stadium for the show-piece final of last year's competition in March . 'No formal proposals were tabled and no formal vote taken. 'Instead, League One and Two clubs were asked to indicate whether they were content to see The Football League progress the matter, which would include discussions with the Premier League and Football Association, so that clubs can consider a full proposal at a future point. 'Therefore, as yet, no club has voted in favour or against the idea of having U21 teams in The Football League Trophy, they have only indicated whether they wish to consider the matter further. 'Ultimately any changes to this competition will only happen with the support of League One and Two clubs.' What is the Football League Trophy? More commonly known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy because of its sponsor, the Football League Trophy is a competition for the clubs of League One and League Two. The competition is divided into North and South sections and runs in a knockout format to a final staged at Wembley. This year's final will be played between Bristol City and Walsall on March 22. Peterborough United beat Chesterfield 3-1 in last season's final. What is a category one academy? Those clubs who have academies graded at the highest level under the Elite Player Performance Plan, an initiative introduced in 2011 by the Premier League to improve the quality and quantity of home-grown players in England. Category One academies have high contact time with young players, require a minimum of 18 full-time staff and an operational budget of £2.5m or more. Which clubs fall into this category? Those that compete in the Barclays U21 Premier League are category one. There are 24 clubs. In Division One: Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Norwich City, Southampton, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United. In Division Two: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Brighton and Hove Albion, Derby County, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Reading, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. How would this work? 16 of these under 21 sides would enter the JPT. The initial part would see 16 groups of four teams, with one under 21 team in each. It would then be followed by a knockout stage culminating in the Wembley final. Would it be fair? The current rules for the Under 21 Premier League allow teams to field three overage outfield players and one overage goalkeeper. That's why you will sometimes see a player returning from injury or struggling for form playing in an under 21 match. So the Football League clubs would predominantly be playing against teenage players but potentially with the odd big name thrown in. Of course, the rules could be altered. How would it fit into the calendar? While some Football League clubs take the Trophy seriously, it is viewed by many as a distraction from the league and other, more prestigious Cup competitions. Some clubs have fielded weakened sides in the competitions in the past. Crowds are also significantly lower than in other competitions, with a day out at Wembley the main attraction. For the under 21 teams, the games would have to be shoehorned in between Premier League games, the Under 21 Premier League Cup and the Under 21 International Cup. ADAM SHERGOLD . +Manchester United are to go without a trophy for two seasons for the first time in 26 years. Louis van Gaal's team were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final on Monday night, meaning United will now concentrate on qualifying for the Champions League instead. It makes this their longest run without winning the FA Cup since between 1963 and 1977, and Van Gaal is breaking all the unwanted records in his debut season at Old Trafford. Manchester United are to go without a trophy for two seasons for the first time in 26 years . United went without a trophy in the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager, but their FA Cup exit leaves them with only the top four to fight for. Van Gaal has won a trophy in his first season at every club he's managed, except for AZ Alkmaar, but he will not be able to keep that up this year. It was Danny Welbeck that came back to haunt him as the former United player scored the winner for Arsenal to qualify for the semi-final. Danny Welbeck scored the winner against United on Monday night at Old Trafford in the FA Cup . +Kevin Pietersen remains as far away as ever from a return to England colours after it emerged on Friday that Surrey are no nearer an agreement to re-sign the maverick star. Sportsmail can reveal that Pietersen has told Surrey, who released him at the end of last summer, that he will not play all county cricket for them next season — even though he was urged to do so when offered a lifeline by new ECB chairman Colin Graves. He appeared to call Pietersen’s bluff by saying the 34-year-old would be considered for an England recall if he threw his lot in with a county and stated his case by scoring heavily in domestic cricket. Kevin Pietersen played for Surrey in last year's Natwest Twenty20 Blast . Yet it seems unlikely the county will be Surrey, who have not been able to reach agreement with Pietersen over a deal to play in red-ball cricket as well as the white-ball game. The fact Pietersen struggled to attract a contract in this year’s Indian Premier League, before Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him in a cut-price deal, seemed to suggest the path may be clear for a return to domestic cricket. But unless Pietersen is prepared to move away from London — something he previously stated he would not do — it seems that his options are diminishing. Leicestershire may take on Pietersen but it remains to be seen if he will deign to play in the second division. A return for Pietersen in England colours (above) is now looking more and more unlikely . Somerset, coached by Pietersen’s friend Matt Maynard, remain an option but the odds are against him being given a platform to stake a claim for England. Graves, who does not succeed Giles Clarke as chairman until May 15, appeared to go against the wishes of senior figures in the England set-up when he seemed to endorse a Pietersen recall. Pietersen, playing for Melbourne Stars, waits to bat in the Big Bash League semi-final in January . +Kevin Pietersen has yet to consider Leicestershire's bold attempt to sign him for this summer's NatWest T20 Blast. After new England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves hinted last weekend there is still a possibility of a return to international cricket for the record-breaking batsman, sacked last year, the first definite attempt by a county to secure his services surfaced on Friday. Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan told Cricinfo he had been in touch with Pietersen's advisers about the possibility of signing the 34-year-old between his existing commitments at the Indian and Caribbean premier leagues. Kevin Pietersen played for Surrey in last year's Natwest Twenty20 Blast . Pietersen's agent confirmed an initial discussion did take place, but added it was 'some time ago'. Leicestershire's gambit therefore appears to pre-date Graves' remarks, in which he indicated Pietersen's return to county cricket - as a pre-requisite of being considered again for England - would need to encompass all formats, rather than just Twenty20. Wasim told Cricinfo: 'I approached his agent about his T20 availability. 'But he said it was unlikely he would play any T20 (in England) due to his full CPL commitments.' The former England batsman pictured watching QPR's 2-1 defeat by Arsenal on Wednesday night . Pietersen's agent said: 'I haven't had a conversation with Kevin about Leicestershire - it is not something we have discussed.' Pietersen, who was axed by the ECB 13 months ago after England's 2013/14 Ashes whitewash defeat and described by his employers' managing director Paul Downton as 'disengaged', has since published an autobiography in which he is very critical of several former team-mates and management staff. He played for Surrey in last year's domestic T20 competition, but was de-registered by them at the end of the season. Pietersen, playing for Melbourne Stars, waits to bat in the Big Bash League semi-final in January . +Angel di Maria must deliver performances worthy of his £60million price tag if Manchester United are to achieve their goal of Champions League football, according to Gary Neville. Di Maria has failed to live up to his early promise in a Manchester United shirt since his big-money move from Real Madrid in the summer. And former Manchester United defender Neville is sympathetic to the reasons why the Argentina international has struggled over the last eight months at Old Trafford – but says it is time for him to deliver. Angel Di Maria struggled to make an impact on Manchester United's game at Newcastle . Di Maria looks dejected after he was take off at St James' Park . Adnan Januzaj came on to replace Di Maria on Wednesday night in Newcastle . Di Maria has struggled to live up to his £60m price tag in recent months . Writing in his Daily Telegraph column, Neville cites the burglary of Di Maria’s house at the end of January, his lack of English and coming to terms with the fact he did not want to leave the Bernabeu in the summer as some of the reasons why he has been off the boil. Neville said: ‘I fully expected Di Maria and Luke Shaw to form a devastating partnership down the left flank and, even at close to £60m, I had no thoughts whatsoever that his signing was a risk. ‘When he dribbled down the wing at the King Power Stadium before chipping the Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to score his second goal in three games since arriving from Madrid, the United fan in me was so excited and I was thinking, ‘Here we go!’ Di Maria has had a difficult few months at Manchester United after his great start to life at Old Trafford . Di Maria did not want to leave Real Madrid in the summer but was sold to United for £60m . ‘It was an example of everything I expected Di Maria to bring to the Premier League - pace, audacity and a moment of magic capable of turning a game. ‘But since that day, Di Maria has scored just two more goals - one of them coming against Yeovil in the FA Cup - and he has quite simply looked a shadow of his former self.’ ‘He has come to United when he did not want to leave Madrid, has suffered the trauma of a burglary, and started to work for a new manager while playing in a team that is still in a ‘storm’ phase of development. Di Maria scored an excellent goal for United away at Leicester earlier in the season . ‘All of those are factors that would go some way to explaining why Di Maria has struggled after his bright start, but I feel as though I have a parrot on either shoulder, with one telling me to give the benefit of the doubt because of those reasons while the other is saying that, actually, the time has come for a £60m player to deliver.' United are still in the top four of the Premier League and face Arsenal at Old Trafford in the Sixth Round of the FA Cup. And if Louis van Gaal’s side are to end the season on a high then Neville says Di Maria will be required to play a major role. He added: ‘If United are to achieve their aims this season, primarily Champions League qualification, Di Maria is going to have to rid himself of the complexities that have emerged over the past eight months and escape the demons that are playing on his mind.’ +Louis Van Gaal said this week it could take £60million man Angel di Maria a year to adapt to life at Old Trafford - but it took the United boss 59 minutes to decide he had seen enough at St James' Park. Another unconvincing display was brought prematurely to an end moments after Di Maria flopped a hopeless right-wing cross into a visitors' box bereft of team-mates. But it could have been a different story if Di Maria - hauled off at half-time in Saturday's 2-0 win over Sunderland - had made his mark inside the opening minute. Angel di Maria trudges off the field after another disappointing performance for Manchester United . United's record £60m signing has struggled to adapt after a bright start to his Old Trafford career . Di Maria was marshalled out of the game by Newcastle midfielder Ryan Taylor (left) The Argentinian was sent clean through after a mistake by home defender Mehdi Abeid - but he inexplicably hesitated with the goal at his mercy and the chance was lost. It was destined to be Di Maria's best chance of making an impression. He was afforded plenty of space on the right flank but worked in fits and starts and was well marshalled by home pair Ryan Taylor and Sammy Ameobi. When he was too easily robbed in his own half one minute before the interval it sparked a charge upfield from Moussa Sissoko which ended in a clear-cut chance for Emmanuel Riviere in the visitors' box. The Argentina international is ushered back to the dug out after being substituted on 59minutes . Louis van Gaal hauled Di Maria off early for a second consecutive Premier League game . Di Maria did offer the occasional hint of quality in the second period, not least in the 54th minute when he provided the cross from which Marouane Fellaini then Ashley Young brought fine saves out of Tim Krul. But all too often the fickers were extinguished by those lackadaisical losses of possession of inexplicable passes into empty space. And shortly after one wasted opportunity too many, Di Maria was substituted again with the home fans' chants of 'what a waste of money' ringing in his ears. Ashley Young (right) scored the winner as United took their recent run to two losses from the last 22 games . Pappis Cisse has words with Jonny Evans after the pair appeared to spit at each other during the game . +Real Madrid might be feeling the heat from Barcelona in the La Liga title race, but it doesn't seem to be placing too much pressure on Neymar and Co. Barca closed the gap at the top of the table to two points last weekend, and face Rayo Vallecano this weekend hoping that a Real slip-up could send them top. But while the pressure has been heaped on the European champions, Barcelona players Neymar, Adriano, Dani Alves and Douglas looked relaxed on Friday. Neymar posted this picture on Instagram of him and his team-mates at Barcelona's training ground . The Brazilian star scored on Wednesday in Barca's 3-1 win over Villarreal in the Copa del Rey . Neymar - suspended for Sunday's visit of Rayo - posted a picture of the quartet on Instagram after finishing off a training session at Barca's Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper base. That came after Neymar was called up to Brazil's squad for their upcoming friendlies against France and Chile - with manager Dunga being questioned over whether his side was too reliant on their star man. 'Since he has been designated captain of the team, he has had an upgrade on his level of football,' Dunga said of Neymar. Neymar has been training with Barca ahead of facing Rayo Vallecano with the hope of closing a league gap . 'He likes challenges, the more responsibility he has, the more he will develop and get better. 'We are very happy to have him; he is doing fantastic things in Europe. 'Our priority is first to have a strong collective, and then as a second step, one outstanding player can naturally differentiate himself and help us to be better.' Neymar is not the pure focus of Brazil's national team squad, according to his manager Dunga . +Brazil coach Dunga has recalled Real Madrid full back Marcelo for friendlies against France and Chile later this month in a squad he said mixed blend youth and experience. There were no surprises in the squad, his last before the Copa America in June, with all 23 players having some international experience, including Fabinho, the 21-year old Monaco right back. 'Marcelo is a regular again at Real Madrid, he has experience in World Cups with Brazil and we are trying to cast a wide net,' Dunga said. 'We are mixing youth and experience.' Brazil coach Dunga has selected his latest squad ahead of international friendlies against France and Chile . 'We brought Fabinho in before and we hope he can get a run of matches with Monaco. He is a right back but has been playing midfield in Monaco.' Brazil face France in Paris on March 26 and Chile at the Emirates stadium in London three days later. Dunga also recalled Sao Paulo midfielder Souza and Santos forward Robinho. Striker Diego Tardelli was the only one of the three Brazilian players who recently signed for Chinese and Arab clubs to make the squad. Marcelo, the Real Madrid full back, is included in the squad having been left out in previous selections . 'They are starting the pre-season, we haven't seen them on a daily basis,' he said of the other two, Everton Ribeiro and Ricardo Goulart. 'So we reduced the risk by not choosing players who are not at peak condition. We wanted players who are already up to a competitive speed.' Dunga took command of the Brazil team for the second time in July, just days after Brazil were dumped out their own World Cup 7-1 by Germany. He has won all six of his matches in charge, conceding just one goal. The March fixtures will be the last before Dunga announces his squad for the Copa America in Chile in June. Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Willian is one of five players selected from the Premier League . Full squad: . Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Diego Alves (Valencia) Defenders: David Luiz (Paris St Germain), Marquinhos (Paris St. Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain), Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), Fabinho (Monaco), Marcelo (Real Madrid) Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Elias (Corinthians), Souza (Sao Paulo), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea), Firmino (Hoffenheim), Oscar (Chelsea), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar) Forwards: Neymar (Barcelona), Diego Tardelli (Shandong), Robinho (Santos) +Shane Long may have had to recover from fracturing his ribs lately but his vocal chords seem to be as good as ever. The Irishman was filmed serenaded his Southampton team-mates with a brilliant rendition of Bob Marley's hit 'No woman, no cry'. Long's team-mate Ryan Bertrand posted a video of the injured Saints striker on his Instagram account showcasing his impressive vocal range. Shane Long showcased his superb vocal and guitar skills in front of his Southampton team-mates on Thursday . Ryan Bertrand (right) posted a video of Long's performance on his Instagram account . Long (right) suffered fractured ribs during the FA Cup fourth round defeat against Crystal Palace in January . Long has been out of action since late January when he was forced off in the second half of Southampton's FA Cup fourth-round exit to Crystal Palace. The Republic of Ireland forward collided with Palace defender Joel Ward during the 3-2 loss resulting in the injury. The former Cork City player and his Southampton team-mates are currently in Switzerland for a mid-season team break. Ronald Koeman's side have dropped off the pace in the race for the top four recently, and their Dutch boss has seen fit to organise a three-day football-free trip to the Swiss Alps. Long tweeted from his hospital bed reassuring fans that he was on the road to recovery after the injury . Southampton's squad pose for a photo with manager Ronald Koeman (back, centre) in Davos, Switzerland . With a weekend off after being knocked out of the FA Cup and having slipped to four points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, the Southampton players have an 11-day gap to chill out before next Saturday's league visit to leaders Chelsea. The Dutch boss hopes his side can refocus and regain energy ahead of the final push in their last 10 league games of the season. 'It’s a big achievement what we have until now,' he said. 'There are still ten games and we know we will fight until the last second to keep the highest position in the table that is possible.' James Ward-Prowse (front) uploaded an image to Instagram of the Southampton team, including Long (second left) on the plane to Switzerland for their mid-season break . +Southampton have jetted off to Switzerland for a break ahead of what James Ward-Prowse believes are the 10 biggest matches in the club's history. Saints' late, and somewhat fortuitous, victory against Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening got them back to winning way after their remarkable season started to go off kilter. The latest in a line of disjointed displays looked set to cost Ronald Koeman's men, only for Sadio Mane to strike late on to secure a 1-0 win which moved them back to within a point of the top-four. James Ward-Prowse (front) uploaded an image to Instagram of the Southampton team on the plane . Sadio Mane (centre) scores the decisive goal as Southampton beat Crystal Palace 1-0 on Tuesday . Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has taken the squad to Switzerland fora team break . It means Champions League qualification remains a realistic - and scarcely-believable - prospect for Saints, whose players flew to Switzerland on Wednesday for a break ahead of what Ward-Prowse knows is a crunch period. 'I think it will be great to just have a good time, the pressure of the Premier League is massive, especially where we are in the table,' the midfielder said. 'It's good to get away, put our feet up and have a bit of a laugh with the group. It should be a good bit of fun and then we'll move on from there . 'These next 10 games are probably the biggest in the club's history and we're determined as a group of players to make history for the club. 'We want to get us to the biggest stage in the world where we feel we belong with the best teams and best players in the world.' Next up for Southampton is the unenviable task of a trip to Chelsea on March 15 - a match Ward-Prowse will hope to be starting after his telling impact against Palace. The England Under 21 midfielder was brought on in a bid to inject some fresh impetus into Saints' toiling attack and had the desired impact, producing the shot which led to Mane clipping home. 'We reflected on the win in the changing room and we believe it's going to be a pivotal three points come the end of the season,' Ward-Prowse told Southampton's official YouTube channel . 'We haven't been on the best of runs lately and it's great to obviously get the three points and move forward. You could feel the whole stadium was pleased. 'It wasn't a pretty performance, not a vintage Southampton display, but we dug deep, the fans got behind us and I think we showed great character.' Southampton's displays have been inconsistent lately but Mane's goal keeps their Champions League hopes . Ward-Prowse believes the final 10 league games of the season are the biggest in Southampton's history . While Ward-Prowse deserved credit for the run and shot that led to Mane's goal, it would not have got that far had Julian Speroni dealt with the initial attempt. The long-serving Palace goalkeeper could only parry Ward-Prowse's shot into the Senegal winger's path, but defender Scott Dann stood up for his team-mate after the costly mistake. 'You can't just point the finger at Jules,' he said. 'He has kept us in games at times this season and he will carry on making important saves for us. Scott Dann refused to criticise goalkeeper Julian Speroni for spilling the ball into the path of Mane for the goal . 'Jules said he should have done better but these things happen and we should have reacted better. 'He is a great goalkeeper and has done really well for us. He made a couple of good saves last night and made some good decisions coming out when they played balls through. 'These things happen but we'll stick together as a team.' +Barcelona's players feature in a dramatic new advert where they each receive special edition luxury watches after a race against time from the makers to hand them out to Luis Enrique's team. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar arrive alongside the rest of the Barca side to accept the watches but with four minutes to go until they are presented, they are nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the makers realise the squad are about to go without their timepieces and orders a glamorous assistant to rush them over to Barcelona. VIDEO - Scroll down to see Barcelona's squad receive their watches in dramatic style . Luis Suarez (centre) looks restless alongside his Barcelona team-mates as they wait for their watches . Panic ensues after it is realised that the watches are to be rushed over to Spain from Switzerland . With less than three minutes to go until the presentation, the watches are not on hand for the Barca players . But the glamarous Maurice Lacroix assistant parachutes to a location near to the presentation . She arrives to the presentation to present the luxury watches in time, complete with purple and blue straps . Gerard Pique (right) steps out of the line to smile at his team-mates once the watches arrive . Brazil international Neymar immediately puts his on, showing off the colourful strap . Barcelona striker Lionel Messi shows how impressed he is upon eventually receiving the watch . The assistant, using journeys on a motorbike, plane, and car as well as a parachute jump, arrives with seconds remaining. The Barcelona players, who were looking bored and restless as they waited to be given their watches, spark into life after seeing them. Neymar is shown trying on his luxury Maurice Lacroix piece, with the purple and blue strap matching the famous colours of the Catalan club. Neymar (second right) scored two goals in Barcelona's 3-1 win at Villarreal on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey . Suarez (right) sealed the victory and Barcelona's place in the final of the competition with the third goal . Barcelona are currently second in La and trail Real Madrid by two points. Luis Enrique's side sealed a place in the final of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday with a 3-1 victory away to Villarreal. +Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was fined 10,500 euros (£7,640) by a Spanish judge on Tuesday for abusing police after the car he was travelling in was given a parking ticket. Pique wrote an apology to the court hearing in Barcelona for the public order offence that took place on Oct. 13, last year. Judge Maria Asuncion Gonzalez fined Pique for 'disrespectful behaviour and being verbally aggressive'. Gerard Pique (left) was fined £7,640 for abusing a police officer over a parking ticket in Barcelona . The centre back's brother was given a ticket for leaving his car in a bus lane in the Port Olimpic area of the city, which is known for its bars and nightclubs. Barcelona take on Villarreal on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 lead heading into the second leg at the amp El Madrigal. Luis Enrique's side remain two points off rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga table with the El Clasico looking as if it could be a title decider. Pique and his teammates face Villarreal in the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 lead going into the second leg . +Arsenal will be without Gabriel for three weeks after the central defender sustained a hamstring injury. The January signing limped off during Wednesday's win at Queens Park Rangers that kept Arsenal third in the Barclays Premier League. He will miss Monday's FA Cup clash against Manchester United, the league game against West Ham and Champions League tie versus Monaco. Wenger confirmed he will be without Gabriel Paulista for up to three weeks due to a hamstring injury . The January signing limped off during Wednesday's win over Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger held a press conference on Friday morning ahead of his FA Cup match . 'Gabriel has a little hamstring injury and he will be out for two to three weeks,' Wenger said. 'That means he’s not available for the weekend and certainly not for West Ham United or Monaco, but after that he should be available again. 'We will of course lose Gabriel in the squad and Nacho Monreal might come back. He will have a test today. Everybody else should be available - the same squad that played against Queens Park Rangers.' Wenger added goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will also go through a test on Friday and that 'if he gets through that then he will play on Monday night'. 'Wojciech is used to playing in big games and I think he’ll take that as a big challenge to show his quality. He works very hard in training - I don’t think that will be a problem,' he said. +He has become used to rewriting the record books these past few years, amending football history in style with wonderful goals and dazzling pieces of skill. But there's one record Lionel Messi has some way to go to break - one held by England's very own Jimmy Greaves. It is the all-time leading goalscorer list across Europe's top five divisions - England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany - but at least the Barcelona wizard is making progress up the ladder. Lionel Messi (right) is congratulated by team-mate Luis Suarez after scoring for Barcelona in their 3-1 win over Granada at the weekend - it moved him to 269 goals in the Spanish league . Messi's close-range finish took him into the top 10 all-time goalscorers list for Europe's top five leagues . Jimmy Greaves, seen here playing for Tottenham in 1967, leads the chart with 366 league goals . Messi's goal in Barca's 3-1 win at Granada on Saturday was his 269th in the Spanish league and took him into the top 10 of the all-time standings for league goals, as pointed out by MisterChip on Twitter. However, he is still some way behind Greaves' tally of 366 league goals set between 1957 and 1971. The prolific England international striker scored 357 goals for Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham in the English top flight, plus nine for AC Milan in Serie A. It set some precedent, one almost matched by Gerd Muller, who scored 365 goals for Bayern Munich in the German top flight and is second in the table. There is then a gap to the pre-war English scoring duo of Steve Bloomer (317 Division One goals between 1892 and 1914) and Dixie Dean (310 between 1924 and 1938). German legend Gerd Muller is second on the all-time list, just one goal behind Greaves . Messi's rival, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid, is sixth on the goalscorers list . Alan Shearer, with his familiar celebration for Newcastle United, comes in eighth on the list with 283 goals . One man Messi will be desperate to catch is his rival Cristiano Ronaldo, currently sixth in the list with 291 goals in Europe's top five leagues - 84 for Manchester United in the Premier League and 207 for Real Madrid in La Liga. Alan Shearer is eighth, with 283 goals for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United in the English top flight. If they continue at their present free-scoring rate, it's highly likely Ronaldo and Messi will one day be topping this list. But the key question remains - in which order will they finish? +West Brom boss Tony Pulis is keeping his cards close to his chest in terms of his goalkeeper selection for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final at Aston Villa. The Barclays Premier League derby between the two clubs at Villa Park on Tuesday ended in a 2-1 victory for the hosts after a stoppage-time error from Ben Foster saw the Baggies and England shot-stopper give away a penalty that was converted by Christian Benteke. Pulis spoke up for Foster - who has kept six clean sheets in all competitions since the Welshman took over at Albion - after the game. Ben Foster is not guaranteed to keep his place against Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter-finals . Foster brought down Matthew Lowton to concede a penalty against Villa in Premier League clash on Tuesday . Christian Benteke scored from the spot to give their midlands rivals a late victory at Villa Park . And while refusing to say outright whether or not the 31-year-old would keep his place at the weekend, the head coach once again had praise for Foster at his press conference on Thursday to preview the cup tie. Asked about his goalkeeper selection for Saturday's game, Pulis said: 'I'll be telling the goalkeepers first before I tell you! 'Boaz Myhill has had an injury with a finger, which we have to take into account. 'With the number of clean sheets he has kept (12 overall this season), Ben has been absolutely fantastic. 'Everybody makes mistakes. Goalkeepers get highlighted, like referees, because it can cost you games.' Baggies boss Tony Pulis has backed his No 1 without confirming Foster will keep his place on Saturday . Saido Berahino celebrates while being chased by his team-mates, after netting his 18th goal of the season . With regard to referees, another notable incident from the latter stages of Tuesday's game saw Villa defender Alan Hutton make a nasty-looking challenge on West Brom striker Saido Berahino and the pair square up to each other before each being booked. It appeared Hutton was lucky not to have been sent off by referee Jonathan Moss. And while Pulis was keen on Thursday to avoid hitting out at the official for not doing so, he did once again express his desire for there to be a referral system for managers during games where they get 'two calls' each, something he has spoken about in the past. 'I've seen the challenge back,' said Pulis. Alan Hutton appeared to raise his studs into Berahino's leg during Aston Villa's win over West Brom . Berahino goes down in pain on the touchline following Hutton's nasty challenge on Tuesday . Hutton and Berahino squared up after the challenge (left) and were both booked by referee Jonathan Moss . 'I thought Jon managed the game pretty well, and there are enough people at the moment criticising referees and looking to blame them. 'Jon didn't cost us the game on Tuesday, we cost ourselves the game. 'People make good decisions and bad decisions and you have to accept it - but I'm sure he'll look back at it and maybe will analyse it differently to how he did on the night.' He then added: 'I would have two calls during a game, where managers can call things back. 'You could put advertising on the big screens (at the same time) - the clubs could make some money from it. Pulis has labelled the alleged spitting incident involving Jonny Evans (left) and Papiss Cisse as 'disgusting' 'And it gives a chance to the officials to get right decisions that could be big. They, FIFA and UEFA, have to accept that referees do make mistakes.' Pulis also made his feelings clear about spitting following Wednesday night's incident involving Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse. 'It is disgusting and disgraceful,' Pulis said. 'Spitting should never be anywhere near our game. It should be dealt with.' Pulis, while mindful of his side's ongoing league battle to avoid relegation, says he will try to put his 'strongest team' out on Saturday. Stephane Sessegnon (right) will be given time to cope with 'personal problems' before returning to the team . Forward Victor Anichebe (groin) remains unavailable, and winger Callum McManaman is a doubt due to a foot injury. Pulis has also said West Brom 'have to go careful' with Stephane Sessegnon due to the forward's 'personal problems' - understood to be a family bereavement - and that there are a few 'knocks and niggles' to deal with. Berahino and fellow frontman Brown Ideye have both been playing recently with pain-killing injections. +Tim Sherwood has hit back at claims Alan Hutton should have seen red for his high tackle on Saido Berahino by insisting referee Jon Moss got his decision spot on. Hutton sparked a furious reaction from West Bromwich Albion players for planting his studs into the midriff of Berahino, missing a bouncing ball. A free-kick was awarded West Brom’s way and the pair were booked after coming head-to-head afterwards, with Joleon Lescott particularly angry at Hutton, who is now banned for two matches for his tenth booking of the season. Tim Sherwood was all smiles during Aston Villa training having picked up his first win as Villa boss . Alan Hutton, who escaped punishment for kicking Saido Berahino, trains with his team-mates . Hutton appeared to raise his studs into Saido Berahino's leg during Aston Villa's win over West Brom . Berahino goes down in pain on the touchline following Hutton's nasty challenge at Villa Park . Berahino goes down holding his leg as Hutton appears to proceed to move forward with the ball . Hutton and Berahino squared up after the challenge (left) and were both booked by referee Jonathan Moss . But Sherwood said: 'I think the referee called it right. I thought he was just going to give him a talking to at first but on reflection he probably got it about right. 'I don’t think it was a dirty game. It’s a local derby and I’m not used to players kissing and cuddling each other. 'It was competitive, but that was always going to be the case. Fans want to see commitment.’ Sherwood also said he did not intend to annoy opposition manager Tony Pulis ahead of their repeat clash at Villa Park in the FA Cup on Saturday by suggesting West Brom needed to up their game. 'I didn’t do it to irritate Tony otherwise I’d have put my gumshield in!’ he laughed. +The song is straightforward and carries the usual expletive, for semi-rhyme as well as effect. Gabby Agbonlahor, cry Aston Villa fans to the tune of Karma Chameleon, is rather fast. That’s the clean version. The frequency with which the words are heard from now until the end of the season will prove largely correlative to Villa’s chances of remaining a Premier League team. They have not been sounded all too often this campaign. But at Villa Park on Tuesday night, especially during the first half, Agbonlahor produced a performance to warrant adulation. Gabby Agbonlahor salutes the Villa Park crowd in celebration after opening the scoring against West Brom . Agbonlahor threads the ball through Ben Foster's legs to give the hosts the lead in the Midlands derby . It was arguably his best display in years, a return to those days when his speed and strength shot him into the England set-up. Agbonlahor consistently harried Gareth McAuley and Joleon Lescott, chasing down balls he had no obligation to reach, using his stocky physique to keep hold of possession when under threat. Christian Benteke got the headlines for his late winning goal, but it was Agbonlahor who set the tone. His goal was a classic case of pace proving the difference. He latched onto Benteke’s nodded flick and finished while making statues of the West Bromwich Albion central defenders. He did similar when creating a pass out Ashley Westwood’s hopeful ball, sprinting to startle the opposition backline and only being denied a second by Lescott’s goalline clearance. Boy George’s ditty rang loud. Agbonlahor beat Foster again shortly after but Joleon Lescott raced back to clear the ball off the line . Agbonlahor reacts after West Brom keeper Foster almost dropped the ball over his own goal line . Foster initially caught the shot from Agbonlahor but it then slipped through his legs and he had to react quickly . In all, he had three shots on target – including the badly fumbled effort by Ben Foster than nearly trickled over the line – which is a significant uplift of recent matches. In this statistic, the sequence of his last 12 games reads: 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1. Fantastic figures should Jimmy Anderson be bowling a couple of overs at the death in the World Cup. As shots on target for a Premier League striker? Not so much. Agbonlahor failed to test the goalkeepers of Newcastle, Chelsea, Arsenal (admittedly as a substitute), Liverpool, Leicester, Crystal Palace, Manchester United (albeit sent off unjustly after 65 minutes) and West Bromwich Albion. His inability in that period to make a difference in opponents’ penalty areas is symptomatic of Villa’s wider attacking paralysis, stymied by a style that ranked possession over purpose to an adverse extent. Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood ran down the touchline and celebrated vigorously after Agbonlahor's goal . Christian Benteke sends the goalkeeper the wrong way to score a dramatic late penalty and seal the win for Aston Villa . It is hard as a centre-forward to strike for goal if the ball is rarely within 30 yards of the target. Agbonlahor would often operate on the wings under Paul Lambert too. This is not to absolve the 28-year-old. As one of the club’s senior figures his form has been disappointing, particularly since he signed a new four-year contract last September. Born locally and graduating from Villa’s youth set up he is a supporter of the club and the depth of his feeling has been clear in his commitment since he broke through to the first team nine years ago. So it has been odd to see his on-field demeanour at certain times this season, exhibiting none of the vim Villa fans know well. Benteke celebrates his goal with Aston Villa team-mates Jack Grealish and Andreas Weimann . Brad Guzan looked on in horror as Saido Berahino equalised for the visitors before Benteke's winner . That was back with a bang against West Brom. Tim Sherwood restored Agbonlahor up front alongside Benteke and allowed for the direct style that suits their attributes. Agbonlahor found the net for the first time in 14 matches and it proved valuable. Each one of his four Premier League goals has counted for something: a draw against Southampton and wins against Liverpool and Hull, accompanying the West Brom victory. Seven extra points in total. Sherwood knows the worth of the player whose speed is celebrated in chant. The Villa manager needs to continue utilising his talents for the final 10 Premier League matches to make sure this spark of brilliance does not fizzle out. Agbonlahor on song means Villa should stay up. +Tim Sherwood has redrawn the derby battle lines and warned West Brom they will have to improve to end Aston Villa's Wembley dream. The sides face a rematch in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday after Villa's dramatic 2-1 Premier League win on Tuesday. Christian Benteke's last-minute penalty sealed Sherwood's first victory as Villa boss and lifted them out of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone before Wednesday's fixtures. Tim Sherwood appeals to the referee after Matt Lowton was brought down by Ben Foster in stoppage time . Aston Villa manager Sherwood looked to the heavens as his side pressed for a winner against West Brom . And ahead of their second showdown this week, Sherwood is eyeing another derby success. He said: 'Now the cup is the most important one as it's the next one and we want to get to Wembley. West Brom will have to improve to stop us getting there. 'I'm confident I'm telling them the right things to do but there is nothing like a win to cement things. Everyone can see we're improving and the result is massive for us.' Villa have struggled all season and it was only their sixth win of a wretched league campaign, and Sherwood admitted they must forget about their fight against the drop in order to escape it. He said: 'We've got a group of players who are not really suited to a relegation battle, if I'm honest. 'The old-fashioned style is blood and thunder to dig out results so we have to change it. West Brom goalkeeper Foster brings down Villa full back Lowton to give them the match-winning penalty . Christian Benteke (centre left) slots home the last-gasp penalty to hand Villa a crucial win against West Brom . 'We have to play as if we're not in a relegation battle. We have to pass the ball and move and we did that in the first half. It takes bravery to do that, especially against an expectant crowd.' Saido Berahino cancelled out Gabby Agbonlahor's first-half opener before the hosts claimed derby bragging rights after Ben Foster's rush of blood saw him take out Matt Lowton for Benteke's match-winning penalty . Albion boss Tony Pulis did not rise to Sherwood's comments, though, and insisted his side remain focused. 'Did he (say that)? Like I say, we'll take Saturday's game as it comes,' he said. 'I'll have a look at what the squad is like and then we'll go from there. 'They (the fans) might think Wembley and Saturday was more important, it wasn't for me. The next game is always the most important. If Ben didn't make a mistake we'd be very happy.' Sherwood said he would rather take the three points than his wife win the EuroMillions jackpot . +Stiliyan Petrov will return to Aston Villa as part of Tim Sherwood's backroom team. The former Villa and Celtic midfielder has joined the club's staff and will help to coach the senior squad. Petrov, now 35, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012 and retired in May 2013 despite being in remission. Stiliyan Petrov is returning to Aston Villa to join manager Tim Sherwood's coaching staff . Sherwood said: 'Stiliyan isn’t here to be a mascot. He can contribute to everybody just with what he’s done in his life. 'Going out to win a football match is secondary to what he has had to battle with and come through. 'I want him here and quickly. He is respected here and he is very important. 'He’s well and he’s raring to go. He knows the fabric of this club and he is just an inspiration to everyone to be honest.' Aston Villa fans clap during the 19th minute of a game in support of Petrov during his leukaemia battle . Tim Sherwood was all smiles during Aston Villa training having picked up his first win as Villa boss . Christian Benteke (left) scored the winning penalty that gave Villa their first win since December 7 . Sherwood says battling relegation is not life and death like some would make out. 'What he’s gone through is life and death. Playing a game of football is not life-threatening.’ 'That doesn’t mean it’s not important but you have to put things in perspective.' He added: 'Like I said, he’s not there as a mascot, he’s back for what he can offer. 'Why shouldn’t we open up our arms to him? I want him to help us. We’re not paying him! He’s on flexitime.’ Sherwood added: 'He would have been great to have back at this club without the illness. 'You can’t help but be inspired by him and what he has done in his career and his life.' Scott Sinclair will be hoping to feature for Villa having missed out against West Brom . Fabian Delph (right) takes a shot during training as he is closed down by Gabby Agbonlahor . Alan Hutton, who escaped punishment for kicking Saido Berahino, trains with his team-mates . He made 219 appearances for Villa between 2006 and 2012 after a move from Celtic, scoring 12 goals for the club. Villa are 17th in the Barclays Premier League and host West Brom in the FA Cup quarter final on Saturday, after their 2-1 league win over the Baggies on Tuesday. +So much for the start of a green-and-white procession towards the title. Having just cruised beyond their nearest challengers, Celtic promptly ran into a roadblock. It was built by a deeply determined St Johnstone side seemingly inspired by a return to the scene of the greatest day in the club’s history. Danny Swanson wasn’t on the books when they lifted last season’s Scottish Cup, yet his winning strike here was worthy of its own place in the memory banks of every Saints fan. With that pure, powerful swipe of his right boot, Swanson not only lifted his team into the Premiership top six, but kept Celtic within six points of Aberdeen. A run of ten successive domestic victories – a sequence which had granted Ronny Deila a new level of acclaim from Parkhead supporters – was brought to a shuddering halt. St Johnstone's Danny Swanson marked first Scottish Premiership start with a glorious first-time effort . Bookmakers will hardly be hiking their odds on them ending up with a four successive league crown. That much can still be viewed as a racing certainty. Here, though, was evidence that the odd chicane may still have to be negotiated en route. By the next time Celtic play in the top-flight – at Dens Park on March 18 – they will have come through Scottish Cup last eight and League Cup final meetings against Dundee United. Their Treble ambitions will be much clearer after that double-header, but any repeat of the wayward sluggishness shown last night will place the much-desired clean sweep in peril. To focus only on the failings of the Parkhead side would, however, be a gross injustice to St Johnstone. Not for the first time in his tenure, manager Tommy Wright produced the ideal tactical plan for his charges to follow. Celtic's Leigh Griffiths can't hide his disappointment after the defeat by St Johnstone . They had numerous fine performers and defended doggedly, occasionally desperately, throughout. But it wasn’t only Swanson who brought a touch of class. In David Wotherspoon, who operated just off central striker Steven MacLean, they had the most impressive overall contributor on show. Now two points ahead of Dundee, Wright’s men look well set for a fourth consecutive top-half finish. The Parkhead pitch is far from pristine as spring approaches but that couldn’t entirely account for the sloppiness Celtic showed in the first half. Compared with some of their recent showings, this was turgid stuff at times. As expected, they still dominated both possession and chances, yet Alan Mannus wasn’t exactly in need of a lie down at the interval. Anthony Stokes – making his first appearance since being late back from Dublin prior to the first leg against Inter Milan – offered the first flicker of threat with an angled shot whipped across the face of goal. Perhaps the most fluid move of the opening period then led to Gary Mackay-Steven striking a wicked curler first-time. Mannus stretched high to thwart it before denying Stokes on the follow-up. Celtic manager Ronny Deila sits dejected in the dugout o Wednesday night . Leigh Griffiths was being rationed on opportunities at the apex of Deila’s side. He took matters into his own hands with a low, left-foot thump that zipped fractionally wide from almost 30 yards out. The striker then threatened to hare clear down the left when released by Craig Gordon’s quick throw, only to be halted by a Swanson foul straight from the ‘professional’ drawer. The Saints midfielder earned both a yellow card from referee Calum Murray and a jabbing finger of rebuke from Scott Brown. Nir Bitton had dropped to the bench after showing signs of tiredness against Aberdeen, which meant Stedan Johansen taking a step back to partner Brown in central midfield. It was far from a radical alteration but the pieces weren’t quite clicking into place. Stuart Armstrong looked as likely as any in Celtic colours before the break but his rising drive was beaten away by Mannus. St Johnstone were persistently stretched but kept going about their defending in an organised manner. There were, though, only the most fleeting signs of danger at the opposite end of the field. Danny Swanson (far right) celebrates with his team-mates after scoring against Celtic . Jason Denayer was forced to divert a Michael O’Halloran shot behind, before David Wotherspoon had their clearest opportunity of the half. After Efe Ambrose was hustled off the ball, Wotherspoon cut along the 18-yard line but failed to find the space on either side of Craig Gordon. Deila opted for a switch at half-time, introducing Wakaso Mubark for Adam Matthews. The attack-minded Ghanaian slotted in at left-back, with Ambrose shifted to the opposite flank. The move carried an element of risk, with Wakaso looking unsure defensively, but Celtic fell behind to a 53rd minute strike they could have do nothing about. Swanson watched Wotherspoon’s corner being headed out and stepped forward to connect with a quite brilliant half-volley that arrowed past Gordon from 25 yards. Expect it to feature on all forthcoming goal of the season showreels. Saints should have gone two in front in quick succession when another somehow found its way through to Steven Anderson. It was, though, a case of wrong man in the right place as the centre-back miscued wide from around eight yards. Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon attempts to catch the ball in the air under pressure . Deila had watched it all from the edge of his technical area with increasing concern. He played his final hand before the hour mark, withdrawing Mackay-Steven and Stokes for James Forrest and Bitton. That allowed Johansen to step forward into his more regular role and help bring about the inevitable rise in pressure. Mannus made a terrific stop to thwart an Ambrose headed from Johansen’s corner before then grasping a Bitton daisy-cutter at the second attempt. Another Amstrong shot was calmly clutched to his chest. The signal for only two minutes of added time brought loud jeers from the home support. Rightly, they suspected that last night was simply one of those occasions when their team would need a lot longer to find the net. +The appliance of science behind Ronny Deila’s Celtic reign was there for all to see on Sunday afternoon. Any lingering scepticism about his methods surely went the same way as Aberdeen’s resistance. Despite playing with 10 men for much of a demanding, frustrating 90 minutes against Inter Milan three days previously – and the associated, sleep-disturbing travelling – Deila’s team simply ran all over their perceived title rivals in the second half of a 4-0 victory. It was an impressive display of physical power and mental focus. The Norwegian’s insistence that Celtic could be fitter caused a fair degree of controversy early in his tenure. It was interpreted – or perhaps misinterpreted – as a slight on predecessor Neil Lennon. Ronny Deila's Celtic side are starting to become formidable under the Norwegian's reign at Parkhead . But this much is clear. Deila has unquestionably made the Parkhead side more formidable in that regard. And he has all the stats to back it up. Including one which earned recent arrival Gary Mackay-Steven a rapid (in more ways than one) gold star. Crunching the numbers after matches is an important aspect of Deila’s work when it comes to assessing various aspects of his players’ performances. To the 39-year-old, these reams of figures produced by the technology at Celtic’s disposal provide an objective view to place alongside his managerial opinion. The hope is that it leads to better decisions. Again, there would have been a few from the football old-school previously willing to raise an eyebrow at such talk. But what happened at the weekend provided a riposte to any sneers. Deila (centre) is keen on his players being the fittest and results have shown impressive statistics . ‘I think the most important thing is that the players see and also the people around them - you and everybody - see that what we are doing is effective,’ said Deila. ‘There are always things that we can do better and we have had some bad results, but I think we have had six victories after coming home from European games. That’s really good. You don’t see that around the other European leagues. Inter Milan lost at the weekend and they are struggling a lot when they come back — so we did well to win in that way. ‘The amount of metres and sprints on Sunday was unbelievable when you consider we played three days before. We have increased the high-intensity running by 30-40 percent since the summer. That is a lot. Gary Mackay-Steven (right) ran an impressive 1300 metres against Aberdeen on Sunday . ‘We want to be direct, we want to create things, we want to have penetration, we want to be a high-pressing team, so you have to run quick and you see that in the stats and in how we perform.’ Asked if he knew which of his players topped the various statistic tables, Deila broke into a grin. ‘I know everything about the players,’ he laughed. ‘When we played Inter at home, their striker, Rodrigo Palacio, ran 1250 metres at high intensity against us, sprinting. That is an incredible number. But at the weekend Gary Mackay-Steven ran 1300m! ‘You have to know the references of what it means to be fit. It’s easy to say that to the other players, if I tell them how far Gary Mackay-Steven ran in a game and compare it to them. Deila highlighted how impressive Palacio's running was against his side in the Europa League clash . ‘If a player asks me why he is sitting on the bench and not playing, I can show him the numbers. If he is running 600m and the guy in the team is running 1200m, what does he think of that? ‘Why can’t Gary run as far every game? Stuart Armstrong ran 900m on Sunday and he didn’t play the whole game.’ It was pointed out that Armstrong actually lasted only 62 minutes after replacing Kris Commons against Aberdeen, before being hurt and making way for Anthony Stokes. Was that not evidence of the midfielder being overworked? The winger also scored a terrific solo goal against their title rivals to send the Bhoys six points clear . ‘It was cramp, he’ll be okay for (tonight’s game) against St Johnstone,’ said the Celtic manager. ‘It was a sign that he is not strong enough yet. You have to think of the mental and physical loading on a player. ‘Just coming to Celtic - dealing with the contract, the media and so on - used a lot of mental energy in Gary and Stuart. ‘Then the training is at a much higher tempo then they have been used to before. The total loading gets too much. That’s why Stuart started on the bench. ‘But then Scott Brown is doing it every day. He is so strong, unbelievably strong. Why? Because he has done this for many years, he works really hard every single day and he looks after himself. Stefan Johansen is also starting to get that into his body.’ So is it a case of simply saying the best teams are the fittest teams? Scott Brown has been praised by his manager for his unbelievable strength and work ethic . ‘No, that’s not true,’ countered Deila. ‘But that’s the easiest thing to do something with. I don’t think the best teams are the fittest – they could be – but there are so many parameters, so many boxes you have to fill in football. ‘We don’t train more than they did before but hopefully we train better and we give more in that hour-and-a-half every day. ‘As for the stats, we use them in different situations. It is not only stats about running but who has been involved in goal chances offensively and defensively. Instead of saying something subjectively, you can see it as a fact. Stuart Armstrong is also a willing runner for Celtic and his stats are impressive since he joined the club . ‘But everything has to be related to football. We are not marathon runners. It is about what we do on the pitch.’ What Celtic have done on Scottish pitches is win their last 10 domestic matches. Making it 11 against St Johnstone at Parkhead will push them nine points clear of Aberdeen. Complacency might be the creeping danger, but Deila doesn’t detect any traces of that corrosive commodity. ‘There is still so much to fight for,’ he insisted. ‘We are working here on the culture, every day, to be 100 per cent every day. ‘I have no reason to be worried because I haven’t once seen the players have a bad attitude or a lack of concentration. I am really looking forward to the game and I expect a good performance and hopefully a good result.’ +John Guidetti has seemingly distanced himself from a longer stay at Celtic by telling Dutch media he wants to return to Feyenoord 'perhaps as soon as possible'. The Swede scored 20 goals when on loan in Rotterdam in the 2011-12 season and remains hugely popular with Feyenoord fans. Guidetti, who made the comment in an interview with RTV Rijnmond, will become a free agent at the end of the season when his loan at Parkhead from Manchester City expires. John Guidetti has scored twice in his last four appearances, raising his tally to 13 overall for the Hoops . The 22-year-old striker placed talks about a permanent deal in Glasgow on hold in January as he endured a long scoreless run. Guidetti has since scored twice in his last four appearances - raising his tally to 13 overall - but it remains to be seen whether Celtic will put forward a lucrative contract offer to try to persuade him to stay. French giants Marseille and Southampton have also been linked with interest in the striker. Meanwhile, Ronny Deila claims he wants Craig Gordon to stay with Celtic for the remainder of his career. The Parkhead boss has already spoken with chief executive Peter Lawwell about the possibility of a new contract for the keeper, who signed a two-year deal when he joined the club last summer. Gordon's excellent performances since then have been key to Celtic's progress under Deila and brought the 32-year-old firmly back into contention to be Scotland's No1. Guidetti (left) goes down under pressure from Danilo D'Ambrosio during Celtic's clash against Inter Milan . According to reports in England, they have also attracted the attention of Chelsea, who have apparently included his name on a list of candidates to be back-up to Thibaut Courtois next season. Deila, though, is keen for the former £9million man to remain in his squad for as long as possible. 'He's a great goalkeeper and a man we want to keep at the club,' insisted the Norwegian. 'We will do everything to keep him here. I understand why other clubs are looking at him because he's had a fantastic season. Myself and Peter have already talked about this. It's also about what Craig wants and hopefully he wants to stay here and be with Celtic.' Gordon's acquisition on a free transfer was one of the best bargains of recent time in Scottish football. Asked what value he would now place on the ex-Hearts and Sunderland man, Deila replied: 'I can't sell him. I don't want to. I want him here for the rest of his career.' Celtic boss Ronny Deila wants Craig Gordon (above) to remain at Parkhead for the remainder of his career . On the prospect of Gordon signing up for life on the Chelsea bench after coming through two years of injury anguish and rekindling his career at Celtic, Deila said: 'It would be a shame but I don't think he wants to do that – he wants to play football until the end of his career. 'It's a rumour and we will see what's in it. There will be clubs interested if he wants to go, but we want to keep him. 'He's performed great and without him we wouldn't have gone through the group stage (in the Europa League).' Gordon will again form Celtic's last line of defence as they seek to open up a nine-point Premiership lead with victory over St Johnstone on Wednesday night. Emilio Izaguirre and Kris Commons are, however, sidelined with knocks. +Arsene Wenger admitted the top of the table is heating up as Arsenal kept the pressure on with a nervy win against Queens Park Rangers. The victory kept them in third, ahead of Manchester United and Liverpool in fourth and fifth and behind Chelsea and Manchester City above them in the top two. ‘It’s hot up there because everyone won,’ Wenger said. ‘We can only focus on our performances and keep going. There are 10 games to go, six at home and four away. I haven’t studied everyone else, we can just focus on ourselves.’ Olivier Giroud stabs in Arsenal's first goal of the evening against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road . Arsene Wenger admitted the top of the table is heating up as Arsenal kept the pressure on their rivals . Wenger also hailed the performances of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud, who scored both goals. ‘It’s good to see Alexis score,’ he added. ‘When he went seven games without it is on your mind even if you say it’s not. Olivier is strong mentally, he can take criticism and respond.’ QPR manager Chris Ramsey insisted his side must pick up points in their next few games if they want to avoid being cut adrift. They are already three points behind Aston Villa in the safety of 17th and face Tottenham and Crystal Palace in their next two games. ‘It’s imperative,’ Ramsey said. ‘The last thing we want to do is start getting detached. The next two games, everything is in cup final mode.’ Alexis Sanchez celebrates doubling Arsenal's lead mid way through the second half at Loftus Road . Charlie Austin scored a superb consolation goal late in the game after being given too much room . Arsenal manager Wenger greets Queens Park Rangers boss Chris Ramsey ahead of kick off . +It is supposed to be to Chelsea’s advantage that they have to leave London only three times in what remains of the Premier League campaign. Really? Are we sure about that? Arsene Wenger always thought it was harder for a London club to win the league because there were so many derbies, and this match rather supported his theory. Chelsea still collected three points but, by Jove, it was tough. Their defence was stretched in a way that it was not at Wembley on Sunday and, by the end, Chelsea were happy to hoof the ball forward or run it into corners to take time out of the game. Eden Hazard celebrates putting Chelsea a goal to the good after nodding Ramires' cross past West Ham keeper Adrian . Adrian dives in vain as Hazard's header sails past the Spanish shot stopper and into the back of West Ham's net . Hazard leads the celebrations as Chelsea took another step towards winning the Barclays Premier League title for the fourth time . Time stands still as Hazard hammers his header home at Upton Park to seal the game in Chelsea's favour . The Chelsea players applaud the travelling fans after clinching another victory as they maintained their five-point lead at the top . WEST HAM (4-3-1-2): Adrian 7; Jenkinson 6, Tomkins 6.5, Reid (Collins 7, 6), Cresswell 6.5; Noble 6.5, Nolan 6.5; Downing 7, Kouyate 7 (Nene 87), Valencia 7; Sakho 7. Subs not used: Jarvis, O'Brien, Demel, Jaaskelainen, Song. Manager: Sam Allardyce 6.5 . Booked: Kouyate, Collins, Nolan . CHELSEA (4-3-3): Courtois 7.5; Ivanovic 7, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 6.5; Zouma 7, Fabregas 7; Ramires 7, Oscar 7 (Willian 74), Hazard 8 (Remy 96); Costa 7 (Drogba 90+3) Subs not used: Cech, Luis, Cuadrado, Loftus-Cheek. Manager: Jose Mourinho 7 . Booked: Terry, Hazard, Fabregas . Goal: Hazard 22 . Referee: Andre Marriner 7 . Attendance: 34,927 . Ratings by Neil Ashton . Eden Hazard finished off a well-worked Chelsea move to score the only goal of the game. Check out more stats from our Match Zone . West Ham have won a single league fixture since Christmas, but it did not look like it here. They had chances, real chances, to wrest the points from the league leaders, and it says much that Chelsea’s prime performers were once again the central defensive core of John Terry, Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois in goal. And Eden Hazard, of course. Always Hazard. He scored the goal, never stopped wanting or carrying the ball, and left the field hobbling, as always, due to a standard battering. Not that West Ham were excessively dirty — Chelsea had four bookings to West Ham’s three — more that a player of Hazard’s ability is always going to attract a certain kind of attention. The group hug that Terry, Cahill, Courtois and Branislav Ivanovic shared at the end should have included Hazard; in his own way, he is as hard as any of them. If Chelsea maintain their supremacy, this is one of those games that will be remembered the day the title is won, one of those they-shall-not-pass performances, all bodies flying, desperate lunges and the ball in row Z if needs be. West Ham were left banging their heads against a wall — no wild metaphor in the case of Cheikhou Kouyate, who ran face first into the back of Terry’s skull late in the second half. Both required treatment, but one came off considerably worse. Hazard runs to Ramires after the pair combined for Chelsea's opening strike which gave Jose Mourinho's men a vital victory . Adrian makes an acrobatic save to keep West Ham in the game as Chelsea threaten to extend their advantage . Adrian keeps out another Chelsea attack as he thwarts Diego Costa on a busy night for West Ham's goalkeeper . West Ham have now failed to score in six of their last seven Premier League matches against Chelsea, including the last five in a row. Eden Hazard’s last four Premier League goals have come away from home after a run of 11 consecutive home goals . It is fair to say if they are ever pondering a fresh material to use in the construction of those black boxes in aircraft, Terry’s cranium may have to be considered. Alas, Diafra Sakho. It is hard to remember a striker getting in so many excellent positions for such paltry return. He knows where to be, he just lacks the clinical touch when he gets there and, thwarted by his own failings and the excellence of Courtois, West Ham drew a blank. Yes, Chelsea could have scored more, too. This was not a one-sided game — but we expect Chelsea pressure on the goal. They have world-class finishers and magicians in midfield. The surprise was West Ham going toe-to-toe with them, particularly, in the second half. Right up until the last minute they were still heaping on pressure. Chelsea have matches at Queens Park Rangers and Arsenal, and a home fixture against Crystal Palace, to come, so nobody should underestimate the challenge to their championship ambition contained in a London derby. This was one of the hardest-fought wins of Chelsea’s season — every bit as much of a proving ground as a wet Wednesday in Wigan, or whatever northern outpost is the current venue for popular cliche. Hazard is the Premier League's most fouled player this season and he goes down after some attention from Mark Noble . Hazard writhes around on the Boleyn Ground pitch in agony but continued to play on for the title favourites . Thibaut Courtois parries the ball with his foot as Nolan closes in during a heart-in-mouth moment for Chelsea's rearguard . Courtois was once again called in to action as West Ham appeal in vain for a handball against Gary Cahill (floored) Mourinho’s favourite scoreline is apparently 2-0 away. He regards it as the sign of a controlled, confident, emphatic performance in a close game. They certainly went in search of it here and came very close on three occasions in the second half. In the 56th minute, a beautiful through pass from Hazard set Ramires clear on goal. He cut inside but his delicate side-footed finish struck the inside of the far post and rebounded into the hands of Adrian. Minutes later, West Ham’s goalkeeper was in the right place again after Terry found Hazard whose cross picked out Ramires at the far post. This time there was no good fortune. The save was superb. There were six minutes of injury time due to the Terry-Kouyate collision and Chelsea came close to wrapping it up then. Hazard broke, for the last time, drawing Adrian yet squaring the ball unselfishly to Willian, whose shot was somehow smothered on its way to the net. The single goal was the fairer margin of victory, however. West Ham did not deserve to appear mastered in the scoreline after a simply thrilling second half. Kurt Zouma gets stuck in against Enner Valencia as the centre half continued to play in the holding role in midfield . Zouma continued in midfield after playing the holding role in the Capital One Cup final, and regularly battled with Kevin Nolan . Cheikhou Kouyate unsuccessfully shoots at goal under the ever-watchful eye of Chelsea skipper John Terry . Cahill attempts to tackle Diafra Sakho as Kouyate is poised to pounce on the loose ball . The first wasn’t bad either, West Ham going close in the 17th minute, when a cross from Mark Noble found a dangerous area at the near post where Kevin Nolan caused localised chaos and Kouyate arrived late only to have his shot blocked by the shins of Courtois. Two minutes later, a run by Enner Valencia opened a gap to slide a pass through to Sakho, who missed his kick. More frustration was to come. In the 37th minute, Carl Jenkinson crossed from the right and the ball dropped perfectly to Sakho, directly in front of goal, but planting his header into the ground, landing safely in the hands of Courtois. After 53 minutes, Courtois saved from Sakho again, pushing out a shot one-handed, just the right side of Nolan. He saved from Sakho after 60 minutes, too, and when he finally spilled a Valencia shot 12 minutes later, the outstanding Cahill cleared as Sakho threatened in vain. It was not all wastefulness by West Ham, though. In the 15th minute, a mix-up by Ivanovic saw Valencia about to speed past Terry and go through on goal. The ever-alert Cesc Fabregas probes into West Ham territory with Valencia and Mark Noble close by . West Ham werew forced into an early change as Winston Reid pulled up in the eighth minute with James Collins coming on in his place . Mourinho and Allardyce share a moment prior to kick-off on a crisp night in east London . The Chelsea captain weighed the odds in a split second and hauled him down, rugby style. Did he prevent a goalscoring opportunity? Probably. Did he play the percentage chance of referee Andre Marriner showing him a red card 30 yards out and early in the match, with Cahill covering, if not really in a position to stop? Undoubtedly. Did he get away with it? Yes. Yellow card. It was a cynical move, but the smart one, too. It was seven minutes later that the winner was scored. To be beaten by a header playing Chelsea is no disgrace; when the man on the end of the ball is Hazard, however, a manager has a right to be aggrieved. Sam Allardyce certainly looked it as the Chelsea man completed a headed goal that was as casually taken as a tap-in, with West Ham’s defence appallingly lax. James Collins had replaced the injured Winston Reid after five minutes, but that was no excuse. The back four had plenty of time to bed in but went to sleep doing so. It was a neat build-up involving Hazard and Cesc Fabregas, who slipped the ball to Ramires overlapping on the right. He had too much room and cut the ball back to leave West Ham flat-footed, Hazard sneaking between the statues to glance a stooping header past Adrian. It was too easy, and it is hard enough to beat Chelsea already — a point Allardyce seemed to be making on the touchline. +Paul Scholes discovered the perils of reporting on the touchline when a stray ball hit the Manchester United legend during the warm-up at St James' Park. Yet it could have been a lot worse for the BT Sport pundit when you compare it to others that suffered similar fates when presenting by the pitch. Sportsmail columnist Martin Keown was victim to a flying ball during his punditry duty at the Emirates in 2012, and even manager Harry Redknapp fell foul during a training session. Paul Scholes discovered the perils of reporting on the touchline at St James' Park on Wednesday night . Scholes reacts after the ball hits him during the warm-up for Newcastle vs Manchester United . Redknapp reacted furiously during a television interview when a ball hit the then-Portsmouth manager as he shouted: 'How can you kick that over here? You try kicking it in the goal and you hit me? 'Got to get some f****** brains, haven't you? No wonder he's in the f****** reserves.' Speaking with FourFourTwo in 2003, he refused to name which player he was yelling at: 'I mustn't tell you the name of the player. It wouldn't be fair. He was on shooting practice and I was standing at the corner flag when the ball hit me – that tells you everything.' At least that wasn't in front of an audience like Sportsmail's unfortunate columnist in January 2012. Arsenal legend Keown got smacked in the face while on duty for ESPN by a stray ball during the warm-up for an FA Cup match at the Emirates where Leeds United were the visitors. Sportsmail columnist Martin Keown is smacked by the ball during the warm-up for Arsenal vs Leeds United . The Arsenal legend is hit as he is asked a question during his punditry duty for ESPN in January 2012 . Keown was hit by a stray ball during the warm-up but joked about it in his column for the Daily Mail later . Writing in his column for the Daily Mail days later, Keown joked about the incident: 'It was a former Spurs man who you may have seen hit me with the ball while I was on-air on Monday night. 'Alex Bruce tipped me off that his Leeds team-mate Michael Brown – the ex-Tottenham midfielder – was the culprit. At least he was apparently trying to aim at Robbie Savage, not me.' Over to Germany, where SkySports reporter Jessica Kastrop was smacked in the back of the head by a stray shot from former Chelsea player Khalid Boulahrouz in 2010. The footage shows the ball getting closer and closer to its victim until it knocks her forward. Kastrop said afterwards: 'I was fine eventually. Boulahrouz ran over to me straight away and apologised.' What about in other sports? American football has its moments, too, such as when Fox reporter Pam Oliver was hit by a Chandler Harnish throw. Thankfully she laughed it off afterwards. SkySports reporter Jessica Kastrop was smacked by a stray shot from ex-Chelsea player Khalid Boulahrouz . Michael Owen (left) and Steve McManaman (right) were others on the touchline for BT Sport at St James' Park . Another female reporter was wiped - not by a football, however, but by a player. Even baseball reporters aren't immune. Fox presenter Sophia Minnaert was hit by a stray ball that knocked the microphone out of her hand. Afterwards she said: 'Do I get kudos for that defensive play? I'm fine. I'm totally fine.' It's all part of the dangers of reporting on the touchline, though Scholes may consider himself lucky. +Manager Arsene Wenger remains convinced attack will prove the best form of defence as Arsenal look to stay in the top four of the Barclays Premier League. The Gunners recorded a seventh win in the last eight league matches when beating relegation-battlers QPR 2-1 at Loftus Road on Wednesday night with goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez. Arsenal sit a point ahead of Manchester United, their FA Cup quarter-final opponents, and four behind second-place Manchester City. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger sasy he wanted his side to continue to attack during 2-1 win against QPR . Wenger watches on from the sidelines as the Gunners consolidated their place in the top four . Giroud's second-half opener came following a swift counter-attack after Arsenal had soaked up plenty of pressure. Wenger, though, expects to see his team always stay on the front foot. 'I wanted the team to continue to attack, because we are not a team that can sit off and wait for the teams who commit and get them only on the break. We need to master possession and we did that well,' Wenger told Arsenal Player. Giroud has rediscovered his scoring touch in the last two matches following a series of misses in the 3-1 Champions League defeat by Monaco. Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal the lead at Loftus Road on Wednesday as he stabbed past Rob Green . Giroud lifts Arsenal team-mate Tomas Rosicky up in the air in celebration of his goal . Alexis Sanchez cut in from the left hand side to double the Gunners lead minutes after Giroud's opener . Wenger hailed the mental strength of the France forward, who now has 10 Premier League goals from a campaign which was hampered by four months sidelined with a broken leg. Full-back Kieran Gibbs believes Giroud does not get the credit his work-rate for the team deserves. 'Olivier has certainly responded in the way we wanted. He is that kind of character who always wants to bounce back and do well for the team. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. Credit to him, because he is having a fantastic season,' Gibbs said, quoted by the London Evening Standard. Sanchez remains Arsenal's most potent attacking threat, taking his tally to 19 following a seven-match barren spell. Sanchez celebrates doubling Arsenal's lead mid way through the second half at Loftus Road . Charlie Austin pulled a goal back for the home side with a ferocious drive from the edge of the box . 'Every player goes through a difficult patch but he is not the type to let it get to him. He has shown great determination in every game,' said Gibbs. 'We need that from him and that is why he is world class.' Gibbs believes Arsenal have overcome the setback of their defeat by Monaco, which leaves hopes of qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League all but over ahead of the second leg in Monte Carlo later this month. He said: 'We wanted to respond for the fans and the people at the club. We know we are a good team and we want to show that.' Arsenal defender Gabriel suffered a hamstring injury at QPR and is expected to be out for a couple of weeks. New defender Gabriel receives treatment from the Arsenal medical staff after injuring his hamstring . The Brazilian defender was unable to continue and was replace in the first half . Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has been laid low by illness but may be in contention to return for the FA Cup holders at United on Monday March 9. QPR, meanwhile, are in the relegation zone, now three points behind Aston Villa, who beat West Brom on Tuesday night. Chris Ramsey's side host Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend, then tackle Crystal Palace and Everton. Striker Bobby Zamora believes if the work-rate continues, then positive results will follow. 'Performances have been good. We have been so close in so many games, but close is not enough really,' he said. 'Unfortunately we are not getting the points we deserve. We could do with not playing well and getting three points.' +Tim Sherwood's arrival at Aston Villa has given the squad a new lease of life, according to experienced goalkeeper Shay Given. After a disappointing start to his reign, in which the Villans lost two Premier League games in a row, Sherwood has turned it around with two Midlands derby wins over West Brom, first in the league and then in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. And Given, who was in goal for the latter of the two victories, admits that at half-time in Saturday's match, Sherwood wasn't pleased with his side's performance. Tim Sherwood has produced two consecutive victories against West Brom; in the league and FA Cup . Aston Villa players celebrate after Fabian Delph opened the scoring in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday . 'He wasn't too happy at half-time,' Given told Stan Collymore on talkSPORT. 'The flip-chart went flying in the dressing room and I think you saw our reaction in the second half, we were much better and caused West Brom a lot of problems. 'But that's what he's there to do. He's given us a rollicking when we've needed it and that's probably the first time he's really let go. I think a few of the lads were a bit shocked, but it got the reaction we needed.' Given and Sherwood have history, too. As a player, the now Villa manager won the Premier League title with Blackburn, and a young Given was also in the squad. Shay Given, who was in goal for the FA Cup win, was quick to praise the Villans' new manager post-match . Gabriel Agbonlahor gestures in celebration towards the Villa fans, who were delighted with the derby win . 'I know Tim from our Blackburn days,' Given continued. 'We were players together and he was a leader then as the captain, he captained Blackburn to the Premier League title, and he's very much the same. 'He's so positive on the training ground, so positive in the stadium and the players are responding to that.' Villa's league win over Tony Pulis' West Brom put some breathing space between them and the bottom three, but there is still a long way to go if they are to avoid the drop. According to Given, Sherwood was a leader on the pitch with Blackburn and he is the same as a manager . Sherwood holds his hands together as he watches the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday evening . +Only 12 men have scored in every round of the FA Cup in its 143-year history. Bradford’s Jon Stead hopes he can join them — and he’ll be one step closer if he nets against Reading in their quarter-final on Saturday. Here are the fascinating stories behind the deadly dozen... Archie Hunter (Aston Villa, winners 1887) The Scot was one of the first footballing celebrities of the Victorian era. ‘Old Warhorse’ captained Villa to their first FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over West Brom at the Kennington Oval. Forced to retire in 1890 after a heart attack on the pitch, he later died of heart failure aged 35. Archie Hunter of Aston Villa was one of the first footballing celebrities of the Victorian era . Sandy Brown (Tottenham, winners 1901) Hailing from the same Ayrshire mining village as Bill Shankly, Brown was known as the ‘Glenbuck Goalgetter’. Spurs became the only non-League side to win the FA Cup thanks to his goals. During Brown’s Scotland debut against England, part of the terracing at Ibrox collapsed, killing 25 fans. Sandy Brown (circled), pictured with Tottenham's FA Cup winning team, was a fine goalscorer in the cup . Harry Hampton (Aston Villa, winners 1905) ‘The Whirlwind’ remains Villa’s all-time leading scorer in League football with 215 goals. He was a fearless forward and once scored having barged 22-stone goalkeeper William ‘Fatty’ Foulke over the line with the ball in his arms. He served at the Somme during World War One and survived a poisonous gas attack. Harry Hampton (circled) puts Aston Villa 1-0 up against Newcastle United in the FA Cup final in 1905 . Harold Blackmore (Bolton, winners 1929) Blackmore was a goalscoring sensation as a teenager playing for Silverton, a village team in Devon. He also worked at the local paper mill before signing for Exeter City and then moving to Bolton for £2,150, a princely sum in 1927. It looked as though his chance of scoring in every round had gone as Bolton led Portsmouth 1-0 at Wembley, but Blackmore netted at the death to seal his place in history. Harold Blackmore signed for Bolton for over 2,000 and scored in every round of the 1929 FA Cup . Ellis Rimmer (Sheffield Wednesday, winners 1935) The Scouser was a showman, attracting big crowds as a jazz pianist. Left winger Rimmer was the first non-striker to score in every round after his late brace in the 4-2 win over West Brom. The England man later ran the Hallamshire House pub in Sheffield before returning to Formby, where he died aged 58. Ellis Rimmer was a showman for Sheffield Wednesday, and was the first non-striker to score in every round . Frank O’Donnell (Preston, runners-up 1937) The Scot was one of 15 siblings and played in the final against Sunderland alongside brother Hugh, as well as Bill Shankly. O’Donnell became the first player to score in every round but end on the losing team. He died 15 years later in Macclesfield aged just 40 after a short illness. A tribute in Glasgow’s Evening Times described him as one of the finest players of his generation. Frank O'Donnell was in fine form for Preston in 1937, though his side lost the final . Stan Mortensen (Blackpool, runners-up 1948) Mortensen is better known for becoming in 1953 the only player to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup final. Five years earlier his side lost to Manchester United as he became the first post-war player to score in every round. A Blackpool legend, there is a statue of him outside Bloomfield Road. He died aged 69 in 1991, just nine days before Blackpool appeared at Wembley for the first time since the 1953 final. Stan Mortensen (second left, centre row) in a Blackpool team photo with Stanley Matthew to the left of him . Jackie Milburn (Newcastle, winners 1951) ‘Wor Jackie’ — cousin of Bobby and Jack Charlton — was Newcastle’s top scorer until Alan Shearer broke his record in 2006. He scored both goals in the 2-0 victory over Blackpool in the 1951 final, defended the Cup in 1952 and scored after 45 seconds in the 1955 final win. Milburn later reported on Newcastle for the News of the World and predicted a teenage Paul Gascoigne would become the best player in the world. Former club top goalscorer and Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn (right) in action against Arsenal . Nat Lofthouse (Bolton, runners-up 1953) Lofthouse completed his scoring feat in the ‘Matthews Final’ in which he gave Bolton the lead, only to end up losing 4-3. It was a final attended by Queen Elizabeth II. He did get his hands on the Cup after scoring in the 1958 final, when he barged Manchester United keeper Harry Gregg over the line, later admitting it was a foul. He is Bolton’s record scorer with 285 goals. There is a statue of him outside their stadium. Bolton captain Nat Lofthouse holds the 1958 FA Cup after their win over Man United at Wembley . Charlie Wayman (Preston, runners-up 1954) Wayman worked at Chilton Colliery in County Durham and served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. He was a team-mate of the great Tom Finney in the 1954 final as Preston were beaten 3-2 by West Brom and it was reported that his goal looked suspiciously offside. The pint-sized centre forward was a crowd-pleaser and it was a mystery how he never won England honours. Charlie Wayman (No 9) heads past the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper in the 1954 FA Cup Semi-final . Jeff Astle (West Brom, winners 1968) Jeff Astle — ‘The King’ as he was known to West Brom fans —scored the only goal in the 1968 victory over Everton, while his strike in a League Cup final defeat by Manchester City two years later saw him become the first player to score in both domestic finals at Wembley. Astle died at 59 and the Justice for Jeff campaign has since been launched calling for an independent inquiry into a link between degenerative brain disease and heading footballs. Baggies fans still applaud during the ninth minute of every match in memory of their great No 9. Jeff Astle of West Brom (second right) jumps for the ball with Arsenal's John Radford and Ian Ure in 1968 . Peter Osgood (Chelsea, winners 1970) Another dubbed ‘The King’ by supporters, Osgood is the last player to score in every round. His goal forced extra-time in the replay versus Leeds, with David Webb netting the winner. Osgood is an icon at Stamford Bridge because of his flair and personality, both on and off the pitch. He died aged 59 following a heart attack at a family funeral. His ashes were buried beneath the penalty spot in front of the Shed End and a statue was later unveiled outside the stadium. Peter Osgood (right) dives to head the equalising goal past Leeds goalkeeper David Harvey (left) in 1970 . +Ahead of this weekend's FA Cup action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Aston Villa's home quarter-final clash with West Brom... Aston Villa vs West Bromwich Albion (Villa Park) Team news . Aston Villa . Captain Ron Vlaar could return for Aston Villa's FA Cup quarter-final with West Brom as he battles a calf injury. Alan Hutton is suspended after collecting his 10th booking of the season in the 2-1 Barclays Premier League win over the Baggies on Tuesday. Ron Vlaar is set to return after missing Aston Villa's last two matches with a calf injuy . Philippe Senderos has suffered a set-back in his recovery from a calf injury and is sidelined while Kieran Richardson, Aly Cissokho, Nathan Baker and Libor Kozak are out. Provisional squad: Given, Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Vlaar, Okore, Bacuna, Sanchez, Cleverley, Cole, Westwood, Delph, Gil, Sinclair, Grealish, Benteke, Weimann, Agbonlahor. West Brom . West Brom will be without injured forward Victor Anichebe (groin) and cup-tied midfielder Darren Fletcher for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final at Aston Villa. Albion boss Tony Pulis has said he has a few 'knocks and niggles' in his squad to assess. Winger Callum McManaman (foot) is a doubt, while frontmen Saido Berahino and Brown Ideye have both been playing recently with pain-killing injections. Darren Fletcher played in West Brom's 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League on Tuesday but cannot feature in the FA Cup clash as the midfielder is cup tied . Pulis also said the club 'have to go careful' with Stephane Sessegnon, with the forward understood to have suffered a family bereavement, and it remains to be seen whether goalkeeper Ben Foster keeps his place after his costly late error in the 2-1 Barclays Premier League loss at Villa Park on Tuesday. Provisional squad: Foster, Myhill, Pocognoli, Wisdom, Lescott, Baird, Dawson, Olsson, McAuley, McManaman, Gamboa, Morrison, Yacob, Mulumbu, Brunt, Gardner, Sessegnon, Berahino, Ideye. Kick-off: Saturday, 5.30pm - BBC One . Odds (subject to change): . Aston Villa 17/10 . Draw 21/10 . West Brom 19/10 . Referee: Neil Swarbrick . Managers: Tim Sherwood (Aston Villa), Tony Pulis (West Brom) Head-to-head FA Cup record: Aston Villa wins 9, draws 3, West Brom wins 3 . Key match stats (supplied by Opta) Aston Villa have won nine of their last 10 home FA Cup matches (L1). West Brom have won only five of their last 19 FA Cup matches against teams from the top two tiers of English football (W5 D7 L7). Saido Berahino has five goals and four assists in three FA Cup appearances this season. Victor Anichebe has scored four goals in his last three starts in the FA Cup. Villa and West Brom have been drawn together 12 times in the FA Cup. The Baggies have won three, twice after a replay. Villa have won nine times, once after a replay. Dwight Yorke quickly struck twice past West Brom keeper Alan Miller just after the hour mark to help Aston Villa towards a 4-0 win against the Baggies at Villa Park in a fourth round FA Cup clash in 1998 . Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion have met in three FA Cup finals; 1887, 1892 and 1895, the Villans winning two and West Brom the middle one. In 18 Premier League meetings between these two teams, eight have been draws and the 10 wins have all been by a single goal margin (seven for Villa, three for WBA). Four of the seven goals in Aston Villa’s three FA Cup ties this year have been netted in the 88th minute or later. Aston Villa have kept just one clean sheet in their last 19 FA Cup matches. +Aston Villa Tim Sherwood spoke exclusively to Sportsmail's Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel this week, covering all topics from touchline antics to his spell with Tottenham. Here are the top 10 quotes from that brilliant interview. Aston Villa spoke to Sportsmail's Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel in an exclusive interview this week . Sherwood on his leadership qualities . ‘I think I can be a leader of men, but you’re not born with that attitude. In the maternity ward, it’s not girls, boys and natural leaders. You have to become that.’ Sherwood on his touchline antics and emotional nature . 'I could try acting. I could sit down and make little notes and everyone would say I’ve matured. But I know that’s impossible. I can’t imagine being any different 500 games in. People thought I would calm down as a player, but I didn’t. The day I retired I was the same lunatic that made his debut for Watford in 1987. I can’t believe the other managers are not as emotionally involved as I am, either. I think they’re all like me inside. Sherwood says he can't believe other managers are not as emotionally involved as he is . Sherwood on his Aston Villa side . ‘We’re like Everton. I don’t think we’ve got a group of players who are cut out for a relegation battle. We can’t be the Crystal Palace of last year, or the West Brom of this year. Digging in, blood and thunder, lump the ball in, protecting a lead, that’s not us. Our squad is better on the ball, they’re more suited to pushing for a place in the Europa League. Sherwood on his players stepping up . ‘The players have a duty, a responsibility to fix this mess. I don’t want to hear crap about how difficult it is to play at home. Playing for a big club comes with pressure. Anyone can do it for a lesser team — but you have to have b******s to play for Aston Villa. This is a big club. 'Aston Villa are like Everton... they're not a group of players who are cut out for a relegation battle' Sherwood on not listening to criticism . ‘When I was at Blackburn there were times when it was difficult. My name would be read out and there were a few groans. I didn’t care. I’d sometimes tell David Batty, “I’ll give it away more times than you’ll get it this afternoon.” Sherwood on Nabil Bentaleb . ‘I’d watched him in training. Every day was like his last on earth. He would cry if he lost a five-a-side. He played and never looked back. Sherwood says he loved the way Nabil Bentaleb 'played and never looked back' last season at Tottenham . Sherwood on telling Redknapp to take Bale off in the San Siro . ‘Harry’s going mad. “Get f****** Gareth off?” he says. “He’s the only f****** chance we’ve got.” He keeps him on, he scores a hat-trick, gets us back to 4-3 and if it goes another 10 minutes, we win. The kid’s career springboards from that performance. Sherwood on playing with passion . ‘The coaches used to call me Tackler Tim, or some rubbish. One day, I put one in and he said to Graham Taylor, “Why’s he keep doing that?” I’ve never forgotten his answer. “Brian, you know that shirt you wear on Saturday?” he said. “That’s the shirt he wants.” He was right, too. Take a player like Jack Grealish. I’ve had lots of chats with Jack. He knows what I think. I tell him: “I will take desire over ability every day”. Obviously, the ability can’t be too low. But if you have the ability — and he has — you’ll make it if you have desire. Sherwood says you must have the desire and talent to make it at the top these days . The young manager was appointed last month to attempt to save Aston Villa's season . Sherwood on managing players . ‘So I didn’t come in here all guns blazing or wanting to be their headmaster. You can’t get personal these days, get your hair cut, and all that nonsense. You’ve got to move with the times. I left the stick at home, and the tickling brush. Now I feel I know them a bit better. Some get a whack, others a tickle. Sherwood on Tottenham . ‘I don’t want to be scrapping around; I want to take them forward. I think I did that at Tottenham. I didn’t leave a crumbling house — Mauricio Pochettino has done a good job, but he had it laid out for him, with players like Kane and Bentaleb. Sherwood on managing players: 'Some get a whack, others get a tickle' (pictured with Emmanuel Adebayor) +Reading boss Steve Clarke and Bradford counterpart Phil Parkinson have both criticised the decision to play their FA Cup quarter-final replay on a Monday evening. The FA have said they are powerless to move the game due to UEFA’s threat of heavy financial punishment. The clubs must play again at the Madejski Stadium a week Monday, just 48 hours after they play league fixtures. Reading manager Steve Clarke is bemused by the decision to host a quarter-final replay on a Monday . Reading were held to a goalless draw by Bradofrd in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday . Andrew Davies goes close to giving Bradford the lead with his header in the second half at Valley Parade . The tie cannot be staged in midweek as it would clash with Champions League games. UEFA took away £1million of television revenue owed to English clubs and fined the FA £42,000 two years ago for scheduling games that clashed with European ties. FA sources admit their hands are tied, but Clarke and Parkinson believe the situation devalues the FA’s own competition. ‘My question to the FA is why,’ said Clarke. ‘I know that people says it’s UEFA but the FA have to be stronger. I just find it strange that they don’t protect their own showpiece competition.’ Parkinson secured Bradford’s place in the FA semi-final draw for the first time in 104 years following a fiercely fought goalless draw, and he said: ‘I think it’s a little bit disrespectful to the FA Cup and the magnitude of this game coming up. ‘It’s a history-making game. To have to play it so quickly is frustrating.’ Davies reacts after missing his chance to give Bradford the lead against Reading on Saturday in the FA Cup . Davies looks on as the ball heads for the Reading goal during the FA Cup quarter-final tie at Valley Parade . The ball goes wide as the score remained 0-0 and a replay will be held a week on Monday . +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is keen to avoid the kind of mistakes which have seen many top sides falter in the FA Cup this season as he eyes a place in the semi-finals. The Reds head into the weekend as favourites for the competition after fellow big guns Manchester United and Arsenal were drawn together in the last eight. Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn visit Anfield on Sunday and while Rovers are 25 places below their hosts Rodgers insists they will be treated the same as Manchester City - second in the Premier League - were last weekend. Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool will give Blackburn Rovers the respect they deserve in the FA Cup . Sky Bet Championship side Rovers managed to knock out the Premier League's Stoke City in the last round . Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge (right) loses his marker to score a goal against Burnley on March 4 . Winger Raheem Sterling drills in a low cross against Burnley players during Liverpool's 2-0 win at Anfield . 'They got their first league win away from home in four months in the week (at Sheffield Wednesday) but we will give them the same respect we would give Manchester City or any other team,' said the Liverpool boss. 'It is a big game. We made it clear our intent in this competition was to get to the final and win it and to do that you have to beat different types of teams and Blackburn will come and look to make it difficult for us. 'I think (Rovers manager) Gary Bowyer has done an outstanding job since he has gone in there. 'He's had a similar pathway to myself in terms of working in youth development so he understands football clubs from the top to the bottom. 'He has gone in there in very difficult circumstances and stabilised the club and got everyone on the same path and has done an outstanding job.' While securing Champions League football for next season remains the priority Rodgers would dearly love to win some silverware in his third year in charge. Having reached the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup he hopes to go at least one better in this competition, although he admits he is only interested in a final at Wembley. 'People say getting to Wembley for the semi-final is a big thing but not really. Winning and getting to the final is the big priority,' he said. 'In many ways I wish the semi-final wasn't at Wembley because I think it takes a little bit away from it. For me Wembley should be the ultimate game. 'But of course it is a great opportunity if we do go through to play a game at Wembley, which we certainly wouldn't turn down. 'In domestic cup competitions we were unfortunate not to make the final and in the FA Cup we are giving everything we can to win a trophy while trying to fight to get into the top four. 'We want to get as high as we can - not just fourth - and win a trophy and if we can do that it will be a success.' Blackburn secured their first league away win in four months against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this week . Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho (right) tussles with Burnley striker George Boyd (left) at Anfield . Liverpool are the team of the moment with their Premier League form second-to-none and, although their attacking style is again winning plaudits, what is probably more significant is their new-found defensive resilience. They have conceded just six goals in nine league matches since the turn of the year, during which time they are unbeaten. Despite enforced changes to his backline everyone now appears to know what job they are supposed to be doing - unlike earlier in the campaign when no matter who he brought in there was always an air of vulnerability. 'What is pleasing are the poor goals we have stopped conceding,' he said. 'Our method of play is based on aggressive pressure and with that you limit teams to not many opportunities. 'When that doesn't function well you concede poor goals. That was the key, we made too many mistakes. 'In the last three months there is a better balance to the team, players are comfortable and with and without the ball collectively we are much stronger.' Jordan Henderson (left) and Joe Allen (right) close down Burnley's David Jones (centre) on Wednesday . Liverpool are currently fifth in the Premier League with 51 points, just two behind Manchester United in fourth . +Ander Herrera has vowed he 'will not stop' until he achieves his dream of winning trophies with Manchester United. The 25-year-old was named the fans' Player of the Month for February - receiving 76 per cent of votes in an online poll to see of Marcos Rojo (second) and Chris Smalling (third) - after goal scoring displays against Preston and Swansea. Speaking to MUTV, Herrera said: 'This means a lot for me because the votes came from our fans and I'm very happy and grateful to them. Ander Herrera has vowed to win trophies after collecting United fans' Player of the Month award . The Spanish playmaker netted in United's 2-1 defeat by Swansea in February . Herrera wheels away after scoring another stunner against Preston in the FA Cup . 'I think they value my work and my passion for playing and I want to try to keep helping the team. 'I was happy [with my form] but I would have been even happier if we had won against Swansea away. 'We won four games last month and now we have to continue that – we are in the top four and we want to be there until the end of the season.' While the Spanish playmaker has won over supporters, he is yet to convince Louis van Gaal but remains determined to become a success at Old Trafford. Argentinian defender Marcos Rojo (left) came a distant second in the fans' votes . 'I think they [the fans] like players who work a lot and who play with passion,' added Herrera. 'They have always shown me affection from the first day and I am very grateful. 'I always say this - I feel very lucky to be a Manchester United player and I will always be the same – I want to try to play with passion, work hard and help the team. 'My dream is to achieve trophies with Manchester United – I will not stop until I achieve that.' +Chris Ramsey will attempt to tame a monster of his own creation on Saturday, but fears talents such as Harry Kane will remain rare so long as clubs and fans apply fickle judgements to their homegrown players. The QPR manager was instrumental in his 10 years at Tottenham in the rise and breakthrough of Kane, but on Friday recalled the sort of attitudes that mean the 24-goal striker remains something of an exception in this country. ‘We played him towards the end of the season last year and the fans weren't having him,’ Ramsey said. ‘They were trying to get the galacticos on the pitch. We stuck to our guns and got a lot of flak for it. Harry Kane battles with Ki Sung-Yueng during Tottenham's clash with Swansea on Wednesday night . Chris Ramsey says that he is not surprised by Kane's remarkable rise to prominence at Tottenham . Kane breaks away from the challenge of Gary Cahill during the Capital One Cup final at Wembley last week . ‘Clubs have to stick their necks out to get English players playing in the Premier League, and getting them judged in the same way as players who cost a lot of money and don't produce.’ In Kane’s case, the bravery of Tim Sherwood and Mauricio Pochettino, his White Hart Lane successor, has been central to the 21-year-old proving he can thrive in the higher reaches of the Premier League. The same can be said of players such as Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Danny Rose, who have all excelled at times this season. But Ramsey added: ‘I know quite a lot of Spurs fans. I used to tell them about the players coming in. I said to a friend of mine that Ryan Mason is probably the best footballer at the club. Ramsey (right) was part of Tim Sherwood's backroom staff when Kane broke through to the first team . Many Tottenham fans were unhappy when Kane began to play in the first team (he is pictured on his debut in August 2011) but Ramsey says they stuck with him and were rewarded . Football data analysts BSports predict that a Spurs win at QPR is the most likely outcome on Saturday . ‘They don’t know what goes on in the background and they were like, “We need this person from this country and we need that guy from that country”. To Tottenham's credit and the manager's (Pochettino) credit, he has come in and has been very brave. All credit to him for being very unbiased to expensive players and actually seeing the players who are on form. ‘What normally happens is a player will go in, not do very well on their first game and then you will never see that player again. And then people will go and buy a player who is similar, who can play 10 bad games and the fans or the people will say, “Oh, he’s got to get used to the Premier League”. ‘Why should a player that £20m be given more favour than the player that comes from down the road and cost less money? That’s one of the biggest problems we have in this country.’ +Mauricio Pochettino believes Charlie Austin and Harry Kane could form a partnership for England in the future. The pair are both set to start as Spurs travel to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and are the in-form English strikers in the Premier League. And Pochettino knows that both could have a future for Roy Hodgson's national team. Mauricio Pochettino believes Charlie Austin and Harry Kane (pictured) could form a partnership for England . QPR striker Charlie Austin shoots against Arsenal at Loftus Road in their last Premier League match . Both in-form strikers Kane and Austin are set to start when Spurs travel to QPR on Saturday . 'Charlie is a very good player,' he said. 'In football you never know - why not? They're both very good players.' Tottenham will discuss Kane's workload with the FA in the next month. Spurs - who insists Emmanuel Adebayor still has a future at the club - would rather Kane has a rest at the end of the season. But FA technical director Dan Asheprth wants the striker to travel with Gareth Southgate's Under 21s to the Czech Republic for the European Championships as well as turning out for the senior side. 'I always protect the player,' Pochettino added. Spurs are looking to break into the top four, starting with the trip to Loftus Road - although Pochettino refused to set any targets in terms of points, also suggesting some of the youth team who played against Chelsea on Thursday night could be handed debuts before the end of the season. Tottenham manager Pochettino refused to set any targets in terms of points in the Premier League . Tottenham will discuss Kane's workload with the Football Association in the next month . Football data analysts BSports predict that a Spurs win at QPR is the most likely outcome on Saturday . 'Its not easy because seven or eight teams are fighting for that. We need to go step by step. We're in a good process. My worry now is to improve,' he said. 'We have 11 games to finish the season. It's important to be solid. 'We expect a tough game. They're a strong team. It's a London derby and the three points are important. The squad is fully fit. We need to be ready because it's a difficult game. 'We want to finish the season strong. We have time to work hard now and to be consistent.' +Roy Hodgson is confident in Harry Kane's ability to shine for England, it is just a case of whether there is space for him in the upcoming squad. This has been quite the season for the 21-year-old, whose 24 goals in all competitions is far and away the best tally from any English striker this term. That form has impressed Three Lions boss Hodgson, who has strongly hinted recently that Kane will earn a first senior call-up in two weeks' time. England manager Roy Hodgson is open to the possibility of calling up Tottenham striker Harry Kane . The Spurs front man has is a regular in the England Under 21 set up and has been in great form for his club . Kane was far from his best in the Capital One Cup final but Hodgson said he thinks the striker is 'ready' It is not just the Spurs man vying for a striking berth, though, with a number of other in-form, uncapped players hoping to be involved against Lithuania and Italy. Saido Berahino, Danny Ings and Charlie Austin have all impressed for their clubs this season - but it is Kane who is the main talking point. 'He's in my thoughts of course, he deserves to be,' Hodgson said, speaking at the London Football Awards, which raises funds for national charity, Willow. 'He's scoring goals for one of our top teams in the Premier League but I know him anyway, he's done a lot of good work for the Under-21s. Burnley striker Danny Ings (right) is among the names for a call up to the Three Lions first team . QPR's Charlie Austin (left) and West Brom's Saido Berahino (right) have both been in fine scoring form . 'What pleases me most is young players are getting their chance to play. In the past 19, 20, 21-year-olds would be loaned out or would have to sit back and wait for their chance. Now more and more of them are taking the chance when they get it. 'I'm delighted for him and we'll see when I select my squad at the end of month if he's in it.' Asked whether Kane was ready to make the step up to the senior side, Hodgson said: 'He's ready. If he wasn't ready he wouldn't be playing for Tottenham and scoring lots of goals. 'The question you ask is has the player got the quality and talent we're looking for and is there a space for him? 'If he comes in then someone's going to drop out and most forwards we've got have done quite well in the autumn. 'But I can't include everyone unfortunately. It's not always a question of are they good enough, it's a question of is there space at this time.' However Kane is the one gaining all the attention having scored 24 goals in all competitions this season . Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck look set to be involved in the squad, while Rickie Lambert and Jermain Defoe are other experienced forward options when the national team reconvene after a four-month break. 'I am looking forward to it, we all are,' Hodgson said. 'Certainly I and my coaching staff are. I hope the players are looking forward to it, too. 'It will be nice to see them again. We did plan a little meeting in January but we found another way of staying in touch with them. 'It will be nice to see them physically again and I hope to see them in as good a shape as I thought they were last autumn.' Hodgson was speaking at the London Football Awards, which raises vital funds for Willow - the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable special days. Hodgson was speaking at the London Football Awards, which raises vital funds for Willow - the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable special days. +Tony Mowbray has been appointed Coventry's new manager, the club have announced. The former Middlesbrough and Celtic boss replaces Steven Pressley and has signed a contract at the Ricoh Arena until the end of the current season. Mowbray has been out of work since leaving Middlesbrough in October 2013 and had been keen to return to management. Former Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray has been appointed as the new boss of Coventry City . The 51-year-old had been out of work since leaving Championship outfit Middlesbrough in October 2013 . Chief executive Steve Waggott said on the club's official website: 'We are absolutely delighted to welcome Tony Mowbray to Coventry City as our new manager. 'We've secured the services of a highly-rated, experienced candidate for the job and Tony is a manager who has enjoyed plenty of success at a higher level. 'He has experience in coming into a club in challenging times and steering them through to safety and, on top of that, has enjoyed promotion too. 'We were all very impressed with Tony during the interview process and it speaks volumes that the club are able to attract a manager of Tony's calibre. Mowbray replaces Steven Pressley who was sacked last month - with the club flirting with relegation . 'We wanted someone who could come in and hit the ground running because we have 14 important games left in this season and the number one priority is to preserve our League One status. 'We have agreed terms until the end of the season and then, immediately after the final ball is kicked, we can reassess and look at a longer term deal. It was just vital, at this stage, to get the right man in to help steer us through the current situation between now and the end of the season. 'We believe Tony is exactly the right man for Coventry City and everyone here, from supporters to staff, will get right behind him.' Pressley was sacked last week after the Sky Blues slipped into the Sky Bet League One relegation zone following a 2-2 draw at Sheffield United. Dominic Samuel (centre) was on target as Coventry defeated MK Dons 2-1 at home at the weekend . Caretakers Neil MacFarlane and Dave Hockaday took charge for Saturday' 2-1 win over MK Dons which guided them out of the bottom four. Coventry go to Barnsley on Tuesday sitting just a point above the relegation zone following just one win in their last eight games. Mowbray, 51, has worked in the Midlands before during a three-year spell at West Brom, where he guided the Baggies to the Barclays Premier League in 2008. +Tony Mowbray will be named as the new manager of Coventry on Tuesday. Mowbray has been out of work since leaving Middlesbrough in 2013 but has agreed to return to the dugout with the League One strugglers. Steven Pressley was sacked by the Sky Blues last week after a run of seven games without a win. Former Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray will take over as the new boss of struggling Coventry . Neil MacFarlane and Dave Hockaday took charge of Saturday’s win over MK Dons and look set to remain in charge for Tuesday’s game at Barnsley but Mowbray could be in the stands at Oakwell. Coventry are just above the relegation zone after their poor run of form and will look to Mowbray to turn things around quickly. Steven Pressley was sacked by the League One club after they became mired in a relegation battle . +Birmingham staged a stunning late comeback to grab a 2-2 draw against Derby as the Rams missed the chance to go top of the Championship. County had looked in control after Jamie Ward's first goal since September and a Tom Ince strike had put them 2-0 up but Birmingham silenced the iPro Stadium by drawing level in stoppage-time through a Paul Caddis penalty and a Clayton Donaldson goal. It was not the result Derby wanted on a day when the crowd stood to join in a minute's applause before the game for former Rams great and manager Dave Mackay, who died on Monday at the age of 80. Clayton Donaldson (centre) was Birmingham City's hero as he scored a late equaliser against Derby . Donaldson (centre) headed home a 96th minute equaliser as Birmingham City drew 2-2 at Derby . Donaldson's goal sparked pandemonium on the Birmingham bench after they battled back from 2-0 down . Derby: Grant, Christie, Keogh, Albentosa, Forsyth, Hendrick, Mascarell, Hughes (Bryson 80), Ince, Russell (Dawkins 83), Ward (Lingard 74). Subs not used: Buxton, Roos, Thomas, Shotton. Goals: Ward 20, Ince 48 . Booked: Christie, Forsyth, Ince. Birmingham: Randolph, Caddis, Spector, Kiernan, Grounds, Tesche, Davis, Cotterill, Shinnie (Thomas 64), Dyer (Gray 74), Novak (Donaldson 64). Subs not used: Robinson, Reilly, Zigic, Doyle. Goals: Caddis 90+2, Donaldson 90+6 . Booked: Cotterill, Dyer . Referee: Iain Williamson . Attendance: 31,522 . The opener came as Will Hughes played in Johnny Russell just inside the area in the 20th minute and, although his low shot was parried by Darren Randolph, Ward arrived to score with a cross-shot that struck the inside of a post and bounced over the line. Hughes rattled the bar with a left-footed shot from 20 yards following a short corner in the 27th minute and Jeff Hendrick put Ince through five minutes later only for the winger to lose control. But the speed of Derby's passing and movement was starting to stretch Birmingham and when Ward got away down the left in the 39th minute, David Cotterill was booked for a blatant trip. The half ended on a flash-point with Birmingham boss Gary Rowett involved in a heated exchange on the touchline with several Derby players after he felt Russell should have given the ball back to his team instead of kicking into the corner. Rowett saw his team fall further behind three minutes after the break when Hughes found Ince on the right edge of the area and he slipped past two defenders before driving a low shot inside Randolph's right post. The match was marked with a tribute to former Derby player Dave Mackay - who died earlier this week . Jamie Ward (right) opened the scoring for Derby County in their 2-2 draw at home to Birmingham City . Ward celebrates his first-half strike for the Rams in front of a jubilant home support . Birmingham City players look despondent after conceding the opener during Saturday's Championship clash . Derby were close to a third minutes later when Russell had a shot blocked and Craig Forsyth's follow-up was scrambled away but Birmingham showed they were still in the game when Cotterill curled a free-kick narrowly wide in the 57th minute. Rowett made a double substitution in the 64th minute but Derby carried the greater threat with Hughes having a 20-yard shot charged down after Ince set him up. Birmingham had a chance to pull a goal back in the 77th minute when the ball broke to Clayton Donaldson 12 yards out but Forsyth got across to put the ball behind for a corner which Lee Grant held comfortably. The game was turned on its head in stoppage-time when Robert Tesche was tripped by Ince and Caddis sent Grant the wrong way with the penalty. Then, with the home fans screaming for the final whistle, Birmingham won a corner which was scrambled in by Donaldson after Wesley Thomas hooked the ball back to secure a dramatic point. Birmingham City's Rob Kieran (left) challenges for a 50/50 ball with Derby's Johnny Russell . Robert Tesche (right) skips past the challenge of Derby midfielder Will Hughes during Saturday's clash . A scuffle broke out between both sets of players as they walked down towards the tunnel at half-time . Derby midfielder Tom Ince doubled their lead on 48 minutes as the Rams looked on course to seal victory . Ince (centre right) curled home a stunning left-footed effort into the bottom corner of the Birmingham net . The England Under 21 international jumps with joy after netting against Birmingham at the iPro Stadium . Birmingham defender Paul Caddis started the comeback with an injury-time penalty in the second half . +Jon Stead was looking forward to a pre-season trip to the Algarve when he noticed his passport on the bench beneath his peg in the Huddersfield Town dressing-room. Strange. He had only just handed it in. It was then that he scanned – and rescanned - the squad list for the warm-weather getaway. Stead was grounded. ‘I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, the manager (Mark Robins) never said a word to me,’ the 31-year-old tells Sportsmail as he reflects on the shock of his summer exile. Jon Stead (front) celebrates Bradford's famous comeback win against Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round . The Huddersfield loanee converts the Bantams' second goal against Sunderland in the fifth round . ‘I thought, “What sort of season am I going to have here?”. It was a surprise because I felt good, but I certainly knew where I stood when I saw my passport. ‘They left me behind and went to Portugal. I was getting changed in the senior dressing-room by myself every day, it was soul-destroying.’ Eight months on, however, and it is Stead who is flying. On Saturday lunchtime the Bradford City loanee will bid to extend his remarkable run of having scored in every round of the FA Cup when Reading visit Valley Parade. He is one win away from a first appearance at Wembley. ‘I never dreamt my season would play out like this,’ he says. ‘I was left to train with the Under-21s but the young lads gave me enthusiasm and it was pleasure to work with them. I just went back to basics and worked my socks off. Stead was left out of the squad for Huddersfield's pre-season tour but is now in fine scoring form at Bradford . ‘After that I just needed that chance to go and play and unleash myself. Bradford has been perfect for me.’ His dad is a police detective and has worked in football, including spotting hooligans at the World Cup. Stead was Bristol City’s player of the year in 2011-12, despite playing only six hours of football before the end of February. He is from Holmfirth, the West Yorkshire village where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. P.S. Stead has five goals and three assists in the FA Cup this season. Only Saido Berahino (five goals, four assists) has been involved in more goals. It was in October that Stead journeyed north across the M62 and joined the League One Bantams. Within a few weeks he was scoring the goal which, on reflection, he admits could prove the most important of them all. Phil Parkinson’s side were trailing 1-0 at Halifax in the First Round and had barely laid a finger on the Conference outfit when Stead pounced to level in the second half. ‘It’s incredible to be on this scoring run, but the goal everyone forgets is the one at Halifax - without that we might not be here now,’ he says. After that came a cool finish in a 4-1 victory over Dartford before a close-range sweep to help dispose of Millwall during a 4-0 triumph on home soil, the prize for which was a trip to Chelsea. At 3.40pm they trailed 2-0 to the Premier League leaders and odds of 1000/1 were available on a turnaround. It was then that Stead drilled home from the edge of the area. ‘Without that I think the game would have drifted away,’ he says. Bradford won 4-2 to set up a home tie against Stead’s former club Sunderland, whose fans once produced a T-shirt mocking the striker’s 30-game wait for his first goal. The striker now has five goals in the prestigious tournament this term, including this strike against Chelsea . Stead (right) celebrates after beating Sunderland 2-0 in the fifth round with team-mate James Hanson . It was sweet, then, when he fired the tie-clincher during a 2-0 victory in front of 4,000 travelling Black Cats. ‘Not only was it a crucial goal but it was nice to prove a point,’ he says. ‘They had their opinion of me, although I always took the T-shirt in good spirit. ‘But these things have a habit of biting you on the backside, don’t they? ‘One newspaper were trying to get me to wear the T-shirt underneath my Bradford top. I thought about it but I would have looked stupid had we got beat and I didn’t score.’ The goal marked the 100th of Stead’s career. Billed as the next Alan Shearer when Blackburn paid hometown Huddersfield £1.25million 11 years ago, the England Under-21 regular never scaled the heights perhaps expected. ‘Everything had been so good for me at Huddersfield. I had no experience of things going wrong,’ he recalls. ‘It didn’t work out at Blackburn or Sunderland but I didn’t have the knowhow to turn it around. Stead was mocked for his strike rate at Sunderland (right) but proved a point with a goal against his old club . ‘It wasn’t until Sheffield United in the Premier League that I rediscovered myself. Then we had the Carlos Tevez affair and were relegated. It just felt like little breaks were going against me. ‘But I’m proud of what I have achieved over 10 years at Championship level. The gaffer says I’m actually getting better – I’m certainly not getting quicker! ‘I think he’s got a point though. I feel I’m playing at a higher level for longer periods. After what happened during the summer I feel like I have a renewed energy for it. ‘It’s good timing, especially with my deal being up in the summer. It’s nice to get my name out there and I have got a lot of football left in me. ‘There will be discussions with Bradford and if I stay that will be fantastic.’ Stead, meanwhile, has had to persuade his lucky mascot and four-year-old daughter Isabelle to come to today’s game rather than a pantomime. Should her dad score in another Bradford upset then it will be him taking centre stage in a Wembley semi-final. Forget the Algarve, now that would be the dream ticket. Jon Stead’s chosen charity is www.huddersfieldgoals4hearts.co.uk . +Bradford City striker James Hanson boasts a rags-to-riches tale fit for any FA Cup romance but his focus is firmly on the future as the Bantams aim to book their place in a Wembley semi-final on Saturday. The story of how Hanson rose from stacking shelves in his local supermarket to starring for his home-city club on the biggest stage has had plenty of airing in the course of his side's recent knockout heroics. And as he prepares for the big Valley Parade quarter-final against Reading, the 27-year-old Hanson believes the time has come to put his tale of non-league toil behind him and set higher targets for himself and his club. James Hanson celebrates scoring from Bradford during their victory over Millwall in the third round replay . Chelsea were beaten 4-2 by League One outfit Bradford during the fourth round back in January . Hanson and Jon Stead (right) celebrate after beating Sunderland 2-0 in the fifth round . Hanson said: 'Ever since I started scoring goals for Guiseley in the Unibond League I had the confidence I could play at a higher level and there is no reason why both myself and Bradford can't achieve this. 'We've shown in recent seasons what we're made of. When I joined in 2009 we were struggling at the wrong end of League Two and since then we've gone to a League Cup final and got promotion and now this. 'The club is thriving at the moment and with the money the club has made from the cup runs and last year's promotion it should be a massive factor for the club in terms of how it is able to progress in the next few years.' Hanson is the only member of the current Bradford squad to cost a transfer fee - he was snapped up for £7,500 with the fee including the guarantee of a pre-season friendly. But Phil Parkinson's side have already emphatically proved their credentials in back-to-back wins over Premier League opposition to the extent that many are making them favourites against high-ranked opponents on Saturday. Phil Parkinson is preparing to send his side out to face Reading in the quarter-final on Saturday . Filipe Morais, pictured after scoring against Chelsea, is expected to be recalled following injury . Bradford made it to Wembley for the 2013 Capital One Cup final, where they were beaten by Swansea . Hanson added: 'We know there's no reason why we can't do it again after what we did against Chelsea and Sunderland but there is no doubt we are still going in as the underdogs. 'We're looking forward to another chance to test ourselves against higher-level opposition. They have a lot of players who have played in the Premier League so we know it is going to be a test.' The game holds particular appeal for Bantams boss Parkinson, who made 361 playing appearances for the Royals and was voted their best ever central midfielder in an online fans' poll. 'I had a fantastic period there and I'm very honoured to be a part of the club that moved from Elm Park to the Madejski Stadium, and to have seen the club develop over the years,' said Parkinson. 'They've been in the Premier League twice in the last nine years and they're a great model for a lot of clubs to look at.' Parkinson expects to be able to recall former Chelsea defender Filipe Morais who has missed the last three games with a knee injury, while Gary Liddle is available again after suspension. +Bradford boss Phil Parkinson says reaching the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley would be a bigger achievement than their improbable march to the Capital One Cup final two years ago. The Bantams will book their place in the last four of the nation's most prestigious knockout competition for the first time in 104 years if they overcome Reading in a Saturday lunchtime kick-off at Valley Parade. Victories over Chelsea and Sunderland have helped write another special chapter in the club's recent cup history and Parkinson is convinced it could rank as the best one yet. Phil Parkinson believes the big teams in the Premier League are jealous of Bradford . Chelsea were beaten 4-2 by League One outfit Bradford during the fourth round back in January . Parkinson said: 'The FA Cup is obviously a level above the Capital One Cup. If we can do it this time it will be the first time since 1911 and this group of players will be remembered. 'This is what being involved in football is all about, and the big teams from the Premier League will be casting very envious eyes on ourselves and Reading playing in an FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday.' Parkinson managed to protect his side's status as outsiders prior to the fifth-round win over the Black Cats and accepts it is harder to sustain the underdog mentality as the rounds go by. And despite many neutrals expecting to see the Bantams sail through to the semi-finals, Parkinson warned that Saturday's showdown could prove even tougher than their two previous rounds. Filipe Morais, pictured after scoring against Chelsea, faces a late fitness test on a knee injury . 'We are playing a team from a higher division who have been in the Premier League twice in the last nine years, and we are enjoying testing ourselves against these types of teams,' added Parkinson. 'Right from the Millwall game through the Chelsea and Sunderland games we just speak to the lads about testing themselves and hoping to perform to the maximum. 'But we are under no illusions at all that to get through this game we are going to have to play probably better than we have at any point this season so far.' Former Chelsea defender Filipe Morais will face a late fitness test on a knee injury which has forced him to miss the Bantams' last three games. +Newcastle United scouts will check on FC Sion striker Moussa Konate this weekend. The 21-year-old Senegal international first attracted English clubs' interest while playing for his country's Olympic side in 2012 where he scored five goals in four games and finished as the tournament's second top scorer. West Ham, Fulham and Aston Villa have all tracked his career at various stages and Newcastle will watch him on Sunday when Sion visit Young Boys of Berne. Newcastle United are sending their scouts to check on FC Sion striker Moussa Konate this weekend . English clubs West Ham, Fulham and Aston Villa have all tracked Konate's career at various stages . Newcastle have checked on Aleksandar Mitrovic at Anderlecht, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund and Burnley's Danny Ings but fear they could miss out on all in the summer and are weighing up alternatives. Konate is quick and 6ft tall. He can play on either wing and as a central striker and replaced West Ham's Diafra Sakho in Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations squad. He has scored five goals in 13 games so far this season. Newcastle have checked on Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (left, wearing a Batman mask) +The chance to test their mettle against the best is what attracts players and managers to the Champions League. But for one young coach who has already reached the promised land, it was the second tier of English football that provided his steepest learning curve. 'The Championship is really, really difficult!' Basle manager Paulo Sousa tells Sportsmail. 'Coaches who don't have that experience cannot realise how difficult it is. 'The standard of the players is more or less the same. It makes it very competitive right through the season. You can see in the way teams' positions change throughout the season, from the bottom and the top of the league. And the dreamland – the Premier League – is so, so close! Paulo Sousa gestures during a press conference at the Dragao stadium ahead of facing Porto . Basle's Fabian Frei, Naser Aliji, Arlind Ajeti, Breel Embolo, head coach Sousa, Adama Traore, Taulant Xhaka, Fabian Schaer and Behrang Safari train ahead of their Champions League clash at Porto . 'I learnt a lot in that league. There were some points where I was not prepared enough, but you gain experience by doing, not just watching or listening. 'It's like jumping into a swimming pool at the deep end. You can see how to do it from the side, but you will never learn unless you jump in.' And jump in is precisely what Sousa did seven years ago when he left the safety of the Portugal junior set-up to become the face of Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone's project at Queens Park Rangers. Taking the reins under a couple of Formula One moguls with a four-year plan to reach the top flight might seem like a daunting prospect for a debutant manager, but not for Sousa. 'Nothing is too soon. I will always be thankful to Briatore. All the difficulties I got through at that club and all the demands he made of me gave me the opportunity to grow. It was so demanding on a daily basis – 24 hours every day from the first day I arrived there.' But what of Briatore's notorious habit of involving himself in managerial decisions? 'He tried. But I always fight for my convictions.' Basle manager Paulo Sousa says the Championship is a highly competitive league . Sousa's first job in club management was with Queens Park Rangers between 2008 and 2009 . It is widely believed that these convictions - a refusal to act merely as Briatore's touchline proxy - are what saw Sousa ejected from the Loftus Road hotseat after just 26 games in charge. The two-time Champions League winner would get a second chance at Championship success just two months later though, taking over from Roberto Martinez at Swansea in June 2009. Under chairman Huw Jenkins, Sousa was given time to get his ideas across, and a subsequent seventh-placed finish – the club's highest for 27 years – showed it was time well spent. But the manager's progress hadn't gone unnoticed, and when moneybags Leicester came calling, Sousa couldn't resist. It quickly transpired that swapping the Mumbles for the Midlands was a mistake – Sousa was sacked after less than three months in charge – and the former Portugal international readily admits to a lapse of judgment in that summer of 2010. The Portuguese coach also had a spell in charge of Welsh side Swansea City between 2009 and 2010 . As a player, Sousa won the Champions League with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund (pictured) During his playing career, Sousa also spent time with Greek giants Panathinaikos between 2000 and 2001 . 'When I left Swansea, my ambition pushed me to take decisions in the direction of better infrastructures, better club history and higher prospects to reach the Premier League. 'Instead of seeing the whole forest, I saw only the beautiful tree in front of me. Swansea has lots of beautiful trees, but at that moment I didn't recognise that. That I regret.' That season, with Sousa clubless, Swansea were promoted to the Premier League under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers. Sousa insists it was not difficult to see his former club achieve what he narrowly missed out on the previous year. Instead he looked back fondly on his time there, though not everyone at the club regards the Sousa era with such nostalgia. Then captain and now manager Garry Monk has since released an outspoken autobiography in which he claimed Sousa's spell at the club had been a 'wasted season' and he was 'glad we didn't get into the play-offs as he did not deserve to be the one to take us to the Premiership'. These comments resonated with Sousa: 'Look, he's a person I want to succeed, like everyone. But unfortunately he said things about me and I don't appreciate people talking about somebody when they don't have the courage to say it up front. 'He is well integrated in the club, but the key for success at Swansea is the leadership of Jenkins and the support of the board members, not one manager.' Current Swansea manager Garry Monk played under Sousa and is very critical of his former boss . The 44-year-old has managed to lead Basel through the group stages of this year's Champions League . Indeed, if Sousa did not deserve promotion with Swansea, few could argue that five years later, after negotiating a group containing Real Madrid and Rodgers' s Liverpool side, he hasn't earned the right to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Going toe-to-toe with Rodgers – whom he describes as 'a top coach and a top person' – was a satisfying narrative. But for Sousa, now 44, travelling to Anfield knowing the winner would reach the last 16 was all the motivation he needed. 'I love the challenge. To play against the best gives us the possibility to become better. 'Liverpool are an important club who invest lots of money on players, but they were beaten by Basle. Basle didn't just defend and look for an opportunity to counter, Basle wanted to be the protagonist. Basle deserved to go through.' On Tuesday, all that stands in between Basle and a first European Cup quarter-final since the playing days of Ottmar Hitzfeld is a formidable Porto side. After a 1-1 draw in the home leg two weeks ago, Sousa admits it's a tall order. Sousa has described Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (left) as a 'top coach and top person' 'I always think we have a chance to win, but we recognise their superior quality. They didn't lose one game in the group stage, and they've only lost three all season. 'We compete with what we have and my players are proud of what they've done. They are ambitious and courageous, and this gives us the possibility to achieve magical nights.' And should the Estadio do Dragao bare witness to another of Basle's magical nights, who does Sousa have his eye on in the last eight? Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, perhaps? 'It would be amazing for our club. He is one of the best coaches in the world. Some people love him, some people don't love him – but his record will always be there. 'I'm really proud of all the Portuguese coaches abroad. Their success feels like my success because I know how difficult it is to do well in a foreign country!' He certainly does, and with Basle seven points clear at the top of the Swiss Super League and rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite, he looks to have well and truly overcome those difficulties. But is it only a matter of time until, once again, the ambitious Sousa tries his luck across the English Channel? ‘My near future is all about what I am doing now in this club. I'm not predicting I'll be in England one day, but I know I could make the Premier League some day in the future.’ Porto's Casemiro (right) vies with Basle's Breel Emobolo during the Champions League round of 16 tie . Embolo and Porto's Ivan Marcano (right) both leap for the ball as the two sides draw 1-1 in the first-leg . Basel midfielder Derlis Gonzalez (centre) celebrates scoring his side's opening goal against Porto . +Roy Keane has urged Manchester United fans to give Louis van Gaal up to three years to prove himself at the Old Trafford helm. The Dutch manager oversaw another disappointing performance and result in United's 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night. Danny Welbeck returned to his old stomping ground to score the winner after Wayne Rooney levelled Nacho Monreal's strike in the first half, but it was yet another lacklustre display under Van Gaal that irked United supporters. United's legendary midfielder Roy Keane says Louis van Gaal should get more time in charge at Old Trafford . Van Gaal came under more criticism for another lacklustre display in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal . Keane was in the studio with former England stars Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright . Their hero Keane, however, maintained the manager needs more time with fans unaware of what the job entails. 'Van Gaal is going to get criticised, you'd expect that,' Keane said during his BBC Match of the Day analysis. 'Give the man a chance - two or three years. A lot of fans don't quite understand how to run a football club as big as Manchester United. 'They should have given David Moyes more time but didn't. What are they going to do? Chop and change again? Van Gaal has been in the door two minutes. It takes time. It's literally a rebuilding job. A dismayed Marouane Fellaini (left), Michael Carrick (centre) and Wayne Rooney after Arsenal's winner . Danny Welbeck broke the hearts of his boyhood club by pouncing on an error to send Arsenal to Wembley . 'It would be a disaster if United don't finish in top four. The big problem with people at the club and ex-players is they keep looking back comparing teams from 10 years ago. 'They have got to look forward. Focus on the players, focus on the manager... get right behind him. I still think they have enough to get in that top four.' Keane's old sparring partner, former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer, was more damning. He said: 'Manchester United's main priority this season is finishing in the top four. If they don't then it will be a catastrophe. 'They have spent a lot of money on players. There's a hell of a lot more money that needs to be spent to get them anywhere near where they want to be. 'There isn't another team in the Premier League that passes it back more than Manchester United.' Wayne Rooney's flying header to equalise for United in the first half couldn't stop his side crashing out . Angel Di Maria's red card was the final blow for United as Van Gaal's troops lost their heads . Keane and Shearer's battle of words during the BBC's FA Cup analysis were nothing compared to what the hot-headed duo got up to in their playing days. Neither was a player the opposition wanted to get on the wrong side of, so no battle was more fierce than when the two clashed. Keane lashes out at Shearer when the two came to blows at St James's Park in 2001 . The former United captain named Shearer as a player he 'always had in the back of his mind' in his recent autobiography The Second Half alongside other famous foes like Patrick Vieira and Alf-Inge Haaland. Keane made it clear that although he regularly came across Alan Shearer while working as a TV pundit, there is little or no chance of them ever building bridges such is the mutual dislike of each other. Keane picked Shearer out as a player he always had in the back of his mind alongside Patrick Vieira . The most famous flashpoint came in 2001 at St James' Park. The two skippers came head to head and Keane was shown a red card for lashing out at the England man. It was the first time the former United maestro had appeared in the BBC studio after a long association with terrestrial rivals ITV. Keane has to be held back by David Beckham during the infamous row that saw the United man sent off . +You begin to believe Tim Sherwood after a night like this. Aston Villa’s first win since December 7 came in the 94th minute through their first penalty award of the season. It was late, it was a little lucky, but it was deserved. A roar rose out of Villa Park louder than any heard in a long while. Sherwood, hugged and lifted by goalkeeping coach Tony Parks, looked like he was emitting the most decibels. In the instant Christian Benteke rolled the ball beyond Ben Foster from 12 yards the mood in this stadium lifted. Christian Benteke sends the goalkeeper the wrong way to score a dramatic late penalty and seal the win for Aston Villa . Benteke celebrates his goal with Aston Villa team-mates Jack Grealish and Andreas Weimann . Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood celebrates the winning goal that gave him his first win in charge at the club . Gabby Agbonlahor threads the ball through Ben Foster's legs to open the scoring for Aston Villa in the first half . Agbonlahor salutes the crowd in celebration after opening the scoring at Villa Park . Brad Guzan looks on in horror as Saido Berahino nods home from close range after a knock-down from Joleon Lescott . West Brom's top scorer for the season Berahino wheels away in celebration after equalising for the visitors . Alan Hutton was lucky not to be sent off after this dangerous high tackle on Berahino - both players were booked for the melee . Aston Villa (4-3-1-2): Guzan 6; Hutton 6.5, Okore 7, Clark 6.5, Lowton 6; Cleverley 6.5 (Bacuna 77), Westwood 6.5, Delph 7.5; N’Zogbia 7 (Grealish 59 6); Benteke 7.5, Agbonlahor 8 (Weimann 82). Subs not used: Given, Sinclair, Sanchez, Gil. Goals: Agbonlahor, Benteke. Booked: Clark, Hutton. West Brom (4-4-2): Foster 4.5; Dawson 6, McAuley 6, Lescott 6.5, Brunt 6.5; Morrison 6, Yacob 6, Fletcher 7, Gardner 6; Berahino 6.5, Ideye 5. Subs not used: Myhill, Wisdom, Olsson, Baird, Pocognoli, Mulumbu Sessegnon. Goals: Berahino. Booked: Yacob, Lescott, Berahino, Gardner. Referee: Jon Moss. MoM: Agbonlahor. Att: 31272. CLICK HERE to see Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE feature for goals (like Agbonlahor's - above), heat maps, statistics and more. Seven consecutive defeats punctuated by one mighty win. How momentous it proves remains to be seen, the battle will present many turns, but this felt seismic. Sherwood owes a large dose of gratitude to Foster, mind you. In the third minute of added time the West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper launched into a calamitous dive after fumbling a bouncing ball, bringing down Matt Lowton in the process. Referee Jonathan Moss pointed to the penalty spot. Benteke was the calmest man in the ground, placing the ball the other side of Foster. No longer do Villa hold the unwanted tag of only side in England’s top four divisions without a league win in 2015. It was earned based on a display of vigour, purpose and creativity. Gabby Agbonlahor, scorer of Villa’s first, played his best game in recent memory. Albion boss Tony Pulis conceded Foster had a ‘poor night’ but refused to blame his No 1. Foster looked shaky throughout and played a part earlier in the decisive goal by only palming Fabian Delph’s shot from long range. He saved Leandro Bacuna’s rebound but Alan Hutton collected the ball and delivered the cross that ultimately led to the penalty award. Hutton’s involvement at this stage was moot. He should have been dismissed earlier for a nasty lunge on Saido Berahino, who received studs into his midriff. Agitated, Berahino reacted. Joleon Lescott appeared to offer Hutton down the tunnel in a ruckus. Moss booked Berahino and Hutton, meaning retrospective action from the FA on the Scottish right-back is unlikely. Before Benteke struck, it had seemed Berahino’s equaliser would crush Villa. In the 66th minute the Albion striker applied a simple header from two yards out after Lescott had headed back Chris Brunt’s corner. His 12th Premier League goal of the season is only three behind Villa’s total — an example of their struggles as much as his fine form. Foster capped a terrible performance by bringing down Matt Lowton in the third minute of added time for a penalty . Berahino celebrates while being chased by his team-mates, it was his 18th goal of the season in all competitions . Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood ran down the touchline and celebrated vigorously after Agbonlahor's goal . Agbonlahor beat Foster again shortly after but Joleon Lescott raced back to clear the ball off the line . Foster saves himself from a howler during the first half after the ball slipped out of his hands and almost ended up in his own net . Foster initially caught the shot from Agbonlahor but it then slipped through his legs and he had to react quickly . Agbonlahor reacts after West Brom keeper Foster almost dropped the ball over his own goal line in the first half . Sherwood, who had seen his team lose to an injury time penalty to Stoke in his first home match in charge, was in no mood to downplay his first win as Villa manager. ‘It was the best feeling in the world,’ he said. ‘When I left home my missus said she had done the Euromillions. £54million. But I said I would rather have three points all day. Seriously. ‘It was massive, huge for us. We deserved to win the game but it was nice to get a slice of luck. I thought we started really well and inspired the fans. The boys in the dressing room want to give them a lot of confidence.’ At the end he checked his pulse by pressing fingers to neck. ‘I was just checking I was still alive,’ he laughed. ‘But we’re alive and kicking.’ Coming against the club that elected to employ Pulis rather than him in their own relegation fight must have offer pleasure. Foster almost gifted Villa the lead in the 14th minute. He can thank goalline technology that parity was maintained. Delph sent over a cross that was headed back into danger by Benteke. Agbonlahor spun and hit a tame shot that Foster looked like he had collected until the ball squirmed through his legs and apparently over the line before the keeper reclaimed it. Replays showed there was an inch in it. But Villa found confidence. In the 23rd minute the home roar was released. Brad Guzan fired a clearance high and long, Benteke leapt to win the flick-on and release Agbonlahor, whose pace left Lescott in the dust. The Villa striker raced into the box and delivered a finish through the legs of Foster, ahead of Gareth McAuley’s dive. As Villa Park erupted, Agbonlahor ran in front of the West Brom supporters cupping his ear. Sherwood jigged down the touchline towards the Holte End, his hands gripped in fists of delight. It was a similar scene at the final whistle and later a disappointed Foster tweeted his apologies. ‘I love you all,’ he said. Unfortunately for him, those feeling will be reciprocated by Villa and their fans. Not least Sherwood. Late in the second half, Foster is beaten by a shot from Fabian Delph but his shot hits the woodwork . One team's star striker chases another as Berahino looks to evade Belgium international Benteke at Villa Park . West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob tackles Aston Villa goal scorer Agbonlahor during the Premier League clash . Aston Villa captain Delph tackles West Bromwich Albion midfielder James Morrison during the first half . West Brom's record signing Brown Ideye contests an aerial duel with Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark . West Brom midfielder Craig Gardner and former Tottenham full back Hutton collapse in a heap after colliding . Benteke strides through the West Brom half while being tracked by Baggies midfielders Yacob and Darren Fletcher . Aston Villa manager Sherwood signs autographs for young supporters before kick-off on Tuesday evening . +When Gus Poyet lost his temper and took out his anger on a cooler box — emptying dozens of drinks bottles and scattering ice on the touchline — it was in protest at so much more than Jack Rodwell’s booking for diving. The yellow was merely the tipping point which made the Uruguayan see red. Rather, there was frustration at the rapid unravelling of Sunderland’s season and his reputation. He chose to take it out on Steve Bruce, marching over to the Hull boss in apparent offering of a friendly handshake before sarcastically applauding in his face. Bruce, understandably, reacted and only the intervention of the assistant referee prevented a physical confrontation. Hull boss Steve Bruce and Sunderland manager Gus Poyet were on good terms before the crucial game . However things turned sour when Bruce and Poyet began a slanging match and had to be pulled apart . Bruce appeared to take exception to Poyet's sarcastic applause of a referring decision by Mike Dean . The two managers are restrained by match officials who try desperately to keep them away from each other . All eyes were on the technical area as the opposing bosses threatened to come together . Poyet had lost his head. Twenty-four hours earlier he had lost star winger Adam Johnson — his four-goal top scorer — after his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with an underage girl. He responded by naming four central-midfielders in a 4-4-2 system. It was a bizarre decision which smacked of protest at what he perceives to be a lack of attacking options provided by the club’s hierarchy. That they escaped with a draw was more to do with good fortune, Rodwell’s late equaliser having appeared to go in via his arm. The linesman cuts across an incensed Bruce as Poyet turns his back on the Hull manager . As the pair locked horns Bruce makes sure he gets his point across by bellowing in Poyet's direction . But there was enough to worry followers of the Black Cats after another insipid display. As for Poyet’s indiscipline, it soon spread through the team. Lee Cattermole was booked for a blatant kick on David Meyler in the second half and will miss the next two matches. He was substituted moments later. Earlier there had been a reckless lunge by Liam Bridcutt, for which he was lucky not to be sent off and Wes Brown could have seen red for the foul which led to Dame N’Doye’s opener. Poyet was sent to the stands for his antics and could face further punishment after the game . Poyet had been vanquished to the stands just before half-time and the concern must now be that Sunderland, too, could be vanquished to the Championship. The head coach said before the game he was shocked by Sunderland’s involvement at the wrong end of the table. Perhaps he should take a closer look at the numbers. His team have now won just one in 11 league games and have scored just once in more than eight hours of football. The Uruguayan looks in deep thought as he finds his seat among the supporters after his dismissal . The 47-year-old watches on with interest as his side searched for the equaliser at the KC Stadium . Poyet talks of implementing his own style of play which will, in the long term, excite supporters. There is precious little evidence of that offensive brand at present and, Rodwell’s leveller apart, they barely mustered an effort on goal. The body language of Jermain Defoe told its own story. Dropping deep in an attempt to enjoy a rare feel of the ball as they trailed after the break, he was robbed of possession by one of his own players. Paul McShane (right) is in disbelief as Rodwell's header in the 77th minute rescues a point for the Black Cats . Sunderland boss Poyet reacts animatedly to Jack Rodwell's equalising goal from the stands of the KC Stadium . Defoe flapped his hands in dismay. It was yet another show of a side sadly lacking in organisation and discipline. But when you have a boss who starts with four central-midfield players and is himself sent off just when you need his guidance more than ever, what chance do you stand? That they got a point had little to do with their absent manager. +Tim Sherwood has expressed his relief at Aston Villa's crucial victory against West Brom and claims the three points are so important, that he'd rather them than his wife win the Euro Millions jackpot. Christian Benteke's last-minute penalty earned the former Tottenham boss his first win in charge as Villa climbed out of the Premier League relegation places. During the game, Sherwood was a bundle of energy on the touchline but could hardly bear to watch as his Belgian striker kept his cool to slot the ball past Ben Foster. VIDEO Tim Sherwood: Told the wife I'd take three points over lottery jackpot . Sherwood appeals to the referee after Matt Lowton was brought down by Ben Foster in stoppage time . The Aston Villa boss looks to the heavens as his side pressed for a winner against West Brom at Villa Park . Sherwood celebrate with his staff after Christian Benteke's penalty sealed a vital victory for his strugglers . Sherwood went through an emotional rollercoaster and held his pulse to the Aston Villa fans . 'It's incredible, a fantastic feeling to win. My wife said she did the Euro Millions and gets £54million if she wins. I said I'd rather take three points and I genuinely mean that,' he said on BT Sport. 'It's brilliant to win because in the first games we were not that fantastic, but we were vastly improved today. We need to improve but we are making ground. I think it's important the guys spark the crowd. We did that early by pressing off the ball. 'We mixed the game up at times by going long and short and we gave fans something to cheer about. This is a big club at the wrong end of the division.' Sherwood says he'd rather take the three points then his wife win the Euro Millions jackpot . The 2-1 result also ended a seven-game losing run for Villa and lifted them out of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone. Sherwood felt his pulse and gestured to the Villa fans as he walked off and believes the strugglers are fighting again. 'I was saying we're alive. There were people who wrote us off but we're alive and kicking. People will look at that result but the performance was great,' he said, with Villa three points clear of the drop zone. It was a tense affair throughout the 90 minutes and Sherwood appeared to show every kind of emotion . Benteke scored in the league for the first time since December and Sherwood admitted the striker had told him exactly what he would do with a penalty. He said: 'Goalscorers are there to be shot down and it takes a brave man to stand up there. I asked him before the game if he gets a penalty what he was going to do. 'He said 'I'll wait until the goalie goes down and I'll roll it in the corner'. I was still peeping through my fingers.' Gabby Agbonlahor opened the scoring and had two cleared off the line, while also having a penalty claim ignored after he beat Foster to the ball. Gabby Agbonlahor (centre) slides home Villa's opener in the first half to give them the lead at Villa Park . The striker's goal drought came to an end following his strike as he tormented the West Brom backline . Saido Berahino had equalised in the second half before the late drama which left Albion 13th in the table. But Baggies boss Tony Pulis defended keeper Foster after his gaffe cost them a point. Pulis said: 'I haven't seen it but Ben should catch it anyway. He has been fantastic for us all season, he has won us games and he has had an off night, but there'll be no one here who will criticise him. Saido Berahino (centre) runs off in celebration after equalising for the away side in the second half . Tony Pulis defended Foster after he brought down the Villa full back to give them the match winning penalty . Christian Benteke (centre left) slots home the last-gasp penalty to hand Villa a crucial win against West Brom . 'I don't have to speak him, he knows. We'll dust ourselves off and get going on Thursday.' Pulis also played down Alan Hutton's challenge on Berahino which saw the pair square up to each other late in the game. He said: 'I haven't seen the Hutton challenge. There has been a lot of criticism thrown at referees recently but I'm not going to go there. I'll let other people decide what they thought about it. 'The most important thing was Villa were better than us in the first half. They were quicker, kept the ball better and we wanted half-time. The second half was a different game.' The West Brom boss also played down Alan Hutton's challenge on Saido Berahino in the second half . +Jose Mourinho says skipper John Terry is 'guaranteed' to stay at Chelsea next season. Terry is out of contract in the summer, but terms over a new 12-month deal are close to be being agreed. And Mourinho insists Terry is certain to stay at Stamford Bridge beyond the end of the campaign. VIDEOS Scroll down to watch . John Terry will sign a new contract with Chelsea to stay at the club for another year, Jose Mourinho confirmed . Mourinho wants to see Terry leading his side again next season and has guaranteed that his skipper will stay . Mourinho's words come after Terry spoke out about his bid to earn a new deal at Stamford Bridge . Terry has a word with Mourinho as they embrace on the Wembley pitch after winning the Capital One Cup . When asked about when his captain's contract situation would be sorted on Tuesday, Mourinho said: 'Yes, it will be before the end of the season for sure. 'What I can guarantee is he will be a Chelsea player next season. I can guarantee that. 'To guarantee that, it's because I know what my board tell me and what the player tells me. No doubts he is going to get his contract, no doubts. I think it's around that (terms agreed but not signed).' Mourinho's words come after Terry spoke out following the Capital One Cup final about his bid to earn a new deal at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho was certain that Terry was going to be part of his squad for the 2015-16 Premier League season . Mourinho and Terry pose together with the Capital One Cup at Wembley Stadium on Sunday . Terry scored Chelsea's opener at Wembley and then held firm in defence as the Blues ran out 2-0 winners over Tottenham and afterwards he revealed his inspiration came from trying to prove people wrong who had written him off. 'I am fighting for myself and my family, and to prove people wrong,' he said. 'It doesn't come much bigger than that. I want to give it everything. 'I don't know how long I have left. Hopefully I have a few years left but if this is my last year then I hope it will go out on a bang. The Chelsea boss could bring Kurt Zouma into midfield again in the absence of Nemanja Matic . It looks like Mourinho and Terry will be spending at least another year together at Stamford Bridge . 'I have my little target to play next year but beyond that, two or three years (more), I don't know.' Mourinho refused to confirm whether Kurt Zouma would again start in midfield against West Ham on Wednesday with Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel both still out through suspension and injury respectively. 'I don't play same team (as at Wembley), that's for sure,' Mourinho said. 'He (Zouma) is not a midfield player. He is not going to be a midfielder. That is completely clear. It's not his future. 'But the team is better when you know the qualities of everybody, when you know everybody can be extra in some details, and if Zouma couldn't do that for us on that day, we would have been in trouble.' Mourinho (bottom) joins in Chelsea's celebrations on the Wembley pitch, led by Terry (centre, with trophy) +Serie A frontrunners Juventus travel to Roma in a top-of-the-table clash at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday night. It is a chance for Massimiliano Allegri's men to edge even further ahead of the pack and increase their lead to 12 points at the summit of the Italian top flight. However Roma will be keen for victory in front of a home crowd in order to claw back some lost ground against the Old Lady. Paul Pogba has been in scintillating form for Juventus this term, but starts on the bench against Roma . Juve are on a 15-game unbeaten run in Serie A, and have lost just one league game all season away to Genoa in October. Roma on the other hand have won just twice in their last nine games, drawing seven. Host commentator . That's it from me tonight, an entertaining contest to say the least! Thank you for joining us. Goodnight! And there we have it! A fantastic comeback from Roma to earn themselves a point against Juve. Admittedly, the home side were outplayed for most of the game but their response to conceding the goal and going down to ten men must be admired. Juventus will be happy with the draw and keeping their nine-point gap between themselves and Roma intact. Padoin is brought on for Lichtsteiner, who is cursing his luck as he leaves the field of play. Risky play from Florenzi in his own half but he manages to squirm free and get Roma on an attack but it comes to nothing. Silly, petulant tackle from the Chilean. He's been asking for that. Morata is replaced by Coman. After being silenced by Tevez's free kick, the Stadio Olimpico has truly erupted since Keita's equaliser. The substitute goes in the book for a poor tackle. Keita gets the leveller for the 10 men of Roma after getting on the end of Florenzi's free kick. The Malian heads in the loose ball, to send the home support into raptures. Just 12 minutes remaining. This one's really getting nasty. Iturbe on the sharp end of two stinging Juventus challenges deep in the opposing half. The Argentine has really made an impact since his introduction. Juventus rightly impressed with Tevez's magical free kick. De Sanctis could merely watch as the ball glided into his top left corner. Garcia makes his third and final change as De Rossi makes way for Belgium international Nainggolan. Manolas rises highest to meet a free kick from deep, forcing Buffon into his first real piece of action of the game. Rudi Garcia has sprung into action since the Juve goal and brings on Iturbe for Totti. Ljajic makes way for Florenzi as the hosts look to respond. The Argentinian steps up to take the resulting free kick and bends one in from 25 yards. One hell of a blow for 10-man Roma. As Vidal is played through on the edge of the box, the Greek full back clips the heels of the Juve forward. Intentional or not, he was the last man and was rightfully dismissed. The Roma defender is the latest to go in the referee's book for a foul as Juve threaten to counter. Juve will be unhappy that an advantage wasn't played, but the resulting free kick leads to a wasteful cross. The Bosnian is cautioned for a rash tackle. Morata fouls Yanga Mbiwa and is booked for his troubles. Lichtsteiner shoots from distance but his shot doesn't trouble De Sanctis. The visitors are beginning to ask questions of Roma, who have started the second half rather sloppily. Lichtsteiner shoots from distance but doesn't trouble De Sanctis. The visitors beginning to ask questions of their opponents now. Sloppy start to the second half from Roma. Tevez breaks on the counter and slides Vidal through, but his shot goes just inches wide to the right of goal. Chiellini is in fine form tonight. He looks almost invincible as he slides in to intercept Gervinho on the halfway line. Yanga Mbiwa sloppily gives the ball straight to a Juventus attacker, but clears his lines with his second chance. Roma get the second period underway. Both sides unchanged after the half-time team talks. Roma's Yanga Mbiwa (left) challenges Juventus striker Carlos Tevez for a header in a feisty first half at the Stadio Olimpico. A stubborn defensive performance from Juventus in that first half. Roma with the lion's share of possession but they're finding it tricky to find holes in the Juve rearguard. Allegri will be the happier of the two managers after the opening 45 minutes, and the pressure is on Roma to produce a goal in the second period. Juventus find themselves in a three-on-two situation but as Tevez takes a shot at goal from the edge of the 18-yard box, his effort is deflected out for a corner that is dealt with easily by De Sanctis. Evra is shown a yellow card for a foul on Torosidis. It looks like there's no way through for Roma as the visitors defend with eight men back in their own area. Gervinho's attack is broken down and the home side are forced to start again. Flare smoke engulfs Roma's fans prior to kick off. They're up for this one tonight! Morata gives away a free kick for a trip on former Barcelona player Keita. De Rossi is cautioned for going through the back of Juve striker Morata. He pleads his innocence but the referee is having none of it. Roma skipper Totti is put under pressure from Marchisio as his side try to pick the lock to the Juve defence. So far, they've been unsuccessful. The flares are out, the fans are in full voice and this one is set up to be quite a spectacle. The score, however, remains goalless. The flare are out, the fans are in full voice and this one is set up to be a spectacle. The score, however, remains goalless. Pereya delivers a cross into the Roma box and Manolas almost turns the ball into his own net under pressure from Vidal. However the Greek defender's touch dribbles just wide and out for a corner. Roma manage to scramble the ball clear of their crowded area as the ball is pumped forward. Torosidis is then shown the first yellow of the game for what looked like a double-footed tackle on Vidal. He'll miss the next game through suspension. Totti getting a talking to from the referee after a tackle on Lichtsteiner. It's been a physical start to the game. Juve looking organised in defence. Roma will need to figure out how they are going to pick their way through the visitors' back line. Yanga Mbiwa has Morata breathing down his neck as a loose ball bounces back towards the Roma goal, however the Frenchman clears with a swing of his right boot. Roma trying to build up play patiently but cannot find a way through the Juve defence . Vidal shoots from the edge of the box but his shot goes just wide of De Sanctis' left post . Tevez takes a short corner but the Old Lady's attack is cut out by the home side. Wasteful from the visitors. A drone flies overhead before kick off in the eagerly anticipated clash . Marchisio delivers a free kick from wide on the right but it is headed clear by the Roma defence. De Rossi lets Vidal know his intentions with a hard tackle within the first minute. Arguable could have been cautioned but he gets away with it. Hisses from the hostile home crowd as Juve get the game started. They're in a noisy mood tonight! Two changes from Tuesday's Champions League fixture against Borussia Dortmund as Pogba and Pirlo make way for Caceres and Pereya . Buffon, Caceres, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra, Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Marchisio, Pereyra, Tevez, Morata. De Sanctis, Torosidis, Manolas, Mapou, Cholevas, Pjanic, De Rossi, Keita, Gervinho, Totti, Ljajic . Welcome to Sportsmail's live coverage of the Serie A top of the table clash between Roma and Juventus. Tonight, Massimiliano Allegri's team have the chance to increase the gap at the top by 12 points. Allegri's opposite number Rudi Garcia will want to capitalise on third-placed Napoli's slip up against Torino and close the gap at the top to just six points. +Birmingham's parent company has announced sweeping changes to its board as the receivers investigate the running of Birmingham International Holdings. A statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange confirmed the changes which has seen seven directors also resign. 'The receivers are conducting investigation into the affairs of the company and will update the shareholders and the stock exchange with respect to any further developments concerning the said investigation as and when appropriate,' a statement read. Peter Pannu (third from right) has been removed from the board of Birmingham's parent company . The Blues have been put into financial difficulty after Carson Yeung's ill-fated spell as owner . The move effectively sees the receivers, Ernst and Young, in charge, with employees Stephen Lui appointed chairman of the board and David Yen Ching Wai as chief executive. Peter Pannu, Birmingham's former acting chairman, has been removed from the BIHL board along with Chan Shun Wah. Two others, Cheung Kwai Nang and Carson Wong Ka Chun, have also been suspended. Panos Pavlakis, who is effectively managing director at the club, has resigned but remains a director at St Andrew's. Rob Kiernan (left) fends off Johnny Russell during the weekend draw away at Derby County . Blues are 14th in the Sky Bet Championship and insisted the running of the club is not affected by the developments. 'The club can assure supporters and staff that this still very much the case - there is no change in the day to day running of Blues,' read a statement. 'Panos Pavlakis continues to lead the UK management team from St. Andrew's and work closely with Gary Rowett on all football matters, as per usual. 'The board also carries on working in unison and in full cooperation with the Receivers for the good of the Club.' +Manchester City are ready to offer Yaya Toure a role as a club ambassador when he retires from playing. The Ivory Coast midfielder has two-and-a-half years left on his deal but City are open to extending his contract, which is worth £220,000 a week, and are set to tempt him with a prestigious job behind the scenes. At the age of 31, this is likely to be Toure’s final big-money contract. Manchester City are ready to offer Yaya Toure a role as a club ambassador when he retires from playing . The Ivorian midfielder has two and a half years left on his deal but City are open to extending his contract . At the age of 31, this is likely to be former Barcelona midfielder Toure’s final big-money contract . But Financial Fair Play rules are an issue and City would be reluctant to offer him a pay increase. Instead, they are exploring other incentives, with an ambassadorial role or even a coaching position being talked about. It is a far cry from last summer when Toure threatened to leave after being angered that the club did not acknowledge his birthday sufficiently. But while it seems Toure could end his career in Manchester, defender Bacary Sagna is growing agitated at his bit-part role and may consider his future at the end of the season. Roma coach Rudi Garcia is understood to be monitoring the 32-year-old’s situation with a view to a summer switch. Sagna signed a three-year deal upon arriving from Arsenal on a free transfer last summer. Bacary Sagna has failed to hold down a first-team place and is growing frustrated at his bit-part role . The France defender has started just 12 games for Manchester City so far this season . Roma boss Rudi Garcia is understood to have taken an interest in Sagna's position at Manchester City . But he has made only 12 starts while failing to dislodge Pablo Zabaleta as the club’s first-choice right back. That lack of action is frustrating the France defender, who was a regular at the Emirates. Sources close to the player say he is keen to help City challenge for the Premier League and Champions League. But if his first-team chances don’t improve, Sagna may look elsewhere for regular football. City, however, are in a position of strength as Sagna will have two years left on his contract this summer. Meanwhile, New York City head coach Jason Kreis has refused to dwell on the furore surrounding Frank Lampard’s delayed move from City. He said: ‘This means some other guys are going to get meaningful opportunities in his position. We’re going to have a player who’s at the top of his game to give us a boost in the middle of the season.’ +If Nottingham Forest fans were sceptical when Dougie Freedman was announced as Stuart Pearce's successor last month then they will be pleasantly surprised now. Saturday's impressive comeback against high-flying Middlesbrough made it six wins in eight Championship games under the Scot and 19 points from a possible 24. Forest have reignited their season in some style, scoring 22 goals under their new manager at an average of nearly three per game - and all that with 15-goal top scorer Britt Assombalonga having been ruled out for a year with a knee injury two matches in to Freedman's reign. Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman has led his side to an excellent run of form since taking over . Gary Gardner (left) celebrates his goal for Forest against Middlesbrough with Jamaal Lascelles . Dexter Blackstock (right) accepts the plaudits from Michail Antonio as Forest made it 19 points from 24 . Bolton fans must be wondering where this Freedman was hiding during his two years at the club. Widely considered one of the best young British managers around before he left Crystal Palace for Bolton, Freedman departed Lancashire in October with his managerial reputation tarnished. Watching Bolton play in Freedman’s final few months - and in truth for the majority of his time at the club - was an uninspiring experience. Freedman the self-assured Palace manager became Freedman the big-headed Bolton boss - blind to his team's failings and unwilling to change his methods. Freedman was widely considered one of the best young British managers around before he left Crystal Palace . His spell with Bolton Wanderers was more difficult but he is using a similar system at Forest with good results . But in reality the character of the man has not changed. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance and success is the litmus test. He will have learned lessons though from his testing experience at Bolton - he has to have done if he harbours any hopes of a long and prosperous managerial career - which he does. Despite the goal glut, Freedman's system - 4-2-3-1 - has not changed from his time at Bolton but Forest's players are clearly responding better. His habit of tinkering with his line-up regardless of the previous result frustrated Bolton fans but appears to have galvanised a Forest squad where several players were left on the fringes under Pearce. Gardner blasts in his goal against Middlesbrough at the City Ground on Saturday in the Championship . Blackstock (left) finishes high into the net on Saturday afternoon as Forest beat the in-form visitors . We can only guess what a manager does aside from his team selection and media comments but sometimes in football a manager and a club just click and sometimes, as with Freedman and Bolton, they do not. That being said, things clicked at Bolton in Freedman's first season in charge for a short while, and sceptics will wonder if this is just a honeymoon period he is enjoying at Forest. A brilliant run of form in early 2013 almost saw Bolton sneak in to the play-offs and there are parallels with how he has started at Forest - though that run was not as instantaneous as this one. Freedman's habit of tinkering with his line-up appears to have galvanised the Forest squad . Several players were left on the fringes of the squad under Stuart Pearce's leadership but that's changed . Freedman makes an appeal for a decision on the touchline during his time with Bolton back in May . Forest owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi has admitted that Freedman's future will be assessed at the end of the season but denied claims the Scot's contract was only for three months. Either way, the 18 games he had ahead of him when he took charge have always felt like an audition, a chance to build for next season. Keep up this form though and, with 10 games to play, Forest fans might soon start dreaming of a return to the top flight after a 16-year absence. Having been 12th and 13 points off the play-offs when Pearce left, they are now ninth and nine points off. The safe money is still on Forest missing out on the top six but having lost momentum at Bolton in the spring of 2013, never to get it back, Freedman will be desperate to keep this going. Lascelles is already departing this summer for Newcastle United but Forest could get promoted . Karl Darlow is also leaving - and Forest can't afford to be in the Championship for much longer . With £22.9million losses for last season recently announced, the forced sales of Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles last summer and having been under a transfer embargo earlier in the season it would appear Forest cannot afford to be in the Championship for much longer. Their Kuwaiti owners came in with the target of Premier League football nearly three years ago and, five managerial departures later, they needed to get this one right. Time will tell if this is merely a honeymoon period for Freedman and Forest but it's a case of so far, so good. Owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi has gone through five managerial departures since taking over three years ago . Good week for... BARNSLEY. Three wins in three games under new manager Lee Johnson - the latest coming against Walsall - have propelled the Tykes right in to play-off contention in League One. The third tier is so tight - just nine points separate 14 clubs from sixth to 19th - that Barnsley have managed to leap 12 places up to seventh in the space of just three weeks. Bad week for... HARTLEPOOL. Ronnie Moore's side conceded a last-minute winner against Burton Albion to stay firmly rooted at the bottom off the Football League. A point for Cheltenham against Mansfield has stretched the gap to League Two safety to eight points with just 11 matches remaining. Time is running out. Hartlepool United are firmly rooted at the bottom off the Football League and are eight points from safety . Talent scout: Harry Toffolo (Swindon, on loan from Norwich) There's no shortage of promising youngsters at the County Ground and the latest to hit the headlines is 19-year-old England youth international left back Toffolo. Given freedom to attack from wing back in Mark Cooper's 3-5-2 system, Toffolo - who was part of the Canaries’ FA Youth Cup-winning side two years ago - scored the Robins' third in their 3-0 win over Notts County on Saturday. Harry Toffolo (left) won the FA Youth Cup with Norwich City and is enjoying a good loan at Swindon Town . +Chelsea supporters are planning their own statement against racism during the second leg of their Champions League encounter with Paris Saint-Germain. Instead of the usual array of banners and flags which are draped around Stamford Bridge at home games, there will be only one on display during Wednesday's game: a small cross of St George with the Chelsea badge and the message 'Blues Against Racism'. The flag was made by lifelong supporter Phil Keefe and inspired by his 18-year-old daughter Jodie in response to the incident filmed on the Paris Metro ahead of the first leg against PSG, when some Chelsea fans sang about being racist as they refused to let a black man on the train. Lifelong Chelsea supporter Phil Keefe stands next to the flag he had made ahead of the PSG clash . Keefe and his daughter Jodie were motivated to do it by the incident that took place in Paris in February . 'My daughter was very upset by what happened in Paris and it has tainted the image of Chelsea fans everywhere,' said Phil. 'We thought it was important to do something positive and show PSG and the rest of the world that is not what Chelsea fans are like.' The flag, which Phil and Jodie took to the Capital One Cup final at Wembley, will hang behind the goal in the Matthew Harding Stand during the game against PSG, a last-16 tie poised at 1-1 after the first-leg. After the racist incident on the Metro, last month, two other incidents of racist chanting involving Chelsea fans which have been reported to police. One occurred on a Eurostar train as supporters returned to London from Paris and another on a train from London Euston to Manchester after the Capital One Cup final. The amateur footage showed passengers in the carriage following the disgraceful incident in February . Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea the lead in the first leg of the Champions League tie at Parc des Princes . The first leg finished 1-1, but Souleymane S will not be there to see the second leg after refusing his invitation . +England went back to work on Friday at Adelaide’s St Peter’s College, alma mater of 10 Australian Prime Ministers and one of the country’s great schools, but there was no way they could relax and enjoy the splendour of their surroundings. Elimination at the group stages of this World Cup is just one slip-up or even one rainy day away for England, who seem to have been wading through treacle while the rest of the world have been playing a different, far more vibrant, one-day game. Now England must beat Bangladesh and Afghanistan in their final Group A games and hope New Zealand also defeat Bangladesh, while keeping their fingers crossed that the elements do not intervene. Jos Buttler has warned England that they cannot afford any more slip-ups  if they are to avoid elimination . Buttler catches the ball during an England nets session at St Peter's College in Adelaide . Buttler plays a shot during an England nets session as they prepare for the game against Afghanistan . India sealed a place in the World Cup knockout stages after a nervy run chase against West Indies in Perth. The defending champions bowled West Indies out for 182 in 44.2 overs, captain Jason Holder top-scoring with 57 at No 9. India’s task was made harder by an up-and-down wicket at the WACA, but 45 not out from MS Dhoni saw them reach their target with four wickets and 10.5 overs to spare. ‘It was a difficult wicket, with variable bounce,’ said Dhoni. ‘Overall, I was very happy with the performance.’ England have endured some rotten World Cups but to go out in the first round of a competition designed to guarantee progress for the big eight would make this the worst yet. But the way they have been playing, not even victory against the two minnows can be taken for granted. Defeat by Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval on Monday would pile pressure on coach Peter Moores and Paul Downton, who appointed him, when a new broom is sweeping through the ECB. To think that the Ashes were moved and we had to endure a 5-0 thrashing so that this team could have unprecedented one-day preparation for a World Cup. There was a subdued air on Friday with only the St Peter’s pupils chosen to supplement the fielders during middle practice having a spring in their step. England were criticised for changing their line-up on the eve of this World Cup but they would be stubborn in the extreme if they did not shuffle their pack now. Trouble is, Alex Hales looked in terrible touch both in the middle against England’s bowlers and later in a net. India sealed a place in the World Cup knockout stages after a nervy run chase against West Indies in Perth . England coach Peter Moores talks to the players during an England nets session at St Peter's College, Adelaide . Meanwhile, Ravi Bopara cut a forlorn figure as he faced some of the worst net bowling imaginable from the enthusiastic locals and England can only hope that both contenders for Gary Ballance’s place fare much better in practice over the weekend. At least Eoin Morgan looked terrific when he batted. ‘It’s not the greatest,’ admitted Jos Buttler when asked how the mood was. ‘But we are determined to change that round. In simple terms we have to play much better to get to the quarter-finals. We have to play well and win two games of cricket.’ Buttler is one of the few players capable of making the sort of impact we have seen from AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle but he has been held back by a far too conservative England. Eoin Morgan plays a shot during an England nets session at St Peter's College on Friday afternoon . Morgan plays a shot as Sri Lnka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara looks on during 2015 Cricket World Cup . The fact that he received only 19 balls against Sri Lanka in Wellington perhaps said it all and the new one-day vice-captain accepted that England need to have a look at a batting order that seems to have been set in stone. ‘I think we have to be flexible to different situations,’ said Buttler. ‘If we get off to a good start then maybe guys could go up the order and look to take it on a bit more. Whatever we do we have to post big scores and do it consistently.’ England’s bowlers are under just as much pressure as the batsmen after the way Sri Lanka cruised home in Wellington and it would be no surprise if James Tredwell, who had a long bowl on Friday, comes in against Bangladesh. England coach Moores with Hales during an England nets session at St Peter's College in Adelaide . +Defending champions India sealed their place in the World Cup knockout stages with a nervy run chase against West Indies in Perth. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped to steer his team to a four-wicket victory in a low-scoring Pool B match. India, who bowled the Windies out for 182, therefore remain one of two unbeaten teams in the tournament - co-hosts New Zealand are the other - after scrambling the verdict with 10.5 overs to spare on a typically bouncy pitch at the WACA. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is congratulated by West Indies captain Chris Gayle after India's four-wicket win . The India captain hit an unbeaten knock of 45 as India chased down the target of 183 in the World Cup game . West Indies were hapless in the first 10 overs, after winning the toss on a glorious afternoon, and might have been bowled out even more cheaply but for four dropped catches by India and captain Jason Holder's second successive half-century from number nine. Dwayne Smith struggled badly against India's new-ball pair, eventually edging behind off Mohammad Shami (three for 35). Chris Gayle was out of sorts too, dropped twice and then holing out to a mis-pull off Shami - but not before a mix-up with Marlon Samuels saw the Windies number three run out for just two. Captain Denesh Ramdin could not halt the slide, aiming an expansive cover-drive to a swinging low full-toss first ball and instead edging on to Umesh Yadav. Lendl Simmons and Jonathan Carter almost doubled the score until the former fell pulling Mohit Sharma to deep backward-square. Darren Sammy was dropped by Ravindra Jadeja on five, when he mistimed a skier into the off-side ring off Mohit. India players celebrate after Mohamed Shami dismisses Darren Sammy of West Indies . Chris Gayle wasn't able to get into his stride on Friday, despite this unsuccessful appear from Shami . Andre Russell was soon gone instead, hitting Jadeja's first ball straight to long-off. But Sammy stayed long enough to help Holder (57) shepherd the Windies into powerplay, before he was caught-behind off the returning Shami. The captain struck four fours and three sixes from 64 balls but was last out, another hitting Jadeja to long-off, with almost six overs unused. Two wickets in an impressive new-ball spell from Jerome Taylor gave the Windies renewed hope, both openers going as Shikhar Dhawan was caught at second slip and Rohit Sharma edged an attempted drive behind. Virat Kohli threatened to shorten the chase until he hooked Russell into the hands of Samuels - and when Ajinkya Rahane went to a marginal DRS verdict, caught-behind off Kemar Roach, India had lost four wickets with more than 100 runs still needed. Suresh Raina struggled against the short ball before edging a cut behind off Smith's medium-pace, and the same tactic from Russell saw Jadeja pull Russell to a juggling Samuels. But Dhoni engineered an unbroken match-winning half-century stand with Ravi Ashwin and finished top-scorer with 45 not out in a curious contest which contained 47 extras. Virat Kohli drives the ball through the covers as he threatened to shorten the chase in Perth . +Michael Clarke is readying Australia for a tough test against Sri Lanka as the likely Pool A qualifiers jockey for quarter-final opponents. Both teams can be confident, whatever the outcome in Sydney on Sunday, that they have obvious prospects of reaching the knockout stages. Who they will face in the last eight is yet to be determined, however. Michael Clarke is readying Australia for a tough test against Sri Lanka . Clarke (centre) celebrates with his team-mates as Australia beat Afghanistan on Wednesday . Captain Clarke stressed in his column for Australian tabloid, the Daily Telegraph, that the co-hosts must step up again after their run-fest victory over Afghanistan in Perth on Wednesday. 'Now we must maintain that same attention to detail against an experienced and talented Sri Lanka at the SCG, a game that will play a huge role in who we play against in the quarter-finals. 'Sri Lanka are high on confidence. Clarke said his team-mates must step up again against Sri Lanka following their easy win over Afghanistan . 'They've been playing some really good cricket, scoring a lot of runs and had a wonderful win against England.' Sri Lanka chased more than 300 to beat England by nine wickets in Wellington last weekend, but are hampered in their preparations this time by injury issues. +Mike Brown is set to return for England against Scotland on Saturday after taking a full part in training for the first time since suffering concussion against Italy three weeks ago. England’s first-choice full back was knocked unconscious in the early stages of his side’s 47-17 victory over the Azzurri and missed last Sunday’s 19-9 loss by Ireland in Dublin, where Saracens’ Alex Goode stood in. Brown suffered a setback in his recovery last week when he experienced headache-like symptoms after beginning return-to-play protocols. Mike Brown has been suffering from concussion and missed England's defeat in Ireland last week . Brown was knocked out while tackling Italy's Andrea Masi at Twickenham last month . But he has since completed the six-day programme and participated in controlled contact training against Hartpury College at England’s Surrey base on Friday. ‘Mike took a full part in training and will be available for selection,’ an England spokesman confirmed. Brown's return for his 36th cap would provide a significant boost for Stuart Lancaster, whose team were out-thought and outmuscled against Joe Schmidt’s championship favourites last week. Lancaster will also be able to call on Northampton lock Courtney Lawes after he completed his second game for Saints following the ankle surgery which saw him miss England’s opening three Six Nations fixtures. Lawes looks certain to win his 37th cap at Twickenham on Saturday, meaning George Kruis or Dave Attwood will drop to the bench, leaving Nick Easter’s position under threat. Brown has returned to training in a much-needed boost to England boss Stuart Lancaster . Alex Goode in line to replace Luther Burrell if his calf problem persists . Brad Barritt starts in the centre for Saracens when they take on Wasps at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday, where Goode starts at fly-half, and he could make his first start of the championship if Luther Burrell’s calf problem persists. The Northampton centre has started the first three games of England’s campaign at No 12 alongside Jonathan Joseph but suffered the leg injury in Dublin and has been severely restricted in training. Billy Twelvetrees played 80 minutes for Gloucester in their Aviva Premiership draw with Northampton but he has endured an up-and-down season and struggled badly off the bench against Ireland, leaving the ever-reliable Barritt in line for a place among the replacements at least. Northampton flanker Tom Wood could also return to the international fold after proving his fitness from the ankle injury he sustained in January, although James Haskell is likely to be retained at blindside, putting Tom Croft’s place on the bench in danger. Out-of-favour scrum-half Danny Care scored a try for Harlequins as they beat London Irish yesterday but is not expected to return as Richard Wigglesworth and Ben Youngs fill the No 9 slots, while Danny Cipriani will have to settle for a place on the bench again after being one of only two unused replacements in Dublin. Loosehead prop Alex Corbisero played 60 minutes for Saints yesterday but Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola are favourites to retain their places when Lancaster names his team to face the winless Scots on Wednesday. England’s players will reconvene at Pennyhill Park before recommencing training on Tuesday. +Sam Warburton is set to captain Wales for a record 34th time in the RBS 6 Nations showdown against Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday. Nik Simon talks to Warburton and Wales wing legend Shane Williams about the game which could decide the Six Nations Championship. Nik Simon: You'll become Wales's most-capped captain on Saturday. What's the secret? Sam Warburton: I take it with a pinch of salt because there are more games now than 30 years ago. Warren Gatland put his faith in me when I was quite young and he's stuck with me. Before I took up the role, some people said 'If someone's out of line, then you have to give it to them'. Rather than the Roy Keane approach, and as a Spurs fan, I like to compare myself to Ledley King. Sportsmail's Nik Simon speaks to Wales captain Sam Warburton and former Test winger Shane Williams . Warburton (left) is set to captain Wales for a record 34th time against Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday . Former Wales and Lions winger Williams believes his Warburton's side are still in the running for the title . Simon: Ryan Jones previously held the record, how do the two compare? Shane Williams: To be captain, you have to be well liked by the players. Warburton came in at the latter stage of my career and was much younger than me, so it was a little strange to have him as captain. But he impressed me straight away and, like Ryan, he trained hard and played hard. Simon: Wales are still in the running for the championship despite losing to England in round one. Are there shades of 2013? Warburton: It's going that way. Our experience in 2013 has given us the belief that we can do it. It was tough then because all the Wales teams previously had won a Grand Slam. Ryan sat us down and gave us the belief that we needed. We've had our one lifeline but we've got the motivation that it's still possible. Williams: Fate is always in your hands with the Six Nations, that's what makes it special. It's an open championship. Ireland are favourites to win in Cardiff but you can't write anyone off — one result can change everything. Simon: Jonathan Sexton ran the show against England. How much of a threat is he? Warburton: If I'm being honest, I didn't see the game live because I was watching Tottenham v Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final. I flicked back and forth to see the rugby score. But Johnny is a massive part of the Irish team. His attention to detail impressed me on the Lions tour and he knew every move so intricately. He deserves to be known as one of the best players in the world. Ryan Jones (centre) previously held the record for Wales's most-capped captain . Simon: How do you defend against Sexton and Conor Murray's kicking game? Williams: The game is changing and there's a massive focus on rugby league style kicks. When I saw the state of Tommy Bowe at the end last week, he had chased a lot of kicks and was very tired. It helps being six-foot plus when you're taking high balls. Dan Biggar is one of the best in the world at kicking the ball in the air, running 40 yards, and catching it. It sounds easy but it's such a big part of the game now. Simon: Who would you select in the Welsh back-three? Williams: Defensively, Leigh Halfpenny is the best full back in the world. George North is my first-choice winger because he's such a talented footballer. On the other wing I would keep Liam Williams, who's the form player in Wales. Scott Baldwin and Luke Charteris were both very good in the pack against France — especially with the 100 per cent lineout — and I wouldn't make any changes for the weekend… if it isn't broken don't fix it! Fly half Jonathan Sexton (right) has been superb for Ireland during this years's tournament . Simon: Can the Welsh half-backs match the Irish? Williams: I've been very impressed with Biggar and Rhys Webb. They've made those positions theirs at the moment and they are able to take pressure off each other through their time management and kicking games. It helps that they've been together at Ospreys and they will have to be on top of their game against Murray and Sexton, because they're the world's in-form combination. Simon: England were blitzed at the breakdown in Dublin, are you putting extra focus on that area? Warburton: Out of all the Six Nations teams I've played against, Ireland have been the most effective at the breakdown. I've not been rewarded as much at the breakdown as I was last year. I haven't made as many turnovers as I would have liked. The post-tackle stuff is always an add-on after training and Shaun Edwards always barks at us when we're doing it. It's key to our game plan. Simon: Ireland have lost just twice in Cardiff in 32 years, why are they so successful? Williams: In the nicest possible way, they take an arrogant approach and expect to win every game. They've had players like Paul O'Connell, Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara, who have been able to win these kind of games. They have belief and mental toughness. When they're playing well, they build up confidence and are a very tough team to stop. Wales head coach Warren Gatland (centre) will be pitting his wits against fellow Kiwi Joe Schmidt this week . Simon: What's the key to countering that record? Warburton: Like every international match, there are three areas: set piece, breakdown, kicking game. If you can come out on top in two of those three then that's probably going to be the key. I think the breakdown and the kicking game will be the two key areas against Ireland. We're back at our own little nest in the Vale and we're back at home. After two wins, confidence is high. Simon: Warren Gatland vs Joe Schmidt will be an interesting coaching battle — how do the two Kiwis compare? Williams: They both stick to the game plan they want to play. Schmidt uses the players as a tool to work out how Ireland are going to play, rather than trying to fit them into a certain game-plan. Warren Gatland is very similar. Warren's got a great way with people. He gets the best out of his players by taking the mick out of them. I used to come off the field and, with a glint in his eye, he would say 'oh you were rubbish today!'. He loves the wind-up and he loves getting his players going. Schmidt is very straight down the line. He says it as it is and gets the best out of his players by being honest. They're different personalities but they're both hugely successful. Wales winger George North makes a strong carry during his side's victory against France in Paris . Simon: Wales are still in the running… How much of a World Cup confidence boost would it be to win the Six Nations? Warburton: I don't think the Six Nations will have much bearing on the World Cup. In 2011 that wasn't the case. The Six Nations didn't reflect our World Cup campaign. Last year's autumn campaign finished well for us but that didn't transfer into the first game against England. I don't think there's much of a trend with Wales. The most important period will be the three months we're together in the summer. We'll treat that like a pre-season. Sam Warburton and Shane Williams are Ambassadors for GUINNESS, Official Partner of Welsh Rugby. To view GUINNESS' 'Made of More' rugby campaign, celebrating the Integrity and character of heroes from the game, visit www.youtube.com/GUINNESSEurope. +Wales captain Sam Warburton is expected to be fit for the vital RBS 6 Nations clash with Ireland on March 14. Warburton suffered a knee injury in the 20-13 victory over France in Paris on Saturday night which catapulted Wales back into championship contention. The 26-year-old had ice applied to the knee immediately after leaving the field at the Stade de France and it had been feared that he would miss the visit of Grand Slam hopefuls Ireland to the Millennium Stadium. Wales captain Sam Warburton is expected to be fit for the vital RBS 6 Nations clash with Ireland on March 14 . But the Wales management team have said Warburton will return to training later this week and the openside flanker's deputy Justin Tipuric has been released from the squad to play for his region the Ospreys this weekend. 'Sam suffered a contusion to his knee,' said a Wales team statement on Monday evening. 'He will continue to be monitored by the medical team and will return to training later this week.' Warburton (centre) suffered a knee injury in the 20-13 victory over France in Paris on Saturday . Outside-half Dan Biggar, who scored Wales' decisive try against France, will also return to training later this week after suffering a hip injury in Paris. But Bath loosehead prop Paul James, a late second-half replacement for Gethin Jenkins in Paris, has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a fractured thumb and will miss the next four to six weeks. Wales announced earlier that they had released 12 players back to the regions this weekend, among them Tipuric and British and Irish Lions winger Alex Cuthbert who was dropped for the Paris victory in favour of Liam Williams. Warburton breaks out in a smile during a pres conference with head coach Warren Gatland . +The UCI will publish the Cycling Independent Reform Commission's report into whether the world governing body was complicit in past doping practices on Monday. The investigation centred on the UCI's dealings with doping findings and allegations during the late 1990s and early 2000s, including its handling of claims against Lance Armstrong, who has since admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. A statement on uci.ch read: 'The Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report has been delivered to the UCI president (Brian Cookson). Cyclists ride at the start of the 'Omloop Het Nieuwsblad' race in Belgium on February 28 . The Cycling Independent Reform Commission report has been delivered to UCI president Brian Cookson . 'The UCI will publish the report in the early hours of Monday, March 9, 2015. Until then, we will not make any comment on the report.' CIRC was a key part of Cookson's campaign pledge ahead of his election as UCI president in September 2013. Last month the Briton warned of some 'uncomfortable reading' ahead. 'We should all prepare ourselves for that,' Cookson said. 'When you open a can of worms, you find a lot of worms. It's going to be very interesting to see.' He also promised transparency, where legally possible. He added: 'We're not going to get into a FIFA-type situation of arguing about the report. 'If they want to redact anything, they can redact it. They may well give us some unredacted information as well, but the report that they give us will be the report that they say is able to go into the public domain.' The investigation centred on the UCI's dealings with doping findings and allegations during the late 1990s and early 2000s, including its handling of claims against Lance Armstrong, who has since admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs . CIRC was established in January 2014, with its terms of reference announced the following month. CIRC is independent from the UCI, chaired by Switzerland's former state prosecutor Dick Marty and included Peter Nicholson, an Australian who has investigated war crimes for the United Nations. Professor Ulrich Haas from Germany, a specialist in anti-doping rules who works for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is the third person on the commission. The key to the commission's success may hinge on whether Cookson's predecessors agreed to give evidence. Pat McQuaid, the UCI president from 2005 to 2013, has declined to comment either way when asked if he had spoken to CIRC by Press Association Sport. Pat McQuaid, the UCI president from 2005 to 2013, has declined to comment either way . Hein Verbruggen, who was UCI president at the time of the Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins, was accused of helping to cover up a positive test by Armstrong, but has consistently denied the allegations. Armstrong stated in an interview with the BBC last month that he had given evidence to CIRC, although whether it reveals anything new or more than the United States Anti-doping Agency report which led to his downfall remains to be seen. CIRC has the power to reduce sanctions, but whether Armstrong has done enough to see his life ban from competitive sport lessened remains to be seen. Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour de France champion, this week revealed he had spoken to CIRC. 'I sat down with CIRC after the end of the season last year and spent a good few hours with them, just talking about the state of the sport and how, from a rider's point of view, they can try to improve on things,' Froome told the Daily Mail. 'I think the sport is definitely making a lot of headway in trying to improve its image and and putting the past behind us' Whether the CIRC report does enough to leave the past behind in a sport which is still beset by doping remains to be seen. +Great Britain’s Lizzy Yarnold won gold at the world skeleton championships in Germany yesterday to complete a grand slam of major titles. The European and Olympic champion achieved her dream treble with the help of a second track record in as many days. Yarnold claimed glory in Winterberg in a combined time for her four runs of 3min 49.95sec, which saw her finish an emphatic 0.67sec ahead of Germany’s Jacqueline Lolling on her home track, with Canada’s Elisabeth Vathje taking third. Great Britain's Lizzy Yarnold won gold at the Skeleton World Championships in Winterberg on Saturday . Yarnold won gold at the Skeleton World Championships to complete the career 'grand slam' of major titles . The 26-year-old from Kent said: ‘I can’t quite take it all in, it has been absolutely amazing. ‘It has been a lot of hard work and I couldn’t have done it without my team and all my support. But I am so pleased I can say I’m world champion as well as Olympic champion and European champion — it’s all I’ve ever wanted.’ She then revealed she had suffered from a rare case of major nerves, such was her desire to take the title, last won by compatriot Shelley Rudman in St Moritz two years ago. The 26-year-old added the world crown to her Olympic, World Cup and European golds . ‘I wanted this win so badly,’ she added. ‘It’s unusual for me to be that nervous before a race, but I knew this was the one, the ultimate goal. ‘After I won the Olympics last year my mind switched to this race. I wanted to win the World Championships to complete the set.’ Yarnold’s team-mate Laura Deas finished seventh with fellow Briton Rose McGrandle ninth. +Louis van Gaal has insisted the main priority for Manchester United this season must be to qualify for the Champions League despite Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal offering their best chance of a trophy this season. Van Gaal is under strict orders from his bosses to restore United to European football's elite after last season's seventh-place finish under David Moyes saw them miss out. United haven't won the FA Cup since 2004 and landed any silverware since Sir Alex Ferugson left but the Dutchman says the competition must still be treated as a welcome bonus rather than the primary objective of the campaign. Louis van Gaal feels it is more important that Manchester Uited get back into Europe than win the FA Cup . Van Gaal agrees with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that a top four finish is akin to winning a trophy . Ashley Young scored a late winner as United beat Newcastle in the Premier League on Wednesday . 'I always want to get the goals what we have set. And the goals we have set is the top four,' said van Gaal. 'A title is fantastic. When you win the FA Cup you are not in the Champions League which is important for the club, but you have won a title. So for the players it is fantastic, for the manager it is fantastic but our goal is to reach in our first year together a place in the Champions League.' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that finishing in the top four was effectively winning a trophy and Van Gaal agrees. 'Yes, I think that he is right. I think that Arsene Wenger is saying always the right things. I think that for a club the Champions League is the highest level and that's why he is saying that. 'To finish in the first four is a fantastic result, I think. And for us, Manchester United, more I think.' Van Gaal is still expected to put a strong team out against Arsenal. Wayne Rooney in particular wants to add the only major club medal missing from his cv. The United boss, who has had to endure heavy criticism for the team's style of play despite a run of only two defeats in 22 matches, believes the result of the cup tie could also have a pyschological effect on the run-in for the all-important top four. 'Every match you play has an influence in the next match. So we are in a 'rat race' in the Premier League and the club who wins the FA match has a very good feeling for the next matches,' he said. 'It could be damaging for the team that loses, but you can also react.' Van Gaal has been tetchy mood in the build-up to Monday night's game, feeling he has been misrepresented over claims that he has the best team in the Premier League, lacks a 20-goal-a-season striker and has a bad relationship with assistant Ryan Giggs, who sat stony-faced when United scored their last-minute winner at Newcastle on Wednesday night. Van Gaal (right) adamantly rejected talk of a rift with his assistant Ryan Giggs after the Newcastle game . Angel di Maria has been substituted early in United's last two games due to poor performances . Midfielder Michael Carrick (left) could be set to start his first game for United since January 23 . Among the problems van Gaal has to face is the poor form of £60million record signing Angel di Maria who has been substituted early in United's last two games and the lack of goals from Falcao whose loan spell is unlikely to be renewed at the end of the season without a dramatic change in fortunes. The crowd reaction to the United manager on Monday will be interesting to see. So far, he has received little warmth from the fans whose cries of 'Attack, attack, attack' are a sign of frustration against van Gaal's possession-based game. One piece of good news is that Michael Carrick may be able to start his first game since January 23 following a muscle rapture. United's best results this season have come when Carrick has played. +Papiss Cisse was banned for seven games for his part in the spitting storm that also involved Manchester United defender Jonny Evans. Evans himself is facing a ban of six matches if found guilty after the Football Association charged both men. The incident came during United’s 1-0 win at Newcastle on Wednesday night when the pair spat at each other following a first-half tangle. Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the floored Newcastle United striker . Papiss Cisse subsequently retaliates, and appears to aim spit of his own back at the Manchester United man . Evans (left) and Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Everton (a), March 15 . Arsenal (h), March 21 . Sunderland (a), April 5 . Liverpool (a), April 13 . Tottenham (h), April 19 . Swansea (h), April 25 . Leicester (a), May 2 . Both Newcastle striker Cisse, who admitted the charge, and Evans released statements on Thursday in which they disagreed on the intent behind the disgusting scenes. Bizarrely, Evans claimed he was shocked by the allegations and protested his innocence. Cisse responded by apologising but said he was provoked when Evans spat at him. Indeed, Sportsmail understands that Cisse is furious that the Northern Ireland international has not admitted his guilt, and is adamant the defender spat at his leg. And Cisse will inform FA disciplinary chiefs that Evans intentionally spat at him when questioned about the incident. Cisse has been banned for seven games after accepting the charge from the FA on Thursday . This season, FA guidelines dictate that the punishment for spitting should be in line with FIFA's six game ban for the offence. Cisse faces an additional one game ban because he has already been sent off for violent conduct after elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman (above) in December. Having conceded he was wrong to react by spitting in Evans’s face, Cisse will be fined a week’s wages of around £40,000 by Newcastle, who will now be without their 11-goal top scorer until May. FA rules were changed in the summer to bring them in line with FIFA guidelines which state a player found guilty of spitting at an opponent will be suspended for six games. However, Cisse has already served a three-match ban for violent conduct this season after elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman and as a result will be hit with an additional one-game suspension. He will not return until the final three matches of the campaign. Evans, meanwhile, could miss crucial Premier League fixtures against Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea should he be found guilty. But the 27-year-old will contest the charge, to which he must respond by 6pm on Friday evening. The Senegalese striker points the finger at United defender Evans after the ugly incident . Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley said: 'Both ourselves and Papiss agree that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. 'In life, when you do something wrong you have to front up, admit your mistakes and accept the punishment. Papiss was proactive this morning in making a full and heartfelt apology, which he did in advance of any notification from the FA regarding this charge. 'This was something he felt strongly about and we fully support him in quickly accepting the charge. 'Papiss is known to many of our region's schools, community groups and junior football teams for his involvement in the work of the Newcastle United Foundation. 'He has this evening expressed to us his strong desire to engage in additional community activities during the period of his ban. 'He is particularly keen to use his position as a role model to encourage young and influential fans to engage in sport and learn lessons about the importance of fair play and personal conduct.' Evans’s statement read: ‘Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. ‘I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. ‘During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. ‘It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.’ Tempers threaten to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gather on the pitch . Cisse was banned for an extra man after beinf sent off for elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman in December . The FA were waiting for referee Anthony Taylor's report. As he missed the incident between Jonny Evans and Pappis Cisse, and it wasn't included in his report - the FA were within their right to retrospectively punish the pair. Hull striker George Boyd was banned for three games last season after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA have issued new guidelines to move in line with new FIFA guidelines meaning Evans and Cisse could now be banned for six games. Cisse responded less than an hour later by saying: ‘I have apologies to make to a lot of people today. Firstly to my team-mates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny. ‘I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be a positive role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down. ‘I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.’ +In these disturbing scenes, eyewitnessed by Daily Mail Online, Nick Gordon is seen incoherent and so drunk and high he is unable to walk. Captured on video barely 12 hours before a dramatic intervention by Dr Phil McGraw Gordon, 25, is shown falling down drunk and being helped to his feet in his hotel, the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead, Atlanta. The beleaguered fiancé of Bobby Kristina Brown believed he was to be interviewed by Dr Phil the following day. Gordon has now admitted to taking heroin, Xanax and drinking heavily since Bobby Kristina, 22, was found face-down and unresponsive in her bath-tub on 31 January. He had wanted to tell his story publicly because he felt he was being ‘vilified’ and depicted as a ‘monster.’ Breakdown: With his mother, Michelle, by his side Nick Gordon struggles to stay coherent . Troubling preview: A trailer for the interview of Bobbi Kristina Brown's boyfriend Nick Gordon by Dr Phil McGraw was released Sunday night. Swinging from crying to flying into a rage, the disturbing 30 second video shows a very troubled young man in a lot of pain as he is questioned by Dr Phil . Blame game: Michelle said her son 'cannot take too much more of not being able to see Kriss. He blames himself. He's torn up and carrying guilt. He's dealing with it by drinking. I've begged him to stop. I've tried to help him but he can't let go of the guilt.' Hugs: Before he left for rehab, Nick and his mother embraced. She said her son was at 'the breaking point'. But on learning of Gordon’s spiralling mental and physical state Dr Phil decided that he could not proceed with the interview, ‘in good conscience.’ Instead, with Gordon’s life ‘hanging in the balance’ he staged an intervention. In the show, due to broadcast Wednesday, a weeping and wailing Gordon admitted that he has twice tried to kill himself and confessed: ‘I’m so sorry for everything.’ Asked if he still intended to kill himself he said: ‘If anything happens to Krissi I will.’ He said: ‘My pain is horrible. My heart hurts. I have panic attacks.’ In recent weeks Gordon has twice overdosed on a mixture of Xanax, alcohol and prescription sleeping pills. Gordon had agreed to meet with Dr Phil believing that he was there to be interviewed. According to Dr Phil: 'He felt like he was being vilified and presented as some sort of monster.' Instead, on learning of Gordon's rapidly deteriorating mental, emotional and physical state, the eminent psychologist staged an intervention and he is now in rehab. Dr Phil stated: 'I don't think he has any chance of turning this round. Left to his own devices he will be dead within the week.' Gordon's mother, Michelle, was by her son's side as he alternated between compliant and aggressive – at one point threatening to attack camera men as they filmed. She described her son as 'at breaking point.' She said: 'He cannot take too much more of not being able to see Kriss. He blames himself. He's torn up and carrying guilt. 'He's dealing with it by drinking. I've begged him to stop. I've tried to help him but he can't let go of the guilt.' Leaning towards Gordon's mother, Dr Phil said: 'You and I have one mission with one possible outcome and that's for him to agree to go to rehab to deal with his depression, his guilt…and to get clean and sober.' He added: 'His life absolutely hangs in the balance.' Questions still rage regarding just what happened in the early hours of January 31st that led to Bobbi Kristina, 22, ending up face down in her tub. Just two days ago Bobbi Kristina's aunt, Leolah Brown, made a series of explosive Facebook posts in which she alleged that the family had 'strong evidene of foul play' relating to Gordon's role in events. She posted: 'Nick Gordon is very disrespectful and inconsiderate! Especially to my family. Moreover, he has done things to my niece that I never thought he had in him to do!' Leolah made her claims in response to being invited onto Dr Phil's show. Tough to watch: The young man sobs and shakes at times through the trailer . In her message she wrote: 'With all due respect, Nick Gordon is under investigation for the attempted murder of my niece….We have strong evidence of foul play.' Marks were found on her face and arms, marks that Gordon has explained as the result of CPR which he administered to her for 15 minutes before emergency services arrived. And speaking to Dr Phil, Gordon insisted: 'I did everything possible in the world to protect them [Whitney and Bobbi Kristina].' Railing against the decision by Bobbi's father, Bobby Brown, to ban him from his fiancée's bedside at Atlanta's Emory Hospital, Gordon said: 'My name will be the first she calls.' According to his mother, Michelle, Gordon cannot forgive himself for his 'failure' to revive Bobbi Kristina. His guilt is compounded by the eerily similar situation in which he found himself almost exactly three years earlier. 'I hate Bobby Brown!' His tears quickly turn to anger when he brings up his girlfriend's father Bobby Brown, who has blocked him from seeing the 22-year-old in the hospital . 'Are you drinking?' The emotional man's anger only increases as Dr. Phil asks about Nick's sobriety . Refuses to go: The 25-year-old aspiring rapper storms out when told he needs help . Resigned: Ultimately, Gordon concedes that he needs help and leaves for a rehab facility . Then, on 11 February 2012, it was Gordon who tried to resuscitate Whitney when she was found unresponsive in her bath-tub just hours before she was due to attend a Grammy awards party. Speaking to Dr Phil, Michelle said: 'Nicholas just continually expresses how much he has failed Whitney. 'He administered CPR [to Whitney] and he called me when he was standing over her body. He couldn't understand why he couldn't revive her. He said, "Mommy why? I couldn't get the air into her lungs." Gordon has now entered a rehab facility in Atlanta. Meanwhile his fiancée continues to fight for her life in a medically-induced coma. It is now six weeks since Bobbi Kristina – Krissi as she was known to friends - was found face down and unresponsive in the bath-tub of the home she shared with Gordon in Roswell, Georgia. Unlike Whitney's death that was ruled accidental, police are treating Bobbi Kristina's near drowning and injuries allegedly sustained by the 22-year-old as a criminal investigation. While Bobbi Kristina fights for her life a troubling picture of her relationship with Nick, of drug use and domestic turbulence in the weeks leading up to the incident, has emerged. In an interview with The Sun  a friend of the couple, Steven Stepho, claimed they were using various drugs daily including heroin, Xanax, pot and heroin substitute Roxicodone. Sounding eerily similar to Bobbi's mother and father's drug-dependent relationship, the friend said the pair used whatever they could get their hands on. 'Bobbi and Nick would spend a lot on drugs every day, it just depended on how much money they had. It wasn't unusual for them to spend $1,000 a day on drugs. 'There were times when it got really bad - they would be completely passed out for hours, just lying there on the bed. There were times when she would be so knocked out she would burn herself with a cigarette and not even notice. She was always covered in cigarette burns.' Their relationship was also very volatile. 'When Whitney died Nick was left with nothing, so he knew he had to control Krissi to get access to the money. She'd do whatever he told her. 'He was very manipulative and would even use the drugs to control her. They would argue a lot and there were times when he would be violent with her and push her around.' According to Stepho: 'But Krissi really loved him because he was there to fill the gap left by her mother. She was not close to her father and did not have anyone else close to her. Nick knew this and took advantage of it.' Troubled relationship: A friend of the couple, Steven Stepho, claimed the pair were using various drugs daily including heroin, Xanax, pot and heroin substitute Roxicodone . +When it comes to the FA Cup, Manchester United have edged Barclays Premier League rivals Arsenal in recent years, winning three of their last five meetings. This year, the pair have been pitted against each other once again, in the quarter-finals - the difference this time being that Sir Alex Ferguson will not be in charge of United. Can Arsenal, the current holders, balance the scales and reach the last four? Manchester United will face Arsenal in the FA Cup for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson's (right) retirement . Manchester United 0 Arsenal 2 - FA Cup fifth-round, February 2003 . Goals either side of half-time saw Arsenal bag a comfortable win over their top-flight rivals. Edu opened the scoring for the Gunners in the 34th minute with a free-kick which deflected off the shoulder of David Beckham and wrong-footed Fabien Barthez. The visitors struck another blow to United's comeback hopes when Sylvain Wiltord took the ball around Wes Brown before converting a well-placed shot for Arsenal's second in the 52nd minute, putting the game out of reach. Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy (left) tussles with Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira (right) Arsenal forward Sylvain Wiltord (left) is congratulated by team-mates after scoring his side's second goal . Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has an attempt at goal during the FA Cup fifth-round in 2004 . Arsenal 0 Manchester United 1 - FA Cup semi-final, April 2004 . United secured their place in the final by beating Arsenal at Villa Park, where Paul Scholes fired home the only goal. It came just after half an hour when Ryan Giggs squared a ball in from the right to an unmarked Scholes, whose fierce shot sailed past Jens Lehmann. Arsenal did have their chances, however, with Edu and Patrick Vieira both hitting the woodwork and frequently forcing Roy Carroll into action. The defeat ended the Gunners' 18-match unbeaten FA Cup run, which stretched back to their 2001 defeat to Liverpool in the final. United playmaker Paul Scholes (centre) scores the only goal as his side beat Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final . United winger Cristiano Ronaldo (left) is brought down by Arsenal defender Gael Clichy (right) Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0 (Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties) - FA Cup final, May 2005 . Arsenal held on for a goalless draw after a dominant Manchester United performance in the Wembley final, which the Gunners went on to win 5-4 on penalties. United were unable to beat in-form goalkeeper Lehmann, who made crucial saves throughout before saving Scholes' penalty to clinch the cup. United came close with chances from Wayne Rooney, who hit the post, and Ruud van Nistlerooy, whose effort was deflected onto the bar by Freddie Ljungberg. Come the shoot-out, Arsenal, who had Jose Antonio Reyes sent off in the final minute of extra-time, maintained their composure and scored all five penalties, the fifth converted by Vieira. Arsenal full-back Lauren (left) goes to challenge Ronaldo during the FA Cup final in 2005 . Patrick Vieira holds the FA Cup trophy after Arsenal beat Manchester United on penalties in 2005 . Arsenal goalkeeper dives to make a stunning save from Paul Scholes during the 2005 final shoot-out . Manchester United 4 Arsenal 0 - FA Cup fifth-round, February 2008 . A dominant first-half performance saw Manchester United ease to victory over Arsenal in the fifth round. United were 3-0 up by half-time thanks to headed efforts by Rooney and Darren Fletcher which effectively put the game out of reach after 20 minutes, with Nani netting a third just before the break. The Gunners' luck worsened shortly after the restart when Emmanuel Eboue was sent off for a foul on Patrice Evra, ruling out any glimmer of a comeback. The match was finally put to bed in the 74th minute when Fletcher headed in his second and United's fourth. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney (centre) loses his man to open the scoring against Arsenal in 2008 . Manchester United's South Korean midfielder Ji-Sung Park (right) crosses the ball past Justin Hoyte (left) United midfielder Darren Fletcher (right) scores his second and his side's fourth goal against Arsenal . Manchester United 2 Arsenal 0 - FA Cup quarter-final, March 2011 . United secured a comfortable win over Arsenal in the last eight, silencing a few of Ferguson's critics. The veteran Scottish manager had come under pressure prior to the game thanks to league defeats at Liverpool and Chelsea, resulting in a drastic squad reshuffle which saw seven defenders start against the Gunners. United went in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to Fabio's goal, with Rooney putting the game out of reach at the start of the second half. Arsenal's FA Cup exit came shortly after they had lost to Birmingham in the League Cup final, and to Barcelona in the Champions League. Fabio Da Silva of Manchester United (right) shields the ball away from the incoming challenge of Denilson (left) Paul Scholes (centre) angrily confronts Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh (right) back in 2011 . Wayne Rooney (right) is congratulated by team-mates Rafael (left) and Javier Hernandez (top) +Louis van Gaal  has filled his players’ heads with so much information this season they look shackled. In a dressing room where everything is analysed, the players look unable to break free. If ever a fixture can change that, it’s this one. Manchester United against Arsenal is a game to inspire any player and, with a potential trip to Wembley, you can see players like Wayne Rooney falling back on their natural attacking instincts. If they do break from Van Gaal’s mould, those creative personalities could come flooding through. Wayne Rooney and his Manchester United team-mates have looked shackled under Louis van Gaal's regime . PLAYING AT PACE . United have dominated possession recently but Arsenal won’t be troubled if United play keep-ball. The win at City shows how they are now just as happy hitting teams on the counter as they are keeping possession. With Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott, they have pace to burn and with no Jonny Evans it means another change in the United backline, which will only increase uncertainty. Arsenal speedsters such as Theo Walcott can cause United's defence all sorts of problems at Old Trafford . WATCH OUT FOR WELBECK . Danny Welbeck would have been smarting when he was sold by Van Gaal. He is a good finisher, a mature player and there is no way he will want to see United troop out for a Cup final in May. Danny Welbeck will be looking to prove a point to Louis van Gaal who moved him on from Old Trafford . THE FORTRESS IS CRUMBLING . When Arsenal last played United in the FA Cup, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side won 2-0 in 2011. Since he left, Old Trafford has not been the same. In a season and a half, United have lost nine league games at home. That’s as many as Ferguson lost in his last six seasons. Teams don’t fear going there and even the home fans don’t know what to expect these days. Arsenal will hope to exploit any doubts. Old Trafford has not quite been the fortress of old since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure . Van Gaal's  side have played 33 games this season, nine fewer than Arsenal, so should be fresher. In the table of minutes played by both squads, only two United players are in the top 10 and one is goalkeeper David de Gea. MINUTES PLAYED . Per Mertesacker, Arsenal: 3150 . Santi Cazorla, Arsenal: 3121 . Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal: 3081 . David de Gea, Man Utd: 2970 . Calum Chambers, Arsenal: 2392 . Wayne Rooney, Man Utd: 2383 . Kieran Gibbs, Arsenal: 2287 . Wojciech Szczesny Arsenal 2279 . Nacho Monreal, Arsenal: 2266 . Laurent Koscielny, Arsenal:  2194 . MY MEMORIES OF A CLASSIC RIVALRY . There has always been a great rivalry between these sides, but I never played at Old Trafford with any fear. I went there as a youngster in 1986 and won with Arsenal and during the Wenger years we had a team that could go and win anywhere. We were a physical team but we could play, and it was almost a compliment when United tried to match our physicality. In 1999, Ryan Giggs scored that classic FA Cup goal and it turned the season. Arsenal could have won the double but United went on to win the treble. Andy Cole made a run to drag me out of position, but sometimes you just have to admire moments of genius. The other game people love to remind me of is the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ in 2003. In the little black book of opposition players, Ruud van Nistelrooy was one not to be trusted. He was a top player and a fighter, but he would look for any reason to go down. Perhaps I overreacted, but the whole team was infuriated by him. And I’m still not convinced I deserved to give away the penalty that Ruud eventually missed! Martin Keown clashed with former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2003 . +Majid Haq, Scotland’s leading wicket-taker and most capped player, has been forced to fly home from the World Cup after a controversial tweet . One of Scotland’s most successful cricketers has been sent home from the World Cup in disgrace after suggesting his axing from a match was racially motivated. Majid Haq, the country’s leading wicket-taker and most capped player, was ordered to fly back early from Australia for breaching the team’s code of conduct. Haq was not selected for the team that lost to Sri Lanka in Hobart yesterday and later tweeted: ‘Always tougher when your in the minority! #colour #race’, before later deleting the post. After the match, Cricket Scotland broke the news in a brief statement that 32-year-old Haq was coming home early, adding: ‘No further statement will be issued until internal processes have been completed.’ The Paisley-born cricketer now faces a disciplinary hearing which could decide whether his distinguished ten-year career continues or is brought to an ignominious end. The spin bowler, who made his first-class debut with the national team in 2004, suffered mixed fortunes in the World Cup in which Scotland has lost all five pool matches so far. It has a last game on Saturday in which to register a win, but that’s a tall order against four-time champions and co-hosts Australia. Haq took three wickets in Scotland’s first four matches, and was dropped after bowling figures of 0-49 and scoring only one run in the defeat to Bangladesh at Nelson in New Zealand on March 5. In the match against England on February 22, offspinner Haq dismissed opener Moeen Ali to claim a record 257th wicket for Scotland. Former England all-rounder Ian Botham and ex-coach David Lloyd ruffled feathers when they branded the Clydesdale Cricket Club bowler a ‘lobber’ in their TV commentary. At the time, Scotland’s director of cricket Andy Tennant, a specialist spin coach, came to his player’s defence, insisting he was ‘world class’. Tennant said: ‘The commentators kept going on about how slowly Maj was bowling but his flight and dip in the air is what makes him a special bowler. Haq was dropped from Scotland's squad for their defeat to Sri Lanka yesterday after bowling figures of 0-49 and scoring just one run in the previous game, but suggested the move was racially motivated . ‘What they portrayed as a weakness is actually a strength. I think the remarks came across as ill-informed. Majid should be rightly proud of what he has achieved for Scotland and I’m sure he’ll go on to take many more wickets for his country.’ Haq holds the Scottish record for most international cricket caps – 209 – and was presented with a trophy for becoming lead wicket-taker following the England match. Coach Grant Bradburn said in a statement: ‘It is a huge honour and fantastic achievement for Majid, who now becomes Scotland’s leading wicket-taker of all time. 'As such a loyal servant to Scotland Cricket, it is especially appropriate for Majid to achieve this milestone during our World Cup campaign.’ Coach Grant Bradburn had previously praised Haq when he collected a record 209th cap for Scotland, but his tweet has since dampened the mood . However, the buoyant mood in the Scotland camp generated by Haq’s achievements has been dampened by his tweet. A Cricket Scotland statement yesterday said: ‘Following a breach of Cricket Scotland’s internal code of conduct, international team member, Majid Haq, is travelling home from the ICC World Cup. ‘No further statement will be issued until internal processes have been completed in due course.’ Haq, whose family is of Pakistani heritage and ran a curry restaurant in Glasgow, was brought up in Paisley, Renfrewshire, attending Castlehead High School and Reid Kerr College. He later graduated in accountancy at the former University of Paisley. He worked part-time as an accountant before switching to cricket full-time six years ago. In an interview last month, Haq revealed that the last World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, in 1992, helped him fall in love with the game, with Pakistan’s victory in the final against England a seminal moment. BBC radio commentator and former England off-spinner Vic Marks said yesterday he was ‘shocked’ that Haq’s tour should end in such fashion. He said: ‘I understand why any player would be really disappointed about being dropped – it’s a horrible feeling, especially if you are a senior player. 'I can also understand from the Scottish selectors’ point of view that it was an opportunity to blood a talented young offspinner and that might be why they took the step to drop Haq. ‘I guess the authorities were left with no real option once he’d delivered his tweet. They had to take pretty severe action.’ +Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis has signed a one-year contract extension. The Argentina international was approaching the end of his previous deal but has now committed until the end of the 2015-16 season. Demichelis, 34, has become an important member of City's defensive unit after an initially shaky start following his move to the Etihad Stadium in September 2013. Martin Demichelis (left) has signed a new one-year deal with Manchester City . 'I want to say that I am really proud and happy to have extended my contract for another year,' Demichelis told the club's official website. 'Manchester City is a club with a lot of ambition. We want to grow every year. 'When you get to hold a trophy, it's the best feeling for any player. 'I want to say that I will fight for this club and for my team-mates until the end of my contract. I will fight to try and win titles.' Demichelis worked with City manager Manuel Pellegrini at River Plate and Malaga and followed the Chilean to Manchester from the Spanish club via a brief, appearanceless, stint at Atletico Madrid. He also had a successful nine-year spell at Bayern Munich earlier in his career and was a member of the Argentina side that reached last year's World Cup final. His early appearances for City were not impressive but he improved considerably after the nadir of a red card in a Champions League loss to Barcelona in February last year. Demichelis overcame a shaky start to his City career to establish himself in the back four . He played a key role in the season run-in that culminated with title success and he has made 30 appearances this season. Demichelis says he is now settled in England and has not even ruled out looking to stay beyond his new deal. He said: 'We are happy here - my wife and son are happy here. We are trying to improve our English and I think that's a good thing for our future. 'At this stage I am enjoying playing week to week - you can never say what can happen in the future.' Demichelis follows Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Aleksandar Kolarov in committing to the club over the last year. Discussions with another player out of contract at the end of the season, James Milner, remain ongoing. The England international has been linked with a move abroad in recent days but Pellegrini has often said they are hopeful new terms can be agreed. +Estonian driver Ott Tanak was back in the Rally of Mexico on Saturday after his submerged Ford was fished out of a reservoir and rebuilt overnight. Tanak's car rolled down a steep embankment and plunged into deep water on Friday's second leg of the Guanajuato-based rally, remaining sunk for 10 hours. 'As soon as we opened the doors the car was gone in just a few seconds,' the M-Sport driver had said after he and co-driver Raigo Moelder, who managed to retrieve his pace notes, had scrambled free. Ott Tanak returned to the track despite being involved a spectacular crash into a reservoir on Friday . Tanak and his co-driver Raigo Molder lost control and headed straight into the reservoir after losing control . The Ford rally car flipped into the deep water with both drivers still inside the vehicle . 'I also had a problem with my intercom wire because it didn't come loose and was dragging me under the water. We were really lucky.' After finally pulling the car out, M-Sport drained the engine and replaced the gearbox, fuel tank, turbo, electronic components and a host of other parts. 'This is something that we have never seen before,' Tanak said. 'The car has been gone all day, submerged at the bottom of a lake, full of water, and the team had to do a full rebuild in just three hours.' Luckily for Tanak and Molder the car turned back the right way and they were able to open the doors . The drivers managed to swim away from the wreckage as the car began to sink deeper into the water . Stage three in Mexico has seen a number of brutal crashes with Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle involved in a collision with the embankment before coming to a halt. Polish duo Robert Kubica and Maciek Szczepaniak managed to head off the road and crash straight into a tree - causing the car to flip. While Belgians Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul lost control on a tight corner before crashing into a ditch and needing locals to help shift the vehicle. Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle thumped into an embankment causing their car to come to a stop . Former F1 driver Robert Kubica and Maciek Szczepaniak were also involved in a high-speed crash . Mexico claimed more crash victims when Belgians Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul lost control of the car . +Gary Neville spent Friday night with some of Manchester's finest as the England assistant watched The Charlatans at the Albert Hall. The former Manchester United defender was all smiles as he took time out with Charlatans' lead singer Tim Burgess, Stone Roses legend Mani and Courteeners frontman Liam Fray ahead of the gig. Tweeting an image of the four Mancunians to Twitter, Burgess joked: 'We need one more for our 5 a-side team' Gary Neville (left) poses with Tim Burgess, lead singer of The Charlatans (second left), Mani, and Liam Fray . The former Manchester United and England defender was all smiles ahead of The Charlatans gig . Neville shared a number of snaps from his seat at the gig and is seemingly a big fan of the 'Madchester' scene . Seemingly a big fan of the 'Madchester' music scene - which was at its height during the late 80s and early 90s - the 40-year-old posted snaps of the gig from his seat. Neville later posed with Burgess and a signed set-list, saying on Twitter: 'Amazing night with Tim Burgess and The Charlatans.' Back in December, Neville shared an image of himself with Courteeners star Fray and wished his beloved Manchester a Merry Christmas. Burgess, meanwhile, was chuffed to see his band's song 'Come Home Baby', taken from The Charlatans' latest album Modern Nature, included on the Old Trafford playlist before Manchester United's 2-0 victory over Sunderland last week. Stone Roses bassist Mani - real name Gary Mounfield - who also had a spell with Primal Scream, is a staunch Manchester United fan and was at the Nou Camp to see the Red Devils complete the treble and lift the Champions League trophy in 1999. Stone Roses legend Mani witnessed Neville lifting the Champions League trophy at the Nou Camp in 1999 . +Former Arsenal captain Thierry Henry has got fans guessing after posting picture of himself alongside singer-songwriter Robbie Williams on Twitter, cryptically promising 'something special' ahead of Red Nose Day 2015. The biennial television charity appeal, which is part of the wider Comic Relief campaign, is set to air this year on March 13. Williams, who has had UK No 1 singles with Millennium and Rock DJ, has taken part in previous Red Nose Day shows, and famously appeared dressed as a woman with Matt Lucas and David Walliams of the hit comedy series Little Britain in 2009. Thierry Henry poses with singer-songwriter Robbie Williams (left) ahead of Red Nose Day . The Frenchman is Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer, netting 228 times for the north-London club . Williams (centre) appears with Little Britain's Matt Lucas (left) and David Walliams for Comic Relief in 2009 . It remains to be seen whether Henry, who retired from playing football last year, will be prepared to try something as daring. Since hanging up his boots, Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer, has been working as a pundit for Sky Sports and taking the first steps into coaching, juggling a part-time role with the north London club's youth development teams. Henry is known to support a number of humanitarian causes and is an ambassador for the children's charity, UNICEF. Henry makes a point to fellow Sky Sports pundit Glenn Hoddle (right) ahead of the League Cup final . Williams performs at the Bambi Awards back in 2013 at the Stage Theatre in Berlin, Germany . Henry scores a penalty for Arsenal during the Premier League game against Charlton Athletic in 2007 . +Mathieu Bastareaud and Thierry Dusautoir's imposing frames may not have delivered for France this Six Nations but they made the day of some young stars of the future on Wednesday. France have just one win from their three this tournament but will be looking to turn that around in Rome when they take on Italy, one of the two team's behind them on the table. Before they got down to business on Wednesday with their preparations ahead of their clash with Italy, Bastareaud, Dusautoir and Co showed their squad remains in good spirits with a pre-training session with local children in Marcoussis. Kids pile onto powerful France centre Mathieu Bastareaud during a training session in Marcoussis . Bastareaud play acts as the young stars of the future attempt to bring him down during a pre-training session . France's No 8 Damien Chouly joins the ruck as Les Bleus have some fun before getting down to business . France captain Thierry Dusautoir is all smiles as he towers over these youngsters . Flanker Dusautoir, finding some space among the children, will be hoping his side bounce back in Italy . Les Bleus enjoyed a jovial run with young players at their training base just south of Paris, which included kids struggling to bring down massive centre Bastareaud and Dusautoir appearing to enjoy his customary role of towering over all even more than usual. Once the fun was over though Philippe Saint-Andre was laying down the law as they prepared for their visit to Rome on Sunday where they'll be keen to add to their solitary win of the tournament. France, who are fourth behind Ireland, Wales and England, have been far from convincing so far this campaign, accounting only for Scotland 15-8 in their opening match. With losses back to back against Ireland and Wales - both by just seven points - they'll be eager to give fans a glimpse of the potential their coach is convinced they have at their disposal. France's prop Nicolas Mas spins a pass to his left during a jovial training run on Wednesday . Dusautoir smiles as the youngsters line up to shake his hand after their light-hearted run . Closer to their size was France scrum half Sebastien Tillous-Borde, who was recalled for the Wales loss . They will be expected to come away from Stadio Olimpico with maximum points, but their last two trips to Rome have ended in disappointment for France. After venting following the Wales defeat, Saint-Andre put his support behind his players this week, saying he had 'faith' in them to turn things around in Italy. 'The team has a lot of potential,' he said. 'Over the last two and half years we've learned a lot. I have a group of professionals, and a good team, but they need to maximise their potential. 'Saturday (against Wales), we were only at 70-80 per cent. As a coach, but also as a lover of rugby, I expect a lot more from this team. I have faith in this squad. 'They have the right values, and they are doing well as a squad. They need to do more on the pitch, as a team and individually. They need to take the initiative. 'But honestly, if we didn't believe in them, we'd have changed lots of players. On Sunday in Italy I expect a reaction because we have a squad with values and they will show it on Sunday.' Don't go above the horizontal! France's lock Yohann Maestri tackles a young players without the ball . Down to business, prop Nicolas Mas charges forward as training gets serious south of Paris . Dusautoir (left) and France head coach Philippe Saint Andre speak on the training pitch in Marcoussis . France show  a united front as they gather ahead of their trip to Rome to take on Italy . They'll be doing it without winger Sofiane Guitoune, who's been ruled out with a hamstring injury picked up for Bordeaux-Begles in their defeat by Stade Francais at the weekend. It's a blow to Guitoune who got his first start in this Six Nations against Wales. He'll be replaced by Racing Metro's Marc Andreu. 'Disappointed to leave the team but a bit bothered by my hamstring which prevents me from being 100%. Supporting the team with all my heart,' Guitoune said on Twitter. +Courtney Lawes insists England fans will see a changed man at Twickenham on Saturday as he believes controlling his recklessness will preserve his career. The 26-year-old Northampton lock returns to Stuart Lancaster’s starting line-up against Scotland after recovering from ankle surgery in January and will be charged with running the line-out. Renowned as one of the world’s most physical players, Lawes has suffered several injuries since making his England debut aged 20 and the son of a nightclub bouncer accepts he needs to choose his battles. Northampton lock Courtney Lawes, in England training, returns to Stuart Lancaster's starting XV . ‘If I’m reckless then I’ll probably hurt myself which is why I keep a lid on things these days,’ said Lawes, who will win his 37th cap. ‘I’ve always been pretty chilled but when you’re younger, frustrations can get the better of you and you can be a bit rash. I’ve matured. I know I’m not made of steel.’ Lawes replaces George Kruis in the second row for the Calcutta Cup clash. The 26-year-old, working hard on Wednesday at England HQ, will win his 37th cap at Twickenham . The England squad played out a fiercely committed training match on Wednesday ahead of facing Scotland . +Joe Schmidt has made just one change to his starting line-up for Wales on Saturday, fit-again Jamie Heaslip returning in place of Jordi Murphy. Injured on February 14 against France, Heaslip has timed his recovery from the three vertebrae fractured by Pascal Papé perfectly. It was anticipated that the problem, treated like a soft tissue injury, could come right in four weeks and the medics have been proved spot on, Heaslip taking part in full training all week to put himself in the frame to resume against Wales. Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt (above) has made one change to the side that beat England . Jamie Heaslip (centre) is back after being injured by Pascal Pape against France on February 14 . Jonathan Sexton (left) has recovered from the hamstring problem that he had for Ireland . R Kearney (Leinster), T Bowe, J Payne (both Ulster), R Henshaw (Connacht), S Zebo (Munster), J Sexton (Racing Metro), C Murray (Munster), J McGrath (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross, D Toner (both Leinster), P O'Connell (capt), P O'Mahony (both Munster), S O'Brien, J Heaslip (both Leinster). Replacements: S Cronin, C Healy, M Moore (all Leinster), I Henderson (Ulster), J Murphy, E Reddan, I Madigan (all Leinster), F Jones (Munster). Murphy will consider himself unlucky not to have held on, given his impressive show in helping subdue the vaunted English back row, but Heaslip has been true to his word after saying last Friday that he was ‘pretty confident’ he would be declared fit for the Millennium Stadium. Murphy instead takes a place on the bench at the expense of Tommy O’Donnell who demonstrated his worth for the second time this spring, coming on as an early replacement against England for the concussed Seán O’Brien and again not looking out of his depth. Elsewhere, with Jonathan Sexton shaking off his hamstring problem, and O’Brien and Jared Payne both coming through concussion protocols, Schmidt’s team is as expected as they seek to set up a Grand Slam trip to Murrayfield on Saturday week. Jordi Murphy is expected to make way for the return of Heaslip against Wales on Saturday . Jack McGrath is set to keep his place in the Ireland team for the Six Nations game against Wales . It means Schmidt has continued to reward Jack McGrath for his consistently good form, keeping Cian Healy, who started his first game for Leinster in six months last Saturday, on the bench for the third Test in a row. There was concern about replacement out-half Ian Madigan’s control of the closing 25 minutes against England, but he is again back-up to Sexton. Felix Jones has been given the No 23 shirt once more, despite pressure from in-form Munster colleague Keith Earls. +France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre reverted to his favoured halfback pairing of Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Camille Lopez when he named them on Thursday in a reshuffled team to face Italy in the Six Nations on Sunday. Scrumhalf Tillous-Borde and flyhalf Lopez started all three November tests but the Toulon player missed the first two Six Nations games through injury before starting on the bench for the third. France started with a 15-8 home win against Scotland before losing 18-11 in Ireland and went down 20-13 against Wales at the Stade de France. France scrum half Sebastien Tillous-Borde returns to the starting line-up for their Six Nations clash with Italy . Tillous-Borde rejoins Camille Lopez in head coach Philippe Saint-Andre's preferred halves pairing . Saint-Andre made eight changes to the team who lost against Wales after the squad was hit by a series of injuries, with scrumhalf Morgan Parra, centres Remi Lamerat and Wesley Fofana as well as wing Sofiane Guitoune being ruled out. Fullback Brice Dulin was replaced by Scott Spedding while wing Noa Nakaitaci and number eight Loann Goujon have been handed their first start with Les Bleus. Centre Maxime Mermoz will start in his first appearance in this year's championship. France, who finished fourth last year and ended up with the wooden spoon in 2013, are fourth in the standings before travelling to Italy and England. Saint-Andre has rung in eight changes to the side that lost to Wales as they look for maximum points in Rome . 15-Scott Spedding, 14-Yoann Huget, 13-Gael Fickou, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Noa Nakaitaci, 10-Camille Lopez, 9-Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8-Loann Goujon, 7-Bernard Le Roux, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Alexandre Flanquart, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-Guilhem Guirado, 1-Eddy Ben Arous . Replacements: Benjamin Kaiser, Rabah Slimani, Vincent Debaty, Romain Taofifenua, Damien Chouly, Rory Kockott, Jules Plisson, Mathieu Bastareaud . +Damaging winds, hailstones and severe thunderstorms were predicted to hit Sydney's far west as well as the Hunter, Illawarra and Central Tablelands regions on Thursday evening. The Bureau of Meteorology said a severe storm swept through Springwood, Bilpin and the Yengo National Park in the Blue Mountains on Thursday evening before heading north. Photos on social media show large hailstones raining on residents in the Blue Mountains, described as 'sheets of ice' by local Shannon King on Twitter. Photos on social media show Blue Mountains residents holding up large hailstones in the wake of the severe storm . Jacki Allen uploaded this image of several large hailstones found in Faulconbridge . 'I have some small dents in my car but animals (are) ok,' Ms King said. Large hail was reported at Faulconbridge on the lower Blue Mountains at about 7pm. Faulconbridge resident Andrew Ballard said on Twitter the hail was 'twice the size of golf balls,' reports ABC. The Bureau previously warned the hail, severe winds and heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding. The Bureau of Meteorology said a severe storm swept through Springwood, Bilpin and the Yengo National Park in the Blue Mountains . The storms come after wild weather lashed Sydney's west and south on Wednesday evening. More than 20,000 homes lost power when heavy rainfall, damaging winds and lightning rolled through after 7pm. A Bringelly family was forced to leave their home when their roof collapsed, while another piece of roof blew onto train tracks at Mount Druitt. Faulconbridge resident Amy Margaret Thorpe uploaded the following image following the wild thunderstorm on Thursday evening . Faulconbridge, situated on the lower Blue Mountains, was the area worst hit by the storm . +A raucous group of Paris St Germain fans have posted a spoof video on the internet lampooning Chelsea following the London club's humiliating exit from the Champions League. Short video, which was uploaded earlier today, shows a dejected 'John Terry' standing on the platform of the Paris metro as a train pulls into the station. The carriage is packed with a gang of PSG fans, who are chanting 'Here is Paris' in a good humoured fashion at the man, who is wearing a replica  shirt bearing the Chelsea captain's name. A dejected 'John Terry' stands on a Paris Metro station following his side's Champions League exit . The man, wearing a Terry 26 jersey waits for the speeding train to stop before he can board . Unfortunately, the carriage is full of jubilant Paris St Germain fans who are through to the next round . As the fake John Terry attempts to board the train, he is pushed back by the smiling fans. The video is a response to a video featuring Chelsea fans on the Paris metro where a black man is prevented from boarding the train. As the train pulls away from the station, the sad-looking John Terry lowers his head as he contemplates the end of his Champions League dream. In a final barb to Chelsea fans, the video features a shot of a sign with the Champions League logo and Berlin 2015 - where the final is being held. Chelsea had offered the victim of the Paris metro racism row a free trip to last night's second leg. But the victim, Soulemayne S said he could not go to the game because of the impact of last month's incident. He said: 'This offer to go, this invitation, is just an attempt to make things up. For the moment I don't want to come because of what they've caused, the team and their fans. 'The Chelsea supporters have destroyed me. Even when I drive my car I feel like I'm being followed. I don't know if I am being followed by Chelsea fans, or police or the media. The John Terry-a-like is stopped from boarding the train by a group of fans who are chanting . The John Terry character tries several time to board the train without any success . The train departs leaving the spoof John Terry, like the real version, going nowhere in Europe this season . 'Even when I go and see my lawyer I am followed, when I go to see my therapist I feel like I'm being followed, and I've never had that in my life. 'The only problem I have in my life right now is because of Chelsea and their fans.' Meanwhile, five men linked to the incident have been served with summonses to appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on March 25 'regarding a police application for football banning orders'. Football banning orders are issued by courts following a conviction for a football-related offence after a complaint by the Crown Prosecution Service or local police, the Home Office website says. They can last for between three and 10 years. Breaches of the orders can result in a sentence of up to six months in prison. The video ends with a sign featuring the Champions League logo and an arrow pointing to Berlin . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +A funeral has been held for the newborn found dead at a Michigan recycling center after his mother allegedly left him freeze to death. Dozens attended the service for the boy, known simply as Baby Henry, whose body was discovered almost two months ago at a recycling center in the city of Roseville, near Detroit. Morgue employees named the child 'Henry Alexander Macomb,' after the county's namesake, Gen. Alexander Macomb. The newborn's lifeless body was discovered in January at the recycling facility - his mother Angela Alexie, is charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse. The 24-year-old relinquished her rights to bury the baby. A funeral has been held for the newborn found dead at a Michigan recycling center after his mother allegedly left him freeze to death . Dozens attended the service for the boy, known simply as Baby Henry, whose body was discovered almost two months ago at a recycling center in the city of Roseville . Morgue employees named the child 'Henry Alexander Macomb,' after the county's namesake, Gen. Alexander Macomb. 'I don't know what to say. I'm standing here representing the church, and I'm just as confused as most of you,' said Richard Shubik, a deacon at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms who presided over the service. 'But I think it's fitting, and I'm proud of all of you that are here today so that we can send Baby Henry off to the kingdom in the proper way.' Shubik, along with a number of those in attendance at Resurrection Cemetery in Macomb County's Clinton Township, became emotional during the brief service, pausing in the middle of a prayer to compose himself. The service also featured a bagpiper in addition to the procession led by the honor guard. Clinton Township fire Lt. Paul Brouwer, who walked behind the baby's casket, said he and his fellow firefighters were moved by the baby's story. Donald Ross plays bagpipes at the funeral service on Wednesday . Mourners pay their respects at the casket of a newborn. 'I don't know what to say. I'm standing here representing the church, and I'm just as confused as most of you,' said Richard Shubik, a deacon at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms who presided over the service . The burial plot in an area of the cemetery devoted to children, as well as the casket and a viewing held Tuesday evening all were donated. 'He was here for just such a short time that it was a tragedy to say the least. Hopefully with this his spirit can rest easy,' Brouwer said. The burial plot in an area of the cemetery devoted to children, as well as the casket and a viewing held Tuesday evening all were donated. Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon, who helped organize the effort, said 'we adopted the baby as a community.' 'He started out without anybody loving him. Now, we all love him. And I want the world forever to know that,' Cannon said. Alexie, gave birth to the baby alone in a garage in Eastpointe, Michigan, on December 22, 2014, and cut the umbilical cord with her teeth. The mother-of-three, whose children are all in foster care, claims she didn't have the strength to take the baby to authorities as she was embarrassed and didn't know if her boyfriend was the father. Wrapping the child in a blanket, Alexie left the him on the floor of the open-windowed residential garage for two days as she slept inside, checking on him every two hours. She attempted to breastfeed him, she says, but he never latched on. She did not bring him formula. Angela Alexie, 24, (pictured in February  allegedly delivered the baby boy on her own in the unattached garage of a friend's house that she was residing in and then put the baby in a recycling bin after he had died . On Christmas Eve, John died, and Alexie posted on Facebook 'RIP Baby', which she claims referred to somebody else's child. Alexie placed the body in a plastic bag and left him on the floor of the garage for another week before somebody placed the bag in a recycling dumpster, the court heard in February. The court also heard from Cyndee Johnson, a worker at ReCommunity Recycling who saw John's body come down the conveyor belt on January 14. He was blue, covered in snow, and curled up as if he were trying to stay warm, Johnson said. 'When I first saw, it scared me,' Johnson said tearfully. 'I jumped back. I moved back. I realized this was an actual baby.' It is believed that the child was born on or around December 22 in the garage of a friend's house in Eastpointe (pictured) and died Christmas Eve night, but the Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office is still working to confirm the timeline . 'It just grabbed my heart. I knew something wasn't right.' 'I said, 'That's a real baby. Stop the line! Stop the line!'' she testified. There is no official cause of death but authorities believe hypothermia played a major role. 'She did nothing. She let that child freeze to death,' Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Cataldo said, according to Detroit Free Press. 'He died when there were a number of ways to save him.' Alexie said she concealed the pregnancy from her boyfriend and pretended to have miscarried. Authorities released an appeal to find the mother, which prompted a response from Amy Lesniak, who is caring for two of Alexie's children. She said she suspected Alexie was pregnant when she started missing visits, claiming to have the flu or stomach problems. When she heard a baby was found in the dumpster, she called police saying she believed the child was Alexie's. Steven Kaplan, Alexie's attorney, said she has a 'severe lack of parenting skills, limited intelligence and lack of family support' in court yesterday. Kaplan will not seek a competency exam because it appeared to him that 'she has sufficient cognizance to assist her attorney in the hearing'. He plans to request a forensic evaluation regarding the issue of criminal responsibility or culpability, which he believes could lead to an insanity defense. Alexie relinquished her rights to bury the baby. Eastpointe Judge Carl Gerds set bond at $1 million. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Need some inspiration deciding who to back at Cheltenham? Sportsmail's Marcus Townend and Peter Scudamore reveal their favourites while Sky Sports News HQ presenter Alex Hammond and other celebrities have also shared their tips for the Festival. PETER SCUDAMORE . PTIT ZIG . (JLT Novices’ Chase, 1.30) I can forgive him his fall on his last run at Ascot — it was a typical novice mistake. But his form otherwise looks pretty strong and he can also boast some top quality Grade One-winning hurdle form. He is taken to fend off the strong Irish threat led by Apache Stronghold and Valseur Lido. BEST ODDS: 7-2 . Ptit Zig, pictured at the Christmas Meeting at Ascot, is Peter Scudamore's tip for the JLT Novices' Chase . DON COSSACK . (Ryanair Chase, 2.40) This gelding, trained by Gordon Elliott (below), looks a much more complete racehorse this season and has won all his four races since being beaten by AP McCoy’s Gold Cup hope Carlingford Lough at the Punchestown Festival in April. He fell at this meeting last year but I would not hold that against him. Plus trainer Elliott already has a winner on the board with Cause of Causes on the first day. BEST ODDS: 3-1 . UN TEMPS POUR TOUT . (Ladbrokes World Hurdle, 3.20) An expensive recruit from France who has not yet quite reached the heights expected of him. He did, however, run a very promising first race of the season when third to Thursday’s opponent Saphir Du Rheu in the Cleeve Hurdle in January. That was his first run since May so he is entitled to improve significantly and play a big part in a very open race. Confidence will be increased in his chance now that trainer David Pipe has had a winner at the meeting. BEST ODDS: 12-1 . BUYWISE . (Brown Advisory & Merriebell Stable Plate, 4.0) This Evan Williams-trained eight-year-old was an easy five length winner at Ffos Las on his last run and looks a horse who still has a little in hand with the handicapper. BEST ODDS: 7-1 . Buywise was an easy five length winner at Ffos Las and looks to have a little in hand with the handicapper . MARCUS TOWNEND . TRUSTAN TIMES . (Pertemps Hurdle, 2.05) Sybarite looks a good option here but, at even longer odds, this Tim Easterby-trained stayer looks worth a punt. He was fourth in the race 12 months ago, beaten less than half a length in a blanket finish, and he races off a marginally lower handicap mark this afternoon. His stable is in decent form with a couple of winners in its last six runners. BEST ODDS: 25-1 . EDUARD . (Ryanair Chase, 2.40) Lacks a little match practice for such a hotly-contested event as this but there is no doubt the Nicky Richards-trained gelding possesses talent. He would probably have beaten Wishfull Thinking, a rival again on Thursday, in the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon last time but for an error at the final fence. BEST ODDS: 16-1 . COLE HARDEN . (Ladbrokes World Hurdle, 3.20) Has failed to win since his first race of the season at Wetherby at the start of November and could be regarded as disappointing. But the positives are that his stable has emerged from a quiet spell and he has had a breathing operation since being beaten behind Saphir Du Rheu here in January. Will be staying on better than most at the finish. BEST ODDS: 16-1 . Cole Harden has failed to win since his first race of the season at Wetherby at the start of November . Sky Sports' News HQ presenter Alex Hammond is backing Saphir Du Rheu . AND THE CELEBS... Here's who the celebs are backing in Thursday’s Ladbrokes World Hurdle. ............................................................................. ALEX HAMMOND - Sky Sports News HQ presenter . SAPHIR DU RHEU . It should be an open race this year but this is a horse that is well regarded. ............................................................................ RISHI PERSAD - Channel 4 Racing presenter . ZARKANDAR . He is a better horse than last season and they will have learned a lot more how to ride him after his defeat last time out. ............................................................................ TANYA STEVENSON - Channel 4 Racing presenter . MONKSLAND . I can see the race panning out perfectly for jockey Paul Carberry. ............................................................................ JOHN PARROTT - Snooker professional . ZARKANDAR . I think he will win as he’ll be ridden to pounce late. ANGUS LOUGHRAN - Betting pundit . MONKSLAND . You need a true stayer to win this race and he is definitely that. CORNELIUS LYSAGHT- Radio 5 Live Racing correspondent . SEEYOUATMIDNIGHT . A useful horse who should run well at a decent price. +Newcastle are continuing to monitor Genk defender Kara Mbodji as they consider a summer transfer. The versatile 25-year-old was a January target for West Ham, West Bromwich Albion and Celtic after impressing in central defence and midfield for Alex McLeish's club. He also earned glowing reviews for his performances with Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations. Newcastle want a centre-back and a striker for the summer as they look to strengthen their squad and bring in a new manager with Derby's Steve McClaren still very much in the frame. Genk defender Kara Mbodji (right) is a £5million summer target for Newcastle United . Scout Graham Carr has watched Anderlecht's DR Congo centre-back Chancel Mbemba Mangulu also but Mbodji, who is 6ft 4ins tall, has added versatility and come be bought for around £5million. Scouts from Chelsea and Arsenal have also given Mbodji glowing reports after watching him against Anderlecht last month. They had originally gone to watch £15m-rated Anderlecht striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, also a Newcastle and Swansea target, but came away impressed by how he was kept quiet by Mbodji. The 25-year-old (left) was watched by Chelsea and Arsenal last month - earning glowing reviews . +Everton boss Roberto Martinez has stressed there has been no decision yet and that the 'right' one will be made with regard to Ross Barkley's possible participation for England Under-21s at the European Championships in June. Earlier this week it was reported that Martinez would rather 21-year-old Toffees midfielder took this summer off to recharge his batteries than be part of Gareth Southgate's Young Lions squad for the tournament in the Czech Republic. Martinez in January said he did not think Barkley, given he has already featured for England's senior side at the 2014 World Cup, then being involved in tournaments like Euro 2015 could be 'positive for him or the rest of the (Under-21) squad'. Roberto Martinez has said he will work with the FA to ensure the 'right' call is made for Ross Barkley . But the Spaniard was also not ruling anything out, emphasising Everton's close relationship with the Football Association and Southgate. And when asked about the matter on Wednesday, Martinez said once again: 'Our relationship with the FA is very good. Barkley could be part of the Young Lions squad that will travel to the Czech Republic in the summer . Martinez has previously said he is not sure whether Barkley moving to the U21s would be a positive move . 'At the end of the matter it is going to be (about) what's best for the player and for the Under-21s in general. 'We are facing the most important period of the season for the team and for the player, so you can imagine that there is no decision that can be taken now. 'But our relationship with the FA and Gareth Southgate in this case is very close, and we are going to make the right decision based on what is going to happen between now and the end of the season and the needs that there are from the England team.' +Schalke have signed Manchester City defender Matija Nastasic on a four-year contract after the German club activated a transfer clause in his contract. The 21-year-old was on loan at the Bundesliga outfit, but will now remain at the Veltins Arena on a permanent basis. A tweet from the club's Twitter account revealed the news, stating: 'Schalke have activated the transfer clause with Nastasic and he will remain at SO4.' Manchester City defender Matija Nastasic (right) has joined Schalke on a permanent deal . The 21-year-old was on loan at the Bundesliga club, and they have now activated a transfer clause . Schalke boss Roberto Di Matteo has decided to make Nastasic's loan deal at Schalke permanent . Speaking to Schalke's website, Nastasic said of the move: 'I am proud and happy to remain at Schalke. From day one, I was immediately a part of the team. In the future I would like to help achieve our goals as a team.' Nastasic made nine appearances during his loan spell at the club, including the full 90 minutes of their 4-3 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The Serbia international defender joined Manchester City in 2012, and immediately impressed in his first season at the club. He was named City's Young Player of the Season in May 2013, but was hampered by injury for much of the following season, losing his place in the starting line-up. The Serbia international impressed during his time at Manchester City, but was hampered by injuries . Nastasic won Young Player of the Year in May 2013, but only made one appearance for City this season . +Nicky Butt has been offered an interim role as head of coaching with Manchester United's academy. The 40-year-old former Old Trafford favourite has been helping Warren Joyce with United's under 21's but has been keen to take on more coaching responsibility. Butt was considered by Hull manager Steve Bruce before he took Mike Phelan as his assistant and United are keen to keep the former England midfielder as part of their set-up where he can have an influence on the younger players coming through. Nicky Butt (centre right) was in attendance with Ryan Giggs to watch Manchester United Under 21's . United academy director Brian McClair is due to join the Scotland FA as performance director in the summer. Although he is continuing to work at United, the club want to prepare for his departure and see it as an opportunity to give Butt more coaching work. United have yet to find a replacement for McClair. Arsenal's head of academy Andries Joncker has emerged as one of the possible contenders. Butt was in attendance at Old Trafford on Tuesday to watch United's under 21's league clash with Tottenham - where Rafael and Falcao started in a 1-1 draw. The former United midfielder has been offered an interim role to coach the clubs upcoming stars . +With scenes echoing Brett Favre, the NFL's latest will-he, won't-he scenario appears to be over with Peyton Manning set to take a $4million pay cut and remain with the Denver Broncos. The five-time MVP will make a $15m base salary for the 2015 season - his 18th in the NFL. After being plagued with thigh injury down the stretch, the deal will be sealed after the 38-year-old completes a medical, which should happen in the next 24 hours. After meetings with general manager John Elway, Manning, who turns 39 this month, agreed to the cut in wages with the money to be used on strengthening the Broncos roster. Peyton Manning will begin his fourth season in Denver after agreeing to a $4m pay cut . Elway has been aggressive in free agency in the recent past and the Broncos used the franchise tag and $12.823m on wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Speaking at last month's combine, Elway addressed Manning's legacy. 'I do think that the one thing he can add is another Super Bowl championship. I think with where Peyton is, as I told him in our meeting, I said, "You don't have to throw for another yard and you don't need to throw for another touchdown pass because your legacy is going to be one of the all-time greats as it is as we sit here now." Where he can really add to his legacy is to win a Super Bowl. I think that's our goal, as it is for 31 other teams, but we feel like we've got a real good football team and Peyton Manning is the best player for us.' Following the departure of former head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase to Chicago, Manning will now start afresh with new head coach Gary Kubiak and OC Rick Dennison. +Super Bowl winners Sidney Rice and Steve Weatherford will donate their brains to medical research following their deaths. New York Giants punter Weatherford and former Seattle Seahawks receiver Rice hope to help scientists see the effects of concussions as they study brain injuries. Speaking on 'Fox and Friends', Rice reckoned he had eight to 10 concussions during his NFL career, with the first coming as an eight-year-old. 'It was the first time I ever saw stars, aside from the cartoon shows.' Sidney Rice (left), Dr Jeffry Stock and Steve Weatherford (right) during Brain Injury Awareness Month Benefit . After winning the Super Bowl in 2014, Rice retired at the age of 27 due to fears over his long-term health. Since his rookie year in 2007, Rice said head injures were being taken more seriously, but admitted the culture is a tough one to change. 'It’s just the way we’re brought up. I guess it’s the culture,' Rice said. 'You feel like you have to be out there on the field. It’s the competition that’s instilled in you. You love it, you want to be out there, but it’s very important that you pay attention to what goes on when you get a concussion.' 'There are a lot of issues that stem from brain injuries and it's not just professional athletes. This affects everybody,' Weatherford said. 'A lot of my team-mates and a lot of close friends have dealt with concussions and the depression that comes with that,' he added. More than 4,500 former players are suing the NFL over head injuries suffered during their careers. They are nearing to a settlement worth about $1billion (£655m). +After adding superstar running back LeSean McCoy to his roster, new head coach Rex Ryan looks to have found a new quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. Matt Cassel will join next week from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for draft picks. The Bills will trade their sixth round pick for a fifth round pick in May's draft as well as a seventh round pick in 2016. The 32-year-old played the first three games of last season before a broken foot suffered in the defeat at New Orleans ended his season. Teddy Bridgewater, the Pepsi Rookie of the Year, took over under center and Cassel has opted to play elsewhere. Matt Cassel will head to Buffalo to manage Greg Roman's offensive scheme . Due $4.15million this year - including a $500,000 roster bonus - Cassel has a year left on his two-year, $10 million deal he signed with Minnesota last March. Cassel, who was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2005, has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and has a 33-38 record as starter during his 10-year NFL career. Cassel and the Bills travel to London in Week 7, where they will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 25. Cassel has experience of playing London as he led the Vikings to a 34-27 win over Pittsburgh in 2012. +Eddie Hearn has submitted a formal proposal for a summer blockbuster between Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg. Significant hurdles remain in making a June bout between these super-bantamweight world champions, most notably because they are backed by different broadcasters, with Frampton enjoying huge exposure on ITV while Hearn's fighters, including WBA (regular) champion Quigg, operate on Sky Sports. The dilemma is between the lure of terrestrial television and the greater prize purses that would most likely be generated by a box office event on Sky. For his part, Hearn has now tabled a proposal and is waiting on a reciprocal suggestion from Barry McGuigan, who manages IBF champion Frampton. Carl Frampton (left) and Scott Quigg (right) could be in line for a super-bantamweight bout in June . Eddie Hearn has tabled a proposal for the fight but significant hurdles still remain . Frampton's manager Barry McGuigan will talk with his boxer as a decision draws near . It remains to be seen if there will be a way forward from there, with McGuigan adamant after Frampton's excellent win over Chris Avalos last month that the fight should prioritise exposure over 'greed'. But Hearn told Sportsmail: 'Scott is not worried about where the fight is staged or what television channel it is shown on – we just want to make this fight. Of course the finances have to be right and we have submitted a proposal that will pay both fighters huge money. They (Frampton and McGuigan) will talk with their broadcaster and see what's on offer and then hopefully we will sit down as soon as possible. 'After that, we can push negotiations on. I'm not sure if we will ever find an agreed split - I would be happy for a 60-40 purse split in favour of the winner. If you really fancy it I can't see a problem with that. Let's see. Frampton celebrates after his victory over Chris Avalos in Belfast, Northern Ireland in February . Frampton spins to address the crowd after stopping Avalos in the fifth round last month . 'We can talk about world titles and legacy and exposure but ultimately this is a super fight – and in a super fight it is only right that these two great fighters get the best deal possible financially.' Venues for what would likely be the biggest fight in Britain this year are currently under consideration in Belfast, where Frampton is from, as well as Manchester and the O2 Arena in London. Hearn added: 'If we can all reach an agreement, then I would love to make this fight in June. We'd be happy to fight in Belfast if the numbers were right, but likewise Manchester would be brilliant and so would the O2 Arena in London. There is a long way to go but who wouldn't want to see this fight?' After Frampton's thrilling ITV debut against Avalos on February 28, in which he extended his record to 20 wins from 20 fights, McGuigan said: 'Eddie thinks of the numbers all the time, let's think of the game, let's think of it being free-to-air and millions and millions of people enjoying watching it because it will be a great fight.' +Englishmen Richard Bland and David Howell were one stroke behind early pacesetter Kevin Phelan on the first day of the Africa Open in East London. Bland, 42, and Howell, 39, both shot four-under-par rounds of 68 to trail Phelan after the Irish golfer mixed six birdies with a bogey to sign for 67. Bland could have returned to the clubhouse as a joint leader had he not dropped two shots across three holes on the turn. Kevin Phelan is the early pacesetter on day one of the Africa Open with a five-under round of 67 . David Howell's caddie (right) tries to move a deer off the tee on the 14th hole before his player tees off . RIchard Bland of England is tied second after carding a four-under-par round of 68 . A  bogey on the par-four 12th scuppered Howell's chances of taking a share of first place. Twenty-year-old Matthew Fitzpatrick was in the hunt on three under after picking up three strokes on the front nine before remedying the effect of a bogey on the eighth with a birdie on the 531-yard 15th. Welwyn Garden City's Tom Lewis and Gregory Havret of France also signed for 69 while South African hopeful Doug McGuigan fired four birdies over his first seven holes before slipping away to card 71. Howell, who came second in last week's Joburg Open, is currently tied second on day one with Bland . Among the players making good progress up the leaderboard from the later group was Spaniard Eduardo De La Riva, who opened with an eagle on the par-five first hole before finding birdies on the third and fifth. The title will definitely change hands this year given 2014 champion Thomas Aiken is instead competing at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. +It was a weekend when Andy Murray was full to bursting with emotion, but he struck a note of pragmatism after leading Great Britain to Davis Cup victory. The din of what is the closest he can get to a home-town crowd was still ringing in his ears as he considered the implications of a 3-2 victory over America - one that has again put Leon Smith’s squad into the last eight of the sport’s premier team competition. Wimbledon’s host nation may not be able to raise a quorum when it comes to volume of players in the world’s top 100, but where there is Murray, there is hope. Andy Murray celebrates as his win over John Isner leads Great Britain into the Davis Cup's last eight . Murray celebrates during his straight sets win over Isner that clinched the Brits a quarter-final place . Murray produced the right results in points at key moments to overcome the fancied American . He showed that again as he held off a ferocious challenge from 6ft 10in John Isner to win 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 and push Britain into a July quarter-final against France. Yet he was cautious about whether that could actually lead to GB winning the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936. ‘To win the event is an extremely difficult thing to do,’ he said. ‘Even with someone like Federer, such a great player, it’s taken him to have a top five in the world partner (Stan Wawrinka) to help him to do that. We’re playing at the limits of our level right now.’ If he was merely being realistic there was not, after all, a great deal of time for heady celebration. Such are the demands of the tour that he was flying back to London on Sunday night and then flying on Monday morning to Los Angeles for the season’s first Masters level event at Indian Wells. Accompanying him will be James Ward, without whom none of this weekend’s triumph would have been possible. Murray was the star but this was truly an Anglo-Scottish enterprise at a time when such things are under threat. James Ward turned the tie in Great Britain's favour with his own victory over Isner on Friday . Ward took the first two sets in the dead rubber against Donald Young but retired to protect his knee . Ward’s Friday night epic against Isner turned this match in the home side’s favour - just as he had 13 months ago in the corresponding first-round match against America, when he defeated Sam Querrey. The 28-year-old Londoner is one of those players who grows an extra three inches in the team environment, but it is expecting a lot of a player outside the world’s top 100 to keep the upsets coming. Ward even took the first set against Donald Young in the dead rubber after Murray’s victory on Sunday but then conceded the match to protect his sore knee. When asked about his side’s potential, Smith said: ‘We have still got a bit of work to do but we are getting closer. We can trouble most teams. You’ve seen the spirit we have.’ The victorious Great Britain team smile with clenched fists after their 3-2 win over the United States . The Brits gather on the court after their win which sets up a clash with France in the quarter-finals . This was another triumph for Smith. In an era when big-name ex-players are all the rage as coaches, he continues to land blows for the lower-profile professional. For the second consecutive time he has got the better of former world No 1 Jim Courier in the captain’s chair. Murray is not only among the planet’s best tennis players, he has also shown what a team man he is this weekend with his passionate support from the sidelines. If there is a worry, it is that it may all have sapped him. It helped that the 7,700 capacity crowd was intent on dragging him over the line. No wonder the debate over the next month will be whether the advantage of grass in the next round is outweighed by the passion of playing in Scotland on a hard court. Murray, embracing GB team captain Leon Smith, praised the 'effort and attitude of everyone in the team' Great Britain captain Smith celebrate as their talisman Murray wins a crucial point against World No 20 Isner . Murray said: ‘I knew that James was extremely tired and I knew it would be a very tough ask for him to come out and win that match (yesterday’s final singles) after me. There is pressure to help your team-mates out and I wanted to try and finish the tie there. ‘I was very emotional all weekend — it is quite draining. I was proud of the team, the way they performed and fought in this arena under so much pressure.’ Isner was desperate to make amends for Friday and had come out swinging in the first set against Murray, backing up his enormous serve with early strikes in rallies designed to prevent any long exchanges. He forced seven break points en route to the tiebreak including three set points at 5-4, which saw him taking huge cuts at Murray’s more vulnerable second serve. What it came down to was Murray’s greater sangfroid in the tiebreak, which Isner began with a double fault. That first set settled the nerves of Murray and the crowd and he broke for 4-2 in the second with an exquisite lob — no mean feat against a giraffe-like opponent. To Isner’s credit, he kept fighting. But the second tiebreak followed much the same pattern as the first and was sealed 7-4 with a swinging ace which met with a cacophony that nearly blew the roof off. It was the kind of supreme effort from Murray that is all too easily taken for granted. Big American Isner fell to Murray after James Ward come from two sets down to beat him in an epic tussle . Isner took responsibility for the loss saying 'This one's on me' after his loss to Ward . Isner, however, says there were ew players in the world who could have conquered Murray in Glasgow . +An Australian court has cleared the way for Dutch Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde to compete in this weekend's Melbourne Grand Prix after his legal challenge was ruled successful on Wednesday. Van der Garde won the challenge to get a spot in Sunday's race with Swiss F1 team Sauber, who removed him as a driver late last year despite having a contract. Justice Clyde Croft in the Supreme Court of Victoria said Van der Garde's application was successful. Giedo van der Garde, pictured at testing in 2014 was the reserve driver for Sauber last season . Lawyers for Sauber argued Van der Garde was an unacceptable risk because he wasn't trained in the team's car and he did not have a custom seat, but van der Garde's lawyer Tom Clarke said his client was ready to work with the team to get a seat fitted before racing begins. Sauber said in a statement 'the outcome is unfortunately not as expected.' 'We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season,' Sauber team chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn said. 'What we cannot do is jeopardize the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers.' But Van der Garde said outside court he was ready to race. Practice begins Friday. 'I'm very fit and very strong. I'm looking forward to going back to the team, work hard and do our best for the weekend,' he said. 'I'm the fittest ever. I've been training the last three months flat out.' Van der Garde also said that despite the legal battle, he was keen to work with Sauber again. Dutch driver claimed he was offered a race seat for the 2015 campaign but Sauber reneged on deal . 'I'm looking forward to going back to the team. I had a very good relationship, I still have a very good relationship, with the team,' he said. One of Sauber's current drivers, Marcus Ericsson or Felipe Nasr, would have to miss out for Van der Garde to race in one of the two team cars. 'Well, I think it's up to them what they're going to do, and up to the team. It's not my thing,' he said. Van der Garde said he would be on track at Albert Park later Wednesday to catch up and prepare for the race. +Jordan King, the son of former Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King, is the new development driver at Manor, the F1 team of which his father is chairman. King will also compete this season in GP2, F1’s feeder series, with a view to taking on full racing responsibilities for Manor in the future. Former Formula Three champion Jordan King is the new development driver at Manor . The 21-year-old will also compete this season in GP2, F1’s feeder series . ‘I am obviously over the moon to be joining Manor Marussia F1 Team as a development driver,’ said King, 21, who was Formula Three champion in 2013. ‘This is such an exciting project, full of great people and with a real chance of success. This is another great step closer to my ultimate goal of racing in Formula One.’ King’s father is one of the major figures in the rebirth of Manor after the team, then known as Marussia, went into administration at the end of last season. He has worked closely with the main backer, energy entrepreneur Stephen Fitzgerald, to get them on to the grid for the season’s opening race in Melbourne on Sunday. It was also announced today that Spaniard Roberto Mehri, 23, will take the second race seat at Manor, alongside Brit Will Stevens. Ovo founder Stephen Fitzpatrick (left) has joined forces with Jordan King's dad Justin (right) Mehri had a season with Manor Motorsport in Formula Three Euro Series in 2009, before winning the championship two years later. Last year he was third in the tough Formula Renault 3.5 Series and took part in practice for Caterham on the Fridays of grand prix weekends. Team principal John Booth said: ‘It is fantastic to welcome Roberto and Jordan to the team. Not only are they very talented young drivers with exciting futures ahead of them, they are “graduates” of Manor Motorsport in junior formulas, which is obviously very rewarding for us, given that the development of young talent is an important part of our philosophy. +Racing experts Peter Scudamore and Sam Turner review the best of the action from Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival. Among the highlights was Sam Twiston-Davies and Dodging Bullets winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase. The action gets underway again at 1.30pm on Thursday. Stick with MailOnline Sport for the best build-up to and coverage of the greatest show on turf. +The cheer for an AP McCoy-ridden winner this week might be loud but the decibel level could be matched if a runner trained by Sandra Hughes reaches the winner’s enclosure. And Thursday might be that day as the Hughes-trained Lieutenant Colonel is 8-1 third favourite for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, while The Tullow Tank is no forlorn hope in the opening JLT Novices’ Chase. Both will also carry a wave of sentimental support from the Cheltenham crowd as Hughes took over the family stables close to the Curragh after her father, Dessie, lost his fight against cancer in November. Sandra Hughes celebrates victory at Fairyhouse with Lieutenant Colonel and jockey Bryan Cooper . A Festival legend, Dessie’s eight wins as a jockey included the 1977 Gold Cup on Davy Lad and the 1979 Champion Hurdle on Monksfield. They were matched by eight winners as a trainer, headed by the back-to-back Champion Hurdle victories of Hardy Eustace in 2004 and 2005. Appropriately, the track have named the prize for this week’s top trainer in Dessie’s honour. It is a tribute that the Hughes family appreciate but securing a winner with what Sandra refers to as ‘dad’s horses’ would be even more special. Hughes, whose Thunder And Roses unseated its jockey in the NH Chase on Tuesday, said: ‘It is great to get dad’s horses here because that is what he would have wanted. He just loved Cheltenham. Everything he did each season was working towards it, so to be honoured is lovely. Trainer Dessie Hughes, who passed away in November last year, celebrates with Cooper in the winners enclosure after Our Conor's win in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle . ‘We always came as a family so it is quite tough not having him here, but I feel he is looking down on me. And to see the warmth and the love people had for him was genuinely overwhelming. There is a big contingent over with us, the usual crew. The head of the ship is missing but we are here to make him proud.’ With Sandra this week is Dessie’s widow, Eileen, and his son, Richard, the three-time Flat racing champion jockey who last week announced he will be setting up training in Britain next year. But it was always the plan that Sandra would take the helm at her father’s stable. She said: ‘I thought it would be in 10 or 15 years’ time. I never realised it would be this quick. But things happen and you just have to get on with it. Our whole life revolved around putting the horses first and that is what we had to do. ‘Me and Richard are very close. It is great to have him for advice, even if it is at the end of a phone call. Thankfully, I inherited a fabulous team of horses and a fabulous staff and it is working so far.’ Jockeys line up to observe a minute's silence at Cheltenham racecourse after the death of trainer Hughes . The Tullow Tank is so called because it is the nickname of Ireland rugby forward Sean O’Brien. Owner Barry Connell said: ‘I bought the horse from a friend of Sean O’Brien and he was there at Fairyhouse when he won his beginners chase. We had a couple of drinks and a good chat. ‘He is keen enough on his racing. His day job is a farmer when he is not playing rugby. ‘The horse won first time out and disappointed on his next two runs but we identified reasons for that. We are hoping he will put up a good show and is on his way back.’ A win for The Tullow Tank would be popular as Connell suffered the blow of losing Hughes-trained Our Conor in a fatal fall in last year’s Champion Hurdle. The hand of Dessie is also very much behind the path steered by Lieutenant Colonel this season. He had always wanted a six-year-old he felt was some way off maturity to have another season over hurdles so, after he was beaten in his first steeplechase at Naas in November, Sandra was delighted when his owners, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and his racing manager brother Eddie, suggested he switch back to the smaller obstacles. It has been a highly successful decision with two Grade One wins snapped up — the Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse a few days after Dessie died and the Christmas Hurdle in December, beating Jessica Harrington’s Jetson on both occasions. Sandra added: ‘He ran in a beginners chase and he was a little bit disappointing but it was always dad’s plan to keep him over hurdles for an extra year. He thought it would make a man of him. ‘So I was delighted when Eddie and Michael suggested going back over hurdles again, and Plan A kicked in again. It was what dad wanted.’ Hughes fits first-time cheekpieces on Lieutenant Colonel, who will be ridden by Bryan Cooper, and is also optimistic The Tullow Tank will run well. ‘I am very happy with him. His jumping has been a little bit of an issue but he jumped well at Leopardstown last time and we feel we have him spot on. This was the race he was trained for all year so hopefully we will get it right.’ +SAPHIR DU RHEU (Cheltenham, 3.20) has a good way to go before being mentioned in the same breath as World Hurdle legend Big Buck’s, but he can begin to write his own chapter in history with victory on Thursday. The festival sprung to life for Paul Nicholls on day two and the son of Al Namix, who sports the same colours as his illustrious predecessor, has undergone an unusual preparation for the hurdling feature following three starts over fences. It was a path also trodden by Big Buck’s and Nicholls will be hoping lightning strikes twice for the six-year-old who displayed great tenacity to land the Cleeve Hurdle from Reve De Sivola in January. Saphie Du Rheu can being to write his own chapter in history with a win at Cheltenham on Thursday . The bare form of that performance is arguably short of what is required but if his handler has managed to extricate some improvement he should be thereabouts. Monksland and Jetson appeal as outsiders capable of outrunning their prices. Having backed HIDDEN CYCLONE (Cheltenham, nb, 2.40) for the Champion Chase, I was frustrated to see him rerouted for Thursday’s Ryanair Chase, but it still looks a smart move by connections. Shark Hanlon’s gelding was runner-up in the race last year when outstayed by Dynaste and I wonder, with hindsight, if jockey Andrew McNamara may have employed a more patient ride as he became a sitting target late on. A recent Punchestown romp should have put the selection spot-on and he could go one better this year and end the Irish hoodoo in this race. With the Willie Mullins stable carrying all before them, Vautour will be a popular order in the JLT Novices’ Chase. However, he will be priced accordingly and VALSEUR LIDO (Cheltenham, 1.30) looks a sound alternative as he was reported to be a little ring-rusty when edged out by Apache Stronghold at Leopardstown last time. Hidden Cyclone, pictured during the Paddy Power Gold Cup in 2013, was rerouted for the Ryanair Chase . The selection had previously beaten that foe by an impressive eight lengths at Fairyhouse and appears to jump a shade more fluently than Noel Meade’s charge, who remains one of the chief dangers. There will be plenty of tips doing the rounds for the Pertemps Network Final but TRUSTAN TIMES (Cheltenham, nap, 2.05) is a solid conveyance for a race of this nature and may run well at a big price. The nine-year-old lacks the profile of a number of his rivals, but was a creditable third in the race last year — beaten by just a nose and a neck — and looks to have been campaigned with just one race in mind all season. +Scotland centre Alex Dunbar could miss the Rugby World Cup – after collapsing with suspected ligament damage to his left knee in training on Thursday. Dunbar had been named in the XV to face England in Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham. But, running on his own just an hour before selection was announced this morning, he changed direction and his knee simply gave way. The damage is being scanned at a private hospital in Edinburgh, while a specialist will need to examine the images before making a final diagnosis. Alex Dunbar faces a race against time to be fit for the Rugby World Cup after injuring his knee at training . While Scotland coaching staff are hopeful that he may only have torn his cartilage, putting him out of action for around six weeks, there is a real fear that Dunbar has sustained damage to his ACL – which means up to six months on the sidelines. Matt Scott, who had been due to start on the bench, will take Dunbar's place in the starting line-up on Saturday. Scotland centre Dunbar was due to start against England in the Calcutta Cup on Saturday . David Denton, Jim Hamilton and Dougie Fife will all start for Scotland against England on Saturday after Vern Cotter made five changes to his starting XV. Stand-off Finn Russell also returns to the Dark Blues line-up for the penultimate RBS 6 Nations clash at Twickenham after suspension ruled him out of the 22-19 defeat to Italy at Murrayfield two weeks ago. The Scots are desperate to restore pride in the Calcutta Cup meeting following three straight defeats to France, Wales and the Azzurri. Edinburgh number eight Denton - the only player among the incoming five not to have featured in this year's competition - replaces Johnnie Beattie after shaking off the calf strain which has kept him out of action so far. Denton's Gunners team-mates Fife - a try-scorer against France in round one - and Matt Scott replace injured wing Sean Lamont and centre Alex Dunbar, who are both ruled out with knee complaints. Russell, meanwhile, starts in place of Peter Horne while experienced Saracens lock Hamilton takes the place of benched forward Tim Swinson. Cotter said: 'Jim comes in and will bring his physicality and understanding of English rugby to our forward pack. 'It's good to have Dave Denton back as he provides us with strong ball-carrying and strong defence. He's also a very good lineout forward and will give us a bit more physical density against a big forward pack. 'It's been tough on Finn to sit out and it's great to have him back. He's slotted straight back in to the structure we're looking for. 'Finally, Dougie came on and played well against France and has had a couple of games with his club. 'We're looking for him to bring his enthusiasm, energy and high work-rate, particularly in kick-chase and receipt.' Tighthead prop Euan Murray, meanwhile, will equal Allan Jacobsen's all-time appearance record for a Scotland prop when he collects his 65th cap. Dunbar, here showing his disappointment after Scotland's loss to Wales, awaits results of scans on his knee . He will partner Alasdair Dickinson and fit-again Ross Ford, who has recovered from the back spasm suffered against Italy to start in an experienced front-row. Jonny Gray remains in the second-row to pack down with Hamilton, while Blair Cowan and Rob Harley start together for the sixth consecutive time in the back-row, alongside Denton. Captain Greig Laidlaw will again partner the returning Russell from scrum-half, with the back-line completed by Glasgow Warriors trio Mark Bennett, Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg. Hogg, Fife, Bennett, Scott, Seymour, Russell, Laidlaw. Dickinson, Ford, Murray, Hamilton, Gray, Harley, Cowan and Denton . Subs: Brown, Grant, Cross, Swinson, Beattie, Ashe, Hidalgo-Clyne, Tonks . Cotter added: 'This is a very important game. 'It will be played away from home at a very intense level and will allow us to assess further our ability to operate away from home in a hostile environment. 'Our focus, however, has been on ourselves and how we can perform better, by identifying the areas that we can control - like improving our skill sets and reinforcing our cohesion - to withstand the difficult times and also apply some pressure.' +Bryan Redpath has left his coaching role at Sale Sharks with immediate effect. The 43-year-old Scot ends an eight-year association with the Aviva Premiership side, having spent five years with them as a player and three as a coach. Redpath returned to Sale in June 2012 as director of rugby after starting a coaching career at Gloucester and progressing to the top job at Kingsholm. Bryan Redpath has thanked Sale Sharks' owners, coaches and players after leaving Sale Sharks . Redpath spent five years with Sale as a player and a further three as a coach . But with Sale struggling four months into Redpath's tenure, he was removed from the director of rugby role at the Salford-based side and has since been operating as head coach. 'I would like to thank the owners, coaches, players and staff for all their help and support since I returned to the club in 2012. Also to the supporters who have been great with me both as a player and as a coach,' Redpath said. +Joe Schmidt is poised to make just one change to his starting line-up for Wales on Saturday, fit-again Jamie Heaslip returning in place of Jordi Murphy. Injured on February 14 against France, Heaslip has timed his recovery from the three vertebrae fractured by Pascal Papé perfectly. It was anticipated that the problem, treated like a soft tissue injury, could come right in four weeks and the medics have been proved spot on, Heaslip taking part in full training all week to put himself in the frame to resume against Wales. Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is likely to make one change to the side that beat England . Jamie Heaslip (centre) is expected to be back after injuring himself against France on February 14 . Jonathan Sexton (left) has recovered from the hamstring problem that he had for Ireland . Murphy will consider himself unlucky not to have held on, given his impressive show in helping subdue the vaunted English back row, but Heaslip has been true to his word after saying last Friday that he was ‘pretty confident’ he would be declared fit for the Millennium Stadium. Murphy is now expected to take a place on the bench at the expense of Tommy O’Donnell who demonstrated his worth for the second time this spring, coming on as an early replacement against England for the concussed Seán O’Brien and again not looking out of his depth. Elsewhere, with Jonathan Sexton shaking off his hamstring problem, and O’Brien and Jared Payne both coming through concussion protocols, Schmidt’s team will be along expected lines as they seek to set up a Grand Slam trip to Murrayfield on Saturday week. Jordi Murphy is expected to make way for the return of Heaslip against Wales on Saturday . Jack McGrath is set to keep his place in the Ireland team for the Six Nations game against Wales . It means Schmidt will continue to reward Jack McGrath for his consistently good form, keeping Cian Healy, who started his first game for Leinster in six months last Saturday, on the bench for the third Test in a row. There was concern about replacement out-half Ian Madigan’s control of the closing 25 minutes against England, but it is thought he will again be back-up to Sexton. Felix Jones is likely to be given the No 23 shirt once more, despite pressure from in-form Munster colleague Keith Earls. +Kumar Sangakkara dismissed talk of prolonging his one-day international career after becoming the first man to hit centuries in four consecutive ODIs as Sri Lanka swept aside Scotland. The 37-year-old is due to retire from the 50-over game following the World Cup, but proved on Wednesday that he is still an elite performer at the top level with his 124 against Scotland following on from tons against Australia, England and Bangladesh. Sangakkara's sublime knock helped his side hammer the minnows by 148 runs. He was instrumental in making 363-9 before the Scots were bowled out for 215. Kumar Sangakkara celebrates after scoring a century for the fourth consecutive World Cup game . Sangakkara hit 124 from 95 balls against Scotland, the highest innings of the tournament so far . Freddie Coleman offered some resistance for Scotland but they were eventually soundly beaten . Calum MacLeod was bowled all ends up as Scotland could only muster 215 in response to Sri Lanka . Next week's quarter-final could therefore be his final ODI outing but, despite his prolific form, Sangakkara insists he will not play on after the tournament Down Under. 'It is never about whether you can play or not,' he told the BBC's Test Match Special. 'Retirement is not about form, it is about time and place and whether it feels right.' The wicketkeeper admitted in the post-match presentations following the 148-run win against the Scots that his body was finding it harder and harder to cope with the demands of modern cricket. 'It becomes hard, of course, now that I'm 37,' he said. 'I get a bit slower, the joints start creaking and aching. 'I'm pretty happy that I'm still playing, I consider myself pretty lucky to be part of such a good side. 'When everything is going well, things look bright.' Sangakkara has scored 14,189 runs in 403 one-day internationals, adding 12,203 in 130 Test matches in a near 15-year international career. After beginning steadily, Sangakkara accelerated as Scotland struggled to contain him. He cleared the ropes four times and added 13 fours, reaching his ton with a prod through third man. He eventually fell edging Josh Davey to wicket-keeper Matthew Cross. Angelo Mathews plundered 51 from 21 balls down the innings, including sixes from each of the four deliveries he faced immediately before being dismissed when going for another maximum - caught just inside the ropes by Freddie Coleman off the final ball of Matt Machan's costly fourth and final over. The 37-year-old also hit 100 against Bangladesh, Australia and England earlier in the tournament . Sangakkara (left) and batting partner Tillakaratne Dilshan (right) make a late run at the Bellerive Oval ground . +All-rounder Chris Jordan has admitted his England team-mates have been left 'gutted' by their early World Cup exit. England have lost four of their five games, and have rarely been competitive, with Monday's 15-run defeat to Bangladesh sending them crashing out at the group stage. 'Everyone is gutted. Gutted for the fans that came over and the fans at home watching,' Jordan said. 'There was probably a bit of anger inside some people (in the dressing room after the game), thinking about every single moment in the game that could have affected it - could they have done something different? That's only natural.' England captain Eoin Morgan (left) talks to coach Peter Moores during Wednesday's nets session . England players huddle around Moores as they come in for fierce criticism for their World Cup performances . So premature has been England's demise that their hopes of qualification have ended even before their final group game against Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday. The match looms as a potential banana skin for a team low on confidence and who know that a long plane journey home will follow where the recriminations have already begun. 'Because of that result you want to get back on the horse quite quickly and try to put in a performance that rectifies what we did the other night,' Jordan said. 'That's the only way to deal with it at the minute. 'Friday is just an opportunity first of all to put that right and just put in a good performance for England.' England will be without all-rounders Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali after they were ruled out with injuries suffered against Bangladesh. Woakes left the Adelaide Oval with a protective boot on his left foot after first feeling the problem as he hit an unbeaten 42. Moeen suffered his problem while bowling and while he was able to continue on he will not play in Sydney. 'Scans (on Wednesday) revealed Chris Woakes has a left third metatarsal stress reaction and Moeen Ali has a left sided abdominal strain,' an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokeswoman said. Moores throws down a ball during the nets session ahead of England's final game against Afghanistan . Chris Jordan was downbeat as he addressed the media the day after England's defeat by Bangladesh . 'Both players have been ruled out of the match against Afghanistan on Friday and will be reassessed when the team returns to the UK.' England are due to name their squad for the Test tour of the Caribbean on Tuesday and both players could now be in some doubt. That would come as a blow to coach Peter Moores, who will hope to take a full-strength to the West Indies as pressure mounts on his job following the World Cup debacle. ECB managing director Paul Downton has already confirmed a major review will be conducted into England's failings Down Under and he himself has come under some pressure to keep his job, while senior players such as James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ian Bell might have reason to feel uneasy with suggestions England's embarrassment may prompt a clear-out for younger players. Jordan is the type of player who might expect to be immune to such a cull and the 26-year-old admits he intends to use the pain of his first World Cup to make sure England do not repeat the same mistakes when they host the tournament in four years' time. 'We've had a few lows and you can only draw on these experiences in the future to make you stronger and to motivate you to get up every morning, to get your body in order and get your game in order,' he said. 'If I'm still around in four years' time hopefully I'll be somewhere close to the finished article and making sure days like the other day don't happen again.' Jordan dismissed suggestions that major changes now need to be made if England are to catch up with the best sides in the world. 'I don't think so. There's loads of talent not just in that dressing room but in the whole of England,' he said. England vice captain Jos Buttler looks dejected as he leaves the field after England's latest reversal . Takin Ahmed of Bangladesh celebrates after taking the wicket of James Taylor . Bangladesh celebrate their victory over England to compound Peter Moores' side's misery . 'We've beaten some good teams in the past and we will beat good teams in the future. I don't think there needs to be wholesale changes. 'I can't put my finger on what exactly went wrong but hopefully in the future it won't happen again and we can put that right.' The Sussex all-rounder was also supportive of Moores, who has already been given backing from Downton to remain in charge ahead of the Test tour of the Caribbean next month. 'Pete has done a brilliant job,' he said. 'He comes in with enthusiasm every day and gets the boys up for training, gets the boys up for games. It's just a bit disappointing that us as players didn't put in the performance we should have done. That's all I can say really.' England will play their first-ever one-day international against Afghanistan, who did not have a national team until 2001. The Asian nation's rapid rise has been one of the feel-good stories of this World Cup and, after securing a maiden win at the tournament in a thrilling contest against Scotland, they will bid to finish their campaign by knocking over England. 'They don't have anything to lose,' Jordan said. 'We have footage on every single player. It's not a game we will be taking lightly at all. We will be preparing thoroughly and looking for weaknesses to attack them.' Bell also missed England's training session on Wednesday, but is expected to be fit to play after falling on a ball while fielding in Adelaide. +The England and Wales Cricket Board are set to conduct a 'major review' into the reasons behind the national team's early World Cup exit, although managing director Paul Downton does not expect any changes in the short term. Coach Peter Moores' position has most significantly come under fire after a campaign in which England were rarely competitive, losing four of their five games, to crash out of the tournament with Friday's final group game against Afghanistan still to play. Downton has the power in his hands to end Moores' second spell in charge but in the wake of Monday's 15-run defeat to Bangladesh he has so far sought to back the man he described as 'the outstanding coach of his generation' when he appointed him last April. Peter Moores' place as England coach is safe in the short-term, says ECB managing director Paul Downton . Eoin Morgan's position as captain is in question after England's early exit from the World Cup . It is high praise that Downton still believes Moores is worthy despite an unconvincing record, albeit with a remodelled team, soured further by events over the past month. 'As far as his ability is concerned I still feel he is a very high-quality coach, so, no nothing has changed since we appointed him 11 months ago,' Downton said. Downton says no decisions on the future of players or staff, including Moores, would be made immediately but a review will take place . 'You don't become a bad coach overnight but the scale of the issues we have got to deal with are significant as everybody has seen.' England fly out to the Caribbean for a Test series early next month and while it appears any fall-out from the ECB review is unlikely to strike before then, Downton did baulk at the opportunity to guarantee that Moores would remain in charge. 'All I have said is that we're still within the first year of his appointment,' he said. 'We clearly will have a major review of what's happened in the last six months but particularly during the World Cup. 'Everybody is extremely raw from yesterday's experience but we still have a game left in the World Cup, so no decisions are going to be made in the short term. 'In less than a month we will be in the West Indies playing Test cricket so I don't envisage any short-term changes.' The upcoming review could also leave Downton to feel at some unease. The 57-year-old was not employed by incoming chairman Colin Graves or Tom Harrison, who was appointed as the ECB's chief executive officer last October. Downton will be answerable to both although he has not felt the need to ask for any assurances after revealing they had met for discussions as recently as Monday while England's tournament-ending defeat was ongoing in Adelaide. 'I've worked with Colin Graves on the board for the last year. He's been extremely supportive of everything we've done,' he said. Bangladesh players celebrates after their victory over England that eliminated Morgan's side from the Cup . Downton says incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves, who did not appoint him, has been supportive . 'Tom has been with us for two months and we've spent a lot of time together. Both have been extremely supportive in what we're doing.' England fans had been warned to expect tough times ahead after last winter's Ashes whitewash and Moores was tasked with an unenviable task of rebuilding a side that had lost the considerable experience of Jonathan Trott, Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen following his well-publicised falling out with the ECB. The former Lancashire coach has attempted to bring young players through and England's performances immediately suffered as they succumbed to a first-ever home Test series defeat to Sri Lanka. They bounced back strongly to beat India after falling behind in that series, but since then England have struggled in the one-day arena, losing 18 of 27 games under Moores, and the gulf in class between them and the best nations was powerfully illustrated during the World Cup. 'We're in the middle of a very significant rebuilding phase,' Downton said. 'We offered six new central contracts during the summer. My first job when I came in here was to try to re-establish a Test side which we made progress with in the summer. 'The next job was to get to the World Cup with as competitive a side as we could. We always knew we coming from behind. England vice-captain looks dejected after top-scoring with 65 in their loss to Bangladesh on Monday . Moores endures the post-match press conference after his side fell 15 runs short of their target . 'All I will tell you is that there are no quick fixes in this situation. Look through history, look at any very successful side which has broken up, how long it takes sometimes to rebuild again. 'I am very confident that in a year's time, in two years' time this group of players will be battle-hardened and will be more competitive.' While one-day cricket will take a back seat over the next 12 months, when England will embark on a gruelling schedule of 17 Tests, the ECB will use the review to look into ways to ensure the national team can be competitive when the World Cup comes to these shores in 2019. England's senior players are set to be consulted and Downton suggested the possibility of a specific selector for ODIs would be discussed. Meanwhile, all-rounders Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali are fitness doubts for the match against Afghanistan after they both suffered injuries in the defeat to Bangladesh. Woakes left the Adelaide Oval with his left foot in a protective boot after feeling pain during his late bid to save England's World Cup while Moeen suffered side injury while bowling. Both players are set to have scans in Sydney on Wednesday. +England's woeful showing at the cricket World Cup in Australia might make you feel sick, but it's the performance of an ex-England star that is turning stomach's down under. Andrew Flintoff was always known as a brave sportsman, whether with the bat or ball, or even in his short-lived career as a boxer, but Freddie is showing a new type of bravery as he takes part in the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here. The former England all-rounder took part in a 'Tuker Trial' on Tuesday, and completed it by eating a cockroach with such nonchalance that the show's presenter ended up vomiting. Scroll down for video . Former England cricketer Freddie Flintoff devoured a large, brown Madagascar hissing cockroach . Flintoff's hair resembled that of Keith Flint from the Prodigy (right) during the trial . Host Dr Chris Brown lost his lunch as he watched former England cricketer Freddie Flintoff devour a large, brown, Madagascar hissing cockroach. The cheeky ex-cricketer was given the task of devouring seven courses of critters, and as Chris watched on he couldn't hide his unease. Putting his good table etiquette on show, the 37-year-old picked up the at least two inch long insect on chopsticks and tried to psych himself up about eating it. 'I'm going to do it and I'm going to crunch it and enjoy it,' he said to himself before he chomped down hard. Flintoff happily chewed the live cockroach, before expressing his disgust at the taste of the insect . Flintoff's meal caused the show's host Dr Chris Brown to lose his lunch . The crunch was heard echoing throughout the jungle, while Freddie sat back on his chair like he'd just bit down on a T-bone steak at a Michelin star restaurant. But it wasn't long before he acknowledged the true extent of the disgusting encounter. 'Oh the back end! Jesus... It's horrible!' Freddie roared. Showing of his veterinary skills, Chris, 36, knew exactly why Freddie was having such an issue with 'the back end'. 'That's a female... The white stuff inside your mouth is the egg sack of the cockroach... It's her eggs,' Dr Chris told him as he held one hand over his mouth and clutched his stomach. Unable to handle watching Freddie crunch down on the critters, Chris keeled over and started dry retching. He then had to walk away from the challenge to vomit in the bushes. 'Oh the back end! Jesus... It's horrible!' Freddie roared as he showed his competitive streak . The show's host Dr Chris Brown had to walk away from the challenge to vomit in the bushes . +Alberto Contador will end his career with Tinkoff-Saxo in 2016, the multiple grand tour winner has announced. The Spanish rider has committed to the squad for his final season before retiring at the end of 2016. Contador wrote on Twitter: 'Hello all, happy to announce that in 2016 will continue being rider of @tinkoff-saxo'. Multiple Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador has announced he will end his career with Tinkoff-Saxo in 2016 . The 32-year-old Spaniard is one of just six riders to have won all three Grand Tours . Tinkoff-Saxo team boss Oleg Tinkov said on Twitter: 'Best stays with the best'. Contador is among the favourites for the 2015 Tour de France, which begins on July 4 in Utrecht. The 32-year-old is one of six riders to have won all three grand tours - of France, Italy and Spain. In 2014 Contador crashed out of the Tour de France, but responded by winning the Vuelta a Espana. Contador won the 2007 and 2009 Tours de France - he was stripped of the 2010 title for an anti-doping infringement - the 2008 Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta in 2008, 2012 and 2014. Contador lifts the Giro d'Italia trophy in 2011 while riding for the Saxo Bank team . Contador celebrates winning the Vuelta a Espana in 2014 - it was his third time winning it . Tinkov said in a media release: 'I'm very happy that Alberto will lead Tinkoff-Saxo in 2016 as well, because I truly believe he is the best cyclist in the world and I am convinced he will continue to be so for a few more years. 'Unfortunately, he decided he would retire at the end of next year which means he will race with my team for two full seasons. I would have, obviously, preferred him to stay longer but that was his personal decision. 'However, I am very proud that Alberto's impressive career will conclude in my team and I hope he takes the Tinkoff-Saxo colours to the top step of the Tour de France podium in 2015 and 2016.' Contador added: 'I am very happy to have closed the deal. It is already five years that I have been working with (team manager) Bjarne Riis and the possibility to continue for another year is satisfying.' Contador lifts the Tour de France trophy after winning the competition in 2009 ahead of Lance Armstrong . +Alexander Kristoff of Norway sprinted to victory in the first stage of Paris-Nice on Monday to claim his fifth win this season as former world champion Tom Boonen retired with a broken collarbone. The Katusha rider edged Frenchmen Nacer Bouhanni and Bryan Coquard in the finale of the 122.1-mile stage from Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse to Contres that was marred by Boonen's crash. The one-day classics specialist heavily hit the ground about 10.6 miles from the finish after colliding with another rider. Alexander Kristoff of Norway celebrates winning the first stage of Paris-Nice on Monday . Kristoff will continue in the race on Tuesday with a 107 mile trek to central France . Boonen withdrew from the race and his upcoming classics campaign could be in jeopardy. Michal Kwiatkowski, who won Sunday's prologue, retained the race leader's yellow jersey. The race continues Tuesday with a 106.9-mile trek from the ZooParc de Beauval zoological park to Saint-Amand-Montrond in central France. +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers praised Jordan Henderson after the midfielder's second goal in as many games helped set the side on their way to a 2-0 win over Burnley. Henderson, standing in as captain for Steven Gerrard as he works his way back to fitness from a hamstring injury, opened the scoring just before the half-hour with a neatly-taken strike and then provided the cross for Daniel Sturridge's header early in the second half. 'It was a great strike and that gave us greater confidence in the game and his ball for the second goal was terrific,' said Rodgers. Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson celebrates scoring the opening goal for his side against Burnley . The midfielder lashed in a right-footed attempt from outside the box as Liverpool continue their charge . 'He has great technique and precision and it was a great finish by Daniel. 'He is improving all the time and as he matures even more tactically he will become even better. 'He has always had athleticism, he is born with a natural gift to run, and tactically he is improving all the time and his passing is improving and he is becoming one of the real leaders of this team. 'It was a wonderful performance by him and the team in general. 'We controlled the tempo of the game and whatever we had to deal with defensively we did. 'As good as the performance was at the weekend (a 2-1 win over Manchester City) this was equally as good.' Rodgers also had praise for Emre Can, who began the match as one of three centre-backs but, not for the first time in recent weeks, moved into midfield late in the second half. Daniel Sturridge loses his man and leaps to score a headed goal and give Liverpool a 2-0 lead . Reds boss Brendan Rodgers stands  on the touchline with Burnley counterpart Sean Dyche . The Germany Under-21 international had a tough start to his first season in the Premier League but since coming into the team on Boxing Day, coincidentally at Burnley, has been nothing short of superb. 'I look at him and I think if you give him another couple of years he could play in any team in world football - that is how highly I rate him,' added the Reds boss. 'Whether he is central or wide you can see his football intelligence, he breaks through lines with his power and pace and he has great composure. 'The crowd love him because he does the dirty work as well. I really think he will develop into a real world-class player.' Burnley boss Sean Dyche had no complaints about the result, which leaves his side next-bottom three points from safety. Rodgers was full of praise for goal scorers Sturridge and Henderson after the game . Rodgers also revealed how highly he rates summer signing Emre Can, who played in defence again . 'They (Liverpool) were very good tonight. They are an expensively-assembled side with top-class players who have found that run of form and belief,' he said. 'At 1-0 you never know but second half we gave away a really poor goal - the first one can happen with high-quality players. 'It is a different side to the one we played on Boxing Day. They are right in the zone and high on confidence. 'It is possibly too late for this season but if they carry on that you have to fancy they will be up there (challenging for the title) next season. 'We knew it would be a stern task to come here tonight to get a win but we keep learning. We have a 10-day window to put it back together. 'We will be relentless all the way down the line.' +Bolton have captured Crystal Palace centre-back Paddy McCarthy on loan until the end of the season, who was the subject of a prank call by a man impersonating Neil Lennon. West Brom manager Tony Pulis seemingly fell victim to a call from prankster Blain Morrison pretending to be the Bolton boss and requested taking Baggies defender Gareth McAuley on loan. Pulis refused to consider letting McAuley leave during the call last month but instead suggested Bolton pursue McCarthy from his former side Crystal Palace and remarkably Lennon has appeared to seize upon the opportunity and has signed the Irishman. Wes Hoolahan battles for the ball with Paddy McCarthy during the npower Championship match back in 2011 . McCarthy has twice spent loan spells at Sheffield United this season but will now link up with Bolton . The 31-year-old defender has been at Selhurst Park since 2008, but has found his first team opportunities limited since Palace's promotion to the Premier League. McCarthy has twice spent loan spells at Sheffield United this season, but joins Lennon's Championship side and goes into the squad to face Blackburn Rovers. He will join up with fellow Eagles loanee Barry Bannan at Wanderers, with Lennon's outfit currently 17th position in a tight Championship table. The Trotters are also keen on a deal for Chelsea youngster Islam Feruz but face competition from Cardiff and Bolton for his signature. Feruz is highly rated at Chelsea but their resolve to keep him will be tested next month. West Brom manager Tony Pulis (right) suggested McCarthy during the prank call last month . Bolton boss Neil Lennon (right) has seemingly taken the advice from Pulis given in the prank call . Islam Feruz of Chelsea in action during the NextGen Series match between Chelsea U19 and Ajax U19 . +Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright is giving his Twitter fans the chance to play alongside him at Wembley in his last ever football match. Wright won the FA Cup twice and the League Cup on the hallowed Wembley turf during his legendary Arsenal stint. He also suffered heartache at the Twin Towers as Crystal Palace lost the replay of the 1990 FA Cup final to give Sir Alex Ferguson his first Manchester United trophy. Having hit one million followers on Twitter the former England striker, who scored nine goals in 33 appearances for the Three Lions, decided to give something back to the fans. Ian Wright celebrates winning the FA Cup with Arsenal with a 2-0 win against Newcastle at Wembley in 1998 . Wright gets emotional as he celebrates his goal in front of the adoring Crystal Palace fans . Wright said: 'I've watched all the FA Cup Finals from 1970 up to the present day, and Wembley is such a special stadium. I never dreamed that I would actually get to play and score there. 'Because it all happened to me at Wembley, I wanted to have a game there and give my Twitter followers the chance to be a part of it. 'It's my last, ever game of football…I wanted to do something really special for the million. I thought to myself I would love to have one more game, I can't even remember the last time I played. 'It's going be special for me but I want it to be special for them. It's going to be something they remember for the rest of their lives. They've got the opportunity to play at Wembley simply because they follow me. The opponents have yet to be revealed by Wright, who didn't sign professionally until he was almost 22, but his followers will be able to help select the team name, badge and kit in the build up to the game. Wright celebrates scoring for Arsenal with teammates Kevin Campbell and John Jensen . Former Three Lions striker Wright puts in a good performance as England take on Czech Republic in 1998 . +Alan Pardew has called for more consistent punishments after Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak was retrospectively banned for four matches. Video footage showed the 30-year-old to have elbowed West Ham striker Diafra Sakho towards the end of the Eagles' 3-1 win at Upton Park on Saturday. Jedinak was charged with violent conduct by the Football Association - a decision which irked manager Pardew, although the Australia international accepted it. Alan Pardew isn't happy with the FA after their decision to ban Mile Jedinak for his elbow on Diafra Sakho . The midfielder missed the Eagles' late 1-0 defeat at Southampton as a result and will also sit out the upcoming Premier League matches against QPR, Stoke and Manchester City. 'Well, you kind of know as a manager that (given) the way it was sort of damned on TV that something was going to happen and that's where we are,' Pardew said. 'We haven't appealed so we will take the decision, but we want some consistency in it. The Palace captain (15) caught Sakho with his elbow during their win over West Ham at Upton Park . Although the officials didn't see the incident, the TV cameras did and Jedinak was condemned by the pundits . 'I could name three or four incidents this year where Crystal Palace should have had a player sent off against them retrospectively. 'But it wasn't highlighted by the media and therefore it went under the radar, so to speak. This one didn't.' Asked another question on the subject, Pardew retorted: 'I don't want to go any further. I've said my point on that.' Pardew's side lost 1-0 to Southampton at St Mary's following Sadio Mane's late strike . +Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak has accepted an FA charge for violent conduct and has been banned for four matches after elbowing West Ham striker Diafra Sakho. Jedinak had until 6pm on Tuesday night to appeal against the charge - a move which would have made him available to face Southampton - but he decided to accept it at the risk of a lengthier ban for a frivolous appeal. As the 30-year-old Australian has already been sent off this season - against Sunderland - he has been given a four-match ban, the FA confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. Mile Jedinak's elbow clearly makes contact with the face of Diafra Sakho after the ball had gone . As well as missing the trip to Southampton on Tuesday night, Jedinak is banned for Palace's home match against QPR on March 14, an away fixture at Stoke on March 21 and Manchester City's visit to Selhurst Park on April 6. The incident occured in the 87th-minute of Palace's 3-1 win at Upton Park on Saturday and was picked up by Sky Sports' TV cameras. Manager Alan Pardew on Monday bemoaned the extra scrutiny added to games that are shown live on TV. Jedinak celebrates with Jason Puncheon (right) and Glenn Murray after Palace's first goal on Saturday . 'The punditry seems to be having a greater effect on the decision process at the FA. That’s a little bit worrying,' he said. 'I hope you’re governed by the FA, not by what people are saying on the TV. 'We’re damned by TV at times. If something’s done about Mile but nothing about [Hull defender] Maynor Figueroa [whose challenge on Stephen Ireland left the Stoke midfielder with a nasty gash], that can’t be right.' A Palace statement on Tuesday read: 'Crystal Palace midfielder Mile Jedinak has accepted the violent conduct charge from the Football Association handed to him yesterday (Monday).' Shortly after an FA statement confirmed: 'Mile Jedinak will serve a four match suspension with immediate effect after he admitted an FA charge of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.' Crystal Palace's captain is set to be banned for four games after he was sent off earlier in the season . +Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho could be back in Manchester City’s line-up at Burnley, with the club playing down reports they were dropped after a dressing-room spat. The pair became embroiled in a heated argument at half-time during the champions’ 2-1 defeat at Liverpool earlier this month. Both were omitted from the starting XI for the following match against Leicester. But City say the row had nothing to do with Manuel Pellegrini’s selection and the warring duo could be back in the line-up for Saturday’s match at Turf Moor. Vincent Kompany (left) and Fernandinho were involved in a dressing-room row at Liverpool . Kompany looked at ease during Manchester City training alongside Edin Dzeko (left) on Wednesday . Kompany was dropped to the bench when Manchester City hosted Leicester City last week . Kompany attempts to tackle Raheem Sterling during City's 2-1 defeat by Liverpool three days earlier . Tempers flared at Anfield when City returned to the dressing room with the score 1-1. In the build-up to Liverpool’s opener, midfielder Fernandinho sold defender Kompany short with a poor pass before Jordan Henderson scored. ‘Fernandinho had a go at Vinnie and he went right back at him,’ a City insider told Sportsmail. ‘He was raging. Others had to get involved to stop it.’ According to reports, Pellegrini sided with the Brazilian, which prompted more fury from Kompany before team-mates stepped in. City declined to comment on the incident, but strongly deny it influenced Pellegrini’s decision to rest Fernandinho and bench Kompany for the 2-0 win over Leicester. Fernandinho started the game against Liverpool but was dropped out of the squad for the next game . City captain Kompany trains before his side's Premier League clash with Leicester . Kompany, who signed a new five-year contract last summer following a 2008 move from Hamburg, was an unused substitute for the following match, a 2-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Leicester City, with Pellegrini claiming he needed to freshen his side up. Brazilian Fernandinho, a £34m signing from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013, was left out of the squad altogether. Manchester City declined to comment on the incident. However, they are understood to be happy that there is no lingering animosity, believe the row was over as quickly as it started and are of the opinion that it was similar to disagreements that happen on a regular basis in dressing rooms across the country. They are also keen to point out that it had nothing to do with Kompany not playing the next game. The Premier League champions are currently five points behind leaders Chelsea, who have a game in hand. +Arsene Wenger has revealed that he was spat at whilst playing football in France - but that in those days he extracted his own revenge on the pitch. The Arsenal manager says that United defender Jonny Evans - who will be banned for the FA Cup quarter final against Arsenal on Monday - cannot expect any mercy in the modern age of global TV scrutiny. However, Wenger says the practice was more prevalent in former days when he played for RC Strasbourg in France, but that the lack of TV coverage meant it used to be less of an issue. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reveals he was spat at while playing football in the French leagues . Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the Newcastle United striker, who then retaliates . Wenger said: 'Today the television makes it worse. I've been subject personally to spitting. Maybe my tackle was not good enough. At the time nobody spoke about it. 'When I played in France, it happened before but you didn't see it on television. When you see it on television it of course makes it worse. I was angry (when it happened) but I could control myself.' Asked whether spitting deserved a six-game ban, Wenger said: 'I applied the sentence myself. I don't know the rules well enough. It is rules. We have to respect the rules. They have to apply the rules. Evans and Papiss Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Manchester United defender Evans has received a six-match ban from the FA after the ugly incident . Cisse already served a three-match ban for violent conduct this season after elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman in December. As a result, the Newcastle striker gets an additional one-match suspension after admitting his guilt, while Evans gets six. But Wenger insisted that the likes of Evans and Papiss Cisse have to accept that their actions will incur punishments now that all games are scrutinised by millions of viewers worldwide. 'We have to pay a price for that. We are popular. We are watched all over the world. It gives us some responsibility as well. When you do not live up to it, you have to pay for it. How much it (the punishment) is, I do not care but you cannot say: 'Ok, it's nothing' when you see in on television. When little boys are watching the game, if your boy says to you: 'Is that right?' You cannot say: 'Yes.' 'We have to accept that. There are cameras everywhere, that means we are spied on always basically, from morning until night, and that's a little bit less freedom to go over the line sometimes. 'It's good, it's good. You know it's like now the doping story that is coming out in cycling now. Even if it's 10 years later, 15 years later, people will be less inclined to do it today because they think: 'Oh, for the rest of my life that could come out, so I won't do it.' Cisse has been banned for seven games after accepting the charge from the FA on Thursday . +QPR boss Chris Ramsey has defended ageing star Rio Ferdinand after the centre back came in for some stick from his own fans during Saturday's defeat to Tottenham. The former England international was culpable for both goals, leading to chants from the away end of 'It's time to retire' - something a smattering of home fans joined in with. Ramsey, however, stuck up for his defender, praising Ferdinand's effort and refusing to blame him for the goals Rangers conceded. Rio Ferdinand struggles to deal with Harry Kane during a difficult game for the former England captain . Kane scored both Spurs goals, and on both occasions Ferdinand might have done more to stop him . The 36-year-old has not been at his best since joining QPR, and some fans turned on him on Saturday . 'I think Rio's applied himself well,' Ramsey said. 'I'm very pleased with the way he played. 'In the position we're in, when goals go in people will always get blamed or people look at some more than others. 'For Rio to be the age he is and applying himself the way he is in training and in games, we need to encourage him. 'It's always disappointing when a goal goes in, and you can always break it down and analyse it to its finest points. The players involved will always be disappointed.' Rangers boss Chris Ramsey defended Ferdinand, claiming that his centre half had 'applied himself well' Ferdinand plays the ball away from Christian Eriksen during a game where some fans called for him to retire . +It took a full and frank exchange of views to rejuvenate Nir Bitton’s Celtic career. The Israeli midfielder has emerged as one of Ronny Deila’s key players this season. A likely candidate for a lucrative future transfer. Yet the penny took time to drop. Omitted from the Celtic manager’s early first-team squads, a conversation between the pair became unavoidable. Israeli midfielder Nir Bitton has become a key player for Celtic after struggling to adapt at first . The Norwegian talked. Bitton listened. Crucially, he also learned what it would take to salvage his Celtic career. ‘I prefer the conversation between me and the gaffer to stay between me and him,’ said Bitton. ‘But at the beginning of the season there were a couple of things I didn’t understand in terms of what he expected from me. ‘Sometimes you need a conversation with the gaffer to understand what he wants from you. To understand what he expects from you as a player and a professional.’ Bitton needed a conversation with manager Ronny Deila before the penny finally dropped for him . The temptation for any player out of the team is to blame the coach but Deila told Bitton to look a little closer to home. Speaking in recent weeks, the Celtic boss said: ‘If you put everything on the coach then you are lost, you are finished. ‘You have to go into yourself and ask “Why am I not playing? Why is that guy in front of me?” and when you find that out you have to think “OK, what do I do to get better?” ‘It’s not the other way around, that the coach gives you a chance and then you play well. ‘You have to show in training that you are good enough and then you get your chance, and Nir has done that.’ Pushed on the issue, Bitton will plead guilty on all counts. ‘Of course I had to look at myself,’ he admitted. ‘When you don’t play the first thing you say is: “It’s the gaffer.” 'That’s what everybody says. ‘But after you go home you think honestly: “OK, what am I doing wrong?” ‘I understood that I needed to change myself, that I needed to improve. It’s difficult sometimes to be honest if you have the wrong attitude. But if you want success you must change to do things the way the gaffer wants. ‘I said to myself, if I don’t change I will find myself out of this club. ‘It’s not easy when you are not playing so you need to have a good attitude and a strong mentality — you need to show the gaffer you want to change.’ Bitton is keen to play in the Scottish League Cup final this weekend, but is struggling with injury . In his first season there were glimpses of promise, yet he admits the culture shift and weather were difficult to negotiate. ‘This is one of the reasons it was hard last season. In Israel, 80 per cent of the days are 24 or 25 degrees. Then you come to Scotland and... it’s not quite the same.’ His wife is in Glasgow now and, with regular games, he has adapted to Scottish football to a point where Charlie Mulgrew faces a battle to resume his midfield partnership with Scott Brown. Learning to press and harry was one of the aspects he had to improve, conceding: ‘The gaffer wants to play a certain way. ‘Before I thought, “OK, I’m a good player, I don’t need to change everything. If the gaffer wants me to play he will, if not I will sit on the bench, I don’t care”, stuff like that. ‘But everyone wants to play. You can train 10 times a day but it’s not the same.’ The midfielder has had some swelling on his ankle, after suffering an injury against Dundee United last week . With the inhospitable climate and culture the Israeli admits he could have returned home. Or tried his fortunes elsewhere. ‘The easiest thing would be to not care and just go back to Israel and not want to be here any more,’ he added. ‘But that’s not me. I just want to show everyone I deserve to play.’ The battle ahead of Sunday’s League Cup Final is of a different kind. Bitton suffered ankle swelling against Dundee United in the Scottish Cup last weekend and is fighting to prove his fitness for Hampden. ‘I still have another four days. We will see. ‘At the end of the day I will take the final decision. ‘If I feel I can play and help the team I will play. ‘If I feel I can play but not at 100 per cent I will take the decision to protect it for the next games. But we have four more days before the game and that’s a long time. I hope I will be fine.’ Bitton has admitted that it took some time to adapt to life - and the weather - in Scotland . The opportunity to win his first domestic trophy at the national stadium as a Celtic player beckons. Yet he is adamant he won’t put his own interests before those of the team adding: ‘I have to be honest with my team-mates. If somebody cannot give 100 per cent for the team there is no reason he should play. ‘If I can give 100 per cent I will play. If not I will be ready for the next games.’ Sunday marks the first step towards a Treble Deila has very publicly and vocally targeted. The norm is to talk down domestic clean sweeps to lessen expectations, yet Bitton accepts that — whatever people say in the public domain — the onus is on Celtic to win everything. ‘Of course it’s hard. ‘Everybody just expects us to win all the titles. But everybody saw the game on Sunday and it will be very difficult for us. ‘We all need to do our jobs as well as we can. But we don’t think about what they say outside the club, we just need to play our game. If we do we can do it.’ +Arsenal legend Thierry Henry couldn't contain his excitement at meeting his 'favourite' Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey as the pair attended the Prince's Trust Awards. The World Cup winner was so pleased that he had a picture taken with the House of Cards star before sharing it on Twitter with the caption: 'My favourite actor of all time'. Among other famous faces at the Awards were X Factor judge Simon Cowell, rock star Rod Stewart and TV presenters Fearne Cotton and Gok Wan - while the ceremony will be presented by Ant and Dec in front of the charity's founder and president Prince Charles. Arsenal ace Thierry Henry got to meet his 'favourite actor' Kevin Spacey at the Prince's Trust Awards . Arsenal legend signs autographs from the red carpet ahead of the even at the Odeon Leicester Square . Henry was as impeccably dressed as ever as he posed for pictures inside and out of the Odeon . Henry shakes hands with the charity's founder and president Prince Charles . The 37-year-old poses with rock star Rod Stewart (left) and his wife Penny Lancaster (centre) The Gunners' all-time leading scorer has made no secret of his desire to some day step into management and has been juggling a part-time role coaching the north London club's youth development teams with his work as a Sky Sports pundit. Henry has begun his climb on to the managerial ladder by undergoing UEFA coaching courses in Wales. The 37-year-old has been in Wales to prepare for taking his UEFA coaching badges . Henry has also been snapped up as a poster boy pundit for Sky Sports . The 37-year-old has been preparing for his UEFA B licence course and is is likely to complete his A licence in the summer. Although whether he will be asking Spacey, who plays unscrupulous Frank Underwood in the hit US political drama, for any Machiavellian tips on usurping Arsene Wenger is unlikely. Meanwhile, the former Barcelona and New York Red Bulls star has got fans guessing after posting picture of himself alongside singer-songwriter Robbie Williams on Twitter, cryptically promising 'something special' ahead of Red Nose Day 2015. Henry has promised 'something special' after teaming up with Robbie Williams for Red Nose Day . +Events in Dublin on Sunday served as a jolting indication that England remain a work in progress and are running out of opportunities to establish momentum going into the World Cup. The RBS 6 Nations title is now Ireland’s to lose and it is Joe Schmidt’s team — on the back of 10 successive victories — who are emerging as Europe’s primary challengers at the global showpiece on these shores later this year. On Monday, 200 days before the tournament begins at Twickenham when the hosts confront Fiji, England dropped a place to fourth in the World Rugby rankings, behind their Irish conquerors. Stuart Lancaster and his assistant coaches are running out of time to prepare for the World Cup . Stuart Lancaster and his assistant coaches have some key issues to address this week as they seek to orchestrate a prompt revival. First up, major Tests are running out . Arguably, the really momentous occasions England need to sharpen preparations for the World Cup have already passed. Facing Ireland on Sunday was the last such encounter. The national team now have home games against Scotland and France, who are in a state of near-disarray, which will not challenge them to the extent they were challenged in Cardiff and, especially, in Dublin. England's players look dejected after they conceded the opening try of the match against Ireland . Chris Robshaw couldn’t set the same authoritative tone as captain that he had in wins over Australia . There are home-and-away clashes with the French in August but by the time England take on Ireland the following month, both countries will be keeping their powder dry. There are also no short-cuts. Lancaster is attempting to fast-forward the evolution of a squad largely made up of young players. But what the defeat on Sunday proved is the importance of nous and experience, which the Irish had in abundance. England have a glaring caps deficit against most of the leading nations and it is too late to rectify that. The coaches must hope their rookies learn fast. Lancaster struggled for nous and experience in the defeat to Ireland as he fastracks a young Lions squad . Slow starts are another problem, with England falling behind in all three of their Six Nations matches this season. They were under siege early on in Dublin and Cardiff. Fundamental errors keep occurring in the opening minutes which leave them playing catch-up. Against Wales, they managed to do just that — impressively so — but Ireland never let them back into it. Lancaster and his team will review the tone of their match build-ups to see if they can find a way of ensuring the players start at the right pitch of emotional intensity. Decision-making under pressure has become a major issue. The men charged with steering the English ship struggled in Dublin. Minds were scrambled and execution levels dipped. Robshaw takes on Tommy O'Donnell during the RBS Six Nations match between Ireland and England . The England players leave the field defeated following their loss to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday . March 14 England v Scotland (Twickenham), Six Nations . March 21 England v France (Twickenham), Six Nations . June Deadline for confirmation of World Cup training squad . July Training camp in Denver, Colorado . August 15 England v France (Twickenham), World Cup warm-up . August 22 France v England (tbc), World Cup warm-up . August 31 Deadline for confirmation of 31-man World Cup squad . September 5 England v Ireland (Twickenham), World Cup warm-up . September 18 England v Fiji (Twickenham), World Cup . Chris Robshaw couldn’t set the same authoritative tone as captain that he had in wins over Australia, Wales and Italy, while half-backs Ben Youngs and George Ford were eclipsed by Conor Murray and Jonny Sexton. England need calm heads. Lancaster is reluctant to deploy Danny Cipriani from the bench but he will be far more willing to turn to Owen Farrell when the injured Lion is available again. Ireland’s air and ground assault exposed English shortcomings, not just their aerial blitz, but also with their work at the breakdown. The visitors’ kicking often lacked accuracy and threat, and they were beaten to the ball in the air far too often for comfort. That is a concern, given the prowess of World Cup pool rivals Australia and Wales in that area. Those nations also have the personnel to cause trouble at the ruck and England cannot afford to regularly concede the initiative in the battle over the ball. They have predatory runners like Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson out wide, but without quick ball, they are hampered. As for selection conundrums, there were no hindsight-driven grumbles about the make-up of the team in Dublin, it’s just that the chosen men couldn’t deliver. Richard Wigglesworth of Saracens is seen as the leading scrum-half in the country in terms of his tactical kicking game, so he may come into consideration for a starting place. Dylan Hartley had a couple of costly lineout-throwing lapses but he has performed well enough to be given the benefit of the doubt at hooker. Dylan Hartley had a couple of costly lineout-throwing lapses in the disappointing defeat to Ireland . George Kruis was less prominent than in the previous two matches and Courtney Lawes will be back on the radar, as will another Northampton forward, Tom Wood. Meanwhile, Mike Brown is likely to return at full-back against Scotland if he is over his concussion. Finally, there is the question of what to do with Manu Tuilagi. There will soon come a time when Lancaster and his assistants have to confront the issue of what to do in midfield when the Leicester centre is fit again. Joseph has been a revelation in this championship but he couldn’t force his way into the game on Sunday, as the pack and inside backs were under the cosh. The coaches have suggested Tuilagi could play at inside centre, but that does not appear to be a natural, instant solution and England’s whole attacking approach will hinge on the balance of their selections at 12 and 13. Leicester’s wrecking-ball runner is a match-winner, but so is Joseph and both are better in the thick of the action, rather than out wide. Dejected England players Richard Wigglesworth, George Kruis and Robshaw react to the Ireland defeat . +England will unleash their 'special' force of nature, Courtney Lawes, against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday to add clout and dynamism up front following the crushing loss to Ireland. Northampton's 26-year-old lock returns to the starting XV as one of two changes from the setback in Dublin which dashed hopes of a Grand Slam for yet another year. The other sees Harlequins full back Mike Brown reinstated as Stuart Lancaster announced his line-up on Wednesday for the latest installment of an increasingly one-sided Calcutta Cup rivalry. Courtney Lawes will make a welcome return for England against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday . Backs: M Brown (Harlequins); A Watson (Bath), J Joseph (Bath), L Burrell (Northampton), J Nowell (Exeter); G Ford (Bath), B Youngs (Leicester) Forwards: J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester); D Attwood (Bath), C Lawes (Northampton); J Haskell (Wasps), B Vunipola (Saracens), C Robshaw (Harlequins, C) Subs: T Youngs (Leicester), M Vunipola (Saracens), K Brookes (Newcastle), G Parling (Leicester), T Wood (Northampton), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), D Cipriani (Sale), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester) Lawes will add clout and dynamism up front to Stuart Lancaster's side reeling from their loss to Ireland . Head coach Lancaster said: 'There's always a lot of competition for places and having experienced players like Courtney, Tom and Geoff available after playing well for their clubs in the last few weeks adds to our options. 'It's been an intense two weeks of training as everyone wants to be on that field on Saturday and we've had to make some tough selection calls.' Lawes will win his 37th Test cap against the Scots, having proved his fitness with the Saints after being out for two months with an ankle injury. Two comeback club matches have been enough to convince the England management that he is primed to reignite their championship campaign. Reuniting Lawes with Dave Attwood in the second row means George Kruis of Saracens is out of the match-day 23, for the time being. Having dipped against Ireland after storming displays in the wins over Wales and Italy, the rookie has made way, with Leicester's Lion, Geoff Parling, coming on to the bench along with flanker Tom Wood - another back from injury - and prop Kieran Brookes. Full back Mike Brown will also be back when Lancaster announces his side on Wednesday . Brown takes part in full training at Bagshot on Tuesday as England prepare for the Calcutta Cup . Forwards coach Graham Rowntree said: 'Courtney is a special player. He's been good for us. He's really maturing as a player and as a person. You can't hide what he can bring for us physically. I've watched his last two games for Northampton and he's played well. This time last year, on the summer tour and in the autumn series, he played exceptionally well and he's back to his best. 'We've got a lot of athletes in the second row. I've been very pleased with the progress of the guys who have been performing in the absence of Courtney and Geoff over the last few months. But we have a lot of riches in that area now.' For many years, Lawes has been acclaimed for his destructive impact as a tackler and athletic ball-carrier but Rowntree insisted he is equally adept at doing the unglamorous duties required from a tight forward. Lawes reunites with Dave Attwood while Geoff Parling (pictured) comes back onto the bench . Flanker Tom Wood (pictured) also returns from injury, as will prop Kieran Brookes . 'He is capable of the 'grunt' work,' he said. 'That area of his game has significantly improved, his work-rate. That's what you get with Courtney: high work-rate but also a lot of stand-out moments.' The reshuffle of the impressive lock stocks extends to a recall for Parling as a replacement after the first half of his season was disrupted by concussion. He has forged a reputation as a supreme lineout operator but Rowntree also paid tribute to his carrying efforts in recent seasons, and his leadership as an experienced figure who was a mainstay of the Lions' success in Australia in 2013. Forwards coach Graham Rowntree describes Lawes as 'a special player' for what he brings physically . Rowtree expects a high work-rate along with some stand-out moments from Lawes on Saturday . England's defeat in Dublin was notable as a rare off-day for captain Chris Robshaw, who had been leading the side with increasing authority of late. Rowntree didn't duck the fact that the skipper needs to raise his game again. 'I've been happy with Chris this last six months,' he said. 'He did well in the autumn, against Leinster too, injured his shoulder then came back to be outstanding against Wales. He played well against Italy but, among a lot of other guys, did not have his best game in Ireland against a very good outfit in terms of breakdown and set-piece. Chris Robshaw had a rare off day against Ireland but Rowntree expects the England skipper to bounce back . 'We have had frank reviews and I'm sure we will have a reaction from Chris this week. This group are very good at putting their hands up. Chris leads that. One of his greatest qualities is his honesty.' Robshaw acknowledged the collective need to lift standards back up to where they were in Cardiff. He will be hoping Wales scupper Irish Grand Slam hopes before trying to deal with the expectation of a resounding home win against Scotland. 'There are different pressures,' he said. 'We're favourites going into that game at home. 'You want to deliver and set the standard of how you want to play. Hopefully we win, but hopefully we do it in the right manner.' +A monument chronicling 124 years of England's footballing hurt by listing every defeat suffered by the team between 1874 and 1998 has sold at auction for a staggering £425,000. Starting with a 2-1 defeat to Scotland, the magnificent granite sculpture charts more than a century of England's footballing failures, finishing with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Romania in the 1998 World Cup. The gloomy untitled piece was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was being auctioned by Sotherby's as part of their Bear Witness art sale, which has already generated £26.5 million. The granite sculpture details all of England's losses between 1874 and 1998 . The piece, created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, has fetched an incredible £425,000 at Sotherby's . Among the most memorable defeats will be Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal at the 1986 World Cup . Space remains for a few more of England's more recent losses to be added . Mr Cattelan said: 'Carved into it are all the defeats of England's national football team. I guess it's a piece which talks about pride, missed opportunities and death.' Among the defeats etched into the enormous black structure is the infamous 2-1 loss to Argentina in 1986, immortalised by Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal, and the shock 1-0 to the USA in 1950. It was first exhibited in 1999 and its sale comes in the wake of one of England's worst performance at an international tournament in recent memory, after they crashed out of the 2014 World Cup without a single win. Mr Cattelan is known for his satirical art pieces and is the mastermind behind other works such as a sculpture depicting Pope John Paul II being hit by a meteorite. Defeat by Germany after Gareth Southgate's penalty miss at Euro 96 is a late entry on the list . Fortunately for England's current stars, their disastrous World Cup campaign came too late to make the list . +England will intensify their preparations for Euro 2015 by spending a week at their summer base later this month. The Football Association were criticised following the last two Under-21 European Championships in Denmark (2011) and Israel (2013) for failing to prepare properly and that was shown by results, as they failed to win any of their games at those tournaments. This time, however, the FA have no intention of repeating such mistakes and that is why Gareth Southgate will take the Under-21s to Olomouc in a fortnight for a training camp ahead of the friendly against Czech Republic on March 27. Gareth Southgate (centre) will take England U 21s to summer base ahead of March friendly . Michael Keane celebrates his opening goal against Finalnd in Euro 2015 qualifier in November 2014 . That game will be staged in Prague but England are going out early to get a first experience of the base they will use in June. England are in Group B, along with Portugal, Italy and Sweden, and will play two games in Olomouc. The FA sent a delegation out to the Czech Republic as soon as the draw for the finals was made last November and are happy with the hotel they have chosen but they now want to test the pitches and other facilities ahead of the tournament. Southgate will name his squad for the forthcoming friendlies against the hosts and Germany, at Middlesbrough on March 30, on Thursday week. England Under 21 stars will get a chance to test facilities in Olomouc ahead of the tournament . +Australian Grand Prix organisers have dismissed suggestions a number of Formula One teams are threatening to boycott the race over safety fears surrounding McLaren. Fernando Alonso's crash during the second pre-season test last month in Barcelona, which rendered the Spaniard unconscious and resulted in a three-day stay in hospital, has left many observers perplexed. To avoid the prospect of second-impact syndrome, Alonso is to sit out next weekend's season-opening grand prix in Australia, returning for the subsequent race in Malaysia on March 29 . Fernando Alonso leaving hospital last month following his crash during testing with McLaren in Barcelona . Alonso was flown away by helicopter following the crash at the Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona . McLaren have categorically made clear there was no car or systems failure that led to the incident at the Circuit de Catalunya on February 22, instead blaming a freak gust of wind. The explanation is seemingly unconvincing to some and it has led to suggestions of concern from other teams, to such an extent talk of a boycott has apparently been mentioned. But Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott has refuted such gossip. Alonso in pre-season testing with McLaren before his crash in Barcelona last month . Speaking to The West Australian, Westacott said: 'We're talking to the teams, Formula One and the FIA multiple times every day and a boycott certainly hasn't been raised or discussed. 'All the teams are coming to Melbourne; they're excited about the start of the new season, the freight is on its way, Formula One personnel are on site at Albert Park setting up the broadcast and from our perspective it's 100 per cent all systems go. 'We hold no fears about anything apart from containing the enthusiasm of the Australian public across the four days.' +Fernando Alonso ‘woke up in 1995’ after his crash in testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, according to reports in Spain. The extent of the double world champion’s memory loss has been revealed in El Pais, a daily newspaper close to Alonso and his management. They reported that when asked who he was, Alonso replied: ‘I’m Fernando, I drive go-karts and I want to be a Formula One driver.’ Fernando Alonso waves as he leaves hospital but it has been reported he was confused when waking up . In 1995, Alonso was a 13-year-old pupil at Holy Guardian Angel School in his home town of Oviedo, northern Spain. When doctors pressed him further, Alonso, 33, could not remember his debut with Minardi in 2001 or his world championships for Renault in 2005 and 2006. The reports in Spain came 48 hours after Sportsmail revealed concerns that Alonso may have an underlying condition that caused him to crash a week last Sunday and which throw his future career into doubt. Alonso gives the thumbs up after his crash. McLaren have refused to comment on his medical state . Despite MRI and CT scans during three nights in hospital in Barcelona and further tests in Oviedo on Monday, there are no assurances from his doctors, management or McLaren team that he will return for the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 29. He has already been ruled out of the opening race in Melbourne on Sunday week. The concussion he suffered in Barcelona means he cannot be exposed to a second knock to the head, which doctors fear could kill him, regardless of the wider questions about his health. A McLaren spokesman said: ‘As regards Fernando’s medical situation, McLaren will not and indeed should not take the lead, since his medical care is being handled by the people best equipped for that task, namely his doctors. ‘So all we can say is that he is making good progress, and that we hope and expect he will soon be back to his brilliant best.’ Alonso is reported by El Pais to have said: 'I'm Fernando, I drive go karts and I want to be a Formula 1 driver' White screens are lifted as Alonso is treated and taken to an air ambulance following his crash . Medics act quickly to ensure Alonso is secure as he is wheeled closer to a waiting air ambulance . McLaren staff are not necessarily close to Alonso, after he left the team in 2007 following a season of infighting, and may not even know their driver’s condition as well as do some reporters in Spain do. Confusion has, therefore, surrounded the situation, not least after McLaren chairman Ron Dennis said that Alonso had not been concussed, a misunderstanding that was corrected by the team’s official statements. David Coulthard, a former McLaren driver, said: ‘My experience of getting knocked out or having big shunts is that you remember the bit before, the bit after but not the bit in the middle. When you get knocked out it does not come as a warning; it just happens. The McLaren MP4-30 of Alonso is recovered back to the pits on the back of a truck following the crash . ‘The brain is a fairly complex bit of kit, so if they are not able to see any brain injury of any sort it seems a bit medically confusing for me, so there is probably more from the story to come out over time. It is unusual for drivers to miss a grand prix over such a thing.’ Whatever the cause, Alonso’s predicament is a blow for McLaren, whose form in testing suggested they are struggling very badly indeed for reliability and speed. They signed him on a £28million-a-year contract at the start of their new relationship with Honda, yet will replace him with Kevin Magnussen, their 22-year-old Danish reserve driver, at Melbourne’s Albert Park. A helicopter was used to transport Alonso from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to hospital on February 22 . Gary Hartstein, Formula One’s former chief doctor, has speculated that the most probable reason Alonso might have passed out would be arrhythmia — an irregular heartbeat. If so, he would require a pacemaker. Another possibility, said Hartstein, would be carotid sinus hypersensitivity, whereby pressure on the main artery to the brain causes the heart rate to drop, blood pressure to fall and the sufferer to blackout. Hartstein told the BBC that this was ‘surprisingly common’, and not totally unexpected at a fast corner in a Formula One car, such as Turn Three at Barcelona, where Alonso was travelling at 134mph. Alonso was flown away by helicopter following the crash at the Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona . But, then again, he was braking and changing down gears as the accident unfolded, so how is this consistent with his having passed out? The questions nag. Alonso will need the FIA’s medical team to give him clearance to race in Malaysia, as well as the go-ahead from his own doctors. He has been outwardly relaxed about missing the Melbourne race, saying from his father’s house in Oviedo, where he is recovering: ‘A second impact in less than 21 days (the stipulated period of rest) — NO.’ Alonso may have been less sanguine if McLaren were quicker, but both team and man will be mightily relieved when, he is back, even if it is towards the back of the grid for now. Onlookers fear the worst as Spanish driver Alonso is taken away by an air ambulance following his crash . Alonso is airlifted from the scene following his crash in preseason at the track just outside of Barcelona . +Bernie Ecclestone has very particular requirements for Formula One's pre-race grid walk. Being a glamorous woman is top of his list. In a letter that has come to light, Ecclestone wrote to former Caterham team principal Cyril Abiteboul requesting: . Bernie Ecclestone appears to have written a letter outlining his requirements for the grid . The Formula One chief made a point of calling for glamorous ladies to be given passes . Bernie's daughter Tamara at the British Grand Prix with her husband Jay Rutland last year . 'Please be reminded that where possible, grid access passes should be used for celebrities or people of note or as always, really glamorous ladies. 'This is not so much a sporting matter but a part of the show business of Formula One.' The letter, from May 2013, is signed 'Bernie' and appears to be genuine. Sportsmail contacted Ecclestone's office for confirmation but they declined to comment. Ecclestone's blueprint is hardly surprising, the grid walk being unashamedly about glitz and glamour. Red Bull's Adrian Newey on the grid with Amanda Holden at Silverstone last year . Shell grid girls line up at the Belgian Grand Prix last year . Ecclestone's letter was written to former Caterham team principal Cyril Abiteboul . +Johnny Herbert believes McLaren could find themselves at the back end of the grid when the new Formula One season gets under way. The Woking-based marque have struggled to put in the pre-season testing miles due to a number of issues with their new car - with Honda returning to the sport and providing their first attempt at a current F1 power unit. With other teams pounding around Jerez and Barcelona collecting valuable data and information ahead of the season opener in Melbourne on March 15, McLaren have often found their car back in the garage with one fault or another. The McLaren car could struggle at the start of the season, reckons Johnny Herbert . Herbert fears for McLaren . Add to that the fact two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will not be racing in Australia after crashing out at high-speed in Barcelona and it has not been the best reunion for McLaren and Honda - with Herbert tipping them to really struggle in the opening rounds. 'There is definitely a chance of that,' Herbert said when asked if the eight-time constructors' champions could find themselves behind a host of other teams this year. 'So many cars have improved. The middle of the pack seems very close. Lotus seem better, Sauber look better. Ferrari look faster than they were last year as well - Red Bull and Toro Rosso, also. 'The middle pack is tight but we haven't seen the McLaren setting their best times so we don't know where they will be. 'The run of over 100 laps (from Button in Barcelona) put them in the middle of that pack - is that a true showing of their pace? We really don't know. 'We don't know the whole grid order because I don't think everyone has shown their full hand and, unfortunately for McLaren and everyone else, I don't think Mercedes have either.' With the news that Alonso, re-signed to the team after the Spaniard left Ferrari, will be sitting out of the curtain-raiser after his mysterious crash has only added to McLaren's issues - with Herbert questioning why the rekindled relationship with Honda has got off to such an underwhelming start. 'McLaren have been a disappointment so far,' the former Benetton and Stewart driver told the Press Association. Fernando Alonso will miss the curtain-raiser in Australia after his horrific crash in Barcelona . 'You were thinking "Honda have come back and are back with McLaren again. They had all the success in the late 80s and they had last year to look and see what was going on - they saw other manufacturers having to overcome issues whilst they were working on their engine. 'All of these issues they have had have made it really difficult for them to get any serious running whatsoever. They have had a mass of problems that haven't helped them. 'It is sad news that Fernando will not be in Australia - everything has gone against them so far. 'The preparation is something that maybe wasn't to the high standards than Ron Dennis is always after. 'This is something that should have been ready, the new Honda relationship and moving it forward with Jenson and Fernando. 'If it all comes together they might get a good result but it is going to be hard in the opening couple of races - the hardest of their careers.' +A self-made millionaire from Northern Ireland will put £30million of his personal fortune into Formula One’s phoenix team, Manor. Stephen Fitzpatrick, a 37-year-old entrepreneur, made that commitment at a press conference. With that injection, plus £28m in prize money, the team will run on a total budget of £58million. Manor will take part in the opening race of the season in Melbourne on Sunday week, subject to their cars passing crash tests. Briton Will Stevens is one of their drivers. Ovo founder Stephen Fitzpatrick (left) has joined forces with former Sainsbury CEO Justin King (right) Manor, who as Marussia went into administration last October, will be chaired in the interim by Justin King, former Sainsbury’s chief executive. Fitzpatrick, a former JP Morgan trader turned founder of energy company OVO, revealed he was a Formula One fan. He attended the Singapore Grand Prix, watching from the outside, ‘figuring out a way to get over there’ (on the inside of the sport). He then spoke to King about resurrecting the team. With stability and sponsorship the initial aims Fitzpatrick joked: ‘We’re unlikely to win any races for the first half of the season.’ Britain's Will Stevens has been announced as the renamed Manor team's first driver for the 2015 season . The team, formerly known as Marussia that went into administration at the end of October and missed the final three races of last season, will continue to be run by sporting director Graeme Lowdon and team principal John Booth. Manor has been preparing their cars at their old base in Dinnington, South Yorkshire, which comply fully with the 2015 regulations. Lowdon claims the cars, which are being crash tested this week, are 'a new concept of car with a very high degree of carry over (from 2014), with a lot of safety upgrades for 2015'. But the team will definitely be heading to Melbourne for the first race on March 13-15, with the majority of the freight on its way to Albert Park on Friday. Fitzpatrick, who previously worked as an investment banker at JP Morgan, concedes when he first approached Lowdon the team's cause appeared 'almost hopeless'. Former team Marussia will return to Formula One under the name of Manor this season . Fitzpatrick added: 'It was one of those situations that needed more time to understand everything, so it seemed too late, with no realistic possibility of reviving the team. 'But it was ironic that after making it through a hard first five years, claiming ninth in last year's championship and reaching the first rung of financial stability - if there is such a thing in Formula One - and then running out of steam, it seemed like too good a story to end there. 'So I looked to see if there was a way to help this team cling to life, to survival. 'After speaking to Graeme, who was very straightforward and we had some frank discussions, there was just one long list of challenges, top of which was to re-establish credibility with the main suppliers, like Ferrari. 'It was a very complex landscape, with a lot of legal and financial challenges, and now in 10 days' time we will be in Melbourne with a solid business platform on which to operate. 'For me, Justin has been a huge help in navigating the landmines, especially as this is the first company I've bought.' King has confirmed he is only on board in an interim basis and that he will assist in looking for a full-time chairman before taking on a non-executive directorship. King said: 'I know from the years I spent at Sainsbury's that with the right people, right values and sheer hard work, you can turn any business around. The F1 team will enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement that will see them emerge from administration . 'In Graeme and John we have all three and I'm fully confident we can help Manor be competitive at the highest level of racing.' Lowdon concedes people will be unaware of the hurdles that have had to be cleared over the past few months in order for the team to be on the brink of racing again when it seemed they would fold. Lowdon and Booth have moved heaven and earth to ensure the marque would continue in F1, holding numerous negotiations, notably with the long list of creditors owed a combined total of £60million. It resulted in deals being struck and Manor obtaining a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) on February 19, allowing them to exit administration and press ahead with plans to return to the grid. Power-unit supplier Ferrari, the main creditor owed £16.5m, was one of the key players in Manor's ability to acquire the CVA. 'The last few months have been a bit of a rollercoaster,' said Lowdon. 'It's important to say in getting back to racing we've had a huge amount of support from the FIA, FOM, Bernie (Ecclestone), our suppliers, partners and staff, with many of them back on board. 'I have to pay particular thanks to Stephen who has a passion for the sport, but what really struck me is that he also has a passion for business challenges. 'He is driven by solving problems, and I've been incredibly impressed by his ability in doing that. This team would not have been saved without his input.' Manor confirmed last week young Briton Will Stevens as one of their drivers, with the 23-year-old given a taste of F1 in the final race of last season in Abu Dhabi when he drove for Caterham in their bid to emerge from their own administrative process. No announcement has been made yet as to the second driver. +England forward Danny Welbeck is set for a 'great future' at Arsenal, but manager Arsene Wenger warned all his players their first duty is to serve the club - whether that is on the pitch or on the bench. Welbeck joined the Gunners on transfer deadline day from Manchester United, where he had become frustrated at a lack of opportunities in his preferred central striker role. Since the return to fitness and form of Olivier Giroud, who spent four months out with a broken leg, the 24-year-old has found himself deployed on the flank of a front three along with Alexis Sanchez, rather than down the middle. Danny Welbeck joined Arsenal from Manchester United last summer after growing frustrated at bit-part role . The striker was left on the bench for Wednesday's Premier League match against QPR . Welbeck was a late substitute for both of the previous two Barclays Premier League matches, but could face his former club in Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford. Wenger is convinced Welbeck, who has seven Arsenal goals, can play a big part in the future of the team, but like everyone else has to earn their place in the starting XI. 'Danny Welbeck puts big team effort in, he plays very well for me and is an exceptional player who will have a great future here,' said Wenger, who confirmed centre-back Gabriel Paulista was set for 'two to three weeks' out with a hamstring injury suffered in the midweek Barclays Premier League win over QPR at Loftus Road. 'The subject is raised because he is a former Man United player, (but) I am very, very happy that I bought him.' Wenger continued: 'Welbeck is very important and has played many, many games since the start of the season. The England international was also absent from the starting line-up against Everton last Sunday . Arsene Wenger says Welbeck has a bright future at Arsenal but faces a lot of competition . 'His position is one of the three up front, central, left or right. He can play anywhere.' England forward Theo Walcott is another who has watched on from the bench in recent weeks, as Wenger finally enjoys the luxury of strength in depth. The Arsenal boss added: 'We have a lot of competition going on in the team, especially up front - we have plenty of offensive potential. It makes every decision more difficult. 'People always raise these kind of questions when (either) you do not have enough players, or when you do have enough players. '(However), we have chosen a job where competition is part of our job. That means we can't complain about that, because we have made that choice. 'Our job is to serve the club and to compete with other people to do as well as we can to serve the club. The 24-year-old could return to the side for Monday night's FA Cup clash against former side United . Wenger confirmed he will be without defender Gabriel for up to three weeks due to a hamstring injury . 'The only important thing is what the club achieves - all of us are only here for that.' Arsenal have a poor record at Old Trafford, not winning since September 2006 and suffering an 8-2 thumping there in August 2011. Wenger, though, sees no reason why the Gunners, who are ahead of United in the Premier League table, should not be able to produce the required performance this time around. 'I don't believe too much in history, I just believe in the performance on the day,' he said. 'At the moment we are doing very well away from home. The size of the pitch is exactly the same everywhere, it is just down to how much we turn up and how much effort we put in to win the game. 'Both teams will think if we get over this hurdle, we have a good opportunity to win the competition. Wenger was forced to defend Mesut Ozil after criticism from former United midfielder Paul Scholes . 'We are confident from our Premier League run, so we go to Manchester United to qualify and to give absolutely everything.' Wenger, meanwhile, rejected criticism of Mesut Ozil by former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, who claimed the German playmaker was only 'going through the motions' at Arsenal. 'I think a player like Paul Scholes would have loved to play with Mesut Ozil,' Wenger said. 'We are all in a job where in every single game we have to prove a point. 'I believe Ozil has the quality, he puts a lot of effort in to help the team and he works much harder than his style shows. 'You can be cheated a little bit by his style of play, because he is fluent, easy, subtle and he does not look like he puts the effort in, but he does.' +West Ham striker Carlton Cole has accepted a Football Association charge over a Twitter exchange with a Tottenham supporter. Cole had until 6pm on Thursday night to respond to the charge of making a comment which 'was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brings the game into disrepute'. A FA independent commission will now meet to decide his sanction, with no limit to the possible punishment. West Ham United striker Carlton Cole has admitted an FA charge for a tweet that the FA deemed abusive . Cole tweeted back to a Tottenham fan who had insulted him on Twitter, telling the supporter: 'F off you c***' The charge related to Cole's involvement in a Twitter altercation with a Spurs fan following West Ham's 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw at White Hart Lane on February 22. The 31-year-old, who has 122,000 followers on the social networking site, was responding to a message from Spurs supporter Stuart Hardy that read: 'Hi @CarltonCole1 when your own team-mates don't kick the ball out when you're lying injured for 2 mins, you think it's time to call it a day?' Cole replied: 'F off you c***' before later deleting the tweet. Cole could have left West Ham in January's transfer window but a move to West Bromwich Albion fell through . The former Chelsea striker has been in trouble before for previous postings on social media and this may be taken into account in his punishment. He was fined £20,000 by the FA in April 2011 for a tweet he posted during England's friendly against Ghana that read: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! 'The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St George's flag!' Cole celebrates after scoring for West Ham against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in August . +Diafra Sakho took to Instagram to show off how he and his West Ham team-mates were relaxing in Dubai during their warm-weather training camp. Carlton Cole and Guy Demel were among those out for lunch at the luxury Blue Marlin Ibiza in the United Arab Emirates on Friday. West Ham next face Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League on March 14 and Sam Allardyce took the opportunity to fly his squad to Dubai to 'recharge their batteries'. Diafra Sakho showed off how he and team-mates including Carlton Cole (left) and Guy Demel (second from right) were relaxing in Dubai . Cheikhou Kouyate (left) poses with his fellow West Ham players in an Instagram post before going to Dubai . West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald told the club's official website: 'Since the start of December it's been full on and we're only just coming up for air at the start of March. 'It's been a tough couple of months but what we normally do is go away so the lads can get a bit of sun on their backs. 'We do a bit of training in the gym and along the beach, as well as having a couple of football sessions. It's more important that they have a bit of relaxation time and get the sun on their backs. 'In last two or three months everyone’s had their tracksuit tops, gloves and hats on and it’ll be great to go across there and we’ll still be working, but special for the boys that it’s in the heat.' Winston Reid had to leave the game against Chelsea after eight minutes with a hamstring problem . +Kolo Toure always knew that Liverpool would turn things around after a difficult start to their Premier League campaign and has cited manager Brendan Rodgers as the reason. Despite coming within two points of winning the title last season, the Reds initially struggled this term after losing Luis Suarez and bringing in a raft of new signings - losing four of their opening five league games. However, Liverpool have been the form team of 2015, winning seven and drawing two of their league games to challenge for a Champions League place while reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Kolo Toure (left) trains ahead of Liverpool's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Blackburn on Sunday . The defender insists he always knew Brendan Rodgers would come good for Liverpool this season . Toure has hailed 'intelligent' Rodgers for making Liverpool the Premier League form team of 2015 . Speaking to The Independent, Toure said: I'm not surprised by the turn around because the manager is great, really intelligent in working out problems. 'He pays attention to every detail, tries different things, pushes players so you don't get lazy. We had a lot of new players coming in, especially young ones from abroad who had to settle in. 'I moved to England when I was 21 so i know it takes time to fit in, to learn. I knew that eventually it would all come together, and that is what the boss kept telling us as well.' Liverpool face Blackburn Rovers on Sunday for a chance of boosting their season even further by reaching the FA Cup semi-finals . Toure, who has returned from winning the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast, could become the first player in history to win the FA Cup with three different clubs, having already collected the trophy with Arsenal (2003, 2005) and Manchester City (2011). Toure could become the first player to win the FA Cup with three clubs, having won it with Arsenal (above) and Manchester City previously . The 33-year-old celebrates winning the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast in February . Although the 33-year-old has been used as a substitute in Liverpool's last two games, he understands that he is not guaranteed playing time at Anfield. 'When you're with a big team like Liverpool, you can't expect to start every game, especially because I was a way with the Ivory Coast for almost a month. 'But I am always ready to contribute whether it is on the pitch or in the dressing room. We have a team that's hungry for success, with exciting young players that I help guide with experience. The winning mentality is really, really strong.' +Marseille climbed above Paris Saint-Germain into second-place in Ligue 1 with an emphatic 6-1 victory at struggling Toulouse on Friday to reignite their title challenge. Marseille had not registered a league victory since January 31 as their title push faltered but the visitors were 3-0 up after 20 minutes and 4-0 up at the break in a rampant first half display. Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi fired Marseille into a second minute lead with a superb long-range strike before Baptiste Aloe doubled their advantage after he converted Benjamin Mendy's shot in the sixth minute. Marseille's Belgian attacking midfielder Michy Batshuayi (left) lines up a shot before scoring against Toulouse . Toulouse forward Wissam Ben Yedder (right) dribbles away from Marseille defender Jeremy Morel (left) Marseille's Argentine midfielder Lucas Ocampos (centre) breaks away from Toulouse's William Matheus . Toulouse's Francois Moubandje turned Andre Ayew's dangerous low cross into his own net under pressure from Lucas Ocampos in the 20th minute before Batshuayi added his second with a simple finish seconds before halftime. The hosts improved after the break and pulled back a goal in the 76th minute when Wissam Ben Yedder's low shot beat Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda. The four-goal lead was restored two minutes later, however, when the lively Ayew slotted home from a seemingly offside position. Marseille forward Andre-Pierre Gignac (left) has now scored 16 goals in 28 appearances so far this season . Batshuayi celebrates after scoring his second and Marseille's fourth goal against Toulouse on Friday night . Lucas Ocampos (left) prepares to blast a shot past Toulouse's Serbian defender Uros Spajic (right) Andre-Pierre Gignac completed the rout in the 89th minute to compound a miserable night for Toulouse with a low strike in to the corner - his 16th Ligue 1 goal of a prolific season. Marseille lead third-placed PSG, who host Racing Lens on Saturday, on goal difference and trail leaders Olympique Lyon, who visit Montpellier HSC on Sunday, by a point. Toulouse remain 18th, two points adrift of FC Lorient in 17th and seven points clear of bottom-placed clubs Racing Lens and Metz. Toulouse midfielder Tongo Doumbia (bottom) slides in with a strong challenge on Giannelli Imbula (top) Marseille's Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew (left) tussles with Toulouse defender Marcel Tisserand (right) After their 6-1 away win, Marseille are up to second in the table and mounting a challenge for the Ligue 1 title . +Former Premier League star Jermaine Jenas must have left a lasting impression on Noel Gallagher during the duo's recent Match of the Day 2 appearance. Former Forest player Jenas, who had spells with Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers among others, sat in the studio with the former Oasis man last month to evaluate the days' games. And it must have been more than just football that the duo had in common as the 32-year-old took to Twitter on Friday night to give his followers a brief glimpse behind the scenes at one of Gallagher's gigs. Noel Gallagher poses backstage with Jermaine Jenas' wife and friends at a gig at the Nottingham Arena . Jenas celebrates with former Tottenham Hotspur striker Gareth Bale at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium . The former Oasis man was performing at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena, but he still had time to pose with the footballers' wife Ellie and some friends. Jenas was obviously on camera duty as the former England international, who made 21 appearances for the Three Lions scoring one goal, was nowhere to be seen in the picture. Two other people that were nowhere to be seen were MOTD2 duo Mark Lawrenson and Mark Chapman, but Nottingham-born Jenas did at least give the duo a shout-out on social media. There was no sign of Mark Lawrenson and Mark Chapman at the gig but Jenas did give the duo a shout-out . Jenas pictured in action during his time with west London outfit Queens Park Rangers in 2013 . +With five minutes gone Sergio Aguero embarked on one of his thrilling mazy runs deep into Leicester territory only to be flattened on the edge of the area. By David Silva. If Gary Neville was watching, he may well have given a knowing nod. The former Manchester United star spoke at length in the build up to this match about how City are unbalanced in a 4-4-2 when they play Aguero, Silva and Yaya Toure. Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero cuts a frustrated figure during Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Leicester . David Silva jumps for joy and punches the air after giving Man City the lead at the Etihad Stadium . Silva proved his point - literally - sending the Argentine tumbling to the floor before many had even taken their seats. Neville's wider point was that the trio - breathtaking when on the front foot but seemingly out of breath when asked to defend - are a luxury Manuel Pellegrini can ill afford when up against the cream of Europe. With all due respect to Leicester they are not the cream of Europe, rather the dregs of the Premier League, but they proved his point more than once at a pancake-flat Etihad. From the kick-off Toure wandered into the visitors' half. It was where he would spend most of the match. The Ivorian's lack of an appetite for hard work did not go unnoticed among the blue-collar faithful. After one run, in which he was felled on the edge of the box but failed to win a free-kick, he stayed down for what seemed like an eternity. Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure appeared to go down for what seemed an eternity during the match . Aguero is surrounded by the Leicester defence as the Man City frontman bids to make an opening . By the time he got up, Leicester were on the attack in the City half. It was all too much for one punter in front of the press box who wasted no time in getting to his feet. 'Get up you lazy g**' was his frustrated shout. Nobody told him to shut up. Against cellar dweller opponents who have four wins from 26 attempts it was unimpressive stuff and perhaps an indication of why, before this encounter, City had just nine points from a possible 21 in the Premier League. It would be remiss, however, to deny that when it works (and it has won them two titles) it works well. For the opener, Toure's surging run ended with a pass to Silva in space. His flick found an overlapping Aleks Kolarov and after some ping pong in the Leicester box Silva prodded home. Silva prods the ball home past a sprawling Mark Schwarzer to give City the lead in first half injury time . Toure gestures in the direction of midfielder Jesus Navas during Wednesday's victory at the Etihad Stadium . Silva also lofted two delightful balls over the visitors' defence, one for a misfiring Wilfried Bony and one for Sergio Aguero. Both strikers put their efforts over the bar but it would be very difficult for any manager to drop the graceful Spaniard. Neville's point, however, was reaffirmed on 74 minutes. At 1-0, Nigel Pearson's plucky visitors should not have been in with a sniff. But in the midst of host of missed opportunities for the home side Riyad Mahrez hit a post. Had that gone in it could have been title race over. As it turned out, sub James Milner made it 2-0 after Silva had been replaced by Frank Lampard. Better opposition, however, would have reinforced Neville's point even further. +Legendary jockey AP McCoy is hoping to end his career on a high with with victory in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. Having recently announced his retirement plans for the end of the season, something which McCoy admitted to the BBC he questions 'every morning', the 40-year-old will ride Carlingford Lough for the final time on Friday, looking to add to two previous Gold Cup victories already. McCoy has previously ridden Carlingford Lough to victory at The Hennessy Gold Cup (2015), Growsie Champion Novice Chase (2014), Fort Leney Novice Chase and Galway Plate (both 2013). AP McCoy rides Jezki during the Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy on Tuesday . McCoy lifts the Gold Cup trophy back in 2012 after riding Synchronised to victory . While McCoy might be a reluctant retiree, his decision is probably for the best, given the amount of injuries he has sustained over the past 23 years. The marathon-man has broken his middle and lower vertebrae, both shoulder blades, both collarbones, ribs, ankle, cheekbones, wrist, and leg, to mention numerous chipped teeth and repeated broken fingers. The latest odds place Carlingford Lough at 10/1 to win on Friday. McCoy rides Carlingford Lough on the return after winning The Hennessy Gold Cup earlier this year . +By the time AP McCoy traipsed in, ninth in the first race of his last Cheltenham Festival, the acclaim for his great friend and rival was ringing in his ears. The sound of rolling thunder from the crowd, packed 50-deep on The Lawns along the final two furlongs of the closing straight, concluded with Ruby Walsh’s name being chanted. Suddenly the people’s hero seemed quite incidental. It was not to get a great deal better for the man who transcends National Hunt racing, and whose farewell to its biggest meeting dominated the build-up to this event. AP McCoy rides Jezki to a disappointing fourth in the Champion Hurdle on day one of Cheltenham . In truth, McCoy has known plenty of days like this at Cheltenham before, and while he will have felt disappointment, his supporters in a record opening-day crowd of 63,000 had much to compensate them. The thought of this Festival helps sustain some people through the long winter months and, when it finally arrived, it could hardly have been more glorious. Cleeve Hill almost shimmered in the background as springtime attempted its own burst to the front. Amid the drama McCoy fought hard to try to fulfil the expectations placed upon him, perhaps more from a wider sporting public who have come to revere his sustained excellence. The cognoscenti know that there is little low hanging fruit for him at Cheltenham this year, but there are still three days left to make this a fitting valedictory appearance. The fantasy ending remains victory on Friday, either in the Gold Cup or the meeting’s final race, which has been temporarily renamed in his honour. He might be a far more sanguine character than when he first started racking up the champion jockey titles, but frustration was etched into his features as he went in and out of the weighing room. McCoy had considered Jezki (above) as his best chance of a winner at Cheltenham this year . You do not become the nation’s most durable sportsman without defeats continuing to sting. On Tuesday these came in the form of finishing ninth, last, fifth, fourth and pulling up in his five races. It is a strange day when American Rich Ricci, uber-wealthy banker and the pantomime villain of racehorse ownership, gets more cheers in the parade ring than someone deemed a national treasure, but this was one of them. McCoy has admitted that he is anxious about the prospect of retirement, but afternoons such as on Tuesday might serve to ease the fear. No defeat hurt more than coming fourth on Jezki in the Champion Hurdle, and the horse’s trainer Jessica Harrington revealed he had been quick to take responsibility. McCoy looks dejected after the final race, the Chaps Restaurants Barbados Novices’ Handicap Steeplechase . ‘AP was blaming himself, saying he took on Faugheen at the top of the hill, and in chasing the winner it probably cost him second or third and he finished fourth,’ she said. ‘If he had ridden him to be second to Faugheen then he may well have been second.’ The latter scenario was never likely to happen, especially as McCoy had identified Jezki, the defending champion from last year, as probably his best chance in 2015. He was not to add to his comparatively modest Festival tally of 30 winners, a total exceeded not just by Walsh but Barry Geraghty, too. He has tasted glory here — the Gold Cup win on Synchronised and the masterclass on Wichita Lineman in the 2009 William Hill — but it is 17 years since he was the leading jockey at this Bacchanalian jamboree. McCoy, riding Bold Henry, pulled up with two fences left in the final race of the day . McCoy, riding in his last Cheltenham Festival, did not have the day he would have hoped upon arrival . Some revellers had gone home as he set off in the last race, the exotically-named Chaps Restaurants Barbados Novices’ Handicap Steeplechase, on Bold Henry. They were never in it and pulled up with two fences left. Afterwards McCoy had what looked like a lengthy inquest with the owner JP McManus before fairly sprinting back to the weighing room for the last time. He was not in the mood to discuss the afternoon’s events, saying only ‘it was all right.’ Perhaps he could merely have pointed to the name of the horse who had started favourite and just come second in the final chase. For AP it had been a Thomas Crapper kind of day. +Typical Paul O'Connell. Ireland are chasing down a possible second Grand Slam in six years and, instead of the narrative being exclusively about how Joe Schmidt's side will fare in jumping hurdle number four at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, the skipper's 100th cap for his country is providing a smokescreen for teammates glad of a diversionary topic. O'Connell wouldn't be of a mind to mention his milestone within camp himself. But still, as a topic for his comrades to pass the time with during short media sessions, it falls into perfect, anything-but-Wales, territory. Take Devin Toner, the Leinster giant who has become O'Connell's regular second-row sidekick over the past few seasons. Paul O'Connell is preparing for his 100th cap for his country at the Millenium Stadium on Saturday . Joe Schmidt are chasing down a possible second Grand Slam in six years at the Millenium Stadium . Ask about the general mechanics of the Irish lineout and the response is brief. 'I don't want to give anything away about lineout strategies,' he says. Enquire about the centurion, though, and there's, eventually, much greater pep to his patter. 'There's not much more to be said that hasn't already been said about Paulie. He's a world-class player and I don't think I'd be the player I am today without having played with him. 'I've learned so much from all the second rows I've played with, especially Leo Cullen and Paul. He's a massive leader in the squad, just a massive player on the pitch and players look up to him,' says Toner, who admits to closely watching O'Connell's ruck clear-outs as something he'd like to replicate. O'Connell gets angry during the Ireland training session at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland . 'Just to get to 100 caps is a huge testament to how he has looked after himself and to play at the top level for that long (since his debut against Wales in 2002) is unbelievable. 'It was more intimidating playing against him for the first time because I didn't really fancy it to be honest,' continues Toner, adding that this provincial level fear has eroded now that they are Test colleagues. 'He wouldn't be in my head now… but he's kind of like Joe (Schmidt) in that you need to know your detail or he gets on top of you. That's a hugely good thing. 'More players should be doing it. He has driven standards along with Joe… the two of them just drive the squad. You don't want to disappoint either of them.' Mike Ross is another not shy about chipping in his tuppence-worth about the Ireland captain who lifted the Six Nations trophy in Paris last year. James Haskell on the loose ball ahead of Devin Toner and Jordi Murphy during the RBS Six Nations . O'Connell looks on after his teams victory during the RBS Six Nations match between Ireland and England . 'He has always led from the front. He might look a bit mad from the sidelines but he has always got this calm head. If things are going south, Paulie is a good man to bring everything back under check,' says the veteran tighthead about his fellow 35-year-old. 'When he was playing for Young Munster, I was over in Fermoy playing Junior Two or something like that. The first time I came into contact with him was at a Munster Under 20s training session. He has always stood out,' recalls Ross. 'I remember watching him take the park for a pre-season friendly, coming on for Mick O'Driscoll. He was an impressive physical specimen even then. 'Then he makes his debut against Wales and scores a try that he doesn't remember (due to concussion). Ireland captain O'Connell during the Ireland training session at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland . 'He has always made an impression whenever he gets the chance. It's a testament to the career he has had and the esteem in which he is held that he will now get his 100th cap. 'He's always looking for more at training sessions. 'He was questioning me this week on what bind feels best in a particular scrum. Even now he's still looking for new things.' The O'Connell theme done and dusted, it's on to the more serious business at hand - successfully defending the championship. This time last year, Ireland were picking up the pieces following their lost Triple Crown match at Twickenham which left them gunning for just the Six Nations title. Italy's prop Martin Castrogiovanni  is tackled by Toner during the Six Nations clash at the Olympic Stadium . However, while they now still have everything to play for after three championship wins stretched their overall unbeaten run to a record equalling 10 matches, Toner doesn't feel there is a different dynamic to 2015's round four preparations - even though 'Grand Slam' is the phrase on every Ireland supporter's lips. 'I don't think there is much difference. If we look at it now, it's semifinal and final time, so we are in a good place. 'It's similar to last year. If we win the two games, we win the championship and the Grand Slam,' says Toner, adding that the growing hype outside their secluded Carton House base is largely passing him by, save for last Sunday's visit to his old North Kildare stomping ground. 'I don't really read the newspaper or see much that goes on. Obviously people want to talk about it but I'm just naturally relaxed about it. It doesn't really faze me. 'I don't really get hyped up at all.' +For Dundee United and Celtic, the trilogy becomes a quadrilogy. Already facing each other three times in three competitions at three different venues across the third month of the year, one final blast of beleaguered referee Craig Thomson’s whistle at Tannadice ensured yet another instalment of this saga. In the movie business, each successive film in a franchise tends to be markedly poorer than its predecessor. And as the dust settled on this breathtaking and at times bewildering contest of almost incessant controversy, the suspicion lingered that nothing that lies ahead in March could possibly match this blockbuster for drama, action and utter high farce. For on an astonishing Scottish Cup afternoon on Tayside, nine-man United fought to a valiant 1-1 draw against their 10-man visitors. This was a game scarred by two early red cards, ultimately three in total, but, in truth, there could have been five. One, dished out to the luckless Paul Paton, was a monumentally unjust case of mistaken identity. Leigh Griffiths wheels away to celebrate his equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Dundee United . Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk (right) was sent off after only nine minutes of the Scottish Cup quarter-final . In a case of mistaken identity, the referee also sent off Dundee United's Paul Paton . Adding to the scandal, Nadir Ciftci, the United striker who opened the scoring from the spot after team-mate Aidan Connolly appeared to dive to win a penalty, should not have been on the park at all after kicking out at Scott Brown. The Celtic captain was, himself, lucky to escape red for a quite awful challenge on the Turkish forward in the first place. And even after all that drama there was still room to plot in a villain-to-hero story, as Leigh Griffiths missed a penalty then scored an equaliser to break the heart of outstanding United keeper Rado Cierzniak. Griffiths’ beautiful header secured a replay at Parkhead on March 18 – the second of three games in a week between the teams – although the Celtic striker may now relinquish penalty duties. ‘I had the chance to get us back in it with the penalty but he saved it,’ said Griffiths. ‘I’d been practising in training all day yesterday [Saturday] and never missed a single one. I apologised to the fans because I never scored. It was my fault and if Kris Commons is back in the team next week he will be back on them because he’s No1 penalty taker. But if not I will put my hand up to take one because I am always confident. ‘Their goalie’s had one of those games, he saved everything we threw at him. I hope he’s not in that form in the final next week or we could be in trouble. But it was nice that I picked myself up to score.' The referee points to the spot after Aidan Connolly was brought down in the Celtic box . Celtic keeper Craig Gordon fails to stop Nadir Ciftci from giving Dundee Utd the lead . Dundee United's Nadir Ciftci celebrates scoring the opening goal with a penalty . The tone for a bizarre afternoon was set on nine minutes when Brown went in hard on Ciftci. He retaliated with a kick towards the Celtic skipper’s head. In the same melee, Calum Butcher slid into Virgil van Dijk, who appeared to stamp down on the United man as the pair tangled on the ground. And yet, after a three-minute discussion between referee Thomson and his assistant Graham Chambers, red cards were issued to van Dijk and, astonishingly, the apparently blameless Paton instead of Butcher. As he trudged off, Paton’s face was the picture of incredulity. This season he has already been banned for two games for allegedly spitting at Aberdeen’s Johnny Hayes – despite his ‘victim’ protesting that Paton was innocent. Paton recently insisted he was the victim of unfair treatment from the SFA because he elected to play for Northern Ireland over Scotland. That, of course, remains a nonsense but he was right to feel aggrieved. As half-time approached, United nearly took the lead when Butcher’s mis-hit shot was diverted past Craig Gordon by Ryan Dow but the ball bounced back off the inside of the post and was hacked away to safety. Then, after a lighting break, Celtic raced up to the other end and great play from Stefan Johansen saw him cleverly slip the ball in for Anthony Stokes. The forward was clean through on goal, and took two touches before picking his spot. Unfortunately for him, however, the spot he chose was the bottom left post and the ball was cleared by United’s relieved defence. Whether or not the ball took a bobble on the pitch, only Stokes will know, but it looked a real sitter. Worse was to come for the Irishman when young Connolly drove at the Celtic defence and appeared to throw himself to the ground with Stokes nearby. Dundee United have a second player sent off after Paul Dixon (3rd left) receives his marching orders . Griffiths missed his chance to equalise for Celtic from the penalty spot . It looked a dive but Ciftci didn’t care about that as he ruthlessly cracked his spot kick low and hard beyond the diving Gordon. As the teams left the park at half-time Emilio Izaguirre was furious at the award of the spot kick. But it was the Honduran’s misplaced clearance into the path of Connolly that had put his team under pressure in the first place. It was a crazy conclusion to the first half but the second period immediately brought fresh madness. Within three minutes, Dundee United were down to nine men when Griffiths’ shot struck Paul Dixon on the arm as the United defender attempted to block. Griffiths caught the ball well but United goalkeeper Cierzniak, so often criticised, pulled off a wonderful save to prevent Celtic levelling. With United moving to a 5-3-0 formation, it was like the Alamo at times but there were great saves to come from Cierzniak - from both Stokes and substitute John Guidetti. Griffiths makes up for his penalty miss by drawing Celtic level with a header . Celtic captain Scott Brown celebrates with Griffiths as the game finishes in a 1-1 draw . Despite the one-way traffic, however, Gordon had to look lively to stop Butcher scoring on a rare United counter. Just as it looked like Celtic’s treble dreams could come unstuck on an unacceptably poor Tannadice pitch, Griffiths gained his redemption. Running on to Stefan Johansen’s beautifully-flighted ball, he nodded expertly beyond Cierzniak. From then on in, United nine men battled valiantly to remain in the hunt for a semi-final spot. ‘It will be a tough game at Hampden against Inverness or Raith,’ nodded Griffiths after the draw was made. ‘Either side will make it hard for us - but that’s only if we get through by finishing the job at Parkhead. But we know Dundee United will make it tough for us.’ At the end of a quite thrilling encounter, United had sent out a clear message ahead of the sequel, next Sunday’s League Cup final at Hampden. Beware the Ides of March. +Hull KR prop Michael Weyman has announced his retirement with immediate effect at the age of 30 after failing to recover from a knee injury. Weyman made 24 appearances for the Robins after joining them from St George Illawarra at the start of last season but has missed their opening four Super League matches of 2015, and after undergoing knee surgery a fortnight ago has now decided to hang up his boots. The former Canberra and New South Wales forward, who was a Grand Final and World Club Challenge winner with the Dragons, will now return home to Australia with his family. Michael Weyman has been forced to retire from rugby league after failing to recover from a knee injury . 'It has meant a lot to me to play for Rovers and I would like to thank the supporters and everybody at the club for making my family and I feel so welcome over the last 18 months,' said Weyman, who was runner-up to Josh Hodgson as Rovers' player of the year in 2014. 'We've really enjoyed our time here and we've met some great friends who we'll continue to stay in touch with after we move back to Australia. 'It's a sad way to end my career but unfortunately these things happen and I've been lucky enough to achieve what I have in the game. It's now time to look at the bigger picture and think about my family. The prop (right) signed for Hull KR last season and made only 24 appearances for the club . 'My knee isn't responding to treatment and I wanted to do the right thing by the club as well. I don't want to be sitting in the stands for most of the year.' Hull KR coach Chris Chester said: 'We are disappointed to lose a player of Mick's calibre but he has been a great servant to the club during his time here and he leaves with our best wishes for the future. 'He's been a great leader for this club and this is not the way he would have wanted to end his career, but he's played at the highest level and can be rightly proud of what he's achieved in the game. 'We've already begun the search for a replacement for Mick and we're looking both in this country and overseas. We now have a full quota spot to play with but we won't be rushing into any decisions. We have a really close-knit squad this year and whoever we bring in will have to fit in both on and off the field.' Hull KR are sad to see a player of Weyman's calibre leave the club but wished him well in the future . +An 18-year-old man arrested in connection with a street attack which left a football fan critically ill has been released on police bail. West Midlands Police said the teenager was bailed until April 8 pending further inquiries into an assault on a Watford supporter in Wolverhampton last Saturday. He was arrested on suspicion of wounding at a house in the Wednesfield area of Wolverhampton at about 4am on Wednesday. Watford fan NIck Cruwys was attacked as he made his way to Wolverhampton train station . Cruwys is in an induced coma in hospital after suffering serious head injuries during the attack . Detectives have said the arrest is 'only the start' of their investigation into the unprovoked attack on 44-year-old Nick Cruwys. Mr Cruwys, a father of two young children, was put in an induced coma in hospital after being tripped and kicked in the head following Watford's 2-2 draw with Wolves. An online appeal to raise funds to help Mr Cruwys, set up by a Wolves fan, has raised more than £25,000. A fund set up to raise money for the Watford fan has raised more than £25,000 to date . Troy Deeney scored Watford's second goal as they earned a 2-2 draw at Wolves last weekend . Mr Cruwys, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, was attacked in Little's Lane, Wolverhampton, shortly after 5pm as he made his way to the railway station with friends. The Wolverhampton Express and Star has offered a £1,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Anyone with information is urged to call Wolverhampton's Violent Crime Team on 101 or to pass on information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Roy Hodgson would have left Loftus Road with a warm-tingly feeling yesterday. It had nothing to do with the mid-March sunshine, however. It was because of Tottenham striker Harry Kane. This clash was billed as a straight shoot-out between England strike hopefuls Kane and Queens Park Rangers frontman Charlie Austin. Harry Kane celebrates as he takes his tally to 26 in all competitions so far this term . Kane heads past Robert Green to give Tottenham the lead over QPR at Loftus Road . England manager Roy Hodgson was at the game to cast his eye of England's next generation of strkers . Charlie Austin reacts after missing an opportunity during the London derby on Saturday . Games            Goals . Harry Kane                 24                   16 . Charlie Austin            25                   15 . Saido Berahino            28                   12 . Wayne Rooney            24                   10 . The Spurs striker won the battle at a canter. That's not a slight on Austin, who also would have impressed Hodgson. But when the England manager names his squad for the games against Lithuania and Italy on Thursday, in Kane he has a striker who has every hallmark of an international footballer. For Austin, the jury is still out. Kane was, essentially, the difference between the two teams at QPR. It wouldn't have come as surprise to Rangers boss Chris Ramsey, who played an influential role in nurturing the striker in the White Hart Lane academy. Spurs striker Kane celebrates as his goals keep Tottenham in the hunt for a top four finish . Rangers star Austin is denied from adding to his impressive goals tally by a save from Hugo Lloris . QPR striker Austin watches as his shot beats Lloris only to crash off the crossbar . 'He has polished himself, I was fortunate to have worked with him,' said Ramsey. 'Would I pick him for England? Yes, I would - but the way I'm going...' Two goals against QPR took his tally for the season to 26. That's a record you simply cannot ignore. Hodgson certainly won't. The only question for the England manager now is if he utilises the striker in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania or ease him in during the friendly against Italy. His first goal against Rangers showed great bravery, risking a hefty blow to the head to glance home Andros Townsend's free kick. His second showed great composure, skipping round Rob Green before finishing into an empty net. He ticks every box. But his goals only tell part of the story. Kane's heat map (right) in the opposition half showed he posed a greater threat than Austin (left) Twice he showed excellent vision to set up marauding right-back Kyle Walker with goal scoring opportunities, executing both passes with unerring accuracy. Had it not been for Green's heroics in Rangers' goal, Kane could easily have had four by the time Craig Pawson blew the final whistle. After yesterday, Hodgson will be chomping at the bit to get his hands on Kane later this month. Kane doubled Tottenham's lead in the second half after rounding the keeper to slot into an empty net . CLICK HERE for all the stats from the game, including Harry Kane's second goal (below) Austin has the good grace for congratulate Tottenham keeper Lloris for his saves . The England boss, perhaps, won't be as eager to draft Austin into his plans. This was by no means a poor display from the Rangers striker, who himself could easily have had four goals himself yesterday. Likewise, his goal line clearance to deny Christian Eriksen spoke volumes for his desire and work rate. But Kane won this battle of the future England strikers. He won it hands down. Austin's time may come. But the time, for Kane, has arrived. Kane heads back to the centre circle after handing Spurs the lead in Saturday's only Premier League clash . The QPR striker was involved in a bust up with Tottenham defender Kyle Walker . +England's cricket calamity has sharpened the minds of their rugby counterparts, who know they are next in line to carry the nation's hopes into a World Cup. Events in Australia on Monday registered strongly at the Red Rose HQ in Surrey — serving to highlight the pressure that will come with the global tournament on these shores later this year. While there are still two rounds of RBS 6 Nations matches to go, Stuart Lancaster is mindful of September's showpiece. England's failure to beat Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup has got Stuart Lancaster feeling the pressure . The England rugby coach said there was more expectation from the nation after the poor showing in Adelaide . 'It's hugely disappointing to see the cricket guys go out and you understand the expectation and the stakes,' said the head coach. 'I have a massive game on Saturday and another one the following Saturday, but you can't help thinking ahead to what September is going to look and feel like. With it being in our own country, the pressure and expectation is going to be huge.' Asked if he empathised with England cricket coach Peter Moores, who faces a fight to save his job, Lancaster said: 'I've met him a couple of times but we haven't spoken recently. 'Any coach can empathise with another from their country who has had a difficult World Cup. It reinforces the need for us to be as prepared as we can be for our big challenge in six months.' Lancaster empathised with England cricket coach Peter Moores, who has been criticised for his management . +Ben Youngs has challenged England to set the World Cup standard in their last two competitive Twickenham fixtures before hosting the autumn's global showdown. England host Scotland and France to close their RBS 6 Nations campaign, with Stuart Lancaster's men desperate to atone for the 19-9 Dublin defeat to Ireland. Leicester scrum-half Youngs believes England can still fire a World Cup salvo, even though losing to Ireland surrendered any Grand Slam hopes. England scrum half Ben Youngs fires out a pass during his side's 19-9 loss to Ireland in Dublin . Youngs revealed All Black and 2011 World Cup winner Brad Thorn - now a Leicester team-mate - told the 25-year-old not to fear any Six Nations disappointment will creep into the tilt towards the Webb Ellis Cup. 'I spoke to Brad Thorn and New Zealand lost to Australia in the Tri Nations in 2011 but no-one remembers that,' said Youngs. 'He told me not to beat myself up too much. You haven't won the Grand Slam but the title is still up for grabs. He had been there in 2011. 'We are disappointed not to get the result but we will be delighted if we were to win the championship because it is a very hard thing to win. 'It is really important (to finish the Six Nations strongly). And it is not too dissimilar to how it was coming into Samoa and Australia after losing our first two games in the autumn. Youngs has challenged England to set the World Cup standard in their last two competitive Twickenham . 'Winning those two games gave us a lift, so that meant we were in a really good head space at the start of the Six Nations.' England launched their Six Nations campaign in style with 21-16 victory in Wales, but defeat to Ireland leaves Lancaster's side hoping results elsewhere swing in their favour. Ireland edged to the title on points difference last year and currently remain on course for a Grand Slam, with trips to Wales and Scotland lying ahead. Youngs insists England have not given up hope on stealing the Six Nations crown, but did admit the Ireland loss is 'a blow'. Alex Goode (second left) and Mako Vunipola leave the field at full-time as the Irish team celebrate their win . 'We need to get the result now, as well as the performance, get back to the levels of the second-half in Wales,' said Youngs, ahead of hosting Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday. 'That means playing on the front foot, playing English rugby, being powerful, getting over the top of teams, being good at the breakdown, beating teams round the corner and being really direct. 'We have got to make sure we finish like that and give ourselves a real good platform going into our summer camp. 'It is a blow (losing to Ireland). You win that game and you've got two games at home. Youngs has sought advice from World Cup winner and Leicester team-mate Brad Thorn (left) recently . 'You've got real good momentum and your confidence is great. 'It's a real dampener when it doesn't work out but it's a good test of character to see how you react to it. We can go either one way or the other. 'The way we've got to continue to see it is that we're still very much in this championship. 'Chris (Robshaw) spoke really well after the game. He said the championship's not over, that last year it came down to points and to make sure we get our game plan sorted.' +England full-back Mike Brown is expected to be available for the RBS 6 Nations showdown with Scotland as he enters the final stage of his recovery from concussion. Brown's tenacity and watertight defence were missed in Sunday's 19-9 defeat by Ireland after he suffered a double setback during the return to play protocols having been knocked out against Italy. The 29-year-old will undertake full contact training on Thursday and is on course to be given the green light 24 hours later to face the winless Scots at Twickenham on March 14. Mike Brown has been suffering from concussion and missed England's defeat in Ireland last week . Brown was knocked out while tackling Italy's Andrea Masi at Twickenham last month . 'We're pretty confident about Mike. He's had a reasonable amount of time now and certainly all the signs from everyone, including from Mike himself, is that he's back to 100 per cent,' head coach Stuart Lancaster said. 'He has to tick the final box and then I'm sure he'll be training on Friday. He has been symptom free since last week.' Alex Goode deputised for Brown on the afternoon England's Grand Slam dream evaporated at the Aviva Stadium and while he produced some fine moments, he was out-jumped during Robbie Henshaw's try in the key moment of the match. Goode will play for Saracens at Wasps on Sunday, after which Lancaster insists he will make a call on who starts at full-back against Scotland when the Red Rose seek to revive their title aspirations. 'Both Mike and Alex will compete for that 15 shirt next week,' Lancaster said. 'Mike has a lot of experience and does bring a lot to the team, but Alex had a good game against Ireland and dealt with the high balls well. 'If you see Johnny Sexton against other teams, he always seems to find grass with his tactical kicking but Alex managed to cover all those eventualities. 'There was a lot of work that came Alex's way and he did well. I'm keeping an open mind until next week.' Brown is set to return to training in a much-needed boost to England boss Stuart Lancaster . Alex Goode will compete with Brown for the No 15 jersey after filling in against Ireland . Inside centre Luther Burrell has a calf injury but Lancaster is 'reasonably optimistic' he will resume training on Tuesday. Lancaster's immediate impression after England had been kicked into submission by Sexton and his Lions half-back partner Conor Murray was one of a 'tight Test decided by small margins'. And having reviewed a defeat that has halted the momentum generated after Wales and Italy were swept aside in an encouraging start to the Six Nations, Lancaster voices his exasperation at failing to deliver during key moments. Luther Burrell has picked up a calf injury but Lancaster is hopeful that the centre will be fine for Scotland . Lancaster is adamant that Johnny Sexton was the reason between defeat and victory in Ireland . 'There's frustration that we hadn't delivered the level and quality of performance that we'd hoped to,' Lancaster said. 'We knew how difficult it was going to be. It was right up there alongside the Wales game, if not tougher because of the quality of the opposition and the run they were on. 'They're a high-quality team across the board. They have a simple gameplan that they execute well, primarily when Jonny Sexton is on the field. It changed when he came off. 'We needed to be at the very top our game to have got a win over there. We weren't quite and that was the frustration. 'There were moments in the second half when they got the try on the back of an advantage from a penalty. That left us with a big hurdle. 'We came back and there were definitely some key moments around the 70th minute when we had a try disallowed. 'You have to be able to control the big moments and we didn't get enough of those to win the game.' +The commission that has investigated doping in cycling will not be recommending that Lance Armstrong’s lifetime ban from competitive sport is reduced. The American stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for using performance-enhancing drugs was hoping the Cycling Independent Reform Commission would be more sympathetic after he twice gave evidence to the three-man panel. But CIRC, who submitted their report to the UCI last Friday and are due to hold a media briefing in Switzerland next week, are not planning to recommend to the United States Anti-Doping Agency that they reduce their ban. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for using performance-enhancing drugs . Armstrong waves from the podium after winning the 16th stage of the 2005 Tour de France . Some reports suggested on Sunday that lawyers representing Armstrong placed certain limitations on what CIRC could ask, which in turn was being given as a reason for the stance CIRC have now adopted. But Armstrong’s legal team vehemently deny that, insisting that no restrictions were placed on CIRC in their two interviews with the Texan. Only recently Armstrong suggested to the BBC that he had answered all CIRC’s questions candidly. ‘At this point in my life I’m not out to protect anybody,’ he said. ‘I’m out to protect seven people and they all have the last name Armstrong.’ Armstrong told the BBC that he is out to protect seven people - 'and they all have the last name Armstrong' The American leads ahead of Bradley Wiggins during Stage 17 of the 2009 Tour de France . Armstrong is sure to be angered by the fact that a number of his contemporaries – who have also been guilty of doping offences – did not even cooperate with CIRC and yet remain senior figures in the sport. Brian Cookson, the UCI president, had warned that such a lack of cooperation would be frowned upon and it will be interesting to see if he sticks to his promise of introducing a fit-and-proper-person test for cycling team officials in the wake of the CIRC report. Cookson has said the report will make ‘uncomfortable’ reading for his sport. ‘When you open a can of worms you find a lot of worms,’ Cookson said last month at the world track cycling championships in Paris. ‘I think it’s going to be very interesting - there will be a lot of uncomfortable things there.’ Brian Cookson, the UCI president, has said that the report will make for 'uncomfortable reading' Chris Froome revealed to Sportsmail that he has spoken to the CIRC about the problem of doping . But he also took a swipe at Armstrong, accusing him of having an ‘agenda’ for revealing he had spoken to CIRC in the first place. Armstrong obviously does have an agenda; he wants his ban reduced when other dopers from his era have not been hit with the same severe sanctions. But criticising anyone for revealing they have spoken to CIRC seems a curious position to adopt when the promise of anonymity might yet protect those who haven’t come forward. Only last week Chris Froome revealed to Sportsmail that he too has spoken to CIRC, having wanted to give a senior rider’s perspective on the problems that continue to undermine the UCI’s efforts to clean up the sport. Particularly at a time when the UCI are pushing for the racing licence of the Astana team – that boasts current Tour de France champion Vicenzo Nibali – to be revoked. +If this was the last-chance saloon then Rafael was the life and soul of the party with a standout performance as Manchester United's Under 21s drew 1-1 with Tottenham. The Brazilian right back, 24, is said to be fighting for his future at Old Trafford after struggling to impress manager Louis van Gaal. He has made just nine appearances this term and was an unused substitute for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Arsenal on Monday after being left out of the squad altogether for the previous two matches against Sunderland and Newcastle - despite overcoming injury. Rafael impressed for Manchester United's U21s against Tottenham at Old Trafford on Tuesday . Rafael was an unused substitute during United's FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Arsenal on Monday . Rafael was United's star performer in their 1-1 draw against Tottenham's U21s at Old Trafford . Rafael is congratulated by United team-mate Tom Thorpe after scoring the eqauliser on Tuesday . But he showed no sign of rustiness in the kind of all-action display that has seen him become a cult hero at Old Trafford. In a first-half in which he, unlike fellow senior Radamel Falcao, rarely put a foot wrong Rafael brought the house down with a delightful goal. With United trailing to Kenny McEvoy's neat opener, the defender intercepted a throw from Spurs keeper Luke McGee, chesting it down before clipping a delightful lob over the same man from 30 yards with his left foot. It brought a youthful house down - and was a timely reminder of his attacking talents in front of a watching assistant manager Ryan Giggs. United assistant manager Ryan Giggs (second left) and U21 Nicky Butt (third left) watched on in the stands . Antonio Valencia's misplaced back pass on Monday night saw United crash out of the FA Cup . United are understood to be open to offers for Rafael with a number of clubs in his homeland said to be leading the charge. But pressure will be growing on current incumbent Antonio Valencia after his poor performance in Monday's 2-1 home FA Cup quarter final defeat to Arsenal. Rafael will have done his cause no harm, although remaining on the field for 90 minutes would not appear to be a good omen. If nothing else, he may well have earned himself a stay of execution as Van Gaal's search for a winning formula rumbles on. +Wayne Rooney admitted Manchester United's quarter-final exit to Arsenal was 'hard to take' as his wait for an FA Cup winner's medal goes on. The England captain has never lifted the famous trophy, arriving at Old Trafford a matter of months after their last triumph in 2004. Rooney drew United level with a header from Angel di Maria's perfect cross just four minutes after Nacho Monreal had given Arsenal the lead on 25 minutes. A downbeat Wayne Rooney applauds the fans after Manchester United's FA Cup loss to Arsenal . Rooney talks to United assistant manager Ryan Giggs after the defeat at Old Trafford . Rooney had headed United level four minutes after they'd fallen behind to Nacho Monreal's opener . But a weak backpass by Antonio Valencia led to former United player Danny Welbeck rounding goalkeeper David de Gea and slotting home Arsenal's winner just after the hour mark. A bad night for Louis van Gaal's men was compounded late on when Di Maria was shown a red card for manhandling referee Michael Oliver. Rooney told MUTV after the match: 'I want to win the Cup for and with the team; it's not about me wanting to win the FA Cup. 'That's why it's so sad for us to get knocked out today, we knew we'd have a great opportunity if we'd won tonight.' Rooney converted with a flying header from Angel di Maria's perfect right-wing cross . Rooney's 29th minute goal was his 11th of the season for United in 26 outings . Manchester United fans hold up a banner in homage to Rooney during the match at Old Trafford . Reflecting on the game, he added: 'We're obviously disappointed. Going into half-time having equalised, we felt that we'd create enough chances to win the game, but it wasn't to be. 'Conceding the second goal the way we did in the second-half meant that we were always chasing the game afterwards. They made it difficult for us and defended well. 'It was a close game, it could have gone either way. Mistakes happen, but it's not nice when you're on the receiving end of one which costs you a goal. Louis van Gaal reflects on a disappointing night for United at Old Trafford as their hopes of silverware faded . To make matters worse, former United striker Danny Welbeck scored Arsenal's second-half winner . 'It's a hard one to take, but we have to dust ourselves down and get ready for Sunday.' United resume their bid to qualify for next season's Champions League when they welcome Tottenham to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. Arsenal have been drawn against either Bradford City or Reading in the Wembley semi-final, to be played on either April 18 or 19. +Roberto Di Matteo admitted he was finding Schalke's Champions League exit hard to take in after his side scored four at Real Madrid on Tuesday but still failed to make it past the holders and into the quarter-finals. Schalke produced one of the best performances of the season to claim a 4-3 victory at the Bernabeu but were eliminated 5-4 on aggregate after losing last month's last 16 first leg in Gelsenkirchen 2-0. 'On the one hand we are of course very happy that we managed to win but at the same time it's a bit hard to take in that we scored four goals in Madrid and didn't get through,' Italian Di Matteo told a news conference. Roberto Di Matteo issues instructions to his players from the touchline during the 4-3 win against Real Madrid . Former Chelsea boss Di Matteo admitted Schalke's Champions League exit was hard to take after netting four . Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice against his former club as Schalke were eliminated . Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, a former Real player, struck twice for the Bundesliga side, including an 84th-minute stunner that put them within a goal of pulling off a remarkable comeback. It was Real's first Champions League defeat at home in 22 games since Barcelona beat them 2-0 in April 2011 and was only the second time they had conceded four goals in a European game at the Bernabeu. However, a Cristiano Ronaldo double and a Karim Benzema strike were enough to secure a place for Real in the draw for the last eight on March 20. The Dutch striker's brace was not enough to see the Bundeliga outfit though after a 2-0 defeat in the first leg . 'I was hoping we could go into the break 2-1 up but we unfortunately didn't manage it. That would of course have made the game more interesting for us,' added Di Matteo. 'Perhaps we just didn't have that little bit of luck tonight that you need to get through such ties.' Schalke return to action in the Bundesliga with a game at Hertha Berlin on Saturday. They are fifth with 10 games left, three points behind third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, and have a good chance of winning a berth in Europe's elite club competition again for next season. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Real Madrid as they made it through to the Champions League last eight . The Portugal forward heads the ball past Schalke goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther at the Bernabeu . Di Matteo said the quality of Real's forwards had been the difference between the two sides, who met at the same stage last term when Real won 9-2 on aggregate on their way to a record-extending 10th European crown. 'We didn't allow Real Madrid to get into a rhythm but they have such quality in the team and they showed that both in the first leg and tonight,' Di Matteo said. 'They had relatively few chances and scored three goals and that makes a difference. Like our Real Madrid Facebook page. +The England players were put through their paces on Tuesday ahead of their penultimate Six Nations game against Scotland at the weekend. Stuart Lancaster's men are looking to bounce back from the disappointing defeat by Ireland with victory at Twickenham. And the players returned to the Bagshot training field and looked relaxed, facing a Scotland side who are looking to avoid a Six Nations wooden spoon having lost their opening three games. Chris Robshaw grapples with team-mate George Ford during a warm-up at the England training session on Tuesday . England captain Robshaw looked relaxed as he play-fighted with Ford ahead of the Six Nations game with Scotland . Stuart Lancaster watches on his team prepare for the crucial encounter at Twickenham at the weekend . Graham Rowntree has demanded a reaction from England having finally come to terms with the defeat by Ireland . Graham Rowntree has demanded a reaction from England having finally come to terms with a chastening defeat by Ireland. A 19-9 loss in Dublin has left the red rose on the periphery of the RBS 6 Nations title picture, needing Wales to intervene by beating the reigning champions in Cardiff this weekend. It was an alarming performance at the Aviva Stadium just five matches out from the World Cup with a pack that has excelled over the last year failing to cover itself in glory. Forwards coach Rowntree expects Scotland to feel the full force of England's anguish when the Championship enters its penultimate round. 'There is lots we have to put right because the Ireland game was immensely frustrating and disappointing,' Rowntree said. 'I've just got over it, if I'm honest. We had a long week last week pulling it apart. 'We're playing a team at Twickenham who have just lost at home and have a lot to prove themselves. I expect a reaction from us. We have an honest group of lads and we're not satisfied at all with that performance. But we have this week to put it right.' The pack were subdued against Ireland, lacking the Celts' ferocity as they came off worse in just about every department of the game. He added: 'We just couldn't get our game going and that comes down to a multitude of reasons. Ill-discipline was one. It was a very good Ireland performance. They stifled our game and fair play, the best team won. 'The way they quickly amassed points on the scoreboard was frustrating, but at half time we were still very much in the game. 'It was a clinical performance from Ireland, but we came back strongly and that was important. If we'd had more opportunities to play in that area of the field then the result could have been different.' Mike Brown was back training with the squad in Bagshot and the full back could feature . Captain Robshaw attempts a rare drop goal in the warm up of England's training session on Tuesday . Danny Cipriani may feature against Scotland after the full back didn't have time to impress in Dublin . A full England squad trained on Tuesday, including Mike Brown, while Exeter Chiefs centre Henry Slade has been called up as midfield cover after Brad Barritt was ruled out of the remaining two rounds by a sprained ankle. 'The more I see him, the more I think he's got fantastic potential. I've always known it having seen him come through the age-group teams,' Lancaster said about the 21-year-old. Only a late flurry of injuries would see Slade plunged into action in the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham. Following their 19-9 defeat by Ireland in Dublin,  Lancaster's men held a debrief last week at their five-star Pennyhill Park retreat in Surrey and the video analysis made for uncomfortable viewing. James haskell catches the ball during the England training session held at Pennyhill Park . Anthony Watson will be looking to bounce back after disappointing in his last Six Nations encounter . Billy Vunipola is tackled as the England team go through their drills in Surrey on Tuesday . +Evergreen Paul O'Connell can still scale new heights ahead of notching his 100th Ireland cap in Saturday's pivotal RBS 6 Nations showdown in Wales, according to Sean Cronin. Veteran lock O'Connell will equal Mick Galwey's record as Ireland's oldest captain of all time at exactly 35 years and 145 days at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. The Munster talisman will become just the fourth star to hit 100 Tests for Ireland, joining Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara and John Hayes in the century club. Sean Cronin believes veteran Paul O'Connell (above) still has a long career ahead of him . Leinster hooker Cronin hailed O'Connell's 'intensity and physicality' as the crux of Ireland's relentless pursuit of ever-higher standards under taskmaster boss Joe Schmidt. 'It's a phenomenal achievement: I think he's getting better with it even as the years go on,' said Cronin, as Ireland look to home in on a second Grand Slam in six years this weekend. 'But he's the kind of player that, whenever he's playing, he nearly makes you play better because that's the enthusiasm, the passion, the physicality that he brings. 'He kind of instils that in the players around him, it's great to play under him. 'He sets the standard and you've got to get up there with him. 'He'll demand it off you one way or another, so it's great to play with a person like that, because it raises your standards as well.' O'Connell will equal Mick Galwey's record as Ireland's oldest captain of all time on Saturday . O'Connell will stride past a multitude of milestones in Cardiff this weekend, as he aims to mark his 50th Six Nations performance by setting Ireland a new winning Test run of 11 matches. Wales and Scotland block Ireland's path to Grand Slam glory and a third career Six Nations crown for O'Connell. As the teams complete preparations in the Millennium Stadium's bowels this weekend, O'Connell will launch into a trademark tub-thumping team talk. Cronin acknowledged the legend around O'Connell bringing team-mates to tears with his unbridled pre-match passion - but admitted the Munster stalwart's rhetoric far more fearsome than emotive. The 35-year-old is put through his paces during an Ireland training session at the Kingspan Stadium . 'I've nipped out a couple of times to dot the eyes during his talks!' joked Cronin of myths O'Connell can invoke raw emotions. 'No, but seriously, he scares me more than makes me cry to be honest with you. 'He brings a certain level, you see him doing it, his intensity, physicality, attention to detail. 'So when you see him doing that, you're saying to yourself 'I need to get to that as well'. 'If 15 or 23 lads get to that level, we're hard to beat. 'He's similar to Joe (Schmidt) in some ways. 'Paul isn't going to get to the heights of Test rugby that he has without hard work and accuracy. 'He's got great influence on the squad, the lads buy into that and he's fantastic to have around.' +Wayne Rooney admits he is desperate to lift the FA Cup - the one major trophy that has eluded him throughout his club career. The England and Manchester United captain says Monday night's quarter-final against Arsenal is 'massive' - and it is so especially for the 29-year-old who has twice been on the losing side in the final. United have the benefit of home advantage but the Gunners are in better form - and are defending the trophy. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney says he would love to win the FA Cup this season . Rooney looks dejected during the final at Wembley in 2007 - a 1-0 defeat to Premier League rivals Chelsea . Rooney watched Everton lift the FA Cup in 1995 and the memories of that make him even more determined to match his old club's achievement. He said: 'We have an FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal on Monday and that is massive for us. 'We haven't been to a final for a few years, we want to try to win that game and we are looking forward to that. 'Of course, I think it is a massive trophy. It is a trophy that, growing up as a youngster, I used to love watching and I was fortunate enough to see Everton lift the FA Cup in 1995 when I was nine years old. It is something which I would love to do and hopefully it can be this year.' United were 2-0 winners over Arsenal in 2011, the last FA Cup meeting between the sides since the 2005 final in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, when the match finished 0-0 but the Gunners won after a penalty shoot-out. Rooney says he was inspired by Everton's FA Cup winners in 1995, after they beat United . Rooney scored in that shoot-out, as did Robin van Persie - for Arsenal. Van Persie and Juan Mata are the only members of the United squad to have FA Cup winners' medals, but both came with other clubs. Rooney, who has nine major honours with United, was also on the losing side in 2007 when Didier Drogba's goal in extra-time earned Chelsea a 1-0 triumph at the new Wembley Stadium. With so many of the top Premier League teams out of the competition whoever wins on Monday will have a huge chance to go all the way. Louis van Gaal said: 'It is a game, 11 v 11 on a high level. Arsenal and Manchester United are placed third and fourth. It is nearly a final I think.' The 29-year-old striker says the clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford is 'massive' for the club . +If you were wondering what the prototype of a Louis van Gaal player is you need not do so any longer. It is Ashley Young. The versatile winger-turned-wing-back, who netted the winner in United's 1-0 victory at Newcastle United on Wednesday, is the Dutchman's kind of guy. 'He is a player who wants to perform what you say,' Van Gaal told MUTV. 'I think he fits good in my profile.' Ashley Young celebrates his goal against Newcastle United, and he is a favourite of manager Louis van Gaal . Young sprints towards the Manchester United support at St James' Park after scoring in the 89th minute . Manager Van Gaal has been frequently picking Young, and United have lost just once with him in the side . So there you have it. Not Wayne Rooney, not Robin van Persie, not even £60million man Angel Di Maria. Ashley Young. The news may not go down well with legions of United fans who have spent the best part of a season doing their best Alan Turing impressions and trying to decipher Van Gaal's fabled philosophy. That Young, who has often flattered to deceive, is a cornerstone of Van Gaal's style may puzzle even further. The statistics, however, tell a different story. Aside from defeat in their home opener against Swansea, United have not lost with Young in the side. At St James' Park, albeit from a chance laid on a plate, he scored United's late winner for all three points . In the 17 matches he has been involved in since they have won 11 and drawn six. At St James' Park, albeit from a chance laid on a plate by the generous hosts, he scored United's first late winner since Boxing Day 2012. Under Van Gaal, Young appears to have recreated himself. His form at both wing-back and in his traditional slot further up the field is expected to win him a new contract and the Dutchman heaped further praise on the former Aston Villa man. 'We have played also with wing-backs and I think that is his best position,' said Van Gaal. 'Now I use him as a winger and he does a very good job. I am pleased with him.' This season has seen Young as a regular at Old Trafford, playing both on the wing and at wing back . Personality-wise, Young is also a good fit for Van Gaal. He is known as one of the most down-to-earth players at the club and in 2013 responded to an appeal on behalf of a terminally ill United fan to fulfil his wish of seeing his beloved Reds for the final time by handing over his box at Old Trafford. Such gestures are not lost on Van Gaal, who regularly encourages his men to engage with fans. Meanwhile, Jonny Evans is considering entering a not guilty plea after the FA charged him with spitting at Newcastle's Papiss Cisse, who has already accepted the same charge. The Northern Ireland man maintains that he spat at the floor, not at Cisse, and the club are set to give him their backing. He has until 6pm to respond to the charge. Young prepares to fire in a shot against Sunderland last weekend as United chased a top four place . +Roman Zozulya's first-half strike edged Dnipro to a crucial win against Dutch champions Ajax at the Kiev Olympic Stadium. Having squandered a series of early chances the hosts took the lead on the half hour mark when Zozulya collected Yevhen Konoplyanka’s cut back to send a left-footed strike across Jasper Cillessen and into the net. Dnipro, playing in their first ever last 16 tie in the Europa League, kept Frank De Boer’s side relatively quiet and head to Amsterdam next week in a promising position. Dnipro players celebrate Roman Zozulya's opening strike, which proved to be the winner in Ukraine . DNIPRO (4-4-2): Boyko; Fedetskiy, Douglas, Cheberyachko, Egidio; Fedorchuk, Rotan, Zozulya, Bezus (Gama 57); Konoplyanka (Shakhov 81), Seleznyov (Kalinic 75) Subs not used: Lastuvka, Luchkevych, Svatok, Blyznychenko . Scorer: Zozulya 30 . Booked: Fedetskiy, Rotan, Zozulya, Shakhov . AJAX (4-3-3): Cillessen; van Rhijn, Veltman, Viergever, Boilesen; Bazoer, Klaassen, Serero (Sinkgraven 59); El Ghazi, Milik (Zivkovic 76), Schone (Kishna 60) Subs not used: Moisander, van der Hoorn, Andersen, Boer . Booked: Boilesen, Bazoer . Referee: Ivan Bebek . Ajax were hoping to maintain a seven game unbeaten run in all competitions but struggled to break down the dogged hosts. The first chance went the way of the visitors after just four minutes as midfielder Thulani Serero attempted to chip keeper Denys Boyko but that was a rare moment of progress for Ajax. However in first-half stoppage time Joel Veltman spurned a glorious chance to level the contest when standing all alone at the back post, but the centre-back blasted a volley way over the bar from a few yards out. De Boer’s side improved after the break but failed to register a single shot on target and will have to improve drastically for the second leg in Amsterdam next Thursday. It wasn't all good news for the hosts as Artem Fedetskiy, Ruslan Rotan and Roman Zozulya all picked up booking to rule themselves out of the second leg in Holland. Ajax manager Frank De Boer fails to hide his frustration as the Dutch side failed to find an away goal . Ajax's Joel Veltman (left) challenges for the ball against Yevhen Konoplyanka of Dnipro on Thursday . Yevhen Seleznyov (left) of Dnipro vies for the ball with Nick Viergever (right) of Ajax in Ukraine . Dnipro's Artem Fedetskiy (left) fights for the ball with Ajax's Arkadiusz Milik during the Europa League clash . Dnipro's Nikola Kalinic (left) fights for the ball with Ajax's Davy Klaassen during the Europa League match . +Jordan Rhodes shrugged off the fierce speculation over his future by snatching an injury-time winner for Blackburn at Ewood Park. This derby was drifting towards a goalless draw when Tom Cairney sent over a corner with 15 seconds remaining of the four added minutes. Doneil Henry flicked on and Rhodes stuck out a boot to score his 14th goal of the season from close range. It was an amazing finish after 48 hours of questions about the possibility of the striker leaving Blackburn. Jordan Rhodes (left) celebrates scoring a last minute winner as Blackburn beat Bolton at Ewood Park . Rhodes directed the ball past Bolton goalkeeper Ben Amos to hit Blackburn's winner . Striker Rhodes (left) has been strongly linked with a move away from Blackburn this week . Tom Cairney (left) of Blackburn takes the ball past Giles Coke (right) of Bolton Wanderers . BLACKBURN (4-4-2): Steele 7; Henley 6, Henry 6.5, Kilgallon 6, Olsson 6 (Spurr 45+1, 6); Conway , Evans 6 (Williamson 32, 6), Cairney 7.5, Marshall 5.5; Rhodes 6.5, Brown 5 (Gestede 70, 6). Subs not used: Eastwood, Taylor, Songo’o, Lenihan. Booked: Henry . Goal: Rhodes, 90 . BOLTON (4-4-2): Amos 7; Janko 5.5 (Moxey 68, 6), Mills 6, McCarthy 6.5, Ream 6; Vela 6, Danns 5.5, Coke, Feeney 6.5; Heskey 6 (Davies 73, 5.5), Le Fondre 6.5. Subs not used: Lonergan, Hall, Trotter, Gudjohnsen, Walker. Booked: Danns, Heskey, Mills . Star man: Tom Cairney . Referee: Paul Tierney 7 . Attendance: 15,362 . Middlesbrough have offered to take Rhodes to the Riverside on loan for the rest of the season with a view to signing him permanently for a fee of £8million, potentially rising to £10m. Their Championship promotion rivals Derby, Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest have also registered an interest in Blackburn’s record £8m signing who still has four-and-a-half years left on his contract at Ewood. But having rejected a £12m offer from Hull City last summer, Blackburn’s owners Venky’s are reluctant to sell while their club still have an outside chance of reaching the playoffs following this win, as well as the prospect of a FA Cup quarter-final replay with Liverpool next month. Asked if he has been given assurances that Rhodes will not be sold, manager Gary Bowyer replied: ‘Yes, it just wouldn’t add up. Why would you loan out your top goalscorer? My five-year-old nephew might be able to work that one out. ‘I can’t answer on behalf of Middlesbrough but Jordan has just scored the winner and he will be starting at Charlton on Saturday. ‘He just handles the speculation enormously well. I was quietly confident of him scoring tonight, to be perfectly honest, because that’s what he does when there’s all the talk.’ Bowyer described this as Blackburn’s best win of the season after the physical and mental energy his players exerted in Sunday’s goalless draw with Liverpool at Anfield. They lost Corry Evans and Markus Olsson to injury in the first-half but Ben Marshall should have put them ahead in stoppage time when he headed over from Craig Conway’s cross. Substitute Craig Davies wasted Bolton’s best chance when he raced clear only to shoot straight at Jason Steele, and Rhodes should have scored with a 79th -minute header from close-range before making amends at the death. Conceding another yet another late goal was a sickener for Bolton who are still not free of relegation danger. Lee Williamson of Blackburn tries to shield the ball from Bolton striker Adam Le Fondre . Bolton's Craig Davies (right) misses a chance to score for Neil Lennon's side . Bolton's Coke (left) tries to challenge Blackburn's Markus Olsson for the ball . ‘It’s unacceptable,’ said manager Neil Lennon. ‘That’s five games in the last month and it’s cost us seven points. We’d be home and hosed but we still have a bit of work to do. ‘If we can’t defend a set-piece in the last 30 seconds of the game… the players aren’t learning so we’ve got some work to do to make them mentally stronger because it’s obviously a psychological thing. ‘You think it can’t happen again then lo and behold it does. I’m lost for words.’ +The Chinese are certainly doing things by the book when it comes to their bid for world football domination. The most populous nation on the planet is in the process of producing a series of textbooks for children aimed at teaching them how to play the beautiful game. Football-mad president Xi Jinping has already made the sport a compulsory part of the national curriculum for schoolchildren, with the aim of turning his country into a football powerhouse. Xi Jinping kicks a football during a 2012 visit to Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, when he was China's vice president. The football-mad leader wants to make set his country on the road to being world champions . Thirty football 'experts' are involved in the drafting of the books, including 'football education specialists' Young players, teachers and coaches will be able to access online football tutorials linked to the books . 'We paid particular attention on gender ratio when we did the 3D pictures for the textbooks because we didn't want to let male players dominate the books', says the man in charge of their creation Chen Keqi . Xi Jinping has been a football fan since he played for his school team and is said to be very keen to see his country climb the world rankings . And now China's young players will hopefully have everything they need to become future World Cup winners thanks to the new tools at their disposal. According to the Chinese People's Daily, the first series of football textbooks for students in primary and secondary school will be completed at the end of this month by the People's Education Press (PEP). Chen Keqi, director of the Sports Office at the PEP, says 30 football 'experts' are involved in the drafting of the books, including 'football education specialists' and primary and secondary school PE teachers. The texts feature tips on individual skills such as ball striking, dribbling and passing, but also place great stress on teamwork in order to 'cultivate students' will and character'. Mr Keqi said, 'Given the nature of this sport, the textbooks will highlight students' awareness of teamwork and cooperation. It is hoped the 3D young footballers will encourage China's budding players to become world beaters . Pupils will be taught basic skills including 'balancing on a ball' and doing 'keepy-uppy' with their insteps . 'It will aim to cultivate their hard-working and optimistic spirit. All that reflects the educational value of football. 'We aim to improve students’ overall ability and make them well-developed both in mind and body. 'Students’ awareness of duty and responsibility can be raised in this process of learning.' 'Any type of education must take building people’s characters and passing knowledge on to students into account, and PE education is no exception.' There are seven volumes of textbooks, four of which will be for primary, middle school and first year high school students, while the remaining three are teaching guides for primary and secondary school coaches. Pupils from primary grades 3-4 will be taught basic skills including 'balancing on a ball' and doing 'keepy-uppy' with their insteps, while students from secondary grades 5-6 will be learning some more 'complex' skills such as keeping a ball in the air using different parts of their feet. The books feature 3D pictures to help teach positional play and develop 'attacking strategy'. China's men's team. For a country of 1.37billion people their ranking of 82 does not sit well with Chinese fans . China's men take on Uruguay at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium in October 2010. President Xi wants the country to qualify for a World Cup again, like they did in 2002, and eventually win the competition . They also have green QR codes which readers can scan with their mobile phones to access online football tutorial videos. Mr Keqi said: '3D technology brought football skills to life and graphics can be easily understood by students. 'We paid particular attention on gender ratio when we did the 3D pictures for the textbooks because we didn't want to let male players dominate the books. 'In addition to publishing paper textbooks, we will introduce CD and online video tutorials to help teachers learn more about the sport. 'We will organise some training if possible to ensure teachers are best able to use the set of textbooks.' Prince William meets Mr Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing earlier this month. The Aston Villa fan mentioned the Chinese president's love of football during their talk . Mr Xi is a massive fan of the beautiful game and he and many of his 1.37billion countryman are said to be ashamed at the lowly number 82 ranking of the Chinese men's national team. He dreams his country will again qualify for a World Cup – they last did so in 2002 but went out after failing to score – will have the opportunity to host the tournament and, most optimistically, will one day win it. At least China's women's team has a much better chance of doing that any time soon as they are currently ranked a much more respectable 13th in the world. On his recent visit to China Prince William bonded with Mr Xi over their mutual love of the round ball game. William, who is an Aston Villa fan, told the president: 'I also gather you're quite a football fan. I'm looking forward to learning about China's football'. +Jarryd Hayne's move to the NFL is a boost for rugby league in the United States, it has been claimed. The Australia international full-back or centre quit the National Rugby League in October to try his luck in American football and was this week given a three-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Peter Illfield, chairman of US Association of Rugby League, said: 'Jarryd, at 27, is one of the most gifted and talented rugby league players in Australia. He is an extraordinary athlete. Jarryd Hayne (right) has signed with the San Francisco 49ers after quitting the NRL in October . Hayne, who played rugby league for Australia, has signed a three year contract with the 49ers . 'His three-year deal with the 49ers, as an expected running back, gives the USA Rugby League a connection with the American football lover like never before. 'Jarryd's profile and playing ability will bring our sport to the attention of many. It also has the possibility of showing the American college athlete the possibilities of transition and adaptation for them to play rugby league, should they desire. 'Part of our recruitment strategy is aimed at the American football player who has excelled at High School level but just misses out on their College football team in their Freshman year. Hayne could play at full back or centre in rugby league and is expected to be a running back for the 49ers . 'There is no community football for that high-level of athlete. Rugby league is the perfect sport for him and we now have Jarryd as a first-hand role model.' Illfield has invited Hayne to be a guest of honour at the USARL fixtures in their 14-club competition over the summer, adding: 'We are looking at every source for increasing performance outcomes for the USA national team leading up to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.' +So now we know. Not only can Rory McIlroy play golf better than anyone else, he can throw clubs further than anyone else as well. With perhaps the most extraordinary act of frustration we’ve seen on a golf course in recent years, the Northern Irishman left no-one in any doubt as to what he thinks about his current erratic form. After a wild three iron plunged into the water at the par five 8th on Friday, the world No 1 hurled his club 60 or 70 yards into the adjacent hazard. World No 1 Rory McIlroy threw a club into the water in frustration after more erratic play on Friday . McIlroy swings and releases his club after finding the water during the WGC-Cadillac Championship . The Northern Irishman watches as his club soars into the air and towards the lake . The 25-year-old's club makes a splash as it lands in the water on Friday afternoon . Maybe when he’s finished breaking golfing records he will take up the javelin. Of course it was conduct terribly unbecoming and will lead to an inevitable fine. But the vast majority of golfers will have recognised what was going on. ‘It was just heat of the moment stuff and not one of my proudest moments,’ admitted McIlroy. ‘I’ve never done anything like that before. I probably wouldn’t have done it here but I knew I didn’t need a three iron for the rest of my round. So I thought: "Yeah, why not?”’ His playing partner knew exactly what was going on. Henrik Stenson is a prince off the golf course but on it the Swede has broken more than his fair share of clubs in anger. ‘It was an impressive release from Rory,’ he said, smiling. ‘You know, for a small guy he’s got a strong throw and he had good speed on that one.’ Worried perhaps that one or two of the American press might not get the joke, he added: ’Be nice to him. He’s a good guy.’ For those who would rather bounce up and down with righteous indignation, here’s what the great American amateur Bobby Jones said almost 100 years ago: ‘There are some emotions that simply cannot be endured with a golf club in your hands.’ The game might be unrecognisable from Jones’s day but in that regard it remains the same. Of more concern for McIlroy followers is what it says about his current state of mind. Under Plan A, he’s only got six more competitive rounds at most to play before the Masters, when he will be trying to complete the career grand slam. Clearly, his game is not where he wants it to be but at least he’s not lost his sense of humour. McIlroy takes his tee shot on the seventh hole of the second round in Florida . McIlroy missed the cut in the Honda Classic last week and struggled to an opening 73 at Doral . Asked what will he do for a three iron on Saturday, he replied: ‘There’s one on the way, but I’m not sure if it’s courtesy of Nike or a scuba diving team.’ The curious thing was he seemed to play better with 13 clubs than 14. This was McEnroe-esque rather than McIlroy. With the frustration no longer pent-up, he made a birdie with his second ball at the 8th, before birdieing the 10th and 12th holes. Another birdie at the 17th meant he finished with a 70 and, on one under for the event, stands on the fringes of the top ten. ‘What’s annoying me is there’s no sign on the range of the sort of shot I hit on the 8th,’ he said. ‘So it’s a little bit of a mental thing and a bit physical and something I need to work on.’ McIlroy is eight shots off the lead held by American JB Holmes, who double-bogeyed his last hole to give everyone a break. He is now just two shots ahead of fellow American Ryan Moore, with Adam Scott lurking in third place, a further shot behind. Then come Stenson and Masters champion Bubba Watson at five adrift. Scott is not only playing his first competitive round for three months, he is also using a short putter in competition for the first time in four years. You could say it is working. So far he has had 30 putts inside 12ft….and holed 28 of them. Welshman Jamie Donaldson, runner-up in this event last year, is seven behind after a 72. Alongside McIlroy on one under is Lee Westwood, who is playing in his 50th WGC – the first man to reach that milestone since the four events to enjoy such status were conceived in 1999. +England's Matt Ford will take a narrow lead into the third day of the Africa Open after carding a second-round 66 at East London Golf Club. Ford took advantage of calmer conditions for the morning starters to card six birdies and an eagle, with his only blemishes coming on the ninth and 17th. That left the 36-year-old 11 under par and one ahead of Spain's Eduardo de la Riva, who also returned a 66 containing eight birdies and two bogeys. England's Matt Ford will take a narrow lead into the third day of the Africa Open at the East London Golf Club . Ford tees off on the eighth hole during the second round of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club . Ford, who was about to spend a winter working for Royal Mail before coming through November's European Tour qualifying school at the 10th attempt, said: 'I don't think you can ever get all of it out of the round. 'I missed a short one on 17 and hit a poor tee shot off nine, so those were a couple of mistakes, but you're always going to make a few of those. I would have taken 11 under at the beginning of the day. 'I missed a couple of putts but I holed a couple and I holed a wedge (from 119 yards for his eagle on the par-four 12th) so I played some good stuff. I've been hitting it pettty steady all year and the way the golf course is suits me; you are not hitting full out shots, you are hitting quite a lot of half shots. I've had good control of the ball so far this week.' Andy Sullivan missed the cut after a disappointing 77 in the Africa Open left him five over par . Both of De la Riva's bogeys came in his first three holes, but the world number 369 responded with a flurry of birdies to keep Ford well within in his sights. 'I played a very good round today with good golf and good putts. I am very happy with the first two rounds,' he said. South Africa have provided all five previous winners of this event and four home players were inside the top seven on the leaderboard, with Jaco van Zyl and Erik Van Rooyen three off the lead on eight under alongside France's Gregory Havret. Newly appointed Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke carded six birdies and two bogeys in a 68 . Van Zyl, who finished joint second the Joburg Open on Sunday, also shot 66 and said: 'Yesterday was really tough out there and I was very chuffed to pull two under out of it. I got it a lot easier this morning and when that happens you try to capitalise.' Van Zyl's compatriots Neil Schietekat and Trevor Fisher were one shot further back along with English pair David Howell and John Parry, Chile's Mark Tullo and Germany's Max Kieffer, whose 63 was the lowest score of the day. Ireland's Kevin Phelan, who shared the overnight lead with Ford, could only add a 72 to his opening 67 to remain five under, one ahead of newly appointed Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke, who carded six birdies and two bogeys in a 68. England's Andy Sullivan, who was seeking a third win in South Africa in nine weeks, missed the cut after a disappointing 77 left him five over par. Kevin Phelan plays his sceond shot into the 14th green during the second round of the Africa Open . +Andy Murray would ideally prefer to play Davis Cup quarter-final opponents France on grass - but he recognises the need for a strong atmosphere after an emotional victory over the United States. Proud Scotsman Murray admitted playing in front of a capacity 7,500 crowd at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow was among his best experiences in tennis after his straight-sets win over John Isner helped Great Britain into an unassailable 3-1 lead. The reward for the thrilling World Group first-round victory is a last-eight home tie with France on July 17-19, at the end of the grass-court season. Andy Murray would prefer Great Britain's Davis Cup tie with France to be played on grass in July . Great Britain received brilliant support at Glasgow's Emirates Arena as they beat the United States . All three days of Davis Cup action at the Emirates Arena were sold out in a matter of minutes . Captain Leon Smith will discuss possible venues with both his team and the Lawn Tennis Association and Murray would prefer to play on grass. 'It's a surface I really like, it's a good surface for Dom (Inglot) as well with his serve,' the 2013 Wimbledon champion said. 'I wouldn't say the French players love the grass outside of (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga. He would be their best player on the grass. I don't think (Gael) Monfils is as comfortable on that surface, (Gilles) Simon I don't think is that comfortable on it. (Richard) Gasquet I think can play well but I don't think he has played amazing in Davis Cup in the past. Smith embraces Murray after the Scot's straight sets win secured GB's quarter-final berth . Murray is the centre of attention after securing a tie against France . 'Grass might be a good surface but we will have to see because playing in front of a crowd like this makes a difference and it helps. If we can't guarantee that at a grass venue then maybe it makes sense to play it at a venue where we can get that. 'Having the crowd with you makes a big difference. For some reason people think in tennis that playing in front of a home crowd is crippling in a way and makes people incredibly nervous. 'It can make you nervous but if you look at the Olympics, London was our best Olympics ever and there was a reason for that. The crowd makes a big difference. 'I don't have an ideal venue. It's not up to me. The atmosphere here was the best I have played in, and indoor venues have better noise, but at that time of the year we also have the option of playing outdoors.' +Glasgow could yet host Britain’s glamour Davis Cup quarter-final with France in July – if Team GB opt to put atmosphere ahead of a desire to play on grass. Andy Murray led the home team to victory over USA in front of 7,500 passionate fans at the Emirates Arena on Sunday and, with all three days sold out in a matter of minutes, there is an obvious desire to see Scotland’s greatest active sportsman in action again. Murray himself expressed a preference for facing the French on grass – but said: ‘I think grass might be a good surface, but we’ll have to see, because playing in front of a crowd like this also makes a difference and it helps. Andy Murray celebrates extravagantly during his straight sets win over John Isner on Sunday . Great Britain supporters would relish supporting Murray and Co in Glasgow again in July . All three day's of Davis Cup action at the Emirates Arena were sold out in a matter of minutes . If we can’t guarantee that at a grass venue maybe it makes sense to play it somewhere we can get that.’ GB captain Leon Smith, a Glaswegian himself, said there was ‘no chance’ of finding or creating a suitably large outdoor venue – a minimum of 600 seats are required – in order to bring a grass-court tie to Scotland. But he added: ‘I say no chance but I’m not a lawn expert. So, if someone can tell me there’s a chance, I’m sure we would explore it. GB captain Leon Smith doubts the chances of Glasgow being able to create a larger grass-court venue . Smith embraces with  Murray after the latter's straight sets win secured GB's quarter-final berth . Murray (middle) is looked on in envy by his fellow GB team-mates after securing a tie against France . 'Internally, we’ve looked at other options, thinking outside the box. ‘The first thing I need to do, over the next week or two, is think about the best surface. Andy said grass there but we need to sit as a group, look at the likely French team and think about what’s best. ‘Then we have to go somewhere with a great atmosphere. If it’s indoor hard, why not here – or somewhere near here? Something like this, it definitely worked in Scotland. 'You have to look at when the tie lands in the summer, too. ‘There will have been an awful lot of tennis in certain regions, so you want to put it somewhere people have the hunger for more tennis. We’ll be phoning around like mad. ‘Ultimately you go with the surface that gives you the best chance of winning. The atmosphere is great – but it will be even better to be in the semi-finals. ‘We’ve got to pick a surface that all the players agree on. We’ll put our heads together over the next week, then go to the suits and ask them to make it happen.’ +Fast bowler James Anderson has warned all of England's World Cup flops will face battles to salvage their limited-overs careers. England boss Peter Moores has faced the brunt of the criticism and Anderson recognises his former Lancashire coach is under close scrutiny, after defeat to Bangladesh on Monday ended hopes of reaching the quarter-finals. Anderson told The Sun: 'Peter's position might come under pressure in the next few weeks but every member of this squad should also come under pressure. There have been guys - myself included - who have not performed.' James Anderson arrives at Sydney Airport, after defeat against Bangladesh in Adelaide knocked them out . England boss Peter Moores has faced the brunt of the criticism following a dismal World Cup . England batsman James Taylor reacts after he was dismissed by Bangladesh bowler Taskin Ahmed . Bangladesh players celebrate after they defeated England in their Cricket World Cup match . Bangladesh players celebrate after they defeated England by 15 runs in their Cricket World Cup match . Anderson, who has taken a meagre four wickets in five matches, is determined to emerge from his own doldrums and prove he can again be a menacing strike bowler at the highest level. 'I want to carry on,' he said in his column for the newspaper. 'I came into the World Cup as the number four-ranked one-day bowler in the world so my form in the last couple of years has been good.' Yet he admits to feeling 'a mixture of seething anger and devastation' over England's performance in Australia and New Zealand, and said the team 'let down' the coaching staff and supporters. Stuart Broad arrives at Sydney Airport after England's defeat to Bangladesh in the World Cup . England have faced widespread accusations of being out of step with the pace of modern one-day international cricket, and reliant on statistics rather than their instincts. Anderson disputes that, and said: 'Peter does not suffocate players with statistics and data. The numbers are available if a player wants them. It is up to each individual.' England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton has promised there will be no knee-jerk reaction to the team's failure, which may mean Moores is safe in his job for the medium term. That would be welcomed by Anderson, who said: 'I want Peter to stay as head coach.' Moeen Ali arrives at Sydney Airport after their defeat against Bangladesh in Adelaide . +West Brom's Chris Brunt has requested a personal hearing after being charged by the Football Association for allegedly verbally abusing a match official. The midfielder is alleged to have used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour in the tunnel after Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Aston Villa. Referee Anthony Taylor sent off Albion's Claudio Yacob and Villa's Jack Grealish during the game, which saw Villa progress through to the semi-finals where they will play Blackburn or Liverpool. Chris Brunt (right), pictured disputing a decision with Anthony Taylor, has been hit with an FA charge . Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Baggies boss Tony Pulis steered well clear of getting involved at Thursday's press conference ahead of their game against Stoke. 'That's with Richard (Garlick, director of football administration) and the powers that be,' he said. 'That's in the if, buts and maybes for Saturday. 'We don't know if he'll be charged or if he's banned. We're not sure yet, they're still talking.' Both Albion and Villa are awaiting the results of FA and police investigations after crowd trouble at Villa Park where home fans twice invaded the pitch. Police clash with unruly fans in the aftermath of the FA Cup clash between Aston Villa and West Brom . West Brom are working with police after footage emerged of supporters appearing to let off fire extinguishers . West Brom supporters threw seats into sections of the Villa fans during the second half with Pulis insisting the day after the match that anyone found guilty should be banned for life. Pulis remained detached from all disciplinary issues on Thursday, ranging from Brunt's case to the crowd trouble and whether his winger Callum McManaman was struck in the tunnel after the game. 'That's ongoing and it's something I'm not involved in,' he said about the disturbing scenes. 'That's down to the powers-that-be who are above me. It's up to them to sort that out and we'll see where that takes us. But at the moment I don't think there's any comment from ourselves or the FA.' Police and the FA are investigating the behaviour of both club's after the unruly scenes in which some West Brom players are also alleged to have tried to trip Villa fans . Tony Pulis has called for supporters to behave themselves, or be punished properly . Pulis did, however, reiterate the need for common sense from supporters. 'You want derbies to be passionate and committed but there are certain levels, certain rules, that we should all stay and work within,' he said. 'If people have broken those rules then they should be punished and punished properly, because you can't have a situation like we've had 20 or 30 years back where it's just chaos. We've moved on as a country from that and we have to make sure we don't allow it to come back in.' As for possible lifetime bans for supporters, Pulis said: 'That's down to the club.' +Robbie Henshaw believes Ireland's fledgling centre partnership faces its toughest RBS Six Nations test yet in Wales on Saturday against Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies. Connacht battering ram Henshaw has rubbished the suggestions that Warren Gatland's Wales are past their peak that surfaced after the 21-16 home defeat to England. Ireland's 21-year-old midfield sensation will pair up with Jared Payne in the centres for just the fifth time in Test action at the Millennium Stadium. Ireland's newest sensation Robbie Henshaw (left) believes Wales will give him the toughest test of his career . Roberts and Davies will combine from the start for the 38th time on Saturday, at the heart of an unchanged line-up following victory over France in Paris. 'I think it could definitely be the toughest test for me and Jared,' said Henshaw of the challenge against Roberts and Davies. 'Wales are very direct but also they run decoy lines with Roberts coming up, only to throw it out the back and go wide. The centre scored a crucial try during their victory of Six Nations rivals England at the Aviva Stadium . 'It's going to test us big-time, so we've got to be prepared and stay connected in defence, and just keep our communication up all day.' Racing Metro centre Roberts will win his 68th Test cap for Wales this weekend while Clermont's Davies will make it 47 in Cardiff's pivotal Six Nations clash. Ireland can remain on course for a second Grand Slam in seven years with victory on Saturday, with a trip to Scotland still ahead. Jared Payne (left) celebrates with the scorer as Ireland look in pole position to win the Six Nations . Ruthless boss Joe Schmidt this week omitted veteran centre Gordon D'Arcy from his 36-man training squad for the remaining two Six Nations contests. D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll set a world record 55-Test centre partnership in their wide-ranging careers. Henshaw has long been touted as the now-retired O'Driscoll's natural successor at outside centre, but has instead found himself replacing D'Arcy at 12. The Athlone native is gearing up for just his ninth cap in Cardiff, with New Zealand-born Payne in line for his fifth Test bow. The new Irish sensation is being touted as the player to replace legend Brian O'Driscoll (centre) So from boasting the world's most experienced centre pairing en route to last year's Six Nations title, Ireland will concede 101 caps to their midfield rivals against Wales this weekend. Henshaw has vowed he and Payne 'won't hold back' however, buoyed by his first Test try that clinched Ireland's 19-9 victory over England on March 1. 'This Wales team is absolutely not past its peak,' said Henshaw. 'The fact that they are at home and that they play their best rugby at the Millennium, they're going to cause a massive threat for us. 'So we're going to have to be squeaky clean on the day in terms of our discipline and we're going to have to take all the chances we get. Henshaw knows he's in for a tough afternoon when he comes up against the experienced Jamie Roberts . Wales centre Jonathan Davies (centre) has formed an impressive partnership with Roberts over the years . 'It might be more open than the England game, but we want to stick to our game plan and follow through on what the coaches want from us. 'It's not going to be more than a two-score game though. 'They are not predictable either: they have a lot of different options available to them with Dan Biggar at 10. 'He gives them a good attacking threat and good aerial skills in the team. 'We're just going to have to be prepared for anything. 'I think the Welsh centre partnership is up there with one of the best in the world. Jonny Sexton (left) is Ireland's danger man with some labeling him as the best fly half in the world . 'They have a really physical threat and massive size in that 10, 12 channel from Jamie Roberts, and then a very good ball player and direct runner in Jonathan Davies. 'They are going to test us big-time this week but we are fully prepared for what they are going to throw at us. 'We'll have to get off the line quickly in defence and shut down their space and options as early as we can. 'We'll look to get into them early, and we won't hold back. Head coach Joe Schmidt (centre) is closing in on winning the Grand Slam with Ireland once again . 'I'm constantly learning, growing into it more and more, getting a bit more confident with every game, especially with Jared outside and Johnny (Sexton) inside. 'We're building a good relationship there, so at the moment we're just looking to build on recent performances. 'We're feeding off each other at the moment, learning little bits all the time, and growing too.' +Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis has returned to France for some rest after collapsing on the pitch against Tottenham last Wednesday. The French striker caused panic when he fainted at White Hart Lane during Swansea's 3-2 defeat to Spurs. But the forward confirmed afterwards that he was fine, and that the collapse had been brought on by emotional stress caused by his father's illness. Bafetimbi Gomis posted pictures of himself in a restaurant in Lyon after recovering from his collapse . Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Medical staff attended to the France international for four minutes before he regained consciousness . Gomis, who has a history of blacking out, is taken off the field on a stretcher at White Hart Lane . With the Swans not playing again until next Monday, Gomis took the chance to return home to visit his family, stopping off for a meal at his favourite restaurant. 'Back in Lyon,' he wrote on his Instagram account. 'Family and some rest during the break, before restarting. I took the opportunity to pay a visit to my friend Marco in one of my favorite places.' Swansea have a week off as they are not involved in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and do not face Liverpool until Monday of next week. Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb (right) holds his head in his hands as Gomis is taken off on a stretcher . Gomis has a history of fainting and can be seen here collapsing during France national team training in 2009 . +Arsenal legend Robert Pires' son is following in his father's footsteps after training with the club's academy. Theo Pires, seven, completed his first training session at the club's Hale End youth complex in Walthamstow this week. Pires spent six years at Arsenal, helping Arsene Wenger's side dominate English football winning two Premier League titles and three FA Cups during his stay in north London. Robert Pires' son Theo, 7, pictured with his father and Alexis Sanchez, has trained with the Arsenal academy . The youngster was spotted at the Emirates Stadium earlier this year watching Arsenal beat Stoke City . Theo completed his first session at the Hale End academy in Walthamstow this week . And now his son has taken his first steps towards, perhaps, representing the Gunners' first team after training with the academy. Theo's skills were first highlighted by Robert's wife Jessica, who showed off a video tagged 'Theo The Great' on Instagram last year. The youngster was shown skipping past his father and others. He was also pictured at the Emirates Stadium in January, watching Arsenal beat Stoke City in the Premier League and posing for snaps with Alexis Sanchez after the game. Pires celebrates with the Premiership trophy after Arsenal beat Everton in 2002 . Pires spent six years with the Gunners and established himself as a club hero . +Aston Villa’s progress to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley was marred by a mass pitch invasion in which West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was repeatedly shoved by taunting fans. Thousands of Aston Villa supporters swarmed on to the pitch in celebration, sparking fears for West Brom players who had to fight their way off and down the tunnel. And the ugly scenes also led to calls for the Football Association to punish Villa for allowing the disturbances to occur. Aston Villa captain Fabian Delph was mobbed by fans after the final whistle . England midfielder Delph admitted the pitch invasion was 'scary and dangerous' Goalscorer Fabian Delph claims fans nicked his captain's armband as well as his left boot during the invasion . Goalscorer Fabian Delph, who was surrounded at the final whistle, said: ‘That was very, very scary. ‘My armband got nicked, someone got my left boot, but I could appreciate the relief the fans are feeling after a result like that. It was dangerous. Someone tried to take my boot off. People tried to kiss me and were biting me. It was scary.’ Hundreds of fans had spilled on to the pitch from the Holte End minutes before the final whistle — forcing their way past meagre numbers of stewards — prompting Villa players to appeal for them to return to the stands. Those who remained in their seats booed loudly, chanting ‘*******’. The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way off the field following the full-time whistle . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . Leicester coach Kevin Phillips slammed the disturbances, calling for the Football Association to punish his former club. Phillips, who played for both Villa and West Brom, said: ‘I can see West Brom players still on the pitch which for me is very dangerous. For me this has been very badly policed. Why are there still away players on there? They should be punished for it. ‘These people on the pitch are not true supporters, the true fans are the ones who are booing to get them off.’ Former Liverpool star and TV pundit Mark Lawrenson added: ‘It’s like a scene from the 1980s all over again. Absolutely ridiculous.’ Albion winger Callum McManaman was visibly shaken and Myhill reacted angrily at fans trying to film him by snatching one phone and flinging it to the ground. It took stewards more than 20 minutes to march the fans off. West Brom fans also ripped out several seats and confronted Villa fans when Scott Sinclair scored a second. The scene at Villa Park as hundreds of relieved fans stormed the pitch shortly after the final whistle . One fan swings on the Villa Park crossbar as Tom Sherwood's side booked their place at Wembley . Aston Villa supporters stormed the pitch following the club's FA Cup victory over West Brom on Saturday . +Everton are flying the flag for England in the Europa League and take on Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their round of 16 clash at Goodison Park on Thursday night. Blues fans and perhaps even Roberto Martinez may have been happy to avoid giants such as Roma and Inter Milan, but face a Ukranian side who are unbeaten in their domestic league. The Premier League strugglers may be the last British team left in Europe after next week's Champions League fixtures. So, do we know enough about their opponents? Everton manager Roberto Martinez faces a tough challenge when Dynamo Kiev visit Goodison Park . Star players . Andriy Yarmolenko . Kiev's captain had a three-game ban reduced after an appeal so he can play in Thursday night's game, and his presence could be crucial for the visitors. A creative winger, Yarmolenko loves cutting in from the right-hand side onto his favoured left foot and has impressed for Ukraine against England over the years. Martinez said: 'It is a blow from our point of view because Yarmolenko is one of their best performers.' Andriy Yarmolenko (left) has had his ban reduced and will be aiming to fire the Ukrainian side to victory . Aleksandar Dragovic . Linked with Arsenal and Tottenham, the defender is seen as a rising prospect of the game but is already a key player for Kiev. Their manager Sergei Rebrov confirmed as much. 'You are asking about one of the best players in my team and I don't want to lose this player. 'He is a top-class player and I hope he will stay with us.' Aleksandar Dragovic (right) is seen as a rising prospect in world football as a defender . Miguel Veloso . A mainstay in a talented Portugal team, it was somewhat of a surprise when this central midfielder opted for a move to Ukraine when leaving Genoa last year. Veloso has played at Goodison Park before, and will be hoping to prove his 52 international class convert to class on the field, too. Miguel Veloso has been capped 52 times by Portugal and is a classy player in midfield . The manager . Sergei Rebrov should know all about Everton having played in the Premier League for five years with West Ham and most notably Tottenham. The striker cost Spurs around £11million in 2000 but only scored 10 goals in 60 games... he will be hoping for better luck on English soil on this occasion. The 40-year-old won the Ukranian Cup early on, and now looks to be on his way to more success this season. He said in his pre-match conference: 'Any success for Dynamo is success for the whole of Ukraine. I hope people from outside can see that life is continuing here.' Former Tottenham flop Sergei Rebrov has impressed in his first stint as manager with Kiev . Form . Thirteen wins from 16 games helping them establish a seven-point advantage over Shakhtar Donetsk in the league is one thing, but Kiev have brought that style to the Europa League, too. The Ukrainian giants stormed through their group and beat Guingamp 4-3 on aggregate in their round of 32 fixture, despite going down to nine men in the first leg. +Europa League broadcasters ITV have pulled off a coup by persuading the injured Everton and England defender Leighton Baines to be part of their panel for tonight's important tie between Roberto Martinez's men and Dynamo Kiev at Goodison Park. Baines has been ruled out the first leg because of a knock to his quad muscle and will join 1980s Everton legend Peter Reid for the live television coverage to see if his side can salvage some respect for the Premier League after a dismal European campaign for our leading clubs. Leighton Baines takes a free-kick for Everton against Swansea City earlier in the season . Manager Roberto Martinez oversees Everton training at Finch Farm on Wednesday . Everton may be the only English club who will end up qualifying for the quarter-finals of either European competition. Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League against Paris St Germain on Wednesday while both Arsenal and Manchester City have to overturn first-leg deficits when they travel to Monaco and Barcelona next week. Roberto Martinez's side are the only English survivors in the Europa League following exits for Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in the last round and ITV have chosen to show the match from Goodison on their main channel ITV1 rather than ITV4 where most Europa games are screened. Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend will commentate with presenter Mark Pougatch – who recently replaced Adrian Chiles – joined by Baines and Reid. Baines, 30, rarely does interviews but is known to hold thoughtful and incisive views on football. A huge music fan, he disembarked from the plane that brought back England's players from last summer's World Cup clutching a guitar he had taken with him to South America. Baines with his guitar at the World Cup (left) and against Crystal Palace earlier this season . The left-back, who was wanted by Manchester United at the start of last season before he signed a new contract with Everton, has only played once since the end of January because of injury and received a knock to the quad muscle on his leg last month. He has returned to training though and may make his return in Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle United. Everton have so far saved their most impressive performances for Europe and qualified for the knockout stages from a difficult group that included Wolfsburg, Lille and Krasnodar. Dynamo Kiev are managed by former Tottenham and West Ham forward Sergei Rebrov (above) +Veteran striker Miroslav Klose helped himself to two goals as Lazio crushed Fiorentina 4-0 in Serie A on Monday, a result that boosted their chances of reaching next season's Champions League. Lucas Biglia set Lazio on their way and an Antonio Candreva penalty put them in complete control as they went joint third with Napoli on 46 points. Fiorentina, whose Champions League hopes took a hefty blow as they dropped four points behind their opponents in joint fifth, were unrecognisable from the team that won 2-1 at Juventus in the Italian Cup on Thursday. Lazio striker Miroslav Klose celebrates his second goal of the night in front of the cheering home fans . German World Cup winner Klose keeps his calm to place home Lazio's fourth at the Stadio Olimpico . Stefan De Vrij (rear) embraces Klose after his second goal effectively killed off Fiorentina . Midfielder Lucas Biglia (left) blasts through the packed box to drive in Lazio's opening goal in the sixth minute . Antoni Candevra (right) strokes home his penalty to double the home side's advantage on Monday night . The top two qualify for the Champions League group stage and the third-placed club go into the final playoff round. Argentina midfielder Biglia began the rout when he volleyed home from the edge of the penalty area after six minutes. Lazio then missed a flurry of chances but it was all over when Nenad Tomovic tripped Felipe Anderson and Candreva converted the penalty before being booked for a shirtless celebration in the 65th minute. Lazio players celebrate each other at the end of a Serie A encounter that took them up to third in the league . Chelsea loanee Mohamed Salah (right) was unable to continue his fine scoring form against the Lazio defence . The third goal started from a Fiorentina free kick at the other end of the pitch. Matias Fernandez gave the ball straight to a Lazio defender who set Candreva clear on the right and, although his shot was saved by Norberto Neto, Klose headed in the rebound. The 36-year-old German also grabbed the fourth at the second attempt after his initial effort was stopped by Neto, his eighth league goal of the season. Fiorentina's Matias Fernandez (right) tries to get his team back into the game with a swinging free kick . Felipe Anderson (right) attempts to take on Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic but the visitors were kept at bay . +Dodging Bullets clinched glory in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham for trainer Paul Nicholls. Winner of the Tingle Creek at Sandown and the Clarence House Chase at Ascot already this season, the seven-year-old was third in the betting at 9-2 for the two-mile championship behind former winners Sprinter Sacre and Sire De Grugy. Dodging Bullets travelled with zest throughout in the hands of Sam Twiston-Davies and loomed up ominously running down the hill. Dodging Bullets (front) delivered a second winner of day two for jockey Sam Twiston-Davies . The front-running Special Tiara and big outsider Somersby made him work for it, but the Nicholls runner - who was bred by Frankie Dettori - found plenty after the final fence to clinch victory. Somersby ran a tremendous race to fill the runner-up spot, beaten a length and a quarter. Defending champion Sire De Grugy was under the pump a long way from home, while Sprinter Sacre, so brilliant in this race two years ago, did not jump well and appeared a shadow of his former self after stopping quickly from the home turn and being pulled up. Twiston-Davies and Dodging Bullets successfully clear a fence on their way to victory . Twiston-Davies laps up the applause as he is led in after winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase . Twiston-Davies said: 'What a horse, Harry Derham and the team have done a great job - Harry rides him all the time wouldn't let Frankie Dettori ride him at home when he came down the other day, which says a lot. 'I need to get my breath back, I'm shaking a bit! 'I missed two out a bit, I was almost going too well.' Nicholls said: 'That was absolutely awesome. 'It's good for the owners and good for the team. 'The progress he's made has been absolutely phenomonal. 'He's got better and better.' Dodging Bullets returned at 9-2 after landing the Queen Mother Champion Chase . Twiston-Davies celebrates with the Queen Mother Champion Chase trophy . Dettori said: 'Sam gave him a fantastic ride. He jumped like a stag. 'He was meant to win a Derby but this is second best. 'My legs were shaking a little bit. What a horse.' Nicholls went on: 'He should have been favourite on form. 'I couldn't see why the other two (Sprinter Sacre and Sire De Grugy) were ahead of him in the market. 'Progressive horses usually come out on top. 'We know where we are going with him now. He's such a special horse.' Winning owner Martin Broughton said: 'The anticipation is almost too much, and when you get to the race itself, you just want them to come back safe. 'All the way round I got more and more confident. It was all going exactly to plan. 'This is fantastic. I'm absolutely ecstatic. 'It's all been Sprinter versus Sire. I'm happy under the radar.' It was all smiles for the connections of Dodging Bullets . Nicky Henderson said Sprinter Sacre will be given a thorough check-up before he can consider any notion of retirement for the former champion chaser. Henderson said: 'His heart is OK, which is the main thing. 'He'll be scoped and then we'll know a lot more after that. 'Barry said he was a bit noisy going up the back and it sounds like it's something internal. 'We'll scope him now. There was a trace of blood after Ascot, so you would have to be suspicious in that department. 'Once we've done the tests we'll let everyone know. 'We've only just unsaddled and are trying to gather our thoughts. 'I don't think we can make any predictions today as to the future. 'If there's a switch we can find that gets rids of what is affecting him today, who knows.' Frankie Dettori (second right) couldn't hide his excitement after Dodging Bullets' victory . Mick Channon, trainer of Festival veteran Somersby, said: 'He's been in great form, it was only really the race at Ascot (Clarence House) where he disappointed. He has run pound for pound to his Tingle Creek form and run his race - I'm delighted for everybody.' Trainer Gary Moore felt a brisk surface counted against fourth-placed Sire De Grugy. 'The ground wasn't soft enough for him,' said the West Sussex handler. 'He showed at Chepstow how good he was when it's deep, but on ground like this, he wants two and a half miles these days.' Henry de Bromhead was thrilled with the effort of Special Tiara. He said 'I'm delighted with that run, Noel (Fehily) gave him a super ride. He got him filled up coming round home turn and coming to the second-last he thought he might win, but then he just petered out. 'To be fair he is better on a flatter track, but he has run a blinder and we are delighted. 'He's a good ground horse and we will look at Sandown or Punchestown, whichever one Dodging Bullets doesn't go for.' De Bromhead also saddled former winner Sizing Europe, who was seventh, beating home Mr Mole. He said: 'Johnny (Burke) didn't knock him around when he knew he was beaten. I have thought about retiring him, but I'm not going to make any decisions until I have spoken to the owners. 'The fact he has come back so many times just shows how he has stood the test of time.' +Manchester United outcast Nani headed home the winner as Sporting Lisbon beat Penafiel 3-2 in the Portuguese league on Monday night. The Portugal winger, who is on a season-long loan at his first club, took his Sporting goal tally to eight in 23 appearances since returning from Old Trafford. The result kept them third in the Primeira Liga and on course for Champions League qualification, though their chances of bridging the 12-point gap to leaders Benfica are slim. Nani celebrates his headed winning goal as Sporting Lisbon beat Penafiel 3-2 on Monday night . They were made to work hard by bottom-of-the-table Penafiel, who fought back from two goals down to draw level after Sporting centre-half Tobias Figueiredo was sent off. Having come into the match off the back of a 3-0 loss to Porto, Sporting needed a positive start and goals from William and Islam Slimani had them two the good inside eight minutes. But Figueiredo's red card gave the visitors hope and they replied through veteran midfielder Bruno Braga in the 12th minute. The Manchester United loanee celebrated his 70th-minute winner with a trademark flip . And they levelled three minutes shy of half-time through Vitor Bruno. However, Sporting were still too strong and Nani's winner - a firm header from 12 yards following a right-wing cross - proved decisive. Frustrations ultimately boiled over for Penafiel, who are four points adrift at the bottom, as both Dani and Pedro Ribeiro were shown second yellow cards in the closing stages. +The challenges of taking a penalty in football are so well documented - a baying crowd, pressurised responsibility and psychological isolation - it's no wonder that most clubs tend to dedicate time on the training ground to how to deal with them. Austrian third division side FC Pinzgau have decided to try out a rather strange technique to practice their spot-kicks. Players were tasked with scoring from 12 yards after having spun their entire body around 20 times. Players were made to spin around 20 times before taking their shots from 12 yards . The unique penalty practice resulted in several hilarious failed attempts as players fell to the ground . The rationale behind this exercise is unclear, but one could assume that if a player can take a penalty while dizzy, then he can probably manage it in a game. Right? What followed was hilarious. Unsurprisingly, a number of Pinzgau players failed to score with their attempts and some even to make contact with the ball, instead landing bottoms up on the turf. This player doesn't even make contact with the ball before he goes crashing into the turf . After falling over twice more, he eventually manages to get his shot away and scores in the open goal . The challenges of taking a penalty are difficult enough without having to be dizzy as well . +Mauricio Pochettino defended Tottenham’s post-season trip to Australia and insists it stands them in good stead to launch an attack on the top four. Spurs will face Sydney FC in Australia on May 30, a week after this campaign finishes. The decision appears to weaken the club’s stance regarding potential burnout of Harry Kane and the manager held talks with Under 21 boss Gareth Southgate on Wednesday. Mauricio Pochettino (left) has defended Tottenham's post-season trip to Australia . The Spurs boss embraces Hugo Lloris after the 2-0 Capital One Cup final defeat against Chelsea last weekend . But Pochettino is adamant that the trip Down Under will be beneficial, giving his squad an edge in the race for Champions League qualification. ‘It was my decision. It’s important because we’re trying to avoid going on tour during pre-season,’ Pochettino said. ‘It’s never proper for the team to go to Asia or America at the beginning of the season to spend time doing commercial business.’ Tottenham will spend their pre-season at home and are planning to play a series of one-off friendlies rather than join the cluster of Premier League clubs who prefer to train abroad. ‘I’ve had bad experiences of tours, when you’re going far away,’ Pochettino added. ‘Experiences as a player helps as a manager. It can upset your preparations.’ Tottenham winger Andros Townsend celebrates after scoring during Tottenham's 3-2 win against Swansea . The decision appears to weaken the club’s stance regarding potential burnout of Harry Kane . Spurs will face Sydney FC in Australia on May 30, a week after the Premier League campaign finishes . +Numerous coffees have been shared between Jamie Roberts and Johnny Sexton in the cafes of Paris but all cordialities will be pushed aside when Wales take on Ireland this weekend. Roberts describes Sexton, the Ireland No 10 and his Racing Metro team-mate, as an ‘angry man’ who has become one of the world’s finest players under the tutorship of Ronan O’Gara. Wales will be keeping close tabs on the fly-half on Saturday and Roberts is planning to use his inside knowledge to minimise the 29-year-old’s impact at the Millennium Stadium. Racing Metro's Jamie Roberts is adamant Wales can nullify the threat of club team-mate Johnny Sexton . ‘We are good mates in Paris and he’s a guy who demands high standards,’ said Roberts. ‘He’s an angry man. The first time I played with him — I remember it well — was on the Lions tour and he was shouting his head off at me and barking orders. It took me by surprise a bit. ‘He’s a bloody good player and a very clever thinker about the game. He’s got Ronan O’Gara as his mentor in Paris who is passing on a lot of information and helping him develop into a wonderful player. ‘He is the commander-in-chief of the Ireland team and a guy we need to stay one step ahead of.’ Ireland's Johnny Sexton has won his battle to be fit to face Wales in the RBS Six Nations on Saturday . Few have attracted such far-flung praise during this year’s RBS Six Nations as Sexton, who has overcome a hamstring injury and is expected to be named in Ireland’s starting XV at today’s team announcement. The Leinsterman has an all-round repertoire but his kicking has been particularly important within the gameplan of Ireland coach Joe Schmidt. Off the back of a dominant breakdown, Sexton was able to pin back England last week with his accurate footballing skills. It was aperfectly executed strategy and an afternoon that enhanced Schmidt’s reputation as one of the game’s most thorough tacticians. Ireland often rely on their choke-tackle routine in defence but the Kiwi coach neglected it against England to avoid scrummaging against a powerful pack. It could return on Saturday and Roberts is prepared for more tactical twists in Cardiff. Sexton was in fine form to inspire Ireland to a 19-9 win over England in Dublin last time out . ‘They are happy to put bombs up in our 22 if they have to,’ said Roberts. ‘They always come up with a trick or two, so we have to be prepared for that. You’ve seen them have a two- or three-phase set play where they bring their full back near a ruck after phase three or something like that. ‘There is usually a trick in there. Joe Schmidt is a clever coach; he is a guy who obviously thinks about the game a lot.’ Throughout the week, Warren Gatland and his Wales coaching staff have emphasised the importance of playing their own game. That means providing front-foot ball for strike-runners, rather than being kicked into submission by a disciplined Irish set-up. With Sexton’s accuracy from the kicking tee, Gatland must also ensure his players keep their penalty count to a minimum, having seen his side concede 37 in the opening rounds. ‘It’s who blinks first but it’s also who dares wins,’ said Roberts. ‘These big games are like chess and you try to work each other out in the opening exchanges. They are very clever defensively. They pick and choose their rucks. We have got to be very clever in that respect. Wales coach Warren Gatland, at training on Wednesday, is adamant his side must play their own game . ‘The contact area is more important than it ever has been and so is the referee’s interpretation. You watch Ireland’s games against France and England and both sides have given them easy outs from their half with cheap penalties, which gave them a strong foothold in opposition territory.’ Wales are not underestimating their opponents and there have been no verbal barbs from Gatland. He is hoping to reverse a worrying trend in Cardiff, where the Irish have lost only twice in 32 years, with retired back-row Alan Quinlan yesterday writing in his column that ‘Wales don’t scare us like France and England’. ‘That Celtic love and hate is quite evident,’ said Roberts. ‘There is always that edge to it. Looking back on a personal note there have been more lows than highs against them and that’s something I am quite keen to rectify. ‘I’ll never forget watching Ireland win the Grand Slam in our stadium in 2009. That is one of those moments that motivates you I suppose. It’s something you never want to happen again.’ +Warren Gatland has compared Saturday’s tie between Wales and Ireland to a sibling rivalry but insists there is no ‘bad blood’ between the Celtic neighbours. During his early years as national coach, Gatland said his squad ‘dislike the Irish players the most’ - remarks that he later described as a ‘backhanded compliment’ - because of the competition between the Welsh regions and Irish provinces. But the Kiwi on Tuesday played down any animosity ahead of the RBS 6 Nations tie, insisting his players are no longer hung up on Leinster and Munster’s dominance in European competition. Wales captain Sam Warburton prepares to become his country's most-capped captain against Ireland . Warren Gatland says there is no longer bad blood between Celtic Six Nations rivals, more a sibling rivalry . ‘Some of our players had been used to being regularly dominated by the Irish provinces,’ said Gatland. ‘But it has been pretty even over recent years and there are no hard feelings or bad blood between the two teams, just a very strong rivalry when you know each other so well and play each other so often. ‘It’s like playing against your big brother in the back yard. You want to beat him as often as you can and Saturday will be no different. Last weekend was the first time since 2010 that all four Welsh regions won against Irish provinces. It was a big boost for us and for the players; they came in this week with a spring in their step.’ Warburton leads his side into a must win encounter that could keep their Six Nations hopes alive . Wales centre Jonathan Davies will be part of an unchanged starting XV to the one that beat France . A win for Wales would keep alive Gatland’s championship ambitions, and derail Irish hopes of a Grand Slam. Wales have kept faith in the starting XV who beat France, confirming that Sam Warburton is fit to become his country’s most capped captain. Ireland name their team on Wednesday and fly-half Jonathan Sexton is expected to be fit after a hamstring injury. Backs: L Halfpenny; G North, J Davies, J Roberts, L Williams; D Biggar, R Webb; . Forwards: G Jenkins, S Baldwin, S Lee, L Charteris, A-W Jones, D Lydiate, T Faletau, S Warburton (capt). Subs: R Hibbard, R Evans, A Jarvis, J Ball, J Tipuric, M Phillips, R Priestland, S Williams . Ireland to name side on Wednesday . +Luther Burrell has revealed that England's 'Mr Angry' is intent on releasing a month's worth of pent up frustration when Scotland visit Twickenham on Saturday. Mike Brown was knocked unconscious against Italy on February 14 and was forced to sit out the defeat by Ireland after suffering a setback in the return to play protocols for concussion. Now restored to full fitness, Brown returns for England's tilt at reviving their RBS 6 Nations title challenge and Burrell will be only too pleased to hear the fiery full-back barking orders once again. Mike Brown wants to let out all his frustration when he returns to face Scotland according to Luther Burrell . 'It's always good having an angry man behind you, shouting and doing his thing. He's an exciting player,' Burrell said. 'He's constantly on us and is a good leader. He's been itching to get himself right and back out there, just to release some of his anger. Off the pitch he's just as angry. He's just always angry.' England missed the comfort blanket Brown provides at full-back as their Grand Slam quest ground to a halt in Dublin in a result that has seen Ireland reinstated as title favourites. Burrell (centre) is looking forward to having 'Mr Angry' back for their crucial Six Nations clash . Among the combinations that took a step backwards at the Aviva Stadium was the centre partnership of Burrell and Jonathan Joseph, who disappointed after encouraging outings against Wales and Italy. The centre duo were hardly alone in underperforming amid an inexplicably subdued England display, but with only five games remaining until the World Cup - three of them warm up matches for the tournament - opportunities to reassert themselves are running out. Joseph excelled against Wales and Italy, forcing Burrell to take a back seat, and the inside centre's place in the team was under threat until Brad Barritt was ruled out against Scotland by a sprained ankle. The full back has been an ever-present for Stuart Lancaster's side and his loss was a real miss for the squad . Brown (15) was knocked unconscious against Italy and didn't feature in England's defeat in Ireland . Burrell, who has shaken off a calf problem to retain his place in the starting XV, points out that he has taken a selfless approach as his understanding with Joseph grows. 'It's always nice scoring tries, but it's just as nice getting the applause from Jonathan and others for creating that space and doing the hard graft that some people might not pick up on,' he said . 'On and off the field we have a good relationship. We get on really well. We had last weekend off but we've still been speaking to each other. 'It's good to have that relationship because we have a group that has got each other's backs and look out for each other. Jonathan Joseph (left) has arguably been England's most impressive player in the tournament . 'It's important that I create that space for JJ to do his thing, which is obviously something we've seen already in this Six Nations. Given a bit of space, he can be electric in that 13 channel. 'And vice versa if I want the ball in my hands early from him, he now knows to do that. It's pretty exciting. 'We've worked hard on it in training and while we're still building in these early stages, we're happy with how each other's roles are.' England's final training session on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the penultimate round of the Six Nations was full-blooded, releasing the angst that had built up after the no-show against Ireland. Stuart Lancaster took charge of a full bloodied training session at Pennyhill Park on Wednesday . Head coach Stuart Lancaster was forced to blow the whistle early, fearing the consequences as the intensity of the exchanges between the rival XVs at the squad's Pennyhill Park training camp escalated. 'With a session like that it sets us up nicely for the weekend. It's about trying to replicate that intensity of Test match rugby,' Burrell said. 'It gets a bit feisty at times which is always good and healthy because that shows people care and want the shirt.' England still have a chance of winning the Six Nations but know they can't afford to slip up . +Joe Marler hopes England will take their frustration out on Scotland in Saturday's RBS Six Nations clash at Twickenham. Any hope of completing the Grand Slam evaporated with a comprehensive 19-9 defeat by Ireland, who are now the title favourites ahead of their trip to Cardiff. England return to Twickenham for the final two rounds of the tournament against Scotland and France, and Marler has demanded they finish on a high. Joe Marler admits England are frustrated after their loss to Ireland and are looking for an immediate reaction . Marler and Robshaw will have a tough task against Scotland's experienced forward line on Saturday . The prop (left) is looking forward to playing back at Twickenham and having home advantage . Stuart Lancaster will be hoping his side can bounce back from the disappointment of losing to Ireland . 'We definitely need to see a reaction after losing to Ireland and because of the levels of frustration and the edginess we've seen in training, I hope there will be one,' said the loosehead prop. 'Ireland was 10 days ago but there's still a massive amount of frustration from the boys and me personally. 'But we have an opportunity this weekend at home to deal with that frustration and look to try and put in a better performance. Billy Vunipola (centre) is tackled during the England training session held at Pennyhill Park . The England players do their stretches ahead of their training session in preparation for Scotland . Geoff Parling of Leicester Tigers catches the ball during the training session held at Pennyhill Park . The England scrum prepares for the expected tough task against Scotland's tough forward line . Robshaw (centre) looks to pass the ball during a drill session with George Ford (left) looking on . 'Scotland will have plenty of ambition and have some experienced guys in the forwards, so it will be a tough ask at the weekend. 'We're lucky to be back at Twickenham for the last two fixtures of the tournament. It's our home, we love playing there and the crowd are really behind us these days. 'I hope we can put in a performance we're proud of and that the fans will be proud of.' Ford (left) and Courtney Lawes will need to be in top form to beat a tough Scotland opposition . Lawes (centre) of Northampton Saints and looks set to feature for Lancaster's side at Twickenham . Luther Burrell (left) is likely to regain his place in the starting 15 after a number of injuries to the backs . Coach Graham Rowntree (centre) helps the powerful group with their structure to prevent collapsing . England forwards practice their scrummaging in preparation for a gruelling physical battle with the Scots . Some of the England players show their comradery with their Six Nations title hopes still not over . +Bafetimbi Gomis was given a clean bill of health on Thursday after revealing his shocking mid-game collapse was caused by the stress of his father’s ill health. The Frenchman was discharged from hospital in London in the morning having fainted eight minutes into Swansea’s 3-2 defeat against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. There were distressing echoes of Fabrice Muamba’s collapse at the same ground three years ago, with Spurs’ substitute goalkeeper Brad Friedel admitting he ‘feared the worst’ as he watched the striker slump to the ground. Bafetimbi Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Medical staff attended to the France international for four minutes before he regained consciousness . Concerned Tottenham players look on as the Swansea forward is attended to my medical staff . But hospital tests through the night have found no deeper cause for concern beyond the 29-year-old’s vasovagal condition, which the Welsh club insist they have been aware of since before they signed the player from Lyon last summer. A senior club source told Sportsmail that knowledge of at least three previous episodes involving Gomis in France meant they were ‘extra rigorous’ in testing him during his medical and cardiology exams. A source close to the player confirmed those tests took place in a specialist facility in Cardiff ahead of Gomis’s Bosman move to south Wales. The Frenchman tweeted to insist he was feeling better, claiming he fainted because of the anxiety caused by his father’s illness. He said: ‘I wanted to reassure you concerning my health. It actually looks much scarier than it is physically dangerous, and I am feeling well now. Gomis, who has a history of blacking out, is taken off the field on a stretcher at White Hart Lane . Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb (right) holds his head in his hands as Gomis is taken off on a stretcher . Players from both sides appear shocked as referee Michael Oliver prepares to restart the game . ‘I have been under a great deal of stress and fatigue due to my father’s health, which requires me to go back and forth from France. ‘I was disappointed that I couldn’t help my team tonight (Wednesday), but now everything is back in order. I also want to thank everyone for their support and get well messages.’ The striker will not return to training until Tuesday, though the time off was agreed for the whole squad ahead of Wednesday’s incident, with Swansea not playing again until Monday week’s clash against Liverpool. He is expected to return to France imminently. Club officials were adamant on Wednesday night that Gomis has suffered no previous issues with fainting since his arrival at the Liberty Stadium, though the dressing room had been made aware of a condition that is understood to have first affected the striker when he was 14. A vasovagal syncope, which is what Bafetimbi Gomis suffered on Wednesday night, is caused by a sudden decrease in blood pressure or heart-rate, triggered by emotional or physical factors. Reduced blood flow to the brain makes a person faint. It can be prompted by extreme exertion or anxiety. On the physical side, there are numerous tests that can be done when a player has a medical and it appears Swansea knew all about Gomis’s history. They will have checked the flow through his blood vessels under exercise stress, though emotional triggers are harder to quantify. It is a rare condition for a professional sportsman and is more common in older people. It is not something I have encountered in any other footballer. Thankfully, it is not an especially dangerous condition in isolation. The risks are low beyond what happens when you fall. You could hit your head or suffer trauma damage to another part of the body on landing. Often there is a stimulus that the person will recognise and they can act, by sitting down. Most sufferers feel fine in a matter of moments. Gomis has a history of fainting and can be seen here collapsing during France national team training in 2009 . It has been reported in France that Gomis previously fainted during a friendly for Lyon against Deportivo La Coruna in August 2009, before this episode in training . Gomis is helped by French goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso after the collapse in Guincamp . The French striker is understood to have resumed playing within 10 to 15 minutes of the episode . It has been reported in France that he previously fainted during a friendly for Lyon against Deportivo La Coruna in August 2009, before it happened again in training for the France national team two months later. On each occasion he is understood to have resumed playing within 10 to 15 minutes of the episode. Gomis is believed to have collapsed a third time in a Ligue 1 match for Lyon against Monaco in August 2010. Such episodes are caused by low blood pressure to the brain, usually brought on by emotional or physical distress. Medical experts told Sportsmail that the main risks associated with the condition would come from falling, though Swansea claim Gomis is able to detect when a problem occurring and acts accordingly. AUGUST 2, 2009 - LYON 2-2 DEPORTIVO . WHAT HAPPENED? In one of his first games for Lyon, Gomis both scores and faints in a pre-season friendly. However his new club are not overly concerned. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Club doctor Emmanuel Ohrant said: ‘Since 14-years-old, Bafe has been the subject of such vasovagal episodes, comparable to a drop in blood pressure. At St Etienne, he used to faint. We got his whole medical file, and I can testify very exhaustive medical examinations have been . OCTOBER 7, 2009 - FRANCE TRAINING . WHAT HAPPENED? After meeting up with the French squad, a training session was dramatically halted after Gomis collapsed to the ground. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Gomis regained consciousness within a matter of minutes. Incredibly, after just 15 minutes on the sidelines, the striker was able to re-join his team-mates for training. AUGUST 7 2010 - LYON 0-0 MONACO . WHAT HAPPENED? Gomis collapsed early in Lyon’s Ligue 1 home game against Monaco, just metres away from the home dugout. The striker was seen on the ground with his eyes rolled back before club doctor Emmanuel Orhant intervened. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? However, Gomis quickly regained consciousness and continued playing until he was subbed off in the 76th minute. He later said: ‘I had an [incident] early in the game. I often do early in the season. I have immediately felt good after that. I think it was related to stress.' The 29-year-old is helped by a member of the French national team's medical staff after he collapsed . Players and staff call for help after then-Lyon striker Gomis collapses during a match in 2010 . Gomis also collapsed in a friendly match between Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna in August 2009 . Friedel was in the stands when Muamba collapsed with a cardiac arrest and said: ‘Anyone who was at that game probably thought the worst immediately. 'It's not normal for someone to be standing there and collapse and you know it's going to be something serious. 'But after a minute or so the word got back, so that's why you didn't see the panic on the players' faces because everyone knew he was all right. 'It was something that had to be dealt with, of course, but it was nothing in the stratosphere of what went on with Fabrice.’ +Fabrice Muamba says he feared the worst when he heard that Bafetimbi Gomis had collapsed at White Hart Lane. It is three years since Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Bolton in an FA Cup quarter final against Tottenham. Muamba, 26, fell to the ground while no one was standing near him and his heart stopped for 78 minutes. Bafetimbi Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Medical staff attended to the France international for four minutes before he regained consciousness . Concerned Tottenham players look on as the Swansea forward is attended to my medical staff . And when Muamba saw Gomis collapse on the same pitch, he said: ‘Not that place again.’ Gomis tweeted after the game that he was fine and had collapsed due to the stress of his father’s illness. But this is the third time it has happened to the French striker and Muamba does not expect him to play again without being cleared by a number of medical experts. Speaking to the Daily Express, Muamba said: ‘I am sure he will not be allowed to play for a couple of weeks or even a couple of months. ‘I am 100 per cent sure he’ll see a specialist. He will probably see three specialists and two of them need to give him the all-clear before he can play again. ‘It’s very different to what happened to me. Bafetimbi Gomis has a history of medical issues. I did not have a history, so it was a real surprise when it happened to me.’ Fabrice Muamba says he feared the worst when he heard that Gomis had collapsed at White Hart Lane . It is three years since Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Bolton against Spurs . On 17 March 2012, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane during an FA Cup quarter-final match between Bolton and Tottenham. The former Trotters midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest and received life-saving medical treatment from Spurs staff and consultant cardiologist Dr Andrew Deaner, who was at the game as a fan, from the pitch. Muamba was rushed to the nearby London Chest Hospital, accompanied by then manager Owen Coyle and striker Kevin Phillips, for emergency treatment while the game was abandoned. Medical staff rush to Fabrice Muamba's aid after the midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest in 2012 . Muamba's heart was reported to have stopped for 78minutes while the former Birmingham player received numerous defibrillator shocks on the pitch and in the ambulance. Despite fears that he would not survive, the 26-year-old made a miraculous recovery before being discharged from hospital on April 16 - although he was forced to retire from professional football. +Salford owner Marwan Koukash has hailed the impact made on the Super League club by Australia coach Tim Sheens. The 64-year-old Sheens has spent the last fortnight acting in an advisory capacity with the Red Devils as Koukash looks to turn the struggling outfit into a team of champions. Iestyn Harris' men have taken three points out of a possible four since the arrival of Sheens but Koukash believes his legacy will be there long after his return to Australia after next Friday's game at Castleford. Salford owner Marwan Koukash has hailed the impact made on by Australia coach Tim Sheens (pictured) 'We have all benefited from Tim being here,' Koukash told Press Association Sport. 'Everybody, from chief executive Martin Vickers to assistant coach Ian Watson, we have all gained from his experience. 'I have picked up a huge amount of ideas about what we are missing and what we can do to take the club forward. 'We've talked about the type of players we should be signing, especially when the marquee player allowance comes in. 'He is very passionate about the game and his knowledge is absolutely incredible. He has a vision for the sport for the next 10 years.' Sheens, who has agreed a new 12-month contract with the Australia Rugby League to continue as national coach for a seventh season, will be in the stands on Sunday when Salford take on Wakefield. +Tim Sherwood says Aston Villa are ready for the home straight and wants to avoid a photo finish in the relegation battle. The boss takes his Barclays Premier League thoroughbreds to Sunderland on Saturday for a crunch clash. The Black Cats are a point and a place ahead of fourth-bottom Villa, who themselves are just three points above the drop zone. Tim Sherwood hopes the Premier League relegation battle does not end up being a photo-finish . And with the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, Sherwood is hoping Villa, who have never been relegated from the Premier League, can avoid being unseated. He said: 'I think it'll be a photo finish and I hope we're not in it. 'We're probably just coming around the corner but it's probably the longest run-in in racing history. 'All we're looking at is the next fence and that's Sunderland. After that we hope we can stay in the running. There might be a few who fall along the way and we're hoping that's not us.' Villa have won their last two under Sherwood, beating West Brom twice in the league and the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals. They were the new manager's first wins since replacing Paul Lambert in February and Sherwood has been impressed with the squad's attitude. 'They've been good and a win makes an awful lot of difference. They have been focused and up for the fight,' he said. 'They haven't dwelt on the position. It's about looking forward now, what we have done previously counts for nothing.' Sherwood, before becoming head coach, was at Tottenham as assistant first-team coach under Harry Redknapp and worked with Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe at White Hart Lane. The 32-year-old returned to England in January after a year with Toronto in Major League Soccer and Sherwood believes Defoe is the Black Cats' chief threat. He said: 'If they are going to survive it's going to be Jermain Defoe who keeps them in the Premier League, that's why they forked out that sort of money for him. 'He didn't have to go, he went for a lifestyle change to Canada but he still has that appetite to come back and play for Sunderland, in a relegation battle. 'Jermain can score goals on his own but he prefers people to slide the ball across the six-yard box for him to be in the right place at the right time, that's what he's done all of his career.' +The Football Association is urging supporters to report sexist abuse at games after footage emerged of fans directing obscenities at Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro. Recordings of fans at Manchester United and Manchester City chanting and shouting abuse at Carneiro were broadcast by the BBC on Thursday night, prompting the Blues to call for an end to sexism in football. A spokesman for the Premier League leaders told the Guardian: 'The issue of equality is one we take extremely seriously and we abhor discrimination in all its forms, including sexism. Such behaviour is unacceptable and we want it eradicated from the game.' Recordings of fans at Manchester United and Manchester City were shown on BBC on Thursday night . Abuse was directed at Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro by opposition fans on seperate occasions . Chelsea have called for an end to sexism in football after fans directed abuse at their club doctor . FA board member Heather Rabbatts described the abuse as 'horrible' and urged supporters to notify officials if they witness such behaviour, telling the BBC: 'We are absolutely encouraging people to report incidents like this.' Campaign group Women in Football is launching an anti-sexism social media drive on Friday and has also contacted all 92 Premier League and Football League clubs asking them to champion female members of staff in their matchday programmes ahead of International Women's Day on March 8. Minister for Sport Helen Grant is supporting the initiative. She said: 'It is absolutely right that we champion and celebrate women who work in the football industry and play vital roles in making the game the success that it is. 'I want more women to get involved in football across the board and to see it as a great industry to work in. Sexism, in any shape or form, should not be tolerated so I applaud this push to encourage people to report any incidents of sexist abuse and for the promotion of inclusivity across football.' The incidents come after a study by anti-discrimination group Kick It Out revealed that 13 reports of sexism in English professional and grassroots football were made in the first half of the current season (August-December 2014). Kick It Out went on to reveal that two sexism complaints were made during the 2013-14 season. Demba Ba is treated for a broken nose by doctor Carneiro after being kicked in the face against Newcastle . Chelsea's Kurt Zouma is tended to by Carneiro as he is stretchered off after a collision in the penalty area . Petr Cech of Chelsea goes off injured with medic Carneiro during the semi-final with Atletico Madrid . +The Football Association said it was willing to investigate after a victory for England Women over Australia was followed by allegations that a group of spectators from the British Army shouted sexist abuse during the game. An Army contingent based in Cyprus attended England's 3-0 win at the low-profile Cyprus Cup tournament in Nicosia on Friday. Two female England supporters who were at the game said the troops targeted Australian defender Servet Uzunlar throughout the match, as well as the Australian team's substitutes as they took off their tracksuits before entering the field. Australian defender Servet Uzunlar was allegedly  the target of sexist abuse throughout the match in Cyprus . Rachel O'Sullivan and Sophie Downey, who cover women's football for www.girlsontheball.com, said the majority of the alleged abuse was made towards the Australian players and substitutes, whose bench was on the side of the pitch where the soldiers were sitting. Downey said: 'We've been to lots of games before and we can engage in banter, but this wasn't banter - it was constant, gender-specific abuse. 'There were around 50 troops watching the game and a group of around 10 of them were directing constant insults - they were on the side of the Australian dugout so it was more focused on their players. The FA will invesigate allegations that a group from the British Army shouted sexist abuse during the game . 'We weren't sure whether to tweet about it because it's the Army and we didn't want to offend people - I'm a very proud English person and I'm very proud of what the Army do - but I was ashamed of them today.' O'Sullivan added: 'One Australian player, number six (Uzunlar), they were harassing her over and over and over again, throughout the game. 'They were making horrible comments, shouting at her, whistling - it was uncomfortable to hear. These are teenage girls and they were sexually objectifying them.' Spectators at the game said the abuse directed at the players was sexually objectifying and horrible . The commander in charge of the troops said he was unaware of the abuse and apologised . An MoD spokeswoman said: 'Behaviour of the kind described is totally unacceptable and is not tolerated in the Armed Forces where abuse, bullying and discrimination have no place. 'We are investigating these claims and if it is found that any UK personnel have fallen below the high standards we expect then appropriate action will be taken.' Downey and O'Sullivan said they complained to the commander in charge of the contingent at the end of the match and he apologised, saying he had not heard the abuse. The England players said that none of them had heard any of the abuse and would not make a complaint . An FA spokesperson said: 'We've spoken to the (England) players, manager and assistant manager after the game and none of them have said they heard anything during the game worthy of reporting or complaining about. 'They appreciated the British Army's support and were happy to have photographs taken with the Army boys at the end of the game.' The FA spokesperson added: 'The FA will investigate all allegations of discriminatory abuse. If anyone did experience any form of discriminatory behaviour we would urge people to report it by calling 0800 085 0508, emailing reportdiscrimination@thefa.com or downloading the Kick It Out app from the App store of Google Play.' Demba Ba is treated for a broken nose by Carneiro after being kicked in the face against Newcastle . An Australian supporter at the match, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'This was a stunning one-off that I've never heard before in women's football. 'They were calling the girls t****, telling the referee 'I'd like to blow you'. 'I said something to the Army sergeant, 'This isn't a complaint as an Australian supporter, it's a complaint as a woman'. It was beyond the pale. Blues first team doctor sits on the bench during the Chelsea's match against Aston Villa in March 2012 . 'He was apologetic after the game and offered to apologise to the players. 'He said they're just a bunch of young boys, but I have 17 and 18-year-old brothers, I know what they're like but they wouldn't say that to strangers.' The controversy comes after recordings of fans at Manchester United and Manchester City abusing Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro were broadcast by the BBC on Thursday night, prompting the London club to call for an end to sexism in football. Carneiro tends to Diego Costa during Chelsea's Premier League match against Liverpool in November 2014 . +The Internet Watch Foundation sounded the alarm that younger and younger children are now posting photographs and videos online from their bedrooms and bathrooms (file picture) Teachers are to be issued new guidance this week to help children cope with the ‘unimaginable’ pressures of the modern digital age, including cyberbullying, sexting and ‘revenge porn’. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said last night that Personal, Social and Health (PSHE) lessons needed to be improved – and placed at the heart of the curriculum – to give young people the tools to cope with these growing demands. Children will also be taught about consensual sex to help vulnerable girls ‘spot, report and tackle abuse’. Mrs Morgan, addressing the Conservative think-tank, Bright Blue, said the new guidance will be published later this week, in conjunction with the PSHE Association. She added: ‘Let’s be clear, the internet and advance of the digital age are things to celebrate and to embrace. ‘But let us not deny they bring new pressures that require new responses. ‘The pressures young people face today were unimaginable to my generation.’ Mrs Morgan highlighted research that showed two in three 11 to 16-year-olds reported having friends who had been bullied online. She said the bullying can take many forms but there were increasing incidents of abuse, sexting and so-called ‘revenge porn’. She added: ‘The evidence base is still small but in a survey conducted last year, just eight police forces reported 150 allegations relating to revenge porn over a two-year period.’ Explaining the focus on teaching about sexual consent, Mrs Morgan said: ‘In this modern world where many young women, and for that matter many young men, are exposed to so many pressures day in and day out, surely we have a duty to make sure they know they can say no and know how to do it. ‘It does mean telling young people the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy relationship, about when something crosses the line, what they can do about it.’ Some 82.5 per cent of the images and videos examined featured children and young people aged 16-20 years old, while 17.5 per cent featured those aged 15 and under . ‘If the revelations of recent weeks have shown us anything it’s that the stakes are too high to let our young people leave school without this knowledge. ‘I don’t pretend for one minute that lessons on consent would have been enough to stop the horrific abuse in Rotherham or Oxford. But I will not rest until I know that we have done everything we can to arm young women and particularly the most vulnerable young women with the information they need to spot, report and tackle abuse.’ Mrs Morgan said she was concerned that children were growing up in a world that places ‘huge value on style and arguably not always as much value on substance’. She added: ‘The democratisation of communications opens the world up but brought its own pressures too. In research conducted at the start of this year, a third of 11 to 16-year-olds said they felt the pressure to update their social media profiles with pictures or postings that make them look good.’ It has already been revealed that schools are to teach pupils as young as 11 about rape and consensual sex. Claire Lilley, head of child online safety at the NSPCC, said: 'The truly worrying problem is the number of very young children who are being coerced into providing material which is almost certainly finishing-up in the hands of sex offenders. 'Many of them are primary school age and are being forced to commit acts which are at the most serious end of sexual abuse. It's apparent some are being 'directed' to do things they find extremely distressing by strangers sitting at the other end of a webcam who will then no doubt pass on the material. 'This is a horrifying situation for the young victims who will be scared and bewildered by what is happening. To protect them there must be more investment in crime enforcement agencies so they have the manpower and latest technology to prevent this hideous abuse. 'Some older children may be willingly taking part in making sexually explicit videos because it might seem edgy or exciting. But they should be aware they are also likely to have no control over the final destination of such images. They could be shared countless times and remain in existence for many years to come, with consequences they will live to deeply regret.' Jacqueline Beauchere, chief online safety officer at Microsoft, which sponsored the study, said: 'The data are disturbing and suggest increased attention needs to be brought to this issue. 'For its part, Microsoft will seek to create and deploy appropriate technology, raise awareness and help to educate the public, and continue to partner with organisations like the IWF to ensure strategies and proposed solutions are research-based.' Any young person concerned about their naked images and videos online can contact ChildLine on 0800 1111. +Graphic cell phone footage has emerged of brutal attack on a school girl that took place in Brooklyn after class on Monday afternoon. The three minute clip shows an unfair fight that begins with a small girl in a light blue hoodie being set upon by at least four other students. As the girl is mercilessly pummelled by the gang her blonde hair extensions are ripped from her head as she is repeatedly punched and kicked. Graphic cell phone footage has emerged of brutal attack on a school girl that took place in Brooklyn after class on Monday afternoon . The vicious fight is cheered on by dozens of other youths who jockey for a good view of the senseless violence. The video, posted on Facebook, captures the afternoon brawl at a McDonald’s near Erasmus Hall High School on Flatbush Avenue. Despite being outnumbered, the small girl gives as good as she gets and at one point she pulls a black hoodie off one of her attackers to reveal a bra. Towards the end of the video - which has been shared more than 19,000 times and viewed more than 740,000 - the smaller girl is left cowering under a table. Finally an adult appears and attempts to break up the fight, but the taller attacker now stripped down to her bra kicks and stomps on her victim's head, calling her a 'bitch,' before storming off. Bystanders can be heard saying, 'She’s dead,' and, 'You murdered her.' One of the main protagonists in the fight is left stripped to her bra, while the girl being picked on is so weak at the end that she collapses on a bench . A few students then intervene, pick the small girl up and sit her on a nearby bench. Immediately she collapses and so the students help her to lie down. NYPD have reviewed the video, but there is very little they can do because it doesn’t appear that anyone has filed a complaint, reports the New York Daily News. Brooklyn community activist Tony Herbert hopes the victim comes forward and is demanding her assailants be arrested. 'The message has to be sent very clearly, that this kind of violence will not be tolerated whether in a mall or in restaurants and those involved should turn themselves in to authorities immediately so as to face the consequences of their violent actions,' he said. Anyone with information about the fight is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1-800-577-TIPS. Finally an adult appears and attempts to break up the fight, but the taller attacker now stripped down to her bra kicks and stomps on her victim's head, calling her a 'bitch,' before storming off . +A temporary order by a Superior Court judge is keeping a man from smoking inside his home in the District of Columbia - even though it's completely legal. WJLA-TV reports that Edwin Gray's next door neighbors in northeast Washington have filed a civil suit claiming they're being harmed by smoke that sneaks into their home through a hole in the basement. The family moved into the home next to Gray last year and have one child, and another on the way. No smoking zone: Edwin Gray has been ordered not to smoke inside his home, which his family has owned for the past 50 years . Complaints: The temporary injunction was ordered by a Superior Court judge after one of Gray's neighbors in northeast Washington, DC filed a lawsuit saying smoke was leaking into their home . A judge issued a temporary injunction last week saying neither Gray nor any family or guests may smoke in the home the family has owned for 50 years. The family has vowed to fight the order. In court filings and a statement, the neighbors say they tried to work with Gray and his sister Mozella Johnson, but that the mediation attempts failed and they decided to file the suit. 'You want me to stop what I've been doing in my house, all my life,' Gray remarked. In addition to seeking an injunction on smoking at the house, the neighbors are also asking for $500,000 in damages. The lawsuit does set a precedent for other complaints in the DC area. A columnist for the Washington Post said the Gray lawsuit could lead to hundreds of others, from neighbors hoping to control the activities of other residents. 'We were floored,' Gray's sister, Johnson, said. 'If this judge has done this, who will be next? What other neighbor will be next?' +It was a night to forget for Manchester United as Arsenal advanced to the FA Cup semi-final and out-of-sorts winger Angel di Maria was sent off for pulling at referee Michael Oliver's shirt. Despite Wayne Rooney levelling with his head after Nacho Monreal's opener, the night belonged to former United striker Danny Welbeck, who sealed the Gunners' victory with a beautifully composed finish. Here, Sportsmail's Neil Ashton rates every player's performance at Old Trafford. Arsenal's Danny Welbeck emphatically celebrates his goal, which went on to be the winner against his old club . MANCHESTER UNITED (4-1-4-1) David De Gea: No chance with Monreal finish. Exposed brutally by Valencia when Welbeck raced through to score. Pulled off a couple of world class saves towards the end. 7.5 . Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea had a solid game but was exposed for Arsenal's second goal . Antonio Valencia: Powered forward with lung-busting run for United equaliser. Dreadful, dreadful back pass for Arsenal’s second. 6.5 . Chris Smalling: Solid without every really imposing himself. Has taken it upon himself to marshall back four. 6.5 . Marcos Rojo: Rock solid. Is he turning into United’s best defender? Granted, not a great deal of competition, but he is playing well. 7 . Despite the loss Marcos Rojo was one of United's top performers with some solid defending . Luke Shaw: At the mercy of van Gaal’s half-time tactical switch. Was neither good nor bad. Seemed a bit unfortunate to be hooked. 6.5 . Daley Blind: Hard to work out exactly what Van Gaal is asking him to do in there. Just seems to spend the entire game chasing after the ball. 6 . Angel di Maria: Has clearly gone mentally - should not be playing. Booked for foul, stupid to tug referee’s shirt. Went to sleep when Monreal made his run down the left in build up to Arsenal goal. Sweet cross for Rooney equaliser. 4 . United winger Angel di Maria tugs at Michael Oliver's shirt before seeing red at Old Trafford on Monday night . Di Maria trudges off the pitch after being sent off for his stupid reaction . Ander Herrera: Finally booked in 38th minute - amazing Michael Oliver took so long. Speed of game took him by surprise. Replaced by Carrick. 6 . Marouane Fellaini: One of the most prominent players in the team. Lovely 20 yard chip forward for Rooney’s one touch takedown before half time. Had chance to score too. 7.5 . Marouane Fellaini (right) tussles for the ball with Arsenal's dogged midfielder Francis Coquelin (left) Ashley Young: Hugged the touchline, but United should have got him on the ball more. Has legs to stretch defences. 6.5 . Wayne Rooney: Love affair with scoring in the FA Cup continues. Now has to find a way to win it. Breathtaking take down just before half time from Fellaini chip. 7 . Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney heads home the equaliser against Arsenal at Old Trafford . SUBSTITUTES: . Phil Jones (Shaw 46): Didn’t know whether to stay or go when Ozil or Welbeck dropped off. 6 . Michael Carrick (Herrera 46): Usual nice touches in midfield. 6.5 . Adnan Januzaj (Rojo 73): Brought on to give United life. By then they were dead. 6 . SUBSTITUTES NOT USED: Rafael, Mata, Falcao, Januzaj, Valdes. BOOKED: Herrera, Fellaini, Young. SENT OFF: Angel di Maria . MANAGER: Louis van Gaal: Tactical genius? Bladdered two players unnecessarily at half-time. Looks like yesterday’s man. Heading same way as Moyes at this rate. 3 . Di Maria makes the long walk towards the Old Trafford tunnel after being sent off . ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): . Wojciech Szczesny: Very little to do apart from Rooney’s goal, which he had no chance of doing anything to stop. 7 . Hector Bellerin: Early booking, cleaned out Young. Disciplinary tight-rope after that trying to stop the United winger 7 . Per Mertesacker: Left Koscielny exposed when Rooney scored, just seemed to switch off. Improved as game progressed. 7 . Per Mertesacker (right) and Laurent Koscielny allowed Rooney the space to head home United's equaliser . Laurent Koscielny: Lost Rooney for the United equaliser, allowed him to squeeze in to space behind him. 7.5 . Nacho Monreal: Showed ambition down the left when he kept on running after exchanging passes with Ozil in build up to goal. 7 . Nacho Monreal slips the ball past the oncoming Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea (right) Francis Coquelin: Screening job in front of Arsenal’s back four, rarely left his post. Turning into Mr Reliable. 7.5 . Francis Coquelin showed he is an indispensable player for Arsene Wenger after a solid midfield performance . Santi Cazorla: Switched roles when Ramsey came on, playing in a more advanced position. 7 . Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin: Lovely, jinking run for the opening goal. Arsenal’s best player until he pinged left hamstring. 7.5 . Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is floored after seemingly pulling his hamstring in the second half . Mesut Ozil: Clever pass into the feet of Oxlade-Chamberlain in move for Arsenal goal. Lovely lob wedge into Welbeck for penalty appeal. 7.5 . Alexis Sanchez: Such a willing worker, tireless up and down the flank. Flashes of his ability, but lacked his usual goal threat. 7 . Danny Welbeck: Kept his composure to put Arsenal back in front when her took the ball round De Gea with class and conviction. Good on him for that. 8 . Welbeck rounded De Gea with the deftest of touches before slotting home coolly against his former side . SUBSTITUTES: . Aaron Ramsey (Oxlade-Chamberlain 50): Unexpectedly thrust in at start of second half. 7 . Calum Chambers (Bellerin 65): Composed, looked the part when he came on. Added attacking threat too. 7 . Olivier Giroud (Welbeck 73): Came on for Welbeck to add physical presence to see this game out. 7 . SUBSTITUTES NOT USED: Gibbs, Walcott, Martinez, Akpom. BOOKED: Bellerin. MANAGER - Arsene Wenger: Inspired decision to play Danny Welbeck against his former club. Arsenal’s name is on the Cup. 8 . REFEREE - Michael Oliver: Strong, one of best performances of season in this field. Character to send off Di Maria and it was the correct call. 8.5 . Arsene Wenger (centre) raised a few eyebrows for starting Welbeck, but his decision certainly paid off . +A Michigan soccer player who killed a referee with a single punch to the face was sentenced to eight to fifteen years in prison today. Bassel Saad, 36, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter last month after admitting he struck John Bieniewicz during a game at a Livonia park. The 44-year-old referee was about to call a penalty that would have booted Saad, who already had a yellow card, from the match last summer when he was dealt the blow that would eventually kill him two days later. Scroll down for video . Bassel Saad, 36, was sentenced to eight to 15 years in prison after he admitted to punching referee John Bieniewicz (right) in the face during a soccer game last summer. The father-of-two died from his injuries . Bieniewicz's widow Kris pulled out a red card, as Saad's back was turned, on the stand and said 'the one final thing that I want to do is I would like to serve Mr Saad with the red card that he was entitled to' Bieniewicz's widow Kris pulled out a red card as she spoke on the stand to symbolize her husband's last action before his untimely death, and said she will always see the act as murder. ‘Before I go the one final thing that I want to do is I would like to serve Mr Saad with the red card that he was entitled to,' she said in her closing remarks. Bieniewicz previously told reporters that she hoped Saad 'never sees the light of day', and that she believed her husband's life was 'worth more than eight years'. Saad faced second-degree murder charges before he took a plea deal. He will be eligible for parole after eight years and his maximum punishment is 15 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $9,200 for restitution and the father-of-two's funeral expenses, according to the Detroit News. Bieniewicz's mother and three sisters were also present in court. Saad told them and Mrs Bieniewicz through tears that he was sorry from 'the bottom of my heart'. Bieniewicz previously told reporters that she hoped Saad 'never sees the light of day', and that she believed the life of her husband, pictured here with his two sons, was 'worth more than eight years' Bieniewicz is pictured being administered CPR on the turf after being knocked out cold by Saad . Mrs Bieniewicz said her only consolation was knowing that her husband died doing something he loved. Wayne County Judge Thomas Cameron told Saad during sentencing that his 'childish and senseless act' had destroyed both the Bieniewicz family's life - as well as his own. Saad, an auto mechanic and a native of Lebanon, has lived in the US legally for 15 years but is not a citizen. The father-of-three could face deportation after he serves his time. A number of players testified in court last year that Saad had been issued a yellow card, or an official warning, following a foul in the first half of the June 29 game. Bieniewicz was about to issue him a second yellow card for being verbally abusive. That's when the referee was struck, the players said. Saad's punch landed in the head and neck area, causing Bieniewicz to fall and stop breathing. Saad sobs during a probable-cause hearing in July in Livonia, Michigan. Wayne County Judge Thomas Cameron told Saad that his 'childish and senseless act' had destroyed both families . Witness Scott Herkes, left, demonstrates with defense attorney Ali Hammoud how he said Saad punched Bieniewicz, during a court hearing in the summer . Dr. Jamal Saleh said he rushed toward Bieniewicz, who was on his back grasping a yellow card in one hand and a red card in the other. In soccer, a yellow card is held aloft by the referee to caution a player following a foul or other misconduct. A red card is shown by the referee when a player is being thrown out of the game. Two yellow cards given in the same game equal a red card. A skirmish erupted between players following the attack. Saleh said he quickly checked on Bieniewicz and the referee initially was not breathing but had a pulse. Saleh said he performed CPR and told the unconscious Bieniewicz: 'Wake up, buddy. You're going to be OK.' Mrs Bieniewicz said her only consolation was knowing her husband died doing something he loved . Player Scott Herkes testified that Saad removed his jersey and left the field with another man as Bieniewicz was being tended to. Herkes said he followed the men into the parking lot and took down the license plate number of the vehicle in which they left. In 2005, Saad was involved in another assault on a soccer field. Court documents obtained by Detroit Free Press indicate that he repeatedly struck another player in the head. Saad pleaded not contest in that case and was sentenced to five days of community service and 12 months of probation. Mrs Bieniewicz recently testified at Michigan's Capitol in support of proposed legislation that would make it a felony to assault a sports official in the state. Referees ‘are out there on an island with no one to defend them,' she said. 'Something more than a misdemeanor should be in place.' Mrs Bieniewicz, a basketball coach, said she has tried to establish some normalcy for her two sons in the eight months since their father was killed . +Vince Wilfork's 11-year spell as a New England Patriot looks to be over after the franchise informed the defensive tackle they will not be picking up the option on his contract. Due a $4million roster bonus on Tuesday, the move was widely expected, but nevertheless drew an emotional statement on the popular defensive tackle's Twitter feed. 'I'm in a good place, he wrote. 'I have a great relationship with the Patriots organization. Please know how blessed my family and I have been to be able to play 11 years in New England for an amazing organization,' said Wilfork, who bookended his time at Foxborough with two Super Bowl wins. Vince Wilfork penned an emotional farewell to those associated with the New England Patriots . Wilfork celebrates Malcolm Butler's critical interception in the dying stages of February's Super Bowl . 'I will take my time, think things through, take into consideration many things, but mainly family and see where life goes from there,' 'But regardless remember I will always remain a New Englander a Patriot forever,' he added. After signing a three-year, $22.5m deal last year, Wilfork played 766 snaps last season, and he hinted that he will continue playing as there is 'lots of gas still left in the tank'. The move gives the Patriots $8.06m in cap space, but the parties could yet reach a new, reduced, agreement for Wilfork to remain in New England. +Four years after undergoing brain surgery, American JB Holmes has a golden opportunity to put the seal on his heartening recovery by claiming the biggest title of his career on Sunday. The huge-hitting Kentucky native served notice he was bang in form when he opened up the WGC-Cadillac Championship here with a startling round of 62 – described by Johnny Miller on American television on Saturday as one of the great rounds of the last 20 years. It seemed to catch up with Holmes when he put four balls into the water on Friday and started with an ugly three putt from just 5ft at the first hole of his third round. JB Holmes acknowledges the crowd after making a hole-in-one during Saturday's round . Holmes, who leads the WGC-Cadillac Championship by five shots, had brain surgery four years ago . For the first time since Thursday he did not own the lead outright and, with players of the calibre of Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Masters champion Bubba Watson lurking, there were fears he would fall back still further. But the 32 year old showed commendable resolve to put that opening hole mistake behind him and play wonderfully patient golf thereafter to finish up with a 70 on Saturday and establish a commanding five shot advantage. With Johnson and Watson his nearest pursuers, Holmes won’t be spending the mammoth £1.25 million first prize just yet. But the manner in which he finished off his round, with four birdies in a row from the 14th hole, augurs well for his chances. Lee Westwood is best placed of the Brits in 8th place but a long way off the pace, at eight shots behind. Rory McIlroy is no fewer than 11 strokes adrift and admitted he had little to play for but a top five finish in the final round. The big-hitting Holmes looks delighted after becoming the second man to ace the 14th in 30 minutes . After a difficult start on Saturday Holmes remained patient to hold onto his lead going into the final round . ‘I felt like I hit it a little better but my iron play is still not as sharp as I would like it to be,’ said the world No 1. An unusually wet and windy third round made it tough for the players, with only Johnson (69) managing to break 70 among the last 12 groups. Yet there were a remarkable number of perfect shots played. Take the par three fourth, a hole so long and difficult there hadn’t been a hole in one there for 26 years. Yet on this day, almost unbelievably, there were two in the space of 30 minutes, as first Johnson holed his tee shot, to be followed by the leader himself shortly afterwards. He might have had an ace but Holmes would get to the 14th without a birdie on his card. At that point, however, he broadened his shoulders and put together his brilliant finish that has left the tournament as one for him to win or lose on Sunday. Dustin Johnson, who is Holmes' closest threat, eyes up a put during Saturday's round . Johnson also aced the 14th, but is five shots behind Holmes, alongsided Masters' champion Bubba Watson . After shooting an 80 in the USPGA Championship in 2011 Holmes withdrew and, suffering from vertigo symptoms, went to see a neurologist. He was eventually diagnosed with structural defects in his cerebellum and underwent two gruelling bouts of surgery. Last May, Holmes confirmed his full recovery with an emotional victory in the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina. Now he has the chance to register an even more prestigious victory. The huge advantage this Blue Monster course offers the big hitters was made plain by the identities of the top three. In fact, they might be the three biggest hitters in the modern game. Lee Westwood is the best-placed Brit, but his eight shots back and tied for eighth place after three rounds . Johnson and Watson are showing just why they will be heavily favoured at the Masters next month, when the latter will be trying to win a third green jacket in four years. If he shows the same gossamer touch as he has here, he must have a great chance. He is the only player in the field to break par in every round. Westwood is playing in his 50th WGC event but it is a long shot that it will end in his first victory. Still, he is showing good form as well heading to Augusta. Sergio Garcia stands alongside Westwood, with Irishman Shane Lowry a further shot off the lead. But Welshman Jamie Donaldson, runner-up here last year, fell away following a disappointing round of 76. +If history and a tilt at the career grand slam at the Masters seems a world away for Rory McIlroy amidst the water torture of Doral, then this is the week when it will all come into blessed focus. Forget the frustrated figure he cut on Friday when he created a YouTube highlight with his highland toss of his three iron into one of the many hazards that give the Blue Monster its name. This week it will all feel like stale news when he makes the ultimate golfing road trip. How does a couple of days behind closed doors at Augusta sound, with your dad for company, a couple of mates, a club member who knows all the course secrets and an athlete who is even more celebrated in America than the world No1? Rory McIlroy plays a shot on the sixth at the the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Saturday . McIlroy plans to link up with four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady at Augusta . All that awaits the 25-year-old as he combines a bit of rest and recreation with a touch of sharp prep work with the first major of the season now just a month away. ‘To be honest, Augusta National is probably even nicer without the crowds than it is during the Masters, so it’s going to be a great experience,’ he said. The much-decorated athlete? None other than Tom Brady, quarterback with the New England Patriots and a four-time Super Bowl champion. He has played Augusta once before and shot a 77, so he is clearly no mean competitor. For a massive fan of virtually every sport like McIlroy, the appeal of linking up with Brady is obvious. As for the club member, Jeff Knox accompanied McIlroy when he was first man out in the third round of the Masters last year. Acting as marker, the 52 year old actually outscored him shooting 70 to McIlroy’s 71, with the latter describing Knox’s performance on the greens as ‘the best I have ever seen at Augusta’. World No 1 McIlroy threw a club into the water in frustration after more erratic play on Friday . It is not rocket science, therefore, as to why McIlroy would seek him out in a more friendly setting in an attempt to pick his brain. At the season’s first major, McIlroy will be attempting to complete not only the career grand slam but a third major victory in a row, following his successes in The Open and the USPGA last year. As for Doral and the WGC-Cadillac Championship, McIlroy began his third round yesterday eight shots adrift of the leader JB Holmes. He actually made up three strokes on Holmes on Friday despite his three iron following his golf ball into the water at the par-five eighth. McIlroy played a lot better once he had let off steam, with the result that there were only nine players ahead of him at the halfway stage. Among them were some powerful hitters, including Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson. Welshman Jamie Donaldson was ninth. Australian Adam Scott turned in a remarkable opening two rounds to be just three off the lead. The Australian was not only playing his first tournament for three months, he was using a standard-length putter for the first time in four years. +When Adam Scott waved a short putter to magical effect during the first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral on Thursday, he effectively consigned to history one of the most contentious subjects the game has known. Nine months ahead of the official death knell for long putters, the great and good have seemingly imposed their own sanction. The banishment was started by Ernie Els and Webb Simpson, who snapped his over his knee to ensure he would not be tempted any more. Then came Keegan Bradley, leaving Scott as the last man standing in terms of players who won majors using a long putter. Australian Adam Scott putts for birdie on the eighth green during the WGC-Cadillac Championship . Scott watches his tee shot on the 14th hole in the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship . It was this group who forced the hands of the governing bodies when they claimed all four majors between them in the space of just 18 months, from Bradley's PGA Championship triumph in 2011 through to Scott's Masters victory in 2013. The authorities were persuaded by the powerful evidence that less nerve was needed in anchoring a long putter to the body and the plain inequity that such a crutch could prove decisive at a major. Hence the ban on anchoring which, by extension, meant the end for long putters. Scott was the most high-profile since his long putter was the ugliest contraption of all. As long as he kept turning up with it in his bag, the subject rumbled on. It was during a three-month break that the genial Australian decided it was time to change. His caddie Steve Williams had announced his retirement while Scott's wife had given birth to their first child, Bo. 'Everything was getting a little boring so I thought why not change everything completely and ditch the putter as well,' said Scott (right), wryly. At home he experimented with a range of 50 different putters. He tried various grips and methods. By the time he arrived in Miami, Scott was confident enough to announce he was going back to the short putter he last wielded in competition in 2011. Scott plays his second shot on the 10th hole in the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship . The Australian chips the ball out of the bunker and onto the 11th green at the WGC-Cadillac Championship . The 34-year-old admitted to some first-hole nerves and genuine concern as to how it would hold up over long putts. As things turned out, it went better than he could have imagined. Using the 'claw' grip favoured by Sergio Garcia, the putting stroke looked pure and he had just 27 putts in an opening round of 70. 'I'm really pleased,' Scott said afterwards. 'I've tried not to clutter my mind and I've shown myself it is not that big a deal. It helps that I used a short putter for years, so the adjustment was really to do with muscle memory.' One or two middle-ranking players such as the Swede Carl Pettersson and South African Tim Clark still use long putters. But even here they will surely take encouragement from the example of those at the top. As for Scott, did he ever feel like following Simpson's example and snapping his putter in two? 'It treated me pretty well, so I don't think it deserves a snapping,' he said, smiling. Scott's two-under-par round left him in the top 10 but still eight strokes behind runaway leader JB Holmes, who carded a 62. 'That's the most unbelievable round I have ever seen,' said Ian Poulter, who opened with a 74 — one worse than world No 1 Rory McIlroy. For Holmes, it was another heartening milestone in his remarkable recovery from brain surgery three years ago. The 34-year-old Scott watches his tee shot on the 12th hole at the WGC-Cadillac Championship . +Britain's James Ward overcame Mitchell Krueger in three sets to reach the second round of qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday evening. Having arrived in the United States on Monday following his Davis Cup heroics in Glasgow at the weekend, Ward lost the first set to his American opponent but hit back to triumph 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0). Ward will seal his place in the main draw if he beats wild card Mischa Zverev, of Germany, on Wednesday. James Ward has his eye on the ball as he takes on Mitchell Krueger in Indian Wells qualifying on Tuesday . Ward celebrates after beating John Isner during the Davis Cup clash in Glasgow on Friday evening . Andy Murray discovered his potential opponents when the draw was made on Tuesday afternoon. The world No 4, who has a first-round bye, is in the same half as Novak Djokovic and will take on Mikhail Kukushkin or Vasek Pospisil in the second round. In women's qualifying, Britain's Johanna Konta was beaten 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 by Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova. Heather Watson opens her campaign in the main draw on Wednesday against Germany's Julia Goerges. Johanna Konta lost out in women's qualifying to Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova on Tuesday afternoon . +The 'phenomenal success' of the recent Davis Cup tie in Glasgow shows the huge appetite for tennis in Scotland and highlights the massive opportunity which exists to grow the sport, according to Judy Murray. The Great Britain Fed Cup captain said neither she nor her sons, Andy and Jamie, had ever experienced an atmosphere like the one at the Emirates Arena at the weekend, where Great Britain beat the US to line up a World Group quarter-final home tie against France. Coming after a huge year for sport in 2014 - in which Scotland hosted the Commonwealth Games and golf's Ryder Cup - Judy Murray believes there has never been a better time to capitalise on the 'buzz' about the sport she has worked to promote for 25 years. Judy Murray says success of the recent Davis Cup tie in Glasgow shows huge appetite for tennis in Scotland . Great Britain's team celebrate their 3-2 victory over the USA at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow . But she stressed that good public facilities and a workforce of people who can enthuse others and bring on talent are essential if tennis is to continue to grow north of border. 'There is talent everywhere in the country, but talent without opportunity doesn't come to anything,' she said. Murray was speaking as she prepared to address about 300 young people interested in exploring a career in sports development or coaching at the Dundee Academy of Sport, a project led by Abertay University. The talk included her reflections on her rise from being a volunteer coach in Dunblane to working at tennis's elite level with her sons and the GB women's team. Andy Murray celebrates during his win over John Isner that clinched the Brits a quarter-final place . She says it shows huge appetite for tennis in Scotland and highlights massive opportunity for sport to grow . Speaking ahead of the event, she said: 'I was a young mum when I started out volunteering at our local club and we had no track record of success in tennis in Scotland - in fact, we had very little tennis in Scotland and no indoor courts when I started out. 'Now there is a massive, massive opportunity to capitalise on the buzz about tennis that's been created by Andy and Jamie's success, and of course I really want to try to grow the game up here.' Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray sealed the Davis Cup quarter-final place for Great Britain at the weekend with a straight-sets win over American John Isner. 'The Davis Cup was a phenomenal success,' said Judy Murray. 'The atmosphere at the Emirates Arena was incredible, there was about 8,000 people there. I've never seen anything like it and Andy and Jamie said they'd never played in an atmosphere like that. Murray was quick to stress that Scotland was full of talent but it needed to be nurtured in the right way . James Ward acknowledges the crowd after being forced off injured during day three of the Davis Cup . 'You can see there's a huge appetite for it in Scotland, and for tennis it's the perfect time to capitalise.' She added: 'For them to play it in Scotland was very, very special. I think it was the first time Andy had played in Scotland since he won his Grand Slams. He found it very emotional. 'I think he gets fantastic support from Scotland, but he's rarely in the country to feel it because when he does something big or is in a big final, obviously he's not here. 'I think when he walked out and heard that roar, it was goosebumps for him.' Murray said it is a 'huge time for sport' following a major 2014 for Scotland. She said: 'I think last year with the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup - massive events in our country, run extremely successfully and extremely popular - and with what we saw last weekend at the Emirates, we have a lot of role models in Scotland and it is the perfect time to invest in sport and physical activity.' One of the Academy's aims is to develop the region's workforce by providing training and professional development to those working in the leisure industry. The importance of growing an accomplished sporting workforce and encouraging more women to think about careers in sport are also topics close to Murray's heart. Andy Murray watches on while his brother Jamie serves (left) and the GB team discuss tactics (right) She believes Andy Murray is a brilliant example of the talent Scotland has from a country with no track record . She said: 'Andy and Jamie were just two wee boys from a local club in Dunblane, in a country where there was no track record of tennis, who went on to both win Grand Slam titles. 'I think what that shows is that anything is possible if you have the talent, somebody creates the opportunity and then you work your socks off to get as far as you can. But we've got to believe and we've got to be ambitious. 'Nothing is impossible. Don't accept mediocre. Reach for the stars but keep your feet on the ground.' +Glasgow's chances of hosting Britain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against France appear to be on rise following initial talks with the LTA. Although Andy Murray immediately expressed a desire to play the July tie on a grass court, the fact that neither Wimbledon nor the Queen’s Club will be available is believed to be pushing decision makers towards a return to the Emirates Arena. Andy Murray celebrates extravagantly during his straight sets win over John Isner on Sunday . Great Britain supporters would relish supporting Murray and Co in Glasgow again in July . All three day's of Davis Cup action at the Emirates Arena were sold out in a matter of minutes . The only available outdoor grass arena with a big enough capacity is in Eastbourne - but neither the players nor captain Leon Smith are keen on playing at a venue renowned for a lack of atmosphere. The noise and passion of the Scottish crowd played a huge part in the weekend win over the USA, sparking a debate within the LTA over whether that X factor may outweigh any disadvantage that comes from not playing on grass. While Murray prefers it to the indoor hard court, he would be favourite to beat any of his French opponents on any surface – while British No 2 James Ward is actually better when he moves on to the artificial surface, potentially the decisive factor when the final call is made. GB captain Leon Smith doubts the chances of Glasgow being able to create a larger grass-court venue . Smith embraces with  Murray after the latter's straight sets win secured GB's quarter-final berth . Murray (middle) is looked on in envy by his fellow GB team-mates after securing a tie against France . Sportsmail understands that the city authorities are willing to leave the July 17-19 dates clear in the hope of getting the nod over the coming week or so. Unfortunately, because it takes about a week to set up the court, a Bette Midler concert would rule out taking the quarter-final to The Hydro, the city’s biggest indoor venue. But a return to the Emirates, which hosted over 21,000 fans over three days, is very much on the cards. Although no one from Glasgow Life would comment on their plans yesterday, a spokesman said: ‘The atmosphere at the weekend was electric and Glasgow proved, once again, why we are one of the world’s top sporting cities. Any decision on hosting future Davis Cup ties would be for the LTA.’ +Andy Murray and James Ward headed off to California on Monday, knowing that they may well have sacrificed the first Masters level event of the year in the British cause. After sealing GB's win over America in the Davis Cup, they have a ridiculously quick turnaround before the ATP tournament starts later this week in the desert setting of Indian Wells. Ward is expected to play in the qualifying event on Tuesday, while at least Murray gets a few days' grace before the main draw begins. Andy Murray described leading Great Britain to Davis Cup victory over the United States as 'very emotional' British No 1 Murray was pumped up by his home Glasgow crowd as GB secured a 3-1 win over the USA . Murray celebrates during his straight sets win over John Isner that clinched the Brits a quarter-final place . Individual compared to team environment, altitude compared to sea level, the desert dry heat compared to Glasgow's cold, the seven hour time difference – it could hardly be more contrasting. Murray, now back up to No 4 in the world, said: 'It's going from playing on an indoor court with heavy tennis balls to playing in the desert with very fast balls in very quick conditions in terms of how the ball moves through the air there.' The British No 1 said it is far more realistic for him to do well in the Miami Open that follows later this month. 'That would be a target for me to have a very good run,' he admitted. The dates and structure of the Davis Cup continue to be a problem and those like Murray and Ward, who have chosen to play for their country, will be at a considerable disadvantage over the next 10 days. As Murray reflected, this is one reason why the likes of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka sat out the first round of a competition which, as the weekend demonstrated, is a showcase for so much that is good about the sport. James Ward acknowledges the crowd after being forced off injured during day three of the Ryder Cup . The British GB team celebrate the victory over the USA, with Ward (second left) and Murray (second right) Murray, embracing GB team captain Leon Smith, praised the 'effort and attitude of everyone in the team' Murray will be reunited with coach Amelie Mauresmo for these two hard court events. He is also not far from appointing an assistant to her, who will be important in the weeks that she is unable to travel. Referring to his search he commented: 'I'd say it's fairly close. Over the next few days I'll try to arrange someone to do a trial period in the next month or so. 'Amelie is next not with me at the beginning of the clay-court stretch (in April). I get married the week after Miami. I'm not 100 per cent sure what I'm going to do afer that.' As Glasgow was the latest Davis Cup tie to show, there can be a real passion for tennis outside Wimbledon in the UK: 'It's up to the LTA to capitalise on it, that's not my job,' said Murray. 'I think it's valuable. You see the enthusiasm and the passion that people clearly have for tennis right now. That's great. The 27-year-old (right) wants to appoint an assistant coach to aid Amelie Mauresmo . 'I'm just happy that when we've been able to play the big events of the last few years, the crowds have been absolutely fantastic every time. 'Again in the summer I'm sure we can fill another big arena. But we need more than just putting these sort of events on.' He also revealed that LTA Chief Executive Michael Downey has still not had a proper conversation with him about improving tennis in Great Britain after 14 months in the job. They had 15 minutes together in Glasgow which, Murray confirmed, was their longest meeting to date: 'I haven't given my opinion or thoughts on how that should be done. 'I just listened to what he had to say,' said the 27-year-old Scot, sounding distinctly non-plussed. 'He sort of took me through a one-page plan, strategy, in terms of how they were going to get more people playing the game. Getting more people playing is obviously important. 'But it's one thing saying it, putting it down on a piece of paper. It's another thing doing it.' It is astonishing that Downey, who is Canadian, has not taken the trouble to thoroughly consult Britain's finest player since Fred Perry. What a criminal waste of Murray's experience, sharp intelligence and obvious passion for British tennis. +Argentina advanced to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup on Monday, beating Brazil 3-2 after Federico Delbonis defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a match that took two days to complete. The match had been suspended because of darkness on Sunday with Delbonis leading 1-0. It started late after Leonardo Mayer needed six hours, 42 minutes to beat Joao Souza in the longest singles match ever played in the Davis Cup. Argentina's Leonardo Mayer celebrates his country's win by spraying sparkling win in Buenos Aires . Federico Delbonis beat Thomaz Bellucci to secure victory over Brazil and send Argentina to the quarter-finals . The 83rd-ranked Delbonis dropped the second set after play resumed on Monday but quickly rebounded to regain control. Argentina, who will next play Serbia, is returning to the World Group quarter-finals for the first time since 2013. Juan Martin del Potro embraces his team-mate Delbonis - and Argentina face Serbia in the next round . Delbonis hits a shot during his 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Bellucci at the Villa Martelli in Buenos Aires . +Experienced amateur jockey Tom Weston was airlifted to hospital after being kicked by horses following a fall at the Cheltenham Festival. Weston, who turned 28 this week, was on board Benbane Head in the penultimate race of the day, the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup for amateur riders, when he fell at the fourth from home. Benbane Head was in the middle of the field, and the jockey appeared to be struck by several following horses. Tom Watson, pictured in 2010, was airlifted to hospital after he was kicked by horses . He was immediately treated by doctors before being taken to the course’s medical centre and then flown by air ambulance to Bristol’s Southmead Hospital. Cheltenham spokeswoman Sophia Brudenell said that he was conscious and breathing at the time, and that he was subject to ongoing assessment and treatment. Benbane Head is trained by Gloucestershire-based Martin Keighley, who said shortly afterwards: ‘Tom’s not quite with it at the moment, but at least he is conscious and he seems much better than he initially did.’ The accident caused a 15-minute delay to the running of the final race of the day, the St Patrick’s Derby, which is run in aid of the Injured Jockeys’ Fund. While the horse escaped unscathed, a further update on Weston’s condition is expected on Friday morning. Two years ago in the same race, leading amateur jockey JT McNamara, from Limerick, was left paralysed after suffering a serious neck injury when thrown from his horse, Galaxy Rock. McNamara fractured two vertebrae and underwent rehabilitation at the North West Regional Spinal Injuries Centre in Southport, Merseyside. He only returned home to Ireland last June after being discharged from the unit. +The Tartan Army (officer class) march on Twickenham in a mood pitched somewhere between resignation and outright dejection. In the circumstances, none but the most blinkered of uber-patriots would castigate the fans for losing a little faith . With even some in the camp sounding as if there may be no beginning to their ambitions on Saturday evening, it’s hard to foresee anything but a handsome home victory. It is almost impossible to imagine this young – in parts - visiting side succeeding where so many hardened men have failed. Oh, if ever we needed a touch of the gallus swagger that plays such a beloved part in our nation’s sporting mythology, it is today at Rugger HQ. Somewhere amid the mix of technique and aggression required to stifle England, it would be awfully nice if someone from the current crop showed some inspired – maybe even swashbuckling – leadership. Vern Cotter's squad need to find a new source of inspiration if they are to triumph at Twickenham . Jonny Gray may only turn 21 on Saturday, but he has emerged as a key leader in this Scottish squad . Stuart Hogg (second left) is all smiles ahead of Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash in London . Greig Laidlaw is captain, of course. A tidy enough scrum-half well positioned to make split-second decisions on how to use the ball, he has plenty to concern himself with. Among the forwards, an increasing burden is falling on Jonny Gray, who turns 21 on Saturday. Many happy returns and all that. A member of Vern Cotter’s ‘leadership group’, the man to whom Laidlaw hands his armband when replaced, the youngster is involved in calling line-outs and directing the pack. The risk, of course, is that the burden of responsibility dulls the energy and skills that make Gray such an exciting prospect. Would it be better, perhaps, to leave him to concentrate on his own game? Scotland know they will need to be strong in the battle up front if they want to be in touch towards the end . Scotland hooker Ross Ford leads a passing drill during Scotland's final preparations for Saturday's game . ‘Ideally, yeah, you may think that,’ admits Scotland assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys, the former Wales captain adding: ‘But I compare him to Alun Wyn Jones, who I coached at a very similar age. ‘These kids, they want it, they demand it. It is a growth within them. And, with Jonny, he doesn’t see it as a burden. He wants to grow, he wants to learn. ‘What I’ve seen from him, he’s a 20-year-old kid, I’ve seen a huge growth in him in terms of how he handles himself within the group. He will use the experience of the last game, losing to Italy. He is a kid who will not repeat errors. He learns all the time. What Scotland will get out of this is just a phenomenal leader and a phenomenal character.’ If it’s obviously asking a bit much for Gray to emerge chrysalis-like from his cocoon in time to out-think and overpower a hugely effective English pack today, this might also be a perfect opportunity for the kid – winning only his 12th cap – to provide some firm and effective direction. The Scotland players have spent part of this week watching video footage of last season’s humiliation at the hands of England, as well as dissecting the horror show against Italy just a fortnight ago. Scotland go through their paces at Twickenham on Friday - it's an important game for them to restore pride . Humphreys warned: ‘If you go into a game just with passion and heated fervour then that lasts maybe 15 or 20 minutes. It is about process, the technicalities of what you are trying to do. ‘That’s the thing about getting it right. I don’t think we got that wrong last year, it was just systematic errors that are still in our game at the moment. We need to learn from them and eradicate them. We need to get smarter as a group. ‘We have a young group who need to understand that being on the wrong end of the penalty count does exert a lot of pressure on yourself. How do we eradicate that and make sure we are a little more disciplined in those areas? ‘Obviously, you pull apart a game piece by piece. That’s what we’ve done with the Italy game. We obviously took a step back in that game.’ The last thing we wanted, heading into this penultimate Six Nations weekend, was a loss of momentum. Twickenham is a tough enough venue for visitors on a high, never mind those struggling for confidence. Scotland coach Jonathan Humphreys says Gray is thriving under the pressure, just as Alun Wyn Jones did . Scotland fly half Finn Russell (left) and full back Stuart Hogg work on their kicking on Friday . Those of us who have been making this pilgrimage, on and off, since the dying days of the amateur era can remember when Scotland’s miserable streak here – only four wins in history, the most ‘recent’ in 1983 – felt odd, given that both sides were usually closely matched. With each passing loss, though, the sequence of results becomes more of a reflection on the gulf between these former rivals. England have moved on, found new best enemies, chucked us. Stick on the mournful Adele numbers and weep into your cloudy local ale … . Today, they *shouldn’t* need to do much more than bully the Scottish forwards, a unit so effectively driven about Murrayfield by their Italian tormentors. ‘The game will be based around scrummaging for penalties and driving lineouts,’ said Humphreys, seeking no prizes for predicting the obvious. ‘We defended 19 driving lineouts at Murrayfield last year, so we are aware of the strengths and how they want to play.’ They will take some stopping. At the end of a week when even head coach Cotter has spoken about keeping things tight and staying in the game until the final 20 minutes, it feels like Scotland will do well to avoid being absolutely flattened. Unless … unless. Ah, we’re not going to go down that road again. Are we? +Mike Brown has spoken for the first time about ‘one of the worst experiences of my life’ — missing out on a precious England cap. The 29-year-old full-back returns against Scotand on Saturday, a month after being knocked unconscious 12 minutes into England’s victory over Italy. Brown missed the defeat by Ireland after experiencing headaches while attempting to complete strict return-to-play protocols. Mike Brown is ready to return to England's starting XV after missing the Ireland defeat two weeks ago . Brown was knocked unconscious just 12 minutes into the win over Italy and was ruled out for two weeks . The England full back was treated on the pitch but could not continue as Stuart Lancaster's side won 47-17 . After agonising about owning up to his symptoms, knowing it would see him miss the trip to Dublin, he reluctantly alerted team doctors about his concussion. ‘Pulling out is one of the worst things I’ve ever had to go through in my whole life,’ Brown said. ‘As a sportsman everything you work towards is pulling on your country’s jersey and representing everyone in the country. ‘I went to see the doctor about 8.30 in the morning — I usually get up about 7.30 to 8 — and during that time I was sat in my room thinking should I try the next stage, should I carry on? I’ve trained through headaches before so I could definitely have trained on and seen how it went. Brown is back in training and ready to play against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday . Brown is supporting the RFU's latest concussion awareness initiative after missing the Ireland game . ‘But it wouldn’t have been good preparation for the team or me having that in the back of my mind. And obviously there’s the serious implications of the dangers and the risks involved. ‘The way I am, stubborn, desperate to play for my country, I probably would have (hidden symptoms in the past). But we’re all aware of it now and the example has been set by the England medical team and the coaching staff here for everyone else to see.’ Brown, who wins his 36th cap on Saturday, watched England’s defeat at home with his fiancee Eliza. ‘I was fuming, he said. ‘I wasn’t happy at all. Unfortunately, my fiancee had to go through it with me, poor lady. It wasn’t something I want to be doing too regularly, sat in my lounge, on the edge of my sofa, screaming at the TV!’ The England star admitted it was a bitter blow to be absent for the game in Dublin, but he had to be honest . +After the Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday afternoon in Cardiff — where their title hopes will be crushed or resurrected — England will set about further diminishing the value of the old Calcutta Cup at Twickenham. Stuart Lancaster’s team cannot lose. The notion of defeat is unthinkable, in an increasingly downgraded fixture. Last year, the Red Rose raiders left Murrayfield with a 20-0 victory and the scoreline fairly reflected the poverty of the Scottish display. If anything, it flattered them. England go through the motions in training as Courtney Lawes offloads the ball at Twickenham . Tom Wood passes the ball as England ran through their moves for the final time before the Scotland clash . England will be wounded after their defeat to Ireland, and are sure to bounce back by beating Scotland . Chris Robshaw lifts the Calcutta Cup aloft after winning it at Murrayfield last year . Stuart Lancaster's men need a win against Scotland, and should get it against the wooden spoon candidates . Since then, Vern Cotter has brought Kiwi steel and some encouraging results, but Saturday's visitors are bottom of the RBS 6 Nations table after three straight defeats — the last at home to Italy — and they have not won in south west London for two generations. Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister the last time Scotland left Twickenham as conquerors, in 1983. Since then, they have endured 32 years of failure at the home of their ‘Auld Enemy’ and this does not appear to be the occasion when that dire run is destined to come to an end. Andy Farrell summed up England’s mood on Friday, saying: ‘I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get the performance this week — and with that hopefully we could be able to keep the record going.’ So, at the end of a week which began with Stuart Hogg bemoaning a lack of English ‘respect’ for Scottish rugby, the Lions full-back and his team-mates have a prime opportunity to regain it, by claiming a win which would amount to one of the upsets of the era. They will be desperate to salvage a crumbling campaign but England are also in wounded mode after their beating in Dublin, which derailed the Grand Slam bandwagon for the umpteenth year. Given the vast gulf in playing resources between the two nations, England would have the clout to prevail with three or four entirely different line-ups. James Haskell goes for a run with the ball as England prepared for the must-win fixture at Twickenham . George Ford works on his kicking as Danny Cipriani watches on during the final training session . Ben Youngs throws as pass as England's forwards look on, ahead of a game they should win easily . England could beat Scotland with three of four different XVs, and will have more than enough on Saturday . Scotland go through their paces at Twickenham on Friday - it's an important game for them to restore pride . That is not to denigrate the Scots; it is just a reflection of stark reality. Cotter’s side have dropped to 10th in the World Rugby rankings, six places behind England who have shifted clear of fifth-placed Australia. Another defeat for Scotland would leave them in danger of being over-taken by Japan, while losing further ground on Samoa above them. So if Lancaster and his squad have any pretensions of mounting a meaningful World Cup challenge, this is a fixture with no safety net. They cannot lose, because to do so would shatter all hope of going into the tournament with their stadium regarded as a place where visiting teams fear to tread. Defeat would wreck the quest to create that fortress-feel at Twickenham and would also ensure that England could not rely on telling momentum to propel them into the showpiece event in September and October. It is quite feasible these nations will meet again in a World Cup quarter-final at the same venue on October 18. The thought of losing that one would be enough to give Lancaster sleepless nights for the next seven months. The last time Scotland beat England at Twickenham in 1983, Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister . John Beattie celebrates a Scotland try, but the Calcutta Cup has been devalued by England's dominance since . Fortunately for the head coach, he has a squad who are driven by a fervent desire to make amends for their loss to Ireland, and more than enough trump cards to ensure this is an occasion devoid of tension and a nasty shock at the end. What is crucially absent from the English armoury is an ability to shape their own championship destiny. In the hours before kick-off, they must decide whether to stay true to their pre-match plan involving a black-out of all news from Cardiff, where Wales can do them an almighty favour by ending Ireland’s Slam crusade at the penultimate stage. Instead of being distracted by a game elsewhere which will all but confirm whether they remain in the title hunt, England will abide by one of their favourite mantras: ‘control the controllables’. The coaches will expect the returning Courtney Lawes to galvanise the home pack and shore up the line-out operation, while Mike Brown’s recall after injury will add nous to the back line. There will be blunt demands for a better start, better discipline, more assurance under the high ball and more collective conviction at the breakdown — with a particular onus on captain Chris Robshaw in that department. Stuart Lancaster's side could face Scotland in the World Cup quarter-finals, which may worry them more . Scotland present more of a creative threat than in the recent past, despite the cruel injury to one of their stellar centres, Alex Dunbar. Matt Scott is a fine replacement, while Hogg can run amok from deep and Finn Russell is a daring orchestrator at No 10, alongside the canny Greig Laidlaw. But none of them can function without the ball. Despite the imposing size and abrasive streak of the Scottish pack, they should be out-gunned up front. If the hosts’ set-piece holds sway, which is likely, and Billy Vunipola can get his side on the front foot, George Ford has the tools to unleash an array of predatory outside runners. England must win and they will win. The Calcutta Cup is no longer the cherished prize that it once was, so retaining it is a minimum requirement. +New Zealand seamer Trent Boult is not taking the threat of Bangladesh lightly as his side look to keep building momentum for the World Cup knockout phase. The tournament co-hosts have won their opening five matches and are guaranteed to finish top of Pool A, regardless of their result against the Tigers at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Yet the Black Caps will want to end the pool with a flourish and enter their quarter-final in the best possible frame of mind. Trent Boult, who has taken 13 wickets already this World Cup, appeals successfully for an lbw decision . On home soil, they have won all six of their previous one-day international meetings against Bangladesh but it is the Asian side that triumphed 3-0 when the teams last met on the subcontinent in late 2013. Boult told New Zealand Cricket's official website: 'Success is there for us when we are playing them in their own backyard but when we have travelled there we have struggled a little bit. 'They are full of some world class players and we know that they will be a tough candidate come Friday night.' New Zealand have won all five games so far, including beating co-hosts Australia, to secure top spot in Pool B . Boult has played a starring role in New Zealand's stellar start to the tournament with 13 wickets in five matches, including a spectacular five-for against Australia. It is quite an achievement for the 25-year-old, who had made just 16 ODI appearances before the tournament got under way. 'The success that we have been having has been pretty special and [this World Cup] is something that I will look back on and be really proud of,' he added. 'I am sure that I speak for the majority of the group there as well. A World Cup in my home country, it's not hard to get motivated for that.' Boult and the Black Caps attack have been unstoppable, but he says they won't take Bangladesh lightly . Another pillar of New Zealand's success has been the largely excellent starts they have made to their batting, thanks to opener Brendon McCullum's masterclass in power hitting. The Black Caps captain has made 249 runs at an average of just under 50 in his five matches and his staggering strike rate of 193.02 has laid the foundations for his side. Bangladesh spin bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage has admitted they have options to try and stifle McCullum. Bangladesh are already into the quarter finals after beating England on Monday to get out of the Pool stage . 'He has not had to start against spinners,' Kalpage told Cricinfo. 'It will be tough for us but we have plans for him as well. I'm pretty sure it will help the spinners.' The Tigers proved they were not among the also rans of the tournament by beating England to book their place in the quarter-finals and could finish as high as second in the pool if they win on Friday and Scotland record a shock win against Australia. The Tigers could still finish as high as second in the group if they pull off an unlikely victory over New Zealand . +Connor Wickham has admitted Sunderland's misfiring strikers deserve the criticism they are getting. The Black Cats have managed only 23 goals in their 28 Barclays Premier League fixtures to date this season, a return which has left them perched perilously close to the relegation zone as the season reaches crunch-point. Perhaps even more worrying is the fact that Gus Poyet's pool of frontmen has contributed just nine of those goals, a record Wickham knows simply has to improve if they are to avoid a second successive scramble for top-flight survival. Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has only managed two goals since his January arrival from FC Toronto . 'I wouldn't say the criticism of the strikers is unfair,' admitted Wickham, speaking to the Northern Echo. 'Strikers are going to get the most at any club because they are the money-makers, they are the ones that the fans are relying on to score the goals. That's where the criticism can come. 'Chances come and you do need to put them away. We are creating chances. The way we set up, we are setting up to attack at times when we get the ball. We do try to break as quickly as we can when we get the ball. Connor Wickham, who has scored just three league goals this season, says Sunderland attack must do better . Wickham, 21, scored one of his three Premier League strikes this term against champions Manchester City . 'We have done it in games but we have to get more consistent with it and get in to the box more. We will climb away from the rest of the group down there if we can start to put our chances away.' Scotland international Steven Fletcher is currently leading the way for the strikers with four goals - the same number as midfielder Adam Johnson - with Wickham having managed three and January arrival Jermain Defoe two. Danny Graham is yet to score for the club, while Jozy Altidore, who left the Stadium of Light for Toronto in an exchange deal with Defoe in January, did so having found the back of the net just three times in 52 appearances in all competitions. Sunderland face Aston Villa - the only Premier League club to have scored fewer goals with just 15 to date - at the Stadium of Light on Saturday with three points crucial for both sides. Villa, who ended a run of seven league defeats on the trot with a 2-1 home victory over derby rivals West Brom on March 3, currently sit three points clear of the bottom three with their hosts a point better off. Steven Fletcher and Jermain Defoe will be hoping for better luck in front of goal when they play Aston Villa . +Australian rugby league referees are to ditch their pink jerseys, because they believe it jeopardises their authority. With the NRL season due to begin again this week, the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that officials have been switched out of pink for the coming campaign. Instead, the referees will wear blue or red, depending on the kits of the two teams involved in any game. NRL referees have ditched the idea of pink jerseys after claims they undermined official's authority . The new colours have been chosen as they apparently encourage discipline but the move has come in for criticism. Performance psychologist Chris Pomfret said it was purely a symbolic gesture which wouldn't change how the game was refereed. 'The colour of a uniform is irrelevant to the skill execution of referees, just the same as the colour of a jersey worn by players is irrelevant to their skill execution,' he said. 'In short, the colour of a uniform shouldn't matter as it doesn't directly impact on the performance of a referee, which ultimately has the most influence on their perceived credibility.' Officials will wear red or blue for the new season, which starts this, in a move that has been criticised . There was also a suggestion that the NRL risked alienating the gay community and breast cancer awareness campaigners. Dr Tom Heenean, from the Natonal Centre for Australian Studies, told the BBC it was a move away from 'social inclusion.' 'If you are wanting a more inclusive football community you have to be more aware of the symbolisms of marginal groups within that community,' he said. +A 19-year-old man from Gawler has been captured on camera racially attacking innocent Hungry Jacks staff and refusing their service at an Adelaide store. The incident was filmed by a customer in the Rundle St. store on Friday at 5.10 pm and shows a man dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt attempting to place an order at the counter. The man tells staff, 'I want it made by a white person,' and then refuses service. The 19-year-old can be seen abusing staff, calling them 'disgusting' and refusing their service . Another Hungry Jacks customer can be heard asking the man 'what's wrong with a Chinese guy making your burger?', to which the man says 'everything, you don't belong here'. The man then abuses a female staff member after she asks him to leave. He can be heard saying 'at least I'm born here c---, where do you come from, f---ing Africa or Asia? Disgusting.' The tirade is brought to an end when another customer grabs the man and physically removes him from the shop whilst saying 'We are all f---ing Australian.' Another customer ends the tirade by physically grabbing the man and removing him from the store . The man hangs around after being thrown out and is arrested by police a short distance away . After being removed from the store, the man continues his outburst by yelling at the customer, 'wait until I come back with the Rebels (Motorcycle Club) you f---ing idiot.' Police were called shortly after the incident took place and given a description of the man by other customers. The man was arrested a short distance away and charged with disorderly behaviour. He has been bailed and will appear in Adelaide Magistrate Court on the 26th of March. +Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben limped off during the 7-0 demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League last-16 second leg on Wednesday night. Pep Guardiola allayed fears over the pair's long-term health by revealing that neither injury looked too serious. Dutch winger Robben, Bayern's top scorer this season, clutched his thigh as he was taken off in the 19th minute while Frenchman Ribery followed him off on the hour. Arjen Robben grimaces after feeling his hamstring in the first half of Bayern's crushing win against Shakhtar . The Dutch winger was replaced by Sebastian Rode as the first half drew to a close . Franck Ribery also left the field with an injury after suffering an ankle complaint in the second half . 'We have to see tomorrow what the damage is but doctors said it is not too serious for them,' Guardiola told reporters. With Bayern chasing a treble of titles and a sixth European crown they will need all the firepower they can muster despite some long-term injured players being ready to return, including captain Philipp Lahm, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez. The partnership between Robben and Ribery, nicknamed 'Robbery', is crucial for Guardiola's style of play with the pair's searing pace down the wings. Ribery disappeared straight back to the dressing room after coming off . Pep Guardiola confirmed after the game that neither injuries looked 'too serious' 'It does not seem to be too bad,' Ribery, who scored one goal against Shakhtar, told reporters. 'It is something with the ankle and I hope I can be ready to play on the weekend.' Bayern, who will not play again in Europe until April, are 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and take on Werder Bremen on Saturday. +One of the teenagers who was captured on video as she violently beat up a fellow classmate at a Brooklyn McDonald's has been arrested. Aniah Ferguson, a 16-year-old mother from Prospect Lefferts Gardens who has been arrested six times since last July, is one of six that were involved in attacking the other girl, who received no help from any of the other teenagers nearby, and is now being charged as an adult for her role in the incident, in which she also stole the victim's purse and cell phone. Her most recent arrest came last month when she stabbed her brother in the arm, and last year she was arrested after she punched her grandmother in the face. Now authorities are trying to identify the other five girls, despite the fact that no witnesses or even the victim herself will give them any information about the incident. The victim meanwhile has taken to social media to brag about the 'fame' the incident has brought her. Scroll down for video . Arrested: Aniah Ferguson, a 16-year-old mother from Prospect Lefferts Gardens who has been arrested six times since last July, was held for the McDonald's attack . Graphic cell phone footage has emerged of brutal attack on a school girl that took place in Brooklyn after class on Monday afternoon . The victim meanwhile has taken to social media to brag about the 'fame' the incident has brought her and mock the media response to the fight . According to the New York Daily News, the 15-year-old wrote on Wednesday; 'Everyone Like Im Famous Now.' The graphic cell phone footage emerged earlier this week of the brutal attack that took place after class on Monday afternoon. The three minute clip showed an unfair fight that began with the victim being set upon by six other students. As the girl is mercilessly pummelled by the gang her blonde hair extensions are ripped from her head as she is repeatedly punched and kicked. The vicious fight is cheered on by dozens of other youths who jockey for a good view of the senseless violence. The video, posted on Facebook, captures the afternoon brawl at a McDonald’s near Erasmus Hall High School on Flatbush Avenue. Despite being outnumbered, the small girl gives as good as she gets and at one point she pulls a black hoodie off one of her attackers to reveal a bra. Towards the end of the video - which has been shared more than 19,000 times and viewed more than 740,000 - the smaller girl is left cowering under a table. Finally an adult appears and attempts to break up the fight, but the taller attacker now stripped down to her bra kicks and stomps on her victim's head, calling her a 'bitch,' before storming off. Bystanders can be heard saying, 'She’s dead,' and, 'You murdered her.' The 16-year-old in the fight (left) who was stripped to her bra has been arrested, while the girl being picked on is so weak at the end that she collapses on a bench . A few students then intervene, pick the small girl up and sit her on a nearby bench. Immediately she collapses and so the students help her to lie down. NYPD have reviewed the video, but there is very little they can do because it doesn’t appear that anyone has filed a complaint, reports the New York Daily News. Brooklyn community activist Tony Herbert hopes the victim comes forward and is demanding her assailants be arrested. 'The message has to be sent very clearly, that this kind of violence will not be tolerated whether in a mall or in restaurants and those involved should turn themselves in to authorities immediately so as to face the consequences of their violent actions,' he said. Anyone with information about the fight is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1-800-577-TIPS. Finally an adult appears and attempts to break up the fight, but the taller attacker now stripped down to her bra kicks and stomps on her victim's head, calling her a 'bitch,' before storming off . +British No1 Andy Murray was unsurprisingly in good form after his straight sets victory over John Isner on Sunday secured Great Britain's pathway into the Davis Cup quarter-finals. Although, that wasn't too be good news for his Great Britain team-mate Dominic Inglot - as Murray unintentionally stitched the 29-year-old up in a post-match interview. Speaking to Eurosport presenter Annabel Croft about how they would all celebrate the victory over the United States, Murray hinted that Inglot might spend the evening with a 'little girlfriend'. Andy Murray (third left) told Eurosport that Dominic Inglot (second right) had a 'little girlfriend' Murray (third left) cries with laughter as Inglot (second right) looks embarrassed to say the least . The doubles player (middle) then revealed he actually had a girlfriend at home who would be watching this . Murray cheekily said: 'Dom's got a little girlfriend on the go,' before going on to laugh. When Inglot was then asked immediately after who the girl was he replied somewhat embarrassingly: 'You've actually landed me in this. Because, I've actually got a girlfriend whose going to be watching this at home!' Murray then erupted with laughter, before going over to comfort a clearly embarrassed and shell-shocked Inglot. Murray can't contain himself as he erupts in laughter after finding out Inglot has a girlfriend . The British No 1 (third right) goes over to comfort the clearly embarrassed Inglot (second right) Earlier in the day Andy Murray secured a straight sets win over John Isner to send Great Britain into the Davis Cup quarter-finals - where they will face France . Sportsmail understands that the supporter infatuated by Inglot has been watching the matches over the weekend and her admiration for him was noted by the Great Britain team. Murray also wasn't aware that Inglot had a girlfriend. Inglot later took to Twitter, writing: 'Just to clarify, there is no girl on the side. The joke interview was just a joke. All banter with @andy_murray.' The doubles player - whose partner in Glasgow was Andy's older brother Jamie - took to social media on Sunday night to confirm it was a joke by Murray, and that he doesn't have a girl on the side. +Tim Cahill grabbed an assist on his Shanghai Shenhua debut as they beat Shanghai Shenxin 6-2 on the opening day of the Chinese Super League season. The Australian joined the club, whose former players included Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, last month after leaving MLS side New York Red Bulls by mutual consent. Former Palmeiras striker Paulo Henrique scored a hat-trick while goals from You-Hwan Lim, Giovanni Moreno and Stopilla Sunzu completed the rout. Tim Cahill grabbed an assist on his Shanghai Shenhua debut as they beat Shanghai Shenxin 6-2 . Cahill took to social media after the game to voice his pleasure at the result. He said: 'What a great start to the season 6-2 at home and fans were bouncing, they didn't stop singing the whole game. 'This was an amazing experience for me. 75mins unlucky not to score, happy with the assist but more importantly the chemistry was good and we played well. Feeling at home.' The result leaves the Blue Devils top of the table on goal difference. The result leaves Cahill and the Blue Devils top of the table on goal difference . Australia's all-time leading goalscorer trains with his new team-mates in Shanghai . Former Everton midfielder Cahill joined Shanghai Shenhua from MLS side New York Red Bulls . +Andre Schurrle showed he was a man of many talents after deciding to take the plunge and have a go at bobsleighing at the Winterberg track. The former Chelsea man completed a move to Wolfsburg in January and appears to be enjoying his time back in his native Germany. The 24-year-old took to Instagram having just completed a run down the intimidating icy track. Andre Schurrle posted on his Instagram page after spending the day at the Winterburg track . He said: 'Awesome experience here in Winterburg.' Schurrle's new side are currently second and 11 points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, with Champions League qualification looking more and more likely. The £24million man never quite made the grade in England but appears be flourishing back in Germany alongside another former Chelsea player Kevin de Bruyne. The former Chelsea player (left) has made a bright start to life at Wolfsburg as they chase Bayern Munich . Schurrle could face Chelsea next season with both teams likely to qualify for the Champions League . +Muhammad Ali showed he was looking healthy when 'The People's Champion' took to Twitter to praise his daughter Laila Ali's new role as an NBC boxing analyst. The Parkinson's sufferer will have pleased his fans by showing his fans he's recovered from his recent stint in hospital for a urinary tract infection. The boxing legend was delighted with the news that his offspring is to be the first female pundit to join the Premier Boxing Champions team. Muhammad Ali posted this photo on Twitter to show his support of his daughter's television success . He tweeted: 'So proud of my baby girl. 1st female boxing analyst with NBC Premier Boxing Champions. #AliTweet. Laila, an undefeated women's boxing champion,made her debut as a corner analyst when Keith Thurman faced Robert Guerrero and Adrian Broner took on John Molina Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. With Ali's latest snap, it's pleasing to know that the former champion of the world is in good condition and high spirits. 'The Greatest' celebrates after beating Sonny Liston in the famous showdown in Miami Beach, Florida . Former three-time World title holder Laila Ali is the new corner analyst on NBC's Premier Boxing Champions . +A new parody video takes aim at the wage inequality between genders by introducing a fictional Amazon Prime service that caters to the average woman, who earns just 78 cents for every dollar a man in the same job makes. Comedian and filmmaker Paul Gale created the satirical ad for 'Amazon Prime for Women', which is marketed as the online retailer's attempt to make itself more appealing to its female members, who make less money than their male counterparts. 'We realized that some customers can afford more than others, so we are introducing Amazon Prime for Women, a new service that offers 78per cent of each item for 78per cent of the price,' actress Lauren Ireland says in the YouTube clip. Scroll down for video . Not equal: In a parody ad for 'Amazon Prime Women', actress Lauren Ireland explains that the new service offers 78per cent of each item for 78per cent of the price . Special deal: The video shows that women can buy more than three quarters a box a cereal for 78per cent of the original price . She continues: 'It's perfect for the average working woman who earns 78per cent as much as a man with the exact same job.' Cartoon pictures show that women can now buy three quarters of a box of cereal, books, umbrellas and sweaters – all at a special female rate. 'It's the Prime service you love at a price you can afford when you are taking home three quarters of what a man would for being equally as productive,' she says. Miss Ireland notes that there is also a specific service for black women, who earn 64per cent to every man's dollar, and Hispanic women who make only 54per cent. And while the video appears to poke fun at the current wage gap, the facts behind the funny side of the clip are brutally correct. Women only: The fictional service, which was created by comedian Paul Gale, jokes that females deserve 78per cent satisfaction . Looks like a lady: This cartoon shows a woman utilizing 78per cent of the umbrella she purchased on Amazon Prime for Women . Women's world: This book from Amazon Prime for Women may be missing a chunk of text, but it costs 13per cent less than the full copy . According to the American Association of University Women, the typical white woman working full-time in the United States made 78per cent of men's earnings in 2013, while black women made 64per cent and Hispanic women took home a mere 54per cent. 'Regardless of the exact [wage gap] numbers, there's a systemic inequality embedded in our society, whether it's regarding gender, race, or sexual orientation,' Mr Gale told The Huffington Post. He added: 'To have a platform to point at it in my own way and say 'Hey, this! We should talk about this!' is something I'm grateful to be able to do.' Mr Gale debuted the video on YouTube just days before last Sunday's International Women's Day, which saw the Clinton Foundation's release of We're Not There Yet, a PSA featuring Amy Poehler, Cameron Diaz, Sienna Miller, Padma Lakshmi and Jenny Slate's voices as they discussed issues surrounding gender equality. The video is a part of the Not There Yet campaign, which removed women from ads on International Women's Day, to call attention to the fact we still have a long way to go before both sexes are truly equal politically, socially and economically. Racial divide: The 'ad' offered a specific service for black women, who earn 64per cent of every man's dollar . Not fair: It also highlighted that Hispanic women only make 54per cent of what men earn . +Spain's Supreme Court has dismissed a second paternity suit brought against former King Juan Carlos, accepting the ex-monarch's argument that the claim had no basis. The court said Wednesday the decision was backed by seven judges to three. Juan Carlos, 77, lodged an appeal after the court in January agreed to consider a claim by a Belgian woman, Ingrid Sariau, that her mother had a relationship with Juan Carlos which lasted into 1966, when she was born. Spain's Supreme Court has dismissed a second paternity suit brought against former King Juan Carlos (pictured) In January, the court dismissed a similar claim by a Spanish man. Juan Carlos married former Queen Sofia in 1962 and became king in 1975. He was immune from lawsuits while king, but lost the privilege on abdicating in June in favor of his son, Felipe. Juan Carlos was for decades held in high esteem for steering Spain from military dictatorship to democracy. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, 2005. His reputation plummeted after he took a secret elephant hunting trip to Botswana in 2012 while honorary president of the World Wide Fund for Nature . He took over the throne in 1975, two days after the death of longtime dictator Gen. Francisco Franco. But his reputation plummeted after he took a secret elephant hunting trip to Botswana in 2012 at the height of Spain's financial crisis, despite being honorary president of the WWF. He later apologized for the trip. +Tasmanian independent politician Jacqui Lambie will miss parliament next week due to a minor surgical procedure on her back. Senator Lambie said she had contacted the Senate president's office to make arrangements to have her votes recorded. In a video uploaded to YouTube, the former Palmer United Party member said she is looking forward to working with former colleague Glenn Lazarus, who has also left the Palmer Party. In a video message posted on YouTube this week, the Jacqui Lambie said she would be doing her best to represent Tasmania from her hospital bed . Lazarus quit the party via text message and a Facebook post on Friday morning, accusing leader Clive Palmer of being a bully. In a statement addressing her operation, which is expected to keep her out of action for about a week, the senator said 'I'm looking forward to leaving hospital soon. However the doctors don't want me flying anywhere.' The former soldier injured her back during an army field exercise in 1997. In a video message posted on YouTube this week, the gown-clad senator said she wasn't very well, but would be doing her best to represent Tasmania from her hospital bed. Lambie said she is looking forward to working with former colleague Glenn Lazarus (pictured right), who has also left the Palmer Party . She said her heart went out to former Palmer United Party senator Glenn Lazarus. Senator Lambie quit PUP in November after a bitter and very public slanging matche with her leader. 'I know you're feeling it. I know things are going to be a little bit rough over the next few weeks,' she said. Senator Lambie said she had contacted the Senate president's office to make arrangements to have her votes recorded. 'Between the two of us and the other crossbenchers up there, we will be able to achieve a great deal in the future, there's no doubt about that.' There have been reports that Lambie and Lazarus had formerly clashed because Lambie believed she deserved to been made the Palmer Party's Senate leader. +Vice President Joe Biden has taken the Internet by storm after releasing a comedy video to support Michelle Obama's #GimmeFive campaign to encourage people to lead active and healthy lifestyles. In the video, posted on Vine by the White House on Friday, the 72-year-old politician is filmed performing arm curls with a dumbbell while apparently talking on the phone with 'world leaders'. Donning a white skirt, a striped tie and black pants, he can be heard saying, 'Yeah, yeah', on the phone. He then turns to the camera and says: 'I do a million of these a day. So, just give me five.' The video was uploaded alongside the caption: 'A million arm curls. Calls with world leaders. All in a day's work.' It was later circulated on Twitter and Instagram, with some users deeming it 'priceless'. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Humorous: In a new video, released to support Michelle Obama's #GimmeFive campaign, Vice President Joe Biden is filmed  performing arm curls while apparently talking on the phone with 'world leaders' (pictured) Multi-tasking: Donning a white skirt, a striped tie and black pants, the 72-year-old can be heard speaking on the phone. He then turns to the camera (pictured) and says: 'I do a million of these a day. So just give me five' 'All in a day's work': The video was posted on Vine by the White House on Friday, alongside the caption: 'A million arm curls. Calls with world leaders. All in a day's work.' It was later circulated on Twitter and Instagram . Twitter user Clarke Berry wrote: 'That Instagram video of Joe Biden doing arm curls while on the phone is what I've been waiting for my entire life.' Scott Haavisto labelled the footage 'amazing'. Meanwhile, user Olivia Bergemann, who lives in Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut, said: 'The fact that Joe Biden just put up a video of him doing bicep curls is priceless #theBroVP.' And Bud Sheppard, from New Orleans, tweeted a clip from the video, remarking: 'This is hilarious.' The footage was released by the White House - and subsequently shared by Biden's office and hundreds of others online - to mark the fifth anniversary of Mrs Obama's 'Let's Move!' program. The 51-year-old's #GimmeFive campaign - part of the initiative 'to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation' - challenges people to list five ways they are living a healthy lifestyle. Earlier on Friday, FLOTUS had tweeted the Vice President: 'Hey @VP: Ready to join the workout? #GimmeFive of your best reps and pass on the challenge' - a request he then quickly fulfilled. Reaction: Twitter user Olivia Bergemann (pictured), who lives in Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut, said of the video: 'The fact that Joe Biden just put up a video of him doing bicep curls is priceless #theBroVP' Positive: Meanwhile, user Clarke Berry (pictured) tweeted: 'That Instagram video of Joe Biden doing arm curls while on the phone is what I've been waiting for my entire life.' Scott Haavisto labelled the footage 'amazing' Amused: And Bud Sheppard, from New Orleans, posted a clip from the video, remarking: 'This is hilarious' FLOTUS: The footage was released by the White House - and later shared by Biden's office online - to mark the fifth anniversary of Mrs Obama's 'Let's Move!' program. Above, Mrs Obama addresses Biden in a video . Other famous figures to have completed the challenge so far include singer Beyonce, who posted a video of herself working out to Survivor's Eye of the Tiger while sporting a form-fitting black T-shirt. In the video, the 33-year-old, who was also donning black and white sneakers, participated in five different workouts, including standing crunches, deep lunges and cardio on a workout bench. Radio personality Ryan Seacrest has also completed the challenge. He uploaded a video of himself doing burpees to his Twitter page, writing that he was 'passing on' the challenge to Nick Jonas. It comes as Mrs Obama has displayed her dance moves to promote #GimmeFive during a toe-curling appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which will air on US television on Monday. Tackling obesity: Earlier on Friday, Mrs Obama had tweeted the Vice President: 'Hey @VP: Ready to join the workout? #GimmeFive of your best reps and pass on the challenge' - a request he then quickly fulfilled . Celeb support: Other famous figures to have completed the challenge so far include singer Beyonce, who posted a video of herself working out to Survivor's Eye of the Tiger while sporting a form-fitting black T-shirt . Getting active: Ryan Seacrest has also completed the challenge, which is part of the 'Let's Move!' initiative . Five moves: The radio personality uploaded a video of himself doing burpees (pictured) to his Twitter page . 'We’re asking folks all across the country to #GimmeFive ways they're leading a healthy life,' the mother-of-two told DeGeneres during the program. 'We’ve got a lot of celebrities involved.' She then launched into an energetic dance routine to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' 'Uptown Funk' alongside DeGeneres and a number of other dancers, while the audience cheered and applauded. Mrs Obama also revealed she - and a party of helpers from So You Think You Can Dance - will be performing a routine to Uptown Funk in front of the White House during the annual Easter Egg Roll. This year's event, which will take place on the 6th April, is part of a tradition that dates back to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes opened the White House gardens to local children. Although egg hunts are no longer part of the event, children are still invited for egg rolling on the lawn and a slap-up afternoon tea.  Among the children to attend this year will be Mrs Obama and President Barack Obama's daughters Sasha, 14, and Malia, 17, who will have a ringside view. Showing off her dancing: It comes as Mrs Obama has displayed her dance moves to promote #GimmeFive during a toe-curling appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, which will air on US television on Friday . In good spirits: 'We’re asking folks all across the country to #GimmeFive ways they're leading a healthy life,' the mother-of-two (pictured hugging DeGeneres) said during the show. 'We’ve got a lot of celebrities involved' +Police are searching for the owners of a collection of gold and silver bullion, coins and doubloons which were discovered under a hedge in Hertfordshire. The £50,000 find was made in London Colney last month and detectives believe the bullion may have been stolen in a burglary. The items were mostly found individually wrapped in cellophane or were held in plastic containers. Hidden treasure: This silver bullion was among a stash of valuable items handed into Hertfordshire Police . Detective Sergeant Karen Lewis, from the St Albans Local Unit, said: 'Despite several enquiries, we have so far been unable to trace the owners of these items. 'The items are very distinctive so we hope that someone might recognise them and that they can be returned.' Anyone who recognises the collection, or who has any information about where it may have come from, is asked to contact DS Lewis on 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. Also found in the stash, valued at £50,000, were a collection of gold and silver coins and doubloons . The box, containing the coins, doubloons and bullion, was discovered under a hedge n Hertfordshire last month . +A woman has pleaded not guilty to trespassing charges after she got onto a runway at San Francisco International Airport with plans to stow away on a jet bound for Central America. Prosecutors say Adriana Anabela Monterroso-Santos allegedly walked on a runway Wednesday and waved her arms at a plane. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe says the 42-year-old woman was living in a homeless shelter near the airport. A woman has pled guilty to trespassing after being caught on this San Francisco airport runway in an attempt to stow away on a jet . 'If she needs help, we’ll steer her in the right direction,' he told the San Francisco Chronicle. Wagstaffe said he incident has highlighted a potential security lapse. 'The real concern should be how she got out onto a runway, not why?' he said. 'If she can do it, what is stopping a terrorist from doing the same thing?' Wagstaffe says the woman told authorities she was hoping to hide in the cargo hold of a jet headed to her home country of Guatemala. She told officials she got the idea after hearing about the Santa Clara teenager who survived a five-hour flight from San Jose to Maui in the wheel well of a jet. +One of Britain’s most popular online bookmakers has been branded a ‘rip-off company’ after failing to honour odds offered during a crucial Chelsea match. Furious customers are demanding a bigger payout after placing wagers with Sky Bet that the London side would be knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint- Germain on Wednesday night. The firm’s mobile phone app was offering odds of 25-1 for a PSG win in extra time – but when it came to settling the bets, they paid out at just 9-2. It means the winnings for a £10 wager would have been cut from £260 to £55, including the return of the original stake. Scroll down for video . A customer placing a bet at 9.50pm received generous odds of 25/1 (left), but when it came to settling the bets, they paid out at just 9-2 (right) Sky Bet claims the better odds were offered by ‘mistake’ – and its actions are in keeping with the small print in its terms and conditions . Sky Bet claims the better odds were offered by ‘mistake’ – and its actions are in keeping with the small print in its terms and conditions. The longer odds were offered while Chelsea were leading 2-1 in extra time. But the French side equalised, despite being reduced to ten men, and won the two-legged clash on away goals. Punters who successfully bet on the result were told they would be paid less than they expected only after the match was over, with an email sent from the company blaming an ‘administration error’. David Luiz celebrates scoring PSG's first goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, second leg match against Chelsea . Emil Bolstad, 26, was expecting to win £150 plus his £6 stake back – but profited by only £27. He said: ‘It’s false advertising. I made the bet based on 25-1 odds, not 9-2. It was only when it came time to pay up that I noticed the odds had changed. ‘If they can do this because of an “error”, they can do it for all their odds. They could triple their odds and after people have bet say, “Oh no, it was a mistake” and not pay out.’ Labour MP Graham Jones called the move 'outrageous' Labour MP Graham Jones said: ‘This is outrageous. What would have happened if a rival firm had better odds but people chose Sky Bet because of the 25-1 odds? Customers would have lost out. You can’t change the price after the sale. ‘Sky Bet are clearly a rip-off company who are willing to take their customers to the cleaners and deceive them. This is typical of the gambling industry.’ Sky Bet’s managing director Richard Flint said the longer odds were ‘clearly’ wrong. He said: ‘Occasionally mistakes happen. In this case a wrong price was displayed for around three minutes, and a small number of customers bet at the incorrect odds. These odds were clearly wrong – we showed odds of 25-1 when the true odds and the odds displayed by all other bookmakers was 9-2. We settled at the correct odds.’ The terms and conditions for the Sky Bet app – which has been downloaded 700,000 times on to iPhones and iPads – reserve the right to ‘correct obvious errors and either settle bets at the correct odds or void bets’. +A female UK military medic was continuing to receive treatment for ebola at a London hospital last night, as another British health worker was being tested for the virus. The woman is being cared for at the Royal Free Hospital. She was flown back from Sierra Leone on Thursday. A female UK military medic was continued to be treated at the Royal Free hospital, London (pictured) last night . Four military colleagues who came into contact with her were evacuated back to the UK. Three have been discharged while one remains under observation. In a new development, a civilian healthcare worker is being monitored at the Royal Free after being pricked by a needle while treating ebola patients. Meanwhile, it was reported last night that at least ten people who have been exposed to the virus were being flown back to the US for observation and treatment if needed. She had been flown home from Sierra Leone on Thursday, alongside two other colleagues (pictured) +Paul Scholes has insisted that Arsene Wenger was right to say he would have 'loved to play' with Mesut Ozil. Wenger last week hit back at Scholes for his 'wrong statement' after the Manchester United legend had accused Arsenal midfielder Ozil of 'going through the motions' during his time with the Gunners. And Scholes has now responded to Wenger's claim after Ozil helped Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup sixth round at Old Trafford on Monday night. Paul Scholes (right) has agreed that he would have loved to play alongside German midfielder Mesut Ozil . Ozil (left) takes on Manchester United's Phil Jones during the FA Cup sixth-round clash on Monday . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger gives instructions to his players as his side claimed victory at Old Trafford . Scholes wrote in The Independent: 'I found myself agreeing with Arsene Wenger on Monday night. 'The Arsenal manager said last Friday that I would have loved to have played alongside Mesut Ozil – and that would be right, as long as Ozil played every week as well as he did at Old Trafford. 'Arsenal impressed me against United, and that has been a rarity in recent years. There were similarities with their performance against Manchester City in January. 'They looked sharp and hungry, full of energy in midfield where they overpowered United. They looked physically commanding too, and Danny Welbeck’s pace and power were important. Ozil (front) is challenged by Manchester United's Chris Smalling during the FA Cup clash . Danny Welbeck (left) celebrates with Santi Cazorla (centre) and Alexis Sanchez after scoring the winner . 'Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin were the pick of the team in my opinion. I never had them down as so strong. They were quick and aggressive and got the better of United. 'They showed Van Gaal’s team what they were lacking in midfield and, funnily enough, they were not afraid to be direct with their attacks when it suited them.' +Gareth Bale was berated as he left the Santiago Bernabeu after Real Madrid's 4-3 defeat by Schalke on Tuesday night, with fans caling him an 'a******e' and a 'prostitute' among other names. The Champions League holders made it through to the quarter-finals despite losing the seven-goal thriller, taking the last-16 tie 5-4 on aggregate. But Bale was the subject of boos again with the home faithful seemingly losing patience with the former Tottenham star, and, along with some of his Real team-mates, was met with a wall of noise as he left the parking garage in Madrid. Gareth Bale appeared to be abused by Real Madrid fans as he left the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night . Fans crowded around the parking garage following the 4-3 defeat by Schalke in the Champions League . One fan was heard yelling 'male prostitute Welshman' at the 25-year-old . Bale endured a frustrating evening on Tuesday night but Real still qualified for the quarter-finals . As he drove away, supporters appeared to abuse him, yelling: 'Son of b*****s! A******e! Gay!' before one said: 'Male prostitute Welshman.' Bale became the most expensive footballer in the world upon signing for the Galacticos in an £86million deal and was impressive in his first season, netting crucial goals in Copa del Rey and Champions League final victories. But as his second campaign has worn on, he has been labelled as a 'ball-hog' by sections of the Bernabeu crowd, with many voicing their anger when he doesn't pass to team-mate and Balon d'Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo. After the shock defeat on Tuesday night some supporters were waving white handkerchiefs in a form of protest, while Bale was criticsed after dragging a shot wide when in a good position in front of goal. Manchester United have been linked with a mega-swoop for the 25-year-old, though the Welshman insists he loves life in Madrid and will do anything to accomplish his dream. The Welsh winger looks to get the better of Manchester City loanee Matija Nastasic down the wing . Real Madrid fans were pictured waving handkerchiefs after the final whistle of the Championg League game . Iker Casillas and Sami Khedira were also met with insults from the supporters. Khedira, who is out of contract in the summer, was told by one fan to 'die' before being told to 'go to Schalke, dog.' Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals for Madrid and was Carlo Ancelotti's star performer against the Bundesliga side, but even he told reporters he won't be speaking to the media until the end of the season as his side's struggles continue. Television cameras captured a grim-looking Ronaldo shaking his head and apparently mouthing 'disgrace' to Karim Benzema shortly before the end of the game. Cristiano Roanldo scored twice as the Champions League holders advanced after winning 5-4 on aggregate . +Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo is doubtful with a groin injury for Sunday's crunch clash with Tottenham at Old Trafford. Manager Louis van Gaal revealed that the Argentina international will have a 'minor problem' assessed before the game as the Reds prepare to take on Spurs in a key fixture in the battle for a top-four place in the Premier League. Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo picked up the injury against Arsenal on Monday night . Rojo started Monday's FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal at centre-half to accommodate Luke Shaw's return but reverted to the left-hand side of defence in the second half when Shaw was replaced by Phil Jones, before going off with 17 minutes left in the 2-1 defeat. However, Shaw should be available for the visit of in-form Spurs to Old Trafford but Angel Di Maria and Jonny Evans are both ruled out by suspension. Manager Louis van Gaal said Rojo has a 'minor problem' and will be assessed before Sunday's game . 'More or less, only Robin van Persie is injured,' van Gaal told MUTV. 'That is a good sign – when you have a defeat and all your players want to train and show the energy in the training session. That's good to see. 'Rojo is a little bit injured. You have to take care of the health of the players. He has a minor problem. Maybe I'll take him out of the game against Tottenham Hotspur, but I have to decide.' +Inter Milan, one of Italy and indeed Europe's most successful football teams, have celebrated their 107-year anniversary with a video montage, showcasing some of their finest moments. Clips of great goals, trophy wins and panoramic shots of the club's famous San Siro stadium were featured in the 1 minute 35 second video, published on Inter's official Facebook page. Inter's bulging trophy cabinet includes: 18 Serie A titles, seven Italian Cups and three European Cups. A clip shows Inter Milan players celebrating their most recent European Cup win back in 2010 . An aerial view of the club's San Siro stadium is shown during the special anniversary montage . Inter's most successful spell in Serie A was between 2005 and 2010, when they won the league five years in succession. Recent seasons, however, have paled in comparison. Inter have not finished inside the league's top four since 2011. With the reappointment of Roberto Mancini though - the head coach who oversaw three of those five titles - in November last year, the club will be looking to return to the top as soon as possible. Roberto Mancini (left) is back for a second spell in charge of Inter Milan and will look to return them to the top . Inter have looked back on some of their most memorable goals in a tribute to the club's history . Black and white footage from Inter's early days was included in the 1 minute 35 second video . Former Inter striker Diego Milito played for the club between 2009 and 2014, scoring 75 goals in 171 games . Inter fans celebrate and wave flags during the early days of the club . +Scott Arfield believes Burnley have it in them to shock Manchester City again when the Premier League champions visit Turf Moor on Saturday. The Clarets pulled off arguably their most eye-catching result of the season at the Etihad in December when they fought back from two down at half-time to claim a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from George Boyd and Ashley Barnes. It epitomised Burnley's against-the-odds fighting spirit and the memory will spur them on this weekend. Burnley midfielder Scott Arfield (right) believes his side can cause an upset against Manchester City . Arfield chases Liverpool defender Alberto Monreno (right) during the Premier League game at Anfield . Midfielder Arfield said: 'It was quite evident the mentality we've got in the squad and obviously coming from two goals down at a stadium like that, backs to the wall, and getting a point, we can take a lot of heart from that. 'We know it's going to be difficult. We're not in a fairyland where we think it's going to be easy, but we know what we've got in the dressing room. We know we're going to work for each other and technically and ability-wise we've got that as well. 'Last time at half-time we knew one goal could change it, and it did, and we had chances to win it as well. First half they were superb and we knew if they got the next goal it was going to be very difficult for us. 'But you get a goal and, no matter who you're playing against, it's going to take its toll. We started getting control of the ball and passing it about and then Barnesy turned up with a wonderful finish.' Burnley followed up the point against City by claiming a draw at Newcastle and then beating QPR but since then times have been tougher. They are without a win in two months after failing to turn good performances into points, although they did hold Chelsea to a draw in a game now better remembered for Barnes' controversial challenge on Nemanja Matic. The fixture list has not been kind, with the Clarets facing Manchester United and Liverpool along with Chelsea over the past month while matches against Southampton, Tottenham and Arsenal follow the City clash. Burnley forward George Boyd celebrates scoring against Manchester City in the 2-2 draw in December . City's Spanish playmaker David Silva scores the opening goal against Burnley at the Etihad Stadium . City goalkeeper Joe Hart (right) looks dejected after Ashley Barnes (left) scores for Burnley in December . But, far from being daunted, Arfield said: 'Funnily enough it's kind of easier. 'When you're playing against your Cities, Liverpools, Uniteds, they're the games you look forward to at the start of the fixture list, the ones you want to play in. 'Every game's enjoyable in this division but when you're playing the big boys you want to get on the ball and show what you can do.' Burnley's fate is likely to be decided by their home form, and Arfield knows they cannot afford more of the slips that saw them fail to turn leads against Crystal Palace and West Brom into wins. 'It's massive,' said the Scot. 'With the fans behind us, last season it was a fortress at times, people didn't want to come and play against us at home. 'This season we need to get back to that. The fans have been different class and we need to get more points.' Burnley forward Danny Ings (centre) battles for the ball with Philippe Coutinho (left) and Joe Allen (right) Burnley defender Kieran Trippier (left) challenges Liverpool's Brazilian playmaker Coutinho (right) Burnley manager Sean Dyche applauds the fans following his side's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield . Meanwhile, 37-year-old defender Michael Duff has been granted a testimonial after 11 years at the club. Duff, who has lost his place in the team to Michael Keane following injury, joined the Clarets from Cheltenham in 2004 for £30,000 and is closing in on his 500th appearance. Michael Duff(bottom, pictured here in 2008) will be given a testimonial match after 11 years with Burnley . +Jack Wilshere opted to keep his feet up at home as a star-studded crowd watched Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford. But the 23-year-old can now look forward to a date at Wembley next month as he closes in on his first-team return, after his side went on to beat the Red Devils 2-1. The Arsenal ace has been out of action since last November after injuring his ankle against Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League. Injured Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere puts his feet up to watch his side's FA Cup quarter-final on Monday . Wilshere injured his ankle after a strong challenge from Manchester United's Paddy McNair in November . The England international originally had surgery back in November but has had his comeback curtailed . Wilshere could be back for the Gunners' must-win Champions League showdown with Monaco next week. But the England star settled for the view from his sofa as he cheered his team-mates on from home, hoping the FA Cup holders will book a place in next month's semi-finals at Wembley. Inside Old Trafford, meanwhile, legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson took his usual seat in the directors box with Louis van Gaal left to pick up his old sparring role with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. Jonny Evans was forced to watch the game from the stands following his ban for spitting at Papiss Cisse . Former Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson (centre) was also present to watch United in action . Legendary United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was present with son and Leicester goalkeeper Kasper . Former Manchester United player and current academy director Brian McClair was among the supporters . Banned defender Jonny Evans was forced to watch from the stands too as he serves his six-match ban for spitting at Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse last week. Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel joined his father, Peter, as the iconic goalkeeper savoured the atmosphere at his former club and took pictures of the crowd before the game from his phone. Another former United favourite Roy Keane also returned, taking up a pundit role in the BBC studio alongside host Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright. +Fabio Borini took to Instagram on Monday as he shared a selfie of himself with the Script's lead singer Danny O'Donoghue. The Liverpool striker, whose last appearance for the Reds came in the FA Cup win at Bolton last month, was at the Manchester Arena on Saturday as the Irish band performed in front of a packed out attendance. And the 23-year-old was clearly impressed with what he saw on the night, as he then got backstage access to see the band after the concert. Fabio Borini (left) poses for a selfie with the Script's lead singer Danny O'Donoghue (right) Borini posted a photo on Instagram of the band in action on Saturday in Manchester . The 23-year-old has endured a frustrating campaign so far - scoring just once for the Reds . The Italy forward celebrates after scoring Liverpool's opener against Aston Villa back in January . Accompanied with a picture alongside O'Donoghue Borini said: 'The other night @thescriptofficial concert in Manchester! Unbelievable show!! Thanks for the picture..and thanks to the wonderful backstage staff and their awful banter! Ahaha.' Borini also posted a photo of the packed-out crowd with the message: 'The Show! @thescriptofficial.' On the pitch the Italy forward has found playing time hard to come by this season at Liverpool, scoring just once in all competitions - that in a 2-0 win at Aston Villa back in January. +Living life in the fast lane you wouldn't of thought there is much that could phase Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, but the Red Bull driver was left red-faced after an exchange with Kylie Minogue. The duo appeared together on Australian TV show The Project on Monday as they seemed equally star-struck with one another. Pop princess Minogue pulled out three pictures of the 25-year-old racer and asked him for autographs on each one of them. Kylie mInogue gives the thumbs-up as she appears on TV with Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo on Monday . The pop star asked Ricciardo for three signed photographs of him - one for here and two for her nephews . The F1 star asked if she was serious before admitting he was made to blush by the singer's request . Red Bull driver Ricciardo returns to F1 action when the 2015 season gets under way in Melbourne on Sunday . 'Can I ask A favour?' the singer said to Ricciardo. 'Can I get not one, not two, but three autographs?' Ricciardo, who this week begins the 2015 season at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne, was clearly taken aback by the request. 'Is this serious? I'm blushing,' Ricciardo replied. Minogue shared this picture of the pair laughing together on her official Instagram account . The Australian duo posed for a picture backstage, which the singer also uploaded to social media . The 25-year-old admitted that he was made to blush by the pop star after her request for an autograph . 'One is for me and two for my nephews because I'm going to be the best auntie,' Minogue told Ricciardo. The F1 racer then joked that she would be receiving an authentic signature unlike the copied version most fans get. 'This will be an authentic autograph - not one of those printed ones I give to all my fans,' he quipped. +Martin Skrtel showed that he's fully recovered from the injury scare that forced him off in Liverpool's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Blackburn by posing for a photo in Monte Carlo - while wearing a £260 Givenchy t-shirt. The centre back was taken off on a stretcher in the first minute after a clash with Rudy Gestede left the Slovakian flat out on the Anfield pitch. Skrtel took to Instagram where he posted the snap of himself and wife Bara enjoying some time away from England. Martin Skrtel posted this image on his Instagram alongside his wife Bara in Monte Carlo, Monaco . The centre back was knocked unconscious and required eight minutes of treatment before being substituted . Skrtel is currently on a short-break in sunny Monte Carlo, Monaco, before he'll return to help Liverpool in their quest to finish in the Champions League qualification places. Liverpool travel to Swansea a week on Monday, knowing that a win is vital if they want to keep the pressure on Manchester United and Arsenal. Brendan Rodgers side have won their last three meetings with the Welsh outfit and scored an impressive ten goals. The last time the two sides met, the Reds comfortably won 4-1 including a double from Adam Lallana and ex-Liverpool man Jonjo Shelvey's own goal. Emre Can (centre) calls over to the Liverpool bench for medical attention after Skrtel's injury . +Tottenham Hotspur have been given the go-ahead to build their new stadium after a local firm admitted defeat in its objections to the £400 million development. Archway Sheet Metal Works launched a legal challenge to a compulsory purchase order (CPO) rejected last month but could have appealed. The firm has now decided not to do so, it announced on Friday. How Tottenham's new stadium will look for night games from 2018-19 season onwards . Archway Sheet Metal Works, which is located next to White Hart Lane on the last patch of land Tottenham needed for their stadium development argued that the compulsory purchase order was unlawful . Now that Archway have dropped their case, Spurs have the go-ahead for their new 56,000-plus capacity stadium at White Hart Lane . The company announced in a statement: 'We have always been willing to negotiate with the club on a reasonable and proper basis. 'We will continue to try to achieve a proper settlement by agreement if that is possible.' Spurs have relocated more than 70 local businesses from the site, which is adjacent to the White Hart Lane home they have occupied since 1899. By moving for what is expected to be the 2018-19 season, they will increase their capacity from barely 36,000 to 56,250. Before then Tottenham expect to move elsewhere for at least one season, possibly alternating between Wembley and sharing with League One (third tier) club Milton Keynes Dons. The club also applied several years ago to move permanently to the Olympic Stadium but lost out to London rivals West Ham United. Tottenham striker Harry Kane (centre) rounds QPR goalkeeper Robert Green to score in Spurs' 2-1 win . Spurs playmaker Christian Eriksen (right) tries a shot against QPR at Loftus Road on March 7 . Kyle Walker sees an attempt saved by Green as Spurs take on QPR in their last Premier League game . +Rangi Chase turned on the style in front of Australia national coach Tim Sheens as Salford continued their revival with a 24-18 win over Wakefield to climb into Super League's top eight. The Red Devils have collected five points out of a possible six since Sheens arrived to take up a short-term advisory role at the club and it was Chase, who was given his NRL debut by Sheens as a teenager at Wests Tigers, who once more stole the show on Adrian Morley's 300th Super League appearance. The former Castleford and England stand-off scored one try and provided the scoring pass for Salford's three others to further underline his return to the form that earned him the Man of Steel title in 2011. Rangi Chase put in a stylish performance for Salford Red Devil in their win over Wakefield on Sunday . The Red Devils, who were led out by Morley, were virtually at full-strength with the return of major close-season signings Ben Jones-Bishop and Michael Dobson, and showed signs of becoming a force this year. Wakefield, who gave 18-year-old Jordan Crowther his second appearance, had their moments but were left to contemplate a third successive defeat after starting the season with back-to-back wins. Chase scored a try and set up three for his side as Salford moved into the Super League's top eight . Chase had the chance to help his side open the scoring when he re-gathered the ball from Dobson's high kick but his trademark "no-look" pass found a defender instead of a team-mate and Wakefield went on to dominate the rest of the opening quarter. Impressive full-back Craig Hall's 40-20 kick set up the position for left winger Chris Riley to go over only to be brought back for a forward pass, while centre Reece Lyne had a try disallowed for a double movement before loose forward Danny Washbrook's break paved the way for stand-off Jacob Miller to score the opening try. Hall's conversion made it 6-0 but the Red Devils struck twice in a five-minute spell to turn the tables on the visitors. Chase picked off a pass by his former half-back partner Tim Smith to get winger Greg Johnson away for an 80-metre try and then produced a short pass for second rower Weller Hauraki to score his first try for the club. Josh Griffin added both goals to make it 12-6 and was then denied a try by being held up over the line. Salford looked to be firmly in command when Chase dummied his way over for a solo try three minutes into the second half, Griffin making it 18-6, but Wakefield were in no mood to roll over. Hooker Paul McShane, just back on the field for the injured Pita Godinet, caught the Salford defence napping by forcing his way over from dummy half for his side's second try, which Hall goaled. Morley then produced arguably the highlight of the match, a 50-metre break, to set up the position for Chase to get centre Junior Sa'u over for a fourth try, with Griffin maintaining his 100 per cent with the boot. Wakefield battled to the end and were rewarded with Hall's opportunist try but Salford never looked like surrendering their lead. +These are the stunning aerial images that appear to show an 'underwater vortex' in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mauritius. But despite the appearance of an underwater waterfall along the coast of the tropical island, it is really an optical illusion. The illusion of the dramatic vortex has been created by a run-off of sand and silt deposits. The optical illusion, off the south-west tip of the island, can be seen from a bird's eye view and is even present on Google maps. The island nation of Mauritius was first discovered by Arabic explorers and has since been colonised by the Portuguese, French, British and Dutch. Mauritius, which lies off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, became independent in 1968 and a republic in 1992. Dramatic: Aerial pictures appear to show an 'underwater vortex' in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the tropical island of Mauritius . Trick: The 'vortex' is really an optical illusion and is caused by a build up of sand and silt deposits along the coast of Mauritius . Aerial view: The illusion can only be seen when looking from a bird's eye view and is even present on Google maps pictures . Tropical: The island of Mauritius was first discovered by Arabic explorers and has since been colonised by the Portuguese, French, British and Dutch . Island: Mauritius lies in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa and near to Madagascar. It declared independence in 1968 and became a republic in 1992 . +Manny Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles to be met with the accusation that he has 'losing in his mind' ahead of his £160million clash with Floyd Mayweather Jnr. Pacquiao completed the first part of his training camp in the Philippines before joining up with trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card gym. But Mayweather has taken another swipe at his long-time rival ahead of their £160million mega-fight in Las Vegas on May 2. Scroll down to watch video . Manny Pacquiao posted this picture after arriving in Los Angeles to continue his training camp . Pacquiao had earlier watched his basketball side slump to defeat in the Philippines . 'That only thing I know is win, so is losing in the back of his mind? Absolutely! Why? Because he probably lost three or five times before, so losing is in his mind,' he told Fight Hype. 'Losing is not in my mind because the only thing I know how to do is win.' Pacquiao arrived at LAX on Sunday and was taken away in a Cadillac Escalade as he waved to waiting fans. He had earlier been on the touchline as his basketball side Kia Sorrento lost 115-104 to Blackwater Elite. Pacquiao lost both controversially and conclusively to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 but has won his last three fights. Pacquiao began his training camp in the Philippines before heading over to the Wild Card gym . Mayweather will start training on Monday for his £160million mega-fight with Pacquiao on May 2 . And Mayweather added: 'When you look at the tale of the tape, I have a longer reach, I'm taller, I'm stronger and I'm more accurate. 'I use a little bit of everything. I use my reach, I use my height, I use my movement; I use different techniques, whereas he's not as versatile as Floyd Mayweather. I think that's the difference between us two.' Mayweather will begin his training camp on Monday at his gym in Las Vegas. +A non-league football match had to be postponed after a groundsman demolished the goalposts while mowing and rolling the pitch. The groundsman was dragging a heavy roller around the goal-mouth part of the pitch at the home of Brokenhurst FC when the bulky contraption firmly struck the left-hand post. Such was the force of the collision it caused the goal frame to snap at the join of the crossbar, leaving it dismantled on the turf. Brockenhurst's home clash against Bournemouth Poppies was postponed when the groundsman demolished the goalposts with a heavy roller - the home team were unable to get replacement posts in time . The damage to the goalposts was so bad it meant yesterday's Sydenhams Wessex League clash between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth Poppies had to be cancelled. Pete Lynes, chairman of Brockenhurst FC, told MailOnline: 'I heard about it on the day itself and at first I didn't believe it. 'But when I went down I saw the damage to the post and I immediately telephoned the manufacturers to see if they would be able to provide replacements. 'But they could not deliver new ones until the middle of next week, so we had to call the game off. It's just one of those things.' A spokesman for Bournemouth said: 'We are disappointed, especially after our midweek win, but it is one of those freak things that cannot be helped.' Brockenhurst's home pitch at Grigg Lane where the goalposts were uprooted by the groundsman . Bournemouth Poppies had been hoping to emulate their mid-week success, when they defeated Andover Town 3-1. Their impressive form is in contrast to Brockenhurst who have lost their previous five matches - so the week off may have been a welcome relief. The mid-table clash has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 28. +Pilots with regional airline Regional Express are no longer allowed to use visual approaches to airports after one captain mistook a row of giant coal loaders for a runway, an air safety report has revealed. Crews must use navigational equipment - instead of relying on the human eye - after the incident near Newcastle's Williamtown airport, when Kooragang Island was mistaken for a landing strip, even though it is 19km away from the small terminal. From a pilots perspective Williamtown airport, left, has similar features to Kooragang Island, right. A report released on Friday by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said air traffic controllers intervened just in time to direct the Rex plane back to Wiliamtown airport on November 8, 2013. The plane’s crew were given clearance to approach Williamtown at about 7.30pm. Soon after air traffic controllers noticed the descending plane was making a questionable left hand turn after passing Nobbys Head. A report found Williamtown airport, north east of Newcastle, was difficult to identify among other features on the ground . The captain is reported to have seen a ‘brightly lit row of buildings’ and believed them to be a part of the airport. At this stage the tower controller saw that the plane was ‘manoeuvring at a greater distance than usual from the runway’ and redirected the Sydney to Newcastle flight, not before it had descended to 450 metres off the ground. Same, same but different: The Kooragang Island industrial area is located 19 kilometers from the airport . After landing the pilot told authorities the airport was hard to identify as 'lighting conditions were darker than usual' due to 'cloud cover in the western sky.’ Regional Express pilots have since been told not to make a visual approach, instead using navigation equipment to pinpoint their positions. Banned: Rex airways have ruled out visual approaches after crew incorrectly identified Williamtown airport . The report also claims the pilot was effected by an undisclosed illness which left him fatigued. 'The captain later reported that he may not have been fully fit for duty and that, in hindsight, the illness may have affected his performance on the Newcastle Airport flight.' A report found Williamtown airport, north east of Newcastle, was difficult to identify among other features on the ground. +A nine-year-old boy was locked in a tiny cage then forced to stand half-naked in a pond as punishment for stealing. Jin Hung's cruel castigation by neighbours caused outrage in China after pictures were shared on social media. Locals Yuan Kang, 35, and Cheng Yeh, 40, decided to mete out their own justice after accusing him of stealing food and money from the village, the People's Daily Online reports. Caged: Neighbours decided to lock up the nine-year-old themselves so he could learn his lesson . Shivering: Nine-year-old Jin Hung was stripped to his waist and forced to stand in a pond while locals shouted abuse at him for stealing . He was first locked in a cage so small he could not stand up and told to reflect on his crime. When this failed to make him cry, he was stripped down to his waist and made to stand in the pond while villagers hurled insults. His ordeal only ended when Jin's parents called the police and the neighbours were made to let the shivering youngster go and fined £20 each. Counting the cost: Jin Hung counts money after being caught stealing by angry neighbours in China . But Yuan remained unrepentant, arguing it would teach the child a lesson. He said: 'We all knew in the village that there was somebody stealing, if it wasn't eggs from our henhouse or vegetables, it was cash from inside empty properties. 'When he was caught red-handed we went round to his house and demanded to see inside his room, where we found a jar filled with money hidden under his bed. Cold punishment: Villagers shout insults at Jin Hung while making him stand half-naked in a pond . 'This was obviously his ill gotten gains, and he needed to be taught a lesson that stealing is wrong.' Pictures of the boy's ordeal were later published on Weibo sparking a debate. While many argued that the adults should be locked in a cage for child cruelty, others agreed the punishment would teach him a lesson. +An elderly woman is in a critical condition in hospital after she was knocked to the ground and mugged by two youngsters as she left a supermarket. The 82-year-old, who walks with the aid of a stick, was attacked as she left Morrisons in Palmers Green in Enfield, north London yesterday. The pensioner was knocked to the ground, in broad daylight and the pair stole her purse. The elderly woman was knocked to the ground and had her purse stolen as she left Morrisons in Palmers Green, north London, pictured, . She was also left with head injuries and serious bruising to her face. An air ambulance had to be called and she is now in a stable but critical condition in a central London hospital. The Metropolitan Police are now appealing for witnesses saying the two male youths involved are believed to be in their late teens or early 20s. Detective Constable Ryan Clark from Enfield CID said: 'This was a callous attack on a vulnerable member of the community who was out in the middle of the day shopping for groceries. The Metropolitan Police are now appealing for witnesses with Detective Constable Ryan Clark calling it a callous attack . 'There would have been a lot of people in the area at the time. 'My team is keen for anyone who saw anyone suspicious and in particular two youths making off from the scene of the attack.' Anyone with information about the attack is urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. +A five-year-old managed to start an electric car then crashed into a baby in a buggy at a shopping centre in China. The mischievous boy got into the new white Model S Tesla on display and started the ignition at the mall in Beijing, The People's Daily reports. The car moved forward six metres and crashed straight into a red pushchair with a young child inside. The stroller fell over and the youngster, who was grabbed by its mother, was fortunately unhurt. Baby bump: A five-year-old started an electric car on display in a shopping mall in Beijing, crashing into a pushchair. The young child in the buggy (circled here) was not hurt in the incident . Eyewitness Lok Cheng, 36, told local TV: 'There were loads of kids messing around with the cars, even though it was in a roped off area. 'The car started up but only moved forward at a slow speed, and the woman didn't realise because she had her back to it and the engine made no sound. 'They moved the car back afterwards but you could still see kids playing with it, so I don't think they treated the problem that seriously. At least not until the police turned up.' Road rage: People stand to discuss how a five-year-old boy was able to start up the car on public display . Aftermath: The exact path of the car, which was driven by a five-year-old, can be seen as crowds gather to at the scene. The mother and baby, who were knocked over by the car, are circled next to the buggy . The car was in the middle of the shopping centre in the Chinese capital as part of an exhibition featuring two of the new cars which were on display to the public. The sales team were explaining some of the finer points of the car when the boy opened the door of the white Tesla and climbed inside apparently planning to pretend to drive it. Locked: Another young child tries to get into the car following the incident at a shopping mall in Beijing . At rest: The white Model S can be seen lying in front of the exhibition. Crowds gather to look at the scene . Somehow he managed to start the car up and drove it forward, knocking down the woman and the child she had inside the buggy. It has earned him the nickname 'bear child' in China which is a local expression for children who are left to run amok. The mother and baby were left shaken but unharmed and the family have now filed a complaint with the police. The authorities are investigating why the cars were not locked, allowing the child to get in. Cordoned off: Where the new car should be, behind a tape barrier, at the Tongzhou Wanda Plaza Mall in Beijing . No action will be taken against the young driver but organisers of the exhibit and the shopping centre management at Tongzhou Wanda Plaza Mall could face censure for not taking more care. Neither the management or the car showroom organisers commented on Sunday's incident. +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has been left powerless to intervene in contract stand-offs with Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson, with club owner John W Henry giving full responsibility in negotiations to business partner Mike Gordon. Gordon, the president of Henry’s Boston-based Fenway Sports Group and the second largest shareholder at Liverpool, has been entrusted to play hardball over new deals while Rodgers tries to focus his players on qualifying for the Champions League. Raheem Sterling has still not penned a new deal despite being offered £100,000-a-week . Reds manager Brendan Rodgers (left) insists he is 'relaxed' about the situation . A final offer of £100,000-a-week has been made to 20-year-old Sterling but, like Luis Suarez two years ago, the England international won’t be allowed to force his way out of the club this summer with more than two years to go on his existing deal. Henderson, seen by Rodgers as his captain next season when Steven Gerrard goes to America, is holding out for £90,000-a-week but has been offered around £60,000. There are also major pay obstacles over proposed new deals for Martin Skrtel, Jordon Ibe and Glen Johnson. The Jamaican-born winger has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season . Rodgers had previously claimed that the club would not be held to ransom by the player's agent . Ahead of Sunday's trip to his old club Swansea, Rodgers said: ‘I don’t even know what Raheem wants (financially) to be honest, I just get him to concentrate on his football. ‘I just hope for the kid’s sake it gets resolved. ‘Ultimately it can be about two things for players and representatives — game time and money. ‘As a manager you want to give everything to the player to help them but ultimately if they, or more so their representative, decides the player needs to move, that is normally what happens. ‘I think this club has all the intention of wrapping these deals up but it’s not just the club, you have to remember that. There are two sides to it.’ Sterling trains with captain Steven Gerrard (right) who has recovered from a spell out with a hamstring injury . Anfield captain-in-waiting Jordan Henderson (3rd left) is also yet to sign a contract extension . +Feeding time doesn't get much cuter than at this panda research centre in China. These adorable pictures show the baby pandas are more than happy to lie-back and feed themselves their bottle of milk, just like human babies, at the panda sanctuary in the Sichuan Province. Like after any large meal, one looks particularly sleepy and goes in for a cuddle from a staff member, clutching on as she carries it inside. Cute: Three giant panda cubs lie back on the grass and feed themselves milk from baby bottles at the Chengdu Panda Research Base . Cuddles: A young panda clutches on to a staff member, burying its head into her shoulder, while being carried at the research centre in China . The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base – just outside the city of Chengdu – is home to 83 adults and cubs. Also known as the Chengdu Panda Base, the facility has been breeding and researching the huge black and white creatures since 1987. All gone: This fluffy little panda cub holds onto the empty bottle after feeding itself a helping of milk at the Chengdu Panda Research Base . It was created to imitate the pandas' natural habitat to give them the best possible environment for rearing and breeding. The not-for-profit research and breeding compound started with six giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. By 2008, it had already had 124 panda births. Along with the giant panda, the sanctuary is a refuge to other endangered species such as the red panda, the snow leopard, and the clouded leopard among the 109 species of mammals recorded. Close: These young pandas look close enough to kiss after climbing a tree together at the breeding sanctuary . Playful: The bears show the sharp claws that helped them scale a tree on the grounds of the Chengdu Panda Research Base, China . +Manchester City winger Jesus Navas felt the champions paid the price for failing to take their chances at Burnley. City slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Turf Moor on Saturday to leave their hopes of retaining their Barclays Premier League title in serious jeopardy. George Boyd scored the only goal of the game with a crisp left-footed strike just after the hour, punishing City for their lack of incision. Jesus Navas (left) looks dejected after Manchester City slumped to defeat against Burnley on Saturday . Manchester City winger Navas (left) admits his side were made to rue missed chances during the game . City mustered only five shots on target in a lacklustre display but they did still create 21 opportunities and have a strong penalty appeal declined. Navas felt their luck was simply out. The Spaniard said: 'We came here to get the three points. I think we were a bit unlucky to concede the goal and that we couldn't win. 'We tried to be really persistent in attack but they had a lot of people defending. We tried really hard but we couldn't score. They created a lot of danger but I believe we still had opportunities to get the game won.' George Boyd scored Burnley's winner with a sweetly struck shot into the bottom corner . Boyd celebrates his 61st minute strike for the Clarets at Turf Moor on Saturday night . The result increased the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose position has come under scrutiny during a faltering spell. Since pulling level with Chelsea on New Year's Day, City have managed to win just three of nine league games. Their hopes of rescuing their season - and taking the heat off Pellegrini - could now come down to the small matter of overturning a 2-1 deficit at Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the Champions League on Wednesday. 'It is time to think about the next game,' Navas said. 'We have to prepare very well and try to get to the next round.' +Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez has been using an anti-gravity treadmill in a bid to speed up his recovery from the foot injury that has kept him sidelined since the start of last month. The Colombia ace broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during the Champions League winners' 2-1 La Liga win against Sevilla at the Bernabeu on February 4. The 23-year-old was expected to be out for around eight weeks but appears on course to make an early return after already taking part in light training sessions with the squad. James Rodriguez steps up recovery from broken foot by using anti-gravity treadmill . James has been out since the start of February after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right foot . An anti-gravity treadmill is used in rehabilitation to take pressure off the injured part of the body to allow players to train without the risk of aggravating the injury. Now James has taken to Instagram to document the latest phase of his recovery as the £63million man shared a video of him running on an anti-gravity treadmill. James' return will be welcomed by coach Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid continue to struggle in La Liga. The Champions League winners have failed to win in their last three games having drawn with Villarreal before being beaten by Athletic Bilbao as Barcelona usurped Real at the top of the league. Los Blancos hit a new low on Tuesday as they were beaten 4-3 at the Bernabeu by Schalke, only just scraping through to the Champions League quarter-finals thanks to their 2-0 win away in the first leg. James returned to light training with Real Madrid last week and is expected to make a return soon . +Hosts Guinea have ruled out switching the dates of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals to accommodate the Qatar World Cup, their sports minister said. Domani Dore contradicted a statement by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, who said last week that the 2023 Nations Cup would be pushed back six months to June from its usual January date. With the 2022 World Cup now scheduled for November/December, Valcke said that hosting the Nations Cup just one month later would be unfeasible. The Qatar 2022 World Cup is likely to be moved to November and December, interrupting football's calendar . Jerome Valcke had said the Cup of Nations would be moved to June, but Guinea say that is impossible . He added that it had been agreed with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to move the 16-team tournament to later in the year. Guinea, however, say they will refuse the new dates. 'We cannot accommodate the Nations Cup in June, it is the rainy season,' Dore told Guinea television. 'CAF needs to take care to seek the advice of Guinea that we as a state decide which dates the tournament will be played. We understand the problem around the World Cup and a clash with the Nations Cup. 'But CAF needs to take care to ask our opinion. In June, we cannot accommodate a Nations Cup tournament. It's not possible,' Dore added. Ivory Coast won this year's Cup of Nations, which was held in Equatorial Guinea in January and February .  . +Reading boss Steve Clarke has revealed he did not watch the FA Cup semi-final draw as he refuses to look beyond Monday's sixth-round replay against Bradford. The Royals will welcome Phil Parkinson's side to the Madejski Stadium on Monday night, with the winner progressing into the final four to face cup-holders Arsenal at Wembley. A goalless draw at Valley Parade in the original tie means the draw was made following Arsenal's win at Manchester United but before a replay could decide who would face the Gunners. Reading manager Steve Clarke reveals he did not watch the FA Cup semi-final draw . Reading and Bradford played out a goalless draw in the FA Cup quarter-final last weekend . And Clarke, who made nine changes to his side that lost 4-1 at Watford in their Sky Bet Championship clash on Saturday, insists he cannot entertain the idea of a Wembley date as he pays full respect to Bradford. 'I didn't watch the draw,' he said. 'A friend texted me telling me we had drawn Arsenal, but I never intended on watching it. 'I don't think it (the draw) makes any difference whatsoever. I think the game against Bradford is big enough in its own right and the reward of getting through to an FA Cup semi-final is big enough in its own right. So I don't think the semi-final opposition makes a difference to either team. 'Before there is any talk of semi-finals you have to get through to the quarter-final and that's what we intend to do. 'What's the point of thinking about a game that is not there? You have to think about the game coming up and it's a very difficult game for us against a very good Bradford team.' Almen Abdi (centre) got Watford off to a dream start against Reading by scoring inside a minute . Matej Vyrdra (right) also scored as Watford beat Reading 4-1 on Saturday afternoon . Despite a potential meeting with Arsene Wenger's FA Cup winners, Clarke believes his squad must be targeting their own success in this season's competition rather than just hoping for a Wembley day out against Arsenal. 'To get to Wembley doesn't excite me, to get to the FA Cup semi-final does,' he said. That's the key for me. One more step in the cup would be nice. To get to Wembley is just another game, there are no prizes for it. 'The final goal of any competition is to pick up the silver trophy at the end of it. This is just another step on the way to the final. That's how you have to look at every round and that's how we have looked at every round. 'It's not to get excited about a semi-final. In a semi-final there is no trophy, there are no medals. It's much better to put down on your CV that you have got a cup winners medal or you've lifted a trophy. 'That has to be the ambition. The ambition cannot be to reach the semi-final at Wembley, it has to be to lift the trophy. 'That is the mindset I have to give them. That's the mindset you have to have. If you're satisfied to reach a semi-final then that's not correct.' +Bradford boss Phil Parkinson believes his side have already won one psychological battle ahead of Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final replay against Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Both sides made wholesale changes to their Saturday line-ups in order to combat the frantic fixture scheduling and it was the second-string Bantams who came out best with a gutsy 1-1 draw at Notts County. Bradford's fortunes came in contrast to their Reading rivals, as Steve Clarke sent out a team entirely unrecognisable from the one that earned a draw at Valley Parade last week and saw the Royals slump to a heavy 4-1 defeat at Watford. Almen Abdi (centre) got Watford off to a dream start against Reading by scoring inside a minute . Matej Vydra (right) also scored for Watford as they beat Reading 4-1 on Saturday afternoon . Parkinson admitted his own side's push for a place in the League One play-offs had made team selection tricky at Meadow Lane, but is convinced the respective weekend performances will have given his own side a bigger lift. Parkinson said: 'I think Reading had an advantage because they are not going to go up or down whereas we've got to make sure we're still fighting on two fronts. 'Reading were able to make more changes but they got thumped which won't help them. When we've made changes we've got results and that will give everybody a lift because the lads who came in are walking around with a spring in their step. 'I think we got it right. I was pleased with the balance of the team (at Notts County) and I thought all the lads who came in actually added something in terms of freshness.' Reading manager Steve Clarke is bemused by the decision to host a quarter-final replay on a Monday . Both teams missed chances as Reading and Bradford drew 0-0 in the quarter-final last weekend . Bradford manager Phil Parkinson acknowledges the crowd during their FA Cup quarter-final match . Both Parkinson and Clarke have made their feelings clear about the controversial scheduling of the last eight replay, which is due primarily to a ruling that domestic games must not clash with UEFA competitions. But Parkinson hopes to be able to bring back all the first-team players who have starred in their improbable cup run so far, with striker Jon Stead showing a welcome return to form with a swinging opener at Meadow Lane. Stead, who will look to maintain his record of scoring in every round of this season's competition at the Madejski Stadium, had looked off the pace as he struggled with a minor injury issue in recent weeks, with his last goal coming in the famous 2-0 win over Sunderland last month. However, the 31-year-old has been given time to recover by Parkinson and it paid off in his 11th goal of the season before he was taken off on the hour mark as a precautionary measure. 'I thought Jon just needed a break,' said Parkinson. 'He has run himself into the ground every weekend but he looked fresher. 'I gave him that opportunity of a rest and we played him for 60 minutes yesterday. He's clinical with both feet and it was a great finish from him so hopefully the break will have done him good.' +Martin Skrtel was carried off on a stretcher early on in Liverpool's FA Cup quarter-final against Blackburn, after landing awkwardly on his head. The Slovakian defender needed eight minutes of treatment on the pitch, and was carried away wearing a neck brace and has been taken to hospital as a precaution. Skrtel landed on his head after being caught in the face by an innocuous-looking challenge from Rudy Gestede in just the second minute of the game. VIDEO Scroll down to see Brendan Rodgers give an update on Skrtel's condition . Martin Skrtel was knocked unconscious after falling awkwardly following a challenge with Rudy Gestede . +Ed Woodward and the Glazers love an eye-catching signing at Manchester United but for manager Louis van Gaal the enforced absence of £59.7million winger Angel di Maria against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday might be the best news he’s had this season. Of all the troubles that have afflicted Van Gaal in the last few months, none will have frustrated him more than the most expensive player in Premier League history. Di Maria flickered brightly when he first arrived from Real Madrid but the last six months have signalled a steady decline due to injury, loss of form, an unfortunate burglary and most recently a stupid red card for pulling referee Michael Oliver against Arsenal on Monday night. Angel di Maria pleads his innocence after being booked by referee Michael Oliver in the defeat to Arsenal . Oliver shows the red card to Di Maria after he tugged at the referee's shirt following a yellow card . Di Maria walks off the pitch after receiving the red card during the FA Cup quarter-final with Arsenal . United now have to face Spurs without him as they begin a run of key fixtures that will define their chances of getting into the Champions League. Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea all await in just over a month. Yet Di Maria’s absence also gives Van Gaal an opportunity. By his own admission, the United manager likes to kill off opponents by applying pressure through extended spells of possession. It requires patience from fans and players. For an instinctive risk-taker like Di Maria, it’s akin to being a square peg in a round hole. And for United, the deliberate build-up doesn’t work if after 20 passes, their star man dribbles into a defender and doesn’t fight to win the ball back. LVG has tried the Argentine in several positions but none have worked. Without Di Maria against Spurs, themselves pushing for a top-four place, Van Gaal has greater options. He can opt for two traditional wingers, Ashley Young and Adnan Januzaj, recall the flair of Juan Mata or goal-poacher’s instinct of Radamel Falcao, or play a midfield three of Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind to give him the control he craves. For now, Van Gaal is treading carefully with Di Maria. It wouldn’t be wise to tell the board they’ve wasted their money and with the player’s confidence at a low ebb after his red card hastened United’s FA Cup exit, the manager wants to build him up, not destroy him. Manchester United ace Ander Herrera battles for the ball with fellow Spaniard Santi Cazorla at Old Trafford . Manager Louis van Gaal speaks to Ashley Young during the FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Old Trafford . Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick vies for the ball with former team-mate Danny Welbeck . Even so, it’s significant when the United manager said on Saturday: ‘You pick up players like Juan Mata and Angel di Maria as they are very creative and dangerous, but when you lose the ball too much every trainer-coach will say, “You don’t have to lose so many balls”, as we have to fight back to win the ball again, or the opponent can score. ‘That is always the balance between creative and measuring the risk and ball possession of the opponent. And that is not only for Mata and Di Maria but for every player.’ United have invested too much in Di Maria to jettison him at the first sign of trouble, particularly if no other club is willing to financially compensate a great deal of their outlay. But should United convincingly overcome a Spurs side brimming with youthful energy in the form of Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason, questions will be asked if they are a better unit without their most expensive acquisition. Tottenham Hotspur's French midfielder Nabil Bentaleb battles Bobby Zamora for the ball at Loftus Road . Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Ryan Mason looks to beat QPR ace Matt Phillips to the ball . Of course, the break-in at Di Maria’s house was horrible for his family, who have effectively been forced from their home and now live in a hotel. But it leaves Van Gaal in a tricky position. In the build-up to Sunday's showdown, the United manager tried to address all sides. He said he expected Di Maria to be at the club next season, but at the same time would be sympathetic to any player who was experiencing off-field problems and wanted to leave. He also pointed out that financial considerations meant the club couldn’t allow Di Maria to go cheap. In shorthand it’s unlikely United would beat off any suitors who waved £50m at them to sign Di Maria this summer. Van Gaal and Ryan Giggs stand with an official as they look to get their tactics across at Old Trafford . The manager’s immediate priority is to try and beat Spurs. Any other result would hand the advantage of Champions League qualification to Arsenal, Liverpool and also Mauricio Pochettino’s team. Failure to be among Europe’s elite for a second consecutive season would be cataclysmic for United on many levels. For Van Gaal, a manager who has won championships with Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar and Bayern Munich, the price would be hurtful in football terms even without the monetary implications. ‘I don’t think that I’m here to think about the financial consequences — that is (for) Ed Woodward,’ he argued. ‘I’m here to manage the professional football department of Manchester United and I’m here because of my qualities and my philosophy. Di Maria celebrates a rare goal in a Manchester United shirt after scoring against Everton at Old Trafford . ‘I think they are pleased with my way of managing the club. I am not thinking of the consequences if I am not in fourth or third. It is very bad for the club but why do we have to speak about things that have not happened yet?’ United have lost only two league games since November 2 but their form has been unconvincing and their fans have booed players for an often safety-first approach. The United manager insists everything is on track and the players are buying into his famed philosophy, even if some supporters are impatient with his pragmatic approach. Due to his price tag, it would have been hard to imagine Di Maria being dropped for such an important fixture as this one against Spurs. Now he can’t play, it will be interesting to see if United gel better as a team without him. Di Maria takes on Argentina team-mate Pablo Zabaleta as Manchester United face rivals Manchester City . +Victor Valdes says he can have no complaints about sitting on the bench at Manchester United as he regards his rival David de Gea as the best goalkeeper in the world. Louis van Gaal won the race to sign Valdes in January, but his only appearances in a United shirt so far have come in the Under-21 side. Despite being a three-time Champions League winner, Valdes is yet to turn out for the senior team simply because De Gea's form has been nothing short of outstanding. Victor Valdes (right) says his compatriot and team-mate David de Gea (left) is the finest keeper in the world . The former Barca man admits he doesn't mind warming the Old Trafford bench if De Gea is No 1 . Valdes bears no ill feeling towards his fellow Spaniard though. He can only marvel at his performances. 'You are always waiting for your opportunity to play and train every day to show your performance to the manager,' the former Barcelona goalkeeper told United Uncovered. 'But now David is at a very, very high performance level. 'I think he is the most important goalkeeper in the world at the moment. So it is difficult [for me] to play and, of course, I must accept this. 'For me, the top [keeper] now is David. I see him every day in training. I watch him in every game, every week, and his performances right now are amazing.' Negotiations have begun between De Gea and United over an extension to his current contract, which expires next year. Negotiations have begun between De Gea and United over an extension to his current contract . If they are unsuccessful, Real Madrid will surely pounce to sign the 24-year-old, whose Madrid-based girlfriend Edurne Garcia made it clear that she is not a fan of Manchester this week. Valdes, 33, will have a tough job on his hands winning over the fans if he replaces De Gea in goal next season. 'Every week he makes saves to help the team so I am very happy for him and also for the fans,' said Valdes, who is contracted until the end of next season. 'I always hear them sing the song of David de Gea, so I think they are very happy with David for the level of performance he has shown in the last few years. I feel the fans are definitely very happy with the job he is doing.' De Gea's latest impressive display came on Monday when he prevented Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla from making United's FA Cup exit to Arsenal even more painful. One of the few times De Gea has been upstaged this season came on December 28 when Hugo Lloris pulled off a number of excellent saves to earn Tottenham a 0-0 draw against United at White Hart Lane. United management team Louis van Gaal (left) and Ryan Giggs face the test of Tottenham on Sunday . De Gea still put in a top performance in north London, and on Sunday he is likely to be busy once more when Spurs come to Old Trafford thanks to Harry Kane's form. Van Gaal, a sincere believer in youth development, has been impressed by the fact that Spurs academy graduate Kane has scored 26 goals in his breakthrough year with the club. 'The way [Kane] is scoring is a reason for their success,' Van Gaal said. 'That's one aspect of the world of football that a big talent can stand up in one season and he is doing that. 'I like the process in Tottenham because there also you can see that a lot of experienced players are not playing and a lot of youngsters are playing. Old Trafford boss Van Gaal identified the scoring sensation Harry Kane as a factor to Tottenham's success . 'In spite of that they are also very close (to the top four) and are playing attacking football. 'I like Tottenham. It is not easy to play Tottenham. 'They have a lot of talent . 'I hope we can beat them because it will be very difficult again.' Sunday's game marks the start of a tough run of fixtures for United, who then face Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea. The Red Devils are fourth in the table, just two points in front of Liverpool and three ahead of Spurs. Van Gaal will be without Robin van Persie on Sunday as he remains sidelined with an ankle injury. Jonny Evans and Angel di Maria are suspended while Marcos Rojo is a doubt due to a groin problem.  . +St Helens needed a supercharged second half show to maintain their 100 per cent First Utility Super League record with a 30-20 win at Widnes. Both sides were without several key players but Widnes deserved their 14-6 interval lead before the champions ran in 24 second half points. Lance Hohaia crossed for two of the visitors' five tries, with others from the outstanding Atelea Vea, Luke Thompson and Jordan Turner. Travis Burns kicked five goals. Lance Hohaia scores first try for of St Helens on Friday night . Widnes led at the break thanks to tries from Eamon O'Carroll and Patrick Ah Van in front of 7,772 fans. The hosts were missing skipper Kevin Brown, Cameron Phelps, Lloyd White, Manase Manuokafoa and Hep Cahill with Danny Craven, Stefan Marsh, Grant Gore and Macgraff Leuluai back after last week's defeat at Huddersfield. St Helens, without James Roby and banned Kyle Amor, were strengthened by the return of Burns from suspension, while Paul Wellens reverted to his old full-back spot in the absence of injured Jonny Lomax. Josh Jones and Andre Savelio replaced injured Mark Percival and Mark Flanagan, who were also injured in the win at Wakefield with Luke Walsh still missing. Widnes notched their first home win over Saints for 20 years last season and made a flying start with O'Carroll charging over from short range after Danny Tickle was held short. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook has the ball stripped from him by the tackle from Stefan Marsh of Widnes . Tickle had no problem with the straightforward conversion to fire his side into a 6-0 lead. Alex Walmsley almost forced his way over for Saints but was bundled into touch by determined tackling. The Vikings defence was not as impressive after 15 minutes with Hohaia scampering over from dummy half, with Burns adding the goal to level at 6-6. Saints continued to pile on the pressure before Widnes were only denied on the break by a try saving tackle from Tommy Makinson on Joe Mellor before a thundering midfield burst by Ah Van. Makinson was forced to quit injured with Widnes regaining the lead with Rhys Hanbury's pass putting Ah Van over in the corner and Marsh booting the touchline conversion with Tickle having gone off. Marsh struck a penalty five minutes before the interval to make it 14-6 and Saints could have no complaints after sloppy handling. Jon Wilkin gives thumbs up to Saints fans at the end of the game . Paddy Flynn failed to collect the restart and Widnes paid the price with Ah Van fumbling a Jon Wilkin kick - Vea pounced and Burns converted to cut the gap to 14-12. The Vikings lost Chris Dean with a rib injury and were forced to drop out twice in quick succession from under their own posts as Saints stepped up the tempo. The pressure told with teenage forward Thompson forcing his way over to give Saints the lead for the first time after 53 minutes with Burns' kick edging them ahead 18-14. Saints put daylight between the sides four minutes later after a thundering burst from Vea with Wellens in support to send Turner over and make it 24-14. Hohaia wriggled over for his second try to add to the Vikings' woes on the hour and stretch the lead to 30-14. Danny Craven looked certain to notch a third try for Widnes after a long range break but stumbled and was stopped by Matt Dawson. Widnes managed a late try from Aaron Heremaia but paid the price for their poor start to the second half.  . +Warrington piled on the agony for Leeds as the luckless Yorkshiremen lost their star full-back as well as their 100 per cent Super League record on Friday the 13th. The Rhinos left out England international Zak Hardaker after it emerged that he was the subject of a police investigation into an assault case, forcing Leeds to throw teenager Ashton Golding in for his full debut. Golding performed admirably but little else went right for Leeds as they fell from the top of the table and suffered a fifth consecutive defeat at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in going down 18-6 to a Warrington side starting to find their groove. Kevin Penny touches down over the line to score a magnificent solo try and get Warrington on their way . The Rhinos trailed 18-0 until scoring what proved to be a consolation try through winger Tom Briscoe and skipper Kevin Sinfield's goal took him to within three points of the 4,000 mark. The Wolves, led by the magnificent Chris Hill in the absence of the injured Joel Monaghan, created the first chance when lively left winger Matty Russell produced a half-break but centre Ryan Atkins was pulled back for a forward pass. Both sides were full of attacking intent but they virtually cancelled each other out and it took a moment of brilliance from right winger Kevin Penny to break the deadlock on 15 minutes. Penny was forced to drop back to collect Stefan Ratchford's wayward pass but that succeeded in fooling the Leeds defence which was back-pedalling when the one-time basketball player cut a swathe through the middle for an opportunist score. Joe Philbin stops Leeds' Kallum Watkins in a game where excellent defenses trumped ambitious attacks . The Rhinos lost centre Joel Moon with concussion at that point but second rower Carl Ablett has plenty of experience in the threequarters and he demonstrated his nous on 25 minutes to create a clear-cut opening for winger Ryan Hall, who uncharacteristically fumbled the pass. The Wolves then struck another blow seven minutes before the break when Ratchford raced onto a perfectly-judged grubber kick from scrum-half Gareth O'Brien. Ratchford kicked his second goal to make it 12-0 and Warrington defended superbly to keep their lead intact up to the break, with Leeds duo Brad Singleton and Danny McGuire held agonisingly short of the line. Leeds recovered a 12-point interval deficit to win handsomely in their last match but any hopes of a repeat were dashed by an unlikely error from their inspirational captain. Stefan Ratchford dives on the ball to score his side's second try, awarded after a decision from the TMO . O'Brien swooped on a stray pass from the Rhinos stand-off 30 metres out from the visitors' line to get Atkins over for a third try and Ratchford kicked his third goal. Leeds grabbed a lifeline on the hour when Hall broke clear on halfway and centre Kallum Watkins was in support to get Briscoe away and they thought they had scored again moments later when Singleton touched down after Ratchford had fumbled Sinfield's high kick but the try was ruled out for a knock-on by McGuire. Sinfield went off injured 11 minutes from the end as Warrington comfortably held on for a precious victory despite Ratchford missing with a penalty kick at goal and Chris Bridge putting a drop-goal attempt wide. Kevin Sinfield lines up his goal after Leeds' only try, but it failed to spark a late comeback . +Manny Pacquiao was up at the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning as he continued to put in the groundwork ahead of his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr. Joined by a large entourage and a Jack Russell Terrier called Pacman, Pacquiao was pounding the streets of Los Angeles at 5.30am on day three of his training camp. Pacquiao has a little more than eight weeks to get himself down to the 147lb welterweight limit for the $300million (£200m) mega-fight in Las Vegas on May 2 . Scroll down to watch a video of Pacquiao training . Manny Pacquiao out for an early morning run in Los Angeles with some members of his team . Pacquiao was joined by a Jack Russell Terrier called Pacman as he stepped up his preparations . Pacquiao stopped to shadow box as he awaits the arrival of his trainer Freddie Roach who is in Macao . Pacquiao's preparations started at home in the Philippines before he flew to Los Angeles last Sunday. The 36-year-old is currently training without his mentor Freddie Roach who is in Macao to corner Zou Shiming as he bids to win his first world title at flyweight. 'Manny told me I should be with Zou because he knows how important this fight is for him,' Roach told ESPN. 'The thing is, Manny is that type of guy. He cares about other people. He knows Shiming has a better chance to win if I'm there with him.' In Roach's absence, Pacquiao is working with assistant trainer Marvin Somodio and childhood friend Buboy Fernandez. And on Wednesday he was seen jogging with several members of his team before spending a short time shadow boxing and stretching off. Both Pacquiao and Mayweather have kept fans updated with their progress via social media by posting pictures and video of their training sessions, although the finer details of their game plans will be worked on away from the cameras. Only one press conference will be held in the build-up, next Wednesday in Los Angeles, as both men come face to face for the final time before fight week. Pacquiao has just over eight weeks to get down to the 147lb welterweight limit for the Floyd Mayweather fight . Pacquiao started his training in the Philippines but flew into Los Angeles last weekend for the hard work . Pacquiao looks focused as he swings a left hook while members of his entourage look on . Pacquiao made sure he stretched off properly after his workout and later posted videos on Instagram . +Five people are confirmed dead and 25 more are missing and presumed dead after a shopping center in the city of Kazan collapsed in a fire, Russian emergency officials said. Officials said on Thursday that the toll of missing at the Admiral centre is based on reports from relatives and workers in the shopping center, 450 miles east of Moscow. Forty people were injured in the blaze. Firefighters extinguish a fire at a shopping mall in Kazan, 720 kilometers (450 miles) east of Moscow, Russia . Regional emergency services head Igor Panshin was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying 'the hope of finding survivors under the shopping center debris has been abandoned.' The cause of the fire that began Wednesday has not been determined. At first a security guard battled with the flames on his own before calling the emergency services, according to the BBC. It's thought that the blaze began in a cafe situated next to the shopping centre. Officials believe a 43,000-square-foot area has been razed to the ground. Around 500 riot police were eventually deployed to stop members of the public entering the building. The cause of the fire that began Wednesday has not been determined . Officials said on Thursday that the toll of missing is based on reports from relatives and workers in the shopping centre . According to local media many of those injured in the fire were hurt as they tried to save their shopping . It's thought that the blaze began in a cafe situated next to the shopping centre . +A group of male submariners traded illicit videos of female officers in various stages of undress as if they were Pokémon cards, a U.S. Navy prosecutor said on Thursday. Navy prosecutors presented evidence against two of 12 male sailors accused of illegally making and trading videos of female officers aboard a nuclear submarine that was among the first to allow American women to serve alongside men. The two men in court Thursday, both missile technicians aboard the USS Wyoming nuclear submarine, based at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia, were accused of trading the videos with other sailors. Going under: The USS Wyoming submarine, based at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia. A group of 12 male submariners serving aboard the vessel stand accused of taking secret footage of their female colleagues undressing and trading it 'like Pokémon cards' Another sailor aboard the Wyoming made the videos with his smartphone and then told others that he had a 'gift for them,' Navy prosecuting attorney Lieutenant Commander. Lee Marsh said. Once the sailor who took the videos arrived back onshore, Marsh said, he shared them with the others by 'bumping' their smartphones together. The videos were not posted online. 'Videos were treated like Pokémon. Something to be collected,' Marsh said during the preliminary hearing in the case against two missile technicians charged with conspiracy to distribute recordings of private areas of female officers. Navy Vice Admiral Michael Connor, commander of the nation's submarine fleet, has characterized the case as a 'serious sexual offence, with significant penalties.' The case highlights issues the Navy has faced in switching to co-ed crews on ballistic-missile submarines. It began the practice in 2011. More than 50 women now serve aboard submarines, and Connor has said while the change to coed crews has not been without incident, overall it has been a success. Navy Lt. Paul Hochmuth, defense attorney for one of the accused missile technicians who was in court on Thursday, said his client didn't know what the files were when he accepted the 'gift' on his phone. Cartoon capers: The submariners on the USS Wyoming submarine were accused of capturing illicit footage of their female colleagues undressing for the shower and trading it like Pokémon cards, which are based on the popular children's cartoon show (pictured) He argued that the government was unfairly describing the videos as graphic, as they were of poor quality, only ever viewed on smartphones, and showed only partial nudity. 'At no point can you ever see a full length view of the person... You might see a face... then a leg... or a butt... but there is no full length view,' Hochmuth said. Marsh said the quality of the videos is irrelevant because they were made without consent and that they were explicit. 'The videos consist of... undressing for the shower and drying off from the shower,' he said. The hearing was presided over by a Naval officer, who listened to statements from both sides and will issue a recommendation to Rear Admiral Charles Richard, commander of submarine group 10. Richard will decide whether to pursue court martial trials against the defendants, dismiss the charges, or use other administrative methods to deal with the cases. +Forget walkies, this debonair dog's more likely to be doing wheelies. Video captured by Chris Hayes at the Los Gatos Creek Trail in California shows a white fluffy dog cruising along in a miniature Mercedes. The pup doesn't appear to have a care in the world as his whizzes along a tarmac path with the breeze blowing in his fur. Scroll down for video . Scrap walkies: Video captured by Chris Hayes at the Los Gatos Creek Trail in California shows a white fluffy dog cruising along in a miniature Mercedes . Cool canine: The pup doesn't appear to have a care in the world as his whizzes along a tarmac path with the breeze blowing in his fur . Hayes said the convertible car appeared to be driven remotely. It seems to have been specially adapted for a small passenger. However, it still has all of the essential features, including a personalized number plate and cup holder. The dog is seen driving along with a can of soda close to his paw. It is not know who the hound belongs too, but judging by his sweet ride he's likely to have a palatial pad to match. Paws-free: Hayes said the convertible car appeared to be driven remotely . Custom made: It seems to have been specially adapted for a small passenger- however, it still has all of the essential features, including a personalized number plate and cup holder . So long, buster! It is not know who the hound belongs too, but judging by his sweet ride he's likely to have a palatial pad to match . +A video has emerged appearing to show an Afghan soldier risking his life by allowing a marksman to shoot tins from his shoulders - from 50 metres away. Footage, believed to have been taken at a base in Afghanistan, shows a special forces soldier standing still as a sniper picks off the small targets. The video starts by showing a fully-equipped marksman lying on the ground, positioning his weapon and taking aim. Footage, believed to have been taken at a base in Afghanistan, shows a special forces soldier standing still as a sniper takes aim at two green tins positioned on his shoulders . The soldier (left) stays still as the tin on his right shoulder is apparently shot off by the sniper . It then cuts away to an armed man with green tins positioned on his shoulders. He is standing next to another soldier, with a third man filming proceedings with a mobile phone. They are all standing in front of a wall at the unnamed base. Seconds later the screen becomes blurred as one of the tins is apparently shot by the sniper - to cheers from colleagues. The man remains perfectly still and even appears to smile after the second tin is blasted away from his left shoulder. The video starts by showing a fully-equipped marksman lying on the ground, positioning his weapon and taking aim . The footage is believed to have been taken at a military base in Afghanistan. But the identity of the men is unknown . The camera then pans back to the sniper who stands up as the other men congratulate him. According to 9News the weapon shown in the video is a US-made M4 Carbine with an attached scope. Before the video ends, the marksman walks up to shake hands with the soldier . The identity of the men is not yet known and 9News reports that it is unclear if those involved will face disciplinary action for the stunt. +These are the women who are defying the Taliban to follow their dream of becoming professional cyclists. While Afghanistan's national men's cricket and football teams have enjoyed the spotlight recently, women's sports have endured stuttering progress in the face of family pressure and a lack of public support. But the National Cycling Team has been breaking new ground for women's sports in the country and pushing the boundaries of what is - and is not - acceptable for young women in the conservative Muslim nation. One team member, Malika Yousufi, even dreams of becoming the first Afghan woman to compete in the Tour de France - a cycling event dominated by men since its first event in 1903. Scroll down for video . Breaking new ground: Abdul Sadiq Sadiqi (right) coach of Afghanistan's Women's National Cycling Team gives a motivational talk before training begins in Kabul . Playing catch-up: Zhala, a member of Afghanistan's Women's National Cycling Team, takes to the road with her team mates on the outskirts of Kabul . Winter training: Team members see the funny side as they are put through their paces during a training exercise on a snow-covered mountain . Wheels in motion: Masooma Alizada (left), and Zahra Alizada (right) concentrate as they swoop down the side of a mountain near Kabul . Under the Taliban in the 1990s, women in Afghanistan were . excluded from public life, banned from going to school or . stepping outside their home without a male family member. Women's rights have made gains since the hardline Islamist . group's ouster in 2001, but observers worry that progress is at . risk as violence against women persists and women remain . under-represented in politics. 'We are resolved to keep our commitments to women and wewill protect and reinforce our achievements,' President AshrafGhani's office said in a statement released after the presidentmade a speech ahead of International Women's Day on March 8. Defiant: The women have been breaking new ground for women's sports in Afghanistan and pushing the boundaries of what is - and is not - acceptable for young women in the conservative Muslim nation . Hard yards: The women's cycling team is pushing ahead, despite not having been paid for several months - a problem for many Afghan athletes . Time out: Two team members take a break from a gruelling training session to admire the scenery as they sit on the back of their support car . On the road: To clock the distances needed for training, team members pile their bikes in cars and drive outside the capital, where their uniform of loose-fitting tops and long pants won't draw stares . Leading the charge: Frozan Rasooli (left) and Masooma Alizada (right) focus on the road ahead while their coach shouts out encouragement . Last year, the women's cricket team was quietly dissolved . amid Taliban threats and a shortage of players. The women's cycling team is pushing ahead, despite not . having been paid for several months, a problem for many Afghan . athletes. To clock the distances needed for training, team members . pile their bikes in cars and drive outside the capital, where . their uniform of loose-fitting tops and long pants won't draw . stares. Cyclist Zhala unloads her bicycle ahead of a training session near Kabul. The team is determined to carry on in the face of family pressure and a lack of public support . Safety first: Coach Abdul Sadiq Sadiqi (right) helps cyclist Malika Yousufi (left) with her helmet as the team prepares for another training session . Fine tuning: Masooma Alizada (left) and Frozan Rasooli (right) take a break to carry out some maintenance on one of the team's road bikes . Food for thought: Cyclist Masooma Alizada (pictured) replenishes her energy as she snacks on an orange during a training session . During the ride, the coach leads the pack in a car. 'The coach is like a shield for us,' Yousufi said. 'If he . wasn't there, we couldn't ride.' Even so, drivers sometimes shout profanities at the riders, . and their team captain is struggling with a back injury from a crash . after a man on a motorbike reached out to grab her. Abdul Sadiq Sadiqi, the coach and president of the Afghan . Cycling Federation, is not overly concerned. Determined: Zahra Alizada (right) and Frozan Rasooli (following in a blue scarf) prepare themselves for another day's training on the road . Team effort: More than 40 women train with the group, and the best among them are competing in international competitions . Drivers sometimes shout profanities at the riders and their team captain is struggling with a back injury from a crash after a man on a motorbike reached out to grab her . Masooma Alizada goes through her exercise routing before taking to the road. Despite the progress of the team, observers worry gender-based violence persists and women remain under-represented in politics in Afghanistan . Brave: Zhala (left), Maryam Sediqi (centre) and Malika Yousufi (right) are determined to succeed while Malika even dreams of competing in the Tour de France . Masooma Alizada runs on a treadmill as she shows her determination to become a cyclist with the potential to compete on the world stage . 'These are people who don't let their children go to . school,' Sadiqi said. More than 40 women train with the group, and the core team . has competed in several international competitions. On a recent morning, team members leaned into the curves in . the road, whizzing past a checkpoint where a group of soldiers . watched them pass. 'Nothing will stop us,' Yousufi said. Masooma Alizada (left), Zahra Alizada (centre), and Frozan Rasooli (right) have described their coach as being 'like a shield for us'. Yousufi said: 'If he wasn't there, we couldn't ride' Team talk: Frozan Rasooli (left), Zahra Alizada (second left), and Masooma Alizada (third left) pick up some vital tips from coach Abdul Sadiq Sadiqi (right) during a team talk . Zahra Alizada (pictured) and her friends want to boost women's sport in the country with Afghanistan's national men's cricket and football teams enjoying the spotlight recently . Quiet reflection: Masooma Alizada and her friends still face barriers to achieving their goals. Last year, the women's cricket team was quietly dissolvedamid Taliban threats and a shortage of players . The women have received some encouragement from President Ashraf Ghani's office which said in a statement: 'We are resolved to keep our commitments to women and we will protect and reinforce our achievements.' Pictured is one of the team's bicycle pumps . +A man has been accused of raping a string of animals including cows, horses and even water buffalo in the Philippines. Andy Loyola was arrested after he was allegedly caught having sex with a cow which had been reported missing by its owner in Silang, near Manila. The farmer, Rustico Sarno, later claimed the animal had become pregnant despite insisting it had never mated with a bull. Suspect and 'victim': Filipino Andy Loyola (left) has been accused of raping this cow (right) along with a string of other cattle including horses and water buffalo in Silang, near Manila . Police said the cow may undergo a medical examination to verify the claims. Loyola has also been accused by the farmer of raping his other cattle a number of times, including horses and water buffalo. The 46-year-old, who is believed to have been under the influence of drugs, is being held in custody at Silang Cavite Municipal Police Station, south of Manila. Officers said various drug paraphernalia were seized from the suspect when he was arrested last week, it was reported by Abs-cbnnews. Loyola is facing charges of violating the Animal Welfare Act. It is not known when he is due to appear in court. The cow with its owner Rustico Sarno who allegedly caught Loyola raping the animal . +A passionate tree surgeon created a video to show what his unique, dangerous and perhaps misunderstood job entails. Capturing footage of himself on a GoPro camera, Cezary Romanowski documented his experiences over a period of several months. The video begins with Cezary, a tree surgeon from Poland, sharpening the teeth of his chainsaw and filling it up with fuel while in a snowy woodland. Suitably prepared, Cezary ties himself to a tree and makes his way up it using spikes – also known as gaffs or spurs – attached to his chainsaw boots. What follows is a fast-paced montage sequence showing Cezary dispatching trees of all shapes and sizes. Sawing through a particularly large trunk, the tree surgeon appears to balance in the air before taking one hand off his chainsaw – while its teeth continue to rotate – and reaching for a wedge. Cezary is filmed sharpening the teeth of his chainsaw before filling it with fuel in a snowy wooded area . Cezary prepares by attaching himself to the tree before climbing up the trunk and cutting it from the top . Jamming it in the gap, Cezary makes his way around the tree, systematically tapping the wedge in further as he goes, until the crane is able to lift the top of the trunk away. Another clip of the tree surgeon shows him drawing a smiley face onto a piece of trunk. While the following one presents the three stages in which he safely chops down a rather large tree positioned in the middle of a residential area. The tree surgeon uses spikes – also known as gaffs or spurs – attached to his chainsaw boots to help him climb . Cezary demonstrates how sharp his axe is by running its blade along a piece of paper and shredding it . Cezary also shows off how sharp his axe is by running its blade along a piece of paper, after cutting down a tree and throwing his chainsaw behind his back to let it hang by its cord. The video concludes with the tree surgeon chopping off the many branches of a tree, after winching himself into position. Before looking into the camera, turning away and demonstrating the trust he has for his tools by resting his chainsaw on his neck. Quite a height! Cezary skillfully chops a tree down in three piece (left) and enjoys the view after chopping the top off another tree (right) Like a knife through butter! The tree surgeon cuts through a huge trunk with ease while using a wedge to help him . Tree surgeons, or arborists as they are formally known, cultivate, manage and study individual trees, shrubs and vines. Their job therefore differs to that of a logger or a forester, who focus on large areas of woodland. Often dangerous, tree surgeons are sometimes required to work near power wires but may also plan, consult, write reports and give legal testimony. In the UK, arborists can gain qualifications up to and including a Master's degree. Cezary shows off how much he trusts his tools as he walks away from the camera balancing the chainsaw on his neck . +A number of England’s Ashes cricket stars are facing ‘very substantial’ bills from the tax man after investing in film funds, it has been reported. International players including some members of the Ashes-winning team of 2005 are said to have been among those who invested in partnerships set up by Ingenious Media. HM Revenue & Customs is reported to have sent demands to Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood, Matthew Hoggard and Ashley Giles – all of whom took part in the landmark triumph over Australia. HM Revenue & Customs is reported to have sent demands to Michael Vaughan (left) and Paul Collingwood (right) According to the Guardian, the four players invested in Ingenious Film Partners in February and March 2005 - just months before England secured its first Ashes victory in 18 years. HMRC is currently locked in a legal battle with Ingenious Media, which set up the partnerships, claiming the investments were a means of avoiding tax. The company has previously denied the claims, saying HMRC approved its schemes at the time and that the investments were made in box office hits including Avatar and Hotel Rwanda. The Guardian reports that former England captain Michael Vaughan invested in three of the partnerships being challenged by HMRC – Ingenious Film Partners 2, Ingenious Film Partners and Inside Track Productions. Ashes heroes Matthew Hoggard (left) and Ashley Giles (right) are also reported to have been sent demands by the taxman . Sky Sports presenter and former Ashes winner David Gower (left) is also on the list of investors along with former International batsmen Alec Stewart (right) Sky Sports presenter and former Ashes winner David Gower is also on the list of investors along with former International batsmen Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher. The list of investors is publicly registered at Companies House. The managing director of Arundel Wealth, Jon Alexander, was brought in by the Professional Cricketers’ Association to provide assistance for the players affected. The Guardian quotes him as saying that some are facing ‘very substantial demands’. Apart from David Gower, the former cricketers contacted by the newspaper declined to discuss the matter publicly – although one spoke anonymously to say the demand could place him in ‘financial difficulty’. David Gower is quoted as saying that the money involved ‘won’t wipe me out.’ Ashes heroes: Michael Vaughan (right) was captain as England won the Ashes in 2005 while Matthew Hoggard (left) was a key wicket-taker . But he added: ‘But the principle is just wrong and I want to stand up against it. The government wanted to encourage investment in the film industry, there was a genuine element of risk. ‘The films were successful and generated more than £1bn in taxable income and now HMRC is coming back ten years later saying the schemes weren’t valid.’ Ingenious has repeatedly defended the schemes it set up and has said it is confident of winning the legal battle. A spokesman is quoted in the Guardian as saying that its partnerships were either 'sale and leaseback partnerships’ established under government legislation or were ‘bona fide commercial partnerships operated for profit’. The case comes as HMRC stepped up its crackdown on tax-avoidance schemes in a bid to claw back £7.1billion from 43,000 people. +This is the moment rivalry turned ugly at a college basketball game as opposing cheerleaders became involved in a brawl. Members of the Tuskegee University and Albany State University dance teams were supporting their teams during a tournament clash involving the two Alabama schools. But while there was plenty of action in the game, tensions boiled over off the court - when the cheerleaders squared up for a fight at half time. Scroll down for video . Ugly scenes: Members of the Tuskegee University and Albany State University dance teams were involved in a half time brawl during a college basketball fixture in Alabama . Video footage captured chaotic scenes as the dancers traded punches and screamed at each other. The seven-second clip shows people desperately trying to keep the brawling cheerleaders apart while someone behind the camera repeatedly says 'Oh My God'. The drama unfolded during the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) tournament at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. According to al.com, cheerleaders from both schools were sent back to their campuses and an investigation is underway. The clip shows people desperately trying to keep the brawling cheerleaders apart while someone behind the camera repeatedly says 'Oh My God' The SIAC said in a statement: 'The obligation to observe basic principles of sportsmanship and fair play extends to all participants at the SIAC basketball tournament. 'As a consequence of the incident on Tuesday, the cheerleading and dance teams from both Albany State University and Tuskegee University will not be permitted to participate in our tournament for the remainder of the week.' A statement on Tuskegee University's website said the college was 'disappointed by the incident which occurred between the cheerleaders of Tuskegee University and Albany State during Tuesday’s 2015 SIAC Tournament at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. 'The university does not condone any conduct unbecoming of a Tuskegee University student. The university will conduct its own investigation, in accordance with the Student Handbook Code of Conduct.' Albany State athletic director Richard Williams said that the incident would be reviewed and promised 'appropriate action.' 'We expect our student-athletes and representatives to conduct themselves accordingly; anything less is unacceptable,' Williams said in a statement, according to AP. +A father (not pictured) has admitted to raping his two-month-old son at the start of a trial which prosecutors have described as one of the most 'serious abuse cases in Norwegian legal history' A 32-year-old man raped his two-month-old son and sent footage of the attack to a paedophile ring, a trial in Norway has heard. The father admitted the offences yesterday at the start of what the prosecutor described as one of the most 'serious abuse cases in Norwegian legal history'. He has been charged with two other men and two women with their involvement in a paedophile network which filmed their own children in sexual positions or acts. District Attorney Kristin Røhne said: 'The people involved had a sexual interest in very young children.' The court in Drammen was told police began tracking the paedophile ring last year after finding sickening footage of the rape on the computer of a suspected child abuser. Mr Røhne said in a prosecution statement: 'We knew nothing about this child, but on the video we could hear the sound of voices from Norwegian radio or television in the background.' The video was traced to a 34-year-old man who was allegedly sent the footage by the 32-year-old father, it was reported by The Local which cited a report by Norway's Aftenposten newspaper. The 34-year-old is said to have previously been convicted of sexually assaulting a minor and distributing videos of child abuse in 2009. The two men have appeared in court alongside a 27-year-old man and two women aged 27 and 43. They have all been charged with involvement in a paedophile network which filmed their own children in sexual positions or acts. The three men have also been charged with raping the 27-year-old woman's two-month-old baby. A lawyer for the 32-year-old man told the court: 'My client has chosen to confess to all charges and lay all his cards on the table.' The trial continues. Allegations: The court in Drammen (above) was told police began tracking the paedophile ring last year after finding sickening footage of the rape on the computer of a suspected child abuser . +Those who suffer from sea sickness may want to look away now. Nauseating footage has emerged of a US Navy warship battling through rough seas during a voyage to South Korea. The bow of the 387ft USS Fort Worth, based in San Diego, California, appears to dip below the surface a number of times as the ship ploughs through huge waves kicked up by a storm. Scroll down for video . Pitching and rolling: The bow of USS Fort Worth plunges down towards a wave during its voyage to South Korea . Dramatic: An on-board camera shows waves breaking over the bow of the 387ft US Navy warship . At one point, the view from the on-board camera is obscured as water sprays up over the deck. Dramatic video of the crossing, posted on the US Navy Facebook page, has already been viewed by nearly 1.5million people and shared more than 17,000 times. Facebook user Doug Fryczynski wrote: 'Getting seasick just watching.' Rough ride: The ship's bow dips below the surface a number of times during the rocky crossing . Nauseating: Video of the crossing, posted on the US Navy Facebook page, has already been viewed by nearly 1.5million people and shared more than 17,000 times . Another user, Molly Nichols, said: 'Oh my Lord! I made it about half way through!' USS Fort Worth, a Freedom-class littoral combat ship with a top speed of 45 knots, was launched in December 2010. To feel the video's full effect, try watching it on full screen. +Militants fighting for the Islamic State have released a video claiming to show the execution of two Libyan soldiers. Footage shows three balaclava-clad gunmen standing behind the prisoners who are believed to have been captured in battles for the terror group's Libyan stronghold of Derna. The soldiers - one of whom was reportedly a colonel - are then shot in the back of the head by the jihadists, understood to belong to the ISIS-affiliate Ansar Al Sharia. One report said the men were accused of fighting for General Khalifa Hifter, who has been leading an offensive against Islamic militias for the internationally recognised Libyan government. Condemned to die: Video released by the Islamic State appears to show two soldiers being executed by jihadi gunmen after apparently being captured in battles for the terror group's Libyan stronghold of Derna . Executed: The soldiers - one of whom was reportedly a colonel - are seen slumped on the ground after being shot in the back of the head by the gunmen, understood to be from the ISIS affiliate Ansar Al Sharia . Fate sealed: Images purporting to show the two men. They were reportedly accused of fighting for General Khalifa Hifter, who has been leading an offensive against Islamic militias for the Libyan government . The shootings are the latest in a disturbing rise of executions in Libya in the wake of the terror group's advance across the North African coast. It has now gained control of a number of Libyan coastal towns including Benghazi, Sirte, Derna and Nofilia. Last month, the jihadists filmed the bloody executions of 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya as it seeks to take a stranglehold on the region. ISIS also claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bombings that killed at least 45 people in the town of Qubba, around 20 miles from Derna, nearly three weeks ago. The extremist organisation's deadly grip now stretches across the Middle East and into northern-Africa where today, only the Mediterranean Sea separates the militants from Europe. Growth of terror: Since its formation as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in 2013 - ISIS has conquered regions of Iraq, Syria and recently Libya - while building support among marginalised Muslims in Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt's Sinai Province, Afghanistan, Tunisia and Algeria . It has conquered regions of Iraq, Syria and recently Libya while building a terrifying support structure in Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt's Sinai Province, Afghanistan, Tunisia and Algeria. And over the weekend, Nigerian terror group Boko Haram also pledged its allegiance to ISIS, stretching its influence across the west Africa. The tyrannical expansion is part of its 'global strategy' to seize destablised countries to 'engage in all-out battle against the West,' the Institute for the Study of War told MailOnline last month. Counter-terrorism analyst Harleen Gambhir said: 'What we've started to see is ISIS has begun to accelerate its operation to activate these sleeper groups that its reaching out to and it's having international effects.' +A Muslim fanatic has been arrested after he allegedly threatened to behead a rabbi during a rant outside a Florida synagogue. Diego Chaar screamed 'Allah Akbar' at least twice and shouted 'we will cut your heads off' at the rabbi and another man outside the Ohev Shalom Congregation in Miami Beach, police said. Rabbi Phineas Webberman called 911 after fearing for his life. Muslim fanatic Diego Chaar (left) has been arrested after allegedly threatening to behead rabbi Phineas Webberman (right) outside a synagogue in Florida . He told CBS Miami: 'That's called assault. Threatening to kill. 'His attitude was that this is his religious responsibility of carrying out killing infidels.' Chaar, 24, admitted shouting 'Alluha Akbar' but denied threatening to behead the men in an interview with Local 10 after he was released from custody on bond. He said: 'This is not a hate crime. Police said Chaar screamed 'Allah Akbar' at least twice and shouted 'we will cut your heads off' at the rabbi and another man outside the Ohev Shalom Congregation in Miami Beach (above) 'This has nothing to do with them being Jewish. I just want to help them find peace within themselves. 'I don't want them to burn in eternal hell forever.' He said he converted to Islam three years ago while in prison on drug charges. He faces charges of assault with religious prejudice and stalking. Extra security has been put in place at the synagogue to protect members. +Chelsea are considering a renewed bid to sign Raphael Varane from Real Madrid this summer. Jose Mourinho is a confirmed admirer of the France international centre-back and is willing to test Real Madrid's resolve to hold onto the 21-year-old. Jose Mourinho feels Chelsea need a commanding centre-half like Raphael Varane . Varane is valued at £40million by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and was signed after being persuaded by Zinedine Zidane that Madrid was where his future lay. However, Varane has grown frustrated this year with Carlo Ancelotti preferring Pepe and Sergio Ramos as his centre-back pairing when fit. Manchester United are also keeping tabs on Varane after losing out to Real Madrid in 2011. Real Madrid have slapped a £40m price tag on French defender Varane . Age: 21 . Appearances: Lens 23/Goals 2; . Real Madrid 76 (20)/5; France 17/1 . Varane has been labelled Real Madrid's Lion and former France defender Frank Leboeuf believes he has the potential to be better than Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro . Varane signed a new six-year contract at the start of the season . The 21-year-old has grown frustrated with Carlo Ancelotti preferring Pepe and Sergio Ramos as his centre-back pairing when fit . Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to sign him from Lens and the Old Trafford club will challenge for his signature again should Madrid show a willingness to deal. Mourinho has concerns about the centre of his defence. Gary Cahill has sometimes looked uneasy against European opposition while John Terry is 34. Kurt Zouma has done well this season but is still inexperienced and Varane is already an assured performer at international level. Chelsea captain Terry will be given a new one year contract while Branislav Ivanovic, who is 31, has 16 months left on contract. The Blues also have Andreas Christensen and Tomas Kalas in reserve but both lack big game experience. Jose Mourinho has concerns over John Terry and Gary Cahill in the centre of his defence . Kurt Zouma, aged 20, has forced his way into the first team this season . +His girlfriend may not like the city very much, but Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea seems to be having a good enough time. The Spanish stopper, who has been Louis van Gaal's stand-out performer this season, spent his Friday night working with children for the club's foundation. De Gea posted photos of the event to his Twitter and Instagram account, and said he'd had a training with the kids. David de Gea stands with a young child listening to a coach as part of a Manchester United Foundation session . The Spanish keeper jokes with several participants as part of the programme on Friday evening . 'A great evening playing with the children from the @manchesterunited Foundation,' he wrote. 'We spent a fun time!' De Gea's status at Old Trafford is under threat, with Real Madrid reportedly interested in the Spanish star whose contract runs out at the end of next season, and his girlfriend, Edurne Garcia, commenting that she doesn't care for Manchester. The 29-year-old was asked, on Spanish TV, 'I've been told Manchester is uglier than the back of a fridge', and replied: 'It's not very nice, that's for sure. You have to hunt out specific places, the nice places. 'But even then Spain is nicer. The reason I like it is because David's there. With him being there, everything looks wonderful.' De Gea has been United's star player during a difficult season at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal . De Gea was labelled the best goalkeeper in the world by Roy Keane this week, and may leave United . Edurne Garcia is the girlfriend of De Gea, who has fueled speculation about his future this week . Garcia told Spanish entertainment show El Hormiguero that Manchester is 'not very nice, that's for sure' The 29-year-old singer has fueled speculation that De Gea could be set for a future away from Manchester . +Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne says they will look to exploit Chelsea's levels of fatigue when the two sides meet in the Premier League on Sunday. Chelsea return to domestic action at the weekend against the Saints, after being dumped out of the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday night. The Blues were knocked out on aggregate 3-3 via the away goals ruling by French giants Paris Saint-Germain - in a hotly-charged second leg that went to extra time. Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne believes they can exploit Chelsea's tiredness in Sunday's match . Chelsea were dumped out of the Champions League on Wednesday night by Paris Saint-Germain . Thiago Silva's (right) header in extra time condemned the Blues to a last 16 exit on away goals . And Clyne believes Jose Mourinho's side are there for the taking - with Ronald Koeman's men having had 12 days to prepare for the trip to Stamford Bridge come kick-off. 'We saw them play against PSG and thought they looked a bit tired. Hopefully, we can capitalise on that,' the 23-year-old told talkSPORT. 'We are fresh at the moment and, if we take the game to them, we can cause an upset. 'If we play the game we can play, it will be a good game, and hopefully we can get the points. 'It will be difficult - Chelsea are a good team with quality players, but we are up for the challenge.' Clyne (left) and his Southampton team-mates will have had 12 days to prepare for their trip to Chelsea . +England international Zak Hardaker has been dropped by Leeds after it emerged that he is at the centre of a police investigation. The 23-year-old Leeds full-back and his Rhinos team-mate Elliot Minchella are expected to be interviewed by police in the next few days over the alleged assault of a 22-year-old man in student flats in Leeds. In a statement Leeds said: 'The club have been made aware of an incident in which it is alleged that Leeds Rhinos players Zak Hardaker and Elliot Minchella were involved. England international Zak Hardaker is at the centre of police investigation and has been dropped by Leeds . 'Both the club and the individuals concerned are co-operating fully with the police investigation. 'Until such time as that investigation is concluded neither the club nor the players involved are able to make any further comment.' West Yorkshire police released images of two men earlier this week in connection to a break-in and assault at premises on Burley Road in Leeds on February 3 but since removed them after receiving fresh information. Leeds Rhinos full back Hardaker is taken on by Hull FC ace Steve Michaels who tries to bring him down . A police spokesman said: 'We can confirm that we will be speaking to two men in connection with the incident.' Police say the victim suffered two black eyes and bruising to his ears and neck. In Hardaker's absence, Leeds coach Brian McDermott gave a full debut to teenager Ashton Golding at full-back for the match against the Wolves. Golding, who was given a new four-year contract in December that ties him to the club until the end of the 2018 season, made his Super League debut last season at London Broncos. +UEFA says it will add steroid profiling of players to its anti-doping program next season. European football's governing body's medical committee has approved urine analysis in addition to existing blood monitoring for its biological passport program. UEFA says each player tested in its club and national team competitions has a biological passport which 'indirectly reveals the effects of doping as a result, as well as providing intelligence for target testing.' UEFA's medical committee has approved steroid profiling of players in its anti-doping program next season . Urine analysis will be used in addition to existing blood monitoring for UEFA's biological passport program . In 2013, UEFA approved retrospectively analyzing urine samples from 900 players to decide if steroid profiling was required. Re-testing was anonymous and positive samples would not provoke anti-doping cases. The results of that study have not been revealed. Though top-level soccer has few doping cases, UEFA suspended three Russian players from CSKA Moscow in the 2009-10 season for doping violations. +Mauricio Pochettino has confessed to a late-night darts habit and has even organised his home viewing arrangements so he can have an eye on the arrows as he studies football matches beamed into his home from around Europe. 'I was watching the Europa League, on Thursday night, all the games,' said Tottenham boss Pochettino. 'I had two screens set up. One with the Europa League on, and the other with Premier League Darts. It's true. 'We don't have darts in Argentina but ever since I arrived in Southampton I've been a fan. I don't play and I've not been to see it live. I prefer to watch at home.' Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he is a big fan of watching the darts at his home . While the Spurs boss is not happy to have been knocked out of the Europa League he does get to watch darts . Some of his Spurs players share his love for the game. Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Andros Townsend, were spotted at Alexandra Palace in January watching the semi-finals of the World Darts Championships. Tottenham's exit from the Europa League, beaten in the second round by Fiorentina, has brought the consolation of allowing their Argentine manager to tune in for the Premier League Darts fixtures on Thursday nights. Pochettino has been watching the likes of Phil 'The Power' Taylor on television recently at his home . Andros Townsend has been pictured at the darts, and his girlfriend Hazel O'Sullivan is a walk-on girl . 'I was not happy to go out, my preference would have been to be playing against Roma,' said Pochettino, but it has been another difficult season for English clubs in European competition. Only Everton remain in the Europa League, while Arsenal and Manchester City must overturn first-leg deficits next week in Monaco and Barcelona respectively, if they are to reach the last eight of the Champions League. Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League, and Arsenal and Manchester City face uphill tasks . Everton are the only English team remaining in the Europa League after Spurs and Liverpool's exits . 'European teams have an advantage on English teams,' said Pochettino. 'The most difficult period of the season in England is Christmas when they have a break. In February and March it is very tough for the English teams. 'The number of games we play is more than the European teams. This is the key. Teams in the other leagues are fresher then the English teams. 'Our competition is the toughest in the world. Maybe this explains the results in Europe. Teams like Paris Saint-Germain are only focused on the Champions League. Chelsea are focused on the Capital One Cup and the Premier League. Pochettino says the struggles of English teams like Spurs is down to the strength of the Premier League . Harry Kane celebrates his second goal against Queens Park Rangers in Spurs' win at Loftus Road last week . 'It's not an excuse but the reality. It's very difficult to arrive fresh in the same way another team from Europe arrives fresh in the Champions League or the Europa League.' Spurs, sixth in the Premier League with 10 to play, have won twice since they lost to Fiorentina and were beaten in the Capital One Cup final by Chelsea. Like any darts fan, Pochettino knows the way his team finish will be all-important. They are at fourth-placed Manchester United on Sunday and victory will boost their bid to qualify for next season's Champions League. +Manchester United are considering a summer move for Wolfsburg defender Ricardo Rodriguez, claims the player's agent. Rodriguez has been one of Wolfsburg's key players during an impressive campaign for the German club and has pitched in with six goals so far, including a stunning free-kick against Everton last September. The Swiss star's agent Gianluca di Domenico has now revealed that Wolfsburg will attempt to keep hold of their man despite rumoured interest from Louis van Gaal's side. Manchester United are considering a swoop for Ricardo Rodriguez, claims the player's agent . Rodriguez has been crucial to Wolfsburg's impressive Bundesliga and Europa League campaigns . He told Gazzetta dello Sport: 'I can say that United have called for information, but that Wolfsburg do not want to give in. With Real there was nothing official.' The 22-year-old had been linked with United last summer before the Old Trafford side swooped for former Southampton youngster Luke Shaw. Shaw has made a steady start to his Red Devils career, but will no doubt be looking to nail down a first team place ahead of the 2015-16 Premier League season. The signing of Rodriguez could make life more complicated for the English left-back. United signed former Southampton youngster Luke Shaw (right) for £30million in the summer . Louis van Gaal (left) looks set to venture back into the transfer market this summer . +A footballer caught on film allegedly punching a rival in the face has been charged by the Football Association. Morecambe youngster Sam Livesey, 18, was captured on a clip obtained by Sportsmail appearing to strike Oldham's unsuspecting Jack Tuohy in the temple. Livesey, who was dismissed by the referee in Oldham Under 18's 7-2 win over their Lancashire rivals, could now face a lengthy ban after the FA intervened. VIDEO: Scroll down to watch sickening alleged punch that knocks out Oldham youngster . Jack Touhy is struck from behind in the head, apparently with no provocation, by an opponenent . The Oldham youth player is knocked from his feet by the force of Sam Livesey's alleged punch . A red card for violent conduct would normally carry a three-match ban but officials believe such a punishment may be too lenient and have stepped in. A spokesman for the FA said: 'The charge is an allegation that Mr Livesey's behaviour in or around the 71st minute constitutes violent conduct in circumstances where the standard punishment that would otherwise apply following his dismissal is clearly insufficient.' It is understood that Livesey, on loan to Morecambe from Preston North End, has admitted the charge. His case will now be heard by an Independent Regulatory Commission. Livesey has now been charged with violent conduct by the FA and is understood to have admitted the charge . Tuohy spent four hours at hospital after the game after complaining of concussion-like symptoms . Morecambe say they are dealing with the matter internally. A spokesman for Preston North End said: 'At the time of the incident, Sam Livesey was playing for Morecambe and we therefore have no comment to make.' Tuohy spent four hours at hospital after the game after complaining of concussion-like symptoms. After the game he tweeted: 'Good 7-2 win good to get a goal and head is killing me now wow.' +Chelsea's celebrations of their 110th anniversary this weekend will include a special commemorative matchday programme, featuring a design based on one from the olden days. The club was formed at a meeting in the Rising Sun pub March 10 1905 before going on to become a super power in both the Premier League and Europe. After their controversial midweek exit to Paris Saint Germain in the Champions, Jose Mourinho's league leaders face Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Chelsea's matchday programme for Sunday will feature a design to commemorate their 110th anniversary . Diego Costa trains with Chelsea team-mates ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with Southampton . Thibaut Couirtois (centre) throws the ball out during a training session at Cobham on Friday . Special guests in the Directors’ Box will be six direct descendants of three founding fathers of the club: Joseph Mears, Edwin Janes and Fred Parker, who also edited the Chelsea Chronicle, as the programme was called back then. It is fitting that Southampton should be the visitors for this landmark game since George Thomas, a former Saints board member and builder and owner of the Dell, was also one of the first directors of Chelsea FC in 1905. Manager Jose Mourinho has had to answer questions over his side's bully boy tactics against PSG . The Blues were criticised for crowding the referee during their Champions League exit on away goals . Midfielder John Obi Mikel has paid tribute to the club's supporters as they celebrate their 110th anniversary. ‘I have always appreciated the Chelsea fans, they’ve been amazing. They’re always there to support the team week in, week out, which just shows how brilliant they are,' Mikel told Chelsea’s official website. ‘It’s been an amazing journey. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve worked with some great people, great players from when I came to the ones that are here now. They’ve all been brilliant.’ John Obi Mikel (top) has hailed the club's supporters ahead of their 110th anniversary celebrations . +Manuel Pellegrini has told James Milner to meet Manchester City halfway as their contract negotiations continue to drag on. The England midfielder, who joined the club from Aston Villa for £26million in 2010, is stalling over a new deal with the Premier League champions and his future at the Etihad appears to be increasingly uncertain. Milner, 29, is reluctant to commit to what could be the last big contract of his career while he still has concerns over his first-team opportunities at City. He will be a free agent in the summer and has been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool, as well as a number of clubs in Italy and Spain. James Milner is a versatile and popular member of City's squad but talks of a new deal have hit the rocks . Pellegrini had been hopeful that Milner’s situation would be resolved by now but seemed less optimistic when asked about it on Friday. The City boss indicated that the ball is in Milner’s court and the club are unlikely to improve their offer. ‘I don’t have any news about James Milner,’ he said. ‘To decide to sign a contract you need both parties to agree it. We will see what happens from now until the end of the season. Manuel Pellegrini has asked Milner to meet the club in the middle after the factions have reached an impasse . ‘Maybe City have already offered all that the club can offer. Maybe it’s not about more money, maybe there are different things to sign a new contract. ‘You must ask James what is happening with him. I hope he will find an arrangement, but you cannot talk about City only.’ +Russian prosecutors are examining shocking footage of a football coach kicking a seven-year-old boy in the air during a training session. Valentin Pavlov claimed he was teaching Eugene Efimov how to kick the ball properly after the lad failed to show enough commitment in a tackle. He then ordered the frightened child to get back into the game. In the video, Valentin Pavol can be seen calling the seven-year-old player over to the sideline during training . He then kicks out at him in what he later claimed was an attempt to teach him how to use his feet more 'robustly' Eugene Efimov is sent flying into the air by the forceful kick which has outraged Russia . He twists in the air before landing on his back as another child, far right, watches on in horror . The Moscow Football Federation has branded the training drill incident 'outrageous' The powerful Investigative Committee, equivalent of the FBI, is deciding whether to bring charges for cruelty against Pavlov, but the coach claims his kick looked worse than it was. The Moscow Football Federation branded the incident 'outrageous'. 'I was explaining to the child how to use his foot in a more robust manner,' claimed the coach, who claimed the camera was at the wrong angle. 'I started showing him - and just then the child jumped. So I sort of touched him, and he flipped in the air. 'Of course, there was not even a slightest intention to hurt him. This is a coincidence. 'He fell down in a theatrical manner so that it looked like he was hurt. The person who filmed it was lucky to catch this angle.' Pavlov is the father of two daughters, one of whom plays in his team, and he claimed he filmed his club Maximum-Brateevo's training sessions as proof there was no undue physical force or beating of children. While he did not apologise to the Eugene Efimov after the kick, he claims he has done so since. But after the video went viral, the youngster's mother Alyona Efimova, 35, was tracked down and she refused to criticise the coach. Left, Valentin Pavlov, the coach who denies kicking Eugene Efimov (right) with the intent of hurting him . She said: 'I was at the match and watching the game, and it was just part of the game. The video doesn't show anything really special, my son has been training for football with this coach for three years and we haven't had any problems up until now, and I still don't see a problem.' The video however has underlined a tough attitude that many parents in Russia have to raising children, where violence from parents or teachers is still often regarded as acceptable as a way of making sure they grow up properly. Asked if he was angry at the kick, the boy told local TV: 'No. I am not mad at him, I fell down because I jumped, I didn't feel any pain, it just looked bad.' While the footage has caused outrage in Russia, without a complaint, the Investigative Committee may not take further action. After the boy got back to his feet, Mr Pavlov then appeared to order him back into the game . +It may be home to rats and grime but a creative photographer has turned New York's subway system into his own fashion studio. Aaron Pegg, 29, who goes by his middle name Clifton, has captured beautiful models posing in one of the country's more unusual spots. From eating pizza to flashing Calvin Klein underwear, the girls make the bizarre backdrop their own by showing off the stunning clothes. A model strikes a pose between two trains on a platform of the New York subway . The red dress highlights the brightness of the corridor on this photo shoot . Clifton, who has more than 100,000 followers on his Instagram account 'underground-nyc', began taking the photographs in 2013. And since then the innovative photographer has amassed a huge following online with his arty shots - which include other mass transit systems such as Chicago. Scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan spent 18 months swabbing turnstiles, ticket kiosks, railings and benches for DNA. The boffins also found 15,152 different types of microorganisms sharing the trains with riders including the bubonic plague, dysentery and meningitis. However, New York's subway system, which carries 5.5 million passengers a week, continues to be a source of incredible artistry for Clifton. Wearing a dress, the sound of the underground is silent as many of the pictures were taken at the subway's quietest times . The New Yorker said: 'I was shooting the typical city stuff such as rooftop views, buildings, cabs and bridges until one day I almost got arrested for roof topping. 'It was too much of a close call and it was getting too cold to continue to get these views so I asked myself what can I shoot in any weather and have access to all the time? 'This led me to the subway but I couldn't just capture it on a typical day - it had to be different so I decided to capture the stations empty. The carriage awaits for his model who is showcasing the clothes on board one of the trains . 'Photography has always been a hobby and a way for me to creatively express myself but now it is turning into a business. 'I take magazine commissions and anything business related which there is a budget for.' Clifton admits he often gets unusual reactions from fellow subway riders who happen to walk in on his shoots. He added: 'I get everything from guys smiling and wanting to talk to the models to people shocked and not understanding what is going on.' Aaron Pegg, who goes by the name of Clifton, has even been snapping the models with food on the subway system . A train approaches on a dark and dingy subway platform as the model strikes a pose in a skimpy top . Taking photographs underground means rain fails to stop play as a model takes displays her outfir . From fashion to pizza, Clifton is accomplished to capturing a variety of images on the world-famous train hub . The platforms are deserted as this model takes up her position on New York subway . The steel posts act as the perfect prop to showcase the Calvin Klein underwear . The only bright lights of Broadway here are the camera flash as a model strikes a pose . The creative photographer was inspired to head underground by a cold snap . The steel posts and shiny blue seats of this subway train perfectly complement the outfit here . +Members of a middle school basketball team in Wisconsin are set to be honored with a citzenship award after they stepped in to support a cheerleader who was abused by rival fans. Desiree Andrews, who has Down syndrome, is an eight-grade student at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha. She was performing her duties as a member of the Lady Knight's Cheerleading Squad at a game last year when some members of the crowd started picking on her. Desiree Andrews, who has Down syndrome, was performing her duties as a member of the Lady Knight's Cheerleading Squad at a game last year when some members of the crowd started picking on her . Lincoln Middle School basketball players, from left to right, Chase Varquez, Miles Rodriguez and Scooter Terrien overheard Desiree being abused they called a timeout in their game, walked off the court and confronted the bullies . When basketball players Miles Rodriguez, Scooter Terrien and Chase Vazquez overheard Desiree being abused they called a timeout in their game, walked off the court and confronted the bullies. 'A couple of us went over there and were like, can you guys just stop, that's not right,' Rodriguez told TMJ4. 'Our teammates supported us and they had our backs,' said Terrien. The incident sparked the begining of a beautiful friendship between Desiree and the boys. From then on Desiree – who they call affectionately Dee – got involved in the introduction of the starting lineup for the team. They would also walk her to class and the gym was renamed 'D's House' in her honor. 'We're all created the same. God made us the same way,' said Terrien. Desiree was performing her duties as a member of the Lady Knight's Cheerleading Squad at a game last year when some members of the crowd started picking on her . On Monday the team played their last game in the gymnasium before they all move on to high school. The match was dedicated to Dee and the team chanted, 'Whose house? Dee's house!' Desiree loved every minute of it. 'It was sweet, kind, awesome, amazing,' she said. Her father Cliff Andrews said the team's support for his daughter has 'been a godsend.' 'Those boys, I tried to talk to them in person, but I couldn't keep the tears back,' he told Kenosha News. The story has generated so much positive coverage for the school in the local area that Kenosha City council has announced that it will give the boys a citizenship award next week. They are also being considered for the mayor's youth award. The gymnasium at Lincoln Middle School has been renamed D's House in honor of Desiree Andrews . +Dick Advocaat’s appointment as Sunderland boss seemed complete on Monday night after he told Dutch TV that he had signed a contract until the end of the season. The 67-year-old will sign a short-term deal until the end of the season and his package will be incentivised with the target of survival. Advocaat told Voetbal International: 'I am now in a dark hotel, but soon I'll be working in the Stadium of Light.' Dick Advocaat, pictured here in charge of PSV Eindhoven in 2012, is set to take charge at Sunderland . Gus Poyet has been sacked by Sunderland with the club just one point above the relegation zone . Sunderland supporters turned on manager Poyet after their side were thrashed 4-0 by Aston Villa . 525 - Poyet's number of days in charge since his arrival on October 8, 2013. 75 - The Uruguayan's number of games in charge, winning 23, losing 22 and drawing 30. 3 - The number of games against bitter rivals Newcastle. He won them all with an aggregate of 6-1. 35 - Poyet was the 35th man to manage Sunderland either permanently or as a caretaker. 22 - The number of years between Sunderland's appearances in a major final. Poyet took them to the 2014 Capital One Cup final, 22 years on from their defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup showpiece. They lost to Manchester City. 14 - Sunderland's final position in Poyet's first season. 4 - The amount of games won in the Premier League by Sunderland this season. The joint-worst with bottom side Leicester. Advocaat could land up to £500,000 if the Black Cats – currently one point above the relegation zone – avoid the drop. He will bring with him Montenegrin coach Zeljko Petrovic, who was Avram Grant's assistant at West Ham in 2010. It is unlikely, however, that Advocaat will be considered as the permanent successor to Gus Poyet, who was sacked yesterday after 17 months at the Stadium of Light. Sportsmail understands that West Ham manager Sam Allardyce and Real Madrid assistant Paul Clement are at the top of the club's shortlist to take charge beyond this season. Clement, in particular, fits the profile of coach who could work within the structure at the club, where sporting director Lee Congerton has control over transfers. Clement and Congerton know each other from their time at Chelsea and the Real No 2 is thought to be keen to try his hand as a manager back in England. Meanwhile, it is Congerton's contacts book which has led to talks with Advocaat. Former Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen – who worked with Advocaat at PSV Eindhoven and Congerton at Stamford Bridge and then Hamburg – has recommended him for the role and he will be installed before Saturday's trip to West Ham. Advocaat could land up to £500,000 if the Black Cats – one point above the drop zone – avoid relegation . 'This is something I always wanted to do, the Premier League. The Premier League is a phenomenal competition,' Advocaat told AD Sportwereld. 'As a manager that is where you want to work, that has such a pulling power. 'Saturday, West Ham awaits. And then there's the international break. And then – the derby with Newcastle United. That is really something to look forward to because believe me, this just is a very big club.' Sunderland owner Ellis Short moved swiftly to dismiss Poyet during a telephone conversation after training on Monday. It is understood the Uruguayan asked for his contract – which expires in 2016 – to be paid up in full after he was informed that his position had become untenable. Zeljko Petrovic, who was Avram Grant's assistant at West Ham in 2010, will work alongside Advocaat . West Ham boss Sam Allardyce could be the long-term successor to Poyet at the Stadium of Light . His assistant Mauricio Taricco and first-team coach Charlie Oatway are also set to leave the club. Former Sunderland favourites and academy coaches Kevin Ball and Paul Bracewell will now be on hand to help at senior level. Short acted on the advice of the influential Congerton and chief executive Margaret Byrne in getting rid of Poyet. They felt there was no way back for the head coach following Saturday's 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. Supporters tried to storm the dugout and also let their feelings be known to those seated in the directors' box. The decision was soon made to dispense with Poyet and contact initiated with Advocaat, who left his post as Serbia national team manager in November after just five months in charge. His first home game will be the visit of North-East rivals Newcastle on Easter Sunday. +Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim warned his players not to rest on their laurels, telling them that they face the most difficult night of their careers when they defend their 3-1 lead at Stade Louis II against Arsenal on Tuesday night. Portuguese coach Jardim emphasised the threat of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla and is trying to prepare his players for an expected attacking onslaught from Arsenal, with the Barclays Premier League side needing to at least three goals to go through in the Champions League tie. Jardim said: 'At this stage we're now at half-time and we're two goals ahead but it's true that our opponents have so many quality players in their squad. So it will be very difficult for us and everyone knows if it will be the most difficult game we've had in years. Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim speaks during his Champions League press conference on Monday . Jardim feels Arsenal still pose a threat even if Monaco carry a 3-1 lead from their first leg win at the Emirates . Monaco train at their base in La Turbie, France as they prepare for the second leg . Monaco striker Dimitar Berbatov stretches as he joins the rest of his team-mates for a training session . 'I don't think Arsenal underestimated - it's just that we played a dream game at the Emirates. When facing such a team as Arsenal with players like Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck, it's true we can't take it easy and have to focus on the game we played at Emirates. 'In comparison to pervious years French teams are playing at a better level in the Champions League. Paris Saint-Germain knocked out Chelsea and they showed the quality of the work done here in France. It was the same case for Monaco. What we're trying to do is to show the quality of the work. Maybe it's the year of France to beat the English.' Monaco midfielder Nabil Dirar said: 'No-one expected us to win at Arsenal and we enjoyed the moment but then we forgot it straightaway. Because we know they have quality players so we know we might have a little advantage but tomorrow it'll be a very difficult game. I think we'll see the real face of Arsenal tomorrow. But we have our strengths and we can play counter attack.' Monaco bring a 3-1 first leg lead back home with them after their victory at the Emirates . Former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho takes part in Monaco's training session . Monaco's Portuguese duo Joao Moutinho (centre) and Silva Bernardo (left) battle for the ball . Premier League side Arsenal need to win 3-0 or do even better to go through in the Champions League tie . Monaco are preparing to defend their 3-1 lead at Stade Louis II stadium against Arsenal on Tuesday night . +The return of midfielder Koke could be crucial to Atletico Madrid's hopes of overturning a 1-0 deficit to Bayer Leverkusen in Tuesday's Champions League last 16, second leg, coach Diego Simeone said on Monday. A Spain international and one of Atletico's most creative influences, Koke missed last month's first leg defeat in Germany due to injury but has featured in Atletico's last three outings in La Liga. The 23-year-old, who scored in this month's 1-1 draw at home to Valencia, is also a dead ball specialist and the Spanish champions have netted a host of goals from his corners and free kicks. Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone and Mario Suarez attend a press conference on the eve of the tie . Simeone believes Koke returning will be a boost for his team as they try to overturn a first-leg deficit . 'He is one of those all-round midfielders who is gifted at reading the game, he knows how to play in different positions in the centre and he has very good peripheral vision,' Simeone told a news conference. 'When he is on top form, he allows us to play with speed. Not because he is fast himself but because his vision allows us to play that way.' Atletico, last season's beaten finalists, have been struggling for goals in recent weeks and have only scored once in their last four outings in all competitions. Atletico Madrid players train in Spain ahead of their meeting against Bayer Leverkusen . Atletico lost the first leg 1-0 in Germany and have their work cut out at the Vicente Calderon . Fernando Torres in action during Atletico Madrid's training session in the Spanish capital . Elimination on Tuesday would almost certainly rob them of their last chance of silverware this term as they are out of the King's Cup and slipped nine points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after Saturday's 0-0 stalemate at Espanyol. Forwards Mario Mandzukic, Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres have been off colour and Atletico have failed to score in three consecutive away games in La Liga for the first time since Simeone took over at the end of 2011. Bayer Leverkusen players train in preparation of their Champions League second leg tie . Leverkusen's head coach Roger Schmidt speaks during a press conference ahead of the clash . Leverkusen, by contrast, have racked up 11 goals without reply in winning their last five games in all competitions, including Friday's 4-0 drubbing of VfB Stuttgart. Simeone said breaking out of defence swiftly would be one of the keys to Tuesday's clash at the Calderon. 'We need to shake off their pressuring quickly when they are trying to win back the ball,' Simeone said. 'They know very well how to disrupt play and hold you up,' added the former Argentina captain. 'That's what happened in Germany. They stopped our attacks quickly with fouls and we couldn't develop our vertical game. If we don't take the ball forward quickly we will have problems.' Bayer Leverkusen players train in Madrid ahead of their Champions League second leg . Bayer Leverkusen will look to defend their 1-0 lead when they head to the Vicente Calderon . +Lewis Hamilton showed off his grueling fitness regime as he prepares for the opening race of the Formula One season in Australia on March 15. The British driver will be hoping to defend his World Championship title and win his first race Down Under for the first time since 2008, with his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg taking maximum points last season. Hamilton driver posted a video on his Instagram page with the caption, 'Never give up. #TeamLH #AustralianGP #LetsGo!' Lewis Hamilton works out in the gym as he prepares for the opening Formula One race of the campaign . The reigning champion will be looking to win his first race at the Australian Grand Prix since 2008 . With loud music in the background, Hamilton goes on the punching bag to improve his speed and movement . With Sebastian Vettel moving to Ferrari and his team mate Rosberg wanting to exact revenge for pipping him to the title, Hamilton knows he will need to be in top condition if he's to be top of the Championship come the end of the season. Hamilton also showed he's not just good behind the wheel by also proving he's decent shot with a paintball gun - by firing shots at fitness instructors backside. He may be gaining revenge for the training regime he's been given by Ville Vihola and struck the bare backside of his instructor a number of times. The Mercedes driver exacted some of his own revenge on his fitness instructor by shooting him in the bum . On what looked like a cold day, Hamilton showed no mercy by peppering Ville Vihola with paintballs . Vihola lets a scream in pain as the British driver showed he's a good shot with the paintball gun . +Arsene Wenger was delighted as Danny Welbeck struck a second-half winner to put Arsenal in the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over his former club Manchester United, who were reduced to 10 men at Old Trafford. The Gunners took the lead midway through the first half as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain weaved his way through the United defence before teeing up Nacho Monreal to coolly slot his close-range shot past a diving David de Gea and into the bottom corner. It did not take long for the hosts to level matters and Wayne Rooney did the damage as he directed Angel di Maria's beautiful cross into the back of the net via a well-timed header. Mesut Ozil poses for a picture in the away dressing room at Old Trafford after Arsenal's FA Cup win . Alexis Sanchez posted this picture on Instagram from inside the Arsenal dressing room after the match . Calum Chambers put this photograph on Instagram as Arsenal enjoyed the ride home from Old Trafford . Arsenal duo Santi Cazorla (left) and Laurent Koscielny celebrate after the final whistle . But Welbeck handed Arsenal the lead for the second time as he beat De Gea to the ball just outside the 18-yard box and tapped into an empty net just after the hour mark. Wenger admitted he was proud of how his side executed their game plan, and told BBC 1: '(We wanted) to start without apprehension but we were caught a few times here. '(We tried) to be on the front foot from the start and close them down, play with a high pace and I felt that we did that well.' Di Maria received two bookings in quick succession as he was first shown a yellow card for diving and then was sent off after grabbing at referee Michael Oliver's shoulder in protest with just under 15 minutes left. Arsenal were drawn against Bradford or Reading in the last four and Wenger added: 'Last year we played a tricky game at Wembley in the semi-final and you expect that again. Per Mertesacker (centre) and Aaron Ramsey jump for joy after reaching the FA Cup semi-finals . Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny applauds Arsenal's 9,000 travelling supporters at Old Trafford . 'We have played Bradford before, we know about that but let's enjoy tonight. 'I feel we played a good game tonight from the start and we deserved to win the game.' Wenger was full of praise for Welbeck, who left his boyhood club for north London last summer, and provided the killer touch tonight after a blunder from Antonio Valencia. The manager said: 'I believe he is just happy to score. He worked very hard today and he was rewarded by a good goal.' The Gunners went to Old Trafford on the back of a fine run in the Barclays Premier League, with seven wins in the last eight games putting them third, now a point ahead of United and only four behind Manchester City. Danny Welbeck slots home the winning goal after rounding his former team-mate David de Gea . Welbeck didn't hold back in his celebrations after scoring against his old club for the first time . But they are battling to stay in the Champions League after a 3-1 first-leg loss at home to Monaco two weeks ago which they need to turn around a week on Tuesday. Wenger continued: 'We live in the real world and we play game by game, we want to compete in every competition and I believe the result today can give us some good morale.' Welbeck appealed for a penalty as he went to ground after a touch from Marcos Rojo just inside the 18-yard box during the first half, but Oliver waved play on. Wenger said he thought it was a spot-kick, but admitted he was pleased with his side's performance despite not winning that appeal. The Frenchman added: 'We had (a shout for a penalty). I think what is the most important when you're a manager is that the team performs at a good level - and that's what we did.' +Talk about causing a stink. A 'mystery pooper' has reportedly soiled a New Zealand swimming pool for five Friday nights in a row. The frustrated administrators of Invercargill's Splash Palace complex have lost thousands of dollars of business cleaning up after a patron's foul play, stuff.co.nz reported. One evening was particularly disastrous, with managers having to close three different pools as those responsible leap-frogged from one pool to another. Splash Palace, pictured, describes itself as one of New Zealand's premier pools. Unfortunately, a so-called 'mystery pooper' has reportedly soiled the waters five times, requiring six hours of cleaning . Manager Pete Thompson told Fairfax: 'They did one in the leisure pool and we moved the kids to the learners' pool, and they did one in the learners' pool and we moved the kids to the main pool, and one appeared in the main pool, so we had to shut the whole thing down. 'In one of those pools was diarrhoea ... that was unfortunate.' Mr Thompson said the incidents occurred after 5pm on Friday evenings. It is unclear whether one person or more is behind the incident, with a local councillor quoted saying: 'We have a mystery pooper'. It won't help Invercargill's sometimes battered reputation. According to local folklore, a member of the Rolling Stones once dubbed the city the 'a***hole of the world'. The Splash Palace swimming complex features several pools and a water slide (above), according to its Facebook page . +All work and no play is sure to make Prince Harry a dull boy when he solely focuses on his army duties during his trip to Australia next month. In stark contrast to when the fourth in line to the British throne made his way Down Under the previous two times, his trip next month will revolve around training with Australian troops in army bases in Sydney, Darwin and Perth. When the party boy Prince visited just two years ago, he relished in witnessing first-hand England's win over South Africa in the Rugby World Cup match in Perth, and also joined in the festivities of the International Fleet Review's centenary celebrations on Sydney Harbour. While on his first Australian visit a decade earlier during his gap year when the prince was just a fresh-faced 18-year-old, he had the opportunity to cuddle up to the country's indigenous wildlife at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. But this time around, in what is believed to be a four-week assignment, the more mature and responsible 30-year-old, who is known in the British Army as Captain Harry Wales, will be participating in a 'challenging' training program specially prepared by the Australian Defence Force. This comes as Prince Harry has announced he will quit the Armed Forces in June after his 10-year-military career. Scroll down for video . Prince Harry will be training in three army bases throughout Australia next month in a stark contrast to his last visit in 2013 when he joined other footy fans in England's win over South Africa in the Rugby World Cup (left) Prince Harry also joined in the International Fleet Review's centenary celebrations on Sydney Harbour in 2013 . On his first visit, ten years earlier the prince had the time to cuddle up to koalas at Taronga Zoo in Sydney . Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said the attachment will provide Captain Wales with an opportunity to gain greater insight into the Australian Army's domestic operating environment and capabilities. 'We have prepared a challenging program that will see Captain Wales deploy on urban and field training exercises, domestic deployments, as well as participate in Indigenous engagement activities,' he said. 'While all our units are highly capable, we have selected those units that best utilise Captain Wales' skill sets and give him some experience of the diverse range of capability we have within the ADF. Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said the British and Australian armies have a shared military history with secondments, exchanges, bilateral training and professional development all part of a routine practice between the two armed forces. But this time around, known in the British Army as Captain Harry Wales, he will be participating in a 'challenging' training program specially prepared by the Australian Defence Force . During his gap year when the prince was just a fresh-faced 18-year-old, he had the opportunity to cuddle up to the country's indigenous wildlife (right) at Sydney's Taronga Zoo and don the traditional Akubra hat (left) Prince Harry is greeted by a large crowd during the International Fleet Review in Sydney in 2013 . Prince Harry's assignment with the Australian Army is an extension of his regular British Army duties where he is currently working alongside case officers in the Personal Recovery Unit. 'It will build on his previous experience with coalition forces along with his advocacy work with wounded, injured and ill service personnel,' Air Chief Marshal Binksin said. 'It is also an opportunity for Australian Army personnel to learn from their British counterpart and I know our Diggers will welcome Captain Wales into the ranks when he arrives in Australia next month.' He will take a short break to attend the Gallipoli Commemorations in Turkey on April 24 and 25 with his father, Prince Charles. In May, he will then move onto New Zealand where he will undertake a short official tour during his first visit to the country at the invitation of the government. After he quits the Armed Forces in June, he will travel onto Africa where he will spend most of the summer undertaking 'field-based conservation work'. Captain Harry Wales, as he is known in the British Army, will visit army bases in Sydney, Darwin and Perth . Known for his sense of humour, Prince Harry pulls a funny face to a child in Sydney during his last visit in 2013 . He will take a short break to attend the Gallipoli Commemorations in Turkey on April 24 and 25 with his father, Prince Charles . In May, he will then move onto New Zealand where he will undertake a short official tour during his first visit to the country at the invitation of the government . The prince will spend the European summer working alongside conservation groups in Africa, after which he will undertake voluntary work with injured servicemen while 'actively considering other longer term employment opportunities'. In a statement Harry, 30, who has served in the military for ten years and seen two tours of duty in Afghanistan, admitted that it had been a 'tough decision' to leave the job he loved. Harry said today that he was 'really excited' about his future, adding: 'So while I am finishing off one part of my life, I am getting straight into a new chapter. I am really looking forward to it. ' But sources close to the prince said he had reached a 'natural crossroads' in his career and, after much soul-searching, had decided he had no desire to 'progress through the ranks'. 'The Prince has had a fulfilling military career and considers it a huge honour to have served his country in the Armed Forces, during which time he has undertaken two operational tours of duty in Afghanistan, qualified as an Apache Aircraft Commander and spearheaded the Invictus Games,' a Kensington Palace spokesman said: . Prince Harry will spend the summer doing voluntary work with injured servicemen, following his success in setting up the inaugural Invictus Games . A spokesman said: 'Prince Harry will spend a period of summer carrying out a programme of voluntary work alongside field-based conservation experts in Africa. He will focus his time learning how local communities in sub-Saharan Africa are working to protect and conserve their natural resources and wildlife.' In September, Harry will return to the UK to work with the Ministry of Defence in a voluntary capacity with its Recovery Capability Programme. This will build on his work on the Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style event for injured service personnel, which he helped bring to the UK last year. Kensington Palace said: 'In Autumn, Prince Harry will return to work in a voluntary capacity with the Ministry of Defence's Recovery Capability Programme, while actively considering other longer term employment opportunities. 'Prince Harry will continue to support Case Officers at London District's Personal Recovery Unit, working with both those who are administering and receiving physical and mental care within the London District area. This will enable him to continue developing his knowledge of the entire recovery process, placing him in an informed position to further support wounded, injured or sick servicemen and women into the future. ' The fourth in line to the throne will spend the summer working alongside conservation groups in Africa . During his first gap year after leaving school in 2003, the Prince worked with orphans in Lesotho, inspiring him to later set up the charity Sentebale - he is pictured here during a trip to the charity in 2014 . Kensington Palace also stressed that Harry will continue to support the work of the Queen and the Royal Family. In his statement Harry himself said: 'After a decade of service, moving on from the Army has been a really tough decision. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the chance to do some very challenging jobs and have met many fantastic people in the process. 'From learning the hard way to stay onside with my Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst, to the incredible people I served with during two tours in Afghanistan - the experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life. For that I will always be hugely grateful. 'Inevitably most good things come to an end and I am at a crossroads in my military career. Luckily for me, I will continue to wear the uniform and mix with fellow servicemen and women for the rest of my life, helping where I can, and making sure the next few Invictus Games are as amazing as the last. 'I am considering the options for the future and I am really excited about the possibilities. Spending time with the Australian Defence Force will be incredible and I know I will learn a lot. I am also looking forward to coming back to London this summer to continue working at the Personal Recovery Unit. 'So while I am finishing one part of my life, I am getting straight into a new chapter. I am really looking forward to it.' As a young boy Prince Harry dreamed of joining the military and he joined the cadets when studying at Eton . +A US drone strike has killed the terrorist behind the Westgate shopping mall attack which left 67 people dead in Kenya's capital Nairobi. Adan Garar and two others are suspected to have been killed after their car was targeted near the town of Bardhere in Somalia. Senior US and Kenyan officials say Garar, a top member of the al-Shabab extremist group, was thought to have helped plan the devastating attack on the Westgate mall in 2013. A US drone strike in Somali has killed the terrorist behind the Westgate shopping mall attack. Shoppers are pictured running for safety during the attack in Nairobi in 2013 . A Kenyan official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to give the information to the media, says Garar is also suspected of planning failed attacks on Kenya's coast and in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, last year. The U.S official also insisted on anonymity. Anti-terror police foiled a planned attack in the coastal city of Mombasa after they intercepted a car packed with explosives in March 2014, according to Kenyan authorities. According to police, al-Shabab militants had planned simultaneous attacks on the international airport in Mombasa, the ferry crossing and a supermarket. Deadly: 67 people were killed in the Westgate attack, which was carried out by four gunmen from al-Shabab . The car laden with explosives was to be detonated on a ferry. Al-Shabab, an Islamic extremist group, has vowed to inflict violent attacks on Kenya and Uganda because the two countries have contributed troops to the African Union force supporting the government in Somalia. Sixty-seven people were killed in the Westgate attack, which was carried out by four gunmen from al-Shabab. +The gourmet food company Neal's Yard Creamery has recalled batches of unpasteurised goat's milk cheese because of contamination with Listeria. Listeria poisoning is a particular threat to mothers-to-be and has been associated with a higher risk of miscarriage. The cheese was sold through two shops in London, one in Covent Garden and the second in Borough Market, on the south bank of the Thames. Dangerous: The gourmet food company Neal's Yard Creamery has recalled batches of unpasteurised goat's milk cheese because of contamination with Listeria (file photo) Details were released by the Food Standards Agency, which said: 'Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause food poisoning, particularly among key vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, unborn and newborn babies, those over 60 years old, and anyone with reduced immunity.' The product involved is 200g packs of the company's Ragstone unpasteurised goat' s milk cheese, which is made in Herefordshire and sells for £9.80. The FSA said: 'Neal's Yard recalled the affected batch from customers as a precaution last week. Most of the product that was sold has been returned. Point of sale notices will be displayed in the stores concerned. 'If you have bought the above product, do not eat it. Instead, return it to the store from where it was bought.' Contaminated: Listeria poisoning is a particular threat to mothers-to-be and has been associated with a higher risk of miscarriage (file photo) +The fattest man in China has lost 13 stone so far in a battle to bring his weight under control. Liang Yong, 26, was last seen being transported on a steel reinforced trolley to carry his huge weight as he could not fit in an ambulance. The 26-year-old, who officially weighed in at more than 35 stone, went on a diet after he set the unwelcome record five years ago, The People's Daily reports. Agile: China's fattest man, Liang Yong, has lost 12 stone in a gradual diet which has seen him drop to 22 stone . Couch bound: Liang Yong decided to go on the diet after he got the unwelcome title of China's fattest man five years ago, pictured above . He said he wanted to lose the weight gradually and avoid crash diets so his skin would shrink back naturally. He said: 'It was not a record to be proud of when I was named the fattest man in China and was told it was officially registered at the Chinese record headquarters in 2007, but now I'm hoping to end up as the man who lost the most weight.' Now weighing a comparatively healthy 22 stone, he is happy to get on the hospital scales in Chongqing, south-western China. Humiliating: When he was at his heaviest of more than 35 stone, Liang Yong was too big for an ambulance and had to be transported to hospital in Chongqing by trolley . He said: 'I concentrated on a healthy diet, and regular exercise as soon as I was able to move well enough.' Mr Yong said his original weight problem was caused by him being born heavy, weighing in at 11 lbs, and that he had simply continued growing since then. Unhealthy appetite: Liang Yong has had a problem with his weight all through childhood but is now dieting with the help of a local hospital in China . Big issue: China's fattest man, pictured here in hospital, had to be wheeled in on a reinforced trolley because he was too big for an ambulance . At three months of age, he weighed 1 stone 8lbs; at three he weighted 4 stone 10lbs; at eight 12 stone 8lbs; and by the time he was 14 he weighed 28 stone 4lbs. He was taken to a local hospital which agreed to treat him free of charge in order to monitor his progress medically and record data. Road to recovery: China's fattest man, Liang Young, undergoes an examination as he battled to bring his weight down from 35 stone . Measuring up: China's fattest man, Liang Young, wanted to lose weight after he was given the unwelcome title . The information will be used to help treating other obese patients in a country where the problem of being overweight is fast becoming a serious issue. +Bayern Munich face Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday evening knowing that the Champions League encounter could make or break their season. Pep Guardiola's men are 11 points clear in the Bundesliga and into the quarter-finals of the German Cup, but it's Europe's foremost competition that is their main priority. The Bavarians drew the first leg of this last 16 0-0 in Ukraine and start as strong favourites for the return at the Allianz Arena - but without the comfort of an away goal, they could be caught cold. Franck Ribery is slide tackled by Bastian Schweinsteiger during training as David Alaba stands by . Ribery (right) and Alaba share a joke as Bayern's squad prepare for their match with Shakhtar Donetsk . Philipp Lahm shows some nifty control on the practice pitch ahead of the Champions League second leg . Bayern coach Pep Guardiola makes a point to Holger Badstuber during Tuesday's training session . Guardiola instructs Badstuber to keep his eye on the ball during the training session . Bayern start as strong favourites to beat Shakhtar Donetsk at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night . But the squad was in good spirits as they trained at their Sabener Strasse headquarters on the eve of the game, which Guardiola has billed as the biggest of their season. 'This match is a final for us,' the Spanish coach said after their 3-1 win at Hanover on Saturday. 'Only one thing matters and that is to win. 'We know what we have to do. They have extremely quick forwards and we cannot allow them to make their runs.' But the odds are stacked against Shakhtar, whose league season only started at the end of last month. Bayern won all their home matches in the group phase without conceding a goal. Bastian Schweinsteiger (left) stretches alongside team-mate Mehdi Benatia before the session . Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben share a word as they stretch off during training at Sabener Strasse . Brazilian defender Dante puts his best foot forward as Bayern get ready for the Shakhtar match . Bayern Sporting Director Matthias Sammer was an interested spectator . David Alaba tries to read the intentions of his opponent during a training ground match . Mario Gotze surges forward with the ball, leaving his colleagues in his wake . Rafinha (left), Xabi Alonso (second left), Bastian Schweinsteiger (second right) and Dante train . And they have scored a remarkable 21 goals in their last four league games, including eight against Hamburg and six at Paderborn. Shakhtar's Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu said: 'We will be playing against a very strong club. In my opinion, Bayern are the world's strongest football team at the moment. 'We have to respond to therir extraordinary tactical discipline with equally strong tactical discipline. Bastian Schweinsteiger keeps a close eye on the ball during a passing drill . Philipp Lahm shows some close control as he juggles the ball in training . Xabi Alonso is in the thick of things during training ahead of the match with the Ukrainian champions . Bastian Schweinsteiger slides in, attempting to win the ball . Bayern will be without Xabi Alonso, who was sent off in the first leg in Lviv . 'Their team is also superior to ours, but football does not follow logical rules. In football, anything can happen.' Guardiola is without Xabi Alonso, who is suspended after being sent off in the first leg, but could have defender Mehdi Benatia back from injury. +Bayern Munich survived an early scare to open up an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga with a 3-1 victory over struggling Hannover at the HDI Arena. The hosts took a surprise lead through Japan international Hiroshi Kiyotake after a lapse in concentration from Bayern Munich defender Dante at the back. However, the champions equalised within the space of three minutes when former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso curled in a stunning free-kick. Thomas Muller scored from the penalty spot after substitute Robert Lewandowski was kicked in the face before adding a second with brilliant header from Franck Ribery's cross. With Wolfsburg losing 1-0 to Augsburg, few people would bet against Bayern retaining their league title. More to follow... Thomas Muller receives Bayern fans' adulation after scoring his second goal in the 3-1 victory . Xabi Alonso (left) restored parity after Bayern Munich fell behind to a surprise goal at Hannover . Hannover midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake celebrates after giving Hannover a brief first half lead . Bayer stars including (L-R) Medhi Benatia, Franck Ribery and Robert Lewandowski were rested ahead of their Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk . BAYERN MUNICH (3-4-3): Neuer; Boateng, Dante (Lewandowski), Badstuber; Rafinha, Alonso (Schweinsteiger), Alaba, Bernat; Robben, Gotze (Ribery), Muller. Subs: Benatia, Pizarro, Rode, Reina. Booked: Alonso, Ribery . Goals: Alonso 25', Muller 61', 72' HANNOVER (4-2-3-1): Zieler; Pereira, Marcelo, Schulz, Albornoz; Schmiedebach (Ya Konan), Sane; Briand (Prib), Kiyotake, Bittencourt; Sobiech. Subs: Andreasen, Sakai, Joselu, Stankevicius, Konigsmann. Goals: Kiyotake 28' Bastia Schweinsteiger (centre), who was also rested, jokes with team-mates ahead of the game . Hannover's Manuel Schmiedebach goes for a high challenge on Bayern's World Cup hero Mario Gotze (left) Bayern forward Arjen Robben appeals to his team-mates as the champions start slowly in Hannover . Kiyotake (right) speeds away after a lapse on concentration from Bayern defender Dante . The Japanese midfielder slips the ball past Manuel Neuer to give the hosts the lead . Kiyotake points to the sky in celebration after his strike gives Hannover and unexpected lead . Robben watches as Alonso curls in a free-kick to equalise only minutes later . Bayern defender Juan Bernat leaps into Alonso's arms after drawing level in the first half . Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola (centre) gestures to the referee from the touchline . Star strier Robert Lewandowski, who has a superb record against Hannover, was introduced after the goals . Germany star Muller nets from the penalty spot to give Bayern the lead on 72minutes . Substitute Franck Ribery (left) pumps his fist as Muller scores from the penalty spot . Ribery later provided the cross fro Muller to double his tally with a superb header . Bayern team-mates race to celebrate the goal as Bayern open up an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga . +Arsene Wenger insisted that Arsenal can defy history and overturn a two-goal deficit to knock out Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday night. No team has ever lost by two goals in the home leg and gone on to win the tie in the Champions League era. But Wenger insisted that Arsenal were capable of producing the mother of all comebacks against the club he managed for seven years of his career, from 1987-1994. Arsene Wenger was in bullish mood ahead of Champions League showdown in Monaco . Arsenal boss Wenger walks on the pitch at the Stade Louis II on Monday night . Arsenal stars appeared relaxed as they headed to France on Monday for their Champions League tie . Wenger said: ‘It doesn’t matter that the statistics are against us, the result is against us. We’re conscious of that. But no matter how big percentage is against us, we have to give everything to make the statistics lie and that’s our belief: that we can do it. ‘We’re here for that. Monaco are in very strong position. We have experience, we have the desire and we have the belief that we can do it. You can expect us to show different side to miss. 'We totally missed the first leg, which was pretty surprising as we’ve won 12 of our last 14. Of course we didn’t play well but in life, if you miss a chance, sometimes you don’t have a second chance. But here we have a second chance.’ Olivier Giroud (left) and Mathieu Flamini prepare to board Arsenal's flight to France on Monday afternoon . Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez poses for the cameras before boarding the flight from Luton airport . Wenger may have to gamble on attack in the last-16 tie on Tuesday but he admitted he was not a regular at the world-famous casino in the principality. ‘I didn’t visit the casino when I was here,’ said Wenger. ‘As in England, I stayed a lot on football pitches. I don’t think people saw me there . ‘We need to perform well tomorrow and have a great performance. Before the game what we want is to give everything. If we didn’t believe, we wouldn’t be here. ‘Ideally you want score early but I believe we have to play with full power but not forget organisation and structure in the team and when the goal comes, the goal will come. No-one can predict when that will be. Mesut Ozil (right) believes it will be 'very important' that Arsenal score an early goal against Monaco . Keeper Wojciech Szczesny (centre) may have to settle for a place on the bench on Tuesday night . 'Football is not predictable but I can predict that desire and belief will be there. We’re in the Champions League last 16 and anything can happen on a positive front as long as we believe we can do it.’ Wenger does have concerns about the pitch at the Stade Louis II, with Monaco engulfed by rain showers at present. ‘It is a little bit of a problem if it rains a lot,’ said Wenger. ‘There were two problems when I was manager and one was that the pitch quality was not fantastic. 'But I just went out on the pitch and it’s good very good. And the second problem was when it rains in south of France, it really rains. They’ve had to postpone a match here recently – but that forecast is not for heavy rain.’ All of Arsenal's stars will have to shine if they are to reverse the 3-1 deficit to reach the quarter-finals . (L-R) Gabriel Paulista, Tomas Rosicky, Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla, Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil . +US rapper Jay-Z has agreed to pay half the royalties of one of his songs to a Swiss jazz musician Bruno Spoerri after using his music without consent. The rapper had denied copying instrumental 'Lilith — on the way'  in his 2013 song 'Versus'. But he has now agreed to pay 50 per cent of the royalties to the Swiss pianist and saxophonist, following an 18-month legal wrangle. Scroll down for video . Settled: US rapper Jay-Z, pictured here with wife Beyoncé, has agreed to pay Swiss musician half of royalties from a song in which he lifted an instrumental . Royalties: Swiss jazz musician Bruno Spoerri has been awarded 50 per cent of royalties from Jay-Zs song 'Versus' after rapper admitted using music without permission . It comes just days after Marvin Gaye's family were awarded $7.4 million after a jury decided that the Robin Thicke song 'Blurred Lines' ripped off Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got to Give It Up'. The song made a staggering $16million for producer Pharrell Williams, Thicke and rapper T.I. with the family being awarded $4million in damages and $3.4 million in profits from the song. An attorney for Thicke and Pharrell has said a decision in favour of Gaye's heirs could have a chilling effect on musicians who try to emulate an era or another artist's sound. In this case, the lifted melody came from a song composed by Spoerri in 1978, with the musician rejecting an initial offer as 'too low'. Out of pocket: Musician Jay-Z, pictured here at the opening of a club,  has agreed to pay Swiss musician half of royalties from one of his songs . The American musician and record producer only admitted using the music without attribution a few months ago, according to reports. Speaking last year, the veteran jazz musician said legal proceedings could have been avoided with a phone call. 'In a way I'm flattered that a relatively young rapper takes a sample from an old man, a sample that is about 35 years old,' he told swissinfo.ch. 'On the other hand I'm furious because it would have been so simple to clear the sample. All it would have needed was a call or an email to the company and I think it would have been relatively cheap.' Mr Spoerri, 79, has worked with the likes of Lee Konitz, Hans Kennel and George Gruntz in a career spanning nearly 50 years. In an illustrious career, he has directed the Zurich jazz festival and music schools in Zurich and Lucerne. +Four Georgia teens are under arrest after stealing a goat so one boy could allegedly use it in a prom proposal. Georgia police say the teens were busted and charged with livestock theft after the homeowner called 911 to report suspicious activity. A witness said they saw four men on the property and two suspicious vehicles parked outside. Scroll down for video . Four Georgia teens allegedly stole a goat so one boy could allegedly use it in a prom proposal . Three teens were busted for the theft along with a fourth unidentified 16-year-old who'll face juvenile charges . The homeowner confronted the boys, telling cops that 'the males looked like they had something large in their hands that they were loading into one of the trucks,' The Smoking Gun reports. Police later stopped a vehicle matching the description given by the homeowner, finding a goat inside. My Fox Atlanta reports the goat, named Chip, was the property of the homeowner's neighbor. Jacob Michels, 17, told police he wanted the animal 'because he thought he would ask a girl to the prom by saying, ‘Would you goat with me to prom?’' The boys were spotted by a neighbor across the street as the made off with the goat . Michels was handcuffed along with fellow 17-year-olds Walker Boston and Brendan Lawle . A fourth teen, 16, was not identified as he faces juvenile charges. 'Well, you know, it's quite possible that these teens didn't realize the severity of what they were doing,' Milton Police Captain Shawn McCarty told reporters. 'Apparently, this was supposed to be a prank.' +Convicted boyfriend killer Jodi Arias is spending several hours a day video-chatting to fans from her prison cell. The murderer, who narrowly escaped the death penalty for the brutal slaying of Travis Alexander in 2008, is said to be the most popular inmate getting video calls - many from girls as young as 15. Photos have surfaced showing Arias pulling faces and showing off a Hershey's from the confines of the cell where she spends 23-hours-a-day. Scroll down for video . All smiles: 'Fans' take snaps of murderer Arias as she shows off a Hershey's bar and smiles to the camera during video chats from prison cell . Last Saturday alone, Arias took 27 video calls in jail with pictures from some of those calls having leaked. With each call lasting up to 20 minutes, it means Arias spent up to nine hours that day Skyping with followers and fans from a laptop. Poser: The 34-year-old killer was snapped by admirers who have been skyping with Arias in her prison cell following her conviction for murder . Arias, a 34-year-old former waitress from Salinas, California, was found guilty of the murder in 2013, but jurors at the original trial deadlocked on whether to give her the death penalty. Prosecutors accuse Arias of murdering her ex-partner, Travis Alexander, in a jealous rage, but she says she acted in self-defense. Alexander, 30, was found dead in a shower at his Phoenix-area home. He had been stabbed multiple times, his throat was cut almost from ear to ear, and he had been shot in the face. Sheriff Joe Arpaio revealed Arias used the jails video system to tell two 15-year-old admirers they should use fake ID's so they could keep talking with her on the jail video call system. 'The mother told the girls to stop, and evidently the girls got back on and Arias advised them to get some phony ID's so they could get back on there because you have to be 18-years-old,' he said. Other admirers who have been taking photos of the conversation have also been banned with 10 now having been stopped form communicating with the prisoner. Victim: Arias was found guilty of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, left, and narrowly avoiding the death sentence . All smiles: Convicted killer Arias is said to be the most popular inmate for video calls receiving dozens in just one day . But, despite calls for her to have the privilege withdrawn, Arias is still able to make and receive video phone calls. Mr Arpaio says any discipline in the jail has to go through a committee, and that process takes a few days. Only after that is complete could Arias lose the right to make calls. 'It takes a few days to justify why we have taken action on any violation of our policy, I want to make sure we follow the proper procedures, she's not going to like this,' said Arpaio. Murdered: Victim Travis Alexander (right) was brutally murdered by lover Arias (left) in 2008 . The 20 minute phone calls cost £3.30 or $5 each, and anybody can request a conversation but Arias has to accept the calls. Earlier this month, Arias was sentenced to life behind bars after a jury failed to reach a verdict on whether to execute her for the murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander - causing his distraught sister to break down in tears and wish Arias to 'burn in hell'. The harrowing scene played out in Maricopa Country Superior Court as Judge Sherry Stephens declared a mistrial meaning Arias, 34, would not be able to face the death penalty. Tanisha Sorenson was overcome with grief and held her face in her hand as other members of Alexander's family wept while a shackled Arias looked on impassively as she escaped with her life. Speaking to the media afterwards, a furious Sorensen said, 'The real justice will be in the afterlife when Jodi burns in hell.' It is now up to the judge to decide if Arias gets 25-years to-life with parole or without parole and Stephens told the court she would announce this in April. +Mikey Knight ordered 16 tickets for him and friends to watch Norwich City, but his mother accidentally roasted the tickets - worth around £500 in total . When Mikey Knight ordered 16 tickets to an upcoming football match for him and his friends, he thought the safest place to get them delivered was his parents' house. But when the 28-year-old went to the house in Taverham, Norfolk, his mother Cherry had to make a confession - she had roasted them. Mrs Knights had accidentally cooked the tickets, worth £500, for 40 minutes after they got stuck to the underside of a roast in the bag chicken. The football fan initially didn't believe his mother until she handed him an envelope containing the charred remains of 16 tickets to Good Friday's Championship match between Norwich City and Brighton and Hove Albion, which were unreadable. He said: 'I turned up for tea and my mum asked me if I was in a good mood. I said "yes." 'It was then she told me she'd roasted the tickets. 'She'd put them on the side in the kitchen ready to give to me, but when she put the bird down as she got it out the fridge the sticky bit of the envelope had opened and got stuck to it. 'She said after about 40 minutes of it cooking she couldn't find the tickets and realised what she'd done. 'I thought it was a wind-up at first, but then I opened the envelope and the 16 tickets were inside, all black. 'She told me she would sort it though. I could see the funny side but I was really worried we wouldn't be able to make it to the match.' Mrs Knights, 62, of Norwich, went to Norwich City's grounds and explained the situation to a member of staff who then emailed Brighton and Hove Albion. The club agreed to reprint tickets for Mr Knights and his friends as a 'goodwill gesture'. Mr Knights added: 'I've already got my train tickets, but it's a good job those didn't go to my mum's address. She might have put them in for afters. Mr Knights initially thought his mother was joking until she handed him the charred remains of the tickets . 'I'm going to have to collect the match tickets when I get down there. 'I'll probably have to skip the pub with my friends to go and get them, but I'm just glad we get to go and I'm really grateful. 'There wouldn't usually be this many tickets to cook, but as the match is on Good Friday more people wanted to come along. It would be awful to have let them all down.' Norwich City and Brighton and Hove Albion face each other in the Championship fixture on April 3. The 28-year-old (left) was relieved when Brighton and Hove Albion agreed to reprint the black tickets (right) Mr Knights will now be able to watch the Norwich City (pictured) match on Good Friday with his friends . +2014 was the year of the beard, with fuzz appearing on every other man on the street. Any male who could grow a non-patch facial hair has considered retiring their razor on the last twelve months. The general public are the only ones to have caught the bug either - celebrities have been just as keen to sport some bristles on their chin. Scroll down for video . Left: David Beckham attends an event for Unicef last month, right: David at Good Morning America in 2011�� . David Beckham is the latest star to develop a mature bush on the lower half of his face, with a  dark brown rug slowly edging across his features since the beginning of February. But while Becks has nailed almost every look he has tried his hand at (apart from cornrows), the ex-footballer isn't well-suited to facial hair. He isn't the only one - ultimate eye candy Brad Pitt has also failed to pull off the style, appearing more like a hobo than a rugged gent. Other stars have taken the look on with aplomb, including Ashton Kutcher, Robert Pattinson and Callum Best. Read on to judge for yourselves which males celebrities look best with a beard, by sliding the arrow left or right across each picture... Left: George Clooney at BAFTA in 2013, right: George at a Hollywood event last January�� . Left: Calum Best at the world premiere of One Night In Istanbul last September, right: Calum at Celebrity Big Brother last month�� . Left: Matthew McConaughey at AFI Awards in LA last January, right: Matthew at the Emmy Awards last August . Left: Jamie Dornan at Kiss FM last month, right: Jamie at a party in London in 2008 . Left: Leonardo DiCaprio at Clinton Global Citizen Awards last September, right: at the Golden Globes in 2013 . Left: Jake Gyllenhaal at Night Of Constellations opening night last January in New York, right: Jake at Nightcrawler premiere last October in New York . Left: Michael Fassbender at the Independent Spirit Awards in LA last March, right: Michael at the Frank premiere last April . Left: Brad Pitt at Kick-Ass in 2010, right: Brad at the Oscars in 2013 . Left: Robert Pattinson at the Berlin film festival last month, right: Robert at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Dinner last August . Left: Ashton Kutcher at the GQ Gentlemen's Ball in New York, in 2011, right: Ashton at Jobs screening in 2013 . +A quickfire Pablo Piatti double secured a 2-0 win for Valencia at home to Real Sociedad on Sunday that kept them on course to clinch a lucrative berth in the Champions League for next season. Valencia missed out on a place in Europe last term but their sixth win in their last seven games put them eight points clear of chasing Sevilla, who are fifth, and level with third-placed champions Atletico Madrid, who clash in Seville later on Sunday. Argentine forward Piatti fired Valencia ahead in the 53rd minute at a sun-drenched Mestalla and made it 2-0 three minutes later after good work down the right from Sofiane Feghouli. Argentine forward Pablo Piatti (left) vies for the ball with Real Sociedad defender Julen Etxabeguren (right) Piatti (right) celebrates after scoring Valencia's opening goal during the La Liga match at the Mestalla . They have 53 points from 25 matches, behind Atletico on goal difference ahead of the pair's match in Madrid next weekend. Hopes are high at Valencia that a recent takeover of the club by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim will help them sort out their finances and return to being genuinely competitive in Spain and Europe. Sociedad, coached by former Manchester United manager David Moyes, are 11th on 27 points, five above the relegation places. Real Madrid can restore their four-point lead over second-placed Barcelona at the top with a win at home to Villarreal later on Sunday. Barca trimmed the gap to one point thanks to Saturday's scrappy 3-1 win at struggling Granada. Real Sociedad midfielder Sergio Canales (right) breaks away from Valencia striker Alvaro Negredo (left) Real Sociedad's Granero (left) slides in to block Negredo's (right) shot during Valencia's 2-0 win . Real Sociedad centre back Inigo Martinez (left) jumps to head the ball away from the oncoming Negredo (right) Nuno Espirito's (right) Valencia side are currently fourth in La Liga, eight points clear of fifth-placed Sevilla . +It all started as an innocent attempt to find clams, but left a small fox in a tense standoff with a 500lb brown bear. As the two animals faced one another on the tidal flats of the Katmai National Park in southern Alaska, it seemed there would only be one inevitable ending. But miraculously after running round in circles chased by the bear, the red fox was left to return to its search in peace as it appeared the Alaskan brown bear just wanted someone to play with. A red fox appeared to be facing an inevitable ending when it was locked in a stand off with an approaching bear . But it appeared the grizzly brown bear just wanted a playmate, and the fox and bear played a game of chase . American photographer Nate Zeman was photographing the fox when he saw the large bear approach from nearby woods and head straight for the animal - a fraction of its size. The 32-year-old, of Breckenridge, Colorado, said: 'The bear appeared from the forest, located about a mile away, and began to make a beeline straight towards us. 'The bear walked straight past me at a very close distance and kept going towards the fox, and began to chase it. 'The fox, however, easily outmanoeuvred the bear as it was chased in circles a couple of times, and when they stopped they both squared off about thirty feet apart.' The agile fox managed to dodge the bear and neither animal seemed aggressive, not running at full speed . And despite the tense stand-off it soon became clear that the bear just wanted to play. The pair were seen running in circles, neither at full speed, with the agile fox deftly managing to stay out of harm's way. 'Most likely the bear just wanted to chase the fox, and it's as simple as that,' added Mr Zeman. 'It wasn't aggressive enough in its behaviour to be meaning to actually kill, it just really seemed to want a chase! The fox had been calmly searching for clams on the tidal flats of the Katmai National Park in Alaska . But the red fox's relative calm was soon disrupted when a grizzly brown bear made a direct beeline for it . The 500lb bear was seen to approach from a nearby forest and head straight for the fox that was clamming . Both animals faced eachother, and at first it appeared there would only be one outcome for the small fox . 'Soon after I took the photographs the fox walked off in the other direction and continued clamming, the bear lay there for a few moments before slowly getting up and sauntering away.' The Alaskan brown bear is the name of any member of the grizzly bear family that lives in the coastal regions of southern Alaska. They are the second largest type of brown bear in the world, only after the giant bears of Kodiak Island. As the bear approached the fox began running and the game of chase between the pair began . The fox managed to dodge the bear and both were seen running in circles across the Alaskan salt flats . Photographer Nate Zeman said neither animal was aggressive and both seemed to be playing a game . +An Indianapolis traffic reporter took a tumble on air on Thursday as she was updating viewers on road conditions - but she still managed to finish her report. CBS4 traffic reporter Katie Solove was pointing at the screen when she stepped backward and stumbled to the ground off screen. She disappeared, paused for a moment and then continued with the news cast. CBS4 traffic reporter Katie Solove was reporting on the roads in the area when she took a tumble on live TV . Solove was walking backward and pointing at the monitor when she apparently missed a step and fell off screen . In the background of the video a voice can be heard shouting, 'Whoa!' before Solove professionally finished her report. Solove then laughed and the camera cut to the two main news anchors, one of which turned to the viewers and said, 'Katie's OK'. She wasn't injured in the fall and later went to Twitter to laugh about her accident. 'FAILURE... IS an option lol but u can always get up & keep going! Traffic now back to normal speeds at @CBS4Indy,' she wrote. She handled the situation professionally, however, and continued her traffic report and laughed about the moment on Twitter . +Former Rangers, Russia and Holland manager Dick Advocaat has moved a step closer to being the next Sunderland boss . The Dutchman was heading to the north-east on Monday night for talks with the club following the sacking of Gus Poyet. Sporting Director Lee Congerton is understood to have identified Advocaat, who stepped down as Serbia coach in November, as the man to take over until the end of the season. Former Rangers, Russia and Holland manager Dick Advocaat is set to hold talks with Sunderland . Sunderland sacked Poyet in the wake of Saturday's humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. The result leaves the Black Cats one point and one place above the drop zone and owner Ellis Short believes a change of manager is needed to avoid relegation. Poyet – who leaves after 17 months in charge – was informed of the club's decision having taken training at the Academy of Light on Monday morning. Gus Poyet was sacked by Sunderland with the club just one point above the relegation zone . Sunderland fans turned on manager Poyet (bottom right) during the defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday . Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon looks dejected as Sunderland were thrashed 4-0 at home by Villa . Sportsmail reported earlier in the day that Congerton had advised Short to sack Poyet. A statement on the club's website confirmed the news and Short said: 'I would like to thank Gus for his endeavours during his time at the club, in particular last season's 'great escape' and cup final appearance, which will live long in the memory of every Sunderland fan. HULL . Chelsea (Home) - March 22 . Swansea (Away) - April 4 . Southampton (Away) - April 11 . Liverpool (Home) - April 18 . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Swansea (Home) - March 21 . Man United (Away) - April 4 . Tottenham (Away) - April 11 . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . *QPR (Home) - Date to be arranged . SUNDERLAND . West Ham (Away) - March 21 . Newcastle (Home) - April 5 . Crystal Palace (Home) - April 11 . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . * Arsenal (Away) - Date to be arranged . BURNLEY . Southampton (Away) - March 21 . Tottenham (Home) - April 5 . Arsenal (Home) - April 11 . Everton (Away) - April 18 . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . QPR . Everton (Home) - March 22 . West Brom (Away) - April 4 . Chelsea (Home) - April 12 . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . *Aston Villa (Away) - Date to be arranged . LEICESTER . Tottenham (Away) - March 21 . West Ham (Home) - April 4 . West Brom (Away) - April 11 . Swansea (Home) - April 18 . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. +The man designing Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup yacht says: ‘To be honest, I know nothing about boats. Boats have never been a passion of mine.’ Nor can he swim. So speaks Adrian Newey, a Picasso with a 4H pencil, who can claim to be the finest motor racing designer of his generation. He is now splitting his time 50-50 between Red Bull’s Formula One programme and their Advanced Technologies project - helping Ainslie’s team for the 2017 Cup and also designing a road car. Red Bull's chief technical officer Adrian Newey believes the car is being let down by it's Renault engine . Newey believes engine suppliers Renault are letting Red Bull down. ‘It’s frustrating that we’ve got an engine which is a long way behind with no obvious light at the end of the tunnel and all sorts of failings,’ he said before Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. ‘We keep trying to offer to get involved. It’s one thing where you’re not competitive but you can see your way out of it. It’s another when you’re not competitive and your partner doesn’t seem to be willing to deal with you.’ Problems persisted into this weekend. Daniel Ricciardo’s car required a new engine - one of four allowed for the 20-round season. He qualified seventh and his team-mate Daniil Kvyat 13th for a race due to start without Manor, the team that is trying to re-form itself from the ashes of Marussia. Mercedes took pole with Lewis Hamilton. Newey, 56, can take his mind off the track with Ainslie’s venture, where he will work with former McLaren colleague Martin Whitmarsh, who was last week named chief executive of the America’s Cup team. Newey (left) looks at Daniil Kvyat's (centre) car during Australian Open practice on Saturday . +Joy for pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton but ignominy for Jenson Button and history-making of the wrong sort for McLaren. Both their cars, Button in one, Kevin Magnussen in the other, will be on the back row of the grid for the Australian Grand Prix. Their participation ended with the doom-laden radio transmission to Button, a three-time winner here at Albert Park: ‘We have leapfrogged Magnussen, but unfortunately we are one-tenth short of Ericsson (of Sauber) and out.’ In the McLaren garage, chairman Ron Dennis watched on, wearing headphones, his neck extended, his face impassive. Lewis Hamilton celebrates his pole lap as he waves to the crowd at the Albert Park Circuit. He qualified ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg and Williams driver Felipe Massa . Lewis Hamilton gives his thumbs up to the crowd after sticking his Mercedes on pole in Melbourne . Lewis Hamilton was fastest in qualifying and will start on pole for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix . Lewis Hamilton celebrates his brilliant pole . 1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.327 . 2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.921 . 3. Felipe Massa Williams 1:27.718 . 4. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:27.757 . 5. Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 1:27.790 . 6. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:28.087 . 7. Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull 1:28.329 . 8. Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:28.510 . 9. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:28.560 . 10. Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:29.480 . - - - - - - - - - - . 11. Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:28.800 . 12. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:28.868 . 13. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:29.070 . 14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:29.208 . 15. Sergio Perez Force India 1:29.209 . - - - - - - - - - - . 16. Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:31.376 . 17. Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.422 . 18. Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:32.037 . McLaren were six seconds off Mercedes, who took pole through a lightning quick Hamilton, virtually six-tenths – a.k.a. an age – ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa, of Williams, was third. It has been estimated that McLaren could be 250 brake horsepower (the equivalent of the Honda Civic Type R) short of the Mercedes. So much for McLaren's new partnership with Honda. So much for the rebuilding that was promised when Dennis sacked Martin Whitmarsh as team principal to take on the chief executive’s role himself. Dennis has inched ever more involved in the team, having originally promised to detach himself and leave the day-to-day management to Eric Boullier, the sporting director. The formula is not working even at their annual outlay of a mighty £200million. Jenson Button will start Sunday's Australian Grand Prix from 17th after a miserable qualifying session . Button leaves the pit-lane with his McLaren team well off the pace at the first race of the season . McLaren will start from the very back of the pack; they were some six seconds slower than the Mercedes . Re-live every moment of an incident-packed qualifying session in Melbourne . You have to wonder whether Fernando Alonso, who is missing this race after being concussed in a testing accident last month, will want to return for Malaysia a fortnight hence. A sick note from the doctor might suit him nicely. Until, let’s say, Monza. By that race in September, Mercedes may nearly, or actually, have wrapped up the constructors’ title. Their dominance is so immense that Hamilton was 1.4sec ahead of Massa’s Williams. Hamilton, securing his fourth pole on the track where he made his debut eight years ago, said: ‘It has been a great start to the weekend. It does not feel like a long time since the last race. 'It has been a huge effort by the guys back at the factory so I feel incredibly blessed. It is so much fun in qualifying and I am massively grateful for all the hard work of the team.' Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, on his Ferrari debut, qualified fourth in Melbourne . Nico Hulkenberg, in his Force India, takes a trip across the gravel. He will start 14th tomorrow . Hamilton ran wide on his very first lap of the afternoon, but recovered to secure pole in Melbourne . Hamilton, who started on pole here in Melbourne in 2014, but retired with an engine problem, added: 'We had a difficult start to the season last year, so we a really hoping for a better start for both cars to succeed tomorrow. We are going to work as hard as we can, and it will be a good fight with Nico.' Rosberg had to abort his first flying lap after running wide, but recovered to complete a Mercedes front-row lockout. He said: 'The story was Lewis was in impressive form and he did an awesome job. 'For me, the speed was there but I did not get it together. I am realy thankfulf for the team and the car they have given me. P2, I will live with for now, but it is a long day tomorrow.' Of the dominant Mercedes pair, third-placed Massa said: 'They are in a different category'. An ariel view of the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne which plays hosts to the season-opening race . Massa finished third in qualifying and claimed Mercedes are 'in a different category' McLaren would not have been at the very back had Manor not sat qualifying out. The team will not race either. Their supposed rebirth from the ashes of Marussia is danger of turning into a bad joke. Button, however, believes this year's McLaren is essentially good, saying: ‘I was always thinking long term when I re-signed. I really do think that in the end we can challenge Mercedes at the front. This a new package, not just in terms of the engine but the philosophy behind it, the aerodynamics and airflow. ‘I’d rather not be at the back of the grid, but I am not sitting here downbeat. It is a tough time now and there will be tough times for many weeks, but it will make us stronger. ‘We have not done a race distance yet. So if we finish the race tomorrow it may not sound much, but it will help a lot.’ Max Verstappen, the youngest qualifier in Formula One history at 17 years and 165 days, qualified 12th. He had ‘a big moment’ squirming wide at turn five and that left him four places behind Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz Jnr. Red Bull were disappointingly slow, with Daniil Kvyat only 13th and Daniel Ricciardo seventh. Sparks fly from the bottom of Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso... the 17-year-old will start 12th on Sunday . +Formula One breathed a sigh of relief in the sunny early Saturday morning at Melbourne when Sauber's former Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde abandoned his legal action against the team. He had been suing them for dropping him despite having a contract to race for them this season, starting with Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. Courts in Melbourne found in his favour, saying he had a right to drive. However, he has not got a super-licence, so could not. Giedo van der Garde has decided to drop his case against former side Sauber after settling out of court . Marcus Ericsson (left) and Felipe Nasr (right) will race for Sauber in the absence of Van der Garde . This brought about an impasse: Sauber would be in contempt of court if they left him out. But they could not put him in according to the FIA rules. Heads we knocked together over Friday night and Van der Garde settled out of court. Van der Garde wrote on Facebook: 'With respect to the interest of motorsport, and F1 in particular, I have decided to give up my legal rights to race this weekend at the Melbourne Grand Prix. 'As I am a passionate race driver this decision has been very difficult for me. 'However I also wish to respect the interest of the FIA, Sauber Motorsport, as well as Nasr and Ericsson.' Crucially, Van der Garde has made clear further negotiations need to take place, however, before the matter can finally be closed. The 29-year-old added: 'My management will continue talks with Sauber early next week to find a mutually acceptable solution for the current situation that has now arisen. 'I am confident such solution will be found and I will inform the media once done.' Van der Garde dropped the case against Sauber out of respect to 'motorsport, and F1 in particular' Marcus Ericssson and Felipe Nasr will race for them in his place. Both were named on Sauber's race entry and took part in second practice on Friday, having sat out of the first session while the lawyers argued. With three valid driver contracts and only two race seats available, Sauber and Kaltenborn had found themselves mired in controversy. Given Sauber's financial struggles last year, when approached by two drivers in Ericsson and Nasr who could offer considerable sums of money in sponsorship, both the Swede and Brazilian were signed. But with Van der Garde on contract, and despite also having paid up front - albeit a figure less than that of Ericsson and Nasr - the battle became legal. It remains to be seen what 'mutually acceptable solution' can now be ironed out between the two parties. Whatever the outcome, under-pressure team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, a trained lawyer, has emerged from the sorry mess in a poor light. Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn insists she will not resign from her role despite the recent saga . At the circuit on Friday, while unable to talk about the case as it remained ongoing, she did insist however she remained competent to carry on with her role as team boss. 'I don't see it (the case) having any effect,' Kaltenborn said. 'We have a very clear view of what we did. We took action after thinking about it for a while. 'For us that was very clear, but the outcome is different.' Pressed on whether she had considered resigning, Kaltenborn added: 'I've not considered that. 'This whole matter does not have any effect on the way we work, the way the team works.' Kaltenborn did concede, however, the past week had damaged morale given the team's name had been dragged through the courts. 'It's had a very negative impact on the team because the situation was, for a while, unclear,' she added. 'We now have certain actions taken against the team, and we are acting accordingly.' +The legends whom Lewis Hamilton would emulate met in the paddock for a brief chat — the tartan hat of Sir Jackie Stewart peak to peak with the equally trademark red cap of Niki Lauda. The decades have not dimmed a bond begotten by each man’s achievement in winning the Formula One world drivers’ title three times. Only seven others could ever make that claim: Fangio, Brabham, Piquet, Prost, Senna, Schumacher and Vettel. Here in sunlit Melbourne, Hamilton began practice for the Australian Grand Prix at the start of a 20-round season in which the British driver hopes to add his name to that exclusive club. Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to retain the Formula One title after last season's triumph . Hamilton took part in Friday's Formula One Grand Prix practice session ahead of Sunday's season opener . Michael Schumacher, pictured in 2006, is the most successful Formula One driver with seven world titles . The first race of the 2015 Formula One schedule begins in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday . Drivers’ champion . Lewis Hamilton. A great driver in a great car. His one and only threat is Nico Rosberg, poised and calculating coolly for any mistake. Constructors’ champion . Put your weekly shopping budget, your mortgage and Johnny’s school fees on Mercedes. Surprise driver . Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, 17 and 166 days tomorrow. A brilliant talent. My second choice: Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull. The race I am most looking forward to? The saying in F1 is those that start with ‘M’ are the best to be at: Melbourne (my absolute favourite), Monte Carlo, Montreal and Monza. Mexico returns this year. Hamilton pondered the word ‘legend’ and said: ‘I hope when I have retired and am much, much older, perhaps in 30 years, a kid might use that phrase for me. ‘I want to win this year. There’s a championship there for the taking. Damn it, I want to win it! I want to go and grab it. More than ever. At least as much as last year, and hopefully even more.’ He will certainly have a car capable of accomplishing that task. Mercedes are in a parallel universe of speed and reliability, according to pre-season testing. It again promises to be a straight fight between him and his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Lauda is their boss at Mercedes. Stewart has been a critic of Hamilton from time to time. He thinks the word ‘legend’ can only be applied long after a driver has hung up his helmet. ‘That is how it works with many halls of fame in America,’ he said. ‘Time waits to confer its judgment.’ The debate about Hamilton is always keen. He fuels this by his actions. He has taken to posting pictures of himself brooding and pouting, half-dressed and self-absorbed on the photo-based website Instagram. One such picture had Hamilton standing in a graffiti-lined alley in Melbourne looking up to the sky with his hands clasped in prayer. These fine exhibits of modern art are being undertaken by Dan ‘Spinz’ Forrest, a bald and bearded music producer who seems newly to have attached himself to Hamilton. He is walking around the paddock with a camera in his hand. Never mind that, it is Hamilton’s heavy and skilled right foot that will define him over the next eight-and-a-half months. But his compatriot Jenson Button believes there is still room for Hamilton to improve on his championship-winning form of last season. Hamilton celebrated in Abu Dhabi after winning the 2014 Formula One Championship . Mercedes F1 team showed their support for Red Nose Day by wearing merchandise on Friday . Mercedes' drivers Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg both also wore T-shirts in support of Red Nose Day . ‘He was most inconsistent last year,’ said Button, whose McLaren was three seconds slower than Mercedes in practice. ‘In racing, Lewis was stronger than ever. In qualifying, he seemed weaker than ever. It was a different Lewis. This year, with more confidence, he’ll be more consistent in qualifying and a stronger driver.’ Rosberg’s qualities should not be enough to stop an on-form, all-firing Hamilton becoming the first Briton to win consecutive titles, but the German is calm and focused on his retaliative challenge. ‘Lewis was a little bit stronger than me last year,’ admitted Rosberg, who is due to become a father in August. ‘He’s been working on himself during the winter and I have been working on myself. ‘I’m not at my peak Formula One performance yet. Being an F1 driver is multi-faceted. It’s not just about turning the steering wheel in the best possible way. It’s outside the car, too, having your whole life around you sorted so you are focused and have the energy to do the perfect job in the car. Coming second has motivated me for this year.’ Hamilton wants to remembered as a 'legend' after he has retired from Formula One . The 30-year-old takes time out in the garage during the first practice session of the new season . Sauber's former Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde has abandoned his legal action against the team . The season starts with Formula One in a curious, but entirely new, state of disrepair. Manor, the team that rose from the bones of Marussia, look unlikely to race because, among other things, they do not have the software required to run their cars. It seems the hard drives were wiped to prepare them to be auctioned when the team’s assets were due to be sold and they now need to reinstall the missing programs. But the biggest drama was at Sauber, where Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde is suing the team for breaking his contract. A court in Melbourne has ruled in his favour, saying he should race. However, he cannot do so because he has not been granted a super-licence. He still put on overalls yesterday and was fitted for his seat, unavailingly. Sauber sat out the first practice session but took part in the second in the form of their two named drivers Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. The squabbling parties called a truce of sorts this morning Melbourne time, with Van der Garde abandoning his legal action and averting, for now at least, the threat of bailiffs seizing the team’s assets. DAVID COULTHARD . ‘Lewis appears to be going through a transition in his off-track life. I see he is negotiating his own contract, doing music in the future and has split up with Nicole (Scherzinger), and all of these things have an influence on your life which may be a positive or negative. 'It will be interesting to see now he is a wealthy champion and got lots of opportunities whether the absolute focus is still on the job. Nico now has the experience of battling for a world championship. He went into last year with a good car, everything was going great, then he had the collision in Spa, his team told him he was a bad boy and he was getting booed. I think he will be stronger.’ DAMON HILL . ‘Nico has talents that are slightly more subtle and less obvious than Lewis but I think he is going to have to invent a new Nico to counter his team-mate. The championship was delivered by Lewis, so if Mercedes have to hedge one way or the other, they will go for Lewis. 'I can’t see Lewis getting distracted. He can see the prizes, he collects his trophies and is very proud of his success and he still talks as if he is stunned by his own success. He will be difficult to beat this year.’ MARTIN BRUNDLE . ‘If Lewis had finished his career with one championship it would have been a travesty but if he wins a third he becomes one of the all-time greats. 'He has got to win consecutive championships which is always perceived to be particularly difficult, but he is going to have a dominant car again so it is Nico Rosberg who he has got to race. Unless Nico has found a way to raise his game, what is going to put Lewis under pressure apart from himself?’ JOHNNY HERBERT . ‘I don’t think it’s a given for Lewis. He can’t say “I beat him last year and it’s going to be fine, I will be able to do those runs of winning four races on the trot again and everything will be hunky dory” — It won’t be like that. Lewis will think, “Yes, I’m quicker”. Is Rosberg capable of doing it? I think he is, that’s why I say Lewis cannot rest on his laurels because he will be there for sure.’ +Australia eased past Scotland despite a long rain delay to finish second in World Cup Pool A after a seven-wicket win in Hobart. Scotland were skittled out for 130 in just 25.4 overs by the Australia attack with Mitchell Starc (four for 14) the key man for the tournament co-hosts. Australia then made light work of the reply, which was interrupted for an hour and a half by a rain delay, with Michael Clarke top-scoring with 47 as they eased to victory in 15.2 overs. Michael Clarke top-scored with 47 as Australia beat Scotland by seven wickets in Hobart on Saturday . Clarke plays a pull shot before there was an hour and a half break in play due to rain . It was a dominant performance by Australia starting with their bowling attack. Starc accounted for opening batsmen Kyle Coetzer (nought) and Calum MacLeod (22) before returning to bowl out Josh Davey (26) and last man Iain Wardlaw (nought). Matt Machan offered some brief resistance with a knock of 40 before being caught by James Faulkner off the bowling of Pat Cummins, but with wickets tumbling at regular intervals, Scotland were unable to gain any momentum. Cummins finished with figures of three for 42 while Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Glenn Maxwell also picked up a wicket apiece. Mitchell Starc celebrates with his team-mates as he took four wickets for just 14 runs . Starc's bowling display earned him the player of the match award as Australia finished second in Pool A . In reply, Australia lost Aaron finch for 20 in the fourth over but then started motoring nicely, with Clarke and Shane Watson bring up the 50 mark in 45 balls. Clarke fell for 47 when the score was on 92 and shortly after the teams were forced to leave the pitch for an earlier than scheduled dinner break as heavy rain started to fall in Hobart. After an hour and a half's delay, both sides returned to the field with no overs lost, where new batsman David Warner and James Faulkner plundered the remaining runs required for victory. Matt Machan offered some brief resistance with a knock of 40 as Scotland were bowled out for just 130 . Warner hit 21 from six balls while Faulkner added 16 from six as the duo wasted no time in wrapping up the match. The result meant Scotland finished winless at the bottom of Pool A after their six group games. +Arsene Wenger has urged Arsenal to rid themselves of Europe’s gallant loser tag by grasping their Champions League second chance on Tuesday night. The Gunners head into their second leg in Monaco trailing 3-1 following an abject display at the Emirates Stadium. In each of the past four seasons, Arsenal have narrowly crashed out at the last 16 stage. Arsenal were in fine form to beat West Ham on Saturday and will need to carry that momentum forward . The Gunners will need to overturn a two-goal deficit against a team who rarely concede . Last season they secured a credible 1-1 draw in Bayern Munich after losing the first leg; in 2013 Arsenal won 2-0 in the Allianz Arena only to crash out 3-2 on aggregate after a crushing first leg loss. Three years ago, having lost 4-0 to AC Milan in the first leg, Wenger’s side staged a brilliant comeback only to fall short in a 3-0 second leg win. And in 2011, Arsenal again missed out by a solitary goal, crashing out 4-3 on aggregate to Barcelona despite winning the first leg 2-1 at the Emirates. And now Arsenal must perform yet another European comeback in Monaco with Wenger desperate for his side to finish the job this time. Arsene Wenger says his team have an opportunity to right the wrongs of last month's defeat to Monaco . Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud cut a dejected figure while Arsenal were being beaten at home by Monaco . ‘That’s not what you want (to be called gallant losers), you want to qualify,’ said Wenger. ‘We have got it wrong in the first game. What you want in life is the chance to put it right. We have the opportunity to put it right and after, no matter what, we will be ready to give everything to do it. ‘We are in a position where Monaco are favourites. We can go there and create something special. I believe we will have the desire to do it. ‘Honestly, I’d prefer to be 3-0 up (but) we have no choice. We have to put it right. ‘Sometimes in life, you make a big mistake and there’s no comeback, no way you get the chance to put it right again. ‘In football, you can do it so let’s just give everything. Is all the pressure on Monaco? They can lose it. They’ve already won it but they can still lose it.’ Should the Gunners need a further motivation then they only have to glance at Monaco striker Dimitar Berbatov’s suggestions that his side wanted it more than the English club during the first leg. Giroud has bounced back from a poor performance to score three times in four games since Monaco . The Arsenal striker hit a stunning goal to put the Gunners ahead at home to West Ham on Saturday . ‘We have enough experience to know that what happens on Tuesday night does not depend on statement of people, but just depends on our performance on the night,’ said the Arsenal boss. ‘I don’t believe that (Monaco wanted it more than Arsenal). I think we wanted too much to make a difference in the first game and forgot our basics.’ Meanwhile, Olivier Giroud is determined to right the wrongs of his wasteful performance in the first leg last month. The Frenchman was heavily criticised by his own supporters for missing gilt-edged chances in the clash. But the striker has responded well, scoring three in as many starts since the defeat to Monaco — including a brilliant strike in the win over West Ham that fired Arsenal to within a point of second-placed Manchester City. ‘I try to bounce back as quickly as I can and it’s true the boss gave me a chance to do it against Everton (after the Monaco defeat),’ said the France international. Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League last season despite a good display against Bayern Munich . In 2012 the Gunners came close to overturning a 4-0 deficit against AC Milan, but fell just short . ‘I try to do it straight away. If you let the doubts enter your head it’s even more difficult to cope. ‘There are always tough moments like that because we do a hard job. You have to question yourself every week and bounce back. ‘I try to show my answer on the pitch with my mentality. Football is a sport where you need to have a strong mentality because you have to face some difficulties. ‘Even when you play well and score a lot of goals, if you miss some everything is forgotten. You have to have a conscience about it and be aware. ‘Don’t believe the people who talk too much about football. I know when I play well or not. I know how to bounce back. I say that football is an everlasting new beginning.’ +Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer has raised concerns over the poor discipline of Franck Ribery and Jerome Boateng. Winger Ribery was criticised recently by Bayern head coach Pep Guardiola for his tendency to react angrily to on-field provocations, and Beckenbauer is worried that a failure to control his temper could end up costing his team. He is also worried that a similar risk exists with midfielder Boateng. 'Ribery is often dealt with pretty roughly. But that does not mean he can afford to lose his temper, even if he is often provoked,' Beckenbauer told Sky, 'People know that he often reacts. It's the same thing with Boateng.' VIDEO Scroll down to see all the goals from Bayern's thrashing of Werder Bremen . Franck Ribery (left) has developed a reputation of reacting angrily when provoked on the pitch . Bayern Munich's honorary president Franz Beckenbauer (left) is worried about the Frenchman's temper . Ribery crosses the ball ahead of the oncoming challenge of Shakhtar Donetsk's Fred (left) Jerome Boateng squares up to Werder Bremen Davie Selke (right) following a contentious challenge . Boateng plays a long pass against Shakhtar Donetsk during the Champions League game . Bayern's honorary president went on to suggest that someone should 'talk to the players about this, because they are hurting the team,' before turning his attention to Guardiola's contract status. The Spaniard's deal at the Allianz Arena is set to expire next year and Beckenbauer spoke only in glowing terms of the man who delivered four trophies in his debut season in charge of the club, lifting the Bundesliga and German cup domestically as well as the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup. Beckenbauer said, 'Guardiola does not need a contract. He is the type of coach who comes and goes whenever he wants. Bayern would like to hold on to him for the remainder of his life and I hope he will stay put for a long time. It is a perfect fit. It does not get any better than this. Guardiola has been a major hit. 'With all due respect to Jupp Heynckes (Guardiola's predecessor), but Pep has brought a new philosophy to the club. He has found the perfect combination between Tiki-Taka and the traditional Bayern style.' Guardiola's impressive CV, which also features three La Liga and two Champions League titles from his time with Barcelona, means that should he opt to leave Bayern, he will have no shortage of suitors. Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola (right) gives instructions to his midfielder Mario Goetze . Guardiola led Bayern to the Bundesliga title in his debut season at the Allianz Arena . Guardiola poses with the Champions League trophy after Barcelona defeat Manchester United 3-1 in 2011 . +Qatar's national team will use the Football Association's national football centre at St George's Park, Burton, as its base for internationals against European opposition in May. The Qatar team will be based at St George's Park and are expected to play a friendly against Northern Ireland at a venue in the Midlands on May 31 and possibly other internationals too. The move comes despite FA chairman Greg Dyke's unflattering comments about Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup. Wayne Rooney trains at St George's Park with the England squad, where the FA will welcome the Qatar national team in May despite outspoken opposition to the country hosting the 2022 World Cup . Roy Hodgson is all smiles as the likes of Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere are put through their paces . Dyke said last month, after FIFA's decision to play the World Cup in winter: 'The best option would be to not hold it in Qatar, but we are now beyond that so November/December would seem to be the best of the bad options.' An FA source said Qatar's use of St George's Park was a commercial arrangement similar to visits by Spanish side Barcelona and Turkish giants Galatasaray last year and more recently Montserrat, and that all surplus income would be invested into grassroots football. Northern Ireland have a Euro 2016 qualifier on June 13 and are also expected to play Wales in Cardiff on June 4. Qatar are ranked as 120th in the world by FIFA while Northern Ireland's latest ranking is 51st. +The modern Formula One steering wheel weighs 1.5kg, costs £30,000 and takes six weeks to build. It allows the driver to change the behaviour of their cars at the flick of a button. Each driver has a specific design suited to their own preferences, from the space behind the wheel to change gear, the molded grips or the colour of buttons on their dash. Lewis Hamilton’s favoured colour, for instance, is purple. Here, Sportsmail's Phil Duncan takes a closer look at Hamilton’s title-winning steering wheel. The steering wheel that Lewis Hamilton used during his winning season in 2014 Formula One Championship . DRS . Drag Reduction System changes rear wing to reduce drag. Can only be used after the first two laps, in DRS zones and if Lewis is within a second of the car in front. Left-hand side thumb wheels . To adjust the brake, engine and other settings, including pedal map, which can manage how the car is accelerating. OT . The overtake mode provides a boost. Nico Rosberg used this without authorisation from Mercedes as he attempted to pass team-mate Hamilton in last year's Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton also used it, again without authorisation, to defend his lead at the subsequent race in Spain. Lewis Hamilton (centre) celebrates after winning the Formula One Grand Prix Championship in 2014 . Strategy . 12 strategic options - including the way he releases and recovers energy or turbo use. Centre . 15 switches to change set-up - such as when tyres are changed to different compounds. Menu . 12 engine settings such as energy management or the MGU-K energy recovery system. Hamilton takes part in the Formula One pre-season first test day at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona . Mark . Identifies a point of interest in the data 'marked' by the driver. RS . Race start mode activated on the grid before the start. Talk . To talk to his team during the race. Messages about performance are now outlawed. Right-hand side thumb wheels . Adjusts differential maximising exit speed from corners. The World Champion during pre-season testing at the Circuito de Jerez in Jerez, Spain earlier in the year . PC . Pit Confirm sends an automated message to tell the Mercedes crew Hamilton is coming into the pits. PL . Restricts speed in the pit-lane to 50mph. The screen . Shows speed, split times and when to change gear or alter brake balance. N . Puts the car into neutral. Hamilton will be hoping he can keep hold of his title during the upcoming Formula One season . +West Ham will have to pay Arsenal £10million to make full-back Carl Jenkinson's move permanent. The 23-year-old has impressed for the Hammers during his loan spell, with manager Sam Allardyce  a big fan of the defender. West Ham co-owner David Gold hinted on Sunday that the club would push to make the deal permanent in the summer. Carl Jenkinson applauds the West Ham fans at the final whistle after the narrow defeat against Chelsea . Jenkinson (left), pictured vying for the ball with Cesc Fabregas, is wanted on a permanent basis by West Ham . However, Jenkinson, who has made 24 appearances this season, is valued at £10m plus by Arsenal. Under the terms of his loan, Jenkinson is unable to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday and Gold told a fan on social media: 'He will not play against Arsenal. This year.' +International Women's Day represents the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women and to be thankful for their positive contributions to daily life. Cesc Fabregas was certainly in the spirit of that message, with a romantic Instagram Post dedicated to his partner Daniella Semaan. The Chelsea midfielder is pictured pecking Semaan on the cheek and captions the snap cutely, 'Another year next to you...I love you so much.' Cesc Fabregas has taken to Instagram to declare his love for partner Daniella Semaan (right) Fabregas announced in January that he was expecting his second child with Semaan . The long-term couple already have one child together and are expecting their second later this year. Fabregas is enjoying a productive first season back in the Premier League since returning to England, having joined Chelsea last summer from Barcelona in a £35 million move. The Spanish playmaker has scored four goals and made 18 assists in 36 appearances for the Blues so far this term. Fabregas is pulled back by West Ham captain Kevin Nolan (left) during the Premier League game . Fabregas tussles with Newcastle United midfielder Jack Colback (left) during the game at St James' Park . +Arsene Wenger has confirmed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss up to four weeks with a hamstring injury. As Sportsmail revealed on Tuesday, Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss a clutch of Arsenal's fixtures - including next week's Champions League clash against Monaco - after suffering a hamstring strain in Monday's win over Manchester United. Speaking ahead of Arsenal's Premier League clash against West Ham, Wenger said: 'It's a hamstring injury. He'll be out for three to four weeks. Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be out of action for 'three to four weeks' Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a hamstring injury during Arsenal's 2-1 FA Cup win against Manchester United . 'It's frustrating for him but he's played more games this season than before. He's shown his importance.' The Gunners star will also be unavailable for England's double-header against Lithuania and Italy at the end of the month. Wenger also confirmed Jack Wilshere, who is recovering from ankle injury, will not be available for Roy Hodgson to pick next week. He added: 'It's very difficult to say when he (Wilshere) will be back. We have to respect his recovery.' Meanwhile, Wenger has confirmed Hector Bellerin is in line to sign a new long-term contract at the Emirates Stadium, as Sportsmail revealed on Thursday. The 21-year-old midfielder has 'shown his importance' to the team, believes the Arsenal boss . Wenger was unable to put a time frame on Jack Wilshere's (right) return to action . The French boss also confirmed Hector Bellerin (right) is in line to sign a new long-term contract . Club captain Mikel Arteta is set to resume full training following an ankle injury suffered at the end of November, and is expected to be in contention again at the start of April. Arteta, 32, is out of contract in the summer, and is expected to agree a one-year extension. 'Normally I would like him to stay on, yes. He has a huge experience and is very important in the squad,' said Wenger, who also confirmed full-back Hector Bellerin was set for a new long-term deal. Arsenal can cement their place in the top four of the Barclays Premier League with victory over West Ham, who have slipped down to mid-table. Mikel Arteta is set to resume full training following an ankle injury suffered at the end of November . 'The mood is good as you can imagine, but focused as well because we know that every single game is a decisive game now, said Wenger, whose side head to Monaco next week looking to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit. 'Every year it (making the top four) gets more difficult because you have more teams who can compete for it, and in future years it will be even harder. 'It is an important part to have a good mixture between focus and composure, that is not easy to find because the tension can be too big.' +Vicarage Road was awash with emotion on Saturday afternoon as Watford performed a show of solidarity for Nic Cruwys, the fan left fighting for his life in hospital. Cruwys was shockingly set upon by a group thugs on his way back to Wolverhampton train station from Molineux last week and is in a critical condition. The 44-year-old had been in the Midlands to watch his side draw 2-2 in the Championship. Watford’s players warmed up with ‘For Nic’ T-shirts in show of support for injured fan Nic Cruwys . Watford performed a show of solidarity for Mr Cruwys, the fan left fighting for his life in hospital . Watford’s players warmed up with t-shirts reading ‘For Nic’ and the club dedicated their matchday programme to him with the message ‘thinking of Nic - showing the strength of the Watford FC family’. Members of Nic’s family were given a rousing reception on the pitch before the game against Reading, with all four sides of the stadium on its feet in applause - then mirrored just before the break. A banner behind one goal simply read: ‘Best wishes Nic “Moo”, we are all thinking of you... From your Watford FC family.’ Two teenagers, 13 and 18, have been arrested and bailed until April after the attack. A heartfelt message of support for Mr Cruwys was displayed on a large banner before the game . Mr Cruwys was in a critical but stable condition at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on Saturday . Chief executive Scott Duxbury wrote in the programme to address the ‘horrendous events’ of seven days ago. ‘Everyone who works for Watford has had Nic Cruwys in their thoughts since last Saturday’s sick and unprovoked attack,’ Duxbury said. ‘I’d like all Watford fans to be aware just what a positive impact the support you’ve shown towards Nic and his family has had. An online appeal to raise funds to help Mr Cruwys, set up by a Wolves fan, has raised more than £25,000. A fund set up to raise money for the Watford fan has raised more than £25,000 to date . Troy Deeney helped Watford secure a 4-1 victory against Reading on Saturday . ‘Nic was simply enjoying a day out at an away match with his friends when he suffered a callous, calculated and unprovoked assault. Any one of us coming away from the stadium could have suffered as Nic has. ‘You’ll no doubt be aware of the online fund set up to benefit Nic and his family. The total raised is now £25,000 and, while money cannot wipe away what has happened, I am aware that the gesture has been extremely well received. ‘In closing I find it very difficult to come to terms with what has happened. I can only take solace from the fact I know everyone connected with this football club will do everything to help and support Nic.’ Sixteen-year-old Ollie Floyd, a Wolves supporter, whose idea it was to start the fund was interviewed and given a warm reception on the pitch at half-time. Anyone with information is urged to call Wolverhampton's Violent Crime Team on 101 or to pass on information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Brett Pitman bagged a first-half hat-trick as Bournemouth coasted past Blackpool 4-0 to return to the top of the Championship. The Cherries were in cruise control at the Goldsands as they secured their third straight victory which condemned the Tangerines to a fifth consecutive defeat. Basement side Blackpool came in search of their first win in eight matches but any hopes were dashed after just 10 minutes. Brett Pitman fires Bournemouth into the lead at Goldsands as he scored a first-half hat-trick on Saturday . BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-2): Boruc; Francis, Elphick (Stanislas 63), Cook, Daniels; Ritchie, MacDonald, Surman, Pugh (Smith 62); Pitman, Wilson (Rantie 79) Subs not used: Camp, Rantie, Fraser, Ward, O'Kane . Scorers: Pitman 10,36 and 39, Wilson pen 49 . Booked: Elphick, Ritchie . BLACKPOOL (4-4-1-1): Parish; Barkhuizen (McMahon 61), Aldred, Hall, Dunne; Orlandi, Oliver (Cubero Loria 54), Perkins, Jacobs (Ferguson 71); Delfouneso, Madine . Booked: Barkhuizen, McMahon . Referee: Chris Sarginson . Attendance: 10,013 . Jersey-born striker Pitman was afforded time and space to run past a sea of Tangerine players before slotting past goalkeeper Elliot Parish. Pitman turned down Blackpool in favour of a move to Bristol City in 2010 and ensured the Seasiders - without an away win all season - had another miserable trip home. Blackpool's first attack on Artur Boruc's goal came after 22 minutes when debutant Michael Jacobs won his side a corner which came to nothing. Bournemouth captain Tommy Elphick could have doubled his side's lead after 28 minutes but he headed over from a Matt Ritchie free-kick. Tangerines supporters jeered their side and chairman Karl Oyston throughout and had only Andrea Orlandi's wayward effort to get excited about. Pitman (centre) runs away in celebration as the Blackpool players watch on in frustration at Goldsands . He scooped over after Nathan Delfouneso backheeled for the Seasiders skipper after 31 minutes. A minute later Tom Aldred cleared the ball after Ritchie had teed up Pitman inside the box. But Pitman was not kept at bay long and scored two goals in two minutes to complete his hat-trick inside 39 minutes. The Cherries striker first headed back across goal from a Ritchie cross before drilling low past Parish from a free-kick routine. Eddie Howe's side continued their dominance in the second period as they found the net once more four minutes into the second-half. Blackpool midfielder Orlandi tripped winger Marc Pugh in the box and Callum Wilson scored his 19th of the season from the resulting spot-kick. Blackpool manager Lee Clark instructs his side during the comprehensive 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth . Ritchie easily evaded Tangerines defender Charles Dunne before finding Pitman once more who skewed over on 59 minutes. Bournemouth were in total control and manager Howe even opted to withdraw skipper Elphick after just an hour as the Cherries began to ease off. Substitutes Junior Stanislas and Adam Smith did combine with the latter's effort forcing Parish into a smart save with 15 minutes to go. Smith then ran past Dunne before the legs of Parish kept out his effort. The Tangerines are the lowest scorers in the division and failed to register a single shot on target at the Goldsands. Blackpool striker Delfouneso went closest when he headed wide on 78 minutes after Orlandi whipped in a free-kick. The Cherries won 6-1 away at Blackpool in December and almost echoed that goal haul when Stanislas and Pitman both went close in the final minutes before Blackpool defender Aldred blazed over his stoppage-time effort. +Under-fire Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal insists his team have done ‘rather well’ this season and that he has great chemistry with his players at Old Trafford despite widespread discontent among supporters over recent results and the team’s style of play. United’s indifferent league form and FA Cup exit against Arsenal on Monday have led to doubts on whether the current squad are buying into van Gaal’s ‘philosophy’. However, the Dutchman has robustly defended his record. Louis van Gaal is targeting second place in the Barclays Premier League with a late push in the run-in . The Manchester United manager believes catching local rivals Manchester City is an achievable target . City are just five points ahead of United in the Premier League table, with Arsenal four behind City . ‘We lost the first match against Swansea and had a bad start but in spite of the bad start we are a stable club in the top four,’ said Van Gaal. ‘When you are so long there after such a bad start, I think we’ve done rather well. The coming matches are very decisive. We are so close to a lot of clubs. We can be second or third. It is not a big difference, I believe. 'Manchester United have to be one of the teams who have to play in the Champions League.' United have only lost twice in the league since early November but have ridden their luck in certain games and are currently fourth, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea, and in grave danger of not qualifying for the Champions League for the second successive season. The financial implications of missing out would be devastating but Van Gaal insists that is not his concern. ‘I don’t think that I’m here to think about the financial consequences, that is (for) Ed Woodward,’ he argued. ‘I’m here to manage the professional football department.’ Manchester United have attracted unwelcome publicity all season. Expensive signings Angel di Maria, Juan Mata and Radamel Falcao have failed to shine. Van Gaal said that United 'have to be one of the teams' who play in the Champions League next season . City and United face each other before the end of the season, and that could make a big difference . Sergio Aguero and Co haven't been up to their usual standards at the Etihad and that could help United . Last weekend, defender Jonny Evans was banned for six matches for spitting at Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse. A bullish Van Gaal declared his relationship with the United squad is first-class. ‘When I think the chemistry between the players and the manager is not good enough anymore, then I go, he added. ‘But when I see this chemistry between myself and my players then I don’t have any doubts,’ Manuel Pellegrini will have his eyes on the teams behind him... as well as Chelsea in front . Ryan Giggs and Van Gaal haven't had the greatest season but are still well in with a chance of a top four spot . Van Gaal rejected the opportunity to discuss how close he came to having Mauricio Pochettino's job . Pochettino was believed to be on a shortlist with Van Gaal before he was given the Spurs job last summer . +Roy Hodgson has told the Football Association he would like to continue as England manager for a further two years and have a second crack at the World Cup. Hodgson’s contract runs until next summer’s European Championship and no formal discussions have taken place to extend his deal. But Hodgson is enjoying the job, with his England side six points clear at the top of their Euro 2016 qualifying group after four straight wins. Roy Hodgson has told the FA he would like to continue as England manager for a further two years . Hodgson, Ray Lewington and Gary Neville during the disappointing World Cup in Brazil . The England manager and some of the player applaud supporters after their match against Costa Rica . He has told senior members of the FA that, even at 67, he does not feel ready to retire. Hodgson is said to feel he has unfinished business after such a disappointing World Cup in Brazil last year and he would like to put his experience to good use in Russia in 2018. Hodgson certainly has significant support at Wembley. He received the backing of FA chairman Greg Dyke after England’s early exit in Brazil and he also enjoys a close working relationship with Dan Ashworth, the FA technical director who worked with Hodgson at West Bromwich Albion. The FA will wait until a new chief executive has been appointed, who will, along with Dyke and Ashworth decide Hodgson’s future. Hodgson is said to feel he has unfinished business after such a disappointing World Cup in Brazil . With the array of young stars England have, Hodgson wants another chance at the World Cup in 2018 . Hodgson did receive the backing of FA chairman Greg Dyke after England’s early exit in Brazil . It could well be that the FA take the sensible option of delaying a final decision until after Euro 2016 in France. Recently Hodgson hinted publicly that he does not feel ready to retire. ‘At the moment I feel good and I don’t feel anything like my age,’ he said. ‘I hope that will continue for a few more years. ‘I am confident that I will know what the right time is. But I have an important job to do which I really enjoy, so as for 2018 and 2020 we will see.’ +Roy Hodgson will travel to Russia for the preliminary 2018 World Cup draw after informing the Football Association he would like to continue as England manager for a further two years and have a second crack at the World Cup. Hodgson's decision to join the Football Association delegation in St Petersburg on July 25, when all confederations barring Asia will have their qualifying draws, could further fuel that speculation - but it is hardly unheard of for an outgoing coach to attend such official events. Roy Hodgson has told the FA he would like to continue as England manager for a further two years . Hodgson, Ray Lewington and Gary Neville during the disappointing World Cup in Brazil . The England manager and some of the player applaud supporters after their match against Costa Rica . Hodgson’s contract runs until next summer’s European Championship and no formal discussions have taken place to extend his deal. But Hodgson is enjoying the job, with his England side six points clear at the top of their Euro 2016 qualifying group after four straight wins. He has told senior members of the FA that, even at 67, he does not feel ready to retire. Hodgson is said to feel he has unfinished business after such a disappointing World Cup in Brazil last year and he would like to put his experience to good use in Russia in 2018. Hodgson certainly has significant support at Wembley. He received the backing of FA chairman Greg Dyke after England’s early exit in Brazil and he also enjoys a close working relationship with Dan Ashworth, the FA technical director who worked with Hodgson at West Bromwich Albion. Hodgson is said to feel he has unfinished business after such a disappointing World Cup in Brazil . With the array of young stars England have, Hodgson wants another chance at the World Cup in 2018 . Hodgson did receive the backing of FA chairman Greg Dyke after England’s early exit in Brazil . The FA will wait until a new chief executive has been appointed, who will, along with Dyke and Ashworth decide Hodgson’s future. It could well be that the FA take the sensible option of delaying a final decision until after Euro 2016 in France. Recently Hodgson hinted publicly that he does not feel ready to retire. ‘At the moment I feel good and I don’t feel anything like my age,’ he said. ‘I hope that will continue for a few more years. ‘I am confident that I will know what the right time is. But I have an important job to do which I really enjoy, so as for 2018 and 2020 we will see.’ +Five bunker shots, four dropped shots, three missed putts from short range, two poor chips and one blow into the water. And that was just the front nine. It's fair to say Rory McIlroy's curious Florida funk continued in the opening round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral on Thursday. At least on the back nine there were enough good blows on show to hint it will not be too long before we can enjoy a more customary service. The world number one had an eagle and three birdies in a blistering five hole spell to come home in 33 blows and salvage a 73. While that might have been barely ok in the context of the field as a whole it was a radical improvement on what appeared a likely score at halfway. McIlroy placed the blame on his outward half on being too tentative. 'After nine holes I thought there was really not much more to lose, so go ahead and be more aggressive,' he said. 'It paid off a little and the eagle was really important. Hopefully I can get off to a better start in the second round and get back into it.' Rory McIlroy hits a shot from the fairway during the first round of the Cadillac Championship in Florida . McIlroy lines up a putt on the 16th green during a difficult opening round for the world No 1 . McIlroy tries to play his way out a trouble after landing his shot in the bunker on the 17th hole . He's certainly got some work to do. McIlroy will start out no fewer than 11 shots off the pace set by former American Ryder Cup player JB Holmes. Given there was a decent breeze blowing for most of the day, his 62 was a remarkable effort. Fellow American Ryan Moore shot 66. World number three Henrik Stenson carded a 69 while Welshman Jamie Donaldson, runner-up here last year, composed a 70 comprising 16 pars and two birdies. As for McIlroy, a desperately mediocre outward half of 40 strokes meant he had played his first 45 holes in the Sunshine State this year, taking in last week's two rounds at the Honda Classic, in a startling 11 over par. The world number one thought he had ironed out some difficulties he experienced in the wind last week but there was precious sign of it at this stage. World No 2 Bubba Watson plays his second shot on the 10th hole ad the American finished one under par . Henrik Stenson kept the heat on the leaders as the Swede finished the day's play three under par . Opening up from the tenth offered the chance of a flying start, since there are two par fives in the first three holes. But McIlroy drove into fairway bunkers on both to squander the chance for early gains. Just to compound the frustration, his approach to the par four 11th was a metre short of being perfect, and plugged in a greenside bunker to bring about an unlucky bogey. So it continued. Every good iron shot he played he couldn't take advantage, while every bad shot invariably led to more damage to his scorecard. Two over par coming to the 18th, McIlroy became another victim of this punishing hole as he found the water from the middle of the fairway with his approach, and failed to get up and down for a bogey from the side of the green. Welshman Jamie Donaldson composed a 70 comprising 16 pars and two birdies . It wasn't until his 13th hole that we got the first glimpse of the real Rory. A sumptuous long iron to the difficult par three fourth set up his first birdie of the day and lit the spark on a run that saw him birdie two of the next three holes before registering an eagle three at the 8th. Even during this spell, however, there were sloppy bogeys at the 5th and the 9th. No wonder he headed straight to the range afterwards. Two players who will not be remembering their rounds with any affection were Phil Mickelson and Stephen Gallacher. Mickelson's 74 was notable only for the fact it was the first time in 190 consecutive rounds on the PGA Tour that he had failed to register a single birdie. Poor Gallacher's nightmare was even more complete. The Scot put two balls into the water at the 18th to complete an awful 84. It was his worst competitive score in 455 events as a pro. Lee Westwood, who became the first man to play in 50 WGC events, was one over par after nine . +Eight competitive rounds to the Masters and Rory McIlroy is determined to get back on track after the rude awakening of a rare missed cut at the Honda Classic last week. ‘Sometimes a kick up the backside can do you a world of good, and I want to do well in these next two events,’ said the world No 1, who will tee off alongside world No 2 Bubba Watson and No 3 Henrik Stenson in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral on Thursday. The 25-year-old took advantage of some unexpected time off to take his mum Rosie out for a birthday treat last Friday night before getting down to some serious hard practice over the weekend. Rory McIlroy was back in action during a practice round ahead of the WGC-Cadillac Championship . World No 1 has this event and the Arnold Palmer Invitational to hone his game for the Masters . McIlroy only has The Masters left to complete a full set of golf's grand slam titles . ‘I guess coming off a three-week break you’re never quite sure how your game is going to be, and I just wasn’t comfortable playing the shots I needed to play in the wind,’ said McIlroy. ‘Now I’m excited to get back at it and obviously put in a better performance. I’ve worked on those wind shots and I feel in a better place and probably a little more prepared than I was last week.’ On Monday, McIlroy turned up at the renowned Seminole club in south Florida for their fabled member-guest event. He walked through the locker room and studied the names on the winner’s board. Men with names like Snead and Hogan. Nicklaus, Palmer and Woods. ‘It would be cool to have my name up there,’ he thought to himself and well, you can probably guess what happened next. The four-time major champion breezed round in 63 and won by two strokes. The Norther Irishman gets lost among the azaleas while playing the Masters last season . McIlroy got a 'kick up the backside' by missing the cut at the Honda Classic in Florida . Now it is the first World Golf Championship event of the season featuring every single member of the world’s top 50. ‘I don’t know whether it’s important for me to be going to the Masters at the top of my form,’ said McIlroy. ‘I’ve won majors when not playing well leading up to them. But I know one thing for sure. I’d much rather be going there with a win or a good performance under my belt.’ When he has finished here, McIlroy will head up to Augusta with his dad Gerry before playing his final competitive event ahead of his first tilt at a career grand slam. That event will be at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. McIlroy was not the only one to leave West Palm Beach last week determined to make amends here. How about Ian Poulter, who bossed a good field in terms of shotmaking but squandered a golden opportunity to claim his first strokeplay triumph on American soil? Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter announces he will be hosting the British Masters in October . The British Masters will be staged at Woburn Golf Club in association with Sky Sports . Poulter put no fewer than five balls into the water during his final round to miss out on the sudden death play-off by a stroke. Now he finds himself on a course laden with so many water hazards it is known as the Blue Monster. Any prospect of a watery hangover, therefore? The ever-confident one gave short shrift to the notion. ‘Do you think I will have suddenly developed a phobia for water?’ he asked, aghast. ‘Come on. I’m holding a bottle of water for heaven’s sake! ‘Honestly, I couldn’t care less there’s water everywhere. This is a course where you’ve got to hit your targets and yes, if you miss them and hit bad shots then chances are that your ball is going to finish up wet. ‘But I’m going into this tournament having led the field last week in greens in regulation and shots that finished closest to the hole. ‘Yes, it’s a tournament I should have won and I’m devastated in some ways that I didn’t. But I haven’t spent the time since wallowing on the sofa or worrying about the three or four loose shots that cost me. Poulter found the water no less than five times as he missed out on a play off at the Honda Classic . Poulter insists he has put the slump behind him and is fitter than ever heading into the WGC at Doral . ‘Time to move on and enjoy the fact I’m fitter than I’ve been for some time. I did some tests last week and the strength in my shoulder area is 75 per cent greater than last year, when I was struggling with injuries. No, it doesn’t mean I’m going to hit the ball 75 per cent further but it does mean I’m going to be able to cope better with the rigours of a long season and be able to hit the number of practice balls on the range that I want to.’ Poulter was speaking at the official announcement that he will be the host when the British Masters, with Sky Sports as presenting sponsor, is relaunched in October. If that welcome development sounds familiar, it is because Sportsmail broke the news last November. As we revealed back then, Poulter will be followed in future years as host by Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald. +The magic and wizardry in Stuart Hogg’s feet has already earned him a special mention from one of the Scottish rugby team’s most famous fans, JK Rowling. With a flash of quickstep and family connections to George Best, the full-back certainly has the ability to light up any game. But memories of last year’s shocking 20-0 defeat by England at Murrayfield still pain the Melrose-born 22-year-old, even though he remains hopeful about unlocking the curse of Twickenham, where the Scots have not won since 1983. Stuart Hogg is aiming for a first Twickenham win for Scotland since 1983 . Hogg and his team-mates have not had a happy campaign at home or away in the Six Nations this year . Hogg (centre) tries to shake off the attention of Italy player Joshua Furno in the Six Nations game . Hogg is desperate to inspire Scotland to victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday . Harry Potter author JK Rowling included Stuart Hogg in a story about the wizarding world . England’s World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward was particularly scathing of the Scotland performance that day under Scott Johnson, claiming they were so toothless they would have been beaten by an also-ran Aviva Premership side. ‘Last year’s game is one that we always keep in the back of our minds,’ said Hogg. ‘We never, ever want to experience anything like that again. It was probably the worst game I’ve ever been involved with in a Scotland jersey. Our performance was really poor but we’ll draw upon that experience when we go down there.’ Looking out onto the scene of that Murrayfield defeat, Hogg speaks candidly about England’s second-class opinions of Scottish rugby. He carries his heart on his sleeve on and off the field, with obvious frustrations about his nation’s fruitless campaigns. He recalls the childhood days spent playing full contact rugby on concrete in the Scottish Borders and the afternoons working as a ball-boy for his local club. The speed and footwork that will be on show on Saturday, he reveals, were first used for mischievous after-school escapades in Hawick. Hogg says losing to England last year was the worst game he's been involved in . Our man Nik Simon sat down with Hogg at the home of Scottish rugby ahead of the England game . Hogg's Scotland side have lost all three of their Six Nations games so far . Hogg breaks away to score the opening try during the Six Nations game against Wales in February . ‘I had a bit of pace when I was younger, so I could get away with things,’ revealed Hogg. ‘I was quite cheeky, always winding up people and my mum would say: “You get away with murder.” ‘We used to play knock-door-run and then hide somewhere you could see folk opening the door. ‘The street I lived on was shaped like a horseshoe and we had another game called the Grand National. There were 20 houses and you would start at the first, running through all the gardens, jumping over the hedges and trying not to get caught.’ Hogg was soon tearing down rugby pitches and went on to make his Scotland debut as a 19-year-old, coming on as a substitute against Wales. Having idolised Scots pair Cameron Murray, Gregor Townsend and Irish legend Brian O’Driscoll, he became the youngest player on the 2013 Lions tour to Australia where the coaches singled out his ‘X-factor’. Hogg is hoping the Scots will be able to give England something to think about when they clash . ‘You want to get people on their feet and cheering,’ said Hogg. ‘Having fun is about beating players and smashing players. ‘The challenge for the modern-day coach is how you break down these big defences. There are lots of things you can do using footwork and chip kicks. The entertainment is still there, it has to be, or you won’t get 60,000 people coming to watch. ‘With Scotland, we go out there to enjoy and express ourselves. I love running with the ball and the more space that we can create, the better.’ Hogg’s box-office style caught the eye of distant relatives in Northern Ireland, prompting them to get in touch and uncover the family connection to Manchester United legend Best through his late grandmother. Keeping up the sporting tradition, Hogg played as a defender in Junior football — although he claims to have had ‘the touch of a baby elephant’ — and is a fair-weather Celtic and Arsenal supporter. Hogg holds on to the ball in Scotland's 22-19 defeat against Italy in their last Six Nations game . Hogg (third left) tries to get past Matias Aguero for Scotland against Italy at Murrayfield . But rugby has always been his first love and he remains hopeful that Scotland can deliver on the promise shown during head coach Vern Cotter’s first autumn campaign last year. A narrow defeat by the All Blacks and victories over Argentina and Tonga suggested a change in fortunes. However, the Six Nations’ defeats by France, Wales and Italy have stunted any progress made. The Scots are huge underdogs for the final two matches, against the Auld Enemy and Ireland, but Hogg is convinced they can still salvage something from a campaign in which they are in danger of picking up the wooden spoon. ‘Vern Cotter (below) was fairly quiet when he first came in but he is used to the environment now,’ said Hogg. ‘A spade’s a spade with Vern. He’ll not miss and hit the wall if he’s got something to say. ‘In the past, the Scots have had a good autumn and then not backed it up in the Six Nations. We said that we didn’t want that to be the case this time — but, unfortunately, it’s not started the way we wanted. ‘But we still have two games that we’re more than capable of winning. ‘Against England, we need to shut down their key players, George Ford and Jonathan Joseph. They have been on fire of late. We played against them a couple of times with Glasgow, so we know what they’re about.’ And what about those links with celebrity fan JK Rowling? she has mentioned on her website Pottermore that the fleet-footed Hogg might be a Squib. In Harry Potter-speak, that means a person born to a least one magical parent, a wizard-born Muggle. Hogg, for his part, will hope to discover his inner-wizard at Twickenham this weekend. ‘I’ve met her a couple of times and she’s a really nice lady,’ said Hogg. ‘I watch all the Harry Potter films, so maybe we can have some of that magic.’ +Leicester scrambled to a 16-12 victory over Newcastle at Kingston Park thanks to a controversial try five minutes from time. Trailing 12-6 at half-time, Freddie Burns pulled the Tigers back to 12-9 with a 59th-minute penalty and then in the 75th minute launched a crossfield kick into the Falcons' goal area where brothers Mathew and Alex Tait both went for the ball which rebounded for Tommy Bell to touch down. After a long delay the TMO approved the try and Burns converted for Leicester to clinch victory and move into the Aviva Premiership's top four. Alex Tait (left) and his brother Mathew Tait compete for the ball which led to Leicester's winning try . Had Newcastle won, London Welsh's relegation would have been confirmed given the Exiles lost 74-19 to Exeter on Saturday. Should Newcastle lose all six of their remaining fixtures, London Welsh would need to win all five of their own and earn a bonus point in at least three of them in order to avoid the drop. Despite being under constant pressure up front, Newcastle showed they were more than a match for Leicester with the ball in hand and Mathew Tait was left with no alternative but to take Tom Catterick's clever kick through into touch right on the Leicester line. Freddie Burns (centre) kicks penalty during the Aviva Premiership match for the Tigers at Kingston Park . Newcastle promptly drove the line-out effectively for hooker Scott Lawson to score and Catterick converted for 7-0 after 10 minutes. It seemed Adam Thompstone must score when he cut back inside, but the winger slipped just inside the Newcastle 22 and the Falcons covered well before Richard Mayhew was caught offside at a scrum and Burns kicked a 15th-minute penalty to make it 7-3. Both Vereniki Goneva and number eight Laurence Pearce were making their bulk count with big runs in midfield as Leicester dominated possession. Scott Lawson (centre on the floor) celebrates scoring their first try with Will Welch in the first half . But Newcastle looked dangerous whenever they had the ball and Catterick had the crowd on their feet with a weaving run into the Tigers' 22 before he was stopped. Mathew Tait ran his brother's long kick out of defence right back at Newcastle and when Adam Powell went off his feet, Burns kicked his second penalty in the 29th minute to make it 7-6. Right on half-time, Newcastle showed what they can do within the ball in hand, producing a period of sustained pressure with wingers Sinoti Sinoti and Alex Tuilagi making big runs and the latter was inches from scoring. Sinoti Sinoti (centre) crosses the line to score the Falcons second try and give them a commanding lead . Newcastle recycled, lost the ball, recovered it and Powell showed real presence of mind to cut back inside and throw a lovely long pass to Sinoti for the winger to hurtle over in the corner with two tacklers hanging on. The try was given after the referee went to the TMO and it put Newcastle 12-6 up at the break, Catterick hitting the post with the conversion from the touchline. Newcastle lost two early second half line-outs deep in the Tigers' 22, and when Josh Furno was taken out in the line-out, Catterick was well short with the 45-metre penalty in the 48th minute. Leonardo Ghiraldini of Leicester (centre) feels the full force of a challenge from Will Welch and Gonzalo Tiesi . They were costly misses as Burns slotted a penalty in the 59th minute to make it 12-9 after Mark Wilson strayed offside. Newcastle kicked it straight out from the restart and were penalised at the scrum for collapsing. Burns had a chance to level the scores but his kick at goal from halfway was short. Leicester stepped up the pressure and Burns was nearly through with the Falcons showing signs of slipping off the pace. However, they seemed to be hanging on until Leicester mounted one last effort and Bell got the crucial score in minute 75. Alesana Tuilagi attempts to break through a number of Leicester Tigers tackles during the clash . Sonatane Takukua looks to pass and get Newcastle on the attack during the Aviva Premiership match up . +Once he had come round after emergency surgery, Ben Morgan asked the surgeon two pressing questions; would he ever play again and if so, could he make it back in time for the World Cup? Mercifully for the Gloucester and England No 8 – who had shattered his leg in a match against Saracens the previous night – the answer to both was 'yes'. But that was just the theory; the practice involves relentless determination and dedication, including endless hours in a hyperbaric chamber, where the 26-year-old is mastering the art of sketching while wearing an oxygen mask. No stone is left unturned in Morgan's quest to regain full fitness in time to be part of the national squad for the global gathering in September and October. There are no guarantees he will be ready, but despite the magnitude of his injury, the signs are good and he is infused with optimism. Ben Morgan is undergoing sessions in a hyperbaric chamber to speed up his recovery from a fractured leg . Morgan has been out of action since he injured his leg playing against Saracens in January . Morgan was named England's player of the series following his superb displays during the November Tests . He simply has to take part in the tournament, and help the hosts excel, because the final takes place on his mother's birthday and she would like her son to mark it in style! On January 9, Morgan was driving for the line during an Aviva Premiership match at Kingsholm when his season was crudely terminated. He heard the sounds of breaking bone, and when team-mates and opponents moved sharply away as he lay on the ground, he knew he was in real trouble. 'All I remember was that we had a scrum in the left-hand corner, I picked up the ball and went on a usual run,' he told Sportsmail. 'I got tackled by Jacques Burger and having looked back at the clips, I was able to see he wrapped his legs around my leg and I didn't really have anywhere to go. 'At the time, I didn't really know what the hell had happened and I just started yelping. I like to think I wouldn't make those noises unless it was serious! People moved out of the way pretty quickly and even though I wasn't in that much pain, I knew I had done something. Gloucester No 8 Morgan lines up London Welsh fly half Olly Barkley at the Kassam Stadium . 'I just didn't know how bad it was going to be, but I had an immediate realisation that I was going to be out for a while. When I got to the hospital, the staff were pretty guarded, but I got more of a sense of how bad things were when a few hours had passed.' A surgeon from Cheltenham came to the hospital in Gloucester to perform the operation during the night and when the anaesthetic wore off, Morgan sought to put his mind at rest about his predicament. 'When I'd come round, I fired loads of questions at the surgeon,' he said. 'The first thing was 'Is it a career-ender?'. I knew he couldn't be precise, but I needed a ball-park idea of how long I'd be out for and he told me six months.' The damaged leg contained a significant amount of precious metal; to help the healing process. He will have another operation next month to replace a pin with more flexible wire, but a plate will remain in place. Morgan has not yet had a chance to set off airport scanners, but he quipped: 'I'm made of Meccano – don't put any magnets near me!' Morgan is brought to ground by flanker Marcell Coetzee during England's loss to South Africa in November . His self-deprecating humour is part of a philosophical attitude towards the situation he is in. While a home World Cup would be a momentous career highlight, he refuses to agonise about whether his recovery happens fast enough, despite moving heaven and earth to make sure it does. A six-month rehabilitation period would mean Morgan is match-fit by July 10 and wouldn't need to miss any of the training camp which starts just before that red-letter date. But he said: 'If it takes longer, that's just how it is. 'The World Cup is the carrot, but I have to be realistic; if I don't make it, I don't make it. I'm not going to tear myself up about it. I'm doing everything I can to get back for it, but there are certain hurdles I have to clear. I'm quite relaxed about it. I'm pretty sure I'll be back. If I do end up going into the World Cup training camp, I'll be fresh. I'll be blowing out of my a**e, but I'll be fresh!' The recovery programme has conventional elements, with Morgan spending seven weeks in a cast and following up that initial stage with physiotherapy and weight-training at the club. But he is also employing cutting-edge methods to help his leg mend rapidly. Twice a day, four times a week, he spends 90 minutes in a hyperbaric chamber at an MS centre in Gloucester. Morgan makes another powerful ball carry against the Wallabies at Twickenham in November . 'The bulk of what I'm doing is oxygen therapy,' he said. 'I'm being pressurised, to simulate being 10 metres below sea level, and I'm breathing pure oxygen. The thinking is that it increases the red blood cells in your blood, which is brilliant for healing. 'I go in the morning, then go to train with Gloucester, get physio and do upper-body weights, then go back to the oxygen chamber. I'm in there for an hour-and-a-half.' To pass the time, Morgan's creative side is emerging, as he is filling up a large sketch-book with pencil drawings. The subjects are wide-ranging. Billy Vunipola regained the No 8 jersey in Morgan's absence and has started all three Six Nations games . 'I've drawn a few pictures; my dog, my nephew, a little Mickey Mouse, a turtle, a light-bulb,' he said. 'There's also a little lizard, a Ninja Turtle, an owl… I've just ordered some sketching pencils because it's difficult to get good shading with the ones I've been using. I'm stepping it up! 'I did a couple of bits and pieces at school. It's just a bit of fun, a way of passing the time. I'd be bored out of my brain if I wasn't doing something like the sketching.' Morgan was on a roll before his horror injury. He was named England's Player of the Series after the autumn campaign and had usurped Billy Vunipola to reclaim the No 8 shirt before his barnstorming progress was abruptly halted. In recent weeks, instead of being at the heart of the national team's RBS Six Nations campaign, he has been an observer. He will be at Twickenham next Saturday to watch against and is aiming to spend a day at the team hotel, while maintaining contact with the England coaches. Stuart Lancaster will dearly hope to have Morgan involved at the World Cup and the long-term casualty is confident he will be ready. Veteran Harlequins back rower Nick Easter has been another player to profit from Morgan's absence . He said: 'I feel really positive and, hopefully, that positive attitude will help my healing process. Some people get dragged down with really dark thoughts, but I'm staying upbeat. 'Getting back in time is the hardest battle, but then I have to get selected again, which is going to be a very tough task. Nick Easter has done well since coming back in, Billy is playing well too and I'm missing a block of games. Luckily, I ended on a bit of a high, but I'll have had six months out of rugby. Whether that is a good thing, because I'll be fresh, or will count against me, I don't know, but I'll do everything in my power to be there.' If he makes it, he will have a sketch-book full of souvenirs from his rehabilitation – and a chance to give his mum the ultimate birthday present. +A woman who says she was conned out of £50,000 by her Senegalese husband in a immigration marriage scam wants to help other women avoid the same fate. Kim Sow, 58, from Dover, has been calling for the government to take action since her husband Laye walked out on her after obtaining his British citizenship. She alleges that Laye had been in the UK illegally and she now believes he was already married to at least two other women. Kim Sow appeared on today's This Morning to share her story of how she was 'duped by a love rat' Kim, pictured with Laye, believes he married her to gain her assets and British citizenship . Kim, a music producer was 49 when she first met Laye, then 43, in a London nightclub in 2007. She said there was an 'instant attraction' and their romance had a 'normal progression to a full-on relationship'. He told her he was a widower supporting three young children in Senegal. Kim said she had no reason not to believe him as he even had his wife's death certificate to prove it. 'He said he was a religious man so couldn't live with me if we weren't married. He told me he didn't believe in polygamy and didn't do affairs. 'He told me his wife had died and his children were being cared for by relatives and he had paperwork to prove it,' she told presenters Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden on today's This Morning. Kim, who was unable to have children after an ectopic pregnancy left her infertile, said the prospect of having a ready-made family with Laye was a dream come true. She said: 'When we married, I thought his children would come and live with us. I was so happy. 'One of the attractions for me was that I couldn't have children. I was thrilled to be marrying a man with three lovely children, they were the apple of my eye. I spoke to them on the phone and sent them presents, they were my life. 'I even bought a five bedroom house in Dover where we could live as a family.' Kim and Laye married at Kingston registry office in June 2008. 'I was the happiest woman in the world thinking I had a family and it all came crashing down,' Kim said. The music producer told presenters Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden, left, that she had no reason to believe Laye was still married as he showed her his wife's death certificate . 'I found out he'd had an affair and he said it was because he was missing his children. I gave him a second chance but then found all these other layers of lies and secrets. 'It was all thanks to Facebook that I discovered his real story.' Using the social network site, Kim said she discovered Laye hadn't lied about the death of his first wife, with whom he had one child. But he had gone on to marry another woman in Africa with whom he had his two other children. She found evidence he had then married a Dutch woman and possibly another English woman - and appeared to have ripped them off in similar circumstances to his dealings with her. She also found Facebook messages from Laye to other women he was targeting on dating websites. At the end of her interview, Phillip pointed out charges have not been made against Laye since he left Kim. Following Kim's allegations, police have begun an investigation into Laye for bigamy, fraud and associated crimes. But it is unclear if he is still in Britain. Kim remains adamant he is a 'love rat' who has left her poorer and broken-hearted. Kim is now working with Immigration Marriage Fraud UK to stop others suffering her fate . On This Morning she said she knows people will think she's a fool for being taken in but she said she had done lots of checks away to ensure Laye was who he said he was. 'I don't have imbecile on my forehead,' she said. 'I had checked his paperwork and it had gone through lawyers, embassies and the registry office. I had met him in the UK.' Kim is now working with Immigration Marriage Fraud UK to force government policy change. +Students at a Catholic school in New Jersey have not been punished for dressing up as a monkey and a banana to taunt black basketball players at a high school game. The two Holy Spirit High School seniors screamed from the sidelines as their classmates played Atlantic City, whose team is mostly black. Despite numerous complaints, both were simply issued with warnings. Outrage: This is a picture of two Holy Spirit students (right) dressed as a monkey and a banana as they taunted Atlantic City's majority black basketball team (one player seen wearing white, left) Jay Connell, athletic director at Holy Spirit, told The Press Of Atlantic City: 'I am not going to kick anyone out of school or whip anybody. 'All I can do is apologize; I can't take it back. 'There is no punishment. The punishment is that it will be an event that will not happen again, and that is the punishment for Holy Spirit.' According to NBC, a female student was also involved in the skit dressed as a cowgirl, and Holy Spirit's starting five was also majority black. Atlantic City's athletic director Anthony Nistico said: 'What I am appalled at is there are adults there that let this happen,' he said. He added that the boys also hid behind a shower curtain and jumped out in an apparent attempt to scare the opposing team as they played. 'These two students were allowed to walk into the gym in these costumes and with this shower curtain,' he said. 'What were the adults thinking? Where were the refs?' Shockingly, a poll on the Press Of Atlantic City website found 50.3 per cent of people felt the students shouldn't be punished as many students dress up for the event. Atlantic City beat Holy Spirit 54-53. +Burrowed underground, a grubby five-year-old boy peeks expectantly around a makeshift door as a woman prepares his pancakes. Like the rodent he keeps as a pet, Pavel has grown accustomed to a subterranean existence after nine months living in a basement where he eats, sleeps and plays. Accompanied by his family and a group of others who have seen their city descend into a war zone, the young boy takes refuge from the ever-present threat of stray bullets and artillery fire. Waiting for lunch: Pavel Makeev, age 5, peeks his head through a doorway while waiting for his lunch to be cooked in Donetsk, Ukraine . Pavel and his family live in the basement of the cultural centre in Petrovskiy, an area of Donetsk under pro-Russian rebel control, and the city above him has seen months of heavy and terrifying clashes between Ukrainian troops and rebels. Since the February 15 ceasefire, fighting may have eased but it has not stopped altogether. The thump of artillery fire and the rattle of automatic guns still echo through a bleak landscape of fallen trees and splintered houses. Going home is still not a safe option. Life in the basement is simple, but with working electricity, the family have light and are able to use stoves to cook. A shabby collection of furniture and materials salvaged from buildings above decorates their underground home. Much of the natural light that the few windows allow in is blocked by protective sandbags. The desperate family are just a few of the thousands of civilians who were forced to flee their homes because of the conflict - which began in April 2014 after Kiev sent its military to the southeastern regions that refused to recognize the new authorities in the capital. Nearly a year of fighting has led to at least 5,793 deaths, according to UN estimates. Another 14,595 people have been wounded in the conflict. New life: The young boy holds his pet, Masha, who lives with him in his underground home in the Petrovskiy neighborhood of Donetsk . Basic amenities: Pavel and his family were forced to flee their home and move to the squalid basement for their own safety . Underground existence: Beneath the city, Pavel and his sister Raya are safer from the constant threat of stray bullets and artillery fire . Harsh environment: People have been living in this basement since June 2014, two months after the conflict in Ukraine began . Light relief: The basement has working electricity, meaning the children can watch television while they take refuge from the fighting . Ruined building: An apartment in the neighbourhood is destroyed and abandoned after being hit by artillery rounds in Donetsk, Ukraine . Living area: The haphazard collection of furniture provides the inhabitants of the basement with what little comfort they have . Makeshift bed: Most of the beds consist of pieces of material and furniture salvaged from the war-torn city above . Children's bedroom: Two bunk beds are set up for youngsters in the basement of the Petrovskiy neighborhood cultural centre . Makeshift kitchen: Electric burners are used to cook food for the inhabitants of the basement as they take refuge from fighting in Donetsk . Making the best of it: Eleonora Tsvetaeva makes a rare trip home since the ceasefire between Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian rebels . Household chores: A woman named Lubov empties dirty water into a canister after making a lunch of oat pancakes in the basement home . Hell above ground: A man walks past a building that has been peppered with shrapnel from artillery rounds landing nearby in Donetsk . Forced to flee homes: A woman leaves her grubby living area by climbing through this opening between makeshift curtains . Extreme measures: Thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict in Ukraine began in April 2014 . Heavy toll: Nearly a year of fighting has led to at least 5,793 deaths, according to UN estimates. Another 14,595 people have been wounded . Making lunch: Women prepare lunch of oat pancakes in the basement of the cultural centre in Petrovskiy, where there has been heavy fighting . Civil conflict: A tattered Ukrainian flag sits in the clothes drying room. The Petrovskiy neighborhood of Donetsk, which is under pro-Russian rebel control, has seen heavy fighting . +A skier nearly lost her hand after she was clipped by a plane making an emergency landing on the French Alps. The light single-propeller aircraft managed to miss a group of children but caught the unnamed Polish skier around 10am, nearly severing her hand. The 55-year-old was evacuated to hospital via helicopter. Emergency services said she suffered a 'near amputation'. A skier has nearly lost her hand after she was clipped by a plane making an emergency landing on the French Alps near Avoriaz (stock image above) It is not known what forced the plane, which had two passengers on board, to try and land. Reports suggested that plane had a taken-off well. A spokesman for the fire service said: 'We only narrowly avoided a catastrophe. 'The plane passed under the ski lift, just missed the trees and then a group of children before touching down on a blue run on which the woman was skiing.' The accident happened at the popular ski resort of Avoriaz close to the border with Switzerland. The 55-year-old was evacuated to hospital via helicopter. Emergency services said she suffered a 'near amputation'. Above, a stock photo of a rescue helicopter . In Europe a blue run denotes a moderately hard route. A post written before the accident on the Facebook page for Avoriaz read: 'The slopes of Avoriaz are ready! Enjoy the sun!' The accident comes just two days after two helicopters crashed in Argentina, leaving eight French nationals including three Olympic stars dead. +Diego Simeone wants Atletico Madrid's fans to roar their team to victory in Tuesday night's Champions League last-16 second leg against Bayer Leverkusen. Last season's runners up find themselves 1-0 down after the first leg but Simeone believes the club's supporters can play a significant role at the Vicente Calderon. Spanish newspaper Marca say that there will be 55,000 Cholos (Simeone's nickname) in the stadium on Tuesday night, while as have called on Los Rojiblancos to 'get into them'. Spanish newspapers Marca (left) and as focus on Atletico Madrid's clash with Bayer Leverkusen . Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Simeone said: 'I want to see the Calderon at its best – noisy and pushing us on to do what we have to do. 'I hope the stadium doesn't stop for even one minute and our aim is to win the game. If we don't concede and don't score we are out. 'We'll have to break quickly as soon as they lose the ball because that will be the key to attacking them. They know how to close off all routes to goal if you hesitate and that's what happened to us in Germany. 'They stopped us going forward and they could cause us problems if we don't break quickly.' Over in Italy, much of the press coverage concentrates on the results of Monday night's three Serie A games. Corriere dello Sport confirm that Andrea Pirlo is out injured as La Gazzetta dello Sport focus on AC Milan . La Gazzetta dello Sport say that Filippo Inzaghi was beaten 'black and purple' after Fiorentina's 2-1 comeback win against AC Milan. Inzaghi's side find themselves 10th in the table but the same paper claims that the 41-year-old's job is not at risk despite a poor run of form. Elsewhere, Corriere dello Sport take a look at Juventus' Champions League last-16 second leg against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night. The Turin giants, who are 2-1 up after the first leg, will be without Andrea Pirlo in Germany after the midfielder failed to recover from a thigh injury. +From presidents to pop stars, from the young to the old, mobile phone self portraits or 'selfies' are familiar to everyone. However, while posing for selfies with pouting lips and fluttering eyelashes might be part of every day life for some, a new device aims to take the fashion for self portraits to the next level. The Svakom Gaga Selfie Camera Vibrator, or 'sex selfie stick' as it is known, is offering women the chance to take the ultimate picture - of their vaginas during an orgasm. Scroll down for video . Annabelle Knight, one of the Lovehoney TV presenters, takes a closer look at the sex selfie stick . Online retailer Lovehoney, which is selling the £120 device, says it is the world's first camera vibrator. The firm says not only will the sex selfie stick enable women to see the action for themselves, there is also the opportunity to share the image with their partners via FaceTime. Lovehoney likens the popularity of the device to the new craze for selfie sticks which enable mobile phone users to take self portraits from beyond the normal range of the arm. The firm says the vibrator has an HD camera on its tip and all recordings can be uploaded straight on to a PC or smart phone. A camera promises to show close up images from inside the vagina . What the new sex selfie stick, which is priced at £120, looks like . A spokesman for Lovehoney said the device was proving popular. 'This is the X-rated selfie stick,' she said. 'Ever wondered what happens inside the body during climax? Now you can find out! 'It allows users to get to know their body in its entirety thanks to the remarkably clear footage this camera captures. 'And thanks to its FaceTime compatibility, sharing the view with your lover couldn't be easier - whether you're sat right next to each other or miles apart.' +Dutch prosecutors have blocked the sale of a bar of soap which its owners claimed was made from the fat of Jewish people murdered at a Nazi death camp. The owner attempted to sell the soap on the internet auction site eBay for €199 (£143). But as soon as the item went live, moderators removed it from sale. Rumours - apparently started by the British - that the Nazis were mass-producing soap using the bodies of concentration camp victims first surfaced in the middle of the war. An antiques salesman tried to sell soap, pictured, reportedly made from the fat of Jewish Holocaust victims . The man was seeking €199 for the bar of soap on the internet auction site eBay, pictured . The listing, pictured, was removed from eBay shortly after it was originally posted . Although the mass production claim was almost certainly untrue, there is evidence that it had happened on a small scale at least during the early stages of World War II. The Nazis are known to have plundered human bodies for products, with hair used to make felt and insulation for example. However, the German scientists who were believed to have experimented with making soap from human fat had almost certainly been stopped by SS-chief Heinrich Himmler who had ordered an investigation into the claims on November 20, 1942. The unnamed antiquities vendor who tried to sell the soap handed himself into police to answer questions after the auction was cancelled. He had also handed over the two bars of soap, which are now being examined to see if they do indeed contain traces of human remains. Historian Arthur Haraf said the soap was one of a number of items found near the Dutch concentration camp Westerbork, from which Dutch Jews were sent to extermination camps. The soap was reportedly made from the fat of Jewish victims of the Westerbork concentration camp, pictured . It is claimed that SS leader Heinrich Himmler, left,  ordered Nazi scientists to stop working on human soap . Westerbork was a Nazi refugee, detention and transit camp in the town of Hooghalen, nine kilometres south of the city of Assen in the north-eastern Netherlands. The other items had been dentures, tooth brushes and glasses, which he claimed were taken from the Jews at the concentration camp. Haraf said: 'This is a terrible act and against the law. Whatever is found near the concentration camp and belongs to the events of World War II automatically becomes property of the Westerbork Memorial Museum.' Jewish organisations responded angrily at the news of the Dutch vendor. Spokesperson for the Dutch Jewish organisation CIDI, Ron Eisenman, said: 'It is saddening and disgusting to find out that there are people interested in gaining money from the Holocaust.' He added: 'We can only watch and hope that collectors will use healthy logic and will not participate in these things.' Historian Joel Stoffels also saw an advert last week selling Holocaust items and was shocked. He said: 'I was amazed to see it. All of these objects are supposed to be displayed in a respectable way and now they are being displayed as merchandise.' The Chairman of the Centre for Jewish Debate, Jaap Fransman, also expressed his anger at the news, saying: 'The selling of these accessories and objects is not just distasteful but also crazy.' The Public Prosecution Service which is dealing with the case has declined to make any statements so far while they await the results of the test on the soap. +England reject David Strettle crossed for Saracens as they kept alive their hopes of a domestic and European treble with a 24-20 win over Northampton. The wing, constantly overlooked by Stuart Lancaster, raced over for a fine first-half try as the hosts reached the LV Cup Final. The win was extra sweet for Mark McCall’s men, who fought back from a 13-5 half-time deficit to avenge last year’s defeat by Saints at the same stage. They also lost to them in the Premiership Final. David Strettle races away from two Northampton defender to score a well-taken try . Strettle said: ‘It’s a massive win. Saints have had the better of the results between the two sides of late but this was our day. ‘We just went for it in the second half and got on top of them. But we now need to go on and win the Final.’ In the first hafl Northampton had been totally dominant and looked in control of the match, building up a 13-5 half-time lead. However the home side, aided by the wind, launched a rally to run out narrow winners and so deprive Saints of a final appearance on their home ground. Northampton selected a strong pack with Alex Corbisiero, Samu Manoa and Sam Dickinson all included. Mike Haywood was at hooker for his 100th appearance for the Saints whilst flanker Jon Fisher returned after being out with an injury since November. The former England winger touches down in the corner as Saracens reached the LV Cup Final . Saints began strongly and took an early lead. Sam Olver first made a hash of a drop goal attempt but he was on target with a penalty after six minutes. The visitors should have extended that lead but blew a golden opportunity for the first try. A neat break from Kahn Fotuali'i was carried on by Dom Waldouck but when the ball was recycled, Jamie Elliott knocked on with the line in sight. Saints continued to dominate the opening quarter with the home side unable to get out of their own half and they were rewarded when Olver fired over his second penalty with an excellent touchline kick. Eventually Saracens secured some possession to get a platform into the match. Marcelo Bosch made a strong run to put the visitors' defence on the back foot before the centre was again involved when his skilfully timed pass sent Strettle through a large gap through for the opening try of the game. Sam Olver had scored the first try of the game for the Saints but Saracens stormed back to make the final . George Kruis came on for Saracens replacing the injured Hayden Smith before Saints resumed control of the match. Fotuali'i again unlocked the defence to send Olver over for the try, which the outside half converted. When Northampton surprisingly lost a scrum on half-way, Itoje burst away and looked a likely score but he was overhauled by Dickinson, who pulled off a superb cover tackle to keep his side 13-5 ahead at the interval. Within a minute of the restart, Saracens scored a splendid try. Joubert won a line-out and a pre-planned move put Ellery in space for the wing to run elusively past a number of defenders for the try which Spencer converted before the scrum half added a penalty to put the hosts in front for the first time. Ernst Joubert gets up highest to secure line-out ball in an excellent second-half display from the home side . Assisted by the wind, Saracens were a totally different proposition in the third quarter as it was now Saints' turn to be hemmed in their own half and they fell further behind when Spencer knocked over two further penalties. After 60 minutes, Saints introduced Myler and Dickson at half-back in an attempt to revive their fortunes and it soon paid dividends with Dickson nipped over on the blindside following a driving line-out with Myler converting with a brilliant touchline kick. Northampton threatened a comeback but a late drop goal from Nils Mordt saw Saracens to the final, where they will play either Leicester or Exeter, who play tomorrow. Ben Ramsen is dragged down by Northampton's Ben Nutley as Saracens avenged last year's losses . +Ashley Barnes says that he has laughed off allegations from Jose Mourinho that he was guilty of a 'criminal tackle' on Nemanja Matic when Burnley drew at Chelsea last month. Barnes' challenge was branded 'criminal' by Mourinho and Matic's retaliation saw him receive a red card during last month's 1-1 draw while the Burnley player was unpunished. It thrust Barnes and his club into the national spotlight and speaking about the incident for the first time to Burnley's programme for their match against Manchester City on Saturday, the 25-year-old striker explained how he dealt with the furore. Burnley forward Ashley Barnes attempts a shot as his side beat Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday evening . This studs-up tackle from Ashley Barnes infuriated Nemanja Matic at Stamford Bridge last month . Barnes closes down Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko during the Premier League clash on Saturday . The Burnley striker said: 'You're always going to get people who come out of the woodwork and voice their opinion. There were lots of comments made that it was a 'criminal tackle' and that it was disgusting but you just have to laugh it off really. 'Obviously I've not meant it. I give my all for the team but I'm an honest player. As I've gone to pass the ball he's come to try and screen in front of the strikers. I've took a heavy touch and as I've gone to pass to Jonesy (Dave Jones) I've caught him on the shin with the follow through of the pass. 'It wasn't intentional, of course. I would never go out on a football pitch to try and hurt an opponent. But there were so many different angles and it got picked out and scrutinised to the nth degree but you just have to get on with it. Martins Atkinson shows the red card to Matic after the Serbian pushed Barnes over in retaliation to the tackle . 'I don't really take anything from it. All I can do is apologise that I've caught him in that manner. As you can see nobody in the ground reacted and the next minute he came and pushed me over. Barnes said he was unaware at the time he had hurt the Serbian international: . 'Obviously I wouldn't have been happy if he had caught me there but as I say I've not meant it and I didn't know that I'd hurt him because it was just my momentum that took me that way. 'You're always going to get something like that in your life and I think that's one for me, but I like to think I deal with these things quite well.' Nemanja Matic reacts angrily after being sent off for his reaction to a tough challenge from Ashley Barnes . +During a violent fight at a Florida middle school that was captured on cellphone video, a group of a suspected gang members teamed up on a 14-year-old girl and beat her up. The fight, which took place at Homestead Middle School in Homestead, involved Angelina Padron and a number of other students. Padron was able to hold her own against one of the suspected gang members, but when other girls jumped in she fell to the ground and was overrun. Scroll down for video . During a fight at Homestead Middle School in Homestead, Florida, Angelina Padron, 14, (left) was beaten up . A team of girls who are suspected of being in a gang teamed up on her and administered the beating . In the video, Padron is punched, kicked and dragged by her hair out into the street. A man stopped the fracas . In the video, Padron is punched, kicked and dragged by her hair into the street. The fight was finally stopped when a man picked Padron off the ground. Padron and the other girls in the fight were all suspended initially, but her suspension was overturned, CBS Miami reported. A relative of the teen's who did not want to be identified said: 'The video makes you want to go hurt somebody but you can't. 'When she was on the ground they were kicking her in the head and stomping on her.' Padron and her mother reported the fight to the school district and are pressing charges. A district spokesperson disputed that the principal promised to kick the girls out of Homestead Middle School . Padron's family say 'the system is broken' and have started a GoFundMe account to raise money for a move . The girls in the video posted messages on Facebook identifying themselves as members of a gang and uploaded pictures where they can be seen throwing up gang signs. In a post, one of them wrote: 'Me and my sisters don't know what a one on one is 100 percent. 'Even if my sister beating life out of somebody, I ain't gonna watch, I'm gonna beat the life out of that (expletive) too. 'That's how we're raised.' The mother of one of the alleged gang members threatened Padron's mother three different times about pressing charges against her daughter. The girls posted messages on Facebook identifying themselves as gang members and flashing signs . One of the victim's relatives said the mother of one of the girls threatened Padron's mother three different times if she pressed charges against her daughter . The relative who spoke to the station said the principal promised to kick the girls out of school, a claim which was disputed by a school district spokesperson. Padron's family believes not enough is being done and the 'system is broken'. They are trying to save up enough money to move and created a GoFundMe page. In a Facebook post that accompanies that account, another family member - ostensibly Padron's sister who lives elsewhere - wrote: 'Please help my mom and sisters get out of this bad neighborhood. 'They moved there 10 in the morning and it looked nice and quiet. came back around 7pm and realized they moved into a ghetto. 'Automatically became targets. The police wouldn't help, the principal didn't care till the media got involved. 'Now they are being harassed by the system because they think she is talking to the media. 'She was scared to say anything because she was already getting death threats. 'I am out of state, so the best I could do is notify family there in Florida and set up funding online to help. 'I had to say something, can't let my family continue to be victimized and not say or do anything.' Padron's family (left) believes not enough is being done and are hoping to move away from Florida . +The ISIS militant who appears in a video purporting to show a boy executing an captive Israeli-Arab is a French terrorist whose relatives include a notorious Islamist who slaughtered Jewish children and a woman who took her baby to join the violent extremists. Sabri Essid has been identified as a well-known jihadist, and the half-brother of Mohammed Merah, who shot dead three children, a rabbi and three paratroopers during a terror rampage in the French city of Toulouse. But the two, who are understood to have been close before Merah's 30-hour stand-off with French special forces ended in his death, are among a number of extremists radicalised within the same family. Merah's sister Souad is known to have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State with her four children - including her nine-month-old baby. Family: The man on the right of ISIS's latest horrific video has been identified as Sabri Essid, a French terrorist who is a member of a family with a number of radicalised extremists . Essid, a married father, was named by security experts earlier today, after he appeared alongside the young boy in a video claiming to show the execution of a so-called Arab Israeli spy. The man believed to be Essid stands by the boy speaks in French as he refers to the attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris in January in which four Jews were killed. 'Oh Jews, indeed Allah has gifted us with killing your followers in your own stronghold in France,' says the man. However, doubt has been cast on the authenticity of the video, which is heavily edited. Experts have questioned whether the boy, thought to be about ten, was really the person who pulled the trigger, supposedly murdering 19-year-old Muhammad Said Ismail Musallam with a single gunshot. There is less mystery surrounding Essid himself, who has long been known to counter-terrorism forces. 'The similarities between Essid and the man in the video are very clear,' said an investigating source in Paris. 'Plenty of experts have made the link.' Terrorist: Mohammed Merah, Essid's half-brother, killed seven people - including three children - in 2013 . Shooting: The 23-year-old targeted the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, also killing a rabbi . A French police source has also told AFP, France's national news agency, that 'we are checking' the identity of the man in the video. Essid, 30, from Toulouse, was caught in Syria in December 2006 in a house known to shelter Al-Qaeda members on their way to Iraq. He was sent back to France and was sentenced in 2009 to five years in jail, including one year suspended, in a case involving an Iraqi jihadist network. On his release in 2010, he returned to Toulouse - where he became a constant companion of half-brother Merah. His father had lived with Merah's mother, and Essid was close to the killer and his brother Abdelkader. Merah, 23, would go on to wreak terror in the town, shooting three soldiers, a rabbi and three school children outside a Jewish school, before being shot dead. Radicalised: Mohammed's sister Souad Merah, pictured, took her four children to join ISIS last year . Horror: The family of Muhammad Musalam, 19, purportedly shot in the ISIS video by the unnamed child, have said the Arab-Israeli was not a spy. Pictured: Parents Said and Hind Musalam mourn in the family home . Essid left France for Syria in 2014, as did Souad Merah, the sister of the Toulouse gunman, who took her children on the bus south from Toulouse to Barcelona, where they boarded Turkish Airlines flights to first Istanbul and then Gaziantep. Her husband Abdelouahed El Baghdadi, was arrested by French authorities, in September last year when he arrived back at Toulouse airport with the two older children. Their mother Souad Merah is believed to be in Algeria with the two youngest children. But it is not clear if Essid's wife and children travelled with him to Syria. +This is one of a series of sick selfies that a paramedic took with dying patients in Russia. Callous Tatiana Kulikova, 25, has now been sacked by health officers after she posted the pictures she snapped in the back of an ambulance online. In one image, captioned 'another moron,' the blonde is flipping the bird at a badly injured accident victim. Behaving badly: Paramedic Tatiana Kulikova, 25, was sacked by officials in Russia after posting a series of sick selfies online . The 25-year-old blonde has outrage locals in Kirov Russia with her sick selfies taken in the back of an ambulance . In another she sticks two fingers up to a heart attack patient and titled the image, 'How I hate my job.' Now emergency service officials in Kirov have sacked the health worker after she admitted taking the pictures. Kulikova's shocking selfies have outraged locals who had family members featured in her grim gallery. Local health campaigner Artem Golubev, 40, said: 'It is clear that while she was taking these photographs she was not looking after her patients.' He added: 'She shows a callous disregard for the welfare of her patients, some of whom died after those pictures were taken. In this picture Kulikova sticks two fingers up at a heart attack victim and captioned the image, 'How I hate my job' 'I would not be surprised if their families sue both her and the emergency services.' A spokesperson for the city's emergency services said: 'As soon as we were alerted to these images online we suspended the paramedic in question. After an investigation was carried out, the employee was fired.' Kulikova has made no comment following the incident. +Oral Bryan, 44, has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his former partner with a hockey stick . A father-of-five who used a hockey stick to bludgeon his former girlfriend to death in front of their children has been sentenced to life in prison. Oral Bryan, 44, hit Nicola McKenzie, the mother of their two children, over the head with the stick 'like an axe' during a furious row. Miss McKenzie, 37, suffered horrific brain injuries and never regained consciousness, dying two days later in hospital. The row erupted in Moss Side, Manchester, on September 17 last year when Miss McKenzie spotted a car belonging to Bryan's new partner outside his home. She confronted the woman, who called Bryan, and he returned to intervene. As the two women squared up to one another, Bryan got a hockey stick from his house and cracked it over Miss McKenzie's head as she shouted: 'These are your kids, go on, show them what you're like.' The fatal blow, witnessed by the couple's two children, daughter Teja, 12, and son Amahri, eight, as well as Bryan's three other children, shattered Miss McKenzie's skull and left her lying unconscious in the street. As she lay dying with blood pouring from the head wound, Bryan picked up Miss McKenzie to check for signs of life before casually dumping her back down on the pavement and running off. Miss McKenzie - described as a devoted mother-of-two by her family - was taken to the intensive care unit at Hope Hospital in Salford with massive skull trauma and brain injuries but she died two days later. Nicola McKenzie, 37, (pictured) was described by her family as a devoted mother of two - she was killed following the brutal attack on September 17 last year in Moss Side, Manchester . Bryan initially fled the scene, but contacted police a short time later and was arrested. He claimed Miss McKenzie had attacked him with a knife and he struck the fatal blow accidentally in self-defence, but no knife was recovered at the scene. He was found guilty of murder at an earlier hearing. Diana Ellis, QC, defending, said her client was 'fully aware' of the impact of his actions, adding: 'No one wishes more that the clock could turned back.' Sentencing Bryan to a minimum of 20 years at Manchester Crown Court today, Judge Michael Henshall said: 'Nicola McKenzie was a young woman in the prime of her life and the mother of two children of who you are the father. 'The effects of the events on that day in front of those children is almost uncountable.' The incident occurred on Cadogan street (pictured) in Moss Side, Manchester on September 17, 2014 . After the case, senior investigating officer Duncan Thorpe of Greater Manchester Police said: 'This was a tragic incident where the life of a woman was sadly cut short in brutal fashion by a man she was once close to. 'Oral David Bryan showed absolutely no concern about his victim and the only intention in his mind when he retrieved the hockey stick from his house was to cause serious harm. 'His lack of concern was further exemplified when he fled the scene to try and save himself rather than get medical attention for Nicola. 'I know the sentence passed here today won't bring her back or even begin to make up for their loss but I hope it will offer Nicola's family some closure and my thoughts are with them.' Miss McKenzie's mother Veronica Fiddler, 62, a care worker said: 'Nicola was quiet and lovely and kind. She was completely dedicated to her children. She hardly ever went out without them, they were her life. She was a very, very good mother and that is how everybody knew her. The children are going to miss her very greatly. 'Myself and her father were there by her bedside when they turned off the life support machine. The whole community is in shock, she was very well-known.' +England international Zak Hardaker was released by police after admitting assaulting a student, it has emerged. Leeds announced on Tuesday that their full-back was free to resume playing after West Yorkshire police concluded their investigation into an incident in the city last month. The 23-year-old Hardaker and his 19-year-old club-mate Elliot Minchella were both questioned by police and have since been released without charge. England international Zak Hardaker has been released by police after admitting assaulting a student . However, it has been revealed that both men admitted the assault and agreed to pay £200 in compensation and write a letter of apology to their 22-year-old victim under a 'community resolution'. In a statement, the Super League club said: 'Leeds Rhinos can confirm that Zak Hardaker and Elliot Minchella have both fully co-operated with the police investigation into an incident in Leeds in February this year. 'Both players have been released without charge and the investigation is now concluded. The Rhinos will continue their internal investigation surrounding the incident however both players will be available for selection this week.' The club made no reference to the fact that the pair had admitted or been punished for the offence but West Yorkshire Police confirmed action had been taken. Det Insp David Roberts, from Leeds CID, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: 'A 19-year-old man from Bradford and a 23-year-old man from Knottingley voluntarily attended a police station in Leeds on Monday. 'Both men admitted the offence of assault on a 22-year-old man at a student halls of residence on 3 February on Burley Road, Leeds. Leeds Rhinos full back Hardaker is taken on by Hull FC ace Steve Michaels who tries to bring him down . 'As part of a community resolution, which was an agreed course of action with the victim, each man will pay £200 in compensation to the victim as well as writing a letter of apology.' The victim suffered black eyes and bruising to his ears and neck in what police described as a 'nasty assault' at the Opal One building on Burley Road last month. Hardaker played in the Rhinos' opening four matches of the season but made way for teenager Ashton Golding in the 18-6 defeat by Warrington last Friday. Now he could be set for a recall when Wigan visit Headingley on Friday, although he could still face punishment from his club. Hardaker was fined £2,500 and given a warning by Leeds for breaching their code of conduct after being thrown out of England's World Cup squad in 2013 for misconduct. He also served a five-match ban last June after being found guilty of making homophobic comments to referee James Child during a game at Warrington. +Jenson Button, newly wearing a wedding ring, can afford to smile even if some of the rituals of his long career in Formula One will not be repeated at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. Three times he has won around Albert Park. There is little chance of that tally being added to in his temperamental McLaren-Honda. There is absolutely no chance of a pre-race coffee and post-race celebratory fish and chips at the Stokehouse on St Kilda beach. It has burned down. McLaren's Jenson Button is gearing up for his 16th season in Formula One . Button has recorded three victories in Melbourne during his career . But, aged 35, just being here is the great boon. A 16th season beckons after he feared being dropped last year to make way for Fernando Alonso, the incoming double world champion from Ferrari. But he was kept on — the result of a boardroom fight between McLaren chairman Ron Dennis, who favoured Kevin Magnussen partnering Alonso, and fellow shareholder Mansour Ojjeh, who supported whichever driver Dennis did not want. Ojjeh won. ‘This is where I should be,’ said Button in the paddock on Thursday. ‘It doesn’t feel like a bonus, it feels normal, — and exciting because it is such an exciting new package of engine and car.’ But as cruel irony would have it, Alonso will miss this race after he banged his head in testing and Magnussen has been called up to replace him in tandem with Button. Button poses with the NSX concept vehicle at a Honda F1 Grand Prix press conference . Alonso’s accident in Barcelona last month prompted a host of theories: among them that he had a fit before losing control or suffered an electric shock. The second theory is totally denied by the team. Button, however, was concerned enough to examine the data of Alonso’s car to satisfy himself there was nothing for him to fear. ‘I will not get into a car unless I am 100 per cent sure that it is safe,’ he said. ‘I spent hours going through the data with the engineers and talking to them about the incident. ‘There was nothing wrong with the car whatsoever. I needed to know that before getting into the car at the next test, so I made certain of it. ‘When you are driving at the limit, you need to be sure. I trust these guys and that is why I have the confidence to drive it this weekend.’ Yes, but not as fast as McLaren would like. They are nowhere near the top teams — in expected order: Mercedes, by miles, Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari. Button, a glass-half-full sort of man, was realistic in his assessment of his team’s prospects. Button married his fiancee Jessica Michibata in a secret ceremony in Hawaii in January . ‘We definitely won’t be fighting for a win here,’ he said. ‘The important thing for us is to see improvements every race and progress. ‘The power unit package is so tight and so advanced that you do have issues and we have had more issues than we would have liked. ‘Whether we score points here or not is irrelevant; it is all about improvements race to race. ‘I would rather not score points here and then win a race later in the year.’ This prognosis is a bit dispiriting given the expectations generated by McLaren’s new partnership with Honda. Should the team’s fortunes not turn around, questions will be asked about the success of the restructuring carried out a year ago. Martin Whitmarsh, who it was yesterday announced will take over as chief executive of Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup challenge, was sacked as team principal. Eric Boullier was brought in to replace him and Dennis took on a more involved role as chief executive. ‘We are a year behind the other manufacturers and the design is more aggressive to be a challenge to Mercedes in the future,’ added Button. ‘Honda are the manufacturer who will take it to Mercedes. There are going to be teething problems, but it is about answering those issues right now.’ While Button brings his experience to bear, another British driver, Will Stevens, is just starting out. The 23-year-old Essex-born racer made his debut in Abu Dhabi for Caterham last November and the Australian Grand Prix should be his first race for Manor, if they qualify by the 107 per cent rule — within seven per cent of the pole-sitting car’s time. He drove well on his debut and was assured in his press briefing yesterday. Stevens, whose father is a successful financial figure, comes with an estimated £5million of personal sponsorship to fund his ride. He has signed a one-year contract. ‘Two months ago you couldn’t say I would definitely be here,’ he said of the last-minute deal that saved Manor. ‘There were other options, but we held out for this.’ He has even less chance of scoring points than Button. ‘We need to try to be here at the end of the race to pick up the pieces,’ he said. +Several of Manchester United's under-fire squad put their troubled season behind them as they enjoyed a day out at Cheltenham on Wednesday. As the Festival marked Ladies' Day, Daley Blind, Michael Carrick, Jonny Evans, Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Rafael were in good spirits as they watched the action unfold from the grandstand. United's defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup on Monday night ensured Louis van Gaal's side will end the campaign without a trophy and they also face a fight to finish in the top four and qualify for next season's Champions League. Daley Blind, Michael Carrick, Jonny Evans, Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Rafael enjoy Ladies' Day at the Cheltenham Festival . Rafael looks as though he made a winning bet as he cheers watching the RSA Chase on day two which was won by Don Poli . After scoring for the Under 21 side on Tuesday, Rafael's luck looked to be in again as he celebrated with his team-mates . Jones points something out to his team-mate Rafael during the opening race on the second day of the renowned Festival . Carrick and Young check out the horses during the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle which was won by Windsor Park . Blind and Young started in the 2-1 defeat by Arsenal on Monday in which ex-United forward Danny Welbeck scored the winner after Wayne Rooney had cancelled out Nacho Monreal's opener. Carrick and Jones were introduced from the bench but could not prevent the Gunners leaving Manchester with a place in the semi-finals. Evans missed outas he served the first of his six-match ban for spitting at Newcastle striker Pappis Cisse. Rafael, meanwhile, who's future at the club is uncertain, starred for the Under 21 side on Tuesday with a stunning strike in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham. The opening race on the second day at Cheltenham was won by Windsor Park before Don Poli triumphed in the RSA Chase. Carrick takes a photograph of the action just two days after United crashed out of the FA Cup after a defeat by Arsenal . Carrick and Young were focussed on their phones as they dressed to impressed for the annual horse racing event . Rafael (right) was fresh from scoring a brilliant goal for the Under 21 side against Tottenham on Tuesday night . Carrick focuses on the action through his phone as the race unfolds in front of the United players at Cheltenham . +Nico Rosberg expects Mercedes to lead the way this season, hailing his team as the best in Formula One. Rosberg will renew his championship battle with team-mate Lewis Hamilton when the season gets underway at the traditional Albert Park curtain raiser in Melbourne on Sunday. Mercedes won 16 of the 19 races last term, and their ominous form in pre-season testing sees them start the new campaign as clear title favourites. Nico Rosberg takes a selfie under the gaze of the world's media as he poses with this year's trophy . The German finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton this year and will renew his battle with the Briton in 2015 . ‘We are looking good and we are very optimistic for the new season,’ said Rosberg, who finished runner-up to team-mate Hamilton in 2014. ‘We are the best in F1 now. We have the best individual departments, we have the best overall team, we have the best engine factory – they’re just doing an awesome job. Our race team is leading the way.’ Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, suggested earlier this week that Rosberg must re-invent himself in order to challenge Hamilton for the championship. Rosberg was all smiles as he stepped off the tram outside the Albert Park Circuit on Wednesday . Lewis Hamilton, pictured with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, will fight with Rosberg for this year's title . And the German, winner of the last year’s season opener in Melbourne, has conceded that he must improve this term if he is going to prevent Hamilton from winning a third title. ‘I have to be that little bit better,’ said Rosberg, who won six fewer races than his team-mate last season. ‘Last year wasn’t quite enough and I just need to try to look for a little bit extra.’ Rosberg presented this year’s Australian Grand Prix trophy to the assembled media on Wednesday after boarding a tram to the Albert Park circuit. 'I have focussed on pushing myself even harder for the rematch with Lewis,'he added. 'In the end, it comes down to who can put the best season together overall, and I have to make sure it's the other way around this time.' Hamilton beat team-mate Rosberg to last year's championship after a thrilling title battle . +World No 1 Novak Djokovic relaxed after his Davis Cup exploits by taking his pair of pet dogs for a walk in West Hollywood with wife Jelena Ristic. The pair were spotted taking a stroll in Los Angeles on Wednesday after Djokovic had returned from helping Serbia to a 5-0 whitewash against Croatia to set up a Davis Cup quarter final against Argentina. The dogs - Pierre and Tesla - have been regularly seen alongside this year's Australian Open champion, including spending a holiday with their owners in St Tropez last year. Scroll down for video . Novak Djokovic and wife Jelena Ristic take their dogs for a walk in West Hollywood on Wednesday . The couple of keen dog lovers have even taken 'Pierre and Tesla' on holiday with them to St Tropez . The world No 1 has returned to Los Angeles after starring for Serbia in the Davis Cup . Serbia's No 1 celebrates after leading his country past Croatia and into the Davis Cup quarter finals . Serbia's No 1 played a major role in his country's victory, beating Mate Delic in singles before teaming up with Nenad Zimonjic to beat Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor in the doubles. Djokovic, though, wasn't even initially supposed to play in the match. Viktor Troicki was named to play alongside Zimonjic but Serbia coach Bogdan Obradovic opted for Djokovic after his impressive performance against Delic. Meanwhile, the player renowned for his forward thinking when it comes to fitness has taken to practicing ballet with his Ristic after the current Wimbledon champion posted a photo online of the couple together and wrote: 'Ballet with my wife'. Current Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic poses with his wife after taking up ballet . Serbia players celebrate after setting up a Davis Cup showdown with Argentina . +If Louis van Gaal is struggling for inspiration he might be pleased to see that Sir Alex Ferguson has written a book on leadership. The former Manchester United manager, who released his last autobiography in 2013, will be back on the shelves in the autumn. Ferguson, like Van Gaal, endured a torrid time to his start in the Old Trafford hotseat before going on to usher in an unheralded era of success at the club. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will release a new book on leadership this autumn . Co-authored with Michael Moritz, the book will detail Ferguson's tactics and management techniques . He has now teamed up with investor and author Sir Michael Moritz to pen an analysis of his 38 years in management. Promoters say the book, entitled 'Leading', reveals 'the key tools he used to deliver sustained success on and off the field'. They add: 'From tactics to teamwork, from hiring to firing, from dealing with the boardroom to responding to failure, the book will analyse the pivotal leadership decisions of an astonishing career.' Van Gaal's men, who have a tricky run-in, are currently looking vulnerable in fourth position in the Premier League and are out of the Capital One Cup and FA Cup following Monday night's disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal. The Dutchman is expected to have a busy off-season with another £150million spending spree planned as he attempts to overhaul an under-performing squad. But he may do well to seek out Ferguson's latest effort when it is released next October - which even reveals the details behind his own philosophy. The man himself, now 73, said: 'Since stepping into retirement I have had the opportunity to reflect on my time as a football manager, and to consider the reasons behind my success through personal recollections, conversations with Mike Moritz and my role at Harvard Business School. 'It has been a new experience for me to be looking into the past rather than planning for the future, but one that I have found enjoyable and rewarding. Current United boss Louis van Gaal is enduring a difficult debut season in English football . Van Gaal's men are currently fourth in the Premier League table, but out of the FA Cup and League Cup . Arsenal's Francis Coquelin shields the ball from United midfielder Marouane Fellaini during the FA Cup tie . Wayne Rooney tussles with Arsenal's Per Mertersacker during the FA Cup quarter-finals at Old Trafford . Ferguson celebrates with his United players after wining the Premier League back in 2013 . 'The process behind creating this book began many years ago following my first meeting with Mike, which immediately created a mutual respect for each other's achievements. Over the past year, we have spent many hours together as we have worked our way through my life in order to draw out and discuss the key philosophies I applied during my career.' Sir Michael added: 'Though I have two left feet and cannot dribble, I have long been fascinated by the characteristics of those extremely rare individuals who are capable of exerting an extraordinary influence on the rise, success and durability of the world's highest performing organisations. 'That topic led me to Sir Alex. It has been an enormous pleasure to debate the subject with Sir Alex over the last seven years or so and to collaborate with him on this book.' Ferguson lifts the 1999 Champions League trophy as Manchester United complete a historic treble . The legend's new book will give insight into tactics, teamwork, leadership and managing off the pitch . +Leeds did it under Don Revie; Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side did it; Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone do it. Many great sides have hounded and harassed referees over the years. It’s a characteristic at times of their determination to win and their unity. So when Chelsea surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off on Wednesday it wasn’t something new, or a modern phenomenon that has been creeping up on us. It has nothing to do with foreign players and managers coming into the game. It’s been a part of English football for years. Having said that, now is the time to draw a line and punish teams that overstep the mark in this way, as I believe Chelsea did on Wednesday and I think it could be done with a simple amendment to the rules. Almost all the Chelsea squad surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers after an incident at Stamford Bridge . If a referee feels that he is being aggressively hounded by a group of players he should have the power to reverse the decision and award the free kick the other way. So on Wednesday night, he could still have sent off Ibrahimovic if he really felt it was a red card offence but Chelsea would have lost the advantage of a free kick. It wouldn’t immediately cut out hounding refs but it would be a nudge in the right direction. Behaviour only changes if managers are encouraged to discipline their players. At the moment, it’s worthwhile clamouring round a referee to get a decision, so few coaches would discourage their players from doing so. However, if you felt that by hounding the referee, your team might lose a potential goal-scoring opportunity, because you would miss out on a free kick on the edge of the box, managers would soon start telling their players to exercise more restraint. And over-zealous appealing for penalties would stop pretty quickly. Imagine losing the chance to take a penalty kick because you had surrounded the referee. The manager would be furious. Referees are only human. Kuipers might have looked at the Ibrahimovic tackle and thought it was a 50-50 decision. But when you have 38,000 people screaming for the red card and then you have a group of players around demanding it too, all of that activity around him might make him feel it’s a 90 per cent decision. This tackle from PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sparked a furious reaction from Chelsea players . The Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers at Stamford Bridge as he brandishes the red card . Chelsea captain John Terry (left) reacts after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's tackle on Oscar in the first-half . This would only be a small change in the rules but I believe it would make a massive change in behaviour over time. Certainly managers wouldn’t encourage their team to attempt to influence the referee in that way anymore because there would be an immediate punishment which could cost the team. It gives the referee a little bit more power and it would act as powerful disincentive. You could also apply the same rule of reversing the free kick if a player showed an imaginary card, trying to get an opponent booked or sent off. That would soon end what is an unsavoury practice. Another area which needs looking at is when a player marches towards a referee in an aggressive manner, forcing the referee to back off. It’s natural for players to complain when they feel aggrieved and when emotions are running high. But what is important is that we establish that exclusion zone around the referee where players won’t encroach. If someone is to complain, they can do so backing away from the referee, getting into position, not moving towards him. And if someone does need to go to referee, it should only be the captain. And when complaining they should show some respect for the personal space of the referee. John Terry (centre) led the protests as he screamed at the referee following Ibrahimovic's first-half challenge . Football is a physical game and that is part of its spectacle. I’ve no desire to curb the aggression of players when it’s directed in the right way. But referees need to be protected and their personal space needs to be almost sacrosanct. It’s important to draw a line and clearly state what is and isn’t acceptable. WHEN FRIDAY COMES, ENGLISH TEAMS CAN FEEL BENEFIT IN EUROPE . It has been an awful few weeks for English teams in Europe with only Everton thriving in the Europa League. Given the competitiveness of the Premier League you would imagine that our teams would be more than ready for this stage of the Champions League and Europa League, when the competitions step up a level. But the reverse seems to happening. The sheer competitiveness of the Premier League is leaving us short in these difficult games. Not only do we tend to have four teams who believe they can win the title, which is not the case in most of Europe’s other major leagues, but there is an increased level of intensity about all our games. Everton are progressing well in the Europa League as other English sides continue to struggle in Europe . Having played in France, I know that for Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Lyon there will only be a handful of games for which they need to be at their best. It’s not that it’s easy but going to the smaller French teams is not like going to Turf Moor to play Burnley or Loftus Road to play QPR, where the crowd is right on top of you and everyone is expecting the home side to put one over Chelsea or Manchester United. That’s not the case in France, and I’m not sure it is in Italy or Spain. Obviously Bayern Munich are utterly dominant in Germany at the moment, so there aren’t that many games where they need to be at the top level. Don’t forget that while our teams were playing five games in two weeks over Christmas, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke were on a 40-day break. Arsenal endured a torrid Champions League 3-0 defeat against Monaco late last month . And while the Christmas break isn’t as long in France, Italy and Spain, it allows their players to relax get a couple of weeks in the sun. It’s ironic that the intensity and competitiveness of the Premier League, which is what has made it so successful, might now be damaging our performance in Europe and by extension damaging it’s reputation. However, there is an opportunity now to help English team in the Champions League. Jose Mourinho has long drawn attention to Spanish teams playing games on a Friday night if they have a Tuesday night Champions League game. The new £5.1billion TV deal — a mark of how popular the Premier League is — has provision for some Friday night games. The Premier League and TV companies should be looking at those Friday night games to see whether they can schedule teams competing in the Champions League. We need to give our teams every chance we can. After all, if Premier League clubs consistently fail in Europe, global audiences will begin to question just how good these clubs really are. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers' side crashed of the Europa League to Besiktas in late February . GREAT TO LOOK BACK AT MY CAREER . I was really honoured a few months ago when Sky Sports asked if I would be the subject of a documentary covering my life in football. The result will be shown tonight on Sky Sports 1 and it’s been a trip down memory lane for me and a chance to reflect on my career. There are one or two things I hadn’t remembered, like the post-match interview I did after scoring on my league debut as an 18-year-old against Stoke in 1976. The collars on the shirt I was wearing — oh my word! They look like something Barry White might have turned down as excessive. Glenn Hoddle volleys in for Tottenham against Manchester United in 1979, his favourite goal he scored . And I’m pleased to say my Top of the Pops appearance singing Diamond Lights gets an outing — not that any of the musicians will be. It also gave me a chance to take another look at my favourite goal, the volley I scored for Tottenham against Manchester United from just inside the box in 1979. I’ve never taken drugs in my life but the feeling I had that day, with the adrenalin pumping through my body after scoring, is how I imagine it feels. I hope people enjoy watching the film as much as I did making it. Glenn Hoddle: A Touch of Genius, Sky Sports 1, 7pm . +The only word I can use to describe my feeling over the last few days is distraught, really. The night we lost to Bangladesh I found myself staring at the floor in disbelief and I was trying to work out in my own mind what happened. Then over the next couple of days it started to sink in and the disappointment turned to anger. Anger at ourselves. It was in our hands and the players have to take every bit of heat we get because we were in a very winnable position in that game. We just didn’t take to the pressure well at all. What went wrong? It’s tricky as players to try to offer an explanation because it can sound like an excuse. But I will try. Did we lack a bit of experience? You look at the big teams here at this World Cup and most of the players have played a lot more one-day internationals than us. There’s always a temptation to call for change at times like this but my gut feeling would be to keep this group of players together to get them that experience over the next four years before the next World Cup. We don’t play as much one-day and Twenty20 cricket as others because of our schedules but we have to find a way to be honest so we can get that experience. You learn how to win games in tricky positions and the pressure of winning a game for England is completely different to doing it for your county. Stuart Broad (bottom) lays on the floor during England's World Cup Pool A defeat to Bangladesh on Monday . Don’t blame the coach . It’s unfair to pin the blame on Peter Moores. We’ve worked a lot on our game and the coach can’t do anything about the players not being able to take the heat of the battle when it most matters. Coaches try to teach that but you only really get it by winning and losing at the highest level. I’m reading a book called The Unstoppable Golfer by Bob Rotella and a lot of what he says applies to cricket. It’s about players taking responsibility to get into a position to handle the pressure. There was no reason why we couldn’t have beaten Bangladesh on that flat wicket at the Adelaide Oval. No reason why we shouldn’t have been able to chase 275. England coach Peter Moores (left) has come under strong criticism for their early World Cup exit . Below my best . It’s stating the obvious to say I haven’t taken the amount of wickets I would have liked in this tournament but it’s never the definitive way to judge how you have bowled. I like to judge myself on the processes, whether I’ve hit the right areas and whether I’ve created chances. I feel like I have created chances but I’ve not hit the right areas as consistently as I’d like to have done. At the start of the tournament I tried to bowl as quickly as I could but found I wasn’t moving the ball as much as I’d like. So against Bangladesh I changed that and tried to bowl a bit more as if it was a Test and looked for movement. That was better but it took me too long to figure it out in these conditions. I’ve not been happy with myself but it’s such a shame it’s been cut short because there’s a lot of cricket left in this tournament. This group had a lot more expectation than we’ve shown but hopefully a lot of them will be around to grow over the next couple of years. Broad admits he hasn't been happy with his productivity levels in terms of taking wickets at the World Cup . The obsession with statistics . I really don’t know where that has come from. It’s completely wrong to say we are obsessed with statistics or over-analyse things. In my eight or nine years of England touring this trip has seen fewer meetings than ever before. There’s also been the least number of stats flying around. If you are winning then people say you are fantastically prepared if you have good analysis but if you’re losing it becomes something to take aim at. If you want information on your game or an opponent’s then it’s available to you but we haven’t had anything thrown at us. The fast bowler adds that despite talk of stats there have been fewer team meetings than ever before . Moving on . It’s still very raw going out of this World Cup at this stage and that frustration and anger is still there. I’m disappointed with how I played and I’m sure all the guys feel the same. It’s natural and if those feelings weren’t there you would have to ask questions. I feel embarrassed to be honest. Another book I read recently was Roy Keane’s and he’d say that if Manchester United lost on a Saturday when he played he’d be embarrassed to leave his home on a Sunday. That’s how I’m feeling right now but games and challenges come round so quickly that you have to pick yourself up as soon as you can. We can’t afford to sulk. Broad says England can't afford to sulk on their World Cup disappointment with a busy fixture list ahead . A one-day future . I’m only 28 and I want to continue playing one-day cricket for England. Look at the best teams here and they all have experience in their teams. I’ve not shown enough quality in this tournament but the next World Cup is in England and my record is good at home. You can’t say what’s going to happen in the next four years but I’d certainly like to play a key role leading up to the next one. They say a bowler’s peak is from 28 to 33 so why wouldn’t I want to play? I know we are the only team who plays all-year round and that means a lot of cricket but I try to give myself the best opportunity I can to play for England as often as I can. I rest where possible and I haven’t been to the Indian Premier League. That’s because I want to play for England and I want to keep on doing that in all forms. At 28, Broad (right) aims to play in the next World Cup for England which will be on home soil . A modern approach . We’ve got the players to produce the modern brand of cricket we are seeing in one-day cricket, of course we have. Look at people like Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Joe Root. It’s just that we haven’t delivered it here. Those guys will have a significant number of one-day caps when they play in the next World Cup and that will give them more expertise and more confidence. We must make sure that we accept it if guys like those get out at times playing the modern way and someone like Mo can definitely bat as fluently at the top of the order as some of the players we have seen at this tournament. He just has to be backed to do so. I think the right 15 players were in this World Cup squad and we can only look at ourselves as to why we haven’t justified the faith placed in us. It will take a long time to get over what’s happened here it is what it is and if we don’t learn from it that will be criminal. There is a lot of exciting cricket ahead and that has got to be our focus now. Broad says Moeen Ali (right) is an example of the modern brand of one-day cricket England has to stick with . +Thousands of Australians have been duped by a fake Qantas Facebook page offering the chance to win free first class flights for the rest of the year. Almost 150,000 people shared a post by the fraudulent site after it was first created on Sunday. 'Today we at Qantas Australia are proud to announce that we have seated over 3 Million passengers since January 1, 2015!' the post read. Scroll down for video . Thousands have been duped by a fake Qantas Facebook page offering free first class flights . 'So to celebrate this record setting accomplishment we will be giving out FREE first class flights for the rest of this year! That's an entire year of FREE flights! To win simply complete the step's below.' It encouraged people to like and share a picture of a Qantas First Class Lounge 'complimentary invitation', saying that winners will be notified on Tuesday. The airline confirmed it is a scam and has nothing to do with Qantas. 'Our campaigns are always run from our authenticated Facebook page (identified by its authorised blue tick), or through the official Qantas website,' a Qantas spokesperson said. Qantas also reported the page to Facebook and it has been removed. 'We are aware of a fake Facebook account masquerading as Qantas Facebook fans are invited to like and share a post to win free First class flights,' a spokeswoman said. Seat 1A in first class of a Qantas A380 Airbus. Online scammers often create fake social media accounts linked to major companies in order to 'farm likes' and build up a page's following . 'Qantas has already had a number of the scam pages removed. 'Facebook has been advised of the scam.' Online scammers often create fake social media accounts linked to major companies in order to 'farm likes' and build up a page's following, so that it can be sold to other scammers to market dodgy products. The airline has moved to distance itself from the page, labelling it a 'scam' +A 34-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a 27-year old woman after her two young children found her body in a car at Hackham West on Sunday. The children, aged seven and two, were quick to alert neighbours by sounding the car horn once they realised their mother was unresponsive. Two children sounded a car horn after finding their mothers body in a parked Holden Captiva . A man hunt for the woman’s partner led to the arrest of a Hackam West local who police say was known to the victim. The man was refused bail and will appear in the Cristies Beach Magistrates Court later today. A neighbour who was one of the first to respond to the children’s alert told The Advertiser she heard ‘bloodcurdling screams’ at about 4am Sunday morning. She said she heard the couple arguing earlier that night and on occasion had to ask them to keep the noise down. Investigations are underway with a 34-year-old man being arrested for the 27-year-old's murder . Police are investigating the domestic dispute and are treating the death as suspicious. It has been reported that police believe there was no weapon used to kill the woman who was found on the passenger side of her Holden Captiva, however, no official information has been released about the woman’s cause of death. Neighbours say they have heard domestic disputes from inside the home . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Any Instagram user would be proud to show off these stunning photos of London’s iconic landmarks on their timeline. It turns out they can, as all it took to produce this magnificent portfolio was an iPhone and a tilt shift filter on an app. Traveller Christian Barrett snapped the breathtaking images, which offer a bird’s eye view of the capital, as he flew into Heathrow Airport on a recent trip. Scroll down for video . Christian Barrett snapped the breathtaking photos as his flight passed over London while en route to Heathrow Airport on a recent trip . All it took for Christian Barrett to produce his magnificent portfolio of London's sights was an iPhone and a tilt shift filter on an app . This image snapped from high above the capital shows Kensington Gardens (left) and Hyde Park (centre) The photos offer a different take on London’s sights – from Buckingham Palace and the London Eye to Canary Wharf and The Shard. The effects of the filter appear to play a visual trick. Christian’s photos make the sprawling city look like a miniature model with incredible definition. The Thames, the O2, Houses of Parliament, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are rendered almost toy like. Christian Barrett's incredible aerial tour of London included Canary Wharf and the O2 arena . The holidaymaker's photos make the sprawling city and its sights look like a miniature model with incredible definition . Landmarks such as The Shard, Tower Bridge and the City of London's modern skyline are rendered almost toy like when the filter is applied . Christian Barrett said he managed to photograph London's landmarks from the plane even though he wasn't in a window seat . Christian said: ‘It was a beautiful winter day, the sun was shining and there was a hardly a cloud in the sky. ‘As we came in to land over London the outstanding view was crystal clear and I whipped out my phone to capture the moment. ‘Amazingly, I wasn't even sitting in the window seat and was delighted when I looked back at the images and saw what I had captured.’ +A man from Hunan Province in southern China has been imprisoned by his own mother in a chicken shed for an astonishing 13 years, according to the People's Daily Online. Tang Shuangqiang's mother claimed he suffered from mental problems and was called the 'crazy fighter' by their neighbours. She said the family was poor and locking him up in the outhouse was the best solution she had. Home but not home: Tang Shuangqiang (pictured), who is said to suffer from mental illness, has been imprisoned by his mother for 13 years . A resident of the Yang Liu village in Shaoyang City, Mr Tang, 46, started suffering from split personality in 1991 due to various emotional setbacks, including love failures, his mother claimed. Mr Tang's plight was only discovered when old schoolmate Ms Xiao went to visit him, hoping for a happy reunion after 28 years. Instead, Ms Xiao was shocked to see that her old friend being chained with rusty shackles in a former chicken shed no larger than six square metres. Behind the bars: The lot was previously used to keep chickens. There is no furniture or bed inside . The space has no furniture or bed and is filled with hundreds of red plastic bags, which Mr Tang's mother uses to serve him meals. His mother said her only income is an annual subsidiary of 3,000 yuan (£323) from the local authority and she cannot afford proper medical care for son. +An ISIS-inspired teen in Tokyo has been caught 'practicing murder' with a junior school's pet goat, according to the Tokyo metropolitan police. The 14-year old boy, who can not be named for legal reasons, said he wanted behead the kid goat before he attacked a human victim after viewing videos of the recent killings of Japanese hostages by ISIS. Police in Tachikawa, a middle-class bed-town serving central Tokyo, said that the boy had been found attacking the goat with a crowbar at 1am in the morning on March 16. Victim: Inspired by watching horrendous videos of ISIS executions, a teenager in Tokyo tried to behead a goat (pictured) as 'practice' before attacking a human . Lucky escape: The boy was found attacking the goat with a crowbar at 1am in Tachikawa, a middle-class town serving central Tokyo . Chilling inspiration: Police quoted the boy who tried to behead the goat (pictured) as saying: 'I wanted to murder somebody, anybody, after viewing videos of the Islamic State' Safe: The goat escaped any serious injuries and the boy - who is a minor - does not qualify for Japan's capital punishment laws despite calls on Twitter to give him the death penalty . Police said they were alerted to the assault when a passing police officer heard the repeated bleatings of the goat. The teen was caught chasing it and was found to be carrying a saw and other workman's tools. 'I wanted to murder somebody, anybody, after viewing videos of the Islamic State. But first I decided to kill the school goat for practice,' the police quoted the boy as saying. The attempt on the animal has parallels with another ISIS inspired attack in suburban Kawasaki, adjacent to Tokyo, earlier last month. Like the chief suspect in the Kawasaki murder, the goats' assailant was also a dropout, according to the police, and a 'hikikomori' a shut-in - common among the young in Japan. One of the three high school boys charged with stabbing a 12-year-old boy to death in Kawasaki proclaimed himself and the rest of his 'team' as the 'Kawasaki State' - following the same naming pattern as the terrorist organization ISIS. The gang terrorised other students in the port city declaring: 'We're above the law. We run by our own rules. We are Kawasaki State. If you go against us, we'll cut off your head while you're still alive!' Punishment: Police said the goat's assailant will be charged with trespassing and is now in the hands of Tokyo's juvenile court . Anger: In light of the attack on the goat, some have blamed Japanese parents for not knowing how to control their children's internet usage . The three are due to be tried for murder in a juvenile court later this year. Both the Kawaski murder and the attempt on the goat have generated thousands of tweets in Japan calling for the death penalty for minors in the case of heinous crimes. The perpetrators in both cases are all minors - under 20-years-old in Japan - and are not subject to the country's capital punishment laws. 'Murder must be punished by the death penalty whatever the age,' was one reaction. Other blamed Japanese parents who do not know how to control their children's internet usage because they are allegedly technologically illiterate. Violent viewing: The computer of the boy who attacked the goat contained videos of hostage beheadings - including those of Japanese hostages Kenji Goto (left) and Haruna Yukawa (right) Police in the Tachikawa case confirmed that the boy's computer showed a long history of downloaded videos of Islamic State beheading hostages - and that the suspect had viewed them repeatedly. The most viewed were the beheadings of two Japanese hostages in January - journalist Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, a security contractor. Police said the goat's assailant will be charged with trespassing and is now in the hands of Tokyo's juvenile court. They added that the goat escaped any serious injuries. +A deadly Eastern Brown snake has been busted in a backyard after slithering its way into a beer can. The venomous reptile, seemingly determined to sip on some poison rather than injecting it into others, was found in Mawson Lakes, north of Adelaide. Lauren Lehman spotted the four-foot snake in her yard over the weekend, according to Nine News. Scroll down for video . A deadly Eastern Brown snake has been busted in a backyard after slithering its way into a beer can . The venomous reptile, seemingly determined to sip on some poison rather than injecting it into others, was found in Mawson Lakes, north of Adelaide . 'I screamed, I cried, I felt sick, I didn't know what to do,' Ms Lehman said. She said she immediately called in the experts, and Snakes Away's Ian Renton arrived to take the snake away. 'In the last 30 years that I've been in the industry I've probably only seen six to seven of these issues,' Mr Renton said. Mr Renton's son, Corey, was filmed carrying out the delicate operation to free the trapped snake. Lauren Lehman spotted the four-foot snake in her yard over the weekend . 'In the last 30 years that I've been in the industry I've probably only seen six to seven of these issues,' Snakes Away's Ian Renton . 'I'm now going to try and cut his head free and hopefully I can do this without getting bitten,' he said in the video. Eastern Brown snakes are found across Adelaide and the suburbs, with Mawson Lakes one of the most common places for snake catcher call-outs. +A group of college footballers have sparked outrage by dressing in Ku Klux Klan robes in a parody of the Will Smith movie Bad Boys II. About 20 members of the team, at Wheaton College near Chicago, Illinois, performed the 'skit' wearing Klan-style white hoods and carrying Confederate flags. The off-season team-building exercise was intended as a 'satirical parody' of the 2003 action comedy Bad Boys II, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, whose characters poke fun at the KKK. Footballers performed a 'skit' wearing Klan-style white hoods during a team-building exercise at Wheaton College (pictured) near Chicago . The skit, intended as a parody of a scene from the Will Smith movie Bad Boys II (pictured), has sparked outrage on campus . But the stunt has provoked anger on the campus while Philip Ryken, the evangelical Christian college's president, has sent an email to all students and staff. The incident happened on February 28 in a campus gym and involved some of the team's black players. College bosses have acknowledged the skit was 'racially insensitive'. In Bad Boys II, the police detectives played by Smith and Lawrence burst out of white robes they are wearing as part of a raid on a Ku Klux Klan meeting. According to the Chicago Tribune, team Captain Josh Aldrin, who is African-American, took responsibility for the skit and, in a letter to students, admitted 'we made a mistake.' The incident happened on February 28 in a campus gym and involved some of the team's black players . In Bad Boys II, the police detectives played by Smith and Martin Lawrence (pictured) burst out of white robes they are wearing as part of a raid on a Ku Klux Klan meeting . He wrote: 'As a black male, a team captain, and the leader of the group that performed the skit, I should have understood that (the) KKK and Confederate symbols are not funny in any context. 'We hope the campus community will forgive us for our actions.' Mr Ryken was made aware of the incident shortly after it happened and held a meeting with some of those involved at 1am the next morning. On Sunday, more than 700 students gathered in the College's Pierce Chapel to pray for 'campus-wide healing'. In a statement posted on its website, the college said: 'The team captain acknowledged his poor judgment in failing to consider the inherently hurtful meanings these symbols carry, though it was clear the skit was not motivated by racial hostility. 'The coaches accepted responsibility for their failure to provide appropriate guidance. 'All recognized that, regardless of the group's intent, the skit was inappropriate, and apologized in an e-mail to the campus community sent out around noon on Sunday.' Footage was taken of the event - but the images were 'inherently hurtful and shocking' and would not be disseminated, the college said. The statement added: 'Wheaton College stands resolutely against racial insensitivity, including the use of symbols that convey hatred against African Americans and other ethnic minorities. 'The College is committed to responding promptly and appropriately to incidents that may violate our Community Covenant, taking the time to consider the total facts of each situation and seeking redemption, with respect for the dignity of each person.' +Melbourne Zoo staff are going bananas after they announce a brand new edition to their gorilla family. Resident gorilla Kimya delivered her first baby on Saturday night. The Western Lowland Gorilla gave birth in the Gorilla House night dens at around 6.05pm, marking the first gorilla birth in Australia since 2000. Kimya rest with her brand new baby after giving birth on Saturday night . The birth took place under the watchful eye of Otana, the baby’s father, and three older females in the group, Julia, G-Ann, and Yuska. The sex of the baby is yet to be determined however mother and baby reportedly are doing well. Zoo keepers have been unable to identify the sex of the baby at this early stage . The new bundle of joy is only the seventh gorilla to be born at Melbourne Zoo. Kimya and Otana met in October 2013 as a part of an international breeding program for endangered species. Kimya was born in Australia’s Taronga Zoo with Otana making a much longer trip from Howlett’s Wild Animal Park in Kent, England. Kimya and the baby's father Otana met through an international breeding program . The baby is not yet on display and the Gorilla Rainforest area will remain closed today to give both mother and baby the chance to rest and get to know each other. The baby's birth marks the first gorilla birth in Australia since 2000 and only the seventh at Melbourne Zoo . +Liz Hurley's new TV show has been drubbed by US critics. The Royals, starring Hurley as a fictional Queen, and Joan Collins as her feisty mother, was described as ‘not a royally good time’ by The Hollywood Reporter. The show, which airs tonight in the US, was branded ‘loud and bombastic’, with one critic saying it ‘plays like an extended MTV music video’. 'Trash TV': Liz Hurley plays a fictional queen in the new show The Royals, which has been panned by critics . Meanwhile, Newsday called it ‘trash TV’ and ‘the equivalent of The Real Housewives of Buckingham Palace’. A source at E! TV, which will broadcast the show in the UK later this month, said: ‘Everyone is very disappointed with the reviews. 'We were hoping, with such a stellar cast, this would be something that would really appeal.’ +A volunteer middle school basketball coach has been charged with having inappropriate sexual contact with one of her 14-year-old players during a team sleepover, authorities said. Shakyla Wilson, 22, of Naperville, Illinois, was charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to DuPage County prosecutors. The abuse reportedly happened on February 20 at a player's residence after Wilson accompanied some of the girls from the Hill Middle School basketball team to a movie and spent the night at the sleepover, authorities said. Shakyla Wilson, 22, was charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after being accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a Hill Middle School basketball team sleepover. She was a volunteer coach with the team . Wilson, also known as Kiki, began volunteering with the team in an unpaid, unofficial capacity at the end of January, Indian Prairie School District Superintendent Karen Sullivan said in a statement on the district's website. The district immediately notified police when officials became aware of allegations and told Wilson she could not be on school property, Sullivan said. She added: 'We want to stress that the district takes these charges very seriously. As this is now a matter for law enforcement officials to handle, we encourage anyone who may have pertinent information regarding this investigation to contact the Naperville Police Department. 'We are providing support in the school for any student who may need to discuss this issue. If your student wishes to talk with someone at school, please direct him or her to speak with their social worker or guidance counselor.' Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall told the Chicago Tribune that he was 'deeply disturbed' by the recent events. 'Ms Wilson purposely put herself in a position of influence and trust in order to prey on the innocence of young girls,' he said. State's Attorney Robert Berlin said that the allegations against Wilson are appalling. 'A coach's role is to motivate and inspire athletes to be the best they can be, both on the court and off it,' he told the Tribune. 'Coaches are there to help athletes attain their goals, not to take advantage of the trust their position holds just to satisfy their own sickening desires.' Wilson was an unpaid, unofficial volunteer girls basketball coach at Hill Middle School in Naperville, Illinois. She played basketball with the same team when she was in middle school . Though the district does not fingerprint volunteers at elementary or middle school levels, it does background checks through the Raptor system, which is used by 12,000 schools across the United States, according to the Tribune. The program screens a person's driver's license information to find registered sex offenders, Janet Buglio, director of communication services in the district said. 'Everyone entering our schools, including parents and volunteers, surrender their driver's license every time they enter a school to be used for a screening using the Raptor system,' she said. Wilson played basketball on two high schools state championship teams before joining the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee team for a year. She then transferred to St Joseph's College where she played basketball for two years. Before entering high school, she played basketball at Hill Middle School, the same place she was volunteering in January and February. Bail was set Friday at $100,000 and Wilson is due in court on March 24. +Francis Coquelin believes Arsenal are capable of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League despite having to score at least three goals in Monaco. Arsenal must overturn a 3-1 deficit if they are to make it through and Coquelin has backed his side to beat the odds by sealing a spot in the next round. The Gunners have won four consecutive games since their shock home defeat at the hands of Monaco on February 25 and Coquelin insists his side are capable of stretching their winning run. Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin believes his side are capable of scoring three goals in Monaco . Coquelin has jumped to the defence of fellow countryman Olivier Giroud ahead of Tuesday's match . Coquelin, speaking to Ouest France, said: 'Yes, we can score three goals. We have always known how to bounce back, we have just won at Manchester United in the cup. 'This time the roles are inverted. Monaco are favourites and we have nothing to lose!' The 23-year-old Frenchman, who has impressed since being recalled from his loan spell at Charlton Athletic, has leaped to the defence of Oliver Giroud ahead of the second leg at Stade Louis II. Giroud was guilty of squandering a number of gilt-edged chances however Coquelin insists he should not take the blame. He added: 'People came down a bit on Olivier Giroud, but we owe him a lot for other victories. He has the heart to put things right in the second leg, and so do we.' The 23-year-old believes his side can take great confidence from their FA Cup win against Manchester United . The above quotes were translated by Bleacher Report . +Chris Smalling insists Manchester United are capable of overtaking bitter rivals Manchester City and finishing second in the league. United put on their best display of the season on Sunday as they swept aside Tottenham in a near-effortless 3-0 victory at Old Trafford. The impressive performance raised hopes and expectation levels at the club and Smalling thinks United are well-equipped to sustain that kind of performance level for the rest of the season. Chris Smalling, pictured tussling with Tottenham's Harry Kane, believes Manchester United can finish second . Wayne Rooney scores United's third goal in their comfortable 3-0 win against Tottenham on Sunday . United are two points behind City, who lost to Burnley on Saturday, and just one point adrift of third-placed Arsenal. And Smalling is convinced finishing second above City is not just a pipe dream. 'Yes, I think we could, especially after City's result on Saturday,' the United defender said. 'It is all very close. 'I think it's very open all the way up to second place and we will be aiming for that, especially when we are playing those teams coming up. 'We want Champions League football back here. It's a must. Fourth is the minimum but when it's there, second is a realistic target and if we keep on performing like that I don't see why we can't give it a good push.' United face Liverpool, Aston Villa, City and Chelsea over the next four weeks and then host Arsenal on the penultimate weekend. Many viewed the difficult run-in as a reason why United could fail to qualify for the Champions League, but Smalling views the situation in exactly the opposite way. Marouane Fellaini helped United cruise past Champions League rivals Spurs with an early goal at Old Trafford . The former Everton man celebrates in front of a section of home supporters after finding the back of the net . 'These games are six-pointers,' the England centre-back said. 'We can do ourselves a favour and do our rivals big damage as well. 'Sunday was the first step. It was the perfect time to put in a performance like that, especially with our run of fixtures. 'Confidence will be good, it's one of the biggest games of the season and hopefully we can play like that again.' A video released by The Sun on Sunday, appearing to show Wayne Rooney being knocked out by Stoke defender Phil Bardsley, dominated the build-up to the match. But Rooney poked fun at the episode by shadow boxing during his celebration for his goal at Old Trafford. Rooney celebrates his goal against Spurs by mocking a video of him being knocked out by Phil Bardsley . It was not the first time Rooney has been at the centre of controversy during his career and it was interesting on Monday that he picked out another player who had a rollercoaster career - Paul Gascoigne - as his favourite English footballer during a Chevrolet Google+ Hangout. 'I think he's probably still, to this day, the greatest English player. For excitement and goals, he was my favourite player,' the United and England captain said. Asked what it was specifically about Gascoigne that Rooney liked, he said: 'His ability to turn games round on their head and produce magical moments. He was a perfect entertainer on the pitch.' CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to FA Cup . +Wales' chances of lifting the RBS 6 Nations trophy could hinge on the fitness battle being waged by Italy captain Sergio Parisse. Warren Gatland’s men need a thumping victory over the Italians on Saturday to have a chance of overhauling England and Ireland, who both boast superior points differences. But Welsh hopes took a knock with news that Parisse, who limped off against France on Sunday, has been cleared of any serious damage to his right foot following an MRI scan in the Italian capital and hopes to recover for Thursday’s team announcement. Parisse revealed on Twitter that the soft-tissue injury is ‘less severe than expected’ and he could still feature alongside prop Martin Castrogiovanni, who is understood to have been recalled to the squad after suffering a serious dog bite on his nose three weeks ago. Today he tweeted an image of his foot in an ice bath in a bid to get fit for the clash. Sergio Parisse limped off during Italy's defeat by France in Rome at the weekend . If Parisse plays he will be a major factor in Wales' attempts to win the Six Nations . VIDEO Italy v France - extended highlights . The veteran Azzurri pair have 221 Tests between them and their experience could be a major obstacle to Welsh ambitions of securing the necessary landslide victory at the Stadio Olimpico. Wales kept themselves in contention for the title with a classic defensive display against Ireland on Saturday but, with the race likely to be decided by points difference, focus must now shift towards attack. If the trophy is going to head back to Cardiff, then Gatland’s side must burst open the floodgates of the River Tiber and better the scoring record of both England and Ireland. Having topped the tackle count at the Millennium Stadium with — according to the Welsh camp — a record-breaking 38 hits, Luke Charteris is hoping to keep his place in the second row. His side are up first in a triple-bill of fixtures and, with kick-offs staggered throughout the day, the 32-year-old has already decided how to kill the time as other results unfold. Wales beat Ireland 23-16 at the Millennium Stadium to force themselves into title contention . Warren Gatland knows his team need a large victory to overhaul England and Ireland . ‘We’ll have to find some good Italian wine,’ joked Charteris. ‘First, you have to try to win the game. If you look any further than winning the game by a point then you become unstuck. ‘That has happened in the past and as soon as you do that, you are disrespecting the opposition. If we can win, it gives us a chance. ‘We saw just how good a team they are when they won in Scotland. I know a few of the boys so it will be a really tough game.’ In an ideal scenario, Gatland would have had the option to keep the same starting XV that beat Ireland. But the Kiwi will be without tight-head prop Samson Lee, who was sent to London yesterday to seek specialist advice on a potentially World Cup-threatening Achilles injury. The front-row problems have been compounded by doubts over Richard Hibbard and Gethin Jenkins — prompting call-ups for Exeter’s Tomas Francis and Saracens’ Rhys Gill, but not Adam Jones. Gatland's Wales side have a +12 points difference, 25 behind England and 21 adrift of Ireland . Jonathan Davies and Dan Biggar share a joke during a Wales training session . The 34-year-old British Lion has hinted that he could be drawn out of retirement, however Welsh forwards coach Robin McBryde insists the onus is on the player to reverse his decision. ‘We would be open to a call from him,’ said McBryde. ‘It was his decision to hang up his boots on the international front. I still have his number, but there’s no need to call him at the moment. As far as I’m concerned, he’s announced his retirement and, until he changes his mind, at the moment we have enough strength in depth.’ McBryde moved to allay concerns over Jamie Roberts after the 28-year-old was brought off with a head injury against Ireland. The Racing Metro centre has been a mainstay throughout the competition but, in Scott Williams, Wales have attack-minded cover that could exploit Italian weaknesses in the final quarter. ‘We have seen so far that up until the 60-minute mark Italy have been in the game and competing,’ said McBryde. ‘They will be hugely disappointed with their performance against France and I am sure they will be looking to finish on a high, so that makes them more dangerous. We are dealing with a wounded animal. ‘Saturday was a hugely physical Test and some of the players’ reactions following that match reflected the intensity. ‘The fact they have come out of that match on top makes the bruises feel that little less painful. The spirit is good and, by still being in the hunt for the title, everyone has come in with an appetite and an edge to build on the momentum.’ +Harlequins are set to sign Scotland winger Tim Visser, who is out of contract at the end of the season. Edinburgh have started their search for his replacement, with the powerful Fijian-born winger Taqele Naiyaravoro being linked with a move to BT Murrayfield. Although Edinburgh wanted to keep Visser, the Aviva Premiership outfit can offer him a more lucrative deal. They want to tie up the deal as soon as possible to fend off any other interested parties. Harlequins are set to sign Scotland winger Tim Visser, who is out of contract at the end of the season . The Dutch-born Scottish international has spent nearly six years at Edinburgh since signing from Newcastle Falcons in the summer of 2009. After he fulfilled his three-year-residency, he became eligible for Scotland and made his debut against Fiji in June 2012, scoring two tries. The 27-year-old, who has scored seven tries in 17 international appearances, has topped the domestic scoring charts four out of the last five league seasons. Reports from Australia suggest contact has been made between the SRU on behalf of Edinburgh Rugby and Naiyaravoro, the New South Wales Waratahs winger, over a possible move to Scotland. +Scotland lock Rob Harley insists the Dark Blues can finish their RBS 6 Nations off on a high if they can stretch their 20-minute blitz against England to an 80-minute onslaught. Vern Cotter's men host Ireland on Saturday knowing defeat will leave them with a disastrous whitewash for the third time in 11 years. But Glasgow forward Harley is taking hope from the promising spell at the end of the first half last weekend where his side stormed back from Jonathan Joseph's early score to grab a 13-10 half-time lead. Rob Harley believes Scotland can take hope from their 20-minute dominant spell over England on Saturday . Mark Bennett finished off a superb move before a pair of penalties from skipper Greig Laidlaw nudged them in front at the break. But Scotland failed to add a single point after the interval and slumped to a 25-13 defeat in London as England stepped up a level. Now Harley insists the Scots will only be able to dent Ireland's title push next weekend if they can repeat their brief moment of dominance down south for the full match at Murrayfield. He said: 'It was a very, very fast Test match on Saturday - possibly the quickest I've ever played. England came at us with huge pace and they moved the ball really well. Scotland stormed back from Jonathan Joseph's early score to grab a 13-10 half-time lead at Twickenham . 'Their dangerous attacking players were pushing them forward and it took some exceptional defence from us a couple of times to stop them building a bigger lead in that first half. 'But I thought we showed great character getting back into the game. We put pressure on them and started to play our own game. 'We got the off-loads going and that's how we got our try - we moved the ball and played quickly. 'Next week is a massive test and it's important we do the same against Ireland that we did in that second quarter against England. Mark Bennett scores a try for Scotland at Twickenham during the impressive spell that they hope to build on . VIDEO 02 Inside Line: England v Scotland match review . 'That will be the big focus for us this next week. We'll get a boost from going home to BT Murrayfield in front of our own fans but we need to take the bar that we set with the good things we did at Twickenham and make that the standard for the whole 80 minutes. 'It gives us something to build for and we can definitely take the positives from Saturday's match before hopefully ending the Championship on a high.' Harley says Scotland will take the positives from Saturday's match as they aim to avoid the wooden spoon . Defeat in the English capital follows narrow losses to France, Wales and Italy but despite that miserable set of results, Harley insists Scotland are moving forward. He said: 'The coach spoke after the game in London about making the little improvements that will turn those tight losses into wins. 'We have been giving ourselves chances. We led at Twickenham at half-time but we need to step up our level at bit more so we finish off these chances and do not let teams back at us.' Vern Cotter spoke about making little improvements that will turn tight losses into win, according to Harley . +Stuart Lancaster is refusing to 'dream' of seeing his England team crowned RBS 6 Nations champions for the first time on Saturday night. The Red Rose have been installed as favourites to replace Ireland as champions on a climatic final round that will conclude with France visiting Twickenham, yet they could finish as low as fourth in the table. Ireland and Wales are also in the hunt with the staggered kick-offs - starting in Rome at 12.30pm and concluding when England take the field at 5pm - ensuring a nerve-jangling afternoon awaits. England coach Stuart Lancaster watches from the stands as his side beat Scotland at Twickenham . England skipper Chris Robshaw could get his hands on the Six Nations trophy after lifting the Calcutta Cup . For a third successive year the title is set to be decided by points difference with England's cushion over the Irish of plus four placing them in pole position, although they arguably have the toughest fixture, even allowing for France's dismal record at Twickenham. Lancaster is desperate to lift the first piece of major silverware of his reign but having finished runners-up for the last three years, the head coach is acutely aware of how best laid plans can be foiled. 'To win at Twickenham would mean a huge amount, - for the players and the fans,' he said. Danny Cipriani passes the ball during England's training session at Pennyhill Park . England's George Ford in action during the team's practice session in Bagshot on Monday . Richard Wigglesworth passes the ball as the team practice at their headquarters in Bagshot . Henry Slade runs with the ball during England's practice session at their Pennyhill Park base . England coach Lancaster oversees his team's training session on Monday in Surrey . 'I know how much hard work people have put in and also how much it hurt to come second for three years in a row. 'But you can't start thinking about things like that until you get the detail of the game right. We've got a huge challenge coming our way from France. 'They're a high quality team - very big and physical. As they showed last year when they played Ireland, they played right through for the full 80 in that last game even though they couldn't win the Championship. 'It could still be the case they have something to play for, so we won't start dreaming yet, we'll get our detail right.' England stepped up their preparations for their final RBS 6 Nations clash with France . England coach Lancaster addresses the media at the Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot . Calum Clark tries to tackle Dave Attwood during England's training session on Monday . England forward Courtney Lawes speaks at a press conference on Monday in Bagshot . England head into the final weekend of the Six Nations atop the table on points difference . The schedule has presented England with the significant advantage of knowing exactly what their target will be against France when the last game of the 2015 Six Nations kicks off. Lancaster will inform his players of the results of Wales' clash with Italy in Rome and Ireland's match against Scotland at Murrayfield, but insists their over-riding ambition on must be to secure victory rather than chase a score. 'There are lots of hypotheticals. You don't know how the other two games will play out. Clearly we'll know the outcome before we start, which is an advantage on last year,' he said. 'We were in a similar position going into the Italy game last year when we knew points difference would decide it. The challenge for us was to score as many points as we could. England players Dan Cole (left), Marler (centre) and the Youngs brothers pose with the Calcutta Cup . Jack Nowell scored England's late try which put them top of the Six Nations standings on points difference . 'The emphasis on Saturday will be the same as that day - to get the performance right first and foremost. 'It's impossible to insulate the players from the results of the previous games because 82,000 people are shouting it at them when they run on to the field. 'But the critical thing is to ensure the players are all completely focussed on their own preparations leading into the game. 'By the time the Ireland game finishes we'll know what the objective is and will feed that through to the key decision-makers. 'Everyone else should be concentrating on their job to get a win for the team.' +Premiership Rugby's longest-ever broadcasting rights deal with BT Sport could lead to another rise in the competition's salary cap. Chief executive Mark McCafferty admitted the four-year contract extension with BT Sport will feature in talks over setting the salary cap level for the 2016-17 Aviva Premiership season. Premiership bosses confirmed the new BT deal on Monday, extending the existing four-year contract until 2021. Premiership Rugby Chief executive Mark McCafferty admits the new BT Sport deal could raise the salary cap . McCafferty accepted the salary cap could 'possibly' rise again off the back of the BT deal - but not straight away. 'We've got the salary cap levels in place for the 2015-16 season next year, and we will start discussions with the clubs over the next few months on the cap for 2016-17 onwards,' said McCafferty. 'No doubt the new BT deal gives us some certainty against which to plan those discussions.' Premiership chiefs netted £152million when agreeing their first deal with BT Sport in 2012, and this new extension is expected to command a sizeable increase. The salary cap for the Aviva Premiership will be discussed for 2016-17 onwards in the next few months . Premiership clubs continue to battle the lure of big-money moves to France in the bid to retain their top stars. Northampton skipper Dylan Hartley rejected several lucrative contract offers from French clubs to commit to Franklin's Gardens earlier this season however, and league bosses will hope increasing revenue through deals similar to the BT contract will continue to boost that ongoing fight. The Premiership's salary cap is already set to rise to £5.1million for 2015-16, with clubs able to gain £400,000 in credits for the number of home-grown players in their squad. Premiership clubs will also be able to nominate two marquee players, whose salaries are not included in the cap. McCafferty believes progressive sponsorship and commercial arrangements like the new BT deal will continue to help Premiership clubs build squads potent both at home and abroad. Dylan Hartley (centre)  raises the trophy for Northampton having won the 2014 Aviva Premiership . English and French clubs spent two years haggling over reform of the European rugby competitions, securing meritocratic qualification and record broadcasting investment in the process. For the first time since 1998, four English clubs have qualified for the quarter-finals of Europe's top club contest, in the inaugural European Champions Cup. 'We're particularly keen on all of the talent that we've been developing through the academies: those players have been breaking through into the England set-up at a younger age,' said McCafferty. 'We've got a good, strong, young English squad, and we've had strong performances in Europe from our top clubs. 'The whole picture is coming together but all of that requires more investment, and that's what we intend to do.' +If Chelsea defender Gary Cahill isn't bored of tigers already, he certainly will be by the end of the week. The England defender, who moved to the west London club from Bolton for £7million in January 2012, posted a picture of himself with the wild animal balloon to his Instagram. Cahill was obviously enjoying some of his spare time with his young children, as alongside the picture was the message ‘Having a bit of play time with my kids’. Chelsea defender Gary Cahill posts a picture of himself looking less than chuffed to his Instagram account . Cahill will be hoping that Chelsea can beat Hull City at the weekend to enhance title chances . It is not the last time the 29-year-old will come face-to-face with the wild animal this week as the Blues face Hull City on Sunday. Cahill and his teammates will be looking to earn all three points having failed to win either of their last two matches. The defender told Chelsea TV: ‘We’re desperate… not desperate, it’s the wrong word. We’re just looking for the next convincing win to get us back up and running.’ England international Cahill sings the National Anthem alongside Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck . +Manchester United may have a new secret weapon to try and attract Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford - club legend Bryan Robson. Captain Marvel joked that he was going to go to Madrid to try and tempt the Real winger back to Manchester at the launch of the United Legends match against Bayern Munich. Robson, 58, who will manage the United side, was responding to comments from Bayern counterpart Paul Breitner who claimed he was going to tempt Owen Hargreaves, who played for both sides, to represent Bayern in the Red Heart Charity match which raises money for the Manchester United Foundation. Bryan Robson joked he would try to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to play for Manchester United Legends . United face Bayern in the second leg of their Legends clash having drawn 3-3 in Munich last year . United's line-up for the June 14 clash will include Edwin van der Sar who will play for the club at Old Trafford for the first time since he hung up his gloves in 2011 in the second leg of this clash between  the legends of the two European superclubs. The Red veterans travelled to Munich in August 2014 for the first leg against their German counterparts, with goals from Paul Scholes and Andy Cole resulting in a 3-3 draw, so there is all to play for in the return match in June. Robson revealed that other figures from the club's recent history will also wear the red shirt again. Robson joked that he would try to tempt Cristiano Ronaldo back to Manchester for the game in June . Ronaldo recently returned to Old Trafford with his country Portugal for an international friendly in November . 'Jaap Stam, Ronny Johnsen, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Quinton Fortune and Denis Irwin too,' he said. 'The squad's coming together quite nicely and I'm happy with it.' Breitner reeled off a number of names he will have in his squad - Giovani Elber, Niko and Robert Kovac, Roy Makaay, Paulo Sergio, Michael Tarnat, Mark van Bommel, Daniel van Buyten and Dietmar Hamann. Robson added that he was hoping to see Old Trafford sold out. Edwin van der Sar has been confirmed for the game and will don a United shirt for the first time since 2011 . Paul Scholes is set to play after starring for United in the first leg which was a 3-3 draw at the Allianz Arena . Andy Cole is congratulated on the third goal in Munich by his team-mates, and United will want to win this time . 'The Legends game against Real Madrid in 2013 raised around £1million for charity with a crowd of over 60,000,' he said. 'That was great but hopefully we can fill the stadium this time around. To raise that sum was brilliant for a one-off event and I think it’s important to clarify all the lads play for nothing. 'Nobody gets paid for being involved and we know what sort of an impact the funds have on the community through the Manchester United Foundation.' +In 1988, when Arsene Wenger was getting in his stride as Monaco manager, he revealed in an interview with a local newspaper that he did a master's degree in economics because it gave him a 'way to understand what was going on around me'. The 65-year-old must now wrap his head around how Arsenal were eliminated from the Champions League in the last 16 for the fifth year running, despite a 2-0 win against his former club that left it 3-3 on aggregate. Wenger's return to Monaco was not as romantic as he would have liked as no banners were unfurled at the Stade Louis II and few pleasantries were exchanged during a match that saw Arsenal win the battle, but lose the war. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's return to his former club Monaco ended in a 2-0 win that saw his team go out 3-3 on aggregate . Wenger cut a frustrated figure even though his team won 2-0 against Monaco as they were dumped out of the Champions League . Wenger holds his head in his hands (left) and gestures (right) as Arsenal failed to overturn the 3-1 deficit from the first leg . Wenger leaves the pitch following their exit from the Champions League at the last 16 stage for the fifth year running . Wenger will analyse his team's performance in the Champions League this season after being dumped out in the last 16 again . Wenger leaves the pitch as Arsenal were dumped out of the Champions League last 16 by his former club Monaco . Read chief sports writer Martin Samuel's match report from the Stade Louis II . Arsenal's exit on away goals means Wenger must now focus on qualifying for next year's competition and little can be made in mitigation for being denied a place in the quarter-finals by a team sitting fourth in Ligue 1. 'We have gone out in the last 16 in the last four years, but twice against the future winners,' Wenger said ahead of the match, though it would take some doing for Leonardo Jardim's Monaco to become the third eventual European champions to boot Arsenal out. Wenger is sure to analyse his team's exit and it was in that same interview with Monaco-Matin some 27 years ago that he revealed his habit for making sure he watches at least half an hour of football every evening, among other interests. 'I read a lot, all sorts of books because you have to be conversant in a larger and larger amount of things,' the then-Monaco manager said in 1988. 'For example, I follow closely what is being released in the book store, be it in French, in German or in English. I take notes by hand. I do not know how to type. I have watched a lot of matches. 'This is part of continuing to grow [as a manager]. You take a step back from your football and you analyse the practices elsewhere. 'I have at least 250 [video cassettes]. Every evening, at home, I watch a game for about half an hour. Often, it is the opponent that we are about to play, sometimes, it is just for enjoyment. Bayern [Munich] vs Real [Madrid] for example.' Watching this match will not make for pleasant viewing for Wenger, however, as his first competitive return to a city famous for its casino and where one in three people are millionaires saw Arsenal leave empty-handed. Wenger got off to a flyer as Monaco manager, winning the Ligue 1 title in 1988 to put the lid on a fine first season . Wenger worked with some huge names in Monaco and is pictured giving instructions to Jurgen Klinsmann who played there from 1992-94 . English pair Mark Hateley (left) and Glenn Hoddle arrived at Monaco in 1987 . Wenger was in charge when Belgian playmaker Enzo Scifo joined Monaco from Italian outfit Torino - he won the title in 1997 after Wenger left . Wenger was hoisted high after guiding Monaco to the French Cup in 1991 - they beat Marseille 1-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris . Wenger puts his players through their paces - making full use of the security barriers in the Stade Louis II in 1992 . This one goes back a bit - it's Wenger playing AGAINST Monaco for Strasbourg during a league game in 1978 . Midfielder Marcel Dib hugs Wenger after Monaco made the final of the 1992 European Cup-winners' Cup by beating Feyenoord on away goals . Wenger kitted out for sessions in charge of his Monaco players - that adidas gear (right) goes down a storm now with lovers of all things retro . It would be fair to say Wenger had some hair-raising moments during his time at Monaco - if this picture from 1987 is anything to go by . Wenger with Johan Cruyff - the Dutch legend was manager of Barcelona when the current Gunners boss was in charge of Monaco . Wenger's assistant Jean Petit was well named when sitting next to his boss in the Monaco dugout. Purple shell suits? Definitely 1989 . This was Wenger during his first match in European competition as Monaco manager - a victory over Valur Reykjavik in 1988 . +Former Liverpool players including Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso are poised to return to Anfield for a special charity match at the end of this month. Steven Gerrard has thrown his support behind plans to stage a game during the international break on Sunday, March 29 which would feature team-mates from his 17-year career. John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia have confirmed they will take part while Sportsmail's Jamie Carragher is also due to be involved. Striker Fernando Torres, now at Atletico Madrid, scored 81 goals in 142 appearances for Liverpool . Xabi Alonso (right), who now plays at Bayern Munich, was a fan favourite during his five-year spell at Anfield . Pepe Reina played nearly 400 games for Liverpool during a successful eight-year stay on Merseyside . Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (left) is fully behind the charity match that could raise over £500,000 . Proceeds from the game would benefit the local community with the Liverpool FC Foundation likely to be the main beneficiary if it goes ahead. A full house at Anfield could generate in excess of £500,000. Torres, Reina and Alonso are among those who have been invited to play, although their involvement depends on international call-ups and also permission from their club sides. Luis Suarez is unlikely to be there as Uruguay face Morocco in a friendly in Agadir on Saturday, March 28. Javier Mascherano has the same problem with Argentina scheduled to face El Salvador and Ecuador. Current England internationals such as Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling are also likely to be with Roy Hodgson's side who face Lithuania at Wembley on Friday, March 27 before flying to Italy for a friendly on Tuesday, March 31. Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher (right) won 11 trophies with Liverpool and is set to feature on March 29 . Former Reds defender John Arne Riise is best remembered for his spectacular long-range goals . +A blunder from Norwich keeper John Ruddy ensured that the Sky Bet Championship promotion clash against Derby at Carrow Road finished in a 1-1 draw. Cameron Jerome's 18th goal of the season gave the Canaries a deserved lead at the break and the hosts were controlling the game when disaster struck in the 66th minute. Ruddy had had little to do all afternoon but when required to catch an in swinging corner from debutant Jamie Hanson he somehow fumbled the ball into his own net to gift the defensive-minded Rams a point. Norwich City's goalkeeper John Ruddy reacts after fumbling the ball to concede an equalising goal . Norwich City players stand dejected as Derby County's players celebrate their fortunate equalising goal . The clash between second-placed Derby and fifth-placed Norwich got off to a cagey start, with Bradley Johnson's off-target shot from long range for the home side the only effort of note in the opening stages. Norwich were very much on the front foot though and Alex Tettey and Jonny Howson also tried their luck from distance with no success against a Derby side who looked as though they had come for a point. On-loan midfielder Graeme Dorrans then had a clear sight of goal, only for a poor first touch to allow Johnny Russell to clear for a corner, before Cameron Jerome steered the ball just wide after being put in by Wes Hoolahan. Norwich City's Cameron Jerome scores his sides first goal of the game at Carrow Road on Saturday . Without their main men up front - Darren Bent and Chris Martin - the Rams barely posed a threat at the other end and it was no surprise when Jerome opened the scoring for the hosts on 31 minutes. A slick one-touch move instigated by Tettey ended with Martin Olsson crossing low for Norwich's top scorer to slot home from close range. Derby's appeals for offside were waved away and Norwich continued to dominate, although Russell's quick dart into the box did provide a rare moment of alarm for the home side. Norwich maintained their grip on the game in the early part of the second period, with Jerome heading over from a corner before Lee Grant's parry from a Steven Whittaker snap-shot prompted a scramble in the visitors' box. Norwich City's Gary Hooper (right) and Derby County's Craig Bryson compete for the ball during the draw . Jamie Hanson and Wesley Hoolahan compete for the ball as both side look for the winner at Carrow Road . Derby's lack of a specialist front man was painfully obvious although Tom Ince's low shot on the hour mark did draw a save out of Ruddy. But the Norwich keeper then made a horrible mistake to hand the Rams an equaliser they scarcely deserved. Hanson's 66th-minute corner from the right should have been a routine gather for the former England keeper but he took his eye off the ball and somehow fumbled it into the back of the net. City responded well to the shock and it required a brilliant one-handed save from Grant to keep out Sebastien Bassong's header from an in swinging Hoolahan free-kick. Grant then denied substitute Gary Hooper as Norwich looked for a grandstand finish before Jerome wastefully headed a Whittaker cross just over and Johnson then followed suit with his left foot. +Steve Clarke afforded himself a few smiles on the touchline and who could blame him? This has been a strange old season for Reading, who are one win away from an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal but have spent too long being too close to a Championship relegation battle. At least this win will go some way to easing that load. They made it hard for themselves, but they had an in-form player in Jamie Mackie who was able to get the job done. He put Reading in front in the first half and then scored a brilliant winner just moments after Chris O’Grady had levelled with a penalty – one of the only legitimate chances Brighton had all night, even if Clarke was angry about the decision. Reading frontman Jamie Mackie fires the Royals ahead against Brighton in Tuesday's Championship fixture . Mackie (centre) is congratulated by Nathaniel Chalobah and Garath McCleary after netting Reading's opener . Reading (4-1-3-2): Federici; Gunter, Hector, Cooper, Chalobah; Akpan; McLeary, Williams (Keown 92), Robson-Kanu (Pogrebnyak 76); Blackman, Mackie (Norwood 79) Subs not used: Cox, Yakubu, Andersen, Taylor . Scorer: Mackie, 24, 56 . Booked: McLeary, Pogrebnyak . Brighton (4-3-3): Stockdale; Halford, Greer, Dunk, Bennett; Ince (Best 75), Kayal, Forster-Caskey; Ledesma (Bruno 86), O'Grady, LuaLua . Subs not used: Ankergren, Calderon, Hughes, Holla, Teixeira. Scorer: O'Grady (Pen), 53 . Booked: Ince, Dunk, Bennett, Greer . Ref: Andy Haines . Attendance: 14,748 . Ratings by Riath Al-Samarrai . He said: ‘It’s embarrassing. There was almost no contact. It seems to be the standard of refereeing in this division.’ The win puts Reading 13 points off the bottom three and Clarke added: ‘It gives us a lift in the league because that is what was needed. It was a big win. It makes the gap bigger between us and the bottom three and we needed that.’ Brighton, meanwhile, have now gone five games on the road without a win and this one came against a side that had gone 344 minutes without scoring at home before Mackie netted midway through the first half. Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale must take an element of blame. His pass out to Rohan Ince was easily cut out and after advancing unchallenged Mackie pulled the trigger from the edge of the area. By then, Jake Cooper had already seen an effort hacked off the Brighton goal-line by Jake Forster-Caskey and Hal Robson-Kanu made a spectacular hash of a chance, launching the ball into the stands when he went clean through. Mackie’s strike eased the tension and almost immediately Reading could have been two up, only for Michael Hector to balloon over the bar from six yards. Niall Keown, son of Arsenal legend Martin (right), made his senior debut for Reading against Brighton . Brighton striker Chris O'Grady scores from the penalty spot to level the scores at the Madejski Stadium . O'Grady celebrates his equaliser for the Seagulls but Brighton went onto concede just three minutes later . And Brighton? Not a chance of note in the entire first half for a side that had lost only once in six coming in. Then it got exciting. Cooper pushed Emmanuel Ledesma, who went to ground and won a 53rd-minute penalty, which Chris O’Grady converted for Brighton. Clarke fumed about the decision but it did not look overly contentious. Any animosity need not have lingered as Mackie nailed his fourth in four league games from 25 yards just three minutes later. Reading winger Hal Robson-Kanu is crowded out by Brighton duo Rohan Ince and Emmanuel Ledesma . Goalscorer O'Grady holds off the challenge of Reading midfielder McCleary during Tuesday's encounter . Chris Hughton waved on Brighton but his side found no way of turning decent possession into reasonable chances. Reading added a line of reinforcement by bringing on Niall Keown – son of Martin Keown - for his debut in stoppage time. Brighton found no way of testing him. Hughton said: ‘We are not there (safe from relegation) yet, not by a long way. In the morning I will be grateful of that nine points. ‘We have to get the formula right away from home.' +Borussia Dortmund had to settle for a point after they were held to a second successive Bundesliga draw at home to Cologne on Saturday. A win would have sent Jurgen Klopp’s side just one point behind ninth placed Werder Bremen, but they were unable to take advantage against a resolute Cologne. Cologne won their first came since January last weekend and they followed it up with a strong performance against a resurgent Dortmund. Ilkay Guendogan battles for the ball with Yuya Osako during the  Borussia Dortmund and Cologne game . Dortmund's striker Marco Reus vies for the ball during the match against Cologne . It had looked like it was going to be an action packed Bundesliga battle as Brazilian Deyverson beat the hosts’ defence before failing to capitalise on his chance. Moments later Dortmund had the chance to punish Cologne’s inability to take their chances but failed themselves as defender Neven Subotic headed over. However, that was the end of the action as the visitors installed a deep defensive line as Klopp’s side began to try and probe their opposition. Kevin Kamp of Dortmund battles for the ball with Slawomir Peszko at at Signal Iduna Park . Dortmund's head coach Juergen Klopp reacts during the German first division Bundesliga clash . Dortmund’s inability to break down a stubborn Cologne defence was not helped when Henrikh Mkhitaryan suffered what looked to be a painful injury. He was replaced by Jakub Blaszczykowski on the hour mark and is now a doubt for the Champions League clash with Juventus later this week. Blaszczykowski himself failed to find the key to unlock the Cologne defence and Klopp’s side were forced to settle for a second successive Bundesliga draw. +Borussia Dortmund's mini renaissance which had seen them win four Bundesliga games in succession came to a halt, as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw at Hamburg. The tight contest saw the visitors dominate possession, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus typically at the heart of Dortmund's attacks, but try as they might, they could not circumvent a well-drilled Hamburg defence. Despite an early injury to captain Johan Djourou, the hosts were able to weather the storm from Jurgen Klopp's men. Borussia Dortmund playmaker Marco Reus (top) is brought down by Hamburg's Nicolai Mueller (bottom) Hamburg's Cleber Reis (right) shields the ball from Dortmund striker Patrick Emerick Aubameyang (left) Hamuburg's Mohamed Gouaida (right) surges forward with the ball ahead of Dortmund's Oliver Kirch (left) The result will benefit neither team much at all. For Dortmund, it is a blow to their aspirations of qualifying for continental football next season, while relegation-threatened Hamburg remain without a win in their last four league outings. Dortmund had started the game strongly with Reus, passed fit after an injury scare earlier in the week, finding Aubameyang with a free-kick only for Hamburg's Djourou to make a timely intervention. Hamburg striker Nicolai Muller fired wide a few minutes later, but chances otherwise came at a premium during the first-half. Djourou, following a head collision with a Dortmund player, was substituted in the 18th minute. Hamburg head coach Josef Zinnbauer is incensed after a refereeing decision goes against his side . Cleber Reis (right) tussles for the ball with Dortmund's midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (left) Dortmund introduced Kevin Kampl to the game after the restart and the Sloveninan nearly made an instant impact on 55 minutes, but blasted his shot just wide from the edge of the box, before Reus squandered a similar chance a few moments later. It was a routine that seemed to repeat, with every Dortmund effort finding itself wide, blocked through the final pass. Oliver Kirch (left) cuts across Hamburg winger Mohamed Gouaida (right) during the Bundesliga match . Dortmund's attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa kneels on the ground frustrated after missing scoring chance . Dortmund midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (left) competes with Hamburg's Cleber Reis (right) Cleber Reis (centre) plays a through ball for Hamburg as Dortmund's Kagawa (left) and Gundogan give chase . Hamburg's Mohamed Gouaida (right) lines up a shot, as Dortmund midfielder Oliver Kirch attempts to block . +Borussia Dortmund's Ciro Immobile struck twice in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory at third tier Dynamo Dresden and a place in the German Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday. The Italian, criticised for a lack of Bundesliga goals this season, pounced on a cross-field pass from Dynamo's Michael Hefele to snatch the lead five minutes after the break on a bumpy pitch that resembled a ploughed field in parts. Dortmund struggled to play the flowing football that has seen them win their last four league matches and Mats Hummels almost gifted Dynamo an equaliser when his back pass bounced awkwardly and was intercepted before Mitch Langerak saved. Borussia Dortumind's Italian striker Ciro Immobile scored a brace agianst Dynamo Dresden . Dresden's Sinan Tekerci (left) tussles for the ball with Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (right) Dortmund's Henrikh Mkhitaryan (centre) is challenged from behind by Dresden's Quinn Moll (left) Dynamo Dresden goalkeeper dives to stop Borussia Dortmund's Vasquez Ramos from advancing . Dortmund's substitute striker Adrian Ramos almost got a second but his shot squeezed past a defender and hit the near post before rolling along the line and being cleared. However, Immobile scored again when he slotted in from a Jakub Blaszczykowski cutback in the box at the final whistle. The only negative for Dortmund was the loss of winger Marco Reus, who missed much of 2014 with a string of ankle injuries, midway through the first half when he limped off. Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen's Hakan Calhanoglu rescued his side from embarrassment with a sensational free kick to steer them to a 2-0 extra-time win over second tier Kaiserslautern. The Turkey international fired a shot around the wall from 25 metres past keeper Marius Mueller towards the end of the first half of extra-time to break the visitors' resistance. Stefan Kiessling added a second goal 10 minutes later after Leverkusen struggled for most of the game. Fellow Bundesliga club Hoffenheim had a much easier task against second division Aalen with Eugen Polanski and Germany international Kevin Volland on the scoresheet, while Freiburg beat visiting Cologne 2-1 to also reach the last eight. Holders Bayern Munich are in action on Wednesday against Eintracht Braunschweig. Dortmund were dealt a blow in the 22nd minute when star player Marco Reus (on ground) was injured . Dresden's Michael Hefele controls the ball ahead of the oncoming Immobile (right) in the German Cup . Immobile (left) has scored nine goals in 27 appearances for Dortmund so far this season . The Italian joined Dortmund from Serie A side Torino in 2014 for a reported £15 million fee . Dortmund players are congratulated by their travelling fans after taking a 1-0 lead over Dresden . +Jenson Button can understand the reasoning why Fernando Alonso will not be making his second debut with McLaren this weekend. On the advice of doctors, Alonso is absent from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after sustaining concussion following a heavy crash on the final day of the second pre-season test last month. Fears were expressed to Alonso of 'second-impact syndrome' whereby a serious brain injury, or even death, could occur should the 33-year-old be involved in a second incident so soon after the first. Jenson Button walks through the paddock at the Albert Park circuit ahead of the Australian Grand Prix . After several weeks testing (above), the Formula One season gets underway in Melbourne on Sunday . Despite that there has been scepticism of the decision, particularly as Alonso spent three days in a local hospital and passed a variety of tests. Button knows what it is like to suffer concussion as he was involved in a severe accident in practice for the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix, yet just a fortnight later was back behind the wheel of his car in Canada. On reflection, Button knows he should arguably have never driven in that subsequent race, so can understand the precautions taken with Alonso, even if they appear extreme. 'As far as I know he (Alonso) had three days (in hospital) undergoing every scan and check under the sun,' said Button. 'I'm sure whatever they've chosen to do is the correct decision. The British F1 driver understands why McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso will miss the race . Alonso suffered concussion after a high speed crash at the Circuit de Catalunya on February 22 . 'Concussions vary. Some are very light, and then you have different grades of concussion, brain damage. 'For me, I raced two weeks after an accident in Monaco in 2003, with checks of standing on a box, closing one eye and whatever else I had to do. 'To be honest, I scraped through, so they let me race, but that was nearly 13 years ago. Now the checks are very stringent. 'With the incidents we've had, in particular with Jules (Bianchi in Japan last year), the medical people are going to be more strict, and so they should be.' A helicopter takes Alonso to hospital after the former world champion crashed during pre-season testing . The Spaniard waves to supporters after leaving hospital, having passed numerous tests . Despite Alonso's incident at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, Button insists he has no issues with the car. Initially, speculation centred on mechanical failure or an electrical issue given the new McLaren is now powered by Honda. The Woking-based marque, however, categorically ruled out any such faults and instead stated a freak gust of wind played its part in the double world champion veering off track and into a wall. Heading into Sunday's race at Melbourne's Albert Park, despite the lack of running throughout testing given numerous other glitches, Button maintains the car is one of the best he has driven. Button was involved in a serious accident at the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix before returning two weeks later . 'Competitiveness is impossible to say, but in terms of feel and how the car is and what you want it to do, it does everything right and a lot better than last year,' assessed Button. 'This car is very different in that it does what you hope it will do, which is very important for myself, and also for Fernando as far as I can see. 'The basic philosophy of the car and idea of the aerodynamics and how it works is definitely right. I haven't driven a McLaren like this before, not in the way it works. 'I'm not saying it's the quickest McLaren I have ever driven, because it's not, but in the way it works, the basic car is very good.' McLaren reserve driver Kevin Magnussen will race in Alonso's absence at the Australian Grand Prix . Whilst Button is confident of finishing Sunday's race, he appreciates McLaren Honda are a long way off from challenging their main rivals. 'You are going to have doubts, and it would be stupid not to have doubts when you look at winter testing because we haven't completed a simulated race distance yet,' said Button. 'Yes, I do know it's going to be a tough start, but it's also very different. 'The last two years have not been the easiest seasons for us, but I think the difference with this year is the understanding there could be something very special on the horizon with McLaren Honda. Button looks on as the NSX concept vehicle at a Honda F1 Grand Prix press conference . 'The whole team is unbelievably excited about what could happen in the future. 'But we also understand there's a lot of work needed before we even start thinking too much about winning races, even podiums and fighting for the world championship. 'It's a great base for the future, but it is going to take time. It's not going to be an overnight thing.' +Eden Hazard may be supporting Arsenal's opponents for the rest of the season as the Gunners mount an improbable title bid, but for now the Chelsea winger is on Arsene Wenger's side. Hazard says he is backing Arsenal to beat Monaco on Tuesday night, because them reaching the quarter finals would be good for English football. The Gunners, who go to France attempting to overturn a daunting 3-1 deficit from the first leg, need to score at least three times to progress, after Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco's stoppage-time goal renewed Monaco's two-goal advantage. Eden Hazard has been in superb form for Chelsea this season, but is backing rivals Arsenal in Europe . Hazard is friends with Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, but favours Arsenal over his compatriot's team . Ferreira-Carrasco fired in a crucial third goal to give Monaco a seemingly decisive advantage in the tie . But Hazard, a friend of the young Belgian forward, is backing the country of his employers rather than his compatriot in Tuesday night's clash. 'I have a friend Ferreira-Carrasco over there [at Monaco] and I wish him the best,' Hazard told Canal Plus. 'But for English football, I hope Arsenal go through.' England are currently second in UEFA's country coefficients, which determines how many clubs qualify for the Champions League, only narrowly ahead of Germany in third. Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had given the Gunners a way back into the tie with his goal . Olivier Giroud beats the ground in frustration, as his poor night leaves Arsenal with it all to do on Tuesday . The Gunners look dejected after Ferreira-Carrasco's late goal, but Hazard believes they can turn it around . +Oldham Athletic have handed caretaker manager Dean Holden the job for the rest of the season. The League One club received more than 120 applicants for the role which was vacated by Lee Johnson when he joined rivals Barnsley on February 25. They included the likes of ex-West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Irvine, World Cup winner Gennaro Gattuso and one-time Chelsea defender Winston Bogarde. League One side Oldham Athletic handed caretaker manager Dean Holden the job for the rest of the season . Former AC Milan star and Palermo manager Gennaro Gattuso had also applied for the Oldham manager's job . However, New York-based chairman Simon Corney has decided to put his faith in former player Holden, 35, who has lost three and won one of his four matches in charge. In the 20 days that have passed since Johnson's departure, injury-hit Oldham have dropped from ninth to 15th place in the table while Barnsley, who won 3-1 at Boundary Park on Saturday, have gone from 16th to sixth and a play-off position. Former Oldham manager and current Sky Sports pundit Iain Dowie was the fans' favourite to replace Johnson however, no serious talks are understood to have been held with the ex-Crystal Palace boss. Iain Dowie, pictured during his time in charge of the Latics, was the fans' favourite for the job . Swinton-born Holden, a defender who played for a number of sides including Bolton, Peterborough and Walsall, will be in charge for Tuesday night's match against promotion-chasing MK Dons. He will be assisted by head of youth Tony Philliskirk and first-team defender Adam Lockwood. Holden expressed his delight at being offered the role. 'I'm delighted to accept the role manager of this fantastic football club until the end of the season,' he said. 'I'm also pleased Tony will be alongside me to add his experience and knowledge of the game as we progress forward. 'I now ask all supporters to get behind the club and players for the remaining 11 games of the season, including the game against MK Dons (Tuesday night). 'I firmly believe we have the capabilities of reaching the play-off places this season and with your support, which has been excellent all season, we feel we can reach our targets.' Holden, who played for Oldham from 2002 untill 2005, said he was 'delighted' to accept the role of manager . Chief executive Neil Joy added that the search for a permanent manager would continue 'away from the spotlight.' He added: 'Given the importance of the role, especially at this point in the club’s history, it is essential that no stone is left unturned in ensuring that the board appoints the person whom we believe will give us the best chance of achieving our goal of bringing Championship football to the town.' Oldham currently lie eight points away from the relegation zone and seven points from the play-off positions. Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, who lives in the town and is a regular at matches, was approached about the possibility of taking the job. The 40-year-old, however, said the timing was not right although he did not rule out taking over at some point in the future. Oldham, founder members of the Premier League, have been in the third tier of English football since 1997. Former Man United midfielder Paul Scholes is an Oldham fan and did not rule out taking charge in the future . +Wales prop Samson Lee was seeing a specialist in London on Monday to gauge the full extent of an Achilles injury. Lee was carried off just 14 minutes into Wales' 23-16 RBS 6 Nations victory over Ireland at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. He will miss next weekend's final Six Nations game against Italy in Rome, where Wales will need to post a sizeable points total to realistically keep alive their title hopes. Samson Lee injured his Achilles during Wales' 23-16 win against Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday . Wales assistant coach Robin McBryde confirmed on Monday that Lee is being assessed. Lee's fellow prop Gethin Jenkins, meanwhile, continues to be reviewed after he went off at half-time against Ireland due to a hamstring problem. While Rob Evans and Aaron Jarvis are in pole position to line up as props in Rome, Wales have officially called uncapped Exeter prop Tomas Francis into their Six Nations squad. The prop had to leave the field on a stretcher at the millennium Stadium in Cardiff . Francis had been training with the squad for the past week, and Saracens loosehead Rhys Gill has been called up to train with the squad, reporting for duty on Monday. Lock Bradley Davies, meanwhile, has been released back to Wasps after suffering a shoulder injury while with his club. Wales head coach Warren Gatland is due to name his team for the Italy game on Tuesday. Lee was pictured on crutches with his foot in a protective boot after the match . +If Eoin Morgan really believes what he said after England's miserable World Cup ended with an anti-climactic win over Afghanistan at a near-empty Sydney Cricket Ground, then they are in even more trouble than we thought. The England one-day captain was either protecting his players or is in total denial after an early World Cup exit caused by England's extreme limitations in the 50-over format being repeatedly, brutally and embarrassingly exposed. It is the only explanation for Morgan insisting he had 'no regrets' and, even more bizarrely, saying that he felt all the England players who have under-performed so spectacularly here should carry on in the one-day blue clothing. England captain Eoin Morgan insists he and his side have 'no regrets' over their early World Cup exit . Morgan (second left) walks off the field with Ian Bell (third left) as rain delays play on Friday . This was another deflating day for England even if they did win their final, meaningless group match with ease on a soggy day in Sydney against a willing but mediocre team of minnows in Afghanistan. It was a game that was hardly worth playing and one that even the 9,000 present would have been happy to see rained off so that they could watch the far more entertaining New Zealand win over Bangladesh on TV. The statistics, if we dare bring those up, will tell you that England were businesslike in restricting Afghanistan to 111 for seven off 36.2 overs before knocking off their revised target of 101 in 25 overs with 41 balls to spare. But then came another strange press conference from a captain who has been a massive disappointment since taking over from Alastair Cook on the eve of this tournament, not least with the bat. England batsman James Taylor plays a shot as Afghanistan wicket-keeper Afsar Zazai watches on . Bell shakes hands with Afghanistan players following England's hollow consolation win at the World Cup . 'There are no regrets, absolutely not. We gave it everything,' Morgan insisted after England had managed to equal statistically their worst ever World Cup by defeating a second minnow in Afghanistan as well as Scotland. Only in 1996 have they had such a shocker, on that occasion beating just Holland and the UAE. Then came the bombshell that a team who have failed dismally to come anywhere close to the pace being set by the leading nations in this tournament should all carry on towards the 2019 World Cup. When Morgan was asked if England should make changes as they play catch-up in one-day cricket, he said: 'No, absolutely not. We haven't got guys who are coming towards the end of their careers. I don't see any reason why any of them should retire. I think we have the right calibre of squad. Guys on the outside need to be banging down the door. It's an easy thing to sit here while we're not doing well and say someone outside the squad is better. We considered everybody when we selected the squad and I still believe we had the right group of players here.' Bell plays a shot during England's match against Afghanistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground . Taylor (left) and Morgan celebrate the wicket of Afghanistan's Samiullah Shinwari during Friday's win . England batsman Alex Hales plays a shot during the final match of England's poor World Cup campaign . That may be so but if the time is not ripe for change now, then we may as well all give up on the 50-over format and go home. For instance, Ian Bell made an unbeaten 52 yesterday in his 161st one-day international but surely that must be his final appearance in a one-day shirt, whether he retires or is dropped. Also, there seems no point in either Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad slogging away in one-day cricket for little reward when there is the small matter of 17 Tests coming up in 10 months, starting with a tour of the West Indies.Then there is the position of the captain himself, who said he was 'hungry' to carry on at the helm. Yet Morgan is not hungry enough, it seems, to lead England in their next one-day international, against Ireland in Dublin in May. Instead he will be at the Indian Premier League even though the coach of his Hyderabad team, Tom Moody, has intimated that Morgan is a squad player and is likely to remain on the bench rather than in the action. The bottom line is that England should have been heading to Melbourne today for a World Cup quarter-final against an India team they defeated twice in the tri-series here before their world fell apart. They could even have won that and reached the semi-finals, and from there who knows what might have happened. What a wasted opportunity. What a reality check for English one-day cricket. And if Morgan truly believes that no changes need to be made now, then he is the wrong man to take England forward after this disaster of a World Cup. England's win over Afghanistan attracted only a handful of supporters to conclude a dismal World Cup . Despite their early exit the World Cup, Morgan suggests England should stick with the current squad . +Kevin Pietersen is willing to give up his Indian Premier League contract to play county cricket in an attempt to make an extraordinary return to the England side. In what would be the first step of a very long journey back to international cricket, the exiled star is ready to accept the challenge of new ECB chairman Colin Graves and try to fight his way back to the England side. Graves had said in a BBC interview last month that Pietersen would have to be playing regular county cricket if he was to have any chance of being considered by the a regime which is making sweeping changes at the ECB. Kevin Pietersen is willing to turn his back on the Indian Premier League in order to represent England . Pietersen, pictured in 2008, would have to repair his relationship with England boss Peter Moores . The governing body were then quick to emphasise that nothing had changed in their stance and they would only pick those who were not only performing well in county cricket but who were ‘a positive influence on the England side.’ Pietersen was picked up relatively cheaply by the Hyderabad Sunrisers of the IPL this year in a deal worth around £200,000 making it less expensive for him to throw in his lot with an as yet unnamed county and try to call Graves bluff. Yet a comeback, approaching 35, would still be remarkable. England’s need is greatest in one-day cricket, the format of the game Pietersen least enjoyed during his later years with England, and the wounds from his bitter sacking from England are still raw. He reopened many with his bitter book. If he came back it would be hard to see how he could work with senior players like Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson as well as coach Peter Moores, who he tried to force out in 2009, managing director Paul Downton, who sacked him last year, and national selector James Whitaker, who said in December that Pietersen would never play for England again. For Pietersen to come back now a lot of people would have to either depart or rebuild some seriously broken bridges. Pietersen's England future lies in the hands of new ECB chairman Colin Graves . +First home buyers may be allowed to spend their superannuation to help them buy a property, Treasurer Joe Hokey has proposed. Mr Hockey says it is due to the aging population in Australia that the role superannuation needs to be reconsidered, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. However the notion has been met with discontent among the Grattan Institute, Labor and the superannuation association, who warn that house prices will rise if the idea was put into place. This comes as the recent release of the Abbott government's Intergenerational Report revealed a snapshot of the next 40 years, showing Australians can expect to live into their mid-90s in 2055. First home buyers may be allowed to spend their superannuation to help them buy a property, Treasurer Joe Hokey has proposed . Mr Hockey said on Friday that the government may have to make fundamental changes to the superannuation system, considering Australia's ageing population. 'I get a lot of people approaching me saying that young people should be able to use their superannuation to fund a deposit on a home, on their first home,' Mr Hockey told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'I am concerned about rising house prices and the accessibility to homes and homeownership for younger Australians, but we've got a limited pool of savings. We need to have these conversations.' However John Daley from the Grattan Institute told the Sydney Morning Herald he was against the prospect, saying that Mr Hockey's proposal would only increase housing costs. 'It won't improve the problem around supply. If supply remains constant and you effectively increase the amount that people can pay then prices will go up. This is economics 101,' Mr Daley said. 'I get a lot of people approaching me saying that young people should be able to use their superannuation to fund a deposit on a home, on their first home,' Mr Hockey said . Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen was also opposed to the notion as he told the Sydney Morning Herald that it goes against the principle behind superannuation. These views were echoed by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia as they expressed that such a proposal would only help those on higher salaries rather than Australians who earn less. On Thursday, the Abbott government's first intergenerational report was released and found that by 2054/55 there will be about 40,000 people aged over 100 years in Australia. These figures were compared to about 122 Australians aged over 100 in 1974/75 and around 4,000 now. The report also highlighted that the number of people aged over 65 is expected to double and the population will be 39.7 million. +By . Nelson Groom for Daily Mail Australia . Updated: . 22:55 EST, 15 March 2015 . var twitterVia = 'MailOnline'; . DM.later('bundle', function(){ . DM.has('shareLinkTop', 'shareLinks', { . 'id': '2994562', . 'title': 'Woman lifts her 1.5 metre pet crocodile into the bath', . 'url': 'http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2994562/Woman-takes-pet-crocodile-bath.html', . 'eTwitterStatus': ' http://dailym.ai/1LarHQI via @' + twitterVia, . 'articleChannelFollowButton': 'MailOnline', . 'isChannel': false, . 'hideEmail': true, . 'placement': 'top', . 'anchor': 'tl'}); . }); . 14 . shares . 2 . View comments . DM.later('bundle', function(){ . DMS.Article.init('top'); . }); . Getting children into the bath is an age old hurdle for parents around the world. But a bizarre new video depicting a woman escorting her pet crocodile into a steamy bath suggests the challenge is faced by reptile owners, too. The vision, uploaded to YouTube this week, shows proud crocodile owner Vicki Lowing lifting her freshwater croc Johnie into the bath as he angrily thrashes around. The bizarre video shows proud crocodile owner Vicki Lowing lifting her pet crocodile Johnie into the bath as he angrily thrashes around . ‘C’mon buddy. There’s a girl, let’s have a bath,’ Lowing says. A previous Daily Mail report suggested 18-year-old Johnie was 1.5 metres long and weighed 12kg. Nicknamed Croc Lady in Melbourne, Lowing, 57, has owned crocodiles for nearly 40 years, and she claims she can even communicate with them telepathically. Lowing said she first became fascinated with the animals after watching a film in the 1960s, and she has never looked back. Surprisingly, the Melbourne mother has yet to suffer any injuries from all her years handling the notorious predators. Lowing said she first became fascinated with the animals after watching a film in the 1960s, and she has never looked back . Snappy families: Vicki Lowing cradles 18-year-old Johnie, who features in the latest video, on the sofa at home . The 1.5 metre freshwater croc is as welcome in the family car as they are at home . +It is one of the most important rules of the road, always stop and look before pulling out at a junction. But this motorcyclist cut it a little too close as his bike crept out onto a main road, straight into the path of a speeding lorry. The terrifying footage, captured by a dashboard camera in Khabarovsk, Russia, shows the moment the man's bike is swept away under the wheels of the lorry – but the rider miraculously escapes with his life. The moped rider looks tentative from the start of the clip as he eventually makes his way to the front of the queue of cars . Captured at the start of the clip, the man on the moped appears to attempt braking as he reaches the junction but seems to lose control and move forward further than expected. The car, recording the footage from behind the bike, shows the moment it jumps forward, straight into the path of the oncoming lorry. Hitting the lorry’s back wheels, the bike is pulled away from underneath its rider as his head is thrown back violently by the impact. Suddenly the moped rider appears to lose control and speeds up, crashing into the side of the moving lorry . The moped’s top box is also hurled down the road by the lorry and more worryingly so is the man’s helmet, which becomes detached during the crash. As the bike lands mangled in front of the first car waiting at the junction, fuel begins leaking from it and onto the road. Remarkably however the man almost immediately appears from the wreckage and jogs back to the side road. The impact from the crash with the lorry forces the man's head backwards and throws the moped down the road . His t-shirt appears to be ripped and he throws himself down onto the floor as a pedestrian approaches him to see if he is okay. The filmmaker reverses his car and the man – who writhes on the floor, seemingly more in shock than pain – comes back into the shot. According to the video uploaded online, the man was lucky to escape the accident with only scratches. The man's head is thrown back violently by the impact of the crash and his helmet later becomes detached . The top box on the back of the moped is thrown down the road along with the bike itself after it collides with the lorry . +Juan Mata believes Manchester United will qualify for next season's Champions League despite facing stiff competition from the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal for a top four spot. The Spanish playmaker, in an exclusive Facebook fan Q&A session, has warned his team-mates that 'Manchester United must always play in the Champions League'. United, who missed out on playing in this season's Champions League after finishing seventh last season, are currently fourth in the Barclays Premier League but are just two points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool. Juan Mata has backed Manchester United to seal a spot in next season's Champions League . The Spanish playmaker has been named on the substitutes' bench for United's last seven fixtures . United are currently fourth in the Premier League . Louis van Gaal's side face a tense finish to the season but Mata has backed his side to have a positive end to the campaign. 'Manchester United must always play in the Champions League and we believe we’ll make it.' Mata is hoping his side can get back to winning ways against Tottenham on Sunday following United's FA Cup exit at the hands of Arsenal. He is also keen to reclaim a spot in Van Gaal's first team plans after being named on the substitutes' bench for United's last seven fixtures. 'Hopefully it is going to be a good result for us,' added Mata. 'I enjoy playing against Tottenham because I have had some good experiences against them! 'I'm working in the same way I have always done, with the same attitude and the same passion! That’s all I can do, I'm always optimistic and ready to contribute to the team at any time!' Louis van Gaal will be hoping his side can bounce back from Monday's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal . +Louis van Gaal believes he retains the full backing of the Glazer family despite a difficult first year in charge of Manchester United. The next five matches will have a big bearing on whether Van Gaal's maiden season at the club will be regarded as a success or failure. United are two points inside the top four with 10 matches to go and after Sunday's game against Tottenham, they face Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea. Louis van Gaal is targeting second place in the Barclays Premier League with a late push in the run-in . The Manchester United manager believes catching local rivals Manchester City is an achievable target . Despite a run of three defeats in 23 matches, some supporters have complained about a lack of tempo, flair and width from Van Gaal's side. But, crucially, the United boss thinks he still has the support of the Glazer family, who own the club, and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. 'I have faith that I can complete my three years,' the United manager said. 'I think they are pleased with my way of managing the club.' Van Gaal proudly recalled the long list of successes to support his point at a press conference on Friday. The Dutchman reminded those present that he had won silverware in his first season at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Ryan Giggs and Van Gaal haven't had the greatest season but are still well in with a chance of a top four spot . The 63-year-old also recalled the fact that he won the 2008-09 Eredivisie with AZ Alkmaar a year after finishing 11th. 'I said I will (leave) but the (AZ) players came to my house to ask me to stay, and the board also,' he said. 'Then we were the champion.' Van Gaal accepts it will be 'very difficult' to win a trophy in his maiden year in England. United are out of the FA Cup following their quarter-final defeat to Arsenal and they are 10 points behind Chelsea, who have a match in hand. Van Gaal's sole task is bringing Champions League football back to Old Trafford. The Dutchman has not contemplated what failure would cost United. 'No. I don't think I am here to think about the financial consequences. That is Ed Woodward. I am here to manage the professional football department of Manchester United,' Van Gaal said. United are facing a difficult run following their FA Cup exit at the hands of Arsenal last Monday . Van Gaal has been criticised for his 'long ball' tactics but insists the club support his philosophy . 'I am here because of my qualities and my philosophy. That we have spoken about in our first sessions with each other, Ed Woodward and myself. After that I have spoken with the Glazers. Because of those discussions I am here now. 'I am not thinking of the consequences if we are not in the first four. It is very bad for the club. But why do we have to speak about things that are not happening yet? 'We are longer in the top four than Arsenal.' Van Gaal is likely to receive significant backing in the transfer market regardless of where United finish. Most of last year's signings continue to struggle. Angel di Maria cost £59.7million but his star has faded fast after an encouraging start. British football's record signing is suspended for Sunday's match against Spurs after being sent off for tugging referee Michael Oliver's shirt in the defeat to Arsenal. The Argentinian has also had to deal with off-the-pitch problems, most notably a house move after his Cheshire mansion was targeted by burglars in February. Van Gaal insists Di Maria is happy at United and believes he will be at the club next season despite rumours of interest from abroad. Angel di Maria pleads his innocence after being booked by referee Michael Oliver in the defeat to Arsenal . Oliver shows the red card to Di Maria after he tugged at the referees shirt following a yellow card . 'As a manager you can never say no or yes because, in the end, the player shall always decide. But I don't think he shall move,' Van Gaal said. 'Nevertheless, his incident with his wife at home, he is very pleased to be here at Manchester United. 'I think that he shall stay because his reaction after the defeat and the red card is very good. I like his attitude.' Van Gaal says his door is always open if Di Maria or any other player becomes unhappy. Van Gaal insists Di Maria will stay at Old Trafford, despite his unrest both on and off the field . 'I am always like that,' he said. 'That is part of my philosophy. A football player is not only a man who kicks the ball. Also, his environment is influencing him. I shall always be open for (that). 'I know also the commercial interests of the club and we have to respect that also because you cannot give a lot of money for the player and the next season you put him out of your selection,' Van Gaal added. 'It is also the quality of the player. Then they also have to pay the sum.' +A lot has changed since Paul O’Connell played the first of his 100 Tests more than 13 years ago. Professionalism has been the key to the former shelf-stacker’s longevity, although the Irishman has not always been surrounded by such healthy company. On the week of his debut in 2002, the young and enthusiastic second-row had to share a room with former Munster team-mate Peter Clohessy. Sam Warburton of Wales and Paul O'Connell of Ireland pose with the RBS 6 Nations trophy . Paul O'Connell will lead Ireland out at the Millennium Stadium on the occasion of his 100th international cap . O'Connell prepares to offload the ball during the Ireland training session ahead of the game last week . Paul O'Connell's importance to Ireland cannot be overstated as he wins his 100th cap against Wales on Saturday. Over the past 13 years, the iconic Munster lock has become the side's beating heart and captain. 'He's an outstanding leader,' says Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton. 'When he speaks to the squad during the week the hairs on the back of your next stand up.' Their billets were turned into an Irish cards den in the days leading up to the Six Nations visit of Wales; a stark contrast to the preparations for this meeting at the Millennium Stadium. ‘I was woken by the smell of cigarette smoke in my nostrils every morning,’ recalled a laughing O’Connell. ‘“The Claw” used to have a cigarette the moment he woke up. I was well aware from Peter that this was not the way forward! ‘Obviously it’s changed a lot since then. It’s funny, there’s a lot more guys to copy now then when I made my first cap. Now in the Irish camp I take a lot of advice from (strength and conditioning coach) Jason Cowman. Jonny Sexton is obviously a great guy to copy and follow.’ It is testament to O’Connell’s longevity that half of the current Welsh coaching set-up were playing against him in that match — a record 54-10 victory at Lansdowne Road. Both Robin McBryde and Rob Howley have since escaped to the warm comfort of the tactical box where — along with Warren Gatland, Neil Jenkins and Shaun Edwards — they will be hoping to plot Ireland’s downfall at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon. O'Connell powers over for a try in the 54-10 victory for Ireland over Wales back in 2002, his debut . Half of the current Welsh coaching set-up were playing O'Connell at Landsdowne Road in his first game . All eyes will be on the battle of the skies as the hosts look to end Ireland’s Grand Slam push and keep alive their own championship hopes. They have been working overtime to nullify the aerial bombardment from Sexton and Conor Murray, with scrum-half Rhys Webb promising not to repeat the mistakes that England made in Dublin two weeks ago. ‘I don’t know if England did much analysis on them,’ said Webb. ‘They didn’t seem to put much pressure on nine and 10 whatsoever. We need to be on the money and we know there is no margin for error.’ The heavily influenced kicking strategy has been criticised for lacking entertainment value. Rhys Webb admits attractive rugby will come second as Wales look to derail Ireland's Grand Slam hopes . All Blacks boss Steve Hansen recently said that rugby is ‘geared towards defences that inhibit attack’ and McBryde is predicting another war of attrition in the Welsh capital. ‘Attractive rugby will come second,’ said the 44-year-old. ‘That’s the nature of the game at the moment and unfortunately the spectators have got to pay a price for that.’ It promises to be an intense tactical battle between Gatland and counterpart Joe Schmidt, with the former subjected to a bitter personal attack by retired Ireland lock Neil Francis during the week. Gatland was said to have ‘the intellectual properties of a tub of Flora’, although O’Connell holds the Kiwi in much higher regard. Webb says Wales need 'to be on the money' in their RBS 6 Nations-defining clash with Ireland . Wales captain Sam Warburton makes his way into the stadium for Wales training ahead of Six Nations clash . ‘For as long as I can remember we’ve being trying to poach ideas from Warren Gatland,’ said O’Connell. ‘We played Wasps with Munster in 2003 or 2004 and they were so far ahead in terms of how they were playing and how the players were prepared from an S&C (strength and conditioning) and nutritional point of view. It was a rude awakening. He makes complicated things very simple and he probably pioneered that way of thinking. ‘At the start of the championship, Joe said the Wales-England game was going to be the standard-bearer. Two years ago Ireland beat them in the first game and they just built and built and built until they absolutely erupted in that final game against England. ‘They’ll feel the same thing is happening now.’ Kicking game . In Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton, Ireland have the world’s in-form kicking half-back combination. Their aerial game-plan was predictable against England yet Stuart Lancaster did not have the players at his disposable to stop it. Wales, however, have one of the best defensive back-threes in the world and Leigh Halfpenny is a master at limiting the space to kick into. How well Ireland anticipate that - perhaps using Sexton as a looping runner, if the wingers drop back - will be highly significant. Set-piece . At 6ft 9in and 6ft 11in, Luke Charteris of Wales and Devin Toner of Ireland are two of the tallest players in the competition. They are both extremely difficult to beat on their own line-out throw, while they can be equally disruptive towards their opponents’. Their long limbs are used to try and steal ball, although that can leave the defending side open to attack from the driving maul, where both Wales and Ireland are particularly effective. Picking the right moments to challenge will be pivotal; a responsibility that falls on the shoulders of Alun-Wyn Jones and Paul O’Connell. Breakdown . Welsh defence coach Shaun Edwards claims his players are the best in the world at contesting the post-tackle area. However, they will face their toughest breakdown battle yet against Ireland, who won 23 turnovers to nine against England in round three. Warren Gatland’s game-plan relies heavily on quick recycled ball and Ireland will look to slow that down to limit the risk from the likes of Jamie Roberts and George North. Getting on the right side of referee Wayne Barnes will be key, because Halfpenny and Sexton are two of the world’s leading goal-kickers. +High streets were given a helping hand yesterday as George Osborne (pictured) announced a ‘wide-ranging review’ into crippling business rates . High streets were given a helping hand yesterday as George Osborne announced a ‘wide-ranging review’ into crippling business rates. Introduced in Elizabethan times, the tax is accused of pushing independent shops out of business by charging punishingly high rates. High street retailers claim it places them at a disadvantage to online rivals because it is only charged on ‘bricks and mortar’. Business rates are forecast to raise £22.4billion in England in 2014-15, from 1.8million non-domestic properties. But the Chancellor announced a review into the controversial levy, saying ‘you cannot create jobs without successful businesses’. ‘In my opinion, the current system of business rates has not kept pace with the needs of a modern economy and changes to our town centres,’ he said. ‘It needs far-reaching reform.’ Business rates are currently calculated according to the rental value of the property a company uses. But this is based on prices from 2008, the height of the property boom, which do not take into account the effect of the recession. The system also means some small shops on busy high streets pay very high rates, while online giants such as Amazon, with large warehouses in cheaper locations, pay less. Tax expert Richard Rose, of BDO accountants, said the review launch was ‘welcome but long overdue’, adding that ‘any benefits of change are unlikely to filter through until well into the next Parliament’. ‘It will, therefore, be a watching brief for some time yet, which will offer little respite for mid-market retailers who continue to feel the pain of rates set in 2008.’ Scroll down for video . 'Now the Budget's out of the way we can focus on serious issues like who's going to host top gear' Jules Winstanley, 51, who will pay £15,000 in business rates for her two clothing boutiques, in Bath and Teddington, south-west London, urged the review to radically reduce rates for small businesses. ‘We need a resurgence of help for independent shops so that we can compete fairly with the big boys,’ she added. ‘It is so expensive to have bricks and mortar and, if we don’t protect them … we will lose that service and face-to-face contact that you will never get online.’ Rain Newton-Smith, of the Confederation of British Industry, said the smallest businesses should be removed from the rates. The review began on Monday and retailers and organisations will be invited to give their opinions. But shops hoping for a large tax cut could be disappointed, as ministers have already warned any changes are likely to be ‘fiscally neutral’, meaning the Treasury would still generate the same amount of tax. Joanna Elson, of the Money Advice Trust said it was ‘crucial’ that the review considers how the rates system can ‘better support small business owners who are struggling’. Last year, MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee suggested the business rates system should be ‘based on sales rather than the rateable value of a property’. A raft of measures were unveiled to appeal to young workers. The national minimum wage will increase by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October. This represents the largest increase, when adjusted for inflation, in almost ten years. The hourly rate for apprentices will also go up by a record 57p to £3.30 an hour. This will result in an annual salary rise of over £1,000 for a full-time apprentice and benefit 67,000 young people. The Government said this would ensure that ‘those undertaking this important type of training are rewarded’. Employers’ National Insurance contributions will also be abolished for under-21s from next month, and for young apprentices from April 2016. This will encourage more businesses to hire young workers. Budget documents revealed that more than two million people have started apprenticeships under the current Government. In the last year, the highest ever number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds also applied to, and were accepted into, university. George Osborne promised income-contingent loans of up to £25,000 for UK students studying for PhDs and research-based master’s degrees. Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of The Sutton Trust, said: ‘The plans should improve the chances of low and middle income graduates taking on research master’s and doctoral courses which have become the preserve of better off students.’ Helen Dickinson, of the British Retail Consortium welcomed the boost for young workers. She said: ‘Over one million of the three million people who work in retail are under 24. ‘The abolition of national insurance contributions for under-21s will allow retailers of all sizes to create new job opportunities. ‘The industry also employs almost 20 per cent of the UK’s apprentices and abolishing national insurance contributions will make it easier and more cost-effective to employ and train them.’ Charlotte Balbier, 34, (pictured above) is a wedding dress designer who pays £28,000 in business rates per year. She welcomed the Government’s review of the rates, which she said should be lowered to keep small businesses thriving. The designer, of Heald Green, near Stockport, started her business in 2003 and stocks 40 shops across Europe. She has seen business rates rise steadily. The rates affect her own showroom, which occupies two floors of an office block, but also the shops on the high street which she relies upon to stock her dresses. ‘I would like to see lower business rates and less red tape,’ she said. ‘We supply 350 stores … and they are the shops on the high street who could really stand to benefit from a reduction in rates.’ £143-a-year tax break for 4.6million who work for themselves . The self-employed were given a £143-a-year tax break yesterday. The Chancellor announced the Government would axe a £2.75-a-week national insurance contribution (NIC) ‘in the next Parliament’, for the 4.6million who work for themselves. But it emerged the tax break could be a sweetener before a huge shake-up of NI, which funds benefits such as the State pension and maternity leave. The small print of the Budget revealed ministers were planning a ‘contributory benefit test’ – suggesting the self-employed may soon have to pay more for benefits such as the State pension. They usually pay two types of NIC – class 2, a weekly charge if profits are more than £5,885 a year, and class 4, an annual charge if profits are over £7,956. Mr Osborne made no mention of the new ‘test’ in his speech, saying only that he would be scrapping the unpopular class 2 NIC. The self-employed will continue to pay class 4, which is charged at either 2 or 9 per cent of profits depending on earnings. The class 2 tax, while not enormous, was seen as an administrative burden to pay weekly. Joanna Elson, of the Money Advice Trust, said: ‘The scrapping of class 2 NICs will provide welcome relief for the self-employed, at least in the short term. ‘What this means for their level of pension and welfare entitlement in the long-term, however, needs to be examined.’ The self-employed traditionally pay less national insurance because they receive less in benefits, including the second State pension, sick pay and holiday pay. But, from April 2015, everyone will receive a flat-rate State pension irrelevant of contributions – which could put the self-employed at an unfair advantage. Ros Altmann, the Government’s older workers adviser, said yesterday: ‘It is possible the Government could off-set the tax break by asking [the self-employed] to contribute more towards the flat-rate State pension.’ +It's fair to assume David Beckham owns a host of match-worn shirts handed to him by some of football's biggest stars following a 20-year playing career but it seems son Brooklyn is starting a collection of his own. Beckham Jnr attended Chelsea's Champions League clash against his father's former side Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night and managed to get his hands on Zlatan Ibrahimovic's shirt. Posting an image of the jersey to his Instagram account, the 16-year-old said: 'Thanks Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the shirt. And well played.' Brooklyn Beckham thanked Zlatan Ibrahimovic after getting his hands on the PSG star's match-worn shirt . Brooklyn and his father David watched Wednesday's match as Chelsea were knocked out of Europe . The PSG frontman was dismissed in the first-half for a challenge on Chelsea midfielder Oscar. However, despite being down to 10 men for the majority of the match, Laurent Blanc's side progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals as Thiago Silva's extra-time goal sealed a 2-2 draw and sent the French side through on away goals. It seems Brooklyn was supporting the Ligue 1 side and will have been pleased with the result on Wednesday night, posting an image of the match unfolding at Stamford Bridge with the caption: 'PSG, PSG, PSG, PSG'. Brooklyn, looking to follow in his father's footsteps as a footballer, played for Arsenal's youth side this year but has missed out on the offer of a professional contract. Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is shown the red card after a collision with Chelsea's Oscar . The PSG forward immediately acknowledged his fault in the incident having collided with Oscar . +Ronny Deila accused Ryan McGowan of endangering the career of Liam Henderson with a wild lunge in the dying moments of Celtic's Scottish Cup victory over Dundee United. The Norwegian's side strolled into a semi-final meeting with Inverness by putting four goals past the Tannadice men, yet the third of four successive meetings between the sides was again pockmarked by ill-discipline. Anthony Stokes was sent off by referee Calum Murray for a swipe at Paul Paton before McGowan was also dismissed for scything down Celtic sub Henderson – prompting the sixth red card in three back-to-back meetings. Ryan McGowan is sent off by referee Calum Murray after he scythed down Celtic sub Liam Henderson . And a clearly angered Deila believes the young Celt was fortunate to escape serious injury. 'It was a red card,' he insisted. 'It was a stupid tackle on the sideline. We need to get these things out of football. 'It was a youngster trying a little trick in the corner. You could have stayed there and kept him out wide instead of going in with both feet. He could have injured him for life. 'It must have been frustration. It was a straight-forward win in the end but there were some angry and disappointed players out there. 'It got a bit tense at the end but that can happen. Celtic boss Ronny Deila claimed McGowan could have injured Henderson for life with his late challenge . 'These have been important games for both teams and sometimes it can get a bit tense. 'Today, we were the better team, like we were on Sunday, and they had some frustration. We need to handle that and get ready for the next game.' Deila, who wanted to look at the Stokes incident before commenting further, isn' t concerned the ill-feeling will spill over in the fourth encounter between the sides on Saturday. 'I spoke to Stokes,' he added. 'His mouth was bleeding after a challenge from Paton and he reacted. We have to see it again if it is a red card. 'I am not concerned for my players. We have to be at the same level and get the three points. I am delighted to be playing them again.' Celtic eased through at the second attempt thanks to goals from Jason Denayer, Leigh Griffiths, Kris Commons and Virgil van Dijk. But given the tempestuous nature of the three previous games, Griffiths believes there's every chance matters might get out of hand when the teams reconvene on league business at Celtic Park. 'That's six red cards in three games now and if I was a betting man then I would be putting money on another sending off this Saturday,' he said. Anthony Stokes (second left) comes together with McGowan during an ill-tempered second-half . 'It is just one of those things and the Dundee United players are getting a bit frustrated and we move on to Saturday and hopefully we can pick up another three points. 'I don't think there is niggle between both sets of players. I just think Dundee United are sick of the sight of Celtic. 'We have got them again on Saturday and then we don't see them for a while.' United assistant manager Simon Donnelly believes refereeing decisions have gone against his side in the three games. The Tayside outfit felt Ryan Dow should have been given a penalty in the League Cup Final while Efe Ambrose should have had a second yellow early in the second half last night for a foul on Nadir Ciftci. 'The Celtic reaction on the back of their player being sent off maybe influences the referee (when McGowan is sent off) but I'll need to look at it again,' Donnelly said. 'Is it any worse or any different to Scott Brown's two weeks ago?' Asked about Ambrose, Donnelly replied: 'It's another yellow card. We deliberately put Nadir out there to play on Ambrose because he was on a yellow card. Deila celebrates at full-time as his side reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 victory . 'I thought it was another yellow card when we were having a reasonable period in the game. 'They've gone against us in the last few games. We've spoken about the penalty at the weekend. That's football.' Meanwhile, Celtic skipper Brown says he's moved on from being photographed seemingly drunk in an Edinburgh street four days before the League Cup Final. 'I don't think I'm the first player to make a mistake and probably won't be the last,' he stated. 'But I've spoken to the manager, it's been dealt with and now all I'm doing is moving on. 'I'm sure the club, the manager and the fans know that my total focus will always be on the matches coming up and nothing else but winning for Celtic. 'It was a real honour as captain to lift the League Cup on Sunday and we now want to push on and try to bring our fans even more success this season. 'That's all we're thinking about.' +As the man charged with ensuring the finer details of England’s attacking game are in working order, it would have been understandable to find Mike Catt in a much darker mood than he was on Tuesday. Three days after watching his team score three tries from 12 clean line breaks against Scotland, Catt bristled more at the suggestion something needs fixing than at any residual annoyance at the raft of chances that went begging at Twickenham. With 11 tries in four RBS 6 Nations games so far — and France to come on Saturday in a game that could see England break their run of three successive runners-up finishes by winning the championship — Catt believes they are not being given enough credit for a sustained intent to keep the ball in hand while others prefer to look skywards in hope. England coach Mike Catt wants England to be more ruthless when it comes to scoring points . ‘Ninety-nine per cent of the things were very good,’ said the World Cup winner turned skills coach. ‘Obviously not transferring the stuff we created into points was something we were all very frustrated with. ‘At international level, the guys have to understand you only have two or three opportunities. You might not get five or six like we had on the weekend. ‘We need to make sure we convert those into points. The players are more frustrated than anybody but we are not going to throw anything out with the bath water. It is all about us sticking to what we are doing, because it is working.’ Stuart Lancaster looks on as his England side prepares for Saturday's crucial clash with France . Northampton Saints flanker Calum Clark will want to see some action during the crucial Six Nations clash . With three wins from four games and a small points advantage over nearest challengers Ireland, it is hard to argue, even considering their no-show in Dublin. England’s build-up play was, at times, exceptional against Scotland, even if their decision-making with the try line in view bordered on the dim-witted. Stuart Lancaster names his side to face France on Thursday, when Leicester duo Geoff Parling and Tom Youngs appear certain to be in the line-up for the first time in this championship. The French made countless errors in dispatching Italy on Sunday and will have just six days to rest up for their final match, which kicks off last at 5pm and will see England knowing what is required to deliver the first notable piece of silverware of Lancaster’s reign. Jonathan Joseph and George Ford must be at their creative best to defeat a strong-tackling French midfield . England’s players watched helplessly hours after thrashing Italy as Ireland narrowly beat France in the final game last season to snatch the title from their grasp. Many believe the staggered kick-off times to suit television undermine the tournament. Catt added: ‘We don’t control it. It’s very tough because international matches are brutal. And when you are travelling a lot of the time, that can take three days out of your preparation time and recovery. It impedes you a bit.’ England will take comfort from knowing if Ireland run up a big score against Scotland to leave them needing to chase the game against France, they have stumbled upon a backline capable of cutting teams to ribbons. VIDEO Robshaw sets sights on France following Scotland win . England practice their scrummaging during the training session ahead of their upcoming physical battle . Jonathan Joseph, playing because of injuries to Manu Tuilagi and Brad Barritt at the start of the tournament, has been a revelation. He is the championship’s leading try-scorer with four in four games and, at 23, looks to the manner born. His performances at outside centre have been so good he is now regularly compared to the prince of English centres Jeremy Guscott, and the Bath three- quarter is confident of England’s chances, despite Saturday’s missed opportunities. Captain Chris Robshaw knows his side face a tough test against the French if they want to claim a crucial win . England duo Richard Wigglesworth (left) and Robshaw will be hoping they can lift the coveted trophy . ‘It was frustrating and a lot of negatives have been drawn from that game (Scotland), but as a team we created a lot,’ he said. ‘We feel we have come on massively in terms of putting defences under stress. ‘We’re happy with what we have created. Now it is just a case of doing the last bit. The easier bit is the finishing. It’s something we’ll work on. I don’t think there is any need to panic.’ VIDEO England v Scotland - extended highlights . Mike Brown, who missed games because of injury, is a vital player for England and his return is a real boost . +Jonathan Davies is determined to prove Wales’ doubters wrong in the final weekend of the RBS 6 Nations and plans to celebrate the championship with a plastic cup after a silverware snub. With trophies being sent to Twickenham and Murrayfield, Wales will return home from Rome empty handed even if they go on to win the three-horse race for the title. Warren Gatland’s side need a thumping victory over Italy to overturn their points deficit on England and Ireland and — despite the Kiwi keeping his counsel about the scenario — there is understood to be some disappointment about the organisers’ trophy decision. Wales centre Jonathan Davies is tackled by Ireland lock Paul O'Connell (left) and tighthead Mike Ross . ‘I’m sure we’ll find a trophy somewhere, like a plastic cup or something,’ said Davies. ‘Obviously people are doubting us and they don’t think we’re going to be involved. But we just worry about ourselves, concentrate on ourselves, and will put a performance together that hopefully means we can get the cup on Sunday.’ Welsh hopes of a landslide victory could hinge on the fitness of Italy No 8 Sergio Parisse, who has a ‘30-40 per cent chance’ of being fit. Italy have delayed their team announcement by 24 hours to give him time to recover, but Davies says Wales will not change their approach even if the 31-year-old is ruled out. Scott Williams is congratulated by Davies and Dan Biggar following his crucial try against Ireland . ‘We can’t fall into that trap,’ said Davies. ‘If you do, the pressure seems to come on you rather than the opposition. ‘Italy have some key injuries with the captain maybe being out, and after the disappointment of France, they’ll have doubt in their minds. ‘It’s about us going out there and stamping our authority. It’s about sealing that doubt and building from there.’ While Italy are struggling for form, Wales are still building momentum after their victory over Ireland. A fine defensive display kept the championship race alive, however Davies knows his side must add more cutting edge in attack. Warren Gatland's side are in a three-horse race for the Six Nations title that will be decided on Saturday . ‘Looking back on the Ireland game, we probably left two or three scoring opportunities out there,’ said Davies. ‘This week we’re going to have to take all our chances. ‘As a back line we haven’t fired as we’d have wanted to. The forwards have worked tirelessly all campaign for us and there’s pressure on the backs now to take opportunities.’ If Wales can rack up the points, the pressure will move on to Ireland and England, who are up second and third against Scotland and France in the afternoon of staggered fixtures. Davies and his countrymen will watch events unfold from Rome and he plans to cheer on his French clubmates from Clermont Auvergne. Italy's captain and talisman Sergio Parisse faces a race to fit for the visit of Wales on Saturday . ‘France can be amazing at times,’ said Davies. ‘Hopefully, they can turn up and do a job. They’ve done it in the past.’ Aside from two injury-enforced changes in the front row, Gatland has kept faith with the starting XV who beat Ireland. Scott Williams scored the decisive try and the centre was on Wednesday among the latest batch of players — along with Alun-Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate and Gareth Anscombe — to sign a dual contract with the WRU and their region. ‘Alun-Wyn, Dan, Scott and Gareth represent a cross-section of experience. Each one of them is a player of proven talent,’ said Gatland. +A 'dedicated' teacher who has been missing for five days posted a smiling image of herself posing in front of a sunrise on the morning she disappeared. Sharon Edwards, 54, was last seen between 10pm and 11pm on Saturday in Grafton, on the New South Wales north coast. Police and family say they hold 'grave concerns' for her welfare as it is extremely out of character. She has no known medical conditions and has not made contact with relatives. Sharon Edwards, 54, posted a smiling image of herself in front of a sunrise on the morning she disappeared . The teacher was last seen between late on Saturday in Grafton, on the New South Wales north coast . On Saturday morning, Ms Edwards posted a pictured to her Facebook page in which she can be seen posing near the ocean in front of a sunrise. It was first noticed Ms Edwards was missing when she failed to show up for a class she was supposed to teach. Ms Edwards lives with her husband of 30 years and has two adult children. She is described as being of Caucasian, with a fair complexion, short blond hair and medium build. Strike Force Burrow will investigate the circumstances of her disappearance, comprising of detectives from the Coffs/Clarence Local Area Command and Northern Region. Police will also address the media on Thursday afternoon. Investigators are appealing for community assistance to find her and anyone with information about her whereabouts is urged to contact Grafton Police Station on 02 6642 0222 or Crime Stoppers. It was first noticed Ms Edwards was missing when she failed to show up for a class she was due to teach . +Bhutan, the world's worst international team according to FIFA rankings, picked up a 1-0 win against Sri Lanka in their World Cup qualifying debut on Thursday. Tshering Dorji scored the only goal of the match in the 84th minute for the small Himalayan nation, ranked last of the 209 teams in FIFA's rankings, in steamy Colombo. Before Thursday, Bhutan had only three wins to their name and were beaten 5-2 by Sri Lanka in their last international match at the 2013 South Asian Football Championships in Kathmandu. Tshering Dorji (left) celebrates after scoring the winner for Bhutan in their qualifier against Sri Lanka . Bhutan players celebrate after their 1-0 victory against Sri Lanka in the opening Russia 2018 qualifiers . Bhutan captain Karma Shedrup Tshering (left) passes the ball during the qualifier in Colombo on Thursday . Timor-Leste 4-1 Mongolia . Cambodia 3-0 Mecau . Sri Lanka 0-1 Bhutan . Chinese Taipei 0-1 Brunei . India 2-0 Nepal . Yemen 3-1 Pakistan . *All are first legs of two-legged ties . The performance from the side, who were once thrashed 20-0 by Kuwait in an Asian Cup qualifier in 2000, drew praise from even FIFA president Sepp Blatter. 'A wonderful, historic moment. Bhutan, ranked 209/209 in world, won their 1st ever #WCQ today, 1-0 in Sri Lanka,' Blatter said on his Twitter handle. After Bhutan, Brunei also won for the first time in the World Cup qualifiers, beating Taiwan with a 36th-minute goal from Adi Said while Cambodia defeated Macau 3-0 in Phnom Penh. Lowly East Timor earlier kicked off the long and winding road to Russia 2018 by registering their first ever World Cup qualifying win, a 4-1 success over Mongolia in Dili. Striker Chiquito Filipe do Carmo scored the first goals of the three-year qualifying campaign that will see all of FIFA's 208 members play more than 800 matches to determine which 31 sides will join the hosts at the finals. Bhutan supporters wave their flags as they celebrate a famous victory for their team on Thursday . Sri Lanka's Kavidu Ishan (left) looks to pass, while Chencho Gyeltshen and Thilina Bandara vie for the ball . FIFA president Sepp Blatter announces Russia in December 2010 as the host of the 2018 World Cup . The victory was only the fourth the 185th-ranked East Timor achieved since becoming FIFA members in 2005. Such was the excitement for the fixture in the Portuguese-speaking Southeast Asian nation, that a big screen was erected outside the Municipal Stadium for fans who couldn't get their hands on one of the 10,000 tickets on sale. They would have seen their diminutive striker, better known as Quito, strike in the seventh and 10th minutes before Brazilian-born Rodrigo Silva netted a third in the 89th minute and substitute Neto grabbed a fourth in stoppage time. Batmonkhiin Erkhembayar grabbed a late consolation for the visitors to give them some slight hope of overturning the deficit in the second leg in Mongolia on Tuesday. In other matches, India beat Nepal 2-0, while Yemen play Pakistan. The six aggregate winners will move into the second round of the Asian World Cup campaign, which doubles as the qualifiers for the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup, where the likes of regional powerhouses Japan, Australia and Iran enter the fold. +Sepp Blatter celebrated his 79th birthday on Tuesday as one of his rivals for the FIFA presidency obtained some high-level support for his bid to be the most powerful person in world football. Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has secured statements of support from the King of Bahrain and Prince Sufri Bolkiah, a senior member of the Brunei royal family. Although neither of the royals will have a vote at the election on May 29 there is a history, particularly in Arab countries, of the ruling family influencing football policy. FIFA Vice President Prince Ali bin al-Hussein is in the running to become the next president of FIFA . The Prince sits alongside UEFA President Michel Platini during a CONMEBOL congress on March 4 . That could be important to Prince Ali who has struggled to win support in his own Asian football confederation (AFC) - only one AFC country, his home country Jordan, nominated him to stand. It is by no means certain however that the Bahrain FA will back Prince Ali despite the King offering his support. AFC president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa is also from Bahrain and has already given his backing to Blatter. Furthermore, the leading powerbroker in Olympic sport Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah from Kuwait is also supporting Blatter. Ali bin al-Hussein has received backing from high profile supporters, including the King of Bahrain (above), . Sheikh Ahmad wields significant influence, especially in Asia as head of the Olympic Council of Asia, and is himself standing for the FIFA executive committee at the end of April. Prince Ali is understood to be buoyed by the royal backing, and also to have taken heart from last week's congress of the South American confederation CONMEBOL, where no formal vote to back Blatter was taken. A report from Jordan's government new agency stated: 'His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalif of Bahrain, on Monday, received HRH Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein accompanied by Interior Minister Hussein Majali, and stressed Bahrain's support to Prince Ali's bid for FIFA presidency.' Blatter has three challengers for the presidency: Prince Ali, Dutch FA president Michael van Praag and former Portugal international Luis Figo. Despite being heavily criticised during his reign, Sepp Blatter wants the presidency for a fourth term . Luis Figo (left) and Michael van Praag are the two remaining candidates in the presidential race . Last week van Praag said there would be a better chance of victory if there was only one candidate from Europe. He also claimed Figo's plans for funding national associations would 'bankrupt FIFA'. Meanwhile, Germany's outgoing FIFA member Theo Zwanziger has reiterated his belief that the 2022 World Cup should be removed from Qatar if the Garcia report into bidding for the tournament flags up rule breaches. Zwanziger told Bayern 2 radio station: 'The best solution would be not to play in Qatar and to rectify this wrong decision. But that can only happen if the report provides sufficient clues that the awarding broke FIFA ethics rules.' +Louis van Gaal has backed Michael van Praag's bid to become FIFA president. Van Gaal knows Van Praag as he worked under him at Ajax and with the Dutch national side. Van Praag, the head of the Dutch Football Association, is one of three candidates vying to unseat current FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the others being Asian Football Confederation vice-president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein and former Portugal international Luis Figo. Michael van Pragg's (pictured) FIFA candidacy for FIFA presidency has been backed by Louis van Gaal . Manchester United boss Van Gaal (right) worked under Van Praag at Ajax and with the Dutch national side . And the Manchester United manager believes his 67-year-old compatriot is capable of heading world football's governing body, although he concedes it will be a tough job beating Blatter, who is determined to extend his 17-year reign. 'I have a very good relationship with him,' the United manager said when asked about Van Praag. 'I like him very much. He can do the job but it shall be very difficult for him to be the (president) because it is a voting system but you never know.' Current FIFA president Sepp Blatter is standing for re-election having held this position for 17 years to date . +An incredible finish produced two stoppage-time goals as Norwich came from behind for a second time to rescue a point. No sooner had James Vaughan put Huddersfield 2-1 in front than Canaries substitute Jamar Loza plundered a point with almost the last kick. Both goals came from close range. Vaughan was stupidly sent off after his, taking off his shirt in celebration to pick up a second yellow card within moments of each other. Jamar Loza celebrates after scoring an equaliser six minutes into injury time for Norwich City . Earlier, a goal disallowed after it had been awarded - and an amazing miss - beset Norwich in their top two challenge. But they rallied to challenge strongly for all three at one stage. Bradley Johnson was cautioned for handling the ball into the Huddersfield after referee Nigel Miller had signalled a goal from the Canaries first serious attack. Late in the first half Gary Hooper somehow failed to make clean contact with the ball, let alone bury a sitter from six yards. The young striker fires home after Graham Dorrans' original effort was saved by Alex Smithies . Huddersfield: Smithies; Smith, Hudson (c), Lynch, Scannell; Hogg, Coady, Butterfield, Carroll (Edgar - 70); Miller (Gobern - 78), Vaughan . Subs not used: Murphy, Wallace, Holmes, Charles, Majewski . Booked: Lynch . Red Card: Vaughan 95 . Goals: Miller 54, Vaughan 95 . Norwich: Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin (c), Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson (Loza - 87), Dorrans, Johnson (Hoolahan - 67); Hooper (Andreu - 78), Jerome . Subs not used: Rudd, Cuellar, Tettey, Odjidja-Ofoe . Booked: Johnson, Martin, Loza . Goals: Hoolahan 67, Loza 96 . In between times, Norwich were stretched to stay on terms in a lively contest and eventually fell behind to Ishmael Miller after the break. But substitute Wes Hoolahan slipped home from close range within five minutes of leaving the bench to round off a fine move triggered by Nathan Redmond. The Johnson no-goal was a big talking point. He knocked the ball in almost on the line after Cameron Jerome had headed goalwards from Redmond's fine run and cross. There was no flag from assistant referee Lisa Radhid but Miller was prompted to consult her amid strong Huddersfield protests. The upshot was a booking for Johnson whose team mate Jerome was later lucky to escape at least a yellow for clattering over Tommy Smith. James Vaughan, albeit a handful, failed with at least two chances to punish Norwich for whom keeper John Ruddy also denied Jacob Butterfield. Wesley Hoolahan (left) fires home the first equaliser just minutes after coming on as a substitute . But Miller struck with a smart turn on the edge of the box to smash home with Ruddy caught out of position. Jake Charles, 19 year old grandson of the great John Charles, was on the bench for Huddersfield in his first call up to the senior squad. Chris Powell's team were fighting a rearguard action in the last 20 minutes as a more fluent Norwich found their rhythm. Bradley Johnson (centre right) has a goal disallowed in the first half after handballing it into the net . The quick and clever Redmond was a constant source of danger down the right, forcing Town to substitute left back Jake Carroll. Clearly manager Alex Neil was in no mood to settle for a point as Norwich looked to climb from fifth place. Canaries appeals for a penalty were waved aside after Conor Coady was suspected of handling in the box. The Huddersfield players complain to the referee and Johnson was then booked for his handball . +New York City has spent $18 million in five years unclogging 'flushable' wet wipes from the sewer system. As the products have become increasingly popular, many manufacturers claim to have 'adapted' them to biodegrade when flushed. But the city's waste management directors have told the New York Times: that is not the case. 'Indestructible': Wet wipes branded as 'flushable' have been clogging up the system by twisting into knots . When the wipes twist into a knot and mix with grease or oil, they are 'really indestructible,' deputy commissioner Vincent Sapienza of the Department of Environmental Protection said. Worming their way into the pipes of homes, offices and public buildings, the wipes have doubled the amount of solid waste that needs to be extracted from water treatment plants. Dave Rousse, president of the wipes trade group, insisted to the Times that users are not flushing the products properly. Outrage: New York City's water waste management has spent $18 million on wet wipes in five years . His words have been slammed by city officials - and waste water managers around the country - who insist the wipes should be disposed of in the trash. The controversy could be solved by an experiment, backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, that will test which wipes survive the entire sewage system. If so, under a new bill, the manufacturers would be ordered to remove the term 'flushable' from its packaging. +A man faces court for allegedly flying a drone over the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and several Premier League football grounds. Nigel Wilson, 42, of Nottingham, has been summoned in relation to 17 breaches of the Air Navigation Order, Scotland Yard said today. Among venues over which he is said to have flown a 'small unmanned surveillance aircraft' are Liverpool's Anfield, the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal's home ground and Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. Footage: Nigel Wilson, 42, of Nottingham, has been summoned in relation to 17 breaches of the Air Navigation Order, including over the Emirates Stadium (pictured) Flight: Wilson is also accused of flying near the Palace of Westminster (pictured) and having failed to maintain direct, unaided and visual contact with a drone . He is also alleged to have failed to maintain direct, unaided and visual contact with a drone at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said: 'We can confirm that we have assisted the police in preparing this prosecution. 'There are clear rules and regulations in place regarding the flying of drones in the UK and it is the responsibility of users to spend time fully understanding what those rules are.' He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 16. The Civil Aviation Authority has previously issued a warning over the use of drones after footage was posted online. Summons: Wilson will appear in court next month for flying across central London, pictured . Football fan: The suspect is accused of flying a drone over Premier League grounds like Anfield, pictured, as well as the Etihad, the King Power Stadium and the Britannia Stadium . A CAA spokesman said: 'The rule is that you're not allowed to fly over large gatherings of people of 1,000 or more at any height. 'You're not allowed to go within 50 metres of a building or structure. It's not something that people can just do without permission for safety reasons. 'These [drones] can weigh up to seven or eight kilograms. They could create a bit of damage if they fall from 1,000 feet.' The CAA has already prosecuted two people over illegal drone flying. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Manchester City were sent tumbling out of the UEFA Youth League in a highly volatile match with Roma - with three players being sent off over the 90 minutes. Kean Bryan was given his marching orders on the hour mark for his second yellow card and the Italian's took full advantage when Tomas Vestenicky fired home the opener. The tense affair soon became heated and tempers began to flare before Jack Byrne followed his team mate into the changing rooms - leaving City with only nine men. Tomas Vestenicky celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Youth League quarter-final . Kean Byran is given his marching orders and was the first Manchester City to be sent off . Just like their first goal, Roma pounced on Patrick Vieira's sides lack of discipline and Lorenzo Pellegrini - who shares the surname with a certain City staff member - fired home a stunning second. The Blues were given a glimmer of hope when Elio Capradossi became the third player to be given a red card but this time for Roma, after he was adjudged to have brought down Angelino in the box. Thierry Ambrose converted the penalty, but the away side couldn't find the all important equaliser that would have sent the game to penalties. Patrick Vieira looks on as his side's ill-discipline cost them a place in the UEFA Youth League semi-finals . Oliver Ntcham (left) competes with Jose Machin for possession during the tense quarter-final affair . Lorenzo Pellegrini (left) celebrates with team -mates after his stunning strike put the Italians in command . +Arsenal need to challenge for the Premier League title within the next two seasons, according to former defender Nigel Winterburn. Although Arsene Wenger has guided the Gunners to Champions League qualification for an impressive 17 consecutive seasons, the 2004 champions have arguably not mounted a serious tilt at the title for five years. It will be 11 years this summer since the so-called 'Invincibles' claimed the trophy by going an entire season unbeaten in the league - with Winterburn calling for a return of domestic glory to silence disgruntled supporters. Arsenal stars pose for a picture ahead of their crunch Champions League clash with Monaco . Arsene Wenger must guide his side towards a serious tilt for the title in next two years, says Nigel Winterburn . Olivier Giroud scores as Arsenal chase an 18th consecutive season at Europe's top table . 'This summer Arsenal have to look ahead and see where the progression is going to come from,' he told talkSPORT. 'I do feel, within the next two years, Arsenal have to challenge for the Premier League title.' Meanwhile, Wenger believes his side can defy the odds in Monaco as they bid to become the first team in Champions League history to overturn a deficit of two or more goals having played at home first. Arsenal will arrive at the Stade Louis II trailing the Ligue 1 side 3-1 with their European hopes hanging by a thread after a disastrous last 16 first leg at the Emirates. The Gunners have not won the Premier League since the Invincibles unbeaten run in 2013-14 . Former Arsenal defender Winterburn claims only a serious challenge will soothe disgruntled fans . 'The statistics are against us, we are conscious of that,' said the Arsenal boss. 'We have to give absolutely everything to make the stats lie. That's our desire. 'We believe we can do it and I'm confident we will. If we didn't believe we wouldn't be here. Football is not predictable. 'We totally missed the first leg, which was surprising. We did not play well. Sometimes in life if you miss a chance, you do not have a second chance, but we do, so we will play it fully.' +Eoin Reddan knows the Six Nations’ staggered final-day format leaves second-placed Ireland poised to be agonisingly pipped at the post in the same way as in 2007, but says they just need to deal with it. Ireland handsomely beat Italy eight years ago on the final Saturday of the tournament but France, playing last that day, went into their game knowing a 24-point win over Scotland would bag the title. They won by 27, a late try denying Eddie O’Sullivan’s side. Now it’s leaders England who have the scheduling advantage, as their game against France this weekend starts at 5pm following Ireland’s 2.30 kick-off in Scotland. Eoin Reddan (centre) knows his side are likely to miss out on the Six Nations title after defeat to Wales . However, Reddan accepts the rules are the rules, claiming it would be ‘crazy’ to be critical of the organisers just a few days before the curtain comes down on the 2015 campaign. ‘It is the way it is and it presents different challenges,’ said the back-up scrum half. ‘The teams that play early, they have got the mental battle of having to win the game and push on and the teams that play late have a target they can chase. ‘It’s a flip of a coin whether you say that makes it more interesting or less interesting. TV rights would probably make the conversation null and void, the amount of money TV provides for Six Nations. The fact that they all want to watch three games is probably the real answer and there is no other way they’re going to do it.’ VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes . Irish players make a last ditch effort to get the ball over the line during the Six Nations clash in Cardiff . Reddan came off the bench in Rome in 2007, a day when long-serving hooker Rory Best and current assistant coach Simon Easterby started in the pack. Ireland were 34 points to the good with time almost up only for Denis Leamy to tap a penalty in the hope of adding to his team’s eight-try tally. Instead, they were turned over and Italy scored a converted try through Roland de Marigny to crucially help France’s cause. Reddan hasn’t forgotten its consequences. ‘I remember us conceding a try late on that lost us the trophy, which we shouldn’t have conceded. We should have beaten Italy by that extra bit and we would have won the trophy. Simon Zebo is upended during his sides' loss to Wales which ended their Grand Slam hopes . ‘It’s galling, but you do know the rules. You do know what time the games are on. ‘We’re not really stepping back trying to judge the competition because it’s not really going to change, is it? ‘Especially for me, a few days out from this one, to be reflecting that the competition is a bit “off” would be crazy. At the end of the day, we’re playing second and we’re going to have a job to do from the start and that job may change as the game goes on or it may not,’ added Reddan. ‘The way to win a title is probably not to think about a title,’ he added. ‘It’ s frustrating listening to us because you want to grasp on to the fact that we want to go and win the title and all that, but we have a responsibility where there is no margin for error, no margin for anything. Scott Williams (bottom) is congratulated by his Welsh team mates as they defeated Ireland last Saturday . ‘We can’t even live in that world (of title talk) so that is why we give you what we give you in terms of having to win the game first, because if you take your eye off that for a second there is no championship, there is no win. ‘Treating Scotland as if there isn’t a championship on the line is the key. Realising how good they are, realising their threats and treating them just as you would if this game didn’t need to be a points margin (win), treating them like that and keeping it on for the whole game. ‘There were games last year, like against Italy, which got us over the line in the overall. It was 12 points in the last three minutes. That is just about going and going and going again and not getting too carried away with the big picture, just doing your own little thing a bit harder, a bit faster and just keeping that mindset going all the time. ‘We have the responsibility of letting people dream and think big but our responsibility is to focus on the small little things and keep doing it to the end.’ Ireland need to better England's score by four points if they want to win the coveted Six Nations crown . +Warren Gatland has hit out at the RBS 6 Nations fixture scheduling and claimed that Wales and England have consistently been given a difficult opening round tie. The Wales coach claims the draw in Dublin has played into the hands of Ireland over the last decade, with their Celtic rivals being given a favourable round one tie against Italy in seven of the last 14 competitions. ‘Who is doing it?’ said Gatland. ‘The last 15 years have been very tough on England and Wales in terms of the draw we have both received. Who is making that draw? Wales coaches Robert Howley and Warren Gatland chat at training ahead of Saturday's match against Italy . Wales scrum half Gareth Davies and wing George North share a joke during the Wales open session . 'You look at one team who has had a pretty easy run in the last 10 or 15 years and for the next two or three years. Whether that is the broadcasters having an influence, I don't know. ‘It’s a tough tournament to win: win your first game and you get a bit of momentum and put yourself in contention. I don’t know if there should be a rota: I don't make the draw. I have just looked at the last 10 or 15 years and seen who has played who first in the competition. Some teams have obviously had easier starts on a regular basis than others.’ Wales front row Rob Evans in action ahead of his first start in the RBS Six Nations match against Italy . A Six Nations spokesperson claimed the draw is made by an impartial vote, saying: ‘The fixtures are decided after discussions with the unions, the Six Nations office and the broadcasters. 'The schedule is then voted on by the Six Nations council, which has two representatives from each union. Each union has a chance to make their thoughts known and then it comes down to a majority vote. The last vote was unanimous.’ VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes . Wales scrum half Mike Phillips in action during ahead of Saturday's RBS Six Nations match against Italy . +Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw admits the Dark Blues will be left red-faced if they do not end this year's RBS 6 Nations with a victory on Saturday. Vern Cotter's side have impressed in brief spells so far this campaign but have not done enough to beat France, Wales, Italy or England. They now round off their Championships by hosting the Irish at Murrayfield this weekend. Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw (centre) passes the ball during the Six Nations match against England . But with Joe Schmidt's team chasing their second Six Nations title on the spin, they will have to produce a stunning result to spare themselves their third whitewash in 11 years. Asked if it would be embarrassing for Scotland to finish bottom without a win, scrum-half Laidlaw said: 'Well yeah. We don't want to do that, do we? 'As players that is certainly not what we set out to do. 'But we have an opportunity this weekend to make sure we (don't finish with the Wooden Spoon). 'That's all we can do this year unfortunately. We will go out there and give absolutely everything to try and avoid (another defeat). 'It's a huge game for us but I know the boys are absolutely desperate to get out there, put in a good performance and come away with a win.' England's Geoff Parling (left) and Tom Youngs (right) challenge Scotland's Finn Russell at Twickenham . England centre Luther Burrell is tackled by Scotland's Rob Harley (left) and Jonny Gray (right) The Scots impressed so much during November's three-game series against Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga that there were genuine hopes they could perhaps mount a surprise title bid. But those ambitions now lie in tatters. The last-gasp 22-19 defeat to the Azzurri remains the lowest point of a black six weeks, but the clashes with France and Wales also saw big opportunities missed and self-inflicted mistakes prove costly. Laidlaw now hopes his men can at least stride away from the tournament with some pride intact and avoid the prospect of stumbling towards this year's World Cup with heads bowed. 'Where you finish is where you finish,' he said. 'You can't have any qualms about it. 'But we have a chance this weekend to make sure we don't finish bottom. We have got to do everything in our powers to make sure that doesn't happen. 'If we get a win here it gives us some momentum going forward to the World Cup and the four warm-up games.' Anthony Watson (left) charges past Scotland's Alasdair Dickinson (right) during the Six Nations clash . Scotland's David Denton (right) makes a charge down the wing but is upheld by Watson (left) The Scots sparkled for 20 minutes of the first half against England last weekend at Twickenham and even led the Auld Enemy 13-10 at the break. But they failed to build on that platform as Stuart Lancaster's men came back at them with a second-half barrage to claim 12-point win. Since that bruising second-half collapse, head coach Cotter has sat his men down and pointed out the same old mistakes that keep costing them. But Laidlaw insists those brutal home truths need to be told if the Scots are to improve. The Gloucester half-back said: 'Vern is an honest bloke - he doesn't miss when he swings. 'He's been honest but he's been good too. He's a clever coach and the boys appreciate that. 'The boys don't mind being told. We watched the game back and they saw themselves some of the flaws and that makes us frustrated. 'It really was the simple things we did well against England which allowed us to get on the front foot and take the lead. 'But we let them off the hook in the second half. We almost thought, 'Brilliant, we are in the lead, we have a chance'. We relaxed a couple of per cent and let England come back at us. That cost us the game.' The last time Ireland were welcomed into Edinburgh they were mugged 12-8 by Scott Johnson's side and Laidlaw believes the current Dark Blues could learn from that 2013 display. He said: 'Looking back to that game we just did little things well to stay in the game. 'That will be the key again this weekend. We need to get into their half, hold the ball, win penalties then get the scoreboard ticking over. Get three points, six points, maybe then a try. 'Once you start playing in their half, the game becomes so much easier.' Scotland players look dejected following their 25-13 loss to England at Twickenham last Saturday . +Wales head coach Warren Gatland says that prop Samson Lee's World Cup prospects are '50-50' after he was injured during last Saturday's RBS 6 Nations victory over Ireland. Gatland has confirmed that Lee, who was carried off just 14 minutes into the Ireland game, suffered a full rupture of his Achilles. Ospreys prop Aaron Jarvis will replace him for next Saturday's Six Nations appointment with Italy in Rome, with loosehead Rob Evans taking over from Gethin Jenkins, who has a hamstring problem. Gatland said: 'We were hoping he (Lee) was going to have surgery on Monday, but there was too much swelling, and it has been put back a week. Wales will be missing props Gethin Jenkins and Samson Lee when they take on Italy in Rome on Saturday . 'He is a 50-50 chance for the World Cup, but we are confident he has enough time to get back and be available for the World Cup. 'If things go well, he will not be far away.' Evans and Jarvis will line up against Italy, while there are call-ups on the bench for hooker Ken Owens, props Rhys Gill and Scott Andrews and scrum-half Gareth Davies, with Mike Phillips missing out. Owens features among the substitutes instead of Gloucester hooker Richard Hibbard, who had been following return-to-play protocols after taking a blow to his head during the Ireland game. Saracens forward Gill, meanwhile, gains a match-day place after only joining the squad for training on Monday, while Davies - a livewire operator and consistent try-scorer for the Scarlets - gets his chance instead of the hugely-experienced Phillips. VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes - highlights . Rob Evans of Scarlets (right) replaces Jenkins in the squad that travels to the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday . In terms of the starting line-up, it will be Evans' full Wales debut after he went on as a replacement for Jenkins at half-time last Saturday, with Jarvis continuing instead of Lee. Wales will head to the Stadio Olimpico lying third in the Six Nations table behind England and Ireland on points difference. A comprehensive victory over Italy, though, would turn up the heat on their title rivals, with Ireland tackling Scotland at Murrayfield next Saturday, followed by England hosting France at Twickenham. Ospreys prop Aaron Jarvis has also been called up as a replacement as Wales look to win the RBS 6 Nations . Gatland added: 'It was great to get the result we wanted in front of our home supporters last weekend and to give us a chance going into the last round of action. 'Obviously, it's disappointing for Gethin and Samson, but Rob and Aaron stepped up well last weekend and we expect the same on Saturday. 'The challenge to us is to go to Italy and win, and try to win by a significant margin, but we know that's an extremely tough ask and the first job will be to simply get the result. Jenkins (right) joins Wales team-mate Aaron Jarvis in tackling Ireland's Jamie Heaslip on Saturday . 'Italy build their confidence around the scrum and lineout drive, and that is an area we are going to have to compete strongly in at the start of the match.' Wales have won five of their previous seven Six Nations visits to Rome, highlighted by a 38-8 victory in 2005. And they are going to need something similar - if not better - if they are to realistically have a chance of securing their third Six Nations title in four years. +Rob Kearney has vowed that the ‘real Ireland’ will roar into Murrayfield to try and salvage a Six Nations title win on Saturday, amid continuing criticism of the performance in defeat to Wales. Ireland face a major challenge to retain the championship with England enjoying a better points difference and Wales expected to run up a big total against Italy in Rome. However, the Welsh were left fuming on Monday night after it emerged there will be no trophy to present to Sam Warburton in the Stadio Olimpico even if it transpires after the final match of the day between England and France that the Welsh are champions. Rob Kearney has vowed that the ‘real Ireland’ will try to salvage a Six Nations title win . There are two Six Nations trophies and one will be in Murrayfield, and the other in Twickenham, a planning decision that has caused anger amongst some Welsh supporters. It will require a more coherent and less error-addled performance from Ireland to defeat the Scots, and Kearney did not shirk the challenge laid down before he and his team-mates. ‘This week will be a big test and will give a really strong insight into the group as a whole, how we react after a very disappointing defeat,’ the full-back said. ‘We’ll see the real Ireland step up this week. A lot of us who underperformed last week know if we get the opportunity, [we have] to right a lot of those wrongs.’ Ireland’s message for the week appears to have been decided: they will say they have no interest in chasing a big points total against winless Scotland, but Kearney did intimate that at least the desire for a more attacking style is there. The impression was of players straining, impatient for their coaches to let slip the leash. Yet whether it is admitted or not, the sense in salting away as big a points difference as possible is evident given England’s superior figures and the fact that they are hosting underwhelming France. Wales will also be confident of eating into the Irish and English points’ advantage against Italy. ‘I think any time you get to the last game of a championship you can go and play a bit,’ said Kearney on the question of style. ‘When I say that, it’s important the wrong perception isn’t picked up here and that we’re going to chase this game and we’re going to try and build points, because we’re not,’ he quickly added. VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes - highlights . Ireland will need a more coherent and less error-addled performance to defeat Scotland . ‘But we do know that we have to go out and give this game a right bash. It’s important to get the win but how we do that will be no different to over the last three or four weeks.’ The Ireland style council remain unmoved by criticisms of their game, and the claim in its aftermath that they were forced to work outside the strict instructions provided by Schmidt in chasing the match last Saturday. That explained the dislocated moves close to the Wales line, goes this argument. ‘We have good confidence in our running game,’ said Kearney. ‘We were just getting a lot of value from our kicking game. If you launch up a ball and it travels 40 metres and you get it back, that is the equivalent of a 40-yard line break which is very hard to come by. ‘I think the other side of that is maybe we were chasing the game a bit from early so maybe we were forced to keep the ball in hand a little bit more and try and go after the game.’ They couldn’t do so, but there is little expectation of significant changes being made by Schmidt for the trip to Scotland. One of the rare positives to survive the journey to Wales was the fitness of the squad. Ireland were criticised for their poor performance in Six Nations defeat by Wales . No new casualties were sustained, and it is certain that the coach will stay largely faithful to the team that started in the Millennium Stadium. Iain Henderson was the most dynamic of the subs used against Wales and is the most probable point of discussion in team selection this week, with a start in the second row rather than the back row a possibility. There have also been calls from some for the addition of Luke Fitzgerald to the replacements’ bench. Kearney admitted that when a team is changed it can sharpen the attention of everyone within the group. ‘It keeps everyone on their toes. I think every single player has been dropped at some stage in their career. It’s happened to the very best of guys. You’ve got new guys coming into the team and they bring a huge amount of energy and excitement because they’re finally getting their chance. ‘The guys who performed under par realise that maybe they have been given a second chance and they really need to pull their socks up. ‘I think when that does happen there can be some positives taken from it.’ +Zafar Ansari and Mark Wood could be beneficiaries of the uncertainty around an England Test squad whose reputation has been left in tatters by the World Cup. Question marks remain over the fitness of Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes ahead of Wednesday’s naming of the party for a three-Test series against the West Indies that Peter Moores desperately needs to win if he is to remain England coach. Moeen and Woakes were injured towards the end of England’s disastrous World Cup campaign and are far from certain of being fit ahead of the first Test in Antigua on April 13 that follows two warm-up games in St Kitts. Zafar Ansari could be named as part of the England squad ahead of the three-Test series against West Indies . The 23-year-old is an all-rounder who bowls left-arm orthodox spin and opens the batting for Surrey . The 23-year-old Zafar Ansari is an all-rounder who bowls left-arm orthodox spin and opens the batting for Surrey. IS HE ANY GOOD? Just ask Kevin Pietersen! So often a victim of left-arm spin, the former England batsman was dismissed by a 19-year-old Ansari as Cambridge University beat Surrey by 10 wickets in 2011. Ansari has 54 first-class wickets and a batting average of 30.16. ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW? Ansari would probably be among the smarter cricketers in England’s tour party, having studied politics at Cambridge. He admits he is often ribbed by his team-mates for having a crossword out in the dressing room. That means Surrey’s left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Ansari and Durham pace bowler Wood could be named to travel with the squad as cover for Moeen and Woakes in the early days of the month-long tour. Ansari, 23, is predominantly a batsman and topped 1,000 championship runs last season but is perhaps the nearest equivalent to Moeen on the circuit. Wood impressed England’s outgoing fast bowling coach David Saker during a training camp in South Africa before Christmas and only fitness concerns have held the 25-year-old back from full international recognition. It seems certain that Jonathan Trott, now returned to full fitness after leaving England’s last Ashes tour with a condition later diagnosed as situational anxiety, will return after a successful tour of South Africa as Lions captain. England’s Test middle order is settled following the success of Gary Ballance, Joe Root and Ian Bell in the three successive victories over India last summer, leaving Trott to battle Sam Robson to become Alastair Cook’s opening partner. Mark Wood (centre) could also be included in England's test squad to face the West Indies . Question marks remain over the fitness of Moeen Ali (pictured) ahead of the Test series . Peter Moores desperately needs England to defeat the West Indies if he is to remain coach . Cook, sacked as one-day captain on the brink of the World Cup, returns to action for MCC against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi starting on Sunday and will then seek to build on the progress made by England in Test cricket last summer. Jonny Bairstow, one of the casualties of the fall-out from the last Ashes, is favourite to tour as reserve wicketkeeper ahead of Kent’s exciting Sam Billings, while Adil Rashid and James Tredwell will compete for the other spin place. Rashid, a more mature performer than when he was thrust into the England squad prematurely in 2009, looked a certainty to tour until he bowled poorly for the Lions in South Africa and may now be pipped by the more reliable Tredwell. Such is the desperate state of English cricket after the World Cup that the pressure will be on not just Moores but also managing director Paul Downton when England take on a West Indies side who look sure to be weakened by the Indian Premier League. Chris Gayle, for one, is likely to retire from international cricket after the World Cup and West Indies should be even more vulnerable than England. Cook (Essex, capt), Robson (Middlesex), Ballance (Yorkshire), Bell (Warwickshire), Root (Yorkshire), Moeen (Worcestershire) or Ansari (Surrey), Buttler (Lancashire), Woakes (Warwickshire) or Wood (Durham), Jordan (Sussex), Broad (Nottinghamshire), Anderson (Lancashire), Trott (Warwickshire), Bairstow (Yorkshire), Plunkett (Yorkshire), Rashid (Yorkshire) or Tredwell (Kent). +The thought may have occurred to Sam Robson that there has never been a better time to be an England Test specialist. As the nation rakes over the debris of yet another World Cup fiasco, the Test squad named on Wednesday for next month’s three-match series in the Caribbean will be depicted as English cricket’s chance to start the clean-up operation. And though the Australian-born Robson had his first taste of the big time last summer, he has not represented his adopted country since the Oval Test against India in August. Selection for the West Indies – for the first of 17 Tests in 10 months – will almost feel like starting afresh, all over again. Sam Robson (centre) is ready to battle for his England place after a mixed maiden summer in Test cricket . Robson celebrated his first England century in just his second Test as he scored 127 against Sri Lanka . Robson’s quest to resume his opening partnership with Alastair Cook will face competition if Jonathan Trott is deemed ready to resume his England career following his stress-related condition. But the prize is glittering on the horizon: the chance to help win back the Ashes this summer. ‘To play in an Ashes series would be massive for me,’ Robson told Sportsmail. ‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super keen. But there are five Tests before then, and I’m hoping first and foremost to play in them.’ Robson’s first challenge will be to quell the chatter about his technique and nail the only spot in the Test batting line-up that remains up for grabs. After scoring a composed century in only his second game for England, against Sri Lanka at Headingley, he began the series against India with a steady 59 at Trent Bridge. But his fortunes ebbed. Six more Test innings brought him a top score of 37. And, as one of the few batsmen not to cash in against a mediocre Indian attack, he repeatedly found himself on the wrong end of the pundits’ analysis. But Robson's judgement outside off stump has been questioned after dismissals caught behind and bowled . Robson tucks into the Indian bowling at Trent Bridge last July, but failed to notch a ton against the tourists . ROBSON . Tests: 7 . Innings: 11 . Runs: 336 . Batting average: 30.54 . Hundreds: 1 . Fifties: 1 . Top score: 127 (vs Sri Lanka) TROTT . Tests: 49 . Innings: 87 . Runs: 3763 . Batting average: 46.45 . Hundreds: 9 . Fifties: 18 . Top score: 226 (vs Bangladesh) Last summer, he was caught in the cordon five times, bowled four times and lbw twice. Experts made a simple diagnosis: Robson had a flaw around off stump. ‘It is something I’m conscious of,’ he said. ‘Knowing where your off stump is as an opening batsman is crucial. I’ve worked on it just as I’ve worked on other areas of my game. But I’m not walking out there expecting never to nick another one. ‘I was a little bit disappointed not to get another big score last summer after I’d set myself a good base. But I still look back with pride on the 3-1 series win against India, and the Test hundred was something which made me feel comfortable with the environment. ‘There was a very welcoming culture in the dressing-room, which helped all the young guys coming in. After the disappointing loss to Sri Lanka, that helped us turn things round pretty quickly. I’m hungry if I get another chance to score some big runs.’ While many of the colleagues he hopes to team up with in the Caribbean have spent the last few months confirming England’s traditional struggle with 50-over cricket, Robson has been assiduously working on his game in South Africa with the ECB’s performance programme and the Lions. And he reserves special praise for the coaching of Andy Flower and Graham Thorpe. ‘I’ve always been someone who likes to hear as many views as possible, especially from guys who have played lots of Test cricket, and then apply it to my own game,’ he said. ‘In the end you’ve got to work things out for yourself. Jonathan Trott could be ready to resume his England career, which would pile pressure on Robson's place . The 25-year-old opener has been able to learn from Andrew Strauss and Chris Rogers at Middlesex . ‘Andy talks a lot about your approach to batting – how to score runs, as opposed to just technique. If he notices something technical, he’ll say it. But he doesn’t just say stuff for the sake of it. He likes to keep things simple. Graham Thorpe is the same. They spot things, but they don’t go on and on.’ Only 25, Robson has already been privileged to open with Andrew Strauss and Australia’s Chris Rogers at Middlesex, as well as Cook last summer – that’s 50 Test centuries’ worth of experience to learn from at the other end. ‘My game’s in good order,’ said Robson, who is currently in Abu Dhabi for a spot of pre-season training with Middlesex. ‘I’ve had enough cricket over the winter to work on it, and I feel refreshed. I feel ready to go and really hopeful of getting picked in the squad. I just want to get out there and do the job.’ +Mauricio Pochettino wants to re-integrate Alex Pritchard into Tottenham's first-team squad next season. The 21-year-old has spent the season on loan at Championship side Brentford, impressing for Mark Warburton's side in their fight for promotion. Spurs have kept a close eye on Pritchard's progress this season and have been hugely impressed by what they have seen. Alex Pritchard (left) has impressed while on loan at Championship side Brentford this season . The 21-year-old midfielder is likely to be given a chance in Tottenham's first-team next season . And White Hart Lane coaches believe Pritchard can become the next academy star to make an impact on the senior side from next season. Pochettino has helped nurture the careers of homegrown talent such as Harry Kane and Ryan Mason since his arrival last summer. And Pritchard, who has four England Under-21 caps, is in line to join Kane and Mason next season. Speaking earlier this month, Bees boss Warburton said: 'He can dominate a football. Alex is at his best with the ball at his feet. 'He sees a pass. He’s the best player I’ve seen in this division, certainly, to receive the ball on the half-turn at pace. Tottenham coaches believe Pritchard can follow in the footsteps of academy product Harry Kane . Brentford boss Mark Warburton thinks that Pritchard is capable of improving Tottenham's squad . 'Left or right side, he has the ability to take it on the half-turn and for us, how we play, that hurts the opposition. 'Technically he’s outstanding. For me, he is nailed on Premier League. 'I’d never be disrespectful enough to speak about what Spurs should do or could do with him. 'But in my opinion, I think he is more than good enough to go and positively impact their playing squad.' +Roy Hodgson must convince Saido Berahino that his international future is with England after the forward received an official approach from Burundi. Berahino, who has scored 16 times for West Brom in the Barclays Premier League this season, was called into the England squad for the first time in November. The striker was born in Burundi and a delegation of officials from the tiny country in south-east Africa have been courting him this week. Saido Berahino (left, in action for West Brom against Aston Villa) has impressed England boss Roy Hodgson . Berahino was called in to the senior England squad last November but is also wanted by his native Burundi . Burundi, 126th in the FIFA rankings, play Mauritius in a friendly on March 25 and want to name the West Brom forward in their squad. England’s head coach names his squad on Thursday for the Euro 2016 clash with Lithuania on March 27 at Wembley and the friendly in Turin against Italy four days later. Berahino has yet to represent the England team and he would still be permitted to switch nationalities under FIFA rules. Hodgson’s striking options have been swelled by the return from injury of Daniel Sturridge, along with regular forwards Danny Welbeck and England captain Wayne Rooney. Hodgson has already made it clear that he intends to select Tottenham forward Harry Kane when he names his squad at the national stadium next week. Berahino celebrates scoring for England's U21s but can switch allegiances having not played for the seniors . Berahino trains with the senior England squad in November (left) and in action for the U21s . Kane, who is the Spurs squad travelling to Manchester United on Sunday, has scored 16 times in the Barclays Premier League and was named player of the month for the second time on Friday. His emergence means Hodgson has a dilemma over who to select as his fifth striker. Berahino, an England Under-21 international, was named in the full squad for the first time in November for the clashes with Slovenia in a Euro 2016 qualifier and the friendly with Scotland at Celtic Park. He was an unused substitute in both games, but Hodgson predicted a bright future for the forward after he spent a week training with the national team. +Sami Khedira 'would not help any team' according to Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer, because injuries have ruined his physical attributes. Khedira's contract at Real Madrid expires this summer, and the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked with the World Cup winner. But Beckenbauer was scathing about the German's value, after a season in which he has been dogged by injuries and started just four league games for Real Madrid. Sami Khedira returned to Champions League action last week, but has not been a Real Madrid regular . Khedira has had injury problems since winning the World Cup with Germany last summer in Brazil . 'In his current physical shape Khedira would not help any team forward,' Beckenbauer told Sky. 'He is missing something in each aspect of the game at the moment. 'His ability to keep on running in midfield was key to his game. He does not add much without that...' The German midfielder has come under fire from Franz Beckenbauer over his lack of fitness . Khedira lines up alongside his international team-mate Toni Kroos for a rare start against Schalke . +Spanish newspaper Marca has criticised the BBC over an article that claimed the publication had launched 'a vicious attack' on Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale. The BBC published an article last week with the headline 'Gareth Bale: The 'Lazy loner' under fire at Real Madrid' which alleged Marca had been overly critical of Bale as a way of attacking Real club president Florentino Perez. Marca has reacted furiously, defending its coverage of Bale and hitting out at the BBC in an article entitled 'Hooligans on the BBC'. Gareth Bale was the subject of an article on the BBC entitled: 'The 'Lazy loner' under fire at Real Madrid' The article alleged Marca had been critical of Bale as a way of attacking club president Florentino Perez . 'For the record, Marca does not engage in campaigns; it informs readers. Rigorously,' it read. 'Something that apparently can no longer be said of the BBC who, like ITV, seem now to be all about drama.' Marca disputed the BBC's claim that Bale had been placed in the middle of 'an ugly power struggle between club president Florentino Perez and the country's most influential sports newspaper, Marca'. Marca defending its coverage of Bale and hitting out at the BBC in an article entitled 'Hooligans on the BBC' The Welsh forward responded to his critics by scoring both goals in Real's 2-0 win over Levante on Sunday . Marca's statement continued: 'These comments are wholly unfounded and unjust - all the information published (in Marca) about Bale had been duly sourced and corroborated - but they also twisted things out of context. 'This is because the analysis of Bale featured in (the BBC) piece was just one part of some 20 pages of coverage over two days last week looking at Real Madrid's struggles, in which other individuals and problems related to the team as a whole were discussed at length.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'We stand by the original story written by our Spanish football writer, Andy West, and it's difficult to see the relevance of some of the comments in the responding Marca article.' Bale was on a scoreless streak before finding the net against Levante - the perfect preparation for El Clasico . VIDEO Bale double silences critics . +As Manchester City are faced with the daunting task of overturning a 2-1 aggregate deficit in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 against Barcelona on Wednesday night, midfield powerhouse Yaya Toure has shown he is not letting the pressure get to him. Strapped to heart monitors and presented with a series of pictures ranging from a cute golden retriever puppy to the Champions League trophy and Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta, the 31-year-old's pulse rate remained steady throughout. City have never progressed to the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition and will have to be at their absolute best to pull off a special result at the Nou Camp if that is to change, but judging by Toure's show of confidence, the Ivorian is certainly up for the match against his former club. Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure is linked up to a heart monitor as part of a Nissan advertising video . The Ivorian is shown a series of pictures including a snap of a cute golden retriever puppy . Toure's pulse remains steady throughout the video as City prepare to face Barcelona on Wednesday night . One of Nissan's new models is showcased as part of the advertising campaign . Toure shows that he is ready and raring to go ahead of the crucial match at the Nou Camp . The video Toure was starring in was part of a promotional campaign for Nissan, who are official sponsors of the Champions League. Toure joined City from Barcelona in 2010 for a reported £24 million fee and has since gone on to become one of the Sky Blues' most important players. Meanwhile, Iniesta, who played alongside Toure for the Catalan side while he was there, is well aware of his old team-mate's capabilities. 'He is very important for them, he is very powerful physically and he has important qualities because of all his skills,' the Spaniard said. Car manufacturers Nissan are one of the official sponsors of the UEFA champions League . Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta is widely regarded as one of the Catalan side's best players . A close-up of Toure's eyes shows exactly how focused the player is ahead of his return to the the Nou Camp . +As Manchester City jetted out to Spain on Tuesday for their Champions League decider, Bacary Sagna is likely to have packed a few unexpected items... including his selfie stick. The Premier League champions trail Barcelona 2-1 heading into the last 16 return leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday with their European hopes in the balance after Luis Suarez returned to England to score a brace at the Etihad in the opening tie. Speaking to the club's official website while away in Abu Dhabi earlier this season, the France international talked through the contents of his suitcase for away trips in a MTV Cribs-style video interview. Bacary Sagna has revealed what he takes with him for away trips with Manchester City . THe Frenchman brings his own iron with him to ensure his colourful wardrobe is always looking its best . The City defender enthused about his French moisturiser, but mistakenly claimed to be carrying 'lipstick' Sagna cheers himself up by watching a clip of his wonder goal during France training . The 32-year-old demonstrates the use of, perhaps his most unusual item, a selfie stick . Read 10 reasons why City can progress at the Nou Camp . You may expect a Premier League player's travel bag to include an i-Pad, training kits and hair products - but, perhaps not a selfie stick, which Sagna demonstrates ahead of hoping to take pictures of himself visiting a nearby mosque. As well as bringing a colourful wardrobe, which is supplemented by his own iron to ensure his clothes are always crisp, the 32-year-old also went through his toiletries - while mistakenly referring to his lip balm as 'lipstick'. City trail Barcelona 2-1 heading to Spain after Luis Suarez returned to England to net a brace at the Etihad . Sagna (left) trains with team-mates in a final session before leaving for the Nou Camp . The France international and Stevan Jovetic (left) are unlikey to start the Champions League clash . Among his videos stored on his laptop are The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington along with Game of Thrones, Entourage and Breaking Bad box sets. And, the former Arsenal defender, also revealed he watches a clip of himself scoring a wonder goal during World Cup training with France when he needs 'cheering up'. Although Sagna is unlikely to start against Lionel Messi and Co, City may need an inspirational moment like that strike if they are to defy the odds to reach the Champions League quarter finals for the first time in their history. +Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure says the players owe it to the supporters and the owners to turn around the deficit they face going into Wednesday's Champions League clash with Barcelona. Manuel Pellegrini's side travel to the Nou Camp having been beaten 2-1 at the Etihad three weeks ago with a place in the last eight of the competition at stake. City go into the game off the back of a disappointing run of form, including defeat by Burnley last Saturday, that has seen their Premier League title challenge slip. Yaya Toure shares a joke with Eliaquim Mangala as Man City trained ahead of Barcelona clash on Tuesday . Ivory Coast international Toure faces the media ahead of the Champions League clash at the Nou Camp . Toure accepts that City are in a difficult moment but insists the players are working hard to give the supporters something to cheer as they look to reach their first Champions League quarter-final. 'We all know what we have to do, the owners have spent a lot of money to make this one of the top clubs in Europe. We have had some difficulties but we are working hard. 'It's not the first time we have been in this situation. We'll try to do it for the fans and the club and the people who continue to help us.' The Ivory Coast international was also forced to bat off questions about his manager's future. Toure, pictured at training with Wilfried Bony, says the players want to do it for the supporters . The former Barcelona midfielder and manager Manuel Pellegrini field questions from the press on Tuesday . 'I think football is like that,' said the Ivory Coast international to a question concerning the speculation surrounding Pellegrini. 'Last year was brilliant, everyone was saying Manchester City are a top team in Europe - but all of a sudden we have some problems and we're the worst team in the world. Meanwhile, Fernandinho believes City can take inspiration from the away performances in the Champions League by Schalke and PSG, who beat Real Madrid and Chelsea respectively. The City players are put through their paces before their crunch Champions League clash . Fernandinho, right, says City can take inspiration from the away performances of Schalke and PSG . 'Last week, there were two teams that played with character away from home and our intentions are the same. 'Schalke and PSG played great football, and our team can probably be inspired by these two teams and their results - maybe it can help a little bit. 'But more important than that is to make sure we do our job, play our game, play against Barcelona on the same level and try to win.' +Juventus travel to face Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night knowing that if they do not score, their German opponents can knock them out with a single goal. So the message is clear: they must attack. Head coach Massimiliano Allegri has spoken out ahead of the game urging his team to show they are far from the side cast as 'boring' that lead Italy's Serie A - and the Italian sport newspapers have reflected the boss' vision. La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport and Corriere dello Sport all call for the nation's champions to attack Dortmund, with a forward line including Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang unlikely to be restricted to an extent that they are unable to score the one goal that could send Dortmund through after Juve's 2-1 home win last month. La Gazzetta dello Sport's: 'Go Juve! The right choice' and Tuttosport's: 'The order of Allegri: Let's attack!' Corriere dello Sport's front page barks out: 'Juve, take Europe' after Massimiliano Allegri's comments . Tuttosport's message is the most resounding, with their front page specifically calling for Juve to attack at the Signal Iduna Park making it clear that in order to qualify, the Old Lady need goals. The paper also calls for Argentine winger Roberto Pereyra to be used in a 4-3-1-2 system by Allegri - who it also reports is set to be offered a new contract. Both Gazzetta and Corriere look to Juventus' talisman, former Manchester City and Manchester United striker, Carlos Tevez. Gazzetta also want to see Pereyra deployed in a 4-3-1-2 behind Tevez and Alvaro Morata in a game that could be worth £6.5million to Juve. Carlos Tevez trains ahead of the last-16 tie, and the Italian papers see him as a key man for Juventus . Paul Pogba takes a moment away from the training session as Juventus look to hold on to their lead . Meanwhile, Corriere calls for the 'class of Tevez and super defence to tackle Klopp'. 'We go into the game with an advantage,' Allegri said ahead of the game. 'We know the difficulties of the task ahead of us, no doubt about it. 'I don't expect it to end 0-0. We need to score at least once and if we could score two goals it would be great.' Allegri believes the game in Dortmund will not end 0-0 and that his side will need to find a way to score . Alvaro Morata hits a pass during training, and Gazzetta dello Sport want him upfront alongside Tevez . The Germans have been improving in recent weeks after a bad first half to the Bundesliga season and have lost none of their last six league games. They are also unbeaten at home in Europe this season although they have lost all three previous encounters against the Italians in Dortmund. 'We have to be ready for the strengths of Dortmund, their speed, their pressure,' the Italian coach added. 'We have to have a technically perfect game and pounce on their weaknesses.' The Italian papers called for Tevez to lead the attack at the Signal Iduna Park while Juve's defence holds firm . Roberto Pereyra (second right) is seen as a key man by the Italian papers, who want him deployed in a 4-3-1-2 . +Gareth Bale has nothing to prove to Wales, according to his international manager Chris Coleman. The world's most expensive player has come in for sustained criticism during his second season at Real Madrid, but Coleman said: 'I think I'd be on dangerous ground if I said to Baley: 'I need a bit more from you.'' Coleman spoke after naming his squad featuring Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Ashley Williams. Sam Vokes was also called up for the first time in 12 months following his serious knee injury. Gareth Bale covers his ears while celebrating a goal in response to Real Madrid fans' recent criticism . Bale is congratulated by Luka Modric after the first of his two goals in Real Madrid's win over Levante . Read how Bale's treatment at the Bernabeu shows how it can be difficult for foreign players abroad . Bale could be handed a free role should Vokes feature at centre-forward in the key Euro 2016 qualifying clash in Israel, but Coleman suggested any appearance would be from the bench. Coleman said the Burnley striker, who contributed significantly to their 1-0 win over Manchester City, needs 'a little bit more' action before he is considered match-fit. Coleman believes Bale can benefit from being back among his Wales colleagues. 'There us not much more we can ask of Baley, he keeps coming and giving what he' s got,' said Coleman. 'It's not just his performances it's his body language. Wales boss Chris Coleman is not worried about his star player, saying he has' nothing to prove' The world's most expensive player celebrates scoring for Wales against Cyprus in October . 'He's got no points to prove to us. His fight in Madrid and what he has to prove every time he goes on the pitch is separate from us.' Coleman said Bale was 'caught in the middle' at Real but 'will come through'. 'People say he's had a bad season but Real are in the quarter finals of the Champions League, still with a chance of La Liga, and he has scored 16 goals and god knows how many assists. I have no worries about him, he's the last person I'm worried about.' Burnley striker Sam Vokes (right) has been called up by his national team for the first time . Coleman hopes Aaron Ramsey can continue the form he showed after coming on against Monaco . Coleman hopes Ramsey can continue for Wales where he left off for Arsenal in Monaco. 'He scored a good goal but Rambo at his best dictates the tempo of the game, he did that when he came on,' said Coleman. 'In fairness the last few games for us he's been a little bit quiet. But he's fit at the minute, let's get past this weekend and hope when we go to Israel he is at his best and running the game for us. When he is like that he gives us a great chance.' Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Owain Fon Williams (Tranmere Rovers), Daniel Ward (Liverpool). Defence: Ashley Williams (Swansea City), James Collins (West Ham United), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Gunter (Reading), Neil Taylor (Swansea City), Samuel Ricketts (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ashley Richards (Swansea City), Adam Henley (Blackburn Rovers). Midfield: Joe Allen (Liverpool), Joe Ledley (Crystal Palace), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest), David Edwards (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Shaun MacDonald (AFC Bournemouth). Attack: David Cotterill (Birmingham City), Hal Robson-Kanu (Reading), Tom Lawrence (Leicester City), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Simon Church (Charlton Athletic), Sam Vokes (Burnley). +The first two-footed challenge went in from Jose Mourinho when he claimed Paris Saint-Germain’s kickers were a refined version of Shrewsbury Town. It was a razor-sharp comment, designed to rile the French champions and put down a marker for Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers ahead of the second leg. Sometimes this stuff bites you on the backside. Mourinho will be picking the bones out of this for days because they were beaten at their own petty game by the perseverance of this PSG team. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was dismissed for this tackle on Oscar, leaving PSG without their talisman . Chelsea players react as referee Kuipers pulls the red card from his pocket . The crestfallen Swede was shown a straight red to light the touchpaper on a tetchy European tie . There was a minor victory for Chelsea, with the foul count showing that Mourinho’s team had committed 24 to the visitors’ 17 at the end of 120 chaotic minutes here at Stamford Bridge. The reality is that they were beaten at their own game. For PSG to do it with 10 men in extra-time, after the ludicrous dismissal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 32nd minute, is an even mightier achievement. The PSG striker pointed at his battle scars as he left the pitch, well aware that the reaction of Chelsea’s players to the collision with Oscar had helped Kuipers with the decision. ‘I spoke to him and he told me he didn’t mean it,’ admitted Mourinho. The pair are close from his time at Inter. After surrounding Kuipers, Chelsea’s players called for the physio and team doctor to sprint on to tend to the stricken Oscar. Predictably, within minutes, he was back on his feet. It is to Ibrahimovic’s credit that he left the field with dignity and composure, walking towards the tunnel and ignoring the clamour from the stands for a reaction. ‘When the red card happened, the worst thing was the Chelsea players — I felt there were 11 babies around me,’ admitted an understandably aggrieved Ibrahimovic. David Luiz engaged in some gamesmanship, attempting to get Costa in trouble . Jose Mourinho chats with former charge David Luiz after Ibrahimovic's sending off as Laurent Blanc looks on . It was a brutal but fair assessment of the moment that could easily have turned this tie in Chelsea’s favour. There were feuds everywhere: David Luiz versus Diego Costa, Chelsea’s substitute keeper Petr Cech versus PSG midfielder Marco Verratti, Verratti against the world. At every turn, someone, somewhere on the field at Stamford Bridge was rowing with somebody. Costa could start a fight in an empty phone box, never mind an 18-yard box, gnawing away at everyone and everything during an ill-disciplined performance up top for Chelsea. This guy is really stewing at the minute. He has gone a season without scoring in the Champions League and will have to wait until September to get going again in this competition. Luiz got inside his head, jabbering away at him in their native Brazilian-Portuguese tongue in an attempt to destabilise the forward. Costa, as we know, has only mastered one language. The Chelsea striker should have been sent off here — several times, as it happens — for his innumerable transgressions. He really is an angry man. David Luiz feels the force of retribution from Diego Costa after the pair regularly crashed at Stamford Bridge . An outraged Costa reacts histrionically after Kuipers waved away his penalty appeal . In the same motion he could have been booked and sent off when he caught Maxwell from behind close to the touchline of the East Stand and then appeared to accept the challenge from Luiz to graze his forehead. He escaped with a yellow card. There was another escape, this time when he shoved over the excellent Marquinhos in a fit of pique. Quite how he survived is a story in itself. He lives life on the edge, claiming he had been elbowed by Luiz in a hit-and-run job. It was an off-the-ball incident, retribution by the former Chelsea defender after he had collided with the pugnacious forward earlier in the first half. He was throwing punches a few moments later, hitting the ground repeatedly after he was denied a clear penalty when Edinson Cavani took him out as he made his way into the area. These are the fine lines of European football, with every challenge, skirmish and wrangle potentially punishable with an on-the-spot sanction from these notoriously pernickity officials. John Terry battles for the ball with Edinson Cavani as the duo battle for possession at Stamford Bridge . Costa falls to the turf after a challenge from Thiago Silva during a bad-tempered affair in west London . Mourinho convinced us that Blanc had put the French champions on a diet of raw meat ahead of this second leg. This will eat away at him for months to come. ‘I need to go away and think about how this happened,’ admitted Mourinho. Perhaps next time, he should keep both feet on the floor. +The contest was effectively over before it began. With two minutes and 39 seconds on the clock, Shakhtar Donetsk defender Olexandr Kucher received the quickest red card in Champions League history before Thomas Muller converted the resulting penalty. The 10 men never stood a chance as Bayern Munich sauntered into the quarter-finals at the Allianz Arena. Jerome Boateng added a second for the German champions in the first half before Franck Ribery, Muller, Holger Badstuber, Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze completed the rout. Robert Lewandowski slides the ball past Andriy Pyatov to make it 6-0 to Bayern Munich . The Poland international clenches his fist in celebration as Pep Guardiola's side ran riot . Holger Badstuber powers a free header past the Shakhtar keeper to make it five . The Bayern defender lets out a roar in celebration after netting in the last 16 second leg . Thomas Muller slides the ball into an empty net after it broke kindly to him in the penalty box . Pyatov looks back in despair as Franck Ribery fires past him from a tight angle to make it 3-0 . Bayern Munich: Neuer, Boateng, Badstuber (Dante 67), Alaba, Rafinha, Schweinsteiger, Gotze, Muller, Ribery (Bernat 59), Robben (Rode 19), Lewandowski . Subs not used: Benatia, Pizarro, Lahm, Reina . Scorer(s): Muller 4, 51, Boateng 34, Ribery 48, Badstuber 63, Lewandowski 75, Gotze 87 . Booked: Boateng, Badstuber . Manager: Pep Guardiola . Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk, Fred, Stepanenko, Douglas Costa (Wellington 79), Teixeira (Ilsinho 70), Taison (Kryvtsov 9), Adriano . Subs not used: Fernando, Gladkiy, Kanibolotskiy, Ferreira Bonfim . Booked: Douglas Costa . Sent off: Kucher 3 . Manager: Mircea Lucescu . Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland) Shakhtar had held Bayern to a hugely credible goalless draw in Donetsk three weeks ago but, knowing that an away goal in Bavaria could prove crucial, got off to the worst start possible. Mario Gotze burst into the Shakhtar penalty area after he being released by Franck Ribery's slick first time pass before Kucher went to ground. The contact was minimal but enough to fell the World Cup-winner. Muller made no mistake from 12 yards after the defender had harshly been brandished with a red card. The hosts had to wait 30 minutes before doubling the lead as Robert Lewandowski, who should have scored, hit the post before Andriy Pyatov denied Ribery with a smart stop. But the Ukrainian outfit's resistance was finally broken again on 34 minutes. Former Manchester City defender Boateng tapped home from a yard out after Pyatov had saved at Lewandowski's feet. Ribery added a third for the home side on 49 minutes after exchanging passes with David Alaba before firing a crisp effort past Pyatov from a tight angle. Ribery celebrates with the ball under his shirt after scoring Bayern's third . Jerome Boateng taps home from less than a yard out to double Bayern's lead in the first half . The former Manchester City defender points to the sky in celebration as he is mobbed by team-mates . Thomas Muller celebrates after giving Bayern Munich a fourth minute lead from the penalty spot . Shakhtar Donetsk were reduced to 10 men after just 2 min 39 sec after Oleksandr Kucher felled Mario Gotze . Kucher brought down the World Cup winner as he burst into the box . Muller netted his second of the night just two minutes later when the ball fell kindly to the forward 14 yards out after good work down the left by Ribery. It was to be five in the 63rd minute when Holger Badstuber powered a free header past Pyatov, who got a hand on the effort, after a cross whipped in by Rafinha. Lewandowski made it six with 15 minutes left after breaking clear of the Shakhtar backline before applying a cool finish and Gotze rounded off an impressive performance with a goal of his own in the 87th minute as Bayern eased into the last eight. +Respect for officials may not always be at the levels the referees would hope, but Fiorentina seem to have taken it further than most during their game against AC Milan on Tuesday. 'La Viola' players were in the middle of a startling comeback win, and held the momentum with five minutes to go having just equalised through Gonzalo Rodriguez, when referee Carmine Rosso halted the game to get treatment. Rosso left the pitch, thinking he had stopped play, to receive medical attention and eventually be replaced by his fourth official. Fiorentina players continue to play against Milan, despite there being no referee on the pitch . The players looked genuinely surprised when they were pulled back after the lack of official was pointed out . Carmine Rosso didn't realise the players were continuing as he left the pitch to receive treatment . Rosso blew his whistle and gestured angrily to halt the play, before being replaced by the fourth official . After a short stoppage Rosso was replaced, before Fiorentina went on to win the game with a late goal . However, the Fiorentina stars took no notice, continuing to attack with no referee on the pitch, until the official, rather angrily, had to forcefully bring the move to the end with several short blasts on his whistle. Eventually the men in purple realised what was going on and stopped so that Rosso could be replaced, in an incident similar to Chris Foy's injury during Arsenal's win over West Ham this weekend. However, the stoppage did little to interrupt Vincenzo Montella's side, as just moments later Joaquin scored a header to put them in front and secure a superb come from behind win. Gonzalo Rodriguez headed in Joaquin's cross to level in the 83rd minute against Milan . Joaquin scored the winner for Fiorentina with a header in the 89th minute . +A car used by Cypriot referee Leontios Trattos was set on fire early on Tuesday, police said, the second time he has been targeted in just over a year. The incident is the latest in a string of threats and attacks against referees and their families which led to calls for the officials to boycott games. Police said the car, which was parked in the basement of Trattos' residence at an apartment block in a suburb of the capital Nicosia, was destroyed. Referee Leontios Trattou has had his car attacked for the second time in a year in Cypriot capital Nicosia . Authorities suspect the vehicle, a company car belonging to Trattos's employers, was doused with inflammable fluid and set alight. One of the Mediterranean island's most high-profile referees, Trattos was also targeted in February last year when a bomb destroyed a car parked outside his home. That incident, among a string of attacks against referees, led to a brief suspension of fixtures on the island. The incident is among a string of attacks against referees and their families, there are no injuries reported . The attacks have continued, however, and in January a bomb went off outside the home of a referee's mother, and last month a car belonging to a referee's wife was damaged by a pipe bomb. There have been no injuries reported from any of the attacks. +Go Ahead Eagles coach Foeke Booy will leave the Dutch top flight club at the end of the season, he said on Sunday. The 52-year-old has been at the Deventer-based team since the start of last season, after they won promotion, keeping the team up in the league last campaign as they finished 13th. But this season they are 15th, just above the relegation places after a 3-0 home defeat by leaders PSV Eindhoven on Saturday. Foeke Booy has announced that he will step down as Go Ahead Eagles head coach in the summer . PSV striker Luuk de Jong (centre) fends off challenges from Go Ahead Eagles players on Sunday . PSV's Luciano Narsingh (left) shields the ball away from Go Ahead Eagles' Giliano Wijnaldum (right) 'I feel I need to seek out another challenge and the club also deserve to know where I stand. We will now work 100 per cent to make sure we achieve our ambitions for this season,' he said on the club's website. Booy previously managed Utrecht, Sparta Rotterdam and Belgian outfit Cercle Brugge. Jormit Hendrix (left) challenges Wesley Verhoek during PSV's 3-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles . Jop van der Linden of Go Ahead Eagles (left) gives chase to PSV's Memphis Depay (right) Foeke Booy led Go Ahead Eagles to 13th in the Eredivisie last season, but his side are struggling now . +FC Twente were deducted three points by the Dutch football association (KNVB) on Wednesday after failing to put their financial affairs back in order following a brush with bankruptcy. It is the second time they have missed targets set by the KNVB as part of a recovery plan and their punishment follows a previous warning. Twente said they would not appeal the decision, and the KNVB said in a statement on Wednesday: 'The sanctions are based on the punishment process in the licensing regulations and the plan that FC Twente agreed with the license commission.' FC Twente were deducted three points by the Dutch football association (KNVB) on Wednesday . Jesus Corona (centre) of FC Twente escapes Uros Matic of NAC Breda during their Eredivisie match . Eredivisie club FC Twente announced the points deduction on their official website on Wednesday . The KNVB issued the sanction after objecting to write-offs in the club's latest financial report. 'This is a disgrace for the club. We regret the decision, but will not appeal under formal substantiation. Twente will enter into new discussions with the KNVB over the recovery plan,' incoming chairman Aldo van der Laan said in a statement on the club's website. 'We know that we are going through a tough financial time with the club but it is very unpleasant to be confronted with this punishment,' coach Alfred Schreuder added. 'The players have been informed about the situation. We have to accept it and continue to fight as a team. We owe it to ourselves and certainly to the supporters.' Twente are eighth in the Dutch league standings on 35 points from 25 games. The deduction will see them drop one place. Guyon Fernandez of NAC Breda goes for the ball against Renato Tapia of FC Twente during Saturday's tie . It is the second time FC Twente have missed financial targets set by the KNVB as part of a recovery plan . +Feyenoord coach Fred Rutten will leave the club at the end of the season when his one-year contract expires. The club wanted to extend Rutten's contract, but he says 'my vision differs from the club's about how to meet the high expectations at Feyenoord.' Rutten took over at Feyenoord this season after his predecessor Ronald Koeman moved to England to coach Southampton. Feyenoord coach Fred Rutten is leaving at the end of season as he has different ideas to the club . The news comes after his team were involved in a feisty 0-0 draw against Utrecht at the weekend . Rutten had replaced Southampton manager Ronald Koeman (left) as Feyenoord coach . The Rotterdam team is fourth in the Eredivisie and was knocked out of the Europa League last week by AS Roma. They drew 0-0 against Utrecht at the weekend. No replacement for Rutten was immediately announced. On Monday, technical director Martin van Geel says 'we now have plenty of time to think about his successor.' Rutten has not revealed his plans for the future. +West Ham fear James Tomkins could miss the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder. The 25-year-old fell awkwardly in training on Thursday and left the field in considerable discomfort. He will have further scans on Friday but manager Sam Allardyce is wary the in-form centre-back will be ruled out for around 10 weeks. Allardyce only announced at lunchtime that striker Enner Valencia was out after cutting his toe on a broken tea mug. James Tomkins (right) could miss the rest of the season with a broken shoulder . The in-form West Ham defender suffered the injury during training and left the field in discomfort . 'West Ham can confirm that James Tomkins has suffered a dislocated shoulder,' said a club statement. 'The 25-year-old was taken for hospital treatment and will continue to be assessed by the club's medical staff.' Tomkins' news is compounded as Winston Reid has a hamstring injury and is already ruled out of the Arsenal game while Carl Jenkinson is unavailable as he can't play against his parent club. The likelihood is that Cheikhou Kouyate will be forced to deputise again. The likelihood is that Cheikhou Kouyate will be forced to deputise again in defence for West Ham . +An own goal and late strike from Dominic Solanke booked Chelsea a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Youth League as Atletico Madrid were swept aside at the club’s Cobham training base. John Terry stayed behind after training to watch on the sideline as the teenagers showed Chelsea’s first team how to progress in Europe ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg match at home to PSG on Wednesday. Adi Viveash’s team could now face an intriguing all-English last four encounter with Manchester City at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, if Patrick Vieira’s young charges win away to Roma next week. John Terry (left, next Steve Holland) was among the crowd to watch Chelsea Under 19s take on Atletico . Andreas Christensen keeps posession under pressure from Atletico Madrid's Andres Mohedano . Jeremie Boga (right) and Tete Morente tussle for the ball in midfield during the game on Tuesday . Boga can't manage to nip the ball away from Mohedano in a niggly exchange at Cobham . Chelsea U19: Collins, Dasilva, Aina, Christensen, Tomori, Clarke-Salter, Boga, Colkett, Abraham, Brown, Solanke . Subs: Thompson, Suljic, Musonda, Sammutt, Palmer, Ugbo, Kiwomya . Goals: Manzanara (OG), Solanke . Atletico Madrid U19: Marín, Hernandez, Otia, Diedhiou, Mohedano, Manzanara, Afagh, Mendiondo, Morente, Nunez . Subs: Perez, Rodriguez, Montoro, Spoljaric, Prieto, Altamirano, Gama . Goals: Nil . After a tight opening half, the Blues finally broke the resistance of their Spanish opponents after 38 minutes when defender Fran Manzanara could only guide Izzy Brown’s effort into the net. They then mounted a Jose Mourinho-esque rearguard action to keep their opponents at bay through the second period before Solanke struck on the counter-attack to settle it two minutes from time. Atletico had eliminated Arsenal in the previous round and arrived in sunny Surrey seeking to pile the misery on another English opponent. Viveash was taking no chances, fielding a full-strength team containing Brown and Solanke, both tipped by Mourinho for bright futures, the talented Frenchman Jeremie Boga and England under-19 star Charlie Colkett. Charlie Colkett (left) finds himself shielding the ball from Saeid Ezatolahi Afagh . After a quiet start in which both teams tested one another out, Chelsea had the first chance on 25 minutes when Boga sent a free-kick spiralling over Carlos Marin’s crossbar. Just when it appeared the opening 45 would end without score, Brown broke free down the left channel and outpaced the Atletico defence. Colkett found him with the ideal through ball and Brown directed it past the goalkeeper. With Andreas Christensen charging in to make sure, the under-pressure Manzanara got an unfortunate final touch to help it in. Brown will certainly want to claim the goal, his third goal of this season’s European campaign. Atletico were much improved after the break, dictating the tempo and starting the create opening. Amath Diedhiou, who scored the last 16 winner against Arsenal, fired in a near post effort that Bradley Collins diverted around the post. Victor Mendiondo (left) wins a header for the Spanish side, while Dominic Solanke rose highest (right) Shortly afterwards, Matija Spoljaric sent a bouncing shot narrowly wide as Chelsea’s goal came under threat. But their defence refused to be breached and, in classic Chelsea style, they grabbed a second on the break in the dying moments. Christensen, playing in midfield rather than his normal defensive position, showed his creative instincts with a fine pass to Solanke and the England under 18 international applied the finish. Remarkably, it is his ninth goal in the Youth League this season. Chelsea are the first to book their place in the semi-finals, which take place across the road from UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on April 10. The final will be staged at the same venue three days later. Terry high-fives Didier Drogba as the Chelsea veterans share a laugh during training on Tuesday . The Chelsea defender stretches out as his side prepare for their second leg last-16 Champions League clash . +England could recall two Lions forwards to their starting line-up as they prepare to step into the path of a juggernaut at Twickenham on Saturday — driven by France’s ‘big dudes’ up front. Stuart Lancaster’s team are bracing themselves for a fearsome onslaught in the latest instalment of ‘Le Crunch’ as they aim to clinch the RBS 6 Nations title and there is a significant chance they could turn to hooker Tom Youngs and lock Geoff Parling. Lifted by their win over Italy in Rome on Sunday, Philippe Saint-Andre’s French side will come to London with a monster pack and orders to grind English ambition into the earth. Yet the home forward unit, marshalled by Graham Rowntree, have stood toe-to-toe with all-comers and trumped most rivals in recent years, even if their dominance of the close-quarters combat has not always brought the deserved results. England forward Courtney Lawes described the French pack as 'big dudes' Along with Youngs and Parling, flanker Tom Wood is another established figure pushing hard for a place in the starting XV. One man who will be at the forefront of the home resistance is Northampton lock Courtney Lawes, whose comeback from injury against Scotland was a resounding personal triumph. He was laid back on Monday when considering the magnitude of a title decider. When asked about his French counterparts Yoann Maestri and Alexandre Flanquart, he said: ‘They’re big dudes. It’ll be an interesting game.’ It will be interesting for those who relish a thunderous encounter and Lawes is certainly in that category. He added: ‘I’ve played against many French sides. They’re always physical. Obviously we’ve got to stay with them and show them they can’t just roll over us. Then we can play some good rugby, get them moving around us and hopefully our fitness will tell come the end.’ VIDEO Robshaw sets sights on France following Scotland win . England stepped up their preparations for their final RBS 6 Nations clash with France at Twickenham . Richard Wigglesworth passes the ball as the team practice at their headquarters in Bagshot . England packs don’t make a habit of bending the knee to any opponents at home. There is pride in their reputation and they will protect it with gusto. ‘We’re not the biggest pack but we certainly bring physicality,’ said Lawes. ‘We like the contact and I don’t think we’ve ever really been shoved around. We’ve got a great pack, very dynamic, and we’ve got a lot of different things we can do which is great. We certainly don’t expect to get pushed around. ‘Physicality is a massive part of the game for French sides and it’s going to be a big challenge up front — something we’ve got to match, at least.’ Danny Cipriani passes the ball during England's training session at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey . England coach Lancaster oversees his team's training session as they prepare for a French test . Romain Taofifenua and Alexandre Flanquart look on during France's clash with Italy in Rome . ALEXANDRE FLANQUART . (lock, 11 caps) The Stade Francais giant makes up for a relative lack of experience with his huge 6ft 9in, 18st 5lb frame. YOANN MAESTRI . (lock, 35 caps) At 6ft 7in, Maestri isn’t as tall as his fellow lock, but the 27-year-old has more caps and a 9lb weight advantage. UINI ATONIO . (prop, 5 caps) The heaviest of the lot, New Zealand-born Antonio is 6ft 5in and tips the scale at a whopping 24st 6lb! Lancaster is well aware of the heavyweight threat. Many of the biggest visitors are likely to be substitutes unleashed in the second half in an attempt to blast through a tiring England defence — giants such as Vincent Debaty (19st), Romain Taofifenua (20st) and centre Mathieu Bastareaud (19st). ‘They are a huge team; very powerful and rely a lot on the bench at around 50 minutes — guys like (Benjamin) Kayser and Debaty,’ said the head coach. ‘It will be interesting to see if Bastareaud starts. He adds a huge physical presence to their back line. They are big and athletic.’ Asked if England are equipped to withstand the battering, he added: ‘Yeah, I think so. There is enough power.’ England also need enough points to seal the title but will not worry about chasing elusive targets, at least initially. ‘If we start obsessing about the scoreline, then we’re not going to win the game,’ said Lancaster. +One of Sydney's busiest tunnel roads was thrown into chaos today when a car exploded into a ball of flames. The silver Toyota four-wheel-drive burst into fire about 6:30pm on Sunday in the Domain tunnel, causing major traffic delays and widespread fear. The flames engulfed the car but luckily the three people travelling in the Rav 4 managed to escape without any injury. Scroll down for video . One of Sydney's busiest tunnel roads was thrown into chaos today when a car exploded into a ball of flames . The silver Toyota four-wheel-drive burst into fire about 6:30pm on Sunday in the Domain tunnel, causing major traffic delays and widespread fear . It is still unknown what caused the incident but emergency services are investigating the situation. In a video posted on the Kyle and Jackie O show, a passer-by managed to capture the unbelievable scene. The car appears to be facing the right way in the tunnel but the whole bonnet is covered in flames. According to Live Traffic Sydney's Twitter page, the tunnel will be closed for the remainder of the night as emergency repair work is conducted. Live Traffic Sydney updated Twitter users and have said that the tunnel will be closed from 10pm tonight for emergency repair work . The flames engulfed the car but luckily the three people travelling in the Rav 4 managed to escape without any injury . Traffic delays have subsided since the incident but motorists have been advised to avoid the area as the sprinklers in the tunnel were still running. All lanes were closed in both directions for one hour with traffic being diverted at Macquarie Street. However the tunnel reopened about 8pm and traffic began to enter the tunnel as normal. The car was towed and motorists were advised to avoid the area and use the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Traffic delays have subsided since the incident but motorists have been advised to avoid the area as the sprinklers in the tunnel were still running . The car was towed and motorists were advised to avoid the area and use the Sydney Harbour Bridge . +A butcher whose countryside estate began running short of rabbits started selling squirrel - and the meat has proved so popular it sold out in three hours. Elveden Estate butchers in Suffolk is restricted to the numbers of rabbits it can shoot every month due to plummeting numbers and added the unusual delicacy to its menu in a bid to replace stocks. The free range squirrel is white in texture and is said to have a similar taste to rabbit while being low in fat. Elveden Estate butchers in Suffolk have added squirrel to their menu after their levels of rabbit starting running low. The unusual delicacy became so popular with customers it sold out in three hours . James Holliday, forestry and conservation manager at the estate, said: 'Rabbits are no longer breeding 'like rabbits'. 'Nationally, numbers have been in decline over the past few years and have now reached such low numbers we are limiting the number killed in order to maintain a sustainable population. 'The population had been decreasing since the 1950s and it has become increasingly important for us to conserve as many rabbits as possible. 'We have been catching the squirrels for a while now but obviously the reduction of rabbits made us think we could use them as a substitute and it has done very well.' The meat is being used in a variety of recipes by the estates customers, including a squirrel pasty (pictured) Richard Howard, food shop manager at the estate, said squirrel meat could be a healthy addition to diets. He said: 'Squirrel from Elveden is wild, nutritious and has virtually zero food miles, coming straight from the estate itself, making for a highly ethical mix.' The meat is being used in a variety of recipes by the estates customers, including a squirrel pasty. +Two swans had to seek human help after becoming entangled by their necks during an elaborate mating ritual. Footage shows the animals desperately struggling to separate themselves from one another as they swim towards the shore. But fortunately for the swans, two friends were on hand to help the distressed duo and free them from their predicament. Entangled: The two swans swam towards shore after being caught up in one another's necks . Help: Luckily, Alexander Nor was on hand to help the distressed animals and picked them apart . Alexander Nor came to the rescue of the two animals as he walked along the riverbank with friends near his hometown of Kremenchuk, Ukraine. He said he spotted the birds awkwardly paddling because of their knotted necks, and added: 'They saw people, swam over and meekly waited to be disentangled.' The video reveals the swans patiently waiting to be helped as Mr Nor delicately unravels their necks by twisting and turning them. The animals show no signs of distress as they are helped from their mix-up and appear relieved to be freed as they run off squawking. Mr Nor added: 'Sometimes I marvel at the minds of animals.' Patient: The birds waited calmly as Mr Nor helped free the pair from their complicated relationship . Freedom: After his heroic act, Mr Nor said: 'Sometimes I marvel at the minds of animals.' Swans usually tend to mate for life, although there have been cases recorded in the past where the animals have 'divorced' and returned from migration with different partners. Although considered as graceful animals, their 'courtship dance' is usually a lot more aggressive than imagined and can feature hissing and grunting sounds. +If you like the idea of having a conversation with your pet cat then you better look away now. Flam, a cat in Nashville, Tennessee, may well be the first of its kind to have had a conversation with a human being. But sadly, as documented on video, the little chat didn't go down that well with the feline. In the clip is Penny Adams, a professional photographer who volunteers her time at the Cat Shoppe Rescue centre. Sitting on the floor, she announces to the camera that she is holding a cat-to-human language translator on her phone. Penny, who doesn't herself know what it is being translated by the app, activates the meowing sound and immediately Flam, who sits underneath a table, becomes noticeably intrigued. Penny announces to the camera that she is about to use a cat-to-human translator app on her phone . Jumping up, the feline negotiates a number of dumbbells on the floor before making its way towards Penny. With its tail poised, the cat maintains its eye-contact while lifting its paw and climbing up onto her leg. Suddenly it lashes out at her – opening its mouth to bare its teeth it strikes her with its paw. Intrigued, the cat approaches Penny with its tail poised and begins slowly climbing up her leg . Reacting by blocking the cat with her arm, Penny laughs in surprise as the insulted feline continues to bare its teeth before scuttling off. According to Penny, she had visited Kate Framke's home – Flam’s owner – to photograph her other cat Waffles for a fundraising calendar for The Cat Shoppe. After struggling to get Waffles’ attention with toys and treats, Penny used her human-to-cat translator app as a way of getting the cat to look at the camera. The cat, clearly insulted by what the human-to-cat translator app is saying, attacks Penny with its paw . Penny said: ‘It worked, but it also got an unusual reaction from Flam, who proceeded to walk up slowly and pop me in the head. We laughed so hard.’ She added: ‘Who knows what the app was really saying in cat voice, but he sure didn't like it.’ The Cat Shoppe is Nashville’s first feline-friendly shop that sells a number of cat-related products and also runs a non-profit cat rescue centre. Penny laughs in surprise as the cat continues to bare its teeth at her before scurrying off under the table . +CLICK HERE to read Sportsmail's full interview with Daniel Sturridge by Chief Sports Writer Oliver Holt. The Liverpool striker talks about his upbringing, his club team-mates and why he doesn't blame Roy Hodgson for his five-month injury lay-off. Daniel Sturridge describes himself as a 'very closed-off person' but here in an exclusive interview with Sportsmail he opens up about his life on-and-off the field. As the Reds prepare for Monday's Premier League trip to Swansea, the 25-year-old striker talks about his upbringing, his club team-mates and why he doesn't blame Roy Hodgson for his five-month injury lay-off. Here, Sportsmail gathers the best 10 quotes from our Sturridge interview. Daniel Sturridge tells Sportsmail his thoughts on Mario Balotelli, Steven Gerrard and his injury problems . Sturridge on Mario Balotelli . 'In football you meet people who are cool guys and he is one of those guys. He is a young guy who just wants to live his life. Anyone at the age of 24, if you put a microscope on them for a few months and see how they are living, it would probably be far worse than Mario. He is a normal guy. Footballers are put on a pedestal of not being human but we are just normal people. I am a normal dude.' Mario Balotelli (left) has been described as a 'cool guy' by Sturridge, despite a difficult start at his new club . Sturridge on Steven Gerrard . 'This guy is a living legend. Words can't describe what he has done not just for the club but for the players as well. He helps players settle in, young players. He takes them under his wing. We will never be able to repay him for that. His stature and his demeanour will be very difficult to replace but we have to. It will take time. That guy will always be a legend in my eyes. I am in awe of him now.' Sturridge (right) has hailed departing Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (centre) as a 'living legend' of the club . Sturridge on strikers . 'Why am I watching someone else's glories and achievements? It doesn't matter to me who comes around or what players are about. It means nothing to me. When you watch other people, you don't get anywhere in life because you are at war with yourself. Well done to Harry Kane and what he has achieved, but I am not watching what he is doing. I just believe in me.' Harry Kane has had a scintillating season at Tottenham scoring 26 goals in all competitions so far . Sturridge on England injury . 'Regardless of what happened in the past, I love playing for England,’ says Sturridge. ‘That situation occurred and it’s in the past. I don’t want to dwell on it. People pick injuries up and they are unfortunate. It just so happened I got injured that day. It’s life. People get injured sometimes. It is what it is.' Sturridge's five-month injury lay-off began when he damaged thigh muscles while on England duty last year . Sturridge on Roy Hodgson . ‘My relationship with the England manager is top class. No worries at all. We speak via text. We speak to each other. We keep in touch. Throughout my injury, he kept in touch. I would never blame him for this. Never. Or any of the staff - it was just an unfortunate incident. I have got so much respect and admiration for him and his set-up. The relationship is very, very good.' Despite the injury, Sturridge (right) says his relationship with England manager Roy Hodgson as 'top class' Sturridge on his personal life . 'I'm a very closed-off person,' says Sturridge. 'I can count my friends on one hand. Everyone has acquaintances, workmates and so on, but apart from that, I just have my family and a close-knit group of people around me. 'Why closed-off? I think it is down to childhood. When you grow up in certain environments, you can't be too loud or too open because you can be exposed to things you don't want to be exposed to. Where I grew up there was crime and there were other things.' Despite his extrovert celebration, the 25-year-old striker describes himself as a 'very closed-off person' Sturridge on Birmingham gang culture . 'There was a gang culture when I was growing up in Birmingham. It was easy to stay away from it because the football was there but that’s the reason why I have never been open. 'It becomes second nature to be like that. I had to be wary. At all times. 'The gang stuff wasn’t based on colours - it was more about areas. You might be a family friend of someone who was involved with something. I was never involved in anything like that and I enjoyed growing up there.' Sturridge on faith . 'I am grateful to God for everything that I have had in the past and everything I will have in the future,' he says. 'You have setbacks, you have comebacks, you have glories, you don't have glories. Not everything is going to be rosy and sweet all the time. There are going to be times in your life when you go through certain situations that test your character, test your courage, test your faith, test your self-belief, test everything.' Sturridge grew up in Hockley in the inner city Birmingham where he kept to himself to himself as a child . Sturridge on USA injury rehabilitation routine . 'I am getting up at 7am and I am finishing at 4 or 5pm. I’m tired. It’s dark by then. The sun’s not out. I went back to my room, ate. Then I played some dominoes and went to bed.' Sturridge on his dream dinner date with four sportsmen . 'Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Diego Maradona. I prefer Pele to Maradona as a player but I’d have Maradona for the laughs.' Argentina great Diego Maradona (centre) would be included in Sturridge's dream sportsmen dinner date . +Australian's have been making a splash, with a new study showing that swimming is the most common sporting activity in the country. The latest National Sports Participation report by Ray Morgan has shown that one in two kids and one in ten adults frequently get their feet wet. Most fall between the ages of six and 13 with just under half of this group (48.8 percent) participating in swimming regularly. Swimming found to be the most common sporting activity in Australia with 1 in 2 kids swimming often . Soccer was a close second among children between 6 and 13 and third over all of the age groups . Cycling came second overall with nearly 38 percent of 6 to 13 year old children participating . Soccer was a close second for the rate of regular participation with 48.7 percent for six to 13 year old children with cycling second overall with nearly 38 percent of  six to 13 year old children participating. Overall, with one in seven Australians regularly swimming, one in nine go cycling and one in 12 play soccer. Children of the ages six to 13 appear to be the most active and 31 percent  participate in athletics, 30 percent in basketball, 30 percent in dancing, 20 percent in tennis and just over 25 percent in cricket. Hiking, Rugby League, softball, martial arts, volleyball, baseball and field hockey were the least most popular sports among this age group with all of these sports having participation of less than 10 percent. There are many more sports for adults such as motorcycle racing and boxing, but walking seems to reign supreme with 45.3 percent of adults regularly walking for exercise. The gym and weight training is more popular than swimming among adults and jogging overtakes cycling while yoga trumps aerobics. The National Sports participation Report by Ray Morgan Research shows swimming having highest popularity . Overall, with one in seven Australians regularly swimming, one in nine go cycling and one in 12 play soccer . Team sports move down the list as children get older and individual sports move up, but swimming is the one constant across the board . Walking is the most popular sport among adults with 45.3 percent walking regularly for exercise . '10 of the 20 most popular sports and activities among Aussie kids aged six to 13 are team sports,' said Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research. 'Soccer is the clear favourite [team sport] with 1.2 million young players across the country.' Strangely the team sports move down the list as the children get older, with more individual and non-competitive sports moving up. 'Swimming is the one constant,' Michele said. '[It is] the number one sporting activity for kids and adults with over three million regular participants overall.' With over 7000 beaches in the country it is little wonder that parents are finding out whether their kids will sink or swim and educating them about water safety at all ages. +UEFA president Michel Platini is preparing a crackdown on bad behaviour by players in a bid to eradicate the intimidation of officials from European competitions. Platini fears future generations of footballers and fans will be put off the game by scenes such as those of nine Chelsea players pressuring Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers to send off PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Unlike the FA, UEFA do not have specific guidelines covering incidents of crowding the referee or a system of punishments, but they are looking into it. Michel Platini (left) during the UEFA Euro 2016 Steering Committee Meeting in Lyon on Thursday . UEFA spokesman Pedro Pinto said: ‘The UEFA president has recently been more concerned about the behaviour of players on the pitch. 'We would like to see an environment where players would accept the decisions taken and where they would not employ the tactic of pressure and intimidation of the officials during the game. ‘There is a strong interest internally to look at specific initiatives and campaigns, and possibly regulations that would have an impact on the behaviour of players. John Terry (centre) led the protests as he screamed at the referee following Ibrahimovic's first-half challenge . ‘It is not a good example for fans, for future players or for the image of the game.’ The FA have the power to fine clubs if they are guilty of mass confrontation or intimidating the match officials. Chelsea admitted a charge of surrounding referee Jon Moss during a game against Everton earlier this month and were warned about their future conduct. The Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers at Stamford Bridge as he brandishes the red card . +Paul Scholes believes Manchester United must spend big again this summer if Louis van Gaal's tactics are to bring success to Old Trafford. United were dumped out of the FA Cup by Arsenal on Monday and face a battle to finish in the top four with a difficult run of fixtures over the next six weeks. And former United midfielder Scholes, who has two season tickets at his old club, is unconvinced that Van Gaal's preferred style of play suits the players in his squad. Louis van Gaal gives instructions to Ashley Young during Manchester United's defeat by Arsenal . Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney (L-R) look dejected at Old Trafford . Arsene Wenger was right! I would have loved to have played with Mesut Ozil... but only if he always performed like he did at Old Trafford . Writing in his column for The Independent, Scholes said: 'Watching United at Old Trafford on Monday, I know what Louis van Gaal is trying to do with this team. I do like the concept. I just question whether he has the players to do it. 'In recent weeks, Van Gaal has tried what I would describe as a more Barcelona-style approach to games. His centre backs push wide, the full backs push on and the team pass the ball. It has worked against the weaker teams but it is against the stronger sides, starting with Spurs and the high-pressing game they play, that you have to wonder whether it will be found out. 'To play this way, you really need to be exceptional. Barcelona can do it because they have the players and they have been playing this way for years. United have spent around £220m in the last three transfer windows and yet I would question whether they have the players to operate this system.' Van Gaal has been criticised for utilising Fellaini's height and physical presence at times this season . Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes believes the club must buy more new players this summer . United were known for their relentless attacking under Sir Alex Ferguson and Scholes, who was an integral part of the Scot's midfield, wants to see fluid football back at Old Trafford. 'I understand what Van Gaal is trying to do,' Scholes wrote. 'I like that he is playing with the wide players. I also know that as former players we cannot harp on about the old days for ever. Things change, although I believe that certain principles, of attacking, entertaining football, should always be protected. 'Like any other match-going fan – I have two season tickets for Old Trafford – I want to see the team play well and win. I just don’t think this system is the best for these players.' Angel di Maria has struggled to adapt since joining the club in a £60million deal from Real Madrid . Former Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata has found himself out of favour under Van Gaal in recent months . Van Gaal's men are fourth in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday's clash with Tottenham but they could drop out of the Champions League places if they suffer defeat and rivals Liverpool win at Swansea on Monday night. Despite the club's precarious position, Scholes is adamant that the Dutchman has what it takes to turn things around - even if he must take action in the summer transfer window. He added: 'I still believe that Van Gaal is the right man for the job. I don’t think he will change his mind about the way he wants the team to play. He is a stubborn man and that is no bad thing in football. But I am afraid to say that if he wants to play this Barcelona style then the club will have to go back into the transfer market this summer to get the players they need to do it.' +The NHS is owed £62million by so-called 'health tourists' who have yet to settle their bills, despite receiving thousands of pounds worth of care in Britain's hospitals. The bill, built up over five years and across 40 different trusts, suggests previous estimates on the amount owed were far below the mark. The NHS is thought to act as a magnet to people from overseas because it will always care for someone who needs urgent treatment. The bill, built up over five years and across 40 different trusts, suggests previous estimates on the amount owed were far below the mark . An investigation by the Sunday Times has found people who owe money for dialysis, chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. The newspaper revealed King's College Hospital is owed a staggering £17,852,037 - more than £10million more than Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital Foundation, which has then second highest amount outstanding. One person alone is understood to owe more than £420,000 at Guy's and St Thomas' for treatment for hemophilia. The investigation also uncovered a new mother who posed alongside Health Minister Daniel Poulter to mark the reopening of a maternity ward has yet to pay the bill she incurred. Caroline Nyadzayo, 34, owes £3,000, more than two years after she gave birth at Norfolk and Norwich University Trust. The size of the unpaid bill comes as the NHS is forced to make a series of unpopular decisions to save money as it struggles to balance its budget. King's College Hospital, pictured, is owed a staggering £17,852,037 - far more than any other trust . This week, it was revealed the Cancer Drugs Fund for England had cut 19 life-extending treatments, because they cost too much. Similarly, new guidelines from Nice suggest doctors start prescribing medication to people with type 2 diabetes which experts have warned will 'put the NHS back a decade' - all because the ones currently prescribed are too expensive. +A Cardiff University rugby team was banned from a P&O ferry for 'appalling' behaviour during which a trainee medic allegedly urinated on a family dining table. A rugby team from the university School of Medicine was on a rugby tour to Amsterdam when the incident was alleged to have taken place on a ferry from Dover. P&O confirmed the team were barred from the return journey after their behaviour on the outbound trip. P&O Ferries have confirmed the rugby team from Cardiff University were not allowed to return on one of their ships after their 'appalling behaviour' (File Photo) One anonymous student told university newspaper Gair Rhydd: 'I was told that one rugby player got so drunk they urinated in someone's food.' Company spokesman Brian Rees said: 'It relates to a group who travelled with us from Dover to Calais in mid February. 'Unfortunately behaviour was such that we had to explain that we would not offer them the return journey so they made other arrangements to get back. 'The behaviour was so appalling we didn't have a moment's hesitation in banning them from coming back with us.' A Cardiff University spokesperson said the university had been made aware of an incident involving Cardiff Medics Rugby Team. However, no formal complaints have been made to the university. Cardiff University have confirmed they are investigating the incident after allegations of bad behaviour . The spokesperson added: 'The alleged behaviour is certainly not the behaviour we expect of our students. As far as we have been able to establish we have not received a formal complaint. 'However, on receiving this information, we are investigating the exact circumstances and will need to consider what action will need to be taken.' Elliot Howells, Cardiff Students' Union President, said: 'We are aware of an incident involving the Medics Rugby Team and are investigating this concurrently with Cardiff University. 'Should any individuals be found to be responsible, appropriate action will be taken. This type of behaviour is not condoned by the Students' Union and we convey this message strongly to sports teams during their yearly induction sessions.' Cardiff Medics has both a first and second XV. It is not clear which team was involved in the incident. +Tom Croft's hopes of making the World Cup are in doubt as the Leicester Tigers flanker faces up to six months out of action following surgery to a dislocated shoulder. Croft, who was on the bench for England's first three games of the RBS 6 Nations, suffered the injury during Leicester's Aviva Premiership victory against Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on March 8. The Leicester Mercury reports that Croft has undergone surgery on the injury and now faces between four to six months out of action. England and Leicester flanker Tom Croft is facing up to six months out of action with a dislocated shoulder . Croft scores a try for the British and Irish Lions against the New South Wales Waratahs in June 2013 . It is the latest in a long list of injury setbacks for the talented backrower who started five British and Irish Lions Tests spanning the 2009 and 2013 tours to South Africa and Australia respectively. Croft's season with the Tigers is definitely over, but it also doubtful the the blindside will make it back in time for England's pre-season preparations before the World Cup in September. Stuart Lancaster's side face Fiji in the tournament curtain-raiser on Saturday, September 18. Croft (left) suffered the injury during Leicester's Aviva Premiership victory against Newcastle on March 8 . +West Ham goalkeeper Adrian produced an outstanding performance against Arsenal on Saturday even though he was playing with a dislocated finger. His team lost 3-0 but the Spaniard produced a string of outstanding saves from Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez and then from Danny Welbeck in the last minute to prevent his team from a heavier defeat. And assistant manager Neil McDonald revealed afterwards that Adrian had dislocated his finger in the warm up but had insisted on playing on. Hammers keeper Adrian threatened to spoil Arsenal's afternoon with a succession of fine first half saves . McDonald said: ‘He’s been a brave lad today because he could easily have pulled out. And he’s made some great saves. He has his finger strapped up to play and I’m hoping that if he played today he should allright for next week . ‘He did it in the warm-up but he wanted to carry on. I haven’t ever dis-located my finger so I don’t know how much pain he was in but it’s obviously a big thing for a goalkeeper.’ After defeat at Arsenal Sam Allardyce's side are now tenth in the Premier League, having won just once in their past 12 matches. West Ham keeper Adrian dives to block a Nacho Monreal shot during a fine personal performance . Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud leaps into the air in celebration as he scored the opener at the Emirates . +Serena Williams emerged triumphant on an emotional return to Indian Wells on Friday, beating Monica Niculescu in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open. The world No 1 has not played at the tournament in the Californian desert, one of the biggest on the WTA Tour, since winning the title as a 19-year-old in 2001. She was afforded a standing ovation as she walked out onto centre court, and the occasion seemed to affect her in the early stages as she found herself trailing 2-0. Serena Williams celebrates after beating Monica Niculescu at the ATP & WTA BNP Paribas Open . Williams went through a range of emotions on her return to Indian Wells following a 14-year boycott . Tennis fans gave Williams a standing ovation as she made her entrance to the court . The 33-year-old American waves to the crowd as she is given a standing ovation . But the 33-year-old American soon got into her rhythm and ground out a gutsy 7-5, 7-5 triumph in two hours four minutes. Williams had thought about returning last year only to change her mind. She was jeered during her final victory over Kim Clijsters 14 years ago by a crowd unhappy that Venus Williams had pulled out of a scheduled semi-final against her sister the previous day at the last minute. Critics believed matches between the siblings were fixed and Venus and the women's father and coach Richard claimed they were subjected to racist taunts in the stands. Williams played in front of a packed house. It was her first match at the arena since 2001 . Williams had thought about returning last year only to change her mind . Elsewhere in the women's second round on Friday, Romania's Simona Halep battled from a set down to defeat Russia's Daria Gavrilova - and dedicated the victory to her cousin, following his recent death. 'It's really tough to speak about this situation,' she said after her 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win. 'It's a painful situation for everyone, for me and for my family. 'I just wanted to play this tournament because he loved tennis. He played tennis for many years. So I decided to stay here, because it was a little bit easier to pass this situation. 'I just want to dedicate this match to him, because he loved tennis and he was very talented.' +The girlfriend of David de Gea has dealt a blow to Manchester United's hopes of keeping him by describing his adopted city as 'not very nice'. Singer Edurne Garcia, Spain's Eurovision Song Contest entrant, made the comments on light entertainment show El Hormiguero. Host Pablo Motos asked her: 'I've been told Manchester is uglier than the back of a fridge.' Edurne Garcia is the girlfriend of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea . De Gea has been United's star player during a difficult season at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal . Garcia told Spanish entertainment show El Hormiguero that Manchester is 'not very nice, that's for sure' And rather than leap to the defence of the city where her boyfriend plies his trade, the 29-year-old replied: 'It's not very nice, that's for sure. You have to hunt out specific places, the nice places. 'But even then Spain is nicer. The reason I like it is because David's there. With him being there, everything looks wonderful.' De Gea, 24, sees his contract expire at Old Trafford at the end of next season. The 29-year-old singer has fueled speculation that De Gea could be set for a future away from Manchester . De Gea was labelled the best goalkeeper in the world by Roy Keane this week, and may leave United . The Spanish goalkeeper's Old Trafford contract expires at the end of next season . The keeper has once again been in superb form after a shaky start to his career with the club following his £18.9m switch from Atletico Madrid in 2011. He has been strongly linked with a summer move to Real Madrid and Garcia's comments led to speculation she will pressure him to return to his home city. In December, senior officials at United said they were relaxed about his contract situation. Last month De Gea dismissed rumours of a rift between himself and manager Louis van Gaal as 'lies' but stopped short of committing his future to United. Garcia did not deny that Manchester was 'uglier than the back of a fridge' De Gea saves a shot from Alexis Sanchez during United's 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Arsenal . +Harry Kane has been named the Barclays Premier League player of the month for the second successive time. The Tottenham striker scored four goals, including a brace against north London rivals Arsenal and the equaliser against West Ham. Kane is only the fourth player to win the award twice in a row, joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Dennis Bergkamp and Robbie Fowler. Harry Kane's form has been the highlight of Tottenham's season so far . Kane celebrates after scoring against Arsenal in Spurs' 2-1 win at White Hart Lane . Kane scores his second goal of the match in the derby win against their North London rivals . Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) - December 1995 and January 1996 . Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) - August and September 1997 . Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) - November and December 2006 . Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - January and February 2015 . Kane, who has been tipped to win his first England call-up later this month, said: 'I'm very happy, very pleased. It’s an honour. To win this award once, let alone twice in two months is special. 'Against Arsenal, winning 2-1, and getting both the goals was a special day for myself, for my career and for the club itself.' The 21-year-old his sights set on becoming the first man to win the award three months in a row. He said: 'To make history would be something very special. Obviously I’ve scored a couple so far this month. 'Still a few more games to go, so hopefully I’ll get a few more goals and we’ll see what happens, but I’m looking forward to the games ahead.' Kane scores from the penalty rebound to equalise against West Ham at White Hart Lane on February 22 . Kane scores past Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in Spurs' 3-2 defeat at Anfield on February 10 . It has been a remarkable rise for Kane who only scored his first Premier League goal at the end of the season but is now third in the race for the Barclays Golden Boot with 16 goals. Kane said: 'It's happened quite fast but I have always said I had belief in myself. It was just waiting to get the chance and being patient and being ready to take it. I've been able to do that. 'I have loved every minute of playing and have loved my football so much at the moment, playing with my mates, in a great team and a great squad. I am looking forward to the rest of the games.' Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo poses with his Player of the Month award in January 2007 . Liverpool's Robbie Fowler (left) shared the Player of the Month award in January 1996 with Stan Collymore (right), while Roy Evans won Manager of the Month . Dennis Bergkamp won the Player of the Month award in August 1997 after scoring a hat-trick at Leicester . +After beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, and with seven wins in their last eight Premier League games, Arsenal are looking good on the pitch. And three of their attacking stars have shown that they also strive to look good off it, by  posing in new Arsenal-inspired suits. Mesut Ozil revealed that he has a personal grooming kit that he brings to every game, while Olivier Giroud claimed that he is inspired by David Beckham and Andriy Shevchenko. Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil pose for a GQ Style shoot wearing new Lanvin Arsenal suits . Sanchez and Giroud, who have been important in Arsenal's recent good form, pose for the shoot . David Beckham and wife Victoria arrive at the Alexander McQueen benefit dinner at the V&A . The front cover of GQ Style, on sale from Thursday . 'I bring my own grooming kit to the game... moisturiser, gel and shampoo,' said Ozil. 'I like to take care of myself… Football players like to take care of themselves and pay attention to the way they dress. 'I think as a human being you need variety; you can't just do football, you need a combination. Football is of course my main focus, which is a lot of fun and I love to be on the pitch. 'But I have other interests beside that, like fashion or being with my family.' Ozil and Giroud posed with Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez for GQ Style in their new Lanvin suits, and Giroud admitted he likes it when fans immitate his hair. 'Yes, they try to do the quiff,' he said. 'Especially in France, I see a lot of them. It is funny because they try to imitate me – but it is always a pleasure.' 'David Beckham is a top man.' he added, when discussing his fashion influences. 'I love the guy and what he can show in terms of style as well. He's really classy, an icon… . Beckham, who was at London's V&A museum on Thursday night for a fashion launch, has long combined success on the pitch with life as a fashion icon off it, but Giroud also picked out another, less expected ex-footballer as his major style influence. 'When I was young, I looked up to Andriy Shevchenko. He was so elegant, and on the pitch as well.' See the full shoot in the spring summer issue of GQ Style, on sale Thursday 19th March . Giroud said he admired Andriy Shevchenko's elegance when he was growing up, as well as Beckham . David Beckham poses with his wife Victoria at the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Fashion Gala . Ozil, who has been excellent since returning from injury recently, congratulates Giroud . The Frenchman celebrates scoring against QPR, but admitted he is imitated for his hair, as well as his skills . Sanchez and Giroud celebrate after combining for another Arsenal goal during their excellent run . +Neymar has been gearing up for a pivotal week in Barcelona’s pursuit of a treble by taking a tiny bicycle for a spin. The Brazilian star is clearly in a relaxed mood before Barcelona take on Manchester City and play out the El Classico next week. Neymar, who believes Luis Enrique’s side can achieve a treble this season, will hope to help keep Barcelona top of La Liga with victory at Eibar on Saturday evening. Neymar posted this picture on his Instagram as he enjoyed a time off from Barcelona's treble pursuit . Having enjoyed a team bonding BBQ at their training ground on Wednesday, Barcelona must now focus on a crucial run of games. After Eibar the Catalan giants host Manchester City on Wednesday in the Champions League last 16 second leg, having won the first 2-1 last month thanks to a brace from Luis Suarez. Four days later at the Nou Camp Barcelona host rivals Real Madrid and Neymar is determined to treat the El Clasico like a final to gain the required result and keep the treble dream rolling. Neymar says Barcelona will treat the upcoming 'El Classico' meeting like a cup final so they win the game . Neymar said: 'I think we have the team to think about winning the treble. Leo (Messi) is the best in the world and (Luis) Suárez is a great goalscorer. 'We will give everything to win. I don't want to choose one title, I want to win all three. 'We are strong in the way we train and the relationship inside the dressing room has improved, now the atmosphere in the squad is spectacular. ‘'El Clasico' will be a final and we have to prepare as such. They are a very tough team but we only have to think about victory. 'The season is very long and there are still many games to play. We'll have to play our game and focus on winning.' Neymar celebrates scoring against Villarreal during the Copa del Rey semi final clash on Wednesday . Neymar (second right) believes Barcelona's strike force is superior to rival Real Madrid's 'BBC' Neymar describes teammate Luis Suarez as a great goalscorer and insists they can win the treble . +The new Formula One season gets underway in the early hours of Sunday morning when Melbourne plays host to the opening race of the campaign. Ahead of the curtain raiser, Phil Duncan assesses the sport's hot topics... So, it looks like Lewis Hamilton is going to waltz to back-to-back titles… . There’s no question that Mercedes are set to pick up in 2015 where they left off last year. Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg clocked up more miles than any of their rivals over the winter, and they were the quickest, too. Hamilton won 11 of the 19 races last year, and you fancy if he sorts out his performances in qualifying, he’ll be tough to beat. Lewis Hamilton appeared in a relaxed mood as he signed autographs for punters ahead of the season opener . Hamilton’s popped up at a host of celeb parties over the winter… Is there any danger he’s taken his eye off the ball? The reigning champion has helped to raise F1’s profile away from the track after attending a number of showbiz functions during the off-season. From the Paris catwalk to the red carpet at the BRITs, Hamilton's never been far from the limelight. His high-profile split from Nicole Scherzinger has hit the headlines, too. But the Briton, now somewhat of the elder statesman on the grid having celebrated his 30th birthday at the turn of the year, appears to have adopted a new-found maturity in recent times, and his desire to match Ayrton Senna’s feat of three world titles appears to be his sole focus heading into the new campaign. At least, he's telling us that anyway. Hamilton poses in his Mercedes overalls on Thursday as he prepares to defend his world championship . Rosberg, posing for pictures with fans on Thursday, will renew his title battle with team-mate Hamilton . So, what can Rosberg do to stop him? Rosberg out-qualified Hamilton 12-7 last term, but his race displays left much to be desired; indeed he converted just three of his 11 poles into victories in 2014. If the German sorts out his race pace, he’ll give Hamilton a run for his money. At 3-1 with some bookmakers, he’s certainly worth a punt. And what about the rest of the grid? Williams, powered by Mercedes once more, are set to be Hamilton and Rosberg’s nearest challengers. Valtteri Bottas was one of the stand-out performers last term, and his team-mate Felipe Massa is among the most experienced out there. Ferrari, boosted by the arrival of Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull, have seemingly turned a corner in pre-season testing and look primed to bounce back from two years in the doldrums. Daniel Ricciardo, the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race last year, should be confident after a number of impressive displays in 2014, but his Renault-powered Red Bull still lacks what it takes to challenge Hamilton and Rosberg on a consistent basis. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was among the stand-out performers in 2014, and he is set to take the challenge to Mercedes once more . Daniel Ricciardo poses with models at the Albert Park Circuit ahead of his home race in Melbourne . I noticed you haven’t mentioned McLaren… I thought they were going to be back at the front after renewing their partnership with Honda? Well, that was the plan, but it looks as though it will be some time before either Fernando Alonso or Jenson Button get a sniff of the podium let alone win a race. The Woking-based outfit, struck by a host of reliability issues managed fewer miles than any other team in testing and they were well off the pace, too. Button, retained by McLaren after a surprise U-turn from the team's hierarchy at the end of last year, has already called for patience, and reckons just getting to the finish on Sunday, should be considered a positive result. Jenson Button is set for his 16th season in Formula One, but McLaren are likely to struggle from the offset . And Alonso, their marque signing, won't be there? No. The Spaniard suffered a mysterious crash in testing which left him concussed and in hospital for three days. CCTV captured the 134mph smash, but the footage  has never been released adding to the mystery surrounding the incident. The former Ferrari man is confident he will back for the second race in Malaysia, but his participation is yet to be confirmed by McLaren. Kevin Magnussen, dropped by the British team at the end of last year, gets his chance in Melbourne this weekend. Fernando Alonso waves to the media after he is released from hospital following a crash in testing . With a combined age of 68, Alonso and Button form the eldest pairing on the grid, but what about this kid Verstappen? He isn’t old enough to drive a road car yet is he? Not in his native Holland, no. Son of Jos Verstappen, the former Benetton driver and team-mate of Michael Schumacher, Max is just 17. He has been partnered at Red Bull's junior team Toro Rosso with rookie Carlos Sainz Jnr, who at the grand old age of 20 is somewhat of a veteran. Verstappen will become the youngest driver in F1 history on Sunday, and it’s a record which is unlikely to be broken after the FIA raised the minimum age limit to 18 in the wake of Verstappen’s controversial appointment. Max Verstappen (left) and Carlos Sainz Jnr will form the youngest driver pairing in grand prix history . So, what else do I need to look out for this season? Following one of the grandest overhauls of the sport ahead of the last campaign, the rules and regulations are relatively unchanged for 2015. Ugly nosecones are thankfully a thing of the past, the Mexican Grand Prix is back on the calendar for the first time in more than two decades, and drivers have been stopped from changing their helmet throughout the season. Caterham are gone, but Marussia, now in the guise of Manor, have survived and after hiring Will Stevens, three Brits will line up Down Under. We’ll also see the introduction of the ‘Virtual Safety Car’... Under new regulations, Hamilton will be forced to stick with the same helmet design (above) throughout 2015 . What’s that all about then? In the wake of Jules Bianchi's horror crash at last year's Japanese Grand Prix, a 'Virtual Safety Car; concept has been introduced. FIA race director Charlie Whiting will deploy the system immediately after any incident which requires double waved yellows, but is not deemed severe enough for the Safety Car itself. The aim is to neutralise the race track and slow drivers down after Bianchi, who remains unconscious in hospital, was adjudged to have been going too fast when he crashed into the back of a tractor sent to recover Adrian Sutil’s Sauber at the rain-lashed race in Japan. So, what time shall I set my alarm for on Sunday? Nice and early! Another recommendation following Bianchi’s crash was to bring forward the start-time of a number of races outside Europe. Sunday's Australian Grand Prix gets underway at 5am (4pm local time), one hour earlier than last year, to avoid any danger of the race ending in darkness. You can follow the coverage of every lap on MailOnline. Sky Sports F1 will screen the race live with highlights on the BBC. +Daniel Sturridge proved that he doesn't just have skills on a football pitch but also in the kitchen - with a little help from his Mum. The Liverpool striker cooked up a chicken dish specialty in preparation for Mother's Day as part of his role as a Sainsbury's ambassador. The 25-year-old must hope that the protein-packed meal will help him when his side travel to Swansea on Monday, as they look to continue their charge for the Champions League places. Daniel Sturridge showed his fans how to prepare a Mother's Day special chicken dish for the weekend . The Liverpool striker appeared to be enjoying himself as he showed off his impressive cooking skills . Brendan Rodgers' side have an excellent recent record against the Welsh outfit and have won their previous three games - albeit all at Anfield. With European-chasing rivals Manchester United and Tottenham facing each other this week, Liverpool have an excellent chance of either leapfrogging Louis van Gaal's side or extending their lead of the London side. After all the negativity surrounding the club at the start of the season, things are very much on the up for the Reds - with a Wembley appearance just one game away and momentum building for top four finish. His Mum Grace helped him to prepare the dish as part of his role as an ambassador for Sainsbury's . Sturridge was unfortunate to not score in their last match against Blackburn in the FA Cup quarter-final . +Former Wimbledon tennis champion Boris Becker arrived at tonight's Champions League fixture at Stamford Bridge inadvertently wearing a scarf celebrating the Chelsea Headhunter hooligan firm. The tennis star was in a VIP box at the match with his wife Lilly, sporting a blue and white scarf with the words 'Chelsea Headhunter' and a pair of skulls which are acknowledged as the emblem of the hooligan mob. There is no indication that the German celebrity had any knowledge of the significance of the 'Headhunter' legend on his scarf or the pair of skulls featured on the garment. Boris Becker, right, was featured wearing the Chelsea Headhunter scarf featuring two skulls . Tennis star Boris Becker was at Chelsea's Champions League match with his wife Lilly, right . There is no suggestion that Mr Becker is aware of the significance of the Chelsea Headhunter scarf . Mr Becker and his wife witnessed Chelsea's exit from this season's Champions League on away goals after a 3-3 draw on aggregate. The Chelsea Headhunters are one of the most notorious football hooligan firms of the 1970s and 1980s. The thugs have links with a wide range of racist organisations such as Combat 18 as well as northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisations. In April 2014, about 300 Chelsea hooligans, including members of the Headhunters went on the rampage in Paris. In 1999, undercover journalist Donal McIntyre posed as a drug-dealing Ulster loyalist in a bid to infiltrate the hooligan gang. His work led to the prosecution of Jason Mariner, a senior member of the hooligan gang. A decade after his expose, Mr McIntyre was attacked by supporters of the hooligan firm outside a Surrey wine bar and knocked unconscious. Boris Becker's representatives did not return a call at the time of publication. Also, Chelsea FC did not respond to questions relating to the scarf, which was quite visible in the VIP box. +A Greek cup quarter-final between league leaders Olympiacos and second division AEK has been abandoned after a late Olympiakos goal sparked crowd violence. Argentinian attacker Franco Daniel Jara scored the only goal of the game in the 89th minute, bouncing a pass off his chest to give Olympiacos a 2-1 win on aggregate. Crowd trouble at a Greek cup quarter-final tie caused the game to be abandoned after a late goal . The problems intensified after Olympiacos scored the winning goal in the 89th minute . AEK fans light flares during the game in the Greek cup against Olympiakos . Some AEK supporters broke onto the pitch, with one appearing to throw a flare at an Olympiacos player . Olympiacos had drawn with AEK, a second division side, in the first leg with the scores at 1-1 . Franco Daniel Jara scored a late goal for Olympiacos before crowd trouble forced the game off on 89 mins . A few home AEK supporters then invaded the pitch at the Athens Olympic Stadium, and one threw a flare at celebrating Olympiacos players. Wednesday's violence came two weeks after Greek authorities suspended top league games for a week following crowd violence. League games were held again over the weekend, but without spectators. +David Beckham was at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea's Champions League last 16 second leg match against one of his old teams, Paris Saint-Germain. The former England captain was in London with his three sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. The anticipation of the PSG fans inside Stamford Bridge ahead was clear, with a number of fans stood topless in the away stand, despite it being another chilly March evening. David Beckham (second right) was pictured at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday for Chelsea against PSG . Boris Becker was also in attendance at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea looked to seal a place in the last eight . Becker watches on as his other half Lily reacts with dismay to another chance going begging . Paris Saint-Germain supporters helped to create a fiery atmosphere inside of Stamford Bridge . Some PSG supporters removed their shirts in the stand, despite it being a cold evening in London . Chelsea's team warm up ahead of the clash at Stamford Bridge against French side PSG . Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who was suspended by the BBC on Tuesday, was present at the game . That manner of appearance was not one chosen by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who was spotted in the stands ready to watch his beloved Chelsea only a day after being suspended from the BBC. Boris Becker was also seen in the stands, appearing blissfully unaware that the Chelsea scarf he was wearing had the emblem of the Chelsea hooligan firm, the Chelsea Headhunters, on. The two teams are tied 1-1 from the first leg at the Parc des Princes. Defender Branislav Ivanovic headed Chelsea in front before Edinson Cavani equalised. +For Burnley, a famous victory. For champions Manchester City, plenty of soul-searching required. After failing to stop George Boyd, not many will fancy their chances of coping with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. It was a famous night at Turf Moor, their first win over City since 1974 ranking alongside their 2009 victory against Manchester United in their first season in the Premier League when Robbie Blake scored the winner. City deserved what they got — absolutely nothing. Their manager, Manuel Pellegrini, looked pale and drawn by the final whistle as well he might. City dominated possession but not energy, commitment or even goal chances. George Boyd scored Burnley's winner with a sweetly struck shot into the bottom corner . Vincent Kompany's clearance fell straight to Boyd who caught it sweetly with his left foot . Boyd celebrates his 61st minute strike at Turf Moor on Saturday night . Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton 6.5, Trippier 6.5, Duff 6.5, Shackell 7, Mee 6, Boyd 8, Arfield 7, Jones 7, Barnes 6, Vokes 6.5 (Ward 87), Ings 7 (Reid 90). Subs Not Used: Wallace, Kightly, Jutkiewicz, Gilks, Keane. Booked: Mee, Duff. Goals: Boyd 61. Man City (4-4-2): Hart 6, Zabaleta 6.5, Kompany 6, Demichelis 5, Clichy, Jesus Navas 5, Toure 6 (Lampard 81), Fernandinho 5, Silva 5 (Jovetic 74), Dzeko 4.5 (Bony 63), Aguero 5.5. Subs Not Used: Sagna, Nasri, Caballero, Mangala. Booked: Demichelis. Att: 21,216 . Ref: Andre Marriner 5 (W Midlands). Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure spent most of the game in his own half. CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE . They are still five points behind leaders Chelsea, having played two games more, and the immediate reaction from TV pundit Jamie Redknapp was that this was the type of performance by City players that gets managers the sack. It was City, not the underdogs of Burnley, who used illegitimate strongarm tactics. Sergio Aguero was lucky that referee Andre Marriner did not spot his studs-up challenge that caught Michael Duff on the ankle. Martin Demichelis crudely targeted Clarets dangerman Danny Ings and caught him in the leg, chin and back of the head on at least three occasions. The Argentine was very fortunate not to sent off on the totting-up procedure. Everywhere you looked there was a City horror story. David Silva gave one of his worst performances in a City shirt and was hooked after missing their best chance from Aguero’s pass. Skipper Vincent Kompany was partly culpable for Burnley’s winner after being recalled to the side. Pablo Zabaleta claimed a late penalty when he was challenged Mee. Nothing was given, correctly. Burnley are still third from bottom but only one point behind Sunderland in the Premier League safety zone. And their winning goal after 61 minutes was excellent. Kieran Tripper’s delivery from a free-kick was fantastic, Kompany rose to head away from goal but only to Boyd, lurking on the edge of the box. The celebrations were akin to another famous Burnley goal, Robbie Blake's winner against Manchester United . Manchester City prepare to kick off after conceding the first goal at Turf Moor . New signing Wilfried Bony can't believe that City have slipped to another defeat . The Scot caught his half-volley sweetly with his left foot and it arrowed past Hart into the goalkeeper’s bottom left corner. Job done and Boyd described it as ‘the most important goal of my career’. Pellegrini was measured but his words rang hollow. ‘I don’t think we played very badly, it was a normal performance,’ he said. ‘We just needed to create more chances. Football is not about money. In the Premier League any team can beat another.’ On his side’s fading title prospects, he added: ‘We are second so we are not doing so badly. Every point we drop, it will be more difficult, but when you have mathematical chances, you have to keep fighting. We must trust what we are doing and see at the end of the season.’ Burnley boss Sean Dyche, who has seen his side earn draws at Chelsea and City this season, said: ‘We deserved to edge it. A lot has been made of this tough run of games but I said this is the challenge we want. ‘This is what the league is about and we will have a piece of it. We take challenges on. We are brave, and were again today.’ Burnley did not let City settle and the visitors took half-an-hour to test goalkeeper Tom Heaton through Edin Dzeko and Aguero. Surprisingly, the champions resorted to rough stuff as they got frustrated. City striker Sergio Aguero was frustrated by the stubborn Burnley defence . Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko has an effort blocked by Burnley defence . City boss Manuel Pellegrini saw his strongarm tactics backfire ahead of their big date in The Nou Camp . Burnley forward Ashley Barnes challenges Manchester City winger Jesus Navas . Burnley defender Kieran Trippier clears the ball from City midfielder David Silva . City defender Vincent Kompany clears the ball despite challenge from Burnley's Sam Vokes . Michael Duff was caught by that studs-up challenge from Aguero that Mr Marriner missed. Demichelis clumped Ings on the back of the head when they jumped for a high ball and was booked for a late challenge on the same player a few minutes later. Dyche looked unhappy at the time but was magnanimous after the game. ‘You should have seen me as a centre-half,’ he quipped. City’s big chance came when Aguero played in Silva. The Spaniard should have scored but his first touch was uncharacteristically poor and his final shot was comfortably gathered by Heaton. City paid for it when Scotland international Boyd struck after 61 minutes. The champions sent on Wilfried Bony, Stevan Jovetic and, finally, Frank Lampard to try to salvage a point. The cost of their substitutes, £50million, equals the sum Burnley have spent on transfer fees in their entire history. The visitors did have a late penalty appeal when Ben Mee challenged Zabaleta. It was 50-50 as to whether the Burnley player took the ball or player first, and Dyche said: ‘I haven’t seen it but we’ve been on the wrong end of margins this season. If it was a penalty, maybe that’s the balance you get over the season.’ City now need a miracle in Barcelona to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit and keep alive Pellegrini’s hopes of landing a trophy this season. At the other end of the table, Sunderland will be nervously looking over their shoulder after this great and deserved Burnley victory. City defender Pablo Zabaleta shows his frustration after being denied a late penalty . City players can't hide their disappointment after another lacklustre display . Burnley keeper Tom Heaton celebrates after the final whistle on Saturday night . +These are testing times for Scotland. The embarrassment of the wooden spoon and a possible Six Nations whitewash await on Saturday. Yet, still, some have faith. After four straight Six Nations defeats, it may seem that he is a little detached from the reality of the situation but Jim Hamilton, that most rugged of lock forwards, maintains this is a team on the verge of something special. The 32-year-old, who has won 60 caps during his nine-year international career, is not one to take a backwards on the field of play. And he insists that, despite results, Vern Cotter's men are heading in the right direction. Scotland lock Jim Hamilton has won 60 caps for his country spanning a nine-year international career . Ireland will attempt to rack up both the win and tries needed at BT Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon to apply a significant dose of pressure to Championship rivals England before they take on France in the evening kick-off. An onslaught awaits. But the man who Cotter calls his 'great, old warrior' was in no mood to take on the roll of cannon-fodder. And Hamilton, who has already experienced the pain of the wooden spoon in 2007 and 2012, said: 'I understand the results are the most important thing, but we definitely have some players who can do something really special in the near future. 'Having had the experiences I have had playing for Scotland and not having everything going our way and having to brush ourselves off in adversity, something good will come of the time we are going through just now I am sure. 'This squad is in a very good place, more so than in most Six Nations I have been involved in despite the results. On paper, it doesn't look like we've done too well as we haven't won a game, but I think it is fair to say that we are definitely on the up. Hamilton insists Scotland are heading in the right direction under Scotland coach Vern Cotter (above) 'We have some fantastic players coming through. Jonny Gray was just 21 on Saturday. Then you have Adam Ashe, Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell, Fraser Brown. We are building an unbelievably good squad of players and we are playing some great stuff. 'The biggest frustration is that in the past we have been the could-have, should-have, would-have side. The nearly team. But that will change under Vern Cotter with this group of players, no question. 'I genuinely, genuinely believe in what I am doing and what he is doing otherwise I would not be working as hard as I am to be here and trying to get into the Scotland team. 'Are we better than the wooden spoon this year? Yeah, we probably are. 'If we beat Ireland at the weekend, am I going to be happy with how we did in the Championship? No. I want to win games. I'm here to win Championships. I am here to be part of a Scotland successful team that will come good soon. 'Whether that is with me starting games, on the bench or in the squad helping the great young guys, I am determined to see it through as this team is heading in the right direction under Vern Cotter. Hamilton cites young talent such as 21-year-old lock Jonny Gray as reasons for optimism going forward . 'I will stay here as long as I possibly can to help our fortunes change which they will. I genuinely believe it will happen soon and this team will do very, very well.' Hamilton's optimism is not based in fantasy. Scotland have shown glimpses of what they can do — and, at times, their play has been a joy to behold. All they have to do now is execute Cotter's game plan without making the silly mistakes that have cost them victory in at least three of their Six Nations matches thus far. 'I genuinely believe winning is a habit we have simply got out off,' said the big second row. 'Having played for Leicester and for Saracens in games where we are not playing that well but go on to win, we got used to winning. It's a habit but losing is, as well. 'We can change that habit against Ireland and although we may go into it off some losses, we have positives to take from them. Young flanker Adam Ashe (right) is another player who has shown plenty of promise in recent games . 'For example, look at the England game when we lost early points but went in at half-time winning 13-10 — which just shows the maturity in what is a young squad. 'Also we are scoring some really exciting tries with some being fantastic, haven't they? 'It is now all about bringing everything together now into a full 80-minute performance. Can we win the game against Ireland at the weekend with what we've got? Of course we can. 'We have shown enough signs that we are good enough and provided we stop making naive mistakes, we can finish the Six Nations with a win and show how well this group of players is progressing. +Ronald de Boer says his brother Frank would be interested in taking the Manchester City job - but only after 2016. Manuel Pellegrini finds himself under pressure after City fell six points behind leaders Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League title race and were eliminated from the Champions League by Barcelona on Wednesday night. The Chilean could be dismissed in the summer, with Ajax boss De Boer, Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti and Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone among those linked with the job. Ajax coach Frank de Boer is in the frame to take over at Manchester City should Manuel Pellegrini depart . Former Holland international De Boer, 44, has guided Ajax to four consecutive Dutch titles . The pressure mounted on Manuel Pellegrini after Manchester City's Champions League exit to Barcelona . City trail Chelsea by six points in the Barclays Premier League title race . Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the second leg as Barcelona knocked out Man City 3-1 on aggregate . De Boer, 44, has guided Ajax to four consecutive Eredivisie titles, though they are well behind PSV Eindhoven this season. And his brother Ronald believes he will soon be thinking about his future. 'Frank would be interested in managing Manchester City in the future,' he told talkSPORT. 'He's already said he will stay at Ajax until 2016. If Manchester City or Barcelona come for him he will stay. 'After that [2016], he is ready to take on a job like that.' +Zlatan Ibrahimovic has apologised for any offence caused by his outburst following Paris St Germain's defeat to Bordeaux - but claims his words have been 'twisted'. Ibrahimovic is facing an investigation by the French football league (LFP) for comments made as he left the field on Sunday. The Sweden striker's two goals were not enough to prevent PSG suffering a 3-2 defeat and he was angry not to be awarded a free-kick by referee Lionel Jaffredo after Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso picked up a clear backpass from defender Ludovic Sane with five minutes remaining. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice but could not prevent PSG's 3-2 defeat by Bordeaux . Ibrahimovic was heard swearing as he walks towards the changing room after PSG's defeat . THe Swede reacted angrily to the defeat and said it was the worst refereeing display he'd ever seen . The PSG talisman reportedly referred to French referee Lionel Jaffredo (centre) as an 'a******' after the game . As he walked off the field Ibrahimovic - no stranger to making controversial remarks - was filmed venting his anger. Speaking in English but in partial sentences, he can be heard saying: 'He's an a******. Play 15 years, never seen referee this s*** country. Don't even deserve PSG should be in this country. F****** too good for all of you. Should be happy they exist.' An LFP statement on Monday read: 'Following the receipt of the officials' report, the disciplinary commission of the LFP will study in its meeting of Thursday March 19 the comments made by Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the end of the game between Girondins de Bordeaux and Paris St Germain (29th round of Ligue 1).' French sports minister Patrick Kanner called on the Swede to apologise, which he later did in a post on his Instagram account. And talking to PSG's website on Monday evening, Ibrahimovic reiterated: 'First of all, I was not aiming for the people. 'When I said it, I was angry at that moment. Whoever felt offended, or took it in the wrong way, I apologise. Ibrahimovic looks generally unimpressed as his side fall to defeat that leaves them second in Ligue 1 . Ibrahimovic faces investigation over his comments, which included calling France a 's*** country' The Sweden legend scores a goal past Bordeaux keeper Cedric Carrasso during the away game . Ibrahimovic removes his shirt after the game to reveal his impressive collection of tattoos . 'I have no problem with that. I'm a man of honour, I stand by my things I do, and I apologise. 'I think that whoever saw it, or however the media is trying to twist it, I think the French people are intelligent enough to understand the situation. 'The welcome I have had here, I'm very happy. I respect people who respect me, every day I go through here I've had a fantastic time. 'I have no regrets and nobody will change my opinion. From the first day I came, I had a good time and I will continue to have a good time. 'So don't twist it, it's about football we talk, so let's focus on the football. The football here is the most important (thing) for me.' Ibrahimovic's comments towards Jaffredo come less than a week after he was sent off in his side's Champions League victory over Chelsea and accused the Blues' players of acting like 'babies' after they surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers. Ibrahimovic had previously accused Chelsea of acting like 'babies' during their Champions League defeat . Injured team-mate Serge Aurier faces UEFA disciplinary action after labelling Kuipers a 'dirty son of a bitch' in a video posted on Facebook, and the two incidents prompted a response from France's elite referees organisation SAFE (Syndicat des Arbitres du Football d'Elite). An open letter from SAFE president Stephane Lannoy on the organisation's website read: 'We thought we had seen a peak in media outcry after Chelsea-PSG. We thought we had heard everything. But no. 'Sunday night, for a back-pass, we had a new outburst of hatred and verbal abuse. The equation is simple: back-pass = worst referee in 15 years = s*** country. 'After Mr Kuipers on Wednesday (from what country...?), Mr Jaffredo on Sunday - and ultimately, as the cup was not yet full, the whole of France.' The letter concluded: 'It is time to realise we cannot say anything, do anything and accept anything. It is high time that finally, in football, everyone recognises the status of the referee and accepts and respects it.' Ibrahimovic has been told he should leave France by the nation's far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. The National Front Leader told France Info Radio: 'Those who consider that France is a s*** country can leave it. It's as simple as that.' +Lizzie Velasquez, pictured with documentary director Sara Hirsh Bordo arrive, at the premiere of 'A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story' today . Lizzie Velasquez has known the torment of being mocked by bullies from around the world. As a 17-year-old surfing the web, she came across a video of herself on YouTube that described her as the 'world's ugliest woman'. The devastated teenager spent days shutting herself from the world behind a wall of tears, thinking her life was over. But now 26, the inspirational woman has hit back at the trolls with an anti-bullying documentary about her life, describing her battle with a rare condition which stops her putting on weight. 'A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story' premiers at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, today. The 78-minute film charts Lizzie's inspiring path from cyber-bullying victim to anti-bullying activist. Featuring details of Lizzie's emotional and physical journey through the years, it follows her progress as she attempts to lobby the US government for the first federal anti-bullying Bill. She was born with Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophy, which is a problem with the way fat is distributed in the body. At only 5ft 2ins tall, Lizzie only weighs 58lbs - just over four stone. 'All we had known all my life was that I had a syndrome which meant that I couldn't gain weight. 'At the time, I thought everyone looked like me. I didn't recognise or tell that they didn't look like me.' Lizzie, born with a rare condition which prevents her from gaining weight, was tormented by bullies at school but was shocked to discover thousands of cruel comments on a YouTube video of her at the age of 17 . First bullied as a child in school for looking different, she was horrified to stumble across a YouTube video labeling her 'The World's Ugliest Woman' as a teenager. The video, viewed four million times, was accompanied by a cascade of cruel comments about her appearance - and suggestions that she should have killed at birth. 'It was afternoon. I decided to go look for music on YouTube - and that's when I found it,' she said. 'I don't even know why I clicked on it but I did and that's when I lost it. Speaking ahead of her documentary's showing today, Lizzie said: 'I'm so excited, I can't even tell you' 'Calling me a monster or asking why my parents didn't abort me... how in the world can I forgive the people who told me to kill myself?' She fought back by giving a TED Talk in 2013 which she says 'changed everything'. 'This is my purpose. This is what I'm meant to do for the rest of my life. 'I like to think that I'm not only telling my story, I'm telling everyone's story.' Now, Lizzie's own YouTube channel, which boasts more than 300,000 subscribers. Speaking in a video posted to her channel ahead of her documentary's showing today, she said: 'I'm so excited, I can't even tell you. 'I finally was able to sleep and I'm feeling rested and ready to go.' But the inspiring 26-year-old fought back by becoming a motivational speaker and anti-bullying activist . Director Sara Hirsh Bordo said: 'Bullying is a subject that historically yields heartbreaking stories of hopelessness and in many times, loss. 'Rarely is there a story of survival and inspiration that continues to crossover ages, genders, and ethnicities… enter the brave story of Lizzie Velasquez.' The pair met when Ms Bordo asked her to give the TED Talk, which attracted more than 10million viewers. 'She was a local hero whose time, we found out shortly after, had arrived,' she added. 'We live in a culture of tremendous meanness. And few people have experienced it more than Lizzie. 'Lizzie chose to not give up, but to forgive and to thrive; as an author, as a speaker, and now as an activist.' She added: 'What I wanted to show is that this is Lizzie’s film, but it is everyone’s story.' Marfan Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue, which hold the body’s cells and organs together. Connective tissue also plays an important role in helping the body grow and develop properly. Marfan affects about one in 5,000 people - and can affect men and women of all races and ethnic groups. Three-quarters of those who have it inherit it - and there is a 50% chance that someone with Marfan syndrome will pass along the genetic mutation each time they have a child. But some are the first in their family to have it, which is called spontaneous mutation when it happens. People with Marfan syndrome are born with it, but features of the disorder are not always present immediately. Some features of Marfan syndrome, including those affecting the heart and blood vessels, bones or joints, can get worse over time. This means it is important for early diagnosis and treatment in order to avoid the risk for potentially life-threatening complications. Source: Marfan Foundation . +A 53-year-old woman has been banned from owning an animal for 20 years after neglecting her two dogs so badly they needed to be put down. Peta Brien was convicted of animal cruelty offences in the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday after failing to provide sufficient food and water for the dogs and failing to take steps to alleviate harm to them. She was also sentenced to a one-year, community-based order and ordered to pay costs of $1083. A supplied image of Big Girl, one of two dogs severely neglected by Perth woman Peta Brien . Both had been abandoned at a Maylands property and were emaciated, but one of the dogs, a two-year-old Maltese shitzu cross named Little Man, was found lying lifeless and whining, suffering dehydration, conjunctivitis and ulcerated eyes. Little Man also had severely matted fur and grass seeds embedded in his skin, which had caused severe infection and maggots in and around his hind region. RSPCA WA chief inspector Amanda Swift said the penalty was appropriate because a person who treated dogs so poorly did not deserve the privilege of owning one. The 53-year-old woman has been banned from owning an animal for 20 years, as well as being sentenced to a one-year, community-based order and fine . Ms Brien was convicted of animal cruelty offences in the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday after failing to provide sufficient food and water for the dogs and failing to take steps to alleviate harm to them . +Britain's FIFA vice-president is confident the Boxing Day club matches will be protected when the world governing body announces the final dates for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Friday. Jim Boyce, from Northern Ireland, sits on the FIFA executive committee that will make the decision on the dates of the tournament which is being played in the winter to avoid the fierce heat of June/July, and he believes that moves to stage the 2022 final on December 23 will be defeated. UEFA has been pushing for December 23 but FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in February the final would not be staged later than December 18, which also happens to be Qatar's national day. Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce insists clubs' Boxing Day fixtures will go ahead as planned in 2022 . Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney (left) in action in the Premier League game against Tottenham . The most likely outcome of the meeting is that FIFA will announce a shortened tournament starting on Sunday November 20 and finishing four weeks later on Sunday December 18. Boyce, who steps down as FIFA vice-president in May, told Press Association Sport: 'There is no way you can have a World Cup final on December 23 and then have a lot of people all trying to get home for Christmas. 'December 18 has to be the absolute deadline and in Britain that would allow the club programme to resume their fixtures on Boxing Day.' The FIFA executive committee is meeting in Zurich where it is to be updated with Qatar's plans for improving the conditions of migrant workers following revelations about appalling conditions for some in the construction industry. Boyce added: 'FIFA is now monitoring this and it has to make sure that progress has been made. FIFA is concerned about this and it is something FIFA is trying to rectify.' FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be concluded by December 18 . Chelsea's Diego Costa (right) attempts an overhead kick in the Premier League game against Southampton . Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore said last month he felt 'let down' by UEFA's push for a December 23 final. A UEFA source said the European governing body would accept December 18 if that was the consensus as there was still enough time to plan to accommodate the necessary changes. UEFA president Michel Platini on Wednesday responded to Scudamore's remarks saying: 'It's not only the Premier League in the world. There are many leagues, many players, many clubs. 'I always said that it would be a winter World Cup. I always said I will vote for Qatar but that I will do my best for it to be in winter and I hope it will be in the Gulf. 'I'm totally coherent with what I said four years ago, totally. I work for what I am convinced is good for football.' Richard Scudamore says he feels let down by UEFA's push for a late finish to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar . UEFA president Michel Platini has voiced his support for a winter World Cup in Qatar from the early stages . +Golfers at a course in . Florida on Wednesday were careful to putt around a large . alligator, days after the beast was photographed lounging on the . edge of the green. A women's tournament went on as planned at the Myakka Pines . Golf Club in Englewood, on Florida's west coast, as the gator, . estimated at 12 to 13 feet long reposed in . full view of about 100 participants, said Mickie Zada, the . club's general manager. 'If we stopped playing because of alligators, we'd never . have golfers,' Zada said. Scroll down for video . Players at the Myakka Pines Golf Club in Englewood, Florida have had frequent sightings of large alligators on the course . One recent gator is believed to be about 13 feet long and can been seen frequently wandering around the holes and napping on the putting greens . Zada said she had spent much of Wednesday morning fielding . calls from reporters asking whether the photo, taken by a golfer . on Friday, was doctored to make the alligator appear larger. 'This gentleman is well into his 80s. He wouldn't even know . Photoshop,' Zada said. And according to the club, the alligator is far from . the first - or even the biggest - to show up on the course. A 15-footer, nicknamed Big George, hung around for years until his death, Zada said. Despite nearly daily alligator sightings at the course, none have attacked a person in the club's 37 years . Despite nearly daily alligator sightings at the course, none . have attacked a person in the club's 37 years, Zada said, owing . in part to a strict policy against feeding the animals. Dangerous confrontations between humans and alligators . usually stem from people feeding them, Florida wildlife . officials have said. The new alligator has yet to be given a moniker, but that . may soon change, Zada said. 'We might name him Viral,' she said. +ISIS has executed another nine men for allegedly being spies in an unknown location in the Middle East. Each man is forced to give interview before their murder in which they admit to spying on the terror group's location, movement and armament. All nine of them - blindfolded with hands bound behind their backs - are then escorted outside by masked terrorists who eventually instruct them to kneel and place handguns to their heads. They pull the triggers without hesitation, sending their victims jerking forward until their limp bodies hit the dusty ground. The masked ISIS commander who introduces the latest senseless propaganda video says the men 'were sentenced to death for betraying the religion of Allah'. Scroll down for videos . Senseless: ISIS has released footage of nine men being executed for allegedly spying on the terrorists . Murder: The blindfolded and shackled men were led onto a bridge in an unknown location in the Middle East before being shot by masked extremists . Forced confessions? Before their deaths, each man claims responsibility for spying on ISIS, although it is unknown whether they are speaking under duress . Doomed: The men are eventually escorted out of the building - clad with Islamic State insignia - to their deaths . Graphic footage ultimately shows the deceased captives resting perfectly still in a shallow pool of blood. But the scenes in which the senseless murders take place come six minutes and 30 seconds after the start of the seven minute video. It begins with a bizarre setup of a masked ISIS commander sitting in a corporate office, flanked by two other soldiers. He say that Islamic State succeeded in arresting an entire 'cell' of spies who were tasked with monitoring their locations back to their commanding officer. The unnamed militant then claims three of the men who squealed on the others, adding: 'We took the investigation to a judge and after collecting evidence, they were sentenced to death for betraying the religion of Allah.' Each of the nine kidnapped men are then forced to give interviews before their impending doom - presumably under duress - in which they confess to being spies. Their nationalities and professions are as yet a mystery, but some of the men look visibly terrified as they speak in trembling Arabic. This is the second video of an Islamic State execution to surface this week following the equally brutal mass murder of eight 'informers'. Mastermind: The second gruesome execution video to surface this week begins with a masked fighter who says the men were 'sentenced to death for betraying the religion of Allah' Captured: The unnamed ISIS commander also claims that three of the alleged spies squealed on their comrades . Execution: After being escorted onto what appears to be a bridge by armed fighters, the blindfolded men are instructed to kneal . Terror: The gruesome video is the second to surface this week following the footage of eight other alleged spies being killed in a similar way on Thursday . In the video which emerged on Thursday, the terror group justified the killings as vengeance for the military operations against them in Syria and Iraq. The gruesome propaganda video cut from scenes of the men being killed to footage of people who ISIS claims were killed during Coalition attacks on its locations. Cutaways include footage of dead children underneath the rubble of destroyed buildings and body bags. As with the latest video which features interviews with the doomed captives, it featured graphics which 'profiled' each of the men about to be murdered. The videos emerge amid claims that ISIS is using chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against peshmerga fighters in Iraq. Kurdish authorties made the allegation following a suicide bomb attack involving a truck on January 23. Murdered: Militants claim the eight men were informers, engaged in military operations against ISIS . Revenge: The militants have justified the killings as retaliation for air strikes against land they hold . In a statement, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said the alleged chemical attack took place on a road between Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul and the Syrian border. It was there Peshmerga forces who were trying to seize a ISIS supply line - and discovered '20 gas canisters' loaded onto the back of the truck involved. Video provided by the council showed the truck racing down a road with white smoke pouring out of it as it came under heavy fire from peshmerga fighters. It later showed a white, billowing cloud after the truck exploded and the remnants of it scattered across a road. +Dennis Irwin has hailed Daley Blind's versatility and backed him to retain a place in the Manchester United starting XI, even when injured players return. The former United left-back, who made 529 appearances for the club between 1990 and 2002, was impressed by Blind when he played in that position during Sunday's 3-0 win over Tottenham. It was United's best performance of the season, keeping them anchored in the Premier League top four and boosting confidence ahead of this weekend's crunch trip to Anfield to play Liverpool. Daley Blind (right) was impressive for Manchester United in Sunday's 3-0 win over Tottenham . Irwin, seen here celebrating a goal with David Beckham in 1997, believes Blind deserves his place in the team . Sunday's clash between Manchester United and Liverpool will be pivotal in the top four race . 'Daley's a good, honest pro,' Irwin told ManUtd.com. 'He can play at centre-half if you need him, left-back if you need him, and obviously he's played mostly in midfield for us this season. I think he's been a really good signing. 'He's a player who reads situations very, very well, I thought he played extremely well on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see the team the manager picks against Liverpool, but it wouldn't surprise me if he picks the same 11 players, because they played so well. 'That's the manager's decision and he's got one or two back from suspension and injury, but I thought the team played very well on Sunday.' Blind sets off in pursuit of Arsenal's Francis Coquelin during last week's FA Cup sixth round tie . Blind celebrates scoring a late equaliser for United at West Ham last month . The Dutch international also scored a crucial late goal at West Brom earlier in the campaign . Dutch international Blind, who arrived at Old Trafford from Ajax for £13.8m last summer, has at times struggled for form this season but is showing signs of adapting to the English game. Irwin added: 'I know Blind can fill in places and he's done tremendously well for us in midfield. 'He hasn't played at left-back that many times, he's not played centre-half in a three that many times for us but we know he can play there. 'I thought Phil Jones and Chris Smalling were aggressive, didn't give Harry Kane much room, and Antonio Valencia played really well at right-back, so it was good to see and we'll need plenty of that at Anfield.' +Newcastle midfielder Siem de Jong will return to training on Thursday after recovering from a collapsed lung as he bids to play again this season. The 26-year-old Holland international has managed only three appearances for the club since his £6million summer arrival from Ajax, but could yet figure before the end of the campaign after being given the green light by medics to step up his comeback plans. De Jong revealed the news via his Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon, saying: 'The last X-ray was all good! So tomorrow I will start training for myself again. #NUFC #comebackstronger'. Siem de Jong is set to start training again as he steps up recovery from collapsed lung . The Dutchman suffered the major setback after being set to return from a serious thigh injury . De Jong has been a spectator at St James' Park for much of the season . The news will come as a boost to beleaguered head coach John Carver, whose squad has been decimated by injury and suspension in recent weeks. De Jong's last appearance came in the 3-3 Barclays Premier League draw with Crystal Palace at St James' Park on August 30 last year. He suffered a torn thigh muscle days later which sidelined him for more than four months, and he was on the verge of returning to the squad last month when he suffered a collapsed lung for the second time in his career. The Dutchman underwent surgery which should prevent a recurrence of the problem and has now been given the all-clear to resume training, and he will hope to be able to make a belated impact with nine games of the season remaining. +With the Six Nations coming down to a nail biting final week, England will be counting their lucky stars after Wales ended Ireland's Grand Slam dreams and put Stuart Lancaster's side top of the table. Four score points is what separates the top two, with the Welsh just behind - knowing that if both slip up then the title could well be heading to Cardiff. England welcome France to Twickenham knowing they're in pole position and Lancaster's side have been working hard at Pennyhill Park in preparation for the pivotal weekend. Stuart Lancaster looks on as his England side prepares for Saturday's crucial clash with France . Geoff Parling (centre) runs with the ball through a number of tackles during a training drill at Pennyhill Park . Star man Jonathan Joseph has been in fine form during the Six Nations and will be looking to continue that . England duo Richard Wigglesworth (left) and Chris Robshaw will be hoping they can lift the coveted trophy . The England coach is unlikely to make an wholesale changes and could field the same starting 15 as he did in Saturday's victory over Scotland. Tom Youngs and Geoff Parling are pushing for recalls after coming on in the second half during the 25-13 win at Twickenham. Courtney Lawes believes England's fitness levels could be the difference when the two sides meet on Saturday. VIDEO Burrell – all to play for against France . Mike Brown, who missed games because of injury, is a vital player for England and his return is a real boost . Captain Robshaw knows his side face a tough test against the French if they want to claim a crucial win . England practice their scrummaging during the training session ahead of their upcoming physical battle . Joseph and George Ford will need to be at their creative best to defeat a strong tackling French midfield . Northampton Saints flanker Calum Clark will want to see some action during the crucial Six Nations clash . ‘I’ve played against many French sides. They’re always physical. Obviously we’ve got to stay with them and show them they can’t just roll over us. 'Then we can play some good rugby, get them moving around us and hopefully our fitness will tell come the end.’ The schedule has presented England with the significant advantage of knowing exactly what their target will be against France when the last game of the 2015 Six Nations kicks off. Lancaster will inform his players of the results of Wales' clash with Italy in Rome and Ireland's match against Scotland at Murrayfield. +Kevin Pietersen is confident he can score more Test hundreds for England, if he is given the opportunity. The controversial, record-breaking batsman trails only captain Alastair Cook in the all-time list of England's most prolific Test centurions - having made 23, before he was sacked 13 months ago. The 34-year-old is hoping to resurrect his career with his adopted country after new England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves hinted that a return to county cricket - and first-class form - may put him back in the reckoning after all. Kevin Pietersen believes he is capable of adding to his 23 Test centuries if he receives an England recall . England captain Alastair Cook (right) has scored two more centuries than Pietersen (centre) Alastair Cook - 25 . Kevin Pietersen - 23 . Wally Hammond - 22 . MC Cowdrey - 22 . Geoffrey Boycott - 22 . Pietersen is therefore pursuing the possibility of securing a new contract in this country. Surrey, who de-registered him six months ago after a summer in which he played only Twenty20 cricket, appear to be strong favourites to re-sign him - as long as he can secure a release from his arrangement to play in the Indian Premier League, which clashes with the start of the English domestic season. Pietersen was axed after England's 2013-14 Ashes whitewash defeat, and ECB managing director Paul Downton subsequently described his 'disengagement' with his team-mates. He struggled for form, and fitness, in the summer that followed but rediscovered both for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash this winter. On his return to Australia, to commentate on the knockout stages of the World Cup, he made it clear in an interview on Fox Sports on Tuesday that he believes he can excel again for England. 'I don't think my best days are behind me. 'I thought I batted as well as I've ever batted in my career in Australia a few months ago. 'I think that's nonsense - I reckon I've still got quite a few Test hundreds in me.' Former England cricketer Pietersen has rubbished claims suggesting his best days are behind him . England appeared to have severed all ties with the South Africa-born batsman, until Graves recently indicated otherwise. Pietersen's autobiography, in which he depicted a culture of bullying in the England dressing-room and was highly critical of former team-mates and management staff, seemed to merely confirm a permanent split. Former England batting coach Graham Gooch, for one, is still warning against his return. 'I wouldn't bring Pietersen back,' he told the Evening Standard. 'I would question whether he would have made that much of a difference in the World Cup. 'His record for England over his career has been box office. But his performances in ODI cricket before this tournament weren't special. Former England batting coach Graham Gooch insists Pietersen does not deserve an international recall . 'Kevin Pietersen did some great things for England, make no mistake. But now it's time to move on.' Gooch, on staff during England's Ashes defeat down under, takes particular issue with some of the content of Pietersen's autobiography - published last October. 'I vehemently disagree with all the things Kevin Pietersen said. 'That's not the dressing-room I remember. 'In November 2013, he was given a memento by the players for his 100th Test in the dressing-room before the first Test at Brisbane. 'Then he stated 'This is the best England environment I have ever played in'. 'Those words came out of his mouth. He's changed his tune just a bit.' +The Australian businessman charged with horrific acts of child abuse acted as the ring leader of an international paedophile ring that served Australian clients, according to investigators. Peter Gerard Scully's latest alleged victim, a 13 year-old girl, has told police she was supposed to meet one of the disgraced businessman's Australian clients and carry out lewd sex acts on camera. However, the girl told investigators plans were changed at late notice and Scully tried to sell her to a German man for the equivalent of $2924 instead, The Age reports. Peter Gerard Scully alleged operated an international paedophile ring that served Australian clients, according to AFP investigators. Scully's alleged crimes are so heinous they have led to renewed calls to reintroduce the death penalty. Videos seized in the Philippines last week allegedly show the 13-year-old girl being forced to perform lewd acts with a baby aged one and girl toddler aged five, according to investigators. The videos shows whipping and torture along with other horrific acts, and was described by police as the most shocking child pornography that has ever been discovered in the Philippines. His alleged victim was also forced to call him 'Uncle Peter' and started working for him, after he had promised to cover her schooling costs. 'Because (he) pay a big amount that's why I had to do that,' the girl said. It is claimed Scully abused more than a dozen children in the three years he was in the Philippines, during which time he moved house frequently and assembled a team of more than four foreign accomplices and half a dozen Filipino workers in a lucrative 'pay for view' online child pornography business. Peter Gerald Scully (right) was arrested for human trafficking and child porn-related offences arising from his alleged sexual abuse of Filipino girls which was filmed and then posted online for paying clients . Reportedly, Scully slipped out of Melbourne and fled to Manila in 2011 after he allegedly scammed more than $2.68 million from 20 investors in an investment scheme. The 52-year-old was under investigation from 2009 by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission but avoided being charged with 117 fraud and deception offences, having departed Victoria. He returned to Australia accompanied by a Malaysian teenager named Ling in 2011, who was believed to be his 'girlfriend' before he turned her into a prostitute, associates claim. 'Because (he) pay a big amount that's why I had to do that,' his alleged victim told police investigators. The allegations emerged after the father-of-two was arrested last month after the body of a teenage girl was found buried under a house he rented in Malaybalay, Bukidnon. He was formally charged on Friday. The Age reports Scully was never charged with child sex crimes in Victoria but a number of associates claimed he had a horrific sexual history. An unnamed former business associate, who lost more than $200,000 in the fraudulent scheme, told The Age he was neither surprised about the recent charges laid against Scully. 'Does it surprise me?' the associate told The Age. 'Yes and no. The signs were always there for him, but it's gone to a dark place.' Agent Janet Francisco (right) , who was responsible for cracking the case and the rescue of several victims from Scully's house, is pictured with one of the rescued girls (left) A search warrant was issued for his arrest in 2012 but Scully remained in the Philippines, where he allegedly established a lucrative business live-streaming videos in a 'pay for view' scheme. Police alleged Scully would undertake acts in response to requests from his clients from across the globe, who paid to live-stream videos of children being tortured and sexually abused. It has sparked such an outrage in the Philippines that calls are growing daily to have him executed. The death penalty was suspended in the Philippines in 2006, but an influential conservative politician told The Sydney Morning Herald that the Australian's alleged crimes were so depraved he should be put to death. 'The Philippine government should directly and seriously address the problem of paedophilia, child exploitation and sexual abuse by supporting the move to reimpose the death penalty,' Nationalist People's Coalition MP Sherwin Gatchalian said. The remains of a 10-year-old girl were found at a home formerly rented by Scully after he was arrested . Scully avoided arrest until February 20 this year before a former partner told police that Scully had killed one of his child victims in 2013. It was after this shocking revelation that the remains of a 10-year-old girl were found at a home formerly rented by Scully. An extremely graphic and distressing account by two young girls, who survived the trauma of Scully's alleged torturous abuse, paints a horrifying picture of what at least a dozen children are alleged to have endured in his home. Cousins, going by the name of Daisy,11, and and Queenie, 10, told rappler news site about the fateful day in September 2014 when they were approached by Scully's live-in partner, Carme Ann 'Angel' Alvarez. Alvarez, who was only 17 at the time and an alleged former victim of Scully's, offered the girls food at Centrio Mall in Cagayan de Oro City and then invited them back to their house. Daisy said when they got to the house, Alvarez bathed the girls while Scully, who she referred to as the 'American', videoed them. The next morning the girls were asked to start digging a hole in the ground but had no idea why they had been asked to do the unusual task. It was then after lunch that things became even more disturbing when allegedly Scully undressed the girls and told them to kiss each other. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Chelsea striker Diego Costa has returned to the Spain squad for the forthcoming matches against Ukraine and Holland. The Brazil-born forward was omitted from Vicente del Bosque's squad for the November games against Belarus and Germany because of a niggling hamstring problem, but is now back in the fold. His Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas has also returned to the squad, along with Manchester City playmaker David Silva and Barcelona star Andres Iniesta. Chelsea striker Diego Costa has returned to the Spain squad after recovering from a hamstring problem . The forward attempts an overhead kick against Southampton during Chelsea's 1-1 draw last weekend . Costa has been in superb form for the Blues this season, scoring 18 goals in 33 appearances so far . Goalkeepers: Casillas, De Gea, . Defenders: Asenjo; Juanfran, Carvajal, Pique, Bartra, Ramos, Albiol, Alba, Bernat . Midfielders: Suarez, Busquets, San Jose, Silva, Pedro, Fabregas, Cazorla, Iniesta, Koke, Isco . Forwards: Vitolo, Costa, Morata. Del Bosque has also brought in Sevilla winger Vitolo and Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo for possible senior debuts in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine in Seville on March 27 or in the friendly away to Holland on March 31. Del Bosque told the Spanish national team's official Twitter account @sefutbol: 'We have brought Vitolo into our path. We can use him on the left-hand side. Sergio Asenjo is playing well for Villarreal and that has been rewarded.' Valencia forward Paco Alcacer has missed out on this occasion, with Del Bosque judging that he was not 100 per cent fit as he makes his recovery from a knee injury. Costa will be joined in the Spain squad by Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas (pictured here against PSG) +Eugenie Bouchard used her potent forehand to great effect as she demolished American Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday. The 21-year-old broke an error-prone Vandeweghe once in the opening set and twice in the second to complete a one-sided victory in just over an hour on the showpiece stadium court at a sun-bathed Indian Wells. Bouchard, who reached the last four in Australia and France as well as the Wimbledon final in 2014, hit 13 winners against her hard-hitting opponent and appropriately ended the match with a crunching forehand winner down the line. Eugenie Bouchard demolished Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open . The Canadian was no match for her opponent as she cruised through in just over an hour . 'I felt very solid today, and I think that's important against a player who can have big weapons,' the Canadian world No 7 said. 'I kind of told myself to be ready for anything. 'She had some great serves and some great forehands. I was just ready for that. I was going to try and neutralise that and take my chances when I had them. So I'm happy I was able to step in and attack whenever she let up a little bit. 'My serve was a bit more consistent today. I'm always working to try and get it better. It definitely gives me confidence knowing that I was holding serve pretty easily.' Bouchard, who celebrated her 21st birthday last month, will next face Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko . Big-hiitting Ameican Vandeweghe's erratic game was littered with 24 mistakes . Though Bouchard made 16 unforced errors, most of them with aggressive forehands that flew long, Vandeweghe's much more erratic game was littered with 24 mistakes. The big-serving American, who blasted three aces at close to 120mph, was broken in the eighth game of the match, and again in the third and fifth games of the second set as she repeatedly blasted groundstrokes beyond the baseline. Bouchard, who celebrated her 21st birthday last month, will next face Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko, who beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 on Monday after upsetting ninth-seeded German Andrea Petkovic in the previous round. +Leonardo Ghiraldini has urged Italy to 'keep believing' when they tackle RBS 6 Nations title contenders Wales on Saturday without their captain and world-class number eight Sergio Parisse. A foot injury suffered during last weekend's 29-0 home defeat against France has sidelined Parisse from Italy's final game of the Six Nations campaign. Leicester hooker Ghiraldini will take the armband at Stadio Olimpico in his absence, with Italy looking for a victory that would shred this season's Six Nations form-book. Italy hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini insists Italy have to keep faith in their abilities when they face Wales . The Italians will be without their talismanic captain Sergio Parisse for their final game of the tournament . 'Sergio is one of the best number eights in the world,' Ghiraldini said at a press conference in Rome on Friday. 'Of course he's a big loss for us, but at the same time, it's an opportunity for others to take responsibility. 'Sergio could play in every national team in the world, but we have to keep believing. 'There will be moments of pressure, but we must keep our mentality for every second of the game. We can still play a good game without Sergio.' Italy have scored just three points in their two Six Nations home games this season, while they were thumped 52-11 by England at the Stadio Olimpico in their final match of the tournament last term. Parisse limps off against France and has been ruled out of the game against Wales in Rome . With Parisse missing, Ghiraldini will captain Italy, and has called on his team to show their true ability . And while they can reflect on beating Scotland at Murrayfield this time around, the campaign has proved to be another mixed bag of results. 'We have to show we are a better team than the one that turned up against France,' Ghiraldini added. 'Our win in Scotland came after two bad defeats, and we have shown that we are capable of overcoming negative moments. 'I don't know what Wales expect, but we want to show our pride. We are not thinking about denying them the title; we are focused on our own match. 'Everything starts from our first phase, and our scrum has to be at its best. We want to be accurate in every aspect of the game. 'Our discipline in kicking wasn't good last week. We made it too easy for France. Wales can keep the ball for a long time and defend for more than 30 phases, as we saw against Ireland.' +As if he didn’t already know, Joe Schmidt found out the hard way last Saturday that 80 minutes can be a long time in rugby. Ireland were riding the crest of a wave arriving into Cardiff. Ten successive wins and the Grand Slam there for the taking. Eighty minutes later, their unbeaten run was over and now they face the very real prospect of being left with nothing to show for their efforts in 2015. A year ago they had momentum going into the closing round of the championship. They led the table with a huge points difference and, after England fell short of eclipsing that target in Rome, there were no outside complications weighing on Ireland’s mind in that evening’s tournament closer: beat France and the title was theirs. Jared Payne (left), Iain Henderson (centre) and Jordi Murphy warm-up during Ireland training on Thursday . Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien fires out a backhand pass during Ireland's session at their base in Carton House . Jonathan Sexton (centre) and his fellow Irish players are gearing up for their crunch clash against Scotland . Twelve months later they are in an awkward bind — second on points difference with no exact clarity on what type of win is needed to retain their title given that England will be last into action tomorrow. Adding to Ireland’s anxiety is their inability to get over the try line. Whereas 16 were scored in the title run in 2014 run, there have been just four in 320 minutes this term. Schmidt, though, claims not to be worried about the drought, adding that a level of tolerance must be shown towards the development of his new midfield combination now that Brian O’Driscoll has retired and Gordon D’Arcy has been omitted for the Six Nations. ‘The game is very fickle,’ he claimed after announcing a team to play Scotland showing two changes from Wales with Luke Fitzgerald and Cian Healy getting in ahead of Simon Zebo and Jack McGrath. ‘One week you might score three tries and the next week you might not get any and you might have played better in the second week but you just didn’t convert the opportunities. Ireland coach Joe Schmit will put his friendship with Scotland boss Vern Cotter to one side on Saturday . ‘One of the frustrations from last week is that we did create three really clear try-scoring opportunities that we didn’t convert. Last year, we converted a lot of our try-scoring opportunities. They are the very fine margins. ‘Trying to make sure we get on the right side of those margins all the time is difficult and it is something we’re working really hard on,’ claimed the attack coach whose specialist role in preparing the team is now under scrutiny as Ireland’s meagre try tally is the joint worst in the tournament, level with France and seven tries fewer than top scorers England. The lack of finishing power has cast a spotlight on the rookie centre pairing of Jared Payne and Robbie Henshaw. ‘Jared doesn’t have a lot of Test match experience but has played a lot of Super and European rugby. That breadth of experience and his maturity helps Robbie work away. ‘Brian O’Driscoll doesn’t leave a team and suddenly there’s no deficit. The guys who have come in in his place have done a super job, but they can’t do the same job. ‘They’re doing the job with a different experience and a different knowledge of the game at that level. I’m not a patient man, I’m not going to say that we’re being patient about it but we have to be a little bit tolerant of the development that needs to take place. Schmidt and Cotter (above) worked together with Clermont in France and in New Zealand with Bay of Plenty . ‘We do have a little inexperience at 12 but I don’t think you could fault Robbie’s form right through the championship and he will grow into that first-receiver role when it’s demanded of him a little bit more as he gains experience. ‘One of the things I do feel we will get a benefit from is working our way through this championship. Having a loss, the first one in over a year, we need to stay balanced in how we’re preparing and don’t necessarily have to go too far away from what we’ve been doing.’ Schmidt, who revealed training on Tuesday was as flat as it had ever been but was fresh on Thursday, insists that guaranteeing victory in Scotland — not focusing on the margin of a potential win — has been his approach, so much so that he admits he isn’t much inclined to pass much heed of how Wales fare in Rome prior to Saturday’s 2.30pm start (Wales need a +22 win to have bettered Ireland’s points difference). ‘It’s tricky. It may well depend on what that margin is but I don’t think you try to do anything different. You’re just looking to try to get the win… and there’s no point trying to anticipate what the French-England result will be. ‘What will be really difficult is a really good Scottish side. They have narrow losses right through and have a better balance to their side this week. It’s going to be a real challenge. I’ve read comments about how desperate they are to give an account of themselves that is sufficient to get them over the line.’ +Wales might still be in with a shout of winning the RBS Six Nations crown this weekend but they sit bottom of the table for Twitter mentions during the tournament. The social media website has measured which team was inspiring most tweets during each match and awarded two points for a win in line with the Six Nations format, and revealed England come out on top with a perfect eight points from four matches. But Wales, who are hoping for slip-ups from England and Ireland to snatch the title this weekend, are joint last in the Twitter table alongside Italy and Scotland with only two points from their four outings. England, pictured in training on Thursday, have been the most talked about country on Twitter . Captain Chris Robshaw makes Twitter's dream XV as one of the most mentioned players on the site . France are second, with Ireland third. There is better news for Wales in the dream XV standings, with five of their players - more than any other nation - earning selection by virtue of being the most talked about player in a given position. Captain Sam Warburton (flanker), scrum-half Rhys Webb, centre Jonathan Davies, full-back Leigh Halfpenny and winger George North are all in the team. England have four representatives in hooker Dylan Hartley, flanker Chris Robshaw, centre Jonathan Joseph and winger Jack Nowell. Two Scotland players - second row Richie Gray and fly half Finn Russell - made the team . Wales skipper Sam Warburton makes the dream XV but his country are joint last when it comes to mentions . Ireland's Robbie Henshaw, pictured holding the ball, sent the most retweeted tweet of the tournament so far . However, Ireland's Robbie Henshaw missed out on the 15 despite writing the most retweeted tweet of the tournament so far - his reply to One Direction's Niall Horan. The tournament opener, which saw England beat Wales 21-16 in Cardiff, remains the most tweeted about match, with the full-time whistle creating the single largest spike in tweets of the entire tournament. England's 19-9 loss to Ireland was second on the list. Alex Trickett, Head of Sport Twitter UK, said: 'We know Twitter is the place where people come to share in the biggest moments in the sporting calendar, and it doesn't get much bigger than the Six Nations. 'It has been amazing to see how Twitter has brought rugby fans closer to this tournament, and we can't wait to see this continue to play out during the Rugby World Cup later this year.' +France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made a couple of changes to his starting line-up for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations showdown against England with Jules Plisson and Vincent Debaty set to start. Stade Francais fly-half Plisson comes in for the injured Camille Lopez, who sustained a badly bruised knee during Sunday's 29-0 triumph over Italy, while loosehead prop Eddy Ben Arous has also been ruled out for the match at Twickenham as Vincent makes a start. Plisson, who impressed as he came off the bench and scored 10 points against Italy, broke his nose at the Stadio Olimpico but has been passed fit to take on leaders England. Stade Francais fly-half Jules Plisson will start for France in the Six Nations game against England . France coach Philippe Saint-Andre's (right) side still have a minor chance of winning the Six Nations . Plisson has replaced Camille Lopez in the France team to face England on Saturday at Twickenham . Saint-Andre told www.lequipe.fr: 'At Twickenham, I need players that are a hundred percent fit, and Camille was doubtful on Wednesday. Jules has a broken nose but he is determined to play. He's okay for Saturday.' Veteran France prop Thomas Domingo had been tipped to replace Ben Arous as he joined up with the squad for training this week, but Saint-Andre believes he has sufficient cover on the replacements bench in Uini Atonio and Rabah Slimani. He added: 'With Uini Atonio and Rabah Slimani, we have two versatile players. 'It's hard for Thomas (Domingo) but it is difficult to assimilate into two training sessions (what is needed). We trust those who are with us from the start of the Six Nations.' Lopez (right) sustained a badly bruised knee in the 29-0 victory over Italy last weekend . Vincent Debaty starts ahead of Eddy Ben Arous, who has also been ruled out with injury . Saint-Andre believes that the versatility of players such as Uini Atonio is key to his team's strength . Les Bleus' victory last weekend - their second of the tournament - took them to within two points of England, who sit level with Ireland and Wales. There is still a slight chance France can lift the trophy if they can beat England on their home turf and the other two results go their way with Wales travelling to Italy and Scotland at home to the Irish. VIDEO Robshaw sets sights on France following Scotland win . +Chris Robshaw has urged England to elevate recent near misses into a first piece of major silverware under Stuart Lancaster when the 2015 RBS 6 Nations title race reaches its conclusion on Saturday. Ireland and Wales, who travel to Edinburgh and Rome respectively, are also in contention for the crown on a thrilling day of staggered kick-offs with points difference set to determine the winners. France stand before England and their dream of improving on a trio of successive runners-up finishes and given they are playing at Twickenham, top the table by a cushion of four points and will know their victory target, the Red Rose are in the driving seat. England captain Chris Robshaw in training this week as the Red Rose prepare to take on France . Robshaw carries England forward during their 25-13 home win over Scotland last weekend . Robshaw lifts the Calcutta Cup after England's triumph over Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday . 'All the guys are extremely excited and desperate to get that bit of silverware at the end, that significant trophy that we haven't managed to get,' Robshaw said. 'We've picked up little bits here and there, but of course we want to get the big prize at the end. 'Having gone so close in recent years has been tough for myself and the other guys involved. As a player you want to be picking up silverware. 'Unfortunately that's eluded us a couple of times. We've collected the odd bit here and there, but to finally pick up the main trophy would be great.' VIDEO Robshaw sets sights on France following Scotland win . England trio James Haskell, Mike Brown and Robshaw sing the national anthem ahead of the Scotland game . Robshaw hopes England will be able to claim an even bigger prize this weekend in the Six Nations finale . Ireland prop Mike Ross admits that despite the frustration of seeing the Grand Slam dream end in Cardiff last Saturday, claiming back-to-back titles for the first time since 1949 would still provide a 'huge lift' ahead of the World Cup. 'It would be huge, it would be a huge one for us,' said Ross on the chance of retaining the title. 'It would certainly give us a huge lift going into the World Cup. It is something we really want as a squad. 'There was a lot of disappointment in that dressing room after that Welsh game because, for some lads, when is the next opportunity going to come around for a Grand Slam again? You don't know.' Ireland's Mike Ross (centre) believes winning the Six Nations would be a 'huge lift' ahead of the World Cup . Wales centre Jonathan Davies believes the Super Saturday finale of the Six Nations will be thrilling . Wales centre Jonathan Davies expects so-called Super Saturday to be a 'pretty twitchy' business. Wales face a lunchtime appointment with Italy and could then endure the best part of a five-hour wait for the Ireland and England games to unfold before discovering if it is they who are champions. 'It's a tough ask but I think we can do it. We've reacted well in the past to certain situations like this. It's an exciting time for us,' Davies said. +Tommy Seymour insists the cracks in Scotland's creaking defence have not been caused by mental weakness. The Glasgow wing angrily shot down the suggestion that psychological frailties had been the reason for the Scots' wretched RBS 6 Nations campaign. Vern Cotter's team strode purposefully into this year's championships on the back of three encouraging displays against Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga in November. Some pundits even tipped the the Dark Blues as dark horses for the title. But the same old self-inflicted gaffes that have cost them dear, with Ireland now preparing to complete a miserable run by handing the Celtic neighbours their fifth straight defeat in Edinburgh this Saturday. Seymour knows his side have let themselves down - but he insist their problems do not start in the mind. Tommy Seymour has dismissed talk of mental weakness in the Scotland camp . He said: 'No - 100 per cent not. I would almost take offence to the notion of that. 'Listen, I can understand the questions that are asked because people obviously look at the performances and think there is a button here that needs to be pressed. 'But there is definitely not a mental fragility.' The Scots kicked-off their campaign in Paris but despite notching the only try, they allowed France to kick their way to a 15-8 win following a string of penalties. Wales then took control of their second match at Murrayfield after stand-off Finn Russell was sin-binned when his 'reckless' tackle left jumping Dragons fly-half Dan Biggar in a heap. There was more misery in store as Italy's rolling maul steamrollered the Azzurri to a last-gasp win in the capital, while Scotland sparkled briefly at Twickenham on Saturday before the Auld Enemy fired back into a three-way shoot-out for the title by adding 15 unanswered points in the second half. 'We need to stop being the creators of our own downfall at times,' added Seymour. 'But there is certainly no fragility on a mental aspect with any of the players I go out and play with. 'We know exactly what we can do. We are fully confident in that. There needs to be an ability within all of us that we can do these things for 80 minutes. 'But we are definitely not in a position where we are doubting our abilities.' VIDEO England v Scotland - extended highlights . Scotland have lost all four of their Six Nations matches in this year's competition . Ireland will now go in search of the win which will see them pip England and Wales to the Six Nations title this weekend. That leaves the Scots facing the ominous prospect that if they cannot repel Joe Schmidt's side, they will end this year's Northern Hemisphere joust with a five-game whitewash for the third time since 2004. In that case, it would leave Cotter open to the charge his first campaign had been a failure - but Seymour insists that assessment is too simplistic. He said: 'It's probably too easy (to describe this campaign as a failure) I think. 'Let's not beat about the bush, we have not won a game yet. A tournament is going to be defined for the mass part for a lot of people based on the back of wins or losses. Scotland end their dismal campaign against Ireland at Murrayfield on Saturday . 'Now in that case, you can say 'Well we can write this one off - it's not been what we want. It's been a failure'. 'However, with this squad it has to be a learning process. It has to be the idea that we are building something that goes beyond five or six weeks. 'It started in the autumn and is building up to the World Cup - that has to be the mindset. 'There has been a lot of disappointment in the results from this tournament. However, the elements that have shown improvement can only mean that we have to progress from this. 'We have shown the flaws that we need to fix in order to go on. 'So in terms of fixtures, it's been disappointing but it's not been a failure in terms of the growth of the squad. If we learn from the mistakes and swallow the big pills we have had to take, then we can come off the back of it stronger.' +France is filled with foreboding about the fate that awaits Philippe Saint-Andre's misfiring team at Twickenham. The coach has come in for fierce criticism during another RBS Six Nations campaign of grinding, mid-table mediocrity, but according to two members of the last Gallic team to win a championship match in London, exactly a decade ago, the problems run deeper than the man in charge. Their primary concerns are the mass influx of overseas players into the Top 14 league which has stalled the development of home-grown talent – and the death of French flair. France full back Scott Spedding (left), who was born in South Africa, makes a break against Italy in Rome . Racing Metro flanker Bernard le Roux (centre) is another South African-born player in France's ranks . Clermont winger Noa Nakaitaci (right) was born in Fiji but now represents Les Bleus . Rory Kockott was snapped up by France after the South African scrum half qualified on residency grounds . France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has come in for strong criticism following another mediocre campaign . VIDEO Italy v France - extended highlights . 72 per cent: English players in Premiership match day squads so far this season. 70 per cent: English players in 2014 Aviva Premiership final match day squads. 71 per cent: English players in Premiership sides for last round of Champions Cup. 45 per cent: French players in Top 14 squads, according to French study. 46 per cent: French players in 2014 Top 14 final match day squads. 62 per cent: French players in Top 14 sides for last round of Champions Cup. There is still a mathematical chance that Les Bleus can win the title this weekend, but that is pie in the sky and cannot disguise their chronic limitations. Dimitri Yachvili, the goal-kicking hero of France's 18-17 win at the home of their fiercest rivals in 2005, describes it as a 'bad time for our rugby' and suggests that the booming import trade is the primary issue. 'To me, the problem is that we have too many foreign players in the Top 14 and all the good young French players don't play enough,' said the former Biarritz scrum-half. 'The clubs prefer buying a South African player, or a Kiwi player or an Australian player – maybe because they think it is safer to do that. The young players don't play and that is not good. 'When young players arrive in the French team, they don't have enough experience of the high level. A few years ago, you had to be good for one or two years for your club, before you could be picked for France. Now you just have to do one good move in a match. Former France scrum half Dimitri Yachvili fires out a pass during his side's clash against England in 2004 . Yachvili's sublime goal-kicking performance secured France's last victory at Twickenham back in 2005 . 'Against Wales at Stade de France and against Ireland in Dublin, we were not very far from winning those games, but we are missing the experience that is needed. If we didn't have so many foreign players in our league, the players would have more experience and we could win those games.' Serge Betsen was another stalwart of the France team that stormed the Twickenham barricades 10 years ago. The ex-Biarritz and Wasps flanker is also worried about the lack of player development in his country, adding: 'The politicians need to help the youngsters to get experience at the highest level. English rugby organises things to give their national players priority. 'During my time at Biarritz, I played with Joe Roff, who won the World Cup with Australia. These kind of players showed me how to improve. To be in contact with them is important, but you still need to give opportunities to the youngsters. We've got a lot of talented players like Gael Fickou and Wesley Fofana. But Fickou needs the time to express his talent. I don't know why he hasn't had the time.' Former France flanker Serge Betsen (right) is worried by the amount of overseas players in the Top 14 . Noa Nakaitaci . Once captain of the Fiji schoolboys team, the powerful winger moved to France after Clermont Auvergne set up an academy in the Pacific Islands. He signed with the Top 14 club in 2011 and made his France debut two years later. Rory Kockott . The scrum-half was snapped up by Les Bleus as soon as he became eligible for selection through the three-year residency rule. He was tipped as a Springboks star following his time with the Natal Sharks but was overlooked by South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer. Bernard Le Roux . Despite being born and raised in Moorreesburg, South Africa, the flanker made his rugby debut in Amsterdam. He joined the Border Bulldogs on the Eastern Cape and was offered a deal with the Lions but opted for a move to Racing Metro. Scott Spedding . Born in Krugersdorp, South Africa, the full back came through the Natal Sharks academy and represented the Springboks at Under 21 level. He signed for Brive in 2008 before moving to Bayonne and was granted a French passport last year. The decline of the renowned French flair has been in evidence at Test and club level for several years now. A nation once known for cavalier attacking play which conjured such iconic moments as the fabled 'Try from the end of the earth' in Auckland in 1994 has largely adopted a more pragmatic, Anglo-Saxon reliance on brute force. Asked if his country have tried too hard to play like England, Yachvili said: 'Yes, yes. We have lost our French rugby a little bit, because a lot of foreign players have come to play for the French clubs and they have another culture and another way of playing. We must try to keep the French flair, but I think we have lost that a bit. 'It is in our DNA to play intuitive rugby. We don't have the best organisation and the best game-plans in the world, but what we have more than other nations is this way to attack from everywhere. But we must be open-minded and free to play this rugby, and at the moment I think we're not free.' Betsen echoed his former team-mate, adding: 'England has taken parts of the French to add that X-factor to their game – guys like George Ford – who aren't just about kicking but can spot the gap. 'French rugby tried to follow other nations and copy their way of doing things, but it's not always been effective. We want players to practise weights more than passing, but we need a more holistic approach. The flair comes with confidence and trust. You need panache, enjoyment and excitement; sometimes that's been missing.' What has not been lost along the way is a fervent passion for this classic fixture. The cross-Channel rivalry stirs French blood as much as it ever did. An admiration for those who wear the Red Rose is temporarily shelved at kick-off time. 'We like English rugby, but we hate them just for 80 minutes!' said Yachvili, who spent a season at Gloucester. 'They are very good players, they are very well organised, they have a very good game-plan and we respect them, but for 80 minutes it will always be a very big battle. Betsen believes players such as Gael Fickou (left) and Wesley Fofana are hindered by the current system . 'Of course, it is the biggest game for us. It is historic and it is always special. It is Le Crunch. It is the last game this year and England can still win the Six Nations. For us, we will be more scared before the game than last week or against Wales at home, but I'm hoping we can do something special.' That is certainly what Yachvili did in 2005. It was his special goal-kicking that helped France rally from a 17-6 half-time deficit to win 18-17. As it turns out, he was assisted with his match-winning efforts by an Englishman, whose identity remains a secret. 'It was crazy because, in the captain's run training session the day before the game, my kicking was very bad and my coach was very scared about the game,' he said. 'But in the game, I think one kick hit the post but the rest were good. Giant New Zealand-born prop Uini Atonio (right) is another foreign player that is part of the France squad . 'I broke my kicking tee in the captain's run training session and I had to ask a friend living in London where I could buy a tee, because I wanted the same one. He said the only shop around was at Twickenham, so he went to buy my tee for the game there, but nobody knew it! I will not tell you the name of the friend, but he is English!' France surely won't be short of a tee or two this time, but better preparation may not be enough to end their long wait for a championship win in the English capital. But Yachvili hasn't abandoned all hope. 'When people think we are no good, that is when France do something,' he said – ominously for the home side. 'On paper, we would say England will beat us easily, because their rugby is more efficient and much better than us right now. But with French rugby, we never know.' +Cricket is mourning one of its greatest bowlers following the death of Yorkshire legend Bob Appleyard on Tuesday, aged 90. Despite making his first-class debut at 27, Appleyard, who bowled a mixture of medium pace and off spin, wasted no time in taking 200 wickets in his maiden season - and racked up a total of 708 between 1950 and 1958 at an average of 15.48. Bradford-born Appleyard played just nine Tests for England but took 31 wickets at 17.87 and was an Ashes winner in Australia in 1954-55. Yorkshire bowling legend Bob Appleyard passed away at the age of 90 on Tuesday . He suffered tuberculosis in his youth and his career was cut short by worsening health. ‘He didn’t play as long as he should,’ said Yorkshire club president Dickie Bird. ‘If he had, he would have broken all records.’ Bradford-born Appleyard played just nine Tests for England but took 31 wickets at 17.87 . +Team Sky's Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas remain in contention for the week-long Paris-Nice title after Friday's fifth stage was won by Davide Cimolai (Lampre) in a bunch sprint. Poland's Michal Kwiatkoswki (Etixx-QuickStep) retained the race leader's yellow jersey after the 192.5-kilometre stage from St Etienne to Rasteau. But the world champion's advantage is sure to come under attack this weekend from Porte and Thomas, who are one and three seconds behind, respectively. Italian rider Davide Cimolai celebrates his victory in the fifth stage of Paris-Nice on Friday . Riders keep pace in the peloton during stage five of the 2015 Paris-Nice Saint-Etienne to Rasteau . Riche Porte celebrates winning ahead of Team Sky team-mate Geriant Thomas during stage four . Welshman Thomas is likely to support the Australian's bid for overall victory. Kwiatkoswki may need to gain some time in Saturday's lumpy sixth stage from Vence to Nice as Porte is expected to be strong in Sunday's concluding 9.5km time-trial up Col d'Eze. Saturday's stage, which covers 184.5km from Vence to Nice is the big mountain challenge of the week-long race and features three Category 1 climbs. It gives climbing specialist Porte the ideal opportunity to take the overall lead while Thomas, who is in third, three seconds behind the Pole will also benefit. Porte celebrates on the podium after winning the fourth stage, and he is now eyeing another overall win . +Hull City striker Nikica Jelavic is facing six weeks out following surgery on a long-standing knee problem. Jelavic, 29, is Hull's top scorer with eight goals and is set to miss their games against Chelsea, Swansea, Southampton, Liverpool and Crystal Palace. Hull are three points above the relegation zone with nine matches remaining. Hull City striker Nikica Jelavic is facing six weeks out following surgery on a long-standing knee problem. Jelavic is set to miss the games against Chelsea, Swansea, Southampton, Liverpool and Crystal Palace . The club initially wanted to manage Jelavic's knee through until the end of the season but after last weekend's goalless draw with Leicester it was decided the surgery should take place 'as soon as possible to prevent further damage and complications in the future'. Elsewhere, the Hull City Supporters' Trust has once again called upon the club's owners to abandon plans to change the club name to Hull Tigers. The FA Council rejected owner Assem Allam's attempt to rebrand last year but on Monday an arbitration tribunal ruled that that decision had been put aside. The Hull City Supporters' Trust has called upon club owner Assem Allam to abandon his name change plans . Hull supporters have publicly stated their opposition to the name change and don't want the 'City' dropped . +There was no happy homecoming for Stuart McCall as he was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against bottom side Livingston in his first game in charge of Rangers. The former Light Blues player was named as the club's 14th manager earlier in the week and his tenure looked set to get off to the best possible start when Haris Vuckic fired Rangers into an early lead. But Livi hit back through Ibra Sekajja on the stroke of half-time to claim a point. Stuart McCall (right) gestures on the touchline during his first match in charge of Rangers . Rangers players look dejected after Livingston equalised in the Scottish Championship clash . Rangers had been hoping the arrival of McCall would add a much-needed spark to their Scottish Championship promotion push. And the new manager was welcomed into the dug-out by wild applause from an Ibrox crowd of 35,066. McCall made three changes from the side who were held to a home draw by Queen of the South in midweek. Youngster Tom Walsh was handed his first start and Kenny Miller and Sebastien Faure were added to the side. The supporters were cheering again after just nine minutes when Rangers surged into an early lead. Miller's short pass found Nicky Law and he burst forward before setting up Vuckic for a left-foot strike that nestled in the bottom corner. Rangers' Haris Vuckic opens the scoring for the hosts at Ibrox on Saturday . Vuckic (right) celebrates as the Light Blues take the lead in front of a crowd of 35,066 . It had been a bright start from the Light Blues but Livi were gradually allowed to impose themselves on the game. Danny Mullen's 20-yard drive fell just over the crossbar as the division's bottom side tried to haul themselves back into the game. Keaghan Jacobs then teed up Scott Pittman for a shot that deflected narrowly past the post. Rangers could have doubled their lead when the ball broke for Walsh but he hooked just over, before Darren McGregor nodded wide from Law's corner. Gers were left ruing those missed opportunities when Livi levelled on the stroke of half-time. Sekajja reacted quickly to bundle home the rebound after Craig Sives saw his shot crash off the post - then celebrated with a double backflip. Livingston's Ibra Sekajja (third right) puts the ball into the back of the net to draw the visitors level . Sekajja celebrates with an impressive double backflip in front of the home fans . The visitors almost found the back of the net again shortly after the restart, when Mullen unleashed a powerful low drive that fell just wide. Rangers did have the ball in the net after 63 minutes when Nicky Clark's header beat goalkeeper Darren Jamieson but the offside flag was quickly raised. Skipper Lee McCulloch then nodded over from Law's corner as the home side desperately tried to regain the advantage. And Miller was denied only by a great one-handed save as his point-blank header was swatted away by Jamieson. A defensive mix-up between goalkeeper Lee Robinson and substitute Marius Zaliukas almost let Jordan White in on goal late on as the match ended all-square. McCall (right) and Rangers coach Kenny Black show their frustrations at Ibrox . Rangers' Darren McGregor (right) challenges for the ball in the air with Livingston's Danny Mullen . +For Rangers captain Lee McCulloch, the SPFL Championship table has become a torment. A headache the arrival of a new board of directors simply can’t cure. Lying 22 points behind relentless leaders Hearts, there is now no hiding place for the Ibrox players. The off-field problems have eased, Stuart McCall is in place as manager and, simply put, there are no excuses left. ‘It is time for everybody to stand up and be men,’ said McCulloch. ‘Take the ball, demand the ball in front of a crowd, don’t hide and go and show that you’ re good enough to be here.’ Rangers captain Lee McCulloch has urged his team-mates to stand up and be counted . Under Kenny McDowall, Rangers played as if a grey, leaden cloud hung over Ibrox. In comparison, a home game with doomed Livingston offers McCall the chance to be a breath of fresh air around the place. Rangers need something to rescue a flailing season and advance from the play-offs to the Premiership by hook or by crook. ‘It’s been a frustrating season for everyone, fans, players, off-the-field,’ added McCulloch. ‘I think it would be a wasted season if we don’t go up. It would be a season that would go down as a massive failure. ‘For everyone, it has been frustrating, but it’s still in our own hands as players. Everything else seems to have been sorted out, so it’s basically up to us now to try and get a play-off place and see what happens.’ Currently third in the league, the gap on second place Hibernian is a manageable five points. Rangers have two games in hand and winning them would ease concerns they might slip out of the play-offs altogether — a state of affairs which would be completely unacceptable to their captain. ‘It’s not as if I’ve been going home and made a cup of tea and thinking everything’s all right,’ McCulloch insisted. ‘It’s killing me inside, to be honest with you. To see Hearts so far clear in the league and we’re nowhere near them. It’s not nice and it’s not what we want or are used to.’ The weeks ahead will reveal much about this Rangers team. Off-field turmoil drew attention from their failings. The managerial situation, where McDowall was a reluctant frontman, provided a further shield. McCulloch says Rangers must finish in the play-off positions this season . McCulloch and McCall referred to a crisis of confidence repeatedly yesterday. For many of these players, the suspicion is that Rangers may simply be too big for them. ‘The players have probably felt it even more since Ally (McCoist) left,’ added the captain. ‘It is amazing what he took on his shoulders. He shielded the players away from it. Since he left, the players as a squad have been getting it from all angles. ‘I think confidence has probably dipped because of that. ‘Everybody knows we haven’t been playing as well as we can or as well as we should have been. I think there are loads of small things that you can make excuses for. But even though there has been a lot of off-field stuff going on, you can’t really make an excuse for how we have been playing. ‘This season, whoever has been on the board, we’ve not lived up to the standard that we should have for many different reasons. But it is nothing to do with who was in charge or on the board. ‘Since the new owners have come in, everyone around the place, the players and the staff, has had a wee bit of a spring in their step. It is probably a good thing.’ For a dozen of the players, out of contract in the summer, these are crucial days. McCulloch is one of them and, while some of the players won’t be sorry to leave, the 36-year-old wants to complete the journey back to the top division as a Rangers player. ‘The new manager has come in and said: “Well, it’s up to yourselves to go out there and earn it. If you want to be here next season then go and earn your contract and show that you are worthy of one”. I think that is the best thing for it. ‘It is a big motivation for me. I’m not getting any younger. Stuart McCall begins his reign at Rangers with home game against Livingston . ‘It would be amazing, it would be brilliant to go back to the top and it would be nice. But at times football isn’t nice. ‘So I would love to be here, but I need to go and earn that myself. I know that as does every other player here.’ Some have a head start. Nicky Law was a stand-out under McCall at Motherwell and for the new manager bringing the best out of him and others is the key to earning the job on a permanent basis. ‘I want everyone to go out and express themselves,’ said McCall after his second training session. ‘Not just Nicky but I know there’s more in his locker. I know he can do more and like a lot of the players when you lack a bit of that confidence you can go into your shell. ‘We want the players to go and express themselves, there are some good footballers in there. ‘A lot of players have shown good stuff in training.’ In a supreme irony, the most impressive of all has been one of Mike Ashley’s January imports on loan from Newcastle. ‘Haris Vuckic has been absolutely outstanding in training, bright and bubbly and a fantastic lad,’ reported McCall. ‘He hadn’t had much football but is certainly a talented individual and has been really bright in training. ‘He has been terrific but I was coming in thinking there might be three or four of these lads up and running.’ In reality, Remie Streete is ill and injured, Kevin Mbabu played an under-20 game on Thursday but is well short, Shane Ferguson has yet to cross the border and Gael Bigirimana has a medical condition. ‘One out of five isn’t bad,’ grinned McCall after waking at 5am in anticipation of his return to Ibrox as a Rangers employee. ‘It’s been a whirlwind. I haven’t even had the chance to think about it. ‘Hopefully tomorrow at 5pm – or when I get home tomorrow – I will look back on it. ‘But right now I’ve not had the chance to go, “This will be great”. I’ve not given it a thought.’ +New York City striker David Villa went to the top of the Empire State Building to pose with the UEFA Champions League trophy. Joining him were former Brazil and AC Milan midfielder Rivaldo and ex-Chelsea and Barcelona defender Juliano Belletti. The trio, who all played for Barcelona in their careers, were taking part in a promotional campaign to help boost the popularity of football in America. All three men lifted the trophy during their playing careers, Belletti and Villa both with Barcelona in 2006 and 2011, respectively, while Rivaldo won it with Milan in 2003. Juliano Belletti (left), David Villa (centre) and Rivaldo stood at the top of the Empire State Building . The trio posed with the Champions League trophy as part of a promotional campaign for European football . Villa, who is now playing out the twilight of his career in the Big Apple, scored the first goal for his new club on Sunday in a 2-0 win over New England Revolution in the MLS. New York City were formed in 2013 and are a subsidiary of the City Football Group that also owns reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. Prior to NYCFC's first game at Yankee Stadium, Villa presented a jersey to city mayor Bill DeBlasio . Villa scores a goal in the first-half against New England Revolution to hit the first of his MLS career . The Spaniard prepares to take on New England Revolution defender Scott Caldwell (left) Villa drives forward with the ball as New England Revolution's Andy Dorman (left) gives chase . +The rumbling discontent among Everton fans towards manager Roberto Martinez is gathering momentum after Wednesday night's dismal 2-0 defeat at Stoke City left last season's Champions League challengers just six points above the relegation zone. After one win in 12 games and only one clean sheet away from Goodison Park since September, it is becoming common to hear fans complain that the Spaniard is 'turning us into Wigan'. The statistics actually bear out their worst fears. In Martinez's last season at Wigan, he had 30 points from 30 games – and went down. Everton currently have 28 points from 28 matches. Everton manager Roberto Martinez and his team look lost in the Barclays Premier League of late . Everton's underperforming stars now just sit six points above the relegation zone in the Premier League . Victor Moses (left) scored in Stoke City's 2-0 win over Everton at the Britannia Stadium on Wednesday night . The Europa League, the source of so much pride earlier in the season, is now looking like an unwanted distraction. Everton face Dynamo Kyiv at Goodison on Thursday before their now-crucial next league match against Newcastle United on Sunday. The following week they have to contend with a 3,000-mile round trip to Ukraine for the second leg. The players may not get into their beds until 4am on the Friday morning, just 60 hours before they take to the pitch at Loftus Road for what, inconceivably, could be billed a relegation six-pointer against QPR. So what has gone wrong at Everton – a club who finished fifth last season and were tipped to be fighting it out with Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool at the top. Here are eight reasons why Everton are fighting to stay in the top flight, where they've been since 1954. THE £28MILLION NON-TALISMAN . In retrospect, Romelu Lukaku was foolish to declare he wanted to become the world's best player when he hit a purple patch on loan last season. Everton smashed their transfer record to make a £28million move from Chelsea permanent in the summer, a deal that now makes Jose Mourinho look a genius. Lukaku has scored just seven Premier League goals, fewer than West Ham's Diafra Sakho who cost less than a quarter that amount. Lukaku's notorious first touch looks as if it is getting worse, not better, and he has complained Everton's style is not direct enough to get the best out of him. Romelu Lukaku declared he wanted to be the world's best player last season but he has been far from it . Martinez must be desperate to find a way to help re-find his £28million centre forward's best form . Lukaku's first touch has always had a bad reputation but it has proved even more of a problem this season . MARTINEZ TOO SOFT . Martinez believes in filling his players with confidence and it makes him look a great man-manager when things are going well. But salty old professionals like Sylvain Distin, with whom he has fallen out, Phil Jagielka and Tony Hibbert have been around long enough to realise that a good old-fashioned rollocking is needed at times. David Moyes wasn't always popular with the Everton players but Martinez could do with handing out a few home truths like the Scot did. Phil Jagielka (left) and Tony Hibbert (right) have been at Everton for years and understand the way things work . Martinez has fallen out with Sylvain Distin but the defender knows that on occasion players need a rollocking . THE DISAPPEARING ROSS BARKLEY . Valued at £60million not so long ago and feted by Martinez as potentially the best English player of all time, 21-year-old Barkley has started just over half of the club's Premier League games this season, 15 of 28. At Stoke when Martinez had one last substitution to use to try and salvage a result, he turned to Kevin Mirallas, rather than the supposed heir to Paul Gascogine. Barkley has played in so many different positions this season – holding midfield, out wide, No10 – he looks confused. Ross Barkley was left on the bench on Wednesday night, even when Everton were searching for a goal . Barkley was lauded by Martinez as potentially the best English player of all-time but he hasn't progressed . INJURIES . One of the reasons Everton are ultimately likely to get out of trouble is that important members of the old guard are heading back. Leon Osman tasted his first Premier League action since early December on Wednesday night after a serious foot injury and his knowhow will be vital. Even more importantly, Leighton Baines – the best left back in the Premier League – is pencilled in to face Newcastle having missed six games with a knee injury. Aiden McGeady and Steven Pienaar are also out while Darron Gibson's midweek appearance was his first PL start for nearly two years. Leighton Baines - the best left back in the Premier League - will be a huge boost on return from injury . Leon Osman is also returning to the first-team fold and could be a key man in Everton's run-in . LOAN PROBLEMS . Traditionally, Roberto Martinez has one of the best records in the loan market. Tom Cleverley enjoyed the best spell of his career at Wigan and last season Gareth Barry and Lukaku were big hits at Goodison. But the Midas touch seems to have deserted him. Christian Atsu has hardly had a kick since he joined from Chelsea and Aaron Lennon was woeful and substituted after an hour at Stoke. Tom Cleverley (left) was well managed by Martinez during his loan spell at Wigan which saw him hit top form . By contrast, Christian Atsu has hardly had a kick since signing a season-long loan deal from Chelsea . Aaron Lennon came in on loan from Tottenham but he was woeful at the Britannia Stadium on Wednesday . IT'S ALL ATTACK, AND NO DEFENCE . Martinez earned a reputation for concentrating too much on his attacking play at Wigan and history is in danger of repeating itself at Everton. Despite inheriting a strong back-five from Moyes, Everton have looked less and less certain at the back, and the collywobbles have effected goalkeeper Tim Howard, who has gone from World Cup superstar to dodgy keeper this season. The repetitive defensive drills under Moyes were boring but they did serve a purpose. Tim Howard was brilliant at the World Cup but he has had troubles in the Everton goal this season . David Moyes employed repetitive defensive drills at Everton - but they did the trick for his side . EURO DISTRACTION . Getting the balance right between Europe and the Premier League has foxed a lot of managers over the years. Martinez seemed to be on a winner earlier in the season with his fondness for team rotation helping the club qualify for the knock-out stages in Europe while holding head above water in the league. But the regular changes have affected rhythm in recent weeks and the league form has dropped alarmingly. Everton were flying high when they won away in Wolfsburg but the rotation for Europe has had an effect . BARRY GAMBLE HAS BACKFIRED . Gareth Barry has been one of the Premier League's most consistent midfield players over the last 15 years but at the age of 34, he is becoming to look a liability. Everton decided to sign him on a permanent basis last summer but his most notable contribution this season is to have broken the all-time Premier League record for yellow cards. His caution at Stoke on Wednesday – number 106 – has earned him a two-match ban and that might prove a blessing in disguise. Gareth Barry has been a consistent performer for 15 years but now looks like a liability in midfield . Barry's caution on Wednesday night was his 106th in the Premier League - an all-time record for any player . +Wayne Rooney switched his attention from boxing to golf as the Manchester United striker enjoyed a round in Cheshire on Wednesday. The England captain caused a stir at the weekend when a video emerged of him, appearing to be knocked out cold by Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley after an impromptu sparring session in his kitchen. The 29-year-old followed it up just hours later on Sunday with one of the best celebrations of the season after he scored the second in United's 3-0 Barclays Premier League win over Tottenham at Old Trafford. Wayne Rooney took a break from the daily grind by trying out a new club at a golf course . Rooney pokes fun at the release of a video showing him being Ko'd in his kitchen after scoring on Sunday . But he may have a different swinging celebration up his sleeve if he scores against United's arch-rivals Liverpool this Sunday. A smiling Rooney, who is known to have strong passion for the golfing greens as he does with prize-fighting, was dressed head-to-toe in the latest Nike Golf Vapor range as he hit the course for 18 holes. Rooney provided the knockout blow to Spurs, consolidating United's spot in the Champions League places . After powering past Champions League rivals Spurs, United will hope to send Liverpool off course . The star, who is pals with Manchester United-supporting world golf No 1 Rory McIlory, tweeted: 'Finally got out for a game of golf today and tested my new @nikegolf driver. It's the best one yet!' Rooney will return to training on Thursday as Louis van Gaal's side ramp up their preparations for their must-win trip to Anfield, where they look to strengthen their grip on a top-four place to qualify for next season's Champions League. +It is a measure of Arsenal’s progress that fixtures like these no longer end in boos and angry recrimination. As the final whistle approached, the crowd at the Emirates were unusually vocal, anticipating trips to Wembley and singing praise of their team. Earlier it had the feel of one of the afternoons with which we have become so familiar in recent years, one of those days when Arsenal break world records for possessions stats but come up against an inspired goalkeeper and end the day with fans furious at their manager, the board of directors and life in general. But with Olivier Giroud in exceptional form, Aaron Ramsey also outstanding and Mesut Ozil thriving against the kind of opposition he relishes, Arsenal eventually cantered to victory in some style. Olivier Giroud leaps in the air after opening the scoring in Arsenal's 3-0 Premier League victory over West Ham . The France international gives Arsenal the lead on the stroke of half time with his sixth goal in his last seven games . Aaron Ramsey is chased by Santi Cazorla after doubling Arsenal's lead in the closing stages of the second half . Giroud gives substitute Mathieu Flamini a pat on the back after the Frenchman seals victory with a late strike . ARSENAL: Ospina 6.5, Chambers 7, Mertesacker 6.5, Koscielny 6.5, Monreal 7, Ramsey 7, Coquelin 7, Walcott 6 (Cazorla 6.5), Ozil 7 (Flamini 6.5), Sanchez 6 (Welbeck 6.5), Giroud 8.5 . Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Akpom, Bellerin . Scorers: Giroud 45, Ramsey 81, Flamini 84 . Booked: Sanchez . WEST HAM: Arian 8, O'Brien 6.5, Kouyate 6.5, Cresswell 7, Downing 6, Noble 6 (Nene 6), Song 6.5, Nolan 6, Jarvis 6.5 (Amalfitano 6), Sakho 6.5 . Subs: Demel, Jääskeläinen, Poyet, Cullen, Onariase . Booked: Sakho . Man of the Match: Olivier Giroud . Referee: Chris Foy/ Anthony Taylor . CLICK HERE for all the stats, including Olivier Giroud's heat map from our superb Match Zone . Better measures of their real progress remain, of course. On Tuesday night they visit Monaco where you might anticipate another glorious comeback which ultimately ends in failure. Then there will be the league table at the end of the season which will likely tell the tale of an opportunity missed to challenge for the title. Arsene Wenger conceded that, even with Chelsea still to come to the Emirates, Arsenal are not yet in the title race. ‘Not at the moment,’ he said. ‘But we can just keep going. We won eight of the last nine. We are stronger today than we were at the start of the season. ‘We suffered a lot from the World Cup, where the players came back. What is for sure is that they understand each other much better than six or seven months ago and that makes everyone more dangerous.’ At least Arsenal are not going backwards these days; the problem may be that they aren’t moving forwards fast enough but they are at least pointing in the right direction. West Ham defender James Collins (left) was fortunate not to concede an early penalty after brining down Theo Walcott . The Arsenal winger crashes to the turf under Collins' challenge but was not awarded a spot kick . West Ham forward Diafra Sakho (centre) tries to evade Arsenal defenders Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker (left) Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil (left) uses his silky skills to bring the ball down in front of Stewart Downing (centre) and Mark Noble . Arsenal's leading scorer Alexis Sanchez (centre) uses his trickery to escape the attentions of Joey O'Brien . Hammers keeper Adrian threatened to spoil Arsenal's afternoon with a succession of fine first half saves . West Ham manager Sam Allardyce looked as though he understood as much and had settled for one of those afternoons when he aims to ‘out-tactic’ the opposition. You could hardly blame him given the resources at his disposal, with Enner Valencia and James Tomkins the latest additions to his injury list and Carl Jenkinson ineligible. Kevin Nolan almost shocked Arsenal with a clean strike on 23 minutes but at half-time, Arsenal had 74 per cent of the possession. At times it looked as if West Ham goalkeeper Adrian was has having one of those inspired afternoon. It was later revealed he was playing with a dislocated finger sustained in the warm up, a fact which made his performance truly heroic. ‘He’s been a brave lad,’ said assistant manager Neil McDonald. Theo Walcott was having a less satisfactory time. Thrust back in for his first start in more than a month, he did little to help his ongoing contract talks. Three times he was presented with the opportunity to open the scoring; three times he spurned the chances. Gunners defender Calum Chambers closes down West Ham winger Matt Jarvis as Arsenal take control . Song and Koscielny compete for the ball in an aerial duel as the sun shines at the Emirates Stadium . West Ham manager Sam Allardyce lets his feelings of frustration be known from the sidelines . He could plead mitigation for the first effort on six minutes. A delightful back heel from Giroud set him up with just Adrian to beat, but James Collins came through the man and the ball to prevent him scoring. It might have been a penalty but it was Walcott’s own hesitation in front of goal which had presented Collins with the chance to launch his saving tackle. Adrian would then make excellent saves from Alexis Sanchez’s header on 16 minutes and from an improvised touch of the knee from Ramsey on 32 minutes, before Walcott received his next chance. Played in by a delightful Ramsey pass, he took a touch, looked up and struck his shot directly at the goalkeeper.Adrian denied Sanchez from a half volley and on 44 minutes he pushed away a strike from Ozil, which landed at Walcott’s feet, yards from goal but he skewed the ball high and wide, appearing to lose his balance. Ozil reacts after West Ham keeper Adrian pulls off one of a succession of first half saves . Frenchman Giroud gets his shot away despite being surrounded by four West Ham players . The Gunners centre forward watches as the ball sails towards the left corner of West Ham's goal . Adrian, who had previously kept West Ham in the game with a series of fine saves, dives in vain towards Giroud's shot . Giroud was on hand to provide deliverance just before half-time. Ramsey and Ozil exchanged a delicate one-two, but such is the Frenchman’s confidence these days, he nicked it off Ramsey’s foot, took a touch and drove a fine finish into the far corner of the net. ‘It was fantastic because of the combination and the finishing. It was the kind of goal we loved to score,’ said Wenger. It was his 14th goal of the season in 24 games. That Monaco game aside, he is having an excellent season and since that dismal night, he has responded incredibly well. After being criticised for missing chances against Monaco, Giroud holds his hands to his ears to soak up the applause . Giroud strikes a pose midway through his celebration as Arsenal take the lead at the Emirates . Walcott, who had several chances to open the first half scoring himself, leaps on Giroud's back in celebration . ‘It’s one of his strengths,’ said Wenger, who called his performance ‘outstanding’. Having set out to defend in numbers, a change of strategy was necessary for West Ham and they were equal to the challenge. They came out in the second-half with an entirely different mindset, pushing Arsenal back into their half and searching for an equaliser. In terms of clear-cut chances there was still little — Matt Jarvis’ curling cross which Ospina spilled and almost let in Sakho was one unsettling moment. But Arsenal were no longer able to play as they wished. Still, their time would come. On 80 minutes, Giroud dummied a throw-in to let in Ramsey, who played in the Frenchman. He returned the ball to Ramsey, who drove it past Adrian to cap a fine a performance of growing authority. Three minutes later Santi Cazorla, on as a substitute, exchanged passes with Giroud and planted a cross almost on the foot of Mathieu Flamini, who had the simplest task of converting from close range for the third goal. Ramsey (right) gets some air as he battles for the ball with former Arsenal team-mate Song . West Ham manager Sam Allardyce looks on bemused as referee Chris Foy is forced to hand over to assistant Anthony Taylor . Former Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck (right) was brought on in the second half to replace Sanchez . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger watches impatiently from the touchline with his side only leading by one goal . Wales midfielder Ramsey meets Giroud's pass with a left footed shot to score his first goal since December . Ramsey wheels away to celebrate giving Arsenal a 2-0 lead on 81minutes of the London derby . Aaron Ramsey is swamped by team-mates Giroud and Danny Welbeck after doubling Arsenal's lead . Substitute Mathieu Flamini is in the right place at the right time as he meets Cazorla's cross to seal a 3-0 victory . Arsenal team-mates embrace Flamini as they keep alive their hopes of playing Champions League football next season . +Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side cruised past West Ham to keep in touching distance of Manchester City in second place in the Premier League. Olivier Giroud fired in the opener on the stroke of half-time before Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini added second-half goals to secure the vital three points. West Ham have only won one games now in 12 league matches as Arsenal continue to strengthen a top four finish. Find out how each player fared at the Emirates Stadium with Sportmail's Sami Mokbel . Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud leaps into the air in celebration as he scored the opener at the Emirates . ARSENAL (4-3-3) David Ospina 6.5 . Sound display from the goalkeeper but jury remains undecided over whether he can be Arsenal's long-term No. 1. Calum Chambers 7 . A couple of dozy moments at the back but was excellent going forward. Per Mertesacker 6.5 . On easy street for majority of the encounter, but, for the most part, didn't let his concentration levels slip. Gunners midfielder Aaron Ramsey roars in celebration as he doubled Arsenal's lead in the second-half . Laurent Koscielny 6.5 . Dealt well with the movement and pace of Hammers' lone frontman Sakho. Nacho Monreal 7 . Another solid display from the left-back. Real battle with Kieran Gibbs to be club's first-choice left-back. Aaron Ramsey 7 . A mature display from the Welshman on his return to the starting XI. Will be vital in the run-in. Francis Coquelin 7 . Another industrious and terrier-like performance from the Frenchman. A vital cog for Wenger now. Arsenal forward Theo Walcott, challenged by James Collins at the Emirates, failed to take his chances . Theo Walcott 6 . Handed a rare start but failed to grasp the opportunity after missing three guild-edged chances. 6 . Mesut Ozil 7 . Saw plenty of the ball, particularly in the first-half. Showed flashes of quality without being at his very best. Alexis Sanchez 6 . Nowhere near the dynamite form from earlier this season. Are the rigours of English football catching up with him? Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil looks on in frustration as a chance goes begging at the Emirates Stadium . Olivier Giroud 8.5 . Scored his seventh goal in 10 games and made another. Excellent performance. Must now do it in the Champions League against Monaco? Subs . Danny Welbeck 6.5 . Injected urgency and pace in to the Arsenal attack. Santi Cazorla 6.5 . Rested ahead of the trip to Monaco but came on to see his team home. Mathieu Flamini 6.5 . Back after injury to help see Arsenal over the line and score a rare goal. WEST HAM (4-4-2) Adrian 8 . Made a string of important saves to keep West Ham in the game. Impressive performance. Joey O'Brien 6.5 . A rare start for the defender but did a sufficient enough job against the pace of interchanging Walcott and Sanchez. James Collins 6.5 . The club's only fit centre-back organised his back-four well against a barrage of Arsenal pressure in the first half. Hammers keeper Adrian threatened to spoil Arsenal's afternoon with a succession of fine first half saves . Cheikhou Kouyate 6.5 . Utilised as a makeshift centre-back and didn't look out of place despite the result. Aaron Cresswell 7 . Did an admiral job in keeping Sanchez and Walcott quiet. Surely on England manager Roy Hodgson's radar. Stewart Downing 6 . Didn't have the influence West Ham have come to expect this season, but still put a shift in. Mark Noble 6 . Kept things ticking over in midfield without being spectacular. Subbed. Former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song (left) tracks Alexis Sanchez on his return to the Emirates . Alex Song 6.5 . Was desperate to do well on his return to the Emirates Stadium. Can be satisfied with his display if not the result. Kevin Nolan 6 . Looked to be struggling with an injury in the first half but recovered to play a role in West Ham's early second half rally. Matt Jarvis 6.5 . His energy caused Arsenal some problems before he was substituted in the second half. West Ham forward Diafra Sakho (centre) tries to evade Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny . Diafra Sakho 6.5 . Cut an isolated figure at times, but still caused the Gunners rearguard problems with his pace. Subs . Morgan Amalfitano 6 . Came on to help West Ham find an opening. Had little impact. 6 . Nene 6 . Had little time to make an impact. +West Ham have been below par in the Premier League recently, while Mark Noble has also been struggling to get into the swing of things while playing golf. Team-mate Carlton Cole posted a Twitter video of the Hammers vice-captain embarrassing himself while trying to pull off a trick shot at what looks like the club's training ground. With the ball balanced on a pole in the ground, Noble attempts a full blooded baseball swing with his driver but only succeeds in connecting with the pole - much to the amusement of his team-mate. Mark Noble lines up a baseball style trick shot at what looks like the club's training ground . The Hammers midfielder takes a full blooded swing at the ball balancing on a pole . Noble looks on course for a home run hit but only succeeds in hitting the pole . Carlton Cole laughs in the background as the pole is sent hurtling across the pitch . Noble slams his club to the ground in disgust as his friend walks off in hysterics . It appears the tables have been reversed in the laughter stakes since Noble recently revealed that it's normally Cole that has him in hysterics. Speaking in a Q&A on the club's official website, Noble picked out the former Chelsea striker as his team's biggest prankster. 'Carlton Cole is the funniest, he makes me laugh a lot. I can't say some of the pranks we've been involved with, I'll probably get into trouble.' he said. West Ham have been faltering in the Premier League ahead of their clash with Arsenal on Saturday . +Heather Watson edged into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open with a nervy 7-5, 7-5 victory over Italy's Camila Giorgi. Giorgi, who is ranked 10 places above Watson, had won the duo's only previous tour meeting - at Beijing in 2012 - but Watson exacted her revenge despite facing a superb fightback from her opponent. Watson lost five straight games in the second set as 29th seed Giorgi levelled at 5-5, before the British No 1 finally clinched victory in an hour and 45 minutes. 'It was a very tough match as I knew it would be,' Watson said in an on-court interview. 'Camila's a great player; she's just shot up rankings in the last year. Heather Watson celebrates defeating Camila Giorgi to move into the third round in Indian Wells . Watson survived a fightback to edge out her Italian opponent . 'I shot up to 5-0 but she also made quite a few errors. She started to came back. 'I didn't feel like I did too much wrong; she played too good, hitting winners and aces. I just had to stay tough and keep fighting.' Watson had scraped her way past Julia Goerges in the last round, and looked set for another tough encounter under the California sun. Both players exchanged two breaks each in the first set - much like Watson's match against Goerges - but things settled down soon after as they made it 4-4, with the Briton then holding serve with relative ease. Giorgi saved a set point at 40-15 on her serve but pulled a forehand wide to hand Watson the opening set. Giorgi was clearly off her serving rhythm - she hit 10 double faults in the first set - as she conceded an early break in the second, and Watson made it seven straight games to race into a 5-0 lead. The Italian, who is yet to win a singles title on the WTA tour, kick-started the recovery with a smooth service game, and had Watson running to all corners as a deciding set looked on the cards at 5-5. However, it was all in vain as Watson held serve to make it 6-5, and then needed just one of her three match points on the Giorgi serve to seal victory with the Italian firing a backhand long. +Mauricio Pochettino rates Danny Rose as England's best left back and believes he has overtaken Luke Shaw with his performances this season. Pochettino gave Shaw his chance at Southampton, enabling him to gatecrash last year's World Cup squad but admits the teenager's progress has stalled since moving to Manchester United last summer. The 19-year-old was replaced by Louis van Gaal at half-time against Arsenal on Monday and is not certain to start against Tottenham go to Old Trafford on Sunday. Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino believes Danny Rose (right) is England's best left back this season . Rose (right) has been a virtual ever-present for Spurs this season as they challenge for a top four position . 'Danny has been the best English left back this season,' said Pochettino. 'I look at the stats and other players in his position. I also look at his performances, which have been great. But that's my opinion. The final decision will be Roy Hodgson's. 'The experience with Luke Shaw last season was fantastic. But now he's in another context and at another club. You have to realise that player change every year. Every year is different as thing happen in our lives. Pochettino (centre) adds that Rose's displays deserve a call-up internationally by England boss Roy Hodgson . 'I am not his manager and it is difficult to speak about players at other clubs. I can only explain my experience with him. It is important to give young opportunities to young players if they have talent. We provide them with training and push them. After that it's up to the player. 'All players all need to feel confidence from the staff, players and supporters.' Hodgson names his England squad on Thursday for games against Lithuania and Italy. Leighton Baines, his first choice left-back, is injured but 24-year-old Rose faces competition from Shaw, Kieran Gibbs, Ryan Bertrand and Aaron Creswell. Pochettino believes Rose has perfromed better than Luke Shaw this season and deserves an England call up . Shaw challenges Everton midfielder Aiden McGeady during the Premier League clash at Old Trafford . Tottenham striker Harry Kane was named Barclays Premier League player of the month for February . The Spurs full-back was called into the squad for games against Norway and Switzerland last year but has yet to be capped at senior level and is aware of interest from Jamaica, who he qualifies to represent through a grandfather. Harry Kane, who seems certain to receive his first England is he avoids injury at Old Trafford, was on Friday named Barclays Premier League player of the month for February, making him the first to win the award in back-to-back months since Cristiano Ronaldo. 'Harry deserves a lot of praise,' said Pochettino. 'He works very hard in training and performs well and when strikers score goals it is good. His potential is massive and he can improve more.' Kane (right) is likely to start for Sunday's trip to face fellow top-four contenders Manchester United . +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will target a central defender, a holding midfielder and a goalkeeper this summer with a £50million transfer war chest. Per Mertesacker could pay for some poor performances this season, with Dortmund centre half Neven Subotic and Aleksandar Dragovic of Dynamo Kiev on the Gunners’ radar. Arsenal goalkeepers David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny will also be sweating on their futures. Petr Cech is a possible target, although Chelsea may not be prepared to sell to a rival. Arsene Wenger is said to be eyeing a swoop for Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic (left) Aleksandar Dragovic (second right) of Dynamo Kiev is also on Wenger's radar for a summer swoop . Arsenal manager Wenger reportedly has a budget of £50million to spend on his squad in the summer . Wenger is a long-term admirer of Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, who is the leading contender for the midfield holding role. Gabriel and Laurent Koscielny's place in Arsene Wenger's plans for next season look secure. But the arrival of a new centre back in the summer is likely to have repercussions for Mertesacker. The German's performances have been criticised this season, though he was excellent in Monday's euphoric FA Cup win over Manchester United. Wenger has been repeatedly linked with Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (left) Chelsea keeper Petr Cech is also said to be of interest to Arsenal but Chelsea may not want to sell to a rival . He was recently dropped by Wenger, but Gabriel's hamstring injury has seen the defender handed an instant route back into the first-team. And the arrival of a new centre-half could marginalise Mertesacker's role in Wenger's plans. The capture of a new central defender could also have consequences for Calum Chambers. The England international has been used as cover at centre-back this season, but the club's transfer plans could mean Wenger sees his long-term future at right-back or holding midfield. +Brazilian ace Neymar believes Barcelona's wealth of attacking riches can help them win La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey this season. Barcelona are currently top of the domestic pile as Luis Enrique's side continues to make the most of Real Madrid's recent slump in form under Carlo Ancelotti. The two Spanish heavyweights go head-to-head in 'El Clasico' on March 22, and Neymar admits they will treat the match like a final as they strive to win the treble. Neymar believes Barcelona's wealth of riches in attack can help them go on to win the treble . Barcelona's Neymar smiles during the International youth football tournament MIC in Barcelona, Spain . Neymar poses with a picture of himself when he first represented Brazil during the presentation . Neymar laughs as he takes questions from the crowd at youth tournament MIC in Barcelona . Neymar insists the atmosphere in the changing rooms is superb and says Lionel Messi is the best in the world . Neymar says Barcelona will treat the upcoming 'El Classico' meeting like a cup final so they win the game . Neymar said: 'I think we have the team to think about winning the treble. Leo (Messi) is the best in the world and (Luis) Suárez is a great goalscorer. 'We will give everything to win. I don't want to choose one title, I want to win all three. 'We try and hurt opposition defences, every day we understand each other more. They are great players. Neymar describes teammate Luis Suarez as a great goalscorer and insists they can win the treble . Neymar celebrates scoring against Villarreal during the Copa del Rey semi final clash at the Madrigal Stadium . 'We are strong in the way we train and the relationship inside the dressing room has improved, now the atmosphere in the squad is spectacular. 'El Clasico' will be a final and we have to prepare as such. They are a very tough team but we only have to think about victory. 'The season is very long and there are still many games to play. We'll have to play our game and focus on winning.' +Daniel Sturridge has always been deemed a fairly cool sort of chap, hasn't he? Well it turns out we were all wrong, and the England international posted the picture on social media to prove it. The Liverpool striker, famed for his perfect fades and crazy celebration, lost all street cred when he posted a picture of himself with Louis Tomlinson. Daniel Sturridge takes to social media to post a picture of himself with One Direction's Louis Tomlinson . Liverpool's English striker Sturridge celebrates in his usual spectacular fashion after scoring a goal . One Direction's Louis Tomlinson had a brief spell playing for Doncaster Rovers and tried to buy the club . Tomlinson is in the band One Direction by the way, just in case you are anything other than a 12-year-old girl. He also had a brief spell with Doncaster Rovers as a player, he also tried to buy the club, and in his tweet Sturridge joked that both would be strike partners in the summer. It appeared the duo were out in London's swanky Libertine club as Sturridge continues to show the world he has lots of friends in music. The 25-year-old striker is also believed to be pals with rappers Drake and Tinie Tempah with the latter supporting the band The Script just last week at the Echo arena. The duo enjoyed 'tea and toast' at Liverpool's Leaf Cafe on Bold Street on that occasion. Sturridge enjoys tea and toast with Tinie Tempah at Liverpool's Leaf Cafe on Bold Street . +Liverpool defender Jose Enrique made the most of his day off with an indulgent visit to the Hale Country Club and Spa in Altrincham. The luxury centre features a gym, three swimming pools, steam room, sauna and restaurant while offering a variety of facial and body treatments. The 29-year-old left-back and his long-term girlfriend Amy Jaine seemed to enjoy the facilities and posted pictures of their day on Enrique's official Instagram account. Jose Enrique and his long-term girlfriend Amy Jaine have a facial trreatment at the Hale Spa in Altrincham . Enrique posted pictures from the spa, which included a visit to the site's restaurant, on his Instagram account . Following the spa treatments, Enrique and Jaine dined out and met up with some friends. Enrique signed for Liverpool back in 2011 in a reported £6 million move from Newcastle United. He has since made 96 appearances for The Reds and scored two goals. However, the Spaniard has found regular first-team football hard to come by in the last two seasons due a mix of injuries and squad rotation. Enrique has three caps for Spain's Under 21s, but is yet to receive a call-up for the senior national side. Enrique and his girlfriend enjoy some time out and about with friends at a local restaurant . Enrique clears the ball during Liverpool's Champions League match with Basle in December last year . +Mario Balotelli made use of the two days off Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers gave his team by visiting his former AC Milan team-mates in Italy on Tuesday. The Italian international turned up at their training session to watch the squad prepare for their Serie A match with Fiorentina this Monday, and uploaded a photo to his Instagram of him with Stephan El Shaarawy. Balotelli wrote ‘Milan, what a pleasure to see you’ as he visited the club he left for £16million to join Liverpool in August. Mario Balotelli (left) poses for a photo with AC Milan's Stephan El Shaarawy at the training ground . He has struggled for form at Anfield, having scored just four goals in 24 appearances under Rodgers. The Liverpool boss gave his team two days off following their 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but will have his team back in training at Melwood on Wednesday ahead of visiting his former club Swansea City. Balotelli played 31 minutes against Blackburn but the 24-year-old will hope to get more time on the pitch at the Liberty Stadium. The Italian international has found goals hard to come by since joining Liverpool in the summer . Balotelli sees a header go wide of the post in their FA Cup quarter final clash against Blackburn . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao came face-to-face in Los Angeles on Wednesday. In their first and only press conference, the pair promised to treat the world to a great spectacle on May 2 when they clash in Las Vegas. Here is the full transcript of what was said as the pair - and their teams - faced off. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao (right) pose for pictures at their press conference in Los Angeles . Pacquiao was the first to address the crowd, as his promoter Bob Arum watches on . Mayweather then took to the stage to address the crowd and insist he has never wanted to win a fight more . LEONARD ELLERBE (CEO of Mayweather Promotions): 'We are very excited to be making history today by officially announcing the biggest event in boxing history and one of the biggest sporting events ever. 'I'd like to thank Floyd and Manny for the role they played in making this happen - that meeting in Miami was a major milestone.' BOB ARUM (CEO of Top Rank): 'It is great to be part of an event which so elevates the sport of boxing. When we compare it to other events - major events like the Superbowl, even the Olympics - we get worldwide attention to those events, and it's been rare that worldwide attention focuses on a boxing match. 'Thanks to the work of everyone, the whole world will be watching this great event unfold. It's a credit to the sport of boxing that we have been able to put on such an event.' STEPHEN ESPINOZA (Executive VP of Showtime Sports): 'We are not at all surprised that this fight is happening. As soon as we closed our deal with Floyd back in 2013, the Pacquiao fight was a top priority both for Floyd and for us. 'Whenever it was time to discuss a Mayweather opponent, Manny Pacquiao was always high on Floyd's list. And again that is no surprise to us, we've known for at least five years now that Floyd has wanted the Pacquiao fight pretty badly.' FREDDIE ROACH (Manny Pacquiao's trainer): 'I'd like to thank all the people that made this fight happen. I love challenges and this is the biggest challenge of my life - and it is finally here. 'I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I'm going to get my fighter as ready as possible. We are in the toughest fight of our lives, we are fighting the best fighter in the world... but we are going to kick his ass.I'm sorry, but good luck, Floyd.' MANNY PACQUIAO: 'I'd like to thank God for providing us a wonderful day and giving us strength. I want to thank Showtime and HBO for helping to make this fight happen and also Mayweather promotions, Top Rank promotions and Team Pacquiao. 'For the fans of boxing, I believe, this is what you are waiting for since five years ago. The fight is on and I know you are very excited. Both of us are going to undergo hard training for this fight and we will do our best on May 2 to make you (the fans) happy. 'The most important thing is the name of the Lord - that the name of the Lord will be glorified. 'I want to let the people know that God can raise someone from nothing in to something - and that is me. I came from nothing in to something and I owe everything to God. He gave me this blessing so it all credit to the Lord. 'I want to thank all the Flippino fans who are always supporting me, some are watching at home and some are here. I want to thank Freddie Roach for being very nice to us, Team Pacquiao, nice to me and Bob Arum. We have loyalty between us because we have been working together since 2001 until now 2015 and we are the longest teamwork in boxing history as a trainer and boxer. And also to Bob Arum, my loyalty is to them. Thank you for trusting me and God bless you.' FLOYD MAYWEATHER: 'First off, I have to thank my father. Unbelievable trainer, unbelievable person. I want to thank Showtime, MGM Grand, so many different social media outlets, the fans, Team Pacquiao, Top Rank. 'It has been a long road but we are here now. Al Haymon - remarkable guy. If it wasnt for Al Haymon, my father, Lenoard, I wouldn't be where I am today so I want to say thank you. 'May 2 - the fight of the century. It is all about the best fighting the best and Pacquiao is one of the best fighters of this era. And everything is about timing and we couldn't choose a better time. 'Our game plan is to be smart and take one fight at a time - like all 47 fights. 'This is a fight the world can't miss, it is an unbelievable match-up. Action packed fight. I'm in the gym working right now, dedicating myself to the sport, pushing myself to the limit, because I've never wanted to win a fight so much in my life. 'And I'm sure he is pushing himself to the limit because he wants to win just same way I want ot win. 'But one thing I do know about any sport, when you lose it is in your mind. If you've lost once it is in your mind. If you've lost twice, it is in your mind. From day one I've was always taught to be a winner. No matter what be a winner. Push yourself to the limit, stay focused and be the best you can be. 'Stephen Ezpinoza I want to thank you, Richard Stern I want to thank you, Bob Arum, Team Pacquiao because without everyone together we couldn't make this fight happen so I have to be thankful for us coming together as one so that we can give the world what they want to see: Mayweather-Pacquiao. 'To all the people tuning in I want to say thank you. I'm pretty sure you are going to see hashtags on Twitter, Instagram, Shots. May 2 that is when the world stops, I want everyone to tune in, Mayweather-PAcquiao the biggest fight in history. Thank you.' +Nemanaja Matic has endured a difficult fortnight. He is, of course, pleased that Chelsea won their first trophy in his time at the club, though his joy is tempered by missing the Capital One Cup final through suspension. And though he is now back from that two-match ban, he was part of the Chelsea team which went out against 10-man Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday. He earned his two-match ban for pushing over Ashley Barnes in fury after the Burnley player executed an excessive shin-high challenge on him. Matic received a red card and didn’t even get the free-kick, Barnes went unpunished. Ashley Barnes commits a foul on Nemanja Matic but referee Martin Atkinson fails to blow for the foul . Matic was handed a two-match suspension for pushing Burnley's Barnes at Stamford Bridge . The 28-year-old has missed Chelsea's last two games against Tottenham and West Ham due to suspension . But Matic maintains a degree of perspective. He is aware he is fortunate not to be have been injured far more seriously. ‘I was happy, to be honest, when I saw the video after the game as it was bad. And I am happy that I played against Paris Saint-Germain. My reaction was not good but this reaction was because I thought I broke a leg. I am a happy man because I can walk,’ he said. ‘I don’t like to say that I was right in my reaction. I was not right. But this was a moment when you cannot control your emotions. I saw it one time only (on TV). That was enough. But these things happen in football. I hope that is the last time.’ Matic has been a revelation since returning to Chelsea from Portuguese side Benfica last January . Matic will not discuss the fact that referee Martin Atkinson did not award a foul, let alone punish Barnes for the tackle. ‘I think that the referee saw because he was close but I think it’s not my job to comment on that,’ he said. ‘People have been speaking about that, writing in newspapers. That’s it.’ Asked whether Barnes had apologised, he said: ‘No.’ Before the visit of Southampton on Sunday, Matic reflected on his ban and keeping focused. ‘It has been very hard, it is very difficult when you are not on the pitch,’ he said. Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic with the trophy after the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley Stadium . ‘When you are on the pitch you can do something. When you are out, you are just watching and it is very difficult for me, I am not used to it. I hope this is the last time I am out. ‘It has been difficult. But I was happy. I was out but I was happy because we won two games.’ Matic is a candidate for player of the year, so impressive have his performances been since he came back to Chelsea last January in a £22million deal, having initially been allowed to leave and join Benfica in 2011. Chelsea re-signed Nemanja Matic last January for £22million having previously been sold by the club in 2011 . Matic admitted it was hard to miss the Capital One Cup Final win against Tottenham Hotspur . Matic does not attempt to gild the failure against PSG, and is aware of what is now required. ‘To be honest we didn’t play well against Paris Saint-Germain,’ he admitted. ‘We played against one very good team with very good individuals but after the Ibrahimovic red card maybe we thought it would be more — not easy — but easier for us as we had one player more. If you watched the whole game they deserved to go through. ‘Now, we must win the Premier League. We have to if we want to finish this as a good season. If we win the league we will have that and the Capital One Cup and it will be a good season. Otherwise it is going to be bad. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sent off for his part in a tackle with Chelsea's Brazilian ace Oscar . Chelsea's players surround the referee as he sends off Ibrahimovic (second right) in the first half . ‘I know it is going to be difficult until the end. But Manchester City also play difficult games. ‘If we win the Premier League it’s going to be like a dream for us, because we know what we speak about every day and we know the Premier League is something we have to win. We are not tired and we will be ready for the next 12 games.’ None more so than Matic. He knows how close he has come to missing out. +Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has strongly denied the club are in danger of being relegated from the top flight of English football for the first time since 1954. Roberto Martinez’s side have one victory in 12 league games and supporters are growing impatient. They face Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Sunday, and 36-year-old Howard said: ‘I have been in England for 12 years. Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has strongly denied the club are in danger of being relegated . Howard believes a couple of wins on the bounce is all it will take to ensure they avoid the dreaded drop . 'I get that people want to have a beer in the pub and talk about how dangerous it all is. It’s not, we get two wins on the bounce and we are straight up there. ‘Teams below us have all it to do as well. We’re not in the middle of a relegation fight.’ Meanwhile, Howard revealed that he plans to end his career at Everton: ‘I have three years left on my contract and then I’m finished,’ he said. The American goalkeeper has been in England for 12 years and has revealed he wants to end his career here . Howard still has three-years left on his contract at Goodison Park and says he will retire when it ends . +John Carver says he cannot defend Papiss Cisse after admitting the Newcastle striker spitting in the face of Jonny Evans was worse than breaking the leg of an opponent. Newcastle will be without their 11-goal top scorer for the first time at Everton on Sunday since he was hit with a seven-game ban following the altercation with Evans. The Manchester United defender was suspended for six matches for his part in the incident, in which he first spat at Cisse to provoke the reaction from the Magpies striker. Newcastle's Papiss Cisse and Manchester United's Jonny Evans squared up to each other at St James' Park . Cisse has been banned for seven games, while Evans has received a six game suspension for the altercation . There has been a lot of debate in the 10 days since the disgusting clash as to whether or not spitting merited a ban double the length of one for a tackle which could cause serious injury. Carver, though, was clear on his thoughts when that question was put to him. ‘When you have played the game it (spitting) is worse, yes,’ he said. ‘It's one of the lowest forms of anything you can do on the pitch. A lot of players would have acted differently. He retaliated in the same manner, which is just as bad. ‘I sat with him and I said, “Listen, I can't defend you on this. You've done wrong and have to accept whatever punishment you get”. There's no place in the game for it. He got what he deserved.’ Evans' actions have been described as 'simply disgusting' by the FA's regulatory committee . Both Evans and Cisse were charged and banned by the FA for spitting, but Cisse admitted the offence . Cisse’s future on Tyneside is now uncertain. Despite boasting the best goals-per-minute ratio in the Premier League this season, Newcastle remain concerned about a lingering knee issue for which he underwent more treatment this week. When asked if the 29-year-old would be at the club next year, Carver said: ‘It's a difficult question to answer because I'm only thinking about the now, and I haven't got him for seven games. ‘But he scores goals and I don't think his knee is a big issue. We have always used this word “maintenance” about his knee and it is just making sure that everything is right. But he’s a big loss.’ Meanwhile, Carver admits he has sympathy with under-fire Everton boss Roberto Martinez. Newcastle finished fifth in 2012 but were nearly relegated the following season and cited the rigours of a Europa League campaign as reason for their struggle. ‘Ask any of these managers who qualified for Europe how it affects your league form - you all start fighting for your lives down the bottom of that league table - it's not easy,’ he said. ‘They've got to do something about it. I would go back to a straight knockout format. ‘When you work so hard to get your team into a position to qualify for it and then you've got to play so many games it's detrimental to your bread and butter, which is Premier League football. ‘Spurs have a massive squad and were almost playing two different sides. That's how they coped with it – but Everton can't and we couldn’t either.’ Paul Carver admits he has sympathy with under-fire Everton manager Roberto Martinez ahead of he game . +Newcastle head coach John Carver says the pressure is all on Everton and their under-fire boss Roberto Martinez ahead of Sunday’s meeting at Goodison Park. Carver was on Merseyside to witness the Toffees come from behind to win 2-1 against Dynamo Kiev in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday night. But he was taken aback by the level of unrest on the terraces after they fell behind early on. John Carver sympathised with his opposite number Roberto Martinez, but insists Everton are under pressure . Carver's Newcastle side are relatively safe in 11th place, but Everton are still too close to the relegation zone . Martinez has come under fire from fans as he tries to balance Premier League survival with European football . ‘I've got to be honest, it was pretty daunting. I was there with Steve Stone and Dave Watson, an Everton legend, and he'd never seen that before - he found it quite strange,’ said Carver. ‘So I’ve said to my players that all the pressure is going to be on Everton at Goodison Park. ‘They coped with it well in the end and got a good goal and dominated the second half. They deserved credit for coming back to win. ‘But there’s no pressure on us, the players can go and express themselves.’ Everton are 16th in the Premier League after a campaign disrupted by their participation in Europe. Carver was shocked by the levels of unrest when Oleg Gusev put Dynamo Kiev ahead on Thursday night . Newcastle travel to Everton on Sunday looking for only their second win in the last six league games . And Carver has sympathy with Martinez given his own experience of a relegation battle in 2013 as Newcastle juggled the demands of a Europa League schedule. ‘It’s difficult to balance the demands of the Europa League and we can vouch for that when you’ve got a squad like we had then and they have now, it’s very difficult,’ he said. ‘They’ve played 14 games more than us. Only the sides with huge squads will cope. It needs to go back to a knockout competition.’ +Roberto Martinez wants Everton’s latest European success to be a turning point in their ambition to save their faltering domestic campaign. Goals from Steven Naismith and Romelu Lukaku transformed Everton’s Europa League last 16 tie with Dynamo Kiev, giving Martinez’s side a lead to protect in Ukraine next week when it appeared they were set for another night of misery. Everton have fallen way below expectations in recent months and have only won one Barclays Premier League fixture in 2015 but Martinez is hoping they will carry the momentum from this victory into Sunday’s crucial Goodison Park fixture against Newcastle. Everton boss Roberto Martinez hopes his side can kick on in the Premier League after beating Dynamo Kiev . Oleg Gusev (right) volleyed Kiev ahead on Thursday night with a neat near post finish from a corner . Steven Naismith equalised in the first half for Everton with a curled right-footed finish . Romelu Lukaku scored the winner with a penalty on 82 minutes to give Everton a first leg 2-1 to take to Kiev . ‘It has to be a turning point,’ said Martinez. ‘Our fans know that we have got an honest group of players. When we get the tempo right and have that expression in our play, we have shown that we are a good team. ‘We need to focus on the league now and get the flow we had in our second half performance. You cannot underestimate how important it is to win in Europe. Our intensity was very pleasing. That was us at our best level. We know that we have got a good side.’ Things looked difficult when Oleg Gusev opened the scoring for Kiev, who have now failed to win in England in 12 attempts, but they struggled to contain Lukaku, who scored his seventh Europa League goal of the campaign. He echoed Martinez’s sentiments in hoping for a domestic spin-off. ‘I'm very happy with the team performance,’ said Lukaku. ‘The team reacted well after first half. We should have maybe scored three goals to be safe but they have top class players. It's up there with my best performances. Now we have to focus on the league as we are not doing too well. ‘Everyone up front was scared to have the ball and we put the defenders and the midfielders in danger, but after 20 minutes we improved. Now if we want to save the season we have to keep playing like this. We are favourites, but it will be difficult over there.’ Lukaku points to the heavens after converting his 82nd minute penalty to put Everton 2-1 ahead . +Barcelona kicked off the biggest week of their season in style by beating Eibar 2-0 thanks to a Lionel Messi double that took him past Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga’s top scorer this season. Barca play Manchestser City on Wednesday, just four days before the decisive Clasico against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou next Sunday, and Messi led them to victory with his 31st and 32nd goals of the season. He even scored a goal he had never scored before in La Liga – a header direct from a corner. Lionel Messi wheels away in celebration of his first half penalty, which put Barcelona into a 1-0 lead . The Barca star scored his 16th and 17th La Liga goals of 2015 as his side strolled to victory . At the start of the year Ronaldo collected the Balon d’Or and sent an ‘I’m coming for you’ message to Messi who has one more World Player award than the Portuguese. But instead it has been Messi pursuing, catching and over-taking Ronaldo in scoring stakes in Spain. The Real Madrid striker was 12 goals clear of Messi but the Barça number 10 has scored 17 goals in 10 games since the turn of the year and is now in top spot like his team. This was the first time Eibar had played Barcelona in Spain’s top flight – it is with the Catalan club that the contrasts are most stark. They have 5,250 supporters crammed into the league’s smallest ground while Barça’s 99,000 capacity Camp Nou is La Liga’s largest. Barcelona’s budget runs to €540m euros, Eibar’s is €16m; Barça make €140m from their television deal, Eibar make €14m; Barça’s sponsor Qatar Airways pays them €35m a year while the minnows are paid €130,000 by a local steel company. On the pitch there are massive differences too. And the home team came into the game having scored 34 goals – six fewer than Messi. Although it was the Argentine who got the opening goal Barça had to suffer for the breakthrough. Neymar (left) and Ivan Rakitic (right) join Messi in celebration of his 31st minute spot-kick . They almost scored with their first attack when first Messi and then Ivan Rakitic went close after Luis Suarez and Adriano had combined down the left. But with a relatively inexperienced midfield trio of Sergi Roberto between, Rafinha and Rakitic, and faced with a five-man Eibar defence, the first half hour was heavy going. Luis Enrique had decided not to risk Javier Mascherano who was a booking away from missing next week’s Clasico but his presence in a midfield already missing the injured Sergi Busquets was keenly felt at times as the leaders failed to control the game. Messi left five Eibar players behind with one dribble that started inside his own half but the move broke down as soon as he played in a team-mate and Eibar remained on level terms. Resistance was finally broken on the half hour when Suarez went on a driving run into the area and released Messi. Neymar skips past the challenge of Eibar's Borja Ekiza during the La Liga clash . His shot cannoned off a defender and hit the arm of Eibar defender Borja Ekiza. The referee pointed to the spot and although keeper Jaime Jiminez dived the right way Messi’s penalty beat him. The goal sent him one goal past Cristiano Ronaldo in the top scorer list in Spain. It’s been an incredible turnaround since the Real Madrid striker raced to a 12 goal advantage over his nemesis earlier in the campaign. Neymar might have doubled Barça’s lead but Messi’s cross from the byline was cleared before it reached the Brazilian and Eibar made it to the break just the one goal down. Messi was at his very best at times and made a sensational 70-yard run during the first half . Messi set up Barcelona’s first chance of the second period when he slipped Neymar through in the six-yard box only for team-mate to try and fail to nutmeg the goalkeeper. Having failed to create the second he scored it, and with the most unusual of Messi goals. Rakitic took a corner from the right and Messi found space 10 yards out. His header down skidded off the turf and past a defender on the line to make it 2-0. There was time for 35-year-old Xavi to come and make his 750th appearance for Barcelona as the visitors saw out the remaining minutes. Federico Piovaccari hit the bar but Barcelona took the points to mean they stay top a week ahead of the Clasico and four days ahead of the visit of Manchester City. +George Boyd scored a famous Burnley winner as Manchester City's strongarm tactics backfired ahead of their big date in The Nou Camp. Turf Moor was bouncing as Boyd lashed home a poor clearance from returning City captain Vincent Kompany after 61 minutes. And Manuel Pellegrini's men – who sent on £50million substitutes Wilfried Bony and Stevan Jovetic to try and salvage the game – were lucky to survive with 11 men after bad challenges from Sergio Aguero and Martin Demichelis. CLICK HERE to read Sportsmail's Joe Bernstein's full match report from Turf Moor. Host commentator . What a potential season-defining moment Burnley's win could be tonight. The victory still sees the Clarets in the relegation zone - but by only one point with Sunderland looking over their shoulders ever-more. Meanwhile the defeat for City is damaging for their title hopes. A win for Chelsea on Sunday would see Manuel Pellegrini's side trail by eight points with nine games remaining. City now have to pick themselves up with a daunting trip to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Until next time, have a good evening! And the referee brings a close to the match. Relegation candidates Burnley have stunned the champions Manchester City! George Boyd's goal separates the two sides. Cue pandemonium among the Turf Moor faithful. 92 mins: Burnley make their second defensive change of the match as Danny Ings is taken off for Steven Reid. The hosts are now playing without any recognised strikers. 91 mins: Oh wow, what a huge moment in the match. Pablo Zabaleta charges into the Burnley box and falls under the challenge of Mee. On first inspection it looked a penalty and the replays suggest so too. However the referee decides otherwise and awards a free-kick to Burnley as Jason Shackell is fouled by Zabaleta during his tumble. The City players are incensed. Will that moment spell curtains for their title challenge? There will be four minutes of injury time to be added on... 86 mins: Burnley make their first change of the match and it's a defensive one as striker Sam Vokes is replaced by Stephen Ward. Lampard's appearance is his 600th in the Premier League. Only Ryan Giggs has made more. 82 mins: And that cross is Toure's last piece of action as he is replaced by Frank Lampard. 81 mins: What a chance that was for City to equalise. Navas cuts the ball back on the right flank to Yaya Toure. The latter whips in a devilish cross that finds the head of Aguero at the back post. The Argentina international can only head over from just outside the six-yard box though. The frustration grows for the visitors. City are continuing to press for an equaliser but have yet to breach the Burnley defence. As they push further forward gaps are starting to appear which Burnley are beginning to exploit. The visitors have simply not been at it tonight, a huge credit must go to the Clarets though. They've been brilliant. 74 mins: Pellegrini makes his second change of the match as Silva is replaced by Stevan Jovetic. 71 mins: Two of Burnley's back four are now cautioned as Michael Duff sees yellow for a foul. 66 mins: City have just over 20 minutes plus added time to turnaround this scoreline. Victory for City would see them close the gap on Chelsea to two-points ahead of their match against Southampton on Sunday. A defeat means the Blues could go eight points clear if they beat the Saints. Do the City players want it enough? 63 mins: City react to conceding the opener by taking off the ineffectual Dzeko and replacing him with Wilfried Bony. Demichelis' act of cynicism has been punished spectacularly by Burnley. From the resulting free-kick Trippier's set piece is headed away by City captain Vincent Kompany. Unfortunately for the defender his clearance falls straight to Boyd who hits a sweet left-footed volley first time that arrows into the bottom corner. A fantastic strike. 60 mins: Martin Demichelis swiftly follows Mee into the referees book for a cynical challenge on Ings. 58 mins: We have our first booking of the match and it's a harsh one as Ben Mee is cautioned for a challenge on Jesus Navas. Replays show it was a soft decision in comparison to some of the unpunished tackles that the City players have dealt. 55 mins: What a hit by George Boyd - he's so unlucky. The Scotland international hits a hook volley, with his weaker right foot, over his shoulder that narrowly goes past the post. That's got the crowd engaged. 51 mins: David Silva has just produced a collectors item - a bad touch. And at precisely the wrong time too. Aguero does brilliantly to spin around a Burnley defender on the halfway line and race clear. With Silva in support he plays in the playmaker but his first touch forces him wide with Heaton bearing down on him. That could, and probably should have been, 1-0 to the visitors. Will the deadlock be broken in this stalemate? A Manchester City fan has just proposed to his Burnley-supporting girlfriend on the pitch at half time. Thankfully she said yes because it’s a long walk back to the touchline. That’s the best entertainment we’ve had here so far. Disappointing first half from the champions. Surely they haven’t got one eye on Barcelona when there’s still something to play for in the title race. City showed a few flashes towards the end of the first half but Tom Heaton has only had two saves to make, and fairly routine saves at that. And the referee has drawn a close to first half proceedings at Turf Moor. In truth it's been a rather drab affair with no clear-cut chances yet created for either side. The hosts will be pleased with their display so far as they aim to avoid relegation, but City know they have to improve if they are to keep their hopes alive of retaining the Premier League title. 42 mins: City are dominating possession now and the stats support that with 70 per cent of the ball in their favour. However, the key statistic is that it is still 0-0. Can they make their dominance count? 34 mins: The visitors are slowly starting to come into the game more. Again Dzeko wriggles free inside in the Burnley box but is tackled before he can shoot. The ball falls into the path of Aguero who chooses to shoot rather the cross. The end product? An effort well wide of goal. Nevertheless a warning sign for the hosts. 29 mins: It's taken nearly half an hour but finally a keeper is forced into a save. Heaton comes off his line well to deny Dzeko from squeezing in a near post effort. From the resulting build-up the goalkeeper holds the ball well from an Aguero strike.  As the old saying goes, you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once. 26 mins: And that trend continues as Edin Dzeko drags an ambitious left-footed shot well wide of Tom Heaton's goal. 23 mins: The fans have little to cheer about so far and it's hardly surprising. We're approaching the midway point of the first half and neither side has managed a shot on target yet. 15 mins: Still no clear-cut chances created by either side. Both goalkeepers have had yet to break sweat. 10 mins: Burnley right back Kieran Trippier crosses a ball that hits Gael Clichy. The home fans roar for a penalty but replays clearly show the ball hits the left back in the chest. 6 mins: As you would expect Burnley came out of the traps strongly in the opening exchanges. City have weathered that 'mini-storm' and are starting to express themselves. The match has started in Lancashire. Can Burnley stun City? Kick-off is imminent... Look away Burnley fans... City are unbeaten in their last six visits to Turf Moor in all competitions, winning the last five in a row and scoring 17 times in the last four. To make matters the visitors are unbeaten in their last 13 matches in all competitions against the Clarets (W8 D5 L0). Records are there to be broken though... In a close battle for the Premier League title, December 28 2014 could be a date that haunts City. Leading 2-0 at half-time against Burnley, Manuel Pellegrini's side squander a two-goal lead to draw with Sean Dyche's men. George Boyd scored straight after the break, turning home Danny Ings' shot while in an offside position. Then Ashley Barnes reacted quickest in a crowded penalty area to smash home a loose ball to earn the visitors a draw. Pellegrini knows his side can't afford a repeat performance like that if they are to close the gap on league leaders Chelsea. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany returns to the starting line-up after being an unused substitute against Leicester on 4 March. Quartet Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Fernandinho and Edin Dzeko also start as Manuel Pellegrini rings the changes. Right so the Burnley team news is and Mike Duff and Sam Vokes come in for Michael Keane and Michael Kightly in the only two changes for the Clarets from the side that lost 2-0 at Anfield against Liverpool. Manchester City XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Navas, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero . Subs: Caballero, Mangala, Sagna, Nasri, Lampard, Bony, Jovetic . Burnley XI: Heaton, Trippier, Shackell, Duff, Mee; Barnes, Arfield, Jones, Boyd; Ings, Vokes . Subs: Gilks, Keane, Reid, Ward, Jutkiewicz, Wallace, Kightly. Hello and welcome to Sportsmail's coverage of Saturday's late Premier League kick-off between Burnley and Manchester City. Both sides are desperate for the three points for reasons concerning either end of the table. Follow all the action from Turf Moor with myself, Luke Augustus, kick-off is at 5.30pm. +Ten reasons to give Manuel Pellegrini a sliver of hope that Manchester City can catch Chelsea. Ten reasons to disturb Jose Mourinho as he turns his full focus on the Barclays Premier League. Mourinho has a five-point lead to preserve at the top of the Barclays Premier League and a game in hand if he is to bring the title to Stamford Bridge for the first time in five years. What had seemed set to break into a procession at times could yet become a contest if Chelsea cannot kick the habit of throwing away the lead. It has happened 10 times this season and the unwanted trend has accelerated since the turn of the year. Thiago Silva headed home to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League in another poor result after leading . Chelsea players surround the referee before Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off during the hot-tempered affair . Jose Mourinho's side have let leads slip in no less than 10 games in all compeitions this season . Problems seemed to kick in after the draw against Sunday's opponents Southampton, at St Mary's, on 28 December. It was a day when Mourinho fumed about penalties not awarded and a 'campaign' against his team. Maybe the Chelsea manager had already detected signs of what might lie ahead. 2014-15: P43 W29 D11 L3 . Before Jan: P28 W21 D6 L1 . Since Jan: P15 W8 D5 L2 . Games are more difficult after the New Year, with Capital One Cup semi-finals and a final and the first knock-out round of the Champions League. Fatigue starts to bite with a manager with a small core of players he seems happy to use, which don't include Filipe Luis or Lois Remy. Yet it is Chelsea's inability to close out many games which will trouble Mourinho. His teams have consistently boasted this quality, and it remains. They closed out the Capital One Cup final against Spurs expertly, but seven times in 15 games since the turn of the year they have let a lead slip. Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasts past Gary Cahill as Chelsea let a 1-0 lead slip in Paris . Cesc Fabregas against Burnley (left), while Frank Lampard and John Terry catch up as City grab a point . Didier Drogba struggles against Bradford (left) as Nemanja Matic looks on against Liverpool . Terry offers Hazard consoling words against Spurs (left), with Robin van Persie equalising at Old Trafford . Diego Costa fronts up to Pablo Zabaleta at the Etihad, with Schalke celebrating in front of Fabregas . It might be more likely to develop into a battle if Manchester City were not misfiring, too. Arsenal and Liverpool are in more fluent form but a little further adrift. Too far adrift. Chelsea are not about to implode spectacularly. PSG h (CL) led twice 2-2 AET . Burnley h (PL) led 1-1. PSG a (CL) led 1-1. Man City h (PL) led 1-1. Bradford h (FAC) led 2-0 lost 2-4. Liverpool a (C1C) led 1-1. Spurs a (PL) led 1-0 lost 3-5. Man United a (PL) led drew 1-1. Man City a (PL) led drew 1-1. Schalke h (CL) led drew 1-1 . Over the campaign, they have been easily the best in the Premier League. They will probably win the title. Rather, tiny problems have cropped up where there were none. If nothing else, it will keep Mourinho busy in the summer, in his restless quest for perfection. He will prioritise another central defender, with Raphael Varane top of the list, and will work to tighten up a defence which has shown tiny uncharacteristic flaws. Opposing teams will have noted how Thibaut Courtois, amid a brilliant season, has had issues with crosses whipped in, six yards from goal. Both PSG goals were headed in from this region. So was Burnley's equaliser. And Manchester City's equaliser came after he was beaten in such a duel by James Milner. Thibaut Courtois has started to struggle to deal with crosses whipped into the box, leading to goals conceded . Cesc Fabregas, battling Marco Verratti, has not been firing on all cylinders since Christmas . Mourinho will also like to add another defensive option in midfield, for the really big games at the business end of the Champions League. Missing only John Obi Mikel from his squad, his midfield was dominated by PSG and Nemanja Matic, outstanding all season, played at full stretch, his passing not at its best, under pressure against Blaise Matiudi, Thiago Motta and the excellent Marco Verratti. The form of Cesc Fabregas has been flat since his return from a hamstring injury and when he doesn't dazzle he does not have the defensive strengths to satisfy his manager. There are games against teams like PSG, when Mourinho would like another strong athletic presence alongside Matic. Diego Costa has been more noticeable for his physical play and histrionics than his goalscoring ability . Without the creative flair of Fabregas, the goals have dried up for Diego Costa, who may be off the pace because of his ban, as Mourinho claimed, but also seems to be distracted by the need to prove he will not change his physical game to appease those who don't like it. Eden Hazard shows no sign of losing his mojo but Drogba's influence has faded through the season and Remy does not appear to be trusted. So Chelsea expect be in the market for options up front, too. Mourinho always says a manager can never be happy and even if, as expected, he goes on to claim the title, he will be busy this summer. Some people thought he had already built one of the great teams of the modern era, but there is work to do and no-one knows it more than him. +Ashley Young says Manchester United will go for the kill when they head to Liverpool on Sunday. After beating Tottenham last weekend, United have a chance to further strengthen their grip on fourth when they face their old rivals at Anfield. A draw would be enough to keep United two points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool, but Young knows victory would put further daylight between the two teams, who both have nine matches left. Ashley Young says Manchester United will go for the kill when they head to Liverpool on Sunday . 'We will go there looking for the three points,' the United winger said. 'We are going there to win, you don't go to a place to try and draw. The performance against Tottenham was brilliant but we have a tough game coming up at Liverpool. We have got to dust ourselves down in the right way and go for the three points again.' Questions had been raised about Louis van Gaal's team selection and tactics in the wake of United's FA Cup exit to Arsenal, but everything fell into place last weekend as United put on by far their best performance of the season. United have a chance to further strengthen their grip on fourth when they face their old rivals at Anfield . Young thinks United will therefore go into Sunday's game in high spirits, but he insists confidence in the camp has never been a problem this season despite a number of uninspiring team displays. He said: 'Morale has always been high. Confidence has always been there too. 'We were obviously disappointed after the Arsenal game. I said afterwards that it will show how our team spirit and character is with how we bounce back. The Manchester United players celebrate as they beat Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford . 'I think if you look at the first 45 minutes (against Spurs) then that was exactly the right way to bounce back.' Young praised Van Gaal's methods, insisting some players had improved under the Dutchman's stewardship. He is undoubtedly one of them. The 29-year-old was expected to leave Old Trafford last summer, but he has been one of the best outfield players in the squad this season. Young praised Louis van Gaal's methods, insisting players had improved under the Dutchman's stewardship . Fellaini was heavily criticised during David Moyes' reign but had improved under Van Gaal . Marouane Fellaini is another player who seems to be improving under Van Gaal. Fellaini was heavily criticised during David Moyes' reign, but the big Belgian has earned plaudits for his performances in the no.10 role of late. 'He has been very important for us. He has been in the team and when he is in the box, I'm not sure many teams can handle him,' Young said of the £27.5million midfielder. Belgian midfielder Fellaini celebrates with Wayne Rooney after scoring the opening goal against  Tottenham . 'You saw (against Tottenham) that he was fantastic at getting in the box and looking like a striker at times. 'I think he likes playing in that position. We just have to utilise his strengths and I think we did that really well on Sunday. 'I think last season was difficult for a lot of people and this season is totally different.' +Harry Kane will this week be named in the England senior squad by Roy Hodgson with Tottenham team-mate Ryan Mason also poised for a call — but Charlie Austin may have to wait his turn given the amount of attacking talent at the England boss’s disposal. Kane is leading the charge of new young strikers and the Spurs player has been assured of a promotion from the Under-21s this week. However, that does not mean England don’t want him to play in the European Under-21 Championships in June, which they have a strong chance of winning. Harry Kane, pictured, will hope to be involved in Roy Hodgson's England squad when it is announced this week . Kane will come into the senior squad for this month’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and the friendly against Italy so Hodgson can view him at close hand. But he will be available for Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate in the summer, rather than the senior squad, who have a friendly against Republic of Ireland and a Euro 2016 qualifier in Slovenia in June. Tottenham team-mate Mason may also be considered for his first call-up with Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain unavailable. Michael Carrick is back but has had limited game time at Manchester United. Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason may also be considered for first call-up by Roy Hodgson . QPR striker Charlie Austin scores against Arsenal at Loftus Road earlier in March in the Premier League . Hodgson is expected to be at Old Trafford for United’s clash with Tottenham on Sunday. Austin is likely to miss the cut, even though Hodgson is impressed by the striker’s rise at QPR. The England manager, who will be at Old Trafford to watch United take on Spurs, has a surplus of talent to choose from up front, with Daniel Sturridge back from injury and Raheem Sterling playing centrally for Liverpool at times. Wayne Rooney will captain the team and Danny Welbeck is also available. Rickie Lambert is likely to miss out, while Berahino and Ings are set to be in the U21 squad. +Forget Groundhog Day. For suffering Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw, it is beginning to feel more like Groundhog Year. There has been an increasingly familiar pattern to his addresses in the aftermath of every one of his team’s four defeats in this Six Nations campaign so far. He has talked of the positives to take from each loss while trying his best to put the bravest of faces on matters. As he sat at BT Murrayfield on Tuesday following a tough training session with his international colleagues, his mask didn’t slip one bit as he went through the same old routine. Greig Laidlaw in action during the Six Nations rugby match between France and Scotland at Stade de France . But behind the forced smile it was clear there is a new fear engulfing him which makes the final Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday an increasingly nervous prospect. The scrum-half with 38 caps to his name doesn’t want to join Chris Paterson and Ross Ford in the record books as a captain who led Scotland to a Six Nations wooden spoon. Paterson did it twice, in 2004 and 2007, with Ford suffering a similar fate in 2012. Since Five Nations became Six, Italy have been bottom of the pile 10 times with Wales and France finishing last once each. England and Ireland have never picked up the wooden spoon. Laidlaw, who played stand-off rather than scrum-half in the side that was whitewashed under Ford, doesn’t want to experience that feeling again. He is hoping his team-mates feel as embarrassed as he is about the current plight and use the fear of failure as motivation to put things right against the Irish. ‘I don’t know if it hurts me as captain more than the other players, but losing all our games so far certainly hurts me a lot, that’s for sure,’ said the 29-year-old. ‘I like to think avoiding the wooden spoon is a big driving factor whether you are captain or not, as nobody wants to be in the team that’s failed to pick up any wins. ‘Remember, though, we haven’t finished bottom yet and we’ve got an opportunity this weekend to finish on a high. If we can win this one, it allows us to give a big sigh of relief going into the pre-World Cup games over the summer and then build towards the World Cup. Laidlaw leaves the field after the second half of the the RBS Six Nations match between against Italy . ‘The other side of the coin is that if we lose this one, it’s a long time before we play for Scotland again and that’s the worst situation to be in. At least we have a week to try to rectify some of the problems that were there against England and give everybody the boost they want by turning things around against Ireland.’ Laidlaw admitted he has been left totally frustrated at how his side had come up short in all their matches and fallen away badly in the second half of key games. Although he believes all is not lost, he is clearly growing tired of constantly being the one trying to explain away in public what is going wrong. ‘I’ve almost been saying the same things most weeks, unfortunately,’ he continued. ‘I still believe there are huge positives in there and I think everybody, including ourselves, can see some of the play is brilliant and the players get confidence from that. ‘I know the English boys and the Welsh boys, in particular, think that we’re now a threat and a much better team than we were in the past despite the defeats. We are getting close to winning but need to do that little bit extra to get over the line. ‘Of course there are things to look at and, for instance, we’re getting to half-time in good positions but maybe dropping off slightly, which is something we need to sort. VIDEO 02 Inside Line: England v Scotland match review . Ben Youngs hands off the tackle of Laidlaw during the match between England and Scotland at Twickenham . ‘Looking back at the England game, that is what happened as there wasn’t enough urgency in the early part of the second half and we just let England come at us. There’s only so much you can soak up before cracking and we can’t let that happen again.’ Murrayfield will have a capacity attendance for the match against Ireland, with many visiting fans making up the 67,000 crowd. Irish supporters had bought their tickets within hours of them going on sale on the assumption their team would be challenging for the Grand Slam. A clean sweep is no longer a possibility after their defeat to Wales last weekend but, even with tens of thousands inside the stadium cheering on Joe Schmidt’s title contenders, Laidlaw still believes the Scotland players can be inspired by the atmosphere within Murrayfield. ‘We want to win for the jersey, win for ourselves, win for the fans, because they’ve been brilliant throughout a tough campaign,’ he said. ‘We can feed off them hugely and want to go out there and give them something back for their continued support. We really want to send them off on a good note, because it’s been a tough championship for the players and fans alike.’ Laidlaw stands dejected after the final whistle during the RBS 6 Nations match at Twickenham . A win over Ireland would indeed have the fans singing a happier tune. For that to happen, Ford insists there is nothing to be gained from dwelling too much on the results which have brought Scotland to this precarious position. ‘We need to be realistic, look at where we aren’t good enough and try to improve,’ said the Edinburgh hooker, capped 84 times. ‘We need to stay positive going into the games and it is a huge positive to know we have pushed good teams close and scored tries against them. ‘There is no point getting down as it doesn’t get you anywhere on the pitch. It’s about staying positive and getting right back out and going after Ireland. ‘It would be great to finish the campaign on a high, especially at home. It is a World Cup year, so it would be a very positive note to end the Six Nations on.’ +Warren Gatland has told Adam Jones that he will not ‘get on his knees’ and beg the curly haired Welsh prop to come out of retirement following a World Cup threatening injury to Samson Lee. Lee, 22, was on Tuesday given a ’50-50’ chance of being ready for the ‘pool of death’ later this year because of a ruptured Achilles tendon, with his recovery already delayed by a week after specialists in London decided there is too much swelling to perform an immediate operation. It has left Wales painfully low on experience in the front-row – the four props in the matchday squad to face Italy have just 11 Test starts between them – but Gatland maintains the onus is on Jones, capped 100 times, to reverse his decision to hang up his international boots. Warren Gatland has told Adam Jones that he will not ‘get on his knees’ and beg the prop to play . Samson Lee injured his achilles during Wales' 23-16 win against Ireland in the Six Nations . ‘I was surprised at the timing of his announcement,’ said Gatland. ‘He wasn’t out of our thoughts: we had played a little bit of phone tag, leaving messages and going backwards and forwards. If he has changed his mind and wants to get on the phone and say “I made a rash decision, retired too early and want to be part of the World Cup squad,” that is a different conversation. Jones passes the ball during the British and Irish Lions training session held at Scotch College in 2013 . Wales captain Sam Warburton reacts with Jones during the Six Nations in 2013 . ‘At the moment I will not be going on bended knees ringing him saying “please come back, we really desperately need you”. For us, it’s about dealing with the other players. If Adam Jones wasn’t retired from international rugby, then he may very well be in the squad now.’ Making his Test debut in 2003, Jones became a household feature in the Welsh pack alongside fellow front-row Gethin Jenkins. While Jones will not feature on Saturday because of his retirement, Jenkins will play no part because of a hamstring injury. Asides from the changes up front, Gatland has stuck with the same starting XV that beat Ireland at the Millennium Stadium, with his side needing to overturn the points advantage of England and Ireland if they are going to snatch the championship. Prop Lee had to leave the field on a stretcher at the Millennium Stadium during Wales' win over Ireland . Lee was pictured on crutches with his foot in a protective boot after the match . If Wales do enjoy a landslide result at the Stadio Olimpico and pip their rivals to the title, they will find themselves in a position where there is no silverware to celebrate with. The two trophies are due to be sent elsewhere and - while there is understood to be disappointment behind the scenes - Gatland accepts that it is a logical decision. ‘We can understand from the points difference that they are taking one to Twickenham and one to Edinburgh,’ he said. ‘If we do get enough points and win, we will celebrate in our own way. Maybe we will get some medals to hang around our necks or maybe we will have to wait 24 hours; we’ll wait and see.‘ . Sergio Parisse limped off during Italy's defeat by France in Rome at the weekend . If Parisse plays he will be a major factor in Wales' attempts to win the Six Nations . After their early kick-off at the Stadio Olimpico, the tourists will move on to a black tie function at the Palazzo Venezia in central Rome. They will have to wait on tenterhooks, but any hopes of a thumping victory could hinge on the fitness of Italian skipper Sergio Parisse, who is struggling with a foot injury and is the heartbeat of the Azzurri team. ‘He’s a catalyst for them,’ said Gatland. ‘If they defend heavily in the front line with 14 or 15 men and we try to play too much rugby too early, they might get a chance of turnovers and penalties or intercepts. We have to negate two or three of their obvious strengths and put ourselves in a position to score some points.’ Warren Gatland knows his team need a large victory to overhaul England and Ireland . Wales beat Ireland 23-16 at the Millennium Stadium to force themselves into title contention . Wales have identified the final 20 minutes as the opportunity to rack up their points difference and Gatland has named a bench loaded with attacking intent. Gareth Davies has usurped Mike Phillips to provide scrum-half cover for Rhys Webb, who on Tuesday signed a dual contract, while Justin Tipuric and Scott Williams will also be expected to make a late impact. ‘If the championship comes down to points difference, that says to me there is not a lot of difference between the three of the four teams at the top,’ said Gatland. ‘We improve as a squad through campaigns and we have demonstrated that again in this competition. The exciting thing about the World Cup is the time we will have together to do in-depth coaching and stuff we do not have the opportunity to do in the Six Nations. The time we have together will make a massive difference.’ Gatland's Wales side have a plus-12 points difference, 25 behind England and 21 adrift of Ireland . +Italy's top football teams voted to give Parma a 5million euro (£3.7m) emergency fund to help the club finish the season. Sixteen of the 20 clubs in Serie A voted in favour of the measure on Friday. Roma, Napoli and Sassuolo abstained, and only Cesena voted against the move. The measure means last-place Parma should be able to play Atalanta on Sunday, after their previous two matches - at home with Udinese and at Genoa - were postponed indefinitely because the club couldn't pay for basic services such as security and electricity. Parma have an illustrious history, however the club are in dire straits financially and could go out of business . The gates at the stadium were locked as Parma's second match in a row was postponed last weekend . A banner on the locked gates said the Ennio Tardini stadium was  ‘Closed for robbery’ Parma have been sold twice this season, players have not been paid in months and a bankruptcy hearing has been set for March 19. The club's debts are estimated at nearly 100 million euros (£72m). The emergency fund will come from money that clubs pay to the league for fines from crowd trouble and other violations. After the league decision in Milan, Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio was traveling to Parma to formally present the plan to the squad's players. The plan requires Parma to play its next two matches before the bankruptcy hearing. Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli and his club team-mates have not been paid since July . Earlier, Italy's tax police confiscated records related to Parma from club headquarters and the league and federation offices. Also, former Parma president Tommaso Ghirardi and former general director Pietro Leonardi were placed under investigation by judicial authorities for suspected bankruptcy fraud. Last month, Giampietro Manenti took over as Parma's new owner and president from the Russian-Cypriot conglomerate which had taken control in December from Ghirardi. Agreeing to pay off the club's debts, Manenti paid a symbolic price of 1 euro (0.72p) for the club. Hernan Crespo, now a youth team coach at the Italian club, used to play for them and he fears for the future . +If there was a textbook on Jose Mourinho’s management style, the antics of Chelsea’s players against Paris Saint-Germain would be page one. Surrounding the referee, complaining about decisions, elbows, and intimidation. Save for the poor result, it had all the hallmarks of a Mourinho classic. However, if the histrionics start to outweigh performances the Portuguese has a habit of losing favour fast. It’s what killed his reign at Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho shows his frustrations during Chelsea's match against PSG on Wednesday night . Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers and demand a red card is shown to Zlatan Ibrahimovic . Ibrahimovic (right) gets up as nine Chelsea players surround him and the referee after the incident . One of the battles Mourinho fought at Real was with the club’s own match delegate Miguel Porlan. ‘Chendo’, as he is known to everyone, played for over a decade at right-back for Madrid before continuing to serve the club after hanging up his boots. As part of the staff allowed to sit on the bench during games alongside goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro, fitness coach Rui Faria, and Mourinho’s No 2 and current Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka, Chendo soon became part of the systematic applying of pressure on the fourth official. It was understood that Mourinho liked his assistants to rotate the badgering of match officials so to limit the likelihood any one individual would be sent off. Chendo, who respected – and was respected by – Mourinho, thought the tactic was below a club like Real Madrid. Spanish daily El Pais claimed he told his manager as much saying: ‘We don’t do that kind of thing here’, and also suggested it was common knowledge among the players that Chendo hated the role so much he would often approach the fourth official and appear to remonstrate with him when really he was just asking him if he had the time, or if knew what time Madrid’s big department store El Corte Inglés opened in the morning. Mourinho (centre) talks with Real Madrid delegate Miguel 'Chendo' Porlan during a La Liga match in 2010 . Nemanja Matic (centre) appeals to the referee following Ibrahimovic's tackle on Oscar during the first half . Chelsea players later look dejected as they are knocked out of the Champions League round of 16 . Mourinho has always believed matches are won not just by the eleven on the pitch but by everyone at the club. And neither are they just won with football. If the opposition can be intimidated and bullied – and if that affects their ability to play – then that serves the end-game goal of victory. Mourinho’s ‘us against them’ battle plan at Madrid lasted three years. It left many at the club burned-out and almost relieved when it was replaced by the calm bought by Carlo Ancelotti, but it cannot be said that it did not bring trophies. It’s true that he never reached the Champions League final at the club but he did win the Spanish Cup in his first season and La Liga in his second. That might have been small fare in any other era but against the best Barcelona team in history it can’t be seen that way. The third season at the Bernabeu that produced no trophies came when there were perhaps more dissenting voices inside the dressing room than there were players prepared to do it Jose’s way. The key to Mourinho’s success is that everybody rows to the same rhythm – once a couple of galley members have downed oars there are problems. Mourinho (right) argues with the referee as Cristiano Ronaldo (left) looks on during a match in April 2013 . Real Madrid players look on as Mourinho (left) is involved in an argument with the referee during the 2011 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona . On the pitch players often had to curtail their instincts to try to just out-play the opposition by surrendering to an overall plan to out-strategize them too. The beginnings of the fall-outs with Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos came because they believed, having won the World Cup with Spain, they could match Barcelona for football. Others, such as Xabi Alonso, sided with Mourinho believing that they would never out-play Pep Guardiola’s team and they had to be cleverer. Part of Mourinho’s belief that it would take more than just football to beat Barca came from his experience at Inter. They beat Guardiola’s Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League on their way to beating Bayern Munich in the final but they did it with their centre-forward at full-back as an early sending off for Thiago Motta left them with most of the game having to play with 10 men. His victory jig on the pitch that night interrupted only by the Nou Camp sprinklers and Victor Valdes trying to usher him off the pitch is one of the images of his career and it set the tone for his time at Madrid but it didn’t always work. In Mourinho’s first season, and just after one of his greatest triumphs with Real beating Barca in the Copa del Rey final 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona and Madrid were drawn together again in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Ronaldo (back) leaps high to score the winning goal in the 2011 Copa del Rey final against Barcelona . Real Madrid players celebrate with the trophy after winning La Liga in the season of 2011-12 . The players were flying believing that after their cup final success they now had the measure of Barcelona. But Mourinho thought otherwise and set his team up in the first leg at the Bernabeu to not lose. They would defend stubbornly and in numbers and frustrate Barcelona before going for them in the latter stages of the match. If they scored a late goal to put them ahead in the tie then perfect; if not then a 0-0 would be a good result to take back to the Nou Camp where without an away goal and bound to go on the attack, Barca would leave themselves open on the break. Ronaldo was one of the dissenters famously putting his hands on his hips and looking to the heavens when during one period of the first half he found himself the only man pressing Barcelona’s defenders. The rest were obeying orders to sit back and not be drawn out of position. Ronaldo looks dejected as he leaves the field after defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League in 2011 . The plan may well have worked to perfection but Pepe was sent off in the second half after clashing with Dani Alves and against 10 men Messi scored twice to leave Real with no chance in the second leg. Mourinho recovered his players’ faith and winning the league the following season was his greatest achievement in Spain. Opinion is still divided over his legacy. One television station in Spain suggested this week that Mourinho was among three candidates to replace Ancelotti along with Zinedine Zidane and Jurgen Klopp. Others shook their heads at the incredulity of the idea he will ever return. The purists tut-tutted their way through that league winning campaign shaking their heads at those lightning counter-attacks so brutally effective but lacking the refinery of Barcelona’s 20-pass moves to goal. But it worked because Madrid and Mourinho won. It’s when it no longer works - as it didn’t for Chelsea on Wednesday - is it really called into question. +Chelsea's hopes of a historic treble came to grinding halt as the Premier League leaders were dumped out of the Champions League last 16 on away goals by Paris Saint-Germain. PSG twice came from behind at Stamford Bridge, demonstrating great character to play for the last hour of normal time and the added 30 minutes without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, after he had been sent off for a foul on Oscar. He later described the Chelsea players as 'babies' for their attempts to influence the referee. In a highly physical match, replete with fouls and contentious decisions, Gary Cahill's second-half strike looked to be sending Chelsea through to the next round, before their former player David Luiz equalised to bring about extra time. Blues forward Eden Hazard then scored a penalty for the home side after Thiago Silva's handball in the box in the first half of extra time, but the PSG captain soon atoned for his error with a goal of his own six minutes from time to secure the Ligue 1 side's progression to the quarter-finals, much to the delight of goading rival fans online. Here are some of the best memes and tweets from social media on the night... PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic had called the Chelsea players 'babies' for their antics on Wednesday night . Chelsea players' heads are replaced with those of babies following their Champions League exit to PSG . Chelsea captain John Terry is parodied as a cry baby, 'Terry Tiny tears' by one Twitter user . Chelsea's players are shown in nappies in the aftermath of the Ibrahimovic sending off incident . Another rival fan makes light of Ibrahimovic's comments with a cleverly captioned photo . Jose Mourinho made up as a baby following Ibrahimovic's jibe from his post-match interview . +Paris Saint-Germain sealed a spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League despite being reduced to 10 men after just 31 minutes on Wednesday night. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's harsh dismissal did not prove to be costly as his team-mates beat the odds to score two crucial away goals at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney took to Twitter to heap praise on the Ligue 1 outfit who, including extra time, played for 89 minutes with a numerical disadvantage. Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off for a lunging tackle on Chelsea's Oscar . 'That is one of the best performances I've ever seen with 10 men from PSG,' said Rooney. Former Premier League stars Luis Garcia and John Heitinga also lauded the 10 men of PSG for giving their all until the final whistle despite losing a key player during the first half. Here, Sportsmail recalls other examples of when teams have impressed despite at least one of their players heading into the dressing room for an early bath. 10 - St Mirren 0-1 Rangers (March 2010) Cup finals are always tense affairs due to the pressure that surrounds both sets of players in the quest to land a piece of silverware. Kevin Thomson and Danny Wilson were unable to control their emotions as they were sent off for dangerous tackles. Rangers added the 2010 Co-operative Insurance Cup to their trophy cabinet after Kenny Miller saved Thomson and Wilson's blushes by scoring a late winner. Kevin Thomson, pictured being given his marching orders, was sent off in Rangers' Cup win . Rangers boss Walter Smith lifts the CIS Insurance Cup after his side beat St Mirren at Hampden Park . 9 - Chelsea 4-1 West Ham (April 2006) One goal down with a man sent off, Chelsea looked in danger of dropping points in their home fixture against West Ham. James Collins opened the lead in the 10th minute before Maniche's 17th-minute dismissal for a lunge on Lionel Scaloni. However Jose Mourinho's 2005-06 side had a never-say-die attitude. Didier Drogba, Hernan Crespo, John Terry and William Gallas scored at Stamford Bridge to help their side to victory en route to a second successive Premier League title. Referee Chris Foy shows Maniche a red card during Chelsea's league match against West Ham in April 2006 . William Gallas is congratulated by his Chelsea team-mates after scoring his side's fourth goal . 8 - Bolton 2-3 Arsenal (March 2008) Arsenal were reduced to 10 men in the 31st minute when Abou Diaby received a straight red for an incredibly reckless challenge on Gretar Steinsson. The Gunners were 2-0 down before the interval but Arsene Wenger's side showed great tenacity to claim a win at what was then called the Reebok Stadium thanks to goals by Gallas, Robin van Persie and a fortunate Jloyd Samuel own goal. Arsenal came back from 2-0 down to beat Bolton despite Abou Diaby's sending off . Robin van Persie celebrates with Emmanuel Adebayor after scoring a penalty against Bolton . 7 - Nigeria 1-2 Italy (July 1994) Italy looked to be heading out of the 1994 World Cup during their last-16 match against Nigeria as the Azzurri found themselves reduced to 10 men and one goal down. Substitute Gianfranco Zola saw red just 12 minutes after entering the fray, however Italy launched a comeback to progress to the quarter-finals as Roberto Baggio hit the winning goal in extra time. Gianfranco Zola is shown a red card as Nigeria's Augustine Eguavoen lays on the floor . Italy sealed a spot in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup despite Zola's moment of madness . 6 - Derby 0-1 QPR (May 2014) Derby and Queens Park Rangers battled it out in a fixture worth £80million for the victors, knowing they will be promoted to the Premier League. The Rams, already dominant, appeared to have been handed a major boost when Gary O'Neil was red carded for a late challenge on Johnny Russell. However being second-best all match, Bobby Zamora scored in the dying stages of the play-off final to seal promotion for QPR. Gary O'Neil wipes his eyes after seeing red during QPR's Championship play-off final match against Derby . Bobby Zamora scored his side's winning goal to help QPR gain promotion to the Premier League . 5 - Tottenham 3-4 Manchester City (February 2004) Manchester City booked a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup back in the 2003-04 campaign by somehow coming back from three goals down to eliminate Tottenham. Their task was made even harder when Joey Barton was sent off after picking up two yellow cards. However, while Barton was licking his wounds in the Manchester City dressing room, then team-mates Sylvain Distin, Paul Bosvelt, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jon Macken scored past Kasey Keller to help City come back from the dead. Manchester City came from behind to eliminate Tottenham despite Joey Barton's dismissal . Richard Dunne hugs Sun Jihai after helping Manchester City eliminate Tottenham from the FA Cup . 4 - Chelsea 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain (March 2015) As mentioned above, Laurent Blanc will be delighted with the effort of his players following Ibrahimovic's early sending off. Mourinho admitted after the match that his Chelsea side deserved to go out of the Champions League as they failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage. Chelsea's players surrounded Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers after Ibrahimovic's challenge on Oscar . Thiago Silva celebrates after his side progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League . 3 - Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United (April 1999) This incredible FA Cup fixture is mainly remembered for Ryan Giggs' incredible solo goal to send Manchester United into the FA Cup final and keep alive his side's dream of winning the treble. But Manchester United's feat was even more impressive given they were reduced to 10 men in the 74th minute when Roy Keane received a second yellow for hacking down Marc Overmars. United were forced into playing the rest of normal time as well as extra time with 10 men but managed to find a way of breaking down Arsenal's resolute defence. Manchester United captain Roy Keane looks furious after his sending off against rivals Arsenal . Ryan Giggs runs away in celebration after scoring past Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman . 2 - Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (April 2012) Facing a Barcelona side including Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez was no easy task at the best of times. Never mind after losing your inspirational captain at the Nou Camp in a Champions League semi-final. Chelsea looked destined to be heading out of Europe's most prestigious competition after John Terry's 37th-minute dismissal, however the Blues found a way of drawing 2-2 to seal a spot in the final, which they would go on to win. Chelsea managed to seal a spot in the 2012 Champions League final despite John Terry's dismissal . Former Chelsea striker Fernando Torres scored in the 90th minute to send the Blues through to the final . 1 - Argentina 0-1 Cameroon (June 1990) An Argentina side including Diego Maradona were left stunned after the opening game of the 1990 World Cup as they were defeated 1-0 by Cameroon. The African nation produced one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history despite losing Andre Kana-Biyik on the hour mark. Andre's brother Francois Omam-Biyik scored Cameroon's winning goal against the eventual runners-up to ensure Italia 90 started with a bang. Cameroon's players surround referee Michel Vautrot during their match against Argentina . Cameroon celebrate after their surprise victory against Argentina at Italia 90 . +Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb has become the latest player to sign a national dual contract. The Welsh Rugby Union announced 26-year-old Webb is the eighth player to agree a deal that is funded by the WRU and Wales' regional teams - in Webb's case, the Ospreys - following Sam Warburton, Dan Lydiate, Jake Ball, Samson Lee, Rhodri Jones, Tyler Morgan and Hallam Amos. Webb has been one of Wales' form players this season, scoring four tries in his last seven Tests. Rhys Webb (centre) has signed a national dual contract with the Welsh Rugby Union and the Ospreys . 'Rhys has established himself as a proven international scrum-half and fully deserves a national dual contract,' Wales head coach Warren Gatland said. 'He has impressed at regional level for the Ospreys, and this ensures his future here, which will prove an enormous benefit to professional rugby in Wales.' And Webb added: 'I am enjoying my rugby at the Ospreys and with Wales, and this allows me to build on that. Scrum-half Webb has four tries in his last seven Tests and has impressed during the RBS 6 Nations . 'Now my future is confirmed, I can focus all my attention of becoming a better rugby player.' Webb, who lines up for Wales in next Saturday's RBS 6 Nations finale against Italy in Rome, is set to be a key part of Gatland's World Cup plans later this year. WRU group chief executive Roger Lewis said: 'Rhys Webb is a fantastic player and talent, who is a great addition to our list of national dual-contracted players. 'We now have an incredible mixture of experience and youth who have committed their future to Wales and the regions.' Webb hits the turf after tackling Ireland's Sean O'Brien during Wales' impressive win on Saturday . +The Grand Slam door was slammed in Ireland’s face at the Millennium Stadium as Wales defended their patch like 15 Cardiff bouncers to secure a famous RBS 6 Nations victory. As the Welsh tackle count moved past the 250 mark, it was clear that Ireland had finally met their match. There have been questions about the entertainment value of northern hemisphere rugby but, if ever an advert was needed, this was it. Shaun Edwards punched the air in delight and the championship race lives on. Wales killed off Ireland’s 10-match winning run and – describing himself as ‘a simple Kiwi boy’ in the post-match press conference – Warren Gatland proved that he is a smarter tactician than a tub of Flora. Scott Williams touches down after 62 minutes to score Wales' only try of the game to keep their Six Nations hopes alive . WIlliams makes a break for the line past Tommy Bowe before putting Wales into a commanding second-half lead . Williams goes over while Ireland players look on with dejection as they see their grip at the top the Six Nations weakened by defeat in Wales . Bowe puts his hand to his face in anguish after Williams' try as Wales held on to dash Ireland's hopes of winning the Grand Slam . Wales XV: Halfpenny, North, Davies, Roberts, Williams, Biggar,Webb; Jenkins, Baldwin, Lee, Charteris, Wyn Jones, Lydiate, Warburton (captain), Faletau . Tries: Williams . Penalties: Halfpenny (5) Drop goal: Biggar . Ireland XV: Kearney, Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo, Sexton, Murray; McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: Cronin, Healy, Moore, Henderson, Murphy, Reddan, Madigan, Jones . Tries: Penalty . Conversions: Sexton . Penalties: Sexton (3) ‘A lot of our players ran themselves into the ground,’ said Gatland. ‘In terms of atmosphere and intensity, it had everything as a Test match. Sometimes you suffer a loss and the next three or four days are a struggle to get out of bed; we were definitely on it emotionally.’ That emotion was beamed through the exquisite kicking game of full-back Leigh Halfpenny. Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton was dubbed as the player with gold-plated feet, but the celebrated No 10 did not quite live up to his billing. The visitors were shot down in ‘the battle of the skies’ and were forced to dessert their aerial game that was so effective against England. In the early exchanges, Rob Kearney fumbled a short kick-off and Gethin Jenkins won a fine turnover. Sexton kicked a restart straight into touch and Wales were able to build up phases. All the momentum was with the hosts and, after 13 minutes, they were 12-0 up. Welsh forwards coach Robin McBryde has told supporters not to expect a feast of flowing rugby but - despite tickets exchanging hands for £300-a-pair on the blackmarket before kick-off – they were more than happy with what they were seeing. ‘There are a few “what ifs” and “maybes”,’ said Ireland coach Joe Schmidt. ‘You look at the small margins that might potentially have changed the result. Our strategy was the same as the last few weeks but it’s not a case of back to the drawing board. We won’t throw the baby out of the bath water because it’s pretty hard to start all over again.’ Wales were building nicely but their progress was stalled by an injury to Samson Lee in the front-row. Gatland breathed a sigh of relief as Sexton pushed his first penalty wide of the left post, but the No 10 made amends with his second effort following a cheap high tackle by Scott Baldwin. The tables were there to be turned and Ireland identified Lee’s replacement, Aaron Jarvis, as a weakness at the set-piece. They immediately used their choke tackle to set up a scrum, but Sam Warburton stole a dangerous attacking line-out from Devin Toner’s 6ft 11 grasp shortly after. Wales captain Sam Warburton celebrates with the rest of the squad as they do a lap of honour around the Millennium Stadium . It takes two Ireland players to put a stop to Goerge North's burst forward . Jamie Roberts makes a tackle on Rory Best during a spirited defensive performance by the hosts during famous win . Leigh Halfpenny scores the opening points of the match with a Wales penalty at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff . It was a carbon-copy of Toner’s pivotal steal against England two weeks ago, however the hard work was undone when the Welsh skipper was sent to the sin-bin after half an hour. Sexton continued to edge his side back with two more penalties – sandwiching a fine drop goal by Dan Biggar – but Wales survived the yellow card with their half-time lead still intact. Gatland was forced into more front-row changes at half-time when he lost Jenkins to a hamstring injury. Ireland needed to change their approach after the break and they enjoyed more possession and territory. Schmidt’s players were consistently penalised for not rolling away in the first half and their discipline improved in the second. They enjoyed more improved territory and possession, but lack the execution in the final third. They camped themselves deep in Welsh territory in the 50th minute but were repelled by a cacophony of noise and fierce tackles. Inspired by the roars, Warburton rallied his players, locked the gates and forced Ireland backwards. In a breath-taking seven minutes, the Welsh defence saw off two full-blooded attacks – combining almost 50 phases – and eventually won the penalty when Sexton went off his feet at the breakdown. Wales outside-half Dan Biggar bags three more first-half points for the hosts as he scores a drop goal . Ireland's Johnny Sexton carries the ball forward for the visitors as Wales skipper Sam Warburton closes in . Ireland's Paul O'Connell organises his side on his 100th cap in the Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday . Samson Lee is treated by medics during the first half of the Six Nations clash between Wales and Ireland . Prop forward Lee leaves the field on a stretcher with what looks like a serious leg injury . It was a masterclass at snuffing out attacks - Luke Charteris made a remarkable 37 tackles throughout the game - and proved to be a flashpoint in the Welsh charge. Play moved downfield and Wales built up phases of their own. The forwards carried powerfully - providing the backs with quick, front-foot ball - and two quick passes found replacement centre Scott Williams. The 24-year-old, who had replaced Jamie Roberts because of a dead arm, short-changed Tommy Bowe after 62 minutes and cut through the defence to slide over for the first try of the game. ‘The attitude in defence was second to none,’ said Warburton. ‘Shaun’s gone into a lot of detail all week about certain policies to cover their trick plays in attack. The boys took on all that information and the detail paid off. Certain matches you can tell the boys are extremely focussed, and at breakfast I could see that everyone was so desperate to win.’ Wales were on the brink of their third home victory over Ireland in 33 years, although Ireland were not finished. On the afternoon of his 100th Test, Paul O’Connell turned down a near-certain three points and ordered his fly-half to kick for the corner. Peter O’Mahony claimed the line-out and Wales conceded a penalty try by collapsing the maul. It set up a tense finale – with Jonathan Davies being shown a late yellow card – but Wales held on to set up another weekend of drama. +The Roman Originals two-toned dress sparked one of the fiercest online debates in recent times, with users taking to social media to argue over what colours they saw. But whilst it fascinated the globe - with A-listers and politicians having their say - would you actually ever purchase it? The makers of the original dress are hoping someone will do just that, as they produce a gold and white version to satisfy those who were baffled by its colouring and auction it off on eBay for charity. Scroll down for video . This one really IS white and gold! Roman Originals, whose blue and black dress went viral, have produced a gold and white version . Roman Originals, who made the dress originally worn by Cecilia Bleasdale for her daughter Grace's wedding, have put a limited run of the white and gold dress up for auction. The gold and white dress, which was designed in Birmingham, went up on eBay on Thursday and it already has 40 bids and a price of £540. All proceeds raised by the sale of the dress will go to Comic Relief when bidding ends this Sunday . Roman Originals are producing a limited run of the white and gold dress, one of which will be auctioned off on eBay for Comic Relief . Using its global popularity for a good cause, all proceeds raised by the sale of the dress will go to Comic Relief. A spokesperson for the company told MailOnline: '#TheDress that broke the internet could become one the world’s most wanted dresses as an exclusive white and gold version goes on auction on ebay. 'The winning bidder can grab a piece of internet history as only one exclusive dress in white and gold has been made and will go up for auction until Sunday.' The gold and white dress went up on eBay on Thursday and it already has 40 bids and a price of £540 . The Roman design team, headed by Michele Bastock, in their Birmingham studio creating the famous dress . David Horwich, creative director of 100% Digital, who shot the new images, told MailOnline: 'London is the fashion capital of the world and we’re privileged to have shot the first ever genuinely 'White and Gold' dress here today in our studios. 'We’re delighted that Roman Originals trusted us to capture the world’s most famous dress, in its true colours.' The picture of #TheDress - as it became known - was first posted on Tumblr by Caitlin McNeill, a 21-year-old aspiring singer from Scotland, after noticing her friends saw different colours in the photograph. This picture of the dress sparked debate, with viewers disagreeing over the colour . The dress, made by the company Roman Originals, is in fact blue and black striped . Even celebrities weighed in on the fashion debate, with Kim Kardashian asking her 29.4million Twitter followers to help settle a disagreement between herself and husband Kanye West. Actress Mindy Kaling also joined the discussion, writing on Twitter: 'IT'S A BLUE AND BLACK DRESS! ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME'. Her friend and fellow actor BJ Novak replied: 'white and gold.' Then recent Oscar winner Julianne Moore jumped in, writing to Novak and Kaling; 'what's the matter with u guys, it's white and gold.' To that, Novak replied to Moore; 'Thank you!And congratulations on your Oscar, which Mindy thinks is purple and green.' And the hashtag #TheDress started trending worldwide on Twitter as the debate when global. There have been more than 1 million tweets mentioning the hashtag. Kim Kardashian called on her 29.4million Twitter followers to help settle a disagreement . Celebrities including Mindy Kaling, B.J. Novak and Oscar-winner Julianne Moore join the debate . 'Confused and scared': Taylor Swift told her Twitter followers that the dress is 'obviously blue and black' Justin Bieber was one of the last celebrities to chime with his views on the dress on Twitter . Taylor Swift wrote: 'I don't understand this odd dress debate and I feel like it's a trick somehow.I'm confused and scared.PS it's OBVIOUSLY BLUE AND BLACK.' And Justin Bieber kept his fans happy by telling them that he sees 'blue and black'. Some celebrities avoided the issue completely, simply declaring that the dress was ugly. Model Chrissy Teigen told her 655,000 Twitter followers: 'F*** the dress it's heinous. While Oscar-winner Jared Leto branded it 'fugly'. McNeill said she never expected the picture to spark a star-studded debate, explaining that she just thought her followers on Tumblr would have a 'good reaction'. Despite the debate, the body-con dress is in fact royal blue with black lace detailing. It is made by British clothing company Roman Originals, which offers 'affordable women's clothing and designer ladies fashion.' There are also white, pink and red options, all with black lace. Speaking on Friday, Ian Johnson, of Roman Originals, said: We were absolutely ecstatic about the reception of our fabulous blue and black dress. 'We sold out within the first 30 minutes of sale and have since restocked all colours and sizes.' The dress, in black and blue, is also for sale on Amazon, and Depop, and user comments have been just as amusing. 'This dress made me lose all of my friends and now I am so lonely,' wrote one. 'Where's the white & gold option!? I KNOW IT EXISTS SOMEWHERE IT HAS TO,' said another. And now it does. +As the 'fight of the century' continues to heat up, Floyd Mayweather was full of confidence during the press conference as he was joined on stage by Justin Bieber - who has accompanied the undefeated champion on multiple occasions. Bieber has proved himself to be quite the good luck charm and took part in the ring walk in the boxer's last fight against Marcos Maidana. The 38-year-old champion couldn't help but bring his pop star friend on stage for a photo op after the press conference in Los Angeles for his superfight with Manny Pacquiao. Scroll down for video . Floyd Mayweather was joined on stage by pop sensation Justin Bieber at the press conference in Las Vegas . The Baby hitmaker tapped the 38-year-old boxer on the shoulder as he posed next to his opponent before the two greeted each other with a hug. Bieber did not hesitate to jump into the picture as the duo posed next to his friend's opponent Pacquiao. With a 47-0 record on the line, Mayweather knows this fight is without doubt the biggest of his career - and the most lucrative. The 21-year-old singer joined his 38-year-old fighter friend as well as opponent Manny Pacquiao . Bieber snuck behind the boxer and greeted him just in time for a photo op on the stage . Mayweather looked happy that his good luck charm had come to join him during the big media event . The boxer looked dapper for the big media event as he looked relaxed throughout the press conference. His 36-year-old opponent also seemed to be in his element during the media frenzy for a fight he's been gunning for over the past few years. Bieber has attended most of the boxer's fights in recent years and even got to enter the ring as one of Floyd's entourage members in May 2012. Bieber is a well-known boxing fan and has taken part in previous ring walks with Mayweather . Bieber put his arm around Mayweather for the photos in the build up for the Pacquiao fight . After the veteran boxer defeated Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the Beauty And The Beat singer was lucky enough to hold up two of Mayweather's WBC belts. The match with Pacquiao has been years in the making as even on that night, he stated his desire to face the Filipino fighter. Mayweather told a US broadcaster for HBO after the fight: 'This fight right here, I was looking to fight Manny Pacquiao.' The biggest fight in boxing history comes to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2 . The highly-anticipated match-up has reached such an excitement that it will be the most expensive fight in boxing history. Prices in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2 will start at $1,500 (£1,000) in the rafters and rise to an unprecedented $7,500 (£5,000) at ringside. They are already fetching upwards of $150,000 (£100,500) on the black market. Hotels on the Strip are charging $1,000 a night. Long-time friends: Justin has previously accompanied Mayweather to the ring and celebrated with him after  the match as they were pictured together after is fight with Miguel Cotto in New York in May 2012 . +Cesar Azpilicueta may be Chelsea's Mr Reliable but it's doubtful Blues boss Jose Mourinho will be seeking his advice on team selection if his five-a-side line-up is anything to go by. The defender nicknamed 'Dave' was asked to select from his favourite team-mates and the 25-year-old Spaniard went out of left field by picking two goalkeepers, Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois, and Arsenal's Nacho Monreal as his only defender. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is unlikely to be talking tactics with Cesar Azpilicueta . But Azpilicueta made up for his unorthodox defence by selecting Eden Hazard in midfield and Diego Costa as his striker. ‘Firstly, I apologise to any of my old team-mates if I missed you out, but it was so hard just picking five,’ Azpilicueta told the Chelsea website. Azpilicueta picked an unorthodox five-a-side team with two goalkeepers including Petr Cech . Azpilicueta's side would be hard to score against with Cech and Thibaut Courtois between the sticks . ‘I've played with some great goalkeepers. I don't know, there are too many to choose from! ‘Can I pick two goalkeepers? Well, it is my team! I'm going for Petr and Thibaut.’ Arsenal's Nacho Monreal would have his hands full as the only defender in the five-a-side team . At least the attacking options looked good with Chelsea's Eden Hazard as the midfielder . Chelsea striker Diego Costa would link up in attack with Hazard in Azpilicueta's side . ‘I'm not going to pick myself, so the defender in my side is going to be Nacho Monreal from Arsenal. He is my good friend, we know each other from Osasuna and he is a good competitor. ‘My first attacking player is Eden Hazard. It's for obvious reasons.’ ‘My striker will be Diego Costa. I know he's going to compete, be strong. I think we are going to have a good team with these players.’ +Sean Dyche's Burnley earned a shock win against Manchester City to boost their survival hopes and all but end the Manuel Pellegrini's side's hopes of catching Chelsea at the top of the table. The only goal of the game came from midfielder George Boyd who expertly fired home a volley past Joe Hart in the City goal. Burnley's win sends them above relegation threatened QPR and leaves Manchester City five points adrift of Chelsea having played two more games than their west London rivals. Find out how each player fared at Turf Moor with Sportmail's Craig Hope. BURNLEY (4-4-2) Tom Heaton 6.5 – Made a smart save from Dzeko in the first half but will have expected to be tested far more by the champions. Kieran Trippier 6.5 – Wasn’t able to get forward as much as usual but stuck to his defensive duties and made a great interception header early on. Michael Duff 6.5 – Recalled to the line-up in place of Keane and hardly put a foot wrong. Booked for a foul on Aguero. Manchester City's Belgian defender Vincent Kompanyis closed down by Burnley striker Danny Ings . Jason Shackell 7 – A real captain’s display alongside Duff in central defence to keep City’s threat to a bare minimum. Ben Mee 6 – Former City trainee had his hands full with Zabaleta and was very fortunate not to concede a penalty when he brought him down late on. George Boyd 8 – Had already gone close with a spectacular volley from the edge of the box before firing the winner with the sweetest of strikes. Scott Arfield 7 – Tested Hart with decent effort in the first half but excelled in a central, working tirelessly to hold City at bay. Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and Burnley's Ashley Barnes battle for the ball at Turf Moor . David Jones 7 – Another solid performance from the former Manchester United man, holding things together for Burnley in the heart of midfield. Ashley Barnes 6 – Showed his versatility by moving wide out on the left to accommodate Vokes and never stopped running. Danny Ings 7 – Posed a constant problem for Demichelis, and got the Argentine’s forearm in the face for his troubles. Edin Dzeko holds off Barnes during the Premier League match between Burnley and Manchester City . Sam Vokes 6.5 – His first Premier League start for Burnley after a knee injury and kept Kompany on his toes throughout. Subs: Gilks, Keane, Reid (for Ings 90+3), Ward (for Vokes 87), Jutkiewicz, Wallace, Kightly. Scorer: Boyd 61 . Booked: Mee, Duff . MAN CITY (4-4-2) Joe Hart 6 – The England keeper had little to do besides pick the ball out of the net and couldn’t be faulted for conceding Boyd’s winner. Pablo Zabaleta 6.5 – Got forward well as usual but his hard work came to nothing as City wasted what few opportunities came their way. Sergio Aguero evades the challenge of Michael Duff during the match between Burnley and Manchester City . Vincent Kompany 6 – City skipper was recalled after being dropped for one game, and his clearance header went straight to Boyd for Burnley’s goal. Martin Demichelis 5 – Struggled to contain Ings. Booked for taking down the Burnley striker and could have seen red for a foul on Trippier shortly afterwards. Gael Clichy 5 – Failed to get forward enough and offer City a threat down the left. Will now sit out the Barcelona game through suspension. Jesus Navas 5 – Another lack-lustre showing from the Spain winger who incurred the wrath of Burnley fans who thought he overreacted to get Mee booked. Manchester City's Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho looks on during the match against Burnley at Turf Moor . Yaya Toure 6 – Tried to prompt City into life from midfield but there were none of the driving runs that can make him almost unplayable at times. Fernandinho 5 – Spent the last week in the headlines for his alleged bust-up with Kompany but did very little of note here apart from one volley high over the bar. David Silva 5.5 – Strangely subdued display from the Spaniard who is so often City’s creative spark. Subbed by Jovetic having contributed very little. English striker Danny Ings stretches for the ball during the match between Burnley and Manchester City . Sergio Aguero 5.5 – City’s top scorer was off target with a series of attempts on goal and was lucky to escape punishment for a naughty challenge on Duff. Edin Dzeko 4.5 – A first-time shot that almost hit the corner flag summed up his display and no surprise to see him replaced by Bony with half an hour left. Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Mangala, Nasri, Lampard (for Toure 81), Jovetic (for Silva 74), Bony (for Dzeko 63). Booked: Demichelis . Referee: Andre Marriner 5 . Star man: George Boyd . Manchester City's Spanish midfielder David Silva vies with Burnley's English midfielder David Jones . +Cristiano Ronaldo is the ultimate professional but Lionel Messi is more naturally gifted, according to former team-mate of both superstars Deco. The now-retired 37-year-old played with Messi during their time together at Barcelona, while he has also shared the pitch with Ronaldo as part of Portugal's national side. While Deco respects both players who have shared the last seven Ballon d'Ors between then, he concedes that Messi hold the edge in terms of pure 'talent' - although he suggested that another former Barca team-mate Ronaldinho could be better than both. Argentine phenomenon Lionel Messi (centre) gets Deco's vote as the world's most talented player . Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (right) have shared the last seven Ballon d'Or titles between them . The Real Madrid superstar is the game's consummate professional according to his former team-mate . Jose Mourinho is the best manager in the world according to his former Porto playmaker . '[Leo and Cristiano] are different,' he told FourFourTwo. 'Messi was born with talent. Cristiano also has talent but it's amazing how hard he works at it; how professional he is. 'It's difficult to pick one but maybe Leo is the best I've ever played with. Although, Ronaldinho did things that I've never seen anyone do.' During the Q&A session, Deco also singled out former Porto manager Jose Mourinho as the best manager he has ever worked with after changing the mentality of Portuguese football. 'I think he's the best, though I've had many great coaches: Fernando Santos, Carlo Ancelotti, Felipe Scolari,' Deco said. 'However, Mourinho brought something different. He brought ambition because in those days in Portugal it was difficult to imagine that one of our clubs could win the Champions League.' Deco (left) and Ronaldo train together while away on international duty with Portugal . Deco played with the Argentina phenomenon during their time together at the Nou Camp . Deco insists that Ronaldinho (bottom right) could do things with the ball that others can't . +Manuel Pellegrini has claimed that Manchester City’s players would never surround the referee in the way Chelsea harangued Dutch official Bjorn Kuipers during their Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain. Jose Mourinho’s side were fiercely criticised for urging Kuipers to send off PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Wednesday, and Pellegrini warned there must be a limit to what teams will do to achieve victory. ‘You will never see the City players surround the referee,’ said Pellegrini. ‘Maybe you can discuss with the referee about a decision but just one moment in the game. Every time the referee has a decision you have all the players on top of him and it’s impossible for the referee to work. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) holds his hands up after the challenge as the Chelsea players begin their protests . Chelsea striker Diego Costa makes a beeline for Ibrahimovic as Bjorn Kuipers raises the red card . Chelsea players surround Kuipers during Chelsea's Champions League clash against PSG . Chelsea's players surround the Dutch official as he sends off Ibrahimovic (second right) in the first half . ‘I think all the managers prepare their players to win, but there are different ways to win. You must analyse which is the correct way. They always try to pressure the referee in every decision, so the referee always has problems.’ The Premier League champions are in danger of surrendering their title to Chelsea. And Pellegrini’s position will come under more scrutiny if City go out of the Champions League at Barcelona on Wednesday. Manuel Pellegrini claims that he would like to extend his contract at the Etihad despite interest from Napoli . Napoli boss Rafael Benitez is yet to be offered a new contract with the Italian Serie A side . His agent, Jesus Martinez, has suggested that the 61-year-old Chilean could take over from Rafael Benitez at Napoli this summer, but Pellegrini claimed that he would like to extend his contract at the Etihad. He said: ‘I have a contract here until June 2016 and I will stay. If I can extend it I will. When I sign a contract I always try to finish it.’ Pellegrini must decide whether to reinstate captain Vincent Kompany at Burnley today after dropping the defender for last week’s win at home to Leicester City. +After a career working with some of European football’s top clubs, Jose Mourinho has experienced the highs and lows of management. On Friday, as he raised his right arm high into the air to emphasise his point, Mourinho wanted it made clear to Graeme Souness and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher that he remains at the top of his game. It was a low blow, calling the Sky Sports analysts out because they dared to criticise Chelsea’s players for surrounding Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers during the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain. Jose Mourinho opened up about the criticism aimed at his Chelsea by Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness . Mourinho was in a spiky mood during a lively press conference on Friday and was full of gestures . Mourinho came up with another famous quip: ‘Envy is the biggest tribute that the shadows do to the man' Mourinho claimed they were envious of his success as a coach, claiming the former Liverpool players have short memories after their careers at the top of the sport. The Chelsea manager said: ‘Envy is the biggest tribute that the shadows do to the man. It’s about life. ‘The difference between me and Souness is this: Souness as a player, up there (raises arm). Jose as a player, down here. Jose as a manager, up here. Souness as a manager, down there.’ With that the Chelsea manager pulled one of those faces that suggested the pair do not even belong on the same planet, let alone Souness having the right to pass comment on his team. It did not end there. Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher said the pressure Chelsea put on the referee was 'disgraceful' Carragher, Thierry Henry (centre) and Graeme Souness dissect Chelsea's exit from the Champions League . Mourinho added: ‘I was not a frustrated man because I was not a top player. He is clearly a frustrated man. He was a fantastic player. I have lots of respect, in spite of some episodes, for a fantastic player with a fantastic career in a fantastic club with a top generation of players. ‘You know the world is a bit strange — maybe with the diet and the quality of products we are eating, memories are getting shorter. ‘When Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness speak, it’s because they are having a problem for sure. Jamie stopped playing a couple of years ago and, in two years, he forgets everything he did on the pitch. Mr Souness also, but he stopped playing a long time ago. ‘I coached Benfica, I know a lot about him, so much about him. But I’m a certain kind of education, not just in football but in life, and I prefer to laugh.’ Mourinho watches on as defender Kurt Zouma (left) prepares to play a ball during training on Friday . Chelsea striker Diego Costa keeps the ball up while sitting on the floor at the Cobham training ground . Chelsea players in training ahead of the Premier League game against Southampton on Sunday . Souness managed Benfica for two years, between 1997 and 1999; Mourinho was the Portuguese club’s coach for a short spell between September 2000 and December 2000. Chelsea’s manager was spiky on Friday, confrontational at times as he attempted to put a positive spin on a negative result in the last 16 of the Champions League. The guard dropped again when he claimed Chelsea would definitely win the Barclays Premier League and he went on to make a case that they should be ‘eight, nine, 10, 11 or 12 points’ clear of Manchester City. In public he is supporting his squad, although he was less than keen to divulge details of the 30-minute team meeting held at the training ground the day after their elimination. Souness was manager of Benfica in Portugal for two years, between 1997 and 1999, before Mourinho . The Special One spent a brief fractious spell with the Lisbon club before moving on to better things . ‘Nobody was shy,’ was about the most he was prepared to say after he called his players together for a cathartic exercise that you can imagine ended with the squad accepting the blame. They certainly take responsibility for ill-discipline, with Mourinho revealing that his players pay the fines if they are charged by the authorities for mass confrontation or surrounding the referee. Chelsea were fined £30,000 by the Premier League after they were charged following the behaviour of their players towards Jonathan Moss on February 11. Mourinho, preparing for Saturday's clash with Southampton at Stamford Bridge, added: ‘If they surround the referee we are charged and we have to pay a fine, and if we do that the players pay the fine. Mourinho revealed his players pay fines if they are charged for mass confrontation or surrounding the referee . ‘We have, in this moment, I think eight or nine months of competition and we were charged once. We paid for that. It’s simple. Go to the Premier League and see how many teams were charged and how many times. Chelsea were charged once. ‘Everybody would love to be in our position. We closed the chapter on the Champions League, but we still have the book to write. ‘If you want to talk about the Champions League, speak with Wenger or Pellegrini. We have 11 more matches to finish the book. Let’s see if the last page of the book is with the Premier League trophy in their hands.’ +Jose Mourinho has revealed that Chelsea’s players pay the fines if they are charged by the authorities for surrounding referees. Chelsea’s manager made the admission after his team surrounded Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers over the dismissal of Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Wednesday in the Champions League. Mourinho, who was in a spiky mood on Friday, said: ‘If the players surround the referee we are charged and we have to pay a fine. Jose Mourinho revealed Chelsea players will pay the fines if they are charged for surrounding referees . Chelsea players surround the referee during the Champions League clash against PSG on Wednesday . Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) holds his hands up after the challenge as the Chelsea players begin their protests . Chelsea striker Diego Costa makes a beeline for Ibrahimovic as the referee raises the red card . 'If we do that the players pay the fine. We have eight or nine months and we were charged once and we paid for that. 'Go to the Premier League and see how many were charged. We were charged once. 'I had a meeting with the players, but I am working for the future. I don’t have to share with you. It was good and interactive.If you want to speak Champions League you have to go to (Arsene) Wenger or (Manuel) Pellegrino (Pellegrini), they have one match to play. 'If you want to speak Champions League, speak with them. We lost zero matches - we were not good enough to make the result we needed. We are out of the Champions League, so we speak about it next season. We need to finish in the top four. 'Only the champion is a head of the group, so we cannot be protected by the co-efficient next season.' The 52-year-old was in a typically defiant mood during his press conference on Friday afternoon . Chelsea's players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as he sends off Ibrahimovic (second right) in the first half . The referee (centre) is almost completely hidden from view as the Chelsea players make their case . Sportsmail columnist and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said the pressure Chelsea put on the referee was 'disgraceful' Mourinho also insisted his team will win the Barclays Premier League title after they exited the Champions League against PSG. He added: 'It is my responsibility. The people that lost, is the same people who are top of the Premier League since day one and won the Capital One Cup and the same people who will win the Premier League. 'We have 11 matches, we have five point advantage, we have a game in hand. We cannot promise we win every game, but we are optimistic.' The Blues boss also aimed a thinly veiled barb towards Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher following the criticism of his team on Wednesday night. Carragher called the pressure Chelsea put on the officials 'disgraceful' and said it came from manager Jose Mourinho, while Souness said Oscar's play acting was 'pathetic'. The Chelsea boss gestures to his players during the 2-2 draw which saw his side eliminated from Europe . Carragher, Thierry Henry (centre) and Graeme Souness dissect Chelsea's exit from the Champions League . Mourinho added: 'The world is a bit strange, what with the diet and the quality of products we are eating, because memories are getting short. 'When Graeme Souness and Carragher speak about it they are having a problem for sure. 'The game finished and to close the Champions League chapter, I did that in the tunnel, one by one every one from PSG I shook their hands and told them they deserved it. Sky Sports pundit Souness branded the Chelsea players 'pathetic' for their antics on Wednesday . 'Jamie stopped two years ago and in two years ago he has forgotten everything. Mr Souness had stopped playing for a long time and he has done that. 'I was at Benfica a couple of years after him, so I know a lot about him. I prefer to laugh, and I prefer to say that they envy is the biggest tribute to us from people in the shadows.' +Manchester City are offering free coach travel to fans travelling to Crystal Palace for their Bank Holiday Monday clash. The match kicks off at 8pm in the capital, meaning supporters would have no chance of getting back to Manchester on the train following the game. As a result, the Premier League champions have stepped in and are putting on transport themselves, free of charge. Manchester City fans have been offered free coach travel for their match to Crystal Palace in April . Manuel Pellegrini's side travel to Selhurst Park for an 8pm kick-off on Bank Holiday Monday . City have been given 2,500 tickets for the televised clash at Selhurst Park on Easter Monday. However, sections of the club's support had threatened to boycott the match in protest at what they believe to be inconsiderate scheduling. A statement on the club's website reads: 'To thank fans for their unwavering support throughout the season, we are pleased to announce we will be offering free round-trip coach travel for our Easter Monday fixture against Crystal Palace on 6 April, which kicks-off at 8pm. City fans would be unable to watch the entire match and then catch a train home to Manchester . Last time Manchester City went to Selhurst Park, Yaya Toure scored in a 2-0 victory over the Eagles . 'With the end of the season rapidly approaching, this game is sure to be a memorable one and you’re not going to want to miss it.' In September, City officials slashed ticket prices by 50 per cent for their trip to Arsenal. Travelling fans were set to be charged £64.00 for an adult ticket, while over-65 seats were priced at £27.25 and the under-16 bracket was set at £24.00. City, however, subsidised the prices for season-ticket holders by 50 per cent meaning they were charged £32 for an adult ticket, £13.62 for an over 65 ticket and £12 for a junior ticket. +In the wake of Manchester City’s recent Barclays Premier League defeat by Liverpool, the first thing the club’s Brazilian midfielder Fernando did was seek out compatriot Philippe Coutinho. ‘I wanted to say ‘‘well done’’ to him after his winning goal,’ revealed Fernando. ‘To me, he is the best Brazilian playing in Europe at the moment.’ Elsewhere at Anfield, the criticism of the City midfield that had started after the home defeat by Barcelona four days earlier was being cranked up to the next level. Fernando admits he is finding life in the Premier League tough in his first season since moving from Porto . Fernando (right) and Fernandinho (left) attends a Disability Awareness Workshop with local kids on Thursday . Fernando says Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, tracked by his mate Fernandinho, is the best current Europe-based Brazilian player . According to those on TV paid to know, City had lost back-to-back games simply because of failings in central midfield. Fernando played in the first game and not the second. Was he, therefore, at least partly culpable for setbacks that seem to have done so much to damage City’s aspirations at home and in the Champions League? Fernando: 'I haven’t reached my level here yet and the language is a problem' ‘It’s really hard,’ Fernando admitted on Thursday. ‘I haven’t reached my level here yet and the language is a problem. The Premier League is very challenging. ‘This season has gone OK, I think, but I’m hoping my next season will be a lot better. It was really difficult against Barcelona. We were not playing a normal team. ‘We want to get to that level but we need to learn if we are going to be successful in the Champions League. We know we can win in Barcelona. But having an attacking mentality won’t help us if we go over the top with that. Our mentality has to be right. ‘The criticism will always come if things aren’t going well. It can be aimed at the strikers or the defence and now at this time it is the midfield. It shouldn’t do but that is just what happens.’ City’s shot at European redemption comes next Wednesday at the Nou Camp. Manuel Pellegrini’s team trail 2-1 and need a huge result if they are going to become an isolated Premier League representative in the last eight. At home, City trail Chelsea in the Premier League by five points and have played a game more. On Tuesday, Fernando watched Jose Mourinho’s team exit Europe in a rather feisty game at Stamford Bridge. On a night more memorable for needle than football, it was tempting to wonder if Chelsea were beginning to show signs of frailty. The Brazilian midfielder has come under fire as part of the under-performing City midfield, but showed some skills playing sitting volleyball for school children in Manchester . Fernando, who says mentality will be the most important factor for City in their bid to turn around a 2-1 margin against Barcelona in the Champions League last-16, attempts to play football with a blindfold . Certainly Fernando revealed he could not imagine his City team-mates hounding a referee in similar fashion. He did, however, have an interesting take on why some footballers - including friends such as David Luiz, Oscar and Thiago Silva - behave the way they do. ‘It’s not something that would happen in our team,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘We are mainly a very calm team that concentrates on actually trying to win the game on the pitch. ‘We play according to whatever happens and we don’t try to change things by altering decisions and trying to influence the result that way. The 27-year-old is assisted by a girl during the appearance as part of City in the Community . ‘Every player has to hold things in. There are so many occasions when you actually want to say things but you must not. ‘At City I follow the example of people like James Milner, Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta. They are players who just try to play and not talk too much. ‘But you have to understand that the Champions League is a huge competition and the players were aware of that on Tuesday. ‘It was two great teams wanting to go through. ‘The players were aware of the investment each club had made so they had that pressure too. ‘The players were tense and that’s why these things happen. It’s adrenaline and tension.’ On Thursday at City’s training base, Fernando and his team-mate and fellow Brazilian Fernandinho took part in a Disability Awareness Workshop with local schoolchildren organised by the club’s City in the Community scheme. So close are the two that when Fernandinho was chosen for random doping after training, his friend waited for him before arriving to take part in the event. Fernando was also there at Anfield, of course, when Fernandinho and City captain Vincent Kompany had a rather frank exchange of views about what was going wrong. ‘In every team and every player there is a need to talk,’ he said. ‘It has to happen. It helps. We are working to improve when things are going wrong. It’s a quality and we will carry on with that. 'Fernandinho isn’t even a tiny bit upset about. It’s a story for a day and people like to talk but it means nothing to us.’ Back at home in Brazil, they are still coming to terms with their own bad news day. That came last July when the national team flunked a World Cup semi-final, losing 7-1 to Germany. Fernando watched that game in a Brazilian restaurant in Manchester and put his hands to his head at mention of it yesterday. Now 27, he has international aspirations of his own but knows he - and his country - have much to learn. Chelsea players remonstrate with referee Bjorn Kuipers as he sends of Zlatan Ibrahimovic . Fernando attempts to hold off Leicester's Esteban Cambiasso as he continues to find his feet in England . ‘It is really hard for Brazil now,’ he said. ‘We have had to learn a lesson from what happened. ‘The Germans and the Dutch have improved and we needed to realise that we have to catch up. ‘Tactically we have fallen behind. If I get called up then of course I will be extremely happy. I am focused on my performance here, though. ‘Every players needs time to get settled and get his status. This is what I am doing.’ Isaias paved the way for Brazilians in the Premier League on his signing with Coventry in 1995 . FIRST BRAZILIAN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE (AND FIRST GOAL SCORER): . Isaias Marques Soares, aka Isaias, signed for Coventry from Benfica in the summer of 1995. The striker made only 12 appearances in two years, scoring just twice, including the first PL goal by a Brazilian against Middlesbrough on September 16, 1995. FIRST PL HAT-TRICK: Afonso Alves for Middlesbrough against Manchester City in an 8-1 romp in May 2008. FIRST TO SCORE IN AN FA CUP FINAL: Ramires for Chelsea against Liverpool in 2012. FIRST TO WIN PL TITLE: Edu with Arsenal in 2001-02. MOST PL APPEARANCES: 190 by Lucas Leiva of Liverpool. FIRST TO BE SENT OFF: Roque Junior for Leeds in September 2003. FIRST GOALKEEPER IN PL: Heurelho Gomes for Tottenham in 2008. +After feasting on too many fermented crabapples, a drunk squirrel has been filmed struggling to escape a snowy American backyard. Its torment begins when he takes a tumble off a tall tree he would usually traverse so gracefully. At first, the cameraman thinks the animal has hurt itself in the fall but soon realises it simply can't hold his crabapple. Misery: The squirrel's problems begin when it falls from a tall tree into a snowy back garden in America . Fall: At first, the cameraman thinks the animal is hut but soon realises the small rodent is simply drunk . Daunting: The drunk squirrel eyes up the challenge ahead - a small mound of snow between him and an open fence . His next great challenge is the small mound of snow between him and the open fence in an American backyard - a simple task made very difficult by his inebriated state. Several attempts to charge up the hill end in failure - leaving the resilient rodent lying flat on his back gazing up at the branches he fell from earlier. He seems to have found a solution to his never-ending escape attempt when he targets a different region of the snow to the left - but several more attempts also end in failure. In a sober state, the squirrel may simply have strolled around the fence which ended just a few feet to the right. The shaky footage has gone viral since being uploaded to Live Leak and YouTube where it has already gained tens of thousands of hits. After a few minutes of persistent climbing, the squirrel finally reaches the top of the tiny expanse of snow and rushes home - presumably to get some rest. Persistent: The little animal continuously charges at the small mound of snow but always ends up flat on his back . Escape: Finally, after minutes of continuous jumping - much of it on the spot - it reaches the fence it could simply have walked around . Freedom: With a similar lack of grace, the squirrel darts through the fence and up a slightly easier hill . +Chelsea have agreed terms on £2.3million deal for Romanian teenage right back Cristian Manea. The 17-year-old, who plays for Viitorul Constanta, has already made his debut for the national side when he played against Albania last May. Manea doesn't turn 18 until August but Chelsea have moved quickly to secure him after interest from Arsenal, Ajax and Udinese. Chelsea have agreed terms on a £2.3million deal for Romania right back Cristian Manea (left, pictured in 2013) As Sportsmail reported, Chelsea made initial moves last September to outline a deal with Manea expected to sign a five-year contract and then be loaned out to either Vitesse or Real Mallorca. Manea has developed quickly under the guidance of first team coach and former Romania captain Gheorghe Hagi. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and his staff have been trying to secure Manea's signature and now have it . +Playing with Thierry Henry turned Bradley Wright-Phillips into the MLS's top goal scorer last season. The duo had chemistry and the result was one of those seasons that will be hard to beat, with the Englishman scoring 27 goals in 32 games and winning the league's golden boot. Doing it again might be a lot tougher. Henry, the French international who brought immense talent and recognition to the league, has retired and Wright-Phillips is going to have to go through an adjustment period. Bradley Wright-Phillips (left) didn't have a shot in the Red Bulls' season opener against Sporting Kansas City . Thierry Henry retired at the end of the season meaning Wright-Phillips has a new strike partner . The Red Bulls have revamped their roster and Henry isn't the only one gone. Australian international Tim Cahill has departed along with fellow midfielder Eric Alexander. In the season opening tie against Sporting Kansas City, Wright-Phillips didn't have a shot. 'I don't have to readjust my game,' the 30-year-old Englishman said after the Red Bulls practiced for their home opener against D.C. United on Sunday. 'I am always going to play the same way I always have. The players that have come in, I'm trying to learn like I did with Thierry. I learned how he played and I learned to play off him. I'll try to do the same with the new guys.' The additions this season are midfielders Sacha Kljestan and Felipe Martins and striker Mike Grella. But in the 1-1 season-opening draw, the chemistry was lacking up front. 'On the day of the game I put a lot of it down to me,' Wright-Phillips said. 'I was a bit too eager to get behind. I could have done a little bit better with my runs. It's the first game, I don't really lose my mind after a first game of the season.' If there is a difference this season it's the style of the Red Bulls' play under new coach Jesse Marsch. There is an emphasis on moving the ball quickly with everybody contributing. A lot went through Henry in past seasons. The New York Red Bulls drew 1-1 with Sporting Kansas City in their first MLS game of the season . 'For us, it was almost a little unrealistic having a guy like Thierry on the team,' Red Bulls captain and midfielder Dax McCarty said. 'He was a little of a wild card, a joker. If you are losing or in a bad situation, you could just play him the ball and hope that something magical happened, which more often than not did. That's gone. I think this is a team that can hurt you in numerous ways and that's going to be a big shift this season. McCarty said the team could have helped Wright-Phillips more in the opening game. 'We didn't create enough chances for Bradley,' McCarty said. 'I think he will admit he can do a better job making better runs and we have a do a better job of looking for him and finding him when he does make those good runs. That is the thing that is going to make us successful this season. Wright-Phillips isn't heading into the season thinking: how does he top last year? He has set a goal target that he is not disclosing. If he meets it, he'll set another one. Whatever he does, Wright-Phillips isn't interested in heading back to England, where he played for Manchester City, Southampton, Plymouth Argyle, Charlton Athletic and Brentford before coming to the Red Bulls in July 2013. 'I don't want to go back to Europe. I've said that several times,' Wright-Phillips said. 'There were one or two whispers that I heard about but it doesn't interest me. I'm playing for the New York Red Bulls and I love living in New Jersey.' Wright-Phillips says he has no desire of coming back to England and is enjoying life in the USA . +An African-American Brooklyn state senator has been forced to apologize for saying white people eat differently to black people. Velmanette Montgomery was slamming the imminent closure of Key Food supermarket as a sign that the New York City borough is becoming gentrified. Speaking to The Brooklyn Paper on Tuesday, Montgomery (D-Clinton Hill) said: 'Supermarkets are an important part of the community. It’s an important amenity, especially for black and brown communities. Apology: Velmanette Montgomery said white people can shop at expensive boutiques but black people can't . 'When you’re talking about a white community, it can be a little boutique, because white people don’t eat the way we do.' The observation prompted a wave of criticism, forcing Montgomery to issue a statement of apology. 'It was an unfortunate statement and I didn’t mean to offend anyone,' she told New York’s WCBS-TV. Montgomery claims she was trying to explain that the neighborhood's low-income families would not be able to afford produce sold in an upmarket supermarket or boutique store. The landlord of the eight-story building which houses Key Foods said he hopes to lease the space to another supermarket after the closure in May. Her comments came as she slammed the imminent closure of Key Food supermarket in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn . +Thiago Silva leapt high, and powered a fantastic header looping over the head of Thibaut Courtois into the far corner of Chelsea's net, dumping Jose Mourinho's team out of the Champions League. It was, undoubtedly, a brilliant piece of play from the Brazilian, but immediately the inquest began as to how Chelsea had allowed the centre back so much space. The answer, it seems, is that captain John Terry, rather than marking his opponent, was tussling with his central defensive partner as the corner came in. As the corner comes into the box, John Terry grabs hold of Gary Cahill, who is running towards his own goal . Terry is clearly grappling with his team-mate as he attempts to move towards Thiago Silva . Terry did eventually reach Silva, but by then the Brazilian had jumped high to head the ball home . With the ball in the air, Terry can be seen grappling with Gary Cahill, as both Chelsea men get caught under the ball. Terry did eventually find a way past his colleague, but arrived too late and couldn't get off the ground, leaving Silva free to head home. The goal drew PSG level on the night, and in the tie, but the vital second away goal sent the visitors through to the quarter-finals. It was also the second goal Chelsea had conceded from a corner to a PSG centre half, after David Luiz had sent the game to extra time. The PSG captain still had plenty to do, but his looping header gave Thibaut Courtois no chance at all . Silva celebrates the goal that knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage . The Chelsea players trudge back towards the halfway line, despondent after twice conceding a lead . +A rural snake catcher could not believe his eyes when he saw an image of an eastern brown snake stealing a sausage right off a barbeque. But after being assured by his best friend, who took the image, Newcastle reptile controller Geoff Delooze now believes the image is authentic, and it is no fake snake . Mr Delooze told Daily Mail Australia he had never seen anything like the image, which was taken at a picnic on the Blue Mountains, on all his years on the job. The bizarre image shows an eastern brown snake eating a sausage whole straight off a barbeque . ‘I couldn’t believe it. My best mate took the images from a picnic he was having. Otherwise I would have had trouble believing it was real,’ he said. The ravenous reptile reportedly appeared in front of a large picnic, snatched the snag then disappeared back into the bush. ‘Snakes usually avoid people at all costs. I think what’s happened is that this one had grown so big-it looks over two metres long from the width of the head-that it had developed somewhat of an attitude.’ Mr Delooze said he contacted some American Snake research teams, who confirmed it was not unheard of for snakes eat outside of their natural diet. Snake catcher Geoff Delooze said he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the picture, which was taken by his best friend . The image was taken at a picnic in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney . ‘They said they had heard of some python eaters feeding their snakes chicken and things like that. So I guess it’s plausible.’ He said while Eastern Brown snakes usually survive on rodents, as reptiles they will also eat anything they can fit in their mouth. +Gennaro Gattuso has applied for the job as manager of Oldham Athletic. The Italian World Cup winner, 37, joins an eclectic list of more than 120 candidates for the post at the League One club which includes former Netherlands international Winston Bogarde. VIDEO Scroll down to see Gattuso losing the plot as OFI Crete manager . Gennaro Gattuso wants to be the next manager at League One Oldham Athletic . Gattuso, who played 73 times for his country and lifted the World Cup in 2006, is currently unattached after spells in charge of FC Sion, Palermo and OFI Crete. He made his name as a tough tackling midfielder at Rangers before he returned to Italy with Salernitana in 1998. Gattuso, who also applied for the Hamilton Academical job in January, would go on to make more than 300 appearances for AC Milan during a 13-year stint at the San Siro. Oldham remain without a manager after Lee Johnson jumped ship to join League One rivals Barnsley in February. Gattuso enjoyed hugely-successful 13-year spell with Milan, where he won two Champions League titles . Johnson is set to face a hostile reception when he returns to Boundary Park with his new club on Saturday. Oldham spoke to Paul Scholes about the likelihood of taking over from Johnson but the Manchester United legend, who lives in the town, decided that the timing was not right. Others to be linked with the job include ex-West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Irvine, former Manchester City coaches Scott Sellars and Steve Eyre and Iain Dowie, who managed the club from 2002 to 2003. +Carol Robertson, a golf coach at Virginia Tech University sunk two holes-in-one within the span of three holes on March 9 in Orlando, Florida . A Virginia Tech University golf coach accomplished a golf feat that is so rare, she was just as likely to win the lottery. Carol Robertson, 30, sank two holes-in-one in the space of three holes on March 9. Her successful game of golf came during a practice round at Celebration Golf Club near Orlando, Florida, while the university was on spring break. The odds of sinking two holes-in-one in the same round are 67million-to-one, according to PGA.com. But US Hole in One, estimated the odds of sinking aces on consecutive par-three holes at nearly 156,250,000 to one, according to the Washington Post. That's roughly the same odds as winning the Powerball lottery. The first hole in one came on the third hole, a 159-yard par-three. The second was on hole five, a 161-yard par-three. Before the fifth hole, she joked that she plays 'par threes pretty fast' and she she'd 'just go ahead and make a one on this one, too', according to the Washington Post. And then she did. 'I just kind of dropped my club and hit the ground,' Robertson said. 'Everybody's just high-fiving, getting their cameras out, taking pictures.' Robertson, who had five previous aces, sunk holes-in-one on the third and fifth holes of Celebration Golf Club during a practice round of golf . The odds of sinking aces on consecutive par-three holes is nearly 156,250,000 to one. Winning the lottery has about the same odds . The ball landed to the left when it hit the putting green, but it began to roll and headed right for the hole. And then it sunk. 'It was like slow  motion, watching that one go in,' Robertson told Washington Post. 'We couldn't believe it. I fell over. I was sitting there thinking, "is this really happening?"' Robertson, who had five previous aces, was reportedly playing the round with assistant coach Russell Abbott and Virginia Tech redshirt players Amanda Hollandsworth and Allison Woodward. 'The girls on my team were so excited and everyone I know in golf has been sending congratulations,' she said. 'We went out for a nice dinner but I dodged the tradition of buying everyone a drink because my team isn't allowed to drink per college sports rules and they aren't 21. Anywhere else I'd be bankrupt.' +A Catholic priest, suspended after a Mail on Sunday probe found he was in a sham ‘gay marriage’ with a Pakistani immigrant, has been reinstated. Father Donald Minchew, 67, was removed from his ministry a year ago after confessing that he entered the civil partnership in 2008 to help the family friend obtain a British passport. But Church superiors have revealed his partnership has been dissolved and they have been assured the Home Office no longer wants to pursue the matter. Return: Father Minchew has been reinstated by church superiors after his civil partnership was dissolved . In a letter to parishioners last week, prelate Monsignor Keith Newton said he had lifted Fr Minchew’s suspension ‘after much prayer and discussion’. The Home Office refused to comment. It is not known what happened to Fr Minchew’s ex partner, Mustajab Hussain, 33. Confronted last year, Fr Minchew, said: ‘You are talking to a ruined man. I am finished.’ Fr Minchew, who had been based at St Mary’s Church, Croydon, could not be reached for comment. Father Minchew had been based at St Mary’s Church, Croydon, pictured, before he was suspended . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Roy Hodgson has revealed that Arsene Wenger rang him for advice before signing Danny Welbeck for £16m on transfer deadline day - and that he is delighted that his strong recommendation paid off for both Arsenal and Welbeck. Wenger has since said that he only appreciated quite how good a player Welbeck was after seeing him close up every day in training - and Hodgson says he gave similar feedback to the Arsenal manager when Wenger was weighing up whether to buy Welbeck or not last August. Hodgson said: 'Arsene and I speak more often than most managers as he always comes up to the directors' box at Arsenal and I speak to him very often. And we spoke of course before he signed Danny. I was singing Danny's praise so I'm delighted that Arsene has seen that my judgement wasn't wrong and that he shares that judgement. Danny Welbeck joined Arsenal from Manchester United for £16m on transfer deadline day . Welbeck scores the winning goal for Arsenal against his former club in the FA Cup quarter-final . 'We like Danny very much. We've always shown faith in Danny. Many times he's been selected by me and my staff when he was not actually playing for Manchester United. Sometimes he's not even been on the bench and yet still we' ve selected him because we think he has the qualities required. 'And what Danny really needs is the faith of his manager, which he obviously has from Arsene, to get more games. And then I think we'll see more and more performances from him that we've been lucky enough to see with England and Arsenal were lucky enough to see the other night when he played at Monaco. I thought he was really, really good.' Welbeck is likely to start for England in their Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania next Friday. He made 24 starts for Manchester United last season and since moving to Arsenal on transfer deadline day has already started 25 times with at least eleven games remaining, which Hodgson believes is benefitting the England player. Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson in the director's box at the Emirates Stadium . 'Arsene has used him and he's played quite a lot of games if you compare it to the games he played for Man United. With us he's always done what I think is a very, very good job for the team. There aren't many times when he's played for England where I've been disappointed in him or in his work rate or desire. But of course it would be great if he gets himself as one of the first names on the Arsenal team sheet and play for them every week, that would be a bonus certainly for him and it won't do us any harm. 'I'm pretty sure he must have benefitted (from Wenger's confidence in him). But it's not something that has struck me like a bolt of lightning, that's for sure. When he's come with us he's not lacked confidence ever. He knows what we want from him. And he knows that he can deliver what we want from him. He knows that we believe in him. I've never felt he's ever come to us with a massive lack of confidence.' +David Denton insists Scotland will look to bounce back from their Wooden Spoon shame by winning this year's World Cup. The Dark Blues had a nightmare RBS 6 Nations as they lost all five games, suffering their third whitewash in 11 years. But Edinburgh number eight Denton believes the Scots can brush off their embarrassment by lifting the Webb Ellis Cup at Twickenham on October 31. David Denton believes Scotland can bounce back from a nightmare Six Nations by winning the World Cup . Scotland have been drawn in Pool B alongside South Africa, Samoa, Japan and the US. They kick-off their World Cup bid on September 23 against the Japanese in Gloucester. Asked if he still believed the side would look to challenge the best nations in the world for the trophy, he replied: 'Yes'. Pushed further on that statement, he added: 'I understand it's hard to see. Our first goal is to get out of the pool and then give ourselves every chance of winning the World Cup. 'We never change [our views on what we can achieve]. We are in this sport to win. There is no doubt about that. There is a process to getting there - we need to get out of our pool first. Scotland were thrashed 40-10 by Ireland on their own patch at Murrayfield on Saturday . 'We're in a tough pool - it could have been worse. We have tough games particularly against South Africa and Samoa that we need to make sure we perform well in. 'It's a pool I think we can do well in and then [if] we get a favourable quarter-final we move on from there. You just need to take it one game at time and that's what we are going to do.' Scotland ended their campaign with another hard-luck story as Ireland steamrollered their way to a thrilling title triumph with a 40-10 win. And Denton admits it was not the way he saw the championships going. Scotland lost all five of their Six Nations matches in 2015 to finish at the bottom of the table . 'Today was a disappointing end to a disappointing campaign,' he said. 'We came in to this competition with a lot of ambition and the prospect of winning the trophy. We came in thinking we were a good enough team to do that. 'But a few of the results didn't go our way and today we weren't good enough. 'There are a lot of things we can improve on and we will do. 'Was it realistic to think we can win the title? One hundred per cent. There was no ambiguity about. (Coach) Vern (Cotter) said it at the start and we all believed it. 'We went into the France game thinking if we win in Paris things could start turning our way.' +Full-back Scott Grix made history with the quickest hat-trick from the start of a Super League match as Huddersfield made it three successive wins to climb up to fourth in the table. The Giants, who began the season with three straight defeats, never looked back after former Wakefield player Grix's three tries inside the first nine minutes helped put them 18-0 up and on their way to a fourth successive win at Belle Vue. Wakefield hit back to close the gap to four points early in the second half but further tries from two other Wakefield old boys, Danny Brough and Brett Ferres, plus others from Leroy Cudjoe and Ukuma Ta'ai, helped the visitors to a comfortable 44-14 victory. Scott Grix scored the quickest hat-trick from the start of a Super League match in Huddersfield's victory . It was a fourth straight defeat for the Wildcats, who had started the season with so much hope after gaining back-to-back wins, and drops them to the foot of the table. The match was memorable for Grix's early heroics but little else as both sides produced a string of errors to leave both coaches frustrated. The record for the fastest hat-trick of tries scored from the start of any match remains with Huddersfield's former player and current assistant coach Chris Thorman, who scored his within six minutes and 54 seconds of the Giants' National League Cup semi-final against Doncaster in 2002. Grix got his first after just 63 seconds after Brough had put second rower Ferres into a gap and finished off a flowing move for his second four minutes later. The 44-14 thrashing of Wakefield was Huddersfield's third win on the spin and moved them up to fourth . The former Wakefield full-back then gathered possession from Craig Hall's kick 20 metres from his own line and sprinted 80 metres for a glorious solo try to complete his treble. Brough kicked all three conversions to make it 18-0 but Wakefield, who gave debuts to centre Joe Arundel and forward George Griffin, gradually weathered the storm and scored two tries of their own in a nine-minute spell midway through the first half. Centre Dean Collis got the first after Huddersfield winger Aaron Murphy had made a hash of Tim Smith's high kick while veteran second rower Ali Lauititii proved impossible to tackle as he got skipper Danny Kirmond over. Hall was wide with both conversion attempts to leave the Wildcats trailing by 10 points, which is how it stayed until half-time despite both teams creating a host of chances. Wakefield's Dean Collis is tacked by Huddersfield Giants' Danny Brough (left) and Joe Wardle (right) Jack Hughes, drafted in at short notice when Chris Bailey pulled out of the Giants team for personal reasons and switched from second row to centre when winger Jermaine McGillvary went off with a shoulder injury on 17 minutes, was the biggest culprit, twice dropping the ball with the tryline beckoning. Brough regathered his own chip over the Wakefield defence but saw the final pass intercepted and prop Eorl Crabtree was held up over the line on his back while Wakefield forward Daniel Smith had a try chalked off for a forward pass. Wakefield winger Chris Riley was the next man to have a try disallowed early in the second half but there was no denying substitute Jordan Crowther when he was the first to reach the ball from Paul McShane's grubber kick. Hall's first goal cut the gap to just four points but Huddersfield were soon back in the ascendancy, with Ferres marking the 250th appearance of his career with their fourth try after taking Brough's short pass near the line. Brough kicked his sixth conversion before handing over the goalkicking duties to his half-back partner Jamie Ellis, who wrapped up the scoring with a penalty and conversion of Ta'ai's injury-time touchdown. +An adorable video of a toddler singing along to an Ed Sheeran hit has gone viral after being posted online. Daniel Breki McCollough, 2, from Reykjavik, Iceland, is seen standing in front of a microphone holding a guitar and singing as his mum's boyfriend Heigar Ingi Arnason plays the song Thinking Out Loud on the acoustic guitar. The video which was posted only yesterday has already notched up over 13 million views and 368,125 likes with viewers posting thousands of comments praising the duo. Scroll down for video . Daniel Breki McCollough is pictured really performing the Ed Sheeran cover alongside his mum's boyfriend . One commenter, Kate Ward, wrote: 'So adorable!!!!!! He is a little shy as you see at the end but boy can that little man play a convincing guitar, even tuned it somewhere in there so cute that Dad sings along with him to help the confidence - which was rocking!' Noleen Magill posted: 'This has to be the cutest thing ever bless that wee darling and his wee facial expressions, just brilliant.' The two-year-old toddler, from Reykjavik, Iceland, has had 13 million views with his Thinking Out Loud cover . Daniel and his mum's boyfriend, Heigar Ingi Arnason, had an earlier YouTube hit when they covered Sam Smith's hit Lay Me Down. This amassed over 25,000 hits . But it is also Arnason's voice that has delighted viewers. Callum Davy wrote: 'Never mind the child, that isn't Ed Sheeran playing guitar and singing live, the guy I assume to be her dad is amazing!' Jordan Haimes posted: 'Did anybody take notice of how good the guy with the guitar who was actually singing was, amazing.' While Evelyn Reyes said: 'SOMEONE FIND THE GUY THAT'S SINGING PLEASE I MUST SEE HIS FACE.' Heigar Ingi Arnason played the acoustic guitar out of shot, but his voice caught the attention of viewers . Daniel's mum Aldis Bjork Oskarsdottir said: 'We posted the video online to show my brother in London. 'He misses Daniel and likes to know how he's doing.' The duo had an earlier YouTube hit when they covered Sam Smith's hit Lay Me Down which had over 25,000 hits. +Thousands of runners took part in the Reading Half Marathon in soaring temperatures today. More than 18,000 participants took on the 13.1 mile Berkshire race, which has been described as 'flatter and faster' than previous years. The race was won by Stephen Amos Kiplagat from Kenya, who completed the course in just over one hour, three minutes and ten seconds. On your marks, get set, go: More than 18,000 runners took part in the Vitality Reading Half Marathon 2015 . The first woman to cross the finishing line was 24-year-old Lily Partridge, who completed her first ever half marathon in one hour, ten minutes and 32 seconds. The sunny weather got the better of some runners, with several being taken to medical tents and one man, in his 30s, collapsing near the finishing line, Reading Chronicle reports. The man was treated by medical staff and is believed to have made a full recovery. Runners today wore everything from tu-tus to Fred Flintstone costumes and looked sweltering in the warm conditions. The Reading route is generally see as of the fastest in the country and is always incredibly popular as it falls five weeks before the London Marathon. Going strong: A runner in an orange tu-tu took on the the 13.1 mile Berkshire race . The first ever Reading Half Marathon was organised and run in 1983, when the start and finish venue was Reading University at White Knights Park. There were 5,000 runners and it was won by a 21 year old local University student, Mark Curzons in a time of one hour, seven minutes and forty-five seconds. +Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella has praised the impact of Mohamed Salah since arriving from Chelsea and believes only Barcelona star Lionel Messi is faster on the ball. Salah joined the Viola on loan in February as part of the deal for Juan Cuadrado to head to West London for £23.3m, rising to £27m, and Montella believes his side have currently got the better deal. The Egyptian forward was in fine form as Fiorentina defeated Serie A rivals Roma 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico to reach the Europa League quarter-finals. Mohamed Salah (right) attempts to add to his Fiorentina goal tally against Roma on Thursday evening . Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella encourages his side as they defeated Serie A rivals Roma . Salah, in action against Roma, has made a fine start to life with the Viola since joining on loan from Chelsea . The 22-year-old has been in spectacular form since arriving in Italy, having only featured eight times for Jose Mourinho's side this season, scoring six goals from 10 appearances. Fiorentina can make Salah a permanent signing this summer and Montella admitted his surprise at the Egyptian's instant impact. 'Maybe right now we have got the better deal,' he told Mediaset Premium, when referring to the money-plus Salah deal for Cuadrado. 'For now, we have benefited. We knew the superb characteristics of the player, but we did not expect him to have such an impact on Italian football. Perhaps only Messi is faster than him with the ball at one's feet.' Montella claims only Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi is faster than Salah on the ball . Jose Maria Basanta (right) is mobbed by his Fiorentina team-mates after scoring against Roma . Salah joins Gonzalo Rodriguez (centre) in celebrating his opener for Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico . Fiorentina have a genuine chance of playing in the Champions League next season, sitting just four points off Lazio in the third qualifying spot in Serie A. 'This success is deserved, my team have grown a lot in terms of mentality,' added Montella. 'The team's proven to have a great desire to win. We endured a terrible run of form earlier this season, but we got through it; there might be another like that, though we will fight to achieve our goals. 'All victories require a small dose of luck, even though one makes their own luck to win.' Fiorentina celebrate after they booked their place in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday . +A woman who hit and injured three freshman high school students in a crosswalk was recording a video of her son at the time of the crash, court documents revealed. Elizabeth Rachel Dove, 23, of Oregon struck the three girls in January from Centennial High School with her white Kia, and at the time was recording a 19-second video of her son who was sat in the backseat, according to police. The young mother has been indicted on several charges including five counts of recklessly endangering, three counts of third-degree assault and one count of reckless driving, according to KATU. Elizabeth Rachel Dove (above), 23, of Oregon struck the three girls in January from Centennial High School with her white Kia, and at the time was recording a 19-second video of her son who was sat in the backseat, according to police . Investigators found that Dove had used her phone immediately prior to the crash on January 15 when freshman Sarah Hollenbeck, 15, and her two unidentified friends, both 14, were leaving an after-school program (above scenes from the January crash as the girls lie in the street after being struck as students rush to help them) Investigators found that Dove had used her phone immediately prior to the crash on January 15 when freshman Sarah Hollenbeck, 15, and her two unidentified friends, both 14, were leaving an after-school program. They were hit just outside of the high school in Gresham. Following the crash, the three girls were taken to hospital where they were treated for injuries, and were later released, according to KPTV. A status report from January revealed one teen girl suffered from a concussion and torn ACL, and the bone on her left knee was torn out; the second teen was left with a broken nose, a major concussion, bruises to her legs, feet and face, unable to walk due to pain in her ankle and lost a tooth; and Hollenbeck suffered from a fractured skull, pelvis and knee. In the events leading up to the crash, Dove sent five text messages and received one, as well as had a phone call lasting seven minutes before recording the video, according to phone records included in a court affidavit from the Multnomah County court. In the events leading up to the crash, Dove sent five text messages and received one, as well as had a phone call lasting seven minutes before recording a video (above the girls are tended to by emergency responders) A second video follows shortly after lasting six seconds, which was also recovered showing the phone bouncing on the front passenger seat (above scenes from the crash) During the 19-second video she recorded of her son, she is holding the phone with her left hand and making gestures with her right hand. A second video follows shortly after lasting six seconds, which was also recovered showing the phone bouncing on the front passenger seat. The report notes this is clearly when the crash occurred, as Dove is panicked and her child is heard crying in the background. Police determined that Dove hit the teen girls 1.42 seconds after the video ended, and that they entered the roadway at the time when Dove 'appears to have no hands on the steering wheel'. Lowvy Ma, who witnessed the crash, said he honked his horn when he realized that Dove was going to hit the girls. He said he saw her car slow down for a few seconds before the teens were hit and he saw them 'go flying'. Hollenbeck recalled how she woke up after being struck by the car and saw her two friends lying on the ground next to her, according to an earlier report by KGW. 'It was really scary because I saw both my friends being covered in a blanket and I thought they were dead,' she said. Hollenbeck added: 'We were so lucky. I think the next time it could be fatal for someone.' Dove got out of the car and waited at the scene until police arrived, and told responding officers she did not see the teens before the crash. She also admitted to phone use. Police determined that Dove hit the teen girls 1.42 seconds after the video ended, and that they entered the roadway at the time when Dove 'appears to have no hands on the steering wheel' (above Dove's damaged white Kia) The young mother has been indicted on several charges including five counts of recklessly endangering, three counts of third-degree assault and one count of reckless driving (above the crosswalk where the incident took place) Dove, who has been convicted previously for theft and ID theft, was arrested on March 4 but was released from jail, and now faces the several charges. There was no alcohol or drugs involved in the incident, according to police. In Oregon, using cellphones while driving is against the law except for in cases when the driver is using a hands-free device and is over the age of 18. Following the crash, the city has installed a rapid-flash beacon at the crosswalk. +David Moyes' Real Sociedad side saw off bottom club Cordoba 3-1 at the Anoeta Stadium on Sunday night, as the visitors had three men sent off in a fiery affair. Aleksandar Pantic was given his marching orders after just six minutes for the visitors, but this didn't stop Florin Adone from giving them a shock lead in the firs-half. Imanol Agierretxe equalised for Sociedad before the interval though and Chori Castro was able to make the most of the one-man advantage after the break to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Inigo Lopez was then shown two yellow cards in quick succession, before substitute Alfred Finnbogason wrapped up the win with a late goal. Daniel Pinillos became the third Cordoba player to be sent off in injury time on a truly awful night for the club. More to follow later... Real Sociedad's striker Imanol Agirretxe (right) in action with Cordoba's defender Adrian Gunino (left) Agirretxe celebrates scoring the equalising goal for Real Sociedad to level the scores at 1-1 on Sunday . Real Sociedad (4-2-3-1): Rulli, Martinez, Ansotegi, Berchiche, Zaldua, Granero (Vela 66), Prieto, Pardo, Canales, Castro (Bergara 80), Agirretxe (Finnbogason 89) Booked: Ansotegi . Scorers: Agirretxe 33, Casto 75 . Cordoba (4-3-3): Krhin, Garcia, Heldon (Luso 35), Bebe, Andone (Cartabia 80), Pinillos, Gunino, Lopez, Pantic, Carlos, Zuculini (Fidel 50) Booked: Heldon, Zuculini, Carlos, Bebe, Lopez, Cartabia . Sent off: Pantic, Lopez, Pinillos . Scorers: Andone 12 . David Moyes' side are currently 9th in La Liga with 36 points from 28 games following Sunday's win . +A 'deals on wheels' cannabis gang which used a parked Mazda near a university as its mobile drug den has been jailed. The group made £600 a day pushing the drug onto students in Cardiff after parking the black vehicle near its campus in Cathays. Four of its Kurdish members were jailed after being watched by police as they opened the car's door to one customer. Haram Kalaf (left) and Saman Ahmed (right) were among members of the gang which sold drugs from a black Mazda parked near Cardiff University . South Wales Police Officers found £3,650 of cannabis and £2,399 in cash inside. Haram Kalaf, 25, a failed asylum seeker and Saman Ahmed, 28, Nasir Karimi, 26, and Bakhutar Shakir, 28, were all handed sentences of between 13 and 21 months each. Cardiff Crown Court heard how the gang also used rental cars to shuttle drugs from the Mazda to customers. When police seized the vehicle they found 295 small bags of the drug hidden alongside thousands of pounds in cash stashed beneath the carpet. Nair Karimi had been living 'hand to mouth' for eight years before being jailed, the court heard . The gang was stopped when officers monitoring another of their cars watched them invite a young woman into the vehicle to buy £20 of the drug. 'The car door opened as if to draw her attention, she got in and left seconds later', prosecutor Jason Howells said. 'When she was stopped, she said "I’m sorry, I don’t want to get into trouble. I’ve just bought some weed for £20"'. After searching that vehicle, a Vauxhall Astra, they were taken to the Mazda where the majority of the haul was kept. Sentencing Judge Huw Rees said all of the men had come to the UK to sell drugs. 'You came here with a single purpose, to supply cannabis, making a lucrative profit. 'It was a well organised venture and the location you chose is significant - you came to an area of the city where students live, that intention is clear. 'And you used an extra vehicle with the sole purpose of storing your hoard so that if you were caught, you would only have small amounts on you.' Kalaf, a failed asylum seeker from Bristol, told police he was selling £600 of drugs every day. Ahmed, a father-of-two, was recruited as his driver while Karimi had been living 'hand to mouth' since arriving in the UK eight years earlier. Shakir, a gambling addict, had previously been arrested for drug offences. The drug dealers parked the Mazda on Rhymney Street in Cardiff and used other vehicles to shuttle drugs around the city . +Germany has been gripped by claims and counter-claims that footage allegedly showing the new Greek finance minister giving the country a one-fingered salute was faked. A video appeared online earlier this week which appeared to show Yanis Varoufakis holding up his middle finger when giving a speech about Greece's finances and Germany in 2013. Jan Bohermann, host of satirical TV programme 'Neo Magazin Royale' on public broadcast channel ZDF, then admitted that his production team had doctored the footage. But now it has been claimed that his confession itself was faked - sparking confusion as to whether the video really is genuine. Scroll down for video . Faked: Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was accused of making an offensive gesture with his middle finger during a speech he gave in 2013 about the country's finances, and mentioning Germany . Funny: Mr Varoufakis laughed off the incident on Twitter and said: 'We politicians need you badly' Mr Bohermann said he had been waiting to be asked if he had faked the controversial video, but that no-one had queried their work. He added: 'Sorry Mr Varoufakis, we won't do it again.' But ZDF has now issued a knowing reminder to its audience that 'Neo Magazin Royale' is a satirical programme and ironically tweeted that it would place a 'careful, satire' warning on all future broadcasts. That has sparked a new wave of speculation over whether the video is in fact the real deal and the hashtag #varoufake has been Germany's top trending topic on Twitter throughout today. The footage appears to show Mr Varoufakis raises his finger and saying: 'My proposal was that Greece should simply announce that it is defaulting, just like Argentina did, within the euro, in January 2010, and stick the finger to Germany and say well, you can now solve this problem by yourself.' Mr Varoufakis has repeatedly denied the footage was authentic and  laughed off the incident on Twitter. He sent a message to Mr Bohermann that read: 'Humour, satire & self deprecation are great solvents of blind nationalism. We politicians need you badly.' Mr Varoufakis is continuing to negotiate for a reduction in Greece's debt from the EU and has been doing a whistlestop tour of Europe in a bid to get support for his proposals. Pressure: Yanis Varoufakis has been under increasing pressure to secure a better loan repayment deal for Greece . He has been trying to negotiate favourable terms for the country to pay back its debt to the EU since the election of the radical left-wing party Syriza in January. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left-wing party heading the new coalition, immediately demanded a renegotiation of Greece' £179 billion international bailout deal. The party has continued to describe itself as 'anti-austerity.' Mr Varoufakis last month visited Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in London to garner support for the move and has been touring several European countries. Greece was likely to run out of money by March if a deal was not reached before the end of February, and a four month extension to the bailout programme for Greece was agreed on a conditional basis. February 9 2010 – Greek Parliament approved first austerity package measures -  included a freeze in the salaries of all government employees, a 10% cut in bonuses, and cuts in overtime workers. March 3 2010 – Parliament passed a new major austerity package. Measures included: Pensions freezes, an increase in sales tax from 19% to 21%, rises in taxes on fuel, cigarettes and alcohol, rises in taxes on luxury goods, cuts in public sector pay. April 23 2010 – George Papandreou, Greece's prime minister formally requested an international bailout. The financing will come from an emergency aid package with the participation of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. May 2 2010 – Papandreou, the IMF, and euro-zone leaders agree to a €110 billion bailout package that would take effect over the next three years. The government announced the new austerity package measures. June 29 2011 – Parliament passed the new austerity package. October 20 2011 – Government passed the multi-austerity bill, amid protests and violent riots outside the parliament building. February 12 2012 – Parliament passed new austerity package measures amid violent protests. Many buildings in the centre of Athens burnt during riots. November 5 2012 – Parliament adopted new round of austerity cuts required for Greece to receive the next installment of the international economic bailout. April 28 013 – Parliament approved bill that included cutting 15,000 state jobs . July 17 2013 – Parliament approves new austerity measures . March 30 2014 – Parliament passed new multi-bill needed for Greece to receive its next bailout. April 10 2014 – Greece returned to financial markets, with the issue of 3 billion Eurobonds. December 8 2014 – Greek government announced snap presidential vote. Next day the Greek stock market fell 12.78%, a fall record since 1989. December 29 2014 –Government collapses after failing to elect new president of Greece. January 2015 - Alexis Tsipras of Syriza becomes prime minister and launches attempt to persuade European Union and IMF to ease terms of bail-outs. But there are still concerns the country could run out of money, as Greek officials complain the repayment measures are starving them of money. Earlier this week, Greece had handed over 580m euros to the International Monetary Fund, clearing its debt for this month. But it will face another 350m euros bill tomorrow - generating further tensions between Greece and the eurozone and fears that the country could drop out of the single currency altogether. The allegations come as Varoufakis, an outspoken Marxist economist and blogger, has faced a number of criticisms. He came under fire after taking part in a photo shoot for Paris Match - him and his wife posing with glasses of wine on their roof terrace. +Eden Hazard has praised Chelsea's 'important win' over Hull; a result which sent them back to winning ways at the top of the Premier League. The Chelsea midfielder was on target inside two minutes at the KC Stadium to put his side ahead, but the three points were only secured late on when substitute Loic Remy made it 3-2. Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Hazard said: 'It was important after the draw at home [with Southampton]. We have nine finals to play. We have to win everything if [we] want to bring the trophy to Stamford Bridge. Eden Hazard celebrates after putting Chelsea 1-0 up inside two minutes at the KC Stadium . Loic Remy was brought on in the 75th minute against Hull and had scored in the 77th to make it 3-2 . 'We know when you play away, it's always difficult, particularly when you play here. I remember last season, the game was difficult. Today was the same. The most important [thing] was to win.' Remy was only brought on in the 75th minute, and netted his goal two minutes later to secure three points for Jose Mourinho's side. The Frenchman admits that the goal was his biggest moment in a Chelsea shirt so far. Hazard (left) watches on as his shot flies past Allan McGregor and into the back of the net . Remy pokes home to put Chelsea 3-2 up; securing the three points and a six-point gap at the top of the league . 'Yes, of course. It's a good moment for me,' Remy told Sky Sports. 'I think the work of all the team, we are working properly and training every day to get results and success, so for us it's really important to win this kind of game and we're still on top of the league. We'll keep going in this way and we'll see at the end of the season. 'It's always frustrating when you're on the bench, but I think we make the difference with the guy on the bench and whoever is playing, no matter who is on the pitch, as soon as the manager needs us we have to be ready for a fight and to win games. It's simple.' +The day before George Osborne delivers his budget to the nation the Lawn Tennis Association came up with its rough equivalent – the latest long term plan to revive the state of the game in Great Britain. Chief Executive Michael Downey finally unveiled his vision for the governing body, and in budgetary terms the big winner will be those people involved in marketing the sport and trying to get more people playing it. Over the next four years there will be a 50 per cent uplift in money spent on marketing, so that by 2018 around £26 million will be spent on promoting the sport of tennis in the United Kingdom. While Andy Murrayis established as one of the world's best players, problems still exist at grass roots level . Other countries will look on enviously at such a huge sum although, given the current rankings of most GB juniors, many may well comfort themselves that their stocks of elite players will be superior for years to come. Downey reaffirmed the LTA's laudable, broad policy of building the game from the bottom up by concentrating on participation and talked through a range of worthy and sensible measures to help achieve this. However, there was nothing especially original to stir the imagination or make an impact with the wider public, no 'Parks tennis revolution' or some such thing. Anyone wanting to see something more radical to improve the British game would be left disappointed. Not that Downey, the former head of Tennis Canada who was appointed 18months ago, pulled all of his punches in presenting the latest of what have hitherto been doomed long-term plans for the British game. LTA Chief Executive Michael Downey has unveiled his long term strategy to rejuvenate the game . 'Our sport is declining and some people have a problem hearing that,' he said at the start. What he was specifically referring to was the problems tennis, like most other ball sports, has with declining participation numbers. They all face a challenge from what he termed 'doorstep' sports, highly convenient and less technically demanding activities such as running, cycling, swimming and going to the gym, which can be done solo and whenever time permits. Despite the hundreds of millions gleaned from Wimbledon profits and that event's ever growing popularity, there has been an average drop of 5 per cent in adult participation over each of the past five years. The particular problem is among the 16-44 age group with numbers steady above that. Curiously he omitted to mention, until asked, that tennis is now played to a greater or lesser extent in 20,000 schools among 2.6 million children, an impressive figure that would be envied by most other sports. Among the smorgasbord of measures to improve things, there will be a drive to increase participation in parks tennis. 'I think the old LTA would have driven by the parks and straight into the clubs and schools,' he said. The LTA receives millions annually from funds generated by the Wimbledon Championships . There were other sensible ideas. With tennis participation peaking in July, there will be a concerted effort to get people to start playing earlier in the year. Clubs, volunteers and coaches will get more support (attempts at this are nothing new). In junior tennis there will, wisely, be more emphasis on team events and there will be a much-needed concentration on creating a less pressured environment at junior tournaments. The emphasis will be on creating inclusive fun and recreational competitions across the board. Downey asserted that he was looking at the 'meat and potatoes' issues, rather than eyecatching initiatives. He also pledged that the LTA would spend money 'like it's your own' (no reference here to his own £434,000 pay package). It is, clearly, expecting too much for any results to be instant, as with the efforts to improve the elite end of tennis. He was unrepentant about cuts to the performance side of the game and funding for lower ranked players, pointing out that the average entry age into the world's top 100 is 21 for men and 20 for women. Murray's victory at SW19 in 2013 spiked interest but there has been a five per cent fall in adult participation . 'If you are 27 years old and still playing Futures I don't think you are going to be a top 50 player. It's a ruthless business,' he said, reiterating the 'no compromise' message he wants to run through the elite end of the sport. While there has to be a degree of patience with his plans, they also illustrated the glacial pace of how things tend to be done at the governing body compared to what would happen in the more dynamic private sector. There are many things that have not even been considered or barely thought about. Andy Murray, for instance, is nearly 28 and there is still no clue as to how to use his profile to spread the game. (Downey presented his ideas to him in Glasgow two weeks ago and was impressed by his interest.). Downey has spoken to Murray after Britain's 3-2 Davis Cup win over USA in Glasgow . TV advertising during the summer is not on the agenda. If there is an embracing of the excellent Tennis For Free charity and its proven methods then it seems limited. The whole key issue of playing surfaces did not raise a flicker, nor did the idea of adopting foreign training base with clay courts and a better climate. No participation targets have been set. The simple idea of trying to rebrand the organisation from its anachronistic 'Lawn Tennis Association' title to something more modern is apparently a non-starter for some reason. What was presented, though, was steady and sensible enough, while not especially imaginative nor wide in scope. Like most budget speeches, the effects of its contents will not be immediately obvious. +Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn was able to leave Melbourne with a smile, happy to see the end of what she described as one of the worst weeks of her career. The first five and a half days from last Monday were overshadowed by a legal battle in the Supreme Court of Victoria with former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde and his claim on a full-time race-seat for this season. That was eventually resolved on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, although further talks are planned this week - in a private arena away from the courtroom - between both sides in a bid to finally close the matter. Monisha Kaltenborn was happy to end a tough week with a smile on her face at the Australian Grand Prix . Sauber have been embroiled in a legal battle with their former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde (centre) Once Sauber and Kaltenborn were again able to concentrate on the racing, drivers Marcus Ericsson and rookie Felipe Nasr acquitted themselves well. Nasr was a superb fifth - the highest position by a Brazilian driver on debut - while Ericsson's eighth-place finish was the best result by a Swede since Stefan Johansson in the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. When you consider Sauber endured the worst season in their history last year when they failed to score a point , their feats around Melbourne's Albert Park were all the more remarkable. 'It was a very nice ending to the weekend,' Kaltenborn said. 'The events of last week were not easy for the entire team. You can try to keep things away from them, but they are exposed to it. You just don't know how to shield it from them. On the track, Felipe Nasr finished fifth - the highest a Brazilian driver has ever finished on his debut . Kaltenborn (left) looks dejected as she attends a press conference of team principals in Melbourne last week . 'But it was impressive how the team continued to do their work, to remain focused and to bring home the kind of result we saw. 'For me personally, last week was probably one of my toughest in my time at Sauber, and I don't want to experience it again. 'I'm very glad it's over - all the more glad with the outcome (of the race) - and we focus now on the future.' Kaltenborn conceded on Friday the events of last week had resulted in 'a negative impact' on the team, but she felt confident that, given the tremendous result, it had now been restored. 'With what happened, the morale was affected, but you could feel they got themselves together,' Kaltenborn added. 'With these kind of results, you can have an extra push of motivation and you can feel good about it. 'This result tells people we're back, to forget about what happened last year, that it was a one-off and won't happen again.' +The expectation on the Willie Mullins stable may have been immense but the Irish champion trainer delivered with interest as two more winners on the final day took his haul to a record eight. The tally eclipsed the previous record set by Nicky Henderson three years ago. The only real surprise with the final-day brace was that Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle winner Wicklow Brave, a third winner at the meeting for jockey Paul Townend, was allowed to start at 25-1 as the gelding sauntered home by eight lengths from Sort It Out. Killultagh Vic (left) with Luke Dempsey on board, pipped Noble Endeavour on a photo finish to win on Friday . Willie Mullins has set the record for the most ever wins at the Cheltenham Festival with eight this week . Wicklow Brave had become Mullins' seventh win of the Cheltenham Festival earlier in the day . Paul Townend celebrates with Willie Mullins (left) after Wicklow Brave's victory . Tuesday: . Douvan 2/1F Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle . Un De Sceaux 4/6F Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase . Faugheen 4/5F Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy . Glens Melody 6/1 OLBG Mares' Hurdle . Wednesday: . Don Poli  13/8F RSA Chase . Thursday: . Vautour 6/4F JLT Novices' Chase . Friday: . Wicklow Brave 25/1 Vincent O'Brien County Handicap Hurdle . Killultagh Vic 7/1 Martin Pipe Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle . It was harder work for Killultagh Vic, the Luke Dempsey-ridden 7-1 shot in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle as he edged home by a head from Noble Endevour. Mullins said: 'It's been fantastic. 'It's so hard and competitive, but we've had such a fantastic spring. We've had no sickness with any of the horses and we've had a great preparation.' The trainer was full of praise for Dempsey, who rode brilliantly to hold on to the final win under huge pressure. 'I thought Luke gave him a great ride,' Mullins said. 'He was beaten and then he pulled it out of the fire. 'It's his first ride for me, as far as I can remember. He was available last week so I booked him. Mullins finished off the meeting as he started. His bookie clobbering four-timer on day one was headed by Champion Hurdler Faugheen and also included Douvan in the Supreme Novices, Un de Sceaux in the Arkle and Glens Melody in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle. His other two winners were Vautour in the JLT Novices’ Chase and Don Poli in the RSA Chase. His successes almost allowed Ireland to beat Britain in the Betbright Prestbury Cup, but the home team edged it 14-13. Douvan, ridden by Ruby Walsh, was Mullins' first win of this year's festival on Tuesday . Walsh was on board again when Un De Sceaux won the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase . Walsh then rode Faugheen to Mullins' third winner on Tuesday, on a fantastic first day for the trainer . Mullins and Walsh hold up the Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge trophy after Faugheen's win . Glens Melody, ridden by Paul Townend in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle, was Mullins' fourth win on day one . Don Poli streaks away from the field to win the RSA Chase, Mullins' only win on Wednesday at Cheltenham . Walsh, on board Vautour, jumps clear of the field to win the JLT Novices chase for Mullins on day three . +Ben Youngs choked back tears of more Six Nations title misery and admitted: ‘We are all devastated to go so close but not get the job done.’ The scrum-half was outstanding in an incredible game that left England ruing all those missed chances against Scotland the week before. They hardly missed a chance at Twickenham this time but a dejected Youngs, who scored two fine tries, insisted: ‘All the lads are devastated. We felt for most of the game we had a chance but just could not make that gap bigger when we needed. We just could not get the job done. Ben Youngs admitted after the France win that the England players were all devastated to miss out on Six Nation glory at Twickenham on Saturday . Ben Youngs goes over the line to give England an early lead in their Six Nations clash . Youngs (left) celebrates after scoring one of two tries for England against France . Captain Chris Robshaw (right) wanders off the Twickenham pitch after his country's win against France . Courtney Lawes appears dejected as he trudges off the pitch after the final whistle at Twickenham . Head coach Stuart Lancaster walks down the tunnel after watching his country's 55-35 victory against France . ‘Each time we got a try they seem to get one back and that was the biggest disappointment. But we were determined not to leave anything out there or waste any chances. It’s not very often you score seven tries, beat France and walk off feeling pretty sick. ‘But at least we have the consolation of winning a big game at Twickenham and showing people that we can finish off moves and score plenty of tries when we play this way.’ Head coach Stuart Lancaster admitted: ‘It’s disappointing to miss out on the title by a small margin again. It’s becoming an unfortunate habit and a not very nice one. But I can’t fault the guys for the total commitment and effort. ‘We played some cracking rugby and scored some great tries. But credit to Ireland for winning the title. It was another case of what might have been had we got this try or that one last week.’ +There were call-ups for three uncapped players and an unexpected recall for Ben Stokes but they were all overshadowed in England's Test squad to tour the Caribbean by the return of Jonathan Trott. Nothing seemed less likely than this when Trott left England's Ashes tour 16 months ago after his public ordeal at the hands of Mitchell Johnson. The road back since he returned home after the first Test in Brisbane with a 'stress-related condition' later diagnosed as situational anxiety has been a long and tortuous one. Warwickshire batsman Jonathan Trott has been recalled to the England Test squad for their upcoming tour . Trott has completed his recovery from a stress-related condition that stretches back to the Ashes in 2013 . Trott will compete with Adam Lyth for an opening batting slot alongside Alastair Cook . Yet against all the odds and after the key development of working with renowned sports psychologist Steve Peters, Trott is back and will compete with Adam Lyth to become Alastair Cook's opening partner in the three-Test series. There will be those who worry about Trott's fragility but mental injuries should be treated no differently from physical ones and now he has been given a clean bill of health it is right that the 33-year-old should be picked. Lyth gets the nod ahead of Sam Robson and his emerging county colleague Alex Lees, and becomes one of an incredible six Yorkshiremen in the squad after scoring 1,489 championship runs at 67.68 last season. Adil Rashid, another Yorkshireman, and Durham fast bowler Mark Wood are the other newcomers. Rashid made the last of his 10 limited-overs appearances for England six years ago but is a more mature leg-spinning all-rounder and person now at 27. Stokes, who missed out on the World Cup after a miserable year of form, returns in place of the injured Chris Woakes, but England see him more as a No 6 batsman and fourth seamer in Test cricket. England hope Moeen Ali will overcome a side injury to join the tour in time for the second Test in Grenada. In his absence Rashid will compete for the No 1 slow-bowling spot with Kent's reliable off-spinner James Tredwell, who edged out Surrey's Zafar Ansari for the final place in the squad. Adil Rashid bowls during a training session for the England performance squad at Colts Cricket Club in 2014 . Mark Wood celebrates taking the wicket of Middlesex batsman Sam Robson (left) in June 2014 . Batsmen: . (Player, Age, Tests, County) Alastair Cook, 30, 109, Essex . Jonny Bairstow, 25, 14, Yorkshire . Gary Ballance, 25, 8, Yorkshire . Ian Bell, 32, 105, Warwickshire . Jos Buttler, 24, 3, Lancashire . Adam Lyth, 27, 0, Yorkshire . Joe Root, 24, 22, Yorkshire . Jonathan Trott, 33, 49, Warwickshire . All-rounders: . Adil Rashid, 27, 0, Yorkshire . Ben Stokes, 23, 6, Durham . Bowlers: . James Anderson, 32, 99, Lancashire . Stuart Broad, 28, 74, Nottinghamshire . Chris Jordan, 26, 5, Sussex . Liam Plunkett, 29, 13, Yorkshire . James Tredwell, 33, 1, Kent . Mark Wood, 25, 0, Durham . +Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 32 points in the first half and Goran Dragic added 20 as the Miami Heat handed LeBron James another loss on his former home floor with a 106-92 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Mario Chalmers finished with 16 points off the bench for the Heat, who won both of James' regular-season trips to Miami this season - his first two games back since leaving the team and returning to Cleveland last summer. James scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for Cleveland, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Kyrie Irving added 21. Lebron James (left) suffered defeat again on return to Miami as the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 106-92 . Dwyane Wade hit 32 points and Goran Dragic (right) 20 as the Miami Heat beat Cleveland at home . Wade embraces his former Miami team-mate James after the game . Chandler Parsons scored 31 points for Dallas and Dirk Nowitzki added 22 with some big 3-pointers as the Mavericks rallied from 15 down in the third quarter to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-115. Russell Westbrook just missed his seventh triple-double in 10 games, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. But he picked up his fifth and sixth fouls 0.6 seconds apart trying to bring the Thunder back in the final minute. The Mavericks moved into fifth place in the Western Conference. In Oakland, California, Klay Thompson scored 26 points, and Stephen Curry had 19 points and nine assists as the Golden State Warriors secured a playoff spot before beating the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 108-105. VIDEO Wade and Miami get the better of LeBron . Klay Thompson (centre) scored 26 points as the Golden State Warriors beat LA Lakers 108-105 . The Warriors sealed their postseason berth during a timeout late in the second quarter when they learned Oklahoma City lost 119-115 at Dallas. The videoboards above halfcourt displayed 'CLINCHED', and fans inside the sold-out arena gave the home team a standing ovation. Atlanta's Jeff Teague scored 23 points, and Paul Millsap added 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Hawks set a club record with its 23rd road win of the season, 110-103 over the Sacramento Kings. DeMarre Carroll added 16 points and Shelvin Mack had 14 for the Eastern Conference-leading Hawks, who have won 10 of 12 games overall and 14 straight against Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins scored 20 points and Jason Thompson added 18 for the Kings, who have lost seven of eight and continue to struggle following their second coaching change of the season. DeMarcus Cousins scored 20 points and Jason Thompson (right) added 18 as the Kings lost to Atlanta Hawks . The Toronto Raptors downed the Indiana Pacers 117-98 after Kyle Lowry had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Lou Williams scored 24 points. The Raptors (40-27) set a club record by earning their 40th win in just 67 games. They had never achieved that feat in fewer than 70. In the other games, John Wall had 21 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds and two blocks as the Washington Wizards defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 105-97, the Boston Celtics downed the Philadelphia 76ers 108-89, the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Denver Nuggets 92-81, the New Jersey Nets were 122-106 winners over the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz trounced the Charlotte Hornets 94-66. +Chris Coleman will name Sam Vokes in a Wales squad for the first time in a year on Wednesday - and believes that allows Gareth Bale to spell more danger for his country. Vokes has not featured for Wales since scoring in a 3-1 victory over Iceland last March as he ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament three weeks after that Cardiff friendly. But striker Vokes has been a regular off the Burnley bench since Christmas and started his first Barclays Premier League game on Saturday when the Clarets shocked Manchester City to win 1-0 at Turf Moor. Burnley striker Sam Vokes has earned a call up to the Wales squad after impressing for the Clarets . Vokes (right) scored on his second appearance back from injury during his side's 1-1 draw with Tottenham . That has convinced Coleman he is ready to play some part in the crunch European Championship qualifier against Israel on March 28 and free Bale again to cause maximum damage in Haifa. 'He obviously missed the start of the season after his injury but he's had some games and minutes under his belt now,' said Coleman. 'It's good for us because Sam gives us something different. 'He's not just a big target man, he's got a bit more to him than that and it will be good to have the big man back . 'Maybe he can come on for half an hour or play for an hour if he starts because defenders don't like playing against that very strong and brave forward who can get a goal.' Vokes' return also spells good news for Coleman as far as the deployment of Bale is concerned, especially as his main man ended his nine-game scoring drought on Sunday by scoring both goals in Real Madrid's 2-0 league victory over Levante. Bale has often had to plough a lone furrow in Vokes' absence rather than causing mayhem when cutting in from either flank. Gareth Bale, pictured after scoring against Andorra, has led Wales' forward line in the absence of Vokes . The Real superstar scored twice in Wales' opening 2-1 Euro 2016 win in Andorra in September to make it 11 goals in his last 16 international appearances but he has not found the net in the three qualifiers since. 'Maybe we can now release Gareth somewhere else,' Coleman said. 'Gareth's been up there by himself because in the last camp Simon Church was also injured and he's had a job to do for us. 'But we can look at it with another angle with big Sam coming back.' Coleman's side head to Haifa with themselves and Israel the surprise early front-runners in Group B and fancied pair Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina having ground to make up in the section. Group leaders Israel have won their opening three games while unbeaten Wales lie in second place after beating Andorra and Cyprus and picking up points against Belgium and Bosnia. Wales boss Chris Coleman is hoping Vokes' return will allow Bale to return to his natural role . Coleman has hit on a settled side and he hopes he will be able to call on Hull defender James Chester, who has been out of action since dislocating a shoulder in January. Chester has been a revelation since joining the set-up last year and has developed a formidable centre-back pairing alongside captain Ashley Williams, with Wales conceding only twice in four qualification games so far. 'It will be touch-and-go for James and he's done brilliant for us,' Coleman said. 'But we're lucky we've got someone of James Collins' experience to come in. 'He's got the type of mentality to go to a place like Israel where it will be heated and front it up and lead. 'It's going to be tough because they're top on merit but if we're serious about qualifying we've got to go there and get something.' +Alan Pardew has backed Crystal Palace defender Scott Dann to carry on improving and challenge for a place in the England squad in the near future. England boss Roy Hodgson opted for Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling as his four centre back for the upcoming internationals with Lithuania and Italy at the end of the month. But Dann has been in impressive form for Palace in recent months as they moved away from relegation danger. Scott Dann has been in brilliant form for Crystal Palace recently and could be in line for an England call . Alan Pardew has back his centre back to keep improving and draw Roy Hodgson's attention to him . But Pardew says that Dann, 28, has his best years ahead of him and can carry on improving. He said: ‘He is a good age and is coming into his prime age as a centre half and he has a lot of experience under his belt at this level. ‘He has not surprised me in terms of his character because he plays with an honesty in every game. He has been very impressive since I have been here and his confidence is high. He hit a pass out to a left winger at the weekend that Glenn Hoddle would have been proud of. ‘He has some good players in front of him and they have a lot more experience at that top level than he does. ‘I don’t think he should be disappointed he has not made this squad. He is playing well at the moment and it is there for all to see. What will be, will be, but his best years are still in front of him.’ For Pardew personally, he would love to see a Palace player called up to the England squad. Wilfried Zaha was the last Palace player to be called up to the England squad back in 2012 and Pardew says his players must find their place in the Premier League first. Dann is 28 but Pardew says he has his best years ahead of him and has been impressed by his character . Charlie Austin, who was also left out of the England squad, loses out in an aerial challenge to Dann . Wilfried Zaha was the last Palace player to be called up for England in 2012 in his previous spell at the club . Pardew would love to see a Palace player called up to the England squad during his time as manager . Harry Kane’s rapid assent into Hodgson’s squad is something that Pardew admires and hopes he can unearth someone of his quality. He added: ‘There have not been too many Palace players in the England squad in recent years and it would be nice to get someone in that squad. Sometimes when a team has just been promoted and you are in your second year, you have not got the foundations yet to be proven to show you are good enough at that level. Harry Kane has won a place in the England squad and Pardew has been impressed with his quick progress . ‘Our boys are fighting for their status and you need to gain that. ‘To be fair to Harry Kane he has done that in a very quick time at a top club, and that is difficult to do, so hats off to him. ‘Lets hope we can produce someone of his ilk as he is a real example to players up and down the country.’ +Romelu Lukaku can score the goals to keep Everton in the Premier League, according to manager Roberto Martinez. The Belgium international impressed while on loan from Chelsea last season, but struggled initially after making the move permanent last July. A total of seven goals before Christmas was fewer than Everton might have expected from a striker they had just spent a club-record £28m on. Romelu Lukaku has been 'phenomenal' in 2015, according to Everton manager Roberto Martinez . Lukaku has struggled at times this season after his £28million move from Chelsea in the summer . But the 21-year-old has scored 11 times since the turn of the year, finding the net in each of Everton's last three matches. Martinez puts that recovery down to the fact that Lukaku is no longer suffering the after-effects of helping Belgium reach the quarter-finals of last summer's World Cup. Everton are far from safe in the Premier League as they prepare for  Sunday's trip to relegation-threatened QPR. But Martinez feels that the goals of Lukaku will see them out of trouble. He said: He said: 'We made a big investment in him because we always felt that he's a one-off. 'It's always tough for players after a World Cup, and Rom found it extremely difficult. 'But I've been so impressed by the manner in which he's put everything together. 'I think he's been phenomenal. His performances from January have been impressive. 'Now the target is to see that in the next 10 weeks, and make sure he finishes the season really strongly. 'Rom's becoming the type of player who needs one chance to make the difference. 'He likes to carry that responsibility, which is something that goes with your character. He's the full package.' The Belgian striker competes with Moussa Sissoko during Everton's win against Newcastle last week . Martinez has no doubt that Everton are in a relegation fight. Last Sunday's 3-0 home victory over Newcastle was only the second time his side had won in 12 Premier League matches. He said: 'Any team who haven't got 40 points in the final third of the season are fighting for every point. Make no mistake about it. 'It's a massive period of the season for us. Every point is going to be extra significant for the team.' Robert Martinez insists Everton are in a relegation dog fight this season . +Chris Ramsey is relishing his role as semi-permanent Queens Park Rangers manager, regardless of the four-point margin between the west London club and 17th place. Ramsey joined QPR as academy manager after 10 years with Tottenham, and picked up the managerial reins until at least the end of the season after the departure of Harry Redknapp in February. The former Brighton right back, whose side host Everton on Sunday, found himself out of work for more than half a year after being relieved of his duties in north London at the end of last season, and admits he was desperate to return to the game – irrespective of the circumstances. Chris Ramsey insists he is relishing his role as semi-permanent Queens Park Rangers manager . ‘I had seven months at home watching Frasier, Jeremy Kyle and Homes Under The Hammer!’ said Ramsey. ‘Of course I would rather be here in this situation than be out of work and worrying where the next job or paycheque is going to come from. ‘I'm in a fantastic situation - I'm one of 20 managers in the best league in the world.’ Ramsey has a fight on his hands if QPR are to remain in ‘the best league in the world’, and while no physical confrontation took place, the 52-year-old admitted to a ‘heated exchange’ with his players when 3-0 down at half-time against Crystal Palace a week ago. The QPR boss instructs his players during a training session ahead of their clash against Everton . However, Ramsey knows simply rollicking his players each week won’t be enough to save QPR’s season. ‘We’ve had some strong words before each game to be honest, and sometimes you have to take a different tact because the effect of that speech goes,’ Ramsey continued. ‘Sometimes you have to look at the game and the situation, and use different strategies to get the players ready to perform. ‘The players didn’t throw the towel in against Palace. We talked about making sure the fans weren’t embarrassed any more in the second half of the game. ‘So Matty (Phillips) scores a goal like he’ll probably never score again. If he shoots from there again I don’t think I’ll be too happy, unless it goes in.’ QPR suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace last weekend . +Southampton winger Lloyd Isgrove has joined Sheffield Wednesday on an emergency loan deal until the end of the season. The pacy 22-year-old, is another product of the club's famed youth academy, and joins The Owls soon after signing a new two-year-contract extension at St Mary's. The Wales Under-21 international has made four appearances for the Southampton first-team this season and came off the bench in their opening game of the campaign against Liverpool at Anfield. Southampton winger Lloyd Isgrove, 22, has joined Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on loan . Isgrove, pictured here against Ipswich, has made four appearances for Southampton's first-team this season . Wednesday, who are managed by one-time Southampton manager Stuart Gray, are currently 12th in the Sky Bet Championship table with nine games left to go. Isgrove joins his new club in time for a possible debut in Saturday's Yorkshire derby away at Rotherham United. Les Reed, Southampton's director of football, told Saintsfc.co.uk: 'This is a great opportunity for Lloyd to demonstrate his prowess at a Championship club and get some more valuable first-team experience.' Southampton director of football Les Reed hopes that Isgrove will benefit from playing regularly on loan . +Scott Brown insists his Edinburgh escapades are in the past and he is focused on the future. The Celtic skipper was photographed slumped in a street in the capital only four days before Sunday's League Cup Final against Dundee United. However, Brown, who picked up his third medal in the tournament and also his first as captain, said: 'I don't think I'm the first player to make a mistake and probably won't be the last. Scott Brown lifts the Scottish League Cup, just four days after being photographed slumped in the street . Brown now insists that he has moved on from the incident, and is focused on winning games for Celtic . 'But I've spoken to the manager, it's been dealt with and now all I'm doing is moving on. 'I'm sure the club, the manager and the fans know that my total focus will always be on the matches coming up and nothing else but winning for Celtic. 'It was a real honour as captain to lift the League Cup on Sunday and we now want to push on and try to bring our fans even more success this season. 'That's all we're thinking about.' Brown says he has discussed the matter with manager Ronny Deila (right) and the issue is now over . +When Steven Davis arrives back at Hampden for the first time in four years it is sure to be a bittersweet occasion for the former Rangers captain. The memories will come flooding back of his five cup finals as an Ibrox midfielder that ended with the Ibrox players being showered in champagne and drenched in adulation. There was a time when Davis dreamed life would always be like this; that his next trip to Mount Florida would be to add to those two Scottish Cups and three League Cup wins secured under Walter Smith. Southampton midfielder Steven Davis shoots at goal during a match against West Ham last month . Yet those aspirations ended abruptly when the economics of the madhouse behind the scenes at Ibrox intersected with cold hard reality and Rangers plunged into the financial abyss in 2012. When Davis returns to the city to skipper Northern Ireland in a friendly with Scotland next Wednesday night, he knows he could face a hostile reception from the Rangers fans in the crowd who remain raw about the way their on-field leader walked out when the going got tough. Yet with no clarity on what the future held for the club under Charles Green, Davis was one of several leading players who opted to move on rather than remain to usher in the new era under Charles Green. While Davis takes no personal pleasure from vindication, time has shown his switch to high-flying Southampton to be a shrewd move, as Rangers have, by contrast, stumbled between alternating humiliations and crises over the last three years. And while the 30-year-old would understands any animosity, he hopes the fans realise he was left with no other realistic choice. Davis (centre) lifts the Scottish Cup trophy after Rangers beat Falkirk 1-0 in the 2009 final at Hampden . ‘I’m really looking forward to the match against Scotland,’ said Davis, who won three SPL titles and was a UEFA Cup Finalist between 2008 and 2012. ‘I’ve always wanted to get back up the road to catch a game but with the number of fixtures we have nowadays I haven’t managed. ‘I’ve fond memories from the majority of my appearances at Hampden and without doubt, I always hoped I’d play there a few more times with Rangers. When you enjoy as much success as we did in finals, you clearly want to continue in the same vein. ‘We always seemed to do well in the cup competitions but none of us – whether you were a fan or a player – could have foreseen what would happen at the club. ‘When you play football, you don’t really have your mind on anything else but with the publicity Rangers get, we started to get away from that. ‘When the new people came in, we didn’t know who we were dealing with and there was no dialogue in terms of telling us which direction the club was going in. ‘We never heard from the new owners about how they wanted to take the club forward or what their ambitions were for the next four or five years. Davis (centre) goes flying after being fouled during Northern Ireland's match against the Faroes last year . ‘We didn’t even hear how the next six months might pan out. There were no conversations had with us at all and it was an impossible situation for everybody. I didn’t ever get a phone call to say what the plans were or what the aims of the club were to try to progress. ‘I was the captain at the time so if I wasn’t getting a call, it’s fair to say I don’t think anyone else would have been either. ‘It was difficult because nobody really knew what sanctions were going to be applied and if we were going to be relegated or not. We were put in a position where we had to make a decision on our futures without knowing what the future might hold in store. ‘We had to make choices without knowing anything and the biggest thing from the club was there was a lack of communication so we didn’t know which way it was going. ‘I’m sure there will still be a few people who are unhappy with the way players left but we’ve seen a lot of things unravel in the last couple of years. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and everybody can now see the effect the new people had after they came in. ‘Maybe the fans can start to see where we were coming from and how we looked at it a bit better because of that.’ Davis (right) celebrates with his Rangers team-mates after the Ibrox club won the 2011 League Cup final . As Rangers struggle, Davis has been a key player in Southampton’s challenge for a European place this season. He has tended to keep his own counsel on the thorny issue of Rangers but when he joined Southampton, technically as a free agent, he pushed succeeded for the St Mary’s club to pay Rangers a fee. These days he just hopes the damage of three years of mismanagement at Ibrox can by repaired. ‘It is difficult to say anything in the media about it because you’re never going to come across the right way in everybody’s eyes,’ the 71-capped Ulsterman said. ‘It was obviously a difficult situation at the time but whenever I played, I always gave 100 per cent and I loved my time at Rangers. ‘I’ve got nothing but good memories of the fans, who were excellent with me and any supporters I’ve met since have only been positive. ‘At the time, a lot of things were said in the heat of the moment but over time, I think people have been able to see we had to make the best decisions for ourselves and our families. Davis (right) poses with Rangers manager Ally McCoist after winning the Scottish Premier League Player of the Month award for September 2011 . ‘For me, as an international player at 27 as I was then, I wanted to play at the highest level and I had to take everything into consideration. ‘As we didn’t have any real direction at Rangers we were being made aware of, we wanted to know what was happening but got nothing. ‘When I joined the club at first, there was no need to have that conversation because we simply went into every competition looking to win it. ‘That was clear. The fans demanded that, as did the players, but things changed and I hope Rangers can get back to that soon. ‘I’ve always wanted to get back to Ibrox to see a game and if it wasn’t for what happened, we could potentially all still be there just now. ‘It’s not like we were all angling for moves. At the time, we had a great dressing room and had had a lot of success over a number of years. There was no real need for any of us to look elsewhere and it was really unfortunate things went the way they did.’ +Real Madrid players appeared to be in high spirits as they put the finishing touches to their preparations for the potential La Liga title decider against Barcelona this weekend. The two clubs, who occupy the top two spots in Spain's top flight, are set to face each other at the Nou Camp on Sunday. Gareth Bale's brace in a 2-0 win over Levante last weekend arrested a run of three games without victory for Los Blancos, but the game against Barca will undoubtedly represent a far sterner test. Real Madrid players ramp up their efforts in training ahead of the crucial game against rivals Barcelona . The game against Barcelona, 'El Clasico', could prove to a deciding game in the title race in La Liga . Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 41 goals in all competitions for his club so far this season . Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas dives to make a save from a shot in training ahead of Sunday's game . The Catalans come into El Clasico off the back of six consecutive wins, the last of which confirmed Premier League side Manchester City's exit from the Champions League. Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has been under intense pressure in recent weeks from the fans and board alike and the Italian will know that a victory against Barca would go along way towards assuaging those concerns. Meanwhile, world-record signing Bale, will be keen to carry on the form he showed against Levante, which marked his first two goals in nine games. The forward had also been on the receiving end of some stick from the crowd. Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti will be hoping to relieve some of the pressure on him with a win on Sunday . Ancelotti watches on as Ronaldo controls the ball and prepares to dribble against his team-mates in training . Ronaldo watches on as Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale plays the ball in training ahead of Sunday's game . Ronaldo, Bale and Modric are put through their paces as Real Madrid prepare to take on Barcelona on Sunday . Bale and Real Madrid team-mate Marcelo warm up during the session at the Valdebebas training ground . +Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is optimistic that holding midfielder Sergio Busquets can recover from injury in time for Sunday's El Clasico match against Real Madrid at the Nou Camp. Enrique said on Saturday that Busquets 'isn't 100 percent but he will be there' for the clash against Barca's rivals in what could be a potential decider for the league title. Busquets has been sidelined for the last three games since injuring his right ankle against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey. Midfielder Sergio Busquets could make his return to Barcelona's first-team against Real Madrid on Sunday . Barcelona coach Luis Enrique will be hopeful that Busquets can return in time for the crucial El Clasico match . Javier Mascherano has filled in for Barcelona in the holding midfield position during Busquets' injury . Javier Mascherano has played in his place and would do so again against Madrid if Busquets isn't fit enough. Barca go into El Clasico off the back of six consecutive victories in all competitions, the last of those confirming Premier League side Manchester City's exit from the Champions League. Madrid, meanwhile, arrested their mini slump of three games without a win after a 2-0 triumph over Levante, courtesy of a brace from Gareth Bale. Busquets has been sidelined for Barcelona's last three games but could return in time to face Real Madrid . +Jordan Henderson can become one of the great international players if he starts to add more goals to his game, according to England manager Roy Hodgson. Hodgson believes that the Liverpool midfielder, who takes on Manchester United on Sunday and is tipped to take over the captaincy from Steven Gerrard next season, is only a step away from becoming an exceptional player, with the England manager delighted at Henderson's progress after he was lambasted for picking Henderson for Euro 2012. Hodgson said: 'His rise has been fairly meteoric as well. It wasn't so long ago that I picked him for Euro 2012 and that decision was vilified. People were saying he wasn't getting into the Liverpool team and he was being described as a waste of money. Roy Hodgson believes Jordan Henderson could become one of the great international players . The England manager wants Henderson to start adding more goals to his game . 'Then he went to the Under-21 tournament a year later and got an awful lot of criticism captaining the England Under-21 team. No-one had a good word to say about him. So his rise has been quite meteoric, even though he's been round a long time. 'It's only the last year that people are starting to say: "Actually, this boy's a good player". This lad has a lot of qualities. And of course I think, as time goes on, the responsibility he's been given at Liverpool now by Brendan will help him. Liverpool's success will rub off on him as well as he's been an important part of it. 'I think we'll see him get better and better and that's what we hope. He ceratinly has enough qualities that I don't think he needs to be hung up on goal-scoring. He'll always be around the national team for the many other qualities he has. If he starts to add goals as well, then you're talking about someone who is exceptional.' Henderson has scored some crucial goals for Liverpool, including the winner at Swansea . Henderson (right) in training as Liverpool prepare to take on rivals Manchester United on Sunday . And though Hodgson hopes that Henderson does succeed Steven Gerrard as Liverpool captain, he says it won't make any difference to his role in the England team, where he is already considered one of the senior players. 'If Brendan does make him captain, great and we'll all be happy. If he doesn't it won't affect his leadership qualities as far as I'm concerned. He's in our leadership group. He'll still be someone who needs to take on leadership responsibilities when he comes to England. If he does that, coming as Wayne Rooney does, as captain of his club team, that's great. If he doesn't because Brendan chooses someone else that doesn't affect me.' +Hull defender Michael Dawson will lead his side into Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Chelsea insisting confidence levels have not been hit by a fortnight of frustration which has plunged them deeper into the relegation dogfight. Missed opportunities against Sunderland and Leicester have left the Tigers hovering three points above the drop zone while their hopes have also been hit by the news that striker Nikica Jelavic faces six weeks on the sidelines after knee surgery. On the face of it a clash with Jose Mourinho's champions elect is the last thing the struggling hosts might wish for but former Tottenham star Dawson is adamant his team can once again rise to the occasion this weekend. Michael Dawson (centre) says his side are not low in confidence and have a great fighting spirit . Dawson said: 'We have got a spirit and a fight about us and we have certainly shown that in recent weeks. It's all about fine margins and at the end of the day we picked up points that might be valuable at the end of the season. 'It is a massive challenge playing against all the top teams but we have been away to Anfield and Manchester City and Arsenal and picked points up and we could quite easily have picked up all three against City.' The Tigers' survival hopes took another hit last week when fellow strugglers Burnley upset Manuel Pellegrini's men at Turf Moor but Dawson says that upset can provide inspiration for his own side on Sunday. The Hull captain remonstrates with referee Jonathan Moss following Tom Huddlestone's sending off . 'You do look at other results, there's no hiding that, and seeing that kind of result definitely gives us that belief,' added Dawson. 'On paper it wasn't one you would look at but credit to Burnley who showed what the Premier League is about.' Jelavic's untimely absence will mean another chance for either record signing Abel Hernandez or Sone Aluko in attack, but the game is likely to come too early for long-term injured trio Mohamed Diame, Robbie Brady and Liam Rosenior. However despite Jelavic's grim immediate prognosis, boss Steve Bruce is determined not to completely write the Croatian striker off and believes he could yet return to play a part in the potentially crucial end-of-season run-in. Bruce said: 'Being realistic we think it's going to be at least six weeks. It could force him out for the rest of the season, but knowing Jela the way I do I am sure he is going to give it a good shot.' Nikica Jelavic faces up to six weeks out and is all but ruled out of their Premier League survival bid . +Paul Ince says son Tom would love to play for England in the future and insists the decision to make himself unavailable for the Under 21s was taken for the good of his career. In an exclusive interview with Sportsmail, the former England captain – who has 53 caps – has hit back at claims Tom ‘snubbed’ his country and that his international career is in ruins. Gareth Southgate revealed on Thursday that the Hull winger – currently on loan at Derby – had told him he did not want to be considered for this summer’s European Championships. Tom Ince has been left out of the latest England Under 21 squad by Gareth Southgate at his own request . Ince (right) is currently on loan from Hull City at Championship side Derby County . The Three Lions boss said he was ‘surprised and disappointed’ following conversations with the 23-year-old and his father, his former England team-mate. But Ince Snr says his son needs a period of rest if he is to get his career in the Premier League back on track – and that is their prime focus heading into next season. ‘Tom has played 18 times for the Under 21s and really enjoyed it and found it beneficial – so this is not a snub, that’s rubbish,’ said Ince, who was England’ s first black skipper. ‘He is 23 years of age and has already played in the Euros in Israel. He has experienced that, which was great. ‘If he was 20 years old we would not be having this conversation, he would be going to the Euros, no doubt about it. ‘But the last year or so from a club point of view has been difficult for him. He’s been all over the place. He went to Hull last summer and has then been on loan at Forest and Derby, where he’s doing well now. ‘We forget that he had three years at Blackpool pretty much playing by himself at a young age, and that had an effect. ‘He needs to get a good rest and make sure he is ready to go next season. He needs to start finding some stability. He needs to get himself in a position to play regular football in the Premier League.’ England captain Paul Ince has his head bandaged and shirt covered in blood during a World Cup qualifier against Italy in Rome in 1997 . Ince (right) played under his father Paul while at Blackpool in the Championship . The aim, then, is to make an impact at the KC Stadium next season before bidding for a senior call-up with England. ‘Listen, Tom has not snubbed his country. It is the pinnacle of a player’s career to represent your country,’ Ince added. ‘I was captain and am immensely proud of my 53 caps. ‘Gareth Southgate said we should be aware of the repercussions. I don’t agree. If Tom is playing regularly next year for Hull and scoring goals like he is for Derby, then he would love to get an England call-up. ‘And if he is doing that I see no reason why Roy Hodgson shouldn’t call him up. He’s got a good young squad and Tom would love to be part of it in the future. ‘But first of all he needs to get his club career in order. We have looked at the bigger picture. He needs a steady period and he needs to hit the ground running next season. Ince (second right) celebrates with goalscorer Harry Kane (right) during the U21 clash with France last year . Gareth Southgate said Ince should be aware of the repercussions following his decision . ‘If he makes his mark at Hull next year then hopefully we’ll see the benefit of this decision. ‘So there is no way I’m saying to Tom, “Don’t play for England”. As a father I would love my son to do what I did and play for his country. ‘There are other kids coming through who are 20 and 21 and they will be at the tournament - Tom is 23. ‘And don’t forget he could also be in the play-offs with Derby, as he was with Blackpool. There would be no time for rest. ‘We have to be careful and think about the future.’ +Crystal Palace mascot Kayla the eagle may be facing an uncertain future at the club but she seemed more than happy to be pictured with manager Alan Pardew on Saturday. The bald eagle's home Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation has fallen into financial mire and faces closure, meaning Kayla would no longer be able to attend matches at Selhurst Park. But it didn't stop her from performing her pre-match duties ahead of the crunch Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers. Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew poses for a picture with club mascot Kayla the eagle . BT Sport presenter Rachel Stringer holds Kayla the eagle ahead of Saturday's clash between Palace and QPR . Pardew poses with Stringer and Kayla ahead of the match at Selhurst Park . Kayla happily posed with boss Pardew as well BT Sport presenter Rachel Stringer before her customary outing in front of the Selhurst Park crowd prior to kick-off. But her appearances at the club are under threat unless the wildlife park are able to raise £10,000 in emergency funding to remain open until the summer. Kayla made her first appearance at Palace back in 2010 and Eagle Heights have urged supporters to each donate £1 to save the foundation and safeguard Kayla's future at Selhurst Park. Kayla the bald eagle prepares for her pre-match appearance at Selhurst Park on Sasturday . Kayla, in her twenties, has been making appearances at Crystal Palace for the last five years . Kayla's handler Chris Belsey told News Shopper in February: 'It is a horrible situation for us. We are a small family-run business, we've been open for 19 years. 'The animals are pretty much going unless we get serious funds now. It could happen in the next week or so. 'I am hopeful that people can help and that we will be here in the summer, then we can have a good financial boost. 'We've already had to close the reptile house. It looks like the camel will have to go, if things get any worse, the bird will have to go as well.' Anyone wanting to donate to save Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation can do so here. +Dundee United star Paul Paton has launched an astonishing attack on Celtic as he accused the Parkhead club of having a long history of ‘manipulating’ people and situations for their own benefit. The frustrated Tannadice star claimed there have been ‘continual injustices’ across the three games between United and Celtic this month that have yielded six red cards - four for Jackie McNamara’s team. In the wake of the stormy 1-1 Scottish Cup draw at Tannadice, Celtic manager Ronny Deila and his captain Scott Brown both accused United kid Aidan Connolly of ‘diving’ to win his side a penalty. Paul Paton (right) believes Celtic 'manipulate people' and have been doing so for the past few years . Despite Deila calling on the SFA to take action, none was forthcoming but United were subsequently denied a penalty when Brown barged Ryan Dow in the League Cup Final, won 2-0 by Celtic at Hampden last Sunday. And after the 4-0 Scottish Cup replay win at Parkhead on Wednesday, Deila accused Ryan McGowan of endangering the career of Liam Henderson with a wild lunge. But the United camp felt the reaction of Celtic’s players may have influenced Calum Murray’s decision to send the Australian off. The Dundee United star and Ronny Deila have previous when they clashed at Tannadice in the quarter-final . And ahead of the fourth and final match between United and Celtic at Parkhead in the Premiership on Saturday, Paton appeared to accuse Celtic of heaping pressure on match officials. ‘Ronny Deila has an opinion on everything but I don’t really read too much into what he has to say or who he puts pressure on,’ said Paton. ‘But I think Celtic as a club can manipulate people more than Dundee United can. That kind of thing has been happening for years. The tough tackling midfielder goes up for a header with Celtic star Nir Biton in the cup final on Sunday . ‘We have seen injustices in the last few games we have played and that causes frustration. It feels that we do not get any decisions and that it is continual. ‘I saw things differently (to Deila). I don’t think Ryan McGowan deserved to get sent off as he clearly won the ball. I don’t know if I am being biased but it is a hard tackle but he clearly won the ball. ‘I don’t think there was much in it (but) they have made a lot of it. It looked like a good tackle to me but that is only my opinion.’ Ryan McGowan (right) was sent off for a tackle on Conor Henderson and angered Celtic's players . Paton’s sense of injustice was also stoked by the failure of referee Murray to hand a second yellow to Efe Ambrose for a foul on Nadir Ciftci at 1-0. He continued: ‘I thought he was lucky to stay on the park but we have seen it in the last few meetings that we don’t seem to get things like that going for us against Celtic. ‘How he stayed on the park I will never know. It was a clear yellow card. But when you come to places like (Parkhead) you never seem to get these decisions. ‘I don’t know if it is just coincidence but you saw last weekend in the League Cup Final we should have had a clear penalty. Paton believes Efe Ambrose (centre) should also have been sent off for a second bookable offence . ‘Then Efe Ambrose should have got sent off when we were on top in the game and it did not happen. Small things like that change games.’ Paton also defended himself after Celtic’s Anthony Stokes yesterday accused the United midfielder of catching him with a ‘sly elbow’. Stokes was sent off for retaliation but later said on Twitter: ‘I get a sly elbow in the face by someone that has nothing about them and get sent off, typical!’ But Paton pleaded his innocence, saying: ‘I have ran across him and I don’t know if he thinks I have meant to hit him but he has lashed out and caught me on the side of the face. ‘I stepped across him and I don’t know if I have caught him with my leg or my arm. I honestly don’t know but it was certainly not intentional. ‘But there’s no edge between the two teams. It’s been taken out of context as there were not really any bad challenges in the game. We come back to Parkhead on Saturday in the league with a clean slate.’ +Kevin Doyle is following Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to America after signing for MLS side Colorado Rapids. Doyle – who is currently at Championship Wolves – has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Rapids starting on July 1. The Ireland striker, 31, says he was convinced to move across the Atlantic after speaking to international team-mate Robbie Keane, who is at LA Galaxy. But before Doyle’s American adventure begins he says his aim is to try and get Wolves back into the Premier League. Kevin Doyle will head across the Atlantic to continue his career in the MLS . Wolves beat Derby 2-0 on Friday night and are only outside the top six on goal difference. Doyle said: ‘I am delighted and very excited to be moving to the Colorado Rapids. ‘With so many great players moving to MLS to join up with the great American talent already there, it's a great time to play in this league. ‘I know from talking to Robbie Keane that MLS is a great league to play in and I look forward to being another top Irish player there. ‘I will be sad to leave Wolves, a truly great club that I've had the privilege to play for. I will always be grateful to the fans for their support; it is they who make Molineux such a special place. ‘To be involved in the current squad that is on an exciting run is now my only focus, as it would mean so much to me to see us get back to the Premier League.’ Doyle becomes the latest player to swap the Premier League for MLS with Gerrard and Lampard moving to LA Galaxy and New York City FC and Shaun Maloney who joined Chicago Fire in January. +After fighting to stay cool, Steve McClaren now has a battle of greater significance. His Derby County team must arrest their alarming slump if this season is not to finish in even deeper disappointment than the last. Wolves inflicted another defeat with a determined display and have the play-offs firmly in sight. Derby were top after 33 games, 11 points ahead of Kenny Jackett’s side. After a sixth match without a win the gap is just two. Derby do not look safe in fifth. Wolves are in the prowl in seventh. McClaren was furious with referee Keith Stroud’s call that denied his team an opening goal. He will be angry with his defenders for the Wolves goals. Derby goalkeeper Lee Grant punches a sliced clearance into his own net to make it 2-0 to Wolves . Nouha Dicko celebrates with Scott Golbourne and Bakary Sakho after giving Wolves the lead at Molineux . Dicko fires past Lee Grant in the Derby goal just minutes after half-time to set Wolves on their way to victory . Wolves (4-4-2): Kuszczak 7; Doherty 6.5, Batth 6, Stearman 6.5, Golbourne 6.5; Henry 6.5 (Van La Parra 68’ 6.5), Price 6.5, McDonald 7.5, Sako 7; Afobe 7 (Doyle 90’), Dicko 7 (Edwards 65’ 6) Subs not used: McCarey, Ebanks-Landell, Hause, Iorfa . Scorer(s): Dicko 48, Grant (og) 69 . Manager: Kenny Jackett 7 . Derby (4-2-3-1): Grant 4; Christie 6, Keogh 5.5, Albentosa 6, Forsyth 5; Hughes 7, Bryson 7; Russell 6 (Dawkins 70’ 5), Ince 7, Lingard 6.5; Bent 6 . Subs not used: Ward, Roos, Hanson, Thomas, Shotton, Warnock . Booked: Christie . Manager: Steve McLaren 6.5 . Referee: Keith Stroud 3 . Attendance: 27,480 . In the 69th minute goalkeeper Lee Grant elected to punch rather than catch the ball after Craig Forsyth had slashed a clearance skywards. Grant succeeded only in diverting it horribly into his own net. Forsyth was at fault earlier. Three minutes after the interval he erred in sending a clearance to Kevin McDonald, who fed the Nouha Dicko. The Mali striker dispatched his finish through the legs of two Derby defenders. The match was utterly absorbing. Derby hit the woodwork twice, Wolves once. There were shots, saves, and in the 39th minute a real shocker. Amid the end-to-end chances, Stroud intervened in entirely unnecessary fashion. Jesse Lingard slipped a pass to Darren Bent, who was tugged down by Wolves captain Danny Batth as he ran clear. In an instant Tom Ince arrived to pop the ball into the unguarded net. But Stroud had blown to award the visitors a free-kick. He compounded the error by failing to administer a card of any colour despite the foul warranting red for denying a goalscoring opportunity. The Wolves players celebrate after Grant punched the ball into his own net to make it 2-0 . Derby manager Steve McLaren shows his frustration during the Championship defeat on Friday . McClaren, sitting in the stands, ripped the headset from his ear and made his way to the touchline to remonstrate. Growing animated, he was mocked by Wolves fans. ‘Where’s your brolly gone?’ they sang. Craig Bryson fired the free-kick at goal and Tomasz Kuszczak, not for the first or last time, dived to save. The Polish goalkeeper had earlier made fine stops from a Lingard piledriver and a long-ranger by Ince. Ince was targeted by Wolves fans for his England Under-21 withdrawal. ‘Eng-ur-land,’ they chanted. He nearly silenced them in the 25th minute with a curling shot that hit the bar. Wolves were more than competing. In the 27th minute a cross by Dicko was deflected to Benik Afobe whose volley was kept out by Lee Grant. Dicko sent another effort just wide. Bakary Sakho holds off the challenge of Derby County midfielder WIll Hughes . He made no mistake with his goal to send Molineux wild. Derby pressed hard in the second period and Kuszczak produced his finest save by getting his fingertips to Bryson’s sweet drive, diverting the ball onto the post. Wolves hit the woodwork too, when McDonald sent Afobe clear with a long pass. The Wolves striker smacked the crossbar. Grant then gifted the hosts the clincher and Derby’s race was run. Afterwards, McClaren had one thing on his mind. ‘It’s cost us the game,’ he said of Stroud’s decision. ‘He will watch it again and know he is wrong.’ McClaren implements a no-swear policy but admitted he breached it when trying to make sense of the officiating. He spoke to the referees assessor to air his grievance. Tomasz Kuszczak of Wolves celebrates his team's second goal against Derby on Friday night . ‘We try not to complain too much about referees like we see in the game,’ he said. ‘But it is very difficult to keep our humility.’ McClaren believes his side can ‘absolutely’ win all their remaining seven games to reassert a push for automatic promotion. A play-off place is the minimum requirement. He hopes his injured players including Chris Martin, Jeff Hendrick, and George Thorne will all be back after the international break. Jackett wants two points per match in the run-in to reach the play-offs just a season after winning League One. ‘We’re in with a really good shout of being able to take one of those three promotion places,’ he said. ‘We have potency up front and pace that disturbs defenders. ‘When Derby beat us by five (in November), at that junction it looked like a chasm between the two clubs. Derby have been setting the benchmark for quality in the Championship. So for us to be two points behind we’re delighted.’ +Arsene Wenger refused to be drawn into a discussion of Arsenal's Barclays Premier League title chances after seeing them hold out to claim a hard-fought victory at Newcastle. The Gunners' sixth successive league win left them just four points behind leaders Chelsea, who have two games in hand, but Wenger is adopting a one-game-at-a-time approach to the closing stages of the campaign. He said: 'Look, Chelsea have a good security and at the moment, I feel they have enough cushion to be quite serene. Arsene Wenger has played down his side's chances of winning the Premier League title this season . The Arsenal boss believes Chelsea have too much security at the top and are quite serene . 'We have Manchester City in front of us and behind us, it is tight as well - the only thing we can do is to win our games. 'I think Chelsea have too much security. I just think at the moment we are not concluding, we are in a fight. You have seen the game today - in every game, we need to turn up and fight until the last minute to get the points. 'That's what we have to do, just go for the next game and win it. Look, the players want to do as well as they can. We know we have a fight first to be in the top four. We will go step by step, game by game.' Chelsea are four points clear of the Gunners but have two games in hand on the rest of the chasing pack . Arsenal looked to be heading for a comfortable victory at St James' Park when Olivier Giroud struck twice inside four first-half minutes to give them a commanding 2-0 lead at the break. But the Magpies, who were booed off at half-time, returned in determined mood and Moussa Sissoko reduced the deficit within three minutes of the restart. They then laid siege to the Gunners' goal and but for fine reaction saves by David Ospina from Mike Williamson and Ayoze Perez, they might have emerged with something to show for their efforts. Oliver Giroud (centre right) pokes home the opener in an entertaining affair at St James' Park . Wenger said: 'We have played four games in two weeks and three away games at Manchester, in Monaco and here today and we have won all the three. 'The last 40 minutes were difficult because our legs had gone a little bit and Newcastle played very well in the second half. 'But we had an outstanding first half going forward and a very fluent game by creating chance after chance, and in the second half, we had just to show different qualities and hang on.' The in-form striker bagged a second from a corner to put Arsenal into a commanding half-time lead . But Newcastle head coach John Carver, who had only one fit central defender for the game, was also able to take positives from a spirited fightback which he felt demonstrated the fact that his players have not started their summer holiday just yet. Carver said: 'There certainly wasn't anyone on the beach with their flip-flops on, that's for sure. 'After the comments last week, which were ridiculous, from ex-players - I'm surprised at that - every single one of them, and I include the lads who came on the pitch as second-half substitutes, gave everything for this football club. 'It showed that they are not on their holidays yet.' That barb was aimed in the direction of Match of the Day pundit Phil Neville after his comments last Sunday night, although the former Manchester United and Everton man tweeted during the second half: 'Newcastle been brilliant 2nd half so far!'. Moussa Sissoko (right) halved the deficit but despite late pressure Newcastle's poor start punished them . When informed, Carver said: 'That's nice, I didn't realise that had happened.' Defeat, coupled with Crystal Palace's 2-1 victory at Stoke, saw Alan Pardew's Eagles leapfrog the Magpies into 11th place, although the former Magpies manager's progress was of little concern to Carver. He said: 'I've got to be honest, it is because of the situation we are in. Congratulations to Alan, but I am not worried about Crystal Palace. 'The only thing that's on my mind and the only thing I'm worried about is this football club and making sure everything I do is 100 per cent, everything the players do and give is 100 per cent, and that's all I can ask for.' +They may still be five games away from lifting a fifth European Cup but Barcelona's win against Manchester City on Wednesday evening did ensure the Catalan giants broke a record. Luis Enrique's side became the first team to reach eight consecutive Champions League quarter-finals after seeing off the Premier League champions 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate. Ivan Rakitic's first-half strike made for a relatively comfortable evening for the La Liga leaders, particularly after Sergio Aguero fluffed a penalty in the 77th minute. Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic (left) lifts the ball over Joe Hart to give his side the lead against Manchester City . Rakitic is congratulated by his team-mates Lionel Messi (left) and Luis Suarez as Dani Alves runs to join them . Barca boss Luis Enrique has led the club to their eighth consecutive Champions League quarter-final . 2007-08 - Semi-finals . 2008-09 - Winners . 2009-10 - Semi-finals . 2010-11 - Winners . 2011-12 - Semi-finals . 2012-13 - Semi-finals . 2013-14 - Quarter-finals . 2014-15 - ? Before the game Barca were level on seven consecutive Champions League quarter-finals with rivals Real Madrid and Manchester United. Los Blancos, who are also in the last eight after squeezing past Schalke last week, made seven quarter-finals in succession between 1998 and 2004, while United managed the same feat between 1997 and 2003. Barcelona have consistently made it through to the latter stages of the competition since 2008, winning finals against United in both 2009 and 2011. The Nou Camp outfit also lifted the famous trophy in 2006 when they beat Arsenal in Paris, although they were eliminated by Liverpool at the last 16 stage the following season. Messi and team-mates including Carles Puyol and Xavi pose after winning the Champions League in 2009 . Barcelona's stars and backroom staff celebrate after beating Manchester United in the 2011 final at Wembley . Real were even more impressive during their run as they won the competition in 1998, 2000 and 2002, seeing off Juventus, Valencia and Bayer Leverkusen in each of respective finals. Sir Alex Ferguson could only manage one final during United's seven-season streak but the Red Devils did emerge victorious against Bayern Munich in 1999 to complete the treble. With the Copa del Rey and La Liga also in their sights, Lionel Messi and Co will be hoping to do the same this season. +Leighton Baines has admitted Everton's players are fighting for their futures after a season in which he says they have let themselves down. Everton’s dreams of winning the Europa League evaporated spectacularly on Thursday when they were beaten 5-2 by Dynamo Kiev and now they have nothing to play for other than trying to salvage some respectability in the Barclays Premier League. It is a far cry from what Baines and his team-mates anticipated at the beginning of the campaign but the performance in Kiev was indicative of how wretched Everton's form has been. He accepts they have not been good enough and owe their supporters a response. Leighton Baines challenges with with Dynamo Kiev's Danilo Silva during the 5-2 Europa League defeat . Everton's James McCarthy, Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines stand dejected after conceding . England left back Baines admits that Everton players are fighting for their future after difficult season . They now have nine games left to move away from the fringes of the relegation battle, starting tomorrow at Queens Park Rangers, and Baines has accepted if the situation does not improve, there is likely to be a summer of change at Goodison Park. ‘You have got your own personal standards,’ said Baines. ‘In the last few seasons, we have been striving for something towards the end. This is now a bit different. We have got some important games coming up and we are in a position we don’t want to be in. ‘The sooner we get a couple of wins on the board, the better. But it is about your own personal standards. The boys have got to keep their standards up, you know? With the way things have been going, you are playing for your future in some respects. That is a useful way of looking at it.’ A disconsolate Everton attempt to come to terms with the glut of goals they conceded . Tim Howard can only reflect on what might have been after conceding five goals on a dreadful evening . Everton’s capitulation summed up a miserable week for English clubs in Europe but, more than anything, reminded Martinez’s squad of the opportunity they had missed. There had been a feeling within the group that they could go all the way to Warsaw and it is crucial they now respond. ‘We have let ourselves down,’ said Baines. ‘They were the better team. We knew they would be better (than they were at Goodison) this time around but we didn’ t approach the game and think “we’ve got to sit back”. ‘We were all thinking that we would push on. We had all the confidence in the world and I don’t think anyone would have foreseen the way things have gone this season. We had been upbeat and positive and it just hasn’t been a good season.’ +Teenager Ash Handley scored on his home debut as Leeds moved to within two points of Super League leaders St Helens with a hard-fought 26-14 win over Wigan in front of a bumper 18,350 crowd at Headingley. Handley, drafted in for only his second senior appearance as a replacement for shoulder injury victim Tom Briscoe, was among five different try scorers as the Rhinos overcame the absence of skipper Kevin Sinfield to condemn Wigan to a third defeat in six matches. Liam Sutcliffe proved an able deputy for the injured Sinfield, scoring a try and kicking three goals, but Leeds' hero was Australian prop Adam Cuthbertson, who also scored a try and proved a real handful for the visitors with his powerful running and skilful ball handling. Teenager Ash Handley scored the second try for Leeds Rhinos on Friday night . Leeds, who handed a recall to full-back Zak Hardaker pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation, were good value for their fifth win of the campaign but could never relax against their injury-hit opponents. The home side made the brighter start without finding the finishing touches and Wigan, captained by Leeds-born hooker Michael McIlorum, opened the scoring from their first real attack, with centre Anthony Gelling breaking clear to get the supporting Matty Smith over after 10 minutes. Smith kicked the conversion and added a penalty six minutes later after Cuthbertson was pulled up for a high tackle on George Williams to make it 8-0 . However, the Warriors made a hash of the restart and never touched the ball for the next eight minutes as Leeds struck a purple patch with three tries. Substitute Brad Singleton went over for the third try for Leeds Rhinos . Cuthbertson, who qualifies for England, got the first, following up a grubber kick on the last tackle by hooker Paul Aiton and was also involved in a sweeping move that was finished at the corner by Handley. The former Newcastle Knights forward then produced a superb short pass to get substitute Brad Singleton over and Sutcliffe kicked his second goal to make it 18-6. Wigan finally managed to stem the tide and struck back four minutes before the break when left winger Joe Burgess caught Williams' kick on the full to dive over for a spectacular try, which was goaled by Smith to cut the gap to just two points. Defences got on top in the second half, with Wigan having to do most of the work as the Rhinos gained the momentum. Referee Richard Silverwood gave the visitors a team warning after they conceded a string of penalties and the pressure told on the hour when Sutcliffe stretched out of a two-man tackle to score his side's third try. Sutcliffe was off target with the conversion attempt but succeeded with a penalty five minutes later after he was tackled by Wigan's Liam Farrell from an offside position. Farrell was sin-binned for the offence and the Rhinos made the most of their man advantage when substitute Rob Burrow forced his way over from dummy half with 11 minutes to go. +Former England captain Jamie Peacock is pushing his Leeds front-row colleague Adam Cuthbertson for an England call-up. The 30-year-old Australian prop, who produced a man-of-the-match performance in the Rhinos' 26-14 Super League win over Wigan on Friday night, has a Warrington-born father and has put his hand up to represent England. Signed in the winter on a four-year deal from Newcastle Knights, Cuthbertson has proved to be an instant hit with Leeds and Peacock believes he could make an impact with Steve McNamara's men in the Test series against New Zealand in the autumn. Adam Cuthbertson has been backed for an England jersey by former national team skipper Jamie Peacock . Australian Cuthbertson, who signed with Leeds in the winter, has a Warrington-born father . 'He's been really good for us this year,' Peacock said. 'He's slotted straight into Super League. The prop was man-of-the-match in Leeds win over Wigan on Friday night . 'He's got a great style of football, he can play a bit.' Peacock says he would not have a problem with the Sydney-born Cuthbertson representing England, pointing to McNamara's selection of New Zealand-born Rangi Chase for the 2013 World Cup while predecessor Tony Smith picked Samoa-born forward Maurie Fa'asavalu for Great Britain in 2007. 'The bigger pool you can get for England the better,' he added. 'We are seeing that within all sports now with eligibility rules, so why not? 'I can't speak for other players, you would have to ask them if it puts their noses out of joint but it never bothered me. 'Roger (Chase) was in there, wasn't he?' The biggest hurdle for Cuthbertson will be the plethora of world-class front-row forwards at McNamara's disposal. James Graham, Tom and George Burgess and Chris Hill are expected to be automatic picks after playing in the 2014 Four Nations Series while St Helens duo Alex Walmsley and Kyle Amor are pushing themselves into the reckoning. Sydney-based Mike Cooper will also fancy his chances of breaking through after being a non-playing member of McNamara's squad last year. Cuthbertson, who also played in the NRL for Manly, Cronulla and St George Illawarra, was selected for the New South Wales City Origin team in 2011. Peacock says Cuthbertson could make an immediate impact for England against New Zealand . Meanwhile, teenager Ash Handley could be set for an extended run in the Leeds team after marking his home debut with a try against Wigan. The 19-year-old had been on stand-by for England winger Tom Briscoe and got his chance when the former Hull favourite was ruled out with a serious shoulder injury. 'Tom will have to have an operation so he is going to be a number of weeks out, which is a shame for him,' Rhinos coach Brian McDermott said. 'He's been one of our best players and certainly one of the best wingers in the competition. 'If there's a positive it's that it's early in the season and he will have his rehab and come back to us at an important part of the year.' +It may not be James Bond’s iconic amphibious Lotus, but suave millionaires can dive the depths of the ocean in their own two-seater submarine, which resembles a Ferrari. The diminutive sub can dive to depths of up to 300ft (91 metres) so passengers can look at fish while staying dry and is small enough to be stowed on a yacht. The HP Sport Sub 2, which has been dubbed the ‘sub-sea Ferrari’ because it loosely looks like the supercar, is powered by six thrusters and can be used for six hours without recharging. Luxurious: The HP Sport Sub 2 (pictured), which costs a cool €1 million (£724,375 million or $1.1million)  is powered by six thrusters and can be used for six hours without recharging . It has luxuries on-board such as leather sports seats and air conditioning, as well as power steering so the underwater world can be navigated effortlessly, underwater lights and a navigation system. The vehicle can be controlled by a touchscreen and also has an underwater communication system. But all this luxury and convenience comes at a cost of €1 million (£724,375 million or $1.1million) when the vessel launches in August. Stable: The vehicle weighs 4,850lbs (2,200kg) and is 4ft 5inches (136cm) tall. The sub’s wide design enables passengers to board on the surface and remain stable under water . Familiar: The submarine has been dubbed the ‘sub-sea Ferrari’ because it loosely looks like the supercar. A Ferrari 488 GTB is shown, which shared the  same colour and distinctive black 'vents' with the sub . Compact:  The diminutive sub can dive to depths of up to 300ft (91 metres) so passengers can look at the fish and is small enough to be stowed on a yacht . What? A two-seater sub . Resembles: A Ferrari . Top Speed: 4mph (6kph) Diving ability: 300ft (91 metres) below the waves . Weight: 4,850lbs (2,200kg) Size: 9ft (2.7metres) long and 4ft (1.4metres) tall . Power: Six thrusters and a 21 kWh Lithium-ion battery . Luxuries: Leather seats and air con . Extras: Underwater lights, imaging sonar, underwater communications system and navigation system . Price and availability: €1 million (£724,375 million or $1.1million) launching in early autumn . The nine foot long (2.7 metre) submarine can travel at up to 4mph (6kph) and is the latest creation by Dutch company U-Boat Worx, which has been pioneering ways to travel under the waves since the 1980s. It weighs 4,850lbs (2,200kg) and is 4ft 5inches (136cm) tall. The sub’s wide design enables passengers to board on the surface and remain stable under water. The firm says the vehicle is the ideal toy for millionaires because it’s small enough to fit inside an on-board locker on a yacht and be towed behind a car. ‘This remarkable submersible is suitable for all superyachts from 30 metres up,’ said Bert Houtman, founder of U-Boat Worx. ‘The design is attractive but above all it’s safe and functional. We’ve adopted a very different look compared to traditional submersibles without compromising on safety and ease of use. ‘The result is a modern and streamlined submersible with fantastic performance. Whether at the surface or underwater its speed and manoeuvrability are exceptional.’ James Bond's amphibious Lotus Esprit (pictured) may be the pinaclke of cool when it comes to personal submarines in films, but the HP Sport Sub 2 offers people the chance to see the fishes in luxury . Tried and tested: The nine foot long (2.7 metre) submarine, can travel at up to 4mph (6kph) and is the latest creation by Dutch company U-Boat Worx which has been pmaking subs since the 1980s . He claims that the model outperforms every submersible in its class. ‘Thanks to its ultra-low height and its minimal footprint can fit it easily in a tender garage without refitting your yacht. ‘It has an astoundingly low weight so existing cranes can be used for easy launch and recovery. ‘These specifications make the HP Sport Sub 2 the most compact submersible, with the performance and comfort you expect. ‘This “sub-sea Ferrari” is the ultimate sport submersible for the discerning owner.’ +Lib Dem Care Minister Norman Lamb has been through the ordeal of his son being 'blackmailed' A minister last night told how he became drawn into a 'nightmare' blackmail plot over a video of his son taking cocaine. Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem Care Minister, had to call the police after his son Archie's flatmate demanded cash from him and sent threatening messages. He paid the lodger £7,500 to move out but says the man then tried to ruin Archie's career in the music business. Mr Lamb, 57, said: 'This man has a violent past. We were worried for our safety.' As his party unveiled the £1 billion boost to mental health services that Mr Lamb has campaigned for, the senior MP admitted his son has been through 'very dark periods'. Archie, now 27, was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder at the age of 15 and has been on medication ever since. He went into the music industry, founding a record label called Takeover Entertainment and becoming an early champion of rapper Tinchy Stryder, who went on to top the charts. But his father said that Archie had also fallen in with a bad crowd, leading to the blackmail attempt. 'He's had amazing success and he's also had some very dark periods, and that led to him drinking too much and, as we understand it, getting into bad company and drugs,' said the North Norfolk MP. Mr Lamb added he was 'immensely proud' that his son had escaped from his problems and rebuilt his career, and bought him a London flat where he could find 'peace and tranquillity'. But then the alleged blackmailer, who is also thought to be 'the source' of the drugs that Archie took, moved in. Mr Lamb took legal advice on how to evict his son's flatmate and was told he should offer him £7,500 – money his son owed plus compensation for having to move out. Archie Lamb (left) with rapper Tinchy Strider. Mr Lamb said he is 'immensely proud' his son had escaped from his problems and rebuilt his career before the recent alleged blackmail attempt . Despite handing over the cash, the tenant refused to leave – 'and at that point I concluded we were being blackmailed and we had to go to the police,' Mr Lamb told the Sunday Mirror. He found out just last week that the man said he had a video appearing to show Archie snorting the Class A drug. 'This guy sought to blackmail my son,' the Minister said. 'We were confronted with threatening emails, text messages saying things like 'underestimate me at your peril'. We have been confronted by a criminal who has sought to blackmail us.' The Sunday Mirror said the former flatmate insists he was simply trying to recover money he was owed. Police are reportedly looking into the case. The senior Lib Dem referred to the issue when he took to the stage at the party's spring conference in Liverpool. He said: 'Before I begin my speech I just wanted to say a few words about . The senior Lib Dem referred to the issue when he took to the stage at the party's spring conference in Liverpool . a personal matter, something you may have read about or heard about this morning. 'My family has had our own experience of mental health problems, as our oldest son was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder at the age of 15. 'It's something he has made a decision himself to be open about. 'This has been a very painful time for our family. As a parent you just want to keep your children safe, to look out for them and to know that they are going to be OK. 'But my family is not unique. Our experience has made me even more determined to bring mental health out of the shadows and to fight for better care for all of the families affected.' Mr Lamb, whose words were met with applause by the audience, added: 'Can I thank so many of you who have been so kind and supportive this morning. It is enormously appreciated, not just by me but by Mary my wife, and our whole family.' +Russia's Sergey Kovalev stopped Canada's Jean Pascal early in the eighth round Saturday night to retain his three world light heavyweight titles. The large Bell Centre crowd booed when referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight, with the dazed Pascal (29-3-1) against the ropes from a series of blows from Kovalev (27-0-1). And the Canadian wasn't happy with the stoppage, immediately calling for a rematch after the bout was stopped, insisting: 'I was still in the fight. Sergey Kovalev retained his three world light heavyweight titles after victory over Jean Pascal . Kovalev's arm is lifted aloft by the fight referee after stopping Pascal in the eighth round . Russian Kovalev retained his WBA, WBO and IBF titles during the bout in Montreal . Kovalev (right) lands a right to the head of Canadian Pascal during the light heavyweight bout . The Russian Kovalev (left) lands a left to Pascal's body during the unified bout in Montreal . The fight was the first time that Pascal (right) had been stopped in his career . 'Kovalev looked to have won seven of the eight rounds in the scheduled 12-round bout. 'How I started I didn't like,' said Kovalev. 'But after the fourth round I got control of Jean and what you saw -- I got him with a good right hand and he lost.' Kovalev retained his WBA, WBO and IBF titles. Pascal, the former WBC champion from Montreal, was stopped for the first time in his career. Kovalev (left) hands a head shot on Pascal with his right during the fight at the Bell Centre . Kovalev (right) gets a punch with his right to the head of Pascal as his opponent tries to avoid it . Canadian Pascal (right) lands a body shot on Kovalev during their championship bout . Pascal looks dazed in his corner as he is given a pep talk during the fight at the Bell Centre . Pascal gets the standing count from the referee after falling in the third round of the fight . +Still the sweetheart: Dame Vera will be central to the festivities . Dame Vera Lynn is to play a central role in a long weekend of spectacular celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day. The wartime singer – who will be 98 on Friday – is to be included in events to commemorate seven decades since the end of the Second World War in Europe on May 8. Ministers will today announce a three-day spectacular, including wartime-themed parties, the lighting of a chain of beacons, a veterans’ parade, an RAF fly-past and a 1940s-themed celebrity pop concert. Government sources said they were ‘pulling out all the stops’ for the commemorations – which start the day after the Election – because it is likely to be the last major anniversary to fall during the lifetime of Second World War participants. Although now too frail to travel to the events, Dame Vera – the Forces’ Sweetheart – will be consulted over the arrangements and is likely to provide either a written tribute statement or video message. Under the plans, a service of remembrance will be held at The Cenotaph on VE Day itself, including a two-minute silence at 3pm marking the moment Winston Churchill announced the end of the war. Schools will hold VE Day-themed assemblies or tea parties, and during the evening a chain of over 100 flaming beacons will be lit across the UK. On Saturday May 9, cathedrals will ring their bells in celebration and a 1940s-themed concert will be held at London’s Horse Guards Parade. The concert, to be broadcast live on BBC1, is expected to feature many of the stars who appeared in a similar 60th anniversary VE Day concert, such as the singers Katie Melua and Katherine Jenkins. May 10 will be marked by a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, followed by a veterans’ parade which will pass along Whitehall and under the HM Treasury balcony where Churchill appeared before VE Day crowds. Couples celebrate VE Day - which marked the formal conclusion of Hitler's war  - in Trafalgar Square in 1945 . A reception for 2,000 veterans will be hosted by the Royal British Legion in St James’s Park, coinciding with a fly-past by a Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster. Dame Vera boosted the troops’ morale by performing songs including We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover at concerts in Egypt, India and Burma. Last night, she said: ‘I am sorry I will not be able to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE Day in London in person, but my thoughts are with all who take part. We must always remember those who fought and all those who gave their lives on our behalf.’ A Downing Street source said: ‘Everyone wants Dame Vera to be involved if possible.’ +A new statue of Mahatma Gandhi in London’s Parliament Square was described as ‘a magnificent tribute’ by David Cameron after he unveiled it yesterday. The 9ft bronze figure marks 100 years since Gandhi began his peaceful struggle for India’s independence from the British. At the ceremony, a band played Indian classical music on sitars, the country’s flags festooned the square and schoolchildren stood in the crowd to watch. Prime Minister David Cameron meets with Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna, right, at Westminster . The statue of the Indian leader was unveiled in Westminster today by the nation's finance minister . Mr Cameron described Gandhi as 'one of the most towering figures in the history of world politics' Mr Cameron said: ‘This statue is a magnificent tribute to one of the most towering figures in the history of world politics – and by putting Mahatma Gandhi in this famous square, we are giving him an eternal home in our country. ‘Many of his teachings remain as potent today as when he first made them. ‘This statue celebrates the incredibly special friendship between the world’s oldest democracy and its largest, as well as the universal power of Gandhi’s message.’ The privately funded work, created by Philip Jackson, shows Gandhi dressed in a shawl and traditional dhoti skirt, with his hands clasped. Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley, who helped unveil the statue, said: ‘How many countries celebrate the life work of a man who opposed it with vehemence for more than three decades? Not many.’ Gandhi stands opposite a statue of Sir Winston Churchill, who described him as a 'half-naked …seditious fakir'. The statue by Philip Jackson is located on Parliament Square, directly across from Winston Churchill . +Sunderland slumped to an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa in front of their biggest crowd of the season as disgruntled supporters tried to storm the home dugout. Head coach Gus Poyet insists he will not walk away after the result which leaves the Black Cats one place above the relegation zone. But it was an alarming performance which has raised serious questions over his future and that of Sunderland’s top-flight status. Sportsmail was at the Stadium of Light to witness their sorry display and brings you the merit marks which lay bare their shortcomings… . Gus Poyet can't bear to watch as his Sunderland side are dismantled by Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light . Costel Pantilimon 4 – Left exposed for three of the goals but was outwitted by Agbonlahor for crucial second which changed mood inside stadium. Anthony Reveillere 3.5 – Looked a class act when he first signed, now looks like a 35-year-old veteran struggling with pace of Premier League. Costel Pantilimon was at fault for the crucial second goal, which changed the mood in the ground . Anthony Reveillere, who looked off the pace throughout, is dominated in the air by Christian Benteke . John O’Shea 3 – The usually-dependable skipper was shambolic and will be wishing Republic of Ireland No.2 Roy Keane had not been in the stands. Wes Brown 3 – Another who is looking like age is catching up with him and was helpless to prevent Villa from running riot in the first half. John O'Shea (left) looks defeated as Benteke celebrates Villa's fourth goal before the interval . Wes Brown is shrugged off the ball all too easily by Gabriel Agbonlahor as he began to look his age . Patrick Van Aanholt 3 – Afforded little help by those around him but Villa soon realised the weakness in Sunderland’s side and attacked at will down the left, where Van Aanholt had no answer. Liam Bridcutt 4 – N’Zogbia ran all over him and the holding midfielder offered little resistance to wave after wave of Villa offensives. Ricky Alvarez 3 – No surprise to see him hooked at the break after a typically ineffective first half. Reports that an £8m deal is already agreed for the Inter loanee must be a worry for Sunderland supporters. Seb Larsson 4.5 – He ran about and gave his all but was involved in the bizarre incident at start of the second half where he failed to appear until the 49th minute. It was in keeping with the home side’s disastrous afternoon. The Sunderland defence can only stop and stare as Agbonlahor scores his second goal to make it 3-0 . Ricky Alvarez is set to join the club for £8.5million from Inter - he was ineffective again in the first half . Jack Rodwell 5 – It was arguably his best display in red and white, but there hasn’t been much to choose from. He at least got on the ball, although did little with it. Steven Fletcher 3 – Asked to man the left-hand side of midfield, it was a tactic which backfired spectacularly as Villa right-back Bacuna had a hand in three of the goals. Jermain Defoe 3 – Was anonymous and failed to pounce on the one decent cross flashed through the goalmouth by Fletcher. Jermaine Defoe was anonymous up front and missed the few opportunities that did come his way . Subs . Connor Wickham (on 46) 5 – The second half was nothing more than a training-ground exercise and, like the rest of them, Wickham went through the motions. Manager . Gus Poyet 2 – Started with just one up front against lowly Villa and stationed striker Steven Fletcher on the left-wing. It was a negative set-up and produced a negative performance. He insists the players are still on board with his message, but the evidence on the pitch suggests otherwise. Sunderland fans show their anger at the club's manager after Poyet's side were thrashed at home . Poyet set up for the game in a negative way, and his team were punished by a clinical Villa side . +Gus Poyet has vowed to fight on as Sunderland boss but says he understands supporters storming the dugout during their shambolic 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. Disgruntled fans were prevented from getting to the head coach by stewards after the visitors raced into a four-goal lead before the break and a policeman remained close to Poyet until half-time. The result leaves the Black Cats one place above the relegation zone and with just one win in 12 matches. Sunderland fans attempt to storm Gus Poyet's dugout as the home side fell behind to Aston Villa . Stewards and members of Sunderland's backroom staff attempt to stop irate fans getting to the dugout . Poyet – who is now the bookmakers’ odds-on favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job – concedes his position is under scrutiny and does not know if owner Ellis Short will demand to see him before the weekend is out. He does, though, insist he will not walk way. ‘That (quitting) is not in question. It would be too easy to blame everyone else,’ he said. ‘I am responsible. I am one of the few in football who is honest – I am responsible when we do well and I am responsible when we do not. ‘I hate people who pick and choose and have too many faces.’ Poyet has vowed to fight on as Sunderland boss but says he understands the supporters' frustration . Sunderland fans streamed out of the Stadium of Light as Aston Villa smashed four goals past their side . Thousands of Black Cats fans left the Stadium of Light before the break as their side crumbled . Stewards try to calm the situation as fans react to an awful performance by Sunderland on Saturday . At least three supporters tried to break through stewards guarding the dugout and thousands more streamed for the exits after two-goal Gabriel Agbonlahor scored Villa’s third on 37 minutes. Christian Benteke headed his second and Villa’s fourth before the interval. And Poyet said: ‘I would do the same. It was quite alright. They did what they had to do, it was not acceptable. ‘It was probably the worst 45 minutes of my time here. I have no explanation for what happened in the first half. ‘I’m extremely disappointed and shocked. I was not expecting that to happen.’ One incident which typified Sunderland’s embarrassing afternoon was the sight of them playing the first four minutes of the second half with just 10 men. A furious Sunderland fan vents his frustration at the Sunderland bench before being ejected from the ground . Another fans is removed from the stands for his angry reaction to a woeful performance from Sunderland . Seb Larsson was in the dressing-room having treatment on a leg injury when the action got back underway and home fans soon sang, ‘We’ve only got 10 men’. Poyet, though, was angry when the comments of BBC pundit Chris Sutton were relayed to him after the game. ‘I saw something which accused us of being a pub team and Seb Larsson having a fag in the car park,’ fumed the South American. An angry Sunderland fan has to be held back as he vents his frustration at the Sunderland bench . Fans continue to voice their opinions as relegation threatened Sunderland are embarrassed at home . ‘Seb Larsson is one of the biggest professionals we have at club. He had a massive cut in his leg and he didn’t want to come off. We asked the referee to delay the kick-off but it was not possible and he came eventually come out. ‘So people have to be careful what they write because Seb is a fantastic professional.’ Tim Sherwood, meanwhile, backed his former Spurs team-mate to recover from the humiliating loss. ‘It’s not great what you get beat heavily at home but Gus will bounce back. He’s got a big heart,’ said Sherwood, whose side leapfrogged the Black Cats into 16th and moved six points clear of the drop zone. A disgruntled Sunderland fans shows his true feelings as the hosts are thumped at the Stadium of Light . Another Sunderland fan shows her displeasure as she sends Poyet and his side a message . +A beautiful snowy owl has been captured scouring a snow-covered field in the hunt for food. Her piercing yellow eyes were the only thing that stood out against the white landscape in Ottawa, Canada. Once locked on to a vole she swooped just inches above the surface waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. The stunning set of images was captured by photographer Rick Dobson. A beautiful snowy owl was captured gliding inches above a snow-covered field in Ottawa, Canada, in the hunt for food, with her bright yellow eyes just visible above the wing . The 57-year-old said: 'She had in fact spotted her prey and was coming in silently for the kill. 'Snowy owls are diurnal so they hunt and are active both during the day and night. 'When they are resting they often sit in a snow-covered field motionless, making themselves very hard to spot. 'When they are hunting they will perch on a lump in a field, a fence post, or a hydro-pole where they have a lookout from which to spot their prey.' As the owl came over the top of a ledge she pulled her wings back so she could soar across the field . The stunning set of images was captured by photographer Rick Dobson who said: 'She had in fact spotted her prey and was coming in silently for the kill' The owl flew silently just millimetres above the snow-covered floor, keeping her bright eyes on the prey . To get close enough to the owls, Mr Dobson had to make sure he approached slowly and did not walk directly towards the birds. He said: 'Every winter I go out with my binoculars and scan the farmers' fields to see if I can locate wintering snowy owls. 'When I locate an owl I have to spend time slowly approaching it to get within a good distance to take photographs. When the owl got close enough she used her sharp talons to catch her prey. Snowy owls will usually fly a short distance before landing to eat . Snowy owls often approach their prey from a low angle to ensure a shadow does not give the game away . 'Some owls are much more approachable than others. 'Upon repeated visits the owls come to realise that I am not a threat and will ignore me, providing I move slowly, and carry on with its business.' Mr Dobson described the owls as 'one of the most magnificent creatures on earth'. 'I think of them as snow ghosts or snow angels,' he said. 'They are very large birds but fly silently and gracefully and can endure the harshest of habitats. Happy with its work: Mr Dobson added: 'Snowy owls are one of the most magnificent creatures on earth'. The beautiful bird is pictured after the hunt . 'They are powerful and regal and, to me, symbolise the Arctic.' Snowy owls fly silently when they hunt and often approach their prey from a low angle. They use their sharp talons to catch animals and will usually fly a short distance before landing to eat. Snowy owls tend to swallow their food whole and will return to hunt after eating. +Two MPs nearly came to blows in the Commons in a row over a 'bitch' jibe aimed at Employment Minister Esther McVey. Tory Andrew Griffiths, 44, and Labour's Ronnie Campbell, 71, squared up to each other – with Mr Campbell challenging Mr Griffiths to 'get outside'. The row came after Tory Ms McVey was targeted by Labour over her role in welfare cuts. She accused Labour's John McDonnell of having asked people in her Merseyside constituency to 'lynch the bitch'. Employment Minister Esther McVey (left) accused a Labour MP of asking people in her constituency to 'lynch the bitch'. Tory Andrew Griffiths and Labour's Ronnie Campbell (right) then squared up to each other . As Labour MPs mocked Ms McVey, Mr Griffiths demanded that Mr Campbell stop laughing at her. Then they left their seats and confronted each other, resulting in Serjeant-at-Arms Lawrence Ward, the sword-carrying official in charge of Commons security, ordering them to leave the chamber. They continued their feud in the Members' Lobby before going their separate ways. Last night Mr Campbell said: 'He [Griffiths] was shouting at me and pointing. I told him to get outside and we had a bit of an altercation. He said, 'Go on, hit me, I'll call the police and have you in court'.' Mr Griffiths said: 'It was handbags. I was defending Esther's honour. I am gentleman.' The row was sparked after Speaker John Bercow had taunted Ms McVey during a debate, saying she sounded like 'a washing machine that does not stop'. As Labour MPs mocked Ms McVey, Mr Griffiths (pictured) demanded that Mr Campbell stop laughing at her . +Leeds United have been hit with more bad news as the Championship outfit's chief operating officer Matt Child has quit his role at the club with immediate effect. Child, who is a lifelong Leeds fan, took control of the day-to-day running of the club after president Massimo Cellino was banned by the Football League from having any involvement. However Child decided to resign from his post at Elland Road on Monday morning, leaving the club to look for a new chief operating officer. Leeds United chief operating officer Matt Child has left his role at the Championship outfit . Child took control of the day-to-day running of the Elland Road club following Massimo Cellino's ban . Leeds have yet to make an official comment on the reason behind his surprise departure. The Whites go into their last seven league games in 13th position. Neil Redfearn's side drew 1-1 with Championship strugglers Blackpool on Saturday. Leeds United drew 1-1 with Championship strugglers Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Saturday . +Sunderland's Steven Fletcher has been blasted by fans after posing with his new £260,000 Lamborghini Aventador supercar while struggling for goals during the club's relegation battle. The £40,000-a-week striker, who has scored just seven times in two years for Sunderland, suffered a Twitter backlash after the photograph of him with the supercar on the driveway of his home went viral. The 27-year-old player, who cost his club £12million, was criticised by fans who said the car was ‘undeserved’ and the timing of the photo was ‘really appalling’, after it began circulating three days before his team lost 4-0. Aventador: Steven Fletcher, who has scored just seven times in two years for Sunderland, suffered a Twitter backlash after the photograph of him with the supercar on the driveway of his home went viral . Partner: Fletcher is pictured with his beauty queen girlfriend Rachel Monaghan, 22 . However, his agent Scott Fisher told the Daily Record that Fletcher had not put the image on Twitter - adding that it was the company who sold the supercar who posted the picture online. Mr Fisher said: ‘It wasn’t Steven that put the picture up. The company who were doing advertising on it done it. I don’t know what the problem is and what people are getting excited about.’ But Janet Rowan, from the Sunderland Supporters’ Association, said that ‘it was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back’ for low-income fans to see someone taking possession of such a car. She told the Daily Mirror: ‘We know footballers have these big flash cars. I just think the timing was really appalling and I can really understand the way that people have felt about this.’ The four-wheel drive Aventador, which sells for between £242,000 and £295,000, has a top speed of 217mph, will return 17.6mpg and can perform 0 to 62mph in 2.9 seconds. Seven goals in two seasons: Fletcher (left) vies for the ball with Aston Villa's Jores Okore (right) during his Sunderland side's 4-0 Premier League defeat at the Stadium of Light on March 14 . Comparisons: Birmingham fan Michael Jabbari quoted a message from parody account BBC Sporf in a tweet, which said: 'Steven Fletcher: two seasons, seven goals, one new Lamborghini Aventador' In response to the photo, Sunderland fan JamesTheMackem posted on Twitter: 'Steven Fletcher has a Lamborghini, the most undeserved Lambo for a football player, ever.' Jack Liddell added: 'Tell me how Steven Fletcher (a striker) can score seven goals in two seasons yet have earned a Lamborghini Aventador and a Bentley Continental.' Fletcher began his career at Hibernian in 2004, before moving to Burnley for £3million in 2009, Wolverhampton Wanderers for £6.5million in 2010, and Sunderland for £12million in 2012. But while he scored 52 goals in five years for Hibernian, 12 in one year for Burnley and 24 in two years for Wolves, he has struggled for form at Sunderland since signing. Fletcher scored 11 goals in his first season for the Black Cats, but only netted three last term - and has managed four this campaign. He has also played 18 times for Scotland, scoring once. Unimpressed: In response to the photo, Sunderland fan JamesTheMackem posted on Twitter that it was 'the most undeserved Lambo for a football player, ever' Disbelief: One football fan, John Tough, said he 'can't get over the fact' that Fletcher is driving a Lamborghini . Mystified: Jack Liddell posted a similar comment, wondering how Fletcher has 'earned a Lamborghini Aventador and a Bentley Continental' Sunderland sacked boss Gus Poyet last week after the 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa, before his replacement Dick Advocaat led the team to a 1-0 defeat at West Ham United on Saturday. The club are now in 17th, one place and one point above the relegation zone, with their next fixture against Newcastle United in the 152nd Tyne-Wear derby this Sunday. Fletcher, who was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, spent his younger years at military bases as the son of soldier Kenny, before he died aged 38 after a battle with cancer. This occurred when Fletcher was just ten, which saw his mother Mary move them to Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, to be closer to her family. After he had left home, she moved to County Durham and has lived there with his stepfather Martin, a Sunderland fan, for more than a decade. Fletcher moved to a £670,000 five-bedroom home in County Durham with his beauty queen partner Rachel Monaghan, 22, in October 2013, and they live there with their daughter Darcy-Mae, one. +Arsenal are in talks over extending their pre-season tour of Asia later this year. The Gunners will head to Singapore in the summer to take part in the Barclays Asia Trophy, together with Everton, Stoke and a Singapore Select XI. The tournament will run from July 15-18, but there are plans in place to play an extra match in Thailand a few days later. Arsenal are in talks over extending their pre-season tour of Asia later this year with an extra game . Arsenal will head to Singapore to compete in their first ever Asia Trophy before the start of next season . Manchester City won the last Asia Trophy, beating Sunderland in Hong Kong in July 2013 . Details for the clash are yet to be confirmed and finalised, but Arsenal are likely to face a Thai Premier League XI in Bangkok. Arsene Wenger's men will then fly back to London for the annual Emirates Cup tournament before the start of the new season. As per usual, Arsenal are likely to travel to Austria for a behind-closed doors training camp in addition to the Asia trip. Galatasaray's Didier Drogba holds the Emirates Cup after his team won the trophy defeating Arsenal in 2013 . +Hearts are celebrating the Scottish Championship title after Hibernian's defeat to Rangers confirmed the Gorgie club's return to the top flight. A 3-0 victory at Falkirk on Saturday stretched Hearts' lead over second-placed Hibs to 23 points and their city rivals could not stop their crowning as champions for another week as they suffered a 2-0 loss to Rangers. Former Hearts left-back Lee Wallace put Rangers on the way to a victory in Leith that had major ramifications across the Scottish capital. Lee Wallace (centre) is congratulated by his team-mates after giving Rangers the lead away to Hibernian . Hearts' Genero Zeefuik celebrates after giving his side two-goal lead against Falkirk . Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson, who was attending a coaching course on Sunday, had wanted his team to finish off the job at home to Queen of the South next Saturday but the maroon half of the city were no doubt celebrating a Hibs defeat with even more fervour than usual. Hearts have won 25 of their 29 league games so far and have only lost once - at home to Falkirk in January. Speaking immediately after their latest game against Falkirk, Neilson said: 'Tomorrow morning, I'll be at Stirling University getting my Pro Licence, with a business management course starting at 9am, so it'll be very exciting I'm sure. The Hearts players celebrate as they beat Falkirk to edge closer to an impressive title win . Kenny Miller slots home to put the game beyond doubt for Rangers and close the gap on Hibernian . 'I'll be checking my phone regularly, I'm sure. I'll be there with some other managers, Paul Hartley will be there so it'll be good to catch up with him. 'If we win the league tomorrow, great. If it's the following week at home to Queen of the South, then even better. I'd rather go into the Queens game needing a result if I'm honest. 'We'd like to deliver a performance worthy of the supporters and clinch the league ourselves.' Hearts captain Danny Wilson applauds the fans following Saturday's victory against Falkirk . Wallace slams home the opener just before half-time to put the away side in control at Easter Road . +Lewis McGugan would be open to signing a permanent deal at Sheffield Wednesday after manager Stuart Gray helped ‘put a smile’ back on his face. The attacking midfielder is on loan from Watford and has a decision to make in the summer, with one year left on his Vicarage Road contract. McGugan has scored three times and made four assists in his last eight games, setting up two goals in the dramatic late win at Rotherham on Saturday. Lewis McGugan has impressed during his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday in recent weeks . McGugan in action for Watford last season . ‘If Sheffield Wednesday and Watford can do a deal, then brilliant, but it’s up to the clubs. I can only concentrate on playing well on the pitch,’ McGugan told Sportsmail. ‘At this point in time I’m playing week in week out, I have a smile back on my face, and that’s the most important thing. ‘The manager has been fantastic for me, really straight. You know exactly what he wants from you. He gives you the platform to go out and perform and it’s up to you to repay the faith.’ McGugan says his spell at Hillsbrough has refreshed his enjoyment for the game after a difficult period at Watford under five different head coaches since joining in July 2013. He joined on a free from boyhood club Nottingham Forest and scored 11 goals in 37 games in his first season – but Gianfranco Zola’s departure in December of that campaign altered the scene. Giuseppe Sannino came in before resigning last August sparking three changes in quick succession. Oscar Garcia was forced to vacate the role on grounds of ill health after four games, Billy McKinlay was sacked after two, and Slavisa Jokanovic has since steered Watford into automatic promotion contention. ‘It was a chance to go and play under Gianfranco Zola which was a massive pull for me,’ said McGugan. McGugan says he went to Watford to play under Gianfranco Zola but was 'shocked' after the Italian left . Playing time limited, he made his first loan move to Wednesday last November and signed again in the winter window. ‘I could have easily sat there and seen what happens but you know when you’re not really in someone’s plans and I want to play football,’ he said. ‘Knowing this manager has 100 per cent faith in me to go out and perform can only build confidence. Hopefully I can have a strong end to the season and see what happens.' A number of clubs may be interested in McGugan come summer, and he did not rule out a switch back to Forest – even if sanctions limit his former club to loan deals. ‘You never say never,’ he said. ‘Nottingham Forest was a massive part of my life and career. I made my debut at 17 and I left at the age of 24. It’s where I’m from. But the most important thing I can do is concentrate on performing.’ McGugan has refused to rule out a return to former club Nottingham Forest in the summer . +Fulham have been hit with a misconduct charge by the Football Association following their recent Championship clash against Leeds. The Cottagers had defender Kostas Stafylidis sent off for collecting two yellow cards in the space of a minute early in the second half as they crashed to a 3-0 home defeat. Kostas Stafylidis is shown a yellow card for screaming at the linesman against Leeds . Scott Parker and his team mates react toward referee Chris Kavanagh after he sends of Stafylidis . Stafylidis leaves the pitch after being sent off against Leeds . An FA statement read: 'Fulham FC have been charged by the FA for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from aggressive behaviour. 'The allegation relates to an incident which occurred in or around the 51st minute of their fixture against Leeds United FC on March 18 2015.' Fulham have until March 25 to respond to the charge. +England fell agonisingly short in their bid to win the 2015 RBS 6 Nations despite a 55-35 victory over France at Twickenham. Stuart Lancaster's side finished runners-up for the fourth straight year after falling six points shy of overhauling Ireland on points difference. Here, Sportsmail's SAM PETERS rates the England players for the tournament: . Mike Brown: Recovered from concussion against Italy to produce some excellent rugby. Missed in Dublin but looks back to his best. 7.5/10 . Mike Brown jumps to try and catch the ball up against France's Gael Fickou at Twickenham . Alex Goode: Only start against Ireland was tough. Had a reasonable game but lacked Brown’s snarling edge and defensive solidity. 6 . Jonny May: Dropped for ignoring overlap against Italy. May be some time before he gets another shot at international game. 4.5 . Jonny May was dropped by Stuart Lancaster after ignoring an overlap against Italy . Jack Nowell: Replaced May in Dublin and hardly put a foot wrong in three high-octane displays. Lacks electric pace but has nous, strength and courage. 8 . Anthony Watson: Excellent in opening win over Wales and tidy for the rest of the tournament but still with something to prove. 6.5 . Jonathan Joseph: England’s outstanding attacking player. Proved big doesn’t have to be beautiful with exceptional running lines. 9 . Jonathan Joseph was England's outstanding attacking player throughout the Six Nations . Luther Burrell: High work-rate and strong carrying but may struggle to retain place when Barritt and Tuilagi are fit. Top team player. 6 . George Ford: Proved doubters wrong with composed, intelligent displays which showcased his ability to time passes to perfection. 8.5 . George Ford proved his doubters wrong with composed, intelligent displays at fly-half . Ben Youngs: Back to his best and firmly in place as first-choice No 9 for World Cup. High-class partnership with Ford. 8 . Joe Marler: Struggled against Scotland but in general, set-piece work was excellent. Must carry more. 7 . Ben Youngs was back to his best int he Six Nations and cemented his position as first choice scrum-half . Dylan Hartley: Nowhere near effective enough in the loose and line-out throwing also below his own high standards. 5.5 . Dan Cole: Exceptional all-round contribution after starting against Wales with little rugby following injury. 8 . Dan Cole (left) provided an exceptional all-round contribution with little rugby after an injury . George Kruis: Harshly dropped from squad after loss in Ireland but will have learned from his experience. Excellent prospect. 6.5 . Dave Attwood: Unable to further his case after strong autumn. Not effective enough in tight and struggled to exert authority. 5.5 . Courtney Lawes: Returned to fitness for last two games and reminded us of his world-class attributes. Superb athlete. 8.5 . Courtney Lawes showed glimpses of his world-class ability after returning to fitness for the last two games . Geoff Parling: Back in the starting line-up against France and produced a highly effective and mobile contribution. 7 . James Haskell: Superb display in Cardiff but tapered off and sin bin against France was costly. 6.5 . Billy Vunipola: Outstanding tournament for the ball-carrying No 8. Hardly put a foot wrong and work-rate was incredible. 9 . Billy Vunipola hardly put a foot wrong for England at No 8 throughout the entire competition . Chris Robshaw: Tireless and consistent leadership. Lacks pace for an openside but is dogged, determined and unflappable. 7 . Subs: Cipriani 6.5, Wigglesworth 7, Wood 6.5, Easter 6.5, Brookes 6.5, T Youngs 6.5. +Minnie Minoso, who hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat when he became major league baseball's first black player in Chicago in 1951, has died, the Cook County medical examiner said Sunday. The medical examiner's office did not immediately offer further details. There is some question about Minoso's age but the White Sox say he was 90. Minoso played 12 of his 17 seasons in Chicago, hitting .304 with 135 homers and 808 RBIs for the White Sox. The White Sox retired his No. 9 in 1983 and there is a statue of Minoso at U.S. Cellular Field. Remembered: Minnie Minoso (seen here in August 2013), who became major league baseball's first black player in Chicago in 1951, has died . History: In a March 9, 1957 file photo, Chicago White Sox outfielder Orestes 'Minnie' Minoso poses in batting position at Al Lopez Field in Tampa, Florida . Starting out: Minoso made his major league debut with Cleveland in 1949 and was dealt to Chicago in a three-team trade two years later. Minoso is seen with Lou Boudreau, right, and Larry Doby (on the left) in May 1949 . 'We have lost our dear friend and a great man,' White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in a release. 'Many tears are falling.' Minoso made his major league debut with Cleveland in 1949 and was dealt to Chicago in a three-team trade two years later. He made his White Sox debut on May 1, 1951, and homered in his first plate appearance against Yankees right-hander Vic Raschi. It was the start of a beautiful relationship between the Cuban slugger and the White Sox. Minoso, regarded as baseball's first black Latino star, was a Havana native who spent most of his career in left field. He is one of only two players to appear in a major league game in five different decades. He got his final hit in 1976 at age 53 and went 0 for 2 in two games in 1980 for the White Sox, who tried unsuccessfully over the years to get the 'Cuban Comet' into baseball's Hall of Fame. 'When I watched Minnie Minoso play, I always thought I was looking at a Hall of Fame player,' Reinsdorf said in an informational package produced by the team for a 2011 Cooperstown push. 'I never understood why Minnie wasn't elected. 'He did everything. He could run, he could field, he could hit with power, he could bunt and steal bases. He was one of the most exciting players I have ever seen.' Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta was selected for nine All-Star games and won three Gold Gloves in left. He was hit by a pitch 192 times, ninth on baseball's career list, and finished in the top four in AL MVP voting four times. Despite the push by the White Sox and other prominent Latin players, Minoso has never made it to Cooperstown. His highest percentage during his 15 years on the writers' ballot was 21.1 in 1988. He was considered by the Veterans Committee in 2014 and fell short of the required percentage for induction. 'My last dream is to be in Cooperstown, to be with those guys,' Minoso said in that 2011 package distributed by the White Sox. 'I want to be there. This is my life's dream.' Minoso, who made his major league debut with Cleveland in 1949, hit .298 for his career with 186 homers and 1,023 RBIs. The speedy Minoso also led the AL in triples and steals three times in each category. Playing in an era dominated by the Yankees, Minoso never played in the postseason. 'Every young player in Cuba wanted to be like Minnie Minoso, and I was one of them,' Hall of Fame slugger Tony Perez said. 'The way he played the game, hard all the time, hard. He was very consistent playing the game. He tried to win every game. And if you want to be like somebody, and I picked Minnie, you have to be consistent.' Minoso appeared in just nine games in his first stint with the Indians, but he took off when he was dealt to Chicago as part of a three-team trade in 1951 that also involved the Philadelphia Athletics. He went deep in his first plate appearance against Yankees right-hander Raschi, and hit .375 in his first 45 games with the White Sox. Tribute: The White Sox shared an image of Minoso on Twitter Sunday (left). Flowers have also been left at his statue at U.S. Cellular Field (right) Minoso finished that first season in Chicago with a .326 batting average, 10 homers and 76 RBIs in 146 games for the Indians and White Sox. He also had a major league-best 14 triples and an AL-best 31 steals. It was Minoso's first of eight seasons with at least a .300 batting average. He also had four seasons with at least 100 RBIs. 'I have baseball in my blood,' Minoso said. 'Baseball is all I've ever wanted to do.' The White Sox uploaded a photograph of Minoso smiling and holding his jersey to the team'sTwitter on Sunday. 'Minnie Minoso — Mr. #WhiteSox — has died. Tears of sadness are falling for a great man,' the caption said. In a separate tweet, the White Sox also posted a statement from the Minoso family, which requested privacy. Statement: The Chicago White Sox published this statement from Minoso's family to Twitter Sunday . Legacy: Minoso is seen in September 1951 playing for the Chicago White Sox . Celebrity:  In a April 6, 2001 file photo, Chicago White Sox legend Orestes 'Minnie' Minoso signs autographs prior to the Sox' home opener against the Detroit Tigers . +These are the fleeting moments in which a man makes a breath-taking escape through a tiny gap in his prison cell bars. Filmed from inside a South African jail cell the 33 second clip shows the slender man posing briefly inside before hauling himself between the minuscule gap in a furious bid for freedom. Local website thesouthafrican.com claims the cell is a standard police holding cell.The escapee achieves the feat with speed and confidence. Posing confidently: An audience gathers as the man prepares himself to slip through the jail cell's bars . The first 20 Seconds: It takes the escapee little time to get his head and shoulders through the minuscule gap . Falling to freedom: The man finally pulls his hips through the gap and flies out the other side head-first . Using the lower bars to hoist himself up the escape artist gets his head and shoulders, after a little effort, through the bars in less than 20 seconds. Onlookers on the other side of the cell stare at the man, making no attempt to either help him or stop the escape. In the final-touch and go moment of the effort the man pulls his hips through the gap despite wearing what appears to be a bulky belt. He strains to get the whole of his frame through the bars before popping out the other side and tumbling onto the ground below, head first. The video has appeared online entitled 'How to escape a from a holding cell in South Africa'. Correctional authorities in the country may have to rethink their jail cells now that the information is out. +Many people turn to sport when times get tough and pretty Amy Brown is no exception. When the 21-year-old suffered cruel taunts at school for gaining good grades and wearing boy's clothes, she took her frustrations out on the rugby field. From the age of 12, Amy, who lives in the Forest of Dean, played at least twice a week for her local club. Scroll down for video . Scrummy: Rugby-loving Amy Brown, 21, from the Forest of Dean is a finalist in the Miss England competition . Beauty and brains: Amy turned to the rugby pitch after her schoolmates teased her for being clever...she says that 'she's now having the last laugh' Nearly ten years on, Amy has blossomed into a young beauty, so much so that her friends suggested she enter a local beauty pageant. Last month she was crowned Miss Forest of Dean, just in time for the Six Nations. Amy, who stands 5ft 8ins tall, will swap her muddy boots for high heels when she competes in the semi-finals of Miss England in June. Amy, who is studying Criminology at the University of Gloucester, said: 'I never expected to come this far. I've never been into high heels and dresses. 'For me, it was always rugby and drinking with the lads in the bar afterwards. The closest I ever had to having a picture taken was doing a selfie. 'I never ever thought of myself as being particularly glam. Before I got into rugby I was bullied at school. Try! Amy turned out twice a week for her local side from the age of 12 . The 'boffin' has grown up: Amy now has a boyfriend, 22-year-old gym instructor Ben Jones . More comfortable in boots: Amy says that she had to practice 'loads' to walk properly wearing heels . 'I wasn't very popular and worked hard so the bullies called me 'boffin' and 'ugly'. Even in my teens I didn't wear makeup and played rugby to deal with the name calling. 'It was a way I could get my frustration out but I really enjoy it. I'm in the second row so I'm in the thick of the action. 'I always get stuck in and I've got knocked out twice. I haven't got any cauliflower ears thankfully.' Amy, who has a long term boyfriend, gym instructor Ben Jones, 22, has beaten thousands of hopefuls to reach the semi-finals of Miss England. She added: 'I never thought I'd make it to the semi-finals of Miss England. It's been an amazing journey. 'Before the competition I'd never been on a cat walk. The first time I put on high heels I tottered about and almost lost my balance so I've had to practice loads. 'It's a great feeling to get glammed up now, especially when I think back to the abuse I got from the bullies. I do feel like I've had the last laugh.' +The Chinese football authority has announced plans to recruit a first batch of 120 foreign coaches by the end of 2015 to help teach pupils in primary and secondary schools, according to People's Daily Online. The news comes as a part of the 'Campus Football Promotion Campaign', which is widely understood as the country's effort to turn the nation into a football powerhouse by raising a generation of all-conquering young footballers. China's current president Xi Jinping is a massive fan of the game and is keen to see his country qualifying for another World Cup -- and ultimately winning it. Apart from importing coaching talent from overseas, the authority also confirmed that it is to make football a mandatory lesson in 6,000 selected schools as well as launching football leagues on campus from September this year. Pupils from a primary school in Luoyang (pictured) doing 'football exercise' between classes last week . The country's education authority has made football a compulsory part of the national curriculum . 6,000 primary and secondary schools in China have been chosen to specialise in football. In these schools, pupil will have one football lesson every week . The authority is also hoping to recruit and train 30,000-50,000 football teachers in 2015 across China . The series of new football-oriented education reforms were announced by Wang Dengfeng, Deputy President of Chinese Football Association, during an interview. 'The desired foreign coaches need to come from countries that are traditionally good with the sport, especially those who are particularly experienced with training youngsters,' said Wang, who is also in charge of the Culture, Hygiene and Arts section in the Ministry of Education in China. The first batch of 120 foreign coaches will be sent to 40 cities around the country. Wang stressed that they are not recruited to train professional football teams, but to teach ordinary schoolchildren in primary and secondary schools. Every pupil in China will be required to learn basic football skills such as 'balancing on a ball' and doing 'keepy-uppy' with their insteps . The country's Ministry of Education plans to build an army of local football teachers too. The expectation is to recruit and train 30,000 of 50,000 of them in 2015 throughout China. Outstanding retired athletes from the army will also be arranged to work as PE teachers, according to Wang. Professional football leagues will also be launched this year in all tiers of academic institutions, from primary schools to universities. Wang expects the leagues will create at least 290 champion teams from primary schools alone. China is aiming to complete its first set of football textbooks by the end of March. Thirty football 'experts' are involved in the drafting the books . Young players, teachers and coaches will be able to access online football tutorials linked to the books . 'Campus football competitions will be mainly organised by schools,' he said, 'and the aim is to cultivate public interest and to create a football culture.' The Chinese authority has already made football a compulsory part of the national curriculum for schoolchildren. In normal schools, the sport will be a mandatory course for at least one semester during pupils' academic years; whereas in the country's newly established 6,000 football-specialisedd schools, schoolchildren will receive one football lesson every week. China's men's team. For a country of 1.37billion people their ranking of 82 does not sit well with Chinese fans . Additionally, 30 football 'experts' in China are working on drafting the country's first set of football textbooks. These textbooks will be completed at the end of this month by the People's Education Press (PEP) and put to use from this September. Xi Jinping kicks a football during a 2012 visit to Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, when he was China's vice president. The football-mad leader wants to make set his country on the road to being world champions . +A young girl has staked her claim to be named the world's 'most talented' person after pulling a car weighing one-and-a-half tonnes with her hair. Representing her home country of Morocco for a new reality TV programme, Ikram Salhi showcased her special talent when she dragged the Mercedes-Benz across 32ft of flat road. She accomplished the amazing feat with the strength of her body after ropes were attached to her ponytail and the front end of the car. With ropes attached to her ponytail, Ikram Salhi prepares to pull a Mercedes-Benz car with her hair . Ikram assumed a crouching position before she begins to take smell steps towards the finish line . As Ikram prepares for the challenge, narrator Jonathon Ross tells viewers: ‘Public stunts like this are hugely popular throughout Morocco but it’s rarely a woman displaying such strength.’ Ikram then assumes a crouching position and begins taking small steps as the crowd around her applauds in encouragement. As the car starts to inch forward, Ikram stretches out her arms in front of her and picks up speed. Despite her slight build the young girl increases her pace and surges forward with the car following obediently behind. As the car starts to inch forward, Ikram stretches out her arms in front of her and picks up speed . Spectators watched in astonishment as the girl dragged the Mercedes-Benz across 32ft of flat road . After pulling the car a gruelling 32ft, Ikram is greeted with a handshake from shocked presenter David Brain. Discussing the feat, Ikram said: ‘I don’t feel anything when pulling the car. It doesn’t hurt. ‘I’m proud to honour the Moroccan women in my country, and I hope to be the strongest woman in Morocco.’ Despite her slight build the young girl increases her pace and surges forward towards the finish line . After the challenge Ikram said she didn't feel any pain and wants to become Morocco's strongest woman . David was full of awe for the talented and modest competitor. He said: ‘It sounds so simple, I don’t know how she does this. It looks great.’ Ikram has been performing stunts of this calibre since the age of nine and says that the heaviest item she has ever pulled was a 4x4 Range Rover. Ikram will go head-to-head against a competitor from Germany in a programme airing April 28 at 9pm on Watch. +This is the adorable moment a hungry raccoon exercises a degree of caution as he's offered a treat. Video footage, viewed more than two million times, shows the furry animal hiding in a hollowed-out out tree trunk. Then, as a piece of food is presented, he cautiously reaches his small paws forwards. With his eyes on the prize, he delicately clutches the nibble tight. Bystanders are heard laughing in the background as they watch the timid critter in action. Once he's got his treat, the raccoon retreats back into his hidey-hole. The heartwarming clip was filmed by Russian YouTube user, lgreko100. It was captured at an unknown location last year and recently resurfaced. Dinner is served: This is the adorable moment a hungry raccoon exercises a degree of caution as he's offered a treat . Come on: Video footage, viewed more than two million times, shows the furry animal hiding in a hollowed-out out tree trunk . Thank you! Then, as a piece of food is presented, he cautiously reaches his small paws forwards . So long: Once he's got his treat, the raccoon retreats back into his hidey-hole . +This is the incredible moment an eagle soared from the top of the world's tallest tower to its owner on the ground in a record-breaking bird flight. The imperial eagle, called Darshan, had a camera attached to its back as it swooped 2722 feet (830 metres) from the top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa. It captured phenomenal views of the capital of the United Arab Emirates before landing on the arm of its trainer, falconer Jacques-Olivier Travers. Freedom Conservation, the group which organised the attempt, claim it is the highest-ever recorded bird flight from a man-made structure. The imperial eagle, called Darshan, had a camera attached to its back as it swooped 2722 feet (830 metres) from the top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa (pictured) towards the ground where it landed on the arm of its trainer . Darshan, a white-tailed eagle, captured incredible views of the capital of the United Arab Emirates during its flight, which has been hailed the highest-ever bird flight from a man-made structure, according to experts . The bird of prey captured phenomenal views on the Sony Action Cam Mini which was weighs about 300g and was attached to its back, before landing on the arm of its trainer, French falconer Jacques-Olivier Travers . The bird was released from the top of the world's tallest tower before making its journey to its trainer below . The white-tailed eagle, which has been critically endangered for more than 50 years, has previously flown from the top of St Paul's Cathedral in London and the Eiffel Tower in France. Ronald Menzel, director of Freedom Conservation, said the organisation filmed yesterday's bird flight in an attempt to draw more attention to eagle conservation. He told the BBC: '[This] represents a historic opportunity for conservation – through these incredible images we are bringing this important cause to the attention of people all across the world.' In the clip, which lasts nearly two minutes, the bird takes off from the tower and soars over Dubai, allowing the camera to record stunning aerial views. The camera - a Sony Action Cam Mini - weighed approximately 300g, which is about 10 per cent of the bird's weight. Upon landing on the arm of its trainer, Mr Travers could be seen punching the air with joy before describing the flight as 'perfect'. He said: 'This was an incredible challenge and the most difficult of my career. 'Not only is this the highest vertical flight that has ever been done, but the eagle also had to fly in a totally different environment, with strong wind disturbances caused by the skyscrapers. 'This flight will create huge possibilities for future conservation programs. Freedom Conservation, organisers of the bird flight, prepare by bringing the bird up to the top of the tower . Darshan the eagle prepares to take off from one of the Freedom Conservation team and depart downwards . The bird of prey can be seen perched upon the top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa (right) as its trainer Jacques-Olivier Travers waits patiently at the bottom of the world's tallest building (left) for his beloved bird to return to him . Mr Travers, who became passionate about birds of prey when he was 12-years-old, waits for Darshan to land . Darshan the eagle swoops down and successfully lands on the arm of its owner, French falconer Mr Travers . Mr Travers punches the air with joy after Darshan lands on his arm after the 2722ft flight from the tower . 'Training and equipping birds of prey with these small cameras will allow us to understand exactly what a bird does when it is released into the wild, and will ultimately help our effort to restore endangered bird populations.' Mr Travers developed his passion for birds at the age of 12, after being given small chicks from a nest. He began training Darshan after selecting him from a breeding facility in Thonon, France. Last year, he completed several successful big flights with his bird of prey including one from the Golden Gallery at St Paul's Cathedral to the base of London's famous Tower Bridge. During the flight over central London in November last year, the eagle captured breath-taking footage of the capital and the River Thames with a high-spec camera mounted on its back. At the time, Mr Travers said: 'I like to bring the birds where they are not expected. For many years, I have taught the birds to fly in nature using a paraglider.' Jacques-Olivier Travers (pictured with Darshan after the incredible flight) described the attempt as 'perfect' Views of Dubai captured by the imperial eagle will be used by the Freedom team to raise awareness of birds . The entire project was carried out by Freedom to try and raise awareness of birds of prey and extinction . Darshan the eagle has previously soared from the top of St Paul's in London and the Eiffel Tower in France . In another impressive flight just a month earlier, Darshan soared from the top of the 206-metre observation deck of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The bird was released from the inconic structure by its handler, before flying over the River Seine and down into the Trocadéro Gardens at 111 miles per hour. Darshan is a white imperial eagle, a bird which was once on the Red List of endangered species but has since been saved from extinction. +A children's spider-man fancy dress outfit has been recalled by Asda due to safety fears after a parent complained the battery pack blew up and flew across his living room. The £12.50 light-up costume has been taken off shelves across the country after an investigation by the supermarket chain discovered a fault with the battery. The investigation was sparked after a complaint from Steve Slaughter, who bought the outfit for his son Stephen to wear on World Book Day. Steve Slaughter, who bought the outfit for his four-year-old son Stephen to wear on World Book Day. Pictured Steve Slaughter with son Stephen, wife Gillian and daughter Eva . Mr Slaughter, from Middlesbrough, complained to Asda earlier this month after the detachable chest piece - containing a battery pack - appeared to blow up and flew across the living room. Fortunately it was not being worn at the time by four-year-old Stephen. 'I'm not a scientist and I don't know much about batteries but this thing is potentially lethal,' the 57-year-old reportedly told the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette. 'The box literally flew across the floor with a huge force and landed at my feet. 'When I looked to see what happened I found the bottom part of the batteries had been blown away.' A spokeswoman for Asda said: 'Asda George has issued a recall of its Spider-man light-up dress-up costume. 'The wrong batteries have been included inside the costume's removable light-up unit resulting in a potential safety issue. The £12.50 Spiderman costume that has been recalled by Asda due to safety concerns . Asda said that the 'wrong batteries' had been included with the light-up fancy dress costume resulting in a 'potential safety issue' 'The care and safety of our customers is our number one priority, which is why we have taken the precautionary decision to recall the product based on the outcome of our investigation.' Customers who have already purchased the costume have been advised to return it and claim a full refund. +A fisherman got the fright of his life when the catch he was reeling in was attacked and stolen by a great white shark. Filmed in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand a man can be seen fishing from the side of a boat – his rod bent under the pressure. Struggling to reel in the seemingly huge fish, the man states ‘he’s not happy about coming over here anyway.’ The fishing rod bends under the pressure as the man attempts to reel in the seemingly huge catch . But as his winding becomes less resistant, the video maker remarks that everything is okay as the notion of the fish reaches the surface. Lifting the catch from the water, the filmmaker asks ‘what have we got?’ before cursing the man’s luck at the state of the fish. Although difficult to see in the video, the fish doesn't appear to be alive or in one whole piece. Although difficult to see in the video, the fish doesn't appear to be alive or in one whole piece . Out of nowhere a great white shark leaps from the water and snatches the fish from the line . Undeterred, the fisherman continues to lift the fish from the water with the intention of bringing it onboard. But suddenly out of nowhere a great white shark leaps from the water and with its huge jaw opened, snatches the fish from the line. On board, the people react in shock and burst into laughter as the shark continues off around the side of the boat and disappears with a splash. The great white shark is so huge it has no natural predators other than the killer whale . According to Grind TV, the guide undertaking the fishing trip belongs to Captain Bucko’s Fishing charters, who remarked that he had never seen a great white shark in the Bay of Islands before. The great white is a species of large lamniform shark found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. Due to its huge size and powerful bite force, the marine mammal has no natural predators other than the killer whale. The people react in shock as the shark continues off around the side of the boat and disappears with a splash . +FIFA presidential challenger Michael van Praag has labelled the decision to hand the 2026 World Cup rights in north America to Fox without a tender process as 'very strange'. FIFA's secretary general Jerome Valcke has admitted the world governing body 'did what we had to do' to ensure there was no legal action from Fox over moving the Qatar 2022 tournament to the winter. Van Praag, who is one of three challengers to current president Sepp Blatter, said at UEFA's congress in Vienna: 'I have read there was no tender and in 2015 that is not the way we work any more. It is very strange.' FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag queried FIFA's decision to hand FOX the 2026 World Cup rights . Jerome Valcke, FIFA's secretary general, said FIFA 'did what they had to do' with the rights . Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (left) is another candidate standing against current ruler Sepp Blatter . Former Portugal international Luis Figo is the other final candidate hoping to replace Blatter . Van Praag, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan and former Portugal international Luis Figo are standing against Blatter in the May 29 election. Blatter turned down a public televised debate and will not even address the UEFA Congress on Tuesday about his plans for a fifth term. Instead he will deliver his usual presidential address in the morning and the other candidates will speak at the end of congress. Figo told reporters in Vienna he also backed greater financial transparency in FIFA, plus wanted a wider debate on introducing video technology and sin-bins into football. +Ofcom is to canvas the views of thousands of football fans as it probes a complaint by Virgin Media about the way £1.7 billion-a-year Premier League football rights are sold to broadcasters. Armchair supporters and regular match-goers are to be asked for their views as part of the regulator's inquiry. Ofcom also said it would be looking at changes in the prices charged by broadcasters for sports channels. BT Sport share the rights with Sky to broadcast Premier League football throughout the season . The regulator is in the midst of an investigation after Virgin argued that the English top flight screened fewer live matches than other top European leagues, contributing to higher prices for pay-TV packages. In an update published on Monday, it said that its probe continued to progress with no decisions reached at this stage and that it was reviewing consumer research it had recently received from Virgin Media. It added: 'Ofcom will also carry out new consumer research, which will canvas views of fans who attend matches and those who watch them on TV. Thierry Henry (left) and Jamie Carragher are part of the star-studded team Sky Sports employ as pundits . 'It will look at the value viewers place on watching the Premier League. We will also be monitoring changes in retail prices of sports channels as the investigation progresses.' The fans' research will build on views already sought from football bodies, clubs, fans' groups, broadcasters and policing organisations. Virgin had argued that the latest Premier League rights auction should be suspended as Ofcom probed the process, but the regulator declined and allowed the sale to go ahead last month. Virgin Media are unhappy with the way the Premier League sell their rights for such a huge price . It resulted in Sky and BT paying a combined £5.14 billion to screen top-flight games for the 2016-2019 seasons, a 70 per cent increase on the current deal. Ofcom said prior to the auction that there was no 'urgent need' to delay it and that it was carrying out its probe 'expeditiously' given that the auctioned matches will start to be broadcast from August 2016. It said it had the power necessary to alter broadcasting arrangements before this time, should its probe find there had been an infringement of competition rules. +Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson believes he can freewheel at Augusta this year because all the pressure will be heaped on Rory McIlroy as he goes for the career grand slam. Watson failed miserably the last time he was in the limelight as defending champion, only just making the halfway cut at Augusta in 2013. But the big-hitting American is convinced he can live up to his status as one of the favourites this time because all the attention next month will be focussed on the Northern Irishman. Reigning Masters champions prepares for Augusta by playing at the WGC Cadillac Championships in Doral . Watson insists that Rory McIlroy will be under more pressure than himself at the Masters . The world No 1 only needs an Masters crown to complete a full set of grand slams . ‘There’s no pressure on me because I have two green jackets already, but it will be different for Rory,’ he said. ‘To be going for the career grand slam and at such a young age as well, if that was me in his shoes I would consider myself under a lot of pressure because who would not want to complete that? I think the key for Rory will be to try to look at it from an achievement standpoint rather than a pressure situation – that he’s there because of the amazing feat of winning three of the four majors at aged 25. 'He can also think to himself that if it doesn’t work out this year, then at least he is going to have plenty more tries in years to come.’ Like McIlroy, Watson will complete his pre-Masters tournament preparations at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which begins at Bay Hill in Orlando on Thursday. And the gifted leftie was full of praise for the world number one, predicting he will break many golfing records in years to come. The American hits a shot out from the crowd on his way to victory last time round . Watson is bidding for back to back titles and a third crown at Augusta after wining last year (above) Jack Nicklaus                     6 . Arnold Palmer                    4 . Tiger Woods                      4 . Jimmy Demaret                  3 . Sam Snead                        3 . Gary Player                        3 . Nick Faldo                          3 . Phil Mickelson                    3 . Bubba Watson                 2 . (plus eight others on two) ‘What was I doing at 25? Just trying to keep hold of my PGA Tour card,’ he said. ‘And yet here’s Rory with all these tournaments he’s won already. With the talent he has, there are plenty of records he could beat as he gets older.’ Watson, of course, is not exactly short of talent himself. Twelve months on, people still talk about the pivotal drive he hit at the par five 13th during the final round at Augusta last year, that cleared the corner to set up victory – a carry of a mere 360 yards. ‘I did push it a bit,’ admitted the gifted leftie. ‘Lucky for me I hit it well and so it carried all the trouble, and I had just a sand wedge for my second shot and made birdie.’ Golf legend Jack Nicklaus holds the record with six Masters wins, the last coming in 1986 (above) He admits a touch of sadness that his second stint as Masters champ is coming to a close. ‘Anytime you can look forward to Augusta and you’re selecting the menu at the champions dinner as the defending champion, that’s a special time in the game of golf,’ he said. ‘My juices will be flowing, that’s for sure. I’m 36 now and sometimes feel old when you look at some of players on tour. But I’ll feel like a kid again when I get to Augusta. I always do.’ +Rory McIlroy needs Tiger Woods to play in the Masters to help ease the burden of expectation from his shoulders as he chases a career Grand Slam, says Paul McGinley. Ten years after that chip-in and his fourth - and last - Masters triumph, the world could be denied the latest episode of the Woods soap opera at Augusta National. Even if he declares ready to play next month, the 14-time major champion still appears plagued by demons, seemingly both mental and physical. But while some might think McIlroy stands to gain the most from not having to battle against the greatest golfer of his generation, there is a distinguished voice suggesting quite the opposite. Rory McIlroy (pictured) needs Tiger Woods to help ease the burden of expectation, says Paul McGinley . McGinley feels McIlroy could benefit from Woods playing in the Masters to help ease the expectation . Some might think McIlroy could gain from Woods's absence but others, such as McGinley, disagree . The man now being widely hailed as Europe's most astute Ryder Cup captain, when asked whether it will be easier for McIlroy if Woods plays the Masters, said: 'Of course. Look what happened at the US PGA last year, all the talk was "is Tiger going to play, is he not going to play?" Rory was favourite, but all the expectation, all the talk, was focused on Tiger. Rory didn't sneak in the backdoor, but he was able to go about his business without the attention on him.' Woods, nine months shy of his 40th birthday, will fall outside the world's top 100 when (or if) he gets to Augusta - his worst ranking since before he won his first tournament as a 20-year-old in 1996. McGinley admits he has been 'shocked' at the decline, particularly the horrid chunked chips that have raised questions of the yips. 'The intensity Tiger has given to the game does have an effect,' he said. 'Is there a little bit of burnout going on? There's a reason why guys don't play their best golf in their 40s and late 30s.' Woods has been plagued by serious back injuries but blamed his chipping issues on swing changes. McGinley thinks there could be more to it, however. 'My hunch would be there's something bigger going on. Rory is in the evolution towards his best golf. There's no doubt Tiger has peaked, in age times, and in terms of when guys normally play their best golf. 'That doesn't mean he's finished, but certainly he's, in Rory wording 'in the back nine of his career'. McGinley, the victorious Ryder Cup captain, speaks with the media at Gleneagles in September 2014 . McGinley feels McIlroy needs Woods to play in the Masters to take the pressure off of him . 'It's not just the wear and tear on your mind and body, having performed at a very high intense level with scrutiny like Tiger's had for 20 years. It's (the) mitigating circumstances - he's got two kids growing up and he's spending more time with them, he's going through a divorce and that causes issues too, and he' s in a new relationship. He's now got some business interests that are going through and designing golf courses that he never did before. 'So Tiger's focus and his evolution as a human being have moved on, and maybe that's one of the reasons why all of a sudden his focus is not here any more.' But while Woods's star is waning, his successor's is very much on the rise. Victory at Augusta would secure McIlroy's first green jacket - four years after his infamous final-round meltdown - and a seat among the golfing gods. At the age of just 25, McIlroy could join Sarazen, Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus, Player and Woods himself as only the sixth man to win all four majors. A five-time major champion he may be, but that is a huge amount of pressure on a still fresh-faced kid from Holywood, Northern Ireland. McGinley, however, is keen to point out that McIlroy is blessed with an exceptional maturity. Woods, nine months shy of turning 40, will fall outside the world's top 100 when - or if - he gets to Augusta . Woods faces his worst ranking since before he won his first tournament as a 20-year-old in 1996 . 'It's incredible how much he gets it, how mature he is for such a young guy. But he's had a lot of life experiences. Compared to me, Darren (Clarke) and Padraig (Harrington) when we turned professional, we hadn't travelled the world like Rory had. So he was ahead of the game when he turned pro, and he's just kept on improving. He's evolving and getting better and better.' Although McIlroy now wears Woods's crown, he is not yet a superstar like the American. The world is waiting to see whether McIlroy can claim his place in history, but it is desperate to answer the burning question: is Tiger really finished? 'I do hope Tiger comes back, we all hope Tiger comes back,' says McGinley, who will be at the Masters commentating for Sky Sports, the only place to watch all four days live. 'I don't know if he will or not, we'll have to wait and see.' +A misfiring Rafael Nadal had trouble hitting the mark but the third seeded Spaniard still had enough to beat American Donald Young 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday and advance to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. Nadal, a three-time champion at Indian Wells, looked out of sorts in a sloppy opening set slamming an easy overhead into the net to give Young an early break and then later double-faulting to hand over another. But the 47th ranked Young was no better at finding the target saving just two of eight break points as a fist-pumping Nadal walked off Stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with the victory. Rafael Nadal was far from at his best in beating Donald Young on Tuesday at Indian Wells . Nadal moved through to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in California . The Spaniard saw off his American opponent 6-4, 6-2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden . While the opening set was a comedy of unforced errors the second saw Nadal flash some of his top form as he raced to a 5-1 lead closing out the match in a tidy 80 minutes. Ninth seeded Czech Tomas Berdych had earlier kicked off another sunny day of action with a straight-forward 6-4, 6-2 win over American Steve Johnson. Jack Sock, however, will carry the American flag into the round of 16 after rallying past 15th seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Thirteenth seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon scored a comfortable 6-2, 7-5 victory over German qualifier Michael Berrer while Czech Lukas Rosol was a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) winner over Dutchman Robin Haase. Young failed to capitalise on his break of serve in the first set against the Spaniard . Nadal celebrates a place in the next round of the Masters 1000 event on the US west coast . +Manor team principal John Booth has assured critics the marque will be on track and competing in the next Formula One race in Malaysia later this month. Resurrected from Marussia's ashes and wrested from the clutches of administration by energy entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick, a reborn Manor headed to Australia for the season-opening race at the weekend with every intention of taking to Melbourne's Albert Park circuit. Although the cars passed crash tests and wider scrutiny, Manor failed to emerge from the garage even once as they ran out of time in a bid to rebuild their IT infrastructure, lost after all hardware was wiped days before a planned auction of the team's assets. Manor team principal John Booth is confident his team will race in Malaysia later this month . Although the FIA cleared Manor of a potential breach of the rules as they were investigated for failing to fulfil obligations to compete, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was left far from impressed. Ecclestone claims Manor had 'zero' intention of taking part and has threatened to charge them for all freight costs which are borne by Formula One Management for all teams for every race. Despite that, when asked by Press Association Sport on Saturday after the team had failed to take part in qualifying whether Ecclestone was being kept in the loop about their issues, Booth confirmed that was the case. Manor drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi are expected to compete in Malaysia . 'Bernie just misses nothing, does he? He has been kept aware at every stage of the process,' replied Booth. As to whether Ecclestone was supportive, Booth nodded and said: 'Yep.' The suggestion from sceptics was Manor were in Australia simply to lay claim to the £28million owed to them by Ecclestone in prize money after back-to-back top-10 finishes in the constructors' championship. Booth, however, dismissed the notion as he said: 'We're entered in the Formula One World Championship and we felt it important to be present in Australia and try and compete. The Manor team work on their car in the garage in Australia . 'I can understand people being cynical, but if that was the case we wouldn't have brought 30 tonnes of equipment, 40 people, fulfilled our contracts with all suppliers - Pirelli, Ferrari, whoever - with our best endeavours to go round and round a circuit.' Booth claims another day of behind-the-scenes graft would likely have been enough for the team to turn a wheel, underlining his confidence that Malaysia will hold difficulties. Asked whether Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi will be on track in Sepang on March 27 for practice, Booth replied: 'Absolutely. 'We're in a massively different place now than where we were at the start of last week. 'The progress was colossal, just not quite enough, but now we'll get to Malaysia on Monday, start setting up at the circuit on Tuesday, and for sure we'll be ready to run on Friday.' VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . +Stuart Lancaster insists the Six Nations campaign proves England now possess the strength in depth to win the World Cup after they turned Twickenham back into a fortress. Lancaster’s squad won four matches out of five despite missing Lions stars Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell plus No 8 Ben Morgan for the entire campaign. With the likes of George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, George Kruis and Anthony Watson now blooded on the international stage, Lancaster believes England will enter the World Cup in six months’ time in rude health. Stuart Lancaster believes England's Six Nations exploits proved they have the squad to win the World Cup . England fell six points short of winning the Six Nations title despite a 55-35 win over France . ‘There has always been a huge sense of belief that we are going in the right direction,’ he said. ‘The challenges we faced with the injury situation leading into the Wales game didn’t dent that belief. From what I see in training we have a tight, connected group who are improving all the time. ‘Clearly we are still a bit young, light on experience, particularly in the back line. ‘That will improve with the likes of Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell and Manu being available, all of whom will be playing in the next few weeks we hope.’ England have beaten World Cup pool rivals Australia and Wales convincingly and with 82,000 fans producing another pulsating atmosphere at Twickenham on Saturday, Lancaster says belief will be sky-high when the tournament kicks off on September 18. Asked if England can win the World Cup, Lancaster was unequivocal. George Ford has impressed for England throughout their Six Nations campaign at fly half . England's Jonathan Joseph is challenged by France's Remi Tales during the match at Twickenham . ‘Yes, definitely,’ he said. ‘We’ve beaten Australia, we’ve beaten Wales, we’ve put 55 points on France. ‘New Zealand we’ve beaten before and pushed them close in the summer series. So, absolutely. ‘You saw the influence the crowd had on the players today. Playing at home is a huge factor as well.’ Lancaster now has four runners-up finishes in four Six Nations campaigns but has no fear his players will be psychologically damaged by another near miss. ‘The players’ mindset is to use it more as a motivation to make sure you don’t feel that pain again. The pain is deep. It does not create a scar.’ England were without the injured Manu Tuilagi for the entire of the Six Nations Championship . England captain Chris Robshaw echoed Lancaster's thoughts that they can be contenders for the World Cup . Barring injury, Chris Robshaw will captain England into the World Cup and he backed his coach’s assessment of their development. ‘We can be contenders,’ he said. ‘We are playing very well at home and have built a lot of momentum. And if you look at where all the games are, they are back here. ‘Look at the crowd, I think it was the loudest I have ever heard, including the two Six Nations games and when we beat New Zealand here — the place was rocking. ‘And that is what we want. We want it to be that type of environment and a crowd coming expecting something.’ +The International Cricket Council has described the remarks of its own president Mustafa Kamal as 'very unfortunate', and insists its umpires' 'integrity cannot be questioned'. Kamal put himself at the centre of a row over umpiring decisions which went the way of India in their World Cup quarter-final victory over Bangladesh in Melbourne on Thursday. India opener Rohit Sharma was reprieved as he neared his century when a no-ball was called because of the height of the delivery; then Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah had to go when a marginal call came down in favour of boundary fielder Shikhar Dhawan, whose foot was ruled to be just clear of the rope when he took a catch at fine-leg. Shikhar Dhawan's catch of Bangladesh's batsman Mahmudullah during their quarter final proved controversial . Bangladeshi politician Kamal's ICC role is largely ceremonial since cricket's world governing body updated its constitution a year ago. He has nonetheless threatened to resign over the decisions taken by umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould in the match which finished in a 109-run win for India. Kamal implied the result was a foregone conclusion, and that world cricket is being run for the benefit of its superpower India. 'There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took the field after it [the outcome] was pre-arranged,' he said. 'As the ICC president, whatever I have to say I will say it in next meeting. It could happen that maybe I will resign. There was doubt about whether the fielder had made contact with the boundary rope, but the decision stood . 'I cannot represent the "Indian Cricket Council". If someone has imposed a result on us, in that case no one can accept it.' ICC chief executive David Richardson has responded with an emphatic dismissal of Kamal's insinuations. He said: 'The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal's comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity. Rohit Sharma was given a reprieve after being caught out off a no ball, and went on to make three figures . 'As an ICC president, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned. 'The no-ball decision was a 50-50 call. The spirit of the game dictates that the umpire's decision is final and must be respected. 'Any suggestion that the match officials had 'an agenda' or did anything other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are refuted in the strongest possible terms.' Mustafa Kamal (right) threatened to resign from the ICC over what he saw as unfair umpiring . +There is a small corner of north Manchester which can boast two mini sporting dynasties that continue to be remarkably productive. Most famously from Bury are the Nevilles, whose notoriety takes in the worlds chiefly of football and netball, together with Phil's England age group honours at cricket. And then there are the Crosses, who can field a West Ham United footballer, a Superleague netballer and two very accomplished cricketers, the youngest of whom is becoming a fixture in England's women's cricket team. Kate Cross is part of the seam attack for England's women's cricket team and helped them win the Ashes . Kate Cross is daughter of former Upton Park striker David, but has followed more the path of her brother Bobby, who was contracted to Lancashire. The first girl to gain a place at the county's cricket academy, she has progressed to becoming part of England's seam attack, and was part of the team that won the women's Ashes last year. 'We've got quite a few connections with the Nevilles, they live not far up the road from us,' says Kate, 23. 'Phil and Gary went to the school next to our house and my sister Jenny played netball with Tracey [who is now England's interim head coach]. My mum still plays netball in the same league as Tracey's Mum.' These days David is a scout for Blackburn Rovers, and while he is best remembered for his 99 goals with the Hammers, he is a lifelong cricket nut. 'My dad was able to play cricket at the beginning of his football career and towards the end. I am too young to have seen him play, but I did manage to play a game of cricket for the thirds at Heywood with him when I was 14.' Cricketer Cross (left) is the daughter of former West Ham United striker David (right) The Neville brothers Phil (left) and Gary, pictured here playing in 2005, are also from Bury . Tracey Neville (right) is a retired netball player and is pictured here at the 1998 Commonwealth Games . These are exciting times for young women getting involved in elite sports, as evidenced by the BBC Sports Personality of the Year team award to the England rugby team, ahead of competition such as Paul McGinley's Ryder Cup victors. The paying public are yet to be convinced in many instances, but there is a big drive to promote women's sport among governing bodies, backed by many in the media. But it was not always a fashionable cause, as the younger Cross daughter recalls when she was given a place in Lancashire's boys academy at the age of 15. 'At the time there seemed to be some mixed feelings about it in a few quarters. There were quite a few people set in their ways with their cricket who were saying she has taken the position of a boy. Because I would never play in the Lancashire men's first team they didn't see it as the right investment. 'Although there was a bit of negativity it gave me the realisation that I could go further with my cricket.' Priority given to the women's game has grown to the point where the national team are now on full-time contracts that also involve them doing promotional work for the sport with the Chance To Shine charity. Cross (left) is pictured here with Sportsmail's Mike Dickson at the ECB's National Academy at Loughborough . Cross is just back from a tour of New Zealand where England edged both the one-day international and Twenty20 series, with Cross in particular shining with the ball in the ODIs. Greater financial commitment in several countries is quickening up the evolution of the women's game. While Cross bowls her late outswing at around 70mph, and the very fastest in the women's game are in the mid-seventies, power and speed are on the rise. As Serena Williams has consistently shown with her serve in tennis, it is possible that women can propel a ball with similar power to men. 'I don't see it happening in cricket in the near future but I think it could happen,' says Cross. 'It starts as a young cricketer and if girls are now able to focus on cricket at an early age you will definitely see the speeds go up. 'Women's cricket has changed in the past few years, it used to be a lot more tactical because we didn't have the strength, but in the last few years we have really worked on that and power hitting. The England women's cricket team celebrate their Ashes victory at the WACA in Perth last year . 'It's more about boundaries. A few years ago it was more about hitting the gaps but we have got a lot stronger. I really noticed at the Twenty20 World Cup in March how much other teams are improving. I'm sure Deandra Dottin (the phenomenal West Indian hitter) can strike it as far as any man in the game. She is not someone you want to bowl at.' Cross and her fellow squad members are grateful for the financial support they get from the ECB that has allowed them to train full-time. But what about the argument that you cannot really be professional in sport unless people, or television companies, are prepared to part with money to watch? 'I've heard that said, and it's true that we certainly don't get the crowds the men get. But it has to start somewhere and the ECB have invested that money in us and hopefully our game will improve, and that will bring more crowds in. 'We sold Chelmsford out last year for a Twenty20 and got 2,000 at Wormsley for the Test against India. We get a bit lost at Lord's because it's difficult to pack the ground out. But I have seen a difference in the crowds we are getting, and it's different to Australia, who commented on how many came. When we played at the MCG there were about 200 spectators, which wasn't many in there.' Cross in action with the bat for England in a Test match against India at Wormsley last August . Her career highlight was her Test debut in January, when she helped bowl England to victory in the Ashes Test at Perth with 6-70 in temperatures that got up above 100F. 'I will remember that for a long time, one of the reasons we won the game was because we were more mentally prepared for the heat. I have never felt so shattered afterwards. We had won by lunchtime and went to a waterfront pub and I had some food at 4pm, and then it just hit me. I went to bed at 6pm and slept through until 9 the next morning.' She admits to not following women's sport a great deal, but wants to make sure that there are more names to look up to for the next generation. 'I really got into the Winter Olympics this year, watching athletes like Lizzy Yarnold. When I was growing up I looked up to Andrew Flintoff, and remember the 2005 Ashes. Hopefully in the future there will be more female names and role models.' +Derbyshire have strengthened their bowling options for the NatWest T20 Blast with the signing of Australian quick Nathan Rimmington. The Melbourne Renegades paceman will represent the county for the entire Twenty20 campaign, joining Kiwi Martin Guptill and Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan as an overseas player at the County Ground. Australian quick Nathan Rimmington (left) has signed for Derbyshire for this year's NatWest T20 Blast . The Melbourne Renegades paceman will represent the county for the entire Twenty20 campaign . Derbyshire's elite performance director Graeme Welch said: 'Nathan brings a wealth of experience bowling at the death which will be vital as we look to progress in the NatWest T20 Blast. 'People will have watched him in the Big Bash and know the quality he will bring to the side. 'Not only will he be a valuable asset at the end of the innings, he will also provide us with a proven strike bowler with the new ball. 'The club are working on bringing Nathan over early in order for him to be available to play league cricket from April which will be an ideal way to get him match fit, settled and ready to go for the first game in May.' The right-armer has claimed 65 wickets in 59 Twenty20 games with career-best figures of five for 27. 'I'm really looking forward to joining up with the Derbyshire squad for the NatWest T20 Blast,' he said. 'I want to play my part, both on and off the field, as we look to get in the mix for a quarter-final place and more.' Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan (left) and New Zealand's Martin Guptill will also join the county . +Lindsey Vonn won the World Cup downhill title for the seventh time after winning the last race in the discipline on Wednesday at the season-ending finals. Her seven downhill titles and her 18th crystal globe are both records for women. 'It's incredible after being out with two knee operations. It is just amazing to be sitting where I am today,' the American said. 'I'm so proud and happy, and I really have to thank the people that supported me and got me back to where I am now.' Lindsey Vonn won her seventh downhill title by pipping Elisabeth Goergl to the finish line . Vonn is delighted to be competing for major honours after undergoing two knee operations . Vonn finished 0.24 seconds ahead of Elisabeth Goergl and 0.30 ahead of Nicole Hosp. Austrian racer Anna Fenninger finished second in the downhill standings. She trailed Vonn by 35 points heading into the race, and failed to make an impact on the Roc de Fer course, finishing nearly one second behind Vonn in eighth place. Vonn, who raced immediately after her, increased her speed on the bottom section to clinch a 66th career race win. She is the all-time leader in wins. Some fans near the finish held up banners saying 'Congrats Lindsey' as she raised her poles. Vonn finished the downhill season with 502 points, putting her 103 ahead of Fenninger. Tina Maze of Slovenia was third with 356. In the race for the women's overall World Cup title, Fenninger holds a 12-point lead over Maze. Vonn finished ahead of second-placed Anna Fenninger to win the downhill globe . Maze gained some ground on Fenninger by finishing fourth on Wednesday. Vonn, a four-time overall World Cup champion, is out of contention for the overall title this season. Vonn blew out her right knee in a super-G at the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria. She hurt her knee again in her comeback, keeping her out of last year's Sochi Olympics. She went nearly two years without a victory before winning a downhill in Lake Louise, Canada, in December. The following month, she overtook Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell's 35-year-old record of 62 World Cup victories. 'I'm incredibly thankful to be holding another downhill title,' Vonn said. 'It's been a long two years coming back from my injuries.' Vonn looks extremely focused as she speeds down the course during the alpine ski . Vonn will battle with Fenninger again on Thursday when the super-G title will be decided. Vonn is eight points ahead of Fenninger. 'Tomorrow is a chance for another globe. It's going to be tough because Anna's skiing really well, and it's going to be soft conditions like it was today,' Vonn said. 'But something about this track suits me. I'll give my all, as I always do.' Fenninger has been in great form, winning gold medals in giant slalom and super-G at the world championships last month, and placing second in downhill behind Maze, who finished second to Fenninger in super-G at the worlds. Also, Kjetil Jansrud clinched the men's downhill title by winning the last race, too. The Norwegian finished 94 points ahead of Hannes Reichelt of Austria. +Queens Park Rangers midfielder Karl Henry is hoping he can quickly lose the deja-vu feeling his side's current plight of form is giving him. Henry knows all too well what relegation feels like having lost the battle to stay up when working under Terry Connor at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2012. Like current Hoops boss Chris Ramsey, the inexperienced Connor was given the managerial reigns following the exit of a more experienced manager in the form of Mick McCarthy. Queens Park Rangers midfielder Karl Henry vies for the ball with Crystal Palace ace Yannick Bolaise . Harry Redknapp was replaced by Chris Ramsey at the west London club but results have failed to improve . But 32-year-old Henry is hoping that's where the similarities end, he told the Mirror: 'This is very similar to when Terry took over at Wolves. 'I just hope the outcome is not the same. It is tough for Chris coming in at this stage, with the transfer window closed and having to rally the troops. But I believe in what he is trying to do. Mick McCarthy feels the pressure and was later replaced by Terry Connor, but Wolves were still relegated . Midfielder Henry applauds the fans as Wolves were relegated in the rain in 2012 under Connor . 'As a player you definitely draw on previous experiences and there are other players in the squad who have been in relegation battles, some they have won and some they haven't. 'But no one in our dressing room is crumbling and no one is feeling sorry for themselves. 'You have to look forward. Games are running out so we have to act quickly, we know the next few games are crucial.' +Tottenham defender Eric Dier has been ruled out of the England Under 21 international against Czech Republic through injury. Dier suffered a black eye in Spurs' 4-3 win over Leicester on Saturday and the area has swollen up badly. The Football Association announced on Monday that the 21-year-old would remain with the north London club for assessment this week. Eric Dier suffered a whack to the face during Tottenham's 4-3 win against Leicester on Saturday . Dier flicked on a Spurs corner to set up Harry Kane for the opening goal at White Hart Lane . West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino has also been ruled out through injury . Middlesbrough striker Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, has withdrawn from the Under 21 sqaud . Dier will therefore miss Friday's friendly in Prague, but he could return for the Young Lions' match against Germany at Middlesbrough three days later. The FA also revealed Boro's on-loan Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford and Bournemouth forward Callum Wilson had withdrawn from Gareth Southgate's squad for the double-header through injury. West Brom's Saido Berahino was also ruled out with a foot problem over the weekend so Southgate has called up Fulham striker Cauley Woodrow instead. +The Harry Kane show continues at Tottenham. His first Premier League hat-trick against Leicester on Saturday ensured Spurs stayed in the hunt for a top-four finish. It's 29 for the season now. Will he score his first for England in the coming days? After another virtuoso display, in front of Roy Hodgson, he'll almost certainly be presented with his England debut. Tottenham striker Harry Kane scored his first ever Premier League hat-trick against Leicester on Saturday . Kane scores his and Spurs' third goal during the 4-3 win over Leicester at White Hart Lane on Saturday . Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes that Kane has kept his head on his shoulders . Harry Kane is the first Spurs player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Gareth Bale in December 2012. It's keeping your feet on the floor time for Tottenham's talisman after a fairytale breakthrough campaign. When he trains alongside Wayne Rooney and Co for the first time this week you'd forgive Kane if his ego inflates somewhat. However, his club manager Mauricio Pochettino insists there's no danger of Kane turning into a Big Time Charlie. 'I think he's a very humble person,' said the Argentine. 'From the beginning of the season I think he impressed us with his human side. His mentality is that he always wants to improve, he never complains. 'I think it's a perfect mentality to develop his skill. You can it feel from the beginning with some people, they're are humble and they improve. 'Kane has the right mentality. I think always our job is to try to improve our players but Harry Kane is Harry Kane because he's Harry Kane.' Kane's superb form for Tottenham this season has culminated in a first call-up to the senior England squad . If he scores again, Kane would be the first Spurs player to score 30 goals in a season since Jurgen Klinsman . Pochettino's chirpiness is likely to subside should his striker pick up an injury during the international break. Kane, obviously, will be vital to Pochettino as his side continue with their Champions League charge. Barring a miraculous dip in form or injury, Kane is virtually certain to become the first Spurs player to score 30 goals in a season since Jurgen Klinsmann during the 1994-95 season. Surely individual honours await Kane, even if Champions League football doesn't. 'Can Kane win the player of the year? I don't know, I think Harry is today, a player who people prize a lot,' said Pochettino. Following his hat-trick against Leicester on Saturday, Kane was awarded with the match ball . 'I think that this season Harry has a big impact in the English football. I think that he's one of the better English players so far. 'He works hard, he's improved his game and is always available in the training. Harry Kane deserves his moment. 'Am I worried about him picking up an injury on England duty? No, I think it's a very good thing for him. It's a very good moment to be in national team.' Pochettino, however, is concerned about the fitness of his goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who needed stitches in a knee wound following a hefty collision with team-mate Kyle Walker in the second minute on Saturday. Spurs medical staff will make checks on the wound this week but the injury will rule him out of France's games against Brazil and Denmark. Though the keeper's wife, Marine Lloris, eased fears that the keeper will face long spell on the sidelines by tweeting: 'Hugo needs to rest bit but he will be back really soon.' Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris picked up an injury during his side's 4-3 win over Leicester at White Hart Lane . +Inevitably, it all kicked off in the end. Three games in two competitions over 10 days has forged some barely disguised contempt between Celtic and Dundee United. Six red cards tell their own tale. For Jackie McNamara’s team, the frustration — and indiscipline — is growing. Ryan McGowan became the fourth United player to see red in the dying minutes, seconds after Celtic’s Anthony Stokes was dismissed for a retaliatory kick at Paul Paton. Afterwards, Ronny Deila rounded on the Australian, claiming he could have injured substitute Liam Henderson ‘for life’. The open wounds enveloping this fixture are now there for all to see. Virgil van Dijk (left) celebrates with his team-mates as Celtic comfortably progressed on Wednesday . Celtic manager Ronny Deila celebrates at full-time as his side reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals . Anthony Stokes (second left) comes together with Ryan McGowan in the second half . CELTIC: Gordon, Ambrose Emuobo (Fisher 72), Denayer, Van Dijk, Izaguirre, Bitton, Brown, Forrest, Commons (Henderson 80), Stokes, Griffiths (Guidetti 58) Subs not used: Scepovic, Zaluska, Wakaso, McGregor . Goal: Denayer 17, Griffiths 57, Commons 79, Van Dijk 90 . Sent off: Stokes . Booked: Ambrose Emuobo, Izaguirre, Guidetti . DUNDEE UNITED: Cierzniak, McGowan, Fojut, Morris, Rankin, Spittal (Connolly 74), Paton, Butcher, Erskine (Anier 70), Dow (Telfer 70), Ciftci . Subs not used: Souttar, Smith, Szromnik. Spark . Sent off: McGowan . Booked: Cierzniak, Rankin, Ciftci . Referee: Calum Murray . It is hard to see who will stop Scotland’s champions now. United will have a fourth attempt in the SPFL Premiership this weekend. Yet after losing the League Cup Final and crashing out of the Scottish Cup in this quarter-final replay, that prospect holds all the appeal of a cold-meat buffet with Jeremy Clarkson. Inverness Caley Thistle will make all the right noises before a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden. Aberdeen believe their title aspirations are alive and well. Yet, Celtic are developing a habit of wrapping themselves around opponents and squeezing tight. For Deila, the fourth domestic Treble in this old club’s history is edging over the horizon. Jason Denayer’s 17th-minute headed goal was the platform for Leigh Griffiths to add a second on 57 minutes. Kris Commons thrashed the third high into the net 12 minutes from time before Virgil van Dijk tapped in from close range in the final moments. By then, things threatened to run out of control. Stokes had taken a kick at Paton and witnessed the flash of red. The crowd bayed for retribution against McGowan seconds later and were duly obliged by referee Calum Murray. In a freakish run of three consecutive meetings, United have now scored one, losing six. They return to Glasgow at the weekend a punch-drunk team blighted by suspensions, with former players Stuart Arsmtrong, Gary Mackay-Steven likely to return to the Celtic fray. It’s hardly a prospect to savour. Deila’s team began the game with a flourish and kept going. Nadir Ciftci, the United striker spared further punishment for a kick to the face of Scott Brown in the first game, felt the Celtic skipper’s robust retribution in all of six seconds. It was a forerunner for what was to come. For one heart-stopping moment in only the second minute, the visitors feared they might witness their latest red card in this fixture when keeper Radoslaw Cierzniak raced from his line to clatter Griffiths as he hared on to a superb Commons through ball. Griffiths had already lost control, the goalscoring opportunity gone. Referee Murray — rightly — contented himself with a yellow card. He would have the chance to flex his muscles later. Jason Denayer (centre) rises above the Dundee United defence to score the opener for the hosts . Denayer celebrates after putting Celtic 1-0 up in the Scottish Cup quarter-final . McNamara reshaped his defence in the absence of suspended duo Paul Dixon and Sean Dillon, fielding midfielder John Rankin as a makeshift, emergency left-back. The midfielder suffered a form of torture here. It made for painful viewing. James Forrest — finally free of injury and a scorer in last Sunday’s League Cup triumph — used his pace to offer Celtic width and speed. Even so, the home team had just one goal to show for 45 minutes of dominance at the interval. It came from a Calum Butcher foul on Commons midway inside the United half. Stokes — an improved performer since his recent disciplinary faux pas — floated the ball into a crowded area, Denayer planting a firm, looping header beyond Cierzniak for his fifth of the season. At Hampden, Celtic were loathe to build on their lead and possession. So it was here again. They had the chances. A Commons corner picked out van Dijk, the Dutchman’s firm header surging over the bar. Celtic's Leigh Griffiths (right) is airborne as he puts his side 2-0 in front against Dundee United . Griffiths gives a salute as he slides across the Celtic Park pitch in celebration . Taunting and tormenting Rankin, Forrest then came close to scoring by accident. Putting his head down and surging for the byeline, his attempted cross dropped under the bar and was heading into the net until Cierzniak tipped over at the last. Another opportunity was passed up before half-time, a sclaffed Cierzniak kick out to Nir Bitton prompting a rare loss of composure in the usually unflappable Israeli. He had the chance to shoot, but opted to take on Callum Morris instead and lost the ball. United’s resistance was sporadic. They came close in 32 minutes after an outstanding incursion down the right flank by McGowan. The Australian made it unchecked from his own half to the Celtic byeline, his low centre aimed at Ciftci before Celtic keeper Craig Gordon managed — unconvincingly — to get a hand on the ball. Kris Commons (second left) scores Celtic's third goal of the evening at their home ground . Commons celebrates as Celtic go three up against Dundee United in the cup . Efe Ambrose, in that way of his, casually walked the ball clear from under his own crossbar. Celtic then began the second period in a ragged, loose fashion and that allowed the visitors their best spell of the game. In the opening five minutes, United summoned more attacking menace than they had managed in the entire first 45. Ciftci’s low, right-foot shot was pushed up in the air by Gordon as he retrieved another piercing ball across the face of goal from McGowan. But it didn’t last long. Until the 57th minute to be precise. Celtic scored with virtually their first effort on goal in the second period, Griffiths cleverly guiding a quite superb long ball from Brown past Cierzniak with a first-time effort from 12 yards. The outcome was placed beyond doubt 11 minutes from time. Commons blew a fine chance after a flowing passing move involving Darnell Fisher, Bitton and a Stokes cut-back. Last season’s Player of the Year — a scorer at Hampden last Sunday — dallied too long. Celtic's Stokes speaks with referee Calum Murray before he is sent off . Celtic's John Guidetti (second right) shows his fury as he comes together with McGowan . McGowan is sent off by referee Murray as both sides end the match with 10 men . Van Dijk scores with a tap-in late on to cap a successful night for the home side . But within seconds he atoned, playing a deft one-two with substitute John Guidetti before slamming the ball high into the net for 3-0. What came next was regrettable, but predictable. Two teams sick of the sight of each other began settling scores. Stokes took a blow to the mouth, drawing blood, and the Irishman took swift revenge as he lay on the deck. Off he went. Within moments, the scores were evened up when McGowan’s crude lunge at substitute Henderson sparked a melee at the corner flag. The former Hearts player went off after what Deila described as a ‘stupid’ challenge — with some verbals between the two as he left the pitch. And Deila’s players had the last word when van Dijk tapped in Denayer’s simple cut back from close range. +Alan Stubbs has lambasted Willie Collum over the referee’s role in the goal that sealed a 2-0 win for Rangers at Easter Road. The Hibernian boss was astonished that Collum didn’t award a free-kick after Lee Wallace appeared to foul Paul Hanlon as the centre-half sought to clear. Kenny Miller seized the loose ball and, with the home defence still appealing for an infringement, cracked home an 80th-minute shot that added to Wallace’s opener. Hibernian manager Alan Stubbs speaks to the fourth official; he was unhappy with the referee's performance . Referee Willie Collum was on the end of some stick from Hibs boss Stubbs after their game against Rangers . Stubbs attempted to pick his words carefully afterwards but couldn’t disguise his anger towards Collum, who has been at the centre of numerous controversies this season. ‘Can I say no comment in case I get into any trouble?’ Stubbs opened. ‘I’ve been in management a short time. I was a player a long time. Over the years, that decision would be given 100 per cent of the time. ‘I think that’s probably the best way to describe it without me getting into trouble. ‘Not 90 per cent, not 99 per cent, 100 per cent. But a guy who has an influence over a game decided differently. Stubbs was sure that a foul on Paul Hanlon (right) would have been given '100 per cent' of the time . Stubbs (centre) watches on from the dugout as his Hibs side fell to a 2-0 defeat by Rangers . ‘When he sees it back again... well, there’s no point. He’s there to get the big calls right and he got a big call very, very wrong. ‘There was no point speaking to him afterwards. Everyone in the stadium could see it was a foul. ‘I don’t want to sit here and try to justify a decision. Only one guy can do that, but he’s protected and not allowed to talk. It spoiled the game, although obviously not from Rangers’ point of view.’ Hanlon was booked for his protests towards Collum as Rangers celebrated Miller’ s first goal since December. ‘Most of the stadium felt it was a foul,’ said the defender. ‘I thought it was but the referee thought differently. Kenny Miller (centre) celebrates after his goal gave Rangers an unassailable 2-0 lead over Hibs . Miller is mobbed by the ecstatic Rangers supporters who had made the trip to Easter Road on Saturday . ‘I read the pass, got in front of Wallace and went to clear with my right foot. I just felt like I was taken out. ‘It’s disappointing a decision like that has maybe ruined our chances of getting anything from the game. ‘I wasn’t given an explanation, he (Collum) just decided to book me for dissent even though I didn’t say much. ‘I just said it was a foul, along with everyone else who surrounded him. ‘I didn’t even think I was in his face but I think he just has to pick a player and book him.’ +Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has picked up a fair number of 'haters' en route to being one of the best managers in football. Pep Guardiola, Arsene Wenger, Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo all fall into the category of fellow professionals of the game that have had a public spat or falling out with the man. But it seems the Portuguese maestro also upsets people outside of football after movie star Viggo Mortensen revealed he is far from a fan. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger are kept apart by the fourth official . Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen reveal he is far from a fan of Chelsea manager Mourinho . Mortensen, who is also known as the great nemesis of dark lord Sauron in Lord of the Rings, supports Real Madrid and has spoken of his disdain for the 52-year-old. He told Grantland: 'There's a real character whom I loathe but find entertaining and that's Jose Mourinho. 'I like Real Madrid, and when Mourinho coached them he basically destroyed the team psychologically. The damage he did to the fan base and the whole structure of the club will last for a while.' Mourinho shakes hands with Barcelona's coach Pep Guardiola before their Champions League semi-final . +Arjen Robben has been ruled out of Holland's games against Turkey and Spain with a torn abdominal muscle. The Bayern Munich forward was substituted in the first half of his club's Bundesliga 2-0 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday and the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB) has now confirmed his absence. A statement on the KNVB's official website read: 'Arjen Robben has informed national coach Guus Hiddink of his withdrawal for the upcoming matches of the Dutch team against Turkey and Spain. Arjen Robben tore a stomach muscle in Bayern Munich's loss to Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday . Robben had only just returned from a back injury but now faces an absence of several weeks . Robben heads down the tunnel in the 24th minute after going off injured for Munich . 'Hiddink will decide at a later stage if he will call up a replacement for the injured Robben.' Bayern revealed on their website after the game that Robben would be out for 'several weeks', and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge added: 'This news is at least as bad as the defeat.' Holland face Turkey on Saturday in European Championship qualifying group A, where they lie third behind the Czech Republic and Iceland after losing two of their first four games. Spain then visit the Amsterdam ArenA for a friendly on Tuesday. Dutch boss Guus Hiddink will be without Robben for the forthcoming international friendlies . Manuel Neuer (centre) spills a shot from Raffael as Bayen Munich lost to Borussia Monchengladbach . +Not content with second spot at FIFA's goal of the year award, Republic of Ireland women's forward Stephanie Roche has added another wondergoal to her collection. The 25-year-old came in just behind Colombia forward James Rodriguez's World Cup superstrike in the 2014 Puskas award contenders - and if this effort is anything to go by she could be walking FIFA's red carpet alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi again this year. Last year Roche took three touches before smashing in from outside the box for Peamount United against Wexford Youths, but this time she needed just two to find the net with a brilliant dipping shot from 20 yards out for the Republic of Ireland against Costa Rica. Stephanie Roche (far left) opens up her body to take down a cross-field ball just outside the penalty area . Having taken a touch to get the ball under control and out of her feet, Roche blasts a shot with her left foot . The Costa Rica has absolutely no chance in stopping the wonderstrike from Roche (now out of shot) Roch (second left) celebrates her strike as her team-mates wheel off to praise her latest wondergoal . Roche (No 12) accepts the plaudits of her team-mates after scoring the Republic of Ireland's first goal . Latching on to a cross-field ball from Diane Caldwell, Roche took a touch to control the ball before striking it in mid-air over the goalkeepers head and into the net. After the game Roche said that her coaches had been telling the side to make sure they improved their finishing. 'Sue (Ronan) and Paul (Martyn) and the rest of the staff have been telling us that we have to finish our chances,' Roche said. Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi (second left) were with Roche at January's Ballon d'Or ceremony . Roche poses at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in January where she finished second for goal of the year . 'I was glad that I had the opportunity to get the shot off. 'I gave Denise (O’Sullivan) a shout because I knew it was on my better foot, and luckily enough she left it for me and I managed to get it out of my feet and get a shot.' Ireland ran out 2-1 winners with Megan Campbell adding a second goal before a Reid Burke own goal pulled one back for the visitors. +Former Republic of Ireland striker David Connolly has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect. The 37-year-old made over 400 senior club appearances during his career, with Watford, Feyenoord, Sunderland, Leicester and Southampton among a host of clubs he played for, while he won 41 international caps. Connolly joined Sky Bet League Two side Wimbledon in January after his contract with Portsmouth was cancelled by mutual consent but, after managing one goal in eight appearances, he has decided to hang up his boots following discussions with his manager and former team-mate Neal Ardley. Former Republic of Ireland striker David Connolly scores his side's third goal against Cyrpus back in 2001 . Connolly told the Dons' official website: 'I pulled Neal aside for a heart-to-heart chat and I felt that now was the time to call it a day. 'As time has gone on I felt that starting games was difficult and so too was travelling up and down the country to come off the bench for 10 minutes or so. Neal needed a striker that could play off (Adebayo) Akinfenwa and start games and that wasn't me.' Ardley told Dons Player: 'I tried to talk him around, but his mind was made up. I have invited David to come back and do coaching at the club whenever he is ready.' Connolly played for a whole host of English clubs, including Sunderland (pictured here in 2007) +Blackpool supporters are planning to protest against the Championship club's owners, the Oyston family, by going to watch North West Counties Premier Division club AFC Blackpool instead. Fan group Tangerine Knights are to stage a protest at Bloomfield Road ahead of Blackpool's match with Leeds on Saturday before going see the non-League side face Bootle afterwards in a game that has been delayed by 15 minutes to accommodate the added spectators. Supporters beamed messages criticising the Oystons on the stadium's West Stand on Tuesday night ahead of their 3-0 defeat by Charlton Athletic in front of a depleted crowd at home. Blackpool supporters beamed messages on the West Stand of Bloomfield Road before Tuesday night's game . Fans displayed the messages on Bloomfield Road ahead of their 3-0 defeat by Charlton Athletic . Blackpool are all but guaranteed to be relegated from the Championship as they sit 18 points from safety with eight games remaining, and they have not won since January 31. AFC Blackpool play in the ninth tier of the English football pyramid and their ground has a 1,500 capacity, some 16,000 less than their Championship counterparts. Yet the Seasiders have been running on empty, and fans have been staying away from Bloomfield Road. Tangerine Knights spokesperson Stephen Smith told BBC Radio Lancashire: 'It is a joint protest - it is not just to do with the football club this week. 'It's a joint venture with Leeds fans, against not only Karl Oyston being a regional representative on the Football League board, but it's against the Football League as well and the various things they have done over the past couple of years.' Blackpool supporters are planning to protest against the Championship club's owners, the Oyston family . Fan group Tangerine Knights are to stage a protest at Bloomfield Road ahead of Blackpool vs Leeds United . Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston pictured in the stands in August 2010 during a then-Premier League match . +Whatever feint hopes Nottingham Forest might have held of a late charge on the play-off spots were dealt a hammer blow, as The Reds were crushed 3-1 by Norwich City, who themselves could yet secure automatic promotion. Goals from Jonny Howson, Cameron Jerome and Wes Hoolahan gave Norwich a 3-0 lead within the hour, before winger Chris Burke grabbed a consolation for Forest on 76 minutes. Meanwhile, an own goal from Blackburn Rovers' Matthew Kilgallon gifted Brighton a 1-0 win at Ewood Park, as Chris Hughton's men moved one step further away from relegation. Norwich City midfielder Wes Hoolahan (right) dribbles ahead of Nottingham Forest's Gary Gardner (left) Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy (left) rushes out to deny Nottingham Forest winger Michail Antonio . Elsewhere, Charlton edged Reading 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at The Valley. Pavel Pogrebnyak had opened the scoring for the visitors but saw his effort canceled out by a Yoni Buyens brace and a goal from Simon Church. Pogrebnyak then grabbed another goal for The Royals, but it proved too late to salvage even a point. It was a nightmare for Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's stadium as Nahki Wells missed two penalties for the home side against Fulham. A goal on two minutes from Alex Kacaniklic put the Cottagers ahead early on before the the three points were confirmed by a 90th minute strike from Seko Fofana. The result sees Fulham move up to 20th in the league table, eight points clear of the drop zone. Bottom of the table Blackpool drew with Leeds United following a tumultuous week for the club that had seen public protests from supporters. Gary Madine put the hosts in front with a diving header before Mirco Antenucci equalised for Leeds. Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak (right) strikes to score his side's opening goal against Charlton Athletic . Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli dives as  Huddersfield's Nahki Wells misses from the penalty spot . Blackpool forward Gary Madine celebrates scoring against Leeds Untied with his team-mates . In Wales, Cardiff City claimed a first home win since January as two second-half goals from Kevin Doyle and Peter Whittingham saw off a poor Birmingham City side. Wigan kept their hopes of survival alive with a dramatic 1-1 draw against Bolton. Substitute Martyn Waghorn grabbed the equaliser with a stunning overhead kick after teenager Tom Walker had given Wanderers the lead. Finally, Rotherham United suffered a 3-2 loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Goals from Ben Pringle and Jordan Bowery had canceled out Caolan Lavery's 86th minute strike for The Owls and United were 2-1 up. But a late flurry from the visitors saw them score twice in injury time through Atdhe Nuhiu and Kieran Lee. +Jenson Button firmly believes he made the right call in re-signing for McLaren despite the woes currently being endured by the team. Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen - standing in for the absent Fernando Alonso - will start Sunday's Australian Grand Prix from the back row of the grid in 17th and 18th positions respectively. Whilst not McLaren's lowest grid slots, in terms of performance and how far they are off the pace compared with the leading cars, it is the team's worst qualifying performance in their 49-year history. Jenson Button is pictured with his model wife Jessica ahead of Saturday's qualifying session . The Briton endured a miserable day at the office and was eliminated from qualifying in Q1 . Button was the best part of six seconds slower than reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, who went on to clinch the 39th pole position of his Formula One career. Button, who signed a new two-year deal with McLaren in December after he was kept waiting months on a decision as to whether he would be retained, has every faith McLaren and new power-unit supplier Honda will get it right. The 35-year-old, however, has warned it will take time as he said: 'When I re-signed I was thinking long term. We're all thinking long term. 'It's unfair for us to sit here now and be harsh on anyone because this is a massive learning curve for us. 'This could be something great in the future, and that's what we need in the sport, someone to challenge Mercedes out front, and I really do think this is the team that can do that. Button insists McLaren have the tools to challenge Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in the future . Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen will start from the final row of the grid in Melbourne tomorrow . 'I know we're a long way off right now, but it was always going to be very difficult. 'It's tough times and it's going to be for many weeks, but that is what is going to make us stronger in the future and hopefully build us into a winning team. 'Just don't expect us to gain two seconds at the next race, and then another two seconds. It's not going to be like that, but you will see progress.' Racing director Eric Boullier has confirmed McLaren and Honda know where the issues lie, and are working as fast as possible to rectify them. 'Actually we have fewer issues this weekend than we had in testing, which is the good news, we have made some progress,' said Boullier. 'Yes, there is a fix in place and we are working on a recovery plan, but as to time we don't know. 'We just want to do our best to recover as quickly as possible.' Button signed a two-year deal with McLaren which takes him through until the end of next season . Lewis Hamilton will start the Australian Grand Prix from pole ahead of Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa (right) +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Swansea's home clash with Liverpool. Swansea vs Liverpool (Liberty Stadium) Team news . Swansea . Bafetimbi Gomis should be available for Swansea's home game against Liverpool on Monday night after collapsing during the 3-2 defeat at Tottenham on March 4. Gomis suffers from a vasovagal condition which causes low blood pressure and prompts fainting episodes, but he returned to training on Wednesday after seeing a specialist in his native France and is expected to be given the all-clear to play at the Liberty Stadium. Swansea manager Garry Monk has a full-strength squad to select from other than central defender Kyle Bartley, who remains unavailable following knee surgery. Provisional squad: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Ki, Shelvey, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Gomis, Tremmel, Rangel, Amat, Fulton, Carroll, Britton, Montero, Dyer, Emnes, Oliveira, Grimes, King. Bafetimbi Gomis should be available for Swansea's home game against Liverpool on Monday night . Liverpool . Captain Steven Gerrard is back in contention for the trip to Swansea. The veteran midfielder, who is leaving for Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of the season, has missed the last seven games with a hamstring injury. Defenders Martin Skrtel (head) and Mamadou Sakho (hip) are expected to be fit but there could still be a doubt over midfielder Joe Allen (hip). Left-back Luis Enrique (knee) is back in training and could be back in contention soon. Provisional squad: Mignolet, Toure, Skrtel, Can, Markovic, Henderson, Allen, Moreno, Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana, Ward, Lovren, Johnson, Sakho, Gerrard, Williams, Lambert, Balotelli, Borini, Sturridge. Captain Steven Gerrard is back in contention for Monday's Barclays Premier League trip to Swansea . Key match facts (supplied by Opta) There have been 21 goals in the last four Premier League games between Liverpool & Swansea. Kick-off: Monday (8pm) Odds (subject to change): . Swansea 3/1 . Draw 13/5 . Liverpool 17/20 . Referee: Roger East . Managers: Garry Monk (Swansea), Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool . Daniel Sturridge has scored four goals in three Premier League appearances for Liverpool against the Swans. Brendan Rodgers was manager of Swansea City before leaving to join Liverpool in 2012. He won 12 of his 38 Premier League matches as boss of the Welsh side. Swansea’s only victory over Liverpool in the Premier League came when Rodgers was boss of the Welsh side (W1 D3 L3) and he remains unbeaten in this fixture as a coach (W4 D3). Jonjo Shelvey has netted in the last three league matches between Liverpool and Swansea as a Swans player, though the last of these was an own goal. Daniel Sturridge scoring for Liverpool at Anfield during their 4-3 win over Swansea last season . Adam Lallana has scored three goals in his last three Premier League games against Swansea. Brendan Rodgers’ side have won more points in 2015 than any other Premier League team (23). Liverpool have kept five clean sheets in a row away from home (in league competition) for the first time since 1985. Liverpool have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League matches (W11 D4 L1). The Reds have kept six clean sheets in their last eight Premier League games. +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists he is 'relaxed' about Raheem Sterling's contract situation despite claims that the latest discussions have failed to find a solution to a long-running impasse. The club have tabled what a couple of weeks ago Rodgers described as an 'incredible' offer - reported to be in the region of £100,000 a week. A few weeks before that the Reds boss had suggested an agreement was imminent but latest reports suggest there has been no movement in negotiations. Raheem Sterling has still not penned a new deal despite being reportedly offered £100,000-a-week . Reds manager Brendan Rodgers (left) insists he is 'relaxed' about the situation . Premier League 2014-15 . Appearances                       25 . Goals                                    6 . Assists                                  8 . Sterling has been locked in talks over a contract extension for several months but the 20-year-old has told club officials he wants to focus on the remainder of Liverpool’s Premier League season and on winning the FA Cup. Given Sterling’s status as one of Europe’s top emerging talents, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are watching on closely. Likewise, Premier League clubs will also enter the race if it becomes clear Sterling is available. Nonetheless, Rodgers claims he is not overly concerned by the current situation. 'There is nothing new to report on it. I am quite relaxed about Raheem's situation,' he said. 'He is not going anywhere in a hurry - he has still got this season and another couple of years to go on his contract. 'I think it is quite obvious when you look at Raheem's situation anyone with Raheem's best interests would see Liverpool as the best option for his career. The Jamaican-born winger has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season . Rodgers had previously claimed that the club would not be held to ransom by the player's agent . 'He turned 20 in December and he has made 114 appearances, which is a remarkable amount at a club of this size to be given that opportunity. 'He has made it clear himself that he loves being here and I think he was quoted as saying this is the best place for any young player to develop, so that makes me quite relaxed. 'I am sure the club and his representatives will find the solution for that.' Rodgers has previously suggested the club would not be held to ransom by Sterling's agent and said the contract offer they had made was more than fair for a player of the England international's age and potential. Asked why he thought a deal had not been agreed yet, the manager said: 'I'm not sure. It is not in my area really. 'I speak to Raheem about his football and concentrate on his football and see what goes from there.' Sterling and Jordan Henderson, who has been captaining the side in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard, are the two players whose contracts appear to be taking most of the headlines. Sterling trains with captain Steven Gerrard (right) who has recovered from a spell out with a hamstring injury . However, with Liverpool closing in on a top-four place and having one eye on a possible FA Cup final, it is imperative they do not allow off-field issues to distract them. Rodgers is confident neither player will drop their standards as he believes they are both focused on the job in hand. 'These are two players who want to ensure they are here for the future,' he added. 'The model of this club is to develop the talent and create world-class players and then, of course, it is important we keep those - especially when they are here already - and that is something we are working hard to do. 'The players are working well, they are concentrated, and that side of it they have to leave to their representatives and the club so we'll just focus on the football. 'It is never easy but there are players, with all due respect, in League Two and League One who are working on six-month or one-year contracts. Anfield captain-in-waiting Jordan Henderson (3rd left) is also yet to sign a contract extension . 'It is a lot more insecure at that level than it is at this level so I am sure they will cope fine knowing they have two or two-and-a-half years left on their deals.' Liverpool will have to watch the race for the top four develop without them this weekend as they do not play until Monday when they travel to Swansea. The squad has been boosted by the return of Gerrard from a hamstring problem which has sidelined him for seven matches while Martin Skrtel, after his head injury last weekend against Blackburn in the FA Cup, and midfielder Joe Allen are both fit. Defender Jon Flanagan has also returned to training after a long-term knee problem. +Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling has shelved contract talks until the end of the season. The development casts further doubt over the England international’s long-term future at Anfield. Sterling has been locked in talks over a contract extension for several months but the 20-year-old has told club officials he wants to focus on the remainder of Liverpool’s Premier League season and on winning the FA Cup. Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling has postponed talks over a new contract until the end of the season . The development casts further doubt over the England international’s long-term future at Anfield . Appearances this season: 39 . Goals: 10 . The news will be met with anxiety by club chiefs, who are desperate to secure Sterling on a long-term deal and the next round of talks, when they recommence in the summer, will be critical, with his existing £35,000-per-week deal expiring in 2017. Given Sterling’s status as one of Europe’s top emerging talents, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are watching on closely. Likewise, Premier League clubs will also enter the race if it becomes clear Sterling is available. Liverpool ace Sterling has been locked in talks over a contract extension for several months now . Sterling has told club officials he wants to focus on the remainder of Liverpool’s Premier League season . Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are keeping a very close eye on the talented Liverpool youngster . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers claims Sterling has been offered an ‘incredible deal’ — which is understood to be close to £100,000-per-week. Rodgers has previously insisted Sterling is close to putting pen to paper, but as it stands there is no agreement. The Anfield boss has called the Jamaican-born forward the best young player in Europe and is under increasing pressure to ensure the club keep their jewel in the crown. Whether Liverpool finish in the top four is likely to be a factor in Sterling’s decision. The pacy attacker is said to have been offered a deal worth close to £100,000 per week to stay at Anfield . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is keen to tie down the 20-year-old to a new contract at Anfield . Liverpool manager Rodgers has described the Jamaican-born forward as the best young player in Europe . +Manuel Neuer accepted responsibility as Bayern Munich suffered a surprise defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach but said the whole team were not good enough to win. Bayern were beaten 2-0 at home by Monchengladbach after Raffael scored either side of half time. He said: ‘We didn’t create any genuine chances. That wasn’t good enough,' Neuer said. ‘Gladbach were very good and defended excellently. Manuel Neuer says Bayern Munich were not good enough to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach . Neuer admitted his own mistakes during Bayern's defeat by Gladbach . Neuer says he should have done better to keep out Raffael's goal . ‘Obviously we wanted to do much better and we’ve missed a chance because Wolfsburg dropped points. ‘But it won’t darken our mood. We know what we’re aiming for this season. We’ll look to the future and we’re optimistic.’ Bayern still lead the Bundesliga by 10 points from Wolfsburg, while Borussia Monchengladbach are third. And Neuer was at fault for the opening goal and the German No 1 admitted he should have done better on Raffael's strike. ‘It was the first shot on target from Gladbach. I wanted to catch it and hold on to it. I just should have played it safe and palmed it away.’ +Bayern Munich will be without winger Arjen Robben for several weeks after he suffered a stomach muscle tear in the shock 2-0 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday. Robben, who has only recently returned from a back injury, was taken off after just 24 minutes following a challenge from Gladbach's Tony Jantschke. The Dutchman could now be a doubt for Bayern's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Porto on April 15 with the club saying he would be out 'for several weeks.' Arjen Robben tore a stomach muscle in Bayern Munich's loss to Borussia Monchengladbach . Robben had only just returned from a back injury but now faces an absence of several weeks . Robben heads down the tunnel in the 24th minute after going off injured for Munich . 'His injury is almost as bad as the defeat,' said Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The winger, who missed last week's win over Werder Bremen and was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up on Sunday, is the league's second-top scorer with 17 goals this term. Deespite suffering their first home defeat of the season, Bayern are still 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. 'They barely got into our half before they scored their first goal and it's not easy to break down a side who pack their defence,' said Bayern boss Pep Guardiola. Munich boss Pep Guardiola bemoaned his team's first defeat at home in the Bundesliga this season . Manuel Neuer (centre) spills a shot from Raffael as Bayen Munich lost to Borussia Monchengladbach . Monchengladbach's players celebrate their win after the final whistle with supporters . 'We failed to break down their defence and they counter-attacked superbly, but we did all we could. We still have a 10-point lead, but we must fight until the end to defend our title. 'We still have eight games left and we have the chance now to regroup during the international break.' +Wolves kept their promotion hopes alive with a routine 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Bakary Sako's penalty and Benik Afobe's 27th goal of the season sent Kenny Jackett's side on their way as they kept in touch with the top six in the Sky Bet Championship. James Henry then added the gloss to a comfortable victory meaning Wolves have lost just once in their last seven games. Benik Afobe (left) celebrates after scoring Wolves' second in a comfortable win over Sheffield Wednesday . Bakary Sako opens the scoring for Wolves from the penalty spot after Nouha Dicko was fouled . Wolves XI: Kuszczak; Doherty, Batth (c), Stearman (Ebanks-Landell - 74), Golbourne; van La Parra (Henry - 53), McDonald (Edwards - 88), Price, Sako; Afobe, Dicko . Subs not used: McCarey, Evans, Doyle, Hause . Booked: . Goals: Sako (p) 18, Afobe 55, Henry 67 . Sheffield Wednesday XI: Westwood; Dielna, Lees, Hutchinson (Melo - 77), Vermijl; Helan, McGugan, Maghoma; May (Lavery - 64), Maguire, Nuhiu . Subs not used: Kirkland, Buxton, Mattock, Lee, De Havilland . Booked: Dielna, McGugan . Tomasz Kuszczak saved well from Jacques Maghoma but Wednesday are left marooned in mid-table with little but pride to play for. Wolves made two changes as Scott Golbourne and Nouha Dicko replaced Kortney Hause and Henry, while Stevie May returned for Wednesday along with Maghoma and Marnick Vermijl. And the visitors threatened first as Atdhe Nuhiu and Tom Lees headed wide before Wolves took the lead in controversial fashion after 19 minutes. Dicko burst down the right and skipped past one sloppy Wednesday tackle but then went down under a soft challenge from Claude Dielna in the area and referee Simon Hooper gave a penalty. The forward looked to have fallen easily but Sako sent Keiren Westwood the wrong way from the spot for his 12th goal of the season. James Henry runs to the crowd after finishing off the scoring with a stunning effort after 67 minutes . Maghoma fired at Kuszczak as the visitors tried to respond before Westwood saved well after Kevin McDonald squeezed in behind the Wednesday defence. And the keeper had to be at his best again on 31 minutes when he turned Dicko's 20-yard effort wide. A minute later and Jack Price shot straight at Westwood as Wednesday were once again opened up, this time by the lively Rajiv van La Parra. The winger fired home from the edge of the area and gave Kieran Westwood no chance of saving it . But Kuszczak kept Wolves ahead 10 minutes before the break when he clawed away Maghoma's header. The Wednesday striker had been their biggest threat and he shot just wide after the restart before Nuhiu headed over. Wolves' slow start gave the visitors encouragement but the hosts doubled their lead out of nothing on 55 minutes. Sako (centre) was a danger throughout and scored the opener from the spot but could have had more . Matt Doherty wriggled free on the right and crossed for the unmarked Afobe to thump a volley in off the post from 12 yards. With that Wednesday crumbled and Henry made it 3-0 12 minutes later with a classy strike when he cut inside and curled into the top corner from 20 yards. It was game over but Wolves suffered a blow when Richard Stearman was carried off on a stretcher with 16 minutes left after appearing to go down under little pressure to dampen their night. +Ross McCormack has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the double-header against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar, the Scottish Football Association has confirmed. The 28-year-old Fulham forward picked up a knee injury playing against Leeds in midweek. Scotland boss Gordon Strachan has no plans to bring in anyone else for the Vauxhall International challenge match against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Wednesday night which is followed by the Euro qualifier against Group D's bottom side at the same venue on Sunday. Ross McCormack sits on the deck after injuring his knee for Fulham against Leeds United in midweek . McCormack has pulled out of the Scotland squad to play Northern Ireland and Gibraltar . The Scots are in third place in their section with seven points from four games with Poland topping the table on 10 points. Fulham manager Kit Symons said after the knock: 'He got a whack on his knee the first time he went down and the physio assessed him,' 'He came over to the bench and he said he was fine and wanted to carry on. 'But then the second whack on it meant he had to come off. We will know more soon but it is certainly sore at the moment. McCormack is seen by medics at Craven Cottage before being taken off against his former club . +Middlesbrough are considering reviving interest in Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes this week. The Championship promotion chasers lost ground after losing 3-0 to new leaders Bournemouth on Saturday. Blackburn have insisted Rhodes is not for sale but defeat to Brighton yesterday has left their slim play-off chances hanging by a thread and Boro hope to persuade them to strike a deal for the Scotland international. Middlesbrough are keen on signing Blackburn Rovers' Scotland international striker Jordan Rhodes (left) 25-year-old Rhodes has scored 16 goals in 38 appearances for Blackburn so far this season . Middlesbrough will try to strike a loan before Thursday's deadline with the view to a permanent £10 million transfer. Derby County are also understood to be interested in the 23-year-old. Blackburn have an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Liverpool looming but Rhodes is ambitious to play in the Premier League and Boro could represent his best opportunity. His uncle Steve Agnew is also assistant manager to Aitor Karanka. Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka is keen to sign the striker to help boost his side's promotion chances . Rhodes has earned 11 international caps for Scotland since making his debut in November 2011 . +Sean O'Brien believes blowing a Grand Slam in Wales 'might not have been the worst thing in the world' as Ireland eye the World Cup after retaining their RBS 6 Nations title. Leinster flanker O'Brien grabbed two tries as Ireland thumped Scotland 40-10 at Murrayfield to claim back-to-back Six Nations titles for the first time since 1949. The 28-year-old backed up scores from captain Paul O'Connell and centre Jared Payne as Ireland denied England the title by virtue of points-difference. Sean O'Brien of Ireland celebrates with the Six Nations trophy after the 40-10 win over Scotland on Saturday . England saw off France 55-35 in a madcap Twickenham encounter, but fell foul of the triple-bill Super Saturday set-up for the second year running, six points short on the target set by Ireland. Happy to embrace hindsight with the title secure for another year, O'Brien believes defeat to Wales must now act as a harsh World Cup lesson for Joe Schmidt's men. 'Looking back now it might not have been the worst thing in the world,' said O'Brien, of Ireland losing 23-16 in Wales to spoil their Grand Slam chase. 'We know we can learn and move forward. That was the biggest thing to come out of last week: that we didn't do our jobs correctly and we didn't do what we did during the week. Sean O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try in a 40-10 win at Murrayfield . Ireland's O'Brien scores a try during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield on Saturday . 'If we approach the game like we did today, for instance, make sure everyone is going 100 miles an hour, we know we are never too far away.' Ireland's third Six Nations triumph in six years tees head coach Schmidt's men up nicely for the autumn World Cup in England. Schmidt's impressive transformation of Ireland's fortunes raises hopes that his side can reach a first World Cup semi-final later this year. Head coach Schmidt's ultra-tactical approach came under fire after defeat in Wales, with Warren Gatland beating his Kiwi compatriot at his own game. Scott Williams goes over during the 23-16 victory over Ireland, which ended their Grand Slam challenge . Ireland rediscovered their attacking rhythm in Edinburgh however, their four tries against Scotland matching their previous tally for the entire tournament. O'Brien is adamant Ireland can play whatever brand of rugby required to get the job done under shrewd boss Schmidt. 'There has been a lot of talk about the style of play the last few weeks but defences in this competition are very strong,' said O'Brien. 'With analysis and what not, they are able to close people down and the quality of player and strength in depth, you have really good players playing against you. Captain Paul O'Connell holds aloft the Six Nations trophy after Ireland were crowned champions . 'You have to bring them to a place where they are under a lot of pressure and maybe we haven't done that in the last few weeks. 'But we can be very proud of ourselves today of how we approached the game and did our business. 'I wouldn't say it was a different style (against Scotland). 'We have been trying to play a bit like that the last few weeks but we haven't been, and we've let ourselves down at times with our own errors as well, letting teams into games. 'But we approached it the right way against Scotland, did our jobs, and it paid off.' The Irish squad celebrate their Six Nations success as fireworks are set off from within Murrayfield . +Fans didn’t know what to do or where they should go. The final whistle went in Twickenham, Ireland were Six Nations champions for the second time in 12 months and after two absurdly dramatic hours the realisation dropped out of the Edinburgh night as suddenly as a falling star. The match in London had been such a frantic and joyous mess that nobody with a dog in Ireland’s fight dared to secondguess their emotions. When Nigel Owens brought 80-plus minutes of frenzied farce to a finish in London, the hundreds of Irish fans who had congregated around a big screen outside the Scottish stadium were stunned. For a while they did nothing but roar. Beer accounted for it in most cases, but their reactions were, shall we say, a deal less sharp than those of Luke Fitzgerald and Seán O’Brien earlier in the day. Ireland players celebrate as they are crowned Six Nations champions at Murrayfield . Captain Paul O'Connell holds aloft the Six Nations trophy after Ireland were crowned champions . It took supporters several minutes to stop screeching and turn and lurch back towards the stadium, where the presentation took place within ten minutes of the cessation in Twickenham. Events moved with the suddenness of a palace coup, and Ireland took the crown watched by 5,000 delirious countrymen and women who eventually scrambled back into the ground. It was dark night by now, but the inky gloom thrown by cold Scottish concrete didn’t bother them. They would have raised a party on Lough Derg. Eventually a camera caught the Irish players in the tunnel, in their suits but hugging and kissing as if the final whistle had just sounded on a cup final. They bounded on to the pitch, cheers poured off the south stand like water and they went to the presentation stage. There, Paul O’Connell lifted the Six Nations trophy high above his head and his colleagues leaped around him. The suits and the jubilation lent the scene the look of a Lotto celebration photo. But there was more to this than luck. Two bizarre hours had to be put in by Joe Schmidt and his team as England and France competed like a pair of boxers with big fists and no guard, but they had put in a couple of outstanding hours of labour themselves before then. The Irish squad celebrate their Six Nations success as fireworks are set off from within Murrayfield . Irish fans celebrate their side winning the Six Nations after watching England beat France 55-35 in London . They didn’t fluke their way to the nighttime joy that created a terrific racket in the well-appointed neighbourhoods around the home of Scottish rugby. They earned their right to truly unique celebration circumstances. These days become in memory an account of inevitable success. In years to come, when the events of Saturday March 21 are considered, it will seem like the outcome was irresistible. An Ireland title retention will in the telling become a certainty from early in the day. But in the bumpy, brittle second-to-second reality of a sporting contest like this, where every point must seem more precious than a gulp of oxygen, there are 50-50 splits throughout the game. There are incidents where the story of the day could be decided, a missed tackle, an ambitious break, a crooked throw. Little dramas mushroomed over the 80 minutes and you watched and wondered which one would eventually represent this taut and extraordinary Saturday: There was the early try of Paul O’Connell, playing arguably his best Test rugby at the age of 35, the lion roaring through winter. Seán O’Brien was not at his best in Cardiff but rumbled back to it here, and his first try was a triumph for the man but also for the coach as a variation on a lineout move Schmidt employed at Leinster befuddled Scotland. Sean O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try in a 40-10 win at Murrayfield . As O’Brien crossed, the thought occurred that this moment combining personal triumph and coaching imagination might be the microcosm of the day. But the seesaw wouldn’t rest, and when Tommy Bowe was snared short of the Scottish line in the second half, it had the look of a memory that would cause fans to grind their teeth. An even more troubling portent recurred, and it was the nine points Ireland left unclaimed after two penalty misses by Johnny Sexton and one, with the last act of the match, from Ian Madigan. Ireland were harvesting big numbers against their helpless opponents but large totals are best gathered by letting no opportunity slip. In failing with those three kicks the Irish out halves were in danger of being trapped in history the way Denis Leamy has: This was truly Ireland’s greatest performance under Joe Schmidt Captain Paul O’Connell scored the first of Ireland’s four tries in Irish rugby’s historic day in Murrayfield, with flanker Sean O’Brien (pictured right with Johnny Sexton) crossing twice and Jared Payne also going over to end Welsh hopes of winning the title. Ireland players celebrate at the end of the match at Murrayfield before later being crowned champions . O’Brien, who was named man of the match, said: ‘I think we executed very well and did all we could do – and hopefully it goes our way. It was important we came out and expressed ourselves. Driving into the ground and seeing all the Irish support put a chill up our backs. ‘We had to go out and stick to our process, try and win the game first and foremost and let the scoreboard look after itself.’ a substantial career reduced to a lapse. For Leamy, it happened eight years ago this month when he tapped a quick penalty under his own posts as Ireland were on a points’ hunt against Italy in Rome, in vain pursuit of the championship. The ball got turned over, Italy scored and France squeezed to the title. That cruelty would more likely be visited upon Madigan because he is the less experienced man, and has not put in the kind of trophy-laden service that Sexton has. He was in danger of being pointed out by the crude and the obvious as Ireland’s spoilsport, but there was none in green on Saturday. Ireland's O'Brien scores a try during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield in Edinburgh . This was the outstanding performance by Ireland under Schmidt so far. It was better than the New Zealand match because it was more sustained. The two rivals cannot be compared, but the results can. Ireland lost to the Kiwis but they won here. Both matches were portraits in excellence but the work was completed on Saturday. The clock turned towards 8pm and outside the ground, a terrible singer with a guitar belted out awful songs. As Schmidt returned to the media room, the dismal troubadour was singing ‘Wish You Were Here’. He at least got that much right. +In the closing stages of the RBS 6 Nations’ greatest day, Ben Youngs played like a true champion. But that status eluded him once again — and he knew exactly why. England’s scrum-half had tormented France during the gloriously, bewilderingly compelling match which provided a pulsating finale to Super Saturday. But a fourth successive year as runners-up left the national team shattered, with their gallant role in epic sporting drama serving as meagre consolation. England fell just six points short of being crowned Six Nations champions . A 55-35 victory over France was not enough for England to overhaul Ireland at the top of the standings . And though Youngs had been the catalyst for a daring charge towards the unlikely target of a 26-point winning margin with his two tries, countless line-breaks and dashing creativity, collective disappointment eclipsed any personal pride. As participants and observers alike tried to make sense of a 90-point, 12-try edition of ‘Le Crunch’ which often defied logic, the devastated man of the match pinpointed why there were no medals around English necks. ‘I don’t think the Six Nations title was lost today, it was lost last week, when we missed too many chances,’ he said, in reference to the 25-13 victory over Scotland seven days earlier. ‘We should have been way ahead on points difference going into this game.’ Ben Youngs believes England lost the Six Nations title last week when they only beat Scotland 25-13 . England had many chances to beat Scotland by a bigger margin last weekend at Twickenham . Correct. It would have deprived a captivated audience of an absorbing spectacle spanning three high-octane games, but England could have made Saturday’s fixtures in Rome and Edinburgh all but irrelevant if they hadn’t squandered a raft of try-scoring openings in round four. If Stuart Lancaster’s men had merely needed to win, they would not have scorched the earth as they did time and again in front of a fervent crowd, but it is highly likely they would have secured their prize. Instead, they ran amok to amass a record total against their cross-Channel rivals, only to be left six points short and inches from glory as a rolling maul at the end threatened to bring the house down until referee Nigel Owens penalised the hosts to signal the dying of the light. After familiar English dejection and an outpouring of Irish euphoria as Joe Schmidt’s team retained their title on points difference, the inquests began at Twickenham. George North's inspired performance helped Wales to a 61-20 win over Italy to put them in with a shout . Ireland thrashed Scotland 40-10 at Murrayfield to overhaul Wales, and England fell short in their response . Circumstances demanded an adventurous streak and the upshot was seven tries against opponents who had conceded just two in their previous four games. A torrent of quick lineouts and tapped penalties, heads-up running and off-loading made for a stirring sight but, while the real damage had been done a week before, there were also fresh faults. For all his evident pride, backs coach Andy Farrell will not have been amused to see England concede five tries at home, even though they had to go for broke. When Vincent Debaty rounded off a stunning French raid on the hour, Youngs wore a thunderous look. ‘They took their tries well but we’ve got to be better than that,’ he said. ‘It was one step forward, one step back. For every good thing we did, we weren’t able to keep backing it up. If we can be a bit smarter in defence, that is the way for us to play.’ England’s expansive approach was certainly effective and pleasing to the eye, but there was a period in the first half when they became too frantic, when a composed outlook would have told them to build a score patiently. Stuart Lancaster has seen his side finish as runners-up in the Six Nations for four years in a row . Still, criticism must be tempered in the context of a 20-point thumping of a French team which bore no resemblance to the rabble of previous weekends. For Youngs, there was irritation that their opponents had fought hard while Scotland and Italy had presented limited resistance to the other title challengers. ‘France turned up — I don’t know what happened to Italy or Scotland,’ he said. ‘We knew we were going to be chasing it and we did that. But it was shame those other teams weren’t a bit more resilient.’ France’s resilience brought out the best in several England players besides Youngs. Captain Chris Robshaw strove to carry the ball and the team heroically while James Haskell was in the sin bin for a rash trip in the second half. Billy Vunipola completed another 80 minutes of surging intensity and out wide, Jack Nowell had been peripheral early on but by the end he was rampant and had another two tries. England started their campaign with a morale-boosting win over World Cup Group A rivals Wales . English thoughts of ‘if only’ have become an annual routine and this year they have cause to lament the failure to cope with an aerial barrage in Dublin and their profligacy against Scotland. The second-half efforts against Wales and France represented their peaks and as Courtney Lawes noted, with the World Cup in mind they will take heart from recent wins over Pool A rivals Wales and Australia. Twickenham was loud and proud on Saturday evening and with five consecutive victories there, Lancaster’s side are enjoying a spell of home rule at just the right time. The performances of George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Nowell have generated optimism, and while inside centre remains a problem position, in most areas there are now multiple options. The likes of Manu Tuilagi, Joe Launchbury and Alex Corbisiero face a battle to reclaim lost places. As they stood in their post-match huddle, England were no doubt exhausted and demoralised. Finishing second again suggests they are stuck on a plateau but, in certain respects, this performance represented telling and timely progress. +Manor had no intention of competing at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and will pay a price for their failure to race, Formula One's ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone indicated on Monday. The struggling British-based team, who emerged from the remains of the failed Marussia outfit after going into administration and missing the last three races of 2014, failed to turn a wheel on the track in Melbourne. They missed all three practice sessions and Saturday qualifying, blaming software problems, which ruled them out of the race. Manor mechanics work on their car in Melbourne, but they failed to take part at any point over the weekend . British driver Will Stevens has been named one of Manor's drivers this term, and Graeme Lowdon (right) However, they escaped punishment with stewards deciding to take no action after an enquiry decided the team had made 'all reasonable endeavours' to get their cars ready. 'We should have never ever, ever allowed Manor to do what they've done. It's our fault. I predicted this would happen,' Ecclestone said. 'They had no intention of racing in Australia. Zero. They couldn't have raced if someone had gone there with a machine gun and put it to their head. 'It was impossible. So they had no intention. We'll have to see now. And they will have to pay their way to get there and get out of there,' he added. Bernie Ecclestone has indicated that Manor will pay the price for their no-show at the season opener . Marussia, who were ninth overall last season thanks to a ninth-place finish by Frenchman Jules Bianchi in Monaco, won a race against time to get their cars through crash tests and onto the air charter for Australia. Ecclestone said there had been no charge for the freight because they were entitled to that providing they were competing. 'They are not competing so they have to pay for that,' he added. The team are in line for some £28million of revenues from last season but would have forfeited the right to that if they had not turned up to compete in Australia with cars that satisfied the regulations. 'We knew we had the possibility of unknown problems and we haven't had the benefit of sorting some of those problems out in pre-season testing,' sporting director Graeme Lowdon said. 'But equally we had to come here on the basis that we're racing so we brought all of our normal equipment. There's 28 tonnes of equipment to support these cars and all of the staff. 'We are trying very hard but it is a tough thing to do in the time available.' VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . +Katarina Johnson-Thompson will compete in the 200metres hurdles and long jump at the Great CityGames Manchester in May. The 22-year-old, who broke Jessica Ennis-Hill's British pentathlon record to land gold at the European Indoor Championships in Prague last week, will compete in the city-centre street athletics event for the first time on May 9. 'I've seen the events on television before and love the idea of competing so close to the public. I can't wait to experience it first-hand for the first time,' she said. Katarina Johnson-Thompson won gold in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships last week . Johnson-Thompson, running in the 60m hurdles in Prague, will run the 200m hurdles in Manchester in May . Britain's new golden girl will also compete in the long jump at the Great CityGames Manchester . +At $450 a kilo Aizakura Wagyu beef is the most ­expensive meat ever sold in Australia. Aizakura Wagyu beef can trace it’s lineage back to the best beef in Japan which supports its hefty price tag and guarantee of quality. Called Aizakura H178, one 423kg carcass is now currently the only one available for sale and worth the huge amount of $190,000. Aizakura Wagyu beef is the most ­expensive meat ever sold in Australia . The Sunday Telegraph reports that Anthony Puharich will sell the prized cuts from Vic’s Meat Market in Pyrmont and Victor Churchill butchery in Woollahra. Victor Churchill’s Woollahra store sold all of its sirloin after just four hours into the first day of sale, adding up to about 20kg. One 423kg carcass is now available for sale and worth the huge amount of $190,000 . 'This one it hit the mark in every way shape and form,' head butcher Dennis O’Rourke said. Wagyu breeder David Blackmore and son Ben produce the high quality meat. They confirm that the carcass is the progeny of exceptional bloodlines and its origins can be traced back to Japan’s most famous cow - Kikutsuru from the Hyogo Prefecture, home of Kobe beef. Wagyu beef is generally best eaten as thinly sliced carpaccio . Once processed at a slaughterhouse in Packenham, Victoria, the animal was tested, between the 10th and 11th rib, and the one-off quality identified. It also had the highest scores in all of the measurements of quality including, marbling, meat and fat colour. As far as its quality goes the Aizakura Wagyu beef is comparable to Japanese A5 Wagyu which is the highest grade achievable. This is only ever given to the finest beef in Japan with a score of 11. Aizakura Wagyu beef is comparable to Japanese A5 Wagyu which is the highest grade achievable at 11 . Australian stock can only score a 9-plus. It means that the beef has a tender, buttery taste with a soft texture. Generally it is best eaten as thinly sliced carpaccio. +A video emerged today that claims to show Oscar Pistorius playing football in a prison yard with a notorious underworld criminal. The extraordinary footage appears to show a dramatically slimmer Pistorius enjoying a penalty shoot-out competition with Radovan Krejcir, who was last month charged with murder. The disgraced sprinter, who was jailed for five years for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has struck up an unlikely friendship with the Czech fugitive since they became neighbours on the hospital wing at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria. In the 90 second clip, South Africa's two most notorious prisoners are seen taking turns to play striker and goalkeeper in the facility's concrete yard which they seemingly have to themselves. Kickabout: A video emerged that claims to show Oscar Pistorius (white T-shirt) playing football in a prison yard with a notorious underworld criminal, seen here taking on the role of goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out . Enjoying some freedom: The extraordinary footage appears to show a dramatically slimmer Pistorius enjoying a penalty shoot-out competition with Radovan Krejcir, who was last month charged with murder . Wide of the mark: Pistorius's shot misses the goal and hits a door instead. The double-amputee was jailed for five years for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013 . Incarcerated: The disgraced sprinter has struck up an unlikely friendship with Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir (right) since they became neighbours on the hospital wing at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria . The footage, shot from above on a mobile phone reportedly by a convicted robber, was published today by South Africa's Daily Sun newspaper. The pictures appear to support recent reports that the double-amputee has slimmed down dramatically since his incarceration four months ago amid fears of poisoning by other prisoners. According to jail sources, the shamed athlete is surviving on tins of baked beans, pilchards and an African vegetable dish called 'chakalaka' bought at the prison tuck shop after spurning his rations. Wearing trainers, grey shorts and a white, unbranded T-shirt that appears to swamp his lean frame, the 28-year-old's thin arms protrude from its sleeves. The images are in stark contrast to the muscle-bound track star who made history at the London Olympic games by competing against able-bodied athletes. During the day, Pistorius is required to dress in the regulation orange jump suit which is issued to all inmates at the jail. Fun and games: In the 90-second clip, South Africa's two most notorious prisoners are seen taking turns to play striker and goalkeeper in the facility's concrete yard which they seemingly have to themselves . As a prisoner on remand, heavily-built Krejcir is entitled to wear his own clothes and is dressed in a striped top and deck shoes for his knockabout game with the famous athlete . But according to a spokesman for the jail, he is entitled to dress in sports gear for his hour of daily exercise. As a prisoner on remand, heavily-built Krejcir is entitled to wear his own clothes and is dressed in a striped top and deck shoes for his knockabout game with the famous athlete. Although in the video Pistorius appears to move easily on his prostheses despite his obvious drop in weight, during his long murder trial, his doctor told the court of the pain the fallen sprinter suffers a result of wearing artificial limbs that fit poorly as a result of weight loss. The bleak yard where the men are having a kickabout shows two narrow doors, one yellow and one red, apparently used to control the exit and entry of the prison's notoriously violent large population. For the purposes of their football game, the doors provide make-shift goal posts and Pistorius shows himself to be useful in goal, deflecting the older man's attempt to score by blocking one shot with a prosthetic leg. At one point, the one-time sporting idol has to delve behind some wheelie bins to retrieve the white ball after knocking away Krejcir's strike with his hand. In apparent deference to his opponent, the Paralympic gold medalist is seen moving a concrete-weighted pole and plastic bag out of the way in order for Krejcir to have more room to take aim at the goal. The bleak yard where the men are having a kickabout shows two narrow doors, one yellow and one red, apparently used to control the exit and entry of the prison's notoriously violent large population . At one point, the one-time sporting idol has to delve behind some wheelie bins to retrieve the white ball after knocking away Krejcir's strike with his hand . When it is his own turn to take penalties, Pistorius strikes hard, but hits one of the door 'goal posts', before sprinting off to reclaim the ball – clearly relishing the short burst of speed. Prison chiefs are mindful of the threat to Pistorius's safety at the massive jail, where gangs dominate prison life and sexual and physical violence is the only means to progress up the gangs' chain of command. He spends much of his day isolated from other prisoners, but Krejcir – despite his links with violent crime – is obviously perceived to pose no danger. Last month, MailOnline exclusively revealed how Pistorius had been re-classified to a low-risk A category prisoner, entitling him to greater freedoms and privileges behind bars, including 'contact' visits, a radio and the freedom to wear jewelry. The Daily Sun newspaper, which received the footage from a prisoner inside the jail, quoted an unnamed inmate who complained that Krejcir and Pistorius were getting preferential treatment because they are both white. The paper reports that Pistorius is given mineral water, fresh fruit and tea for breakfast - treats that are not afforded to other prisoners and prepared only for him. 'We are all in prison and we must be treated the same. The colour of your skin should not be a passport to get on the sweet side of the law,' the prisoner told the paper. The noise of the prison, which houses 7,000 inmates, can be heard on the video soundtrack, drowning any exchanges between the two men. Stark: Prisoners are lined up inside the Kgosi Mumpuru 11 Management Centre during a surprise raid by prison officials checking for drugs and other contraband. Pistorius is being held in the hospital wing of jail . Grim: Prison officials search an inmate's cell. Pistorius is said to be quiet and calm in prison after an initial meltdown during his first few days when other inmates heard him sobbing himself to sleep (file picture) Krejcir, currently on trial for kidnapping, attempted murder and drug dealing, appears to enjoy the yard knockabout. The Czech fugitive is facing a long incarceration as a prisoner on remand, with a number of outstanding cases against him. Detectives said it would take years to wrap up investigations into the Czech's links with the criminal underworld including murder, drug trafficking, robbery and fraud. Krejcir currently has three court cases running against him, but as an unconvicted prisoner is entitled to greater privileges than his neighbour on the hospital wing. Krecjir's latest charge involves the murder of a Lebanese national who was shot more than 30 times when he stopped at a traffic light in Johannesburg 18 months ago. News of the unlikely friendship between the two was revealed when Krejcir wrote a letter to prison authorities complaining that a treadmill and exercise bike – that he trained on alongside Pistorius –had been removed from the corridor outside his cell. Krejcir used a false passport to move to South Africa seven years ago and has been linked to the unsolved murders of, among others, a luxury car exporter, the owner of a string of strip joints and a known drug dealer. Victim and killer: Model Reeva Steenkamp died after Pistorius fired four shots at her through a locked toilet door at his home on Valentine's Day two years ago . In 2013 he survived an attempt on his own life which involved remotely-operated guns which had been hidden - 007-style - behind the number plate of a parked car. In December, the double-amputee's brother told South Africa's YOU magazine how the athlete had hoped to begin a basketball training programme for inmates, many of whom suffer from ill health due to HIV, Aids and TB. According to Carl, Pistorius had requested a donation of basketballs from his family in order to set up the project after applying for permission from prison bosses. In October, Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide over the death of 29 year-old Mrs Steenkamp at his home on St Valentine's Day 2013. The double-amputee shot the model four times through a locked toilet door after mistaking her for an intruder. He could be released from jail in August and allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. However, the state has appealed Pistorius' acquittal on a charge of murder. The athlete's own lawyers have challenged the ruling to allow the appeal. The next hearing in the case is due to take place on Friday. +Cricketer David Warner has opened up about the emotional turmoil he feels every day as he continues to grieve over the devastating death of his friend and team mate, Phillip Hughes. Hughes was tragically killed in November 2014 in a freak accident during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG. Warner was by Hughes' side when the 25-year-old was struck in the head by a bouncer, resulting in a catastrophic head injury. Warner, 28, desperately tried to help the young batsman, holding Hughes' hand as he was taken from the field. 'When I got home after that day I was standing in the shower and I was sort of facing the wall with my hands on my head going: “why?” His fiance, former ironwoman Falzon, described her husband-to-be as a 'warrior' on the pitch but a 'softie' at home. Falzon told 60 Minutes that Warner has been 'truly inspirational'. Scroll down for video . Cricketer David Warner has opened up about the emotional turmoil he feels every day as he continues to grieve the devastating death of his friend and team mate, Phillip Hughes . Warner (left) was by Hughes'(right) side when the 25-year-old was struck in the head by a bouncer, resulting in a catastrophic and fatal head injury . Warner has opened up about how he took to the pitch again just two weeks after Hughes' funeral . Four months after Hughes' distressing death, it's clear that the memories of the fatal blow and Hughes' final days are never far from David Warner's mind. 'The thought of coming off that day (at the SCG) holding his hand was…' Warner began, fading off as he was overcome with emotion during his interview with Channel Nine's 60 Minutes. 'It hurts every day when I think about it.' Warner says that he still can't comprehend that his mate lost his life whilst playing a game. ‘It’s hard to talk about it now; It was so hard to talk about it with Candice,’ Warner told Channel 9's 60 Minutes, speaking about his fiance. ‘I turned around to Candice and said, 'Why? Why does this happen? 'Why did this happen in a game of cricket?' Warner broke down in tears during the interview as he tried to explain the pain of his grief, with his devoted fiancée Falzon by his side to offer support. Warner admits that he still battles with Hughes' death, asking: 'Why? Why does this happen? Why did this happen in a game of cricket?' David Warner celebrates his century at the Sydney Cricket Ground against India by looking to the sky . The Australia batsman removed his helmet and kissed the ground after reaching 63 on January 6 . Best mates: David Warner (L) warms up pre match alongside Phillip Hughes (R) in June 2013 . Hughes was placed in an induced coma after his accident and his loved ones held a vigil at his bedside for two days, as the country prayed for a miracle that never came. Tragically Hughes died on November 26, just three days shy of his 26th birthday. Just two weeks after Hughes' funeral in his NSW hometown, Macksville, the shattered Australian cricket team travelled to Adelaide to face the unimaginable task of playing again. During the interview, Warner spoke for the first time about how it felt to step onto the pitch again so soon after Hughes' traumatic death. At a time when many doubted he could even face a ball, Warner scored an incredible 145 runs from 163 balls on the first day of the Test against India. ‘Looking into the sky, looking into the stands just brought a big smile to my face thinking “I’ve done it for him, I’ve done it for my mate,' Warner said with a smile. He looked to the sky and put his bat in the air in acknowledgement to his late friend too . A commemorative plaque to Hughes was unveiled before play began at the SCG on January 6 . Warner plays an attacking shot during his score of 101 on the first day of the fourth Test . Warner's accomplishment wasn't only an amazing feat for the sport but a moving display of raw emotion. However, the hardest test was yet to come. The fourth and final Test of the series was held in Sydney, meaning Warner had to return to the SCG and play on the same pitch where his beloved 'Hughesy' was felled. 'It is still difficult returning to the SCG,' Warner admitted to 60 Minutes. 'You take each step as it comes. But it just hits you even more, the closer you get to the wicket.' That day, January 6, was not only an incredible success for David Warner but a moving tribute. He scored an emotional century on the first day of the Test against India less than two months after Hughes had been struck. He holds his bat in the air and acknowledges the crowd after reaching three figures against India . Warner was visibly emotional as he walked out to bat, looking at the sky and talking to himself . A visibly emotional Warner crouched down on the pitch, removed his helmet and kissed the turf when he reached 63 - the score which his former team-mate and friend had been on before he died. Warner jumped into the air and looked at the sky after reaching three figures, acknowledging his fallen team-mate, as Australia played their first Test at the SCG since Hughes' death. It was a crucial step for Warner as he grieved the death of 'Hughesy' and learnt how to love cricket again. ‘I think sometimes you need to visit these things and the only way to face it is to come face to face with it.' Warner (left) still mourns the death of his mate Phillip Hughes (right) everyday . His partner, Candice Falzon, watched on from the stands at the SCG along with the couple's baby . Australia players stand and remember this former team-mate Phillip Hughes with a moment of pause . +A Connecticut dairy farm worker has died after getting caught in a 'corn avalanche'. Donald Merchant, 54, of South Windham, was moving milled corn from a large mound at the Square A Farm in Lebanon on Monday afternoon. According to police, when he got off a farm vehicle some of the cow feed collapsed on him. Freak accident: Donald Merchant, 54, of South Windham, was moving milled corn from a large mound at the Square A Farm in Lebanon (above) on Monday afternoon . Merchant was found unresponsive by other farm hands, who dug him out. They apparently called 911 and performed CPR until emergency responders arrived at the scene . He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 5:30pm. Source of the problem: According to police, when Merchant got off a farm vehicle some of the cow feed collapsed on him - he was found unresponsive by other farm hands, who dug him out . Merchant's sister, Wendy, took to Facebook to mourn his death. Alongside an old family photograph she wrote: 'Good night my sweet brother . . . growing up, you were always very protective of your "baby"...me... until you had kids of your own. 'You were very lucky to have every single one of your kids who love you so so much. I love you Don - my big brother. You are already missed.' The exact cause of death has not been released. +Getting children to welcome a new baby into the home can sometimes prove difficult - especially when it wasn't the playmate they were hoping for. Indeed, one mother from Colorado filmed the moment she told her daughter she was expecting a boy. Footage shows the toddler's smile quickly turning to a frown and then a cry 'no' as she breaks down in tears. 'I want a baby sister!' the little girl dramatically sobs. Her mother calmly explains that it isn't possible and she'll be getting a baby brother. 'That's why it's blue,' she says referencing a baby shower cupcake at home. But the girl remains vehemently opposed to the idea. The clip ends with her exclaiming: 'I want a baby sister right now!' Hopefully she eventually came around to the idea of having a little brother. Caught on camera: One mother from America filmed the moment she told her daughter she was expecting a boy - the infant wasn't too impressed . Chain reaction: The toddler's smile quickly turns to a frown and then a cry 'no' as she breaks down in tears . +A father has been accused of blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of his infant child, police said. Christopher Kling was detained after officers were allegedly shown a smartphone video of him breathing the fumes into the baby's mouth. Police were called to reports of a disturbance at the home of the 22-year-old's estranged wife in Beaverton, Oregon, just before midnight on Sunday. Christopher Kling, 22, has been accused of blowing marijuana into the mouth of his infant child . Officers were said to have diffused a row over the pairs children when a concerned family friend passed them the video, according to NBC News. The friend was alleged to have told police that he was concerned for the child's safety and claimed this was not the first time Kling had blown fumes into the infant's mouth. The video, which has not been released by police, allegedly shows the baby coughing after ingesting the vapor, according to court papers. 'Children are one of the most vulnerable in our society and often don't have a voice,' police reportedly told NBC News. 'The Beaverton Police Department is grateful for this family friend that decided to be the voice for this infant.' Kling was charged with three felony counts of application of a controlled substance to a minor yesterday. He is currently in Washington County Jail where his bail had been set at $1,000. Police were allegedly passed a video showing Kling blowing marijuana into his infant child's mouth. Pictured: Marijuana (file image) +A sinkhole opened up in a New Jersey suburb on Tuesday and swallowed an SUV in the process. Four homes had to be evacuated by authorities in South Amboy after police were alerted to the large hole around 6.30am. The hole was at least 20 feet deep and 15 feet across and appeared where the street reaches a dead end,NJ.com reported. Scroll down for video . Four homes had to be evacuated by authorities in South Amboy, New Jersey after a large sinkhole opened up and swallowed an SUV . A vehicle at the bottom of a large sinkhole in New Jersey March 24, 2015. The large sinkhole, believed to have been caused by an underground water main break, forced the evacuations of four New Jersey homes about 20 miles south of Newark . No one was injured by the sinkhole which reportedly occurred because of a break in a water main. Residents reported seeing water running through their backyards for several days. The sinkhole appeared to be getting larger but fortunately for home owners, was spreading in the direction of woodlands. The sinkhole was discovered when a man reported his son's car stolen to police on Tuesday morning, only for officers to find it at the bottom of the crevasse. A small SUV became a casualty of the sinkhole which opened up at the dead-end of a Jersey street . The residents of four homes were evacuated by police on Tuesday morning at 6.30am after they were alerted that a sinkhole had opened up dangerously close to the properties . The SUV can be seen at the bottom of the sinkhole which was at least 20 feet deep and 15 feet across . The sinkhole was discovered after a man reported his son's car stolen to police - only for them to find it in the crevasse (pictured) +An Oklahoma sheriff deputy's backflip and mid-air twist have made him the internet's newest star after a video captured him performing stunts while dunking on the basketball court. Deputy Erik Gransberg was on duty at a local high school's fundraising assembly when he captured the spotlight and a standing ovation. The audience at Edmond Memorial High School first see the basketball coach pass Gransberg the ball as an invitation, only for him to throw it right back. Scroll down for video . Oklahoma sheriff deputy Erik Gransberg has become the internet's newest viral sensation after a video captured him performing mid-air twists and backflips on a basketball court . For his stunt, the deputy runs for a trampoline set up near the net. He then executes a perfect twist in the air as he throws the ball to the court's floor . A student who was running behind Gransberg then jumps off the trampoline and grabs the basketball mid-air before he successfully dunks it . The assembly's MC pleads 'come on, officer' and the coach tries one more time. This time Gransberg, still in his uniform, accepts. For his first stunt Gransberg runs across the court and jumps on a trampoline set up near the net. He throws the ball against the backboard as the coach runs up behind him, catching it and making a perfect dunk. The crowd cheers, unaware that what they had seen was just the deputy's warm-up. Gransberg then corresponds with a student player and, after a shake of hands for good luck and a wave to the crowd for some support, he's off. The deputy runs again for the trampoline, jumping off it to execute a perfect twist in the air as he throws the ball to the court's floor. The student comes up behind him to grab it mid-air before successfully dunking it. Feeling pumped up after his stunt, Gransberg then does a back-flip on the court as the audience goes wild . For his first stunt Gransberg runs across the court and jumps on a trampoline set up near the net. He throws the ball against the backboard as the coach runs up behind him, catching it and making a perfect dunk . Gransberg serves in the community service division of the sheriff's department at night and also works as a civil engineer . Feeling pumped up after his stunt, Gransberg then does a back-flip on the court as the audience goes wild. He gets a round of high fives before telling the camera 'that's all I got'. But Gransberg was being modest. The deputy, who also works as a civil engineer, has been taking center stage for years. Gransberg was a mascot and cheerleader for five years at the University of Oklahoma, and then worked as the school's cheer coach and ran the mascot program for another seven, according to Oklahoma's Own. The deputy has served as a mascot for a number of minor league basketball teams in Oklahoma City and was also part of Oklahoma City Thunder's acrobatic dunk team the 'Thunder Bolts'. The deputy has served as a mascot for a number of minor league basketball teams in Oklahoma and got his start in the sheriff's office as a mascot before he went through the academy and earned his badge . Gransberg actually got his start in the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office as a mascot before he went through the academy and earned his badge. He now works in the community service division, which is what brought him to the fundraising assembly. Gransberg has been dubbed the 'Dunking Deputy' and it's a title he'd 'like to keep', he told Oklahoma's Own. And although by now he may be a pro, Gransberg said he was still 'just so excited' when he saw the basketball swoosh through the net after his stunt. The assembly fundraiser was in honor of the high school's 'Swine Week,' an annual seven-day community service project. It raised a record $701,334 for the Angel Foster Family Network. +All of the best jobs require bucket loads of experience on a person's CV... and it turns out some of the least desirable vocations do too. A new job opening for a global 'brothel tester' has appeared on a German sex website. The successful candidate will be both university educated and have spent a large amount of time in red-light districts. The German website Kaufmich.com is advertising for a brother tester . According to The Mirror, the job advert first appeared on Kaufmich.com, which is a website where independent sex workers can sell their trade. The Berlin-based business that advertised the job opening is a multinational company which has franchises in China, Germany and Spain. They are looking for both men and women, preferably with business degrees, who are able to speak several languages, in particular French. Understandably with this job, the candidates should all be in possession of an up to date health certificate. Candidates for the job should have plenty of brothel experience (picture posed by model) The Mirror reports the advert as saying: 'Practical experience with many years of brothel visits necessary. 'You should enjoy having fun with people and you should not be afraid of contact.' The role will entail visiting different brothels to check standards of cleanliness, customer service and  value for money. They will also be responsible for making sure that the men and women in the business carry out safe sex. The red light district in Frankfurt, Germany, where Sex trade laws were radically liberalised in 2002 . Sex trade laws were radically liberalised by the German government in 2002. Laws were originally relaxed in the hope that they would offer a degree of protection to prostitutes who now have access to health insurance and benefits. Red light districts have also become much more prominent in Germany's major cities - there are between 3,000 and 3,500 established brothels in Germany and the trade is now big business. +A yoga teacher who nursed her boyfriend after he suffered a stroke had to flee Britain when he started bombarding her with abusive letters. Alessia Avellino, 42, said her relationship with 51-year-old Paul Bijl broke down after the stroke four years ago completely changed his character. But Bijl still often sent her letters and text messages calling her a ‘c***’ and ‘whore’, forcing Miss Avellino to flee her flat in St John’s Wood, north-west London, to her native Italy . Ex-boyfriend: Alessia Avellino (left) said her relationship with Paul Bijl (right) broke down after his stroke . She told the London Evening Standard: ‘He looked the same after the stroke but had become someone else. I couldn’t handle it. It destroyed me. I cried myself to sleep every day.’ Miss Avellino, who is also an artist and has exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts, said Bijl ‘went bananas that I had left him’ and would shout at her in front of other people. She withdrew a harassment case after he promised to change, but then called police when the abuse became ‘relentless’. Bijl has since admitted harassment at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The Westminster resident was sentenced to six months of community service and handed an indefinite restraining order, but Miss Avellino stressed that he is ‘no monster’ and ‘needs help’. Sentenced: Bijl admitted harassment at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (above) and was given six months of community service and handed an indefinite restraining order . Speaking to Standard reporter Anna Dubuis, she added: ‘When it happened it destroyed me. 'My self-esteem was in tatters. I loved him so much - that’s why it was so hard to get away from him. ‘I was convinced he was the love of my life. I hoped he would change. When I finally saw he wasn’t going to, I said it was over.’ Miss Avellino studied at the Chelsea College of Arts and has also exhibited paintings at the Rivington Gallery in east London. +Police are continuing to question a man arrested on suspicion of murdering missing chef Claudia Lawrence (pictured) Police are continuing to question a man arrested on suspicion of murdering missing chef Claudia Lawrence as they finished searching a house linked to his arrest. North Yorkshire Police arrested the married 59-year-old yesterday in connection with Miss Lawrence's disappearance in 2009. He remains in custody this morning and later today police will have to make a decision on whether to charge or release him, or will need to apply for extra time to question the suspect. Officers have been combing a semi-detached home in a quiet York cul-de-sac as part of their investigations, and a spokesman said the search of the property concluded last night. A spokesman said yesterday that Miss Lawrence, who was 35 when she went missing, had not been found. Her parents, Peter and Joan, were told about the arrest shortly before it was made public and are being supported by trained officers. Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn, of North Yorkshire Police, has urged people not to identify the arrested man, who is from the York area, for fear of compromising the inquiry at what they describe as a 'critical phase'. He said: 'To ensure the investigation and legal process are not compromised or potentially damaged in any way during this critical phase in seeking the truth about Claudia's disappearance, North Yorkshire Police strongly advises the media and members of the public against identifying the man who has been arrested. 'This includes naming or publishing images of the man on traditional media platforms or social networking sites. 'I urge everyone to show restraint and patience while we carry out these very important inquiries.' Scroll down for video . The father-of-two drank in the same pub as the missing university chef and lives within half a mile of her home in York. Miss Lawrence was reported missing by her father after concerns were raised when she failed to turn up for her 6am shift at work in March 2009. North Yorkshire Police began reviewing the case in 2013 and have since carried out a number of searches, including a detailed re-examination of Miss Lawrence's home, in the Heworth area of the city, and a fingertip search of an alleyway that leads to the rear of the house. Officers have been combing a semi-detached home in a quiet York cul-de-sac as part of their investigations, and a spokesman said the search of the property concluded last night . An officer searches the front garden of the York house yesterday as part of the police investigation . Police search the front of the house in York. The man arrested in connection with Miss Lawrence's disappearance remains in custody this morning . A 60-year-old man was arrested last year in connection with her disappearance and suspected murder but was later released without charge, while a 47-year-old man remains on bail on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Mr Malyn said he was 'actively pursuing new leads' and that his team had made 'significant progress' since the force began reviewing the case in 2013. The detective said some people locally knew Miss Lawrence but have kept their relationship secret and some deliberately lied about a number of issues concerning their association with the chef. The arrest came days after police released previously unseen CCTV of a mystery man caught on camera walking towards the back of her terraced house on the evening she was last known to be alive. The footage, released to mark the anniversary of Miss Lawrence's disappearance, was taken at around 7.15pm on March 18 showing a man walking towards the rear of the missing chef;s house. The camera picks him up returning about one minute later and he appears to be carrying a bag over his shoulder. As he walks back to the main road he is seen to stop briefly as another man walks in front of him. Police appealed for information to identify both men and the arrest came five days later. Miss Lawrence's father, Peter, said yesterday: 'Any progress is good. It is encouraging to know that, following all the media activity over the last three weeks, from Claudia's 41st birthday to the sixth anniversary of her being missing, North Yorkshire Police continue to be active in seeking answers as to what has happened to Claudia. 'It is to be hoped that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible and I encourage people to continue to come forward with information to the police.' Miss Lawrence was reported missing by her father after concerns were raised when she failed to turn up for her 6am shift at work in March 2009 . Previously unseen CCTV footage released to mark the anniversary of Miss Lawrence's disappearance is shown on a digital advertising vehicle close to her home last week . Jen King, one of Miss Lawrence's closest friends, said: 'Everyone wants closure, but they have already arrested two people and got nowhere.' Neighbours in the quiet cul-de-sac in a middle-class neighbourhood were surprised by the police activity. One said: 'I know him, I've lived here for 20 years and he's just a normal bloke. He's lived here longer than me.' The neighbour said he had recently lost his job working as a manager for a large firm. Miss Lawrence returned home from work on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, and spoke to her parents separately on the phone that evening. She has not been seen since. Her father reported her missing on the Friday. Despite a huge investigation police have failed to find a single clue to explain what has happened to her. The suspect being questioned was one of many men who were spoken to at the time of the original police inquiry because he drank in the same pub as Miss Lawrence. The landlady of a different local pub, who also knows the suspect, said yesterday: 'He said the police spoke to him at the time, but he always made light of it. He said the police went to his house. He is a really funny, really nice guy who reads loads of books. He was very witty.' Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or www.crimestoppers-uk.org . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has urged Formula One's moaners to visit the Wailing Wall if they want their prayers answered on a change to the sport's regulations. Wolff was responding to the latest complaints from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner in the wake of Mercedes' crushing start to the 2015 season as Lewis Hamilton spearheaded a one-two in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Horner was left to reflect on 'a s***** Sunday' and the fear fans will turn off F1 after Mercedes' domination of the race at Melbourne's Albert Park . Nico Rosberg showers winner Lewis Hamilton after Mercedes finish on-two at Australian Grand Prix . Hamilton races to victory as Mercedes extend last season's dominance into the new campaign . Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has told critics of his team to work to find a solution . After winning the constructors' and drivers' titles for four years from 2010-2013, with Sebastian Vettel at the helm, Mercedes have taken up the mantle of F1 powerhouse. Having won 16 of 19 grands prix in 2014 to claim the constructors' crown, and with Hamilton clinching his second championship, the start to the new year was a breeze for Mercedes. Hamilton beat team-mate Nico Rosberg by 1.3secs, with Vettel third on his debut for Ferrari but 34.5secs off the pace. Predicting 'a two-horse race at every grand prix this year', Horner has called on the FIA to act to prevent an F1 yawn, and he is fully aware of how his comments will be viewed given Red Bull's success. 'When we were winning - and we were never winning to the advantage they have - I remember double diffusers were banned, exhausts were moved, flexible bodywork was prohibited, engine mapping mid-season was changed,' said Horner of the steps taken to negate his team's performance. Red Bull's Christian Horner has complained about Mercedes, despite his team winning four consecutive titles . Horner claim that leaving Hamilton and Rosberg to fight it out for the title is unhealthy for the sport . Re-live every lap of the Melbourne race . 'Anything was done and that wasn't just unique to Red Bull, but Williams in previous years and McLaren, etcetera. 'Is it healthy to have this situation? The FIA, within the rules, have an equalisation mechanism and it is perhaps something we need to look at. 'Mercedes, take nothing away from them, they have done a great job and they have a good car, a fantastic engine, and two very good drivers. 'The problem is the gap is so big you end up with three-tier racing and that's not healthy for Formula One. 'The FIA have the facts and they could quite easily come up with some form of equalisation otherwise I fear the interest will wane. 'I didn't see Mercedes much on the TV and I can only imagine that's because it's not interesting watching a procession and the producer was looking to pick out other battles in the race.' Referring to the fact Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger conducted the podium ceremony, Horner added: 'The highlight for me was to see Arnie on the podium!' Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger interviews Hamilton after his winning start to the season . Responding to the call for equalisation, Wolff said: 'If you come into Formula One, try to beat each other and perform at the highest level and then you need equalisation after the first race - you cry out after the first race - that's not how we've done things in the past. 'I think 'Just get your f****** head down, work hard and try to sort it out'.' Quickly clarifying his remark, Wolff added: 'I didn't mean the f-word in relation to him (Horner).' Asked whether he feared another political season, Wolff replied: 'It is always a political season. It was last year and it is this year. 'There is this wall in Jerusalem that you can stand in front of and complain. Maybe the guys should go there.' 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:31:54.067 . 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +00:01.360 . 3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 00:34.523 . 4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 00:38.196 . 5. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber - Ferrari 01:35.149 . 6. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Renault 1 lap . 7. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap . 8. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap . 9. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap . 10. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap . 11. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 2 laps . r. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 18 laps . r. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso - Renault 25 laps . r. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Mercedes 58 laps . r. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Mercedes 58 laps . r. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull - Renault 58 laps . r. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 58 laps . ns. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes . (rank: r = retired, nc = not classified, ns=not started) Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton,01:30.945, lap 50. +A video has been released which appears to show Wayne Rooney being knocked out cold by former Manchester United team-mate Phil Bardsley. The Old Trafford captain and the Stoke defender pulled on gloves during a night-in at Rooney's Cheshire mansion last month - but Bardsley's wife Tanya dismissed the incident as a joke. With only a small space in which to work in Rooney's lounge, the pair trade light blows for just under a minute before Bardsley sends Rooney reeling. The England striker lies motionless under a chair for several seconds before the video, obtained by The Sun, cuts out. Wayne Rooney, a big boxing fan, posted this picture on his Instagram with professional boxer Paul Smith . Phil Bardsley's wife Tanya moved to defuse the furore by claiming the video had been a joke . 'Wayne had everybody worried when he hit the floor like that,' a source told the newspaper. 'He made such a thud when he went down and he was just on his back with his eyes closed, not moving. 'People were scared he had really banged his head and done some lasting damage. 'Everyone realised it was a stupid thing to do, but they just got carried away.' Bardsley's wife Tanya later hit back at the furore caused by the release of the video. She tweeted: 'Seen the sun, 2 mates havin a laugh video doesn't show Wayne jumping straight up and laughing with Phil #cleveredit.' The video is believed to have been filmed on February 22, the day after United lost 2-1 at Swansea. Rooney is wearing a pair of white Adidas gloves while Bardsley pulls on a pink pair. They appear to be sparring gloves rather than the smaller, less padded sets worn in professional fights. Neither man has a headguard on and while Bardsley is wearing shoes, Rooney is in his socks. After touching gloves, they circle each other before Bardsley throws a left hand. Rooney paws back without connecting. Bardsley is the more aggressive throughout, and tries to go for Rooney's body, pushing him back. The pair separate but again Bardsley comes on strongly, landing a right uppercut. Rooney tries to respond but misses wildly before his former team-mate bides his time and throws the shot that sends Rooney backwards, narrowly avoiding a chair as he hits the deck. The incident could leave Rooney with some uncomfortable questions to answer from United chiefs over his choice of extra-curricular activities. Given he skipper's United, the forward is a regular for Louis van Gaal's men. And the United manager is unlikely to be impressed with Rooney for partaking in such dangerous activities prior to matches and training. Rooney returned to action six days later, scoring a double against Sunderland. Phil Bardsley (centre) celebrates a Peter Crouch goal for Stoke during a win over Arsenal in December 2014 . Wayne Rooney scores a stunning header against Arsenal in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat on Monday . The Manchester United captain celebrates his goal at Old Trafford on Monday against Arsenal in the FA Cup . VIDEO Van Gaal refuses to discuss 'ridiculous' Rooney story . Former Birmingham and Sheffield United midfielder Curtis Woodhouse - who swapped football for boxing and became the British super-lightweight champion - saw the funny side of it, posting on Twitter beside two pictures of himself boxing and playing football: 'Some can, some think they can?? Rooney... not everybody can do it!!! it's not as easy as I made it look.' When asked by one Twitter user whether he would consider fighting Rooney for charity, Woodhouse replied: 'When he wakes up maybe'. Rooney comes from a big boxing background and is often photographed at ringside during high-profile bouts. Speaking seven years ago, Rooney said his boxing training as a youngster helped his football career. 'I think my boxing training was beneficial in my development as a footballer, especially breaking through to the Premier League at such a young age,' he said. 'I needed that extra bit of strength that the boxing training had given me. It made it easier to play than it might have been and it's helped me with the way my game is now. 'All through my life - from the ages of six, seven and eight - when big fights were on television, I used to stay up with my dad to watch them. 'I've always loved watching boxing and I went boxing training for about three or four years when I was younger. It's a sport I've always been involved in. 'I was doing both boxing and football training at one stage when I was about 15. But Everton who I was with at the time, said I had to concentrate on one of them and I opted for football.' Rooney recently posted this picture on Instagram of him meeting Lennox Lewis (left) and Amir Khan (centre) +Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard claims Jose Mourinho won't be bothered by tarnishing his legacy after Chelsea's latest ill-mannered exit from the Champions League. The Blues crashed out of Europe's elite competition after a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night sent Paris Saint-Germain through to the quarter finals on away goals. The game was marred by regular interruptions for fouls and unsportsmanlike behaviour while the French media has accused Mourinho of being responsible for the sending off of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as nine Blues players crowded the referee following his foul on Oscar. Steven Gerrard was speaking ahead of an All-Star charity game to be staged at Anfield later this month . Gerrard will pit his team of All-Stars against one managed by Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher . The pair show off their respective teams, featuring the likes of Thierry Henry, John Terry and Luis Suarez . Read John Terry's excuse for Chelsea's bully boy tactics against PSG . However, Gerrard - who came close to signing for Mourinho's Blues in 2005 - believes the Portuguese will not be worried about the legacy he leaves because he is 'a winner'. The Reds captain was speaking ahead of an All-Star charity match at Anfield that will see him line up alongside the likes of Thierry Henry and Luis Suarez against a team managed by Jamie Carragher which features Didier Drogba and Pepe Reina. 'I think it's normal when you play games at that level. Players and managers want to win so much - players will try every trick in the book to try and get over the line and win football matches,' he told reporters. 'Sometimes it doesn't look nice but we've all been guilty of it throughout our careers by not always abiding by the rules. Jose Mourinho will not be concerned by bully-boy tactics tarnishing his reputation, says Gerrard . Up to nine Chelsea players crowded the referee ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's sending off . Mourinho has words with former Chelsea defender David Luiz (left) from the touchline . 'I think PSG got through because they're the better team and good luck to them going forward. Chelsea had a very good effort, but it wasn't to be for them. 'I don't think he (Mourinho) will be interested in whether it will tarnish his legacy. He's a winner, he's won many, many trophies. Every single player out there has respect for him as a manager, he's going to win many more titles and will probably go down as one of the best managers of all time. 'I'm in no position to criticise him or have a go at him. He does it his way and I respect that. But, I'm only interested in one manager and that's the one that I've got here.' Blues striker Diego Costa was involved in a succession of spats throughout the game . PSG captain Thiago Silva (right) scored the decisive goal with an injury time header at the Bridge . Branislav Ivanovic rows with Brazilians Thiago Motta and Silva as Chelsea twice lose their lead . Meanwhile, former Liverpool defender and Sportsmail columnist Carragher admitted he was more concerned for the standard of the Premier League than Chelsea's elimination. 'I'm disappointed because our league has lost its best team in the competition. And to see them come up so short on the night to PSG - who looked a class act and credit to them as they have some very good players - but for our league in general,' he said. 'You look at Manchester City and Arsenal's first legs, and hopefully they can come through. Ourselves, Liverpool not qualifying for the knockout stages, so not so much for Chelsea but for our league. You want to see the teams do well and at this moment we're coming up a bit short,' he added. +Ander Herrera says Lionel Messi was so good against Manchester City, it almost made him cry. Messi was mesmerising in last week's Champions League last 16 tie at the Nou Camp, and the Manchester United midfielder says watching the world's best player at the top of his game made him emotional. Herrera also revealed that captain Wayne Rooney is the joker inside United's dressing room, but admitted that he has to keep the conversation away from boxing, for fears Rooney might hit him. Ander Herrera, one of Manchester United's star players on Sunday, tackles Liverpool's Adam Lallana . Herrera says watching Lionel Messi against Manchester City almost made him cry with joy . The Manchester United midfielder says he needed time to adapt to life at United, because he is 'earthly' 'The last time I cried?' he said, when asked in an interview with Spanish paper El Pais. 'I almost cried watching Messi against Man City. He's so good! But anyway, I get emotional very easily. But hey, I get excited easily and not only with the major teams. I'm a classic man and I was delighted when we played vs Yeovil Town in front of 8,000 standing people yelling at me: "Who are you?" 'There's only one Messi and one Ronaldo, where the club must adapt to them. The rest of players are earthly so I must adapt to United.' Herrera also made reference in the interview to the recent scandal involving United captain Rooney, who was videoed boxing in his house with former team-mate Phil Bardsley. Herrera was asked about the sense of humour in the dressing room, and said it is better with Spanish players . Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney insults the Spaniards in their own language, according to Herrera . 'The jokes here are different,' said Herrera. 'Rooney is outgoing and insults us in Spanish. I'd rather talk to him about football because he likes boxing and could try it with me.' However, he was also clear that respect for Rooney is high, insisting that 'I just listen to Rooney and Carrick before games'. 'There is a lot of respect for Rooney and Carrick,who spent many years here, because you see that it is very difficult to do. 'But David De Gea says the dressing room used to be more hierarchic with Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.' Herrera says Michael Carrick is one of the main leaders in the Manchester United dressing room . The Manchester United star, who played a beautiful pass to Juan Mata for his side's first goal on Sunday at Anfield, also praised English football for the patience of its fans, and the high standard of refereeing. 'The Premier League is the best place to succeed because people are patient. In Spain there's more stir around you from press or fans. 'There's a lot of respect for referees in England. Now I thank (former Athletic Bilbao manager Marcelo) Bielsa for telling me referees are a helpful instrument for football.' Herrera, who scored against Yeovil in the FA Cup, compared the game to Barcelona's Champions League tie . +Diego Costa has been ruled out of Spain's upcoming matches against Ukraine and Holland with a hamstring injury. The Chelsea striker was substituted with 15 minutes remaining during Sunday's 3-2 win at Hull and Spain on Tuesday announced that he would return to the Premier League club for treatment during the international break. A statement on Spain's official website read: 'Diego Costa, left the premises of the Spanish Football Federation this morning after undergoing several tests with the medical services of the RFEF. Diego Costa has been ruled out of Spain's matches against Ukraine and Holland with a hamstring injury . Costa was taken off with 15 minutes to play during the win away at Hull City on Sunday afternoon . 'The striker has suffered a level 1 hamstring tear on the biceps femoris of the left thigh, which was previously already noted by the medical services of his club.' The statement continued: 'Diego Costa will return to Chelsea FC where he will undergo the corresponding medical treatment.' The 26-year-old scored his 20th goal of the season with a wonderful curling effort to put the Blues 2-0 up on Sunday, but he hobbled off before Loic Remy came off the bench to secure the win for Jose Mourinho's side. The Chelsea boss said afterwards that extra care has to be taken with his star striker when it comes to his hamstring. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho bemoaned Costa's fragility, dating back to last season . 'When a striker is playing, the team needs a goal to win the game and with 15 minutes to go the striker, a guy with a lot of experience of hamstring injuries, says "it is over for me", then it is over for him,' Mourinho said. 'He has this problem. He tried to play the Champions League final for Atletico (Madrid, last season) and was injured again and again and again. He has this fragility. 'We know his hamstring is not a strong one. He works hard through the week to compensate the weakness he has there but the injury can come.' Vincente del Bosque's side face Ukraine on Friday in European Championship qualifying group C, where they currently sit second three points behind leaders Slovakia before taking on Holland in a friendly next Tuesday. +Chelsea captain John Terry praised the character of his Premier League-title chasing team to bounce back from conceding a two-goal lead to beat Hull and enter the international break on a high. Draws against Paris St Germain - a result which ended the Blues' Champions League participation - and Southampton may have knocked confidence. And when Hull came back from going 2-0 down after nine minutes to draw level at 2-2, Chelsea had to dig deep to win 3-2 through Loic Remy's strike. John Terry praised Chelsea's character after recovering from allowing Hull back into the match against Hull . Terry and Nemanja Matic celebrate with Eden Hazard after the Belgian gave Chelsea an early lead . Terry talks to the Chelsea players after Diego Costa put the Blues 2-0 up at the KC Stadium . It leaves Jose Mourinho's men with a six-point lead and a game in-hand on second-placed Manchester City. 'The importance of the win showed on the players' faces and that of the manager afterwards,' Terry said. 'When you set the standard so high as we have done from the word go, then start dropping points at home and go out of the Champions League, once again it comes back down to character. 'It's immense in the dressing room, there is an awful lot of experience in there. It will serve the younger lads well, too. 'It was an important three points going into the international break. For everyone to dwell over that for two weeks was massive.' Terry and his team-mates applaud the Chelsea fans after beating Hull 3-2 on Sunday . Jose Mourinho looks disgruntled after watching his Premier Leaders throw away a two-goal lead in first half . Mourinho reflected on a commanding advantage which he hopes will help Chelsea win a first Premier League title since 2010. 'It's the best position since the beginning of the season,' Mourinho, who is chasing a third Premier League title, told Chelsea TV. 'The maximum points (advantage) we had was eight points and when we had eight points we were speaking about 20 matches to go. 'In this moment we have six points (advantage) with one match in hand with 24 possible points for our opponents. 'We know our opponents are there, we know football is very unpredictable, we know that what is happening to us for the last two or three months we cannot control. 'But we also know that we are strong, we are together and we are going to fight to get the points we need to be champions.' Hazard jumps for joy after his fine strike put Jose Mourinho's side into the lead in Hull . Diego Costa doubled the visitor's advantage with a fine curing effort past Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor . Mourinho was referring to the incidents, such as in the draw with Southampton, which he believes denied his side more points than they earned. The win at the KC Stadium was Chelsea's third in seven games. The Blues had followed the Capital One Cup win over Tottenham at Wembley with victory over West Ham, but had been frustrated since. Now Terry hopes his Chelsea team-mates can return from the international hiatus reinvigorated and ready to carry the momentum from the Hull win by claiming a first home win since February 11 against Everton. 'The title race is exciting,' the former England defender added. 'There is still an awful long way to go. We have Stoke at home and QPR away next, which is always a tough one for us. Loic Remy's scored the winning goal for Chelsea moments after coming on as a second-half substitute . Ahmed Elmohamady netted Hull City's first goal to give them a route back into the match at the KC Stadium . Abel Hernandez capitalises on Thibaut Courtois' mistake to get Hull City back on level terms . 'Hopefully everyone will come back fit after the break and go again. 'But it's important we get back to winning at the Bridge because it's something we haven't done for a few weeks.' Remy was being readied to play alongside Costa at Hull, but had to instead replace the striker, who picked up a hamstring injury. It was the France striker's fourth goal of a season which has seen him given limited opportunities, mainly off the substitutes' bench. He told chelseafc.com: 'It is true it is frustrating sitting on the bench but the manager knows all the team and he has very good quality in the squad. 'I know there are only 11 players on the pitch and as soon the manager needs me I am here. 'It's one of my best moments at Chelsea. I hope I will have more moments like that before the end of the season.' +Frustrated Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was left to reflect on 'a s****y Sunday' and the fear fans will turn off Formula One after Mercedes' domination of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. After winning the constructors' and drivers' titles for four years from 2010-2013, with Sebastian Vettel at the helm, Mercedes have taken up the mantle of F1 powerhouse. After winning 16 of 19 grands prix in 2014 to claim the constructors' crown, and with Lewis Hamilton clinching his second championship, the start to 2015 was a breeze for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton (right) and Nico Rosberg finished first and second respectively at the Australian Grand Prix . Hamilton races to victory in Melbourne as Mercedes dominance of Formula One rolls on . The two Mercedes team-mates celebrate their winning start to the new season with some champagne . Re-live every lap of the Melbourne race . Hamilton beat team-mate Nico Rosberg by 1.3secs, with Vettel third on his debut for Ferrari, but 34.5secs off the pace. Predicting 'a two-horse race at every grand prix this year', Horner has called on the FIA to act to prevent an F1 yawn, and he is fully aware of how his comments will be viewed given Red Bull's past success. 'When we were winning - and we were never winning to the advantage they have - I remember double diffusers were banned, exhausts were moved, flexible bodywork was prohibited, engine mapping mid-season was changed,' said Horner of the steps taken to negate his team's performance. 'Anything was done, and that wasn't just unique to Red Bull, but Williams in previous years and McLaren etcetera. 'Is it healthy to have this situation? The FIA, within the rules, have an equalisation mechanism and it is perhaps something we need to look at. Red Bull chief Christian Horner is concerned that Mercedes dominance will be unhealthy for the sport . Horner's Red Bull team won consecutive titles between 2010-2013 with Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel . Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat was forced to retire early in what was called a 's****y weekend' by Horner . 'Mercedes, take nothing away from them, they have done a great job and they have a good car, a fantastic engine, and two very good drivers. 'The problem is the gap is so big you end up with three-tier racing and that's not healthy for Formula One. 'The FIA have the facts and they could quite easily come up with some form of equalisation otherwise I fear the interest will wane. 'I didn't see Mercedes much on the TV, and I can only imagine that's because it's not interesting watching a procession and the producer was looking to pick out other battles in the race.' Referring to the fact Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger conducted the podium ceremony, Horner added: 'The highlight for me was seeing Arnie on the podium!' Horner's comments were borne out of exasperation at the job power-unit supplier Renault have done since the system came into force at the start of last season. The hope was Renault would have closed the gap to Mercedes over the winter, but instead they appear to have fallen further steps back. Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger interviewed winner Hamilton after the race in Australia . The former governor of California raises a smile from third placed Sebastian Vettel now of Ferrari . An angry Horner, who saw Daniil Kvyat retire on the formation lap with a gearbox issue, said: 'It's been a tough weekend and a very tough weekend for Renault. 'The engine is quite undriveable and you can see and hear that from the comments the drivers are making. 'They need to have a clear vision and they need it quickly because it's frustrating we are effectively further back than we were in Abu Dhabi in both power and driveability. 'It's disappointing and been a s***y Sunday for us. We can only get better and get our heads down and work harder at it.' 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:31:54.067 . 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +00:01.360 . 3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 00:34.523 . 4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 00:38.196 . 5. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber - Ferrari 01:35.149 . 6. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Renault 1 lap . 7. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap . 8. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap . 9. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap . 10. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap . 11. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 2 laps . r. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 18 laps . r. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso - Renault 25 laps . r. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Mercedes 58 laps . r. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Mercedes 58 laps . r. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull - Renault 58 laps . r. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 58 laps . ns. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes . (rank: r = retired, nc = not classified, ns=not started) Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton,01:30.945, lap 50. +Manchester United boosted their Champions League chances with a convincing win over Tottenham, racing into a three-goal lead in the first half before seeing the game out. Michael Carrick bossed the midfield, before Wayne Rooney stole the show with a brilliant goal - and an even better celebration. Sportsmail's Matt Barlow was at Old Trafford to run the rule over both sides... Wayne Rooney celebrates with his 'knockout' celebration as Manchester United take a three-goal lead . Manchester United . DAVID DE GEA: A relaxed spectator from the moment he scrambled across his goal to keep out back-pass from Jones until he saved from Kane in the last minute. 6. ANTONIO VALENCIA: Few problems of a defensive nature after his error against Arsenal and combined well with Mata in attack. 6. CHRIS SMALLING: Few centre halves have coped so well with Kane in recent weeks. Read it well, quick into the tackle and ran the ball out with style once or twice. 7 . David de Gea, who had remarkably little to do until a last-gasp save from Harry Kane, celebrates the win . PHIL JONES: Strong and assured - but for the sloppy back-pass which almost caught out De Gea in opening minutes. 6.5 . DALEY BLIND: Splendid first half, raiding forward from left-back to link up with Ashley Young as United tore Spurs apart before half-time. Good delivery from wide. 7. MICHAEL CARRICK: Took a grip of the game with two instances of clear-minded wit in the first half: a pass for Fellaini’s opener and a goal with his head to make it 2-0. 8.5. JUAN MATA: Like Carrick making his first Premier League start for two months, playing wide on the right where he often struggles to cover the ground. Added some silky touches. 6.5. MIchael Carrick heads the ball back across goal to put United two goals up after some poor Spurs defending . Carrick, who also created United's first goal for Marouane Fellaini, was the best player on the pitch . ANDER HERRERA: Supplied good energy, invention and forward thrust from midfield and a key to success of the formation. 6.5. MAROUANE FELLAINI: Huge first-half contribution. Spurs could not cope with him. One well-taken goal with his left foot and a key header in second. 7.5. ASHLEY YOUNG: Excellent reminder of his acceleration and trickery on the left-wing. Tormented Walker in the first half as United won the game. 7.5. Fellaini celebrates putting United into the lead with a well-placed finish in the ninth minute of the game . WAYNE ROONEY: Mobile and tireless, with wonderful vision to link up with his midfield runners. Scored a fabulous goal and may have had more. 8. Subs: Pereira for Mata (79 min) Premier League debut. Falcao for Fellaini (83). Rafael for Carrick (87) Manager: Louis van Gaal: Having started the season trying to cram as many attackers onto the pitch as possible, this 4-1-4-1 shape had a pleasing balance. 7. Rooney slots away after being handed the ball by lacklustre Nabil Bentaleb in the opening 45 . Louis van Gaal waves to the Manchester United fans after a game where he finally found his team's balance . Tottenham . HUGO LLORIS: Badly exposed by his team in the first-half. Little he could do with any of the goals, but unable to save Spurs this time. 6. KYLE WALKER: Torrid opening 45 minutes when he could not contain the first-half threat of Young and Blind on United’s left. Not helped by his midfield 4. ERIC DIER: Beaten in air by Fellaini for United second. Easily side-stepped by Rooney for the third. Easier after the break when United cruised. 4.5. JAN VERTONGHEN: Perhaps the only one of the defensive unit to escape with a little credit. Even so, not able to keep United at bay. 6. The Spurs defenders look shell-shocked at the half-time whistle after being completely over-run . DANNY ROSE: Not the result or performance he would have wanted in front of England boss Roy Hodgson, but most of the damage done by United on the other side. 5.5. RYAN MASON: Appeared overwhelmed by United’s intensity and the thrust of Fellaini and Herrera. Dragged right to help with Young and Blind, left holes for Fellaini to exploit. 5. NABIL BENTALEB: Like Mason, found it impossible to get any sort of grip on the game in midfield. Awful mistake for the third goal. 5. ANDROS TOWNSEND: A torrid half-hour. He supplied precious little protection for Walker and enjoyed little quality possession to attack. Hooked as Pochettino reshuffled. 4. Andros Townsend was withdrawn in the first half after a torrid first 30 minutes in Manchester . Townsend cannot bear to look as he sits on the Old Trafford bench after being replaced so early on . CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN: Flickers of magic from the Dane were absent. A victim of Tottenham’s inability to secure possession. 5. NACER CHADLI: Poor clearance gave Carrick chance to score the second. Swtiched to the right after Townsend subbed to provide more solidity, which he did. 5.5. HARRY KANE: A difficult afternoon in front of Hodgson. Ran hard as ever but was isolated and starved of the ball and it was the 89th minute before he tested De Gea. 5. Subs: Dembele for Townsend (31) helped make Spurs a little more solid 5; Lamela for Mason (64) minimal influence 4, Adebayor for Chadli (79) out of exile to little effect. Mauricio Pochettino may have made an early chance, but it was already too late for Tottenham on Sunday . Manger: Mauricio Pochettino: His team were stunned by United’s intense start and slow to adjust until he sent on Dembele for Townsend, by when it was too late. 5. Referee: Mark Clattenburg: Back at Old Trafford for Manchester United v Spurs a decade after missing the Pedro Mendes goal which crossed the line. This experience was far less controversial. 7. +Twitter has admitted it needs to get tougher on trolls and has already introduced new ways to report abuse to weed out the perpetrators. But now it's taking aim at the rising levels of revenge porn and stolen nude photos posted to the site. Its rules now say that users must not 'post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent'. Twitter's rules have been updated in an attempt to clamp down on revenge porn. Under 'Private information' (pictured) the guidelines now say that users must not 'post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent'. The site said it will verify complaints and suspended abusive users . The changes were spotted by BuzzFeedNews, which recently submitted a Q&A to Reddit when the community site took a similar stance against pornographic posts. Twitter has used these questions to address the changes. Both Twitter's rules and abusive behaviour policy have been updated to reflect these changes. Twitter said that an affected user can report a post if they believe it contains photos or videos posted without their consent. In February a law was passed that made posting revenge porn images and videos a criminal offence in England and Wales. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland are considering similar laws. Under the rules, revenge porn is considered: 'photographs or films which show people engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way or with their genitals exposed, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public'. It covers images shared without the subject's permission and 'with the intent to cause harm. Offenders face up to two years in jail. This follows laws in sixteen US states - including Alaska, California, New Jersey and Texas - explicitly relating to revenge porn. Under copyright laws the video or photos technically belong to the person who took it and who can, in theory, distribute it as they see fit but Twitter's rules additionally considers the people in the footage. It will ask the person reporting the abuse to verify they are the person in the post and that it was posted without their permission. Twitter said 'agents will then act on content posted in violation of the policy', including removing the post or suspending the accounts of repeat offenders. 'Users who believe that content they post has been incorrectly identified is violating the policy can appeal the decision and agents will review that request as well,' said the firm. 'Content that is identified as violating our policy will be hidden from public view and users posting it will have their accounts locked; those users will be required to delete the content in question before being able to return to the platform. 'Users posting such content with an intent to harass will be subject to suspension from Twitter.' The changes follow reports Twitter would start banning users who violate its rules by tracking email addresses and phone numbers. This means that if an offender attempts to sign up for other accounts using these details Twitter will be able to intervene. Reports recently claimed Twitter will start banning trolls and abusive users by tracking email addresses and phone numbers. When people sign up by email they are also given the option to add a phone number (pictured). In the future, Twitter may ban accounts accused of abuse until they provide this number . Stories of abuse, threats and internet trolls have become commonplace on Twitter in recent years. Robin Williams' daughter, Zelda Williams, left the social platform last year after being sent disturbing images in the wake of her father's suicide. Feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian was threatened with rape, sexual violence and death by Twitter trolls during the 'Gamergate' saga after she criticised the way women are portrayed in video games. In the UK, journalist Caroline Criado-Perez also received rape threats after she voiced her support for the campaign to introduce Jane Austen as the new face of the £10 note. Twitter users Isabella Sorley and John Nimmo admitted sending the messages to Ms Criado-Perez and both were jailed last year. When people sign up to Twitter they are required to provide an email address, which is then validated. Adding a phone number is an optional step and is predominantly used if people want to receive text notifications or setup two-step verification. Under the reported plans, once a user is banned these email addresses and phone numbers will be stored and cross-referenced each time a new user signs up to the site. Last month an internal memo sent by Twitter's chief executive Dick Costolo revealed the 51-year-old thinks his site 'sucks at dealing with abuse and trolls'. In the memo, Mr Costolo said he is embarrassed by the way the company handles abuse and that it must take stronger action in the future. Mr Costolo's comments were posted on an internal forum among Twitter employees, after one employee raised the question of what more could be done to tackle online abuse. In December, a blog post titled 'Building a safer Twitter' revealed Twitter is working on ways to make it easier to block and report abuse. The site has since improved the reporting process to make it more mobile-friendly, and it now requires less initial information. In December, a blog post titled 'Building a safer Twitter' revealed Twitter is working on ways to make it easier to block and report abuse. The site has since improved the reporting process to make it more mobile-friendly, and it now requires less initial information. It has also made it simpler to flag tweets and accounts for review . These enhancements similarly improved the reporting process for people who see abuse but aren't directly receiving it. More recently the site posted a follow-up blog updating users on its new safety features. MailOnline has contacted Twitter for more information about how users details will be stored . Under the Malicious Communications Act 1988, any 'indecent or grossly offensive' message that causes 'distress or anxiety' to the recipient can lead to prosecution. The maximum punishment is a fine not exceeding level four on the standard scale - i.e. no more than £2,500. Since the 1988 law came into force before the widespread use of the internet, e-mail and social networking, prosecutors have used a number of different laws to charge Twitter trolls. Student Liam Stacey, who sent a series of racially abusive tweets after footballer Fabrice Muamba collapsed, was charged under the Crime and Disorder Act. Two men jailed for inciting riots last summer were found guilty under the Serious Crime Act, and Paul Chambers, who joked he would blow Doncaster airport 'sky high' was charged under the Communications Act 2003. It has also made it simpler to flag tweets and accounts for review. These enhancements similarly improved the reporting process for people who see abuse but aren't directly receiving it. More recently, the site posted a follow-up blog updating users on its new safety features. Tina Bhatnagar, Twitter's vice president of User Services said: 'Over the last six months, in addition to the product changes, we have overhauled how we review user reports about abuse. 'Overall, we now review five times as many user reports as we did previously, and we have tripled the size of the support team focused on handling abuse reports. 'We are also beginning to add several new enforcement actions for use against accounts that violate our rules. These new actions will not be visible to the vast majority of rule-abiding Twitter users - but they give us new options for acting against the accounts that don't follow the rules and serve to discourage behavior that goes against our policies. The safety of our users is extremely important to us. It's something we continue to work hard to improve.' In recent years Twitter has come under fire for failing to protect its users from trolls. Robin Williams' daughter, Zelda Williams, left the social platform last year after being sent disturbing images in the wake of her father's death. She made an appeal to her followers to report two users on Twitter (shown above) +Jose Mourinho claims Arsenal are back in the race for the Barclays Premier League title after Chelsea were held 1-1 by Southampton. Arsenal beat West Ham 3-0 on Saturday and Arsene Wenger’s side, who have not won the league since 2004, are now seven points behind Chelsea. Manchester City were beaten at Burnley 1-0 and Chelsea could only draw at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho has admitted that Arsenal have joined Chelsea and Manchester City in the title race . The Blues struggled to break down Southampton despite Diego Costa's first-half opener at Stamford Bridge . Arsenal saw off the threat of West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday with an impressive 3-0 win . Mourinho said: ‘Of course Arsenal are in it. They are seven points behind Chelsea, but have one less match to play than Chelsea. ‘Both City and Arsenal are in the title race. It depends on the momentum for Arsenal - the 3-1 defeat against Monaco or the 3-0 defeat against West Ham? ‘So the danger is always there. But I keep saying, we are there. If someone had told me in August that, at the end of March, we'd be six points in front with a match in hand, I'd have signed for that immediately. ‘There are two perspectives. One perspective is a draw at home to Southampton is not a good result. For me, that perspective is very acceptable. ‘The second perspective is we had a lead of five points from second, and now it's six points with one less match to play.’ Mourinho believed a wrongly-awarded penalty denied his side an eight-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the league. The Portuguese coach was fined £25,000 for saying there was a 'clear campaign' against his side after Cesc Fabregas was denied a penalty and booked for diving instead in the December 28 draw at St Mary's. Mourinho says that Arsenal are a danger to Chelsea, although he is happy with his current strong position . On Sunday Mourinho was frustrated Nemanja Matic was penalised - allowing Dusan Tadic to score from the spot and cancel out Diego Costa's first Premier League goal for almost two months - while Branislav Ivanovic was not awarded a spot kick at the other end. 'I'm happy with the situation. I'm happy with the six-point lead, but I'm not happy with the result,' Mourinho said. 'If you remember our two matches against Southampton: in one game, one penalty that is not a penalty and in another game a penalty that was not given. You are speaking about six points transformed into two points.' Mike Dean (right) gave Southampton the penalty for their equaliser, Mourinho said that it 'is not a penalty' Thibaut Courtois could not keep out Dusan Tadic's spot-kick and the playmaker secured a point for Saints . Mourinho was clearly upset with the penalty decisions, but bit his tongue on this occasion. He said: 'My opinion is not important. Important is Mr Mike Dean (the referee). 'His decision was a penalty and his decision was no penalty on Ivanovic.' Ivanovic may have been clipped by Tadic, but fell theatrically, dissuading Dean from pointing to the spot. Nemanja Matic brought down Saido Mane for Southampton's equaliser but Mourinho was clearly upset . Branislav Ivanovic went down in search of a penalty but Dean did not give the desired spot-kick . Asked about the fall, Mourinho deferred to his media officer sitting alongside, saying: 'You have to control me, if not...' Mourinho was told television pundit Graeme Souness - with whom he had a public exchange of views this week after the Scot criticised Chelsea's conduct in the Champions League exit to Paris St Germain - thought Matic had conceded a penalty. 'Graeme Souness says also that it's more a reason to criticise a player who asks for a yellow card than a player who kicks somebody in the chest,' Mourinho added. 'I went to Sky and they told me their pundits said it's a penalty. I went to BBC and they told me it's not a penalty. I went to the radios and they told me it's not a penalty. Mourinho was told television pundit Graeme Souness thought Matic had conceded a penalty, and responded . Mourinho said that pundits 'win every game' due to their position of being critical but exempt from criticism . 'Pundits are paid to wear my suit, but I'm not paid to wear their suit or to comment on their comments. 'If one day I become a pundit, I will wear a manager's suit. I will win every game, because pundits win every game, and then I can be critical and I can be phenomenal like they are.' Matic was replaced by Ramires soon after a second-half foul on Sadio Mane which could have seen him booked for a second time - after his initial yellow when giving away the penalty - and sent off for a second successive Premier League game. 'When that penalty is given you have to believe that the second yellow card can come,' said Mourinho. Matic was substituted for Ramires in the second half but could have seen a second yellow card for one foul . VIDEO Arsenal still not in title race - Wenger . +West Ham striker Carlton Cole has spoken of his disappointment at being fined £20,000 for a Twitter indiscretion in which he told a Tottenham fan to 'F off you c***'. The 31-year-old, who has 123,000 followers on Twitter, was responding to a message from Spurs supporter Stuart Hardy that read: 'Hi @CarltonCole1 when your own team-mates don't kick the ball out when you're lying injured for 2 mins, you think it's time to call it a day?' Cole accepted the fine from the FA, dished out after the incident that occurred on February 22, but has now spoken out to defend himself. West Ham striker Carlton Cole was fined £20,000 for tweeting a fan saying 'F off you c***' in February . Cole tweeted a Tottenham fan who had insulted him on Twitter, but later deleted the message . Carlton Cole is far from the first footballer to have be censured over his behaviour on Twitter: . Darren Bent, 2009 - £120,000 fine . Bent was fined by his club Tottenham for a blast at chairman Daniel Levy. He tweeted: ‘Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go Stoke NO do I wanna go Sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy.’ Carlton Cole, 2011 - £20,000 fine . Cole tweeted during England's friendly with Ghana saying: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap!' Rio Ferdinand, 2012 - £45,000 fine . Ferdinand appeared to endorse a tweet by another user which described Ashley Cole as a 'choc ice', a term said to mean a person is black on the outside but white on the inside. Ashley Cole, 2012 - £90,000 fine . Cole was unimpressed with the FA's judgement in the John Terry racism case, tweeting: 'Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S' Michael Chopra, 2014 - £15,000 fine . Referring to life at crisis club Blackpool, Chopra posted: ‘F****** joke this come in training only 6 f****** players here then find out the fitness coach taken the football session #joke.’ Rio Ferdinand, 2014 - three-match ban and £25,000 fine . QPR defender used the word 'sket' in reference to another Twitter user's mother this season. 'I was disappointed I got done,' the West Ham man told Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday. 'The amount of abuse you get on Twitter is sometimes unruly and you can't defend yourself as a footballer. 'Obviously I know I've got responsibility and I'm a role model and some of the language that gets spouted at you, you can't return it. You've got to be very aware of that and I did make a mistake.' It is not the first time Cole has been caught out by the FA. He was fined £20,000 in April 2011 for a tweet he posted during England's friendly against Ghana that read: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! 'The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St George's flag!' After his second misdemeanor in February, Cole's total fines for Twitter wrongdoings rose to £40,000, an amount he admits 'hurts'. 'You can't defend yourself,' he continued. 'You're a sitting duck really and you need to try and be able to blank it out of your mind – but some of the stuff they say is too much. 'If you can't handle it you should stay off Twitter or else you're going to be getting fined a lot. 'Forty grand hurts! I try to keep it humorous on Twitter, but sometimes being humorous does get you into trouble.' After his tweet to the Tottenham supporter, the FA's statement, detailing the fine, read: 'Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 after he admitted breaching FA Rules in relation to social media.' 'The West Ham United player, who was also severely warned as to his future conduct, admitted posting a comment on his Twitter account which was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, in breach of FA Rule E3.' Cole has been fined £40,000 overall for two separate incidents involving his Twitter conduct . +Lewis Hamilton plans to toast his Australian Grand Prix triumph with Hollywood A-Lister Arnold Schwarzenegger in Melbourne. Hamilton issued an emphatic defence of his Formula One world championship with a flawless drive at the Albert Park Circuit in Sunday’s season opener. The 30-year-old Briton left Nico Rosberg chomping on his Mercedes exhaust fumes on the run down to Turn 1 and from then on in the result never appeared in doubt. Lewis Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger share a joke on the podium at the Australian Grand Prix . Hamilton, who stormed to victory ahead of Nico Rosberg, made a joke about Schwarzenegger's height . They ended the interview by saying: 'I'll be back'; Schwarzenegger's catchphrase from the Terminator films . It was the perfect start to Hamilton’s hopes of becoming the first British driver to win back-to-back titles, and join the likes of Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda and Sir Jackie Stewart with a hat-trick of F1 championships. And a jubilant Hamilton hopes to celebrate his latest victory, the 34th of his grand prix career, with Schwarzenegger who conducted the podium interviews after the race. 'If he is around I will go out for a drink with him,’ said Hamilton. ‘I am not starstruck by many people but I was with him. I am a big fan.' Hamilton provoked much hilarity on the podium when he appeared to be taken by surprise by the appearance of the Terminator star. Hamilton led from start-to-finish ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in Australia . Sir Jackie Stewart runs for cover as Robserg and Hamilton drench the Scotsman with champagne . Hamilton is hopeful of hooking up with Schwarzenegger for a drink to toast his victory later on Sunday . ‘Hey, man! Wow,’ Hamilton said when Schwarzenegger walked on to the podium. ‘It’s an incredible feeling to continue winning, but also great to be up here with you… I thought you were taller!’ Schwarzenegger replied: 'I'm not wearing my high heels.' Moving to clarify his comments about the Austrian's height, Hamilton later said: ‘I don’t know what I said. I hope I didn't offend anyone. ‘It’s not like I said he was short, but I honestly thought he was taller.’ Hamilton and Schwarzenegger ended the interview by both saying 'I'll be back', the catchphrase made famous in the Terminator films. +Southampton stopped Chelsea from going eight points clear at the top of the Premier League after Dusan Tadic cancelled out Diego Costa's opener at Stamford Bridge. Costa opened the scoring on 11 minutes when he headed past Fraser Forster, but when Nemanja Matic brought down Sadio Mane shortly after, the Saints were gifted a way back into the game. Tadic didn't need asking twice as he slotted the ball past Thibaut Courtois, and the scores remained at 1-1. Find out how each player fared at Stamford Bridge with Sportsmail's Neil Ashton. CHELSEA (4-2-3-1) Thibaut Courtois - Excellent save from Mane in 13th minute, low to his right. Saved brilliantly from Mane again 30 minutes in. 8 . Thibaut Courtois made an excellent save from Sadio Mane early on, and was solid throughout the game . Branislav Ivanovic - Provided the quality cross for Costa to head home. Unlucky not to have won penalty. 6 . Gary Cahill - All over the shop. What happened to the Gary Cahill from the Capital One Cup final? Still at Wembley celebrating. 5.5 . John Terry - Chaotic in defence, along with the rest of Chelsea’s back four. 5.5 . John Terry (pictured), alongside his centre-back partner Gary Cahill, were chaotic throughout in defence . Cesar Azpilicueta - Looks like a man in need of a breather. That may well come at Hull on Sunday. 5.5 . Nemanja Matic - Gave away penalty for Saints to equalise, no complaints. Booked. Should have been sent off for foul on Mane in 46th minute. 5 . Cesc Fabregas - Looks tired and lacking ideas or inspiration. 5 . Willian - Got going at the start of the second half with some nice touches around the box. 6 . Cesc Fabregas looked like he needs a rest; he was lacking any ideas or inspiration during the game . Oscar - Quiet and subdued, what has happened to him? Substituted. 5 . Eden Hazard - Sweet touches, just needed the end product. Always a joy to watch. Deserved a goal for this performance. 8 . Diego Costa - Started and finished the move for Chelsea’s opener. Welcome back, Diego. 7 . Eden Hazard is always a joy to watch and this was no different - he deserved a goal to top off his performance . SUBSTITUTES . Ramires (Matic 53): Had to happen, before Matic was sent off. 6 . Loic Remy (Oscar 82): Inevitable substitution. 6 . Juan Cuadrado (Willian 83): Desperate last throw of the dice by Mourinho to find a winner. 6 . Jose Mourinho's side were knocked out of the Champions League this week, and could not beat Southampton . Subs not used: Petr Cech, Filipe Luis, Kurt Zouma, Didier Drogba . Booked: Matic, Ivanovic, Cahill . MANAGER - Jose Mourinho: Expected a reaction from his team after Champions League elimination. Didn’t get one. 6 . SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1) Fraser Forster - No chance with Chelsea’s opener, safe as houses after that. 7 . Nathaniel Clyne - Steady at the back, one of the most accomplished right backs in the Premier League now. 7 . Toby Alderweireld - One of the finds of the season. Saints cannot let him go. 7.5 . Toby Alderweireld (left) has been one of the finds of the season, and Southampton cannot let him leave . Jose Fonte - Another commanding performance. All got very lively at the end, came through it unscathed. 7 . Ryan Bertrand - Some juicy crosses from the left against his old side, especially in the first half. 7 . Victor Wanyama - Tough guy in the centre, loved his battle with Matic. Eventually booked. 6.5 . Morgan Schneiderlin - Big chance to score flew wide, looked desperate to hit the winner. 7 . Southampton players Morgan Schneiderlin, Victor Wanyama and Jose Fonte celebrate at the final whistle . Steven Davis - The accessory in midfield but still played his part in an excellent team performance. 7 . Dusan Tadic - Sweet cut back for Mane, went on to score penalty after 19 minutes. Courtois saved chances brilliantly in 13th and 30th minute. 7 . Shane Long - Tireless performance, good call to leave Pelle out of the starting line up. 7 . Dusan Tadic (right) wheels away in celebration after scoring Southampton's equaliser on Sunday . Sadio Mane - Won the penalty. Terrorised Chelsea’s defence with his quick footwork. All three Chelsea bookings came from fouls on him. Game of his life. 8.5 . SUBSTITUTES . Filip Djuricic (Tadic 71): Little threat down the left. 6 . James Ward-Prowse (David 71): Stuck to defensive duties. 6 . Graziano Pelle (Long 83): Thrown on . Sadio Mane (right) had the game of his life for Southampton, terrorising Chelsea's defence throughout . Subs not used: Kelvin Davis, Maya Yoshida, Florian Gardos, Pelle, Targett. Booked: Mane, Wanyama Djuricic. MANAGER - Ronald Koeman: Brilliant response from team when the went 1-0 down. Composed, inventive, bristling performance. 7.5 . Ronald Koeman's team responded brilliantly after going a goal down, and were level just eight minutes later . REFEREE: Mike Dean. Pretty much spot on with most decisions. Difficult for him to spot Ivanovic being tripped. 8 . Attendance: 41,614 . Man of the match: SAIDO MANE . +Jenson Button found a glimmer of hope in McLaren's dismal start to the Formula One season when he at least finished Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. The Briton was last of the 11 cars that completed the race, and was twice lapped by race winner Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, but the 2009 world champion saw some positives. 'Today has been a good day,' he said. 'We're still a long way off, but this is a good starting point -- and I enjoyed the race. I even had a good little battle with Checo (Sergio Perez). McLaren driver Jenson Button finished last at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix . Button waves to the crowd ahead of the race. McLaren have endured a difficult start to the season . 'Today also really helps in terms of development. If we'd done three laps, we'd have learned nothing, so we've learned a massive amount by completing a race distance.' Button missed out on a championship point but he said that was almost irrelevant after a weekend when everything went wrong for the sport's second most successful team, who have not won a race since 2012. 'It was also a good opportunity for me to get used to the car and to play around with it, making adjustments in the cockpit,' said the Briton, whose longest stint before Melbourne had been 12 laps. 'There's a lot of work still needed - on power, driveability, downforce and set-up - but we can make big strides. And, by improving one area, it tends to snowball.' McLaren had low expectations after Button and Kevin Magnussen were the slowest qualifiers. Things only got worse on Sunday when the Dane failed to make the grid after his Honda power unit blew up on the way to the grid. Kevin Magnussen is presented to the crowd before the race, but the Dane failed to make the start after his Honda engine blew on the way to the grid . 'Even though I couldn't make the start, the team can learn something from my car's problem,' said Magnussen, who was recalled after Fernando Alonso was ruled out on medical advice following a crash in testing. 'We can take positives from Jenson finishing the race, too - we came here to learn, and that's what we did. Finishing is a small victory for the team - I don't think we expected to be able to do that. "Now we can get a car to the finish line, we can start to accelerate our learning.' Racing director Eric Boullier also found a silver lining from a dark weekend. 'It's not easy to find positives, but in fact there are some,' he said. 'We can take positives from Jenson finishing the race, too -- we came here to learn, and that's what we did.' +Steven Gerrard will play alongside Chelsea captain John Terry and former Liverpool team-mates Xabi Alonso, Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres in a mouth-watering line-up at Anfield later this month. The Reds captain, who will also team up with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, is to feature in an all-star XI for a charity game organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation on March 29. Gerrard will also manage the side with his former Liverpool team-mate and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher leading the opposition. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will go head-to-head in a charity match at Anfield later this month . Gerrard and Sportsmail columnist Carragher took turns in picking their first XIs for the charity clash . The legends stand by the teams they have selected for the match organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation . Brad Jones; John Arne Riise, John Terry, Stephen Warnock; Ryan Babel, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard (C), Kevin Nolan; Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Thierry Henry . Pepe Reina; Alvaro Arbeloa, Jamie Carragher (C), Martin Kelly, Craig Noone, Raul Meireles, Jonjo Shelvey, Craig Bellamy, Luis Garcia, Didier Drogba, Dirk Kuyt . Gerrard and Carragher appeared in a relaxed mood as they faced the media at Anfield on Thursday . The game gives Liverpool fans one last opportunity to see Gerrard in action alongside the best players from the array of sides he has captained throughout his time at Anfield before he leaves for LA Galaxy at the end of the season. A number of current Liverpool first-team players will also be involved. Gerrard and Carragher took turns selecting from 22 star players with Reds stopper Brad Jones the surprise first name out of the hat. Gerrard revealed he was ‘staying loyal’ to his current team-mate. The former England captain then selected the ‘best defender' he has 'ever played with' as Terry was picked to line-up at centre-half. Fernando Torres, in action for Atletico Madrid, will play alongside Luis Suarez and Thierry Henry . Luis Suarez will return to Anfield for the first time since his £75million summer switch to Barcelona . Carragher claimed his fellow Sky Sports pundit and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry is 'excited' about the match . Carragher responded by joking that the Chelsea captain, whose side were dumped out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, ‘couldn’t run’. Bayern Munich midfielder Alonso was hailed as a ‘top passer’ by Gerrard and was the 35-year-old's first pick in midfield. Suarez, the Barcelona striker deemed to be 'the man in form’ was selected to lead Gerrard’s attack. Carragher responded by picking Chelsea legend Didier Drogba to go head-to-head with club team-mate Terry. Torres was then chosen by Gerrard to team up with Suarez and Henry was also selected by the Liverpool legend to form a tantalising three-pronged attack. Xabi Alonso, now of Bayern Munich, will team up with Gerrard after he was selected by the Reds skipper . Suarez celebrates after scoring for Liverpool against Crystal Palace in the Premier League last season . Torres pictured scoring for Liverpool against Wolves. He was sold to Chelsea for £50m in January 2011 . With the teams decided, Carragher accused Gerrard of ‘going for the egos', but claimed he had picked a 'proper team'. 'It's going to be a great occasion,' said Gerrard at a press conference on Thursday. 'When I made the phone calls and told them about playing in front of a full house, they loved the idea. 'Me and Jamie should not get any credit, it's credit to everyone who wants to come and help out. I know all those who are involved. They are winners and it will be a great game. 'I am feeling good, looking forward to the future. I am staying respectful to Liverpool. I am fit and available and I want to be.' Carragher added: 'Thierry Henry was more excited than I was when we spoke about it.' Proceeds raised from the event will help fund Liverpool FC Foundation's community programmes, which benefit thousands of young people and adults throughout the city of Liverpool, and also support Alder Hey's new Hospital in the Park as well as providing support packages to Claire House, Positive Futures, Centre 56 and Cash for Kids. +Former Wigan and Hull second rower Danny Tickle, who has missed only two games since joining Widnes, will be out for at least a month after being told he needs to undergo groin surgery. The goal-kicking forward played in 30 of the Vikings' 32 league and cup matches in 2014 and has been an ever-present so far this season but will sit out Thursday's trip to Salford and will not be back until after Easter. 'Danny has been carrying the injury for the last few weeks,' Widnes coach Denis Betts said. 'It's been affecting the way he's performed. Danny Tickle will be out for at least a month for Widnes Vikings after carrying groin injury for a few weeks . 'He's toughed it out but we need to look at him and do what's best for him. 'It's a huge blow for us because he's been fantastic for the last two years but we've been nurturing him along and now it's time to bite the bullet.' Widnes also be without Tickle's second-row partner Danny Galea for the game against the Red Devils after he was concussed in Sunday's 20-16 win over Hull KR, while winger Patrick Ah Van is out for an indefinite period after failing to recover from a head knock. Goal-kicking forward Tickle has missed just two matches since joining the Vikings in 2014 . 'Patrick has got some concussion issues at the moment,' Betts said. 'We're just being really smart with him. 'He got hit on the head in a game and had a bit of delayed concussion. His symptons have kept resurfacing when he's been putting the effort into training so, under medical advice, we've had to step him back and take our time with him. 'At the moment he's in some kind of sabbatical. He's sat at home waiting for his symptons to calm down. We're monitoring him almost daily. 'When he's ready to go, he'll have to go through six or seven days of training before he's allowed to be up for selection. That's in the medical people's hands.' +The Bay of Fundy is known for having the highest tidal range in the world. And a time-lapse video that captures the rise and fall of the ice-capped tide at Hall’s Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada, shows the natural wonder in all its beauty. Three fishing boats in the video appear to be beached as day breaks and the large sweeping shadow is replaced by sunlight. Day breaks at Hall’s Harbour in Nova Scotia and the large sweeping shadow is replaced by sunlight . Suddenly the tide begins to rise in the distance and as water rushes through to the harbour the boats begin to rock on the surface of the bay. The surface remains frozen throughout the video, but a gap in the ice on the left shows water flooding onto the side of the bank as the level rises. Before long the water has risen to be parallel with the harbour and the boats that were once grounded sit awkwardly on the top of the ice. As the tide begins to rise water rushes through to the harbour and the boats begin to rock on the surface . Two men can be seen shovelling snow from one of the boats as the water level begins to decrease once more. They leave for the day as nightfall approaches, and darkness soon cloaks the scene. The Bay of Fundy, which has contested for world tidal dominance with the Leaf Basin in Ungava Bay, Canada, achieved the record for the highest water level ever at the head of Minas Basin on the night of the ‘Saxby Gale’ on October 4, 1869. In 1975, the Guinness Book of World Records declared that Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world. The water rises to be parallel with the harbour and the boats that were once grounded sit awkwardly on top . According to oceanographers, tidal resonance resulting from a coincidence of timing is the cause for the dramatic increase in water levels. However, traditional Mi'kmaq folklore attributes the high tides in the Bay of Fundy to a giant whale splashing in the water. Tens of thousands of people flocked to beauty spots on the coasts of Canada, the UK, France and the Netherlands over the weekend to catch a glimpse of the ‘tide of the century’. As nightfall approaches, darkness cloaks the scene and the water level begins to fall once more . The Guinness Book of World Records declared that Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia has the world's highest tides . It was the first giant tide of the millennium, with experts predicting that it could reach as high as 46ft in north-eastern France. Although it is dubbed the ‘tide of the century’, the ‘supertide’ phenomenon occurs once every 18 years when a rare alignment of the sun, moon and Earth create a massive gravitational pull on the sea. The next ‘tide of the century’ will take place in March 2033. +Rangers full-back Lee Wallace admitted last week that his Scotland career effectively ended when he elected to remain at Ibrox following the club’s descent into administration, liquidation and the Third Division. Before being signed from Hearts by then manager Ally McCoist for £1.5million in the summer of 2011, he had made five appearances for his country. However, his residency in the lower leagues has seen the 27-year-old make just three substitute appearances (totalling a mere 53 minutes) for the national team in the last four years. Wallace claimed that, as he approaches what should be his peak years as a player, he has all but abandoned hope of forcing his way into Gordon Strachan’s starting 11. Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell (right) joins Tom Walsh as they promote a new four-match ticket package . Ibrox team-mate Cammy Bell could be forgiven for adopting a similar approach. The goalkeeper’s only cap came against the Faroe Islands in 2010, when he was playing for Kilmarnock. His involvement with Scotland squads, a regular occurrence during his time at Rugby Park, ended when he joined Rangers in 2013. However, the 28-year-old, whose international prospects were further hindered by a shoulder injury sustained in August which ruled him out of action for seven months, is in no mood to close the door on his chances of representing his country just yet. There’s also the small matter of David Marshall, Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor being ahead of him in the pecking order. But Bell insisted: ‘I would never say it’s over. I’m desperate to play and be part of the squad. The goalkeeping situation is very strong and there are some great goalies there. I totally respect that. ‘All I can do is keep playing well at club level and keep knocking on the door and, hopefully, the manager will take notice.’ Of course, as a goalkeeper, Bell can afford to be more sanguine than outfield players. All things being equal, he should still be playing at a high level for another decade or so. That, however, does not mean he isn’t impatient for success. Some former Rangers players, including Barry Ferguson, the 2003 Treble-winning captain, have claimed that another season in the Championship may prove beneficial for the Ibrox club while the first-team squad is dismantled and rebuilt from scratch. Lee Wallace's Scotland career is effectively over . Bell doesn’t see it that way and he wants last Sunday’s unexpected victory over play-off rivals Hibs to be the starting point on the road to Rangers returning to the top flight this year. ‘I can only speak for myself, and I want to be playing in the top league,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to be ambitious as a player and I want to play at the highest level I can with Rangers. ‘I’m desperate to be back in the top league and I’m sure everyone else associated with the club is as well. We know it’s going to be hard but there’s still a great chance we can do it. ‘We need to be playing well going into the play-offs so it really starts from now. We have to take some good form into them. We have nine games left in the league and we have to show we can do it on the pitch.’ New owner Dave King would also appreciate promotion being achieved sooner rather than later. With shareholder Mile Ashley seemingly having a stranglehold on the bulk of the profits arising from the club’s retail operation, the financially-challenged club need a fresh injection of cash. In the last few days the Three Bears consortium of Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor have donated £1.5million in order to pay this month’s wages but season-ticket renewal money in May, ideally at increased Premiership rates, is likely to be vital. Bell was speaking yesterday to publicise a new four-match ticket package for this season’s remaining home games but the improved performance against Hibs will have done as much to increase attendances at Ibrox for those fixtures. As far as the goalkeeper is concerned, however, there is more to come from Stuart McCall’s side between now and the end of May. ‘Yes, we’ve set a high bar but, at the end of the day, we are playing for Rangers Football Club so the bar should be set high,’ he said. ‘We can handle that: we should be able to handle the pressure and I’m sure we will. That performance has been in us all season and it was just a case of trying to bring it out of us. ‘I’m sure we’ll take confidence from it and we’ll work hard on the training pitch to make sure we are ready for games.’ Bell credited McCall for the transformation in the atmosphere at Ibrox. The former Motherwell manager has dispelled the gloom which surrounded the club during the dog days of McCoist and Kenny McDowall. ‘I think it’s just down to the enthusiasm the new manager has brought,’ he said. ‘He’s brought a spark to training too. Bell played for Kilmarnock when he won his only Scotland cap . ‘He was always a passionate player himself and he soon lets us know if we are doing things right in training. He’s been great and he’s brought a new lease of life to some players. ‘It’s a good start for us but we know there will be tough times ahead so we need to just take each game as it comes and concentrate on getting three points in the next game.’ Prices for a four-match value package start at £62 for adults, £50 concessions and £18 for juniors in the Club Deck subject to availability. To book a four-match ticket package fans can visit www.rangers.co.uk, the Rangers Ticket Centre or call 0871 702 1972 . +Joe Hart claimed his 100th clean sheet in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday when Manchester City beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Etihad. He became the 14th goalkeeper to pass the milestone but has some way to go before he can claim the crown, currently held by David James with 169. Yet at the age of 27, Hart has plenty of time left to make his way through the list that includes Peter Schmeichel, David Seaman and Edwin van der Sar. Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart kept his 100th clean sheet against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday . Hart's clean sheet could have gone when Saido Berahino had this chance but the striker hit the crossbar . David James (left) and Petr Cech (right) lead the list of the most Premier League clean sheets . James, current player-manager for Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters, got his 169 from a career that saw him play for Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham, Manchester City and Portsmouth. Chelsea's Petr Cech would most likely have passed that total, had he not lost his place as first-choice goalkeeper to 22-year-old Thibaut Courtois under Jose Mourinho. Third-placed Mark Schwarzer left Chelsea for Leicester City on a free transfer in January as cover for the injured Kasper Schmeichel, whose dad Peter sits ninth in the list. Yet Schwarzer is running out of time to close in on Cech with the 42-year-old - the oldest player to feature in the Premier League this season - set to be relegated as Leicester sit bottom. Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, having conceded five against Dynamo Kiev during their Europa League exit on Thursday, will look to move up the list before the 36-year-old retires. As for Hart, the man that thwarted Barcelona's Lionel Messi in the Champions League last week, he will now chase Thomas Sorensen and Jussi Jaaskelainen on 107 and 108 respectively. He will next be able to do so against Crystal Palace on April 6 after the international break with England. Lionel Messi tries to score past goalkeeper Hart during Barcelona's Champions League win over City . Hart kept Messi, currently the world's best player, out during City's visit to the Nou Camp in Barcelona . +Former Scotland captain Dave Mackay, legendary enforcer of Tottenham’s 1961 double winning side, has died aged 80. In an age of hard men, the stockily built midfield man was one of the toughest, a symbol of passion and fiery commitment. For years the iconic picture of him angrily holding Leeds’ equally combative Billy Bremner was framed on the wall in the players’ lounge at White Hart Lane, the club’s spiritual leader long after he’d left. Dave Mackay confronts Billy Bremner during his Tottenham days in August 1966 . Mackay is crowned by Jimmy Robertson (right) after Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 1967 FA Cup final . Mackay won the FA Cup with Tottenham three times, in 1961, 1962 and 1967 . Tottenham manager Bill Nicholson with players Cliff Jones, Jimmy Greaves, Mackay, Paul Shoemark and Stephen Pitt in 1965 . Mackay runs up the stairs at White Hart Lane as he fights his way back from a double leg fracture . But while that image summed up his enduring aggression and determination there was so much more to his game than just his daunting physical presence. Born in Edinburgh in 1934, he was the second in a family of four boys whose father worked for The Scotsman newspaper. He began his career with his boyhood idols Hearts, winning all three domestic honours before captaining the side in 1957-8 when they won the Scottish League title – setting a British record with 132 goals scored and only 29 conceded. That persuaded Spurs to buy him in 1959 for £32,000, a transfer that manager Bill Nicholson later claimed was his greatest ever signing. He created a powerful partnership with Danny Blanchflower, and together they provided the driving force in the side that became the first post-war team to achieve the double of League title and FA Cup. In all Mackay played 318 times for Tottenham, twice recovering from a broken left leg to captain the side that won the FA Cup in 1967. In a statement, Spurs said: 'Dave Mackay will certainly always be remembered here as one of our greatest ever players and a man who never failed to inspire those around him. 'In short, a Spurs legend.' Mackay challenges Manchester United's George Best during a game during the 1970s . Best again felt the full force of Mackay's boot as the pair battle for the ball in 1971 . The famous picture was taken on the first day of that season, when Mackay reacted to a tackle he believed was designed to deliberately injure his bad leg. He was a powerful personality, the leader off the field in the days when the players would congregate in the Bell and Hare pub after matches, as well as the leader on the pitch. When Brian Clough was forging the early days of his management career in 1968 he persuaded Spurs to sell him Mackay for a bargain £5,000 – and the Scot then became captain of the team that first won promotion to the old First Division, and then captured the League title in their first season in the top flight. Derby captain Mackay with the Watney Cup after their 4-1 victory over Manchester United . Mackay, who also played for Hearts and Swindon, was capped 22 times by Scotland . Mackay with former Derby manager Brian Clough and ex-chairman Lionel Pickering at the Baseball Ground in 2003 . Sir Bobby Charlton and Mackay chat as they pose for pictures of their special stamps in 2013 . He was jointly voted Footballer of the Year in 1969 alongside Tony Book, and played 122 games in all for Derby before ending his career as player-manager of Swindon. That began a management career which brought more success, starting out with Nottingham Forest and then peaking when in 1975, appointed as Derby’s manager following Clough’s resignation, he guided the club to the 1974-5 League title. Further jobs with Walsall, Doncaster and Birmingham brought less success, however, and his career ended taking jobs in Egypt and Qatar before he retired from football altogether in 1995. In later years he suffered from both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. +Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed the fantastic career of Dave Mackay as the tributes came in for the former Tottenham and Scotland midfielder, who died on Monday night aged 80. Edinburgh-born Mackay passed away at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham. Having joined Tottenham from Hearts in 1959, Mackay went on to achieve a historic league and FA Cup double with the north London club in 1961. Derby captain Dave Mackay with the Watney Cup after their 4-1 victory over Manchester United in 1970 . Mackay, who also played for Hearts and Swindon, was capped 22 times by Scotland . Mackay (right) and Danny Blanchflower are introduced to the Wembley crowd before the 1981 FA Cup final . Spurs are set to hold a minute's silence for their former captain, who also helped Derby to success as a player and coach before taking up a similar role with Swindon. Ferguson, who fondly remembers Mackay as a contemporary and a friend, told Sky Sports News: 'I played against him once and I'm glad it was only once! 'He was hard. He was one of the hardest men of all time - a great Scottish player. You think of Denis Law, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness; Dave Mackay was along with them. 'He came back from two broken legs. He broke it against Manchester United actually, recovered and broke it again. He went on to play for Derby County and won the league and then became the manager, which was not an easy task because he followed Brian Clough, of course. Mackay, then at Derby County, challenges Manchester United's George Best during a game during the 1970s . Best again felt the full force of Mackay's boot as the pair battle for the ball in 1971 . 'But he's had a fantastic career both has player and as manager. I always remember he was a good friend of mine.' Spurs will hold their minute's applause ahead of Wednesday night's game against Swansea at White Hart Lane, with black armbands being worn by the squad and a number of the club's highest-profile former players paying tribute to Mackay at half-time. Current Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino is anticipating an emotional occasion for the evening kick-off, saying: 'It is a great loss for British football. He was a legend for Tottenham and in British football. Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Mackay as fantastic player and manager as well as a good friend . 'A very sad day and I want to send condolences to his family and friends. 'He is a legend, big player and manager, and it is a very sad day. It is emotional yes. Our players know it is important to get the three points.' The Scottish FA announced it will also hold a minute's applause in honour of Mackay before Scotland's friendly against Northern Ireland later this month. The 22-cap Scotland international began his career with Hearts in 1953 and captained the Edinburgh side to the Scottish League title during the 1957-58 season. Mackay (right) rushes to congratulate goalscorer Jimmy Greaves (middle) with Jimmy Robertson in 1967 . 'The Scottish FA is deeply saddened by the news of Dave Mackay's death,' a statement on its website read. 'He was a legendary figure with Heart of Midlothian, Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County; an inspirational pillar for the clubs with whom he played with distinction and, of course, his country. 'Dave played 22 times for Scotland and was instrumental in helping his country qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals in Sweden in 1958. Proving his athleticism by jumping over Spurs team-mates Cliff Jones, Ron Henry and Jimmy Greaves . 'His last international appearance occurred against Northern Ireland in 1965 and the Scottish FA believe it is appropriate that a minute's applause should be observed in his honour prior to the forthcoming match against Michael O'Neill's side at Hampden Park on Wednesday, 25th March.' Arsene Wenger, manager of Tottenham's biggest rivals Arsenal, also spoke about Mackay in his own media briefing ahead of the Gunners' game at QPR. 'He's an iconic figure of English football who contributed a lot to Tottenham's success at the time,' Wenger said. Sir Bobby Charlton and Mackay chat as they pose for pictures of their special stamps in 2013 . 'He played for Derby as well and was a great player. We're sad to see these people disappear. You are sorry (to hear about it) and it is a sad moment for English football.' Former Derby captain Roy McFarland spoke fondly about Mackay's time at the Baseball Ground. 'The majority of pictures you see of Dave Mackay, he had his chest stuck out. That is how he played and that is how he lived his life,' he told BBC Radio Derby. 'He had a tough legacy taking over as manager from Brian Clough, in terms of the atmosphere at the club, but he calmed and settled everyone down.' +Michael Carrick believes Juan Mata has always been an important player for Manchester United after the playmaker's double helped the Red Devils to a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday. The little Spaniard has struggled to hold down a first-team place recently but teammate Michael Carrick was not surprised to see his match-winning performance. ‘Listen, all players have ups and downs throughout their careers,’ said Carrick. ‘You can’t look past his quality; that is why he is here and he is here for a reason. He is such a good player and performances like that don’t surprise me because performances like that are exactly what he is all about. Juan Mata scores a superb scissor kick during Manchester United's 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday . Michael Carrick (right) insists Juan Mata has always been a valuable player for Manchester United . ‘He has always been a great player. I think he has always been important to us because he brings so much to the team, and so much ability. ‘You have seen it all there on Sunday, in terms of what he brings to us and I thought he was terrific. I thought his overall play was good and he obviously scored both goals. I thought the first one was a really good finish and the second one was sensational, so he has had a good day. ‘He is just so clever, you know. He moves the ball, takes up good positions, he is dangerous and he is just so intelligent. He has such a slight frame so he is not going to have a physical presence but he more than makes up for that with his general ability and how he plays the game. He is just a joy to watch.’ Carrick was not surprised by Mata's match-winning performance and thought the Spaniard was 'terrific' United had Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao among their substitutes at Anfield, and Carrick believes that demonstrates the depth of resources available to Van Gaal. He believes the Dutchman could pick two completely different line-ups capable of competing at the highest level, with little to choose between the players in training games. ‘I think it tells you about the squad and the strength in depth,’ said Carrick. ‘What more can you say? Listen, those boys (Di Maria and Falcao) are top players but I think we have got a number of players that the manager can choose from, which is great. ‘We see in training when we have games that both teams are pretty equal, when we have 11 versus 11, because that is the strength of our squad now. A lot of players have had game time this year and that does bring options.’ +Former Holland defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been appointed Feyenoord's new coach from next season when Fred Rutten's one-year contract expires. Feyenoord announced Monday that Van Bronckhorst, currently one of Rutten's two assistants in Rotterdam, has agreed a two-year contract with the team where he began his illustrious playing career as a youngster in the club's academy. The 40-year-old won league titles in Scotland, England and Spain with Rangers, Arsenal and Barcelona before returning to Feyenoord to finish his playing days. Former Holland defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst has landed his first job in management with Feyenoord . Van Bronckhorst enjoyed a successful spell with Barcelona and won 106 caps with his country . He won 106 caps for the Holland and captained the team that lost the 2010 World Cup final to Spain. Van Bronckhorst says it is 'an enormous honor' to coach the team he joined as a junior. Feyenoord is currently third in the Dutch top-flight Eredivisie. He also had a short spell with Arsenal in the Premier League (pictured in pre-season friendly) +Is Saido Berahino the latest star on Manchester United's summer shopping list? Louis van Gaal will embark upon a huge summer spending spree this summer as he looks to fire United back to the top of English and European football. And West Bromwich Albion striker Berahino has got tongues wagging that he features on United's wishlist after attending the FA Cup clash against Arsenal. West Brom striker Saido Berahino (centre) was at Old Trafford as Man United took on Arsenal in the FA Cup . The Baggies striker has set tongues wagging that he could be on Man United's summer wishlist . Berahino left his seat before the final whistle as Man United crashed out of the FA Cup against Arsenal . Berahino, pictured celebrating a goal against Aston Villa, has been in superb form so far this season . The England Under 21 star has attracted interest from Premier League clubs Liverpool and Tottenham . The England international took his position at Old Trafford, next to representative Aidy Ward, for the quarter-final tie. United, who look unlikely to keep Radamel Falcao when his loan spell expires at the end of the season, will look to bolster their forward line this summer. Berahino has impressed this season, scoring 18 goals for the Baggies - as well as three for England Under 21s. Liverpool and Tottenham have both shown an interest in Berahino this season. Berahino heads past goalkeeper Brad Guzan during his side's 2-1 defeat at Villa Park last week . The 21-year-old has netted 18 goals for the Baggies and three for England Under 21s this season . +Guilty: Bob Hewitt was convicted of two charges of rape and one of indecent assault by the South Gauteng High Court in South Africa . A former tennis Grand Slam champion has been found guilty of raping and assaulting young girls he was coaching in the early 1980s. Australian-born Bob Hewitt, 75, had pleaded not guilty to the two charges of rape and one of indecent assault, which were brought against him by three women in 2013. But Judge Bert Bam, sitting at the South Gauteng High Court outside Johannesburg, South Africa, said that the evidence against him was 'overwhelming'. During the trial, his victims said that Hewitt, best known as a doubles star, assaulted them during private tennis lessons when they were young girls. 'Time did not erase the crimes. 'A guilty person should not go unpunished. The scales of justice tip against the accused,' Bam said. One woman testified that Hewitt had told her 'rape is enjoyable' as he assaulted her. Another victim told the court he had touched her inappropriately 34 years ago and forced her to perform a sex act on him when she was 12 and 13. Hewitt won numerous Grand Slam events during his career in the 1960s and 1970s and was named to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992. But his name was removed from the hall of fame in 2012, following allegations that he sexually abused girls he coached. Judge Bam said he is satisfied that the two women who had accused the retired tennis player of rape and a third woman who had accused him of sexual assault were telling the truth. The judge said the striking similarities among the three womens' testimonies showed that Hewitt's conduct was calculated. Bam initially ordered that Australian-born Hewitt should be taken into custody, but said he was willing to consider bail until sentencing in April. A decision is expected later today. Wearing a suit, Hewitt sat with arms crossed and appeared impassive as the judge explained the reasoning behind his verdict for nearly two hours. His wife, Delaille, sat on a chair close to the accused's bench. He had pleaded not guilty to the two charges of rape and one of indecent assault, which were brought against him by three women in 2013 . One woman testified that Hewitt had told her 'rape is enjoyable' as he assaulted her. Another victim told the court he had touched her inappropriately 34 years ago and forced her to perform a sex act on him when she was 12 and 13 . 'I still don't think he thinks he did anything wrong,' said one of Hewitt's accusers, who is now 45. The victim, who was in court for the verdict, laid a charge of rape against Hewitt in 2011 for a crime she says he committed in 1980. She said her former coach raped her in his car before tennis practice when she was 12 years old. A South African group called Women and Men Against Children's Abuse helped two other accusers come forward and petitioned South African prosecutors until Hewitt was brought to trial this year. Hewitt was convicted of two alleged rapes that took place in the 1980s, and for a sexual assault that allegedly happened in the 1990s. Bam said the accounts of the three women who accused Hewitt were consistent and revealed a pattern of behavior by Hewitt. Hewitt, born in Australia, has spent most of his life in South Africa: In this file photograph from June 26, 1965, he is seen playing at Wimbledon . Hewitt also reached the semi-finals of the men's singles at the Australian Open three times, and won the Davis Cup with South Africa in 1974 after settling there . 'There is such a striking similarity between the evidence against the accused and his modus operandi,' said Bam. All three were gullible young girls, flattered by the attention of a renowned player, according to the judge. 'Their submissiveness in the circumstances should never have been seen as consent,' said Bam. The letters that Hewitt wrote to another of his accusers, were cited in detail as corroborating evidence. The judge said Hewitt had failed to convince him that the letters were only about tennis, as Hewitt said. Hewitt was born in Dubbo, Australia but has spent much of his life in South Africa. He won nine Grand Slam doubles and six Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the 1960s and 1970s. Hewitt also reached the semi-finals of the men's singles at the Australian Open three times, and won the Davis Cup with South Africa in 1974 after settling there. The prosecution and defence both presented closing arguments at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Monday. Hewitt had pleaded not guilty to all charges. His doctor said last year that Hewitt remained ill after suffering a stroke in 2010 and a heart attack in 2011. +Rory McIlroy will use his first appearance in the Arnold Palmer Invitational as his last competitive outing before attempting to complete the career grand slam in next month's Masters. McIlroy missed the cut in the Honda Classic on his PGA Tour debut at the start of the month and then hit the headlines for throwing his three iron into a lake at Doral during the WGC-Cadillac Championship, where he went on to finish joint ninth. The world No 1 spent part of last week practising at Augusta National with his father Gerry and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he looks to claim a first green jacket and join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in winning all four major titles. Rory McIlroy in action during the pro-am at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando . The event in Florida will be the world No 1's last competitive action before the Masters . 'I took three weeks off before the Masters in 2011 and it worked pretty well for 63 holes, not quite 72,' McIlroy joked in his pre-tournament press conference, a reference to his back-nine collapse in a closing 80 after starting the final round with a four-shot lead. 'I am just trying to adopt a similar approach.' Asked about his attitude at Augusta last week, the 25-year-old added: '100 per cent fun, zero per cent serious. I didn't hit any extra balls, just hit one ball the whole time. I just wanted to go and enjoy it with my dad, that's what the whole thing was about. There were four father-and-son pairs and we had a great time. 'Tee to green I know what I am doing, it's just about being comfortable on and around the greens.' McIlroy hit the headlines at Doral in the World Golf Championship for launching a club into the water . McIlroy has won all of golf's other three majors but is yet to taste success at Augusta . McIlroy revealed he had been working hard on his game for several days at home following an 'unplanned' visit from coach Michael Bannon, adding: 'I am feeling much better with my game than I was walking off Doral 10 days ago. 'I am excited in the direction it's going and to be here and get one more competitive outing and try to get myself into contention.' After getting his first look at Bay Hill, McIlroy admitted he was beginning to regret not playing the event sooner, both as the course suits his game and in order to pay his respects to Palmer. 'What Arnold Palmer has done for our game and what he's done for the PGA Tour, it was about time that I showed up here and played in his tournament,' McIlroy added. The top five in the world rankings are all competing this week - McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Jason Day - with Scott looking to bounce back from missing the cut in the Valspar Championship last week, ending his run of 45 PGA Tour events without an early exit. +Arnold Palmer brought the house down when he held court on Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods at the scene of his own tournament, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, on Wednesday. After paying world No 1 McIlroy a warm tribute and expressing his delight that he had come to play in the event for the first time, the King was asked about Tiger’s absence, and the fact they supposedly spoke for an hour on the phone. Palmer gave the questioner a quizzical look and replied: ‘An hour? Whoever told you that was full of s***!’ Arnold Palmer revealed his joy that Rory McIlroy is competing for the first time in the tournament he hosts . McIlroy is present but eight-time winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tiger Woods (left), is not . Palmer backed Woods to return from his injury problems and become a great player once again . Woods (left) last won the competition in 2013 and is pictured receiving the trophy from Palmer . The laughter in the media tent could probably be heard 300 yards away on the golf course. The 85-year-old was in fabulous form as he confirmed that not even a dislocated shoulder suffered during a fall at his home in January will keep him away from hitting the ceremonial tee shot at the Masters, alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, next month. ‘I’m going to hit a few golf balls next week and I have every intention of being at Augusta to play the first shot at the Masters, I can assure you of that,’ he said. ‘I’m looking forward to getting back in the gym. I still try to exercise three times a week because I think it’s important. Heck, I’m going to get old one of these days and I want to be in shape when it happens.’ Cue more laughter. On the subject of McIlroy, Palmer said: ’I’m so pleased he’s come this year, we’re very happy to have him. And I’ve got a good feeling about Rory this week. I’ve a feeling he’s going to snap to it and play very well.’ McIlroy has had a disappointing time of it so far in Florida. In his two previous outings in the Sunshine State, he missed the halfway cut in the Honda Classic and finished tied 9th in the Cadillac Championship at Doral. This is his last scheduled tournament before his historic tilt at a career Grand Slam at the Masters. Palmer (right) spoke to the media ahead of the start of the tournament in Florida on Thursday . Palmer said he feels McIlroy will have a good week but he has struggled lately when competing in Florida . McIlroy is in a three-ball with Rickie Fowler (left) and Jason Day for his first two rounds of the event . On the other side of the coin, Palmer expressed his disappointment that Woods, who has won this tournament at Bay Hill in Orlando no fewer than eight times, could not make it for the second successive year. ‘It was very nice of him to ring me to tell me he wasn’t coming and we will definitely miss him,’ said Palmer. ‘His record here is the best in any one tournament on the same golf course in the whole sport, so it’s a shame. 'All I would say is that he’s doing the right thing to work his way back to his best. It’s all about practising hard because that’s how you rediscover your confidence. I’ve known him since he was 3ft high and that’s how he became a great player and how he will become a great player again.’ The tournament begins on Thursday with McIlroy in a belter of a group, alongside good friend Rickie Fowler and Australian Jason Day. Palmer (centre) insists he will hit the first tee shot of the Masters with Gary Player (right) and Jack Nicklaus . Palmer (centre) vowed to personally reply to all of his fan mail after dislocating his shoulder before Christmas . As for Palmer, if you want to know why he’s the most loved figure the game has ever known, consider his response when asked about the mountain of mail that’s grown since he suffered his shoulder injury. ‘I like to reply to people who take the trouble to write and believe me the mail had gathered higher than me last week,’ he said. ‘But that’s what we’re going to continue to do and we’re working our way through it. We’re just about a day’s work behind now. We’ll get there.’ +Darren Clarke is the owner of a brand spanking new commemorative bag to celebrate his Ryder Cup captaincy. The European Team showed off the bag on their Twitter account, tagging their captain in the post. Clarke will lead Europe's bid for a fourth successive Ryder Cup victory for the 2016 contest with the United States at Hazeltine. Darren Clarke receives his special commemorative golf bag after being named Ryder Cup captain . Clarke looks in good spirits after being announced as Europe's captain for the 2016 Ryder Cup . Years played: 1997 (winners), 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004, 2006 (winners) Total matches: 20 . Career record: Won 10 Lost 7 Halved 3 . Total points won: 11.5 . The 46-year-old Northern Irishman, who played in five Ryder Cups and was a vice-captain in 2010 and 2012, was chosen ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn by a five-man selection panel at Wentworth. Clarke said: 'I am naturally extremely proud to be selected as European Ryder Cup captain for 2016. The Ryder Cup has been a massive part of my life and my career, so to have the chance to lead Europe next year is a huge honour. 'I am lucky to have played and worked under some fantastic captains in my seven Ryder Cups to date and I look forward to the challenge of trying to follow in their footsteps and help Europe to a fourth consecutive victory at Hazeltine next year.' Europe team captain Paul McGinley celebrates winning the Ryder Cup with his team last year at Gleneagles . Earlier this week Turkey withdrew its bid to stage the Ryder Cup in 2022, leaving five nations in the running ahead of inspection visits from tournament officials which will get under way this week. Ahmet Agaoglu, president of the Turkish Golf Federation, said: 'We have greatly enjoyed working on this project and assessing whether we would be in a position to launch a viable bid to host the 2022 Ryder Cup. 'Although we believe that Turkey is now an established golfing destination, with a collection of world-class courses, it has not proven possible to secure the necessary logistical arrangements in order to proceed and so we have reluctantly decided to withdraw from the process at this time. The Ryder Cup will not being taking place in Turkey in 2022 after the Turkish Golf Federation withdrew their bid . VIDEO Clarke the popular choice to lead Europe at Hazeltine . +The All England Lawn Tennis Club has apologised for using the iconic Tennis Girl poster from the 1970s to promote an upcoming exhibition but will still feature the work. The poster featuring blonde model Fiona Butler, who was 18 at the time the image was taken, attracted a flurry of criticism when the official Wimbledon Twitter account included it in a post promoting the Powerful Posters exhibition. Some followers accused the home of Wimbledon of sexism for highlighting the image, taken by the late Martin Elliott in 1976 at the University of Birmingham's tennis courts and printed by Athena. 'We apologise for offence caused by the Athena Tennis Girl poster. It is a controversial piece of poster history but we do not endorse it,' the profile later said after removing the post. Athena's Tennis Girl poster caused a Twitter stir and Wimbledon was forced to apologise after using it to promote a forthcoming exhibition called Powerful Posters . Last year the dress worn by Butler in the famous image, the wooden tennis racquet she is holding, a a 1979 edition poster and a 1980s limited edition canvas print were sold at auction for £15,500. While such a price may indicate its historic value and iconic status, many on Twitter felt it had no place as a promotional tool for the exhibit in which it features at the respected venue. Tennis fan Kishore Sharma expressed her outrage on Twitter, saying: 'Can't believe Wimbledon used this pic for upcoming 'Powerful Poster Exhibition'.' Roger Federer fans who go by the name 'Fed's Angels' on Twitter, posted: 'Come on Wimble! I thought you were the classy slam!' The All England Lawn Tennis Club used the iconic poster, which will be exhibited with the handmade dress worn by model Fiona Butler and wooden racquet used in the 1976 shoot, to promote the exhibition . Even the wording of the apology attracted criticism as a Twitter user responded with the comment: 'The poster doesn't show the history of tennis, the girl isn't a tennis player, you are just publicising sexualisation of females.' And campaign group the Everyday Sexism Project asked: 'Wimbledon having deleted your tweet, can you confirm if the poster you tweeted will be included in your exhibition?' Twitter user David B backed the club, saying: 'Presumably John McEnroe will now have to be airbrushed out of Wimbledon history? These PC idiots - "They cannot be serious!"' An All England Club spokesman has since confirmed the poster would remain in the exhibition despite the apology. He added: 'We're aware that the poster has generated debate on social media and we decided to respond to some of the comments raised since we want to be clear that it is not a reflection of how we view women in tennis. 'The image in question is from a 1970s poster that was extremely popular, selling over two million copies worldwide and it is part of an historic exhibition about tennis posters dating back to 1893. 'Not to include it in the exhibition would perhaps be an oversight since it is the most famous tennis poster of all time and should be regarded in this context only.' Last night tennis fans were questioning whether the poster, one of the world's best-selling, really is that controversial after all. Use of the saucy shot on the official Twitter page immediately raised eyebrows on Twitter . Roger Federer's fan group said: 'Come on Wimble! I thought you were the classy slam!' Sadie Hochfield tweeted: 'Ridiculous Wimbledon are getting stick for sharing iconic poster. Political correctness gone mad/don't pretend you've never seen it before!' Sara Smith-Jones posted: 'Wimbledon [has] nothing to apologise for – I think it's a great poster, is of its time in history.' Mark Staniforth said: 'Wimbledon has just tweeted an apology for any 'offence' caused by a link to the 40-year-old Athena Girl poster. The world's gone mad.' Others merely saw the funny side. 'I think Wimbledon were right to delete the Athena poster tweet,' one Twitter user wrote. 'No one should have to see that appalling 1970s court surface again.' The year-long exhibition will range from the earliest poster in the museum's collection, an 1893 advertisement for The Championships, through to the original artwork for this year's Grand Slam at the world famous venue in London SW19. +Andy Murray is now eager to surpass the achievements of Tim Henman after matching his fellow Briton's career-wins record on Wednesday. The 27-year-old equalled Henman's 496 career wins, which represents an Open era record for a British man, with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over France's Adrian Mannarino at Indian Wells in California. On matching Henman's record, Murray joked on Sky Sports: 'That's one of the few records Tim still had over me. Andy Murray celebrates as he seals his place in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells . Murray plays a forehand on his way to a straight-sets victory against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino . Murray (right) pictured alongside Tim Henman ahead of their first meeting in Basel in October 2005 . 'I wasn't actually aware of the record so that's nice. Hopefully I can get through the next round and get past him.' The victory in California saw Murray book a quarter-final match-up with Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who edged past Japan's Kei Nishikori. Referring to his win over 26-year-old Mannarino, the Scot said: 'It was a very tough match, he's playing very well this year and he's got a very tricky game. 'He's a lefty but he has a very flat backhand and a short take-back on his forehand so it's hard to read. 'He moves well and he has good hands around the net - in both sets though he played one or two loose games which helped me and I stayed solid throughout. Henman (left) and Murray take part in a celebrity match at The Queen's Club back in 2013 . Murray has his eye on the ball as he plays a backhand slice during his fourth-round match on Wednesday . Murray (left) shakes hands with his French opponent after sealing victory in Indian Wells . 'I was frustrated to get broken in the first set, I thought I started well but he came out firing. 'I tried to make a lot of balls and he didn't play a great game in the next game and that stopped his momentum. 'I started to feel more comfortable after that and went for my shots more.' +He may be injured at the moment, but Robin van Persie saw the bright side of being unable to play as he took advantage of a free Saturday night to head out in Manchester. The Dutch striker was seen strolling the streets of the city, before heading to a nightclub called LIV in the city centre - which admittedly may not be the best-named club for a Red Devils striker to be attending. It is a bar where a bottle of champagne can cost as much as £700, but you can still pick up a cocktail for less than a tenner - a more than reasonable price for a man on a Premier League wage. Robin van Persie was all smiles as he headed out in Manchester on Saturday night . The 31-year-old Red Devils striker was out as he is currently sidelined with injury . He headed to a club called LIV in Manchester city centre on Saturday night . Unsurprisingly, Van Persie wasn't joined by any of his team-mates, with Manchester United facing a huge game against Tottenham on Sunday. The 31-year-old has been in indifferent form this season, and hasn't played since getting injured in February's 2-1 defeat at Swansea. His boss Louis van Gaal, meanwhile, has been reluctant to earmark a date for his return. Van Persie has not played since getting injured against Swansea during a 2-1 defeat last month . Louis van Gaal has been reluctant to earmark a return for his striker to the first team . Manchester United manager Van Gaal greets his Dutch compatriot Van Persie against West Ham last month . 'He [Van Persie] is still with the medical department and needs to take the step to the technical department,' said Van Gaal. 'He is always training but the medical department is also sports science so he is training inside, not outside on the pitch. Even when he is on the pitch, he is with the medical department. 'He will then take the step to the technical department and then we have a process when he comes into our selection and trains.' +Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes players will try 'every trick in the book' because of their desperation to win football matches. Television pundits Graeme Souness and Jamie Carragher - both former Liverpool players - led the criticism of Chelsea for surrounding referee Bjorn Kuipers during Wednesday's Champions League exit against Paris St Germain. Former Liverpool captain Gerrard told BBC Sport: 'I think it's normal when you play games at that level. Players want to win so much. The Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday against PSG . 'You've got managers who want to win so much, players will try every trick in the book to get over the line and try and win football matches. 'Sometimes it doesn't look nice, but we've all been guilty of it throughout our careers, of not always abiding by the rules. Football's not always going to look nice.' The French side progressed to the quarter-finals on away goals despite having Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off and Gerrard added: 'PSG were the better team and good luck to them.' Gerrard hopes to sign off his Anfield career by helping Liverpool to FA Cup glory and a place in the top four. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will go head-to-head in a charity match at Anfield later this month . John Terry (centre) led the protests following Ibrahimovic's first-half challenge on Wednesday evening . The Sky Sports pundits were scathing of Chelsea's 'pathetic' behaviour at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday . The 34-year-old midfielder, who leaves for Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer, has recovered from a hamstring injury after sitting out the last seven matches and is available for Monday's trip to Swansea. With the Reds facing a cup quarter-final replay at Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn next month, the possibility of Gerrard leading the side out for a Wembley final on his birthday is still alive. He said: 'I've just got over a hamstring injury and I am fit and available for the next game. 'I want to finish the season really strong and leave the team in the top four and hopefully go all the way in the FA Cup - that is how I want to sign off.' Gerrard and Carragher stand by their teams for the match organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation . Reds captain Gerrard was speaking at an event to publicise an already sold-out Liverpool All-Star charity game later this month which will see a number of former Reds stars plus other greats of the game line up at Anfield. Among the former Liverpool stars returning will be Luis Suarez, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres, while the likes of John Terry and Didier Drogba have also committed to the game. The Chelsea duo are far from favourites with the Anfield crowd but Gerrard said it was important people remembered why they had accepted an invitation to play. Pepe Reina; Alvaro Arbeloa, Jamie Carragher (C), Martin Kelly, Craig Noone, Raul Meireles, Jonjo Shelvey, Craig Bellamy, Luis Garcia, Didier Drogba, Dirk Kuyt . Brad Jones; John Arne Riise, John Terry, Stephen Warnock; Ryan Babel, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard (C), Kevin Nolan; Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Thierry Henry . 'Credit to John Terry, many people in his position would have turned away and not come,' added the Liverpool captain. 'He may get some stick on the day but for me it shows you what type of guy he is for coming and helping out.' Gerrard, whose side will be managed by current Reds boss Brendan Rodgers, had first pick of the players and managed to get Suarez, Torres, Alonso, Terry and Thierry Henry into his side. Carragher, who will line up alongside the likes of Drogba and ex-Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina, said: 'Stevie has gone for the Galactico-type team; if you look at his front five they're not going to get back to help much and the age of Stevie and Alonso they need a bit of help in there. 'I've gone for a more balanced team and I fancy our chances.' +Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson and boxer Amir Khan starred in a short video in their roles as ambassadors of Maxi Nutrition. Henderson quizzed Khan on the details of his career, training techniques, fitness and strict diet. And when Khan was probed as to who he would most like to fight, he told Henderson 'Floyd Mayweather.' Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson (left) takes part in a training session with boxer Amir Khan (right) The pair discuss Khan's career, training techniques, fitness and strict diet during the video for Maxi Nutrition . Henderson tries his hand at boxing, as Khan demonstrates how to properly put on the gloves . Henderson has his hand wrapped as the two prepare to train in the Maxi Nutrition promotional video . Their pair complete some pad work as Henderson plays interviewer to Khan . Khan reveals all about his training techniques and his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather in the future . Elsewhere, in an interview with Liverpool's official magazine, Henderson admitted that he is not getting complacent over inheriting the club captaincy from the departing Steven Gerrard. Although he is widely considered the favourite to take on the role, given that he has already captained the side in Gerrard's absence through injury, the England star is keeping his feet on the ground. 'Next season we'll see what happens because it might not be me succeeding Stevie, it might be someone else,' Henderson said. 'There are a lot of strong leaders in the dressing room. There are a lot of big characters in the team - down-to-earth, humble people.' Henderson lashes in a long-range goal for Liverpool against Manchester City during the Premier League game . Henderson celebrates his goal against City and is congratulated by team-mate Alberto Moreno (left) Steven Gerrard will relinquish the Liverpool captaincy when he moves to LA Galaxy in the summer . He suggested that there were plenty of other suitable candidates to be considered for the captaincy. 'Mama (Sakho), Emre (Can) and Skerts (Martin Skrtel) have developed a strong collective understanding. You can see their passion, they're desperate to win, they give everything. 'Studge (Daniel Sturridge) is a big character. Lucas (Leiva) is too. I can only do the current job the best I can.' Henderson joined Liverpool from Sunderland in 2011 for a reported £20 million fee and has since gone on to become a mainstay in their first-team. Henderson suggested that Emre Can (pictured) and other team-mates all have leadership credentials . Reds striker Daniel Sturridge was said to have a 'big character' by Henderson and could be club captain . +An attempt to emulate Denman by winning next season’s Hennessy Gold Cup is on the agenda for Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Coneygree. The first novice to win the feature race of the Festival since Captain Christy in 1974 was on Saturday feted as friends and well-wishers gathered at the Oxfordshire stable of trainer Mark Bradstock and wife Sara in the village of Letcombe Bassett, which once housed five-time Gold Cup hero Golden Miller. Friday’s victory for a small stable of 10 horses was a heart-warming end to a Festival dominated by the big guns from Britain and Ireland. 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Coneygree could race at Newbury on November 28 . Nico de Boinville kisses the Cheltenham Gold Cup following Coneygree's length and a half victory . The eight-year-old, who was ridden by conditional jockey Nico de Boinville, will not run again this season and Sara Bradstock, daughter of the late amateur rider, broadcaster and journalist, Lord Oaksey, believes Coneygree’s similarity to Denman means a crack at the Newbury race on November 28 is feasible challenge. Coneygree won the Denman Chase at the track last month on his final prep race for the Gold Cup. His family also have history in the race, with older brother Carruthers winning the 2011 Hennessy. Sara said: ‘We might consider the Betfair Chase and the King George, for sure. The world is our oyster now but, depending on what the handicapper does, we might try to win the Hennessy off top weight. ‘We know he likes Newbury and he seems to have a lot of similarities with Denman.’ De Boinville (left) and trainer Mark Bradstock are all smiles with the 2015 Gold Cup trophy . The Paul Nicholls-trained Denman, the 2008 Gold Cup winner, won the Hennessy twice in 2007 and 2009. On the latter occasion, he defied a BHA handicap mark of 174 when carrying 11st 12lb. Chief handicapper Phil Smith intends rating Coneygree 171, the highest for a novice this century and 1lb higher than given to Willie Mullins’ Vautour after his spectacular JLT Novices’ Chase win. Meanwhile, hopes of a family double within 24 hours were dashed when heavy ground at Uttoxeter prompted Carruthers to be withdrawn from the Midlands National, which was won by Irish raider Goonyella. The AP McCoy- ridden 5-2 favourite, Catching On, fell at the seventh fence. De Boinville and Coneygree clear a fence on their way to victory at the Cheltenham Gold Cup . +New Zealand coach Steve Hansen flew out of Dublin three weeks ago bemoaning boring European rugby. After Saturday’s spectacular conclusion to the 2015 Six Nations, you hope his television wasn’t on the blink at his home in Christchurch and that he caught every single second of an engrossing 240 minutes spread across the three round five matches. It was breathtaking. The three teams who entered denouement day on six points apiece — England with a +37 points difference, Ireland +33 and Wales +12 — all wound up on eight points each but with one crucial photo finish difference — Ireland’s calculus was revised upwards to +63, six better than England’s +57 and 10 clear of Wales’ +53. Mere numbers, though, can’t properly tell the tale of this nerve-shredding afternoon where credit must go to Wales for transforming a slender 14-13 interval lead in Rome into the 61-20 thrashing and igniting the subsequent thirst for points at Murrayfield and Twickenham. Jonny Sexton (left) and Paul O'Connell (right) arrive at Dublin Airport with the trophy fully in their grasp . Ireland's fans got a chance to touch the coveted Six Nations trophy outside Dublin Airport . When it all ended, with England a metre short of the French line in forlorn search of the title-clinching converted try, Hansen’s eyes should have been watering with the wonder of it all. Boring? No way. A whopping 27 tries — after just 36 in the four previous rounds’ dozen games — in a 221-point attacking rugby harvest. Amazing. Pivotal moments were numerous. With eight-try Wales 48 points clear of Italy, a margin that would have set Ireland the target of a 28-point win in Edinburgh, a vital late twist had the air of 2007 revisited (Italy scored a late try eight years ago to cut Ireland’s margin and France won the title by a points difference of +4). Azzurri winger Leonardo Sarto proved unstoppable from his 10-metre line, touching down on 79:24 for the converted try that saw Ireland’s desired goal suddenly become a more manageable 21. Rob Kearney (centre) holds the Six Nations trophy in front of a mixture of youthful and experienced fans . Having scored just four tries in 320 minutes, they doubled that tally through Paul O’Connell’s fifth-minute opener and Sean O’Brien’s 25th and 72nd-minute brace either side of Jared Payne’s 50th-minute effort. Then, Jamie Heaslip won a seemingly lost cause, marvellously knocking the ball from Stuart Hogg as he went to ground for a consolation Scotland try. It set England the chase of a 26-point victory and they fell short, referee Nigel Owens penalising them on 80:12 at a ruck for sealing off. Ireland were champions and it was just as well. If England had pounced for that deciding converted try, the finger of blame would have been pointed in Scotland at both Johnny Sexton and Ian Madigan. With Ireland 20 points ahead and needing another score to jump ahead of Wales on the table, Sexton inexplicably missed two penalty kicks in quick succession. Jamie Heaslip (centre) poses for a photograph with a young fan after returning to Ireland . The first effort, from in front of the posts close in, collided with an upright and the second, from the 10-metre line, drifted wide to the right. He eventually recomposed himself, landing the pole-taking penalty on 62 minutes before signing off nine minutes later with cramp having energetically applied pressure to earn the lineout that was a foundation for the revitalised O’Brien’ s second try. There was still time for another sloppy penalty miss, a nervous Madigan pulling his close-in attempt to the left, but it would have been cruel had this hat-trick of missed penalties come back to haunt them a few hours later. Unlike Wales, who needed a last-second penalty to secure a one-point Stadio Olimpico half-time lead, and unlike England, 15-10 in arrears until the 27th minute in London, Ireland hit the front early and resolutely stayed there against the winless Scots, their only defensive aberration being Rob Kearney’s error which left Robbie Henshaw defending a three-on-one overlap down the blindside of the ruck for Finn Russell’s converted try on the half hour. Ireland were crowned Six Nations winners after a dramatic final day that saw them edge England and Wales . Other than this repeated weakness in shackling breakdown ball quickly shifted from right to left (France and Wales scored against them in the same corner and England came within a whisker of doing the same), Ireland fixed the issues that betrayed them in Wales. They didn’t get stuck at the Murrayfield ruck, didn’t start lethargically, didn’ t trail by a dozen points 14 minutes in due to poor indiscipline, didn’t tactically kick inaccurately and didn’t blow up damagingly at the lineout due to talismanic O’Connell taking on the responsibility of calling a plethora of ball on himself. Exuding pride in his team’s resilience to overcome the disappointment of blowing their Grand Slam chance, Joe Schmidt hailed his skipper for grabbing the team by the scruff of the neck post–Wales and engineering the title-winning response. Ireland powered to a 40-10 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield that won them the Six Nations title . England beat France 55-35 at Twickenham but it wasn't enough to overhaul Ireland . ‘You could see them starting to bounce back on Thursday. I texted the players on Tuesday and just said, “Training wasn’t flash today but get a day’s rest and let’s start from scratch on Thursday and really launch ourselves into this last challenge”,’ he said. That 24-word missive had the desired effect. ‘You know when you ask something of them they are going to give it their very best shot. It’s funny, we took a fair bit of confidence out of Cardiff. ‘You give Wales a 12-point head start, a Lions pack team, get to within four and really put pressure on them — that in its own way gave us a little bit of confidence even though we didn’t get the result.’ Seven days later, that Grand Slam-destroying outcome was forgotten. Ireland were back-to-back champions for the first time in 66 years and their spontaneous celebrations, just like the calibre of their rugby, were anything but boring and anything but one dimensional. +Adam Lyth improved his chances of becoming Alastair Cook’s new opening partner by hitting 113 for Yorkshire against MCC. The left-hander earned a first call-up to England’s Test squad for next month’s series with West Indies and was in fine form for the county champions in this season’s curtain-raiser in Abu Dhabi. Lyth, 27, is one of two contenders, along with Jonathan Trott, to open alongside captain Cook in the Caribbean. His chances may be helped by the fact that Cook was in the MCC side to witness his 190-ball century, which included 12 fours. Adam Lyth clips the ball into the leg side during his excellent century in Abu Dhabi against the MCC . Lyth, who has been picked for England's tour to the West Indies, looked in excellent touch throughout . The Yorkshire opener, who is contention for a Test spot, raises his bat after reaching three figures . Sam Billings congratulates his team-mate, who was eventually dismissed for 113 in the pre-season game . West Indies batsman Chris Gayle will be competing for Somerset in this summer's T20 Blast . Cook scored just three in the MCC’s first-innings 221 before Lyth inspired Yorkshire to 372 in reply. At close of play MCC were 13 without loss. ‘To get a hundred in the first first-class game of the season and in front of the England captain is really pleasing,’ Lyth said. ‘Alastair just said, “Well played”, and there were a few shakes of the hand... hopefully I’ve impressed him and you never know what might happen over the next few weeks.’ West Indies batsman Chris Gayle will play for Somerset in this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast. Gayle, who will miss the series against England, said: ‘I’m looking forward to coming to Taunton and scoring some runs.’ +Matt Henry will replace injured fast bowler Adam Milne in New Zealand's World Cup squad. The International Cricket Council approved the switch on Monday after Henry's fellow seamer Milne hurt his heel in the Kiwis' weekend quarter-final win over the West Indies in Wellington. Scans showed Milne would be unable to play any further part in the tournament and New Zealand have therefore brought 23-year-old Henry into their squad. Matt Henry will replace the injured Adam Milne in New Zealand's World Cup squad . Adam Milne hurt his heel in the Kiwi's quarter-final win over the West Indies in Wellington . Henry made his international debut in January 2014 against India. New Zealand will face South Africa in the first semi-final in Auckland on Tuesday. +The Australia and India squads have had ample time in the past four months to work each other out, ensuring a level of tension for their World Cup semi-final expected to go well beyond the usual for a knockout game. Australia all-rounder James Faulkner won't be surprised if there's some niggle and verbal exchanges, just like he's not surprised that defending champion India shook off their poor form leading into the World Cup to win seven consecutive matches. 'They've spent a fair bit of time in the country, so they've adapted well to the conditions,' Faulkner told a news conference Monday. 'It's no surprise they're up against us in the semi-final, they're a very strong team. Australian cricketer James Faulkner fields a ball off his own bowling at the Bellerive Oval during the World Cup . Australian Faulkner bowls during the 2015 Cricket World Cup match against Scotland at the Bellerive Oval . 'You're going to see two very good teams going up against each other - it should be a very good spectacle.' Australia have won the Cricket World Cup four times and reached the final on two other occasions, but never on home soil. India have two World Cup titles, and became the first team to clinch it at home in 2011 after beating Australia in the quarter-finals, Pakistan in the semi-finals and Sri Lanka in the championship match. Watson bats during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match between Australian and Pakistan at Adelaide Oval . India didn't win a competitive match between the time the squad landed in Australia in November until its opening World Cup game against Pakistan on February 15. In that time, it lost a test series to Australia, and was winless in a limited-overs tri-series against Australia and England. There was some glaring aggression between the teams in the test and ODI series, with players on both sides sanctioned and warned that sledging would not be tolerated at the World Cup. All-rounder Shane Watson was fined last week for his part in an exchange with Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz . Australian all-rounder Shane Watson was fined last week for his part in an exchange with Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz during a torrid spell of fast, short-pitch bowling that was easily the highlight of the quarterfinal in Adelaide. Faulkner said that exchange was 'all in great spirit,' and he expected more spirited exchanges with a spot in the final at stake at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. 'There's going to be words said and it's going to be a really tough contest,' Faulkner said, adding that there's usually some sledging on the field. 'It's the nature of the game, it's a semi-final. Cut throat. Neither team will be backing down.' Watson plays a short pitched ball from Riaz of Pakistan during the World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval . The India squad practiced at the SCG on Monday but, as have become the usual routine at the World Cup, remained off limits to the media until the eve of the match. The Sydney venue is expected to be packed with traveling India fans who may outnumber Australia supporters and possibly make it seem more like an away game for the locals. 'We were talking about it last night at dinner, the last game we played here it definitely felt like that,' Faulkner said. 'The passion the Indian fans show toward their cricket team is sensational, so we're definitely expecting that.' +South Africa captain AB de Villiers doubts he will need to say much to motivate his team-mates for their World Cup semi-final against New Zealand as he feels they are already in a 'good space'. South Africa enter Tuesday's clash at Eden Park slight favourites after demolishing Sri Lanka by nine wickets, their first World Cup knockout win since their re-integration after apartheid. 'I know the guys are up for it ... I feel the team is in a really good space at a really good time,' De Villiers told reporters at Eden Park on Monday. South Africa captain AB de Villiers doubts he will need to say too much to motivate his team-mates ahead of the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand . South Africa's captain De Villiers speaks to the media ahead of their World Cup semi-final match . 'I will have a look at how the feelings are when we get to the ground. You normally get an indication during the warm-up. 'It's pretty easy to pick up when you have spent a few years with the guys. I know each player individually pretty well. I know what makes them tick and what irritates them, too. Sometimes it's important to irritate them to get the best out of them. 'It's really about just reading the situation and trust your gut. But I don't think I will need to trust my gut too much tomorrow because the guys are up for it.' South Africa lost two of their pool games, including a 29-run defeat by Pakistan at Eden Park. South Africa are preparing for their World Cup semi-final against New Zealand on Tuesday morning . Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (left) is greeted by De Villiers after South Africa's quarter-final victory . 'We definitely learned some valuable lessons in that game,' De Villiers said. 'It was good to get used to the angles of the field. To have a look back now on reflection, I don't think anything over 230 has ever been chased down here in an ODI. 'So it's maybe not a bad thing to know those little things going into a semi-final and how to go about it, not to panic when you lose a couple of wickets early. 'You can always find your way back on this field and keep fighting because you are never out of it.' +England Test captain Alastair Cook could only make three runs as he opened the batting for MCC in their match against LV= County Championship winners Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi. Having top-scored in MCC's t20 defeat to Sussex on Friday, Cook could not replicate his form as he was trapped lbw by Ryan Sidebottom, with his side all out for 221 in their first innings. Yorkshire's reply started strongly and they ended day one on 82 for two, with Adam Lyth - the man who could partner Cook on England's tour of the West Indies - hitting an unbeaten half-century. Alastair Cook was dismissed for three on day one of the champion county match in Abu Dhabi . Yorkshire's Ryan Sidebottom celebrates after trapping Cook lbw for just three runs . Cook will now be able to see at the closest of quarters whether or not Lyth has what it takes to occupy that spot in the wake of his first call-up earlier this week. Sidebottom removed Nick Compton - someone who has partnered Cook in Tests - with the first ball of the match as the MCC captain edged a delivery into Jonny Bairstow's gloves. Cook soon followed Compton back into the pavilion before Michael Carberry and James Hildreth steadied the ship. James Hildreth scored 89 to help MCC up to a score of 221 in their first innings in Abu Dhabi . Adam Lyth was unbeaten on 53 as Yorkshire closed day one on 82 for two in response . The duo put on 74 for the third wicket before Carberry fell for 36, but Hildreth pushed on and made 89 before Tim Bresnan got him out lbw after lunch. Daryl Mitchell (54) and Zafar Ansari (24) were the only others who could make it into double figures as the final five batsmen could only add five runs between them. Lyth then took centre-stage as he started the Yorkshire reply, although he lost fellow opener and captain Alex Lees as he was caught behind off the bowling of Matt Dunn for 11. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi is once again playing host to the floodlight contest . A 72-ball half-century from Lyth kept the reigning champions ticking over until Jack Leaning was caught off Ansari late in the day - with Steven Patterson brought in as night-watchman to see out the closing overs. He will return to the crease with Lyth (53 not out) on Monday with Yorkshire trailing by 139 runs with eight first-innings wickets in hand. +Martin Guptill became the first man to score a double hundred in a Cricket World Cup knockout match and propelled co-hosts New Zealand into the semi-finals as they sealed a 143-run win against West Indies. The 28-year-old batsman was dropped in the first over before going on to score 237 from 163 balls — including 24 fours and 11 sixes, one of which found the roof of Wellington’s Westpac Stadium in the final over. The record-breaking innings — the second highest one-day international score of all time behind Indian Rohit Sharma’s 264 — helped his side to 393-6. Martin Guptill celebrates after scoring his double century during New Zealand's win over the West Indies . ‘I’m still not really sure what happened,’ said Guptill. ‘I am incredibly proud of what we achieved today and hopefully moving forward we can win another game and then another one after that.’ The fact Guptill was the first New Zealander to pass 200 in a ODI was not really a surprise. He scored 189 not out against England in 2013 and said, looking back at that innings, he felt he could have achieved the mark then. ‘I did muck around in the middle overs of that innings but I wouldn’t take it back at all,’ added Guptill. ‘To set the record and then break it again is pretty amazing and I just have to try to do it again I guess.’ The batsman recorded the second highest one-day international score in the sports history with 237 . In reply, West Indies were all out for 250 in 30.3 overs, with Trent Boult claiming four for 44 to become the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. New Zealand will face South Africa in the semi-finals while Australia play India in the other match. It could have been so different, though, had Marlon Samuels held a catch just three balls in which would have sent Guptill back to the pavilion. Guptill also survived two lbw shouts but New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum had less luck at the other end as he fell for 12 runs. Guptill was given a standing ovation following his impressive innings in the World Cup clash . +James Harden has become the talk of the NBA after a stunning season with the Houston Rockets and the shooting guard enhanced his reputation further with another display of brilliance - this time against the Denver Nuggets. The 25-year-old scored a career-high 50 points with 10 rebounds to lead Houston to a 118-108 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. It was the first time that a member from the Rockets team had scored 50 or more points since Hakeem Olajuwon achieved the feat 19 years ago. James Harden scored a career-high 50 points with 10 rebounds to lead Houston to a 118-108 win over the Denver Nuggets . Harden eclipsed his previous career-best of 46, set in 2013, on a free throw with about a minute remaining. On Houston's next possession, Trevor Ariza found him in the corner for a three-pointer to take his tally to 50. The impressive feat strengthened his case for MVP in a tight three-way battle between himself, Stephen Curry and LeBron James. It was the first time that a member from the Rockets team had scored 50 or more points since Hakeem Olajuwon achieved the feat 19 years ago . It was the 29th game Harden had scored at least 30 points this season and his career-high were commended on Twitter. 'Fear the Beard! James Harden scores a career-high 50 points (and grabs 10 boards) in Houston's 118-108 win vs. Denver,' wrote Bleacher Report. 'With The Dream in attendance, Harden dropped the first 50+ point game by a Rocket since Hakeem [Olajuwon] had 51 on 1/18/1996. #MVP,' Rockets' official account wrote. CBS Sports astutely noted Harden outscored the whole of the Texas Longhorns, who lost 56-48 to the Butler Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament earlier in the day, by tweeting: 'James Harden outscored the University of Texas today.' Harden will be looking to lead Kevin McHale's side to victory in their next match against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. +Defending champion Raymond van Barneveld revived his Premier League campaign with an impressive 7-4 win over Phil Taylor in Glasgow. The Dutchman was facing an early elimination after a dreadful run of results, but Thursday's victory lifted him out of the bottom two in the Betway Premier League. Raymond van Barneveld revived his Premier League campaign with a stunning 7-4 win over Phil Taylor . Gary Anderson delighted a 10,000-strong crowd at The SSE Hydro with a 7-5 win over Belgian ace Kim Huybrechts. After coming from a leg down to lead 3-1, Anderson retained a two-leg cushion through to sealing a point at 6-4 before Huybrechts forced a deciding 12th leg. Gary Anderson delighted home crowd with a 7-5 win over Belgian ace Kim Huybrechts . A 10,000-crowd watched the action at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow on Thursday night . Anderson missed the chance to complete a nine-darter by wiring a double 12 but he returned to win the leg with a double 12. Two other matches finished in draws, as James Wade shared the points in a tight opener against Adrian Lewis before Peter Wright thrilled the Scottish crowd by coming from 5-1 down to claim a point against Stephen Bunting. +Fabian Delph can be an instrumental figure in England winning Euro 2016, according to Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood. Roy Hodgson called Delph into his squad for the coming matches against Lithuania and Italy, to little surprise for Sherwood having tried to sign the 25-year-old at Tottenham. ‘Roy will stumble across a team that will win the Euros. He will, I tell you. They will win it,’ said Sherwood. ‘I feel we’ve got top young talent who will have another year’s football. A lot of them would play for any country across Europe. Fabian Delph was included in the latest England squad and could be a fixture in the future . Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood says the midfielder can be part of Euro 2016 glory with his country . ‘I’ve told Fabian he could be on the verge of something. There’s competition there but he could be a big part of it. Roy loves him.’ Sherwood recalls a chance meeting with Delph’s representative while he was in charge at Spurs last season and the Villa midfielder was mulling over signing a new contract. Delph penned fresh terms in January. ‘I spoke to his agent in London and told him that if I was still in charge at Tottenham, I’d definitely want him to come. I tried my best. He’d cost too much money now, but he would have been a bargain then. ‘He’s got a change of pace and a hammer of a left foot. I think he’s got the ability to drop his shoulder and go past people. I wouldn’t want him to do that to me. ‘Some players you don’t mind playing against and then there’s others like (Paul) Gascoigne who can put you on your arse – just because he will face you up and want to make you look stupid. Gazza used to do it with tricks but Fabian has got more pace and drive.’ Deph has got more 'pace and drive' than Paul Gascoigne, according to Sherwood . The 25-year-old unleashes a strike past the West Brom defence during a FA Cup victory earlier this month . +Chelsea captain John Terry showed Blues fans where it all began as he took a trip down memory lane on his Instagram account. The 34-year-old Barking-born defender posted a picture of himself on a summer football camp alongside his brother and West Ham United legend Trevor Brooking. Terry’s snap shows him donning a retro Chelsea shirt while his brother Paul wears a Rangers shirt on the football course. John Terry is pictured alongside his brother Paul (left) and West Ham United legend Trevor Brooking . A young Terry is seen clutching a shiny trophy, so it is clear to see the former England international has been a natural born winner ever since a young age. The trophies have just kept coming for Terry since that day and he will be hoping to add to his collection with the Premier League title this season. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side are currently six points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over nearest rivals Manchester City. The trophies just keep coming for Terry who celebrates winning the Capital One Cup earlier this year . Terry celebrates with former Chelsea fans favourite Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge . +Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes Sunday's 2-1 win at QPR proves the Toffees do have the fighting qualities to win ugly when they need to. Aaron Lennon sank Rangers with a 77th-minute winner to move Everton up to 13th in the Barclays Premier League and nine points clear of the relegation places. Everton have been accused of being too soft this season after failing to replicate last year's fifth-place finish, but Osman insists they showed their mettle with a battling display at Loftus Road. Leon Osman believes Everton's win over QPR on Sunday shows the Toffees can win ugly when needed . Osman points at goalscorer Seamus Coleman after the defender had fired Everton ahead at Loftus Road . 'Certain games sometimes call for certain styles of play and the way the game goes dictates how you end up playing,' Osman said. 'Every time we lost the ball it was sent up to the edge of our box so we had to fight and scrap for second balls. 'It was a scrappy match defensively but we proved we can do that side of the game and then once you've done that, you have the opportunity to hit teams on the counter attack, which we tried to do. 'There was probably not as much football played as we usually like but there's no problem winning like that as well.' Aaron Lennon (left) celebrates after scoring the winning goal for Everton against Queens Park Rangers . The victory was Everton's second in a row in the league and saw Roberto Martinez's side bounce back from a disappointing 5-2 Europa League defeat to Dynamo Kiev on Thursday. 'It was a massive win for us after we suffered a big disappointment in the week,' Osman continued. 'It hasn't quite happened in the league this season so to put back-to-back wins together was really important for us. 'We were terrific at the back, especially Phil Jagielka. I thought he was at his best and we dealt with all their situations quite well. The winger slots home the crucial goal to move the Toffees closer to safety with the win at Loftus Road . 'It was always going to be difficult with the pitch as it is and with the way they played. 'They made it difficult for us but we stood up to that challenge head on and came away with a victory. 'We've still got eight games left and we're going to concentrate on those games now and just see how many points we can pick up.' +Toby Alderweireld knows Southampton need to beat Burnley this weekend if they are to maintain their push for European football. A summer of despair at St Mary's has been followed by a quite remarkable season, leaving Saints sixth in the standings with just nine matches remaining. Last weekend's 1-1 draw at Chelsea boosted their hopes of European qualification - a match in which Alderweireld performed fantastically on his return from a hamstring injury. It was a positive display after a frustrating time of late and the Belgium international knows Saints have to follow it up with a win at home to Burnley on Saturday. Toby Alderweireld is keen for Southampton to keep winning to maintain the push for Europe . 'It was great after two months seeing from the sidelines to play again,' Alderweireld said. 'With a bit of luck, a good defence and a great goalkeeper we got a point. 'It's important we don't look too far in the future because it won't help. We can be happy with the point at Chelsea, but if we lose on Saturday what does it mean? 'We want to achieve something good, something special this season, so we have to win. That's game by game. We can't play a different game on Saturday, it's Burnley. Alderweirel challenges Diego Costa for the ball during Southampton's 1-1 draw with Chelsea . 'We really want to achieve something very special for Southampton. We have nine games, nine finals; we have very tough games left. 'Let's get the three points with the supporters on Saturday, that's the first final.' Burnley arrive at St Mary's in the relegation zone yet buoyed by last weekend's win against champions Manchester City. Sean Dyche's men also got the better of Saints when they met earlier in the campaign and Alderweireld is eyeing revenge. 'It's going to be difficult because they are in a good mood, they have had good performances in the last few weeks so they have confidence,' he told Southampton's official YouTube channel. Alderweireld is looking for revenge when Southampton face Burnley after they were beaten earlier in the season . 'But at home, we need to win. We can put the pressure on us because of the season we have had, we have to do that, especially at home. 'We have to be patient, show good quality on the ball and look out for the counter. 'In the last game we deserved to win I think. We had the better chances and they had none really. 'We had the throw-in and then they scored, it was very unlucky. We could have won there so we want to get a little revenge. 'They have a lot of good players. That's the Premier League. When you're not 100 per cent, anyone can beat you, that's what people like about the Premier League. 'We have to be 100 per cent. They are in a good mood so we have to be at our best. 'I don't think this group is over confident. We are focused and we know we have to show the quality on the ball.' +Jeremy Mathieu has quashed rumours that Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi could be on his way to Paris Saint Germain and is adamant the Argentine will stay put at the Nou Camp. At the turn of the year Messi's future at the Catalan giants was brought into question amid stories he was unhappy under boss Luis Enrique. However the forward - who is under contract until 2018 - has gone on to score 17 league goals for his club so far in 2015 and his colleague is convinced his heart remains well and truly placed in the Catalan capital. The prospect of Lionel Messi moving to Paris Saint Germain is 'impossible' according to Jeremy Mathieu . The France international said he cannot imagine Messi playing for any other club than the Catalan giants . 'Messi to PSG? Impossible,' Mathieu told RMC. 'I can't see Messi at any other club than Barcelona.' Barcelona are set to come face to face with Ligue 1 champions PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals next month. The La Liga leaders met with Laurent Blanc's men in the group stages and were beaten 3-2 at the Parc des Princes before winning the return clash 3-1 at the Nou Camp. However the former Valencia centre back is confident his team can get through to the last four of Europe's elite competition. 'It's a game like all others but it will very difficult because PSG have many qualities and great players too,' Mathieu said. 'We know them well and if we play as we did in the two games in the group stage, we'll go through. But we'll have to be at 100 per cent.' Messi and his Barcelona team-mates celebrate their victory over Real Madrid at the Nou Camp on Sunday . Mathieu was the surprise opening goalscorer in Sunday's El Clasico showdown, which his side emerged 2-1 victors over old rivals Real Madrid, and he believes the La Liga title is theirs to lose after the dramatic win that saw them move four points clear of Los Blancos at the top of the table. 'There are a lot of games to go and a lot of points left to play for,' he added. 'It is an advantage to have our destiny in our own hands but we'll have to win all of our games. It will be tough. Our April will be busy.' +Karim Benzema insists Real Madrid are still focused on winning La Liga despite falling four points behind leaders Barcelona following Sunday's 2-1 El Clasico defeat. The striker, speaking to Marca, said Real are still thinking about the title as well as winning the Champions League having achieved La Decima last season. The France international also welcomed the recent return of Luka Modric, who had been out with a thigh injury since November, and said: 'Modric has been good for us, we’ve missed him.' Karim Benzema has told Marca Real Madrid are still focusing on the La Liga title and Champions League . Meanwhile, Marca claim Atletico are in the market for a left back and could make a move for former defender Filipe Luis who left the Vicente Calderon for Chelsea in the summer. Porto's Alex Sanndro and Monaco's Layvin Kurzawa are also linked with Diego Simeone's side. Ahead of the title run-in, AS believe Real Madrid have a 'favourable' fixture list compared to rivals Barcelona. Both sides must face tricky tests against Sevilla and Valencia but Barcelona must also play Atletico Madrid away. Over in Italy, Tuttosport claim Simone Zaza is close to a move to Juventus and say the Sassuolo frontman is looking for a home in Turin. The Italian sports paper say Roma and Napoli are also interested in Zaza's signature but claim Juventus have been given the go ahead. Tuttosport claim Simone Zaza is close to a move to Juventus and is looking for a home in the city of Turin . La Gazetta dello Sport report on the Italian national team after Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini claimed he does not like seeing foreign-born players called-up. The former Manchester City boss was responding to this weekend's call ups of Sampdoria's Brazilian-born striker Eder and Palermo's Argentine-born midfielder Franco Vazquez to Italy's squad. Vazquez's mother is Italian while Eder gained citizenship through more distant relatives. +Rohit Sharma hit his maiden World Cup century as India claimed a clinical 109 run victory over Bangladesh in the second quarter-final here on Thursday. It was the reigning World Cup champions’ 11th consecutive victory in a World Cup, second best only to Australia’s run of 25 matches between 2003-2011, as MS Dhoni won his 100th one-day international match as captain. Featuring in their first ever World Cup knockout match Bangladesh promised much early on as they restricted India to 125-3 from 30 overs but fell away under the pressure of the occasion, though there was an element of controversy. The platform for the resounding victory was set-up by Rohit’s measured innings as India posted 302 for six and was backed-up by an impressive 4-31 from Umesh Yadav as Bangladesh were bowled out for 193. Rohit Sharma hits out during his potentially match-winning innings of 137 for India at the MCG . Sharma hits through the onside on his way to a century for India against Bangladesh in Melbourne . Sharma celebrates as he reaches his hundred in India's the World Cup quarter final at the MCG . Sharma jumps for joy on reaching his hundred in what turned out to be a match-winning innings . It’s hard to think of another set of fans that turn out in such support for their side and with such vociferously worldwide as the Indian supporters do. At times the noise from the immensely vocal crowd will tell you all you need to know about what is going on in the middle. And, while that support no doubt buoys the Indian players, it equally places them under an incredible amount of pressure. The type of pressure that has seen Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s places in the side constantly questioned because of the limited time they spent in the middle during the tournament. The mere fact that they have batted so little because the rest of India’s batsmen have performed so well is left by the way side. But if any of the players are feeling the weight of burden upon them then they are refusing to let it affect their game. In fact the players have risen to the task. Rohit Sharma is congratulated for his milestone by India captain MS Dhoni on Thursday . Rohit finally fell in the 47th over when he was bowled by Bangladeshi quick Taskin Ahmed . Rohit's innings of 137 from 126 balls came to an end after Taskin Ahmed endured some punishment . India's Suresh Raina goes aerial for a six in his innings of 65, India's second highest score . Raina celebrates reaching his half-century as India's batsman struggled to score quickly . Arguably Sharma came into this match as one the few top-order Indian batsmen who had yet to really impress, having made just 159 runs in his previous six innings. When required though, the 27-year-old rose to the challenge producing some of the best shots of the entire tournament. The Indian innings began uncharacteristically slowly as Bangladesh’s attack produced a master class in tight bowling. Shikhar Dhawan, having prodded and probed his way to a modest 30 of 50 balls, was stumped off the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan after being beaten by the flight of the ball and failing to drag his foot back in time. England’s ultimate destroyer Rubel Hossain erupted in jubilation eight balls later as he had star batsman Virat Kohli caught behind for just three. The dismissal was all the more impressive, with Mushfiqur Rahim taking a low catch, as the wicketkeeper was stood so far back a car could have fit between him and the stumps. Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim whips off the bails to dismiss India opener Shikhar Dhawan . Dhawan was given out for 30 from the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan as India's opening partnership ended on 75 . Taskin Ahmed (left) and Mashrafe Mortaza chest bump in celebration after the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane . Ahmed was the pick of Bangladesh's bowlers with three wickets for 69 runs off his 10 overs . Ahmed (left) and Shakib Al Hasan (right) fall to the ground laughing as Rahane walks back to the pavilion . And when Ajinkya Rahane mistimed a loft over extra-cover from a fuller Taskin Ahmed delivery to depart for painful 19 off 37 balls, India looked to be struggling. If discipline defined the first 30 overs for Bangladesh, having bowled an impressive 107 of those 180 as dot balls, then meltdown almost perfectly defined the last 17. Mashrafe Mortaza took the ball in the first over of the batting powerplay and after Suresh Raina sent the ball between two fielders, the Bangladeshi captain stood and berated his players. However, the game-changing over followed four overs later as Rubel believed he had Rohit caught at deep midwicket for 90, only for the delivery to be called a waist-high no ball. Confusion ensued, with the Bangladeshi players calling for a third-umpire second opinion but Ian Gould remained unmoved and Rohit remained at the crease. After reaching his ton off 108 balls the right-handed batsman let loose, lofting a beautiful inside-out drive for six. Taskin eventually had his man, bowling an excellent yorker – a delivery so rare now but still a marvel when produced perfectly – as Rohit departed to a standing ovation from the 51,000 strong crowd. Bangladesh's Rubel Hossain gives key wicket Virat Kohli an impassioned send off as he's dismissed . Hossain followed a series of short balls with a full and wide delivery that caught Kohli's outside edge . Tamim Iqbal got Bangladesh off to a steady start with a run a ball 25 before falling to Umesh Yadav . Yadav celebrates his breakthrough as he finds Iqbal's edge and MS Dhoni takes the catch to make it 33-1 . It seemed surprising then that the 19-year-old bowler was another who found himself on the end of a verbal rollicking from his captain as India passed the 300 run mark for the third time in the tournament. At the beginning of the year 302-6 would probably have been seen as an achievable target against an Indian bowling attack that looked anything but international players. But with MS Dhoni’s pack of bowlers having claimed 60 wickets in six matches Bangladesh needed Tamim Iqbal to fire from the beginning. Having found the boundary rope four times, Tamim departed for a run-a-ball 25 as Dhoni took a low catch off Yadav’s bowling. Without a run being added to their total, a mix-up in the middle saw Imrul Kayes run-out for five and Bangladesh two down for 33. Bangladesh did their to best to keep up with the rate but the constant loss of wickets hindered their chances of making the match a contest. Without adding a run Mahmudullah (left) and Imrul Kayes found themselves at the same end of the pitch . Despite a desperate dive, Kayes is run out as Yadav whips off the bails after a throw from Ravindra Jadeja . India opening bowler Mohammed Shami (right) celebrates taking the wicket of Bagladesh's Soumya Sarkar . Shami claimed the Tigers No 3 caught behind as Sarkar attempted to hold his side's innings together . Yadav celebrates the wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim as India take total control of the quarter-final . India fans were out in force in Melbourne for the day-night quarter-final on Thursday . The national flag of India is impossible to miss at the famous ground as Raina celebrates his 50 . Police speak to a fan wearing an India shirt and sitting behind a group of Bangladesh supporters . Soumya Sarkar (29), Mushfiqur (27), Sabbir Rahman (30) and Nassir Hossain (35) all made starts but Bangladesh failed to ever really trouble the Indian bowlers who bowled out their opposition for a seventh consecutive match. While Rohit walked away with the man-of-the-match award, having become the fourth Indian batsman to hit a century during this World Cup, the Indian bowlers contribution to the side remains invaluable. Ridiculed ahead of the start of the tournament and spoken of as India’s weak link, Yadav, Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma continue to carry their side to outstanding victories. India look intent on holding on to the World Cup and at the moment it would take a very brave individual to bet against them. The winner of Friday’s match between Australia and Pakistan await in the semi-finals. +Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is a doubt for Belgium's internationals with Cyprus and Israel after injuring his ankle in a collision with Wayne Rooney during Sunday's defeat to Manchester United. Rooney appeared to be clipped by Martin Skrtel before falling into Mignolet and landing on the goalkeeper's ankle. The 27-year-old will have a scan. Mignolet is Belgium's second choice stopper behind Thibaut Courtois of Chelsea but the news represents another injury blow for Belgium boss Marc Wilmots. Simon Mignolet (left) could be out of Belgium's international squad with an ankle injury . Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has already already been ruled out with a hamstring injuy . Belgium head coach Marc Wilmots has also lost midfield player Steven Defour to injury as problems mount . Everton striker Romelu Lukaku was ruled out of the squad on Monday with a hamstring injury. Lukaku sustained the injury in his team's 2-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League on Sunday. Midfielder Steven Defour was also ruled out of the fixtures due to injury. +David Gill will be one of the 'awkward squad' asking searching questions if he is elected as Britain's FIFA vice-president, Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has claimed. Gill, the former Manchester United chief executive, is standing against Wales' Trefor Lloyd Hughes for the position, which is being elected by UEFA's 54 members at its congress in Vienna on Tuesday. Dyke, who has made clear his opposition to FIFA president Sepp Blatter continuing in the position, said Gill would act as a counter-balance to the 'acolytes' on FIFA's executive committee. The FA chairman said: 'David will be the sort of person who will do the job as a FIFA executive committee member properly. He will not be afraid of asking appropriate questions - in fact perhaps FIFA needs to have someone from the awkward squad asking tough questions. 'He has a strong background in finance so if there are financial questions he will know what to ask and what to look for. David Gill, pictured with Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011, is running for Britain's FIFA vice-president . 'There is a feeling that there have been too many acolytes and not enough people asking difficult questions and ensuring that decisions are taken in a transparent, ethical and business-like manner. 'Michel Platini (UEFA president) was very keen for David to stand for the position and to represent UEFA on the FIFA executive committee.' Gill himself admits that change cannot happen overnight. He said: 'I aim to use my skills in football around the table and work with my UEFA colleagues to have a greater say and influence in how it operates. In terms of votes it's quite an important block. 'In areas like transparency and decision-making, it's not going to happen overnight and it's arguable whether it will happen unless there is a president change. 'My personal view is that it needs a change at the top to ensure that the required changes take place. I'm not naive enough to think I can change things overnight.' FA chairman Greg Dyke claimed that Gill would not be afraid of asking appropriate questions . The Football Association of Wales has claimed its English counterparts have reneged on a deal agreed in 2011 which would see a Welsh nominee replace Northern Ireland's Jim Boyce as FIFA vice-president. Gill said the agreement became void after FIFA reforms, which saw the British FIFA vice-presidency elected by all UEFA members instead of just the four home nations. He added: 'If there was a deal, that then changed after the reforms. It may be semantics but it previously was the British vice-president of FIFA. Now it's UEFA electing a FIFA vice-president. 'We (the FA) very clearly took the view, as did UEFA, that the 54 countries of UEFA will determine that person and I think that makes sense. It's more democratic to have that person selected by all 54 countries. If there had been that agreement, if it hadn't been torn up, then obviously it would be the Welsh turn.' +Gordon Strachan has told up and coming Scottish managers to get ready for periods of time when they will doubt their own ability to succeed. The Scotland national team boss was speaking at a press conference at the Scots' Mar Hall Hotel training base on the outskirts of Glasgow ahead of the forthcoming double-header against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar at Hampden Park. Watching Strachan's earlier training session were managers such as Dundee boss Paul Hartley, Alan Archibald of Partick Thistle, Hearts' Robbie Neilson and Norwich City boss Alex Neil, who are part of a group undertaking their UEFA Pro Licence. Scotland manager Gordon Strachan oversees a training session at Mar Hall near Glasgow . The former Scotland midfielder gave some advice to up and coming Scottish managers . Celtic captain Scott Brown (centre) leads the group in some light training during the session . Andrew Reynolds (left) and Stevie May (right) limber up with some stretching excercises . Premier League stars Steven Naismith (left) and Darren Fletcher are included in the Scotland squad . Scotland face Northern Ireland in a friendly before a Euro 2016 qualifier with Gibraltar . Fletcher, Russell Martin, Naismith and Brown appeared in good spirits during the training session . Asked if he had any advice for the next generation of managers, the former Celtic, Southampton and Coventry boss did not sugar coat his reply. 'Get ready for a lot of long nights where you think you are useless,' he said. 'I'm serious. And you have to deal with that. There are a lot of players who I worked with who are now managers who phone me up. 'Now I know what Howard Wilkinson (his former boss at Leeds) felt like. I used to phone him a lot when I was in trouble. 'As a matter of fact, every time he picked up the phone he used to say 'what's up now?' 'So we are always there to give advice and we are the only people who can give advice to managers because nobody else knows what it feels like. Strachan admits calling up Howard Wilkinson for regular advice when he was starting out as a manager . Hearts boss Robbie Neilson (left) and Dundee manager Paul Hartley watch the training session . Strachan has been impressed by Bournemouth forward Matt Ritchie (left) Scotland keepers David Marshall (left) and Craig Gordon (centre) have a laugh at someone's expense . Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald (left) was another young Scottish coach in attendance . 'It is great to see Neil and Neilson doing terrifically well, showing that we have top coaches. 'But I don't know (if it is a particularly good bunch). Only time can tell. 'You can only be called a good manager or a great manager, like Sir Alex Ferguson and those people, if you can hang in there for a long, long time. 'But it is a good way to learn. The best way to learn is being a manager and making mistakes.' Strachan took as much from the training session as the interested observers. The former Scotland midfielder is preparing for the match against the Irish, before the Euro qualifier against Group D's bottom side and he was pleased with the work rate of his squad who, after the warm-up match, look to build on seven points from four qualifiers which has taken them into third place. Blackburn striker Jodan Rhodes (right) has been challenged to cement a place in the side . Scotland players take part in a sprint session as coaches watch from the sidelines . Scotland's James Forrest is put through his paces ahead of the forthcoming international ties . He said: 'Looking at the intensity of the training, you got to the stage where you think 'calm down a bit'. 'People are telling me they are all tired, people are telling me they have played 40 games and they are running about non-stop. 'You actually have to stop the training because if you let them go on they would continue on another half hour. 'I was asking players if they wanted to step out but no, they are not having it. 'If we can take what we had this morning into tomorrow, then I will be more than happy. 'I don't think they have even thought about this as a friendly. There will be an intensity to the game.' Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher (left) looks on as Brown gets a pass away . Bournemouth flier Ritchie chases the ball down after 'blending in well' with the players . Strachan who, over the two games is hoping to give everyone in his squad some game time, declared himself impressed with Bournemouth forward Matt Ritchie who has been called up for the first time. 'He said: 'His passing, crossing and shooting was good and he blended terrifically well with players. There is lots to like about him. 'Playing with the best footballing side in the Championship, Bournemouth. 'Norwich have been terrific as well, at the beginning of the season it was Derby, now I think it is Bournemouth and he is playing a major part.' +Paddy McNair admits he will fulfil his boyhood dream if he earns his first Northern Ireland cap against Scotland on Wednesday night. The Manchester United defender has been given his first taste of top-team action at Old Trafford by new boss Louis van Gaal this season. Now he is set to follow that up by making his international debut in Glasgow when Michael O'Neill's side take on the Scots at Hampden Park. Paddy McNair has made an impressive breakthrough for Manchester United this season at the back . The 19-year-old was forced to pull out of his first involvement with the national team last October due to injury, while he was an unused substitute a month later as the Irish lost 2-0 away to Romania. But he is expected to finally pull on the green jersey in the midweek friendly clash that will serve as a warm-up ahead of Sunday's crucial Euro 2016 qualifier with Finland at Windsor Park. 'It would be a dream come true if that happens,' said the teenage centre-half. 'As a young boy it is a dream to play for your country. 'I went to a few Northern Ireland games when I was very young but I don't remember too much about them. I can remember the atmosphere and hoping that one day I would be out there as well, so if I can do that on Wednesday I will be very proud.' The Northern Irishman competes with the Premier League's newest star Harry Kane at White Hart Lane . Wednesday's match will be just as important to the Scots as it is O'Neill's troops as both countries look to end their long absences from major tournaments by claiming a slot at next year's European Championships in France. While Northern Ireland are just a point off the summit of Group F after taking nine points from the first 12 available, Gordon Strachan's side are very much in the hunt themselves. They sit third in Group D, three points behind leaders Poland and level on seven with Germany and the Republic of Ireland. With that in mind, McNair does not expect an easy introduction to the international game. 'It's going to be tough,' he said. 'It's a game against another home nation and both teams want to win. It won't be a friendly. The 19-year-old has seen his game time limited in recent weeks but has done enough to earn a call-up . 'It's a game we can definitely win, though. We showed in the games in the qualifying group we can beat anybody. 'Scotland have some very good players. I've played against Steven Naismith earlier on this season and you can see why people rate him so highly.' McNair can also expect to come up against another familiar face clad in Dark Blue, with former United midfielder Darren Fletcher likely to line-up for the hosts. The 31-year-old - who quit the Red Devils in January after 12 years to sign for West Brom - played an influential dressing-room role while McNair was making his way through the Old Trafford ranks. Darren Fletcher (right) was influential in helping McNair settle into the United dressing room before he left . And the youngster happily admits he owes the four-time Premier League winner a huge debt of gratitude. 'Darren really helped me a lot and have to thank him a lot for that,' said McNair. 'When I first broke into the team he gave me a lot of advice and really did help me settle in. 'When you come through at Manchester United, it is such a big club with so much pressure on you. 'Darren was in the same position I'm in now at one stage so he would often come up to me before games and have a word to make sure my head was on right. 'Darren is a great player and I'm very happy to see him back playing regularly with West Brom.' Louis van Gaal took a risk on McNair when he had a shortage of defenders and was rewarded for his trust . In the 13 games McNair has racked for Van Gaal's side this term, he has done enough to leave the Dutchman so impressed that he reckons the Ballyclare youth could be a mainstay of the United line-up for the next decade. But McNair himself is trying not to look too far ahead. He said: 'I don't think I will really realise how good a season I have had until the end of the season when I look back at it, but so far I'm very happy. 'Am I surprised at how quickly things have gone this year? Yeah a little bit. 'Sometimes you just need a bit of luck to get your chance. But I was confident that once I got my chance I could take it.' +With  Robin van Persie not due to return for Manchester United until next month, if ever there was a time for Radamel Falcao to prove his worth at Old Trafford then it is now. Unfortunately for manager Louis van Gaal it appears that Falcao’s surprise selection for United’s Under 21s in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Tuesday has done little to repair the shattered confidence that has characterised the 29-year-old’s loan spell. Van Gaal confirmed on Friday that Van Persie will not be fit until after the forthcoming international break and although he insisted his decision to play Falcao in the second string was not intended to humiliate the player, he hinted that the plan may not have worked. Radamel Falcao was dumped in Manchester United's Under 21s team on Tuesday night vs Tottenham . Falcao did not manage to get on the scoresheet against Tottenham Hotspur's Under 21s and was poor . United boss Louis van Gaal says Falcao's demotion was in order to boost his confidence . Van Gaal was speaking at United's pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of their clash vs Tottenham . 6 - Louis van Gaal could oversee an unwanted milestone on Sunday, as Tottenham look to make it six games unbeaten against Manchester United. 1921 - The last time Spurs managed this was a century ago, when they won four and drew two games either side of World War One, between February 1914 and October 1921. 3 - If Spurs win it will be the first time they have had three consecutive victories at Old Trafford. 1 - If Tottenham manage at least a draw, they will become the first team to go six games unbeaten against United in the Premier League era. 'People wrote that it was humiliation to play him in the second team. But a lot of players have played there this season. 'So I don't think so. It just shows a professional attitude of the manager, the staff and the player. 'Victor Valdes also played and Rafael da Silva. Rafael played a very good match and scored a very good goal so he will now have a better grip on his confidence. 'That can happen to all the players playing in the second team. It's a lower level and they can play more than the 70 minutes they get in training. 'Falcao did not play his best match for the second team but he tried and he did his utmost best. 'I can not ask for more from him. He has shown a professional attitude. 'We pay a lot of money for the players and so it is normal that they play football for us. Falcao has not reacted to this the way the media has reacted. That's the difference.' Robin van Persie has been sidelined since sustaining an ankle injury against Swansea on February 21 . Falcao tries to escape from Spurs U21 duo Bongani Khumalo (left) and Grant Ward (right) on Tuesday . More than seven months after signing the player, Van Gaal is still unable to fathom why he has been unable to replicate the stellar form he showed for Colombia, Porto and Atletico Madrid. 'You never can know that,' Van Gaal said when asked why things had not worked out for the 29-year-old, whom United have an option to buy for £43.2million at the end of the season. 'We are looking for the solution for him but you can never know that. 'You can give fantastic performances in another country but not in the country that you are present for. 'That is not the first example and it will not be the last example. A lot of players need more time to adapt to the new situation, new culture, higher rhythm of the English game and to a lot of aspects.' The striker has spent plenty of time warming the bench at Old Trafford - including in their last two games . Falcao has started the last two games on the bench and Van Gaal does not appear to be in any kind of rush to recall the striker. 'In a club like Manchester United it is more difficult than in a minor club because here he has his competitors,' Van Gaal added. 'Now Wayne (Rooney) is playing there and Wayne is scoring so you always have to compare players with each other but you need also luck. 'He is doing his utmost best and shows a professional attitude, not only Falcao but all the other players, but you cannot always win.' With Falcao only boasting four goals for United this season, Van Persie’s absence continues to hurt Van Gaal and his team. Asked about the Dutch striker’s possible return against Tottenham tomorrow, he said: ‘No, he is still with the medical department. He’s training inside, not outside on the pitch. It will be the other side of the international break.’ Van Gaal won a trophy in his first season at Ajax, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, but the chances of him doing so at United are remote. Falcao celebrates scoring against Leicester, one of only four goals he has netted for United since joining . The 2-1 defeat by Arsenal knocked United out of the FA Cup on Monday and in the league, Van Gaal's men are 10 points behind Chelsea, who have a match in hand. United are fourth in the standings, just one point ahead of Liverpool, with 10 matches left. Van Gaal is sure his team's confidence has not been affected by the cup exit to the Gunners. 'I have the same confidence as before,' said Van Gaal, who has fixtures against Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool after Saturday's home game against Tottenham. 'We were very disappointed at the last game because the players had the feeling that we lost (because of) ourselves and not (because of) the opponent. 'But I am very pleased with the reaction from the players this week and I hope we can show that against Tottenham because it is the first of 10 matches we have to play in the rat race.' +Radamel Falcao left Manchester United's Carrington training base on Thursday, well aware that his chances to impress at his loan club have run out. The Colombian striker suffered an embarrassing demotion to United's Under 21 side this week and sources close to Falcao say he recognises that he made the wrong move when picking Old Trafford in the summer. Despite his chances of starting against Tottenham Hotspur in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday seeming to be close to nil, Falcao smiled as he left the Aon Training Complex in his United-red Range Rover Sport. Radamel Falcao smiles from the window of his Range Rover Sport as he arrives at training on Thursday . Falcao toiled upfront against Tottenham Hotspur for Manchester United's Under 21s on Tuesday night . The failing loan signing is aware he has no long-term future at Old Trafford and will be sent back to Monaco . It was a stark contrast to his expressions on Tuesday night against Tottenham's Under 21 side, where Falcao looked surprised and upset to be pulled off after 71 minutes on his latest poor performance. And with Louis van Gaal appearing to show little belief in his deadline day signing, something else that sources close to Falcao have revealed the striker believes, he must have little hope of playing against the same club on Sunday. With wages of £300,000-a-week and an expected fee of close to his £40million release clause, United will not take up the option to sign Falcao and he will return to Monaco - although there are expected to be other suitors despite a dismal season in England. Come the end of May, he looks to be leaving Carrington - and Old Trafford - for good. Argentine defender Marcos Rojo was also at training on Thursday, and was driving a Bentley Continental . Chris Smalling was another Bentley driver around Carrington, leaving the preparations for Sunday's game . Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw and Victor Valdes were among the other players pictured leaving Carrington on Thursday, while Adnan Januzaj may have been staying late to put in some time in the gym. The lightweight United playmaker told the Manchester Evening News: 'I do a lot of work in the gym. 'I am trying to be faster and stronger so I can be tougher when I go out on the pitch. 'I am doing a lot of short, sharp stuff so, when I turn a defender or go past a player, I can just get a few metres away from them with my acceleration.' Luke Shaw (right) was not at the wheel of his Chevrolet, the cars provided by United's shirt sponsors . Victor Valdes played alongside Falcao in Tuesday night's Under 21 game against Tottenham at Old Trafford . +England fullback Sam Tomkins has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a knee injury. The former Wigan favourite, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Monday, suffered a partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the New Zealand Warriors' round-three win over Parramatta at Mount Smart Stadium at the weekend. England fullback Sam Tomkins has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a knee injury . Former Wigan favourite suffered partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee . Tomkins, who was an ever-present for the Warriors in his first season in the National Rugby League in 2104, is expected back in either late April or early May. 'The outcome is a lot better than it could have been,' coach Andrew McFadden told the club's official website www.warriors.co.nz. 'Sam will rehab the injury and should be available again in a few weeks. Obviously it's a setback being without a player of his quality but it's also a big opportunity for Tui (Lolohea)' Warriors ever present Tomkins is expected to return to action in either late April or early May . +QPR defender Mauricio Isla is convinced his Chile international colleague Alexis Sanchez will become the best player in the world after a sensational start to his Arsenal career this season. Sanchez and Isla were this week included in a 20-man Chile squad to play a friendly against Brazil at the Emirates Stadium on March 29, and also against Iran. Sanchez, who has scored 18 goals this season, has helped fire Arsenal to third in the Premier League table, where they sit just a point behind Manchester City. And Isla, who is on a season-long loan deal at Loftus Road from Juventus after impressing for Chile at last summer's World Cup in Brazil, believes Sanchez has all the ingredients – and the temperament – to eclipse even Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo as the best in the business. Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez can become the best players in the world, according to Mauricio Isla . 'I have known him for ten years and I think Alexis has shown what he is made of,' said Isla. 'He has always said that he wanted to be the best in the world and now he has arrived in a team where this can truly become a reality. 'He can build confidence and where they play for him and he transmits the confidence that his teammates give him but honestly, I am not at all surprised by the quality of Alexis as a player. 'I am proud to play alongside him for Chile, as I am proud to play alongside Arturo Vidal of Juventus and Claudio Bravo of Barcelona among others. I think together we are able to succeed and it would be fantastic for our country. Sanchez was one of Chile's star men at the World Cup and will be a key man at the Copa America . 'Alexis Sanchez is a leader as are the other two. Of course, the team is a group but there are always role models in any team and I think these three in particular are fundamental to ours. 'There are always high quality players and these three are the pillars of our team and the rest of us must accompany them to achieve great things. 'Firstly Alexis Sanchez provides what I believe we lacked before which are his goals. 'It's fantastic that he is scoring so much which fills him with confidence and joy and I hope he continues to keep scoring always more. 'If we were to talk about his characteristics, we could be here all day but for me, I love playing with a player who's so bold, who is a fighter, runs for 90 minutes and always loves training. 'I have heard from many of his Arsenal teammates also that he never tires in training or on the pitch and this is fundamental for the team.' QPR's Mauricio Isla is proud to play for Chile alongside the likes of Sanchez and Arturo Vidal of Juventus . Also included in the squad is Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, former Cardiff midfielder Gary Medel, Fiorentina's David Pizarro, QPR's Eduardo Vargas and Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal. And Isla has issued a warning to Brazil boss Dunga to expect a serious test against fellow South Americans Chile at the Emirates Stadium. The friendly in North London will take on extra significance as Brazil secured a dramatic penalty shootout win against Chile to reach the last eight at the World Cup last summer and set up an all-South American quarter-final against Colombia. 'It's a game that give brings up some pain, for everything that happened in the World Cup which was a beautiful game, I think as much for Brazil as it was for Chile,' added Isla. 'The game played on for 120 minutes before going to penalties and sadly Brazil won but they really had to work for it. 'To play this game as a revenge match in a beautiful country, and beautiful city such as London, all Chileans will take interest and I hope it goes well.' Brazil v Chile is on March 29 at 3pm at the Emirates Stadium in London. Tickets are on sale at arsenal.com/tickets . +Arsenal will face Reading in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley following Monday night's 3-0 victory over Bradford City. Aston Villa, meanwhile, will face either Liverpool or Championship side Blackburn. Hal Robson-Kanu gave Steve Clarke's side an early lead at the Madejski Stadium before goals from Garath McCleary and Jamie Mackie secure a spot at Wembley. Garath McCleary (left) celebrates scoring during Reading's 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory against Bradford . Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck celebrates after scoring against former club Man United at Old Trafford . Fabian Delph shoots and scores as Aston Villa beat Midland rivals West Brom to reach Wembley on Saturday . Reading vs Arsenal . Aston Villa vs Blackburn/Liverpool . The games will be played over the weekend of April 18 and 19. Reading will face the current holders Arsenal after their 2-1 victory against Manchester United earlier this month. Arsenal went ahead after 25 minutes when Nacho Monreal beat David de Gea after excellent running from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But the lead last for only 240 seconds as Wayne Rooney found himself unmarked in the penalty area and heading in Angel Di Maria's delivery. Danny Welbeck then rounded De Gea after an underhit backpass from Antonio Valencia to score the decisive goal. Sportsmail's Oliver Holt said following the draw: 'Arsenal's night just got better. Neither Reading nor Bradford would be a pushover in the semi-finals but Arsenal are bound to be confident of going through and taking another giant step towards retaining the FA Cup and giving their climb back towards the summit another boost.' If Liverpool can overcome Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, they will take on Tim Sherwood's Aston Villa at Wembley. The Reds have extra motivation to make it to the final this year, as the game would fall on departing captain Steven Gerrard's birthday and would be his final game at the club before departing to the United States for LA Galaxy. Liverpool face a replay away at Blackburn after the Championship club earned a draw at Anfield on Sunday . +Gus Poyet could not have looked more despondent at the final whistle had the fans who tried to storm his dugout in the first half got to him, vented their ire in his face and made it crystal clear they felt that he was to blame. ‘I am responsible,’ he said, looking as gloomy as at any point since he became Sunderland’s manager in October 2013. ‘I’m extremely disappointed. I wasn’t expecting this to happen. But it’s football, I suppose.’ It’s football, too, that woeful form and defeats like these lead to managerial sackings. Poyet’s job prospects looked more dire by the minute as this match wore on. Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke slotted home the first goal in the 16th minute to end Villa's goal drought on the road . Gabriel Agbonlahor ran on to Ciaran Clark's long ball and beat Sunderland keeper Costel Pantilimon to make it 2-0 . Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Pantilimon 4; Reveillere 3.5 O’Shea 3, Brown 3, Van Aanholt 3; Bridcutt 4; Alvarez 3 (Wickham 46, 5), Larsson 4.5, Rodwell 5, Fletcher 3 (Graham 82); Defoe 3. Substitutes not used: Mannone, Jones, Gomez, Coates, Vergini. Goals: Benteke 16 & 44, Agbonlahor 18 & 37 . Booked: Bridcutt . Manager: Gus Poyet 2 . Aston Villa (4-4-2): Guzan 6.5; Bacuna 8, Okore 7, Clark 7 (Sanchez 64, 6), Lowton 7; N’Zogbia 8 (Weimann 79, 6), Delph 7.5, Cleverley 7, Sinclair 7; Agbonlahor 8, Benteke 8.5 (Hepburn-Murphy 82) Substitutes not used: Given, Gil, Kinsella, Westwood . Goals: Benteke 16 & 44, Agbonlahor 18 & 37 . Booked: Bacuna . Referee: N Swarbrick 7 . Manager: Tim Sherwood 8 . Christian Benteke was a constant thorn in Sunderland defence.CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE . Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor scored twice each in a spectacular first-half goal rush to end Aston Villa’s scoring drought away from home. ‘That was good,’ said their manager Tim Sherwood. ‘We knew we could hurt them on the break with our pace and we used it … I’m delighted with that.’ Thus Villa leapfrogged Sunderland and now look up towards safety while Sunderland’s position remains precarious just above the relegation zone, no signs of revival in sight. The fans are revolting already, several of them apparently intent on launching physical attacks on Poyet at 3-0 down. They were escorted from the dugout but other dangers remain for Poyet. The pre-match narrative anticipated a dour 0-0 but the result and manner in which it was achieved left that not so much turned on its head but stumbling dazed to the exit. Like Poyet. Like many home fans even before half-time. A shocking lack of goals has characterised both teams all season, Villa particularly. At the start of the day they had 38 league goals — between them. Sunderland now have one league win in 12 games and Villa have two in two, and three wins on the bounce in all competitions. Sherwood’s appointment has had the transformational effect owner Randy Lerner envisaged and that many observers were sceptical would happen. Agbonlahor cut inside Wes Brown before calmly slotting the ball past Pantilimon for a second time in the 37th minute . Benteke extended the lead a minute before the break when he powered a header home from a Bacuna cross . Benteke celebrates scoring their fourth goal against Sunderland on Saturday . Villa had scored a measly 15 Premier League goals this season before kick-off and an even more pitiful four of those away from home, in seven months. It took 45 minutes to add another four. Sherwood affected ignorance about the extent to which Villa had been goal-shy before his arrival. ‘To be honest, I’d not taken too much notice of Aston Villa before I came here,’ he said. ‘But we’ve not had trouble scoring goals since I’ve been here … losing becomes a habit. Winning does also.’ Sherwood and Poyet played together at Tottenham and asked if he had sympathy for his old friend’s plight, Sherwood said: ‘Always. It’s not good when you get beaten heavily at home. But Gus will bounce back. He’s got a bigger heart than anyone.’ Poyet’s players lacked heart, application and attention as they were steamrollered by Sherwood’s revitalised side before the break. In a sustained flow of one-way Villa traffic and atrocious Sunderland defending, the visitors put the game to bed nice and early. Leandro Bacuna set up the opener with a square ball to Benteke, who side-footed with his left foot low into the net. Aston Villa'smanager Tim Sherwood, right, celebrates as Sunderland's manger Gus Poyet, left, stands dejected . Thousands of Black Cats fans left the Stadium of Light before the break as their side crumbled . Stewards and members of Sunderland's backroom staff attempt to stop irate fans getting to the dugout . Sunderland fans attempt to storm Gus Poyet's dugout as the home side fell behind to Aston Villa . That brought to an end a Villa goal drought away from home that stretched back to December 2 last year: it had endured for six full league games and 614 minutes. It was something of a shock — and a source of joy bordering on delirium for their supporters — when Villa doubled the lead inside two minutes. Centre back Ciaran Clark sent a hoof the length of the left flank to Agbonlahor, who ran with it and slotted home diagonally. Villa might well have been three ahead when Bacuna, again, made swift, easy progress down the right and crossed, to Scott Sinclair. But Sinclair could only blaze over the bar from close range. The third goal came via a Charles N’Zogbia pass to the edge of the box, from where Agbonlahor slalomed past Wes Brown and Patrick van Aanholt before slotting home. With a minute remaining before the break, Bacuna was supplier again from the right, this time a high ball with pinpoint accuracy onto the head of Benteke, who nodded home past Costel Pantilimon. The game was over as a contest. When Sebastian Larsson failed to appear for the second half, with play ongoing for three and a half minutes before he came from the tunnel, some wags in the crowd joked he may have feared getting back out there. In fact he had needed stitches in what Poyet said was ‘a massive cut’ in his leg. By the time he arrived N’Zogbia, set up by Benteke, had already tested Pantilimon again. Sunderland’s Anthony Réveillere and Villa’s Fabian Delph both had shots saved. But Sunderland never threatened to get back into this, not remotely. ‘We’re gonna win 5-4,’ chanted their fans. Those who were left. +Aston Villa are understood to be in detailed negotiations with a prospective buyer as American owner Randy Lerner moves closer to selling the club this summer. Lerner has been publicly looking for a sale since last May, and meaningful conversations have taken place with an interested party. Finding a buyer with Villa in such a perilous position has proved difficult, but the bounce caused by Tim Sherwood’s arrival could accelerate the process. Aston Villa are in negotiations with a prospective buyer as American owner Randy Lerner looks to sell the club . Lerner has been publicly looking for a sale since last May and he is believed to want around £150million . Lerner is believed to want around £150million for the club he acquired for £62.7m in 2006, spending around £300m in total of his own cash taking in transfers and wages during his time. The identity of the bidder is a closely guarded secret given the vast sums involved and any announcement might not take place until the season is over or Villa mathematically safe. But indications are Lerner’s nine-year stay as custodian of Birmingham’s biggest club is edging towards an end. Tim Sherwood's instant impact at Villa Park could speed up the club's sale as they edge closer to safety . Sherwood helped Aston Villa thump Sunderland by four goals to nil at the Stadium of Light on Saturday . +Wayne Rooney responded in style to revelations that he had been knocked-out while boxing in his own kitchen, by leading Manchester United to victory, scoring a wonderful goal and producing a punch-drunk celebration. A resounding 3-0 win against Tottenham kept United in the top four of the Barclays Premier League and lifted spirits at Old Trafford. The goals came from Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Rooney, who had been in the spotlight on a day when The Sun broadcast video footage of him being floored by a punch from Stoke defender Phil Bardsley during an impromptu sparring session. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney re-enacted a video of him boxing a former team-mate . Rooney punched the air, before falling backwards in a similar fashion to what can be seen in the video . Rooney manages to keep a straight face as he falls directly backwards onto the Old Trafford turf . The two footballers, wearing boxing gloves, square up in Rooney's kitchen and spar for a few seconds before Bardsley lands a jab to put the England and United skipper flat on his back, seemingly unconscious. Rooney voiced his disappointment that a private moment, filmed inside his home on February 22, had been made public, a view shared by Louis van Gaal, who was clearly irritated by the story and seemed unperturbed by the nature of his captain's pastime. After scoring United's third against Spurs, Rooney let fly with a flurry of fake punches and fell on his back, much as he did in the video clip taken last month, although the Old Trafford turf seemed to provide a far softer landing than his kitchen tiles. 'That's the world we live in today,' said Rooney. 'It was a few mates in a private house which has somehow managed to get on the front page of a national newspaper. I have to accept that. It was me and a few friends joking around. 'It's my own home, I know it's got out but it's not public. It's what friends do. They mess around in the house and unfortunately it has made the front page of a national newspaper. 'I've just been focused on the game, it's more interesting for other people rather than for myself. You've seen that I've done a professional job, got on with the game and gladly helped my team win 3-0.' The England captain stretches his hands out behind him to break his fall as he hits the ground . Rooney was joined by laughing team-mates as he fell on the ground during his celebration . For a few seconds, Rooney lay on the Old Trafford pitch with his arms spread wide while being congratulated . Carrick admitted the players had been teasing Rooney about his sparring antics, while Fellaini revealed how the skipper had delivered a rousing speech to the squad in the team hotel on the eve of the game. 'I was aware of the speech but was not in the meeting because the captain has his own privilege,' said Van Gaal. 'The players knew this game was massive and the captain has to do something to help the players, the manager or the club. I was very pleased. 'I don't want to answer questions about what happened. What is this world, twisted? I don't have any comment. It is ridiculous that we have to talk about such things.' The Dutchman was happier to discuss Rooney's performance. 'It's always how Wayne plays,' said Van Gaal. 'With a lot of commitment and that's nice to see. 'We have waited a long time for such a victory, with a very good performance against a very good team, so I am very pleased. It was nice after the defeat against Arsenal to do that in the next game against a competitor. We did everything. We were compact and scored beautiful goals. Rooney slots the ball past Hugo Lloris to put Manchester United 3-0 up against Tottenham . Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini arrive on the scene to celebrate with the United captain . Young laughs as Rooney falls backwards as part of his humorous boxing celebration at Old Trafford . Rooney waves to the crowd; his goal put Manchester United 3-0 up against Tottenham . 'We were lucky that the first chance was a goal, and then you raise your confidence. We also played quicker than usual and that depends on the confidence of your players. Also the opponent. Tottenham are a team who wants to play, therefore you have more time and space to play the game.' After a weekend when Chelsea and Manchester City dropped points, Van Gaal declared United in the race for second, but would not declare a late charge for the title. 'We go step by step, it's a rat race,' he said. 'We have made a big step but we have to go to Liverpool next, also a competitor of ours.' Rooney added: 'The first half was probably the best 45 minutes we've played this season. In the second half we didn't want to lose advantage of the three goals we had. We defended really well and made sure we've seen the game out. 'We knew it was a big game. With Manchester City losing and Southampton drawing it was a big game for us. We've taken the points off Tottenham, so it's a great three points for us.' +Roy Hodgson picks his England squad on Thursday for a Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and a friendly against Italy. Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Rickie Lambert and Saido Berahino were named to face Scotland in November. Daniel Sturridge is fit again now too, but there are three new boys on the block. So what do the likes of Danny Ings, Charlie Austin and Harry Kane have to offer? Danny Ings . He’s a very astute and clever player, aware of what’s going on around him in midfield and around the penalty box. His movement and technical ability are good. Ings looks to go in behind the defender and to face up and receive the ball. He has a bit of pace as well. Here is a player who will really flourish if he ends up at Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United because of the amount of chances he’ll the get there. He has a big future. Burnley striker Danny Ings (right) is a a very astute and clever player with a bit of pace as well . Charlie Austin . What people don’t appreciate about Charlie is that he’s scored 15 goals this season yet because QPR are fighting relegation, he’s not had that many chances. He is a born finisher, instinctive in the way that Gary Lineker or Ian Rush was and perhaps the best of the three in that regard. I was with him at QPR and Charlie knows he has to work on his game outside the box, in his positioning and movement. But he will do that, because he is committed learner and though he’s 25, you can see him improving over the next few years. QPR forward Charlie Austin has scored 15 Premier League goals this season, despite the club's struggles . Harry Kane . Harry’s probably not quite as good a finisher as Charlie, but his all-round game is better. He can play off the front, he can play the one right up the top. His movement is excellent and technically he looks a really good player. His finishing is much more clinical now and he has range, from the header he scored against Arsenal, to shots outside and inside the box. In general, if a player is good enough for the senior squad, I don’t see the sense in sending them back to the Under 21s. It’s unlikely Kane will get much game time against Lithuania and Italy so he will probably go back to the U21s for the summer tournament. But once he has three or four senior games under his belt, there should be no going back. Harry Kane is the Premier League's form man - winning the January and February Player of the Month award . Verdict . I don’t think England have had this amount of players to choose from up front since I was manager. Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Ian Wright and Michael Owen meant the likes of as Robbie Fowler, Les Ferdinand and Andrew Cole weren’t first choice. Hodgson might have a similar scenario developing now. Michael Owen (left) was one of several attacking options Glenn Hoddle had at his disposal as England boss . +Handing out fatherly advice, putting a reassuring arm around a shoulder and helping youngsters with their school work - it is not your average video clip of Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United and England star, however, showed there is more to him than scoring goals and hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons on a visit to Stretford High School. The 29-year-old joined team-mate Paddy McNair to surprise youngsters, walking in unannounced while they were in the middle of a class. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney attended Stretford High School to help out last month . And in a clip posted by the club's charity arm, the Manchester United Foundation, the dad-of-two reveals his fatherly traits. The youngsters were told to make a football team from a variety of animals. And Rooney went for a selection that manager Louis van Gaal may wish to ponder when he goes shopping for new defender this summer, putting a meerkat at centre-half 'because he's quicker so he can cover the hippo and the hedgehog'. There was also laughter when Rooney asked why the giraffe was playing upfront. 'Fellaini?' asked a cheeky pupil. Wayne Rooney and Paddy McNair sit for a photo with pupils from the Stretford High School . Wayne Rooney scores a stunning header against Arsenal in the FA Cup defeat on Monday . The Manchester United captain celebrates his goal at Old Trafford on Monday against Arsenal in the FA Cup . Rooney then delivered a fascinating insight into his mindset to his enthralled audience. 'I came through at Everton playing first team when I was 16 and I played for England at 17,' he explained. 'Sometimes when you're that young it's difficult to read stuff about yourself in the newspaper but it's important you don't take too much notice of it because you have to do your job on the pitch and in your work and not listen to what other people think. What's important is what you think and your family and friends around you.' Rooney halts team-mate Angel di Maria during a controversial clash with Arsenal on Monday . From the classroom it was out to the football pitch and an impromptu training session. Rooney, never shy of making his feelings known on the field, urged one boy waiting for a pass: 'If you want the ball shout louder!'. He said of the visit: 'We're Manchester United players, we're in a privileged position so it's great to come and see the kids, give them some advice and hopefully it helps them.' Head teacher James Heseldine had no doubts over the pair's impact. 'Just seeing the childrens' reaction is amazing,' he said. 'Seeing the England captain come to help you with your project on a normal Monday afternoon is special stuff and something they will remember for the rest of their lives.' +Gareth Bale rammed some of the ridiculous criticism he has received in recent weeks from Real Madrid supporters back down their throats with a first half double and the perfect goal celebration. The former Tottenham forward who scored 22 goals in 44 games in his first season at the club including strikes that won the Copa del Rey and Champions League final has had to put up with whistles in his own stadium and a fan poll that had 40 per cent of supporters calling for him to be dropped in recent weeks. When he put Real Madrid ahead on 18 minutes in the 2-0 win over Levante on Sunday night he made sure he left off some steam, covering his ears as he ran to the corner to give the flag a celebratory kick. Read back over Sportsmail's live coverage here. Host commentator . Thanks for following Sportsmail's live coverage of Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Levante. Big week of football coming up, starting with Swansea vs Liverpool - stick with MailOnline for all the updates. A drab second half is brought to the end by the referee. If only Karim Benzema had netted that ridiculous flick, eh? Anyway, Gareth Bale's seven-game run without scoring is over and he looks ready for next week's El Clasico, even if Cristiano Ronaldo was a bit out of sorts. Real Madrid move to within a point of Barcelona, and they are nine goals behind the Catalan club in terms of goal difference. Yeah, he's not scoring today. Marcelo puts in a cross, Bale slicks it on and Ronaldo shins the ball wide. Three minutes added on. Ronaldo elects to allow someone else to take a free-kick. This time it's Marcelo, he whips it in and it finds Hernandez but he wastes a header wide of the post. Oh, and Hernandez was just one of four Real players offside - the linesman spots it. Seconds later Nabil El Zhar flashes a shot well over the bar from the edge of the area, not that that statement will surprise Liverpool fans. Sergio Ramos pulls back Victor Casadesus. It's a yellow card for the Spaniard. Ronaldo still looking for that elusive goal, he cuts in from the left along the edge of the area, past two markers and fires in the shot but it's straight at goalkeeper Marino. Another change, Benzema gets a bit of a rest towards the end - with most people still gutted not to see his wondergoal effort go it - and is replaced by Javier Hernandez. Give the maestro a rest before El Clasico next week... Luka Modric comes off after completing 77 minutes and is replaced by Illarramendi. He might be the best player in the world but Ronaldo is taking a bit of a liberty here. First the lack of respect to Bale in the first half, and now he's running around demanding the ball. He gets it from Jese and then just loses the ball on the edge of the box. Obviously frustrated and not one for defensive responsibility, he stands with his hands on his hips. Kalu Uche off, Victor Casadesus on. Benzema plays in Bale and he fires at goal. Marino saves well but it escapes his grasp and Jese almost reaches it to tap in but the goalkeeper eventually gathers. There's four forwards for Real Madrid on the pitch now - looks like they're going to go with Ronaldo and Benzema up front as a pair, Jese on the left and Bale on the right as an extremely attacking front through. Ancelotti mixing things up. Wow! How do you describe that? Cristiano Ronaldo crosses from the right and Karim Benzema is completely unmarked. With the ball coming slightly behind him and around his midriff, he lifts his right heel and directs the ball on to the angle of post and crossbar. So close to a crazy goal. Absolute class and so, so ridiculous. Hopefully that will wake up this otherwise drab half. Nabir El Zhar (yes, the ex-Liverpool one) and Ruben Garcia replace Jose Luis Morales and Jordi Xumetra for Levante. Not much going on so far but Benzema fires over a half-volley seven minutes after the break. Real could do with a few more, they're nine goals behind Barcelona on the goal difference tally. Can Cristiano Ronaldo get himself a goal? And will Gareth Bale get his hat-trick? We'll find out in the next 45 minutes at the Bernabeu. Off we go. The Bernabeu crowd might be a bit more pleased with Bale, but team-mate Ronaldo certainly isn't. The Portuguese forward effectively set up the Welshman for both goals, albeit unintentionally, and was not best pleased. First, his acrobatic volley was cleared and Bale smashed in the rebound, with Ronaldo raising his arm in frustration even as Bale netted. Second, Bale deflected in Ronaldo's shot, which was heading wide, to make it 2-0, and the Ballon d'Or looked far from pleased, and it's not something that's gone unnoticed. Good start for Real Madrid. Two Gareth Bale goals - the second to the frustration of Cristiano Ronaldo - and they're 2-0 up. Keylor Navas has been a spectator in goal. That's Real sure of the win. A quick free-kick by Luka Modric plays Dani Carvajal in down the right, he cuts back to Cristiano Ronaldo who fires a shot across goal. It - decisively - deflects in off Gareth Bale and Real are 2-0 up. Ronaldo celebrates the strike but we're crediting that one to Bale. He's on a hat-trick now, unless the Ballon d'Or winner has a word at half-time. Well, of sorts. Morales cuts in from the left and tries to fire in a shot but it's blocked at close range. Real break but Benzema makes a wrong pas and the Bernabeu begins to boo. No pleasing these guys is there? They've done next to nothing so far but Levante are trying to play a bit, but there's just no intensity to their play Jose Luis Morales does well down the left but he can't get past his man and Real recover and are free to build up again. Moments later they look close to finding a gap in the Real defence but Pepe does well to clear away. Gareth Bale cuts back in from the right wing and it hits the chest of Simao to deflect on to the crossbar - not sure if the Welshman was aiming for a shot or cross but he's come close nonetheless. Bale also gets to the subsequent corner first but heads over. It's Real's 10th shot of the game (Levante have had none) and Cristiano Ronaldo almost makes it 2-0 to his side. He looks set for a tap-in in front of goal after Bale plays the ball across the six-yard line but Tono manages to get in with a last-ditch block to save Levante. Bale might have had the chance to silence his critics but Iker Casillas isn't quite so lucky as he sits on the bench. The Real captain got a less-than-warm reception from the crowd when his name was announced pre-match, as you can hear here: . Gareth Bale runs towards the Bernabeu crowd with his hands to his ears. Where are the boos now? After Cristiano Ronaldo's acrobatic volley was headed off the line, Bale slams in with a right-footed volley. It's 1-0 and Bale has his goal. Marino's having to be everywhere right now, although he probably knew it would be a busy night. This time it's Bale with the effort, he gets up to head Modric's corner goal-wards but the keeper makes a stunning diving save to keep it goalless. Karim Benzema has the ball in the net after he latches on to Marino's save from Lukas Modric's long shot, but the Frenchman is ruled offside by the linesman. Still 0-0. Cristiano Ronaldo is brought down 25 yards out and wins a free-kick. Six player wall...can he test Marino? No....it's hit the six-man wall. Here we go with another long-winded Real attack. Real not really breaking through their opponents in the last couple of minutes but they are well in control. Levante are effectively an eight-man defence and as soon as they break into the opposition half they give the ball away. Lovely flick from Gareth Bale over to Karim Benzema who cuts back to Ronaldo inside the box and he toe-pokes it towards the corner... but it hits the base of Diego Marino's post. A goal isn't far away. First chance for Gareth Bale to show what he can do. Decent early chance as he turns and volleys towards goal which arrows just wide of the top corner. We're underway at the Santiago Bernabeu. Before kick-off, a moment's reflection for former Real Madrid player Antonio Betancort who passed away today aged 78. It's bad enough having to play away against Real Madrid, but Levante have a dreadful record here and will likely just be hoping not to be on the end of a rout. The reverse fixture back in October ended 5-0 to Real, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice, and their past record at the Bernabeu makes grim reading too, looking from now back to 2008 their form here reads: 3-0, 5-1, 4-2, 2-0, 8-0 (yes, EIGHT), 5-2. Gareth Bale has no goals in his last nine games, so tonight is a big for him to change the fans' perceptions. Remember, we're only one week away from the big one: El Clasico. It's vital Real stay in touch. All the action here in 10 minutes. The big news for Real is that their famous front three of Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale all start - while Toni Kroos is rested. Oh, and of course Iker Casillas is dropped for Jesus Navas - although that seemed to be hinted by Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday. Here's the rest of their line-up plus the Levante XI: . Real Madrid (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Silva, Isco; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo. Levante (4-2-3-1): Marino; Lopez, Navarro, Ramis, Tono; Camarasa, Simao; Xumetra, Barral, Morales; Uche. +Real Madrid are hoping that a win against Levante on Sunday night will help them make peace with their fans, who have turned on the team after a recent poor run of form. Carlo Ancelotti's men have come under fierce criticism after squandering their lead at the top of La Liga, with Marca's front page on Sunday referring to the situation as a 'pressure cooker'. Levante are the visitors to the Bernabeu, in what AS have described as a 'trial run' for next week's El Clasico. The match at the Nou Camp on March 22 will go a long way to deciding this season's La Liga champions, and Ancelotti will be desperate to reclaim Madrid's spot at the top of the table. The front page of Marca leads with the headline, 'Pressure Cooker' ahead of Real Madrid's game on Sunday . Madrid face Levante at the Bernabeu on Sunday night, while Barcelona beat Eibar 2-0 on Saturday . There will be changes in the starting line-up for the Levante clash, the Spanish papers claim, with Keylor Navas expected to get the nod ahead of Iker Casillas. The Spanish veteran made a number of high-profile mistakes against Schalke in the Champions League last week. Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric are also expected to start, in order to get themselves ready for El Clasico. Marca carry a quote from Madrid boss Ancelotti, who has stated that his team are 'hurt, but won't let our heads drop'. Barcelona continued their good form on Saturday, comfortably beating Eibar 2-0. The win means that they have extended their lead at the top to four points - and it is up to Madrid to close the gap with victory on Sunday. In Italy, Juventus won 1-0 against Palermo, and are now gearing up for their Champions League game midweek . Morata scored the winning goal, and Tuttosport's headline (left) reads: 'Borussia, we're coming' Mundo Deportivo's front page hails the 'solid leaders', who came through the game ahead of a decisive week against Manchester City and then Real Madrid. They write that Lionel Messi was once again decisive, scoring both of his side's goals, one from the penalty spot and the other a 'great header'. Messi has taken his tally to 32 league goals for the season, overtaking rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the process. In Italy, much of the focus is on Juventus ahead of their Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund. Massimiliano Allegri's side beat Palermo 1-0 to 'send a message to Borussia', who they beat 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 game a fortnight ago. Elsewhere, Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini has labelled Yaya Toure his 'son', noting: 'With him, what an Inter!' There has been much speculation over the Ivorian's future at Manchester City, and Mancini has been honest in admitting his interest in the midfielder. +John Carver admits he is aware of interest in striker Ayoze Perez from Premier League champions Manchester City – but believes he should remain at Newcastle beyond this season. The Magpies paid just £1.6million for the Spain Under-21 starlet last summer. He is now rated in the £15m bracket and City have spoken to Carver about the former Tenerife frontman, who they also tracked before his move to Tyneside. But it was Newcastle who moved fastest to secure his signature in June, also beating off competition from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Carver concedes they had anticipated Perez would spend the majority of the season with Peter Beardsley’s development squad. Spanish striker Ayoze Perez has impressed for the Magpies since arriving from Tenerife in the summer . On Sunday, however, he will lead the line at Everton as United begin the first of seven matches without top goalscorer Papiss Cisse, banned for his part in the shameful spitting incident with Manchester United’s Jonny Evans. But Carver is confident five-goal Perez can carry the scoring burden in Cisse’s absence and says he is not surprised by admiring eyes being cast from the Etihad. ‘I know for a fact there is interest in him,’ said Carver. ‘You go in coaches’ rooms after games and have a chat. A few people have spoken very highly of him, which is good. I had a good chat with Brian Kidd at Man City about him. ‘I’m not surprised by that. He’s a young lad and an exciting talent. Perez (bottom) has scored five goals for Newcastle and has attracted interest from Manchester City . Newcastle's Papiss Cisse and Manchester United's Jonny Evans squared up to each other at St James' Park . ‘When we signed him we thought he would have a full season in the under-21 team developing. But he was thrown in at the deep end and he dealt with it.’ Perez was named Tenerife Sportsman of the Year this week having also collected best breakthrough player in Spain following his 16 goals in their second tier last term. But the frontman – who is being touted for a call-up to the senior Spain squad – is not concerned about the fuss surrounding his future. ‘It would be a mistake to start thinking about that now, it is too early. I’ve only been at Newcastle a few months and I am very happy. I continue to work as usual and I am in no rush,’ he said. Newcastle caretaker coach John Carver takes training ahead of facing Everton on Sunday afternoon . ‘I just think about helping the team and returning all the trust they have put in me. Everything else? If you keep working hard, sooner or later it will end up coming.’ Carver agrees. ‘I think it is best he stays here, absolutely,’ said the head coach. ‘He’s made the next step in his career and this is a fantastic place to continue that development. ‘I took him out of the firing line recently and I thought it was right to do so. ‘It has helped him having a bit of a break. There was an awful lot of pressure on this young lad coming from Tenerife and being thrown into our cauldron, as we know it is. ‘But I thought he dealt with it well and it's part of my job to deal with him and make sure he doesn't disappear into the wilderness.’ +Chelsea took to Instagram on Saturday to back up their manager and attack the pundits who criticised their behaviour during the Champions League exit at the hands of PSG in midweek. Graeme Souness and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher branded Jose Mourinho's team 'a disgrace' after they surrounded the referee to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off during the 2-2 draw. But afterwards, Mourinho accused the pair of having short memories, pointing out both men's own on-field reputations. Jose Mourinho spikily replied to comments made by Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness . Chelsea players surround Bjorn Kuipers as the Dutch referee gives Zlatan Ibrahimovic his marching orders . And the club have put their weight behind his claims, publishing pictures of both Carragher and Souness confronting officials from years gone by. The post was captioned with the message 'For those with short memories...', and shows Carragher with his Liverpool team-mates protesting a decision in 2007, and Souness as Benfica manager in the late 1990s. Earlier this week Mourinho had hit out at both Souness and Carragher after the defeat to PSG on away goals. Every outfield Chelsea player except Oscar was involved in the mass protest during the PSG game . It was this tackle by the Swede on Oscar that had the Chelsea players swarming round the ref . ‘When Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness speak, it’s because they are having a problem for sure,' Mourinho said. 'Jamie stopped playing a couple of years ago and, in two years, he forgets everything he did on the pitch. Mr Souness also, but he stopped playing a long time ago. ‘I coached Benfica, I know a lot about him, so much about him. But I’m a certain kind of education, not just in football but in life, and I prefer to laugh.’ Carragher responded to the post on twitter, writing: 'I'm contesting a shocking penalty decision against Chelsea which the ref apologised for & Souey is backing his players like Jose does!!' +Jose Mourinho has come out swinging after a week in which Chelsea suffered a desperate Champions League exit, by declaring he is still the special one. Days after facing a barrage of criticism for the manner of Chelsea’s defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, Mourinho has hit back by bragging that there are a mere handful of managers around the world who can measure up to him. Jose Mourinho insists he is still the special one despite Champions League exit at hands of PSG . ‘When I compare myself with other managers I see just a few that are with me in terms of success,’ he said. ‘The others I see a huge distance.’ It was a defiant broadside from the colourful Portuguese boss, who vowed that Wednesday’s disaster against ten-man PSG — in which his team were branded ‘babies’ — will simply spark a Premier League title charge. Chelsea players were described as babies after surrounding Bjorn Kuipers during Champions League clash . Porto (2002–2004) Primeira Liga: 2002–03, 2003–04 . Taça de Portugal: 2002–03 . Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2003 . UEFA Champions League: 2003–04 . UEFA Cup: 2002–03 . Chelsea (2004–2007, 2013–) Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06 . FA Cup: 2006–07 . Football League Cup: 2004–05, 2006–07, 2014–15 . FA Community Shield: 2005 . Inter Milan (2008–2010) Serie A: 2008–09, 2009–10 . Coppa Italia: 2009–10 . Supercoppa Italiana: 2008 . UEFA Champions League: 2009–10 . Real Madrid (2010–2013) La Liga: 2011–12 . Copa del Rey: 2010–11 . Supercopa de España: 2012 . ‘With Chelsea, I lost against Barcelona in the last 16 and we were champions that season,’ he said. ‘It was a fantastic season for us. ‘I think it’s the target for everyone, all the big teams at the beginning of the season. It’s the main target. If you can win that, I think it’s fantastic.’ Speaking before Burnley beat Manchester City on Saturday, Mourinho added: ‘I think we need nine victories; 11 matches. If our direct opponents lose a couple of points, then you need eight victories and one draw or something like that.’ Asked about the prospect of winning a third Champions League title, having already won it at Porto and Inter, Mourinho said: ‘It is wrong to assume that. People are too worried about me. They don’t know what my happiness is. ‘My happiness, first of all, is when I compare myself with the other managers. This is not a fight with them and I have lots of respect for all of them. 'But in the Premier League, who is European champion? Me and Van Gaal. In the Premier League, how many has won it twice or more than twice? Mr Wenger and myself. How many has won every competition in this country? How many? ‘You go to Europe, how many won seven league titles? How many has won two Champions Leagues? Carlo Ancelotti has won three and Pep Guardiola has two. You are too worried about me. Mourinho kisses the UEFA Champions League trophy after his Porto side beat Monaco 3-0 . Mourinho lifts the UEFA Champions League trophy following Inter Milan's victory against Bayern Munich . Mourinho holds aloft the Barclays Premiership trophy beside Frank Lampard  and John Terry . Mourinho and Terry hug after winning the Capital One Cup against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium . Mourinho and Steve Clarke celebrate with the trophy following their team's victory against Arsenal . ‘In the league, we can count the victories we need on the fingers of two hands — one month ago we couldn’t do that, we didn’t have enough fingers. 'There will be a moment where we need five victories, we need four victories and one hand will be enough to count them. 'I think this is a good way to do it. Don’t think about Man City, don’t think about Arsenal. Just think about us.' Mourinho celebrates in style as Chelsea beat Tottenham to win the Capital One cup at Wembley . +Dick Advocaat has a warning for Sunderland’s under-performing players – ‘If you don’t put it in for me I’ll be on the pitch letting you know’. The Dutch boss watched in horror from his home in Holland last week as the Black Cats slumped to a 4-0 defeat against Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light, a result which cost Gus Poyet his job. Advocaat has revealed he was waiting for Poyet to be sacked before taking over – he was sounded out three weeks ago - and says he will not tolerate performances such as last weekend's sorry surrender. Dick Advocaat has never been relegated in his career and does not want Sunderland to be the first . ‘I was very disappointed (watching the game). When they scored, you could see that something is going wrong in the players’ heads,’ he said ahead of his first match in charge at West Ham. ‘When Aston Villa scored their fourth goal, five players were standing still. When they lost the ball up front, the ball went, and five players were walking back instead of running back. ‘This is not possible. I told them, “If I was beside the line, I would have been on the pitch”. That means that something is wrong.’ Advocaat said he was disappointed with the Sunderland player's reaction after they conceded . Sunderland are one place and one point above the relegation zone . Advocaat has never been relegated during a 28-year managerial career – and he doesn’t intend to make that a first on Wearside. ‘I have never been relegated and I always have the feeling that I will never go down,’ he said. ‘So I don’t really want to talk about that. I have been close, but that was when I was a very young manager. I started at SVV when I was 36 and we were champions in one of the lower leagues. We had a difficult season the following year, but we survived in the last game.’ Advocaat has just nine games to save Sunderland from the drop and is confident his influence can make a difference. Advocaat has nine games to help Sunderland avoid relegation . ‘It is always better if you start at the beginning of a season because then you can put all of your ideas in,’ he said. ‘But in terms of organisation, it is not that difficult to bring the players into step, so that everybody knows what to do. They have to do that. ‘If we are to going to win games, they have to do that. The organisation is the most important thing in football, then you can add in the individual skills of the players.’ For if they don’t step into line, Advocaat will be on the pitch letting them know. +West Ham manager Sam Allardyce told co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan he has nothing to prove ahead of the visit of Sunderland. Allardyce’s future remains uncertain as he goes into Saturday’s match having not won in the Barclays Premier League since January 18 against Hull City. The 60-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the season and Allardyce is prepared to fight for his job as he declared anything less than 10th is unacceptable. West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has told co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan he has nothing to prove . Allardyce’s future remains uncertain as he goes into Saturday’s match with struggling club Sunderland . West Ham co-oweners Gold (right) and Sullivan (left) look on during a Premier League match . ‘Win all nine, I’m doing great. Lose all nine, get rid of him,’ he said. ‘That’s a bit of tongue in cheek, but it’s true. Everybody would go away and say what a bad season it’s been. If we turn it around, what a great season. ‘I don’t have to defend myself to the owners. We all know in terms of where we are. I’m disappointed. The players are disappointed. ‘David Sullivan and David Gold are very disappointed in the run we’ve had up to now. At the end of the day we’re still 10th. We’ve still got 39 points. We’ve still got nine games to go. ‘Anything less than 10th is going to end up being hugely disappointing, and around eighth is massive progress for us. Anything more than that would be a massive over-achievement for this squad.’ Allardyce confirmed he will be without James Tomkins for the remainder of the season after the defender needed surgery on a dislocated shoulder suffered in training. Allardyce will be without James Tomkins for the rest of the season after surgery on a dislocated shoulder . +Former England forward Gareth Hock could face his old Salford team-mates after his new club Leigh were paired with the Red Devils in the draw for the fifth round of the 2015 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup. Hock joined the Centurions last month after being released by Salford but is still waiting to make his debut after being handed a seven-match ban for illegal use of his knees. The ex-Wigan second rower's suspension is set to expire on Easter Monday, well before the cup-tie with Salford, which will be played at Leigh Sports Village on the weekend of April 17-19. Former England player Gareth Hock could play against his Salford team-mates for Leigh in the Challenge Cup . Hock is yet to debut for the Centurions after a seven-week ban for illegal use of his knees . Despite being a division below the unbeaten Centurions will pose a tough task for the Red Devils, who are eighth after six games. Salford were one of four Super League clubs to enter the famous knockout competition on Tuesday after finishing outside the top eight last season. All of the clubs from the top flight managed to avoid each other in the draw, which was made by the banks of the River Hull. Bradford, whose last Cup final was in 2002, will be at home to Hull KR in arguably the tie of the round. The 2005 winners Hull FC were paired with Sheffield Eagles and Wakefield face a trip to Halifax. Leigh Miners Rangers, the only amateur team left in the competition, landed a home tie against League One club York. The final match-up is an all-Championship clash between Hunslet and Dewsbury at the South Leeds Stadium. The remaining eight Super League clubs will enter the competition at the sixth round stage in May. Hunslet Hawks v Dewsbury Rams . Leigh Miners Rangers v York City Knights . Bradford Bulls v Hull KR . Sheffield Eagles v Hull FC . Batley Bulldogs v Swinton Lions . North Wales Crusaders v Featherstone . Wakefield Trinity Wildcats v Halifax . Leigh Centurions v Salford Red Devils . +Manchester United's Juan Mata has hailed 'one of the happiest days of my career' after scoring two goals against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, including an incredible scissor-kick. Mata scored one of the best goals of the season during the 2-1 win against their great rivals, but the former Chelsea midfielder was unable to explain how he pulled it off. 'This is one of those days when there is no need for words,' Mata wrote on his blog, 'but I can tell you that this Sunday has been one of the happiest days of my career. Juan Mata pulls off his incredible scissor-kick against Liverpool as Manchester United won 2-1 at Anfield . United midfielder Mata was unable to explain how he pulled off the outstanding technique to score on Sunday . Mata and his United team-mates celebrate doubling their lead en route to their 2-1 win in the Premier League . Rio hit by a coin, Rooney swearing live on TV... what else makes our 50 shocking moments in Premier League history? CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR LIST . 'When you start playing football as a kid on muddy pitches, for something so simple and wonderful as having fun, you dream about becoming a footballer one day to be in a game like the one in Anfield. 'I mean one of those thrilling games between two great teams and with millions of people watching from so many countries. 'Manchester United and Liverpool have one of the biggest sports rivalries, and this is the biggest game in English football. 'Many of you are asking me about the second goal and the truth is I don’t know very well how to explain it. It’s something [where] you just don’t think. It’s more a resource you use when you understand it’s better to shoot the ball as it comes rather than trying to control it and keep the play. 'It’s one of the best goals of my career for sure, among other things because it happened in such a massive game. And it helped us win.' It kept United fourth in the Barclays Premier League in their hunt for Champions League qualification, leaving Liverpool five points adrift in fifth. Mata celebrates his incredible goal that the Spanish midfielder admits was one of the best he'd ever scored . +Sean Dyche reacted brilliantly to a reporter accidentally questioning him on Burnley's 'title fight' after their 1-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday. The Clarets are embroiled in a relegation battle at the bottom of the Premier League, but one journalist fluffed his lines, instead asking Dyche what the impressive result would 'do for their title fight'. 'Title fight?!,' Dyche replied incredulously, before pumping his fists and shouting, 'Get in there! Get in there! You beauty!' Sean Dyche celebrated by pumping his fists after a reporter accidentally asked him about Burnley's 'title fight' The Burnley boss then clarified, shouting 'No headlines! I did not say we're in a title fight' amid the laughter . 'Come on you, love that from you', he continued, pointing at the reporter in question, before clarifying: 'I didn't say that, no headlines. I did not say we're in a title fight.' Dyche was certainly in high spirits - and understandably so - after his side upset the odds to help their chances of survival, while in turn dealing a blow to their opponents in the actual title fight at the top of the league. George Boyd scored the only goal of the game in the second half, and the Burnley manager believes that the correct team won the match. George Boyd scored the only goal of the game, a wonderful half-volley from outside the aea . Boyd (centre) wheels away in celebration alongside his team-mates after scoring the only goal of the game . 'It was deserved, I think,' Dyche told reporters when the laughter had died down. 'Overall I think we edged it. It was a close game, why wouldn't it be against players of that calibre? 'I'm obviously delighted with the outcome and the performance. I have said many times this season I think the players are improving. I think they are growing and learning at this level. 'It doesn't guarantee the future and there is still room for more, but this reinforces all the good work that has been done.' Manchester City playes traipse from the pitch after losing 1-0 to Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday evening . Burnley fans were still hopeful of safety before the match, and the result will have given them more confidence . The Clarets' victory - despite some battling recent displays - was only their second in 13 games and pulled them within a point of 17th-placed Sunderland. 'Our will and desire to be in the Premier League is all on show, but we won't get too carried away,' Dyche continued. 'We know there's a long way to go. The players are grounded. 'We haven't been broken from defeat - we've been dented a few times - but this win reinforces confidence and belief. +Chelsea are 110 years old: and they look every day of it, battling towards a third Premier League title under Jose Mourinho. Six points clear with a game in hand hardly constitutes a crisis. Mourinho would certainly have bought that at the start of the season, any manager would. Yet it is hard, hard going, for a team that once seemed so assured. Southampton had the better of the first-half here, and all Chelsea’s pressure could not conjure a winner after half-time. Click here to read Martin Samuel's full match report . Host commentator . Chelsea miss the chance to go eight points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League table as Southampton claim a point at Stamford Bridge. And Koeman's side were worthy of the point as they impressed throughout the 90 minutes. Costa put his side in the lead, however his effort was cancelled out when the Saints were awarded a first-half penalty which Tadic converted. Azpilicueta came close to scoring a late winner however Forster was able to beat the ball away for a corner. Terry then almost gets on the scoresheet with a driven effort at goal, however he is unable to find a way past Forster. Pelle has just played a delightful lobbed pass to Mane but the Senegal international is unable to get the ball under control when going through on goal. Remains 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have just five more minutes to open up an eight-point lead over Manchester City. The Blues still have another game in hand over the Premier League champions so it's not all doom and gloom for Mourinho's men. Pelle has eight minutes to try to score a winner for his side. Meanwhile Willian is replaced by Cuadrado after hobbling off injured. With both sides having terrific records when it comes to keeping out the opposition I think the next goal will win this game. Chelsea look more likely to grab a winner as Southampton have been pushed back during the second half. There's just under 12 minutes left at Stamford Bridge. Hazard calls Forster into action with a quick fire shot. However the England stopper stands tall to deny the Belgium international. Tadic and Davis off, Djuricic and Ward-Prowse on . Cahill has been cautioned for yet another foul on Mane. The Senegal international has been in impressive this afternoon. Koeman will be thinking his side may be able to nick all three points. Pelle is warming up on the Stamford Bridge touchline. Long has led the line well but Koeman may look to freshen things up. Mane continues to cause problems with his blistering pace. This time it was Ivanovic who hacked Mane down as he was running through on goal. Wanyama also goes into Dean's book for a late foul. Mourinho brought in Cuadrado during the January transfer window to improve his wide options but the Colombia international hasn't really been handed the opportunities to impress. Today may just be the day for Cuadrado to prove his worth. Costa came close to grabbing his second goal of the match. The Spain international, who was involved in a tussle with Fonte, tried to poke home a cross by Willian but his effort hit the woodwork. Mourinho has decided not to risk the chance of Matic seeing red as he has replaced him with Ramires. Chelsea have started the second half in lively fashion. Their flair players are linking up much better than they were during the latter stages of the first. Sportsmail's Graham Poll believes Matic should have been sent off the foul on Mane. Matic was lucky not have been given a yellow card for a clumsy challenge on Mane. Dean appeared to reach into pocket before changing his mind. Chelsea played some nice football in the early stages of today's match. Costa's goal came after an intricate move which led to Ivanovic crossing into the box. Chelsea have looked extremely lacklustre since conceding. Matic deserved to be penalised for his foul on Mane despite Chelsea's protests. The home side could have also been awarded a penalty during the first half when Ivanovic was fouled inside the area. Mourinho will be weighing up his options ahead of the interval. Both Fabregas and Oscar have failed to make any real impact on today's game so far. Ramires, who failed to impress in midweek, and Cuadrado are both viable options from the bench. Koeman appears to have made the right decision in picking Long over Pelle. Long's pace is causing Terry and Cahill problems and his link up play with Mane has been exceptional thus far. The Saints look the more likely side to score the next goal. After a tricky first five minutes when it looked like Willian was going to run riot, Koeman's side have settled down and look a real threat on the counter attack. Mane has been cautioned for a late foul on Ivanovic. Chelsea could have received a penalty of their own. Ivanovic appeared to be clipped by Tadic while the right back was making his way into the penalty box. Mourinho will not be happy with Dean's decision. Tadic slots home via the foot of Courtois to level the scoreline at Stamford Bridge. Matic, who received a yellow card after being penalised by Mike Dean, appeared to win the ball but went through the back of Mane. Southampton have been awarded a penalty. Matic made a lunging challenge on Mane. Costa came into today's game level with Manchester City's Sergio Aguero as the joint highest goalscorer with 17 goals. However the Spain international's goal puts him in the lead. Southampton go up the other end in hope of getting back on to level terms. Mane shoots at goal but Courtois manages to get down to palm away his effort. And there you have it. Ivanovic crosses the ball into the box from the right and Costa has the easy task of nodding into the net. Koeman will be wondering why he was allowed to rise above his side's defence without being challenged. The Premier League's meanest defence will have to find a way of keeping Diego Costa quiet. Costa has had a remarkable first season in England - with the former Atletico Madrid man scoring 17 league goals. Brazilian playmaker Willian has looked extremely lively during the early exchanges. He has popped up on the right and through the middles to cause Southampton's defence problems. The likes of Willian, Oscar and Hazard have shown some neat early touches. Willian just ran through the middle before laying the ball onto Azpilicueta however his shot went over the bar. Chelsea and Southampton have excellent records when it comes to keeping out the opposition. Koeman's side have conceded just 20 Premier League goals while the Blues have let in just two more than their opponents. Ronald Koeman: 'It is always a bad time to face Chelsea because they are the strongest in the Premier League. 'It is a great opportunity for Chelsea after Man City's loss against Burnley and we have to stop them. We have to be patient and good defending will be important for today.' Chelsea seem to enjoy playing in front of their own fans. They have not lost a home match in the Premier League this season - with their only defeat at Stamford Bridge coming against Bradford in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Jose Mourinho: 'I'm not like the wind. I have stability in my relationship with the players. I trust my team. This is why I have gone with 10 of the 11 players which started against PSG.' Cesc Fabregas came in for criticism after Chelsea's defeat by PSG and he has a history of petering out in the second half of the season. Read the evidence here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2991402/Cesc-Fabregas-history-fading-second-half-season-Chelsea-seen-slump-coming.html . John Terry: 'We came in for a lot of criticism after the PSG game and rightly so. 'If someone would have said at the start of the season that we would have won the Capital One Cup and where we are in the league then we would have bitten your hand off.' Chelsea fans turned up in their droves early on to get a glimpse of the players as they left the team coach. Let's see if the likes of John Terry, Eden Hazard and Co will be able to get out of first gear after stalling against PSG. If you are thinking about making a late trip up to Stamford Bridge without a matchday ticket then you best turn back as today's match is a sell out. However, have no fear as I will be providing live updates on today's early kick-off. Ramires is replaced by fellow countryman Willian in Chelsea's starting line-up after starting against PSG. Chelsea subs: Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Ramires, Cuadrado, Remy, Drogba . Graziano Pelle also drops down to the bench for the Saints as Shane Long is given the nod to lead the line at Stamford Bridge. Southampton subs: K. Davis, Yoshida, Gardos, Djuricic, Ward-Prowse, Pelle, Targett . Chelsea XI: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Costa . Southampton XI: Forster; Clyne, Fonte, Alderweireld, Bertrand; Wanyama, Schneiderlin; S. Davis, Tadic, Mane; Long . Chelsea's attention switches back to the Barclays Premier League following their disappointing exit from the Champions League on Wednesday. Jose Mourinho's side have the opportunity of extending their lead over Manchester City after Manuel Pellegrini's side slipped up against Burnley. Follow all the action here as Sportsmail provides live commentary of today's match at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will be hoping to get back to winning ways during Sunday's match against Southampton after crashing out of the Champions League in midweek. The Blues can open up an eight-point lead over current Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City with a victory against Southampton. However Ronald Koeman's side will be no easy ride as they have shown they are capable of mixing it up with the big boys. In fact, they claimed a point against Chelsea on December 28 when the two sides drew 1-1 at St Mary's. +Sebastian Vettel laughed off Nico Rosberg’s claim that he hopes Ferrari can catch Mercedes during a spiky press conference after Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, who romped to victory at the season-opening race in Melbourne, and team-mate Rosberg, finished more than half-a-minute clear of Vettel to seal an utterly dominant weekend for the world champions. After the race, Rosberg said he hoped Ferrari would be able to bring the challenge to Mercedes, with he and Hamilton expected to dominate this term having won 16 of the 19 races in 2014. Lewis Hamilton was caught in the middle as Nico Rosberg (left) and Sebastian Vettel traded jibes . Hamilton can't keep a straight face as Vettel laughs off claims he hopes Ferrari catch Mercedes this season . But his suggestion provoked a spiky response from Vettel, the four-time world champion who celebrated his Ferrari debut with a podium finish. ‘Be honest, do you really hope so?’ quizzed Vettel when Rosberg claimed ‘it would be good if they [Ferrari] can come a bit closer’. Vettel added: ‘Seriously? You finished 30 seconds ahead of us and you hope it’s going to be closer? So you hope you slow down? Is that what you’re saying?’ Rosberg responded: ‘I hope that you can give us a challenge. Because it’s important for the sport and for the fans. And I do think about the show. I want to give people a great time at home watching on TV or at the track. If you do come a bit closer, that would be awesome for everybody.’ Vettel points to the crowd as he celebrates his first Ferrari podium on his debut for the famous Italian team . The four-time world champion finished the best part of 30 seconds behind Hamilton and Rosberg on Sunday . Former Red Bull driver Vettel then called on his German compatriot to give him a guided tour of the Mercedes garage at the next race in Malaysia. ‘You can come if you want, we can invite you,’ said Rosberg. ‘OK, thank you for the invite, I’ll come,' Vettel replied. The spat continued when Vettel said it was ‘a shame’ that his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen didn’t finish the race – the Finn was forced to retire after his pit-crew failed to properly attach his rear-left tyre during his second stop. ‘You find it a shame that your team-mate didn’t finish?’ quizzed Rosberg, seemingly still irked by Vettel’s earlier interrogation. ‘Yes. I don’t know how much you like each other,’ answered Vettel in reference to Rosberg’s relationship with Hamilton, which descended into chaos at times last season as they vied for the title. ‘But Kimi and myself we get along, so I think it is a shame,' Vettel added. Hamilton saw off the challenge from Rosberg to win the opening race of the new season . VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . Q: Question to both Lewis and Nico. We’ve seen dominance in qualifying, dominance in the race today. Is this it for the season? A two-horse race between you two for the title or can you envisage any of your rivals making in-roads into your supremacy? LH: I think Nico was just explaining… I didn’t know, I didn’t see the times or anything but I think the Ferraris have taken a huge step forward. It’s clear they’ve made one of the biggest steps. So we definitely cannot back off because I’m sure they’re going to be pushing. And I anticipate we might have a good fight with them at some stage this year… . Nico? NR: I hope we can have a good fight. That would be awesome. I think the next couple of races we’re going to be leading the way for sure, and we’re going to try and keep it that way, but we know it would be good if they can come a bit closer, as long as they don’t come too close… . SV: Be honest. Do you really hope so? Seriously? You finished 30 seconds ahead of us and you hope it’s going to be closer? So you hope you slow down? Is that what you’re saying? NR: I hope that you can give us a challenge! Because it’s important for the sport and for the fans. And I do think about the show. Half of me – or a part of me – thinks about the show because I want to give people a great time at home watching on TV or at the track. If you do come a bit closer, that would be awesome for everybody. SV: First suggestion, if you don’t mind, I think your garage becomes public for Malaysia and everyone can have a look. No? I’m joking. NR: You can come if you want, we can invite you… . SV: OK, thank you for the invite, I’ll come. NR: Friday Malaysia, OK. SV: Engineers’ room? Debrief, I’ll be there. Q: Sebastian, among the races to come, which one do you feel will be the one that is easier for you, for Ferrari to catch up to the Mercedes? I think Malaysia will be difficult but what about Bahrain or Shanghai? SV: Easy, for us? I think if you look at the gap, nowhere is going to be easy. I think we have to focus on ourselves, make sure that what we learned this weekend we’re able to take into the next races. The most important thing now is that if we finish – we did finish right behind Mercedes today. We need to confirm that in the next race, that’s the priority number one, so we need to make sure that I was not just a one-off. We improve reliability. As I said, Kimi didn’t finish, which is a shame. We could have scored a lot more points today. NR: ... that you find it a shame that your teammate didn’t finish? SV: Yes. I don’t know how much you like each other but Kimi and myself we get along, so I think it is a shame. NR: I though as a racing driver you might like it that you have a couple of points advantage over him now. I don’t want to get you off the foot there, sorry. Oops. Look at him, look at him go... SV: I can see your point. No, no. I can see that at the moment, where we are, we want to make sure we catch you guys and to do that we both need to score. Yes, I honestly think so and I honestly didn’t want to see the second car not finishing today. NR: Because I’m ready for it now, you caught me a bit off guard before but now I’m ready for it! Teen sensation Max Verstappen missed out on finishing in the points in his grand prix bow. Verstappen, 17, the youngest driver in F1 history, was running in ninth before mechanical gremlins struck. He was forced to park his Toro Rosso after 32 laps, which, in a remarkable coincidence, was the same number his father Jos completed before retiring on his 1994 F1 debut in Brazil. Lewis Hamilton’s win, the 34th of his GP career, means he has won seven of the last eight races. It leaves him five shy of Vettel, fourth on the all-time list, and seven adrift of boyhood hero Ayrton Senna. It is understood that Susie Wolff, the British racer, will not deputise for Valtteri Bottas in Malaysia if the Finn fails to recover from his back problem. ‘Susie is our test driver, not our reserve driver,’ said the team’s boss Claire Williams. +Bayern Munich fielded a non-German goalkeeper in the Bundesliga for the first time since 1988, as Pepe Reina replaced Manuel Neuer in a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen. The former Liverpool man signed for Bayern in the summer, and his debut in the German top flight also makes him the first goalkeeper to play in all four of Europe's top leagues. Robert Lewandowski took the plaudits, scoring twice as Bayern showed no signs of letting up at the top of the Bundesliga, swatting Werder Bremen aside with ease in a bad-tempered match that threatened to get out of hand. Pepe Reina became Bayern Munich's first non-German goalkeeper in the Bundesliga since 1988 . The Bayern squad celebrate after their impressive 4-0 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday . Reina directs his team-mates as he became the first goalkeeper ever to play in all four of Europe's top leagues . The game threatened to boil over after a series of strong challenges saw the referee dish out yellow cards . Werder were undone by three goals from counter-attacks and a David Alaba free-kick, but did enough to rile the visitors to the point that defender Jerome Boateng, one of six players booked, became involved in an argument with a ball boy. Runaway leaders Bayern, who have 64 points from 25 games, are now 14 clear of second-placed Wolfsburg who host Freiburg on Sunday afternoon. Pep Guardiola's side, who have scored 34 goals in their last eight games in all competitions and thumped Werder 6-0 earlier in the season, went ahead in the 24th minute when Thomas Muller curled the ball in from the edge of the area following a counter-attack. Despite missing Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben through injury, the leaders were as clinical as ever and Alaba chipped in a free kick in the last minute of the first half to make it 2-0. Reina tries to calm down team-mate Mehdi Benatia as tempers flare during the match in Bremen, Germany . Thomas Muller (centre) celebrates after netting the opening goal of the game; his 12th goal of the season . David Alaba scored the second goal, a wonderful free-kick in the dying moments of the first half . Pep Guardiola (left) has now taken his side 14 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table . Werder had a goal disallowed for handball by Sebastian Proedl in the second half, although the Austrian appeared to be pushed by Boateng, and the game turned ugly with several late tackles and heated exchanges between the players. Almost inevitably Werder were caught on the break when Lewandowski grabbed two goals in the final quarter of an hour, both set up by Mueller after lightning attacks. 'We tried everything and attacked with courage for part of the game,' said Werder coach Viktor Skrypnyk. 'Overall it wasn't a bad performance, at least it was better than the 6-0 defeat.' Robert Lewandowski (centre) and Muller celebrate as Bayern brushed Werder Bremen aside with ease . Lewandowski heads home his first - and Bayern's third - of the match... he later grabbed another to make it 4-0 . Muller (centre) screams in celebration after opening the scoring for Bayern Munich away at Bremen . Earlier in the season, the reverse fixture finished 6-0, meaning that Bayern have put 10 past Bremen this term . Elsewhere, Joel Matip scored a last-minute equaliser as visiting Schalke twice came from behind to hold Hertha Berlin 2-2 while Anis Ben-Hatira was booked for putting on a spider man mask as he celebrated the opening goal for the hosts. Eintracht Frankfurt brushed past Paderborn 4-0 and Hamburg SV are hovering just above the relegation zone after having goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny sent off in the 19th minute during a 3-0 defeat at Hoffenheim. Eugen Polanski converted a penalty following Drobny's foul and later added a second as Hamburg were left in 15th, one place and two points clear of Paderborn who are in the relegation playoff spot. Last season's runners-up Borussia Dortmund are 10th after they were held 0-0 at home by Cologne. Elsewhere, Joel Matip (right) scored a last-minute equaliser to help Schalke to a 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin . Jaroslav Drobny (right) was sent off early in Hamburg's match, and they lost 3-0 to Hoffenheim . +German playmaker Mesut Ozil has called on his Arsenal team-mates to believe they have what it takes to produce their own miracle result in Monte Carlo on Tuesday night. The Gunners' hopes of progress to the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition are all but over following a disappointing 3-1 defeat in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium last month. No team has recovered from more than a single-goal deficit going into an away leg in the Champions League era. Mesut Ozil believes Arsenal can beat Monaco by three goals to reach the Champions League quarter finals . No club have ever overturned such a deficit, but the German says his team should take heart from recent form . Arsenal were in fine form to beat West Ham on Saturday, with Olivier Giroud playing a part in all three goals . Ozil says the Gunners can carry their momentum into the midweek tie and progress past Monaco . Monaco beat nine-man Bastia 3-0 in Ligue 1 on Friday night to extend their formidable defensive record with only seven goals conceded from the last 22 games. Leonardo Jardim's side did not let in a goal in three home ties during the Champions League group stages, but despite all the odds being stacked against the Barclays Premier League side Ozil feels Arsenal are well worth a gamble. 'When you believe in yourselves, a positive energy grows that you can achieve your aims. In football, things that may look unlikely can happen. I know that if we believe in ourselves and utilise our potential, we can still go through,' Ozil told Arsenal Player. 'We need to score three goals and Monaco are a team that play defensively, but we have to take initiative and score the first goal as quickly as possible to boost our confidence. Ozil and Giroud cut a dejected figure while Arsenal were being beaten at home by Monaco last month . The Gunners will need to overturn a two-goal deficit against a team who rarely concede . But Ozil is confident that they have enough going forward, and can win if they seize the early initiative . 'It is going to be difficult to score three times because they have defended well in the tournament so far, but if you look at our past matches and the way we played against Manchester United (in the FA Cup quarter-final) last week, I think there's a chance we can still progress. 'When you look at the Manchester United game, we controlled it and deserved to win the game, that just shows that if we convert what the manager encourages us to do into the games, we can achieve a lot.' Ozil added: 'We know the quality we have in our team - there are world-class players here. 'Look at our options in attack, where a variety of players can and do score goals. That's a positive for us and we will make sure to give everything in Monaco to advance to the next round.' Ozil has returned from three months out with a knee injury looking a much-stronger player, covering plenty of ground. Ozil was taken off early on Saturday, along with Alexis Sanchez, to preserve them for midweek in Monaco . The German, who was out with injury for much of this season, has come back stronger and fitter than ever . The 26-year-old former Real Madrid midfielder feels he is benefiting from his new training regime. 'I wanted to be as fit as possible when I returned after my injury. I worked on the upper part of my body as well as paying attention to my nutrition,' he said. 'I underwent treatment to get myself fit as soon as possible and to prevent the injury from returning. I am on a good path now. 'I worked really hard and I think it shows in training and in matches that I am fresher. 'I am really happy to be back on the pitch and able to do what I most love.' Tuesday night will see Wenger return to the Stade Louis II for the first time since his successful spell in charge which saw them win the 1988 French league title and Coupe de France in 1991, as well as reaching the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final and semi-finals of the Champions League. +To begin with, Mark Cavendish seems like he might rank among the more challenging interviewees. He anticipates questions before they’ve been asked, refuses to give an answer to some and offers monosyllabic responses to others. He curses when he talks about the doping scandals in his sport and complains that the newspapers only cover such stories in cycling. Has he not read the recent coverage of similar scandals in athletics and rugby? With a wry smile, he accepts that he hasn’t. British cyclist Mark Cavendish, pictured with Lee Matthews, insists he has plenty more to give . Help for Heroes patron Cavendish is confident he's not past his best following his 11 wins in 2014 . Cavendish believes he doesn't get the media coverage he deserves because he no longer rides for Team Sky . It might be that we’ve got off on the wrong foot. We meet in the bar of a hotel in Windsor and I congratulate him on his victory in Belgium the previous day. I remark that he’s had a ‘couple’ of good wins already this season. ‘I’ve had six,’ he responds a little tersely. But this is what makes him interesting beyond his brilliance at the business end of professional bike racing, beyond the explosive drama of a peloton hurtling towards the finish line at 40-odd mph. He has long proved himself a master racer with his sharp bike skills and that explosive turn of pace. But Cavendish has a sharp mind, too. It makes interviewing him something of a contest but an experience that is utterly fascinating. When he talks about the support he provides our injured servicemen and women as a patron for Help for Heroes, there is genuine emotion. He takes a swipe at ‘the government’ for not doing enough for these ‘amazing people’. He can relate to the ‘team mentality’ that develops among soldiers. ‘It’s more than a job,’ he says. ‘It’s a family. As a sportsman I get that.’ There are moments when he displays the intensity of a Roy Keane, occasionally communicating his objection to a question by simply staring back at you. But here’s a sportsman who is also not afraid to express an opinion and by the end of our chat he has shared quite a few. Cavendish left Team Sky because he thought the focus was on Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome . Cavendish felt Froome (left) and Wiggins (right) received preferential treatment during his time at Team Sky . ‘People think I’m past it,’ he says, unprompted. At 29, is he? ‘No,’ he says. There is a pause. He has clearly decided he has nothing further to say on the subject even if it is one that irks him. But I ask if it’s something he can prove to himself with facts and figures. Cycling is pretty scientific these days, after all. ‘I measure it by wins,’ he says. ‘I had 11 wins last year, which is more than any other British rider. But because I ride for a team that’s not supported by a media giant I don’t really get the coverage other riders enjoy.’ He is having a dig at Team Sky here, the ‘British’ team he represented for a year but left when he realised the focus was more on Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome and winning the grand tours than on delivering him to the front of the peloton to win stages. As the finest pure bike racer in the world at that time — he was the Manx Missile L’Equipe had voted the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour de France — his frustration was understandable. But the truth is last year was not as successful as previous seasons. At least not in the eyes of cycling fans who measure Cavendish by his grand tour stage victories. He crashed out of the Tour de France in that opening-day sprint into Harrogate and appeared to have been superseded by the giant German, Marcel Kittel, as the main man in a tarmac tear-up. The 29-year-old believes he will reach his peak during his 30s and is confident he is now at the right team . A significantly larger man than Cavendish — 6ft 2in plays 5ft 9in — Kittel is a powerhouse. But Cavendish makes the point that his best is yet to come because ‘sprinters often peak in their 30s’ and also says ‘it’s not simply about pure power’. ‘It’s not as scientific as you think,’ he says. ‘I know what weight I have to be.’ Which is what? ‘I know what weight I have to be.’ So he’s pretty confident he’s not past his best? ‘Yeah, I’m pretty confident I’m not past my best,’ he says, repeating the question virtually word for word. I mention his startling victories on the Champs Elysees in 2009 and 2010 — the first two of four successive wins in the final stage of the Tour — and ask him if he remains the same bike racer. ‘I don’t compare myself to then,’ he says. ‘But I’ve won six races by the end of February.’ It’s as simple as that? ‘It’s as simple as the fact that when I first came in, people looked at when I won,’ he says. ‘I’ve won so much now they only report when I lose.’ His take on Kittel is fascinating. He doesn’t refer to him by name and regards it more as a rivalry between teams than individuals. Cavendish, pictured during a race in Lido di Camaiore, has had a successful start to 2015 . ‘My team has had a rival,’ he says. ‘It has taken us three years (at Etixx-Quick Step) to piece a new team together. But now I’m pretty confident I’ve got the strongest lead-out team. He’s had a team that has been built around him for years. I lost a team that had been built around me, when HTC folded. We didn’t build anything at Sky. And it’s taken two, three years at Quick Step but now I believe we’re there. ‘Last year he (Kittel) only won one more race than me and I was out for half the season. Head to head, he’s probably got the better of me most times. But don’t forget the amount of times I’ve been in the final run-in and he’s already been dropped on a climb. ‘He’s supposed to be the best sprinter in the world, the most powerful rider in a sprint, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost anything. I win bike races.’ Even after all the he success he has enjoyed, the 43 grand tour stage wins, the world titles, Cavendish insists he remains as hungry as ever. And you can tell he is. You can tell he is miffed that people think there’s now somebody better out there, that he’s not the dominant force he once was. That he’s even now under pressure to secure a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of the season. ‘I still enjoy being the best,’ he says. ‘And I don’t just want to be the best I can be. I want to be the best of everyone. And I have another reason to want to be the best: it’s not just about me any more, it’s about my family and I want to be able to give them a good life. ‘But it’s not just a job. It’s still something I love. Cavendish is confident dopers will be kicked out of cycling because 'the system is working' Andre Agassi claimed in his autobiography Open that he did not like tennis despite his success . ‘You know in Andre Agassi’s book, where he says he didn’t like tennis? I’m telling you, he liked tennis. It was the stuff around it he probably got sick of. I understand that. But the core part of it, the thing that I love, is bike racing. I’m not fortunate to be where I am because I made it happen. But I feel lucky to be able to ride my bike for a living.’ He gives his view on the recent drug scandals — it should be pointed out that this interview was conducted before the publication of the CIRC report into the sport’s doping problem — with the same conviction. ‘There are always going to be d***heads,’ he says in reference to the five positives that could result in the Astana team losing its racing licence. ‘There are some guys, if I had a team, I wouldn’t touch. But there’s a lot of innocent people who are going to suffer now. ‘It’s f***ing stupid that there is five in one team. Like, come on, really? You have to have a problem. If you’re doping in cycling I can’t believe how s**t you must be as a cyclist. These guys aren’t even winning. When I started there were dopers. I don’t think it was rife but you could see it. But year on year it’s got better. ‘You still see it. It’s hard to explain. But when you are riding you know how it is to suffer. You know how you breathe, how you look. You can see when something isn’t right. But at least they are being caught. It shows the system is working.’ His final words, though, are for those whose work has been on the battlefield, who have been injured and are now striving to rebuild their lives with the amazing support of Help for Heroes. ‘It is an incredible charity and I find it humbling to be around them,’ he says. ‘These are the people who keep us safe.’ Mark Cavendish is encouraging Daily Mail readers to Ride with Heroes by signing up to the Help for Heroes Hero Ride 2015: the biggest ever cycling show of gratitude and support for our injured servicemen and women. Sign up at: . www.heroride.org.uk . +Chris Froome is scheduled for an early-season duel with his three main rivals for the 2015 Tour de France title - Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali - at the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race later this month. Tinkoff-Saxo boss Oleg Tinkov had hoped the quartet would line-up in all three Grand Tours - of France, Italy and Spain. That idea did not take off, but now Tinkov has his wish of seeing the four race each other before the Tour after organisers RCS Sport announced their participation in the Italy-based Tirreno-Adriatico race, which takes place from March 11 to 17. Chris Froome celebrates on the podium after winning the 61st Tour of Andalusia on February 21, 2015 . Froome will face his main rivals for the Tour de France in Italy; one of which is Vincenzo Nibali (pictured) The prospect of 2014 Tour de France winner Nibali competing is by no means certain, though, after the UCI, cycling's world governing body, asked its licence commission to withdraw the licence of his Astana team. If Nibali does take part it will be the first time the dominant four Grand Tour winners have all raced in the same WorldTour event, RCS Sport said. Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) is the defending champion of the 'Race of the Two Seas' and has won all three Grand Tours, as has Nibali, who won the 2012 and 2013 Tirreno-Adriatico. Froome, the 2013 Tour de France winner, will lead a Team Sky squad which is also slated to include Elia Viviani. The Italian will contest the sprints against Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) and Marcel Kittel (Team Giant-Alpecin), who has taken the Briton's mantle as the world's top sprinter in recent seasons. Alberto Contador (left) is another rider Froome is expected to face at the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race . Nairo Quintana makes up the four main contenders for the 2015 Tour de France title . +Briton Mark Cavendish on Sunday won Belgium one-day race Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The Etixx-QuickStep rider triumphed in a sprint finish ahead of Katusha's Alexander Kristoff and Team Sky's Elia Viviani. It was a second British win of the weekend after Ian Stannard (Team Sky) won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Mark Cavendish raises his hand in victory after winning in Belgian one-day race Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne . The Etixx-QuickStep rider (centre) celebrates alongside Alexander Kristoff (left) and Elia Viviani (right) Cavendish gets a kiss on the cheek from two podium girls after his victory in Belgium . Cavendish had been warned earlier this week that he must regain his status as the world's top sprinter to earn a lucrative contract extension at Etixx-QuickStep. The Manx Missile is in the final year of his three-year deal with the Belgian squad he joined after exiting Team Sky prematurely at the end of 2012, after one season. The 25 time Tour de France stage winner is 30 in May and has seen Marcel Kittel emerge as the dominant sprinter in recent seasons but his win in Belgium will certainly help his cause if he is to stay at Etixx-QuickStep. +While many have not been aware of the decade-long tradition at Delta Airlines, a heart-warming video shows one of the tributes performed by bag handlers as a fallen soldier and his dog are returned home. As the unidentified K9 soldier's flag-draped casket is taken off a plane at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Delta staff are seen standing as they salute on the tarmac during the ceremony. In the video, which was originally posted in April 2013, but has resurfaced touching many hearts, a smaller casket is also shown as the military animal is honored during the tribute. Scroll down for video . While many have not been aware of the decade-long tradition at Delta Airlines, a heart-warming video shows one of the tributes performed by bag handlers as a fallen soldier and his dog are returned home (above scenes from the tribute in 2013 at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport) In the video, which was originally posted in 2013, but has resurfaced touching many hearts, a smaller casket is also shown as the military animal is honored during the tribute (above Delta pilots shake hands with members of the Honor Guard service) The soldier and his bomb-sniffing dog were reportedly killed by an improvised explosive device, and the staff, both carefully handling their caskets and saluting, are a group of volunteers from the Delta Honor Guard service. During the moving February 2013 ceremony for the K9 soldier and his military dog, bag handlers are lined up holding flags behind the carrier transporting the caskets from the belly of the plane. There are flags represented for each branch of service as well as an American flag in the center, which are held at a 45 degree angle as the caskets emerge and are lowered, and a prayer is read before they are physically moved to a special flag-painted cart by the staff. Several other staff are seen observing the ceremony nearby during the rainy day, as travelers are seen in windows above filming and observing as well. During the moving ceremony for the K9 soldier and his military dog, bag handlers are lined up holding flags behind the carrier transporting the caskets from the belly of the plane (above flag handlers prepare to raise their flags as the casket is removed from the plane) There are flags represented for each branch of service as well as an American flag in the center, which are held at a 45 degree angle as the caskets emerge and are lowered, and a prayer is read before they are physically moved to a special flag-painted cart by the staff (above the prayer being read) The casket is moved to the special flag-painted cart during the ceremony honoring the soldier and his bomb-sniffing dog were reportedly killed by an improvised explosive device . Two military personnel and what appears to be two Delta pilots then shake the hands of each flag holder before the touching tribute ends. Ceremonies like this are held by volunteers for veterans and active military personnel who were killed in action, according to an earlier report from the AJC. In 2010, it was reported that five to six ceremonies were held each week on both departing and arriving flights after a former Delta bag handler and military veteran, Thomas Schenk, started the effort in 2005. In 2010, it was reported that five to six ceremonies were held each week on both departing and arriving flights after a former Delta bag handler and veteran, Thomas Schenk, started the effort in 2005 (above the military dog's casket is collected to be placed onto the special flag-painted cart) Two military personnel and what appears to be two Delta staff members then go and shake the hands of each flag holder before the touching tribute ends (above military personnel shaking hands with the Honor Guard service members as travelers inside the airport look on through windows from above) Brian McConnell, a 32-year Delta employee who has been involved with the Honor Guard service since 2006, took over the coordination of the ceremonies in 2008. While McConnell is not a veteran himself, his father was one and his son served in the Air Force in Afghanistan - so his involvement in the service, for this and among other reasons, is meaningful to him. The women and men of the employee-led Honor Guard, with several having served in the Armed Forces, have helped transport home more than 3,000 remains through Atlanta's airport, McConnell said in a report last year. The women and men of the employee-led Honor Guard, with several having served in the Armed Forces, have helped transport home more than 3,000 remains through Atlanta's airport (above the ceremony's end) Several other staff are seen observing the ceremony nearby during the rainy day, as travelers are seen in windows above filming and observing as well (above) He said: 'For nearly a decade, I've stood alongside a dedicated group of Delta Air Lines volunteers rain or shine to pay respects to our nation's fallen heroes as they transit through the world's busiest airport. 'As a member of the Delta Honor Guard, we take great pride in the humbling task of making sure the remains of these military fallen are well cared for as they make their way home.' McConnell added: 'It’s a sobering experience to stand in tribute while customers on board the airplane and in the terminal as well as the family and escort look on, but it’s our way of serving our country and ensuring our heroes are well cared for on their journey home.' The Honor Guard service has grown to include the cities of Minneapolis, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. +An imposter posing as a former Pakistan cricket star and repeatedly conned the BBC into paying him to appear on air as a pundit. Nadeem Alam posed as ex-batsman Nadeem Abbasi on BBC World News, BBC Asian Network and Radio Five Live, despite only ever playing for his home town of Huddersfield. His work even included a discussion with former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra. Now, Mr Abbasi is furious after becoming aware of the fraudster's antics - and blasted the Corporation for not checking their facts. Fake: Nadeem Alam repeatedly convinced the BBC he was as Pakistani cricket star Nadeem Abbasi . Mr Abbasi, who has played three Tests for Pakistan in 1989, is furious that the pretender has damaged his country's reputation and plans to punch him if they ever meet, The Sun reported. He told the newspaper : 'If I ever find Nadeem Alam, I will punch him in the face for damaging the country's reputation.' The 46-year-old, who now coaches a team in Rawalpindi, added: 'The BBC is a big institution and surely they must check?' He added his only media appearance was on Pakistani television during the World Cup in 1996. Real deal: Nadeeem Abbasi (pictured left) is furious after finding out about the fraudster's antics and blasted the BBC for not checking . He will take some comfort in Mr Alam's reassurance that he is 'no longer pretending to be Nadeem Abbasi'. But Mr Alam added that he believes his opinions have been 'good'. The 46-year-old, who has admitted posing as a squash player to blag free equipment, told The Sun: 'I like to think I have been talking good cricket.' A BBC spokesman said: 'We apologise to the real Mr Abbasi and we will be looking seriously into what has happened.' +Wilfried Zaha was happy to take one for the team after the Crystal Palace winger was involved in a nasty collision with the post as he opened the scoring against QPR on Saturday. The 22-year-old slid in at the back stick to turn home Yannick Bolasie's low cross knowing that he was on course to crash into the upright. 'I knew Bolasie was going to push it down the line, we've been doing it in training,' Zaha said during his post-match interview on BT Sport. Wilfired Zaha slid in at the back post to turn home Bolasie's low cross to give Palace a first-half lead . The 22-year-old beat QPR full back Yun Suk-Young to poke the ball home from close range . Zaha's momentum took him and Puncheon crashing into the post as both Palace players required treatment . 'I had to get on the end of it, so if it meant colliding with the post, I had to. I was just glad to get the goal. 'I just got to do the right thing and ice it because it will definitely hurt tomorrow, but no pain, no gain.' After Palace beat Saturday's opponents 3-1 at Selhurst Park Zaha refused to get carried away as Alan Pardew's side close in on the top half of the table. The former Manchester United winger grimaces after smacking against the post . Zaha lays on the turf injured after the collision with the upright and later had to be substituted . 'Theres a lot to be done so we'll take every game as it comes. I don't know how high we can go, we're playing well. We've got to keep a steady head.' James McArthur and Joel Ward added two goals in ninety seconds just before half time as Palace ran riot in the opening 45 before Matt Phillips pulled a goal back for the visitors with a 40-yard stunner in the second half. +A limp and lifeless Queens Park Rangers were destroyed by Crystal Palace, leaving their Barclays Premier League future severely in doubt. In a first half of utter domination the home side went three goals ahead with only three shots on target, while QPR failed to muster a single one. Already three points adrift of safety ahead of kick-off, QPR manager Chris Ramsey knew how imperative it was to get something from this game. His players did not respond. Joel Ward wheels away in celebration after finding the bottom corner with a well-placed effort to make it 3-0 to Crystal Palace . Ward gets his hot away just before QPR midfielder Sandro can get a block in as Palace raced into a 3-0 first-half lead . Ward heads towards team-mate Wilfried Zaha, who set up the goal with a brilliant run and pass . Crystal Palace (4-4-1-1): Speroni 6; Ward 7.5, Dann 7, Delaney 7, Kelly 7; Zaha 8.5 (Mariappa 57 6), Ledley 7, McArthur 7.5, Bolasie 8; Puncheon 7 (Gayle 55 6.5); Murray 6.5 (Sanogo 80). Subs nots used: Hennessey, Hangeland, Ameobi, Souare . Booked: Murray . Scorer(s): Zaha 21, McArthur 41, Ward 42 . Manager: Alan Pardew 8 . QPR (4-4-1-1): Green 5; Furlong 3.5 (Hill 46 6), Caulker 5, Onuoha 4.5, Suk-Young 5; Wright-Phillips 4 (Vargas 85), Sandro 6 (Kranjcar 84), Henry 4.5, Phillips 6; Taarabt 6; Austin 5.5. Subs not used: McCarthy, Hoilett, Zamora, Grego-Cox . Booked: Sandro, Onuoha, Henry . Scorer(s): Phillips 83 . Manager: Chris Ramsey 4 . Referee: Lee Mason . Attendance: 24,886 . Wilfried Zaha terrorised the QPR defence down the Palace right. CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE . The first came after 21 minutes, Yannick Bolasie bursting down the left, easily past 19-year-old right-back Darnell Furlong, and sending a low ball across the box which Wilfried Zaha was able to slide in at the back post. He was almost split in two by the upright in the process, and was eventually substituted in the second half, given a standing ovation by the adoring Selhurst Park crowd for netting his first goal since making a permanent move back to south London in January. ‘If it meant colliding with the post, I had to get my goal,’ said Zaha, who had gingerly limped off, afterwards. ‘It will definitely hurt, but no pain, no gain. ‘We’ve been talking all week about getting into the box so as soon as Yannick got the ball I knew I had to get in there and get on the end of it.’ It took another 20 minutes for the second, Bolasie again simply out-pacing Furlong down the left and crossing low again. This time goalkeeper Rob Green got a hand to the ball but could not divert it out of the path of James McArther who finished into the open net. Matt Phillips unleashed a ferocious strike from 40 yards that found the top corner to pull a goal back for the visitors . Phillips' effort dipped and swerved past Julian Speroni but it was too little too late for Rangers, who fell to another away defeat . Phillips grabs the ball in a hurry as he makes his way back to the centre spot as QPR sense a late comeback . Bolasie’s relentless dismantling of teenager Furlong was painful to watch, like a grown man putting a puppy into a sack and repeatedly kicking it. But he was afforded some respite, at least, for the third, just 60 seconds later this time. Palace probed down the other flank, Zaha using skill to outwit a few QPR players before passing into Joel Ward who took a touch before bending the ball through a flurry of players and bouncing agonisingly into the far left of goal. Furlong, playing only his third game for QPR, was hooked at half-time, Clint Hill coming in at centre-back and Nedum Onuoha moving to right-back to try to deal with Bolasie’s threat. QPR manager Chris Ramsey claimed it was due to injury. ‘Darnell came off for no other reason that he’s got a bad calf,’ he said. ‘His calf stiffened up and it wouldn’t be fair to the boy to keep the boy on there hobbling.’ Ward is congratulated by team-mates James McArthur and Scott Dann after firing Palace into an unassailable lead against QPR . James McArthur doubled the home side's lead five minutes before half-time after tapping Yannick Bolasie's low cross into an empty net . McArthur leaps to his feet in celebration as he heads towards the provider Bolasie as Palace took a firm a grip on proceedings . Midfielder McArthur points to his shin with a smile on his face appearing to suggest the ball hadn't gone in off his boot . If Darnell was the puppy of the side, his team-mates finally produced some bite in the second half, even if it was all too late. They finally got an effort on target, after 72 minutes. From who else but Charlie Austin? The striker reached a cross first but could only direct at tame header down the middle which Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni held. Then, out of nowhere, they pulled one back in the final 10 minutes, with one of the strikes of the season. Matt Phillips picked the ball up in the middle of the park and took a touch before belting an effort over Speroni and into the top left corner from 40 yards. With one minute remaining of the 90 he almost struck again, this time hitting a first-time drive from slightly to the right of goal, but Speroni was alert and dived to push it wide. Former Manchester United winger Wilfired Zaha slid in at the back post to turn home Bolasie's low cross to give Palace a first-half lead . The 22-year-old beat team-mate Jason Puncheon and QPR full back Yun Suk-Young to poke the ball home from close range . Zaha's momentum took him and Puncheon crashing into the post as both Palace players required treatment . Zaha and Puncheon both lay on the floor in pain after colliding with the post before both players were able to continue . James McArthur calls over to the bench for medical assistance as Palace's celebrations were cut short after taking the lead in the 21st minute . Palace manager Alan Pardew is targeting finishing above former club Newcastle, who he left in a shock move in December but has since reeled them to within reach. ‘I said to the players when I arrived to look above because if you look below there is anxiety and pressure,’ Pardew revealed. ‘You can't play like that. ‘You have to try to Newcastle, whoever is above us. We're above Everton, that was a bit of goal for us. Can we stay above them?’ But time is running out for QPR to stay in the league. ‘I’m hoping nine games is enough,’ Ramsey added. ‘That’s all that I’ve got, so we’ll go for it as best we can. ‘They’re still unified in what we’re trying to do, and all we can do really is to keep fighting.’ Even getting a stunning consolation goal flattered QPR at the final whistle and the fight is beginning to drain from them. +England may be pondering a recall for Jonathan Trott but Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees are ready and waiting to answer the call should selectors opt for new blood in the West Indies. England play three Tests in the Caribbean next month, where they will hope to shake off the ignominy of their woeful World Cup campaign. The identity of captain Alastair Cook's batting partner is likely to be one of the most vexed questions during selection meetings this week, with incumbent Sam Robson on shaky ground and Trott reportedly being considered for the first time since departing the 2013/14 Ashes with a stress-related condition. Jonathan Trott is reportedly being considered for an England recall ahead of West Indies tour . Yorkshire batsmen Adam Lyth (left) and Alex Lees are ready and willing to provide top order cover . He made his name as a No 3 but with another Yorkshire batsman, Gary Ballance, having made that slot his own, Trott is being considered for a promotion. Even if the 33-year-old travels, England may be tempted to take top-order cover and the title-winning pairing are first in line. Lyth was the top scorer in Division One of the LV= County Championship last summer, making 1489 runs and scoring six centuries, while 21-year-old Lees made 971 runs is rated as one of the country's brightest prospects. 'I feel like I've had a good winter with England Lions and hopefully I get the telephone call which I think I thoroughly deserve,' Lyth told Sportsmail. 'I'm looking forward to what might come for me. You can see how many people in recent years have gone on from playing Lions cricket to representing England and hopefully I can be the next one. Lees and Lyth were instrumental in winning the LV County Championship with Yorkshire last year . Trott has not been selected by England since departing the 2013/14 Ashes with a stress related condition . 'If that's not the case all I can do is keep scoring runs for Yorkshire.' Lyth and Lees are an unusual study in partners as rivals - as well as batting together throughout the county season they also played for the Lions in South Africa over the winter. Even now they are leading rival Yorkshire teams in an inter-club friendly in Abu Dhabi, but their relationship remains strong. 'Of course I get on really well with Alex and if he gets the nod I'll give him a pat on the back and say well done, but I obviously hope it's me,' added Lyth. Captain Eoin Morgan faces the press after England's disastrous exit from the Cricket World Cup . England vice captain Jos Buttler looks dejected as he leaves the field following defeat by Bangladesh . Lees is aware of the interest he has attracted as a stylish young opener, but is attempting to remain on an even keel as speculation over a Test call builds. 'I know I've had a good 18 months or so but I've got to keep knocking on the door and getting those runs,' he told PA. 'Personally the talk doesn't affect me, positive or negative, because people are always going to have their opinion on you and you just have to focus on your game. 'There is a spot with England and there's a few players in the mix. I think there will be an opportunity for somebody this year. 'It's quite refreshing that both me and Lythy are in the mix, we can really push each other on to be our best. 'That's good for us and hopefully it's good for Yorkshire.' +Dimitri Mascarenhas has been appointed bowling coach by New Zealand. The former England all-rounder replaces Shane Bond who will leave the role after the current World Cup. The 37-year-old, who played 20 one-day internationals, is currently coaching New Zealand's Otago province and previously coached in the English county championship, the Indian Premier League and Australia's Big Bash League. Dimitri Mascarenhas (right) played 20 one-day internationals for England . Mascarenhas hits a six off India's Yuvraj Singh in September 2007 - one of five successive sixes in one over . Mascarenhas said Bond 'has done an extremely good job with his bowling unit; they have operated with real pace, skill and tactical awareness. 'During this World Cup they have been phenomenal and I am looking forward to working with those guys to keep developing them and helping them achieve success on the international stage.' Mascharenhas's most famous moment in an England shirt came when he blasted five sixes in succession off the final five balls of England's innings against India at The Oval in September 2007. Yuvraj Singh was the embarrassed bowler. +England could be looking for a new bowling coach for the Ashes after David Saker confirmed he would be returning to his native Australia to coach Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. Saker, 48, who has been with England for five years, has a six-month termination clause in his ECB contract, which could yet mean he sees out the summer in this country before heading home. But he is keen to move back to Australia sooner rather than later, and also hopes to become head coach of a state side in the first-class Sheffield Shield competition – with Victoria the favourites. England bowling coach David Saker has confirmed his return to Australia with Melbourne Renegades . Saker, pictured speaking to James Anderson, has worked with the England team for the last five years . If the ECB do allow Saker to head home before the Australians arrive to defend the Ashes this summer, that could pave the way for the return of Ottis Gibson, who quit as West Indies coach last year and was Saker's predecessor in the England fast-bowling role. Saker told the Melbourne Age: 'My first three years in the job for English cricket was a bit of a fairytale. But like most things it's hard to keep that form up. We lost some senior players, which made it a little bit harder. 'I'm sure everyone in the Australian camp don't think they can just walk up and win the Ashes. If they think that they've got something very wrong with them, because England in England are always hard to beat.' Saker's exit could open the door for Ottis Gibson, pictured with Anderson in 2007, to return to the role . The 48-year-old, pictured with Chris Woakes, could yet see out the summer with England . +Kevin Pietersen has been in talks with Surrey ‘for several weeks’ about a possible return to county cricket after approaching senior figures at the ECB about a shock international comeback before new chairman Colin Graves was appointed. The 34-year-old batsman’s hopes of an England return are gaining momentum, with Surrey seriously interested in re-signing the maverick star provided he is released from his Indian Premier League contract. Sportsmail understands Pietersen, currently exiled from the England squad after being sacked by team managing director Paul Downton, has been talking to Surrey’s director of cricket Alec Stewart, who is known to be open to him re-signing if he becomes available for all three formats - and not just Twenty20 cricket as he has been in the past. Kevin Pietersen has been in talks with Surrey about a possible return as he plans an England comeback . Pietersen is willing to turn his back on the Indian Premier League in order to represent England . The batsman has been talking to Surrey’s director of cricket Alec Stewart - who is open to his return . It emerged on Saturday that Pietersen’s IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad are unlikely to object to releasing the star, leaving the unlikely prospect of Pietersen forgoing the IPL to play in the County Championship second division this summer in a bid to resurrect his England career. With incoming chairman Graves showing an appetite for significant regime change at the ECB, he has told Pietersen he will be considered for England selection again if he scores heavily in county cricket. It is understood Pietersen first made contact with the ECB before Graves appointment was announced last month. ‘There will be a change of scenery at board level with the ECB and I’ve always expressed my desire to play for England again if I get the opportunity,’ Pietersen told Fox News on Saturday. Pietersen, pictured in 2008, would have to repair his relationship with England boss Peter Moores . ‘It seems encouraging but I’ve obviously got a few steps that I’ve got to climb. It just makes perfect sense to explore different things, that’s what I’m doing. I’ve still got more decisions to make - it’s the weekend now so nobody will be picking up their phones, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday it’ll be very exciting hopefully.’ Downton’s decision to sack Pietersen following last winter’s crushing 5-0 Ashes whitewash was welcomed by senior players in the dressing room who were further angered by the star’s autobiography. The relative paucity of Pietersen’s current IPL deal - which at £205,000 is worth barely 20 per cent of any of his previous deals - is understood to be a factor in his willingness to return to the grind of county cricket. At the centre of his attempt to return is the imminent departure of ECB chairman Giles Clarke, who clashed repeatedly with Pietersen following his requests for special treatment over his release for IPL duty. Pietersen's England future lies in the hands of new ECB chairman Colin Graves . England’s players would resist Pietersen’s return but their position has been weakened by their dire form since he was sacked. ‘They’d just have to suck it up if he does come back,’ said one insider on Saturday. If Pietersen - who has a debilitating knee condition - does re-sign for Surrey he would have just three County Championship games to prove himself ahead of England’s first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s on May 21 before the Ashes later in the summer. England name their squad for the Test tour of West Indies on Wednesday, with injury doubts hanging over Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, while Jonathan Trott is in line for a recall. +Mercedes . Engine: Mercedes . 44 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Age: 30 . Grand Prix: 148 . Wins: 33 . 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Age: 29 . Grand Prix: 166 . Wins: 8 . Hamilton has got the confidence, but we do know that he can be fragile — his gaffe during qualifying for the British Grand Prix last year is a good example. Rosberg has a lot to prove, but he will undoubtedly learn from his mistakes. He will come back stronger. Nico Rosberg drives the new Mercedes car during testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain on March 1 . Red Bull . Engine: Renault . 3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Age: 25 . Grand Prix: 69 . Wins: 3 . 26 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Age: 20 . Grand Prix: 19 . Wins: 0 . New Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat takes the 2015 car round the track in Barcelona during a filming day . Williams . Engine: Mercedes . 19 Felipe Massa (Bra) Age: 33 . Grand Prix: 212 . Wins: 11 . 77 Valtteri Bottas . Age: 25 . Grand Prix: 38 . Wins: 0 . The flair and experience of Massa is balanced by the steely determination of Bottas, who I expect to lead the charge to Mercedes on a consistent basis. Massa is a great character and I hope he gets some good results, such as his pole position in Austria last year. Felipe Massa takes the WIlliams for a spin during testing in Barcelona at the end of February . Ferrari . Engine: Ferrari . 5 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Age: 27 . Grand Prix: 139 . Wins: 39 . 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Age: 35 . Grand Prix: 213 . Wins: 20 . There is less pressure on Vettel because it is a fresh challenge. It is the first time he has flown the nest and I expect to see him develop. Kimi was fantastic at races in 2013 but at the same events last year he was nowhere. The car will be better and I hope it gives him what he needs. Sebastian Vettel has moved from Red Bull to Ferrari for the 2015 season . McLaren . Engine: Honda . 14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Age: 33 . Grand Prix's 236 . Wins: 32 . 22 Jenson Button (GBR) Age: 35 . Grand Prix's 268 . Wins: 15 . All team bosses nominated Alonso as the driver they would want, but he clearly has problems. Keeping Jenson was right, too, but the car is not where it needs to be. They finished fifth in 2014 with the best engine but have changed to Honda, so my gut says they will not improve. Great Britain's Jenson Button drives the new Honda powered McLaren at testing this month . Force India . Engine: Mercedes . 27 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Age: 27 . Grand Prix: 77 . Wins: 0 . 11 Sergio Perez (Mex) Age: 25 . Grand Prix: 77 . Wins: 0 . Hulkenberg is one of the stars but he has not been in the environment to win races, and I don’t know if he’ll achieve that at Force India. Last year Perez outshone him. Hulkenberg needs to be dominant if he wants to join a big team like Perez did at McLaren. Force India's Sergio Perez puts the car through its paces at the Circuit de Catalunya . Toro Rosso . Engine: Renault . 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr (Spa) Age: 20 . Grand Prix: 0 . Wins: 0 . 33 Max Verstappen (Hol) Age: 17 . Grand Prix: 0 . Wins: 0 . It is the youngest driver pairing in F1 history, but I like it. With greater experience, Jnr is who you would expect to lead the team, but I think we are going to get a big surprise from Max. He hardly made a mistake in testing, doesn’t miss apexes or lock brakes and looks in control. Toro Rosso's 17-year-old rookie Max Verstappen tests the new car earlier this month . Lotus . Engine: Mercedes . 8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Age: 28 . Grand Prix: 64 . Wins: 0 . 13 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Age: 29 . Grand Prix: 77 . Wins: 1 . I’m a big Grosjean fan, but the car was not very good last year and he struggled. If the team can deliver on performance — they have changed from Renault to Mercedes engines — we will see him up there. Pastor can deliver but he also crashes. He must reduce those incidents. Pastor Maldonado tests the new Lotus car at the circuit on the outskirts of Barcelona . Sauber . Engine: Ferrari . 9 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Age: 24 . Grand Prix: 16 . Wins: 0 . 12 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Age: 22 . Grand Prix: 0 . Wins: 0 . A new driver line-up, with Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez leaving. Marcus Ericsson failed to set the world alight at Caterham in 2014, while Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr battled for last year’s GP2 championship. Each brings £12m in sponsorship to the cash-strapped outfit. Felipe Nasr, who will be making his Formula One debut, tests the new Sauber . Manor . Engine: Ferrari . - Will Stevens (GBR) Age: 23 . Grand Prix: 1 . Wins: 0 . Will Stevens has got his chance but the big story here is that the team are on the grid and that really makes me smile. I am very pleased for all the guys there because they are racers with real passion. Why not give Paul di Resta a chance alongside the former Caterham driver? He would be exactly the type of character that Manor needs. The F1 season kicks off with the Australian GP on Sunday, March 15. Watch highlights on BBC One at 13.15, listen live on Radio 5 live and follow all the action on the BBC Sport website. +Wayne Rooney has revealed he will have a special companion by his side when he takes to the field at Old Trafford on Sunday - his eldest son Kai. Last November Kai and his younger brother Klay were mascots when their father won his 100th England cap against Slovenia at Wembley. And the striker revealed in a post on Instagram on Saturday evening that five-year-old Kai will accompany him on to the pitch for the Spurs game in Manchester this weekend. Wayne Rooney will walk out with his son Kai by his side on Sunday, as he did before England vs Slovenia . Rooney will hope he gets a similar result, after scoring twice last time his son was mascot . 'Big game tomorrow against Tottenham at Old Trafford. Looking forward to walking out again with my son Kai as mascot!' the 29-year-old United captain wrote next to a picture of him and his two sons on the pitch before the Slovenia match. Rooney scored the opening goal in a 3-1 win that night and United will be hoping for a similar result when they face their rivals for Champions League qualification on Sunday. For Rooney's 100th cap he brought both kids onto the pitch, but on Sunday just Kai will be mascot . Rooney is in good form at the moment, with three goals in his last three games, since being moved up front . +England will leave a World Cup they can hardly be said to have graced having at least avoided another catastrophe in their final pretty meaningless match. When you have been as desperate as England in this tournament any win is a good one so they will be relieved to have avoided what would have been the most embarrassing defeat of them all. A gloomy, miserable Sydney day matched the mood and turned this dead rubber into a damp one, with England winning a truncated contest with ease. Ian Bell plays a shot as England cruise to victory against Afghanistan in their final match of the 2015 Cricket World Cup . Bell acknowledges the crowd after reaching his half-century towards the end of the match in Sydney . Bell (right) and James Taylor leave the field after securing a second victory for England at the Cricket World Cup . England coach Peter Moores is pictured following the conclusion of the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground . Afghanistan's Hamid Hassan (right) appeals unsuccessfully as England go on to claim victory . England bowler Chris Jordan (right) is presented with the Player of the Match award after posting figures of 2-13 . It will mean little to them but at least England avoided statistically their worst World Cup of all, their victories over Scotland and now Afghanistan matching their miserly returns of 1996 when they could defeat just Holland and the United Arab Emirates. This, though, feels much worse. The statistics, if we can dare mention them, will say that Afghanistan could only manage 111 for seven in the 36.2 overs that the weather allowed them before the third of three rain breaks brought their innings to a premature close. Then England, set 101 to win in 25 overs by Duckworth-Lewis, cruised home while losing just one wicket with 41 balls in hand, helped by a quite shocking fielding performance from Afghanistan. Alex Hales was dropped twice, both by Najibullah Zadran off the bowling of Shapoor Zadran, but showed the hitting he is capable of in reaching 37 before Afghanistan finally held on to a chance. And Ian Bell, playing in his 161st and surely his last one-day international for England with a new era about to dawn, signed off with an unbeaten 52. A general view of the Sydney Cricket Ground during a rain delay as dark clouds gather above the stadium . England captain Eoin Morgan (second left) walks off with Ian Bell as rain falls in Sydney on Friday . Groundsmen cover the pitch as the rain comes down on a wet afternoon in the Australian city . A steward stands in the rain as play is delayed due to the damp conditions in Sydney . Afghanistan's Nasir Jamal (left) plays a shot into the leg side on his way to scoring 17 runs . Shafiqullah is out as England fielder Ravi Bopara takes a successful catch to dismiss the Afghanistan batsman . Now England will slink off home on Saturday with much to contemplate if they are ever to have a chance of catching up with the big-hitters of this tournament who have simply left them behind in 50-over cricket. What cricket there was on Friday went England’s way, as it should against a team who have only been playing official cricket for the last 14 years. England had little to gain in their final group game and even more to lose against an Afghan team who have proved themselves here to be more than capable of causing some anxious moments for the established teams. But Afghanistan struggled against the moving ball and under leaden Sydney skies after Eoin Morgan had won an important toss in what might be the last game of his short reign as England’s one-day captain. Morgan is one of a number of senior England players who will have to wait and see whether they have a future in limited-overs cricket if the selectors take their only feasible option of starting from scratch with a new, young team. Two others who may be told to just concentrate on Test cricket in future are the established opening bowling pair of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad but both proved more than a handful for the inexperienced Afghan batsmen. Stuart Broad (second right) celebrates with his England team-mates after taking the wicket of Javed Ahmadi . Bell dives to his left to field a ball during Afghanistan's opening innings on Friday afternoon . Afghanistan's Jamal (left) walks off the field as Bopara (centre) celebrates with England team-mate James Taylor (right) England's James Tredwell (left) attempts to run out Najibullah Zadran but the Afghanistan batsman was safe . Neither Anderson nor Broad have been at their best here, one of the many reasons why England have struggled, but at least they will be pleased with how they finished, both picking up a wicket and conceding just 18 runs each. England were without the injured pair of Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali and the men who stood in for them could also be satisfied with their work. The decision to leave out Ravi Bopara on the eve of the tournament to replace him with Gary Ballance is one of many to backfire on England and here he showed that he is more than capable of doing a decent job in the field. Bopara picked up two wickets and took an outstanding catch in the deep to give himself something to remember if he too is playing his last England game. James Tredwell has suffered because of the rise of Moeen as an off-spinner but he was as steady as ever here while the pick of the England bowlers was Chris Jordan, something for them to cling to as they ponder the future. The World Cup, which has confirmed that 50-over cricket is very much alive and kicking in the Twenty20 era, will now go on without England and the sad truth is that they will not be missed at all. They have to start all over again now. Shafiqullah (centre) and Jamal (left) take a drinks break during the Pool A match in Sydney . Afghanistan fans show their support with flags and banners in the stands of the Sydney Cricket Ground . England fans dress up for their country's final match at this year's Cricket World Cup on Friday . +The 'disgraceful' reaction from Chelsea players forced referee Bjorn Kuipers to send off Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the ill-tempered Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge, said Sportsmail's Jamie Carragher. Carragher's fellow Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness went further, branding Jose Mourinho's players 'pathetic', but co-commentator Gary Neville defended the Blues for being 'shrewd'. Ibrahimovic was sent off after a lunging challenge on Chelsea's Oscar on the half hour mark but it appeared harsh as both players made forceful tackles. Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is shown a red card for fouling Oscar . The Chelsea players swarm around the referee with team-mate Oscar lying injured on the floor . Ibrahimovic is clearly dejected having been sent off after a collision with Oscar in the first-half . Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher labelled Chelsea players a 'disgrace' for their reaction to Ibrahimovic . The 33-year-old seemed apologetic as soon as he realised the impact of his challenge before the Chelsea players swarmed the referee demanding action. 'It was very unfortunate, it’s not a red card. I actually think he’s trying to pull his foot away. You look at it and you think Oscar’s foot is as high, if not higher,' Carragher said on Sky Sports. ‘If the referee is the other side then the referee might look at Oscar and give the decision the other way.' Carragher insisted the actions from the Chelsea players were the deciding factor in the dismissal. Jamie Carragher (left) and Graeme Souness (second right) slammed the behaviour of the Chelsea players . The 33-year-old heads into this challenge with Oscar (left) in the first-half which got him sent off . 'The reaction from the Chelsea players is disgraceful. It’s something that is sad that is coming into the game. It comes from I think Jose Mourinho’s teams, they have this reaction, it’s not a one off,' added Carragher. Souness branded the actions of Chelsea's squad 'pathetic'. He said: 'In Jamie’s (Carragher) generation, when someone caught you, the last thing you wanted to show your opponent is that you’re injured, today it’s the exact opposite. If someone brushes you, you want to go down and get them in trouble. That’s how pathetic it is. 'Thank goodness PSG stood up to that and leave here with great credit. They are the proper team.' Former Manchester United captain Neville disagreed with his colleagues. He said: ‘Listening to the lads at half-time, I’m not as damning about Chelsea reacting because partly times it happened during my career when you tried to influence the referee. But for far too many times you’ve seen naive English teams in Europe, that have been done on occasions like that. The PSG forward immediately acknowledged his fault in the incident having collided with Oscar . ‘Here, we’ve got a team that is shrewd. People at home might not like it but if the boot was on the other foot we’d be calling PSG shrewd. They play the game, that’s what you need to do in European competition over the last 20, 30 years. It’s different trying to gain those advantages. ‘I like the idea that it’s an English team that is shrewd and not the opposition. It comes from Mourinho, he knows how to play the game.’ However, Neville did acknowledge it was a harsh decision on Ibrahimovic:  'It's not a red card for me, I think that's a poor decision from the referee. He must have got his red card out within two or three seconds.' Chelsea captain John Terry (left) reacts after Ibrahimovic's tackle on Oscar in the first-half at Stamford Bridge . At half-time, Carragher had also suggested that such intimidation comes from their manager Mourinho: 'I always think with Mourinho’s teams that they will always be respected but they’ll never be loved because of situations like this. 'They take winning to another level that no other team or manager does that I’ve seen over the years.' Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho gestures his dissatisfaction as his side crashed out of the Champions League . 'We all want to win but the reaction of the Chelsea players has definitely played a part and Jose Mourinho’s words in the press conference have worked.' Mourinho, in his post-match interview after his side were beaten on away goals, bemoaned PSG’s apparent time wasting but Carragher dismissed such claims as hypocrisy. ‘Mourinho is the master of time wasting and he did that from the first two minutes at Anfield last year (when Chelsea all but ended Liverpool’s title hopes),' he said. 'I’m not criticising him, I applauded him at the time and I know it’s part of the game, but he can’t complain about PSG and that English football is clean as the only dirty tricks we saw were from Chelsea by surrounding the referee and the reaction was disgraceful.’ The striker is consoled by PSG boss Laurent Blanc as he trudges off the pitch at Stamford Bridge . Carragher also questioned the quality of the Premier League after Chelsea crashed out: 'As a football person you want to see the best teams go through, we want the English teams to do well, to go through and represent our country,' he said at full-time. 'You think of the TV deal, the money we’ve got, we’re getting kidded. You see some of the players PSG have got. Now they’ve paid big money as well but you look at Arsenal, Man City. We’re supposed to be the biggest league in the world, with the best players. We are miles away.' Former Chelsea defender David Luiz jumps into the air in celebration having fired PSG back into the tie . Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness branded the Chelsea players 'pathetic' for their antics on Wednesday . In the Sky studio at full-time Souness was keen to highlight Chelsea's behaviour was 'unacceptable' and was full of praise for the Parisians: . 'It hurts me to say this but Chelsea earlier with their shenanigans early on, with the manager coming out with his talk that this is the most aggressive team we’ve ever played. Saying they are over physical, Mourinho is having a laugh,' Souness told Sky Sports. 'This is a team that is full of technique, a really good footballing team. They had to put up with a lot of stuff I find really unappealing. The Chelsea players are stunned as they were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday . 'That is from other players, the minute they come out of the tunnel, the first minute of the game, they are looking to get the opposition in trouble, get them booked, see if they can get them sent off. The reaction from the Chelsea players on the challenge on Oscar opitimises what I’m saying,' added Souness. 'To a man they were surrounding the referee, even Costa ran 50 yards to get involved. Oscar originally wasn’t going to get involved and then you can see in the pictures that as soon as his team-mates all raising their arms around the referee, then he gets involved. 'That’s something we can deal without, It’s not the British way of doing things and it is creeping into our game which I find it totally unacceptable.' Luiz and the PSG squad celebrate moving into the quarter-finals in front of their adouring fans . +La Liga champions Atletico Madrid surrendered third place in La Liga to Valencia when they had Miranda sent off for a brutal challenge in first-half added time and were held to a 0-0 draw at mid-table Espanyol on Saturday. Atletico had the better chances at Espanyol's Cornella-El Prat stadium in Barcelona before centre back Miranda was shown a straight red card when he felled Abraham with a leading arm as the pair jumped for a bouncing ball. Forward Fernando Torres had forced a fine save from Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla in the 11th minute and midfielder Koke fired narrowly wide a minute later. Miranda (centre) is shown a red card after a tough challenge on Espanyol's Cornella-El Prat . Diego Simeone barks instructions his his players during the 0-0 draw at the Power 8 Stadium . Playing with a man fewer in the second period Atletico struggled to create scoring opportunities but Raul Garcia came close to breaking the deadlock 13 minutes from time when his low shot was brilliantly tipped away by Casilla. Atletico, who are without a win in their last four games and need to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Bayer Leverkusen in a Champions League last 16, second leg tie on Tuesday, have 56 points in fourth with 11 games left. Valencia have 57 after Friday's 2-0 success at home to Deportivo La Coruna, while fifth-placed Sevilla (49) can close to within four points of Atletico by beating Elche on Sunday. Barcelona (62) can stretch their lead at the top over second-placed Real Madrid (61) to four points with a win at Eibar later on Saturday. Real, who play the 'Clasico' at Barca next weekend and are winless in their last three outings, host struggling Levante on Sunday. Antoine Greizmann (left) looks to evade the challenge of Anaitz Arbilla during the first half . +The brilliance of the Daily Mail’s sports pages has been recognised at the Sports Journalists’ Association 2014 awards ceremony in London with the newspaper winning an unparalleled five top prizes. The Mail was crowned Sports Newspaper of the Year for the second successive year and Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel did the double by being named both Sports Columnist of the Year and Sports Writer of the Year. For Samuel, it was a record-equalling sixth Sports Writer of the Year title after he picked up the award in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Martin Samuel picked up the Sports Writer of the Year award for a record-equalling sixth time on Monday . Matt Lawton, the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday’s Chief Sports Reporter, collected the Sports News Reporter of the Year award. Sportsmail photographer Graham Chadwick won the award for the Sports News Picture of the Year. Jack Gaughan and Adam Crafton were highly commended in the Young Sports Journalist of the Year category. The Mail on Sunday’s Chief Sports News Correspondent, Nick Harris, picked up the Specialist Sports Website award for Sporting Intelligence. Martin Samuel, Graham Chadwick, head of sport Lee Clayton and Matt Lawton (left-right) pose for a photo on a successful night for Sportsmail at the 2014 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards . +Salford half-back Theo Fages has accepted a two-match ban for foul play. The France international admitted a grade C charge of making dangerous contact on Castleford hooker Adam Milner during Red Devils' 30-16 defeat by the Tigers last Friday. Fages' ban will start with Thursday's home game against Widnes. Castleford forwards Nathan Massey and Matt Cook will miss Friday's home game against Hull after being given one-match bans for striking in the same match. Salford half-back Theo Fages has accepted a two-match ban for foul play . Cook submitted an early-guilty plea while Massey was found guilty by a disciplinary tribunal and also fined £300. It was the first suspension of Massey's career and was imposed despite the support of his 'victim' Rangi Chase. 'Want to say thanks to @Rangi06Chase for submitting a letter to help us in are appeal,' Massey tweeted. 'didnt have to wanted to help out, class act.' +Wigan coach Shaun Wane is hoping a series of cross-code training sessions with Bath can help kick-start his side's Super League campaign. The Warriors, who go into Friday's home game against Wakefield on the back of just two wins from their first six matches, have spent two days on a shared training camp at Orrell with Mike Ford's Premiership outfit. Wane, who reciprocated Bath's hospitality from last August, says his kickers picked up tips from their rugby union counterparts and that all his players will have benefited from lining up against the unknown in opposed training sessions. Wigan Warriors head coach Shaun Wane has been pleased with his side's training sessions with Bath . 'They looked after us last year at Bath and when we came back we went on a decent run in the play-offs so it paid off,' Wane said. 'We wanted to return the favour and we've had a great couple of days with them. 'We're running against players who don't know our systems so it's been really beneficial. We run against our 19s every day and they know what we're going to do so it's been a big help that way. 'We're trying to get benefits for both clubs. It was important to me that we got something out of and it wasn't all about them learning from us.' Bath head coach Mike Ford invited Wigan to come train with his side at the Rec in August . +Ben Evans has had surgery after rupturing his hamstring against St Helens . Warrington's Wales international Ben Evans is set to spend around four months recuperating from a ruptured hamstring. The 22-year-old prop suffered the horrific injury during the Wolves' 32-24 defeat by Super League leaders St Helens last Thursday. He spent the weekend in London, where he underwent surgery, before returning to Warrington on Sunday night. 'It was a particularly nasty injury and he was in a considerable amount of discomfort at the time,' Warrington assistant coach Richard Agar said. 'But they got him off to hospital as soon as they possibly could and got him down to London the next day to see the specialist. 'He's had a fairly extensive operation to re-attach it but it's going to be a long injury. The first estimates are around four months but all that will depend on the success of the operation and how he rehabs. 'If it goes well for him, he will have a chance of playing again this year and at this place he is going to get the best medical care.' The Wales international (centre) will be sidelined, alongside brother Rhys, for around four months . Evans will have the company of his twin brother Rhys, the Warrington winger, during his recovery period. Rhys underwent shoulder surgery after damaging it during the Wolves' World Club Series clash with St George Illawarra in February and is facing a similar length of time on the sidelines. 'It's sad for Ben because he's got an opportunity that he had been patiently waiting for,' added Agar. 'Both him and Rhys have now picked up sizeable injuries and will be out for a similar length of time.' +Two Utah police officers have been suspended without pay over a risque video shoot featuring bikini-clad women firing high-powered weapons. The Utah Department of Public Safety imposed the discipline in December on Rob Wilkinson, a Utah Highway Patrol sergeant, and Justin Hansen, a State Bureau of Investigation agent. The department released its discipline records last week after receiving a request to obtain them by The Salt Lake Tribune. Wilkinson, who received a three-day suspension, and Hansen, who received a one-day suspension, were at the Big Shot Ranch near Grantsville in June when British bikini models posed for photos and were videotaped firing guns for a calendar called 'Hot Shots.' The two men were seen wearing camouflage uniforms identifying them as police in a promotional video filmed at Camp Williams in May and posted on YouTube in October. Scroll down for video . Risque: The models were at Camp Williams for a Hot Shots pinup calendar and behind-the-scenes video shoot. Two Utah peace officers were disciplined as a result . Exposed: Men were spotted in the promotional video wearing camouflage gear with 'police' on the back . Neither Wilkinson nor Hansen sought their superiors' permission to participate, and superiors learned of the activity only when they saw video clips played by the news media in Utah, according to the records. The men were disciplined for conduct that brings discredit to an officer or agency, and for wearing their uniform during a promotion for a product — both rules violations, the records show. Wilkinson and Hansen declined comment. An acquaintance asked the two to help supervise the firing line where the models shot at targets, according to an internal affairs report. The report also notes Hot Shots purports to donate a portion of its proceeds to charities for wounded soldiers. In November, four Utah National Guard soldiers were disciplined for their unauthorized involvement and use of military vehicles in a video featuring the bikini-clad women firing high-powered weapons and riding in tanks. A non-commissioned officer who inappropriately allowed the video to be partially shot at Camp Williams in May was relieved of his duties, and three other soldiers received lesser measures ranging from counseling to a reprimand. The men's superiors did not learn about their involvement with the video until they saw the coverage in Utah news reports, the investigation revealed . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Joe Hart believes that Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany will benefit from being axed by manager Manuel Pellegrini. Kompany was dropped to the bench for Wednesday’s home win over Leicester City after some below-par performances. Hart knows how the Belgium defender is feeling after he was left out for seven league games last season following a loss of form. But the England keeper is confident Kompany will come back stronger for the experience. Vincent Kompany was dropped for Manchester City's 2-0 win against Leicester City on Wednesday . Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart said Kompany would fight his way back into the team . Hart said: ‘Vinny appreciates, same as we all do, that sometimes the manager will change the squad. There is no-one destined to play every single game — I’ve learned that lesson. Vinny is an unbelievable player, one of the best I have ever played with, and that was his night off. I’m sure he will be back in the team again with that captain’s armband, being one of the best defenders in world football.’ The 2-0 victory over Leicester preserved City’s title hopes as they try to catch Chelsea, but it was only the ninth time this season that Pellegrini’s side have kept a clean sheet. ‘It has not been good enough,’ said Hart. ‘We’d all accept that, myself included. It’s not just the back four and the goalkeeper, we defend as a team. I don’t set out to be brutally honest but I’d struggle to say things any other way.’ City have won both their Premier League titles on the last day, but Hart added: ‘I’m not that bothered about topping previous seasons in terms of drama. Winning the league is the most important thing, whether we do it dramatically or not.’ Central defender Kompany has been criticised for some of his performances this season . Hart admitted that Manchester City have not been playing well enough recently . +Harry Kane is closing in on the record for scoring in the most consecutive away matches in Premier League history after his match-winning brace at Queens Park Rangers. In all competitions, the Tottenham striker has scored more goals (26) this season than any player in England's top four tiers, and his away form has been particularly impressive. Kane has scored eight goals in his last six away Premier League games. Only Robin van Persie has surpassed that achievement in the competition's 23 seasons. Tottenham striker Harry Kane celebrates at Loftus Road after scoring in his side's 2-1 win against QPR . Kane netted a brace in front of the watching Roy Hodgson to help his side claim a crucial win in west London . Robin van Persie - Nine (Arsenal 2010-11) Harry Kane - Six (Tottenham 2014-15) Daniel Sturridge - Six (Liverpool 2013-14) Didier Drogba - Six (Chelsea 2009-10) Kane scored at Swansea, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, West Brom (two), Liverpool, and QPR (two) to put him second on the list overall. The 21-year-old is tied in second place with Didier Drogba, who achieved the feat at Chelsea in 2009-10, and Daniel Sturrridge, who did the same at Liverpool last season. Van Persie's remarkable run came in his penultimate season at Arsenal where he scored in every single league away game from January 1 to May 22. This is just the latest statistic a spectacular season for Tottenham academy graduate Kane. He is currently the top English scorer in the Premier League and the third highest scoring player from Europe's top five leagues (behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) and could become the first Tottenham player in the Premier League era to break the 30-goal barrier. Jurgen Klinsmann managed 29 in all competitions during the 199-95 season for Spurs, Kane needs just four more from the remaining 10 games to beat that. Robin van Persie scored in every single Premier League away game between January 1 to May 22 . Didier Drogba scored in six consecutive away matches for Chelsea during the 2009-10 season . Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge scored in six consecutive league matches away from Anfield last season . +A New Mexico middle school teacher has quit her job and is lashing out at her school district after she claims she was threatened and bullied by her students. Sharon Moran, 47, retired from McKinley Middle School in Albuquerque last week after getting a death threat from on of her students. The Michigan State University graduate has worked as a teacher for 12 years, but felt she couldn't continue due to the hostile environment at the school. Sharon Moran, 47, says she retired because a middle school student threatened her life while she was teaching . Moran, who has taught for 12 years, was at McKinley Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico (pictured) The death threat was the final straw in Moran's decision to quit, KOAT reported. Administrators from Albuquerque Public Schools did not respond 'correctly to the threat that was made', according to Moran. She said: 'I do feel like I'm being intimidated and I feel like I'm bullied. 'I had to kind of evaluate every day what kind of situation I'm going into every day and whether or not I'm safe. 'My family is concerned for my safety. 'They worry about me and I think I did the right thing.' In an earlier incident at McKinley, a male teacher, 71, was hurt while breaking up a fight between two students . During an incident at McKinley earlier this year, a 71-year-old male teacher was hurt while breaking up a fight between two students. Vincent Criscuola, a special education teacher, was punched and thrown into a wall during the incident. Criscuola had to take time off after suffering a spinal strain, a neck sprain and a hip injury. However, he did decide to return to the school despite admitting, 'I don't feel safe there'. He said: 'It just upsets me. 'We're there to teach and take care of these kids and watch out for their safety.' The principal and vice principal at McKinley have not responded to a request for comment. +Shocking video has emerged of a mother holding her terrified daughter in a headlock while the little girl was having her ears pierced. The footage, taken in Chicago, Illinois, shows the young child crying out in fear as a man approaches with a piercing instrument. At one point, the girl can be heard screaming 'please don't, please don't' as she cowers in a chair while a man off camera accuses the frightened youngster of 'acting like a little baby'. Footage shows the child crying out while a man (left) moves in with an ear piercing instrument. Moments later the frightened girl is held in a headlock by her mother (right) Eventually, a woman believed to be her mother puts the tearful girl in a hold while the procedure is carried out. The film, taken on a mobile phone, has sparked outrage on social media websites with some accusing the mother of going too far. One YouTube user, Valerie Jones wrote: 'This is horrible - how could anyone hear a child's plea and ignore it?' Another, Shelley Carefoot, said: 'See that poor child begging that man with her eyes. What a disgrace.' And aftern viewing the video, Adrien Dwight wrote: 'I cannot believe what I just saw.' The girl can be heard screaming 'please don't, please don't' as she cowers in a chair and tries to put her hands up to stop the piercing from happening . The video starts with the girl sitting in a chair with a man preparing to pierce her ear. But she repeatedly holds her hands up and begs the adults standing around her not to let it happen crying: 'But it's going to hurt'. At one point, the mother says she is going to count to five ordering the youngster to 'calm down', to 'hold on tight' and ordering the girl to stop resisting. But the hysterical child repeatedly cries out 'Please don't, please don't.' and sobs uncontrollably as her mother pins her down. Video shows the girl recoiling (left) as a man attempts to pierce her ear before her mother holds her head down (right) telling the youngster to 'calm down' and 'hold on tight' Afterwards, the mother can be heard saying: 'Now she feels stupid as hell. That didn’t hurt at all, right?' Moments later, the youngster sits quietly as the man pierces her second ear. According to Fox2now, piercer Pretty Ricky, posted the video online along with the words: 'This lil girl nearly lost her dammm mind when I was trying to Pierce her ears yall gotta watch this till the end.' +Detroit Red Wings star Darren Helm was looking to get a little sleep on Sunday night after an impressive overtime win by his team. That was not to be however, as shortly after midnight his girlfriend, Devon Englot, informed him that she was in labor. And this was a quick delivery, so quick in fact that the two did not make it to the hospital in time and Helm had to step up and deliver his daughter Rylee in the back of his car. Detroit Red Wings star and his longtime girlfriend Devon Englot welcomed a baby girl, Rylee (above) on Monday . After Helm won in overtime Sunday night (left), he went home and got to bed but was woken up shortly after midnight by Englot (right with Helm and their daughter Reece) who was in labor . The Red Wings report that Helm started gathering their things when he got the news that the baby was coming, phoning the hospital from his home as he loaded the car. Englot however, who is also the mother of another child, the couple's 3-year-old daughter Reece, started to feel things moving a little too fast. 'Devon kept on saying that she had the urge to push,' Helm said. And Helm realized what that meant. 'They said when the baby’s ready, the baby’s ready. She can’t really control much about it. We tried to make it there. She tried to hold her back,' he said. 'They’ve always told us the second one comes quicker, but we didn’t expect it to be that quick.' Mom, dad and big sister are all doing fine now . The couple were a mile away from the Providence Park Hospital in Novi, Michigan, when Helm got in the backseat and delivered their baby. 'It came on so quick. We thought we had lots of time to get to the hospital and things just took a turn and the baby was ready to come out to say hello and that’s what she did,' he explained. Five minutes later, they were back on their way to the hospital with their new passenger. 'We got to the ER and they kept assuring us that things were going to be OK after they got a good look at the baby and Devon was feeling good,' said Helm. 'After that things slowly calmed down. It took us awhile to kind of get over what happened, but things are moving along pretty well.' +An Oklahoma City man arrived home to find a broken package from Amazon and surveillance footage that explained the damaged goods: the USPS delivery woman chucked it over a fence and onto his porch. Pedro Gonzales was shocked as he watched on his home CCTV the unfamiliar postal worker pull up beside him home, leave her truck and then fling the bulky manila envelope onto his porch. 'I’ve never seen this person before, but usually we get pretty good service,' he told KOCO. No respect: This Oklahoma City postal worker was caught on a home's cameras tossing a valuable package over a fence and onto the homeowner's porch . Damaged: The package at center right was damaged went it hit the porch, says homeowner Pedro Gonzales . U.S. Postal Service officials were informed of the matter and, after a brief investigation, discovered the offending postwoman. Unfortunately for Gonzales and his Oklahoma City community, Postal Service rules don't allow them to release the name of the offender. They can't even say whether or not she was punished. 'Seeing someone just toss it like that really gets on my nerves,' Gonzales fumed. All the Postal Service has done is assure community members that steps have been taken to ensure they will receive the best mail delivery possible. 'We take great pride in delivering the mail to the American public, that’s what we do. We do it every day.,' said a USPS spokesperson. Two USPS representatives also visited the Gonzales home to apologize. What's more, Amazon has offered Gonzales a 20 percent discount for his negative experience. 'Seeing someone just toss it like that really gets on my nerves,' Gonzales fumed . USPS rules do not allow them to name the woman or say whether she's been punished, but officials there have said she's been identified internally . +Arsenal winger Theo Walcott and his wife Melanie have spoken out over the distressing ordeal they had to go through during the birth of their son Finley. The couple, speaking to Hello! magazine, learned their newborn baby had a heart defect shortly after his birth just under a year ago. Walcott's wife said it was 'the longest two and a half hours of our lives' during Finley's operation to correct the problem with his heart. Theo Walcott and his wife Melanie have spoken out about the birth of their son Finley . Melanie and Arsenal star Walcott were left scared and emotional after the birth of Finley on April 10, 2014 . Melanie said: 'Finley had a routine check and they found a murmur, which, again is normal. But it should go after 24 hours. 'But it didn't and it was discovered he had a valve that wasn't working properly. Basically, the heart was having to work really hard to get the blood to his lungs, which meant that the right side of his heart was getting bigger. 'Theo and I were so new to it all, you suddenly feel so vulnerable because it is all taken out of your control. You've got this little person who is the most precious thing in the world and who you have this overwhelming urge to protect. It was a scary and emotional time. 'It was the longest two and a half hours of our lives but the staff were fantastic. Theo and I just tried to keep strong for each other.' Finley, who will turn one on April 10, has made a full recovery since the operation at Royal Brompton hospital in London. Meanwhile, Walcott will be hoping to feature against Manchester United on Monday night as Arsenal look to seal a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Walcott will be hoping to face Man United on Monday night as Arsenal hope to reach FA Cup semi finals . +The wife of a young lawyer found stabbed to death in a hotel just five blocks from the White House has made an emotional appeal for anyone with information about her husband’s death to come forward. The body of 30-year-old David Messerschmitt was discovered at The Donovan on February 10 - 24 hours after his wife, Kim Vuong, reported him missing. On Wednesday, six weeks after her husband’s brutal murder, Vuong spoke to the media outside the Metropolitan Police Department’s headquarters in Washington D.C. Scroll down for video . Kim Vuong made an emotional plea for anyone with information about husband David Messerschmitt's death at The Donovan hotel in Washington D.C. on February 10 to come forward on Wednesday . David Messerschmitt, pictured with his wife Kim Vuong, was found stabbed to death inside a boutique hotel in Washington, D.C. six weeks ago. Police are still unclear of the motive . Vuong asked the public for help in solving the mystery surrounding her husband's death. 'The world has lost a good person. David's family: a son and brother, and I have lost everything: my husband and my best friend. In one day, I lost the most important person in my life and the man I loved so much. And I have no answers,' she said. Messerschmitt, a 30-year-old D.C. attorney, was found partially clothed and stabbed in the back at the upscale boutique hotel. Vuong told police she last saw her husband on February 8 and received a text from Messerschmitt around 7:30 p.m. the following day that said he would behome soon. Messerschmitt never made it home and Vuong reported him missing on February 9. Messerschmitt's body was discovered the morning of February 10, reports ABC7. Also at Wednesday’s press conference police confirmed that a person of interest captured in previously released surveillance video was a woman. She can be seen wearing a dark, hooded jacket while walking through the lobby and a stairwell. Police have asked for help identifying the person and have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Authorities have released images from surveillance footage showing a 'person of interest' at the hotel, who they have now confirmed is a woman . Before taking the stairs, the unidentified person waited impatiently for an elevator at the hotel around 7.45pm . Detective Paris White told Daily Mail Online last month that theft was not considered a motive in the crime because all of the victim's valuables, including his wallet, had been left at the scene. The couple, who married in 2012, lived together in an apartment just three miles from the hotel. Vuong was not aware her husband was at The Donovan when he sent the text message and she couldn't provide other details of his plans for that day, Detective White said. The DC Metropolitan detective said that the investigation was 'looking at everything' surrounding Messerschmitt's murder, including his work as a lawyer. His laptop was seized and investigators had trawled his social media accounts for clues. The lawyer was found dead at The Donovan, pictured, five blocks from the White House and around three miles from the apartment he shared with his wife. It was not yet clear why he was even at the hotel . Messerschmitt, whose family lives in Cincinnati, graduated from Ohio State University in 2006 and from the Boston University Law School in 2009. After leaving college, he interned with Susan Dlott, a judge for the U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati. In April 2014, he joined DLA Piper in Washington, D.C., where he worked as an associate. His biography for the firm described him as an intellectual-property attorney who negotiated commercial and technology agreements. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the Washington, D.C. Police Department on 202-727-9099. +A man who had occupied a cypress tree for 11 days to block construction of a premier golf course in New Orleans' large public park has fallen from the tree and injured himself. The man, identified as Jonathan Boover, who goes by Lloyd, fell out of the tree in City Park on Tuesday morning. Christopher Lane of the City Park for Everyone Coalition says Boover apparently had not eaten in a day and was disoriented from lack of sleep. Hold on: Jonathan Boover, who goes by the name Lloyd, fell from this cypress tree in City Park, New Orleans, on Tuesday, 11 days after first climbing the tree to protest a new golf course . Protest: Boover was trying to draw attention to the 100 or more trees that are being torn down in City Park, to clear the way for a new $24.5 million golf course . Injured: Jonathan 'Lloyd' Boover is believed to have broken his ankle and nose after falling from the tree . Construction: Work is currently underway at the park for a new golf course, which will cost $24.5 million cut down 100 trees in the area . Lane says Boover believed he may have broken an ankle and his nose in the fall. Sheriff's deputies had been monitoring Boover's protest and kept a spotlight trained on him at night. He was expected to be charged with trespassing. Boover said he was happy to 'spend a few days in jail' if it meant more people would hear about the $24.5 million golf course being built along park along Harrison Avenue. About 100 trees will be chopped down for the course. Boover says there was already a gold course in the park, and that the trees shouldn't need to be demolished. Scene: Emergency crews at City Park Tuesday after Jonathan 'Lloyd' Boover fell from this tree . Demonstration: Boover said he was more than willing to spend time in jail in order to draw people's attention to the trees that are being destroyed in the park . Wild is Free: Boover snuck into the construction on Friday March 13 . Broover, along with a friend known as 'Heart', jumped the green fence that surrounds the construction site last on March 13. He scaled the oak tree in the rain while workers couldn't see. 'These are old growth trees and they are trying to degrade them,' Heart told NOLA.com. Boover was believed to have been waving to one of many fans that had congregated to wish him well when he flipped out his hammock and fell to the ground. 'I said ''Hi, Lloyd'',' the woman said. 'He waved and hit the ground.' Boover immediately got back in the tree, however then realized he needed medical attention. Emergency crews were called to the park and he was taken to hospital. +This is the shocking moment an angry mob refused to let an animal welfare charity rescue a injured performing elephant who had been abused. Indian elephant Mohan is kept shackled with heavy chains around his legs and is often left malnourished and injured, with his owners forcing him to beg on the streets. It prompted charity Wildlife SOS to launch a rescue operation to save Mohan and give him much needed treatment. Scroll down for video . A mob of 300 people surround Mohan as animal welfare charity Wildlife SOS attempt to rescue the abused elephant . The charity were forced to call in the police to help out with the operation, which was eventually aborted on safety grounds . But when the 55-strong team descended on the town of Lalganj in northern India to give treatment to the animal, a mob of 300 people surrounded them to stall the operation. Wildlife SOS were then forced to call the police as the mob became violent with over 40 officers drafted in to try to calm the situation. But with fears for the safety of the rescue team, a local magistrate ordered the operation to be aborted and the charity had to leave the elephant behind. Now the elephant's owner, Bhupendar Mishra has been accused of sending the crowd to stop the seizure of the animal. Mohan is kept shackled by his owners and is often forced to beg and perform for food and money . The elephant is also kept with heavy chains around his legs, and according to the charity is often malnourished and injured . Deputy Conservator of Forests, Y.P Shukla said: 'Mr Bhupendar Mishra has illegal custody of the elephant and is trying to manipulate and mislead the crowd. He is being supported by his two brothers. 'He is trying to stall the rescue of the elephant by filing revisions and misleading the courts although he has already lost the court battle.' Mohan, who is aged 56, was stole from his wild herd more than 50 years ago and has been used as a begging and performing elephant ever since. Mohan is paraded through the streets at night with leaves and branches tied to his back and is forced to beg . Mohan was stolen from his wild herd more than 50 years ago and has been exploit in several different Indian towns . After he was bought, he was chained for several years to be trained before being exploited in several Indian towns, where he has been subjected to abuse and forced to work long hours. Co-ordinator of Wildlife SOS Baiji Raj said: 'We will leave no stone unturned to rescue Mohan and are hopeful that we can successfully rescue him. The charity has now set up an appeal on their website to help fund the elephant's rescue. +BT is to launch its own mobile phone service along with free access to Premier League football on the go starting at £5 a month. The move has been welcomed by consumer groups as the telecoms giant attempts to spread its empire from home telephone, internet and pay TV into mobile phones. This so-called ‘quad play’ service is seen as key by the likes of BT and its rivals Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk to future growth and profits. BT is to launch its own mobile phone service along with free access to Premier League football . BT hopes that it will be able to sign up millions of households to packages that include the four services to cement its place as Britain’s dominant media company in the 21st century. The company’s move comes ahead of its purchase of the UK’s largest mobile phone network EE in a deal worth £12.5billion. It has unveiled three SIM card deals, where customers buy a SIM and simply fit it to their existing handset in order to get access to calls, texts and 4G internet services, including video streaming. The service will operate across the EE masts as well as the wi-fi network offered via more than five million BT Wi-fi hotspots. The 12-month contracts will appeal to people who want to keep their existing handset but add a relatively cheap bundle of 4G data, minutes and texts. Alternatively, they can buy a new 4G phone from the BT Shop from as little as £99. The cheapest SIM card deal offers 500 MB of 4G data, unlimited texts and 200 minutes of calls for £5 a month if you are an existing BT Broadband customer and £10 a month for everyone else. The monthly charge for 2GB of data on 4G, unlimited texts and 500 minutes of calls is £12 for BT customers and £17 for others. At the top end, customers can take an enormous 4G data allowance of 20GB, with unlimited texts and minutes, for either £20 a month for BT customers or £25 for other customers. The cheapest deal will be for existing customers, at just £5 per month for 500 MB of 4G data, unlimited texts and 200 minutes of calls . BT is sweetening the offer by giving away free BT Sport on the BT Sport App, which offers live Barclays Premier League football matches. There is also a spending cap on all tariffs. Executive director at Which?, Richard Lloyd, suggested the BT move will boost competition and so could be good news for consumers. ‘BT entering the quad play market could lead to stronger competition but consumers need to be able to easily compare prices of the services offered. Any impact on competition in the mobile market will depend on the terms of BT’s agreement with EE,’ he said. ‘BT should use its entry into this market to drive improvements in customer service and to innovate for its customers. Any positive changes must not be set back by the merger of BT and EE.’ Mobile expert at the website broadbandchoices, Dominic Baliszewski, said: ‘BT’s 4G SIM-only launch is exactly the kind of shake up that was needed. ‘Starting at just £5 per month, the pricing is very competitive for existing BT customers and confirms BT’s ambitious plans to dominate quad-play before anyone else can get a foothold. ‘TalkTalk and Virgin Media have both had their own mobile offering for a while now, yet people have so far remained hesitant to sign up on a quad-play basis. ‘Broadband, TV and phone is still very much seen as a household purchase whereas a mobile phone service is considered a personal one. Bringing about a shift in perception will not happen overnight but if BT are willing to put the marketing muscle so badly needed behind these packages, quad-play could completely change the bundles market.’ John Petter, chief executive of BT Consumer, said: ‘Offering BT customers the UK’s best value 4G data deal is a great way to start our journey towards re-establishing ourselves as a major player in consumer mobile. ‘We are offering 4G on the UK’s biggest network along with unlimited access to the most extensive wi-fi coverage via our 5m BT Wi-fi hotspot network. ‘Our customers are consuming increasing amounts of data and they want the best possible connection wherever they are. It’s our ambition to meet this demand by combining the power of our fixed fibre service with wi-fi and the convenience of mobile.’ TalkTalk hit back by claiming it already offers cheap mobile tariffs starting from £3.75 a month. Spokesman, Tristia Harrison, said: ‘Our mission is to make Britain better off, that’s why TalkTalk homes make significant savings compared to other providers, while also getting more for their money. We offer better value tariffs with a great range of handsets. The rapid growth of our mobile base is proof that more and more homes are reaping the benefits of Britain's best value quad-play services.’ +A cruel uncle is being investigated by police after punishing his six-year-old nephew's bad behaviour by hanging him on a fence post. Nicu Borila, 30, is the carer for Anima Stoica with the pair living in a house with 20 other family members on the outskirts of the Romanian capital Bucharest. Borila was asked to look after the boy after the youngster's father was jailed in Spain and his mother went to work in Italy. Six-year-old Anima Stoica who was hung from a fence by his uncle Nicu Borila as a punishment for running away from home . Borila has been looking after the little boy as his father is in prison and his mother had to go to Italy to find work . However, police launched an investigation into his care after disturbing pictures began circulating online of the boy crying as he was hung from the fence by his shirt. The images were published after they were sent to an anti-child abuse group calling itself The Bracelet of Death. Meanwhile neighbours have spoken of how they often saw Borila hanging him from the fence. Dan Vitila, 56, said: 'He treats that boy like an animal. Borila, right, has tried to defend his actions by saying that he was trying to teach his nephew a lesson and keep him safe from passing traffic . 'When his mother left he was very upset but whenever he cries this uncle grabs him by the neck and hangs him on the fence like an animal at an abbatoir.' However, when Borila was confronted by neighbours, he said: 'Yeah, and so what? 'It's my fence and he's my nephew. I'm just playing with him. The pictures first came to light on Facebook after they were published by anti-child abuse charity Th Bracelet of Death . 'Many times he has tried to run away and I have to teach him a lesson. 'There are lots of cars around here and he could get knocked over.' Confirming they are investigating, a police spokesman said: 'We have seen these pictures and the allegations and are looking into the matter.' +This stylish granny was spotted driving through the streets on her modified mobility scooter. Teenager David Richards took a photo of the elderly driver as she waited at a zebra crossing in Orpington, south east London yesterday. The woman, who was wearing a purple head scarf and cream coat, appeared to have given her scooter a makeover - complete with eye-catching bright white bodywork. Glamorous granny: The woman was pictured on her mobility scooter - which boasts striking white bodywork . David, a pupil at St Olave's Grammar School, said there was a queue of traffic behind the scooter - which was travelling at roughly 20mph. The 17-year-old added that the striking vehicle was making a loud noise. He said: 'I took a picture and sent it to a friend and at first he didn't believe me, but it's completely genuine. 'It was around 3.20pm and I was walking past when I saw her, the scooter was making quite a loud noise like the engine was labouring maybe. 'It was going about 20mph and there was quite a queue of traffic behind her, I've never seen anything like this before.' 'It looked like a side car, but one that acted as a motorcycle. I don't think she had license plates, but the bike looked a bit customised.' Spotted: David Richards took a photo of the elderly driver as she waited at a zebra crossing in London . +A mother and daughter who starved their pet dog so badly he was left as only 'skin and bone' have been banned for keeping animals for five years. Rosemary Robinson, 41, and daughter Rachel, 19, starved their pointer cross, named George, to the point where he was able to tuck his knees under his ribcage. Hastings Magistrates Court heard that the pet was also covered in sores, and was suffering from a lung condition due to a lack of worming. Rosemary Robinson, 41, and daughter Rachel, 19, have been banned from keeping any animals for five years after starving pet pointer cross George . The dog was so emaciated he was able to tuck his back legs up under his ribcage, and was also covered in sores and masses, according to the RSPCA . George was in such a bad state and living in such pain that vets were forced to put him down. Neither of the owners, from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, turned up to the hearing, and so were sentenced in their absence to a multitude of animal welfare offences. Rosemary was also given a community order for six months, a six month curfew and made to pay £1,063 costs and fines. Rachel was handed a 12-month community order, 100 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £763 in costs and fines. The RSPCA was called with concern in February after George was finally taken to a vet. George was also suffering from a lung condition due to a lack of worming, and was in such constant pain that vets had to put him down . Ms Robinson and her daughter failed to appear at their court hearing and so were sentenced in their absence to a multitude of animal abuse charges . One RSPCA worker said that George's condition was only discovered after the owners eventually took him to the vet, and concerned staff called them . RSPCA inspector Zoe Ballard said: 'George was one of the thinnest dogs I have ever seen and had clearly been deteriorating and suffering for some time. 'As well as being emaciated he had lumps and masses all over his body and was suffering from a chronic lung condition caused by lack of worming. 'He had deteriorated to such an extent that he was living in constant pain - It was obvious at first glance that he should have been taken to a vet a long time before.' +It was only fitting that a former Hearts man should help to finally send the Championship title to Tynecastle. After all, this entire season deserves to be coloured maroon. Yet it was not only a favour to his first love that Lee Wallace performed at Easter Road. In scoring the crucial, confidence-building opening goal for Rangers, he also delivered an immensely valuable prize to his current employers. For the Ibrox side, games against Hibernian this term have been akin to a sadistically extended form of torture. Three successive defeats had delivered a crushing 9-1 aggregate. One more on Sunday and it was an historic clean sweep. It would also have delayed Hearts’ inevitable coronation for at least another six days. Lee Wallace (centre) is congratulated by his team-mates after giving Rangers the lead away to Hibernian . Hibernian XI: Oxley, Gray (Watson - 45), Hanlon, Fontaine. Stevenson, Fyvie, Robertson (Stanton - 78), MGeouch, Allan, Malonga, Dja Djedje (Boyle - 69) Subs not used: Forster, Craig, Handling, Perntreou . Booked: Gray . Rangers XI: Bell, McGregor, McCulloch, Mohsni, Zaliukas, Wallace; Murdoch, Law, Shiels (Black - 75); Clark, Miller (Vuckic - 83) Subs not used: Robinson, Hutton, Black, Daly, Templeton, Sinnamon . Goals: Wallace 44, Miller 80 . Booked: Murdoch, Miller . Wallace, though, had different ideas. Freed to attack almost at will in a new 3-5-2 formation set up by Stuart McCall, he delivered a barnstorming display on the left flank. After speaking so openly on Friday about how this had been a season of professional and personal torment, here was an emphatic reminder of just how forceful a player he can be. Others in blue followed his lead. Kenny Miller scored a highly controversial clincher ten minutes from the end — when refereeing headline-magnet Willie Collum ignored Hibs’ claims for a foul by Wallace — but, in truth, this was a victory that had foundations laid long before kick-off. So often in recent times, Rangers fans have lamented the perceived lack of tactical thinking from those resident in the technical area. McCall, though, turned up in Leith and did a number on Hibs to secure the first triumph of his three-match reign. It did not go unnoticed. Kenny Miller slots home to put the game beyond doubt for Rangers and close the gap on Hibernian . ‘Stuart McCall’s blue-and-white army’ was the chant from the visiting support as the minutes ticked down. McCall’s hopes of remaining in situ beyond the end of the season may well hinge on winning promotion. If that is to become a reality, then he will need many more days like this one. Overall, this was just a second win in 10 games for Rangers but it lifted them to within three points of their hosts, with a game in hand. They now have renewed hope of finishing second and reducing their play-off schedule in the fight to follow Hearts up. Hibs’ 15-match unbeaten run is at an end but Stubbs is adamant this will not derail the momentum they have steadily built since the turn of the year. Building momentum is now McCall’s (pictured) aim — after he recognised something different had to be attempted against Hibs if Rangers were not to face the inevitably of yet another defeat. His ploy was to move to three centre-backs, with Marius Zaliukas and Bilel Mohsni flanking captain Lee McCulloch. It was hardly a trio to inspire confidence in the visiting support, given their ropey individual performances this term, yet the hope was that weight of numbers would help stifle the hosts in central areas and allow Darren McGregor and Wallace to advance as wing-backs. It worked, and contributed to a fractured opening period in which clear sights of goal were at a premium. Wallace slams home the opener just before half-time to put the away side in control at Easter Road . The Easter Road side had the first, thanks to a majestic, deep cross hit with pace and accuracy from the left flank by Dylan McGeouch. Liam Fontaine had remained upfield from an earlier free-kick but couldn’t cash in on that gamble as he powered a header wide of target. That was, though, as good as it got for Hibs in the first half as they encountered a Rangers line-up displaying a renewed level of organisation. That such a trait was noticeable says much about what went before. It wasn’t bringing about a huge amount in the way of free-flowing entertainment but this at least now looked more like a toe-to-toe contest between well-matched opponents. Nicky Law set up Dean Shiels — back on his old stomping ground — to slice one over the top from the fringe of the penalty area. Then David Gray was caught out as Rangers broke forward and was forced to haul down Wallace around 25 yards out. Collum punished him with a yellow card before Law stepped up to whip the resultant free-kick a couple of feet too high. A couple of set-piece exchanges then caused flickers of threat at either end. It would, though, be the visitors who took the lead two minutes ahead of the interval via a goal made possible by McCall’s rejig. The move started at the feet of the oft-mocked Mohsni, who had the presence of mind to spot that Gray was out of position. A long, raking pass found Nicky Clark scampering into the space he had left behind. Clark stepped on the brakes to switch to his right foot and sling a cross along the six-yard line. Kenny Miller couldn’t connect with a little attempted back-flick before McGregor was denied by a terrific blocking challenge from Lewis Stevenson. The ball broke loose and Wallace, who had stormed into the area to support his fellow wing-back, managed to scoop a shot high into the net despite desperate attempts to close him down. Kenny Miller celebrates his goal with the fans during his side's win . It was the first time Rangers had taken the lead against Hibs on Championship duty and only the second goal they had managed during 313 minutes of this fixture. The question was whether they could hold onto the advantage they had finally gained. Stubbs sought to fix one fault in his set-up when he replaced the injured Gray, who had endured a pretty difficult first half, with Keith Watson. Yet the pattern of play remained similar after the restart. It was tense, often scrappy, and with the Ibrox side winning marginally more of the numerous little battles. The game found fresh impetus after the hour-mark, however, as each side let slip a prime opportunity. It was Rangers up first, with Mohnsi feeding Miller, whose angled ball set up Clark. He couldn’t sort out his feet quick enough, allowing paul Hanlon to block the strike. Seconds later, Franck Dja Djedje found himself clear in the inside-right channel after the visiting defence was caught out. The angled shot was on, but Dja Djedje tried to square for sidekick Dominique Malonga and Zaliukas intercepted. At last, there was a stretched, open look to the game. Clark was denied space to finish at the near post after another surging run from Wallace. Hibs looked to press back but saw their hopes extinguished in rancorous fashion. Wallace looked to play a one-two with Miller, but it seemed Hanlon had beaten him to the return pass before they collided. The centre-back crashed to the deck claiming a foul, before Easter Road erupted in astonished fury as Collum waved play on. The rest of the home defence seemed to freeze, expecting the free-kick, but Miller was unperturbed as he gathered possession before cracking a shot past Mark Oxley. +Today Show host Karl Stefanovic has risked a backlash after trying out his best sledge against a group of cricket fans ahead of India's World Cup semi-final against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Stefanovic asked the team of India supporters: 'Who’s going to be manning 7-Elevens today?' 'I'm not sure about who's going to be manning 7-Elevens but you might have to look at Centrelink as well I think, Karl,' one of the fans hilariously retorted, owning the presenter with their response. Scroll down for video . Karl Stefanovic asked a team of India supporters: 'Who’s going to be manning 7-Elevens today?' The comeback caused an uproar of laughter in the Today Show studio, as Stefanovic said: 'What are you going to say to Warner?' Australian cricketer Dave Warner was famously fined 50 per cent of his match fee after he told Indian batsman Rohit Sharma to 'speak English' at the MCG in January. 'Look I'm not sure we can repeat that stuff on TV this early in the morning,' the India fan smiled. 'We'll definitely be right into him that's for sure. We'll definitely be speaking in English so he understands,' the India fan said. Viewers quickly reacted to Stefanovic's 7-Eleven question on social media, with some labelling it 'tasteless'. One of the India fans (right) fired back telling Stefanovic he should be concerned as Centrelink will be empty of Australians as they all watch the cricket . Viewers quickly reacted to Stefanovic's 7-Eleven question on social media, calling it 'inappropriate and offensive' Andy Cussen asked: 'How does Karl Stefanovic still have a job? Complete muppet.' Megan Maurice said: 'You know, you just start to think that maybe Karl Stefanovic isn't that bad after all and then...' Angus Roberts described his comments as 'bit of a tasteless "joke"'. And Paul Nolan said: 'I'm usually a fan of Karl Stefanovic but his 7-11 quip today was inappropriate and offensive.' Andy Cussen asked: 'How does Karl Stefanovic still have a job? Complete muppet.' Angus Roberts described his comments as 'bit of a tasteless "joke"' Amber Monahan called Stefanovic 'an embarrassment to thinking Australians' Doovalacky Dave called Stefanovic's comments 'gold' Amber Monahan went as far as to call him 'an embarrassment to thinking Australians'. 'How dare you insult contributing members of Australia's economy. You sir are a fool. And Lisa Wilkinson guffawing in the background is hardly much better,' she said. However, Doovalacky Dave called Stefanovic's comments 'gold'. +An American teenager charged over the death of Australian baseballer Chris Lane has been handed a life sentence after he pleaded guilty to the random drive-by killing in 2013. Michael Jones, who was charged along with two other US teenagers, will not be eligible for parole until he is 56-years-old. Jones, who was the driver of the car from which a bullet was fired at Lane, begged for forgiveness as he was sentenced a minimum of 38 years in prison, the ABC reports. Lane, 22, from Melbourne, was shot in the back on August 16, 2013, in what police said was a random killing as he ran along a road in Duncan, southern Oklahoma, where he was on a sporting scholarship. American Michael Dewayne Jones has been sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his involvement in the killing of Christopher Lane . The two other teens, charged with first-degree murder and accessory in the first, will face court next month. They were 17 and 16 at the time of the baseballer’s death. In December 2013, in the first courageous interview since her son’s death, Lane’s mother Donna Lane told the Daily Mail she doesn’t care what happens to the teens charged with killing her son. 'It's not going to bring my Chris back,' she said. Ms Lane told how she had shed tears every day for her only son, admitting that even though he had been living in the US for the past four years her life in Melbourne has been empty knowing he's never coming back for a visit. At her home in the suburb of Pascoe Vale, lying between Melbourne city centre and the airport, Donna opened a photograph album put together as a special memorial for her by his friends in the US. Lane (left and right), 22, from Melbourne, was shot in the back on August 16, 2013, in what police said was a random killing as he ran along a road in Duncan, southern Oklahoma, where he was on a sporting scholarship . Right there on the first page was a shot that makes her so proud - Chris in his baseball strip crouching, waiting for a catch. 'He was always good with the ball almost as soon as he could walk,' she said, turning the pages, smiling at one of him poking his tongue out at the camera. 'I'm not at all surprised he ended up as such a talented player. 'I know that his friends see him as a brilliant catcher and while he might be a super-hero to them he's still my son and what strikes me all the time is that even though he's so special I can't have him back. 'People ask me all the time what I think about the three who have been arrested in connection with his murder. But do you know what - I don't care. Donna Lane, mother of shot Australian baseball player Chris Lane, holds a framed Christmas card he and his girlfriend Sarah Harper had sent her on an earlier, happy festive season . Chris Lane with his girlfriend Sarah Harper during a visit to Australia, when Sarah took the opportunity to cuddle a koala . 'I don't care if they go to prison for life or if they walk free again. Whatever happens to them isn't going to bring Chris back. I'm not interested in what happens to them. 'What's the point of looking for some kind of retribution? How is it going to change things for me and my family? 'My friends tell me that if those three do walk free they might do it again, you know, hurt somebody else, but whatever happens over there now still doesn't affect me in any way whatsoever. 'What's done is done and I can't turn the clock back,' the devastated mother added. Chris was on a scholarship at the East Central University as a team catcher when he was killed. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes his side have finally banished the fear factor which has been holding them back. The 3-0 win over 10-man Newcastle thanks to goals from James McCarthy, Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley was the Toffees' first at Goodison Park in the league in 2015. It was a crucial one as it lifted them six points clear of the relegation zone and Martinez believes the basis for the performance was founded in the come-from-behind 2-1 Europa League win over Dynamo Kiev on Thursday. Roberto Martinez believes Everton have finally banished the fear factor which has been holding them back . James McCarthy (right) opened the the scoring against Newcastle and was congratulated by Aaron Lennon . 'It was a big game for us and sometimes that can bring extra pressure in that you play the occasion rather than the game,' he said. 'The perfect preparation was Thursday. Probably Thursday was a real turning point in that moment when we managed to take control of the situation. The first 20 minutes (against Kiev) was as bad as it can be in terms of suffering because you feel the anxiety and responsibility as a player then all of a sudden we found the way we should perform. 'The mindset today wasn't of a team who had fear of losing at home, some of the play was outstanding but when we had to defend and work hard for each other we did that with total composure. 'From scoring the first goal we managed the game really well and I thought we defended really composed. Tim Howard had a big save in the second half but apart from that I thought we protected him very well. Everton were already 2-0 up when Magpies captain Fabricio Coloccini was sent off for a lunge at winger Aaron Lennon and Martinez had no doubts about the straight red card. Romelu Lukaku, having set up McCarthy for the opener, netted Everton's second from the penalty spot . 'I haven't seen the replay but I thought it was reckless and high,' he added. 'If you look at the reaction of the Newcastle players I don't think anyone was surprised when they saw the red card. 'I don't think it was a turning point or the reason why we won because we were very much in control but it always helps.' Newcastle caretaker boss John Carver's initial thoughts were to agree with Martinez but he admits he will closely examine all footage over the next day or two before deciding the next course of action. 'I have looked at it from four or five angles and it is not conclusive,' he said. Ross Barkley celebrates after giving gloss to the victory with a stoppage time strike to make it 3-0 . 'When it actually happened, from the reaction of the Everton players, straight away I thought 'that must be a red'. But when I came in and looked at it, it was very difficult to decide. 'I will look at it again and if it is worthy of a sending off then I will accept it but if it is not I will appeal. 'There seemed to be more of their players surrounding the situation than our players.' With nothing to play for Newcastle are limping towards the end of the season but Carver stressed that would not be allowed to happen and there was an immediate dressing room inquest after the game, although he was keen to point out it was not confrontational. 'A few of the guys had a few composed words after the match,' he added. 'I told one or two players not to say anything because usually it is one or two players who come forward - I wanted it to come from other people. 'The fact people make a point I think is a healthy situation - it can't always come from me, I'm not a dictator. 'We can't go hiding or disappear anywhere. I can't walk around miserable as sin, I have to do something about it. 'The guys had a good two-way conversation and we will review it all on Tuesday.' +Gary Neville surveyed Tottenham's right-side and described it as a 'graveyard' after it was torn apart in the first-half by Manchester United. The problem for England coach Neville and his boss Roy Hodgson, who was at Old Trafford, was that this graveyard shift was manned by four Englishmen: Kyle Walker, Andros Townsend, Ryan Mason and Eric Dier. Like Harry Kane and Danny Rose, also in the Spurs team, they had been hoping to deliver the type of display which might catch Hodgson's eye for the right reasons after he had changed his plans and hit the north, rather than go to Chelsea. Andros Townsend fails to hide his frustration after being taken off at Old Trafford during a torrid first half . England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat to watch Manchester United and Tottenham on Sunday . The England squad will be named on Thursday for games against Lithuania and Italy and although Kane is certain to be involved, despite failing to make an impact in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United when his first effort on goal came in the 89th minute. Spurs defended terribly and were killed off by three first-half goals before completing the game in something of a daze as United coasted home and it damages their hopes of finishing in the top four and reaching the Champions League. Mauricio Pochettino dubbed it the worst performance since he arrived at White Hart Lane last summer and promised to examine what went wrong before they return to action against Leicester on Saturday. Marouane Fellaini buries this chance for United's opener inside the first 10 minutes despite Eric Dier's tackle . Manager Mauricio Pochettino (left) attempted to change Tottenham's fortunes by replacing Townsend . The Tottenham defence were in disarray as Michael Carrick has the time to head in for Manchester United . 'I am not disappointed with the result but I am worried about the performance,' said Pochettino. 'You can lose here but the performance was very poor. We need to analyse and try to fix that. We're all disappointed. Not only me. But all the team. We need to understand why it happened. We need to fix it. That maybe the poorest we've played this season. 'We came, ready to compete but from the beginning it was difficult. We didn't play our normal way. The first half was poor and at 3-0 it is difficult to come back. 'We tried to play forward as is our philosophy, but it is difficult when you concede and make a lot of mistakes. Individually and collectively, we were very poor and that's why we lost the game. The key factor was us. We were the key factor in the game. Wayne Rooney celebrates compounding Tottenham's misery, scoring the third goal at Old Trafford . 'We didn't deliver a good performance. We made a lot of mistakes. We never found our way to play and allowed Manchester United to play.' Townsend was hauled off after half an hour and replaced by Mousa Dembele as Pochettino tried to get hold of possession as they were being over-run by United in midfield. 'It was not because Andros was poor,' he said. 'We tried to change to keep the ball.' Soon after the switch, a mistake by Nabil Bentaleb presented Wayne Rooney with the third goal and Tottenham's fate was sealed before the break. Mason also came off, early in the second half with a 'knock' while Emmanuel Adebayor returned for his first appearance since January as a late substitute. Adebayor was back in the squad because Roberto Soldado hurt his knee in training, on Saturday. Pochettino said Soldado's injury was 'not serious'. VIDEO Top four still possible - Pochettino . Mauricio Pochettino didn't look impressed as his side are blown out of the water in the first half . +Once again, the Daily Mail has won a string of prizes at the prestigious annual Press Awards – the Oscars of British journalism. The incomparable and prolific Quentin Letts was named Columnist of the Year, while Matt Lawton picked up Sports Journalist of the Year after producing a series of what the judges called ‘fantastic’ exclusives. Award winners: Quentin Letts, Rebecca Hardy and Matt Lawson were honoured at the annual Press Awards . In the Interviewer of the Year category, Rebecca Hardy was awarded the title. The judges praised her for being ‘sensitive and able to win the trust of families at a highly emotional time’. Frances Hardy was highly commended in the same category for her ‘moving, poignant’ interviews. City Correspondent Peter Campbell was named Young Journalist of the Year. The judges said he ‘already writes with maturity and a sure-footed style’. Mail Sport was highly commended in the Sports Team of the Year category for its ‘outstanding columnists, investigations and great production online and off’. The Mail had been nominated for 21 awards, more than any other newspaper in the country. The winners were announced at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, in London on Tuesday night. City Correspondent Peter Campbell (right) was named Young Journalist of the Year, while Frances Hardy (left) was highly commended in the Interviewer of the Year category for her 'moving, poignant' interviews . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Gareth Bale rammed some of the ridiculous criticism he has received in recent weeks from Real Madrid supporters back down their throats with a first-half double and the perfect goal celebration. The former Tottenham forward, who scored 22 goals in 44 games in his first season at the club - including strikes that won the Copa del Rey and Champions League final - has had to put up with whistles in his own stadium and a fan poll that had 40 per cent of supporters calling for him to be dropped in recent weeks. When he put Real Madrid ahead on 18 minutes in the 2-0 win over Levante on Sunday night he made sure he left off some steam, covering his ears as he ran to the corner to give the flag a celebratory kick. Gareth Bale celebrates, with obvious relief, after breaking a long scoring drought to put Real Madrid ahead at the Bernabeu . The Welsh winger covers both his ears to demonstrate that he has not been listening to the boos from the Real Madrid fans . Bale ran to the corner flag and kicked it as he let out some pent-up frustration having found the net for the first time since January . Real Madrid's two expensive superstars both celebrate after Bale had diverted Ronaldo's shot into the corner of the net to make it 2-0 . Real Madrid (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric (Illarramendi 78mins), Silva, Isco (Jese 69); Bale, Benzema (Hernandez 82), Ronaldo. Subs not used: Casillas, Nacho, Varane, Kroos. Goals: Bale 18, 40 . Booked: Modric . Levante (4-2-3-1): Marino; Lopez, Navarro, Ramis, Tono; Camarasa, Simao; Xumetra (Garcia 59), Barral, Morales (El Zhar 59); Uche (Casadesus 75). Subs not used: Fernandez, Juanfran, Mari, Sissoko. It was his first goal in nine games but with 16 in 38 this season he remains on course to match last year's haul and the singling out from those jeering supporters and some Madrid-based media had clearly got to him. The only player who did not seem to share his joy was Cristiano Ronaldo. It was his failed bicycle kick that was cleared off the line and came back out for Bale to volley into the top corner. Ronaldo could be seen throwing his arms up in the air at his missed effort both before and after Bale had buried the rebound. It was hardly the action of a man playing solely for his team. The Welshman scored again five minutes before the break, diverting a Ronaldo shot past Diego Marino. Ronaldo's effort looked as if it was going wide and although Bale's touch was slight it was necessary and he was awarded the goal. Bale's first half performance will have silenced those calls for him to be left out of the Real Madrid team. The jeers that have followed him around the pitch in recent weeks could even be heard when his name was read out before this win - although those for rested goalkeeper Iker Casillas and coach Carlo Ancelotti were more noticeable. Bale almost scored inside two minutes, taking a long ball forward down on his chest and volleying it across the face of goal. He looked motivated and buoyed by the return of Luka Modric in midfield - making his first start for over three months. Bale has come in for plenty of criticism from the La Liga crowd in recent weeks, but looked to have found his form at the right time . Karim Benzema tracks Levante's David Navarro as Real Madrid sought to respond after a poor performance against Schalke . Ronaldo cannot mask his frustration after striking the post with an early chance to put Real ahead against Levante . The World Player of the Year endured a difficult first half, with his temper bubbling below the surface despite Real Madrid taking control . It was a Modric shot that Marino pushed out to the edge of the six-yard box that Karim Benzema turned in moments later but all three Real Madrid forwards - Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo - were offside. Modric then took a corner won by Bale and planted it on the Welshman's head only for the effort to go just wide. Bale was everywhere in the first 45 minutes, even popping up on the left and drilling the perfect cross to the edge of the six-yard box where Ronaldo somehow managed to fail to get enough on the centre and sent it wide. Real Madrid had former Levante keeper Keylor Navas playing against his old team. Casillas will return for next week's visit to the Camp Nou. The stand-in keeper was a spectator for the most part as Real Madrid dominated and Benzema could have made it three in spectacular fashion after the break. He flicked the ball onto the crossbar with a volley from a Ronaldo cross from the right and then caught the rebound again on the volley only to send it tamely wide. Ronaldo also shot straight at Marino five minutes from time and skied an effort from the edge of the six-yard box in injury time. It wasn't his night but it had been Madrid's. They moved to within a point of Barcelona with the victory. It brings to an end a run of two defeats and a draw and sets them, and Bale, up perfectly for next week's potentially season-deciding Clasico. VIDEO Bale was more motivated - Ancelotti . Ronaldo nicks the ball past Levante's Ivan Lopez as Real Madrid prepared for next weekend's Clasico with a win . This acrobatic Ronaldo volley was headed off the line, before Bale volleyed in the rebound to give Real Madrid the lead . Ronaldo and Bale embrace after the second goal, but the Portuguese forward's immediate reaction has been criticised . Isco takes on Simao down the left hand side while Benzema waits for the Spaniard to deliver a cross at the Bernabeu on Sunday night . Levante goalkeeper Diego Marino gets up ahead of Bale to claim a cross, but the keeper could do nothing about the Welshman's goals . Dani Carvajal holds off the challenge of Kalu Uche on what proved to be a comfortable night for the home side in La Liga . Ronaldo sees a shot saved by Marino on a night where he looked desperate to score, but found his way constantly blocked . +This dozy dog really is 'out fur the count'. A home surveillance camera caught the moment Stafford Vaughan's dog Apollo rolled off the couch while sleeping and failed to stir. Footage shows the canine lying still on the floor after the dramatic fall. Vaughan of San Francisco then looks over to check if his pet is okay. 'Did you mean to do that?' he inquires. When the question fails to trigger a response, Vaughan goes to check on his pooch. Zzzz: A home surveillance camera caught the moment Stafford Vaughan's dog Apollo rolled off the couch while sleeping and failed to stir. Going, going, gone: Footage shows the canine lying still on the floor after the dramatic fall . As he gets down and rubs Apollo's back, the dog wearily 'reawakens' and stretches out his paws. Vaughn reassured viewers that the pup was 'totally fine' and merely exhausted after a long day at the sitter's. Many viewers have applauded the dog's deep-sleeping antics. 'I wish I could sleep that well,' one commenter wrote, while another added: 'Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "dropped off."' Pet down! Vaughan of San Francisco then looks over to check if his pet is okay . Cause for concern: 'Did you mean to do that?' he inquires . +With its stunning views of Rio de Janeiro and easy beach access, it boasts the hallmarks of an estate agents dream. But the floating home is the frugal creation of Hamilton Cunha Filho, who built the raft with things he found on the city's streets. The 30-year-old, who was homeless, decided to solve the problem by using people's unwanted rubbish to create his unique living quarters. Home sweet home: Hamilton Cunha Filho, 30, made the floating house from rubbish he found while living on the streets Guanabara Bay . Water garden: Hamilton Cunha Filho can swim to and from his movable home in Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil . His worldly belongings can be seen inside the one-room tent boat, which is usually found floating near to Guanabara Bay. He poses with a camera on his vessel and giving the thumbs up to passers-by. Mr Filho even looks the part - sporting an eye-patch over his left eye. Happy: The 30-year-old gives a thumbs up from his floating home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil . Smile: Brazilian Hamilton Cunha Filho takes a photo of the stunning scenery that surrounds his floating home . All aboard: The familiar skyline of Rio de Janeiro can be seen in the background as Filho climbs on his raft . Beautiful views: Homeless Hamilton Cunha Filho, 30, gestures from a raft he made with things found on the streets . +Olivier Giroud might have played a key role in Arsenal's Champions League exit against Monaco, but the French forward's form otherwise is as good as any other striker in Europe. Only Lionel Messi can match his statistics in 2015. Giroud has 11 goals in 15 games so far this calendar year, a ratio that puts him ahead of Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo as one of Europe's leading marksmen and his strikes have helped Arsenal to become the Barclays Premier League's form team. Their French centre forward's impressive streak has helped Arsenal move to within a point of second-placed Manchester City and they look all-but certain to qualify for the Champions League in one of the most competitive battles for the top four in recent years. Olivier Giroud has been in fine form for Arsenal so far in 2015, notching 11 goals in just 15 appearances . Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid's prolific forward, has a lower goals per game rate than Giroud in 2015 . Player . Appearances . Goals . Goals/game . Giroud . 15 . 11 . 0.73 . Ronaldo . 15 . 10 . 0.66 . Ronaldo and Messi are generally seen as unachievable benchmarks for most players in terms of goalscoring, but Giroud is holding his own with the Portuguese forward. Messi, though, has 20 in 19 games averaging 0.95 goals per game. Even the prolific Harry Kane at north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur cannot quite match Giroud. His 13 goals in 18 games in 2015 giving him a rate of 0.72, just slightly lower than the 28-year-old Frenchman. After scoring both goals in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Newcastle United, Giroud's efforts are being appreciated by his manager as well as his critics. Giroud gets ahead of Newcastle defender Mike Williamson to score the first of his two goals at the weekend . The French striker scored a second goal within four minutes, nodding in a corner with ease . Asked if Giroud is world-class, manager Arsene Wenger said: 'I think so and he is scoring the goals to prove it. But I believe there is still room for improvement. 'Technically, he is a much better player than he was. His touch, his link play, his finishing, they have all improved. If you saw footage of him when he first arrived and now, it is obvious he is a better player. 'He is a fighter as well and a player with good mental strength. At 22 or 23 he played in Division Three in France, and now he is at Arsenal.' Arsene Wenger now ranks Giroud as world-class and says he has improved since joining Arsenal . Giroud blows a kiss at full time against Newcastle, and his form has earned him a lot of love of late . +To play for Scotland at Hampden, Shaun Maloney will fly 500 miles. Then add a zero on the end. When Chicago Fire’s visit to the new home of San Jose Earthquakes ended in defeat on Sunday night, the 32-year-old confronted the reality of life in Major League Soccer. A 5,000 mile journey from California to Glasgow, lasting the best part of a day, for a midweek friendly with Northern Ireland followed by a Euro qualifier against Gibraltar. The crowds for both games will be modest. The financial rewards non-existent. Shaun Maloney made the 5,000 mile trip from Chicago to Glasgow in order to represent his country . Scotland international Maloney, pictured scoring against the Republic of Ireland, loves playing for his country . Scotland are just three points behind Group D leaders Poland in the race to qualify for Euro 2016 . Yet it only took a five-minute call to Gordon Strachan to convince him the jetlag was worth it. That the arrangement can work. ‘We had a conversation, which was pretty brief,’ said the man whose stunning goal against Ireland invigorated Scotland’s latest qualifying campaign. ‘But although it was brief, it was really important for me. ‘I asked him if it would have any detrimental effect on my international career (moving to the States) and he said, “No”. That was all I needed to know. ‘I absolutely love playing for my country. It makes me very, very proud and it’s an honour to do it and I will try my hardest to continue to make the squad no matter what league I am in.’ How he might feel when the air miles mount is another matter. There were closer options. Significantly easier ways to add more caps to the display cabinet. Leaving troubled, relegation threatened Wigan in January, there was a firm offer from Leicester City. Speaking during Celtic’s winter break to Gran Canaria, Ronny Deila had also expressed an interest in taking him back to Parkhead. ‘I think the quotes by the Celtic manager were just him being very polite about me as a player,’ claimed Maloney. ‘I was a previous Celtic player. I didn’t think there was too much else in it. ‘There were options to stay in England, but I spoke to the manager and the owner in Chicago and I think my mind was pretty much made up in January. Maloney rejected interest from England and Scotland in order to seal a move to MLS outfit Chicago Fire . ‘You have to respect any club that offers you a contract in England or Scotland. But I really wanted to try this.’ He had been around the block in England and Scotland many times. Two spells at Celtic left nothing new to discover, other than a landscape with no Old Firm games. At Aston Villa and Wigan, he had also been seen the contrasts of English football, winning an FA Cup medal before flirting with a relegation battle in the Championship. A £750,000 move to Leicester was close, but fell down. Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and Sears Tower were always appealing options. ‘I have always thought about playing in this league,’ he continued. ‘I think the timing just worked. It’s a completely different lifestyle, everything is new. The stadiums, the clubs I am playing against, everything. It’ s all very exciting. ‘We had a disappointing year as a club last season and the play-offs are our ambition this year. I don’t think it’s beyond us.’ The early signs suggest otherwise. After three matches, Maloney has yet to play in a winning team and crossing the Atlantic to face Northern Ireland in a friendly is a big commitment. Without a point in the Eastern Conference, Fire host Philadelphia Union hours after Scotland’s qualifier with Gibraltar on Sunday without one of their prized, high-profile designated players. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Maloney insisted: ‘I will always make myself available for Scotland. Maloney (left, pictured with Steven Naismith) is pleased to be playing under Scotland boss Gordon Strachan . ‘We will cross the friendlies bridge as we come to it.’ His respect for the manager is a factor. Effusive in his praise of Strachan, his former Celtic manager, Maloney has new enthusiasm for international football, admitting: ‘Look, the manager has been excellent. ‘I wouldn’t want to disrespect Craig Levein the previous manager at all. But the impact Gordon Strachan has had has been monumental. ‘The players have bought into the system that he wants and we have some outstanding players in Steven Fletcher and Steven Naismith at Everton. ‘I would probably put Scott Brown in that same category and then beyond that our manager is our biggest asset. We are very fortunate to have him.’ Asked if this is the best Scotland team in 20 years or so he is blunt. Technically, there have been better players in dark blue. Yet Strachan’s organisational skills and tactical nous are doing a decent job of covering up the cracks on the surface. ‘Individually, we have probably had better players – or players playing at a higher level and more of them,’ he said. ‘But as a group and as a team there is a feeling about it I haven’t had in quite a long time. Scotland are currently preparing for their upcoming matches against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar . ‘We are a good side. We played very well against Ireland and were brought down to earth a little bit against England. ‘But we have to realise what our strengths are and our weaknesses and try to get better. ‘Germany are still favourites to qualify. Poland second and after that it’s between us, Ireland and Georgia for a spot in the top two and if not third and a play-off. ‘Scotland against Ireland in Dublin is a big, big game and the result will have big ramifications for the group – as any game does now. ‘Ireland are strong at home and Poland were very good in Warsaw, as well. ‘I couldn’t call it, I really couldn’t.’ There was a brief exchange with San Jose’s Glasgow-born coach Dominic Kinnear before the long journey home. Kenny Miller found the travel from Vancouver in Canada gruelling. Chicago is less northerly when it comes to flying to venues like California, yet San Jose was still a 4,000 mile round trip. ‘You never know where and when things can change in this game,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve only spent a short time in Chicago, but it’s a great sporting city, it is going to be a massive lifestyle change and I am looking forward to it. ‘I want to be part of a team which makes the city proud. And an international team that makes the country proud.’ +Spain boss Vicente del Bosque has left the door open for the return of David Villa to the national team despite the striker stepping down following the side's dismal exit from the World Cup. The former Barcelona ace, now New York City's marquee star in the MLS, said that his games in Brazil would be his last for Spain but the 97-cap veteran could yet lead the line again under Del Bosque. Del Bosque told Spanish radio that there is no reason Villa, 33, couldn't reach 100 caps because he had 'done so much for the national team' and has kept the door open for him to return. David Villa, on target here for New York City at Yankee Stadium, could still return to the Spain national team . Spain coach Vincente del Bosque says Villa doesn't have to have played his last international games . 'There are exceptional cases and one of those is David,' said Del Bosque of the player who was instrumental in Spain's triumphs at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. Nevertheless he isn't with the Spain squad for Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine and their friendly in the Netherlands four days later with Juventus's Alvaro Morata and Malaga's Juanmi, who is yet to receive his first cap, the only strikers at Del Bosque's disposal. Villa has 59 goals in his 97 appearances for the full national team, but managed just one in their disappointing departure in the group stage of the World Cup in Brazil - the opener in Spain's 3-0 win in their dead rubber against Australia. Villa's goals and influence were instrumental in Spain's Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup victories . Del Bosque, at a sponsors announcement on Tuesday, said Villa was an 'exceptional case'' for Spain . He's impressed in his opening matches as captain for New York City, for which he was the club's first-ever signing. He went into the history books in their second game by becoming the scorer of their first home goal at Yankees Stadium with his 19th-minute strike in their 2-0 win over New England Revolution. +Michel Platini has backed Football Association chairman Greg Dyke's plan to increase the minimum number of home-grown players in club squads from eight to 12. Dyke is facing opposition to his plans from the Premier League but UEFA president Platini said the European body would work to help him. It comes as Dyke said it was 'depressing' to read Rio Ferdinand's newspaper column claiming that managers such as Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho may not be giving young English players a chance. UEFA president Michel Platini agrees with Gerg Dyke's plans to increase number of homegrown players . The FA chairman wants to increase the minimum number of home-grown players from eight to 12 . While there is a slight increase in the number of English players in the Premier League this year — up from 32% last year to 35% — that is largely down to Burnley being promoted. If they were to be relegated and replaced by Watford — second in the Championship — the proportion would fall to 31%. However, only 22% of the starters in the current top four teams are qualified to play for England, compared to 28% last year. In 2014, just 23 English players appeared in the Champions League group stage, compared with 78 Spaniards, 55 Germans and 51 Brazilians. This season the three English clubs that reached the knockout stages of the Champions League started only 10 English players, compared to 12 French and nine Spanish in those three sides. In the last two weeks only five English players started in the second legs of the knockout stage. In 2010 England Under 17s won the European Championship, beating Spain in the final. Of that 18-man match-day squad, only four have gone on to play more than 20 top-flight games, while double that from the Spanish squad have done so in La Liga. Of the 12 clubs who have played in each of the last five Premier League seasons, the average number of home-grown players per squad has gone from 11.4 to 9.4. Only 62% of current home-grown players are qualified to play for England. Platini, speaking after the UEFA Congress in Vienna, said: 'This is a position we defend. We're not only talking about England, we're talking all of Europe. Mr Dyke's struggle with the FA is something we share and we agree with him. 'With the new leader of the European Commission it is important we establish close relations to see how we can protect home-grown, grass-roots young players in the different countries. We share the same perspective. We will work hand in hand to defend an idea that we think is the right one. 'There is free flow of workers but there are some things that doesn't work well and we need to address it.' UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino admitted that its similar rule of eight home-grown players in European squads was not working as well as it should and called Dyke's initiative 'fantastic'. He added: 'We are at eight out of 25 and we see it is not really as great as it should be so whatever move in favour of increasing home-grown players is something we can only support. Congratulations to England.' Dyke's proposals are set to be discussed at a Premier League chairmen's meeting on Thursday as well as the FA board. They also include changing the rules so that 'home-grown' means having trained in England for three years before the age of 18 rather than 21. The FA chairman said: 'I thought Rio Ferdinand's column was in some ways quite depressing. It virtually said Mourinho is virtually saying he is not going to play the kids anyway. Why have an academy then? 'It's not fair on the kids. It was always tough for kids to get through but it seems unfair now.' Asked if he had looked at how the FA could force the new rules through despite opposition, he replied: 'We have but that's not the way we want to go. We have looked at it yes.' Former England defender Rio Ferdinand claimed that youngsters were not being given a chance at Chelsea . Chelsea' s Ruben Loftus-Cheek is highly rated but has found chances limited under Jose Mourinho . Dyke said all the proposals were open for discussion. He added: 'I think it's more about the clubs than the leadership if you want my honest opinion. It's the unfairness of a system that is massively improved because of the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) which was introduced by the Premier League led by Richard Scudamore, he has done a great job. 'The trouble is that it is only any good if the kids get through the system - if they can't get through the system why bother? 'We are open to discussions on all of it. This is a set of ideas which we think will work.' +Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello is flattered to be linked with Liverpool as speculation mounts over his future. The 22-year-old has attracted attention from a number of European clubs after putting in some impressive performances for Serie A side Atalanta this season. Liverpool are monitoring Sportiello, who is also a reported target of Inter Milan and AC Milan. Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello is being monitored by Liverpool, claim reports in italy . 'Liverpool are definitely a great club,' Sportiello told Italian newspaper L'Eco di Bergamo. 'We are talking about one of the top clubs in the world. 'However, I am happy to be here. 'This is my first year as a starter and I recently signed a new contract with Atalanta. 'My life has changed in a few months.' Sportiello in action for Atalanta during a Serie A match against AC Milan back in January . Liverpool are looking to sign a goalkeeper this summer with club manager Brendan Rodgers keen to increase competition for Simon Mignolet. A youth product of Atalanta, Sportiello became the club's first-choice goalkeeper this season. Sportiello has pulled off 95 saves and kept seven clean sheets in 26 league starts to ensure the Bergamo outfit remain above the drop zone. Atalanta extended Sportiello's contract until June 2019 earlier this year. Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is pictured during a training session at Melwood last week . +Southampton and Crystal Palace are keen on signing Charlie Austin from QPR in the summer. The 25-year-old, who has been among spectators enjoying the Cheltenham festival, has scored 15 goals in 25 Premier League appearances this season and QPR are keen to keep him with a new £50,000 a week contract offer in the pipeline. However, should they be relegated Austin is almost certain to leave and other Premier League sides are keen to tempt him away from Loftus Road. Charlie Austin has become hot property after scoring 15 league goals for struggling QPR this season . Rangers' poor form, especially on the road, has left them languishing in the relegation zone . England manager Roy Hodgson (right) watches Austin in action against Tottenham . Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has prioritised bringing in a new striker to support Graziano Pelle and has put Austin on his shortlist of targets along with Javier Hernandez of Manchester United and Alberto Bueno from Rayo Vallecano. Despite the interest, QPR will hold talks with the player at the end of the season and director of football Les Ferdinand said: 'We will be trying our best come the end of the season to make sure Charlie signs up and stays. Austin has the good grace for congratulate Tottenham keeper Lloris for denying him with his saves . Director of football Les Ferdinand has admitted it will be difficult keeping Austin if QPR go down . 'What we do understand is that players are ambitious. Sometimes they want to look elsewhere. 'We will be doing our best to make sure we give him the opportunity to stay and play in the Premier League. 'The aim is to replenish the squad and we don't want to be losing our best players like Charlie.' Manchester United loanee Javier Hernandez (right) is another player on Southampton's radar . +A bust of Vladmir Putin, depicting the Russian leader dressed as a Roman emperor, is to be unveiled in St Petersburg. The Roman-style statue is being gifted by St.Petersburg’s fiercely nationalist Cossack community to commemorate the allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. The comparison of the strongman with the leaders of ancient Rome was in-part inspired by Putin’s decision to back pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine,Newsweek reported. The clay mould was designed by a St. Petersburg sculptor, backed by the city's popular Cossack community . The bust is at the St Petersburg's Academy of arts, ahead to its unveiling at an underground station . St Petersburg’s traditionalist Cossack group Irbis, a popular organisation supporting Slavic military values, said the bust of Putin will be placed at an underground station in north St Petersburg. The city, formally Leningrad, is Putin’s home town. The bust’s designer, sculptor Pavel Greshnikov, was quoted as saying he had considered portraying the Russian leader in a suit and tie, in military fatigues and even in medieval armour. The statue is complete with a laurel wreath and other trappings of the Roman Empire. It is at Greshinov’s workshop at the St Petersburg Academy of arts, ahead to its unveiling. Putin may have upset some people with his Ukrainian activities, but in his hometown he is still popular . Cossacks have grown in popularity in Russian since the fall of communism in the 80s and 90s. The group, which prides itself on military valour and its Russian Orthodox Christian roots, has particularly warmed to Putin’s increasingly traditional values. Andrey Polykov, a local Cossack leader in St Petersburg, backed the creation of the Putin Statue. Lenin was commemorated in bronze throughout the USSR. However in many places the statues were torn down after the fall of communism . He was quoted as saying the Russian leader was one of the country’s ‘brightest’ and most ‘positive’ heads of state for ‘the last hundred years or so’. Polykov claimed Putin had a record as a peacemaker following wars in Georgia in 2008 and Moldova in the early 1990s. Boris Yeltsin, Putin’s predecessor, has also been immortalised in sculpture. A statue of the post-Soviet leader was erected in Yekaterinburg in 2011. Andrey Polyakov said his Cossack community had been planning for a long time to erect the Putin statue . +The saying 'just when you think something is idiot proof they invent a new idiot' was proven again this week when a man set fire to his car after using a cigarette lighter to see while filling it with a jerry can. In the early hours of Sunday morning a man from Sunshine in Victoria ran out of fuel about one kilometre east of Ararat on the Western Highway. He went on foot to a local petrol station to get a jerry can but could not see what he was doing when he returned to the car. Cars have gone up in flames for a variety of reasons, but setting one on fire because the person was using a cigarette lighter to see while filling it with a jerry can has to be the worst one yet . ABC reports that Acting Inspector Brendan Broadbent said the man lost all common sense when trying to find a solution to the problem. ‘Because there was no light he's actually, in the process of pouring fuel into his vehicle, he's used his lighter to light up the area so he could see,’ he said. Police said the man abandoned common sense in the search for a solution to filling his car with the jerry can in the dark . ‘Subsequently the fumes have ignited and the vehicle's caught on fire.’ The rear of the car was burnt but Acting Inspector Broadbent said the man was lucky to escape without injury. ‘That could have been far worse.’ +A former footballer alleged to have fronted a £30 million investment scheme which led to Premier League stars losing money racked up a 39,000 euro bar bill in just four hours at a lavish beach party, it is claimed. Michael McIndoe, 35, is accused of taking huge sums from top players, including £500,000 from each of Robbie Keane and Jimmy Bullard, for the failed venture. The former Wolves and Coventry midfielder, from Edinburgh, is due in bankruptcy court on Wednesday as his creditors, including other big names, chase him for money. Former footballer Michael McIndoe (circled), who fronted an alleged £30 million investment scheme which left Premier League stars out of pocket, is said to have racked up a 39,000 euro bar bill at a beach party similar to this one . The receipt, allegedly from one of McIndoe's beach parties at Marbella's famous Ocean Club has emerged, reportedly showing how before he declared himself bankrupt, he had splashed the cash to try to attract investors. He is pictured here, with a cigar, in 2011 . Now a receipt allegedly from one of McIndoe's beach parties at Marbella's famous Ocean Club has emerged, reportedly showing how before he declared himself bankrupt, he had splashed the cash at the bar as he tried to impress investors. The bill for 38,778.30 euros, worth around £28,600, shows magnums of Cristal and bottles of Champagne and is from 2011, although a copy was printed off in July 2013 by a member of staff. It also details the 3,525.30 euro service charge. The receipt, allegedly from one of McIndoe's parties, shows a 38,778.30 euro bar bill, including five magnums of Cristal Champagne. This copy was printed off in 2013, although the bill is from 2011 . One onlooker present claims McIndoe and his entourage had been gathered around the pool on two sunbeds in the venue's prestigious VIP section. 'They got 20 women and out of them they were all carrying two bottles each of champagne, but big 15 litre ones, Cristal – you name it,' he said. 'There are beds around the pool and all the girls brought them to the bed and they were sprayed everywhere – all to make him look like the boss. 'It is the largest beach club in the world, with a massive bar and pool in the middle and was renowned for its top quality parties. 'McIndoe had come there a couple of times. It was a holiday to treat some of the boys he was with. 'The end of that weekend before he went he was just there – he wanted to have a big show and try to get more investors. He was asking for the best people, the richest. 'It was a party to show people "look this is what I've got -  you could have this lifestyle". 'He sprayed half of the bottles for the first five minutes and then sprayed again. He wanted to make sure that people saw that he was there. He stayed there for the whole afternoon. 'McIndoe doesn't drink himself but his guests were worse for wear by the end of it. 'After that day I am told he never went back – he did his sales pitch and moved on.' McIndoe is alleged to have persuaded footballers to invest in the scheme, then blew a fortune on women, cars, houses and holidays before bankruptcy. Investors reportedly lost a combined £30 million when the scheme collapsed in late 2011. The scheme is currently being investigated by police, while McIndoe has a bankruptcy hearing this week after previously telling the court that he was living off the generosity of friends and family. A spokesman from the Metropolitan police confirmed to MailOnline that an allegation of fraud was made to Westminster CID in February last year. No arrests have been made. At the height of his spending, McIndoe hired a modernist £2million mansion for £27,000-a-week for a three-week holiday spree in Marbella. His friends had bottles of champagne and vodka at their tables whenever they went to nightclubs, while back in London he hired pop star Alexandra Burke to perform at a party and invested in a private members club. 'He was the Mr Big in Marbella, buying loads of champagne and girls all over the place. He even had a bodyguard,' one footballer, who lost around £75,000 in the scheme. The scheme is thought to have attracted 300 players, including a number from the lower leagues, and he told original investors to get others involved so they could make more money. McIndoe was photographed lounging on a white sofa with his then girlfriend, model Emma Frain, and smoking a huge cigar while surrounded by friends as he bankrolled their luxury holidays. Former players Bullard, who recently appeared on the TV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Robbie Keane are thought to have lost more than £500,000 each. 'He had the gift of the gab but was very cagey about the scheme, saying the money was in property, gold or City investments,' added the player, who declined to be named. 'People were convinced when they saw him paying out but then he suddenly closed the scheme down. He kept telling me to wait and that I would be a wealthy man.' McIndoe was made bankrupt in October last year with disclosed debts of £3 million and he told told the court in London at a hearing last month that he was penniless. McIndoe said he had no income and was living off £13,900 surplus from the sale of his mother's house but £6,000 of that had been given to his girlfriend, who lives in Epping, Essex. 'That money has been running thin of late so I have been getting help from friends and family,' he told the hearing. Insolvency practitioners O’Haras Ltd, based in West Yorkshire, are trustees of his bankruptcy estate and the firm's director has said it is looking to recover money lost through McIndoe's gambling habits. Details of his account with bookmakers' William Hill, which were given to receivers as part of the bankruptcy proceedings, showed he had staked a total of £391,955 and his winnings were £309,505.76. McIndoe is accused of taking huge sums from top players, including £500,000 from Jimmy Bullard (pictured) alone, for the failed venture . Ireland striker Robbie Keane is also thought to have lost around £500,000 in the scheme . McIndoe photographed lounging on a white sofa with his then girlfriend, model Emma Frain . McIndoe at a beach party in 2011 . Four boxes of 10 bottles of Champagne: 5,000 euros each . Three magnums of Cristal: 995 euros each . Two magnums of Cristal Rose: 2,275 euros . One 3l bottle of Cristal: 2,950 euros . One bottle Dom Perignon Champagne: 295 euros . Seven margarita pizzas: 21 euros each . Five chicken quesadillas: 23 euros each . Three portions of tempura prawns: 34 euros each . One club sandwich: 23 euros . 10 Coronita beers: 10 euros each . 19 bottles of Hildon water: 10 euros each . Assorted sushi: 162 euros . Two 'Bebida especial': 1,295 euros each . Two bottles of Minuty Prestige wine: 158 euros each . Service charge: 3,532.30 euros . Total: 3,8778.30 euros . He added that he was not working and was living with his mother in Edinburgh or staying with a friend in London. After the hearing, he faced accusations from creditors that he had not responded to their questions about repayment. 'I have nothing to say, I cannot comment about this,' he said. However, the Spanish onlooker said he had little sympathy for McIndoe – only his alleged victims. He added: 'What he is accused of doing to these people is an absolute joke. 'He took a lot of money off a lot of people. We are not talking thousands – we are talking millions.' McIndoe celebrates scoring for Doncaster against Arsenal in the League Cup in 2005 . McIndoe started out at Luton Town, making his debut in 1998 and playing for the Hatters 39 times before joining Hereford on a free in 2000. Yeovil then took advantage of the Bulls' financial plight and snapped him up for £25,000 the following year. He scored 22 goals in 91 outings for the Glovers, winning promotion from the Conference in 2003 before joining Doncaster for £50,000. McIndoe twice made the PFA Team of the Year with Rovers and was his side's joint-top scorer in 2004-05 with 12 goals. He twice represented the Scotland B side during his time at Rovers. After a loan spell at Derby he joined Barnsley then Wolves, on loan again, before the deal was made permanent for £250,000. He signed a three-year contract with Bristol City in 2007 and scored the winner against Crystal Palace in the second leg of the 2008 Championship play-off semi-final. They lost out to Hull at Wembley and McIndoe had one more season at Ashton Gate before joining Coventry. He also had a brief loan stint at MK Dons. +A 16-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle $100,000 worth of marijuana into the US from Mexico . The teenager was detained with two women, aged 23 and 24, after officers allegedly found 185 pound haul in their Volkswagen sedan. A narcotics detection dog patrolling the boarder crossing in the Port of Lukesville, Arizona, picked out the vehicle for a secondary search, according to azcentral.com. A 16-year-old girl has been arrested trying to smuggle 12 bags of marijuana into the US from Mexico . Officers from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers examined the car and discovered 12 packages of marijuana. The find was said to be worth an estimated $92,550, according to a spokesman for the CBP. The teenager from Glendale, Arizona, who was reportedly driving the car, and the two women were not named by officials. Both the drugs and the dark coloured sedan were seized as part of the investigation. The trio have now been referred to immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. Cannabis was legalized in the state of Arizona for medical use in 2010 following a ballot. A growing number of states, including Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Alaska, have voted to allow people to possess limited amounts of marijuana. Supporters of the legalization campaign in Arizona hope to have a vote on the issue next year. Cannabis was legalized in the state of Arizona for medical use in 2010 following a ballot (file picture) +Five hundred to one was the price quoted to optimistic punters who felt Harry Kane had it in him to become the Premier League's top scorer at the beginning of the season. That's not looking such a gamble now. Nineteen goals later during one of the most breathtaking and honest seasons in recent memory, he's level with Diego Costa. Kane is with Roy Hodgson's England squad this week and can lay claim to being the country's only genuinely complete frontman. STATS Scroll down to see a full breakdown of Harry Kane's 19 goals . Harry Kane - pictured scoring against Leicester City on Saturday - has netted 19 times this season . Kane is training with the England team at St George's Park for the first time this week . Kane's goals have come from a variety of angles in what has been a staggering season for Spurs . Graphics were provided by Squawka. His international team-mates who share St George's Park with him in the coming days will doubtless notice the 21-year-old's range of ability. Kane is as comfortable 25 yards from goal as he is in the penalty area – and the visuals of his stunning campaign tell the whole story. Predominantly right-footed, it's little wonder that 10 of his strikers have come that way, but Mauricio Pochettino – and now Hodgson – will be enthused at the other ways in which he finds the net. Kane's spike of goals came around Christmas and he has added more headers and left-footed strikes recently . Kane (celebrating scoring against Aston Villa in November) has been in stunning form for Spurs . Brad Guzan had no chance after Kane's free-kick swerved beyond him at Villa Park . Four have come via his head, with five slammed home with his weaker left peg. Nine goals have been netted from more than 12 yards out. Those include a 29-yard hit in the 5-3 win against Chelsea on New Year's Day, and that stunning swerving free-kick at Aston Villa earlier in November. Compare that to Wayne Rooney, who has 11 for the season - nine of which came with his favoured right. His goals have contributed 22 points to Spurs charge towards the top four, too. Kane's rise to prominence has been staggering and, with five goals in his last three, is in prime position to pip the injured Costa and send the bookies into a sulk. +Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho admits understanding the English language changed his fortunes on the pitch. The France international struggled to settle in during his first 18 months after arriving from Paris Saint-Germain for £18million in the summer of 2013. He made 24 appearances in his first season but never really looked comfortable and this campaign started even worse as he walked out of Anfield after not being selected for September's Merseyside derby and then sustained a thigh injury which sidelined him for three months. Mamadou Sakho (right) says learning the English language has helped him improve at Liverpool . However, since returning in mid-December he has been a virtual ever-present, missing just five matches with another injury, and has made a noticeable improvement. The 25-year-old puts much of that down to him learning English. 'Do I finally feel happy at Liverpool? Yes, I feel good. The most difficult thing has been the language,' he told L'Equipe. 'I am a man of strong character so when I can't express myself I am always frustrated, and if I cannot make myself understood it is even worse. The French centre back has been an ever present for Liverpool in the second half of the season . 'Some people said that I should be speaking French and that would allow me to release the tension a bit, except that when I spoke in French on the pitch nobody understood what I was saying. 'I said to myself: 'This is useless - I really must learn'. It took time but now it is very good.' Sakho has put his fit of pique ahead of the first derby this season behind him and is grateful fans appear to have forgiven him also. 'I said sorry - it is all over,' he added. 'In England the supporters don't hold a grudge. In France, especially, it was talked about a lot negatively.' Sakho dispossesses Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney during Sunday's defeat at Anfield . +Peter Quillin has described how the death of his uncle last month will inspire him to dethrone WBO middleweight king Andy Lee when they clash in Brooklyn on April 11. With the New Yorker's dad in prison, uncle Eric Munson had been Quillin's father figure until he lost his fight with cancer five weeks ago. Undefeated 'Kid Chocolate' was already a week into his camp in preparation to fight Lee and, on the advice of his family, he did not break ranks in order to attend his uncle's funeral. Former middleweight world champion Peter Quillin action against Lukas Konecny last year . But Quillin says he was inspired by the visit he made to be by his uncle's side just a week before he died and has warned Lee that he is 'highly motivated' for this fight as a result of it. The 31-year-old said: 'He was the most important person to me in my whole life and it's the first time I've ever lost anybody that close to me. 'When I saw him fighting on his deathbed with cancer, I saw him fight through that until he had nothing left in the tank to fight with. 'That showed me the fight is all in your head. There's no cancer here so I have to do what's worth while I'm still here on this earth. 'I couldn't attend his funeral because I was here in camp. When I saw him it was the week before I started camp and the week after he died. My family told me he would've wanted me to stay in camp. I knew he was proud of me.' Quillin is facing Lee for the title the Irishman won by stopping highly-fancied Matt Korobov in Las Vegas last December. Quillin recently lost his uncle after a battle with cancer but did not interrupt his training to attend the funeral . That night, the pair clashed for the vacant title because Quillin vacated instead of facing Korobov, who had been made his mandatory challenger. As such, the American, who is of Cuban descent, did not lose his title in the ring but insists he no longer feels like the champion. He added: 'I'm going to let Andy have the pressure on him to perform like the champion. I had that pressure but now I have pressure of being a challenger.' Lee and Quillin almost crossed swords three years ago when a fight at Madison Square Garden was mooted as part of the bill on which Matthew Macklin faced Sergio Martinez at Madison Square Garden. Now they will finally meet, across New York at the Barclays Center, and Lee recalled why the fight never happened in 2012. He said: 'I remember when it was proposed at the the time, [former trainer] Emanuel [Steward] turned the fight down because he felt it should have been me fighting Martinez instead of Macklin. 'On top of that they put me in the fight with Quillin on the undercard. They wanted me and Peter to have the hard fight. Lee won his middleweight world title by beating Matt Korobov in Las Vegas last December . Lee celebrates winning his world title . 'Now you have two big middleweights, big for the weight, two genuine punchers and two very good boxers. We match well and it will come down to whoever implements their plan better on the night. We have a plan and we're working on it.' In Lee's last two victories – the win over Korobov and the Knockout of the Year contender against John Jackson in June – the 30-year-old from Limerick has been behind on the scorecards but turned the fight on its head with a single shot. But Lee added: 'At no time in those fights did I feel I was going to lose. I knew at some stage we would have to trade. With the power I carry I know we will have to trade in a 12-round fight and I just know if I land at the right time with my power I can knock anybody out. 'It gives you confidence. People got the wrong impression as a blood and guts fighter but I'm a technical boxer.' That technique, as ever, is being honed under the tutelage of Adam Booth in their training base in Beausoleil in the south of France. They operate within walking distance of one of the world's biggest gambling districts in Monte Carlo and Lee recognises that the stakes could not be higher in Brooklyn next month. He said: 'I could've fought in Ireland, chosen the opponent and beaten someone comfortably for my first defence. But if I fight and beat Peter in New York I will be a global star. People will need to acknowledge what I've been doing. It's a great opportunity to fight in America, on national TV and it takes me to the next level.' +British Davis Cup player Dan Evans will be fined after failing to turn up for his match at this week’s lower-tier professional event on the Wirral. The 24-year-old from Birmingham, who only a year ago looked set to crack the world’s top 100, has given no explanation for his no-show at the $15,000 Futures level tournament on Merseyside. Evans, tagged the ‘bad boy’ of British tennis, will receive a £350 fine and face more questions about his commitment to a career that at times has shown signs of world-class potential. The ex-British No 2 was due to play Italy’s Salvatore Caruso in Tuesday’s first round, but tournament organisers were alarmed when, in a highly unusual situation at a professional event with ranking points on offer, he was absent at the start of play. Dan Evans will be fined after failing to turn up for his match at this week’s lower-tier pro event on the Wirral . Mystery still surrounded his absence on Thursday, with players and officials in the dark for the reasons why. ‘I can confirm Dan Evans was a no-show and was replaced in the draw,’ said a tournament spokesman. ‘He was timed out according to the standard 15-minute rule.’ With his current ranking of 688, Evans was only just inside the event’s entry cut-off but rang in on Saturday to confirm that he would be participating. It is the last anyone heard from him. It is also understood he withdrew from a non-ranking British Tour event in his hometown of Birmingham last Friday, although that time he did notify officials. Evans, tagged the ‘bad boy’ of British tennis, will receive a £350 fine and faces questions about his future . Only a year ago the 24-year-old from Birmingham looked set to crack the world’s top 100 . It is the latest controversy to hit Evans, generally reckoned to have the most natural ability in Britain after Andy Murray. He has played some outstanding Davis Cup matches for GB and in 2013 nearly made the US Open fourth round. Admitting he sometimes struggles for motivation, Evans has been regularly dropped from LTA funding and reinstated, but is currently without support. After last year’s Wimbledon he suffered knee problems but has played three lower-tier events in the UK this year, with the Wirral set to be his fourth. He is said to have been training well at the high performance centre in Nottingham. At this month’s Davis Cup tie in Glasgow, GB No 4 Liam Broady said he had highly competitive practice matches against Evans, making his behaviour this week look even more enigmatic. It is understood he withdrew from a non-ranking British Tour event in Birmingham last Friday . +Former Sauber test driver Giedo van der Garde says he has settled his contract dispute with the team for 'significant compensation' while accepting his Formula One career is effectively over. Van der Garde had a deal to be one of the team's race drivers this season, but Sauber did not honour it, and legal judgments in Switzerland and last week in Australia before the season-opening race supported the Dutchman's claims. He said on his Facebook page on Wednesday that the compensation meant 'my rights have finally been recognised and that at least some justice has been done,' but said he was 'sad and disappointed' that his F1 ambitions are over, and still bewildered at Sauber's decision-making. Giedo van der Garde has settled his contract dispute with Sauber for 'significant compensation' The former Sauber test driver accepts that he no longer has a future in Formula One . 'I had hoped at last to be able to show what I am capable of, driving a car for a respected midfield team in the 2015 season,' Van der Garde said. 'This dream has been taken away from me, and I know that my future in Formula 1 is probably over.' The settlement ends a long-running dispute that was a dramatic backdrop to the start of the season last weekend in Melbourne, Australia. Having received the backing of a Swiss employment tribunal, Van der Garde took his case to the local Supreme Court of the state of Victoria, where he won the initial hearing and Sauber's appeal. Pressing his claims further, Van der Garde filed contempt of court charges against the team for not immediately facilitating his installation as a driver in Australia. These charges threatened to impound the team's equipment and possibly lead to the detention of team principal Monisha Kaltenborn. The Dutchman was hoping to race for the team at the season's opening grand prix in Australia . Marcus Ericsson (left) and Felipe Nasr (right) eventually raced in Melbourne and will remain Sauber's drivers . He finally agreed to drop that action, allowing drivers Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson to compete in Melbourne, where the team put in a surprisingly strong performance, with the cars finishing fifth and eighth. Van der Garde said on Wednesday he dropped that contempt of court case because it would have 'wrecked' the team's weekend, and hurt Nasr and Ericsson most of all. 'I decided I did not want to live with that idea, even though it was only the team's management that was responsible for the bizarre situation I found myself in,' Van der Garde said. His career supported through his billionaire father-in-law, he said his sponsor forwarded money to the team during 2014 for a 2015 drive. 'Effectively, it was my sponsor's advanced payments that helped the team survive in 2014,' Van der Garde said. 'Sauber's financial decision-making in this case is bizarre, and makes no sense to me.' The Sauber team produced a surprisingly effective performance in Melbourne finishing fifth and eighth . Van der Garde took his case to the Victoria Supreme Court where judges ruled he should race . He said his experience 'will serve as an example to illustrate what should change, and that new regulations will be implemented to help protect driver rights.' 'There are numerous examples of talented drivers with good intentions, but without the sort of professional support that I have had, who have been broken by Formula 1, and who have seen their careers destroyed.' He said he will pursue opportunities in sports cars and touring cars. VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . +The Australian Grand Prix was nothing short of disastrous for McLaren, despite the fact the team spirit was clearly high before the first race of the season. Pictures of preparations behind the scenes in Melbourne show replacement driver Kevin Magnussen playing a clever practical joke on his team-mate, Jenson Button. As Button stood on the scales to take his weight ahead of the Formula One curtain-raiser, Magnussen sneakily put his foot on the scale to add an extra few pounds on to Button's weight. Button finished 11th in the Australian Grand Prix and was the only driver not to take a point in the race . Magnussen had engine failure on the formation lap as he deputised for Fernando Alonso . But the images show that Magnussen was caught in the act, as Button turned around to see his team-mate's foot hanging in the air. Magnussen was standing in for Fernando Alonso in the first race of the Formula One season, after Alonso was ruled out of the opener with concussion sustained in a crash in pre-season. The 22-year-old Magnussen was left frustrated by his car at the race, though, as he suffered engine failure on the formation lap. Alonso was absent from the first race of the season as he continues to recover from concussion . Alonso is scheduled to compete in the next race of the season in Malaysia on March 29 . And Button did not have too much more luck. He was the only man to finish the race and not take a point in 11th. McLaren will be hoping for better fortune providing Alonso returns as planned from his concussion for the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 29. VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . +England have the biggest representation on a 12-strong shortlist announced by tournament organisers for this season's RBS 6 Nations player of the tournament. Centre Jonathan Joseph, fly-half George Ford, scrum-half Ben Youngs and No 8 Billy Vunipola all feature among the group. England, despite beating France 55-35 two days ago, were pipped to the title by Ireland, with Wales finishing third. George Ford (right) has been named in a 12-man shortlist for Six Nations player of the tournament . Ford's England team-mate Jonathan Joseph (centre) also features as does Ben Youngs and Billy Vunipola . Three Ireland players make the list - captain Paul O'Connell, centre Robbie Henshaw and scrum-half Conor Murray - together with Welshmen Alun-Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar, Scots Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray, and Italy captain Sergio Parisse. Surprise omissions, though, include Wales captain Sam Warburton and his team-mate Leigh Halfpenny, plus France wing Yoann Huget. Throughout the tournament, players were awarded (or deducted) points based on statistical performance across different categories. Six Nations analysts weighted the importance of different actions, depending on different positions, with those categories then collated to give each player an overall performance score. Public voting via the official Six Nations website closes at midnight on Wednesday. Ireland's Six Nations captain Paul O'Connell features along with Robbie Henshaw and Conor Murray . +Edinburgh have signed Nasi Manu from Super XV outfit Highlanders. The 26-year-old - who has won world titles at under-19 and under-20 level with his country - has penned a two-year deal with Alan Solomons' squad and will make the switch once his current side's season ends this summer. Manu made his Super XV debut in 2008 for Crusaders - before he had even played a senior club game - but moved to the Highlanders in 2010. Edinburgh have signed New Zealander Nasi Manu (right) from Super XV outfit Highlanders . He has also won six titles with provincial club Canterbury, who he joined in 2007. Manu said: 'I'm excited to be heading to Edinburgh and taking up a new challenge in my career. 'My partner and I are looking forward to living in Scotland and learning more about the history and culture.' Manu made his Super XV debut in 2008 for Crusaders - before he had even played a senior club game - but moved to the Highlanders in 2010. +The BBC has announced record-breaking viewing figures for Saturday's gripping RBS 6 Nations finale between England and France at Twickenham. A peak audience of 9.63 million tuned into the action as England won 55-35, but came up just short in their attempt to overhaul Ireland during a pulsating Six Nations title race. The BBC said that figure passed the previous best of 9.56m for England against France four years ago. England captain Chris Robshaw (right) wanders off the Twickenham pitch after his country's win over France . Ben Youngs goes over to give England an early lead in their must-win Six Nations clash against France . Leicester Tigers star Youngs jumps for joy after scoring the first try of the match on Saturday evening . Jack Nowell goes over for his second try but England could not find enough points to win Six Nations . The other games on so-called Super Saturday attracted peak audiences of 5.1m for Scotland against Ireland at Murrayfield and 4.1m as Wales beat Italy in Rome. The BBC Sport website, meanwhile, recorded 8.22million unique UK browsers on Saturday, surpassing a previous-best figure of 8.03m during the 2012 London Olympics. BBC Sport director Barbara Slater said: 'What an amazing end to such a thrilling Six Nations Championship, and duly reflected in such a huge audience figure of 9.63m on BBC One, with millions more accessing content through radio, online and digital platforms.' +Wasps have announced that centre Ben Jacobs has signed a contract extension with the Aviva Premiership club. The Australian is currently in his second spell at Wasps, although a shoulder injury means that he will not play again this season. Wasps rugby director Dai Young said: 'We are really pleased to keep Ben at the club. Wasps have announced that Ben Jacobs has signed a contract extension with the Aviva Premiership club. Jacobs is currently in his second spell at Wasps, although injury means that he will not play again this season . 'He has been a valuable member of this squad since he returned from Australia, and this season in particular, he has shown that he has a lot to add to this group both on and off the field. 'Unfortunately, a shoulder injury ended his season early, but he is working hard to get back out on the field and we are looking forward to having him back playing.' Jacobs becomes the latest Wasps player to agree a contract extension, following the likes of James Haskell, Joe Launchbury, Ashley Johnson and Carlo Festuccia. Jacobs is tackled by Andrei Ostrikov and Ross Harrison during the match at The Ricoh Arena . +Australia have no intention of shirking the verbal battle as they seek to defeat defending champions India in their World Cup semi-final in Sydney. Michael Clarke's team already know that fellow tournament co-hosts New Zealand will await Thursday's winners in Sunday's final at the MCG. Resurgent India, like the Kiwis so far unbeaten throughout their campaign, are sure to provide a stern test as Australia pursue a record fifth title. Mitchell Johnson (centre) will not shirk the verbal battle against India in the World Cup semi-final on Thursday . The left-arm fast bowler will not be put off after Shane Watson was fined for verbal exchanges in the last eight . Clarke and Co will not be put off in their quest to retain the trophy, though, by the consequences of Shane Watson's epic confrontation with Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz in their last-eight success in Adelaide four days ago. Watson had to withstand some ferocious short balls and gave as good as he got too in verbal exchanges which resulted in fines for both players under the International Cricket Council's code of conduct. The Australia all-rounder emerged the emphatic victor, however - with an unbeaten 64, having been dropped on four off Wahab, as he and the big-hitting Glenn Maxwell took their team to a six-wicket verdict with almost 16 overs to spare. Australia's combative opener David Warner has since suggested he may have to leave the chat to others but Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner will happily take over. Johnson told Fox Sports: 'I heard Davey say he wasn't going to get involved in all that stuff. Someone's got to do it, and I think I might put my hand up.' Johnson, fellow seamer Faulkner and coach Darren Lehmann all appear most definitely ready to 're-engage'. Shane Watson and Wahab Riaz were both fined for their exchanges in the quarter-final on Friday . Australia all-rounder James Faulkner is another who will not be backing away from the verbal battle . Australia's left-arm pace spearhead added: 'It's part of the game - and what happened the other day with Shane (Watson) and Wahab (Riaz) I thought was exceptional, the way they played the game. 'It was unfortunate with what happened afterwards. I thought it was great entertaining cricket to watch, and I think you're going to see some more entertainment this game.' Lehmann agreed in his column for cricket.com.au: 'I can't help but think it's a bit disappointing that the exchange was deemed to have crossed the line. 'I've been interested to read that greats of the game such as Brian Lara and Kevin Pietersen were surprised that's how it was interpreted. 'But I have no doubt the passion and the thrills that Wahab's spell ignited among the crowd in Adelaide will be there for all to see and hear at the SCG when we take on India in Thursday's semi-final.' Faulkner is like-minded: 'There's going to be words said, and it's going to be a really tough contest. 'I think there always is (sledging) in the game - if there isn't, you've got problems. 'It's the nature of the game, it's a semi-final - cut throat. Australia coach Darren Lehmann said he was disappointed Watson's exchange with Riaz was deemed to have over-stepped the mark . Johnson and his team-mates trained at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday . 'Neither team will be backing down.' India have defied the expectations of many, not just by progressing so far after playing the stooges in the preceding tri-series against Australia and England but by taking all 70 wickets available to them en route - often with pace, rather than spin. Number three batsman Virat Kohli is relishing the chance to prove another point after India's 109-run quarter-final trouncing of Bangladesh. 'It's the perfect time for us, an opportunity to do justice to the way we play,' he told cricket.com.au. 'We knew we had things to work on (after the tri-series), and not much time. 'The way our bowlers have reacted, and performed, with composure, confidence and aggression has been wonderful to watch. 'Our bowling attack has come into play in this World Cup - taking 70 wickets in seven games, that's probably been the difference. 'If we can continue to do that, we'll have a great chance come game day.' +Brendon McCullum insists he and his New Zealand team are enjoying 'the greatest time of our lives' after a thrilling four-wicket win against South Africa in Auckland saw them reach their first ever World Cup final. Grant Elliott (84 not out) hit a six off the penultimate ball of the match at Eden Park to wrap up victory for the Black Caps, having been set 298 to win via the Duckworth-Lewis method after South Africa amassed 281 for five from their 43 overs following a two-hour rain interruption. New Zealand will face either fellow co-hosts Australia or defending champions India in Sunday's final in Melbourne but, win or lose, McCullum says he and his players have enjoyed themselves immensely during the last six weeks. New Zealand show appreciation for the home fans who captain Brendan McCullum branded 'phenomenal' McCullum flicks the ball away as he got New Zealand off to a blistering start in their chase . 'I've said it time and time again it's the greatest time of our lives as players,' McCullum, who scored 59 from just 26 balls to give the Kiwis a promising start, said on Sky Sports World Cup. 'We're enjoying the experience. It's been an incredible ride all the way through. 'The crowds we've had turn up in New Zealand and support this team and the brand of cricket we're trying to play has been phenomenal so I hope they're all dreaming as much as we are. 'We've got a huge occasion in a few days' time. Geez, it'd be nice to win it.' New Zealand were stuttering on 149 for four when Elliott and Corey Anderson (58) steadied the ship with a fifth-wicket stand of 103 from 16.2 overs to keep them in the game. McCullum was keen to pay tribute to his match-winner, adding: 'What a great innings from Grant Elliott. It was wow. McCullum's combination of clever shotmaking and explosive power set New Zealand up for a win . Grant Elliott celebrates after smashing the winning runs as New Zealand reached their first ever final . New Zealand celebrate after taking a wicket during the first innings of their semi-final against South Africa . '(He) came out of the wilderness not that long ago and he's just played a match-winning innings in a semi-final, and the partnership him and Corey had just had such calmness as well. Tremendous achievement from them and all the boys.' Elliott, born in Johannesburg, insisted the energetic home support had helped New Zealand over the line and he does not expect them to change their approach for the final. 'When you've got 40,000 fans screaming at you every ball (it spurs you on),' he said. 'It's been an absolute pleasure playing at Eden Park and playing in front of the home crowd. The New Zealand players celebrate out in the middle with hugs for Daniel Vettori, who helped see them home . Corey Anderson (above) and Grant Elliot settled the hosts' nerves with a brilliant partnership of 103 . 'I think we've had a good run and it's the first final we've been in as a New Zealand team. We're a very level team so I think we'll just approach it as every other game.' South Africa captain AB de Villiers (65no) also paid tribute to the Eden Park crowd and insisted his players could not have done more to clinch victory. 'It was an amazing game of cricket. It's probably the most electric crowd I've ever heard in my life so credit to the fans here,' said De Villiers, who shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 103 from 12.1 overs with Faf du Plessis (82). 'They really were here to support their team and I guess the better team came out on top. 'We gave it our best, we left everything out there on the field and I couldn't ask for anything more from our boys so we don't go back with any regrets.' +Everton manager Roberto Martinez has called for Ross Barkley to be given a 'proper break' in the summer - which would mean him not going to the Under-21s European Championships with England. Despite the midfielder playing for the seniors at last summer's World Cup and now being a permanent fixture in Roy Hodgson's squad, having been selected for the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and friendly in Italy, there is still talk about him rejoining the under-21s for the June tournament in the Czech Republic. Martinez has regularly expressed the opinion that Barkley has outgrown the junior side, mainly because he has already played at a World Cup. Everton manager Roberto Martinez has called for Ross Barkley to be given a 'proper break' in the summer . The 21-year-old is just starting to show he is rediscovering last season's form, most recently in last week's Europa League exit to Dynamo Kiev, and the Toffees boss is keen for the youngster to have a rest. 'What Ross brings is the bigger the occasion, the bigger the performance and bigger the response,' he told the Liverpool Echo. 'What was pleasing last Thursday night was to see the 'old' Ross getting away from people, being so threatening with his forward pass and getting his shot away with either foot. Everton manager Roberto Martinez has regularly expressed the opinion that Barkley has outgrown the U21s . The 21-year-old has struggled this season but is just starting to show he is rediscovering last season's form . 'He hit the post with his left foot and with his right foot. I loved seeing the signs of the old Ross appearing. 'We need to look after him and make sure he has that sort of standard for the rest of the season and has a proper break in the summer. 'Do that and we will have a player completely new for next season after the experiences he has had this season.' +Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has been ruled out of Belgium's forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers through injury. Romelu Lukaku limped off in Sunday's 2-1 win at QPR with a hamstring problem which manager Roberto Martinez hoped would prove just to be cramp. However, the Belgian Football Association has announced Lukaku and Anderlecht midfielder Steven Defour will not feature against Cyprus on Saturday or Israel the following Tuesday. Everton striker Romelu Lukaku feels his hamstring during his side's win against QPR on Sunday . Lukaku, pictured walking down the Loftus Road tunnel, will miss Belgium's upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers . '@steven-defour35 & @RomeluLukaku9 are out for #belcyp & #isrbel,' said a message posted on Twitter by both the Belgian FA and coach Marc Wilmots. Lukaku has played 44 matches for club and country this season, scoring 18 times in 42 appearances for Everton. Reports have linked Wolfsburg, who Everton beat twice in the Europa League group stage, with a move for the striker but manager Roberto Martinez insists the Belgian international will not be leaving for the Bundesliga's second-placed side or any others. 'It has been impressive to see him grow in the last 10, 12 months and obviously we would love to see him grow with us in the long run. That would be the objective,' the Spaniard told the Liverpool Echo. Lukaku controls the ball under pressure from Nedum Onuoha and Steven Caulker at Loftus Road . Former Chelsea striker Lukaku has 18 goals in 42 games this season since joining from Chelsea last summer . 'The time he has been having with the team has been very impressive and we are going to see him develop into a special footballer. 'Romelu has been incredible and we made a big investment in him. 'He is only 21 and his goalscoring record is incredible, but I always highlight his attitude, day-to-day, and wanting to be the best. 'You are looking at a player now that can play Thursday and Sunday, he can take responsibility, he can take footballing concepts on.' +Everton manager Roberto Martinez hailed the Toffees' 2-1 win against QPR as the 'most satisfying' victory of his tenure at the club. Aaron Lennon's 77th-minute winner moves Everton nine points clear of the relegation zone after Rangers' Eduardo Vargas had earlier cancelled out Seamus Coleman's first-half strike. Martinez's side climb to 13th in the table, having bounced back from a disappointing 5-2 Europa League defeat to Dynamo Kiev on Thursday. Roberto Martinez (left) said Everton's win over Queens Park Rangers is the best since he has been at the club . Aaron Lennon (left) celebrates after giving Everton the lead at Loftus Road against QPR . Lennon is mobbed by his Everton team-mates having scored his first goal for the club with the winning strike . 'It's probably the most satisfying win I've had since I arrived at Everton,' Martinez said. 'The amount of emotion we shared on Thursday and we got back very late - we've found it very difficult this season after Europe. 'We are adapting towards being a team that can cope with being in Europe. 'Coping with the goal threat that QPR are going to throw at you takes a lot of character and guts. It wasn't a day for a technical performance on the ball, it was about being a strong group and showing we have a strong will. 'It was a very important three points today so the satisfaction was immense.' Lennon's decisive strike 13 minutes from time was his first goal for Everton since joining the club on loan from Tottenham in January. Martinez was reluctant to discuss the possibility of making Lennon's stay permanent but admits he has been delighted with the winger's contribution. 'It's too early to say at the moment (whether we will sign him permanently),' Martinez said. Seamus Coleman's rocket of a strike flies into the top corner as Everton went 1-0 up after 18 minutes . Everton right back Coleman runs away in celebration having fired his team ahead at Loftus Road on Sunday . Everton's players congratulate Coleman (right) after his opener at Loftus Road put Everton 1-0 up at half-time . 'Since he's arrived he's wanted to contribute and be a big part of the team. 'His performance against Newcastle was his best performance since he arrived. 'He came to Kiev, he shared the emotions we all had and that showed today. 'He had a real will. He wanted to show he had fresh legs and I thought that was his best performance by far for Everton, not just in scoring the goal but in the manner he worked for the team. 'He looks like someone who has been with the group for a long, long time.' The defeat is QPR's fifth in a row since Chris Ramsey was confirmed as manager and means Rangers remain on 22 points, four points adrift of safety ahead of crunch visits to fellow strugglers West Brom and Aston Villa. After those two games, Rangers face Chelsea, West Ham, Liverpool and Manchester City before finishing the season at home to Newcastle and away to Leicester. 'I don't think we need a miracle but we do need a miraculous run of form to get us out of this,' Ramsey said. Eduardo Vargas (left) heads in QPR's equaliser in the second-half of the Premier League contest with Everton . Vargas runs away in celebration, having scored his second goal for the club, as the Loftus Road faithful erupt . Chris Ramsey (centre) believes QPR need four wins from eight to stay in the Premier League . 'But I think we're capable of doing that. How many points do we need? I think four wins out of eight will probably keep us up this season. I think it'll be a low total.' Ramsey added: 'We need six points against West Brom and Villa. 'There's no point in saying, 'we're going to go there and try to get a point', we need to win games and pretty quickly.' +When Sir Alex Ferguson described Dave Mackay as ‘the bravest man in the world’ it was enough to make the eyes water. Not just with tears but also from the wincing recollections which that sentence invoked among the wonderful old footballers gathered in Edinburgh to pay their last respects to a legend of the British game when it was at its most heroic. Ferguson’s was among the more thunderous of the personal reminiscences at Mackay’s funeral. Sir Alex Ferguson gave a moving tribute to ex-Tottenham enforcer Dave Mackay at his funeral on Tuesday . Ferguson arrived at Hearts' Tynecastle earlier in the afternoon prior to leading the tributes . Ferguson was in distinguished company, with former Manchester United man Denis Law (back) also present . Supporters lined the streets of Edinburgh to give the former midfielder the send-off he deserved . Pat Jennings (middle) was Tottenham Hotspur's representative at the Mansfield Traquair Centre . The hearse carrying Mackay's coffin was complete with flowers and a football to mark his passing . The cortege leaves Hearts' stadium as the city were given the opportunity to pay their final respects . The order of service for Mackay's funeral . Ferguson’s was among the more thunderous of the personal reminiscences at Mackay’s funeral. 'I was playing for Queen’s Park reserves at Tynecastle and the great Mackay was playing for Hearts reserves because he was coming back from a broken toe,' said Fergie, himself hardly a wilting flower of Scotland in the physical challenges. 'He tackled me and I thought "Christ". But in those days you had to get up. So I got up and had a look at that big barrel chest of his. He just said "are you alright, son?" 'The only time I played against Dave Mackay. I’ll never forget it.’ No-one at Heart of Midlothian, who Mackay captained to all three major domestic honours, will ever forget him either. Hundreds of Hearts loyalists lined the route of his final journey from the old ground, in company with the players and staff who have just restored the club to the Scottish Premier League. At Mansfield Traquiar, the former Catholic Church converted into an ornate, stained glass venue for grand occasions like this, Sir Alex described Mackay as not only brave but ‘humble'. The iconic image of Mackay confronting Billy Bremner of Leeds during in August 1966 . Manchester City's Mike Summerbee grabs hold of Mackay during a 1968 Division One match . Mackay pictured during a training session at Tottenham's White Hart Lane ground in 1967 . Click here to read Jeff Powell's tribute to Dave Mackay: Enshrined in Tottenham folklore as 'the heartbeat', his iron man demeanour obscured a cultured player adored by the fans he entertained. He added: ‘Humility is embraced by great people and Dave Mackay did that thoroughly.’ This was not an entirely Scottish homage. Mackay won not only his homeland’s Footballer of the Year Award but also its English equivalent. The latter recognised his captaining of a quite wondrous Spurs team to the first post-war League and Cup double. The bravest man in the world? Unquestionably one of the bravest in the world of football. He came back from breaking the same leg twice – both horrific fractures – to inspire FA Cup ‘glory, glory’ for Tottenham Hotspur. The humblest? Perhaps his modesty worked against him attracting the attention of those who selected the Scotland team back in the hey-day. ‘Only 22 caps for a player as good as that?’ Ferguson lamented. ‘Scotland was picked by a committee with its head in the sand.’ A Mackay scarf displayed in the back of a car in respect of the former Scotland international . Denis Law, Frank McLintock, Ian St John, Bertie Auld and John Robertson were among other Scottish icons nodding in accord. From way south of the border came these Spurs celebrants of 80 years lived with uncompromising gallantry on the pitch and uncommon courtesy off it – Pat Jennings, Cliff Jones, Terry Medwin, Alan Mullery, Alan Gilzean, Steve Perryman, Mike England, Clive Allen. Pick a team from those two glittering histories. But when so doing reflect on something else spoken by Ferguson: ‘They talk about his great courage but he was a fantastic, skilful footballer whose intensity and desire to win would make any team.’ And keep a place for Dave Mackay. +Spain and Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas should not be doubted, according to national team-mates Vitolo and Juanmi, because he led the team to glory previously. Casillas has been capped 160 times for Spain but has been criticised in recent years, particularly after Real's 2-1 defeat by Barcelona at the Nou Camp. 'No one can doubt Casillas,' says Sevilla's Vitolo. 'No one can doubt Casillas. He is the captain of this team that has won a World Cup and two European Championships. Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas pictured during international training on Tuesday . Casillas has been capped 160 times for Spain but has been criticised in recent years, mainly in Madrid . 'Maybe your club may be going through bad times, but I do not doubt him.' Juanmi, another uncapped player called up to the Spain squad, adds: 'Iker is an example. 'He has given a lot to this team. With him there are these titles. He is a 10 as a person and trains at 100 per cent.' Spain captain Casillas should not be doubted, according to team-mates Vitolo (right) and Juanmi (left) +Stuart McCall insisted Rangers had earned a vital psychological boost in the battle to follow Hearts into the Premiership after recording a breakthrough 2-0 win over Hibs. The Ibrox outfit had lost all three previous Championship meetings with Alan Stubbs’ men by a crushing 9-1 aggregate scoreline, but turned the tables at Easter Road in a result which also meant the Tynecastle club were officially promoted as second-tier champions. Goals from Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller — the latter strongly disputed by Hibs — gave McCall a first win in charge and hoisted the Rangers to within three points of their second-placed hosts with a game in hand. Stuart McCall celebrates watching his side beat Hibernian 2-0 at Easter Road on Sunday . There is a fair chance the two sides could meet again in the play-offs and McCall admitted it was essential his side stopped the rot against their Leith rivals. ‘First and foremost I would like to congratulate Hearts on an outstanding season and winning the title,’ said the Ibrox boss, who drew his first two matches in charge. ‘Robbie Neilson and his team have been outstanding all season, so fair play to them. ‘I am delighted with our performance and the result but it’s only one game, we won’t get carried away. But it will restore a bit of confidence that has been severely lacking. ‘It’s a stepping stone. But if we are to hopefully get back into the top league at the end of the season then we’re likely going to have to play Hibs in a decider. ‘If we had come here and got beat today then psychologically it wouldn’t have been good, so this will help. But we have a long way to go. ‘We want to go into the play-offs with momentum, with a bit of spirit and confidence and players playing at the level they can play.’ Rangers had drawn their five previous games and travelled to Easter Road on the back of just one win in nine. Lee Wallace (centre) is congratulated by his team-mates after giving Rangers the lead away to Hibernian . Wallace slams home the opener just before half-time to put the away side in control at Easter Road . That dire run had left Ibrox fans despairing about their promotion hopes but McCall, who earned joy from switching to a 3-5-2 shape, feels his team have now shown they are good enough to go up. ‘Yes, that’s all we want from them,’ he said. ‘Whatever is past has now gone — even today has now gone. There are players in there who need a bit of belief and confidence. A performance like today can only help. ‘I said to the players, there is only one thing better than winning and that is winning as an underdog, when people don’t expect it of you. There is a long way to go and we won’t be getting carried away but it helps with the confidence, morale and belief.’ Rangers fans chanted McCall’s name as the minutes ticked away at Easter Road but he played down the formation rejig that drew a radically improved display. ‘Listen I am no master tactician or anything like that,’ he said. ‘We played a shape and it worked but that was down to the players who carried out what we wanted them to do. ‘You can talk about formations and tactics, whatever, but the bottom line is if the players show the desire and the willingness and the ability like they did today, then it’s about players and them doing the jobs they are asked to do. To a man, they did that today.’ Kenny Miller slots home to put the game beyond doubt for Rangers and close the gap on Hibernian . +Germany keeper Manuel Neuer is out of Wednesday's friendly against Australia in Kaiserslautern with a knee problem but will be fit for the Euro 2016 qualifier in Georgia on Sunday. Coach Joachim Low told reporters on Tuesday he did not want to risk his player's participation in the qualifier as the world champions look to bounce back from an erratic start to their campaign. 'Manuel Neuer will not play tomorrow [Wednesday],' Low said. 'He has knee inflammation and it can take a day or two to heal.' Germany international goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will have to sit out Wednesday's friendly against Australia . Manager Joachim Low said the Bayern Munich shot stopper (left) will be fit to face Georgia on Sunday . Sunderland defender John O'Shea scores past Neuer in Germany's 1-1 draw with Ireland back in October . The keeper played in Bayern Munich's 2-0 home defeat by Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday. 'We did not want to risk it. There is no problem for Sunday in Georgia,' said Loew before adding he had not decided whether captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, back for the first time since the 2014 World Cup final, would feature against Australia. 'I will talk today with Bastian. Whether he will play from the start or a half or even sit it out, I have not yet decided.' 'I want to see training tonight and have some discussions.' Germany have suffered something of a World Cup hangover and have seven points from four games, the same as Ireland and Scotland, three points adrift of Group D leaders Poland. +Wesley Sneijder insists Holland can still win their Euro 2016 qualifier against Turkey without Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie. Robben was left with a torn stomach muscle during Bayern Munich's shock 2-0 defeat by Borussia Monchengladbach, while Manchester United's Van Persie has been out with an ankle injury. 'We can also get a good result without Arjen and Robin,' Sneijder told De Telegraaf. 'Although you don't need a degree in maths to know that their absence is a bit of a blow. Arjen Robben was left with a torn stomach muscle during Bayern Munich's shock 2-0 defeat at home . Robben was forced off and will not be able to feature for Holland in their Euro 2016 qualifier with Turkey . 'Arjen and Robin show week after week that they are among the best players in the world at Bayern Munich and Manchester United, respectively. 'So they will obviously be missed. Just like the absence of Ron Vlaar is a blow for us. But I have been in situations like this before, so I know it does not help to think about it too much. We will do everything within our power to beat Turkey. 'I don't feel any extra pressure because of their absence, but there is some added responsibility. It will now be up to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Nigel de Jong and myself to support the younger players.' Holland sit third in Group A with six points from four games, while Turkey sit fourth with four points. Manchester United's Robin van Persie has been out for a few weeks with an ankle injury . Van Persie will not be able to help Holland in their crucial Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday . Galatasaray striker Wesley Sneijder (pictured) insists Holland can still win without Robben and Van Persie . +Gary Cahill revealed the details of Roy Hodgson's midwinter message emailed to his England players to keep their minds on his plans during void since they were last together. Hodgson wanted to gather his squad for dinner in January but the plan failed and he was forced to settle for this recorded address dropped into the in-boxes of his players. 'It was in the same format as how we would have a team meeting in here at St George's Park,' said vice-captain Cahill. 'It was a similar thing. It was good, literally the same as we'd do in a team meeting here. Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has revealed details of an email that Roy Hodgson sent to his England players . England vice-captain Cahill faces the media ahead of Friday's Euro 2016 qualifying clash with Lithuania . Cahill takes a tumble with Wayne Rooney as England trained at St George's Park on Tuesday . England manager Hodgson issues instructions as the players prepare for Friday's match at Wembley . 'It was the bullet points of what he wants to drill home as a team and then split off individually, so the defensive unit for me. 'It was sent to our private emails. You put your secret passcode in, then you' re away. I think Roy wanted to have some sort of contact with the squad. It was a good idea and the lads took to it well.' England met on Monday ahead of a Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday and a friendly in Italy on Tuesday, their first games since November, when they beat Scotland and Slovenia. Chelsea defender Cahill added: 'We re-capped a lot of those things when we met up to refresh our memories about the way we'd been playing. We saw clips of things we did really well and which he hoped we'd do, like winning the ball back quickly which we did well against Scotland. Cahill challenges England new-boy Harry Kane during the session on Tuesday . Cahill spoke about how Hodgson kept his players focused via email in January . 'We harassed them and pressed them and won the ball back really quickly, so yes, points like that and points from what he wants to keep drilling into the players that we've been doing since the summer.' England are already without injured Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana and Hodgson anticipates other players missing the Italy game. Raheem Sterling is struggling with a toe injury and Leighton Baines has only recently returned to action. Hodgson said: 'I fear we're going to lose a few more.' 'There's one or two that I know won't be able to join us against Italy because of the current problems that they're dealing with at the moment. So on this occasion in particular it won't be as strong a team as I maybe would have liked to put out.' +Emilio Butragueno believes a miss by Gareth Bale was a turning point in the El Clasico defeat to Barcelona and the Real Madrid director does not include the Wales star among the players he believes can revive the club's title hopes. Bale skewed a shot wide after the ball fell to him unmarked in the penalty area from a corner in the 43rd minute. Madrid were in the ascendancy at the time but were punished for not making their dominance pay in the second half, as Luis Suarez struck in the 56th minute to decide the encounter at the Nou Camp and send Barcelona four points clear of Madrid atop La Liga. Gareth Bale has been criticised by fans, Spanish media and a Real Madrid director for his El Clasico display . Emilio Butragueno (left) believes Bale's miss at the end of the first half was a crucial moment in El Clasico . Bale (right) sent a shot wide after getting the ball from a corner in the 43rd minute with the scores level . Butragueno believes had Bale converted the opportunity, Madrid would have gone on to win the game and replace Barcelona at the summit of the Spanish league. 'In big games like this, everyone has their moments, but we didn't take ours. We missed some clear chances,' Butragueno said. 'We had some very clear chances, particularly Bale's following a corner. We lacked that little bit of luck to get the second. 'If we had scored, I think we'd have given much more. 'We're saddened by the result because in the first half we dominated them, created chances and played really well.' Butragueno, a striker who won La Liga six times at the Santiago Bernabeu during his playing career from 1984-1995, believes Madrid have the calibre of squad to overturn the four-point deficit that separates Madrid and Barcelona after the result. But tellingly, he did not list Bale in the players he believes will be key to any upturn from Carlo Ancelotti's team. 'There are 10 games to go. We must continue getting our injured players back,' Butragueno explained. '(Luka) Modric had a great game, giving us security in midfield, while James (Rodriguez) will soon be back with us. Bale (right) had a goal ruled out in the first half as Cristiano Ronaldo was offside in the build-up play . Butragueno praised the performances of Ronaldo (left) and Luka Modric (right) in El Clasico . Bale (left) takes on Neymar (centre) and Jordi Alba as Madrid lost 2-1 to Barcelona at the Nou Camp . '(Cristiano) Ronaldo was also very good and, in the first half, Karim Benzema was fantastic. 'There are still many challenges ahead and this team has enormous potential.' Since the turn of the year, Bale has struggled to reach the form that coerced Madrid to pay Tottenham £86million for his signature in 2013. The attacker, who had a goal disallowed because Ronaldo was offside when he headed the ball into Bale's path, appeared to be targeted by Madrid supporters after defeat to their fierce rivals. The Wales international was confronted by two men in his car as he departed the team's Valdebebas training headquarters late Sunday. One smacked his hand on Bale's white Bentley and the other kicked out as he sped away. But fan hostility was not the zenith of Bale's woes. Bale's performance was not deemed worthy of a rating by Spanish newspaper AS on Monday . Bale has struggled to reach top form for Madrid this year and has been regularly criticised . Madrid supporters were seen appearing to vent their anger at Bale late on Sunday after Madrid's defeat . The Madrid man would have awoken on Monday to find his performance panned by the Spanish press. AS did not deem his display worthy of a rating in their El Clasico coverage, where as Marca wrote 'it's obvious [president Florentino] Perez has paid €100m for someone worth €20m.' Bale will now link up with the Wales side for their Euro 2016 qualifier away to Israel and the world's most expensive player would be forgiven for being glad for a break from the pressure currently surrounding Madrid. Their next game is at home to Granada on April 5, where Bale will look to prove Butragueno wrong by leading Madrid to a return to winning ways. +Young stars from a number of leading Premier League clubs feature in the England under 18 squad for a double-header against Switzerland later this month. Chelsea's Dominic Solanke, Tammy Abraham and Jake Clarke-Salter, Liverpool's Sheyi Ojo, Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Tottenham's Joshua Onomah and Newcastle's Adam Armstrong are included in the 20-man group named by coach Neil Dewsnip. The Young Lions first face the Swiss in a behind-closed-doors friendly in Telford on March 26 and again at Walsall's Banks's Stadium on March 28. Chelsea's Dominic Solanke is included in the England under 18 squad to take on Switzerland next week . Liverpool's Sheyi Ojo, currently on loan at Wigan, has also received a call-up for the double-header . Dewsnip has called four players up for the first time - Fulham goalkeeper Magnus Norman, Sheffield United's Louis Reed, Tottenham's Luke Amos and Middlesbrough forward Harry Chapman. 'It’s important to challenge all the England teams,' said Dewsnip. 'We have played Holland twice, Italy away and then Poland away twice this season and, particularly for this group of players, they did ever so well in winning the Euros last year. 'It is important that we build on that momentum. They are a talented group and we want to give them tough challenges. Tottenham's Joshua Onomah (right) also makes the squad for the Switzerland games . 'Traditionally the Swiss youth teams are very competitive and they will be very well organised and hard to beat. 'We want to pit our wits against that and see if we can perform well and win both games – carrying on that momentum to take them into their under 19 year next season.' Tickets for the game in Walsall cost just £3 for adults and £1.50 for concessions. Call 01922 651 414/416 or visit www.saddlers.co.uk for more details. Goalkeepers: Magnus Norman (Fulham), Sam Howes (West Ham United). Defenders: Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Taylor Moore (RC Lens), Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), Callum Connolly (Everton), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur), Tosin Adarabioyo (Manchester City), Max Lowe (Derby County). Midfielders: Ryan Ledson (Everton), Louis Reed (Sheffield United), Josh Onomah (Tottenham Hotspur), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal), Luke Amos (Tottenham Hotspur). Forwards: Harrison Chapman (Middlesbrough), Adam Armstrong (Newcastle United), Dominic Solanke (Chelsea), Josh Sims (Southampton), Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Sheyi Ojo (Wigan Athletic, loan from Liverpool). +Ahead of Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg clash between Manchester City and Barcelona, Sportsmail provides you with all the team news, betting odds and Opta stats ahead of the encounter. Barcelona vs Manchester City (Nou Camp) (2-1 agg) Kick-off: Wednesday 7:45pm (Sky Sports 5) Odds (subject to change) Barcelona 2/5 . Draw 4/1 . Manchester City 7/1 . Referee: Gianluca Rocci (Italy) Managers: Luis Enrique (Barcelona), Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City) Head-to-head record: Manchester City P3 W0 D0 L3 vs Barcelona in the Champions League . Yaya Toure (left) and Manuel Pellegrini face the media ahead of Manchester City's game against Barcelona . Luis Enrique's Barcelona side hold a 2-1 lead after victory at the Etihad stadium in the first leg . Team news . Manchester City are without suspended left-back Gael Clichy for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Barcelona. Midfielder James Milner, who missed Saturday's defeat at Burnley with a knee problem, is expected to be available again after training and travelling with the team to Spain. City have no other injury concerns but striker Stevan Jovetic is not available having been deregistered for the competition in favour of new signing Wilfried Bony. Samir Nasri (second right) tries to control the ball in a City training session before playing Barcelona . Lionel Messi (left) and Luis Suarez warm up as Barcelona prepare for the second leg visit of City . Suarez scored both of Barcelona's goals in the first leg victory to hand his side the advantage in the tie . Key match stats (supplied by Opta) Barcelona have won their three Champions League meetings with Manchester City by an aggregate of 6-2. Manchester City have had a player sent-off in each of their three meetings with Barcelona (Demichelis and Zabaleta last season, Clichy in the first leg this season). In the last seven Champions League knockout encounters with English clubs, Barcelona have prevailed six times, the only exception being the semi-final against Chelsea in 2011/12 when they lost 3-2 on aggregate. Barcelona have made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 11th consecutive campaign. They have always made it at least to the quarter finals in the last seven seasons. Barcelona have won their last five Champions League games, only Real Madrid are currently on a longer run (10 wins). Barcelona have won seven of their last eight home games in the Champions League games (D1). Their last defeat was against Bayern Munich in May 2013 (0-3). That game against Bayern is actually their only loss in their last 30 Champions League outings at the Camp Nou and the last time they conceded more than one goal on home soil in the competition. The only English club to beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League since 1992/93 are Liverpool. It was in February 2007 (2-1). Sergio Aguero (second right) scored the consolation for City in the first leg as they lost the game 2-1 . Joe Hart saved a penalty from Messi in the final moments of the game to give City hope in the second leg . Barcelona have dominated possession in each of their last 93 Champions League games. The last time they had the ball less than their opponent was in December 2006 against Werder Bremen (43%). 16 of Barcelona’s 17 goals in the Champions League this season have been scored from open play. Manchester City have lost four of their last five Champions League against Spanish opposition (D1). Their only away win came against Villarreal in November 2011 (3-0). Manchester City have only kept one clean sheet in their last 14 Champions League games (2-0 v Roma, December 2014). Manchester City have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the second season running. They have never made it past the last 16 though. Messi missed the follow up header from the rebound of Hart's penalty save as the match finished 2-1 . Barcelona midfield player Andres Iniesta faces the media before Barcelona host City on Wednesday . Luis Suarez has scored five goals and delivered four assists in nine Champions League games (with Ajax and Barcelona). This season, he has four goals in as many games with the Blaugrana. Messi has netted 39 goals in 42 Champions League games at the Camp Nou. Sergio Agüero has scored 11 goals in his last 10 Champions League games. +Roberto Martinez was unmoved. Chomping on a piece of gum, arms folded tightly, Everton’s manager looked like a man who was feeling the tension of the day. The scene that was unfolding around him, however, was completely at odds with his demeanour. In one corner of Goodison Park, Ross Barkley was being mobbed by a group of ecstatic team-mates, while the stands were abuzz with exultant supporters. Barkley had just gracefully and gleefully ensured Everton had equalled their biggest win of a bewildering Barclays Premier League campaign, a 3-0 slaying of a wretched Newcastle United team who finished with 10 men, but, for a second, Martinez appeared reluctant to embrace the moment. James McCarthy (right) opened the the scoring for Everton on Sunday at Goodison Park and was congratulated by Aaron Lennon . Romelu Lukaku, having set up McCarthy for the opener, netted Everton's second from the penalty spot after Lennon was brought down . Ross Barkley celebrates after giving gloss to the victory with a stoppage time strike to make it 3-0 to the home side at Goodison Park . Everton (4-3-3): Howard 7; Coleman 7, Jagielka 7.5, Alcaraz 6.5, Baines 7; McCarthy 8 (Besic 86), Gibson 8, Osman 8.5; Lennon 7.5 (Atsu 83mins), Lukaku 8 (Barkley 74, 7), Kone 7. Unused subs: Garbutt, Naismith, Robles, Stones. Booked: Lennon. Manager: Roberto Martinez 8. Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Krul 4; Janmaat 5, Coloccini 3, Williamson 5, Taylor 5; Colback 5 Gouffran 4; Obertan 4 (Perez 46, 5), Sissoko 5; Ameobi 4 (Cabella 58, 5); Riviere 5 (Gutierrez 62, 6). Unused subs: Anita, Armstrong, Elliot, Satka. Booked: Taylor, Sissoko. Sent off: Coloccini. Manager: John Carver 6. Referee: Martin Atkinson 7. Man of the match: Leon Osman. Tim Krul was at fault for the opener, click here for more from our brilliant Match Zone. Soon, though, the magnitude of the result dawned and Martinez was smiling. This was a big victory. The spectre of a relegation battle has been tormenting Everton during what has been a wretched 2015 but here was a scoreline and a performance to ease tensions. James McCarthy set the ball rolling, the excellent Romelu Lukaku secured the win from the penalty spot and Barkley provided the gloss when waltzing on to Christian Atsu’s pass in injury time. True, Newcastle’s resistance was meek but here was a significant step in the right direction. ‘We performed with real desire,’ said Martinez. ‘I thought we were very much in control, and most important of all we played well and wanted to win. In the past we have had a fearful approach in not wanting to lose but we showed what we can do. We dealt with the extra pressure.’ Big efforts on a Thursday night have tended to zap Everton on a Sunday and a return of eight points from a possible 24 immediately after Europa League games has shown what kind of impact progress in that competition has had domestically. Significantly, Martinez was able to shuffle his pack and inject some freshness with five changes to the team that had beaten Dynamo Kiev; it worked perfectly. The return of Darron Gibson, Leon Osman and Aaron Lennon, especially, made Everton a much more vibrant proposition. Sammy Ameobi breaks away from McCarthy down the wing with the two sides goalless at Goodison Park during Sunday's first half . Ameobi fights back gallantly as the winger attempted to stop Everton's on-loan winger Lennon in his tracks . McCarthy fires in his shot from the edge of the area as Fabricio Coloccini chases, but the effort found the net and eased Everton nerves . Finding form in the Barclays Premier League has been difficult for the Toffees who showed their relief in the goal celebrations . Roberto Martinez and John Carver share a laugh on the touchline as their two teams do battle on Merseyside . Jonas Gutierrez, who was again a Newcastle substitute, goes in for a challenge on McCarthy in midfield as Newcastle chase the game . A side with more class than Newcastle might have made things more problematic for Everton and it would have been interesting to see what had happened if either Gabriel Obertan or Mike Williamson had turned in the respective chances that came their way in the second minute. Yet that was as good as it got from Newcastle. Acting manager John Carver argued that his side finished strongly but the reality was they were comfortably beaten and had they returned to Tyneside having lost by six, there could not have been any argument. As soon as McCarthy opened the scoring, the outcome was never in doubt, the Republic of Ireland wrong-footing Tim Krul from 20 yards after Lukaku had laid Phil Jagielka’s long-ball into his path. Krul, really, should have done better but Everton were not complaining. It was, incredibly, McCarthy’s first shot on target in the Premier League for 10 months but it could not have come at a better time, as the relief around Goodison was almost tangible. This stadium can be unforgiving when things are going badly but here they were ready to enjoy themselves. Being unable to get a second goal before the interval caused a few murmurs but, with Newcastle’s play becoming more abject by the minute, there was never any sense Everton would get pegged back and they ended the contest in the 56th minute. Referee Martin Atkinson had no hesitation pointing to the spot after Yoan Gouffran got into a tangle and upended Lennon and Lukaku did the rest, rolling his kick into the Gwladys Street, just as he had done against Kiev. The Belgian had taken 20 penalties in training on Wednesday and scored 17. Newcastle’s task was made impossible when Coloccini was dismissed for clattering into Lennon – Carver said he would appeal if he felt Newcastle had a case but when he studies the video, he will realise an appeal would be futile – and that prompted the visiting fans to again barrack Mike Ashley. It was another one of those days for Newcastle but Carver, to his credit, would not throw in the towel. Lukaku steps up to slot home his second penalty of the week after also netting in the Europa League on Thursday night at Goodison Park . Tim Krul dived the wrong way and Lukaku simply had to find the net with his spot-kick, which he duly did to double the lead . The big Belgian forward celebrates after effectively sealing Everton's first win at Goodison Park of the calendar year on Sunday afternoon . Coloccini lunges in on Lennon within three minutes of Everton's second goal and is shown the red card by referee Martin Atkinson . Mike Williamson slides in to deny Arouna Kone as Everton surged forward in search of a third goal against their 10-man opponents . Barkley rounds Krul during stoppage time to add Everton's third after an impressive performance from the substitutes' bench . ‘There was a lot of disappointment after the game, usually, we leave them for a couple of days, but I asked the guys if they had anything to say, and two or three did,’ said Carver. ‘It was sensible, I won't name names, but they had something to say. There weren't tea cups thrown, they were sensible, and examined it well. I can't be down. I have never thrown the towel anywhere, and I won't do it here. I want them to be positive.’ On this evidence, that will prove easier said than done. The England youngster angles in his shot as Newcastle's defenders and the rest of Goodison Park can only watch on as it happens . Barkley celebrates his strike with the Merseyside crowd who were delighted to see their side win at home for the first time this year . The Newcastle players applaud the travelling fans who have hung around after the final whistle despite their heavy defeat at Goodison . +Jonas Gutierrez has not given up hope of winning a new contract at Newcastle United. The 31-year-old made his first appearance for the club in 17 months on Wednesday having twice beaten testicular cancer. Gutierrez enjoyed a spine-tingling welcome from 50,000 fans inside St James’ Park as he came off the bench during the second half of Newcastle’s 1-0 defeat by Manchester United. Newcastle midfielder Jonas Gutierrez returned to action on Wednesday having twice beaten testicular cancer . The Argentine’s contract expires this summer and it is thought he will be released by the club he joined in 2008. Gutierrez, though, will fight for an extension. ‘I am living day by day,’ he said. ‘All I can do is work hard in training and work as hard as I can. I’m going to fight for my place — I always try to do that. ‘I’m recovering, I’m healthy and I’m feeling strong — now I have to wait for my opportunity and fight for that. Gutierrez joined Newcastle in 2008 and his contract expires this summer . ‘I have three months to do my best and we’ll see what happens. This is football, you are going to get opportunities so you have to be ready for that.’ Gutierrez was only given the all-clear following chemotherapy in November and in January he told Sportsmail it would be the biggest moment of his career were he to play again at St James’. And he added: ‘It was unbelievable, the welcome of the fans. It was a long wait so it was emotional. I have to say thanks to the fans for all the support they have sent me. ‘Since I’ve had my cancer and my treatment, I just think day by day. My first step was to be healthy again. After the doctor said I had recovered, I started thinking, “Now I want to train and want to prove how I feel”. ‘At the beginning it was hard because the body has to get used to the training. My body started feeling better and better and that was a big point, to get me where I am. ‘Now I want more. I’m improving every day.’ +Cancer-survivor Jonas Gutierrez made an emotional return to St James' Park during Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. The 31-year-old has twice beaten testicular cancer and only returned to the club after being given the all-clear following chemotherapy in November. He has since been building fitness with the Under-21s and was named on the bench for the first time last weekend. Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez (centre) has defied the odds to battle back from testicular cancer . Gutierrez replaced Newcastle defender Ryan Taylor in the second-half to the delight of the home fans . But Gutierrez finally made his first appearance in black and white in 17 months when he emerged midway through the second half as replacement for Ryan Taylor. St James' stood as one to welcome the fan favourite and close friend Fabricio Coloccini immediately handed the captain's armband to his Argentinian comrade. Gutierrez was booked soon after for a chop on Adnan Januzaj, but looked sharp with his every touch cheered by the Toon Army. And Newcastle head coach John Carver praised the substitute's impact, 'Maybe I should have started him!' 'The crowd came alive. He's worked tirelessly and it showed what the fans think of him – the roof nearly came off the stadium.' Newcastle, though, were beaten by Ashley Young's close-range strike in the dying seconds of what had been a feisty encounter. The 31-year-old received a standing ovation from the St James' Park crowd in an emotional display . Gutierrez joined Newcastle in 2008 from Mallorca after he was signed by former Magpies boss Kevin Keegan . Despite the heartwarming return of the fan favourite, however, Newcastle slumped to a 1-0 defeat . After the game Gutierrez was embraced by Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea (right) +Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao continue to step up their preparations ahead of their $300million (£200m) mega-fight in May. Having come face-to-face earlier in the week in Los Angeles, the pair returned to their respective camps and got back to the serious business of training. Now 38, questions have been about whether Mayweather's powers are declining - whether that lighting speed of his is starting to slow. Floyd Mayweather posted a video of himself skipping on Instagram as he prepares to face Manny Pacquiao . Mayweather was watched by a large crowd as he skipped - while Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight was playing . Well, if his skipping is anything to go by, the Money Man seems as fast ever. Mayweather posted a video on Instagram of himself working out on Friday - with Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight playing in the background. Earlier in the day, he posted pictures of himself working on the speed bag, heavy bag and pads. Pacquiao, meanwhile, also posted a video on Instagram as he continued his road work with another group running session. It is the second day in a row that the 36-year-old has gone for a long run, having also had a similar outing on Thursday. Manny Pacquiao was joined by a large entourage as he once again hit the streets . Pacquiao and Mayweather have agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing prior to and after their fight . The pair's preparation continued as it was announced that they had agreed that their mega-fight would be conducted under the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing program. The Las Vegas showdown will observe the rules established under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing. Both fighters have agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing without reservation and will be tested out of competition prior to the fight and in competition after the fight. Mayweather hits the speed bag as his training camp continues in his Las Vegas gym . Mayweather pounds the heavy bag as he prepares to defend his unbeaten 47-0 record against his rival . Mayweather is taken on the pads with just seven weeks until he takes on Pacquiao on May 2 . +Simon Mignolet believes Liverpool are showing the fighting spirit necessary to qualify for the Champions League as they head into Sunday's seismic showdown with Manchester United at Anfield. Brendan Rodgers' in-form Reds survived a first-half fright at Swansea on Monday night before emerging 1-0 winners to cut the gap on fourth-placed United to two points. Mignolet had to produce fine stops to deny Bafetimbi Gomis and Gylfi Sigurdsson in a first half Swansea dominated but Jordan Henderson's fortunate winner gave Liverpool their fifth successive Barclays Premier League victory. Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet punches a cross clear during his side's 1-0 win against Swansea . Captain Steven Gerrard congratulates Mignolet after the Reds' fifth successive Premier League victory . 'We showed the character and resilience during the game that you need if you're going to be successful,' Mignolet said. 'This was our sixth successive clean sheet away from home and we have to keep that going until the end of the season. 'You keep those clean sheets as a whole team. Everyone is playing together, doing their job and willing to fight for each other.' Liverpool have not lost in the league since a 3-0 defeat at United on December 14 when the stuttering Mignolet was dropped and replaced by Brad Jones. But Mignolet soon reclaimed his place and both he and Liverpool have gone from strength to strength ever since, the Merseysiders now unbeaten in 13 league games and Rodgers insisting they can catch second-placed Manchester City who are currently four points better off than his men. United's visit on Sunday might go a long way to determining if that ambition is feasible but Mignolet insists Liverpool have to focus solely on themselves and not their rivals for a top-four spot. Liverpool's players celebrate after Jordan Henderson's decisive second half goal at the Liberty Stadium . Mignolet pulls off an acrobatic save to deny Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson a goal . 'This win sets up the next game and that's a big game of course,' Mignolet said. 'But we don't have to make too much of it, there's three points there and we have to try to do our best to get the win at home. 'We just have to look at our own performances, there's no point in looking at the other teams, and keep doing what we've been doing in the last few months. 'We've still got all the big teams to play but the important thing is we don't look too forward ahead of ourselves.' Mignolet does not resemble the goalkeeper who visibly appeared anxious and made regular mistakes during the first half of the season. As well as his precious first-half saves at the Liberty Stadium he was commanding in the air and punched well under pressure, but he puts his impressive record down to those in front of him. 'As a goalkeeper you're depending on the rest of the team to keep those clean sheets,' he said. 'You can't do that on your own and that's what's pleasing. Henderson scores the only goal of the game as the ball cannons off his shin fortuitously . The England midfielder celebrates in front of Liverpool's travelling contingent at the Liberty Stadium . 'Everybody's doing their job, is organised and that makes life easy for a goalkeeper. 'We had to fight at Swansea to get through to 0-0 at half-time but the second half we got the goal and that came with putting a lot more pressure on the ball.' Swansea defender Jordi Amat felt Garry Monk's side paid the price for failing to turn their first-half superiority into a lead. The Spaniard played an unwitting role in Henderson's winner as his attempted clearance clattered off the Liverpool midfielder and flew over Lukasz Fabianski in the Swansea goal. 'It was an unlucky goal for us,' said Amat, who was making his first league start since September after Federico Fernandez had returned home to his native Argentina to attend personal matters. 'I don't know what happened because I was on the floor but I think we deserved a draw. 'We were playing very well in the first half but we couldn't score one or two goals. 'In the second half we suffered a little bit and we have to analyse that to see what happened.' +Stuart McCall's nearest and dearest knew what his reaction would be in the event of Rangers calling. Drop everything. Now 10 days into the job and confronted by his third and most difficult match, a barrage of advice from those friends and family has landed. Drop everyone. Two dismal draws against relegation candidates Livingston and Alloa, stretching the winless run to five matches, has damned the playing provision at Ibrox now operating under their third manager of a sorry season that McCall was hired to rescue. He has not been short of suggestions aimed at helping him carry out that brief picked up from Kenny McDowall. ‘I’ve got family and a lot of friends who are Rangers supporters and, if it was up to them, they wouldn’t have a team out there because everyone would be dropped,’ said McCall. ‘If you speak to supporters, they are so frustrated and disappointed. Stuart McCall has encountered a tricky start to his spell as Rangers manager . ‘You speak to one fan who wouldn’t have him in, and another who wouldn’t have him in, and so on. Kenny tried all different permutations up front with our five strikers. It’s the same with the backline and the midfield. ‘People have said it to me: “I wouldn’t have him, him or him in the team”. But that would leave us with about two players and I can’t flood the team with youngsters. My job is to get the best formula — a winning formula. We’ve got time to do it and it’s what I’m striving to do.’ The emergency work on a squad ravaged by a confidence slump is required for many reasons and some can be traced back to the recruitment — on bumper contracts — of several top-flight players who have failed to live up to being Rangers players even at a lower level. But McCall believes that a more recent explanation for the disarray in his inheritance, which includes four unfit Newcastle loan men, is that their direct competitors for promotion — and today’s opponents Hibernian — were able to be clever in January. Rangers, meanwhile, were chaotic. Hibs have won their past seven games in all competitions since deadline day, reached the Scottish Cup semi-final and are now unbeaten in 15 matches — a streak of results that stuttering Rangers have at no stage looked capable of stringing together. McCall joked that if his family and friends had their way that everybody would be dropped . McCall noted: ‘The key thing for them was the January transfer window when they managed to keep their best young player, Scott Allan, while we had to sell Lewis Macleod, who was ours. On top of that, they were able to add five players. ‘I remember saying to Alan Stubbs at the time what a great piece of business it was to bring in Keith Watson from Dundee United because he’s a really solid Premiership player. Fraser Fyvie, Tomas Cerny, Franck Dja Djedje and Martin Boyle have really strengthened their squad. ‘While they were doing that, Rangers brought in five players from Newcastle and only one of them has been able to play a part. Alan had a clean sweep of his playing staff last summer. It took them time to gel but right now they have energy and confidence and they are hungry as well. So this will be a big challenge for us.’ McCall dug into the reserve reaches of the squad to promote the impressive 18-year-old Tom Walsh. A dozen years his elder, Dean Shiels completed a game for only the second time this season. As McCall seeks that winning formula, he has a frustrated and often frustrating figure offering to be an intriguing ingredient today on a return to Easter Road. ‘I spoke to Dean before we picked him for the Alloa game,’ said McCall. ‘I don’ t know why he’s only had four starts this season. Obviously, there are reasons and Dean will be a big part of that. But he did well the other night for a rare 90 minutes. ‘Everyone is in the same boat — when you get an opportunity, you have to grab it. You’ve got to show that you want to be out there, in training and games. New boss McCall takes charge of a Rangers training session . ‘I know there are players here who want to be in my team. It’s OK being willing and wanting to do it. But there’s a big difference between that and actually producing. ‘Next season, Rangers need young, hungry players. Of course, you need to balance it with experience. But I’d like to have energy and vibrance in the team next season.’ Darren McGregor, having met the appearance stipulations on his contract, will be back for another season. He can bid to be as energetic and vibrant as McCall wishes but it is defensive fortitude that the boyhood Hibernian supporter will be determined to bring today to a Rangers team that have lost their past three to the capital club. The 29-year-old has filled in at right-back — rather than his favoured centre-half slot — too often this season but refuses to blame that adjustment for personal form that he admits has fallen below standard. ‘I’ve been disappointed with how I’ve played,’ conceded McGregor. ‘I need to take accountability as a defender. Rangers have limped to unconvincing draws against Livingston and Alloa under McCall . ‘We’ve conceded too many goals. I’ve played the majority of our games, so I need to say that I could have done better in certain aspects. ‘Everyone knows that I’m not a natural right-back. But I’d rather play in that position than be in the stand. ‘To be fair to the previous manager and this manager, their hands have been forced a bit of the time because of injuries. ‘But I can’t keep going over old ground. The nine games coming up are the most important of the season. I’m looking at this period as a sort of mini-league in itself. ‘It will be time for reflection, finger-pointing and talking about where it went wrong in the summer. But we have to be positive and think that, as long as we get up, in years to come that will be forgotten about. ‘I want my first season at Rangers to be capped with promotion. I don’t want it to be a failure, which it currently is. ‘To come back next season as a Premiership player would be special. We all know what the fans expect and the prestige of playing for this club. We’ve fallen short of that this year but, if we can get up, it will put some light on an otherwise dark season.’ +Vandals have daubed 'Martinez out' and 'Not good enough' slogans on the outside of Goodison Park in protest at Everton's poor season. The graffiti, aimed at manager Roberto Martinez, appeared in white paint on the back of the Bullens Road and Goodison Road stands overnight. A member of Everton club staff was seen painting over the messages early on Sunday morning. This 'Martinez Out' message was daubed on the outside of Goodison Park on Saturday night . It was accompanied by another slogan that read 'not good enough' in protest at Everton's poor season . Everton manager Roberto Martinez has come under pressure following a poor season . Everton's chances of winning silverware this season ended with defeat to Dynamo Kiev on Thursday . Everton have endured a difficult season and sit 14th in the table ahead of Sunday afternoon's trip to Queens Park Rangers, having won just two of their last 13 league games. Unlike the last campaign, they have been unable to sustain a push for the European places and hopes of silverware were ended when Dynamo Kiev knocked them out of the Europa League in midweek. +Stuart McCall has confirmed Rangers are paying money for all five Newcastle United loanees - despite two of them being highly unlikely to ever appear for the Ibrox club. McCall has inherited a bizarre situation created by the extraordinary mass deal chief executive Derek Llambias brokered on transfer deadline day early last month. Llambias – a former managing director at St James’ Park – has since been ousted as a PLC director and suspended from the football board at Ibrox following the takeover by Dave King and his allies. Sturat McCall has revealed that Rangers are paying some of the wages for the five players signed on loan from Newcastle in the January window even though only one of them is available at the moment . Of the five players loaned from Newcastle, only Haris Vuckic will again be available for Sunday's crunch Championship encounter with Hibernian after recovering from a calf knock. The only further first-team involvement has come from centre-back Remie Streete, who managed 44 minutes against Raith Rovers last month before succumbing to a hamstring injury. Youngster Kevin Mbabu, who has never played a senior game, is involved with Rangers’ Under-20 squad, but McCall revealed midfielder Gael Bigirimana has been ruled out for the season by an unspecified ‘medical condition’. The new Ibrox boss is also highly sceptical about ever having Northern Ireland international Shane Ferguson available, as he recovers from a knee injury on Tyneside. Asked if the quintet were on Rangers wage bill, McCall replied: ‘Yes. The club is paying for them.’ It’s understood the Ibrox outfit only make a contribution to their Newcastle wages, rather than paying the entire salary they earn at Mike Ashley’s club. McCall prepares the Rangers players for Sunday's clash with Hibernian . Even so, the fact so little value has been earned will outrage Rangers fans. ‘Young Biggi (Bigirimana) has a medical condition that our consultant is dealing with,’ said McCall. ‘But he won’t play for us this season. ‘Kevin Mbabu is training and he has played two under-20 games, but his match fitness is not up to what we would like at the moment. But he’s working hard, the kid. ‘Shane Ferguson has had a long-standing serious knee injury, I think he’s been out for four or five months. He had a minor setback a couple of weeks ago, so he won’t be up with us for another couple of weeks. ‘By then he will have been out for five or six months so he’ll likely need another six weeks to get him anywhere near being available. ‘So even though he might come up and train with us, depending on what level we can get him to, he looks a serious doubt to be involved. McCall faces the media on Friday ahead of the crucial clash with second place Hibs . ‘Remie Streete came and played the first game and pulled his hamstring, was out for a couple of weeks then came back and pulled his thigh. And he’s had an ear infection on top of that. ‘He’s two or three weeks again, working with the medical side of it. But again I don’t think Remie has played lots of football over the past two years. So we didn’t have guys coming in who were hitting the ground running, being ready to play.’ McCall said enquiries about Bigirimana’s condition would have to be directed to the medical staff. However, when pressed if it was something the 21-year-old had contracted since moving to Glasgow, he replied: ‘No. It’s a long-standing thing.’ The current state of play begs the question as to whether Rangers can simply send those not available back to Newcastle. ‘I think that’s not for me, that’s for the hierarchy to sort out,’ said McCall. ‘Certainly two of them - Biggi and Shane Ferguson - would be very doubtful, unless Shane recovers very quickly from his long-term knee operation. ‘For Kevin and Remie, it’s just about getting some football in them. If they are ready to go then we will consider them.’ +Celtic star Mikael Lustig has revealed his season is over. The Swedish international defender hasn’t played since February after injuring an ankle. He hoped to return to play a part for the Champions in their bid to win the Treble. However, he’s been forced to concede he is unlikely to play any more part in Ronny Deila’s attempts to win Celtic the Premiership and Scottish Cup to add to his League Cup success. Celtic defender Mikael Lustig controls the ball during the Scottish League Cup semi-final against Rangers . It’s the latest frustration for Lustig in a long line of injury setbacks which have included hip, groin and thigh injuries. He missed a large part of last season too after being forced to undergo hip surgery. ‘I have to put this season to one side,’ Lustig said. ‘I have been out for six weeks now and the foot is still swollen. I have a stretched ligament on the inside of my foot and bruised the bone on the outside. Lustig (second right) and John Giudetti (right) celebrate Celtic's win against Rangers last month . ‘It may take three months before I’m good again. ‘But I have to look on the positive side because I don’t require an operation. ‘We will see how long it takes, but it’s looks like the season is over.’ Injury-prone Lustig has managed just 36 starts for Celtic since signing from Rosenborg in 2012. Lustig reacts during Sweden's World Cup qualifier against Austria in Vienna in June 2013 . +Manny Pacquiao has called on Floyd Mayweather Jnr to be aggressive in their $300million (£200m) super-fight, because his previous victories have sent the Filipino star to sleep. Pacquiao and Mayweather will come face-to-face in Los Angeles on Wednesday night at the only press conference before fight week. And after reports that Mayweather dropped a sparring partner last weekend, Pacquiao hopes his rival throws caution to the wind on May 2. Manny Pacquiao with his entourage in Los Angeles on Tuesday as he continues his training camp . Pacquiao works the heavy bag during a training session at the Wild Card Boxing Club . 'I hope the reports are true,' Pacquiao told CBS. 'He should be aggressive during our fight so we can make the fans happy. 'We all know how he fights. In fact, his previous fights lulled me to sleep. I hope this time he would be man enough to take some risks. 'He should prove to the world that he's a fearless fighter, not a runner.' Pacquiao will make the short trip from his Hollywood gym to the press conference as his training continues under the watchful eye of Freddie Roach. Roach arrived on Sunday after overseeing Zou Shiming's world title defeat in Macau the day before. Floyd Mayweather has kept fans updated on his training by posting pictures on social media . +Ezequiel Lavezzi has posted a picture of himself with some of his team-mates on his official Instagram account, as Argentina linked up ahead of their international friendlies with El Salvador and Ecuador. The PSG winger is included in the national squad for the first time since the World Cup final against Germany in Rio de Janiero last July. Argentina play El Salvador on Saturday at FedEx Field in Washington, and then face Ecuador at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey three days later. Ezequiel Lavezzi (back row, centre) poses with his Argentina team-mates after joining up with the squad . PSG winger Lavezzi (right) has been included in the Argentina squad for the first time since the World Cup . Lavezzi has made 37 appearances for his country since making his debut in 2007, scoring four goals . Lavezzi is joined in the squad by forwards Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain. Despite struggling to adapt to English football, Manchester United's Angel di Maria is also included. There was no room, however, for Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis, who was a regular starter for Argentina during their World Cup campaign. The friendly matches against El Salvador and Ecuador come as part of preparation for June's Copa America in Chilie, where Argentina will take on holders Uruguay, Paraguay and Jamaica in Group B when the tournament kicks off. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi (right) dribbles with the ball away from Real Madrid's Toni Kroos (centre) Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero (right) shields the ball from the oncoming Darren Fletcher (left) Manchester United winger Angel di Maria (right) has also been included in the Argentina squad this month . +The black man blocked from boarding a Paris Metro by Chelsea fans has derided the club's invitation to a game, claiming they've treated him like a child. Souleymane S was asked to attend the Blues' Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain as a guest at Stamford Bridge. But he was left irritated by the offer and turned the opportunity to travel to London down, saying he had no intention of sitting near his racial abusers. Souleymane S was invited to Stamford Bridge after footage emerged of him being pushed off a Metro train . CCTV footage shows Chelsea fans preventingSouleymane from boarding while singing racist chants . The 33-year-old has turned down the offer, deriding the invitation as 'treating him like a child' Five of the Chelsea fans involved in the disgraceful incident have been suspended from attending matches . 'I won't go. They can't buy me with a little piece of paper. I'm not a child,' Souleymane told RTL radio. 'I don't want to sit in that stadium next to those people who pushed me.' Last month, a group of Chelsea fans chanting 'We're racist and that's the way we like it' repeatedly pushed Souleymane back as he tried to board a metro train before the 1-1 Champions League draw against PSG. Jose Mourinho said he was disgusted by the behaviour of the fans, five of whom were suspended from attending matches after being identified through amateur video footage. (L-R) Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry and Cesc Fabregas prepare to take on PSG . PSG talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) trains at Stamford Bridge ahead of the Champions League decider . Jose Mourinho has already stirred things up by claiming his training is harder than PSG's Ligue 1 win . Souleymane said he was no longer sleeping at night. 'I still hear the voices of those people who pushed me because of the colour of my skin,' he said. 'I can't go to work anymore. I live with racism but it's the first time I've had to go to a doctor to ask for pills to calm myself down.' Following the incident, London and Paris police launched investigations and Chelsea has said the club could issue banning orders for life. 'I want these people to be prosecuted and justice to be done,' Souleymane said. 'Racism must stop.' Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea the lead in the first leg of the Champions League tie at Parc des Princes . +David Luiz made his way back down memory lane on Wednesday as he went for a wander in west London with his Paris Saint-German team-mates ahead of facing former club Chelsea. Laurent Blanc's squad are preparing to take on the Blues in a crucial Champions League last-16 second leg at Stamford Bridge later in the evening. And Luiz, who left Chelsea in a £50million deal last summer, lead the squad on a walkbaout, with the French side looking for their first victory on English soil in the competition. David Luiz leads his Paris Saint-Germain team-mates on a walk around west London on Wednesday . Zlatan Ibrahimovic and co listen to manager Laurent Blanc during a training session at Stamford Bridge . Luiz is playing against his former club after leaving Chelsea for PSG in a £50million deal last summer . The fixture is finely poised after the 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes two weeks ago, with the hosts somewhat unlucky not to have beaten Jose Mourinho's men. PSG trained at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night and will be looking for revenge after letting a 3-1 first-leg advantage slip at the same ground last season. Blanc called for his side to take their chances in the cauldron at the Bridge. The PSG boss said: 'Chelsea have a slight advantage, because they were able to score an away goal. It's up to us to try to do what Chelsea did in Paris. 'One of Chelsea's main threats is the fact they're very good on the counter attack, so I don't think we should go gung ho. 'We have to attack and we need to score a goal, regardless of whether Chelsea get one or not. PSG need to score at Stamford Bridge if they are to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals . Blanc says his side must take their chances after drawing 1-1 at the Parc des Princes in the first leg . Edinson Cavani looks focused during a training session in London on Tuesday night . The PSG players will wear black armbands at Stamford Bridge as a mark of respect for those killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina. ‘David Luiz is very excited to go back to Chelsea. He had great memories there, he helped them to win the Champions League - so I would be very surprised if the Chelsea fans gave him anything other than a fantastic reception. Among the 10 victims of the accident on Monday were renowned yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine and Blanc said 'the whole of French sport was in mourning' Meanwhile, Brazilian centre back Thiago Silva has backed team-mate Luiz to take no notice of his former team-mates. Silva said: 'He is a winner , yes he has good memories of Chelsea, but his only objective will be to knock them out - and for us to progress.’ Thiago Silva insists Brazilian compatriot and PSG team-mate Luiz is ready to knock Chelsea out . +One hundred and 10 years to the day since the club was formed at a meeting in the Rising Sun pub, Chelsea's players were out in the watery spring sunshine preparing for their Champions League clash with PSG. All of Jose Mourinho's squad were present at their training ground in Cobham in Surrey, apart from John Obi Mikel, who trained alone with a physio as he continues to recover from minor knee surgery. Mourinho was first out with assistant Rui Faria followed by the players in vibrant yellow training kit, all looking happy and positive ahead of tomorrow's clash at Stamford Bridge as they launched into their stretching exercises. John Terry, Thibaut Courtois and Didier Drogba laugh and joke ahead of Chelsea's Champions League tie against PSG on Wednesday . Keeper Courtois gets his own back on Drogba in the team's traditional ear-flicking punishment in training exercises . Midfield Maestro Fabregas gets involved in the mock battle between old stalwarts Terry and Drogba . Recent signing Juan Cuadrado (centre) heads the ball while team-mates Drogba, Cesc Fabregas, Courtois and Terry look on . Stats provided by Squawka . The tie is poised at 1-1 after the first leg in Paris, but Chelsea No 1 Thibaut Courtois insists he holds no fear in facing Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Speaking to RMC, the Belgium international said: 'No, I'm not afraid. I played against him three weeks ago, and I played well. I hope to stop him again on Wednesday. I know he's a great striker, and that it's always difficult to stop him, but we have to do that if we want to go through.' 'We're confident, but we expect a very difficult game. Paris are going to come here to score goals. It'll be a very complicated game. We're ready, and we hope to win in front of our fans. We'll have to see the tactics the coach puts in place. What is certain is that we cannot sit back and wait. 'We have to defend well, but we mustn't go for the 0-0 because if we concede a goal, Paris will qualify by winning 1-0. We have to play to our strengths by trying to score goals and win the game.' Blues boss Jose Mourinho heads out to training as the club celebrate their 110th anniversary, having been formed in 1905 . Cesar Azpilicueta (left), Gary Cahill, Terry and Fabregas walk out to training on a crisp morning at Cobham . +As the second Republic of Ireland training session of the week wound down on Tuesday, a number of giddy international footballers lined up at the edge of the penalty box for a bit of shooting practice. Robbie Brady, showing no ill-effects from the thigh injury which had threatened his involvement, made a beeline for the head of the queue, while Wes Hoolahan, Jonathan Walters, Shane Long, Anthony Stokes, Stephen Quinn and Kevin Doyle all waited their turn to receive a pass from Steve Guppy and fire a volley at one of the four goalkeepers in the squad. Taking his place at the end of the line was new boy Harry Arter. Arter celebrates his goal against Middlesbrough during Bournemouth's 3-0 victory on Saturday . The 25-year-old has bided his time to reach this juncture in his career, so he could wait another few moments to take on Shay Given between the sticks. Up he stepped and, with his new teammates watching on, the Bournemouth star found the net. It was greeted with roars of delight and the shots kept coming. Arter may have been happy to take his place at the back of the queue but he will put his best foot forward to earn a place in Martin O'Neill's plans for Poland on Sunday. 'I've been picked because the manager was impressed with the way I play and if I come here and I'm not confident, then I won't show the best of my ability,' explained Arter. 'So be yourself, that's what you're picked for. 'It was a little bit nerve-wrecking meeting the lads for the first time but I've settled in really quick and they made me feel welcome. As much as it's daunting the first time, as soon as you find your feet and introduce yourself it's normal really.' Sunderland defender John O'Shea competes for the ball with Everton forward Aiden McGeady in Dublin . Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane watches on during his side's session on Monday . Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill (sixth left) addresses his squad in Malahide on Monday . O'Neill had a brief chat with his latest recruit before the session to see if he knew any of those involved in the squad, but Arter is coming in with no previous relationships built up. He isn't a total outsider, though. The English-born midfielder, whose grandparents hail from Sligo, represented Ireland at Under 17 and U19 level and always pined for the green jersey over the three lions, despite advances from England to join their underage set-up when he was a promising academy player at Charlton Athletic. 'I chose my country then and that was to stay with Ireland. They gave me the opportunity to play at international level at 15 and I was really thankful for that. I learned a lot from that experience and from then on I was always going to stick with Ireland.' On his last appearance for the U19s in 2007, he was sent off against Portugal, and his club career also took a nose dive when he was released by Charlton and dropped out of the Football League to rebuild his confidence with Woking. 'Playing international football was out of the question. In my head, it wasn't even something I spoke about,' Arter, who has a solid sounding board in brother-in-law and former England international Scott Parker, remembered. Then he signed for Bournemouth five years ago and the club have risen to top of the Championship with Arter a key component of their midfield. Bournemouth midfielder Arter (left) holds off the challenge of Middlesbrough's Lee Tomlin on Saturday . 'Realistically, I think this is the best time for me to come. It's the best time I've been ready for the opportunity. As much as it was at the back of my mind a few years ago, it was something I was hoping for in the recent months.' Arter's experience of life in the doldrums has helped shape his current outlook on the game and fighting his way back from obscurity means he is now relishing rather than fearing the next stage in his career. 'There are probably loads of players who go to non-league and end up staying there. 'It's easy, when you're down at that level, to blame other things or point the finger at other people as to why you are there, but there's a reason for it, you have failed at the level you were at and you have to prove yourself again. 'One thing I felt I had to do was work hard, and I am doing that now, working hard to try and achieve my goals. The key to success is working hard.' 'James McCarthy is a top player and he's at the level that I want to eventually get to,' he continued. 'These players have earned the right to play in the Premier League and have the international experience which I haven't had yet. I still have a bit of learning to do.' +San Antonio won comfortably at Atlanta 114-95 in Sunday's clash of two teams with form lines heading in opposite directions leading up to the NBA playoffs. The Spurs have won three straight and the Hawks have lost three straight, though they can afford to ease up given they are still eight games clear atop the Eastern Conference, ahead of Cleveland, which won at Milwaukee. In the key games among playoff aspirants in the West, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated New Orleans, and Phoenix won a close one against Dallas. Kawhi Leonard (left) of the San Antonio Spurs handles the ball against DeMarre Carroll in the first quarter . Jeff Teague (centre) dribbles in between the San Antonio Spurs during his side's third straight defeat . Leonard (centre) scores a lay-up in front of the watching crowd as the Spurs continued their excellent form . Defending champions San Antonio got a season-high 23 points from Tiago Splitter and 20 from Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs never trailed and led by as much as 26 points in the third quarter. Paul Millsap finished with 22 points for the faltering Hawks. The Clippers won a fourth straight game by beating New Orleans 107-100. Blake Griffin scored 23 points and Chris Paul contributed 23 points and 11 assists for Los Angeles, which converted 18 Pelicans turnovers into 30 points and had a 25-6 advantage on second-chance points. Blake Griffin (left) starred for the LA Clippers during their win over the New Orleans Pelicans . Chris Paul (left) attempts to keep the ball away from Pelicans star Norris Cole during the second quarter . Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 26 points and 12 rebounds in 39 minutes after missing two games with a sprained ankle. Tyreke Evans was sidelined because of the same injury and was replaced in the starting lineup. Phoenix's Archie Goodwin sank the go-ahead 3-pointer and Markieff Morris added a critical jumper in the final 30 seconds to secure a 98-92 win for the Suns against Dallas. The Mavericks rallied from a 17-point, third-quarter deficit and were up 86-80 with 5 minutes to play, but then went four minutes without scoring while the Suns climbed back into the lead. Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks were involved in a tough battle in their NBA clash on Sunday . Eric Bledsoe had 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Phoenix. Chandler Parsons scored 19 points for Dallas, which has lost all three games against Phoenix this season. Cleveland's LeBron James scored 28 points and sparked a key second-half run with an emphatic dunk to lead the Cavaliers to a 108-90 win against Milwaukee. LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a comfortable victory over the Milwaukee Bucks . J.R. Smith added 23 points for Cleveland, including three straight 3s to close out the decisive run that turned a six-point deficit into a 93-78 lead with 6:19 left. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who have won six straight. Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists for his tenth triple-double of the season to lead the Thunder past Miami 93-75. Russell Westbrook (right) scores the lay-up as he scored his tenth triple-double of the season against Miami . Enes Kanter had been expected to miss again with an ankle injury, but took his place and delivered 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, which has won three in a row. The Heat had five players score in double figures but none with more than 13 points. Sacramento led most of the game and comfortably beat Washington 109-86, with Rudy Gay scoring 26 points. DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists despite foul trouble for the Kings, who stretched the lead to 20 points in the third quarter and were never threatened from there. Derrick Williams dunks the ball into the basket for the Washington Wizards against the Sacramento Kings . Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards, who have lost 11 of their past 13 road games. Toronto's DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points as the Raptors beat New York 106-89. Detroit won 105-97 in overtime against Boston, with Andre Drummond having 18 points and 22 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince (left) of the Detroit Pistons takes a shot against the Boston in front of the Celtic fans . Denver's Danilo Gallinari scored a career-high 40 points to lead the Nuggets to a 119-100 victory over Orlando, winning at an Eastern Conference opponent for the first time in 12 games. Charlotte moved into a playoff-yielding eighth place in the East by beating Minnesota 109-98, with Mo Williams scoring 24 points. Los Angeles' Jeremy Lin scored a season-high 29 points as the Lakers beat Philadelphia 101-87 in the first meeting of the season between two of the NBA's worst teams. Jeremy Lin (right) drives towards the basket as he scored a season-high 29 for the LA Lakers . Jerami Grant of the Philadelphia 76ers blocks the path of Lin as the two worst teams in the NBA faced-off . +Oklahoma City set aside some bad news off the court to beat NBA Eastern Conference leader Atlanta 123-115 on Friday, with Russell Westbrook scoring 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and notching yet another triple double to steer the Thunder to an important victory. The Thunder earlier in the day conceded that reigning league MVP Kevin Durant will probably miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, yet the team came out with an impressive performance that lifted Oklahoma City two games clear of New Orleans in the fight for the last playoff-yielding spot in the West. The Pelicans lost ground with a defeat at league-leading Golden State, while other key results saw Memphis boost its Southwest Division lead with victory at Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers end Washington's winning streak. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook goes up for a basket as Mike Muscala defends . Westbrook reacts after making a 3-point basket against the Atlanta Hawks in Oklahoma City . Dion Waiters goes to the basket as Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore  defends during the second quarter . Oklahoma's Westbrook recorded his seventh triple-double since the All-Star break, his ninth of the season and the 17th of his career. He had 10 rebounds and 14 assists while making all 17 of his free throws. Dion Waiters matched a season high with 26 points for the Thunder, which faces an uphill task to make the playoffs without Durant. Pero Antic scored a career-high 22 points for the Hawks, whose lead atop the mediocre East was trimmed to nine games. Memphis ended a run of three-successive road losses by pulling away in the third quarter and beating Dallas 112-101. Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph drives against Dallas Mavericks centre Tyson Chandler . Zach Randolph scored 21 points while Marc Gasol had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who shot 64.7 percent in the second half (22 of 34). Dallas, which is seventh in the West, 4-1/2 games ahead of Oklahoma City, had a three-game winning streak halted. The Mavericks were led by Dirk Nowitzki and Devin Harris with 16 points each. Golden State closed in on the best regular season record in franchise history by beating New Orleans 112-96. Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry  dribbles past New Orleans Pelicans' Norris Cole in Oakland . Stephen Curry overcame a subpar shooting performance to score 16 points with 11 assists, while Harrison Barnes added 22 points. Curry missed 12 of his first 13 shots from the floor and was 0 for 7 from 3-point range before making back-to-back shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter. He finished 4 for 17 for the Warriors, who improved to 55-13, the second-most wins in team history - and four shy of the franchise record. Alexis Ajinca scored 15 points with eight rebounds for New Orleans, which played without four of its top six players, including leading scorer Anthony Davis. New Orleans Pelicans' Alexis Ajinca shoots over Golden State Warriors' Andrew Bogut in Oakland . Los Angeles' Chris Paul had 30 points and 15 assists to lead the Clippers to a 113-99 win against Washington. J.J. Redick scored 26 points for the Clippers, who are fifth in the West. John Wall's 19 points and 10 assists led the Wizards, who had won their previous five. Chicago's Nikola Mirotic matched a career high with 29 points to propel the Bulls to a 108-92 victory over Toronto. Chicago Bulls' Nikola Mirotic dunks during the game against the Toronto Raptors in Chicago . Joakim Noah had 10 rebounds, equaled a career high with 14 assists and scored eight points to come within one basket of a triple-double for the Bulls, who pulled half a game ahead of the Raptors for third place in the East. They also took a 3-0 lead in the season series, assuring them the edge in any potential playoff tiebreaker. DeMar DeRozan had 27 points for Toronto, which was without All-Star guard Kyle Lowry. Cleveland extended its home winning streak to 15 games and officially secured a playoff spot by edging Indiana 95-92. Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan passes against Chicago Bulls' Mirotic during the game in Chicago. LeBron James scored 29 points - 13 in the fourth quarter- despite suffering from a head cold. He scored 11 straight points in the fourth to give Cleveland a 93-92 lead. However, it was Cavs guard Iman Shumpert who came up with the biggest play, running down a long rebound and then knocking down two free throws with a second left. George Hill scored 24 for the Pacers, who dropped their fourth straight and damaged their playoff hopes. San Antonio led throughout to beat Boston 101-89 despite being on the wrong end of a 16-0 late scoring run, with Kawhi Leonard having 22 points to lead the Spurs to their seventh-straight win over the Celtics. Orlando snapped a six-game skid with a 111-104 win against Portland, with Elfrid Payton contributing 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Brooklyn's Brook Lopez had 32 points and a season-high 18 rebounds, helping the Nets beat Milwaukee 129-127 in the second triple-overtime meeting between the teams this season. Brooklyn Nets' Brook Lopez dunks the ball over Milwaukee Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova  in New York. Miami clamped down in the fourth quarter to beat a misfiring Denver 108-91, led by 22 points from Dwyane Wade. Sacramento beat Charlotte for the second time in 10 days, with Rudy Gay having 33 points and nine rebounds for the Kings. Philadelphia beat New York 97-81 in a meeting of the East's worst teams, with Nerlens Noel scoring a career-high 23 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. New York Knicks' Lou Amundson goes up to shoot against Philadelphia 76ers' Nerlens Noel in Philadelphia . +Louis van Gaal claims the world is 'twisted' after a video emerged of Wayne Rooney being knocked out by former team-mate Phil Bardsley. The Manchester United striker humourlessly celebrated in punch-drunk fashion after scoring during the win against Tottenham on Sunday to combat the story which appeared in The Sun. But his manager was less than impressed that the video was leaked. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney re-enacted a video of him boxing a former team-mate . Louis van Gaal claims the world is 'twisted' after the story appeared in the Sun on Sunday . Rooney punched the air, before falling backwards in a similar fashion to what can be seen in the video . Rooney manages to keep a straight face as he falls directly backwards onto the Old Trafford turf . 'I think it is a ridiculous world where we live that I have to answer questions (like that),' the Dutchman said. 'What is this world, twisted? I don't want to answer questions about such things.' Rooney enjoyed his goal celebration but was keen to play down the story and bemoaned the fact it had reached the public domain. Bardsley's wife Tanya had also tweeted that the video was a joke between the pair. The England captain stretches his hands out behind him to break his fall as he hits the ground . Rooney was joined by laughing team-mates as he fell on the ground during his celebration . For a few seconds, Rooney lay on the Old Trafford pitch with his arms spread wide while being congratulated . 'That's the world we live in today. It's in my own home, it's not public, it's what friends do - they mess around in the house,' the United captain told Sky Sports. 'It was a couple of mates in a private house, and somehow it's managed to get on the front page of a national newspaper.' Rooney took advantage of a misplaced pass by Nabil Bentaleb and bundled his way past two Spurs players before scoring the third and final goal of a hugely successful afternoon for United. Rooney, 29, insisted the publication of the story did not distract him in the build-up to the game. He said: 'I've just been focused on the game, it's more interesting for other people rather than for me. You've seen today, I've done a professional job and helped my team win 3-0.' Midfielder Michael Carrick revealed after the match that he and his team-mates had poked fun at Rooney over the episode. 'He got a little bit of stick,' Carrick said. 'I am not telling you what was said. It's a 'no comment' on that one.' Rooney slots the ball past Hugo Lloris to put Manchester United 3-0 up against Tottenham . Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini arrive on the scene to celebrate with the United captain . Young laughs as Rooney falls backwards as part of his humorous boxing celebration at Old Trafford . Rooney waves to the crowd; his goal put Manchester United 3-0 up against Tottenham . +A woman has been charged with assaulting a police officer after she allegedly squirted her breast milk at the officer during an altercation. The incident occurred at Rockingham Police Station, about 50 kilometres south of Perth, on Tuesday, apparently during a body search. West Australian police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the 26-year-old was arrested about midday on an outstanding warrant before she was taken to the station. A woman has been charged with assaulting a police officer after she allegedly squirted her with her breast milk (file image) 'It was while at the Rockingham Police Station that an incident occurred where the woman was further charged with Assault Public Officer,' police said in a statement. Perth Now reported that the incident in question occurred during a body search, when the woman was naked from the waist down. The 26-year-old was rearranging her clothes when she reportedly took hold her breast and squirted the female officer. The 26-year-old (not pictured) is said to have covered the female officer's face, arms and uniform in milk during a strip search . The officer was hit with milk on her face, arms and uniform. The Calista woman appeared at Fremantle Magistrates Court on Tuesday on the arrest warrant and assaulting a police officer charges. She was refused bail and remanded in custody. The woman will appear in court again next week. West Australian police could not comment further due to ongoing court proceedings. +An account manager has quit her job to become a professional vlogger - after videos of her guinea pigs attracted 10million hits on YouTube. Laura Mellors, 29, from Arnold, Notthingham, started making short films chronicling the daily antics of her pets in 2010 as a hobby. But the video's popularity sky-rocketed and she now has a global following with 54,000 subscribers to her own YouTube channel. Scroll down for video . After getting 10 million hits on YouTube, animal-lover Laura Mellors, pictured with Fozzie Bear and Brian, quit her job as an account manager for E.ON to focus on making videos about her products for guinea pigs . Laura has more than 100 videos on her Piggiepigpigs channel - generating 10 million hits - and she's sold more than 5,000 products through her website . The clips have been viewed more than 10million times and she is so well-known on the internet that she and her pets receive fan mail from animal lovers across the world. Laura has now quit her job as an account manager with energy giant E.ON to concentrate on making more videos as well as selling guinea pig products. Laura, who runs her Piggiepigpigs business from her home said: 'The response has been amazing and it's all down to the internet. Laura, pictured filming her American short hair guinea pigs Bobby and Billy, has promoted her fledgling business on YouTube over the past five years, after first showing a cage she had made for her furry friends on the video sharing platform in 2010 . Laura and her husband James now share their home with seven guinea pigs, Billy, Bobby, Fozzy Bear, Brian, Bo, Alfie and Gizmo . 'I was just bored one day so I made a film about my guinea pigs, Gus and Hercules. 'I'd bought a new cage which gives them different compartments and levels to climb on and I was intrigued to see how they would react to it. 'I uploaded the video to YouTube and within a few days I was getting really positive feedback and requests for more videos. 'Someone asked me to make a video showing them how to construct the cage so I did and it just snowballed. Laura, who runs her Piggiepigpigs business from her home, said: 'The response has been amazing and it's all down to the internet' The 29-year-old's Piggiepigpigs online shop sells pet beds and supplies, and offers information on keeping guinea pigs and hamsters . 'My guinea pigs are now followed and sent fan mail. People ask what they're up to. 'When I was at the London Pet show last year a little girl and her mum even came up and asked for my autograph. 'The strangest thing happened last October. I'd told people on Facebook I was going to America on honeymoon and I got requests to meet them so I ended up meeting two families while I was there.' Laura and her husband James, 30, a project engineer, now share their home with seven guinea pigs, Billy, Bobby, Fozzy Bear, Brian, Bo, Alfie and Gizmo. She earns around £2,000-a-month from her YouTube videos as well as selling guinea pig goods through her online shop. Laura added: 'At the moment I work two or three days a week making videos and updating the guinea pigs' updates on Twitter and Facebook. 'If I don't post regular updates I get messages from people asking if the guinea pigs are okay. 'People seem to love the videos. It's a joy to do something for a living which is also a passion.' +Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has been left sweating over the fitness of winger James McClean ahead of Sunday night's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland. The 25-year-old Wigan midfielder limped out of training at Gannon Park in Malahide on Tuesday morning with his left ankle heavily strapped, and was immediately taken for a scan. O'Neill later insisted the examination was precautionary, but he was left crossing his fingers over a man who has become a regular in his team. Republic of Ireland's Stephen Quinn and James McClean on the ball during the training  session in Malahide . Republic of Ireland's Anthony Stokes and McClean during the training session at Gannon Park . The manager said: 'James has got a sore ankle. He's gone for a scan - precautionary, I hope - but he was just feeling it a little bit. We'll see how he is. 'It didn't happen in training. He felt a little bit sore after yesterday. He thought it might go away, but it's just a bit of a pain across the ankle.' O'Neill will be desperate to have McClean fit for the clash with the surprise Group D leaders with fellow wide-man Aiden McGeady having not played for club Everton since January 31 because of a knee problem, from which he has now recovered, but which has left him short of match fitness. Republic of Ireland's Quinn and Kevin Doyle during the training session at Gannon Park . The 63-year-old, who first worked with McClean during their time together at Sunderland, insists he is yet to pick his team for what could prove to be a pivotal game in the campaign, but admits the former Derry City player has become an important player for him. He said: 'They are all key. We haven't picked the side yet, but James has played exceptionally well for us in most of the games since I have been in charge. Obviously I know him quite well - very well, in fact - and yes, he's a good player for us.' Republic of Ireland's Roy Keane gives instructions during the training session at Gannon Park . O'Neill also has concerns over Burnley full-back Stephen Ward, who was due to undergo a procedure to remove screws used to repair an ankle injury on Monday, while striker Jonathan Walters trained wearing a mask to protect the fractured cheekbone he had repaired recently. Everton midfield duo James McCarthy and Darron Gibson have been nursed through the early part of the week after their exertions on club duty, while skipper Robbie Keane and new squad member Harry Arter have now joined up with the rest of the party. Republic of Ireland's Darren Randolf, David Forde, Cyrus Christie and Richard Keogh during training . Republic of Ireland assistant manager Keane shares a joke as the players train in Malahide, Ireland . +Veteran keeper Shay Given is hoping the Republic of Ireland can blow Euro 2016 qualifying Group D wide open by getting the better of surprise leaders Poland on Sunday. Ireland entertain the unbeaten Poles at the Aviva Stadium desperate to bounce back from November's 1-0 defeat in Scotland, their first reverse of the campaign to date. With world champions Germany still favourites to finish top of the pile despite a less than auspicious start, the race for the second automatic qualification spot is well and truly on. Veteran keeper Shay Given hopes the Republic of Ireland can surprise leaders Poland on Sunday . Republic of Ireland goalkeepers David Forde and Shay Given during the training session at Gannon Park . Given said: 'It is huge. It's a big week building up to it now as well. It's one of the biggest games we will play in the whole qualifying campaign. 'Of course, Poland are a great team, but we are at home and we have got to use that advantage and try to get the win. 'It's not must-win yet, but it's must-not-lose, I suppose. We have all been here before in this situation the the qualifying campaign. We know how important it is. Republic of Ireland's Darren Randolf, David Forde, Cyrus Christie and Richard Keogh during training . 'It is a huge game, of course, and ideally you want to win your home games and take some points on the road as well.' After victories over Georgia and Gibraltar, the Republic returned from Germany with a creditable 1-1 draw, only to succumb to Shaun Maloney's strike at Celtic Park in their final qualifier of 2014. Their next two games in the group see them entertain the Poles and the Scots in Dublin and only a healthy return will see them maintain pace with the pace-setters. Republic of Ireland's Stephen Quinn and Kevin Doyle during the training session at Gannon Park . Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill during the training session at Gannon Park . Martin O'Neill's men are locked together with the Germans and the Scots on seven points, three behind Poland. Striker Daryl Murphy is refusing to look any further ahead than Sunday's showdown at the Aviva. He said: 'I think there's still a lot to play for. This game now coming, we need to get a result. Especially at home, we want to put in a good performance and come out with something after the game. 'I wouldn't look too far beyond that, just look to the game on Sunday and see what we can do.' Republic of Ireland's Roy Keane gives instructions during the training session at Gannon Park . O'Neill and his players met up at their Portmarnock base on Sunday evening and got to work at nearby Gannon Park in Malahide on Monday morning. Skipper Robbie Keane was due to arrive later from the Los Angeles Galaxy, as were Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter, in the squad for the first time, and Stoke striker Jon Walters, who played 12 minutes as a substitute in Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace wearing a protective mask over his fractured cheekbone. Everton duo James McCarthy and Darron Gibson and Burnley defender Stephen Ward were among those who sat out training but O'Neill was not unduly concerned. Republic of Ireland's Stephen Quinn and James McClean on the ball during training at Gannon Park . He said: 'It's not surprising really for James as Everton have played four games in the last 10 or 11 days, Seamus Coleman too. Darron Gibson has a bit of a groin problem - he played yesterday. 'Stephen has just had a little bit of difficulty. He's had an injury which he is coming back from and he's getting looked at this evening, with the club's permission, and we might have to do something about that. He's hoping maybe two or three days on that he's okay. 'Jon is coming in and he's pretty upbeat. He's got a mask and played for the last few minutes in the Stoke game and did well to put himself forward for the game, and there is this week. I think he is feeling fine and will be in later today.' Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane shares a joke as the players train in Malahide, Ireland . O'Neill will not be rushed in selecting his team for a huge game, and 38-year-old Given is determined to use this week to edge himself ahead of regular number one David Forde to claim his 128th senior international cap. He said: 'The goalkeepers in general, David and [Keiren] Westwood and [Darren] Randolph as well, we are all a tight team together and whoever he picks, we will support them. 'You do wish them well but at the same time, your personal pride and professionalism, you want to play in the game and because it's such a huge game as well, I would love to play on Sunday. 'But I don't pick the team, I have just got to work hard in training. I have been playing well at Aston Villa when given the chance, and hopefully I might get the nod on Sunday. But if not, I'll support whoever he picks.' +Marouane Fellaini says it is 'nonsense' to suggest that Manchester United are turning into a route-one team by taking advantage of his height and power. Louis van Gaal has benefitted from using the 6ft 4in Belgium midfielder in a more advanced role as a target man behind the main striker, and it proved effective once again when United won 2-1 at Liverpool on Sunday to go five points clear of their great rivals in the race for a Champions League place. It has also led to criticism of United's tactics, with even West Ham boss Sam Allardyce labelling Van Gaal's team 'Long Ball United' after Fellaini's physical presence helped snatch a 1-1 draw at Upton Park last month. Marouane Fellaini (challenging Emre Can on Sunday) has slammed Manchester United's critics . Louis van Gaal's tactics have been heavily criticised during his debut Premier League season . But Fellaini said: 'It is nonsense that our game system is based on me. Our system is based on many good players. 'We play a beautiful football. We play forward, scoring, putting on pressure. There are great players around.' Fellaini came under fire for his performances as a defensive midfielder under David Moyes last season after following his old Everton boss to United in a £27.5million deal, but can also play as a box-to-box midfielder. The 27-year-old admits it would be easier to pin down one position but is just grateful to be playing after a difficult start to life at Old Trafford. 'Fellaini is at his best when he plays,' he added. 'It does not matter where. This season we have played many different tactics: 3-5-2, 5-3-2, 4-2-2-2, 4-3-3. Of course, it would be easier to play in one position, but you have to always adjust to the coach. I play, that's the main thing. 'I can play in different positions. Number six, number eight or as a second striker. At eight, I can go back and forth and arrive in the box. Second striker I played at Everton. At United it's different because I play in a triangle in midfield. It's simple: I adjust myself to the system of the coach.' Fellaini admits that strict disciplinarian Van Gaal is exactly the kind of character United needed to knock them into shape after they finished seventh in the Premier League under Moyes last season. Fellaini's performances are vastly improved under Van Gaal (pictured scoring against Tottenham this month) It looked as though Fellaini would be one of the first players out of the exit, but Van Gaal reassured him that he could still have a future at United when he arrived last summer. 'He told me "prove yourself and we'll see". Now they are counting on me. There were never any real doubts. I was injured at the beginning of the season and then returned. 'The coach gave me confidence and I proved myself in a few matches. After that, I was injured and I got sick again. For three weeks I was on antibiotics. It took a while, but now I can finally enjoy. 'The coach is very strict, but that's good. We needed such a coach. Last season we had a bad season. We even missed European qualification. We needed a coach who would put some players' feet back on the ground. Fellaini also backed Belgium team-mate Adnan Januzaj (far right) to make an impact at Old Trafford . 'If he says something, you should do it. Otherwise you'll fly out of it. If he has to take you off the pitch when the game hasn't been going on for more than 30 minutes he'll do it. Or during half-time. Fortunately, it hasn't happened to me yet.' Fellaini had some words of encouragement for his Belgian compatriot Adnan Januzaj who has struggled to make an impact under Van Gaal. The 20-year-old's lack of opportunities has also cost him a place in the Belgium squad for the forthcoming games against Cyprus and Israel. 'He has accepted his current situation,' said Fellaini. 'I try to help him. He knows he must play if he wants to come back for Belgium. It is part of growing up. He will now work harder to try to come back to the national team.' +Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva is closing in on a Liverpool first-team return after over a month out with a groin injury. The 28-year-old limped out of last month's 0-0 Merseyside derby draw with Everton after just 16 minutes but is now edging closer to a return to Brendan Rodgers' first team. And Lucas could even feature in Sunday's vital Barclays Premier League with Manchester United, which would be a huge boost to a Liverpool side who have not lost with the tenacious Brazilian in the side since November 4. Lucas Leiva is closing in on a Liverpool first-team return and posted this video from training on Instagram . The Brazilian midfielder is seen running freely after recovering from his groin injury sustained last month . Lucas was also seen passing a ball in a pretty sharp solo work-out at Liverpool's Melwood training base . Lucas is escorted from the pitch in the 16th minute of the Merseyside derby after suffering an injury . Liverpool face Swansea on Monday night with the chance to close the gap on fourth-place United to two points, giving them the chance of leapfrogging Louis van Gaal's side at Anfield on Sunday. Lucas has begun running freely again and taking part in ball-work, albeit on his own while the first-team spend the night in Wales ahead of Monday's game. However, his current state would indicate a return to the first-team group sooner rather than later and then only match fitness and the form of his team-mates stand in the way of a Premier League return. Real Madrid's Luka Modric battles for the ball with Lucas - the last time Liverpool lost with him in the side . Lucas has begun running freely again and taking part in ball-work, albeit on his own at Melwood . Lucas even posted a video on Instagram on Sunday with the message: 'not long now !!!' as he counts down to his comeback. Fellow midfielder Steven Gerrard has already returned from his hamstring problem and is in the squad to face Swansea although is unlikely to start immediately given the form of Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen. Lucas limped out of Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Everton last month but is eyeing a return to first-team action . Lucas posted a video on Instagram with the message: 'not long now !!!' as he counts down to his comeback . +Chelsea football fans have allegedly been caught chanting the N-word and anti-Semitic slurs in a new race hate storm - prompting three Asian women and a black man to leave a train. After the club’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, a man was heard to say on the London to Manchester service: ‘Paris, Paris, Paris, that’s the way we like it, a n***** on the door’. This was a reference to the shocking incident that saw a group of Chelsea fans prevent a black man from getting onto a train on the Paris Metro last month before a Champions League game. The five culprits were overheard making references to another Chlesea racism scandal in Paris in February . Filming the incident, one passenger captures the Chelsea supporters making anti-Semitic remarks . A video of the latest incident - obtained by The Sun and broadcast by ITV London News on Thursday - was taken by a passenger on the 9.25pm train from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. The clip - in which only the seats can be seen - also features someone saying ‘Tottenham are a load of Y**s’, referring to the club’s Jewish fan base, and ‘John Terry is a racist, a racist, a racist’. Club captain Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by the Football Association in October 2012 for racially abusing then QPR player Anton Ferdinand . The passenger who shot the latest footage - with whom police have been in contact - described his journey as '90 minutes of hell', saying nobody dared to confront the supporters. The video ends when as a man is heard warning his friend ‘somebody might be filming us’. British Transport Police said officers had received complaints from passengers on the train. The supporters also made references to club captain John Terry (centre) Deigo Costa and Terry pose with the Capital One Cup trophy on the Wembley pitch after the 2-0 victory . Detective Sergeant Michael Maher said: ‘I want to hear from anyone who was on the train, particularly in coach E, around the time it reached Stoke, 10.40pm. ‘By the accounts we have received, the group were chanting insults at other passengers, and some of these insults may have been racist. We are in the process of checking CCTV. ‘But I would like to hear from any passengers who may have captured the behaviour of the group on mobile phones. Such footage could be crucial to our investigation.’ The video was taken by a passenger on the 9.25pm train from London to Manchester (file picture) The fans were travelling north towards Manchester from London Euston station (file picture) Four men were ejected by police who boarded the train, with their names and addresses taken, while another four left by choice. And Rory Jennings, from the Chelsea Fans Channel, told ITV London: 'It's northern Chelsea fans. There's obviously some, but they should be quite easily pinpointed. 'The club have done wonderful work with regard to stamping out racism - but it just shows you that there's further to go. These people need to be identified, banned and arrested. It's shocking.' Chelsea are helping police with their probe - 'and their efforts to identify the individuals' A Chelsea spokesman said: ‘We are assisting the British Transport Police with their enquiries, and their efforts to identify the individuals involved.’ Police are also investigating racist chanting at London St Pancras station after Chelsea’s match at Paris St-Germain on February 17. They have identified all those believe to have been involved - the day after the Paris Metro incident – and they will be interviewed. It is the second investigation into allegedly racist chanting involving Chelsea fans attending the same game last month. Chelsea won 2-0 in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium in north-west London on Sunday, with the goals scored by Terry and Diego Costa. Anyone with information about last Sunday's incident on the train from Euston should contact BTP on 0800 405040, or by text, to 61016, quoting B5/PSUB of March 5, 2015. +A Premier League footballer with a history of losing consciousness collapsed just seven minutes into a match last night. Bafetimbi Gomis went to ground during Swansea City's game at Tottenham Hotspur in north London as the players made their way to restart after a goal. The 29-year-old France striker was attended to for four minutes and left the field on a stretcher - by which point he was conscious and wearing an oxygen mask. Scroll down for video . Collapsed: Footballer Bafetimbi Gomis went to ground during Swansea City's game at Tottenham Hotspur . Help: The striker, a summer signing from Lyon, was attended to for four minutes and left the field a stretcher . On the ground: Gomis has a history of losing consciousness, fainting three times since joining Lyon in 2004 . But Gomis told supporters after the game on Twitter: ‘I wanted to reassure you concerning my health - it actually looks much more scary than physically dangerous, and I am feeling well now.' He added: ‘I have been under a great deal of stress and fatigue due to my father's health that requires me to go back and forth to France. 'I was disappointed that I couldn't help my team tonight, but now everything is back in order. I also want to thank everyone for their support and get well messages.’ Gomis, a summer signing from Lyon, collapsed after Nacer Chadli gave Spurs an early lead. A Swansea spokesman said last night that Gomis was in a 'stable condition' following the incident. He added: 'He is fine. He is in the medical room. It is something we have been aware of - it is something called a vasovagal condition. 'We have always been aware of it and it has happened before. He has had all the medical and cardiology tests with us.' Shock: Nabil Bentaleb (right) and his Spurs team mates look on as Gomis is treated by medical staff last night . Assistance: By the time he left the field at White Hart Lane he was conscious and wearing an oxygen mask . Stretcher: Tottenham striker Harry Kane (left) applauds as Gomis is taken off the pitch at White Hart Lane . Worry: Tottenham and Swansea players join referee Michael Oliver in the centre of the pitch as they look on . The striker - who earns £50,000 a week - has a history of losing consciousness, fainting three times since joining Lyon in 2004, with the latest episode occurring while training with France in 2009. At the time, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas admitted he was ‘worried’ about the striker. ‘We can't not be worried, it scares you each time,’ he told ITele. ‘A vasovagal episode (fainting) is part of the things that can happen to people who have this type of constitution. It's now three times that it's happened. Yes, I'm worried.’ Last night, BBC Match of the Day host and former England footballer Gary Lineker tweeted: 'Very worrying images at White Hart Lane where Bafetimbi Gomis has been stretchered off after collapsing to the ground with no one near him. 'Play has now restarted at WHL, which hopefully suggests the situation is not too distressful. Gomis has a condition with a history of fainting. Hopefully it's nothing more serious than that. Battling: Gomis (left) in action earlier in the game for Swansea, up against Danny Rose (right) of Tottenham . Recent move to Wales: Gomis playing for Swansea in August (left) and for his former club Lyon in 2012 (right) Taking to Twitter: Gomis reassured concerned fans last night that the incident looked 'much more scary than physically dangerous and I am feeling well now' Previous incident: White Hart Lane was the ground where the then Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest in an FA Cup quarter-final match in 2012 (pictured) Meanwhile, Swansea-born former footballer John Hartson said: 'Hope Bafetimbi Gomis is okay and recovering in hospital after collapsing in the game tonight at White Hart Lane. Thinking of him.' And BBC Sport commentator Conor McNamara added: 'Gomis underwent a series of medical tests for fainting episodes in 2009 which indicated no serious threat to his health.' The match finished 3-2 to Tottenham, with Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend scoring the other two goals for Spurs - while Ki Sung-yueng and Gylfi Sigurdsson replied for the Swans. White Hart Lane was the ground where the then Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest in an FA Cup quarter-final match three years ago on March 17, 2012. Muamba received lengthy attention on the pitch and it later emerged that his heart had stopped for 78 minutes. Although he recovered and left hospital a month later, he retired from playing. +New parents: Adam Johnson, 27, and Stacey Flounders, 25, have a two-month-old baby, Ayla . The family of a millionaire England footballer say he is 100 per cent innocent and his girlfriend will stand by him after he was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl. Adam Johnson - who was signed by Sunderland for £10million in 2012 - was held by police at his six-bedroom £1.8million home in County Durham. Officers also seized a blank firing pistol during the raid. The arrest comes just weeks after his long-term girlfriend Stacey Flounders, 25, gave birth to the couple's first child Ayla Sofia, who was born on January 8. It was unclear if Miss Flounders and her daughter were at home at the time of the player's arrest. And speaking from Miss Flounders' family home, her mother told the Daily Mirror that her daughter and Johnson were still 'very close' and 'absolutely still together'. She added: 'He is 100 per cent innocent and we will stand by him. 'He hasn't been found guilty of anything. He is a great lad and has not done anything wrong. This is a horrible situtation.' The £50,000-a-week player had been due to travel with the rest of the Sunderland squad to East Yorkshire to prepare for tonight’s Premier League game against Hull City. But the club announced he was suspended, ‘pending the outcome of a police investigation’. The FA refused to comment on the arrest of the winger who has represented his country 12 times, although he failed to make the squad for the World Cup in Brazil last year. Residence: Neighbours said they assumed the 27-year-old footballer’s £1.5million property in County Durham (above) had been burgled when they saw activity outside the sprawling mansion . Johnson, 27, gained a reputation as a keen party-goer when he played for Manchester City five years ago. At the time, he was renting Cristiano Ronaldo’s former house near Alderley Edge and would often be seen in the village socialising with fellow players and women. ‘He liked the attention of being a well-known footballer and attracting women was not a problem,’ said one local, who did not wish to be named. ‘He would often leave his car in the village after a night out as he liked a drink and would always get a taxi home.’ But three years ago, after returning to his native North East, Johnson began dating Miss Flounders. Friends say Johnson opted to live near a quiet hamlet to get away from the ‘bright lights’ of city life. Footballer: Johnson is currently playing for Sunderland and has made 12 appearances for the England team . Three unmarked police cars, a police van, several plain-clothed officers and a forensics team were seen at his house as he was questioned at a Durham police station. Johnson’s stunning gated property boasts six bedrooms and a sweeping gravel drive and is set in more than two acres of mature woodland. The house is a typical Footballers’ Wives-style property with Italian stone flooring, and a spiral staircase to a mezzanine level. The master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, dressing room and balconies at the front and rear while the other five bedrooms are all en-suite. Left: Johnson was released on bail last night and will return to Peterlee police station (pictured) at a later date . It is unclear where the alleged assault is said to have taken place and police would not release any further details. Johnson was born in Sunderland and raised in Easington, County Durham, before joining Middlesbrough’s youth academy as a 12-year-old. After making his Premier League debut for Middlesbrough in 2005 he was sold in February 2010 to Manchester City before being signed three years ago by Sunderland. Last night a Durham Police spokesman said: ‘A 27-year-old man was arrested earlier today on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16. He has been released on police bail pending on-going investigations. ‘A blank firing pistol, which replicates the sound of real gunshots but does not require a licence to own, was also recovered during a search of the property.’ Discussions: Adam Johnson (left) is joined by Frank Lampard (centre) while speaking to the Duchess of Cambridge (right) at the England training facility at St George's Park in Burton upon Trent in October 2012 . Former Middlesbrough star: Adam Johnson has represented England at senior level 12 times . Adam Johnson began his career at Middlesbrough, where he made his debut in a Uefa Cup game in 2005, aged just 17. Almost six months later, he turned out for the first time in the Premier League, taking part in a 2-1 home win against Arsenal. He was loaned out to Leeds United then Watford, scoring 12 goals in his three-month stay at the Hertfordshire club. On his return to Middlesbrough, he again showed strong form, then made a £7million move to Manchester City in February 2010. In three seasons at the Etihad Stadium, the speedy winger made 97 appearances, helping win the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield. In August 2012 he moved back to his native North East, to Sunderland, in a £10million deal, and highlights of his time there have included a hat-trick on January 11 last year in a 4-1 away win over Fulham. He said after taking the match ball as a memento: ‘These days don't come along too often unless you're Messi or Ronaldo, so it was nice for me to get that ball as a souvenir to look back on. ‘This is up there with one of my best days of my career along with playing for England, scoring for England.’ He was awarded the Barclays Player of the Month award that month. The 27-year-old has represented England at under-19 and under-21 level, and at senior level 12 times, the last of them in a friendly victory over Italy in August 2012. He has struggled to reproduce his best form on a sustained basis at Sunderland, but endeared himself to the fans with goals in each of the club's three derby victories at Newcastle in as many seasons, including a late winner at St James' Park on December 21 last year. Derby win: Winger Johnson scored a late winner against Newcastle United at St James' Park last December . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +KFC fight: Richard Burbage promised to take her out for a meal if she joined him at a football match . A car dealer got into a row with his wife when he promised to take her out for a meal if she went to a football match with him - then drove her to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Richard Burbage, 41, of Whiteley, Hampshire, then tried to fight an expert in martial arts who attempted to break up the argument. The father-of-three was convicted of assault and fined £320 for attacking Julian Raffle. Burbage had been arguing with his wife, Lorraine, in KFC after they had been to a football match on a Sunday afternoon. The row erupted because Burbage told his wife he would take her out for a meal in exchange for coming to the match with him. But when she discovered the meal meant being taken to KFC in Hedge End, Hampshire, the couple began arguing. Dan O’Neill, prosecuting, told magistrates that customers at the eatery became disturbed by the row. He added that customer Mr Raffle then tried to calm the couple down and intervened. Mr O’Neil said there was then a struggle between Mr Raffle and Burbage - and the car dealer twice tried to punch him. But what he did not realise was that Mr Raffle is an expert in the martial art of jiu-jitsu and when Burbage tried to upper cut Mr Raffle, he used his self-defence training to dodge the blows. When the wife discovered she was going to KFC (above) in Hedge End, Hampshire, the couple began arguing . Burbage was then arrested and charged with common assault. After admitting this at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, he was fined £200. He also had to pay £100 costs and a £20 victim surcharge. A separate allegation of assaulting his wife by beating on November 30 was dismissed after the prosecution offered no evidence. Mark Rigby, defending Burbage, said: ‘He and his wife both describe the relationship as feisty, fiery and passionate. ‘What he did was wrong because he swings for him and he bites off more than he can chew because Mr Raffle is trained in jiu-jitsu. ‘With hindsight they are very embarrassed by what sparked this. She was thinking she would be rewarded with a meal and wasn’t pleased to find out that that meal would be at KFC. ‘I think the salient lesson has been learned by the defendant and his wife.’ +A man was charged and prosecuted at a cost of £5,000 to the taxpayer - over the possession of cannabis worth less than £2. Martin Kewley was ordered to appear in court after police found a minuscule amount of the drug in a drawer by his bedside. Rather than caution the builder, of Onchan, Isle of Man, over the cannabis - worth £1.59 - officers and prosecutors decided to take the case to Douglas Magistrates' Court. Questionable decision: A man was charged and prosecuted at a cost of £5,000 to the taxpayer - over the possession of cannabis resin worth less than £2 (file picture) The builder was given six months' probation after pleading guilty to possession. His advocate, Jim Travers, told the court his client was in difficult circumstances. The Isle of Man's legal authorities, who run their own jurisdiction, defended the decision, The Sun reports. But drugs charity Release slammed itas 'ludicrous', criticising the amount spent to bring Kewley to justice. Martin Kewley was ordered to go before a court after police found a minuscule amount of cannabis in his bedside drawer . +A mechanic carrying out a standard MOT test on a Mercedes smashed it through a garage wall after accidentally stepping on the accelerator. The silver E-Class car had been in the garage for its annual test at Cherry's MOT Centre in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, when the incident happened. The unnamed owner was sitting in the waiting area when he heard an 'almighty bang' and ran out to see his pride and joy lodged in the wall. The Mercedes was in the garage for its annual MOT test when the mechanic accidentally drove it through a wall . The car was halfway through the wall surrounded by bricks and debris from the smash. The MOT tester is thought to have pressed the accelerator not realising the automatic car had been left in drive. The Mercedes now needs a new front end - and the garage was left in need of a bricklayer. Garage owner Alan Cherry said the incident 'was an accident and no one was to blame'. A new E-Class Mercedes costs around £30,000. The MOT tester is thought to have pressed the accelerator not realising the automatic car had been left in drive . The incident happened at Cherry's MOT Centre in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (pictured) +She watched from the crowd as her brother made history during the Cricket World Cup semi-finals between South Africa and New Zealand. But now, Kate Elliott will have an empty seat at her wedding day this weekend when her brother Grant Elliott take on either Australia or India at the World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday. The bride-to-be and her fiance Daniel Plews had pencilled in their big day at the Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand on March 28 almost a year ago. Bride-to-be Kate Elliott (left) and her fiance Daniel Plews (right) will have an empty seat at their wedding . Grant had not played international cricket for 14 months so he thought he could attend his sister's big day . Grant, who was born in South Africa, had not played international cricket for 14 months before he was picked to play one of the great one-day innings for his adopted country. He told his sister he didn't think he would be selected for the squad so Kate went ahead and locked in her wedding date. But on Tuesday, the 36-year-old cricketer slammed a six off the penultimate ball from the world's greatest fast bowler Dale Steyn, giving his team a four-wicket win over the Proteas at Auckland's Eden Park and taking his team into their first ever final. 'From the beginning I said if you can reach your dream that would be incredible,' Kate told NZ Herald. 'He just looked so incredibly happy. I saw it in his eyes and you just knew - he is going to do it. He is not coming to the wedding so let's just enjoy this moment.' Elliott of New Zealand swings and hit a six to win the Cricket World Cup Semi Final match against South Africa . Despite missing the opportunity to see his sister walk down the aisle, Grant has promised if his team wins the title, he will cover all costs for Kate and her fiance's honeymoon. 'We will hold him to that,' Kate told Sydney Morning Herald. 'I told him before he left, 'Go and win it now, not because of the honeymoon, but just go smash it.' The Black Caps have flown out of the country for Melbourne ahead of the final on Sunday. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Kate Elliott for comment. +A couple who met while playing a game online have just celebrated a decade of married life together and are 'living happily ever after'. Claire Nelson, from Wales, met American husband Shane while playing a golf game on Xbox Live and spent the next year talking and playing with the US gamer. As a way to relax the Cardiff mother-of-two would play on her children's games console after they had gone to bed but she never guessed her hobby would change her life. Claire Nelson and husband Shane are celebrating ten years of marriage after meeting on Xbox Live . One night Claire, 40, who played Links 2004 with online friends, was introduced to Shane, 39, who was playing across the pond in Springfield, Missouri. Claire, a medical assistant, says that she immediately knew she wanted to be more than just friends. 'We had a mental connection and knew we wanted to be together right way. She told news-leader.com: 'One evening we were waiting for a fourth player to join our game, then there he was, a player named Tungfu (his real name Shane). He was quiet and only spoke a few times. It turned out that the “friends” I was playing with were Shane’s friends too but this was the first time that we “met". 'I knew he was American from his accent. (I forgot to mention I lived in Wales UK ). We were all chatting and I stated that “I wish I could find someone to romance me and I romance them.” 'Shane cut in with “Darn girl where do YOU live?” We knew there was a connection and we talked every night and on the weekends for nine months.' Because of the time difference between Wales and Missouri, with Claire being six hours ahead, it would be the early hours of the morning when Shane returned from work and was available to talk but she didn't mind. The pair married in 2005 after Claire flew to Springfield in US to propose to Shane . Shane traveled to Wales to wed Claire in 2006 and had another internet gamer as their best man . Claire said: 'We hit it off - over the next few months I'd fall asleep with my Xbox headset on and wait for Shane to get home from work and join the game. He'd wake me up and we'd talk all night.' They discussed 'everything' including Shane coming to live with her, marriage and babies. Although they shared a strong connection Claire said that it was difficult to have such a long distance relationship where they were more 3,000 miles away from each other. 'We dated online for over a year - it was very hard, we lived an ocean apart.' One year later, the couple decided to meet in person, with Claire, 40, flying to Springfield. On the first night she proposed to Shane, 39, a diesel mechanic, with a diamond ring. She added: 'I knew he would say "yes".' The couple, who have a seven-year-old son together named Riley, tied the knot in Wales in 2006, with another internet gamer acting as Shane's best man. They stayed there until the following year when they all boarded a plane to Springfield, where they've lived ever since. Claire has since moved to Springfield where the couple live with their children. They are pictured here with Claire's two children from a previous marriage . Claire, Shane, Riley and Claire's two children from a previous marriage now live in Springfield together. Since her wedding Claire revealed two of her friends have also had successful online relationships with one couple are married and the other couple are due to wed. Claire says that the world of online gaming allows you to meet people that you wouldn't otherwise come across. 'The best part about online gaming is that you get to make friends all over the world. 'We are living happily ever after. It's been my fairy tale come true.' She told news-leader.com: 'It was not an easy journey but it was all worth it. We both believe we have found our soulmate.' The happy couple have since had a son of their own Riley (pictured centre) Since their wedding two of Claire's friends have also had success with online relationships . +It's the perfect home for those who never want to grow up. The ultimate wooden treehouse has now been unveiled in Turin, Italy, in the style of a 'living forest'. Architect Luciano Pia said he wanted his '25 Shades of Green' project to combine the childhood dreams of owning a treehouse with the modern practicalities of living in a city. Scroll down for video . Magical: Italian architect Luciano Pia has designed the apartment block in the style of a treehouse . 'A living forest': The trees inside the property were picked to have the right mix of foliage and blossom throughout the year . The steel structure, with 63 flats inside, has a rooftop garden and trees growing out of the walls. Mr Pia said he wanted to create an outdoor feel for the building, which has been three years in the making. 'I wanted to give people the chance to escape having to look all the time at Turin's urban sprawl and to create a multi-storey natural alternative', he said. The seasonal progression of the 150 trees planted around the property create a 'microclimate' within the building, steadying extreme temperatures during the winter and summer months. Each species of plants was chosen carefully to make sure there was a rich variety of colour and blossom depending on the time of year, and in total the trees are capable of absorbing close to 200,000 litres of carbon dioxide an hour. Stand out: The striking development has its own 'microclimate' inside, thanks to the trees planted around . The project is also very environmentally friendly, making use of the latest developments in technology with heating and cooling systems that utilise geothermal energy with heat pumps, and rainwater is collected and 'recycled' to water the green. Mr Pia added: 'This natural absorption brings pollution protection only to residents, but in the city is also helping to eliminate harmful gasses caused by cars. Bright: The metal structures are designed to look like trees, which 'grow' from the groundfloor to the roof . 'I also placed the trees so that they can to a certain extent absorb some of the harsh sounds from the bustling streets outside.' 'The plants' full foliage blocks rays of sun during the summer while letting in warm light during the winter. 'The building has 63 flats each benefiting from the terraces and vegetation just beyond their windows and walls.' Outside: Architect Luciano Pia said while the wood filters the light in summer, in winter they allow light to filter into the house . Grand: Natural wood is used throughout the property, creating a rustic feel . +A second bald eagle egg has hatched in a Pennsylvania nest on live-streaming video that thousands of people have watched. The hatchling Wednesday morning came a day after the first eaglet arrived in a nest in York County's Codorus State Park. A Pennsylvania Game Commission biologist tells the York Daily Record the sibling eagles will compete fiercely for food and could end up harming each other. Caught on camera: A second bald eagle egg has hatched in a Pennsylvania nest on live-streaming video that thousands of people have watched . Tweeting: The hatchling Wednesday morning came a day after the first eaglet arrived in a nest in York County's Codorus State Park . Statistics show only about half of hatched eagles ever leave the nest and siblicide - the killing of one chick by a relative - is common. The eaglets won't be ready to fly on their own until late June or early July. The game commission installed a live-streaming eagle cam focused on the nest in December. One egg was laid on Valentine's Day and the second, on February 17. Apparently more than 640,000 people have watched the live stream, with many viewers checking in daily. Battle ground: A Pennsylvania Game Commission biologist says the sibling eagles will compete fiercely for food and could end up harming each other . Growing pains: Statistics show only about half of hatched eagles ever leave the nest and siblicide - the killing of one chick by a relative - is common . Safe with mom and dad: The eaglets won't be ready to fly on their own until late June or early July . +One bull is certainly set to have the ladies chasing him around the paddock with his buff appearance. Paul the cow, a rescued resident of the animal sanctuary in Butjadingen, Germany, was filmed as he enjoyed a grooming session on a giant cleaning machine. Footage shows him closing his eyes in bliss as the roller combs over his coat. First he angles it on the top of his head. He then gives his eyelids and cheeks a brief scrub. At one point he cranes his head back so his neck can be massaged. He might have had a rocky start in life, but Paul certainly appears to be one happy cow now. De-mudding: Paul the cow, a rescued resident of the animal sanctuary in Butjadingen, Germany, was filmed as he enjoyed a grooming session on a giant cleaning machine . Scrubbing up well: Footage shows him closing his eyes in bliss as the roller combs over his coat . Hitting all the spots: At one point he cranes his head back so his neck can be massaged . +This little critter's certainly got to work hard for his dinner. Eita, a three-year-old red panda from the Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, Japan, was filmed as he determinedly licked apple slices from the glass walls of his enclosure. By using his sharp claws and teeth he eventually pries the fruit off and munches it up. Footage shows him repeating the same action over and over as he spots another slice of apple stuck before him. One piece proves particularly difficult to ease free but Eita finally manages to paw it away. He is then seen standing with the apple in-between his paws, gently nibbling it up. The apples sure seem to taste good after all that effort! Along with fruit, red pandas are partial to acorns, roots, and eggs. Grub's up: Eita, a three-year-old red panda from the Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, Japan, was filmed as he determinedly licked apple slices from the glass walls of his enclosure . Sharp tactics: By using his claws, tongue and teeth he eventually pries the fruit off and munches it up . Going strong: Footage shows him repeating the same action over and over as he spots another slice of apple stuck before him . Winning streak: One piece proves particularly difficult to ease free but Eita finally manages to paw it away . +The Princess Royal was pictured at Sandown Park Racecourse today looking cool in a pair of sporty sunglasses that she borrowed from her daughter Zara Phillips. The Queen's granddaughter, 33, was given the Adidas shades as part of her Team GB kit when she represented her country in the equestrian at the London 2012 Olympics. The sunglasses were certainly lucky for the mother-of-one who won a silver medal in the team event. The Princess Royal was pictured at Sandown Park Racecourse today, left, looking cool in a pair of sporty sunglasses first worn by her daughter Zara Phillips, right, during the London 2012 Olympics . Like mother, like daughter: The royal profiles look at same as they pose in the sporty shades . So that's perhaps why Princess Anne chose to wear the sunglasses today in the hope they would be a lucky charm for her at the races in Esher. The 64-year-old grandmother, who is 11th in line to the throne, looked happy and relaxed as she watched the horses compete. But while the sun shone causing her to don Zara's sporty shades, temperatures remained cool so she stayed wrapped up in a beige double breasted coat, polo neck jumper and red scarf. Anne looked happy as she watched the races - perhaps the shades were a lucky charm . And just like her mother the Queen who is rarely keen on a public engagement without wearing hat, the princess wore a brown hat with tartan trim. Anne, wearing pearl stud earrings, was pictured in the parade ring during the Grand Military Gold Cup Day at Sandown Park. The event dates back to 1841 and has always been a firm favourite with the British monarchy. One of the races held today is named in memory of the Queen Mother who was an avid fan of the sport. The royal chats to attendees in the parade ring during the Grand Military Gold Cup Day . Despite the sun shining, she still wrapped up in a double breasted coat, hat and red scarf . Earlier this week, the Princess Royal opened a new £2.3m youth arts centre in Jersey. The St James Centre was built in a converted church in St Helier and will include a performance space, studios, rehearsal rooms and a radio station. Meanwhile, Zara is busy training for the 2016 Rio Olympics with the hope of winning more medals - and perhaps more kit which she can share with her supportive mother. +When the Republic of Ireland team sheet for Martin O’Neill’s first competitive game against Georgia was released an hour or so before kick-off, one name stood out: Stephen Quinn. This was last September and the beginning of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. It was the start of a new, bright, vibrant era under the inspirational Derry man. Hull City’s midfield dynamo felt like a peculiar addition. He had been around the block since his debut against the same opponents in 2013 but never started a match with points at stake. Midfielder Stephen Quinn is in the reckoning to line up against Poland on Sunday . This was O’Neill making his point and giving a player previously overlooked a chance to make his own point, too. Quinn provided energy and forward thinking alongside Glenn Whelan and James McCarthy in a three-man midfield. Being left-footed, he also brought balance to the centre of the park.  He was given the ultimate compliment by the manager when he was rested for the 7-0 stroll at home to Gibraltar in October so he would be ready to help stifle Germany a few days later. When he failed to start any of the four Hull games between the 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen and the November date with Scotland, it was no surprise Quinn was left on the bench at Celtic Park before being introduced in the second half. And while his last start in the Premier League came on January 18, circumstances may dictate that he is in the reckoning to line out against Poland on Sunday. Jeff Hendrick has been unable to join up with the squad at all through injury while Darron Gibson returned to Everton on Wednesday because of his groin complaint. Quinn, though, isn’t feeling as if he’s a shoo-in to step back into the starting XI. ‘I don’t think you can ever [think like that], there are lads who have been here a long time and you can never rest on your laurels. You have to come back and show the manager you’re willing and able, and are still working hard for a place,’ he insisted. Quinn made his last start in the Premier League on January 18 . ‘No one is guaranteed a starting spot, the squad is stronger than ever with some great additions and the manager will have some headaches.’ Poland may be the group leaders having set the cat amongst the pigeons by beating Germany, but the Dubliner maintains Ireland must be the ones to set the tempo and impose themselves on the visitors. ‘Every game is a must-win game, you want to win all these games and try to get as good a lead as possible. But it doesn’t work like that with such a tough and strong group,’ said Quinn. ‘It is a big game, we know how big it is, there’s no point in beating around the bush. But we’ll go out and do our best. ‘We’ll leave no stone unturned and do all our tactics, and then we’ll go out and do our job. There’s no point in just talking about it and looking at the videos, we’ve got to get on the ball and bring the game to them,’ the 28-year-old continued. ‘I think everyone is a little bit surprised with Germany, they’ve had a sluggish start and it’s a bit of a hangover from last summer. In European football at the minute, any team can beat anyone but you’ve just got to be the best team on the day and hopefully that will come good for us on Sunday.’ Scotland and Germany are both highly likely to win this weekend against Gibraltar and Georgia respectively, so there is little room for error with Ireland level on seven points with them both. ‘I think we can see that, it doesn’t take a scientist to work that out,’ Quinn added. ‘But maybe it’s the team that just limits the mistakes and capitalise on their home form that will progress.’ +Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen believes he has come of age as Wales prepare for what could be the defining moment of their Euro 2016 campaign. Allen does not grab too many headlines, with the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey for international company, but there's no denying the effective role he plays in Chris Coleman's side. The 25-year-old's game is to break up attacks and get his team moving forward, and it is a role which has gradually won over Reds fans after what he admits was a tricky start to Anfield life following his £15million transfer from Swansea in 2012. Joe Allen and Gareth Bale train on Wednesday ahead of Wales' crucial qualifier against Israel on Friday . Allen faces the media ahead of Chris Coleman's side clash against the group leaders . 'I look back to my first season at Liverpool and I was disappointed with the way I approached it at times,' Allen said. 'But the last couple of seasons I have certainly learned a lot and improved from that point of view and having those experiences. 'I understand now I have experienced a lot of highs in my career but unfortunately there are times when you will have some lows. 'My dip in form affected my confidence and it was the first time I had experienced that at club level. 'At Swansea it had always been progress really so it was a bit of a setback, but I came through it. As well as holding down a regular place in the Liverpool team in recent months, Allen sees himself as a mainstay of a Wales side which has started the European Championship qualifiers so impressively. Allen is enjoying a run in the Liverpool side and has impressed during the club's resurgence in recent months . Wales remain unbeaten after four games with an eight-point haul, but they face a serious examination of their qualification credentials against an Israel side top of the group with an unblemished 100 per cent record, . 'I have turned 25 now so I don't consider myself a young player any more,' Allen said ahead of Wales' trip to what is expected to be a hostile Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on Saturday night. 'I have got enough experience both at club and international level to feel a big part of the squad. 'The experience I have had in the past will hold me in good stead going forward in international football. 'I am getting towards my peak and I hope to keep improving in the next few years and getting better.' The Wales midfielder admits that he found it difficult during his first season at Liverpool . Wales have not been in such a promising position to end their long wait for a major tournament finals appearance since going close to earning a place at Euro 2004. On that occasion Wales lost a play-off to Russia and Allen, then a 13-year-old schoolboy, admits the disappointment of that near-miss resonates with a lot of the current squad. 'I was at the Russia game as my school used to go to the Millennium Stadium,' Allen said. 'I remember the disappointment of that night coming so close as do a lot of the lads. It is extra motivation for us. 'For youngsters and supporters to have experienced that we want to be the group to get there. 'We feel we are getting back to that level, we have quality and much more strength in depth than we have had in the past.' +England resume their Euro 2016 qualification campaign on Friday night when they host Lithuania at Wembley. Roy Hodgson's side go into the game as overwhelming favourites having won all four of their previous matches in Group E. In contrast, Lithuania have collected six points from a possible 12 - with their last result seeing them on the receiving end of a 4-0 thrashing away to Switzerland in November last year. Here, Sportstmail provides a lowdown on everything you need to know about the Three Lions' opponents. *Lithuania are playing England for the first time at senior international level. *They have met seven times in UEFA age-group competitions, with England recording five wins and two draws. Most recently, they beat Lithuania 5-0 at home and 1-0 away in 2015 European U21 Championship qualifying. Ravel Morrison (right) scored twice as England Under 21s beat Lithuania U21s 5-0 in October 2013 . *Lithuania have won only twice in 10 competitive away games - against San Marino and Liechtenstein. *Experienced centre half Marius Zaliukas plays for Rangers and spent last season at Leeds, making nine appearances. *Striker Simonas Stankevicius, 19, is on Leicester’s books, but has yet to make his first-team debut. Experienced Lithuania centre back Marius Zaliukas currently plays for Rangers in the Scottish Championship . *England are one of only four teams still boasting a 100 per cent record in qualifying. The others are Slovakia, Israel and the Czech Republic. *England are unbeaten in 23 Euro and FIFA World Cup qualifying games (W16 D7), stretching back to a 1-0 defeat by Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk in October 2009. Their last competitive home loss was 3-2 to Croatia in November 2007. Wayne Rooney scored twice as England beat Slovenia 3-1 in their last Euro 2016 qualifier back in November . +Flying winger Jesus Navas says he will not adapt his game at Manchester City, insisting he is told by Manuel Pellegrini to stay wide and use his pace. Navas has prominently featured for champions but hasn't scored in the Premier League this season. That may be because the Spain international doesn't drift in-field as much as team-mates Samir Nasri and David Silva, though he says he has played this way since he was a youngster at Sevilla and he won't change. Jesus Navas says he sees no need to change his style of play at Manchester City . Navas competes for the ball with Joleon Lescott during City's 3-0 win against West Brom on Saturday . Speaking exclusively to Bleacher Report, the 29-year-old said: 'The way I play is the way I have always played. 'That is what got me here, always trying to get on the wing and play fast. That is my game, and that's what I am asked to do and what I try to do in every match, so I don't feel I have had to really adapt my game too much.' Navas also insisted that City aren't giving up on the dream of retaining their title, despite Chelsea leading the Manchester club by six points with a game in hand. He added: 'I think there are many games left. Until it is impossible to come back, we will look to close the gap, but we realise it is going to be difficult, but there is a chance. 'If I could change anything or bring anything, it would be the sun and weather from Seville.' The winger looks dejected as he walks off the Nou Camp pitch a Champions League defeat . Navas insists City can retain the Premier League title despite City's six-point advantage this season . +Aaron Ramsey has added his name to Francis Coquelin's long list of admirers at Arsenal and says that the Gunners' man at the base of midfield helps the rest of the team to 'tick'. Coquelin is enjoying an impressive breakthrough campaign in Arsene Wenger's side, finding a way into the first team after returning from a loan spell at Championship side Charlton Athletic in December. And with many Arsenal fans crediting Coquelin with their team's impressive recent form that has moved them into contention for the Barclays Premier League title, Ramsey has also endorsed the theory that the Frenchman has become a key cog in midfield. Francis Coquelin has been impressive in midfield for Arsenal in their recent run of form in the Premier League . The French midfielder has been an ever-present figure for Arsene Wenger's side in the league in 2015 so far . Aaron Ramsey says Coquelin's defensive presence in midfield gives his team-mates more freedom to play . Arsenal have won their last six games in the Premier League and are now just a point behind second-placed Manchester City, with Coquelin - yet to miss a league game in 2015 - providing his midfield colleagues with more freedom to go forward. 'He's been really good,' Ramsey said. 'He's very aggressive and doesn't give the opposition much time on the ball, and that's why he wins so many tackles. Then he wins the ball and makes us tick over. 'It's been really good to see his development this year, he's had a superb couple of months now so hopefully he can continue that. Coquelin attempts to win an aerial ball ahead of Ramsey during a training session earlier in the season . Coquelin was part of the Arsenal side that almost turned around a 3-1 first-leg deficit against Monaco . 'It is quite comforting knowing that one of the midfielders is behind you in position, thinking more defensively. It is something that he does really well.' Ramsey was left out of the starting XI for Arsenal's Champions League exit to Monaco last week and he feels there is more competition than ever for places in Wenger's in-form side. 'There’s definitely a fight for our places,' he told Arsenal Player. 'Everyone is keeping each other on their toes - it’s good that we have that strength in depth now.' Wenger now sees Coquelin as a key part of his team after initially loaning him out to Charlton earlier in the year . +Nick Fairley has signed for the St Louis Rams on a one-year, prove yourself deal. When fit and focused, Fairley is one of the NFL's better defensive linemen, but his career has been plagued with concerns about injuries, attitude and his weight. Worth $5million, but with the incentive to make up to $7.5m according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, the defensive tackle joins arguably the most fearsome front four in football. The 27-year-old will likely slot in alongside either Defensive Rookie of the Year Aaron Donald or Michael Brockers to aid the Rams' frightening pass rush. Rams coach Jeff Fisher poses with Nick Fairley during his unveiling in St Louis . With defensive ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn, quarterbacks facing the Rams next season - who include Matthew Stafford - will seldom get a moment's peace. Fairley, the 13th overall pick of the 2011 draft, spent the first four years of his career in Detroit, playing 46 games.which yielded 98 tackles, 13.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. But the Lions declined to take up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract and did not exactly bend over backwards to retain his services. A history of inconsistency, injuries and off-field concerns led the Lions to allow him enter free agency. Coach Jeff Fisher made the announcement at a press conference to unveil new quarterback Nick Foles. Fairley injured his knee in the 22-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley last year, which ended his season. Following the departure of fellow defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the Lions have brought in Haloti Ngata and Tyrunn Walker. +Gus Poyet has hit out at the Premier League for the scoring system used in the Fair Play Table in which Sunderland are rock bottom. The Black Cats boss is currently contesting an FA charge of improper conduct after he kicked over a drinks bucket and was sent to the stands during the 1-1 draw at Hull earlier this month. Sunderland's Gus Poyet has hit out at the Premier League for the scoring system used in the Fair Play Table . But Poyet is at a loss to explain why his side are considered the least sporting in the top flight. ‘I don’t know how they get the points - it’s so superficial,’ said Poyet of the table which takes into consideration factors such as positive play, respect towards opponents and behaviour of the coaching team. ‘Until two months ago we hadn’t had a sending off, so how can we be bottom? Poyet and Steve Bruce argue during their two sides' clash on Wednesday evening at the KC Stadium . Bruce (left) had to be held back by the linesman as the row between the pair escalated . ‘Maybe when I wave my arms, that’s minus one. Maybe the club will have to tie my hands behind my back! ‘We got fined once (for surrounding the referee) and we corrected that. ‘I don’t care who’s in charge of the fair play rules, but they’re not fair. It’ s an invention.’ Referencing Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse and Manchester United’s Jonny Evans being banned for spitting, Poyet added: ‘How many points is it for someone spitting at someone? Three million? Newcastle's Papiss Cisse and Manchester United's Jonny Evans squared at St James' Park . Cisse has been banned for seven games, while Evans has received a six game suspension . ‘Me, I’d use common sense. I’ve not seen anything that makes me think we’re dirty, so why we’re bottom, I don’t know. I’d like someone to explain. ‘But there would be no explanation, just words that don’t make sense. I don’t accept it. I don’t care what they say, it’s not true.’ Meanwhile, Poyet’s side – without a win in five – have another fight at the wrong end of the Premier League table and face relegation rivals Aston Villa this afternoon. Wes Brown reacts after being shown a straight red card by Referee Roger East against Manchester United . Brown smiles after being shown a straight red card for a challenge on Radamel Falcao against United . The Uruguayan played alongside new Villa boss Tim Sherwood at Spurs and is wary of their revival. ‘I enjoyed playing with Tim next to me,’ he said. ‘He was always a character and you need characters on the pitch. ‘What you see is what you get, there is no side to him. I know he will add forward play to his team and we need to be ready. They have had a couple of big derby wins so normally you would think they are in higher spirits than us.’ Poyet is looking forward to coming up against former teammate Tim Sherwood at the weekend . +Rory McIlroy has worn the air of a man intent on peaking at the right time this week. He has played well, racking up five birdies in succession at one point during his second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the first time he has accomplished that on the PGA Tour, but there has still been a sense of a man playing within himself. Everything is about the build-up to Augusta where the US Masters begins in a little over a fortnight’s time. It is there that McIlroy will attempt to join a select group of the greats of the game by winning the only major that has eluded him. Victory would lift him into the company of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods who all won the Masters, the US Open, The Open and the US PGA at least once in their careers. Rory McIlory has been tuning up for the Masters this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational . This week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill is McIlroy's last competitive action before Augusta . The Masters is the one major that McIlory is yet to get his hands on having won the other three . Despite his uneven form in the last month, McIlroy, 25, has looked and sounded like a man who is exactly where he wants to be in the run-up to the tournament where victory eluded him three years ago when he collapsed on the back nine of his final round. If he gets into the same position this year, it is safe to bet he will not let it slip. It was important to him to play here at Bay Hill, partly to honour Palmer, who has seemed hurt in recent years when McIlroy decided to skip the tournament. But McIlroy also wanted to replicate his routine from 2011 when he had a fortnight off before the Masters. ‘It worked pretty well at Augusta, at least for 63 holes,’ he said. +Fernando Alonso will return to Formula One at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday after passing a medical examination by three Cambridge University doctors. The Spaniard, who was injured in a bizarre accident in testing in Barcelona last month, was given the all-clear by the British experts. He will go through final tests at the circuit in Kuala Lumpur later this week, but they are thought to be little more than a formality. Alonso’s McLaren team issued a statement, confirming that: ‘Subject to a successful final FIA medical assessment this Thursday, Fernando Alonso will return to the cockpit of his MP4-30 car. Fernando Alonso will fly to Malaysia for the second race of the season after undergoing tests . Fernando Alonso underwent tests at Cambridge University ahead of a potential comeback in Malaysia . ‘Since his Barcelona testing accident, Fernando has followed a rigorous, specialised training programme, designed and closely monitored by leading sports scientists, to ensure his safe and timely return to racing. ‘At the McLaren Technology Centre last week, Fernando met with his engineers and drove the simulator, to bring him up to date with the latest developments on the MP4-30 chassis and power unit. As part of that process he spent time with senior engineers, discussing the accident and reviewing the comprehensive data and analysis, all of which has been shared with the FIA. Fernando Alonso was pictured with Eric Boullier at McLaren's headquarters in Woking last week . Alonso missed the Australian Grand Prix after a crash in pre-season testing in Barcelona . ‘While there was nothing evident in the extensive car telemetry data, nor anything abnormal in the subsequent reconstructions and laboratory tests, Fernando recalls a sense of “heavy” steering prior to the accident. Consequently, the team has fitted an additional sensor to the car, to increase our data capture. ‘Fernando is very much looking forward to getting back into the car and making a substantial contribution to our collective efforts with Honda, to accelerate the required improvement to our on-track performance.’ Alonso, 33, will therefore make his racing return for McLaren after leaving the team in rancorous circumstances eight years ago. +Fernando Alonso will fly to Malaysia for the Grand Prix on March 29 after having tests to establish whether he has recovered from concussion. The McLaren driver missed the season's first race in Australia after a crash in pre-season testing. His adviser Luis Garcia Abad refused to confirm reports in Spain that Alonso had got the all-clear after the tests. 'It is private so I cannot confirm or deny it, but I have no doubts he will go to Malaysia as planned,' he said. Fernando Alonso will fly to Malaysia for the second race of the season after undergoing tests . +Fernando Alonso will go to Cambridge University on Sunday for medical tests as part of a three-part process that will determine whether he can return to Formula One in next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The Spaniard missed the opening race of the season in Melbourne last week after suffering concussion in an unexplained testing accident in Barcelona. Although Alonso has since posted Twitter messages declaring himself fit and ready, the FIA have appointed three Cambridge doctors to test him. If he passes these tests, he will travel to Kuala Lumpur for two further sets of analysis. Fernando Alonso will undergo tests at Cambridge University ahead of a potential comeback in Malaysia . One will be carried out by the FIA’s medical delegate, Jean-Charles Piette, who will require Alonso to do a 45-minute computer test to assess his reaction times. His score will be compared with his previous results on the same test. The local doctor at the Sepang International Circuit will also examine Alonso. Alonso missed the Australian Grand Prix after a crash in pre-season testing in Barcelona . The belts-and-braces approach shows the concern among the Formula One community about how Alonso, 33, came to lose control of his McLaren last month. Technical problems have been ruled out by the team, who cited high winds as a cause. The nagging fear remains that Alonso had an underlying medical complaint that meant he lost consciousness before he veered off track – a possibility that needs to be ruled out before he can compete again. +Trainer Oliver Sherwood has refused to rule out a shot at next month’s Grand National with his Cheltenham Gold Cup sixth Many Clouds. The Trevor Hemmings-owned winner of November’s Hennessy Gold Cup is a 33-1 chance for the race. The Lambourn trainer said: ‘I am not ruling the National out but Many Clouds is having a quiet week and we will talk about it after that. Oliver Sherwood has refused to rule out a shot at next month’s Grand National with Many Clouds . ‘If you had told me at the start of the season he would be sixth in the Gold Cup I would have bitten your hand off but my gut feeling is he didn’t run his race. He jumped off sixth and finished sixth. He was beaten with a circuit to go. ‘The winner (Coneygree) is a very good horse. Like other trainers are saying about their runners, maybe he got us out of our comfort zone.’ Meanwhile, amateur rider Tom Weston, who was airlifted to Bristol’s Southmead hospital after puncturing both lungs in a heavy fall from Benbane Head in last Thursday’s Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup was expected to be released from hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The amateur jockey, who had a spell in intensive care, tweeted: 'About to be let out to rest up at home. Big thanks to @IJF-official @CheltenhamRaces @NorthBristolNHS and all wellwishers. Feeling gd.’ Sherwood (pictured) revealed he will make plans for Many Clouds following a 'quiet week' for the horse . +Former Wales and British Lions flanker Martyn Williams has called on the RBS 6 Nations organisers to change the way they draw up the Player of the Championship shortlist after Sam Warburton was left out of 12-man nominations. Warburton, 26, was one of his country's best players throughout the competition but the Wales skipper is not up for the top gong, which is based upon performance statistics rather than balanced expert opinions. Dan Biggar and Alun-Wyn Jones are the only Welsh nominations while Scotland, who lost every game, also have two players in the running in Jonny Gray and Stuart Hogg. Wales skipper Sam Warburton races away for a try during his side's 60-21 trouncing of Italy in Rome . 'Sam is the standout name not on that list,' Williams told Sportsmail. 'It was a big surprise. It's always very contentious, but it's picked using statistics and I don't think that's the way to do it. I prefer the way they do it for World Player of the Year where they use a panel of experts to get a general consensus. Sam can feel very hard done by for not making it. You could make a case for Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams as well. 'Sam's stats are always very high but penalties can count against you if you play on the edge. His influence on the team can't be measured through stats because they don't capture those big moments in a game where the big players stand up. 'Sam will be the player to win a big turnover to win a big game; but that just counts as one turnover on a stat sheet. He's a fantastic role model and a leader by actions.' Wales fly half Dan Biggar has made the Six Nations shortlist for Player of the Championship . Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones is the only other Welsh player to make the 12-man shortlist . After losing their opening Test against England, Wales went on to win all of their remaining fixtures and eventually finished third on points difference. Warren Gatland expects his side to be serious challengers at the World Cup and, if they can continue to build on their momentum, Williams believes they have the talent to make the final at Twickenham. 'This squad has more or less been together for four years, so they're in a really good place,' said Williams. 'They will obviously be disappointed not to win the tournament but, in terms of the bigger picture, they're looking good for the World Cup. Can they be challengers? Yes, why not? The group stages are just as difficult as the quarter and semi finals. That's how finely balanced it is. If they win the group, then they could go all the way. Then again, they might not get out of their group at all.' Former Wales flanker Martin Williams has called for changes to be made to the nominations procedure . +Wales prop Rob Evans has extended his contract at Scarlets, three days after making his first international start. Evans has made 19 appearances for the Scarlets this season and was rewarded with his first Wales start in the 61-20 Six Nations win over Italy on Saturday. The length of Evans' contract is not known but the 22-year-old said he is delighted to have committed his future to the club. Rob Evans (left) and Dan Lydiate tackle Italy scrum half Edoardo Gori at the Olimpico Stadium on Saturday . Evans made his first Test start for Wales in their 61-20 Six Nations victory over Ithe Azzurri on Saturday . 'It's a fantastic opportunity for me to continue my development with the Scarlets and I'm pleased to have signed a new deal to stay with the region,' Evans told Scarlets' official website. 'I've grown up supporting the Scarlets and am really enjoying my rugby with the region at the moment. 'I'm looking forward to finishing what has been a great season so far, for me personally, on a high helping the Scarlets secure our place in the top six and next season's top flight of European rugby.' Evans, in action for the Scarlets, takes on Saracens centre Nick Tomkins at Allianz Park in November . Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac added: 'We are pleased to announce that Rob has extended his contract with us here at the Scarlets. 'He has made great strides this season and will undoubtedly have developed further having had a little international experience and coming up against some of the world's best props during this season's European Rugby Champions Cup campaign. 'We are developing strength in depth at front row with a good crop of home-grown talent that will continue to develop together over the coming seasons ensuring a bright future for region.' +Newcastle Falcons have signed Scotland international Jon Welsh on a two-year deal. The loose head prop has agreed a summer switch from Glasgow Warriors ahead of the 2015-16 Aviva Premiership season. Welsh was part of the Scotland squad which finished last in the RBS 6 Nations this year and scored a try against Wales in February before being ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a fractured hand. Glasgow Warriors' loose head prop Jon Welsh (centre) has agreed a summer switch to Newcastle Falcons . Welsh (centre left) tackles Gloucester's Tim Molenaar (centre right) during a Heineken Cup match in 2009 . The 28-year-old told the club's official site: 'Newcastle are a club with a big future and definitely want to go places and for me personally, it's the challenge of being able to come down and compete in the Premiership. 'I love Glasgow, I'm from here and all my family is here. This is my seventh season at the club and I think at 28, its good timing for change and to challenge myself in a new environment where the ambitions are high.' Welsh made 106 starts for the Warriors after signing in 2008 and he has made four appearances for Scotland. Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards added: 'Jon is a player who comes with a great pedigree and has been a key feature of a Warriors team that is a consistent force in the Pro 12 and one that will add further quality to our front row options.' 'He looked very sharp in the Six Nations and hopefully will add to his four caps to date by impressing out in a Falcons shirt.' Welsh was included in Scotland's Six Nations squad but missed the majority of the tournament through injury . +Stephen Curry had 24 points as the Golden State Warriors used a smothering defensive effort in the third quarter to pound the Washington Wizards 107-76 on Monday. The Warriors held the Wizards without a field goal for nearly 11 minutes after halftime, with Washington missing its first 15 shots. Golden State outscored the Wizards 29-8 in the quarter to take a 24-point lead. Curry also had six assists and five rebounds as the NBA-leading Warriors (57-13) moved closer to securing the league's top playoff seed. Golden State has a huge lead over Memphis (50-21) in the Western Conference and is pulling away from East-leading Atlanta (53-17) as well. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball against the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena . Curry hit 24 points as the Golden State Warrior pounded the Washington Wizards 107-76 in Oakland . Boston's Evan Turner had 19 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds as the Celtics downed the New Jersey Nets 110-91 to end a three-game losing streak that had dropped them out of playoff position. Avery Bradley scored 20 points to lead the Celtics, who moved a half-game ahead of Charlotte for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets lost 98-86 at Chicago. Brook Lopez scored 31 points for the Nets, who had won two in a row to give themselves renewed playoff hopes. James Harden scored 44 points as the Houston Rockets handed the Pacers their sixth straight defeat . Josh Smith was on top form as he netted 18 points for the Rockets who have now won four of their last five . In Indianapolis, James Harden scored 19 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets handed the Pacers their sixth straight loss 110-100. Josh Smith added 18 points for the Rockets (47-23), who have won four of five. Indiana's sinking playoff hopes took another big hit despite 23 points from C.J. Watson. The Chicago Bulls clinched a playoff spot after Nikola Mirotic scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter in a 98-86 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Pau Gasol grabbed 27 points as Chicago joined Toronto in a tie for third place in Eastern Conference . Pau Gasol had 27 points and 12 rebounds as Chicago moved into a tie with Toronto for third place in the Eastern Conference. Jimmy Butler added 19 points in his return to the lineup after missing 11 games with a sprained left elbow. In other games, Zach Randolph scored 23 points and Marc Gasol had 21 as the Memphis Grizzlies secured a playoff spot with a 103-82 road win over the Brooklyn Knicks. While Minnesota rookie guard Zach LaVine scored 27 points, including two 3-pointers to force overtime, as the Timberwolves edged the Utah Jazz 106-104. Minnesota rookie guard Zach LaVine scored 27 points to force overtime as Timberwolves beat the Utah Jazz . +Jessica Ennis-Hill will make her long-awaited competitive return in the 100m hurdles at the Great CityGames in Manchester on May 9. The Olympic heptathlon champion will take part in her strongest event after a near two-year absence from competition due to the birth of son Reggie last summer. Ennis-Hill did set a British record of 12.54 seconds for the 100m hurdles at London 2012 and although that has since been broken by Tiffany Porter, a run in her favoured event should prove a good guide for her readiness for a heptathlon return in Gotzis at the end of May. Jessica Ennis-Hill will target a competitive return at the Great CityGames in Manchester on May 9 . Ennis-Hill, pictured here in 2013, will be competing in her strongest event, the 100m hurdles in Manchester . Ennis-Hill's 100m hurdles record of 12.54 seconds set in 2012 has since been broken by Tiffany Porter (left) 'I'm really looking forward to making my competitive return at the Great CityGames Manchester. The atmosphere is always amazing there,' said Ennis-Hill. 'Street athletics is a lot of fun, not only you are really close to the fans, but the energy around the Morrison's Great Manchester Run weekend is fantastic, as the elite races and the mass participation run bring the city together in a celebration of running.' An emotional Ennis-Hill celebrates after winning a gold medal in the Women's Heptathlon at London 2012 . +Alan Pardew wants wingers Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie to become the 21st century version of Ian Wright and Mark Bright at Crystal Palace. The pair terrorised QPR last week in the 3-1 win with Zaha scoring from a Bolasie cross and Pardew is excited by the potential his two wingers have attacking both flanks. But the Palace boss has warned the pair are not the finished article and still have plenty of room for improvement. Wilfried Zaha celebrates with Crystal Palace team-mates after his opener at Selhurst Park last weekend . Yannick Bolasie was in magnificent form last Saturday as Crystal Palace beat QPR 3-1 at Selhurst Park . He said: ‘I think any team knows that any full backs coming up against these two know they are in for a test because these two can move the ball. ‘They have to do the other parts of the game that don’t come as easy to them such as, discipline, work rate, commitment, aggression, but they are adding those aspects to their games and at the moment they have got the flare in them to create something. ‘It is exciting to watch them and it is exciting to have them in the team - but frightening for the opposing manager.’ Ian Wright congratulates Mark Bright (centre) during their spell together playing for the Eagles . The Crystal Palace squad of 1990-91, including Wright and Bright, celebrate winning the Full Members Cup . Pardew was a player at Palace in the late 1980s and early 90s when Wright and Bright formed one of the most lethal strike partnerships in English football. They scored a total of 209 goals between them and guided Palace to promotion to the top flight in 1989 and then to a third place finish in the old Division One under Steve Coppell in 1991. And Pardew says the game has changed so much with more focus being put on the midfield that the sort of partnership that Wright and Bright had is unlikely ever to be seen again – but Zaha and Bolasie can provide a new type of threat. He added: ‘Mark Bright and Ian Wright had a very tight bond and that helped them with each others games. Zaha slides in to open the scoring during the 3-1 win over relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers . ‘They were very unselfish, although Brighty will probably argue that Ian was more selfish than him. ‘What they had was the chemistry of the old front pair. Those days are sadly diminishing because of the power of the midfield of the top teams and if you don't match that up it is very difficult to win games so that kind of combination is not a popular in the Premier League as it used to be. ‘The style you have with Zaha and Bolasie out wide it can provide a nice force for us and we have a very experienced striker in Glenn Murray who is looking to profit and that is their job, to put balls in the box.’ Palace travel to Stoke on Saturday and have put on free coach travel for fans making the trip. The Eagles have sold out their allocation of 2,900 tickets and Pardew hopes the traveling fans will be able to make themselves heard at a traditionally noisy Britannia Stadium. Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew salutes the Selhurst Park home fans after the win over QPR . Despite being eight points clear of the bottom three, Pardew does not want anyone at the club to become complacent. He added: ‘We just hope they make a lot of noise, we'll need them, we cannot afford to relax, the second year in the top flight is always more difficult after you have survived a promotion year. ‘We know it is going to be tight to stay up again, but there is an extra air of confidence in the club after our recent wins, but seven days is a long time in football and we still have work to do.’ Pardew will check on the fitness of Zaha and Jason Puncheon ahead of Saturday's trip to Stoke after both picked up knocks against QPR last weekend. +Paul Murray has lambasted the Ibrox regimes of recent years and insisted they should be ‘ashamed’ of the damage inflicted on the club. The interim chairman spoke out as Rangers announced they had accepted a £1.5million loan from the Three Bears consortium — cutting off any prospect of drawing down a second £5m advance from Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct firm. Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor are lending the money without any security, interest or fees. Paul Murray is angry at decisions made by previous board at Rangers . The new Ibrox board say they will use the cash to keep the club functioning while they finalise a ‘medium to long-term’ funding package for their rebuilding plans. Dave King is expected to play a significant financial role at that point, having temporarily stepped back as he seeks to prove to the SFA that he should be deemed ‘fit and proper’ to become chairman. Murray is filling the role for now and — in conjunction with fellow directors Park, John Gilligan and John Bennett — has been analysing the various contracts inherited after taking control on March 6. He has now castigated decisions taken by the former board — which comprised David Somers, Derek Llambias, Barry Leach and James Easdale — and those who preceded them in the wake of Craig Whyte’s ruinous reign. ‘Many of the people who have occupied the Ibrox boardroom during that period should be ashamed of themselves for the parts they played in dragging this great institution towards near financial ruin,’ said Murray. Dave King (right) is expected to play a significant financial role at Rangers . ‘It is actually difficult to look closely at the club’s finances and understand the rationale behind some of the decisions taken. ‘Let me give just two examples of the recklessness displayed by those who were removed from office just more than two weeks ago. ‘One is the amount — in the region of £300,000 — spent on a needless General Meeting and the other is the signing of five Newcastle loan players without medicals. This is simply appalling.’ Manager Stuart McCall confirmed last week that at least two of the five imports from Tyneside were unlikely ever to play for Rangers. Murray thanked the ‘commitment’ shown by the Three Bears and said the board hoped to unveil their next financial step ‘in the coming weeks’. King has previously estimated he would put forward approximately 50 per cent of the funds required to restore Rangers. Stuart McCall claimed his first win as Rangers boss at the weekend . Addressing investment by the South Africa-based businessman, Murray added: ‘He is not doing so at the moment because, as we have said, we respect the processes of the SFA and must wait until they have completed their review of Dave’s status before he can fully participate in the future of the club. ‘After that, we will be inviting him to invest alongside the gentlemen who have just provided today’s facility and others who are also willing to invest. ‘We can and we will rebuild the club and this £1.5m investment is stage one of the process.’ The previous board agreed a two-stage £10m loan from Sports Direct, which gained 75 per cent of the club’s retail operation and various securities in return. ‘We have already made it clear we are happy to engage with Sports Direct but the board has decided against drawing down the second £5m tranche of Sports Direct’s £10m loan,’ said Murray. ‘We are still in the process of reviewing all of the contractual relationships that Sports Direct has with the club.’ Meanwhile, Scotland assistant boss Mark McGhee has told the Rangers board that McCall is the right man to be their long-term manager. ‘I suspect they will find they have a fantastic character in Stuart and will make him the permanent manager,’ he said. +Former Rangers bad boy Kyle Lafferty has admitted he wants a second spell at the club in order to restore his battered reputation. The Northern Ireland international left Ibrox fans incensed in the summer of 2012 when he walked out post-liquidation to join Swiss side Sion on a free transfer. But, as he prepares to play in Glasgow for the first time in almost three years in Wednesday night’s international friendly at Hampden, the 27-year-old revealed he has unfinished business at Rangers. Kyle Lafferty said he is disappointed with how his time at Rangers ended in the summer of 2012 . Lafferty admitted that he would like to return to Rangers to improve fans perceptions of him . Lafferty is set to play in Glasgow for the first time since his exit for Northern Ireland on Wednesday . ‘Some Rangers fans have asked me if I’d go back there - and I’d jump at the chance,’ admitted Lafferty, who is under contract at Norwich until the summer of 2017 but currently on loan at Turkish side Rizespor. ‘But whether that’s an option or not is another thing.’ Lafferty won three SPL titles and both League and Scottish Cups during his controversial spell at the Govan club between 2008 and 2012. However, he saw his attitude and commitment regularly questioned amid a series of on and off-field mishaps, including high-profile bust-ups with both Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist. Lafferty was one of a number of leading players – including Steven Naismith and captain Steve Davis – who were branded mercenaries by then-chief executive Charles Green after exercising their right to refuse to transfer their registrations over to newco Rangers. Lafferty is part of the Northern Ireland side who will face Scotland in a friendly on Wednesday at Hampden . Lafferty hopes that he will one day have an opportunity to return to Glasgow to play club football . ‘What happened for me at Rangers was disappointing,’ he continued. ‘The way it happened (leaving on a free after liquidation) wasn’t how I wanted to end my career there - but it had to be done. ‘But I’ve supported Rangers since I was a young boy and I still support them now. And it would be good to go back to change people’s perceptions of me. ‘If I went back now I’d definitely let my football do the talking. And hopefully that would change people’s minds about me because I’m much more mature now.’ +England's opponents in next week's friendly, Italy, have the best defence in Europe and the statistics prove it. Having shipped four goals in 14 games, Italy, who face Bulgaria in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday before hosting Roy Hodgson's side on Tuesday, have the meanest rearguard in Europe in terms of goals conceded in this qualifying competition and its predecessor. With next best England having let in six goals in 12 games, Azzurri defender Leonardo Bonucci said on Thursday that is clear that when it comes to shutting out the opposition, Italy are the best in the business. Leonardo Bonucci trains with the Italy squad ahead of their games against Bulgaria and England . Bonucci says his Italian defence, with Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini, is the best in the world . 'I believe so,' Juventus and Italy defender Bonucci told a news conference. 'I don't want to sound boastful but (Gianluigi) Buffon (Giorgio) Chiellini, (Andrea) Barzagli and myself are the best when you're talking about international competition. 'The numbers don't lie.' With Barzagli recently returning to fitness, Italy coach Antonio Conte can field the same defenders that helped him win three league titles in his previous role as Juventus manager. 'I'm very happy that Andrea (Barzagli) is back. We've been playing together forever and this helps,' Bonucci said. 'Especially, when we are a back three, I can lead them in pressuring opponents and they know that I'll be a few steps behind and help out, if they need me.' Italy visit Bulgaria on Saturday, where they have not won in five previous attempts. England managed to score once against the Italians at the World Cup, but still ended up losing in Manaus . Bonucci says having his Juventus team-mates together in international football is an advantage . Buffon and Chiellini have been two key players for Juventus and Italy for many years . 'Our attitude is to try to dictate play and put pressure on them starting in their own end but we'll have to be careful as their counterattack is dangerous,' Bonucci said. Italy are second to Croatia on goal difference in Group H on 10 points and have conceded two goals in four games. Conte, who replaced Cesare Prandelli after last year's disappointing World Cup campaign in which Italy failed to make it out of the group stage, is, according to Bonucci, meticulous in his attention to detail. Andrea Barzagli (right) returns for Italy after an injury layoff, and will offer even more stability . Antonio Conte worked with the Juventus back three, and Buffon, for several years, and is now Italy boss . The coach has his players sit through two hours of video every morning, where he goes over past games and talks about upcoming matches. 'The boss is a very charismatic person,' Bonucci said. 'He prepares each game in minute detail. 'As soon as we got here he showed us our last two matches (against Croatia and Albania) and not a day went by, when he was at Juve, in which he did not have us watching recorded games. 'I believe it's very helpful to look at what you did in the past and learn from it.' +Olivier Giroud scored two first-half goals to ensure Arsenal came away from their game against Newcastle with all three points. French striker Giroud struck twice inside four minutes to grab the Gunners a cushion going in to the break at St James' Park. The hosts managed just one shot in the opening 45, but grabbed a route back into the game when Moussa Sissoko netted just after the break. However, it was a case of too little too late for Newcastle as they failed to break through a stubborn Arsenal defence. Sportsmail's Rob Draper was at the game to give the lowdown... Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring Arsenal's first goal against Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday . NEWCASTLE (4-1-4-1) TIM KRUL 6 – Dutchman had little chance with either of the Arsenal goals but otherwise looked solid behind a makeshift defence. RYAN TAYLOR 6.5 – Sound defensively, getting in a good early block on Sanchez, and launched the attack for Newcastle’s goal with a lovely nutmeg . Danny Welbeck and Ryan Taylor do battles as both vie for the ball during the battle at St James' Park . DARYL JANMAAT 6.5 – Pressed into action as an emergency centre-back in the absence of Fabricio Coloccini, and the full-back coped well on the whole. MIKE WILLIAMSON 5.5 - Can’t claim to have come off best in his duel with Giroud and was too busy trying to wrestle the Frenchman when he headed in the second. JACK COLBACK 5.5 – First touch let him down on a couple of occasions, not least when he ended up conceding the freekick that led to Arsenal’s first goal . Newcastle United's Spanish striker Ayoze Perez vies for the ball with Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista . VURNON ANITA 5 – Guilty of playing Colback into trouble on the first goal, and looked vulnerable at times. Replaced by Gutierrez with 20 minutes left . MOUSSA SISSOKO 7 – Stylish finish to get Newcastle back in the game and went close to an equaliser with a flick header. A real threat. SAMMY AMEOBI 5.5 – Had his moments but tended to drift in and out of the game. A little better in the second half. YOAN GOUFFRAN 6 – Another one who struggled to make an impact. Should have done better than poke an effort straight at Ospina from eight yards out in the 60th minute. Yoan Gouffran gets to grips with Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla during the match at St James' Park . REMY CABELLA 7 – Really came alive in the second half and did well to pick out Sissoko for the Newcastle goal. AYOZE PEREZ 7 – An isolated figure in the first half but had more support after the interval and went close with a wonderful curling effort. Subs: Gutierrez (Anita 72), Elliot, Obertan, Riviere, Armstrong (for Ameobi 89), Satka, Kemen. Scorer: Sissoko 48 . Booked: none . Moussa Sissoko of Newcastle United scores to halve the deficit against Arsenal in the Premier League match . ARSENAL (4-2-3-1) DAVID OSPINA 7 – Kicked the ball more than he handled it in the first half such was the lack of threat from Newcastle, but called upon to make some important saves after half-time. CALUM CHAMBERS 6 – Like the rest of Arsenal’s defence, coasted through the first half but ended up hanging on towards the end. Rarely put a foot wrong though. GABRIEL PAULISTA 6 – One of three changes from the Monaco game in midweek and looked solid enough on his return to the line-up. Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal is tackled by Sissoko of Newcastle United during the Premier League match . LAURENT KOSCIELNY 6.5 – Dealt comfortably with Perez in the first half but more of a battle after that, and got a punch in the back of the head from Ospina for his troubles. NACHO MONREAL 5.5 – Strolled through the first half but had his hands full after that as Cabella and Perez stepped up their game. FRANCIS COQUELIN 7 – Did well snuffing out any trouble in midfield and spilt blood for the cause after a bang in the face, ending the game in a blank shirt. Arsenal's Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez vies for the ball with Newcastle United's Gouffran . AARON RAMSEY 7 – Wasted an early chance when he was guilty of a heavy first touch but kept things over nicely and orchestrated many of Arsenal’s best moves. ALEXIS SANCHEZ 6 – Couple of sublime touches but subdued by his standards and replaced by Tomas Rosicky towards the end. SANTI CAZORLA 6.5 – Picked up two more assists as he delivered the set-pieces for both Giroud’s goals. Otherwise, the Spaniard was effective without ever setting the game alight. DANNY WELBECK 6.5 – Got the flick-on for Giroud’s first goal but had few opportunities himself. Never stopped driving at the Newcastle defence. Welbeck hitches a ride on the back of Newcastle's French ace Sissoko at St James' Park . OLIVIER GIROUD 8 – Scored both Arsenal’s goals, making it eight in six against Newcastle. They will be glad to see the back of the Frenchman for another season. Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Rosicky (for Sanchez 71), Walcott, Flamini (for Cazorla 71), Bellerin (for Welbeck 89) Scorer: Giroud 24, 28 . Referee: Mike Jones 7 . Star man: Olivier Giroud . Giroud blows a kiss to the Arsenal fans at the end of the Premier League football match against Newcastle . +Premier League clubs are back in the black overall for the first time in 15 years thanks to a rise in TV income and a show of restraint in raising player wages. Figures released by analysts Deloitte show that the 20 clubs' annual figures combined show a pre-tax profit for the first time since 1998/99 - to the tune of £190m in 2013/14. Premier League revenues have risen 29 per cent from £2.5billion to £3.3billion due to the increase in the value of the TV deals, but wages have grown by just six per cent in the same period - £1.8billion to £1.9billion overall. Juan Mata scores an audacious goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday . Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: 'Last season was the first in the Premier League's current three-year broadcast deal, which was a record-breaker when it was struck. 'Combined with strong commercial growth at the highest revenue generating clubs, this has boosted Premier League revenue 29 per cent to a record £3.3bn. However, despite this extra income clubs showed relative restraint in wage costs, which grew by 6 per cent to £1.9bn. 'In the first year of the preceding two broadcast deals, 56 per cent and 81 cent of respective revenue growth was absorbed by wage costs. This time it is less than 20 per cent.' The figures will provide good news for the 20 club chairmen who meet in London on Thursday - where they will also face a protest organised by the Football Supporters' Federation calling on the top flight to use the increase in TV income to cut ticket prices and funnel more money to the lower leagues and grass-roots. FA chairman Greg Dyke's wants to increase home-grown players in club squads from eight to 12 . The protestors are expected to be allowed to send in a letter to the chairmen, who are also expected to take a significant decision on the administration of the Premier League. Richard Scudamore, the current chief executive, may be appointed as executive chairman with a possible re-organisation of the board. FA chairman Greg Dyke's plans to increase home-grown players in club squads from eight to 12 are not on the agenda but may be discussed. It is understood there is little appetite at the Premier League to change the quotas - not least because it would mean the English clubs being put at a disadvantage compared to the rest of Europe. +Germany boss Joachim Low believes his side will be more focused when they take on Georgia for their Euro 2016 qualifier after a lacklustre 2-2 friendly draw against Australia on Wednesday. Low rested half a dozen key players, including Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng against Australia and the lack of quality on the pitch showed at times as the bold Asian champions narrowly missed out on a shock win. 'This was a good test from which we can draw some conclusions,' said Low, who recently extended his contract to 2018. 'But the team's tension will increase ahead of the Georgia game. We will be much more concentrated against them.' Joachim Low is looking for a response from Germany following a poor performance against Australia . Germany's Marco Reus gives the World Cup winners a 17th minute lead at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion . Low fielded an experimental three-man backline that not surprisingly failed to shine given Shkodran Mustafi, Benedikt Hoewedes and Holger Badstuber, back after a two-and-a-half year absence, had never played together. 'We never really had our defence under control,' Low admitted but said he would continue experimenting as he looks to make his team more flexible, with his players shifting positions more often. Better news for Low was the return of Badstuber and Ilkay Guendogan, back for the first time since August 2013, after their long injury absences. Germany's celebration is low key as they take the lead over Australia, the Asian Cup champions . James Troisi (left) pulled Australia level with a fine header during the 2-2 draw in Germany . The Australians celebrate as the underdogs peg one back against the World Cup champions . 'You can't expect everything to work after such long absences. We did not apply things that we wanted to,' said Low. 'But we know that we need to win on Sunday.' Lukas Podolski's 81st minute equaliser was a further positive point for the head coach with the out-of-form winger again delivering for Germany with his 48th goal to climb to third on the all-time scorer list. 'You can always count on Lukas to inject life into a game,' Low said of the player, who has struggled for form at Inter Milan. Germany needed an 81st minute goal from Lukas Podolski to earn a draw against the Socceroos . Germany have been also been erratic in the qualifiers. They have managed seven points from four games, as many as Ireland and Scotland, with Poland three clear at the top of Group D. With Germany in full force against Georgia few will bet against the World Cup winners leaving with three points to heave their qualification back on track. With Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller and the other players rested on Wednesday ready to take over, Germany remain the favourites to win as they chase after top spot in the group. 'It was certainly not the performance we were looking for against Australia,' midfielder Sami Khedira said. 'We are aware of how serious the situation is for the Euro qualifiers. But no one should be concerned.' +Diego Simeone is keen for his players to concentrate on the league this weekend after an impressive showing in the Champions League. Atletico Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen on penalties to secure a quarter-final berth on Tuesday, and were subsequently drawn against Real Madrid, but Simeone was keen to downplay the fixture. The Argentinian has urged his players to focus on their Primera Division campaign having failed to hit the heights of last year, with last week's goalless draw with Espanyol leaving the champions fourth in the table. Atletico Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen on penalties to secure a quarter-final berth on Tuesday night . Atletico sit fourth in La Liga and they will now have to turn their attention following a European win . 'Now our life is La Liga, to continue fighting to make sure we don't exit the battle with Valencia and Sevilla. We need to be clear that our match is (against) Getafe,' he said on as.com. 'We must be clear that it is an intense match, that requires us to play to achieve the victory. It must be sought from the start.' Simeone hinted that he may be forced into resting several players after the exertions of Tuesday night. Mario Mandzukic, Miguel Angel Moya and Raul Garcia have been left out of the travelling squad, while Miranda is absent after he was sent off against Espanyol. Diego Simeone is keen for his players to concentrate on the league this weekend after their European win . Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid is mobbed by team-mates after the penalty shootout on Tuesday . Getafe will go into the game with a clear game plan, according to Pablo Franco, with the coach admitting he expects Atletico to be on a high following their midweek win. Franco's men sneaked their first away win in eight games at Cordoba two weeks ago, but their form has been inconsistent and leaves them 13th in the table. 'They are a great team, victory the other day reinforces them even more, so we must be clear that tomorrow we will go for broke,' he told getafecf.com. +Andy Murray led a chorus of tennis players giving drugs cheat Wayne Odesnik a send-off after the American player was effectively banned for life for committing another doping offence. The American journeyman was handed a 15-year ban after being found to have taken several banned substances, including steroids, in out-of-competition tests carried out in December and January. The severity of the ban for the 29-year-old world No 267 owes itself to Odesnik already having been given a two-year ban when he was found in 2010 by Australian customs officials to be importing vials of human growth hormone at Melbourne Airport. American tennis player Wayne Odesnik has been banned for 15 years after a second doping violation . ‘Goodbye Wayne … good riddance,’ tweeted Murray, who has been among the more vociferous players calling for an extension of anti-doping measures in tennis. Andy Roddick joined in the condemnation of Odesnik who, even before 2010, was deeply unpopular in the locker room. He tweeted: ‘My feelings are that he’s a d*****bag and I hate that he has a US flag to his name when he’s cheating, good riddance.’ Veteran British doubles player Jamie Delgado chimed in: ‘Wayne Odesnik cheats again, what a joke. Get out of the sport mate.’ Murray later beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 at the BNP Paribas Open and will face Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals. It was Murray’s 496th win, equalling Tim Henman’s record for a British man in the Open Era. After his victory, Murray spoke further on Odesnik's ban. He told the BBC: 'I think it's a good thing for tennis that he's off the tour. Andy Murray tweeted 'bye bye Wayne... good riddance' before his win over Adrian Mannarino in Indian Wells . 'He was given a second chance in a way. He was a cheat so it is good for everyone involved in tennis that he's been dealt with in the right way. 'I think any doping in any sport is very bad. I think it's the job of the sports when cases do come up that they treat them very strictly and in the right way. 'I think [testing] is going in the right direction but I don't think it will ever be perfect.' Odesnik issued a statement maintaining his innocence, claiming he had accidentally ingested substances through taking an over-the-counter supplement, but he has little credit in the bank, especially after being linked to the notorious Biogenesis clinic in Florida two years ago. Tennis has stepped up its drug-testing regime and introduced a biological passport, but many still feel that a wealthy game should allocate more resources. The fact that Odesnik was initially caught this time in December shows the value of more expensive out-of-competition testing compared to the cheaper option of doing it at major tournaments, where it is most expected. +Defending champion Novak Djokovic completed the line-up for the men's quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open by beating John Isner in a twilight encounter. The Serbian world number one booked a last-eight showdown with Bernard Tomic as he subdued big-serving American Isner to prevail 6-4 7-6 (7/5). Tomic endured a harder road to the next round in Indian Wells courtesy of 18-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis. World No 1 Novak Djokovic celebrates after defeating John Isner 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to reach the quarter-finals . The Serb will now play Bernard Tomic in the last eight at the Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open . Djokovic and Isner shakes hands at the conclusion of their match on day 10 of the tournament . The big-serving American Isner was no match for Djokovic at Indian Wells . The Australian teenager, who had previously eliminated Juan Monaco and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, forced a deciding set but Tomic raised his game to complete a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory. Also into the quarter-finals is experienced Czech Tomas Berdych, who came through a three-set battle against compatriot Lukas Rosol 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and Milos Raonic, who beat Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2. Awaiting the Canadian is third seed Rafael Nadal after the world No 3 eased past Gilles Simon with a 6-2, 6-4 victory. Second seed Roger Federer - last year's beaten finalist - made it safely through to the last eight and a meeting with Berdych after dispatching American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-2 - it was the Swiss great's 50th match win at this tournament. Tomic defeated the Australian teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis to reach the quarter-finals . Kokkinakis, 18, had knocked out Juan Monaco and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez but couldn't add Tomic to his list . Rafael Nadal booked his place in the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Gilles Simon . Roger Federer made no mistake against American Jack Sock, recording his 50th win at Indian Wells . Andy Murray equalled Tim Henman's British career-wins record of 496 after he beat France's Adrian Mannarino in straight sets. Murray was made to work hard for his victory against the world No 38 but came through 6-3, 6-3 in California. The world No 4 is into the last eight for the fifth time and will now face Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who pulled off a shock 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) win against Japan's Kei Nishikori. Simona Halep became the first player to reach the semi-finals of the women's competition as she beat Carla Suarez Navarro over three sets. British No 1 Andy Murray also made it through into the last eight, defeating Adrian Mannarino . Simona Halep was the first to reach the women's semi-finals, beating Carla Suarez Navarro . Serena Williams is also through, following a hard-fought victory over Timea Bacsinszky . The Romanian lost the opening four games, rallied to level the set, but Suarez Navarro eventually clinched it with a huge forehand winner. Third seed Halep needed only 63 more minutes to take her revenge, though, powering to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 triumph after finishing off with an unstoppable ace. Serena Williams lies in wait following her hard-fought victory over the in-form Timea Bacsinszky. The world No 1 may have needed only an hour and 25 minutes to defeat the Swiss 7-5, 6-3 but she was certainly given the runaround by a player who had previously won 15 matches in a row, claiming the Monterrey Open title in the process. +Two former giants of the boxing world came face-to-face on Wednesday as Lennox Lewis took to Instagram to share a picture posing with Jake LaMotta. LaMotta, a former world middleweight champion in the 1940s and 50s, posed with Lewis, who later shared the picture on the social media site. Lewis, himself a former world champion in the heavyweight division, was holding what appeared to be one of 93-year-old LaMotta's belts from his boxing days. Lennox Lewis poses with former world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta . Lennox Lewis (left) lands a left jab to Evander Holyfield during their World Heavyweight Championship fight . 'Me and Jake "The Raging Bull" LaMotta #Legend,' Lewis wrote on Instagram. The Raging Bull was LaMotta's boxing nickname and Robert de Niro later played the Italian New Yorker in a 1980 movie of the same name. On the same day Lewis, once famous for his dreadlocks, revealed to his followers that he had visited a barbers in New York for a trim. Jake La Motta (left) and Marcel Cerdan exchange blows in the ninth round of their World title fight in 1949 . Robert de Niro (above) played LaMotta in the 1980 moving Raging Bull . Lewis shared a picture of him visiting a barbers in New York on the same day . +Christian Eriksen insists Tottenham Hotspur have the characters in their dressing room to put the club's reputation as perennial bottlers to bed and qualify for the Champions League. Spurs face Leicester City at White Hart Lane on Saturday, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United but with two of their top four rivals in Liverpool and United set to face each other at Anfield on Sunday. And Eriksen says he is desperate to change the perception of Tottenham as the sort of team that fail to live up to their expectations after defeat by Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final this month. Christian Eriksen is sick of Tottenham being known as bottlers and wants to help change their reputation . Spurs lost 3-0 at Old Trafford against Manchester United last weekend to dent their top-four hopes . 'We can change the reputation, I really think so,' Eriksen said. 'We have a really young team and people can still develop into something better. Hopefully, it will go in the right direction and, definitely, we have to show we can be a team to cross the line. 'It helped that we played the final, with the pressure. Everybody got in the mood and I don’t think anybody wants that feeling of losing again – exhausted and still just moaning because we could have done better. That helped everyone to take a look at what is needed at the top level and in important games.' While many are almost counting Spurs out of the race for the Champions League after a run of form that has seen them take just seven points from a possible 15 in a crucial period in the Barclays Premier League, Eriksen still believes Mauricio Pochettino's young side can find themselves at Europe's top table next season. Tottenham have already lost the Capital One Cup final to Chelsea this season earlier this month at Wembley . Eriksen, Danny Rose and Erik Lamela (L-R) look dejected, knowing they had beaten Chelsea earlier this year . 'We’ve still got nine games to go,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'You lose one game and you are supposedly out of it. You win one and you are in again. So, hopefully, we will keep winning and we will see where we are. 'Everybody who has played in the Champions League knows that the feeling is different. Right now you sit at home and you watch it on the TV, and then you speak about it the next day. It’s just about the Champions League, "did you see this? Did you see that?" It gives you such a boost to play in the Champions League.' The former Ajax playmaker wants to get back into the Champions League after experiencing it in Holland . Mauricio Pochettino's young team are rank outsiders in the race for the top four but still hold some hope . +Tal Ben Haim and Simon Church may drive to Charlton training sessions together but come Saturday they will be on opposing sides in a clash that could define their teams’ Euro 2016 qualifying hopes. Israel host Wales at Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium in a match between the top two in Group B that Ben Haim promises will be fuelled with national fervour. The former Bolton, Chelsea and Manchester City defender wears the Israel armband and may be tasked with marking Church, who has led the line for Wales during this qualifying campaign. Tal Ben Haim (left) has revealed his friendship with Simon Church (right) will be put to one side . Charlton defender Ben Haim faces the prospect of having to mark Wales superstar Gareth Bale (left) ‘We’re really good team-mates so it’s going to be a bit strange,’ said Ben Haim. ‘But in the first few minutes that will pass and we’re going to be big enemies. The atmosphere will be like you have never seen in England. ‘Our fans are really passionate. They guaranteed their places three months ago — you can’t get tickets. Everyone is talking about the game. It’s huge for us.’ Around 30,000 supporters will be waiting for Gareth Bale and Co, the vast majority cheering on Israel, who have begun their campaign with three wins from three. Wales are a point behind after two wins and two draws. Israel captain Ben Haim will have to deal with the threat posed by Belgium winger Eden Hazard on March 31 . Israel’s match against Belgium, scheduled for last September, was postponed because of the conflict in Gaza. Wales’s visit, according to Ben Haim, gives cause for positivity. ‘We have all the country behind us,’ he said. ‘We want to put smiles on people’s faces because they have been through a difficult period, and football is the best way for us, as players, to represent the country. It is the best way to help the people.’ After Bale, Ben Haim is likely to face Eden Hazard when Belgium visit three days later. ‘They are players in prime form and will be very tough opponents,’ said the 32-year-old. ‘But we need to play them as a team, not as individuals.’ Church is also keen to get the better of his club-mate. He said: ‘I’d love to score against Ben Haim, that’ll be an extra incentive!’ +James Rodriguez took further steps closer to a Real Madrid return on Wednesday as the Colombian joined his team-mates for a full training session. The 23-year-old, signed from Monaco for £63million last summer, has been out with a fractured metatarsal since February and first returned to the training pitch earlier this month. After taking part in some small-sided football tennis games on Tuesday, Rodriguez joined Wednesday's full session with the players left in Madrid for the two-week international break. James Rodriguez undertook a light training session away from the main squad as he steps up recovery . The Colombian fends off a challenge from Marco Llorente during a Real Madrid training session on Wednesday . Real Madrid observed a minute's silence in memory of those on Germanwings plane during training . Nacho Rodriguez (left), Asier Illarramendi, Derik and Sergio Aguza head out to training . Carlo Ancelotti's team held a moment of silence ahead of the training session in memory of the victims of the French Alps plane crash before Rodriguez and Co were put through their paces. Ancelotti will be hoping Rodriguez is available for Madrid's next La Liga fixture against Granada on April 5 as the Italian looks for a reaction from his team following the 2-1 defeat against Barcelona last Sunday. Madrid's El Clasico defeat at the Nou Camp, their third defeat in their last four outings in all competitions, left them four points behind leaders Barca in second place and heaped pressure onto Ancelotti's team. Reserve goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco in action during the session at Madrid's Valdebebas training ground . Carlo Ancelotti looks on as his second-string squad are put through their paces on Wednesday . Sergio Ramos, however, insists that his side must focus on the positives in order to finish the campaign strongly. 'A defeat is always negative but you can also draw some positive conclusions,' Ramos, one of Real's club captains, said in an interview with Spanish radio. 'We lost with our heads held high ... because Madrid played some good football,' added the Spain international. 'From my point of view the first half was extraordinary. We weren't able to kill off the game and they punished us at the end.' Rodriguez looked sharp as he took part in a game of football tennis (right) on Tuesday . +Arsene Wenger wants Theo Walcott to sign a new Arsenal contract — but warned the forward he is not guaranteed to start every week. Walcott’s current deal expires at the end of next season and talks have begun over a new contract. However, it is unclear whether he sees his long-term future at the club given how little he has featured. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants midfielder Theo Walcott to sign a new contract . But Wenger has warned the forward he is not guaranteed to start every week and will have to fight for place . Walcott has started just four times since returning from a knee injury in November and first-team prospects are likely to be central to talks. The 25-year-old, who earns close to £100,000 per week, is also likely to expect a pay increase. Wenger said: ‘Will his lack of playing time have an impact? Of course. I want him to stay and be a regular player but no matter where you go, if it is a big club you have to compete for your place.’ Walcott and Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal during a training session at London Colney ahead of West Ham game . Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will both miss the game against West Ham United . Captain Mikel Arteta returned to training on Friday after four months out with calf and ankle problems. The Spaniard, who is three weeks away from playing, is out of contract in the summer but is expected to sign a new 12-month deal. Wenger also confirmed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss four weeks with a hamstring injury. Jack Wilshere is nearing fitness following minor ankle surgery. Captain Mikel Arteta returned to training on Friday after four months out with calf and ankle problems . +Nicklas Bendtner has admitted he is unhappy at new club Wolfsburg. The Arsenal flop, who made over 100 appearances for the Gunners, joined the German side on a three-year deal last summer. But he has started only four Bundesliga matches and has scored just one goal – albeit in the club’s recent win over Inter Milan in the Europa League – since November. Nicklas Bendtner in action for Wolfsburg in their 1-1 draw at Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday . The Denmark international is unhappy with his lack of game time for the German side . ‘I have been training really well and done everything you’ve asked me, so am I happy with my situation? No, not at all,’ said Bendtner. ‘I’ve played a match and scored a goal, of course excellent, but the lack of playing time must change.’ Bendtner, on international duty with Denmark as they prepare for friendlies against the United States later on Wednesday, and France on Sunday, expects Wolfsburg to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Bendtner scored in Wolfsburg's win over Inter Milan - his first goal for the German side since November . Bendtner, on international duty for Denmark this week, is congratulated by his team-mates after his goal . They are second in table, 10 points shy of leaders Bayern Munich with eight games remaining. ‘With a little more time I have no doubt that I’m going to score lots of goals,’ added a typically confident Bendtner, who was speaking to Danish outlet DR Forsiden. ‘We are to be in the Champions League, and so we must achieve in the next season. ‘It is about keeping a stable level, and we have the team to. If we do not sell any, and at the same time get a few reinforcements we can make it great again and follow up on this season.’ +Joe Hart is not getting carried away with his current form and admits he could be the ‘worst goalkeeper in the world again’ by the next game. The 27-year-old put in a world class performance when Manchester City played Barcelona in the Champions League and pulled off a string of saves to keep his side in the game. Even though he was unable to prevent them being knocked out, the Barca players queued up to praise Hart afterwards. Joe Hart is refusing to get caught up in his own hype despite showing excellent form with his club of late . Manchester City goalkeeper Hart makes a save during training at St George's Park with the England squad . Hart drew praise from Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Luis Enrique despite City's European exit . Lionel Messi said: ’He was phenomenal, he stopped everything. We have to congratulate him on a great game because he's a fantastic goalkeeper.’ Andres Iniesta added: ‘Hart was key to keeping them in it and was great in one-on-one situations. He was outstanding.’ Barca head coach Luis Enrique also said: ‘The score could have been a rout but Hart was incredible.’ It is in stark contrast to the beginning of the season when Hart was dropped by City manager Manuel Pellegrini and replaced by Willy Caballero, but he has fought his way back. ‘I have always been aware that for all the good stuff, I could be the worst keeper in the world again in one game’s time,’ Hart said. ‘I don’t get too wrapped up in good stuff or bad stuff. I just focus on my game and keep working hard.’ The English keeper says that 'for all the good stuff' that he showed in Barcelona, his form could easily dip . Messi tries to find a way past Hart but despite a dominant performance Barca were restricted to a single goal . Neymar attempts to nip the ball away from Hart's clutches at the Nou Camp but again is denied . Hart will reach a half-century of caps if he plays against Lithuania and Italy in England’s next two games. To put that into context, Peter Shilton, England’s record cap holder with 125, was 31 years old by the time he reached that landmark. Hart added: ’I am honoured to play every single game I have done for England and for it to be 48 so far is fantastic but I just want to keep playing. There are plenty of other English goalkeepers who want to do the same and I am fully aware of that. I have got a lot of hard work to do to keep my place and I am willing to do that.’ Will Caballero took over the City No 1 spot from Hart briefly for a spell earlier this season at the Etihad . Peter Shilton was 31 when he won his 50th England cap, while Hart could win his against Italy next week . +World Cup winners Germany resume their qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 with a trip to Georgia on Sunday and Lukas Podolski was delighted to be back with his international team-mates at training on Monday. Striker Podolski, who is on loan at Inter Milan from Arsenal, uploaded an image to Instagram alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger and Holger Badstuber, who has returned to the international fold after recovering from a long term thigh injury. 'Happy reunion with DFB mates - even better with Holger being back!' Podolski wrote alongside the picture of the trio. Joachim Loew (centre) watches on as his players undergo a passing exercise in training on Monday . Lukas Podolski (left) poses with Holger Badstuber (centre) and Bastian Schweinsteiger of Germany . Germany have begun preparations for a friendly against Australia and a qualifier away to Georgia . Germany manager Joachim Loew (fourth right) talks to his side ahead of the start of training on Monday . Germany have struggled to take their imperious World Cup form into qualifying for France 2016. Joachim Loew's side are currently second in Group D with seven points from four games. Rivals Poland are the early pacesetters on 10 points. But before Loew's team aim for three points against Georgia, they will take on Australia in a friendly, which promises to be a challenging fixture with the Socceroos riding the crest of a wave after their Asian Cup triumph in January. Oliver Bierhoff, first team caretaker for Germany, wants his team to return to their best over the course of the two matches. 'The aim is to qualify comfortably for the Euros,' Bierhoff said. 'We want to finish top of the group. The game against Australia will allow us to regain our momentum. 'The aim is to win in Georgia, even thought it might be awkward playing against a supposedly small opposition.' Mesut Ozil (left) of Arsenal and Sami Khedira of Real Madrid pictured training for Germany on Monday . Khedira (left) and Ozil warm up ahead of Germany's preparations for Australia on Wednesday . Oliver Bierhoff (right) wants Germany to rediscover their form from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Bierhoff also praised Badstuber on his return to the international setup, who is back in the Germany squad alongside Ilkay Gundogan, who has had problems with a back injury. 'We’re very happy to have both players back,' Bierhoff said. 'It’s often the case that players come back even better after setbacks.' +Germany will wear black armbands and observe a minute's silence before their friendly clash with Australia on Wednesday night in memory of the victims of the plane crash in the French Alps. Reports indicate there were no survivors from the 144 passengers - including 16 schoolchildren and two teachers - and six crew after a Germanwings plane travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf crashed near Digne on Tuesday. Around half the victims are believed to be German and national Football Association president Wolfgang Niersbach confirmed the team would honour them against the Asian Cup champions at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslautern. Germany - pictured in training on Tuesday - will where black armbands and observe a minute's silence before their friendly match against Australia in memory of the victims of the French Alps plane crash . Half the victims on board plane travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf are believed to have been German . Niersbach said in a short statement on the governing body's website: 'It is the one clear thought which overshadows everything else. 'We owe it to the victims and their families that the football family share in their grief.' National team manager Oliver Bierhoff added: 'We are deeply saddened and stunned. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.' Real Madrid and Bayern Munich also observed a minute's silence at training on Wednesday. Real Madrid observed a minute's silence in memory of those on Germanwings plane during training . Coach Carlo Ancelotti stands with his players during the silence in Madrid on Wednesday . Bayern Munich also observed a minute's silence after the fatal crash in the French Alps . +Harlequins' former England wing Ugo Monye will retire from rugby at the end of this season. Monye's decision, announced on the official Harlequins website, will end a 13-year playing career at the Twickenham Stoop. The 31-year-old won 14 England caps between 2008 and 2012, and he also played in two Tests for the 2009 British and Irish Lions in South Africa, scoring a try during the third Test victory in Johannesburg. Harlequins wing Ugo Monye has confirmed he will retire from rugby at the end of the season . Monye won 14 England caps between 2008 and 2012 (pictured celebrating against Fiji at Twickenham) 'It is a decision that I have been thinking about for a long time, and one that I haven't taken lightly,' Monye said. 'I have had an unbelievable 13 years at Quins, and look back on my career with no regrets. 'I can honestly say that the one thing I am most proud of is that I have been a one-club man in a game that is ever-changing, and I am excited to be staying on at the club after my retirement in a different capacity.' London-born Monye has made more than 230 appearances for Quins, and the club's rugby director Conor O'Shea paid him a glowing tribute. Monye also played in two Tests for the British & Irish Lions, and scored a try against South Africa . 'In my time here, two things stick out to show his unwavering commitment and professionalism to the only club he has ever played for,' O'Shea said. 'The first was when he was offered twice the money we were offering to join a top French club, but he turned it down to be with the club he always dreamt of playing for. 'My second memory will be how he got back on the field for our Aviva Premiership title win in 2012. 'He tore his hamstring, but within four weeks - and against all medical expectation - he got himself back on the pitch and played the full 80 minutes (in the final against Leicester). 'He will be missed, but he will always be one of the true greats of this club, and also one of the great ambassadors of the game.' +Hull winger Fetuli Talanoa has signed a contract extension which will keep him at the KC Stadium until the end of the 2017 season. The 27-year-old former South Sydney threequarter joined the Airlie Birds ahead of the 2014 Super League season and had the distinction of playing every minute of the campaign, scoring 10 tries in his 27 appearances. Talanoa lost his ever-present record when illness ruled him out of the second match of the 2015 season against Warrington. Fetuli Talanoa (pictured playing for South Sydney last year) has signed a new two-year deal at Hull FC . Hull coach Lee Radford said: 'This was a very easy decision for us to make. Fetuli has been a great signing for us and has continued where he left of last year. 'He is a big part of the squad, not only on the field but off it too. I know he has really settled in the area and loves the club which is reflected in his performances. 'Hopefully he can be an integral part of a successful period at the club.' +Wigan coach Shaun Wane has revealed he will recall Ben Flower to his struggling Super League team as soon as his six-month ban is up. The Wales international prop forward is a fortnight away from completing the second longest suspension in the history of Super League, imposed last October for twice punching St Helens half-back Lance Hohaia in the opening moments of the Grand Final at Old Trafford. After missing two pre-season trials, Wigan's World Club Series clash with Brisbane Broncos and the first 10 games of the league campaign, Flower will be free to make his return in the Super League derby with Warrington at the DW Stadium on Thursday April 11. Wigan Warriors player Ben Flower was banned after attacking St Helens half-back Lance Hohaia . Flower is given his marching orders by the referee after the clash in the Super League Grand Final in October . Wigan coach Shaun Wane says Flower will return for his struggling team once his ban comes to an end . Wane has a policy of re-introducing players through partner club Workington following lengthy lay-offs, but says his hand has been forced by his team's disappointing start to the season and the shortage of front-row options. Dom Crosby and Ryan Sutton are currently injured, leaving Lee Mossop as the Warriors' only specialist prop, and Wane has been forced to use utility forwards Tony Clubb, Larne Patrick and Taulima Tautai as front-row options. 'It would have been hard to drop one of our middles if we had won every game but, as it stands now, it's not that hard,' Wane said. 'I've looked at him in training and he's ready to go. I wouldn't have thrown him in straight away had things panned out differently. It's definitely dictated the way we've approached things with him over the last couple of months.' Flower walks off the pitch after his sending off at Old Trafford last year . Flower, who missed out on the club's pre-season trip to the United States, underwent knee surgery during his enforced absence and has stepped up his training under head conditioner Mark Bitcon. 'He's fit,' Wane said. 'Mark Bitcon has done a great job with him. His knee is good so everything he had done is spot on. 'I'm confident I can put him back in. I just need to put three middles on the bench and that will cover him.' +Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach both boosted their Champions League ambitions with victories on Sunday. The Wolves look guaranteed of qualification for Europe's top competition as a 3-0 win at home to Freiburg strengthened their hold on second place, behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich. Former Chelsea playmaker Kevin de Bruyne put Wolfsburg ahead in the 19th minute, but the result was in the balance until Ricardo Rodriguez added a second from the penalty spot with 12 minutes to go. Kevin de Bruyne opened the scoring for second-placed Wolfsburg in their 3-0 win over Freiburg on Sunday . Ricardo Rodriguez added a penalty 12 minutes from time before Maximilian Arnold completed the scoring . Maximilian Arnold added a third late on to leave Wolfsburg nine points clear of third-placed Gladbach. Gladbach were 2-0 winners at home to Hannover to move two points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen. Patrick Herrmann netted both goals for Lucien Favre's men in the 43rd and 75th minutes. Patrick Herrmann netted both goals for Borussia Monchengladbach in their 2-0 win over Hannover . +A man has been shot dead by police after he was seen on tracks in a subway tunnel. Police discovered the man around 400ft away from Potomac Avenue station in Washington at 9pm last night. They were called after a station worker reported an 'unauthorized person' on the tracks. A female officer shot him multiple times ten minutes after arriving at the scene. A man has been shot by police after he was seen on tracks in a subway tunnel near Potomac Avenue station in Washington (stock image of tracks) A Metro Transit Police spokesman said they had no details about the man, what he was doing in the tunnel or what prompted police to shoot him. They added the unnamed man was pronounced dead at the scene. Nobody else was hurt in the incident. This morning crime-scene technicians were seen carrying their equipment into the station. The station was closed for the night following the shooting but has now reopened. The officer who shot the man has been made to take paid administrative leave, a routine procedure in the case of a shooting. +This is the dramatic moment an eagle swooped down and caught a startled duckling for dinner - before bending over to look its poor prey right in the eye. The bald eagle plucked the ruddy duck from the water and was carrying the bird back to a nest with its feet when it turned to take a look. The extraordinary moment was caught on camera by Phil Lanoue, who lives near Murrells Inlet in Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina. This is the dramatic moment an eagle swooped down and caught a startled duckling for dinner - before bending over to look its poor prey right in the eye . The 60-year-old said: 'I saw the eagle swoop down and hit the water. 'It sat there for a few seconds and I knew it was trying to get something secured in its talons. 'Suddenly the eagle burst up out of the water with a freshly caught duckling. I think the unfortunate victim was a ruddy duck. 'The eagle flew off towards the nest with an evening meal for its babies. The eagle suddenly swoops down and hits the calm water after spotting its prey from the air . After sitting for a few seconds the eagle emerges with a tiny duckling grasped precariously in its talons . Photographer Phil Lanoue said: 'Suddenly the eagle burst up out of the water with a freshly caught duckling. I think the unfortunate victim was a ruddy duck' 'I just couldn't believe it when the eagle looked right back at the duck and stared into its eyes as the poor little guy was being carried away.' The bald eagle is the only eagle unique to North America. They generally eat dead or drying fish, mice, snakes, rabbits and frogs. The huge bird of prey hurries toward a nest, where the little duck will be used to feed hungry chicks . Mr Lanoue said: 'I just couldn't believe it when the eagle looked right back at the duck and stared into its eyes as the poor little guy was being carried away' +Gordon Strachan insisted his Scotland players will deal with their tag as huge favourites to over-run Euro minnows Gibraltar. Christophe Berra's 85th minute header edged an uninspiring warm-up against Michael O'Neill's makeshift Northern Ireland at Hampden. The Scots have suffered repeated embarrassment on the big occasions against unfancied nations like Costa Rica and Peru through the years. Scotland manager Gordon Strachan is confident his side can handle being favourites vs Gibraltar on Sunday . Against a Gibraltar side which has shipped 21 goals in four games in their first ever UEFA qualifying campaign, however, Strachan expects last night's 1-0 win to prove valuable. 'I got what I expected from the players,' said the Scotland boss. 'Some played better than others, that happens. I have a system in mind for Sunday. We'll have a look at it now. 'It does bring a pressure when people expect us to win easily - but we go into it feeling good about ourselves. Every game you play, you go into it thinking the other team is going to score, no matter who they are. 'It is a different challenge from Germany - but it's still a challenge.' The Scots threatened to blow Michael O'Neill's inexperienced, makeshift side away in the opening half hour, with Ikechi Anya a threat. Christophe Berra (front) headed in Scotland's only goal in Wednesday's 1-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland . Berra (centre) wheels away in celebration after netting the decisive goal of the match at Hampden Park . Content just to win the game after debutant Matt Ritchie marked the occasion with a corner assist for Berra's third Scotland goal Strachan added: 'Matt got better as the game went on, got more of the ball and was more comfortable, He's tidy in everything he does. That's a big thing in international football, not to give ball away. 'He can be pleased with his debut - it was far better than mine… . 'The first half hour was good for a friendly. We had a good attitude. I was pleased with the number of chances we made and the way we made them. 'Then it kind of lulled in last 15 minutes of the first half into a friendly atmosphere. We kicked on for the first 10 minutes of the second half, then it died again, then we came good in the last 15. 'I'm delighted with the number of chances we made and the number that Northern Ireland didn't make. Strachan was full of praise for Matt Ritchie on his Scotland debut - after his assist for Berra's winning goal . 'They made it hard for us. It's different in this game if you can score early, but we kept plugging away and trying to do the right things. 'There are one or two things I'd like us to do better but I was delighted to win the game and get a clean sheet.' With Celtic's Scott Brown a second half substitute, Strachan handed the captain' s armband to Darren Fletcher, the West Brom midfielder marking the night with a man of the match award. 'I was really pleased for Darren Fletcher. It was a big decision for him to move but it's been a good decision for him and for West Brom. I've got decisions to make for Sunday now, good ones.' Scotland captain for the night Darren Fletcher (left) was handed the man of the match award at full-time . +Goal hero Christophe Berra said Scotland were rewarded for their patience with a late winner in the 1-0 victory against Northern Ireland. The Ipswich defender headed home in the 85th minute from a Matt Ritchie corner in the friendly at Hampden Park on Wednesday night. Scotland keeper Christophe Berra celebrates scoring the winner against Northern Ireland . Berra's goal finally broke the resistance of Northern Ireland and goalkeeper Michael McGovern, who had frustrated Scotland with a succession of saves. He said: 'It was a difficult game, they made it very difficult. When teams do that it's very hard to break them down. 'Sometimes games are won on set pieces and luckily enough I managed to get my head on the end of a good corner kick and it just sneaked in.' Scotland boss Gordon Strachan was happy with a win and a clean sheet as preparation for Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Gibraltar. Christophe Berra gets above his marker to head the ball into the corner for a late winner for Scotland . Bournemouth star Matt Ritchie, who made his debut in Wednesday night's game, controls the ball in midfield . He said: 'The start was good, lots of efforts on goals, McGovern played very well but after half an hour it became a friendly feel. But we kept plugging away and doing the right things. And to win the game and keep a clean sheet is good.' Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill insisted there more positives than negatives following the narrow defeat. He said: 'When you make so many substitutions, you are continually changing markers from set-pieces. Under normal circumstances, I don't think we'd have lost that goal - and it's disappointing for Michael McGovern who had a good game. 'We can take an awful lot (from the performance). We ended up with three 20-year-olds or under-20-year-olds on the pitch. The likes of Paddy McNair, Luke McCullough, Ryan McLaughlin - it's great for those lads to get minutes in this type of game.' Steven Fletcher gets a shot away but was unable to trouble goalkeeper Michael McGovern . The Sunderland striker is denied again by Michael McGovern as he goes through one on one . +Martin O'Neill has demanded that his players put aside their club woes and don’ t allow themselves be distracted as they prepare for Sunday’s vital Euro 2016 qualifier with Poland. The Republic of Ireland manager said it would be understandable for some of his squad to be lacking in confidence but stressed the importance of being fully focused when the Group D leaders arrive in Dublin. O’Neill has had to contend with a couple of injuries to personnel already this week — Darron Gibson sat out training again with a groin complaint while James McClean will go for a scan on an ankle problem — while also attempting to boost the morale of players currently feeling the heat at their clubs. The Republic of Ireland squad train ahead of Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier with Poland at home . Manager Martin O'Neill hopes his players can put aside club woes to focus on the game at hand . John O'Shea has suffered a dismal season and is involved in a relegation fight with Sunderland . James McClean (right) is an injury doubt and will have a scan on his ankle before making a decision . ‘That’s the nature of it, I wouldn’t get too concerned,’ said O’Neill. ‘Someone asked me quite rightly about whether I’d be concerned about three or four players going into the side and of course you would, it would stand to reason. It is what it is. ‘I wouldn’t be too concerned, though. The players are up, ready to go, there’s a good enthusiasm around them. ‘A month or six weeks ago you start to formulate a few plans but you know those disappear when you pick up a few injuries along the way or maybe some people have a bit of club form. ‘Some players are coming in absolutely fine form, others have had trials and tribulations at club level which is a bit of a concern but I think put that to the side, just think of us. ‘Just think of the game ahead. If you are coming in great form, then fantastic. If it’s not, then don’t worry.’ Sunderland’s John O’Shea and Aston Villa’s Ciaran Clark are in a Premier League relegation fight and even though Everton trio Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and Gibson won last week, the Toffees remain close to the drop zone. Assistant manager Roy Keane appeared in good spirits during the training session on Monday . Keane watches on as Ireland players, including keeper Shay Given (left), take part in practice . Stephen Quinn and Kevin Doyle (right) share a laugh while jogging during the session . David Forde, meanwhile, has a battle of his own with Millwall second from bottom in the Championship. O’Neill, though, says it will be business as usual as he sets about putting his plans in place to ensure Ireland bounce back from the defeat to Scotland in November and take all three points against Poland. ‘I think the most important thing for us is we do need to be a bit flexible and in so doing try to make sure the players know what they’re doing. ‘Say you want to change the formation or something, you don’t want it thrust upon them on Sunday morning. So we’ll try and do a wee bit of that in the course of the week. ‘We’re training at the Aviva [today] and that should be good. It will give us a feeling about it again.’ On the injury front, O’Neill also revealed that Gibson is ‘concerned’ by his groin problem and that Stephen Ward did not have an operation on his ankle and will have a second scan before determining his plan of action. Ireland are hoping to recover from their shock defeat by Scotland in their previous European qualifier . +Former Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini has joined the Republic of Ireland Under 21s coaching staff for Thursday's European Under 21s Championship qualifier against Andorra. The 41-year-old, who also played for AC Milan and Tottenham, will fill the vacancy left by the retired Alan O'Neill after completing his UEFA B Licence with the Football Association of Ireland. Manager Noel King said: 'Carlo Cudicini is coming in to the do the goalkeepers initially. We'll see how it goes and work together to try and win the game obviously. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini has joined the Republic of Ireland Under 21's coaching staff . 'His experience will be a great help to us. It won't be just goalkeeping - we'll include him as we do with all our staff in the preparation. We'll value his views and hopefully that'll add strength to us. 'We're thankful to Alan O'Neill, who has been with us and the Association for a great number of years and has been a great servant. 'He has to move on due to work commitments, and we'll look forward to a successful time with Carlo.' The 41-year-old (right) also had spells at AC Milan, LA Galaxy and Tottenham (pictured in April 2012) +Heather Watson scored the best win of her career on Sunday night when she defeated world No 8 Agnieskza Radwanska to make the last sixteen of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. On the day that Laura Robson was again forced to postpone her comeback, Watson defeated a top ten player for the first time by overcoming the former Wimbledon finalist 6-4, 6-4 in 93 minutes. Watson, benefiting from her groundstrokes and serve being boosted by the dry air and altitude in the Californian desert, played with the confidence derived from already having beaten two formidable opponents, Germany’s Julia Goerges and Italy’s Camila Giorgi. British No 1 Heather Watson celebrates after completing her impressive 6-4 , 6-4 victory on Sunday . Against the crafty Pole, who reached the final last year and had beaten her easily in her three previous meetings, she struck out bravely and was helped by hitting seven aces, often at crucial times. Radwanska seemed to have got back into it when she recovered to 3-2 in the second set, but Watson stopped her revival and held her nerve after breaking for 5-4 at the end . She was awaiting the winner of Carla Suarez Navarro and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Meanwhile he friend and rival Robson has handed back the wildcard she had accepted into the qualifying event for next week’s Miami Open due to continuing concerns over her troublesome left wrist. Watson played a smart match to defeat Agnieszka Radwanska and reach the Indian Wells last 16 . Radwanska reached the final last year at the BNP Paribas Open but lost to Watson on Sunday . Watson keeps her eye on a forehand during her first top 10 player win over Agniesza Radwanska . VIDEO Williams continues California return as Watson stuns Radwanska . The former British number has not played for 14 months now, having last hit a ball in anger at the 2014 Australian Open and undergone surgery on wrist tendons early last summer. She had initially hoped to play in smaller events in California leading into Indian Wells, but has now had to postpone reappearing again with caution being the watchword. Robson is not said to have suffered any major setback but wants to be sure the area is strong enough to withstand the rigours of competition. A possible new target is a WTA event in Colombia next month but she has made it clear there will be no rushing back from what is the most infernal injury for tennis players. Watson's serve was performing well during the 93-minute win for the Brit in the BNP Paribas Open . +A mother fatally shot her wheelchair-bound teenage daughter before turning the gun on herself in an alleged murder-suicide. Police were alerted to the incident after the woman's boyfriend, 35, returned home from work and found both her and her 16-year-old daughter dead around 10.30pm on Friday. A note written by the mother, 36, - named by neighbors Sarah Cieslikowski - was found by police at the house in Bonney Lake, Washington. Tragedy: Sarah Cieslikowski (left and right) allegedly shot dead her 16-year-old daughter before taking her own life on Friday . A mother fatally shot her wheelchair-bound teenage daughter before turning the gun on herself in an alleged murder-suicide at their house on this road in Bonney Lake, Washington, on Friday . Patsy Warner, a neighbour, said that she often heard the two arguing in the garden when the school bus arrived but could not believe what had happened. 'I can't comprehend it. I just can't,' she told King 5 News. 'Even though she was a handful, I'm sure, I can't comprehend that.' Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman, said that although the police investigation was ongoing a murder-suicide was likely. He said: 'There's nothing to tell us any different at this point.' The mother and daughter's names have not been released officially - but counsellors will be available for students and staff at the nearby Bonney Lake High School. The mother and daughter's names have not been released - but counsellors will be available for students and staff at the nearby Bonney Lake High School (entrance pictured above) For confidential support on suicide matters call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or see www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org for details. +Tim Sherwood has told Scott Sinclair and Tom Cleverley they are playing for their futures in Aston Villa’s fight against relegation. The on-loan duo have contributed significantly to back-to-back wins against West Bromwich Albion and Sherwood wants more of the same at Sunderland on Saturday. The Villa boss said: ‘They are fighting for their futures, whether at this club or with someone else.’ Tim Sherwood says Scott Sinclair and Tom Cleverley are playing for their future at Aston Villa . Sinclair celebrates his goal during the FA Cup match against West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park . Sinclair celebrates his goal during the FA Cup match against  West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park . Sinclair joined on a temporary deal from Manchester City in January with a view to a permanent summer transfer, while Cleverley arrived from rivals United last September. He is out of contract at the end of this campaign. Sherwood said: ‘Tom Cleverley is a great example. I think he has come in for a little bit of criticism but he is getting appreciated now.’ Sherwood believes Cleverley is rightfully starting to receive some appreciation at Villa Park now . Cleverley vies with West Bromwich Albion's Argentinian midfielder Claudio Yacob at Villa Park . Sinclair has scored three in four games and has shown glimpses of the player he was before joining City from Swansea in August 2012. ‘He is eager to stay in the summer,’ said Sherwood. ‘It is something that can be discussed once we are safe — in a couple of weeks!’ Cleverley flies into a tackle as Aston Villa take on rivals West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup . +Two strangers committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in separate incidents that were just seconds apart. One victim leapt off the upper level just 75 yards from the other on the lower level, police said. He was spotted in a Toyota Sienna minivan on the bridge around 4.20pm yesterday. The other used a bicycle to get to the centre. Both men left suicide notes. Two men committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in separate incidents that were just seconds apart . It is believed the man with the minivan had been prevented from doing the same thing just two weeks ago by a quick-thinking police officer. Jesse Turana had to grab on to the 37-year-old's clothes to stop him falling on February 17. He said at the time: 'I wasn't going to let him go - I wasn't going to let him die while I was out there.' A Port Authority spokesman said the two incidents yesterday were unrelated. 'They were both literally within seconds of each other,' he told the New York Post. Both bodies have now been recovered from the Hudson River. Sources said one of the men is believed to have tried to jump to his death two weeks ago – but was saved by a quick-thinking cop . For confidential support on suicide matters call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or see www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org for details . +A food company has been forced to call its meatballs simply 'balls' - because they don't contain enough 'proper' meat. Finnish food giant Kesko changed the name on its website after authorities insisted its meatballs did not meet regulations because they are made from mechanically separated meat (MSM). MSM is taken from the bone after the desired meat cuts are removed. It can be referred to as 'white slime'. Finnish food company Kesko has been forced to call its meatballs (above) simply 'balls' - because they don't contain enough 'proper' meat . A spokesman for Kesko said: 'The balls have the equivalent of 52 per cent meat. 'However, according to current legislation, they aren't from parts of the animal that can be described as meat.' The company added that it was not misleading customers because the type of meat it uses is 'well-suited' to ground meat products, YLE reported. The other 48 per cent of Kesko's 'balls' are made from wheat flour, potato flour and soya protein, as well as rapeseed oil, salt and other additives. A spokesman for Kesko said the meat it uses is mechanically separated from the bone after the desired meat cuts are removed. Scrap pork is also used. Above, a stock photo of cooked meatballs . Matti Kalervo, vice-president of corporate relations for Kesko, told The Times the company sells meatballs with more meat in, but they are more expensive. He said: 'This is a price-factor product. It was meant to be a very reasonable price.' The use of MSM was banned in the UK in 2012. It was used widely in beef burgers and ready meals. At the time the British Meat Processors Association described it as a 'criminal waste of a valuable product'. +A 14-year-old student has died after a gang fight broke out because two girls had fallen out. The teenager - known only as Li - was stabbed three times after becoming involved in the brawl between 18 students in Hai Nan, China. It started after two women, who had previously fallen out after a physical altercation before Chinese New Year, saw each other around 2am on March 1, People's Daily reported. A 14-year-old student has died after a gang fight broke out in Hai Nan, China, because two girls had fallen out . The teenager - known only as Li - was stabbed three times after becoming involved in the brawl . Miss Xing saw Miss Wen grabbing a late-night snack and the pair started bickering. Miss Wen's boyfriend then followed Miss Xing back to her rented apartment and a fight started. As well as a deep stab wound to the chest Li also had two cuts on his arms, police said. The main suspect is a man named Zhang, who is thought to have deliberately targeted Li with a dagger. The fight started after two women, who had previously fallen out after a physical altercation on Chinese New Year, saw each other around 2am on March 1 . Their friends rushed to the scene and immediately attacked each other in the brawl, which lasted less than a minute . Security staff arrived at the scene less than a minute after the fight started, but most of the teenagers managed to get away. Police are now questioning 24 suspects - 12 men and 12 women - over the death. So far nine suspects have been detained. Eighteen of the suspects are aged under 18. The oldest is 21 years old. The case continues. The narrow street, which was lined with mopeds, was filled with people screaming and shouting . Security staff arrived at the scene less than a minute after the fight started, but most of the teenagers managed to get away . +A NCAA basketball star held court on Wednesday - but not for his ball handling skills. Nigel Hayes, 20, a sophomore forward for the Wisconsin Badgers, confidentially sat down to attend a televised press conference at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with two fellow players. But failing to realize the microphone was still running, the 6ft 7in sportsman loudly whispered to his teammate 'God she's beautiful' after spotting 43-year-old Debra Bollman - a stenographer for ASAP Sports - in the crowd. The woman's daughter found some humor in the situation, writing on Twitter; 'I've been working to get out there for years and my mom gets called beautiful by a basketball player and Extra is calling... like what?' Sports star: Nigel Hayes, a sophomore forward for the Wisconsin Badgers, confidentially sat down to attend a press conference at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with two fellow players . Caught on camera: But failing to realize the mic was running, the sportsman whispered to his teammate 'God she's beautiful' after spotting 43-year-old Debra Bollman (left)- a stenographer for ASAP Sports . Did you hear that? As the audience started to snigger, Hayes quickly realized he'd been heard . 'I've been working to get out there for years and my mom gets called beautiful by a basketball player' joked the woman's daughter Sophia (above) As the audience started to snigger, Hayes quickly realized he'd been heard. 'Did you hear that?' he quipped to the crowd before cradling his head in his hands. 'Alright we'll open it up to questions!' the announcer then said through laughter, in a bid to move things on. Bollman, who is from Riverside, California, has apparently been approached by media outlets after being singled out by Hayes. Sophia (above) also noted that the television show Extra had been calling to interview her mother . Red-faced: Hayes cradled his head in his hands in embarrassment . Joker: Hayes, who grew up in Toledo, Ohio, has caused quite a raucous on the microphone recently, testing stenographers with trick words such as 'cattywampus', 'antidisestablishmentarianism' and 'soliloquy' When she's not writing up sports news, Bollman works as a real estate agent. It appears the blunder has also expanded Hayes' fanbase. Many commenters have deemed his slip-up 'cute' and 'endearing'. Hayes, who grew up in Toledo, Ohio, has caused quite a raucous on the microphone recently, testing stenographers with trick words such as 'cattywampus', 'antidisestablishmentarianism' and 'soliloquy'. On Wednesday before his error, he served up the word 'syzygy' for good measure. Meanwhile, Hayes and the rest of the Badgers went head-to-head with the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday night and were victorious. They are now moving on to the Elite Eight. Career success: Hayes and the rest of the Badgers will go head-to-head with the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday night . +Sunderland winger Adam Johnson was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl after she reportedly boasted about the affair and her father found out. Johnson, 27, was arrested at his home in County Durham on Monday after police received a complaint from the girl's father but has since been released on bail. It is understood the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, bragged about the alleged encounter to friends and on social media, the Daily Telegraph reports. Adam Johnson (pictured left and right with girlfriend Stacey Flounders) was arrested on suspicion of having underage sex with a girl, 15, after she reportedly boasted about the alleged encounter on social media . Johnson, who was signed for £10million in 2012, was then arrested and questioned for several hours. He has since been released on bail and suspended by Sunderland, pending the outcome of the police investigation. The Premier League footballer's arrest has come just weeks after his long-term girlfriend Stacey Flounders, 25, gave birth to the couple's first child Ayla Sofia. It was unclear if Miss Flounders and her daughter, who was born on January 8, were at home at the time of the player's arrest. But Miss Flounders's mother has defended the former Middlesbrough and Manchester City player, insisting he is '100 per cent innocent'. Talking about the couple's relationship, she told the Daily Mirror: 'They are still very close and are absolutely still together. He is 100 per cent innocent and we will stand by him. 'He hasn't been found guilty of anything. He is a great lad and has not done anything wrong. This is a horrible situation.' The 27-year-old millionaire was arrested at his six-bedroom mansion in County Durham (above) after the alleged victim's father reportedly complained to police, it has emerged . The £50,000-a-week player had been due to travel with the rest of the Sunderland squad to East Yorkshire for Tuesday's league game against Hull City before being suspended. A statement from Sunderland said: 'Sunderland AFC has confirmed that Adam Johnson has been suspended from the club, pending the outcome of a police investigation. No further comment will be made at the present time.' The FA refused to comment on Johnson's arrest. Johnson, who has represented his country 12 times, gained a reputation as a keen party-goer when he played for Manchester City five years ago. Johnson, who was signed for £10million in 2012, was arrested on Monday morning and questioned for several hours. He has since been suspended by Sunderland . The FA refused to comment on the arrest of the winger. Pictured: Johnson scored a late winner against Newcastle United at St James' Park last December . At the time, he was renting Cristiano Ronaldo's former house near Alderley Edge and would often be seen in the village socialising with fellow players and women. But three years ago, after returning to his native North East, Johnson began dating Miss Flounders. Friends say Johnson opted to live near a quiet hamlet to get away from the 'bright lights' of city life. On Monday, three unmarked police cars, a police van, several plain-clothed officers and a forensics team were seen at his house as he was questioned at a Durham police station. Johnson has been released on bail and will return to Peterlee police station (pictured) at a later date . It is unclear where the alleged assault is said to have taken place and police would not release any further details. Johnson was born in Sunderland and raised in Easington, County Durham, before joining Middlesbrough's youth academy as a 12-year-old. After making his Premier League debut for Middlesbrough in 2005 he was sold in February 2010 to Manchester City. He was signed by Sunderland three years ago. He failed to make the squad for the World Cup in Brazil last year, . In a statement, a Durham Police spokesman said: 'A 27-year-old man was arrested earlier today on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16. He has been released on police bail pending on-going investigations. 'A blank firing pistol, which replicates the sound of real gunshots but does not require a licence to own, was also recovered during a search of the property.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Millionaire England footballer Adam Johnson was arrested on suspicion of having underage sex with a 15-year-old girl after she reportedly boasted about their relationship and her father found out, it has emerged. The Sunderland winger was detained at his six-bedroom £1.85m home in County Durham on Monday morning after the schoolgirl's father reportedly complained to police about the alleged liaison. It is understood the girl bragged about having a 'relationship' with the player, both to friends and on social media, the Daily Telegraph's Martin Evans reports. Adam Johnson (pictured left and right with girlfriend Stacey Flounders) was arrested on suspicion of having underage sex with a girl, 15, after she reportedly boasted about the alleged liaison on social media . The Premier League footballer also reportedly posed for photos with the girl on a number of occasions. The news emerged as the schoolgirl at the centre of the claims - who has the right to lifelong anonymity - was named online. The publication of her name prompted Durham Police to issue a reminder that anyone who names the girl will face prosecution. It comes after the young woman who was raped by footballer Ched Evans was widely named online, forcing her to change her name and move addresses. After the rumours was reported to police, Johnson was arrested at his mansion and questioned for several hours. The player, who was signed for £10million in 2012, has since been released on bail. He has also been suspended by Sunderland AFC, pending the outcome of the police investigation. The Premier League footballer's arrest has come just weeks after his long-term girlfriend Stacey Flounders, 25, gave birth to the couple's first child Ayla Sofia. It was unclear if Miss Flounders and her daughter, who was born on January 8, were at home at the time of the player's arrest. The 27-year-old millionaire was arrested at his six-bedroom mansion in County Durham (above) after the alleged victim's father reportedly complained to police, it has emerged . But Miss Flounders's mother today defended the former Middlesbrough and Manchester City player, insisting he is '100 per cent innocent'. Talking about the couple's relationship, she told the Daily Mirror: 'They are still very close and are absolutely still together. He is 100 per cent innocent and we will stand by him. 'He hasn't been found guilty of anything. He is a great lad and has not done anything wrong. This is a horrible situation.' The £50,000-a-week player had been due to travel with the rest of the Sunderland squad to East Yorkshire for tonight's league game against Hull City before being suspended. A statement from Sunderland said: 'Sunderland AFC has confirmed that Adam Johnson has been suspended from the club, pending the outcome of a police investigation. No further comment will be made at the present time.' Johnson, who was signed for £10million in 2012, was arrested on Monday morning and questioned for several hours. He has since been suspended by Sunderland AFC . The FA refused to comment on the arrest of the winger. Pictured: Johnson scored a late winner against Newcastle United at St James' Park last December . The FA refused to comment on Johnson's arrest. Johnson, who has represented his country 12 times, gained a reputation as a keen party-goer when he played for Manchester City five years ago. At the time, he was renting Cristiano Ronaldo's former house near Alderley Edge and would often be seen in the village socialising with fellow players and women. But three years ago, after returning to his native North East, Johnson began dating Miss Flounders. Friends say Johnson opted to live near a quiet hamlet to get away from the 'bright lights' of city life. Yesterday, three unmarked police cars, a police van, several plain-clothed officers and a forensics team were seen at his house as he was questioned at a Durham police station. It is unclear where the alleged assault is said to have taken place and police would not release any further details. He has been bailed until March 18. Johnson has been released on bail and will return to Peterlee police station (pictured) at a later date . Johnson was born in Sunderland and raised in Easington, County Durham, before joining Middlesbrough's youth academy as a 12-year-old. After making his Premier League debut for Middlesbrough in 2005 he was sold in February 2010 to Manchester City. He was signed by Sunderland three years ago. He failed to make the squad for the World Cup in Brazil last year, . In a statement last night, a Durham Police spokesman said: 'A 27-year-old man was arrested earlier today on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16. He has been released on police bail pending on-going investigations. 'A blank firing pistol, which replicates the sound of real gunshots but does not require a licence to own, was also recovered during a search of the property.' The spokesman also reminded the public that identifying someone who may or may not be a victim of a sexual offence is against the law. 'Victims of sexual assault are guaranteed the legal right to lifetime anonymity and publishing any details, including on social media, which may lead to their identification, is contrary to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992,' they said. 'Durham Constabulary wishes to remind social media users, and anyone else, who breaks the law that they will be dealt with robustly.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Prosecutors are considering taking action over footage which shows a hunt follower's horse 'mowing down a anti-hunt protestor', in an incident which left the alleged victim with seven broken ribs. Nid Warren was trampled by the galloping horse while she attended the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale meet in Somerset last August. The 43-year-old suffered a collapsed lung and shattered ribs and was left unconscious on the ground following the dramatic incident. Scroll down for video . Prosecutors are considering taking action over footage which shows a hunt follower's horse 'mowing down a anti-hunt protestor' (pictured) , in an incident which left the alleged victim with seven broken ribs . Nid Warren was trampled by the galloping horse while she attended the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale meet in Somerset last August . The 43-year-old suffered a collapsed lung and seven broken ribs (pictured) and was also left unconscious on the ground following the dramatic incident . But five months after the event, Avon and Somerset police said no charges would be brought against Mark Doggrell, who had been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. The CPS said there was 'insufficient evidence that the incident could have been foreseen'. Mr Doggrell had initially rode away from the scene but later voluntarily handed himself in at a police station. But the organisation is now reviewing the footage, after 12,000 people signed a petition urging the organisation to reconsider charging the rider. The review is taking place under the Victims' Right to Review Scheme, a process brought into force in 2013. It allows victims to appeal against a decision not to bring charges or to discontinue a case once a prosecution has begun. The CPS said: 'We are in communication with the alleged victim and will be in contact with her when we have made a decision.' The hunt insists the rider is innocent. The injured woman, who has asked to use a pseudonym because she fears being targeted by pro-hunting groups, said she was left 'devastated' by the CPS's original decision. She said: 'I'm a victim of crime and feel absolutely abandoned by a system that's supposed to protect me. 'As I lay in hospital the only thing on my mind was "have they got this on video?" because I wanted to ensure it was looked at properly. I thought it was irrefutable evidence, the fact it was caught on video.' The organisation is now reviewing the footage (above), after 12,000 people signed a petition urging the organisation to reconsider charging the rider . The woman is seen being trampled as she stands with two fellow protestors at the meet in August . Ms Warren, who works full-time as an NHS health worker, had been at the meet at Charlton Horethorne near Wincanton, close to the Dorset-Somerset border, with colleagues from the Dorset Hunt Saboteur group when the incident occurred. She said she started 'sabbing' – a term used to describe hunt saboteurs protesting at fox hunts – in the aftermath of the badger cull. Saboteurs attended the planned hunt in a bid to raise awareness of animal cruelty and used two main tactics to throw the hunt off course. She said: 'We sounded a horn, hollered, and some hounds looked up and started to come our way. The CPS said no charges were brought because there was 'insufficient evidence that the incident could have been foreseen' The man did not stop after the collision but later handed himself in to police, who charged him with GBH . 'I think he [the hunt member] got angry at this. He came along a public road behind us at speed, he didn't issue a warning, he was completely silent, then he hit me and rode off. 'As I was lay there, struggling to breathe, I could hear the horns going and I was worried that if the horses came back that I would be trampled to death. I was left lying there with potential life-threatening injuries.' Ms Warren, from Hampshire, was taken to Yeovil District Hospital where she stayed for two weeks. She added: 'He rode his horse at us at full speed and rode off. I had my back to him and he hit me and the horse's chest contacted with my rib cage, breaking seven ribs, injuring my shoulder and I was unconscious. 'When ribs are broken you can't splint them - they have to move. They have healed in a grossly displaced position.' The master of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, Rupert Nuttall, said: 'We apologise that an awful accident happened but the due process of the law has been gone through. 'Mark is innocent, as found by the Crown Prosecution Service.' A fox hunter who took a tumble from his horse was given first aid by a hunt saboteur. The anti-hunt campaigner put his differences to one side to come to the aid of the injured huntsmember, who lost consciousness after a nasty fall from his horse. Ian Hamson, a hunt master of the Old Surrey, Burstow and west Kent Fox Hunt, is believed to have been injured after his horse fell and rolled on top of him during a meet on Saturday near Cowden, Kent. A fox hunter who took a tumble from his horse was given first aid by a hunt saboteur at a meet in Kent . A member of Croydon Hunt saboteurs, also a trained paramedic, stepped in and helped the injured man until other paramedics arrived. Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, said: 'Well done to the sab who put his differences aside to act so compassionately, even in the face of hostility from the injured huntsmember. 'His actions prove once again that saboteurs are compassionate not only towards animals but humans as well. 'This is another nail in the coffin of the Countryside Alliance's campaign to portray us in a negative light and it would be interesting to see what would have happened if the roles had been reversed.' A spokesman for Kent Police said: 'Officers attended Cowden Pound to ensure public safety on Saturday morning after receiving a report of a hunt demonstration. The anti-hunt campaigner put his differences to one side to come to the aid of the injured huntsmember, who lost consciousness after a nasty fall from his horse in Cowden . 'However, no offences were reported so no further action was necessary. 'While in attendance, a man required medical attention after falling from a horse and was treated at the scene by a first-aider.' Charlotte Cooper, spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: 'Just as hunting attracts a wide variety of people it is only common sense that not every person who sabs hunts is the same. The relationship between hunts and sabs varies from hunt to hunt and is not always acrimonious. I have heard stories of unsuitable attired antis being helped across muddy fields by gallant hunt supporters and broken down sab vehicles being towed out by helpful farmers. 'However just because those opposed to hunting can boast that on this occasion one of their number showed human compassion it does not diminish the appalling behaviour of others, for example the cowardly gang of masked thugs who beat Tedworth huntsmember Brian Lane with metal bars in January. 'The number of people involved in saboteur activities is far fewer than in the past, however we are concerned that those extremists who remain are increasingly resorting to violence.' +Manchester United centre forward Radamel Falcao is resigned to his stay at Old Trafford being short-lived. Sources close to the Colombian striker now convinced the 29-year-old simply joined the wrong club last summer. Speculation about Falcao’s future has been rife as the South American has struggled during a loan spell from Monaco to recapture the form that made him a world superstar. Radamel Falcao (centre) in action for the Manchester United Under 21 team on Tuesday . Striker Falcao (second right) has often been left on the substitute's bench at United . Falcao celebrates scoring against Leicester, one of only four he has scored for United since joining . But in the wake of being relegated to United’s Under 21 team on Tuesday night, it is understood Falcao realises that his dream of a long-term deal at United is over. Falcao has scored only four times since he joined the club out of the blue on the final day of last summer’s transfer window. He was taken off during the home win against Sunderland last month and has not played first-team football since. Falcao (right) shakes the hand of United manager Louis van Gaal after being substituted . Falcao's last appearance for United came in the 2-0 home victory over Sunderland in the Premier League . Falcao (left) was said be shocked that he was asked to play for the United reserves on Tuesday . Sources close to him last night revealed his ‘total shock’ at being told to report for reserve-team duty on Tuesday night, just 24 hours after being left on the bench as United failed to rescue their FA Cup tie against Arsenal at Old Trafford. Falcao and his allies believe now that United manager Louis van Gaal never had a particular fancy for him and only agreed to take him on deadline day because other targets had proved too hard to get. +The first video of Mohammed Emwazi - identified last week as ISIS executioner Jihadi John - has emerged . The first footage of ISIS executioner Jihadi John as a shy teenage schoolboy has emerged. The video shows Mohammed Emwazi, identified last week as the Islamist fanatic filmed beheading hostages in Syria, being chosen by a classmate to join in with a game of lunchtime football. The previously-unseen footage was filmed 11 years ago at Qunitin Kynaston Academy, the secondary school in St John's Wood, north London, where Emwazi was educated. The friendly kickabout is the first moving image to have been obtained of Emwazi before he became the ISIS's depraved executioner-in-chief. In the film, obtained by Channel 4 News, the 'football mad' teenager, thought to be around 15 at the time, is the second person to be chosen for the team. One of his fellow pupils can be clearly heard shouting 'Emwazi', beckoning over the future jihadi. But he also appears to be painfully shy, instantly raising his arm to cover his face when he knew the camera was focusing on him. Channel 4 News said Emwazi had been identified in the video by two different people that he knew at the time. The footage, filmed in May 2004, was broadcast this evening, after it emerged that the executioner had dumped two schoolboys on the M1 motorway at gunpoint in revenge for an attack on his brother. According to a former friend of his brother Omar, Emwazi and two bearded associates abducted two gang members in 2008, while he was living on the notorious Mozart estate in west London. After viewing the footage, Diane Foley, the mother of American journalist James Foley, told Jon Snow it was 'frightening' that a 'promising young person who had many gifts' could use his talents for 'such evil'. She said: 'It's very frightening he would end up filled with such hate. That's very disturbing to me that young people would be attracted to such hate?' She added that the fact Jihadi John had been identified did not help to bring her closure. She said: 'If it had not been that young man, then I'm afraid it would have been someone else. I think it's tragic for that young man and his family - it's just so sad and we must do more to protect our young people from the lies that have instilled so much hate and brutality.' Since being identified, Emwazi has emerged as a fun-loving young boy, who adored The Simpsons, Playstation games and eating chips. He was also said to have wanted to become a Premier League star, scoring goals for Manchester United by the age of 30. Scroll down for video . The video shows Emwazi, aged around 15, being chosen by a captain to join the team for a game of football . The footage, which is the first time any moving image has been obtained of Emwazi, was shot in the playground of Qunitin Kynaston Academy, the secondary school in Queen's Park . In a handwritten entry in his primary school yearbook, the Kuwaiti-born British citizen, who moved to the UK aged six, wrote: 'What I want to be when I grow up is a footballer'. The entries showed no sign he would go on to become the world's most wanted man, who is believed to have beheaded a string of hostages in the name of Islam. But, a decade later, Emwazi had shunned British life and was a 'known wolf' to MI5, having already taken the path towards becoming ISIS' most notorious murderer. In a chilling twist, in a school yearbook from when he was 10, Emwazi lists his favourite computer game as shooting game 'Duke Nukem: Time To Kill' and his favourite book as 'How To Kill A Monster' from the popular children's Goosebumps series. He also lists his favourite band as pop group S Club 7, and when asked what he wants to be when he is 30, writes: 'I will be in a football team and scoring a goal.' Emwazi also listed his favourite colour as blue, his favourite animal as a monkey, his favourite cartoon as The Simpsons and chips as his favourite food. Earlier this week, it emerged Emwazi was bullied as a schoolboy at the school in which the film was made. Emwazi, pictured as a schoolboy, was said to have wanted to become a Premier League star, scoring goals for Manchester United by the age of 30 . The terrorist has been on the radar of MI5 since May 2009, when it is thought he tried to reach Somalia to join Islamist terror group al-Shabaab . Former headteacher Jo Shuter told Radio 4's Today programme: 'He had adolescent issues. Particularly at that age, for the boys, it is a time when the hormones start raging, and he had some issues with being bullied which we dealt with. 'By the time he got into the sixth-form he was, to all intents and purposes, a hard-working aspirational young man who went on to the university that he wanted to go to.' After arriving in Britain when he was six years old, the extremist appeared to embrace British life, playing football in the affluent streets of West London while supporting Manchester United. He had moved to Britain in 1993, settling in the north-west London suburbs of Maida Vale and Queens Park. Neighbours recalled a polite, quietly spoken boy who was studious at his Church of England school, where he was the only Muslim pupil in his class. He went to mosque with his family, who spoke Arabic to each other, but wore Western clothing and became popular with his British classmates at St Mary Magdalene Church of England primary school in Maida Vale, West London. The footage was filmed at Quintin Kynaston Academy School in St John's Wood, north London, where Emwazi attended secondary school and was said to have been bullied . He was also described as 'calm and decent' and 'the best employee we ever had' by an IT firm for whom he worked in Kuwait. But, at some point during his lifetime, Emwazi was radicalised and was soon on the radar of MI5. It emerged today that the Home Office could face fresh questions over border controls after it is thought that Emwazi used a well-worn route to leave the UK. The 26-year-old a university graduate from Queen's Park, London, was able to flee to Syria despite being on an MI5 watchlist and being monitored by Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command. He had been watched by the services since May 2009, when it is thought he tried to reach Somalia to join Islamist terror group al-Shabaab. Emwazi flew to Tanzania with friends apparently on a safari - but was arrested by police upon landing in Dar es Salaam and sent back to Britain. En route he stopped in Amsterdam, where he claimed to have been accused by an MI5 officer of trying to reach Somalia, home of the militant group Al Shabaab. Emwazi claimed to have been harassed and intimidated by security services - and even complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. He alleged an agent from MI5 knew 'everything about me; where I lived, what I did, and the people I hanged around with' and claimed the organisation attempted to 'turn' him to work for them. By Arthur Martin for The Daily Mail . The family, who have milked the benefits system for 20 years, went into hiding when their son was identified as Mohammed Emwazi . Jihadi John’s family are being guarded by armed police at a secret location in a security operation costing taxpayers more than £5,000 a day. Officers from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command provide round-the-clock protection for the Islamic State killer’s mother, brother and three of his sisters. The family, who have milked the benefits system for 20 years, went into hiding when their son was identified as Mohammed Emwazi. They initially left their £600,000 London flat, where their rent was paid by Westminster Council, and moved into a property nearby. But when Emwazi’s brother, Omar, 21, was spotted by a television crew the family were moved to a hotel where they are living under assumed names. They have been receiving an estimated £40,000 a year in benefits since they sought asylum in Britain in 1993. The family fled Kuwait after the first Gulf War, claiming persecution as they were seen to favour the Iraqi invasion in 1990. But after they were made British citizens Emwazi’s father Jasem, 51, returned to Kuwait – the country he claimed he fled fearing for his life. His daughter Asma, 25, is also there. Meanwhile Emwazi’s mother Ghaneya, brother and three of his sisters continue to drain the public purse of thousands more in protection costs. None are suspected of wrongdoing but police are thought to be questioning them about their contact with Emwazi since he moved to Syria. Tory MP Philip Davies said the public will be angry that the family are receiving such expensive protection, but added that the police are in an ‘impossible position’. They initially left their £600,000 London flat (pictured) where their rent was paid by Westminster Council, and moved into a property nearby . Scotland Yard refused to comment on the family’s whereabouts or security arrangements. Friends of the family said Emwazi’s father moved close relatives into a safe house in Kuwait after his son’s identity was revealed. Last night a former friend of the terrorist said he once kidnapped two boys at gunpoint in retaliation for a gang attack on his brother. Emwazi forced the teenagers into a car and ordered them to strip to their underwear before dumping them on the M1 motorway. The kidnapping was said to be retribution for a vicious attack the previous day when Emwazi and his younger brother Omar were attacked with bricks. Then, when Emwazi’s brother, Omar, 21 (pictured) was spotted by a television crew the family were moved to a hotel where they are living under assumed names . It occurred in 2008 when Emwazi was studying at the University of Westminster – a year before he was quizzed by the security services on suspicion of trying to reach militant training camps in Somalia. The friend, who was 14 at the time, said the attack was sparked by gang rivalries involving two West London estates. ‘There was a big fight,’ he said. ‘[Gang members] threw a brick at my head and broke my arm. Omar was punched in the face a few times and beaten up. ‘The next day Mohammed turned up with two religious guys with beards. They drove round in a car and found these two guys who attacked us, threatened them with a gun, made them take all their clothes off and drove off. They dumped them on the M1.’ +A Watford football fan is fighting for his life after suffering serious injuries in an attack in the street as he made his way home from yesterday's match against Wolves. The supporter, named locally as 44-year-old Nick Cruwys, was on his way to Wolverhampton train station from the Molineux stadium when he was assaulted by a gang. The man was walking to the station with a group of friends when they were 'completely outnumbered', police said. A Watford football fan is fighting for his life after suffering serious injuries in an attack in the street as he made his way home from yesterday's match against Wolves (stadium pictured) Both Watford and Wolves football clubs, who drew yesterday afternoon's Championship clash 2-2, expressed their shock at the attack. A statement on Watford's website said: 'The thoughts of everyone associated with Watford FC are with a Hornets' supporter - at yesterday's game - who is now critically ill after an unprovoked post-match attack.' Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of this incident and our thoughts go out to the supporter concerned and his family. 'As a club we deplore any violence in or around football matches and we will work closely with the relevant authorities to help bring the perpetrator, or perpetrators, to justice. 'All right-minded football supporters will share in our disgust at this violent incident and I would implore anyone with any information to contact the police.' The 'unprovoked attack' came after Wolves (in orange) and Watford (in black) drew 2-2 at the Molineux . A West Midlands Police spokesman said: 'Detectives have launched an investigation after a Hertfordshire man received life-threatening injuries in an unprovoked assault in Wolverhampton yesterday. 'The 44-year-old was with a group of friends making their way to the train station to return home to Hemel Hempstead just after 5pm when they were attacked in Little's Lane.' Detective Sergeant Adam Keen added: 'The group of friends were completely outnumbered and the victim suffered a severe head injury which has left him in a critical condition in hospital. 'His family have been informed and we are in the process of taking statements from witnesses and locating any CCTV which might have captured those responsible for the attack. 'I would urge anyone with information which will help our investigation to contact me as soon as possible on 101.' Police also urged anyone wishing to offer information anonymously to call the Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555 111. +This video shows the horrifying moment a Chinese girl is hit by a firecracker explosion, sending her tumbling down a sewer to her death. The girl and two boys can be seen walking down the street before one of the children - believed to her brother - drops the small explosive down a manhole. As they step back, a huge blast sends the manhole cover flying into the young girl, Zhaotong Yiliang Chia, as the explosion knocks her back and down a second drain. Horrifying: A Chinese girl died after a firecracker explosion sent her tumbling down into a sewer . The girl and two boys can be seen walking down the street before one of the children - believed to her brother - drops the small explosive down a manhole . The distressing video shows Zhaotong being hurled backwards before falling down the drain behind her, which was uncovered by the firecracker explosion. Shockingly the two boys then appear to walk away, possibly unaware that she has fallen into the sewer in the south western Chinese province of Yunnan. Two other men in the background also run away after the explosion but may not have seen the girl fall down the manhole. Firefighters were called to the scene as dozens gathered around the drain, including Zhaotong's father, following the tragic accident last month. The girl, Zhaotong Yiliang Chia, is sent flying backwards as the explosion knocks her back and down a second drain . The girl was fatally injured and died in hospital shortly after she was hauled from the manhole by firefighters . The girl's father was among the crowds as she was pulled from the sewer and rushed to hospital . He can be seen watching as she is eventually hauled from the drain and placed on the ground. He rushes round to hold his daughter's hand but it is clear that she has been fatally injured. She was rushed to hospital but later died. +This shocking video shows the moment a pregnant teenager had boiling water thrown over her by her neighbour in a dispute over a garden fence. Cynthia Almonte Lira, 19, from Formosa, northern Argentina, was arguing with 63-year-old pensioner Celma Prado Bustos after she built a new fence between their homes. The neighbours can be seen shouting at each other before Ms Bustos, seen standing in her doorway, throws boiling water at the pregnant woman. Distressing: The shocking video shows an elderly woman throwing hot water over a pregnant teenager . Screaming in agony, the woman, who is six-months pregnant, tries to run away but falls over clutching her stomach. The 19-year-old tears off her soaked shirt as she gets to her feet and dashes to safety, but can still be heard howling in pain. Seconds later, Ms Lira comes back into shot, the skin on the left side of her bump clearly red and starting to blister. She was later taken to hospital by ambulance where she was treated for burns and shock. The mother-to-be has since been released and her baby was believed to be unharmed by the attack. Cynthia Almonte Lira, 19, screams in agony and tears off her shirt after the water was thrown over her by Celma Prado Bustos, 63, during an argument over a garden fence . Ms Lira, who is six months pregnant, suffered burns in the attack and was treated in hospital . The footage, which was taken by another neighbour, is being analysed by Argentinian police. Ms Bustos told officers: 'It is my property, and I felt under threat, so I had to defend myself. 'I live here on my own and I'm elderly, so I have to make sure I let people know I'm not a pushover.' She also claims she was legally entitled to put up the fence around her home. +Lance Bombardier Aydn Walster, 22, impersonated a police officer by pulling motorists over using flashing lights he bought on eBay . A soldier impersonated a police officer by using flashing lights he bought on eBay to pull motorists over and tell them their driving 'was not up to standard'. Lance Bombardier Aydn Walster, 22, pulled over unsuspecting drivers he thought were driving poorly before taking down their personal details in a notebook. The soldier even asked drivers to get back into the back of his Saab 9-3 saloon car to give them a telling off. Walster appeared at Lincoln Magistrates' Court yesterday where his defence solicitor admitted the serviceman had been a 'bloody fool'. He pleaded guilty to three counts of impersonating a police officer and two charges of using a car fitted with a blue flashing warning light. Walster, from Lincoln, was fined £835, ordered to pay costs of £85, and a victim surcharge of £84. The soldier, who has served in Afghanistan, now faces being kicked out of the Army as a result of his criminal conviction. The court heard Walster bought the blue flashing lights on eBay before putting them on the dashboard of his car and pulling over fellow soldiers at his barracks as a prank. But he then took the joke 'too far' by going on to public roads in Lincoln and stopping three members of the public between November last year and January. The soldier pulled over motorists who he thought were driving poorly before telling them they had been breaking the speed limit. Walster was caught when on January 22 he pulled over a car at Lindis Retail Park before taking their personal details. But a friend driving behind became suspicious and reported the incident to the police. Prosecutor Iola Harris said: 'On each occasion, it seems to be that he believed the manner of driving was not up to standard.' Walster pulled a motorist over using the flashing blue light as they passed by Lindis Retail Park (pictured) in Lincoln . Ms Harris added: 'A motorist was followed on Tritton Road by a car with a flashing blue light. The defendant asked him to sit in the back of his car and he was asked questions. 'As a result of the investigation, the defendant was arrested and in his vehicle was a notebook containing personal details. 'He accepted that book belonged to him and he did take names and addresses of members of the public.' While being interviewed by police, Walster admitted he had impersonated a police officer on another occasion. His defence lawyer told the court that being arrested had been more terrifying for Walster than his tour of Afghanistan. Dave Clapham, defending, said: 'In essence, what he says is that the lights were bought off eBay and used to stop his mates on the barracks as a joke. 'For whatever reason this continued into the public arena. He does not know why. He just says he has been a bloody fool and completely stupid. The soldier even asked drivers to get back into the back of his car to give them a telling off, Lincoln Magistrates' Court (pictured) heard . 'He tells me the process of being arrested was more terrifying than his tour of Afghanistan. 'The consequences of your sentence have ramifications that could go far higher. Not only could he be overlooked for promotions bonuses, he could face a reduction in rank - ultimately it could lead to his discharge. He is a good soldier.' After the case, PC Robert McGhee, from Lincolnshire Police, said: 'Offences of this type are really very serious. 'Police officers are trained to the highest of standards and the job they carry out every day requires not only application of that training but a thorough knowledge of the law, as well as practice and procedure. Impersonating an officer carries hefty penalties for good reason. 'We are pleased with the outcome of the court case as it is a fitting sentence. We hope this serves as a stark warning to not only the gentleman involved but also to others that police and the courts take a very dim view of anyone acting in this fashion.' An Army spokesperson said: 'All those who are found to fall short of the Army's high standards are dealt with as appropriate through the discipline process, up to and including discharge.' +A violent man who picked up a baby while holding a knife has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a policeman in the head. Police were responding to a call about a violent man who was armed with a knife and had picked up the child when he is said to have attacked an officer. After putting the child down, the 20-year-old man stabbed the officer in the head and shoulder in a property in Walworth, south London, at 8pm last night, police said. A violent man who picked up a baby while holding a knife has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a policeman in the head at a property in Walworth, south London (pictured) The baby was not harmed in the incident, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. The stabbed officer, who is in his 30s, was taken to hospital for treatment and has since been discharged. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Officers attended the address and attempted to speak to the man. The man put the baby down but subsequently attacked the officers present.' The Homicide and Major Crime Command continue to investigate the incident. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +A benefits cheat who pocketed £15,000 claiming he could barely walk was caught out after being secretly filmed playing in midfield for his pub football team. Raymond Billam, of Bolton-on-Dearne, South Yorkshire said he was severely disabled because of problems with his knees and back as he claimed incapacity benefits. But unknown to him, fraud investigators had been tipped off and secretly filmed the 38-year-old playing football for his Sunday league side. Raymond Billam (left) pocketed £15,000 claiming he could barely walk - but was caught out after being secretly filmed playing in midfield for his pub football team . The 38-year-old (centre after passing the ball during a Sunday league game) said he was severely disabled because of problems with his knees and back - but was still able to play as a midfielder in his pub side . Caught out: Fraud investigators had been tipped off and secretly filmed Billam (left) playing football for his Sunday league side . Billam claimed he needed crutches to get around and was virtually unable to walk more than a few metres unaided, a court heard. But for nearly five years between 2008 and 2013 he pulled on the green shirt of Ingsfield Lane in the Mexborough and District Sunday League, South Yorkshire, putting in crunching tackles and running several miles in a match. Billam admitted defrauding the Department of Work and Pensions by pocketing £15,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled. Barnsley Magistrates Court was told by prosecutor Julie Grant that he played 87 games mainly for pub sides over several seasons. She added: 'Mr Billam said he could only walk 20 metres before he felt discomfort. Investigators saw him playing football. He was running and jumping. Billam had claimed he needed crutches to get around - but a court heard that he had been playing football regularly for five years . Billam (pictured right) pulled on the green shirt of Ingsfield Lane in the Mexborough and District Sunday League between 2008 and 2013 . The 38-year-old (right) admitted defrauding the Department of Work and Pensions by pocketing £15,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled . 'Mr Billam said when he was quizzed that he had good days and bad days. 'He said other people may have played football using his name. He became coy when he was asked further questions.' District Judge John Foster warned Billam he could be sent to prison. He said: 'The nature of the deception and the amount of money falsely claimed means I do not rule out jail or sending you to the crown court for a stiffer sentence than can be imposed here.' Billam's solicitor Chris Peace reserved his right to put his defence later. He will be sentenced next month and was granted unconditional bail. A spokesman for the DWP fraud team said: 'Billam was very brazen about what he was doing. 'It's hard to believe someone can think they are entitled to incapacity benefits because they claim they can't walk far without assistance. 'Yet we observed him on three consecutive Sundays, running around, jumping and heading the ball and putting in some strong tackles.' +A farmer shocked police after they stopped his Fiat Punto and found a baby cow in the back. Zbigniew Grabowski was taking the calf back to his farm after visiting a vet when he was spotted in Mogilno, Poland. The 53-year-old was pulled over by officers who discovered that his boot had been converted into a farmyard, complete with a straw floor and wooden barriers. Amoosing: A farmer shocked police after they stopped his Fiat Punto and found a calf cramped in the back . Far from being amused the police told Grabowski he could not continue his journey and would have to walk the calf back to the farm. Tomek Mroczkowski was driving in the area when he came across the farmer in a queue. The 34-year-old said: 'We had come to some traffic lights and I pulled up beside the car next to me. 'I looked over and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the face of a cow staring back at me. I almost didn't believe it at first. 'The lights then changed and the car drove off with the cow still looking out of the window. It was such a small car, the poor thing must have been a bit squashed.' A police spokesman said: 'The driver said he was taking his cow back to his farm and that he had specially adapted the car to carry livestock. Milking it: The Fiat Punto is relatively small but the 53-year-old put the back seats down and covered the floor in straw to try and make the cow comfortable . 'We explained that he should get a proper truck and that putting a cow in the back of the car was dangerous.' The farmer was also fined £100 and had his driving licence confiscated. It comes three weeks after a driver spotted a sheep being driven in the back of a black Volvo. John Bowden, 44, was on his way home near Tulse Hill station, south London, when he saw the animal staring through the back window of the car in front. +A woman accidentally set light to £20,000 cash that was meant for her husband's staff after hiding it in a wood-burning stove and forgetting it was there. Hao Bin, 35, stashed the wad of money inside the cooker to keep it safe for her husband Wang so he could pay builders. The next morning Mrs Bin went to make a pot of tea, throwing a lighted match and kindling into the stove with burning paper so she could boil some water. Scroll down for video . Up in flames: A Chinese woman accidentally set fire to £20,000 meant for her husband's construction workers . Hao Bin stashed the money inside her stove, but forgot it was there and set fire to it while making tea . Mrs Bin, 35, was inconsolable after the blaze, but her husband Wang, 39, said he had forgiven her . She only realised her grave error when she went to add some more wood and saw the plastic bag filled with Chinese bank notes was almost entirely incinerated. Mrs Bin, from Shaoshan in central China's Hunan province, threw water onto what was left of the cash, but it was too late. The devastated woman took the charred remains to the Bank of China, but officials told her that, as less than half of each note was left, they could not exchange them for new money. Mr Bin, 39, who owns a small construction company and needed to pay his workers a total of £20,000, said he had forgiven his wife. Bank of China officials refused to replace the burned money as less than half of each note was still intact . Mrs Bin only realised her grave error when she went to through more wood on the fire and saw the money ablaze . Mr Bin said the fire was a 'hard blow' but that he would be able to cope, despite losing £20,000 cash . He said: 'We had not been paid ourselves yet for our work, but I needed to pay the workers so we borrowed the money from friends and family, and we wanted somewhere to keep it safe for a day before paying it out. 'It was a hard blow, and my wife is devastated. But I have forgiven her, and we will survive.' Many Chinese people choose to hide money at home because of a lack of trust in banks, with some hiding them in pillowcases and socks to keep them safe from thieves. +Terry Gibson is sitting in a restaurant in Wimbledon, recalling the 12 absurd and wonderful chapters of his life that were spent in this part of town. ‘It was nuts,’ he says. ‘You didn’t need Fash and Jonesy to lie about what went on — the reality was mad enough.’ In time, Gibson will come back to the sore point of how the Wimbledon side of the Eighties was represented in a recent documentary. Terry Gibson laughs whilst recalling his eventful spell playing for Wimbledon's Crazy Gang . He will address the myth that the Crazy Gang was ruled by the bullying of John Fashanu and Vinnie Jones, even if there is a memory of the former stripped to his underpants and covered in baby oil ahead of a dressing-room fight. But, for now, Gibson wants to laugh rather than seethe. The little striker, who won the Cup, once told Alex Ferguson where to go and pocketed £200 for scouting Pablo Zabaleta, wants to present a fuller picture of life at Plough Lane. ‘I remember Dennis Wise,’ he says. ‘Just after we won the FA Cup in 1988 players were getting sold and he was desperate for Bobby Gould to give him a big move. We went on a trip to Sweden and he’s bought a load of fireworks. Back at the hotel, Wisey is letting them off from the fifth floor into a crowded street. The locals are running for cover. Unbelievable. Bobby knew he was trying to force a move and wouldn’t budge. Just another day at Wimbledon.’ The Wimbledon players celebrate having won the 1988 FA Cup at Wembley against favourites Liverpool . Gibson poses for the camera when speaking to Sportsmail's Riath Al-Samarrai about his career . Gibson laughs. ‘There was a time when Fash was telling the newspapers he was getting threatening letters at the training ground,’ he says. ‘We all knew it was rubbish so one day I cut out letters from a newspaper, like in the films, and spelled, “Meester Fash, we are watching your every move”. I slipped it in his pocket and when he found it he starts panicking. He disappears with his big mobile phone and the next day’s papers say Fash has had another threat. He always was a drama queen.’ Gibson adds: ‘My first day at the club, I saw Wisey pinching the Volkswagen badge off Vinnie Jones’s dad’s truck. Vinnie was panicking that his dad was going to kill him. ‘There were a lot more laughs than people might have thought based only on the documentary.’ John Fashanu, in action during his Wimbledon playing days, was certainly a character in the Crazy Gang . Gibson, like most associated with the programme, The Crazy Gang, has taken exception to claims from Fashanu that he was ‘the leader’ and ruled by fear. ‘The truth is we tolerated Fash,’ says Gibson, who spent six years at the club. ‘He was a bit of a clown. He was the perfect player for us but he always tried to present himself as something he wasn’t, even then. ‘Yes, you had to be very tough to survive at the club. Grown men would cry. But there was so much more to how Wimbledon achieved what we did. For Fash to imply he controlled our dressing room with intimidation is just false. ‘Of course there were fights but Fash exaggerated. Jonesy told the story about Fash locking the dressing room and throwing an unnamed player against a bench and splitting his leg open. Stitches, etc. Gibson was former team-mate Lawrie Sanchez's assistant at Wycombe, Northern Ireland and Fulham . ‘The lad was Robbie Turner and, as I remember it, Fash strips to his pants and covers himself in baby oil. They slipped around a bit and no punches were thrown. Yes, Robbie badly injured his calf on the bench but it was not split open with blood everywhere. ‘The stories were all embellished. It was no Mafia, it was more a boarding school of very naughty boys.’ A deeper perspective is found in Gibson’s new book, Giant Killer. It’s a wonderful autobiography, self-written across three years. The book charts his rise from Tottenham, to Coventry, to Manchester United and on to the high points at Wimbledon, before Gibson became Lawrie Sanchez’s assistant at Northern Ireland, Fulham and Wycombe. The 52-year-old, in action for Wimbledon (right) works for Sky Sports, commenting on Spanish football . ‘The game changed a bit in those three decades,’ he says. ‘When Spurs signed me as a kid they offered my parents a holiday and I was hoping they would choose somewhere abroad — they asked for this camp in Dovercourt! At least the club sent a limo.’ It was at Coventry that Gibson played alongside Sam Allardyce and Stuart Pearce. ‘We went to Bisham Abbey once,’ Gibson says. ‘Pearce and Micky Adams were sharing and Ashley Grimes was in with Sam. We’d all had a drink one night. ‘Somehow Micky and Pearcie got into the others’ room at something like 3am and tossed all their gear in the courtyard. Sam and Grimes go to fetch it but get locked out in the rain. God, they were out there for maybe an hour. Sam was getting all this abuse, Pearcie and Micky calling him a northern so-and-so and laughing at him, saying, “No wonder Millwall got rid of you”. Wimbledon players in training during the Crazy Gang era with Fashanu (centre) and Vinnie Jones . ‘Next thing there is a huge crash. Sam has found a fire extinguisher and thrown it through their window. I can still hear Sam saying, “Oh s***. I didn’t mean it. It slipped”. Priceless.’ After three good years at Coventry, Gibson joined Manchester United for a difficult 18 months, in which he repeatedly felt ‘belittled’ by Ron Atkinson. ‘You could see the glow of his sunbed from the training pitch,’ Gibson says. ‘He just picked on me for reasons I never understood.’ At one point, Gibson pulled out of a move to Watford because he correctly anticipated Atkinson would be sacked and a fresh start might await. Atkinson’s exit meant Alex Ferguson’s arrival. ‘Alex was always honest with me — a good man,’ Gibson says. ‘I got the hairdryer once after a reserve game and told him to shove it all up his a***. Gibson endured a difficult 18 months at Manchester United (left) and was brought to Wimbledon in 1987 . ‘The next morning I went to apologise and he said he admired my spirit. I liked him but it never worked out for me at United.’ Gould brought Gibson to Wimbledon in 1987 — the manager allegedly ate 12 sheep testicles to get Sam Hammam to sanction the move — and his playing career re-started. ‘I could have done a book on Wimbledon alone,’ he says. In retirement Gibson went on to form a fine coaching partnership with Sanchez at Northern Ireland, which included capping Jonny Evans from United after ‘my son realised from playing Championship Manager on the computer that he was eligible for us’. Gibson has detailed his eclectic career in a book called Giant Killer, which is available at terrygibson.london . In a career of surreal moments, it seems about right. There was also a £200-a-week scouting position for Manchester City in Spain that saw him recommend Zabaleta. ‘The club did OK out of it,’ he says. These days the 52-year-old commentates on Spanish football for Sky and is happy to be out of the thick of it. ‘I think I’ve had probably enough of that craziness in my life,’ he says. He’s probably right. Terry Gibson’s book Giant Killer is available at www.terrygibson.london . +Luke Gale scored twice in a man-of-the-match performance as Castleford made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season with a 20-14 success over Hull FC at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle. The Tigers lost their first three matches but have found form in recent weeks and recorded their third successive home victory on Friday night. Defences came out on top in a first half which saw Castleford prop Andy Lynch take the field for his 450th career appearance against his former club. Castleford prop Andy Lynch took to the field for his 450th career appearance against his former club. Gale's converted effort gave the Tigers a deserved lead but Hull responded positively and went into the break with just a two-point deficit after Tom Lineham marked his 50th outing for the club with his fifth try of 2015. Lynch took centre stage at the start of the second period as his break laid the platform for Gale to cross for his second and stretch Castleford's lead. But Hull, whose coach Lee Radford missed the trip through illness, refused to lie down and hit the front as Lineham scored twice to complete his hat-trick. Opposite number Justin Carney gained some revenge when he grounded Lineham with a fierce hand-off on his way to the line for his ninth try of the campaign. James Clare eased Castleford's nerves after benefiting from Fetuli Talanoa's shocking error and they were celebrating their fourth successive win over Hull at full-time. The Tigers went close twice in the opening 10 minutes, with Jake Webster hauled down inches short of the tryline by Jordan Rankin and Clare dropping the ball attempting a spectacular finish in the corner. Castleford continued to do most of the running and finally broke Hull's resistance in the 24th minute as Gale showed a good turn of pace to score to the right of the posts after taking Grant Millington's brilliant offload 40 metres out. Hull came storming back and, just after former Tigers half-back Marc Sneyd had been denied by a last-ditch tackle by Carney, crossed for their first try of the evening through Lineham. The ball moved through the hands from left to right before Steve Michaels fed the winger to score in the corner. Sneyd missed the conversion from the right touchline so Castleford went into half-time 6-4 to the good. The hosts extended that lead within 60 seconds of the restart after Millington kept his composure to find Gale close to the line following a storming run by fellow prop Lynch. Castleford were again unable to build momentum as Lineham crossed to cut the home side's advantage to four points. Talanoa was denied by a good tackle by Clare but Lineham made no mistake in the other corner after collecting Danny Houghton's cut-out pass from dummy half. Sneyd was off target once more from out wide but he had been at the heart of all things good for the Black and Whites and his long pass allowed Lineham to complete his hat-trick. Sneyd made it third time lucky from the right to give Hull the lead for the first time on the night. Carney had been found wanting in defence for Castleford but the Australian showed why he is Super League's top try-scorer by flattening Lineham before diving over. Hull's hopes of mounting another comeback were hit when Sneyd limped off with a leg injury. Clare touched down after Talanoa made a meal of Gale's kick and the Tigers held on despite a late Hull onslaught. +Former England captain Jamie Peacock will swap his rugby kit for a suit at the end of the year when he joins Hull KR in the newly-created role of football manager. The 37-year-old Leeds prop forward is currently completing a masters degree in sports management and will start his new job when he brings his illustrious career to a close at the end of the season. Peacock's new role will see him responsible for, amongst other things, contract negotiations, club strategy, recruitment and pre-season training camps. Jamie Peacock (centre right) has been named the new football manager of Super League club Hull KR . Friday's announcement ends any lingering speculation about the former Bradford skipper playing on beyond his 38th birthday in December. Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell said: 'We are delighted to have secured Jamie to the full-time position of football manager for the next two years. 'He is a proven champion at the highest level in our sport and we look forward to working with him, drawing on his experiences and contacts and generally raising the profile and performance of the club in key areas. 'I'm sure he will have a big role to play in helping to attract young English talent to Hull Kingston Rovers and in helping to develop a winning culture on and off the field.' Peacock has won a record eight Super League Grand Finals as well as making over 500 appearances for Leeds, Bradford, Yorkshire, England and Great Britain. The Leeds prop will retire from playing at the end of the season and take up his new role at the club . He was named Man of Steel in 2003 and stepped down as England captain in 2012 to concentrate on his club career and will complete a 10th and final campaign with his home-town club. He was awarded the MBE three years ago for services to the sport. Leeds say Peacock was offered an off-field role at Headingley but wanted a fresh challenge. Peacock said: 'I have had a great time at Leeds and learnt so much about how the club is run from top to bottom. 'The Rhinos are a blueprint for a successful sporting business and the challenge for me now is to take those lessons and try and implement my own thoughts in a new environment. 'Hull KR are a club with huge potential within a city that is rugby league mad and having invested wisely in their facilities in recent years. I know a number of people over there already and I am looking forward to working with Chris Chester, Willie Poching, Mike Smith and Neil Hudgell in my new role. Peacock was England captain a few years ago but is excited about his new off-field role . 'Whenever we have gone over there to play, it is clear Rovers have a fanatical supporter base. I think it is vital that you have a hard core of good people who want the club to succeed to be able to build and plan for development in the future. 'Now that I have the next chapter of my career finalised, I am fully focused on finishing my time with Leeds as strongly as possible and leaving my home-town club in the best possible position.' Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington said: 'I think this is an inspired appointment by Hull KR and I know Jamie will be very good at what will be a very different challenge. 'He has been at the heart of all our success over the past decade and his performances and influence at the club cannot be overestimated. He will leave a lasting legacy and all our best wishes will be with him when he swaps his training kit for a new suit at the end of the season.' +A mother is being investigated after she left her three sons in a car while she went to the library. The unnamed woman was trying to finish some financial paperwork in Monroe, Louisiana, on Monday afternoon when her eldest son called 911 and said his mom was being 'mean'. When the dispatcher asked the boy where he was calling from he promptly told her it was a library but could not remember the name. A mother is being investigated after she left her three sons in a car while she went to a library in Monroe, Louisiana. She was caught when her eldest son, six, called 911 (stock image above) Monroe police found the boys - aged two, four and six - after a woman also called the emergency services. Officers escorted them back to their mother, CBS Detroit reported. The 25-year-old said she had initially taken her sons into the Dorsch Memorial Library but had to remove them after they became disruptive. Detective John Wall, of Monroe Police Department, said the boys had been left in the car for around 12 minutes. He added that the windows were open and the doors left unlocked. Dispatcher: Hello? Boy: Hello? Dispatcher: Hello, this is 911, can I help you? Boy: Uh huh. Dispatcher: What's going on? Boy: My mom is being mean to us. Dispatcher: Where are you at? What is the address? Boy: At the library. Dispatcher: At the library? Boy: Yeah. Dispatcher: What library are you at? Boy: It's spelled with a D. Dispatcher: Do you know what street it's on? Boy: East... east... Dispatcher: How old are you? Boy: Six. The 25-year-old mother said she had initially taken her sons into the Dorsch Memorial Library (above) but had to remove them after they became disruptive . He said: 'Mom escorted all three children out to the vehicle, left them in the vehicle and then returned back to the library and continued her work on the computer.' The Child Protective Services has been made aware of the incident and could bring forward unattended child or child abuse charges. Temperatures at the time were around 30 degrees. +The families of hostages David Haines and Alan Henning who were murdered by the Islamic extremist Jihadi John have been blessed by the Pope. Aid worker David Haines, of Yorkshire, was beheaded last September after being captured by Islamic state. Alan Henning, 47, a father-of-two, was killed in the same way a month later. Both murders appeared on video and apparently showed Jihadi John, who has recently been unmasked as Mohammed Emwazi, from London, carrying out the killings. Pope Francis met Barbara Henning right), the wife of murdered British hostage Alan Henning, and Michael Haines (centre), the brother of David Haines, at St Peter's Basilica today . Today Pope Francis met the families of the two men at a service aimed at uniting religions and ending extremism. Widow Barbara Henning was brought up to meet the Pope on the steps of St Peter's Basilica in Rome after his rain-soaked general audience. Usually such access is reserved for visiting prelates. Michael Haines, brother of David Haines, was also able to meet the Pope at the ceremony. Since the death of his brother he has dedicated himself to promoting tolerance between religions and unity against extremism. He said the moment 'took my breath away.' Alan Henning (left) was kidnapped on Boxing Day 2013 and murdered in October last year, David Haines (right), who had dedicated his life to helping others across the world was killed in September 2014 . In a telephone interview he said the pope told him he was going to pray for him to 'continue the work that we're doing on unity and tolerance and bringing our communities together.' In October 2014, Mr Haines signed a joint letter with Mrs Henning calling for all religions to accept each other and for mosques, churches and synagogues to open their doors to all faiths. Mr Henning, of Salford in Manchester, kidnapped on Boxing Day 2013 as he delivered aid to Syrian refugees. Michael Haines has dedicated his life to promoting unity between religions since his brother was murdered . Mrs Henning met Pope Francis following the death of her aid worker husband, a father of two . Mr Haines and Mrs Henning met the pope at St Peter's Basilica, following a rain-soaked ceremony . The former RAF engineer and taxi driver apparently always believed he would be freed by his captors. After news of his death broke his widow described him as a 'decent, caring human being.' David Haines travelled with aid agencies through Syria, Libya, the former Yugoslavia and South Sudan for more than two decades. Mrs Henning met the Pope today in a meeting aimed at tackling religious extremism and violent conflict . Mr Haines dedicated his life to promoting peace in places of violent conflict and oversaw projects to save civilians from land mines. He had married his wife just three years before he was captured by ISIS gunmen on an isolated road in Syria, while working for the Technical Cooperation and Development (Acted) agency. He was captured when he was working for the Atmeh refugee camp, in Syria, for the French aid agency Acted. +This is the moment a father tried to help his police officer son escape after he shot a man during an off-duty bar fight. Salome Rodriguez, 23, died from multiple gunshot wounds after Henry Solis turned on him outside a nightclub in Pomona, California, on March 13. The 27-year-old probationary LAPD officer fled the scene to go to his father's house, an affidavit from an FBI agent claims. Victor Solis (left in both pictures) was charged with making false statements yesterday after CCTV footage (above) showed him helping his son cross the border into Mexico. Henry Solis (right in both pictures) shot a man outside a nightclub in Pomona, California, on March 13 . Victor Solis alleged his son was at his house because he needed to be dropped at a bus shelter to undertake five days of vacation in El Paso, Texas. The FBI said the pair walked to Juarez, Mexico, from El Paso just one day after the murder. Solis claimed he crossed the border into Mexico alone - but surveillance footage showed him crossing with his son, the affidavit reported. The 53-year-old was arrested at his Lancaster house yesterday and charged with making false statements. He has agreed to be transferred to Texas. A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of Solis Jr. A wanted poster states that the former marine 'allegedly pursued the victim on foot and shot him multiple times, killing him'. A wanted poster states that the former marine (left) 'allegedly pursued the victim on foot and shot him multiple times, killing him' A warrant added that authorities spoke to family, friends and witnesses who told them Solis Jr. had spoken about the murder. It said: 'Shortly after the murder, defendant Solis made incriminating statements about his role in the murder of Rodriguez and stated that he would never be seen again.' Charlie Beck, Los Angeles Police Chief, fired the probationary officer from the department on Tuesday 17 March. A funeral service for Mr Rodriguez, from Ontario, was held on Thursday. +Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has warned Raheem Sterling about setting his ambitions too high, too soon. The 20-year-old is currently locked in contract negotiations with the Reds after rejecting what manager Brendan Rodgers described as an 'incredible' offer, reportedly £100,000-a-week. His current deal is not due to expire until 2017 but the current impasse in talks - which will not resume until the end of the season - has led the youngster to be linked with a number of Europe's top clubs. There has been much speculation over the future of Liverpool youngster Raheem Sterling (centre) Sterling, who is currently on international duty with England, is in the process of negotiating a new contract . Barnes believes it would be a mistake, however, for Sterling to go looking for a multi-million pound move before he has properly proved himself. 'I would advise any young player who has been in the game for one or one and half years to stay and learn his trade,' he told talkSPORT. 'Show consistency over a four or five-year period before you make a big move, because then he will be judged as a £50million player. 'I don't think he is ready for a move to Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City. Talks have finished until the end of the season, but there has been speculation over a big-money move abroad . Former Liverpool winger John Barnes believes that Sterling should stay and learn his trade at Anfield . 'As a Liverpool fan I want him to stay but I think himself he needs to be very careful. 'Unfortunately the bad advice often sounds the most lucrative and therefore the best advice. 'Has he been playing consistently well over a long time? No he hasn't, and maybe his form has suffered because of the whole situation about that (contract).' Barnes said recent history is littered with examples of poor decisions and failures by young players and he did not want Sterling to make the same mistake. 'We saw it with Scott Sinclair and Jack Rodwell, who both went to Man City. Where are they now?' he added. 'I think any young player should show a level of consistency where you are happy and people accept you and then if you want to put yourself under pressure by making a big money move do that - because it can all go wrong. Sterling needs to show consistency over a four or five-year period to warrant a big move, according to Barnes . Barnes noted that Sterling should not make the same mistake as Scott Sinclair, who moved prematurely . 'I think [he needs] another two or three years at Liverpool and if he then decides he wants to move on then fine.' While Sterling is still trying to establish himself as one of Liverpool's top players, one of their very best - Steven Gerrard - will be leaving in the summer to join Los Angeles Galaxy. There have been suggestions the Reds captain's legacy has been tarnished somewhat by his senseless sending-off against Manchester United last Sunday, coming a year after his slip against Chelsea played a huge part in the club missing out on the title. Barnes, however, dismissed such talk. 'Steven Gerrard and Kenny Dalglish are the two greatest players for Liverpool,' he said. 'Nothing has changed because he got sent off against Manchester United and nothing will change in the rest for the season.' +Liverpool starlet Jerome Sinclair is set to join Wigan on loan until the end of the season. Latics boss Malky Mackay is an admirer of the 18-year-old forward and has contacted the Merseysiders about a temporary deal. Liverpool starlet Jerome Sinclair (left) is set to join Wigan on loan until the end of the season . Wigan hope to have the deal completed by the weekend. Sinclair made his Liverpool debut in a League Cup win over West Brom in 2012 but hasn't made a senior appearance since, though he was recently named in the squad to face Besiktas in the Europa League. The teenager has five England Under 17 caps. Wigan hope to conclude a deal for the 18-year-old forward (right) by the weekend . +The fight to get to this point only makes the prize on offer more precious. For David Marshall, retaining his place against Gibraltar would matter every bit as much as facing Germany. The Cardiff City goalkeeper has been Gordon Strachan’s pick for each of the four Euro 2016 qualifiers to date. He has not let his manager down, yet is keenly aware that competition for the jersey continues to intensify. Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor each played 45 minutes of Wednesday night’s 1-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland. If one were reading the runes, it might suggest that Marshall will get the run-out when Gibraltar visit Hampden tomorrow. Scotland's David Marshall admits retaining place against Gibraltar is as important as facing Germany . The 30-year-old will assume nothing, however, until he has heard Strachan read out the 11 names in the morning. If that leads to a 17th cap, there will be no hint of complacency. Marshall went through years of travelling away with the national squad without much hope of playing. On the rare occasions he was selected, he had an unfortunate tendency to end up on the wrong end of a hefty scoreline through no error of his own. It almost seemed the fates were conspiring against him, but Marshall transformed the situation through his outstanding form for Cardiff in the Premier League last season. Having finally leap to the front of the queue, he is determined to stay there. ‘Everyone knows my history with Scotland,’ Marshall reflected. ‘I had to wait years and years to get caps, so it makes each one more valuable now as I get older. ‘I don’t want to give it up, so I’ll just continue to do what I can. It doesn’t matter to me if it is Germany or Gibraltar. There is a lot of pressure on us to win the game and it puts us in a great position if we manage to do it. Gordon Strachan has picked David Marshall for all four Euro 2016 qualifiers to date . ‘Years ago, I never thought I should be playing. Craig was brilliant. Then Allan came in at a stage when I wasn’t playing. So there was never a time when I expected to play. ‘It’s just in the last couple of years when I have got myself to a level where I can believe in myself to go and play. Injuries put Allan and Craig out and I managed to get a chance and play well, so that’s why I was probably in the team. ‘With the standard of the keepers here, it’s difficult to consider yourself the No 1. I’ve waited a long time to get a chance, but the boys are all fit. Craig has done great to get playing at Celtic and Allan is playing in the Premier League. ‘I don’t think it would be a massive decision whoever played, but the gaffer has stuck with me since the beginning of the campaign and I hope to keep playing well and stay in the side.’ Clearly, there is a professional rivalry within the goalkeeping trio, described by no less a judge than Andy Goram as Scotland’s best-ever crop. But it is distinctly cordial in nature. Marshall has not yet let his manager down, but is aware that competition is rising in the ranks . ‘We’ve been together for a long time now,’ said Marshall. ‘I’ve been here for over 10 years and Craig has been the same, obviously minus a couple of years through injury. ‘We know each other so well and we are used to the standard. When we are together, it hopefully lifts us to make each other better. ‘When I was younger, Andy Goram and Jim Leighton were great. That was a great group of goalkeepers, so to hear what Andy – a legend for Rangers and Scotland – said is a great honour. ‘But we can’t read too much into that. We just have to keep performing as that is what you are judged on. We need to concentrate and do our best for the rest for the rest of the campaign. ‘I would definitely consider the other guys friends. I shared a room with Craig for five or six years at the start with Scotland. ‘It might be a bit different at club level when there is that one place. But being here is about the country. We have not been at a championship for so long, so there is no room for sticking the knife in each other’s back. We are all together.’ Allan McGregor kept a clean sheet during 45 minutes of action in a friendly against Northern Ireland . Whoever is selected tomorrow, they will face a most curious assignment. Gibraltar have lost their four Group D fixtures by an aggregate score of 21-0. Unless something very odd happens, the Scotland penalty area should verge on a no-go zone. ‘It’s a difficult game to talk about,’ admitted Marshall. ‘Concentration levels have got to be high and football is weird. There could be a deflection, a set-piece, anything. ‘We need to start the game well as the earlier we can score the better. Craig Gordon kept a clean sheet in 45 minutes of action in a friendly against Northern Ireland . ‘This is probably the only time with Scotland that you are expected not to have too much to do. ‘But concentration is a massive thing in goalkeeping. I had it with Celtic when I was younger, when you would play a lot of games where there was not a lot to do. You just have to deal with it and train as normal. ‘Would I prefer to be busy? No, I prefer doing nothing! But you just don’t know how it is going to play out. You can’t go into a game relaxed. You treat it like any normal game and hope the boys up front can help you out.’ +What is the biggest concern for a Navy veteran, with no formal managerial experience, preparing to lead another country's team out in front of 30,000 of his baying compatriots? 'Suit or tracksuit?' jokes Gibraltar's interim head coach Davie Wilson, who will attempt to guide UEFA's newest member to an historic result at Hampden Park on Sunday. He adds: 'Growing up in Scotland, it's a boyhood dream to step out at Hampden for your country. But to step out for another country against your own country… I'm totally mixed with emotions. Davie Wilson (centre) was born in Scotland but is the current Gibraltar interim head coach . 'I'm massively humbled, yet there's a little devil on my other shoulder saying, 'What are you doing? People might never speak to you again'.' But the 41-year-old freely admits it would take a very poor performance from Gordon Strachan's men for his charges to leave Glasgow with anything more than pride. Wilson, part-time head coach, part-time exercise rehabilitation officer, was on the books at Kilmarnock during his teens, but decided the Navy offered a more realistic opportunity. After two decades at sea, Gibraltar was to be his final port of call, and he has an obvious fondness for the British territory. 'I miss the Scottish scenery but where I am now ticks the boxes,' he says. 'After 21 years travelling the world, I've found somewhere I feel is home.' The former assistant head coach, who was handed the reins just three weeks ago, is enjoying every minute of his adventure but the national anthems will throw up an unusual dilemma. 'How do you stop a Scotsman singing Flower of Scotland? You can't,' he admits. 'If it was New Year's Eve I'd be on the table singing it like I meant it! At Hampden I'll be singing it, but I don't have to show that passion. Scotland are heavy favourites for the clash and will be expecting to vastly improve their goal difference . 'I'll be passionate during the Gibraltar national anthem. I've sung it every game for the last two and a half years and I've felt the hairs rise on my arm. On Sunday I'll feel the hairs rise for both anthems. 'Gibraltarians are close to the Scots in terms of being passionate about who they are. As a nation, Scotland feel they're not given the freedom they deserve, Gibraltar is the same.' The debutant manager must prepare his squad with only three professional footballers. Their occupations range from policemen and firemen to solicitors and customs officers. How must Wilson have felt when his team lined up against the Germans in Nuremberg last November? He says: 'As world champions, they were expected to trounce us. I listened to Alan McInally's commentary and, when Thomas Muller scored the first goal, he said, 'I'm fully expecting the Germans to put on a cricket score tonight'. But they didn't. (They won 4-0). You could see it in their manager's face when we had a shot at goal, and a second shot at goal and a corner. He was angry. Scotland duo Christophe Berra (right) and Craig Forsyth train ahead of their side's forthcoming clash . 'We've got to build for the next 10 or 20 years. We won't find a Lionel Messi in a country of 30,000 — there will be more people in the crowd on Sunday than in our entire country.' Wilson would clearly relish the chance to oversee Gibraltar's development on a permanent basis. 'It's starting to sit better on my shoulders,' he says. 'I feel confident in my ability and now I'm thinking, 'why not me?'. If I was offered the job I'd bite their hand off.' But whatever happens, Wilson will always have his place in history. 'Not even you journalists could have written this story,' he says. 'If nothing happens after Sunday's game I'll always have this memory. 'I'll tell my grandkids, 'You know, your grandad managed a football team once'. They'd laugh — 'Of course you did grandad. Now tell us another Navy story.' +The entire field is separated by just six shots heading into the final round of the Madeira Islands Open after the tournament was reduced to 36 holes for the second year in succession. The tournament had been cut to three rounds after winds gusting up to 47mph meant no play was possible on Thursday, while further strong winds on Friday caused a delay of almost two hours before rain ended play early. Half of the field had yet to complete their rounds when play was abandoned for the day at 6pm and more rain which flooded the course caused further disruption on Saturday. Heavy rain has forced organisers to reduce the Madeira Islands Open to 36 holes . The European Tour event was reduced for the second year in a row after strong winds and heavy rain . With yet more bad weather forecast for Sunday the decision was taken to make it a 36-hole event, with the top 65 and ties due to play the final round in a shotgun start at 8am. Denmark's JB Hansen held the clubhouse lead on four under par, one shot ahead of a group of eight players including England's Andrew Marshall and Scotland's Peter Whiteford. 'I'm quite happy, played nicely and left a few out there to be honest, which is nice to say considering I was probably the worst golfer on the European Tour last year!' Whiteford said. 'It's been blowing a hurricane back home so it's kind of what I've been practising in anyway. It's the first time I've been on a golf course and enjoyed it for maybe a year so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. 'I feel very refreshed after taking a little break from the game. The driver is a lot better and that was the thing that was killing me last year, but you work twice as hard when you're playing badly and I was doing more than I should have been doing, working on the wrong things. 'It feels better, the time away helped to refresh the brain a little bit and if I enjoy it I'll play all right. I don't care how I do at the moment as long as I enjoy it. 'It's a major for us on the Challenge Tour, the biggest one of the year so with me certainly, being selfish, I definitely want to get the second round in so I can get a pay cheque and some money onto the rankings. 'After just one round it's going to be an absolute rat race with a huge number of people on the same scores. It'll be a shotgun start so it's not like you'll be under the cosh coming down the stretch because you'll never know where the scores will come from.' Players are driven back to the clubhouse after play is suspended on Saturday in Portugal . Denmark's JB Hansen leads a congested field on four under par heading into Sunday . +Fernando Alonso has been given the final green light to return to Formula One action in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. For the first time since his accident in pre-season testing in Barcelona in mid-February, Alonso will step back into his McLaren for Friday practice at the Sepang International Circuit. The double world champion sustained concussion from the crash at the Circuit de Catalunya which forced him out of the final test, as well as the season-opening race in Australia 11 days ago. Fernando Alonso gives the thumbs up as he is given the green light to race at the Malaysian Grand Prix . Alonso looks in good spirits as he arrives at the Sepang International Circuit . Alonso missed the first race of the year after crashing during pre-season in Barcelona . Alonso shakes hands with a member of the McLaren team in the garage . But following a considerable amount of speculation over his future, and numerous tests, the Spaniard has cleared the final hurdle via an FIA medical inspection in Sepang. An FIA statement read: 'In accordance with normal procedures, McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso was this morning (Thursday) examined by the FIA medical delegate and chief medical officer at the Sepang circuit medical centre. 'During the examination the driver passed all mandatory fitness tests and has thus been declared fit to race in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.' A happy Alonso later tweeted: 'Green light to race. Thanks to @fia and @McLarenF1 for the work, professionalism and help on this last month. #ready.' Williams driver Valtteri Bottas has also been passed fit after suffering a back injury . Bottas will be on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur . Williams driver Valtteri Bottas has also been passed fit to drive in Malaysia after undergoing his own medical checks by the FIA. Bottas was forced to sit out Melbourne after sustaining a back injury during qualifying but following rest and rehabilitation, the Finn has been cleared to race. A Williams statement read: 'Following the injury Valtteri sustained to his lower back during qualifying for the Australian GP, he has been with a leading physiotherapist who has been working with Valtteri and his trainer to make sure he received the best treatment possible ahead of this weekend's race. 'The team has always been fully supportive of Valtteri and his determination to return to the cockpit. 'Following final approval by the FIA medical team in Malaysia today (Thursday), we are pleased to confirm Valtteri will be back in the FW37 this weekend for the Malaysian Grand Prix.' Soon after Bottas tweeted: 'Passed the medical tests and I've been given green light from @fia to race this weekend! Lets do it! #WeAreRacing #MalaysianGP #77.' +Jenson Button is convinced ailing McLaren will one day challenge the might of Mercedes despite the two teams currently at opposite ends of the pace spectrum at present. McLaren and new power-unit supplier Honda suffered abject humiliation in the season-opening grand prix in Australia earlier this month. The team were already without the services of big-name acquisition Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard sustained concussion in a testing accident in Barcelona. Come the race, reserve Kevin Magnussen failed to even make it to the start line due to a power-unit issue that forced the young Dane to pull over on the formation lap. Jenson Button waves to the crowd before the first race of the season in Australia . McLaren were well of the pace in Melbourne... Button finished 11th, two laps behind winner Lewis Hamilton . At least Button saw the chequered flag, describing it at the time as 'a small victory', albeit finishing two laps down on race-winner Lewis Hamilton in 11th and last place. Despite McLaren's seemingly hopeless position heading into Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, a positive Button can see hope on the horizon. 'We're a hell of a long way behind, but I feel we have something we can mould into something very special in the future, which is very exciting,' said Button. 'Being 1.5 seconds off the pace and knowing you've peaked with your package, that's got to hurt. 'Whereas at least we have a glimmer of hope we can possibly challenge Mercedes one day.' Asked as to the reasoning behind his belief, Button replied: 'The direction with the car in terms of aerodynamics, but also with how aggressive this engine is, which is why we're having so many issues. 'In many ways - it's probably wrong for me to say - it's probably more like a Mercedes than it is the other two manufacturers (Ferrari and Renault) in terms of design, aggressiveness and packaging. Lewis Hamilton sprays champagne from the podium after winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix . Hamilton led team-mate Nico Rosberg home in Melbourne as Mercedes dominated the opening race of 2015 . 'It's just going to take a little bit of time, but if we didn't have that hope you wouldn't see the strong effort by the whole team. 'They're not heading to races because they're paid to, they're doing so because they're passionate about racing. They're looking forward to the future as much as I am.' The one bonus for McLaren this weekend is Alonso is poised to return, pending a final medical check by the FIA at the Sepang International Circuit on Thursday. Racing director Eric Boullier, for one, is happy to have the Spaniard back on board as he said: 'I'm pleased to see Fernando back in the car. 'He's raring to go, and I know he's been working hard behind the scenes to prepare himself for this weekend.' Fernando Alonso is poised to return to the McLaren cockpit providing he passes an FIA medical on Thursday . +Exeter have moved to fill the void left by departing captain Dean Mumm by signing his fellow Australian lock Ollie Atkins. Atkins, 26, has agreed a two-year deal with the Aviva Premiership play-off contenders and will move to Devon from Edinburgh. Mumm is returning to Australia at the end of this season, and Atkins, who has represented Scotland A, will now strengthen Chiefs' second-row resources alongside fellow new arrival Geoff Parling. Ollie Atkins will join Exeter and replace departing captain Dean Mumm . 'We had been aware Dean might be tempted to move back to Australia, but he has been very open and honest about it, and that gave us time to assess the market,' Exeter head coach Rob Baxter told the club's official website. 'Ollie is actually someone that Dean mentioned, having played with him back in Australia. 'We have looked at Ollie's game closely. He has a lot of qualities that will work very well among the group here. Atkins will join the Devon bases Aviva Premiership side from Edinburgh . 'He is a bit younger than Dean, he has a great engine and is a real 80-minute player.' Atkins played for the Sydney-based Waratahs, Western Force and Sydney University before moving to Scotland in 2013 and becoming a key member of the Edinburgh squad. +Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie insists expanding the Aviva Premiership is not a formality but the issue must be dealt with as a priority. Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty has confirmed that the English club body is 'looking at' adding two teams to the top-flight domestic league by imposing a temporary suspension on promotion and relegation. The situation must be clear ahead of the start of the 2015-16 season in order for teams to know what they are playing for in 2016-17, when the changes could begin to come into effect. Saracens prop Mako Vunipola charges over Wasps flanker Ashley Johnson at the Ricoh Arena in March . 'It's not as simple as saying 'let's go from 12 to 14',' Ritchie said. 'We've not had or seen a formal proposition about this. I don't think anybody's suggesting it's a fait accompli. 'We have not had a formal sit down conversation with PRL (Premiership Rugby Ltd). I'm happy to sit down and do that. 'We all appreciate the urgency of it. We know it would be more than a little helpful to get this done in the next few months and I think there's a willingness to do that. 'It's important to resolve this. We will, with good will on both sides. Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie insists expanding the Aviva Premiership is not a formality . 'I don't have any problem with the concept of 'should you examine change' and then 'is the change a good or a positive one?' 'There's a myriad of issues which I think are really significant. You need to go through all of those in some detail. 'We haven't done that and I haven't seen that yet. If that analysis shows certain things, then we'll have a constructive and rational discussion about it.' Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty has confirmed that the English club body is 'looking at' adding two teams to the league by imposing a temporary suspension on promotion and relegation . The decision has to be made by the RFU and Premiership Rugby Ltd in partnership and, Ritchie says, must be subject of careful analysis. 'There's been a lot of discussion about it. We need to have a proper analysis of it and see what the pluses and minuses are,' Ritchie added. 'We've got to be in a partnership, because I fervently believe that's the best thing for the game as a whole. 'This is something that ultimately has to go to the RFU council, but has to go to various routes to get to that.' +Olympic hopeful Dina Asher-Smith insists it is unfair on the majority of athletes to suggest the sport is in crisis after a number of doping stories in recent months. Claims of systematic drug use in Russia followed an eight-year ban for Tyson Gay's former coach Jon Drummond for doping violations in December. But Asher-Smith, a sprinter with her targets set on Rio 2016, insists the suggestion there are major cracks appearing in the sport is disrespectful to those who are training and competing clean. Dina Asher-Smith insists it is unfair on the majority of athletes to suggest the sport is in a doping crisis . '(Doping) is disgusting, I have to work really, really hard,' the 19-year-old told BBC Sport. 'And I know all the British girls are working really hard, so to paint them with the same brush is quite unfair. 'It's unfair to all the athletes who work really hard to say the sport's in a crisis.' Asher-Smith celebrates her 100m final victory during the IAAF World Junior Championships last year . World and European indoor 60 metres champion Richard Kilty admitted there was a 'shadow' hanging over the sport but felt the best way to combat that was to beat the cheats on the track. 'I race against convicted dopers at almost every Diamond League meeting or major championships and it's not nice or fair,' he said. 'But the best thing you can do is go out there and beat those guys, knowing you can have full pride in doing it clean.' World indoor 60m champion Richard Kilty admitted there was a 'shadow' hanging over the sport . +Mark Cavendish is among the leading riders to compete in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic this August. Organisers announced the 2011 world champion and 25-time Tour de France stage winner's participation on Tuesday. Prudential RideLondon will take place on August 1 to 2, with over 95,000 riders expected to participate in five events. Mark Cavendish is set to take part in the RideLondon events that will take place on August 1 to 2 . Cavendish, who rides for Etixx-QuickStep, will take part in the 200-kilometres elite one-day race on August 2, having missed out in 2014 after a crash which ended his Tour de France and resulted in shoulder surgery. 'I can't wait to ride this year,' Cavendish said. 'After only two years, this race is already an event every rider wants to win and you can't beat racing in front of British crowds. After missing out in 2014 I was determined to ride in 2015.' Cavendish is among the leading riders to compete in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic . Cavendish, who rides for Etixx-QuickStep, will take part in the 200-kilometres elite one-day race on August 2 . +Steven Naismith has refused to rule out a return to Rangers in the future. The 28-year-old Scotland forward signed for Everton in July 2012 after the troubled Ibrox club were on their way to liquidation and before they re-emerged at the bottom tier of Scottish football. Another player who joined the exodus out of Govan that summer was striker Kyle Lafferty. Everton forward Steven Naismith (right) has refused to rule out returning to Rangers in the future . Naismith promotes cheap ticket prices for Scotland's friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park . Naismith joined Everton from Rangers in 2012 with the Ibrox club on their way to liquidation . He moved to Sion in Switzerland and the two players will be united at Hampden Park on Wednesday night when Scotland take on Northern Ireland in a friendly match, which is acting as a warm-up for the Scots' 2016 Euro qualifier against Gibraltar on Sunday. While Rangers can only hope to return to the Scottish Premiership next season through the play-offs, Lafferty was quoted as saying: 'Some Rangers fans have asked me if I'd go back there and I'd jump at the chance.' Naismith understands the sentiment. He said: 'Our times at Rangers are probably the best in our careers. We were a successful team and had some great memories and being a Rangers fan he would have enjoyed it and want to relive them.' When asked if he could see himself ever going back to Ibrox, Naismith replied: 'I don't know what will happen in the coming year never mind the future. Premier League stars Steven Naismith (left) and Darren Fletcher are included in the Scotland squad . Scotland face Northern Ireland in a friendly before a Euro 2016 qualifier with Gibraltar . Fletcher, Russell Martin, Naismith and Brown appeared in good spirits during the training session . 'At the moment I love playing for Everton. Since I've been there it's been a great adventure, from being a substitute and not having an impact to playing in most of the big games and having an impact. 'I love it at the moment but you never know things can change so quickly in football. I'd never rule anything out to be honest.' There has been no end to the turmoil at Rangers since Naismith left and following a recent boardroom coup, former Gers midfielder Stuart McCall was put in charge of the team for the rest of the season which meant he had to step down from his post as Scotland coach. Speaking of that, ex-Kilmarnock player Naismith said: 'It was one of the best decisions the new board could have made. Andrew Reynolds (left) and Stevie May (right) limber up with some stretching excercises . Celtic captain Scott Brown (centre) leads the group in some light training during the session . 'I worked with him here with Scotland. He's great around the squad, he's straight forward even in this environment when he's not the manager. He'll still tell you 'it's not good enough.' 'I think it's a great decision and hopefully from now until the end of the season he can reap the rewards of going in there and getting Rangers back to the Premier League.' Naismith believes the Northern Ireland match will be a more than a typical friendly as Scotland look to then add to seven Euro qualifying points from four games against Group D's bottom side at the weekend. The Toffees forward said: 'The Ireland game is a great game because it will be more than just a friendly, with it being against a country so close to home and with a lot of the players knowing each other and playing against each other. Scotland manager Gordon Strachan oversees a training session at Mar Hall near Glasgow . The former Scotland midfielder gave some advice to up and coming Scottish managers . 'So there will be more of an edge to it. 'It also gets us familiar with the way that we play. It has been a long time away from Scotland and the boys have missed it. 'It is very good to be around the squad at the moment. We have two good games that hopefully we can push on again. 'I never like to put a number on what points you should have where and when, especially in this group. 'But winning the home games in the qualifiers and taking points in the away games will put you in a right good position.' +Thierry Henry believes Manchester United will miss out on a spot in next season's Champions League because Louis van Gaal's side are 'some way off from gelling'. Manchester United face stiff competition from the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool to finish inside the top four - with just 10 Barclays Premier League games to go before the end of the season. The Red Devils go into their match against Tottenham with a two-point lead over fifth-placed Liverpool, however Henry insists United will miss out a top-four spot for the second year running. Thierry Henry believes Manchester United's players are struggling to get to grips with Louis van Gaal . Henry believes former side Arsenal and Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool will finish ahead of Manchester United . Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup on Monday as Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners at Old Trafford . United are currently fourth in the Premier League . Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Henry said: 'People keep telling me that this Manchester United team is about to click, . 'After 28 Premier League games, I'm still waiting. And time is now running out for everything to fall into place for Louis van Gaal. 'This United side looks as though it is still some way off from gelling as the players seem to struggle with the tactics and system of playing. 'The problem is the Dutchman, although an excellent manager with a proven track record, does not seem to know his best team. 'At the start of this season, I had no doubt that United would finish in the top four and return to the Champions League. 'It now looks as though the four will be Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.' Manchester United will be hoping to bounce back from Monday's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal and open up a five-point lead over Liverpool. +The world may be preparing for the showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in May, but Andre Wisdom was more keen to get his Mike Tyson on as he trained with some pad work. Wisdom shared the video of himself with his trainer in the ring, and looked in mighty impressive nick with a pair of gloves on as he imitated the legendary boxer. And the Liverpool defender, who is currently on loan at West Brom, captioned it with 'Big up mike for the sessions past few days helping me get my Tyson on.' West Brom defender Andre Wisdom shows his power in the ring with some pad work . Wisdom looked in impressive nick in the video he uploaded of him training in a punching session . Wisdom is keeping himself in shape as he finds himself outside of Baggies boss Tony Pulis' plans. The 21-year-old defender was virtually an ever-present during the early part of the season under Alan Irvine, but has fallen out of favour since his departure, being omitted from their last seven Premier League games. Wisdom also has 10 caps for the Under-21 side, but hasn't featured for them since 2013. 21-year-old defender Wisdom is currently on loan at West Brom from Liverpool for the season . But Wisdom (centre) has found himself on the sidelines in recent times under new boss Tony Pulis . +Serious injuries to Ben Foster and Fraser Forster have rocked the England squad and Roy Hodgson made no attempt to pretend otherwise. ‘We thought we had three top-class goalkeepers and now we only have one,’ said the England boss. It probably wasn’t what Rob Green and Jack Butland wanted to hear, but at least he was honest. ‘We were devastated,’ said Hodgson, when asked about Forster, who could be out for the rest of the year after surgery to mend a broken knee-cap. Joe Hart is England's only remaining 'world class' keeper after the injuries to Ben Foster and Fraser Forster . Rob Green (centre) returned to the England squad with Hart (left) and Jack Butland (right) Roy Hodgson said: 'We thought we had three top-class goalkeepers and now we only have one’ ‘I’ve been in touch but there’s not much you can do to cheer him up. It’s the same with Ben Foster, who will be out for the rest of the season and a good way into next. 'It is a good opportunity for every goalkeeper in the country to show me what they can do. In the past we thought people were hard to replace but others came along.’ Forster, 27, was hurt when he collided with Burnley's Sam Vokes while clearing the ball in Southampton's 2-0 win on Saturday. It's estimated he could be out of action for between nine months and a year. Roger East checks on Forster after the clash with Burnley's Sam Vokes that could put him out for a year . Southampton's in-form keeper Forster was carried off the pitch on a stretcher on Saturday . West Brom's Foster will be out for six months after surgery found he had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament. The injury in the Baggies' victory over Stoke was initially thought to be cartilage damage but an exploratory operation found it to be much worse. QPR's Green has been called up for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday and friendly against Italy on Tuesday, joining England Under 21's first-choice Jack Butland. England's No 1 Joe Hart, the remaining 'world class' keeper for Hodgson, admitted that the injuries to Foster and Forster hit the England camp hard but backs Green to step into the void. West Brom's Ben Foster was also forced out of the England squad with an anterior cruciate ligament injury . Foster will be out for a month with the knee injury that paves the way for Green to join the England squad . 'I was gutted for Ben and Fraser. It’s really, really sad news. It has rocked us all as a goalkeeping group and rocked all the lads in the squad because they are great guys and they are having a great season,' the Manchester City keeper said. 'But Greeny has come in and hopefully he can profit. He did brilliant in the Championship last year. I remember watching him in the play-off final, when he was man of the match for me. QPR are in a bad position but he has been fantastic this season. 'Greeny is rock solid. His mentality is great. And he is a very good goalkeeper who has been playing at the top level for a long time. There are no surprises.' +Wales striker Robert Earnshaw has announced his retirement from international football as he moves to the MLS. Earnshaw, who won 58 caps, made the announcement after signing a one-year deal for Major League Soccer side Vancouver Whitecaps. The 33-year-old scored 16 goals for Wales - ranking him joint sixth on the country's all-time list of scorers with Cliff Jones and Mark Hughes - and won his last cap in a 2-0 friendly home defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina in August 2012. Robert Earnshaw has retired from international football after scoring 16 goals in 58 caps for Wales . Earnshaw has represented his country for over a decade, but hasn't been picked for the side since 2012 . 'It has been a dream come true to have the opportunity to walk out in front of the whole nation and represent Wales in so many important games,' Earnshaw told the official Whitecaps website. 'I am honoured and proud to play for my country for over a decade. I am also extremely thankful for the support I've received over the years from all my Welsh team-mates,coaches, and staff and will be forever grateful because I know I've been in a position that millions dream of. 'I gave it my all in every minute and shared all the jubilations of scoring goals with the people of Wales. The pleasure has truly been all mine.' Earnshaw battles with Brazilian defender Edmilson during a friendly at White Hart Lane in 2006 . The striker scored 12 Premier League goals for West Brom, including this one against Manchester United . Earnshaw celebrates a Wales goal with Craig Bellamy, but has called time on his international career . Zambia-born Earnshaw made his name at Cardiff after growing up in nearby Caerphilly and scored over 100 goals for the Bluebirds before moving on to West Brom, Norwich, Derby and Nottingham Forest for transfer fees totalling over £12.5million. Earnshaw, who was renowned for his somersault goal-scoring celebration, later returned for a second spell at Cardiff and has had previous MLS experience at Toronto and Chicago Fire as well as playing in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv. On the international front Earnshaw earned cult status by netting a debut winner against Germany in May 2002 and scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory over Scotland nearly two years later. +David Forde is set to continue as first-choice goalkeeper for the Republic of Ireland in Sunday’s Euro Championship qualifier against Poland in Dublin. Despite Shay Given’s eagerness to return to the frontline again, Ireland manager Martin O’Neill is reluctant to jettison Forde at this critical stage of the qualifiers. The Millwall shotstopper has been rock solid since O’Neill took charge and has also kept two clean sheets against Poland in previous games. David Forde (second right) is set to keep his place in goal for Ireland against Poland on Sunday . Aston Villa No 2 keeper Shay Given trains earlier this week as Forde watches on behind him . The squad worked on set-piece shape behind closed doors at Aviva Stadium on Wednesday where the indications pointed to Forde as the last line of defence against the Poles, ahead of Given. Forde, who is set to win his 24th cap, was watched by O’Neill on club duty last weekend. He was given a vote of confidence by the manager before the Euro 2016 qualifiers kicked off against Georgia last September, even though Given had been recalled. O’Neill faces another massive call regarding Robbie Keane, Ireland’s record goalscorer and most capped player. Keane, who was stationed by the manager’s side in Wednesday’s squad photo shoot, is pushing for a recall after his shock omission against the Scots last November. O’Neill feels Keane is a lot fresher than he was four months ago and will be aware of the need for Ireland to score on Sunday at the Aviva. Martin O'Neill must also decide whether to pick LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane . Ireland's leading goalscorer Keane Celebrates after scoring against Houston Dynamo last Saturday . Keane, 34, has scored four goals in his last two starts at the stadium. After yesterday’s rest day, O’Neill will be keen to assess the fitness of James McClean, Glenn Whelan and Stephen Ward at training in Malahide today before finalising his strategy to face the Poles, with Forde likely to retain the No 1 jersey. McClean (ankle) hasn’t trained since shipping a knock in training on Monday while Ward (ankle) has been on the easy list all week — both players have been first choice on the left flank for O’Neill. Whelan, sorely missed against the Scots in . Glasgow, had a tight hamstring but is expected to be fine. Meanwhile, O’Neill and assistant Roy Keane were on hand last night as the Irish U21s edged out Andorra 1-0 at the RSC in Waterford last night. Dylan Connolly’s 31st-minute goal separated the sides in the opening 2017 Euro qualifier. +The international break is usually a time for Premier League managers to clear their thoughts, regroup and kick on for the rest of the season. But with the summer transfer window fast approaching, scouting has gone into overdrive and several top clubs have players lined up for bids in June. So, with most nations in action over in the next week, Sportsmail takes a look at where you can find your next potential star. Borussia Dortmund is one of several possible Premier League signings in action over the next week . Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia) ARGENTINA vs El Salvador, Ecuador . The Valencia defender has been linked with a switch to Manchester United, though it will cost Louis van Gaal £37million to meet his buy-out clause. Argentina play two international friendlies before the Copa America starts this summer, and should be expected to turn on the style. Nicolas Otamendi is a Manchester United transfer target but Valencia won't let the defender go on the cheap . Memphis Depay (PSV), Stefan De Vrij (Lazio) HOLLAND vs Turkey, Spain . Manchester United and Tottenham are both watching PSV winger Depay, while De Vrij was watched by a Red Devils scout when Lazio beat Hellas Verona at the weekend. Holland are looking to recover in their qualification for Euro 2016, before a high-profile friendly against Vicente Del Bosque's Spain side. Can they repeat their World Cup win? Memphis Depay is enjoying a fine season with club and country and Tottenham Hotspur retain an interest . Man United scouts watched Lazio defender Stefan de Vrij in action against Hellas Verona on Saturday . Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kiev), Yevhen Konoplyanka (Dnipro) UKRAINE vs Spain, Latvia . Liverpool have been tracking this duo, who are still both plying their trade in their native country. The Reds came within whiskers from signing Konoplyanka at the end of the January transfer window last season. With his contract expiring this summer, the qualifier with Spain and friendly against Latvia will be a good chance to impress. Yevhen Konoplyanka (right) was minutes away from joining Liverpool during last January's transfer window . Andriy Yarmolenko will also be in action for Ukraine this week and is another Premier League target . Danilo (Porto) BRAZIL vs France, Chile . Real Madrid are thought to be the favourites to the sign the Porto right back, who has shunted Dani Alves out of the side and been compared to Cafu. But Manchester United still hold a firm interest in him, and he is expected to start in the glamour friendly in Paris on Thursday night. Danilo has been compared to Cafu with the Brazilian national team and has ousted Dani Alves from the squad . Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) GERMANY vs Australia, Georgia . Mats Hummels is set to leave Dortmund. Could Louis van Gaal finally prise away the captain he has been after? United will be one of many clubs holding a firm eye on Germany's friendly with Australia on Wednesday evening, as well as the qualifier against Georgia. Mats Hummels is set to leave Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United could pay the £36million fee . Yacine Brahimi (Porto) ALGERIA vs Qatar, Oman . Yacini Brahimi has been a driving force for Porto this season, and was a star at the World Cup with unfancied African nation Algeria last summer. Mancehester City are thought to be admirers, and Brahimi will be in action in the two friendlies in the Middle East. Yacine Brahimi is enjoying a fine season with Porto and is the Algeria national team's star man . Kevin de Bruyne (Wolfsburg) BELGIUM vs Cyprus, Israel . Bayern Munich are thought to be the frontrunners for the former Chelsea midfielder now shining at Wolfsburg, but could Jose Mourinho be tempted to go back in for De Bruyne? The Belgians host Cyprus in a Euro qualifier on Saturday, before a friendly away at Israel three days later. Kevin de Bruyne (second right) has most recently been linked with a move to Bayern Munich . Aleksandar Dragovic (Dynamo Kiev) AUSTRIA vs Liechtenstein, Bosnia-Herzegovina . A highly-rated centre back, Dynamo Kiev are resigned to losing Dragovic to one of the top European clubs. Arsenal are interested, but Liverpool and Everton could also place a bid this summer. Fancy watching him in action? Aleksander Dravovic is a promising defender and will be in action for Austria over the international break . William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon) PORTUGAL vs Serbia, Cape Verde Islands . The Carvalho saga continues. The holding midfielder is an ever-present in an impressive Sporting Lisbon side, but Premier League clubs are yet to take a risk with the youngster. Now shining for his national side too, he'll be in action against Serbia and the Cape Verde Islands. William Carvalho continues to be linked with several of the Premier League's top clubs . Jackson Martinez (Porto) COLOMBIA vs Bahrain, Kuwait . Another man impressing in Portugal, club side Porto say the poacher can leave if a suitable offer comes in. The Colombia star has lavished praise on Arsenal in the past, and there may be scouts watching as the South American nation play two friendlies in the far-east. Jackson Martinez has admitted in the past that a move to Arsenal from Porto would interest him . +Dave Bassett and Wally Downes are to set the record straight about the glory days at Wimbledon after agreeing to write a book about the club’s incredible rise through the Football League. Bassett claimed that the Crazy Gang had been misrepresented in a 90 minute BT Sport documentary - which won an award at the Sports Journalists’ Association dinner on Monday - screened late last year. Bassett, who was manager of the Dons between 1981 and 1987 and his former player Downes are working in collaboration on the new book. Wimbledon manager Dave Bassett pictured with his team back in 1985 . John Fashanu (left) and Wally Downes hug Vinnie Jones during a 1986 match with Sheffield Wednesday . The Crazy Gang's crowning glory came when they beat Liverpool to win the FA Cup in 1988 . They started work on the project on Wednesday and the book is expected to be released towards the end of the year. Bassett, who won four promotions with the Dons and took them into the old First Division, is wounded by the portrayal of the Crazy Gang as a team of thugs who would go to any lengths to beat the opposition. On Monday night, the documentary maker’s acceptance speech included a reference to Bassett’s trenchant views on the content of the film. In the documentary Vinnie Jones claimed he was the leader of the dressing room and John Fashanu had his own colourful version of events on the club’s rise through the divisions. Now Bassett and Downes, who also took part in the documentary, will have their extended say in the forthcoming book. +18-year-old Edryd James has apologised to rugby referee Nigel Owens for sending him a homophobic tweet following England's Six Nations victory against France, Dyfed Powys Police have revealed. The pair met as part of an Agreed Community Resolution during which James apologised for the offence he had caused. An official statement from the Dyfed Powys Police read: 'Rugby referee Nigel Owens has met face to face with the 18-year-old from Cynwyl Elfed who sent him a homophobic tweet after the recent England v France Six Nations match. Nigel Owens (pictured speaking to England's fly-half George Ford) took charge of Saturday's Six Nations match between England and France . Welsh rugby fan Edryd James has apologised to Owens following a police investigation after homophobic abuse was posted from his Twitter account . 'As part of an agreed Adult Community Resolution, the male apologised to Mr Owens for the offence he had caused at a meeting held at Carmarthen Police Station on Wednesday, March 25. 'An Adult Community Resolution is an alternative way of resolving crimes allowing victims to be involved in deciding how the offender can be dealt with by choosing from a list of out-of-court options. 'The victim must agree to deal with the offence that way and the offender must admit the offence and agree to participate in the process.' Inspecter Stuart Bell added: 'I am satisfied that this matter has been effectively resolved by Dyfed Powys Police with an outcome that was satisfactory for both parties. The person responsible realises his mistake and I’m sure he will have learned from this experience. 'Dyfed Powys Police will not tolerate discrimination of any kind and the public need to realise that if offensive comments are made on social media, they are not above the law and we will investigate the matter as we would any other.' James was in the eye of a storm of controversy after the short message appeared on his account on Saturday evening. The Swansea University student is suspected of posting: ‘Your a gay c*** awful performance against france tonight, how did england top Wales?’ The comment sparked hundreds of replies in which rugby fans of all colours said it was disgraceful and voiced their support for Owens. But James, who lives with his family in Cynwyl Elfed, near Carmarthen, West Wales, claimed his phone had been stolen and he was not responsible. The teenager, who describes himself online in Welsh as a ‘Welshman who enjoys life’, has posted many other comments about his love of rugby and heavy drinking sessions. His mother Meiner James, 58, told the Daily Mail she was ‘aware something has happened’ and said she was ‘trying to get to the bottom of it’. Owens, once named as gay sports personality of the year, was encouraged by many other internet users to report the abuse while others said he should ignore it. The veteran referee – who came out seven years ago – was generally praised for his control of England’s 55-35 victory over France. James, 18, was in the eye of a storm of controversy after the short message appeared on his account on Saturday evening . Owens, who came out as gay seven years ago, replied to the tweet and it was later reported to the police . Among those who spoke out for him were former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies, Will Carling and Wasps fly-half Andy Goode. Owens later tweeted: ‘An absolute pleasure & privilege to ref one of the best games of rugby ever. Huge credit to England & France for making it a great game.’ It was the first time Owens had taken charge at Twickenham since he received homophobic abuse from the stands during England’s 24-21 defeat to New Zealand in the autumn. On that occasion two people were banned from Rugby HQ for two years and ordered to pay £1,000 to a charity of Owens’ choice. Rugby referee Nigel Owens has met face to face with the 18-year-old from Cynwyl Elfed who sent him a homophobic tweet after the recent England v France Six Nations match. As part of an agreed Adult Community Resolution, the male apologised to Mr Owens for the offence he had caused at a meeting held at Carmarthen Police Station on Wednesday, March 25. An Adult Community Resolution is an alternative way of resolving crimes allowing victims to be involved in deciding how the offender can be dealt with by choosing from a list of out-of-court options. The victim must agree to deal with the offence that way and the offender must admit the offence and agree to participate in the process. Inspector Stuart Bell said: 'I am satisfied that this matter has been effectively resolved by Dyfed Powys Police with an outcome that was satisfactory for both parties. The person responsible realises his mistake and I’m sure he will have learned from this experience. 'Dyfed Powys Police will not tolerate discrimination of any kind and the public need to realise that if offensive comments are made on social media, they are not above the law and we will investigate the matter as we would any other.' Trolls who post racist, homophobic and threatening abuse have been dealt with extremely harshly in other high profile cases. Police forces are keen to show that comments made online are as damaging as those made to someone’s face in the street. Last year a Twitter troll was jailed for 18 weeks for bombarding a Labour MP with abusive messages after she supported a successful campaign to put Jane Austen on the £10 note. Peter Nunn, 33, from Bristol, retweeted ‘menacing' posts threatening to rape Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, and branded her a 'witch'. Last month Twitter’s chief executive admitted that the company ‘sucks at dealing with abuse and trolls’ in a leaked memo. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Mikel Arteta has taken his first steps towards management by offering his services to Arsenal's academy. The Gunners skipper took the club's Under-13s training session at their Hale End academy on Wednesday night. The Spaniard is understood to be taking his coaching badges, with sessions such as last night a key component of Arteta's training. Mikel Arteta, who has returned to training following injury, has been working with Arsenal's youth teams . Arteta is understood to be undertaking his coaching badges as he looks to learn from Arsene Wenger . Gunners legend Thierry Henry is also taking training sessions at Hale End as he looks to complete his UEFA coaching. Arteta has recently returned to full training following a five month injury lay-off owing to calf and ankle problems. He is expected to be available selection in two weeks. The Arsenal captain is out of contract in the summer, but the club are hopeful he will extend his deal . Arteta, whose only goal this season came from the spot against Anderlecht, hasn't played since November . The Spaniard lifts the Community Shield at the beginning of this season, to add to last season's FA Cup . The midfielder's contract expires at the end of the season and is yet to pen new terms. He had been offered a new 12 month contract, but the club are yet to confirm whether Arteta has accepted the extension. However, the Gunners are confident he'll agree to the deal and stay for at least another season. +Roy Hodgson dismissed the failure of any Premier League club to reach the Champions League quarter finals this season by saying; 'It's a fact of life, these things happen some times'. The England manager spoke at a press conference on Thursday after announcing his squad ahead of this month's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and friendly with Italy - with a debut call for Tottenham striker Harry Kane being the most notable inclusion. The Three Lions boss was asked if he was concerned that no English team has reached the last eight of Europe's elite competition for the second time in three years - putting pressure on the number of places they will be granted in the future. England manager Roy Hodgson has announced his England squad for Euro 2016 clash with Lithuania . The Three Lions boss claimed not to be concerned by English clubs' failure i Europe this season . Hodgson said that the current problem was 'not endemic' but simply 'these things happen sometimes' 'The Premier League won't want to lose their fourth spot in the competition and the clubs won't want that because the Champions League is a major target for them when they start the season. 'Unfortunately, its a fact of life that if you want your four places, you need to get the points to keep your status high. 'I don't think it's endemic that we've had teams going out. 'Manchester City came up against Barcelona. Arsenal were fantastic in their second game against Monaco but weren't able to turn it around. Chelsea and PSG were unbelievably close in the two games - nobody would have complained should Chelsea have gone through instead of PSG. Manchester City became the last Premier League side out of Europe, losing to Lionel Messi's Barcelona . Hodsgon said that no one would have questioned if Chelsea had come through instead of PSG . Arsenal fought bravely in return leg against Monaco but paid the price for a poor home tie . 'Its a fact of live, these things happen sometimes. There will be other times when all four teams get through and we'l be saying we were a bit lucky because the opponents were just as good. 'Its a very high standard of football. I feel sorry for the mangers going into these games because we can underestimate the quality of teams in these other leagues and there's no God given right to get through. 'The Premier League is is a great league, we have great teams and great players but that doesn't give us a right to win against other teams from other countries. 'Unfortunately, we've experienced that once again to our cost.' Wayne Rooney will lead his side back into action in Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on March 27 . The Premier League's leading English scorer Harry Kane was given his first England call up . Goalkeepers . Fraser Forster (Southampton) Joe Hart (Manchester City) Defenders . Leighton Baines (Everton) Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) Phil Jagielka (Everton) Phil Jones (Manchester United) Luke Shaw (Manchester United) Chris Smalling (Manchester United) Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) Midfielders . Ross Barkley (Everton) Michael Carrick (Manchester United) Fabian Delph (Aston Villa) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Adam Lallana (Liverpool) James Milner (Manchester City) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur) Theo Walcott (Arsenal) Forwards . Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) +On an evening when cross-city rivals Manchester City were sent crashing out of Europe, United record signing Angel di Maria resisted revelling in their exit to take a stroll with wife Jorgelina Cardoso. The reigning Premier League champions failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the fourth consecutive season - losing 1-0 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona at the Nou Camp, although without City keeper Joe Hart the scoreline would have been more damaging. Di Maria and his wife have endured a difficult introduction to Manchester after a failed attempt to burgle their home while the family, including young daughter Mia, were inside saw them leave in search of safer accommodation. Angel di Maria and wife Jorgelina Cardoso take a walk around Manchester on Wednesday evening . The Argentina ace would have missed local rivals Manchester City being dumped out of Europe . City failed to reach the Champions League last eight after being beaten by Lionel Messi and Barcelona . Things on the pitch have been equally challenging for the 27-year-old who has struggled for form in recent months and was suspended for United's 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, where Louis van Gaal's side arguably delivered their best performance of the season. Di Maria will be available for United's eagerly anticipated clash with Liverpool on Sunday as both teams compete for a top-four finish that will bring Champions League football next season. However, former Old Trafford captain Bryan Robson believes the manager faces a decision over whether to bring his £60million record signing straight back into the team. Di Maria had been struggling with a loss of form before being sent off in United's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal . Di Maria missed United's impressive win over Spurs, which included Wayne Rooney's classic goal celebration . Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said: 'It is a big call for Louis van Gaal. 'You have to look at the situation. Certain away games are a lot tougher than your home matches. You go for more attacking flair in a home game whilst away you do try and get more of a balance where you have defensive security and then you counter attack. 'Angel has had ups and downs. Like everybody else he has had some periods when he's played really well and then some poor performances. He is no different to anybody else. 'It has taken him time to settle into the English game, getting used to the manager and his formations. Foreign players do need time. And on occasions a chance to watch from the stands is not a bad thing. Manager Louis van Gaal (right) faces a tough decision over whether to bring Di Maria back into the team . United legend Bryan Robson (right) claims that foreign players need time to settle into the Premier League . +The mouth-watering prospect of the Clasico at the Nou Camp does put the Premier League into perspective in a week of European failure. On Sunday night we have Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema against Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi. Meanwhile our own version of a clasico wil be taking place at Anfield — but no club in the Premier League has a forward line like those in Spain. Increasingly we’re a stepping stone to better things, having lost Bale and Suarez to Spain. What is obvious, however, is that the failure in the Champions League was not a failure of English clubs. It was a failure of clubs with owners from Abu Dhabi, the USA and Russia. In those Champions League games there were five English players in the three starting XIs. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jnr will be in action for Barcelona on Sunday night . Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema will be hoping to fire Real Madrid to victory in the Clasico . Fernandinho was signed by Manchester City for £35million from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 . Manchester City became the last English team to be knocked out of the Champions League last week . Manchester City's players leave the Nou Camp looking glum after being eliminated by Barcelona . Tottenham's Ryan Mason has enjoyed an impressive season after breaking into the first team . And the managers were from Chile, France and Portugal. The Premier League may be failing but it’s not its Englishness letting it down. So now that even a huge influx of global thinking and talent at both executive and playing level at football clubs has failed, perhaps we can rethink the premise that we need to keep bringing in players and directors from abroad. Of course, there will always be room for the best imports. But you can’t tell me Fernandinho is a better player and better prospect than Ryan Mason. They do a similar job, the only difference being he is a £35million transfer and therefore deemed worthy of a place at a top-four club. It’s time to ensure that some of the proposals from the FA commission, which I sat on, come into place, not least the tightening up of work permits on foreign imports so that only the best from outside the European Union can play here. We’re failing in Europe anyway so the Premier League need to ensure we’re not forever looking overseas for solutions. +Former World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane is among seven French coaches to have taken advantage of the international break in order to head to German champions Bayern Munich for a three-day visit. The group comprises Zidane, assistant coach of Real Madrid's B team, Girondins Bordeaux boss Willy Sagnol, former Bastia manager Claude Makelele, Guy Lacombe, Bernard Diomede, Claude Le Roy and Franck Thivilier. Sagnol played for Bayern from 2000 to 2009 but Zidane, a triple World Player of the Year and 1998 World Cup winner, is the highest-profile of the visitors. Zinedine Zidane has travelled to bayern Munich in his role as head coach of Real Madrid Castilla . The French coaches will be taking tips from Bayern boss Pep Guardiola during training sessions . The seven met chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Monday and will monitor training under Spaniard Pep Guardiola on Tuesday and Wednesday, Bayern said. The Bavarians are enjoying one of the most successful spells in their 115-year history, having won the Champions League once and reached the final twice more in the past five seasons. They are also on track for a repeat of the 2013 treble, 10 points clear in the Bundesliga and still in contention for German Cup and Champions League glory. Bayern are also flush with cash. Turnover in the last fiscal year was in excess of £366million and they have also paid off their Allianz Arena stadium ahead of time. Former Bayern Munich defender and coach of Bordeaux Willy Sagnol is also visiting Munich . +Arsenal defender Gabriel is hoping his late call-up to Dunga's Brazil squad will prove to be a valuable opportunity to further improve his game. The central defender was a late addition to the Brazil national team, coming in for Paris Saint-Germain duo David Luiz and Marquinhos who withdrew because of injury. Gabriel will feel right at home if he is chosen to start the game against Chile as it takes place at the Emirates Stadium and the 24-year-old is hoping it will be the first of many caps. Arsenal defender Gabriel hopes call-up to Dunga's Brazil squad will help him improve his game at Arsenal . Gabriel views for the ball with Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez at St James' Park on Saturday . He told the Arsenal website: 'I am very happy with the news, and it is a dream for any player to wear the shirt of your country. 'I'll play the best possible way. It is a valuable opportunity and I hope that is the first call of many. 'It will be an incentive for me to continue working hard at Arsenal. It will not be easy, because the Brazilian team has great quality, but I will work hard to get my place in the team.' +Islamic State miltiants threatened to give anyone caught watching last Sunday's Real Madrid versus Barcelona match 80 lashes. The militant group has imposed a strict ban against any entertainment including music and football which it considers a 'product of the decadent West.' Clerics issued the edict across all the Isis-held territories in Syria and Northern Iraq, including the city of Mosul which has been governed as per the strict dictates of Sharia since it was taken under Isis control in June. Islamic State banned anyone watching the Real Madrid versus Barcelona football match last Sunday (pictured is Luis Suarez celebrating his goal at the game) It is not yet known if anyone was caught watching El Clasico in which Barcelona secured a 2-1 win over Real Madrid with Luis Suarez's second-half winner. A Kudistan Democratic Party source told The Sun: 'IS prohibits watching and playing any sport, particularly football as it seen as a product of the decadent West.' In January, Isis militants executed 13 teenage boys for watching the Asian Cup football match between Iraq and Jordan last week. The young football fans had been caught watching the game on television in Mosul, which is controlled by the Islamic State. The teenagers were rounded up and publicly executed by a firing squad using machine guns, anti-ISIS activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reports. Horrifying: ISIS militants rounded up the 13 teenage boys, whose only crime was watching football on television, and executed then by firing squad in Mosul, and Iraqi city under ISIS control (stock image) Crime: The teenagers had been watching this game between Jordan and Iraq in the Asian Cup, which took place in Brisbane, Australia on January 12 . It noted that 'the bodies of the dead boys were left in the open', as ISIS had warned anyone from touching their bodies. Last month the militant group imposed a curfew in the city of Tel Abiad North of Raqqa province, according to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently - a small activist collective which secretly documents the shocking violence and oppression ISIS has brought to their home city. The curfew, from eleven at night until six in the morning, prevented civilians from exiting their houses under any circumstances. +The Spanish press has laid into Real Madrid, and in particular the world's two most expensive players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, after their defeat to Barcelona on Sunday. AS showed a picture of Ronaldo missing from four yards, with the headline 'they missed and they paid for it', while Marca went with Bale's reaction and the line 'so many misses'. Both Madrid-based papers emphasise Real's superiority during the game, with AS claiming they 'dominated while Modric lasted', and attacking Bale for 'failing again'. AS say Real 'missed and they paid for it' while Marca highlight Madrid's dominance and their misses . Marca (left) refused to give Gareth Bale a rating, while AS said his performance was worth only 4.5 out of 10 . Marca went even further, refusing to give the Welshman a mark in their player ratings. He scored 4.5, the lowest of all the players, from AS. Marc were more kind to the rest of the Real players, claiming Madrid 'overwhelmed Barca for 45 minutes, don’t finish them off and end up against the ropes'. Both papers also feature Spaniards playing in England on their front pages, with Juan Mata's spectacular volley at Anfield, and Diego Costa's withdrawal from the Spain squad, making the headlines. However, elsewhere in Spain, in the Barcelona-based papers in particular, the focus was on the gap Luis Enrique's team have opened up at the top of La Liga. Sport label the result a blow to Madrid, while Mundo Deportivo describe it as a 'two-faced Clasico' which saw Barca move four points clear. Mundo Deportivo highlight Barcelona's four point lead at the top of La Liga, while Sport call it a 'blow to Madrid' In Italy the focus was on Carlos Tevez, who scored a stunning goal to keep Juventus winning. The Serie A champions beat Genoa thanks to the former Manchester City and United striker, leading Corriere dello Sport to observe it is 'always Tevez'. Carlos Tevez's goal dominates the front pages in Italy, while Roma's return to winning ways is also mentioned . +The damning thing for Leicester in this match they really needed to win was that there was no cavalry charge, no guns blazing crescendo. Tom Huddlestone was dismissed for second bookable offence with 18 minutes to go but Allan McGregor in the Hull goal had not one meaningful save to make as the clock ticked down. In fact, it was Mark Schwarzer who had to be alert. In the final minute he reacted expertly to stop an Abel Hernandez shot following a quickly-taken free-kick by Dame N’Doye. Had that gone in, the obituaries on Leicester’s Premier League life could have been signed off. Hull City's Tom Huddlestone (right) looks on in disbelief as referee Jonathan Moss gets out the red card to send off the midfielder . Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone (right) is shown the red card for a challenge on Leicester's Jamie Vardy . Huddlestone's team-mate Jake Livermore is in despair after Hull were reduced to ten men in the second-half . LEICESTER CITY (3-5-2): Schwarzer 6.5; Morgan 6 (Nugent 84’), Huth 6, Upson 6; De Laet 5 (Lawrence 76’), Mahrez 6, James 6.5, Cambiasso 6.5, Schlupp 6; Vardy 7, Kramaric 4 (Ulloa 61’ 6) Subs not used: Schmeichel, Drinkwater, King, Wasilewski, Nugent . HULL CITY: McGregor 6; Dawson 6, Bruce 6, McShane 6; Elmohamady 6, Livermore 6, Huddlestone 5.5, Ramirez 6 (Hernandez 85’), Robertson 6 (Meyler 77’); Jelavic 5 (Quinn 78’), N’Doye 6.5 . Subs not used:  Figueroa, Davies, Hernandez, Harper, Aluko . Booked: Huddlestone sent off, Robertson, Dawson, Bruce . Referee: Jonathan Moss . MOTM: Vardy . Attendance: 31, 456 . Here is Hull City's Michael Dawson's heat map. CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE . A goalless draw does not do a huge amount to avert that likely narrative. Leicester are seven points from safety, even if Sunderland are dropping like a stone having played a game more. Leicester’s match in hand is against Chelsea. Martin O’Neill was at the King Power Stadium as a guest of the club he served so well in two League Cup triumphs. This season is heading for a more sombre conclusion to those heady days. Nigel Pearson is realistic, knowing uncommon improvement is needed immediately. ‘We’ve got ten games left, six at home, we probably need to win five,’ he said having seen his side win only four times all campaign. ‘When the pressure was on us to go and create I don’t think we did. We were laboured.’ Steve Bruce was disappointed at a different aspect, the clamour for a card from Leicester players when Alex Bruce tackled Riyad Mahrez in the second half. The ball was won but referee Jon Moss produced a yellow, soon after erring similarly in booking Craig Dawson. Leicester City keeper Mark Schwarzer punches clear as Dame N'Doye of Hull and Ritchie De Laet of the Foxes vie for the ball . ‘There is a raging debate about Chelsea in midweek. I’ve seen everybody surround Alex for a red card for his challenge. For me it is a perfectly decent challenge I would expect a centre-half to make,’ said Bruce. ‘If we’re going to go down the route of every other league jumping around, whinging, trying to get people yellow cards and red cards. For me it’s not right.’ When a game begins with six centre-halves on the pitch there is a reasonable assumption goals will be in short supply. Jake Livermore of Hull attempts to keep possession at the King Power Stadium under pressure from Leicester's Esteban Cambiasso . Leicester matched Hull in a 3-5-2 formation, with half a dozen genuine defenders concentrating solely on keeping the ball away from danger. They did their jobs well, in a contest that began so short on opportunities or entertainment mass narcolepsy was an entirely possible outcome. It took Leicester until 62 minutes to register a shot on target, and even that was a mishit cross by Jamie Vardy, requiring a palm over from McGregor. Hull were only marginally better, but should have gone ahead in the 20th minute only for Nikica Jelavic to get himself in a terrible tangle. In a contender for miss of the season, he failed to put boot to ball from six yards with the net open. Huddlestone chipped the ball over the backline of blue shirts to find Ahmed Elmohamady sprinting clear, having timed his run perfectly to stay onside. The Egyptian squared the ball to take out Schwarzer but Jelavic failed badly. Six minutes later he did have the ball in the back of the net. But Moss had already blown for a foul on Schwarzer by N’Doye. Leicester’s best opening of the first-half came in the 34th minute when Mahrez delivered a wicked cross that bent into the area in front of Andrej Kramaric. But the £9million striker was either caught on his heels or disinclined to make the leap required to meet the ball and it drifted wide. Tom Huddlestone puts in a robust challenge on Leicester City striker Andrej Kramaric during the Premier League clash on Saturday . Referee Jonathan Moss hands out the yellow card to Hull City defender Alex Bruce (left) as tempers threatened to boil over . This was a bad game for Kramaric, unable to affect it in any way and he was hooked for Leonardo Ulloa after an hour. Soon after Jelavic headed over from a corner by Gaston Ramirez. That is when Leicester began to make a more concerted effort to win three points rather than one. Vardy was a nuisance all match for the Hull defenders, his pace and energy unsettling. It was he who stretched his legs down the left before cutting in and forcing Huddlestone into a foul he wished not to make. He tried to back out of it but the contact sent Vardy to the floor. Abel Hernandez of Hull City has his head in his hands after a missed chance to fire the Tigers into the lead at the King Power Stadium . Moss, soon after dishing out two wholy incorrect bookings for ‘fouls’ by Dawson and Bruce, got this yellow right. From the free-kick Jeff Schlupp struck a shot that was heading in until Ulloa inadvertently blocked. With the man advantage Leicester pressed but without cultivating anything to truly worry Bruce. The crowd willed the ball in for the final few minutes but boos greeted the final whistle. This felt like a fatal opportunity missed. +Nigel Pearson has been caught on camera appearing to swear at a journalist after taking issue with a line of questioning. The Leicester City manager was picked up on microphone seeming to call the reporter a ‘p****’ under his breath as his press conference following the 0-0 draw with Hull City ended. Pearson was annoyed about a question over Steve Bruce’s claim Leicester’s players crowded referee Jon Moss in an attempt to get Alex Bruce sent off for a tackle on Riyad Mahrez. VIDEO: Scroll down to watch Nigel Pearson's outburst . Nigel Pearson fixes a reporter with a stare during a tetchy exchange after the draw with Hull . After concluding the press conference, Pearson muttered 'waxing away, my a***' under his breath . He was then further angered by the suggestion his team’s season was ‘waxing or waning’ with ten games left and seven points separating Leicester from safety. ‘Waxing or waning, f****** hell. My a***,’ Pearson is heard saying as he finishes his press conference at the King Power Stadium. As he gets up he appears to utter the word: ‘P****.’ Pearson was irked at his players being accused of intimidating the officials given his stance on such matters. Pearson does not countenance such dark arts. In a December interview he said: 'People who are more cynical-minded might say I’m naive. 'There is a concern at the Premier League about the number of times that is happening. I hope my players don’t start doing it. 'There’s a difference between being streetwise and using intimidation of officials as a vehicle to win. I’d never cheat to win.' He is fiercely protective of his squad and, in any case, replays showed only a couple put their arms up in appeal with the same number of Hull players arguing the opposite. The Leicester manager then seemed to call the journalist a 'p****' for the line of questioning . Pearson looks frustrated during another game where his Leicester side failed to win . It is a third controversial incident for Pearson this season. In December he was banned from the dugout for one game and fined £10,000 for telling a supporter to ‘f*** off and die’ after receiving sustained abuse. In February he was involved in a touchline exchange with James McArthur as the pair fell together. Pearson jokingly throtted the Crystal Palace midfielder then held onto his shirt as he attempted to rejoin play. The next day brought Pearson’s phantom sacking, when Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is believed to have wanted to bring the axe before his son Aiyawatt counselled against. Bruce’s comments ultimately triggered the exchange on Saturday evening. The Hull manager said: ‘There is a raging debate about Chelsea in midweek. I’ve seen everybody surround Alex for a red card for his challenge. ‘For me it is a perfectly decent challenge I would expect a centre-half to make. The reason we enjoy the Premier League is its honesty and integrity and if we’re going to go down the route of every other league jumping around, whinging, trying to get people yellow cards and red cards. For me it’s not right.’ Pearson was asked if he thought it was a fair criticism. ‘No,’ he said, before entering into a tetchy exchange with the journalist which ended with him finishing the press conference in angry fashion, and swearing under his breath. Steve Bruce cited Chelsea in terms of the Leicester players behaved to try and get Alex Bruce sent off… . Did they? Oh very nice. Do you think that’s a fair criticism? No. What’s your take on that situation? I’ve just said no. But what’s your take on a situation where all the players surround a referee? How many times have you seen us play this year? Three times. Well there you are then. You’re not in a position to judge my players on that. I’m not judging anyone. I’m just asking you… . You’ve asked me and I’ve told you. No was the answer. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment. Full stop. Do you consider that Leicester’s season is waxing or waning? I don’t have to use that sort of analogy. We are in the same position. We’ve got ten games left, six games at home, and our home form has to be drastically improved for us to give ourselves the best chance. That’s it. You got any more questions you want to ask? Obviously not. Yep good thank you. Waxing or waning, f****** hell. My a***. P****. Pearson seems to be feeling the pressure as his side remain rooted to the bottom of the table . The Leicester boss was unhappy at a question about his players' behaviour leading to Tom Huddlestone's red . +Leeds will attempt to plunder the points from another smash-and-grab act when they take on Catalans Dragons in Perpignan on Saturday. While the rest of the English Super League clubs spend two or even three nights on their annual trips to the south of France, the Rhinos charter their own plane to get them in and out of the city on the day of the game. It is a move that has paid off so far, with Brian McDermott's men winning on each of their last three trips to the Stade Gilbert Brutus, and the coach believes it could be even more important this time with the hectic Easter programme coming up. Leeds Rhinos boss Brian McDermott set for clash with Catalan Dragons in Perpignan on Saturday . 'There's a lot of meticulous planning involved but it's something we prefer to do and it's a more efficient way of doing it,' McDermott said. 'Sometimes we don't treat our players as robustly as they should be treated, certainly in terms of travel. 'It's worked well for us. I don't think travelling on the day of the game is as detrimental as you would imagine, although I wouldn't do it every single weekend. 'What it does do is help you recover for the following game. The players get to spend the night before they travel in their own bed and on the night of the game they're back in their own bed again, albeit later than normal.' The Dragons have also chartered their own plane for trips to England but they spent last week in Manchester to take in back-to-back away games against the two Hull clubs. Brad Singleton of Leeds Rhinos scores his teams third try of the game against Wigan last week . That exercise can only be described as a failure after Laurent Frayssinous' men lost both games, conceding 83 points in the process, but McDermott expects them to be back to their formidable best back on French soil, where they are unbeaten so far this year. 'I am sure they will be good,' McDermott said. 'They'll be determined to turn things around. Every team has a tussle with them when they go out there.' Saturday's meeting between the clubs will be the first since the Catalans ended Leeds' play-off hopes with a dramatic 24-20 triumph at Headingley last September. Leeds are still without skipper Kevin Sinfield, as well as prop Kylie Leuluai and winger Tom Briscoe, so Liam Sutcliffe, Ash Handley and Andy Yates keep their places following the win over Wigan. Frayssinous recalls half-back Scott Dureau and threequarters Ben Pomeroy - who has completed a one-match ban - and Mathias Pala to take the places of Todd Carney, Vincent Duport and Michael Oldfield, who were all injured in the defeat at Hull FC. +Whisper it, but Salford are starting to resemble genuine play-off contenders after cruising to a resounding 36-8 win over Widnes that lifted them to fourth place in Super League. Booed from the field after their previous Thursday night television appearance resulted in a 52-6 thrashing by St Helens, the Red Devils received a standing ovation this time after running in seven tries against the team that beat them three times in 2014. Close-season signings Cory Paterson, Scott Taylor, Liam Hood and Carl Forster all made a big impact as Marwan Koukash's hefty investment finally showed signs of starting to pay off. Salford Red Devils' Lama Tasi (right) is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring a try against Widnes . Weller Hauraki goes over for a try as Salford record a comfortable Super League victory on Thursday night . The Vikings, who were without seven first-team regulars through injury, were simply no match for their classy hosts and they quickly found themselves 16-0 down. Rangi Chase's clever kick produced a fourth-minute try for winger Ben Jones-Bishop - his fifth in as many games for the Red Devils - and second-rower Weller Hauraki touched down Michael Dobson's punt four minutes later. Josh Griffin converted both to make it 12-0 inside 12 minutes and it got even better for the home side when a break from inside his own half by substitute hooker Hood got Dobson haring for the line. Widnes centre Stefan Marsh got back to haul Dobson down just short of the line but he was sin-binned for holding on and Salford immediately made use of the extra man, with winger Greg Johnson collecting Chase's cut-out pass to score his side's third try. Widnes duo Ben Kavanagh (left) and Manese Mauokafoa attempt to tackle Salford's Josh Griffin . Close-season signing Scott Taylor (right) celebrates after scoring his first try for Salford Red Devils . The Vikings were not as bad as the 16-0 score suggested, however, and they struck back seven minutes before the break when winger Paddy Flynn accepted Rhys Hanbury's pass and wrong-footed full-back Kevin Locke to touch down. Jack Owens kicked the conversion and added a penalty on the stroke of half-time to cut the Red Devils' lead to eight points. Salford thought they had scored again four minutes into the second half when centre Mason Caton-Brown got on the end of Chase's kick but his try was disallowed following closer inspection by the video referee. However, it was all Salford in the third quarter and, producing some of their best rugby of the season, they seized control of the game with two further tries in an ultimately decisive five-minute spell. Greg Johnson scores Salford's third try of the night after collecting a pass from Rangi Chase . Prop Lama Tasi powered his way over from Chase's inside pass before second-rower Paterson jumped into dummy half to get Griffin over at the corner as the Red Devils stretched their lead to 26-8. Widnes' injury problems worsened when Flynn hobbled off after appearing to pull a hamstring in full flight and they conceded two more tries in the final quarter. Paterson collected Dobson's high kick to touch down and former Wigan prop Taylor proved unstoppable from 10 metres out as he registered his first try for the club. +Leeds' England international Tom Briscoe will be sidelined for around three months with a shoulder injury, coach Brian McDermott has confirmed. The 25-year-old former Hull winger, who missed just two matches in his first season with the Rhinos in 2014, will undergo surgery on Saturday after scans revealed the full extent of an injury he has been carrying for a few weeks. 'There's a fair bit of damage in there,' McDermott said. 'He's been good for us so we'll miss him but it gives an opportunity for Ash Handley to get some more game time. Leeds' England international Tom Briscoe will be sidelined for around three months with a shoulder injury . 'He did okay against Wigan. The acid test for Ash will come in the coming weeks to maintain that level.' Handley, 19, made only his second Super League appearance and scored his first try in Leeds' 26-14 win over Wigan last Friday and keeps his spot for the trip to Perpignan to face Catalans Dragons on Saturday, while Liam Sutcliffe will continue to deputise for skipper Kevin Sinfield, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Another England international, Zak Hardaker, keeps his place pending the outcome of an investigation into an assault he committed on a student in Leeds in February. 'At some stage the club will make an announcement,' McDermott said. 'I think it's coming to its conclusion but we're still on with it.' Leeds Rhino coach Brian McDermott admits Briscoe's injury lay-off is a blow for the team . Hardaker was dropped when the incident came to light earlier this month but recalled for the Wigan game and McDermott insists he is right to select the player, who was released by police without charge after paying compensation and issuing an apology to his victim. 'Zak gets paid to do a job,' McDermott added. 'I know there is a sentiment from people out there who say 'why is he still playing?' but to stand Zak down doesn't do him any good. 'If a bricklayer makes an error at work, you don't give him time off. Why would we give Zak Hardaker the time off to live a decent lifestyle where he can do what he wants? 'He has to do a job for us. He is paid to do that job and he will go out and do it. I don't feel that's covering anything up.' +Israel have promised not to kick Gareth Bale off the pitch during their vital Euro 2016 qualifier against Wales. Manager Eli Guttman said his team would instead work as a unit to limit space for the Real Madrid star. Cyprus took chunks out of Bale during October’s Group B game, and he is in the top 10 of most fouled players in qualification with 12. Wales and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale (centre) gets through some speed work on Wednesday . Bale and his Welsh team-mates are gearing up for Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Israel . But Gutman said: ‘We don’t have enough strong players to kick him out. We are going to play as a team, one unit, not to give space. We have to put the players close together on the pitch.’ Bale’s Real team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score against Israel in two games during qualification for last year’s World Cup, with Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Sheran Yeini shackling the Portugal star. But Guttman responded with sarcasm when asked if the trick could be repeated. ‘We called Cristiano to ask how to do the same against Bale but he did not answer, unfortunately,’ he laughed. Israel coach Eli Guttman speaks to the media ahead of Saturday's meeting with Wales . Wales manager Chris Coleman said Bale would cope even if Israel resorted to the rough stuff. ‘He has played most of his football in the Premier League, the most physically demanding in the world,’ said Coleman. ‘He has come through Madrid derbies and Clasicos in Spain. All the focus will be on him but we have a good squad and our strength is our togetherness.’ Bale is set to be handed a free role tonight, after fierce criticism of his form by media and supporters in Madrid. Coleman insisted there had been no mention from Bale of Madrid during the week’s training, however, and his best player was unaffected by the furore. ‘I cannot see any difference in him,’ said Coleman. ‘If I thought it was bothering him, we would have talked about it. We have not mentioned Real Madrid, we have only talked about Wales and this game. He is happy, relaxed and, most importantly, fit.’ +The notorious underarm delivery that created one of the most controversial moments in world cricket history is still hard to revisit after more than three decades. But as Australia and New Zealand go head-to-head in the World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, the underarm bowling incident from 1981 will inevitably come back to haunt. The controversial bowl triggered a cold war between the two nations after the infamous day on February 1 when New Zealand needed six runs with one ball remaining to draw the match. But Aussie skipper Greg Chappell instructed the bowler, who was his younger brother Trevor, to deliver the ball underarm in a bid to prevent batsman Brian McKechnie any chance of hitting a six. Scroll down for video . It was a single bowl that triggered a massive uproar at the time when Aussie bowler delivered an underarm . As the ball gently rolled down the pitch, McKechnie blocked the ball before he tossed his bat to the ground out of anger and disgust. Australia went on to win the match but the hell that followed left the Chappell brothers struggling to cope under the pressure from the backlash. Despite the underarm bowling was not ruled as illegal at the time, it was deemed 'an act of cowardice' and against the true spirit of cricket that cost New Zealand the tournament. Aussie bowler Trevor Chappell, right, bowls underarm to New Zealand batsman Brian McKechnie on the last ball of a one-day international from which New Zealand needed to hit six runs to force a tie . Trevor Chappell bowls under-arm, as ordered by brother Greg at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1981 . But Black Caps fast bowler Tim Southee, who was two-years-old at the time of the underarm incident, said the infamous bowl is rarely mentioned. 'I guess a few of us were too young to remember seeing it but we know it happened,' Southee said at a conference on Friday. 'I haven’t heard too much about the underarm.' While New Zealand prepares ahead of their first ever World Cup final on Sunday, Aussie skipper Michael Clarke has announced his retirement from one-day cricket on the eve of the match. The 33-year-old reached closure on the decision upon realising there was no chance he'd still be leading the side in four years. +He's better known for his fancy footwork on the pitch but Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge took time out of scoring goals to get some kitchen action. The 25-year-old Birmingham lad was taken through his culinary paces by his mother Grace, who taught him how to make her favourite dish ahead of Mother's Day. And like her Reds son, mum Grace is a fan of healthy eating and requested the Kop ace to create a high protein meal of spicy grilled chicken with seasoned quinoa and vegetables. Scroll down for video. Daniel Sturridge and kisses his mother Grace after he successfully cooks spicy chicken with quinoa and vegetables as part of his Mother's Day Challenge . The 25-year-old Birmingham lad in action on the pitch, competing with Alex Baptise of Blackburn Rovers during the FA Cup Quarter Final match on Sunday 8 March . The duo joined forces in the kitchen as part of a Sainsbury's Active Kids event at a school in St Paul's RC Junior School, Liverpool. Daniel, who cooks his own meals every day, told FEMAIL: My mum is amazing, she has provided me with so much support and continues to do so always. 'To spoil my mum I would probably cook her something healthy with a bit of spice to it, fish based maybe. 'Mum loves nice salads and especially avocado, so would definitely include that.' For the challenge the Sainsbury's Active Kids ambassador had to prepare quinoa -  which is a superfood favourite of the family - and marinate the chicken with Grace's home-made spicy 'Sturrcrazy' sauce, made to a secret family recipe. The pair cook together when they can although these days it's becoming rarer. Grace said to FEMAIL: 'When we can we like to cook together, but it doesn't happen so often these days, as Daniel lives away from home. Mother and son work together and start off by seasoning the chicken with a mixture of spices . As the chicken marinades the pair chop the vegetables and prepare the rest of the meal . What was Daniel like as a child? Daniel has always been really active, he played football in and out of school. At home he would play out whatever the weather! Because of his naturally active lifestyle, he always loved meal times and eating Afro-Caribbean food. As our family were all sporty and active, it was natural for us to promote healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Does he still have the same tastes? Yes still loves it, amongst other things! But Daniel loves anything with spice to it. What is his favourite food? I would say he has two favourite dishes, fish and chicken. The white meat is full of protein so is really good for him and he loves to be able to make both chicken and fish in to spicy dishes, which is why he loves our family's Sturr Crazy sauce. If he was cooking for you, what would he cook? Probably salmon with sweet potatoes and garlic thyme chopped up and cooked in the oven. It's quite an easy dish to make and it's really tasty. He would probably make a side salad with rocket, tomatoes and lots of avocado, he knows I love avocado! What does Daniel mean to you? All of the family are so proud of what Daniel has achieved so far, he gave up so much as a child and we are just so happy that he is achieving his dream, as parents you couldn't wish for more than that for your children! But she still tries to get her family together at weekends. 'Every Sunday we still try and get together as a family and have a typical Afro-Caribbean lunch of spicy meat, rice and peas. 'We love getting together and think it's important to spend that time together,' she continued. Famous for being a proponent of superfoods after his 2014 calf injury saw him miss 13 matches, Daniel now incorporates as much nutrient-packed foods into his diet as he can. 'It's important for me to make sure that I eat a healthy balanced diet as obviously I'm training every day,'he said. 'I do enjoy cooking and I look forward to my dinner each night.' His favourite meal to cook is 'salmon, kale, sweet potato, broccoli and quinoa' which he covers in Sturr Crazy sauce. 'I have it on everything,'he said. 'It adds that perfect amount of spice to a dish; I even took some out to the World Cup with me.' A typical day will see him pack away three scrambled eggs with berries for breakfast whilst lunch and dinner are heavy on protein-rich foods . 'Lunch and dinner could be quite similar to each other with something like quinoa, with perhaps chicken or fish [as] they are both great for recovery and full of protein,' he said. 'On the side I would have broccoli, spinach, lots of steamed veg. I also drink a lot of white tea and moringa tea throughout the day,' he continued. So far so healthy, but doesn't he have any guilty food secrets? 'I'm pretty good with my diet to be honest, I love healthy food which helps and it is something I have worked on for years. But every now and then you need something sweet, which is fine, but all in moderation,' he said. And does he dance in the kitchen when he's successfully cooked a meal? 'Haha I leave the dancing for on the pitch,' he laughed. Tara Hewitt, Head of Sponsorship for Sainsbury's said: 'It was great to see Daniel and Grace cooking together at the event; they clearly have a passion for great tasting, healthy food.' Result! Daniel and Grace with the finished meal, spicy chicken served with quinoa and steamed veg . Ingredients: Four chicken thighs (skin and boneless); 220g quinoa; four spring onions; one sweet red pepper; two cloves fresh garlic; four medium carrots; one broccoli floret; four spears of asparagus; black pepper, all spice, paprika; dark soy sauce; olive oil . Mehod: Season the chicken with all spice, black pepper, paprika and dark soy sauce and leave to marinate overnight. Pre-heat the oven to 400*F and back chicken for approx 30 mins until golden and cooked through. Splash on some SturrCrazy sauce (or other spicy condiment) and return to the oven for five minutes. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and place on a high heat with a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil then turn down to simmer for 20 mins until steamed and fluffy then set aside. Whilst the quinoa is steaming, finely chop the onions a quarter of the sweet pepper, two cloves of garlic and pan fry with a splash of olive oil, pepper and season all. Empty and toss the cooked quinoa in with the onions and mix together, adding more seasoning if needed. Peel and chop the carrots, chop the broccoli, trim the asparagus and steam in a pan for five minutes until tender before plating up. +Dozens of female soldiers have taken part in a beauty parade to mark International Women's Day. The women, from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, swapped their combats for floor-length dresses as hundreds of people gathered to admire their natural beauty. The stunning set of photographs captured the nerves backstage as well as the excitement of walking the catwalk. All of the models looked overjoyed after the event and were given flowers to mark the occasion. International Women's Day is on March 8. The first was held in 1911 and thousands of events occur across the world to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. Glamarous: Dozens of female soldiers have taken part in a beauty parade in Donetsk to mark International Women's Day . Soldiers: The women, from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, swapped their combats for floor-length dresses . The stunning gowns feature intricate detailing on the back and range in colour from black to silver to red . Several of the women, who have just had their hair done, peek through a door while they wait for the previous round to finish . The first International Women's Day was held in 1911 and thousands of events take place across the world to mark it . Ukraine's Russian-backed rebel soldiers swapped combat fatigues for high fashion when they took to the catwalk . The soldiers strutted their stuff down a catwalk wearing long gowns - quite different from their usual combats . As well as walking down a catwalk in their ballgowns the women looked beautiful posing in combats and outdoor gear . Combats: As well as beautiful gowns, the women posed in their army uniforms for the camera at the show . Five more women join the stage, showing that their usual uniforms can be equally as flattering . One female soldier, who has just had her hair done, peeks through a door and watches her friends take to the stage . A helper applies make-up to a woman while she makes a quick change into her dress backstage . The soldiers gathered in a changing room with one small mirror and were happy to discuss their outfit choices with each other . A woman in dark green combats clutches a black pair of heels while she waits for her turn to take to the stage . Two girls, from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, giggle as they change out of their everyday uniforms . Red seems to be a popular colour when it comes to dresses. One helper uses hairspray to keep a woman's perfect curls in place . Red lipstick matched the pretty red dresses worn by the women soldiers at the fashion show today . Hundreds of photographs were taken throughout the day and all of the women who took part enjoyed posing . Some of the soldiers chose to wear their medals on top of their combats as they gave out flowers . The women were presented with flowers and gifts after strutting their stuff on the catwalk at the show to mark International Women's Day . All of the women who took part in the event were presented with gift bags and a single red rose . A pretty soldier wearing army uniform holds up her masculine boots before changing into a long gown . +Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has called the Chelsea supporters caught singing racist songs on camera 'a few idiots' who do not represent the club. The Dutchman, who earned a hero's reputation at Chelsea for scoring 87 goals in 177 games, insisted he never experienced any such discrimination while at Stamford Bridge. A video has emerged of Chelsea supporters chanting the N-word and making anti-Semitic slurs on a London to Manchester train last Sunday following the Capital One Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur. A group of Chelsea fans were filmed refusing to allow a black man from entering a train in Paris . Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink called the Chelsea supporters 'a few idiots' who do not represent the club . Hasselbaink earned a hero's reputation at Chelsea for scoring 87 goals in 177 games during his time there . Last month a group of Chelsea fans were filmed refusing to allow a black man from getting on a carriage on the Paris Metro before the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain. 'We're racist, and that's the way we like it,' the group could be heard singing. Hasselbaink, the manager of Burton Albion, flying high in League Two, does not recognise these incidents as an aspect of the club he loves. 'I know lots of Chelsea supporters and I've never experienced that,' he said. 'I don't think Chelsea is about that. 'I think the boys that have done it are a few idiots. And that's it. They are not even a percentage of Chelsea fans. They do not represent Chelsea.' Hasselbaink scores for Chelsea past former Fulham goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (left) back in 2001 . The Dutchman rounds Everton defender Joseph Yobo (left) to score in a League Cup game back in 2002 . Hasselbaink powers forward with the ball against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup third round . The striker has a long-range shot at goal during the 2002 League Cup quarter-final against Manchester United . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Creative subjects are being squeezed out of schools due to the government's new league table measure. Headteachers are pushing pupils to take more GCSEs in English Baccalaureate subjects, according to experts. From next year, the government's Progress 8 league table measure will replace the five A* to C benchmark. Failure to meet the target could leave schools at risk of takeover or even closure. Experts say pupils are being pushed into more GCSEs in the so-called English Baccalaureate subjects (file picture) Students' performance will be tracked in eight subjects split into three groups: English and maths, which will be given double weighting; three EBac subjects (sciences, computer science, geography, history and languages) and three optional subjects. But the Design and Technology Association (DATA) has warned that schools are urging students to take further EBac subjects as 'optional subjects', leaving them less time to pursue creative interests. DATA chief executive, Richard Green, told the Times Educational Supplement: 'If a student is doing history then (schools) are advising them to take geography as well, and the same with sciences and languages. 'That then uses up the option categories, so you have all the other subjects competing for just one slot.' The National Society for Education in Art and Design said it was also aware of creative subjects being affected. Students' performance will be tracked in eight subjects split into three groups (file picture) +A $300,000 McLaren sports car was wrecked after a man's tractor trailer stalled and was plowed into by a train as it sat on the tracks. The driver of the truck heard a train coming and made out before his vehicle was hit. No one was injured in the Orange Park, Florida, crash on Friday. A McLaren MP4-12C, however, was heavily damaged. Ryan Fung was taking Jorg Bober's McLaren to a dealership near Orange Park, Florida, for warranty work when we got stuck on the railroad tracks . Though Fung escaped his truck when he heard the train coming, he couldn't save the car which was in a trailer in tow . Bober received a call from Dimmitt Automotive Group in Clearwater, a McLaren dealership, who said his car had been totaled . Truck driver Ryan Fung frantically called 911 when we got stuck at the crossing. 'Yeah I'm stuck right across. The bars are coming down, and he's about to hit the truck,' he told the dispatcher. The dispatcher told Fung to get out of the truck as a train horn sounded in the background. Fung escaped the crash with about three minutes to spare but he was unable to save the car in tow, according to First Coast News. The car's owner, Dr Jorg Bober told Palm Beach Post that his car had been picked up by the company for warranty work when it got stuck on the tracks. 'My nurse called me up, she says "Listen, take doctors Lake Drive the opposite way to college because there's a huge train accident". I didn't think anything of it. Five minutes later I get a call from the company saying, "Your car is totaled". I was like "Really? That's my car?" the pediatrician said. Bober only found out about the accident from a nurse who told him to take an alternative route to work to miss the traffic . Bober's hoping that Dimmitt Automotive Group in Clearwater will cover losses since it was being taken to their dealership . When asked about the accident Bober was in good spirts, saying he'd 'get another one' once the accident was sorted out . But Bober's resolution to the issue of having a totaled exotic car was simple. 'Eh, we'll get another one,' he told Palm Beach Post. Bober hopes Dimmitt Automotive Group in Clearwater, the McLaren dealership where he bought the car, will cover the loss, according to WFLA. 'They've apologized, ya know. And as far as I'm concerned, that's what they can do right now. I mean, I'm actually pretty happy that no one got hurt,' he told WFLA. The area where the accident occurred has signs that read 'No Thru Trucks', meaning the truck driver should not have driven across the tracks. Florida Highway Patrol said the driver will be cited. Clay County Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Department of Transportation were at the scene on Friday. Four trains transporting vehicles from Orlando to Louisville and two passenger Amtrak trains were affected or delayed from the crash. The area where the driver crossed the tracks has a large sign reading, 'No Thru Trucks'. Fung will be cited for driving through the area, Florida Highway Patrol said . +Some scream, some cry - but this little dog's reaction to being tickled couldn't be cuter. YouTube user Billie Jean from Elk Grove, California, filmed her pet canine lying on his back while getting some TLC. But as the pup is scratched around a tickly spot on his neck he suddenly puts his paws up over his eyes. As soon as the tickling stops, the dog releases his legs down. But when his neck is touched again, he takes his paws back up apparently crying with 'laugh-fur-ter'. The pet's owner can be heard giggling as she watches the adorable scene play out. 'Our puppy hates her neck being touched,' the filmer later wrote online. Caught on camera: Some scream, some cry - but this little dog's reaction to being tickled couldn't be cuter . +The League Two clash between play-off rivals Bury and Southend at the JD Stadium had to be abandoned after just seven minutes as torrential rain rendered the pitch unplayable. The game went ahead despite a heavy downpour prior to the 3pm kick-off but after a short discussion with the managers the referee decided to postpone the match. The officials planned to bring the players back out after 20 minutes to re-assess the state of the pitch and the weather but, despite the use of rollers during the break, the match was abandoned. Players were taken off the pitch just seven minutes into the League Two clash between Bury and Southend . Torrential rain before and during the game cause the pitch to become waterlogged . Bury groundsman tries in vain to rid the pitch of some of the surface water before the game was abandoned . Players battle for the ball in the very wet conditions before the game was postponed . The visiting Southend fans had to make the 500-mile, eight hour round trip from Essex to Lancashire to witness just a few minutes of football and the fixture is now likely to be replayed on a midweek evening. Bury manager David Flicroft said: 'Absolutely right decision by the ref, he had every right to start the game. Well done to the ref for making the right decision. 'I am gutted for the fans, as it looked like a great turn out by them today. It's tough for the Southend fans now who'll have to make the long trip up on a Tuesday night now.' Southend fans had to make the 500-mile round trip that would have taken longer than eight hours . Southend manager Phil Brown leaves the pitch in the heavy rain . Both manager agreed that it was the right decision to call the game off . Southend manager Phil Brown shared Flicroft's sentiments regarding the supporters but was able to take comfort in the fact he didn't have a full-strength side for the crucial fixture. 'I’m disappointed for the fans but it’s a good call for us because we had four players out today,' Brown said. 'Twenty minutes before the game the pitch was playable and both managers agreed with that. But it was monsoon-like and the rain is still coming down so it was the right decision (to abandon the game).' Supporters have been offered a half price ticket for the re-arranged fixture. +The heartbroken grandfather of murdered Bristol schoolgirl Becky Watts has made a music video in tribute to his beloved granddaughter, as hundreds braved the rain to march in her memory. John Galsworthy decided to make the poignant video, in which he sings Somewhere, from the musical West Side Story, following the 16-year-old's death in February. So far, more than 7,000 people have watched the video, which is interspersed with pictures of Becky. Scroll down for video . Poignant: John Galsworthy sings Somewhere, from the musical West Side Story, in a video interspersed with pictures of his granddaughter Becky Watts, who was found dead in Bristol in February . Memorial: Hundreds turned out in Bristol today to pay tribute to the teenager, and raise money in her memory . Agony: Becky's father Darren Galsworthy, (left) and step-mother Angie Galsworthy were among the marchers . The teenager vanished form her home in Crown Hill, Bristol, on February 19. Police launched a huge search for the popular girl, which also prompted a social media campaign using the hashtag #FindBecky. But the search ended in tragedy, when police discovered Becky's body parts at a house in Barton Hill, Bristol, on March 2, and charged her stepbrother, Nathan Matthews, 28, with murder. Her death sparked an outpouring of grief in the community: bouquets, teddies and cards have been left at her family home, as well at Barton Court, while two online fundraising pages have also raised more than £11,000. And today, hundreds marched through Bristol in the rain to raise even more. The money is going to be put towards her funeral, and then towards a foundation which her family is hopes to set up in her memory, aiming to help other families in similar situations. The walkers were joined by members of Becky's family, who wore t-shirts and badges featuring a picture of the teenager and released colourful balloons. Touched: Becky's father said his 'young, shy, retiring' daughter would have been amazed with the turnout . Speaking after the event, Becky's father Darren Galsworthy said his daughter would have been amazed by the support. 'It's an amazing turnout, it's amazing the support they've got for my Becky who was so shy and retiring,' said Mr Galsworthy, who was supported by Becky's stepmother, Anjie, the mother of Matthews. 'Global': The Galsworthys have received messages of support from across the world after Becky (pictured) died in February . 'If she could see this happening now... On a horrible day like this, hundreds and hundreds of people have turned out. 'This young, shy, reserved child who lost her life so tragically and it has hurt us all but it's touched everyone's hearts around the world. 'I've been getting messages from Australia and New Zealand, Africa, China - it's gone absolutely global. 'People recognise us, they come up to us and hug us. I've had 7 foot tall men come up to me crying, hugging me and wishing us the best.' Grandfather John added: 'I really think she would have loved it. 'I'm sure that if she's looking down on us now that she's saying 'I am pleased, thank you'.' Mr Galsworthy said he hoped the money would help 'keep Rebecca's name going for ever'. Mr Galsworthy said the last month had been 'absolute hell', but he hoped to 'get our life back on track at some point'. The family home has been the subject of forensic searches since Becky was reported missing on February 20. Mr Galsworthy said: 'If we get a good vibe when we go in then we'll probably stay living there but if its too much for us to bear then we'll just sell up and move on somewhere else.' He added: 'It's been hell for us, I'm not going to lie. It is very difficult to keep the emotions under control. 'I have to thank the whole Bristol community for their support, it really does help us. 'I hope this ends sooner rather than later because every day has been hell for us. Every day has been an absolute nightmare.' Lasting tribute: Darren said he hoped a foundation in her name would help her 'go on forever' Bereft: Becky's boyfriend Luke Oberhansli (pictured) also took part in the march . Matthews, of Warmley, South Gloucestershire, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on March 26, along with five others charged in connection with the death. His girlfriend, Shauna Hoare, 21, of Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, is accused of perverting the course of justice by lying to police. Jaydene Parsons, 23, James Ireland, and Karl and Donovan Demetrius, both 29, are accused of helping dispose of and conceal Becky's body parts. A plea hearing has been set for August 4, with a provisional trial date of October 5. All six defendants have been remanded in custody. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Two passenger trains have collided in Thailand injuring more than 20 people and possibly causing fatalities. Images of the twisted metal from the disaster in Ayutthaya province began to emerge on social media earlier today, amid police reports that one of the train drivers is in a critical condition. Authorities still do not know what caused the wreck just north of the country's capital Bangkok but revealed that one train crashed into the back of another one. Scroll down for video . Disaster: Pictures emerged showing the twisted metal of two trains that collided in Thailand injuring at least 20 people . Tragedy: Images of the twisted metal from the carriages began to emerge on social media today, with report that 'many' had been killed . Twisted metal: This is the third major transport accident to occur in Thailand this month after a truck collided with a train on Friday . Rescue operation: Firemen and rescuers traversed the wreckage to look for survivors amid reports that there were fatalities in the crash . Critical:  A local police officer said most of the injuries were minor but at least two people were in a critical condition . A local police officer has said 22 people are believed to be injured, but that number is expected to grow. Nateepat Thammaratsophon said most of the injuries were minor but the train's driver and a mechanic were in a critical condition. Most of the passengers on board managed to climb out of the demolished carriages and left the site on another train provided by the state-owned railway company. Images from the site show rescue workers climbing in and out of the mangled wreckage as they look for survivors. Mr Thammaratsophon said both trains departed Bangkok and were headed north when one rear-ended, adding: 'We are still investigation the cause of the collision.' The accident was the latest to hit Thailand's transportation industry after a pick-up truck driver crashed his vehicle into a passing train on Friday. And in another incident on Tuesday, a Bangkok-bound passenger train collided with another truck during heavy rains near the northern city of Chiang Mai, killing seven construction workers. Eyewitness Jeerawat Sukhanont tweeted from the scene: 'Urgent!! Now passenger train collision happened 2 sub-station... has killed and wounded many.' Desperate: Most of the people on board the trains managed to climb out through the twisted metal . Emergency: But the driver of one of the trains and a mechanic are believed to be in a critical condition following the horrific accident . Terrifying: Eyewitness Jeerawat Sukhanont tweeted from the scene: 'Urgent!! Now passenger train collision happened 2 sub-station... has killed and wounded many' Casualties: A local police officer has said 22 people are believed to be injured, but that number is expected to grow . +The grand Spanish port of Vigo, with its high-rise apartments overlooking the north Atlantic, is no match for Brentford on a winter’s night. But that was when Jose Ignacio Peleteiro Ramallo — or Jota for short — announced himself to English football and gave Brentford fans a first inkling that they could end a 68-year wait to return to the top flight of English football. Now, after a mid-season stumble following the bizarre news that their manager Mark Warburton was going to be replaced at the end of the season regardless of whether the club earn promotion, they are entertaining realistic hopes of becoming one of the smallest clubs to have graced the Premier League. Brentford playmaker Jota has been one of the club's standout players this season as they fight for promotion . The Spaniard joined Brentford from Celta Vigo last summer and has impressed in England's second tier . Jota dribbles with the ball ahead of  Watford's Ikechi Anya (right) during the match at Griffin Park in February . Brentford manager Mark Warburton will leave the club at the end of this season regardless of how they finish . The winter’s night was last November when Jota left fly a stoppage-time winner over arch rivals Fulham. It was their first League meeting for 18 years and made sure Brentford’s neighbours knew there was a change of the guard in west London. Quite something for a 23-year-old who struggled at Celta Vigo and then with Real Madrid’s reserves. ‘That derby was intense, a special moment for me. It felt I’d really arrived at Brentford that night,’ said Jota, who will face Fulham again at Craven Cottage on Friday. ‘As soon as I came here everybody was telling me about Fulham. After the goal everybody was stopping me in the street saying, “You’re a hero, thank you, thank you!” People work all week and we want to put a smile on their faces.’ Jota is relishing the competition in the Championship and hopes to help Brentford return to the top-flight . Jota strikes the ball at Brentford's training complex during his interview with MailSport . Speaking in Spanish, Jota sits inside a hut at their modest training complex with seven games — or possibly more in the play-offs — to achieve what appeared unobtainable. He was relaxed, at ease with the club’s situation despite the upheaval in their management structure and laughed in agreement at the notion that no team appear to want to take charge of the promotion race, such is the absurdly close top eight. Just one point separated the top five a fortnight ago. Jota was open on the serious problems they encountered after February’s shocking developments regarding Warburton’s future. The popular boss will leave at the end of the season to be replaced by a foreign coach who buys into owner Matthew Benham’s continental philosophy and Jota admitted the news seriously affected the squad. ‘For a week or so we dropped our levels,’ he said. ‘You hear rumours… you don’t know what’s going to happen. It was a short period of confusion but we’re now focused. ‘We’re all still united but it’s never the best thing for something like that to happen in the middle of the season.’ Jota celebrates scoring the winning goal for Brentford against rivals Fulham at at Griffin Park in November . They have levelled just in time and are one point off the play-offs. Brentford have an ace up their sleeve, too. It was Jota’s winner against Alaves to seal tiny Eibar’s rise to La Liga this time last year. He wants to do it again but in front of 90,000 at Wembley. ‘Everyone has told me about this final at Wembley,’ he added. ‘Achieve that in front of these supporters who have been so good to me? It’d be amazing. This would be truly historic, just as it was for Eibar. But we won the league there so this would be more dramatic.’ The similarities between Brentford and Eibar are stark. Both have populations of 27,000 and while Brentford have not seen the top flight since 1947, Eibar embarked on their first premier campaign in August. Using his best English, Jota is trying to draw on last year’s experience and explain it to others in the squad. Learning the language has not come naturally but assimilating to our game has. ‘There’s probably more space here than in Spain,’ he said. ‘There’s plenty of opportunity to construct attacks here, create chances. That’s the way we want to play at Brentford. Being able to play in a similar way to back home has helped me integrate into the game over here. We’re given time on the ball, told to express ourselves. We play some of the best football in the Championship. ‘There are a lot of teams who are trying to play a more beautiful style of play. I’ve been most impressed by Derby County. Jota believes that the Championship is 'among the best five leagues in Europe' and has praised its intensity . ‘Everything is massively competitive. It comes down to the mentality of the clubs here. They’re all big stadiums, famous clubs. They want to get to that next level. It’s probably more intense than I was expecting. Everybody has expensive players, too.’ Jota did not come cheap, costing progressive Brentford £1.5 million in the summer, and has been watched by Premier League clubs. The top flight is where he wants to be and his girlfriend is in the process of moving over to London. ‘England is famous for having the best league in the world and the Championship is also a brilliant division,’ he said. ‘It’s more intense, physical. I’ve watched all this from afar and knew what I was getting myself into. ‘This has great clubs with top facilities — everyone has one goal. The Championship is among the best five leagues in Europe.’ Brentford shelled out £1.5 million to sign Jota from La Liga club Celta Vigo last summer . +Chelsea have yet to make a formal offer of a new contract to Branislav Ivanovic. The 31-year-old defender has been outstanding this season adding vital goals to his defensive performances but he is out of contract next year. Jose Mourinho has asked the club to sort out a new deal and Chelsea have every intention of making him an offer but it is unlikely to be more than a one-year deal with another one-year option. Branislav Ivanovic is waiting for a new contract offer from Chelsea with his deal expiring in 2016 . Paris St Germain and Real Madrid are both monitoring Ivanovic's situation with Chelsea unlikely to discuss any new contract until the end of the season. Ivanovic is settled at Chelsea and a popular figure among staff and team-mates but knows he could wait until January and sign a pre-contract with greater security at another club. Meanwhile, Bolton want to take young Chelsea struiker Islam Feruz on loan for the rest of the season. The Serbia defender has been a vital player for Chelsea both at the back and going forwards . European giants Real Madrid and Paris St Germain are waiting to pounce on Ivanovic . +Italy coach Antonio Conte has received death threats from angry fans who blame his training methods for the injury which was initially believed to have ruled midfielder Claudio Marchisio out for the rest of the season. Italy's medical staff announced that Serie A leaders Juventus's Marchisio suffered ruptured knee ligaments during the warm-up for Friday's training session ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria on Saturday. 'I saw him (Conte) shaken this morning,' Italian football federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio told Radio Rai on Saturday. 'After yesterday's controversy, he received death threats on the internet. Italy boss Antonio Conte is 'shaken' after receiving online death threats from Juventus fans . The Italy national team manager has been criticised for pushing his players too hard in training . 'I met with Conte for a long time and he is not calm. All these things have been said on social networks and he feels vilified for something that is not his fault. The FIGC stands by him.' Conte was criticised by John Elkann, the president of the holding company which controls FIAT and Juventus, who said the Italy coach worked the players too hard during the national team's training camps. 'Perhaps he'd like to be remembered as the cherry-picker with the highest number of injuries,' Elkan told Italian media. Former Juventus coach Conte defended his methods. 'I wonder why Elkann didn't ask me that when I was at Juventus? We don't work hard, we work well,' the 45-year-old told a news conference in Sofia ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier. Italian media reported that Conte was reconsidering his position as Italy coach after the death threats. The Italian FA was not immediately available to comment. Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio injured ankle ligaments, but will return sooner than first expected . Juventus, however, said Marchisio could be back in action within days. 'After returning from international duty on Friday afternoon, Claudio Marchisio underwent medical examinations conducted by Juventus club doctors and Dr Flavio Quaglia,' the club said in a statement. 'The 29-year-old then underwent an MRI scan on his right knee this evening. The tests ruled positive, excluding the possibility of a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament. Marchisio will now rest, and his condition is to be monitored on a day-to-day basis.' Conte returned Juventus to their former glory before leaving to take charge of the Azzurri . Marchisio underwent his first examination at the Istituto Fanfani in Florence, close to Italy's training ground. 'I spoke to my colleagues in Turin, explained what happened and organised to send the lad straight to the club for further tests,' Italy doctor Enrico Castellaci said. 'Juve gave me the all-clear to make the diagnosis public. That night, I contacted the Juve medics again. Now there are two contrasting test results. Naturally, I'd be very happy if the later test was confirmed. These are the facts.' Castellaci's explanation prompted jokes on social media with Italian media and fans labelling the national team's medical staff as a 'laughing stock'. Italy have won three matches and drawn one to sit second on 10 points in Group H, behind Croatia on goal difference. Bulgaria are fourth with four points. +New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum hopes Sunday's Cricket World Cup final in Melbourne will be a 'big fairytale finish' to the international career of Daniel Vettori. Vettori has announced Sunday's match against either Australia or India will be the last of his international career. He will retire as New Zealand's most-capped Test player - with 113 matches - and one-day internationals - Sunday's match will be his 291st for New Zealand and he needs three more dismissals Sunday to finish with 300 ODI wickets. Brendon McCullum (left) celebrates with Daniel Vettori after New Zealand reached the World Cup final . Vettori made his debut aged 18 in 1997 and, now 36, has spent half his life in the New Zealand team. While he says retirement 'is not what I'm thinking about', his teammates want to help him end his career with a win. 'He's been an outstanding contributor for us,' McCullum said. 'He's played for New Zealand for half his life. '(A win) would be a great way to potentially send him off.' Vettori is still a key member of the New Zealand team and has demonstrated his value throughout the World Cup with a series of frugal bowling performances and cameo innings'. He was at the crease on 7 not out when Grant Elliott hit the winning runs in Tuesday's semi-final against South Africa. Vettori was at the crease with Grant Elliott (right) as he hit the winning runs against South Africa . Vettori ahead of his Test debut in Wellington as a 17-year-old way back in 1997 . 'I guess it was potentially his last game on home soil and for him to be out there at the end and be as instrumental and as calm as he was under pressure, it was superb,' McCullum said. 'He was struggling a bit with his back, too. He's played a lot of his career with bumps and bruises and niggles and strains. He's a tough customer and he's been an amazing servant.' But Vettori doesn't want his swansong to distract New Zealand from its aim of winning the World Cup for the first time. 'It's not what I'm thinking about,' he said. 'It's just about having some fun and enjoying the game and enjoying the build-up to a World Cup final,' he said. 'No-one else in New Zealand cricket history has been able to experience that before so it's pretty exciting to experience a grand final week. 'The chance to play a World Cup final regardless of where you are in your career is something everyone dreams about.' +Fighting for life: Connor Lynes was found collapsed on his bedroom floor morning after his rugby match . A 14-year-old boy was today fighting for his life after suffering a blood clot on his brain when he was injured playing rugby. Connor Lynes, of Hull, East Yorkshire, returned home after playing for his under-15s rugby league team on Saturday - but was found collapsed on his bedroom floor the next morning. After being taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, Connor was put in an induced coma and doctors removed 90 per cent of the clot - in a potentially life-saving operation. He was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary on Sunday, where he underwent another operation yesterday to try to remove the rest. Now, he may face a third surgery. His family are now asking people to pray for ‘little Robin’, who plays for Lambwath Lions. Connor’s uncle Dave Lynes said: ‘We want people to pray for Connor and keep their fingers crossed. We still do not know if he will pull through. It is just heartbreaking at the moment. ‘He is a cheeky little lad and he is full of mischief. He has got a heart of gold, has lots and lots of friends and is very popular at school, at his club and at Hull Kingston Rovers.’ Mr Lynes said Connor, who lives with his aunt, Sara, was injured after being tackled. He added: ‘Connor was playing rugby for his local under-15s team and took a bit of a hard hit in the tackle. They took him off straight away but he seemed fine. 'He was at home on Saturday night being his usual cheeky self. My sister got up the next morning and found him collapsed on the bedroom floor and rushed him to hospital.' Connor, who plays for Lambwath Lions, suffered a blood clot on his brain when he was injured playing rugby . Mr Lynes said it was tough for relatives to see Connor, a pupil at Winifred Holtby Academy, in hospital, adding that the family are 'totally powerless at the moment'. He said: ‘He has had such a hard life – he lost his father when he was young but is still such a cheeky lad. He is not just my nephew, but he is like a son to me as well.’ Mr Lynes said Connor loves rugby and is a huge fan of Super League side Hull Kingston Rovers. He added: 'Connor broke his leg four years ago and the doctors said he would never play rugby again. It was bad - he broke his tibia and fibula - but a year later, he was playing again. 'He loves the sport and is a massive rugby fan. He is a KR fan and I am a Hull fan and we have a lot of banter between us about it.’ Mr Lynes said: ‘Connor did come out the coma last night and is breathing unaided. He's opened his eyes and even managed a cheeky smile.’ Treated: Connor was put in an induced coma and doctors removed 90 per cent of the clot. He was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary (pictured) on Sunday, where he underwent another operation yesterday . Education: Connor, a pupil at Winifred Holtby Academy (above), is said to be 'very popular at school' Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of Connor’s family, Steve Ball, general manager of the Rugby and Football League Benevolent Fund, said he had visited the youngster at Leeds General Infirmary. The boy is still ‘very poorly’ but in a stable condition while relatives keep a vigil around his hospital bed. Mr Ball said today: ‘Thankfully he is conscious now and aware of his surroundings. He saw me and was able to give me a thumbs up. He may need to undergo a further surgery and we will find out in the next few days.’ He said that Connor had been playing in a group match for Lambwath Lions against another East Yorkshire team from Beverley. Mr Ball added: ‘It was a perfectly legitimate tackle and a freak accident really. He didn’t actually fall ill until the day after the match.’ Meanwhile, a Hull Kingston Rovers spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts are with young Connor Lynes, who is in intensive care following an injury playing the sport he loves yesterday. Get well soon Connor, from everyone at the club.' +The words 'Christ' and 'Jesus Christ' have been placed on a list of banned words by Marks & Spencer and cannot be used in gift messages. Customers buying a bunch of flowers who try to add a free message containing them are prevented from completing their order. An on-screen notification, which pops up if any blocked words are entered, reads: 'Sorry, there's something in your message we can't write.' The words 'Christ' and 'Jesus Christ' have been placed on a list of banned words by Marks & Spencer and cannot be used in gift messages on bouquets of flowers (stock image) 'Christ' and 'Jesus Christ' join other banned words including 'f***' and 'gay' - but some terms including jihad, Buddha and Allah are accepted. 'Terrorist' and 'd**k' can also be included in messages. The policy emerged earlier today after one customer was stopped from buying a £35 bouquet for a funeral because she said in the gift message that it was from a family in 'Christ Church Teddington'. When Gerardine Stockford, 53, phoned customer services an employee told her that it must be a blocked word, according to The Sunday Times. Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, was shocked. He said: 'If Christ becomes an offensive word in a Christian land then all of us should be alarmed.' 'Christ' and 'Jesus Christ' join other banned words including 'f***' and 'gay' - but some terms including jihad, Buddha and Allah are accepted . Despite the supermarket giant being made aware of the issue yesterday, M&S has still not changed the facility . Despite the supermarket giant being made aware of the issue yesterday, it still has not changed the facility. A spokesman for Marks & Spencer said: 'An automatic phrase checker is in place to prevent the use and misuse of certain words and it includes hundreds of words of varying nature. 'The words Jesus and Christ are included to prevent their misuse.' +A sorority at the beleaguered University of Oklahoma has come under fire over its involvement in the racist chant by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity over the weekend. The Delta Delta Deltas have been identified as the sorority members on a chartered bus when frat brothers started singing 'there will never be a n**** in SAE.' At least one female student can be seen in the video. She appears to raise her cell phone to record the incident. Her date, however, can be seen clapping to the song. It is also believed that female voices can be heard cheering on the racist fraternity brothers. Scroll down for video . Shameful: The now-infamous video appears to have been taken on a charter bus.  The screen shot on the right shows a woman who appears to record the incident . Under scrutiny: Delta Delta Delta sorority has released a statement saying that it was 'cooperating fully' with the university’s investigation into the chant video . Expelled: The Sigma Alpha Epsilon has been banned from campus after a video surfaced of members shouting and singing racial slurs . Gone: Facility workers removed the letters from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house at the University of Oklahoma Monday in Norman, Oklahoma . On Monday the national Tri Delta organization issued a statement saying it was cooperating with the Oklahoma investigation. However, the local Tri Delta chapter has denied reports its members are under investigation for involvement in the horrifying incident. 'The women of the Theta Gamma chapter of Delta Delta Delta fully support the actions taken by the administration of the University of Oklahoma in response to the incident involving Sigma Alpha Epsilon.... However, the Theta Gamma chapter is not under investigation by the university, nor have any chapter members been identified within the videos released,' according to a statement given to the Oklahoma Daily student newspaper. University President David Boren said Monday he was sickened and couldn't eat or sleep after learning about the video Sunday afternoon. The Tri Delta national organization said in a statement: 'We are deeply disappointed by the conduct of the students involved in the incident at The University of Oklahoma. 'Tri Delta expects its members to uphold the highest responsibilities of college women. 'The behavior documented in the video is deplorable and is in no way consistent with Tri Delta's ideals and core values.' The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice Monday. At the team's indoor practice facility, coach Bob Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. Meanwhile, a top high school recruit de-committed from the university after seeing the video. President Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students and lambasted those fraternity members as ‘disgraceful’ and called their behaviour ’reprehensible.’ He said the university was looking into a range of punishment, including expulsion. Enraged: University of Oklahoma President David Boren lambasted members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity who participated in a racist chant caught on video and ordered that they vacate their house by Tuesday night . ‘This is not who we are,’ Boren said at a midday news conference. ‘I'd be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them.’ National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said late Sunday that its investigation confirmed members took part in the chant and announced it would close the local chapter. The national group said it was ‘embarrassed’ by the ‘unacceptable and racist’ behavior. Boren said members have until midnight Tuesday to remove their belongings from the fraternity house. He said the fraternity was ‘not totally forthcoming,’ and he was still trying to find out who was on the bus so the school could consider disciplinary actions. He said the university's legal staff was exploring whether the students who initiated and encouraged the chant may have violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination. ‘We are also going to look at any individual perpetrators, particularly those that we think took a lead in this kind of activity,’ Boren said. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the efforts by the university and the national fraternity to repudiate the racist comments were ‘an appropriate step.’ It's unclear who recorded the video, when it was made and who initially leaked it online. Boren suggested it was likely taken by another student who didn't agree with what was being said about African-Americans. OU Unheard, a black student group on campus, posted a link to the video after someone anonymously called it to the group's attention Sunday afternoon, communications director Alexis Hall said Monday. Leaked: OU Unheard, a black student group on campus, posted a link to the video after someone anonymously called it to the group's attention . United they stand: The University of Oklahoma Sooners football team and coaches line up wearing all black in the Everest Training Center in protest of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity . Writing on the wall: Graffiti proclaiming 'Tear it down' is painted on the side of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house at the University of Oklahoma Monday . ‘We immediately needed to share that with the OU student body,’ said Hall, a junior. ‘For students to say they're going to lynch an entire group of people. ... It's disgusting.’ The video appears to have been taken on a charter bus, with at least one of the chanting young men wearing a tuxedo. North Mesquite High School football star Jean Delance, a top offensive lineman prospect, told KTVT television and KRLD-AM in Dallas-Fort Worth that he would not attend Oklahoma. He said he spoke Sunday night with coach Bob Stoops, but wasn't told about the incident. ‘I'm very disappointed in the coaches not letting me know. “Hey jean, this is going on. Be aware. I don't want you to be shocked tomorrow when you wake up,"’ Delance told KRLD. ‘But that was just heart-breaking right there.’ A university police cruiser was parked Monday outside the fraternity house, a sprawling two-story, sand-colored brick building on a street lined with Greek houses just west of the center of campus. The Greek letters were removed from the side of the house Monday afternoon. Boren said fraternity members had ‘violated all that we stand for.’ ‘Effective immediately, all ties and affiliations between this University and the local SAE chapter are hereby severed,’ he said in a statement. +Dramatic pictures have emerged of the moment Harrison Ford was carried away on a stretcher following his terrifying plane crash. The 72-year-old's face is seen covered in blood with his neck firmly strapped into a brace as he his wheeled from the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, Los Angeles on Thursday. First responders are also pictured wrapping bandages around his head before taking him away. He deliberately steered his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR into the ground, breaking his pelvis, when the engine failed while flying solo. Scroll down for video . Bloodied: Harrison Ford is carried away from the scene of his plane crash on Penmar Golf Course in Venice, Los Angeles on Thursday . Keeping vigil: Calista Flockhart was seen leaving the Los Angeles hospital after another lengthy visit with her husband who broke his pelvis while crash landing his vintage plane on a golf course . Emergency care: The 72-year-old's head is seen covered on bandages and his neck was put in a brace as he was wheeled off of the golf course and into the back of an ambulance . Response: The Indiana Jones and Fugitive star was then taken to hospital where his wife, Calista Flockhart, is staging a bedside vigil . Ford's wife, Calista Flockhart has stayed close to his side at hospital. The 50-year-old actress emerged on Friday night appearing tired and emotionally drained following a bedside vigil that lasted several hours. Calista was seen at the wheel of a black Lexus pulling out of the hospital parking garage with an older male companion in the passenger seat. The former Ally McBeal star looked like she hadn't slept in a while, her face make-up free and eyes dark-circled and bleary from possible crying. Her light brown hair hung limply around her face and her manner of dress appeared simple and casual as though she'd grabbed the closest clothing in reach. Calista looked like she needed sleep and was perhaps heading home to recharge for a spell with the intent of returning to the actor's side soon. Wrapped up: Paramedics unroll bloodied bandages around the actor's face. He deliberately steered his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR into the ground when the engine failed while flying solo . Treatment: Ford's arm is seen flung across his chest as he is treated by first responders. He broke his pelvis during the crash in his vintage plane . Cautious: He is gently rolled onto his side by members of the fire department as he is placed on a stretcher . On Thursday afternoon, Ford received a visit in hospital from his wife, who was seen looking emotional in her car. A doctor has revealed Ford was moaning in pain, slumped over in the cockpit, when he landed. 'He was stunned a bit,' said spinal surgeon Sanjay Khurana. 'He was moaning and in pain.' 'It was obvious by his face, it was Harrison Ford. I'm old enough, or young enough, to have watched all his 'Star Wars' films. So, it was obvious,' Khurana told ABC News. A video has since emerged of the moment the plane started to drop. As Ford descended, the people playing golf at the time were captured on film gaping open-mouthed at the sky before running out of the way. Dr Khurana was golfing next to Santa Monica Airport when he saw the plane 'belly flop' and rushed to the fairway where it came to rest. He told TV stations in Los Angeles and GMA that aside from worrying about Ford's injuries from the impact, he saw fuel leaking out of the World War II-era plane. Patrick Jones, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told reporters in Venice, California that investigators were inspecting the wreckage as well as reviewing documents pertaining to the upkeep of the plane. 'The aircraft will be examined, the engine will be examined, the records of the aircraft will be examined and ultimately we'll submit a factual report,' Jones said. 'All of that process is going to take probably a couple of weeks to a month or so,' the NTSB official said. The final report probably will not be out for a year.' Impact: A doctor has revealed Ford was moaning in pain, slumped over in the cockpit, when he landed . Support: The injured actor is surrounded by first responders as he is taken away on a stretcher . Jones said that the plane being as old as it is in many ways makes the investigation more straightforward. 'This aircraft is a fairly simple aircraft,' he said. 'A lot of it is old-school mechanical. We'll see what it is, we'll look at everything.' Ford, an aviation enthusiast with years of flying under his belt, flew out of Santa Monica Airport in the Ryan PT-22 Recruit when he experienced engine trouble just minutes into the flight. He was trying to return to the airport when he crashed. Authorities said they have not yet had the opportunity to interview Ford, but plan to do so over the course of their probe. The actor suffered multiple gashes to his head and was left bleeding after the crash. A family spokesman said Ford's injuries were not life-threatening. His son Ben, in a tweet late Thursday, said his father was 'battered, but OK.' Downed: Investigators surround the plane's wreckage. The National Transportation Safety Board say the probe into the crash could take up to a year . Probe: Investigators are examining the wreckage and documents pertaining to the upkeep of the plane in order to determine what happened . Scene: Golf bags surround the crash site in the aftermath on Thursday. Many players on the course at the time rushed to Ford's side when the plane went down . Tired and emotionally drained: The 50-year-old actress appeared understandably distraught . Support system: Calista was accompanied by a silver-haired male companion . Heading home: The weary-looking Calista was perhaps heading home to recharge before making the drive back to hospital . In good hands: Harrison Ford, 72, was last listed in fair to moderate condition in hospital . Fuel leak: The injured actor was pulled from the wreckage as the smell of gasoline filled the air . He and other golfers pulled Ford from the wreckage. Others threw dirt on the fuel so it wouldn't catch fire. Along with his friends who were golfing, Dr Khurana pulled Ford from the wreckage as the smell of gasoline filled the air. 'We wanted to get him out safely and with the fuel leaking out, I motioned to some of the other folks at the golf course to put dirt on the fuel so it wouldn't combust,' he said to CBS News. 'I just wanted to get him out safely so that the situation wouldn't erupt into a fire.' On Thursday, a teary-eyed Calista was seen looking emotional while heading to hospital to visit her husband Harrison in hospital. She had a handkerchief pressed to her nose and her eyes appeared to be tinged in red. Saved: Dr. Sanjay Khurana, who had been golfing when Ford's plane crashed, later said, 'It was obvious by his face, it was Harrison Ford. I'm old enough, or young enough, to have watched all his Star Wars films' +Police have released unusual footage captured by a police helicopter that shows a man's crazy car chase through the streets of Perth. The stolen ute mounted pathways, performed illegal u-turns and sped down the wrong side of the road in an attempt to evade police who were hot on his tail. Scroll down for video . The high speed chase was caught on camera by a police helicopter who was hot on the drivers tail . The ute, stolen form a house in Hamersley, was spotted at around 10am in Balgala. It was reportedly used during a burglary on Friday, prompting police to pursue the vehicle. Reports say the ute intentionally struck a police car that had three police officers inside, causing extensive damage to both vehicles.. The ute could be seen dangerously entering the wrong lanes which put him in the path of oncoming traffic . Close call: The ute pulls out narrowly missing a white van who had no idea he was coming . After dangerously pulling out in front of a white van the perpetrator ended up caught behind a car and motorcycle waiting for a traffic light. In his last ditch effort to out-run the police the ute tried to squeeze between the two other vehicles, hitting the car to his right in the process. The 27-year-old perpetrator tried to squeeze between a car and a motorcycle and ended up hitting the car to his right . The driver must have finally realised the jig was up because he pulled the car over and got out with his hands above his head. The man laid down in the middle of the Maylands street where police set upon him. The police chase came to an end as the driver surrendered, exiting the stolen vehicle with his hands above his head . The 27-year-old driver was charged with 16 offences including breaching bail, aggravated burglary, stealing a motor vehicle and reckless driving . The driver, identified as a 27-year-old Westminster man, was arrested at the scene and charged with 16 offences including breaching bail, aggravated burglary, stealing a motor vehicle and reckless driving. He is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday. +The owner of nine grocery stores in central Ohio is accused of leading a large-scale drug ring trafficking heroin, cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to Chicago and Ohio for years. Liborio Alcauter was one of 29 people indicted in a large-scale drugs sting last September. Investigators are also probing claims he hired a Mexican hitman to kill the judge and investigators after his arrest, the Columbus Dispatch reports. 'Ring leader': Liborio Alcauter, a grocery store owner, is accused of leading a gang that trafficked heroin and cocaine from Mexico into Chicago then onto Ohio for years . Alcauter was released from custody last year after a judge deemed him not to be a flight risk. His attorney dismissed the allegations made in a search warrant, telling the Dispatch 'They can say anything they want in a search warrant.' According to the documents read by the Dispatch, one of his co-defendants, Lorena Sevilla, was overheard in her cell describing Alcauter's plot to kill the investigators. 'Sevilla said out loud that Liborio Alcauter wanted to handle things like they did in Mexico and said "judge dead" and ran her finger across her throat in a cutting motion,' an affidavit allegedly says. The alleged hitman is believed to be in custody on immigration charges. Alcauter is not working in any of his groceries as the investigation continues. He is also accused of hiring a Mexican hitman to kill the judge and investigators after he was arrested . +This is the moment a driver was rumbled in the carpool-lane with the 'most interesting' of passengers. The state trooper came face-to-face with a life sized cardboard cutout of actor Jonathan Goldsmith when he pulled over the vehicle. The debonair actor, aged in his 70s, is famed for playing 'The Most Interesting Man in the World' in the Dos Equis beer commercials. When questioned about his two dimensional travelling companion the motorist replied: 'He's my bestfriend.' Two dimensional companion: This motorist was pulled over on the Interstate by a trooper with a cardboard cut out of actor Jonathan Goldsmith . Actor Jonathan Goldsmith appearing in 'The Most Interesting Man in the World'  beer commercial for Dos Equis . Motorists regularly try and cheat the lanes in a bid to beat congestion, but the traffic officers described it as one of the best scam attempts he had seen. The driver was spotted flouting the High Occupancy Vehicle Lane (HPV) on the Interstate 5 near Tacoma in Fife, Washington. The cardboard likeness was not confiscated by the trooper but the driver was warned not to use him again. The driver received a $124 penalty ticket for offence. Channeling the cardboard cutout, Washington Police tweeted: 'I don't always violate the HOV lane law ... but when I do, I get a $124 ticket.' The amusing message was retweeted more than 850 times. Vehicles using HOV lanes must be carrying at least two people. Children count as occupants but under the rules pets, infants still in the womb, inflatables and even ghosts, do not. Using dummies in these lanes has been a problem for police all over the country for years. Previously motorist have been caught using wooden creations and even plastic skeletons as fake passengers in a bid to avoid sitting bumper-to-bumper . In the past a motorist was pulled over using this wooden creation as a fake passenger on the Long Island Expressway . +A supergran celebrated her 100th birthday in extreme style by going skydiving then swimming with sharks. Plucky Georgina Harwood showed age is no barrier when she jumped out of a plane at thousands of feet during the tandem dive near the Melkbosstrand area north of Cape Town. The video shows the grandma, who was sporting a red jumpsuit, joined in the air by 15 family members and friends to mark her big day. Bottoms up: Birthday girl Georgina Harwood celebrates her 100th birthday with a skydive in Cape Town and makes a toast with something fizzy . Daredevil: 100-year-old Mrs Harwood just before she launches herself from a plane to celebrate reaching a century . She can be seen hurtling through the sky at 120mph before landing safely and being handed a well earned glass of bubbly. 'I'm so glad I did it, a special experience in my life time, I just can't compare it to anything else,' she said, after completing her third ever skydive. Top of the world: Supergran Georgina Harwood, 100, as she hurtles towards earth during a birthday jump . Down to earth: The 100-year-old grandma drifts back to the ground with the help of her skydive instructor . Flying high: The brave pensioner, who completed the jump flanked by friends and family, makes a safe landing . The senior daredevil completed her first jump when she was 92-years-old in 2007. Unsatisfied with just one stunt, the thrill-seeking pensioner can then be seen climbing into the dive cage, wearing a wetsuit and goggles. All smiles: The birthday girl followed up her skydive by going swimming with sharks in Cape Town . Respect: Mrs Harwood said swimming with the sharks, pictured being fed right, was the 'experience of a lifetime' She shrieks with cold or excitement as she is helped into the cage, which is attached onto the side of a boat, where sharks can be seen circling. Reflecting on her shark-infested swim, she said it was 'the experience of a lifetime', later adding 'sharks are having a hard time in the sea' due to overfishing. She said: 'We are taking the Hake. The poor old sharks are coming in to the coast and getting us which is a very sad thing'. +Two amateur athletes proved age is nothing but a number when they went head-to-head in the final of a 60m race at the European Veterans' Athletics Championships. Polish Sportsman, Stanislaw Kowalski, 104, participated in this week's event against London's 95-year-old Charles Eugster. The race was held indoors in Torun, Poland and was won by Mr Eugster in an impressive time of 14.56 seconds. Mr Kowalski has never had professional training, but spent the majority of his life walking or cycling to work . The two competitors line up alongside each other at the start of the race and await the starting pistol . Mr Kowalski – who holds the record for being the oldest person in Europe to run the 100m dash in 32.79 seconds – finished the race in a time of 20.27 seconds. Born in Swidnica, Poland in 1910, Mr Kowalski started running 13 years ago and puts his health and fitness down to doing whatever he pleases and never going to the doctor. Mr Eugster, who only took up the sport of running a year ago, recently broke the world 200m indoor sprint record for those aged 95 and above. Mr Kowalski and Mr Eugster completed the race in 20.27 seconds and 14.56 seconds, respectively . Footage from the event shows Mr Kowalski stretching, swinging his arms and doing some light jogging as he warms up with his trainer. He says: ‘Sure, I run as much as possible, 100m and 200m and 1000m.' Lining up alongside his competitor, he awaits the starting pistol before the pair spring into action and run the length of the track to complete the race. The Polish athlete (left) claims to have only taken up running as a hobby when he was 92 . The accomplished duo stand next to each other at the end of the race and pose in front of photographers . The video concludes with the duo standing together in front of photographers and having their picture taken. Mr Kowalski has never had any professional training, but spent the majority of his life walking or cycling six miles to work. He claims he only took running up as a hobby when he was 92, and has jobbed six miles every day for the last few years. +Philippe Coutinho is hoping his form for Liverpool will help him maintain his place in the Brazil squad following World Cup heartbreak. The midfielder was left out by Luiz Felipe Scolari last summer as his national side fell at the semi-final stage against eventual champions Germany on home turf. But Coutinho has been selected in every squad since, as returning boss Dunga continues his shake-up in an attempt to return Brazil to their former standing in the world game. Philippe Coutinho (left) is hoping to hold down a regular place in the Brazil squad . The Liverpool midfielder was omitted from the 23-man World Cup squad last summer . The 22-year-old has appeared from the bench four times in the seven games since, but was an unused substitute as Brazil beat France 3-1 in Paris on Thursday night. 'Whenever I'm called up, it's like the first time,' Coutinho told an LFCTV documentary. 'It's a great honour to wear the Brazilian shirt, which thousands of people dream of wearing one day. I want to honour it whenever I have the opportunity. It means a lot to me. 'I believe being in the team is a dream for every player. You can represent your country. It is a very young squad, so just by having a chance it's a special moment for me. 'My goal is to look for my own space. I believe that is everybody's goal. I know we have other great players, players who have had a great impact on the team. I'm looking for my chance slowly.' Coutinho (left) in action for Brazil against Turkey in Istanbul last November after coming on as a substitute . Dunga has selected Coutinho in every single one of his Brazil squads since he took over last summer . Coutinho (right) has been in excellent form for Liverpool in the past few months . Coutinho had won just a single cap heading into last summer's World Cup, but his form for Liverpool as they finished second in the Premier League gave him an outside hope of a call-up. But Scolari elected to omit him, meaning Coutinho missed the once-in-a-lifetime chance of playing in a home World Cup. 'I know that was the only opportunity I had to play at the World Cup in my country,' he continued. 'Whether I should have been called up is a bit complicated to say. I'd rather think about the present and make things happen in the future. 'I won't have that opportunity again, so I should use it all on the field, doing what I'm demanded to do in my position, what a midfielder must do, to be on the list for the next World Cup.' +Claudio Marchisio's knee injury, picked up while away on international duty with Italy, is not as bad as first feared following an initial diagnosis that he would miss the rest of the season. The midfielder was reported to have ruptured ligaments during international training on Friday - with the Azzurri claiming he could be sidelined for between six and eight months before the player returned to Turin for additional tests. However, Juventus club doctors have confirmed that the 29-year-old has not torn his anterior cruciate ligament and should be able to return within two to three weeks. Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio injured ankle ligaments, but will return sooner than first expected . The Italy national team initially diagnosed that the all-action midfielder would be out for the rest of the season . Marchisio could be ready to return within three to four weeks, according to club doctors in Turin . CLICK HERE to read how Italy boss received death threats over the injury . Italy medics attempted to explain how they could have got their diagnosis so wrong. Speaking to Corriere dello Sport, Professor Enrico Castellacci said: 'Marchisio had a serious sprain and told me he heard a nasty noise inside his knee. 'I spoke to my colleagues in Turin, explained what happened and organised to send the lad straight to the club for further tests. Juve gave me the all-clear to make the diagnosis public. 'That night I contacted the Juve medics again before the Press conference. Now there are two contrasting test results.' Marchisio celebrates after scoring for Italy against England at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Juve released a statement confirming no serious damage had been found and the player would be continued to be monitored on a 'day-to-day' basis. 'The 29-year-old then underwent an MRI scan on his right knee this evening. The tests, supervised by Dr. Carlo Faletti at Turin's Fornaca Clinic, ruled positive, excluding the possibility of a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament. 'Marchisio will now rest and his condition is to be monitored on a day-to-day basis.' Italy boss Antonio Conte is 'shaken' after receiving online death threats from Juventus fans . Italy head coach and former Juventus manager Antonio Conte was reported to be 'shaken' after receiving online death threats from angry fans blaming his training methods for Marchisio's injury. 'His (Marchisio's) injury was absurd and inexplicable. He hurt himself while warming up, running without the ball,' said Conte. Sky Sport Italia suggest Marchisio could even be fit enough to play the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Monaco on April 22. +Bath are trying to sign Taulupe Faletau after the World Cup to continue the exodus of leading Wales players to the Aviva Premiership. The 24-year-old Lions No 8 has another full season to run on his current contract with the Newport Gwent Dragons, who have this week indicated that they are 'extremely keen' to retain his services. However, Sportsmail understands that the Tongan-born player is increasingly likely to agree a move to The Rec in the autumn, which would require Bath to pay a transfer fee. Wales No 8 Taulupe Faletau fires out a pass to Jamie Roberts (left) during his side's demolition of the Azzurri . Bath had been linked with Springboks No 8 Duane Vermeulen, but he is set for a big-money move to Toulon . Faletau has been noticeably absent from the list of Wales stars recently signing up for national dual contracts with the Welsh Rugby Union and the regions. Bath have been linked with him in the past but after rumours of a deal in 2013, he committed to another three years at Rodney Parade. Now though, several sources have revealed that the West Country club are closing in. Armed with financial backing from owner Bruce Craig, Bath have become major players in the upper levels of the transfer market. England backrower Ben Morgan was also on Bath's radar before he signed a new deal with Gloucester . They tried to lure South Africa No 8 Duane Vermeulen but it is thought his wage demands were too high and he has opted to move to Toulon instead. Ben Morgan was also on the radar, but he agreed a new deal at Gloucester. If Faletau joins Bath, he will join a growing band of Wales exiles in the Premiership, including George North at Northampton, Richard Hibbard and James Hook at Gloucester, Rhys Priestland who is heading to Bath, and Jamie Roberts who is bound for Harlequins. While Wales coach Warren Gatland has made official his stance against selecting players who move out of the country, he has 'wild card' exemptions and Faletau is certain to fall into that category. +The warning from Shaun Edwards after Saturday’s demolition job in the Eternal City was that Wales will build on their momentum and arrive at the World Cup with even sharper teeth. After opening with defeat by England, Wales won all of their remaining RBS 6 Nations fixtures. In the end, they were left to rue a late breakaway try from Italy’s Leonardo Sarto that, according to Warren Gatland, represented a title-defining 14-point swing. Wales' Sam Warburton scores a try during the Six Nations demolition of Italy in the 61-20 victory on Saturday . Warburton yells in delight having scored a second-half try for Wales as Warren Gatland's side ran riot . Edwards was left to ponder the ‘what ifs’ in the underground concourses of the Stadio Olimpico, though the defence coach believes Wales will be a significant force when they re-group for summer training camps in Switzerland and Qatar. ‘We’ll be on an even higher plateau by the World Cup,’ he said. ‘The World Cup is the only time that we compete on an equal level to the southern hemisphere teams. They are together for four months every year and we like to think we get better with time together. There are no guarantees but I don’t think we’ll be a bad team come the World Cup.’ The extensive preparations will involve another meeting with Italy for a warm-up match at the Millennium Stadium. Wales' defence coach Shaun Edwards believes the team will be even better by the World Cup . The victorious Wales players applaud the travelling fans at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome . Confidence will be high after the imperious second-half display in Rome — scoring 47 points in 26 minutes — but focus will be on how to shake off their habit of starting campaigns slowly. With most of the squad playing slow-paced regional rugby, fitness levels have been identified as one of the keys to the problem. Gatland will push his side to their limits and centre Jamie Roberts believes they will be even stronger than the Welsh side that reached the 2011 World Cup semi-final in New Zealand. ‘We are definitely better than we were four years ago,’ said Roberts. ‘The core of players are still together and there’s a lot more experience. ‘We know when we get together for a long period of time we are a bloody good team. I think it showed against England that we were a bit rusty when we have just two weeks prep together. The lucky Wales fans who made the trip to the Stadio Olimpico were treated to a masterclass of rugby . Jamie Roberts (centre) opened the try account for Wales early in the first-half on Saturday . ‘Looking back to the last World Cup, we had more time together and really worked in putting in the hard yards in terms of fitness and technical play. That preparation period gives us scope to work on things and improve our conditioning. ‘The warm-up games will be a good measuring stick of where we are. Touch wood, the last few months of the season are injury-free for everyone.’ Based on the defensive display against Ireland and the attacking swagger against Italy, Wales have a powerful formula for success. They broke away from their tight structure on Saturday and played with flair and panache that have been in short supply. Italy capitulated under the speed and intensity, with the Azzurri media calling for coach Jacques Brunel’s head after his side were left chasing shadows. Warren Gatland's men are confident that they can improve ahead of the Rugby World Cup . George North crosses over for Gatland's side as he managed a sensational second half try hat-trick in Rome . ‘We always thought we were capable of an attacking performance like that,’ said Wales skipper Sam Warburton. ‘To be fair to Warren, Rob Howley and the coaches they tell us to play. ‘Over the last few years maybe it was just a confidence issue but we are a lot more confident than we were 24 months ago.’ For the sake of entertainment value it raises the question of whether bonus points should be introduced to incentivise attacking play. Edwards, however, feels there is no need to change the format. ‘I’m not interested in try bonus points or anything like that,’ said Edwards. ‘It’s been one of the best Six Nations in memory. ‘When was the last time three teams had the chance to win it in three separate matches? It’s a great advert for the competition. ‘The defence control what the attack does. If the defence is not very good, you can attack like that. Do you think you could play that kind of rugby against South Africa? If we threw the ball around like that we would lose by 20 points. ‘We’ve taken some positive steps and we’re regretting that bad 40 minutes against England but four wins out of five has been a very good effort for us.’ +Two Everton fans have claimed they sneaked into the Premier League game with Stoke City after one of them pretended to be wheelchair-bound in order to gain access to the disabled section of the Britannia Stadium. The twisted supporters then bragged about their exploits on Facebook - although admitted that some people would see them as 'scum' for their actions. Everton ended up losing the game to Stoke 2-0 and are currently 14th in the league table. Cheat: Two football fans claim they sneaked into the Britannia Stadium by pretending to be disabled . Boast: The supporters posted this message on a Facebook football fans' page admitted they were 'scum' Writing on a Facebook page The Football Bible, one of the fans said: 'Me and my mate decided to go to Stoke away last minute on Wednesday. 'The only spare ticket we could get was in the disabled section though. So he borrowed a wheelchair from work and I went as his carer. 'We're scum aren't we? We're going to hell for what we did in Stoke.' The Everton Disabled Supporters Association has vowed to investigate the fans' claims - but insisted that they could not have obtained their tickets through the club. Chairman Steve Heneghan said: 'There's no way they could get it from us. If something did happen, we would throw them out of our membership, and the club would do the same.' Stoke City forward Victor Moses scores his side's opening goal against Everton with a towering header . Stoke City forward Mame Biram Diouf breaks away past the Everton defence at the Britannia Stadium . Everton defender John Stones (right) makes a sliding challenge as Stoke's Marko Arnautovic shoots on goal . He told MailOnline that disabled tickets to away games were generally reserved for fans who regularly attend matches, making it difficult to manipulate the system. Mr Heneghan added: 'You have to keep an eye out for fraudsters. In the past, some fans have just turned up in a wheelchair and been let into the ground - there's no way to guard against that. 'There are people in this world who'll do anything to cheat disabled people. If you're desperate enough, evil enough, devious enough to get into a game, then anyone can do it.' Other disabled fans blasted the stunt at Stoke's Britannia Stadium - Ollie Baskaran wrote on Facebook: 'I'm a wheelchair user and every time I have to book disabled tickets for anywhere, I have to send paperwork etc. just to prove I'm disabled.' However, some web users praised the fans, comparing them jokingly to the fake wheelchair user, Andy Pipkin, on TV's Little Britain. Diouf steps past his man to fire in his side's second goal in their 2-0 victory over Everton . Stadium: Stoke City said it was Everton's responsibility to investigate the incident . Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam attempts an overhead kick against pressure from Phil Jagielka (right) Everton's attacking midfielder Leon Osman fends off Stoke City defender Geoff Cameron (right) Matt Lucas (right) as Andy Pipkin, the wheel-chair con-artist in the BBC TV series Little Britain . Jack Bannister wrote: 'All hail the Andy and Lou of the Britannia Stadium! Class act. Lucky Everton didn't score otherwise the game would be up when they got on their feet cheering!' Stoke City said the club was aware of the two fans' online boasts, but said it was up to Everton to take action against the men. A spokesman said: 'We have been made aware of the claims of two Everton fans that they gained access to last week's game at the Britannia Stadium masquerading as a disabled supporter in a wheelchair and carer. 'If their claims prove correct and the people concerned can be identified, it will be for Everton to take action against them as appropriate.' Everton refused to comment on the men's claims, and would not confirm whether or not the club would launch an investigation. Moses dribbles with the ball as he is closed down by Everton right-back Seamus Coleman (right) Everton manager Roberto Martinez has admitted that his side are facing a relegation battle this season . +Zara Phillips made the most of the early spring sunshine, spending this afternoon at an charity eventing meet in Cambridgeshire. After completing her heats, the 33-year-old royal spent the rest of the day relaxing with friends at the Whitehall Farm Event Complex, near Ely. Zara entered two of her horses into the trials, Hunua and High Kingdom - which she won a silver medal on in the 2012 Olympics. Zara Phillips riding Hunua earlier today at a horse trials near Ely in Cambridgeshire . Concentration was etched on the 33-year-old royal's face as she cleared a jump . After a busy few hours competing in the dressage, show jumping and cross country heats, the professional equestrienne then changed into a windbreaker and dark blue baseball cap to relax with friends at the outdoor cafe. The two-day event was held to raise money for the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, which supports Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Zara's daughter Mia, one, who often accompanies her mother to horse shows, was absent from the day's event, as was Zara's husband Mike Tindall, 36. On top of their high-profile work commitments,Mike and Zara have a lot on their hands at the moment renovating their new home. Zara was typically dressed down in jodhpurs, a blue windbreaker and a dark blue baseball cap . After competing, Zara relaxed with friends at the event . The couple, who married in 2011, live on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Estate with their young daughter Mia, born last year. But it was reported recently that they are set to revamp a Grade II listed farmhouse where Zara's father, Captain Mark Phillips, had been living since his divorce from Anne in 1992. Once a high-tech renovation has been carried out on Aston Farm, set in 600 acres on the Princess Royal’s estate, the young family will move in. Zara Phillips riding her Olympic horse High Kingdom . Zara chats to a friend at the charity horse riding event . +A 15-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday in the short-lived kidnapping of a 22-month-old toddler that was caught on surveillance video in this small farming town in eastern Washington. The teenage boy, who lives in Sprague, was identified through the use of surveillance video, interviews and evidence collection, Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers said. The boy's identity was being withheld because he is a juvenile, Magers said. 'Over the past 72 hours, deputies and detectives have worked relentlessly on this case,' Magers said in a news release. Scroll down for video... Caught: Authorities have identified the attempted kidnapper in this surveillance footage as a Washington 15-year-old boy. Sprague, Washington authorities have arrested him but have declined to ID him because he is a minor . Detectives started focusing on the teen in the 24 hours before the arrest, Magers said. 'Additional evidence, interviews, DNA collection and surveillance was conducted,' Magers said. 'A search warrant was executed at the suspect's residence.' One of the kidnap victim's young siblings also positively identified the suspect, Magers said. The 15-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention facility on suspicion of second-degree kidnapping, Magers said. The Lincoln County prosecutor's office will make the formal charging decisions. Meanwhile, the brother and sister who bravely gave chase to the teen have spoken about the moments leading up to young Owen Wright being snatched. Brenden, 10, Delicia, 8, and Owen were approached by the stranger as they played in a park in the tiny town of Sprague, Washington, after their babysitter had left them unattended on Sunday. Heroes: Delicia Wright, 8, said that the kidnapper told them he was nice to kids and had been babysitting for a long time, she didn't believe him and her screams helped raise the alarm . Brave: Breden said he wasn't scared by the kidnapper and jumped into action because they he wanted his brother back so they could go to their cousin's birthday party . 'He said he was nice to kids and he had been babysitting for a long time,' Delicia told Good Morning America. Surveillance video shows the man running down the sidewalk with the toddler in his arms. In hot pursuit are Owen's brother and sister. 'I thought he was trying to kidnap him so I ran and screamed,' said Delicia. Big brother Breden said he wasn't scared by the teen and jumped into action because they had an important family function to attend. 'I was chasing him so I could get my brother back for my cousin's birthday party,' he explained. The dramatic scene ended after a pair of local teenagers also chased after the kidnapper and he set the boy down and ran off on Sunday, authorities said. Michael Wright, the father of the three children, said he was relieved that young Owen was unhurt and very proud of his other kids' bravery. 'For my kids to run after him that is an act of courage,' he said. Nicole and Michael Wright hold their 22-month-old son Owen who was abducted from Sprague City Park on Sunday. Owen's sister Delicia, 8, and brother Brenden, 10, were with the toddler and alerted a pair of teenage boys . Wright had left his three children with a babysitter on Sunday while he went to work. They were playing unsupervised in a city park near the sitter's house. 'I can't explain the feeling, the anxiety and everything that goes into finding out your children is missing or something has happened to them,' Wright told KXLY-TV. Sheriff's deputies said the 15-year-old talked with the children for a few minutes, then scooped the toddler out of his stroller and ran down the street. Surveillance video from a grocery store showed the kidnapper running, child in arms, with Delicia chasing and Brenden not far behind. 'I said there is something wrong,' she recalled on Tuesday. 'Then this man busts out and runs across the street and he's got a baby and a little girl right behind him screaming,' Giddings said. Isaac Yow, 16, who, along with friend Andrew Crane, 15, chased a 15-year-old who tried to abduct a toddler from a park on Sunday afternoon . 'The girl said, 'That man got my baby brother! That man got my baby brother!'' Giddings said she realized what was happening and sent her teenage grandson and his friend to chase the man. As the older boys approached, the kidnapper put the child down in a vacant lot and fled. No vehicle was seen with the suspect. Authorities said they don't believe the kidnapper is a resident of Sprague, a wheat farming town of about 500 people located 40 miles west of Spokane. 'We'd recognize him if he was local.' said Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers. 'We are leaning on somebody coming through town.' Authorities have no leads in the case. Delicia's screams alerted Dorothy Giddings, who was working at her antique store downtown, reports. Miss identified: Witnesses originally said the kidnapper was around 30-years-old, 6-foot-2 and had a mustache . Owen's older sister Delicia, left, and brother Brenden, right, were also captured on security video footage as they gave chase after the man who had taken their younger brother Owen . +When a fan decided to start an online conversation with JK Rowling about the weekend’s Scotland v Italy rugby match, he was stunned to get a reply. Now the Italian is boxing up a jar of Nutella to send to the Harry Potter author following a wager over which country would win. Andrea Brutto tweeted the writer on Saturday, ahead of the Six Nations clash at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, saying: ‘I’m Italian and I can’t wait for this match. Watch what we can do!’ JK Rowling and her husband watch from the stands during the Six Nations rugby clash between Scotland and Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday . Before the game, the Harry Potter author made a bet with an Italian rugby fan on Twitter saying she would send him a signed book if Scotland won. If Italy won he had to send her a jar of Nutella . To his surprise, Miss Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, replied: ‘Are you going to be at Murrayfield?’ Her overseas admirer was almost lost for words, saying: ‘I don’t know what to write you cause I don’t understand. Oh my God! Thank you Jo.’ The author then promised to send him a signed book if Scotland won ‘to ease the pain’ – but asked: ‘What will you give me if Italy win?’ He replied: ‘I cannot compare a signed book with one of my gift… But I think a simple but stronger hug or a kiss or a Nutella.’ Miss Rowling agreed, saying: ‘OK, Italy wins, you have to send me some Nutella. Scotland wins, you get a signed book.’ The Italian players celebrate after winning 22-19 in the game, meaning that the author lost the bet with Mr Brutto . After the match, Miss Rowling tweeted the Italian rugby fan congratulating his side on victory and reminding him he still owed her a jar of Nutella . Eventually Mr Brutto replied by posting a picture of the chocolate spread and asking for the author's address so he could send it to her . After a penalty try in the 80th minute gave Italy a 22-19 win over Scotland, she tweeted: ‘At least I’ll have Nutella. Congrats Andrea, you can have the book anyway. I need a very large drink. X’ Mr Brutto posted a picture of the jar of the chocolate spread that will soon be heading to Scotland. The 49-year-old writer also tweeted her support for Madonna, following the star’s fall at the Brits last week. Miss Rowling wrote: ‘Are you the sort of person who gloats when they see a woman fall, or the kind that celebrates a magnificent recovery? #TeamMadonna’ The delighted singer retweeted her famous fan’s support, before saying: ‘Thank you J.K Rowling! So nice to read your words of support! Women supporting Women! Hell to the Yeah!’ +Dramatic footage has emerged of a robber using a moped to ram their way through a shop window during a late night smash-and-grab. CCTV footage taken of the incident shows the brazen robber parking outside Made.com's Charing Cross Road store before making several attempts to drive their way through the glass. Scotland Yard is now investigating the furniture store robbery after the driver and his accomplices were seen making off with two iMac computers. Scroll down for video . After arriving outside the store, the would-be robber positions his moped on the pavement . He then begans driving into the glass in a bid to smash his way through . After reversing and driving into the glass several times, he succeeds in breaking the glass . A Made.com spokesperson told MailOnline the company had tightened security and was offering vouchers to anyone who provided information which led to an arrest. 'We can confirm that two computers were taken from our new Charing Cross showroom at 11.15pm on Tuesday night. 'The showroom was back open for business as usual the next morning. 'Luckily, no one was in the building at the time and we’re assisting police with their enquiries. 'It’s a big deal for an online brand like us to transition offline and this kind of crime demonstrates the risks of being on the high-street.' +A high school football recruit has pulled out of attending the University of Oklahoma after a video emerged of a campus fraternity engaged in racist chanting. Jean Delance, a junior at North Mesquite High School in Texas, says he has de-committed from the university and has spoke out in criticism of the footage. The video shows several young men on a bus participating in a chant that included the n-word and referencing lynching. Scroll down for video . Jean Delance, a junior at North Mesquite High School in Texas, who has de-committed from the University of Oklahoma after a video of a campus fraternity emerged showing racist chanting . The footage of the university's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, also shows at least one woman at the back of the bus clapping her hands along with the vile song, 'There will never be a n***** in SAE.' In a television interview on KTVT in Dallas, Delance described the video as 'very disturbing' and the people in it as 'uneducated'. He said: 'It is very distrubing, I never thought that stuff was still as trendy as back then or that it keeps repeating itself.' He also spoke of his disappointment that Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did not call him to alert him of the situation. The now-infamous video shows with at least one of the chanting young men wearing a tuxedo, left, while a woman, right claps along with the chant . The University of Oklahoma football team and coaches line up wearing all black in the Everest Training Center in protest of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity video . He added: 'I was just notified by the coaches this morning. I was hoping they would let me know ahead of time. 'If they did that I would have been very calm with it but I just had to find out about it on my own.' The university has now expelled the fraternity over the video with the school's president, David Boren saying he was sickened and couldn't eat or sleep after learning about the video. Meanwhile the football team decided to protest rather than practice yesterday at the team's indoor training facility. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon house at the University of Oklahoma. National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon have said that its investigation confirmed members took part in the chant . Facility workers remove the signage from the house after university president David Boren said the fraternity had until midnight to remove their belongings . Mr Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon have said that its investigation confirmed members took part in the chant and announced it would close the local chapter. The national group said it was ‘embarrassed’ by the ‘unacceptable and racist’ behavior. Mr Boren said members have until midnight Tuesday to remove their belongings from the fraternity house. University president David Boren, who says the school were still investigating the video and trying to establish who was on board the bus so they could consider disciplinary action . He said the fraternity was ‘not totally forthcoming’ and he was still trying to find out who was on the bus so the school could consider disciplinary actions. He also added that the university's legal staff was exploring whether the students who initiated and encouraged the chant may have violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination. It's unclear who recorded the video, when it was made and who initially leaked it online. Mr Boren suggested it was likely taken by another student who didn't agree with what was being said about African- Americans. +Gordon Strachan has declared Scotland  and recalled striker Jordan Rhodes are ready to work together at long last as he prepares to field the nation's 'best out-and-out goalscorer' in a competitive fixture for the first time in 18 months. The national manager kept the Blackburn Rovers hitman in exile as he went about honing a system for the improving Scots, saying that Rhodes was not a fit for the international game he wished to create. But the striker followed up his surprise return to the squad with a substitute appearance in the midweek friendly win over Northern Ireland — and Strachan last confirmed on Saturday that the 25-year-old will be let loose on minnows Gibraltar at some stage of the Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday. Recalled Scotland striker Jordan Rhodes has been called his country's 'best out-and-out goalscorer' Scotland manager Gordon Strachan had left Rhodes out of the side while he changed his formation . Rhodes made his return to the Scotland set-up with an appearance against Northern Ireland on Wednesday . Strachan is set to deviate from his 4-2-3-1 formation in a bid for goals and that could hand Rhodes a start in a two-man strike force against the Group D rookies. It would prove a hit with the Tartan Army, whose favourite Rhodes' last appearance in a qualifying game was as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat by Belgium in September 2013, after which Strachan said he was committed to a style that 'doesn't suit' the £8million forward. Now Rhodes and Strachan's plans are equipped to blend, with the manager explaining: 'I think we've evolved since he was last in the squad and, although he has not evolved with us, I think he has the intelligence to get better all the time because he can take things in. 'But I think he would find it easier playing with us now than it was two years ago. I'd say we make it easier for a striker to play with us now. 'He's probably the best out-and-out goalscorer we've got. But that wasn't the criteria to get us kick-started back then with where we wanted to go.' Rhodes missed 11 Scotland fixtures during his omission but is set to earn a 14th cap with a second Hampden appearance in five days. '(His selection) can't be a one-off because we are playing two games,' said Strachan. 'He's already been playing in one and he's going to play in another one. So that's two. 'We have a few players who could find this the right type of game for them. I picked the squad with that in mind. It's up to everyone to play well enough to be in the side. 'I can't say anyone will have a major role in the future. If I said 'he has a major role' and someone comes into the position and is better, he'll have a major role. It's up to you to play well enough to be in there.' Rhodes (right), who has been in impressive club form, celebrates with Blackburn team-mate Craig Conway . +Michael O'Neill must outwit his old boss Mixu Paatelainen to maintain Northern Ireland’s bid to qualify for a major tournament for the first time in 30 years. It was Finland manager Paatelainen who gave the 45-year-old Irishman his first break in coaching at Cowdenbeath. O’Neill revealed that the two old friends have been reluctant to compare notes so as to avoid giving away any more information about their tactics. ‘We’re similar to players, I think,’ he said. Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill faces his old mentor on Sunday, the manager of Finland . Mixu Paatelainen is the manager of Finland, and he gave O'Neill his first break in management . Northern Ireland team to face Finland: Carroll; C McLaughlin, McAuley, Evans, Baird; Ward, Davis, Norwood, Brunt, McGinn; Lafferty . ‘When you’ve played at a club with someone and then you’ve worked briefly with them as a coach there’s obviously a relationship there. ‘Obviously we are less inclined to discuss the opposition because he doesn’t want to tell me things I perhaps don’t know and vice versa. But we both know each other inside out and how our team will play. ‘Regardless of what happens it won’t affect how close we are.’ Northern Ireland have never qualified for the European Championship finals, and last appeared in a major tournament at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. O’Neill added: ‘I think Mixu has done a great job. His job is quite similar to mine, you have a limited pool of players to choose from and he has got them playing in a nice style. There’s no doubt Finland are a good team but there is a dependence on five or six players.’ O'Neill (pictured) and Paatelainen were together at Cowdenbeath in Scotland . +Scott Brown feels a rejuvenated Darren Fletcher can lead Scotland’s push for Euro 2016 qualification. Brown is likely to return against Gibraltar tonight despite Fletcher impressing in his absence in last week’s 1-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland. The 31-year-old’s display showed the benefits of the regular football he has played since moving from Manchester United to West Brom in January. Darren Fletcher made the move to West Bromwich Albion from Manchester United in January . Fletcher brings the ball under control during Scotland's 1-0 win over Northern Ireland . ‘Darren is probably the most experienced person in this squad,’ said Brown. ‘He has played at the top and is still a top player. ‘For us to have the benefit of training with him, to chat to him and learn from him, means a lot to everyone in the squad.' Fletcher was thrilled to be back captaining his country against Northern Ireland after a long absence . +Liverpool midfielder Jordan Lussey has joined Championship side Bolton for the remainder of the season. The 20-year-old will look for regular competitive action for Neil Lennon's side in the remaining seven games  with Bolton, who are currently 17th in the Championship, just 10 points from the relegations zone. Lussey has been a regular for the Liverpool Under 21 side, having joined the Reds in 2002, and travelled with Brendan Rodgers' Europa League squad to face Besiktas last month. Liverpool midfielder Jordan Lussey, in action for the Reds Under 21, has joined Bolton on loan . Lussey tweeted his joy on Thursday: 'Delighted to have joined Bolton on loan, thanks for all the messages!' The box-to-box midfielder has also represented England at youth level and will provide competition for places in Lennon's side, who next face Blackpool on April 4. He follows the likes of Liverpool team-mates Sheyi Ojo and Jerome Sinclair, who have both joined relegation-threatened Championship side Wigan on loan in the last six weeks to gain first-team football experience. The 20-year-old has impressed in the Liverpool youth ranks since joining the Anfield club in 2002 . +Manchester United defender Reece James is wanted by Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield. The 21-year-old signed a contract extension with United last month after impressing Louis van Gaal but the Old Trafford club will consider whether to let him out to gain more game time and experience. Reece James has impressed Louis van Gaal but could be sent out on loan by Manchester United . James, 21, has already been sent on loan to Rotherham this season, but could be set for another move . James had a loan spell at Rotherham between November and January and has made one appearance for United this season in their ill-fated Capital One Cup defeat to MK Dons at the start of the season. The Championship trio are keen to add James's pace to their ranks as they look to finish the season with a flourish and, in Fulham's case, ensure they stay up. +Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho admits he must add more goals to his game as he strives to become one of the best midfielders in Europe. The Brazilian star has been in outstanding form this season but has scored just five, albeit often spectacular, goals in all competitions as the club have attempted to qualify for the Champions League for the second season in a row. In total, Coutinho has scored just 13 goals in 92 games since joining Liverpool from Inter in January 2013, and the 22-year-old insists he is determined to improve his record in the coming months. Philippe Coutinho concedes he must score more goals for Liverpool to be considered a great midfielder . Coutinho has five goals for the Anfield club this season, but they have often been spectacular strikes . He told Liverpool's official website: 'I think I still have to improve. 'I have not improved yet. I scored a few goals last month but I need to improve. 'I have this ambition, this objective of improving finishing. In the position I play, I need to score goals to help the team and create plays. Therefore I must improve my goalscoring skills.' The Brazilian midfielder plays a pass during training ahead of his country's game against France in Paris . Coutinho dribbles with the ball ahead of Manchester United's Ader Herrera and Juan Mata on Sunday . +Chelsea left back Filipe Luis insists he wants to stay at the club despite the lack of first team opportunities and the lure of Atletico Madrid and former boss Diego Simeone. The Brazilian defender enjoyed four years at the Vicente Calderon working under 'El Cholo' and has been linked with a return having found it tough to break in to Jose Mourinho's starting line-up. But Luis wishes to see out his three-year contract with the Blues, and is intent on winning more silverware after the Capital One Cup success. Filipe Luis, pictured playing against Hull, says he wants to see out his three-year contract with Chelsea . The Brazilian left back admits he is still very fond of Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone . He told Marca: 'I'm just focused on Chelsea, on working hard and giving my best in order to end the season with another important and beautiful trophy. 'Of course, everything can change in football, but I'm happy and have a three-year contract at Chelsea that I'd like to see out. 'I've had some of the best years of my career at Atlético and remember the supporters, my teammates and the coaching staff fondly . 'I'm really fond of 'El Cholo' (Simeone), he's a coach that taught me so much'. Luis is currently away on international duty with Brazil, preparing for friendlies against France (Thursday) and Chile (Sunday). Filipe Luis has been linked with a return to former club Atletico, who he left to join Chelsea last summer . Luis takes part in Brazil training with with (l-r) Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Willian in France on Wednesday . +Six  months after a machete was carved into his thigh, Kell Brook finds himself in a situation where he has to walk like he talks. The fact that he is walking at all is a measure of progress, considering the damage caused during the vicious assault he suffered on holiday in Tenerife last September. But the greater question, and one that has lingered since his condition was no longer deemed life-threatening, centres on what kind of fighter will return to the ring. The answer will finally come on Saturday, when the 28-year-old faces Jo Jo Dan, a tough Romanian who is mandatory challenger for the IBF welterweight world title Brook brilliantly won weeks before he was assaulted. Kell Brook is ready to return to the ring against Jo Jo Dan just six months after he suffered a machete attack . Brook showed off the scar on his thigh from the attack (left) before putting in more hours ahead of his return . Brook feared on the night of the attack that he would die, or that he would be unable to walk ever again . 'I went from being on top of the world to the bottom of the ocean,' was how Brook put it in an interview with Sportsmail last September, his first since the attack. Then, like now, Brook's outlook was dominated by fighting talk and attempts at positive thinking. On Thursday, he says physical testing at his gym in Sheffield shows he is 'getting the same, if not better results, than for the Shawn Porter fight' in which he won the belt. But boxing is a hype industry. And one memory from that initial conversation in his parents' living room is of a subdued fighter revealing that a doctor had recently told him the numbness in his left thigh — pieced together by 38 staples — might never fully go away. Dan has earned his shot at Brook after becoming the mandatory challenger for his IBF world title . Until he steps into the ring in front of Sky's cameras, only Brook himself truly knows if there is any residual physical consequence of the attack, after which he left a trail of blood across a holiday resort before collapsing unconscious and being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. 'I don't have any problems,' he said ahead of Friday's weigh-in. 'I look down and see a scar and that's about it, really. But I remember, when I woke up in hospital in Tenerife, no-one had come to see me yet and I was looking down at the leg. There were drips in each arm. I just thought, 'Two weeks ago I was top of the world and now I am in a hospital bed after major surgery'. I can remember thinking, 'This is horrific'. There were all these staples in it holding it together and I thought it was like a shark attack. I was lucky to be alive. 'I couldn't even walk up the stairs to get on the plane back to England. But here we are.' Brook at home shortly after he was stabbed (left) and showing his scar (right) on the week of his fight . It's a fascinating junction in Brook's career. Sportsmail understands that his promoter Eddie Hearn has kept open the possibility of using Wembley stadium on June 13 should he finally succeed in luring Amir Khan into a huge domestic fight. But Khan is apparently uninterested in Hearn's offer of a £4million payday despite a recent encouraging meeting between camps in Blackpool. Brook said: 'I think the Amir Khan fight is gone for this year. I'm the world champion and I will fight some other massive name.' In the long term, Hearn's ambitious hope is to stage an autumn fight against the winner of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather — a bout that would unify the division's titles. But there is a long, unpredictable queue to either of those mammoth names, who are considered likely to hold a September rematch depending on the outcome of their May 2 meeting. The attack left Brook needing 32 metal staples in his left thigh after blood was 'spurting everywhere' out of it . Hearn has so far held productive talks with the representatives of legendary Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez, as well as former lightweight world champion Brandon Rios, over a summer bout. Brook said: 'I was born to do this. I have a second chance at it after everything that's happened. I believe it is my destiny to go out there and keep winning. 'I always believed it was my destiny to become world champion and I did. I keep telling myself that I won't stop, not just winning one world title but I want to do it at different weights. Brook seemed in good spirits as he got back into the ring at the workout on Tuesday afternoon . 'It's been horrible going through everything since the attack, all the rehab and everything else but now I am the fittest I have ever been and can't wait to get back in the ring again.' When he does, it will become clearer how much walking one of Britain's most talented fighters can still do. +Darren Clarke expressed his delight at getting the Ryder Cup captaincy as he looked forward to leading Europe's bid for an unprecedented fourth victory in succession. Clarke will captain the side at Hazeltine in 2016, where his opposite number will be good friend Davis Love, who has been given a second chance to skipper the United States after being on the wrong end of the 'Miracle at Medinah' in 2012. World number one Rory McIlroy often stated that he felt Clarke would be the ideal candidate to be captain in America and the former Open champion could not agree more. Darren Clarke has expressed his delight at landing the Ryder Cup captaincy for Europe . Clarke poses with the Ryder Cup trophy with (from left to right) Chairman of The European Tour David Williams, Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills and Chief Executive of The European Tour George O'Grady . Clarke will have the support of his colleagues, in particular World No 1 Rory Mcilroy (left) 'The highest honour the European Tour can bestow on any of its members is the Ryder Cup captaincy, so imagine my sense of joy, pride and in some ways relief when the call came through from Ryder Cup director Richard Hills inviting me to lead Europe into the 2016 match against the USA,' Clarke said on Monday. 'The more I played in the Ryder Cup, the more I wanted to become captain and, to be honest, if I could have chosen where and when, then it would have been America and now. 'I have thoroughly enjoyed playing there and I have always felt very welcome, so I am particularly delighted that everything I wanted has come to fruition. 'Europe has a chance to make history by winning the Ryder Cup for the fourth time in succession and I am absolutely thrilled to have that opportunity. But, whatever happens, I will also do everything in my power to ensure the good name of the game and the true spirit of this incredible match is carried forward. 'What made this honour even more amazing is that Davis Love has been elected American captain. We have been very good friends ever since I first started playing in America and I have the upmost respect for him as both a player and a person. 'It won't stop me doing everything I possibly can to ensure the European team beats his, but whatever the result we will remain friends first and foremost.' The Northern Irishman insists he will still be friends with American captain David Love III after the tournament . Europe have won eight of the last 10 biennial contests and six of the last seven, although the victories in 2010 and 2012 were by a single point and the latter came when Jose Maria Olazabal's side overturned a 10-4 deficit in Chicago. Paul McGinley captained the side to a five-point win at Gleneagles in 2014, the same margin by which the United States claimed their last win at Valhalla in 2008. An additional golden band has been added just above the base of the Ryder Cup trophy to accommodate the results of future matches. Paul McGinley and his European team celebrate after beating the USA in Gleneagles last summer . +Henrik Stenson was angry with tournament officials after two late mistakes cost him victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Sunday. Stenson had seen his two-shot overnight lead turned into a two-shot deficit in the space of eight holes, but fought back to reclaim the outright lead with six holes of the final round to play. However, the Ryder Cup star - who had played the final four holes in four under par on Friday and Saturday - three-putted the 15th for a bogey and did the same for par on the 16th after finding the green in two. Henrik Stenson was angry with tournament officials after two late mistakes cost him victory at Bay Hill . Stenson had seen his two-shot overnight lead turned into a two-shot deficit in the space of eight holes . Morgan Hoffmann shakes hands with Stenson on the 18th green after the final round of the tournament . And American Matt Every took full advantage with a birdie from 15 feet on the 18th to complete a closing 66, which made him the third player in the tournament's history to successfully defend the title. Stenson was unhappy at being timed for slow play on the back nine, telling reporters: 'I'm obviously a little disappointed with the outcome. 'I'm as much disappointed with the PGA Tour officials for putting us on the clock on 15, starting to chase us down the stretch. It's busy enough trying to close out a golf tournament and to play the finishing holes without being on the clock. I did not see the reason for that really.' Every, who was four behind heading into the final round last year and three adrift of Stenson on Sunday, said: 'Last year I just made everything but this year I was driving it really well and my irons were spot on. Matt Every (left) celebrates winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational and is given the trophy by the man himself . American champion Every made a successful defence of the trophy at Bay Hill on Sunday . 'I kind of had a feeling. I was shaking some of those putts in but the one on 18, straight downhill, that's what you want when under pressure so that was nice.' World number one Rory McIlroy finished eight shots behind the winner after a closing 70, but expressed his satisfaction with his form ahead of his bid to win a third major title in succession and complete the career grand slam in next month's Masters at Augusta. 'I feel like I got what I wanted out of the week, four good competitive rounds,' McIlroy told Sky Sports 4. 'I saw some progress on some of the things I was working on last week. I still need to work on some things ahead of Augusta. 'I am excited going there with the opportunity to achieve three in a row, the career grand slam. It's a nice position to be in. I'm going to embrace it, try not to build it up too much. I know it's a big deal but hopefully I can get my game as good as I possibly can.' Rory McIlroy finished strongly but had to settle for 11th place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational . +Next stop the Masters for Rory McIlroy and let's hope his final competitive hole before the season's first major in just over a fortnight's time proves a portent of things to come. Taking dead aim with his second shot on the dangerous 18th hole at Bay Hill on Sunday, the world No 1 judged it beautifully. The eight iron approach finished just 6ft from the hole and he rapped home the birdie putt for a 70 for a tied 11th finish in his first appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where American Matt Every completed a successful title defence. Given McIlroy climbed to within a stroke of the lead on Friday with a run of five birdies in a row during his second round 66, it hardly represented the summit of his ambitions for the weekend. Rory McIlroy finished strongly but had to settle for 11th place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational . Matt Every (left) celebrates winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational and is given the trophy by the man himself . American champion Every made a successful defence of the trophy at Bay Hill on Sunday . But the tournament was really all about prep work ahead of his attempt to become the first European to complete the career Grand Slam and in those terms, he pronounced himself content. 'I feel like I got what I wanted out of the week and saw some progress on the things I am working on between now and Augusta,' he said. 'Now I'll go away and work on them some more and hopefully be ready for the Masters.' That work will be completed at the Bear's Club near his home in South Florida, where the greens will be a lot closer to Augusta speed than those at Bay Hill last week, where he never really looked comfortable. As for the Masters, McIlroy said: 'I'm excited with it now so close, and the chance to win a third major in a row and become just the sixth player to complete the career grand slam. It is a nice position to be in and I am going to embrace it.' McIlroy began seven shots off the lead and threatened briefly to assemble the sort of final round charge that saw him make up just such a deficit to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last year. Stenson threw away a golden opportunity to win Palmer's tournament . Ian Poulter also had a disappointing weekend as he finished outside the top 20 . He birdied the two par fives, the fourth and sixth, and looked certain to birdie the 8th but the putt somehow failed to drop. McIlroy bent over in exasperation and at the next his race was run in terms of winning when he ran up an untidy bogey. It looked as if the round would fizzle out but he assembled something of a grandstand finish with two birdies in his last three holes. Alongside McIlroy, Europe's other leading hope for a first Masters triumph in 16 years must be the Swede Henrik Stenson but he will be smarting right now after throwing away a golden opportunity to win Palmer's tournament. After two fourth place finishes in a row in Florida, he began the final round with a two stroke lead. After losing it on the front nine owing largely to some forceful attacking play from Americans Morgan Hoffmann and Every, he had regained it with four holes to play. The only thing that has ever held him back, however, has been his putting and his weakness showed up again with successive three putts at the 15th and 16th holes. How costly that proved as Every played a marvellous iron shot to the 18th to set up what proved the clinching birdie. Stenson could not match it to give the unsung Floridian a one shot win. As for Ian Poulter, the UK's other player in contention at halfway, he will be disappointed with his weekend's work after a final round 72 left him outside the top 20. +The European Tour will look to stage the Madeira Islands Open later in the year after it was cancelled due to bad weather on Sunday. The tournament had already been reduced to 36 holes for the second year in succession, but torrential rain meant no play was possible in the second and final round at Santo da Serra. Keith Waters, chief operating officer of the European Tour, said: 'The Madeira Islands Open - Portugal - BPI is a hugely important event for The European Tour so it is disappointing for everyone concerned that we have been forced to cancel this week. Bad weather forced the Madeira Islands Open to be cancelled by officials on Sunday . 'We share a very strong relationship with the hosts and sponsors, so we are already in discussions with the club and the sponsors to reschedule the event for another week in this year's Race to Dubai schedule. 'We must now make every effort to make sure that the Madeira Islands Open takes place this year and that together we can show the world the true potential of this great event and this beautiful island.' Winds gusting up to 47 miles per hour meant no play had been possible on Thursday, while further strong winds on Friday caused a delay of almost two hours before rain ended play early. The European Tour event had already been reduced to 36 holes before Sunday's cancellation . Officials and greenkeepers tried their best to prepare the course for play but the conditions prevailed . Half of the field had yet to complete their rounds when play was abandoned for the day at 6pm and heavy rain which flooded the course caused further disruption on Saturday. With yet more bad weather forecast for Sunday, the decision was taken to make it a 36-hole event, with the top 65 and ties due to play the final round in a shotgun start at 8am. Denmark's JB Hansen held the clubhouse lead on four under par, one shot ahead of a group of eight players including England's Andrew Marshall and Scotland's Peter Whiteford, with the entire field separated by just six shots. It is thought to be the first European Tour event to be cancelled due to bad weather since the Compaq European Grand Prix at Slaley Hall in 1998. European Tour officials will look to reschedule the event for later in the year . Tournament director Jose Maria Zamora said: 'Unfortunately we had 60mm of rain overnight and throughout Sunday and the course became totally unplayable. That made it impossible to start and finish the second round today. 'That would have put us into Monday and we had already been issued a warning for very strong winds on Monday which would again have made the course unplayable. 'We have been very unfortunate with the weather this week but we are hoping to reschedule and show the true potential of the island.' +A judge in South Africa on Monday convicted Bob Hewitt, a former Grand Slam tennis champion, of raping and sexually assaulting three girls whom he had been coaching. The assaults occurred decades ago, according to the victims who are now grown women. Judge Bert Bam granted bail of about $840 (£562), which Hewitt's wife, Delaille, paid. The judge did not say why the bail amount was so low. A sentencing hearing was scheduled in a Pretoria court for April 17. Until then he must mostly remain in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, where he lives, the judge ruled. Hewitt can also visit his daughter, who lives in Johannesburg. Police will confiscate Hewitt's passport from his home on Wednesday. Former Grand Slam tennis champion Bob Hewitt has been convicted of rape and sexual assault . South African Hewitt, pictured in action at Wimbledon in July 1968, must now wait for his sentencing hearing . The charges stemmed from events in the 1980s and 1990s, prosecutors said. Hewitt, who is 75 years old, had denied the charges. The judge rejected an application by Hewitt's attorney, Terry Price, to postpone sentencing so the defence can prepare a psychologist's report that it plans to use in its argument for leniency at the sentencing hearing. Prosecutor Carina Coetzee said that she does not believe there should be any reduction of sentence because so much time has passed. One accuser, 45-year-old Suellen Sheehan, laid an accusation of rape against Hewitt in 2011 and was in court for the verdict. She said her former coach raped her in his car before tennis practice when she was 12 years old. Alleged victims of sexual abuse are typically not identified, but Sheehan and another accuser, Theresa Tolken, have agreed to be named. 'He knows what he did and he's had to live with that,' Sheehan said. The charges against Hewitt stem from events that occured in the 1980s and 1990s . Tolken, said Hewitt raped her in a hotel room in South Africa when she was 13. A third woman, who has asked not to be identified, said Hewitt sexually assaulted her numerous times during tennis practice in Johannesburg in the early 1990s when she was 16. Australian-born Hewitt sat with arms crossed and appeared impassive as the judge explained the reasoning behind his verdict. His wife sat nearby. A South African advocacy group said it does not want Hewitt's advanced age to result in a light sentence. 'This is a case that involves the rape of children, bottom line,' said Germaine Vogel, spokeswoman for Woman and Men Against Child Abuse. The group helped two of the three accusers come forward. Hewitt (left) leaves the court in Johannesburg alongside his wife Delaille . The judge said he is satisfied that all three women told the truth. Bam said the striking similarities among the three women's testimonies showed that Hewitt's conduct was calculated, and revealed a pattern of behavior. All three were impressionable young girls, flattered by the attention of a renowned player, according to the judge. 'Their submissiveness in the circumstances should never have been seen as consent,' said Bam. Letters that Hewitt wrote to one of his accusers, Theresa Tolken, were cited in detail as corroborating evidence. The judge said Hewitt had failed to convince him that the letters were only about tennis. Hewitt was a 15-time Grand Slam doubles champion, winning doubles and mixed doubles titles. He was inducted into the International Hall of Fame, but was suspended indefinitely in 2012 after the Hall of Fame found enough credibility in the sexual assault allegations after its own investigation. +Bernie Ecclestone has suggested next year's German Grand Prix could also fall by the wayside just days after this season's race was officially dropped from the Formula One calendar. As per their contract, Hockenheim is scheduled to host the event in 2016, but at this early stage F1 supremo Ecclestone is uncertain whether it will go ahead. Asked whether he could confirm it would take place, Ecclestone, speaking to a select media group in the paddock at the Malaysian Grand Prix, replied: 'No.' Bernie Ecclestone (left) says German Grand Prix may miss out on the Formula One calendar next year . Informed that Hockenheim has a contract for 2016 and 2018, Ecclestone added: 'It doesn't make a difference. A lot of people have a contract.' Ecclestone intimated if Germany was unable to afford the race this year, then it will struggle to pay the hosting fee next season. The Nurburgring was scheduled to host the race in July, but due to numerous financial difficulties behind the scenes was ultimately forced to withdraw. Ecclestone then turned to Hockenheim to step in and fill the void, but negotiations broke down and time ran out as circuit officials believed they did not have ample time to promote and sell tickets. Hockenheim and Nurburgring have hosted the German Grand Prix for the past seven years . 'The trouble in Germany was the Nurburgring spent an awful lot of money which they borrowed,' added Ecclestone. 'They didn't need to spend what they spent, and therefore didn't need to borrow the amount they borrowed. 'They forgot to pay it back, and that caused a few ripples. It sent a bad message.' Ecclestone didn't confirm if Hockenheim would host next year's race despite having a contract in place . Historic European races are now fast falling away with France, San Marino and now Germany losing their place on the calendar in recent times. Italy is another that will struggle to pay its way beyond the expiry of its current contract in 2016 unless national government steps in to assist, or Ecclestone reduces his fees. Asked whether he was prepared to see F1's European heartland wither away, Ecclestone said: 'There are lots of things we all would like, but we don't have them because we can't afford them.' Suggested to Ecclestone 'if Monza goes, it goes', he said: 'Whatever goes, goes.' The Formula One supremo said Hockenheim having a contract in place 'doesn't make a difference' Ecclestone did concede, however, 'it would be terrible' if Europe did lose all its races, particularly as the series would no longer become a world championship. Many people believe Ecclestone's hosting fees are too steep, which in turn prompts promoters to charge extortionate ticket prices, leading to reduced numbers through the turnstiles. Hockenheim, for instance, saw its audience plummet from more than 100,000 in 2012 to just 60,000 in 2014, despite Sebastian Vettel being a four-time world champion at that stage and Mercedes dominating last year. 'Probably right,' said Ecclestone, regarding comments about over-charging. 'But the teams get 62 per cent of whatever profit the company (CVC, who run the sport) makes, so if we make less money, the teams make less money.' The German Grand Prix has alternated between Hockenheim and Nurburgring since 2007 . +Renault, which supplies engines to the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams, is considering pulling out of Formula One because of the damage done to its reputation after a difficult start to the season. Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul said Friday he is looking at his options, 'including getting out of Formula One.' 'If Formula One is that bad for Renault's reputation, if we see that we will continue to struggle with the current formula, if Formula One is not delivering on the value that it costs Renault ... this is what we're looking at,' he said. Renault's Cyril Abiteboul (centre) is pictured at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday . However, Abiteboul was also asked whether Renault was weighing up the option of buying an existing F1 team and becoming a race constructor again. 'We'll have to review the situation from a marketing and strategic perspective,' Abiteboul said. Renault won championships in 2005 and 2006 but withdrew from the sport after heavy penalties for fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The team principal of Toro Rosso, which is considered to be a takeover target if Renault took that step, said the Italy-based team would be receptive to an offer from Renault. 'This would be a fantastic opportunity for Toro Rosso to make the next step forward,' Franz Tost said. 'To be part of a manufacturer, to work together with a manufacturer, and be owned by a manufacturer would be exactly the step the team needs.' Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo in action during the first practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix . Two other teams considered to be possible targets for Renault are Force India and Lotus, which have had financial troubles, but both played down any interest. Both teams have engine supply deals with Mercedes through 2020. 'We are not looking for a buyer and are not for sale,' Lotus chief executive Matthew Carter said. Force India deputy principal Bob Fernley said: 'I have had absolutely no discussion at all with Renault.' If Renault pulls out of F1, or switches from engine supplier to competitor, it would put Red Bull in a difficult situation. Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen drives during Friday's practice at the Sepang International Circuit . Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said such a change may leave the Austrian-based parent company with no option but to withdraw from the sport, too, because there would be no other viable option for engine supply. 'It sound like Franz wants to sell his team to Cyril and we will then need an engine,' Horner said. 'Should we find ourselves in a situation without an engine supplier ... you could find yourself actually forced out of the sport.' Red Bull and Horner have expressed frustration with the lack of cost control in the sport, and he referenced that again Friday. Abiteboul (left) sits alongside Red Bull team principal Christian Horner at a press conference on Friday . 'Is Formula One delivering for Red Bull as a brand? There are some worrying signs,' Horner said. 'Red Bull wants to be in Formula One and we want to try and address some of the issues that are currently plaguing the sport that we don't seem to be able to find any traction with.' Horner also said Red Bull has no plans to start making its own engines - a theory fueled by the team's new deal with engineering group Ilmor. 'We have no intention of being an engine manufacturer,' Horner said. 'We (Red Bull and Ilmor) are trying to work in co-ordination with Renault to assist in the areas where perhaps they are not strong.' +Williams driver Valtteri Bottas has been warned by the FIA he must stop driving the moment he suffers a repeat of the back pain that forced him out of the Australian Grand Prix. Bottas sustained a very small tear in the annular part of a disc in his lower back during qualifying, leading to severe pain. Although the Finn made himself available to drive on Sunday morning ahead of the race, the FIA ultimately declared him unfit. Valtteri Bottas briefs the press about his injury at the Sepang Circuit Medical Centre on Thursday . Bottas declared himself fit for Melbourne after suffering a back injury in qualifying, but still missed the race . Ahead of Sunday's race in Malaysia, Bottas has now been given the all clear, albeit with the proviso from the FIA that 'in case of a recurrence of pain, or any abnormal feeling, he must stop at the earliest opportunity'. Bottas has no doubt he will come through unscathed as he said: 'The back is good, no pain, which is nice. 'At the end of last week I could do something without any pain, and during the weekend I could swim, cross-train without any pain, so the recovery was really good. 'We've done everything we can in this short period of time - luckily there are two weeks - so I feel confident of getting back in the car.' Bottas has revealed the injury was due to his brake and seat position inside his car, which have since been corrected. 'The back is now in a more neutral position, less pressure on the discs. We are confident that should be it,' added Bottas. Preparations are ramping up in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix . Mercedes director Toto Wolff (right) speaks with Bottas in the paddock in Kuala Lumpur . 'I've never had any problems before with the lower back. That kind of thing normally takes a bit of time to build up. 'But there was no warning, it went suddenly under maximum braking. It was like someone putting a knife in there, with the pain ramping up through to midnight. 'During the night it started to ease off. In the morning I would have been ready to race. 'I did pass the tests, but the FIA had access to all the material from the hospital, from the MRI and that stuff. 'Maybe they thought it was better (not to race) in the longer term, which could have been true. 'It was very disappointing, but I also respect the FIA's decision, with the support great from the team.' As a precaution, Williams on Thursday announced Adrian Sutil as their reserve driver, with the German back in Formula One after being axed by Sauber at the end of last year. Although Susie Wolff is test driver and young Briton Alex Lynn the development driver, Williams believe experience is crucial should a sudden change be required. Sir Frank Williams said: 'The fight for a top constructors' championship position will be intense this season. 'Therefore we have selected a driver with recent race experience and are confident if the need arose, he would be a solid pair of hands to race the FW37 and assist our 2015 campaign.' +Ottis Gibson will be England's interim fast-bowling coach, in place of David Saker, for next month's tour of his native West Indies. Gibson was previously part of England's management team on a permanent basis in the same capacity between 2007 and early 2010, and subsequently West Indies coach until last year. He will join up with England again when Alastair Cook's team flies to the Caribbean next week for three Tests. Ottis Gibson will rejoin the England management team for the tour to West Indies next week . Gibson with boss Peter Moores (left) during their previous time together in the England set-up . The 46-year-old former West Indies seamer was the England Lions' fast-bowling coach on this year's tour of South Africa. Australian Saker has informed the England and Wales Cricket Board he intends to leave his post in September, to become Melbourne Renegades coach in the Big Bash. ECB managing director Paul Downton said: 'We are delighted to have secured a bowling coach of Ottis' calibre, as he is highly respected among the fast-bowling fraternity and his knowledge and experience of local conditions will be invaluable in the Caribbean. Gibson will be working with the likes of James Anderson again, as he did in 2007 (left) 'We must, however, stress that this is a short-term appointment at this stage. 'No decision has yet been made on a long-term replacement for David, and we will need to review how we staff this position going forward following the conclusion of the West Indies tour. ' +England international Ravi Bopara says the side needs to 'stop being so English' as they bid to recover from their World Cup horror show. Peter Moores' men returned home from Australia and New Zealand before the quarter-finals, with questions and critics stacking up. The team's approach to limited overs cricket has been rubbished by some, while others have suggested the team puts too great an emphasis on data rather than performances. Ravi Bopara bats in the nets during a Lycamobile & Chance to Shine Street Partnership Announcement at the Kia Oval on Wednesday . Bopara was part of England's World Cup squad that failed so spectacularly in Australia and New Zealand . And Bopara, who was part of the squad which failed so miserably Down Under, knows changes are needed. He told the Daily Telegraph: 'We need to change the culture. We need to change it quickly. 'We need to be a bit more free as players and stop worrying about the consequences and at times stop being so English. 'We are very, very English and it feels quite institutionalised at times. If you look at other countries they are more open about things and more honest about things.' Bopara says England need to stop being so English and admit they are not good enough after World Cup . Bopara says the English are too worried about what people think of them . The Essex all-rounded cited an incident involving the touring Indian side last summer which he believes backs up his point that England need to get real. 'You had India eating McDonalds on the outfield here last summer (at Headingley) - does it matter? What's wrong with that? They were hungry! They are not worried about how they look - they were hungry they want to eat,' he said. 'For too long we have been worried about what people think of us sometimes that media has influenced the way we do things. We should be honest with everyone - say it straight up. 'We weren't good enough in the World Cup - our skills weren't good enough. Other teams have developed their skills a lot faster than we have because they were honest enough to say it earlier.' +Liam Stewart, the son of rock star Rod Stewart and former model Rachel Hunter, is poised to make his senior Great Britain ice hockey debut after being named in the World Championship squad. The 20-year-old, born in London, has been included in new head coach Pete Russell's 23-man party for next month's tournament in Holland. Stewart plays his hockey in America for Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League and has already represented Britain at Under 20 level. Liam Stewart, the son of rock star Rod Stewart and model Rachel Hunter, plays for the Spokane Chiefs . Stewart is set to make his senior Great Britain ice hockey debut at the World Championships . He is in his fourth and final season with the Washington-based Chiefs, being an assistant captain for the last two years, after previously impressing for the Los Angeles Junior Kings Under-16s. Stewart was recently named the Chiefs' players' player of the year after posting career highs in goals and points with 25 and 53 respectively from 71 games. Russell has also awarded debut caps to Josh Batch (Cardiff Devils), Chris Blight (Dundee Stars), Jonathan Boxill (Nottingham Panthers), Matt Haywood (Braehead Clan) and Jack Prince (University of Alabama-Huntsville). Rod Stewart performing at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games last July at Celtic Park . Rod Stewart with his second wife, Rachel Hunter, in Beverley Hills in 1996 . Experienced duo Russell Cowley (Coventry Blaze) and Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers) earn recalls, the latter a replacement for the injured Stevie Lee (Nottingham Panthers) while Belfast Giants goaltender Stephen Murphy, who has missed the majority of the season, will not be risked. The two notable absentees are Coventry Blaze captain Ashley Tait, who is the national team's all-time appearance holder with 102 caps, and Belfast Giants' Craig Peacock, who is named on the reserves list. Russell said: "Since Christmas we have watched a lot of hockey and evaluated all our available options but, more importantly, searched for the right players who we believe fit into our playing philosophy and identity. "When taking on the role of head coach I stated my goal to implement a new identity of play and to select players who fit into each role to make our group more balanced and complete as a unit. I believe we have done this and we have selected the right individuals for this period of the process. "We have players returning with good international experience and we have some new blood coming into the fold as well, which is exciting. We have a good mix of speed, skill, power and grit. We also have the right mix of offensive-minded talent and more defensive-minded talent. For me, this is vital to us while pushing forward to reach our goals for not only this championship but for our future." After two warm-up matches against Poland, Britain head to Eindhoven for their Division 1B campaign where they will face Holland, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania and South Korea between April 13-19. Goaltenders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff), Stevie Lyle (Swindon), Tom Murdy (Telford); Defencemen: Josh Batch (Cardiff), Russell Cowley (Coventry), Ben O'Connor (Sheffield), David Phillips (Belfast), Mark Richardson (Cardiff), Paul Swindlehurst (Dundee), Mark Thomas (Sheffield), Jonathan Weaver (Telford); Forwards: Chris Blight (Dundee), Jonathan Boxill (Nottingham), Robert Dowd (Sheffield), Robert Farmer (Nottingham), Mark Garside (Belfast), Matt Haywood (Braehead), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham), Matt Myers (Cardiff), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield), Jack Prince (University of Alabama-Huntsville), Colin Shields (Belfast), Liam Stewart (Spokane Chiefs). Reserves - Goaltender: Mike Will (Cardiff); Defencemen: James Griffin (Coventry), Sam McCluskey (Dundee), Sam Oakford (Nottingham); Forwards: Ben Davies (Braehead), Joey Lewis (Bad Tolz), Craig Peacock (Belfast). +We see Jessica Ennis-Hill on TV adverts and billboards, promoting bank accounts, health insurance and sportswear. It is easy to forget we have not seen her on the athletics track for more than 18 months and it has been more than two-and-a-half years since she won Olympic gold on a mild summer evening in Stratford, her most recent heptathlon. Her management team have done a stellar job maintaining her profile during the 18 months she has been away from competition, during which time she had her first baby, Reggie. Jessica Ennis-Hill celebrates her triumph at London 2012 - but she is more likely to be seen in adverts of late . The Olympic heptathlon champions is working under the guidance of long-time coach Toni Minichiell . Liz McColgan, 10,000m . Won gold at Tokyo World Championships in 1991, less than a year after she gave birth to daughter Eilish. Paula Radcliffe, Marathon . Had daughter Isla in February 2007 and won New York marathon later that year. Jo Pavey, 10,000m . Had the best season of her career in 2014, culminating in European Championships gold 10 months after having second child Emily. Catriona Matthew, Golf . Became the first Scotswoman to win the British Open, just 10 weeks after having her second child. Kim Clijsters, Tennis . Won the US Open in 2009, just a couple of years after retiring to start a family. But with the announcement that she will make her comeback in the 100 metres hurdles at the Great City Games in Manchester on May 9 come the inevitable questions. Can she recapture the form that put her on top of the world and does her future status as Britain’s golden girl depend on it? At the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, she is working her socks off under the guidance of long-time coach Toni Minichiello, who is learning new things every day about working with an athlete who has recently given birth. He is broadly optimistic but cautions against expecting too much from her immediately. ‘She’s a couple of months behind where she needs to be so we’re just building back steadily,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be a very big challenge and I wouldn’t expect huge things straight away. But she’s getting back to where she was in terms of some of the markers we’ve put down.’ Back when Ennis-Hill won Olympic gold, a 19-year-old Katarina Johnson-Thompson was 15th, just happy to share a start line with her compatriot. Now 22, Johnson-Thompson is the world’s best multi-eventer and broke Ennis-Hill’s British pentathlon record in Prague this month. Asked if it was unfair to expect Ennis-Hill to match Johnson-Thompson, who has already broken three national records this season, Minichiello was coy. ‘You’re talking about competing with the world’s No 1,’ he said. ‘Ask me in June and I’d be able to tell you better.’ Ennis-Hill has not competed since finishing fourth in the 100m hurdles at the Anniversary Games in 2013 . Katarina Johnson-Thompson is the best multi-eventer around and has broken the British pentathlon record . When asked if Ennis could compete with Johnson-Thompson, Minichiello said: ‘ask me in June' Ennis-Hill has not competed since finishing fourth in the 100m hurdles at the London Anniversary Games in July 2013. An achilles tendon injury ruled her out of the World Championships in Moscow that summer. She continued to train during her pregnancy but it wasn’t until October last year that she returned to the gym, three months after giving birth.The idea that pregnancy somehow benefits female athletes is compelling. There are several examples of women reaching the pinnacle of their sport for the first time or recapturing former glory after having children. Paula Radcliffe was running again 12 days after giving birth in 2007 and won the New York marathon later that year. Last year mother of two Jo Pavey won 10,000m gold at the European Championships 10 months after giving birth to Emily. Pavey later told me the challenges of being a mother far outweigh the benefits. ‘I know people say it’s a physiological advantage,’ she said. ‘But you have nine months of deconditioning and end it all with a childbirth and while recovering you’re in a breastfeeding state and having no sleep for months. That can’t be beneficial to an athletic performance in the near future.’ Minichiello has noticed some benefits in endurance work but the negatives in terms of explosive power needed for multi-eventing are more obvious. Paula Radcliffe was running again 12 days after giving birth in 2007 and later won the New York marathon . Jo Pavey won 10,000m gold at the European Championships 10 months after giving birth to daughter Emily . Although Ennis-Hill will join Johnson-Thompson in Manchester, the first time the pair will go head-to-head will be in Gotzis, Austria later in the month. Johnson-Thompson’s coach Mike Holmes said they were ‘neutral’ about the potential rivalry, saying: ‘I adore Jess but I can understand why the wider world is fascinated by their match-up and rightly so. ‘If Jess can recapture almost her best that would leave them on a fairly even keel. If Jess was in London shape, she would have the edge but if she’s 100 points off and Kat is at her best it would go down to the wire in the 800m (the final event of the heptathlon).’ Minichiello instructs Ennis-Hill at the Olympic Stadium back in 2012 and is hoping to bring her back to the top . Ennis-Hill and Johnson-Thompson will go head-to-head will be in Gotzis, Austria later in May . Rupert Grant, of Generate Sport Sponsorship, claimed the pair are unlikely to directly compete for advertisers’ money. ‘Jess can play it smartly by supporting Kat as her successor,’ he said. ‘Performance on the track is critical because you can only maintain a profile based on personality alone for so long. But if Jess doesn’t repeat the success to the same level as before, she has cemented herself in the public eye enough to focus on off-track opportunities.’ If she plays her cards right, though, Ennis-Hill could write one of the great sporting comeback stories. Rupert Grant, of Generate Sport Sponsorship, claimed Ennis-Hill and Johnson-Thompson are unlikely to directly compete for advertisers’ money with each other ahead of the comeback of the former . +Hull defender Andy Robertson has 'no doubt' Chelsea will claim the Barclays Premier League title after witnessing their winning habit first hand. Jose Mourinho's men restored their six-point lead over Manchester City with a 3-2 victory at the KC Stadium on Sunday, substitute Loic Remy grabbing the winner after the Blues let an early two-goal lead slip. Relegation battlers Hull pressed hard for an unlikely decider of their own with the scores tied but Chelsea held on and took their chance when it came. Chelsea's Diego Costa is stopped by Hull City's Andy Robertson and Michael Dawson . And for Scotland international Robertson, those are the qualities that will stand them apart at the end of the campaign. 'There's no doubt Chelsea will be champions,' he said. 'I can't see past them and to be honest I haven't been able to see past them for a while now. 'If they're not at their best they have a manager in Mourinho who gets them to grind out results and that's what they've done again, that's the side they are. 'It's three more points and a step closer to the title. 'At 2-2 we were able to press them higher and make chances, which they didn't deal with too well, but they ground it out and that's why they are going to be champions.' Loic Remy scored Chelsea's winner minutes after coming on in the second half . Remy's shot crept past Allan McGregor and over the line to give Chelsea a 3-2 win . The Tigers may not have improved their own position at the wrong end of the table, but the manner in which they took on the front-runners can at least leave them in good heart. They have arguably the toughest run-in of the bottom five, with Southampton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United still to come, and the ability to compete with the top sides will be a must. 'I don't think we can fault our performance after going 2-0 down to the soon-to-be champions in the first 10 minutes,' said Robertson. 'Our two strikers had their centre-backs on toast, they couldn't deal with our lads at all. Eden Hazard fired Chelsea into an early lead but they were pegged back by Hull before half time . Hazard celebrates his excellent strike that put Chelsea ahead early on . 'John Terry and Gary Cahill are two very good defenders but credit to our strikers, they made them look very ordinary. Unfortunately for us their keeper was on great form. 'If you look at our results we've already picked up points against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and we've run Chelsea close twice now, so we take a lot of positives from that. 'A point would have been a bonus but we're glad nobody else picked anything up so we've lost no ground.' Had Chelsea lost points, Thibaut Courtois' first-half gaffe for Hull's equaliser would surely have become a bigger talking point. The Belgian goalkeeper inexplicably miscontrolled Branislav Ivanovic's back pass straight to striker Abel Hernandez, who was left with an open net for his first goal since October. Jose Mourinho's side are six points clear at the top of the Premier League . With the benefit of the three points, not to mention an otherwise superb display from Courtois, Mourinho was able to sweep the incident aside. 'If you tell our goalkeeper every time he has a back pass to kick the ball to the stands the second goal doesn't come, but we don't say that,' he said. 'He tried to play, lost the rebound, the defenders didn't open a passing line to play from the back: goal. 'Everybody is unhappy, obviously, I am probably the first one. 'But I told the players at half-time, there is no point now in analysing details and mistakes of the first half. The point is to go back to our football. 'The first minute of the second half the team went back to quality football, to creation, to movement. 'I think we deserved to win.' +Northern Ireland midfielder Steven Davis admitted he could not have envisaged the ongoing strife Rangers would suffer as he prepared to return to Glasgow almost three years after leaving Ibrox. Davis was sold by Rangers to Southampton in July 2012, just after they were relaunched in the Scottish Third Division following the club's liquidation crisis. He returns to Glasgow for Northern Ireland's friendly against Scotland with his former club having come through more off-field drama and struggling to complete their journey back to the top flight of Scottish football. Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis returns to Glasgow to play Scotland in a friendly on Wednesday . Davis trains ahead of Northern Ireland's clash with Scotland at Hampden Park . Rangers' win at Hibernian on Sunday was only their second in 10 games and it inadvertently clinched the Scottish Championship title for Hearts as they battle to go up through the play-offs. Davis has watched the drama unfold from Southampton and hopes the rise to power of Dave King and his allies, along with the arrival of Stuart McCall as manager, will get the club back on course. 'I think it's positive for the club,' the 30-year-old said. 'For any fan it's nice to see with people who obviously have the interest of the club at heart. 'Obviously we knew it was going to be a difficult period but I don't think anyone foresaw how hard it was going to be. Davis returns to Glasgow almost three years after leaving Rangers for Southampton . Midfielder Davis in action for Southampton against Burnley on Saturday . 'I think Stuart McCall is going to be a really good appointment as well, it was nice to see them get that first win on Sunday. Hopefully they can build on that now and finish the season strongly.' When asked whether he would consider a return to Ibrox one day, Davis said: 'In football you never know. I spent four and a half really good years there and I loved my time there. 'If the opportunity arose it would be something I would definitely have to consider. It was a great time.' Davis and his team-mates face Scotland on Wednesday in preparation for their European Championship qualifier against Finland in Belfast on Sunday. David has backed the appointment of new Rangers manager Stuart McCall . He added: 'I am delighted to be back. I have not really had the chance to come back up for a game of any magnitude so it's nice to be back up and get the chance to catch up with some familiar faces and get another chance to play at Hampden. 'I was lucky enough to play there quite a few times and had some success there so I'm looking forward to going back. 'It's a good friendly for both ourselves and Scotland. I expect the game to have a bit of an edge because both sets of players are used to playing against each other at various stages of their careers. 'The mentality of both sets of players is always to give 100 per cent and I think it's good preparation for the Finland game.' +Gareth Southgate has prioritised holding talks with Mauricio Pochettino in a bid to resolve the uncertainty around Harry Kane’s summer schedule. Southgate has stepped up preparations for Euro 2015 this week, taking his Under 21 squad to Olomouc — where they will be based during the finals in June. On Friday they face the Czech Republic here in Prague. The FA have been meticulously planning their assault on the tournament and Southgate has the backing of Roy Hodgson to take his strongest possible squad available, including Kane. Harry Kane (right) has scored eight goals in ten games for Gareth Southgate's Young Lions . Southgate says he has a good relationship with Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino . But the Tottenham striker’s situation is complicated by his club’s plans to play a money-spinning friendly in Australia at the end of the Premier League campaign, while Sportsmail revealed on Thursday they could also play in Malaysia, too. It has led to fears that Kane, who scored eight goals in 10 games for the Under 21s in qualifying, would be exposed to burnout if he is then made to go on to the Czech Republic. But Southgate plans to meet for talks with Spurs manager Pochettino, saying: ‘The situation with me and Mauricio is good and I have had a (text) exchange with Harry, so I think that situation is good as well. ‘At some point, there needs to be a visit, when we say “Ok, what is the plan?”. But I am relaxed about the situation. We have got a really good relationship with Tottenham and with Harry. Kane is currently training with the England senior squad, but Southgate wants him to play in the summer . Kane's situation is complicated by Tottenham's end of season friendlies in Australia this summer . ‘Mauricio has been very good. He was asked the question “would you like him to rest?” He replied “yes, but” — and the “but” bit has now gone from the debate. I know Mauricio was really proud to play for Argentina and the experiences I have had with him at Tottenham and Southampton is that he has always been really supportive of his international players. ‘As well as that, every quote I have seen from Harry (about playing for the Under 21s this summer) has been very positive.’ Southgate still has a dilemma over Ross Barkley, however. He has not played for the Under 21s since August 2013 and Everton would prefer him to rest this summer after a disappointing season. Barkley was under consideration for this trip, but the midfielder stayed with the senior party. Ross Barkley is eligible for the U21 side, but has never played for the Young Lions under Southgate . Both Barkley and Sterling could travel to the European Championships despite being in the senior squad . ‘I do feel the situation with Ross is different to that of Harry, John Stones and Luke Shaw, as he has never been in one of my squads,’ added Southgate. ‘I was pleased to see Ross named in the senior squad. ‘With Ross not always in Everton’s starting team I think it was important this time round for Roy to back him and keep him involved. Hopefully that gives Ross some belief in what the England set up think of him and his potential.’ +Martin O’Neill says his opinion cannot be swayed by Premier League managers who do not rate his players. The Republic of Ireland boss was making specific reference to winger Aiden McGeady, who has not played a single minute for Everton under Roberto Martinez since the end of January. The 28-year-old is set to figure for the Irish in their crunch Euro qualifier with Group D leaders Poland in Dublin on Sunday night. Everton winger Aiden McGeady is tackled by Ireland team-mate John O'Shea during training this week . McGeady, who has not played for the Toffees since January, jokes with Ireland assistant Roy Keane . But O’Neill, whose fourth-placed side trail their opponents by three points, said: ‘If I was to make a judgement on every single player at club level I might be listening to the wrong comments. ‘Roberto Martinez is absolutely entitled to pick whoever he wants. If he doesn’ t think Aiden is playing well enough to merit a place in his team, that’s entirely up to him. ‘We’ve a different aspect here. We sometimes maybe don’t have that particular choice in hand for players in that position. ‘But Aiden is very important to us and a change of environment might just give him a lift.’ McGeady has scored more goals for his country this season – two – than he has for the Toffees – one. Ireland boss Martin O'Neill says he will not be swayed by Premier League managers' opinions of his players . Former Sunderland and Aston Villa manager says McGeady is a key member of his team . His match-winning double in Georgia in September has helped Ireland stay in contention for one of the two automatic qualifying berths for France 2016. O’Neill added: ‘It’s a disappointment from this side that Aiden’s not playing. It would be great, absolutely fantastic, if players were coming in here on the back of having played the last couple of weekends, but you always sense it’s never going to be that way. ‘What you wouldn’t want is to be going into a game with maybe three or four not having played that much football. ‘But I think adrenaline can carry you a certain distance. Listen, this is a big game, a really big game. It’s taken a long while for it to come around and it’s nearly upon us now so they should feed off all of this and be really positive.’ McGeady was sent off in Everton's FA Cup third round replay against West Ham in January . How Group D looks ahead of this week's qualifiers with Germany, Scotland and Ireland chasing Poland . O’Neill, meanwhile, has told his players to forget about their Premier League relegation worries. Nine of his squad currently reside in the bottom half of the top-flight, including the likes of Sunderland skipper John O’Shea. ‘I want the players to go into the game with real, serious confidence,’ said O’ Neill. ‘Put club football aside. Forget its trials and tribulations, get that shirt on and give it everything. ‘We’re playing at home and the crowd will be on our side, at least for a while, so go for it.’ +Chris Brunt hopes Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Finland can be the first in a series of Windsor wonders for Northern Ireland. The West Bromwich Albion midfielder has his eyes on his side’s first European Championship finals appearance but Belfast has not always been a happy hunting ground of late. ‘Our home form wasn’t great in the last campaign,’ Brunt admitted. Chris Brunt is keen to turn Windsor Park into a fortress to help Northern Ireland qualify for Euro 2016 . ‘We have started this campaign well with two away wins, but the home win over the Faroes was also an important result. ‘To build on that would be great. ‘In the last few years, those games were the ones that have tended to let us down. Hopefully we can take that on and carry it on in our remaining four home games and we’ll have a great chance of qualifying.’ The West Brom star is hoping to lead his country into Euro 2016 and they currently lie second in the qualifiers . +Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has asked the club to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke to replace Xavi this summer, according to reports in the Spanish press on Saturday. Long-serving midfielder Xavi is set to sign a three-year contract at Qatari side Al Sadd, following in the footsteps of another Spain great Raul. as he prepares to end his 24-year association with the Catalan club. Spanish newspaper Sport claim that Enrique wants to sign Spain international Koke, who has a 60million euro (£44m) release clause in his contract, to help fill the void that will be left by Xavi. Sport report that Luis Enrique wants to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke to replace Xavi this summer . Koke is a key part of the Atletico side and has won 16 international caps for Spain . Barcelona cannot register any new players until next January as part of their of the imposed transfer ban but can still sign players and Koke is top of Enrique's wishlist. Koke, 23, played a key role in Atletico's title-winning campaign last season and has made 16 appearances for the national side and set up the winning goal as Spain beat Ukraine 1-0 on Friday night. The performance of Vicente del Bosque's side is another source of debate on the front pages in Spain after they laboured to victory in the Euro 2016 qualifier. Alvaro Morata scored the goal's only game - his first for Spain - in the opening half before Ukraine gave the reigning European champions a fright in the second. Marca and AS both lead on Spain's laboured victory against Ukraine on Friday night . Spain are three points behind Group C leaders Slovakia after the latest round of Euro 2016 qualifiers . Alvaro Morata scored the only goal of the game against Ukraine on Friday night . Madrid-based newspaper Marca slammed the national side as things 'went from bad to worse' insisting that Morata's strike 'saved a sad match'. Meanwhile, AS went along a similar theme. 'Goal for Morata! (And a fright afterwards),' their headline read as they ran quotes from Del Bosque saying: 'The second half left a bad taste in my mouth.' Marca also claim that Barcelona right back Dani Alves will sign a contract with PSG as he prepares to leave on a free transfer this summer and has started looking for a property in the French capital. Italian papers Corriere dello Sport and La Gazzetta dello Sport lead with the injury farce surrounding Claudio Marchisio and the insuing row between Antonio Conte and former club Juventus . News of a row erupting between national head coach Antonio Conte and his former club Juventus over the injury to Claudio Marchisio dominates the front pages in Italy on Saturday. Italy medics revealed the midfielder damaged his cruciate knee ligament while on international duty and was facing up to six-eight months out. But after returning to Juve for further tests it emerged the injury was not as serious as first feared leading to questions over how Italy got it so wrong. Juventus power-broker John Elkann was furious with former manager Conte asking: 'Why do they work so hard in the Nazionale?' Conte responded by insisting Elkann never complained when he was in charge at the Turin-based club. +They have made well over 1000 appearances between them for Barcelona, but Andres Iniesta has admitted that he sometimes struggles to play in the same team as Xavi. The pair are Barcelona legends, having been at the club since the beginning of their careers, but after their win at the weekend Iniesta produced some surprising comments about his oldest team-mate and friend. 'Sometimes I get the feeling that it seems we can't play together,' Iniesta told Marca. Andres Iniesta and Xavi (right) have had a long, successful career together in Barcelona's first team . Despite their incredible careers, Iniesta (left) says that he sometimes struggles to play alongside Xavi . 'But it is always a privilege to be by his side because not only does he make your job easier, but he also makes the team work better. 'Sometimes, as with all players, things don't work out. We have been together for a long time now and the feelings are always very good, though.' At 30 and 35 respectively, Iniesta and Xavi have had long and illustrious careers at the Nou Camp, collecting trophy after trophy under a number of different managers. Since Iniesta made his debut in 2002, the pair have been regulars in the first team at Barcelona . Iniesta, at the age of 30, impressed in the midfield on Sunday in the Barcelona midfield against Rayo Vallecano . But together they have remained, and when Barcelona took to the field to face Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, there they were in the midfield once more. Barcelona trounced Rayo Vallecano 6-1 to take them top of La Liga for the first time since October. Perhaps a rare feat this season, but something wonderfully ordinary for two players that have spent all of their careers at the very top of the game. Iniesta drives a shot through the Vallecano defence as Barcelona eased to a 6-1 win in La Liga . Iniesta and Xavi stand alongside then team-mate Thierry Henry at the end of the 2009-10 season . Iniesta though, is still focused on the matches to come. Eibar in the league, Manchester City in the Champions League, and then a Clasico to potentially decide the title. 'More important than being at the top or not is the general feeling of the team after the game we just played,' Iniesta continued. 'We feel good and have to continue along that line. We have two or three months left to go - not long, but the most complicated part.' Like our Barcelona Facebook page. +This was a walkover, a day Reading undermined the race for Premier League promotion in a bid to reach Wembley. Steve Clarke's decision to make nine changes is surely down to the ridiculous scheduling of Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final replay against Bradford, but some of his Championship counterparts might not be impressed. Young Reading were picked off by Watford. That’s not the fault of Clarke, the blame lying squarely with wretched broadcasting rules which deem domestic cup games cannot be played on the same night as Champions League fixtures. Almen Abdi (centre) got Watford off to a dream start against Reading by scoring inside a minute . Watford striker Troy Deeney celebrates Abdi's strike as the Hornets set the tone for the match early on . Watford (4-3-1-2): Gomes 6.5; Motta 7.5, Ekstrand 7, Cathcart 6.5, Pudil 7; Watson 8, Guedioura 7 (Layun 58, 6), Tozser 6; Abdi 7 (Forestieri 7, 8.5); Vydra 8 (Angella 83), Deeney 7.5 . Subs not used: Bond, Doyley, Paredes, Anya . Goals: Abdi 1, Vydra 39, Deeney 48, Forestieri 85 . Reading (3-5-2): Andersen 5; Keown 6, Knight 6 (Novakovich 86), Cooper 5; Travner 5.5, Akpan 6, Guthrie 6, Taylor 6 (Karacan 59, 7), Stacey 6; Cox 6 (Blackman 59, 6), Yakubu 6 . Subs not used: Lincoln, Long, Kuhl, Edwards . Goal: Karacan 70 . Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire) Attendance: 16,600 . But other managers, particularly Mark Warburton and Steve McClaren - whose sides both dropped points - may talk of a duty of care to the league, even if Reading can do nothing but finish mid-table themselves. The average squad number of the visitors here was 26, a statistic to tell all. Clarke is set to name a completely fresh XI tomorrow night and was understandably prickly when asked about the changes. ‘What ramifications? I can’t think for the life of me why there would be any ramifications - I’m not concerned whatsoever,’ he said. I’m allowed to pick from my squad, so I’ll pick from my squad. I don’t understand.’ Fifty-two seconds is all it took the hosts, Troy Deeney popping a neat ball into Almen Abdi, who stroked beyond Mikkel Anderson with the outside of his boot. Marco Motta’s stunning 30-yard half-volley cannoned off the bar six minutes later. Anderson then made an acrobatic save from early substitute Fernando Forestieri’s overhead kick, and this was put beyond doubt when Matej Vydra slipped his man and lifted into the net with ease before half-time. Prior to the match Watford players show their support for fan Nick Cruwys who was attacked last weekend . Matej Vydra doubled Watford's lead shortly before half-time with a right-footed effort . Vyrdra (right) watches on as his shot goes past Reading goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen on 39 minutes . Just after the break Forestieri darted round his man at the byline, allowing Deeney to get in on the act, tapping home from inside the six-yard box. ‘I’ve got to be happy today,’ Hornets boss Slavisa Jokanovic said. ‘Reading have an important game in front of them - I expected changes.’ To their credit, Clarke’s side improved and he will leave Vicarage Road with some sense of satisfaction after Jem Karacan - making just his second appearance since September 2013 because of persistent knee problems - bent a classy consolation on his comeback. But Forestieri was to slam in a fourth late on, banging the club mascot’s drum in celebration. Back in the top two, more and more are banging the Premier League drum around these parts. +Promotion hopefuls Ipswich and Brentford shared the points in a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw at Portman Road. Top scorer Daryl Murphy gave the hosts a ninth-minute lead but Jonathan Douglas levelled 16 minutes later and that was where the scoring ended. The result means the teams remain in the places they occupied before the match, with Brentford sixth - one point and one place better off than Mick McCarthy's men. Daryl Murphy fires home to put Ipswich 1-0 up against Brentford early on in the match . Jay Tabb congratulates Murphy after his opening goal put Ipswich in a commanding position . Richard Chaplow (left) and Murphy celebrate after the latter's goal in the opening stages of the game . Ipswich Town: Gerken, Chambers, Smith, Berra, Mings, Chaplow (Bishop 64), Skuse, Tabb, Parr, Sears (Wood 64), Murphy . Subs not used: Anderson, Varney, Connolly, Clarke, Bialkowski . Goal: Murphy 9 . Booked: Parr 82 . Brentford: Button, Odubajo, Tarkowski, Moore (Dean 71), Bidwell, Diagouraga, Douglas, Dallas, Pritchard, Judge (Jota 67), Gray (Long 75) Subs not used: McCormack, Bonham, Toral, Smith . Goal: Douglas 25 . Booked: Pritchard 37, Douglas 52, Diagouraga 81, Odubajo 84 . Referee: Scott Duncan . Attendance: 20,132 . Both sides made a bright start and it lit up even more for the home side when they took the lead in the ninth minute when Murphy got his 22nd of the season after nine minutes. Richard Chaplow's deep corner was nodded towards goal by Christophe Berra and the league's leading marksman was on hand to cleverly poke the ball home off the inside of the post. Murphy almost grabbed his second when he took advantage of dithering from Liam Moore and David Button to take the ball away from the Brentford goalkeeper - but he could only find the side-netting from a near-impossible angle. The home side were on top with Jonathan Parr narrowly missing the far post with a fierce cross-cum-shot while, at the other end, Ipswich keeper Dean Gerken did well to hold Alex Pritchard's curling effort from the edge of the area. However, Brentford were level when Gerken did brilliantly to parry Stuart Dallas' volley but Douglas was on hand to head home the rebound. Jonathan Douglas lifts a finger to the sky in celebration after levelling the match at Portman Road . Ipswich Town's Balint Bajner (centre) plays the ball out of trouble after being surrounded by Brentford men . An even final 20 minutes of the first half saw the visitors shade the chances, Alan Judge heading over from 10 yards and then Andre Gray's snapshot whistling past the post. Ipswich almost grabbed the lead just before the interval when a great breakaway saw Chaplow's shot well saved by Button, before Judge made a brave sliding block to deny Parr the rebound. The home side should have been ahead less than a minute after the restart when Parr broke into the box and perfectly crossed for Murphy who somehow slid the ball over the bar - and the gaping empty net - from five yards out. Brentford's Liam Moore reacts to a missed chance during the Championship match on Saturday afternoon . Cole Skuse (left) brings the ball forward as Ipswich search for a winner, but they were unable to find one . In a chance reminiscent of Parr's in the first half, Berra could only push a good chance wide of the far post on 54 minutes. Button remained the busier of the two keepers and he had to be alert to dive across his goal to save from Tyrone Mings. Back came Brentford with Pritchard's free-kick well held by Gerken before Murphy missed another gilt-edged chance on 65 minutes when the striker raced clear but was denied by a brilliant save from the onrushing Button. Ipswich continued to create the better chances as the second half progressed, with Murphy's shot at Button lacking power and then sub Chris Wood heading wide under pressure. Eight minutes before the end, Teddy Bishop tricked his way through the defence but his low left foot shot was brilliantly saved by man of the match Button. Alex Pritchard looks to the referee after being brought down during the tense affair in Ipswich . Brentford boss Mark Warburton, who has recently been in the headlines, gives his team instructions . Mick McCarthy, whose Ipswich side are flying high, watches on from the side of the pitch . +98,000 Barcelona supporters joined together at the Nou Camp on Sunday night to form a spectacular mosaic ahead of El Clasico, praising the club's 12th man - the fans themselves. A Barcelona shirt with the number 12 on the back was made with red, yellow and blue pieces of card, with the words 'players, supporters' evident above. The display was a fitting start to what was a fine evening for Barcelona against Real Madrid, with the Catalan giants eventually winning the game 2-1. Gareth Bale looked to be up for the game as he walked out at the Nou Camp with his Real Madrid team-mates . The Barcelona fans formed a huge mosaic ahead of El Clasico on Sunday night . The mosaic could also have been a dig at Real Madrid, whose fans have turned on the team in recent times. At the same time as the colourful scene in Barcelona, the club's anthem was sung acapella. Gareth Bale looked to be up for the game as he walked out at the Nou Camp, replicating that high jump he often displayed as a Tottenham player. However, the Welsh winger failed to influence proceedings as Jeremy Mathieu and Luis Suarez struck to give Barcelona a four-point lead at the top of La Liga. The display was praising the club's 12th man, the supporters themselves . 98,000 fans held up red, yellow and blue cards to make a spectacular display at the Nou Camp . Luis Suarez scored the winner as Barcelona won El Clasico 2-1 to open up a four-point lead at top of La Liga . +Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not all that keen on the officials in France. Just last week the Swedish powerhouse lost his temper following a 3-2 defeat to Bordeaux and publically criticised the state of refereeing in the division. But it seems that Ibrahimovic is far from popular himself in France following a poll taken by French publication Le Parisien. Just 15 per cent of those asked in a pole felt Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a good person deep down . Results showed that 79 per cent of those questioned had a poor opinion of the 33-year-old . The French daily asked just over 1,000 readers to answer some questions on the former Barcelona and Milan ace and the results were none too positive. Results showed that 79 per cent of those questioned had a poor opinion of the 33-year-old, while 84 per cent labelled him both hot-headed and arrogant. Just 15 per cent of those asked felt Ibrahimovic was a good person deep down, but 62 per cent were fully aware of the ability he has and said he was a talented footballer. It seems Ibrahimovic is far from popular himself in France following a poll taken by publication Le Parisien . A total of 84 per cent labelled PSG ace Ibrahimovic both hot-headed and arrogant in a poll . But 62 per cent of people in the pole were fully aware of the ability and said he was a talented footballer. +Referees' chief Mike Riley has called for video technology to be trialled in the wake of another blunder that saw the wrong West Brom player sent off at Manchester City. Neil Swarbrick apologised on Saturday night for wrongly red-carding Gareth McAuley in the second minute of West Brom's 3-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium, when it was team-mate Craig Dawson who committed a foul on Wilfried Bony. It followed last month's Old Trafford mistaken identity muddle that saw Sunderland's Wes Brown sent off by Roger East for bringing down Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao, when the offence in question was committed by John O'Shea. Referees' chief Mike Riley has called for video technology to be trialled after Neil Swarbrick (right) wrongly sent off Gareth McAuley (left) in the second minute of West Brom's 3-0 defeat by Manchester City . The West Brom players emphatically protest the red card as McAuley is dismissed by referee Swarbrick . McAuley (right) appears to ask the referee if he's got the right man after Craig Dawson committed the foul . Asked why referees do not listen to players' on-field explanations of such circumstances, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) general manager Riley said: 'The referee has got to make his decision based on what he thinks he's seen. His instincts often lead him to trust his judgement. 'It's one of the areas that would lend itself to technology. 'The game has stopped and there's time before we restart the game to have a look at something. That would provide the concrete evidence that would get the decision right. 'I think football as a whole has to look at how we can enhance refereeing performances through the use of technology. West Brom defender Craig Dawson makes a challenge on Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony . Bony continues but Gareth McAuley comes across in cover and gets the ball before the man . 'We've been open-minded to things like the goal-decision system which has made a great difference and a great benefit to referees in the Premier League. 'We need to see what other technology can be used to get refereeing decisions more accurate.' He added: 'We need to test it in live football. Until we do that, we won't know the impact on the game. 'Technology can be helpful but we don't want to destroy the fabric of the game, the fast-flowing spectacle we all love.' BT Sport showed the incident from referee Swarbrick's perspective, with No 25 Dawson the closest to him . McAuley walks past his furious manager Tony Pulis after the latest case of mistaken identity . Riley, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, did not offer any confirmation that Swarbrick will referee in the next round of Premier League matches, following the international break. 'I've spoken to Neil quite a lot last night and this morning,' Riley said. 'Referees accept at every level your performance will be scrutinised. Any referee, when you come off and you've made a mistake, you're hurt, because you love the game. 'What you want to do is make the correct decision and when you don't there's that feeling that you've let yourself down and let your colleagues down. 'When they make mistakes, it's our job to make sure they understand the mistakes, learn from it and they put it right in the next game.' West Brom captain Darren Fletcher had urged Swarbrick not to leap into the decision to brandish a red card. West Brom captain Darren Fletcher urged Swarbrick to take his time with the decision before the red card . Fletcher told Match of the Day he had spoken to the referee and told him: 'Just make a sensible decision, it's the first minute of the game, take your time. Take your time because this is a massive decision that impacts the rest of the game.' Fletcher added: 'I was really surprised when he showed the red card. I think a lot of our players were - and then to the wrong player as well, which we were trying to say as well, but it fell on deaf ears.' West Brom boss Tony Pulis last week urged the game to embrace technology and permit each team two appeals against decisions in each match. He wrote in West Brom's programme for the match against Stoke: 'A TV call back should be brought in where for 30 seconds the game could be held up whilst they decide if the original decision was correct or not. Two calls allowed during the game from both sides would be sufficient and I believe would help improve the great package that the Barclays Premier League provides for everybody all over the world.' +An eventful first day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational saw Rory McIlroy come close to achieving something that hadn’t been witnessed at Bay Hill for 20 years while Ian Poulter cheered up his sick three year old son Joshua with a fine opening round of 67. Poulter’s preparations for his final tournament before the Masters were hardly ideal. While driving home from the course on Wednesday, Joshua was being taken to a nearby hospital with what turned out to be a bout of pneumonia. It was past midnight before he was allowed home. ‘It was certainly something of a blessing that I had a late tee-time,’ said the Englishman, who posted five birdies in a round that left him just a stroke off the pace set by American Morgan Hoffman. Rory McIlroy waits on the first green during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club . Ian Poulter hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational . Poulter’s in good form at present, and having thrown away a golden opportunity to win one event in Florida at the Honda Classic three weeks ago, will be keen to give himself a chance to atone at this venue where he finished third in 2013. ‘It was nice to get Joshua home on Wednesday night and my wife Katie is a trained nurse, so I knew he was in good hands when I left for the course this morning,’ he said. After 15 holes of his opening round, a small slice of history loomed for McIlroy, just three weeks shy of his attempt at a career grand slam at the Masters. The world number one was swinging so smoothly he had hit all 15 greens in regulation. Not once in any round in his PGA Tour career has he hit all 18. No-one had done so at Bay Hill since 1995. Poulter hits an approach shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational . McIlroy hits an approach shot on the first hole during the first round at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge . Next up was the easiest hole on the course, the par five 16th. Yet it was here the 25 year old contrived to undo all the good work that had gone before. As soon as his second shot left the club face he started laughing at himself in exasperated fashion. He knew what was coming next. The ball bounced on the bank at the front of the green and back into one of the course’s many water hazards. There ended any hope of hitting all 18 greens in regulation. At least on the positive side, there were obviously plenty of excellent blows in those first 15 holes, and the reason he was only two under par at the time was he couldn’t buy a putt, which wouldn’t have stressed him unduly given the shocking state of the Bay Hill greens. Suffice to say that they’re nearer to municipal course standards than Augusta’s. Poulter hits an approach shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational . McIlroy of Northern Ireland talks with caddie J.P. Fitzgerald on the fourth fairway in Orlando, Florida . At least McIlroy finished with a birdie for a 70, which hasn’t left him too far off the pace. ‘There were a lot of good signs out there and with this being my last event before Augusta it’s important to play well in the second round and get myself into contention at the weekend,’ he said. Elsewhere, Padraig Harrington’s welcome revival continued with a 68 which left him alongside such luminaries as world number three Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and the Scot Martin Laird, a former winner of this event. When McIlroy made his way to the first tee at a shade before 1pm he must have been heartened by the enormous crowd that had gathered. McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits his second shot on the fourth hole during the first round . The entire length of the hole was lined several people deep and McIlroy gave them something to cheer with a couple of opening blows that gave him a good look at a birdie, with the putt coming up just short. The first three holes at Bay Hill represent one of the toughest starts of any course on the PGA tour but McIlroy looked in the mood as he registered three easy pars. A chance was wasted at the par five fourth but he got into red figures with a classy birdie at the signature hole. Poulter of England reacts to a missed putt for birdie on the 18th hole during the first round in Orlando . McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits his tee shot on the third hole during the Arnold Palmer Invitational . The par five 6th winds its way around a lake for all of its 500 plus yards but it held no fears for the Northern Irishman as he played a marvellous long iron second to 20ft and two putted for a birdie. Another birdie followed at the short seventh but that was the last putt he holed until he got to the 18th. After that effort from 15ft dropped he disappeared for dinner with the tournament host. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face when someone brought it up. ‘It’s going to be a really special evening,’ he said. McIlroy waves as he walks off the first green during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational . McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Rickie Fowler of the United States walk off the first tee during the first round . +Lunch with Jack Nicklaus last Sunday and dinner with Arnold Palmer on Thursday night. Rory McIlroy is certainly mixing with the right company as he finalises his preparations for his tilt at the career Grand Slam at the Masters next month. Not just the greats of this sport, either. While on a two-day trip to Augusta last week, the Northern Irishman hit the gym at 6am — and was joined shortly afterwards by Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. ‘When they came in it was my cue to walk out,’ said McIlroy, smiling. ‘When you think it’s their off-season, it was quite something to see their dedication. They’re both in their late 30s and it emphasised their determination to prolong their careers.’ Rory McIlroy greets fans while walking to the ninth tee during a pro-am at the Arnold Palmer Invitational . Amazing what a pep trip to Augusta can do for a man — that, and a long weekend practice session with his long-time coach, Michael Bannon. When last seen at the Cadillac Championship at Doral 10 days ago McIlroy cut a dispirited figure as he completed the second of two disappointing tournaments in Florida. Here at Bay Hill, on the eve of his first appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, there was a spring to his stride once more. ‘I certainly feel a lot better about my game than I did at Doral,’ he said. ‘And I think this course sets up well for me. Practising the last two days has left me ruing the fact I haven’t played here in the past.’ McIlroy watches his tee shot on the ninth hole during a pro-am Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament . The accent was clearly on relaxation rather than reconnaissance when McIlroy took his dad Gerry, a former scratch handicap player himself, up to Augusta last Thursday. ‘I think it gave him an appreciation of what it takes to play the course off the back tees,’ said Rory. ‘He’s always asking me why I did this and that when I come off the course. Now I think he knows what we go through.’ McIlroy was coy when asked about his score, noting merely that he played well on the first day. Which probably means a 64 or 65. This is his last scheduled tournament before the Masters in three weeks and, in the absence of eight-time winner Tiger Woods, the local community is certainly glad he’s here. McIlroy looks over a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational . McIlroy slaps hands with a young fan, while walking between holes in Orlando . McIlroy plays a shot at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando during the pro-am . ‘Welcome Rory,’ proclaims a huge sign hanging from a house near the 18th green. ‘It was very nice of them to do that and it summed up the reception I’ve had since I’ve arrived,’ said the 25-year-old. McIlroy begins on Thursday in a belter of a threeball alongside good friend Rickie Fowler and another of Augusta’s highly-fancied players — gifted Australian Jason Day. Also in the field are world No 3 Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott, and among the British and Irish contingent are Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, Danny Willett and Padraig Harrington. McIlroy has scheduled the Arnold Palmer Invitational as his last event before the Masters in three weeks . As for that talk with the Golden Bear, McIlroy was asking about pin placements on certain greens when Nicklaus said: ‘Never forget, Rory — if you’re in doubt, the middle of the green is never a bad place to be at Augusta.’ For a player who has certainly been guilty of playing too aggressively on occasion in the past that might prove the most sage piece of advice of all. +Louis van Gaal believes he has identified two future managers in his Manchester United squad and expects them to progress into coaching once they hang up their boots. Van Gaal says both Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick – who were both named in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for the upcoming internationals with Lithuania and Italy – are both open to learning about coaching. And despite Van Gaal’s reputation as a hard task master he says he is extremely flexible to his approach and will change if one of his players puts up a good argument. Louis van Gaal says he is a very flexible manager and open to having discussions with his players . Van Gaal says Michael Carrick is like a coach already in the way he talks about the game . Wayne Rooney is very open to learning, according to Van Gaal . 'Wayne Rooney is very open to learn. It's amazing,' he told The Telegraph. 'I don't know if he speaks with his wife Coleen about football, I don't think so. 'But we have the process of talking here. Most of my players of my selection are open and that's very nice. 'Michael Carrick is more or less a trainer-coach. He is also willing to talk about shapes and systems. 'That's nice. Rooney also. 'Not every player is very open and then you have to convince him, and then you get a struggle. 'It works or it doesn't work. Give them time. Also give me time to do it. 'I am the most flexible manager you can imagine. When the players are coming with good arguments, I change my opinion.' +The working group that is supporting fan ownership of Leeds has confirmed they will try and meet with Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe next month. Crowe, a lifelong Leeds fan, caused a media storm last week when he asked his Twitter followers whether or not he should buy the club. Leeds LLP responded favourably and made contact with Crowe, who asked the group to watch a six-episode show of the work he has done as co-owner of NRL side South Sydney Rabbitohs. Russell Crowe celebrates as his South Sydney Rabbitohs win the 2014 NRL Grand Final . Crowe, the Rabbitohs' co-owner, is interested in taking over Leeds, who he has long supported . And LLP will try and initiate face-to-face contact with Crowe when he returns to the country next month. A statement from LLP read: 'We've contacted the South Sydney Rabbitohs to try and track down the 6 part show that Russell mentioned in his tweets. 'Russell is back in the UK next month and we will try to get a face to face to see if we can get something more concrete from him.' The Championship outfit are currently 16th in the table, and are seeking a new buyer for the club . Leeds LLP, who hope to invite fans to become partners in the club, want to meet with the actor next month . Were Crowe, the man who played Maximus in Gladiator, to actively pursue involvement with an investment, he could use the LLP group as a vehicle. LLP is limited liability partnership which will invite Leeds supporters to become partners by buying stakes worth £100. A maximum of 100,000 stakes are to be made available with fans able to buy up to 1,000, with each stake worth one vote. +Massimo Cellino, the former Leeds United president, will not return to the club until the end of the season. The Football League had disqualified him from running the Championship club until April 10 in January. He decided to step away from the club last month in order to clear his name. However, the Football League have now said that they have 'settled the outstanding disciplinary proceedings' against Cellino and the club and he can return from May 3. Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino will be allowed to return to the club at the end of the season . Cellino was disqualified in January after the the non-disclosure of a tax evasion charge against him in Italy . A league statement read: 'The Football League, Leeds United and Massimo Cellino have settled the outstanding disciplinary proceedings relating to the club's non-disclosure of the Italian Court's judgment regarding Mr Cellino, as required under League regulations. 'The club and Mr Cellino have decided in the interests of the club, its players and supporters not to contest this charge. As a result, Mr Cellino's period of disqualification as a 'relevant person', as defined by the regulations, has now been extended from April 10 until May 3, the day after the conclusion of the 2014/15 league season. Alex Mowatt (left) celebrates after scoring in Leeds 2-1 victory over Ipswich on Wednesday . 'Mr Cellino's right to challenge the decision of the Professional Conduct Committee under Football Association Rule K is unaffected by this settlement. ' Cellino, who took over Leeds towards the end of last season, has decided to independently appeal his Football League disqualification which was initially due to expire on April 10. Cellino recently sold his personal stake in Eleonora Sport - the company he set up to buy Leeds a year ago - and said he would not be returning to the club while he tries to clear his name, giving rise to speculation he could be about to sell up. The Football  League has announced it has settled 'disciplinary proceedings' with the Italian businessman . Andrew Umbers, who stepped in as chairman when Cellino's ban began, insists Cellino does not want to sell and that there have not been any approaches, despite interest from Hollywood film star Russell Crowe, a long-standing Leeds fan who asked his Twitter followers if taking over the club would be a good idea and got an overwhelmingly positive response. Leeds' fortunes on the pitch have certainly not been affected by the ownership uncertainty with the 2-1 win over Ipswich at Elland Road on Wednesday night their sixth in nine games, a run which has lifted them clear of the relegation zone and into 15th place. +The SFA’s new performance director, Brian McClair is being paid generously for his expertise. But many would have paid a penny for his thoughts on Tuesday night. The moment he read the quotes of his colleague Ricky Sbragia on young Jack Harper. To the uninitiated, Harper is Scottish football’s new wonderkid. Islam Feruz without the attitude. Mark Wotte – McClair’s predecessor – dubbed the Real Madrid youth player Scotland’s answer to Robin van Persie. Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper in action against Ludogorets in the UEFA Youth League match . Scotland Under-19s manager Ricky Sbragia has left Harper out of his squad for the upcoming games . He did so because, by all accounts, Harper does not fit the typical Scottish mould. He is not quite a No 9, not entirely a No 10. He is a creative type who scores goals under the watchful eye of Real coach Zinedine Zidane. So far this season he has scored three goals for Real in the UEFA Youth League and is midway through a five-year deal signed in 2012. Born in Fuengirola, near Malaga, the 18-year-old is Spanish. And Spain’s Under-19 coach Luis de la Fuente has used his birth certificate to try to recruit him. Marvellously, however, Harper does not want to play for Spain. His parents are from Barrhead. He wants to play for Scotland. Incredibly, Scotland seems less keen on him. Sbragia’s Under-19 squad are currently preparing for UEFA European Championships elite round with games against Austria, Italy and Croatia this week. And Harper, dubbed a ‘luxury’ player, is nowhere to be found. In a throwback to the old school thinking which preceded the SFA’s high-profile 2020 performance strategy, Sbragia explains his absence by saying: ‘Our concentration is on the opening game with Austria and we’ve deliberately got more height in our squad. That’s one of the reasons why Jack isn’t in. Highly rated forward Harper has already been linked with moves to Manchester United and Liverpool . ‘The last time he was with us, he did okay, but I wanted a little more impact. At Real Madrid, he can float all over the place. But with us, he has to be more disciplined. ‘It’s purely tactical and there certainly hasn’t been a lack of enthusiasm from Jack about playing for Scotland.’ There might be now, of course. Most of all when Harper learns that young Oliver McBurnie, an 18-year-old striker who plays for Bradford City is in the squad. Currently McBurnie, six foot two in his stocking soles, is on loan at Chester City – a non-league club in the English Conference Premier. Within the SFA, there is a recognition of how damaging and old-fashioned all this looks. Regarded as a progressive, forward thinking and intelligent coach within the corridors of Hampden, Sbragia’s quotes on Harper hint at something else. For McClair, a cerebral former Manchester United colleague of Sbragia’s, the Harper conundrum represents an early test of his diplomatic skills. Scotland boss Gordon Strachan – no giant himself – washed his hands of the matter on Tuesday, saying: ‘I’m not involved in that at all. I let the other guys get on with it. I’ve no idea if it’s physical or whatever.’ Harper is currently midway through a five-year deal with Real Madrid and is tipped to have a big future . Pointing out that most of the country has never seen Harper play, Strachan added: ‘I’ve seen a few people at Chelsea who never get a game anywhere. They go on loan somewhere and disappear into no man’s land.’ That was the fate of Feruz – the ‘wonderkid’ who turned his back on Scotland and was last heard of having a loan deal at Blackpool cancelled. Before leaving his post last October, Wotte urged Scottish youth football to rid itself of the ‘win at all costs’ mentality and develop skills. An appeal which fell on deaf ears with at least one SFA colleague. ‘We have to match these teams physically,’ said Sbragia of the challenge facing his under-19 side. ‘The more I’m seeing games, the more I see things going back to physicality and the height factor.’ The irony, of course, is that Harper is no midget. He is six foot tall. Taller than Aiden McGeady and James McCarthy, the Glasgow-born Everton stars allowed to slip through the SFA’s fingers and play for the Republic of Ireland instead. The worry is that when the SFA host European Championship games at Hampden in 2020, the nation will finally get the chance to see the prodigious talent of Jack Harper. In the red shirt of Spain. +Writer and broadcaster Archie Macpherson says farewell to Dave Mackay on the day football’s legends joined the Tynecastle faithful in paying their respects to the former Hearts, Tottenham and Derby County superstar. History is suffused with irony. It will be noted by posterity that on a day when jubilation should have been coursing through the veins of every lover of Tynecastle, they were in fact muting the trumpets and draping the halls with black rather than maroon. They came to honour a man who hadn’t lived long enough to savour the triumphant emergence of his beloved club from near destitution. Crowds clap whilst the Hearse carrying the coffin of Dave Mackay leaves Tyncastle Stadium for his funeral . But the claiming of their new divisional title will now be a permanent reminder of the resilience that Dave Mackay bequeathed his club when he strode the turf with a broad-chested imperiousness that was the formidable bridgehead for Hearts’ triumphs in the 1950s. As they laid him to rest on Tuesday you couldn’t help but think that nature had played a cruel trick in ending his life only several weeks before the confirmation of the end of the struggle for credibility and self-esteem that his first club had been engaged in for so long. Mackay must, though, have had an inkling of the course of events which was leading inevitably to that apotheosis. The crowds who thronged the streets as the cortege made its way from Tynecastle itself for a remembrance service at Mansfield Traquair, and who threw their scarves at the procession as if to add sustenance to his last journey, must have believed that even in the later stages of his life he will have been mentally kicking every ball for his former club such was his lasting affection for the Gorgie Road. The hearse carrying Mackay's coffin was complete with flowers and a football to mark his passing . I was a student when I first saw the triumphant Hearts side of 1957-8 which he captained, when they not only won the title but created a British goal-scoring record of 132 scored and only 29 against. I don’t know particularly why but I do instantly recall a game they played against Clyde at the old Shawfield where you could be very close to the pitch and, to this day, I will always associate Mackay with ‘glaur.’ For there he was yomping his way through the mud like a primeval predator whilst, through his prompting, Hearts were playing the kind of slick football that as Glasgow boy I thought was simply the preserve of the Old Firm. And I cannot eliminate the image of his sliding into a tackle that took both Mackay and the Clyde man off the pitch and almost into the dog-track fence which surrounded the playing area. He wasn’t censured because the ball was what he was after and got. Nor was he ever sent off in any game he ever played in from schools football through to the highest senior level, although his reputation for toughness did frankly make some opponents quiver when they saw his name posted on the team-sheet, as Sir Alex Ferguson alluded to, in paying his respects on Tuesday. The cortege leaves Hearts' stadium as the city were given the opportunity to pay their final respects . ‘I was playing for Queens Park reserves against Hearts reserves at Tynecastle and the great Mackay was playing because he was coming back from a broken toe,’ said Sir Alex. ‘ He tackled me and I thought: “Christ!” but in those days you had to get up no matter what. So I got up and had a look at that big, barrel chest of his and he just said: “Are you all right, son?” That was a great memory- the only time I played against Dave Mackay- and I’ll never forget it.’ Nor, when he had gone south to English football, will any of us ever forget the iconic photograph of Mackay lifting Billy Bremner off his feet with a clenched fist, like a boy he had caught picking his pocket. We look at it now with affection. I never saw malice in it. Mackay hated the image, as he thought it showed him as a bully. To me, it was like portraying rough-and-ready fatherly instinct. His game never changed with Spurs when, with the likes of the great ‘White Ghost’ John White and Alan Gilzean, he helped establish a regime at White Hart Lane with a proud Scottish accent which made that ground a fortress and a team feared throughout Europe. In that setting it was no surprise that they won the ‘Double’ in 1960-61, the FA cup in succeeding years and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963. They loved his commitment, his ability to help pull his team back from occasional adversity. The order of service for Mackay's funeral . That is why so many notables from the English game travelled to Edinburgh yesterday to pay tribute alongside the Hearts faithful. His Spurs former colleagues were there. Pat Jennings, Terry Medwin, Steve Perryman, Gilzean, Mike England, Clive Allen and Cliff Jones, who told the congregation: ‘Whenever I hear the bagpipes playing *Flower of Scotland* I think of Dave - a proud Scotsman who never forgot his roots.’ Gilzean added: ‘The legacy he leaves is unbelievable for three clubs - Hearts, Tottenham and Derby County. He was a fantastic, inspirational guy. No mountain was too high for Dave to climb.’ Tuesday’s cross-border representation reflected the fact that they recognised him as one of the best-ever Scottish exports to the English game. For some reason we did not see the best of him in a Scottish jersey and he did not talk much about being in the side which was devastated 9-3 by England at Wembley in 1961. Within Sir Alex’s comments, though, there was also an element of regret about Mackay’s record in the sense that he was under-appreciated in certain quarters, pointing to the paucity of caps he earned. ‘Only 22 caps for a player as good as that?’ he lamented. ‘Scotland was picked by a committee with its head in the sand. If Matt Busby had been manager, he’d have 50 odd caps. ‘Everyone talks about his courage and his bravery, but he was a fantastic footballer. He was skilful, he could play anywhere and he proved that. I think we’ve seen the passing of a great legend.’ From the master there can be no more fitting epitaph. +For Michael O’Neill, working under Gordon Strachan in the English top flight was a bittersweet experience. In fact, at Coventry City, the midfielder found the experience of being an inferior player to a manager in his early 40s about as palatable as Strachan’s famed longevity-fuelling concoction of porridge, bananas and seaweed. If O’Neill’s injury-scarred spell at Highfield Road was not the most notable of an otherwise successful career, the Northern Ireland manager retains a high regard for his Scotland counterpart and hopes the pair can soon share success in the international arena. Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has been preparing his side to face Gordon Strachan's Scotland . Strachan's side will be hoping to go into their Euro 2016 qualifier against Gibraltar on the back of a win . Scotland have not qualified for a major tournament since France 98, while Northern Ireland have not been seen at a Finals since the days when Brazil’s Josimar rocketed one of the all-time great World Cup goals past Pat Jennings. But on the road to France 2016, Scotland are third in Group D, while Northern Ireland are second in Group F. As the two nations face off in a friendly at Hampden, O’Neill hopes both men can lead their respective countries out of the international wilderness. ‘I played under Gordon at Coventry — it’s always a concern when the manager is a better player than you,’ quipped the 45-year-old former Dundee United and Hibs midfielder. ‘Other than that it was fine. It was a bit unfortunate that injuries thwarted my opportunity at Coventry but it was evident back then what type of manager Gordon was going to be. ‘He had the ability to motivate and to invigorate. He knew how to get players to respond to him. So it doesn’t surprise me how well he has done with Scotland. He was a great appointment and exactly what Scotland needed at that time. Scotland national team boss Strachan, pictured in 2001, coached O'Neill during his time as Coventry manager . ‘It’s pretty evident the improvement they have made under Gordon. And having played half my career up here, it would be good to see both countries qualify for the Euros. ‘We’ve been nearly 30 years away from a major tournament. Scotland haven’t quite had that to deal with - but I’d love to see both countries do it.’ O’Neill still lives in Edinburgh and remains an avid viewer of the Scottish game, not just because it is home to several Northern Ireland internationals. He believes football in this country is in ruder health than many outsiders – and insiders – perceive amid the often unrelenting negativity that has accompanied the collapse and pained rise of Rangers. ‘I watch Scottish football a lot,’ said O’Neill, who may not risk Aberdeen striker Niall McGinn’s hamstring but could start with two Manchester United centre backs in Jonny Evans and debutant Paddy McNair. ‘There are now potential internationals of the future getting their chance in first-teams in the Premiership and Championship and that can only be good for the Scotland national team. ‘There’s been too much negativity about Scottish football at times, obviously because of what’s gone on at certain clubs. But the game is in a lot healthier state than people give it credit for.’ Manchester United team-mates Jonny Evans and Paddy McNair are expected to start in defence . For Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis, a return to Hampden will bring back fond memories of his last appearance in Mount Florida. Back in March 2011, he scored the opening goal as Rangers beat Celtic 2-1 in extra time to lift the League Cup – the club’s last major trophy before administration then liquidation visited Ibrox and leading players including Davis quit. ‘It will be nice to be back at Hampden,’ said the 30-year-old Southampton midfielder. ‘It holds special memories for me. We had a lot of success there with Rangers but my last game, the League Cup Final, stands out. Celtic were always kind of favourites before we went into any Old Firm game and they had the upper hand before that game. But I scored a goal and we won the cup that day. ‘I was lucky to have four years at Rangers and it was disappointing how it ended. That was the hardest thing to take. But I’ll always look back on it as one of the most important and enjoyable periods in my career. Southampton midfielder Steven Davis, pictured in Janaury 2012, returns to his former stomping ground . ‘It’s a bit of an impossible subject to talk about (leaving) because you’re never going to please everybody with what you say. But the honesty of it is we could only try and make a decision based on what we thoughts was best at the time and you have to live by that.’ As he turns back the clock by returning to Glasgow, however, Davis feels the future is bright now that Ibrox is back in the ownership of ‘Rangers men’ like Dave King and Paul Murray. And the former Rangers captain, who played in the 2008 UEFA Cup Final with the Ibrox side, hopes the hiring of nine-in-a-row idol Stuart McCall can kick-starts a Rangers revival back towards past glories. ‘I think (the boardroom change) is positive for the club. For any fan, it’s nice to see people in charge who have the best interests of the club at heart. ‘We all knew it was going to be a difficult period but nobody could have foreseen just how hard it was going to be. ‘But I think Stuart McCall is going to be a good appointment. It was great to see him get that first win on Sunday at Hibs. Hopefully Rangers can build on that and get even stronger. ‘Would I ever go back to Rangers? In football you never know. But it’s a club I look back on fondly and if the opportunity arose it would be something I’d have to consider.’ +Portugal may have 'one of the best players in the history of football' in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo but Branislav Ivanovic is confident his Serbia side can nullify the threat of the Real Madrid star on Sunday night. Serbia currently occupy fourth place in the Group I standings ahead of their clash with Portugal who sit just one point behind pool leaders Denmark. 'You're speaking about one of the best players in the history of football, he's not so easy,' Ivanovic told Perform. Cristiano Ronaldo (left) vies for possession with Jose Fontes during Portugal training on Thursday . Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma (left) and Vieirinha are gearing up for the visit of Serbia on Sunday night . 'To be on the top level you have to prove yourself every day, he's doing that game by game. 'He is the guy who knows how to deal with the pressure, for us it will be a big challenge and I hope and I know we have the quality to try to deal with that.' Ivanovic's side were deducted three points following their 3-0 win against Albania in October when an unmanned drone carrying a pro-Albania flag flew over the Partizan Stadium in Belgrade and resulted in a melee between the two sets of players and some Serbian fans. A 3-1 loss to Denmark in November has heaped further pressure on Serbia and Ivanovic concedes that Sunday's game is a must-win game for his side. Branislav Ivanovic (left) is hoping a win over Portugal can re-ignite Serbia's bid to reach Euro 2016 . 'It is a crucial game for us, this qualification especially, because we expect to have more points in the three games, so the game against Portugal is crucial and massive for us,' the Chelsea defender added. 'We know Portugal is favourite and are a great team but they've lost a game at home against Albania, so we see our chances and we know if we perform well - if we play to the level we know how to play - we can expect some presents and gifts from the game.' Serbia were deducted three points following their 3-0 win against Albania in October when an unmanned drone carrying a pro-Albania flag flew over the Partizan Stadium in Belgrade resulting in ugly scenes . +Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has spoken of his delight after John Terry signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues. The Chelsea skipper has signed on until the end of the 2015-16 campaign and Drogba believes the the new contract is fully deserved. Speaking to the official Chelsea website, Drogba said: 'When you see the way he has performed and that the manager is happy with him. Didier Drogbahas spoken of his delight after Chelsea skipper John Terry signed a contract extension . Terry has signed until the end of next season and Dorgba insists the new deal is fully deserved . Terry has made 661 appearances for Chelsea during his illustrious 17-year career at Stamford Bridge . 'He has that desire to carry on playing and to be the best. 'It [the new contract] is deserved and I'm really happy for him.' The pair spent eight seasons together at Stamford Bridge before Drogba moved to Galatasaray in 2012 but were reunited when the former Ivory Coast international rejoined the club this summer. Drogba and Terry have won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and three League Cups together at Chelsea as well as the Champions League in 2012 as Drogba dispatched the winning spot-kick against Bayern Munich. The pair have spent nearly nine seasons together at Stamford Bridge, winning 13 trophies in that time . Dorgba scores the winning penalty as Chelsea claimed the Champions League against Bayern Munich in 2012 . Terry holds aloft the Champions League trophy following Chelsea' penalty shootout win at the Allianz Arena . +For those who witnessed Ireland’s approach to playing Scotland at Celtic Park in November at close quarters, suggestions that they are a robust and direct unit scarcely seem tantamount to slander. Martin O’Neill’s side may not quite have mirrored the ultra-industrial style favoured by Jack Charlton’s men all those years ago, yet there were precious few morsels of real quality for the game’s purists to feast on. Were Poland then, doing any more than stating the blindingly obvious this week when they spoke extensively of Ireland’s one-dimensional, strong-arm strategy in their qualifying games thus far? Aiden McGeady celebrates scoring for Republic of Ireland against Georgia . You wouldn’t have thought so but, then again, Martin O’Neill, whose Ireland side entertain the Poles in Dublin, has never been one to resist an ever-so diplomatic counter-swipe at such accusations. Clearly keen to gain the slightest psychological edge ahead of what is being viewed as a must win game for the Republic, the former Celtic manager bristled when word of the Poles’ comments was relayed to him at their Malahide base on Friday. ‘I’m not really bothered about what they say — genuinely not bothered,’ O’Neill insisted. ‘I’m not so sure they could glean that from the games we have played. It’s not for me to retort but Poland are as physical a side as I have seen in some time.’ Ouch. Adam Nawalka’s side are a pretty accomplished one, too, however. Currently sitting on top of Group D, Ireland will surely need snookers to catch them if they leave the Aviva Stadium with another maximum return of points. Having won in Georgia and pinched a point in Germany, Ireland’s campaign hit the buffers with defeat in Glasgow in their last competitive outing. In a section with next to no margin for error, O’Neill’s side badly need to begin a sequence of four home games from five with a win. In that regard, a degree of calculated risk taking is in order. Aiden McGeady’s downturn in form has seen him excluded from Roberto Martinez’s Everton side since January 31 but – while far from ideal - his international manager sees that as no barrier to inclusion. McGeady’s downturn in form at Everton should not affect his Ireland position . ‘You can get away on a bit of adrenaline if you are reasonably fit and I think he’s been fit for a number of weeks. He just hasn’t played for Everton in that time,’ said O’Neill, who handed the player his Celtic debut 11 years ago. ‘Adrenaline can carry you a certain distance. You wouldn’t want to be going into a game with say three or four players not having played that much football. ‘That may happen but you know that as some stage these players are going to tire a bit. But it is what it is. ‘It’s a disappointment from this side but I’m not in charge of their club commitments. ‘Listen, it would be absolutely fantastic if players were coming in here on the back of having played games the last couple of weekends. ‘You always sense it’s never going to be that way. I was involved as a player at Northern Ireland and we had players coming in who hadn’t played much at club level but suddenly they got a lift from playing international football. ‘That’s what I’d be hoping for.’ If O’Neill is bemused by McGeady’s exclusion at club level, he made a fine job of hiding it. ‘That’s entirely up to Everton,’ he straight-batted. ‘If I was to make that judgment on every single player at club level, I might be listening to the wrong comments. ‘Roberto Martinez is absolutely entitled to pick whoever he wants to at club level. ‘If he doesn’t think that Aiden is playing well enough to be picked for his team, that’s entirely up to him. Republic of Ireland coach Roy Keane shares a joke with McGeady during training session . ‘We’ve a different aspect here. He is obviously very important for us. He’d a great start against Georgia, continued that on although he may have been a little disappointed (in how he played) against Scotland. ‘Overall, he is important to us. I think just the change of environment might just give him that lift. I’m hopeful. ‘He’ll be a bit disappointed that he’s not in the Everton starting side. But he’ s here, he knows what he’s done for us in the recent past and that should give him a lift.’ McGeady might well be facing a familiar figure in the Polish goal. Artur Boruc, also formerly employed in Glasgow’s East End, is being tipped to win his 60th cap here after Wojciech Szczesny’s recent relegation to the Arsenal bench. ‘It’s some years ago but in his spell at Celtic he was one of the top five goalkeepers in European football,’ said O’Neill, who left Parkhead in 2005 just as Boruc was coming in. ‘Of course, there’s some water under the bridge since then and he’s now down at Bournemouth. But he was a fine goalkeeper before and if the manager is thinking of picking him, he must have great faith in him at the moment.’ Self-confidence among the Poles is scarcely at a premium. Still unbeaten in the qualifiers, their only blemish so far came in the 2-2 draw with Scotland in Warsaw. O’Neill knows – from bitter experience in Glasgow – how the entire dynamic of the section can turn in an instant. His warning then, not to gift the likes of Robert Lewandowski a prized victory hardly needs to be overstated. ‘We’re 75 minutes into the game and our concentration faded,’ O’Neill recalled of Shaun Maloney’s winning goal from a set-piece. ‘I know as you get tired in a match your concentration goes a little bit, but that really shouldn’t happen. ‘I think Poland’s approach will be a pretty positive, as suggested by the results they have got. ‘In the game against Germany there were moments in the match where I would say fortune broke for them at the time. ‘But they have earned that and they have put up points on the board. ‘Their second-half performance against Georgia in Georgia was particularly strong. ‘I’m expecting a big, big game. But this is the first match of a run where we have four out of five at home and it is up to us to do something about it.’ +Fernando Alonso has declared himself 'ready to go' ahead of facing one final hurdle prior to his return to Formula One in Malaysia this weekend. The double world champion missed the opening round of the season in Australia following a crash in his McLaren in the second pre-season test in Barcelona in which he sustained concussion. Alonso has since undergone numerous tests and examinations to ensure he is fit to step back into the cockpit of his car, with a final medical assessment by the FIA due to be conducted on Thursday at the Sepang International Circuit. Fernando Alonso has declared himself fit after recovering from concussion for the Malaysian Grand Prix . Given the heat and high humidity in Malaysia the FIA will also be eager to satisfy itself Alonso will be able to cope with the conditions. The Spaniard is adamant he is fine as he said: 'I've been working hard on my fitness and I feel good and ready to go this weekend. 'The heat in Malaysia is always very tough for the drivers, but I've been focusing on this in my training and I'm definitely prepared for all of the weather conditions we can face in Sepang.' The Spaniard suffered the concussion after being involved in a serious crash during testing . Alonso was airlifted to hospital and didn't take part in the opening race of the Formula One season in Australia . Should Alonso return he faces an immediate uphill struggle given the lack of performance of McLaren, now reunited and powered again by Honda. After stand-in Kevin Magnussen retired on the formation lap with a technical issue in Melbourne, Jenson Button went on to see the chequered flag at Albert Park, only to finish two laps down on race-winner Lewis Hamilton in 11th and last place. Aware of the difficulties to come, Alonso added: 'I watched the weekend in Australia very closely and I was in touch with the team from the moment they arrived. After leaving Ferrari to sign with McLaren-Honda, the Spaniard will be hoping to get the all clear to race . 'It's clear we have a lot of work ahead of us, but Jenson's result in Melbourne was encouraging from the point of view of reliability and data collection, which are extremely important. 'The weekend will still be tough, but I'm looking forward to getting into the car for the first time in a grand prix and getting back to racing. 'I've spent some time in the simulator back at the factory, and my focus will be on continuing the development of our package with my engineers, and working on our balance and race set-up. 'There's a lot of potential in the car and we will keep pushing every race until we see results. 'Although we are a long way from the front, everyone in McLaren-Honda is working hard to develop the package and keep building momentum with each race.' +Williams driver Valtteri Bottas insists he'll be 100 per cent ready to race at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, after a back injury forced him to miss the start of the season. The Finn sat out the Formula One curtain-raiser at Melbourne's Albert Park in Australia on March 15 after tearing an annular disc in his lower back during qualifying. 'After such a frustrating Sunday in Australia, I have taken the necessary measures to make sure I arrive in Malaysia fit to race and ready to bring the results home,' Bottas said in a statement on Thursday. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas is confident he'll be fit to race at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix . Bottas sat out the Australian Grand Prix after tearing an annular disc in his lower back during qualifying . In order to race at Kuala Lumpur, the 25-year-old will have to pass FIA medical tests at the track on Thursday - something his manager Didier Coton believes will be no problem. 'Valtteri is in very good shape,' Coton told BBC Sport. 'He is working very hard. 'I spoke with him today [Monday] and he is in top shape. He will have to take the FIA medical, which I expect him to pass. 'I don't see any reason why he wouldn't pass it - he tells me he is back to normal. I'm very confident about it, but of course I am not a doctor.' Williams currently lie fourth in the constructors' championship after Bottas' team-mate Felipe Massa secured 12 points with a fourth place finish in Melbourne. Bottas will have to pass FIA medical tests at the Kuala Lumpur track on Thursday in order to race . +Manny Pacquiao has been showing off his stamina with a series of impressive videos as he enters a second week of training for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr. The 36-year-old could be seen sprinting up a hill with his entourage as part of his 'road' exercises. Pacquiao posted the videos online and said: 'Day 7 [sic] of my road work out increasing to high intensity love it! to God be all the Glory.' Manny Pacquiao charges up a hill as part of his training while his entourage struggle to keep up . The 36-year-old said his training was 'increasing to a high intensity' ahead of the bout on May 2 . Another video showed the Filipino fighter doing bag work in the gym while his members of his team watched on. There have been some suggestions from fans that this $300million fight - which will take place in Las Vegas on May 2 - should have been arranged years ago when both men were in their prime. Pacquiao, though, insisted age would not be a deciding factor and that both men are at the top of their game. 'It'll be as good of a fight as it would've been five years ago. The same,' Pacquiao told the LA Times. 'Both of us are still at the top.' Pacquiao during another one of his 'road' training sessions as he gears up for the Floyd Mayweather fight . Pacquiao doing bag work in the gym while members of his coaching team look on . +Floyd Mayweather's preparations for his upcoming fight with Manny Pacquiao have started to gather pace with the undefeated American beginning his second week of training. The 38-year-old, who will go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2, has uploaded a video on to his official Instagram account which shows Mayweather training inside the boxing ring and working on his fitness ahead of the mega fight. Mayweather has been providing his fans with regular updates since his fight with Pacquiao was officially announced on February 21. Floyd Mayweather revealed on Instagram that he has started the second week of his training schedule . Mayweather takes part in a sparring session as he steps up his preparations for his next fight . The American throws a punch as he works on his technique ahead of his showdown with Pacquiao . He recently said his $300million fight against Pacquiao will be the 'biggest in boxing history'. Mayweather, speaking to Fight Hype, said the first week of training camp had 'gone tremendous thus far. He also thanked boxing legends such as Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Robinson for paving the way for his success. 'Training camp has gone tremendously thus far, all I can do is just wait,' said Mayweather. 'This is not just a big fight, this is the biggest fight in boxing history. 'It is always being at your best, pushing yourself to the limit and just being sharp and smart. 'This fight will be a part of history. When you look back at Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Wilfred Benitez, the Spinks brothers, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney, Cornelius Edwards and the list goes on and on. 'I just come in and take my hat off to the guys who paved the way for me to be where I am at today.' +Manny Pacquiao's concerns over 'feeling slow' appear unfounded after the boxer showed some exceptional hand speed during a training session ahead of his $300million (£200m) mega fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr on May 2. The Filipino posted the latest video of his preparations from the world famous Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, accompanied by the caption: 'Day 5 of my work out at the gym, thank you Lord.'. The 36-year-old had previously claimed: ‘I feel slow but I’m not worried because I still have a lot of time.’ But he seemed up to speed as he worked his way through a pair of speed balls before finishing with a flurry of shadow boxing punches. Manny Pacquiao shadow boxes in the ring as he prepares for the richest fight in history . The Filipino legend had complained about 'feeling slow' but looked up to speed during day five of training . The 36-year-old showed off his speed while working his way around the gym's apparatus . The Hollywood gym, which is run by the Pacquiao’s esteemed trainer Freddie Roach, is usually open to fans but has had to employ seven armed guards ahead of the most eagerly anticipated fight in boxing history. Roach, who is currently in Macau preparing for for Zou Shimming’s first world title fight on Saturday, said he insisted on the guards having guns so that ‘people respect them’. The renowned trainer will return to LA to meet with Mayweather and his team on Wednesday - the last time the pair will come face-to-face before the big fight. The Wild Card Boxing Club has had to employ seven armed guards to watch over Pacquiao . Mayweather insists his own preparations for the Las Vegas showdown with Pacquiao have gone 'tremendous' Freddie Roach (right, pictured in November) insists Pacquiao will be 'performing a public service' Roach has underlined his complete confidence in Pacquiao ending Mayweather’s unbeaten record. ‘Floyd is so disrespectful,’ he said. ‘Manny is the perfect role model for this fight and Mayweather is not. I told Manny we’ve got to beat him for the whole world. There’s no way we can’t win this fight. ‘Floyd’s legs don’t move like they once did. He’s very clever but the fight is so big he may feel like he has to take a risk and exchange with us. ‘If he does that, that’s the best thing in the world for Manny in my mind. ‘Manny will be performing a public service for boxing when he beats Floyd.’ +Manny Pacquiao has received apologies from American newspapers and websites who fell for mock-up photograph of him apparently dressed in a T-shirt insulting Floyd Mayweather. With the mania for their mega-fight in Las Vegas spinning out of control, the picture went viral. It depicted the real video-game PacMan gobbling up a dollar sign representing Mayweather’s nickname, Money. Manny Pacquiao mocked up wearing T-shirt designed to insult May opponent Floyd Mayweather . Pacquiao trained in the Philippines before jetting to Los Angeles to continue his preparations . Pacquiao watched his basketball team lose on Sunday before flying to Los Angeles to start his camp . ‘We’ve been had,’ admitted the publishers of the image. ‘We’ve been photo-shopped.’ It appears that the photograph was faked by a company marketing the garment, in red and yellow. Beware more fraud, especially with tickets like gold dust for the night of May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Pacquiao was last in action when he dominated Chris Algieri over 12 rounds in Macau in November last year . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr began his official training camp at his Las Vegas gym on Monday as he prepares to take on Manny Pacquiao in May. The undefeated world welterweight champion posted several pictures to the social media site shots.com on Monday night and also uploaded a video to Instagram after his first session - which took place on the same day Pacquiao started training at Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym in Los Angeles. The pair will come face-to-face next week for the only time before the week of their £160million mega-fight. Floyd Mayweather began training in his Las Vegas gym on Monday ahead of fighting Manny Pacquiao . Mayweather and Pacquiao finally agreed terms last month for one the most eagerly anticipated fights ever . Mayweather, still undefeated at 37, is training in Las Vegas, where the fight will take place on May 2 . Having finally agreed terms to clash in Las Vegas on May 2, the rivals will hold just one press conference, in downtown Los Angeles on March 11. It's the fight everyone wants to watch and Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood dropped by, giving Mayweather the chance to post another picture. 'I appreciate you Nicolas Cage for coming by my gym today,' was the message Mayweather posted with the picture. Mayweather also uploaded a video to Instagram of him punching a speed ball . The American is renowned for his speed and is looking to refine it ahead of the Pacquiao fight . Mayweather had A-list company in Nicolas Cage (left) and Elijah Wood as he trained . Filipino star Pacquiao posted a video of himself jogging after he had flown in from his homeland over the weekend. Pacquiao must do without legendary trainer Roach until next week as the 54-year-old is preparing for Zou Shiming's first world title fight against Amnat Ruenroeng in Macao on Saturday. But when he returns, Roach will shut down his gym to work on the game plan he has devised. Manny Pacquiao trained in the Philippines before jetting to Los Angeles to continue his preparations . Pacquiao watched his basketball team lose on Sunday before flying to Los Angeles to start his camp . 'I won't tell you what the game plan is because that will be very silent,' he told the South China Morning Post. 'The whole Wildcard Gym [in Los Angeles, where Pacquiao is training] will be shut down and we will work out Manny's best strategy and nobody will watch it.' Mayweather will work with his father and uncle and has already booked the services of former opponent DeMarcus Corley as a sparring partner, according to Fight Hype. Corley troubled Mayweather in their 2004 fight but was knocked down twice before losing a unanimous decision. Mayweather and Pacquiao had not met before they went to the same basketball match in Miami earlier this year. Having exchanged numbers, they later met in Pacquiao's hotel suite to thrash out the details but an official announcement was not made for several weeks. +Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade unveiled a tattoo of the late Phillip Hughes on his arm after his state of Victoria won the domestic Sheffield Shield competition. The 27-year-old showed off the touching tribute to his former international team-mate, who tragically died late last year after being hit on the side of the head by a bouncer. Wade was celebrating Victoria's 29th Sheffield Shield first-class title after they drew with Western Australia at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade unveiled a tattoo of Phillip Hughes on his arm . Wade (right) and Victoria coach Greg Shipperd celebrate their team winning the Sheffield Shield . Wade has played 12 Tests, 47 one-day internationals and 22 T20s for Australia but was left out of their World Cup squad. Hughes died aged 25 as a result of a blow on the head from a Sean Abbott bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia in November. Victoria finished in first place on points during the regular season, meaning they only needed a draw to take the title. The match in the island state of Tasmania due to the unavailability of the Melbourne Cricket Ground because of Sunday's World Cup final. Victoria secured the draw they needed against Western Australia to win the Sheffield Shield title . The title was Victoria's 29th Sheffield Shield and they secured it with a draw against WA in Hobart . Wade and Hughes together during their days playing for Australia in Cardiff in 2013 . The winners finished on 158 for four, trailing Western Australia by 175 runs. After Western Australia declared at 293 for two earlier Wednesday with a 333-run lead, Victoria did little to chase down the target, with no runs being scored in eight overs during the final session. Fawad Ahmed took 8-89 for Victoria in the first innings to set a finals record. +West Indies batsman Darren Bravo is set to make his return to action from injury after being named in a training squad ahead of England's Test tour. Bravo's World Cup ended early due to a hamstring injury, but he has been put down in a list of 20 players by the West Indies Cricket Board for a training camp in Antigua that begins on April 5. Star name Chris Gayle, however, will miss the camp and the England series, which starts on April 13, due to ongoing back problems and his Indian Premier League commitments. Darren Bravo has been included in the West Indies' training squad after recovering from a hamstring injury . Chris Gayle has missed out on a place in West Indies' training squad because of a back injury . In what will be new coach Phil Simmons' first series since taking charge, West Indies have given four uncapped players the chance to make their case for a Test berth, with Carlos Brathwaite, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich and Shai Hope called up. Meanwhile, spinner Devendra Bishoo could be in line for a Test recall after two years out, as is Veerasammy Permaul, who last played a five-day fixture in December 2013. S Benn, D Bishoo, J Blackwood, C Brathwaite, K Brathwaite, D Bravo, S Chanderpaul, S Cottrell, M Cummins, S Dowrich, S Gabriel, J Holder, S Hope, L Johnson, V Permaul, D Ramdin, K Roach, M Samuels, D Smith, J Taylor. +It's a label affiliated with lavishness and luxury, and that's exactly what this waterfront mansion exudes. The four-bedroom Versace-themed abode went under the hammer for $7.8 million last Saturday through McGrath Estate Agents. Featuring Versace designer branding throughout, the beachfront masterpiece offers deluxe views of Sandringham bay, south Sydney. The grand entrance of the four-bedroom Versace-themed abode went under the hammer for $7.8 million . The luxurious abode offers marble tiled floors and a spiral staircase . It features Versace designer branding throughout the house . The beachfront masterpiece offers deluxe views of Sandringham bay, south Sydney . The marble tiled home offers an enormous rooftop terrace, a spiral staircase and an outdoor spa and barbeque area. The $7.8 million sale set a record price in the St George District, despite the owner's hopes for a $8 million pricetag, and it was also the biggest Sydney sale of the week. The 980 square metre block of land, which is in close proximity to shopping precincts, the airport and Sydney CBD, cost $2,765,000 in 2002. There were 602 sales of the 715 auctions listed last weekend, making it an 86.1 per cent clearance rate, according to APM. The $7.8 million sale set a record price in the St George District, despite the owner hopes of $8 million, and it was also the biggest Sydney sale of the week . The 980 square metre block of land, which is in close proximity to shopping precincts, the airport and Sydney CBD, cost $2,765,000 in 2002 . The marble tiled home offers an an outdoor spa and barbeque area . The four-bedroom Versace-themed abode went under the hammer for $7.8 million last Saturday, the 28th, through McGrath Estate Agents . The luxury abode offers a deluxe stone kitchen with gold touches . +The German Grand Prix has been dropped from this year's Formula One calendar, motor sport's world governing body the FIA has announced. The race had been in doubt due to questions over which circuit would host the race, which has been shared between Hockenheim and Nurburgring in recent seasons. Home favourite Nico Rosberg won the German Grand Prix for Mercedes last year . Officials from both circuits had voiced concern that time was running out to organise the race, which was scheduled to take place over the weekend of July 17-19. A short FIA statement said no agreement could be reached with Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder (CRH). 'The German Grand Prix has been withdrawn as the CRH and promoter did not reach agreement,' the statement said. The decision means the 2015 season will be shortened to 19 races, with a three-week break between the British Grand Prix on July 5 and the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 26. Hockenheim and Nurburgring have hosted the German Grand Prix for the past seven years . The German Grand Prix has alternated between Hockenheim and Nurburgring since 2007. However, in January, Ecclestone said this season's race would take place at Hockenheim for a second successive year, only for the venue to be listed as 'To Be Announced' when the calendar was unveiled earlier this year. Georg Seiler, the managing director of the Hockenheim circuit, told German newspaper Bild earlier this week that time had run out to organise the race. According to the report, Hockenheim's concerns included the sale of tickets, which had not yet begun. It also said that crowds had shrunk since the glory days of Michael Schumacher, despite the recent successes of German drivers Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg - who won last year's German Grand Prix driving for Mercedes. +Cristiano Ronaldo disappeared straight down the tunnel of the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night while the rest of his team-mates went to the centre-circle to applaud supporters. It followed a strange night for the Real Madrid forward just seven days ahead of the Clasico. He failed to celebrate Gareth Bale’s opening goal because he was too busy lamenting his own misfortune at not scoring. Ronaldo failed to connect properly with a scissor kick from the edge of the area and when the ball was headed off the line Bale volleyed it into the top corner. Incredibly Ronaldo could be seen throwing his arms up in the air both before and after Bale converted the rebound. Cristiano Ronaldo cannot mask his frustration after striking the post with an early chance to put Real ahead . The World Player of the Year endured a difficult game, with his temper bubbling below the surface . It was a tough night for Ronaldo, who will need to improve in time for next week's Clasico . Gary Lineker tweeted: ‘Ronaldo's extraordinarily stroppy reaction to Bale scoring from a rebound from his effort was bizarre and unhealthy.’ Ronaldo was also frustrated when Bale scored his second goal getting the slightest of touches on a Ronaldo shot but enough to divert it past the Levante goalkeeper to wrap up the three points. He also missed a string of chances the day after he was overtaken by Leo Messi in La Liga’s list of top scorers for this season. Ahead of their meeting at the Nou Camp next week the Argentine has 32 goals – two more than Ronaldo. Ever since Ronaldo collected his third Balon D’or in January and announced to the world that he was ‘coming for’ Messi who has four Golden Ball awards, things have worked in reverse for the planet’s two finest players. Ronaldo nicks the ball past Levante's Ivan Lopez but he didn't stay behind at the end to applaud the fans . This acrobatic Ronaldo volley was headed off the line, before Bale fired in the rebound to make it 1-0 . VIDEO Bale was more motivated - Ancelotti . Messi was 12 goals behind Ronaldo last December but he has not been able to stop scoring since the turn of the year and Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker has dried up. ‘Cristiano was lively because he made the first goal and the second. He didn’t score but he contributed a lot,’ said Carlo Ancelotti after the game. Ronaldo hardly cracked a smile when celebrating with team-mate Dani Carvajal . The frustration was written all over Ronaldo's face as he leaned against the frame of the goal . And he didn't look a happy chappy sitting on the pitch during his side's La Liga victory . The Italian coach said he had no reason not to be positive ahead of next week’s Clasico and admitted: ‘Bale was more motivated than usual and the presence of [Luka] Modric helps him. They know each other very well from playing together at Tottenham.' He will need his talisman Ronaldo back in the right frame of mind before the game however. Last week Ronaldo had to be dragged to the centre-circle by captain Iker Casillas, on Sunday night he ducked out of the post match tradition altogether. At least next week’s league deciding showdown is away from home. +Three weeks after the disturbing video footage taken on the Paris Metro which shamed Chelsea an initiative is gathering support among fans to fight back against the racists who still attach themselves to club. Paris Saint-Germain visit Stamford Bridge for the second leg of a Champions League tie which will be forever tarnished by those Chelsea supporters who refused to let Souleymane S board a train at Richelieu-Drouot station as they sang: 'We're racist and that's the way we like it'. Many Chelsea fans are keen to use the return fixture to send a collective message around the world, and have been inspired to produce flags, banners, posters and T-shirts to project the mood. An initiative is gathering support to fight back against the racists who still attach themselves to Chelsea . Chelsea fans inside Stamford Bridge hold a poster saying: 'No racism at the Bridge. That's the way we like it!' There will be posters handed out, printed in both English and French which state: 'No Racism at the Bridge. That's the way we like it.' There will be T-shirts carrying the slogan 'We Only See Blue' and there will be flag hanging from the Matthew Harding Stand bearing a message: 'Blues Against Racism'. Souleymane has declined an invitation from Chelsea to attend the game but it is as if bearing witness to his experience, like something from Apartheid South Africa lurking amid the glitz of the Champions League, flicked a switch in the minds of thousands. Rather than cringe and ignore the ever-diminishing faction of racists who have lingered around Chelsea since the 1980s – and other clubs, it must be said - supporters are getting active at ground-level with campaigns which has the potential to be more powerful than all those well-intentioned messages from the top of society. Since the Metro footage went viral, another two incidents of racist abuse involving Chelsea-associated yobs singing on trains have been reported to police and are being investigated. Richard West, aka Mr C, the DJ and former frontman for the Shamen, poses in a 'We only see Blue' T-Shirt . Chelsea's programme cover for the match carried a clear message: 'We are all blue #equality' Chelsea supporters display a banner which reads 'We are all Blue' ahead of the match . Ben Price, a 37-year-old gardener and Chelsea supporter since the early '90s, set up a Facebook page which he found gathered rapid support at home and abroad. Paul Canoville, the club's first black player, was quick to back the movement, as was Richard West, aka Mr C, the DJ and former frontman for The Shamen, who is a Chelsea fan. Price was responsible for the 'No Racism at the Bridge' posters on show during the Burnley game, last month, and will be outside the Shed End, handing out more before Wednesday night's game against PSG. 'It's a message that says that collectively we do not tolerate racism and we cannot be branded a racist club,' said Price. 'It's a message for Souleymane S and for other clubs and their fans and for football's authorities like UEFA and FIFA and hopefully we can send it around the world, because the eyes of the world will be on us.' Chelsea captain John Terry wears a 'Support Chelsea, Support Equality' ahead of the clash against PSG . Chelsea fans unfurled a 'Black or white, we're all blue' banner during last month's clash at home to Burnley . West, who flew in from his home in Los Angeles, said: 'What we saw in Paris disgusted 99.99per cent of Chelsea fans. I've worked against racism all my life. The Shamen were playing at anti-racism rallies in the early-90s. 'I DJ around the world, in countries as diverse as Russia and Colombia. Everything I stand for in my art and my music has been equality and unity and bringing people together. 'To see this happen to the club I've supported for 39 years and to Chelsea fans all over the world broke my heart. It killed me. I was depressed for days and I am Mr Positive. You don't get more positive than me. We sang about moving mountains. 'I was angry that these numbskulls, these drunken idiots, were dragging our multi-racial club through the mud. It hurt. And it tarnishes English football, not just Chelsea, and it is important fans stand up against this handful of people.' West, who flew in from his home in Los Angeles said the scenes in Paris disgusted most Chelsea fans . Phil Keefe, who made one of the flags with his daughter Jodie, said: 'We talked about it and decided we had to do something. I used to come to Chelsea when the National Front sold newspapers outside the Shed. There is no way I want my club to be targeted again by those kinds of people.' Chelsea have extended their Stamford Bridge invitation to Souleymane S after he declined an opportunity to attend Wednesday night's second leg. 'I don't want to sit in that stadium next to those people who pushed me,' Souleymane S, who declined to reveal his surname, told RTL radio. 'I won't go. They can't buy me with a little piece of paper. I'm not a child.' A Chelsea spokesman said: 'We appreciate he doesn't want to come to this particular game, however, our offer remains open and we hope he'll take us up on it so he can meet real Chelsea fans and experience the true spirit of the club.' Chelsea's programme cover for the match carried a clear message: 'We are all blue #equality.' +Three weeks after the video footage taken on the Paris Metro which shamed Chelsea, an initiative is gathering support among fans to fight back against the racists who still attach themselves to the club. Paris Saint-Germain visit Stamford Bridge for the second leg of a Champions League tie which will be forever tarnished by those Chelsea supporters who refused to let Souleymane S board a train at Richelieu-Drouot station as they sang: 'We’re racist and that’s the way we like it'. Many Chelsea fans are keen to use the return fixture to send a collective message around the world, and have been inspired to produce flags, banners, posters and t-shirts to project the mood. The Paris Saint-Germain squad are put through their paces at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening . Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho addresses the media ahead of their return clash against Paris Saint-Germain . There will be posters, banners and flags showcasing Chelsea's stance against racism at Stamford Bridge . There will be posters handed out, printed in both English and French which state: 'No Racism at the Bridge. That’s the way we like it.' There will be t-shirts carrying the slogan 'We Only See Blue' and there will be flag hanging from the Matthew Harding Stand bearing a message: 'Blues Against Racism'. Souleymane has declined an invitation from Chelsea to attend the game but it is as if bearing witness to his experience, like something from Apartheid South Africa lurking amid the glitz of the Champions League, flicked a switch in the minds of thousands. Rather than cringe and ignore the ever-diminishing faction of racists who have lingered around Chelsea since the 1980s – and other clubs, it must be said - supporters are getting active at ground-level with campaigns which has the potential to be more powerful than all those well-intentioned messages from the top of society. Souleymane S has declined an invitation from Chelsea to attend Wednesday night's Champions League tie . Five of the Chelsea fans involved in the disgraceful incident have been suspended from attending matches . Since the Metro footage went viral, another two incidents of racist abuse involving Chelsea-associated yobs singing on trains have been reported to police and are being investigated. Ben Price, a 37-year-old gardener and Chelsea supporter since the early nineties, set up a Facebook page which he found gathered rapid support at home and abroad. Paul Canoville, the club’s first black player, was quick to back the movement, as was Richard West, aka Mr C, the DJ and former frontman for the Shamen, who is a Chelsea fan. Price was responsible for the 'No Racism at the Bridge' posters on show during the Burnley game, last month, and will be outside the Shed End, handing out more before the game against PSG. 'It’s a message that says that collectively we do not tolerate racism and we cannot be branded a racist club,' said Price. 'It’s a message for Souleymane S and for other clubs and their fans and for football’s authorities like UEFA and FIFA and hopefully we can send it around the world, because the eyes of the world will be on us.' +Residents in western Indiana are urgently searching for a young woman who has not been seen since Saturday, with her cell phone found in a gas station bathroom. The parents of Taylor Roden, 23, of Lafayette, have filed a missing person report for their red-headed child. She was seen at a gas station in Mishawaka, Indiana, next to South Bend, getting into a car with a man and a woman. The parents of Taylor Roden, 23, of Lafayette, have filed a missing person report for their red-headed child. Roden did not appear to be coerced or forced in the video, Tippecanoe County Detective Bob Goldsmith told the Lafayette Journal & Courier. He said that the clerk working at the station said that she did not look fearful. The young woman's cell phone was found in a restroom at the fuel stop, which is above two hours' drive from Lafayette. Her mother received a phone call from Roden on Tuesday night from an unfamiliar number, though police say the search for the woman is has no concluded. Detective Goldsmith's efforts to make contact with the unfamiliar phone were not successful and he would not disclose what the daughter and mother said to one another. Police are appealing for help in finding Roden. She is about 5'5'' and 110lbs with blue eyes. No friends of family have reported hearing from her. Roden's parents declined to give an interview. The young woman was seen leaving a gas station uncoerced with a man and woman in Mishawaka, two hours' drive north of her home . +A young man who is torn between the rough streets of his hometown and a bright future as a basketball star is poised to make a splash in March Madness after keeping his brother away from violence. Isaiah Williams, a 22-year-old forward and junior at Iona College, says he has lost 24 of his friends and loved ones to violence in a section of Newark, New Jersey, called The Jungle. Teammates say that the star 6'7'' player has gone through periods of crying regularly at practice after losing some of his best friends to shootings related to drugs and gangs, but works harder than anyone. Isaiah Williams, (left) 22, grew up in a section of Newark known for gang crime and has grieved for 24 friends that died due to gun violence . Though his team stands on the brink of the national spotlight, Williams has never been fully free of the forces pulling him back to the troublesome past where his loved ones still live. After the death of friend Rahmel Johnson, 20, in 2013, the basketball star left his college life without telling his coaches and went back home to intervene with his brother Kevin, a year younger. Newark's Oscar Miles Village is controlled by the Crips gang and surrounded by rivals, and Williams felt he had to pull his brother, who was with Johnson right before his targeted shooting, out of a dangerous life, according to NJ.com. The guard, who has Family First tattooed on his chest, returned when Kevin vowed to stay off the streets. This season Williams helped lead Iona to first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and his brother Kevin attends his games. His life at college is a far cry from his time growing up, where he was immersed in violence that saw him shot at three times. Gunmen sprayed shots at him near his neighborhood rec center, after a fight and riding in a car through a rival neighborhood. The basketball star gives a litany of his friends who have been killed in similar incidents: P-Roc, Smoove, Goldie, Capo, T Ram, Hot Dog and many others. Though the star forward dropped everything and went to intervene in his brother's life last season, the 6'7'' player has led Iona College to first place in their conference this year . Oscar Miles Village in Newark is controlled by the Crips gang, and rivalries with surrounding gangs lead to a high homicide rate. There were 111 homicides in Newark in 2013. While others were never had a chance leave, Williams found his escape in basketball. 'My friends wanted me to join them. At one time I did, but when I got a little older I said, 'I have to go shoot baskets.' It was my therapy. It took my mind off everything that was around me,' he told the Bradenton Herald. Mr Williams attended seven high schools and colleges before arriving at Iona, and was named Suncoast Conference Player of The Year at State College of Florida Bradenton before transferring to a Division I school closer to home. Iona's location New Rochelle, New York, means he help his loved ones such as Kevin, and his girlfriend Ille and family have been able to watch him thrive despite an injury this season. He now shoots more than 50 per cent from the floor and averages more than 13 points per game while majoring in criminal justice. Williams attended a number of high school and colleges before being accepted to play at Iona College, roughly 30 miles from where he grew up in Newark . Recovering from hardship and improving himself have always been part of his mindset. 'He would beg me to try to get me into the gym with him. I would have to open the gym for him late at night and early in the morning,' his coach in Florida and current assistant coach Brock Erickson told One-Bid Wonders. The Iona Gaels play Siena College on Saturday, with a shot at the NCAA tournament if they advance and can claim their conference championship. Beyond hoping to make an impact at this year's college basketball postseason, Mr Williams hopes that he can make it even further. He has hopes to play in the NBA or Europe. 'I'm going to try to go as hard as I can and if possible make the NBA,' he said. 'That's what I want to do. If I don't get drafted, okay. I'm just going to keep going, and one day hopefully I'll be there.' Williams (back, jumping) hopes to play in the NBA or in Europe and provide help for his family in New Jersey . +Sam Allardyce will be a contender for the Sunderland manager's job if Gus Poyet is sacked. Poyet is under mounting pressure at the Stadium of Light after an alarming slide down the table, culminating in Saturday's dreadful loss against Aston Villa which sparked a supporter revolt. The growing animosity from fans towards the Uruguayan has not gone unnoticed by the Black Cats' board. Sam Allardyce will be a contender for the Sunderland manager's job if Gus Poyet is sacked . Sunderland fans attempt to storm Poyet's dugout as the home side slumped against Aston Villa . Stewards and members of Sunderland's backroom staff attempt to stop irate fans getting to the dugout . The club's hierarchy want to show loyalty to Poyet after the manager's excellent work in keeping the Wearsiders up last season. But there is a fear that the growing swell of opinion opposed to Poyet's regime from fans will have an adverse impact on matters on the pitch. And West Ham manager Allardyce, who used to play for Sunderland, will be high on owner Ellis Short's wanted list if he decides to make a change. Allardyce has admirers at Sunderland after helping the Hammers consolidate their position in the Premier League. Poyet has vowed to fight on as Sunderland boss but says he understands the supporters' frustration . Sunderland fans streamed out of the Stadium of Light as Aston Villa smashed four goals past their side . Likewise, he was a strong contender to replace Martin O'Neill in the Sunderland hotseat in 2013 before Paolo Di Canio was handed the role. Allardyce himself looks set to be out of a job when his contract at Upton Park expires this summer, with the club still to offer him an extension. And a vacancy at the Stadium of Light could provide Allardyce with an instant route back into management if he leaves. +Wayne Rooney captained Manchester United to a 3-0 victory against Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday hours after footage emerged appearing to show him being knocked out cold by his former team-mate Phil Bardsley in a sparring session in his kitchen. Here we assess Rooney's performance in the showdown that took place on the pitch. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney re-enacted a video of him boxing a former team-mate . Ashley Young laughs as Rooney falls backwards as part of his humorous boxing celebration at Old Trafford . Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini arrive on the scene to celebrate with the United captain . DID HE PACK A PUNCH? Rooney was having a relatively quiet game until the 34th minute, when he seized upon a misplaced Nabil Bentaleb pass, burst through a clutch of Tottenham players and slotted past Hugo Lloris - before celebrating by recreating the video, throwing a flurry of air punches boxer-style and then falling backwards to hit the deck. Having brought the crowd to their feet in that moment, he showed less potency thereafter in his centre-forward role, sending a few efforts off-target, at least one of which he probably should have done better with. Rooney waves to the crowd; his goal put Manchester United 3-0 up against Tottenham in the first-half . COMBINATIONS . Very early on, his link-up play was not coming off, a notable example being when he failed to pick out Juan Mata with an attempted cut-back in the box. He was also not involved in either of the first two goals - but his influence soon grew as he produced several nice touches to help build attacks, as well as getting on the scoresheet himself. LASTING THE DISTANCE . Went the full 90 minutes, and while not exactly a constant threat during that time, he caused plenty of problems for Tottenham in what was a commendable display overall. KNOCK-OUT MOMENT . Undoubtedly delivered one with the goal and celebration, nicely showcasing his strength, technique and willingness to poke fun at himself all in the space of a few seconds. Rooney slots the ball past Hugo Lloris to put Manchester United 3-0 up against Tottenham on Sunday . +Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool will need another 23 points to reach the Champions League as he insisted sentiment will have no bearing on when he recalls Steven Gerrard. Liverpool’s influential captain is fit again after recovering from a hamstring problem he sustained on February 10 but there is no guarantee that Rodgers will put him straight back into the starting line-up, as would have been the case during the majority of his career at Anfield. During Gerrard’s absence, Liverpool won three consecutive Barclays Premier League games against Southampton, Manchester City and Burnley but Rodgers feels that sequence is going to have to continue in what will be a pivotal week for the club, with tonight’s trip to Swansea followed by next Sunday’s showdown with Manchester United. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (right) says his team will need 23 points out of their last 30 available . Rodgers shares a laugh with Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure (left) during the session . Martin Skrtel works on his fitness and conditioning with Liverpool coach Ryland Morgans (left) Liverpool pair Lazar Markovic (left) and Dejan Lovren strike a pose during the training esssion . Gerrard wants to help Liverpool finish in the top four and win the FA Cup before he joins LA Galaxy and while Rodgers is adamant the 34-year-old will have a say on how the campaign maps out, he won’t pick him on reputation alone. ‘We have 30 points to play for, so I am guessing it will be another 23 points,’ said Rodgers. ‘That is how competitive it has been this year. 'We have won nine out of 11 in January and February, it has been a great run but now we have to be focused on these last 10 matches. Everything counts. 'We have to be aggressive in our game and now we have to nail it in the last 10. I know the players are focused on that. ‘Everyone is waiting to see if Stevie comes into the team or not, but it was the same with Daniel. Does he or does he not? What you have seen over my time here is that I rely on the team. 'The team, of course, has to have good players in it, but ultimately it is about the team and what is going to benefit and how we can get results as a team. 'I will repeat again the most important thing is Steven is back fit and we have Lucas Leiva coming back too. ‘That will add to the competition for places and with one game a week, barring the Cup game, then everyone is going to be fighting and being competitive about playing. ‘The beauty of this season is that everyone has had an opportunity in the first three or four months of the season and then we have found a way to win. It is something everyone has to respect. It is about the team and the spirit of the team and I will always pick the best team I feel to win a game.’ Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is back in contention for the trip to Swansea after an injury layoff . Slovakian central defender Skrtel jumps to power a header in during the session at Melwood . Vice captain Jordan Henderson in action alongside Skrtel (right) during a training drill . Captain Gerrard trains ahead of team-mates Joe Allen (left) and right back Glen Johnson (centre) Rodgers added: ‘He still has big qualities that we will need between now and the end of the season (but) I don’t pick a team on whether I like someone or not. What I do know is that Stevie always puts the team first.’ Raheem Sterling’s future, meanwhile, continues to create background noise but Rodgers maintains the decision to put contract talks on hold until the end of the campaign has nothing to do with finance. ‘I still think he has a lot of development to go and this is the best place for him,’ said Rodgers. ‘It is pretty obvious that this is a great place for him to be and he has said that himself.’ Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana (left) vies for possession with left back Jose Enrique . Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert strikes one on the volley with his left foot during training . Reds Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet gets down low to his right to stop the ball with his hand . Liverpool left back Alberto Moreno all smiles during Saturday's session at Melwood . VIDEO Every game counts for Rodgers . +On Tuesday night Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record for most goals in European competitions and Oleksandr Kucher wrote his own name into the history books the following day. Not that it was cause for celebration as the Shakhtar Donetsk defender was hit with the fastest red card ever in the Champions League. Kucher was given his marching orders after just two minutes and 39 seconds when he brought down Bayern Munich's Mario Gotze in the penalty area, conceding a penalty and handing Shakhtar a mountain to climb. Oleksandr Kucher was sent off in the third minute for Shakhtar Donetsk against Bayern Munich . The defender slid in on Bayern midfielder Mario Gotze as he burst into the penalty area . There was minimal contact but Gotze hit the floor as he raced through on goal . Scottish referee Wille Collum deemed it a clear goalscoring opportunity and brandished the red card . The contact was minimal as the 32-year-old clumsily lunged toward the World Cup winning midfielder and Scottish referee Willie Collum reached for his top pocket. The tie, delicately poised after a 0-0 draw in Ukraine three weeks ago, was effectively over for Shakhtar after Thomas Muller scored with the resulting penalty. Bayern ran riot at the Allianz Arena as Jerome Boateng added a second for the German champions in the first half before Franck Ribery, Muller, Holger Badstuber, Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze completed a 7-0 rout on the night and on aggregate. +Luis Suarez is 90 minutes from his first final with Barcelona but his coach Luis Enrique could leave him out of the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Villarreal because he is one booking away from suspension. Suarez has now scored five goals in his last five games but Pedro, Neymar and Messi could start the match if the Barcelona manager decides he wants his £75million striker saved for the final and not exposed to the risk of a yellow card that would rule him out of it. Barcelona will have reached their 38th Spanish Cup final if they can take the 3-1 first leg result over the line. No club in Spain has made it to more finals or won the competition more often than their 26 trophies. Barcelona's all-star front three could be broken up in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg on Wednesday . Luis Suarez (centre) has been in great goalscoring form but is one yellow card away from suspension . Villarreal have never made it to a big final and supporters were preparing for what will be one of the greatest nights in their history with yellow balloons placed on all the seats of the 20,000 El Madrigal stadium. The last time they came close to reaching a final was 2005 when Manuel Pellegrini was in charge. They lost 1-0 to Arsenal in their Champions League semi-final first leg and won a last-gasp penalty in the second game only for Jens Lehman to save Juan Roman Riquelme’s spot-kick and prevent the game going into extra time. They reached the Europa League semi-final in 2010 but were beaten 5-1 in the first leg, with Radamel Falcao scoring four and making the second game an irrelevance. Suarez scored again at Granada on Saturday but Barca may not risk him being suspended for the cup final . Pedro could come into the side to face Villarreal instead of Suarez as Barcelona bid for a 38th Spanish final . A 2-0 win would see them go through on Wednesday but Barcelona have not failed to score in a Cup game since the 2010-11 Copa del Rey final against Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Since then they have scored in 33 cup games. Villarreal will probably need to score three. They are at least buoyed by drawing with Real Madrid at the weekend. ‘You don’t win these games playing with your heart, you win them by being smart,’ said Villarreal coach Marcelino on Tuesday. He has La Liga’s hottest young striker at his disposal in the shape of Luciano Vietto, who has scored 18 goals in all competitions this season and weighed in with 13 assists. His agent Jorge Cyerszpiler – who was Diego Maradona’s first agent – was talking up his client's fondness for Real Madrid in the lead up to this game. Barca must beware Villareal's Luciano Vietto (centre), who is the hottest young striker in La Liga . Vietto tucks away a goal against Salzburg in the Europa League last week, and has 18 to his name this term . Diego Simeone is a massive fan and wants the player at Atletico Madrid next season, while Liverpool lead a clutch of Premier League clubs who are keeping a close eye on the latest South American talent discovered by Villarreal. They are determined not to let their player leave for anything less than €30m and they want to see the 21-year-old help them to their first ever final before they even consider his possible departure. +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Burnley's home clash with Manchester City... Burnley vs Manchester City (Turf Moor) Team news . Burnley . Neither Matt Taylor nor new signing Fredrik Ulvestad will be in the Burnley squad for Saturday's Premier League clash with Manchester City at Turf Moor. Taylor has played twice for the development squad as he continues his slow recovery from Achilles surgery but is not yet ready for the first-team squad. Norwegian midfielder Ulvestad, meanwhile, is seen more as a player for the long term after signing a three-year deal this week. Dean Marney and Kevin Long (both cruciate) are long-term absentees. Provisional squad: Heaton, Gilks, Trippier, Mee, Keane, Shackell, Duff, Arfield, Boyd, Jones, Wallace, Kightly, Barnes, Vokes, Ings, Sordell, Reid, Jutkiewicz, Ward. Norweigan midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad signed a three-year deal at Burnley this week . Manchester City . Captain Vincent Kompany will hope to be recalled for the champions' Barclays Premier League visit to Burnley on Saturday. Belgium defender Kompany was dropped for City's last game against Leicester after a spell of indifferent form, while midfielders Fernandinho and Samir Nasri also missed out. Striker Wilfried Bony will hope to retain his spot after a first start for the club in the victory over the Foxes. City manager Manuel Pellegrini has reported a fully-fit squad. Provisional squad: Hart, Caballero, Zabaleta, Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Kompany, Boyata, Clichy, Kolarov, Nasri, Silva, Milner, Navas, Toure, Fernando, Fernandinho, Lampard, Aguero, Jovetic, Bony, Dzeko. Vincent Kompany will hope to be recalled for Manchester City's trip to Burnley . Key match stats (supplied by Opta) Kick-off: Saturday, 5.30pm . Odds (subject to change): . Burnley 6/1 . Draw 7/2 . Manchester City 4/9 . Referee: Andre Marriner . Managers: Sean Dyche (Burnley), Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City) There have been 45 goals scored in the last nine matches between Burnley and Manchester City in all competitions. City are unbeaten in their last six visits to Turf Moor in all competitions, winning the last five in a row and scoring 17 times in the last four. In the last 68 league matches where Man City have been two goals ahead at any stage, Burnley are the only team to come back to get any kind of a result when they drew 2-2 at the Etihad back in December. City are unbeaten in their last 13 matches in all competitions against Burnley (W8 D5 L0). Burnley won five of their first six home games in the Premier League (W5 L1) but since then have won just five of the last 27 (W5 D10 L12). Ashley Barnes (third right) scored as Burnley drew 2-2 against Manchester City at the Etihad in December . The Clarets have scored just 13 goals in 14 Premier League home games this season. Manchester City have lost just three of their last 27 Premier League away games (W17 D7 L3). No home team has stopped Manchester City from scoring in their last 20 Premier League away matches. Manchester City have fired in 469 shots (inc. blocked) this season, the most in the Premier League. Manchester City have scored 998 goals in the Premier League. +After a career spent going head-to-head in the Champions League, Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez and former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard are about to become team-mates, with the Spain international finalising negotiations on a move to New York City. The 35-year-old midfielder, who has played more games than any player in Barca’s history and won every honour possible, will join Manchester City’s MLS franchise at the end of this season ready to start playing for them in 2016. Xavi (centre) celebrates after collecting the second of his three Champions League medals in 2009 . The veteran midfielder (left) has only been a bit-part player under Luis Enrique this season at Barca . Spanish radio station Cadena SER reported on Wednesday that the player, his father Joaquín and his agent Ivan Corretja met with a representative from the club at the L'Arrosseria Xàtiva restaurant in Barcelona just a stone’s throw from the Nou Camp to negotiate his move to the US. Xavi looked set to leave Barcelona last summer but decided to stay for one more season after a conversation with coach Luis Enrique. Despite that commitment he has played only a small role this campaign and played no part in Barcelona’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City last week. His departure from Barcelona will mark the end of an era. He joined the club as an 11-year-old and went on to make more than 700 appearances. He has won seven La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues. Xavi's former Barcelona team-mate David Villa (above) is already at New York City . Ex-England midfielder Frank Lampard is unveiled at the new MLS franchise in July 2014 . It was Pep Guardiola who famously said of the young midfielder he saw coming through Barcelona’s youth system: ‘This player will retire me’. He ended up playing alongside him briefly before leaving the club and returning to build a team around the Spain star who also played 133 times for his country. Xavi's signing for New York City is a major coup and will also reunite him with former Spain and Barcelona team-mate David Villa, who will be expected to thrive on the service offered him by Xavi, and Lampard who also joins the MLS new boys after winning 11 major trophies at Chelsea in a 13-year period. +Brandon Marshall is to be traded for the third time in his NFL career and will join the New York Jets after three years with the Chicago Bears. The prodigiously talented wide receiver turns 31 this month, but the move had been widely touted. Deemed an outspoken maverick by many at Soldier Field, he raised eyebrows with a post-game locker room rant after defeat to the Miami Dolphins in October. His appearances as an analyst on 'Inside the NFL' weekly were also said to be a distraction. Brandon Marshall will head to New York on Tuesday for a medical ahead of his move to the Jets . The mercurial Marshall is yet to play in the play-offs . New head coach John Fox and offensive co-ordinator Adam Gase appeared lukewarm about Marshall at best. 'We’re trying to evaluate where everybody fits and how we best use them and, again, trying to put the best football team on the field. He’s part of that process,' Fox told the Chicago Tribune last month. Marshall was close to Jay Cutler - following him to Chicago from Denver via Miami - but raw quarterback Geno Smith could test his short fuse. ESPN broke news of the trade, which will also see the Jets give the Bears a fifth round draft pick. Marshall signed a four-year deal in Chicago last May, and had seven consecutive 1,000 yard seasons before falling short last year - largely due to missing the final three games with a shoulder complaint. Despite the numbers, Marshall is yet to appear in a play-off game. Perhaps that will change in New York. New head coach Todd Bowles was with Marshall during his two-year stint in Miami and will have been influential in the trade. The move will likely mean the end of Percy Harvin's short stint with the Gang Green, with Marshall to pair up with Eric Decker. Marshall was drafted in the fourth round of the 2006 draft by the Broncos and is a mental health spokesman, spreading awareness of his battle with Borderline Personality Disorder. +Manager Steve Bruce feels energetic enough to push on with Hull after agreeing to sign a new three-year contract at the KC Stadium. The 54-year-old took charge of the Tigers in June 2012 and led the club into the Barclays Premier League at the first time of asking before securing their top-flight status in 2014. Hull, who reached the FA Cup final under Bruce last season, are currently in a position to stay up once again and their boss appears to have been duly rewarded for his efforts. Steve Bruce took charge of Hull in June 2012 and led the club into the Premier League . Bruce's side face Leicester at the King Power Stadium in a crucial Premier League clash on Saturday . Speaking before Saturday's league game at Leicester, he said: 'I'm delighted because I've enjoyed the last two-and-a-half years. This season has been difficult at times but I've enjoyed it. 'What we've started here is about trying to establish ourselves as a Premier League club. Hull City supporters show their faith in manager Bruce for their last home game against Sunderland . Bruce (centre) took Hull to the FA Cup final last season, where they lost 3-2 to Arsenal . 'When you commit yourself to a new deal the first thing to ask is 'do you still have the energy for it?' Those things were going through my head. 'Let's hope we have another two-and-half years like we've had. 'It's a three-year contract with a year rolling - that's the nuts and bolts of it.' +The Aussie cricket team are set to split a price pool of $5 million if they are to win the final against New Zealand tonight. This will see the 15 man squad awarded with $340,000 each, regardless of how many games they played in the six week stint. The AFR Weekend has reported that even George Bailey who only played one match against England in the tournament will receive the same amount as each other player. The Australian side are set to take home $340,000 each if they are triumphant in tonight's game against NZ . The winners divide the pool up evenly, regardless of how many games each participated in . Other occasional players such as Xavier Doherty, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh will also be presented with the same cut. The runner up pool is not too bad either with each player receiving $150,000 if they were to succumb to the New Zealand team. This is on top of the player's contract payments, IPL contracts and individual endorsement deals. Other teams tend to divvy up the winnings in a different fashion. If New Zealand were to win their prize money would be divided up by who participated in the most games . The Australian squad have 13 players in the top 50 sports earners in Australia, according to BRW . Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnston (2nd right) earned $4.1 million last year and is consequently one of Australia's top sports earners . New Zealand sees players who did not participate in all the games take home less of the prize pool than the players who did. The Sydney Morning Herald have reported that these winnings may not make too much of a difference to the Australian squad members due to their ridiculously high earnings. BRW recently released the Top 50 sports earners in Australia with 13 Australian cricketers making the cut. Shane Watson led the pack with an earning of $4.5 million last year, closely followed by Mitchell Johnston ($4.1 million) and Test captain Michael Clarke ($4 million). +Manuel Pellegrini says he wants to extend his contract at Manchester City despite uncertainty over his future with the Premier League champions and speculation linking him with a move to Napoli at the end of the season. City look set to surrender their title to Chelsea and more pressure will be heaped on Pellegrini if they go out of the Champions League by failing to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit against Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti have been touted as potential successors, and Pellegrini’s agent Jesus Martinez has responded by suggesting that the 61-year-old Chilean might be interested in taking over from Rafael Benitez at Napoli. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini wants to extend his contract at the club . Pep Guardiola (left), Diego Simeone (centre) and Carlo Ancelotti have all been touted as potential successors . But the City boss insists that he will see out his three-year contract that expires in 15 months’ time and would like to stay even longer. ‘My future is very easy,’ said Pellegrini. ‘I have contract here until June 2016 and I will stay here. If I can extend it I will. When I sign a contract I always try to finish it. ‘If you’re not happy then maybe you try and finish your contract before but I’m very happy here.’ Asked about the prospect of finishing the season empty-handed, Pellegrini added: ‘The analysis of me is not just about one title, but you never know what can happen in the future.’ Pellegrini insisted that the spirit in the City dressing-room remains strong despite reports of a half-time bust-up between captain Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho during the defeat to Liverpool earlier this month. Vincent Kompany reportedly had a half-time bust up with team-mate Fernandinho earlier this month . Fernandinho and Kompany reportedly had a disagreement during the defeat at Liverpool in the Premier League . Captain Kompany was dropped to the bench for Manchester City's victory over Leicester Cty . Kompany was dropped to the bench for last week’s win at home to Leicester and Fernandinho was left out altogether, but Pellegrini confirmed that his skipper is in the squad for Saturday’s trip to Burnley. ‘There isn’t any problem in the dressing-room,’ he said. ‘That happened a lot of days ago. It is normal that in one game that they can a discussion between two players but it was not important for the team. Inside the dressing-room, we don’t have any problems. ‘There was a normal scene, nothing important. I don’t talk about things that were not important and things that happened 20 days ago. If it happened yesterday, maybe I can tell you some things. But 20 days ago, it doesn’t matter. The squad is absolutely together.’ +Cristiano Ronaldo has gone almost a year without scoring a free-kick in La Liga despite being Real Madrid’s designated taker, and supporters are now asking if the ball shouldn’t be taken off the Portuguese and given to Gareth Bale. The 30-year-old last hit the back of the net from a set-piece in the Spanish league on March 26 last year against Sevilla. His last goal from a free-kick in any competition came in the Champions League last April against Bayern Munich. He has now failed to score a single goal with any of his last 51 free-kicks. Cristiano Ronaldo has gone almost a year without scoring a free-kick in La Liga . Ronaldo deploys his trademark technique as he attempts a free-kick against Villarreal last Sunday . Ronaldo and team-mate Gareth Bale (left) line up a free-kick against Getafe in January . In any straw poll of best set-piece deliverers Ronaldo would be top of many people’s lists but the statistics tell a completely different story, and while his figures are poor Bale’s are far more impressive. Ronaldo has sent 21 of his efforts straight into the wall and placed 14 high or wide of the target; while keepers or posts and crossbars have done for the rest. Gareth Bale has only scored once this season but it is Real’s only goal scored from a free-kick. And although Bale insisted recently on Spanish radio that he tends to take the kicks that favour a left-footer and Ronaldo those that favour a right foot, more often than not it is the Portuguese who takes precedence. When Bale scored from a free-kick against Espanyol in January the strike-rates of Europe’s set-piece specialists were published by Spanish football statistician Mister Chip and they made tough reading for Ronaldo. Ronaldo's last goal from a free-kick came in last season's Champions League against AC Milan in April . Bale fires a free-kick over the Atletico Madrid wall during a La Liga clash at the Bernabeu . Midfielder Toni Kroos could also take over free-kick duties for Real Madrid from Ronaldo . Bale scores a free-kick every 9.5 attempts while Ronaldo's ratio is one every 15.6 attempts. Bale also came out ahead of Andrea Pirlo who scores one every 10.5 attempts and Leo Messi who scores every 14 times he takes a free-kick. Madrid have various options from a dead ball with Toni Kroos and Isco both ready to step in. They also have James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos on their way back from injury to put more pressure on Ronaldo, and with Martin Odegaard being tipped to play some part in Real’s Champions League second leg with Schalke on Tuesday there is even a 16-year-old pretender to the crown. +Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets was carried off on a stretcher against Villarreal on Wednesday night and the club face a nervous wait to see if the injury will rule him out of the second-leg Champions League game with Manchester City in two weeks time. Villarreal midfielder Tomas Pina was not booked for the challenge on the Spain international but was sent off in the second half for an even worse challenge on Neymar who also had his ankles wrapped in the Copa del Rey semi-final. Barcelona's Sergio Busquets lies on the ground injured after a challenge from Tomas Pina . Busquets leaves the pitch on a stretcher after the challenge from Pina . TV replays show how Pina makes contact with Busquets' ankle . Busquets is challenged for the ball by Villarreal's midfielder Tomas Pina . Busquets was caught at the end of the first half when Pina followed through on a pass and went straight through Busquets right ankle. Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said after the game: 'There is no damage to the bone but the ligaments are affected so it could be a slow recovery'. He is almost certainly out of Sunday’s clash with Rayo Vallecano. Barca play Eibar the following weekend before facing Manchester City on Wednesday 18. +It was staggering that Louis van Gaal did not turn to Radamel Falcao as Manchester United were trailing 2-1 against Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final. The poor lad must be thinking: What am I doing here? I know he is not the player United thought they were getting, but isn’t it down to the manager to get the best out of him? Radamel Falcao (second right) was an unused substitute during Manchester United's defeat to Arsenal . Michael Carrick (right) was brought on at half-time but Colombia forward Falcao was left unused . Goalscorers change games but instead they chased the match with Daley Blind and Michael Carrick, two sitting midfielders, on the pitch. Surely it would have been better to show greater intent by throwing on Falcao? United never threatened Arsenal once Danny Welbeck put them ahead and it is Arsene Wenger's side who have progressed to the semi-final at Wembley. +Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 30th league goal of the season but couldn’t prevent Real Madrid dropping two points in a 1-1 draw with Villarreal. He is now only one goal from his tally for last season with 12 games left and has become the first striker to score 30 goals a season for the fifth consecutive campaign in one of Europe’s top leagues but he left the pitch annoyed at Real’s failure to pull away from Barcelona at the top of La Liga. They are now just two points clear of their rivals with a trip to the Camp Nou later this month still to come. Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema after putting Real Madrid 1-0 up from the penalty spot . Ronaldo, who won the penalty himself, looked to have put the hosts in control when he sent Sergio Asenjo the wrong way from the spot . Gerard Moreno celebrates after scoring the equaliser that Villarreal's quality and endeavour deserved, and his side held on for a point . Dani Carvajal makes a stunning goal-line block with his head, diving behind Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas to keep the score at 0-0 . Real Madrid: Casillas, Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo, Bale, Kroos, Silva (Jese 72 mins), Isco (Illarramendi 78), Benzema *(Hernandez 81), Ronaldo . Subs not used: Navas, Coentrao, Nacho, Arbeloa. Booked: Carvajal, Pepe . Goal: Ronaldo (pen) Villarreal: Asenjo, Mario, Bailly, Dorado, Costa, Pina (Trigueros 61), Sergio Marcos, Moi Gomez, Campbell, Gerard, Giovani (Vietto 62). Subs not used: Juan Carlos, Musacchio, Víctor Ruíz, dos Santos, Uche . Booked: Bailly, Moi Gomez, Asenjo, Trigueros, Costa . Goal: Gerard . Joel Campbell was in the starting line-up for Villarreal after coach Marcelino made wholesale changes just three days ahead of his team’s second leg cup semi-final against Barcelona. The Arsenal loanee was bundled over by Pepe in one of Villarreal’s first attacks and from the free-kick the visitors won a corner which led to their first clear cut chance. It fell to Gerard Moreno but with only Iker Casillas to beat he shot straight at Spain keeper. When the rebound ran to Moi Gomez his effort was dived-headed to safety by Dani Carvajal. The keeper congratulated the full-back – both had saved certain goals. Bale was seeing plenty of the ball down the Madrid right although he was at times handicapped by his preference for crossing with his left. He should have been awarded a penalty when Jaume Costa grabbed his arm at a corner and stopped him taking off to connect with Kroos’ kick. It was a spot-kick but the referee waved away the Welshman’s appeal. From another Kroos corner on the half hour Bale this time jumped unimpeded and headed just wide. Varane came even closer shaving the post from another corner kick as Real pushed for the opening goal. As the half went on Real took more and more risks with Marcelo flying forward and throwing himself at an Isco pass but failing to connect effectively. Bale then hit the top of Sergio Asenjo’s bar with a cross-shot from the right and Ronaldo blasted a free-kick over from 35-yards. Ronaldo fights for the ball with Sergio Marcos as Real found Villarreal difficult to break down at the Bernabeu on Sunday night . Benzema gets up above Villarreal defensive pair Chechu Dorado and Ericn Bailly but he couldn't direct his header past Asenjo . Ronaldo apologies to Marcelo after failing to play the Brazilian in when well-placed during a frustrating night for the European champions . Villarreal had defended well and for the first time in the league since August Real Madrid went down the tunnel at half-time with the score at 0-0. The Bernabeu crowd had not helped with the usual nervous whistles for Bale when one of his passes went astray. He had shown more than most for the home side and in the second half his pass to Ronaldo brought about the opening goal. As the ball was played in Eric Bailey tried to take the Portuguese for a dance grabbing him around the waist and and spinning him around. The referee pointed to the spot and Ronaldo stepped up to score goal number 30 in the league this season. He could have got his second moments later from another Bale assist but this time Asenjo blocked the effort and took an accidental Ronaldo knee to his face in the process. Ronaldo then returned the favour to Bale but the he pulled his shot high and wide. Real Madrid now looked in complete control having broken Villarreal’s dogged resistance but they were in for a shock. With a sweeping eight-pass move from one end of the pitch to the other Villarreal went from keeper Asenjo to striker Moreno who leveled the scores. He played a one-two on the edge of the Real Madrid area with substitute Luciano Vietto and shot past Iker Casillas to silence the Bernabeu. Tomas Pina keeps a close eye on the World Player of the Year, who was not at his best against the Yellow Submarine . Ronaldo probes at the Villarreal defence, but he and his expensively assembled team-mates struggled to find a way through . Gareth Bale failed to have much of an impact, with the exception of one cross which looped up onto the crossbar late in the first half . Toni Kroos expresses his frustration as Real Madrid missed the chance to extend their lead over Barcelona to four points . Real Madrid were almost back in front from their next attack but when Ronaldo ran on to Isco’s pass and shot goalwards Asenjo blocked the effort. Bale then crossed from the right and Ronaldo rose highest in the area but against Asenjo made the save brilliantly tipping the ball over his bar. Carlo Ancelotti risked the wrath of the Bernabeu by taking off fans favourite Isco to put on Asier Illaramendi and he even threw on Javier Hernandez for Karim Benzema but Chicharito failed to make a difference going down dramatically in the area but not convincing the referee to point to the spot. Vietto fell over when clean through with only Casillas to beat and he then saw the Spain keeper brilliantly turn away his diving header. For Real Jese shot wide with the goal gaping after Asenjo dropped the ball but a point was the very least Villarreal deserved. Juame Costa goes to ground in an attempt to stop Gareth Bale getting past him, but the Welshman got the better of the defender . Bale gets up above three defenders, but for all their chances Real were unable to find a crucial winning goal . +Ahead of Wednesday's night's Champions League last-16 second leg clash between Chelsea and PSG, Sportsmail provides you with all you need to know including team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Chelsea vs PSG (Stamford Bridge) (1-1 agg) Kick-off: Wednesday 7:45pm (Sky Sports 5) Odds (subject to change) Chelsea 11/10 . PSG 11/4 . Draw 23/10 . Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands) Managers: Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Laurent Blanc (PSG) Head-to-head record: Chelsea W2 D2 L1 vs PSG in the CL . Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho speaks to the media during a pre-match press conference on Tuesday . PSG manager Laurent Blanc talks to his players during a training session at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday . Team news . Nemanja Matic is available for the Champions League clash after serving a two-match suspension. The midfielder is poised for an immediate return after missing the Capital One Cup final defeat of Tottenham and Premier League win at West Ham for his sending off against Burnley. John Obi Mikel (knee) is the only definite Chelsea injury absentee for the contest, while PSG are missing Serge Aurier with a thigh problem and Lucas with a groin. Chelsea provisional squad: Courtois, Cech, Ivanovic, Luis, Fabregas, Zouma, Ake, Ramires, Oscar, Hazard, Drogba, Remy, Costa, Matic, Willian, Cuadrado, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Blackman, Loftus-Cheek. PSG provisional squad: Bahebeck, Cabaye, Camara, Cavani, Digne, Douchez, Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi, Luiz, Maignan, Marquinhos, Matuidi, Maxwell, Motta, Pastore, Rabiot, Silva, Sirigu, Van Der Wiel, Verratti . Nemanja Matic (left) puts in a challenge on William during Chelsea training at Cobham on Tuesday . Key match stats (supplied by Opta) Chelsea are one of three teams still unbeaten in this season’s Champions League, alongside Porto and Real Madrid. Chelsea are unbeaten at home against French opposition, all encounters taking place in the Champions League (W4 D2). They have kept five clean sheets in those six games. Fernando Morientes is the last player to score for a French club at Stamford Bridge, it was in the 2003/04 semi-final between Chelsea and Monaco. Chelsea have scored in each of their last 18 Champions League home games. The last time they failed to find the net at Stamford Bridge was in April 2011 against Manchester Utd. 50% of Chelsea’s goals in the Champions League this season have come from set-pieces (9 out of 18), the highest ratio among the 16 teams left in the competition. Chelsea only had two shots in the first leg against Paris SG. Their second and last attempt was Branislav Ivanovic’s goal in the 36th minute. Branislav Ivanovic (centre) heads the ball towards goal to put Chelsea 1-0 in front at the Parc des Princes . Paris SG have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third consecutive season, their best ever run. They were knocked out in the quarter finals in the last two campaigns. Paris SG have only lost one of their last nine Champions League knockout games (W4 D4), it was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in April 2014 (0-2). Paris SG have never scored an away goal against an English side in European competition (5 games). Edinson Cavani has scored six goals in seven Champions League games this season, his most prolific campaign in the competition. Five of his six games in the knockout stages of the Champions League have been against Chelsea (with Napoli and PSG) – he was knocked out both times previously. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored seven goals in 34 Champions League knockout games (one every 4.9 games) as opposed to 36 in 73 games in the group stages (one every 2 games). Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) stretches as he warms up during a training session in London . Didier Drogba has scored five goals in seven competitive games against Paris SG (with Guingamp, Marseille and Chelsea). Eden Hazard has been fouled 28 times, more than any other player in the Champions League this season. Nine of those came in the first-leg against Paris SG, a record in a CL game this season. José Mourinho has only lost one of his 16 Champions League games against French clubs (W11 D4). It was at the Parc des Princes against Paris SG last season (1-3). Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Not content to bring back Darrelle Revis, the New York Jets have re-signed Antonio Cromartie too. The pair played together for the Jets from 2010-12 and after his return to Gang Green after winning the Super Bowl with New England, Revis announced he would reach out to recruit 30-year-old Cromartie. 'I’m going to get in contact with him very soon here,' he said, 'and try to convince him to hopefully come back and join our Batman-and-Robin tandem we had a couple of years ago,' Revis said. Cromartie obviously liked what he heard and re-joins on a four-year, $32million contract. He expressed his delight on Twitter, saying: 'Something like a dynamic duo.. Happy to shutdown QB's with my bro @revis24 again!' Antonio Cromartie breaks up a pass broken aimed for Denver Broncos' wide receiver Andre Caldwell . As Todd Bowles begins to put his stamp on the franchise, Cromartie is the third cornerback to join after Revis and Buster Skrine, who signed from the Cleveland Browns. The secondary is a key area for improvement after the Jets allowed an AFC-high 31 touchdown passes. They are said to be interested in Marcus Gilchrist, who is now a free agent after four years with the San Diego Chargers, ESPN report. Bowles, who was defensive co-ordinator, and Cromartie worked together in Arizona for a season as the Cardinals reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009. +For a man who had just made it to the Champions League quarter-finals and broken the record for goals scored in European competition, Cristiano Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure as he left the pitch shaking his head on Tuesday. The mood of the world's best player hadn't changed when he emerged from the home-team dressing room and told waiting television crews that he would not be talking again publicly until the end of the season. The significance of 'the end of the season' is that by then we will know just how much a campaign that promised so much for Real Madrid has delivered. Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring, but he couldn't prevent his side slumping to a 4-3 defeat . Ronaldo vowed he would not talk publicly again this season after the defeat by Schalke on Tuesday . Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo watches on with his hands on his hips as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar celebrates . Much more will also be known about the futures of Ronaldo - Real Madrid's top scorer — and also his team-mate Gareth Bale and his coach Carlo Ancelotti. Supporters at the Bernabeu turned on Ancelotti even before Real's 4-3 defeat by Schalke had started, with the manager's name jeered as it was announced before kick-off. Bale was whistled at in the second half while goalkeeper Iker Casillas also bore the brunt of the discontent, more justifiably because he could have done more about Schalke's first two goals. When Casillas, as captain, summoned his team-mates into the centre-circle at the final whistle they went reluctant — Ronaldo more than most — but were met with more resounding boos and a show of white handkerchief protest. Casillas has said he wants to stay until he is 40 but Real want Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, and every day that passes without him signing a new deal at Old Trafford leads them to believe they still have a chance. Some Real Madrid fans waved a white handkerchief after the final whistle on Tuesday night . Iker Casillas has been below his best for some time, but replacing him is not as simple as it sounds . Casillas called on his team-mates to acknowledge the home supporters following the surprise defeat . Casillas pulls midfielder Isco toward the centre circle to applaud the fans . United will be watching the potential unravelling of Real's season closely. The campaign could still end gloriously if important injured players like Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez and the fit-again Luka Modric return to their best ahead of the Champions League latter rounds. But what if things don't end well? United have made little secret of wanting Bale at the end of this campaign. He is happy in Spain but how many times can a player have his first mistake verbally chastised by his own fans before he starts to wonder if he might not be better off elsewhere? The former Tottenham star is not a particularly social animal and has not put down any great emotional roots in the city. United must be encouraged by the fact that despite him winning four trophies in his first year at the club, supporters are doing nothing to cultivate a lasting bond. Gareth Bale was subjected to boos from Real Madrid fans as they were beaten at home by Schalke . Bale has not scored for the Champions League winners in his last nine appearances . The former Tottenham player endured another night to forget as Real were beaten but crept through . United have also considered the impact that recapturing Ronaldo would create. And they were interested in Ancelotti before they turned to Louis van Gaal to replace David Moyes. The Italian stayed at Madrid and won his third Champions League but he is now drawn to the idea of an English return and the wheels have been set in motion to push his profile in England – not that anyone needs reminding how well he did at Chelsea. No-one at Madrid is suggesting Ronaldo, Bale and Ancelotti all park up at Old Trafford this summer with De Gea moving the other way but there is a sense that there will be an overhaul at the end of the season and with instability prevailing it might not just be squad players such as Alvaro Arbeloa, Fabio Coentrao, Asier Illaramendi and Sami Khedira who leave. At any club such rumblings would be dismissed as ridiculous but the knee-jerk short-termism at Madrid is nothing new. Carlo Ancelotti, pictured hugging Roberto Di Matteo, is under growing pressure at the Bernabeu . Ancelotti's future at Real is the subject of discussion despite delivering the club their 10th European Cup . Ancelotti looks to the skies as his side sneak into the last eight of the Champions League . An online poll asking which striker should be dropped from the 'BBC' front three of Benzema, Bale and Cristiano (the one that was 'the best in the world' just three months ago) was carried out this week by Diario AS. Bale registered 40 per cent and Ronaldo 33 per cent. Ancelotti sticks up for both but no one sticks up for him. As he said earlier this week: 'When we win it's got nothing to do with me, when we lose it's my fault.' Post match on Tuesday he was even asked if: 'Knowing the business as he does, would he be surprised if he was sacked after defeat to Schalke?' He has them in the last eight of the Champions League in spite of an injury crisis; Ronaldo has already scored as many goals this season as last; and Real are only a win in next week's Clasico away from returning to the top of the league but you would never know it from the faces of those who were winning the European Cup just 10 months ago. +After carrying the Dallas Cowboys into the playoffs, DeMarco Murray will stay in the NFC East. But he will be suiting up in Philadelphia as a vital cog in Chip Kelly's offense. The NFL's Offensive Player of the Year is set to sign a five-year deal worth more than $40million, with more than $20m guaranteed, according to NFL.com's Albert Breer. Murray became the NFL's leading rusher thanks to a career-high number of carries (392) and working behind one of the best offensive lines in football. DeMarco Murray is set to join the Philadelphia Eagles after four seasons with the Cowboys . In a career-high year, Murray carried the Cowboys into the playoffs for the first time in five years . With rumours that veteran Evan Mathis is to be traded, the Eagles do have the youth or consistency in that position group. The 27-year-old had a career-high season with 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns, but Dallas let him enter the free agent market. And it was Murray who initiated the meeting with the Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, ESPN report. Kiko Alonso (LB, from Buffalo) Byron Maxwell (CB, from Seattle) Walter Thurmond (CB, from New York Giants) Sam Bradford (QB, from St Louis) DeMarco Murray (RB, from Dallas) Ryan Mathews (RB, from San Diego) Expressing a desire to play in Kelly's fast-paced, spread offense, he spoke of his friendship with Sam Bradford, with whom he played at college in Oklahoma for two years. After joining from St Louis in the remarkable trade with Nick Foles, Bradford confirmed he played a part too. 'Absolutely. I've been trying my hardest,' Bradford said. 'I've called him. I've texted him. I've done everything. We've been in communication. If we can somehow land him, it would be a great pickup. Not only is he a great player, he's a great person. He's a really close friend of mine, too. I think he can really help this ball club.' The Eagles, who have had an eventful free agency, also announced the signing of fellow running back Ryan Mathews. The former San Diego Charger joins on a three-year, $11.5m contract, with a guaranteed $5m. With Darren Sproles already in situ, it gives Kelly a loaded backfield and the ability to use multiple backs. +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Manchester United's home clash with Tottenham. Manchester United vs Tottenham (Old Trafford) Team news . Manchester United . Midfielder Angel di Maria and defender Jonny Evans are suspended for Manchester United's game against Tottenham on Sunday. Striker Robin van Persie is still out with an ankle problem, but midfielder Ashley Young has overcome the leg injury he suffered in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal on Monday. Centre back Marcos Rojo is doubtful because of a groin problem. Provisional squad: De Gea, Lindegaard, Valdes, Shaw, Blackett, Rojo, Smalling, Jones, McNair, Rafael, Pereira, Young, Blind, Fellaini, Herrera, Valencia, Januzaj, Mata, Falcao, Rooney, Wilson. De Gea, Lindegaard, Valdes, Shaw, Blackett, Rojo, Smalling, Jones, McNair, Rafael, Pereira, Young, Blind, Fellaini, Herrera, Valencia, Januzaj, Mata, Falcao, Rooney, Wilson. Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo could miss his his side's match against Tottenham . Tottenham . Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has a fully-fit squad to choose from for Sunday's trip to Manchester United. With only league fixtures remaining, Pochettino has been able to give his squad a two-day break in the lead up to the game at Old Trafford. Emmanuel Adebayor, Younes Kaboul and Etienne Capoue will be hoping to be included in some capacity having not been involved in a matchday squad since January. Provisional squad: Lloris, Vorm, Friedel, Walker, Rose, Davies, Chiriches, Kaboul, Fazio, Dier, Vertonghen, Bentaleb, Mason, Capoue, Paulinho, Stambouli, Dembele, Lamela, Townsend, Eriksen, Chadli, Soldado, Adebayor, Kane. Harry Kane will lead the line for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester United at Old Trafford . Key match facts (supplied by Opta) Following a run of 17 wins and no defeats in 22 Barclays Premier League matches against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United have won none of the last five meetings (D3 L2). Kick-off: Sunday (4pm) Odds (subject to change): . Manchester United 10/11 . Draw 5/2 . Tottenham 3/1 . Referee: Mark Clattenburg . Managers: Louis van Gaal (Manchester United), Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham) Spurs are only the third team in the Premier League era to go five league games unbeaten against the Red Devils, after Liverpool (2000-2002) and Blackburn Rovers (2004-2006). Similarly, after 26 games without defeat at home to Spurs in all competitions, having won the previous nine in a row, Man Utd have lost their last two home games against Tottenham. Spurs have kept just one clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League away matches. Wayne Rooney has scored seven goals in his last eight Premier League starts against Spurs. Harry Kane has scored in his last six Premier League away games; only one player in the competition’s history (Robin van Persie, nine in a row) has scored in seven consecutive away games. Wayne Rooney has scored seven goals in his last eight Premier League starts against Spurs . Football data analysts BSports believe a Manchester United home win is easily the most likely outcome . Rooney has scored 94 goals at Old Trafford, only Alan Shearer with 97 at St James Park (two for Blackburn) and Thierry Henry with 114 at Highbury have scored more goals on one single ground in Premier League history. The Red Devils have won 11 of their last 13 Premier League matches at Old Trafford (D1 L1). Manchester United have lost just two of their last 18 Premier League matches (W12 D4 L2). Tottenham have recovered more points from losing positions than any other team in the Premier League this season (16). +After winning the Super Bowl, Darrelle Revis is heading back to the New York Jets. Two years after his acrimonious departure to Tampa Bay, the shutdown corner again showed his mastery of free agency, signing a vast five-year, $70million deal. With $39m guaranteed, Revis will pocket $16m-a-season in the first three years, NFL insider Ian Raport reports. At 29, the six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro is among a number of new additions as the Jets look to break their four-year spell without a play-off place. Darrelle Revis defends Jeremy Kerley in the Patriot's narrow 17-16 win over the Jets in December . Revis lasted a year with the Buccaneers after penning a six-year, $96m deal with no guaranteed money. The Patriots moved swiftly following his release last year, with the parties agreeing on a $32m two-year deal. Owner Robert Kraft declined to take up the $20m second-year option, opting to re-sign safety Devin McCourty on big money instead. The deal appears a questionable one for the Super Bowl-winning Patriots. Revis and the recently released Brandon Browner gave them a secondary that was the envy of the AFC. But they lose a locker room leader to an AFC East rival and Bill Belichick has to rebuild his secondary once more. With $50m cap space, it has already been a busy free agency for Gang Green and new head coach Todd Bowles. Alongside the marquee signing of Brandon Marshall, cornerback Buster Skrine joined from Cleveland, guard James Carpenter comes in from Seattle and linebacker David Harris was re-signed. +Marshawn Lynch will remain with the Seattle Seahawks. The enigmatic running back had apparently pondered retirement, but he penned a new two-year, $24million extension to keep him in the NFL until 2017. Lynch travelled to Seattle to meet owner Paul Allen and Seahawks top brass and put pen to paper, according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport. Marshawn Lynch has signed a new two-year deal which will keep him in Seattle until 2017 . Lynch propelled Seattle to within a yard of back-to-back Super Bowl titles, but the Seahawks were thwarted . The 28-year-old has rushed for over 1,200 yards for each of the past four seasons. Since joining Seattle from Buffalo in 2010, no running back has rushed for more touchdowns than Lynch, with 54. If Russell Wilson is the face of the franchise, 'Beast Mode' is its heart and soul. After helping Seattle to their first Vince Lombardi trophy in 2014, Lynch played through the pain of a compressed cartilage in his back and carried the Seahawks to within a yard of retaining their title. Lynch gave a lengthy interview to Turkish TV station NTV Spor last week about the final play of Super Bowl XLIX. 'To be honest with you, I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I was expecting the ball. Yes, I was expecting the ball. 'But in life, these things happen. Like I told a reporter after the game, it's a team sport.' The Seahawks also announced they have terminated the contract of tight end Zach Miller. +Reggie Wayne's 14-year career with the Indianapolis Colts is over. The 36-year-old six time Pro Bowler is second in franchise history in receptions (1,070), receiving yards (14,345), touchdown catches (80) and 100-yard games (43). He was a cornerstone of the Colts' Super Bowl victory over the Chicago Bears, hauling in a 53-yard touchdown pass to open their scoring in Miami. Wayne did not miss a game from 2003-2012, but his career stalled after an ACL injury in 2013 and an elbow injury the following year. Reggie Wayne joined the Colts in 2001 as a first round draft pick and won the Super Bowl in 2007 . Wayne remains one of the Colts' most popular players with fans celebrating their hero in 2011 . 'Reggie is one of the greatest men to ever wear the horseshoe, and we have been blessed to watch him play for the past 14 years,' Colts owner Jim Irsay said in a statement. 'When he first took the field with us in 2001, we knew this day would eventually arrive. That reality is one of the things that makes pro football such a tough business.' He remains the league's active leader in receptions and receiving yards, and third in touchdowns. +A Watford supporter is in a critical condition after being attacked in the street following Saturday's match at Wolves. West Midlands Police said the 44-year-old travelling fan was on his way from Molineux to Wolverhampton train station when he was assaulted and suffered a serious head injury. The incident followed a 2-2 draw between the teams in the Sky Bet Championship. Wolves have expressed their 'disgust' and along with Watford have expressed concern for the injured man. Jez Moxey, the Wolves chief executive, has condemned the news of the Watford fan being attacked . Troy Deeney (left) stretches out top convert the equaliser for Watford who took a point in a 2-2 draw . Deeney celebrates as his goal prevented rivals Wolves from taking all three points in the promotion race . In a statement released on Sunday, West Midlands Police said: 'Detectives have launched an investigation after a Hertfordshire man received life-threatening injuries in an unprovoked assault in Wolverhampton yesterday. 'The 44-year-old was with a group of friends making their way to the train station to return home to Hemel Hempstead just after 5pm when they were attacked in Littles Lane.' Detective Sergeant Adam Keen said: 'The group of friends were completely outnumbered and the victim suffered a severe head injury which has left him in a critical condition in hospital. 'His family have been informed and we are in the process of taking statements from witnesses and locating any CCTV which might have captured those responsible for the attack. 'I would urge anyone with information which will help our investigation to contact me as soon as possible on 101.' Police also urged anyone wishing to offer information anonymously to call the Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555 111. Watford expressed shock over the incident, saying on the club's website: 'The thoughts of everyone associated with Watford FC are with a Hornets' supporter - at yesterday's game - who is now critically ill after an unprovoked post-match attack.' Kevin McDonald (left) of Wolves shields the ball away from Gianni Munari (right) of Watford . Jake Price (left) of Wolves plays a pass as Watford midfield player Ben Watson attempts to close him down . Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of this incident and our thoughts go out to the supporter concerned and his family. 'As a club we deplore any violence in or around football matches, and we will work closely with the relevant authorities to help bring the perpetrator, or perpetrators, to justice. 'All right-minded football supporters will share in our disgust at this violent incident, and I would implore anyone with any information to contact the police.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +After 11 years with the Arizona Cardinals, veteran defensive end Darnell Dockett will remain in the NFC West after signing a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. Coming off an ACL tear which ruled him out for the entire 2014 season, the exuberant 33-year-old has vowed to become the Comeback Player of the Year. The deal, worth $7.5million, will see $4m paid in the first season and $2m guaranteed, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Darnell Dockett missed the entire 2014 season after suffering an ACL injury in training camp . He leaves the Cardinals after posting 459 tackles, 40.5 sacks, 12 fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles and four interceptions. Dockett joins new head coach Jim Tomsula and a 49ers defense which could be without 15-year veteran Justin Smith, who is considering retirement. +FIFA president Sepp Blatter has told Qatar 'more must be done' to improve working conditions in the country as it prepares to stage the 2022 World Cup. Blatter visited Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who has previously acknowledged setbacks in development work that according to the International Trade Union Confederation has already cost 1,000 migrant worker lives. The Emir said last year that new legal frameworks have been introduced to improve the situation on the ground. Sepp Blatter says Qatar must do more for workers as they build ahead of the 2022 World Cup . Blatter said he wanted to meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in person before next week's meeting . Ahead of the FIFA executive committee meeting in Zurich on Thursday and Friday, when dates for the 2022 tournament are expected to be determined, Blatter urged Qatar to ensure all workers are guaranteed 'fair' conditions. Blatter said: 'It was important for me to have an opportunity to get the latest information directly from the highest political authority, ahead of the executive committee meeting next week. 'It is encouraging to hear the Emir's personal commitment to workers' welfare and to get a sense of the improvements planned for all workers in Qatar. The decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, which has questionable labour laws, has been controversial . 'As various human-rights groups have recently noted, progress has been made already, especially with regard to the standards introduced by the supreme committee relating to 2022 construction sites, but more must be done in Qatar to ensure uniformly fair working conditions for all. 'This will only be possible through the collective effort of all stakeholders - from the construction companies to the authorities. It is clear that Qatar takes its responsibility as host seriously and sees the FIFA World Cup as a catalyst for positive social change.' +Andre Johnson and college team-mate Frank Gore moved to Indianapolis to win a Super Bowl. After being released by the Texans, the 33-year-old wide receiver was left to ponder his next move. But both he and Gore - who left the 49ers - were settled on the same landing spot. 'After I got released by the Texans, Frank called me,' Johnson told NBC Sports. 'He called me right after it happened and was just like, "What are you gonna do?" I’m like, "Frank, I don’t know. I just got released. I don’t know." 'I asked, him "Who do you think has the best chance to win a Super Bowl?" And he was like, "Indy." And I was like, "That’s my same choice too so let’s do it, let’s go for it." And they were able to get both of us here.' Andre Johnson leaves the Texans after 12 seasons with the franchise and has his sights set on a Super Bowl . The rampaging Frank Gore gives Indianapolis a bulldozing, reliable running back . According to ESPN, Johnson's deal is worth $21million over three years. Drafted third overall in 2003, Johnson goes down as the greatest player in the expansion franchise's history. He caught 1,012 passes on 1,599 targets for 13,597 yards and averages 6.0 receptions per game, an NFL record. And for the first time in his career, the seven-time Pro Bowler has the chance to play with a quarterback of elite quality in Andrew Luck. 'That was a very big part of it, wanting to be in a place with a stable quarterback,' he said. 'Andrew is arguably the best quarterback in the game.' After reaching the AFC Championship last time out, the addition of former Miami Hurricanes team-mate Gore gives Indianapolis the chance to bookend the Trent Richardson experiment. At 31, Gore is past his prime, but adds a bulldozing element to the backfield after signing a three-year, $12m deal. +Jackie McNamara last night backed the decision to let Virgil van Dijk play in Sunday’s League Cup final – but took a swipe at Celtic’s willingness to question the disciplinary system while matters were still pending. Van Dijk will face United at Hampden after his red card was quashed – with Calum Butcher, the man the Dutch defender tangled with on the Tannadice turf – already cleared to play due to being the beneficiary of mistaken identity by linesman Graham Chambers. But while the United boss welcomed the fact that - with the exception of Nadir Ciftci - neither of the two finalists will be hindered by suspensions, he believes Celtic’s readiness to question the loophole that got Butcher off the hook was inappropriate. Virgil van Dijk was sent off in the first half of the Scottish Cup draw with Dundee United . ‘If you ask me, I would prefer that all the guys were playing – Nadir as well even though he picked up two yellows,’ McNamara said. ‘You want all of your best players to be playing in Cup Finals - you don’t want anyone to miss out. ‘I can understand the decisions. The two of them – Butcher and van Dijk were in a melee at that point but due to the loophole or rules, whether it’s right or wrong, that’s just the way it is. ‘I don’t think the whole thing is right. But again, it’s outwith my control. The Celtic defender went in hard on opposing player Callum Butcher at Tannadice . ‘From our point of view, we have kept our silence and our focus on Sunday. ‘We haven’t mentioned anything about wanting anyone suspended or that this guy has done this or that. ‘We’re focused on our own team. The last thing I would want is for any of my players to speak out about the opposition and what-not when it’s been dealt with by the authorities. I’m pleased that they haven’t.’ The fall-out from the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tannadice has threatened to overshadow the build-up to the first showpiece occasion of the season. McNamara, for one, feels the myriad issues to come out of the spicy 1-1 draw on Tayside last weekend point towards the imminent introduction of video evidence. ‘I don’t think it would be a bad thing in certain instances. There’s got to be a real call for it,’ he added. ‘On Sunday, with the time it took them to make a decision, I think it would have been helpful. ‘But again, it’s affordability. Where do you draw the line in terms of games that are and aren’t on television? ‘The game has changed so much with the appeal system and tribunals. Video evidence … it seems to be going that way.’ Dundee United players appeal to the linesman after the clash in the Scottish Cup . Dundee United lost the Scottish Cup final to St Johnstone at the end of McNamara’s first season in charge. Rank outsiders to upset Ronny Deila’s Treble-seeking side this weekend, the former Celtic star believes it’s imperative that his side maintain their discipline if they are to stand a chance of lifting the League Cup trophy. ‘I think that’s key to it,’ he continued. ‘It’s Celtic again, but you play most teams four times a season anyway and you get to know everybody really well throughout the campaign. ‘It shouldn’t come into play at all what happened last Sunday. I’ll make sure that the players understand the importance of discipline. We have to be committed, we have to compete, but first and foremost we have got to make sure we keep our cool.’ The second of four back-to-back games between the clubs this month spanning the three domestic competitions, McNamara believes that Celtic’s superior depth in squad is another factor in Deila’s favour this Sunday. The Dutch defender will be able to play in the Scottish League Cup final after having his red card rescinded . ‘You could argue that (it’s easier for them) as they have the biggest squad in the league,’ he added. ‘But that’s not changed from the start of the season. We just have to make sure everybody is ready. In certain games I have moved players around, I have maybe made five or six changes in a game as I need everybody ready. Not just for one game, but for a full season. Sometimes it’s not worked and sometimes it has.’ McNamara had revealed how he has changed his squad’s routine this week, consciously making it a different experience to the build-up to last season’s Scottish Cup final. Last year, the Tannadice squad were holed up in a plush St Andrews hotel for four nights whereas this week they have spent just one night there – with another overnight stay to come outside Edinburgh on Saturday. ‘We only went for one night this year – cost cutting!’ said McNamara with a smile. ‘The media day was our day for the players so we just decided to stay up after training and just settle them down. We wanted to make sure they were all relaxed and ready for Sunday. ‘There are certain things that we need to work on that I feel will help us if we want to win the match.’ United striker Nadir Ciftci (centre left) was also cleared for kicking Scott Brown (centre right) in the head . Asked if, with the benefit of hindsight, he regretted some aspects of last year’ s preparations for the Scottish Cup final, McNamara replied: ‘No because that’s what I did at the time. ‘I don’t look at anything like that, what-ifs. I’m a great believer that things happen for a reason. I’m just delighted that, within a year, we find ourselves in another cup final. ‘That says a lot about what we have at our club, what we have in the dressing room, the mentality that we’re trying to instil into them. It’s something that Celtic have, the belief that they can go and do it. ‘The games that we’ve struggled in this season have been when we haven’t handled the expectation. Against Celtic and Aberdeen, however, we have held our own. We’ve lost one, we’ ve won one with both teams. In other games, where we have been expected to win, we’ve fallen by the wayside. ‘That’s something we are building on. We’re getting closer, but we are still way apart on the consistency side of it. Last year, we won 16 league games. This year, we have won 14 already. So we’re getting there.’ +The Kansas City Chiefs failed to score a single touchdown from a wide receiver last year. But the signing of Jeremy Maclin from Philadelphia on a five-year, $55million deal.should change that. After a career-high season with 85 catches, 10 touchdowns and 1,318 yards, the 26-year-old strengthens one of the worst position groups in the NFL. Jeremy Maclin joins Chiefs after five active seasons - where he recorded at least 50 catches - in Philadelphia . The Pro Bowler played all 16 games after missing the entire 2013 season after suffering a torn ACL. Maclin will be re-acquainted with former Eagles head coach Andy Reid, who traded up to draft him 19th overall in 2009. For the Eagles, it is another big-name departure from their offense following the likes of LeSean McCoy and Nick Foles. +Byron Maxwell has swapped the Legion of Boom to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. Cornerback Maxwell is the first addition to one of the NFL’s worst pass defences, with the Super Bowl-winner departing Seattle despite a late bid by the Seahawks to retain him. ‘I'm going to Philly,’ the 27-year-old told ESPN. Byron Maxwell (right) is set to join the Philadelphia Eagles from Super Bowl runners up Seattle Seahawks . Frank Gore (right) is also to join the roster and will complete a move from San Francisco 49ers . Since taking over as starter from Brandon Browner in 2013, Maxwell was used as an outside corner and in nickel packages. He was frequently targeted instead of shutdown corner Richard Sherman and fared well, with two interceptions and 12 passes defenced last season. Rated as the top cornerback in NFL.com’s top 101 free agents, Maxwell strengthens a threadbare secondary after the release of Cary Williams and with Bradley Fletcher entering free agency. +David Moyes has threatened to find the dressing room mole at Real Sociedad and remove him from the club. The former Manchester United and Everton manager is upset that his selected 11 appeared in the media last weekend before his team’s Sunday lunchtime game against Valenica. In a press conference on Friday he said: ‘For some reason our team is in the newspapers [on the day of the game]. I don’t get the opposition team. I didn’t get Valencia’s team but the opposition get my team. I don’t think that’s right. Real Sociedad's starting XI was leaked to local media ahead of their match against Valencia . David Moyes promised to find the person responsible for the leak and remove them from the club . ‘It doesn’t seem correct to me that our rivals find about our team selection because of leaks.’ When asked if a story circulating in San Sebastian that he has warned the players that if he finds one of his team has been leaking the team to the press he will make sure they leave the club, he replied: ‘Yes, correct!’ Moyes made several changes when he arrived at the Basque club last November, reducing the number of public training sessions in the lead up to match days and limiting daily injury updates because he believes it helps inform rivals. Real Sociedad midfielder Sergio Canales battles during the 2-0 defeat by Valencia last weekend . Valencia manager Nuno Espirito Santo had the advantage of knowing Sociedad's team in advance . He also prefers not to announce the squad for games on the Friday before a match – something that has not gone down well with some local reporters. Real Sociedad face Espanyol on Saturday. Moyes said: ‘They have been in good form recently. But I hope we can use our good recent form at home.' In their last game at Anoeta Real Sociedad beat Sevilla 4-3 to solidify their position in mid-table. Valencia forward Pablo Piatti celebrates scoring the opening goal against Real Sociedad on March 1 . The former Everton and Manchester United manager during a training session in Spain late last year . +Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following his touchline tantrum and spat with Steve Bruce during Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Hull. The Black Cats boss was sent off by referee Mike Dean for kicking over a cooler box in protest at Jack Rodwell’s booking for diving before he clashed with his opposite number. Poyet, who has until 6pm on Monday to respond, sarcastically applauded in Bruce’s face and goaded him with a comment which the Hull manager later said was ‘not very pleasant’. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet (right) was involved in a touchline row with Hull City manager Steve Bruce . The two men argued after Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell was booked for simulation . Hull defender Alex Bruce has since attempted to play down the row between his father and Poyet . Bruce (left) had to be held back by the linesman as the row between the pair escalated . Coaching staff from both teams had to help separate the two managers . Bruce was only kept from getting to Poyet by the intervention of assistant referee Stuart Burt. But now the Uruguayan looks set to be hit with a touchline ban following the FA charge. Sunderland have also been fined £25,000 after six of their players were booked, including Lee Cattermole who picked up a two-game ban following his 10th yellow of the season. Poyet refused to apologise for his behaviour on Tuesday, and said: ‘Kicking a bottle of water is nothing serious. ‘I was not happy with Paul McShane (Hull defender) dancing like he was in the theatre, or like he’d been shot, and won a free-kick before that. ‘Jack then dived and got a free-kick against him, I just want fairness. The Uruguayan was sent to the stands by referee Mike Dean after his row with Bruce . Poyet celebrates Rodwell's equalising goal from the stands at the KC Stadium . ‘I have no regrets whatsoever. I now have to convince the officials not to put buckets of drinks around me.’ Bruce, has been reminded of his responsibilities. An FA statement read: 'Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has been charged by the FA following the game against Hull City on 3 March 2015. 'It is alleged that his behaviour in the 35th minute of the fixture amounted to improper conduct. 'He has until 6pm on 9 March 2015 to respond to the charge. 'Meanwhile, Hull manager Steve Bruce has been contacted by the FA in relation to the same incident and formally reminded of his responsibilities.' +The NFL’s free agency began and blurred the boundaries between fantasy football and reality with a breathtaking first five minutes. Jimmy Graham is now a Seahawk. Haloti Ngata left the Ravens for Detroit and Nick Foles heads to the Rams with Sam Bradford heading the other way. Seattle gave up a first-round and a fourth-round pick from this year’s draft - and center Max Unger - to give Russell Wilson a red zone target in the shape of 28-year-old Graham. Jimmy Graham (right) has joined the Seattle Seahawks following four years at the New Orleans Saints . Max Unger moved in the opposite direction to complete a switch to the New Orleans Saints . With 4,752 receiving yards and 51 touchdowns since entering the NFL in 2010, Graham’s move is an admission by New Orleans that they mismanaged their cap. Meanwhile, Seattle welcome a player to their ranks once called ‘soft’ and ‘the most overrated player in the NFL’ by defensive end Michael Bennett. Ngata's move possibly signals the introduction of a 3-4 in the wake of Ndamokung Suh’s imminent departure to Miami. The Ravens reckoned that the nose tackle was too expensive going into the final year of his current deal. Detroit gain a 31-year-old run-stuffer capable of anchoring a defense and with experience of working with defensive co-ordinator Teryl Austin. Baltimore acquire fourth, fifth and seventh-round picks as part of the deal, ESPN report. Arguably Bradford is the happier of the two following the quarterback trade. He joins Chip Kelly’s fast-paced offense where his accuracy will put up the big numbers. That’s if he stays fit. After missing the entire 2014 season after tearing his ACL - his second such injury in as many years - injury concerns will plague Bradford for the rest of his career. But if he stays fit, the opportunity is there. Sam Bradford has joined the Philadelphia Eagles, while Nick Foles moved in the opposite direction . Haloti Ngata, pictured in white, has left the Baltimore Ravens to join the Detroit Lions . It is tough to say the same for Foles, who started 18 games for Kelly and won 14 of them. But after breaking his collarbone, he was jettisoned to St Louis, joining the likes of LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin out of Philadelphia, who also re-signed quarterback Mark Sanchez on a $9m, two-year deal on Sunday. Elsewhere, the future of serial free agent and now Super Bowl-winner Darrelle Revis is uncertain and Percy Harvin is visiting the Buffalo Bills since his release by the New York Jets. Verstile tight end Julius Thomas heads to Jacksonville after agreeing a deal worth around $9m a season. Torrey Smith follows thew path successfully trodden by Anquan Boldin by joining the 49ers from the Ravens after agreeing a five-year, $40m deal. Frank Gore joined the Colts after ten bruising years in San Francisco. The bulldozing running back had looked to join the Eagles, but will be in the backfield behind Andrew Luck. Five-time All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis announced his retirement from the game in a further blow to Jim Tomsula’s new-look franchise. And Jake Locker decided to call it a day at the tender age of 26. After four seasons with the Tennessee Titans, the quarterback says he no longer has ‘the burning desire’ to play in the NFL. +A woman's first date with a man she met on OkCupid turned to disaster after he allegedly stole her car. The woman, who has not been named, went for dinner with Gerald Tietz, who charmed her into meeting him at a restaurant in New Jersey last month. The two later went back to the woman's house - at which point Tietz is accusing of filching her car keys and driving off in her red Toyota, along with some of her jewelry. 'Car thief': Gerald Tietz, pictured above on OkCupid, allegedly tempted a New Jersey woman to a restaurant then stole her car . Police caught Tietz Saturday night after sharing his dating profile and pictures of the 2007 Solara, which had custom plates that read JSRYGRL. According to officers, Tietz lured the woman to Racks Restaurant and Sports Bar in Atco, New Jersey after posing online as a 53-year-old called Gennaro Aladena. Detectives also believe he could have tried the same trick on other women, also employing the pseudonym Mike Rossman, or his apparent nickname, Gooch. Taken: Police published this image of the woman's 2007 Toyota Solara, which has custom plates reading JSRYGRL . Tietz, who is 5'1", and a bald smoker in his 50s, was arrested Saturday in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and booked into the Camden County jail. Police did not explain what happened at the house before the car theft, and would only say that 'at some point' during the encounter 'the male got a hold of the keys'. Tietz said he was from Atlantic City while allegedly posing on the dating site, and officers think he has strong ties to Atlantic County and Philadelphia. First date: Tietz allegedly took the woman to Racks Restaurant and Sports Bar in Atco, New Jersey, before taking the vehicle from her house . +Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is backing Carlo Ancelotti after the Italian has come under fire in recent weeks because of his side's poor form. The Champions League holders squeezed past Schalke on Tuesday despite losing 4-3 at home and were booed off by the home fans. But Calderon believes Real would be making a mistake if they got rid of Ancelotti. Carlo Ancelotti has come under increasing pressure following some disappointing results from his side . He told TalkSport: 'It would be very premature and I don't think it would be a wise decision.' 'We are finishing the season and things are not too bad. I hope things can turn around. 'We are only one point behind [La Liga leaders] Barcelona and still in the Champions League. We can win both championships.' With La Liga set for an exciting climax, Real know they can't afford to slip up anymore this season with Barcelona looking in formidable form. Ancelotti's men travel to the Nou Camp on March 22 for a title showdown, knowing that if they get beaten then the trophy will be returning to Catalonia. Ramon Calderon believes sacking the Italian would be 'premature' and not a 'wise decision' Klass Jan Huntelaar (centre) smashes home the winner but it wasn't enough to send Schalke through . +He may not have played since the FA Cup defeat by Leicester on January 24 but Emmanuel Adebayor does not appear to be giving up his Tottenham career easily. The out-of-favour striker took to Instagram on Monday to post a cryptic message, perhaps making reference to his current situation under manager Mauricio Pochettino. Alongside a picture of himself sitting in a car, the former Arsenal man wrote: 'When life puts you in tough situations. Don't say 'why me'. Just say 'try me'.' Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor attached a defiant message to this picture of himself on Instagram . Adebayor has made just 11 Premier League appearances for Tottenham so far this season . Adebayor came close to joining West Ham on loan in the January transfer window and he has found it difficult to break into Mauricio Pochettino's starting XI this year. His last Premier League appearance came as a substitute against Sunderland on January 17 and he has just two top-flight goals to his name this season. Younes Kaboul and Etienne Capoue have also struggled for playing time in 2015 but Pochettino has refused to confirm whether the trio will leave White Hart Lane this summer. Former Arsenal striker Adebayor last played for Tottenham on January 24 in the FA Cup against Leicester . Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has demoted Adebayor to the club's third-choice striker in recent months . Speaking about squad selection ahead of his side's 2-1 win at QPR on Saturday, the former Southampton boss said: 'Always for every game it's my decision, my choice. 'I think that you understand. In the end, all of our squad is fully fit and you need to pick players. 'I am happy with all, but if we have 26 or 27 players in the squad then more than 18 is impossible.' +In assessing his options for the traditional pre-cup final getaway, it can be safely assumed that Ronny Deila would have sooner set sail for Anchorage, Alaska, than make the short hop to Dublin. As his side left McDiarmid Park with three points in the bag in the middle of last month, the Norwegian thought it best to grant his players a day off to clear their minds before the small matter of Inter Milan at Celtic Park demanded their full focus. By the time the squad reassembled at Lennoxtown on Monday morning, though, their numbers were depleted by one. Anthony Stokes, a native of Dublin, had failed to make his scheduled flight back to Glasgow after returning home for a family visit. Anthony Stokes missed Celtic's big game with Inter last month, but is keen to make the most of the next one . Whether or not Stokes would have featured against the Italians was beside the point. His absence left Deila with no option but to banish him from what was left of the build-up. An unnecessary distraction, if ever there was one. For those lucky enough to witness the pulsating 3-3 draw that ensued, a sense of bewilderment as to why someone would jeopardise the chance to live out their boyhood dream was compounded by the fact that Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven had only recently put further pressure on the Irishman’s position. Yet, if there is a sense of deep regret from the player regarding what transpired, he’s doing a mighty fine job of hiding it. In his eyes, neither a private apology nor a public explanation were warranted. Only a need to hastily draw a line under the affair. Asked if he regretted what happened, Stokes replied: ‘No. Look the situation has been dealt with. It’s as simple as that. I’ve spoken to the gaffer about it and there’s no issue now.’ Stokes has been battling for his place in the side since failing to return to Celtic on time before the Inter game . Had he apologised to Deila over what had taken place? ‘No,’ he repeated. ‘Look, I said I spoke to the gaffer about everything and that’s it – it’s been dealt with. It’s done.’ So what actually happened? ‘There’s nothing. It’s dealt with,’ he said. But it must have been tough to sit such a huge game out? ‘It was difficult,’ he admitted. ‘It’s difficult for me to miss any game as I want to play every minute of them.’ Try as he might to consign the matter to history, Stokes is going to have to go some way to erase it from the minds of his manager and the supporters who pay his wages. Deila initially left him out of the squad for the subsequent game with Aberdeen but 59 minutes against St Johnstone and 64 minutes against Dundee United on Sunday did at least suggest he’s now edging off the naughty step. With Mackay-Steven and Armstrong cup-tied for Sunday’s final, Stokes has every chance of featuring at Hampden. And to his credit, he acknowledges that the instant impressions made by the recent acquisitions have raised the bar for him. ‘There’s a lot of competition for places here at the minute and even after that (missing Inter) it’s not as if I’ve been a regular in the squad the past few weeks,’ he stated. Stokes has not made a public apology for his behaviour, but was keen to draw a line under the incident . ‘I’ve played the last two games. Even for myself, I would have liked to have played a little bit better because I know the situation with the boys from Dundee United. ‘They will be straight back in contention as soon as we have these games by us. It’s up to me to obviously go out and try to put my stamp down and keep myself in the team. ‘I haven’t been outstanding since I came back in but I have been creating and getting into positions to score but I just haven’t. ‘I know the goals will come. I have had spells like this before where things haven’t clicked. I just need to keep my confidence up and to have enough belief in myself that next time I get an opportunity I will put it away.’ There would be no finer time and place to start than Sunday at Hampden. ‘Yes, it would be, especially after the last week,’ he reflected. ‘I had one or two chances but the ball just won’t go in the back of the net for me at the moment. ‘I have been working hard in training and I have scored a few goals there and that has given me confidence. You just need to go out on the pitch and keep doing right things.’ The National Stadium wouldn’t immediately spring to mind as an obvious backdrop for the salvation to start. Stokes played in the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Hearts in 2012, the League Cup Final loss to Kilmarnock the same year, as well as a semi-final reverse in the same competition to St Mirren the following season. But his memories of his last trip there provides a welcome analgesic to the pain that went before. The striker has not been in the best of form recently, but is likely to get another chance to prove himself . ‘Probably, the (Scottish) Cup final against Hibs (in 2013) when I got man of the match,’ he replied when asked of his favourite day on Mount Florida. ‘That was one of the highlights of the season for me because I had been out injured previously for five or six months. ‘To finish that way and on a high was massive for me because I had been out for so long. I didn’t know how I was going to come back. ‘When I first came back my ankle was still at me. So I was glad that was behind me and I showed I could still perform on the pitch.’ He didn’t score that day – a Gary Hooper double and Joe Ledley’s goal completed the Double for Neil Lennon – but there was much for him to savour. ‘Yes, I had a couple of crosses for Gary and it was good to finish on a high, more so because of the injury because it had been a long season,’ Stokes recalled. ‘The injury had drained me a bit being out for so long and it had been the first time in my career that I had been out for more than a few weeks.’ Assists are all very well, but a man who’s known little more than life in the penalty box appreciates they are rarely the hard currency on which you are judged. ‘I would rather be in the middle scoring goals but it is difficult the way we play just now,’ he added. ‘There is so much emphasis on getting back and defending and putting in the graft for the team. ‘I have been trying to adapt my game to that, as well. It has been a bit of a strange season for me. I actually don’t mind playing on the left but you are never going to get the same plaudits as playing up front and scoring all the goals. ‘It is different because even when I played up front, I’ve been on my own and I have always played in a two. I have just had to adjust. The main thing is the team.’ Even if Stokes plays and scores the goal to win the cup on Sunday, it will be hard to view him as the identikit of Deila’s ideal player. Yet, notwithstanding the Inter episode, he believes he has now adjusted to the heightened demands of the Norwegian. ‘The one thing about the gaffer is that our base for every game is our work rate,’ he added. ‘It stems from there. The way we are playing is probably tactically a bit different from before. ‘There aren’t many spells when we keep possession for maybe 20, 30 passes. It’s always – get the ball, be direct, swarm them, break quickly. ‘But it seems to be working. It’s something that was never just going to happen overnight. It just wasn’t going to click. ‘I think there’s been gradual progress throughout the season and I think we’re getting there. ‘I just have to work hard and train as hard as I possibly can. I needed to give myself a lift, keep my fitness levels up and wait for an opportunity to get back in, which fortunately I have got.’ +Andy Murray will concentrate solely on the singles for Great Britain during this weekend's Davis Cup tie against the USA, after it was confirmed that he will not feature in the doubles. The Lawn Tennis Association have revealed that the British No 1's brother Jamie and Dom Inglot would represent Britain on Saturday afternoon against the Bryan twins. Murray had earlier revealed he was unlikely to feature on the middle day in order to conserve energy for his clash with John Isner on Sunday. Andy Murray will not play in Great Britain's Davis Cup doubles tie against USA on Saturday afternoon . Murray's brother Jamie (right) will play in the doubles with Dominic Inglot against the Bryan twins . Great Britain could wrap up their Davis Cup first round tie with victory in the doubles on Saturday. If Jamie Murray and Inglot can beat Bob and Mike Bryan then Leon Smith's side will have an unassailable 3-0 lead. This feat could be achieved following a fantastic set of results on Friday, where both Andy Murray and James Ward secured successes over Donald Young and Isner in their singles ties. James Ward secured a thriller five-set win over John Isner to give Great Britain a 2-0 lead in the tie overall . +Great Britain may be perennial underachievers in world tennis but when it comes to the sport's premier team competition Wimbledon's host nation continues to punch over its weight. In the city of his birth an emotional Andy Murray carried his side into the last eight of the World Group knockout by fending off a ferocious challenge from American giant John Isner to secure a 3-2 victory. To the deafening acclaim of Glasgow's Emirates Arena the former SW19 champion survived a tough opening set to win 7-6 6-3 7-6 against the world number 20 to wrap up the tie with his second point. Andy Murray celebrates extravagantly after winning the first set on a tie break to leave Great Britain just two sets from the quarter-finals . The British No 1 was spurred on by the Glasgow crowd to secure a 3-1 win over the USA and book a quarter-final against France . Murray is forced to stretch to reach a backhand as John Isner put in a much better performance on Sunday in the Davis Cup . Against one of the best servers ever seen in tennis Murray's coolness in the tiebreaks was the key, as was his ability to save seven break points in the opening set. 'It was a great win for the team, everyone played their part,' said Murray. 'Togetherness was a key, everyone was pulling in the same direction. 'I managed to find a way through the first set. I was over complicating my service games at first and he was going for broke on the first point of every rally. The huge American showed aggression in a first set where he forced seven break points on the Murray serve, but couldn't take any of them . Murray was well supported by a partisan Glasgow crowd as he sought to book Great Britain's place in the Davis Cup quarter finals . Isner plays a forehand on the run as the USA's top player started fast in a game his country needed to win to stay alive in the match . Murray was not at his best early on, but rallied to take the first set on a tie break after saving three set points . GB are through to the elite World Group quarter finals for the second year in succession and now face a home tie against France – 3-0 winners over Germany - immediately after Wimbledon in July. If on grass it is likely to be held somewhere like Eastbourne or Nottingham, but if they opted for an indoor court it would likely come back to Scotland, as the fans here have been outstanding in this match. 'If everyone plays to their abilities we have the chance to win more matches. We don't have huge margin for error but if Wardy (James Ward) plays like this we have a chance, although France have huge strength in depth.' This match turned out to be remarkably similar to last year's World Group first round against the same opponents: Ward upset the American number one on the first day, before the Bryans pulled the doubles point back for the USA and then Murray finished it off with his second singles win. Great Britain captain Leon Smith and his staff celebrate as their talisman Murray wins a crucial point against the American Isner . Isner looks stunned during a tough first set where he played plenty of good tennis and earned seven break points, but couldn't break through . Isner looked to have put everything he had into the opener, and looked exhausted after losing the first-set breaker . Isner once beat Roger Federer in an away match against Switzerland so is no shrinking violet in the cauldron of Davis Cup competition and British Captain Leon Smith – low profile but with an excellent record in this job – knew that he could be a danger. That did not take long to be confirmed and the 6' 10' American, revelling in his underdog status unlike on Friday against Ward, came out swinging. A more under pressure was a little hesitant and he had to fend off seven break points in total before the tiebreak, once at 1-2, three times at 3-4 and three more times at 4-5. Isner twice took enormous forehand cuts and shaky second serves and will have been massively frustrated not to have taken the lead. Smith whispers some advice and encouragement into his player's ear between games as Murray booked Britain's place in the last eight . Murray continued to show his emotion as he began to find his best form in front of a raucous crowd in Glasgow . Murray's serve had come under pressure in the first set, but as Isner tired the British No 1 became more secure . His serve was as potent as ever but, crucially, he double faulted at the start of the tiebreak and after that Murray clung on to his lead to clinch it 7-4, a massive psychological blow as he had been outplayed. The nerves of him and another hugely committed crowd were eased by that, especially as Isner needed to play nearly five hours on Friday. A brilliant backhand lob at 3-2 in the second set secured the key break there, but to give Isner his due he kept fighting to take it to second tiebreak. Murray went ahead 6-2 and then finally finished it with a swinging serve ace at 6-4 to complete his weekend's work. Murray stretches for a forehand as he wore down his opponent before pulling out an array of stunning passing shots in the later sets . Isner had played five sets in his defeat to James Ward on Friday, and the effort caught up with him after a brave first set on Sunday . Isner is consoled by his USA Davis Cup captain Jim Courier as he struggles to cope with Murray's athleticism in Glasgow . +Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk has been cleared to play in the QTS Scottish League Cup final after his Tannadice red card was rescinded. The Dutchman was sent off in the first half of the William Hill Scottish Cup draw following a clash with Calum Butcher that resulted in himself and Dundee United midfielder Paul Paton being sent off. Van Dijk will now be able to face United at Hampden on Sunday as well as in the quarter-final replay at Celtic Park three days later. Virgil van Dijk was sent off in the first half of the Scottish Cup draw with Dundee United . The Celtic defender went in hard on opposing player Callum Butcher at Tannadice . Dundee United players appeal to the linesman after the clash in the Scottish Cup . The Dutch defender will be able to play in the Scottish League Cup final after having his red card rescinded . Paton also won his appeal, as expected, following the case of mistaken identity. And United striker Nadir Ciftci was also cleared after being offered a two-match ban for allegedly kicking Celtic skipper Scott Brown in the head. The panel found the case 'not proven'. It was the second week running that Ciftci faced a judicial panel, having successfully challenged a two-match ban following a clash with Inverness defender Gary Warren. The forward will still miss the League Cup final after picking up his second booking of the competition in the semi-final win over Aberdeen, but will be free to play in the Parkhead Scottish Cup replay. United striker Nadir Ciftci (centre left) was also cleared for kicking Scott Brown (centre right) in the head . +Krispy Kreme has a new creation and it's sure to both warm and clog the hearts of all who try it. Krispy Kreme has partnered with a minor league baseball team in Delaware called the Wilmington Blue Rocks to design a hot dog topped with bacon and raspberry jam inside of a glazed donut bun. The donut company has yet to reveal the nutritional details of its latest addition but its likely high in fat, calories, cholesterol, and flavor. The finger licking concoction will be available at the stadium next month and the baseball team is asking fans to give the treat a name. Eat me: Krispy Kreme has partnered with a minor league baseball team in Delaware called the Wilmington Blue Rocks to design a hot dog topped with bacon and raspberry jam inside of a glazed donut bun . 'What name would you give this salty-and-sweet creation: a hot dog covered with raspberry jam and bacon served on a Krispy Kreme donut bun?' asks the team's website. So far a few of the suggestions on Twitter have been the 'Kremey Weenie' or 'Rocky's Sweet Meats,' by tweeter Spencer Graves. Entries will be accepted until March 17 and six names will be selected as finalists. While the hot dog will only have one name, all six finalists will win four passes to a Blue Rocks game in the coming season. The voting will occur until March 24 at 5 p.m. Give me a name!: The finger licking concoction will be available at the stadium next month and the baseball team is asking fans to give the treat a name . Some suggestions: 'Kremey Weenie' and 'Rocky's Sweet Meats' were among the names suggested for the hot dog creation that if successful, may end up in Krispy Kreme stores nationwide . KSAT reports that if the hot dog is a hot seller that Krispy Kreme may start selling it in their stores nationwide in the hopes of attracting more customers. Shares of Krispy Kreme fell nearly 6 per cent on Thursday and the company reported that its latest quarterly sales missed predictions. Brian Sozzi, an analyst for Belus Capital Advisors, told CNN that investors should not ignore this growth. 'Krispy Kreme, amidst outcries by people to fast food companies to use antibiotic free chicken and beef, organic veggies, and remove sugar and salt content, just baked up nicely positive sales, ‘he said. The Blue Rocks are not the only baseball team introducing new menu items. Just last week, the Arizona Diamondbacks premiered a churro hot dog called the Churro Dog. What stadium's savory creation will be next? Sold here: The hot dog will be sold at the Wilmington Blue Rocks' stadium in Delaware . +Burnley boss Sean Dyche believes dressing-room spats between players are 'a natural occurrence' at the highest level. Manchester City visit Turf Moor on Saturday at the end of a week where the club have been forced to play down reports that captain Vincent Kompany was dropped following a bust-up with team-mate Fernandinho. The row allegedly came at half-time during their defeat by Liverpool earlier this month, with neither player in the starting line-up for the clash with Leicester three days later. Vincent Kompany (left) and Fernandinho (right) were involved in a dressing-room row at Liverpool . But Dyche dismissed suggestions it was a good time to face City and can understand why passions occasionally run too high. He said: 'I think it's a natural occurrence. You've got highly-talented, highly-motivated people, all in a working environment that's very challenging. 'Everyone wants a shirt, everyone wants to play, and also, I can only imagine, at that level you're borderline into 25 mini companies. It's not just players, you're dealing with the whole shebang - PR consultants, agents, PAs, who knows what else. 'I imagine it's like having 25 CEOs and trying to align them all with whatever the bigger picture is. There's always going to be challenges because they're powerful-minded people, which is why they're at the top of the game.' Kompany was dropped to the bench when Manchester City hosted Leicester City . Burnley are without a win in two months and sit second bottom of the Premier League table, three points from safety. But City and manager Manuel Pellegrini will certainly not underestimate the Clarets after their stunning performance at the Etihad in December, when they fought back from 2-0 down to claim a draw. Dyche said: 'They've got some fantastic players. We experienced that once before, we gave a good performance and I think overall deserved a point out of the game. But that doesn't guarantee us anything this time around. 'They're a highly-motivated group of players, still in the hunt, still right up there, very experienced and a fantastic manager, so obviously it's a big challenge once again.' Kompany attempts to tackle Raheem Sterling during City's 2-1 defeat by Liverpool . Dyche added to his squad this week with the recruitment on a three-year deal of Norwegian midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad. The Burnley boss has been keen for the club to expand their scouting network into Europe and signed 22-year-old Ulvestad after a two-week trial. The Clarets were already short in midfield before Dean Marney was ruled out for the season with a knee injury last month but Dyche insisted Ulvestad will not be rushed. 'He wanted to come in and I think it's a good way of doing business because he gets a chance to have a look at us and we can have a look at him, and he fitted in straight away,' said the Burnley boss. 'That was probably the key thing. Sometimes players who are with you and are not part of the group, they look not part of the group, but he fitted in seamlessly and we thought there was more to come from him, so that's why we signed him. Burnley boss Sean Dyche can understand why passions occasionally run too high . 'At the moment it's that cooling-off period, getting used to how we work. I don't know that much about the Norwegian league but I know it's not the Premier League. 'He's been to a couple of games so he knows how we operate and how the Premier League operates. We're looking forward to him working with us and developing further. 'We have been light in midfield but that's not why Freddie's come in, because if it was he'd have to operate immediately. We think there's more to come going forwards than right now. 'If he's needed this season and we think he's ready, then that's different, but he's only been in the building a couple of weeks, so we'll see how he continues getting used to what it is to be here and obviously then looking at the idea of being in the first team, but there's no rushing that situation.' +Chelsea No 1 Thibaut Courtois insists he holds no fear in facing Zlatan Ibrahimovic when the pair meet in their Champions League last 16 second-leg clash on Wednesday. The Blues carry a 1-1 first-leg score into the game at Stamford Bridge after Courtois pulled off a succession of impressive saves at the Parc des Princes, which included denying the Sweden striker with a late stop. The 22-year-old remains confident of keeping out the former Juventus and Barcelona forward again as Jose Mourinho's in-form side chase a treble in the manager's second spell in west London. Thibaut Courtois is confident that Chelsea will get past PSG to reach the Champions League quarter-finals . Jose Mourinho (left) congratulates Courtois after keeping Chelsea in the game in the first leg . The Blues No 1 is not afraid of facing PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Stamford Bridge . Speaking to RMC, the Belgium international said: 'No, I'm not afraid. 'I played against him three weeks ago, and I played well. I hope to stop him again on Wednesday. I know he's a great striker, and that it's always difficult to stop him, but we have to do that if we want to go through.' 'We're confident, but we expect a very difficult game. Paris are going to come here to score goals. It'll be a very complicated game. We're ready, and we hope to win in front of our fans. We'll have to see the tactics the coach puts in place. What is certain is that we cannot sit back and wait. 'We have to defend well, but we mustn't go for the 0-0 because if we concede a goal, Paris will qualify by winning 1-0. We have to play to our strengths by trying to score goals and win the game.' Chelsea team-mates congratulate Courtois after another impressive performance against West Ham . Ibrahimovic scores from the penalty spot in PSG's 4-1 victory over Lens at the weekend . Courtois added: 'As we're playing at home and we drew 1-1 in the first leg, we're slight favourites. But with the team that Paris has, they also have a lot of hope. It's going to be a very close match. The small details will decide who goes through.' The Premier League leaders required a late goal by Demba Ba to eliminate the big spending French side at the quarter-final stage last season, but are arguably a better team this term. Nonetheless, Courtois is fully aware of the threat posed by the expensively assembled Ligue 1 champions. A late Demba Ba goal eliminated the French side at the Champions League quarter-final stage last season . Ibrahimovic will be playing on the same side as former Chelsea defender David Luiz (right) this time around . 'They're a team that can reach the final. To play them in the last 16 is very early in the competition. But that's the way it is,' he said. 'It's going to be a hotly contested game. Paris are a strong team. We're going to have to be very careful because we mustn't lose. 'If you play for a team like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or PSG, the aim is always to win the Champions League. After that, it depends on the circumstances, the opponents you are drawn against. The aim is to win, but you have to see if it's possible. 'We're one of the teams that could win, but there are three or four others like us.' +West Ham United striker Enner Valencia is clearly enjoying his last few days in Dubai. The Ecuadorian international, who signed from Mexican outfit Pachucha shortly after the World Cup, posted a picture of himself to Instagram standing by the Burj Khalifa. Valencia and his teammates are currently making the most of their FA Cup exit to West Brom by enjoying a mini training break in the sun. Enner Valencia enjoys a trip up the Burj Khalifa as West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian watches on . West Ham United's Ecuadorian striker Enner Valencia celebrates scoring at Upton Park . Goalkeeper Adrian is also visible in the picture as the two players wear massive smiles on their faces ahead of their return. Sam Allardyce’s side are set to arrive back in England on Tuesday as they prepare to face London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. The east London club are currently on a poor run of form having won just one of their previous 11 games in all competitions, so Allardyce will be hoping the break will improve their fortunes . Valencia signed for West Ham United after an impressive World Cup campaign for Ecuador . +Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet is set to escape a touchline ban despite being charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following his tantrum and spat with Steve Bruce during Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Hull. The Black Cats boss was sent off by referee Mike Dean for kicking over a cooler box in protest at Jack Rodwell’s booking for diving before he clashed with his opposite number. Poyet sarcastically applauded in Bruce’s face and goaded him with a comment which the Hull manager later said was ‘not very pleasant’. Gus Poyet and Steve Bruce argue during their two sides' clash on Wednesday evening at the KC Stadium . Bruce (left) had to be held back by the linesman as the row between the pair escalated . The two men argued after Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell was booked for simulation . Bruce was only kept from getting to Poyet by the intervention of assistant referee Stuart Burt and he was formally reminded of his responsibilities on Thursday. Poyet, however, was charged by the FA, although Sportsmail understands it is likely he will be fined rather than hit with a touchline ban. He refused to apologise for his behaviour following the game but will accept the charge of improper conduct, to which he must respond by 6pm on Monday. Steve Bruce's son Alex (left) did not appear to make contact with Rodwell (right), who fell to the floor . The 1-1 draw leaves both sides still fighting for their Premier League survival this season . Hull are 15th in the table with 27 points while Sunderland are just one point behind them in 16th . +This is the look of terror a woman pulled for her jailhouse mugshot after being booked over driving offenses. Ashley Stabler, 23, was pulled over by sheriff's deputies in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, last week and locked up after allegedly driving without insurance and on a suspended license. She was also booked over driving with improper license plates, and thrown in the Tulsa County Jail - where she pulled this shocked expression for her mugshot. Seen a ghost? Ashley Stabler, 23, pulled this face in the Tulsa County jailhouse after being booked . According to The Smoking Gun, Stabler was being held on a $600 bond ahead of a court appearance, the date for which has now passed. Is is unclear what has become of Stabler since. She was due in court last week, and the Tulsa jail confirmed they are no longer holding her. However, court records show Stabler's shock may have been unwarranted - as it was far from her first time in a jail. She was arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in 2011, but the case was dismissed. Two years later, she pleaded no contest to a larceny charge, and also has a pending court case linked to her driving suspension. Not any more: Stabler was being held on a $600 bond last week - but has now left the jail . +Inter still retain hope of qualifying for Europe next year, but they continued to struggle after managing just a draw against lowly Cesena. Roberto Mancini’s side didn't manage a shot on target in the first half and Cesena took the lead on the half hour when Gregoire Defrel sprinted onto Carlos Carbonero's ball over the top and lobbed it over Samir Handanovic. To their credit, Inter came out a different side after the break. A subdued celebration as Inter Milan equalise through Rodrigo Palacia against Cesena on Sunday . Second bottom of the Serie A, Cesena opened the scoring with a lobbed finish from Gregoire Defrel . Defrel celebrates with a gun-toting salute as the relegation strugglers took a shock lead over Inter . They thought Mauro Icardi’s acrobatic overhead kick had levelled for the hosts immediately after the interval but it was wrongly ruled out for offside. Inter did equalise moments later when Rodrigo Palacio slotted in Icardi's cross at the near post from close range. Lukas Podolski almost scored his first goal for Inter since joining from Arsenal in January but saw his effort crash off the inside of the left upright. The point leaves Inter level with Genoa in seventh, five points adrift of Fiorentina and Sampdoria in fifth and sixth. Argentine Palacio holds off Cesena's towering Icelandic midfielder Hordur Bjorgvin Magnusson . Inter boss Roberto Mancini can hardly watch as his side fight to save face against the battlers . Lukas Podolski looks up after crashing a shot into the post that would have won the match for his side and opened his account in the Serie A . +Jackie McNamara rounded on the Hampden officials for costing his side the chance of League Cup glory against Celtic. Referee Bobby Madden made two huge calls against Dundee United when, first of all, he denied Ryan Dow a first-half penalty following a nudge in the back by Parkhead skipper Scott Brown. The whistler then instantly dismissed Tannadice captain Sean Dillon for a dangerous tackle on Emilio Izaguirre in 56 minutes, thus ending any hopes of a United comeback. Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara was furious that his side were not awarded a penalty on Sunday . ‘I feel frustrated and disappointed,’ said McNamara. ‘But I’m proud of how the players responded. ‘I thought a lot of things went against us today. We stuck to the task and went right to the end, despite the disappointments and setbacks in the game. ‘Decisions didn’t go for us and certain other things didn’t go for us. I can’t fault the lads for their effort and commitment. ‘I feel we should have had a penalty. It looked like a penalty, I’d like to see it again. The referee was very slow to make a decision, or not make a decision. But in Celtic’s case, he was very quick to point to the spot. ‘I’d like to see the challenge again that caused the damage to Sean Dillon’s leg. Celtic ended up getting a throw-in from it. Sean has got a bad gash on his shin. I’d like to see the incident again, to see if it was a fair one. Dundee United's captain Sean Dillon is sent off by referee Bobby Madden for a tackle on Emilio Izaguirre . ‘For the red card, Sean has given the referee a real decision to make. It was his momentum and pace, I don’t think he has gone in to cause damage. But he’s given the ref a decision to make and we know what happened.’ United midfielder John Rankin, meanwhile, accused Celtic of piling pressure on to Madden ahead of Sunday’s showpiece occasion. Following the stormy Scottish Cup draw at Tannadice, Celtic manager Ronny Deila had accused United youngster Aidan Connolly of a ‘blatant’ dive to win a spot-kick. That was then repeated by Brown, who also pointed the finger at Nadir Ciftci over a kick that struck him on the head. Anthony Stokes further spoke out by expressing his bemusement that Connolly hadn’t been retrospectively punished. ‘I think it did influence things,’ said Rankin. ‘It put pressure on the officials and I don’t think it’s merited. Ryan Dow was denied a first-half penalty following a nudge in the back by Parkhead skipper Scott Brown . ‘The officials’ jobs are hard enough without putting pressure on them. They’re under scrutiny. ‘You saw it last week with us going down to nine men and people questioning the decisions made then. ‘There has been a lot of pressure put on Bobby Madden and his three officials this weekend with what they’ve been saying in the press this week. ‘I don’t think that’s merited and it doesn’t help. But at the end of the day we’ ve got to deal with it. We’re bitterly disappointed but we need to look forward to the Scottish Cup replay on Wednesday and bounce back.’ Tensions sure to be raised once again when the sides meet for the third act in what has become a four-match saga. For United, keeping 11 players on the park will be a priority. ‘It will be easy to lift the players for Wednesday,’ said McNamara. ‘That’s what we are in it for. Dundee United captain Sean Dillon (right) is sent off for this late challenge on Celtic defender Emilio Izaguirre . ‘Had we won today, we would have got back up for Wednesday. So we will dust them down and see who is available. Paul Dixon and Sean will both be missing. ‘But the lads have another opportunity to put everything behind them. Hopefully there will be a bit of consistency in everything on Wednesday. ‘We defended well with both 11 and 10 players today. Last week, we defended well with nine players, as well. Hopefully we keep 11 men on the pitch on Wednesday night. It’s imperative that we do. ‘Up until the last third of the pitch, we competed well with Celtic. But our last pass just wasn’t there, although we had opportunities to create something. It’s just that little bit of quality we were lacking. ‘But they gave us everything and that’s all you ask as a manager. We can take lots of positives from it - they way the players stuck together, how they worked and didn’t give up right until the final whistle.’ The Celtic players celebrate on the podium with the QTS Scottish League Cup after beating Dundee United 2-0 . +As the clock ticked down on Celtic’s League Cup Final win, goalkeeper Craig Gordon looked in a world of his own as he glanced around Hampden, savouring every last moment. When the final whistle confirmed his first winners’ medal since the Scottish Cup victory over Gretna on penalties with Hearts in 2006, the goalkeeper immediately searched out the twin lights who had inspired his incredible comeback story. Over the course of his two long years out injured, four year old daughter Freya and then the arrival of little Emma, now 22-months old, provided both fortitude and hope in what was a seemingly endless dark tunnel for Gordon. Scott Brown lifts the Scottish League Cup alongside keeper Craig Gordon (right) on Sunday . Once Britain’s most expensive keeper, his girls now found their daddy a house-husband, unemployed after being released by Sunderland in the summer of 2012 due to knee tendon and anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Neither daughter knew him as Craig Gordon, Scotland hero and Cup-winning goalkeeper; the man who had once been voted as having made the best save in the 20-year history of the English Premier League. And the longer his spell out of the game continued, the more the 32-year-old’s retirement looked a weary inevitability. Keeper Craig Gordon gets the drinks flowing in the dressing room and sprays champagne as his team-mates . On Sunday, however, as Celtic looked to the future with the first trophy of the Ronny Deila era, Gordon celebrated with his family present at Hampden Park, including wife Jennifer. It was, he conceded, a day he feared may never happen. ‘I took a moment or two towards the end to think about things,’ admitted Gordon, his lips visibly quivering with emotion after the 2-0 win against Dundee United. ‘When the game was already won, and Dundee United weren’t going to get back into it, it was nice to stand up the other end of the pitch and just have a look around at the fans celebrating and singing all the songs. Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon poses with the Scottish League Cup trophy in the winning changing room . ‘To win it feels brilliant, absolutely fantastic. It’s the manager’s first competition and he’s won it — so it’s great for him but it’s also great for me personally. ‘I just wanted to take it all in, to realise that this was really happening for me. That I had won a cup again. It had been a long time coming since the last one at Hearts. It’s a dream come true. ‘I took my two little girls, Freya and Emma, out on to the pitch with me afterwards. It was so nice to be able to do that for them. They have stood by me and they have supported me for the two whole years when I wasn’t working, while I was concentrating fully on getting back into football. Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon maintains his clean sheet during the Scottish League Cup final . ‘It must have been a hard thing for them to have to deal with. They were so young that they never really knew what Daddy did for a living. They were a big part of my inspiration to get back to top level football. I wanted to show them what their Daddy used to do! ‘And I managed to do that. It means the world to me to share that moment with my girls out there on the pitch. And they absolutely loved it, dancing around and picking up all the confetti. It was such a special moment for me and for my family; a moment I will never forget.” As he danced across the park with his girls and his jubilant team-mates, gone were memories of surgery and the seemingly interminable healing process. ‘To come from where I was, all the hard work makes it special,’ he smiled. ‘At times it might have been easier to give up but the support I’ve had to keep going, to carry on and to get to here is just brilliant. It feels like I am back now. Gordon pumps his fists in celebration as Celtic defeated Dundee United in the Scottish League Cup final . ‘When I was injured, I just wanted to play a game of football again. But once I managed that I realised I was capable of getting back to a high level. And that’ s when I started to think about what is possible. ‘But to do this in my first season back is just amazing. When I first signed for Celtic last summer, Fraser Forster was still here as No 1 goalkeeper. ‘So to get in and have 40 games under my belt – plus a medal in the bank – is just so hard to contemplate. This is more than I could ever have hoped for when I was making the journey back from where I have been. ‘But I can’t afford to look too far back because we’ve got a busy run-in to come this season. ‘We’ve got a difficult game on Wednesday night against Dundee United in the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay and this result today might give United an added incentive to come out and have an even bigger go at us. ‘I thought United played pretty well today even with 10 men. They stuck to their tasks and they are a tough team to break down. So if we are not at our best, 100 per cent ready, they will have every chance to do well against us.’ +They may be more used to brandishing a bat than swinging a club, but cricket legends were out in force for the celebrity Pro-Am event at the BMW New Zealand Open. Stars from the crease were drafted in to play the tournament in Queenstown since it coincides with the 2015 Cricket World Cup, with organisers admitting they chose 'to go with it rather than try to compete against it'. Former Australian spinner Shane Warne posted an Instagram picture from the event that resembled a Who's Who of cricketing greats from all over the world, including Ricky Ponting, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Nathan Astle, Mark Richardson and Graeme Swann. (L-R) Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Graeme Swann, Nathan Astle and Mark Richardson line up for the New Zealand Open Pro-Am . England legend Ian Botham (left) poses with course owner Sir Michael Hill (centre) and Richards . Richards shares a joke with scratch golfer Ponting (right) who has tipped Warne for glory . (L-R) Botham, Swann and Astle appeared in good spirits before teeing off in Queenstown . Former New Zealand cricketer Mark Richardson speaks to the press at the BMW New Zealand Open . Ponting, who played at Milbrook last year along with returning England legend Ian Botham, has employed his father as caddie to keep him from losing his cool out on the course. 'I'll just give the club to him as quick as I can so he puts it back in the bag and it doesn't end up disappearing into the lake or anything,' he told Stuff NZ. Despite being a scratch golfer, the former Australia captain has tipped Warne, who plays under an 11 handicap, as a contender to win. 'Warnie will be up there in the end ... I hope he's not,' he said. Warne plays a practice round with Lara at The Hills course, which features an underground clubhouse . +With injuries piling up ahead of Scotland’s final Six Nations match against Ireland, Vern Cotter has identified a solution to his selection problem. ‘We will play the Under-20s against them,’ said the Scotland head coach in his laconic, deadpan style. ‘We had eight players injured against England. How many are doubts for the Ireland match? All of them.’ Jim Hamilton, seen here tackling England's James Haskell, is one of five doubts for the Ireland game . Such was the despondent air hanging over the Scotland head coach as he spoke in the bowels of Twickenham on Saturday evening, he could be forgiven for thinking the worst at the time. Thankfully, a Scottish Rugby Union medical bulletin issued on Sunday suggested it was five players — not eight — who will require further treatment ahead of the match at BT Murrayfield. Second row Jim Hamilton, who had to come off for a time after being concussed in the first half, then had to be replaced following a back spasm, is the biggest doubt to face Ireland. Matt Scott suffered a ‘dead leg’ with bad bruising and now faces a race against time to be ready. Alasdair Dickinson has a leg injury he picked up in a tackle, winger Tommy Seymour an elbow problem and flanker Blair Cowan a calf strain. The walking wounded will be excused training on Monday, with an SRU spokesman saying the medical team will be working with them over the next few days to try to ensure they can put some work in before the final Six Nations match. Vern Cotter was downbeat after the defeat, which came with a heavy price in terms of personell . Others who Cotter thought were more seriously hurt, such as Finn Russell, David Denton and Euan Murray, should be fit. ‘We have been unlucky with injuries, which hasn’t helped us,’ said Cotter, who lost Alex Dunbar in the build-up to the Calcutta Cup encounter. ‘Everybody has to be patient. We can turn the corner, come back strong and do well against Ireland. ‘Right now, we have to take that defeat to England on the chin and keep working, analysing what went wrong, what went right and moving forward. ‘I thought there were some real positive aspects for us in our game at Twickenham but we have Ireland next week and they beat England — so it will be very tough test.’ Cotter continues to insist his side are ‘heading in the right direction’ despite a fourth Six Nations defeat and a likely wooden spoon. Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw takes a heavy hit as he brings down Ben Youngs during the narrow defeat . VIDEO O2 Inside Line: England v Scotland match review . He praised his players for battling back against England after losing a fourth-minute converted try from Jonathan Joseph. ‘England based their strategy on starting well and they did just that,’ added Cotter. ‘What I saw from our team after that pleased me. I saw great character. They didn’t panic, got themselves back into the match and I got a message down to them to say don’t worry about it. ‘They also showed they could change tactics when needed, which is a great thing. ‘On top of that, I thought our line-out defence and our scrum, after the first one, was very good. ‘If I thought we were being dominated from start to finish I might worry but I don’t think we are. There is more to come from this team, no question.’ Captain Greig Laidlaw was instrumental in dragging Scotland back in the face of England’s early onslaught. He inspired those around him with his leadership qualities. Laidlaw admitted Scotland needed to be more intelligent with the ball, but praised his team's spirit . He gave the backs quick ball and put over two penalties and a conversion in a top-class display. Laidlaw admitted. ‘England came flying out the blocks but, once that happened, we had to deal with it. ‘The response I got from the guys was calm and controlled. ‘From then on, we played some magnificent rugby until half-time. In the second half, a couple of times there was a bounce of the ball that maybe went against us and the game just went away from us a little bit. We should know when to offload and when to hold the ball. ‘When we did get into their half, we put little kicks through when we should have held the ball. We need to learn that Test-match rugby is won by small margins.’ +A freshman basketball player with rare brain cancer who made it through full season despite being given only a few months to live is now having problems swallowing as her condition worsens. During her senior year of high school, Lauren Hill was diagnosed with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma), a rare form of brain cancer with a survival rate of less than 10 per cent. But she still made it through a full season at the Cincinnati university while raising more than $1.3 million for research into the type of brain tumor she has. Scroll down for video . Made It: Lauren Hill, 19 (pictured), made it through a full season with the Mount St. Joseph's women's basketball team while raising more than $1.3 million for research into the type of brain tumor that will likely end her life . Her mother Lisa updates her followers on her Facebook page about her daughter's progress and said this week that Lauren was having trouble swallowing, although her humor and bravery are shining through. She posted: 'Lauren sleeps about 12 hours a day and still does not like to take naps. 'Her appetite is not as big as it use to be. She has been having increased issues with swallowing. We had to add some thickener to her water to make it easier to swallow. Food we cut down into bite sizes these days to prevent chocking.' Diagnosed: During her senior year of high school, Hill (left and right) was diagnosed with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma), a rare form of brain cancer with a survival rate of less than 10 percent . She said her daughter's pain medication has been increased to help her deal with headaches and aches across her body. She added: 'She still has a sense of humor even if her legs give out and she falls. My favorite quote of the week.... "I didn't fall, I gracefully assaulted the floor." Got to love her.' Despite the diagnosis, Hill decided to attend college and play for the Division III school. In September 2014, Hill's doctor told her she would not live past December, FOX reports. But Hill drastically defied expectations. She played four basketball games with her team early in the season, making five layups. As her condition worsened, she became an honorary coach, attending games when possible. She tires easily now and needs to use a wheelchair often. The NCAA granted permission to move up the school's opening game because of her worsening condition, and she made a layup for the first basket in a game at Xavier University's 10,000-seat arena. The Team: The Mount St. Joseph's women's basketball team (pictured) held its postseason banquet in a hospital room with Hill . The team had planned to have its annual end-of-the-season banquet on Feb. 22 — a date that matches Hill's uniform number — but the final game got pushed back because of the weather. Hill was getting treated at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. So the team decided to take the banquet to the hospital, using a meeting room. Instead of having a big meal and awards, the players got sandwiches and spent time together. 'We were going to get something to eat, show up, talk about the season and celebrate being with each other,' Benjamin said. The team wore special gray jerseys for the first game at Xavier's arena. The NCAA prohibits schools from giving gifts to players, so they bought them for $22, another way to support Hill's fundraising for cancer research. Hill signed each of the jerseys at the banquet. In a recent interview with WKRC-TV, Hill said, 'Life is precious. ... Every moment you get with someone is a moment that's blessed, really blessed.' Life: Doctors didn't expect Hill (center at hospital) to live this long with the tumor, which folds around parts of her brain . +Nigel Pearson is hoping Leicester City can take their relegation fight to the final day where he has a remarkable record of success. The Leicester manager has twice before worked last-match miracles in charge of teams in trouble and would love the opportunity to complete a hat-trick. ‘Of course I would. I’ve been in plenty,’ said Pearson. Nigel Pearson barks orders from the bench at King Power Stadium as Leicester manage only a draw to Hull . Pearson knows he's in a scrap for survival in the Premier League but fighting to the end isn't new to him . Leicester, rooted to the bottom of the Premier League and seven points from safety, look to have bleak prospects of reaching that stage still in contention to avoid the drop. The draw against Hull was a significant opportunity missed. But Pearson has history of achieving the improbable. In his first manager’s job at Carlisle he masterminded one of the most famous last day survival acts when goalkeeper Jimmy Glass struck decisively with the last kick of their Division Three season in 1998-99. Nine years later Pearson was brought in to take charge of Southampton, struggling in the Championship, and guided the team to safety with a last-gasp victory. He was also Bryan Robson’s assistant when West Bromwich Albion stayed up against the odds in the final game of the 2004-05 Premier League campaign. Leicester's Esteban Cambiasso fights to dispossess Hull's Jake Livermore in a disappointing draw . Leicester keeper Mark Schwarzer punches clear despite the jumps of Dame N'Doye (Hull) and Ritchie De Laet . He is aware Leicester, without a Premier League victory in eight games, must start wining soon to have any chance and he was disappointed with his team’s display. ‘It’s another opportunity lost against a side who we needed to pick up three points against,’ he said. ‘In some ways I’d stomach us losing the game being more positive trying to win it, than picking up a point having been a bit safe. Time will tell whether that is the right way to look at it or not. ‘(The gap) is a lot at this stage of the season. We’re going to have to turn our form on its head. The point is we’ve got to perform. The players know we haven’t done enough to win the game. I would like to have seen us show a bit more intent.’ +If Saturday night’s victory over Ireland does prove to be Shaun Edwards’ final RBS 6 Nations hoorah in Cardiff, then the former rugby league man could not have picked a finer evening to bow out. The Wales defence coach is out of contract after the World Cup and his players delivered a tackling masterclass at the Millennium Stadium. They repelled wave after wave of attacks to send Ireland’s Grand Slam ambitions up in smoke, providing the 48-year-old with one of his finest hours behind the glass wall of the tactical box. Made from stuff the local steelworks would be proud of, his Welsh rearguard saw off almost 50 phases in seven second-half minutes to set up a three-way title showdown in the final weekend. Shaun Edwards and his players delivered a tackling masterclass at the Millennium Stadium against Ireland . Cian Healy is held up by the huge Welsh defensive effort on Saturday, with the home side winning 23-16 . VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes . ‘Only a Six Nations game can bring the emotion out like that,’ said Edwards. ‘Potentially it could be my last Six Nations game with Wales. If it ends up being that way, it was a great way to sign off. ‘It was a victory for team effort and fitness. To keep tackling for that long, you have to be fit. Our attack was very good in the first 20 minutes and it was an incredible Test match. Ireland are a team that never ever give in; they are coming back at you all the time. It was everything that is good about the Six Nations.’ Edwards punched the air in delight on the final whistle. His players racked up a record count of 250 tackles — missing just 22. It did little to damn the notion that northern-hemisphere rugby is geared towards defence, but there was no question about the entertainment value, with the absorbing close-quarter battles making for the best tie of the championship. Taulupe Faletau puts in one of Wales' 150 tackles on a superb defensive display by Edwards' men . The win over Ireland could be Edwards' last RBS 6 Nations game in Cardiff, it was a good way to bow out . ‘To defend in your own 22 for nine and a half minutes and concede one try from a maul is a great credit to the lads,’ said Edwards. ‘We kept getting off the floor and into position very quickly, which is a massive part of your defence. If you are on the floor, you are out of the game. ‘Our tackling, in particular our leg chops, was of the highest order. The best form of defence is having the ball, but some periods in a Test match you are going to be asked to defend. I said to the players during the week that potentially we would have to make 150 to 200 tackles.’ His predictions were right. Ireland had 66 per cent of the possession but lacked the wherewithal to break through the wall of red. The bruising hits took their toll on the hosts, with Wales going into their defining tie against Italy with injury worries in the front row, where Samson Lee (achilles) and Gethin Jenkins (hamstring) are expected to miss out, while Richard Hibbard will also face concussion tests. Simon Zebo is sent flying by a tackle as Ireland fail to break the Welsh despite having a lot of possession . Ireland's Sean O'Brien keeps a grip on the ball but the Welsh defence was brilliant at the Millennium Stadium . Jamie Roberts is also doubtful after suffering a blow to the head. The centre is likely to be replaced by Scott Williams, who scored Wales’ only try on Saturday and is in line for his first start of the competition. With Wales needing to improve their points difference in the championship race, the Scarlets midfielder will be expected to add an attacking edge in Rome. With Wales being the early kick-off this weekend, it will be a case of hit and hope as they watch other results unfold. They have won their last seven games against Italy by an average of 17 points, although an even greater victory is likely to be the minimum requirement at the Stadio Olimpico. ‘We have given ourselves a fighting chance to go out to Rome and win this title again,’ said fly-half Dan Biggar. ‘If we can win it, after everybody writing us off when we lost at home to England, it will be one of this team’s best achievements. Maybe Scotland can do us a favour at home to Ireland and France against England at Twickenham. We know we have to score some points in Italy.’ Luke Charteris (right) celebrates with Liam Williams at full time after a Championship-defining victory . +Ireland will be forced to 'take it a little bit easy' in training on Monday, counting the cost of playing 'one-and-a-quarter Test matches' in their 23-16 defeat to Wales. Head coach Joe Schmidt conceded he would hand his shattered players extra time to recover as Ireland come to terms with their 'straight-up' lesson in failing to convert pressure into tries. Ireland can still win the RBS 6 Nations on points difference if they beat Scotland in Edinburgh handsomely on Saturday, despite blowing their Grand Slam chances in Wales. Ireland are feeling the strain after a narrow defeat to Wales that ended their Grand Slam chances . VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes . Kiwi boss Schmidt believes the carrot of retaining the championship title for the first time since 1949 will allow Ireland to shake off their frustrations from Saturday's Millennium Stadium loss. 'Probably Monday we might have to take it a little bit easy on the back of there being a lot of ball in play,' said Schmidt, who confirmed no new injury worries. 'There were a lot of long phases of play, we probably played one-and-a-quarter Test matches in the context of some of the other Tests we've played. 'And there's a lesson we've got straight-up - if you're going to play like that then you've got to be able to keep going in those moments that you do get pressure on them. 'The players all left the field able to play, but they'll have some bruises for sure which will limit anything we do (on Monday).' Ireland's starkest lesson from Saturday's aborted Grand Slam bid surrounded killer instinct, or the lack of it. Former Leinster boss Schmidt has already admitted Ireland 'didn't achieve anything' by expecting to see off Wales by accumulating penalties in Cardiff. Joe Schmidt admitted there were plenty of tired bodies in the Irish camp, and said he would take things easy . Ireland, Wales and England can all still now claim the Six Nations title, but Schmidt continued to warn his side about being sidetracked by trying to gauge what points difference could secure further glory. 'We learned from those 10 wins and we will learn from this loss as well,' said Schmidt, after Ireland suffered their first loss since 13-10 defeat to England in last year's Six Nations. 'What we can learn is that we won't lack for character, we don't lack for endeavour and those are important starting points. 'What we do know is we are still in the championship and we still have a fantastic opportunity to do something that hasn't been done for a long time if we can create enough opportunities in Murrayfield next week. The match against Wales was a bruising encounter, with Ireland failing to take their chances . 'But if you go looking for differentials without first of all making sure you have targeted the result, you are going to make it a pretty tough day for yourself.' Schmidt admitted he will push his Ireland side to sharpen up their attacking accuracy this week in a bid to combat the blunt edge that emerged against Wales. 'It's funny because people were talking about us not making enough line breaks, not making enough passes, even though we'd obviously made more than any other team and I think that would definitely be true after Saturday,' said Schmidt. 'I felt we showed fantastic endeavour, but that accuracy is what we're going to need and that's what we'll work on this week, . 'We didn't quite get our rhythm and if you don't quite get that right against a defensive side that Wales have, particularly their ability to be very physical. 'I felt we did a lot of that right, but not enough of it right to convert it into points.' Two Irish defenders feel the full force of George North in a game Schmidt admitted took plenty out of his team . +Christian Benteke is still to fully recover from his hip injury but is in contention for a return to the Aston Villa team for Saturday’s crucial match against Sunderland. The Belgian striker missed Villa’s FA Cup victory over West Bromwich Albion after suffering the problem in training but has improved and should be in the squad, manager Tim Sherwood said. Sherwood could yet continue with the attacking line-up that got Villa to the FA Cup semi-final for the important relegation encounter at the Stadium of Light. Christian Benteke will be in Aston Villa's squad for Saturday's trip to Sunderland, says boss Tim Sherwood . Benteke (left) missed their FA Cup win over West Brom on March 7 due to a hip injury . That would mean Gabriel Agbonlahor up top, supported by Charles N’Zogbia and Scott Sinclair on the wings. ‘Christian's still feeling it,’ said Sherwood. ‘He’ll be in the squad, we’ll give him as much time as we can to get him fit. All I need to know is when he’ll be back fit and he’s got an opportunity to be fit for this weekend. 'But we changed it around and the boys that came in did well. We’re not always looking for one guy. It’s a team effort, we have to attack together and defend together. There is no onus on one person to score the goals. Villa players were put through their paces during Thursday's training session at Bodymoor Heath . On loan midfielder Tom Cleverley will be hoping to start for Villa at the Stadium of Light . Cleverley could line up alongside Ashley Westwood in midfield for the clash against the Black Cats . 'I don’t think Christian feels the pressure, it doesn’t look like it.’ Sherwood also reflected on the pitch invasion at the end of last Saturday’s 2-0 victory over West Brom, which marred the result in the eyes of many. Sherwood joked he would agree to a replay. 'No-one wants to see anyone enter the field of play while the match is still going on. If we have to replay the game we’re happy to do that,’ he laughed. 'It didn’t take the shine off for me. Other people can deal with the aftermath of what was a very jubilant crowd on the pitch.' Gabriel Agbonlahor (left) is set to start up front for Villa against Sunderland on Saturday . +She's a pistol! Jennifer Ullery, 40, has been arrested and charged with firing a rifle at a TV in front of her three children . A suburban Chicago woman was arrested after police say she grabbed a rifle and shot at her flat-screen television because she was mad her children were watching too much TV. Jennifer Ullery, a mother of three from Algonquin, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of aggravated reckless discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm without a firearm owner ID card and three counts of child endangerment in connection to the incident that took place back in January. Police learned of the shooting about a month later and responded to the Ullery family's home on Talaga Drive February 9 to investigate. Inside, responding officers said they found a 50-inch Panasonic TV with its screen shattered. Police also recovered a Ruger .22-caliber rifle, which they believe Ullery used to fire at the device, reported Northwest Herald. When interviewed by police, the 40-year-old mother admitted she was upset with her three children - ages 6, 11 and 15 - for indulging in TV-watching. She said she also did not like the program that was on January 20 - a music video by the rock band Primus. Algonquin Deputy Police Chief Andrew Doles said Ullery fired multiple shots at the TV screen as her children were sitting on the couch. Evidence: Police responded to the Ullery family's home in Algonquin, Illinois, where they found a 50-inch Panasonic flat-screen TV with its screen shattered . Jenny, get your gun! Police say Ullery grabbed a Ruger .22-caliber rifle (similar to the one pictured in file photo) and squeezed off several rounds . Following her arrest, the children were placed in the custody of a relative. Ullery was released from jail after posting $1,500 bail. She is due back in court April 20. Algonquin police said they were familiar with the Ullery family from past encounters involving domestic violence claims and custody disputes. Officers were called to the family's home twice in January, and in March 2014 the woman’s estranged husband, 31-year-old Daniel Ullery, was arrested on domestic battery charges. Acquired taste: Ullery told police she didn't like it that her kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, were watching a music video by the rock band Primus (pictured) +Ivan Rakitic says he is happy to fill Sergio Busquets' role as a holding midfielder as Barcelona head into the business end of the season. The Croatian has been used all around the midfield since joining from Sevilla last summer, and looks likely to be used at the base of Barcelona's formation in the coming weeks. Sergio Busquets picked up an injury last week, Javier Mascherano is just one booking away from a suspension, while Andres Iniesta has admitted that he and Xavi no longer function effectively in the same team. Ivan Rakitic (right) is likely to play his part in a more defensive role to cover the injured Sergio Busquets . Barcelona, and star Lionel Messi, face a crucial ten days with games against Manchester City and Real Madrid . Neymar trains in Barcelona ahead of a crucial few days for the Catalan club in two competitions . It means that Rakitic will probably in the central holding role against Eibar this season, and he could make the position his own while Busquets recovers. 'It wouldn't be anything new for me to play in that role,' he said. 'I played there for my country last season. 'It's a different position and it demands different skills, but I know the position very well. Luis Enrique (above) is likely to shuffle his midfield to protect Javier Mascherano from suspension . Barca left back Jordi Alba trains on Thursday as the Spanish side prepared to take on minnows Eibar . Defender Gerard Pique, who will probably be joined again at the back by Jeremy Mathieu, strikes the ball . 'As the pivot you have to cover the defenders who come out with the ball, help them if there isn't an easy way out and watch the backs of the team mates you have in front of you. 'You have to help the team in whatever position you play. The important thing is to be out on the pitch, I want to play every game.' After the trip to Eibar, Barca take a 2-1 lead into their Champions League last 16, second leg at home to Manchester City on Wednesday and host Real in La Liga the following Sunday. +Ben Mee is more concerned with the impact Burnley’s win could have on their bid for Premier League survival than the blow it has dealt to his old club Manchester City. Sale-born Mee captained City to victory in the FA Youth Cup in 2008, just four months before the Abu Dhabi takeover, but was one of a number of youngsters who realised their futures lay elsewhere. Having achieved his Premier League ambitions with Burnley, the 25-year-old left back is desperate to keep them there over the final nine games of the season after a surprise win over the champions. Ben Mee says Burnley deserves a stroke of luck after this tackle was deemed OK by referee Andre Marriner . City right back Pablo Zabaleta clearly disagreed as the penalty should was waved away in his side's 1-0 loss . Mee, with Burnley keeper Tom Heaton, says the win was 'definitely a statement' for his side . ‘We’re still in it as we always have been, but this is definitely a statement,’ said Mee. ‘Teams will be a bit shocked we’ve managed to get three points. City have got a lot to do now. 'I had a couple of mates in the City end and I’m driving two of them home so I’ll enjoy that.’ Mee was relieved that referee Andre Marriner didn’t award a penalty for his challenge on Pablo Zabaleta late in the game. He added: ‘You always worry the referee has seen it from an angle and will give it, but we deserve a bit of luck.’ The left back attempts to console City's Sergio Aguero after the match which ended in a massive upset . Mee, playing against the club he led to the Youth FA Cup, found himself in Marriner's book . +An Ohio fugitive was captured by police after he posted where he was headed for baseball practice on Facebook. Joey Patterson, 22, was wanted on a felony warrant after he violated his probation in a fraud case in Idaho. On Saturday Patterson went on the social media site and invited friends to join him for batting practice at the Armory Softball Field in Boise. Joey Patterson, 22, was captured by police after he posted on Facebook that he planned to practice some baseball batting techniques at the Armory Softball Field in Boise, Ohio . But instead of hitting the dugout, Patterson ended up in a cell after Caldwell police officers arrived on the field to arrest him, according to KTVB-7. He had already been on the run from police for several months before he got caught. Sgt. Joey Hoadley told the station that police often 'keep a close eye' on social media to track down fugitives. 'Surprisingly, even fugitives can't keep from updating their Facebook status,' he said. 'It leads to some great arrests.' Caldwell police officers arrived on the field to arrest him. Patterson was wanted on a felony warrant after violating his probation in an Idaho fraud case . +Andy Murray admitted Great Britain's Davis Cup win over the United States in his native Glasgow had been a 'very emotional' experience after he sealed victory with a straight-sets win over John Isner. Murray overcame some difficult moments in the first set to secure a 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 7-6 (7/4) triumph at the Emirates Arena and line up a World Group quarter-final home tie against France. The 27-year-old had set Britain on the way by taking two sets inside 46 minutes against Donald Young on Friday afternoon but the drama was only just beginning. Andy Murray described leading Great Britain to Davis Cup victory over the United States as 'very emotional' Murray celebrates during his straight sets win over John Isner that clinched the Brits a quarter-final place . British No 1 Murray was pumped up by his home Glasgow crowd as GB secured a 3-1 win over the USA . Murray stretches for a backhand as Isner put up a fight on Sunday in the Davis Cup tie in Scotland . Murray then watched team-mate James Ward come from two sets down to win an epic tussle with world number 20 Isner before his brother Jamie and Dom Ingol came back from a similar position against Mike and Bob Bryan, the best doubles team of all time, only to fall just short in another marathon tie. And Murray was proud to have been part of an effort that repeated Britain's win in San Diego at the same stage last year. The former Wimbledon champion said: 'The effort and attitude of everyone in the team was excellent. I feel we deserved to win because of that. 'Everyone fought extremely hard especially when we were behind in the matches, no-one gave up and everyone played every point extremely hard. 'It's a big win. It means a lot to everyone, all the staff and the players. 'There's a great synergy in the team and that builds the emotion and togetherness. It gives you that extra incentive to perform and fight for every single point. 'I was very emotional the whole weekend. I know the team extremely well, the players and the staff. 'I was proud of them as team-mates and also as friends and my brother of the way they performed and thought in this arena and under that much pressure. All of them did incredibly well. I was proud to be part of their team.' Murray, embracing GB team captain Leon Smith, praised the 'effort and attitude of everyone in the team' Big American Isner fell to Murray after James Ward come from two sets down to beat him in an epic tussle . Murray says he was proud to be part of the GB team and of how they all handled the pressure of the stage . Murray admitted he had felt the pressure a bit too much at the start of the final day's play. He fought off three break points after two double faults to tie the score at 4-4 and then saved three set points in his next service game, producing aces at crucial moments. Big-serving Isner hit 12 aces before the tie-break but some excellent backhand slices gave Murray the advantage and a brilliant lob saw him break in the second set. Murray stayed out of trouble in the third and his mental strength was again on show as he wrapped up the victory. 'I felt a little bit more pressure today to try to close it out and also the way John approached the match made it difficult,' he said. 'I knew James was extremely tired and it would be very tough ask for him to win that match after me. There is real pressure to help your team-mates out. 'He put in such a big effort on Friday that I wanted to finish the tie there and not have to make him go out there and try to win the last point.' Great Britain captain Smith celebrate as their talisman Murray wins a crucial point against World No 20 Isner . Murray also paid tribute to his opponent Isner: 'The way John approached the match made it difficult' Murray produced the right results in points at key moments to overcome the fancied American . Ward won the first set of his dead rubber 7-5 against Young before pulling out early in the second set to make it a 3-2 win for Britain. Ward, who flies to California from London on Monday along with Murray, said: 'My knee hurt so I pulled out and I'm playing on Tuesday in Indian Wells. So I need to get going and I probably wouldn't have made my flight tonight. It was a dead rubber and I'm sure everyone understood the situation.' Isner later took the blame for his country's defeat. 'This one's on me,' he said. 'My team-mates may say otherwise but my loss on Friday put us in a huge hole. It's so, so disappointing for me. 'Beating Andy in this atmosphere, I tried my best, but there are not many people can beat him out there. 'What happened on Friday in my match hurt us. It's going to stick with me for a while. I feel like I let us down. It's a terrible feeling.' Britain will again be at home in the last eight on July 17-19 against France, who beat Germany 3-2 after winning the first three matches including singles triumphs for world top-20 players Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils. Isner took responsibility for the loss saying 'This one's on me' after his loss to Ward . Isner, however, says there were ew players in the world who could have conquered Murray in Glasgow . +From Burnley to Barcelona, the signposts all point to trouble ahead for Manchester City and their beleaguered manager Manuel Pellegrini. It will require his best win as City boss against Barca at the Nou Camp on Wednesday for Pellegrini to save the club’s Champions League dream and, possibly, his job. But City set out for Spain on Monday on the back of a dismal defeat at Turf Moor and a withering assessment of their shortcomings from Burnley’s match-winner George Boyd. George Boyd celebrates his sweet strike that saw Burnley upset Manchester City on Saturday . Burnley's Ben Mee tackles Pablo Zabaleta with the kind of physical presence he says helped them win . The Scot accused the Premier League champions of lacking both the appetite for a physical battle and willingness to track back and defend. It was something Burnley detected when they recovered to draw 2-2 at the Etihad in December and exploited again after analysing City’s defeat at Anfield earlier this month. ‘You saw it recently against Liverpool, they don’t track back as well as they go forward so we knew we could exploit that and we did,’ said Boyd, who scored with the sweetest of strikes after an hour. ‘I think it was playing to our strengths and getting in their faces that got us the win. You find with the bigger teams if you get in amongst them, press them hard and tackle they don’t really like it, and we did that. ‘I don’t think Barcelona will be in their faces as much as us and playing the long balls we play, but I thought we fully deserved the victory. ‘We didn’t think they would play as strong a team with Wednesday in mind, but obviously they came here to win and we were better than them.’ Boyd drills home his left-footed shot for the famous win against a side that goes to Barcelona on Wednesday . City boss Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure although his future will be decided at the close of the season . It is not the first time City’s work ethic has been questioned this season, but there appeared to be a deeper malaise. It was as bad as anything in the post-title slump under Roberto Mancini. They were flat, dull and at times almost uninterested. Everything that Burnley weren’t. Sportsmail’s Jamie Redknapp said it was the kind of performance that gets a manager the sack. No wonder Pellegrini’s agent was touting him to Napoli last week. There won’t be any knee-jerk reactions from City, however, Pellegrini’s performance will be assessed at the end of the season. City prepare to kick off after conceding the first goal at Turf Moor that they were unable to peg back . Edin Dzeko's attempt on goal is blocked by some desperate Burnley defence . The Chilean could yet mastermind a recovery in Barcelona and take City into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, having emerged from the first leg only 2-1 down. But apart from Samir Nasri and Aleksandar Kolarov this was close to the team that Pellegrini is expected to put out at the Nou Camp and they lost to a side battling relegation. Instead of making up ground on Chelsea in the title race, City are now in danger of getting swallowed up in the chase for places in next season’s Champions League and that would test the patience of Pellegrini’s employers. He maintains that the situation is not as bad as the corresponding period last season when City went out of the FA Cup and Champions League in the space of four days, losing at home to Wigan and away to Barcelona. The 61-year-old said: ‘It’s always the case before a big game that maybe the minds are not completely on this game,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think it was a case of them not trying. I don’t think Burnley had any chances to score apart from the free-kick which led to the beautiful goal. ‘Of course we are not doing well. You can see that from the amount of points we have dropped. The only thing I can tell you is that it’s not down to the effort of the players. They want, but maybe they can’t at the moment.’ +Paul Nicholls has set his sights on cracking the £3million prizemoney barrier for the third time in his career after revealing he expects many of his big names to be in action at next month’s Grand National meeting at Aintree. Paul Nicholls will run some of his biggest names at next month's Grant National meeting at Aintree . The man who has his ninth trainer’s title as good as in the bag also revealed he is likely to have more runners during the summer months in an attempt kick-start stable jockey Sam Twiston-Davies’ title challenge in the post-AP McCoy era. Definitely not heading to Aintree are Champion Chase winner Dodging Bullets and Coral Cup victor Aux Ptits Soins, who have run their last races of the season. But Aintree-bound are Silviniaco Conti, a disappointing seventh beind Coneygree in the Gold Cup, as well as World Hurdle second and third Zarkandar and Saphir Du Rheu, with the latter possibly reverting back to steeplechasing. Nicholls’ Grand National challenge is headed by Rocky Creek and Unioniste, whose Denman Chase third when trying to give weight to Gold Cup winner Coneygree at Newbury last month now looks a fair effort. Nicholls, whose double at Kempton on Saturday following his three successes at the Cheltenham Festival took him to 97 winners and £2.63million for the campaign, said: ‘I love going to Aintree and the aim is to crack the £3m in prizemoney. There is a long way to go in the season yet. It would be nice to do that. ‘But there are a lot of horses I will finish now and save for next year. We want to help Sam be champion jockey . Anything a bit below top class could run on through the summer to try to get him as many winners before we properly get going. Silviniaco Conti (right), a disapponting seventh in the Betfrd Gold Cup, will line up at Aintree . ‘Last year we had a very slow start and Sam only had five winners for us by October.’ Whether Silviniaco Conti runs in another Gold Cup has yet to be decided but after a third defeat in the race, Nicholls knows his priority with the gelding will be trying to win a third King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Nicholls, who revealed RSA Chase runner-up Southfield Theatre has underone an operation to prevent infection in the bad leg cut he picked up during the race, added: ’The plan with Silviniaco Conti will be Aintree if he is alright. He likes it there and I have to accept now he is better on a flat track. World Hurdle second place-getter Zarkandar (pictured) and stablemate Saphir Du Rheu will also run . ‘Noel (Fehily) said he didn’t travel well throughout the Gold Cup although watching, it looked like he did. I think Coneygree got a lot of them out of their comfort zone. It is what Denman used to do to them.’ ‘We will have to think about what to do but next season will be built around the Betfair Chase and King George without a shadow of a doubt.’ Meanwhile, although Mark Bradstock-trained Coneygree has run his last race of the season, younger brother Flintham could represent the family in the three-mile novices’ hurdle at the National meeting. : . +The baseball player who lost a staggering amount of weight has piled the pounds back on after discovering he plays worse as a slimmer man. The death of his cousin to heart disease inspired Carsten Charles Sabathia to lose a massive 17kg between October 2013 and March 2014. But the 34-year-old played poorly and many - including himself - believe his skinny figure could not support his towering six-foot, seven-inch frame. So after dropping down to a much healthier 122kg, the Major League baseballer has again ballooned to around 136kg. Before and after: New York Yankees' pitcher CC Sabathia lost 17kg for the 2014 season (left) but piled the pounds back on this year (pictured) The struggle: Sabathia (pictured this year) says the reason he played worse as a skinny man is because he felt 'off balance' Toning up: Sabathia (left) looked in the best shape of his life as he toned up for his wedding to Amber (pictured) in January last year . The New York Yankees pitcher looked in the best shape of his life during on his wedding day in January 2014. Famous for having a more rotund figure, the sportsman showed of his newly toned body in a suit he could not have dreamed of wearing a year before. He said: 'I feel like this is a good weight. I feel a little stronger. I feel my legs under me, being a lot stronger, and being able to push off the mound.' The six-time All-Star put on around 9kg while recovering from a knee injury, and 5kg more over the winter. During his 14-year-career, he has weighed as much as 142kg but the loss of his cousin in 2012 inspired Sabathia to battle his obesity for fear he would suffer the same fate. He said: 'I lost a bunch of weight drastically, pretty quick, two years ago. 'Kind of was off balance and didn't know really how my body was working. So just talking to Dr. Ahmad and to the trainers, I feel like this is a good weight.' Bigger man: The six-time All-Star (right) put on around 9kg while recovering from a knee injury, and 5kg more over the winter . Powerful: He said: 'I feel like this is a good weight. I feel a little stronger. I feel my legs under me, being a lot stronger, and being able to push off the mound' Even a talent spotter noticed the decline in his usually stellar performances when he was a slim pitcher. He told the Boston Globe: 'The weight loss has created a balance problem for him. He's all over the place. 'He's learning how to pitch in that body, a body he's really never had. I don't think there's anything wrong with him other than that. 'Sometimes you pitch at a certain weight all your life and then someone has the brilliant idea that you should lose weight because it's putting stress on your knees, you do it, and then you're dealing with something else.' +Last January, former Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert slammed the FA Cup as a distraction — claiming that most Premier League managers would prefer to avoid the grand old competition. Phil Parkinson of League One Bradford City would probably be inclined to disagree. On Monday night, the Valley Parade side will kick off their 37th cup tie in the last four seasons when they travel to Reading for an FA Cup quarter-final replay. Phil Parkinson has had terrific success in cup competitions with Bradford City in the last four years . Since taking over in August 2011, Parkinson has led his side to an average extra 10 games each campaign as Bradford have reached the Capital One Cup final and enjoyed lengthy runs in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and FA Cup. These exploits have seen them play 37 cup ties on top of their four 46-game league campaigns during Parkinson's tenure — almost an additional Premier League season's worth of fixtures. Bradford have vanquished no fewer than five top-flight sides — Wigan, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland — beaten 14 higher-division teams and won 21, drawn four and lost just 11 ties in total. They also have a 100-per-cent record in penalty shootouts under Parkinson, winning all seven they have contested. Bradford reached the Capital One Cup final in 2013 where they were beaten by Swansea City . And far from sidelining their progress in the league, this rich experience of knockout football helped Bradford win promotion to League One via the play-offs in 2013. Their victory over Northampton at Wembley was their second visit to the national stadium that year after Capital One Cup final defeat to Swansea, and was their 64th game in all competitions. Even if they can't secure a third trip down Wembley Way at the Madjeski Stadium, Bradford are still firmly in the hunt for promotion to the Championship — sitting just three points off sixth place with a game in hand. Perhaps the league and cup can be mutually beneficial after all... The cup pedigree helped Parkinson will promotion with Bradford via the playoffs, reaching League One . 2011-12 (7) - 18th in League Two . JPT round 1: Sheffield Wednesday (League One) (h) D0-0 (won 3-1 on penalties) JPT round 2: Huddersfield (League One) (a) D2-2 (won 4-2 on penalties) JPT area quarter-final: Sheffield United (League One) (a) D1-1 (won 6-5 on penalties) FA Cup round 1: Rochdale (League One) (h) W1-0 . FA Cup round 2: AFC Wimbledon (League Two) (h) W3-1 . JPT area semi-final: Oldham (League One) (a) L0-2 . FA Cup round 3: Watford (Championship) (a) L2-4 . 2012-13 (18) - 7th in League Two (promoted via play-offs) League Cup round 1: Notts County (League One) (a) W1-0 (aet) LC round 2: Watford (Championship) (a) W2-1 . LC round 3: Burton (League Two) (h) W3-2 (aet) JPT round 2: Hartlepool (League One) (a) D0-0 (won 3-2 on penalties)* . LC round 4: Wigan (Premier League) (a) D0-0 (won 4-2 on penalties) FA Cup round 1: Northampton (League Two) (a) D1-1 . FA Cup r1 replay: Northampton (League Two) (h) D3-3 (won 4-2 on penalties) FA Cup round 2: Brentford (League One) (a) D1-1 . JPT area quarter-final: Port Vale (League Two) (a) W2-0 . LC quarter-final: Arsenal (Premier League) (h) D1-1 (won 3-2 on penalties) FA Cup r2 replay: Brentford (League One) (h) L2-4 . LC semi-final first leg: Aston Villa (Premier League) (h) W3-1 . JPT area semi-final: Crewe (League One) (a) L1-4 . LC semi-final second leg: Aston Villa (Premier League) (a) L1-2 . LC final: Swansea (Premier League) (n) L0-5 . League Two play-off semi-final first leg: Burton (h) L2-3 . League Two play-off semi-final second leg: Burton (a) W3-1 . League Two play-off final: Northampton (n) W3-0 *Bradford had a first-round bye . 2013-14 (3) - 11th in League One . LC round 1: Huddersfield (Championship) (a) L1-2 . JPT round 1: Hartlepool (League Two) (a) L0-5 . FA Cup round 1: Rotherham (League One) (a) L0-3 . 2014-15 (12) - currently 9th in League One . LC round 1: Morecambe (League Two) (a) W1-0 . LC round 2: Leeds (Championship) (h) W2-1 . JPT round 1: Oldham (League One) (a) L0-1 . LC round 3: MK Dons (League One) (a) L0-2 . FA Cup round 1: Halifax (Conference) (a) W2-1 . FA Cup round 2: Dartford (Conference) (h) W4-1 . FA Cup round 3: Millwall (Championship) (a) D3-3 . FA Cup r3 replay: Millwall (Championship) (h) W4-0 . FA Cup round 4: Chelsea (Premier League) (a) W4-2 . FA Cup round 5: Sunderland (Premier League) (h) W2-0 . FA Cup round 6: Reading (Championship) (h) D0-0 . FA Cup r6 replay: Reading (Championship) (a) +Spanish paella, pulled pork burger, red velvet cupcakes - These all sound like delicacies from an upscale restaurant not meals for our pooches. But Asia Upward wanted to be quirky and combine her love for food photography with her love for her dogs, and thus the book 'A Dog's World' was born. She told Daily Mail Australia that she wanted to raise the stakes and come up with something quirky that would humour people and wasn't the everyday image. So she substituted humans for dogs. Scroll down for video . Asia Upward has released a book that combines recipes for dogs and photography titles 'A Dog's World' She said she wanted to raise the stakes and come up with something quirky that wasn't the everyday image. Asia has tested out most of her recipes on her 10-year-old Ridgeback cross cattle dog, Bear . 'I am based in Melbourne and what I have noticed is that there is always a new trend, like the pulled-pork fad,' she said. Mash the banana thoroughly. Add all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. Place mixture into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen they are ready to serve. 'I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great to do this for my dog - so I did and then started brainstorming more and more ideas for dog recipes.' Recipes that you will come across in the book range from icy pole bones to winter warming vegetable soup and her personal favourite - red velvet pupcakes. The healthiness of the meal for the dog is paramount to Asia, so with the cupcakes, she uses beetroot to get the deep red colour and sugar-free yogurt for the icing. So as delicious as these meals appear in the images to anyone's eye, they are aimed purely at dogs. 'I actually ate the pulled-pork burger once,' Asia said. 'There is obviously no seasoning in any of the meals, its really simple plain food, so I had to add some relish.' Recipes in the book range from icy pole bones to winter warming vegetable soup and red velvet pupcakes. Asia used Gumtree to source the dogs as she was new to Melbourne and did not know many dog owners . Her inspiration for the book has stemmed from her deep, childhood love for dogs . Asia tested out most of the recipes on her 10-year-old half ridgeback and half cattle dog, Bear. Her mum rescued Bear from the blue mountains when he was 4-weeks-old. He was the runt of a litter of puppies whose mother could not adequately care for them so he has been with Asia ever since. Her inspiration for the book has stemmed from her deep, childhood love for dogs. 'I found a picture of myself when I was three-years-old at my parents house absolutely surrounded by dogs,' she said. 'I didn't have many kids to play with, so I had pets my entire life instead.' Further motivation came when the Melbourne-based photographer was travelling in Sumatra and experienced the strewn mange, disease and dejection of the street dogs. 'I found a picture of myself when I was three-years-old at my parents house absolutely surrounded by dogs' Motivation for the book came when she was travelling in Sumatra and experienced the disease and dejection of the street dogs . Icy pole bones with natural low fat yogurt, 1 banana, peanut butter and honey . Asia is planning another trip to Sri Lanka in September to advocate animal welfare . 'There was a tiny puppy crossing the road in front of the car, skinny and sick so I asked the driver if we could do something and he just laughed at me,' she said. 'It broke my heart.' Chop and brown the beef hearts . Put the browned meat and other ingredients into large pot and bring to boil . Reduce heat once boiling and simmer covered for 30 minutes . Serve at room temperature with brown rice . As soon as Asia returned home she began working on her book and with its release, she aims to raise awareness and funds for Animal SOS Sri Lanka, a charity dedicated to not only rescuing street animals but also educating the people of Sri Lanka in animal welfare. She is planning another trip over there on the 20th of September to help Animal SOS campaign and advertise their strong message. On being asked how she sourced the pooches for the shoot, Asia admitted it was not the most orthodox method. 'Believe it or not, I used Gumtree,' she laughed. 'I was new to Melbourne and didn't know any dog owners so I put an ad up on Gumtree and was taken aback by how many people responded. Asia evidently could not use them all but is keeping everyone in mind for her second book as the characters that she found on set were priceless. 'There was a little French Bulldog who was hilarious, I wanted to get a shot of him looking at the cake but he just launched into it and devoured the entire thing before even looking at it.' +Tim Sherwood wants to use the momentum of his arrival and three wins on the spin to secure Aston Villa's Premier League status 'as soon as possible'. The new boss believes his rejuvenated side will not be in the relegation reckoning come the final weeks of the season but, after the convincing 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland on Saturday, he laughed off the suggestion he could be a Manager of the Year contender were he also to win the FA Cup. 'I wouldn't say that - if you ask me now I'll take survival above everything else,' he said after doubles from Christian Benteke and Gabrial Agbonlahor moved them two places clear of the drop zone. Tim Sherwood wants to use the momentum of his arrival to secure Aston Villa's Premier League status . The former Spurs boss leaps in the air to celebrate Villa's fourth goal in the crushing win at Sunderland . 'We're confident we can stay up and we want to do it as soon as possible really. We don't want to be in those nail-biters at the end of the season. 'We could do with being safe because it isn't great for my heart-rate to be honest. 'But we're going the right way. It's all about getting a bit of momentum and I was convinced that when we won our first game the confidence would flow through the squad and we would continue.' Gabriel Agbonlahor scored twice as Villa condemned Gus Poyet's Black Cats to a 4-0 defeat . +Jordan Spieth won his second PGA Tour title after claiming the Valspar Championship in a play-off with Patrick Reed and Sean O'Hair. The 21-year-old's first tour success came in the 2013 John Deere classic, also on play-off, and he kept his nerve on the third extra hole to put some wind in his sails heading into Masters season. Spieth was just two under for the day at Florida's Innisbrook Resort, compared to Reed's five-under 66 and O'Hair's four-under 67, but after all three made successive pars in the play-off he made the decisive birdie at the par-three 17th. Jordan Spieth celebrates after a birdie putt on the third play-off hole to win the Valspar Championship . Spieth celebrates with his caddie Michael Greller after winning the second PGA title of his career . Patrick Reed lines up a putt on the first green during the final round of the Valspar Championship . Reed had taken the clubhouse lead late in the day when he holed a dramatic birdie putt from 31 feet, with raucous celebrations to follow, but Spieth and O'Hair joined him on 10-under for the tournament to force the three-way shootout. Overnight leader Ryan Moore saw his challenge dissipate with a messy round of one over that included six bogies, eventually finishing in fifth behind the highest-placed European, Henrik Stenson. Harris English pocketed five birdies on the back nine for a day's best 65 but had to make do with a seven-way tie for 10th. Brian Davis, the highest-placed Englishman, was among that group as he finished stronger than more celebrated compatriots Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald. +Ronny Deila secured his first trophy triumph as Celtic manager – then cut short the celebrations by slapping a midnight curfew on his players. Goals from Kris Commons and substitute James Forrest – who also missed a late penalty – secured the Scottish League Cup against 10-man Dundee United. With the sides set to meet for a third time in 10 days in Wednesday’s Scottish Cup replay, however, the Parkhead coach warned his players to forget any notions of a Scott Brown-style blow-out. Ronny Deila hopes to become the third Celtic manager to achieve a domestic treble with The Bhoys . ‘We should enjoy the moment, but there is not going to be any nightlife,’ Deila said, reacting to the furore created by his skipper’s revelry in Edinburgh strip clubs four nights before the final. ‘The players will have a calm night. We will go back to the stadium and have a couple of beers and enjoy it, but it will be early to bed before midnight and be ready for training tomorrow at 1pm.’ Deila then joked: ‘For the staff it’s a little bit longer.’ Despite urging his players to be ‘24-hour athletes’ earlier this season the Norwegian played down the seriousness of the Brown incident, with pictures of the skipper slumped on a pavement plastered over the pages of newspapers. Scott Brown lifts the Scottish League Cup alongside Craig Gordon (right) after a difficult week in the headlines . Insisting there was no question or disciplinary action or dropping the 29-year-old, Deila added: ‘This case, for me, is not a big one. He was home at 10.30. It just looks like he was home at six in the morning. ‘He was drinking, he had a day off the day after. I have no rules about that. I said the players have to be fit – and Scott Brown is the fittest player we have. ‘But we have a reputation to take care of and the way the pictures appeared in the newspaper was nothing for him or me to be proud of. So we have to learn from this. ‘When you play for Celtic everybody chases you and you don’t get the personal time. ‘You have to always know what you are doing. Celtic manager Ronny Deila gets ready to lift the Scottish League Cup with his players on Sunday . ‘This is something everybody has to learn from – but, again, it was not a big issue for me.’ Asked if Brown had apologised, the Parkhead boss added: ‘He was not happy about it, but he didn’t do anything big or harmful for me. ‘It’s not a positive example for youngsters. But Broony has played 60 or 65 matches this year, he had a day off and wanted to be out with his friends. ‘As I said he was home at 10.30pm so it was not a big thing. We will see if he learns in the future but he made up for it today – he played a very good game.’ Keeper Craig Gordon gets the drinks flowing in the dressing room and sprays champagne ast his team-mates . Stefan Johansen was also quick to support his captain with the 29-year-old leading his club to the first leg of what Celtic hope will be a rare treble. And despite admitting it was ;not what you want to see’, Johansen insists his midfield colleague showed his class in Sunday’s 2-0 win. ‘I think Broonie showed what a captain he is today – a captain with a big letter at the front,’ Johansen said. ‘I thought he was absolutely fantastic. He’s 100 per cent in training every day so when that (night out picture) came up I wasn’t concerned, not even a little bit. Celtic manager Ronny Deila urges his side to remain focused as they continue to chase a domestic treble . ‘It’s not what you want to see happening, but it’s happened and you have to move on. But what Scott Brown did today was unbelievable. He showed today what a player he is.’ Deila meantime believes his side fully merited their step towards his target of a domestic treble and said: ‘It is a great feeling. ‘It is good to get a good start when you are the manager in a big club such as Celtic and this was the first trophy we could win. We did it and you get an appetite from this. ‘You want more and I am happy for the boys and proud of them. I think we put in a professional performance. You should really enjoy this moment. John Guidetti (left) celebrates James Forrest's strike for The Hoops as they beat Dundee United . ‘You can never rest on what you have done before. ‘We have talked about the treble many times and it is a dream. It is so tough to do it, but it is possible and the dream is still alive. We have one trophy and we have to be back again on Wednesday if we are to win another cup trophy.’ Deila, meanwhile, insists he knows nothing of reports of a loan deal for Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard during the MLS off-season next January. Amid claims Celtic could help the former England captain keep fit for three months Deila said: ‘No, that’s a new thing to me. That’s a year away until that time and we have to take it day by day instead. But Gerrard is a hero. He is a Liverpool star and best player of all time. It’s a good name, but we will see if that’s possible in January. It’s something you know more about than me.’ The Celtic players celebrate on the podium with the QTS Scottish League Cup after beating Dundee United 2-0 . +Diego Costa may be Chelsea's star striker but he has well and truly misfired in this season's Champions League. Chelsea were knocked out of the last-16 on away goals on Wednesday night after the tie against PSG finished 3-3 on aggregate. And yet again it was another barren night for Costa, who has failed to score a single goal in seven Champions League appearances - a total of eight hours and 28 minutes of action - this season. Diego Costa shows his frustrations during Chelsea's Champions League exit on Wednesday night . PSG defender David Luiz gestures towards Costa during the 2-2 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge . Costa (centre) argues with PSG defender Thiago Silva on a frustrating night for Blues fans . It pales into comparison with the Brazilian-born Spain striker's Premier League goalscoring record of 17 goals in 21 appearances. Costa has averaged 2.4 shots per game in the Premier League, while he could only manage 1.7 in Europe's premier club competition. The 26-year-old's domestic shooting accuracy (shots on target) is 68 per cent, which beats his European figure of 50 per cent. Costa's failure to score in the competition this season is all the more remarkable when you consider how influential he was in Atletico Madrid's run to the final last year. He scored eight goals in nine Champions League appearances last season and finished as the competition's third highest scorer. Costa celebrates after Chelsea go 2-0 up against Spurs in the Capital One Cup final - but it was an own goal . Costa scores Chelsea's third goal in the 5-0 win against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium in January . In general, Costa's cup record for Chelsea has been poor, also failing to score in one FA Cup and three Capital One Cup appearances. Some, including the man himself, have argued that he deserves credit for Chelsea's second goal in their 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup final but it was officially given as a Kyle Walker own goal after a deflection. It aptly sums up his woes for Chelsea in the cup competitions this year. +It was a decade ago that John Terry, who has captained Chelsea 528 times, first learned the tricks of the role under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho. After impressing Mourinho upon inheriting the armband from Marcel Desailly, the manager wanted to see Terry evolve from a very good centre half into a great captain, using his profile to control games and influence decisions in the way Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Alan Shearer did. Like them, Terry proved quite an expert. It is partly why he has been one of English football’s most successful modern captains and why Fabio Capello risked — and lost — his job trying to restore him as England skipper. The Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers at Stamford Bridge as he brandishes the red card . Chelsea captain John Terry (left) reacts after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's tackle on Oscar in the first-half . John Terry (centre) led the protests as he screamed at the referee following Ibrahimovic's first-half challenge . It is also why Mourinho has promised another one-year deal to the defender, who turns 35 this year. Terry understands what his manager wants. This includes turning the heat on officials, as he did on Wednesday against Paris Saint-Germain when he led nine excited team-mates in pursuit of referee Bjorn Kuipers to ensure Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off. Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona knew how to exaggerate fouls, pressure the referee and cultivate their reputation as the team most sinned against. Mourinho and PSG midfielder Thiago Motta discovered this when they were at Inter Milan. No-one can make slight contact appear quite as painful as Sergio Busquets. Chelsea's players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as he sends off Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second right) Chelsea went close up with Barca at times, including the nights when Tom Henning Ovrebo found infamy and Terry was sent off for kicking Alexis Sanchez and banned for the Champions League final. Everyone is at it, as Terry said. Everyone always has been, to some degree. But Chelsea always manage to offend. Even when there is much to admire about them. Graeme Souness claimed it’s ‘not the British way’ but traditional sporting integrity has faded from view. Winning matters more than ever. Managers find ways to do it. Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic grabs Everton's James McCarthy around the neck last month . Chelsea striker Diego Costa (right) stamped on Liverpool's Emre Can during a fiery Capital One Cup clash . Wednesday’s snarling exit from Europe epitomised Chelsea from the first Mourinho era: winning ugly and losing badly. This was one of the issues which drove owner Roman Abramovich and Mourinho apart in the first place. There are differences this time but the defining image of the second leg against PSG is the latest in a series of skirmishes. Last month, Branislav Ivanovic grabbed Everton’s James McCarthy by the throat as Chelsea swarmed around referee Jon Moss in reaction to a tackle by Gareth Barry, which also led to a red card. Both teams were fined £30,000 by the FA for failing to control their players and Chelsea were warned about surrounding the referee. Chelsea striker Diego Costa makes a beeline for Ibrahimovic as the referee raises the red card . Last month, Diego Costa was banned for stamping on Liverpool’s Emre Can during a physical Capital One Cup semi-final. There were flashes last season: two red cards at Aston Villa and touchline eruptions featuring Mourinho and Rui Faria. More recently, Nemanja Matic was dismissed for pushing Ashley Barnes over. The tackle by Barnes was bad and sparked a furious reaction from those in blue, who rushed Martin Atkinson. Ivanovic grabbed his hand to stop him raising the red card. Others deploy such tactics — Angel di Maria was sent off for pulling the referee’s shirt on Monday in a game where Wayne Rooney seemed joined to Michael Oliver — but Chelsea are perhaps the most committed. The Sky Sports pundits were scathing of Chelsea's 'pathetic' behaviour at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday . At the slightest contact in the penalty area, they hit the deck and if the appeals are rejected the ensuing mass protest can feature half-a-dozen people fuming on the touchline. Repeat to build pressure. If there is a fierce tackle, the victim exaggerates the pain, while the team swarm around the referee. Some sprint half the length of the pitch to create panic and cloud the referee’s judgment. Get enough around the ref and he has no idea who said what or who to book. It creates panic. Call it protection for Eden Hazard, who has been kicked a lot. Call it a protection racket. Under Premier League rules Chelsea would probably have been charged with failing to control their players, who constantly surrounded the referee on Wednesday. Fortunately for them, no such action exists under UEFA rules. Jose Mourinho, questioning a decision with the officials, saw his Chelsea side crash out of Europe . The Chelsea squad are left reflecting what might have been after the costly 2-2 draw with PSG . Mourinho muddies it all with his quotability and media strategy, always seeking to gain a small advantage, which can be vital at the rarefied end of European competition where teams are so tightly matched that each big decision is magnified in importance. Perhaps it is a by-product of the arrogance the best teams need, because Arsenal and Manchester United over-stepped the mark when they ruled the roost. Mourinho’s first spell at the Bridge was littered with on-field confrontations and associated fines. He had been sacked but the tone was still set when, in March 2008, Ashley Cole turned his back as he was booked by Mike Riley and the FA rolled out their Respect campaign, intended for the grassroots game, in the Premier League too. It might be time to rekindle the spirit of the Respect campaign, because seven years is a long time in football and unlike the words of wisdom from Mourinho into JT’s shell-like, many of the basic points have been forgotten. Former Blues defender David Luiz roars in celebration after he scored for PSG in the Champions League tie . +Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman, has apologised for the confusion over Fernando Alonso’s condition, and predicted that the Spaniard would race again in Malaysia a fortnight on Sunday. At a dinner in Melbourne ahead of the opening grand prix in Australia this weekend, Dennis set the record straight after saying erroneously that Alonso was not concussed in an accident in testing in Barcelona on February 22. Dennis said: ‘It was not the best performance by me. I understand why the press beat me up - for being inaccurate. I wanted to be open and honest. Ron Dennis apologised for saying Fernando Alonso wasn't concussed when he crashed in testing last month . Italian Alonso had an accident during in testing for McLaren in Barcelona on February 22 . ‘I failed. But it is, as always, my objective to try to be as honest as possible in the future. ‘There are complexities about concussion. It is difficult to quantify, and it goes beyond my area of expertise. It is not my decision whether he will race in Malaysia, but as far as I know he will be there. I have every reason to believe he will be. ‘I spoke to Fernando on the way to this dinner. ‘He wants to race in Malaysia. I hope he does, but it is his decision, not mine.’ Alonso, here being wheeled away from the crash site, says he wants to race in the Malaysian Grand Prix . McLaren boss Dennis relayed Alonso's desire to race a fortnight from Sunday and says it's the driver's choice . Meanwhile Formula One’s penchant for chaos was never better demonstrated than in a bizarre court case unfolding just down the road from the Albert Park track that will host Sunday’s race. At issue is whether a Dutch driver called Giedo van der Garde should drive for Sauber. Subject to an appeal in Melbourne on Thursday, he will win that right - a decision that could even mark the end of Sauber’s participation in the sport after 22 years. This pickle came about after Sauber seemingly reneged on a contract that said Van der Garde would race for them this season. They instead hired two drivers, Brazilian Felipe Nasr and Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, who between them bring £20million to the team. But Van der Garde went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, clutching his contract. Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde has taken Sauber to court claiming his right to drive for the team . They found in his favour, a ruling that was upheld by the Supreme Court of Victoria here on Wednesday. Sauber decided to appeal, the result of which is expected on Thursday. The team’s lawyers argued that - only days away from this weekend’s race - installing a different driver was an unacceptable safety risk. They said the cars had been fitted to the specifications of Nasr and Ericsson. Rodney Garratt QC told the court that the absence of the correct seatbelt meant Van der Garde could not compete safely given the 210mph speed of the cars and g-forces ‘up to five times their bodyweight’. In truth, Sauber’s argument was melodramatic rubbish. Even if they need to make some late changes, why is it less safe to let Van der Garde drive than Roberto Merhi, who was only named as Manor’s driver on Tuesday? Merhi has never driven the Manor car. Nobody has. It only passed its crash test last week. Sauber's Marcus Ericsson (left) and Filipe Nasr wait to se if they will drive in Melbourne this weekend . And Van Der Garde, 29, was even Sauber’s test driver last year. They know his measurements. No, Sauber cannot afford to drop Nasr, who is backed by Banco do Brasil, or Ericsson, who brings in a sponsorship package worth £10million. Much of the pair’s money has been paid up front. Those backers would not react kindly to being told their man is suddenly out of a job. One solution would be Van der Garde agreeing to receive compensation, but it is said he would prefer to get the drive rather than the money. However, even this is illogical because without Sauber’s two high-paying drivers the whole team could be forced into administration, meaning therefore, he would have nobody to drive for. +After being knocked out of the Champions League, Chelsea have just 11 games left this campaign with all eyes geared towards the Premier League title. Although five points clear, some chinks in Jose Mourinho's side's armour were bared for the world to see on Wednesday. Here, Sportsmail lays out five things the Portuguese manager must do to end the season in style. Rediscover the attacking flow . Anyone watching the limp defensive display against Paris Saint-Germain would find it hard to remember, but for the first half of the season, Chelsea were breathtaking. The creative hub of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Cesc Fabregas, the fearsome Diego Costa in full, free-scoring behemoth mode up front, glued together with the tireless Nemanja Matic and a rock-solid back four. Chelsea need to rediscover the attacking form that saw Eden Hazard as the league's best creative force . Diego Costa nets Chelsea's third in a demolition at Swansea that showcased the side's attacking brilliance . Take the departed Andre Schurrle’s goal at Burnley in the season opener, Fabregas’s strike at Crystal Palace, any of the five netted at Swansea… it seemed the Blues had finally meshed typical Mourinho steel with the beautiful attacking craved by Roman Abramovich. Mar 15 - Southampton (H) Mar 22 - Hull (A) Apr 04 - Stoke (H) Apr 12 - QPR (A) Apr 18 - Manchester United (H) Apr 26 - Arsenal (A) Apr 29 - Leicester City (A) May 02 - Crystal Palace (H) May 16 - West Brom (A) May 24 - Sunderland (H) In recent weeks, however, Mourinho has reverted to defensive type – to the side’s downfall against 10-man PSG. With a host of winnable games left among the remaining Premier League matches, putting a few teams to the sword in style would do wonders for confidence in the home straight. Use the whole squad . Mourinho has used just 22 players in the league this season – fewer than any other team. The boss would point to being five points clear at the division’s summit as justification, but the stars of the side being tired out leads to displays like Wednesday’s. Felipe Luis and Loic Remy must have envisaged getting more playing time when moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer, while Juan Cuadrado would hope to have made more of an impact in his two months. The likes of Oscar and Fabregas, in particular, have been noticeably poorer as the season has progressed. Use of the whole squad is key at the top level, and something Mourinho has mastered at all his previous clubs. If he doesn’t trust the players below the first XI, expect changes this summer. While he has less games left than he would have liked, Mourinho must utilise everyone at his disposal to keep the side fresh in the run-in. Loic Remy may be wondering why he has had so little game-time since arriving at Stamford Bridge . Juan Cuadrado has found chances hard to come by since arriving in January from Fiorentina . Give Petr Cech a proper swansong . Thibaut Courtois can be Chelsea’s goalkeeper for the next decade. One of the most highly-rated keepers in Europe, his extended loan at Atletico Madrid prepared him for a long career in London. It would follow that we are in the final moments of Petr Cech’s sublime stewardship between the posts. However, the distinction between first and second choice has become far more blurred as the season has progressed. Thibaut Courtois has started to struggle to deal with crosses whipped into the box, leading to goals conceded . Courtois, while one of the world’s finest shot-stoppers, has had trouble claiming crosses and showing authority in the box. Against PSG, he pulled off a terrific stop only to fail to come for the resulting corner. He has time to develop into the role. For now, however, Mourinho must reinstall Cech as undisputed No 1. He has performed in every big game when called upon this season, knows what it takes to win the league, and has the experience required to guide the defence through the last 11 fixtures. Petr Cech has impressed whenever called into the No 1 role after manning the Chelsea gloves for 10 years . Cech (left) knows what it takes to win the title at Chelsea, here celebrating in 2005 with his team-mates . Reclaim the midfield… by giving Fabregas a rest . When Fabregas left Barcelona in the summer, the Catalan club’s official website bemoaned his performances tailing off in the second half of the season. While this may have been a little facetious, his maiden campaign at Stamford Bridge would appear to prove them correct. The midfielder has been poor since the turn of the year, at least. Cesc Fabregas, battling Marco Verratti, has not been firing on all cylinders since Christmas . Particularly in upcoming fixtures against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, Mourinho could do with the frenetic presence of Ramires, a repositioned Kurt Zouma or even the young Nathan Ake to add more physical and defensive presence in midfield. Chelsea’s midfield, with the Spaniard at the helm, completely failed to make the extra man count against PSG. Unless Fabregas can prove he is as useful in central midfield against a top side as he is while carving up Swansea or Schalke, he may lose the manager’s faith when it comes to the crunch. Cut out the madness . Every back page in the country on Thursday morning showed Chelsea players surrounding the referee before being dumped out of Europe. It wasn’t the first time Blues fans woke up to see their team being discussed for the wrong reasons this season. Chelsea players surround the referee before Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off during the hot-tempered affair . Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill and Diego Costa have all sparked nationwide debates with on-pitch antics, while Mourinho’s famed siege mentality has manifested itself in fairly ugly ways as the campaign has progressed. In these remaining 11 matches, Chelsea need to do what they do best – win, with minimum fuss. On form they’re the best team in the country by some distance, so they need to remove the histrionics and resume being plastered over the papers for the right reasons. Diego Costa has been more noticeable for his physical play and histrionics than his goalscoring ability . +Giedo van der Garde stands on the brink of driving in this weekend's Australian Grand Prix after Sauber suffered another defeat in their legal battle with the Dutchman. Van der Garde was axed by Sauber from his role as test driver at the end of last year as the Swiss-based marque employed Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. But, with a contract from the team stating he was to be given a full-time seat for this season, Van der Garde has pursued Sauber through the courts these past few weeks. Giedo van der Garde, outside the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday, has charged Sauber with reneging on a deal to give him a race seat after they signed Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr . An arbitration panel in Switzerland initially ordered Sauber 'to refrain from taking action' that would deny Van der Garde a drive. That decision was then upheld on Wednesday by the Supreme Court in Victoria, Australia, following a hearing on Monday. Although Sauber immediately launched an appeal, that has now been rejected following the latest hearing on Thursday. At present, Van der Garde is now pursuing an enforcement of the order to ensure Sauber comply, which would result in the 29-year-old taking part in first practice from 12.30pm local time on Friday. Sauber are now left with three drivers; Van der Garde, Marcus Ericsson (left) and Felipe Nasr (right) For Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, she has three drivers on her books, but only two seats available. Should Kaltenborn ignore the ruling and opt to continue with Ericsson and Nasr she and the team could find themselves in contempt of court. In pursuing the enforcement in a separate hearing and in front of a different judge less than an hour after the appeal verdict was handed down, van der Garde's lawyer called for the potential sequestration of Sauber's assets and committal of its directors if the team failed to comply. Sauber have since been asked to provide a list of those assets, which includes their cars and equipment at Melbourne's Albert Park in place for the race. Court proceedings are due to continue at 10.30am local time (11.30pm UK), just two hours before the start of first practice. Sauber's failure to comply could result in the sequestration of their assets, and the possibility of action being taken against Kaltenborn given her position as a director. For his part, Van der Garde is also attempting to acquire a valid and temporary super licence - required for any driver to compete in F1 - as the one in place for last season has since expired. The 29-year-old must do so through his local motor-racing authority in Holland, who in turn contact world governing body, the FIA. Van der Garde had said he was looking forward to going back to the team and driving for them this weekend . Felipe Massa has praised Van der Garde's actions, claiming 'it is a good thing for all drivers' Speaking outside court, Van der Garde said: 'Sauber has to work with us now. There is no other issue. I'm also confident the super licence can be fast-tracked.' Former Sauber driver Felipe Massa, now with Williams, speaking ahead of the appeal verdict, believes Van der Garde had taken the correct steps to pursue his case via the legal system. Massa, speaking in the paddock at Melbourne's Albert Park, said: 'It shouldn't be the way people should be treating drivers. They should respect drivers. 'A driver can be quite powerful. We are working here, we need the work, the career, so it's not fair when people treat you the way he has been treated. It doesn't matter if you are a driver or an engineer. 'Everyone should be treated fairly, and if there is a contract then that should be respected because there are rules and they have to be followed. 'Sometimes you hear stories in F1 of drivers having a contract with a team and they just get kicked out, or drivers who are owed money. 'Giedo is a good example. Drivers should stand up for their rights, so I see it as a good thing for all drivers, but also anyone in F1 as they should be treated the same as any worker in the world.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +There was something unwholesome about the way Cesc Fabregas’ romance with Barcelona ended. Perhaps breaking such a bond required a greater explanation, hence the story on the club’s website last summer that was really quite damning and unique in its detail. The post read: ‘Despite glowing starts to each campaign, Cesc’s contributions to the cause gradually decreased as each season drew to a close. ‘From being someone who joined in with the attack, supplying and scoring goals, the magic tended to fade later on in each season. He only scored one, six and one goals in the last 24 games of each season. Cesc Fabregas (left) has a history of going quiet during the second half of the season in terms of goals . ‘For some reason, he was never as good in the second half of a season as in the first.’ To apply some context, such statements usually run to a confirmation that a player has left. If a club is feeling particularly venomous, it might omit the part where a player is thanked for his contribution. Maybe the close relationship with Fabregas, the prodigal son who returned and then left for again, meant they felt compelled to explain the step of letting him join Chelsea for £30million. The talented playmaker had a blistering start to the season and has racked up 15 assists despite his slump . But whatever the motive, there was a deep and intriguing point in the message. Barcelona had spotted a real trend and the rational among Chelsea’s fans are probably starting to see it. That’s not to overreact and criticise a player who has arguably had the greatest impact on Chelsea’s title push. Fabregas has been magnificent, a deep-lying playmaker (usually) who has the engine to roam, the sense to dictate tempo and the guile to create. First half v Second half of the season . 09-10: 19 v 9 . 10-11: 9 v 5 . 11-12: 13 v 4 . 13-14: 16 v 5 . 14-15: 15 v 2 . His number of assists is astonishing – 15 in the Premier League, which is seven more than his next domestic rival. Alongside Nemanja Matic, Chelsea have a legitimately world-class midfield platform. But on Wednesday night Fabregas looked flat. A subjective view, certainly, but the numbers are showing the return of a curious pattern. He has neither scored nor assisted in his past nine games in all competitions, seven of which were starts. His last assist was against Swansea on January 17. His previous longest run without a goal or assist this season was two. The former Barcelona man suffered the fate at Barcelona during his time there before he was sold to Chelsea . That is not to say he is playing badly in this spell. Far from it. He was poor when he came on against Bradford in the FA Cup and was off the pace in the league game against Burnley, but generally has been among Chelsea’s best performers. And yet the incision is not what it was. Looking at league figures alone, he managed 15 goals or assists in the first half of the season and has so far scored or created only two in the second half. It is a trend that goes back all the way to the 2009-10 season, Fabregas’s penultimate campaign at Arsenal, when his respective figures were 19 and nine. In 2010-11 they were nine and five and in 2011-12, his first back at Barcelona, he scored or created 13 in the first half of the season and four on the stretch. Fabregas clashes with Blaise Matuidi during a night of frustration in the Champions League in London . Last season, it was even more pronounced – 16 going out and five coming back in. It is a mystery, not least because it would be unfair to conclude he is in poor form. But he is less incisive, regardless of whether it is for individual or team reasons. Certainly, his role within the side has tended to change at times recently, with Jose Mourinho occasionally switching between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3. And there has also been a more restrained manner in how the team is playing, perhaps because there is a greater emphasis on protecting what they have in the league rather chasing a bigger advantage. In any case, the numbers make interesting reading for the player. He certainly won’t thank Barcelona for flagging it up. The Spanish international is setting a trend and began to show signs of flagging during his time at Arsenal . +John Terry has launched an extraordinary defence of Chelsea's bully-boy tactics. Nine Chelsea stars - including captain Terry - surrounded the referee to successfully get Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off for a lunge on Oscar in their Champions League defeat. But Terry has attempted to excuse the players' behaviour and insisted it was simply retaliation for PSG's antics. Chelsea's players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as he sends off Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second right) in the first half of the Blues' defeat . John Terry (centre) led the protests as he screamed at the referee following Ibrahimovic's first-half challenge in the second leg clash . The referee is almost completely hidden from view as the Chelsea players make their case as they gained an early advantage . He said: 'If I have to run 20, 30 yards, it doesn't look great but when you're standing back and seeing five or six of their players surrounding the ref, for me I think I support my team-mates. 'And once I go, four or five go with me. It doesn't look good at all but that's part of the game. We'll match it if people want to mix it, that's part of our game as well. 'There was an awful lot going on but ‎I don't think anyone got caught up in it. 'Once they're charging the ref, the only thing we can do is respond. You can't as a group of players let them surround the ref, trying to get our players booked.' Ibrahimovic's challenge on Chelsea midfielder Oscar which earned the striker a red card many perceived to be harsh . Ibrahimovic holds his hands up after the challenge as the Chelsea players begin their protests which later drew criticism . Chelsea striker Diego Costa makes a beeline for Ibrahimovic as the referee raises the red card to send the Swede for an early bath . Terry also hit back at critics who accused Chelsea players of behaving badly as they crashed out of the Champions League. Ibrahimovic branded them 'babies' for their reaction to his tackle on Oscar which persuaded Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers to send him off half an hour into the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. On TV, Jamie Carragher called the pressure they put on the officials 'disgraceful' and said it came from manager Jose Mourinho, while Graeme Souness said Oscar's play acting was 'pathetic'. 'Coming from them?', was Terry's initial response. The Chelsea captain added: 'I don't want to get involved in a row but as a group it's difficult. It's there and you have to stick up for your team-mates. 'The fans want to see that and that's the same with every side. Every other side is as bad as each other. It's part of the game. It's maybe an excuse they're looking for but certainly not from our point.' It made for a disappointing night for Mourinho's players, dumped out on away goals despite leading twice and left to focus on the title race. Ibrahimovic called Chelsea 'babies' for their reaction to the challenge which led to his dismissal but he has the last laugh as PSG progressed . Sportsmail columnist and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said the pressure Chelsea put on the referee was 'disgraceful' Carragher, Thierry Henry (centre) and Graeme Souness disect Chelsea's exit from the Champions League on Sky Sports . Terry said: 'We have to pick ourselves up and go again at the weekend now. We've got another big game against a very good Southampton side. 'We've got the Capital One Cup in the pocket and the Premier League is a massive one to go for. We're a few points clear and we need to keep that gap and maintain it. We can only do that by responding and doing that the right way and coming back here and picking up three points. 'The manager said then if we can win the Capital One Cup and the Premier League, it will be a very successful year. There is an awful lot to do but it's in our hands and we have to respond. We've got four or five days until Sunday's game. '[We will have a] couple of days warm down, train and then pick ourselves right back up. As a group of players, there's enough experience in the squad to rally round and get everyone going again.' There will be no English teams in the last eight of the Champions League unless Arsenal or Manchester City can overturn first leg defeats next week in Monaco and Barcelona respectively. Terry said: 'We've had our fair share of maintaining interest for English sides in the competition over the years. It's disappointing to go out early. It's different for us, we're normally in the hat for the next round for sure but from the club's point a view and the players and the fans, we're obviously really disappointed. 'They probably deserved the win and going down to 10 they were probably the better side as well. So I wish them good luck and we regroup and go again in this competition next season.' PSG captain Thiago Silva sends a looping header beyond Thibaut Courtois to send the French side into the quarter-finals . Former Chelsea player David Luiz celebrates at the final whistle as his PSG side reached the last eight of the Champions League . +Romelu Lukaku said Everton are the favourites in their Europa League clash with Dynamo Kiev after winning their Europa League last 16 first leg 2-1. The Belgian's penalty secured the win, with Steven Naismith having cancelled out Oleg Gusev's opener. 'Yeah, definitely,' Lukaku said when asked by ITV Sport if his side were favourites. Everton striker Romelu Lukaku believes they are favourites in their Europa League last 16 tie vs Dynamo Kiev . Lukaku scored the winner from the penalty spot on 82 minutes to give Everton a first leg 2-1 to take to Kiev . 'It's going to be difficult over there. 'We are happy with the performance, we worked well after the first half and were unlucky to concede. We reacted well, kept going and could have scored three goals to be safe. 'We now focus on the league where we're not doing so well.' Manager Roberto Martinez said: 'We started edgy and there was anxiety and we were cagey, but we were playing a good side. 'We scored a very good goal, and then you saw momentum carrying us through. 'This is very pleasing as we kept Dynamo very quiet. We are now looking forward to the second leg, we have travelled very well as the fans allow us to be ourselves.' Everton boss Roberto Martinez was pleased at his side's response following an 'edgy' opening by his side . +Eight-time grand slam champion Andre Agassi believes American men's tennis has to 'regroup at grass roots level' if it ever wants to boast a world number one again. The United States take on Great Britain in the Davis Cup in Glasgow this weekend, hoping to avenge last year's 3-1 defeat in San Diego. World number five Andy Murray will lead the charge for Britain and goes into the first-round World Group tie as the stand-out singles player, with America's John Isner and Donald Young ranked only 20th and 47th respectively. USA legend Andre Agassi (pictured in 2009) says America must 'regroup' its grass roots tennis set-up . World number five Andy Murray will lead the line for Great Britain at the Davis Cup this coming weekend . USA's Donald Young stretches to return a shot to Ivo Karlovic during the Delray Beach Open on February 22 . John Isner of the United States plays a backhand during his third-round match at the Australian Open 2015 . It is a far cry from the days of Agassi, who lifted the Davis Cup in 1990, 1992 and 1995 alongside the likes of seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras and four-time major winner Jim Courier. The last time America produced a male grand slam winner was 2003, when Agassi won the Australian Open and Andy Roddick triumphed in Flushing Meadows. 'Being the next Andy Roddick or the next Andre Agassi will still leave you shy of winning tournaments these days. That's the truth,' Agassi told Press Association Sport. 'Will we ever have a number one player again? That's achievable, of course it is, but the four guys at the top now - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray - they have redefined what this sport is all about over the last 10 years. 'You need something unique these days to make inroads, especially growing up in a country that doesn't have red clay courts. American tennis great Pete Sampras won the Wimbledon championship seven times during his career . Agassi has singled out Switzerland's Roger Federer as one of the 'four guys at the top now' He has also placed Serbia's Novak Djokovic on that list, pictured here at the Dubaio Duty Free Championships . Spain's Rafael Nadal returns a ball against Argentine Juan Monaco during the final of the ATP Buenos Aires . 'I don't know where Andy spent his childhood playing (he spent time in Spain as a teenager) but he plays the game like he wasn't just playing indoors. 'We don't have that in America. We have a lot of fast court players and the ones who do shine are the ones who bring a different equation. 'Isner, for example, is a monster, he's 6ft 10 plus with a huge game, so we have to regroup at a grass roots level.' Despite a shock defeat to 18-year-old Borna Coric in Dubai last week, Murray will be expected to win both his singles matches in Glasgow. That means the tie could depend on the doubles rubber, where Andy and Jamie Murray are set to face American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful duo of all time. American duo Bob (left) and Mike Bryan are set to come up against Great Britain's Jamie and Andy Murray . 'It's a tough ask for both teams because there's very little that separates it,' Agassi said. 'We have a big advantage in our doubles but you guys have a huge advantage with Murray. 'People think he's coming off a bad loss but I've got news for you; he's going to be ready to go in a week and he's going to be playing his best tennis in front of a home crowd. 'I hope we can get over the finishing line and I'll have my fingers crossed like the rest of us.' Agassi has previously admitted an interest in a coaching career and is even considered a potential mentor for Murray, who idolised the American as a junior. 'I enjoy the idea of coaching but I wouldn't physically, emotionally and mentally be able to do the job that I would want to do,' Agassi said. 'You can't just step in and give advice. Coaching isn't talking, it's learning. 'The things I say about Andy are not going to be a surprise to him. 'It's finding out what that switch is, it's getting them to see something a different way and you can't do that until you spend time and learn with them. 'I can't commit the time now, even if I wanted to, I have too many responsibilities. 'That doesn't mean there wouldn't be a time in the future, but I can't do it at the moment.' Agassi is tipping Murray to recover from his shock loss to Borna Coric and perform well at the Davis Cup . +Police have arrested a man after he was found just metres from the Lindt Cafe in Sydney's Martin place, reportedly with a replica gun. Officers were called to the CBD after a number of witnesses reported seeing a man wielding a firearm. The man's backpack and pockets were searched, and witnesses said police were demanding to know where the gun was hidden ,9News reported. Scroll down for video . Police have arrested a man who allegedly had a replica firearm at Martin Place in Sydney on Sunday . Officers are said to have discovered the fake weapon in a plastic bag (pictured) A replica firearm was then apparently discovered inside a plastic bag, and the man was taken into custody. The man was found just a few hundred metres from the Lindt Cafe, where a crazed gunman held more than a dozen hostages over 16 hours last December. The Cafe reopened last week, fitted with two plaques commemorate the lives of Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson who were tragically killed. The man was taken into custody after the discovery of the replica weapon . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +A 25-year-old man has been arrested after a mother found him naked in her 10-year-old son's bed. Ernest Reed Johnson was picked up by police in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Sunday morning after officers responded to a burglary call. They arrived at the residence at 4am when the distressed woman told him she had found the intruder lying next to her boy. Ernest Reed Johnson was picked up by police in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Sunday morning after officers responded to a burglary call. A woman said she found him naked in bed with her 10-year-old son . When he was spotted he jumped out of the window he had broken in through, WPTV reported. Johnson managed to escape and was on the run for just over four hours. However the police K9 unit managed to track him down nearby, and he was detained. Johnson was then booked into jail and charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, burglary of an occupied dwelling and possession of burglary tools. He does not appear to be on any sex offender's register. The 25-year-old managed to escape through the window he used to break in, but was tracked down in the area (pictured) by the K9 unit four hours later . +Fabrice Muamba is taking initial steps to become a coach after putting on sessions at Liverpool. Muamba, 26, retired from football after collapsing on the pitch following a cardiac arrest during Bolton’s FA Cup game away to Tottenham in March 2012. He is now taking his coaching badges and has been invited to help out at Liverpool. Former Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba is working at Liverpool as he attempts to get his coaching badges . Muamba's career was cut short when he suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch in March 2012 . Coach Of Liverpool U21s Michael Beale said: 'Fabrice came in to do a talk for the Premier League about his situation and how he progressed from a young player right through to recovering from his near-fatal accident. 'I was so taken aback by Fabrice’s enthusiasm and I spoke with him. Fabrice is friends with our physio, Andy Renshaw, from his Bolton days and he is starting his coaching badges. 'We invited Fabrice in and his personality has lit up the Academy in the days that he comes in, and he was with us this week watching our Chelsea game.' Muamba received support from football fans all over the country, including at Liverpool . +These spectacular snaps show winter is well and truly on its way out as spring sunshine beams across America's National Parks. From the first water flowing through the Smoky Mountains to sunlight bouncing off the Grand Canyon each shot is shrouded in beauty. In other breath-taking scenes Cherry Blossom trees bloom at The National Mall while bears come out to play at Delaware Water Gap. Vibrant blue: This lush photo of the Grand Canyon by Carl Beams show winter is well and truly on its way out as spring sunshine beams across America's gorgeous and colorful National Parks . Sunset: This picture of Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes by Ian Shive is a perfect capture of a beautiful sunset and was selected by the U.S. Department of Interior as one of the best spring photos taken in recent years . Sunflowers : Grand Teton National Park's yellow sunflowers photographed by Kate Garibaldi is an homage to flowers blooming . Moss: This photo of the The Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Barry Pettis is a breathtaking forest view in springtime . Layers: The Grand Canyon National Park photographed by Weston Shirey brilliantly shows the magnanimous and layered canons . Each image has been selected by the U.S. Department of the Interior as the best spring shots taken over recent years to the present day. The DOI - the agency which protects American land, water and wildlife - has become a huge hit since they first shared photos on Instagram. This week they are set to hit half-a-million followers on the popular photo sharing site on their page @USInterior. Tim Fullerton, Director of Digital Strategy, said: 'Spring on America's public lands is amazing. 'As winter weather gives way to longer, warmer days, our national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands come alive with fields of wildflowers and wildlife. 'It makes for some beautiful photos - all of which we feature on Interior's Instagram account.' Beary cute!: Two black bear cubs in tree at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area pictured by Keith Frerichs show that the hibernation of Winter is over and that Spring is on its way . Nature everywhere: Tropical vegetaion adorns the Spanish architecture at the Las Brisas Best Western Resort in Palm Springs California . Misty river: Handies Peak in Colorado photographed by Bob Wick is a beatiful portrait of a misty river flowing over rocks . Natural wonder: Yosemite National Park photographed by Douglas Croft shows the beauty of the park's natural wonders in the spring . Bleeding sunset: Joshua Tree National Park photographed by Manish Mamtani shows the spectacular sunset at one of the nation's most beautiful destinations during the most beautiful time of the year . +For many dads out there, they dream of their son making it as a professional footballer. But while this has its undoubted challenges, getting your child to support the same football team is surely a must. In this hilarious video, a young father perches his son on his knee, and begins a chant in honour of his favourite team - Nottingham Forest. After a reluctant start, 10-month-old Joshua soon throws himself into his father's Nottingham Forest chant . The toddler is well trained it seems, and almost as if he is on the terraces himself, he joins in with the actions football fans everywhere will recognise. The father shouts out 'Forest,' in reference to the Nottinghamshire club who play their football in Sky Bet Championship. At this point 10-month old Joshua raises his hands in the air. 'Come on you boys in red,' continues the father, which is met by the blonde-haired child clapping his hands together. The actions are met with a wide smile and attempts at copying his father's chants. With a cheeky smile, Joshua shows he is well on the way to following the Championship club . The man seated then shouts 'Nottingham's red and white' on two occasions, but the toddler's exertions appear to have tired him out, and he holds his hands behind his head. Nottingham Forest are sitting ten points of a play-off place in the Championship, and facing a tall order to reach the promised land of the Premier League. Maybe when he's older, Joshua might get to see Forest taking on the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. +Life in the fast lane: B2C's Nick Sayer on a £17,000 Harley-Davidson . The data Del Boy . Posing on a £17,000 Harley-Davidson, Nick Sayer soaks up the winter sun outside his holiday home in Florida. It is one of several shots of motorbikes, supercars and lavish holidays he has posted online in recent years…to the delight of his friends. For while pensioners are targeted every day by cold callers, the man who sold their personal data is apparently relishing the spoils. B2C director Sayer – who is nicknamed Del Boy – is among a group of bosses at the firm who have got rich quick by selling people’s most personal information. The 45-year-old father-of-two says he carries out his business from a ‘man cave’ in the garden of his home in Kent. He began his working life as a diver on oil rigs in Azerbaijan, before, he claims, he was set up in business by a Greek shipping billionaire. They ran a commercial diving company before he decided to make money for himself by selling personal data with a series of companies, most of which have been dissolved or liquidated. ‘For years I was called “oh, you’re just a Del Boy”,’ he said. ‘I work from home, I’ve got a little log cabin thing out in me garden, that’s where I kind of base me-self. ‘I don’t like being in the house, I just go out there. It’s a bit of a man cave really.’ While his garden office may be modest, Sayer’s other tastes are much more ostentatious. His Facebook page shows off images of nine sports cars as well as pictures of him skiing in Banff, Canada. Scroll down for video . The British-built TVR Tuscan Speed Six sports car which he pictures on a drive on his profile costs up to £50,000 and boasts a top speed of 180mph. The Harley-Davidson Road King motorbike he is seen on in one image costs £17,595 new. Sayer regularly holidays with his family at his villa in Kissimmee, Florida, which they rent out for £600 a week. The home has a games room, swimming pool and spa, five bedrooms and four bathrooms, all ‘fitted with luxury furnishings’. B2C director Sayer – who is nicknamed Del Boy and owns a five-bedroom holiday home in Florida (pictured) – is among a group of bosses at the firm who have got rich quick by selling people’s most personal information . Luxury: Sayer's Flordia home has a games room, swimming pool and spa, five bedrooms and four bathrooms . The fake cash fraudster . Also trading in people’s personal information for B2C is convicted fraudster Gary Doran, 36, who wanted the Mail’s undercover team to pay Sayer off the books. The Mancunian, who now lives in Marbella, was jailed for six months for fraud in 2004 for trying to use two fake £10 notes to buy vodka. A 23-year-old student at Manchester Metropolitan University at the time, he tried to buy drink with the fake money at the Queen of Hearts pub in Fallowfield. The barmaid rejected the notes and the police were called, later finding him with 15 other fake bank notes. After serving time in jail, he has since run several failing businesses with his father and brother from their family home in Manchester. Most recently, as sales director of B2C Data, he asked an undercover reporter from the Mail to buy data off the books as a ‘favour to a friend’. He wanted the money to be paid directly into Sayer’s personal account, as a way of avoiding tax. Sporting life: The 180mph British-built TVR Tuscan Speed Six sports car on the Sayer's Facebook page . Jet-setting boss who said he knew nothing . B2C owner Stephen Hogg insists his firm ‘do everything completely, totally and utterly by the book’. The jet-setting golfer was, however, completely oblivious to his staff offering to sell data tax free through their own accounts. He even had no idea Doran had previously served time for fraud. The 46-year-old lives with his wife Sarah, 43, and their children in a £400,000 five-bedroom house in Rushden, Northamptonshire. Last week, there were three cars on the driveway outside the large home in a secluded cul-de-sac. Hogg appears to have spent much of the past month playing golf at clubs across Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. He and his wife also go online to boast of their holidays to Portugal and Australia. ‘Holidays, bar, golf and no diet!, he wrote during one of his travels. The couple, who have two children, started B2C Data just three months after his previous data company Unique Prospects was dissolved. He said he has also shut another firm down in the past after ‘certain allegations’, before insisting ‘that wasn’t my company by the way’. When approached by the Mail about B2C’s activities, Hogg said: ‘We are a member of the ICO [Information Commissioner’s Office], and DMA [Direct Marketing Association]. We do everything correctly.’ When told his employees had offered to sell his company’s data off the books and that Doran is a convicted fraudster, he added: ‘You’ve just made me aware of two things that I need to go and talk to people about.’ He described B2C Data as ‘a legitimate business’ working within the law. Cold callers use a wide range of tricks to obtain people's personal data (picture posed by model) Will writing: Pensioners are often targeted by callers who offer will writing advice on the cheap. This is often a ploy to gain your trust and access as many personal details – including about your finances – as possible. The firms then try to sell high risk investments as ‘add-ons’. Charity surveys: A homeowner is called and asked to complete a survey for charity. They are told if they answer a certain number of questions, a pre-selected charity will be paid £10 or so – so many kind-hearted people naturally agree. However, all the answers are collated and sold on. ‘Validating’ your details: Marketing firms will call customers of a major brand and claim they need to ‘validate’ the details they hold. After asking the customer to confirm their name, address and phone number, however, many will go on to try to get you to complete a ‘lifestyle survey’. These questions are, in fact, sponsored by various other companies and details are sold on. Soft questions: Watch out for surveys starting with ‘easy’ questions. One firm admitted it starts surveys with questions anyone would answer – like do you have a television? Only later do the questions become more intrusive – about your earnings and the worth of your home. Computer updates: Scammers try to hack into PCs by pretending to be from Microsoft. Following their ‘updating’ instructions can allow them to take control of the computer remotely and capture personal data. No call lists: The telephone preference list, which should block cold callers, is a free service. Some firms will, however, try to charge you as much as £1.60 a month. Shares: With your financial details on file, some cold calling firms are able to see which companies you have shares in. As a result, scammers can pretend to be calling from the companies you have invested in and try to convince the homeowner to pass on more financial details. Prizes: Once they have your details, scammers are able to send you misleading letters saying you have won large cash prizes. There are often hidden costs in claiming this supposed prize, like making you call premium rate phone numbers. +He has been accused of using corporate jargon where normal language would do. And it seems the similarities between BBC executive Alan Yentob and the corporation’s self-mocking comedy W1A don’t end there. On Saturday, creative director Mr Yentob bore an uncanny resemblance to the 2014 series’ character Ian Fletcher – the broadcaster’s fictional ‘Head of Values’ played by Hugh Bonneville. Scroll down for video . Mocked: BBC creative director Alan Yentob (left), who earns £330,000 a year, was compared to Hugh Bonneville's character in W1A (right) He was seen in London folding away his Brompton bicycle, a much-admired model which costs around £1,000. It comes days after the 68-year-old – who earns £330,000 a year – was ridiculed for patronising the working classes by referring to them with the marketing term C2DEs. Viewers said his comments on the Newsnight programme were arrogant and showed he was out of touch. On Saturday, the casually-dressed BBC boss put aside the criticism to dine with a friend at the exclusive San Lorenzo restaurant in Knightsbridge. The Italian-style restaurant was a favourite haunt of the late Princess Diana’s. Mr Yentob, who earns £330,000 a year for the BBC, insisted last week that the corporation did make programmes for C2s and DEs – a technical term for the working classes . +A restaurant worker was left for dead after he was battered by three masked men wielding a baseball bat. Jamil Ahmed was left with a bleed on the brain and needed hospital treatment for two weeks after the brutal assault in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, on December 15 last year . Detectives believe the 27-year-old was deliberately targeted as a result of a 'grudge' because the masked gang didn't steal anything. Mr Ahmed was so badly injured he has been unable to return to his restaurant job. Jamil Ahmed was left with a bleed on the brain and needed hospital treatment for two weeks after he was battered by three masked men wielding a baseball bat . Police have now released a shocking picture of Mr Ahmed taken in hospital after the vicious assault in a bid to track down his assailants. It shows him sitting in a hospital bed with a white bandage over his head and blood covering his face. Detective Constable Michelle Akers, from West Midlands Police, said the investigation had so far been unable to identify those responsible or confirm a motive for the beating. She added: 'This was a targeted attack, nothing was stolen and it appears Mr Ahmed has been assaulted by someone with a grudge against him, but precisely what's prompted it remains unclear. Detectives believe the 27-year-old was deliberately targeted as a result of a 'grudge' because the masked gang didn't steal anything during the brutal assault in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, on December 15 last year (file picture) 'There can be no justification for an assault of this nature. 'It was a cowardly attack by three people, armed with baseball bats and with their faces covered. Mr Ahmed stood no chance of protecting himself and has been left with lasting physical, emotional and psychological scarring. 'This has happened during a busy time of day on Ladypool Road in full view of members of the public. 'Somebody must have seen something, or suspects who is involved, and I would appeal to their consciences to come forward with information.' A police trawl of local CCTV cameras reveals one offender was wearing a black face covering, gloves, a long-sleeved grey top, and grey Adidas tracksuit bottoms with light blue stripes on the side of the legs. Anyone with information is urged to call DC Michelle Akers at West Midlands Police on the 101 number or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. +A rugby player sidelined for his abnormally large feet can play again - thanks to a specially delivered pair of size 21 orange boots from Welsh rugby captain Sam Warburton. Carl Griffiths, 22, was forced to sit on the bench for his club side after wearing out his last pair and he could not find replacement footwear. But now, the 6ft 8in forward can return to the fold after being fitted with a pair of custom-made, orange Adidas boots. Carl Griffiths proudly holds up his size 21 Adidas boots, presented to him by Wales captain Sam Warburton . The 6ft 8in forward had been unable to play for almost half a year, but is now able to play again . Mr Griffiths gleefully laces up his new orange boots at the home of his local club, Trimsaran RFC . Mr Griffiths, who lives in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, had been playing in size 18 boots for the past three years with his toes curled up in the ends. But after keeping them together with black sticky tape, they eventually fell apart. With his height, his club Trimsaran RFC miss him on the pitch, particularly in the line-outs. Desperate to play, Mr Griffiths contacted every major sports company he could think of asking if they had 21 size boots - 11 sizes bigger than the average man - but had no joy. But finally, after almost half a year stuck on the sidelines, they can welcome him back to the side thanks to the hand-delivered parcel from Warburton, who holds the record for the most Wales caps as captain. Mr Griffiths was cheering his team on from the touchline when the Welsh no 7 arrived with the parcel. He then laced them up before running out for his first game in months. He said: 'It is amazing to be able to play the game I love again - and be able to wiggle my toes in my boots! 'I can't thank Sam and the guys at Adidas enough for making these boots especially for me. 'I had no idea they were planning this and I had almost given up hope of ever finding boots that would fit me again.' Mr Griffiths towers over Warburton, the Welsh rugby captain, in his new Adidas orange size 21 boots . The 6ft 8in forward was delighted to meet Warburton, who presented him with the boots at Trimsaran RFC . Warburton said: 'As soon as the team at Adidas told me about this story I bit their hand off to be involved. 'I’ve had my fair share of injuries and breaks from the game over the years and I know it’s one of the worst feelings you can have. 'It’s great to have been involved in getting Carl back on the rugby field and you can tell it means a lot to him and his team mates. 'I’m sure they’ll be reminding him that he has some big boots to fill now though.' He had been playing in size 18 boots with his toes curled up, but eventually his feet came through the boots . The 22-year-old has size 21 feet - 11 sizes bigger than the average man, but can now play rugby again . It is believed Mr Griffiths' enormous feet are the result of drugs he was given to combat childhood leukaemia. He was eight years old when doctors discovered he was suffering from the disease, and after a course of chemotherapy he was treated with steroids to help him regain his strength. His feet sprouted within a year of stopping steroid treatment at 13 after he was given the all-clear, which is unusual because steroids usually restrict growth. +Fabian Delph has admitted he will vote for England's man of the moment Harry Kane has his PFA Player of the Year. Kane can do no wrong and scored with a header just minutes after coming on as substitute against Lithuania on Friday evening at Wembley. Delph, with the England squad preparing for Tuesday's friendly in Turin against Italy, said: 'He will get my vote. There are a few contenders but I will pick wisely and I cannot see why I won’t pick Harry. England midfielder Fabian Delph has revealed he will vote for Harry Kane as his PFA Player of the Year . Harry Kane (left) scored 79 seconds into his England debut against Lithuania on Friday . Kane wheels away to celebrate scoring for England against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday . 'He is a really hard worker. He has time to progress but he will keep his feet to the ground.' Defender Chris Smalling admitted Kane would be on his shortlist too. 'I don't want to say my vote just yet, but he'll definitely be in the running,' the Manchester United man said. The 21-year-old striker has scored 19 Premier League goals for Tottenham so far this season . Chris Smalling also admitted that Kane is on his shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year vote . Delph and Smalling also said they hoped Roy Hodgson, whose long-term future has been the subject of much speculation, would continue as England boss after Euro 2016. 'Of course,' Delph said. 'He's been great for me, he's brought me into the squad and he's got a good relationship with the boys.' Smalling added: 'Ever since I've worked with Roy he's been one that's shown a lot of faith in all the players, especially the young players. We've all enjoyed our training with him.' The win over Lithuania continued England's 100 per cent start to the qualifying campaign and Smalling said the goal was to win every match in Group E. 'That would be the ultimate goal and the manager has stressed that in our meetings,' he said. 'He sets very high standards and we need to make sure we stick by them, but so far so good.' Delph and Smalling also said they hoped Roy Hodgson would continue as England boss after Euro 2016 . Smalling's club contract expires at the end of next season and the 25-year-old has been linked with a summer move away from Old Trafford. Asked about the speculation over his future, he said: 'That's one I've not even really discussed with anyone. It's a case of the manager's showing his faith in me, I'm playing, I'm happy. 'I'm enjoying it, I've always enjoyed playing for United, especially at the minute. If I can contribute as we are now then I'm happy to stay for as long as they want me.' Asked if there were any contract negotiations under way, Smalling added: 'Not that I'm aware of, I don't really take care of that.' Smalling (left) insists he is happy at Man United and hasn't thought about the speculation over his future . +Calum Chambers had no qualms about dropping down to the England Under 21s squad, saying it is an honour to represent his country whatever the level. Having impressed with Southampton last season, the 20-year-old made a big-money move to Arsenal in the summer and quickly earned a first call-up from Roy Hodgson. It saw Chambers' jump from the Under 19s without make a single appearance for the Under-21s - a level he now finds himself at after winning three caps for the senior team. Calum Chambers in action during the international match between U21 Czech Republic and U21 England . The defender made his Young Lions debut as Gareth Southgate's side won 1-0 win in the Czech Republic on Friday and insists, unlike some players, he has no problem with dropping down from the senior squad. 'As I've always said, it's an honour to play for your country, no matter what the age group,' Chambers said . 'When I was asked to play for the U21s, of course I was going to come and play. 'I was really looking forward to this trip and I've enjoyed every minute of it so far. Chambers and Kieron Gibbs take part in a training session at St George's Park ahead of Euro 2016 qualifying . 'There is a smooth pathway between the U21s and the seniors now and there was an opportunity for me to play for the U21s so I jumped at it because I love to play for my country. 'Players should want to play for their country at any level and I've played for the senior team a few times, but that would never make me want to stop playing for the U21s. It's an honour and you should never turn it down. 'The lads here are great and there is a brilliant atmosphere in the squad. It has been a really enjoyable trip so far.' Chambers is one of several players with senior international experience that could be on the plane to the Czech Republic this summer. Chambers breaks past Sami Ameobi during the Premier League match between Newcastle and Arsenal . Friday's match offered the squad a taste of what they can expect at the European Championships, for which they continue their preparations with a friendly against Germany on Monday. 'I enjoyed it,' Chambers said of his debut. 'We knew it was going to be a tough game, playing at their home ground and in front of their home crowd. 'But in the end it was a good result and a good performance. 'Everyone here gives 100 per cent in every game and there is good competition for places which will only make us stronger as a squad.' +Robin McBryde has predicted 'an arm-wrestle for 80 minutes' when RBS 6 Nations heavyweights Wales and Ireland slug it out at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Wales assistant coach McBryde has stressed the winner-takes-all nature of a game that sees both teams featuring prominently at the tournament's business end. Ireland are two victories away from a first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2009, while Wales must triumph on Saturday to remain in the mix for silverware. Sam Warburton (right) will lead his country for a record 34th time when he takes the field against Ireland . Wales coach Warren Gatland (centre) leads his players onto the pitch at the Millenium Stadium . Wales will look to Racing Metro inside centre Jamie Roberts to get them over the gainline against Ireland . Warburton (centre) leads the warm-up as Gatland's side complete their final preparations in Cardiff . 'It's going to be an arm-wrestle for 80 minutes, and that is what we've prepared for,' McBryde said. 'Everything that goes on off the field pales into insignificance, and it's all about what happens on the day. 'They play a big pressure game, and if we can react positively to that and stay in the fight, that will give us a good chance of winning. 'There is a lot of stake. Ireland are on course for a Grand Slam, and just to get away from Cardiff with a win, that's all they will be looking to do. With regards to playing any attractive rugby, that will come second. 'That's the nature of the game at the moment, and that's how teams are wearing each other down, and unfortunately, the spectators have got to pay a price for that.' Warburton is in high spirits during the captain's run as his side prepare for visit of Joe Schmidt's side . Ireland have conceded just one try in three Six Nations games this season and an average of only nine points per time across eight Six Nations matches Joe Schmidt has overseen during his coaching reign. Ireland are also on a 10-Test unbeaten run - England were the last team to defeat them 13 months ago - and McBryde added: 'They are on a a bit of a roll at the moment. Ten wins on the bounce speaks volumes. 'This is quite a formidable Ireland team, and we are going to have to be at our best to come close to them tomorrow. Warburton and Co will be looking to avenge their 26-3 loss to Ireland in Dublin last season . 'You have got arguably two of the better teams in the Six Nations, not being disrespectful to anybody else. On our day, I think both teams are capable of beating anybody. 'With regards to motivation, we look at our own situation, and we know a win would give us an opportunity to go for the championship. 'It is a double-edged sword that one. By doing that, we beat Ireland and stop them getting a Grand Slam, but it's all about what we can achieve and gain, as opposed to anything else.' +Jordan Henderson has given the biggest indication yet that he will stay at Liverpool even though his contract runs out in 2016. The England midfielder, tipped to succeed Steven Gerrard as Liverpool captain, has been a revelation for club and country in the past 18 months and will face Italy on Tuesday as the mainstay of Roy Hodgson’s England midfield. But Henderson insists that the ongoing talks with the club over a renewal to his contract will not distract him and has made it clear that he wants to sign a new deal to stay at Anfield. Jordan Henderson (right) has said his contract talks with Liverpool will be sorted . Henderson appears set to replace Steven Gerrard (right) as Liverpool captain next season . Henderson is also in line to play for England against Italy in a friendly in Turin on Tuesday . ‘Everybody else will make a big deal about it, but for me, I just let my agent and the club deal with it and whenever it gets sorted, it gets sorted,’ said Henderson. ‘All I want to do is do my best for club or country. I don't want to get involved, really. Let the agents and the club deal with it, and we just focus on our football and I think that's the best way.’ Asked whether he was in the right place to win trophies and move forward with his career, Henderson said: ‘I definitely think so. I think obviously at Liverpool we've got fantastic players, real quality players and a lot of potential. 'We're a young team and I think there is great potential and a big part of that is us wanting to be winners and winning trophies. I really feel we can do that. It is the same with England, I really feel we are going in the right direction and hopefully in the next Euros we can do something special.’ And Henderson insists he is not banking on replacing Gerrard as captain next season. ‘That's up to the manager in the summer,’ he said. ‘I'm not going to be captain as of yet. It could be anybody else in the team because we've got a lot of leaders and a lot of good characters in the team. Henderson (right) pictured in action in England's 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday . Henderson (centre) has emerged as a leading player at Liverpool over the past 18 months . Henderson (left) insists he will step up once Gerrard departs the club for Los Angeles Galaxy . ‘Of course it'd be an honour for me to do that, but when a big player like Stevie leaves, obviously it's disappointing, but everybody else has got to step up. 'We've got a lot of young players in the team and next season, when he isn't there, it's time for everybody to show what they're capable of and show that little bit of extra responsibility. 'And I wouldn't put that down to whoever is the next captain or one person in his position because for me there will never be another Steven Gerrard.’ +Mateo Kovacic will not be joining Liverpool from Inter Milan. Liverpool scouts have watched Inter Milan this season and the Croatia international has been linked with a move to Anfield. However, Kovacic’s representative, Nikky Vuksan, insists the midfielder will remain at San Siro. Mateo Kovacic has been strongly linked with a transfer from Inter Milan to Liverpool . But Kovacic's representative insists that the Croatia midfielder will not be leaving Inter Milan . Kovacic has caught the attention of Arsenal and Everton as well as Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers . 'It is not going to happen. Mateo extended his contract with Inter in January. Could it be that clubs are negotiating? No, that is not possible without Mateo and me knowing about it. 'Also, I have a player at Liverpool, Dejan Lovren so I would know about it. Both the English and Italian media speculate and find new clubs that want Kovacic every week. He’ll stay at Inter.' Talking to Croatia newspaper Vecernji list, he added: 'Also, if there was something going on, believe me journalists would be the last to find out.' Kovacic, who has been watched by Arsenal and Everton in recent months also, has scored eight goals in 34 appearances in all competitions for Inter this season but is out with a knee ligament injury. +What party poopers. Wrexham were all set to celebrate their 150th birthday and had their eye on a rather nice present - the FA Trophy. Coasting at 2-0 with just a quarter-hour remaining here at Wembley, Wrexham had their celebrations well underway. Then, North Ferriby United decided to roll up, gatecrash and ruin everything. Goals from Louis Moult and Jay Harris had the Welsh side in complete control but North Ferriby, who play a division below, forced extra time through Liam King’s penalty and Ryan Kendall’s late leveller. Players of North Ferriby United celebrate after winning the The FA Carlsberg Trophy on penalties . Then, incredibly, they took the lead as Kendall pounced again, only for Moult to send this magnificent advertisement for the non-league game to penalties. The first five spot-kicks were all scored, the next four saved and the four after that all scored. And so it was Wrexham’s Steve Tomassen, under the pressure of sudden death, who had to be the fall-guy. His penalty was kept out by Adam Nicklin and so North Ferriby were the ones who ascended the 107 steps to lift the handsome silver trophy. Captain of North Ferriby United Liam King lifts the trophy during the The FA Carlsberg Trophy Final . Adam Nicklin (centre) celebrates with King (R) and teammate Nathan Jarman after saving a penalty to win . It was, it’s fair to say, the finest moment in their 81-year existence, a moment nobody associated with the Humberside club will ever forget. For Wrexham, the national stadium has become something of a second home. This was their third visit in as many years - in 2013, they beat Grimsby Town in the FA Trophy final before returning later in the same campaign for the Conference Play-offs final, losing to Newport County. North Ferriby is a village on the north bank of the Humber, not too far from Hull. It has a population of under 4,000 and most of them seemed to have decamped to Wembley for the day. The place itself must have been eerily empty. Players of both team prepare for extra time which ended up finishing 3-3 after the 30 minutes . Among those watching on was Hull City chairman Assem Allam, while Tigers manager Steve Bruce had fixed it with his pal Sam Allardyce for Ferriby to use West Ham’s training facilities on the eve of the game. The Villagers, ninth in their league, had played under the Twin Towers but not under the Arch. It was 1997 when they last came to Wembley, losing to Whitby Town in the FA Vase final. The Welsh side were backed by some 10,000 supporters and, as expected, they made the early running. It took just 11 minutes to make the breakthrough as Moult continued his marvellous run of goals in this season’s Trophy. Louis Moult of Wrexham scores the first goal of the game as they took control early on in the final . Moult (centre) celebrates with Clarke after putting his side into the lead early on in the game . He scored at Stockport County in the second round, two more in the replay, and in both legs of the semi-final with Torquay United. In all, he has 16 goals this season and this was the most significant. Joe Clarke advanced down the left and exchanged passed with Connor Jennings before crossing low for Moult to finish from about eight yards. It was an accomplished finish, though the Ferriby defence allowed him ample time and space. Ferriby’s best opening of the half came when a neat ball over the top sprung Danny Clarke who did well to hold off two defenders before forcing goalkeeper Andy Coughlin into a block at his near post. Kay Harris scores to make it 2-0 during the FA Carlsberg Trophy Final but it wasn't enough for Wrexham . Early in the second-half, there was encouragement for Ferriby when Jason St Juste, an international for Saint Kitts and Nevis, shrugged off Steve Tomassen and was only denied when Coughlin dived at his feet. A minute later and Jennings should have found the net. Set clear by a brilliant through ball, he rounded goalkeeper Andy Nicklin only for Danny Hone to clear his shot off the line. On the hour, Wrexham did claim their second. Harris, part of the team that won here two years ago, was played into acres of space on the right by Jennings, raced clear and calmly slotted the ball past Nicklin. King of North Ferriby United scores a penalty to make it 2-1 during The FA Carlsberg Trophy Final . Wrexham: Coughlin; Tomassen, Smith, Hudson, Ashton; Jennings, Harris, Keates (c) (Evans 72), Clarke (Bishop 102), Morris (York 87); Moult . Substitutes not used: Carrington, Waterfall . Scorers: Moult 11, 117; Harris 60 . Booked: Coughlin . North Ferriby United: Nicklin; Topliss, Hone, Wilson, Wilde (Peat 88); Bolder (Jarman 61), Fry (Kendall 79); King; Clarke, Denton, St Juste . Substitutes not used: Nicholson (GK); Gray . Scorers: King (penalty) 75; Kendall 86, 100 . Booked: Jarman . Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Attendance: 14,585 . Man of the match: Jason St Juste . The goal showed how Ferriby had been stretched and Jennings nearly capitalised on a carbon copy opening minutes later, only to drag his shot wide. Wrexham seemed to be cruising but things were back in the balance when Danny Clarke broke through the heart of the defence and was fouled as he tried to get round Coughlin. Ferriby captain King assumed responsibility and hammered the spot-kick home to reinvigorate the match. After that it was all Ferriby and, with four minutes left, they drew level. St Juste did well to retrieve the ball wide on the left and, cutting in from the byline, he delivered a low cross on a plate for substitute Kendall to turn home. ‘You’re not singing anymore,’ sang those from Humberside. Kendall is the equivalent of Wrexham’s Moult. This was his sixth in the Trophy this season after earlier strikes against Mickleover Sports, Boston United (twice), Hyde and Farnborough. Ryan Kenda of North Ferriby scores the teams third goal of the game in extra time a Wembley . Kenda celebrates with his team-mates after equalising late at Wembley Stadium for minnows North Ferriby . Liam King (North Ferriby) SCORED 1-0 . Wes York (Wrexham) SCORED 1-1 . Nathan Jarman (North Ferriby) SCORED 2-1 . Andy Bishop (Wrexham) SCORED 2-2 . Ryan Kendall (North Ferriby) SCORED 3-2 . Connor Jennings (Wrexham) SAVED 3-2 . Jason St Juste (North Ferriby) SAVED 3-2 . Neil Ashton (Wrexham) SAVED 3-2 . Tom Denton (North Ferriby) SAVED 3-2 . Louis Moult (Wrexham) SCORED 3-3 . Matt Wilson (North Ferriby) SCORED 4-3 . Blaine Hudson (Wrexham) SCORED 4-4 . Nathan Peat (North Ferriby) SCORED 5-4 . Steve Tomassen SAVED 5-4 . All of a sudden, Wrexham were clinging on and Clarke forced Coughlin into a fine save with a dipping shot from outside the box in stoppage time. St Juste marauded again down the left, crossed and Kendall tried to flick it in, only to be denied by Blaine Hudson’s desperate sliding block. Coasting with 15 minutes left, Wrexham were somewhat fortunate to reach extra time. Still Ferriby were the better side. St Juste again accelerated into space down the right and was denied by Coughlin. And guess who was the provider for Kendall’s second in minute 100. St Juste’s ball looped up off the boot of Tomassen and found its way to Kendall for the simplest of close-range headers. Cue delirium among those wearing green and white. Hone had saved Ferriby once and he did so again with a vital slide tackle when Andy Bishop pulled the trigger with 10 minutes left. The Villagers were clinging on for dear life and their resistance was overcome just three minutes from time. A barrage was only half-cleared and it fell perfectly for Moult to thump home sweetly on the half-volley and ensure the drama of penalties. Neil Ashton watches as his penalty is saved by Adam Nicklin during The FA Carlsberg Trophy Final . Jason St Juste watches as his penalty is saved during the match between North Ferriby United and Wrexham . Adam Nicklin saves the final penalty taken by Steve Tomassen of Wrexham to win the final . The North Ferriby players run to their goalkeeper after he saved the penalty to win them the game . +The shocking decline of young English players in the Premier League is revealed by new research published by The Mail on Sunday which shows that the academies of the Premier League’s current 20 clubs have produced just 57 first-team regulars over the past 10 years. In the week in which FA chairman Greg Dyke attempted to persuade Premier League clubs to increase the quota of home-grown players in their squad from eight to twelve, the new figures show that the nation’s elite clubs are producing fewer than three players per club on average over a decade with the league’s biggest clubs having some of the worst records. Chelsea have produced no home-grown first-team regulars since John Terry emerged at the start of the millennium. Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City have had less than a handful each. Regular is defined as playing half or more of league games in a season. Scroll down to see a graphic showing how many home-grown first-team regulars your favourite club has had over the past decade . Premier League leaders Chelsea have produced no home-grown first-team regulars since John Terry emerged at the start of the millennium . The issue is becoming a major battleground between FA chairman Greg Dyke, who wants to introduce measures to increase opportunities for home-grown talent, and the Premier League clubs, who don’t want quotas forced upon them. The new research on home-grown regulars produced in the past decade shows that only Southampton and Aston Villa, with seven such players each, and Newcastle, with five, had produced five or more since the start of the 2005-06 season. The Southampton players who meet the criteria are Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Ward-Prowse, Calum Chambers and Luke Shaw. Theo Walcott is one of an abundance of players that have made a name for themselves after coming through the ranks at Southampton . Gareth Bale came through the ranks at Southampton before becoming a star at Tottenham Hotspur and La Liga giants Real Madrid . West Ham United duo Mark Noble and Jack Collison came through the ranks at Upton Park, as did defender James Tomkins . Five of them have been capped by England, and Bale, the world’s most expensive footballer, by Wales, while James Ward-Prowse, 20 in November, has 28 England appearances below senior level. But given that Premier League clubs have spent around £600 million combined on their academies in the last decade alone, or about £3m per club per year on average, the number of players most have produced for their first teams is pitiful. The new research considers how many players the current 20 Premier League clubs have nurtured between the ages of 15-18 who have then gone on to be ‘regulars’ for that team. Southampton’s academy has produced more players in the decade than the seven mentioned but not who have yet become regulars as defined. On the same basis, Chelsea’s tally is zero, Manchester United’s is just two, in Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley. Liverpool and Arsenal have produced just three each, respectively Justin Hoyte, Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs, and Stephen Warnock, Raheem Sterling and Jon Flanagan. Jon Flanagan and Raheem Sterling did the business in the youth squads before becoming regulars in Liverpool's first team . Jack Wilshere is one of three youngsters to excel since coming through the Arsenal ranks along with Kieran Gibbs and Justin Hoyte . Michah Richards and Michael Johnson impressed in the youth set-up before moving through to the Manchester City first team . Manchester City’s four such players were Stephen Ireland, Michael Johnson, Micah Richards and Nedum Onuoha. All the relevant ‘products’ of the 20 clubs over the decade are in the accompanying panel. Dyke has started negotiations with the Premier League clubs to seek a minimum of 12 home-grown players per first-team squad of 25 by 2020, phased in from 2016 onwards. He wants the definition of ‘home-grown’ to be players registered with a club for three years before the age of 18. Dyke’s aim is to expand the talent pool of English players with good amounts of high-level competitive exposure. Chelsea in many ways exemplify the core problem: they have more age-group England players below the senior team than anyone, and some truly outstanding youngsters. But those players for now are struggling to become first-team players let alone regulars at Stamford Bridge. Managers like Jose Mourinho are charged with winning by their employers, not helping England. And many fans would probably agree that is something they support. Dyke created the an FA England Commission in 2013 to explore the reasons for the low number of English players in the Premier League and suggest solutions to address the issue - with the stated aim of helping to improve the England team. The number of English players in the Premier League has fallen as low as 32 per cent in recent years. Dyke wants that boosted to 45 per cent by 2022. A Commission report last year highlighted how there is a particular ‘bottleneck’ for English players aged 18 to 21, limiting first-team opportunities at Premier League clubs. Many clubs prefer to use tried and tested - and often foreign - players instead of their own home-growns. The alarming extent to which that is true is highlighted here. Minutes played by English players aged under 21 in the Premier League have fallen by more than half in 10 years, and Englishmen in the Champions League are a relatively rarity despite England have joint-most teams competing each season. Greg Dyke has started negotiations with Premier League clubs to seek a minimum of 12 home-grown players per first-team squad . Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has excelled in north London since bursting on to the scene and even earned an England call-up . Former England manager Glenn Hoddle, a member of Dyke’s commission, believes that clubs should back his proposals, citing Harry Kane as an example. ‘You sense there is reluctance over Greg Dyke’s suggestion we increase the number of homegrown players,’ he said. ‘We will never know if our players are good enough unless they get the chance. Talent isn’t always as obvious as Raheem Sterling or Wayne Rooney. ‘Sometimes, as with Harry Kane, it takes time to develop and that only comes with games. ‘A year ago some at Tottenham would have questioned whether he was Champions League quality. They don’t now, but only because he was lucky to have managers willing to play him.’ +West Bromwich Albion Under 21 coach James Shan was in the Meadow Lane crowd as Notts County drew with Scunthorpe on Saturday. Shan is one of the names in the frame to succeed Shaun Derry as manager of the struggling League One side. Former Tottenham coach Ricardo Moniz, 50, who worked alongside Martin Jol, has emerged as the surprise favourite after caretaker Paul Hart said he only wanted the job for one game. James Shan is in contention to take over at Notts County as they look to avoid the drop in League One . Notts County took the decision to sack Shaun Derry with the team struggling at the bottom of League One . Former Tottenham coach Ricardo Moniz has emerged as the surprise favourite to succeed Derry as manager . Notts County are only outside the bottom four in League One on goal difference, but have a game in hand . Derry took charge of Notts County in November 2013, registering himself as a player the following summer. After initially impressing, County struggled under his stewardship this season and currently find themselves hovering just above the League One drop zone. They have lost six of their last 10 games, and are only outside the bottom four on goal difference. +At the beginning of February 2012, a spate of injuries forced the New York Knicks to promote a little-known basketball player called Jeremy Lin to their starting roster. Lin had looked as though he was destined for a career as a journeyman. He was struggling to make it to the big time. NBA teams had turned their backs on him until the Knicks were forced to give him a chance. Lin, who was struggling financially and sleeping on a friend’s couch, played well in his first match. And his second. And his third. He outscored his more illustrious team-mates. The struggling Knicks embarked on a winning streak. Harry Kane's meteoric rise continued on Friday when he marked his first England game with a goal . Kane headed in England's fourth against Lithuania shortly after replacing Wayne Rooney . Kane's progress is reminiscient of Jeremy Lin's form when he was playing basketball for the New York Knicks . Lin propelled the Knicks to a winning streak but failed to recapture his form after sustaining an injury . By the end of the first week, celebrities were flocking to courtside at Madison Square Garden to catch the buzz. Lin became a phenomenon and the mania that developed around him was given a name: Linsanity. It seemed then that Lin could never again return to ordinariness. But in mid-March, the coach who had given him his chance was fired and Lin sustained a knee injury that ended his season. He was traded to another team in the summer. They offloaded him to the struggling Los Angeles Lakers, where he has also failed to make an impact. He is known now only for his failure to sustain Linsanity. ‘I feel like I’m back to square one,’ he said last week. You get the point? Well, you would have done if you had been at Wembley on Friday night, heard the deafening, rumbling cheer that rolled around the stadium when Harry Kane ran on to make his England debut and witnessed the scenes when, 79 seconds later, he scored with a far-post header. This is English football’s Linsanity. In the middle of what is, in many ways, a fairly unremarkable domestic football season, we have become caught up in our very own intoxicating, uplifting kind of madness. ‘It’s nice when fairytales come true,’ said the England manager Roy Hodgson afterwards, beaming into the camera. Kane beamed, too. ‘It’s the start that I dreamed of,’ he said. The Lithuania manager, Igoris Pankratjevas, described the Spurs forward as a ‘sniper’. Even Wayne Rooney, whose limelight had been stolen by the 21-year-old, seemed a little breathless. ‘It’s incredible really,’ Rooney said of Kane’s impact. ‘You can feel the excitement all around the country.’ And so a kid who looked like he might be heading for a career in the lower divisions is suddenly taking our league, and now our national team, by storm. What is unfolding in front of us seems so wonderfully unlikely that it has reached the point where it is scarcely credible. Late on Friday night, the BBC displayed a map of the world showing where social media reaction to Kane’s goal had been at its height. The yellow dots showing maximum interaction were spread from England to Indonesia to Mexico to Japan and Brazil. Wayne Rooney (right) praised Kane's impact with Tottenham and now at international level . Kane wheels away to celebrate scoring for England against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday . Kane was sent on loan to a number of football league sides before breaking through to the Tottenham side . This is a kid who was shunted around the lower leagues to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester while Spurs tried to work out what to do with him and whether he was good enough to make the grade with them. This is a kid, an English kid, a local north London kid, whose meteoric rise has coincided with immigration leaping to the top of the political agenda and concerns about the proliferation of foreign players and owners in our leagues. When Spurs fans sing that Kane is ‘one of our own’, their boast represents not just a celebration of his talent but a lament for a time when they could identify more closely with the players they were watching. In an age where teams are being taken away from the fans, Kane represents a reconnection. The mania that has grown around him is a warning that there are those who harbour misgivings about the cosmopolitan make-up of the Premier League. Riding along on Kane’s coat-tails, FA chairman Greg Dyke has quickly and adroitly tapped into those fears and prejudices and seized the moment to propose that every Premier League club should have 12 home-grown players in its 25-man squad. Kane is at the centre of all this but as he walked triumphantly from the pitch on Friday night, the next question is how long can he maintain this trajectory? Is this his natural orbit, is he here to stay or is this, like Linsanity, some brief enchantment? The media, of course, is already being accused of building a kid up just so it can knock him down but Kane is fortunate that in his club boss, Mauricio Pochettino, and Hodgson, he has two managers who will shepherd him wisely. ‘We’re not going to hold him back,’ said Hodgson. ‘There’s no question of that. But on the other hand, I am rather hoping I have got Harry Kane for a long period to come and I don’t want to be the one who throws him in and he flies too close to the sun.’ Did the England manager give any thought to the idea that Kane might fall back into the shadows? ‘I suppose when someone has shone quite so brilliantly, that is always in the back of your mind,’ Hodgson said. ‘But I have got to say that from what I have seen of him, from what I know of the apprenticeship he has already served, when I look at the qualities he possesses as a football player, I have got no fears in that respect. I don’t believe it will happen. Roy Hodgson believes that Kane will be able to maintain his astonishing standard of form . Kane is in line to feature for England in a friendly against Italy in Turin on Tuesday . England manager Hodgson is pleased with how Kane is being handled at Tottenham by Mauricio Pochettino . ‘I still think it is prudent for Mauricio Pochettino and myself, as the England manager, not to stand here in front of you singing his praises. You are singing his praises enough, so just allow me to dampen them down a little bit.’ It probably won’t do much good. The Kane Train is setting off for Turin on Tuesday, full steam ahead. Whether this is all Linsanity or whether, as we all hope, it is something more substantial and lasting, we will soon find out. +The ponytail has gone, along with the modelling career and a shedload of money, but the ebullient Darragh MacAnthony is not a man to look back and dwell. There has been a book too — ‘just about the football club, it was a bit daft’ — not to mention an app ‘to keep results up to date, but it wasn’t very good’. Meanwhile, owning Peterborough has turned the League One club’s extrovert chairman into an anxious, superstitious obsessive — ‘my OCD is getting worse’. Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony has been in charge at the club since 2006 . MacAnthony said he has no regrets about tweeting his disapproval of players . MacAnthony, who flirted with modelling as a 17-year-old, shows he has no concerns in front of the camera . Suited in a verging-on-baggy pinstripe, MacAnthony strides into his minimalist office at the training ground, past the empty bookshelves, and admits he has never sat at his huge, empty desk before. It turns out that the decorators have been in since he last made the trip from his Florida home. He likes it, especially the montage of family portraits which adorn the walls, even if they remind him how much he is missing wife Natalie and their children: Darcy, Callum and Cara, all under 10. There is an internal door to the manager’s office, currently occupied by interim boss Dave Robertson following the reluctant severing of an eight-year on-off relationship with Darren Ferguson. ‘So you thought I’d be in a tracksuit?’ He speaks in a soft Irish brogue but the words are delivered at rat-a-tat speed in a contradictory combination of dictatorial charm. His style is to cut to the chase. The answer to his question is yes. Based on the evidence of an 11-point Twitter demolition of his players two months ago, the assumption is that MacAnthony is an owner who likes to meddle. ‘I knew you’d get to that,’ said MacAnthony, or @DMAC102. ‘Give me 11 reasons not to talk about Twitter! MacAnthony shows he is not shy in front of the camera as he pauses to take a selfie . Darren Ferguson led Peterborough to the Championship after finishing second in League One in 2009 . ‘I have been caught saying things on Twitter which I probably shouldn’t have but my personality has always been honest and direct. I make mistakes, I am impulsive. ‘What did the players think? I didn’t need to ask. I spoke to them on Friday and joked “I’m going to give you 11 great reasons on Twitter why I’m happy” (five wins in six since Ferguson’s departure). ‘They know where I’m coming from and I don’t think any of them could argue with my points. I understand it’s not the done thing, but I didn’t buy a football club to live by the rules of the establishment. ‘Am I a frustrated football manager? No. I am an owner and a frustrated fan. If you look for a manager who says I said “you must play so and so”, you won’t find one.’ MacAnthony left Ireland for Spain with his family at 15 and by 29 had made a fortune from the property market, a large chunk of which went straight down the drain in the recession. The Peterborough chairman and director of football Barry Fry celebrate after winning the JPT Trophy in 2014 . MacAnthony described getting relegated from the Championship in 2013 as his worst moment at the club . At 17 he flirted with modelling, influenced by his girlfriend at the time, and a fact gleaned as he comfortably poses for photographs. ‘I had a ponytail, which my Mum used to do for me. Natalie doesn’t believe it when I tell her I used to be a model, but it was good money.’ Another girlfriend tempted MacAnthony to London and college. He lasted two weeks before heading back to Spain. Buying a football club was a dream toy for the boy in 2006 and has remained a source of pain and pleasure ever since. ‘I was 28-29 and at the top of my game,’ recalled MacAnthony, now 39. ‘Then the recession came and the world nearly ended financially. It was tough, but the club kept me sane. ‘It’s hard to name one best moment as there have been so many but the worst is easy. We were relegated from the Championship on 54 points two years ago. ‘We were 2-1 up (against Crystal Palace) with seven minutes to go and needed a draw. In the most horrific seven minutes in the history of the club they scored twice. Crystal Palace players celebrate Kevin Phillips' goal as Peterborough were relegated from the Championship . Then manager Ferguson consoles Jack Payne after Peterborough threw away a late lead . ‘I was watching from home — I have every game streamed to me. I’m very tense in my chair, superstitious, and my OCD is over the top. You’re not going to make this article about my OCD are you? People will laugh. I was never like this at the start and now it’s uncontrollable. ‘Everything has to be in the same place on my desk and pointing in a certain direction. No-one can talk to me during a game. One of the guys who worked for me walked in and we lost so now no-one is allowed to. ‘When we were relegated I watched and reacted like a fan. Then the financial implications come in. Jesus, we have just lost £6million worth of revenue.’ The logistics of living in the US mean that MacAnthony’s visits to the £500,000 newly-refurbished training ground — rented at £1 a year from the school next door — are regular rather than frequent. Email and telephone have to do the rest of the time. There is a lot to cram in, including this interview. Halfway through there is a knock on the door. ‘I’m busy,’ shouts MacAnthony as the door flies open regardless. ‘I’m doing an interview.’ The beaming face of director of football Barry Fry peers round the door. ‘How you doing love? We need him (MacAnthony). Peterborough director of football Barry Fry interrupts the interview to borrow MacAnthony . During the interview MacAnthony has his picture taken after Michael Bostwick signs a new deal . ‘One minute, one photo. We’re signing a new player love, and there’s nothing more important than that.’ MacAnthony is as helpless as the rest at stopping the irrepressible Fry and a short time-out is called, our photographer in hot pursuit. Back at his desk, the chairman itemises the previous 24 hours, which involved meetings and the signing of six teenagers on pro contracts. The smile fades when the conversation turns to Sir Alex Ferguson’s son Darren, who managed Peterborough twice under MacAnthony. ‘It was tough. It was like losing a member of the family. We spoke every day and we shared the highs and lows. It’s still quite raw. ‘We have to get the next appointment right. The club has been stressing me this season, I have aged. But it’s enjoyable again. I’m in the luxury position that the guys in situ are banging down the door.’ Ferguson left the club for a second time in February - MacAnthony likened it losing a member of the family . MacAnthony and Fry pose together for a picture as the director of football gives the thumbs-up . The new manager will be expected to recruit young, cheap players, produce a winning team and be prepared to lose them as the business plan is one big departure a year — the club have generated £30m of sales under MacAnthony. Britt Assombalonga was the £5m cash cow last year, a record £1m signing from Watford sold on to Nottingham Forest, sparking another angry tweet from @DMAC102 when Forest missed a due payment. There could be new projects in the pipeline. A follow-up book to his first tome, From Hobby to Obsession, perhaps? ‘It was me and a Dictaphone,’ revealed MacAnthony. ‘And then I employed someone to write it. They wrote it badly from an English point of view. ‘The fans liked it and it sold 10,000 but there was nothing about my personal life in there. I haven’t written my autobiography yet — now that would be an interesting book!’ +'It is Shane Warne... he represents the majority of Australians, I would have thought'. Today Show host Karl Stefanovic jumped to the defence of cricket legend Shane Warne on Monday morning following a backlash over Warne's controversial booze remarks last night. Warne was pilloried on social media for repeatedly asking cricket stars how 'thirsty' they were for a drink in interviews following Australia's demolition of New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup final. 'What's wrong with having a drink to celebrate anything? What's wrong with that?' Stefanovic questioned during a lively panel discussion. Scroll down for video . The former World Cup winning bowler asked several members of the triumphant Australian team if they were planning to booze-up to celebrate the fifth Australian World Cup victory . Booze-hound: Former cricketer Shane Warne asked Australia's triumphant wicket-keeper Brad Haddin: 'Are you feeling thirsty? 'What's wrong with having a drink to celebrate anything? What's wrong with that?' Stefanovic asked during a lively panel discussion . 'I hate this': Mornings host David Campbell, who has sworn off alcohol, blasted Warne's alcohol remarks in an interview on The Today Show . Mornings host David Campbell objected to Warne's comments. 'I hate this,' he said. 'There is a stadium full of young men and women who look up to those guys. 'And it would have been nice if one of those cricketers said: "Nothing is better than what we did on the field, Warnie. 'We can't sit around here, and we do it all the time on Mornings, you do it here on Today, and go 'we have a drinking problem' - and then sit here and and celebrate that. 'I gave up booze a year ago because I had enough and I was ashamed of perpetuating that in front of my own son. 'I want to give back and lead by a better example than that. I think it's shameful. 'I mean OK, we all know Warney likes to party, he's a fun guy.' Stefanovic argued that a celebratory drink was part of the country's 'culture' and 'history'. Warne fired back at his critics in a late-night tweet: 'Straya (Australia) is the best place in the world, not politically correct'. The furore began started Warne asked wicket-keeper first asked Brad Haddin: 'Are you feeling thirsty?' He then quizzed batsman Steve Smith: 'Are you going to have a bit of a drink tonight too Smitty? Are you going to get thirsty as well?' Finally, Warne asked fast bowler Josh Hazlewood: 'So what's the plan - besides lots of drink and that? 'How long is that going to last? Just one night, two nights? 'Go and enjoy yourselves guys. Hopefully we'll join you for a few.' Twitter erupted. Iohyouforever said: 'Shane Warne currently sounds thirstier than James Franco in 127 hours.' Another user suggested Warne was trying to get an invite for a night out. ABC journalist Lucy Carter said: 'I feel like Shane Warne is desperately trying to get invited to drinks but every player he's interviewing isn't having a bar of it.' Warne eventually got his wish - getting a photo of himself with Michael Clarke, a drink and the gold cup at 3am. 'Congrats buddy, so happy for you !!!! #thirsty Hahahah,' he wrote on Instragram . Iohyouforever said: 'Shane Warne currently sounds thirstier than James Franco in 127 hours.' All Melanie Homer was 'blah blah blah drink' Brodie Kane joked about Warne's love of the mobile dating app Tinder . Celebrations got underway immediately after Australia smashed its way to a seven-wicket victory against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup Final in Melbourne. More than 93,000 fans packed the iconic MCG to watch as Michael Clarke capped off his stellar one-day career with a commanding final innings of 74 runs that helped secured Australia its fifth title. Australian stars such as Steve Smith – who scored the winning run with 17 overs to spare - and David Warner soaked up the atmosphere after their success and celebrated with the record crowd. The dejected New Zealand team was forced to watch on, after coming so close to giving its country a first Cricket World Cup crown. Adam Peacock compared Shane Warne to a Simpsons character . Australia's Shane Warne celebrates with champagne after Australia beat England in the fourth cricket Test at Headlingley, Leeds, England, July 28, 1997 . Lucy Carter thought it sounded like Shane Warne was trying to get himself an invite . A cricket fan admired the way Warne asked the tough questions after the match . Australian Head Coach Darren Lehmann poses with the trophy and a beer as he celebrates . Brad Haddin of Australia pours a VB beer over the trophy after winning . The celebrations moved into the MCG change rooms, where players posed with family members and loved ones. After the win, Clarke said he was thrilled with the success. 'I'm over the moon. To all the fans, it's been an amazing turnout throughout the tournament. 'I couldn't have asked for anything more since coming back to the team. They way we've played, we deserve to be standing here. 'It's been an honour and a privilege to represent my country. Tonight has been extra special.' At 3am Warne posted a photo of himself and Clarke holding the gold cup with the caption: 'Congrats buddy, so happy for you !!!! #thirsty Hahahah..... Go the #AUSSIES #worldcupfinal2015.' The Australian captain Allan Border (left) and Shane Warne celebrate in the dressing room after the 1st Test match between England and Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester, June 7 1993. Australia won by 179 runs . In a former victory, Shane Warne (left) of Australia sprays the team with beer as they celebrate winning the test by 10 wickets, during day three of the first test between India and Australia in Mumbai . +A man is fighting for his life in hospital after a gruesome home stabbing incident which left him with two broken legs. Police were called to the man's Manly Vale home in Sydney's northern beaches at 7:30am on Sunday after receiving reports that he had been injured. When they arrived, they found the 40-year-old with serious stab wounds and, according to the ABC, both of his legs were broken. Scroll down for video . A 40-year-old man is in hospital after receiving serious stab wounds . An investigation is underway and police are allegedly on the hunt for men of a Pacific Islander appearance. The man was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance Paramedics before being taken to Royal North Shore Hospital. Speaking to the ABC, Acting Superintendent Craig Winders hinted that the culprits are known to the man. The man was found in his Manly Vale home with two broken legs . 'Initially upon our commencement of the investigation we believe it's persons or a person known to the victim,' he said. A crime scene has been established and investigators are conducting a canvas of the surrounding area. A Dog Unit team is also involved in the search. Police are appealing for anyone who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area of King Street in the early hours of the morning to contact police. +A few of Hollywood's most famous props have gone up on the auction block. Hollywood Auction Extravaganza XVII took place on Saturday, and collectors had a chance to bid on some memorable parts of movie history. With props from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek to a wide selection of Beatles merchandise, there was something for everyone. Scroll down for video . 2001 A Space Odyssey Hero Screen Used Aries 1B Trans-Lunar Space Shuttle . The Beatles Very Rare All Four Autographs On One Page Concert Manchester England On November 20th, 1963 at the Apollo Theater/ . 7th Voyage Of Sinbad Original Early Production Dragon Maquette . Sucker Punch IMAX Promotion Custom 1968 Yamaha 650 Bobber Motorcycle . The auction is being run by Premiere Props, who have sold goods from 500 of the biggest movies in history since they were founded in 2001. Among the films they have auctioned props from are Gangs of New York, Halloween, Terminator, Dracula and Dreamgirls, to name just a few. They have also auctioned off wears worn by the likes of Madonna, Marlon Brando and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Framed Collection of hero props from the classic thriller Red Dragon . Marilyn Monroe lock of hair from personal hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff. Obtained April 18th, 1961 (left) Leonard Nimoy presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space LP with record from the 1960's . Chronicles Of Riddick Crematoria Key Prop and Fantastic Four Ben Grimm/The Thing  Full Head Prosthetic . +France will look to inject some life into a miserable Six Nations campaign thus far as Philippe Saint-Andre travel to Rome to face Italy on Sunday. Les Bleus completed their final preparations at their team base in Marcoussis ahead of their clash with the Azzurri at the Stadio Olimpico. Under-fire France boss Saint-Andre has rung the changes following his side's 20-13 loss to Wales in Paris last time out. France lock Yoann Maestri (centre) makes a run as hooker Benjamin Kayser (left) watches on . Castres scrum half Rory Kockott (centre) and prop Eddy Ben Arous (second left) listen in at training . France captain Thierry Dusautoir (left) and Clermont prop Vincent Debaty get through some sled work . Young Toulouse centre Gael Fickou (left) has been recalled to France's stating line-up . France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre watches on as his side limber up at their team base south of Paris . Clermont winger Noa Nakaitaci . Uni Atonio, Romain Taofifenua, Scott Spedding and fly-half Jules Plisson arrive for a training . Mathieu Bastareaud (left) runs with a ball as hooker Guilhem Guirado tries to half the centre's progresss . Clermont winger Noa Nakaitaci becomes the 82nd player to be used by Saint-Andre; the same number that previous boss Marc Lievremont used during his oft-criticised four-year stint at the helm of the French team. Nakaitaci is one of eight changes to the starting line-up with Scott Spedding, Gael Fickou, Maxime Mermoz, Sébastian Tillous-Borde, Loann Goujon, Alexandre Flanquart and Nicolas Mas all earning recalls. +Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has no idea where he will be next season but it appears increasingly likely he will move overseas as his representatives have already held exploratory talks with foreign clubs. The 30-year-old is out of contract in the summer and negotiations over a new deal stalled at the beginning of the season and have never got going again. In January manager Brendan Rodgers said he was hopeful a solution could be found to keep the England international but with Johnson having lost his first-team place in the 3-4-2-1 formation which has been so successful since the turn of the year that now looks less likely. Liverpool's Glen Johnson in action with Chris Taylor during the English FA Cup quarter final match . He has long been linked with a move abroad - he has been free to talk to overseas clubs since January 1 - and the defender admits there have been discussions. Asked about his contract situation with Liverpool Johnson said: 'No talks. At this point I have no idea (where I will be next season). I haven't thought about it.' On his option to explore a move overseas he added: 'There are talks. It would be great for the kids to go abroad but I am not thinking about yet as we have two months left here and I'll think about it after that. 'We will have to wait and see.' Johnson warms up before the FA Cup Quarter Final match between Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers at Anfield . Ironically Johnson made his first start in 12 matches in Sunday's goalless FA Cup quarter-final draw at home to mid-tabled SkyBet Championship Blackburn. The team's performance was so alien to what fans have become accustomed to seeing since the turn of the year there were understandably some grumbles at Anfield but Johnson said it is inevitable players will be criticised when they fail to reach the high standards they have set themselves. Unbeaten in the Premier League since January 1 and playing football lauded as currently the best in the land has set a benchmark which is not always easy to achieve. Rovers stuck to their game plan of nullifying the threat of Adam Lallana and it worked as they drew . Phillipe Coutinho competes with Lee Williamson during the FA Cup Quarter Final match at Anfield . Rovers stuck to their game plan of nullifying the threat of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana, Liverpool's two playmakers behind the striker, and were rewarded with a replay next month at Ewood Park - where they have already beaten Swansea and Stoke in the competition. 'That's football. You aren't going to play to the best of your ability in every game,' said Johnson. 'Whether you play well or not, the most important thing is that you don't go out of the cup. We're still in the draw and we can still win the tie. Johnson has no idea where he will be next season but it appears increasingly likely he will move overseas . Johnson's representatives have already held exploratory talks with foreign clubs in regards to a move . 'It was frustrating. Everyone wanted to win the game but the most important thing is that we're in the hat for the semi-finals. 'You've got to give Blackburn a lot of credit because they worked hard. They got men behind the ball. 'Hopefully we'll play better in the replay and get the win we want. 'The fixture list isn't too crowded for us now so having a replay isn't a big problem. 'We've got plenty of time on the training ground in between matches to work on things now. 'We're still confident we can go through. Hopefully we can pick up our performance.' Johnson vies with Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon Premier League match at Selhurst Park . +Former Liverpool owner Tom Hicks is selling his Dallas mansion for a staggering $100millon (£66.5m), although he has dropped his $135m (£90m) asking price. The Texas businessman took control of Anfield with partner George Gillett in February 2007, but almost left the club in administration with debts of over £400m during a damaging three-and-a-half year spell. The conduct of the pair led to rows with then manager Rafa Benitez and former chief executive Rick Parry while disgruntled fans staged large scale protests before Hicks and Gillett eventually sold the club to New England Sports Ventures in October 2010. Former Liverpool owner Tom Hicks is selling his home, the biggest residential property in Dallas . Hicks and business partner took control of Liverpool in 2007 but almost left the club in administration . Fans staged regular protests against the pair before they sold up to New England Sports Ventures in 2010 . Hicks is now selling his home, which is the biggest residential property in Dallas with over 50,000 square feet in the main building, a 6,400-square-foot guesthouse and a 9,194 square-foot recreation building with a full-size movie theatre in the basement. The 25-acre spread, which was completely rebuilt and enlarged in 2000, requires two hours just to be viewed. Brendan Rodgers oversees a training session ahead of Liverpool's FA Cup clash with Blackburn . Raheem Sterling and Steven Gerrard train as the Reds look to continue their impressive form in 2015 . 'Every time I go through it I see something more – there is so much detail. This property takes things to a whole new level,' said estate agent Allie Beth Allman. The three-story house – originally designed by Swiss architect Maurice Fatio – has a conservatory, wine cellar, media room, exercise room and a European-style kitchen with a $65,000 French range. There's a seven-car garage and a full basement under the main house. However, according to the Dallas Morning News, Hicks has dropped the original asking price of $135m, which made it the most expensive residential property for sale in the U.S. three years ago. +IN HIS BEST POSITION . Earlier in the season, Emre Can was being written off but for the last two months he has been terrific at centre half and Sunday saw him actually playing in the position he actually thinks is his best. From the base of midfield, the German can pass well and drive forwards in to dangerous areas. He is a great prospect. Liverpool's versatile German Emra Can battles for the ball with Blackburn's Rudy Gestede on Sunday . MORE THAN A BIG MAN . In the absence of Josh King, much was asked of Rudy Gestede but he managed to deliver. He is certainly terrific in the air and Simon Mignolet will not look forwards to meeting him again in the replay next month. However, there is more to the France-born Benin international. His link-up play was superb all afternoon. Blackburn Rovers striker Gestede tries to win the ball against Liverpool's Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure . HAPPY ANNIVERSARY . Barely a football match takes place these days without a round of applause mid-game. This one came in the 20th minute as Blackburn fans marked 20 years since their team – managed by Kenny Dalglish – won the league title. Dalglish was here on Sunday but chose, rather understandably, not to join in. Former Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish looks on from the stands during the match . NOW IT’S OUR TURN . Still on the anniversary theme, Liverpool’s match programme noted that it was an incredible 35 years to the day since a superb goal from Terry McDermott won a Cup tie at Tottenham. Odd that Liverpool’s own publication should claim the winner of the BBC’s Goal of the Season award was a half-volley. It was nothing of the sort. The programme noted that it was an incredible 35 years to the day since a superb goal from Terry McDermott . SHOW US YOUR MEDALS . Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer will spend a long time trying to emulate his father Ian, who won League titles and European Cups as a player for Nottingham Forest. Bowyer Senior, however, never managed to get his hands on the FA Cup. After this, his son remains in with a shout. Gary Bowyer reacts as Blackburn Rovers earn a replay at home to Liverpool in the FA Cup on Sunday . +Luis Suarez scored his sixth goal in six games for Barcelona to shoot them into the Copa del Rey final. The victory came at a cost with Sergio Busquets taken off on a stretcher towards the end of the first half after a bad challenge to his right ankle from Tomas Pina. The Villarreal midfielder was sent off for an even worse challenge on Neymar in the second half as Suarez got on the score sheet. Neymar got the first and the third with Barcelona running out 6-2 winners on aggregate. Neymar celebrates giving Barcelona an early lead in the second leg against Villarreal . Neymar beats goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo to put Barcelona 4-1 up on aggregate . Neymar watches the ball nestle in the back of the net . Neymar celebrates with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi after scoring his team's opening goal . Neymar is mobbed by his team-mates after opening the scoring after just three minutes . There were 20,000 yellow balloons in Villarreal’s tiny Madrigal Stadium at kick-off with the intention of creating a atmosphere of belief among the home supporters. Between them Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar went about bursting most of them after just three minutes. Suarez found Messi with a superb cross-field pass from the left and Messi played an even better ball to find Neymar through the middle. The Brazilian beat Villarreal keeper Sergio Asenjo to the ball to put Barcelona one up. It was Neymar’s 25th goal of the season and the tenth that has come from a Messi pass but strangely it didn’t kill the tie. Barcelona were loose at the back and Villarreal had chance after chance to get back on level terms. Suarez looks to go past Villarreal's Mateo Pable Musacchio during a semi-final . Messi vies with Villarreal midfielder Denis Cheryshev at El Madrigal stadium . Barcelona's Javier Mascherano duels for the ball with Cheryshev . Denis Cheryshev hit the side netting with the first opportunity and then full-back Jaume Costa beat Martin Montoya and crossed for Luciano Vietto to head at Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Pina then passed to Uche who sliced his finish into the side-netting. Cheryshev then forced another save from Ter Stegen from a similar position. Barca had their chances too with Messi producing a pass that was almost identical to the one that had brought about the opening goal this time for Iniesta who couldn’t get his shot away before Victor Ruiz made the block. But Villarreal continued to find space in behind Barcelona and six minutes before half time they got the equalizer. It was a bad 60 seconds for Barcelona. Pina followed through on a pass and went straight through Busquets’s right ankle. With the midfielder still down Villarreal raced away and Costa crossed from the right for Jonathan Dos Santos to finish past Ter Stegen. Barcelona's Sergio Busquets lies on the ground injured during the game . Busquets is carried off on a stretcher after his injury in the first half . Busquets was carried off on a stretcher and now needing just the two goals to draw level Villarreal went down the tunnel at half time believing they could pull off a shock. They could have got the first of those goals with their first chance of the second half but Vietto’s header did not trouble Ter Stegen. Gerard Pique was booked for clattering the young Argentine striker while at the other end the game’s other Argentine forward went close – only Asenjo’s acrobatics keeping out Messi’s effort. Villarreal had shot high and wide too often on the night however and on 66 minutes they shot themselves in the foot. Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Gerard Pique keep the ball away from Luciano Vietto . Neymar has a shot past Villarreal's Mario Gaspar during the game as Barcelona look to book their place in the final . Messi looks to extend Barcelona's lead with a shot past Musacchio . Luis Suarez celebrates scoring Barcelona's second goal to make sure of their place in the final . Suarez nets the second goal for Barcelona to make sure their place in the final is secure . Neymar scores his second goal of the game late on to add gloss to the scoreline as Barcelona booked their place in the final . Mascherano loaded the bullet with a long pass forward and Suarez pulled the trigger with a centre-forward’s finish so typical of his Golden Shoe season at Liverpool and his recent form. Neymar completed the rout, converting substitute Xavi's pass. Suarez can now look forward to his first final with Barcelona at the end of May and Barcelona can now turn their attention to the Champions League with Manchester City waiting for them in two weeks. Busquets' chances of making that second leg will depend on the result of scans on Thursday but if suspected ligament damage is confirmed they may have to do without him. +Martin O’Neill has confirmed that a representative for Harry Kane approached him expressing his client’s interest to play for the Republic of Ireland. The Ireland manager had admitted last summer that he was chasing up a lead with a player at Tottenham Hotspur and the 21-year-old was the man in O’Neill’s sights. Despite being offered encouragement by Kane’s camp, the striker, whose father was born in Galway, insisted in August that his only aim was to break into the senior England squad. And after his breakthrough season in the Premier League, O’Neill has accepted that the chase to land him is over. Harry Kane celebrates scoring his second goal as Tottenham beat QPR 2-1 at Loftus Road last Saturday . The England Under 21 striker is also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland because of his father . ‘Yeah, yeah, it is. I was talking to somebody about this last night and we were just saying that Harry himself always wanted to play for England. Really, it was as simple as that,’ he said. ‘The order of events – though I don’t think it’s really important any more – is that initially the agent got in touch and said that he would have a keen interest, and we wanted to go and chase it up. ‘But then I noticed in the newspaper where he said he wanted to play for England. And that has remained the same. Someone was even speaking to him recently and that was exactly the same conversation. Fine, if that’s the case.’ Before Kane propelled himself into the limelight, with 26 goals to his name already this season, O’Neill felt it was possible he would opt for Ireland. Ireland boss Martin O'Neill has revealed that Kane was interested in representing Ireland before this season . ‘Considering what the agent said to me,’ he added. ‘Sometimes what agents do is they have someone who looks after the player who is not actually licensed to buy or sell or be involved as an agent but they look after the player. And he was the one who called. But he happened to call me on a day when Harry Kane said he wanted to play for England. ‘It would have been really nice, absolutely. There’s a fairly decent chance he might have had a few caps for us before he actually makes his debut for England, considering the way he’s playing.’ One Harry who will join up with the Ireland squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier with Poland later this month is Harry Arter. The Bournemouth midfielder has impressed as his side top the Championship and O’ Neill revealed that there will be further additions to his plans in the coming months. Kane has scored 26 goals so far this season and is on the brink of Roy Hodgson's England squad . ‘I don’t want to sound like a detective here but I’m following up on a number of leads. Honestly, I think there’s one or two might come to fruition in the next couple of months, maybe even before the Scotland game, that might be pleasantly surprising. I’m saying that, maybe I’m being optimistic. ‘If I thought things were really worth chasing up and somebody’s...I think sometimes the agent is seemingly almost like an excuse preventing that. One particular lad has called me who has bypassed agents and he’d be pretty keen. And I’m putting something in motion at the moment.’ Although O’Neill was coy on revealing any names. ‘Do you know, I can’t really at this minute. Would probably end up embarrassing myself when he turns out and plays for Czechoslovakia.’ +Nigel Pearson has underlined Leicester's survival belief but admitted they need to beat Hull. The Foxes are seven points from safety in the Barclays Premier League and have lost five of their last six top-flight games. They host the Tigers on Saturday and manager Pearson insists they are out to prove the doubters wrong. Nigel Pearson (centre) watches training unfold on Thursday as Leicester prepare for their clash against Hull . Pearson insists he and his squad believe they can still avoid relegation from the Premier League this season . He said: 'We still have a strong belief in our ability to stay up this season. 'Whether other people share it is not that important at the moment. In house there is a feeling we can do it. 'Saturday is a game both sides want to win. But Hull may be happier with the draw than us. We certainly need to win the game.' The Foxes have not won in the league since beating Aston Villa 1-0 in January but Pearson thinks one victory could spark a run of results. 'That is something we keep very much in our minds because we do have that belief,' said the manager, who spent just over a year as Hull boss before returning to Leicester in 2011. 'But you have to get that first one. 'This is a game a lot of people see as being a pivotal one we have. It will be a difficult game.' Wes Morgan (right) challenges striker David Nigent for the ball at the club's Belvoir Drive training ground . Midfielder Andy King (left) plays a pass under pressure from team-mate Paul Konchesky in training . Dean Hammond (calf) and Anthony Knockaert (personal reasons) are out but goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel could return after four months out with a broken foot. Matt Upson is expected to control the defence and the centre-back insisted he will remain calm despite their position. 'Personally I don't care about the occasion,' Upson told the club's official site. 'Whether it's a World Cup final or a Premier League game it's the same focus and the same attitude, the grass is green and the ball is round. 'I'd like to use that as extra motivation. I like to think I'm committed to do my best, whether I'm playing for the Under-21s or the first team.' Leicester have not played since their 2-0 defeat at Manchester City and with a 10-day break between games Upson hopes they have recharged. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel could return to face Hull after recovering from a broken foot . 'I think it can be quite a difficult, 10 days' said the 34-year-old. 'You can look at it in two ways, it's just important that the players are looking at it in the right way - as an opportunity to prepare for this game. 'It's a difficult period and a lot of thought has to go into training and how much you do focusing on one game, and how much is for fitness and how much is for getting the players in the right frame of mind. 'All those things have to have the right balance and I think it's important to get into the right frame of mind.' +Chelsea crashed out of Europe, beaten on away goals by 10-man Paris Saint-Germain and branded 'babies' by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Jose Mourinho's team led twice in this turbulent encounter but twice allowed PSG to level, with captain Thiago Silva heading the vital second, six minutes from the end of extra-time. Ibrahimovic, dismissed for a tackle on Oscar in the first-half, said: 'I don't know if I have to get angry or start to laugh. For me when I saw the red card I was like "the guy doesn't know what he's doing". 'That is not the worst. The worst is when I got the red card all the Chelsea players come around. It felt like I had a lot of babies around me.' Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as the Dutchman sends off Zlatan Ibrahimovic (far right) on 31 minutes . Ibrahimovic heads into a challenge with Chelsea midfielder Oscar (left) in the first-half which saw him sent off . The PSG forward immediately acknowledged his fault in the incident having collided with Oscar . Chelsea captain John Terry (left) reacts after Ibrahimovic's tackle on Oscar in the first-half at Stamford Bridge . Mourinho said he hoped the red card could be overturned but also bemoaned a penalty not given for a trip on Diego Costa and what he thought might be an elbow on Costa by David Luiz. The Chelsea manager also blamed his own players for failing to deal with their numerical advantage, wilting under expectations and conceding twice from set-pieces. 'When a team cannot defend two corners a team doesn't deserve to win,' said Mourinho. 'We couldn't cope with the pressure. For them it was easy, two lines of four, counter-attack, waiting for the right moment. Mentally for them with 10 there is nothing to lose. Chelsea players look dejected after being dumped out of the Champions League at home to PSG . 'Our performance was not good enough. The opponent was stronger than us, they coped better with the pressure of the game. Because they had 10 men we felt more the pressure of winning and they had nothing to lose. 'We couldn't cope with that, we conceded two goals in two set pieces. That is difficult to accept. For me it was a surprise. I am disappointed, but I try always to be pragmatic and honest. The first feeling was that we deserved to lose. We didn't deserve to go through. 'It's not the moment to explain. We will analyse it. We need to react. We have a Premier League to win. I told that to the players. We lost a competition where even if we win today there are other big teams to beat. 'We have the Premier League to win and we are in a good situation. There's no time to cry. Move on, and look forward.' Former Chelsea man David Luiz gestures towards Blues striker Diego Costa during Wednesday's encounter . PSG defender Luiz celebrated excitedly after scoring against his former club at Stamford Bridge . Thiago Silva's late header loops over the outstretched arm of Thibaut Courtois to knock Chelsea out . On Ibrahimovic's red card, Mourinho said: 'I spoke to him after the game and when he speaks with me he's always honest. He would tell me if it was a reason for a red card, and he was very disappointed so if that's the case, I hope they can minimise the mistake and let him play the quarter-final. If he did nothing wrong, he deserves that. 'But the other situations, it was a clear penalty on Diego Costa and, once more, I think it's a waste of time and money to have the officials on the side of the goal. If he cannot see a penalty 10 metres when it's completely clear, it's a waste of time and money. 'The David elbow I didn't see, I confess. But when UEFA give him the man of the match, I have to believe there's no elbow. Perhaps they cannot give us the penalty but maybe they can do what is fair and suspend David and take Ibra into the quarter-finals.' Ibrahimovic also suggested Oscar feigned injury. 'I pulled out (of the tackle), because I saw him come in the tackle. 'I don't know if he was acting afterwards. Doesn't matter. We won the game, we went through and let's see what happens.' Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he hopes Ibrahimovic is able to have his red card overturned . It was ill-tempered with Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness very critical of the behaviour by Mourinho's players, especially their attempts to get Ibrahimovic sent off. Carragher called it 'disgraceful' and Souness called it 'pathetic'. Luiz equalised for PSG in the 86th minute, to take the game into extra time after Gary Cahill had volleyed Chelsea ahead. Eden Hazard restored the lead with a penalty in extra-time, after handball by Thiago Silva, who then headed in the winner with six minutes of extra-time left. 'It is amazing for everyone, amazing for Paris the club, for Paris the city,' said Luiz, who left Stamford Bridge for the French capital last year. 'My cycle was finished at Chelsea and PSG gave me a great opportunity to continue my career. 'I was very happy at Chelsea, I respect everyone and it was good to score. I said I wouldn't celebrate but I couldn't control my emotions. Thank you to Chelsea, and sorry I celebrated because I was so emotional.' The Barclays Premier League will be without a team in the last eight of the Champions League for the second time in three years if Arsenal and Manchester City cannot overturn first-leg deficits next week against Monaco and Barcelona respectively but PSG boss Laurent Blanc was satisfied to make it into the quarter-finals after this fierce contest. ‘Both sides put pressure on the opposition and Chelsea did their fair share of that. It had happened even before the match with their manager exerting pressure on the referee. That’s part of the mind games. But if you take out these elements of unsporting behaviour, I think my team were better than Chelsea in every area of the pitch,’ he said. Jamie Carragher (left) and Graeme Souness (second right) slammed the behaviour of the Chelsea players . +Louis van Gaal admitted on Tuesday that it may take big-money summer signing Angel di Maria one year to adapt to life at Manchester United. The former Real Madrid midfielder has suffered a severe slump in form after a bright start to life at Old Trafford and was even hooked at half-time by the United boss against Sunderland last week. Sportsmail's man in Madrid Pete Jenson, who kept a close eye on Di Maria during his four-year spell in the Spanish capital, assures United fans the £60million man will come good. Angel di Maria was substituted against Sunderland after a poor performance in the opening 45 minutes . Louis van Gaal claimed it may take record signing Di Maria a full year to adapt to English football . When it comes to putting his medals on the table Angel di Maria has the silverware to silence the critics. He also has the references to convince Manchester United supporters that his current dip in form will soon pass. Jose Mourinho signed him; Carlo Anclelotti stuck by him; Sir Alex Ferguson handed him his man of the match award after the 2014 Champions League final; and Real Madrid team-mates all knew he would be missed when he left the club last summer. Xabi Alonso tweeted when he was sold: ‘Thanks for everything. I wish you all the best, even if you are going to United. We will never forget the zig-zag in extra-time in Lisbon.’ That message refers to the run and shot that led to Gareth Bale putting Real Madrid ahead against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final. It was the perfect end to his best season at a club where he was also instrumental in winning a Spanish Cup under Ancelotti and the league and another Spanish Cup under Mourinho. Di Maria has had a difficult season after making a fast start to life at Old Trafford following his move . The midfielder had a particularly bad afternoon against Sunderland last week before being hooked . It should be remembered that his glorious last campaign also came with a mid-season glitch. He famously grabbed his crotch in a disrespectful snub to Ancelotti and the booing Bernabeu after being substituted during a game at the start of the year. There was pressure on the coach to put Gareth Bale on the right wing ahead of the Argentine and feeling he was being edged out of the side unfairly in spite of a good start to the season he reacted. Ancelotti did not ostracise him as many demanded, instead he reinvented him. Moving him from the right of Real’s front three to the left of their midfield three, there he became La Liga’s top assist provider. He played 22 passes leading to goals last season including one that helped win the Spanish Cup and one that helped secure the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti stuck with Di Maria during a slump and he eventually helped them win Champions League . Di Maria played a starring role during the Champions League final against Atletico last season . Di Maria celebrated with the European Cup before he moved to Manchester United last summer . It is that willingness and versatility that first attracted Mourinho and he made him one of his first signings at Real Madrid for £20m from Benfica. The signing was not an outright success as Barcelona continued to dominate in Spain. Di Maria played in the first Pep Guardiola v Mourinho clasico in November 2010 and was as culpable as any of his team-mates as Madrid went down 5-0 in one of the worst humiliations of the Portuguese manager's career. But Di Maria never stopped going in that first season and the following March at Mestalla in the Spanish Cup final, also against Barcelona, it was a lung-busting run from Di Maria in minute 103 and a cross to the back post headed in by Cristiano Ronaldo that gave Mourinho his first trophy in Spain. The following year Di Maria helped his boss win the league. Di Maria made an exciting start to his career at Old Trafford, pictured here celebrating a goal against QPR . The midfiedler also scored against Everton and all three of his league goals were scored by early October . Mourinho’s judgement is rarely off and the same can be said for Ancelotti's. He knew not to discard Di Maria just because Bale had arrived, channelling his qualities for the good of the team. Real are missing him now. Last season Luka Modric and Di Maria protected Real full backs Marcelo and Dani Carvajal leaving Bale and Ronaldo to concentrate on the business of terrorising opposition defences. This year with the Argentine sold and Modric injured they are, by their own standards, struggling with Ronaldo and particularly Bale, criticised for not working back in defence. A first-season dip after a brilliant start is also nothing new for a player in his first season in the Premier League. Mesut Ozil suffered the same at Arsenal after his high-profile move from Real Madrid and Di Maria has more excuses than most to have dropped his performances levels. Di Maria played a key role for Argentina as they reached the final of the World Cup in Brazil last summer . The former Real midfielder starred for Argentina in a 4-2 win against Germany in September . He played 52 of Real Madrid’s 60 games last season and then played a big part in Argentina’s World Cup campaign. He might have foreseen a more relaxing season this time but he had to move his family to Manchester from Madrid in the summer and has the added stress of a further temporary move into a hotel after the recent attempted burglary at his Cheshire home. That and Van Gaal’s failure to find the magic formula on the pitch and his preference for a more patient passing game has not helped the 27-year-old’s cause. His anarchic road-runner raids forward are a poor fit for the tactical straight-jacket Van Gaal occasionally imposes on his players. Being hooked at half-time against Sunderland does not look good on Di Maria’s resume but alongside his Olympic Gold medal (scoring the winner in the final) his Champions League medal and the glowing references from Mourinho and Ancelotti, there is more than enough to remind everyone that while his current form is off, his class will eventually shine through. +Sportsmail takes a look at 10 things we have learned from an entertaining weekend of football including the FA Cup, Premier League and a daft red card. 1. Glen Johnson still has plenty to offer Liverpool as he waits to resolve his Anfield future. The 54 times capped England right back is out of contract in the summer, and despite talk of a new three-year offer on reduced wages seems no closer to agreeing a new deal. In his first full game since collecting a groin injury against Manchester United in December he was the team’s top passer against Blackburn, finding a team mate with 82 of 87 passes – half of them in the attacking half of the field. Johnson’s role in defence also allowed Emre Can to play his more natural position at the base of the midfield. Glen Johnson still has a lot to offer Liverpool as he tries to win a new deal at the Merseyside club . 2. Eric Dier is starting to win his battle to establish himself as a centre half for Tottenham after being forced to play at right back at the start of the season. The 20-year-old, who was born in Cheltenham but grew up in Portugal before moving to White Hart Lane from Sporting Lisbon for £4million last summer, turned down an England Under 21 call-up in the Autumn because he didn’t want to play at full back. He is improving rapidly now alongside Jan Vertonghen. At QPR he made 11 clearances, more than any other defender apart from the 14 managed by his Belgian partner. Eric Dier (right) is beginning to establish himself as a top centre half after starring for Tottenham . 3. Nedum Onuoha deserved credit for his determination to play for QPR against Tottenham despite the horrific cut to his cheek he suffered a few days earlier in the defeat to Arsenal. But the former Manchester City defender showed signs that he was still suffering from the collision with team mate Steven Caulker. In the 90 minutes he gave the ball away 30 times as Rangers, whose survival depends on their form at Loftus Road, slumped to their fourth home defeat in a row. Nedum Onuoha suffered this nasty facial injury in a clash of heads with Steven Caulker but opted to play on . 4. Jonas Olsson, key defender for West Bromwich Albion for the last few seasons, is now rapidly looking surplus to requirements. The 31-year-old Swedish international hadn’t played since September after being axed by Alan Irvine before then needing surgery on an Achilles injury. His comeback game at Aston Villa saw him dragged off after 68 minutes during which he struggled against the running of Charles N’Zogbia. Jonas Olsson's days at West Bromwich Albion appear to be numbered after falling out of favour this season . 5. Matt Lowton has been one of the big winners at Aston Villa from the arrival of new boss Tim Sherwood. The 25-year-old had been out of favour under previous boss Paul Lambert who had picked him only four times all season, after bringing Alan Hutton in from the cold to play right back. But Sherwood has trusted the former Sheffield United defender to solve a problem at left back for him, and Lowton has twice kept the involvement of West Brom’s wide midfielder Craig Gardner to a minimum. Matt Lowton has been given a fresh chance by Tim Sherwood after being dropped by Paul Lambert . 6. Pavel Pogrebnyak remains an expensive legacy for Reading from the days when former owner Anton Zingarevich persuaded his fellow Russian to sign a £65,000 a week contract. The striker was hugely unlucky not to find a winning goal for the Royals in their 0-0 FA Cup quarter-final at Bradford, twice hitting the post. But that is symptomatic of the way his season has gone, with just four goals to show for 25 appearances. The bad news for boss Steve Clarke as he tries to balance his budget is that the Pog, now aged 31, still has another season of his bumper deal to run. Pavel Pogrebnyak has not lived up to his billing since joining Reading in 2012 . 7. It’s little wonder that Watford fought so hard to keep striker Troy Deeney away from both West Brom and Swansea in the January transfer window. The 26-year-old was also the subject of a failed bid by Leicester last summer, signing a new contract and being appointed club captain. He’d already made Vicarage Road history as the first player in 50 years to get 20 goals in two consecutive seasons – and after getting his 16th of this campaign to earn a point at Wolves he’s well on course to pass that target for a third year. Troy Deeney celebrates after scoring his sides second goal away to Championship rivals Wolves . 8. Steve Morison still has the faith of Leeds manager Neil Redfearn – even though he reaches the unhappy landmark today of two years since he last scored a goal for the club. In fairness the 31-year-old former Welsh international did spend all last season on loan at Millwall where his goals and all-round team play helped the London side avoid relegation. He’s failed to find the net in 18 Championship games for Leeds so far this campaign, but Redfearn insisted his work rate up front was a key factor in the 1-0 win at Wigan which brought the club their fifth win in seven games. Steve Morison (left) hasn't scored for two years but still has the backing off his manager Neil Redfearn . 9. Daftest red card of the weekend went to Notts County’s Liam Noble who got booked for dissent at Swindon – and then moaned so much to referee Gavin Ward about that decision that he got a second yellow. The 23-year-old former Carlisle midfielder has now been sent off three times this season and even manager Shaun Derry admitted: “I can’t back him.” At least Noble issued a heartfelt apology to the club afterwards – but the Geordie born youngster clearly has some red mist issues to overcome. Liam Noble (centre right) was sent off the second time against Swindon after being booked twice for dissent . 10. Sheffield United manager Nigel Clough has long since consigned Burton Albion to his personal history book – but his links with the club he took from part-time football into the League in 11 years in charge are still strong. And that is already helping new boss Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink as he tries to mark his first spell of management in English football by achieving a promotion. Clough last week loaned Belgian Under 21 midfielder Florent Cuvelier to the Brewers – and the former Stoke youngster marked his debut by coming off the bench to get the winning goal at Hartlepool which kept Burton top of League Two. Sheffield United boss Nigel Clough still has links with former club Burton and loaned them Florent Cuvelier . +Peter Crouch has been dubbed every football fans second favourite player in recent months and his latest Twitter post will do nothing to put his supporters off. The 34-year-old striker rocks out back stage to Kasabian, goes home to model wife Abbey Clancy and still bangs in the goal at the highest level. Peter Crouch took to Twitter to give glimpse a fans of his wild photo shoot on Sunday as he poses with a tiger . Former England striker Crouch was pictured crowd-surfing at a Kasabian gig in December last year . On a Sunday it seems the Macclesfield-born forward, who also had spells with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, likes nothing more than a wild photo shoot complete with 'LAD' buzzer. The former England international posted a picture of himself laying with a baby tiger as Crouch enjoyed some relaxation with Stoke not in action this weekend. But, the man himself was quick to reassure fans that it was part of an advertising campaign and not just a glimpse of the rock and roll wild child that lies within. When asked what 'The Lads' buzzer was, Crouch Tweeted that all would be revealed in time... Crouch was quick to tell fans that the picture was part of an advertising campaign . Crouch and his wife Abbey, who he married in 2011, enjoyed a night out at the NME awards last month . Stoke star Crouch poses with Kasabian singer Sergio Pizzorno at the NME Awards afterparty . +Ndamukong Suh’s wish appears to have come true, with the Miami Dolphins set to make him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player. After the Lions declined to use the franchise tag on Suh to save $26.5m of cap space, the Dolphins look to have beaten Oakland, Jacksonville, Indianapolis and San Diego to the most coveted signature in this year’s free agency. Suh will on Tuesday sign a $114million, six-year deal with around $60m guaranteed, ESPN report. With no state taxes in Florida, the deal dwarfs JJ Watt’s current six-year, $100m deal which the Texans’ defensive end penned last year. Ndamukong Suh will on Tuesday sign a $114million with the Miami Dolphins with $60million guaranteed . Suh, the second pick of the 2010 draft, is a four time Pro-Bowler and three-time first team All-Pro and led the Lions with 8.5 sacks last season. At 28, Suh is in his prime and is a once-in-a decade type of player whom the Dolphins can build their franchise around. A fearsome pass rusher, he was the cornerstone of NFL’s best rushing defense and helped the Lions to the play-offs last year. He will join the likes of Cameron Wake and Oliver Vernon in an aggressive front four. In his five years in Detroit, Suh played 80 out of 82 games. He was suspended for both of those for stamping on Evan Dietrich-Smith of the Green Bay Packers in 2011. Veterans such as Cortland Finnegan (right) were among those released by the Dolphins to free up cap space . Following his exit, the focus for the Lions front office will be getting fellow defensive tackle Nick Fairley to stay. After declining his fifth-year option last year due to injury concerns, the 26-year-old is considered the second-best free agent defensive tackle. Should Suh depart, which appears likely, they will need a run-stuffer alongside him. The free-spending Dolphins had a roster clear-out which paved the way for Suh’s arrival. Veterans such as Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson, Dannell Ellerbe and Cortland Finnegan were among those released to free up cap space. Suh and the Dolphins travel to London later on this year to play the New York Jets on October 4 in the first International Series game of the 2015 season. +Andy Murray revealed he sought inspiration for the biggest home tie in his Davis Cup career by visiting the home of Scottish football. Murray took time out of his preparation for the World Group encounter with the United States to take a private tour of Hampden Park. The Scot admits he will be nervous when he turns out in front of his home crowd on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Emirates Arena and his trip to a more established Scottish sporting venue helped him reflect on the encounter to come. Andy Murray hits a shot as part of his practice session at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on Wednesday . Murray, wearing a t-shirt with a tweet from a fan pledging support, is part of the British team taking on the USA . The recently-announced World No 5 will have the backing of home support in Glasgow this week . Murray said: 'I just went and had a little walk around and saw the locker rooms and changing areas and went on to the pitch, which was nice. 'I had only been once to Hampden before for a cup final which Hibs lost. Surprise. 'It was nice to go down on the pitch and see what it was like.' The Emirates Arena will only hold about a seventh of Hampden's 50,000 capacity but Murray expects the crowd to play a significant role in the first-round encounter. 'For all of us as a team, getting to play in front of a crowd like this is a great feeling,' said the world number five, whose brother Jamie missed media duties as he bids to recover from a minor cold. 'I would say that's the nicest thing about the Davis Cup, when you get a home tie you get the whole crowd behind you. It's not like that at the tournaments we play throughout the rest of the year. 'To have a crowd turning up just to support you is fantastic and I'm sure the whole team will respond. 'It looks like a great arena, it's a perfect size and if it's packed I am sure they will make a lot of noise. 'It helps in all sports to play in front of a home crowd. There can sometimes be a few nerves early because of it but once you get through that it makes a big difference and can help a lot.' James Ward (seated, left) and Murray take a break and look out to the court during Wednesday's session . Murray moves towards the net to nip a shot over ahead of facing the USA, who Great Britain beat last year . Murray checks out the message emblazoned across his top, and later takes a break from the session . Murray's shirt read: 'Good luck @andy_murray. you can do it for the Brits... We believe in you! #BackTheBrits' Ward and Murray face a tough task to repeat last year's win over the US on the arena's indoor hard court . Murray joked that James Ward was 'piling the pressure on' when his fellow singles player stated that the Australian Open finalist would be a clear favourite in his games, but he later appeared relaxed over the prospect of meeting expectations. 'I have always viewed nerves as a very positive thing,' the 27-year-old said. 'When you actually learn what nerves are and why they come, it's positive to feel nervous. 'I have always felt like I have been able to concentrate better when I have had nerves in the morning or the night before. 'I feel like my body responds well to it, that I move better and see the ball better. It's just making sure you are able to make the right decisions in those moments. I think, well I hope I will deal with it well on Friday but who knows?' Murray shares a laugh with Great Britain's Davis Cup team captain Leon Smith during the training session . Murray gave short shrift to questions on the effect his support for Scottish independence in last year's referendum would have on his commitment to the Great Britain team, having explained his decision to come out in support a 'yes' vote in a recent interview. 'Well, I guess we'll see at the weekend,' he stated before coach Leon Smith moved the topic back to tennis. Murray helped Britain to a 3-1 victory over the US in San Diego at the same stage last year, before losing to Italy in the quarter-finals. But the visitors have top singles player John Isner back after an ankle injury and Murray goes into the weekend slightly out of sorts after two quarter-final defeats since his collapse against Novak Djokovic in the Melbourne final. Murray admitted he had missed the influence of coach Amelie Mauresmo, who was occupied with France Fed Cup duties when Murray lost to Gilles Simon and then Croatian teenager Borna Coric in Rotterdam and Dubai respectively. 'I feel I have practised pretty well here,' he said. 'I took a couple of days off after Dubai and got here and started trying to work on a couple of things and get myself back on the right track. 'After the Aussie Open I spent the next three or four weeks with no coach and I feel that's something I obviously need to get sorted so that when I get to the clay court season I am not in that position, because I feel like there are some things I need to work on all the time and when I don't have somewhere there it's harder to do that. That's high on my list of priorities.' A press conference followed the training session for Murray and his Great Britain team-mates in Glasgow . +Novak Djokovic is known for his athletic ability, but we normally think about the world No 1 within the confines of a tennis court, not a dance studio. But that is exactly where the 27-year-old was as he and his wife decided to try their luck at ballet in between matches. The current Wimbledon and Australian Open champion posted a photo online of the couple together and wrote: 'Ballet with my wife'. Current Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic poses with his wife after taking up ballet . Djokovic and his partner Nenad Zimonjic during their win against Croatia's Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor . Djokovic played a major role as Serbia beat Croatia in all five of their matches in the first round of the Davis Cup on Sunday and set up a quarter-final clash with Argentina in the summer. Serbia's No 1 beat Mate Delic in straight sets before emerging victorious in his doubles match too - teaming up with Nenad Zimonjic to beat Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor. Djokovic, though, wasn't even initially supposed to play in the match. Viktor Troicki was named to play alongside Zimonjic but Serbia coach Bogdan Obradovic opted for Djokovic after his impressive performance against Delic.. World No 1 Djokovic celebrates with his team-mates after winning his Davis Cup doubles match . Serbia's No 1 also beat Mate Delic in straight sets in his Davis Cup singles match . +Mario Balotelli shared his distaste at the comments aimed at AC Milan's Sulley Muntari, which were made by Matteo Salvini, secretary of the anti-immigration Lega Nord party. The Ghanaian international conceded a penalty kick as the Serie A giants failed to beat Hellas Verona at the San Siro on Saturday. The Italian politician took to Facebook and posted the comments sparking much controversy. Mario Balotelli (centre) was furious at Matteo Salvini's comments aimed at AC Milan's Sulley Muntari . Muntari (left) was targeted by Salvini after he conceded a penalty against Hellas Verona on Saturday . He wrote: 'Immigrants who work well are welcome. So Muntari may return to his home.' The Liverpool forward, whose been criticised by Salvini before, couldn't quite believe what the politician had to say about the Milan midfielder. In an Instagram post containing a screenshot of Salvini's words, Balotelli wrote: 'This person is serious when he says this or what? He is also a politician? Then voting for me is better.' The Liverpool striker has previous with Salvini and he was quick to defend his friend Muntari . Salvini seemed undeterred by Balotelli as he insulted the Italian international with another Facebook post on Sunday. It read: 'The sense of humour of Balotelli is equal to his education in the field. 'He is angry because I criticised his friend Muntari? 'With all the millions that come to play ball, these gentlemen should accept ironies and criticism from fans, and smile. Take it easy Mario!' Salvini (right) is the secretary of the anti-immigration Lega Nord party and has insulted Balotelli before . +Gianfranco Zola has been sacked as manager of Italian side Cagliari after fewer than three months in charge. The former West Ham and Watford boss won just two of his 10 matches at the club and leaves them 18th in the table, four points from safety. Zdenek Zeman, who Zola replaced in December, has been brought back in as manager. Gianfranco Zola has been sacked as manager of Italian side Cagliari after fewer than three months in charge . Samuel Eto'o of Sampdoria celebrates scoring during his side's 2-0 win against Cagliari . Results: WLDWLLDLLL . Goals For: 12 . Goals Against: 17 . Clean Sheets: Zero . Cagliari have picked up just one point from their last six games and the 2-0 defeat by Sampdoria was the final straw for the club's hierarchy. 'Cagliari announce that Gianfranco Zola and his staff have been relieved of the technical leadership of the first team,' the Sardinian club said in a statement. 'It was a decision which was taken reluctantly against a great man who has written unforgettable pages in the history of Cagliari, bringing brilliance and giving international prestige to the land of Sardinia. 'Thanks go to him and his staff for the work done in recent months with dedication, professionalism and passion, and we wish him heartfelt good luck for the rest of his career.' The 48-year-old became the sixth Serie A managerial casualty of the season. The others were Eugenio Corini (Chievo), Walter Mazzarri (Inter Milan), Pierpaolo Bisoli (Cesena), Zeman (Cagliari) and Stefano Colantuono (Atalanta). The former West Ham and Watford boss won just two of his 10 matches at the club . During Zola's 10 games in charge of Cagliari they have scored 12 goals and conceded 17 . +Radamel Falcao's miserable career at Manchester United reached a new low on Tuesday night when he was dumped in the reserves by manager Louis van Gaal. Falcao has not played a minute of football for United's first team since being dragged off midway through the home victory over Sunderland last month and was left on the bench as Van Gaal's stuttering team were knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal at home on Monday night. Now the £250,000-a-week loan signing from Monaco has suffered the indignity of being made to play in the Under 21 team in their game against Tottenham on Tuesday night. Radamel Falcao losing his footing as he tries to escape the attentions of Bongani Khumalo (left) Falcao reacts as a chance goes by (left) while Rafael (right, centre) is congratulated on his goal . Falcao's spectacular fall from favour is starkly shown by the 'U21' badge on the arm of his United shirt . Van Gaal's decision to select the 29-year-old in the Under 21s is indicative of the United manager's ongoing concerns over the Colombian international's fitness levels. However, the United boss usually asks senior players to play at this level only if they are on their way back from injury. Falcao has been injury free since recovering from a thigh injury at the end of November and is unlikely to be pleased at being asked to drop down a level at a time when he is desperately trying to prove he is worth a permanent deal. United officials say Falcao, one of the most feared strikers in world football before he suffered a cruciate ligament injury last January, was chosen to ensure he would be sharp for the first-team's clash with Spurs at the same venue on Sunday afternoon. Falcao heads the ball towards goal but his drought goes on after another unsuccessful outing . Sportsmail reported earlier this year that Falcao feels he has to work twice as hard to impress his manager as some other players and has been less than thrilled at times to hear his manager question his fitness levels. But on this evidence he will do well to win a recall from Louis van Gaal after an anonymous performance. In a poor first half Falcao dallied too long on two opportunities and his only other action of note came when he deflected fellow striker James Wilson's goal-bound effort wide from an offside position. United coaches (left-right) Paul McGuinness (U18s), Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Tony Strudwick (fitness) watch on . Falcao looks to get in between the Tottenham defence at Old Trafford as United are held by Spurs . Falcao has another effort on goal but is again frustrated as United searched for the winner . Expertly marshalled by Spurs' centre-half pairing of 17-year-old Cameron Carter-Vickers and South African Bongani Khumalo, 28, the Monaco man cut a desperately frustrated figure. In the second half he was at it again when he diverted Sean Goss's shot into the arms of Spurs keeper Luke McGee before his disappointing evening came to a merciful end. In contrast Brazilian right back Rafael, fighting for his future at United, was a standout. He calmly intercepted McGee's throw out before chipping him with his left foot from 30 yards on 33 minutes to cancel out lively Spurs midfielder Kenny McEvoy's opener. Having only scored four times during his six months at United, the chances of Falcao being retained in the summer are almost nil. United have not seen enough to suggest he will prove value for money in the long run while Falcao feels he has not always been given a fair crack of the whip by Van Gaal. After Monday's cup exit against Arsenal, Van Gaal reacted with irritation when asked about the decision to sign Falcao and release Danny Welbeck last August. Welbeck returned to Old Trafford to score the winner in Arsenal's 2-1 win. Last night Welbeck said: 'Manchester United is a club that means so much to me. I'm a fan and it's hard to knock them out. I'll always respect the fans. I had a lovely reception from them and I'm thankful for that.' The Colombian looks bemused as he is substituted before shaking hands with coach Warren Joyce . +Manchester United starlet Adnan Januzaj has revealed he has been undergoing extra work in the gym to aid his development. The Belgium youngster made his breakthrough under David Moyes last season but has been used sparingly under new manager Louis van Gaal this term - making just eight starts. The 20-year-old has also been criticised for going down too easily and picked up his fifth booking of his career for diving during United's 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal on Monday night. Adnan Januzaj (left) wants to become stronger after putting in extra hours at the gym . The Belgian appeals after picking up the fifth diving booking of his career against Arsenal on Monday . Although Januzaj has built up his slight frame since making his debut at 18, he revealed he has been putting in extra hours at the gym to become 'stronger' during games. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said: ''I do a lot of work in the gym,' Januzaj said. 'I am trying to be faster and stronger so I can be tougher when I go out on the pitch. 'I am doing a lot of short, sharp stuff so, when I turn a defender or go past a player, I can just get a few metres away from them with my acceleration.' Louis van Gaal (right) has given the 20-year-old only eight starts during an inconsistent season . Januzaj shares a joke with team-mates (L-R) Andreas Pereira, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera at training . +Sussex have signed Sri Lanka star Mahela Jayawardene for the first half of this season's Natwest T20 Blast. The 37-year-old batsman, who will be available for Sussex's opening seven matches of the competition, has scored more than 4,000 runs in 170 T20 matches during his career, including almost 1,500 runs in 55 T20 internationals. He was part of the Sri Lanka side that won the ICC World Twenty20 title last year - having also helped them reach the final in 2012 and 2009 - before announcing his retirement from the shortest form of the game at international level. Mahela Jayawardene has signed for Sussex for the first half of this season's T20 blast competition . The 37-year-old batsman has been representing Sri Lanka at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand . Jayawardene has also scored more than 11,000 runs in both Test and one-day international cricket during a glittering career, leaving him in the top seven of all-time runscorers in both formats. He retired from Test cricket last year and will stop playing ODIs after the ongoing World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The former Sri Lanka captain, who has never played county cricket, said: 'I am really exciting about basing myself down at Hove and playing for Sussex during the first half of the summer. 'Sussex is a great club with a proud history and I want to help them win the NatWest T20 Blast this year.' Mahela Jayawardene runs between the wickets during his country's clash with Australia in Sydney . Sussex's professional cricket manager Mark Robinson said: 'It is fantastic news that a player of the calibre of Mahela has agreed to join us. 'His record and his reputation is second to none, and he will also bring into our dressing room his leadership and experience. I'm sure he will be a huge asset to Luke Wright as the new captain, and the whole squad and coaching staff.' Sussex begin their Natwest T20 Blast campaign with the short trip to Kent on Friday, May 15. +The League Cup remains Celtic’s Achilles heel. The Scottish trophy which has eluded them most often. Since beating Saturday's opponents Dundee United in the 1997-98 final, the Parkhead club have won it a further four times. To supporters of smaller, provincial clubs, that would be a form of nirvana. A glorious period of outstanding achievement. Ronny Deila is determined to get his hands on the League Cup after Sunday's final against Dundee United . To Celtic, it’s a source of mild failure. In the same period the club has captured twice as many league titles. And six Scottish Cups The clubs previous two managers, Tony Mowbray and Neil Lennon, didn’t win the League Cup at all and Lennon’s record in cups was a source of occasional unrest. For Ronny Deila, then, the first trophy of his Celtic tenure would be hugely significant. ‘It is something we would remember for the rest of our lives,’ said the Norwegian. ‘Cup finals are big. They are big in Norway and in Scotland and England. This tradition is important.’ Bold and forthright, Deila has publicly pledged to win a Treble. Managers usually play down talk of clean sweeps and banish the very words from their vocabulary. A fatalistic, superstitious streak runs through Scottish football, but Deila isn’t having it. Far from piling pressure on himself or his players, he believes it sets a target to strive for. Celtic expect to win all three domestic trophies every season. Saying so should be no cause for palpitations. ‘I am very calm,’ said Deila with a grin. ‘Maybe too much. Hopefully it will come on Sunday - but we have so many big matches you get used to it. ‘If this had been a small club, the cup final would be totally crazy. It would be all: “Who is going to sit here and what are we going to do with the supporters?” But this club has done it so many times, so it’s very calm. ‘We just prepare for what’s ahead of us and I think we can feel in the atmosphere of the players there is a big game coming up. Again, we can reach one of our targets and that’s important.’ Deila issues instructions to his players during the recent Scottish Cup quarter-final draw with Dundee United . In one sense he is correct. Celtic have been in many cup finals, too many to mention. But he hasn’t. ‘In 2010, Stromsgodset beat a First Division team in the final,’ he recalled. ‘I played in 2001 and won, then lost one in 2002. The cup final is big in Norway, there is only one cup and, like the FA Cup, it’s the last game of the season and is always sold out. ‘I have seen crazy things at the cup final. Things like: “Who is going to sit beside the King?” That’s how it is with small clubs. Not here.’ He believes Celtic are favourites to win because they have the bigger squad. More options. Those options will be diminished if Nir Bitton, an increasingly influential midfielder, fails to overcome a swollen ankle. But Kris Commons is fit again and ready. ‘Kris trained yesterday (Thursday) and looked good,’ reported Deila. ‘Adam Matthews is a bit too early. Bitton will hopefully reach it, though he has still not trained. But he is very determined, so hopefully he will reach it. ‘We will give him until Sunday because he is a very important player. We want him to play and I think he has a good chance.’ That Celtic have the personnel is beyond doubt. There will be more focus at Hampden on the discipline of the teams. Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara poses with the Celtic boss and the League Cup at Hampden . So edgy and ill-tempered – and hugely enjoyable - was the Scottish Cup tie between these two teams at Tannadice last Sunday that people are already looking for ‘afters.’ Evidence of bad blood which might lead to another day of big decisions and navel-gazing over the state of Scottish refereeing. Warning his team to keep their discipline, Deila recalled: ‘It was the same against Rangers. If you lose your discipline there and get a red card you can lose the game. ‘I think we have been disciplined. Last Sunday some things happened after a situation. ‘Again, when something happens like that you must keep discipline and focus. So I expect my players to do that in every game now. ‘We have to be disciplined. We have to think and we have to not do stupid things. Stay on your feet and nothing will happen. ‘You have to have controlled aggression. John Collins is always saying that. We have to be determined and high on motivation and aggression. ‘We have to be clear thinkers about what to do in certain situations. We want the team to be like that and we want to be the same way.’ Chief Executive Peter Lawwell and Deila pictured after Celtic announce new agreement with New Balance . He locked his players away in a form of exile at their Lennoxtown training ground before the Rangers game and has employed similar tactics this week. Nothing has been left to chance. The Scottish League Cup gets a bad press. The crowds are poor, the interest levels low. The semi-finals were played on a Hampden pitch better suited to Chinese rice farmers, but a new surface has been laid for the final and Deila gave it the all-clear after a brief walkabout on Thursday. The prospect of a new Celtic manager going for his first trophy in charge sets a new narrative for Sunday. Nothing will be left to chance in pursuit of the prize. ‘All I do is go to Lennoxtown and then go home,’ said Deila. ‘You have to prepare for whatever is coming up, the next game all the time, and it has been a usual week for us. ‘We have big goals and one of them is to win trophies. The other is to develop the club in the direction I want it to go and they want it to go. ‘We have started well. The first year is always so hard wherever you go. You have to get people to understand what you believe in and you have to get to know people. If we can start by winning a trophy on Sunday, it would be a very good start.’ +A video has emerged that claims to show Oscar Pistorius playing football in a prison yard with a notorious underworld criminal. The extraordinary footage appears to show a dramatically slimmer Pistorius enjoying a penalty shoot-out competition with Radovan Krejcir, who was last month charged with murder. The disgraced sprinter, who was jailed for five years for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has struck up an unlikely friendship with the Czech fugitive since they became neighbours on the hospital wing at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria. In the 90 second clip, South Africa's two most notorious prisoners are seen taking turns to play striker and goalkeeper in the facility's concrete yard which they seemingly have to themselves. Scroll down for video . A video emerged that claims to show Oscar Pistorius (white T-shirt) playing football in a prison yard with a notorious underworld criminal, seen here taking on the role of goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out . The extraordinary footage appears to show a dramatically slimmer Pistorius enjoying a penalty shoot-out competition with Radovan Krejcir, who was last month charged with murder . The double-amputee was jailed for five years for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 . The disgraced sprinter has struck up an unlikely friendship with Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir (right) since they became neighbours on the hospital wing at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria . The footage, shot from above on a mobile phone reportedly by a convicted robber, was published today by South Africa's Daily Sun newspaper. The pictures appear to support recent reports that the double-amputee has slimmed down dramatically since his incarceration four months ago amid fears of poisoning by other prisoners. According to jail sources, the shamed athlete is surviving on tins of baked beans, pilchards and an African vegetable dish called 'chakalaka' bought at the prison tuck shop after spurning his rations. Wearing trainers, grey shorts and a white, unbranded T-shirt that appears to swamp his lean frame, the 28-year-old's thin arms protrude from its sleeves. The images are in stark contrast to the muscle-bound track star who made history at the London Olympic games by competing against able-bodied athletes. During the day, Pistorius is required to dress in the regulation orange jump suit which is issued to all inmates at the jail. In the 90-second clip, South Africa's two most notorious prisoners are seen taking turns to play striker and goalkeeper in the facility's concrete yard which they seemingly have to themselves . As a prisoner on remand, heavily-built Krejcir is entitled to wear his own clothes and is dressed in a striped top and deck shoes for his knockabout game with the famous athlete . Pistorius takes part in the 400m heats at the London Olympics in 2012, six months prior to his arrest . But according to a spokesman for the jail, he is entitled to dress in sports gear for his hour of daily exercise. As a prisoner on remand, heavily-built Krejcir is entitled to wear his own clothes and is dressed in a striped top and deck shoes for his knockabout game with the famous athlete. Although in the video Pistorius appears to move easily on his prostheses despite his obvious drop in weight, during his long murder trial, his doctor told the court of the pain the fallen sprinter suffers a result of wearing artificial limbs that fit poorly as a result of weight loss. The bleak yard where the men are having a kickabout shows two narrow doors, one yellow and one red, apparently used to control the exit and entry of the prison's notoriously violent large population. For the purposes of their football game, the doors provide make-shift goal posts and Pistorius shows himself to be useful in goal, deflecting the older man's attempt to score by blocking one shot with a prosthetic leg. At one point, the one-time sporting idol has to delve behind some wheelie bins to retrieve the white ball after knocking away Krejcir's strike with his hand. In apparent deference to his opponent, the Paralympic gold medalist is seen moving a concrete-weighted pole and plastic bag out of the way in order for Krejcir to have more room to take aim at the goal. The bleak yard where the men are having a kickabout shows two narrow doors, one yellow and one red, apparently used to control the exit and entry of the prison's notoriously violent large population . At one point, the one-time sporting idol has to delve behind some wheelie bins to retrieve the white ball after knocking away Krejcir's strike with his hand . Pistorius spreads his arms wide in celebration after winning the Men's 400m T44 final at the 2012 Paralympics . When it is his own turn to take penalties, Pistorius strikes hard, but hits one of the door 'goal posts', before sprinting off to reclaim the ball – clearly relishing the short burst of speed. Prison chiefs are mindful of the threat to Pistorius's safety at the massive jail, where gangs dominate prison life and sexual and physical violence is the only means to progress up the gangs' chain of command. He spends much of his day isolated from other prisoners, but Krejcir – despite his links with violent crime – is obviously perceived to pose no danger. Last month, MailOnline exclusively revealed how Pistorius had been re-classified to a low-risk A category prisoner, entitling him to greater freedoms and privileges behind bars, including 'contact' visits, a radio and the freedom to wear jewelry. The Daily Sun newspaper, which received the footage from a prisoner inside the jail, quoted an unnamed inmate who complained that Krejcir and Pistorius were getting preferential treatment because they are both white. Prisoners are lined up inside the Kgosi Mumpuru 11 Management Centre during a surprise raid by prison officials checking for drugs and other contraband. Pistorius is being held in the hospital wing of jail . Prison officials search an inmate's cell. Pistorius is said to be quiet and calm in prison after an initial meltdown during his first few days when other inmates heard him sobbing himself to sleep (file picture) The paper reports that Pistorius is given mineral water, fresh fruit and tea for breakfast - treats that are not afforded to other prisoners and prepared only for him. 'We are all in prison and we must be treated the same. The colour of your skin should not be a passport to get on the sweet side of the law,' the prisoner told the paper. The noise of the prison, which houses 7,000 inmates, can be heard on the video soundtrack, drowning any exchanges between the two men. Krejcir, currently on trial for kidnapping, attempted murder and drug dealing, appears to enjoy the yard knockabout. Model Reeva Steenkamp died after Pistorius fired four shots at her through a locked toilet door at his home on Valentine's Day two years ago . Pistorius competes in the Men's 100m T44 heats on day 7 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games in London . The Czech fugitive is facing a long incarceration as a prisoner on remand, with a number of outstanding cases against him. Detectives said it would take years to wrap up investigations into the Czech's links with the criminal underworld including murder, drug trafficking, robbery and fraud. Krejcir currently has three court cases running against him, but as an unconvicted prisoner is entitled to greater privileges than his neighbour on the hospital wing. Krecjir's latest charge involves the murder of a Lebanese national who was shot more than 30 times when he stopped at a traffic light in Johannesburg 18 months ago. News of the unlikely friendship between the two was revealed when Krejcir wrote a letter to prison authorities complaining that a treadmill and exercise bike – that he trained on alongside Pistorius –had been removed from the corridor outside his cell. Pistorius (right) and his girlfriend Steenkamp pose for a picture in Johannesburg, February 7, 2013 . Krejcir used a false passport to move to South Africa seven years ago and has been linked to the unsolved murders of, among others, a luxury car exporter, the owner of a string of strip joints and a known drug dealer. In 2013 he survived an attempt on his own life which involved remotely-operated guns which had been hidden - 007-style - behind the number plate of a parked car. In December, the double-amputee's brother told South Africa's YOU magazine how the athlete had hoped to begin a basketball training programme for inmates, many of whom suffer from ill health due to HIV, Aids and TB. According to Carl, Pistorius had requested a donation of basketballs from his family in order to set up the project after applying for permission from prison bosses. In October, Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide over the death of 29 year-old Mrs Steenkamp at his home on St Valentine's Day 2013. The double-amputee shot the model four times through a locked toilet door after mistaking her for an intruder. He could be released from jail in August and allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. However, the state has appealed Pistorius' acquittal on a charge of murder. The athlete's own lawyers have challenged the ruling to allow the appeal. The next hearing in the case is due to take place on Friday. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Lionel Messi has compared Barcelona's mouthwatering clash against eternal rivals Real Madrid later this month to the bitter South American rivalry between Brazil and Argentina. Barca host Real in the second El Clasico fixture of the season on March 22 - with both teams tussling for the La Liga title. The Catalan club currently hold a one-point advantage over Carlo Ancelotti's side with just 12 games of the season remaining. Lionel Messi has compared Barcelona's fierce rivalry with Real Madrid to Brazil versus Argentina . Messi (pictured, centre, playing for Argentina in 2008) has played in many tense encounters against Brazil . Messi (pictured, centre, playing for Barca in 2011) has scored more El Clasico goals than anyone in history . The diminutive No 10 (centre right) enjoyed a BBQ with his Barcelona team-mates on Wednesday afternoon . Messi spoke in an interview with FourFourTwo . And looking ahead to the Nou Camp encounter Messi, who has scored more Clasico goals than anyone else in the history of the fixture, describes the occasion as one to relish. 'The Clasico, which is coming up later in this month, is obviously a special game,' he told FourFourTwo Magazine. 'It's important for what it means to everyone involved, from the players to the fans. 'It's an event all around the world. As a player, though, you have to treat it like any other game. Like any derby, there's something extra to the game. 'They're amazing to play in and it's a fixture I've been very lucky to score a lot of goals in. 'I think on the international stage, Brazil vs Argentina is similar to Real Madrid v Barca. Both matches involve big teams who have a great rivalry, the main difference being that for the former it's all about the countries, while Barcelona isn't just about the city, but the fans from afar who have feelings for the club.' The 27-year-old is enjoying another wonderful season at Barcelona having netted an incredible 41 goals so far. Messi scored a hat-trick in Sunday's 6-1 La Liga win at home to Rayo Vallecano - his fifth treble of the campaign. Speaking about what makes him so special, the dimunitive No 10 insists his genius is all instinctive. 'Some people say my style of play is innate, but I'm not sure if that's me, or not. Honestly, I do play on instinct,' he added. 'On the pitch, I’m always looking for the best move or decision at any given time. I never want to do what the opposition would be expecting.' Messi (centre) scored a hat-trick as Barcelona won 6-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday . To read the full interview with Lionel Messi it is available in either print of digital format via the FourFourTwo Magazine website. +Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has denied a Football Association charge of improper conduct in last week's draw at Hull. The 47-year-old was sent to the stands after a confrontation with Tigers' manager Steve Bruce as the two Premier League strugglers played out a 1-1 draw at the KC Stadium on March 3. Gus Poyet and Steve Bruce argue during their two sides' clash on Wednesday evening at the KC Stadium . The FA charged Poyet whilst Bruce was contacted to be reminded of his responsibilities and it is now believed Poyet will contest the charge and has requested a personal hearing. The draw left Hull and Sunderland in 16th and 17th place respectively, with the result doing little to help either side boost their survival hopes. Both face fellow relegation candidates in their next game as Hull travel to Leicester and Poyet's Sunderland welcome Aston Villa to the Stadium of Light. Bruce (left) had to be held back by the linesman as the row between the pair escalated . The two men argued after Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell was booked for simulation . +Sunderland owner Ellis Short will decide this week if he needs to sack Gus Poyet to keep the club in the Barclays Premier League. The Black Cats are one place and one point above the relegation zone following Saturday’s humiliating 4-0 home defeat against Aston Villa, in which fans attempted to storm the dugout and thousands more left before half-time. Poyet has vowed to fight on despite one win in 12 and no home goal in more than five hours. Gus Poyet cuts a lonely figure on Saturday as Sunderland are humiliated 4-0 by Aston Villa . Fans show their outrage at the Stadium of Light as the Black Cats slumped to a record of one win in 12 games . Striker Steven Fletcher (right) had his head in his hands as Sunderland crumbled against Aston Villa . However, Sportsmail understands that senior figures at the club, including sporting director Lee Congerton, have told Short that Poyet is the wrong man to take them forward. There is also concern at Poyet’s touchline behaviour - he was sent off against Hull and faces an FA charge for kicking the drinks bucket. Yet only last year he was hailed a hero after masterminding a dramatic relegation survival. Sportsmail looks at the reasons behind the disintegrating relationship. Senior club figures, including sporting director Lee Congerton, say Poyet is the wrong man to keep Sunderland in the Premier League . DUEL AT THE TOP . When Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton set up a deal to bring in Atletico Madrid’s Toby Alderweireld in the summer, Poyet intervened and let the player’s agent know the defender would not figure if he signed. Poyet also blocked a move for Manchester City’s Micah Richards, another Congerton target. A source close to the club said: ‘The relationship between Poyet and Congerton is as bad as it can possibly be. Congerton is doing a good job and is respected within the game but fears his own reputation will be damaged if players he signs are then left on the bench by Poyet.’ Poyet blocked a move set up by Congerton for Atletico Madrid’s Toby Alderweireld, now at Southampton . Micah Richards was also a move that Poyet blocked- now he's at Fiorentina on loan from Manchester City . SLIM PICKINGS . Poyet insists he only chooses the team and that transfers are left to Congerton. The club hierarchy disagree and point to the arrival of Brighton pair Will Buckley and Liam Bridcutt, Uruguayan Sebastian Coates and Argentine Ricky Alvarez as players recruited on the say-so of the head coach. All four have failed to impress and have each started fewer than 10 league games this season. Then there is the £3million signing of Poyet addition Ignacio Scocco. The Argentine was one of the highest earners at the club but left after just six substitute appearances at a £1m loss. Liam Bridcutt (right), along with Will Buckley, Sebastian Coates and Ricky Alvarez, are players signed on the say-so of Poyet but who have disappointed... Not to mention the flop signing of Ignacio Scocco. MIXED MESSAGES . Poyet does not know his best team or formation. He started with four central midfielders in the 1-1 draw at Hull and strikers Connor Wickham and Steven Fletcher are regularly on the left wing. Players were miffed when he suggested publicly they were not good enough to carry out his instructions. He also upset supporters by claiming they were pining for the ‘kick and rush’ days of Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn. Sunderland have drawn 14 matches and the football has been dire, one-paced and unimaginative — they have failed to score in 13 of 29 matches. SPLIT DRESSING ROOM . Poyet believes he retains the support of the players and the likes of Lee Cattermole speak highly of him, both in public and private. Players such as Lee Cattermole (left) speak highly of Poyet, but the dressing room is decidedly split . But several players and members of the backroom team were shocked when, during the FA Cup goalless draw at home to Fulham, first-team coach Charlie Oatway took the team talk. 2 Sunderland have won just two of their past 16 Premier League games at the Stadium of Light — Stoke (3-1) in October and Burnley (2-0) in January. Otherwise it’s seven draws and seven defeats. 4 Gus Poyet’s side have failed to score in four of their past five Premier League home matches. 22 Goals conceded at home this season — more than any other Premier League side. 12 The Black Cats have found the net just 12 times at the Stadium of Light this season — only Aston Villa (11) have scored fewer goals at home. 4 Against Villa, Sunderland conceded four first-half goals at home for the first time in the PL. 204 Shots this season - the fewest in the Premier League. They have also had the most shots (467) against them. Meanwhile, the arrest of star player Adam Johnson on suspicion of sexual relations with an underage girl has been an untimely distraction. WHERE ARE THE KIDS? Academy staff are frustrated that their graduates have played a total of eight first-team minutes this season. On Saturday morning the under 21s were told to stop training and put on standby for a senior call-up. No one was added to the squad and they were annoyed that their session was finished early. BLAME GAME . During last month’s 2-0 defeat at League One Bradford in the FA Cup, 4,000 fans sang: ‘Gustavo Poyet, it’s always our fault.’ After that game, Poyet claimed that building a ‘China Wall’ to keep out journalists would improve his relations with the fans. On the evidence of Saturday’s sorry showing, the majority of fans will be trying to scale the wall themselves if Poyet remains in charge. Fans sang, 'Gustavo Poyet, it’s always our fault,’ during the 2-0 FA Cup defeat at League One Bradford . SUMMER DECISIONS . Poyet will be lucky to see out the season and the chances of him being at the helm at the start of next year are close to zero. Sportsmail understands a management team of Kevin Ball - currently exiled under Poyet’s regime - and Paul Bracewell could take temporary charge. Former player Sam Allardyce is their top target and he would be willing to come in the summer with his contract up at West Ham. Next up for Sunderland? A trip to Upton Park on Saturday before the small matter of a Wear-Tyne derby. Sam Allardyce is Sunderland's top target for their new manager with his West Ham contract up this summer . +Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has encouraged Wilfried Zaha to aim for a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the European Under 21 Championship this summer. The tricky winger scored and set up another in Palace’s win which left Queens Park Rangers deep in the relegation quagmire. When the debate rages about who should play in the Under 21 tournaments, Barclays Premier League managers often prefer their stars to skip them. Wilfried Zaha celebrates with Crystal Palace team-mates after his opener at Selhurst Park on Saturday . Shaun Wright-Phillips made his first Premier League start for 770 days. But Pardew has taken the unusual step of backing Zaha for the tournament and will speak to Southgate about including him. ‘I would love Wilf to be on that trip because that is a big tournament for England,’ Pardew said. ‘Particularly after the Champions League results this year and England didn’t do well in the World Cup so I think Gareth should have the best players available and I’m hoping Wilf is one of them. But Gareth’s choice won’t be determined by a phone call from me, he is his own man. ‘Wilf has definitely found himself a little bit more and I think Gareth would like somebody in the squad who has the kind of quality that he does. But he’s got to do it between now and the end of the year and push for a place in that squad — that should be a goal for him.’ Zaha’s counterpart on the opposite flank Yannick Bolasie also starred in the victory, twice beating QPR’s teenage right-back Darnell Furlong to get to the byline and send in low crosses — one for Zaha’s goal and the other for James McArthur to score. Zaha slides in to open the scoring during the 3-1 win over relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers . Furlong was run ragged and eventually hooked at the break. Bolasie admitted he targeted the 19-year-old as a weak link in the team. ‘My aim was to go at him straight away,’ he said. ‘He ain’t going to come here and I’m not going to let him settle, so that was my aim to be honest. I know it’ s cruel, that’s football. ‘A couple of the players spoke to me and I wasn’t aware [of him], because I don’ t really look at the opposition like that. But that was the aim.’ Furlong was at least not at fault for the third goal, which came from the other flank when Zaha tricked his way through a couple of players before passing to Joel Ward to net for Palace for the very first time. Yannick Bolasie (left) was in great form to provide two assists for Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon . QPR’s Matt Phillips scored a goal-of-the-season contender with a 40-yard drive in the final 10 minutes, but it was too late and defeat left them four points adrift of safety. Manager Chris Ramsey laid part of the blame on his players, saying: ‘They have realised there are only a certain amount of things you can do in preparation but you have to transfer it in the game. ‘Sometimes I go and watch games and don’t get in until 2am. Sometimes I wake up early and watch a DVD of the other teams. Me doing extra hours is not going to make any difference to them.’ +Philadelphia police this morning identified the two brothers who have been charged with the murder of a police officer who was gunned down while trying to stop a video game store robbery. During a press conference held at 11.15am Friday, Philadelphia Police Capt. Darrell Clark named the suspects in the fatal shooting of Officer Robert Wilson III as Ramone Williams, 26, and Carlton Hipps, 30, . Williams had two prior arrests, while Hipps had six arrests and had been out on parole since 2009 following a robbery conviction. The pair of suspects have been charged with murder and attempted murder. Partners in crime: Carlton Hipps (left), 30, and Ramone Williams (right), 26, have been charged with the murder of a police officer inside a Philadelphia video game store . Officer: Philadelphia Police Officer Robert Wilson III, 30 (photographed), died Thursday after being shot in the head during an attempted robbery at a video-game store on the city's north side . Wilson, 30, was in a north Philadelphia GameStop in full uniform buying a video game for his 8-year-old son for getting good grades when the two suspects entered and announced a robbery. Wilson immediately confronted the suspects, and the three exchanged gunfire, with the assailants firing rounds at close range on either side of the officer, Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters. Wilson was struck multiple times in his body but continued to fire until he was fatally shot in the head, Ramsey said. 'The officer was an out-and-out hero and a warrior,' Captain Clark told reporters Friday. 'He fought to the end.' Wilson's partner, Officer Stevenson, was outside of the store and exchanged fire with one of the assailants. The second assailant fled and attempted to blend in with the crowd but was caught at the scene. One was shot in the leg, Ramsey said, but it is unclear if the assailant was shot by Wilson or his partner. According to police, Williams confessed to the fatal robbery, telling investigators during questioning that he and his brother had thought the GameStop was going to be an easy target. Wilson was rushed to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6.25pm, NBC reports. Wilson was an eight-year veteran of the department, a husband, and a father of two boys, ages 1 and eight. His older son will celebrate his 9th birthday Monday. GameStop: Wilson was in full uniform inside a North Philadelphia GameStop (photographed) as part of his patrol duties when two armed men entered the store and announced a robbery . Struck: Wilson was struck multiple times but continued to fire until he was fatally shot in the head (here, Wilson's body is transported by ambulance to the Medical Examiner's Office) Procession: A procession was held for the officer Thursday as his body was transported by ambulance to the Medical Examiner's Office . Never Forgotten: Department officials posted on the Philadelphia Police Department's Facebook page writing that Wilson's sacrifice will 'never, ever, be forgotten' 'Take a moment and say a prayer for this family,' Ramsey said. 'And this 9-year-old boy who will now grow up without a father. A 1-year-old is going to grow up without a dad because of what happened today.' Authorities later found the suspect's weapons in the store: a .40-caliber and a 9mm. Another weapon, an AK-47, was recovered during a search warrant at one of the suspects' home, Ramsey said. In all, over 50 shots were fired during the gun battle inside the video game store. Police say both the suspects were repeat offenders and one was on parole at the time of the shooting. The suspect who was shot was taken to a local hospital but his condition has not been released, NBC reports. Wilson was a volunteer in the department's body-camera program but is was not immediately known if he was wearing one at the time of the shooting, Ramsey said. However, a surveillance camera in the store captured the incident. The video has been reviewed by homicide investigators. A procession was held for the officer Thursday as his body was transported by ambulance to the Medical Examiner's Office. At the news conference, Ramsey said he met Wilson and his partner when they took part in a recent pilot program in which officers wore body cameras. He described the father of two as a 'very, very brave, heroic individual.' 'People tend to lose sight of the dangers inherent in being a police officer,' Ramsey said. 'Sometimes they're seriously injured or even murdered as a result of trying to protect every single person in this city...He put his life on the line to make Philadelphia a better city and a safer city.' Volunteer: Wilson (left) was a volunteer in the department's body-camera program but is was not immediately known if he was wearing one at the time of the shooting . Condolences: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued a statement offering his condolences to Wilson's family and his colleagues . Department officials posted on the Philadelphia Police Department's Facebook page writing that Wilson's sacrifice will 'never, ever, be forgotten.' Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued a statement offering his condolences to Wilson's family and his colleagues. 'This senseless act is devastating and a stark reminder of the danger faced everyday by our brave men and women in uniform,' Wolf said. 'Across Pennsylvania, members of law enforcement and our first responders put their lives on the line to protect our families and our communities. We can never forget their selfless service and sacrifice.' Wilson is the fifth Philadelphia Police officer to die due to a gun shot wound since 2007, according to the Fraternal Order of Police. +Tim Sherwood insists Aston Villa are ready for the home straight and wants to avoid a photo finish in the relegation battle. The boss takes his Barclays Premier League thoroughbreds to Sunderland on Saturday for a crunch clash. The Black Cats are a point and a place ahead of fourth bottom Villa, who themselves are just three points above the drop zone. Tim Sherwood wants to ensure Premier League survival for Aston Villa with games to spare . Former Tottenham boss faced the media on Thursday ahead of the crunch clash with Sunderland on Saturday . And with the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, Sherwood is hoping Villa, who have never been relegated from the Premier League, can avoid being unseated. He said: 'I think it'll be a photo finish and I hope we're not in it. 'We're probably just coming around the corner but it's probably the longest run-in in racing history. 'All we're looking at is the next fence and that's Sunderland. After that we hope we can stay in the running, there might be a few who fall along the way and we're hoping that's not us.' Villa have won their last two under Sherwood, beating West Brom twice in the league and the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals. Gabby Agbonlahor, who has been rejuvenated under Sherwood, trains on Thursday morning . Christian Benteke was out through his paces at the training ground on Thursday . They were the new manager's first wins since replacing Paul Lambert in February and Sherwood has been impressed with the squad's attitude. 'They've been good and a win makes an awful lot of difference. They have been focused and up for the fight,' he said. 'They haven't dwelt on the position. It's about looking forward now, what we have done previously counts for nothing.' Sherwood, before becoming head coach, was at Tottenham as assistant first-team coach under Harry Redknapp and worked with Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe at White Hart Lane. Villa boss Sherwood watches from the touchline as his side beat West Brom in the FA Cup quater-final . Sherwood knows all about Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe's qualities having worked with him at Spurs . The 32-year-old returned to England in January after a year with Toronto in Major League Soccer and Sherwood believes Defoe is the Black Cats' chief threat. He said: 'If they are going to survive it's going to be Jermain Defoe who keeps them in the Premier League, that's why they forked out that sort of money for him. 'He didn't have to go, he went for a lifestyle change to Canada but he still has that appetite to come back and play for Sunderland, in a relegation battle. 'Jermain can score goals on his own but he prefers people to slide the ball across the six-yard box for him to be in the right place at the right time, that's what he's done all of his career.' +The Formula One circus takes on five continents over eight months of gruelling action in 2015. Click on Sportsmail's brilliant interactive guide below to find out everything you need to know about the 20 races which make up this year's calendar. +Lewis Hamilton appreciates fans may get bored of Formula One this season if he and Mercedes are again totally dominant. Ahead of this weekend's season-opening grand prix in Australia there is a feeling Mercedes will start the campaign as they finished 2014 - as the superior team. Last term Mercedes set a new record for number of wins in a year with 16, with current champion Hamilton claiming 11 of those, as well as equalling Red Bull's 2011 haul of 18 poles in a season. Lewis Hamilton poses on St Kilda beach on Thursday ahead of the season opener in Melbourne . The reigning world champion stands with a fan as she takes a selfie ahead of this week's Australian GP . Hamilton was speaking at the first pre-race press conference of the season in Melbourne on Thursday . While there was some relief Mercedes stopped Red Bull's four-year run of title-winning success, should they again blitz the field in 2015 then the already-declining global television audience figures may dip further. Assessing the situation, Hamilton said: 'A year of dominance is a great thing for a team as a whole, but as a racing driver I'm sure the fans will want to see close competition.' Asked if it would be bad for the sport should he win the title by August and whether the fans would get bored, Hamilton replied: 'Personally, I would get bored, but I can only speak for myself. Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg pose in front of the world's media ahead of the first race . Last term Mercedes set a new record for number of wins in a year with 16, with Hamilton claiming 11 . Hamilton speaks to the media next to St Kilda beach in Melbourne on Wednesday . 'If I was a fan watching and the championship was won by then it wouldn't look so good, would it? 'But then it's almost impossible to win it by then, and if you look at most of the recent seasons they've gone down to the last race.' Mercedes, however, were eye-catching over the three pre-season tests as they not only racked up the most laps, but also the quickest, and not even on the best type of rubber available. 'It's a work in progress, but of course it feels great,' said 30-year-old Hamilton, who starts the season favourite to win a third title. 'You know it's great to see all the work that's been put in by the team, and throughout testing it felt really good. Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Hamilton will go head-to-head again for the title . 'Testing is not always the greatest when you're in cooler conditions like in Jerez and Barcelona, but generally it was pretty awesome.' With the second title to his name and a car beneath him that is again going to be the one to beat, you would expect Hamilton to be relaxed heading into the new season, but far from it. Hamilton appreciates, as at the start of the any campaign, the hard work is only just beginning all over again. 'I definitely don't feel I have less pressure,' said Hamilton. Rosberg won the opening race in Australia last season after Hamilton suffered an engine problem . 'The pressure is the same it is every year, but honestly, I didn't arrive at the tests or here thinking, 'Okay, I'm world champion'. 'I'm thinking, 'Jesus, I've got to do everything again, and I've got to actually do it better than I did before'. 'I know everyone else will have taken a step as well, so how do I do that? It's not easy to better a season like last year. 'In terms of performance it was the best year I think I've ever had, but it doesn't mean I can't beat it so that's what I'm trying to do.' +Jose Mourinho has hit out at Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher and his fellow Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness following their comments about the behaviour of Chelsea players during the Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. The Chelsea players have been widely criticised for surrounding referee Bjorn Kuipers before Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off for a first-half foul on Oscar. Speaking of the incident, Carragher told Sky Sports: 'The reaction from the Chelsea players is disgraceful. It’s something that is sad that is coming into the game. Jose Mourinho opened up about the criticism aimed at his Chelsea players from Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher and Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness . Chelsea players in training ahead of the Premier League game against Southampton on Sunday . Chelsea striker Diego Costa keeps the ball up while sitting on the floor at the Cobham training ground . Mourinho watches on as defender Kurt Zouma (left) prepares to play a ball during training . Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (centre) tussles with defender Nathan Ake (centre right) in training . Chelsea striker Didier Drogba dribbles with the ball during a training session at the club's Cobham base . Drogba controls the ball as Chelsea prepare to try and get their Premier League campaign back on track . Chelsea's Brazilian attacking midfielder Oscar dribbles with the ball at the Cobham training ground . Oscar is tackled by Zouma as the Blues prepare to bounce back from their Champions League exit . Mourinho was in a spiky mood during a lively press conference on Friday . Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers during Chelsea's Champions League clash against PSG . Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) was shown a red card for this challenge on Chelsea midfielder Oscar . Don't forget to read Jamie Carragher's latest Daily Mail column here at Sportsmail from Friday evening. CLICK HERE to read last week's column on why it's time to get off Louis van Gaal's back. 'It comes from I think Jose Mourinho’s teams, they have this reaction, it’s not a one-off.' Former Liverpool star Souness also branded the actions of Chelsea's squad 'pathetic'. He said: 'In Jamie’s (Carragher) generation, when someone caught you, the last thing you wanted to show your opponent is that you’re injured, today it’s the exact opposite. 'If someone brushes you, you want to go down and get them in trouble. That’s how pathetic it is. Chelsea striker Diego Costa makes a beeline for Ibrahimovic as the referee raises the red card . Sportsmail columnist and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said the pressure Chelsea put on the referee was 'disgraceful' Carragher, Thierry Henry (centre) and Graeme Souness disect Chelsea's exit from the Champions League . Sky Sports pundit Souness branded the Chelsea players 'pathetic' for their antics on Wednesday . 'Thank goodness PSG stood up to that and leave here with great credit. They are the proper team.' Speaking on Friday, Mourinho responded by suggesting Carragher and Souness have forgotten what it's like to be a player. He said: ‘The world is a bit strange, what with the diet and the quality of products we are eating, because memories are getting short. 'When Graeme Souness and Carragher speak about it they are having a problem for sure. ‘The game finished and to close the Champions League chapter, I did that in the tunnel, one by one every one from PSG I shook their hands and told them they deserved it. The Chelsea boss gestures to his players during the 2-2 draw which saw his side eliminated from Europe . ‘Jamie stopped two years ago and in two years ago he has forgotten everything. Mr Souness had stopped playing for a long time and he has done that. ‘I was at Benfica a couple of years after him, so I know a lot about him. I prefer to laugh, and I prefer to say that they envy is the biggest tribute to us from people in the shadows.’ 'My daughter told me, maybe we have some injuries because we lost and we are sad. I told the doctor I don’t believe. Zero injuries. Everybody wants to play.’ +Former Chelsea assistant manager Henk ten Cate has backed Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal to become a success at Old Trafford but insists his fellow countryman needs time. The Dutchman has been criticised throughout his first season in England for constantly tinkering with his side's set up and for failing to get the best out of high-profile players such as Angel di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie. Manchester United, who crashed out of the FA Cup at home to Arsenal on Monday, face a tough battle to qualify for next season's Champions League as just two points now separate the Red Devils in fourth from fifth-placed Liverpool. Henk ten Cate believes Louis van Gaal is the man to help Manchester United get back to their glory days . Former Chelsea assistant manager Ten Cate (right), pictured with Avram Grant, heaped praise on Van Gaal . United are currently fourth in the Premier League . Ten Cate concedes Van Gaal's side have been below-par but is confident Van Gaal will be able to turn the club's fortunes around. 'I know him well and he is the kind of guy who doesn't just go for results, he wants his teams to play good football. He has proved that in the past,' Ten Cate told talkSPORT. 'Right now at Manchester United it is not that good. The way they are playing is absolutely not good. But it is not the style of Van Gaal. 'You have to give him time because, for me, he is one of the best coaches there is. I worked closely with him for one year when I was going through the stages to get my coaching licence. I saw what he was doing and the only thing he has to do is get used to the way of playing in England. 'If the owners of the club gave him that much confidence and that much money to spend, it is not a good thing to say goodbye after one season because it is starting to become his team. 'He needs a little more time but I am almost positive that he is going to surprise Britain with his [style of] football.' Van Gaal has spent more than £150million since replacing David Moyes as Manchester United's manager . +Wales coach Robin McBryde has warned fans that attractive and entertaining rugby is low on the agenda ahead of Saturday's RBS 6 Nations Test against Ireland. Recent comments from All Blacks boss Steve Hansen about the game being 'geared towards defences that inhibit attack' have sparked debate around the sport's marketability, with McBryde predicting another war of attrition at the Millennium Stadium. Asked if he expects a feast of running rugby, the 44-year-old said: 'I'm not too sure about that. There is a lot at stake. Ireland are on course for a Grand Slam and just to get away from Cardiff with a win, that's all they will be looking to do. Wales coach Robin McBryde insists that winning rather than attractive rugby will be their main priority . Jamie Roberts (right) in action for Wales during the Six Nations match with France at the Stade de France . New Zealand's Steve Hansen recently suggested that rugby is being geared towards a more defensive style . 'With regards to playing any attractive rugby, that will come second. That's the nature of the game at the moment and that's how teams are wearing each other down and, unfortunately, the spectators have got to pay a price for that.' Wales have beaten Ireland just twice in Cardiff over the last 32 years and McBryde is expecting one of the toughest challenges to date against the championship favourites. 'They are on a bit of a roll at the moment — 10 wins on the bounce,' said McBryde. 'Certainly from the outside it looks a very happy camp. This is quite a formidable Ireland team and we are going to have to be at our best to come close to them.' All eyes will be on the battle of the skies as the hosts look to end the visitors' Grand Slam push and keep alive their own championship hopes. They have been working overtime to nullify the aerial bombardment from Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray, with scrum-half Rhys Webb promising not to repeat the mistakes that England made in Dublin two weeks ago. 'I don't know if England did much analysis on them,' said Webb. 'They didn't seem to put much pressure on nine and 10 whatsoever. We need to be on the money and we know there is no margin for error.' France's Jocelino Suta (centre) fends off the challenges as he surges forward against Wales . Jonathan Davies runs with the ball for Wales as his side beat France 20-13 in their last game . France's Sofiane Guitoune (left) is tackled as he makes a break during Les Bleus' defeat in their last game . It promises to be an intense tactical battle between Warren Gatland and counterpart Joe Schmidt, with the former subjected to a bitter personal attack by retired Ireland lock Neil Francis during the week. Gatland was said to have 'the intellectual properties of a tub of Flora', although Ireland captain Paul O'Connell holds the Kiwi in much higher regard. 'For as long as I can remember we've being trying to poach ideas from Warren Gatland,' said O'Connell. 'We played Wasps with Munster in 2003 or 2004 and they were so far ahead in terms of how they were playing and how the players were prepared from an S&C (strength and conditioning) and nutritional point of view. It was a rude awakening. He makes complicated things very simple and he probably pioneered that way of thinking. 'At the start of the championship, Joe said the Wales- England game was going to be the standard-bearer. Two years ago Ireland beat (Wales) in the first game and they just built and built and built until they absolutely erupted in that final game against England. 'They'll feel the same thing is happening now.' Wales boss Warren Gatland watches his players in training ahead of the showdown with Ireland . Ireland coach Joe Schmidt talks with fly-half Jonny Sexton during ahead of Saturday's game with Wales . A lot has changed since Paul O'Connell played the first of his 100 Tests more than 13 years ago. Professionalism has been the key to the former shelf-stacker's longevity, although he has not always been surrounded by such healthy company. On the week of his debut in 2002 — against Wales in Dublin — the young and enthusiastic second-row had to share a room with former Munster team-mate Peter Clohessy. 'I was woken by the smell of cigarette smoke in my nostrils every morning,' recalled a laughing O'Connell. 'The Claw' used to have a cigarette the moment he woke up. I was well aware this was not the way forward. 'Obviously it's changed a lot since then. Now in Irish camp I take a lot of advice from (strength and conditioning coach) Jason Cowman. Jonny Sexton is obviously (another) great guy to copy and follow.' As the ball emerges from the ruck, Ireland's Conor Murray kicks it upfield during the match with England . Scrum-half Murray passes the ball down the line during Ireland's 19-9 victory over England last time out . Ireland's Iain Henderson (centre) braves the challenges of Billy Vunipola (right) and Richard Wigglesworth . Murray brings the ball forward once more against England at the Aviva Stadium on March 1 . Kicking game . In Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton, Ireland have the world's in-form kicking half-back combination. Their aerial game-plan was predictable against England yet Stuart Lancaster did not have the players at his disposable to stop it. Wales, however, have one of the best defensive back-threes in the world and Leigh Halfpenny is a master at limiting the space to kick into. How well Ireland anticipate that — perhaps using Sexton as a looping runner, if the wingers drop back — will be highly significant. Set-piece . At 6ft 9in and 6ft 11in, Luke Charteris of Wales and Devin Toner of Ireland are two of the tallest players in the competition. They are both extremely difficult to beat on their own line-out throw, while they can be equally disruptive towards their opponents'. Their long limbs are used to try and steal ball, although that can leave the defending side open to attack from the driving maul, where both Wales and Ireland are particularly effective. Picking the right moments to challenge will be pivotal; a responsibility that falls on the shoulders of Alun-Wyn Jones and Paul O'Connell. Breakdown . Welsh defence coach Shaun Edwards claims his players are the best in the world at contesting the post-tackle area. However, they will face their toughest breakdown battle yet against Ireland, who won 23 turnovers to nine against England in round three. Warren Gatland's game-plan relies heavily on quick recycled ball and Ireland will look to slow that down to limit the risk from the likes of Jamie Roberts and George North. Getting on the right side of referee Wayne Barnes will be key, because Halfpenny and Sexton are two of the world's leading goal-kickers. +While Liverpool players are determined to give Steven Gerrard a perfect send off to his Anfield career by winning the FA Cup, there is a growing confidence within the camp there will be life after the iconic captain. Liverpool have won all six of the games that Gerrard has missed with a hamstring injury and the 3-4-3 formation used by Brendan Rodgers has made them look more like the vibrant side that chased Manchester City for the Premier League title last season. They have gone from mid-table to genuine Champions League hopefuls as a result. Steven Gerrard has been back in training ahead of Liverpool's FA Cup quarter-final against Blackburn . Liverpool have won all six of the games that captain Gerrard has missed with a hamstring injury . Liverpool full back Alberto Moreno (right) believes the team can win the FA Cup for departing skipper Gerrard . Gerrard is in contention to return for Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Blackburn Rovers but may find it hard to force his way back into the starting line-up. This season's FA Cup final takes place on his 35th birthday and would be his final match for the club before he joins LA Galaxy. 'It's always sad when someone is injured, you don't wish that on anybody. But I think it is good that we have proved we can succeed without Steven,' said Alberto Moreno, a £12million summer signing from Sevilla and a key member of the new-look side Rodgers is trying to assemble. 'We've moved up the table and been winning matches. It shows that within this squad there are some top, top players to replace even the likes of Steven Gerrard,' said Moreno, a left-back who has been pushed further forward into midfield in recent weeks. 'Whoever is injured, the player who comes into replace them puts themself on the line for the Liverpool cause. The morale and dynamic of the group has been very good. We're playing well and we've proved we can carry on without him. 'I think the new system we are playing has helped us intensify our play even more. It allows us to get lots of bodies forward when we are attacking, but we are safe in the knowledge of having three centre-backs covering as well as the two deep-lying midfielders. 'If we need to lend a hand as well, the wing-backs you can call them, we can drop back and support as well as get forward and support the attack. 'You have to point to the fact we have picked up a lot of victories and points since the system changed, and I guess it does allow us to be a little bit more intense. But it wasn't as if we weren't trying to play with intensity before, we were just inconsistent and dropped points we shouldn't have done.' Of course, Moreno is not dismissing the contribution of Gerrard to Liverpool over the years, and is using the captain's impending departure as an extra incentive to lift a trophy. Fresh from Sevilla, where he won the Europa League last season, the energetic 22-year-old is almost in awe of Gerrard. Moreno (centre) believes FA Cup glory would be a perfect way for Gerrard to finish his time at Liverpool . Gerrard (left) sustained his hamstring injury in Liverpool's 3-2 victory over Tottenham at Anfield last month . Gerrard (left) has lifted the FA Cup twice before as a Liverpool player and is eager to win it one more time . 'It will stick in my memory that I've had a chance to play and train with one of the best players in the world,' he says. 'The Spanish have a word 'crack' to describe a big star, 'Supercrack' means megastar and that is Steven. I have watched him play since I was a boy and now I've had the fortune to not just share a dressing room with him, but to train and play alongside him. He was one of my idols growing up. 'To win the FA Cup would be the perfect present for him, wouldn't it? To be able to leave the club with a trophy under his belt, that would be fantastic for Steven. But not just for him, it would be a great thing for the team and for the fans as well.' +Have you ever wondered what New York City looked like nearly 120 years ago? A film company put together a film of the oldest known footage of the bustling city after going on a mission to uncover views of the city dating back to 1896. In the montage featuring landmarks such as Central Park, Madison Square and Roosevelt Island, Yestervid, which specializes in producing historical films, reveals what the city looked like until 1905. Watch the full video from Yestervid here . The montage of the oldest known footage featured Bryant Park, Old Grand Central Station and Williamsburg Bridge in 1905 (above) Washington Square Park from 1903 was also in the fascinating film with landmarks dating between 1896 and 1905 . The black and white video shows what everyday life was like from the subway station at Union Square to people walking around Central Park, as well as scenes from the East River (above) The black and white video shows what everyday life was like from the subway station at Union Square to people walking around Washington Square Park, as well as views of where World Trade Center would be located years later. Other well known landmarks in the video include Bryant Park, Old Grand Central Station and Williamsburg Bridge in 1905; Roosevelt Island in 1903; all the way to Liberty Island in 1898. The amazing footage gives an incredible view into what the city was like a century ago. Yestervid created a montage of landmarks nearly 120 years ago including the New York subway at Union Square in 1905 (above). The fascinating footage is shown next to the bustling subway modern day . +Chelsea striker Diego Costa has revealed he nearly signed for Liverpool before moving to Stamford Bridge. The Blues frontman has impressed since his £32million summer move from Atletico Madrid and is the Premier League's joint-top scorer alongside Sergio Aguero on 17 goals. However, the Brazilian-born Spain international could have been playing for Liverpool after the Merseyside club triggered a £20m release clause in his contract in 2013. Diego Costa has revealed he nearly joined Liverpool a year before signing for Chelsea from Atletico Madrid . Costa could have joined Liverpool after the Reds triggered a £20m release clause in his contract in 2013 . Costa would have formed a fearsome attack with Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez at Anfield last season . The striker instead stayed with Atletico and scored 27 goals to help Diego Simeone's side beat Barcelona and Real Madrid to the La Liga title last season. Since arriving in England, Costa has clashed with Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and also missed three games for a stamp on Reds midfielder Emre Can. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Costa said: 'I was close to leaving Atletico.' 'Liverpool are a great team, but after fighting so hard and overcoming difficulties to get my place at Atletico, how could I leave? 'I thought it was very important to keep growing with Atletico and to play there for many years.' Costa goes head-to-head with Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel during January's Capital One Cup semi-final . Costa was banned for three games after stamping on Liverpool midfielder Emre Can during the same fixture . Costa scored 27 goals for Atletico Madrid last season as Diego Simeone's side claimed the La Liga title . +England’s experiment of having two coaches fell apart when tension arose between Andy Flower and Ashley Giles over the need to rest the best players from one-day matches. Now, things could be different. There is a strong case for Paul Farbrace, an impressive assistant coach amid the rubble of this World Cup, to be given extra responsibility for limited-overs cricket if England are bold and pick a largely different one-day team when they move on from this disaster. The primacy of Test cricket remains an important principle but there is no doubt it has contributed to the worst World Cup showing of them all. There is a strong case for England assistant coach Paul Farbrace to be given extra responsibility . Farbrace remains a firm believer that England coach Peter Moores (left) will get it right . If England are serious about closing a gap which has become a gaping chasm between them and the best one-day nations, they need to have completely different personnel to the Test team. And Farbrace, who guided Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup and World Twenty20 titles last year, has been a calm and sensible presence here. He remains a firm believer that England coach Peter Moores will get it right - another reason the pair should be able to share coaching responsibilities. ‘It’s unfair that Peter is the one in the limelight,’ said Farbrace ahead of this morning’s dead rubber against Afghanistan. Farbrace talks with Ravi Bopara as the disastrous World Cup campaign comes to a close . Farbrace guided Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup and World Twenty20 titles last year and is calm and sensible . ‘At the last ICC tournament, I left having been head coach of the team that won it and you take the adulation then. But you also receive the stick when things go badly. We’re all responsible, not just Pete.’ Farbrace also addressed the controversial subject of statistics, adding: ‘When I was with Sri Lanka we had a lot more meetings and looked at stats a lot more than England do.’ England assistant coach Farbrace conducts fielding practice during an England nets session in Sydney . Glenn McGrath has predicted England will suffer another whitewash in this summer’s Ashes. Australia won all five Tests in the 2013-14 series and their former bowler said: ‘I can’t see England beating them and I’m more than happy to predict 5-0.’ Former Australia bowler Glenn McGrath cannot see England winning anything at next summer's Ashes . +Glenn McGrath has repeated a familiar rallying call by predicting Australia will inflict a 5-0 Ashes whitewash on England this summer. The former pace attack leader of Australia's all-conquering Test team in the early 2000s has habitually forecast thrashings for England in the past, and has been embarrassed when Australia have not performed as he expected, notably in the 2005 series. He played a part in Australia triumphing 5-0 Down Under in 2006-07, and again envisaged the same result in England in 2009, only for Andrew Strauss to lead the home side to their triumph. Glenn McGrath has predicted a 5-0 whitewash for Australia when they travel to England this summer . McGrath was a constant tormentor of England in Ashes series during his playing days . Peter Moores' side have suffered a terrible World Cup but will hope to bounce back in Test cricket . McGrath had more recently refrained from trumpeting Australia as unbeatable by England, even prior to their 5-0 demolition job in 2013-14, but that is how he again positions Michael Clarke's Test team. With England toiling to sorry effect at the World Cup, McGrath is looking to the summer and sees more misery on the cards when ousted limited-overs skipper Alastair Cook returns to take the helm of the five-day team. He told BBC Sport: 'If the Australian team keeps playing as they are, they're going to go to England full of confidence. England were knocked out of the World Cup by Bangladesh last week, and McGrath can't see them improving . During his playing days McGrath made a habit of predicting whitewashes, and was not always proved right . 'I can't see England beating them and I'm more than happy to predict 5-0.' McGrath, 45, expects the World Cup debacle to be followed by change in the England camp. He said: 'I thought they struggled to take wickets or build up any pressure and they didn't look potent at all. 'There are going to be changes, whether it's coaching or the players. A lot of responsibility lies with the players.' +Team Sky rider Richie Porte reeled in a 36-second gap to win the Paris-Nice title for the second time in three years. The Australian was well placed but still significantly behind Tony Gallopin heading into the final day, but while Porte surged the overnight leader fell away on the Col d'Eze time-trial. Porte, 30, clocked 20 minutes 23 seconds for the 9.5 kilometre climb, 13 seconds quicker than nearest challenger Simon Spilak. Richie Porte stands top of the podium having won his second Paris-Nice title on Sunday . With Gallopin's challenge expiring, Michal Kwiatowski finished second overall and third on the day. Welshman Geraint Thomas, one of Porte's Team Sky colleagues, was seventh fastest in the time-trial to claim fifth place in front of Gallopin. Porte said: 'It means a lot to me to be a two-time winner of an iconic race like Paris-Nice, and this one feels even sweeter than the last one because it was so hard. The Australian dominated the stage seven time-trial to steal the title from Tony Gallopin on the final day . 'They threw everything at us on Saturday, and to win on the top of the Col d'Eze this year, like I did in 2013, is incredible. 'I was a little bit nervous going into the day. Geraint and I threw time away yesterday (Saturday) - we were in a fantastic position, and for both of us to crash like we did wasn't ideal. To win today though, is a fantastic feeling.' Porte, who won the Paris-Nice title in 2013, crosses the line after dominating the time-trial on Sunday . +West Indies virtually secured their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a six-wicket triumph over the United Arab Emirates in Napier. The UAE were six wickets down early on, after being put in to bat, but Amjad Javed (56) and Nasir Aziz (60) dug deep to help them post 175 from 47.4 overs. The Windies - even without the injured Chris Gayle - never looked in danger of failing to chase down their modest target, though, Johnson Charles (55) and Jonathan Carter (50 not out) leading the way as they romped to victory from 30.3 overs for the loss of four wickets. West Indies batsman Jonathan Carter waves his bat after reaching 50 runs during the World Cup match . Johnson Charles was also in impressive form for the Windies during the Pool B match . The result left West Indies guaranteed a last-eight berth courtesy of their net run-rate - unless Sunday's other Pool B encounter between Ireland and Pakistan ends in a tie or a no-result in Adelaide. UAE were on the ropes at 46 for six at McLean Park, with none of the top six batsmen managing double figures, but Javed and Aziz helped give the scoreline some respectability. Jason Holder (four for 27) and Jerome Taylor (three for 36) accounted for the UAE top order, as Amjad Ali (five), Andri Berenger (seven), Krishna Chandran (nought), Khurram Khan (five), Shaiman Anwar (two) and Swapnil Patil (six) all fell cheaply. Javed and Aziz shared a 107-run seventh-wicket stand to get UAE back on track, as the Windies failed to fully capitalise on their early superiority. United Arab Emirates bowler Amjad Javed celebrates after taking the wicket of Andre Russell . Their spirited partnership finally ended in the 41st over, when Javed bottom-edged an Andre Russell delivery onto his stumps. Mohammad Naveed went the same way soon after, bowled by Russell for 14, with Aziz then chipping to Holder at cover off the bowling of Marlon Samuels before Taylor rounded things off by bowling Mohammad Tauqir (two). Manjula Guruge accounted for Dwayne Smith (15) and Samuels (nine) within the first eight overs of the response, but Charles and Carter made sure West Indies were always in control. Charles' departure, having scored 55 from 40 balls, left the Windies 109 for three in the 16th over. Russell was caught and bowled by Javed for seven soon after, but Carter and Denesh Ramdin (33no) got West Indies over the line with almost 20 overs to spare. +It's Tom Brady's world - we're all just living in it. After the NFL star posted a video on Saturday morning of himself jumping off a cliff in Costa Rica while on vacation with Gisele Bundchen, Brady was seen in the Bahamas during the afternoon. The reigning Super Bowl champ just happened to be playing basketball with NBA legend Michael Jordan. Scroll down for video . Tom Brady (left) golfed with NBA legend Michael Jordan (right) and PGA pro Keegan Bradley (next to him) Brady guided New England to a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX on February 1 . Jordan, 52, earned about $94million in salary during his 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association . Although not as famous as Jordan and Brady, golfer Keegan Bradley was part of the game in the Bahamas . The pickup basketball game, which also featured golfer Keegan Bradley, took place in the Bahamas. The three professionals also played golf together at some point, as shown in a photo Bradley posted on Instagram. Jordan, who won six NBA titles over the course of his career and is now the  majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, can be heard talking trash during the video clip of the pickup game. In the video, Jordan called for an 'and one' while he's in the process of draining a jumper. He then said: 'Hey man you guys have YouTube? Put on Michael Jordan for real.' Before he put up the photo, Bradley, 28, had a number of humorous responses to questions he was asked on Twitter. The PGA tour player wrote: 'I schooled him in every other play. 'My life is complete. 'Don't ask em how golf went early that day. 'Brady is god.' Tom Brady posted a video of himself going cliff diving while he was vacationing during the NFL offseason . Bradley, 28, had a number of humorous responses to questions he was asked on Twitter after the game . The four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback has earned nearly $150million in salary alone over the course of his career, according to Spotrac. Jordan, 52, who played in 16 NBA seasons, earned about $94million in salary. They have both banked substantially more cash than that from endorsement deals with companies like Nike, Under Armour, McDonald's, Uggs, Movado watches, Glaceau Smartwater and others. Bradly won the PGA Championship and was also named Rookie of the Year in 2011. After Brady posted the video of the dive onto his Facebook page, he indicated it might be his last big jump . Before he was seen on the cliff or in the Bahamas, Brady hit the beach with Bundchen and their kids . There were 11 league titles on the court on Saturday between Jordan, Brady and Bradley. If Brady wins another title, he will be the only quarterback in history with five Super Bowl wins. He would have to win the big game two more times to equal Jordan's six. If Bradly wants to catch up to Jordan or Brady, he has his work cut out for him. +A race car driver was involved in a horrific crash Saturday afternoon. Larry Dixon was completing his qualifying run at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto Plus Raceway in Gainesville, Florida when his car, traveling at 280mph, broke in half and then launched 30 feet in the air. The car then came crashing down and slammed into a guardrail. Most shocking of all however was that Dixon was then able to walk away from the crash. Scroll down for video . Race car driver Larry Dixon was involved in a horrific crash Saturday afternoon . Dixon was completing his qualifying run at the at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto Plus Raceway in Gainesville, Florida . Dixon's car, traveling at 280mph, broke in half and then launched 30 feet in the air . 'I was just waiting for it to land,' Dixon told USA Today. 'I was just wanting it to land on the track and not in the dirt. That's the biggest deal. Going that fast, you can tumble. That isn't good for your insides. Everything did its job. My car's a mess, but I'm still here.' He then said he is not sure what caused the nose of the car to break off, and would not comment on whether or not he would race again on Sunday. 'We haven't had any discussions about tomorrow,' he said. 'We're still pretty fresh on it. … You're going to have to tune in and watch. I don't know yet.' The car then came crashing down and slammed into a guardrail . Somehow Dixon was able to walk out of the car with no major injuries after the crash . Dixon (above), 48, was involved in a similar crash in 2000, during which he said his eye 'literally popped out of its socket' Dixon, 48, was involved in a similar crash in 2000, during which he said his eye 'literally popped out of its socket.' He also broke his leg. 'It's like a roller-coaster ride that flies off the track,' he said. 'Now what are you going to do? You just have to wait to land and hope everything does its job for you.' +The National Basketball Association is one of the pre-eminent sport Leagues in the world and every Thursday, Bleacher Report will bring you a round-up of all the action on and off court Stateside. Their five-star Mobile App 'Team Stream' helps you follow the NBA 24-7:DOWNLOAD NOW. Newsmaker . All of a sudden, the San Antonio Spurs own the Western Conference's longest winning streak. With a 117-107 thrashing of the Toronto Raptors, the Spurs have won six straight games behind the contributions of Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard. Parker totaled 23 points and nine assists, which means he's surpassed the 20-point threshold in each of the Spurs' last three games. San Antonio are 11-2 when Parker compiles at least 20 points this season. Leonard, who posted 24 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, has a similar effect and the Spurs are now 7-0 over the last two seasons when he records a 20-10 game. Kawhi Leonard (front) dribbles against the Toronto Raptors during his side's 117-107 victory . Good Week . It's seemingly a nightly occurrence at this point, but LeBron James made franchise history again on Tuesday evening. En route to racking up eight assists, James passed Mark Price as the Cavaliers' all-time leader in assists. Opting to leave his headband in the locker room, James finished with 27 points (10-of-14 shooting), eight assists and seven rebounds as Cleveland's starting five trounced Dallas' lethargic line-up. Every Cavaliers starter finished with a plus/minus rating of plus-21 or better, and Timofey Mozgov (17 points) was the only member of that group to score fewer than 20 points. J.R. Smith and Kevin Love both scored 21, while Kyrie Irving added 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Cleveland are now one game clear of the third-seeded Chicago Bulls in the East. LeBron James has made history for the Cleveland Cavaliers, surpassing Mark Price's record for most assists . Bad Week . The Dallas Mavericks are in a world of hurt, and head coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged as much following that loss to the Cavs. Over the past three weeks, Dallas has posted the worst net rating (minus-5.5) of any current Western Conference play-off qualifier. They are also scoring 96.6 points per 100 possessions which ranks 25th overall since the trade deadline. The Minnesota Timberwolves have recorded an offensive rating of 99.4 in that same span. Dallas still occupies the number seven seed in the West but Oklahoma City can shake things up in a big way if it takes care of business over the season's final month. The Mavs have a five game lead on the Thunder, but play OKC three more times in their final 16 games. Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris (left) attempts a layup as Cleveland's Iman Shumpet (right) blocks . Bleacher Report's Mobile App 'Team Stream' helps you stay in the know with your favourite teams across a range of sports via hand-picked, curated sports stories from around the web. Get news for your teams all in one place and get real-time alerts for breaking stories. DOWNLOAD NOW. And Finally... Jimmy Butler is coming into his own as a leader of the Chicago Bulls, taking up the flag during Derrick Rose's absence. With leadership comes perks, of course, and Butler is making use of his growing role in the franchise, much to the detriment of his team-mates' eardrums. Butler admitted to blasting liberal amounts of country music and Taylor Swift when given control of the music for team warm-ups. 'I get my own playlist in warm-ups sometimes,' Butler said. 'My teammates don't like it very much because it's country music, but they get over it. I like Taylor Swift. I like music a whole, but her music is kinda catchy.' Jimmy Butler (right) stands on the court ahead of Chicago Bulls' game with Memphis Grizzlies on Monday . +A teenage girl was left needing surgery after following an attack by 30 people, with one hitting her over the head with a skateboard. Brooklyn Smith, 16, was at Venice Beach Skate Park in Los Angeles with her boyfriend on Thursday night when two of the suspects asked where they were from. One of the pair then said: 'That's her, that's her,' and the next thing she knew she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked, while bystanders did nothing. Scroll down for videos . A man is seen seconds after hitting Brooklyn Smith, 16, over the head with a skateboard during a confrontation in Venice Beach, Los Angeles . The teenager is seen lying on the ground as a group of skateboarders surround her.  Bystanders watch as the brutal attack unfolds . She was left with a four-inch gash in the back of her head which had to be closed together with staples. The man who clubbed her with the skateboard was seen dragging her across the road before he started hitting her. She told KTLA they recognized her from a confrontation in February when she was told not to come back to the area. Graphic footage of the violent incident was captured on a cellphone. It was then sent to the police. Brooklyn can be heard wailing in pain after the person filming says she just cracked. The youngster said she blacked out after she was struck and then reached back to feel her head. When she saw her hands they were covered in blood . She was taken to hospital with a four-inch gash and was left needing staples . Her boyfriend has a tooth knocked out during the violent encounter . 'After that I blacked out a little bit,' she told the station. When she reached to feel her head, Brooklyn saw her hands were covered in blood, so started 'freaking out'. A woman then placed her body over Brooklyn's to shield her. 'If it wasn't for her, Lord knows what they would be doing to me,' Brooklyn said. 'They were hurting her too … because she was screaming.' Her boyfriend, meanwhile, had nine stitches to the back of his head, and upper and lower-lip. He also lost a tooth. +Once again, the Championship is proving to be the league with the most exciting promotion battle in Europe and the stakes have never been higher. With just 10 games left, one point divides a top five of Bournemouth, Derby, Watford, Middlesbrough and Norwich, with Brentford and Ipswich only a result or two behind them. And with £150million awaiting those who reach the Premier League, as well as a share of the new £5billion TV deal coming the following season, the difference between success and failure has never been greater. It’s going to be a case of who holds their nerve best, starting tomorrow as Middlesbrough take on Ipswich and Norwich face Derby. Sportsmail assesses the leading contenders. Leicester City celebrate with the Championship trophy last season (left) and the current table (right) BOURNEMOUTH Points 66 l Goal difference +35 . Manager Eddie Howe, 37, has taken his side from the bottom of League Two to the verge of the Premier League in two spells at Dean Court. Under their attack-minded boss, Bournemouth are the division’s top scorers with 74. Promotion prospects: Howe is too cool to let his players crack under pressure. The Premier League has seen fairytale stories of Swindon and Blackpool, and Bournemouth could be the latest. Did you know? Bournemouth’s average home gate this season is 10,147 — lower than any other club bar in the league bar Rotherham. Eddie Howe has taken his side from the bottom of League Two to the verge of the Premier League . Eunan O'Kane celebrates after scoring - and Bournemouth are the divison's top goalscorers . DERBY COUNTY Points 66 l Goal difference +29 . Steve McClaren’s men have bounced back after suffering play-off final heartbreak in May when they were beaten 1-0 by QPR. Loanees Darren Bent, Jesse Lingard and Thomas Ince have strengthened a strong squad but self-doubt could creep in. Promotion prospects: The best team on paper, they looked odds-on at one stage. But you feel they are just one slip-up from disaster. Did you know? McClaren won successive promotions as a Derby County player in the 1980s under Arthur Cox. Thomas Ince strengthened Derby's squad when coming in on loan but questions remain over them . Derby are the best team on paper, but you feel they are just one slip-up from heading for disaster . WATFORD Points 66 l Goal difference +28 . Italian owner Gino Pozzo has been through six managers in three years — four this season alone — but this hasn’t disrupted progress at Vicarage Road under latest boss Slavisa Jokanovic. Strike pair Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo, on loan from Pozzo’s father’s club Udinese, have scored 33 of Watford’s 72 goals. Promotion prospects: Like to play on the counter-attack, but have crucial games against Middlesbrough and Derby and may have to settle for the play-offs. Did you know? Watford last graced the Premier League in 2007 and Manchester City’s Darius Vassell scored the goal that sent them down. Troy Deeney provides real quality upfront for Watford and he has previously attracted top flight attention . Deeney and Odion Ighalo (pictured), on loan from Udinese, have scored 33 of Watford’s 72 goals . MIDDLESBROUGH Points 66 l Goal difference +28 . Jose Mourinho’s former assistant at Real Madrid Aitor Karanka has been a huge hit with some help from the Special One, who loaned him 11-goal Patrick Bamford. Boro have conceded 26 goals from 36 matches — the fewest in the division. Promotion prospects: In danger of going off the boil, having collected only seven points from 18. Did you know? Boro have lost their last three Saturday fixtures — against Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest. Aitor Karanka is Jose Mourinho’s former assistant at Real Madrid and has gained Patrick Bamford on loan . Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton celebrate a goal, but Middlesbrough look like going off the boil . NORWICH CITY Points 65 l Goal difference +31 . The gamble to recruit 33-year-old unknown Alex Neil from Hamilton Academical has paid off, only losing once their last in nine games. They have plenty of top-flight experience in John Ruddy, Wes Hoolahan and Cameron Jerome. Promotion prospects: Their squad is battle-hardened and you suspect when the going gets tough, Norwich will be able to get going. Did you know? Neil became the highest-placed Scottish manager in England following the sacking of Paul Lambert at Aston Villa. Cameron Jerome (left) is one of a number of players in the Norwich squad who boast top flight experience . Jonathan Howson and Bradley Johnson have also played in the Premier League with the Canaries . And don’t forget... Brentford — 62pts: Surprise package who haven’t been distracted by manager Mark Warburton’s departure at the end of the season. Ipswich — 61pts: Mick McCarthy boasts the division’s leading scorer, 22-goal Daryl Murphy. Brentford are just a point ahead of Ipswich Town after the two came head-to-head last Saturday . +Tour de France winner Chris Froome has welcomed 24-hour drug testing in cycling. Froome's comments come in the wake of a damning report by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission to address doping in the sport and criticism from Olympic champion Nicole Cooke that the 2013 Tour de France winner was allowed a therapeutic use exemption to compete at the Tour de Romandie last year. 'I for one welcome 24hr testing. It may be an inconvenience but if it can help clean up the sport that I love lets do it,' Froome said on his official Twitter account. Champion cyclist Chris Froome says he would welcome 24hour drug testing in the sport he loves . Froome trains for Team SKY in the mountains of Alcudia, Spain in January . Cooke has called on cycling's governing body, the UCI, to do more to police the 'disturbing grey area' of TUEs and believes Team Sky rider Froome should not have been granted a TUE for a powerful corticosteroid to compete at the 2014 Tour de Romandie after complaining of chest pains. The former Olympic and world road-race champion who retired from cycling two years ago, wrote in The Guardian that UCI president Brian Cookson should apologise to the rest of the riders in the race for failing them. 'I don't think it is at all right that Chris should have the race and prize money taken off him retrospectively, but Cookson needs to issue a very clear message: he should be apologising to the rest of the riders for failing them,' Cooke said. 'That TUE application should not have been approved; Froome and Sky should have had a clear choice of either riding without steroids or pulling out. 'I never found I could be anywhere near the front of a long race when I was ill.' Froome has been criticised for winning the 2014 Tour de Romandie while taking therapeutic drugs . The Sky cyclist's greatest achievement thus far has been winning the 2013 Tour de France . The CIRC report, published on Monday, showed how the culture and previous practices of the UCI allowed Lance Armstrong to cheat, including the retrospective issuing of a TUE to cover up a positive test at the 1999 Tour de France. When the granting of Froome's TUE came to light last June, the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency said procedures had been properly followed. But Cooke feels Cookson should not leave himself open to a situation where he could be accused of favouring a Sky rider - 'the Sky team of which Cookson was a founding board member,' she said. However, Cookson said the rules had subsequently been tightened to ensure all TUE applications went through an independent committee. 'Ms Cooke's accusation is simply wrong,' said Cookson, who since ousting Pat McQuaid as UCI president has overseen the CIRC report that sought to shed light on cycling's darkest days and introduced new anti-doping measures. Former Olympic gold medalist Nicole Cooke has criticised Froome for racing while taking therapeutic drugs . 'I made it a firm pledge that I would separate myself from all anti-doping processes, specifically to avoid any potential conflict of interest, both for me personally and for the UCI in its role as governing body for the sport. 'And I have lived up to that pledge. 'When it came to our attention that we were following an outdated procedure, we looked again at our processes and in order to ensure absolute integrity. 'The UCI confirmed in June 2014 that all TUE decisions must pass through the TUE Committee and be approved by three members unanimously, which is a stronger commitment than what is required by the international standard for therapeutic use exemptions. 'This has added an extra layer of accountability to the decision-making process.' +Blackpool have signed winger Michael Jacobs from Wolves on loan until the end of the season. The 23-year-old has made just four starts this season and has not appeared for Wolves since the start of December. Attacking midfielder Michael Jacobs, 23, can play on either flank or behind the striker . Jacobs was a key part of the Wolves side that won the League One title last season after joining from Derby, initially on loan, in November 2013. He made his name at Northampton, coming through the club's academy to make 100 appearances before Derby swooped in 2012. +A man was arrested in California Saturday night after attempting to hide from the police by painting his face black. Jose Espinoza, of Madera, was accused of fleeing a stolen car, and officers later arrested him when he attempted to flee a second time. The second time, however, he had used spray paint paint his face and head black in an effort to camouflage himself. Jose Espinoza, of Madera, California, allegedly fled a stolen car, leading the police to search for him a second time on Saturday night . When police found Espinoza, he had spray painted his entire head black in an attempt to camouflage himself . 'The camouflage was ineffective,' Madera Police Department said in a Facebook post, where they also uploaded a picture of Espinoza covered in paint. The black paint can be seen clearly in his mug shot, where his face is an entirely different color than the rest of his body. Espinoza was booked at Madera County Jail and faces charges of receiving stolen property and unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle, according to CBS Sacramento. Espinoza faces charges of receiving stolen property and unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle . +Liverpool face the bizarre scenario of having to wait a month for their FA Cup quarter-final replay with Blackburn Rovers following Sunday's goalless draw at Anfield. UEFA regulations preventing domestic games from clashing with Champions League or Europa League fixtures have ruled out any chance of staging it in the next fortnight, and that is followed by an international break. Cup replays no longer take priority over league fixtures so Liverpool’s game at Swansea next Monday – which is being televised live on Sky – will go ahead as planned, and the FA have agreed with the Premier League and Football League for Brendan Rodgers’ side to meet Blackburn at Ewood Park on April 7 or 8. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is relieved to be playing their FA Cup replay Blackburn in April . Raheem Sterling leaps over the challenge during the goalless draw in the FA Cup quarter-final at Anfield . Bradford ad Reading also fought out a 0-0 draw on Saturday but have been forced to replay 48hours later . The unusual situation follows complaints from Reading manager Steve Clarke and Bradford’s Phil Parkinson on Saturday about having to stage their replay at the Madejski Stadium next Monday – 48 hours after both clubs are in league action – as they chase a place at Wembley in the semi-finals. Liverpool boss Rodgers admitted that he would rather wait a month than be in their shoes. ‘I believe the replay is early April, the 7th or 8th,’ said Rodgers. ‘It is certainly not what it is for Reading and Bradford. That is unbelievable. I feel for them, having to play Saturday and again on Monday. It is incredible. It’s unfair for both clubs with so much at stake. I feel sorry for Parky and for Steve and for the players.’ Blackburn are already scheduled to play Leeds on Easter Saturday and Millwall on Bank Holiday Monday, but it is understood that the second of those games is likely to be postponed so the Championship side can play Liverpool on the Tuesday or Wednesday. Steven Gerrard (left) watched from the stands with ex-team-mate and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher . Gerrard did not play for Liverpool due to injury but the supporters are desperate to get him to Wembley . Manager Gary Bowyer is not concerned over the one-month wait, saying: ‘Our lads will need that long to recover, the amount they have run. They worked ever so hard and every one of them put a shift in. ‘Our chances will be the same in the replay. We might have one or two bac because we’re down to the bare bones.’ Bowyer warned Liverpool that they will face a very different playing surface at Ewood, adding: ‘Our players were pleasantly delighted to see so much grass on the pitch at Anfield. ‘Brendan was complaining about the pitch here. Wait until he sees Ewood. It makes this look like Wembley.’ Martin Skrtel was knocked unconscious after falling awkwardly following a challenge with Rudy Gestede . Kolo Toure replaced Skrtel and could have won the game but for his header being denied by the post . Liverpool suffered an injury scare on Sunday when Martin Skrtel was knocked out after landing awkwardly in the second minute and was carried off following lengthy treatment on the pitch. Rodgers said: ‘Martin Skrtel is fine but he will go to the local hospital to make sure. If he had his choice, he wouldn’t but we have to follow procedure. ‘He could have played on but you have to listen to the medical team and the experts and he is fine in the changing room. He was walking and talking after the game but as a precaution we need to make sure he is okay.’ Liverpool had a goal ruled out by Skrtel’s replacement Kolo Toure, who also hit a post in the second half, as they struggled to break down stubborn opponents who went close through Craig Conway and Alex Baptiste. Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer doesn't think Liverpool are going to enjoy playing on the Ewood Park pitch . Misfiring Mario Balotelli was branded a waste of space by former Liverpool defender Mark Lawreson . Former Liverpool defender and BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson launched a fierce attack on Mario Balotelli, who came on as a substitute for Lazar Markovic. Speaking on Radio 5Live, Lawrenson said: ‘Forget about Mario Balotelli. He is an absolute waste of time. He shouldn’t be anywhere near this team. ‘I can see why Brendan Rodgers threw him on today as he might just create something, but 99 times out of 100 he will let you down.’ +Cycling's international governing body (UCI) has announced tougher anti-doping measures including night-time visits by testers and an integrity test for team leaders and doctors. The announcement comes in response to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report into the Lance Armstrong scandal and other doping cases. The UCI has also established a task force to ensure the CIRC recommendations are followed through. The UCI has announced tougher anti-doping measures to be brought into cycling including night-time tests . The announcement of the new measures came in response to CIRC report into the Lance Armstrong scandal . UCI president Brian Cookson said: 'I am absolutely determined to use the CIRC's report to ensure that cycling continues the process of fully regaining the trust of fans, broadcasters and all the riders who compete clean. 'We value the recommendations of the CIRC and have now established an internal task force to ensure the recommendations are properly followed up.' +Los Angeles firefighters say nearly two dozen people were injured when a commuter train struck a car near downtown Los Angeles and partially derailed. Fire Department spokesman Shawn Lenske says 21 people on the train were hurt in Saturday's crash. He says all but one of the injuries was minor. One person in the crushed car was critically injured and had to be cut out of the vehicle. Scroll down for video . Los Angeles firefighters say nearly two dozen people suffered injuries when the commuter train struck a car . Lenske says two of the train's three passenger cars derailed. Further details on the extent of the injuries or the cause of the crash were not immediately available. Officials with Metrolink, which operates the train, did not immediately return a call for comment. The crash happened just before 11 a.m. near the University of Southern California campus, south of downtown. Reports suggest the line will remain closed for the foreseeable future. One person in the crushed car was critically injured and had to be cut out of the vehicle . Three passenger cars derailed as a result of the impact, a fire department spokesman said . Firefighters gather around the car that was crushed by the commuter train near  the University of South California campus in Los Angeles . An aerial view of the scene shows the police corden set up around the vehicle . +A Florida man has captured astonishing video that shows an intelligent manatee drinking from a garden hose like a straw. The hose was hanging over the edge of a dock in Miami Beach when the 'sea cow' approached and 'grabbed' onto it with its flippers. It then shoves the end of the hose into its mouth to get its refreshing fill of fresh water, which it requires to survive. Even though manatees are found in salt water, they do not consume it. The large 'sea cow' swims over to the long blue hose in order to get its much-needed fresh water intake . Filmed from the end of the dock, the manatee can be seen in the water below holding onto a long blue hose with its flippers. It takes a drink from it as the video maker, Lawrence Schiffman, tells the people with him: ‘I like how he uses his arm to put it into his mouth.’ The video shows the marine mammal dropping the hose and swimming after it. Debating whether the manatee is a he or she, and deciding to go with the latter, Mr Schiffman continues to give a play-by-play of the animal’s actions. The video concludes with the obviously thirsty marine mammal still clutching onto the hose, guzzling water running from an unidentified source. The manatee can be seen using its flipper to grab the hose before it puts it into its mouth like a straw . Manatees are very large, fully aquatic and mostly herbivorous marine mammals. Studies suggest that they must have some access to fresh water for proper regulation of the salt within their bodies. This means that on average they must return to fresh water every one to two weeks to get their fill. Manatees ingest water through actively drinking as well as eating aquatic plants, and are able to move freely between marine environments. +James Milner's future at Manchester City may not be resolved until the end of the season. The in-demand England international is out of contract at the end of the year and talks have taken place about extending his stay at the Etihad Stadium. However, no deal has been agreed for Milner, who has attracted interest from the likes of City's Premier League rivals Liverpool and Arsenal. James Milner has still not resolved his future at Manchester City with a number of big clubs interested . Milner celebrates scoring for City against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup third round . Sportsmail understands preliminary talks have also taken place with Inter Milan, AC Milan and Roma while two clubs in Spain are monitoring the situation. Milner's first choice remains a contract extension at City. But the 29-year-old midfielder remains unconvinced Manuel Pellegrini can give him the playing time he craves at this stage of his career. Milner is now expected to use the remainder of the season to gauge how much he is needed at the club. The England midfielder would prefer to remain at Man City but is attracting plenty of interest . Milner runs away in celebration after scoring against Leicester City last month . City face a fight to retain their Premier League title from leaders Chelsea and will head to the Nou Camp next week seeking to overturn a 2-1 Champions League deficit to Barcelona. Regular playing time in his preferred position in central midfield at the business end of the campaign may well persuade him to stay in Manchester. Milner has already made 36 appearances for Pellegrini's side this season and has been in good form. He joined City from Aston Villa for £26m in 2010. +Pep Guardiola, never satisfied. Despite averaging six goals a game in their last three matches, the Bayern Munich manager has insisted his team must improve their attacking threat. The Bundesliga leaders have overcome their previous opposition 4-1, 6-0 and 8-0 in their last three league games, but after a 2-0 cup win against Eintracht Braunschweig, Guardiola implored his side to improve. 'We must do better in attack,' he told reporters on Friday. 'In defence we are imperious – opponents have very few chances against us. Pep Guardiola has been disappointed with his side's attacking threat despite averaging six goals a game . Mario Gotze (second left) celebrates after scoring Bayern's second goal in the German Cup on Wednesday . Guardiola was disappointed that his side were only able to beat Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 in the Cup . 'Yes, recently we have scored a lot of goals, but that's because our players are so good. Our overall attacking game must get better.' Bayern have opened up an eight-point gap at the top of the league, but it is their incredible goal difference of 53 which is perhaps most impressive. Guardiola has been unrepentant in his demands ahead of two big matches - against Hannover in the league, before they host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on March 11. Arjen Robben wheels away in celebration after scoring Bayern's third of four goals against Cologne . Jerome Boateng strikes the ball in acrobatic fashion as Bayern beat Cologne 4-1 at the Allianz Arena . Despite their impressive results, Bayern have been told to improve in attacking areas by their manager . 'The defensive behaviour of Hannover and Donetsk are completely different,' Guardiola continued. 'Thus, our attacking tactics will be different. 'We have to think first of this Bundesliga game - there are still 33 potential points to be won starting with Hannover. Wolfsburg are on our tail, just eight points behind us, we know that. 'We've had less time to prepare than Hannover, so we must engage full concentration. I will choose my strongest possible XI regardless of our game with Shakhtar coming up.' +Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal believes the outcome of the FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal will not just affect the destiny of the venerable old trophy but also the contest for Champions League positions. The Gunners travel to Old Trafford on Monday to defend the trophy they won against Hull City last season with two sides also competing for a spot in the Premier League's top-four. Van Gaal said: 'Arsenal and United are now in third and fourth place, so it is a big event with two good teams. I hope we can give a fantastic match for the fans. Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal believes the FA Cup-quarter final will affect the Premier League too . Ashley Young (right) scored the winner against Newcastle to see Manchester United fourth in the league . Van Gaal has praised Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger for his 'amazing' work at the north London club . 'I think if we beat them it is a big blow for them, but if they beat us it is a big blow for us. It is very important game, not only for the FA Cup but also for the [Premier League] rat race.' Van Gaal also paid tribute to the longevity of Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who has been in charge of Arsenal since 1996. He added: 'In my opinion what he has done is amazing. It can only be in England, I believe, where managers are so long committed with one club. 'It shows how much he can mean for a club as a manager. I like that - like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger - I think it's fantastic that you can do that.' Meanwhile, Marouane Fellaini admits United face a 'massive game' against Arsenal if they are to end the season with a trophy. The Belgium midfielder, who was on the losing side at a Wembley FA Cup final with Everton, insists however that Louis van Gaal's side can take confidence from their last-gap win over Newcastle in midweek. Marouane Fellaini (left) says United are in for a 'massive game' against Arsenal in the FA Cup on Monday . Newcastle midfielder Jonas Gutierrez dribbles away from United's Ander Herrera (right) Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney (right)  flies in with a sliding challenge on Mike Williamson (left) He says United need to win at Old Trafford to avoid a tough replay at the Emirates. Fellaini told MUTV: 'It will be a challenge. Monday is a massive game. We have to win it in one game because playing at Arsenal would be difficult. The FA Cup is a special competition, a big trophy in England. I lost a final. I played in a semi-final. This season, I can win it. 'We have showed it spirit already a lot of times now and we have to continue like that. We have a big game on Monday, so it is good for the confidence. 'We always keep going and scored in the last minute [against Newcastle]. The spirit was good, we kept going and that is important.' Striker Robin van Persie will miss the clash against his old club due to an ankle injury, and defender Jonny Evans will sit out after he was banned by the FA for six matches for spitting at Newcastle's Papiss Cisse. Robin van Persie (pictured here in February) will be unavailable for the game against Arsenal . Manchester United defender Jonny Evans (left) has been suspended for spitting at Papiss Cisse (right) +Jordon Ibe is hoping to make a timely return to Liverpool's squad before the end of the season after stepping up his rehabilitation from a knee ligament injury. Ibe was ruled out for six weeks after limping out of the Europa League defeat at Besiktas last month with knee ligament damage. The 19-year-old, who has made a big impression on the first team squad, has only this week resumed running at Melwood. Jordon Ibe takes on Ryan Mason during the Barclays Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur . Liverpool are already without the suspended Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel while Daniel Sturridge is also expected to be out for three weeks with a torn hip flexor muscle. Asked if he expects to play again this season, Ibe said: 'Yes, hopefully. It was the ligament on the side of my knee and they said I could be out for six to eight weeks, but everything has gone smoothly from here and hopefully I can crack on now and get back in action. 'They (Liverpool) have not said anything to me yet but if I can just keep doing my rehab in the gym and in the swimming pool I can get back to training quickly.' Ibe controls the ball during the Barclays Premier League match against Everton at Goodison Park . Ibe uses his pace to get by a Southampton defender during the clash at St Mary's Stadium . Liverpool will look to pick themselves up after defeat to Manchester United when they travel to Arsenal next weekend and Ibe believes Champions League qualification is still in their reach. 'Hopefully we can get top four or even higher. Although they have lost a game they are still on a high. We need to keep building from there and picking up points. 'I’m enjoying everything right now, hopefully I can get back and continue playing. I didn’t think I’d play as much as I had. It’s been terrific so far so hopefully I can keep at that and impress the gaffer.' +Six weeks after New Zealand and Australia kicked off the 2015 Cricket World Cup on Valentine's Day with explosive wins, the two co-hosts will go head to head in what promises to be a spectacular finale at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The two sides met during the group stage, and it was New Zealand who prevailed that day with a thrilling one-wicket victory in Auckland when Kane Williamson swatted Pat Cummins for a six to the delight of the Eden Park crowd. Ahead of Sunday's trans-Tasman final in Melbourne, Sportsmail tells you all you need to know about both teams. Australia and New Zealand will go head to head in the World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday . Australia captain Michael Clarke and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum with the World Cup trophy . The 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground will host its second Cricket World Cup final on Sunday . Australia advanced to the final with a 95-run win over India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday . New Zealand beat South Africa by four wickets in a thrilling first semi-final at Eden Park in Auckland . AUSTRALIA . Captain – Michael Clarke . The 33-year-old has not hit top form with the bat during the tournament but showed his versatility against India, shuffling with the batting line-up to bring in the big hitters with his side in a commanding position. Clarke missed the opening match of the tournament against England as he recovered from a hamstring injury, but is hungry to add World Cup glory to his CV as Australian captain. Australian captain Clarke has yet to hit top form after returning from a hamstring injury . Clarke, who will retire from ODIs after the final, practices a training drill on Saturday in Melbourne . Star man – Steve Smith . Having become just the second Australian batsman to make four consecutive World Cup half-centuries after David Boon, Smith finally went on to make a century against India in the semi-final and heads to Melbourne in sparkling form. Smith has spent pretty much all summer raising his bat to the crowd, scoring centuries in all four Test matches against India as well as ODI tons against South Africa in November and England in January. Steve Smith has been in stunning form all summer long, racking up the centuries in both Tests and ODIs . Group A - beat England by 111 runs . Group A - no result vs Bangladesh . Group A - lost to New Zealand by one wicket . Group A - beat Afghanistan by 275 runs . Group A - beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs . Group A - beat Scotland by seven wickets . QF- beat Pakistan by six wickets . SF - beat India by 95 runs . Biggest disappointment – David Warner . Aside from hitting a remarkable 178 against Afghanistan, Australia’s ‘bad boy’ has failed to fire at the top of the order with his next highest score during the World Cup a paltry 34 (v New Zealand). Fortunately for Warner, Australia's formidable middle and lower order have been imperious, in particular Smith. Reason to be cheerful . Australia are the most successful side in World Cup history having been crowned champions in 1987, 2003, 2007 and 2011. Victory on Sunday would be a fifth title and a third in the last four editions of the tournament. Reason to be fearful . Australia have looked mighty impressive on their route to the final, but there was one blemish on their record - a defeat by Sunday's opponents New Zealand in the group stages. Though the four-time world champions boast a fearsome batting line-up they are susceptible to the swinging ball, as Tim Southee and Trent Boult proved on that day in Auckland. Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist (right) talks to in form batsman Smith . Australia were beaten by one wicket by New Zealand when the teams met at Eden Park in the group stage . Omens . Australia have won eight of their last nine matches at the MCG since January 2011 with at least one of their top-five have scored a century in the winning causes, apart from when Aaron Finch fell for 96 against India this January. NEW ZEALAND . Captain – Brendon McCullum . McCullum’s attacking brand of captaincy on the field and aggressive batting when opening the innings have led many to label the 33-year-old as the best one-day captain currently playing. Brendon McCullum has led New Zealand from the front with his attacking, aggressive brand of cricket . New Zealand practiced at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday in preparation for the final . Daniel Vettori (second left) will play his final one-day international for New Zealand on Sunday . Group A - beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs . Group A - beat Scotland by three wickets . Group A - beat England by eight wickets . Group A - beat Australia by one wicket . Group A - beat Afghanistan by six wickets . Group A - beat Bangladesh by three wickets . QF - beat West Indies by 143 runs . SF - beat South Africa by four wickets . Star man – Daniel Vettori . While Boult has swung himself to the leading wicket-taker of the tournament thus far, 36-year-old Vettori has taken 15 vital scalps and is set to play his final one-day international on Sunday in Melbourne. Biggest disappointment – Ross Taylor . The right-handed batsman came into the tournament under pressure and, apart from a half-century against Bangladesh, Taylor has failed to make any substantial impact on the World Cup. Reason to be cheerful . New Zealand have advanced to the final with a perfect record having already beaten Australia in the group stages. Sunday's match marks their first World Cup final having previously reached the semis on six separate occasions and will collect the ICC's £2.68million winning prize if they win in Melbourne. Kane Williamson hits the winning six in New Zealand's one-wicket win over Australia in the group stage . Williamson shows off his football skill during New Zealand's practice session in Melbourne on Friday . Reason to be fearful . The co-hosts have yet to play a match outside of their country in this World Cup and haven’t beaten their opponents in Australia since February 2009 – when they claimed a six-wicket victory at the MCG. Will Boult and Southee be able to swing the ball in Melbourne as they have done in home conditions? And how will McCullum fare with the considerably larger boundaries at the MCG than the ones in New Zealand? Omens . The MCG is not a happy hunting ground for the Black Caps. They have lost 11 of the 16 matches at 100,000-capacity stadium, with one no-result. Kiwi opening bowlers Trent Boult (left) and Tim Southee (right) have been lethal in their run to the final . New Zealand have lost 11 of 16 games at the MCG and haven't played outside of their country this tournament . MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND . The MCG is one of the finest sporting venues in the world and boasts a capacity of almost 100,000 spectators. The iconic ground was opened in 1854 and is located in Yarra Park, just a short walk from Melbourne's vibrant city centre. Often affectionately referred to by locals simply as 'The G', the stadium hosted the 1992 World Cup final when Pakistan beat England and also hosts the annual Boxing Day Test match, which can attract huge crowds in excess of 90,000. The Melbourne Cricket Ground in Yarra Park will provide a fitting venue for Sunday's showpiece final . Away from cricket, the MCG was the lynchpin of the 1956 Olympic Games and 2006 Commonwealth Games. Nowadays, the venue is home to a number of Aussie Rules teams in the city with multiple matches being played at the stadium every match weekend and also hosts the annual AFL Grand Final. With the annual Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open tennis in town as well, it's no wonder that Melbourne is the sporting capital of down under. Over 91,000 fans at the MCG for the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England on Boxing Day in 2013 . The Melbourne Cricket Ground pictured at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games . WHERE TO WATCH . Indian company Star Sports are the host broadcaster of the ICC and will provide pictures and commentary of the final, as they have done all tournament. For UK viewers, don't forget that the clocks go forward to British Summer Time early on Sunday morning, so the start time will be 4.30am on Sky Sports while BBC Tess Match Special will provide radio commentary for the final. The match will begin at 2.30pm local time (3.30am GMT) and will be simulcast on Channel Nine and Fox Sports in Australia while Kiwi fans can watch the action on Sky New Zealand. +Barcelona star Neymar might not have been involved in his side's match with Rayo Vallecano, but that didn't mean he was any less delighted when they scored. The 23-year-old Brazil captain, who is currently serving a suspension for picking up too many yellow cards in La Liga, took to Instagram to reveal a video of him celebrating after Luis Suarez had given Barca a 1-0 lead at the Nou Camp. Neymar himself has been in superb form for his club this season, scoring 26 goals in 34 appearances so far. Suspended Barcelona striker Neymar celebrates Luis Suarez scoring the opening goal for Barcelona . +Captain Eoin Morgan insisted that he would leave the World Cup with 'no regrets' despite England's failure to qualify out of their group. England won just two of their six games at the tournament and only avoided their worst-ever World Cup with a rain-affected nine-wicket success over Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday. 'There are no regrets,' Morgan said. Eoin Morgan speaks to the press following England's victory against Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday . 'Absolutely not. We've given it everything and certainly I have.' England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton has already confirmed a 'major review' will be launched into the failings at the tournament. That had led to speculation some senior players could have played their last one-day international, but Morgan does not think there should be a clear-out as preparations begin for the 2019 World Cup, which will be held in England. 'No absolutely not,' he added. 'We haven't got guys coming towards the end of their careers. I don't see a reason to. 'I think we have the right calibre of squad, guys on the outside need to be banging down the door. 'It's an easy thing to sit here while we are not doing well and say somebody outside the squad is better. Morgan (right) congratulates James Tredwell after he caught out Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi . 'We considered everybody when selecting the squad. I still believe we had the right group of players here.' Coach Peter Moores' position has come under increasing scrutiny after England were blown away by the bigger nations before their tournament was ended by ninth-ranked Bangladesh in Adelaide on Monday. Their only successes came against associate nations Scotland and Afghanistan, with the latter playing at their first-ever World Cup. Morgan nonetheless wants to remain as captain, although admitted that decision is now out of his hands with the ECB to rake over the performances. 'I think there is going to be a review over the next couple of weeks,' he said. 'I can't determine whether I'll still be captain. The hunger is still there to do it. 'I've learned a lot throughout this tournament particularly when things haven't gone so well. You learn a lot about yourself and about the team. Ian Bell acknowledges the crowd after reaching his half-century in England's final Cricket World Cup match . 'Things like that moving forward are crucial.' England will fly home next week where the recriminations have already begun and Morgan feels any finger pointing should be directed at the players rather than the coach. 'I certainly think it's not fair (to blame Moores),' he said. 'All the responsibility should fall on the players. It's our responsibility to perform, particularly when we've performed so badly. 'If there were little things where we couldn't get over the line and games where we competed and little parts of our game weren't right you could look elsewhere. 'It's important that we realise where the responsibility lies.' Australia and New Zealand most significantly exposed the gulf in class between them and England's squad, which contained nine World Cup debutants, and Morgan conceded his team's inability to fight back in adversity was an area of concern. Captain Morgan speaks to Sky Sports after England sealed a comfortable win at the Sydney Cricket Ground . 'When we've performed well we've done reasonably well and when we've been poor we've been really poor,' he said. 'When you have a bad day you have to find some way of scrapping or fighting in order to stay in the game but when we've had bad games we've been out of the game. 'To build on that we need to get our basics right - things like building an innings, creating partnerships and building pressure with the ball. 'When we've been poor we haven't done both of those things.' While England's players might be bracing themselves for their reception back home, Afghanistan coach Andy Moles expects his team to receive a 'warm welcome' to their war-torn country. Morgan (second left) walks off the field with Bell (third left) as rain delays play on Friday . A maiden World Cup win over Scotland stood out as an obvious highlight and they almost pulled of a shock against Sri Lanka. They were just 22 minutes away from sharing the points with England at the SCG, after play resumed following a long rain break just in time to allow the reply to a Duckworth-Lewis revised target of 101 in 25 overs. Ian Bell's half-century ensured the chase was reeled in without too much alarm, but Afghanistan will head home to their cricket-loving fans knowing they came close to finishing the tournament level on points with England. 'I'm sure that they'll be received with huge warmth,' Moles, a former Warwickshire opener, said. England coach Peter Moores is pictured walking off the field after Friday's match in Sydney . 'We all saw the celebrations that happened all around Afghanistan with the win against Scotland. But I think the captain would be the first to admit, as well, we'd liked to have done a little bit better with some of the other games, but that's something we'll work on. 'One thing I can say is that the Afghan players are a very proud bunch of young men that want to do well, not for themselves but for the unification and the message it sends around the world from Afghanistan. 'So I know, I'm sure that when they do get home in two, three days' time that they will be warmly received, and I'm sure they'll enjoy it.' +Part of Real Madrid's abject performance in the midweek 4-3 Champions League defeat by Schalke may have been a consequence of their two most attacking players occupying the same space. Despite securing passage into the quarter-finals with a 5-4 aggregate win, the reigning champions were heavily criticised for their performance at the Bernabeu on Tuesday. It has since emerged that fellow forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema spent most of the game sharing the same No 9 position, according to a FIFA stats package . FIFA stats package show that Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema could not be separated . Ronaldo appears to gesture towards the Frenchman during Tuesday's game at the Bernabeu . A breakdown of the game every 15minutes shows the two forwards rarely moved from the same space . Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid edged past Schalke 4-3 to reach the Champions League quarter finals . Benzema was also on the scoresheet for Real Madrid as he re-found his goalscoring touch . Ronaldo is now the highest goalscorer in European competitions after overtaking Lionel Messi and Raul . Read Pete Jenson's assessment of the problems at the Bernabeu . Nonetheless, both forwards found the target, with Ronaldo heading a brace to become the all-time top scorer in European club competitions, although the Portuguese remained angry by the performance and has refused to speak publicly again until the end of the season. 'I wont talk again until the end of the season,' Ronaldo told reporters. Ancelotti had earlier defended his top scorer, saying: 'He scored two very important goals but the rest were not at his level'. Madrid superstar left angry on Tuesday night and has vowed not to talk publicly until the end of the season . Ronaldo shows his frustrations as Real Madrid lost 4-3 at home to Schalke in the Champions League . But Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure after Madrid narrowly escaped elimination despite his two goals. Ronaldo notched up his 77th and 78th goals in Europe and put himself above former Real Madrid team-mate Raul and Barcelona's Lionel Messi. The former Manchester United star is also level with Messi as the joint record all-time goalscorer in the Champions League proper - with 75 goals apiece in Europe's elite competition. 78: Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid) 77: Raul (Real Madrid, Schalke) 76: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 70: Filippo Inzaghi (Parma, Juventus, AC Milan) 67: Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea) 62: Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich) 62: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Heerenveen, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Hamburger) 59: Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona) 59: Henrik Larsson (Feyenoord, Celtic, Barcelona, Helsingborgs) 56: Eusebio (Benfica) +An imposter posing as a former Pakistan cricketer repeatedly conned the BBC into paying him to appear on air as a pundit. Nadeem Alam posed as ex-batsman Nadeem Abbasi on BBC World News, BBC Asian Network and Radio Five Live, despite only ever playing for his home town of Huddersfield. His work even included a discussion with former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra. Nadeem Alam repeatedly convinced the BBC he was as Pakistani cricket star Nadeem Abbasi . Now Abbasi is furious after becoming aware of the fraudster's antics - and blasted the BBC for not checking their facts. Abbasi, who played three Tests for Pakistan in 1989, is furious that the pretender has damaged his country's reputation and plans to punch him if they ever meet,The Sun reported. He told the newspaper : 'If I ever find Nadeem Alam, I will punch him in the face for damaging the country's reputation.' The 46-year-old, who now coaches a team in Rawalpindi, added: 'The BBC is a big institution and surely they must check?' He added his only media appearance was on Pakistani television during the World Cup in 1996. Nadeeem Abbasi (left) is furious after finding out and blasted the BBC for not checking . He will take some comfort in Alam's reassurance that he is 'no longer pretending to be Nadeem Abbasi'. But Alam added that he believes his opinions have been 'good'. The 46-year-old, who has admitted posing as a squash player to blag free equipment, told The Sun: 'I like to think I have been talking good cricket.' A BBC spokesman said: 'We apologise to the real Mr Abbasi and we will be looking seriously into what has happened.' +Aditya Mehta was a surprise home finalist at the inaugural Indian Open but his hopes of repeating the feat were killed off by Ricky Walden on Thursday. The 29-year-old surpassed all expectations in October 2013, when Peter Ebdon, Mark Williams and Stephen Maguire were among his victims, before Ding Junhui inflicted a 5-0 defeat on the Indian cueman in the title match. Nudged back in the calendar to March this season, 50th-ranked Mehta would have longed to put together another decent run in his home tournament, but the figure of world number eight Walden loomed large in the draw. Ricky Walden saw off Aditya Mehta to deny the Indian a repeat success at his home tournament . And International Championship winner Walden came through a 4-2 winner to reach the last 16, where China's Tian Pengfei awaits him. Former world champions John Higgins and Williams advanced, Scotsman Higgins winning 4-2 against Jamie Cope and Welshman Williams with a final-frame break of 127 to fend off one-time Crucible king Ebdon 4-3. Next up for Williams is world number six Judd Trump, who was given a scare by amateur Adam Duffy and was far from persuasive as he edged through 4-3. Trump has been struggling with a shoulder injury and even considered withdrawing from the tournament. Trump said after beating Duffy: 'The shoulder is better than it was in my first match, though it is still not perfect. 'I don't expect much tomorrow, I will just battle like I did today and see what happens. I'm not going to play my best here. I just need to try to be patient because I know I'm going to miss balls that I don't usually miss.' Williams is hoping to hang around in Mumbai - because he is smitten by the local cuisine. Williams said, according to World Snooker's website: 'I've had two curries a day since I've been here. They are the best curries I've ever had, better than anything back home. If my wife asks me next week if want to go for a curry, I'll definitely have to say no.' Graeme Dott, the 2006 world champion, breezed to a 4-0 win over David Morris, with others through to the last 16 including Jamie Jones, Mark Davis, Kyren Wilson, Michael White, Nigel Bond and Chris Wakelin - the 22-year-old Warwickshire potter reaching the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time after a 4-1 victory over Andrew Pagett. +Chris Froome took the brave step of starting a Twitter Q&A as he let his followers divulge into his life and find out more about the cycling star. The Kenyan-British born rider has recently started stepping up his training as he recovers from illness which kept him out of the Tirreno Adriatico. The Sky Team member revealed that his favourite pizza was a ham and mushroom calzone, and doesn't mind a glass of Baileys when he's not in training. Chris Froome held a Twitter Q&A for his followers to ask what they wanted and to find out more about him . White chocolate and Baileys were revealed to be the foods he misses most during the cycling season . And the creator of his nickname 'Froomedog' was also revealed as fellow rider Russ Downing - a label which has stuck with him during his recent success. Froome also didn't hold back when a follower asked him about the Lloyd Mondory - labeling the Frenchman an 'idiot' - after he failed a recent drug test for EPO. With Rio 2016 just over a year away, the Great British rider says he's looking to attempt the time trials at the Olympic games after being asked what event he fancied. Froome revealed that Russ Downing was the first person to infamous nickname him 'Froomedog' The Sky Team cyclist also labelled Lloyd Mondroy an 'idiot' after his positive drug test revelation . The questions weren't all serious with the cyclist revealing he loves a bit of tomato ketchup on a bacon sandwich and misses white chocolate when in season. 'Froomedog' admitted he's a fan of DJ Tiesto's music and that if he could do any other sport then he'd want to follow in Lewis Hamilton's footsteps and be a Formula One driver. A Tour de France winner in 2013, Froome revealed that the famous race was in his favourite in the calendar . +Bas Dost must have rung in the New Year in some style. The Wolfsburg striker has been a transformed player since 2014 ticked over into 2015 and just can't stop scoring. Hardly prolific in the first-half of the season, with just one goal to his credit, the Dutchman is now Europe's hottest striker following a sensational run of form. Dost's double in Wolfsburg's thrilling 5-3 comeback win over Werder Bremen on Sunday took his 2015 tally to 13 goals in eight outings. Bas Dost celebrates yet another goal - this time in Wolfsburg's 5-3 win at Werder Bremen on Sunday . The tall Dutch striker jumps for joy after scoring for Wolfsburg against Hertha Berlin last weekend . January 30 - Two goals . Wolfsburg 4 Bayern Munich 1 . February 7 - One goal . Wolfsburg 3 Hoffenheim 0 . February 14 - Four goals . Bayer Leverkusen 4 Wolfsburg 5 . February 19 - Two goals . Wolfsburg 2 Sporting Lisbon 0 . February 22 - Two goals . Wolfsburg 2 Hertha Berlin 1 . March 1 - Two goals . Werder Bremen 3 Wolfsburg 5 . His total is second only to Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi, who has 15 goals in 14 matches since the beginning of January. But arguably Dost's current form is more impressive, given that the Bundesliga only resumed on January 30 following its winter break. Having scored against Cologne in Wolfsburg's last fixture before the winter pause, Dost picked up where he'd left off with two against league leaders Bayern Munich on January 30. He then found the net in the home win over Hoffenheim on February 7, before scoring four in a remarkable 5-4 win at Bayer Leverkusen a week later. The run has continued, with Dost scoring two goals in each of Wolfsburg's matches with Sporting Lisbon, Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen in the last fortnight. The 25-year-old's prolific form has pretty much sealed Wolfsburg a place in next season's Champions League - though they are eight points behind runaway leaders Bayern, they have a 10-point cushion from third-placed Borussia Monchengladbach. They are also through to a last 16 Europa League tie with Italian giants Inter Milan. Dost's form has also stolen the thunder of Andre Schurrle, who arrived at the Volkswagen Arena from Chelsea on deadline day for a fee of £22m. 'Things keep going, and they're going well,' said Dost after his brace in Bremen. 'Every week I'm here saying that [the goals] will stop again, but I just keep going and we'll see where I am in the end.' Dost's form has ensured Wolfsburg are on course for a Champions League place . Dost celebrates after scoring in Wolfsburg's dramatic 5-3 win at Werder Bremen on Sunday . It hasn't always been so good for Dost. This is his third season in the Bundesliga and by some way his best - he scored 12 in 33 matches in his first season at Wolfsburg, then five in 15 last year. The 6ft 5in target man has prospered from an effective link up with the former Chelsea man Kevin de Bruyne, who has contributed six assists since the Bundesliga resumed in January. Born in the Dutch city of Deventer, Dost's first professional clubs were Emmen and Heracles Almelo, where 15 goals during the 2009-10 season led to rumours of a move to Ajax. In the end, the 20-year-old moved elsewhere in the Eredivisie to Heerenveen and realised his potential with two prolific seasons. In 2011-12, he scored a remarkable 38 goals in 39 matches in Dutch league and cup, finishing as the country's top goalscorer. Dost salutes the crowd at the Volkswagen Arena after scoring in the win over Hertha Berlin . Applying a cool finish to score against Hertha Berlin during the recent Bundesliga encounter . Inevitably, there was interest from the Premier League, with Dost turning down a £7m move to Aston Villa at the time. Instead he moved to the Bundesliga and Wolfsburg, making an immediate impact with a stoppage time winner away to Stuttgart on his debut. Aside from that, his winner at defending champions Borussia Dortmund last season was also memorable. But it is this season that has seen Dost elevate his game to another level. Having started the campaign as Wolfsburg's third-choice striker, he is now indispensible. With his eye for goal, clinical finishing, aerial prowess and ability to hold the ball up, Dost has matured into the complete package, raising plenty of eyebrows throughout the football world. +Australian cyclist Loren Rowney was knocked off her bike moments before crossing the finishing line during the European women's cycling tour, after a spectator reached out and hit her handlebars. Rowney was just a few metres away from finishing the Molecaten Drentse 8 in Holland. The contact with Rowney's handles sent the 26-year-old tumbling to the ground. Spiritedly, Rowney did manage to finish the race by crawling over the line in seventh place, but she is understood to have suffered a broken collarbone. An Australian cyclist has taken a tumble just before the finish line during the European women's cycling tour, after a spectator reached out and hit her handlebars . Loren Rowney was just metres away from finishing the Molecaten Drentse 8 when it happened . The 26-year-old managed to crawl over to the finish line but is believed to have suffered a broken collarbone . South-African born Rowney lay on her back until medical officers helped her off the track. Race winner and two-time world champion Giorgia Bronzini of Italy described the finish as 'strange'. 'I thought at first that maybe it was my fault,' she told, the Sydney Herald. 'But I've already seen the footage and it looks like a spectator grips her wheel. Very strange.' Rowney took to Twitter to thank everybody for the well wishes. 'I'll try and get back to you all... it's hard with 1 arm! on my way to Hamburg for treatment,' Rowney wrote on Friday. Rowney took to Twitter on Friday to thank everybody for the well wishes . Loren Rowney (right) with after the Pro Women's Grand Prix during Prudential Ridein London in 2013 . +Ashley Giles is concerned England could end their dismal World Cup campaign with an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Afghanistan unless they give the game their full attention. Giles was England's limited-overs coach when they were knocked out of last year's World Twenty20 in the group stage, ending their campaign with a shambolic loss to associate outfit Holland. The side that day were careless and distracted in defeat having already been ousted and Giles believes a similar story could unfold if England are not focused. Ashley Giles believes England could fall to an embarrassing defeat against Afghanistan . England head coach Peter Moores is under extreme pressure after his side's early World Cup exit . 'Unfortunately we've got a bit of a habit in these games of being a bit dozy and lazy,' said Giles. 'We have to win and we have to be ruthless to do that. 'We wanted to finish well in the World T20 against Holland but we played dozy cricket. 'It's a real banana skin.' Most pundits still make England favourites to see off Afghanistan, but Giles has warned the unfamiliarity of their attack could pose problems for a struggling top order. 'Afghanistan have some good bowlers, with a bit of pace, and they play the game a little differently,' added the Lancashire coach. 'While our players have come up against the big nations a lot - which means they know how it comes out of the hand, the actions, the run-ups - some of these guys are pretty new. 'You can watch videos but it's not quite the same so you can get surprised.' +England take on Afghanistan on Friday morning looking to finish a dismal World Cup campgain on a rare positive note. Defeats to New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and, most embarrassingly, Bangladesh, have seen Peter Moores' side crash out of the competition at the first side. But the England coach will hope his team can at least show some spirit against minnows Afghanistan, to avoid going home having only beaten Scotland all tournament. Like England, their opponents have only picked up one win in the tournament and will be going home after this match, but for Afghanistan a win against Scotland was all they could have reasonably hoped to achieve. Beating England would be a major scalp, and raise even more questions about captain Eoin Morgan's side. Realistically, England should be hoping for a dominant win, which might help salvage some confidence even if it comes too late to enable progress in the tournament. But with confidence levels as low as they can be, there is a chance of a defeat which would be even more shocking than Monday's failure against Bangladesh. +South Africa skipper AB de Villiers' accomplished showing with bat and ball helped the Proteas to a 146-run World Cup victory over the United Arab Emirates in Wellington. De Villiers underpinned South Africa's innings with a sparkling 82-ball 99 as they reached 341 for six, before taking two for 15 from three overs as the UAE were bowled out for 195 in response with 15 balls remaining. De Villiers surprisingly fell one run short of his century, but will take consolation from having smashed four sixes to take his total to 20 at this showpiece - the most at the tournament - and a record 36 in 21 World Cup matches overall. South Africa captain AB de Villiers (right) inspired his country to a comfortable win against the UAE . The explosive batsman hit 99 for the Proteas as they continued they impressive form in the World Cup . De Villers also took two wickets with the ball at the Wellington Regional Stadium on Thursday . The victory was as comfortable as the margin suggests for South Africa as the UAE slumped to a fifth defeat in as many World Cup games. The Proteas, already through to the knockout phase, set the formidable target after being asked to bat first at Westpac Stadium. De Villiers shared a 108-run fourth-wicket stand with David Miller, after Hashim Amla (12), Quinton de Kock (26) and Rilee Rossouw (43) had departed, and added a further 53 in partnership with JP Duminy. Miller was dismissed one run short of his half-century at the start of the 37th over, bowled by Mohammad Naveed, who claimed figures of three for 63. De Villiers had been let off the hook on 63 when he offered a caught-and-bowled chance trying to go down the ground to Amjad Javed, and looked set to notch his hundred only to slice a wide length ball from Kamran Shazad straight to Javed at short third man. His departure signalled the arrival of Farhaan Behardien, though, and his quick-fire 64 not out from just 31 deliveries kept the South African score racing along. Farhaan Bahardien also shone for South Africa with the bat in Wellington . UAE have lost all five of their World Cup games so far this year and were 45-3 after 12.3 overs . Duminy (23) became Naveed's third victim when he was trapped lbw, but Behardien and Vernon Philander (10 not out) took the total past 300 in an unbroken 49-run seventh-wicket stand. The UAE's long-shot chances of chasing down that total were dealt a heavy blow as they slumped to 45 for three after just 12.3 overs. Morne Morkel led the early charge for the Proteas, dismissing Andri Berenger (five) and Khurram Khan (12) as he took two for four from his first four overs, while Duminy claimed Amjad Ali's (21) wicket in between. Shaiman Anwar and Swapnil Patil put on 63 in a fourth-wicket stand that provided a brief respite, but when Anwar (39) sent Imran Tahir's delivery straight to mid-wicket they began to tumble again. Saqlain Haider (seven) replaced Anwar at the crease, but he only lasted three overs to become De Villiers' first victim of the day, before Javed (five) followed suit soon after to leave the UAE on 125 for six with 15.4 overs left. De Villiers rounded off his display with a simple catch as Naveed (17) top-edged Philander tamely to mid-wicket and the subsequent departures of Mohammad Tauqir (three) and Shazad (nought) meant the UAE fell short of completing their 50 overs. Swapnil Patil wsa the only plus point in the batting display as he passed 50 . +Father-of-two Michael Beard, 31, was killed when his bicycle was struck by a school bus just yards from the front gates . A teacher and 'inspirational' rugby coach was killed when his bicycle was struck by a school bus just yards from the front gates. Father-of-two Michael Beard, 31, was cycling to a youngster's rugby tournament when he was struck by a coach carrying pupils he had taught just minutes earlier on Wednesday. Horrified children on the bus were left in tears when they realised the cyclist lying in the road outside Lincoln Christ's Hospital School was Mr Beard. The popular teacher, who was also a coach with the RFU English Touch Association, had led a Touch Rugby class at the school just minutes before the fatal collision. Parent Jan Thomas, 34, whose two sons attend the 1,400-pupil school, said: 'It was a horrible thing to happen to someone so wonderfully popular with the children. 'Apparently when the accident happened some children on the bus rushed to the back and one boy who had just been taught by Mr Beard knew straight away it was him. 'It was a terrible thing for the children to witness.' The bus, operated by P.C.Coaches, collided with Mr Beard at a junction outside the Lincolnshire school, but the bus driver and passengers were not injured. Headteacher Martin Mckeown said: 'Understandably, the whole school is shocked and devastated. 'Mr Beard was a popular and dedicated member of staff who was committed to helping and motivating children to play rugby. 'He was on his way to a school rugby tournament when this tragedy happened. 'We are still coming to terms with this tragic loss and we are working in partnership with the police, Lincolnshire County Council and the Red Cross to support both students and staff. 'Our heart-felt thoughts and condolences are with Mr Beard's family.' Friends and colleagues have now paid tribute to the married father-of-two who was nominated in the Coach of the Year category in 2014. The 'inspirational' rugby coach had led a Touch class at the school just minutes before the fatal collision . Tributes have flooded in from pupils, colleagues and friends and flowers have been laid at the site of the collision in Lincolnshire . Marc Rhodes, marketing and events officer for Lincolnshire Sport and a friend of Mr Beard, said: 'We are devastated to learn of Michael's tragic passing. 'Mike was a true gentleman who always had a smile on his face and his enthusiasm and dedication to sport and the community was as infectious as it was inspirational. 'Mike worked tirelessly to support the development of Touch Rugby in the county and played a huge role in bringing the finals of the England Touch Series to Lincoln this coming summer. 'Our condolences go to Mike's friends and family and all those who were inspired by his personality and his passion for sport. He will be sorely missed by the whole sporting community.' His aim was to form a competitive team to play at a national level and aid the regional development of touch rugby. Horrified children on the bus were left in tears when they realised the cyclist lying in the road was Mr Beard . He was a coach with the RFU English Touch Association and had been nominated in the Coach of the Year category in 2014 . A Facebook tribute page was also flooded with messages from parents and pupils. Tee Cook, whose daughter had been taught by the coach, wrote: 'RIP Mr Beard, from what my daughter said you were a one in a million teacher and she will miss you, thoughts are with your wife and beautiful children god bless you xxxx' Student Mark Wilkinson, said: 'R.I.P.so sad just wont be the same without him there, thoughts are with his family xx' Mr Beard, who lived in Lincoln with wife Nicky, 32, and their children Ella, six, and two-year-old Jack, also worked as a nightclub doorman in the city. Operations manager Chris Shore said: 'He was a really nice guy, a gentleman, family man and would do anything for anybody. 'Michael had been at the club since it opened three-and-a-half years ago, usually working four nights a week. The bus collided with a cyclist at a junction yeards from the front gates of Lincoln Christ's Hospital School . A fund set up to help support Mr Beard's family has reached more than £5,000 and hundreds of tributes have been left at the scene of the crash . 'He was really genuine, very popular with both customers and staff. 'You really couldn't wish to meet a nicer bloke - he always had a smile on his face.' Sergeant Jason Baxter, of Lincolnshire Police, said: 'There were passengers on the bus and the coach driver were not injured.' A fund set up to help support Mr Beard's family has reached more than £5,000. Sergeant Jason Baxter, of Lincolnshire Police, said: 'Tragically, the cyclist has lost his life as a result of the collision. 'He is a local man and his next of kin have been informed.' Police are now appealing for witnesses and anyone who saw the cyclist or the coach just before the accident should call police on 101 and quote incident number 221 on March 25, or call the collision witness hotline on 01522 558855. +Sir Bradley Wiggins has confirmed his intention to ride in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire in May. The 2012 Tour de France winner will leave Team Sky at the end of April to head up his own 'Team Wiggins' developmental squad, and revealed the three-day race in Yorkshire will be among his first assignments for the new team. Wiggins revealed his plans in an interview with The Cycling Podcast, which first aired on Thursday. Sir Bradley Wiggins pictured racing in the Paris-Nice and he will compete in the Tour de Yorkshire in May . Discussing his participation in this week's Paris-Nice stage race, Wiggins talked of his pride at wearing the time trial world champions' rainbow jersey for the final time at a major race, and said: 'It'll be nice to (wear it) a last time at this level anyway. I know I'm doing the Tour de Yorkshire, but this is Paris-Nice.' The Tour de Yorkshire will take place from May 1-3 as a legacy event from last year's hugely successful Grand Depart of the Tour de France, which brought millions of fans to the region. Wiggins missed last year's Tour having been overlooked for the squad by Team Sky. The Tour de France started in Yorkshire last year and was declared a huge success as fans flocked to it . +El Clasico is a little over two weeks away and the verbal jousting between the two sides has already started. Barcelona's Neymar believes the Catalan club's strike force of himself, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez is stronger than Real Madrid's, which consists of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. Brazil international Neymar was asked if Barcelona's attacking force is more dangerous than Madrid's and he said: 'I think so. Neymar (second right) believes Barcelona's strike force is superior to Real Madrid's . Neymar described Messi (right) as the 'best in the world' with the El Clasico approaching . Neymar commended the scoring ability of his other strike partner, Luis Suarez (right) 'But we focus on ourselves, we don't think about the opponents. 'We try to do damage to rival defences and every day we understand each other better. They are two brilliant players. 'Leo is the best in the world and Suarez is a great goalscorer. It is an honour for me to play with them. They are two brilliant players.' Madrid were beaten 1-0 by Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, while Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 6-1, meaning they replaced Madrid atop La Liga. Neymar believes his team's attack is better than Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Karim Benzema . Madrid were beaten 4-3 at home by Schalke on Tuesday but advanced into the last eight of the Champions League 5-4 on aggregate. Barcelona play their second leg against Manchester City on March 18. They won the first leg 2-1, thanks to a double from Suarez. +Brendan Rodgers was left to bemoan a series of penalty decisions which went against Liverpool as they were held to a 0-0 FA Cup quarter-final draw by Blackburn. The Reds boss felt his side could have been awarded two spot-kicks in a keenly-contested tie at Anfield in which the Championship side defended tigerishly to secure a replay at Ewood Park. Rodgers told BT Sport after the game: 'They defended very, very well and when you have that many bodies behind the ball - and they were very brave, got blocks in - and I thought we should have had a penalty. Brendan Rodgers looks on frustrated during Liverpool's goalless clash with Blackburn on Sunday . Rodgers (middle) and counterpart Gary Bowyer greet the crowd ahead of the FA Cup clash at Anfield . The Reds boss had cause for concern after defender Martin Skrtel was taken off on a stretcher early on . Kolo Toure (left) hit the back of the net for the Reds in the first half but his strike was ruled out for offside . 'In games like this sometimes in that opening 20 minutes, if you can get the first goal, it opens the game up. 'Adam Lallana's one looked a clear penalty. The defender is recovering back in, but he's on the wrong side and he can't get to the ball, so for me, that was a penalty. 'You could argue when [Rudy] Gestede handballs it off the header from the free-kick, we could have had another penalty, and sometimes you need that little bit of luck. 'They have got some good players - Gestede gives you a problem up front - but I thought in the main, we dealt with that really, really well. 'I thought maybe the sharpness was just missing from our game and that wee bit of incision. But credit to the players, they kept a clean sheet and the objective was to be in the hat for the next round by the end of the evening, and that's what we are in.' Simon Mignolet (centre) made a superb save to tip an Alex Baptiste header away in the second half . Blackburn defender Matthew Kilgallon (left) insists Liverpool did not deserve a penalty for this challenge on Reds striker Daniel Sturridge during the second half . Liverpool attacker Adam Lallana (right) was also denied a penalty after tumbling from a challenge by Kilgallon . Gerrard did not play due to injury, but fans are desperate to get to Wembley in his final season at the club . Rovers skipper Matthew Kilgallon was quick to insist the home side did not deserve a penalty for his challenge on dangerman Daniel Sturridge. He said: 'No, no, no, no. You have got to be tight to him. You give him a yard and he's got that shot with no back-lift. Maybe when I did give him that yard, he has got the shot off. 'You have got to be tight to these players and that's what I was.' Things might have been worse for Liverpool had it not been for a fine 49th-minute save by keeper Simon Mignolet to claw Alex Baptiste's header out of the top corner. Baptiste said: 'I was free at the corner. They mark zonally and I thought it was in, to be honest.' +Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty paid tribute to the team's effort after he starred in a 2-1 win over Finland. Lafferty's first half double was enough to win the game for Michael O'Neill's side and keep them only a point behind European Championship qualifying group F leaders Romania, who beat the Faroe Islands 1-0. They had to endure a nervous finish after Berat Sadik's late goal but held on for victory. Kyle Lafferty praised his team-mates 'attitude, heart and performance' excellent after their win over Finland . Lafferty told Sky Sports 5: 'It was obviously nervous but we deserved to win the game. 'It was excellent today, the attitude, the heart and the team performance.' The Turkish-based frontman's first goal was an excellent volley on the turn before he nodded in the second, taking him second among his country's all-time leading scorers ahead of Colin Clarke and Billy Gillespie. The Northern Irish front man scores the opening goal during the first half of the Euro 2016 qualifier . And he said: 'Obviously it's all going right for me at the minute and I'm enjoying it. 'The first goal, I decided to hit it first time and luckily it went in. 'But it's down to the team, everyone was excellent today. Although I'm getting the goals and the rewards you have to look at the team performance.' Defender Jonny Evans, currently serving a six-match ban for Manchester United for spitting, was delighted to be able to contribute for his team. Lafferty of Northern Ireland scores with a header to make the score 2-0 at Windsor Park . 'It was great to be out there and especially to get the win,' he said. 'We ground out the result and Kyle scored two great goals. 'It puts us in a really good position going into June, we play Romania here and it'll be a top-of-the-group clash.' O'Neill saluted Lafferty, who now has five goals in five games in this qualifying campaign. Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill praised his striker after his two goals in the crucial clash . He said: "Confidence is obviously a big issue, he had a bit of a difficult year but he's put that behind him, he's playing with a smile on his face and he recognises how important he is to this team. "He scored two fantastic goals, we emphasise getting the ball in the box with quality and we saw the benefits of that." Four wins from five games give Northern Ireland an excellent chance of at least finishing in the top three in the group if not the two automatic qualifying places. O'Neill said: "We're eight (points) ahead of Finland, eight at least ahead of Greece (who play Hungary later on Sunday), we've still got a cushion over Hungary and we have a game in June where a win will take us top of the group. "We're looking forward to a good week or 10 days with the players and hopefully a similar performance. (Romania) are an excellent team and they top the group so we know we'll have to be at our very, very best to beat them." +Nathan Dyer has been told his future lies at Swansea even though manager Garry Monk has left him out of his last three match-day squads. Dyer started the season on fire with three goals in as many Barclays Premier League games and was reported to be in international contention when England manager Roy Hodgson paid a visit to the Liberty Stadium in September. But Dyer's form has tailed off since that blistering start and he is now behind fellow widemen Wayne Routledge and Jefferson Montero in the Liberty Stadium pecking order. Nathan Dyer (left) should stay at Swansea City despite his recent absence from the side, says Garry Monk . The 27-year-old winger has even failed to make the bench for Swansea's last three games against Manchester United, Burnley and Tottenham but Monk explained that was down to him changing his customary 4-3-3 formation to one featuring a midfield diamond. 'These are very difficult decisions for me,' Monk explained. 'Nathan had a fantastic start to the season, he had a little dip and then he came back a bit. 'He has probably been a bit more inconsistent but he has still contributed fantastically to the team. There are no problems whatsoever with Nathan. 'He is one who does deserve to be in match-day squads but unfortunately with the way things are sometimes that isn't always possible. 'The formation we've been playing dictates the bench, you have to look what you need and there are normally three or four players who miss out.' Monk has said it has been difficult to leave Dyer out and feels he deserves to be in be in the match-day squads . Dyer has made over 200 league appearances for Swansea since signing from Monk's former club Southampton in a £400,000 deal in 2009. The Wiltshire-born winger helped the club win promotion to the Premier League in 2011 and has been a consistent performer in the top flight - and Monk insists he still has a big part to play at Swansea. 'I have known him since he was 14 and watched his career, I know him better than probably anyone else in the squad,' Monk said. 'Nathan has contributed a lot this season, he is a fantastic player to work with and someone who is at a very good level. Monk has known Dyer since he was 14 and says he knows him better than any other member of his squad . 'He is a big part of what I am doing here but there are moments within seasons where you miss out. 'We have four good wide players in Jeff, Wayne and Nathan and Mo Barrow coming through, they are all different types who can contribute different things and selection depends on who we are playing and how the players have trained. 'These decisions are never easy - it's probably the hardest part of the job - but I am always honest with the players and I think they respect that.' +Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has urged Harry Kane NOT to play for England Under 21s this summer. Kane is set for his first senior call-up later this month for the games against Lithuania and Italy. But the plan then is for Kane to drop down back into the Under 21s for this summer’s European Championships in the Czech Republic. Harry Kane is likely to be included in England Under 21s European Championship squad in the summer . Jan Vertonghen (right) believes the striker should stay at home and instead prepare for next season . Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has already warned the FA he wants talks with the FA before giving them his blessing to call-up Kane this summer. And Vertonghen, who played in the tournament in 2007, says the 21-year-old, who has played 41 games already this season, should skip the tournament in preparation for next season. The Belgian said: ‘It’s difficult for me to judge. Of course England want him. He is a brilliant striker and he can be the main man, but I think he needs his rest for next season. Kane rounds Rob Green in the Queens Park Rangers goal to double Tottenham's lead on Saturday . The striker has been in terrific form and continued his goalscoring run with two goals at Loftus Road . ‘It’s his call and I know a player always wants to play but sometimes you have to be careful. It’s a difficult one because last season I played with injuries, but sometimes you just can’t. You have to think about what’s going to come. 'It’s his decision and it’s a totally different situation from when I played in 2007. Did that benefit my development as a player? It’s hard to tell. ‘I enjoyed playing for my country because I never played international football at youth level. ‘So that was my first tournament as a Belgium player and I enjoyed it. It was in Holland and I played in Holland for Ajax at the time, so for me it was brilliant.’ Ross Barkley is another player whose club are considering asking if the young player can be left out . Barkley has not played for the Under-21s since winning his solitary cap in a 6-0 win against Scotland in 2013 . In another blow for Under 21 head coach Gareth Southgate, Everton want Ross Barkley to be given a summer of rest and hope he will not be included in the squad. Barkley has not played for the Under 21s since winning his solitary cap in a 6-0 win against Scotland in August 2013, as he has been a regular in Roy Hodgson’s senior squads since then. However, Barkley is a player Southgate would want to consider. Everton, however, are anxious about how Barkley’s form has fluctuated this season and would prefer the 21-year-old to spend the close season recharging. Everton are anxious about how Barkley’s form has fluctuated this season and his injury record . Barkley suffered a significant setback at the start of this campaign by damaging his knee ligaments . Barkley went to the World Cup last year and suffered a significant setback at the start of this campaign, when damaging his knee ligaments that led to him spending eight weeks on the sidelines. The explosive nature of Barkley’s game has been missing in recent months and the statistics he has been producing in games have not matched the levels of 12 months ago. That is why Everton believe Barkley’s development would be best served by him being given the opportunity to completely rest in June and July before returning refreshed for pre-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez and Southgate have an excellent work relationship and it is expected they will speak in the coming weeks. +John Terry has admitted he is fighting for his family’s financial future as he waits for Chelsea to activate a one-year contract extension. Terry, 34, scored Chelsea’s opening goal in the 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday and was later named man of the match. The Chelsea captain posted pictures of his eight-year-old twins, Georgie John and Summer Rose, asleep in bed with the cup between them. His son was also wearing his dad’s winner’s medal. John Terry scored the opening goal as Chelsea beat Spurs 2-0 to win the Capital One Cup . Terry’s children, Summer Rose and Georgie John, pictured asleep with the Capital One Cup . ‘I am fighting for my future, for my family’s future and I want to give it everything,’ said Terry. ‘I don’t know how long I have left. Hopefully I have a few years left but if this is my last year then I hope I will go out on a bang.’ Terry also revealed he will retire at the top and will not play at a lower level, or for another team, when he leaves Stamford Bridge. Terry said: ‘The manager came in, sat me down, and made it clear that if you work hard you will get extra years and you will play, but if not there are other players who are younger who can play and will fight for their place. This is a year roll-on. I am fighting for myself and my family, and to prove people wrong. It doesn’t come much bigger than that.’ Terry says Mourinho told him he would get a new deal if he worked hard and was worth his place in the side . Terry celebrates with the Capital One Cup and the man of the match award . Terry runs off in celebration after scoring the opening goal against Spurs at Wembley . Terry has ruled out a return to the England squad despite his good performances for Chelsea . Chelsea have already indicated they will address his £150,000-a-week contract before the end of the season and Jose Mourinho has admitted it is a ‘formality’. Terry added: ‘I also think there’s a right time to go as well. I would say at the start of my career, as a player you look at it and you want to get to 35... I have my little target to play next year but beyond that, two or three years.’ The defender also ruled out a return to the England team despite calls for him to come out of international retirement. ‘No (I won’t return),’ he said. ‘It’s the simple answer. I don’t want to go into it right now... but it’s never crossed my mind. I have drawn a line under it and the England squad can move on now.’ +Lewis Hamilton has been busy during the off-season, parading on red carpets and awards ceremonies in suits and hats of an extravagant flavour. But for all he has enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the glitzy set, tweeting trysts with his ‘brothers’ from the worlds of music, film and fashion, the Formula One season will open in Melbourne’s Albert Park a week today and Hamilton’s attention is turning to emulating the man he counted as a hero before he had ever heard of a rapper. For last year’s championship victory, his second, put Hamilton one behind the late Ayrton Senna. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes GP poses at the unveiling of the new W06 at the Formula One winter tests . Brazil's racing driver Ayrton Senna gives a thumbs up after he won the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix . Mercedes’ pre-season dominance indicates that the 2015 season will be another straight title fight between Hamilton — of Stevenage, Tewin Wood, Monaco and LA — and his team-mate Nico Rosberg. ‘The only landmark as a kid was watching Ayrton,’ said Hamilton, who, as a nine-year-old karter hid behind his father’s car so his dad would not see him cry when he learned Senna had died at Imola. ‘He had three titles and, even though I don’t really look at numbers and records, I always said that I wanted three; to match Ayrton. So if I have a third world championship, I would feel closer to him, although it was another era. I don’t think anyone is as good as him, but it would still be a nice feeling.’ There are echoes now of Senna’s era: the Brazilian’s rivalry with his McLaren team-mate Alain Prost, the cerebral Frenchman, went into a second season, just as Hamilton’s is with Rosberg. Senna won the title in 1988, but lost to Prost in 1989. So could Hamilton succumb to Rosberg, a steelier competitor than his blond, Euro-chic image once suggested? The answer would seem to lie in Hamilton’s own performance. If he drives to his potential, his natural talent will surely win him the title. But, as ever, he could be buffeted by emotional vulnerabilities. We remember 2011 when, pained by his split from singer-songwriter girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, his form suffered badly. This winter he again split from Scherzinger. Will that have an impact on his psyche? Hamilton has again split with former Pussycat Dolls singer-songwriter girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger . Hamilton and singer Scherzinger attend the GQ Men of the Year awards at The Royal Opera House in London . Is he spending too much time flying from the States to Europe, a question given impetus when he missed a day’s practice with a fever? Or are such questions an insult to a focused sportsman who, anyway, should not be begrudged the lifestyle his success has bought him? ‘Last year I adapted,’ said Hamilton, 30. ‘I had a mental attitude that was impenetrable. I feel that I still carry that mentality and, while it has not been easy (splitting from Scherzinger), I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. I feel as if I’ve got enough in place to do what I need to do and be the best I can be.’ Hamilton drives his new car on F1 testing day in Barcelona in late February for the season preview . More potential turbulence lies in his contract situation at Mercedes. His three-year deal expires at the end of the season and he is negotiating his own terms, having dropped Simon Fuller as his manager. He wants parity with the highest earners on the grid, led by Ferrari new boy Sebastian Vettel, whose deal is worth 50million euros (£36m). Hamilton, who is careful with his money, as even his father has joked, has surprised Mercedes bosses Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff by how painstakingly detailed he has been in negotiations. ‘We’re in the final stages,’ revealed Hamilton last week. ‘I don’t know what the timelines are and we’re not rushing. Getting it done before or after Melbourne does not matter. I’m not sure I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s been an experience. If I’d gone through my whole career and not done something like this I’d have always wondered if I could or couldn’t do it. The reigning world champion poses for a picture with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg . ‘I’ve tried to do my due diligence and understand where we are and where it can grow to benefit the team and myself. We’re not in a discussion where I’m saying after winning the championship “I want this”. You can ask Toto. Naturally, the target for every driver is to try to work towards being the benchmark.’ While Hamilton has noticed the presence of a few more photographers in his life, Rosberg has kept a low profile since missing out on the title in Abu Dhabi. He is said by a close associate to be ‘mega-relaxed’, and declared in the German press that he knows he can win the title. He has devised a new breathing technique for high G-force corners, in which he previously stopped inhaling. His new method will help keep his concentration high for a longer distance, or so the theory goes. Former McLaren driver Hamilton poses for a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris donning shades . What about the rest of the field? Williams, Ferrari and Red Bull are expected to fight closely for the other podium places. As for McLaren-Honda, they have endured a pre-season horribilis: unreliability and lack of pace compounded by an unexplained injury to perhaps the best pound-for-pound driver in the world, Fernando Alonso, who will miss the Australian Grand Prix after hitting his head in an innocuous-looking testing accident in Barcelona a fortnight ago. He can sit back and watch the race in the early morning of his Spanish Sunday. Just like everyone else, it seems, he will be helpless to stop the Mercedes machines. Mercedes driver Hamilton attended the Balmain show in Paris during his time off from Formula One . +Enner Valencia is out of West Ham’s trip to Arsenal after treading on a broken cup at home. And the bizarre injury to Sam Allardyce’s £12million summer signing leaves the Hammers boss with just one recognised striker fit to face Arsene Wenger’s side. When asked how his frontline was shaping up, Hammers boss Allardyce admitted: 'Well there is one but it's not really an injury in terms of an accident, which is Enner Valencia. Enner Valencia (centre) will miss the Barclays Premier League clash against Arsenal on Saturday . Valencia, pictured in action against Chelsea, has been ruled out after treading on a broken cup . 'He had an accident at home and has cut his big toe quite severely on a broken cup and that's been stitched. 'We're not exactly sure [how long he is out for] but we think it will be too soon to be considered for this game. 'So a freak accident at home is something that we didn't expect and these are the things that seem to happen.' Valencia has struggled to make an impact with just five goals in 30 appearances since his move to east London. Valencia, challenging Gary Cahill for the ball in West Ham's defeat against Chelsea, has struggled this term . Sam Allardycwe has come under growing pressure at West Ham after a disappointing run for the Hammers . But he could still have anticipated featuring heavily in the Hammers' run-in with Andy Carroll expected to be out until the end of the season after undergoing surgery to repair torn knee ligaments. Carlton Cole is also out of Saturday’s London derby as he steps up his training schedule in a bid to return from a hamstring strain. So it means Diafra Sakho is the only frontman available to Allardyce at The Emirates as his side try to get back to winning ways after going through their five games in February without a victory. 'Of course [Valencia] being one of our few strikers that were available, it's a big blow for us,' Allardyce added. Here Sportsmail looks at other unusual injuries which have kept footballers out of action over the years. RICHARD WRIGHT: Wright was ruled out of Everton's FA Cup fourth-round replay at Chelsea after suffering a freak injury during the warm-up. Wright ignored a notice warning him not to practice in the goalmouth and promptly fell over the sign, suffering a twisted ankle. The same player also damaged his shoulder falling through a loft as he was trying to pack away his suitcases. RIO FERDINAND: During his spell at Leeds the England defender managed to pick up a tendon strain in his knee watching television. Ferdinand had his foot up on a coffee table for a number of hours and ended up injuring a tendon behind his knee. SEAN FLYNN: The then Kidderminster captain suffered a broken nose, busted lip and bruised toes after tripping over his son's toy cars. DAVE BEASANT: The veteran goalkeeper managed to rule himself out for eight weeks in 1993 when he dropped a bottle of salad cream on his foot, severing the tendon in his big toe. DAVID JAMES: The England goalkeeper once pulled a muscle in his back when reaching for the television remote control and the keen angler also tweaked his shoulder when trying to land a monster carp. ALEX STEPNEY: In 1975 the Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney dislocated his jaw while shouting at his defenders during a match against Birmingham. CHIC BRODIE: The Brentford goalkeeper's career came to an abrupt end in October 1970 when he collided with a sheepdog which had run on to the pitch. Brodie shattered his kneecap while the dog got the ball. "The dog might have been a small one, but it just happened to be a solid one," he reflected. SANTIAGO CANIZARES: The Spain goalkeeper missed the 2002 World Cup after accidentally shattering a bottle of aftershave in his hotel sink. A piece of glass fell on his foot, severing a tendon in his big toe. ALAN WRIGHT: The diminutive former Aston Villa full-back strained his knee by stretching to reach the accelerator in his new Ferrari. He subsequently swapped the sports car for a Rover 416. SVEIN GRONDALEN: The Norway defender had to withdraw from an international during the 1970s after colliding with a moose while out jogging. KEVIN KYLE: The Scotland and Sunderland striker missed a game having scalded his testicles and thigh whilst attempting to feed his eight-month-old son, who kicked a jug of hot water over his father whilst sat on his lap. ALAN MULLERY: The England star missed the 1964 tour of South America after injuring his back while brushing his teeth. DARREN BARNARD: The former Barnsley midfielder was sidelined for five months with a torn knee ligament after he slipped in a puddle of his puppy's urine on the kitchen floor. LEE HODGES: The then Barnet player slipped on a bar of soap in the shower and wrenched his groin. KIRK BROADFOOT: The Rangers defender scalded a cheek when an egg he had poached in the microwave blew up and squirted hot water into his face. The Scotland international was treated in hospital but managed to not let his egg error rule him out of any games. CHARLIE GEORGE: Arsenal's 1971 FA Cup hero managed to cut off his toe with a lawnmower. DARIUS VASSELL: The then Aston Villa striker missed several games after he drilled through his toe nail with a home power drill thinking it would relieve the pressure on a swollen toe. The attempt at DIY surgery succeeded only in giving the toe an infection which required medical attention. +Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill praised the self-belief of his players after seeing them fight back to snatch a vital Euro 2016 qualifier draw against Poland. Ireland looked to be heading for a damaging defeat as the Group D encounter ticked into injury time with the Poles within touching distance of three more points to add to the 10 they had reaped from their opening four games. However, O'Neill's men summoned up a final push to rescue a point when substitute Shane Long prodded home a 91st-minute equaliser to make it 1-1 and ensure that the spoils were shared at the Aviva Stadium. Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill praised the self-belief of his players after their draw with Poland . Ireland nicked a point after they looked to be heading for a damaging defeat in the Group D encounter . Asked what the message had been at half-time after a distinctly ordinary 45 minutes by his team, O'Neill said: 'Just keep self-belief, that's really important, really important. 'We felt we had not done ourselves justice in the first half. But you have got to keep self-belief, that's really important for the side. 'That was the message, 'Know that you are still in this game, that we can do better, much better, we can improve'. We'd given away a really soft goal from our viewpoint, it put us on the back foot for a while, but we definitely could do it. 'The players rose to the occasion, which was great. That self-belief was really important. Poland, it's a great point away from home as far as they're concerned, but we are still well in it.' Ireland created little of note before the break and found themselves trailing to Slawomir Peszko's 26th-minute opener after he capitalised on an error by makeshift full-back Robbie Brady. But the home side rallied after the restart and after Brady and Robbie Keane had both hit the post, Long struck at the death to level it. Shane Long runs away in celebration after scoring the equaliser for his team in the Group D qualifer . Long is congratulated by John O'Shea (right) as Republic of Ireland snatched a hard-earned point . It may not have been the victory the Republic craved to propel themselves back into the hunt for automatic qualification, but it was not the defeat O'Neill had admitted in advance would cause a 'big dent' in their hopes. Nevertheless, they will entertain Scotland in June sitting in fourth place in the group, still three points behind the Poles and two adrift of Germany and the Scots. Poland boss Adam Nawalka was disappointed to have seen two points wrenched from his grasp, but happy enough with a scoreline he believed was fair. He said: 'Overall, I believe the result was a fair scoreline. We played a very good first half and maybe lacked a bit of quality, but overall, we are content with a draw. 'Three points were really close, but one point is also a good result. It's no surprise that Ireland came back to score an equaliser because the other results show that they know how to play to the end and get a result in their favour at the end of the game.' O'Neill's men summoned a final push to rescue a point when substitute Long scored a 91st-minute equaliser . +Steven Fletcher thanked Scotland manager Gordon Strachan for standing by him after he ended his goal drought with a hat-trick against Gibraltar. Fletcher had only scored one goal in 19 internationals before hitting a treble in Scotland's 6-1 European Championship qualifying win at Hampden. And he has also been suffering at club level, having not scored for Sunderland since hitting two against Crystal Palace on November 3. Steven Fletcher (right) curls the ball around the Gibraltar defence to net his third goal of the game . Gibraltar goalkeeper Jamie Robba dives to his right but is unable to stop the ball hitting the back of the net . Steven Fletcher celebrates after having scored just one goal in 19 internationals before hitting this treble . There was speculation that Strachan might start with Jordan Rhodes against the Group D minnows but the Scotland boss maintained confidence in Fletcher. 'It meant a lot that he stuck with me, but that's the way he is,' Fletcher told www.uefa.com. 'The gaffer's made a point of standing by the guys who've got us to this position and saying that, whatever anyone else says, he knows we're good players. I'm delighted to have repaid a bit of that faith.' Fletcher's only previous international goal came in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Iceland six years ago but he is now the first Scotland player to score a hat-trick since Colin Stein hit four against Cyprus in 1969. Fletcher headed Scotland back in front in the 29th minute after Lee Casciaro had stunned the hosts by nodding home a 19th-minute equaliser after finding space round the outside of the home side's three-man defence. Fletcher thanked Scotland manager Gordon Strachan for standing by him after he ended his goal drought . Sunderland forward Fletcher is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring against minnows Gibraltar . The former Hibernian forward headed another in the 77th minute and curled home a low finish in the last minute as Scotland - who also scored through two Shaun Maloney penalties and a Steven Naismith strike - maintained their qualifying hopes. 'I feel my game's about more than goals but you know as a striker that people don't judge you on how many times you link up play, but on how many you score,' the 28-year-old said. 'So I was conscious of the fact it had been so long. That said, my confidence genuinely hasn't been dented. You just enjoy these days when they come along, and they don't come much better than scoring a hat-trick for your country. 'I only realised after the match that I'm the first Scottish player to do that in so long. That was a shock. I wondered if Shaun might get there first, but a few of the lads came up after my second and said: 'Go on, make sure you get the match ball'. 'You'd have seen from my celebrations how much the goals meant to me, especially the first. That seemed to take an age to go in.' Fletcher was recently mocked on Twitter for buying a Lamborghini after his inconsistent form for his club . +As the scorer of Gibraltar’s first-ever competitive goal, it was little wonder that history-maker Lee Casciaro felt like a Rock star when he left Hampden Park on Sunday night. However, as the 33-year-old Ministry of Defence policeman would later reveal, he was not the first man from the tiny British overseas territory to make an arresting impact at the National Stadium. If the outstanding memory of the 2002 Champions League Final for most people remains Zinedine Zidane’s exquisite volleyed goal, in Gibraltar it was the sight of local businessman Joe Beriro invading the park clad in a kilt and a Real Madrid strip. Gibraltar's players celebrate after Lee Casciaro scored their first ever competitive goal on Sunday . Beriro would later appear on Gibraltar’s version of Strictly Come Dancing, before eventually falling foul of the law and out of the public eye. His place as the most famous man in Gibraltar now passes to Casciaro after criminal defending by Scotland allowed the cop to race clear, fire low past David Marshall and utterly stun Hampden. For the striker, all the years spent pounding the hard yards on pavements and playing in sub-standard facilities were worth it as he followed in the famous footsteps of Zidane by scoring a goal to remember in Mount Florida. Casciaro (centre) celebrates the goal that will have made him the most famous man in Gibraltar . ‘It was a Gibraltarian who jumped out of the stand and onto the park in his kilt and his Madrid shirt in that Champions League Final in 2002. I remember that well,’ he beamed. ‘It was just a dream come true for me to score that goal. It’s unimaginable to get the first competitive goal for Gibraltar. ‘I don’t think I will get a hero’s reception when I get home. We still lost the game – but it is still an achievement to get the goal. Gibraltar goalkeeper Jamie Robba celebrates the goal at Hampden Park, which levelled the score at 1-1 . ‘We have only just joined UEFA and started to train on a football pitch. All my life, we’ve been training wherever we can, running on the road, or for 90 minutes a week on a seven-a-side pitch. ‘Even two or three years ago I didn’t think I would be playing for Gibraltar because I didn’t think we would get into UEFA. Everything has happened so fast and we are learning every day. ‘This goal is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I knew it was going in as soon as I hit it. It was a great feeling. ‘I swapped my second shirt with Ikechi Anya but I kept my shirt from the first half. I am going to put it up in my house! But I’m hoping there are more goals to come for me in future.’ Casciaro (right) vies for the ball with Scotland's Ikechi Anya, who he later swapped shirts with . Despite ultimately losing 6-1 to Gordon Strachan’s side, Casciaro hopes that his own stunning effort will alter perceptions of those who have labelled the minnows little more than a pub team. ‘I would think we have shown that we are not,’ he said. ‘We are improving and we do try to play football, which is not bad considering we have only just started and were drawn in the most difficult group. We try to create a good game for the spectators to watch.’ Last June, the first-ever winning goal scored by the British overseas territory - with a 30,000-population comparable with Wishaw - was slotted home in a 1-0 friendly win over Malta in Portugal. That night the history-maker was Kyle Casciaro, Lee’s brother, who was an unused substitute on Sunday. A third brother, Ryan, played in defence for Gibraltar at Hampden in front of proud parents Henry and Helen. Lee Casciaro's brother Ryan, who also plays for the national team, shares a joke with Steven Fletcher . ‘I’m keeping it in the family,’ smiled Lee. ‘My mum and dad watch us home and away and they were here today. We have to go to Faro in Portugal to play our home games, but they have always been there for us. It is thanks to them that we are here. It is a dream for them to have three sons playing at a high level. I don’t think that happens very often in the world of football to have three brothers in an international squad.’ With the benefit of having played all the Group D teams now, Casciaro feels that Scotland and Ireland – who meet in Dublin in June - will be in a battle for third place behind Poland and Germany. ‘Germany are the world champions and Poland are a very strong and physical team,’ said Casciaro, who jetted off to Paris on holiday after Sunday's game. ‘I think it is between Scotland and Ireland to finish in third spot. The Sunderland man was Scotland's hat-trick hero as he netted the country's first hat-trick since 1969 . ‘I thought we showed a good reaction after falling behind. And I thought the Scottish fans were a bit apprehensive when we equalised. ‘But Scotland’s second and third goals killed us. We aren’t professionals and to try and maintain that sort of level was very hard for us. ‘But our manager Davie Wilson was very proud of us afterwards. And I think the whole of Gibraltar will be proud as well.’ +Winston Bogarde has claimed that Chelsea never asked him to take a pay cut on his £40,000-a-week salary and the club also wouldn't send him out on loan for anything less than 100 per cent of his wages being paid during his ill-fated spell at Stamford Bridge. The Dutch defender joined Chelsea in 2000 but rarely featured for the first team during his four-year spell in west London. Bogarde was signed when Gianluca Vialli was Chelsea boss, but the Italian was sacked within a week to be replaced by Claudio Ranieri. Winston Bogarde spent four years at Stamford Bridge but hardly featured in Chelsea's first team . Despite his lack of playing opportunities, Bogarde honoured the contract and continued to collect his £40k salary from the club. But, in an interview with the Guardian, the 44-year-old said he was never asked to take a pay cut and Chelsea wouldn't loan him to another club unless they paid all of his wages. 'No, they didn’t try that,' Bogarde replied when asked whether Chelsea considered cutting his wages. He added: 'Vialli bought me and when I had been there a week he got sacked. You have to look who the new manager’s going to be and if you’re still going to get a chance. Bogarde was signed under Gianluca Vialli, who was replaced by Claudio Ranieri (right) within a week . 'They had to cut costs. My situation was not very good and we tried to solve it many ways. Like to maybe go on loan or sell me, or whatever. But in the end it didn’t work out. 'A club could not pay my whole salary (for a loan deal), they could maybe pay 70 per cent. And they asked Chelsea to pay the other 30 per cent and Chelsea said: "No. If you want to take him it’s going to be 100% or nothing. He is going nowhere".' 'Of course. For a player, for me, it’s terrible not to play. Yet I had to return for training. Return looking for the next solution, you understand?' +Fernando Torres' last return to Anfield was met with boos from the Liverpool crowd when he was in a Chelsea shirt but the Atletico Madrid striker will be hoping for a different reaction on Sunday. Picked by Steven Gerrard to play up front in the All-Star charity game against Jamie Carragher's side, the Spaniard will partner Luis Suarez. Torres struck up a close relationship with the Liverpool captain during his days at the club and he's excited to be returning for this special occasion. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres (centre) is excited to be returning to Anfield for the All-Star game . Speaking to Liverpool's club website he said: 'I'm really looking forward to meeting some of my old team-mates, especially Stevie. I'm sure it's going to be a great day and night for him. And also to meet Liverpool fans again; many times I have been back to Anfield as an opponent, but this time I'm going like part of the home team. It's going to be a really emotional day for me.' The Atletico player says he's fully behind the cause and is looking forward to helping Gerrard out. 'My first reaction was: 'Of course I will be there. I will do anything I can, anything in my hands, to be there with Stevie on that day.' The Spaniard had an incredible few seasons at Liverpool and became one of the best forwards in the world . Liverpool fans will be drooling over the prospect that two of their best forwards in recent years will be partnering up and Torres admits he can't wait to play alongside Luis Suarez. He said: 'I saw what Luis did in his time at Liverpool and it was amazing, just amazing. Luis is a good friend - we have a good relationship and good friendship. We were sitting together for two days at Melwood when I was leaving and he was coming. 'We made good friends and we are still in touch now. I also know what it means to him to go back to Anfield and play there again. It will be great to play up front with him, especially with Stevie G behind us.' The 31-year-old's move to Chelsea didn't work out and he was booed on his last return to the club . In his previous returns to Anfield, Torres was greeted with a chorus of boos - with some fans still upset after he moved to Premier League rivals Chelsea. But the 31-year-old was quick to play down the boos and praised Liverpool's fans. He revealed: 'I will say to everybody that what the media says about the relationship between Liverpool fans and me after I left was not the reality. Everybody knows the kind of reaction Liverpool fans had when we met on the street in London or when I went back to Liverpool - everybody gave me thanks for everything I did in Liverpool. Torres could feature up top alongside his friend Luis Suarez who left the club for Barcelona in the summer . 'That is what I feel for them. For me, Liverpool fans are always going to be different; I had probably the best period of my career wearing the red shirt and all my memories are great. I have nothing bad to say about them and I never will - they treated me like one of them and I felt at home in my time there. 'It is going to be amazing going back; hopefully the reception will be better than the one I had when I went with Chelsea. But it doesn't matter what happens really. Liverpool fans are part of my heart and my feelings - everything I felt when I was a Liverpool player is inside me and no-one is going to take that away from me.' Steven Gerrard (right) and Torres struck up a friendship during his time and are still in contact with eachother . He soon became a Kop hero after his move to Merseyside and Torres would love to score in front of the fans once again - and admits he wouldn't hold back. 'If I could do that, I would celebrate like if I was scoring in a Liverpool shirt,' he said. 'There are many memories, nice memories - great nights, great games, many goals scored in front of the Kop - and they made me feel like I could fly. I'm sure if I could score a goal, I can remember that kind of situation and try to enjoy it and celebrate like it's an official game.' Torres and Gerrard formed a formdiable partnership and relationship on the pitch, which Torres hasn't forgotten - labelling the captain as the best player he played with. The Liverpool captain was described as the best player Torres has played with during his football career . 'I can't wait to play with Stevie again. I just wanted to have the chance to play with him, even if it is just one last time. No-one knows if it is going to be the last time, but be sure that I am going to enjoy it. 'I have said many times that Stevie is the best player that I have played with - by far. He was a big influence for me as a player; I had one career before I started playing with him and one career after I played with him. He changed my game and changed my motivation and ambition. 'He made me feel that I could really do whatever I wanted. For me, he is going to be the best forever, so to have the chance to play with him on a special day like it is going to be on Sunday, is a privilege. I want to be there on Sunday and be on the pitch with him.' +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was the only person who thought Steven Gerrard should not start against Manchester United, says Paul Scholes. Gerrard was on the substitutes' bench until half-time at Anfield on Sunday, and was sent off after just 38 seconds of coming on for stamping on Ander Herrera. Scholes feels it could have been a different game had Gerrard started, and that being a substitute only added to his frustration leading up to his red card. Here is the stamp from Steven Gerrard on Ander Herrera after both players had competed for the ball . Gerrard clearly puts all his downwards force into Herrera's right leg after the pair collided . Gerrard is shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson on a frustrating afternoon for the club captain . Paul Scholes feels Gerrard should have started and that being a substitute only added to his frustration . 'Should he have started the game? Of course he should,' Scholes wrote in his column for the Independent. 'There was only one person who can have thought that Gerrard was not right to start against Manchester United at Anfield in a must-win game for Liverpool, and that was Brendan Rodgers. 'United were brilliant in the first half, but if they had been up against Gerrard then it might have been different. 'He had the frustration of not playing in the game, and then he had to watch a first half in which none of his team-mates even made a tackle. It is not nice to stand on the sideline and see your own team getting destroyed at home to a big rival. 'I can see what he was trying to do when he came on: put a few tackles in and get the crowd going. But even when you can feel the emotions rising in you, the most important thing is control. I got sent off a few times in my life but I never lost my head. I mistimed tackles and I made mistakes.' Scholes (left) pictured with Manchester United assistant manager Ryan Giggs (right) at Old Trafford . Scholes has been sent off in big games but says the 'most important thing is control' on a pitch . +Nicola Adams' hopes of making a successful defence of her Olympic title in Rio next year could rest on a potential showdown with domestic rival Lisa Whiteside in Liverpool next month. Adams and Whiteside have both confirmed entries in the flyweight division at the English national championships from April 24 to 26. Whiteside issued a major challenge to Adams' domestic dominance when she boiled down to 51kg to win a silver medal at last year's World Championships in South Korea in Adams' injury-enforced absence. Nicola Adams faces a potential showdown with domestic rival Lisa Whiteside in Liverpool next month . Whiteside (left) is a genuine challenger to Adams' dominance as a confirmed entry in the flyweight division . The pair have never fought as seniors but, as both are seeded, barring major upsets it is expected they will square off on the final day of competition at the Echo Arena. A victory for Whiteside would leave the Great Britain selectors with a major headache ahead of confirmation of the team to go to Brazil in 2016. The competition will mark the first time Adams has competed in the Championships since 2007, and her first bout on on English soil since her Olympic gold medal triumph at London 2012. Adams won Olympic gold at London 2012 but if she is beaten by Whiteside she could lose her place in 2016 . Adams said: 'It will be great to be part of such an historic event and to have the opportunity to box in England again. 'Being part of the GB boxing squad we tend to box overseas the vast majority of the time so to have the chance to compete in my home country again will be fantastic.' +James DeGale must travel to Boston for his long-awaited world title challenge when he faces Andre Dirrell on May 23. The London super-middleweight will take on Dirrell for the IBF belt vacated by Carl Froch earlier this year. DeGale is bidding to become the first British Olympic gold medalist to win a world title, seven years after the Beijing Games. James DeGale will fight Andre Dirrell in Boston on May 23 for the IBF super-middleweight title . The 29-year-old had hoped for home advantage but his promoter Eddie Hearn lost out when the fight went to purse bids earlier this month. DeGale will, however, earn a minimum of $1.5million (£1m) from the bout. DeGale will fight for the IBF belt which was vacated by Carl Froch . Andre Dirrell has lost one professional fight in his career - to Carl Froch back in 2009 . 'Andre Dirrell is a very, very good opponent,'he told Sky Sports News. 'He's tall, a tricky southpaw and he's a bit like me. People say our styles will clash but I think we'll gell. We're both ambitious, there's a lot on the line.' Dirrell is no stranger to British fans after losing a split decision to Froch in Nottingham in 2009, his only professional defeat to date. The 31-year-old has fought just six times since, but enjoyed three routine victories last year. +Modou Barrow has joined Nottingham Forest on loan from Swansea City until the end of the season. Swansea manager Garry Monk was keen for the winger to get first-team football having seen Jefferson Montero return from his hamstring injury. The 22-year-old has impressed significantly since joining from Swedish club Ostersunds last September and quickly landed an improved four-year contract last month. Swansea City's Modou Barrow has joined Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season . Club staff have been surprised by his progress, but having made only one Premier League start this season it has been deemed necessary to send him to the Championship club for extra experience. Forest boss Dougie Freedman took Barrow on trial at Bolton last summer, but was unsuccessful in an attempt to sign him. The 22-year-old winger was once on trial with Forest manager Dougie Freedman during his Bolton spell . +If Mario Balotelli put as much effort into being a success at Liverpool as he did avoiding the dog in his latest Instagram post the striker would currently be celebrating a trip to Wembley. But he doesn't, and he was yet again blasted on Sunday as Liverpool failed to get past a determined Blackburn Rovers at Anfield Stadium, putting a potential Wembley trip on hold. It seems the Italian striker has returned to Italy for a few days following the stalemate as the striker is seen at the boxing gym of fighter Leone Petrosyan, who is based in Milan. Mario Balotelli poses at the gym of boxing friend Leone Petrosyan, who is based in Milan . Liverpool striker Balotelli hides as the dog is urged to chase the Italian striker round the gym . Balotelli is taking no chances as he hops into the ring away from the dog as the Italian looks to escape . On lookers find it rather amusing but the former Manchester City striker is keen to get away from the pooch . The 24-year-old striker is seen running from Petrosyan's dog, ducking under ropes and hiding in the ring as the pooch is urged to give him the runaround. Getting the runaround at the hands of Balotelli  is certainly not something opposing defenders have had to deal with too much this season. Balotelli has scored just four goals in 24 games this season following his £16million arrival in the summer as a replacement for Luis Suarez. Liverpool's Balotelli is brought down by Blackburn Rovers' Craig Conway during the FA Cup game at Anfield . Balotelli is left frustrated as he fails to convert a cross from Brazilian midfielder Coutinho on Sunday . +The 2015 Miami Open kicked off on Monday, but some of tennis' finest found time to visit the Seaquarium before taking to the court, where they swam with dolphins in the 30 degree heat. Among the group were Juan Martin Del Potro, American Sam Querrey, Feliciano Lopez, Sabine Lisicki and France's Alize Cornet. The group posed in front of the dolphins, before jumping into the water themselves to interact with the sea creatures, a privilege that would usually cost $210 (£140) to the average visitor. Some of the world's best tennis stars, including Sabine Lisiki (second left, top), swam with dolphins in Miami . Juan Martin Del Potro was one of the male players in attendance ahead of the 2015 Miami Open in Florida . Lisicki, ranked 21st in the world, smiled for the cameras as she interacted with a dolphin at the Seaquarium . The tennis stars, most of whom will be in action at Crandon Park Tennis Center on Wednesday, kissed and swam with the dolphins at the venue in Key Biscayne, Florida. Del Potro, who has been plagued by injuries, dropping to 616 in the world rankings, will kick off his Miami Open campaign on Thursday against Canadian Vasek Pospisil, while Sam Querrey - on home turf - will face Victor Estrella Burgos in his first round match. On the women's side of the draw, Sabine Lisicki, fresh from her Indian Wells semi-final appearance, receives a bye in the first round and will face either Julia Georges or Jana Cepelova in the second round in Miami. Sam Querrey, Del Potro, Nenad Zimonjic, Ryan Harrison, Steve Johnson and Feliciano Lopez (l-r) in attendance . Zimonjic, former Doubles World No 1, plants a kiss on a dolphin at the Miami Seaquarium on Tuesday . Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic, ranked 206 in the world, smiles as she is pulled along by a dolphin . Some of the world's best will compete at the tournament, which runs until April 5 in Florida. Andy Murray will play, but faces a tough run as he is in the same half of the draw as Rafael Nadal. The British No 1 is set to face Donald Young, who he recently beat in the Davis Cup, or Yen-Hsun Lu in his first match of the tournament. Elsewhere, world No 1 Novak Djokovic will also compete, while on the Ladies side of the draw, top three seeds Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Simona Halep are all in action. Feliciano Lopez will look to take a step closer to the top 10 in the world with a good performance in Miami . France's Alize Cornet shakes hands with a dolphin ahead of the Miami Open in Crandon Park Tennis Center . Monica Puig, who faces Irina Falconi in the first round on Wednesday, is pulled along by a dolphin . +Rafael Nadal expects to compete at the Miami Open this week despite turning his left ankle in practice on Monday. Nadal has a bye and isn't scheduled to play until a second-round match on Friday. The third-ranked Nadal will play the winner of the match between Nicolas Almagro of Spain and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. 'It's for sure I'm going to be on court on Friday,' said Nadal on Tuesday. 'The thing is, I don't know how well I'm going to be prepared for then. I hope to be ready. It's an important tournament for me.' Rafael Nadal speaks to the world's media during his preparations for the Miami Open . The former world No 1 is confident of playing at the tournament despite suffering an ankle injury . Nadal has reached the final of the Miami Open four times without lifting the trophy . Nadal, who has reached four Miami finals but never held the trophy, initially thought the ankle injury might keep him from playing. 'In the beginning, I thought that was going to be the end of the tournament,' Nadal said. 'I am confident I'm going to be ready.' Nadal spent more than an hour practicing on Tuesday, even with his ankle bothering him. He consulted with his personal trainer as well as ATP trainers, who agreed the injury wasn't severe and didn't require an MRI or X-ray. Nadal continued his recovery by reaching the quarter-finals at Indian Wells before losing to Milos Raonic . The Spaniard, pictured receiving treatment at the 2014 Australian Open, struggled with injuries all last year . 'I feel pain,' Nadal said. 'It's obviously normal. I was a little bit limited today, but I was able to practice one-hour-and-a-half, which is more than I expected yesterday when it happened.' Nadal missed most of the second half of 2014 with injuries. He was out after Wimbledon because of a right wrist injury until the end of September. He played in Beijing and Shanghai before appendicitis ended his year. He had surgery in early November. Nadal, who won his 65th career title in Buenos Aires in February, arrived in Miami after a quarter-final showing at Indian Wells last week. +Winston Reid has expressed his delight at signing a new contract with West Ham and said their imminent move to the Olympic Stadium was a big factor in his decision. The New Zealand defender put pen to paper on a six-and-a-half-year contract worth £60,000-a-week. And the 26-year-old, who had been linked with moves to Arsenal and Tottenham with his contract expiring in the summer, is pleased to have his future tied down. Winston Reid has agreed a new six-and-a-half-year contract with West Ham . Reid had been linked with a move at the end of the season to either Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal . He told fanbookz.com: 'Obviously I'm absolutely delighted to have signed a new contract with West Ham. I've enjoyed my time here, and I just needed to make sure that the decision was a right one for me and my family. 'There were a lot of factors that I took into account when I was making my decision, but most importantly I felt that I was valued at the club - we will be improving in future seasons and I really feel at home here. 'With regards the decision that I've had to make, I had to be sure that it was going to be a place that I was going to be for the next few years of my life, so I have to feel at home and I feel welcome here. I enjoy living in London and my family is settled so that was the most important thing I had to think about.' Reid took his time in making a decision but clearly feels his future lies with the club having made 27 appearances across all competitions this season. He added: 'It might have been frustrating for the fans to have it drag out for so long, but whenever I've been asked this question over the past few months it's just been when we've been negotiating. 'You don't sort something out in the course of one day, there's always got to be some sort of give or take when doing these things. 'There was no big drama towards it, and there was a lot of stuff in the press that was misleading with regards to my situation, but the main thing is that now we've got it sorted. 'Both the club and I were keen to do something, and I'm happy to be staying here. Speaking to the chairman it was clear that the club is on the up, we've been getting better this year but we were realistic about the club and where it's at currently - there's a lot that we can still improve on, and that was the main thing.' Reid went off after just eight minutes of West Ham's defeat by Chelsea on Wednesday with an injury . Reid has been at West Ham since 2010 after joining from Danish club FC Midtjylland . West Ham currently sit tenth in the Premier League standings following a vastly-improved campaign in contrast to the travails of Sam Allardyce's side last year. Reid said: 'As long as we all work hard to improve ourselves each day we will get better, and that was the main objective - we want to get the club further up the league and I'm sure that we will in the coming years.' Reid joins James Tomkins and Mark Noble in signing new deals at West Ham. 'For James Tomkins and Mark Noble they've been here all their lives. I've not been here quite as long as them, but come the end of this contract I will have been here for a fair bit. 'It's nice for them to be here and I'm looking forward to the next six years of my life. With the club, I’m looking forward to exciting times ahead and hoping to be a big part of it. 'I came here in a sticky period – the first year we got relegated, but since then it’s gradually got better. The team has improved, the organisation as a Club has improved as well and we need to do that if we want to go places. “I’ve grown massively over that time too. Coming here five years ago I was only a young kid, but now I’m kind of a Londoner I guess! It’s a second home for me and I’m delighted.' The New Zealand international had his time on the pitch against Chelsea on Wednesday curtailed after eight minutes with a hamstring issue but with 10 days off before the Hammers' next game, he does not expect to miss too much action. 'It's just one of those things with the injury. I had it a little after Crystal Palace and unfortunately it flared up again. It's just part of the game I guess,' Reid said. 'We've got some time to recover now, which is much needed.' Reid also spoke of his excitement in playing at the Olympic Stadium. Reid fights for the ball with Tottenham striker Harry Kane during the recent match at White Hart Lane . 'Moving to the Olympic Stadium was a big factor for me in staying at the club, but it wasn't the deciding part of the deal - it was just one of many positive points. I'm looking forward to playing there, and it's going to be a massive opportunity for us as players and fans of the club to move to such a great facility. 'The deciding factor for me really was where I felt at home and how settled I felt with my family - I am happy here at the club and I wasn't going to stay here if I wasn't happy - it took a bit of time but I'm glad we got there in the end.' Reid joined West Ham from Danish club FC Midtjylland in 2010 and has made 121 appearances for the club. +England will be represented in the World Cup final after all - by two of its umpires. Richard Kettleborough will be in the middle at the MCG on Sunday, alongside Sri Lanka's Kumar Dharmasena, when tournament co-hosts Australia and New Zealand do battle. England were always long shots to reach the final but in the event did not do themselves justice, making an embarrassing early exit before the knockout stages even began. England's Richard Kettleborough, pictured acting as peacemaker between Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith . New Zealand booked their place in the final with a thrilling four-wicket win over South Africa in Auckland . Australia thrashed India in Sydney to set up a clash with their co-hosts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . Their absence this weekend put their officials in a favourable position to be involved instead - given the need for neutral umpires - and Ian Gould will join Kettleborough in Melbourne, as the reserve appointment. Sri Lankan Ranjan Madugalle will be match referee, and South Africa's Marais Erasmus the third umpire who must advise his on-field colleagues with audio-video evidence for DRS deliberations. +After seeing off India to reach the final of the cricket World Cup, Australia were shown incredible support from across their country. Fans in Sydney, where they won the semi-final, celebrated raucously, while those in Melbourne awaited their arrival for Sunday's showdown against New Zealand. And there was even support in between, as airline Qantas provided special headrests for the flight with the slogan '#GoGold'. Australia celebrate taking a wicket during their 95-run win over India on Thursday in the World Cup semi final . Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson posted a picture of all-rounder James Faulkner from the plane to his Instagram account. Johnson wrote: 'On our way to melb. Nice touch qantas with GoGold on headrest #worldcupfinal #cricket #gogold #mcg' Australia will meet New Zealand, who beat them narrowly during the Pool stages, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, looking to win their fifth World Cup. Mitchell Johnson jumps for joy after removing Rohit Sharma to help book Australia's place in the final . +John Terry has revealed he is still haunted by the memory of his penalty miss that cost Chelsea a first Champions League title against Manchester United in Moscow almost seven years ago. The Chelsea captain took what could have been the decisive penalty at the end of a 1-1 draw in the first ever final between two English clubs, but slipped on the run-up and hit the post to send the shoot-out into sudden death. Nicolas Anelka went on to miss Chelsea's seventh spot-kick to hand United a domestic and European double, but Terry's miss is still seen as the decisive and iconic moment at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. John Terry says he is still haunted during the night by his penalty miss in the 2008 Champions League final . The Chelsea captain slipped on what could have been the decisive penalty against Manchester United . United goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar celebrates in the Moscow rain as Terry crumples to the ground . And having cried on the pitch during the post-match ceremonies, Terry says he still wakes up at night thinking of what could have been with regular flashbacks to his slip. ‘I’ll definitely never be over it,' he said. 'I still wake up in the night now and it’s like “s***”, it’s there and then you go back to sleep. 'It’s eased over the years for sure. But I still have a few times a year when I wake up and, bang, it’s on my mind. It’ll never go. It’s one of those things, it’s disappointing, and I was gutted at the time.' Terry admits that while he has begun to get over the pain of the memory, it still comes back to him at night . Terry stands back on the half-way line with his team-mates to watch the rest of the penalties in Moscow . There was little time for Terry to get over his horror moment in May 2008, with the Chelsea centre back called up to the England squad for a friendly against the USA almost immediately after the final. Terry scored in a 2-0 win at Wembley against the Americans but still ranks the build up to the game, spent with United players Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, as one of the worst times of his career. ‘The worst thing was, we had England the following week, we played USA at Wembley and I had to go and sit at a table with all the Man United players,' Terry told a Chelsea Pitch Owners dinner this week. Terry had to endure a week on England duty with United players including Rio Ferdinand (second left), West Brown (centre) and Owen Hargreaves (second right) who he had played against on that night in Moscow . The Chelsea and England captain scored in a 2-0 win against the USA a week on from his penalty miss . 'I was just sitting there fuming. I didn’t want to be there. It was a horrible time for me.’ Chelsea did eventually go on to be crowned European champions after beating Bayern Munich on penalties in the 2012 final, but Terry was suspended after being sent off the semi-final second leg against Barcelona. Terry lifted his knee into the back of then-Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez and was shown the red card that ruled him out of the showpiece at the Allianz Arena - but he still ranks the final as one of his best footballing moments. Despite not playing in the final, Terry was lucky enough to win the Champions League four years later . Having been sent off in the semi-final second leg, Terry had to watch on from the stands at the Allianz Arena . 'It was probably the worst 120 minutes I've sat through,' Terry said of the final. 'It is horrible because you want to do something, you want to make something happen, but for me, it's still the best night of my life with Chelsea. 'It goes back to Moscow, with that I wasn't meant to be part of that. I feel part of it, I played a lot of games before that but I think for me, not playing, it was meant to be. I wasn't meant to play, we were meant to win. That was it, as simple as that. 'And for me that was the most pleasing thing, to see Chelsea win the Champions League after what happened in Moscow ticked a box for me and definitely made those sleepless nights easier.' Didier Drogba netted the winning penalty in the 2012 shoot-out to give Chelsea the European crown . +Darron Gibson is out of the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland on Sunday. The Everton midfielder has been unable to train since joining up with the squad in Malahide because of a groin problem, and was withdrawn on Wednesday afternoon. A Football Association of Ireland spokesman said: 'The Football Association of Ireland today confirmed that Darron Gibson has withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad to face Poland on March 29 due a persistent groin injury. Everton midfielder Darron Gibson (left) has withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad . Gibson is struggling with a groin problem and was unable to train with his international team-mates . 'Darron will return to his club today for treatment.' Gibson was one of three players unable to train with the rest of the party at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, with James McClean and Stephen Ward battling ankle problems. Martin O'Neill's side host Poland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, kick-off 7.45pm. +Phil Jagielka has warned Everton team-mate Ross Barkley that he will have to wait patiently for a place in England’s midfield. Barkley was still only 19 years old when he made his England debut in September 2013 and set pulses racing with some of his performances for Everton last season which earned him a place at last summer’s World Cup in Brazil. But this campaign the 21-year-old has struggled for the same kind of form and, despite winning 10 England caps already, does not currently appear to be in Roy Hodgson’s first-team plans. Barkley has been played in multiple positions for club and country and Everton manager Roberto Martinez has experimented the most with him out on the wing, as an attacking central midfielder or further back in the middle. Ross Barkley may have to wait for his chance to impress with England, according to team-mate Phil Jagielka . Jagielka spoke on Wednesday about his club team-mate's progress in what has been a difficult season . The Everton skipper said he believed Barkley would have to bide his time and wait for an opportunity . ‘I think Ross will have to bide his time,’ Jagielka, who is his club captain, said. ‘And when he does get the opportunities for England, keep playing the way he has, keep playing well, keep being positive and hopefully when he gets that chance to play in two or three games on the spin, that is his chance keep the shirt and make it much harder for someone to take it off him. ‘It is difficult with the position he would try to get in the team in. We have got a fantastic amount of midfielders that come away with England and quite a lot who want to play in a similar position.’ One player almost certain of a starting place in the crunch games is goalkeeper Joe Hart. After being dropped by Manchester City earlier in the season, he has worked his way back into guaranteed first pick. Barkley has had a difficult season with Everton after a brilliant breakthrough campaign last year . That season resulted in a World Cup call-up, and Barkley looked a bright spark against Costa Rica . Earlier in England's group, Barkley congratulates Wayne Rooney after coming on against Uruguay . That culminated in his stand-out performance against Barcelona, in which Lionel Messi described him as ‘phenomenal’ even though he could not prevent City going out of the Champions League. Jagielka, Barkley and the rest of their Everton team-mates watched the match in Kiev ahead of their Europa League tie. ‘We were pretty much laughing at the performance from Joe,’ Jagielka revealed. ‘It was just one of those nights. ’It is sometimes difficult to get the accolades when you're at a big team. It is normally the people scoring the goals and things like that, but when Joe is needed he normally comes up trumps with some fantastic saves or some fantastic decisions in games.' Jagielka said he was 'laughing' at Joe Hart's performance against Barcelona in the Champions League . Hart was in brilliant form to repeatedly deny Lionel Messi and co at the Nou Camp in last week's second leg . +Newcastle United hotshot Adam Armstrong scored the winner as England's under 18s beat Switzerland in a behind-closed-doors friendly at St George's Park. Armstrong popped up three minutes after half-time, firing home at the second attempt after Swiss goalkeeper Gregord Kobel blocked an initial one-on-one attempt. But Neil Dewsnip's team missed several good chances and the coach will hope they are more clinical when the two sides reconvene at Walsall's Banks's Stadium on Saturday. Newcastle United striker Adam Armstrong scored the winner as England's under 18s beat Switzerland . England coach Neil Dewsnip would be disappointed that England wasted a number of chances . It was a strong side that lined up at the England headquarters in Staffordshire, with Chelsea's Dominic Solanke, Liverpool's Sheyi Ojo and Everton's Ryan Ledson among the players on show. Dewsnip also handed international debuts to Sheffield United midfielder Louis Reed and Fulham goalkeeper Magnus Norman. And Norman was almost involved inside the first minute when Swiss forward Neftali Manzambi burst through, only to be denied by a last-ditch challenge by Manchester City's Tosin Adarabioyo. Gradually, England asserted themselves and Solanke, who trained with the first team the other day, was inches away from turning home a low Ojo cross. Ojo, the Liverpool prodigy currently out on loan at Wigan Athletic, was denied by Kobel shortly afterwards having been slipped clear by Solanke. The pressure was relentless and Reed, keen to make a positive impression, curled an effort just wide of the post after Southampton man Josh Sims and Armstrong combined to tee him up. Chelsea forward Dominic Solanke featured for England in their win at St George's Park . The busy Kobel was again tested in the dying seconds of the half, tipping Ojo's header over the crossbar following more good build-up work from Armstrong and Everton defender Jonjoe Kenny. After Armstrong finally made the breakthrough, England were able to relax a little but they continued to create chances at regular intervals. Ojo fired over the bar after more good work from the lively Armstrong and Kobel was called upon to deny Solanke, who made his Chelsea first-team debut earlier this season. Armstrong could have added a second after finding himself in an identical situation to his goal but on this occasion the goalkeeper saved. Tammy Abraham, who has featured in Chelsea's run to the FA Youth Cup final, came on for Solanke and nearly claimed his first England goal late on, only to fire inches wide. England play Switzerland at Walsall on Saturday (5.30pm). The Liverpool starlet Sheyi Ojo also featured in the friendly match at England's Staffordshire headquarters . England (4-1-2-1-2): Magnus Norman (Farnborough, on-loan from Fulham); Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Tosin Adarabioyo (Manchester City), Taylor Moore (RC Lens), Callum Connolly (Everton); Ryan Ledson (C) (Everton); Louis Reed (Sheffield United), Josh Sims (Southampton); Sheyi Ojo (wigan Athletic, on-loan from Liverpool); Adam Armstrong (Newcastle United), Dominic Solanke (Chelsea) Substitutions: Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea) for Adarabioyo 45; Tammy Abraham (Chelsea) for Solanke 64; Josh Onomah (Tottenham) for Ojo 64; Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal) for Reed 81; Harry Chapman (Middlesbrough) for Sims 81 . Substitutes not used: Sam Howes (West Ham United); Max Lowe (Derby County); Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham); Luke Amos (Tottenham) Scorer: Armstrong 48 . Head coach: Neil Dewsnip . Switzerland: Gregord Kobel; Samir Bajrami (C), Mirlind Kryeziu, Adonis Ajeti, Linus Obexer; Neftali Manzambi, Remo Arnold, Noah Sylvestre, Bruno Ferreira Moragado; Boris Babic, Harun Alpsoy . Substitutions: Charly Pickel for Arnold 37; Nikola Gjorgjev for Manzambi 45; Roberto Eman Alves Oliveira for Ferreira Moragado 64; Kwando Duah for Alpsoy 64; Ivan Lurati for Ajeti 64; Stefan Bakalovic for Babic 81 . Substitutes not used: Mathieu Descloux, Simon Enzler . Head coach: Claude Ryf . SATURDAY FIXTURE . England U18 vs Switzerland . Bank's Stadium, Walsall . Saturday at 5.30pm . +Newcastle United legend, former England captain and national treasure Alan Shearer spent his illustrious football career terrorising the best defences in the Premier League - and it all started just earning a weekly wage of £25. With a record-high 260 goals in the Premier League, the talismanic forward has left a lasting legacy in the north east and one that is unlikely to be bettered. In an exclusive interview with Match of the Day magazine, Shearer opens up about his first experiences in life on and off the football pitch. Alan Shearer (right) gave an exclusive interview to Match of the Day magazine discussing his experiences . MY FIRST ... Live game . Alan says: 'I remember everything – getting on the metro, getting in the ground, walking up to the top of the stadium and looking at the pitch! Getting squashed because it was standing in those days, then it all going ballistic when Kevin Keegan scored and Newcastle won – it was mad!' Shearer saw Kevin Keegan score in his first ever match at St James' Park when he was a child . MY FIRST… Job . Alan says: 'I used to do a milk round with my uncle to earn five pound every Saturday. I' get up at three in the morning, do the round and then go back to sleep. With that five pound I thought I was rich!' MY FIRST … Girlfriend . Alan says: 'Oh, there was loads. All the girls wanted to go out with me!' MY FIRST … Pay packet . Alan says: 'It was when I was an apprentice at Southampton, I was on a YTS scheme and it was £25 a week, straight into my bank account!' Shearer started his career at Southampton before moving to Blackburn and winning the Premier League . MY FIRST… Car . Alan says: 'It was an Escort 1300 L, registration number B993 XHT. It cost me £3,395. I thought I was rich. I thought I was a multimillionaire 'cos I could go out and buy it when I was just 17! I cleaned it every day. If I ever got mud on it I was devastated.' Shearer's first ever car was the Ford Escort 1300 L which was similar to the car pictured above . MY FIRST … pre-match meal . Alan says: 'My first pre-match meal was fillet steak. I'd never had it before in my life and everyone else was having it, so I thought I'm going to have it too!' The former Blackburn star revealed that a fillet steak was his first ever pre-match meal as a footballer . MY FIRST… hat-trick . Alan says: '1988. It was my debut for Southampton at 17 against Arsenal. And then I was in the next day cleaning the kit because I was still an apprentice. I didn't think that was a great idea at the time but looking back it made sure I didn't get carried away.' A 17-year-old Shearer had a debut he'd never forget after scoring a hat-trick but was soon back washing kits . The Newcastle United legend also holds the record for the most Premier League hat-tricks (11) MY FIRST… tournament as a pundit . Alan says: 'I started with the BBC in 2006 so the first tournament was the 2006 World Cup in Germany. It was nerve-wracking because I was out of my comfort zone.' The Match of the Day pundit has become a regular on the show and at major tournaments like the World Cup . The Match of the Day Magazine with Shearer's exclusive interview goes on-sale 24-30 March . +Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has had his players training at Selhurst Park in the hope of exploiting a set-piece advantage over Queens Park Rangers in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off. Palace’s home form this season is the second worst in the Barclays Premier League, with bottom-side Leicester City the only club worse than them on home turf. The Selhurst Park pitch has been re-laid twice this season, and with Pardew admitting the surface ‘isn’t perfect’, he has called his players into the stadium that they face QPR in on Saturday to practice their dead-ball routines. Alan Pardew admits Crystal Palace have been training at Selhurst Park ahead of their match against QPR . Since taking over at Palace, Pardew has helped take the south London club up the Premier League . ‘Our home form is something that we’re focusing on,’ Pardew said. ‘Really, we’ve done enough to stay in the division away from home already but our home form doesn’t reflect what it should be. ‘Our stadium needs to be rocking tomorrow and if we want to keep it where it is in terms of that support, you’ve got to give them wins. ‘We’re a good set-play team so we’ve been getting used to the co-ordinates here and the environment to make sure our set-plays are on the money tomorrow. QPR will be desperate for points at Selhurst Park on Saturday lunchtime, after seven defeats in their last eight . Chris Ramsey has endured a difficult start to life in the managerial hot-seat at Loftus Road . ‘This new pitch is good, but it’s not perfect. The Premier League pitches don’t really get relaid during the season, they’re perfect, so it’s very unusual for us to have to do that. I can’t say it’s as good as Arsenal’s, Swansea’s or Newcastle’s, because it isn’t.’ And Pardew sees Palace’s game against QPR as being more important for the visitors than his side, even though he admits both are still in a relegation scrap. ‘It’s an important game,’ he said. ‘Probably more important for QPR than us, with where they are, those three teams down the bottom (QPR, Burnley and Leicester) really need a quick win to get them in touch again so it’s a huge game for them – probably must-win. Palace's away form has been impressive, but Pardew admits they need to improve their fortunes at home . The Selhurst Park pitch has been relaid twice this season, and is not as impressive as other top flight clubs . ‘For us, we just need to make sure we pick up points or pick up wins when we can and we’ll be ok. We have a cushion at the moment but it can be easily eroded with a defeat tomorrow so we need to make sure that we’re on our metal.’ Palace, with 30 points, are currently eight points clear of third-bottom QPR but Pardew still believes it will require a further 10 before his side are sure of staying up. +Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland has signed a contract extension at the Britannia Stadium, the Barclays Premier League club have announced. The 22-year-old - who will be England's third-choice keeper for this month's games against Lithuania and Italy - has committed until the summer of 2019. Asmir Begovic remains Stoke number one but Butland, who joined the Potters from Birmingham for £4million two years ago, is a key part of manager Mark Hughes' plans. England Under 21 goalkeeper Jack Butland has extended his contract with Stoke until 2019 . Chief executive Tony Scholes told the club's website, stokecityfc.com: 'I'm delighted that Jack has decided to extend his contract with us. He's a player that Mark Hughes holds in very high regard and (England manager) Roy Hodgson's decision underlines his standing in the English game. 'Jack is a very ambitious young man and wants to play first-team football on a regular basis for Stoke City. 'There's genuine competition for the goalkeeping spot at the club with Asmir Begovic, Jack and Thomas Sorensen, and Jack has made no secret of his desire to be our number one.' Butland, pictured in action against Rochdale in the FA Cup, has struggled for playing time this season . Butland will link up with England Under-21s during the forthcoming international break but will be elevated to the senior squad if Joe Hart or Fraser Forster suffer injury. Butland has made just seven senior first-team appearances for Stoke, with five this season in domestic cups. He also had a loan spell at Derby earlier in the campaign while he spent time at Barnsley and Leeds last season. +Sometimes I think the Premier League clubs have to remember in which country their fantastic product is played. You can already sense there is reluctance to FA chairman Greg Dyke’s suggestion that we increase the number of home-grown players in a squad from eight to 12. We will never know if our players our good enough unless they get the chance and there are still people at Premier League clubs reluctant to take that risk. Talent isn’t always as obvious as Raheem Sterling or Wayne Rooney. Harry Kane has been phenomenal in attack at Tottenham Hotspur since being given his chance to shine . Kane Wheels away after taking just 79 seconds to score his first international goal at Wembley . Sometimes, as with Harry Kane, it takes time to develop and that only comes with games. It’s only a year ago that some at Tottenham would have questioned whether he was Champions League quality. They’re not now, but only because he was lucky to have managers willing to play him. Germany have German owners and, by and large, German coaches and they’re world champions. Their clubs and football association co-operate. We don’t have such unity so it is no surprise that our international record is what it is. Kane has had several spells out on loan before breaking into the Tottenham first-team this season . FA chairman Greg Dyke’s is looking to increase the number of home-grown players in a squad from eight to 12 . +For a group of professional athletes Southampton's players demonstrated some remarkably amateur skiing skills during their trip to the Alps. Ronald Koeman took his side to the Switzerland for a mid-season break, and the Saints tried their hand a number of different activities, although not all with great success. Captain Jose Fonte, though, said the experience had helped bring the players closer together and relieved some of the pressure ahead of the Premier League run-in. Southampton's Italian striker striker Graziano Pelle takes a tumble while skiing in Switzerland . A Southampton player loses his balance while team-mate Pelle sees the funny side . Jose Fonte said the trip had brought the squad together and taken some of the stress of the season away . When asked about the trip, Fonte said: 'Amazing, especially today, it was fantastic. We tried skiing - it was great. I would definitely come back, I think I fall in love with it. 'Obviously the boys like the beach, like the heat, but as soon as the decision was made we embraced it and it has been a very pleasant experience for everyone. We've tried many different things. 'We already have a great team spirit and this trip came to emphasise that and take the stress and mind away from the pressure we have every week so I think that was achieved, now we come back fresh for the 10 next finals. 'The coach's idea was the air's good, it helps recovery. Lying on a sunbed maybe isn't the best thing at this time.' Fonte revealed that the players had tried a number of different activities but not with much success . The players said that it had been manager Ronald Koeman's idea to go to Switzerland instead of a hot country . Southampton's players during their recent trip to the Swiss Alps over the FA Cup weekend . Former Feyenoord and Parma striker Pelle during the trip, Saints travel to Chelsea when they return . +Rangers shareholders are working on plans for a new £10million rights issue before the start of next season. Sportsmail understands leading investors, including the Three Bears consortium of Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor, are prepared to put more cash into the club in return for new shares. And Dave King and other existing investors are expected to follow suit. The Three Bears loaned the club £1.5m on an interest and security-free basis this week to end any prospect of drawing down a second £5m advance from Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. Dave King (right) and other Rangers investors are planning a £10m rights issue before start of next season . Rangers promised to utilise the cash until a ‘medium to long term’ funding package could be formalised. And discussions have already begun on a rights issue in July which would see existing shareholders pledge a sum of between £10m and £14m in return for new shares in the club. Sources insist chairman-elect Dave King will participate in a rights issue, which will also be open to the fans’ groups, after interim chairman Paul Murray confirmed the South Africa-based businessman had opted out of this week’s short-term loan while he seeks to convince the SFA and financial regulators he is a fit and proper person. Rangers are seeking a new Nominated Advisor willing to approve King’s appointment as a director following 41 convictions under South African tax laws. Failure could lead to the club being delisted from the AIM stock market. Interim chairman Paul Murray confirmed chairman-elect King had opted out of this week’s short-term loan while he seeks to convince the SFA and financial regulators he is a fit and proper person . It’s understood the Three Bears and other influential shareholders would prefer the club to remain listed but will invest more money in any case, calculating that a sum of between £10m and £14m could meet the club’s needs over the next two seasons and meet the doomsday scenario of Stuart McCall’s side spending another year in the Championship. Scotland striker Steven Naismith, meanwhile, has refused to rule out a future return to Ibrox if the club return to the Premiership. The circumstances of his departure in 2012 caused ill feeling, but Naismith – a first pick at English Premiership Everton – insisted: ‘I don’t know what will happen in the coming year never mind the future. Everton forward Steven Naismith refused to rule out a move back to Rangers in the future . Naismith trains ahead of Scotland's friendly with Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Wednesday . ‘At the moment I love playing for Everton. Since I’ve been there it’s been a great adventure, from being a substitute and not having an impact to playing in most of the big games and having an impact. ‘I love it at the moment but, you never know, things can change so quickly in football. I’d never rule anything out to be honest.’ Backing the decision of the new Rangers regime to appoint Scotland assistant coach Stuart McCall as manager, Naismith said: ‘It was one of the best decisions the new board could have made. ‘I worked with him here with Scotland. He’s great around the squad, he’s straightforward even in this environment when he’s not the manager. He’ll still tell you: “It’s not good enough.” ‘I think it’s a great decision and hopefully from now until the end of the season he can reap the rewards of going in there and getting Rangers back to the Premier League.’ +Jordi Alba will be out of action for around 10 days after the Barcelona left back sustained a leg muscle injury in Spain's 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Ukraine on Friday. 'Tests conducted this morning on the first-team player Jordi Alba by FC Barcelona's medical staff confirmed he has a grade I injury in his right adductor,' Barcelona said on their website on Saturday. 'The estimated time he will be out of action is around 10 days,' the La Liga leaders added. Jordi Alba (right) will be out for around 10 days after sustaining a leg injury for Spain against Ukraine . Alba (right) battles with Artem Fedestkyi of Ukraine during the Euro 2016 qualifying clash on Friday night . Alba will miss the league game at Celta Vigo on April 5 and possibly the match at home to Almeria three days later. He should be back for the match at Sevilla on April 11 and Barca's Champions League quarter-final at Paris St Germain on April 15. Barca are four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with 10 games left and are also through to the Copa del Rey final at the end of May against Athletic Bilbao. Alba (right) celebrates with team-mate Alvaro Morata (second left) who scored the only goal in the 1-0 win . Alba in action against Toni Kroos (left) of Real Madrid during Barcelona's 2-1 El Clasico win last Sunday . +Gareth Bale has told his critics at Real Madrid he does not care what they say, and reaffirmed his confidence in his own abilities. Less than a week ago Bale found his white Bentley under attack from irate Real fans after the Clasico defeat to Barcelona in which influential newspaper Marca scored him zero mark. He has been subjected to boos from the stands and had his £86million pricetag mocked and questioned. Gareth Bale celebrates scoring his first goal of the game during Wales' 3-0 victory against Israel on Saturday . Bale fires homes with a brilliant free-kick as Wales takes a 2-0 lead in the Euro 2016 group B qualifier . But in Wales’ hugely important Euro 2016 qualifier in Israel Bale was magnificent, scoring twice to move onto 16 in total for his country and beyond the great John Charles in the all-time list. And Bale said: ‘I don’t need to answer the critics. I know, and everyone around me knows, what I can do. ‘There are ups and downs in football, you have to take it with a pinch of salt and all you can do is respond with your performances on the pitch, like that. ‘I don’t feel I need to prove anyone wrong or right, I just need to play my football. Bale was heavily criticised after Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat at the hands of La Liga rivals Barcelona . Bale's car was attacked by angry Real Madrid fans following the defeat by Barcelona last Sunday . The world's most expensive footballer was confronted by fans as he left the club's Valdebebas training base . The £86million signing's white Bentley is struck by this fan while others jeered Wales international Bale . ‘I love playing for Wales, it’s a big honour and the most important thing is I focus on my football. I don’t listen to anyone else, what they’re saying, just enjoying my football with the boys.’ He was a picture of happiness at full-time, emitting a roar of joy when the final whistle sounded in the Sammy Ofer Stadium to confirm a 3-0 win. A brace from Bale added to Aaron Ramsey’s opener sent Wales top of Group B on 11 points at the halfway stage. Bale has been criticised by Madrid supporters despite winning four trophies since joining the club in 2013 . Bale celebrates as his team moved to the top of Group B with victory in Haifa over Israel . Bale uploaded this picture to Instagram afterwards with the caption 'what a performance from the lads' Bale should collect his 50th cap for his nation in June’s qualifier against Belgium, where victory would put Wales on the precipice of reaching a first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup. Bale has now scored 20 goals for club and country this season, including a brilliant free-kick in Israel, similar to his late winner in Andorra at the start of qualifying. His Real team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has not score direct from a set piece in more than 50 attempts dating back to last April. Bale sits joint-sixth, alongside Mark Hughes, Robert Earnshaw and Cliff Jones in the all-time Welsh scoring charts. Ian Rush leads the way with 28. +There will come a point on Sunday when those on The Kop will look out and see a dream from bygone days has become reality. Steven Gerrard will take possession from Xabi Alonso and look up to see Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez and Thierry Henry spinning off defenders, desperate for his pass. How potent would Liverpool have been had those five men lined up in their prime? Unique circumstances will allow fantasy to become reality for 90 minutes but it will be Liverpool the city, rather than the team, that feels the benefit as Anfield stages an All-Star match that has created enormous interest, for many reasons. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres (centre) is excited to be returning to Anfield for the All-Star game . Torres could feature up top alongside his friend Luis Suarez who left the club for Barcelona in the summer . How will Torres be received four years after his £50million move to Stamford Bridge? What kind of reception will Chelsea captain John Terry be afforded? How much will Suarez’s return stir the locals’ senses of what they have been missing? Gerrard will captain his side against a team selected by his friend and former vice-captain Jamie Carragher and the proceeds from the match, which sold out in hours, will go to a number of charities in Liverpool, as well as Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The idea came about after Gerrard approached Liverpool and raised the prospect of staging a match to say “thank you” to the club and the city before he embarks on a new challenge with LA Galaxy. Steven Gerrard will captain his side against a team selected by former vice-captain Jamie Carragher . Xabi Alonso has also confirmed that he will be a part of the novelty all-star game for friend Gerrard . ‘It's going to be a great occasion,’ Gerrard said. ‘When I made the calls and told the players they would play in front of a full house at Anfield, they loved the idea. Jamie and I shouldn’t get any credit: it's credit to everyone who wants to come and help out. ‘I know all those who are involved. They are winners and it will be a great game. John Terry could easily have said “no” but it shows the type of guy he is.’ Carragher added: ‘When I spoke to Thierry Henry, he was more excited than I was! It will be great for some of the former players who left Liverpool to have the chance to come back and say a proper goodbye.’ +Linford Christie has revealed his torment at perceived police racism when he was at the height of his athletics career. Christie, 54, is the subject of an ITV4 documentary on Tuesday, which offers a rare insight into the psyche of one of Britain’s greatest but most controversial sportsmen. He recalls two alleged racist incidents, the first shortly after he won a gold medal at the European Indoor Championships in 1986. Linford Christie, now an athletics coach, has spoken of allegedly racist treatment at the hands of policeman . ‘I remember when I got my Great Britain tracksuit, I was so proud,’ he said. ‘I walked along Shepherd’s Bush, this policeman started saying, “What’s a n***** like you doing in a British tracksuit?” 'I went into a chip shop and came out of the shop, and he jumped me, twisted my arm behind my back, and arrested me. The next day they dropped all charges. It was just so stupid.’ Another time, he said, police refused to believe he was the owner of a sponsored car and arrested him. Christie claims to have been arrested by a 'racist' policeman after winning the European Indoors in 1986 . ‘A couple of days later the police dropped a letter which said, “You don’t need to come back any more, we’ve made our enquiries”. ‘I said, “I still want an apology”, and they totally refused.’ Christie threatened court proceedings and the police eventually apologised. The sprinter, who tested positive for banned steroid nandrolone in 1999, is now an athletics coach. Linford Christie: Sports Life Stories ITV4 10pm tonight . +Wayne Rooney told Harry Kane to go out and get a goal for himself when the Tottenham striker replaced him as a late substitute against Lithuania on Friday night – but admits that he was stunned when Kane did so within 79 seconds. And Rooney, who says the excitement generated by Kane in the 4-0 win over Lithuania reminds him of his early games for England at the age of 17, insists that the 21-year-old will be better prepared to handle the adulation coming his way. Rooney said: 'When I came off, I said to him, 'Go and get yourself a goal'. But I didn't think he would score so quick! It's fantastic. Wayne Rooney (right) praised Harry Kane's immediate impact for England against Lithuania . Kane (left) headed in England's fourth against Lithuania shortly after replacing England captain Rooney . Tottenham striker Kane celebrates scoring his first goal for England on his debut . ‘It's incredible really. You can feel the excitement around the country. You could tell when he came on everyone wanted him to come on and even he himself didn't think he'd score so quick, but we are all delighted for him. He's an exciting player. When you speak to him you can see he is a level headed guy and I am sure he has good people around him so will be able to cope with it.’ Rooney was a teenage sensation for England twelve years ago and caused even more of a stir when he starred in England’s 2-0 win over Turkey in 2003 as a 17-year old. And the England captain says there were elements of Kane’s substitute performance which reminded him of that game at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. ‘There was one stage in the game, after his goal, where he ran down the left and took a few players on which reminded me of that,’ said Rooney. ‘But he will tell you himself he still has a lot to learn but at the minute he is scoring goals left right and centre and it is great for us as a nation to have that excitement around us. Rooney starred on his England debut against Turkey in 2003, at the age of 17 . Rooney (centre) said Kane's debut reminded him of his first game for his country, 12 years ago . Rooney believes that Kane will go on and become an accomplished international player for England . ‘There are things I could say to advise him but I think there are things you have to learn on your own, which I am sure he will do in the next year or two. 'He is obviously a little bit older than I was and a bit wiser as I was 16 or 17 when I came in. But he is level headed and can cope. ‘I think people try to help you but it is best to learn on your own. When you are a young lad you do make mistakes and you have to learn from them because it will make you a better player.’ +The Monopolies Commision have clearly had a word with David Pipe before Saturday's Betfred Midlands Grand National as the Nicholshayne handler does not have a runner. The Uttoxeter marathon has been a benefit for the Devon operation which has dominated the feature for the past four years. The absence of a Pipe representative means the likes of Jonjo O'Neill, Paul Nicholls and Venetia Williams will fancy their chances of landing another prestigious staying event. O'Neill has the ante-post favourite in Catching On, who was ridiculously impressive at Exeter on deep ground last time, travelling through the race like a horse well in advance of his current handicap mark. Trainer David Pipe during the William Hill Lanzarote Hurdle Day at Kempton Park Racecourse . Topiary in the shape of a jockey and racehorse wearing a Betfred Midlands Grand National advertisement . He is difficult to oppose given the manner of that performance, while Classic Chase hero Hawkes Point will also have his followers given the strength of his connections in this race and the fact he has been freshened up since Warwick. The layers look to have those two pegged, however, and there could be a little more juice in the price of SAMINGARRY (Uttoxeter, nap, 3.50) who hails from a yard that could not be in better form. Five of Nigel Hawke's last 11 runners have obliged, which is an outstanding feat given the size of his stable, and the selection looked a chaser capable of taking fairly high rank last year. He never quite lived up to that billing but the first-time headgear and tongue tie applied today could produce a better showing and he looks overpriced at his odds this morning. The coral.co.uk Winter Derby looks a terrific race and TRYSTER (Lingfield, nb, 3.05) is taken to continue his rapid progress. Samingarry wins The Warwick Bi-folding Doors Novices' Limited Handicap Steeple Chase . Nigel Hawke will look to capitalise on Pipe's absence at the The Uttoxeter marathon this year . UTTOXETER . 1.35 Young Cheddar . 2.05 Grand March . 2.40 Deputy Dan . 3.15 Hollow Tree . 3.50 Samingarry (nap) 4.25 Ballycool . 5.00 Veripek . 5.35 What A Moment . NEWCASTLE . 2.15 Gilnockie . 2.50 Dystonia’s Revenge . 3.25 Engrossing . 4.00 Waltz Darling . 4.35 Pamak D’airy . 5.10 Blake Dean . 5.45 Urban Kode . LINGFIELD . 1.55 Newmarch . 2.30 Angelic Lord . 3.05 Tryster (nb) 3.40 Dungannon . 4.15 Holiday Magic . 4.50 New Year’s Night . 5.25 Munsarim . KEMPTON . 1.45 Art Mauresque . 2.20 Communicator . 2.55 One For The Guv’nr . 3.30 Cloudy Bob . 4.05 Sugar Baron . 4.40 Harry’s Farewell . 5.15 Midnight Cowboy . +Lukas Podolski has indicated his intention to return to Arsenal in the summer, having failed to make an impression on a loan spell at Inter Milan. Speaking to Sport Bild, the World Cup winner said: 'The chapter is not closed with Arsenal, because there is no purchase option. 'I was the first person to clear things up in the talks with Inter and say I didn't want any kind of clause that would have let them purchase my contract rights. Lukas Podolski (right) has revealed his desire to return to Arsenal when his loan spell at Inter Milan ends . 'When you're on loan you never know what can happen, so at the end of the season we'll analyse things freely and decide the situation.' Podolski was left out of Inter's squad for the Europa League and has seen his performance levels criticised by Nerazzurri coach Roberto Mancini. The 29-year-old added: 'At Inter there have been some negative situations, but I see the bright side in all of it. 'Also, it's generally easier to criticise someone who comes on loan, as I did this winter.' Podolski (front) has failed to make an impact out on loan and was left out of Inter's Europa League squad . Arsenal are set to join Everton, Stoke and a Singapore Select XI team for the Barclays Asia Trophy Singapore in July 2015, which will see the Gunners return to the country for the first time since 1991 as part of their pre-season campaign. Arsene Wenger said: 'It will be a typical English Premier League competition in Asia and we know that English football is very popular in Asia, and that's a good opportunity to show how much we respect Asia as well. '[Strong competition] is what you're looking for, to prepare well with the right intensity in the games to have a look at everybody as well. We have young promising players who can be a name after the competition. It's a good opportunity as well for Singapore people to see these players.' Inter boss Roberto Mancini has criticised the 29-year-old's level of performances at the club . +Nico Rosberg has vowed to avoid a repeat of the pain of Formula One world championship defeat to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton this season. A wheel has yet to turn in anger in the new season but the expectation already is that Mercedes will continue to dominate. It means the fight for the drivers' crown is likely to be a further showdown between reigning champion Hamilton and his team-mate Rosberg. Nico Rosberg is determined to gain revenge on his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and win the Formula One drivers' championship in the 2015 season, which gets underway in Melbourne this weekend . Rosberg and Hamilton will once again have the strongest car on the grid this season . Last year Hamilton reeled in Rosberg's early advantage with a run of six victories in the final seven races to clinch his second title. Rosberg, though, is determined to gain revenge as the 29-year-old German said: 'I have focused on pushing myself even harder for the rematch with Lewis. 'In the end, it comes down to who can put the best season together overall, and I have to make sure it's the other way around this time. 'Having said that, my team-mate is one of many strong competitors I have to beat if I want to be world champion, so I'm just focused on being the absolute best I can be. Rosberg tries out the new Mercedes car during Winter Testing at the Circuit de Catalunya last week . Rosberg sits in his car ahead of a test run in Barcelona at the end of last month . 'I now know the feeling of winning races and I intend to do a lot more of that, but I also know the feeling of not winning in the end and I don't intend to repeat that experience. 'It's a huge motivation for me and gives me even more determination for 2015.' Hamilton is equally fired up to write his name into F1 folklore and join a rare breed of three-times champions. 'There are many good drivers out there and all of them want to win - you just have to want it more than they do,' said Hamilton. 'I feel fresh, I feel fit, I feel relaxed, I feel positive...I feel ready. 'As a driver you get stronger with every season, so I plan to be better than last year.' +Out of Europe, out of the FA Cup and on the verge of being out of the Premier League title race, this was the first of nine games Manchester City simply could not afford not to win. Operation siege mentality kicked in shortly after the final whistle of Wednesday's Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona when Joe Hart faced the cameras in the Nou Camp tunnel. 'I will never give up, ever, and I could safely say that nobody in our dressing room will ever give up either,' said the defiant goalkeeper. Wilfried Bony celebrates after scoring Manchester City's first goal after 25 minutes at the Etihad Stadium . The Ivorian opened his account for the club when he spun inside the box before firing into the net . Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini believes his side are capable of catching league leaders Chelsea . 'West Brom is a huge game and we turn our focus to that. We have no excuse not to throw everything at the Premier League now and give our all - to the fans, the owner, to everyone.' His under-fire manager sang from the same hymn sheet in his programme notes. 'It's not impossible for Chelsea to drop six points,' Manuel Pellegrini wrote. 'We have to continue to believe. 'It is nonsense to suggest there is nothing to play for.' The message spread to the home support. They like being the underdogs here (remember last season?) and from the off the masses were behind their team. After 90 seconds they got a boost they could not have dreamed of when referee Neil Swarbrick wrongly sent off Gareth McAuley after last-man Craig Dawson brought down Wilfried Bony on the edge of the area. Neil Swarbrick brandishes a straight red card to a bemused McAuley after just 89 seconds of the match . West Brom players Darren Fletcher and Jonas Olsson protest as Swarbrick shows McAuley the red card . BT Sport showed the incident from referee Swarbrick's perspective, with No 25 Dawson the closest to him . Apparently the joke flying around the Albion training ground is that the lookalike pair are never seen in the same place at the same time. Nobody from the visiting contingent was laughing here. This was time for City to prove themselves and prove to the nation that there is still life left in the title race. Wilfried Bony, with no goals in six outings since his £28million switch from Swansea City, had his own point to make and he did so to break the deadlock, calmly capitalising on a lucky deflection to neatly turn, set himself up and fire the home side into the lead. After help from the referee, City then got some from Albion. For long periods, with a game of attack vs defence taking place, the Etihad resembled a school playground. The woeful defensive mix-up that handed Fernando the second goal on a plate would have caused red faces in the classroom, let alone a Premier League dressing room. The procession continued throughout the second half. In the absence of Yaya Toure, out with an Achilles problem, Frank Lampard probed and created. With West Brom reluctant to leave their own half there were few occasions when Hart, so busy on Wednesday night, had to contemplate taking off his slippers and putting down his pipe. Manchester City midfielder Fernando doubled his side's lead in the 40th minute with a close-range finish . City playmaker David Silva added a third in the 77th minute to complete the rout at the Etihad Stadium . Saido Berahino inexplicably headed onto the bar from close range but other than that there was little to lift the mood of those who had travelled from the Black Country which will have darkened further when David Silva deflected sub Stevan Jovetic's shot home for the third. At times this was City back to their fluent best. Quick short passes and chance after chance against overwhelmed opponents. Too much, however, should not be read into this cakewalk. Tougher challenges will lie ahead and Pellegrini, who believes a lack of goals is what is hurting his team the most, will have been upset by the number of missed chances. But on a sunny, spring afternoon at the Etihad we saw the first shoots of a City recovery which might just see a title challenge blossom. +West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Pulis has been named the Barclays Premier League manager of the month for February. The Baggies were unbeaten in their four league matches and kept clean sheets in three of them as they beat Swansea and Southampton and drew at Sunderland and at home to Burnley. Pulis has guided West Brom to 13th in the table, eight points clear of the relegation zone, since taking over in January. Tony Pulis has guided West Brom towards safety since taking over in the New Year . Feb 8: Burnley 2-2 West Brom . Feb 11: West Brom 2-0 Swansea . Feb 21: Sunderland 0-0 West Brom . Feb 28: West Brom 1-0 Southampton . The award is Pulis' second after his previous success came in April last season, when he was in charge at Crystal Palace. He said: 'It's a fabulous month and we needed a month like that really to give us the impetus hopefully to push on and get the points that we need. Brendan Rodgers - Liverpool . Garry Monk - Swansea . Steve Bruce - Hull . 'There are 10 games to go and were are still desperately in need of the points – 10 more points, if we can get 10 more points we get to 40 points, we'll be OK. 'The supporters will be absolutely delighted for us just to get through this. 'I think they understand and they know there will be lots of changes at the end of the season right through the club, so we just need to get through this period.' On Saturday, Pulis welcomes his former club Stoke, now managed by Mark Hughes. The Potters also enjoyed a successful February with the only blot a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City as Hughes guided his side to victories over Hull and Aston Villa and a draw at Newcastle. West Brom striker Brown Ideye celebrates his goal against Swansea with James Morrison . +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has experienced the harsh realities of his philosophies being called into question but unlike some critics he has no doubt about the credentials of Louis van Gaal to get things right at Manchester United. When the pair last met back in December at Old Trafford United won 3-0, a result which bizarrely actually had more of an effect on the beaten visitors. They have not lost in the Premier League since and, ahead of the clash at Anfield on Sunday, the perception of Liverpool - and Rodgers - has changed completely. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has lavished praise on opposite number Louis van Gaal (pictured) Rodgers has lauded Van Gaal ahead of Liverpool's home match against Manchester United . United are currently two points ahead of Liverpool . That loss against United was the last in a run of eight matches which brought just eight points and left Liverpool in 10th place, seven points off fourth. However, after taking 33 points from a possible 39 they are just two points behind United, who occupy the final Champions League spot. United, by contrast, are still failing to impress in Van Gaal's first season in charge despite their league position with many questioning whether he actually knows what his best side is and whether he is getting the best out of the talent he has at his disposal. But Rodgers believes that should not reflect badly on the Dutchman. 'I don't think there is any convincing (required). He has shown over his career that he is a top-class manager,' he said. 'He will have seen, coming into this country for the first time, the challenges of this football - it is why it is the most competitive league in the world. 'The Premier League is different from the leagues he will have worked in before but I don't think you can argue with his credentials. Van Gaal's Manchester United go into the Barclays Premier League match at Anfield in fourth position . 'There is no question about the philosophies he has put in place at Ajax or Barcelona or his achievements and when he leaves Manchester United he will still be one of the great managers.' Rodgers found himself under similar scrutiny after Liverpool's poor first half of the season but things have turned around and he is flavour of the month once again. He admits August to December was a tough period for him, when his methods were being called into question, but believes he has come out the other side stronger for it. 'I've said to coaches and players that when the criticism comes, deserved or undeserved, you won't like it but you have to accept it as it is part of the game,' he added. 'As a manager you have to take the circumstance of where you are at. That won't fit with results but it is quite easy, you have to stay focused. 'You have to have an inherent belief of how you work and when it is scrutinised and ridiculed you go back to that platform of why and how you work. 'You know you are going to get it at some stage and in your career it is important you come out the other side. Rodgers, pictured during Liverpool's slender win over Swansea, insists his side will not be taking United lightly . 'I am early in my career as a manager but that period benefited me. 'It is the challenges of being a manager at any level, you are scrutinised but you have to stay calm and believe in your qualities as a coach and manager.' Liverpool are the top-flight's form team at the moment but Rodgers will not be taking United for granted, whatever the critics say about their performances this season. 'They have a lot of talent and made a lot of investment in world-class players in the summer and they have an outstanding manager,' he said. 'They have been up there all season and will want to stay there so we have to stay on the chase but I don't worry about them clicking. 'It is an important game. These games in particular are always great spectacles and the rivalry is historic. 'It is at Anfield against a big rival and we want to win the game. I don't think the result will have an overriding factor (on the race for the top four) because there are a number of games to go but psychologically it can give you a great boost.' +Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera took time out of his preparations for his side's crunch clash against Liverpool to celebrate team-mate Marcos Rojo's 25th birthday. Herrera and three of Rojo's companions visited the former Sporting Lisbon on Friday afternoon as he hit his mid-Twenties. The Manchester United duo will be hoping they can continues their celebrations after their trip to Anfield on Sunday. Marcos Rojo (second left) poses with club team-mate Ander Herrera (centre) on his 25th birthday . Rojo, pictured during United's win against Cambridge United, is expected to start on the bench at Liverpool . Louis van Gaal's side will be desperate to avoid defeat against Liverpool as the Reds will leapfrog Manchester United if they can claim all three points. Herrera is expected to keep his spot in United's starting line-up, while Rojo could be named on the substitutes' bench following his return from a groin injury. Van Gaal said on Friday that both Rojo and Luke Shaw were not fit enough to start against Liverpool. Herrera is likely to start in midfield following his recent display against Tottenham . +John Swift and Kwame Thomas were on target as England's under 20s beat the United States at Plymouth to record their second win of the week. Having overcome a talented Mexico side on penalties on Wednesday night, Aidy Boothroyd's Young Lions defied horrendous conditions and stubborn opposition to earn another morale-boosting victory ahead of the summer's Toulon Tournament. The result, in front of a large crowd of over 11,000 at Home Park, extended Boothroyd's unbeaten start as England under 20s manager. Kwame Thomas, the Derby County forward, celebrates scoring England's second goal . Thomas celebrates with his team-mates after scoring what proved to be England's winner at Plymouth . Chelsea midfielder John Swift fires home England's opening goal from just outside the penalty box . He made extensive changes from the side that beat Mexico, with Brentford right-back Moses Odubajo the only surviving player of the team. With gale-force winds and torrential rain greeting England on their first visit to the Devon city in 26 years, it took both sides some time to get into their stride. Gradually Swift, the Chelsea midfielder currently on loan at Swindon Town in League One, began to take control of the midfield and he forced a fingertip save from American goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell. The States were happy to play on the counter-attack and Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to be alert to deny Maki Tall. Most of the crowd thought England had taken the lead when Leeds United's Alex Mowatt sent a left-footed shot towards goal, but it had actually found the side-netting. Moses Odubajo is tackled by John Requejo during the friendly win at Home Park . American keeper Jeff Caldwell can't stop Thomas's (right) shot from going past him . Thomas gets in another shot during a lively performance as Aidy Boothroyd's team claimed another win . Jack Stephens tries to retrieve the ball at the byline during England's 2-1 win . But England's reward would arrive on the stroke of half-time and it was fitting that Swift should provide the breakthrough. Obubajo advanced down the right and looked up to see Swift lurking on the edge of the area. Taking one touch to control, he fired past Caldwell to split the teams at half-time. The Young Lions continued to boss the game after the break and Mowatt went close again, firing over when Norwich City defender Harry Toffolo found him well-placed inside the box. A second goal duly arrived on 68 minutes - Swift sprung up on the left-wing, beat his man and crossed from the byline to Thomas. The Derby County forward fired home to score what proved to be the winning goal. But the States ensured a nervy finale when Tall pulled one back with 11 minutes to play, and they appeared to be level when Boxi Yomba scored late on. The eagle-eyed referee, however, spotted that Yomba had guided the ball in with his hand. England (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford (Sunderland); Moses Obubajo (Brentford), Dominic Ball (Cambridge United on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Turnbull (Swindon Town on loan from Southampton), Harry Toffolo (Swindon Town on loan from Norwich City); Harrison Reed (Southampton), Matty Grimes (Swansea City), Jack Stephens (Swindon Town on loan from Southampton), Alex Mowatt (Leeds United), John Swift (Swindon Town on loan from Chelsea); Kwame Thomas (Derby County) Substitutions: Callum Robinson (Preston North End on loan from Aston Villa) for Obubajo 66; Chuba Akpom (Arsenal) for Mowatt 79; Jamie Hanson (Derby County) for Swift 88 . Substitutes not used: Christian Walton (Brighton & Hove Albion), Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Bailey Cargill (AFC Bournemouth), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jack Barmby (Leicester City), Lewis Baker (MK Dons on loan from Chelsea) Scorers: Swift 44. Thomas 68 . Booked: Stephens . Head coach: Aidy Boothroyd . USA (4-3-3): Jeff Caldwell; Shaq Moore, Cameron Carter-Vickters, Desevio Payne, John Requejo; Russell Canouse, Paul Arriola, Marco Delgado; Bradford Jamieson, Rubio Rubin (C), Maki Tall . Substitutions: Tommy Thompson for Jamieson 46; Joel Sonora for Arriola; Lynden Gooch for Rubin 75; Conor Donovan for Payne 75; Boxi Yomba for Tall 78 . Substitutes not used: Thomas Olsen, Ethan Sonis, Andrija Novakovich . Scorer: Tall 74 . Booked: Yomba . Head coach: Tab Ramos . Referee: Steve Martin . Attendance: 11,406 . +When Oscar Garcia quit as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv last summer he cited the prospect of Islamic militant rockets flying over the club training ground as a reason to leave. As reasons go, it’s as good as it gets. The man that succeeded him though, was undeterred. Indeed, former Liverpool coach Pako Ayestaran has never been afraid of taking bold steps. At Valencia, when trusted assistant to Rafa Benitez, he was the man who encouraged Benitez to move to Liverpool when the opportunity arose. ‘I was a Liverpool fan,’ says Ayestaran. ‘As a boy I had seen their team in 1975, with Toshack and Keegan, beat Real Sociedad 9-1 and it stuck with me. When I heard Rafa had the chance to go, I said he had to take it.’ Pako Ayestaran (right) alongside Rafael Benitez during their time at Liverpool . Ayestaran was assistant manager under Benitez at Valencia and Liverpool . Equally, when he felt Benitez had lost sight of what made their partnership so good, Ayestaran left Liverpool. Their friendship was fractured and never repaired but Ayestaran used those early principles to forge his own management career. When Maccabi sports director Jordi Cruyff called about moving to Tel Aviv, Ayestaran sensed an opportunity; not one of danger and trepidation but a challenge he could relish. ‘It is similar to when I was a young man in the 70s and 80s in the Basque country in Spain,’ says Ayestaran. ‘I was living with the threat of ETA, the Basque separatists, and bombs every day. People would call and ask ‘’are you ok there?’’ And you’d say ‘’yes I’m off to the park’’ or ‘’I’m having a cup of coffee’’. In my mind, life was normal. Ayestaran takes training at Maccabi Tel Aviv . ‘Tel Aviv is different to the north of Israel. If conflict starts it is normally on the West Bank or Jerusalem but not so much here. ‘It has been peaceful since the ceasefire was agreed in August. I can lead a normal life here. As normal as in London or Paris. The quality of life here is amazing. I will take my son to play tennis later and on Thursday I am going to the opera.’ Today, Ayestaran is eating lunch at a bistro on the Tel Aviv promenade. He looks trim, sharply dressed and sunglasses protect him from the glare of bright sunshine as the Mediterranean Sea laps over the busy beach. He has embraced Cruyff’s challenge. Maccabi have won one trophy, the Toto Cup, and a 2-1 victory over Maccabi Haifa on Monday means they are still on course for a domestic treble for the first time in their 109 year history. It is clear the methods Ayestaran practised at Anfield and since with last club Tecos in Mexico are having an effect. ‘One thing I learned is that you have to listen to your staff,’ Ayestaran says pointedly. He succeeded former boss Oscar Garcia as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel . Ayestaran (third left) was part of the Liverpool set up that helped them to Champions League victory in 2005 . ‘You may have your own ideas and make a different decision but the people around you are there for a reason and it’s important you account for that in your management and coaching. ‘Expectation is high here because of the club’s history but I’m not afraid of that. You have to take responsibility. It’s the evolution of a team, increasing the levels. I set a target of winning the treble early on and that brings pressure but that’s a pressure I’m happy with. 'The Israeli people are passionate about their football and it’s a release in many ways from what else goes on in life here.’ Football remains Israel’s most popular sport along with basketball and swimming. Israel top their group in the European Championship qualifiers and host Wales on Saturday. Maccabi have four players in the squad, one, attacking midfielder Eran Zehavi, has been the subject of interest from Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund while Crystal Palace tried to sign him in January. He has scored 31 goals this season already. Maccabi Tel Aviv manager Ayestaran giving orders to his team . ‘It’s a gift for Maccabi to have him at the club,’ says Ayestaran. ‘A player with the right character to take this club one step forward. He could certainly succeed in the Premier League.’ The 52-year-old Ayestaran retains a strong interest in English football where he is also drawing attention from clubs looking at foreign coaches. He has kept his house, a stone’s throw away from the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Wirral, and is still in contact with the likes of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard. They met up for lunch on a recent trip back to the UK. ‘We had a glass of wine and talked about football,’ says Ayestaran. ‘They are great characters. Jamie is like a sponge for information, he soaks up everything. I can remember at Liverpool when he was in the treatment room and he was having a debate about who played right-back in the 1974 FA Cup final. 'He approaches everything with such passion. I can see him coaching one day. Steven is also so passionate about the game and the project he is taking on in Los Angeles. When I arrived at Liverpool I think they were both a little unsure; they’d give their opinions but they listened and had respect for what we wanted to do. 'It made them think more about what they were doing as players and they are great students of the game. Their personalities are strong and they helped coaches to set the standard at Liverpool. For them the club came first.’ Ayestaran has backed his friend and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher to move into coaching . The former Liverpool assistant is also still in contact with Reds captain Steven Gerrard . While his bond with many of the friends he made in Liverpool is intact, Ayestaran admits regret that his relationship with Benitez remains broken. The pair won promotion at Tenerife, two Spanish titles with Valencia and the Champions League at Liverpool. ‘It’s sad that we haven’t spoken. We had a lot of very good moments and it’s better to remember those than the bad, life is too short.’ Ayestaran though is making confident strides as the main man. After Benitez, he took time out to learn from coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola, had a short spell as director of football at Real Sociedad and spent time with Porto. ‘I’ve found it a natural transition,’ he says. ‘I needed my own project. It’s important that clubs have a model like Porto where even if change in personnel comes, and sometimes frequently, the model, the belief remains.’ And could he see himself in England again soon? ‘It’s the place I enjoy the most and my sons still consider England home. I would love that one day but for now my focus is Maccabi Tel Aviv - then maybe England can be my next chapter.’ +Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola is '99 per cent' sure the Juventus star will reject the chance of sealing a summer move to the likes of Manchester United or Chelsea in order to stay at the Serie A champions. The former Manchester United midfielder has been linked with a move to several of Europe's top sides during the last few months, however Raiola insists his client is keen on staying at the Juventus Stadium. Raiola also revealed the seven clubs who are have stated their interest in the Frenchman - with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all said to be keeping a close eye on the 21-year-old's situation at Juventus. Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola is almost certain his client will stay at Juventus beyond the current campaign . Pogba has been linked with a summer move to the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City . 'We made a pact with Juve: Paul doesn’t have to leave,' Raiola told Tuttosport. 'I spoke to president Andrea Agnelli, directors Pavel Nedved, Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici, so they all agree. The club doesn’t need the money. 'At this moment the situation at Juve is ideal for Pogba. We would only leave if a situation emerged that was favourable for all concerned. 'He is wanted by seven clubs and that is certain, because they all told me so. The ones that can afford him are Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. 'If I just whistled, I’d sell Pogba tomorrow to PSG or City in a heartbeat. But Paul did not tell me to find him another club. 'What are his chances of staying? As of today it’s 99 per cent. Juve agree with our approach, which is that they will only sell if Paul asks to leave and there’s a suitable offer. Of course, it could become one per cent, it depends on the market.' The 21-year-old joined Juventus in 2012 after leaving Manchester United on a free transfer . +Shrewsbury closed the gap on leaders Burton to two points as Bobby Grant's double secured them a 2-0 win at Portsmouth. Burton face Stevenage at home on Monday and the Shrews took advantage to make up ground with a third-straight win thanks to midfielder Grant, who struck in the 25th and 66th minutes. Wycombe kept pace at the top with a 1-0 victory at Dagenham & Redbridge, where Aaron Pierre's close-range effort kept the Chairboys level on points with Shrewsbury. Portsmouth's Danny Hollands and Shrewsbury Town's Jason Lawrence battle for the ball at Fratton Park . Neither Bury or Southend, fourth and fifth overnight respectively, were able to close the gap on the automatic promotion places as their clash at Gigg Lane was abandoned in the sixth minute after torrential downpours had left the pitch unplayable. James Gray's late goal kept Northampton in the play-off hunt as they clinched a 2-1 home win against Luton. Ricky Holmes converted a 66th-minute penalty to haul the hosts level at Sixfields after Luton's Alex Lawless had fired the visitors into the lead early in the second half. Shrewsbury Town's John-Louis Akpa Akpro has a shot at goal during the League Two match at Fratton Park . Reuben Reid fired a double to help lift Plymouth into the play-off places following a 3-0 win at Cheltenham. The midfielder struck in the 34th and 60th minutes and Zak Ansah made sure for the visitors with his 86th-minute header. Aaron McGowan fired Morecambe into a 17th-minute lead at Exeter, but substitute Alex Nicholls struck back as the home side earned a 1-1 draw. Grecians striker Tom Nichols was sent off in stoppage time. Hartlepool climbed out of the bottom two with their fourth-straight victory. Brad Walker headed them into a 20th-minute lead against Cambridge at Victoria Park and - although Matt Harrold equalised - Scott Harrison crashed home his first goal of the season to clinch a 2-1 win. James Gray celebrates after scoring his sides winning goal during the match between Northampton and Luton . Shaq Coulthirst, on loan from Tottenham, fired his first goals for relegation battlers York as Russ Wilcox's 10 men clinched their first win in four games with a 4-1 success at Mansfield. Keith Lowe headed York in front, Coulthirst added a second in the 17th minute, Jake Hyde headed a third and Coulthirst grabbed his second in the 89th minute. York goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik had been sent off for handling outside his area in the 32nd minute, while Matt Rhead struck a 77th-minute consolation for Mansfield. Scott Harrison of Hartlepool United  scores their second goal to help the strugglers climb off the bottom . Carlisle's on-loan midfielder Paul Corry struck his first goal for the club in their relegation battle at Oxford, but the home side hit back to win 2-1. Patrick Hoban headed Oxford level before half-time and after Carlisle defender Troy Archibald-Henville had been dismissed for two yellow-card offences in the 68th minute, Kyle Vassell scored an 80th-minute winner. Adebayo Akinfenwa struck his 15th goal of the season to give AFC Wimbledon a 29th-minute lead at Tranmere, but George Green's last-minute equaliser grabbed the home side a point that was enough to lift them off the foot of the table. +It is the game which, ultimately, could define the success or otherwise of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane’s expensive Republic of Ireland tenure. Installed amid much fanfare 18 months ago, £1million-per-year O’Neill and his assistant Keane, with a £600,000 salary, were given a remit of qualification for Euro 2016, a task made easier by the expansion to a 24-team format. Defeat against Poland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday evening, however, would all but end hope of automatic progression to the finals in France, leaving Ireland to do battle with Scotland for the play-off berth. The mood here is not optimistic. Martin O'Neill, manager of the Republic of Ireland, needs to prove his worth with victory over Poland . O'Neill and Roy Keane (left) were given big salaries and asked to reach the 2016 European Championships . An inquest, you feel, awaits O’Neill and his regime should they fail to beat the group leaders. One newspaper described their manager as ‘bookish and vaguely befuddled’, and noted the ‘carnage’ which follows Keane. There has been a definite effort to play down the chaos around Keane this week and the No 2 gave an untypically subdued and low-key performance in front of the press. O’Neill ignored the opinion pieces which have called into question his impact since he arrived and kept all talk to football. He said: ‘The importance of the occasion should not be missed. Defeat would be a big dent in our hopes of automatic qualification. It might not decide everything, but it is very significant. We have to try to win. If the Republic of Ireland fail to beat Poland, their hopes of automatic qualification will be all but over . O'Neill and Keane take a training session at Gannon Park as the team prepare for Sunday's big match . ‘I’ve said all along that the home games will shape our destiny. This is the first of that group. We have to make them count. ‘We can change all of that (negative talk) with one result and one fantastic performance. We will not get very far with a pessimistic approach and I’m not overly concerned with what people say before the game. ‘We have given ourselves a chance (of qualification) but we will have to be right on top of our game to win this match.’ One criticism of O’Neill is that he does not know his preferred XI or, indeed, formation. He said this week that players could win a starting place should they impress at their coastal training base in Malahide. Keane hands out instructions to the Republic of Ireland players during a training session . Sunday's game takes place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin; the Republic of Ireland's home ground . One player not guaranteed to start is captain Robbie Keane. He was dropped for the morale-shattering 1-0 defeat in Scotland in November. The LA Galaxy striker, 34, said: ‘That’s up to the manager (if I play). ‘I’ll be ready whether that’s from the bench or starting. I’m the captain, I have to set an example. ‘But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could make a difference. I still want to be the best. I have that hunger.’ Keane, sensing the air of negativity, added: ‘It’s up to us to make this a turning point. Victory would give this squad and country a huge confidence boost.’ Lose and it could prove an awfully long three months for O’Neill before they host Scotland. Win, and that £1m salary would look like a shrewd investment. +PFA chairman Ritchie Humphreys says the players' union supports Greg Dyke's proposals to increase homegrown talent in the Premier League. Dyke – the FA chairman who also heads the commission tasked with improving the national team – revealed this week that he wants to increase the minimum number of homegrown players in club squads from eight to 12. He also wants to redefine 'homegrown' as three years spent at a club before a player's 18th birthday, not his 21st as it currently stands. PFA chairman Ritchie Humphreys pictured playing for Chesterfield in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy . And Humphreys, who is also a member of the FA Commission, told Sportsmail: 'Any foreign player who comes to this country we welcome to the Union. 'But we also have a duty of care to our national game and to homegrown players and their development. 'Everything we are working towards on the FA Commission is with the aim of making our national side more competitive at elite level. 'The PFA supports that. We want to see homegrown players – such as Harry Kane – given that chance at first-team level. Greg Dyke's proposals to increase homegrown talent in the Premier League has been backed by Humphreys . Dyke wants to redefine 'homegrown' as three years spent at a club before a player's 18th birthday . 'The proposals will make clubs think differently about recruitment and will hopefully see more homegrown players given game-time. 'I got my opportunity when I was 18 at Sheffield Wednesday in the Premier League. I probably had a bit of good fortune as well, but the opportunity was there and we want that pathway to be there for players of this generation. 'The best foreign players will still play in the Premier League – this does not mean no foreign players, far from it. 'But there were 83 non-homegrown players who played less than 10 games last season, and we feel that number could be reduced.' +West Bromwich Albion U21 coach Jimmy Shan has emerged as a surprise candidate for the vacant post at Notts County. The League One strugglers sacked Shaun Derry and assistant Greg Abbott on Monday as they look to stop their slide. Notts are only one place above the relegation zone on goal difference after Saturday's 4-1 loss at MK Dons. They have won just three games in 24 league matches since November. Notts County sacked manager Shaun Derry following their poor recent run of results . How the bottom of League One is shaping up . Former Nottingham Forest boss Paul Hart is the early favourite to replace Derry but Shan, 35, is regarded as one of the game's brightest up and coming coaches. He is credited with helping bring through Albion prospects such as Saido Berahino, Iasiah Brown, Chris Wood, George Thorne and Yan Dhanda who was snapped up from Albion's academy by Liverpool. He worked with FA director of elite development Dan Ashworth and has progressed through the coaching ranks since moving to the Hawthorns as U11s coach in 2006. He was promoted from his role at U18 development coach last summer with Albion technical director Terry Burton saying: 'James was the obvious choice to fill the role. He knows the players well having worked with them and helped progress them over the years.' Former Cheltenham boss Mark Yates, James Beattie, Darren Ferguson and ex-Coventry manager Steven Pressley are also in the frame. Derry has been sacked with the club only outside the League One relegation zone on goal difference . +Manny Pacquiao is into his second week of training ahead of his huge fight against Floyd Mayweather, and the Filipino fighter has been stepping up the intensity of his preparations. The 36-year-old was surrounded by fans with cameras on the streets of Hollywood on Tuesday and could be seen throwing quick-fire punches at an invisible opponent with a strained look on his face. Mayweather and Pacquiao come face-to-face in their only press conference before the mega-fight on Wednesday. Manny Pacquiao shadow boxes in the street as he moves into his second week of 'road work out' training . A crowd circled around Pacquiao as he threw punches and showed off his impressive agility . Pacquiao has been seen out on the streets of late and this latest showing in front of a group of fans continued his latest round of 'road work out training'. The Filipino posted a video of the session on Instagram with the caption: 'Day 8 of my road work out training, to God be all the Glory thank you Lord.' Pacquiao confirmed on Monday that he was '100 per cent confident' of overcoming unbeaten Mayweather on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, although the Pacman is taking no chances judging by the impressive intensity of his work-out videos. Pacquiao posted with a message praising God as he began with the day eight workouts in Hollywood . The crowd were delighted to see the boxing hero preparing for his fight with Floyd Mayweather on May 2 . He is currently going through the conditioning stage of his preparations but soon his sparring partners will aim to mimic Mayweather's style as the clock counts down on the fight expected to break pay-per-view television records. And Pacquiao says his position as underdog is helping him in the work-out sessions. 'It's a good thing to be an underdog,' Pacquiao told the LA Times. 'It helps me a lot. You're more focused on training. I feel like I'm at the start again. I've always been an underdog.' Pacquiao charges up a hill as part of his training while his entourage struggle to keep up in another video . The 36-year-old said his training was 'increasing to a high intensity' ahead of the bout with Mayweather . Pacquiao during another one of his 'road' training sessions as he gears up for the Floyd Mayweather fight . +West Ham chairman David Gold is 'hopeful' Winston Reid will snub Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal by signing a new contract. The New Zealand central defender is out of contract this summer and had looked set for a move to Tottenham on a £60,000-a-week deal while Arsenal also showed an interest. Talks between West Ham and Reid have led to a contract offer and, with the club sitting ninth in the Barclays Premier League, the 26-year-old is close to agreeing to stay. Winston Reid looks set to sign a new deal at West Ham after being linked with a move away in the summer . Reid was linked with a move at the end of the season to either Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal . Reid has been at West Ham since 2010 after joining from Danish club FC Midtjylland . In reply to a question on Twitter about whether Reid will stay, Gold replied: 'I am hopeful that Winston will sign for us.' It would reflect another step forward for West Ham as they look to qualify for Europe this season, despite losing 3-1 against Crystal Palace at home on Saturday. Sam Allardyce's team welcome Chelsea to Upton Park on Wednesday night where defender Reid is likely to have his hands full against the Premier League's leaders. Reid joined West Ham from Danish club FC Midtjylland in 2010 and has been an impressive performer at the heart of their defence since his arrival, playing a key role this season. West Ham chairman David Gold (right) is hopeful Reid will sign a new contract with the Premier League club . West Ham chairman Gold replied to a question on Twitter about whether Reid will stay at Upton Park . +Mike Tyson has warned Floyd Mayweather that he will have to reinvent himself as a boxer if he is to beat Manny Pacquiao in the richest fight of all time. Iron Mike, as he celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first fight of his own phenomenal career, predicts that the Money Man will lose to the PacMan unless he steps out from behind his masterly defence and comes to fight in Las Vegas on May 2. The casino odds-makers have installed Mayweather as favourite and opinion in boxing is divided approximately along the lines of the 60-40 purse split in favour of the Money man. Mike Tyson believes Floyd Mayweather's tactical style will work against him against Manny Pacquiao . Mayweather (left) will fall to the Pac-Man unless he steps out from behind his masterly defence on May 2 . Mayweather meets Pacquiao in the richest fight of all time and the boxing community is split on who will win . But Tyson says: ‘I thought from the start that Paquiao is going to win. This guy is perpetual motion. He comes from every angle. He’s all energy. Always throwing punches. Never stops. ‘Floyd tucks in and picks his shots and he is more accurate. But he doesn’t throw anything like Manny’s hundred punches a round. ‘It’s unlikely he can knock Manny out so if he wants to win he’s got to change. Unless he throws more punches he can’t win the rounds.’ Mayweather, at this Wednesday’s official, show-bizzy launch of the $350 million to half-billion dollar promotion, made it clear that he regards this Fight of the Century as business usual, saying: ‘We’ve started training real well. Continuing to do what we always do. Doing what has won all our 47 fights.’ Mayweather has acknowledged that ‘we will both be the best boxer we possibly can because we both want to this fight more than any other in our careers.’ To which Tyson says: ‘Not enough. He’s gotta do something different. He needs to take a look at how the only opponents who have given Pacquiao trouble are Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, who also throw a hundred a round.’ Tyson says Mayweather should be looking at the boxers who have troubled Pac-Man, including Juan Manuel Marquez who stopped the Filipino in 2012 at the venue he will fight the American at on May 2 . Tim Bradley was another busy fighter to get the better of Pacquiao, although Manny won last year's rematch . By his own formidable force of nature, Tyson naturally inclines towards the aggression in the ring which first exploded upon a startled world 30 years ago last Friday. Tyson is lifted by promoter Don King after his 1986 win over Trevor Berbick, one of 44 knock outs early on in his formidable 50-win career . As he embarked on his journey towards becoming the youngest world champion in heavyweight history at 21, Tyson entered the ring at the Plaza Convention Center in Albany, New York State as an 18-year-old and blasted out one Hector Mercedes in the first round. That was the first of his 44 knock outs in a 50 win career which also included two no decisions and subsided at the end into six defeats. Tyson, now 48 and successfully reinventing himself in movies, video games and one-man shows, also blew the hundreds of millions of dollars which Mayweather is now earning. And did he have let slip a startling secret about the massive earning power of the Money-PacMan collision? He said: ‘Floyd’s getting $250 million for one night’s work.’ He made that remark while promoting Champs, a feature-length documentary about the pitfalls as well as the thrills of the fight game in which he stars with arch-rival Evander Holyfield and which opens in US cinemas this Friday. The film is the focal point of Tyson’s campaign for Federal regulation of boxing. He says: ‘Ours is the only sport in which the participants are not protected by law. Tyson spoke while promoting Champs, a feature-length documentary about the pitfalls and thrills of boxing in which he stars with arch-rival Evander Holyfield - the film opens in US cinemas this Friday . ‘Boxers generally come from the poorest backgrounds. Many can’t read or write when they start out. People like me and Floyd earn hundreds of millions of dollars and sometimes don’t know what to do with it. ‘And what about those who still get no more than 20 grand a fight? They can still get exploited so much that when they need a brain scan they can’t afford it and by then there’s no-one else to pay for it.’ Will those cautionary words – coupled with memory of how Tyson battered his way from rags to riches to prison to bankruptcy and now to redemption – convince Mayweather to stop gambling and buying the most expensive cars and planes or Pacquiao to limit how much of his fortune he gives away to the poor in his native Philippines? Probably not. +The UK TV rights for the Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao fight to be decided within the week are boiling down to a £12m battle between Sky and specialist boxing channel BoxNation, who have covered both boxers’ fights in recent years and would structure the deal in a different way to Sky. Mayweather, as in every other detail around this event, will have the final say. American cable networks Showtime and HBO are preparing to charge a record $99.95 (£65) for a pay-per-view subscription to watch the fight. UK TV rights for Floyd Mayweather's fight with Manny Pacquiao is a £12m battle between BoxNation and Sky . Mayweather was put through his paces on day two of his training camp in Las Vegas on Wednesday . With the combined purse for Mayweather and Pacquiao totalling at least $250million, projections for the value of the event are rising from an initial $300m to close on half a billion. Come May 2, all the MGM properties will screen closed-circuit transmission on giants screens with entrance fees reaching $200 (£130) plus. Millions in the Philippines will also watch on giant screens in city squares and parks. The MGM sold out all its 5,005 rooms within 15 minutes of Mayweather firing the starting gun online. The base room rate for the nights of May 1 and 2 is upward of $500. Tickets for ringside seats, expected face value $5,000 (£3,300), are already appearing on the black market at up to $20,000 (£13,000). Manny Pacquiao was pictured on a morning run in Los Angeles with members of his team on Wednesday . Pacquiao was joined by a Jack Russell Terrier called Pacman as he stepped up his preparations . +Manny Pacquiao is training harder than ever as he prepares for his $300million fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr in May. The Filipino star posted more videos on Instagram from his Los Angeles training camp on Wednesday as he starts to spend more time in the gym in the run-up to the bout. Pacquiao showed off his hand speed inside the ring and out, dancing about and throwing punches before working on the speed ball. VIDEO: Scroll down to watch videos of Manny Pacquiao training for Mayweather fight . Manny Pacquiao takes to the ring in his Los Angeles gym to show off his speed of movement . Pacquiao is upping the intensity of his training with just two months to go before he faces Floyd Mayweather . The 36-year-old throws a punch as he moves around the ring in the video posted to his Instagram . The Filipino star also posted a video from outside Freddie Roach's gym in Los Angeles on Tuesday . Pacquiao also posted a message for his fans as he ups the intensity with the fight just two months away. 'Day 3 of my road work training. Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy and your love endures forever. Thank you fans have a blessed day.' Pacquiao's coach Roach is trying to keep his man focused on the task ahead, rather than getting involved with any verbal sparring with Mayweather. 'Manny has not been in with a lot of trash-talkers,' said Roach. 'Mayweather is like Ali in the sense that he will talk to you a lot in the fight. He will rest on the ropes, chatter in your ear and try to get you out of your game. 'I'm really not sure how Manny is going to react to that. He can't let himself get distracted.' Pacquiao shows off his hand speed on the speed ball as a crowd watches on during his training . The star fighter looked in good shape as he prepares for the long-awaited showdown with Mayweather . +Oscar De La Hoya has tipped Manny Pacquiao to cause 'some damage' against Floyd Mayweather during their May 2 showdown in Las Vegas. De La Hoya knows all about both boxers having lost to both Pacquiao and Mayweather during his professional career and believes the Filipino will be a tough challenge for the unbeaten American due to his southpaw stance. The Golden Boy Promotions founder, who lost to Mayweather in May 2007 and Pacquiao in June 2008, also revealed his excitement at being able to see the two box office fighters go toe-to-toe in the ring. Oscar De La Hoya believes Floyd Mayweather will face a tough test when he takes on Manny Pacquiao . De La Hoya, speaking to Fight Hype, said: 'It's just gratifying to know that his fight is finally taking place. 'On May 2 we are finally going to have the opportunity to watch Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. 'A lot of people can argue it is maybe a few years too late but I really do feel that Mayweather and Pacquiao still have a lot left in the tank to make it a really good fight. As a boxing fan I'm really looking forward to it. 'I have always preached to the boxing fans, to the writers and the reporters that we must demand the best fights. We must demand the best fighting the best. Mayweather defeated De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Garden Arena back in May 2007 . De La Hoya also fell to a defeat against Pacquiao during a bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in June 2008 . 'As long as the public is asking for these great fights then we have a great chance of seeing them.' When asked if Pacquiao will be Mayweather's hardest test to date, De La Hoya replied: 'I believe so because you have take into account that Pacquiao is a southpaw. 'If he has the legs for 12 rounds to move inside, outside, side to side and throw a lot of punches then I really do feel that Pacquiao can do some damage to Mayweather. 'But then again Mayweather is a masterful boxer. He is a master at defence so it is just going to be a really entertaining fight.' +Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew believes English football does not have enough black managers and coaches – and wants the ‘jobs for the boys’ culture out of the game. Palace face Queens Park Rangers in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off at Selhurst Park and their manager Chris Ramsey is the only ethnic minority boss in the Barclays Premier League. Pardew wants clubs to work on encouraging ethnic minority coaches to reflect the huge variety of cultures that players in England come from, rather than employing the same “boys club” members. Palace manager Alan Pardew believes that English football isn't doing enough to include black coaches . Chris Ramsey, QPR boss, is the only black coach in the top flight - and one of just six in the Football League . Ramsey is one of just six black or ethnic minorities bosses in the Football League, along with Huddersfield Town boss Chris Powell, Brighton’s Chris Hughton, Carlisle manager Keith Curle, Leyton Orient boss Fabio Liverani and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with Burton Albion. ‘He (Ramsey) is black, which I think is great for the Premier League,’ Pardew said. ‘It’s something that I want to promote here in terms of our coaches, because the percentage of players we have to percentage of coaches in terms of origin isn’t right.’ Palace employ just ‘three or four’ black coaches, according to Pardew and in future recruitment he plans to change that, while backing the idea of a ‘Rooney Rule’ as seen in American Football where a black coach is considered for every job. ‘I’m going to keep approaching when vacancies come up and make sure that we are covering every kind of opportunity in terms of applications that come in,’ he said. ‘It isn’t “jobs for the boys” here anymore, I’m not saying it was, but sometimes it does go like that. Ramsey takes a coaching session at the QPR training ground this week ahead of his side's trip to Palace . Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is currently managing League Two outfit Burton Albion . ‘I think something like that (the Rooney Rule) could be looked at. I also know the LMA and the PFA are really trying to encourage a more diverse approach to getting different creeds to come into the coaching world and I just want to take this opportunity to back that up. Pardew also looked to push forward the prospects of more Asian footballers coming into the game after signing South Korean winger Lee Chung-yong from Bolton Wanderers in the January transfer window. And Pardew says Palace, based in the ethnically diverse area of South Norwood outside London, owe it to their surroundings to be more culturally diverse. ‘I don’t want to talk just about Afro-Caribbean coaches either,’ he said. ‘We have an Asian player now in our first team. We don’t have a lot of that and that’s another area that we need to promote, Asian footballers in this area because there’s a lot of huge community here. ‘We need a greater influx of Indians, Afro-Caribbeans, entering our coaching system and getting jobs, so the proportions make sense.’ Crystal Palace signed Lee Chung-yong from Bolton Wanderers during the January transfer window . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr hit the weights in his gym on Wednesday as Super Bowl-winner Richard Sherman paid him a visit. Mayweather was pictured shadow boxing in front of the mirror with a set of dumbbells as he continued preparations for his $300million (£200m) mega-fight against Manny Pacquiao. Richard Sherman visited Floyd Mayweather Jnr during training on Wednesday . And he posed for a picture with Seattle Seahawks corner back Sherman who enjoyed some downtime after becoming a father last month. Sherman lost this year’s Super Bowl when the Seahawks were defeated 28-24 by the Tom Brady-inspired New England Patriots. Mayweather did some shadow boxing in front of a mirror with a set of dumbbells . Mayweather has been training at his Las Vegas gym this week but will travel to Los Angeles next week to come face-to-face with Pacquiao. The two men will meet at a press conference on Wednesday, the last time before fight week. Mayweather’s game plan will be devised by his uncle and dad for the fight at the MGM Grand on May 2. Mayweather prepares for Manny Pacquiao showdown at the MGM Grand on May 2 . +North hat-trick . Wales needed to force the pace in Rome after half-time to have any chance of claiming the title, and Lions wing George North touched down three times in 10 minutes to light the fuse. George North crosses over for Warren Gatland's side as he managed a sensational second half try hat-trick . Sarto consolation try . A sustained spell of breathtaking Welsh attacking play was partially undermined by the last-minute, long-range strike by Leonardo Sarto, which cut their winning margin and revived English and Irish hopes of taking the title. Leonardo Sarto scored a late consolation try for Italy that damaged Wales' points difference . Hogg miss . Ireland ultimately had cause to appreciate this key incident. Having gained the margin they needed, Scotland’s Stuart Hogg seemed certain to score late on, but fumbled the ball over the line. Stuart Hogg seemed certain to score for Scotland late on against Ireland but fumbled the ball over the line . Tight call . France wing Noa Nakaitaci broke clear and tried to run behind the posts. Under pressure from Ben Youngs, he touched down just as his foot crossed the dead-ball line, but the TMO sided with him. France wing Noa Nakaitaci came close to stepping out before touching the ball down for a French try . Last big push . From one final penalty, England kicked to the corner, won the line-out and drove on with Twickenham in full cry. But just short of the line they were penalised and the title was gone. England came up agonisingly short of winning the Six Nations despite a 55-35 win over France . The Ireland players celebrate as they are crowned Six Nations champions after an enthralling day . +Wales star George North wants to reward Warren Gatland's 'trust' in him after a challenging few months on the international circuit. Juggernaut wing North will win his 48th cap in Saturday's RBS 6 Nations showdown against unbeaten title favourites Ireland at the Millennium Stadium. And the 22-year-old's impressive display when Wales beat France in Paris 11 days ago suggests he is on the way back to recapturing top Test match form. Earlier this term, Wales head coach Gatland called for North to increase his involvement in games, and it did not go unnoticed. Wales winger George North collects a pass in training ahead of the Six Nations clash with Ireland . North is thankful for the 'trust' that Wales coach Warren Gatland has shown in him in recent weeks . Wales centre Jamie Roberts (left) runs with the ball during a training session at the Vale Hotel . Scrum-half Rhys Webb catches the ball in training ahead of Saturday's Six Nations showdown with Ireland . 'For me, it's never a good point if the head coach is not happy with you,' North said. 'That is when you start getting dropped and stuff. 'I felt that Paris was a step forward for me to where I want to be in a Welsh jersey, and hopefully on Saturday I can push forward again and reward his trust.' North has only scored one try in his last seven Tests - against Fiji last November - but at the Millennium Stadium it is a strike-rate of seven touchdowns from 10 starts during the past 16 months. Victory for Wales this weekend would keep them in the Six Nations title mix heading for an appointment with Italy in Rome next week, but recent history suggests that Ireland occupy the box-seat. They have beaten Wales in each of the last two Six Nations campaigns, scoring an aggregate 56 points, while Joe Schmidt's men are currently on an Irish record-equalling run that has realised 10 successive Test wins. North is tackled by England's Jonathan Joseph (left) and Anthony Watson (right) during the Six Nations match . 'If you look at Ireland over the last couple of years in this fixture, they have just been clinical,' North added. 'Over the past two years they have been very good at finishing games off. They take their chances when they can, and we have lacked that composure when it has come to the crunch. 'They are 10 (wins) from 10, which is unbelievable. 'They have got a lot of confidence now, they execute their game-plan very well and they are a side that knows what they want to do and where they want to go, and everyone has bought into that ethos. 'We don't need to big the game up more than it is. It's a massive game for Ireland, going for the Grand Slam, and for us it will be a great Test match here in Cardiff.' North (pictured here in 2014) will win his 48th cap for Wales if he plays against Ireland at the weekend . Wales, meanwhile, will be captained by flanker Sam Warburton for the 34th time as he overtakes Ryan Jones' Welsh record, and North said: 'It's exceptional for Sam. 'He is a quality player and leads from the front, and as a captain you cannot ask for any more. 'With someone like Sam it's not necessarily what he says, it's the actions he does. He is the kind of man who will never ask you to do something he wouldn't do himself. 'In training, he is not someone who stands up and gives a 20-minute speech and everyone gets up and starts screaming. 'It's more of a kind of chat that is to the point and is no more or no less than what it needs to be.' Wales flanker Sam Warburton will captain his country for a record 34th time against Ireland on Saturday . +Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea claimed back-to-back race victories at the inaugural Thailand leg of the World Superbike Championship on Sunday. Rea, on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, enjoyed a dominant weekend in Buriram, firstly taking pole positions and then clinching consecutive lights-to-flag victories on race day. The wins lifted Rea 10 points clear of nearest rival Leon Haslam at the top of the early-season standings, with 95 points from a possible 100 following this weekend's masterclass and a first and second place in Australia four weeks ago. Jonathan Rea celebrates a double victory at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand . The Northern Irishman clinched consecutive race-to-flag victories on race day in Buriram . A pair of second-place finishes for English rider Haslam at the Chang International Circuit kept him in close contact with Rea in the championship table. Rea, 28, fended off first team-mate Tom Sykes and then Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils) to take victory by over six seconds in the opening 20-lap race. It was a similar story in the second race, as Rea was again never headed in claiming his 18th career race win. Haslam was once more his nearest rival, with English rider Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) third. Defending world champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda) finished the races in fifth and sixth places, looking for more from his bike when the series continues in Spain in three weeks. Rea moved 10 points clear of Leon Haslem in the early season standings . The 28-year-old Northern Irishman on his Kawasaki at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand . +Chelsea will be forced to pay over £30million to lure Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi to Stamford Bridge if they follow up their interest in the prolific Argentine. That's according to Inter's sporting director Piero Ausilio, who claims the Italian club would not sell the 22-year-old if they received a big money bid this summer. Premier League leaders Chelsea and Manchester United have both watched the former Sampdoria man, who has 14 goals in 24 Serie A games. Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi (left) has been watched by Chelsea and Manchester United this season . Sporting director Piero Ausilio insists Inter would reject bids of £30million for their star striker Icardi . 'What if someone bids €40m (£30m) for him in the summer?,' Ausilio told Sky Sport. 'Well we've got no intention of doing business, we're thinking of the present and future of this football club with Icardi. 'Our intentions are clear. We're building a team to last for a long time with very talented, young players. 'As well as Mateo Kovacic and Icardi, we've added more quality players such as Marcelo Brozovic and Xherdan Shaqiri and we want to continue in this vein.' Icardi couldn't find the back of the net as Inter fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Fiorentina on Sunday . Ausilio claims that Icardi is on the verge of signing a new contract at Inter, the club he joined back in 2013 . Ausilio also confirmed that Icardi is close to signing a new contract at the San Siro, giving the club more power when it comes to keeping him out of the clutches of Premier League clubs. Ausilio added: 'I was with his (Icardi's) agent until a few minutes ago, we're coming close to an agreement. Icardi will remain with us for much longer. 'Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will have another meeting, during which will a draft contract will be signed, before official deal, that will happen very soon.' +Manchester City are stepping up interest in PSV Eindhoven teenage striker Joel Piroe. The 15-year-old has been on City's radar for over a year and has also attracted attention from Ajax, AZ Alkmaar and Vitesse Arnhem. PSV hope to persuade the prolific forward to sign professional forms with them once he turns 16 but that won't be until August and he is still classed as an amateur. Manchester City are stepping up interest in PSV Eindhoven teenage striker Joel Piroe . He has been on City's radar for over a year and Manuel Pellegrini sent scouts to watch him recently . City scouts have watched him regularly in recent months. Piroe is not averse to making moves despite his tender years. He only moved to PSV from Feyenoord last summer, having scored 45 goals in 26 games for them, and was snapped up by Feyenoord previously from NEC Nijmegen. +It was supposed to be all about AP McCoy — the biggest name in jump racing on his final day riding at the Cheltenham Festival. But instead, Gold Cup day 2015 shone a spotlight on a jockey in Nico de Boinville who has ridden fewer winners in his career than the 19-time champion rides in three months. Carlingford Lough, 40-year-old McCoy’s final Gold Cup mount, finished a fading ninth behind Coneygree, the novice chaser representing 10-horse trainer Mark Bradstock and his assistant, wife Sara. Tony McCoy's wife Chanelle (left) passionately willed him on to claim his third Gold Cup victory . But her relentless optimism soon turned to sheer sadness as her husband crossed the finish like in ninth place . Jockey Tony McCoy could not crown his final Cheltenham Festival with a Gold Cup win . McCoy did get a Gold Cup round of applause but it came as he walked around the paddock before the race. Looking down at his friend and colleague Ruby Walsh, who had yet to be united with his Gold Cup ride Djakadam, McCoy quipped: ‘They think I’ve won.’ No, AP, they were just hoping. Ultimately, McCoy did get on the winner’s podium but that was to present the trophy to the team behind Next Sensation, winner of the concluding AP McCoy Grand Annual Chase. Not surprisingly, the Michael Scudamore-trained Next Sensation, ridden by Scudamore’s brother Tom, had received a quieter reception than McCoy’s fourth-placed Ned Buntline. A crowd close to 70,000 had cheered and chanted his name as McCoy brought his mount down the famous walkway off the track. There were not many who had sneaked away to beat the traffic. And while they did not get the result they wanted, McCoy did at least break the habit of a lifetime for them. The man for whom winning is the only thing that matters, punched and waved the air. The defeat of Carlingford Lough, however, came as no surprise. After the Gold Cup, McCoy conceded he had anticipated his fate on arriving at the track when overnight rain was turning the ground soft. Tony McCoy and Ned Buntline gave it a good go on the 19-time champion jockey's final Festival ride . An emotional McCoy after his last ever ride at the Cheltenham Festival . The big screen at Cheltenham displayed a tribute to the retiring jockey . ‘I knew when I got here this morning that it was always going to be against him,’ McCoy said. ‘He is a horse who likes good ground and it was always going to be too much of a drag. ‘For a horse who is slow he has a little bit of a kick at the end but not when the ground is like that.’ McCoy then paid generous tribute to the winning team. ‘The Bradstocks have done a wonderful job,’ he said. ‘They have proved that if they get the horse, they can do the job. To win the Gold Cup with a novice is a fantastic performance.’ For the uninitiated, a novice is a horse that had not won in a particular category — hurdles or steeplechase — before the start of the season. Even if it does then win a race, the horse remains a novice until the end of that season. Animals who record their first win in March or April may still contest novice events until October 31. As for McCoy, it was just one of those days as he failed to add to Thursday’s Ryanair Chase victory on Uxizandre, who goes down as his 31st and final Festival victory. Hargam, rated one of his best chances of the week but another wrong-footed by the rain, swung for home with a chance in the Triumph Hurdle but finished third behind Nicky Henderson stablemates Peace And Co and Top Notch. McCoy was presented with a photo album of his Cheltenham career after his final fling at the Festival . McCoy, in the middle of the picture, walks out of the Cheltenham weighing room for the last time . Strongly-backed Princely Conn was staying on when badly hampered and slipped back to 13th in the County Hurdle while Fletchers Flyer, McCoy’s mount in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, was a non-runner. And just when McCoy wanted the racing gods to smile on him, they frowned instead as Ned Buntline was hindered by a faller four out. McCoy said: ‘All through the week people have been amazing and I appreciate it. I have always tried to look forward but now I am going to have to look backwards as I have nothing to look forward to.’ Five rides at Uttoxeter this afternoon, including the favourite in the Midlands National, will be on his mind this morning but his admiration for Coneygree and his team was well deserved. The 7-1 shot was in front at the first fence and never headed in a display of controlled jumping at speed that no rival could live with. Five of the 16 starters were pulled up, including 2013 winner Bobs Worth and last year’s victor Lord Windermere, who started at the back and never looked like defending his title. Last year’s runner-up On His Own was Coneygree’s closest pursuer for most of the race but faded to fourth. One by one they cracked as Coneygree saw off Djakadam and Road To Riches with the equine equivalent of a McCoy-type performance. +How refreshing it was to see Danny Welbeck properly celebrate scoring for Arsenal against former club Manchester United on Monday night. The striker's passion was clear to see as he bounded backwards across the Old Trafford turf, letting out a roar of celebration as Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla rushed over to celebrate the moment. 'The emotion takes over,' he said afterwards. 'It was difficult to keep it in.' Quite right too. Welbeck had every reason to celebrate and let all that pent-up frustration out. A pumped-up Danny Welbeck celebrates his winner for Arsenal at former club Manchester United . The Arsenal striker celebrates with team-mates Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla after scoring . At United since the age of eight, he was booted out the door in the summer by Louis van Gaal, who claimed he wasn't good enough to be a first team player at United. So, on his first return to Old Trafford, Welbeck had a major point to prove and when Antonio Valencia under-hit a back pass to goalkeeper David de Gea, he seized his chance. Skilfully taking the ball around the Spaniard, he passed it into an empty net before celebrating whole-heartedly but still with plenty of respect for the United fans. Welbeck could certainly teach these players, who took the whole not celebrating against a former club thing a little too seriously. Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea vs QPR, January 2013) Wright-Phillips wasn't wanted by Chelsea. They spent £21m to sign him and then kept him as a bit-part player until finally ditching him three years later having wasted the best years of his career. So when the winger earned Queens Park Rangers an improbable win at Stamford Bridge during their 2013 relegation struggle, with his first league goal in nearly three years, you'd expect him to be thrilled. Nope. Wright-Phillips looked downright miserable, an island of indifference as his team-mates celebrated jubilantly around him. Shaun Wright-Phillips (third right) looked downright miserable after scoring for QPR at old club Chelsea . Adam Johnson (SUNDERLAND vs Manchester City, December 2012) Likewise with Johnson, who had great expectations when he joined Manchester City from Middlesbrough in 2010 but was barely given a chance by Roberto Mancini. Indeed, Johnson revealed when he escaped to Sunderland that he was barely on speaking terms with the Italian manager towards the end, having been dropped without explanation on a number of occasions during a turbulent two-and-a-half years. So when Johnson gained his revenge by scoring the winner against City a few months after leaving, you'd expect something a bit more animated than just a raised hand of apology. Adam Johnson consoles his former team-mate Joe Hart after scoring against him in December 2012 . Romelu Lukaku (West Brom vs EVERTON, September 2014) Opening your account for a new club, especially after a £28m move, should be kind of a big deal. But Lukaku looked embarassed that his maiden goal for Everton had come at West Brom, the club where he spent the 2012-13 season on loan from Chelsea. Still, at least he earned an appreciative round of applause from the Hawthorns crowd for his sheepish raised hand 'celebration.' Lukaku holds his hands up after scoring for Everton against West Brom, where he spent a year on loan . Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool vs SWANSEA CITY, February 2014) Shelvey made 47 league appearances for Liverpool over the course of his three seasons there, scoring two goals. Hardly the stuff of Kop folklore. But the midfielder felt the need to apologise to the Anfield crowd after scoring a lovely 20-yard goal on his return there with Swansea last year. It did earn him a round of applause from the Liverpool fans though. Jonjo Shelvey apologised to the Kop after scoring for Swansea at former club Liverpool . +QPR's Charlie Austin has hailed the 'exceptional form' of Tottenham forward Harry Kane, insisting the 21-year-old is a shining example of what confidence can do for a striker. Kane's two goals fired Spurs to a 2-1 win over Rangers on Saturday and took his personal tally to 26 goals in all competitions this season. Austin and Kane are both jostling for a spot in Roy Hodgson's England squad, which is announced later this month, but the QPR striker had only praise for his compatriot. QPR striker Charlie Austin has praised the 'exceptional form' of Spurs counterpart Harry Kane this season . Harry Kane, who scored twice for Tottenham at QPR on Saturday, has impressed Charlie Austin this season . Kane fires home Tottenham' second goal in the Premier League encounter at Loftus Road . 'Harry Kane has been in exceptional form this season,' Austin told paddypower.com. 'He was the difference between us and Tottenham on Saturday - and he is a great example of this self-belief. 'That brace makes it eight goals in six league games and when you're on that run you just want the games to keep coming. 'He's confident going into games, and he's confident when he's front of goal that he's going to score. 'That's the kind of confidence that a striker really wants and it will inevitably benefit the team.' Austin has enjoyed an excellent campaign himself, scoring 15 goals in his debut season in the top flight. Charlie Austin is also in England contention after scoring 15 Premier League goals this season . Charlie Austin's shot flies past Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for a consolation goal on Saturday . A dip in form saw Austin score just once in seven matches at the start of the year but two goals in his last three games suggests the 25-year-old his rediscovering his rhythm. 'If you're a confident striker the ball will always fall to you in the right positions,' Austin said. 'If you're in form there's nothing stopping you picking the ball up 25 yards out and having a shot, whereas a striker low on confidence might play it out wide and be slightly more conservative. 'If you get the goal to kick-start the run, your self-belief keeps growing and you know you'll keep getting chances to score.' Austin is only five away from reaching the 20-goal mark in the league this season but the striker insists he has not set any targets. England manager Roy Hodgson monitored both Kane and Austin at Loftus Road on Saturday . 'I've never got into the habit of setting myself personal targets,' Austin added. 'If you set yourself a target you can give yourself something to achieve, but if you don't hit those aims you see yourself as a failure. 'For me that isn't a motivation. It was my first season in the Premier League this year and I wanted to go in all guns blazing and just see what I could do.' +Barcelona president Marc Bartomeu is plotting a bid for Juventus star Paul Pogba worth a total of £144million, according to reports in Spain. Catalan-based publication Sport say that the move will be part of Bartomeu's chief aim as he attempts to remain in power with the club's presidential elections taking place at the end of the season. The newspaper also adds that Bartomeu wants to speak to the France international to arrange a preliminary deal to secure his services with Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and eternal rivals Real Madrid also interested in the 21-year-old midfielder. Spanish paper Sport (left) are reporting that Barcelona president Marc Bartomeu is lining up a bid worth a total of £144million for Juventus' Paul Pogba as part of his plans to win the electoral vote at the end of the season . Elsewhere in Spain, Madrid-based AS focuses on the La Liga title race. League leaders Real travel to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday evening in what could be a potential banana skin for Carlo Ancelotti's men. The 55-year-old has come under pressure recently following Real's dip in form but the Italian has hit back at his critics for his managerial style. 'With this lenient approach I've won three Champions Leagues,' he was quoted as saying on Friday with his trophy-laden CV proving that he knows how to get results. Over in Italy, Inter Milan midfielder Freddie Guarin has praised the impact that manager Roberto Mancini has made at the club since arriving midway through the campaign. Over in Italy, both Freddie Guarin (left) and Xhedran Shaqiri are both appraisal of the feelgood feeling at Inter . The Serie A giants were struggling prior to his arrival, but have slowly improved under the Italian. And Guarin believes Mancini has changed the club's mentality already and helped him improve as a player, adding that the good times will come back to the San Siro outfit. The feel-good feeling at Inter appears to be well spread among the squad as Guarin's team-mate Xherdan Shaqiri believes qualification for a Champions League spot is not out of the question too. Inter are currently 10 points behind third-place Napoli with 13 games remaining but the January window signing feels Rafael Benitez's men can be caught in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. +The woes have increased for Queens Park Rangers, with the club fearing they will lose star striker Charlie Austin in the summer and their accounts showing they could still face a Financial Fair Play fine of nearly £58million. The club are in deep relegation trouble, three points adrift of safety, and have a crucial match away to Crystal Palace at lunchtime on Saturday. They have not won in their previous 11 matches against London clubs and the game will be played against a backdrop of an uncertain future. Manager Chris Ramsey insists that Charlie Austin will not be allowed to leave QPR for a paltry fee . Manager Chris Ramsey admitted that Austin, whose contract runs out at the end of next season, could leave in the summer, but is adamant they will not let him go for a paltry fee. Austin has been in red-hot form in his debut season in the Barclays Premier League with 15 goals — just behind Harry Kane on 16 and top scorers Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa on 17. The 25-year-old has played his way into contention when Roy Hodgson announces his England squad next week to play in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and friendly versus Italy later this month. Hodgson was at Loftus Road to see Austin score a fine strike against Arsenal 10 days ago, despite Rangers losing. Austin has been in red-hot form in his debut season in the Barclays Premier League with 15 goals . Austin celebrates scoring his second goal during the Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion . Ramsey admitted: ‘When somebody sparkles there’s always people in there to poach them or to buy them and make their clubs better. ‘So we would be foolish not to be worried we’re going to lose him. We hope we don’t and we’re glad he’s performed in a way that other teams are trying to secure his services. ‘He’s one of the top strikers in the country, it’s not my decision whether he stays or goes, but any top striker always goes for top dollar.’ QPR have opened talks with Austin over a new, £60,000-a-week deal, but he is keen to wait until the end of the season before making a decision. Austin has been offered a new deal at Loftus Road but will wait until the end of the season to make a decision . To make matters worse, the club’s financial accounts for the 2013-14 season when they were in the Championship, filed at Companies House on Friday, show that their ‘real’ losses last season were almost £70m. The Football League’s complex FFP rules are designed to discourage rich owners buying success and endangering the health of their clubs. A tariff of fines is in place for clubs that massively overspend. Earlier this month, QPR announced they had made a loss of £9.8m but the accounts now prove the smaller loss figure was only possible because of owners — mainly Tony Fernandes — wrote off £60m of old loans in an ‘exceptional item’ in the accounts. Qpr owners including Tony Fernandes wrote off £60million worth of old loans in the accounts . Effectively, QPR counted that write-off as extra income. But that money is noted in the accounts as being a ‘related-party transaction’ — and the Football League’s own FFP regulations explicitly rule out related party moves of the kind QPR have undertaken, to prevent ‘artificially’ lowered losses. If the League decide QPR’s ‘real’ losses are £69.8m, the FFP fine they potentially face will be £57.9m. QPR declined to comment and remain in talks with the Football League. Whatever is decided, refusal to pay a fine could result in their expulsion to non-League football. +Southampton will push their finances to the limit to keep Morgan Schneiderlin this summer. Arsenal are confident of landing the France midfielder but the Saints are desperate to keep him and will offer him a bumper contract. Schneiderlin’s £30,000-a-week deal still has two-and-a-half years to run but Southampton are prepared to double his money, making him the club’s top earner. Southampton are determined to do all they can to keep midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin at St Mary's . Despite having his differences with the Saints last summer the France international has impressed this term . However, Arsenal are increasing their interest in the Frenchman and are prepared to make an offer . His stock has risen this season after a string of excellent displays for Ronald Koeman’s side. Schneiderlin, 25, was furious last summer after the club refused to sanction a move to Tottenham during the final weeks of the transfer window. But his subsequent attitude impressed the club, who want to reward him for his work this season. However, with the Gunners in the background, Schneiderlin is by no means guaranteed to sign a new deal. In that case the Saints will slap a high price on him in an attempt to put off potential suitors. Upwards of £25million has been discussed by the Saints hierarchy if they are forced to part with the Frenchman at the end of the season. The Gunners will have to fork out a reported £25million for the Saints star at the end of the season . +Jose Mourinho says he will not waste his time trying to persuade Petr Cech to change his mind if he wants to leave Chelsea - but says it will take 'huge money' for another club to buy the goalkeeper. Cech started and kept a clean sheet in Sunday's Capital One Cup final against Tottenham but he has been second choice behind Thibaut Courtois for much of the season. His situation has drawn interest from a number of top clubs and many expect Cech to end his 11-year association with Chelsea in the summer. It will require a 'huge' transfer fee to prise Petr Cech from Chelsea in the summer window, says Jose Mourinho . Mourinho said in his press conference that he hopes Cech stays at Stamford Bridge beyond this season . Cech has fallen behind Thibaut Courtois (right) in the Chelsea pecking order but started Sunday's cup final . And Mourinho says he will not try to influence the keeper's decision if he does want to leave. 'I don't think Petr is a guy to be persuaded,' Mourinho said. 'He doesn't let anyone persuade him. 'I think he's very mature making what he feels is the best decision for him and his future. I will just wait, wishing his decision is to stay. That's my desire. I would like him very, very much to stay. 'But I don't waste my time trying to persuade him because it's just his decision. If he tells me he wants to leave I will tell him my opinion, that he is one of the three best goalkeepers in the world, so huge money.' Mourinho said he would not waste his time trying to persuade Cech as he 'doesn't let anyone persuade him' +While manager Tony Pulis wound down after a crushing FA Cup quarter-final defeat to soft soul on his favourite radio station, his West Brom team flushed the defeat out of their system with a trip to the go-karting track. Very different approaches but both seemed to have the desired effect of melting away the disappointment. A narrow victory over Stoke may have lacked petrol fuelled highs or many thrills of any description, but it lifted West Brom to 13th in the table, consigning two defeats to local rivals Villa within a week to distant memory. Tony Pulis' West Brom squad went on a go-karting trip after their FA Cup quarter-final defeat . Darren Fletcher (right) said the midweek trip was kept under wraps for fear of sending out the wrong message . 'I let them have a couple of days away from me,' said Pulis about the aftermath of a 2-0 defeat which ended in a pitch invasion and FA probe into seats being thrown by West Brom supporters, 'I was obviously bitterly disappointed myself and I can be a bit snappy at times. So I took myself away from the firing line. 'You either have a passion or you don't and sometimes I get myself in such a state I am best away from people.' Despite Saturday's win — thanks to Brown Ideye's headed goal — taking West Brom 11 points clear of the relegation zone Pulis said his aims were unchanged. 'I still want 40 points,' he said. 'I'm not concerned about what others do, I would be in my grave by now if I sat worrying about every goal that goes in. I listen to Smooth Radio and a bit of music rather than worry about what other people are doing.' West Brom beat Stoke City at the Hawthorns on Saturday thanks to Brown Ideye's headed goal . Darren Fletcher said the midweek go-karting trip was kept under wraps for fear of sending out the wrong message to fans. 'We didn't want to show the world we doing it and we didn't want the fans to see us trying to do stuff like that straight after losing to Villa. We gave ourselves a little lift, it was just for us as the lads. They were down, it was hard to lose two games to Villa, especially the Cup game. I think it worked quite well so maybe we'll go karting again next week.' Fletcher, 31, is enjoying a resurgence at The Hawthorns after joining on a free transfer in January from Manchester United, where his later years were blighted by a struggle with ulcerative colitis. He bossed the midfield against Stoke but claimed he rolled over on the racing track. 'In the interests of team spirit, I let the rest of the lads win,' he joked, 'The top three were Gardner, [Joleon] Lescott and [Saido] Berahino, they were saying the Brummie lads did the business. Gards organised it and he definitely had the fastest car.' +Burnley have signed Norwegian midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad on a three-year deal. Ulvestad has been training with Burnley and had previously played at Aalesunds FK, scoring 14 goals in 106 appearances. He made his international debut for Norway in August. Burnley have signed Norwegian midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad on a three-year deal . Clarets boss Sea Dyche was in need of extra bodies in midfield ahead of the Premier League run-in . Burnley have been in need of midfield reinforcements since Dean Marney suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury against West Brom at the start of February. The 22-year-old Ulvestad has been without a club since his contract with Aalesunds expired at the end of the last Norwegian season. Burnley manager Sean Dyche says new signing Fredrik Ulvestad won't be rushed into first-team action. 'It's a new challenge for him now, not only on the pitch but off it too in terms of culture,' Dyche said. 'There will be an adjustment period, for sure, because of the change in the levels of football. We know how tough the Premier League is, so he will be given time to adjust to that accordingly and continue his development. 'Fredrik is someone who came into the club to spend some time with us earlier this year. 'We liked what we saw and he has gained some good experience playing in the league in Norway. 'He has gained a full international cap and is learning and gaining experience all the time. We will be looking for him to continue his development and improve further as a midfielder.' +Juan Mata will start his first game for Manchester United since January 17, as Louis van Gaal looks to shake things up against Tottenham. Mata, having joined the club for £37.1million in January 2014, has struggled to make an impact since the turn of the year, only making three starts. His last appearance in Van Gaal's starting XI came on January 17 against Queens Park Rangers, but since then he has only made four fleeting appearances off the bench. Juan Mata (right), pictured in training last week, will start his first game for Manchester United since January . Mata's last starting appearance for Manchester United came against Queens Park Rangers on January 17 . Van Gaal has made three changes to his United team from the side that faced Arsenal in the FA Cup on March 9. He said of Mata's inclusion: 'Mata has played there a long time also with Chelsea. 'He is the same type of player as [Angel] di Maria. He's left-footed and he can do the job there I think.' Mata's inclusion is a straight swap for the suspended Angel di Maria, while Phil Jones and Michael Carrick replace Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo. United are fourth in the Premier League, but can close the gap on Arsenal to one point with a victory against Tottenham. +Queens Park Rangers manager Chris Ramsey has backed Les Ferdinand after he was charged by the Football Association for abusing a match official. The FA have accused Ferdinand of using ‘abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards a match official in or around the tunnel area’ following their defeat to Tottenham last weekend. Ferdinand, QPR’s director of football, has until 6pm on Friday to respond to the charge. But Ramsey said: ‘Les was frustrated after the game. We could’ve had two penalties. We’re talking about me keeping my job. It could’ve gone a significant way to me keeping it. QPR manager Chris Ramsey has given his support to the club's director of football Les Ferdinand . Queens Park Rangers director of football Ferdinand (left) has been charged by the FA for misconduct . The incident occurred at the end of QPR's (right) 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham on March 7 . The former QPR striker has been director of football at the club since early February . ‘Les is very passionate about the club. We lost a game we probably shouldn’t have due to two very poor decisions. It didn’t help us.’ One of the penalty appeals was when Mauricio Isla was challenged by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and the other occurred when Nabil Bentaleb appeared to block a Charlie Austin shot with his hands on the line. Referee Craig Pawson gave nothing for either decision. QPR eventually lost the match 2-1 after Spurs striker Harry Kane struck twice. Ramsey said: ’When we’re near the bottom and we’re fighting for our lives and you have two strong penalty shouts you expect people to be frustrated. Everyone was upset with the referee and how we lost the game.’ QPR owner Tony Fernandes has told Ramsey the manager’s job is his if he manages to keep the team up. But Ramsey added: ‘I’d accept keeping QPR up and to not get the job.’ QPR players trained on Friday ahead of their Saturday lunchtime kick-off against London rivals Crystal Palace . +It was the final minute of a one-sided game and Everton winger Christian Atsu set off on one last attack. Sprinting in front of him was Ross Barkley and Atsu wasted no time sending the England man clear. As Tim Krul raced out, Barkley danced around him, the ball never leaving his feet and - with the goal at his mercy - he gracefully applied the finishing touch. Goodison Park, at long last, was exultant and all around this old stadium, fans punched the air in celebration. On the touchline, Roberto Martinez was a little more reserved but there is no doubt a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. This was a big day for the manager and his team, but they came through it with panache. In the end they beat Newcastle 3-0 but that score might have been six. Click here to read Dominic King's full match report . Host commentator . Everton move six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone with what turned out to be a comfortable win for the home side in the end. The Toffees took the lead through James McCarthy before Romelu Lukaku added a second from the penalty spot. Everton's day was made easier when Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini was sent off for a dangerous lunging tackle on Aaron Lennon before Ross Barkley added a third in the closing stages of the match. Substitute Ross Barkley shows Kone how it is done by rounding Krul before placing the ball into an empty net. Kone rounds Krul after dodging several challenges from Newcastle's defenders but he runs out of space to score. He probably should have squared the ball to a team-mate but his goalscoring instinct saw him try to score a goal of his own. Atsu comes on for the final five minutes of this afternoon's match at Goodison Park. Sissoko, who is captaining Newcastle following Coloccini's sending off, made Howard make his first real save of the afternoon with a powerful shot at goal. Howard made a good save to his left before shouting at his defenders. Osman, who has been in impressive form, just tested Krul with an effort but the Dutchman was able to palm the ball to safety. The Toffees are not exactly pushing for a third goal but I suppose they are content with their two-goal advantage. Newcastle, on the other hand, are starting to tire due to their numerical disadvantage. Gutierrez replaces Riviere as 10-man Newcastle attempt to close up shop. They know they are out of the game now so it's just a case of keeping the scoreline down to as low as possible. Newcastle's day has been made even worse as their captain has been sent off for a disgusting challenge - if you can call it that - on Lennon. He was incredibly late and his studs were raised as he made a lazy attempt to win back possession for his side. Carver throws on Cabella for Ameobi immediately after Everton's second. Lukaku adds a crucial second goal by converting the penalty from 12 yards. He slots the ball past Krul before running away in celebration. Gouffran is penalised for a clumsy tackle on Aaron Lennon. Kone is being given the time and space to dictate play in the middle of the park but his final pass leaves a lot to be desired. Ayoze Perez came on at half-time in place of Obertan. A positive move by John Carver, who will feel his side can get something out of today's game. Just to recap, here's how McCarthy scored his first goal of the season for Everton. That strike could be pivotal in terms of the Toffees' hopes of staying in the Premier League. A nervous Everton side go into the interval with a 1-0 lead. McCarthy's goal was somewhat fortunate as Krul should have done a lot better but the Toffees will take any kind of fortune given this position in the league. The home crowd are starting to vent their frustrations at Everton despite still being in the lead. Toffees fans will be desperate for their side to open up a two-goal lead in order to ensure they take all three points. The Toffees have grown in confidence since taking the lead through McCarthy. Kone appears to be enjoying a free role just behind Lukaku, while the Belgium international is holding the ball up well. Baines is starting to have some joy down the left. Janmaat is struggling to deal with Baines' runs from deeps. The England left back could have some joy today. Nice moment at Goodison Park. Jonas Gutierrez has just started warming up, running alongside the Family Enclosure towards the Gwladys Street end, both of which are the domain of home supporters. As he made his way to the corner flag on his short shuttle sprint, there was spontaneous applause from Evertonians, a mark of respect for what he has been through. Everton are starting to get a real grip on this game. Ryan Taylor received a yellow card for bringing down the marauding Lennon. Good atmosphere inside Goodison Park, none of the tension that made the first 30 minutes of the Europa League contest with Dynamo Kiev so uncomfortable. Everton have had the better of the play so far and look fresher, thanks to Roberto Martinez making five changes from that 2-1 win on Thursday. It’s a big game for Everton and they look primed to get the result they need particularly now that James McCarthy has given them the lead. Lukaku holds the ball up before laying it on to McCarthy who scores his first goal of the season with a driven shot at goal. Krul committed himself to diving to his right, however McCarthy sent the ball in the opposite corner. Both sides have failed to really trouble the opposing goalkeeper in the first 17 minutes of the match. Newcastle are just shading the possession stats. Martinez will also need help from his goalkeeper Tim Howard, who has not been in the best of form this season. The former Manchester United man will surely take confidence in his early save. Everton's last home win in the Premier League came back in December when Martinez's side beat QPR 3-1. The Toffees will surely have to improve their home form if they cant to climb the table and ensure they are not involved in a relegation scrap. Lukaku, who found the back of the net against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday, stings Krul's gloves with a powerful shot at goal. He will be desperate to live up to his price-tag and help Everton pull away from the relegation zone. Newcastle have started the match extremely brightly. Obertan tested Howard with a powerful effort before Williamson's shot was cleared off the line. Everton: Howard; Baines, Jagielka, Alcaraz, Coleman; McCarthy, Gibson, Lennon, Osman; Kone, Lukaku . Newcastle: Krul; Janmaat, Coloccini, Williamson, R.Taylor; Colback, Sissoko; Obertan, Gouffran, Ameobi; Riviere . The attention switches from the top half of the table to the bottom half where Everton are in desperate need of a win. Roberto Martinez's side are currently just three points away from the Barcalys Premier League drop zone. Newcastle, on the other hand, are sitting comfortably in mid-table. Everton will look to pull clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League with three points against mid-table Newcastle at Goodison Park. Roberto Martinez's side have struggled this season - a surprise given their impressive fifth-placed finish last year - and are currently only three points away from the bottom three. Newcastle, on the other hand, have been secure in mid-table for the majority of this season. They have dropped away from the clubs towards the top of the league, but still find themselves 10 points away from the relegation zone. Three points against Everton would almost certainly secure their Premier League status for another season. +Porto right back Danilo is set to join Real Madrid. Reports in Spain had claimed the 23-year-old was at the centre of a tug-of-war between the La Liga giants and Manchester United. However, Sportsmail understands there was no serious interest from the English club and that Danilo is currently in advanced talks with the Champions League winners. Danilo, in action last month for Porto against Vitoria, is close to completing a £27million move to Real Madrid . His representatives met with Madrid officials last week and held further talks with Porto to underline the player's wish to leave and an announcement is thought to be imminent. Danilo's contract has 16 months left to run and Porto have made attempts to get him to agree a new deal. The Brazilian right back (left) puts in a challenge on former Benfica midfielder Nemanja Matic last January . He played in the Dragons' 3-0 win over Sporting on Sunday night before picking up a yellow card and being substituted with six minutes to play. United have been linked with Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne and Barcelona's Dani Alves, with out-of-favour Brazilian Rafael expected to depart Old Trafford. The 23-year-old (left) puts in a strong challenge on Man City midfielder Yaya Toure back in February 2012 . +There may still be 10 games and more than two months to go until the curtain falls on this season's Barclays Premier League action. But, somewhat farcically, voting for the Players' Player of the Year award, has already begun. Luis Suarez, who scored 31 league goals for Liverpool last term before his £75million summer move to Barcelona, currently holds the title. Sportsmail's team of top writers give their verdict on which player they would want to follow in the Uruguay international's footsteps if they were asked to cast their vote today. IAN LADYMAN . Nemanja Matic . Jose Mourinho’s current Chelsea team is perhaps the most physically imposing he has ever assembled and Matic stands out as a giant among men. A superb reader of the game, Matic can pass the ball well, too. He would get in just about every team in Europe and that says it all. Nemanja Matic, in action for Chelsea against PSG earlier this week, has starred for the Blues this season . MATT BARLOW . Harry Kane . Chelsea have been the best team with immense consistency from Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard. But no-one has made a greater individual impact than Harry Kane. He’s transformed the mood at White Hart Lane with his energy and desire, deflected attention from the big-money flops and offered hope for the future as a flag-bearer for the youth system. Not to mention 26 goals, and an anticipated England call-up. He must finish the season and kick on, but Kane seems capable of that. Each time he seems about to fade, he hits back. Harry Kane celebrates with his second successive Barclays Player of the Month award on Friday . Kane, pictured celebrating against Queens Park Rangers, has scored 26 times for Tottenham this season . LEE CLAYTON . Who deserves to be voted Player of the Year today? Here’s my answer to the question: No-one. It’s too early. It’s a nonsense that the players have to vote so soon and shows why the Footballer of the Year award, voted by members of the Football Writers’ Association, has more credibility. I'll save my vote until then, thank you. But among the contenders: John Terry, Harry Kane, Philippe Coutinho, Alexis Sanchez, Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Danny Ings, David de Gea and Charlie Austin. Voting now is like deciding a Wimbledon champion before the quarter-finals are played. I want to see how they fare at the business end of the season. Alexis Sanchez has impressed for Arsenal following his summer switch from Barcelona . MIKE KEEGAN . Eden Hazard . It's close between Hazard and Sergio Aguero but the brilliant Belgian shades it thanks to his remarkable injury-free record. Already this season Hazard has pulled on a Chelsea shirt 41 times and has again been superb. Aguero's susceptibility to various issues stops him from becoming Manchester City's first winner of the award. Eden Hazard has played 41 matches for Chelsea this season but has been one of the league's best players . NEIL ASHTON . Harry Kane . He deserves it for the surprise element more than anything else - nobody could have predicted his impact at Tottenham this season. He lives for the game, thriving on the responsibility of scoring goals for the club and enjoying his relationship with Spurs supporters. Next week he will be rewarded with a call into the England squad. ROB DRAPER . Nemanja Matic . I reserve the right to change my mind in the next few weeks, as Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez have both been superb. Hazard could become one of the game’s greats. But I’m close to settling on Matic, because his position is often under-acknowledged and because he has provided balance to a Chelsea team that had collected flair players while eschewing midfielders who can defend. He is a throwback to Patrick Vieira: the aggression, the superb distribution, the instinctive reading of the game and, most of all, those longs legs extending to whip the ball away from an attacking player who thinks he is clear on goal. Because he is so good defensively, his passing and creativity in forward areas are often overlooked. I’m expecting the more glamorous players to win the awards but I don’t think any player contributes more to their respective teams than Matic. Matic parades the Capital One Cup trophy with Branislav Ivanovic after their triumph over Tottenham . Sanchez and Hazard have both been impressive performers for their sides this season . CRAIG HOPE . Harry Kane . There is nothing dark about the art of Kane and a victory for the Spurs striker would be a victory for football and all of the reasons why we should love the game. There are no elbows, no spitting, no intimidating referees - he scores goals for his boyhood club and does so with a smile on his face. His brilliant enthusiasm aside, Kane is a worthy winner on footballing merit alone and has consistently been the division's best striker this season. His goals have invariably been match-winning and his breakthrough campaign should be crowned with a clean sweep of the annual awards. David De Gea has spared Manchester United's blushes on a number of occasions this season . Branislav Ivanovic would win Joe Bernstein's vote . MARTHA KELNER . David De Gea . He almost certainly won't win it but David De Gea deserves some representation for Player of the Year based purely on the fact he has single-handedly and often stunningly rescued Manchester United and kept them in the hunt for a top-four finish. JOE BERNSTEIN . Branislav Ivanvoic . This is one of the toughest to call because the obvious stand-out performers -  Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Sergio Aguero - have missed games or been inconsistent. So in a very even field I'd vote for Branislav Ivanovic because he's typified best why Chelsea will be champions . CHRIS WHEELER . Eden Hazard . Chelsea aren’t winning too many friends at the moment but it does look like they will win a Premier League and Capital One Cup double, and no-one will have contributed more than last season’s PFA Young Player of the Year. A supremely gifted footballer, Hazard deserves the main award this season ahead of Sanchez, Costa, Coutinho and Kane. LAURIE WHITWELL . David De Gea . Nobody goes to football matches hoping for clean sheets but the United goalkeeper has produced saves of wonder this season, genuinely entertaining and worthy of repeated replays as much as any goal. This award should go to a player who has impacted his team significantly, clearly lifting them higher. So far, De Gea has done that. +Ligue 1 top scorer Alexandre Lacazette will not be heading for the Barclays Premier League next season, if Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas is to be believed. Lacazette has 21 league goals this season, more than any player in England's top division and only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the Europe-wide goalscorer rankings. And while the France international has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs, his president at Lyon says there is no way their star man will be crossing the channel. Alexandre Lacazette has 21 goals this season and his club Lyon are reluctant to see their top hit man leave . The 23-year-old admitted that he could move on in the summer but Lyon's president has refuted that . Lacazette has been linked Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool but amid speculation of a summer departure, Aulas has confirmed he will be keeping hold of the striker. The 23-year-old told Lyon's TV channel on Thursday: 'I know that several clubs are watching me, but I will think about whether I want to leave or stay later on and then we shall see. 'At the moment I cannot say if I am staying or not, because if a club puts a certain amount of millions of euros on the table, the president will probably tell me to leave.' Lacazette (right) is a summer target of Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City but is unlikely to move . Aulas responded to the talk of Lacazette leaving on his Twitter account, saying: 'Impossible. He will be with us at the (new) Stade des Lumieres and in the Champions League.' Lyon lead the Ligue 1 table with 54 points from 27 games ahead of Chelsea's Champions League opponents Paris Saint-Germain. +A pair of conjoined twins born sharing a tailbone and genitals will have to undergo a lengthy operation to be separated. The twin sisters were born on 17 March at Ningdu Hospital in Jiangxi, China. They were delivered via caesarean section after their mother's blood pressure dramatically increased, the People's Daily Online reported. Rare: A pair of conjoined twins born in Jiangxi, China, sharing a coccyx and genitals, will have to undergo a lengthy operation to be separated . The girls' father, whose surname is Zeng, 35, said his daughters were transferred to a Shanghai hospital yesterday after doctors advised him they desperately needed separation surgery. The twins are the man's first children with his wife, to whom he has been married for eight years. A hospital report stated: 'The twins are joined by their sacrococcygeal regions and their genitals. One back passage is blocked and the other is normal.' It added that the twins might die if they are not given separation surgery within four days. The operation could take up to 12 hours. Joined: The twin sisters were born on March 17 and were rushed to the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai yesterday . Expertise: Medical staff attend to the twins as they are transferred between hospitals via ambulance. A hospital report stated: 'The twins are joined by their sacrococcygeal regions and their genitals. One back passage is blocked and the other is normal' A pair of conjoined twins who shared a liver were successfully separated in Kunming, south west China, earlier this month. And at the end of February two ten-month-old conjoined baby girls from Texas survived a world-first operation to separate them. Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata shared the same chest wall, lungs, pericardial sac, diaphragm, liver, intestines, colon and pelvis. Care: The report added the twins might die if they are not given separation surgery within four days. Above, they are carefully carried into hospital while wrapped in a huge red blanket . Concern: The twins are Zeng's first children with his wife, who he has been married to for eight years. Above, the 35-year-old climbs into an ambulance . A team of more than 26 clinicians, including 12 surgeons, six anesthesiologists and eight surgical nurses at the Texas Children's Hospital operated to separate the girls. The 26-hour surgery was the first time twins conjoined at the chest and abdomen in this way had been successfully separated. +Winston Reid is ready to sign a new contract with West Ham after all, following his latest round of talks. The New Zealand central defender is out of contract in the summer and had looked set for a move to Tottenham while Arsenal also showed an interest. However, West Ham’s owners have proposed a healthy contract and, combined with the club’s resurgence, Reid is close to agreeing to stay. Winston Reid looks set to sign a new deal at West Ham after being linked with a move away in the summer . Reid was linked with a move at the end of the season to either Tottenham or Arsenal . Reid has been at West Ham since 2010 after joining from Danish club FC Midtjylland . The news would reflect another step forward for West Ham as they continue to harbour hopes of qualifying for Europe this season despite the setback of Saturday’s defeat by Crystal Palace. The 26-year-old Reid joined West Ham from Danish club FC Midtjylland in 2010 and has been an impressive performer at the heart of their defence since his arrival, playing a key role this season. +Fulham have signed Norwich City centre-back Michael Turner on loan for the rest of the season. The 31-year-old, who has also had spells at Hull and Sunderland, said: 'I’m very pleased to have the deal done. 'As soon as I learned of Fulham’s interest I wanted to come here straight away. I just want to come in and try and make a big influence on the team.' Fulham have signed Norwich City centre-back Michael Turner on loan for the rest of the season . Turner challenges Fulham's Hugo Rodallega in the Premier League last year - now they are team-mates . Turner is expected to make his debut in Saturday’s game at Sheffield Wednesday. Fulham are one place above the relegation zone but seven points clear of nearest rivals Wigan. Turner is expected to make his debut for the Cottagers in Saturday’s game at Sheffield Wednesday . +Samir Nasri wants to follow in Thierry Henry's footsteps by finishing his career in the MLS. The Frenchman signed a new five-year deal last summer, which will take him through to his 32nd birthday. And the Manchester City star, speaking to Sportsmail at the recent New Balance Football global launch in London, has outlined his plan to play in America, after insisting a return to France is not an option for him. Manchester City playmaker Samir Nasri is keen on ending his career in the USA . Thierry Henry ended his career at MLS outfit New York Red Bulls after an outstanding career in Europe . Nasri, pictured at Euro 2008, played alongside Henry during his time with the France national team . 'I would like to play MLS, not go back to France,' he said. 'Maybe I would go back to Marseille but it would be too difficult - maybe impossible. 'I would like the MLS, like Thierry Henry. I love the lifestyle in USA and everything about it.' The MLS' profile is set to increase in the following months with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard both due to arrive in the USA to continue their playing careers. Nasri, pictured back in 2008, does not believe he can seal a move back to former side Marseille . +Louis van Gaal's first season with Manchester United is in danger of turning into a complete mess following the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal. The Dutchman has enjoyed a stellar career but there are signs that he has yet to grasp the demands of the Barclays Premier League and his decisions have left United facing a huge fight to salvage some respectability. Here Sportsmail looks at some of the mistakes that Van Gaal has made. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal (left) and assistant Ryan Giggs during their defeat by Arsenal . Why sell Welbeck? There was an inevitability the England striker would return to haunt Van Gaal. United's manager may have been happy to sanction that deal to Arsenal last summer but, in many ways, it was a mistake and shows the shifting values of United. Why did they allow a young English player whose best days are ahead of him to leave and replace him with someone on an extreme salary who was recovering from injury? United as a club develop players. Van Gaal prides himself on working with young talent, so keeping Welbeck should have made sense. The 'Galactico' policy they are pushing doesn't suit them. It caused shock against Arsenal that Falcao was overlooked when United were losing but has the Colombian really done anything to justify being at Old Trafford? Van Gaal's mistake was letting Welbeck leave and bringing in a player who wasn't guaranteed to suit English football. Danny Welbeck shoots to score the winning goal against Manchester United on Monday night at Old Trafford . A stranded David de Gea looks on as the goalkeeper was beaten by former United player Welbeck . Welbeck celebrated his goal against his former club as Arsenal won the FA Cup tie 2-1 . Messing up in Milton Keynes . So much has happened during this season you could almost forget about the events of Tuesday, August 26. However, Van Gaal made an error that night by selecting a weak team to take on MK Dons in the Capital One Cup. With no European commitments, Van Gaal should have gone full strength to give United a chance of competing for silverware. Instead, he selected six players who are no longer at the club and that 4-0 capitulation increased scrutiny at an early stage. No coach should throw away an opportunity to win a competition but that is what United did against League One opponents. Tumbling out of the FA Cup means this will be the first time since 1989 that United have gone two years without a trophy. United lost 4-0 against MK Dons earlier in the season as Van Gaal played a weak team . MK Dons striker Benik Afobe celebrates scoring their third goal against United at Stadium MK . No coach should throw away an opportunity to win a competition but Van Gaal did against MK Dons . Not playing to Wayne Rooney's strengths . As Roy Keane observed after the Arsenal defeat, Rooney is 'as good as anyone' when he is deployed in a central striking role. To prove that, he has scored three goals in his last three games and is the one United outfield player who you would genuinely call world-class. But Van Gaal has muddied the picture by playing him deep at times and not utilising his talents. That has had a detrimental effect on results. Rooney, remember, had a spell not long ago when he went nine matches without scoring. Giggs speaks with United captain Wayne Rooney, who has been played out of position previously . Van Gaal has muddied the picture by playing Rooney deep at times and not utilising his talents . What has happened to that style? Keane made another pertinent observation when he said it is 'time to stop looking back at what United had before'. They will not progress as a club if they keep harking back to the good old days of Sir Alex Ferguson. What United have lost, though, is the identity of how they play. At their best, you associate United teams as being fast, dynamic and fearless, always prepared to take risks and stay on the front foot. Has Van Gaal presided over a performance this season that has been universally lauded for attractive football? No. It says everything about them that against Arsenal they finished off hoisting long-balls to Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling. United have lacked a good style since Van Gaal took charge during the summer after the World Cup . Firing it up to Fellaini . Fellaini is a good player and he has made a contribution for Van Gaal this season but his continued presence in the team is now proving a hindrance. Liverpool had the issue when Andy Carroll played for them in that it became too easy to smash a ball up to the big presence at the top of the field and United are falling in to that trap. Van Gaal is a coach whose teams historically play attractive football but Fellaini is making United a more primitive outfit. Marouane Fellaini (right) more often than not is told to try to win long balls with his presence up front . How do you solve a problem like (Di) Maria? Picture Angel di Maria in your mind and what do you see? It will probably be of a flying winger hurtling down a flank, the ball stuck to his foot like glue and a defender spinning and swerving to try and cut out the danger. Go back to last season's Champions League final and you will see countless examples. How many times have you see Di Maria do that in a Red shirt? Van Gaal talks of philosophies and systems but doesn't it just make sense to play players in their best positions? Di Maria looked majestic early on in his United career. Lately he looks to be confused by what Van Gaal wants. Angel di Maria is shown a red card during United's defeat at Old Trafford against Arsenal on Monday . Di Maria leaves the field after being sent off during the defeat that was Van Gaal's last chance of a trophy . Changing the formation . Football should, essentially, be a simple game but Van Gaal's tactics can be confusing and nothing shows that up more than whether he is playing three defenders or four. United pass the ball around at the back without really having a purpose and they now have a habit of getting themselves into a panic, as shown by the mistakes that led to Welbeck's goal. It says everything that United's fans sang '4-4-2!' when they played Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. Van Gaal's ego meant he was always going to be single-minded in his approach to this job but maybe he has underestimated how true United fans are to traditions. Ripping up a blueprint that had been successful for a quarter of a century has not had the desired effect. United are now too cautious and have lost their speed and threat. It also means they are losing their formidable reputation, too. +Nottingham Forest are keen to turn Gary Gardner's loan move from Aston Villa into a permanent one. The England Under 21 international scored a spectacular goal for Forest on Saturday to cap their 3-0 win over Reading and has impressed during his time at the City Ground. Gardner has been a key figure in Dougie Freedman's revival which has seen Forest win five and draw one of their last six games, scoring 19 goals in the process and climbing to ninth in the table, ten points off the play-off positions. Nottingham Forest . The 22-year-old Gardner has enjoyed the change. He said: 'The manager has been very firm, he has been very organised and every one of us knows our job. There have been no excuses. 'If one player does not do their job, the whole team can fall down. The gaffer is not scared to pick you out in the dressing room if you do not do your job and, as a player, you do not like to be picked out. That is a major part. If you are not pulling your weight, you will not play. Everyone on the pitch wants to stay on the pitch.' Gardner, who has been capped by England from U17 level through to U21, was touted as one of the game's best prospects but a couple of cruciate ligament injuries derailed his progress. Gardner scored in Nottingham Forest's 3-0 win over Reading on Saturday with a spectacular strike . However, after a loan spell at Brighton and his stint at Forest, he has started to gain match sharpness and is beginning to fulfil his potential. Freedman has been delighted with Gardner's performances and wants him to be part of his ambitious project to take Forest into the Premier League. That will not be straight forward though as Villa manager Tim Sherwood rates Gardner also. Sherwood is fully focused on Villa's relegation battle but has been kept informed of the young midfielder's performances as he continues to weigh up the players at his disposal. Sherwood put great faith in youth during his time at Tottenham and Villa's highly-rated production line was a big pull for him when he pitched to replace Paul Lambert. Gardner is one of the players he is keen to work with and Sherwood won't contemplate any sale. Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood rates Gardner highly and is keen to keep the midfielder next season . +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Crystal Palace's home clash with QPR. Crystal Palace vs QPR (Selhurst Park) Team news . Crystal Palace . Alan Pardew will have on-loan Arsenal forward Yaya Sanogo back from a hamstring injury for Saturday's Barclays Premier League match against QPR. Striker Glenn Murray is also available again following suspension, but midfielder Mile Jedinak, however, continues his four-game ban. Fraizer Campbell and Marouane Chamakh (hamstring) are both out, while Jordon Mutch is also missing with a thigh strain. Provisional squad: Speroni, Delaney, Kelly, Dann, Ward, McArthur, Gayle, Zaha, Ledley, Bolasie, Puncheon, Gray, Hennessey, N'Diaye, Souare, Hangeland, Boateng, Mariappa, Ameobi, Sanogo, Murray. Yaya Sanogo is back from a hamstring injury for Saturday's Premier League match against QPR . QPR . QPR are hoping defender Darnell Furlong, midfielder Adel Taarabt and forward Eduardo Vargas will recover in time for Saturday's Premier League match at Crystal Palace. Furlong (calf), Taarabt (groin) and Vargas (muscular problem) returned to training this week after missing last weekend's 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham through injuries. The trio will have to pass a late fitness test on Friday afternoon before club coach Chris Ramsey decides to select them. Midfielder Joey Barton will serve his third and final match ban this weekend while defender Richard Dunne and midfield pair Leroy Fer and Alejandro Faurlin are still sidelined with knee problems. Provisional squad: Green, McCarthy, Caulker, Furlong, Yun, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Isla, Hill, Traore, Taarabt, Kranjcar, Henry, Sandro, Phillips, Hoilett, Wright-Phillips, Vargas, Austin, Zamora, Zarate. QPR are hoping defender Darnell Furlong will be fit in time for Saturday's match against Crystal Palace . Key match facts (supplied by Opta) Crystal Palace have won just one of their last seven Premier League home matches (W1 D2 L4). Kick-off: Saturday (12.45pm) Odds (subject to change): . Crystal Palace 3/4 . Draw 12/5 . QPR  4/1 . Referee: Lee Mason . Managers: Alan Pardew (Crystal Palace), Chris Ramsey (QPR) QPR are unbeaten in the last seven league meetings with Crystal Palace (W3 D4 L0). The Eagles have now gone 10 Premier League matches at Selhurst Park without a clean sheet. There have been just seven goals scored in the five Premier League meetings between Palace and Rangers and just one in the last three. Rangers have won just one and lost 16 of their last 18 Premier League games away from home. Glenn Murray has scored three goals in his last two Premier League appearances. There have been just five yellow cards in the five Premier League meetings between QPR and Crystal Palace. QPR midfielder Joey Barton goes flying in on Crystal Palace striker Fraizer Campbell . QPR have won just six of their 34 Premier League London derbies away from home and have lost the last five in a row. Alan Pardew has already won more Premier League games as Crystal Palace manager (four from eight) than Neil Warnock (three from 16), despite managing half as many games. QPR have allowed more shots on target against them than any other team in the Premier League (160). +The financial rewards of Southampton’s continued academy excellence were blindingly obvious last summer, but Lille run the south coast club close in terms of money generated from their youth products. A study carried out by the CIES Football Observatory shows Lille have benefited hugely from the Premier League’s wealth over the last three years - with the country producing players worth more than any other on the continent. Only Southampton have been paid higher transfer fees for players brought through their youth system than the Ligue 1 side in that time throughout the whole of Europe. Southampton have taken more money for their youth stars than any other side in Europe since 2012 . Eden Hazard's move from Lille to Chelsea helped the French side rake in profits from their academy . Divock Origi (right) joined Liverpool in the summer but was immediately loaned back to France . MONEY EARNED FROM SELLING HOMEGROWN PLAYERS SINCE 2012 . Mathieu Debuchy left Lille for Newcastle United before later sealing a switch to Arsenal . Calum Chambers, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw made 90.2million euros (£64.4m) for Saints as they moved to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United respectively at the end of last season. But interestingly it is Lille – midtable in France’s top division - who were the most profitable of the rest. And that’s thanks in no small part to the Premier League. Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle) and Divock Origi (Liverpool) have all sealed permanent switches to England since 2012 and count for the majority of Lille’s 76million euros recouped. While they have been able to lean on Origi this year – the Belgian striker was immediately sent back on loan – they are renowned for taking the money for their sellable assets. They sold five academy stars in that period in contrast to Real Sociedad’s two – Antoine Griezmann and Asier Illarramendi. Atletico Madrid snapped up the former for around 30m euros last summer, with city rivals Real taking Illarramendi a year previous. It is Ligue 1 who garner the most profit on their academy stars, with the Premier League third . Adam Lallana (left) and Luke Shaw both left St Mary's for bigger things last summer . Unsurprisingly Real Madrid and Barcelona both figure in the top 10 after selling off a raft of players who were unlikely to impact on their first team for modest profits. Mario Gotze’s move to Bayer Munich mean Dortmund figure ahead of the Spanish giants, with Sevilla nestled beneath Sociedad after earning just over 50m euros. The research puts into perspective a lack of homegrown talent emerging from top-flight clubs outside of Southampton’s buzzing academy. Swansea, Manchester United and Everton are the only other domestic sides included in Europe’s top 20; each of United’s five players sold – Michael Keane, Danny Welbeck, Robbie Brady, Matt James and Josh King – were deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, with four of them having to drop down a division in the search of regular football. A large proportion of Everton’s profits was down to Jack Rodwell’s move to Manchester City, and it is unquestionably Saints who continue to lead the way in nurturing talent. +An Italian castle used as Nazi headquarters during World War II has been put on the market for £5million. The Castello Gallenga Stuart, near the historic city of Perugia, Umbria, boasts five storeys and 20 bedrooms. In the later years of World War II, the building was used by the Germans as their command base, until Perugia was liberated by the British in June 1944. Castle for sale: Castello Gallenga Stuart, near Perugia, Umbria has been put on the market for £5million . Castello Gallenga Stuart is believed to have gotten its name when it was bought by the head of the local Gallenga family, Romeo Gallenga and his English wife, Mary Montgomery Stuart, in 1872. The neo-gothic five-story building is dominated by an octagonal tower, where the stone-framed main entrance is embellished with family crests. There is a magnificent tapestry room, a study which has an amazing frescoed fireplace studded with family crests and a reception room with coffered ceilings and bow windows. Exterior steps, with marble treads, lead to the first floor of the building and carry on up to the octagonal tower, offering a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Historic importance: The castle was used by the Germans as their command headquarters in 1943-1944, until Perugia was liberated by the British . Outdoor splendor: The façade and steps of the castle stay true to the neo-gothic style . There is a magnificent tapestry room, a study which has an amazing frescoed fireplace studded with family crests and a reception room with coffered ceilings and bow windows . Castello Gallenga Stuart is believed to have been bought in 1872 by the head of the Gallenga family, Romeo Gallenga and his English wife, Mary Montgomery Stuart . Castle on the hill: The neo-gothic five-story building is dominated by an octagonal tower . A tree lined drive leads to the building and the fenced park, consisting of six hectares of lawns and mature woodland, wraps around it. Carla Rossi, the estate agent responsible for the property's sale and office manager at Abode SrI, said: 'This is a stunning wedding cake of a building. 'It's simply crammed with decorative features: a fairytale castle ideal for anyone with a Rapunzel complex.' The property offers exquisite views of the city and the beautiful Mount Subasio and dominates the countryside from the top of a low hill . +Arsenal and Manchester City are tracking Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. The Turkey international has impressed since joining from Hamburg in the summer, scoring five times in Leverkusen's bid to qualify for the Champions League. And his displays have captured the attention of both City and Arsenal in recent months. Arsenal and Manchester City are keen on Bayer Leverkusen star Hakan Calhanoglu, pictured here in action earlier this month against FC Kaiserslautern in the German Cup quarter final . The Gunners have been on the 21-year-old's case since last season, but City are also paying close attention to his displays having impressed Etihad Stadium scouts in recent months. Calhanoglu's ability from dead ball situations have particularly caught the eye of City and Arsenal scouts. Calhanoglu has impressed at Leverkusen this season following his arrival from Hamburg last summer . Manchester City and Arsenal both have scouts monitoring the 21-year-old dead ball specialist's progress . +It's the run of games which will go a long way to deciding whether Manchester United are playing Champions League or Europa League football next season. Four of the Premier League's top six - Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea - in their next fives games. Make-or-break for Louis van Gaal and his players. Other than the home clash with relegation-threatened Aston Villa on April 4, Sunday's visit of Spurs would appear to be United's best hope of three points over the next month and a half. But recent results tell a different story. Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney (L-R) look dejected during defeat by Arsenal . Christian Eriksen scores Tottenham's winning goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford last season . Eriksen is mobbed by his team-mates after helping Tottenham to their second consecutive win at Old Trafford . 29.09.2012 - Manchester United 2-3 Tottenham . 20.01.2013 - Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United . 01.12.2013 - Tottenham 2-2 Manchester United . 01.01.2014 - Manchester United 1-2 Tottenham . 28.12.2014 - Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United . Having won 17 and drawn five of their previous 22 games against Tottenham, United now find themselves without a win in their last five matches with the north London outfit. Mauricio Pochettino's men battled to a 0-0 at White Hart Lane in December but Spurs have won their previous two visits to Old Trafford, ending a 23-year wait for victory with a 3-2 triumph in September 2012. United had gone 26 games without defeat at home to Spurs in all competitions - winning their previous nine - before a Jonny Evans own goal and strikes from Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey gave Andre Villas-Boas' men a memorable win in Manchester. And Tottenham proved that result was no fluke last season when goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Christian Eriksen sealed a 2-1 victory for Tim Sherwood's side. Gareth Bale scores during Tottenham's 3-2 victory at Old Trafford in September 2012 - their first in 23 years . Clint Dempsey celebrates after netting Spurs' winner against Sir Alex Ferguson's side . Then Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas shows his delight after the final whistle . Two draws at White Hart Lane - 1-1 in January 2013 and 2-2 in December 2013 - were sandwiched between those victories, taking Spurs' unbeaten run to an impressive five games. So impressive, in fact, that they are only the third team to manage such a run against United. Liverpool did the same between 2000 and 2002, winning four consecutive games against their great rivals - including two at Old Trafford - and drawing once. Blackburn Rovers also went five games unbeaten against the Red Devils between 2004 and 2006, winning at Old Trafford in September 2005 and coming out on top in two fixtures at Ewood Park. Just three points behind United going into Sunday's game, Tottenham have a major incentive to pull off their third successive win at Old Trafford and become the first team to go six games unbeaten against United in the Premier League era. Hugo Lloris keeps out a shot from Robin van Persie during a 0-0 draw between the sides in December 2014 . Spurs striker Harry Kane (left) battles for the ball with Jonny Evans in this season's clash at White Hart Lane . Football data analysts BSports believe a Manchester United home win is easily the most likely outcome . Victory would mean Pochettino's side would be out of the Champions League places by goal difference only, something they will be confident of improving upon in upcoming games against Leicester, Burnley, Aston Villa and Newcastle. And in Harry Kane, the Premier League's hottest striker and Premier League Player of the Month for February, Spurs have a man capable of causing United's frail defence all sorts of problems. Their games against in-form Liverpool, local rivals City and league leaders Chelsea will be extremely tough but Van Gaal should be just as wary of Tottenham. After decades of domination, Spurs have quickly become United's bogey team. +Monisha Kaltenborn has no intention of quitting as team principal of Sauber despite being mired in legal controversy this week. Kaltenborn's position has been drawn into sharp focus after appearing to have signed three drivers for the new Formula One season, but with naturally only two seats available. The case with reserve driver Giedo van der Garde is to continue at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Saturday, just a few miles from the Albert Park circuit. Monisha Kaltenborn addresses the media in Melbourne on Friday with her team mired in controversy . Felipe Nasr takes to the Albert Park track during the second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix . Kaltenborn, a trained lawyer, was naturally unable to shed any light on the case given it remains ongoing. But asked whether she was still competent to run the team, Kaltenborn replied: 'I don't see it (the case) having any effect. 'We have a very clear view of what we did. We took action after thinking about it for a while. 'For us that was very clear, but the outcome is different, and that's all I can say to you.' Pressed on whether she had considered resigning, Kaltenborn added: 'I've not considered that. Giedo van der Garde walks through the Sauber team garage as his legal dispute with the team continues . Lewis Hamilton in action for Mercedes as the champions continued where they left off by setting the pace . 'This whole matter does not have any effect on the way we work, the way the team works.' Kaltenborn conceded, however, the past week had affected morale with the team's name dragged through the courts. 'It's had a very negative impact on the team because the situation was, for a while, unclear,' added Kaltenborn. 'We now have certain actions taken against the team, and we are acting accordingly. There's nothing much more really I can say to that.' The Supreme Court initially upheld a Swiss arbitration panel decision that the team not deny Van der Garde his right to drive given the 29-year-old has a contract for a full-time seat for this season. Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson was also in action for Sauber under the blazing sun in Melbourne . Van der Garde is now pursuing enforcement of the order allowing him to drive, otherwise Sauber risk being in contempt of court. At one stage during the day bailiffs were on stand-by outside the circuit ready to impound Sauber's assets, namely the cars and trackside equipment. Sauber's problem is they also signed Marcus Ericcson and Felipe Nasr towards the end of last year before cancelling Van der Garde's deal in February, according to Kaltenborn. With three valid contracts and only two race seats available, Sauber and Kaltenborn have found themselves mired in controversy . Sauber have been forced to detail their assets to the court, whilst the worst-case scenario for Kaltenborn is she faces imprisonment if she fails to comply with the order. The legal argument resulted in Sauber failing to take to the track for the opening practice session of the year at Melbourne's Albert Park. Come FP2, with lawyers for both parties back in court at the same time, it was Ericsson and Nasr behind the wheel, with Van der Garde unable to acquire in time a super licence required to drive in F1. Asked as to why they were unable to take part in FP1 yet did so in FP2, she replied: 'It's a topic which I cannot talk about. That's all I can say.' In court, Justice Croft ordered a further recess until 9.30am local time Saturday (10.30pm UK), with constructive talks understood to have taken place, leading to the possibility of a conclusion. +Blackburn Rovers manager Gary Bowyer has dismissed suggestions that striker Jordan Rhodes could leave. Championship promotion hopefuls Derby County and Norwich are keen to take Rhodes on loan with view to a permanent £8million transfer should they go up. Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday are interested in a similar deal. The 25-year-old Scotland international has scored 13 goals this season but has not been a regular starter and was on the bench for Sunday's 0-0 FA Cup quarter-final draw at Liverpool. Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes will not be leaving Ewood Park to join a Championship rival . Rhodes (centre) was left on the subs' bench for the duration of Blackburn's FA Cup match against Liverpool . 'I don't understand why we'd want to even consider loaning one of our players to rivals,' said Bowyer. 'I think it's come out of possibly that he wasn't involved in the starting 11 on Sunday. 'We've had plenty of chats, of course we have,' added Bowyer. 'But he's starting on Wednesday against Bolton and we're looking forward to him scoring like he did last week at Sheffield Wednesday. 'It's simple. We've got 11 league games left and a Cup quarter-final with a potential visit to Wembley. 'Why we would want to be letting any of our players go at this stage is beyond me.' Blackburn, who are 14 points off sixth place, rejected a £12m proposal from Hull City last year but posted debts of £79.8m and are under a transfer embargo for failing to comply with FFP rules. Gary Bowyer has ruled out the possibility of Rhodes leaving the club before the end of the season . +Real Madrid's 4-3 loss to Schalke has prompted further calls for change in the Spanish capital. They progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League thanks to a 2-0 win in the first leg, but Tuesday night was supposed to be easy. On Sunday, their place at the top of La Liga was swiped from underneath them, and 92% of fans have demanded a change in tactical approach, according to a recent poll in AS. Most players have been criticised - Cristiano Ronaldo included - but perhaps most under-fire is Iker Casillas. Mr Real Madrid, with over 500 appearances. Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has come under heavy scrutiny after a series of poor performances . Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has been touted as the perfect replacement at Real Madrid . Three of Schalke's four goals could have been saved, they said. Casillas needs to leave, they said. At 33 years of age, he may well be past his best, with three European Cups, five league titles and one World Cup tucked safely under his belt. Manchester United's David De Gea has been touted as his possible replacement, and even Sportsmail's Jamie Carragher waded into the debate on Tuesday night. 'Madrid need a new keeper. De Gea wants to win trophies. No brainer,' he wrote on Twitter. De Gea was labelled the best goalkeeper in the world by Roy Keane this week, and may leave United . Keylor Navas is also waiting for his chance at the Bernabeu after joining in the summer . And perhaps he has a point. Manchester United have fallen short of expectations once more, and De Gea will be keen to taste success... where better than the city he was born? He is a Spain international, and certainly talented enough to take the reins from his countryman. But you get the feeling that Real Madrid would not be the same without Casillas. Since 1999, he has been a main-stay at the Bernabeu. At the end of the game on Tuesday night, there was an endearing moment in which he refused to let his team-mates leave the pitch before thanking the Madrid fans. Casillas would not let his team-mates leave the pitch on Tuesday night before they thanked the supporters . Cristiano Ronaldo was unhappy at his side's performance, but was made to applaud the fans by Casillas . Pointing and pulling, ushering his team-mates to the corners of the pitch to applaud the supporters. But still they want rid. For the first goal, he palmed the ball into his bottom corner. For the second, he pushed it into the path of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. For the third, he was rooted to the spot. Success is in Madrid's nature, and their fans aren't happy with the amount of goals they are conceding. That starts at the back... with Casillas. Aside from De Gea's potential arrival, you can't forget the presence of Keylor Navas. Signed from Levante in the summer, he is waiting, willing, wishing for his chance. De Gea is a Spain international and grew up in Madrid, playing for Atletico before moving to Man United . Casillas has had a remarkable career, winning numerous trophies including the 2010 World Cup . But De Gea makes sense. He is 24 years old, and getting better with every game he plays. Signed by Sir Alex Ferguson for just shy of £19million in 2011, United would make a tidy profit on him if he were to leave. 'I think David De Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment,' Roy Keane told ITV after Monday night's FA Cup clash with Arsenal. The best goalkeeper in the world to one of the best football clubs in the world. Maybe Jamie Carragher has called it right again. +Lukas Podolski's loan spell at Inter Milan has been far from impressive, and the Arsenal man could find himself back in north London come the summer. The 29-year-old German forward was shipped out to Serie A in January but has failed to net on nine occasions for Roberto Mancini's side, and his agent has revealed that a move back to the Emirates could be on the cards. 'Anything could happen,' Ali Pektas told Fanatik. 'Last summer he could have moved to Galatasaray, but it never materialised. Every summer Lukas and I go on holiday to Turkey. Despite working hard at training, Lukas Podolski has struggled to make an impact on loan at Inter Milan . Podolski strikes the ball during a session at Inter Milan's Appiano Gentile training ground on Wednesday . 'For the moment he's on loan at Inter, and when it ends at the end of the season he could return to Arsenal, where he still has a year on his contract. 'With regard to his future, all I can say is that anything could happen, even a transfer to Turkey. Why not? He appreciates [Turkish football] a lot, and he wants to keep playing at a high level.' Podolski was this week rated as the second-worst Serie A signing of the season in a poll conducted by Gazzetta dello Sport, but he is not fazed by the criticism being levelled at him. The Arsenal loanee falls to the floor under the challenge of Fiorentina defender Gonzalo on Sunday . Podolski battles for a header with Milan Badelj (right) but he has not impressed during his time in Serie A . He told Sport1: You need to swallow [criticism] in professional football. There is always another direction, meaning a positive one. 'I don't care for media or people being critical of me. I know that this is part of the business. It's important to know what you have to do to be better. Podolski was given an opportunity to start Inter's crunch clash with Fiorentina on Sunday, but was hauled off in the second half after another lacklustre performance. A particular low point of the match came when Podolski kicked the flag while taking a corner and miskicked the ball, which failed to reach the penalty area and was intercepted to set up a Fiorentina counter-attack. Podolski was voted Serie A's second worst signing of the season by a poll in Gazzetta dello Sport this week . The Arsenal forward's agent says Podolski (right) may return to the Emirates at the end of the season . +Arsenal's 18-year-old German-born midfielder Gedion Zelalem will go straight into the USA national team if FIFA grant him eligibility, coach Jurgen Klinsmann told reporters on Thursday. Zelalem was born in Berlin and played for Germany at youth level and was also eligible to play for Ethiopia through his parents. However the player has expressed a desire to play for the United States and gained U.S. citizenship in December, opening the door to a potential switch pending permission from the world governing body. VIDEO Scroll down to see Zelalem score an amazing basket for Thierry Henry . Gedion Zelalem in action for Arsenal against Galatasaray in the Champions League in December 2014 . 'He is a special case. I think he is already at a level that he can definitely play with the senior team,' Klinsmann told reporters. Although Zelalem has yet to feature in a Premier League game for Arsenal he is seen as one of the most exciting prospects in the club's youth ranks. He made his first-team debut in the FA Cup win over Coventry City in January last year and made another appearance from the bench in the Champions League game away to Galatasaray in December 2014. USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann hopes that FIFA grants Zelalem permission to play for his side . Klinsmann did not rule out the midfielder being given a slot in one of the U.S. youth teams at some stage but said he wanted to see him with the first team initially. 'Definitely I would like to see him with me first. I want to see how he interacts with the whole group and what level he is in. For the next dates, I am totally open to have him in the Under-23s,' he said. Zelalem lived in the United States from 2006 until 2013 when he joined London club Arsenal. Zelalem, playing for the Gunners during his debut last year against Coventry, lived in the USA from 2006-13 . FIFA rules, designed to stop players from being granted citizenship for entirely football reasons, require players to live in a country for five years after their 18th birthday before they are eligible. The U.S. is hopeful of being granted a waiver in the case of Zelalem, given that his move to the country as a schoolboy had nothing to do with soccer. Klinsmann continues to look for other dual-nationals to strengthen his squad, with Mexican team Club America's Phoenix-born defender Ventura Alvarado and Leon goalkeeper William Yarbrough also on his radar. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger (left) has voiced high praise of promising midfielder Zelalem (right) +Bordeaux captain Lamine Sane has issued a come-and-get-me plea to Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers by revealing he would be keen on sealing a move to Anfield. Sane, who has played 16 Ligue 1 games for Bordeaux so far this season, is capable of playing at centre back and in midfield. The Senegal international has stated he is content with life at Bordeaux but has aspirations to play in England. Bordeaux skipper Lamine Sane has revealed he is keen on joining Premier League outfit Liverpool . Reds boss Brendan Rodgers will be keen on bolstering his options during the summer transfer window . Sane, speaking to beIN Sports, said: 'Honestly, I feel very good at Bordeaux, for the moment. 'It is true that I have always been drawn to England. As for a club: Liverpool. I have always said Liverpool, since my first ever interview. It is a club that I really like.' Sane's ability to play in defence and midfield could entice Rodgers into making a move for the Bordeaux ace as the Liverpool boss will be keen to purchase players who are capable of playing across his new favoured 3-4-3 formation. Rodgers' current defensive options include Dejan Lovren - who has struggled to impress since completing his £20million move to Liverpool - and Kolo Toure - who is out of contract in the summer. Liverpool centre back Kolo Toure is out of contract at the end of the current campaign . +Jenson Button fears McLaren will qualify at the very back of the grid for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. The British driver and his team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who is deputising for the injured Fernando Alonso, endured a miserable day during practice for the season opener at the Albert Park Circuit. The McLaren pair, hampered by reliability problems to their new Honda engine, managed only 13 laps between them in Friday’s opening session and were five seconds down on Nico Rosberg’s best time for Mercedes. Jenson Button cut a frustrated figure in Melbourne on Friday as McLaren struggled for pace and reliability . Button was almost four seconds slower than Nico Rosberg, who set the pace for Mercedes on Friday . And while Button managed to get more running under his belt during the second session, completing 21 laps, he was still almost four seconds down on the front-running Mercedes. Magnussen posted four laps before losing control of his McLaren at Turn Six and crashing into the barriers. Backmarkers Manor, who didn’t compete at any of the winter tests, failed to take to the track on Friday, and Button fears a similar no-show tomorrow will see McLaren bring up the rear for Sunday’s curtain raiser in Melbourne. Kevin Magnussen loses control of his McLaren at Turn Six and runs into the gravel before crashing out . The Dane didn't take any further part in the session with his car in bits before it was taken back to the garage . ‘I am hoping it won’t be the last row of the grid,’ said Button, a three-time winner in Melbourne, when asked about his hopes for qualifying. ‘Hopefully 20 cars will run. It won’t be easy and we all know it. We are working as one and we are not pointing any fingers. We are just solving the problems as we go. Hopefully we will be competitive sooner rather than later.’ McLaren, powered by Honda for the first time since 1992, had a pre-season to forget as they struggled for pace and reliability. And getting to the chequerd flag on Sunday will now be considered a positive result for a team which hasn’t tasted victory in over two years. ‘I have no goals in terms of position,’ said Button. ‘The important thing is to make sure we maximise everything we have and then look at timesheets in qualifying and the race, see how we fared, and how much work we have to do.’ McLaren are powered by Honda this year, but face an uphill struggle and may bring up the rear in Melbourne . +Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini has stepped up his charm offensive in an attempt to spark a move for Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure. The former City manager wants to bring Toure to Milan after his spell as boss of the Ivorian midfielder powerhouse at the Etihad Stadium between 2010 and 2013. And Mancini has cheekily hinted that Toure would fancy a move to Italy after a difficult season with City chasing Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League title race. Yaya Toure (left) is wanted by Roberto Mancini (right) at Inter Milan after their time at Manchester City . Mancini poses with Aleksandar Kolarov, David Silva, Toure and Jerome Boateng (L-R) when signing them . 'Yaya has played in every top League, apart from Germany and Italy,' Mancini said. 'If, as it seems, he wants to have an experience in Italy, then there is this possibility he could come here. 'It won’t be easy, but he’s a player with incredible technique and character. Would Inter be his first choice? That’s certain.' Mancini claims Toure 'seems' to want a move to Inter Milan despite having two years left on his City contract . Mancini is back as Inter Milan manager and wants to bring high-profile players to Italy's Serie A . Toure has two years left on his City contract, and there seems no chance that the Premier League champions would be interested in selling a star player and part of the spine of Manuel Pellegrini's team. And Pellegrini has spoken out previously to confirm that Toure will not be leaving - not that it's stopping Mancini. Last month Pellegrini said: 'I don’t have an opinion about what another manager says about Yaya. 'Of course, every manager of every team would want Yaya in their team but I don’t have anything to say about that.' Toure rues a missed chance for City - and he has struggled to match their usual standards at times this year . Manuel Pellegrini says Mancini can forget about signing Toure but the Italian won't seem to back down . And Mancini certainly seems interested in his former players, having also tried to sign City youth product from Fiorentina, where he is on loan, in January. 'We did try to get him, as he was my player at City,' Mancini told Gazzetta TV. 'Fiorentina seemed open to it, but the move didn’t go through.' Mancini's Inter are struggling in Serie A this season and face missing out on Champions League football again, with the Nerazzurri sitting ninth in the table. +Wales boss Warren Gatland has warned his players not to get ‘caught with their pants down’ in Rome after their famous victory over Ireland set up a final-round decider against Italy. Having edged out their round-four tie at the Millennium Stadium, Gatland’s side are still in the hunt for the championship but they must better the points difference of both England and Ireland to top the standings. Wales have won their last seven meetings against the Azzuri, however they will have to prepare for the tie at the Stadio Olimpico with major fitness concerns over Jamie Roberts, Richard Hibbard, Gethin Jenkins and Samson Lee. Wales coach Warren Gatland has warned his team to focus on winning against Italy before running up a score . A delighted Wales team celebrates keeping their 2015 RBS Six Nations title hopes alive with victory . ‘If you go in with an attitude that we need to score, 20, 30 or 40 points then we’ll get caught with our pants down and be rolled over,’ said Gatland. ‘It will be tough for Italy with a six-day turnaround. Italy are not a bad side. It’s important to do a job up front and accumulate points. ‘It could come down to the last 15 or 20 minutes. It will be nice to go there and get a win and hopefully win by a few. We’re first up at the weekend so we’ll see how the other teams react afterwards. It puts us under some pressure but hopefully it puts England and Ireland under some pressure too.’ England face a potential banana-skin tie against France, while Ireland have a trip to wooden spoon favourites Scotland. Like Gatland, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will also approach the closing weekend with caution. The Kiwi coach found himself in a similar situation 12 months ago, when he pipped the English to the title with a dramatic victory at the Stade de France. Sam Warburton gives a thumb up after an heroic defensive effort from Wales in their win over Ireland . Warburton makes a run at Ireland hooker Rory Best at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday . ‘I suppose it’s a bit similar to last year, when we just knew we needed the result in Paris,’ said Schmidt. ‘That’s something we managed to do and we won the championship on the back of it, and England had to sit and watch. But you’ve got to beat those teams first. I don’t think you can afford to go anywhere and start chasing points . . . Scotland are going to be very difficult to beat.’ Last night’s defeat in Cardiff was not how Paul O’Connell hoped to celebrate his 100th Test. The 35-year-old was outfoxed at the line-out by Alun-Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris, admitting that he is itching to right those wrongs at Murrayfield next week. ‘The guys are very disappointed but it’s not up to Joe or me or anyone to lift anyone, it’s up to individuals to lift themselves,’ said O’Connell. ‘One thing about losing is that you just want to get out there and play again as soon as you can.’ Gatland praised his medical team for introducing a ‘spotter’ who flagged up Hibbard’s head injury. Richard Hibbard was withdrawn after his head injury was spotted by video analysis and doctors alerted . Following the controversy of George North’s concussion against England, chief medical manager Prav Mathema moved to increase his resources to deal with the issue. Hibbard’s 78th-minute injury was picked up on video analysis equipment, with the spotter subsequently ordering the team doctors via radio to remove the hooker from the pitch. ‘Prav has put in place a spotter with video access,’ said Gatland. ‘It’s pleasing because there’s been so much said about concussion.’ +It may be nearly two weeks away, but Spanish publication Marca is already building up to the El Clasico later this month, and quite rightly so. Barcelona and Real Madrid swapped places in La Liga over the weekend as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez capitalised on the former league leaders slip up away at Athletic Bilbao. Messi and co now sit a point ahead of their league rivals, meaning the match at the Nou Camp on March 22 has quickly become one of the most important in recent times. Barcelona grabbing top spot means Spanish publication Marca is already building up to this month's El Clasico . Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez celebrate as they eased passed Rayo Vallecano at the Nou Camp to go top . Fellow Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo is full of praise for Messi after the Argentine broke yet more records when he graced the pitch on Sunday. The little Argentine wizard caught up with Cristiano Ronaldo in the league's top scorer charts when he grabbed his 30th goal of the season with his 24th La Liga hat-trick - a new record. Attacking resources are not something Real Madrid are generally considered short of, but Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale have all stuttered of late. Spanish publications Mundo Deportivo and AS focus on Barca and Real Madrid following a big La Liga weekend . AS believe the trio, collectively known as the BBC, need to be changed around and held a poll which will disappointing for all Premier League fans keeping tabs on Bale's progress. More than 46 per cent of fans taking part in the debate believed the former Tottenham Hotspur attacker should be dropped. Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after Athletic Bilbao scored during the match at San Mames stadium . More than 46 per cent of fans taking part in a poll voted for Gareth Bale to be dropped in the coming games . The poll is hardly a revelation considering the stick the Welsh wizard has revealed in recent weeks, in fact what is more surprising is that more than 32 per cent feel Ronaldo should be given a break. Benzema's: 'I'm the first to arrive and the last to leave' attitude has clearly endeared him to the Madrid faithful, with just 21.7 per cent of fans voting for the Frenchman to be dropped. Madrid's goals per game ratio has halved since Christmas, leaving many fans questioning the formation with more than 92 per cent of them voting 4-4-2 in another poll run by the publication . In the same poll 21.7 per cent of participators voted that Karim Benzema should be dropped by Real Madrid . The main story in Italy is yet another stuttering performance from Fillipo Inzaghi's AC Milan side after they draw at home against Verona. Corriere dello Sporto go as far as to say the former Italian international has no future at the club and could be coming toward the end of his tenure. But the man himself claims he will go forward with his head held high despite admitting his side gives away goals like fools. Fillipo Inzaghi's AC Milan side were again disappointing as they were held to a 2-2 home draw against Verona . Juventus boss Mino Raiola would love for Paul Pogba to stay at Juventus despite transfer rumours . Meanwhile Italian publication Tuttosport is focusing, for a change, on Serie A star Paul Pogba as the former Manchester United youngster continues to be linked with a big money move. The Juventus midfielder has been linked with all of Europe's elite but Mino Raiola wants the 21-year-old French star to stay in Turin. Former Manchester United youngster Paul Pogba continues to be linked with a big money move away . +Padraig Harrington returns to action for the first time since his dramatic victory in the Honda Classic in this week's Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. Harrington's first win on a major worldwide tour since the 2008 US PGA Championship secured his return to the Masters next month and lifted him back inside the world's top 100, but did not get the Dubliner a place in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. That at least allowed the 43-year-old three-time major winner the time to reflect on his victory, which came in a play-off with American rookie Daniel Berger after a double bogey on the 71st hole. Padraig Harrington's victory at the Honda Classic was his first since the 2008 US PGA Championship . Harrington's win secured his place in The Masters next month and put him in the top 100 of the world rankings . Harrington (right) beat American rookie Daniel Berger in a play-off to secure his win . 'It feels great to have won and now that I have done so I have allowed myself to think of the things that come with it, the Masters, the Players, WGC-Bridgestone and I am exempt for three years on the PGA Tour, but above all that the confidence a win brings,' Harrington wrote on his official website. 'It has been tough at times but the last couple of months, with my two wins (he won in Indonesia in December), have made it worthwhile. 'I never doubted myself, I know a lot of people did and many asked me why I would do things differently, but then that wouldn't be me. 'I don't feel any different now that I have won, as I always felt that the win was around the corner. Harrington wrote on his webstie about the confidence that came with his first win in seven years . 'Little did I know that it was going to be a nearly seven-year corner and then, like buses, two come along one after the other. 'I feel that I have found the mental solution that I have been searching for and that I will kick on from here. I know that it won't work all of the time, but that some of the time it is good enough.' Harrington has been paired with world number two Jordan Spieth and former Masters champion Adam Scott for the first two rounds, Scott finishing joint fourth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Sunday in his first start of the season. Fellow Australian John Senden is the defending champion. +QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has been charged with misconduct after allegedly insulting a match official. The charge relates to Ferdinand's behaviour 'in or around the tunnel' after QPR's 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday. Ferdinand has until 6pm on Friday to respond to the charge. Queens Park Rangers director of football Les Ferdinand has been charged by the FA for misconduct . Ferdinand allegedly insulted a match official in the Loftus Road tunnel . The incident occurred at the end of QPR's 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham last Saturday . Ferdinand watches from the stands next to England manager Roy Hodgson as QPR lost to Southampton . The former QPR and Tottenham striker has been director of football at the club since early February . An FA statement read: 'It is alleged that Ferdinand, director of football at QPR, used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards a Match Official in or around the tunnel area after the end of the fixture. 'He has until 6pm on 13 March 2015 to respond to the charge.' QPR were denied two penalties against Tottenham, as Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris brought down Mauricio Isla, and Nabil Bentaleb appeared to block Charlie Austin's shot with his hands late on. The defeat leaves Rangers 18th in the table and three points adrift of safety with 10 matches remaining. +They had earned a trophy and a promising title shot, but there was an appropriate lack of rejoicing by England on Saturday night. Wastefulness is no cause for euphoria. The Calcutta Cup had been retained, but the limitations of the opposition meant that was never in real doubt, despite considerable Scottish tenacity and occasional artistry. Stuart Lancaster, his assistants and his squad know that the standards they reached at Twickenham will not suffice against the leading rugby nations. England beat Scotland but they haven't shown enough to convince yet during the Six Nations . Defeating Scotland earned Chris Robshaw and his men a trophy, but they didn't do enough . The England squad smile for the cameras having defeated Scotland 25-13 to win the Calcutta Cup . 1st minute: George Ford sends Luther Burrell clear but he ignores Anthony Watson in space on the right and the door slams shut. 13th minute: Ben Youngs frees Mike Brown but the full-back — minus a boot — is chased down by Stuart Hogg close to the posts. 15th minute: The pack drive a scrum towards the Scottish line but Billy Vunipola is unable to pick up and touch down. 17th minute: Jack Nowell storms clear with two team-mates on either side but goes it alone, slips and cannot offload the ball. 31st minute: Burrell bursts through and sends Watson scorching to the line, but the ‘try’ is ruled out ny Romain Poite for a forward pass. 54th minute: Rampant England swarm into the visitors’ 22 but the attempted offload by Geoff Parling is pinched by Blair Cowan. 56th minute: Replacement hooker Tom Youngs makes a dazzling midfield charge but it comes to nothing as his pass flies between two supporting runners. 58th minute: Watson breaks from a ruck to the opposition 22 but runs away from Burrell and cannot release the centre to score. 62nd minute: Brown blasts over the Scottish 22 to score, but the ‘try’ is disallowed due to another forward pass in the build-up — this time by James Haskell. While the Red Rose is now planted at the top of the RBS Six Nations table, even shambolic France may be no push-overs in the tournament finale at Twickenham next Saturday if there is not a sharp up-turn in English precision. ‘If you look at the All Blacks, when they create a line break they usually end up scoring,’ said Lancaster. ‘We created 12 line breaks, which is a huge positive because I haven’t seen any team pull Scotland apart like that, but to only come away with three tries is frustrating. I think the players know that.’ They most certainly do. Ben Youngs was named man of the match for his efforts at scrum half, but he appeared underwhelmed by the manner of the victory. ‘We got what we wanted in terms of the result, but the scoreline should have been better,’ he admitted. There is a recurring concern for England. Composure — or a lack of it. They mustered plenty in Cardiff to turn the tide against Wales, but too often in tight games there are failures of decision-making or execution. The tone was set on Saturday by Luther Burrell, who didn’t manage to pass to the unmarked Anthony Watson on the Scottish 22. Put him in a Northampton shirt and the centre would surely make the pass and create the try. Yet, on this high-profile occasion, the chance was squandered. A similar error of judgment by Jonny May against Italy cost the Gloucester wing his place in the match-day squad, but Burrell is likely to escape the same fate due to the absence of injured Brad Barritt and reservations about Billy Twelvetrees. George Ford got England off to a perfect start in the second-half but the first half will have worried them . Exeter wing Jack Nowell crosses over to score England's third try and send them top of the Six Nations table . The Saints player was not the sole offender, with Jack Nowell at fault for ignoring support more than once. It may seem churlish to criticise the Exeter wing, who was dynamic and dangerous, but England urgently need a clinical edge. ‘It’s that composure after the line break,’ said Lancaster. ‘It was good on some occasions because we scored three good tries, but there were also missing elements and we need to fix those for next week.’ Jonathan Joseph continued his purple patch by touching down for the fourth time in as many games. But he was left irritated by the hosts’ profligate streak, too. ‘We made costly errors in the red zone in their 22 which let them off the hook,’ said the Bath centre. ‘We are creating those opportunities, now it’s just a matter of finishing them.’ England must not over-state their satisfaction at mere creation alone. On the one hand, Wales’ victory over Ireland was a source of great English joy, as it leaves Lancaster’s team with it all in their favour in the three-way tussle for the championship title. But with the bigger picture in mind, the red-shirted defensive heroism in Cardiff rammed home the need for England to become more ruthless. Soon. On the latest evidence, their closest World Cup Pool A rivals won’t be line-break fodder in the way Scotland so often were. No other country can match the All Blacks’ ability to expose and seize the jugular, but Lancaster will be painfully aware that his team cannot rely on a torrent of attacking possession. When England are equalled or trumped up front — as was the case against Ireland — they will require an executioner’s instinct. At least it was evident in one man on Saturday. George Ford wielded the conductor’s baton with staggering assurance for a 21-year-old. He invariably took the right option while going through his wide-ranging repertoire in helping to conjure the tries by Joseph and Nowell. He added one himself when the fractured Scottish defence opened up in front of him. Tom Youngs (centre) leads an England breakaway as Lancaster's side returned to the Six Nations summit . Anthony Watson runs clear but England repeatedly failed to take their chances at Twickenham on Saturday . Mike Brown was one of the better performers but England spurned too many opportunities at Twickenham . Ben Youngs hands off a tackle but the man of the match wasn't happy with his team's overall performance . Joseph, his club-mate at Bath, said: ‘I have played with George since Under 18s and he has always been that kind of player who thrives under pressure and more or less always delivers. He has been outstanding for us in the Six Nations.’ Five days from now, England can win the title using their home advantage and the benefit of playing last and by preying on simmering French doubts. But if ‘Le Crunch’ turns out to be a tense duel after all, they also need others to follow Ford’s lead by finding the mental conviction to make the right calls. The wastefulness can’t go on, or next time there may not be a trophy to soften the inquest. +Lewis Hamilton began the new Formula One season in stunning fashion with a crushing qualifying performance to grab the fourth pole position of his career for the Australian Grand Prix. It is clear that after a dominant 2014 from Mercedes they will again be the team to beat in 2015 as reigning champion Hamilton blasted his way to top spot on the grid at Melbourne's Albert Park, putting even team-mate Nico Rosberg in the shade. Hamilton finished with a lap of one minute 26.327secs, a staggering 0.6secs clear of Rosberg as Mercedes locked out the front row, with Williams' Felipe Massa the best of the rest, but 1.4secs down on the 30-year-old Briton. Now, click here to read Jonathan McEvoy's report from Melbourne... Host commentator . 1. Hamilton . 2. Rosberg . 3 Massa . 4 Vettel . 5 Raikkonen . 6 Bottas . 7 Ricciardo . 8 Sainz . 9 Grosjean . 10 Maldonado . Rosberg crosses the line, but it is only good enough for P2, a mighty half-a-second down on Hamilton. He had an awful first sector, but was quicker than Hamilton in the final sector. Bottas wobbles out of the final corner, but he still does enough to qualify fourth and Hamilton is going even quicker... Hamilton complaining about his tyres on his out-lap from the pit-lane... will it make a difference? Ricciardo is the first driver on a timed lap. He crosses the line to clock a 1:28.329 to move him up to third, but here comes Kimi and he goes third above Ricciardo. Right, here we go for the final runs of the afternoon. Can anyone beat Hamilton to Australian Grand Prix pole? All of the drivers are back in their respective garages and it is Hamilton from Vettel, Massa, Raikkonen, Maldonado, Ricciardo, Grosjean and Sainz. Neither Rosberg nor Bottas have posted a time. Hamilton crosses the line and the Briton posts a 1.26:419 which is 1.3 seconds quicker than the next driver in Vettel, but Rosberg runs WIDE at the penultimate corner and takes a trip across the grass. He aborts his lap and dives into the pit-lane. The German will now have just one shot at pole. Bottas complaining about his brakes during a sloppy lap for the Finn which has seen him slide all over the track in his Williams. The cars flood out on to the Albert Park track for their first runs in the top-10 shootout. Rosberg, in his Mercedes, is the last driver to leave the pit-lane. Game on. The final 12-minute session is underway in Melbourne... Hamilton or Rosberg? Rosberg or Hamilton? Place your bets now. Here’s a frustrated Will Stevens, who hasn’t taken to the track in his Manor this weekend: It is frustrating for me and the team. We want to be out on the track. The cars are ready to go but there are a few gremlins which are keeping us back. I want to be out there as much as anything. Coming from Abu Dhabi last year I know what a race meeting is like. I am heading back to the UK, but I know the team are heading out early to Malaysia so we will be in better shape than we are now. There are a few issues with the software which means we can’t get out there. 17-year-old Max Verstappen will start a commendable 12th on his grand prix debut, but the Dutchman has been out-qualified by his team-mate. Carlos Sainz Jnr, also on his F1 bow, sticks his Toro Rosso in Q3. Home favourite Ricciardo is on a hot-lap here as he looks to cement his place in the top-10 shootout. He crosses the line with a 1:28.679 to bump him up to sixth, and receives a smattering of applause from the Melbourne crowd. Hamilton and Rosberg are happy they've done enough, and they are back in the Mercedes garage. Remember, five drivers will be eliminated from this 15-minute session. It's Kvyat, Nasr, Hulkenberg and Perez in the drop-zone with two minutes to run. Back on track, and Hamilton leads the way from Rosberg. The Briton is some two tenths quicker than his Mercedes team-mate. It is Bottas up next, albeit over one second down on Hamilton. And here is a gloomy, but ever-positive, JENSON BUTTON: ‘I think the positives are, looking at winter testing it was difficult, having issues and running short, and suddenly you put a team at a race weekend and you have to stick to the schedule. It was never going to be competitive here but still there is a good feeling about the car. The basic car is there. It is nice that Honda have a bit more experience today. It is going to be a really difficult tomorrow. We have not done a race distance yet.’ The second session is underway and the Sauber of Felipe Nasr is the first driver to take to the track. We must mention that his team-mate Marcus Ericsson was the other non-McLaren driver to be eliminated from Q1. KEVIN MAGNUSSEN: I don’t think we expected anything else. It is tough. It is a learning process and we have got to be patient. Going forward is the main priority. We need to learn from the race. Stunning. Both McLaren drivers are ELIMINATED from the opening qualifying session of 2015. Button improves his time to leapfrog Magnussen, but they will start 17th and 18th respectively. They will start on the final row of the grid. Ouch. Kvyat is given one timed lap to stick his Red Bull into Q2 and he posts a 1:30.402 which is good enough for P13... but what can the McLarens do? But Sainz pops his Toro Rosso into P4 and Maldonado goes ninth. That leaves Magnussen and Button in the drop-zone. Kvyat, yet to take to the track, with less than five minutes. With Manor not running, only three drivers will be eliminated from Q1; Pastor Maldonado and Carlos Sainz are the two drivers set to miss out... Hamilton quickly usurps Rosberg however, and he tops the timesheets in Melbourne. Five minutes to go. But Rosberg, still on the medium compound tyres, pops in a 1:28.906 to go fastest. So, with eight minutes to go in Q1, Vettel leads from Bottas, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Massa, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Grosjean and Perez. Rosberg, on the medium compound - remember Ferrari are on the softer, quicker compound - goes fourth, a second slower than Vettel. Sainz has a wee spin in his Toro Rosso as Hamilton crosses the line with a 1:30.277.  That leaves him in third behind the two Ferraris. Back on track and it is Kimi Raikkonen with a 1:30.188 who goes easily fastest. And his new Ferrari team-mate, the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, is even quicker. The German crosses the line some seven tenths faster than Raikkonen. Hamilton, on the medium compound takes a wee trip across the grass on his out-lap. Not the ideal start to qualifying from the Brit there. He is reporting 'really big vibrations' on his current set of tyres. Sainz is the first to cross the line and he pops in a 1:33.094. Hamilton meanwhile, is out on track in his Mercedes. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Manor, who pulled everything out of the bag to make it to Melbourne, will not take part in qualifying so they will not race this weekend. The pit-lane is open and the first of three qualifying sessions is underway at Albert Park. It is the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jnr who is the first driver to take to the track… . The Formula One circus takes on five continents over eight months of gruelling action in 2015. Click on Sportsmail's brilliant interactive guide to find out everything you need to know about the 20 races which make up this year's calendar. The British driver and his team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who is deputising for the injured Fernando Alonso, endured a miserable day during practice for the season opener at the Albert Park Circuit. The McLaren pair, hampered by reliability problems to their new Honda engine, managed only 13 laps between them in Friday’s opening session and were five seconds down on Nico Rosberg’s best time for Mercedes. So, with 10 minutes to go until the start of qualifying, why not catch up on the very latest news from Melbourne, starting with Hamilton and his hope that he will be remembered as a legend when he retires from Formula One. The British team have renewed their iconic relationship with Japanese engine supplier Honda, the Japanese engine supplier which saw McLaren win four straight drivers’ and constructors’ titles between 1988 and 1991. But they’ve struggled in winter testing, and it hasn’t got any better in Melbourne. Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, standing in for the absent Fernando Alonso, propped up the timesheets yesterday. And they, along with the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, were slowest again this morning. But Button remains, retained by McLaren for a sixth season, remains typically optimistic: ‘This is the package I think will challenge Mercedes. I really think that…. It is just going to take some time.’ Lewis Hamilton ended both practice sessions behind Nico Rosberg yesterday, but the Briton was back on top this morning. He was almost one second clear of Sebastian Vettel with Rosberg in third. Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s coverage for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. We kick off our live coverage for 2015 with qualifying at Albert Park, the traditional host to the first Formula One race of the campaign. Lewis Hamilton is the overwhelming favourite to defend his crown which he won so dramatically last year. But his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who finished runner-up in 2014, is expected to be nipping at his gearbox throughout what promises to be another scintillating campaign. We’ll cover every qualifying and race live, so stick with us from the season opener in Melbourne right down to the final race of the campaign in Abu Dhabi eight months from now… . +A staggering 32.2 per cent of Real Madrid fans would drop three-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, according to a poll in Spanish newspaper AS. On a weekend that saw Real Madrid lose their grasp on top spot in La Liga for the first time time since November, fans of the Spanish giants have had their say on the team's current predicament. Supporters were first posed a question regarding formation, and an incredible 92.1 per cent of fans called for Carlo Ancelotti to ditch his current tactics and revert to a 4-4-2 formation. Cristiano Ronaldo would be dropped by 32.2 per cent of Real Madrid fans, according to a poll in AS . Gareth Bale is the least popular of Madrid's front three and nearly half the fans asked would bench him . Karim Benzema claims he is the 'first one to arrive and the last to leave' the Real Madrid training ground . Real Madrid fans were asked which of their front three should be dropped. Here are the results: . 1st: Gareth Bale - 46.1 per cent . 2nd: Cristiano Ronaldo - 32.2 per cent . 3rd: Karim Benzema - 21.7 per cent . That would mean one of Madrid's impressive front three, the so-called 'BBC' of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, would need to make way. In the poll, Bale, who has been jeered on a couple of occasions despite his impressive start in the Spanish capital, was top of the pile, while Ronaldo was second. Benzema, therefore, has proven to be the most popular member of Madrid's frontline; a stat which will surprise many given Ronaldo's previous success at the club. Bale picked up a worrying 46.1 per cent of the votes, while Ronaldo would be dropped by 32.2 per cent of supporters. Bale (left), Fabio Coentrao and Ronaldo (right) train at Valdebebas on Monday after the weekend defeat . Carlo Ancelotti looks on during Saturday's game (left) while the front cover of AS reveals the poll results . Los Blancos fell to a disappointing 1-0 loss at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and are now second in La Liga . Ancelotti stands in front of the bench - but could one of Ronaldo, Bale or Benzema soon be sitting there? Benzema should make way according to just 21.7 per cent of Madrid fans, and alongside the poll AS carry a quote from the French forward where he says: 'I'm the first one to arrive and the last to leave.' Perhaps that is an endearing quality that has helped his popularity in the Spanish capital. Madrid fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and before that could only manage a draw against Villarreal. Ancelotti (centre) watches his team train ahead of their Champions League clash on Tuesday night . Bale (left) and Ronaldo (top right) were in high spirits on Monday despite their poor run of form . Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona went top of La Liga - things are much rosier at the Nou Camp . Suarez also got a brace as Barcelona went top of the league after beating Rayo Vallecano . An emphatic 6-1 win for Barcelona over Rayo Vallecano at the Nou Camp - the complete antithesis of Madrid's recent performances - has left Los Blancos a point behind their rivals at the top of La Liga. AS also reveal that since Christmas, the average goals-per-game ratio for Real Madrid has dropped from 2.6 to 1.3 - exactly half the amount they scored in the first half of the season. These are certainly worrying times at the Bernabeu. Tuesday night sees them take to the field in a vital Champions League last-16 tie against Schalke holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg. Following that, Madrid face Levante in the league, before a potentially title-defining clash at the Nou Camp. Sunday, March 22 - make or break for Ancelotti and his team. Like our Real Madrid Facebook page. Ancelotti (left) watches on as his players train on Monday; they play Schalke next in the Champions League . Ronaldo reacts to a decision during Madrid's loss to Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Saturday evening . Bale has been booed and jeered by Real Madrid supporters a couple of times . +So Yeon Ryu came from a stroke behind fellow South Korean Inbee Park to capture her first individual World Ladies Championship title at Mission Hills on Sunday. Ryu carded a closing 69 on the par-73 Blackstone Course to finish on 13 under par, one shot ahead of team-mate Park. The pair were runaway winners of the team competition for the second successive year, finishing 15 shots ahead of Norway's Marianne Skarpnord and Suzann Pettersen. 'I didn't expect that I had a chance to win this tournament, because in the second and first rounds, I didn't play really well,' Ryu said. 'Fortunately I was able to shoot eight under in the third round so after that I was in contention.' So Yeon Ryu captured her first individual World Ladies Championship title at Mission Hills on Sunday . She celebrates on the 18th green after coming from a stroke behind fellow South Korean Inbee Park . China's Lei Ye, who is just 13 years old, finished in 55th place to win the amateur competition. 'I played really well the first day and that gave me more room to make the cut,' she said. 'I've noticed from playing in professional tournaments that putting is my weakness. I hope to improve and turn professional someday.' Park takes a shot on the final day of the World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills . China's Lei Ye, who is just 13 years old, finished in 55th place to win the amateur competition . +Liam Stewart, the son of rock star Rod Stewart and former model Rachel Hunter, has moved a step closer to making his senior Great Britain debut. The 20-year-old, born in London, has been included in new head coach Pete Russell's initial 31-man party which will then be cut to 23 for next month's World Championships in Holland. Stewart plays his hockey in America for Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League and has already represented Britain at Under-20 level. Rod Stewart's son Liam has been included in Great BritainPete Russell's initial 31-man party . Stewart in action for the Spokane Chiefs during warm up against the Kelowna Rockets . He is now in his fourth season with the Washington-based Chiefs, being an assistant captain for the last two years, after previously impressing for the Los Angeles Junior Kings Under-16s. Stewart is one of eight former U20 players looking for their first senior appearance with Josh Batch, James Griffin, Matt Haywood, Tom Murdy, Sam Oakford, Jack Prince and Joey Lewis also included. Jonathan Boxill, Chris Blight and Sam McCluskey will be aiming for their first Britain cap too while Russell Cowley and Craig Peacock return to the squad, with Matty Davies and David Clarke sidelined through injury. Russell said: 'Over the last three or so months we have watched a lot of hockey across the leagues and been in contact with lots of different hockey people in the UK, mainland Europe and USA. Rod Stewart pictured with a young Liam as his son was named in the Great Britain team . 'We have the final 31 and it's the right players and people. They all deserve their place and it's an exciting group to look at. 'The competition for the final 23 hots up now and that can only be good for every player, as well as each team at this important stage of the season. 'People say it's a tough job, yes it is, but it's a great problem as a coach to have good players to select from. As the clock ticks down I get more excited each day till April and Eindhoven.' After two warm-up matches against Poland, Britain head to Eindhoven for their Division 1B campaign where they will face Holland, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania and South Korea between April 13-19. +Ireland narrowly missed out on reaching the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup as they fell to a seven-wicket loss against Pakistan. William Porterfield had earlier struck his maiden World Cup century and Ireland were indebted to their captain as his 107 helped them post a modest 237 all out. However, the 30-year-old was outshone by Sarfraz Ahmed, whose unbeaten 101 led Pakistan through to the next stage of competition on net run-rate. Sarfraz Ahmed of Pakistan celebrates after reaching 100 runs against Ireland . Ireland players shake hands with their Pakistani opponents following their World Cup exit . Ahmed's century helped secure a comfortable seven-wicket win for Pakistan . Ireland's John Mooney (left) reacts after bowling a wide delivery to Pakistan's Ahmed . Pakistan's Ahmed Shehzad (left) and Ahmed run between wickets during their Cricket World Cup match . Wednesday, March 18 - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Sydney . Thursday, March 19 - India v Bangladesh - Melbourne . Friday, March 20 - Australia v Pakistan - Adelaide . Saturday, March 21 - New Zealand v West Indies - Wellington . The sides’ had contrasting starts to the competition and it was associate side Ireland that began the better of the two; with victories over the West Indies and the UAE. Pakistan however, were on the end of heavy defeats against bitter rivals India and the West Indies and were facing increasing scrutiny over whether they were going to be able to seriously contend at this World Cup. But with the competition geared towards ensuring the ‘top-eight’ teams make it through to the knockout stages of the competition, all the sides knew even as little three wins could see a team advance. In hindsight the turning point in the tournament for Ireland came against South Africa, against whom they suffered a mammoth 201-run loss. The match obliterated their net run-rate. Ireland's Ed Joyce takes a catch to dismiss Pakistan's Shehzad for 63 runs . John Mooney of Ireland stands in the outfield as they attempted to beat Pakistan in Pool B . Meanwhile, Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s effervescent and immovable captain was slowly ensuring he continued to carry his side back to some respectability. A shock 29-run (D/L) victory over South Africa ensured the match against Ireland would be a straight knockout, after the West Indies guaranteed their safe passage to the quarter-finals with an easy victory against the UAE earlier in the day. Porterfield decided having runs on the board would be his side’s best chance of victory against the 1992 World Cup champions, having won the toss. Admittedly the Adelaide Oval pitch did look every bit the ‘batting paradise’ Shahid Afradi called it and despite missing their leader with the ball Mohammad Irfan, Pakistan had Ireland in all sorts of trouble early on. Paul Stirling went for three to World Cup debutant Ehsan Adil as he tried to play across the line and was trapped lbw. Despite surviving an early scare after being dropped by Shehzad on five, Ed Joyce failed to make the most of his reprieve as he top-edged a Wahab Riaz delivery to Umar Akmal at short square cover on 11. Spectators enjoy the atmosphere during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval . Gary Wilson of Ireland survives a run-out attempted during Ireland's batting innings . Pakistani players celebrate getting the wicket of William Porterfield of Ireland . Umar, relieved of his keeping duties in the previous match against South Africa, seemed rejuvenated and went on to become the joint-record holder with four catches as a fielder. But Ireland’s innings centered around their captain who, in what may well be Ireland’s final World Cup match, played some of his best cricket of the tournament as he made his hundred. As many batsmen do, Poterfield rode his luck – including being dropped on 99 by keeper Sarfraz and he scurried through for his century. It took an impressive catch from Afridi to finally dismiss the Irish captain for 107 off the economical Sohail Khan. The equation for Pakistan was simple, win or tie against Ireland and they would be through and Sarfraz and Shehzad’s 120-run first wicket partnership took them a large way towards their target. Though Shehzad (63) and Haris Sohail (3) fell in quick succession, Misbah steadied the ship and while the Pakistan captain ended up being dismissed in the most peculiar way - as he stood so far back to an Alex Cusack delivery that he tread on his stumps, Pakistan never looked in trouble. Porterfield (left) is congratulated by Ireland team-mate Wilson after reaching 100 runs . Ehsan Adil (centre) celebrates after successfully appealing for LBW to dismiss Ireland's Paul Stirling . Although it was a comfortable victory, the end was slightly marred by Sarfraz’s insistence in obtaining his own personal milestone and rather than opting to take singles with Umar, he waited for the opportunity to clear the field. Had Ireland amassed a few more runs that dangerous strategy could have led a more serious issue for Pakistan. Ireland may be returning home earlier then they has hoped at the beginning of the day but they will at least be able to do so in the knowledge that they defeated more Test playing nations than England. It’s unlikely to be of much comfort to the associate side with their future in the competition unknown but Ireland along with the other associate sides – Scotland, Afghanistan and the UAE – showed in the past four weeks that the World Cup will truly miss them if the ICC has its way. Pakistan's wicketkeeper Ahmed (left) watches as team-mate Shahid Afridi (R) dives to stop a ball . Pakistan's Afridi catches out Ireland's Andrew Balbirnie for just 18 runs during Ireland's batting innings . +South Africa's George Coetzee put home advantage to full use to win his second European Tour title in the Tshwane Open. Coetzee carded a flawless final round of 65 to finish one shot ahead of compatriot Jacques Blaauw at Pretoria Country Club, the course where he has been a member since taking up the game and won his first junior competition aged 10. Blaauw had charged through the field with a stunning closing 61 to equal the course record and set the clubhouse target at 13 under par, with the final groups still having nine holes to play. George Coetzee plays a shot during the final round of the Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club . Coetzee relaxes with the trophy after winning the second European Tour title of his career . However, Coetzee - who was one of six players sharing the lead overnight - was just one behind after finishing his front nine with three birdies in four holes and picked up two more shots on the back nine to seal victory. The decisive moment came on the 17th after Coetzee had tried to drive the green on the short par four. His tee shot came up in the trees, short of the green but with a clear path between two bunkers, and the world number 87 took full advantage, chipping to five feet and holing for a birdie to take a one-shot lead down the last. 'I think I've got this course down after 18 years of playing golf,' joked Coetzee, whose previous win also came on home soil at the Joburg Open last year. 'I know when I am comfortable hitting drivers and going for par fours or being aggressive and attacking flags and I think today played to my advantage knowing when to be aggressive and when not to. Coetzee walks over a bridge with playing partner Trevor Fisher Jnr during the final round . 'I drew on my experiences of winning club championships here. I actually threw one away by playing it conservative on 17. So today it was quite an easy decision. I knew I was going to hit driver no matter what, because I don't know how to play that hole with an iron! 'To win at your home club, in front of all your friends and family, it's a great experience and a very special day for me. The crowds were amazing. I could just feel the momentum building and the crowd felt like it was getting bigger and bigger the closer we got to the end.' Speaking immediately after his round, Blaauw said: 'It was fun out there, everything just went in. 'I got a bit of luck on nine when I hit it left but had a swing and got it up and down it for birdie and then after that made some putts. It's always good to be in contention in these big events coming down the stretch.' Scotland's Craig Lee was just one off the lead when he carded his fourth birdie of the day on the 14th, but bogeyed the next and then took a double bogey on the last to drop back to nine under alongside South African pair Dean Burmester and Tjaart van der Walt. +Team Sky took a one-two on the fourth stage of Paris-Nice as Richie Porte crossed the line just ahead of Geraint Thomas. The British team showed their strength on the final climb of the Croix de Chaubouret and the pair punched the air after both making valuable moves towards the yellow jersey. The pack had already thinned out considerably when Welshman Thomas made his big move with three kilometres to go of the longest stage of the race. It was a Team Sky one-two on the fourth stage of Paris-Nice secured by Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas . Australian Porte then kicked away one kilometre from the finish and it was only Thomas who was able to go with him. Michal Kwiatkowski was third, eight seconds adrift, and that was enough for the Pole to reclaim the overall race lead by a single second, with Porte now next in line and Thomas another two seconds behind in third. Porte, the race winner in 2013, told the Team Sky website: 'That was a great performance from the team. We took it on from the bottom of that last climb. It wasn't easy on there, so to finish first and second is fantastic. Porte celebrates on the podium after winning the fourth stage, and he is now eyeing another overall win . 'We've got two more hard days coming up now and then a time trial on the Col d'Eze. I love that climb and I'd love to have a good ride there. I'm in a good position and having such a strong team here will definitely help. 'With Geraint and I up there on the general classification now, it's good to have two cards to play. The dream is to hold the yellow jersey on Sunday evening. I love this race and I'd love to win it again.' Porte (centre) said the success of himself and Jones gave Sky 'two cards to play' as the race goes on . +England cricket hero Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was left 'shocked' after being crowned King of the Jungle in Australia's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here. The 37-year-old former all-rounder beat AFL legend Barry Hall to win the grand final on Sunday after enduring a rollercoaster ride in the South African jungle. Earlier he had told host Chris Brown: 'As an Englishmen winning something in Australia, it's unheard of. Scroll down for video . Freddie Flintoff was crowned King Of The Jungle on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here grand final on Sunday . The 37-year-old cricketer couldn't believe he had won after ingratiated himself to Australian viewers . 'That walk from the trial gate to here was one of longest walks of my life. I don't like insects, snakes, the dark…' Reflecting on his experience in the camp he said: 'I've just tried to take everything out of it, no point moping around. I love meeting new people it's been nice. 'Friendships get accelerated in the camp, so I dropped my guard and spoke about things. It came down to the English cricketer and AFL legend Barry Hall (R) who became good friends in the end . 'I've spoken about my depression in the UK before, it's not something I'm ashamed of, it's something I do. I spent a lot of time hating myself.' Earlier in the program Flintoff, was unknowingly led to his wife and mother of this three children Rachael in an emotional reunion. Gasping as he realised it was her, the two embraced as she ran to kiss him cupping his face. Flintoff was announced as winner as show hosts Julia Morris and Chris Brown fussed over him . 'It was a bit embarrassing,' he later said. 'I must have stunk.' 'He stunk,' she later agreed, adding: 'But he's smelt worst before. It was so lovely to see him.' England's Ashes hero, who's time in the jungle saw him fall from a helicopter, lock horns with Barry and bond with ten Australian strangers, was seen enjoying the final supper with funnywoman Chrissie Swan and Barry before the debut Australian series wrapped up. AFL star Barry said everyone was a winner on the show for toughing it out in the jungle . AFL legend Barry, known for his insane tidiness, said: 'Let's have a toast to the finalist of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here everyone's a winner in my book. 'The hardest thing was dealing with myself.' Opening up about his private life he added: 'I know because I've got a deep voice and I stare at people intensely, they can take me wrong. People think Barry Hall, footballer, aggressive, physical. But I'm caring, I'm a very simple person.' The affable cricketer willingly took on challenges without complaining and talked openly during the show . Barry, who split with his wife Sophie just prior to signing on for the show also admitted that he isn't proud of his newly single status. 'Me and my wife wanted to have a break up, I don't want to be single at this age, but now I have a clearer picture of what I want to do. 'I lay in bed and thought I can now be happy with very little, with very basic stuff around me. I've learned to appreciate food, and loved ones. 'I've really missed my loved ones, I've never missed anyone before. I've learned tolerance. I went though a dark time and came out the other side.' Flintoff admitted being embarrassed by an emotional reunion with wife Rachael on the show . +Zlatan Ibrahimovic has spoken of his regret at not playing under former manager Jose Mourinho longer. The flamboyant striker spent just one year under the Portuguese coach while the pair were both at Inter Milan, before moving to Barcelona as part of a £35 million plus player deal with Samuel Eto'o. Still, what a year it was. As Inter claimed the 2008-09 Serie A title, Ibrahimovic finished as the league's top scorer with 25 goals and was also crowed 'Foreign Player of the Year.' PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he regrets not playing under Jose Mourinho for longer in his career . Mourinho (left) watches Ibrahimovic (right) in training during the 2008/2009 season - their only together . Under Mourinho, Ibrahimovic won the Serie A title and finished as the league's top scorer with 25 goals . When Ibrahimovic moved to Barcelona, Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o joined Inter as part of the deal . Ibrahimovic stretches to control the ball during the Ligue 1 game against RC Lens on Sunday . Now, playing for Ligue 1 side PSG, via Barcelona and a return to the San Siro with AC Milan, Ibrahimovic has hailed the time he spent under Mourinho as a particular career highlight. 'We worked together for one year at Inter The feeling was great between us and my only regret is that we were together for only one year,' Ibrahimovic told Telefoot. Mourinho, meanwhile, is now in charge of Chelsea, PSG's opponents in the Champions League's last 16. The two sides drew 1-1 in the round's first leg at the Parc des Princes and will play the return fixture at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Ibrahimovic has been in superb form for his club this season, scoring 18 goals in 27 appearances. Chelsea's Serbian defender scores against PSG during the 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes . Chelsea forward Diego Costa (right) shields the ball from the oncoming Marquinhos of PSG (left) +Bangladesh gave co-hosts New Zealand a real scare but fell just short of securing another Pool A victory at the World Cup on Friday. The Tigers established a strong position thanks to a ton from top-scoring Mahmudullah, yet New Zealand boasted a centurion of their own in Martin Guptill, who shrugged off injury to make 105 at Seddon Park. Shakib Al Hasan was the pick of the bowlers with his four wickets maintaining belief Bangladesh could restrict the Black Caps in Hamilton. A late flurry from Tim Southee, however, got the home team over the line as they recorded a three-wicket triumph. New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill hits a pull shot during his side's game against Bangladesh on Friday . Guptill pulls up with cramp while on 99 as the Black Caps chased the Tigers total in Hamilton . Guptill recovered from his injury to score his century and finish with 105 as New Zealand remained unbeaten . Both sides had already qualified for the quarter-finals, but the result is perhaps more heartening for the Tigers. They registered 288 for seven from their 50 overs, having been put into bat. Mahmudullah, having become his country's first World Cup centurion in Monday's win over England, made it back-to-back hundreds with a brilliant 128 not out. The Bangladesh innings got off to a shaky start, with openers Imrul Kayes (two) and Tamim Iqbal (13) dismissed within the first 10 overs. Mahmudullah followed up his century against England on Monday with another ton against the Black Caps . Trent Boult snared both, knocking over Kayes' off stump and inducing an edge from Tamim which was snapped up by Corey Anderson at second slip to send the bowler back top of the 2015 World Cup wicket-takers' list. Soumya Sarkar (51) and Mahmudullah steadied the ship with a 90-run third-wicket stand, before the former bottom-edged a Daniel Vettori delivery to Anderson at long-on. Anderson then got in on the action with the ball, accounting for the wickets of Al Hasan (23) and Mushfiqur Rahim (15) - both caught behind by Luke Ronchi. Sabbir Rahman contributed 40 and Nasir Hossain 11 before falling to Grant Elliott in the final three overs. Nasir Hossain drops a catch that would have dismissed New Zealand's Daniel Vettori . New Zealand also made a wobbly start, quickly losing both Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson. The former was snagged by Al Hasan for eight while Williamson sliced over to Iqbal for a single off the same bowler. It fell to Guptill and Ross Taylor to steady the ship and the pair brought up 50 runs before the latter reached 5,000 ODI runs with a four off Rahman. Corey Anderson made 39 runs to help New Zealand to a 290 for 7 victory against Bangladesh . Guptill was fast approaching his century when he suddenly pulled up after glancing for a single. After a few nervous minutes it became clear the opener was suffering from a bad bout of cramps. He gritted his teeth and soon brought up his maiden World Cup ton with a single off Taskin Ahmed. Guptill was, however, gone for 105 when Al Hasan struck again, the Bangladesh bowler making another key breakthrough as his opponent tried to clear Rubel Hossain only to find him at long on. Elliott had contributed 39 runs before slicing to Ahmed at sweeper cover and succumbing to Rubel . Tim Southee proved the matchwinner for New Zealand as he smashed a six and a four in back-to-back balls . Taylor followed in the 42nd over, Hossain striking him in front of middle and leg. Anderson's intervention meant the decision went to review, but DRS confirmed the end of his 56-run stand. Ronchi (nine) became Shakib's fourth victim and Anderson followed for 39 as Nasir tricked him with a flatter delivery, but the Black Caps held their nerve. Southee was the matchwinner, sealing a three-wicket victory as he smashed a six and a four in back-to-back balls. +Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson has laid into Mario Balotelli after the Liverpool striker's latest faltering performance in the goalless draw with Blackburn in Sunday's FA Cup quarter final. The misfiring Italy international, who has managed only four goals in all competitions since his £16million summer arrival from AC Milan, was brought on after 59 minutes but failed to impress as the game ended 0-0 to force a replay at Ewood Park. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Lawrenson let fly with a scathing attack on the former Manchester City star who he labelled 'a waste of space'. Mario Balotelli leaves Anfield after Liverpool's goalless draw with Blackburn in the FA Cup . The much criticised striker failed to get on the scoresheet during the FA Cup quarter final clash . The Italian firebrand came on after 59minutes but could not add to his meagre goal tally of four this season . Liverpool legend and BBC pundit let loose a scathing attack on Balotelli, branding him 'a waste of space' The 24-year-old has failed to live up to expectations following his £16million arrival at Anfield . Balotelli heads straight down the tunnel towards the dressing room after the final whistle is blown . 'Forget about Mario Balotelli. He is an absolute waste of time. He shouldn't be anywhere near this team,' he said. 'I can see why Brendan Rodgers threw him on today as he might just create something, but 99 times out of 100 he will let you down.' Match Zone statistics from the game show that Balotelli managed only a single shot on target after coming on as a substitute and appear to support Lawrenson's claims. Balotelli's performance comes just days after he posted a cryptic Instagram message suggesting that one of his team-mates did not like him. Although, having angered players by taking a penalty away from Jordan Henderson during a Europa League clash with Besiktas and with statistics that include only creating six chances for his team-mates all season, it's hardly surprising that the 24-year-old's popularity is waning. Balotelli prepares to be introduced on 51minutes as Liverpool try and change the game . Balotelli has managed only four goals in all competitions since arriving from AC Milan last summer . Mario Balotelli's attack statistics and heat map for the 31minutes he played on Sunday back up Mark Lawrenson's claims - CLICK HERE for more stats from our Match Zone . Lawrenson praised Blackburn for their tactically astute performance to earn a replay at Ewood Park, which has now been scheduled for April 7 or 8th to meet UEFA regulations. 'Congratulations to Blackburn Rovers on an absolutely magnificent display. They were never ever desperate at any time,' he said. 'They have looked at how Liverpool have played recently and the tactics were spot on. Goalkeeper Simon Eastwood hasn't really had to make a real top class save.' Rodgers admitted that he would rather wait a month for the replay than have to play 48 hours later as has happened to Bradford and Reading after their goalless draw on Saturday. Balotelli winces in pain after a rash tackle from Blackburn's Tom Cairney (right) The Liverpool striker checks his leg after a tackle by Rovers' Cairney (not pictured) The former City striker only managed a single shot on target, although team-mates didn't fare much better . Balotelli wins a header but could not get his shot on target as Liverpool stumble to a draw . ‘I believe the replay is early April, the 7th or 8th,’ said Rodgers. ‘It is certainly not what it is for Reading and Bradford. That is unbelievable. I feel for them, having to play Saturday and again on Monday. It is incredible. It’s unfair for both clubs with so much at stake. I feel sorry for Parky and for Steve and for the players.’ The game at Anfield was marred by a head injury to defender Martin Skrtel who required eight minutes of treatment after losing consciousness from landing awkwardly. He was eventually taken off on a stretcher, having played only a few minutes. Balotelli angered his team-mates by taking a penalty away from Jordan Henderson in the Europa League . Martin Skrtel was knocked unconscious after an awkward fall and required eight minutes of treatment . Reds manager Brendan Rodgers is relieved that the FA Cup replay has been delayed until early April . +BT Sport have chosen to broadcast the FA Cup quarter-final replay between Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool, leaving the BBC with Reading vs Bradford. The BBC were criticised for not showing Bradford's 2-0 win over Sunderland in the fifth round, opting to show Aston Villa's 2-1 win over Leicester City instead. Yet BT Sport's decision to broadcast the match at Ewood Park on April 8 means the Beeb are left with Reading and Bradford at the Madejski on March 16. Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck celebrates after scoring against former club Manchester United at Old Trafford . Fabian Delph shoots and scores as Aston Villa beat Midland rivals West Brom to reach Wembley on Saturday . League One side Bradford, who knocked Chelsea out earlier in the competition, face a replay against Reading . Bradford beat Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round but were shunned when they claimed another Barclays Premier League scalp against Sunderland in February. The broadcaster's football editor Mark Cole released a statement afterwards explaining why Bradford were not shown on television, though their match against Reading in the quarter-final at Valley Parade was live on BT Sport. The draw for the semi-finals was made following Manchester United's 2-1 loss against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night. The match itself pulled in an audience of 8.9million which pips the previous season high of 7.1m people tuned in to Cambridge United's fourth round 0-0 draw against Louis van Gaal's side. Arsenal will face Bradford or Reading at Wembley, while Aston Villa will meet either Liverpool or Championship side Blackburn. Liverpool face a replay away at Blackburn after the Championship club earned a draw at Anfield on Sunday . +Sam Allardyce believes a lack of winter break is hampering Premier League clubs in European competition. Chelsea were eliminated from the round of 32 in the Champions League by Paris St Germain on away goals on Wednesday night - whilst Manchester City and Arsenal both need to turn around first-leg defeats to Barcelona and Monaco, respectively if they are to advance. Liverpool and Tottenham have been knocked out of the Europa League with only Everton still standing and Allardyce feels a heavy festive schedule always catches English clubs out. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce says Premier League clubs are suffering in Europe because of no winter break . Chelsea were dumped out of the Champions League on Wednesday night by Paris Saint-Germain . Thiago Silva's (right) extra-time header meant the French giants went through 3-3 on away goals . 'I think, like I have before, that we don't help ourselves with our fixture list,' the West Ham boss said. 'Playing as many games as we do through Christmas and New Year and not having the opportunity to shut the league down for a few weeks gives every club that plays in Europe a disadvantage. 'When they come back to playing in Europe they may have a considerable amount of injures in certain areas and mental fatigue kicks in on players - that is bound to have an effect when other teams have had the opportunity to take a break.' Swansea boss Garry Monk hailed the entertainment level of the Premier League but believes English clubs still lack the tactical nous of their continental counterparts. Everton are the only Premier League club still standing in the Europa League . Swansea boss Garry Monk says Premier League clubs should be doing better in Europe . 'I've always said the Premier League is the best league in the world but more so for entertainment rather than technical and tactical situations in countries like Spain,' he said. 'The Premier League is the best league in that it is the most entertaining, highest tempo, most ferocious and so much happens. 'Whether we need to improve on the tactical I'm not sure but we've got some of the best managers in the world in this league. 'It is very fine margins at that level as games are won and lost by one or two moments in a game. 'Looking at those players in those Premier League teams you think they would do better in those competitions. So I'm not sure if it's one of those seasons or if there is a fundamental problem.' +Everton's rivals are taking increasing interest in midfielder James McCarthy as the Goodison Park club's Premier League plight worsens. Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United are all monitoring the stylish 24-year-old who signed from Wigan in a £13million deal. They each want a proven midfielder and McCarthy is on their lists as they assess summer targets. James McCarthy (right) has attracted interest from Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal this season . The midfielder, pictured in action against Arsenal on Sunday, joined Everton in the summer of 2013 for £13m . McCarthy signed a five-year contract on summer deadline day in 2013 but is not one of Everton's big earners and the nature of the last-minute negotiations meant assurances were given that his deal would be revised as his Goodison career progressed. However, though other Everton players have since opened discussions over new terms, McCarthy has yet to be approached. Tim Howard, Seamus Coleman, Ross Barkley and John Stones all agreed new deals last year with manager Roberto Martinez, who himself signed a new deal last June, seeking to maintain a long-term core to his squad. Ross Barkley is one of a number of young players to have signed a new long-term deal with Everton . McCarthy has not been approached about a new contract despite his good form for the Toffees . McCarthy, a Republic of Ireland international, has matured into one of the most consistent Premier League players and shown his ability on the international and European stage. In Everton's 4-1 Europa League rout of Wolfsburg earlier this season he had a pass completion rate of 98 per cent. He is highly regarded at Everton and his influence on the team was sorely missed when he was out with a hamstring injury; in the 13 games Everton played without him, they won just one. Arsenal and Tottenham have both watched him since his return to the fold but were put off January bids knowing Everton would refuse all offers. Arsenal and Tottenham are still interested in Southampton's defensive midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (left) Manchester United are considering McCarthy as an alternative to Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman (right) Everton's faltering season though has given them a sense a deal could be brokered in the summer. Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin remains on their list of options too. United have concerns that Roma's Kevin Strootman may not recover quickly from his latest knee surgery and are assessing other options across Europe. McCarthy has over 150 Premier League games under his belt already and at 24 has his best years ahead of him. +Sergei Rebrov has issued Arsenal with a 'hands-off' warning amid talk the Gunners are keen to sign Dynamo Kiev defender Aleksandar Dragovic. The former Tottenham and West Ham striker returns to England as a manager with his Dynamo Kiev side taking on Everton in the Europa League on Thursday night. Reports suggest Arsene Wenger is keen on Austria international Dragovic but Rebrov said: 'You are asking about one of the best players in my team and I don't want to lose this player. Dynamo Kiev manager Sergei Rebrov is keen to keep hold of Arsenal target Aleksandar Dragovic (left) The Gunners have been linked with a move for Dynamo Kiev's Austrian international defender (left) Rebrov was talking ahead of Dynamo Kiev's Europa League last 16 first leg tie against Everton . 'He is a top-class player and I hope he will stay with us.' Rebrov flopped during a five-year spell in England after moving to Spurs in an £11million deal back in 2000. However, despite struggling in the Premier League, Rebrov is still a keen observer of the English top-flight and is pleased to see how Tottenham are performing. The former Ukraine international - who scored over 100 goals during two spells with Kiev - also praised young Tottenham striker Harry Kane who has scored 16 Premier League goals for Mauricio Pochettino's side this term. SQUAWKA.COM . Rebrov looks on with one his Dynamo Kiev coaches during a training session at Goodison Park on Wednesday . Rebrov joined Tottenham in an £11million deal back in 2000 but flopped during a five-year spell in England . Asked if he still takes an interest in his former clubs, the Dynamo Kiev manager said: 'Of course I am still following Tottenham, West Ham - all the teams I played for. 'I'm glad because I think Tottenham are getting better. Harry Kane is a very good forward, scoring not just lots but some very important goals. 'I'm also very pleased for my good friend Tim Sherwood (his former Tottenham team-mate), who is doing a good job as Aston Villa manager. Rebrov still looks out for his former club and is pleased with how Tottenham and Harry Kane are performing . 'The Premier League is always interesting for me, whether you are playing in it or just watching it. And it is a very hard league.' Meanwhile, Everton will be looking for a positive result in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie having endured a disappointing domestic season. Roberto Martinez's side are currently 14th in the Premier League, six points above the drop zone, but have impressed in Europe and beat Swiss side Young Boys 7-2 on aggregate in the previous round. Everton manager Roberto Martinez and coach Duncan Ferguson watched the Under 21s play on Monday night . +Chelsea are maintaining a watching brief on Anderlecht teenagers Youri Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker. Tielemans, 17, has been watched by Manchester United and Arsenal also and is a centre midfielder of some promise. He became the youngest Belgian player to play in the UEFA Champions League, making his Champions League debut at the age of 16 years, four months and 25 days in 2013. Chelsea are keen on signing Anderlecht teenager Youri Tielemans (pictured on the left) Leander Dendoncker is also said to be on Chelsea's radar after impressing for Anderlecht in recent weeks . Dendoncker, 19, is a more defensive player and can operate in midfield or at centre back. He scored Anderlecht's second goal in a feisty 2-0 win over Kortrijk on Sunday which saw both sides reduced to 10 men while Tielemans was one of four players booked. Belgium newspaper HLN reported that Chelsea scout Tony White was in the crowd to watch the game. Meanwhile, Chelsea have extended contracts for 18-year-old Belgian Charly Musonda Jnr to 2019 and his elder brother Tika Musonda until 2016. +Modou Barrow is set to join Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season. The 22-year-old is expected to complete the move in the coming days, with Swansea manager Garry Monk keen for the winger to get first-team football. Sportsmail understands an agreement has been reached, but paperwork for the deal has not been completed. Swansea City's Modou Barrow is expected to join Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season . The 22-year-old winger is expected to complete the move in the coming days . Barrow joined Swansea from Swedish club Ostersunds last September and quickly landed an improved four-year contract last month. Club staff have been deeply impressed by his progress, but having made only one Premier League start this season it has been deemed necessary to send him to the Championship club for extra experience. Barrow's only Premier League start came against Sunderland at the Liberty Stadium on February 7. +In a season when Manchester United’s aspirations have been peeled away like layers of an onion, the only goal left is qualification for the Champions League. It is enough to make even the steadfast shed a tear. Thrashed in the Capital One Cup by League One MK Dons and dumped out of the FA Cup by one of their own, United were never even in the Premier League title race. Entry back into Europe’s elite competition would represent a positive campaign however. The minimal requirement, undoubtedly, but a mark of improvement nonetheless. Something to look forward to. Manchester United have not beaten a team in the top half of the Premier League since Liverpool in December . Failure to finish in the top four would be pretty disastrous though. Without the extra commitment of a European campaign and having held a healthy lead in this run at one stage, falling late would ask serious questions of Louis van Gaal. It would probably mean entry into the Europa League instead – a nightmare scenario adding games in a competition United would rather avoid entirely. The continent’s purgatory. United face a difficult run-in, with 10 games to define their season. Four of their next five matches are against the top six but Van Gaal’s side have not beaten a team currently in the top half of the table since December. Here,Sportsmail assesses their chances. Man United vs Tottenham (March 15) Reverse fixture: 0-0 . A struggle for life, is how Van Gaal termed the second half of the sides’ dour draw at White Hart Lane on December 28. A repeat would be intolerable not only to watching fans but in the table. United must win, and beware Harry Kane. The 21-year-old striker already has 26 goals to his name this season - more than the supposedly stellar line-up of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao have managed for United combined. Besides, Mauricio Pochettino's men have Champions League ambitions of their own, and will be desperate for a victory over one of their chief rivals for the top four. Prediction: 2-1 United . Manchester United train ahead of their crunch Premier League clash against Tottenham on Sunday . Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Radamel Falcao are all smiles despite their side's recent struggles . Football data analysts BSports believe a Manchester United home win is easily the most likely outcome . March 15: Tottenham (home) March 22: Liverpool (away) April 4: Aston Villa (home) April 12: Man City (home) April 18: Chelsea (away) April 26: Everton (away) May 2: West Brom (home) May 9: Crystal Palace (away) May 16: Arsenal (home) May 24: Hull (away) Liverpool vs Man United (March 22) Reverse fixture: 3-0 United . The match at Old Trafford sparked Liverpool’s remarkable resurgence into the Champions League hunt. This game could prove the deciding factor. Brendan Rodgers has his side buoyant and Anfield will be bouncing. Van Gaal should douse the flames with his selection. But, with Philippe Coutinho rampant, Raheem Sterling offering pace and dynamism simply not seen in United's team and Daniel Sturridge now back in action after injury,the Dutchman will need a tactical masterstroke to pull off victory. This is arguably the fiercest rivalry in the land as England's two most successful clubs go head-to-head. Anfield will be rocking with the added incentive that Van Gaal's head could be on the block if he fails to finish in the top four. Prediction: 1-1 . Man United vs Aston Villa (April 4) Reverse fixture: 1-1 . Tim Sherwood led Spurs to victory in his previous visit to Old Trafford as a manager, and Villa are showing signs of vibrancy under his charge. They need points for survival and will fight all the way for it. Surely United will have too much quality though. Could arguably be the easiest fixture in United's run-in. But, as we've seen these last two seasons, anything is possible in the post-Fergie era. Prediction: 2-0 United . Man United vs Man City (April 12) Reverse fixture: 1-0 City . Sergio Aguero got the decisive goal at the Etihad on an afternoon Chris Smalling lost his head and City were denied three clear penalties. Manuel Pellegrini’s team have not often been at their best since, but their firepower can be awesome when focused on the right target. Such as their biggest rivals. This will be a third Manchester derby at Old Trafford at this stage in three consecutive seasons. City have won the past two. 6-1, anyone? United have rarely got near their noisy neighbours in recent years. And City's focus could be entirely focused on overhauling Chelsea's Premier League lead after their likely Champions League elimination in Barcelona. But Old Trafford will not stand for their men surrendering as meekly as during last season's grim 3-0 defeat. Prediction: 1-1 . Sergio Aguero is likely to cause the United defence problems in next month's Manchester derby . Chelsea vs Man United (April 18) Reverse fixture: 1-1 . Robin van Persie’s late equalising goal got Old Trafford to its feet and hoping a turning point had been found. It proved to be a false dawn and Chelsea have eased away at the top. Out of Europe, Jose Mourinho’s side are unlikely to lose focus as their hunt for the title reaches its closing moments. Men like John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa will surely not let that happen, and the Blues' mixture of power, pace and potency should see them too good for United. PSG did, however, expose chinks in Chelsea's armour. Whether Angel Di Maria, Ashley Young et al are strong enough to pierce those gaps is another matter, . Prediction 2-1 Chelsea . Eden Hazard has been Chelsea's stand out player this season as they bid to recapture the title . Everton vs Man United (April 26) Reverse fixture: 2-1 United . Radamel Falcao appeared like a tiger to pounce for the winning goal at Old Trafford but the once-feared predator has experienced the wilderness since. Defeat at Goodison Park did for David Moyes last season although the ground does hold happier memories for United. But Everton are in a scrap themselves. Defeat this weekend and a victory for QPR or Burnley could leave Roberto Martinez's men just three points off the dreaded drop zone. Surely that would be the wake-up call Everton need to spark their season into life at long last. Prediction: 1-1 . Romelu Lukaku could cause United problems if he can carry his European form into the Premier League . Man United vs West Brom (May 2) Reverse fixture: 2-2 . Twice United came from behind to salvage a point at the Hawthorns, with Daley Blind’s measured effort the point-clincher. West Brom are a tougher nut to crack these days under Tony Pulis but the need for victory will weigh heavy on the hosts. The Baggies were also one of the teams to spring a shock at Old Trafford last season, when Saido Berahino and Morgan Amalfitano stunned David Moyes. Expect Berahino to score at Old Trafford again, but United to have the edge with more to play for than their visitors. Prediction: 2-1 United . Tony Pulis has transformed West Brom's fortunes and his side will be a stern test for United in May . Crystal Palace vs Man United (May 9) Reverse fixture: 1-0 United . Juan Mata, remember him? The Spaniard popped up for the winner in the season’s earlier game, an example of United at their most stubborn - performing poorly but still grinding out a win. Another illustration at Selhurst Park would do just fine. But that is easier said than done, with Alan Pardew having galvanised Palace since his return to Selhurst Park. Silencing the Eagles' ferocious home support in a big game towards the end of the season is no easy task - just ask Liverpool. But surely Van Gaal can squeeze a win here. Prediction: 1-0 United . Juan Mata scored the only goal of the game when United hosted Crystal Palace earlier in the season . Man United vs Arsenal (May 16) Reverse fixture: 2-1 United . A smash and grab to make John Dillinger blush, United stole three points from the Emirates in a game they ought to have lost. Angel Di Maria and Wayne Rooney showed a fleeting impression of understanding too. Arsenal have since shown that they know how to win at Old Trafford, thanks to the Danny Welbeck-inspired win in the FA Cup on Monday in which United struggled to get break down their opponents and were outfought as well as out-thought. But Monday's FA Cup defeat has pained United. That Welbeck was the man to deliver the knockout blow stings even more. Expect revenge. Prediction: 2-1 United . Danny Welbeck scored the winner as Arsenal dumped United out of the FA Cup earlier this week . Hull vs Man United (May 24) Reverse fixture: 3-0 United . The last time United visited the KC Stadium on the final day Sir Alex Ferguson fielded an inexperienced side having wrapped up the title and with a Champions League final against Barcelona on the horizon. How times have changed. Steve Bruce’s side could be safe by then and less motivated. But if they're not, this fixture becomes loaded full of danger - for both sides. You would back the United of old to win this encounter every time, but can you say the same about Van Gaal's version? Prediction: 1-0 United . Total predicted points: 74. United won the title with just one point more in 1996/97 but the parameters have shifted since then. Last year under Moyes they finished seventh on 64 points, while Arsenal came fourth on 79. Close call on whether 74 would be enough this time. +Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer says the club's owners do not wish to lose striker Jordan Rhodes. The 25-year-old has been the subject of an offer from Middlesbrough while Nottingham Forest, Derby, Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday have also expressed interest. Rhodes scored Blackburn's last minute winner against Bolton on Wednesday night and Bowyer says Rovers owners Venky’s share his stance on not letting the Scotland international leave on loan to a rival Championship club. Jordan Rhodes, pictured scoring against Bolton, has been linked with a move away from Ewood Park . Rhodes directed the ball past Bolton goalkeeper Ben Amos to hit Blackburn's winner . Bowyer said: 'They (Venky's) are of the same opinion as ourselves – why would we want to be doing that?' Boro manager Aitor Karanka asked if he could confirm Boro’s approach, said: 'I don’t need to speak about speculation because we have a lot of games in front of us that are very important. 'Jordan Rhodes is not our player so I prefer to speak about our players.' Pushed again he said: 'If, if, if. We could bring in Ronaldo and Messi, (that) could be good for everybody.' Forest manager Dougie Freedman admitted his side have given up hope of signing Rhodes. Freedman told BBC Radio Nottingham: 'I phoned Gary Bowyer and he was very open and honest with me saying Jordan was not going out on loan so that was the end of the conversation. 'There was a rumour in the game that he could be going out on loan and I’m a big admirer of Jordan so out of respect I phoned Gary. 'I spoke to him and said if that was to come up we’d be interested in loaning Jordan with a view to a permanent if we did go up and he just squashed it straight away.' Striker Rhodes (left) has been strongly linked with a move away from Blackburn this week . +Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin is in line for a new contract following his breakthrough into the first-team. The Gunners want to tie the right-back down to a new long-term deal after a string of impressive displays in replacing the injured Mathieu Debuchy. Bellerin's current deal expires in 2017, but he is now set to extend his stay at the Emirates Stadium. Hector Bellerin has been in the Arsenal first team of late, and will be rewarded with a contract extension . The young defender is now a key part of Arsene Wenger's first team squad after some impressive displays . It is common practice at Arsenal to hand improved contracts to young players who make a consistent impact on the first-team. The 19-year-old has made 17 appearances for the club already this season, firmly establishing himself as a regular member of Arsene Wenger's first-team squad. The news casts further doubt over Carl Jenkinson's career at the Emirates Stadium. With Mathieu Debuchy out injured, Bellerin has become the club's reliable full back ahead of Calum Chambers . Bellerin started against Manchester United in the FA Cup, as Arsenal rely on him to fill in for Debuchy . The right-back is currently on loan at West Ham, with the east London club are keen to turn his deal permanent. And the emergence of Bellerin, as well as last summer's capture of Debuchy, has pushed Jenkinson further down the pecking order at Arsenal. And the Gunners are likely to listen to offers for the full-back at the end of the season. Carl Jenkinson (left), on loan at West Ham, will be offered to other clubs after falling down the pecking order . +Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta insists the Serie A outfit is the ideal place for Paul Pogba to grow into one of the world's best players. Pogba's agent Mino Raiola has hinted that the Frenchman could be keen on leaving the Old Lady in the summer, with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid all said to be interested in the 21-year-old. However Marotta has responded to Raiola by insisting the club will have the final say on Pogba's future. Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta believes Paul Pogba should stay at the Serie A giants . Pogba has been linked with a move to the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid . Marotta, speaking to reporters, said: 'His sports rights are with Juventus only, so it is Juventus who will decide. 'However, the decision of the player is definitely critical. But, beyond this, we're speaking about a boy who is 21-years-old, he is very young, I think he can grow from game-to-game. 'Here is the natural habitat for him - for his growth and his development. We recently extended his contract and we did with the perspective of wanting to build a competitive team around him.' The 21-year-old joined Juventus in 2012 after leaving Manchester United on a free transfer . +Mercedes dominated free practice at Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, with Nico Rosberg edging his world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top the timesheets in both sessions. German Rosberg, last year's championship runner-up, set the fastest lap of 1:27.697secs in the second session on a glorious day at Albert Park, topping Hamilton by one tenth of a second. Rosberg was also quickest in the first session, his best time of 1:29.557secs edging Hamilton as the constructors' champions carried their ominous form from winter testing onto the track. Nico Rosberg made a flying start to his season as he topped the timesheets in both practice sessions . Rosberg pictured in action ahead of Sunday's season opener at the Australian Grand Prix . Rosberg (centre) poses with crew members while wearing red noses but Lewis Hamilton went without . 1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:29.557secs, . 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.586 . 3 Valteri Bottas Williams 1:30.748 . 4 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso 1:31.014 . 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.029 . 6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:31.067 . 7 Felipe Massa Williams 1:31.188 . 8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31.310 . 9 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:31.451 . 10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:31.570 . 11 Daniel Kvyat Red Bull 1:32.073 . 12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:32.247 . 13 Nico Hulkenbrrg Force India 1:32.261 . 14 Jenson Button McLaren 1:34 . 15 Kevin Magnussen 1:34.785 . 16 Romain Grosjean Lotus 2:17.782 . 17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber . 18 Felipe Nasr Sauber . 19 Will Stevens Manor . 20 Roberto Merhi Manor (All no time) 1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.697secs . 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.797 . 3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:28.412 . 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:28.842 . 5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:29.265 . 6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:30.016 . 7 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso 1:30.071 . 8 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:30.104 . 9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:30.205 . 10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:30.473 . 11 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:30.755 . 12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:30.980 . 13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.387 . 14 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:31.395, . 15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:32.303 . 16 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:33.289 . 17 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull . 18 Felipe Massa Williams . 19 Will Stevens Manor . 20 Roberto Mehri Manor (All no time) Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest on his debut for Ferrari in the second session, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fourth best. But with Vettel's fastest time over seven tenths of a second adrift of Rosberg, the opening day's practice will strengthen belief that the first rounds of the new season may be a private duel for race wins between the Mercedes duo. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas posted the fifth-fastest lap, with Red Bull's new recruit Daniil Kvyat sixth in the second session. Kvyat's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had a less memorable day. Tenth fastest in the first session, Ricciardo was forced to sit out the second after an engine problem, a fate also shared by Williams driver Felipe Massa. Toro Rosso's 17-year-old driver Max Verstappen impressed with the sixth-fastest time of the first session, before falling back to 14th-quickest in the second. Dogged by reliability problems during winter testing, the gloom in the McLaren garage followed drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen onto the track. Rosberg is bidding to bounce back from last season's disappointment by clinching his maiden campaign . World champion Hamilton finished behind Rosberg in both practice sessions on Friday . Hamilton takes time out in the garage during the first practice session of the new season . McLaren endured a difficult day at the office with Kevin Magnussen slamming his McLaren into the barriers . Magnussen's McLaren is winched away by a tractor after he skidded into the gravel ain the second session . Magnussen, who has taken injured Fernando Alonso's seat at Albert Park, skidded into the gravel at turn six in the second session and his car had to be winched off the track. That was after he and Button finished slowest of the 15 cars in the first session that posted flying laps. Button improved in the second but only marginally to be 13th fastest. Having lost a legal challenge from dumped driver Giedo van der Garde, Sauber's troubled lead-up continued. Sauber's Marcus Ericsson takes to the track amid the team's off-track disputes . Jenson Button looks concerned in the McLaren garage after a disappointing day of practice . An Australian court found in favour of Van der Garde's bid to force Sauber to let him drive for them and the Dutchman's lawyers filed a contempt of court action against the Swiss team. Van der Garde was at Albert Park, suited up and apparently ready to drive, but neither he nor nominated drivers Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr drove in the first session. Swede Ericsson and Brazilian Nasr drove out for the second session but Ericsson crawled back to pit with smoke billowing from the rear of his car midway through. Manor Marussia, having only recently emerged from administration, were unable to put either of their cars on the track in the first session. Jenson Button is pictured ahead of the practice with his wife Jessica. He endured a tough day at the office . Hamilton speaks to the assembled media after the opening practice session Down Under . Jenson Button struggled in Melbourne as he and team-mate Kevin Magnussen finished at the back . +Manchester United have not told Monaco they won't be taking up the £43million option to make Radamel Falcao's move to Old Trafford permanent. Reports in France on Wednesday claimed United officials had been in touch with their counterparts in the principality to inform them that there would be no move for the misfiring Colombian at the end of the season. But a source at Old Trafford told Sportsmail that no decision has yet been made on Falcao and added that none would be forthcoming until May. Manchester United will delay making a decision over Radamel Falcao's future until the end of the season . Falcao has just over three months to convince Louis van Gaal that he is worthy of a £43m transfer fee . The 29-year-old, once one of the most feared strikers in the game, has struggled for form at United since he made the switch from Monaco in the summer. He suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury last January that saw him miss the World Cup and some have questioned whether he can return to the same level. Falcao penned a season-long deal with United but has scored just four goals in 20 appearances - a record that would appear to scupper any chances of his agreement being made permanent. However, an injury to Robin van Persie means Falcao is likely to get more chances to show manager Louis van Gaal why he should keep him at the end of the season. The Colombia international has scored four Premier League goals since joining from Monaco . Falcao is expected to benefit from an injury to Manchester United team-mate Robin van Persie . +It's not time to play the music. For Lewis Hamilton has said the building of his ‘brand’ after Formula One — possibly in a recording studio — must not cloud his determination to win a third world championship. Hamilton has been a regular at showbusiness events in the close season, but now his red private jet has touched down in Melbourne and his focus has switched to the defence of his title in the opening race of the campaign. Nonetheless, his life is something of a juggling act. Yes, winning races is by far the most important thing, yet he has engaged transatlantic PR and talent agencies to polish his image after a split from Simon Fuller, who shaped ‘Brand Beckham’. Lewis Hamilton wants to replicate the scenes that followed after his second world championship title . Hamilton (left) has been pictured alongside Kanye West and Kim Kardashian since his triumph . Hamilton is adamant his growing profile will not distract him from matters on the racing track . Hamilton has never hidden his passion for music, posting Instagram snaps playing guitar . Is that ‘brand’ something Hamilton wants to replicate? ‘At the moment, it’s winning championships that counts,’ he said. ‘I don’t wish to stop racing but I’m conscious I’m halfway through my career, or maybe gone past halfway, and that the next six, seven or however many years I get will come and go. Whatever steps I take now will determine what I do after. ‘I don’t want to be a commentator, although I think I’d be OK at it because I obviously know a lot about the sport, but there are other things I would like to try. So it’s exploring those and building a foundation.’ Does that mean music? ‘I’m continuing to plod along and enjoy my music when I get time,’ said Hamilton. ‘But I haven’t been in the studio since January, and just for a couple of days. That’s the least music I’ve done during a winter for some time. ‘Music is more of my life than people are aware of. When you’re doing music you have a choice of how much you want to show and how vulnerable you want to be. I approach it just as a hobby, something I enjoy. It’s therapeutic. ‘I like to have feedback from people who are experienced. I’ve never been tempted to release anything but I’ve not had the worst of comments about my songs, either.’ Hamilton has spoken about several post-career avenues, including an acting role in Hollywood. He rules out very little. Hamilton admits that he wants to explore his creative side when he is away from Formula One . Hamilton (right) presented an honour at the Brit awards alongside Ellie Goulding . Hamilton described his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg as 'an honourable, respectful man' ‘Growing up, I was restricted in knowing, learning and being made aware of my creative side,’ he said of a young lifetime spent going from kart track to kart track under the eyes of his controlling father, Anthony, and the strict discipline of McLaren. ‘There are things I’m really quite creative at, so I’m going to see where that takes me. I am good at designing. I did my whole house. I have done my steering wheel for some time. I might indulge in trying to design clothes or something. Just do my own stuff. I’d like to do something with cars.’ Which brings us from hobbies back to business and a year in which Hamilton’s Mercedes team will again dominate, according to the crushing figures from pre-season testing. That sets up a private duel: Hamilton versus Nico Rosberg, the sequel. Their relationship became rancorous last season but ended with a hug in Abu Dhabi. It was a magnanimous gesture from the vanquished Rosberg. ‘An honourable, respectful man,’ was Hamilton’s verdict at Mercedes’ factory in Brackley last week. ‘My relationship with Nico is as good as 12 months ago,’ he added. ‘It seems quite good, to be honest. But it’s when you get in the heat of the moment and there’s... you know, you have to assume there’s going to be moments where there’s going to be bits of tension, but that’s because we’re fierce competitors. Hamilton insisted he is unfazed by Rosberg's efforts to beat him in the upcoming season . Hamilton is confident that he will be able to defend his title in the season that starts in Melbourne . ‘You are conflicted because you are trying to get the team to win, but you also want to win yourself. We managed it well, particularly at the end of last season.’ Rosberg, whose wife Vivian is expecting their first baby in August (classic German efficiency — a birth in the sport’s summer break, as one of his lieutenants observed), has said publicly he can win the title. Hamilton is unfazed. ‘You have to assume each driver is going to get better,’ he said. ‘I’m sure Nico is training harder. I’m sure he is studying more and trying everything under the sun to make sure he finishes ahead of me. That’s what I’ve been facing since I was 10 so it’s no different, really.’ +Manchester United and Tottenham target Memphis Depay could leave PSV Eindhoven in the summer, the club's director has admitted. The 21-year-old, a Holland international, attracted interest after impressing at the World Cup in Brazil, with Tottenham even tabling a €20million (£14.6m) bid for the forward, which was turned down. But PSV director Toon Gerbrands is resigned to the fact that he is likely to leave when the next transfer window opens in June. Memphis Depay (right), in action on Sunday night against Ajax, is attracting interest from the Premier League . The 21-year-old forward has scored 21 goals in 31 appearances for PSV Eindhoven so far this season . Louis van Gaal is interested in the player, who he called up to the Holland squad for the World Cup in Brazil . 'Tottenham were willing to offer €20m for Depay,' he told Dutch broadcaster NOS. 'We decided to keep hold of him, but he has the option to leave after this season.' Depay and PSV colleague Georginio Wijnaldum are expected to attract a number of high-profile suitors, with the latter being eyed up by Paris Saint-Germain. 'I think these two players are very attractive to a lot of clubs in Europe,' Gerbrands continued. 'So far, no-one has come forward with an offer but I expect we will come under great pressure.' Depay (left) celebrates with international team-mate Arjen Robben during Holland's game with Chile in 2014 . Depay turned down a move to Tottenham last summer, but could leave for England in the next window . Depay is familiar with current Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal due to their time spent together with Holland, and reports in the summer stated that the player's decision to stay with PSV was heavily influenced by Van Gaal. Therefore, Depay's decision on which club to choose if he does leave PSV may be swayed by Van Gaal and Manchester United, who also have Depay's international team-mate Daley Blind in their ranks. The forward has scored 21 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions this season. +Micro-pigs assuming the identities of race horses have been pitted against each other to help predict the winners of the Cheltenham feature races. Named after the horses they represent, the micro-pigs taking part in the Champion Hurdle include Hurricane Sty (Hurricane Fly), Fuzzheen (Faugheen) and Kitten Trot (Kitten Rock). The micro-pigs also dress in accordance with their counterpart and compete against each other on a specially designed miniature course. The brainchild of Coral bookmakers, the micro-competition is part of their CheltenHAM festival where horse racing fans are able to compete for free bets. And the footage, while not entirely insightful, is interesting to say the least. Opening on an establishing shot of the course, the micro-pig commentator stands before a microphone in a flat cap and welcomes the crowd – who wear Ladies Day hats. The micro-pigs each wear the colours of their counterpart horse and are paraded in the paddock before the start of the race . The commentator then takes the action down to the paddocks and begins introducing the race’s competitors. First up is Un de Sow (Un De Sceaux), who is presented as a pig with a weight problem. Next is Piglet Bay (Purple Bay), who struts around the paddock, before Kitten Trot is introduced and relieves itself. After a quick look to see ‘what the market is saying’ the race gets under way and despite Un de Sow, who makes a quick run for it, the other pigs just stand around and graze. A micro-pig commentator dressed in a flat cap introduces the competitors and comments on the crowd . Approaching the first bend Kitten Trot is able to take the lead however and makes its way over the famous hill first. As the race reaches its finish, the micro-pigs – except one who stops for a drink – manage to catch up with one another and run in a herd. And it’s almost too close to call as they reach the finishing line before Kitten Trot makes a last-ditch dash for it and wins. A member of the crowd wears a Ladies Day-style hat while watching the micro-pig race . The micro-pig called Kitten Trot makes its way over the famous hill and is the eventual winner of the race . While not an exact science, considering that Faugheen was the winner of the actual Champion Hurdle race, the competition is certainly a bit of fun. Tania Seif, Head of Social Marketing at Coral, said: ‘Move over Paul the octopus, there’s a new breed of animal psychic in town – the micro-pig. ‘We can’t wait to see if any of our micro-pig races successfully predict the winner of the actual races at the Cheltenham festival – we’re hoping they bring home the bacon for our punters.’ Towards the end of the race the competitors are much closer together as they make their way to the finishing line . +Jordan Henderson has insisted the vast majority of England youngsters will want to play in the European Under-21 championship this summer – but that pressure from club managers can make it difficult. Henderson says that his time with the Under-21 was a huge learning curve, even though when he played in Under-21 Euro 2013 as captain, England lost all three games in a deeply disappointing tournament. Henderson also played in the 2011 European Under 21 championship, in which England also failed to win. England midfielder Jordan Henderson played in Under-21 Euro 2013 as captain . But with a club versus country row already developing over the availability of Harry Kane this summer, Henderson has urged the current generation to take their chance to play if they can . Henderson said: ‘I would tell any of those young lads to go out there and play in tournament football for their country at any level. ‘I thought I gained a lot of experience doing that. It wasn’t all good as I had two Under-21 tournaments and we didn’t do that well in either. We could have done a lot better with the team we had – but I learnt a lot from playing in those games. Club versus country row already developing over the availability of Harry Kane . ‘There was never any doubt for me. All I wanted to do was go and play. Obviously people get injuries, which you can't help, but if you're fit, I wanted to go. You've got to manage it with the club managers, who think about the best interest of the player. And you've got to understand that. But for me personally I want to play every game for club and country and if I'm fit I'll want to play at a tournament whatever the level. Henderson says that most of the players do want to play – but that pressure from clubs is the reason why sometimes are withdrawn from age-group squads. ‘I'm not sure it's players needing convincing,’ said Henderson. ‘If you asked all the lads they'd want to play. But managers of clubs have to manage the player the best they can and their best interest is the player. ‘If they feel the player is playing a lot of games and are afraid they'll burn out, that's an issue. But for me I just wanted to play as much football as I could, whenever for, and though the tournaments didn't turn out how we wanted, I gained a lot of experience.’ +Argentina cruised to a 2-0 friendly victory over El Salvador at the Fedex Field in Landover Maryland. Gerardo Martino's side dominated the game and took the lead in the 54th minute thanks to a Nestor Renderos own goal deflected from Ever Banega's shot. Substitute Federico Mancuello then made sure of the win with a free kick from a tight angle on 88 minutes. Argentina forward Angel di Maria (left) shields the ball from El Salvador's Richard Menjivar (right) Argentina striker Carlos Tevez (left) has his shorts pulled back by El Salvador's Alexander Larin (right) El Salvador (5-4-1): Carillo; Flores, Mendoza, Molina, Renderos (Ceren 88), Larin; Alvarez, Ceren, Menjivar (Punyed 76), Alas (Santamaría 67); Bonilla (Burgos 59) Argentina (4-2-3-1): Guzman; Zabaleta, Musacchio, Funes Mori, Orban; Pereyra, Banega; Di Maria (Mancuello 73), Lavezzi, Tevez (Pastore 78); Higuain . Scorers: Renderos O.G. 54, Mancuello 88 . Martino started Carlos Tevez for the first time since taking over the team last year, but the Juventus forward was ineffective in attack alongside Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria. Meanwhile, PSG winger Ezequiel Lavezzi made his return to the national side for the first time since the World Cup final loss against Germany last year. Argentina face Ecuador on Tuesday in the Meadowlands, in their last warm-up match before the Copa America in June. PSG winger Ezequiel Lavezzi makes his first appearance for Argentina since the World Cup final last year . Argentina's Federico Mancuello (right) dribbles with the ball ahead of El Salvador's Arturo Alverez (left) +Manchester United's attacking woes have been highlighted once more as it has emerged that Tottenham striker Harry Kane has scored more goals than Louis van Gaal's entire attack this season. Kane has scored 26 goals in all competitions during the course of the current campaign. The Tottenham star has netted 16 Barclays Premier League goals thus far. Manchester United's attacking trio of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao have amassed 25 goals in all competitions during the same period. Harry Kane celebrates his second goal against QPR during his side's 2-1 victory at Loftus Road on Saturday . Kane's form has been the highlight of Tottenham's season so far . Harry Kane: 26 . Robin van Persie: 10 . Wayne Rooney: 11 . Radamel Falcao: 4 . That statistic will compound a miserable week for United who were dumped out of the FA Cup by Arsenal on Monday night. Rooney, who has been deployed in a midfield role in recent months, put his recent goal-scoring issues behind him to fire United into the lead in the 29th minute. But former United striker Danny Welbeck came back to haunt his old employers with the winner on the hour mark. Welbeck was moved on by Van Gaal following Falcao's arrival but the Colombian has not been having the best of times at Old Trafford recently. Radamel Falcao smiles from the window of his Range Rover Sport as he arrives at training on Thursday . Falcao toiled upfront against Tottenham Hotspur for Manchester United's Under 21s on Tuesday night . The failing loan signing is aware he has no long-term future at Old Trafford and will be sent back to Monaco . Falcao left Manchester United's Carrington training base on Thursday, well aware that his chances to impress at his loan club have run out. The Colombian striker suffered an embarrassing demotion to United's Under 21 side this week and sources close to Falcao say he recognises that he made the wrong move when picking Old Trafford in the summer. Spurs, meanwhile, are having no such issues up front as Kane's superb form has earned him the Barclays Premier League player of the month award for the second successive time. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring against Arsenal in the FA Cup on Monday . The Tottenham striker scored four goals in February, including a brace against north London rivals Arsenal and the equaliser against West Ham. He is also likely to earn his first senior England call-up later this month when Roy Hodgson names his squad to face Lithuania and Italy. +As Lionel Messi took control of the ball in a crowded penalty area before bursting into the six-yard box and sitting the goalkeeper on his backside with the subtlest of feints, records went tumbling again. The Barcelona forward, as he so often does, stole the show at the Nou Camp on Sunday as Luis Enrique's side put Rayo Vallecano to the sword with a 6-1 victory that sent the Catalans to the top of La Liga. Rivals Real Madrid were beaten by Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and Barca took full advantage as they recorded their biggest league win since the opening day of the season to take control of the title race. Lionel Messi leaves the field with the match ball after netting a 12-minute hat-trick on Sunday . Barcelona forward Messi looks to the sky as he celebrates following his second goal against Rayo Vallecano . El Clasico all-time top scorer - 21 . Most goals in a single season - 73 . Ballon d'Or winner - 4 . Barcelona all-time goalscorer (official) - 395 . La Liga all time goalscorer - 273 . Champions League top scorer - 75 . La Liga assists - 106 . Catalan derby top scorer -  12 . Like our Barcelona Facebook page. Luis Suarez netted the first and last during the rout but in between, along with a Gerard Pique goal, the irrepressible Messi scored a 12-minute hat-trick - the fastest of his career - as 10-man Rayo crumpled in the second half. You would be forgiven for thinking there were any records left to break for the 27-year-old. The graphic above by Grup14.com perfectly illustrates Messi's dominance over the last decade. The Argentina forward has outperformed legends of the game such as Alfredo di Stefano, Gerd Muller and Michel Platini to lay claim to some illustrious accolades and Messi's record-breaking shows no sign of abating. Here, we look at the statistics following his latest goalscoring exploits. The Argentina international netted his first of the afternoon from the penalty spot . Messi celebrates after finding the bottom corner with his spot kick to make it 3-0 to Barcelona . The 27-year-old taps home from close range in front of a packed Nou Camp as Barca went top of La Liga . Messi's goalscoring rival Cristiano Ronaldo drew a blank against Athletic Bilbao as Real Madrid lost 1-0 . Messi brilliantly rounds Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper Cristian Alvarez to seal his hat-trick . Messi taps into the empty net after securing his hat-trick with a sublimely taken goal . +South Africa's Trevor Fisher Jnr maintained the 100 per cent record of home players in the Africa Open by winning his first European Tour title with a brilliant display in East London. Fisher Jnr played his last 36 holes in 17 under par, adding a closing 64 to his third round of 63 to finish 24 under par, five shots ahead of England's Matt Ford. South African players have won the Africa Open every year since its inception in 2010, when Fisher Jnr was joint fourth behind former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Fellow major winner Louis Oosthuizen won the title in 2011 and 2012, with Darren Fichardt and Thomas Aiken also triumphing on home soil. South Africa's Trevor Fisher Jnr maintained the 100 per cent record of home players in the Africa Open . Fisher celebrates victory with his caddie on the 18th green during the final round of the Africa Open . 'It's amazing,' said Fisher Jnr, who had won eight times on the Sunshine Tour. 'I can't believe it. It's been a long time coming. I've been a pro for a long time. 'I played well. It's always a bit nervewracking leading, you always try not to think about the result but I think I did a good job today of staying in the moment. I was nervous the last few holes but I think that's natural. It was a great day, I played well, everything worked out well and the putter was amazing. Fisher tees off on the first hole during the final round of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club . Fisher won the tournament finishing five shots ahead of England's Matt Ford at the Africa Open, South Africa . 'I think it's written in the stars; if you can get out of your own way you can achieve a lot of things. Everyone has to keep trying and keep working.' Fisher Jnr took a two-shot lead into the final round and birdied four of his first seven holes, but a bogey on the fifth meant that four birdies in the same stretch from Ford ensured the gap was cut in half. The decisive moment came on the ninth as Fisher Jnr made birdie and Ford missed a short putt for par, and the world number 271 secured victory in style with four birdies on the back nine - including one from 35 feet on the 18th. Ford plays his second shot into the 11th green during the final round of the Africa Open . 'I made birdie on 16 and knew I had a five-shot lead and it would have been very naughty of me to lose that lead,' Fisher Jnr added at the presentation ceremony. 'Matt's a little British bulldog. He just sank putts and I thought 'Jeez I'm not going to get away from this guy'. He made birdie, I made birdie so it was quite tough and then on nine I made a great birdie and he made a five and that was where it turned around for me and I knew I just had to keep my head up and keep going. 'It's really been tough, I've gone to many tour schools and it's such a tough week. If you don't play well that week you don't get your card. It's amazing - everything worked out well this week, the putts fell and I'm very grateful.' +Brendon de Jonge held the halfway lead at the Valspar Championship as gusting winds made scoring difficult on day two in Florida. The Zimbabwean recorded four birdies and two bogeys in a steady 69 to finish six under and open up a one-shot lead over a group of five players including Jordan Spieth, who fired the joint lowest round of the day with a 67. Kevin Streelman, Derek Ernst, Ryan Moore and Henrik Stenson were also on five under, Ernst having got to eight under at one point with a run of five birdies before dropping three shots in his final five holes. Brendon de Jonge posted a solid round of 69 to take the lead on the second day at the Valspar Championship . De Jonge began on the 10th and dropped a shot on the par-five 14th where he had holed from 126-yards for eagle on Thursday, before a birdie on 18 saw him turn level. Another birdie followed on the first before a bogey on the sixth and two further birdies on the seventh and ninth, with De Jonge admitting the wind was making life difficult. 'It's tricky out there,' he told www.pgatour.com. 'It's one of those golf courses where it's tough enough to get it on the fairway when it's still and when the wind blows it's added difficulty. 'It's difficult to pick it out there. It gets in these tress and swirls around so you've got to try and stay patient as best you can.' Spieth registered seven birdies and three bogeys on his way round, while Stenson opened with an eagle but could not maintain his momentum as he signed for a 70. Jordan Spieth shot the lowest round of the day, a 67, in difficult conditions, to sit in joint second place . Ian Poulter was then in the group at four under alongside Ricky Barnes, Lucas Glover and Sean O'Hair. Poulter started on the back nine and got himself to six under at the turn with birdies on 12,14 and 18 before back-to-back bogeys at five and six saw him slip back into the pack. But the Englishman is feeling confident for the weekend and believes the layout at Copperhead suits his game. 'Solid play,' he told Sky Sports 4. 'This golf course is a good golf course for me - it's short, it's tricky. It's not about hitting driver off every tee - it's about positional play.' He added: 'It's about putting it in to play to set up your second shot. The greens are small but undulating. 'The wind has now picked up and that's playing tricky and I've done a good job putting it in play and giving myself plenty of chances.' Ian Poulter was reasonably pleased with his performance which saw him two off the lead after two rounds . Another Englishman who is feeling better about his game is Luke Donald after shooting a 68 on Friday which left him two under. The former world number one has seen his form desert him in the past couple of years and his last PGA Tour win came here in 2012 but, after finishing in a tie for seventh at the Honda Classic, he feels he is getting closer to his best. 'It's been a while,' he said. 'I had a chance at Honda a couple of weeks ago. I need to keep giving myself chances and keep putting myself back into contention again. 'I think once I keep doing that and getting the juices flowing and feeling it again then hopefully the results will come.' Adam Scott splashes out of a bunker on a day which saw him lose his tour-long streak of 45 cuts made . Jonathan Byrd recorded a two-bounce ace on the 15th but could not make the cut while Justin Rose, Jamie Donaldson and Padraig Harrington were also among those returning home for the weekend. Adam Scott also missed out - ending the longest active cut streak on PGA Tour. The Australian had gone 45 consecutive PGA Tour events - and 57 tournaments worldwide - without missing a cut. +Sam Warburton was exhausted and delighted after leading Wales to a nail-biting RBS 6 Nations win over Ireland at the Millennium Stadium. Ireland's Grand Slam hopes were dashed after they were beaten 23-16 in Cardiff on Saturday. Warburton was sin-binned for the closing stages of the first half but was instrumental in Wales' heroic backs to the wall defence during wave after wave of Ireland attack. Sam Warburton gives a thumb up after an heroic defensive effort from Wales in their win over Ireland . A delighted Wales team celebrates keeping their 2015 RBS Six Nations title hopes alive with victory . Warburton makes a run at Ireland hooker Rory Best at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday . The man of the match said he was physically and mentally drained after the enthralling win, which gives Wales a fighting chance of winning the championship if they beat Italy next weekend. 'That's probably one of the most exhausted I've felt after a Test match,' Warburton said on BBC One. 'It was an unbelievable effort. I could not have asked for more. 'Ireland, to their credit, kept coming and had lot of phases but our defence was so tough. All we had to do was keep our discipline. We did, and we won.' Referee Wayne Barnes shows Warburton (not pictured) a yellow card late in the first half . The Wales skipper (left) reaches out to halt the progress of Ireland's fly half Johnny Sexton . +England's David Horsey and Scotland's Craig Lee are part of a six-way tie for the lead after the third round of the Tshwane Open in South Africa. Lee carded a four-under-par 66, the joint lowest round of the day, to set the clubhouse target on nine under par and looked on as none of the later starters were able to overhaul him at Pretoria Country Club. Horsey held the outright lead after three birdies and one bogey in his first 12 holes, but bogeyed the 17th to card a second consecutive 69, while overnight leader Adrian Otaegui struggled to a 72. England's David Horsey lines up a putt during his third round at the Tshwane Open . Scotland's Craig Lee plays a shot on his way to carding the joint lowest round of the day of 66 . Last week's Africa Open winner Trevor Fisher Jnr recovered from four bogeys in his first seven holes to post a 69 and was joined in the lead by fellow South Africans Wallie Coetsee and George Coetzee, who is a member of the club and won his first junior competition here aged 10. Otaegui, who is a protege of former Masters champion and 2012 Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal, was two shots clear after a second round of 62 but dropped his first shot on the front nine all week when he bogeyed the third. The 22-year-old responded with birdies from close range on the sixth and eighth and looked in position to pick up another shot on the par-five ninth when his second shot bounded through the green, only to duff two chips and eventually card a bogey six. Further bogeys followed on the 10th and 13th and although he birdied the 15th, Otaegui also dropped a shot on the 16th after his tee shot flew over the green. Horsey plays out of the bunker at the Pretoria Country Club on day three of the Tshwane Open . Lee lines up a putt before going on to become part of a six-way tie at the top of the leaderboard . Spain's Adrian Otaegui walks across a bridge during his round in Pretoria on Saturday . +Champions Exeter survived a strong second-half fightback by Leicester to book their place in the LV= Cup final against Saracens next Sunday. Exeter, who beat Northampton in last year's final, will meet Sarries at Franklin's Gardens after a 30-22 victory over the Tigers at Welford Road. The visitors led 20-16 at half-time thanks to tries by Elvis Taione and Fetu'u Vainikolo, with Michele Rizzo replying for Leicester. Exeter Chiefs celebrates their opening try from Elvis Taione beneath a pile of Leicester forwards . Leicester fly-half Tommy Bell, who kicked 17 points, put Leicester within one point in the second half with a penalty and a drop goal but Greg Bateman clinched Exeter's victory with a try in the 75th minute. Fly-half Ceri Sweeney kicked 15 points for Exeter, who had Max Bodilly yellow carded in the 62nd minute. Prop Rizzo opened the scoring for the Tigers with a fabulously worked try in the fifth minute after a searing break from his own half by winger Miles Benjamin. Fetu'u Vainikolo coasts away for the Chiefs second five-pointer of the first half as they took a 20-16 lead . Benjamin drew the last defender before finding impressive young centre George Catchpole and, after a ruck in the Exeter 22, Rizzo blasted over from short range with fly-half Bell adding the conversion. Exeter were level 10 minutes later when hooker Taione got the touchdown after a driving maul from a line-out and Sweeney kicked the conversion. Bell restored Leicester's lead with the first of three penalties, this one from half way, but Exeter kept their noses in front for the rest of the half after they were handed a second try on a plate in the 20th minute. Try-scorer Vainikolo tackles Tigers winger Miles Benjamin at a muddy Welford Road on Sunday . Leicester looked set to counter from their own 10-metre line but number eight Laurence Pearce's pass was easily intercepted by winger Vainikolo, who ran in under the posts unopposed, with Sweeney adding the conversion. Sweeney kicked two penalties with a minute of the half left to give his side a small four-point cushion which became seven two minutes after the break thanks to another Sweeney penalty. Bell missed a long range penalty before finding the posts with a drop goal after Leicester failed to score from a line-out and drive. Tigers scrum half David Mele spins the ball right from the ruck as they fall short in the LV= Cup semi-final . Bell put Leicester one point behind with his fourth penalty after Exeter full-back Bodilly had been sin-binned in the 62nd minute for a professional foul after a great break by Tigers lock Brad Thorn. Leicester, who made several key changes on the hour, might have scored moments later after Benjamin's break put replacement hooker Neil Briggs clear but he was collared just short by flanker Ben White. Replacement Bateman sealed victory for Exeter, only their second at Welford, with a try from a line-out and drive in the 75th minute with Sweeney converting. +Veteran Harlequin Nick Easter is a man on a mission for the remainder of this season, hell-bent on proving his critics wrong by claiming the most unlikely of spots in Stuart Lancaster's England World Cup squad. A combination of impressive form for Quins, coupled with an untimely injury for Gloucester No 8 Ben Morgan, saw Easter recalled for this season's Six Nations after more than three years in the international wilderness. The 36-year-old's last international start came in the defeat by France in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup, and he was subsequently omitted from the England set-up once Lancaster became coach in early 2012. Nick Easter poses with James Haskell and Lawrence Dallaglio at the Six Nations . But his ability to cover at No 8 as well as in the second row saw him feature as a replacement for England against Wales, Italy, Ireland and France in this year's Six Nations, with the veteran even winning his 50th international cap in the loss in Dublin. Easter's return to England colours has been seen by most as simply short-term option as the likes of Morgan and Wasp Joe Launchbury battle their way back to full fitness. But Easter sees his international return very differently and is determined to force his way into Lancaster's World Cup thinking as he looks to make his mark in the final weeks of the season. 'It's going to be tough making the World Cup squad with Ben Morgan coming back to full fitness,' said Easter, speaking at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens. Easter looks dejected at the end of the Six Nations match between England and France . 'But I back myself to make it and I just hope I get a chance in the final World Cup warm-ups. 'Then the coaches have to make the decision from there about whether to select me or not but I back myself to make it. 'Our chances for the World Cup are as good as they were before. We have always had the players, it is just making sure we turn up for the big games and apply it. 'I would not mind becoming the oldest scorer for England at the World Cup – it would be a really nice thing to add to my career and I'm now so desperate to get the opportunity – I will be doing everything I can to impress and earn selection.' England came within six points of winning the Six Nations title this season after dismantling France at Twickenham on the final weekend of the Championship, with only an Ireland hammering of Scotland meaning Easter is not adding yet more silverware to an already impressive CV. Easter is 36 but hopes to win a place in Stuart Lancaster's England squad . A host of England players sparkled during the tournament, namely Jonathan Joseph and Ben Youngs, but it was the performances of Saracen Billy Vunipola at the base of the scrum that caught Easter's eye. In previous campaigns, Vunipola's fitness and inability to last 80 minutes had been called into question by Lancaster and his England coaching staff. But despite the form of Vunipola hampering his international chances, Easter is convinced the England youngster is now the real deal on the international stage. 'Billy Vunipola has had a very good tournament,' added Easter. 'He has got back to what he does best which is being a wrecking-ball for us, which is generally the job of a No.8 but he has got more to come from his game I think which can only be exciting for English rugby. 'He has got a big England future ahead of him. You look at last year and he was playing around 50 minutes and then being subbed but now this year he's managed to play five 80 minute games in a row so he is always developing. 'I'm still gutted about the end to the Six Nations; I feel the same as I did after the game. We had chances to win it and unfortunately we just came up short – that's the overriding feeling amongst the players. 'But there were so many positive as well to take from the tournament; namely the form, fitness and performances of Billy Vunipola – there are things to build on for us.' HSBC is proud to sponsor the world's largest schools rugby tournament. All HSBC's rugby sponsorships aim to help develop and grow the sport and ensure even more youngsters get involved with rugby. +The RFU's chief executive, Ian Ritchie, has ignited a storm of debate in this country and attracted global attention — for saying England's inability to win the RBS Six Nations is 'unacceptable'. After a fourth consecutive second place in the championship, the man in charge of the union — and national coach Stuart Lancaster's boss — delivered a forthright verdict about the need to aim higher. Among those objecting to his views was Sir Clive Woodward, who argued passionately in these pages that the timing was wrong and that Ritchie had scored a 'massive own goal'. RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie (right) chats to Lancaster at England's base in Pennyhill Park in Bagshot . Tom Wood (left), Courtney Lawes and Chris Robsaw leave the pitch following their 55-35 win against France . England have claimed just one Six Nations title since their 2003 World Cup triumph in Australia . Yet what was he supposed to say in the circumstances? Let's be clear; this was a damned-either-way scenario. Imagine if Ritchie had declared that he found the outcome — another campaign without silverware — to be perfectly acceptable. He would have been widely castigated for failing to drive standards, for setting the bar too low. He would have been condemned for sitting on the fence and refusing to demand better. Instead, he made it plain that he and the RFU are not about to settle for title near-misses. If it was meant as a suited boot to the behinds of the coaching staff, then it was unnecessary as they know precisely what is required. When Lancaster sat down to reflect on Saturday's 55-35 rout of France at Twickenham, he wore a despondent look. There was barely a flicker of consolation in the match result. He is well aware that anything other than first won't do. Lancaster (second left) consoles his players after they fell just six points short of a Six Nations title . Amid a raging discussion on this polarising subject on Wednesday, some observers even questioned Ritchie's right to dip a toe in these waters at all. The thrust of the point from the dissenting voices was that he is in charge of the business and should leave Lancaster and Co to run the England team. This simplistic outlook ignores the glaring truth: that Ritchie controls the appointment of coaches. Soon after taking up his post he was the man who — following consultation with a panel of rugby experts — opted to give Lancaster the head coach role on a full-time basis, after his impressive interim audition. Earlier this season, Ritchie authorised the agreement of new six-year contracts for Lancaster and his three assistants, Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt. So while he may not have the deep-rooted rugby knowledge to precisely criticise performances, he is an employer who must monitor the efforts of his leading employees. He is only one administrative step removed from the running of the team. Ritchie (left) and Lancaster talk in the Twickenham stands prior to England's clash with New Zealand . In the rush to hand out bouquets or throw stones at the end of this year's home World Cup, Ritchie will be either acclaimed or damned by association with the England team as the man on whose watch the whole countdown and campaign took place. Should his young coaching team and their squad fall short of the country's expectations, the chief executive's head will be above the parapet, so it is only right that he can voice his hopes and fears from time to time. That matter of expectation is significant. Ritchie doesn't need reminding that the RFU are the richest union in the world and England have the greatest depths of playing reserves. With that in mind, to have won just one Six Nations title since the World Cup triumph of 2003 is absolutely unacceptable. Thus, what he said amounts to fair comment. Stuart Lancaster with his tight-knit coaching team of Graham Rowntree (left), Mike Catt and Andy Farrell . Among the Celtic nations in particular, the reaction to his post-championship verdict has led to yet more predictable and tedious references to perceived English 'arrogance'. This accusation is utter nonsense. It is entirely logical that a country — or a club, for that matter — with vast resources would have higher expectations and demands than those with less clout in terms of finance or personnel. Look at football's Premier League. The likes of Chelsea and Manchester City would aim for the title and consider anything else to be a let-down. It does not mean they have a divine right to win it, but their benchmark naturally must be higher than rivals with fewer resources. Ireland, meanwhile, are heading to the World Cup with back-to-back Six Nations titles . So it is not arrogance for the English to bemoan a paucity of championship successes. Consider this. In 2012, Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson outlined a strategic plan which included the target of winning a Grand Slam by 2016 — and also the World Cup. At the time, he said: 'The goals we've set reflect our ambition for the game in Scotland. With unity, and support from the whole nation there is no reason we can't achieve those goals.' The truth is somewhat different, but no-one dismissed this as Scottish arrogance, just wishful thinking. Ritchie is not guilty of arrogance for demanding that England win trophies. He is also not venturing outside his remit. He is aiming high, as is his right. +England captain Chris Robshaw is 'devastated' after his side ended up being RBS 6 Nations runners-up at the weekend. The Harlequins openside was understandably disappointed not to get his hands on the trophy after an extraordinary final day as the Red Rose fell six points short of the required total, despite beating France 55-35 at Twickenham on Saturday evening. Instead it was Ireland who retained the title, with their 40-10 triumph over Scotland enough to overhaul a tough target set by Wales with their 61-20 win over Italy on what is already being touted as the greatest day in the competition's history. A dejected Chris Robshaw leaves the field at Twickenham having given it his all against France - he has since said he is 'devastated' with second place in the Six Nations championship . Robshaw is left devastated after his side ended up being RBS 6 Nations runners-up against despite France win . England flanker Robshaw and France flanker Thierry Dusautoir speak with referee Nigel Owens . Robshaw shakes hands with Referee Owens at the end of the RBS Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium . Such plaudits mean little to Robshaw, who is now determined to use the disappointment as fuel for a tilt at the World Cup on home soil later this year. 'I am devastated,' Robshaw told several national newspapers. 'Once again to fall short on points is tough to take. We went out and gave it our all but unfortunately came up short again.' Scott Spedding is tackled by Jonathan Joseph during the RBS Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium . Bernard Le Roux is tackled by Luther Burrell during the RBS Six Nations match between England and France . Jules Plisson, Robshaw, Loann Goujon and Luther Burrell all challenge for the ball at Twickenham . The back-rower was at pains to point out that it was not the failure to get the 26-point victory they needed against France that was the most costly factor in their doomed bid for the northern hemisphere crown. 'It didn't come down to this game,' he added. 'If we'd been more clinical and taken more points against Scotland and been better defensively against Italy it would have been different. 'We are not where we want to be. We want to be champions. But to score 50 points against France, considering they had only conceded two tries all tournament, was a great scoreline and really showed our intent.' Billy Vunipola is tackled by the French defence during the RBS Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium . Courtney Lawes is helped up by Benjamin Kayser at the end of the RBS Six Nations match . With England the host nation at this autumn's tussle for the Webb Ellis Cup, the Twickenham support could make a huge difference to their bid and Robshaw was quick to praise the fans for their efforts at the weekend. 'I think it was the loudest I have ever heard Twickenham - the place was rocking and that is what we want,' he said. 'We are playing very well at home and have built a lot of momentum now and if you look at where our World Cup games are, they are back here.' +England boss Roy Hodgson has criticised Tottenham, claiming they should not be taking Harry Kane on a 21,000-mile post-season trek to Australia if they think he needs a rest. Kane gushed with pride on Thursday after being rewarded for his fine form with a maiden England call-up. The 21-year-old is in line to make his international debut against Lithuania on March 27 or in Italy four days later. Harry Kane has been called into the England squad for the first time by Roy Hodgson . Kane is set to play for the Under 21 side in summer . 'It is an honour to be called up to the senior side, something I always dreamed of as a kid,' Kane told Spurs TV. 'I'm excited, when I got the message I was going to be in I was full of joy and hopefully it is the first of many.' Having started the season as Spurs' third-choice striker, few expected Kane to score 26 goals for the club. But now he is the club's poster boy and, for that reason, the north Londoners are determined to take him on their post-season jaunt to Australia, where they will play Sydney FC in a friendly on May 30. Hodgson is not so keen on the idea, however. Kane will, more than likely, be included in the England Under-21 squad for the European Championship - which takes place from June 17 to June 30 - as Hodgson wants him to experience international tournament football. Gareth Southgate's team will play at least one friendly between the end of the season (May 24) and the start of the tournament on June 17. Hodgson has noted Mauricio Pochettino's concerns about Kane's potential tiredness, but he thinks Spurs have a perfect opportunity to rest the striker by leaving him out of the squad for the 42-hour round trip to Australia. 'This is a marketing game as far as I can understand,' the England manager said. 'Personally speaking, playing for England at Under-21 level at a tournament is more important than a friendly in Australia. 'I would be very hypocritical if I didn't give that answer. 'If he needs a rest, there's a great opportunity when the season ends before our Under-21s get together to give him a rest. 'You can't expect me in good faith to say: 'oh no, I understand he shouldn't be resting for the Australia trip, he should be doing that and then resting when the Under-21s pitch up.' I can't go along with that.' Having represented Spurs across four competitions, Kane could amass well over 50 appearances for the club before the end of the season. And the Argentinian expects the forward to push himself to the extreme to impress Hodgson. Pochettino will relay his concerns to Hodgson when England train at the club's Enfield base next week in the build-up to the two internationals. 'I will see Mauricio,' Hodgson said. 'I don't think it's a problem there. Don't forget these decisions are sometimes commercial and taken out of a coach's hands.' Mauricio Pochettino will take his Tottenham side to Australia at the end of the season . +Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen shot a hole-in-one in a remarkable eagle-eagle finish to claim a share of the lead at the Tshwane Open in South Africa. England's David Horsey matched his seven-under-par 63 to join him at the top of the leaderboard after the first round at Pretoria Country Club. Australian Brett Rumford, playing on invitation, and South Africa's Wallie Coetsee were in a tie for third on six under. Morten Orum Madsen shot hole-in-one on his 17th hole and then an eagle for a shared lead in Pretoria . The dramatic close to Madsen's round captured the most attention. The 26-year-old's ace on the eighth - his 17th - was the 20th on the European Tour already this season and he followed up by taking three at the par-five ninth. Madsen, who was third at the Africa Open last week, said: 'The last couple of weeks I've been hitting some shots really close and I actually said to my caddy last week that a hole-in-one is on the cards pretty soon. 'Luckily for me it came today. I hit a fantastic shot, I couldn't hit it better, and it spun back into the hole. That was only my second hole-in-one and it's really special to have one in competition on The European Tour.' Englishman David Horsey played a more steady round than his rival, with seven birdies and no bogeys . Horsey played a more steady round, carding seven birdies in a bogey-free performance. Coetsee's 64 was notable for his chipping in for eagle at 12th and for one of his five birdies at the 17th. France's Raphael Jacquelin was one of four players on five under while last week's winner Trevor Fisher Jnr was among 10 a shot further back after a 66. Defending champion Ross Fisher was six shots off the lead on one under. Australian Brett Rumford, playing on invitation, was on a tie for third with Wallie Coetsee on six under . +Aitor Karanka hailed his two-goal star striker Patrick Bamford after Middlesbrough romped to a 4-1 victory at home to Ipswich. Bamford scored two outstanding second-half goals to ease the Teessiders to victory at the Riverside Stadium after a nervy opening half-hour. Boro gained an early lead through Daniel Ayala before Sky Bet Championship top scorer Daryl Murphy drew the Tractor Boys level. Patrick Bamford rounds Bartosz Bialkowski before scoring his side's third goal at the Riverside . Bamford reels away in celebration as he celebrates his goal against Ipswich Town in the lunchtime kick off . But Albert Adomah nudged Boro back into the lead before Bamford's brilliant brace. 'Patrick deserves those goals for his work rate and he showed great confidence in the way he took both of them,' said Karanka. 'It was massive to win, we needed a performance today and I thought we were brilliant against a good, strong team. Ipswich Town left-back Tyrone Mears runs with the ball as a tackle comes in from Adam Clayton . 'We've played against a very strong team who finished the game with four strikers and the main thing is that we're eight points ahead of them in seventh. 'To be eight points ahead of them is a good situation for us.' Boro's first two goals came from set plays, and the Spaniard added: 'We've been working on our set-pieces this week and it was brilliant how the first two goals came from them. 'We've put the points on the board in the early kick-off and that was important. 'Some of our performances of late have not been the best but today we did very well. Maybe some people expected us to be bad but we gave the perfect answer.' The scoreline arguably flattered Boro, who have won and lost three out of their last six games but went back to the top of the table before other fixtures on Saturday afternoon. Albert Adomah strikes for goal in the . Ipswich looked bright in the first half and hit the post with the score at 1-1. Town boss Mick McCarthy said: 'We worked on defending corners and conceded two goals from them. 'We were great in the first half and second half we were undone by a really good goal by Patrick Bamford, it's great play by him. 'I'll take responsibility after 3-1. I threw strikers on, we were all over the place and a bit of a shambles at the end. We're organised at corners normally and shouldn't concede. 'It looked a bit shambolic at the end as we pushed forward and I'll take responsibility for that. 'Automatic promotion is looking hard now, we're not going to win three more games than two or three teams between now and the end of the season.' +England's Ross Fisher faces a completely different challenge as he looks to successfully defend a European Tour title for the first time in his career in this week's Tshwane Open. Fisher ended a four-year victory drought with his win 12 months ago at The Els Club at Copperleaf, which, at 7,964 yards, was the longest course in European Tour history. This year the tournament, which is the sixth and final event co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour this season, has been switched to Pretoria Country Club, which measures 7,063 yards and has had the par-five fourth and 18th holes reduced to par fours, making it a par 70. Ross Fisher says it will be tough for him at the Tshwane Open this year but that he is looking forward to it . The Englishman plays a shot during a practice round at the Pretoria Country Club . Fisher poses with the trophy last year . 'It's a lot shorter and a lot more fiddly,' said Fisher of the course, which was redesigned in 2004 by Gary Player, who calls it a 'hidden gem'. 'There will be a lot of positional play off the tee, a lot of irons and not many drivers. 'It's an adaptation that we have to make as players. We don't generally play these types of golf courses. 'It's very different and I would prefer to be on a long golf course that's quite tight, because driving is my strength. 'It's going to be different this week. Your wedges will have to be sharp and you're going to have to get a hot putter, because I can imagine the scoring will be pretty good with some quality players here this week. 'I'm looking forward to the challenge and hopefully the game can live up to that.' Compatriot Andy Sullivan missed the cut in the Africa Open last week but is looking for his third win in South Africa in the space of 10 weeks, while home favourite George Coetzee has the benefit of local knowledge. Pretoria native Coetzee has been a member of the club since he took up the sport and won his first tournament here at the age of 10. 'I didn't build my game at this golf course,' Coetzee said. 'I putted well to shoot good scores here, but it's a drawer's golf course. There is a lot of risk and reward and on a lot of holes you can take it on. 'There are some advantages to knowing the course as well as I do, but it suits a certain type of golfer. Hopefully I make enough putts to make up for that. Andy Sullivan is looking for his third win in South Africa in the space of 10 weeks . 'I guess there's probably a little bit of extra pressure but hopefully I will thrive on it this week. 'I've got a couple of tricks that I know the course likes to throw at you and hopefully I'll use them to my advantage.' Compatriot Trevor Fisher Jnr comes into the event on the back of winning his first European Tour title at East London last week, a win which proved highly popular. 'It's been overwhelming,' Fisher Jnr said. 'All the messages and support, it's something special. I'm still busy soaking it in and looking forward to this week as well.' +A chip-in on his final hole handed Brian Davis a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Valspar Championship in Florida. The Englishman recorded eight birdies and two bogeys in an opening 65 to sit six under, a shot clear of American pair Sean O'Hair and Ricky Barnes. Starting on the back nine, Davis birdied 11,12, 14, 15 and 18 to turn in 30 and two further birdies on five and six had him out in the lead on his own. Brian Davis leads the Valspar Championship in Florida after an opening round including eight birdies . Bogeys on the seventh and eighth followed to stall his momentum somewhat but a wedge from the greenside rough at nine saw him take top spot. 'I actually hit a really good tee shot and a really good second shot, I was surprised to see it there,' he told Sky Sports 4. 'Obviously it's into the green so I can be aggressive but it actually jumps out a bit quicker than I thought and obviously (I am) delighted it hit the pin and dropped in. 'Delighted with the round, I hit some really good shots today.' Davis has won 12.8million dollars in his PGA Tour career but has yet to win a tournament and hopes improved iron play may at last push him over the edge after hitting 15 greens in regulation on the Copperhead course. 'My stats probably show I'm hitting eight to 10 greens a round, which is not going to get it done,' he added. 'If you start hitting 14 greens the way I putt, you're going to shoot under par and that's what I did today.' Davis hopes that his improved form will lead to a first tournament win of his PGA Tour career . O'Hair had eight birdies and three bogeys in his 66 while Barnes recorded a single dropped shot on 17 to slip into a share of second. There was then a group of six players on four under made up of Justin Thomas, Derek Ernst, Nicholas Thompson, Brendon de Jonge, Alex Cejka and Henrik Stenson. World number three Stenson is the highest ranked player in the field with Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson not present and his 67 was bogey free. The Swede, starting on 10, had chances for birdie on his opening five holes but could only take advantage on 11, 13 and 14 before picking up a shot on nine. And Stenson hopes this week will provide him with some good practice for the Masters in four weeks' time. Henrik Stenson, the top-ranked player in the tournament, is two shots back after a first round of 67 . 'I come in here trying to prepare for Augusta as well and this is a great test for that,' he told www.pgatour.com. 'To just keep hitting your spots and stay patient and I did that all day and I got rewarded for it. 'I'm going to try the same for the next three days and, of course, try and hit the shots. Even though my swing wasn't on today I still picked my targets and tried the best I could. 'I hit some good shots, obviously, and the other ones I missed in the right places which is key here.' Ian Poulter was in a large group of players at three under while Scottish pair Russell Knox and Martin Laird were a further shot back. +Spain's Adrian Otaegui will take a two-shot lead into the third round of the Tshwane Open after threatening to record the first ever 59 on the European Tour on Friday. Nine birdies in the first 16 holes at Pretoria Country Club, including five in a row from the eighth, left Otaegui needing two more to break the magical 60 barrier. However, the 22-year-old former British Boys champion narrowly failed to chip in from the edge of the green on the 17th and then dropped his only shot of the day on the last after finding a bunker off the tee. Adrian Otaegui made an impressive nine birdies in his round of 62, and came close to going under 60 . The resulting 62 gave the world number 403 a halfway total of 11 under par, two shots ahead of South Africa's Merrick Bremner, who birdied four of his last six holes to add a 66 to his opening 65. Bremner's compatriots Keith Horne and Trevor Fisher Jnr, who won the Africa Open on Sunday, were a shot further back on eight under alongside England's David Horsey and Italy's Edoardo Molinari. Otaegui, who is mentored by former Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal having played most of his junior golf at the latter's home club in Fuenterrabia, said: 'I was focused and didn't know that I had made five birdies in a row. It was an excellent round from the Spaniard, who leads in Pretoria after two rounds . 'I was playing well and made a few putts, that's all I was thinking about. The best golf is when you think as little as possible, and this was one of those days. 'We were first to tee off this morning, conditions were perfect, the greens were perfect. I like playing this early so I really played well, made many birdies and am happy with my round.' Horsey added a second round of 69 to his flawless opening 63, but joint overnight leader Morten Orum Madsen - who had finished his opening round with a hole-in-one on the eighth and eagle on the ninth - took five more shots to play those holes on Friday as he struggled to a 72 to lie five under. David Horsey, who made a brilliant 63 on the first day, is four shots behind after a second round 69 . 'I gave a few silly ones away and missed it on the wrong side occasionally as well,' Horsey said. 'It's a little bit disappointing I suppose but I still managed to make my fair share of birdies to keep it under par. 'I am three behind but there is a long way to go and this golf course can yield a lot of birdies as well as bogeys. I am in a nice position; I would have taken that if you had given me it on Wednesday.' Home favourite and club member George Coetzee is four off the lead after a 66, with defending champion Ross Fisher three shots further back following a 67. European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke chipped in on the ninth for an eagle and repeated the trick on the 10th for a birdie, but also had two double bogeys in a 67 which left him on two under. Defending champion Ross Fisher is some way off the pace after a second round of 67 in Pretoria . +A birdie at the last earned Ryan Moore a third-round 67 and a one-shot lead at the Valspar Championship in Florida. The American carded four birdies in a flawless round to hold a narrow advantage over Jordan Spieth. He went through the first 12 holes in level par before picking up shots at the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th to move on to nine under par for the tournament . Ryan Moore played well on the third day to move into a one-shot lead going into the final round . Moore carded four birdies in the final six holes to move ahead of Jordan Spieth at the head of the field . Spieth went round in a three-under 68, with four birdies and a bogey, with a third American, Derek Ernst, on seven under following a 69. Sean O'Hair was three shots off the pace in fourth place after shooting 69 ahead of a group of three on five under, Patrick Reed, Matt Kuchar and Henrik Stenson. Scotland's Russell Knox was the highest-placed Briton, in a tie for 10th on three under after a 70. England's Ian Poulter crashed completely out of contention, carding a four-over 75 to slip back to level par. Spieth is one shot back after a three-under-par round of 68 and will be confident going into the final day . Ian Poulter plays out of a bunker during a round of four over par that saw him fall off the pace . +Jose Mourinho has given his players permission to let their hair down following Wednesday night's clash against West Ham. Off the back of Sunday's euphoric Capital One Cup Final win over Tottenham, the Blues are straight back into action against the Hammers on Wednesday. Mourinho says his players' celebrations after the Wembley win were subdued due to the prospect of facing West Ham. The Chelsea players looked in high spirits during training on Tuesday after being promised two days off . Diego Costa evades a tackle from Ramires as the Blues squad took to their Cobham training ground . Capital One Cup final opening goal scorer John Terry slides in against Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas . Boss Jose Mourinho was certain that the 34-year-old would extend his contract before the end of the season . Spaniard Fabregas pleads for a decision under pressure from Ruben Loftus-Cheek during a training match . But the Blues boss will give his squad two days off after the West Ham clash and has given them permission to enjoy themselves. Mourinho said: 'Maybe they went out with some family for dinner [after Wembley], but I don't think they did any crazy things because, the next day, I saw them in very good condition. 'They will have Thursday and Friday off, and I told them those are the best moments if they want to do something that people at their age sometimes like to do. 'But they enjoyed it so much after the game on the pitch and in the dressing room, but even on the bus going back to Stamford Bridge was a normal journey.' Eden Hazard twists and turns in an attempt to shake off Oscar as the Brazilian tracks down the Belgian . Hazard has been one of Chelsea's main threats this season with his speed and agility down the flanks . Kurt Zouma was deployed as a midfielder against Spurs but Mourinho said he'd return to a defensive role . Hazard (second right) puts a foot in to intercept a pass by Spanish midfield playmaker Fabregas (centre) Gary Cahill has been in and out of the Chelsea squad lately, but managed a clean sheet against Spurs . Ramires (centre) is put under pressure by Spanish striker Diego Costa (left) as Branislav Ivanovic watches on . Looking ahead to Wednesday's clash at Upton Park, the Blues boss remained focused on the job at hand as they look to hold onto their Premier League and Champions League title hopes. 'Big, difficult game on Wednesday. Big, difficult game next week in the Champions League [against Paris Saint Germain]. We are just happy. Everybody likes to win competitions.' Asked if captain John Terry will sort out new contract terms before the end of the season, Mourinho was certain in his response but admitted he is thinking ahead to life after the 34-year-old. 'Yes, it will be [extended] before the end of the season for sure. What I can guarantee is he will be a Chelsea player next season. I can guarantee that. 'Every one of these big guys is difficult to replace, but at the same time you still have the player and he is still an important player, you have to start thinking: 'What next? 'But this is a process that we can take our time over because John is proving again this season that he's a player for years.' Mourinho celebrates with this players after they beat Tottenham to win the Capital One Cup at Wembley . Hazard slides on the Wembley to celebrate in front of the Chelsea fans as his teammates follow . Depending on Manchester City's result against Leicester on Wednesday, Chelsea can either increase their lead or maintain a five point gap at the top of the division with a win against West Ham. However Mourinho refused to underestimate his opposition, revealing that he will not be deploying defender Kurt Zouma in a deep-lying midfield role like he did against Spurs. '[West Ham] have in their hands different ways of playing football, different ways of seeing the game, and with a very good coach like Sam, it's always difficult to play there.' 'I don't play the same team. I don't play the same 11 players, that's for sure. [Zouma] is not a midfield player. He is not going to be a midfielder. That is completely clear. 'We didn't have Matic and Mikel in a final where it was important to keep the balance of the team. We needed someone to do that job. 'He did very well, but it's not his future at Chelsea to play in that position.' Midfielder John Obi Mikel is expected to be out for a further month after surgery on his knee. Costa celebrates after his shot deflected in off Kyle Walker to put Chelsea 2-0 up against Spurs . Chelsea's squad look jubilant after their first trophy of the season but Mourinho said celebrations were muted . +Alex Cejka claimed his maiden PGA Tour title as he triumphed following a five-man play-off to win the Puerto Rico Open in Rio Grande. The German posted a final-round score of 69 thanks to birdies on four of the first six holes, with a bogey on the 11th the only blemish on his scorecard as he finished level on seven under par alongside Emiliano Grillo, Tim Petrovic, Sam Saunders and Jon Curran. The 44-year-old then went on to win the play-off with a birdie on the first extra hole and celebrate his first title on the PGA Tour. German Alex Cejka shows off the trophy after his maiden PGA Tour title at the Puerto Rico Open . Cejka celebrates on the 18th green after securing victory in a five-man play-off in Rio Grande . Cejka lines up an important putt on the 18th green as he draws closer to his first title . Argentine Emiliano Grillo made the play-off after finishing on seven under par . Tim Petrovic tees off on the third hole during the final round in Puerto Rico . American quartet Will MacKenzie, Will Wilcox, Boo Weekley and Scott Pinckney ended the day tied one shot off the pace on six under par. Scott Brown and Chris Smith shared a one-shot lead going into the final round on six under par, ahead of their American compatriot Curran and Argentinian Grillo. Brown struggled with a double bogey on the first hole but struck back to claim an eagle on the second to level matters before he picked up a birdie on the fifth, but two bogeys on the back nine saw him finish with 73 for the round to leave him in a six-way tie for 10th on five under. Smith also finished in that group after carding the same score after hitting four bogeys and three birdies. Sam Saunders plays a shot on the palm tree-lined 18th hole during the final round . An egret roams the rough on the ninth hole of the course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico . +An American saga of redemption and recovery unfolded in dramatic style at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral on Sunday. Wearing red was JB Holmes, who has recovered so hearteningly from two bouts of gruelling brain surgery four years ago. Wearing blue was Dustin Johnson, the party boy who took a six-month leave of absence to mend his wild ways. In the end it was the man hell-bent on his redemptive mission who came out on top as Johnson closed with a final round 69 to win by one from Holmes, who had begun the final round with a five shot lead. Dustin Johnson (right) celebrates with his caddie Austin Johnson on the eighteenth hole at Doral . Johnson proudly holds the WGC-Cadillac Championship trophy following his victory on Sunday . 'It means everything to win again,' said Johnson, who admitted his break was due to issues with alcohol and was competing in just his fifth event on his return. 'It has been a tough road but a lot of good has come out of it and I feel great now. This has to be the best win of my career.' Johnson has long had a reputation as one of America's most gifted talents but was in danger of throwing it all away. Now he looks a reformed character. The latest world rankings out on Monday are likely to show him up to 6th and he' s quite capable of giving Rory McIlroy a run for his money at the top. Masters champion Bubba Watson led briefly but paid for a bad stretch of three bogeys in four holes from the 11th and finished third. Johnson went the other way, playing his last 11 holes so artfully that he completed the sequence in a telling three under par. It was hard not to feel sorry for Holmes. He had opened the tournament with a 62 that was so good it might well stand as the round of the year. But he blew his chances with a terrible start that saw his five shot lead dwindle to nothing before the first 90 minutes of play was completed. Johnson celebrates his birdie on the 15th hole during the final round of action on Sunday . As for McIlroy, his troubles with the plethora of water hazards continued right to the end, as he put not only his drive on the 18th into the water, but his third shot as well. Before the start of his final round, Donald Trump, preposterous owner of this overrated venue, had presented McIlroy with the three iron he had tossed infamously into the water on Friday, after it was retrieved by a scuba diver. McIlroy took it out of his bag once on Sunday - to play that third shot at the last. Thanks a lot, Donald, he must have been thinking. McIlroy shaped up to throw the offending implement into the water once more, but this time kept hold of it. It was a moment of light relief at the end of a seriously trying week for the world number one. Bubba Watson led briefly but paid for a bad stretch of three bogeys in four holes from the 11th . At least he finished off with a more typical example of his artistry. Through the back of the green and staring down the barrel of an ugly triple bogey seven or still worse, McIlroy chipped the ball in for a six. Even so, it rather undid the good work he displayed earlier, and meant he signed for a 71. He still finished in the top ten, though. All those missed putts and shots into the water, and still only a handful of players beat him. 'It was certainly an adventurous week and the game's just not quite there,' he admitted. 'I'm pretty disappointed with the way I played overall. But there were signs of improvement.' He will look to build on those during a two day trip to Augusta National, beginning on Monday. He will play just one more tournament – the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week – before his historic tilt at a career grand slam at the Masters next month. Rory McIlroy plays a shot on the second hold during a disappointing final day of action for the world No 1 . Round of the day came from England's Danny Willett, who shot 68 to finish tied 12th. This was a fine confidence boost for the 27-year-old Yorkshireman ahead of his first appearance at The Masters. 'I'm obviously very pleased,' he said. 'It's a tough course and the set-up is very difficult so to finish on level par for the week, I'd have bitten your hand off if you'd offered me that on Thursday. When you're playing with the top 50 you know they're not going to give you anything, but I'm feeling more comfortable all the time playing at this level.' How far can he go? One area of concern remains a chronic back injury that has caused him to withdraw from plenty of tournaments over the years and one this year already. 'I'm taking painkillers and managing it,' he said. 'I'm going to stay over here through the Masters because flying back and forth is no good for it. There's no point worrying about it, I've just got to get on with it.' He is doing that all right. +The ladies who lunch at the Ascot Bar of the Pennyhill Park Hotel were oblivious that one of the most decorated English footballers had just strolled in. At 6ft 4in, Chelsea and England centre-back Gary Cahill ought to be hard to miss, especially when he is the national team’s vice-captain, having picked up pretty much every club honour in the game. Win the Premier League in May and he will have the full set - following Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup success in little more than three years. Yet he goes relatively unnoticed while the likes of John Terry, or his old Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard, both with similar achievements to their name, would be stopped in their tracks. Gary Cahill went relatively unnoticed during an interview with the Mail on Sunday at the Pennyhill Park hotel . Chelsea defender Cahill has picked up nearly every club honour in the game, including the Champions League . ‘If you’d said to me four or five years ago I would be in this position I’d have snapped your hands off,’ says Cahill, 29. ‘It’s an amazing feeling. I often think about how lucky I am and how so many people would love to be in this position.’ Since arriving at Stamford Bridge from Bolton in January 2012, the medals and trophies have simply kept on coming. ‘Moving to Chelsea has been such a success in terms of the titles I have won in three years,’ he says. ‘The winning mentality of the club rubs off on the players and you just want to win even more.’ Cahill poses with the Champions League trophy and the FA Cup after Chelsea completed the double in 2012 . The former Bolton and Aston Villa centre back holds aloft the Europa League trophy in Amsterdam a year later . A week ago, Cahill added a Capital One Cup winner’s medal as Chelsea clinched the first major silverware of season in a 2-0 victory over Tottenham at Wembley. ‘It was almost like the lads were bouncing into training the following day,’ he recalls. ‘Winning anything is special to [Jose] Mourinho. It’s his first trophy since he returned. ‘There was very little celebration considering we had just won a competition. My family had come down from the north to watch the game and they all stayed at my house. There’s no better feeling than driving home from Wembley to my family at home.’ Cahill added the Capital One Cup trophy to his haul last week as Chelsea defeated Tottenham 2-0 at Wembley . Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is all smiles as he and his team celebrate after landing their latest silverware . Cahill (centre) appears highly amused as Mourinho throws himself to the floor during the celebrations . But with the Champions League and Barclays Premier League high on Chelsea’s agenda, it is ‘back to business’ as Cahill says. Mourinho keeps stoking up the warrior-like instincts in his team and Cahill believes that, aside from the manager’s meticulous pre-match planning, two key elements are contributing to the team’s success this season. ‘We’ve learned from our experiences,’ he says. ‘We played several teams last season where people expected us to get results but we didn’t. Having that in the back of your mind going into the season has helped, you don’t want to go through that again — you don’t want to waste opportunities.’ The second key factor is the quality of signings who joined the club in the past two transfer windows — including Cesc Fabregas and one of the best strikers in Europe, Diego Costa. Cahill says Chelsea learnt from setbacks last season and insists the club do not want to waste opportunities . Diego Costa arrived at Chelsea from Atletico Madrid and is one of the Premier League's most-feared strikers . Former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, signed from Barcelona, has formed a connection with Costa . ‘Diego has come in and although he hardly speaks any English, had never played in this league before and has never lived in this country, he had an impact from the word go. ‘Time and again players come over and take a long time to settle down and get into the groove of the Premier League but it hasn’t fazed him. He’s one of the liveliest jokers in the changing room. He’s certainly entertaining and he has settled into the group really well. ‘With Cesc, everyone knew his quality and he has played in this League before so in a way it was easy for him to come back. But still, he has come into the side like he has never been away and the connection Costa and Fabregas have had this season has been fantastic for us. ‘There’s also the likes of Filipe Luis, who has come in and done tremendously well. There’s a real fight on at left-back. It’s one of those positions where we’re blessed. You know whoever plays is going to do the job. ‘Kurt Zouma is another great talent, he listens to everybody and he takes on advice. He’s a nice lad and a fantastic player. Playing at a club like Chelsea and being given the opportunity to play with the world-class players that we have means you can learn from them and improve your game.’ Chelsea centre backs Gary Cahill, captain John Terry and Kurt Zouma celebrate together at Wembley . Cahill had to take some flak after Tottenham’s Harry Kane inspired a 5-3 win over Chelsea on New Year’s Day, but he takes such criticism as ‘part and parcel of the game,’ and points out that ‘there isn’t a footballer on the planet who hasn’t received negative press’ at some stage in their career. ‘You need to have a thick skin at times, especially at the highest level. I am constantly analysing my performances and I tend to focus more on things I haven’t done as well as I’d have liked. I always look to improve and that’s what’s got me to where I am today.’ Cahill’s greatest day in Chelsea colours came in the Champions League victory over Bayern Munich in 2012. Now he is playing his part in their bid to repeat the feat, and his magnificently timed flick, from a Terry cross, led to Branislav Ivanovic’s header putting Chelsea in front against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their last 16 tie last month. Branislav Ivanovic celebrates after scoring for Chelsea against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League . Cahill's flick from Terry's cross at the Parc des Princes led to Ivanovic's important goal in the French capital . ‘It was a crazy situation because we found all three of us in the box and nobody else,’ recalls Cahill. ‘JT played it to me and I knew Ivanovic was coming in behind me. I couldn’t score from that angle so I tried to help it on and he did the rest.’ On Wednesday, Chelsea host PSG in the return leg, with the tie 1-1, and it’s a mouthwatering challenge. ‘It’s got that final-feel about it because if you lose the game you’re out — and you have to really push hard to win the game. The atmosphere on European nights is something special and that’s another positive with the second leg being played at home, the fans are our 12th man. Have we got the squad and the players to win it again? Yes we have.’ +It rather summed up a week when he made headlines for all the wrong reasons that Rory McIlroy should find the water twice on the 18th hole at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral on Sunday. On American television over the weekend it was impossible to escape footage of him tossing his three iron into the water on Friday. Before the start of play, Donald Trump, preposterous owner of this overrated venue, had presented McIlroy with the said club, after it was retrieved by a scuba diver. How typical of Trump that he plans to have the club mounted in the hotel, thereby glorifying an action that would have every regular golfer drummed out of their club if they tried it. Rory McIlroy hits a shot from the ninth fairway during the final roudn att the WGC-Cadillac Championship . McIlroy's round was shaping up nicely before his unfortunate finish on the 18th hole . The World No 1 tries to play his way out of trouble during a disappointing final round at Doral . McIlroy himself is keen to put the incident behind him and did his best with a round that was shaping up nicely until an unfortunate finish. He stood on the 18th tee tied for sixth but put his drive into the water on this brutal hole and then, after adding a penalty shot, his third shot as well. At least he didn’t lose his sense of humour. He feigned to throw another club in the drink, but this time held on to it. Through the back of the green in five, McIlroy was facing a difficult chip down the slope and staring down the barrel of an ugly triple or worse. Typical Rory. He chipped it in to the end the tournament with a more characteristic demonstration of his usual swagger. The resultant double bogey meant he signed for a 71. He still finished in the top 10, though. All those missed putts, shots and water adventures therefore, and still only a handful of players beat him. Among the leaders, it was hard not to feel sorry for American JB Holmes. He began with a five-stroke lead but got his choke in early. Bubba Watson plays a shot out of a bunker on the 11th hole at Trump National Doral Blue Monster Course . There was a seven-shot swing in the first seven holes between him and Bubba Watson, leaving the Masters champion with a two-shot advantage. Watson, however, then dropped a couple of shots himself. With eight holes to play there was a three-way tie for the lead involving these two and fellow big hitter Dustin Johnson. One of the best rounds came from England’s Danny Willett, who shot 68. The 27-year-old, early leader of the Race to Dubai, is getting more comfortable at this rarefied level, and this was a fine confidence boost ahead of his first appearance at The Masters next month. The resultant top-15 finish boosted his world ranking and, as a member of the top 50, assured him of a first appearance in a regular PGA Tour event at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 10 days. He will also play the Houston Open before Augusta. Dustin Johnson winds up a shot on the 10th hole during a strong final round for the American . ‘I’m obviously very pleased,’ he said. ‘It’s a tough course and the set-up is very difficult so to finish on level par for the week, I’d have bitten your hand off if you’d offered me that on Thursday. When you’re playing with the top 50 you know they’re not going to give you anything, but I’m feeling more comfortable all the time.’ How far can he go? One area of concern remains a chronic back injury that has caused him to withdraw from plenty of tournaments over the years and one this year already. ‘I’m taking painkillers and managing it,’ he said. ‘I’m going to stay over here through the Masters because flying back and forth is no good for it. There’s no point worrying about it, I’ve just got to get on with it.’ He is doing that all right. +Following Rory McIlroy's WGC-Cadillac Championship meltdown - where his 3-iron ended up in a lake - a scuba diver took the plunge to retrieve the Nike Vapor club. The unidentified man was spotted by TV cameras entering the water before triumphantly lifting the iron out of the murky water. The World No 1 launched his club after putting his ball into the same water at the side of the eighth in Miami and he admitted his emotions got the better of him. This photo was posted on Instagram of the scuba diver who retrieved the club that Rory McIlroy threw . The World No 1 is tied for twelfth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami coming into the final day . The scuba diver prepares himself for the descent into the murky water to recover the expensive club . The diver emerges from the water with the club in his hand and now owner of some McIlroy memorabilia . With the club in his grasp, the diver triumphantly heads out of the water which was caught by TV cameras . He said: 'I just let frustration get the better of me. It was heat of the moment, and I mean, if it had been any other club I probably wouldn't have. There was a split second like should I or shouldn't I, but I didn't need a 3-iron for the rest of the round so I thought, why not? It felt good at the time. 'Looking back at it, it isn't one of my proudest moments. But, you know, walked away with a bogey and regrouped and did okay from then.' McIlroy is tied for twelfth going into the final day on Sunday, with J.B. Holmes leading by five shots on -11. McIlroy throws his club into the lake after putting his ball into the same water on the eighth hole . +Even Fernando Torres wasn’t relegated to the reserves. But for £250,000-per-week Radamel Falcao – perhaps the most handsomely-rewarded second-string striker in history – this was the ultimate indignity. Does he feel an injustice, angry with Louis van Gaal for such a degrading demotion? Or is there an acceptance that his powers have faded? In fact, they’ve gone out like a light. Radamal Falcao has scored just four goals since arriving at Manchester United . His latest run out was for the Under 21s as they faced Tottenham on Tuesday night . At least with fellow £50million flop Torres his decline was something of a slow burn, occasionally illuminated by a flicker of glories past. Sadly, for Falcao, there is no sign of him emerging from the darkness at Old Trafford. An unused substitute as Manchester United struggled for a goal (Falcao has scored more than 200 in his career) during their 2-1 defeat by Arsenal in Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final, the Colombian was back at the Theatre of Nightmares 24 hours later for an Under 21 fixture against Tottenham. He wasn’t there to cheer on the club’s next generation, he was lining up alongside them. United insist it was a fitness exercise. But fitness is allied to form, and Falcao certainly doesn't boast the latter right now. Falcao fluffed his lines and missed several chances during a win over QPR back in January . The striker has spent plenty of time warming the bench at Old Trafford . Louis van Gaal must decide whether to take up the option to buy Falcao at the end of his loan spell . He failed to score against Spurs, fluffed one chance and was then withdrawn – a synopsis which could well be applied to the majority of his outings since his £6m loan move from Monaco. The beauty of that arrangement – and it’s something of an ugly truth – is that United are not committed to making his stay permanent and there is zero chance of them doing so after his failure to impact, four goals from 19 appearances his sorry return. Compare that with the 70 strikes from 91 matches for Atletico Madrid and his demise is given some numerical context. Falcao drew a blank against League One Preston in the FA Cup last month . He also struggled against Cambridge from League Two in the previous round . Celebrations have been few and far between for Falcao, pictured here after scoring against Leicester . River Plate . 2005-06 - Games 11 Goals 7 . 2006-07 - Games 20 Goals 3 . 2007-08 Games 39 Goals 19 . 2008-09 Games 35 Goals 16 . Porto . 2009-10 Games 43 Goals 34 . 2010-11 Games 42 Goals 38 . 2011-12 Games 2 Goals 0 . Atletico Madrid . 2011-12 Games 50 Goals 36 . 2012-13 Games 41 Goals 34 . Monaco . 2013-14  Games 19 Goals 11 . 2014-15 Games 3 Goals 2 . Manchester United . 2014-15 Games 19 Goals 4 . It was, of course, in the colours of Atletico that Falcao smashed a devastating hat-trick past Chelsea in the European Super Cup of 2012. Every tribute in the wake of that demolition job determined that Falcao was ready-made for the Premier League – pace, power, potency, he had the lot. Even his pre-Madrid existence supported the assertion that he was the continent’s most feared goal-getter. There were 72 goals from just 87 games at Porto, winning with them a Portuguese title, cup and Europa League, a prize he defended the following season in Spain. His spells at Porto and Atletico were bookended by River Plate and Monaco, where again his ratio was as good as one-in-two. But it was that move to Monaco which proved fateful in the loss of Europe’s finest front man. With a transfer fee of £52m and salary of around £15m, there were obvious accusations – defended by Falcao – behind his motivation. However, it was the knee injury suffered in January of last year which robbed him of a place at the World Cup and, on the evidence of this season, a whole lot more than a mere ticket to Brazil. Falcao was on holiday during the World Cup as he missed out following a long injury lay-off . Falcao scored goals for fun during his days as an Atletico Madrid player . He won the Europa league with Porto in 2011 and again with Atletico the following year . Falcao is still a Monaco player having signed for Manchester United on a season-long loan . Gone are the razor-sharp reactions of body and mind. Gone is the swagger, the confidence, the belief that he is the best. Sound familiar? Over four, long years at Chelsea we witnessed the regression of Torres. In the end he left having scored just 20 league goals in 110 games. Falcao will be lucky if he leaves United with 20 league appearances, let alone goals. Torres, of course, now resides back at Atletico, his connection with the club affording him a second chance. At 29 and with his best days very much behind him, perhaps a similar fate awaits Falcao. +Rory McIlroy posing topless as Michelangelo’s statue of David. It’s not an image you’d naturally conjure of the world No 1, but it is a remarkably striking one. And thank goodness for the kilt... The picture – which has been described as both “genius” and “weird” by various Twitter judges – appears on the front cover of Golf Digest’s latest issue. The prestigious magazine describes McIlroy as ‘the new model for greatness’. The Northern Irishman is gearing up for his latest crack at winning the Masters, which tees off in on April 9. A win on Augusta National’s hallowed fairways would ensure McIlroy’s third major in succession and a career Grand Slam. Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods hold that most prestigious honour of winning all four majors. Rory McIlroy poses as Michelangelo's David on the front cover of Golf Digest's latest issue . How Michelangelo's masterpiece looks in comparison with McIlroy on the golf course . McIlroy revealed to the magazine some of the secrets behind his stunning success in 2014, during which he won The Open and US PGA Championship and played a pivotal role in Europe’s Ryder Cup success at Gleneagles – usurping Woods as the sport’s current superstar. The 25-year-old’s new dedication to the gym, a focus on perfecting his craft following his break-up with Caroline Wozniacki and a deliberate steeling of a gentle soul are the key factors McIlroy offers as to his recent dominanace. ‘After [the break-up], I thought “What else do I have in my life. I have family and friends, but they're always going to be there. What else?” That's when I decided “You know what, I'm just going to immerse myself in golf for a while.” I spent more time at it, thought about it more, spent more time at the range and at the gym. Because that's all I had, and that's all I wanted to do," he told Golf Digest. The Ulsterman believes his brilliant form last year was due in part to his new fitness regime . McIlroy also reveals how he changed his mindset after breaking up with Caroline Wozniacki . 'I've come across enough successful people now to know that the best in whatever walk of life, they're the ones who just work the hardest. I realised that if I want to be the best and fulfill my potential, I'm going to have to do the same thing.' McIlroy talks about how his swing has improved thanks to his new fitness regime strengthening the “big muscles” in his core. His gruelling 90-minute gym sessions are taken 10 times a week under the gaze of fitness instructor Steve McGregor. The Holywood-born star also offers a fascinating insight into his psyche, revealing that he felt for a long time that being a winner was a selfish trait and an unnatural one for his character. McIlroy is preparing to return to Augusta National for another crack at the Masters . McIlroy holds both the Open and US PGA titles . "Until just a few years ago, I don't want to say I felt guilty for being successful because I had this ability given to me, but it was sort of like, “Why me?”. "Because I felt like it's a very selfish thing to be a winner, a very selfish trait. Which is what you sort of need in golf. And I guess it just took me a while to be comfortable with that, just because of the personality I have. I realized that if I want to succeed in golf, which I do, I need to have it. What helped was realizing how much people like winners, how people gravitate to them. So if other people are happy for me winning, then why can I not be?" McIlroy insists that now “I want to win at golf all the time... I feel like I've developed a bit of a ruthless streak on the golf course”. But he admits that he tends to be “too nice” and will deliberately lose a game of cards or pool “just to keep (his opponent) happy." It is 10 years since Woods won his fourth and most recent Masters, and a McIlroy victory at Augusta National would herald a new era in golf. Woods can seemingly not stay fit for long enough to compete against McIlroy, and the pair have become friends off the course – an unlikely scenario were Woods still at his ultra-competitive peak. McIlroy offers another insight into the relationship between the two greatest golfers of their generation, saying "He wants to help (me). He's like “'I know you're getting into the same sort of position as me, so anything you need to know, we've been through it all.”” +Ronald Koeman takes on Jose Mourinho this weekend well aware of how desperate his old friend will be to put Chelsea's Champions League disappointment behind them. Southampton face the unenviable task of trying to stifle a Blues side not only chasing the Premier League crown but wounded by Wednesday's European exit to Paris St Germain. Chelsea failed to capitalise Zlatan Ibrahimovic's first-half sending off, with the 2-2 extra-time draw at Stamford Bridge ending their hopes of a memorable treble. Ronald Koeman says he is looking forward to facing old friend, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho this weekend . Mourinho takes questions during his press conference at Chelsea's Cobham training ground on Friday . Striker Diego Costa attempts an overhead kick during his side's 2-2 draw with PSG at Stamford Bridge . Chelsea captain John Terry tussles with PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the Champions League tie . Chelsea players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as he prepares to send off Ibrahimovic in the first-half . It was not the first underwhelming  Blues performance of late, but Koeman does not expect such displays to necessarily work in Saints' favour this weekend. 'I don't know when it's a good time to face them,' the Dutchman said. 'It's always a difficult time. 'It's a big team, a strong team with some great players and of course they are very disappointed after the last Wednesday result. 'If you play 60 minutes against 10 players, you don't expect that final result and maybe a little bit more under pressure. 'They fight after the League Cup title and after that, not the most important one, they fight for the title. 'They need a win after a disappointing result but they will give a reaction you normally expect as a manager.' Ahead of this match, Mourinho brashly declared that Chelsea would win the Premier League - the kind of comments Koeman takes with a pinch of salt. The pair worked together under Louis van Gaal at Barcelona in the late 1990s and retain a close relationship to this day. 'I know him very well,' Koeman said. 'It's a good friend and great coach and a very successful manager. 'It was nice in our period in Barcelona and it's always nice to meet Jose and we look forward. 'When I was with Jose the assistant of Van Gaal in Barcelona in '98 and '99, it was a long time ago and it's not always easy to know what will happen in the future. 'At that time he was very ambitious as a coach and he had good coaches to see what he needs to be a successful coach.' Mourinho (second from left) and Koeman (far right) worked together at Barcelona during the 1990s . Current Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal (far left) was manager of Barca during this time . Saints right-back Nathaniel Clyne skips over the challenge of Crystal Palace forward Dwight Gayle . Crystal Palace striker Yaya Sanogo is challenged by Saints defender Ryan Bertrand at St Mary's . Man management is key to Mourinho's success, so too that Koeman is enjoying this season. Saints have tailed off slightly recently but returned to winning ways against Crystal Palace last time out, before making the most of a 10-day break by jetting off on a mid-season jaunt. Koeman took this side on a bonding trip to snowy Switzerland, foregoing sun loungers and training for Nordic skiing and ice hockey. 'I saw some players skating and I don't think it was good for their confidence,' Koeman said, smiling. 'It was something totally different and we choose Davos because of the relationship between Southampton and Switzerland - Katharina (Liebherr) the owner and the chairman is there. 'It was totally different to lying on the beach on Dubai. If they like to go to Dubai, they can go in the summer. 'We did some activities which was great, some players were skeptical before going but everybody was happy with what we did. 'It was a good week but playing football is totally different. 'Always you know if you stay together the whole day and do some different activities there is more time to talk. 'Players had free time and you see characters of players, difficulties, but they did a great job because they achieve everything what we did and it was a great atmosphere over there.' Koeman recently took his Southampton players on a skiing trip to bond in Switzerland . Southampton's Italian striker striker Graziano Pelle takes a tumble while skiing in Switzerland . Jose Fonte said the trip had brought the squad together and taken some of the stress of the season away . Southampton's players during their recent trip to the Swiss Alps over the FA Cup weekend . +Liverpool defender Glen Johnson will hold talks with the club at the end of the season over a new contract. Manager Brendan Rodgers has told Johnson, 30, he wants him to stay and the defender is keen if they can reach agreement. England international Johnson is free to talk to foreign clubs and Roma have shown an interest. Glen Johnson says he has 'no idea' which team he will be playing for next season . Johnson's contract at Liverpool expires at the end of the season and he has been linked with Roma . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has told Johnson he wants the defender to stay at the club . Johnson started against Blackburn on Sunday and, asked afterwards about his contract, he said: 'No talks. At this point I have no idea (where I will be next season). 'I haven't thought about it. It would be great for the kids to go abroad but I am not thinking about yet as we have two months left here and I'll think about it after that. 'We will have to wait and see.' +Liverpool have opened talks with Joe Allen over a new signing a new deal. The Wales midfielder, who is recovering from a slight hip problem, has just over two years left on his current terms but he is a player whom Brendan Rodgers wants to keep for the long-term. Allen was one of Rodgers' first signings when he became Liverpool manager in 2012, having previously been a key figure for him at Swansea, and he has continued to fill an important role at Anfield. Joe Allen is set to be offered a new long-term contract by Liverpool, with two years left on his current deal . Brendan Rodgers will be pleased to be extending the stay of a player that he brought with him from Swansea . He has 24 appearances so far this season for Rodgers' top-four chasing side and returns to his former club this weekend as Liverpool look to keep up their good form against Swansea. He missed Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup on Sunday with a minor hip strain but is expected to return for the trip to the Liberty Stadium. Liverpool have won their last four Premier League games including an impressive 2-1 win over champions Manchester City this month. +Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel enters the new Formula One season in the unusual position of being the outsider. This time, the Ferrari driver is doing the chasing - behind the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Vettel used to be the man to beat, winning the title four years in a row with Red Bull. But Mercedes ended that dominance in crushing style last year and Vettel - who seemed isolated and despondent throughout the season - made the switch to Ferrari. 'The change felt right for me and it gives me a lot of joy,' Vettel said. 'My ambition is to be right there at the top again, not only for me but also in terms of the team. In this respect, we should make a perfect fit.' Sebastian Vettel enters the new Formula One season in the unusual position of being the outsider . The Ferrari driver is doing the chasing behind the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg . The German also gets the chance to emulate his childhood idol, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who won the vast majority of his titles and his 91 GPs with Ferrari. The 27-year-old Vettel, who has 39 GP wins and 45 pole positions, clearly needed to get away from Red Bull. Vettel finished a dismal fifth in the drivers' standings, with no wins and just four podium places. The gap between him and Hamilton was a mammoth 217 points. Worse still, he was usurped by his junior team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, who finished third and won three races. The timing seemed just right for Ferrari, too, which needed a change following two seasons of tensions with Fernando Alonso. Pre-season testing has been like a fresh start. Vettel takes part in pre-season testing at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya in his new car last month . Vettel joined Ferrari in the off-season after many successful years at Red Bull . Vettel drives behind Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg during testing in Catalonia earlier this month . 'I feel very well. The tests so far have contributed a lot to that feeling,' Vettel said. 'Of course things take time, as growing into a team that works a bit differently requires that.' The positive tone was set at the first testing session in Jerez, with Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen claiming the fastest time on three of the four test days as Ferrari announced its comeback in style. Overall, a reinvigorated Vettel completed more than 600 laps over the three winter testing sessions and Ferrari showed glimpses that it can challenge Mercedes for speed. Over the 12 days of testing, Ferrari completed 1,182 laps - the fourth most mileage of any team - and the second most by power unit behind Mercedes. 'The path to the very top right now still leads via Mercedes and it is our aim not only to draw level with them but to surpass them,' Vettel said. 'That is a very ambitious goal.' Vettel struggled behind leading Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton (left) and Rosberg (centre) last season . The German seemed isolated and despondent throughout last season at Red Bull as he finished fifth . +Luis Figo and Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, two of the four challengers for the FIFA presidency, have quickly supported the joint BBC and Sky initiative of a live TV debate. Figo, a former world footballer of the year, said: ‘The fans deserve to know what the candidates offer for the future.’ But the project is doomed because Sepp Blatter’s reply, after he returns from a trip to Paraguay this week, will be to turn down the request. Luis Figo backed BBC and Sky's initiative of a live TV debate for the FIFA presidential candidates . FIFA president Sepp Blatter, speaking to the media after the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Belfast last week, is likely to turn down the joint BBC and Sky initiative . The FA want to send two Great Britain football teams to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics but a row has broken out with other home nations even before the qualification process starts. FA technical director Dan Ashworth and England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate want young England players to gain tournament experience. Their view has the backing of chairman Greg Dyke, leading to the FA changing their mind about sending only a women’s side — if any — to Brazil. The FA’s departing general secretary Alex Horne wrote to the other three countries on his last day in office at Wembley informing them that it was now their intention to enter both Olympic football competitions. FA chairman Greg Dyke has backed the idea of sending both a men's and women's team to Rio . England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate wants young England players to gain tournament experience . However, the manner of the FA taking the lead on raising the teams infuriated Wales, especially, and Northern Ireland, leading to a stormy meeting between officials at the IFAB summit in Belfast last Friday. Scotland were less concerned because of their long, unequivocal opposition to the GB football format, which they see as a threat to their independence within FIFA. The main sensitivity with the Welsh and the Irish was why the FA had the divine right to be the national association with the football seat on the British Olympic Association since its inception in 1905. Wales are also upset about the FA reneging — owing to a rules change — on a gentlemen’s agreement over the rotation of the British vice-president seat on FIFA executive committee. FA technical director Dan Ashworth, pictured talking to Roy Hodgson, shares the views of the Under 21 boss . Former Manchester united midfielder Ryan Giggs captained Team GB at the 2012 Olympics . The rumpus has led to FIFA telling the FA to sort out the internal fighting before submitting their GB football applications. The men’s side would need to reach the last four of the European Under 21 Championship this summer to qualify . The Olympic issue has raised extra emotions because it follows all the fuss around the home nations providing players at London 2012 for a Team GB side that the BOA mandated England to select. A BOA spokesperson said: ‘We have received confirmation from the FA of their intention to enter into the qualification process for Rio for both men’s and women’s tournaments.’ Craig Bellamy celebrates scoring against Senegal at Old Trafford during the 2012 Olympics . FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke claimed at the IFAB summit in Belfast that FIFA had heard nothing from the Dutch FA ahead of that meeting about a proposal for a video assistant to aid the referee. The FA had strongly supported the plan for the technology to be trialled in the Dutch Cup, but that was rejected by the FIFA representatives on IFAB. Now it has emerged that the Dutch FA had asked ‘several times’ to present to FIFA, without success. To add to the conspiracy, Dutch FA president Michael van Praag is standing for the FIFA presidency and a green light for the technology test would have given him added kudos in the build-up to the May election. Secretary general Jerome Valcke (centre) said FIFA knew nothing of the Dutch FA's video referee proposals . The Premier League need more room in their Gloucester Place headquarters in London — not least to count their billions from TV rights — and are evicting their Football League sub-tenants. As a result the FL are moving offices to the ITN building in Gray’s Inn Road next week, having been given notice last November. Curiously, the FL claim their relationship with the PL is the best it’s been for years — though you’d never have guessed. Roy won’t hand JT recall . England manager Roy Hodgson gave John Terry a warm handshake as Chelsea’s captain passed him in the Royal Box after a peerless performance in the Capital One Cup final. But although Hodgson described Terry afterwards as ‘a friend from way back’, he said nothing else should be read into the greeting. Terry, 34, who retired from international football in 2012, is still by far the best English centre back. John Terry leads the celebrations after he gave Chelsea the lead against Tottenham at Wembley on Sunday . John Terry celebrates winning the Capital One Cup with manager Jose Mourinho on Sunday . +Diego Costa's desire to win is so great that even in a simple training game the fiery striker will play on the edge, according to former team-mate Toby Alderweireld. Spain international Costa came to England with a reputation as a bullish centre forward and, as plenty of Premier League defenders will attest to, the Chelsea hitman has more than lived up to the billing. Alderweireld, on loan at Southampton, spent last season playing with the Brazil-born striker at Atletico Madrid as Diego Simeone's side claimed a famous La Liga title. Diego Costa has been involved in numerous scuffles with defenders during the season, including a running battle with PSG defender David Luiz in Wednesday's Champions League clash . Toby Alderweireld is likely to be tasked with stopping Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday . Costa and Alderweireld played together at Atletico Madrid together during title winning season last year . The duo will be re-united at Stamford bridge on Sunday with Southampton still in the hunt for a top-four spot, while Chelsea will be hoping to return to winning ways after they were dumped out of the Champions League midweek by PSG. Alderweireld knows better than most what Costa is like to line up against having faced him in training and the defender is not expecting an easy ride on Sunday. 'That's his mentality,' the Belgium international told The Sun. 'Outside the field he's totally different, he's a very nice guy, good to the supporters, never in a fight, always laughing. Spain international Costa argues with PSG midfielder Thiago Motta as Thiago Silva pushes him away . Alderweireld celebrates victory against Hull with fellow teammates Jose Fonte and Morgan Schneiderlin . 'It's strange to see him change on the field, because of his desire to win. 'Even on the training pitch, just in an easy game, four against four, he's always on the line, and his desire is so big that sometimes he goes over it. 'It happened a lot at Atletico because the training was so crazy.' +The legal battle between Sauber and Giedo van der Garde will continue on Thursday, just 27 hours before the start of first practice for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Van der Garde was axed from his role as test driver at the end of last season as Sauber instead employed Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, both of whom brought considerable sponsorship. Van der Garde, though, claimed to have proof he was offered a race seat for 2015 and so took his case initially to an arbitration panel in Switzerland which recently ordered Sauber 'to refrain from taking action' that would deny him a drive. Giedo van der Garde pictured outside the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Wednesday . There followed a hearing at the Supreme Court in Victoria, Australia, on Monday, with Mr Justice Croft announcing at 10am local time on Wednesday he found in favour of the 29-year-old Dutchman. Sauber immediately appealed, and by 3.15pm three different judges in Justices Simon Whelan, David Beach and Anne Ferguson heard the case. That lasted just 45 minutes, however, with the appeal to be reheard from 9.30am local time on Thursday, allowing them the opportunity to weigh up overnight the merits of the case. Notably there is the fact Ericsson and Nasr have contracts with the team for this year, and are expecting to be in the cockpit on Friday, with the first practice session due to commence at 12.30pm local time. Following the initial verdict, and prior to the appeal, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn was left stunned by the decision, but vowing to do what was right for her two current drivers. Van der Garde leaves the court after a judge ruled that Sauber must let the driver compete in Melbourne . Kaltenborn said: 'We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season. 'What we cannot do is jeopardise the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers.' By contrast, Van der Garde was naturally happy to have won the initial decision, although faces an anxious wait to see if it will be upheld on appeal. 'I'm looking forward to going back to the team and we'll work hard to do our best for this weekend,' he said. Van der Garde driving for Sauber at the Italian Grand Prix last September . 'I'm the fittest ever. I've been training the last three months flat out. 'I still have a very good relation with the team, and I'm looking forward to racing this weekend.' Asked as to the other drivers, he replied: 'It's up to them what they are going to do, and up to the team. It's not my thing. 'I'm happy we won the case. Now I'm looking forward to getting back to business.' +Liverpool defender Kolo Toure admits he has a difficult decision to make about his future. The Ivory Coast international's current deal expires this summer and while there have been talks over extending his stay, nothing has yet materialised. Toure, 34 later this month, remains hopeful an offer will be forthcoming but even if it is he has a tough choice to make as to whether to stay on in the knowledge he will only be a squad player or to make the most of his remaining time in the game by looking for regular football elsewhere. Defender Kolo Toure (left) is hoping a new contract offer to stay at Liverpool will be forthcoming . Toure (right) hit the post with a header in the second half as Liverpool drew 0-0 with Blackburn on Sunday . Toure predicts that Emre Can will go on and become a 'king' at Anfield after his impressive displays . 'We are still talking to the club. We will see in a few days. The club have to think and I have to think,' he said. 'It is a big decision and that is why I need to think very hard and take a decision and stick with it. 'It is very important to know what you are facing. I need to do the right thing for me and my family.' Whether Toure ultimately stays on as a player at Liverpool or not he has predicted a brilliant future for his successor Emre Can, who he believes will become a 'king' at Anfield . Last week manager Brendan Rodgers claimed the Germany Under-21 international will develop into a world-class asset for the club and now Toure has echoed those sentiments. Can endured a difficult adaptation period following his £10million summer move from Bayer Leverkusen and a lengthy injury lay-of contributed to him featuring in just nine matches - most as substitute - up until Christmas. However, somewhat fortuitously he found himself thrown on as a third centre-back at Burnley on Boxing Day and has never looked back, starting every match since and often moving into midfield - his preferred position - to provide cover. His performances have led to some suggesting he has all the credentials to one day captain the side and Toure has no doubts about the 21-year-old's quality. 'He is a top player. He has been playing outstandingly at the back and in midfield he is a very strong player,' said the African Nations Cup winner. 'We like him here. He is from Germany and German players are good. They learn football and they are really intelligent, tactically outstanding and are really strong. Can has also received strong praise from his Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers (centre) Toure believes that his team-mate Can (right) has eladership qualities that could see him become captain . 'I am not surprised how he has been doing because he has been working hard at training and he is a top professional. 'He is young but really good. He is a leader. When you are on the pitch you can see by the way he plays he is really confident and he talks on the pitch as well. 'Right now Jordan Henderson is very good (as captain) but there is no doubt this boy is going to be a king here because he is a top player and can make a difference on games. 'He can score goals, his work-rate is amazing and there is no better player.' +Football stars across the country have rallied around Cheltenham striker Eliot Richards after the League Two club confirmed he has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. The 23-year-old, who has made 24 appearances for the Robins this season and played as recently as March 17, will undergo surgery early next week, with the club hopeful that their player will make a full recovery. A club statement read: 'The club will of course ensure that every assistance is offered to Eliot and his family to help them through this difficult time. Cheltenham striker Eliot Richards has been diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 23 . Richards played for Cheltenham as recently as March 17 and will undergo surgery early next week . Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland is one of a number of players to tweet his support to Richards . Former England and Liverpool man Stephen Warnock also sent Richards his best wishes . 'In due course we expect Eliot to make a full recovery. In the meantime we know that all Cheltenham supporters will want to join us in wishing Eliot and his family well in the days and weeks ahead.' Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland was one of a number of players to tweet his best wishes to Richards, writing: 'Thoughts and well wishes go out to Eliot Richards and his family.' Former England defender Stephen Warnock tweeted: 'Sad news about Eliot Richards. Wishing him a full recovery.' Cheltenham are hopeful that Richards (right) will be able to make a full recovery from cancer . Joe Thompson, a player with Bury who has battled cancer, was quick to support Richards . Cheltenham striker Richards acknowledged the messages he has received on his own Twitter account . Joe Thompson, a midfielder for Bury who has battled cancer himself, said: 'Thoughts are with @Eliot_Richards. The @tranmererovers boys tell me your a top guy, so stay positive and you'll beat it #BallsToCancer.' Richards responded to the support on his Twitter account, saying: 'Thanks for all the kind messages, staying really strong.' +UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has talked up the possibility of moving up into the heavyweight division and believes he is capable of beating Cain Velasquez. Jones has constantly blown hot and cold about going up a category but speaking at the UFC: Welcome to the Show event, the 27-year-old was his most truculent yet about the idea. 'I don’t know when I’m going to move up in weight,' Jones said. 'But if I do go to heavyweight, and when I do go to heavyweight, I do believe I have the skillset to beat Cain. Jon Jones (left) clashes with Anthony Johnson during a face-off in the UFC Welcome to the Show event . Jones (left) is scheduled to defend his light-heavyweight title against contender Johnson on May 23 . Jones (left) poses with Johnson as he attempts to mount his ninth successful defence of a title . 'Cain’s a magnificent opponent. My main reason for believing I’ll beat Cain is his size. 'He’s not one of these massive heavyweights that is just going to outweigh me and out-power me in every situation. 'He’s a guy that I can totally compete with; I believe I’m smart enough to compete with him.' But Jones is also eyeing a bout with Cain Velasquez (right), a heavyweight he believes he can beat . Before Jones makes any move to take on Velasquez, he first must oversee a victory against Anthony Johnson on May 23. Johnson is the No 1 contender to Jones' light-heavyweight title. Should Jones emerge victorious, it will be his ninth title defence. +Southampton fear they will miss out on a permanent move for on loan defender Toby Alderweireld with parent club Atletico Madrid intent on sparking a bidding war for the player. The Belgium international has impressed for the Saints this season prior to sustaining a hamstring injury at Manchester United in January. His performances have been central to Southampton's attempt to finish in the Premier League's top four, and manager Ronald Koeman wants to make the loan move permanent ahead of the next campaign. However, Alderweireld's form has not gone unnoticed elsewhere. Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is understood to be an admirer of the 26-year-old, while Manchester City remain in the hunt for defensive reinforcements with Manuel Pellegrini yet to find the perfect partner for captain Vincent Kompany. Southampton will face a challenge if they want to sign on loan defender Toby Alderweireld (left) permanently . Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino (centre) is understood to be an admirer of the defender . Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini (centre) is keen to add defensive reinforcements to his squad . Pellegrini feels that Alderweireld could act as the perfect partner to captain Vincent Kompany . Both Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala have been given opportunities but have so far not done enough to convince anybody at the Etihad Stadium that they can help take City to the next level, particularly in Europe. Southampton have a £6.8million option on Alderweireld as part of their loan deal but it's thought Atletico may well use a clause in the deal that stipulates they can essentially pay £1.5m to cancel that and then sell the player to the highest bidder. Alderweireld gets across to tackle Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic (left) during the Premier League game . Alderweireld suffered a hamstring injury during Southampton's 1-0 victory over Manchester United . That would leave Koeman sweating on his attempts to take the former Ajax defender on a full-time basis. Southampton work to a tight budget and know they'd be facing an uphill struggle in striking a deal with Atletico this summer if bigger clubs enter the race. Alderweireld signed for Atletico from Ajax for a fee of £6.2 million in 2013, and the Spanish club are keen to recoup as much of that fee as possible. Alderweireld has 43 caps for Belgium since making his international debut back in 2009 . The 26-year-old slides in with a challenge on Newcastle United's striker Emanuel Riviere (left) +Ronda Rousey showed why she is the finest female combat fighter in the world with her 14-second victory over Cat Zingano in Los Angeles. Here, Sportsmail looks back at the five fastest finishes in the UFC. 5=) Don Frye vs Thomas Ramirez - 8 seconds . Don Frye took part in an eight-man openweight tournament at UFC 8 in 1996 and this knockout came in the quarter final when he knocked Thomas Ramirez out cold with his right hand. Frye would go on to win the tournament but was the barred from his job as a fireman due to the controversy surrounding mixed martial arts at the time. Later in the year, he won the Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournament but then retired. Don Frye celebrates winning the 8-man tournament at UFC 8 which included his knockout of Thomas Ramirez . 5=) James Irvin vs Houston Alexander - 8 seconds . Not only was this a quick knockout, it was particularly brutal. James Irwin landed with a superman punch and Houston Alexander simply fell to the canvas. After a fight with Rashad Evans fell through, Irvin lost to future middleweight champion Anderson Silva and later tested positive for painkillers methadone and oxymorphone. James Irwin landed with a superman punch and Houston Alexander collapsed to the canvas . 5=) Makwan Amirkhani vs Andy Ogle - 8 secondsAs debuts go, Makwan Amirkhani's was one to remember. In January, he landed with a flying knee to leave Andy Ogle on the canvas and the referee stepped in after a final flurry of punches. Unsurprisingly, the Finn earned the Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts. Makwan Amirkhani enjoyed a stunning debut, landing with a flying knee before finishing Andy Ogle . 2=) Todd Duffee vs Tim Hague - 7 seconds . Everyone loves a heavyweight clash, and everyone loves a knockout, so Todd Duffee's seven-second KO of Tim Hague ticked all the boxes. It was a straight left that did the damage as Hague dropped the canvas before he was rescued by the referee. Ironically, Duffee was on the end of a similarly brutal knockout in his next fight against Mike Russow - but this one came after 12 minutes. He had two spells with the UFC and remains an active fighter with independent promotions. Heavyweight Todd Duffee lands several punches on Tim Hague before the referee stepped in . 2=) Ryan Jimmo vs Anthony Perosh - 7 seconds . Anthony Perosh had barely touched gloves before he was on his back from a devastating right hand from Ryan Jimmo and the referee did not need a second invitation to intervene. Jimmo has fought five times since but has failed to string two victories together. Ryan Jimmo's right hand did the damage as he sent Anthony Perosh crashing to the canvas . 2=) Chan Sung Jung vs Mark Hominick - 7 seconds . Chan Sung Jung - aka The Korean Zombie - had already won Submission of the Night on his UFC debut and added Knockout of the Night against Mark Hominick. Slipping a wild left hook from his opponent, Jung responded with a stiff right hand and a barrage of blows on the canvas. After a third victory in the promotion, against Dustin Poirier, Jung challenged Jose Aldo for the featherweight title, losing in the fourth round and dislocating shoulder. He is currently serving military service. Chan Sung Jung slipped a hook and then responded with a right hand that left Mark Hominick out cold . 1) Duane Ludwig vs Jonathan Goulet - 6 seconds . Officially, Duane Ludwig's one-punch knockout of Jonathan Goulet was recorded at 11 seconds by the timekeeper. It was only after he petitioned the UFC that Ludwig was awarded with the organisation's fastest finish. He said: 'The record is very cool to have, because it separates me from every other human being past, present and very possibly future. That's some pretty cool stuff. Each athlete wants to stand out and this is a very big way to do so.' Duane Ludwig had to petition the UFC to have his knockout of Jonathan Goulet recognised as six seconds . +Ronda Rousey is the talk of UFC at the moment and the undefeated women's bantamweight champion is adamant she could beat '100 per cent' of the opposite sex in the same division. Rousey currently boasts an 11-0 record in the sport having defeated Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds in her most recent contest on February 28. After her latest triumph, talk turned to how the 28-year-old would fare against a man - a prospect that doesn't faze the 135-pound division champion. UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey says she'd beat '100 per cent' of males in the same division . Rousey (right) is currently undefeated and beat Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds on February 28 . 'I'm not offended,' Rousey told ESPN's The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday. 'I really don't think that's serious. I consider it a compliment that people will even consider it. 'I never say that I'm incapable of beating anybody, because I don't believe in putting limits on myself,' Rousey said. 'So I mean, I would have to say if you're just talking about what's in the realm of possibility of what's possible of who I could beat, well I could beat 100 per cent of them. 'You can't tell me that there's a zero percent chance that I can beat anyone on the planet, so I'm never gonna say that.' 28-year-old (right) grapples Zingano during their UFC 184 mixed martial arts bantamweight title bout . +Carlos Condit will return to the Octagon for the first time in over a year to take on Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 67. Condit hasn't fought since March 2014 after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the second round of a clash with Tyron Woodleyat UFC 171. The former interim champion has been undergoing rehabilitation ever since but will make his long awaited return to the cage in May. Carlos Condit looks in disbelief after being defeated by Tyron Woodley in their welterweight bout at UFC 171 . Thiago Alves poses for a post fight portrait during the UFC 183 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena . Alves himself has only just got back to competing regularly having also spent time out with injury. He went more than two years without a fight after picking up a problem during a March 2012 defeat to Martin Kampmann. But the Brazilian is back to both fitness and form having beaten Seth Baczynski and Jordan Mein. A venue has not yet been revealed for UFC Fight Night 67 but a decision is expected soon, as is an undercard for the headline fight. ondit punches Tyron Woodley in their welterweight bout at UFC 171 inside American Airlines Center . Alves punches Jordan Mein in their welterweight bout during the UFC 183 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena . +Nico Rosberg must reinvent himself in order to challenge Lewis Hamilton for this year's Formula One championship, according to Damon Hill. Rosberg lost out to Hamilton at last season's title decider in Abu Dhabi, with the Briton storming to the chequered flag as his Mercedes team-mate encountered technical gremlins. It marked Hamilton's 11th victory of the campaign, six more than Rosberg. The Mercedes pair are set to go toe-to-toe for this year's championship once more, with the Brackley-based outfit appearing to boast the strongest package ahead of Sunday's curtain raiser in Melbourne. Nico Rosberg needs a reinvention if he is to challenge Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, says Damon Hill . Hamilton roared to championship victory in 2014 with 11 race victories to his rival team-mate's six . Hamilton (left) and Rosberg come together following their final race of a tumultuous season last year . Rosberg has a more subtle skill set than his formidable team-mate Hamilton, says Hill . And Hill, the 1996 world champion, believes Rosberg has to improve on his displays of last season to stand any chance of stopping Hamilton from claiming back-to-back titles. 'Nico has talents that are slightly more subtle and less obvious than Lewis, but I think he is going to have to invent a new Nico to counter his team-mate,' said Hill. 'If you look at the strike-rate of Lewis's wins in comparison to Nico, that was pretty formidable really. Does it change that much and can it change that much over the winter? 'It can, but politically now Nico had an opportunity last year to establish himself as the guy that the team wants to invest in, but Lewis really captured that with the biggest prize going. 'The championship was delivered by Lewis, so he is clearly someone, if Mercedes have to hedge one way or the other, then they will go for Lewis.' Hamilton will begin the new campaign as the favourite to claim his third championship. But does Hill believe there is any danger that the Briton, whose celebrity status outside Formula One continues to grow following a number of showbiz appearances during the off season, will take his eye off the ball? 'You never know with Lewis,' he admitted. 'He keeps us guessing and it would be easy to take some of the signals he puts out as being slightly distracted by other things. Hamilton will begin the new Formula One campaign as the favourite to claim his third championship . Star power: Some read Hamilton's glitzy lifestyle - here he (second left) poses during Paris Fashion Week with celebrities (from left) Jared Leto, Kanye West, Olivier Rousteing, Kim Kardashian - as a distraction . 'But he knows what he is doing when he gets in the car and why he is there. He has got so much confidence in his own ability. 'I can't see him getting propely distracted. He wanted to do this all of his life and I think now he has got the ball rolling he wants to win. He can see the prizes, he collects his trophies and is very proud of his success and he still talks as if he is stunned by his own success. He will be very difficult to beat this year.' Sky Sports F1® is the only place fans can watch all 20 Grand Prix weekends live across TV, Sky Go and NOW TV . +Martin Brundle believes Lewis Hamilton will be classed alongside his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna in the pantheon of all-time Formula One greats should he claim his third world championship. Hamilton enters the new campaign, which gets underway in Australia on Sunday, as the favourite to defend the crown he clinched so dramatically at the season finale in Abu Dhabi last year. Speaking at Mercedes headquarters in Brackley last week, Hamilton spoke of his motivation to emulate Senna by winning a third world title. Lewis Hamilton could become an all-time Formula One great if he secures a third world championship . Hamilton wants to emulate boyhood hero Aryton Senna and Martin Brundle said he could with another title . Hamilton (centre) with F1 legend Stewart (left) and Prince Harry in 2011 when he was with McLaren . And Brundle believes the 30-year-old Briton must be considered in the same bracket as the great Brazilian, and Sir Jackie Stewart, also a thrice-world champion, should he defend his title in 2015. 'If Lewis had finished his career with one championship it would have been a travesty, but if he wins a third he is up there with Sir Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna', said Brundle, a veteran of 156 grands prix. 'He becomes one of the all-time greats.' Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg are expected to renew their battle for the championship with Mercedes the class of the field in pre-season testing. The Silver Arrows, winners of 16 of the 19 races last year, boasted more mileage than any of their rivals over the winter, with the apparent pace to match. The Silver Arrows won 16 of the 19 races last year and boasted more mileage than of their rivals over winter . Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg (left) will renew their battle for the championship in Melbourne . But Hamilton's preparations for the new term have been hampered by his very public break-up from girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, the popstar singer who was in Abu Dhabi to celebrate his title triumph last year. Brundle however, doesn't expect Hamilton's off-track issues to trouble him as it has appeared to do so in the past. 'I think he will be in a better place. I sense he is hungry and I think the Nicole thing happened a lot time before it became public,' said Brundle. Hamilton's preparations were hampered by his public split from Nicole Scherzinger, who was in Abu Dhabi to celebrate his second championship victory with Hamilton . Brundle doesn't believe Hamilton's off-track issues will be a problem - 'I think he will be in a better place' 'There is no doubt about it, that he wears his heart on his sleeve and he very open about that, but his speed and his skill are so great he just drives through that. 'He has got to win consecutive championships which is always perceived to be particularly difficult, but he is going to have a dominant car again, so it is Nico Rosberg who he has got to race. 'Lewis was unlucky with reliability last year and if he just does the same thing again he will beat Nico. So, unless Nico has found a way to raise his game, what is going to put Lewis under pressure apart from himself?' Sky Sports F1 is the only place fans can watch all 20 Grand Prix weekends live across TV, Sky Go and NOW TV . +A director of an online gambling firm linked to Harry Redknapp and two Premier League football clubs has been arrested over a £21m fraud probe, it has emerged. Paul Bell, a director of 666Bet, was reportedly arrested at Heathrow airport last week as part of a joint money-laundering investigation by HM Revenue & Customs and the National Crime Agency. Six other people were arrested, 13 properties were raided and £1m in cash was also seized as part of the investigation. A director of an online gambling firm, which signed Harry Redknapp to star in its adverts (pictured above) has been arrested over a £21m fraud . The online firm announced deals with West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City last summer. It also signed former QPR manager Redknapp to appear in its adverts, alongside Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor Vas Blackwood. Last week, the UK gambling regulator The Gambling Commission suspended the firm's licence. The suspension led to Football League One side Leyton Orient, which signed a contract with the bookmakers in August last year, terminating its deal for shirt sponsorship. It is not yet known whether the two Premier League clubs will follow suit. Speaking from Dubai, Mr Redknapp told the Independent on Sunday: 'I just did an advert for them. I don't know anything about it at all. Not a clue.' Mr Bell, a stockbroker who is now an investor, was reportedly arrested at Heathrow before being re-arrested the following day when he arrived on the Isle of Man by private jet. According to a source, the businessman, who is said to be an active part of the community in the Isle of Man, has 'vigorously denied any wrongdoing'. Online firm 666Bet announced deals with West Brom and Leicester City last summer. It also signed Redknapp to appear in its adverts, alongside Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor Vas Blackwood . Speaking from Dubai about the probe, Mr Redknapp (pictured) said: 'I just did an advert for them. I don't know anything about it at all. Not a clue' A spokesman for the firm added that the probe has 'nothing to do with the day-to-day running of 666Bet.' In an email to the Independent on Sunday, Neil Andrews, 666Bet's head of brand, said: 'I can categorically state the investigation does not relate to 666Bet's activities in the gamin (sic) world.' The firm's website is currently offline. Its official Twitter account said the site is under maintenance 'due to unforeseen circumstances'. The firm's website is currently offline. Its official Twitter account said the site was under maintenance due to 'unforeseen circumstances' In another tweet, it says: 'We hope to have the site and our licence back ASAP but cannot comment on when this will be.' Although the Gambling Commission refused to comment, it previously said the suspension of the Metro Play Limited licence - which covers 666Bet and Metro Play - does not prevent the firm from 'returning outstanding balances to customers'. There is no suggestion that Metro Play Ltd, 666Bet or Metro are involved in the joint probe. Mr Bell, who is reportedly worth £400m, is a shareholder in several FTSE-listed companies and has been listed as the director and company secretary in dozens of companies. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +The Brisbane apartment where Marcus Volke murdered his transgender wife, dismembered her body and cooked her remains is now on the rental market. Volke killed his Indonesian wife and sex worker, Mayang Prasetyo, in October last year in their apartment on Commercial Road in Teneriffe in Brisbane's inner-city. The brutal crime ended with Volke - who was a male escort - taking his own life in a nearby industrial bin. Scroll down for video . This eerie photo features the stove top used by Marcus Volke to boil the remains of Mayang Prasetyo's body . The couple met Melbourne brothel Pleasure Dome while they were both working as escorts in 2009 . The property was listed online in late February as a ‘fully furnished apartment’ looking to fetch $500 a week for rent. The advertisement has since been removed however it is still believed to be available upon private inquiry. Four other apartments in the complex are currently being advertised. Eerie photos of the apartment feature a shot of the stove Mr Volke used to boil the remains of his deceased partner. Properties like Volke’s that have an unsavoury past are more commonly referred to as ‘stigmatised properties’. The apartment on Commercial Road in Teneriffe in Brisbane's inner-city has four other apartments on the market . Queensland Police removed a toxic-labelled container following the discovery of Ms Prasetyo's body parts found boiling in chemicals in a Brisbane apartment . If these walls could talk: As the apartment was the site of a brutal murder it is classed as a stigmatised property . Properties are considered stigmatised if a murder, suicide, death from natural causes, violent crime or drug related offence took place on the property. It can even be considered stigmatised if the previous owners believed the house was haunted. While real estate agents are not obligated to advertise events that have occurred in the property, they must disclose the information to interested parties. Stigmatised: The real estate agent was asking for around $500 for the 'fully furnished' apartment . This isn’t the first property in recent times to come on the market with a dark past. In Sydney’s Hyde Park, the luxurious apartment where Simon Gittany murdered his fiancé Lisa Harnam failed to sell despite expectations it would be picked up for more than $2 million dollars. Emergency services remove her body from the DoubleOne 3 Apartments in Commercial Road . The remains of Ms Prasetyo were found cooking inside a Teneriffe apartment - in Brisbane's inner-city - in Ocrober of last year. Volke fled the scene when police showed up at the couple's home and was later found with his throat slashed and a knife in an industrial bin nearby. Anyone seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. +A property developer has had his pride and joy towed after parking his white Lamborghini in a disabled space without a permit. The $400,000 2011 Aventador was snapped at LynnMall in West Auckland, New Zealand, after passers-by stopped to admire the flash sports car. A man took the photo that showed a distinct lack of any mobility permit on the dashboard and sent it to the New Zealand Herald. This white Lamborghini was towed from outside a shopping centre in New Zealand . The $400,000 2011 Aventador was snapped at LynnMall in West Auckland, New Zealand, without a disabled parking permit . The car’s owner Gerard Peters, who runs a property business and also imports high-end vehicles, told the paper he was sorry and had only left his car parked there for ‘a couple of minutes’. Security at the LynnMall carpark contacted a towing company and had the car removed after a call out on the centre’s loudspeaker for 30 minutes. NZ Towing gave Mr Peters a $300 fine after he did not collect the car until the next day. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Peters for comment. The car's owner Gerard Peters told the New Zealand Herald he regrets the decision to park his car in the disabled spot . In Queensland an Australia Post truck was photographed parked in a disabled space . No permit was disabled on the vehicle so it was posted on the No Permit, No Parking Facebook page . Calling out drivers for wrongly parking in disabled spots is becoming somewhat of a trend, with Queensland resident Alicia Wright even setting up a Facebook page dedicated to the rule breakers. Ms Wright, who has Parkinson’s disease, runs the Facebook page No Permit, No Parking where photos of cars parked in disabled spots are posted. The page shows photos of Australia Post trucks, Mercedes 4x4’s and Audis all parked in disabled spots with parking permits. Calling out drivers for wrongly parking in disabled spots is becoming somewhat of a trend . This note was left on a car at Kawana, Queensland. The author said 'I might have to print up a few and keep them handy' +Football supporters' chiefs have called for proportionality in punishments for fans convicted of offences during Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final clash between Aston Villa and West Brom. Home supporters twice invaded the pitch during their side's 2-0 victory over the Baggies at Villa Park, while seats were thrown from the upper tier of the stand holding visiting contingent on to the spectators below. West Brom boss Tony Pulis later voiced his support for lifetime bans for anyone convicted of throwing seats as both clubs vowed to take strong action against offenders, with West Midlands Police and the Football Association also launching investigations. Police clash with unruly fans in scenes reminiscent of the of the 1970s following Aston Villa's FA Cup defeat of West Brom . West Brom players look concerned as Aston Villa fans invade the pitch at the end of their FA Cup quarter-final . Aston Villa fans celebrate by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Insufficient numbers of police and stewards attempted to deal with the hundreds who invaded the field of play . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup . Villa fans leap over hoardings at the final whistle - while the decision to stage the game at 5.30pm is being questioned . However, Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters' Federation, urged the authorities to make the punishment fit the crime. Mr Clarke said: 'If people do something wrong, they must expect to be sanctioned. I think talk of lifetime bans is over the top, I'm afraid. 'Are we really saying that in 50 years' time, one of these young people - if it was young people - couldn't take their grandchildren to a football match? I don't think so. 'You have got to have punishments which are proportionate to the offence. The law at the moment has a maximum 10-year period for a football banning order, so it would be rather odd for people to start talking about lifetime bans. 'You could go to prison for a serious violent assault at a football match and the courts might give you a 10-year football banning order, so are we seriously saying that someone who damages a seat gets a lifetime ban? 'We have got to retain a sense of proportionality about all of this.' West Brom manager Tony Pulis had described the Midlands derby fixture as 'tasty' ahead of the game . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way safely off the field following the full-time whistle . Scorer Scott Sinclair is mobbed by team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish but a supporter also joined in after the goal . Fans sing and chant on the pitch following Aston Villa's win during what has been a disappointing season . Aston Villa players Leandro Bacuna (centre) and Jack Grealish (right) are mobbed by fans after the game . Goalscorer Fabian Delph claims fans nicked his captain's armband as well as his left boot during the invasion . The pitch invasions, one of which came shortly before the final whistle and the other after it, divided opinion with some onlookers claiming it represented little more than a collective outpouring of joy for the Villa supporters. And that is a view with which Clarke has some sympathy. He said: 'It's very important to retain a sense of perspective here. As far as I could see, this was a celebratory invasion not an aggressive one. 'There is a distinction between aggressive invasions, where people are trying to attack somebody else, and celebratory ones. 'We would certainly advise fans not to do that. It is a criminal offence so you always run the risk of ending up in court if you are not careful. It's not advisable, but actually it's not the biggest issue in the world, I would say about that one. 'If there was criminal damage to some seats, that's quite wrong and, again, anybody who is identified as being responsible for that must expect to receive some sanction. West Brom forward Callum McManaman is escorted off the field after a row with an Aston Villa fan . An Aston Villa supporter is escorted off by stewards after invading the pitch before full-time . Sinclair is crowded by Aston Villa supporters after scoring his goal in the 2-0 victory . Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood admitted he could understand the fans' emotions after the victory . 'It's clearly not defensible to do that, but every Saturday night in pubs and clubs up and down the country people damage things. It's wrong and it's deplorable, but one incident at one football match when these kind of things happen very regularly in pubs and clubs on a Saturday night up and down the country gets blown up out of all proportion. 'Sometimes, people misbehave, at football matches, in pubs, in clubs, in the street or wherever, and that's deplorable. But let's not castigate football fans for just one incident. 'The actual incidence of disorder at football matches has hugely declined in recent years, so that's a cause for celebration.' Nevertheless, it proved a difficult weekend for Midlands football with police, who made 17 arrests, also investigating a disturbance at the Witton Arms pub before the Villa game, while a 44-year-old Watford fan is critically ill in hospital after being attacked on his way to the railway station following the Hornets' 2-2 Championship draw at Wolves. Clarke, who wished the unnamed man a full recovery, said: 'Whether they are a football fan or whether they are not, it's totally unacceptable to assault people to any extent, but particularly to that extent, so obviously if they are caught presumably they will be brought before the courts and the law will take its course, which is entirely appropriate. 'Football fans should never be above the law.' The pitch at Villa Park can barely be seen as supporters cover practically every blade of grass . Aston Villa fans celebrate victory on the pitch after what has been a highlight of a lacklustre season . Aston Villa supporter Mark Villers needed his hair cut and wound glued together on Saturday night . +Arsenal midfielders Mesut Ozil and Mathieu Flamini were smartly dressed and out to celebrate the latter's birthday on Saturday. Ozil posted a picture of the pair posing on his official Twitter account. Now 31-year-old Flamini has made over 200 appearances for Arsenal across two separate spells at the north London club. Birthday boy Mathieu Flamini (right) poses with Arsenal team-mate Mesut Ozil (left) on Saturday . The Frenchman initially joined Arsene Wenger's side from Marseille back in 2004, before moving to AC Milan four seasons later. After five campaigns in Serie A, Flamini returned to the Emirates Stadium in 2013. His positional versatility has seen him play all across the midfield and occasionally in defence. Despite his advancing years, Flamini has proven this season that he still has plenty to offer playing at the highest level and has the best accuracy rating of any midfielder to have made 500 or more passes in the Premier League (91.8%). At 31, Flamini still has a lot to offer the Premier League and boasts a 91.8% passing accuracy this season . +Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis has returned to training after collapsing at Tottenham on March 4. Gomis was kept in a London hospital overnight for observation after leaving the White Hart Lane pitch on a stretcher and wearing an oxygen mask after several minutes of treatment. The 12-times capped France international's collapse sparked memories of Fabrice Muamba's cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane while the midfielder was playing for Bolton in an FA Cup tie in March 2012, but it later emerged that Gomis suffers from a vasovagal condition. Bafetimbi Gomis (centre) walks to Swansea training flanked by Nathan Dyer and Jordi Amat . Gomis made a welcome return to Swansea following his worrying collapse at Spurs . The French striker was put through his paces as Swansea prepare for Liverpool's visit on Monday . Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Medical staff attended to the France international for four minutes before he regained consciousness . The condition causes low blood pressure and Gomis had previously fainted on a number of occasions while playing in French football, something Swansea were aware of when they signed the 29-year-old from Lyon last summer. Swansea's players were given an extended six-day break following their 3-2 defeat at Tottenham and Gomis joined his team-mates on their return to training after making a short visit to France. 'Bafe is back in Swansea and trained today,' a club spokesman told Sportsmail on Wednesday. Players from both sides appeared shocked before referee Michael Oliver restarted the game . Gomis has a history of fainting, pictured here having a vagal attack during France training in 2009 . Gomis took to social media within hours of collapsing to alleviate concern about his well-being. 'I Wanted to reassure you concerning my Health, it actually looks much more scary than physically dangerous and I am feeling well now,' Gomis posted via his Twitter account. 'I have been under a great deal of stress and fatigue due to my father health that requires me to go back and forth to France. 'I was disappointed that I couldn't help my team tonight but now everything is back In order. 'I also want to thank everyone for their support and get Well messages.' Gomis is expected to be given the all-clear for Swansea's Barclays Premier League home game with Liverpool on Monday evening. Gomis has only managed five goals in all competitions since his summer arrival from Lyon . On 17 March 2012, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane during an FA Cup quarter-final match between Bolton and Tottenham. The former Trotters midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest and received life-saving medical treatment from Spurs staff and consultant cardiologist Dr Andrew Deaner, who was at the game as a fan, from the pitch. Muamba was rushed to the nearby London Chest Hospital, accompanied by then manager Owen Coyle and striker Kevin Phillips, for emergency treatment while the game was abandoned. Medical staff rush to Fabrice Muamba's aid after the midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest in 2012 . Muamba's heart was reported to have stopped for 78minutes while the former Birmingham player received numerous defibrillator shocks on the pitch and in the ambulance. Despite fears that he would not survive, the 26-year-old made a miraculous recovery before being discharged from hospital on April 16 - although he was forced to retire from professional football. +Despite a promising league position and a place in the Champions League a real possibility, Manchester United appear to have had a solid season - but their misfiring strikers continue to be a hot topic. Louis van Gaal is coming under increasing scrutiny but the lack of goals being scored by his forwards is a worry - with talk of United deciding not to sign Radamel Falcao on a permanent transfer due to his less than impressive performances. Club legend Dwight Yorke formed a formidable partnership with Andy Cole during their years at the Red Devils and he feels that their current crop of creative players need to start providing the forwards with the same quality and style he had at Old Trafford. Dwight Yorke scored an impressive 48 goals in 96 games for Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson . Speaking to the Sunday Mirror he said: 'I'm sure it's only a matter of time before things click, but as strikers you also need the players behind you to make it happen. For me and (Andrew) Coley, we were blessed, as we had the likes of Beckham, Giggs and Scholes providing the ammunition. It was dead easy for us, we just had to put the ball in the net. They were magical times and we had many magical moments. 'Hopefully the same thing can happen again for this United side.' Andy Cole and Yorke were formidable but had David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs providing them . Wayne Rooney is the clubs current top-scorer with 11 goals in all competitions, with the England captain also being asked to drop into midfield in the past couple of months. With Robin van Persie recently suffering an injury, Yorke feels that Rooney and Radamel Falcao could be the pairing to set Old Trafford alight again. He said: 'United have world class strikers in the likes of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao, but they don't seem to have found the ideal combination. Wayne Rooney is the clubs top scorer with 11 goals in all competitions despite playing recently in midfield . Radamel Falcao has failed to impress at United and was hauled off against Preston in the FA Cup . 'Rooney and Van Persie as a pairing hasn't really clicked, so maybe a Rooney-Falcao combo might provide the answer for United long-term.' The former Trinidad and Tobago international was also keen to pass on some words of wisdom to Van Gaal and the United players with a place at Wembley just one win away. 'Go out and express yourselves!' Robin van Persie has found it hard to click with Rooney and has struggled since his blistering first season . +Geraint Thomas has come out swinging in the wake of a report detailing that doping is still rife in the professional world of cycling, branding the findings as ‘insulting’. The Team Sky rider was reacting to claims made in the Cycling Independent Reform Commission report, which was published on Monday. In it one ‘respected cycling professional’ is said to believe that 90 per cent of the peloton are still benefiting from performance-enhancing drugs. Geraint Thomas has taken aim at CIRC's report into doping in elite cycling, branding the findings as insulting . The report alleges that the UCI acted favourably to Armstrong to protect the sport and that doping still takes place in the sport. However, unlike in Armstrong's days, its says riders now have a choice to dope or not . That, according to Thomas, is rubbish. ‘I think it’s a hell of a lot cleaner,’ he told the BBC. ‘I didn’t race back then, but some of the stories you hear… it’s certainly not like that now. ‘Whole teams were doing it back then. ‘It’s insulting when people say it [cycling] is really filthy and saying I’m doing something wrong. I dedicate everything to this. ‘You look at older riders – they are the most cynical about it all because they don’t know any other way. ‘Look at Brad [Wiggins] and [Chris] Froome. I’d put all the money I have on them being clean.’ Thomas said he'd bet that former Tour de France champion Chris Froome is a clean rider . +Paris Saint-Germain goalscorer David Luiz apologised for celebrating his goal against former club Chelsea as the English side exited the Champions League following a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were eliminated as the tie went into extra-time as 10-man PSG twice came from behind to win an ill-tempered last-16 tie on away goals. The first leg was drawn 1-1 and Chelsea's advantage grew when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off after 31 minutes. David Luiz celebrates wildly after sending the game into extra time with a bullet header at Stamford Bridge . The Brazilian defender couldn't hide his emotion, but later apologised for celebrating against his former team . Luiz said he was sorry that he had celebrated, but that he had been unable to control himself in the moment . Gary Cahill's strike nine minutes from the end of normal time was cancelled out by former Chelsea defender Luiz, but the hosts went ahead for a second time through an Eden Hazard penalty early in extra-time. PSG captain Thiago Silva, who conceded the spot-kick for handball, was denied from a corner by Thibaut Courtois but then netted with a header moments later to make it 2-2 on the night and send the visitors through. 'I think we played a great game,' Luiz told Sky Sports 5. 'When we lost Ibra, our best player, you say "keep it simple". Play the ball to feet and keep possession as we need to score to qualify. It was amazing tonight the spirit. Every single player gave everything. The powerful header took the game into an extra 30 minutes, in which Thiago Silva scored the crucial goal . Luiz sinks to his knees at the final whistle, celebrating the win for his new club against his old employers . 'I finished at Chelsea and then I got a great opportunity from PSG - they gave me a great opportunity to continue my career and I was very happy at Chelsea and won titles here but I finished and then I respect everyone. 'It was good for me to score. I said before I didn't celebrate but there as so much emotion I cannot control (it) and sorry because I celebrated because of the emotion but I am so happy to qualify.' In a feisty contest, Luiz clashed with his former manger Jose Mourinho after Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off . Luiz and Diego Costa came together several times, and the Brazilian defender was lucky not to be dismissed . +Struggling to cope with the heavy 1-6 loss at home to Marseille on Friday night, it appears one frustrated Toulouse fan decided to launch a makeshift missile at opposition goalkeeper Steve Mandanda as he gave a post-match interview. Mandanda, though, clearly still on alert from the game, managed to catch the bottle of water thrown from the stands. The amazing show of reflexes was made even more impressive by the 29-year-old stopper's smooth follow up, asking the journalist plainly, 'Would you like some water?' Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda (right) gives a post-match interview with a journalist . After a bottle of water is thrown from the stands, the 29-year-old stopper catches it instinctively . Mandanda asks the journalist unbelievably calmly, 'Would you like some water?' Marseille's victory sees them move to second in the Ligue 1 table, leapfrogging PSG and reigniting their title charge. They now have 53 points from 28 games, just one behind leaders Lyon who have played one game less. The club had not won in the league since January 31, but a brace from Belgian attacking midfielder Michy Batshuayi as well as strikes from Baptiste Aloe, Andre Ayew, Andre-Pierre Gignac and an own goal from Tolouse defender Francois Moubandje, put them back on track. Belgian attacking midfielder Michy Batshuayi scored two goals for Marseille during their rout of Tolouse . The impressive 1-6 away victory sees Marseille move up to second in the Ligue 1 table . +A 44-year-old man was killed and five other people were wounded when a gunman opened fire in a packed party in Detroit. The shooting took place at around 4 a.m. Sunday at the Chalmers Community Hall on the city's east side. According to WXYZ-TV the Knights of the Round Table Van and Truck Club had rented the hall for a celebration which was in full swing when the gunman sprayed the hall with bullets. Party: A 44-year-old man was killed and five other people were wounded when a gunman opened fire in a packed party in Detroit . Celebration: A company called the Knights of the Round Table Van and Truck Club had rented the hall for a celebration when a gunman sprayed the hall with bullets . Police spokesman Officer Aram Madeira told The Detroit Free Press that those wounded included a 44-year-old woman who was working as a security guard at a neighboring church. The other victims were two women ages 36 and 40, and two men ages 27 and 36. Dorian Simpson is a member of the club and was inside at the time. 'We were just celebrating, and like I said, I don't know what transpired to take place to where we at right now, today,' he said. The identity of the gunman is not known. Police now have three men in custody and are trying to learn more about the circumstances behind the shooting. Arrest: Police now have three men in custody and are trying to learn more about the circumstances behind the shooting . +Paul Scholes has once again defended former Manchester United team-mate Jonny Evans following his spitting incident with Newcastle's Papiss Cisse. The former England midfielder believes Evans spat towards the floor in a 'reflex action' after the Senegal striker kicked out at him during Wednesday night's match at St James' Park. Both players have been charged with spitting by the Football Association - Cisse accepted the charge and will serve a seven-match ban, while Evans has until 6pm on Friday to respond. Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the floored Newcastle United striker . Evans's former Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes has defended the player . Scholes also defended Evans will working as a pundit on the match for BT Sport on Wednesday . Having leapt to the defence of Evans while working as a pundit during BT Sport's coverage of the match, Scholes has again backed the Northern Ireland defender. Scholes writes in his Independent column: 'I have watched the footage of Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse's spitting incident and I come to the same conclusion that was my instinct the first time I saw the replay: I don't think Jonny ever intended to spit at Cisse. 'As Jonny gets up and takes a step backwards, he spits. At the time his eyes are fixed on Cisse... and that is what makes it look bad. But my instinct is that Jonny is spitting to the floor. 'It is a reflex. Footballers, athletes in all sorts of sports, have a tendency to spit in the periods of respite after action. You can do it without even thinking. 'I know that I did, as a player. On this occasion, I believes it was a reflex action from Jonny. Not one aimed at Cisse.' Evans could face a ban of six matches if found guilty by the Football Association. Papiss Cisse subsequently retaliates, and appears to aim spit of his own back at the Manchester United man . Evans (left) and Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Everton (a), March 15 . Arsenal (h), March 21 . Sunderland (a), April 5 . Liverpool (a), April 13 . Tottenham (h), April 19 . Swansea (h), April 25 . Leicester (a), May 2 . Both Cisse and Evans released statements on Thursday in which they disagreed on the intent behind the disgusting scenes. Bizarrely, Evans claimed he was shocked by the allegations and protested his innocence. Cisse responded by apologising but said he was provoked when Evans spat at him. Indeed, Sportsmail understands that Cisse is furious that the Northern Ireland international has not admitted his guilt, and is adamant the defender spat at his leg. And Cisse will inform FA disciplinary chiefs that Evans intentionally spat at him when questioned about the incident. Cisse has been banned for seven games after accepting the charge from the FA on Thursday . This season, FA guidelines dictate that the punishment for spitting should be in line with FIFA's six game ban for the offence. Cisse faces an additional one game ban because he has already been sent off for violent conduct after elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman (above) in December. Having conceded he was wrong to react by spitting in Evans’s face, Cisse will be fined a week’s wages of around £40,000 by Newcastle, who will now be without their 11-goal top scorer until May. FA rules were changed in the summer to bring them in line with FIFA guidelines which state a player found guilty of spitting at an opponent will be suspended for six games. However, Cisse has already served a three-match ban for violent conduct this season after elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman and as a result will be hit with an additional one-game suspension. He will not return until the final three matches of the campaign. Evans, meanwhile, could miss crucial Premier League fixtures against Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea should he be found guilty. But the 27-year-old will contest the charge, to which he must respond by 6pm on Friday evening. The Senegalese striker points the finger at United defender Evans after the ugly incident . Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley said: 'Both ourselves and Papiss agree that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. 'In life, when you do something wrong you have to front up, admit your mistakes and accept the punishment. Papiss was proactive this morning in making a full and heartfelt apology, which he did in advance of any notification from the FA regarding this charge. 'This was something he felt strongly about and we fully support him in quickly accepting the charge. 'Papiss is known to many of our region's schools, community groups and junior football teams for his involvement in the work of the Newcastle United Foundation. 'He has this evening expressed to us his strong desire to engage in additional community activities during the period of his ban. 'He is particularly keen to use his position as a role model to encourage young and influential fans to engage in sport and learn lessons about the importance of fair play and personal conduct.' Evans’s statement read: ‘Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. ‘I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. ‘During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. ‘It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.’ Tempers threaten to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gather on the pitch . Cisse was banned for an extra man after beinf sent off for elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman in December . The FA were waiting for referee Anthony Taylor's report. As he missed the incident between Jonny Evans and Pappis Cisse, and it wasn't included in his report - the FA were within their right to retrospectively punish the pair. Hull striker George Boyd was banned for three games last season after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA have issued new guidelines to move in line with new FIFA guidelines meaning Evans and Cisse could now be banned for six games. Cisse responded less than an hour later by saying: ‘I have apologies to make to a lot of people today. Firstly to my team-mates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny. ‘I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be a positive role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down. ‘I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.’ +Arsene Wenger has hit back at Paul Scholes following the former England midfielder’s criticism of Mesut Ozil. Manchester United legend Scholes has accused the £42.5million man of ‘going through the motions’ during his time with the Gunners in comments made to a national newspaper. But the Arsenal manager has defended his record signing, saying: ‘It’s a wrong statement. He works very hard and he’s a great player. A player like Paul Scholes would have loved to play with Ozil. Mesut has a point to prove and he knows that. Paul Scholes hit out at German playmaker Mesut Ozil by insisting he took easy option when he joined Arsenal . Arsenal ace Ozil has scored four goals during the course of the current campaign . Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has leaped to Ozil's defence by hitting back at former United ace Scholes . ‘I believe he has the quality, he puts a lot of effort in to help the team and he works much harder than his style shows. ‘You can be cheated a little bit by his style of play, because he is fluid, easy, subtle and he does not look like he puts the effort in, but he does.’ Meanwhile, Wenger has launched a staunch defence of summer signing Danny Welbeck as the forward prepares for his Manchester United return. After arriving at the Emirates Stadium intent on playing as a central striker, the England international has found himself playing out wide again, a position he found frustrating during his time at Old Trafford. He has scored seven goals since arriving from United in August — three of those coming in a Champions League win over Galatasaray. But ahead of Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final, Wenger insists Welbeck has not been a £16million flop. Wenger and Ozil in training at London Colney ahead of their FA Cup clash against Manchester United . Ozil has divided opinion among Arsenal fans and the wider public since arriving in England . Wenger also defended former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck's impact at Arsenal . ‘He’s very important and has played many games since the start of the season,’ said Wenger — who confirmed central defender Gabriel will miss up to three weeks with a hamstring injury. ‘If you check the statistics you will see (the suggestion Welbeck doesn’t play often) is wrong. He’s one of the players who has played the most games for us, but not in the last couple of games. Wenger also spoke to Sportsmail’s Martin Keown in an interview for the BBC’s Football Focus, to be broadcast on Saturday. In it, the Arsenal manager, who has won the FA Cup five times, discussed his favourite memories of the competition and which of the wins meant most to him. Wenger said: ‘Maybe the first one against Newcastle was the best because it was when we won the double in 1998. I remember absolutely everything about that day because it was at Wembley. When I was a kid in France I saw the cup finals. For me to come from a little village and go for the first time to Wembley was something special. It was a great old stadium, the soul was there, the grass was special.’ Scholes believes the likes of Manchester United's Robin van Persie left Arsenal because they were ambitious . The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry also left Arsenal to add to their personal trophy collection . But when asked about his collection of medals, Wenger admitted he cared little for them. He said: ‘I don’t even know where they are. Maybe I will regret it. I would like to think I get more out of the human side of my career. ‘I prefer to have a box of memories than a box of medals. What is interesting is that you can have an influence on people’s lives. They can have a big influence on you as well.’ Arsenal face United on Monday and Wenger enjoyed many classic cup ties against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, but he said the pair’s frosty relationship had thawed in recent years. ‘I am happy to see him now,’ said Wenger, ‘more than before because we have gone through some different periods. In the end it became more respectful and of course he was not always objective in defending his team. Nor was I! That created disagreements. ‘Now we are happy to have dinner together and a good glass of wine and rise above the differences.’ But Monday’s tie doesn’t please him. ‘I wanted to play at home. But fantastic game or not, what is important is that you go through. It would have been better at home. Now it is what it is, you want to qualify for the semi-final.’ +The darkest hour for James McCarthy came at Christmas when he felt the familiar, sickening tear all footballers dread. As one of the most influential players in Everton’s squad, McCarthy was aiming to starting afresh in the New Year. December had been a write-off due to a hamstring problem but he had put the hard yards in to ensure 2015 began brightly. Then his world fell in. ‘It was so frustrating,’ said McCarthy. ‘You come back and then you break down. You come back again and then you break down again. The lowest moment was having done all the work and it happened again. Everton's influential midfielder James McCarthy suffered a frustrating injury setback at the turn of the year . McCarthy admits the lowest moment came was breaking down having worked so hard to regain his fitness . ‘I’d been delighted to get back. It was Christmas and I was looking to get going but then I played a couple of games over a few days (against Stoke and Newcastle) and it went. Mentally it was tough. It’s never nice sitting in the stands. You want to get out there and help. ‘We have changed a few things and the manager has looked into every detail, such as my training load. I’ve changed my boots, the inner soles of my shoes. They looked at my car but that was okay. I am just delighted to be back. Now it is about putting things right.’ There is an unmistakable sense that the Republic of Ireland midfielder is eager to make up for lost time. Everton’s season was ticking along nicely before he was injured in Wolfsburg in November. Since then, the collapse has been bewildering. How much has been down to his absence? He has missed 14 games so far and Everton have won just two; with him in the team the win percentage jumps from 14.3 to 36 and they are also more potent in front of goal. McCarthy is all smiles with Everton team-mate Seamus Coleman during training at Finch Farm on Wednesday . They will hope that proves to be the case on Thursday night in the Europa League last-16 clash at Goodison with Dynamo Kiev. Everton manager Roberto Martinez is at his most gushing when talking about McCarthy. He has been a huge influence, dating back to when he signed him for Wigan from Hamilton Academicals in June 2009, shortly after he was Scotland’s Young Player of the Year. Growing up in the Castlemilk area of Glasgow, McCarthy was a gifted footballer and both Reading and Liverpool wanted to sign him. ‘I didn’t want to be away from home when I was that age,’ McCarthy explains. ‘I was only 15. Liverpool and Reading both looked after me really well but I was happy to stay at Hamilton. I made the right decision. I wanted to play as many games as I could.’ Something with Martinez clicked when they met and the education he received in Wigan has accelerated his development. McCarthy and Everton take on Dynamo Kiev at Goodison Park on Thursday night in the Europa League . Martinez is under scrutiny, with some Evertonians having gone cold at his unrelentingly optimistic appraisals, but few are better placed than McCarthy to give an insight into what makes his manager tick. Is he too positive? ‘I don’t think so,’ McCarthy replies. ‘You need to be positive. If he was permanently negative, the club would be a depressing place to be. He has got the right attitude. I have worked with him for five, six seasons now and I know him down to a tee. Everton manager Roberto Martinez has been a huge influence on McCarthy having coached him at Wigan . ‘He is positive and that is what we need. He wants it to rub off on the boys. We know things haven’t been good enough and we need to pick up the standards.’ McCarthy has not long turned 24 but he speaks with maturity and it is easy to see why he is being regarded as a potential captain for club and country. ‘From the outside looking in, you can hear people starting to panic, saying “Everton this” and “Everton that”,’ says McCarthy. ‘We have got 10 games left to put it right. We need to stick together and we will only get up the table by doing that.’ +French rider Lloyd Mondory has tested positive for blood-boosting agent EPO and has been provisionally suspended, the UCI has announced. The 32-year-old Ag2r La Mondiale rider's positive result came during an out-of-competition test. A statement from the UCI read: 'The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that it has notified French rider Lloyd Mondory of an adverse analytical finding of EPO in a sample collected in the scope of an out-of-competition control on February 17, 2015. Lloyd Mondory, of Team Ag2r La Mondiale, has been suspended after testing positive for EPO . Mondory's positive result came during an out of competition test . 'The rider has the right to request and attend the analysis of the B sample. In accordance with the UCI anti-doping rules, the rider has been provisionally suspended until the adjudication of the affair. 'At this stage of the procedure, the UCI will not comment any further.' The news comes in the week the Cycling Independent Reform Commission published its report into doping. +Swansea manager Garry Monk feels his former boss Brendan Rodgers is capable of managing Barcelona or Real Madrid one day. Monk crosses swords again with Rodgers at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night having lost all three of his previous meetings with the Liverpool manager and the Northern Irishman's stock at Anfield is rising rapidly again. Liverpool have gone 12 games unbeaten in the Barclays Premier League as they close in on a top-four spot which would secure Champions League qualification for the second successive year after almost ending the club's 24-year wait for the title last season. Garry Monk believes former boss Brendan Rodgers is capable of managing Barcelona or Real Madrid one day . It is a far cry from the autumn when Liverpool were struggling to emerge from the post-Luis Suarez era at a time when Daniel Sturridge was injured and they lost four successive games in both league and cup. But the upturn in their fortunes has led to reports that Manchester City are making admiring glances towards Merseyside and, asked if Rodgers was equipped to manage Barcelona or Real sometime in the future, Monk replied: 'Yes, he can manage at the top, for sure. 'He's got the knowledge, know-how and capabilities in man-management. He's got the package to do it at the elite of Europe. Rodgers admitted earlier this month that he feared the sack at Liverpool prior to changing squad formation . 'Whether that's an ambition he has at Liverpool or it is an ambition to be at the really elite I don't know. 'But I'm sure he wants to take Liverpool to those heights again.' Rodgers admitted earlier this month that he feared the sack at Liverpool prior to changing the formation to three at the back which sparked their climb up the table. But Monk, club captain at Swansea when Rodgers steered the Welsh club into the Premier League in 2011 via the Championship play-offs, says that would have been a foolish move and applauds his courage to change a system which had proved so successful last season. Monk knows all about Rodgers' managerial ways having been club captain during his time at Swansea City . 'I've spoken to him about it and the pressure at the bigger clubs is constant but I think he handles it very well,' said Monk, who remains in regular contact with Rodgers. 'Transition's never easy, especially after a fantastic season, and just missing out on that title will have knocked the confidence of the players initially. 'It takes time to get that confidence back but he's done that and he also had quite an influx of players in the summer. 'All credit to Brendan for having the bravery to change it to what players probably weren't used to. He did it at a period where it could have been a risk but it's paid dividends.' Rodgers shows off the play-off trophy after winning promotion to the Premier League with Swansea . Liverpool's renaissance has taken them to within two points of fourth-placed Manchester United and Monk feels they will improve still further if they qualify for the Champions League again. 'I know he was disappointed with the Champions League this season but if they can push on and get in there again I think they'll do better next year,' Monk said. 'He's evolving as a manager and he's obviously more confident in his own ability than when he was at Swansea. 'That comes with going to a big club, being on a big stage and performing there.' Former Swansea boss Rodgers is thrown in the air by his players after winning at Wembley Stadium . +Mardy Fish made an impressive return to the tour after an 18-month absence but fell just short against fellow American Ryan Harrison in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. Former world No 7 Fish battled for two hours and 36 minutes before losing to fellow American Harrison, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3). Fish had two match points at 15-40 in the 10th game of the third set, but Harrison wiggled free. After both held serve to force the tiebreak, Harrison won three points in a row to go up 5-2. Fish's double fault gave Harrison match point and the 22-year-old closed it out with an ace. Mardy Fish made his return to the tour in Indian Wells on Thursday after an 18-month absence . Ryan Harrison hits a backhand volley on his way to a three-set victory against fellow American Fish . Fish, 33, had not played on the ATP Tour since August 2013 because of heart problems that have plagued him since March 2012. A finalist in 2008, when he lost to Novak Djokovic, Fish said that despite the long layoff the loss to Harrison 'stings a little bit'. But there were positives. 'I've worked really hard in the past 3 1/2 months to get back in shape,' Fish said, 'So, I don't have any issues sort of during a match or after a match. 'I worked extremely hard to put myself in the best position to not have to worry about things when I was out there - if I was out of shape or if I didn't feel well or if it was going to be a long match or a hot match or something like that, when a lot more things creep into your head.' Fish chases out to his left to reach for the return in his first-round match at the BNP Paribas Open . Harrison ends up on his back during one point but later progresses to the second round in Indian Wells . American wildcard Tim Smyczek was among those advancing as the men began play on Thursday, but two-time champion Daniela Hantuchova was among those eliminated on the second day of women's action. The 2002 and 2007 winner was a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 loser to Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic. Vera Zvonareva, the 2009 champion, also lost, 6-1, 6-1 to qualifier Polona Hercog of Slovakia, and Chinese qualifier Lin Zhu ousted 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy. The men will conclude their first round on Friday, while the women begin second round play, highlighted by Serena Williams's return after a 14-year absence. Williams will face Monica Niculescu of Romania on Friday night. Daniela Hantuchova hits a forehand during her three-set loss to Klara Koukalova on Thursday . Serena Williams speaks to the media during a press conference at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden . +Boxing fans worldwide are being asked to decide which of two expensive, commemorative belts should be strapped around the waist of either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao at the conclusion of their fight of the century in Las Vegas on May 2. The WBC are holding a public vote to choose between an onyx belt of unusual design or their traditional green world champion belt encrusted with diamonds. Either way the cost is likely to be upwards of a million dollars. Fans have been asked to choose which belt will adorn the winner after the so-called fight of the century . Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao go head-to-head at the MGM Grand on May 2 . This treasured memento will come as a bonus to the winner of a fight for which Mayweather is expected to receive up to $180 million and Pacquiao $120 million. To view the designs and take part in the poll go to the WBC website. But be quick, voting closes this weekend. +Tickets for the richest fight of all time between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be the most expensive in boxing history. Prices in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2 will start at $1,500 (£1,000) in the rafters and rise to an unprecedented $7,500 (£5,000) at ringside. They are already fetching upwards of $150,000 (£100,500) on the black market. Floyd Mayweather (left) and Manny Pacquiao pose in their only face-to-face meeting before their fight . The cost of a seat for Pacquiao taking on Mayweather starts at £1000 and goes up to £5000 . Mayweather said that he and Pacquiao 'both want to win this more than any fight in our lives' Hotels on the Strip are charing $1,000 a night. In return, Mayweather and Pacquiao both promise: ‘We will be the best we can possibly be that night.’ Mayweather added: ‘We both want to win this more than any fight in our lives.’ +Andy Murray is not sure about Jonas Bjorkman's dancing but is confident the Swede will prove a valuable addition to his coaching team. The 42-year-old is to join Murray for a trial week at some point in the next month with a view to working with the Scot on a permanent basis alongside his main coach Amelie Mauresmo. The exact timing of that week is up in the air because Bjorkman is currently competing on Let's Dance, the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing. Andy Murray talks to his main coach Amelie Mauresmo during a training session in Indian Wells . The Scot, who could add Jonas Bjorkman to his team, practices his serve with coach Mauresmo watching on . Murray and Mauresmo take a moments rest during training ahead of Murray's Indian Wells challenge . Murray, whose mother Judy was a high-profile contestant on the last series of the British show, told BBC Radio Five Live: 'I haven't seen him dance yet but apparently he's one of the favourites to win so he must be all right.' With Mauresmo only committed to working with Murray for 25 weeks a year, the world number four has made finding an additional coach a priority. The role had been filled under Ivan Lendl and then Mauresmo by his long-time friend Dani Vallverdu until the pair went their separate ways at the end of last season. The aim will be for Bjorkman to travel with Murray during the weeks when Mauresmo is unavailable, while they will also work together at certain times of the year. Murray said: 'We've agreed for him to work with us for a week just to try and see how it goes. Normally when I've started working with coaches I've done that. 'I know him very well from when he played. He was one of the older guys when I came on the tour and he was very good to me. He's a very nice person, good sense of humour. And he was an exceptional tennis player who made the most of his ability. Former world No 4 Jonas Bjorkman will join up with Team Murray for a trial week as assistant coach . 'A lot of Swedes turn out to be good coaches. They've got a good mindset, they're very calm individuals and extremely hard workers. Hopefully when we try it out together it works well.' Bjorkman reached number four in the singles rankings and number one in doubles, winning nine grand slam titles. Since retiring in 2008 he has worked in the media, as a coach with Sweden's Davis Cup team and behind the scenes at the ATP tournaments in Bastad and Stockholm. He becomes the latest Swede to take up a high-profile coaching role in men's tennis after Magnus Norman, who guided Stan Wawrinka to the Australian Open title last year, and Roger Federer's part-time mentor Stefan Edberg. Bjorkman agreed with Murray's assessment of Swedish strengths but also said he hoped to bring energy and fun to training sessions. Andy Murray celebrates after securing victory for Great Britain against the USA in the Davis Cup in Glasgow . Recalling how he became friends with Murray, Bjorkman said: 'I always spent quite a lot of time around Tim (Henman). 'When Andy came along, he was going to be the new superstar, I met him straight away and we connected well. 'He's a great guy, great sense of humour. Both of us like to have a little bit of a trash talk, we are interested in other sports. The only negative was he beat me twice. But I'm really looking forward to it.' Bjorkman revealed he has been speaking to Mauresmo on the phone and believes they are singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to Murray's game. Andy Murray takes aim with a serve as he prepares for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells . 'It feels great,' he said. 'I really like the way she believes Andy should play and how they've been working. 'Andy's in a great situation now, he played phenomenal tennis in Australia. The match against (Tomas) Berdych I believe was the best since his injury. He's at his prime with his age and has some interesting years ahead of him.' Murray and Mauresmo are currently in Indian Wells for the first Masters tournament of the season, where he will begin his campaign this weekend against Canadian Vasek Pospisil. The Scot, meanwhile, has also committed to playing at the ATP tournament in Washington in August as part of his build-up to the US Open. He reached the final on his only previous appearance nine years ago. +Paul Scholes has confirmed he will not be taking over as Oldham Athletic manager. As revealed by Sportsmail, the League One side wanted to make the Manchester United legend Lee Johnson's replacement but Scholes did not feel the timing was right. And the 40-year-old, who lives in the town, confirmed the decision in his column in the Independent on Friday. Paul Scholes is a lifelong Oldham Athletic fan but feels the timing is not right for the manager's job . Scholes says there is no way he would ever combine a coaching job with his work on television . He said he was tempted by the offer and believes he will one day manage Oldham but added: 'I just did not feel this was the right time. 'When I go into management, I want to do so with 100 per cent commitment. At the moment I have a lot of responsibilities and things going on in my life that I cannot simply drop immediately. Most importantly I have a young family who need their dad around, having been away a lot during my playing career. 'There was no way, for example, I would ever have tried to combine a coaching job with my work on television.' Scholes, who only played for Manchester United, has not ruled out being Oldham boss in the future . Lee Johnson left League One side Oldham Athletic to become manager of Barnsley . Former Oldham boss Iain Dowie is the fans' favourite for the job and is expected to meet chairman Simon Corney this weekend although whether the club can give him assurances over the availability of funds to strengthen the squad is unclear. Others linked with the post include ex-Chelsea defender Winston Bogarde, former Oldham striker Shefki Kuqi and Huddersfield Town coach Steve Eyre. Oldham, who go to Yeovil Town on Saturday, are three points outside the play-offs with a game in hand on many of their rivals. Coach Dean Holden is currently in charge, assisted by experienced defender Adam Lockwood. +What appeared to virtually everyone in boxing to be one of the most bitter feuds in the annals of the hard old game turned out to be a love in. Or so Floyd Mayweather and Bob Arum told us as they walked onto a famous stage here as collaborators in the big sell of the richest fight of all time. Money talks. Louder than the maestro of the ring who calls himself by that bizarre nickname. Floyd Mayweather speaks as Manny Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum looks on in Los Angeles on Wednesday . Mayweather and Arum insist there is no lasting animosity after they went their separate ways in business . Mayweather (left) and Pacquiao meet in a long-awaited mega-fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas . More noisily than the promoter who has banged the drum for many of the biggest fights ever, from Ali-Frazier 1 all the way to Mayweather-Pacquiao this May 2 in Las Vegas . ‘Animosity?’ said Arum of his relationship with Mayweather who, in his prime, walked out on him. ‘Nah.’ ‘Never a problem between us,’ said Mayweather. But wasn’t it Mayweather who always blamed Arum, subsequently Pacquiao’s promoter, whenever the moguls failed to make this match for which Planet Earth has been clamouring for five years. ‘No,’ said the No 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world. ‘The only reason we broke up was because it was time for me to become my own promoter. ‘Me and my father (also his trainer) and my uncles (also his corner men when called upon) to become the Boxing Mayweathers. ‘I needed to get that experience for when it came to giving back to the sport by helping the youngsters.’ Mayweather, here with Justin Bieber, said there was '‘Never a problem between us' in relation to Arum . 'Animosity? Nah,' said Arum of Mayweather. He (left) is now the promoter for Pacquiao . ‘Blame me,’ said Arum. ‘It was a generational thing. Floyd wanted me to reach out to the African-American audience. But that was a different cultural group from when we put on Ali and Frazier and Foreman. ‘Floyd saw the potential in the hip-hop community but I could not connect with them. So, yes, it was time for him to go off on his own.’ Money - not the man but the $350 million to half a billion dollars this fight is expected to generate – is a powerful healing agent. These old rivals thanked each other – as well as everyone else they could think of – for bringing home this mother lode. The last vestiges of a dark age in which boxers were exploited and then left to rot with the after-effects of being battered about the head have been condemned to history by this deal. One which has coerced rival cable TV giants Showtime and HBO into sharing their part of the spoils. One which is not so much a commercial world record breaker as out of this world. ‘All of boxing will be elevated by this fight,’ says Arum. All is forgiven. Arum (left) said his split from Mayweather was a 'generational thing' and that there's no hard feelings . Remember Mayweather demanding Olympic standard random drugs testing, a stipulation which cast aspersions as to how Pacquiao had managed to keep rising through the weights to win world titles in an unprecedented – and probably unsurpassable – eight divisions? And then Pacquiao suggesting a $5 million penalty if either of them failed such a test? That bet was turned down by Mayweather but Arum explains: ‘It wasn’t because Floyd was any more scared about the result than Manny. It was just that he and his team figured they would get a lot more if Manny didn’t pass the test. Just as we knew we would get a damn sight more than $5million if Floyd failed the test.’ They still differ on some of the fine points when it comes to claiming credit for making this mega-bucks spectacular finally happen. Mayweather says: ‘The chance meeting between me and Manny at the basketball game and then our talk in his hotel room got all this together. ‘After that I rang Al Haymon (the new Svengali for top boxers) every week. The first time he said "Not Yet". The second and third time, "Not Yet." Then he said "Almost" and we got it done.’ Mayweather arrives in the arena ahead of the glitzy press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday night . Pacquiao, a resounding underdog for the fight, gets his own rousing reception on entry for the appearance . Arum talks of how his meeting with CBS television chief Les Moonves broke the deadlock: ‘He told me he could bring Floyd to the table and I believed him. So when he asked if I would meet with Al Haymon I said of course and we worked out the major issues in a couple of hours. ‘Then we got together with HBO and Showtime and it took only minutes for them to agree to share the broadcast. There will still some small details to be resolved but although they maybe took longer than they should have we got it done.’ The fans couldn’t care less who got it done. The world waits with bated breath for the two best boxers on the planet to move on from this face-to-face in Los Angeles to opposite corners of the ring in the MGM Grand Garden Arena. ‘The best against the best,’ says Mayweather. ‘That’s what makes it so exciting.’ It has always been thus. Only sometimes it takes money to make even the best see sense. Like a minimum $180 million for Mayweaher, $120 million for Pacquiao. A fortune so vast that it is more than Ali, Frazier and Foreman ever dreamed of. +Manny Pacquiao plans to make Floyd Mayweather Jnr dance to his tune on May 2, and the Filipino icon gave fans a sample of his entrance music as the pair came head to head in Los Angeles. Pacquiao and Mayweather faced the world's media for the only time before fight week on Wednesday night as both men vowed to conquer the other in their $300million (£200m) Las Vegas showdown. But before he took to the stage, Pacquiao delivered a rendition of 'I will fight for the Philippines', an unreleased track he has recorded for his walk on at the MGM Grand. Manny Pacquiao treats reporters to a rendition of his entrance song 'I will fight for the Philippines' Manny Pacquiao will walk out for his fight against Floyd Mayweather to a song he has recorded himself . Pacquiao, who stands to make at least $120m from the fight, collaborated with Filipino singer/songwriter Lito Camo to produce the ballad. Mayweather, meanwhile, is likely to be accompanied into the ring by pop star Justin Bieber who has long been part of his inflated entourage. And the 38-year-old's entrance song will contrast sharply with his opponent's. Mayweather prefers a rap number and was walked into the ring by Lil Wayne for his first fight against Marcos Maidana last year. Mayweather and Pacquiao turn away after facing off following their press conference in Los Angeles . Mayweather (right) was joined by Justin Bieber at the press conference to promote his fight . Mayweather walks to the ring for his first fight against Marcos Maidana accompanied by Justin Bieber . +Terrorists have developed several new techniques to communicate with each online by leaving coded messages on websites like eBay and Reddit, claims a new book. The shocking discovery made by intelligence officers and code breakers in Israel, Britain and the United States revealed that seemingly innocuous chats are often much more, according to new sections in the book Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad. Code breakers found that al-Qaeda is now using a technique to encrypt its messages in goods offered for sale on eBay. Communication: Terrorists have developed several new techniques to communicate with each online by leaving coded messages on websites like eBay and Reddit . Secretive: Code breakers have found that al-Qaeda is now using a technique to encrypt its messages in goods offered for sale on eBay . Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence officers who spent time tracking the Internet message board Reddit found more than once, that a terrorist used hexadecimal characters and prime numbers as code. After the messages were decoded, they sometimes indicated an attack was being planned or even about to happen, according to excerpts printed in The New York Post. Terrorists are even hiding messages in 'X-rated pornographic pictures which conceal documents and orders for the next target,' one intelligence source told author Gordon Thomas. In a fight back, MI6 in London and Mossad have recruited linguist specialists in Arabic, Urdu and Pashto to translate the online magazines that both al-Qaeda and ISIS are publishing with instructions. This, they hope will infiltrate a message about a planned attack before it takes place. In the wake of the brutal Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, both ISIS and al-Qaeda have been concealing messages to their followers. Both Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, and MI6 in London confirm that there has been an increase in this type of traffic online, according to the book. Cyber unit: The eleventh director of Mossad, Tamir Pardo, pictured, determined that Israel would use a cyber unit to avoid experiencing an event similar to the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 . Electronic war: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country's electronic battles against cyberattacks were regarded as Israel's most important defense . Mossad: The front page of the website for Israel's spy agency says it sees the 'invisible' and does the 'impossible' However, when an attack appears imminent in a particular country, Mossad sends details to that nation's intelligence service's cybercommand. By working with each other in unison, intelligence agencies hope to prevent future attacks. Cyber units worldwide are becoming increasingly important in the fight against terror. A number of the most skilled cryptologists in the Mossad unit for example, have mastered steganography, how to conceal secret information within a digital file. Cryptologists have the ability to explore an area inaccessible to the search engines of Google, Yahoo and Bing called the dark side, or dark web. This no-go zone contains billions of Web pages and is estimated to be 5,000 times larger than any other on the Internet. Much of this information is detailed in a 2015 version of a book by author Gordon Thomas called 'Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad.' It delves into the clandestine world of Israel's spy agency, the Mossad. Mossad is using its new cyberwarfare department to track threats and attack Iran's nuclear capacity. The eleventh director of the spy agency, Tamir Pardo, was determined that Israel would not experience an event similar to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. This decision came after it was revealed that an intercepted phone message by the American National Security Agency hinted at the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon - but it was caught too late. Pardo understood the importance of cyberwarfare after undergoing training at the NSA. He was backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who told him that their electronic battles against cyberattacks were regarded as Israel's most important defense. Meanwhile, Iain Lobban, the head of Britain's Government Communication Headquarters revealed the country's Ministry of Defense was once targeted over 1,000 times a month. He identified the attacks were mostly coming from the Tenth Bureau, the highly secret department of China's People Liberation Army responsible for science and technology. In the United States, General Keith B. Alexander, the head of the Pentagon's Cyber Command, confirmed that 'our targets are enemy military command centers that we can reach from cyberspace.' +Just for a second, Tony Mowbray allowed himself to drift off into a brighter future before crashing back to the remorseless reality of Coventry City’s present. ‘I look to the summer time and how we are going to build a team that is a Coventry City team,’ the new manager began. ‘But that’s for another day. The immediate concern is just to win some matches.’ Tony Mowbray issues instructions from the touchline during his first game in charge of Coventry . Coventry's Jim O'Brien opens the scoring for the home side in just the fourth minute of the match . For Mowbray, who arrived at the club last week, Coventry City is a club of heritage and romance. It is Keith Houchen’s diving header crashing into the Wembley net in 1987, it is Jimmy Hill leading the ‘Sky Blue Revolution’, it is of a team that was a staple of the top division for 34 years. He has vowed to take them back there, to their ‘rightful place’. The reality is very different. Today, Hill’s bronze statue stands outside a superstore for the rugby club Wasps, whose amber and black logo looms over the main entrance. They own the place; Coventry City are strangers in their own home, seeking to get out in the next few years. The Ricoh Arena is magnificent, ready for the top flight. But few thought that would mean Premiership rugby union rather than Premier League football. Confidence has drained, crowds are down. When the club returned from their exile in Northampton 35 miles away back in September, over 27,000 packed into the ground. On Saturday, a mere 9,446 turned out. The potential for massive crowds is obvious but poor form has seen many return their scarves to the back of the wardrobe. The Coventry wide man wheels away in celebration after giving his side the perfect start . It’s because Coventry are staring at the indignity of fourth-tier football for the first time since 1959 and, after this chastening reintroduction to management after 16 months away, Mowbray is in no doubt as to how precarious their situation is. ‘If we’d sat here and we’d won, I’d be telling you how great it was but as a football manager it really hurts,’ he reflected. ‘The highs are really good, the lows low but there’s not much in between. ‘It would have been nice to give the fans a victory. I don’t think the players let them down but we are where we are.’ To be exact, still a sole point above the relegation zone after an afternoon that had started so positively for his team. The mere presence of the former Hibernian, West Brom, Celtic and Middlesbrough boss seemed to energise the place initially and Coventry led on four minutes through captain Jim O’Brien. The former Middlesbrough and Celtic manager holds his arms aloft in appeal at the Ricoh Arena . They were comfortable until two Port Vale goals just before the break turned the tables. Tom Pope and then the impressive Mark Marshall, released by Mowbray’s predecessor Steven Pressley in the summer, exposed defensive flaws. But Coventry rallied and when Sanmi Odelusi came off the bench to level, they had all the momentum with 20 minutes to play. Alas, six minutes later, Michael O’Connor’s free-kick handed the three points to Vale, who are just two points off the play-offs. Their manager, Rob Page, made 70 league appearances for Coventry as a defender. He certainly doesn’t want to see them slide into League Two. ‘I think they have just brought in a fantastic manager,’ he said. ‘I think he will keep them up and then build in the summer for next season.’ For Mowbray, though, it’s only the here and now that matters. PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND . Derby County were about to go top of the Championship as goals from Jamie Ward and Tom Ince put them 2-0 up against Birmingham. But Gary Rowett’s men staged a stunning stoppage-time comeback through a Paul Caddis penalty and Clayton Donaldson’s leveller. Clayton Donaldon (left) gets first to the ball as he knocks the ball home from close range . The former Brentford striker(right) secured a last-gasp point for Birmingham at Derby on Saturday . WHAT'S CAUGHT MY EYE . Daryl Murphy extended his Championship tally to 22 goals but the striker was left to rue missing a sitter from four yards as Ipswich were held 1-1 by Brentford. Daryl Murphy fires home to put Ipswich 1-0 up against Brentford early on in the match . Gary Gardner (right) fires home brilliantly from close range for Nottingham Forest against Middlesbrough . Aston Villa loanee Gary Gardner scored a cracker as Nottingham Forest’s resurgence under Dougie Freedman continued with a 2-1 win over title-chasing Middlesbrough. Simon Grayson’s Preston North End have hit form at the perfect time. Their 2-0 win at MK Dons was their sixth win in seven in the league, all coming with clean sheets. +Two days after struggling with her emotions on her competitive return to the BNP Paribas Open, Serena Williams was in a much more relaxed mood on Sunday as she powered her way into the fourth round. The American world No 1, who made a nervous start before battling past Romania's Monica Niculescu 7-5 7-5 in her opening match, was back to business as usual with a 6-2 6-0 demolition of Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas. 'I was able to relax because I was able to do more of the right things and not make as many mistakes as I did in my last round,' said Williams, who boycotted the Indian Wells event for 14 years after winning the 2001 final. Serena Williams made short work of Zarina Diyas, winning 6-2, 6-0 to reach the Indian Wells fourth round . Diyas, of Kazakhstan, had little answer to the play of world No 1 Williams . 'I think with that, that helped me to be able to relax even more. It definitely felt back to normal out there. Just trying to feel the rhythm and trying to focus on the ball more than anything else.' Williams, a 19-times grand slam singles champion, had been apprehensive and 'a little nervous' after finally deciding to return to Indian Wells after such a long time away. Fourteen years ago, she was booed by the crowd as she beat Kim Clijsters in the final to win her second title at the California desert resort, where her father Richard Williams alleged he had heard racist taunts. The heckling by the crowd was in apparent response to Serena's sister Venus having withdrawn from their semi-final that year just minutes before the match, citing injury. Williams believes that, despite an impressive performance against Diyas, there is more to come . Diyas hits a forehand as she tried in vain to get a foothold in the match against Williams . Williams said she felt more relaxed and back to normal against Diyas than she did against Monica Niculescu . Williams and Diyas congratulate each other at the net after the match came to a swift end . On Friday, however, Serena received a standing ovation before the start of her match against Niculescu, an experience she described as 'amazing'. Asked what her father and sister Venus had said to her after her opening match, Serena replied: 'They just said, 'Good job.' They were both really proud. 'The standing ovation was amazing. I really felt excited by it. I think it's been a really great learning experience for everyone involved. Williams was overwhelmed by the reception she got from crowd on her return to Indian Wells after 14 years . Williams was given a standing ovation during her game against Niculescu on Friday . 'It was what it was, but I have kind of like really tried to zone into tournament mode and tournament focus. That's what I'm just trying to get ready for the rest of the event.' Against the outclassed Diyas, Williams looked every inch a world No 1, though she felt she still had some way to go before she reached her optimum tournament level. 'I feel like I can do a lot better in terms of just being mentally prepared and mentally ready,' said the 33-year-old. 'That's what I'm just going to try to do ... is just keep going.' Next up for Williams is Sloane Stephens, who beat two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4. +A man has successfully sued the police after they made off with his car. James Ferrari of Manhattan was charged with a DUI in 2009 when he was pulled over for speeding while driving near his weekend home in Bellport, and the arresting officers seized his vehicle, a 2003 Ferrari Modena. Then, after a Suffolk County judge ruled the car belonged to the police, they auctioned the vehicle off. James Ferrari (above with Kanye West) was awarded $95,000 after police seized his car and then auctioned it after pulling him over for a DUI during a 2009 stop . Ferrari, 61, had initially claimed the car, a 2003 Ferrari Modena (new model above), was worth $110,000 . Ferrari sued however, and now, a few years later, he has been awarded $95,000 by a jury after claiming the car was worth $110,000. 'I’m very happy that it’s done with,' Ferrari, 61, told the New York Post. 'The government taking people’s property isn’t right.' As for the coincidence between his vehicle and surname, he told the paper; 'There’s no relation . . . It was just a car.' +It isn't often Paris Saint-Germain are compared to Shrewsbury Town, but that is exactly what Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho did when accusing the French side of 'aggressive tactics'. Mourinho made the comments ahead of Wednesday night's crucial Champions League last-16 clash at Stamford Bridge after a feisty 1-1 draw in the first leg. He said: 'I was surprised because a team with fantastic players was the team with a record number of fouls. Jose Mourinho says Paris Saint-Germain are the most aggressive team Chelsea have played this season . Former Blues defender David Luiz goes in hard on Cesc Fabregas during the first leg at the Parc des Princes . PSG play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a Champions League last-16 second leg on Wednesday night . Fouls committed in the Champions League this season . Chelsea 87 . PSG 83 . Nemanja Matic 17 . Blaise Matuidi* 15 . *highest ranked PSG player . 'This season we've played against sides form the Championship in the cups, against teams from League One, and Shrewsbury from League Two, but the most aggressive team was PSG.' Eden Hazard was often the victim at the Parc des Princes, though Laurent Blanc has also claimed Diego Costa is capable of 'dirty tricks' and has told the referee to watch out. It promises to be a tough night for Bjorn Kuipers. Not only with PSG, but with Chelsea - who have committed more fouls than PSG in the competition this season - and Nemanja Matic, whose foul-count is higher than any of Blanc's players. But as the two teams look to reach the quarter-finals, who are the PSG players Mourinho feels so strongly about? Are they more aggressive than those in a League two side? Visit Squawka for more Champions League stats and facts . Blaise Matuidi (left) and Marquinhos (right) double up to take down Eden Hazard during the first leg in Paris . David Luiz and Thiago Silva . Graceful, skillful, blessed with flair; those are the characteristics usually associated with Brazilian footballers... but not these two defenders. Their rugged approach against Chelsea in the first leg angered the visiting players. That was especially case with former Blues defender Luiz. The unconventional centre back was obviously eager to make a point to Mourinho, who sold him for a staggering fee of £50million in the summer. Luiz operated in midfield in Paris and clattered into Hazard and Cesc Fabregas, as well as going head-to-head with Costa. He is set to operate further back on Wednesday night, so will look to join forces with Thiago Silva and get on Costa's nerves again. Luiz and Thiago Silva (right, sporting a black eye) will be looking to dominate Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge . Luiz tugs back Fabregas (left) and squares up to Costa (right) during the first leg . Marco Verratti . In a midfield three that usually sees tough-tacklers Thiago Motta and Blaise Matuidi surround him, Verratti - who has been compared to Andrea Pirlo - is often looked at as the 'nice guy'. But the Italian youngster showed he had a bit of the Paul Scholes about him as he launched into tackles against Chelsea last month. One in particular, on Hazard once again, should have resulted in a red card for the 22-year-old. His passing range and balance on the ball is something to be admired, but Oscar, Willian and Hazard should be wary of more late lunges from Verratti and co. Marco Verratti is not known for his tackling ability but could have seen red for this challenge on Hazard . The Italian midfielder went in with his studs up and caught Hazard over the top of the ball . Zlatan Ibrahimovic . 'Even a player like Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), a typical attacking player – came back when they lost the ball and attacked Hazard from behind when we were countering,' Mourinho claimed in his press conference on Tuesday. The controversial striker may not be regarded as much of a team player and rarely defends from the front with his running, but it is evident he will do what it takes to win. The Swede has been sent off 10 times in his club career, with offences including slapping a player in the face. He has only just returned to action after serving a two-game ban after going in studs-up, over the top of the ball against Saint-Etienne. Chelsea beware. Ibrahimovic comes from behind to take down Hazard... will he be in that mood again at Stamford Bridge? +Barcelona manager Luis Enrique believes Lionel Messi's partnership with Luis Suarez has been crucial in helping the Catalan giants climb to the top of the La Liga table. Messi and Co capitalised on Real Madrid's surprise defeat at Athletic Bilbao by beating Rayo Vallecano 6-1 to move ahead of their rivals. Barcelona summer signing Suarez netted a brace while Messi scored a hat-trick to open up a one-point gap over Carlo Ancelotti's side. Lionel Messi netted a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano while Luis Suarez grabbed a brace . Messi celebrates after netting from the penalty spot to score his side's third goal of the match . Enrique lavished praise on both Messi and Suarez after the final whistle by complementing the attacking duo's chemistry. 'He has an understanding with Messi and Luis is giving us more every time,' Enrique told reporters after the match. 'They have chemistry, and that's good for the team. 'We've earned our place in the table. We told the players there would be no easy ball, no peace. We knew it would be an awkward match. 'The goal is to be there [top] when the season ends. I always say that defeats will keep happening, which is why we must be very careful. 'I don't talk about the others. Every game is difficult. Knowing how to manage it will be key.' Messi and Suarez ran riot against Rayo Vallecano to help their side climb above La Liga rivals Real Madrid . +Reigning US Open Champion Marin Cilic is already looking ahead to Wimbledon and eyeing his next Grand Slam title. ‘Wimbledon is the first tournament I’ve got my eye on,’ said Cilic, who lost to Juan Monaco on Saturday night in Indian Wells in his first match of the year after a shoulder injury. ‘I’m going to try to peak my form for Wimbledon time.’ The world No 10 believes that the grass court credentials of his coach Goran Ivanisevic, who won the title in 2001, can help him conquer SW19. Marin Cilic was upset by Juan Monaco in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in California . The Croatian star has set his sights on Wimbledon in his bid to win a second Grand Slam . ‘I believe having Goran in my corner, who has been known in history as one of the best grass court players ever, is a big plus. Wimbledon is a big target for me. ‘Even last year we approached the grass court tournaments differently. When I started to play last year I straight away felt better than before and I feel its going to be similar this year.’ Cilic had an excellent run at Wimbledon 2014, knocking out Tomas Berdych in straight sets before going down in five to Novak Djokovic and that run, coupled with his maiden slam title in Flushing Meadows in September, leaves him feeling confident that he can have a successful trip to London. Cilic is coached by compatriot Goran Ivanisevic who won the Wimbledon title in 2001 . Cilic holds aloft the US Open trophy after winning his first Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows last year . ‘I think I have a good chance of winning Wimbledon,’ said the 26-year-old. ‘In 2014 I played really well over there and lost to eventual champion Djokovic in a pretty close match. ‘I felt the best on the grass ever last year and that’s what’s giving the most confidence. And, with the experience of winning the US Open, I can carry that on into grand slam tournaments.’ The 6ft 6in Croat was speaking after his nomination for breakthrough sportsperson of the year at the 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards. He credits Ivanisevic for his superb 2014 season. ‘Goran was extremely hard working as a player and he still is,’ said Cilic. ‘We tried to push my game to be more aggressive, to play my own game rather than thinking about the tactics of the other guys. ‘He helped me a lot with my serve and in all areas he was a huge help. Goran knows tennis.’ Cilic reached the quarter finals at the Championships in 2014 before losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic . Boris Becker is one of several 'supercoaches' taking charge of top players on the ATP Tour . Ivanisevic is part of the growing army of ‘supercoaches’ – well-known former players who are helping to guide a new generation. The trend was started by Andy Murray hiring Ivan Lendl, and Cilic believes that big-name players make the best coaches. ‘They know the game,’ he said. ‘They’ve been through many of the same situations in their own careers. Goran teaches me to not do the same mistakes he was doing during his career. It’s huge to have someone who has won a grand slam in your corner.’ He has matched his coach in winning a grand slam. He has matched his Laureus nomination (Ivanisevic won the 2002 comeback award). Now Cilic is ready to equal his mentor’s most famous achievement by winning the Wimbledon title. +Andy Murray has backed the Queen's Club in London to host July's Davis Cup quarter-final between Great Britain and France. Great Britain sealed a second successive last-eight tie with a 3-2 victory against the USA in Glasgow last weekend. And the LTA is now looking to book a grass-court venue for the tie which takes place on July 17-19, the weekend following the conclusion of Wimbledon. Andy Murray, pictured winning his second round match in Indian Wells, wants to play Davis Cup at Queen's . Murray cheers from the sidelines as GB defeat USA to reach the Davis Cup quarter finals . Great Britain vs France . Australia vs Kazakhstan . Argentina vs Serbia . Canada vs Belgium . Sportsmail understands an approach was made to Queen's earlier this week to gauge the club's interest in holding the tie. Queen's hosts the AEGON Championships from June 15-21 where Murray has been a three time winner, picking up titles at the pre-Wimbledon event in 2009, 2011 and 2013. For Queen's to stage the Davis Cup this year, the temporary stands would have to remain in place for another four weeks and it remains to be seen whether the club would be willing to put up with the extra disruption as a result. Murray made it blatantly clear on Saturday, though, that Queen's is his preferred venue during a post-match interview after his second-round win against Vasek Pospisil in Indian Wells. Murray 'really likes the conditions' at Queen's Club where he has won the title three times . The British No 1 won the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queen's in 2013 (left), 2011 (centre) and 2009 (right) Murray told Sky Sports: 'I hope we can do it at Queen's Club. They'll get a crowd there. I really like the conditions there. 'James Ward has played well there in the past. My brother [Jamie] made the final there last year so the players in our team have done well there. 'It just depends on if they can get the court ready on time and if they would like to host it. 'I think we need to play in an arena that is big enough for the tie and I think they can get 7,500-8,000 people there. I think that would be a good place to play.' +Roberto Martinez has branded Everton’s current position in the Barclays Premier League ‘unacceptable’ but he has no intention of sacrificing their European dream. Everton have slithered onto the fringes of the relegation fight after only winning one league game in 2015 and they face crucial fixtures against Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers before the international break. Martinez accepts his position will be the subject of intense focus until results improve but he is refusing to panic. Roberto Martinez put his players through their paces during a training session on Wednesday . Martinez checks his watch as time runs out to prepare his side for the clash against Dynamo Kiev . Everton boss Martinez faced the media at Finch Farm ahead of the Europa League clash at Goodison . The manager is confident a big performance against Dynamo Kiev, coached by former Tottenham striker Sergei Rebrov, on Thursday night will be the catalyst for a sustained improvement over the final 10 games of the domestic campaign. Martinez said: ‘I know the severity of the situation and about not having margin for error. I have been brought up with it. I don’t think that is a problem. For us as a football club, the position we are in is unacceptable. ‘At the end of the season, we need to look at why it has happened. But for the time being, we need to show a real desire to win. Steven Naismith (centre) shares a joke during an Everton training session exercise on Wednesday . The Everton squad work hard in training ahead of facing Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League last 16 . Loanee Aaron Lennon jogs around the pitches as Everton prepare for Europa League action . He added: ‘I don’t look to blame anyone. Football is a game of errors and the responsibility is mine. I will always accept that. I am not going to change now. The team is performing in a manner that we should have got more points. But the reality is we have got 28 points. Now every game is a final.’ Everton have been formidable in Europe this season and have won five of their eight matches and Martinez said: ‘In the Europa League, I think we have had an opportunity to show what we can do. 'We have played top teams but we have gone eye-to-eye with them. In the Premier League, everything that could go wrong, goes wrong.’ +Jonas Bjorkman is the preferred candidate to become Andy Murray's new assistant coach with the Swedish former world No 4 joining the Brit's team for a trial period. Murray has been searching for a new No 2 coach since Dani Vallverdu left the team last November before going on to work with Czech Tomas Berdych. Bjorkman will work with Murray for one week in the next month or so once his television commitments with Let's Dance, the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing, are over. Former world No 4 Jonas Bjorkman will join up with Team Murray for a trial week as assistant coach . Andy Murray celebrates after securing victory for Great Britain against the USA in the Davis Cup in Glasgow . The 42-year-old has plenty of experience in the game, reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open and winning nine doubles titles across all four Grand Slams. Bjorkman tweeted: 'I'm super excited and I'm really looking forward to join @andy_murray and his team for a test week.' Murray and Bjorkman have played each other on tour once, the former coming out on top in five sets in their second-round clash at the 2007 US Open. Dani Vallverdu (right) left the Murray camp last November and is now working with Tomas Berdych . Murray is currently in Indian Wells, California with main coach Amelie Mauresmo for the BNP Paribas Open and is scheduled to take on Vasek Pospisil or Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round on Saturday or Sunday. Speaking before Great Britain's victory against the USA in the Davis Cup last weekend, Murray said: 'After the Aussie Open I spent the next three or four weeks with no coach and I feel that's something I obviously need to get sorted so that when I get to the clay-court season I am not in that position, because I feel like there are some things I need to work on all the time and when I don't have someone there it's harder to do that.' +Cesc Fabregas perks up when he talks about the killer instinct, the ruthless streak that all teams develop at the start of a success story. On instant recall is the World Cup in 2010, when Spain turned to every available resource to reach the final after titanic struggles against Paraguay in the last eight and Germany in the semi-final. Fabregas was part of that team, realising a boyhood dream when he lifted the most famous trophy in world football with one of the best sides in history. Cesc Fabregas urged his team-mates to develop a killer instinct in order to progress past Paris Saint-Germain . Fabregas makes his way on to Chelsea's training pitch with John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill . The Spanish midfielder jokingly wrestles with Didier Drogba and Terry during Tuesday's training session . Chelsea’s dressing room is developing a winning mentality again, lifting their first trophy together at Wembley 10 days ago when Jose Mourinho’s team won the Capital One Cup. It has given them belief. ‘When you unlock the mental fear of the quarter-final, which is what we did with the national team, we felt we could become champions,’ said Fabregas. ‘Once we were champions we were unstoppable, but you have to take this fear out and take it away. We have to believe we are the best. ‘We have to be ready mentally to win every situation because this game will not be a walk in the park.’ He was talking about Wednesday evening’s opponents Paris Saint-Germain, a tough nut to crack in the Champions League as Laurent Blanc’s team arrive in London protecting an unbeaten run that stretches back to January 10. Fabregas likes what he sees in the Chelsea dressing room and yet his experience, after nearly 500 appearances for club and country, tells him there is still room for improvement. ‘If there is one thing missing it is killing teams,’ he admitted. ‘Sometimes we don’t kill them when we have the chance. ‘When we score one we have to score more and more. That’s the only way we can really improve, developing that killer instinct.’ Chelsea can smother teams, a tactic Jose Mourinho has refined quite brilliantly over the years with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. Fabregas is eager to please his manager as he learns a new, more disciplined position alongside Nemanja Matic in the centre of midfield. Chelsea are hoping to build on their recent Capital One Cup triumph over Tottenham . Fabregas (right) is enjoying working under Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho (second left) since signing . Fabregas loves his football at Chelsea, cheerfully claiming that he is at the top of his game following his move from Barcelona last summer. ‘I have to be more disciplined and you don’t see me in the box so much,’ he added. ‘I am more positional, always behind the ball, always finding solutions for the other players and controlling the tempo. ‘If you asked me 12 months ago whether I would work with Jose I would have said “no”, but you can never say never. ‘Working with Jose, it has been really good so far, but I expected that. I knew he was a great personality and I knew coming to Chelsea, a big club with a big manager, that I would work a lot. I have enjoyed this the most in my career. We need to keep growing as a team. ‘I will give everything for Chelsea to win the Champions League, but it doesn’t mean I can’t sleep at night. ‘For every football player they want to win the World Cup and the Champions League.’ Mourinho has revealed his admiration for Fabregas, pictured in 2006, during his younger years at Arsenal . Mourinho admired the Spain midfielder from afar when he was running the show for Arsenal. Fabregas played in the 2006 Champions League final, alongside Gilberto Silva when Arsenal were beaten by Barcelona after extra time in the Stade de France. He was in the centre of midfield that night, putting in an arduous shift in the boiler room because Arsenal were down to 10 after the dismissal of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. A year later he faced Chelsea in the Carling Cup final, unlucky to lose after a battle royal with some players of pedigree in Mourinho’s side. ‘As a kid he played against our midfield in the League Cup final in 2007 and we had (Michael) Essien, (Claude) Makelele, (Frank) Lampard and (Michael) Ballack, and he was playing fantastic football,’ said Mourinho. ‘I never felt he could work with me because when I was at Chelsea he was at Arsenal and when I was at Real Madrid he was at Barcelona. So it was quite unexpected for me that he wanted to come to Chelsea.’ Now that he is here, they wouldn’t be without him. Visit Squawka for more Champions League stats and facts . +Grigor Dimitrov beat 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in a confidence-building victory for the younger player. Dimitrov won 6-2, 1-6, 7-5, rallying from a break down in the final set. The 23-year-old Bulgarian is 0-3 in official matches against Federer, who is ten years older at 33. Grigor Dimitrov (right) and Roger Federer pose for a photo together after their match on Tuesday night . Dimitrov comes forward to pick up the short ball before going on to beat Federer in the exhibition match . Federer plays a forehand during the match held to celebrate World Tennis Day . A general view of Madison Square Garden which hosted the exhibition match on Tuesday night . Dimitrov broke Federer's serve in the final game to clinch the match, held as part of the World Tennis Day celebrations. Federer said: 'I think he played very well. He did really well to turn the match around, honestly. So credit to him. It's a lot of pressure - first time at the Garden.' Earlier, Gabriela Sabatini, 44, beat Monica Seles, 41, in a pro set 8-5. Both have rarely played since retiring, but they decided it was worth training to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their classic five-set 1990 WTA Finals match at the Garden, won by Seles. Gabriela Sabatini (left) poses for a selfie with Monica Seles during the BNP Paribas Showdown . Sabatini plays a forehand on her way to an 8-5 victory against American Seles . Seles plays a return during the exhibition match with Sabatini in New York . +Heather Watson battled her way into the second round of the BNP Paribas Open with a scrappy three-set win over Julia Goerges in Indian Wells. The British No 1 had not won on the WTA Tour since lifting the Hobart International title in January, but came through 6-4 5-7 6-3 against her German opponent. It should have been easier for Watson, who served for the match in the second set before losing the next five games, but the 22-year-old overcame the setback to seal a last-64 clash with 29th seed Camila Giorgi. Heather Watson celebrates after winning a point against Julia Georges in the first round at Indian Wells . Watson acknowledges the crowd after finally winning the match, after failing to serve out in the second set . The British No 1 was made to work for her win, and admitted she was nervous, but came through to progress . 'I was definitely a bit nervous, I think it showed closing out the second set there, but I kept fighting and was able to play the right way to finish the third set,' Watson told BT Sport 2. 'I just kept fighting. We both didn't play our best tennis but it was a good match.' In an opening set that featured seven breaks of serve, with neither player holding in the opening four games, Watson stole a march on Goerges in the 10th game to go ahead. Georges fought back bravely from a set and a break down, and led in the third set before Watson responded . In the end the Brit battled hard to win in three, and set up a match against Camila Giorgi . Both players seemed to find some composure as the second set went with serve until a fantastic cross-court forehand in the eighth game gave Watson a 5-3 lead. Goerges, though, capitalised on some loose play from Watson to take the next four games and force a decider. The world number 62 then broke at the start of the third, but Watson immediately levelled the match before then breaking decisively in the eighth game before closing out the match in two hours and 25 minutes. +Tragedy struck a newlywed couple and two of their family members as they vacationed in the Caribbean. Kush Patel and his cousins, brothers Jay and Shivang Patel, all jumped into the water when Kush's new bride, Kajal, was swept up in the current as the group was enjoying a holiday with eight other friends and family members at Macao Beach in the resort town of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. All four, whose ages ranged from 27 to 30, were killed. Newlyweds Kajal and Kush Patel (above), who were married in November, drowned while on vacation in the town of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic . Scroll down for video . Kush's cousins, brothers Jay (right) and Shivang Patel (left), also drowned, as the three men tried to help Kajal when she got stuck in a strong current . 'It’s really heartbreaking,' cousin Dhrupad Patel told CBS Philly. 'They were beautiful. I love them.' And despite claims from authorities in the Dominican Republic that there were signs prohibiting swimmers in they area, the family claims there was no such thing, and that the four had no idea what could happen when they got into the water. Furthermore, the family claims it took 90 minutes for help to finally arrive. All this while friends and family, including Shivang’s girlfriend and Jay’s wife, helplessly looked on. Jay and his wife just welcomed a baby boy, who is only two months old. Kush and Kajal had just been married in November. The incident occurred at Macao Beach in the resort town of Punta Cana . ‘I can’t say anything. I lost my son,” said Summant Patel (above), Kush's father, as he was comforted by a friend . 'We saw the wedding, it was beautiful,' said Dhrupad. ‘I can’t say anything. I lost my son,” said Summant Patel, holding a photo of Kush and his daughter-in-law Kajal. The families are now in the process of having the four bodies returned to Philadelphia. +Gareth Bale has been supported by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez after fans booed his performance against Schalke in the Champions League. Perez called a news conference on Thursday to back the former Tottenham forward, who has been made a scapegoat for Real’s poor recent form. In his first season in Spain the Welshman, 25, won the Champions League and scored the winner in the Spanish Cup final. And Perez said: ‘Gareth Bale is one of the best players in the world. The biggest clubs fought and continue to fight to secure his services. We shouldn’t forget what he was able to achieve in his first year at Real Madrid.’ Florentino Perez jumped to the defence of Real Madrid's world record signing Gareth Bale on Thursday . Perez labelled Gareth Bale 'one of the best in the world' and said he is being chased by 'the biggest clubs' Perez claimed Real will also stand by coach Carlo Ancelotti, despite Tuesday’s 4-3 defeat by Schalke in the Bernabeu. He said: ‘To use the fact we are not on our best form to report information that is not true is unacceptable. The club has full confidence in our coach. Contrary to a report published today, Carlo Ancelotti will remain coach of Real Madrid.’ Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard insists there is no crisis in the Barclays Premier League and is adamant English clubs will return strongly in Europe. ‘It has not been our year but English clubs will come back,’ said Gerrard, who was speaking to launch an All-Star charity game that will be staged at Anfield on March 29. Madrid newspaper Marca ran with the headline: 'Not One More' and claimed the Italian was close to the sack . He added: ‘It is not a crisis. The teams will bounce back. Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal and ourselves will make signings and come back stronger.’ Sportsmail’s Jamie Carragher, who will captain the other All-Star side, feels there has been a deterioration in Premier League standards. He said: ‘It may be because clubs have so much money. When they’re buying players in, it doesn’t mean enough, because they have that much money.’ Steven Gerrard (left) says English clubs are not in crisis but Jamie Carragher feels standards have dropped . Chelsea were knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League . Old team-mates Gerrard and Carragher face off ahead of captaining teams in a charity match at Anfield . +A mother has been been arrested for allegedly renting out her two daughters for sex, one aged just 14 and the other an adult. Antwana Muhammad, 39, and her boyfriend, Charles Smith, 32, of Perris, California were arrested on Thursday and have been accused of exploiting her 14-year-old daughter throughout Southern California. It was revealed during an investigation that Muhammad's adult daughter was also being exploited. Antwana Muhammad (left), 39, and her boyfriend, Charles Smith (right), 32, were arrested on Thursday for allegedly exploiting her two daughters - one aged 14 and one an adult - for sex across Southern California . It is believed that her daughters were pimped throughout Murrieta, the San Fernando Valley and other areas across Southern California, according to NBC. Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force began investigating the family in February, according to The Press Enterprise. Smith posted online advertisements soliciting his girlfriend's daughters for prostitution and Muhammad took them to perform the activities, police said. Muhammad and Smith allegedly kept all of the earnings from the soliciting. The couple are being held on charges of human trafficking of a minor, pandering of a minor and pimping. They could also face charges of child endangerment, police said. Bail for Smith and Muhammad was set at $250,000. The daughters were taken into custody by Child Protective Services. +Nico Rosberg has intensified his preparations for the Australian Grand Prix, the curtain-raiser of the Formula One season, by taking on an ice challenge in Sweden with Mercedes. The 29-year-old Rosberg, from Germany, came second to team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the driver standings last season and appears eager to go one better this time around. The video shows Rosberg gliding through the arctic conditions at the AMG driving academy and even shows off with a power slide. VIDEO - Scroll down to see Nico Rosberg driving through the ice in Sweden . Nico Rosberg has been taking on an ice challenge in Sweden before going to Australia for Grand Prix . Rosberg (right) poses alongside the cars at the Mercedes AMG driving academy . Rosberg demonstrated his driving prowess by showing off a power slide during his drive in Sweden . Rosberg reveals at the end of the footage that he is heading to Australia at the weekend to begin to prepare for the first race of the season on March 15. 'Sunday I'm off to Melbourne, so please keep your fingers crossed,' Rosberg says. After winter testing in Barcelona, where Rosberg set the fastest time of 1 minute, 22.729 seconds, he was in a buoyant mood as he looked ahead to his first race of 2015. Rosberg posted the fasted time in Barcelona of 1 minute, 22.729 seconds during winter testing . Rosberg believes the Mercedes car will be even better at the time of the Australian Grand Prix on March 15 . 'It has been a great winter for us,' Rosberg said. 'I am not 100 per cent happy yet, but we know what we need to do, so that is important. 'And that is why I am sure we will nail it completely in Melbourne.' +Danny Welbeck may have scored the goal that put his former club out of the FA Cup, but he was not the only former Old Trafford star who was on target on Monday night. On an evening where Manchester United lacked creativity and firepower, three players they have let go in recent years scored around Europe to win their side crucial matches. To add to Arsenal striker Welbeck's triumphant Old Trafford return, on loan winger Nani - deemed surplus to requirements by Louis van Gaal - and French midfielder Paul Pogba scored for their clubs. Danny Welbeck slots home the winning goal after rounding David de Gea at Old Trafford on Monday . Welbeck celebrated passionately after scoring the goal that knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup . Welbeck was one of three former United players who netted vital goals on the same evening . Pogba, who was allowed to leave United by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012 after failing to sign a contract with the club, scored a stunning volley from the edge of the box to give Juventus a 1-0 win over Sassuolo. The 82nd-minute goal put the 'Old Lady' 11 points clear at the top of Serie A, and keeps them on course for a fourth straight title. In Portugal it was Nani - still technically a United player - who popped up for the winning goal for Sporting Lisbon in their 3-2 win over Panafiel. Paul Pogba unleashes a superb 82nd minute volley which won Juventus the game against Sassuolo . The Frenchman used to be at United, but was allowed to leave after playing just three league games . Pogba has become a vital part of a Juventus side on course to win yet another Italian title this season . Van Gaal has reportedly not spoken to the Portuguese winger since he was allowed to leave Old Trafford, but Nani showed he still has the quality to make the difference when it matters. Down to ten men, Sporting had let a two-goal lead slip before Nani arrived to score a diving header and secure all three points against the Portuguese league's bottom side. The win keeps Nani's side in the hunt to qualify for next season's Champions League, something Van Gaal's United look increasingly unlikely to do. But none of those will hurt as much as Danny Welbeck's strike on Monday night, which was not only another winner from an ex-United player, but also against his former club. Nani celebrates after scoring the winner for 10-man Sporting Lisbon in a 3-2 win over Penafiel . The Portuguese winger was allowed to leave on loan after Louis van Gaal decided he was not needed . Unlike the Frenchman Pogba or the Portuguese Nani, Welbeck is a product of United's academy. But after Van Gaal deemed him not good enough for Old Trafford - preferring expensive flop Radamel Falcao to warm the subs bench - the 24-year-old proved he can still score at the Theatre of Dreams. On Monday, United could have done with the composure, bravery and quality shown by Welbeck, Nani and Pogba - but all three had been allowed to leave. All three players were allowed to leave Old Trafford, and have done well elsewhere since moving . +Video evidence shows a 22-year-old college student who vanished on a night out last week entered the Mississippi River from a bridge shortly afterwards, police have revealed. Authorities in Minneapolis are now searching the river for Jennifer Houle's body. They are not declaring the case a suicide as her body has not yet been recovered, and any cause of death would be released by the Hennepin County medical examiner, they said. But police said a video shows Houle alone on the 10th Avenue bridge before she entered the water in the early hours on Friday and no suspects are being sought in connection with the incident. Scroll down for video . Loss: Jennifer Houle (pictured left, and left with a friend) went missing after a night out on Thursday but police have now said she entered the water from a nearby bridge in the early hours of Friday . Teams of rescuers searched the Mississippi river in an effort to recover Jennifer Houle's body from the water . 'We extend our deepest condolences to the Houle family and all of Jennifer's many friends,' the police said in a statement. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is now conducting a search in the water, police said. The river is about 60 feet below the bridge. Houle was last seen by her a friend inside a Dinkytown bar, Blarney Pub and Grill, between 1am and 2am on Friday, police said. Houle's friend Brooke Laven told KSTP that they had gone bar-hopping on Thursday evening but that while they were out, they ran into one of Houle's ex-boyfriends. 'That kind of set off some emotions,' Laven told KSTP. She said she had become separated from Houle in the bar and was unable to find her. Laven said that Houle's purse and phone were found in the street near her apartment just a few blocks from the bar at 3am on Friday, suggesting she had tried to walk home. Last seen: Police said video evidence showed she entered the Mississippi River from this bridge on 10th Avenue, which is just several blocks from the bar. The sheriff's office is now searching the river . But police told DailyMail.com that they believe she had already entered the water by the time the purse was found. KSTP reported that police spoke with the ex-boyfriend and multiple other individuals after she went missing. According to the television station, Houle studied management at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and was a Phi Beta Phi sorority member. On Sunday, hundreds of Houle's friends and relatives attended a vigil outside Stillwater Area High School, where she attended before college. On Monday, her sorority sisters asked students to wear purple, Houle's favorite color. 'We need all the help we can get to find this warm-hearted, beautiful person,' it wrote on its Facebook page. 'If you have any information, please contact us or the Minneapolis police.' Fellow students gathered for a vigil for Ms Houle who went missing during the early hours of Friday morning . Students linked hands after searchers began their efforts to recover Ms House's body from the nearby river . Scene: Houle and a friend had been drinking at this bar before she vanished between 1am and 2am Friday . University vice provost Danita Brown Young said counseling is available for the University of Minnesota community. 'We are deeply saddened to learn of the news about Jennifer Houle, a Carlson School of Management student and Pi Beta Phi sorority member, who has been missing since Friday, March 27,' the University of Minnesota said in a statement. 'Our thoughts are with her family, friends, classmates, and sorority sisters. • For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here . • For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here . +A man has been arrested for allegedly killing his nine-week-old stepdaughter while her mother was in hospital. Police arrested Manuel Mikes, 33, after emergency crews responded to reports of an unresponsive baby at a home in Millville, New Jersey early on Friday. The baby was found unconscious and was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.45am, the South Jersey Times reported. Arrest: 33-year-oold Manuel Mikes, pictured, allegedly murdered his partner's baby daughter, who was found with blunt-force trauma to her head, while the mother was in hospital . Scene: The unresponsive baby girl was found in a home on this block in Millville, New Jersey on Friday . Police initially thought that the child may have suffocated during the night while laying on an air mattress with Mikes, Lieutenant Jody Farabella of the Millville Police Department said. But medical examiners discovered blunt-force trauma to the back of the child's head and have ruled the death a homicide. Mikes, from Millville, has been charged with murder and child endangerment. He is being held on $1 million bail in the Cumberland County Jail and will be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon. An investigation by the police department remains underway. Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the Millville Police Department on 856-825-7010. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +A student was found walking around naked after he is believed to have taken LSD before stabbing his classmate in the neck. Kevin Huang, 22, was arrested after police found a 23-year-old man who had been stabbed in the neck at a house in New Brunswick in New Jersey. Huang was found pacing around the second floor of the house naked and police said both he and the victim, who are students at Rutgers University, had been taking LSD earlier in the evening. Police found Kevin Huang naked and pacing around an apartment in New Jersey after he allegedly stabbed a fellow at Rutgers University student in the neck after the pair were taking LSD, according to police . The witness claimed he had gone to get help after 22-year-old Huang had become aggressive and removed his clothes, NBC reported. When he returned the other man had been stabbed and was trying to leave the apartment. Police were called to the apartment at about 1.20am on Saturday. A search of Huang's apartment allegedly uncovered large quantities of drugs - including 500 bars of Xanax and a significant amount of cocaine - as well as drugs paraphernalia. Huang was charged with attempted murder, as well as two weapons charges and drug possession, distribution and distribution in a school zone. His victims was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and treated for his injuries, police said. Police said his injuries were not life threatening. Various drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in a search of Huang's home after he was arrested . Huang and the 23-year-old man who was stabbed are both students at Rutgers University in New Brunswick . +This is the moment a group of pall-bearers dropped a corpse to the ground - but carried on oblivious to their mishap. In the footage from a funeral procession in Indonesia, the pall-bearers hurriedly walk past a group of onlookers on the side of the road. But, unbeknown to them, the corpse falls out of the coffin and lands with a thump on the tarmac. The six pall-bearers enter the scene carrying the coffin during the funeral procession in Indonesia . Without realising, the corpse falls to the road, as the pall-bearers walk on unaware of any problem . The pall-bearers march on as the corpse (far right) lies unattended in the middle of the road . An agitated spectator beckons the pall-bearers to turn around and retrieve the corpse from the ground . Two people shout to the pall-bearers to come back and pick up the corpse lying on the tarmac . Realising their blunder, the pall-bearers rush to retrieve the corpse and put it back in to the coffin . Rather than stop to retrieve the corpse, the bungling pall-bearers continue to march down the street blissfully unaware of their blunder. It is only when they are alerted by a couple of animated spectators that they turn around to pick up the fallen corpse. They then hastily place it back in the container before going on with the funeral procession. Indonesia is known for digging up the bodies of their dead relatives before washing, grooming and dressing them in fancy new clothes, in some parts of the country. Families in Toraja in South Sulawesi fix damaged coffins and the mummies are then walked around the province by following a path of straight lines. The ritual is called Ma'nene, or The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses. +Salvadoran soccer players were left baffled ahead of their match against Argentina in Washington D.C. on Saturday after the stadium played the wrong national anthem. Rather than pressing play on 'Himno Nacional de El Salvador', staff at the stadium switched on 'Arrane Ashoonagh Vannin' - an anthem belonging to the Isle of Man, USA Today reported. A video of the awkward moment shows the players looking at each other and slowly removing their hands from their chests before turning to walk off the pitch. Scroll down for video . Shock: Soccer players from El Salvador were confused when the wrong national anthem was played instead of theirs ahead of their match against Argentina in Washington D.C. on Saturday . And it was just the beginning of the bad luck for the team, who lost the friendly match 2-0. As well as the players from El Salvador, their supporters were unimpressed with the mistake and boos rang out across the field. Washington is home to one of the largest Salvadoran communities outside of Central America and their followers outnumbered the Argentine support. CMN Sports, which organized the match, apologized to the team and the entire Salvadoran community for the 'honest mistake' in a statement on Sunday. 'The organization understands and regrets the unfortunate incident with the El Salvador national anthem at yesterday's friendly match at FedExField,' it said. Confusion: The stunned players look at each other as they try to figure out what is going on . Having listened to the wrong anthem, the Salvadorans head for the handshakes with their heads down . 'CMN SPORTS takes full responsibility for this honest mistake and values all feedback from loyal fans, the Salvadorian community and partners affected by this incident. 'This was not done with malicious intentions and the company will be sure to address this with the right parties to ensure it doesn't happen again.' But the damage was already done. Gerardo Martino's side dominated the game and took the lead in the 54th minute thanks to a Nestor Renderos own goal deflected from Ever Banega's shot. Substitute Federico Mancuello then made sure of the win with a free kick at 88 minutes. Argentina players celebrate after Federico Mancuello (left) scored a goal during the international friendly . +From a flat tummy to a burgeoning bump and a tiny cry, a quirky time-lapse video sees a nine-month pregnancy condensed into a matter of minutes. Cole Cuchna, 31, from Sacramento, California, filmed his wife B Zeboski week-by-week as they geared up for their first child together. They used chalkboards to help illustrate the story by writing up the countdown in each shot. As the video progresses, the couple reveal that they're expecting a girl. At week 21 they jet away on a 'babymoon' to Hawaii and by week 35 the nursery is painted with the crib ready to go. Scroll down for video . Introducing Cole & B: From a flat tummy to a burgeoning bump and a tiny cry, a quirky time-lapse video shows a nine-month pregnancy condensed into a matter of minutes . Countdown to parenthood: Cole Cuchna, 31, from Sacramento, California, filmed his wife B Zeboski week-by-week as they geared up for their first child together - in one shot they showed their first scan . Novel idea: They used chalkboards to help illustrate the story by writing up the countdown in each shot - As the video progresses the couple reveal that they're expecting a girl . Vacation time: At week 21 they jet away on a 'babymoon' to Hawaii (left) and by week 35 the nursery is painted with the crib ready to go . Then, finally they announce: 'It's time!' Cole is seen putting up an 'introducing' sign before baby Mabel appears in her bed and is welcomed into the picture. Benson the Boston Terrier also joins the new family on screen so he doesn't feel left out. When he's not make homemovies, Cole works as a musician and a barista at a local coffee house. He also runs a parenting blog called Hype Dad. Many viewers have applauded his pregnancy time-lapse idea, deeming it 'sweet' and 'creative'. One commenter wrote: 'Oh my god, this is the sweetest thing!! Congratulations, you two!! (Benson too).' Cole and B appear to have settled into parenthood just fine. Baby Mabel was born on March 14 - one week earlier than her due date. Her proud parents added: 'Our daughter is literally a dream come true.' Multi-talented: When he's not make home movies, Cole works as a musician and a local barista . Hands-on dad: Many viewers have applauded his pregnancy time-lapse idea, deeming it 'sweet' and 'creative' Ready to pop: Finally the couple announce 'it's time!'. Cole is seen putting up an 'introducing' sign before baby Mabel appears in her bed . Fantastic four: Benson the Boston Terrier also joins the new family on screen so he doesn't feel left out . Proud parents: B and Cole can't stop smiling as they show off baby Mabel to the camera . +The sports presenter dubbed the Mexican Kim Kardashian says she's 'embarrassed' to be compared to the social media queen because she does more than 'just post photos online'. Jimena Sanchez, who has garnered a following of more than a million Twitter and Instagram admirers for her raunchy posts on social media, said: 'Kim doesn't seem to do anything. My ideals are completely different than Kim Kardashian's'. The presenter on the Spanish-language FOX Sports channel told MailOnline in Mexico City: 'It's surprising that Kim and her sisters have become so famous given that none of them have any special talents.' Scroll down for video . Doppelgangers: Jimena Sanchez (right) says she doesn't like comparisons to Kim Kardashian (left) Mexican Kim Kardashian: Jimena Sanchez has a following of more than a million social media admirers . Put down: Sports presenter Jimena said: 'It's surprising that Kim and her sisters have become so famous given that none of them have any special talents' 'They don't seem to do anything, certainly nothing you could call talent. I dedicate my life to other things, I don't think we're anything alike'. Miss Sanchez is smaller than she appears in her now-famous selfies - standing at just 5ft 5ins – and walks with the bouncy gait she has been noted for during her energetic performances on FOX. She plays constantly with her hair and pouts her lips almost instinctively as she listens to other people speak. Jimena, who describes herself as the 'sexy girl' of Mexican television, says she is passionate about sport and that being a professional journalist is what makes her different from the style-icon she is compared to. 'I love my job and I'm good at it,' she said. 'Physically we may be alike, but we aren't similar professionally.' Despite not enjoying be likened to Kim, Jimena nevertheless admits there are certain aspects which are undeniably similar - and is obviously pleased with the publicity the comparison has brought. Selfies: 'I don't think I look anything like her, but we both use social media to publish sexy photos,' Jimena (right) said . Curvy: Like Kim Kardashian, Jemina likes to flaunt her flaunt her voluptuous curves in her photographs . Kim Kardashian is famous for her big bottom, but it seems like she might have competition from Jimena . Followers: When asked whether she is after the social media queen's crown, Jimena replied: 'It would be nice' 'I don't think I look anything like her, but we both use social media to publish sexy photos,' she added. That has made me the Mexican Kim Kardashian more than anything else. 'We are both popular because of our looks, and we're both very active on social media, so it's difficult not to draw comparisons, I just didn't think it was going to become such a big deal'. When asked whether she is after the social media queen's crown, Jimena replied: 'It would be nice.' But Jimena still has some way to go, with just under a million Twitter followers compared to Kim's thirty million. 'It's much more difficult to get followers in Mexico,' she complained. 'People here aren't as switched on technologically as they are in the US.' Jimena said she has doubts about whether Kim is a good role model for young girls. Strike a pose: Much like Kim Kardashian, Jimena (pictured left) loves a selfie in her bedroom and bathroom . South America: Originally from Veracruz state on Mexico's Gulf Coast, Jimena arrived in Mexico City ten years ago . Jimena began working at Mexican sports magazine Récord, where she became famous for her pitch-side video blogs, and was quickly snapped up by Fox Deportes . 'It depends in what aspect you look at her,' she said. 'She became famous because she made a porn video like Paris Hilton, whereas I try to dedicate my life to other things. Originally from Veracruz state on Mexico's Gulf Coast, Jimena arrived in Mexico City ten years ago. 'I didn't know what to do at first, so just like everyone else who doesn't have anything to do, I started studying acting,' she laughed. 'I very nearly finished the course, but social media was coming out at the time and I was much more interested in that. I have always loved taking photos of myself and sharing them with other people'. After dropping out of drama school, Jimena launched her Mad Mamacitas photo blog alongside best friend Hannah Sotelo - a website which quickly caught the attention of many internet users. 'It was a project which just involved taking sexy pictures of ourselves and our friends. We didn't expect it to go viral,' Jimena said. She began working at Mexican sports magazine Récord, where she became famous for her pitch-side video blogs, and was quickly snapped up by Fox Deportes, the Latin American branch of the American sports channel. During this time her social media following was growing. After dropping out of drama school, Jimena launched her Mad Mamacitas photo blog alongside best friend Hannah Sotelo . Private life: Jimena receives a lot of abuse from internet trolls, many of whom question her romantic choices . Despite photos which seem to be copied directly from Kardashian's photo feed, Jimena claims she has no style icons . 'It would be amazing to have 30 million followers like Kim does', she told MailOnline. 'But it's not a pressing objective of mine.' Despite photos which seem to be copied directly from Kardashian's photo feed, Jimena claims she has no style icons. 'There's no one I really admire in terms of style,' she said. 'I make my own style by using the things I like. Generally in my Instagram photos I appear very messy.' Jimena receives a lot of abuse from internet trolls, many of whom question her romantic choices, particularly her ex-boyfriend, Mexican television presenter Faisy Omar. 'I've learned not to publish anything from my private life as people can be very cruel,' she said. 'Social media can open a lot of doors in your career, but you have to be very careful about what you reveal.' On the future, she said: 'I'm the sexy girl on a sports channel, I'm not the sort of journalist who can make it to fifty years old and still have a respected opinion . Despite photos which seem to be copied directly from Kardashian's photo feed, Jimena claims she has no style icons . 'I'd love to end up in Los Angeles, that's a city I really love. But for the moment I'm concentrating on the television,' Jimena said . When asked what more there was to her than the Mexican social media queen, Jimena looked confused and said: 'What do you mean?' We asked: 'What is there to Jimena Sanchez that you can't see on Instagram?' After pausing, she replied: 'I really like writing.' On the future, she said: 'I'm the sexy girl on a sports channel, I'm not the sort of journalist who can make it to fifty years old and still have a respected opinion. 'I will be in this job as long as my body can hold out, which probably won't be long because I hate exercising and love to eat. 'I'd love to end up in Los Angeles, that's a city I really love. But for the moment I'm concentrating on the television. I'm very happy in my job'. 'As for being like Kim, she looks happy in her reality television shows, but I'm not sure I'd want to live like her. 'We're two people who owe everything to our looks, but there's not many other similarities'. Jimena, who describes herself as the 'sexy girl' of Mexican television, says she is passionate about sport and that being a professional journalist is what makes her different from the style-icon she is compared to . Comparison: The presenter on the Spanish-language FOX Sports channel said: 'Kim doesn't seem to do anything . Miss Sanchez is smaller than she appears in her now-famous selfies - standing at just 5ft 5ins – and walks with the bouncy gait she has been noted for during her energetic performances on FOX . +With their tiny pink noses, soft furry coats and sleepy eyes, these two clouded leopard cubs are simply adorable. The highly endangered kittens, which are both female, were born at Zoo Miami in Florida just three weeks ago, a treat for the facility's doting keepers. They are currently being held in an enclosure with their mother, Serai, to 'avoid any external stress and allow the mother to properly bond with them'. Adorable: These female clouded leopard cubs were born at Zoo Miami in Florida just three weeks ago, a treat for the facility's doting keepers . Playful: They are being held in an enclosure with their mother to 'avoid any external stress and allow the mother to properly bond with them' Sisters: The cubs (left and right) already sport the clouded leopard's characteristic large, dark and cloud-like spots on a light background . Both Serai, and the cubs' father, Rajasi, were born in 2011 in other American zoos. The newborn kittens are the parents' second successful litter. The tiny cats, which are yet to be named, already sport the clouded leopard's characteristic large, dark and cloud-like spots on a light background. Their birth is a victory in the fight to preserve a vulnerable species, which is not closely related to the African leopard. 'Both offspring are doing well and the mother continues to be attentive and nurse them on a regular basis,' the zoo told AP on Monday. Visitors should be able to view the kittens in the coming weeks. The clouded leopard, which is medium sized, lives in forests of South East Asia. In total, fewer than 10,000 are thought to exist in the wild. 'Doing well': 'Both offspring are doing well and the mother continues to be attentive and nurse them on a regular basis,' the zoo said Monday . Sleepy: The clouded leopard, which is medium sized, lives in forests of South East Asia. Fewer than 10,000 are thought to exist in the wild . Found in the wild in southern China, Myanmar and Malaysia, adult clouded leopards typically weigh between 30 and 50 pounds (14 to 23 kilograms). The secretive cats have a very long tail with relatively short legs and large paws. They eat birds and mammals such as monkeys, deer and porcupines, and are, in turn, prey to human hunters who prize them for their pelts. Three weeks old: The secretive cats have a very long tail with relatively short legs and large paws. Above, the adorable newborn kittens . +Two men will appear in court after allegations of racist chanting at St Pancras station following Chelsea's Champions League clash in Paris. Transport police issued photographs of seven men as part of their probe into the incident which is said to have taken place at around 8pm on February 18. Witnesses claimed a group of fans marched through the station hurling racist abuse and making racist chants. A group of men were at St Pancras International station when they reportedly engaged in racist chanting . Chelsea drew 1-1 with PSG when they met in Paris and PSG progressed on away goals after the second leg . This was the day after an incident on the Paris Metro before Chelsea's match with Paris St Germain when a black man was subjected to alleged racist abuse as he unsuccessfully tried to board a carriage. The two men identified in connection with the St Pancras allegations will appear before Westminster Magistrates in May. A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) said: 'Following a thorough investigation we have reported two 21-year-old men for summons in relation to offences of racially aggravated harassment. 'The men, who are from Mitcham and Worcester Park, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 11 May.' BTP say they are still investigating a separate incident in which a group of Chelsea supporters are alleged to have made racist chants on a train service from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly following their side's Capital One Cup Final victory over Tottenham Hotspur on March 1. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +An inebriated 22-year-old Frenchman tried to resuscitate a rubber dinghy he had mistaken for a drowning person. Officers found the man kneeling by an inflatable boat in a shipyard in Vannes, in Brittany near a string of nightclubs and went to investigate. 'He was underneath a boat, on his knees, trying to resuscitate a rubber dinghy,' police told Le Télégramme de Brest newspaper. Officers found a man kneeling by an inflatable boat performing CPR on the vessel (stock picture) Police took the young Frenchman to prison to sleep off his hangover and recover his senses . The man told officers someone was unconscious inside the vessel. He reportedly told them the man 'isn't moving, doesn't reply and must be saved'. But on closer inspection, officers discovered the man was in fact performing CPR on the inflatable boat itself. To make matters worse, he had already called out firefighters to the scene - an emergency call that the police swiftly cancelled. Police took the young man to prison to sleep off his hangover and recover his senses. +Diego Maradona appears to have patched things up with his 24-year-old girlfriend as the pair were spotted strolling through Vienna on Saturday just months after he allegedly hit her. The scruffily-attired ex-footballer was seen walking arm-in-arm with on-off partner Rocio Oliva, with the blonde pictured leaning on his shoulder affectionately. Just five months ago, he was labelled a 'psychopath' after video footage emerged which appeared to show him assaulting Ms Oliva. Scroll down for video . Forgive and forget: Maradona and his on-off girlfriend Rocio Oliva, 24, were pictured strolling through Vienna on Saturday just months after she filmed him allegedly assaulting her . In the video, Maradona, who captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 before managing the side with less success, can be seen getting up from his sofa and approaching his Ms Oliva to berate her for using her mobile phone. Oliva filmed the 53-year-old walking towards her spluttering: 'You still looking at your phone?' She retorted: 'Can't I look at it?' before begging him: 'Stop Diego, calm down, stop hitting' as he allegedly tried to strike her twice with his right hand. Following the video's release, the former footballer played down the incident insisting he had only knocked the phone out of her hands. Scruffy attire: The 54-year-old ex-footballer looked less than smart as he walked through the Austrian capital . Backing royal: Maradona and Miss Oliva were in Vienna to meet Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (left), who they are backing to become the next president of Fifa . He told a journalist: 'I sent the phone flying but I swear I've never hit a woman. The story starts and finishes there.' Two weeks later the couple appeared to be in better spirits as Maradona was filmed serenading Ms Oliva with an impromptu love song in Dubai. Maradona, whose notorious Hand of God goal helped Argentina knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup, has been dating Ms Oliva on and off since the beginning of 2013. Also with the pair in Vienna on Saturday was Jordanian royal Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, who Maradona is backing to become the next president of Fifa. He is convinced the Jordanian deserves to win the presidency and says he will not be an 'advocate for corruption', suggesting he does not want current president Sepp Blatter to win another term. Happy couple: Maradona and Ms Oliva, pictured with Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, appear to have put their troubles behind them . Maradona captained Argentina to World Cup glory, and is regarded as the country's greatest ever player . +This is the horrifying moment a mechanical digger narrowly missed busy workers as it plummeted more than 30 metres to the ground. The 17-tonne yellow digger was being lifted out of a hole in Santiago, Chile, when a cable snapped causing the metal machine to drop suddenly. Workers are demanding higher safety standards after one member of staff had just seconds to run out of its way. Scroll down for video . A mechanical digger was being hoisted out of a hole (left; right) in Santiago, Chile, when a cable snapped . The footage shows debris continuing to crash on the floor as workers shout to the men at the top of the hole. They continue to whistle and inspect the damage as dust settles around them. Carlo Apodaca, a trade union worker, said it was only by chance none of the men were hit. The 40-year-old said: 'The safety record round here is something we are no longer happy about and we want more action from management to avoid any similar mistakes like this.' The 17-tonne digger narrowly missed members of staff (left) as it plummeted more than 30 metres to the ground (right) The footage was captured by two of the men, who are currently helping to build the future Plaza Egana metro station. Local council officials responsible for checking safety said they will compile a report after receiving the complaints. The Santiago Metro is South America's most extensive metro system with five lines, 108 stations, and 103 kilometres (64 miles) of track. +Catherine Emberton, 28, sold endangered tiger teeth and claws from the British Raj days . A jeweller who sold endangered tiger teeth and claws from the British Raj days on eBay has been spared jail. Catherine Emberton, 28, advertised hundreds of pieces from her home in Sheffield including cufflinks and a pendant from the 1880s, which were described as 'Victorian hunting trophies'. She pleaded guilty to three offences under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations at Sheffield Crown Court. The silversmith, who traded on eBay under the name 'Gypsy Silver', was handed a 12-month community order and ordered her to carry out 120 hours of unpaid community work. Police and officers from the Wildlife Crime Unit raided her home last June and recovered tiger teeth, claws and jewellery making materials. She advertised 129 items containing derivatives of tiger from November 2012 to June 2014 and during that time her business had a turnover of £17,360, the court heard. Emberton claimed the jewellery pre-dated 1947 regulations banning the sale of tiger derivatives as the items were classed as 'antique' because they were more than 50 years old. But scientific officers who examined photos of the jewellery said the items had not been significantly altered from their natural state and so were not exempt of the regulations. They said it was also impossible to tell purely by looking at the teeth or claws whether they were tiger or another creature and that could only be done by radio carbon dating. Prosecutor Richard Thyne said: 'She did not make reasonable inquiries as to the provenance of the items she was selling or make inquiries as to the law on the trade of endangered species.' Emberton accepted she had not made detailed inquiries to verify the origin of the pieces and 90 per cent were already in settings when she bought them, the vast majority from antique markets. She believed the items she sold were exempted from the regulations. Peter Pimm, for the defence highlighted the fact that she had only made a 'modest profit' out of her business. 'The last thing she wants to do is to make a profit from endangered species that is not her motive,' said Mr Pimm. She advertised hundreds of pieces of jewellery from her home in Sheffield dating back to the days of the British Raj in India . She sold cufflinks and a pendant from the 1880s, which were described as 'Victorian hunting trophies' 'The idea of trading in endangered species is complete anathema to her. You have got to rely on your wits, knowledge and experience and that's what she did. What she didn't do was read the guidance.' Judge Robert Moore ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all the jewellery seized. He said: 'You are fundamentally a good person. This is not a case of fraudulent or dishonest selling of items derived from endangered species if it had been the sentence would have been immediate custody and substantial.' 'Anybody selling jewellery based on endangered species needs to check the precise law.' Speaking after the hearing Emberton said: 'I feel the investigators should be going after the real villains and not people like me. 'They could stop people trading on eBay in endangered species derivatives tomorrow if the site complied.' Andy McWilliam, investigations officer for the National Wildlife Crime Unit said: 'Anybody who chooses to trade in endangered species has a duty to know the law. 'The illegal trade feeds the marketplace and is a threat to these species in the wild.' Police and officers from the Wildlife Crime Unit raided her home last June and recovered tiger teeth, claws and jewellery making materials . Judge Robert Moore ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all the jewellery seized from her workshop in Sheffield . +Steve McClaren would cost Newcastle United around £2million in compensation if the club were to appoint him as their next boss. As reported by Sportsmail in January, Newcastle will make Derby County’s McClaren their No 1 managerial target in the summer. No approach has yet been made to Derby, who remain in contention for promotion and the work done by McClaren has attracted admirers. Steve McClaren would cost Newcastle United £2million in compensation if they chose to approach him . He signed a new three-year contract in August, and Derby would command a significant sum for his services should he depart. Chief executive Sam Rush said on Monday: ‘We have not had any approach, discussion or communication of any sort, whatsoever. ‘Whether it is speculation about your manager or players, you are likely to have this sort of thing if people are being successful. John Carver's chances of earning the permanent job seemed doomed if he doesn't improve his results . ‘Traditionally, it is more likely to be with players, but I think the job Steve has done here has been significant. The position from Steve has been very consistent. ‘He was only three or four months into his new contract when the speculation first came out, and he dismissed it then. From my point of view, I think Derby County is an incredibly exciting football club. I can’t think of anywhere anyone would rather be, especially given the start of the building programme Steve has undertaken and how well he has done.’ Meanwhile, Newcastle have announced record profits of £18.7m for last season, but fans say the figure has provoked more questions than answers. Mike Ashley will be pleased to see Newcastle have announced record profits of £18.7million for last season . The club have not released the full annual report, only selecting highlights with no detailed explanation as to how £28.5m of extra costs have been incurred. Mark Jensen, editor of online fanzine themag.co.uk, said he had expected profits for the 2013-14 campaign to be closer to £50m given the increase in income from television rights and the sale of Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain for around £20million. Jensen said: ‘Everyone knows how much these clubs are getting from TV, so Newcastle fans would like to think more profit would mean more team strengthening but that has not been the case. There seems to be both a lack of transparency and ambition.’ Fan favourite Yohan Cabaye was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for £20million in last seasons January window . +Firefighters saved a dog using their Jaws of Life after he had wiggled between two storage containers at an elementary school. Spike, a 12-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback got himself stuck between the units at around noon on Sunday while playing with kids at a playground in Oceanside, California. He apparently continued to walk deeper into the narrow gap in an attempt to get out, officials said. Spike, a 12-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback, got himself stuck between two storage units at an Oceanside elementary school while he was playing on the playground with kids . Firefighters had to come to Spike's rescue with the Jaws of Life. They used the tool to shift the containers six inches . Oceanside and Carlsbad firefighters came to the rescue, however, when they arrived on scene with the Jaws of life to force the containers apart. The firefighters used the tool to move the storage units six inches, creating a wider gap, according to KNSD. Once they turned off the tool and moved to the side, Spike came walking out of the space, tail slapping the edges of the containers as he was freed. Soon Spike, looking as happy as ever, walked back out of the narrow gap, his tail wagging back and forth and hitting the units as he was freed . +Marouane Fellaini struck twice as Belgium moved within three points of Euro 2016 Group B qualifying leaders Wales with a 5-0 thumping of Cyprus on Saturday. After a win and two draws from their first three matches, Belgium knew the pressure was on to produce a performance befitting a side ranked fourth in the world. 'The players enjoyed themselves and knew what to do. Yes, I'm satisfied,' Belgian coach Marc Wilmots told reporters. Marouane Fellaini celebrates after scoring for Belgium in their European qualifier against Cyprus . Christian Benteke (right) is congratulated after scoring the second goal in Belgium's win over Cyprus . Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Lombaerts, Vertonghen, Witsel, Nainggolan, Fellaini (Ferreira Carrasco 69), De Bruyne, Hazard (Mertens 70), Benteke (Batshuayi 77) Subs not used: Mignolet, Ciman, Chadli, Origi, Deschacht, Vanden Borre, Dembele, Gillet, Denayer . Goals: Fellaini 21, 66, Benteke 35, Hazard 67, Batshuayi 80 . Cyprus: Kissas, Kyriakos, Merkis, Laifis, Antoniades, Nicolaou, Laban (Economides 57) Makris (Eleftheriou 71) Makrides (Kastanos 85) Sotiriou, Mitidis . Subs not used: Artymatas, Mintikkis, Englezou, Kolokoudias, Panagi, Charalambous, Sielis, Kittou . Referee: Ovidiu Hategan . The hosts, who reached the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup, were 2-0 up at halftime although they could easily have been four or five ahead against a packed but often porous Cypriot defence. Manchester United midfielder Fellaini opened Belgium's account midway through the first half after the visitors failed to clear a corner. A cross by Eden Hazard then set up Christian Benteke to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute. Fellaini found the top corner with a perfectly placed long-range strike in the 66th minute but that effort was matched a minute later by Hazard. With two defenders in front of him, the Chelsea playmaker shifted cleverly to the right before curling the ball into the net off the inside of the far post. Debutant Michy Batshuayi completed the demolition in the 80th minute after the hard-working Radja Nainggolan dispossessed a defender. Fellaini is congratulated by his Belgium team-mates after scoring the opening goal of the night . Vincent Kompany (left) and Fellaini celebrate after the latter got the ball rolling against Cyprus on Saturday . Cyprus, who beat Bosnia 2-1 in September, were without six injured players and barely mounted an attack with a single off-target header in the second half proving their only threat. 'We lost to the better team. Belgium is one of the best in the world,' said Cyprus coach Charalambos Christodoulou. 'We have to forget this game. We knew from the start it would be difficult to get something away against Belgium. Aston Villa man Benteke (right) celebrates with team-mate Radja Nainggolan at the King Baudouin stadium . Eden Hazard, who also scored for his country against Cyprus, evades the challenge of Marios Nikolaou . Belgium on Tuesday play Israel who were knocked off the top of the group after a 3-0 home defeat by Wales on Saturday. Belgium have eight points from four games, Israel nine from four and Wales are on 11 points having played five matches. Belgium's Axel Witsel (centre) vies with Cyprus' Charis Kyriakou during the Group B match in Brussels . Cyprus' Marios Antoniades had to sport an accessory on his head after picking up an injury . +New footage of the shameful scenes during the pitch invasion at Villa Park on Saturday appears to show two West Bromwich Albion involved in clashes with supporters entering the pitch. Villa face a major FA inquiry, a substantial fine and the threat of a ground closure after players looked to have been assaulted as the FA Cup quarter-final at Villa Park descended into chaos with an unrestrained pitch invasion joined by thousands of Villa fans. Scorer Fabian Delph claimed he was bitten, while Boaz Myhill, Craig Dawson, James Morrison and Callum McManaman all appeared to be barged aggressively - and the new footage shows the latter two in altercations with the on-rushing fans. In this screenshot James Morrison (eighth right) appears to put a leg out in front of a fan at Villa Park . Callum McManaman (third left, inside penalty area) seems to clash with fans invading the pitch at Villa Park . Supporters begin to break on to the pitch with stewards unable to stop them at the end of the game . The Instagram clip shows fans running on to the pitch, with Morrison seeming to stick his leg out to trip once, while McManaman looks to barge into others. Three men have been charged by police with offences connected to the match after officers made a total of 17 arrests inside and outside Villa Park. More footage discovered on Monday appeared to show West Brom fans setting off fire extinguishers and throwing bins in the away end at Villa Park. The Black Country club are working with police to identify supporters seen in the video. By the end of the clip thousands of fans have stormed over the advertising hoardings and on to the field . West Brom are working with police after footage emerged of supporters appearing to let off fire extinguishers . A supporter is covered in the foam from a fire extinguisher at Villa Park on Saturday . +Former Vice President Walter Mondale, 87, is 'doing well' and is home after he was hospitalized with the flu on Friday. Mondale was supposed to introduce former President Jimmy Carter Friday at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum, but he had to cancel. During Carter's speech in Minneapolis, he said that he had talked with Mondale, who was being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Former Vice President Walter Mondale has returned home after being hospitalized with the flu (file photo) 'He went there just for a regular physical examination but had a fever, and they finally said that he has influenza,' Carter said, according to NBC. 'He's in bed at the moment, but looking forward to come back home.' Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Kelley Luckstein told NBC that Mondale was 'doing well'. She said he was 'treated for flu and cold symptoms and is headed home.' Mondale's wife died on February 4, aged 83, after a long illness. The couple was married for 58 years. The former Vice President served under Carter from 1977 to 1981. Mondale has also served as a U.S. senator representing Minnesota and as an ambassador for Japan. Mondale went into Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for a regular check up, but after he was told he had a fever, he was held and treated for flu and cold symptoms . +Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola has revealed that the French midfielder could yet decide to stay at Juventus despite interest from the biggest clubs in Europe. The 21-year-old midfielder signed a new £70,000-a-week contract with the Serie A giants in October lasting until June 2019, but remains one of Europe's most coveted midfielders with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Chelsea reportedly interested in hi signature. Despite claiming Pogba would be open to staying in Italy, Raiola also admits that his client will seek pastures new if he's feels the 'moment' is right. Paul Pogba's agent has revealed that the midfielder could remain at Juventus despite interest from elsewhere . Raiola told Le Parisien: 'Ligue 1 and PSG are not too small for Paul. 'All the big clubs are interesting to us, regardless of the league. We respect the leagues in France, Germany, England, Spain and Italy. 'Everyone thinks that Paul will leave Juventus, but that's not guaranteed. 'Everything depends on what Paul himself and Juventus want. If it's the moment to leave, then he will leave.' Pogba has reportedly been attracting interest from the likes of PSG and Manchester City . The 21-year-old midfielder signed a new £70,000-a-week contract with the Serie A giants in October . +The Football Association has scrapped plans to field Great Britain men's and women's football teams at the 2016 Rio Olympics, according to reports. The FA reportedly wrote to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations on Monday to inform them of the decision after failing to gain their support. FIFA had confirmed that all four home nations would have to support a Team GB, and the Football Association of Wales especially has been vehemently opposed to the idea. Aaron Ramsey was part of the Team GB men's football team at the 2012 London Olympic Games . The FA wrote to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations in January telling them of its intent to enter men's and women's teams for Rio, but FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce confirmed earlier this month all home nations would have to consent. Boyce said: 'I was given an absolute categorical reassurance from FIFA that unless full agreement could be reached between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there would be no GB team participating at next year's Olympics.' Team GB lost on penalties to South Korea to go out of the competition and failed to win a medal . Team GB footballer Gill Scott (left) and team mates off to training at Olympic Park, Stratford . +Cheltenham have appointed Gary Johnson as manager until the end of the season. Johnson, who left his post in charge of Yeovil last month, has been tasked with saving the club, who are bottom of Sky Bet League Two, from relegation from the Football League. Gary Johnson has been appointed Cheltenham manager until the end of the season . The 59-year-old told the club's official website: 'I understand the position the club are in and I will be doing my best along with (assistant) Russell (Milton) to keep the club in the Football League.' Johnson was at Cheltenham's 2-2 draw with Portsmouth at Fratton Park on March 17 and the 2-1 home defeat by Exeter City four days later. 'I feel I know a lot about the squad, but it's also important to have that continuity with Russell and the lads so we'll be having a good chat regarding all of the players' abilities,' Johnson said. Cheltenham Town are bottom of Sky Bet League Two with seven games remaining . Milton, who has taken charge of nine matches since the departure of Paul Buckle in February, said: 'I am happy to be working alongside someone of Gary's knowledge and experience. 'I've been pleased with the way the players have responded since I have been in charge and I don't feel we are far away from getting things right. 'I feel performances have improved overall, with results hopefully now following.' +Stoke chairman Peter Coates admits he was not expecting manager Mark Hughes to make the progress he has in such a short time. The former Wales boss took over from Tony Pulis for the 2013/14 season after the Potters decided they needed a change of direction. Hughes guided the club to ninth place, their highest finish since being promoted to the Premier League in 2008, with their biggest points tally of 50. Mark Hughes led Stoke to their highest Premier League points tally last season . Stoke are currently 10th on 42 points . Stoke are currently 10th on 42 points and with eight matches remaining look set to better last season's points haul and Hughes has already been rewarded with a new contract taking him to 2019. Coates admits they had expected a short-term drop in performance following their decision to change the manager but it never materialised. 'When you make a change you think it will put you back initially because people have got to get used to working under a different approach,' the chairman told stokecityfc.com. 'I think he (Hughes) was surprised by the squad he inherited. 'He's done very well and the players have bought into him and the new style of play which has been very pleasing, exciting and encouraging. Stoke chairman Peter Coates is surprised at the progress Stoke have made in the last two seasons . Stoke chairman Coates (right) watches from the stands . 'I've long held the view that the critical appointment at any football club is the football manager, if you get that right then you will always have a chance. 'Mark has done very well and we are very pleased with what he has achieved in his spell and we're obviously pleased he wants to continue. 'As ever we do want to get better and Mark has aspirations to get higher up the table and we want to support him in doing that. 'It's great to have him feel like he can achieve progression here and it's nice to hear him say it, he is certainly someone who is confident in what he can and can't do. 'I am always cautious in football because things can easily go wrong, but we are really pleased with the progress we have made and we're delighted with Mark's attitude towards that.' +Hull KR prop James Green will miss the derby with Hull FC on Thursday after being banned for a shoulder charge. Green was charged by the Rugby Football League's match-review panel with the grade B offence on his former team-mate Travis Burns, the St Helens stand-off, during his side's 24-20 win over the champions on Friday and submitted an early-guilty plea. Green will be available for the Robins' Easter Monday home game against Huddersfield while centre Darrell Goulding will be eligible to play in both Easter fixtures after submitting an early guilty plea to a minor grade A trip on Saints centre Jordan Turner. James Green will miss the derby with Hull FC on Thursday after being banned for a shoulder charge . Meanwhile, Catalans Dragons full-back Morgan Escare is facing a grade B charge of making dangerous contact on Leeds hooker Rob Burrow in the closing stages of his side's 38-22 home defeat on Saturday and has until 11am on Tuesday to submit an early guilty plea. The panel also handed down a formal caution to Leeds stand-off Liam Sutcliffe for making dangerous contact on Escare in the same game. +A Facebook page featuring videos of brutal punch-ups that has been likened to the movie Fight Club has been taken down after prompting outrage among parents and police. 'Adelaide Box Ons' featured shocking footage of unsolicited attacks filmed on school grounds and in public places such a shopping centres, and garnered more than 10,000 likes in just five days. Despite initially responding to complaints by social media users by indicating that the page did not breach community standards, Facebook removed the page after multiple authorities contacted the site. Scroll down for video . 'Adelaide Box Ons' features videos of high school students in Adelaide attacking other students . 'We share the community’s concern about this content and promptly removed it after being made aware of it by local safety advocates and education contacts,' a spokesperson for Facebook told The Advertiser. One video, which showed a larger student attacking a smaller student at Craigmore High School, had more than 60,000 views after being posted on March 27. Craigmore principal Des Wauchope confirmed the incident occurred on school grounds on February 19. He called the attack shocking and said it was uncommon at the school. South Australian police (SAPOL) have condemned the attacks said investigators were working with the state education department to find the people involved. 'Once (the Education Department) has identified the schools, students and victims involved, SAPOL and the department will work together to follow up any allegations of criminal assault,' a police spokesperson told The Advertiser. This clip shows a larger student attacking a smaller student at Craigmore High, and has attracted 60,000 views . The page was created on March 26 and has garnered over 10,000 likes in five days . The page contains at least eight videos of attacks. Cyber bullying expert Barbara Spears from the University of South Australia said the page was worrying. 'What we’re seeing here is a fight club approach which is not something any school would condone,' Dr Spears told Seven News. 'Certainly some of the images I’ve seen, there is assault happening. I would advocate that it be closed down because it is not doing anyone a service.' Education Department director Susan Cameron said there was a zero tolerance approach to violence. 'I’m disturbed and am quite confident my colleagues in schools will be taking swift action to work with the perpetrators and support the victims,' Ms Cameron said. 'You should be ashamed for promoting this kind of thing and Facebook should be disgusted for not having shut this down. You're filth, plain and simple,' posted on social media user on the page. The administrator hit back at criticism on the page and created a 'back up' page in case it was taken down . SAPOL are working with the Department of Education to identify the perpetrators of the violence . Cyber bullying expert Barbara Spears said the page took a 'fight club approach' Education Department director Susan Cameron said there was a zero tolerance approach to violence . 'This page is disgusting and should be shut down. Do you have permission from everyone who appears in these videos to post? If not you are violating privacy laws,' posted another Facebook user. 'I hope those responsible are caught and charged soon. Promoting this behaviour amongst our children is sad and wrong. Hope SAPOL have a chance to trace you all before too long.' The administrator of the page defended his creation and has created a 'back up' page called 'Aussie Box Ons' in case the page is taken down by Facebook. 'Sooks! If you don't like the page don't like it or follow our posts,' the administrator posted. +Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has studied England new-boy Harry Kane and is well aware of the threat the Tottenham forward poses. The Three Lions are in Turin ahead of a friendly with the Azzurri on Tuesday night, and Tottenham star Kane is set to start his first game for England. Buffon, who was a doubt for the game with flu but has now been cleared to play, admits he and his team-mates have been studying Kane's game. Harry Kane celebrates his debut goal for England against Lithuania on Friday, scored after just 79 seconds . Kane replaced Rooney against Lithuania, and Gianluigi Buffon admits both England strikers are a threat . 'I think he really is the form player in English football at this time,' Buffon told reporters. 'As goalkeepers - and as a team - we have watched some footage of him and of course he's going to be a threat, just as Wayne Rooney will be. 'There are a number of players, particularly up top, for England. They've got a lot of strings to their bow going forward.' Italy, on the other hand, are severely struggling for goals, shown in the fact that defender Giorgio Chiellini is their top goalscorer post-World Cup. Buffon, speaking to reporters ahead of the match, says he and his team-mates have studied Kane's form . England boss Roy Hodgson speaks to some of his players on the Juventus Stadium pitch on Monday . Manager Antonio Conte has recently come under fire for 'over-training' his players, even receiving death threats from some Juventus fans. Things are looking far rosier in the England camp, with Roy Hodgson's side having won their last seven matches. Kane, who has already notched 29 goals for his club this season, got off to a flier on the international stage with a goal after just 79 seconds against Lithuania on Friday. +A heroic jogger sprang into action to free a mouflon trapped to a tree by its horns. Filmed in Poland, the video captures Krystof Wlodarczyk out on his morning run through the woods near Konin. He encounters the animal – a subspecies group of the wild sheep – struggling to free itself from a small branch. In the video the animal can be seen charging in a circle in its desperate attempts to free itself before resting for a moment and trying again. The video maker and Mr Wlodarczyk can be heard talking and contemplating what to do as the jogger cautiously approaches the wild animal. Reacting to the man’s presence, the mouflon begins lowering its head and struggling harder against the tree. Krystof Wlodarczyk came across the distressed mouflon attempting to free itself from the tree by charging . Mr Wlodarczyk then leans out to hold onto the top of the branch and begins breaking it, while keeping a safe distance from the distressed animal. Snapping the branch in two, the jogger now has something to hold on to, and in between dodging the animal’s charging horns, attempts to free it from the branch. After more struggling, Mr Wlodarczyk finally has a grip on the mouflon’s horn and begins prising it from the branch. Krystof Wlodarczyk breaks the branch in two pieces but the wild sheep continues to run in a circle . But the panicked animal makes the job harder by continuing to fight against the man by running in a circle. Eventually however the man is able to get a firm grip and pulls the animals bowed head from the tree. He then shouts ‘yes’ in celebration as the freed animal runs off in the opposite direction. Holding onto the branch, the jogger reaches out and grabs hold of the mouflon's horn to attempt to set it free . Discussing the incident, Mr Wlodarczyk said: ‘I was not afraid, I've seen it often here in the forest. ‘This is the first time I encountered one at such a short distance. The poor thing was desperately trying to break free. It wasn't easy but I was glad I could get it out of there.’ He added: ‘He [the mouflon] stopped on a hill, and we measured for a few seconds, amazing. I think it was its way of saying thank you.’ Success! Krystof Wlodarczyk throws his hands up in the air and shouts 'yes' as the animal is freed . +Alan Pardew believes English football is not doing enough to include black coaches – and wants to see more ethnic minorities in top jobs in the Barclays Premier League. Pardew’s Crystal Palace side face Queens Park Rangers at Selhurst Park in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, and the visitors have the top flight’s only black manager in Chris Ramsey. QPR appointed Ramsey last month unexpectedly after Harry Redknapp left the club, and Pardew believes the appointment was a great boost for the Premier League. Palace manager Alan Pardew believes that English football isn't doing enough to include black coaches . Chris Ramsey, QPR boss, is the only black coach in the top flight - and one of just six in the Football League . ‘He’s black, which I think is great for the Premier League,’ Pardew said. 'We’ve got a black manager, and it’s something that I want to promote here in terms of our coaches, because the percentage of players we have to percentage of coaches in terms of origin isn’t right. ‘So I’m pleased (he got the role), I hope he does well, he’s done a terrific job so far because that QPR team has improved under his tutorage, though hopefully not improved too much tomorrow otherwise we’re going to be in trouble.’ And Pardew said he feels the entire English game needs to work on being more inclusive in the people it hires. Ramsey takes a coaching session at the QPR training ground this week ahead of his side's trip to Palace . Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is currently managing League Two outfit Burton Albion . Ramsey is one of just six black or ethnic minorities bosses in the Football League, along with Huddersfield Town boss Chris Powell, Brighton’s Chris Hughton, Carlisle manager Keith Curle, Leyton Orient boss Fabio Liverani and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with Burton Albion. ‘I think it’s just important to promote coaches. The proportion of African, Afro-Caribbean players to coaches is not right,’ Pardew said. ‘I think it’s something that needs to be spoken about and something that we need to work on as an FA and the chairmen up and down the country need to give more chances.’ ‘I actually do feel that a lot of black players or Afro-Caribbean players don’t go into the coaching courses. Perhaps they feel it’s not going to help them, but it will. ‘We need a greater influx of Indians, Afro-Caribbeans, entering our coaching system and getting jobs, so the proportion makes sense.’ +Inter Milan loan signing Lukas Podolski has revealed that he doesn't care about the criticism that has been directed at him regarding his recent performances, insisting it is part and parcel of the game. The 29-year-old has flattered to deceive since joining the Italian giants from Arsenal, most recently being named the second-worst Serie A capture of January in a poll conducted by Gazzetta dello Sport. The Germany international is yet to open his account for Roberto Mancini's side either - despite making nine appearances in all - although he is not phased about the criticism he has been receiving as a result of that. Lukas Podolski (right) in action for Inter in a training session on Wednesday afternoon . Inter boss Roberto Mancini has been unimpressed with Podolski's performances since joining the club . Click here to see who have been voted as the best and worst signings in the January transfer window in Serie A. He told Sport1: You need to swallow [criticism] in professional football. There is always another direction, meaning a positive one. 'I don't care for media or people being critical of me. I know that this is part of the business. It's important to know what you have to do to be better. Fredy Guarin participates in keepy uppies with his head during the session . Podolski was substituted in the 66th minute against Fiorentina after a disappointing display . 'The folks always want to see you hit rock bottom though.' The former Bayern Munich forward has also come under pressure from the Inter fans, who booed him after he was substituted in the 1-0 defeat against Fiorentina on Sunday. Inter boss Mancini has also had his say recently commenting on the German: 'Podolski must do more. What he's doing is not enough and he's the first to recognise that.' +Arsenal scouts will watch Dynamo Kiev centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic against Everton on Thursday. The 24-year-old Austria international is being touted as one of the best defenders in Europe and is keen to leave Ukraine in the summer. Kiev want around £15million for him but that has not deterred the likes of Borussia Dortmund who see him as a potential replacement for Mats Hummels. Arsenal will send scouts to watch Dynamo Kiev defender Aleksandar Dragovic against Everton on Thursday . Dragovic (left) is valued at £15million and is also attracting interest from Manchester United and Dortmund . The Austria international moved to Ukraine from Swiss side Basle in 2013 . Manchester United and West Ham have also watched Dragovic closely over recent months. United remain unconvinced about his consistency while any deal may prove too rich for West Ham. Arsenal have just signed Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal but know they need greater strength in depth as they wrestle with continued injury problems and the inconsistent form of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. Manchester United's Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling have also been discussed at Arsenal as they weigh up more summer spending. Arsene Wenger remains keen on adding another midfielder, full-back and striker to his squad. +David de Gea's fine form for Manchester United is being rewarded at international level as Spain coach Vicente del Bosque appears set to hand him a rare start against Holland on Tuesday. De Gea features on the front of both Marca and AS as Spain look for revenge against the team that thrashed them 5-1 at the 2014 World Cup in their opening game of the tournament in Brazil. Marca makes comparisons between De Gea and former Manchester United and Holland goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who played at the venue for Tuesday's friendly, the Amsterdam Arena, for Ajax in his career. The Spanish press feature heavily on David de Gea, who is in line to start for Spain against Holland . De Gea (left) has been in superb form for Manchester United this season and now has a chance with Spain . Holland thrashed Spain 5-1 when the two teams last met at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . AS leads with a picture of De Gea making what has become a trademark one-handed diving save in training as Iker Casillas, the man he is replacing, looks on. The paper adds that De Gea 'faces a great test' with Del Bosque set to heavily rotate for the encounter against Guus Hiddink's side. Meanwhile in Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport demand Italy to 'step on the gas' as they prepare to play England in a friendly in Turin. The paper adds that 'it is never a friendly with England'. Media in Italy are expecting a performance against England as boss Antonio Conte returns to Turin . Corriere dello Sport leads with the fury of Juventus fans that the Italian Football Association (FIGC) have covered up the number 32 around the stadium of the Italian giants, which represents the amount of times they have won the Scudetto. They also feature on Antonio Conte's return to the club he left to take the job of Italy manager after their exit from the World Cup last year. +Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos hit back at the Spanish media for their recent criticism of the side. The German World Cup winner is unhappy at the way the press have turned so suddenly after Real's stuttering 2015. A 2-1 defeat in El Clasico last weekend left Real Madrid four points behind league leaders Barcelona with 10 games remaining. Toni Kroos hit back at the Spanish media for their criticism of Real Madrid . Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti (left) has come under pressure after a stuttering 2015 . Carlo Ancelotti's side also came close to a Champions League exit at the hands of Schalke when they suffered a 4-3 second-leg defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu. That is despite an incredible 22-game winning streak before Christmas that took them to the top of the Spanish league and through the Champions League group stages with a 100 per cent record. Kroos told Sport1: 'Those who know me a bit better know I'm not like a flag that moves with the wind, as they sometimes do in the Spanish media. 'When you win a game, everything is good, and when you lose, everything is negative.' +Forget chasing mice - this athletic kitten's more interested in brushing up on his ball skills. Two-month-old Zeke was filmed as he excitedly batted a miniature plush basketball around his pen at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. The spotted youngster, who is a Serval breed, didn't let the cameras distract him from his sporty antics and he continued to play away. Scroll down for video . On a roll: Two-month-old Zeke was filmed as he excitedly batted a miniature plush basketball around his pen at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio . Lost in the moment: The spotted youngster who is a Serval breed, didn't let the cameras distract him from his sporty antics and he continued to play away . Footage shows him rolling around as he scoops the ball between his paws. Zeke was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, before being transferred to his new home. He is currently in quarantine at Cincinnati Zoo’s nursery to ensure he is healthy before being introduced to the other animals. He will eventually be part of the park's Cat Ambassador Program which allows visitors - by special arrangement - to see some of the cats up-close and without bars. Celebrated delivery: Zeke was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo, in Brownsville, Texas, before being transferred to his new home . Growing pains: He is currently in quarantine at Cincinnati Zoo’s nursery to ensure he is healthy before being introduced to the other animals . Serval cats are native to the grasslands of Africa. They have the longest legs of any cat, relative to body size. Weighing an average of 40 pounds they can grow 24 inches in height and up to 36 inches in length. The Serval is currently classified as 'least concern' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, but they do face threats, in the wild, from larger cats. They are also hunted for their pelts. Despite being wild, the Serval cat has been kept as a pet by Europeans for hundreds of years. On show: He will eventually be part of the park's Cat Ambassador Program, which allows visitors, by special arrangement, to see some of the beautiful cats, up-close and without bars . Safety in numbers: The Serval is currently classified as 'least concern' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, but they do face threats, in the wild, from larger cats . +The Football Association has expressed disappointment after being forced to scrap plans to enter British men's and women's teams for the Rio 2016 Olympics after opposition from the other home nations. The FA had told Scotland, Wales and Ireland it was intending to enter teams for Rio provoking a storm of criticism. An FA spokesman confirmed the plan has now been dropped, saying: 'After careful discussion, The FA has decided not to enter either a women's or a men's team into the Rio Olympics 2016. Team GB lost on penalties to South Korea to go out of the competition and failed to win a medal . Aaron Ramsey was part of the Team GB men's football team at the 2012 London Olympic Games . 'We are disappointed not to be able to go ahead, given the fantastic opportunity it would have afforded the players and the broader exposure it would have brought to the game in our countries.' Football Association of Wales president Trefor Lloyd Hughes had reacted furiously when the FA sent a letter in January informing the home nations of its plans. He said he was 'livid' at the letter and vowed to oppose the move. Team GB footballer Gill Scott (left) and team mates off to training at Olympic Park, Stratford . Craig Bellamy celebrates after scoring for Team GB against Senegal during  the 2012 Olympics . FIFA also made it clear that all four home nations would have to agree before the plan could be ratified. In light of that, the FA's director of football services Jonathan Hall contacted the other British associations on Monday to inform them it had decided to drop the plan. FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce said last week: 'I was given an absolute categorical reassurance from FIFA that unless full agreement could be reached between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there would be no GB team participating at next year's Olympics.' +Formula One driver Fernando Alonso is putting in the hard graft in the gym as the McLaren driver edges nearer to returning to the grid following a pre-season crash last month. The Spaniard spent three days in hospital after suffering concussion having crashed during pre-season testing in Catalunya on February 22. As a result the 2005 and 2006 World Champion will miss the 2015 season opener in Australia on Sunday but the 33-year-old reassured fans he is well on the road to recovery. McLaren driver Fernando Alonso posted this picture showing the results of his gym work out regime . Alonso posted a picture on his Twitter account clasping a dumbbell weight in the gym as he prepares to get back in the cockpit for race two of the season in Kuala Lumpur at the end of March. He accompanied the picture with the caption: ‘I keep working hard. Back to normal routine. Back to the office soon... #CountdownMalaysia #McLarenHonda.’ Doctors ruled out Alonso from the opening race in Melbourne this weekend due to the concussion he suffered in Barcelona, insisting he cannot be exposed to a second knock to the head, which doctors fear could kill him. Fortunately Alonso seems to have been putting his spare time to use and is clearly pumped to start another F1 title challenge. The Spaniard, driving his 2015 car in testing, will miss the season opener in Australia on Sunday . The 2005 and 2006 World Champion is all smiles with McLaren chairman Ron Dennis . Alonso, seen on a stretcher in a helicopter, suffered concussion from a pre-season crash in February . A helicopter was used to transport Alonso from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to hospital on February 22 . +Slobs are people who are 'lazy and dirty or messy' or just simply 'ordinary', according to the dictionary. They are also the offensive lineman for the reigning NCAA football champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Being a slob requires a player to be 'mean' and 'nasty', be able to work hard' and 'know how to eat'' like a 'human garbage disposal'. Scroll down for video . Members of the Ohio State Buckeyes offensive line (some pictured) affectionately call themselves 'slobs' Former Buckeye Andrew Norwell, who now plays guard in the NFL for the Panthers, created the name in 2013 . Junior Chase Farris said: 'When we slob, we slob together. There's no single slobs. It's just a group of slobs' Former Buckeye Andrew Norwell, who now plays guard for the Carolina Panthers in the NFL, created the name in 2013, according to The Zone. Norwell came up with nickname while he was drawing pictures in the team's meeting room. Right guard Pat Elflein explained: 'He'd just draw a bunch of goofy pictures and just mash a bunch of animals together. 'He'd just make them look real funny together, and one of them, he made one of them and he called it a slob. 'It was a big, ugly, thing and it just kind of caught on that we're the slobs.' The name caught on and the guys on the team kept using it when Norwell moved on. They will continue to use the affectionate term in the coming season as four out of five of the team's starting offensive lineman will be returning, the Columbus Dispatch reported. Junior linemen Chase Farris said: 'A slob isn't what you look like, a slob is how you act, it's what you are, it's what you do.' 'We go eat, we slob. When we're together in the meeting room, we slob. 'When we're on the field, we slob. 'When we slob, we slob together. 'There's no single slobs. It's just a group of slobs.' Despite the funny nickname, left guard Billy Price (wearing No. 54) said a lineman has to be good to be a slob . Right guard Pat Elflein (No. 65) explained Norwell drew a goofy, ugly picture and then called it a slob . The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Oregon Ducks by a final score of 42 to 20 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium on January 12, 2015 in Arlington, Texas . Despite the funny nickname, left guard Billy Price said a lineman has to be good to be a slob. Offensive coordinator Ed Warinner will be in charge of finding a slob to fill the vacant spot. He said: 'I mean, they are human garbage disposals. 'They eat 8,000 calories a day, and they look pretty good doing it, so if I tried to keep up with them you'd have to get 4XL for me.' The slobs protected third-string quarterback Cardale Jones during the first College Football Playoff national championship game and Ohio State trounced the Oregon Ducks 42-20. The team's defense was able to contain Heisman winner Marcus Mariota and the Buckeyes ended the season with a 14-1 record. +A horrified father has spoken out after he saw a video of his ex-girlfriend hitting his two-year-old daughter in footage shared online last week. Charlie Foster III of Ballston Spa, New York said he burst into tears as he watched the upsetting video posted onto Facebook involving his daughter Shelby Foster. 'I immediately started crying,' he told WFLA. 'I felt like I needed to do something.' The footage that was shared on Monday shows his former girlfriend Darci Ives and her boyfriend Louis Yager, who live together in Tampa, chastising and hitting Yager's two children and Shelby. Scroll down for video . A horrified father spoke of the moment he watched the video of his ex-girlfriend hitting his two-year-old daughter in footage that surfaced last week (above Charlie Foster III with his daughter Shelby Foster) Foster said he immediately burst into tears when he saw the scene of his two-year-old daughter being hit . The footage posted onto Facebook shows Darci Ives and her boyfriend Louis Yager, who live together in Tampa, Florida, chastising and hitting his two children and Shelby . From slapping the three preschool-aged children to shoving a dirty broom in one of their faces, Foster found it all hard to watch. After seeing the scene of his daughter being slapped in the face by Ives, he contacted Florida's child abuse hotline and finally got through after three attempts, according to WFLA. He also contacted Tampa police. Ives and Yager are currently under investigation by police for possible child abuse. Ives' sister reportedly shot the disturbing footage and a friend made one compilation of the several videos that show the children with Ives and Yager. During the video, Ives is seen shouting 'no, I don't want to fight with you, I gotta get Crystal to bed' before smacking and telling a child 'here's something to cry about'. In another scene she is seen cleaning the kitchen floor before shoving a broom in the face of a crying child seated in a highchair. It appears her sister who is allegedly filming is heard saying 'you shouldn't put that in her face'. Yager is seen shouting 'be quiet right now' to one of the children before it appears he is hitting the baby seated in the highchair on the head while saying 'hello, be quiet'. In a scene from the footage, Ives is seen cleaning the kitchen floor before shoving a broom in the face of a crying child seated in a highchair . In another scene, Ives is seen scolding one of the children who is crying and lying on the floor before smacking the baby . Yager is seen shouting 'be quiet right now' to one of the children before it appears he is hitting the baby seated in the highchair on the head while saying 'hello, be quiet' Earlier reports said on Monday the children were taken into custody by child protective services and were placed into shelter care. 'There is probable cause to shelter the children at this time,' said Hillsborough Circuit Judge Jack Espinosa Jr. at the time. Ives and Yager, following the seizure of their children, said they hoped to get their children back. Relatives and friends have said Ives and Yager met only a few months ago before she decided to move from New York and into a trailer park with him near Ybor City in Tampa. Ives and Yager are currently under investigation by police for possible child abuse (Ives pictured with Shelby  above) and the children have been taken into custody by CPS . Relatives and friends have said Ives and Yager met only a few months ago before she decided to move into a trailer park with him near Ybor City in Tampa . Natosha Wilkins of Ballston Spa, New York was one of many people who shared the video in an effort to get justice served against Yager and Ives. On Wednesday she wrote on Facebook expressing that she was happy the children are now safe. Wilkins wrote: 'Even though the babies are safe, and under CPS care I'm still busting my ass off for them. & I won't stop til they have a loving home and the right proper care! You three beautiful babies deserve more then what you have gotten.' In previous reports, the Hillsborough State Attorney's office did not press child abuse charges after the video surfaced, but said that authorities were reviewing new evidence that had surfaced on Monday. Foster, who is currently raising money to pay for legal and travel fees so that he can bring Shelby to New York, said he has not been able to reach his daughter since she was placed into shelter care. 'I would tell her that I love her. I would tell her that I miss her and I want her home,' Foster told WFLA. 'I just want her to know that daddy's fighting for her.' Foster is currently raising money to pay for legal and travel fees so that he can bring Shelby to live with him in New York with his fiancee and close to her grandparents . Shelby's father said he wants to tell her that he loves her and that 'daddy is fighting for her' In happier times, Shelby pictured with both of her parents, Foster and Ives . Currently living with his fiancee, Foster said that Ives had been moving around to stop him from having contact with Shelby. On his GoFundMe page he wrote that he would do anything to bring his daughter back home to 'live with her family who loves and cares for her'. He wrote: 'The videos have gone viral with the help and support of all the caring people on Facebook and I can't thank you enough for helping her get out of her mother's custody. 'But I still need help paying for the expenses to travel to Florida and get her out of foster care. And to pay for an attorney to make sure her mother gets the maximum punishment.' He added: 'If I can raise the money to get down there and [get] a great attorney, we will be one step closer to bringing Shelby back home with the family she deserves.' On a Facebook page titled A Safe Haven For Shelby, it appears Foster posted a message on Thursday saying that people had been concerned about Yager's two children, Chris and Crystal, including himself. Natosha Wilkins, who had posted the video earlier this week to get the attention of police and CPS, said she is happy the children are in the care of CPS but that the fight will not stop . On Thursday, a Facebook page called A Safe Haven for Shelby wrote that Yager's kids, Chris and Crystal, are in a better place as many are concerned for them . The post said that the children's mother is not in the picture and that they will also not be placed with her. He wrote: 'I know everyone including myself is very concerned about Chris and Crystal. I know the kids and unfortunately the parents. 'All I can say is Mom is not in the picture, nor will she have them placed with her. I can tell you from being on the good side of foster care that none including family members are ever told the whereabouts of the foster placement. 'None of us can get information because we have no direct correlation to the case. Even if we did, limited information is given. 'I am concerned and will continue to update if I get any info on these beautiful babies. Right now they are in a better place. 'They do have family, they do have someone fighting to get them, whether or not CPI decides that the family is the best placement for them will be decided by evaluation. This is the process in these cases. I promise to keep you all informed.' The video featuring Ives and Yagers' unsettling parenting behavior is currently under criminal investigation by Tampa Police and the Department of Children and Families Child Protection. +A college student has been filmed biting the head off a live hamster. The video, seen by DailyMail.com, shows the apparently drunk man pull the animal from a backpack as he is jeered on by a crowd of scantily-clad teenagers at a suspected spring break party. Grinning, he takes a bite, spits part of the animal on the ground, and hurls the rest over a fence. The crowd erupts with shrieking laughter as the man in a pink wolf t-shirt beams wildly at the phone cameras and girls around him. Animal rights group PETA has launched a manhunt to track down the man, who is reported to be a fraternity member at Florida State University. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT . Horrific: A video shows a college student biting the head off a live hamster at an apparent spring break party . Stephanie Bell, PETA's Cruelty Casework Director, told DailyMail.com investigators are in touch with university directors to identify the man and press charges. 'It is horrific. We don't know who this man is but we are working to track him down and prosecute,' Bell said. 'Animal abuse is a community concern. People who abuse animals rarely do so only once and almost never stop there. 'The link between cruelty to animals and inter-personal violence is undeniable. Many of our nation's serial killers and most school shooters share a history of animal abuse. Graphic: The man in a pink t-shirt bites, spits, then throws the contents of his hand over a fence to cheers . Beaming: The man, and other party-goers, shriek with laughter and beam gleefully into the camera . 'Often, humans and animals are abused at the same time. For example, the guy who kicks the family dog is likely abusing his spouse and children too. Cruelty to animals is always a red flag.' The video was uploaded to YouTube on Friday night under the name 'psycho drunk spring breaker bites head off of hamster'. Within minutes, it was removed from the video-sharing site for violating its codes of conduct. Prepared: The stunt seemed prepared as the man pulled the animal from a backpack on a deckchair . The footage starts with the voice of one party-goer balking: 'Oh my f***ing God! No way!' Others can be heard jeering: 'So good! So good!' After the man throws the hamster, others are seen grinning and laughing behind him. DailyMail.com has been unable to corroborate claims that the man is a fraternity member at Florida State University. PETA and DailyMail.com have yet to receive a response from the university. If you know who this man is, contact DailyMail.com on 646-885-5158 . +Maybe it is a formality, after all. Brendan Rodgers said recently no decision had been made on who would be Liverpool’s next captain but is there really a decision to make? For all that Liverpool’s manager will not be rushed into anointing Steven Gerrard’s successor, Jordan Henderson is compiling a case that is becoming impossible to overlook. He did exactly what a Liverpool skipper should do, making the difference in a game of great significance. Fresh from unleashing a thunderbolt that unhinged Manchester City, Henderson delivered once again, with a goal, an assist – his 11th of the season – for Daniel Sturridge and 90-minutes of relentless running in a 2-0 win that enhanced his side’s Champions League ambitions. Liverpool midfielder and vice-captain Jordan Henderson (left) celebrates scoring the opening goal for his side against Burnley . Emre Can (left) readies himself for the shot of Burnley striker Danny Ings (right) during the Premier League game at Anfield on Wednesday . Liverpool's attacking midfielder Adam Lallana (left) Adam Lallana closes down Burnley's Scott Arfield (right) who has a shot at goal . Reds boss Brendan Rodgers (left) stands unmoved on the touchline while Burnley counterpart Sean Dyche (right) shouts at officials . Burnley winger Michael Kightly shields the ball away from the oncoming Emre Can (right) as his side chase the game at Anfield . Henderson opens the scoring with a long-range effort, netting his second goal in his last two appearances for Liverpool . The midfielder lashes in a right-footed attempt from outside the box as Liverpool continue their charge on a top-four finish . Henderson slides to his knees delighted and is congratulated by team-mates Adam Lallana (right) and Raheem Sterling (left) Liverpool (3-4-3): Mignolet 7.5, Can 7.5, Skrtel 7, Lovren 7: Lallana 6.5, Henderson 8.5, Allen 7.5, Moreno 6.5 (Toure 73, 6), Sterling 6.5, Sturridge 6.5 (Johnson 82, 6), Coutinho 7.5 . Subs not used: Balotelli, Williams, Markovic, Ward . Scorers: Henderson 29, Sturridge 51 . Manager: Brendan Rodgers 7.5 . Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton 7.5: Trippier 7, Shackell 7, Keane 7, Mee 6.5: Arlfield 6, Jones 7, Boyd 6.5, Kightly 6 (Wallace 52, 6): Barnes 6 (Vokes 66, 6), Ings 6.5 (Jutkiewicz 90, 6) Subs not used: Duff, Reid, Gilks, Ward . Booked: Mee . Manager: Sean Dyche 6 . Referee: Lee Mason 6.5 . Attendance: 44,717 . Man of the Match: Jordan Henderson . Daniel Sturridge caps off a well worked Liverpool move to give his side a 2-0 lead on 51 minutes. This may not have been as eye-catching as Sunday’s tour de force but it was no less impressive. They were ruthless, efficient and energetic with excellent performers all over the pitch and in Henderson, Rodgers had someone to set the necessary example. ‘We were talking before the game about how well he (Henderson) is doing,’ noted Sturridge. ‘He is improving in every game and he has taken the responsibility with the armband. He has taken it to the next level.’ These are the types of games that Gerrard, watching in the Directors Box, has grabbed by the scruff of the neck and he would have nodded approvingly at the way Henderson led Liverpool in his absence. So, too, would Rodgers. Games that come so soon after significant victories can often become tests of endurance rather than opportunities to make statements and there was a reason to believe, having expended so much energy against City, that Burnley could make things difficult. Liverpool started, however, with intent. Quick, aggressive, energetic, they burst out of the blocks and could have had the lead within 24 seconds when move full of deft flicks and subtle touches, that brought Anfield to its feet, ended with Tom Heaton flinging himself to thwart Sturridge. Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge (right) competes for the ball with Burnley's Michael Keane (left) during the Premier League clash . Sturridge (right) uses his pace to lose his marker, Burnley defender Ben Mee (left) and advance forward on the opposition goal . Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren (left) climbs highest to head the ball away from Burnley striker Ashley Barnes (right) Yet Burnley were not daunted. Gerrard noted in his programme notes that “nobody has it easy” against Sean Dyche’s side and they were intent of making this a contest, just as they had done at the Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge. At one point, when Martin Skrtel scuffed a clearance that nearly allowed Burnley to profit, Rodgers span on his heels and shook his head, anxious Liverpool might not capitalise on that big effort three days prior to topple the champions. His anxieties, though, were soon quelled. Henderson had served notice of his intent in the 24th minute, when forcing a plunging save from Heaton, but there was nothing Burnley’s keeper could do when the ball fell to him on the half-hour and he rifled in a swerving half-volley into the Kop net. Henderson might not commands big headlines but his importance to this Liverpool team should not be taken for granted and this was a vital contribution, his goal releasing the tension. With 16 months left on his current deal, Liverpool must surely endeavour to finalise a new contract for him. ‘His strike was terrific and so was the ball for the second goal,’ said Liverpool’s manager. ‘He has wonderful athleticism and is improving all the time. With him learning tactically he will become even better. It was a wonderful performance by him.’ Had Sturridge taken a glorious chance in the 42nd minute, when Coutinho ushered him through, the game would have been wrapped up but, as it was, Liverpool were given a reminder in injury time that they still had work to do when Ashley Barnes tested Simon Mignolet with a header. Burnley came out fighting at the re-start and Mignolet needed to take dramatic action in the 48th minute when he surged out of his goal to head away a ball that was Barnes was chasing, clattering into the forward in the process. Danny Ings (centre) presses forward for Burnley but is challenged by Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling (right) Reds striker Sturridge (right) again battles Burnley's Michael Keane (left) with Liverpool firmly in control of the game . Jordan Henderson rises highest send a headed effort towards Tom Heaton in the Burnley goal at Anfield on Wednesday night . Henderson’s strike meant Liverpool scored three Premier League goals in a row from outside the penalty area for the first time since 2007. Yet any hope they had of a comeback was soon extinguished. Liverpool pushed forward, with Lallana bobbing and weaving on the edge of the area, trying to find a way through; Henderson arrived to provide support and his precise cross demanded Sturridge apply the finish touch. Job done. From that point on, there was never any suggestion Liverpool, who have collected 30 point from the last 36 available, would falter, particularly with Emre Can – the hugely impressive German whom Rodgers labelled as being on the verge of “world-class” – helping Henderson set the tone. With good reason, Liverpool will be looking at their fixtures in the spring and sensing an opportunity to attack but so, too, do Burnley. This might have been an eighth game without winning but he is not in the mood to thrown in the towel. ‘Liverpool were a different side to the one we (lost to) on Boxing Day,’ said Dyche. ‘I would have taken being in this position with 10 games to go. There are teams under more pressure than we are.’ Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers beams as he watches a dominant display from his side against relegation battlers Burnley . Daniel Sturridge loses his man and leaps to score a headed goal and give Liverpool a 2-0 lead over Sean Dyche's men at Anfield . Sturridge's goal sealed three points for Liverpool, a result that sees them move to fifth in the Premier League table . +For Italy manager Antonio Conte, Tuesday's friendly against England in Turin should have represented a triumphant homecoming to the stadium where he led Juventus to three Serie A titles before leaving last summer. After all, he remains unbeaten in charge of the Azzurri and Saturday night's 2-2 draw in Bulgaria keeps them firmly on course to qualify for Euro 2016. But instead of being guaranteed a hero's reception, Conte returns 'home' beset by the same kind of problems that England manager Roy Hodgson and FA chief Greg Dyke will recognise all too well from the perspective of another struggling superpower. Italy manager Antonio Conte led Juventus to a trio of Serie A titles before leaving last summer . A bitter club vs country row over an injury to Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio on international duty has made Hodgson's spat with Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers over Raheem Sterling 'Tiredgate' and Daniel Sturridge look like a vicar's tea party. John Elkann, an influential figure at Juventus, said Marchisio's knee sprain on Friday - originally diagnosed by the Italian FA medical staff as ligament damage - was due to being over-worked and said: 'Perhaps Conte would like to be remembered as the cherry-picker with the highest number of injuries.' It was inflammatory talk and the Italian football federation claimed Conte had received death threats from Juve fans over the internet as a result. In addition, there has been criticism of Conte's decision to include two South American-born players Eder and Franco Vazquez in his squad due to Italy's declining homegrown talent pool. Again, it is reminiscent of overtures made by England to Manchester United's Belgian winger Adnan Januzaj last year, a move that was condemned by Arsenal star Jack Wilshere and forced Dyke into a hasty U-turn. Conte has come under fire following an injury to Juventus star Claudio Marchisio (right) Against such a malignant backdrop, The Italian football federation will be relieved sensible ticket pricing means more families and less embittered Juve supporters will turn up on Tuesday to watch two nations who failed together to qualify from the same group at last summer's World Cup. Even more than in England, there is plenty of navel-gazing, politics and recriminations going on. And Conte, 45, remains half-irritated, half-cryptic about the gathering storm clouds above his head. 'I have the memory of an elephant. I only ask to be left to work in peace,' he said enigmatically after Eder had scored a stunning equaliser in rainy Sofia as a riposte to Roberto Mancini and others who condemned his inclusion. Conte is also certain Juventus hold a grudge against him because he left in order to replace Cesare Prandelli at national level. The Azzurri players are certainly behind Conte. Without attacking stars like Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio or Francesco Totti to call upon, the manager has had to rely on teamwork, a 3-5-2 system with wingbacks, and loyalty to his squad. Conte has also been criticised for including South American-born player Eder in his Italy squad . Southampton striker Graziano Pelle has kept his place despite a run of one goal in 16 matches for his club and should be involved on Tuesday night where he could face club-mate Nathaniel Clyne. 'He (Conte) is a really good manager. In Italy, it's normal people try to say something bad about the manager but the players have confidence in him, he has given us a lot of new ideas,' said Pelle. 'There are people who agree or disagree that Eder should have been picked. As players, we are glad he is with us because he has a lot of quality. I played with him for Sampdoria and gave him the No17 shirt to wear against Bulgaria because I scored in it last time – I said it would bring him luck! 'He is part of Italy now and he has to show he is proud of it. It has happened before and will happen again.' Southampton striker Graziano Pelle has kept his place despite a run of one goal in 16 matches for his club . The reaction of home fans to Eder, who moved to Italy at the age of 16, and Argentine-born Vazquez will be interesting. Diego Costa, born and raised in Brazil, was jeered by some Spanish fans when he elected to play for his adopted country, and Mancini is among those to condemn the selection of oriundi (immigrant Italians). However, Conte supporters point out Italy's World Cup-winning teams of 1934, 1938 and 2006 all included players born overseas, the most recent example being Mauro Camoranese from Argentina. Italy needed Eder, named after the 1982 Brazilian World Cup star, in Bulgaria having surrendered an early 1-0 lead to trail 2-1. He was thrown on by Conte to salvage a point and did so with an exquisite turn and right-foot finish that would have done justice to the original Eder. On Sunday, Conte called up Newcastle United defender Davide Santon, currently on loan at Inter Milan, and Ignazio Abate to the squad to face England. Marchisio is ruled out, Andrea Bertolacci is doubtful with a shoulder injury and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon missed out in Sofia with flu. 'It'll be a prestigious friendly, so we'll test out some players who I have called up,' said Conte. +Manchester United defender Jonny Evans has released a statement denying the allegations that he spat at Papiss Cisse on Wednesday night. However, in contrast, the Newcastle star has offered his apologies after reacting to something 'very unpleasant'. Evans clashed with the opposing striker during United's 1-0 victory at St James' Park, with both appearing to spit at each other. Cisse was also pictured wiping something off of his face. But Evans says he is shocked by the accusations and that it is not in his character to do anything of the sort, despite the footage, and Cisse's letter of apology, indicating that he did in fact spit at the Senegalese international. Jonny Evans (left) and Papiss Cisse clash after an unsavoury incident on Wednesday night . Manchester United defender Jonny Evans appeared to launch spit in the direction of the floored Cisse . Newcastle striker Cisse subsequently retaliated and appeared to aim spit of his own back at the United man . The FA are waiting for referee Anthony Taylor's report. As he missed the incident between Jonny Evans and Pappis Cisse, it is unlikely the it will be included in his report - meaning the FA can retrospectively punish the pair. Hull striker George Boyd was banned for three games last season after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA have issued new guidelines to move in line with new FIFA guidelines meaning Evans and Cisse could now be banned for six games. Evans' statement on Manchester United's official website read: 'Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night's match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. 'I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. 'It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.' However, while Cisse has said sorry to his team-mates, fans, and even Evans, he said his spit back in the Northern Irishman's direction was a reaction. 'I have apologies to make to a lot of people today,' Cisse said. 'Firstly to my teammates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny. 'I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be positive a role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down. 'I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.' Cisse has apologised for Evans after reacting while the Man United defender has denied all allegations . The pair tangled during the first half of the Premier League clash and appeared to aim kicks at each other before the situation turned even more unsavoury. The referee missed the incident meaning the FA, who are waiting for Anthony Taylor's report, can ban the pair retrospectively for six games each. Last season Hull City striker George Boyd was banned for three matches after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA upped the punishment for spitting to six games to come in line with new FIFA guidelines, which state that any player 'dismissed from the Field of Play for spitting at an opponent or any other person' will be suspended 'following the match in which he was sent off until such time as his Club has completed its next six matches in approved Competitions.' If found guilty, Cisse will be banned for an extra game because of a previous violent conduct ban for elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman. Afterwards, Van Gaal defended Evans. 'I did not see that (incident) from the bench, but I cannot imagine he would do that,' said the Dutchman. If found guilty, Papiss Cisse will be banned for an extra game because of a previous violent conduct ban . Cisse elbowed Everton defender Seamus Coleman during Newcastle's 3-2 victory in December . Newcastle head coach John Carver said: 'You can't do it can you? It's one of the worst things in football. 'But I can't comment on it, I just know there was a fracas on the halfway line and I need to have a look at it.' Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, covering the match as a pundit for BT Sport, slammed Cisse while suggesting Evans wasn't a guilty party. 'I think Jonny is spitting on the floor. I know Jonny, he's not that type of person,' he said. 'If he wants to do that then it's not hard to miss, is it? He's only stood a yard away from him. What Cisse does afterwards is unforgivable.' Hull City's George Boyd was banned for six games by the FA after being found guilty of spitting at Joe Hart . +Andrea Barzagli has rejected recent criticism aimed at Italy coach Antonio Conte for including two foreign-born players in his squad to face Bulgaria and England. The Juventus centre-back defended his manager, who has come under fire from Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini among others for his choice to select Eder and Franco Vazquez, who are both Brazilian-born and Argentinian-born respectively. Speaking in a press conference ahead of Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria, Barzagli was keen to welcome the duo to the squad. Italy defender Andrea Barzagli has responded to recent comments made against naming foreign-born players . Italy boss Antonio Conte came under fire from Roberto Mancini for naming Eder and Franco Vasquez . Brazilian-born Eder of Sampdoria gained Italian citizenship through some distance relatives of his . Franco Vasquez of Palermo is eligible to play for the national side because his mother was born in Italy . 'There have always been oriundi,' Barzagli said, using the Italian word for foreign-born players. 'There are rules, if they can be called up it's right that they have been because that means they are doing well in the league. 'I don't see why there should be debate, other nations have them, too. If they are good, if they can give us a hand, they're welcome in the national team.' The 33-year-old, who has 50 caps at senior level, admitted that in the face of criticism his international boss always puts the team first. Marco Verratti (right) joins in the action during a training session at Coverciano on Tuesday . Borussia Dortmund forward Ciro Immobile brings the ball under control during a passing drill . Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu does his best to keep out a shot during shooting practice . 'Conte? He's very forthright, he says what he thinks and goes his own way. It's normal that he can create controversy if he knows that certain decisions will benefit the National Team.' However, with Euro 2016 likely to be the veteran defender's last major tournament for his country, Barzagli hopes that the likes of 20-year-old Sampdoria defender Alessio Romangoli can fill his shoes. 'I can't see myself still in Azzurro [the Italy squad] after the Euros, primarily because I'll be over 35. I'm not a player like [Gianluigi] Buffon or [Andrea] Pirlo who can keep going until 40. 'So I hope that young defenders like [Alessio] Romagnoli can take over for the National Team. There needs to be rejuvenation, definitely.' Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci concentrates on the ball as he works on his touch in training . +Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph has paid tribute to Michael Carrick and says he is excited by the prospect of learning from the Manchester United midfielder while playing alongside him for England. The Aston Villa midfielder made his fourth appearance for England during the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday forming part of a three-man midfield with Carrick and Jordan Henderson. And Delph believes playing with the former Tottenham and West Ham midfielder will only improve him as a player. Fabian Delph made his fourth appearance for England during the 4-0 win against Lithuania on Friday . Delph playing alongside Michael Carrick for England is exciting and hopes to learn from the 33-year-old . 'He is a great guy, he has been great with me and it was pleasure to play with him the other night,' Delph told the FA's official website. 'He is calm in possession, great on the ball and he is an experienced head. It's definitely going to help me playing with him. Carrick has won five Premier Leagues and a Champions League with Manchester United but has struggled to hold down a regular spot in the England team. The 33-year-old has made a modest 32 appearances for the national side but Delph has always appreciated Carrick's ability. Delph faces the press on Sunday ahead of England's friendly against Italy in Turin on Tuesday . Manchester United midfielder Carrick has only made a modest 32 appearances for England . 'I have watched him over the years and I really, really admire the way he plays. 'Hopefully I can pick up some things that he does and try to implement it in my own game.' 'I think real football people can see what he does and how he effects games, how he controls games. 'I don't think he is unappreciated, definitely not from me anyway. I see all his strengths and I get really excited when I look to my left and he's there, when I am training with him or when I see him around the building. 'I am really excited to play with him and learn from him.' +Napoli failed to close the gap on Serie A leaders Juventus after surrendering a two-goal lead against Inter Milan at the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday night. Marek Hamsik headed in Henrique's cross six minutes after the interval, before Gonzalo Higuain doubled Napoli's advantage shortly after the hour mark with a stunning curled strike into the far top corner from 25 yards - putting the hosts firmly in the ascendancy before the late drama. It was Argentina forward Higuain's first league goal since a double against Genoa on January 26, although he has scored an impressive 13 goals in 25 league appearances this season. Inter forward Mauro Icardi (second right) runs back to the halfway line after he made it 2-2 against Napoli . The 22-year-old stepped up to the penalty spot confidently - chipping the ball towards the middle of the goal . Samir Handanovic looks on helplessly as the ball flies past him and straight into the net . Rafa Benitez (left) and Roberto Mancini (right) greet each other prior to Sunday night's game . Napoli (4-2-3-1): Andujar; Henrique, Albiol, Koulibaly, Strinic; Inler, David Lopez; Callejon (Mesto 88) Hamsik (Gabbiadini 80), Mertens (De Guzman 73); Higuain. Subs not used: Rafael, Colombo,  Britos, Jorginho, Zuniga, Ghoulam, Zapata. Red card: Henrique 86 . Goals scored: Hamsik 51, Higuain 63 . Inter (4-3-2-1): Handanovic, Santon, Ranocchia, Juan Jesus (Puscas 84), D'Ambrosio; Brozovic (Hernanes 64), Medel, Guarin; Shaqiri; Palacio, Icardi. Subs not used: Carrizo, Andreolli, Kovacic, Podolski, Campagnaro, Vidic, Kuzmanovic, Obi, Dodo, Felipe. Goals scored: Palacio 72, Icardi (pen) 87 . However, the match turned on its head 18 minutes from time when the visitors pulled a goal back. Rodrigo Palacio fired home from close range after a series of close-range shots were charged down. And then after a sustained period of pressure from Roberto Mancini's men, Inter levelled with just three minutes remaining. Mauro Icardi was clearly not feeling the pressure as his exquisite chipped penalty found the middle of the goal, after Henrique was shown a second yellow card for pulling down Palacio in the area. Napoli now find themselves 12 points off the leaders Juventus - having played a game more too - while Inter remain firmly poised in mid-table with 36 points from their 26 games to date in Serie A. Gonzalo Higuain celebrates after his brilliant strike put Napoli 2-0 up against Milan on Sunday . Earlier, Marek Hamsik was found unmarked in the penalty area - heading home emphatically . The Slovakia playmaker celebrates after giving the hosts a second-half lead . +Carlos Tevez has become the latest footballer to try his hand into the fashion world with the launch of his new headwear. The Juventus striker uploaded an Instagram post to his account on Tuesday posing in his own customised snapback hat. In what appears to be a new range of the 31-year-old, the Argentine's hat is emblazoned with 'TVZ 32' across the front - in an abbreviation of his surname and the number of his jerseys worn at West Ham, Manchester United and their 'noisy neighbours' City. Carlos Tevez has posted an Instagram picture on Tuesday showing off his customised snapback . Manchester City's infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' poster (pictured) appears to be referenced on the hat . Tevez's time at City also seems to be referenced along the peak of the hat - with the Etihad outfit's infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' poster depicted in white upon the black background. While the hat may not be easy on the eye to some, the same couldn't be said for Tevez's free-kick in their 1-1 draw at Roma on Monday night. The forward's beautifully-curled effort gave Juve the lead at their Serie A titles rivals in the second half. Speaking after the match, Tevez admitted he had learned how to become a dead-ball specialist from club team-mate Andrea Pirlo. 'I copied [Andrea] Pirlo,' he told the Gazetta dello Sport. 'I watch him every day in training and tried to copy him. 'But when he returns, he will take them again. He is a specialist and I have to respect that.' Tevez gave Juventus the lead with a sublime free kick after Roma were reduced to 10 men on Monday night . Tevez lifts his shirt as he runs towards the travelling support to celebrate his stunning free kick . The former City striker (right) celebrates his strike with team-mate Leonardo Bonucci as Juve took the lead . It was not enough to win the match, though, as Seydou Keita headed Roma level with 12 minutes to play, earning a share of the spoils between Serie A's top two. 'We are very angry,' Tevez added. 'In the last 20 minutes we lost a game in which we had done very well. 'The team showed great character, but after the goal, when it was 11 against 10, we cannot give away such an important game.' Juve, aiming for a fourth consecutive title, are nine points clear at the summit with 13 games remaining. Seydou Keita (right) rose highest at the back post to head the home side level with just over 10 minutes to play . Keita turns away in celebration after heading his side's equaliser as Gianluigi Buffon pics the ball out the net . +David Beckham was in attendance at the launch of his whisky brand 'Haig Club' in London on Sunday night. The former Manchester United midfielder was alongside his wife Victoria at Wellington Arch, where he hosted a lavish dinner party at a pop-up bar. The venue, also called 'Haig Club', has been set up for one week to celebrate the launch of Beckham's whisky, and is styled to emulate the original 1920s Haig Club 'Clubman Series' adverts. David Beckham was accompanied by his wife Victoria on Sunday night, as he hosted the launch of London's pop-up Haig Club, in support of his recently-launched whisky brand . Ex-United man Beckham uploaded an image of himself en route to the pop-up bar at Wellington Arch . When it was announced in April 2014 that Beckham was going to release the new brand of whisky, he said: . 'The House of Haig has a rich history and I'm proud to be working at the heart of a home-grown brand which has built an incredible heritage over 400 years.' Meanwhile, Beckham's son Brooklyn was in attendance at Wembley for Chelsea's Capital One Cup victory over Tottenham. The father-of-four posed by the bar, which will offer a variety of specially-crafted cocktails for one week . As his parents were at the whisky launch, Brooklyn Beckham attended the Capital One Cup final at Wembley . The 15-year-old watched the game with his aunt Joanne, posting the photo to his Instagram site later in the evening. As revealed by Sportsmail last week, Brooklyn is expected to be left disappointed in his attempts to secure an Arsenal scholarship. He is currently enrolled at the club's Hale End academy and was hoping to extend his current deal by two years, but it is understood the teenager will not be retained next season. +Match of the Day commentator Jonathan Pearce got more than he bargained for at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, when a rogue sprinkler soaked him ahead of kick-off. The 55-year-old BBC stalwart was preparing to present a piece to camera ahead of Arsenal's match with Everton, but got caught short when a sprinkler was turned on just seconds before he went on air. 'You could have told us', Pearce can be heard saying after he jumped out of shot - and out of reach of the water - but he appeared to take it in good spirits when he explained the reason for his soaking on air minutes later. Jonathan Pearce prepares to go on air to talk about Arsenal's game with Everton at the Emirates Stadium . Pearce is caught short when a sprinkler is turned on behind him and he gets a soaking . Pearce later laughed off the incident when he eventually made it onto air, saying it was 'very funny' 'Just as we were getting ready to do this piece,' Pearce explained, 'go on, have a laugh, have a laugh... the sprinkler came on behind me, and I'm absolutely drenched. So yeah, very funny, this Sunday lunchtime.' Pearce was at the Emirates to see Arsenal attempt to take three points against Everton, a result which would see them go third in the Premier League table, ahead of Manchester United. Louis van Gaal's side beat Sunderland 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday to go above the Gunners, but Arsenal could recapture third place with a win. +Manor have been summoned to the stewards to explain why they missed qualifying for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Despite strenuous efforts this week, Manor failed to make it out on track at Melbourne's Albert Park at any stage over the course of the past two days. It resulted in drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, along with the team's mechanics, looking on from the garage as qualifying unfolded. Will Stevens watches on from the garage after Manor failed to make it out on to the track for qualifying . Mechanics from Manor work on their car in the garage ahead of today's qualifying session . Sporting director Graeme Lowdon confirmed the team had made enormous strides since encountering numerous issues on Friday, but ultimately had to concede defeat in their bid to take part. The South Yorkshire-based marque only emerged from administration three weeks ago after being saved by energy entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick. Prior to that Manor were on the brink of selling their assets via an auction, resulting in them being forced to wipe all the hard drives of their computers, so losing valuable data to aid their return. Attempting to rebuild their systems from the ground up has proven time consuming and difficult, and in the end too big a hurdle to overcome, leaving them now to focus on the next race in Malaysia. Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow's race from pole after qualifying at the front of the pack . The FIA, however, appear far from impressed as a team representative has met with the race stewards, providing 'a written statement explaining why the team did not participate in qualifying... after receiving a letter from the FIA on the 20th February'. No details have yet emerged as to the contents of the letter referred to by the FIA, or whether the team face any potential sanction. Team principal John Booth, explaining Manor's position prior to the request from the stewards, said: 'We always expected things to be this difficult. We knew there was only a slim chance of making qualifying when we set off. 'These modern Formula One cars are incredibly complex things, and we have had three weeks to design and build the car in accordance with the 2015 regulations. 'We've had no time to fix the racks and electronics, and get all the infrastructure built that was required.' +Wolves club captain Sam Ricketts is poised to join League One promotion hopefuls Swindon Town. The 33-year-old defender was a target for Coventry City last week with manager Tony Mowbray keen to add Ricketts' experience to his side. However, he is now expected to join Swindon until the end of the season. Swindon, who are third in League One, do not have a game this weekend as scheduled opponents Walsall are playing Bristol City in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley. Sam Ricketts appears to be heading to League One promotion chasers Swindon for the rest of the season . The Wolves captain has made only four appearances for the Championship side this season . Wales international Ricketts, who has 52 caps, has been named in Chris Coleman's squad to face Israel in a Euro 2016 qualifier on 28 March. He has not played a competitive game for his parent club since November and was made available for loan in January. He is out of contract in the summer and has only made four Championship appearances so far this season. Ricketts is expected to be included in Chris Coleman's Wales squad to face Israel on March 28 . +This is the massive Mexican, red rump tarantula discovered wandering around a football pitch in Maesteg, South Wales by a concerned member of the public. Bridgend council, which is now trying to track down the tarantula's owner, was alerted after the spider - which is not generally harmful to humans - was spotted by a passer-by at local Garth Park ball court. Local authority worker Dave Edwards scooped the arachnid up into a black bag before calling wildlife expert and TV personality Dr Rhys Jones, from Cardiff University, for advice. Dr Rhys Jones, from Cardiff University, best known as the star of the BBC One Wales series Rhys Jones's Wildlife Patrol holds the lost tarantula, showing how safe it is . Dr Jones, best known as the star of the BBC One series Rhys Jones's Wildlife Patrol, said: 'It is unlikely that the spider would have travelled from distance, given the cold spring temperatures and the proximity of local houses. 'The surrounding habitat offered little interest or cover for that species of spider, given that it mainly consists of large open fields which are patrolled by many aerial predators, including gulls and crows. 'These birds would have easily spotted this tropical spider and, given half a chance, would have eaten her. 'All things considered, the spider had a very lucky escape before a bird or cat killed it.' The Mexican red rump, or B. vagans in Latin, was made famous in Jack Arnold's 1955 sci-fi movie Tarantula, where an ill-advised scientific experiment leads to a giant arachnid breaking out of captivity and terrorizing the Arizona desert. Luckily for the population of Bridgend County Borough, however, the creature is not aggressive, and is currently being looked after by Dr Jones at Cardiff University. 'The red rump tarantula does not present a significant health risk to the general public. In the rare case of the spider biting, the symptoms would be similar to that of a mild bee sting. 'I'm happy to report that no one was unnecessarily frightened by the appearance of this spider on the loose. 'While the spider is now secure and recovering from its ordeal, anyone with nformation relating to this incident should either contact the local authority or the police on 101.' Councillor Phil White, Cabinet Member for Communities, added: 'It's not every day that you spot an exotic pet such as this outside of its home environment, so we are appealing for the owner to get in touch as soon as possible. Children playing football at Garth Park ball court near where the tarantula was found by a member of the public . +If you needed another reason to like the members of New York's Bravest, you've got it. Some firefighters in New York City have created Instagram accounts for their firehouse cats and they have already gained more than 25,000 followers. The firehouse felines, Boogie of Ladder 24 in Midtown and Carlow of Yorkville’s Tower Ladder 13. are gaining more followers by the second. Scroll down for video . Carlow's cat colleague Boogie lives at Ladder 24 in Midtown and tries to squeeze in naps between shifts . The cats both have popular Instagram accounts and they now have more than 25,000 followers between them . FDNY firehouse feline Carlow, an orange and white tabby, calls Yorkville’s Tower Ladder 13 station home . Carlow, who was named after a pub near the firehouse, is 'really a firehouse dog trapped in a cats body' Carlow is an orange and white tabby, while Boogie is mostly black with a white face, paws and chest. Boogie's profile reads: 'Hey Meow! I'm Boogie, living in midtown meowdness right meow. 'Controlling my turf on 31st street meow with my cats in E1/L24. 'Follow Me-Ow!' Boogie, who is black with a white face, is usually 'controlling my turf on 31st street meow with my cats in E1/L24' Carlow's namesake, Carlow East, is a bar on Lexington Avenue between 84th and 85th streets . Carlow's profile is similar: 'My name is Carlow. 'I live in a firehouse in Yorkville Manhattan. 'Named after the local pub. I'm really a firehouse dog trapped in a cats body.' Carlow East is a bar on Lexington Avenue between 84th and 85th streets. A firefighter at another Manhattan firehouse also picked up a cat recently, DNAinfo reported. The pictures of both of the feisty firehouse felines give a new meaning to the idea of 'rescues cats' A firefighter at a third Manhattan firehouse picked up a cat recently so another account could be on the way . +Oliver Downes has avoided jail after admitting making and possessing indecent images of children . A Birmingham grammar school teacher has avoided jail after admitting making indecent images of children. Oliver Downes was suspended from Bishop Vesey Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield, after police began an investigation into the allegations last year. The 40-year-old, who had been teaching and coaching rugby for 13 years, resigned shortly after in July. A spokesman for the prestigious school, whose former pupils include TV presenter Cat Deeley, said that none of their pupils had been involved in the offences. Downes appeared at Birmingham Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children and nine counts of possessing indecent images of children. He had also admitted production of a Class B drug, cannabis. In a statement after the court case, a Bishop Vesey spokesman said: 'The school has co-operated fully with the police. 'The offences relate to the former teacher's behaviour outside of school and there is no evidence to suggest any child from the school was involved in any way. 'The member of staff was suspended and resigned on 18 July with immediate effect.' Downes received a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community. Downes was suspended from Bishop Vesey Grammar School (pictured) in Sutton Coldfield after police began an investigation last year . He was also ordered to attend a sex offenders' work programme for 50 hours and was placed on a two-year supervision order. Bishop Vesey is one of the oldest schools in the West Midlands, founded in the 16th century. Today it caters for more than 900 pupils and has almost 100 full and part-time members of staff. Downes, an avid football fan, had joined the school in 2001, having graduated from university in 1998. He had previously been a student at King Edward VI School in Aston. On his Facebook site, Downes describes himself as single and as 'chilled, different, fun, intense, work that out.' The 40-year-old sports fan, who had been teaching and coaching rugby at the prestigious school for 13 years, resigned shortly after he was suspended from the school last July . +David Coulthard has questioned Lewis Hamilton’s focus on the eve of the new Formula One campaign. Hamilton is the favourite to defend his championship with Mercedes expected to hold a clear advantage over the rest of the field when the season gets underway in Melbourne in the early hours of Sunday morning. The 30-year-old Briton has brushed shoulders with a host of A-List celebrities during the off-season as he continues to expand his profile outside of the sport. Lewis Hamilton is pictured on St Kilda beach on Thursday as he prepares to defend his Formula One title . The Briton faced the media in the first pre-race press conference of the year ahead of the Australian GP . He is also close to signing a new deal with Mercedes which will see him earn a considerable amount more than the current £20million-a-year contract he signed after leaving McLaren in 2012. Meanwhile, his private life has also been the subject of much discussion following the break-up of his relationship with long-term girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, the American popstar who was in Abu Dhabi to celebrate his second world championship last year. ‘Lewis appears to be going through a transition in his off-track life,’ said Coulthard, a 13-time race winner. ‘I see he is negotiating his own contract, doing music in the future and has split up with Nicole, and all of these things have an influence on your life which may be a positive or negative. ‘It will be interesting to see now that he has won two world titles, is a wealthy champion, and got lots of opportunities, whether the absolute focus is still on the job.’ Hamilton signs autographs for fans at the Albert Park Circuit. He starts the season as championship favourite . David Coulthard, pictured on Thursday, believes Nico Rosberg will return stronger this season . Rosberg will renew his title battle with Hamilton . Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg are set to go toe-to-toe for the world championship once more after the dominant Mercedes pair won 16 of the 19 races last season during a frenetic campaign. Hamilton clinched the title in dramatic circumstances at the season finale in Abu Dhabi with his 11th victory of the year. But Coulthard expects the German, who tasted victory just once after his collision with Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix in August, to return stronger this term. ‘Nico now has the experience of battling for a world championship,' added Coulthard. 'He went into last year with a good car, everything was going great, then he had the collision in Spa, his team told him he was a bad boy, and he was getting booed by the fans. 'There were so many first-life experiences for him and a lot of things he had to go through. 'I think he will be stronger. He is settled in his life, he is married and he has got a baby coming later in the year.’ The F1 season kicks off with the Australian GP on Sunday 15 March. Watch highlights on BBC One at 13.15, listen live on Radio 5 live and follow all the action on the BBC Sport website. +The proposed £16million fee that Fiorentina will pay Chelsea to sign Mohamed Salah on a permanent deal in the summer of 2016 is beginning to look like daylight robbery. The 22-year-old condemned Juventus to their first home defeat in 48 matches with his sixth goal in seven games after being allowed to leave Stamford Bridge on loan in February. Salah was used as a bargaining tool for Juan Cuadrado to go in the opposite direction for £23.3m, rising to £27m with bonuses, but has been the more devastating of the two for their new clubs. 'Are you listening, Jose?' Mourinho allowed Mohamed Salah to leave Chelsea on loan to Fiorentina . The front pages of Italian newspapers were dominated by Salah after his two goals against Juventus . Mohamed Salah . 7 games . 6 goals . Juan Cuadrado . 5 games . 0 goals . Salah did not suit Jose Mourinho's style of play and made just two starts in 2014-15. He averaged nine minutes per game between August and January, and the arrival of Cuadrado saw him further kicked to the curb. Mourinho and Salah agreed it was best he get first-team opportunities elsewhere, and Fiorentina's faith has been rewarded . Against Juventus he sent a message to Chelsea by starting a run from his own half in a lethal counter-attack. He outpaced Simone Padoin before beating goalkeeper Marco Storari in the top left corner to make it 1-0 in the 11th minute. Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba were on the same wavelength when they tweeted Salah is 'on fire' and the Egyptian, four years younger than Cuadrado, has plenty of time to improve. Salah opens the scoring with after a superb solo run from his own half against Juventus . The Egypt international salutes the crowd after scoring against Serie A champions Juventus . Salah (right) spent most of his time at Chelsea on the substitutes' bench under manager Jose Mourinho . BASLE: 67 appearances, 13 goals. CHELSEA: 19 appearances, two goals. FIORENTINA: Seven appearances, six goals. EGYPT: 35 appearances, 20 goals. On his arrival, Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella announced Salah would have to 'adapt to our football' and that 'this is a league that's different from the Swiss and the English'. Louis van Gaal admitted it could take a year for Manchester United's signings to develop, but no such time frame has been required for Salah. Any suggestion he could not perform against Barclays Premier League teams was dismissed on March 1 when he punished Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League with a quick-witted one-two. And three days later he scored the winner against Inter Milan at the San Siro to earn Fiorentina's first win in that fixture since May 2000. All this has helped Fiorentina stretch their unbeaten run to 13 games as the man behind Hazard, Willian, Oscar and Cuadrado in the pecking order gets put to good use elsewhere. Fiorentina's German forward Mario Gomez congratulates his team-mate on Thursday evening . The Fiorentina squad join hands and run towards their fans in celebration of the win . +An adorable Rottweiler has had his first McDonald's drive-through experience captured on video. Cultus was treated to a cheeseburger by his owner, Kym Ozols, at the fast food chain and nothing could wipe the excitement off his face in anticipation of the meal. In the video, Mr Ozols, 31, is seen pulling his car up next to the drive-through window of Noarlunga McDonald's - south of Adelaide. Scroll down for video . Cultus is owned by Adelaide man Kym Ozols who has raised the eight-year-old Rottweiler . The eight-year-old dog sticks his head out of the open window with his tongue hanging out, ready to receive his reward. The McDonald's worker who comes to the window with the cheeseburger is startled by her customer, but she hands over the food after Mr Ozols reassures her no harm will come to her. Cultus wastes no time and digs into the cheeseburger on the backseat of the car. Mr Ozols told Daily Mail Australia they had taken his dog out for 'a big day out' before they made the stop. Cultus is so well-loved that Mr Ozols and his brothers have started up a Facebook page for him . In the video, Cultus is seen poking his head out of the window before a burger is presented to him . 'It was a bit hard to get him in the washing bay [to get cleaned] so we decided to give a treat afterwards,' Mr Ozols said. 'He's always eaten our junk food when we're at home so we thought we would get him something fresh.' Mr Ozols said his dog may be big but he was definitely not intimidating. At first, the McDonald's worker is reluctant to hand over the burger but she does after she is reassured no harm will come to her . Cultus wastes no time and starts digging into the cheeseburger in the backseat of the car . 'He just wants a pat and he wants food. He's more of a human than a dog, he has got a good character,' he said. Cultus is so well-loved that Mr Ozols and his brothers have started up a Facebook page for him. The Adelaide man said he had grown up eating cheeseburgers and so had his dog. +He has been seen in toast, pancakes, crisps and even ice cream. Now, with Easter just a few days away, a California couple has been shocked by the ‘miraculous’ appearance of Jesus Christ... on their pine dining table. Jaimie Beebe, 37, a casting director from Los Angeles, said: ‘We were having dinner with some friends when we noticed it. It just appeared that night, it was like a miracle.’ Scroll down for video . Jaimie Beebe (left) was eating dinner when the face of Jesus (right, and circled left) 'miraculously' appeared on her table . Her boyfriend Gary Ousdahl, 37, was also awed by its appearance on March 14. ‘I’ve sat at this table a million times but never seen Jesus on it before,’ he said. Its deep spiritual meaning hasn’t stopped them putting the table on eBay with a $5,000 (£3,350) price tag - however it is yet to receive any bids. In October, John Cranfield, 24, who lives in Manchester, inserted a slice of wholemeal bread into the toaster and was baffled when it popped out with the face of Jesus Christ. Mr Cranfield, a Catholic, said he was sure it is a message from God, adding: ‘As a strong Christian I believe that this was no mistake, I believe that God himself had sent it to me to prove that he exists and that I should not give up my faith.’ Over the years, images of Christ have also appeared on crisps, pancakes, banana peel, pizza and ice cream. Christ has previously appeared on pancakes (left), crisps, banana peel, pizza, toast and ice cream . +April will be welcomed in with rain and heavy winds battering most of the country this week. And those preparing themselves for a sunny Easter may be sorely disappointed as the clouds are not expected to lift by next weekend. There was chaos in parts of the UK today with gale-force winds causing trees to fall on tracks and trains to be severely delayed in the West Country. Scroll down for video . Brave: A daring person scrambles over slippery rocks to face an almighty wave on the beach at Porthcawl in south Wales . Stranded: A member of the public walks in between two crashing waves in Lyme Regis, west Dorset, trying to take a photograph . Wet: The unsettled weather is expected to last through the Bank Holiday weekend. Pictured, waves batter the seafront in Southsea, Hampshire . Windswept: A volunteer struggles to open a bin bag due to the strong winds during a clean up of Southsea beach . Workmen were called to clear the blockage on the railway track between Exeter in Devon and Taunton in Somerset. Elsewhere in Devon, gale-force winds also caused ferry services in Torbay to be cancelled over safety concerns for passengers. The conditions saw the school holidays get off to a gloomy start, and forecasters said the unsettled weather will continue for much of the week. The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for ice across the North West of England and Scotland for today and tomorrow. And a League Two football match between Bury and Southend United was called off after just six minutes on Saturday after rain soaked the pitch. Meanwhile 71mph gales struck Scotland - with temperatures in Finnart, near Gare Loch, plummeting to -1C (30.2F) yesterday. Miserable: The three-day forecast shows more rain on the way, particularly in northern England and Scotland . Gloomy: A woman walks along the pavement near St Paul's Cathedral in London (left), while tourists brave the weather in the capital (right) Downbeat: A sorry-looking couple shelter under an umbrella near St Paul's Cathedral on a damp day in London and most of the country . Bracing: A couple look out at the sea during a stroll along the seafront at Southsea in Hampshire today . But Coningsby in Lincolnshire saw 16C (60.8F) yesterday, while the UK high today was Marham in Norfolk was 14C (57.2F). Temperatures across Britain this week are expected to average between 10C (50F) and 12C (53.6F) with high winds and hail anticipated on Tuesday. Spirits may lift for the South on Wednesday with some sun expected - but the clouds will return again by Thursday, when rain is also expected to fall. And with travel woe predicted on the roads and railways as 16 million people take to their cars, it could make for a miserable holiday getaway. At the same time last year, temperatures soared to 20C (60F) in some parts of the South East. Charlie Powell, a forecaster for the Met Office told the Daily Mail: ‘Through the week there will be a general improvement. Soggy: Bury's match against Southend United in League Two at Gigg Lane was abandoned yesterday because of a waterlogged pitch . Working hard: A groundsman tries to dry the pitch at Bury, but it was deemed unplayable by the referee and called off six minutes after kick-off . Grim weather: A group of tourists huddle up together during a chilly punting trip on the River Cam in Cambridge today . ‘It looks like the wind will clear by the Easter weekend. Sunshine I would be less confident about. 'But we’ve got unsettled weather to come over the next few days.’ Mr Powell added: ‘Last April, it was a nice first week on the whole. Across some parts of the south east it got to 20C - so pretty warm.’ And the dreary weather will not be the only dampener on the Easter weekend. Trains over the Easter period will be severely disrupted with work planned between London and Watford and the route between Paddington and Didcot. Routes between London and the west Midlands as well as Penrith and Preston will also be affected. +Georgia fear they will have to play September's Euro 2016 qualifier with Scotland behind closed doors. Sunday's 2-0 defeat by Germany in Tbilisi was twice interrupted by supporters invading the Boris Paichadze Stadium pitch. The Georgian Football Federation has vowed to tighten up security in the wake of those crowd disturbances. A security official wrestles a pitch invader to the ground during Georgia's match against Germany on Sunday . Germany's Andre Schurrle (right) looks on as the supporter is detained by a security official . Stewards run on to detain another pitch invader during the Euro 2016 qualifier in Tbilisi . But in a statement posted on its website, it also admits to concerns that UEFA will decide to shut the stadium for the September 4 meeting with Gordon Strachan's side. European football's governing body has yet to announce if it will be opening disciplinary proceedings against the GFF although it has launched investigations into Friday night's clash between Montenegro and Russia, which was abandoned midway through the second half after a brawl between players. Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had earlier been struck by a flare. Scotland currently sit third in Group D, a point behind leaders Poland. Georgia are fifth, with just one win from five games. Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Loria is hugged by a fan on the pitch at the Boris Paichadze Stadium . Germany players celebrate during their 2-0 win against Georgia in Euro 2016 qualifying . +Manchester City keeper Karen Bardsley has until 6pm Tuesday to answer a FA charge for violent conduct after an ugly goalmouth altercation with Birmingham City's Freda Ayisi. The pair came to blows as they jostled for position before a corner in their sides' 0-0 draw in Women's Super League One on Sunday before video of the incident went viral. Ayisi was sent off following the 45th-minute incident but after the referee's report confirmed he had not seen Bardsley's involvement in the scuffle and FA charge was brought. Video footage catches Manchester City keeper Karen Bardsley and Birmingham City's Freda Ayisi clash . Video footage of the incident shows Ayisi use her elbow on Bardsley's chest, to which the 30-year-old keeper reacts with a swinging arm of her own. Ayisi then strikes Bardsley twice more before they were separated. American-born Bardsley, who has played 43 times for England's senior women's side, said she had contacted Birmingham City and regretted the altercation. 'Passions ran high against Birmingham yesterday. Viewing the footage again, I regret the incident with Freda Ayisi,' Bardsley posted on Twitter. 'Whilst I was provoked, it was out of character for me to react in that way. I’ve contacted Birmingham to apologise for my involvement.' The goalmouth incident occurred on Sunday in Man City and Birmingham City's 0-0 draw . The referee sends off Ayisi for her involvement in the incident but he didn't see Bardsley's involvement . Bardsley, who has played 43 times for England, has contacted Birmingham to apologise . +Lucas Silva has conceded a loan away from Real Madrid could enhance his long-term prospects at the Bernabeu amid reports he will make a move to Porto. The Brazilian has appeared just seven times for Real since his January transfer from Belo Horizonte's Cruzeiro but believes he can stake a claim for a regular place in Carlo Ancelotti's side. However, with just four starts in a possible 19 matches since his debut in the Champions League against Schalke on February 18, regular football elsewhere could be a blessing in disguise for the 22-year-old - and if reports are to be believed Porto are in the box seat. Lucas Silva (right) says a loan move from Real Madrid could be a good option as he seeks game time . The Brazilian 22-year-old moved to the Bernabeu in January but has made just seven appearances . 'I was astonished with the news about a potential loan move to Porto. I have not heard anything about it,' Lucas Silva told Brazilian publication Globo Esporte. 'I have a contract with Real Madrid and I want to fulfil it. I have already had opportunities and I think I have the ability to be in the team and to play. 'But a loan move could be a good option.' Lucas Silva followed the Schalke match by starting in February 22's 2-0 league win over Elche and the March 1 draw with Villarreal. He then had to wait a fortnight to make Ancelotti's XI against Levante. Lucas Silva (left) say he is committed to fulfilling his contract at Real Madrid but is tipped to go to Porto . Before the international break he came on as an 88th-minute substitute for Luka Modric in their 2-1 El Clasico defeat. His fellow Brazilian Casemiro has enjoyed plenty of game time at Porto, who sit second in the Portuguese league, where he was loaned from Real at the start of the season. Casemiro has made 28 appearances, scoring four goals and picking up 11 yellow cards. +As Chris Smalling continues his efforts to convince Louis van Gaal he is worth another contract at Manchester United, he is safe in the knowledge Roy Hodgson has always admired his qualities, ever since a chance first encounter. Hodgson signed Smalling from non-league Maidstone United, seven years ago, soon after Les Reed, Fulham's director of football, had invited the 18-year-old centre-half along to a trial at the club's training ground in Surrey. 'He was watching by chance and he pulled me into his office and it all started from there,' said Smalling. 'I can't remember the whole conversation, it's a bit of a blur, but Roy was very encouraging. Chris Smalling (centre) in action during an England training session at St Georges Park . Smalling is thankful for Hodgson and is delighted they can rekindle their relationship at England . 'He mentioned in conversation that he'd played for Maidstone. It was quite surreal. I didn't know many other people who had played for Maidstone. 'I came back for a week to train with the reserves, and was offered a contract a month or so later. He's the one who really got it started for me and it's nice to rekindle that with England. I hope my performances for my club help him to keep selecting me.' Hodgson, who played for Maidstone in the early 70s, convinced Smalling he had a career in professional football, although the youngster decided to complete his A-levels first. The defender has become a key player for Manchester United this season alongside Phil Jones . There were university places on offer to study financial economics at Leicester or Loughborough if he secured three Bs in his exams, which he did. 'I was planning to go to university but a month or two before my exams I was offered trials by Fulham and Middlesbrough,' said Smalling. 'I had nothing to lose and gave it my all. 'I'd been at Millwall until I was about 15. It was quite far to travel and I was missing some sessions, so I wasn't really developing, and then I went to Maidstone.' Hodgson signed Smalling when he was Fulham boss from non-league side Maidstone United . His education did little to impress Van Gaal, earlier this season, when the Manchester United boss branded Smalling 'stupid' for a red card, during the first half of the derby against City. 'I was foolish, and it was a rush of blood,' said Smalling. 'You learn more from yourself than from what managers and fans say. It's something I've not done too often and hopefully it won't happen again. I've learnt not to get caught up in these situations. I try not to clock up too many cards, but that was a moment of madness.' The same could be said for his decision to attend a fancy dress party last year in a Jager-bomber costume, with an Arabian headscarf, shades, a flak-jacket and bottles of Jagermeister and Red Bull strapped to his body. After being close to going to university, Smalling is now an England international and trophy winner . 'There's always people out there that are trying to pick you up, and as a role model for young players you have to make sure you're on the ball,' he said. 'That's something you only learn as you get older. 'It's more a case of common sense really, but there are older players there if you do need some advice. It was one of those things. There are a lot of things that happen that sometimes get blown up. In general that's rare for me.' Niggling injuries have proved more disruptive since he left Fulham for Old Trafford in 2010, but he is back in the team and has delivered some impressive performances as Van Gaal's United started to click. Smalling of England speaks to the media during the England press conference at The Grove Hotel . He was excellent in the win at Liverpool, frustrating Mario Balotelli in the process, and was looking forward to another duel with the striker in Turin until he discovered Balotelli has been omitted from the squad for the friendly against England. 'If you're doing your job and not giving the striker much of a chance he'll probably get angry, and Balotelli is someone who can lose his temper very quickly,' said Smalling. 'If I'm shutting down the striker, I'm happy to see them get frustrated. 'I thought it could be round two on Tuesday, but I've seen he's not in the squad so we'll have to wait for that.' The defender enjoyed winding up Mario Balotelli and was disappointed to not see him in Italy's squad . Smalling's good form offered encouragement to those who believe the 25-year-old may yet prove to be a long-term successor to Rio Ferdinand. 'I've been able to clock up a run of games in the past few months,' he said. 'The manager has shown a lot of faith in me and I've been able to stay fit. It' s nice to get a good run, it helps you become more confident and to put your personality on the game. 'Rio was a defender I really admired for the way he put his character and personality onto the pitch. He's not just your everyday defender. You can see his character in the way he wants to play football. That's something young players can pick up on. Rio Ferdinand was a major influence on Smalling and he admired the way that he played the game . 'When I joined it was a case of playing with him for a good few years and picking up a lot of points. Eventually when he did move on I felt I was ready and it was an opportunity for me to show myself. 'When you have the shirt, everyone else is fighting it out and trying to push you out of the way. When that time comes you need to make sure you're in a good run of form so the manager feels you are the one who should step in.' The process has been complicated since by injuries, managerial changes at Old Trafford, his own versatility and Van Gaal's habit of switching between three and four at the back. With Champions League qualification close to being secured, the defender can look forward to Europe . 'I've not had too many different managers and this is my first foreign coach,' said Smalling. 'He's really worked hard on the training field right from the double sessions in pre-season. We've had the tactics, and quite a lot of meetings in terms of the vision he wants. 'He wants more from the centre-halves on the ball, rather than taking the easy option and passing to the full-back when the room is too narrow that they can't really do much with the ball. 'The manager does stress why pass it to him when you've got no-one marking you. I am enjoying that responsibility. Sir Alex wanted us to play out, but there's more emphasis on that now. Louis van Gaal (left) and Sir Alex Ferguson have very different styles of management says Smalling . 'Growing up, first of all you're a defender but we have more possession than a lot of teams and we have to be a bit more like the midfield and start moves.' Smalling's contract expires next year. As someone who had the chance to study financial economics, you might think he would be all over the details, but he is in no rush. 'It's not something I really want to focus on,' he said. 'It's not really come into my head. I'm enjoying it at United. I'm focusing on the rest of the season. I'm happy as ever because I'm playing and hopefully I can keep contributing.' +Kurt Zouma has praised Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's role in his rapid development that has seen the Frenchman become a contender at centre back for both his club and country. The 20-year-old defender has made 20 appearances in his first season at Stamford Bridge, and Mourinho's guidance has seen him keep established starter Gary Cahill out of the side at times. Zouma's form earned a France call-up for the current international break, and he could even earn his first cap in their friendly against Denmark on Sunday night. Kurt Zouma has praised Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's role in his rapid development with the Blues . Zouma, seen here attempting to tackle Blaise Matuidi, has been called up to the France squad recently . Zouma trains with his French team-mates ahead of their game against Denmark on Sunday evening . Zouma said that Mourinho puts a lot of pressure on his players, but he seems to be thriving under it . And Chelsea's breakthrough star credits his impressive showings that have led him to this point in his career to the manager who signed him for £12million from St Etienne last January. When asked what he had learnt under Mourinho, Zouma said: 'To hate defeat. When you lose it's out of bounds to continue as normal in the evening. When you play for Chelsea you must not accept losing. 'Mourinho puts pressure on all his players. He is very demanding and wants perfection. 'In defence, he asks me to move tactically and to be well placed to listen to John (Terry) and Gary Cahill around me. Initially, I was obsessed with the ball and did not watch players behind me enough, but it's something I've been working on.' Gary Cahill joins Zouma in celebrating a goal, and the Frenchman has been told to stick close to Cahill . Mourinho has told Zouma to work closely to Cahill and John Terry in order to listen and learn from them . Mourinho has asked Zouma to 'move tactically' and to focus on the runs players make rather than just the ball . Zouma played in midfield for Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup final and was then deployed there again by Mourinho against West Ham United and Paris Saint-Germain. While Zouma was surprised to play there, he did so under specific instructions. 'In midfield, it's different,' he said. 'He (Mourinho) asks me to use my power and to stay in place to help the defence.' Although the young defender has found a place in Didier Deschamps' squad for the current set of fixtures, he does not yet see himself as a potential contender for Euro 2016, which the French are set to host. The 20-year-old centre back started against Tottenham in midfield in the Capital One Cup final this month . Zouma impressed in midfield and was selected there again for Chelsea's trip to face West Ham the next week . Juan Cuadrado, Zouma, Loic Remy and Eden Hazard celebrate with the Capital One Cup on March 1 . 'Honestly, I think I have to play a little more to be worthy of a place,' he said in an interview with L'Equipe. 'I'll work hard. They (the other centre backs) are really strong and they have the experience. But when you have a goal, you should not look at who is in front of you, you should fight. That is all.' Zouma arrives at the French national football team training base in Clairefontaine earlier this week . +Chris Borland is walking away from the NFL after his rookie season because of concerns about the long-term effects of head trauma. The 24-year-old linebacker told the San Francisco 49ers on Friday and made the announcement on ESPN's Outside the Lines. After consulting with eminent concussion reserachers and his family, Borland decided to call it quits on a promising NFL career. 'I just honestly want to do what's best for my health,' Borland told the show. 'From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk.' Former Wisconsin Badger Borland tackles Alfred Morris during his highly promising rookie year . 'I just thought to myself, "What am I doing? Is this how I'm going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I've learned and knew about the dangers?'" Borland has had two concussions in his life; one playing soccer in eighth grade and the next while playing football at high school. He said he took a head shot in training camp last season and opted to play through it. Borland has retired from the NFL after one year . Borland's year in San Francisco yielded 107 tackles, two interceptions and was awarded NFC Defensive Player of the Week and received a vote for Defensive Rookie of the Year. His announcement is a further blow to the 49ers, who are in a state of flux since former head coach Jim Harbaugh left the Bay Area. Fellow linebacker Patrick Willis also took the decision to retire after eight years in the NFL, to leave the 49ers in strife in a previous position of strength. Borland and Willis join 27-year-old Jason Worilds, who quit the Pittsburgh Steelers after five years in the NFL, and Jake Locker, 26, who also announced his decision to turn his back on the game. Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president of health and safety policy, released in a statement. 'We respect Chris Borland's decision and wish him all the best. Playing any sport is a personal decision. 'By any measure, football has never been safer and we continue to make progress with rule changes, safer tackling techniques at all levels of football, and better equipment, protocols and medical care for players. 'Concussions in NFL games were down 25 percent last year, continuing a three-year downward trend. We continue to make significant investments in independent research to advance the science and understanding of these issues. We are seeing a growing culture of safety. Everyone involved in the game knows that there is more work to do and player safety will continue to be our top priority.' Borland's announcement took the 49ers by surprise. 'While unexpected, we certainly respect Chris' decision, general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement. 'From speaking with Chris, it was evident that he had put a great deal of thought into this decision. He was a consummate professional from day one and a very well respected member of our team and community. Chris is a determined young man that overcame long odds in his journey to the NFL and we are confident he will use the same approach to become very successful in his future endeavors. We will always consider him a 49er and wish him all the best.' +Michael Johnson will return to Cincinnati after an injury-hit year with Tampa Bay. The defensive end, 28, put pen to paper on a four-year deal, $20million deal. With $6m guaranteed this year, Johnson will also receive $7m from his $43.8m deal with the Buccaneers, ESPN report. A third round pick in 2009, Johnson spent his first five years with the Bengals but joined the Buccaneers on a big-money deal last year. Marvin Lewis made it a priority to bring Michael Johnson back to Cincinnati to bolster their pass rush . But his productivity was hindered by injuries, with just four sacks in 14 games. Consequently, he joined Josh McCown and Anthony Collis on general manager Jason Licht's unwanted list. The move frees up $2m cap space. 'I'm thankful for the Buccaneers giving me an opportunity to come down there and learn,' Johnson said on a conference call. 'I'm going to always cherish all of the memories - the highs and the lows. You can't appreciate the highs without the lows.' 'This last year was a character-building year. I don't count it as a bad year. So I come back to Cincinnati with a different mindset and a different outlook on things.' Johnson was also coveted by the Minnesota Vikings, but chose not to be reunited with the Bengals' former defensive co-ordinator Mike Zimmer. +Reggie Bush will head back to his native California to fill the Frank Gore-sized hole in the 49ers backfield. The 30-year-old was cut by Detroit after two mixed years; the first inspired, the second injury-hit. ESPN first reported the deal after Bush opted not to join the New England Patriots. Concerns about fitness will plague the running back but when healthy he adds a threat on the ground and in the air. Reggie Bush trains with the Lions ahead of their game with the Atlanta Falcons in London last year . The 2005 Heisman Trophy winner was drafted second overall in the 2006 draft by the Saints. His five seasons in New Orleans yielded 33 touchdowns in 60 games and a Super Bowl victory. Bush moved to Miami Dolphins in 2011. He rushed for 2,072 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns over two seasons before joining the Lions in 2013. After going 8-8 and dispensing with Jim Harbaugh's services, the 49ers have undergone something of a facelift in the offseason. After a botched interview with Adam Gase, Jim Tomsula was promoted from defensive co-ordinator to head coach. And his short stint has seen the retirement of linebacker Patrick Willis, the loss of guard Mike Iupati to NFC West rivals Arizona and long-term staple Gore leave for Philadelphia. Cornerback Perrish Cox also departed to sign a bumper $15million three-year deal with Tennessee. The 49ers have added wide receiver Torrey Smith and defensive end Darnell Dockett and re-signed cornerback Chris Cook, as well as adding former rugby league sensation Jarryd Hayne to the roster. +Mike Wallace has joined the Minnesota Vikings, two years after being courted by Rick Spielman and Co. Wallace was traded for a seventh round pick, in exchange for a fifth round pick in May's draft. His expensive and ill-tempered two seasons in Miami will be best remembered for a touchline spat. Wallace joined the Dolphins on a $60million deal before the 2013 season and was an outspoken member of the locker room. Mike Wallace scores a touchdown during the Dolphins win against the Vikings last season . He often criticised the gameplan and was said to quit on his team-mates during December's defeat to the New York Jets. He failed to post a 1,000-yard season and the deep ball threat he posed in Pittsburgh never materialised in Miami. After the Dolphins acquired Kenny Stills from the New Orleans Saints, Wallace's trade appeared inevitable. +James DeGale is ready to fulfil his destiny after learning he will box for the world title in Boston on May 23. DeGale is bidding to become the first British Olympic champion to win top honours in the professional game, seven years after the Beijing Games. The Londoner will face Andre Dirrell for the IBF super-middleweight belt vacated by Carl Froch. James DeGale beat Marco Antonio Periban last year and now faces Andre Dirrell in Boston . 'It feels so good,' DeGale told Sportsmail. 'We've been trying to sort out this date for a long time. We were working towards April 25 at the O2 Arena so I've been training for the last eight weeks non-stop, sparring 12 rounds and doing my two-hour runs. 'In that way it's been frustrating but I've got my date now and all my focus goes on that. I'm relieved that everything's set and I'll be ready. 'After this week I'm going to have a week off then I'll get back on it. I've done eight weeks of training, I've been watching my weight and living like a monk.' Dirrell in action against Derek Edwards last year . DeGale's title challenge had originally been pencilled in for next month but promoter Eddie Hearn lost out when the fight went to purse bids. DeGale will, however, earn at least $1.5million (£1m). 'I would have liked to have boxed for a world title in my home city but it is what it is,' he admitted. 'Eddie lost the purse bid so I'm boxing in America. I'm getting paid very well for it and I've got the chance to make history; that's what dreams are made of.' Dirrell has lost once in his 25-fight career - to Froch in 2009 by contentious split decision. The 31-year-old has fought just six times since but recorded three routine victories last year. 'It's a difficult fight,' DeGale added. 'The guy is similar to me, he's very tricky and slick. He's a southpaw and it's an extremely hard fight but I think this is my time and I'm destined to be a world champion. I can't let this slip, I've got to win it. 'He's good with his feet and he punches in bunches but for all his attributes, I match him. It's going to be an intriguing fight to watch and very, very skilled. People are going to be in for a treat.' James DeGale has been using the world class sports science and training at Perform at St. George's Park ahead of his world title fight. +Former UFC middleweight Ryan Jensen turned into a detective when he left the gym to find out his car had been broken into and robbed. Jensen may not have enjoyed the most successful of UFC careers, having won just two of six bouts, but there was no way he was going to lose this battle. The 37-year-old instead he scoured the CCTV system of the gym he was training at when the robbery happened. Former UFC middleweight Ryan Jensen had his car broken into when he was training at the gym . The video recordings showed a man and a woman breaking in to the car before speeding off in a black car just minutes later. And rather than cancelling all his cards the fighter, who has been in the Octagon alongside the likes of Thales Leites, Demian Maia and Mark Munoz, kept track of their spending. His detective work eventually led him to a nearby Walmart store as payment history showed that was the last place his cards had been used. Surprisingly the suspects were still in the supermarket car park when he arrived and he used his ransacked car to block the culprits in. One of the crafty duo ran into the store, but luckily police were on hand to apprehend the crooks. Court McGee and Jensen face off at the UFC 121 weigh-in at the Honda Center  in Anaheim, California . McGee connects with a right to the face of Jensen during the welterweight bout during UFC 121 . +The past few days have been turbulent, to say the least, for British middleweight, Luke Barnatt. When his upcoming fight against Clint Hester was scrapped from the UFC's Fairfax card on April 4, after Hester developed a foot injury, Barnatt was on the hunt for a replacement opponent. 'I heard from Clint directly that he was injured and out of the fight.' Barnatt told Sportsmail. 'I spoke to Joe Silva and he said there's no-one on the roster who is free to fight you, so it might have to be a newcomer. But I didn't want to fight a newcomer who people knew nothing about. He had a few guys in mind but none of them could take the fight or would agree to it. Britain's Luke Barnatt found the replacement he was looking for after his fight with Clint Hester was scrapped . Barnatt will be facing Filipino-American fighter Mark Munoz in the UFC's maiden event in the Philippines . 'I said, 'Why don't you give me Mark Munoz and let me fight in the Philippines?' 'Then Joe called back and said he'd made about 500 phone calls and that he couldn't find anyone, so your wish is my command – you're fighting Mark in the Philippines. 'I went from being very down, to being very happy, and now I have 10 weeks to prepare for the fight.' Barnatt is looking to bounce back from two frustrating back to back losses, both of which the middleweight feels he would have won, were it not for poor judging decisions. Mark Munoz, meanwhile, who recently fell short of the UFC's top 15 middleweight rankings, is a veteran of the sport and will present a dangerous challenge on the ground for Barnatt. 'Obviously I have to pay a bit more attention to my wrestling now' said Barnatt. 'Mark is a very, very good wrestler. There will be a bit more of a focus on, but I am going to implement my own game plan.' Munoz (front) fought in UFC 184 but was forced into submission by Brazilian fighter Roan Carneiro (rear) Carneiro celebrates his win over Munoz in their middleweight bout during the UFC 184 event at Staples Cente . The bout will feature on the UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber fight card, the UFC's first event ever to take place in the Philippines. 'Six years ago I was in Thailand.' Barnatt continued. 'I lived there for 7 months and I always wanted to go to the Philippines, so I'm super excited. I'm going to go out there about 10 days before to get acclimatized. The funny thing is, Mark trains about 3 hours away from me in California so we will both be going all that way. We will probably leave on the same flight to get out there!' When it comes to trash talk, we can expect to witness none of that in the lead up to this bout. 'I know Mark' said Barnatt. 'He's pound for pound the nicest guy in the world. But this will probably be Mark's last fight in the UFC. He's wanted to fight in the Philippines for so long so it's great that he's able to do that, but I think this will be the last fight for him. 'It's a fantastic opportunity that the UFC has given me, to allow me to be the one to retire Mark Munoz.' Munoz was on the losing end against Carneiro, but he'll be hoping for a comeback against Barnatt on May 16 . +The Madeira Islands Open has been rescheduled for the end of July after last week's event was postponed due to extreme weather. The European Tour on Tuesday confirmed the tournament would tee off again on July 30 until August 2. Sunday's postponement came after just one round had been played at the Santo da Serra, with strong winds, dense fog and heavy rain making play impossible. The Madeira Islands Open has been rescheduled to tee off again on July 30 until August 2 . Strong winds, dense fog and heavy rain forced the tournament to be cancelled by officials on Sunday . Keith Waters, chief operating officer of the European Tour said in a statement: 'Given the importance of the Madeira Islands Open and our close working relationship with the golf club and sponsors, we were very keen to reschedule the tournament and the fact that we have managed to do so this quickly is testament to the desire and commitment of all parties to reach an agreement.' Prior to the cancellation, Denmark's JB Hansen had held the clubhouse lead on four under par, one shot ahead of a group of eight players which included England's Andrew Marshall and Scotland's Peter Whiteford, with the entire field separated by just six shots. Officials and greenkeepers tried their best to prepare the course for play but the conditions prevailed . +Two-time Miami Open winner Victoria Azarenka defeated Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-3 on Wednesday to set up a second round meeting with Serbia's Jelena Jankovic. Former world No 1 Azarenka made her name with victory in Miami in 2009 and followed that up with another triumph in 2011 but hampered by injuries, she has fallen down the world rankings in the past year to No 36. The Belarusian, who has not been in Miami for three years, had to fight back from 3-1 down in the second set to ensure she advanced in straight sets. Victoria Azarenka is through to the Miami Open second round after beating Silvia Soler-Espinosa . Azarenka defeated Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-3 on Wednesday to set up a clash against Jelena Jankovic . Soler-Espinosa was a break up in the second set but failed to hold to her advantage against Azarenka . 'I felt I played really good in the first set but in the second I dropped a little my aggressivity,' [sic] said Azarenka. 'But it is nice to be back somewhere where I had a lot of success. I've always loved this city and this tournament.' Azarenka will face a tough test in the next round with in form Jankovic coming off a run to the Indian Wells final before falling to Romanian Simona Halep. Third-seed Halep will face Czech Nicole Vaidisova, the former world No 7 back on the tour after ending her retirement. The 25-year-old Vaidisova beat Hungarian Timea Babos 6-1 7-6 in what was her first WTA-level match since Memphis in 2010. Nicole Vaidisova will face third seed Simona Halep in the second round after beating Timea Babos 6-1 7-6 . Russian wildcard Daria Gavrilova advanced past New Zealand's, Marina Erakovic who had to retire with an ankle injury when down 5-1. Gavrilova will face compatriot and second seed Maria Sharapova in the second round. Top seed Serena Williams, who had to pull out of her semi-final in Indian Wells with a knee injury, says she will be ready to face Romanian Monica Niculescu on Friday. 'It's okay. I know I'm going to have to manage the pain. I think you just have to figure out the best way around it. I don't want to put much pressure on it before [Friday]' said Williams, who has won seven titles at Miami. Russian wildcard Daria Gavrilova will face compatriot and second seed Maria Sharapova in the next round . +British hope Kyle Edmund failed to take advantage of his wildcard entry when he was swept out of the Miami Open first round. The 20-year-old from Yorkshire was beaten 6-2 6-2 in just 68 minutes by Holland's Robin Haase, the world number 98. Edmund reached the semi-final in a strong Challenger field in Texas last week but could not replicate that form. Kyle Edmund returns a shot during his first round Miami Open match with Holland's Robin Haase . World number 98 Haase only needed 68 minutes to defeat Edmund 6-2, 6-2 . Haase can be inconsistent but this was one of his better days and the British number three has no answers. He may have been better off trying to come through the qualifying rather than getting a privileged entry through his management company IMG, who own the tournament. Edmund finds the going tough as he struggles to deal with the challenge of Haase in Miami . +Max Verstappen, the 17-year-old Formula One rookie, has equalled his father Jos’ best-ever grid position in only his second race. Verstappen Snr, who competed in over 100 grands prix, most notably as team-mate to Michael Schumacher at Benetton in the mid-nineties, qualified sixth for the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. And on Saturday his son turned in a performance that goes way beyond his tender years to match his dad’s result during qualifying for tomorrow’s race in Malaysia. Max Verstappen impressed in difficult conditions to qualify sixth for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix . The 17-year-old has equalled his father Jos Verstappen's best-ever qualifying result in only his second race . The Dutchman, who is still not old enough to drive on his own in his native Holland appeared unfazed by the tricky wet conditions to post a best time of 1:40.793, which was only marginally slower than the Red Bull pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. ‘I am very proud of that but he has to do a lot better than I did in my career,’ his father Jos said. Verstappen's sixth position on the grid in Sepang is also the highest by a teenager in more than half-a-century after Ricardo Rodriguez, 19 at the time, started second for Ferrari at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix. The Dutchman displayed signs of maturity way beyond his tender years to qualify on the third row . 'I studied the lines from last year so that helped me already a bit,’ said Verstappen. 'I think the most important thing is to just stay cool and do your lap. 'It was a good start for me as I always enjoy driving in the rain. All in all, I can be really happy about getting P6.' Verstappen was set to finish in the points on his grand prix bow in Australia only for mechanical gremlins to strike his Toro Rosso on lap 34. Jos Verstappen is pictured on the podium alongside Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill at the 1994 Hungarian GP . +Geoff Parling's second-half try and the boot of Freddie Burns helped Leicester beat Exeter 25-18 and gain some revenge at Welford Road. A fortnight ago the Chiefs saw off the Tigers in a thrilling LV= Cup semi-final and the teams met again at Welford Road in the Aviva Premiership, with the hosts hoping for a different outcome having lost just once in front of their own fans this season. And despite former Tiger Thomas Waldrom and Will Chudley going over for the Chiefs, the home side were celebrating as Burns kicked 20 points and Parling crossed the whitewash, with Leicester climbing above Exeter in the table in the process. Geoff Parling's second-half try helped Leicester Tigers beat Exeter Chiefs on Saturday . Parling (right) celebrates with team-mate Sebastian de Chaves following his try . Exeter had the first chance of the match from a penalty in the fourth minute when Leicester were caught offside with Henry Slade electing to kick from his own half with the wind behind him, however he put the chance wide. Barely three minutes later, Slade again missed a penalty after Leicester's Miles Benjamin had failed to move out of the way and the Tigers made them pay with Burns putting a penalty of their own away to give the Tigers the lead. With high balls causing havoc in the swirling wind and handling errors from Exeter, Burns then added a second penalty for Leicester on 18 minutes to double the home side's lead. Exeter finally got on the board in the 23nd minute with Slade this time successful with a kick from his own half. In the 36th minute the Tigers regained their six-point lead after Exeter failed to roll away after an excellent break from Benjamin, with Burns making no mistake again from the tee. It came at a price though with Benjamin leaving the field injured, replaced by Vereniki Goneva. The Tigers almost had the first try of the game on the stroke of half-time after another breakaway, but had to make do with a fourth penalty from Burns as Leicester went into the break with a 12-3 lead. Fly half Freddie Burns kicked six penalties for Leicester as they overcame Exeter . Exeter Chiefs' Thomas Waldrom scores a try against his former club . Exeter Chiefs' Will Chudley also scored a try but it was not enough to prevent his side from losing . It was the Tigers on the front foot from the start of the second half and with barely a minute gone they were awarded a penalty with Burns, in imperious form with the boot, slotting home his fifth penalty of the match to put Leicester further in front. Exeter swiftly made changes with the hope of getting back into the game with Ben Moon, Ben White and Tom James coming on. And it made the immediate impact as hoped with Waldrom scoring the first try of the game after an Exeter drive near the posts. Slade inexplicably missed the conversion, hitting the post when it seemed easier to score. It was the Tigers' turn to force the pressure with Goneva going close in the corner as both teams changed personnel. The pressure told as Leicester's dominance in the scrum saw Parling go over in the corner, with Burns adding the conversion to give the Tigers a 22-8 lead with a quarter of an hour remaining. Exeter hit straight back with a try of their own as Chudley went under the posts after a breakaway. Slade made no mistake this time to reduce the deficit to seven points with the Tigers still leading 22-15. Burns added a further penalty to increase the lead to 10 but missed his first kick of the game with just minutes remaining as he attempted one from his own half. A late Slade penalty was not enough for Exeter, however, as the Tigers saw out any further trouble to climb above their visitors in the table. +Nigel Owens does a bit of stand-up comedy in his spare time, as well as after-dinner speaking, and one can imagine him being quite funny. The Welsh referee, considered among the finest in world rugby, was amusing in his response to being flattened by Jimmy Cowan a few years ago. ‘Try going past me next time,’ he remarked, after eventually returning to his feet, even though he knew full well that he, and not the New Zealand scrum-half, was at fault. It was entertaining to listen to him this week as he reflected on a hugely impressive performance at Twickenham last Saturday. Welsh referee Nigel Owens disputes a decision with England captain Chris Robshaw at Twickenham . Television viewers were struck by the manner in which he handled the players during an extraordinary game that occasionally became bad-tempered. He defused certain situations quite beautifully, even addressing individuals by their full Christian names to exert some authority. Chris Robshaw became ‘Christopher’, with Owens praising the England skipper and his opposite number for playing some marvellous rugby while ordering them to cut out the nonsense. It worked — players addressed him as ‘sir’. Rugby players generally tend to respect referees rather more than their footballing counterparts but Owens, 43, commands more respect than most. Owens commands more respect than many referees when taking charge of top level rugby . When he was the victim of homophobic chanting at Twickenham last autumn, — two England fans were fined and banned for abusing Owens for being gay — he received messages of support from players from England as well as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France and Wales. And when he once asked Ronan O’Gara to sign a copy of his autobiography for his father, the then Ireland fly-half wished Geraint Owens a happy Christmas, but also added how proud he should be of his son. He will go up in the estimation of most for the way he handled a situation only this week. The victim of a homophobic tweet after last weekend’s Six Nations encounter, Owens agreed to travel to Carmarthen Police Station to meet the 18-year-old who had abused him. As part of an agreed Adult Community Resolution — an alternative way of resolving crimes that allows victims to be involved in deciding how the offender can be dealt with by choosing from a list of out-of-court options — Owens accepted what he described as ‘a profound apology’ and let the matter rest. International referee Nigel Owens jokes around with wrestler Barri Griffiths on a Welsh TV show . Owens, who does some stand-up comedy in his spare time, appears to enjoy the limelight . ‘It’s like refereeing a game of rugby,’ Owens told me. ‘You can’t referee in black and white. There is an awful lot of grey and you have to apply a bit of common sense. ‘This young man was genuinely remorseful for something he accepts was stupid. He apologised to me publicly on Twitter and on Facebook. ‘He could have been left with a criminal record but I saw no point in that on this occasion. The key thing is to get the message out there that it’s not acceptable to insult someone in that way. ‘I have learned to handle this kind of abuse. But there will be people out there who are struggling the way I once did and they will find it extremely hurtful. This is about protecting them.’ Getting the key decisions right is how a referee is ultimately judged but players seem to like Owens’ style. ‘Until someone said it to me I hadn’t realised I’d called Robshaw “Christopher”,’ he says. ‘I suppose you could see it as a device that makes clear to someone you’re not entirely happy with them. It might be the way a teacher addresses a pupil. I did work as a technician at a school for a number of years and also with kids in youth clubs. The 43-year-old directs England and France players during the feisty encounter at Twickenham last weekend . ‘But I’d probably address most people by their full name until I know them a bit better. ‘I learned from Derek Bevan, a great referee, and I think the secret is to be authoritative, firm and fair but not over-officious. ‘If you show the players respect they tend to respect you. And sometimes you can defuse a situation with a smile or a quick bit of wit. That’s probably where comedy comes in handy. I’ve been doing stand-up since I was 14.’ Rugby is his first love, but Owens follows football too and he takes an interest in some of the issues currently concerning referees in the round-ball game. The crowding of referees is a particular concern, while there is growing pressure for video technology. Owens shakes hands with Robshaw after last Saturday's Six Nations clash at Twickenham . ‘I certainly don’t think you can officiate at the top level in rugby without the technology that helps you get the key decisions right,’ he says. ‘That’s what we want to achieve across all sports. ‘It’s still not perfect. Even with a video replay, mistakes can still be made. But it’s definitely something I believe football would benefit from. ‘On occasions in rugby it is over-used and we have to guard against that. And football doesn’t have the natural stoppages that make it a bit easier to call on video technology in rugby. Football has more of a natural flow. ‘I think something like a captain’s challenge would be interesting; say one challenge per half per team for the decisions that really matter.’ The Welsh referee, who took charge of England vs France last weekend, has done stand-up since he was 14 . Respect is the other issue; one, in fairness to football, that the authorities have tried to tackle with different campaigns over the years. ‘Only if you are very naive would you say football doesn’t have an issue with respect,’ says Owens. ‘But rugby shouldn’t take the moral high ground either because I’ve seen problems in our sport too. I’ve seen referees being pushed in grassroots games and so on. ‘Ultimately it’s a problem in society, although football has to recognise it can influence how young people behave in society. But I think the laws of rugby allow referees to deal with these kind of issues more effectively. There are more breaks in rugby that enable you to speak to the players. ‘Referees could also be supported in terms of the citing process. If I make a mistake by giving a player a yellow card when it should have been red, it can be given retrospectively as a red. ‘This doesn’t happen in football, but if players knew that was a possibility — that the citing process was toughened up — it would lead to better behaviour on the field.’ +Months after being labeled 'soft' by one of Australia's cricket greats and being dropped from Australia's test XI, Mitchell Starc has been deservedly voted the player of the World Cup. Starc's worth to the Australian team was never more evident than when he dismissed New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum in the first over of Sunday's final. The New Zealand innings never fully recovered and Australia went on to claim an emphatic seven-wicket victory. Few could have predicted the impact Starc would make at this tournament back in December when the left-arm swing bowler returned figures of 2-110 in the second Test against India in Brisbane, leading Shane Warne to describe Starc's body language as 'soft.' Australia seam bowler Mitchell Starc has been named man of the tournament at the Cricket World Cup . Starc celebrates after taking the wicket of New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum in the final . The Australia team celebrate with the trophy after being crowned world champions in Melbourne . The 25-year-old Starc was subsequently dropped for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the same venue where on Sunday he was named player of the tournament after using a new-found aggression to snare 22 wickets throughout the World Cup. 'I've worked really hard at it for a number of months now with (bowling coach) Craig McDermott in the background,' Starc said. 'A few series ago we sat down and found out a little plan and to see that come to fruition has been phenomenal.' He said his game-changing dismissal of McCullum off just the fifth ball of the final was part luck and part planning. Shane Warne, who had dismissed Starc as 'soft' before the tournament, poses with captain Michael Clarke . 'There was a lot of luck involved I think, but it was a little plan that Craig and I had going a couple of days ago,' he said. 'Brendon has been really fantastic through the whole tournament so I think there was a lot of luck involved. I'm just happy to get that one.' After a tournament notable for batting performances - including two double centuries, and teams regularly passing 300 runs, it was fitting that one of the few bowlers able to consistently make life difficult for the batsmen to win the coveted award. 'It was an amazing tournament and some outstanding performances,' Starc said. 'New Zealand has been a great team throughout the tournament and even set the benchmark, but I think we came hard today and (that) really led to this performance.' McCullum shakes hands with Clarke as Australia seal a seven wicket victory against New Zealand . +It went on for an age and a shambolic England side went home before it got interesting. Wisden Editor Lawrence Booth picks his highlights and lowlights of the Cricket World Cup... BEST BITS . The renaissance of left-arm seamers . The yorkers produced at will by man of the tournament Mitchell Starc played a huge part in Australia’s triumph. New Zealand’s Trent Boult joined him on top of the wicket-taking list with 22. And the most uplifting spell of the competition was Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz in the quarter-final. Australian Michael Starc took 22 wickets to be rated as the man of the tournament at the Cricket World Cup . Kiwis’ one-wicket win over Australia . In a World Cup containing more hundreds than ever before (38), no game was more thrilling than the low-scoring thriller at Eden Park in Auckland. Set 152, New Zealand slipped from 131 for 4 to 146 for 9, before Kane Williamson sealed it with a six amid scenes of delirium. Here was proof that the best games don’t need to be run-fests. Kiwi Kane Williamson hit a late six to seal a memorable one-wicket win over Australia in the group stages . The Associates . The first couple of weeks were lit up by teams who will mainly be shut out of the 2019 World Cup, which the ICC have limited to 10 teams: Ireland beat West Indies and Zimbabwe, Scotland gave New Zealand a scare, and Afghanistan beat Scotland. While other sports look to expand their games, cricket’s administrators remain content to shrink theirs. Baffling. Kevin O'Brien celebrates taking a wicket as Ireland sensationally upset West Indies in Nelson . Sangakkara still going strong . Sri Lanka’s quarter-final defeat by South Africa meant Kumar Sangakkara’s one-day international career ended with a whimper — but not before he had scored an astonishing four successive centuries in the group matches. Even at 37, he remained the classiest act in the World Cup. India veteran batsman Kumar Sangakkara acknowledges one of four successive centuries . The fans . More than a million spectators attended the 49 games, with the New Zealand public getting behind the World Cup in a manner that delighted the ICC. If cricket’s popularity in that country has been guaranteed for the next decade and beyond, the World Cup will have done its job. The Cricket World Cup attracted over a million supporters for 49 games, some left more pleased than others . WORST BITS . England . They were the laughing stock, completing the worst of their six World Cups since reaching the final in 1992 — and there’s been some stiff competition. They never recovered from maulings by Australia and New Zealand, failed to defend over 300 against Sri Lanka, and even lost to Bangladesh. For captain Eoin Morgan, the whole thing was a disaster. New ODI captain Eoin Morgan presided over England's worst performance at a World Cup . Too few close finishes . Four one-sided quarter- finals typified a tournament in which too few of the games went to the wire, or even close to it. In fact, of the seven knockout matches, only the New Zealand-South Africa semi-final raised the pulse. And, as in 2011, the group stage dragged on and on and on. New Zealand's semi-final defeat of South Africa was the only knockout game that entertained . The final . Australia’s dominance turned the climax into an anti-climax. Let’s not pretend, as some have tried, that this was the best World Cup ever. The Australians were too far ahead of the rest for that, brushing aside India in the semis and New Zealand in the final. In truth, Australia were head and shoulders above the competition as their stroll in the final showed . +Australia captain Michael Clarke bids farewell to one-day international cricket on Sunday — to save himself for one more shot at humiliating England. The 33-year-old has decided to retire from the 50-over game after steering his country to the World Cup final, with the sole intention of leading the Aussies into this summer’s Ashes showdown in England. ‘A priority for me is to continue to be successful in the Test format,’ said Clarke. ‘I think by walking away from one-day cricket it probably gives me my best opportunity.’ Michael Clarke shakes hands with New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum ahead of Sunday's final . And that spells danger for England with Clarke hungrier than ever to finally win an away Ashes series, having lost on all three of his previous trips. Clarke scored two centuries guiding Australia to their 5-0 whitewash of Alastair Cook’s dismal team last winter, but he’s desperate to break his duck in England in what will almost certainly be his last Ashes away tour. ‘I’ve never hid behind the fact that I find Test cricket to be the pinnacle of our sport,’ said Clarke, who has won 108 Test caps including 30 against England. The 33-year-old made the surprise announcement at a press conference on Saturday morning . ‘I’ve never gone down that road anyway in regard to what is the best thing to do for the public interest, as I’m sure you would have seen through my career, I’ve copped my fair share of smacks in the mouth. ‘But I am whoI am and it’s about being true to myself and I don’t feel bad about saying I believe Test cricket is the toughest part of our game. I love that challenge, I find it extremely difficult every Test match I play. I do see it as the pinnacle. I still think I’ve got a lot to offer the team as captain of the Australian Test team, and I want to make sure I continue to have success in that format.’ Clarke was made captain in all formats when Ricky Ponting stood down following the 2011 World Cup. He will be making his 245th one-day appearance for Australia and his 75th as skipper on Sunday as Australia take on New Zealand, led by Brendon McCullum (inset). George Bailey and Steve Smith are thought to be the two men most likely to succeed Clarke in captaining the Aussies. Clarke made his ODI debut 12 years ago and has scored almost 8,000 runs for his country . Clarke, who will continue to play at Test level, is pictured playing a shit in the nets ahead of Sunday's match . Clarke, pictured with team-mate Shane Watson, will lead Australia against England in the Ashes later this year . Clarke has been suffering with a back problem for some time and a hamstring injury ruled him out of Australia’s World Cup build up with George Bailey and Steve Smith, the two men most likely to succeed him, both leading the side. ‘I don’t think it is realistic that I’ll be fit and healthy and available to play the next World Cup so I believe it is the right time,’ he said. ‘I think I’ll leave the one-day game for the Australian team in a better place than when I took over the captaincy.’ +Everton's highly-rated midfielder George Green has joined basement strugglers Tranmere Rovers on loan until the end of the season. The 19-year old is in his fourth season at Everton having arrived at Goodison Park from Bradford City in October 2011 for a reported fee of £2million. Everton beat off strong competition from Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal for Green who was compared to a young Paul Gascoigne. Everton youngster George Green (left) has signed for Tranmere on loan until the end of the season . Midfielder Green has made seven appearances for Everton's Under 21 side so far this season . After confirmation of the deal, Green tweeted: 'Really made up to have signed on loan for @tranmererovers until the end of the season, appreciate all of your kind message.' Green, who has made seven appearances for Everton's Under 21 side this season, was a regular in the Toffees' Under 18 title-winning team last term. He will now link up with Rovers who are 22nd in League Two and out of the relegation zone by goal difference only. +Fears over Everton striker Arouna Kone's knee injury have been allayed after scans revealed it was not serious. The Ivorian was substituted late in Sunday's 2-1 win at QPR and with the 31-year-old having a history of knee problems, missing 14 months after one such injury last season, there was concern over his latest issue. However, the club have confirmed tests on the player determined no long-term damage. Arouna Kone of Everton suffered an injury in the 2-1 win at QPR which forced him off . Players from both teams crowd around the striker who had to be substituted through a knee injury . Arouna Kone has struggled to find his feet at Everton with just one goal in 18 games, having been out injured for 14 months since joining the Toffees from Wigan in the summer of 2013 . 'A scan has confirmed that Arouna Kone's knee injury is not serious,' said a statement on evertonfc.com.' 'But it is not yet known whether he will be fit for Everton's next game, against Southampton on 4 April.' Kone has scored just once in 18 games for Everton since joining from Wigan in the summer of 2013. +Newcastle have announced record profits of £18.7million for last season but fans say the figures have provoked more questions than answers. The club have not released the full annual report, only selected highlights with no detailed explanation as to how £28.5million of extra costs have been incurred. Mark Jensen, editor of online fanzine themag.co.uk, said he had expected profits for the 2013/14 campaign to be closer to £50million given the increase in income from television rights and the sale of Yohan Cabaye to Paris St Germain for around £20million. Yohan Cabaye poses with his new team jersey after a news conference at the Parc des Princes stadium . Newcastle also reported revenues increased by 35 per cent from £95.9million to £129.7million. More than half of Newcastle's income - £78.3million - came from the Premier League television rights deals, with commercial income also increasing. Jensen told Press Association Sport: 'This has just provoked more questions than answers. There is £28.5million of costs for which there is no explanation. The wages-to-turnover ratio is also not included. 'We had anticipated a profit of around £50m, especially with Cabaye being sold. 'The way that most fans look at it is that Newcastle didn't buy a single player in the whole season and sold Cabaye. Everyone knows how much these clubs are getting from TV so Newcastle fans would like to think more profit would mean more team strengthening but that has not been the case. Cabaye moved to PSG in a deal worth more than £20million and the reports have left questions to answer . 'There seems to be both a lack of transparency and ambition.' Newcastle finished 10th last season and are currently 12th in the Premier League table. A Newcastle statement said: 'Most significantly, the club reported strong commercial revenue growth delivering £25.6million in 2014, up from £17.1million in 2013. This 49.7 per cent increase was largely the result of two lucrative new deals with the club's principal sponsors, Wonga and Puma.' It is the fourth successive year the club has made a profit and cements Newcastle's positions in financial terms as one of the most successful in the top flight. Everton made a profit last season of £28.2m, Manchester United £23.9million, Chelsea £18.4m and Arsenal £4.7million while Sunderland lost £16.9million and Manchester City made a £23million loss. Newcastle's debt remained static at £129million in the form of an interest-free loan from owner Mike Ashley - none of the debt has been repaid. Newcastle's debt remained static at £129million in the form of an interest-free loan from owner Mike Ashley . Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley said: 'I am pleased to report a positive set of results which confirms the healthy financial position the club now finds itself in and is a reflection of the prudent and measured manner in which we operate. 'The club benefits from a supportive owner and is financially stable. This gives us a strong platform from which to grow, both on and off the pitch, a result of which means, as we move forward, we are able to net spend on the playing squad and invest in other areas of the business. 'The most pleasing aspect in this set of accounts has been the growth in our commercial revenue and it has been our strongest year yet in that respect. 'With our commitment to keeping ticket prices affordable for our supporters growing our commercial income has been crucial. The deals we struck with our two main sponsors, Wonga and Puma, together with a stronger focus on our commercial operations, have helped us achieve this growth. 'We believe financial stability will deliver positive on-field results for the club.' The announcement prompted an outbreak of sarcastic humour from fans on social media, with @GallowgateShots posting: '£NUFC fans flock to the streets in masses to celebrate their record profit win.' +Bafetimbi Gomis illustrated his ability to respond to adversity by returning to the Swansea team soon after suffering a frightening fainting episode. He did similar at Villa Park, rousing himself after three missed chances to bury the winner in the closing stages. Garry Monk, the Swansea manager, believes that goal, following a brilliant Jefferson Montero cross, showed his striker is ready to fill the void left by Wilfried Bony and replicate the kind of form he enjoyed at Lyon. Bafetimbi Gomis scored a late winner as Swansea beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday . Gomis (second right) celebrates with a rogue Swansea fan who made his way onto the pitch . Every time Bafetimbi Gomis has scored this season, Swansea have won . ‘We know what the headlines would have been if we didn’t win that game,’ said Monk. ‘But Bafe didn’t let it affect him when he had those chances. He persevered and deserved that. His commitment and effort in recent weeks since Bony left has been top.’ His strike against Villa was his third Premier League goal of the season, even if all have been late winners. It was his 27th game in the English top-flight but only 14th start. For Tim Sherwood, defeat punctured some of the building optimism around his tenure. The Villa manager insisted the club would not creep back into the ‘depression mode’ he encountered on arriving however. ‘The morale was very low when I came in. They were on the floor,’ he said. ‘I think that’s turned around now. I’m still confident even after this little blip that we’ll stay in the division.’ Garry Monk is confident that Gomis can fill the void left by Wilfried Bony, who has joined Manchester City . Tim Sherwood is confident he will not let Aston Villa return to 'depression mode' +A domestic treble is a marathon rather than a sprint. Yet Celtic are closer to their promised land after routing the Arabs in Scottish football’s answer to the six-day war. By 5pm on Saturday, Dundee United were worn out. As punch drunk as a flabby heavyweight leaning against the ropes in the 14th round. Exhausted — mentally and physically — by three losses in a week to a side with more depth, energy and firepower. The Tayside team fancied their chances after holding on for a 1-1 Scottish Cup draw with nine men a fortnight ago. Then Celtic won the League Cup Final. And followed it with a thumping 4-0 victory in last Wednesday’s Scottish Cup replay. Jason Denayer celebrates with his team-mates after giving Celtic a three-goal lead before half-time . Denayer taps home from close range as Celtic record comfortable victory against Dundee United . Battered and bruised, United were gone then. Long before they found themselves three goals down in the first half of this league match. The heat, light and fury which bred six red cards, three penalties and running feuds in the previous meetings had gone. All told, Celtic and Dundee United met four times in two weeks. By the end, Jackie McNamara’s team were pleased the ordeal was over. The same might be said of the title race. In Saturday’s early game, Aberdeen shipped two points in Dundee. The Dens equaliser came from the grandson of former Parkhead chairman Jack McGinn. Proof, if it were needed, that this was Celtic’s week. ‘It’s been a great week,’ said defender Efe Ambrose. ‘We know that, but we don’ t want to look at what we’ve done. We want to look forwards and that means the next game. That’s more important than what we’ve already done. ‘Every game counts in the league and we want to keep going. From now until the end of the season, we want to keep doing our best, so we can defend our title and get to the Scottish Cup Final. Then we can see if the Treble is still possible.’ John Guidetti struck to make it 2-0 to Ronny Deila's side after 33 minutes at Celtic Park on Saturday . The Scottish Cup looks the last substantial hurdle. Inverness, an awkward opponent, await in the semi-final on April 19. Thereafter it is Hibs or Falkirk in the Final. ‘It’s an enjoyable place to be at the moment because everything is working well for us,’ said Ambrose. ‘I think, right now, it would take a lot of effort from another team to stop us. ‘Celtic are playing at a top level. It’s difficult for others to withstand what we have right now. Guidetti is congratulated by his team-mates after doubling the home side's lead . ‘We have a huge squad and everyone is in their best form. It’s difficult for the manager to pick his starting line-up. There’s a lot of competition in the squad and that makes us better.’ There was nothing boastful in the way the Nigerian said this. He was merely stating a bald truth. For the fourth meeting with United in a fortnight, Ronny Deila replaced his entire front four. Leigh Griffiths, Kris Commons, James Forrest and Anthony Stokes made way for John Guidetti, Stefan Johansen, Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven. Mackay-Steven and Armstrong were United’s star players until they were sold to Celtic for £2million in January. Gary Mackay-Steven opened the scoring against his former club to set up victory for Celtic . Once again, Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson had cause to ponder if it was worth it when Mackay-Steven smashed a superb opening goal in 16 minutes, accepting a simple Ambrose pass and winding up for a swerving left-foot shot from fully 25 yards. As a former United player, his reluctance to celebrate was understandable. Why Guidetti did likewise after doubling the lead in 33 minutes with a looping, deflected shot into the top corner was harder to work out. By then, Celtic were playing a training game. A flat affair, given the ill feeling of the previous encounters, the home support could barely even bring themselves to boo Ryan McGowan. There was a brief flash of the old enmity when Paul Paton was lucky to escape a red card for a wild, scything tackle on Mackay-Steven on the stroke of half-time. If a yellow was a lenient punishment, Celtic added to the penalty by scoring a third when Virgil van Dijk thumped Johansen’s low free-kick towards goal before Jason Denayer intercepted and cheekily back heeled into the net for 3-0. Mackay-Steven (left) celebrates his goal with Stefan Johansen during the Scottish Premiership match . The Belgian has found a rich vein of form and, as with van Dijk, the Celtic support should enjoy him while they can. Dundee United came close just once, when substitute Ryan Dow had a dipping, long-range effort tipped over the bar by Craig Gordon. In truth, the visitors looked utterly demoralised by then. ‘I thought we were soft in the first half and we accepted things,’ said McNamara. ‘So I told them I was disappointed in that. I was a bit angry at half-time about belief and not just pride, but in terms of doing things and not feeling sorry for themselves. ‘In the second half, we did that. We rolled up our sleeves, though it could be argued that Celtic took their feet off the gas.’ They could afford to conserve their energies. Only three times in Celtic’s 127-year history have the club won a Treble and they are now tantalisingly close to a fourth. ‘I never allow myself to think about the Treble,’ parried Ambrose. ‘None of us do. ‘The most important thing for the team is to go game by game and that’s what the manager wants. We take it as it comes. ‘We don’t put anything in our heads. The important thing is to play hard and prepare. Everyone wants to beat Celtic. ‘It’s important that we’re calm and work to the tactics the manager wants us to play. ‘We need to have one spirit, one heart. We have good momentum right now and I think we have delivered what the manager expected. We’re almost there. ‘But we’re not there yet, so we have to keep pushing in training. Every time we play a game, he wants us to improve, so that’s a challenge he has given to us.’ A popular whipping Bhoy when things go wrong, it’s worth recording that Ambrose himself has improved of late. The Green Brigade sang his name on Saturday, prompting a wry chuckle from a player who seems a little safer at right-back than centre-half. ‘The Celtic supporters are the best in the world,’ said the defender, ‘I will give them credit for that. ‘Sometimes it’s unfair if I get criticism but that’s football. We’re a team, not individuals. ‘If a mistake happens, you just have to get on with it, work harder and make sure you correct the mistake.’ Of late, Deila’s Celtic have managed not only to correct their early season mistakes, but eradicate them. As the final mile of the marathon approaches, they are pacing themselves nicely. +Craig Gordon insists Dundee United’s Ryan McGowan will revel in his role as Public Enemy No 1 at Celtic Park on Saturday. Speaking as the clubs prepare to meet for the fourth time in a fortnight, the Parkhead goalkeeper played down talk of a running feud after the tally of red cards rose to six in three games during Wednesday night’s ill-tempered Scottish Cup replay. Celtic striker Anthony Stokes was dismissed just moments before McGowan’s sending off for an uncompromising challenge on Liam Henderson, which was later dubbed ‘dangerous’ and ‘career-threatening’ by Ronny Deila. Goalkeeper Craig Gordon has played down talk of a running feud with Dundee United . However, the Australian international will play in Saturday’s SPFL clash after appealing his red card – and is certain to face a hostile reception from the Parkhead crowd. A former Hearts club-mate of the full-back, however, Gordon believes McGowan will be unfazed, saying: ‘I know Ryan, and he will probably enjoy it. ‘He’s that type of boy. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he goes out and gives 100 per cent. ‘If it is the case he is booed, I don’t think he will be overawed by that. ‘He was in the youth team when I was at Hearts. I never played with him. But I knew of him coming through. ‘It is something he will have to deal with, and I am sure he will. ‘But, as far as the players are concerned, there is nothing in that. We will just concentrate on ourselves.’ Ryan McGowan is sent off by referee Calum Murray after he scythed down Celtic sub Liam Henderson . McGowan used Twitter to apologise to Henderson in the aftermath of the game, but angered Celtic supporters by appealing a red card many believed to be clear-cut. ‘He likes a tackle,’ added Gordon. ‘He has no problem with that. ‘Perhaps he maybe just lost the head for a split second with the way the games have been going. ‘And that’s a difficult thing to actually put up with if you are losing a couple of games to the same opposition and somebody is trying a bit of skill to beat you in the corner. ‘It takes a lot to keep a calm head. But both sets of players are going to have to do that to make sure we keep a full complement of players on the pitch. ‘There is nothing there in terms of between the players. But, during the 90 minutes, both teams want to win desperately.’ McGowan took to social media again yesterday to refer indirectly to the furore, Tweeting: ‘Heard it’s very “dangerous” possibly “career threatening” for ur eyes to watch the eclipse without glasses! Lucky I have mine with me.’ No fan of Twitter, Gordon insists he hadn’t seen it, but grinned: ‘He has always been a confident lad, and that has probably helped him. ‘Hearts fans still hold him in very high regard, probably just as much for his Twitter account as for his football. Deila celebrates at full-time as his side reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 victory . ‘But, that’s just part and parcel of modern football, I suppose.’ Playing down predictions of more red cards or settled scores as Celtic seek to keep Aberdeen at bay in the title race, Gordon dismissed talk of a feud between the two sets of players. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘Fortunately, I’ve not been involved in any of the incidents. ‘Our players have been fine after the games. There’s not really been anything too much. ‘There have been a few isolated incidents on the pitch. But I don’t think there has been anything beyond that, certainly not from my point of view. ‘It’s up to us as players to keep it under control and make sure we are pointing our aggression in the right way and keeping a lid on it. ‘It’s the fourth game and it will probably form a similar pattern, in that we will have to win the battle if we are going to win the game.’ United midfielder Paul Paton, accused of using an elbow on Stokes before the Celtic striker’s red card on Wednesday, turned up the heat by suggesting the Parkhead side have been ‘manipulating’ referees for years. Responding by pointing to the leniency shown towards Calum Butcher and Nadir Ciftci by the SFA, however, Gordon said: ‘Maybe there were times when decisions went against us at Hearts. But I can’t think there was ever a time where I thought that was the case. ‘I didn’t tend to think that way. ‘United had a few decent decisions in the last few games, as well, so if they want to start bringing up one incident against the other, there’s so many talking points in the last couple of games, whether it be sending offs or penalties. ‘There is a case to be made for a number of decisions going opposite ways for both sides.’ +Barcelona club captain Xavi looks set to leave the Catalan giants for Qatar, with Al Sadd confirming the deal is all but signed. Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo have claimed 'Destination Qatar' with the 35-year-old poised to sign a three-year deal worth around £7m a season. Mundo Deportivo reports that Al Sadd announced Xavi had already signed for next season, although they later back tracked and said it will be announced in 'his own time.' Mundo Deportivo report that Xavi's deal to sign for Al Sadd in Qatar is imminent, ending a fine Barca career . The Spanish paper also claims Barcelona will give 'total freedom' to their legendary captain, who has won 22 major trophies with Nou Camp club during a magnificent career, to do 'what he considers appropriate.' Xaxi has played for Barca a record 751 times since he graduated from their academy to the first team in 1998 but has had limited game time this season under coach Luis Enrique. The 35-year-old has a contract at Barcelona until 2016 but now looks set to play his last ever game for the club either against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey cup final in the Nou Camp on May 30, or in the Champions League final in Berlin on June 6 should Enrique's side progress that far. Spanish newspaper AS hail 'Superbale' after his brace guided Wales to a 3-0 win in Israel on Saturday . Meanwhille AS have branded Wales hero Gareth Bale 'SuperBale' after Real Madrid's forward scored twice to guide his country to a 3-0 Euro 2016 qualifying victory in Israel on Saturday. AS reported 'He amazes in Israel', having scored a brace and provided an assist for Aaron Ramsey. Marca also heaped praise on the Welshman with 'Great match from Bale as he played with freedom of movement.' That's quite a turn around for the much maligned Galactico after Marca scored him a zero after the El Clasico defeat by Barcelona last weekend. The Italian press reacts after Sampdoria striker Eder, born in Brazil, scores to save a 2-2 draw in Bulgaria . Over in Italy, national team coach Antonio Conte was left shaken after receiving death threats from Juventus fans in light of Claudio Marchisio's injury in training before the 2-2 Euro 2016 qualifier in Bulgaria, declaring ‘Let me work in peace.' Gazzetta Sportiva reported 'In Bulgaria Italy snatch a 2-2 draw, but the torment remains' as Sampdoria striker Eder scored on his debut to rescue a point 'to save an ugly Nazionale'. Corriere dello sport went with the headline 'A Brazilian saves Conte' as Eder, born in Brazil, was embroiled in much controversy over his eligibility to play for the Azzurri. The Italian press have claimed the controversy surrounding the death threats and Eder's debut have cost the national team, as they prepare to take on England in a friendly in Turin on Tuesday. +Johan Cruyff labelled Holland's performance during Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Turkey in their Euro 2016 qualifier 'a disgrace' - but manager Guus Hiddink insists he does not fear for his job. Hiddink's side needed a 93rd minute equaliser from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who inadvertently deflected in Wesley Sneijder's shot, to save a point in Amsterdam. The result leaves Holland third in Group A, five points behind Iceland in second and six off leaders Czech Republic but Hiddink rejected reports on Tuesday suggesting he is on the verge of being dismissed. Memphis Depay (left) and Ibrahim Afellay pictured in training as Holland prepare to play Spain in a friendly . Afellay (right) attempts to win the ball off of Depay in the Holland training session before the Spain match . Guus Hiddink's (centre) team are third in Group A of Euro 2016 qualifying after a 1-1 draw with Turkey . Johan Cruyff has revealed his dismay at Holland's performance in the encounter against Turkey . 'The author of the article is present (in the press room) so you should ask him,' Hiddink said at a press conference. 'I don't have the feeling that they (the Dutch Football Association, the KNVB) want to sack me and I still have a lot of fun in my job. There is nothing going on.' Pressure on Hiddink had earlier been heightened after Cruyff's damning verdict on the performance against Turkey. 'Holland were terrible against Turkey. Nobody did what they had to do,' Cruyff wrote in his column in De Telegraaf. 'The defenders were only passing the ball to the midfielders and they then passed it back to the defenders,' he added. 'The people with little creativity were dictating play. This is not what you want. The problems only got bigger.' Holland have the opportunity to make amends when they host Spain on Tuesday in a friendly which sees the two sides meet for the first time since the Dutch routed the then World Cup holders 5-1 at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Spain prepared for the friendly with a 1-0 home victory over Ukraine, a strike from Alvaro Morata moving them three points clear of their rivals in second place in Group C. Wesley Sneijder (second right) saved a point in stoppage time as his shot deflected off Klaas-Jan Huntelaar . Spain defender Dani Carvajal (centre) poses alongside Iker Casillas (left) and Isco as Spain head to Holland . David De Gea (left) poses with Sergio Asenjo as Spain aim for revenge against Holland on Tuesday . Juan Bernat wants Spain to avenge a 5-1 defeat to Holland at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Vicente del Bosque's side are three points behind group leaders Slovenia, who have five wins from five, but their attention will now turn to avenging their World Cup defeat to Holland. 'There's always a rematch in football,' Juan Bernat of Bayern Munich told Spain's official website. 'That's what is so nice about this sport and what we will experience against the Netherlands after the match in the Brazil World Cup.' +Bryan Robson has pinpointed Ander Herrera as one of the key figures in Manchester United's revival. United are fourth in the table just two points behind second-placed Manchester City. They face their neighbours and defending champions on April 12 during a crucial four game spell that sees them take on Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton. However, the manner of their victories against Tottenham and Liverpool in recent weeks has been ominous. Bryan Robson has hailed Ander Herrera as one of the key figures in Manchester United's revival this year . Herrera celebrates after scoring the opening goal during their FA Cup third round match with Yeovil Town . Former United captain Robson recognises that Juan Mata has been winning the bulk of the plaudits but admires the qualities Herrera is showing. 'Ander started off the season well and he’s got a lot of energy,' Robson told ManUtd.com. 'He is always on the move, trying to close people down really quickly. He has got a lot of qualities really, it’s just getting them out of him on a consistent basis. But he has got that in his locker, maybe it’s just taken him and a few of the new signings time to adapt to the Premier League.' Herrera set up Mata's first goal against Liverpool with an inch-perfect pass and the 25-year-old acquisition from Athletic Bilbao has shown signs of being able to provide a greater tempo to United's play. 'He is quite good defensively and, when I watch him, I can see he has a lot of energy and he does like to get involved' added Robson. 'What I like about him is that, when people are on the ball, he is always on the move to try and receive the pass.' Herrera was outstanding against Liverpool at Anfield last week and has been in fine form for United . Robson (left) pictured shooting for United against Barcelona at Old Trafford in 1984 . +Newcastle United legend Bobby Moncur maintains that teams deserve the ‘big club’ tag by winning trophies. Commenting on the study in Thursday's Sportsmail, Moncur said the rankings of Chelsea (4th) and Manchester City (5th) in the ‘big clubs’ league table were justified despite owners splashing hundreds of millions of pounds in recent years. Newcastle were listed ninth in our findings, one place above rivals Sunderland, who Moncur later joined. Vincent Kompany celebrates with the Manchester City squad as they are crowned Premier League champions . Manchester City are jubilant after winning their second Premier League title in three years in 2014 . Frank Lampard celebrates with the Champions League trophy after winning the competition in 2012 . But rather than claim the North East clubs — with their loyal and sizeable fanbase — should reside above the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, Moncur said: ‘For me, a big club is one that wins trophies.’ Moncur, the last man to lift a trophy for the Magpies when they won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969, added: ‘If you were ranking Newcastle on supporters alone I’d have them in the top three. The fans are loyal, passionate and fill the ground week in, week out, regardless of what happens on the pitch. ‘In that sense, both they and Sunderland are huge. But, as we know, Newcastle have not won a trophy since 1969 and Sunderland since 1973. Former Newcastle captain Bobby Moncur holds aloft the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 - the club's last trophy . Sportsmail's extensive study found that Manchester United are England's biggest club with Arsenal and Liverpool second at third respectively while Newcastle and Sunderland are ninth and tenth . Chelsea won the second league title in the club's history in Jose Mourinho's first season in England . ‘You could say Manchester City have bought success but they were always a big club in my day, people sometimes forget that. Chelsea have won a lot of trophies after financial backing but they’ve had good days in the past too. ‘Some North-East fans might argue their teams should be higher but ranking them in the top 10 is fair and actually recognises how big they are.’ Moncur, 70, also agreed with placing Arsenal in second, above Liverpool. ‘Arsenal have always been a big club, all the way back they’ve been in the top division and won things,’ he said. ‘Until Bill Shankly came in, Liverpool didn’t dominate like they did in the Seventies and Eighties. I remember when they were nothing. Frank McLintock, George Graham and Charlie George celebrate as Arsenal complete the Double in 1971 . +Dutch legend Johan Cruyff believes Barcelona were fortunate to come out of Sunday's El Clasico against Real Madrid with all three points. Goals from Jeremy Mathieu and Luis Suarez handed the Catalans victory at the Nou Camp, despite the best efforts of Cristiano Ronaldo who bagged Real Madrid's goal. The win sends Barcelona four points clear at the top of La Liga, but Cruyff, who spent time as both a player and a manager at the Nou Camp, was less than impressed with the way his former club played against Los Blancos. Luis Suarez celebrates scoring the winner for Barcelona against Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday night . Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equaliser but was not able to lead his side to victory at the Nou Camp . Real Madrid's Gareth Bale is tackled by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique on Sunday night . 'Football is so great, that you can play a match poorly and win,' the Dutchman told AS. 'When a team plays well, the logical outcome is a win, but when a team plays poorly and wins... 'How many balls did Barca concede? Who won on possession? Madrid, no? Well that's all that needs to be said.' Dutch football star Johan Cruyff poses with his son Jordi Cruyff at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, Spain . +Martin Skrtel is set to become the second Liverpool player banned for stamping in the defeat to Manchester United after he was charged with violent conduct by the FA.. The Slovakia defender is alleged to have deliberately trodden on goalkeeper David de Gea towards the end of United’s 2-1 win at Anfield on Sunday, leading to an angry confrontation between the two players after the final whistle. The FA were able to take action after referee Martin Atkinson confirmed that he did not see the incident, and a three-man panel unanimously agreed that it was a red card offence. Skrtel, 30, has until 6pm on Tuesday to respond to the charge. Martin Skrtel's foot lands on David de Gea's leg, with the FA to decide whether there was any intent . Skrtel avoided any punishment at the time, with Martin Atkinson blowing for full time seconds later . Liverpool could easily have lost a second player at the very end of the game when Skrtel followed through on David De Gea but Atkinson showed a consistent approach and let the game end in a deserved away win. Teammate Steven Gerrard has already been hit with a three-match ban after he was sent off for stamping on Ander Herrera just 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute. It would be a further blow to Liverpool’s hopes of overhauling United in the race for a top-four finish if Skrtel is suspended as well. The centre-back was pushed forward in search of an equaliser and trod on De Gea as the United goalkeeper slid in to gather the ball at his feet. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admitted that the video footage did not look good in slow motion, but insisted that Skrtel was going for the ball. He said: ‘The ball has been played through and it looks like, when it is slowed down, that he has caught him with intent. I didn’t see it like that. He is trying to get the ball.’ But a statement from the FA read: ‘Martin Skrtel has been charged by the FA for violent conduct following an on-field incident which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. ‘In Premier League matches, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite officials will be asked by the FA to review the footage independently of each other. ‘For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the decision by the panel was unanimous.’ Brendan Rodgers has defended his player's actions, claiming that Skrtel is 'not that type of player' Rodgers believes his defender landed on the Manchester United keeper accidentally as he went for the ba . Liverpool will already be missing Steven Gerrard for the next three games, after his red card on Sunday . Martin Skrtel has been charged by The FA for violent conduct following an on-field incident which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. The charge is in relation to an incident involving the Liverpool defender and Manchester United's David de Gea which occurred in the 95th minute of Sunday's game. The player has until 6pm on 24 March 2015 to respond to the charge. In Premier League matches, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite officials will be asked by The FA to review the footage independently of each other. They will then advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time. For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the decision by the panel was unanimous. +Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and manager Brendan Rodgers have called for the players to use the defeat against Manchester United as motivation for a renewed top-four push. The 2-1 loss at Anfield was their first in the league since losing at Old Trafford in mid-December and left them five points adrift of their arch-rivals, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot. But just as the squad reacted to losing to United just before Christmas the expectation now is for them to bounce back and maintain the challenge. Juan Mata pulls off his incredible scissor-kick against Liverpool as Manchester United won 2-1 at Anfield . Mata and his United team-mates celebrate doubling their lead en route to their 2-1 win in the Premier League . Mata celebrates his incredible goal that the Spanish midfielder admits was one of the best he'd ever scored . 'There's still a lot to play for and when we come back from international duty, we've got that big game against Arsenal (in third),' Mignolet told liverpoolfc.com. 'The game away to Manchester United at Old Trafford we used as a catalyst to put in a lot of good performances - so let's use this game as a catalyst again when we come back. 'With all the games still to play until the end of the season we can still do really well. 'We'll build on the game and hopefully we can come back and get a run going again like we did after that Old Trafford game.' Rio hit by a coin, Rooney swearing live on TV... what else makes our 50 shocking moments in Premier League history? CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR LIST . Rodgers has urged the squad to use the international break to put the defeat behind them and return ready for a difficult trip to the Emirates Stadium. 'The message to the players was that last performance at Old Trafford was a great springboard for us,' he said. 'We went on and, up until this point (against United), we hadn't lost a league game. 'So now we must use this similarly; refocus, get over the disappointment and then come back into a tough game next against Arsenal and really look to get the points there.' The Reds boss remains confident the defeat, which saw captain Steven Gerrard sent off less than a minute after coming on at half-time, will not derail their bid for the top four. 'It makes it difficult (for the top four). We had a 10-game objective that we set and built into that was that we were not going to win every single game,' added Rodgers. 'It's still very much (possible) for us to go where we want to go, which is the top four. 'We just need to fight that bit harder and make up a five-point difference.' Mignolet enhanced his improving reputation further with an added-time penalty save against Wayne Rooney but admitted it gave him little pleasure in the wider context. Steven Gerrard is shown a red card early in the second half for a foul on Manchester United's Mata . Gerrard can't believe it after being sent off for a reckless stamp on United's Ander Herrera at Anfield . Here is the stamp from Gerrard on Herrera after both players had competed for the ball . 'The penalty save isn't important any more although Skrts (Martin Skrtel) had a chance after that,' he added. 'When you play at home, you always want to win, but unfortunately it didn't happen. 'They scored in the first half and against a team like Manchester United, it's always difficult after that. 'In the second half, we tried to come back with a new plan to try to make sure we got a result out of the game. A stunned Gerrard walks off the Anfield pitch having been shown a straight red card for a stamp on Herrera . Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has a penalty saved by Liverpool's Simon Mignolet . 'With 10 men we fought hard to get something out of the game and we got the goal through Daniel (Sturridge) but unfortunately we didn't then get the chance to get an equaliser.' Mignolet also praised Gerrard on his post-match apology for his moment of madness. 'That's what he is about,' said the Belgium international. 'He spoke to the team after the game inside the dressing room and what was said exactly shall stay in there, but it shows who and what he is off the pitch.' +Having seen their Champions League campaigns for the current season end Borussia Dortmund this weekend step up attempts to be back in Europe's elite competition next season. Dortmund's 3-0 defeat at home to Juventus on Wednesday night means they now have the biggest challenge on their hands to get back into the competition next season. They travel to Hannover on Saturday needing to make up 12 points on the top four in the final nine games of the season, or eight points to qualify for the Europa League. Jurgen Klopp looks on as his side were beaten 3-0 by Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday . Carlos Tevez (left) was the star for the Serie A side as they ran out comfortable winners at Borussia Dortmund . Both look unlikely with the absence of European football potentially for the next 18 months a sobering thought for Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. 'I've already drawn a line under this game and started to forget about Juventus,' the German said. 'There's nothing good about getting knocked out of the Champions League. Okay, so we don't have any more midweek games, but that's an advantage that we don't necessarily want. 'Nevertheless, we will use it for training.' Fernando Torres scored the winning penalty as Atletico Madrid knocked out Bayer Leverkusen . Schalke beat Real Madrid 4-3 in the second leg at the Bernabeu but ultimately lost the tie on aggregate . Fellow Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen suffered a heart-breaking defeat to Atletico Madrid on penalties on Tuesday in the Champions League last-16, a week after Schalke were eliminated despite winning 4-3 at Real Madrid. Schalke and Leverkusen lie fourth and fifth respectively and they meet on Saturday evening in a clash that could be pivotal in terms of qualifying for next season's competition. While runaway leaders Bayern Munich can secure their place in the Champions League next season by beating Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday, if Leverkusen drop points at Schalke. +Portugal manager Fernando Santos has revealed his desire to sew up qualification for Euro 2016 before their return trip to face Serbia in a tricky tie in Belgrade on the final day of qualifying. Santos' side face Serbia at Lisbon's Estadio da Luz on Sunday, hoping that star man and captain Cristiano Ronaldo can help open up a gap on one of their rivals for a place at the finals in France next summer. With a win offering the Portuguese a chance to leapfrog Denmark at the top of the group, Santos wants to take what he sees as a key step towards sealing qualification. Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Fernando Santos (right) talk ahead of Portugal's Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday . Santos has made it clear that the game against Serbia is very important to their qualification hopes . Ronaldo took the chance to show off during training as Portugal went through their paces on Saturday . Speaking after training, Santos said: 'The game is not decisive but it is very important. We depend only on ourselves, and if we win we get to depend only of us in an even stronger way. In this sense it is a very important game. 'The desire is to go to Belgrade (when they face Serbia on October 11) with qualification from the group already guaranteed.' Ronaldo has scored both of low-scoring Portugal's two goals in qualifying so far, securing late wins over Denmark and Armenia after a shock opening-fixture defeat by Albania. The Ballon d'Or winner has come under some criticism for his Real Madrid performances of late but looked full of confidence out on the pitch as his side went through their final preparations for Sunday's game. The Portuguese talisman looks away as he prepares to fire a pass away from the goalmouth . Ronaldo pulls off a flick as some of his team-mates watch on at the Antonio Coimbra da Mota stadium . Keeping an eye on the ball, Ronaldo prepares to pull off another trick in preparation for facing Serbia . Despite Serbia's poor record in qualifying so far - taking just one point from three games - they do boast a number of stars from Europe's top divisions, including Chelsea pair Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic as well as Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic. However, Santos said that he would not be preparing his players to give any 'special attention' to any opposition players. 'There will be no special care for anyone,' he said. 'Portugal respects all of their players, Matic, (Zoran) Tosic, Markovic, I won't go on as I would have to name them all. 'As I told the players in this morning's meeting, the important thing is for us to be compact and dynamic.' Manchester United's Nani, who is spending the season on loan at Sporting Lisbon, joined in with the tricks . Serbia trained at the Estadio da Luz on Saturday as they looked to revive their qualification hopes . The current state of play in Group I, showing how Portugal can top the group with victory over Serbia . +Real Madrid centre back Sergio Ramos will mark 10 years in a Spain jersey when he lines up for Vicente del Bosque's side against Ukraine on Friday night. Ramos made his first appearance for his country on March 26, 2005 and will be hoping to celebrate his 10th anniversary with a victory against his side's Group C rivals in a crucial Euro 2016 qualifier at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Sevilla. Spanish newspaper AS leads with the headline 'Ramos' Friday' as the veteran Spaniard also gets ready to mark 125 games for his country. AS lead Friday's edition with the headline 'Ramos' Friday' to mark the Spanish veteran's 10 years of service . Spain's clash with Ukraine is on Marca's agenda while Sport reports on Xavi's move to Al-Sadd next season . Corriere dello Sport carries a story on Ciro Immobile's proposed move to AC Milan from Borussia Dortmund . Marca also lead on Spain's crunch meeting with Ukraine stating: 'To win is obligatory', as the eastern Europeans are level on points with Del Bosque's men in second place with Slovakia currently leading Group C on 12 points. The Spanish publication also carries a story where Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti cites Croatian midfielder Luka Modric among his group of 'indispensables' along with Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona newspaper Sport reports on Xavi's proposed €10million per year deal with Qatari side Al-Sadd. The 35-year-old Barca legend is set to move to the club at the end of the season following a trophy-laden career with the Catalan giants. L'Equipe cites the absence of Hugo Lloris and Paul Pogba as key factors in France's 3-1 to Brazil . Meanwhile, Corriere dello Sport carries a story on Ciro Immobile's proposed move to AC Milan from Borussia Dortmund. In France, L'Equipe lead with the headline 'Yellow Card' following France 3-1 loss to Brazil at the Stade de France on Thursday night. +Juventus forward Alvaro Morata is likely to feature up front for Spain in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine in Seville, coach Vicente del Bosque said on Thursday. Morata is the obvious choice in the striker's role for the European champions following the withdrawal due to injury of Diego Costa as second-placed Spain look to maintain pressure on Group C leaders Slovakia. 'We have been training with all the players we have, we have deployed them in the positions they are going to play and we have a lot of expectations of Morata,' Del Bosque told a news conference ahead of the game at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. Alvaro Morata is set to start for Spain in their Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine on Friday . Morata has two international caps to his name but looks likely to add to his tally on Friday . Morata is put under pressure by Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos during a training session on Thursday . Spain manager Vicente del Bosque confirmed that Morata was likely to start up front against Ukraine . 'It has been positive that he has enriched himself by moving abroad and it is good that he has had playing time (at Juve),' Del Bosque added. Morata joined the Italian champions from Real Madrid in the close season after breaking into Real's first team from the youth ranks but finding his playing time limited. The 22-year-old, who has scored seven goals in 22 Serie A appearances this term for the Italian champions, is competing for a place up front with the likes of Barcelona's Pedro and Malaga's Juanmi. Cesc Fabregas, who plays in midfield for Chelsea but has often been drafted in as an extra striker for his country, is another option. Morata was given strong backing by Spain team mates Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta. The Spain squad were put through their paces ahead of the match against Ukraine . Real Madrid midfielder Isco tries to bring the ball down during Thursday's practice in Seville . Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas makes a diving save during training on Thursday . Manchester City playmaker David Silva takes refreshments on board . Andres Iniesta (left) and Sergio Ramos both gave their backing to Morata ahead of the qualifier in Seville . Spain lie second in qualifying Group C, three points shy of Slovakia . Results so far: Luxembourg 1 Belarus 1; Spain 5 FYR Macedonia 1; Ukraine 0 Slovakia 1; Belarus 0 Ukraine 2; FYR Macedonia 3 Luxembourg 2; Slovakia 2 Spain 1; Ukraine 1 FYR Macedonia 0; Belarus 1 Slovakia 3; Luxembourg 0 Spain 4; Luxembourg 0 Ukraine 3; FYR Macedonia 0 Slovakia 2; Spain 3 Belarus 0 . Fixtures to come: March 27 - FYR Macedonia vs Belarus, Slovakia vs Luxembourg, Spain vs Ukraine; June 14 - Ukraine vs Luxembourg, Belarus vs Spain, Slovakia vs FYR Macedonia; September 5 - Luxembourg vs FYR Macedonia, Ukraine vs Belarus, Spain vs Slovakia; September 8 - Belarus vs Luxembourg, FYR Macedonia vs Spain, Slovakia vs Ukraine; October 9 - FYR Macedonia vs Ukraine, Slovakia vs Belarus, Spain vs Luxembourg; October 12 - Belarus vs FYR Macedonia, Luxembourg vs Slovakia, Ukraine vs Spain . 'He deserves to be here,' Real centre back Ramos said. 'He is a forward who stirs things up, who looks for the spaces, who moves well up front and he gives the national team a very good alternative.' Barcelona playmaker Iniesta added: 'We all know Alvaro's quality. He is really playing well and that's why he is here with us. 'He is a born goalscorer, he is always pushing the limit of offside and his precision and movement make your job easier.' With four matches played, Spain are second in Group C on nine points, three behind Slovakia, who beat them 2-1 in Zilina in October, and level with Ukraine. Spain host Slovakia in September in a match that may decide who secures a place at the tournament in France as group winners. Morata has been in good form since moving to Juventus from Real Madrid last summer . Morata celebrates after scoring in Juve's 3-0 Champions League win away to Borussia Dortmund . +Sheffield Eagles will be back in the steel city for their Ladbrokes Challenge Cup fifth-round tie with Hull FC. The match, on Sunday 19 April, will be played at one of the Eagles' former homes, Bramall Lane. The Eagles left their temporary home at Owlerton Stadium at the end of last season and currently are ground-sharing with Kingstone Press Championship rivals Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium until their new stadium on the site of the old Don Valley Stadium is completed. Sheffield Eagles have been groundsharing with Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium this season . +Zinedine Zidane has revealed he would be keen to manage Real Madrid if he was offered the role by club president Florentino Perez. Zidane has been in charge of Madrid's Castilla side since deciding to focus on his own managerial career following his season-long stint as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant. Ancelotti has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks following Madrid's recent poor run of form, which has seen them lose three of their last four games. Zinedine Zidane has revealed he would find it hard to reject the opportunity of managing Real Madrid . Zidane worked under Carlo Ancelotti during the course of last season before becoming Castilla boss . And Zidane, speaking to Canal+, has admitted he would be keen on replacing Ancelotti if the Italian was to leave the La Liga giants. 'If the post of Real's coach was proposed to me, I would certainly agree. But there is a coach right now who is doing a very good job. And I'm in a structure and still learning. 'Am I ready for the job? You are never ready, and even if you're not you still say yes. As a player, I didn't forge my career in two years. Things happen gradually. In coaching, it will be the same. 'l've learned a lot from Carlo and he knows what I think of him. He is the perfect coach for Madrid, despite what people say.' Zidane has learned a lot from both Jose Mourinho and Ancelotti since hanging up his boots in 2006 . Zidane insists he is ready to tackle club management after learning a lot from both Ancelotti and former Real boss Jose Mourinho. He added: 'From Mourinho, what I learned is that he never gives up. His handling is surprising, but he is right because he is harsh, yet fair. After a while it can be heavy, but he is fair and does everything for his players. 'For Ancelotti, it's different. He is a 'cool dad' with his players, he's more patient. But he also knows that sometimes you need to be harsh.' +England's stars headed to Turin to face Italy as Roy Hodgson's men seek revenge for their World Cup defeat last summer. Both England and Italy exited at the group stage in Brazil, but the Italians did at least manage one win, beating Hodgson's side in the opening game in Manaus. But a new-look squad, led by Harry Kane, who scored on his debut last Friday, flew out on Monday hoping to set the record straight when the sides meet in Tuesday evening's friendly . Harry Kane, who scored just a few seconds into his England debut on Friday, boards the plane to Turin . England manager Roy Hodgson prepares to lead his team to Italy to face one of their World Cup opponents . England captain Wayne Rooney could become the country's all-time record scorer against Italy . Goalkeepers Joe Hart and Jack Butland share a joke as they walk along the tarmac at Luton airport . England have been in excellent form in qualifying, the 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley marking their fifth straight competitive win since the debacle in Brazil. And with captain Wayne Rooney, who scored again on Friday, primed to match Bobby Charlton's England goalscoring record, there is optimism again for the Three Lions. But they are now set to be tested by a stronger side for the first time, in the shape of Antonio Conte's team. The Italians however have had a testing time of things since the World Cup, sitting second in their qualifying group after snatching a late goal away to Bulgaria in their last match. Phil Jones (right) and Fabian Delph head to the plane as England seek revenge for their World Cup defeat . Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, who came off the bench in the win over Lithuania, prepares to fly to Italy . Ross Barkley and Rob Green head for the flight as England hope to keep up their winning run . Chelsea defender Gary Cahill walks through the airfield as England head to Turin . +World Cup winners Germany will be at their best when they take on Euro 2016 qualifying rivals Poland, Scotland and Ireland after their current period of experimentation, insists Joachim Low. The Germans drew 2-2 in a friendly against Asian champions Australia on Wednesday before a 2-0 victory at Georgia in a Euro qualifier on Sunday. While easing past the Georgians to stay on track for qualification, Germany missed a string of chances again as they struggled with their finishing. Joachim Low's side have failed to replicate the form previously shown at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Germany playmaker Mario Gotze (right) wastes a golden chance against Georgia by shooting wide . Low, who has extended his contract recently to 2018, has said he wants to tinker with his team that won the World Cup last year to make it more flexible and adaptable to different opponents. A three-man defence and more attacking full backs have been two of his experiments, with the coach also trying to find a good mix of youth and experience after the departure of three key players following the World Cup and the return of several long-term absentees, including Marco Reus, Ilkay Guendogan and Holger Badstuber. He has also announced more young players will be in his squad from September onwards. 'We now have a test in the summer against the United States and there I can still try some things out,' Low said of their June 10 friendly before they face Gibraltar in a qualifier three days later. 'After that our forces will then be very focused for our games in September, October and November.' Marco Reus (right) fires home to give Germany the lead in their Euro 2016 qualifying match with Georgia . Germany, who have 10 points along with Scotland while Poland top Group D with 11, host the Poles and travel to Scotland on September 4 and 7 respectively, . They take on Ireland, who are on eight points, on October 8. 'Experience shows that at that time we are always in much better form because we have the chance to be longer together as a group, to play matches and train,' Low said. 'In the second half of the year we are always better.' While Germany are expected to qualify for the tournament in France, Low is delighted to have Reus back and in goalscoring form following a string of injuries last year, with the speedy winger on target in both games. 'He had a lot of bad luck in the past months and used a lot of strength and energy to come back. Our game is more versatile when he is playing and also much more dangerous.' +Theo Walcott has one message to send to rivals competing for his place in the England team: Bring it on. The Arsenal winger spent practically an entire year out for club and country, missing last summer’s World Cup in Brazil, and is only just easing himself into action. In his absence, Raheem Sterling has emerged as one of the nation’s best players, Danny Welbeck continues to play well for England and Harry Kane has raced into contention. Theo Walcott speed past the Lithuania defence during a late cameo appearance on Friday night . Walcott spent practically an entire year out for club and country, missing last summer’s World Cup in Brazil . Manchester United ace Wayne Rooney is a permanent fixture after being handed the England captaincy . With captain Wayne Rooney a permanent fixture on the team-sheet, England manager Roy Hodgson is not short of attacking options whatever formation he chooses to play. But Walcott said: ‘Bring it on. Competition is always going to be there anyway. I’ve been there from 17-years-old and I’ve manage to get through it now and then. ‘Competition is healthy. We want as a nation for all the players to be playing well. It’s only going to spur you on and make you a better player.’ Danny Welbeck, Rooney and Jack Wilshere celebrate scoring against Scotland at Celtic Park in Glasgow . Harry Kane has raced into England contention this season and earned a call-up to Roy Hodgson's squad . Kane scored less than two minutes into his England debut during the 4-0 win against Lithuania . Welbeck has continued to play well for the Three Lions despite failing to impress too many at club level . Walcott admitted he had ‘got a taste for it’ after coming on as a substitute for England in their Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and is hoping for more game time in the friendly with Italy. Spurs striker Kane also came on from the bench and continued his incredible rise this season by scoring 79 seconds into his England debut. Kane is still only 21-years-old, whereas Walcott was thrust into the spotlight four years earlier. And Walcott warned: ’You need to make sure it doesn’t go to your head. Looking at Harry he’s not that sort of guy. He's very nice and down to earth. But Walcott has warned Tottenham Hotspur striker Kane not to let it all go to his head . ‘Just play your football, that’s all you need to do. You don’t need to worry about anything else. You can see he’s playing with a smile on his face every day. You see it in training. As long as he continues to do that, the best will come from him.’ ‘He’s had a lot of experience in the Premier League already. Being top-goalscorer as well. It’s only going to make him into a better player. If he’ s right up there with the best, he’ll believe he is the best. It’s only good for England.’ +During the lengthy inquest into England’s dismal performance at last summer’s World Cup, Roy Hodgson reflected on a team that had been roughed up at the highest level. England were bullied off the ball in the opening two games against Italy and Uruguay, showing too much respect for the opposition. Hodgson demanded change. His team had been intimidated by Luis Suarez, second best to every ball, as England were dumped out of the World Cup after just six days. Luis Suarez bullied and dumped England out of the World Cup after just six days in Brazil . Roy Hodgson's side had been intimidated by Suarez in their Group D defeat at the Arena Corinthians . Weeks after the tournament, at a debrief with England’s coaches, Hodgson told his staff that they would go back to basics for the Euro 2016 qualification campaign. The old-school, British mentality was to make a return and for all the right reasons. Hodgson wanted England to be difficult to beat again. He spoke with assistant manager Ray Lewington and coach Gary Neville, telling them he wanted his new England team to have a more muscular presence on the pitch. Hodgson and Gary Neville had discussions on how they could have a more muscular presence on the pitch . The head coach wanted his team to be stronger, to concentrate on the physical characteristics of the game again after those humbling defeats against Italy and Uruguay, plus the dead rubber against Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte. Hodgson was convinced his team had gone soft, playing to the gallery as the nation demanded a side that could keep possession and stamp their personality on games in the same way as Spain, Holland, France or Germany. The outcome, after Hodgson (right) claimed he wanted to ‘bottle what I’m seeing’ during their pre-tournament training camp at Vale de Lobo in Portugal, was elimination from the World Cup. Although Hodgson wanted his team to be slick and to pass the ball with purpose, he vowed that the rough would go with the smooth for the final two years of his contract. In November, when England renewed their rivalry with Scotland at Celtic Park, the coaching staff agreed unanimously that they emerged from the physical confrontation with the upper hand. Hodgson has introduced the tenacious qualities of Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph to the team, encouraging him to make the meaty challenges in the centre of the park. Hodgson wanted to add some extra steel to his England squad and it game in the form of Fabian Delph . Delph has impressed for England since making his debut for England against Switzerland in Basle . ‘I do like a tackle,’ he admitted on Sunday as England continued their preparations for the prestige friendly against Italy on Tuesday. Less than a year ago, when England played the Italians in the opening World Cup group game in Manaus, Hodgson’s defence could not lay a glove on the Azzurri. Something had to change. The test for this team, with this new rugged approach, is to travel to Turin and secure a result with a depleted team against a side ranked 10th in the world. Wayne Rooney was named England captain and has is eager to please Hodgson and his new strategy . Rooney was in the team against Italy last summer, out on the left in the World Cup opener as Hodgson attempted to accommodate Liverpool forward Daniel Sturridge. Everyone has learned a lesson from that. The England captain is comfortable with the new approach, eager to please the manager after adopting a new strategy. So far, with seven successive victories since they exited the World Cup, it has worked. Rooney and England have enjoyed six successive victories since bowing out of the World Cup with a whimper . Rooney said: ‘You don’t want to go into games with teams enjoying playing against you, you want teams to look at England and think, “We know we have a tough game. It is going to be physically hard against them, we are going to have to defend and we are going to have to be good on the ball to keep the ball”. ‘It’s maybe not so much nasty, but being aggressive. Not in a bad way in terms of we are putting really hard tackles in, but we are getting up to the ball quickly, we are harrying teams and making them make mistakes. At the minute we have the tactics right.’ On Tuesday, when the players take the field in Turin, they will be met with the uncompromising Juventus trio of Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli in their favoured 3-5-2 formation. On Tuesday England face World Cup opposition Italy again as Hodgson's side travel to Turin . ‘Italy will be very good on the ball and there will be times when they are able to play out so we have to make sure we pick our moments right and not get picked off,’ added Rooney. ‘It is moving in a good direction. We are learning with every game since the World Cup, we are getting better and there is an excitement back about England.’ It is a bit early for that, but at least they have made a fresh start. +Napoli manager Rafa Benitez says England will be serious contenders to win the European Championships in France next summer. Roy Hodgson's side beat Lithuania with ease on Friday night to keep up their 100 per cent record at the top of Group E and are six points clear of nearest rivals Slovenia at the halfway point in qualification. England have been beaten by Italy at the last two major tournaments but Benitez, who has worked in Serie A for the past two seasons, insists English players are not inferior. Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring against Lithuania in the Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley on Friday . Roy Hodgson watches on as his side made it five wins from five in Group E . 'I can see from outside that you have enough quality and enough potential to do well,' the former Liverpool and Chelsea boss was quoted as saying in the Mirror. 'I am convinced you can do well. England will be contenders at Euro 2016 because of the level of the players. 'England have very good players – a lot of them could play in Serie A. It is just about finding a way that they can stick together. Napoli manager Rafa Benitez (right) thinks England will be contenders to win Euro 2016 in France . Benitez spent six years managing Liverpool (above) and had a short spell in charge of Chelsea . 'The understanding between them can be much better. But if you talk about potential, if you talk about quality, you have enough quality in England.' Meanwhile, Benitez, who won the Champions League with Liverpool and Europa League with Chelsea, has backed Premier League clubs to bounce back from their disappointing campaigns in Europe this season, but claims Italian sides are tactically better. For me it is cyclical - they will be there next year,' he said. 'Some European clubs are getting stronger, like PSG and Atletico Madrid, but the Premier League will be also stronger in the years to come. England were beaten by Italy at the World Cup last summer thanks to a Mario Balotelli header . England were also knocked out of Euro 2012 by the Italians on penalties . 'The Italian clubs know how to compete, that is the reason why they progress in Europe this year. They are quite aware of the tactics. They work together with different tactics and different systems so they know what to do. 'But I don't see England or the English players worse than them technically. 'Physically and technically they are at the same level. Tactically, obviously, the advantage of Italy is that they have been for years doing a tactical game.' +Despite a raft of injuries, England are lucky enough to still be able to call on the goalscoring exploits of Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane ahead of their glamour friendly with Italy. But Italian centre back Giorgio Chiellini is more concerned about the presence of Theo Walcott, the Arsenal winger with just three goals this campaign who hasn't started for his country in over 18 months. Kane and Rooney have 50 goals between them this season, but Juventus star Chiellini picked out the 'terrifying' Walcott when asked which England players he admired most in the build-up to Tuesday's clash in Turin. Theo Walcott has been picked out by Giorgio Chiellini as the England player who can be most dangerous . Chiellini (second right) chose the 'terrifying' Walcott as the player he is the biggest fan of ahead of facing him . Walcott has struggled to find a place in the team for both Arsenal and England since returning from a knee injury that ruled him out for seven months and saw him miss last summer's World Cup. But Chiellini believes that England are foolish to ignore the player he sees as one of his biggest threats on Tuesday evening at the Juventus Stadium. 'I am always a fan of Walcott, a quick sprinter and terrifying for defenders,' Chiellini said. 'England notice his absence. For the world of football, it is positive that Walcott recuperates totally to his top level.' Italy beat England 2-1 in last summer's World Cup and also eliminated the Three Lions from Euro 2008 in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out. Walcott was used as a substitute in England's win over Lithuania but has struggled for game-time of late . Chiellini believes England are foolish to ignore the player he sees as one of his biggest threats on Tuesday . And Chiellini wants to make it three wins from three games against the English in a game he refuses to view as the friendly it has been billed as. 'This is not a friendly match because matches between England and Italy are always of interest to the whole world. 'England have pride and want to avoid defeat even though this is not an official competition. 'The match is not a comfortable one because our victory at the World Cup is still very present in the mind and perhaps their hopes of revenge will make this a very intense match.' Walcott came back from a seven-month injury lay-off and has struggled to find a place in either of his teams . +After two drama-filled defeats in a week to local rivals Aston Villa, victory over Stoke, the club he managed for seven years before they judged his work there to be done, was a welcome tonic for Tony Pulis. A fourth consecutive clean sheet at home and a first-half goal from Brown Ideye takes West Bromwich Albion to 13th and 11 points from the drop zone. When Pulis, the engineer of Crystal Palace’s great escape last season, took over in January they hovered just one point above the bottom three, offering little to inspire optimism among their fans. Now their place in the top tier looks secure. Stoke were aiming at a fourth win in a row for the first time since 2011 but Pulis halted their progress. He said: ‘It doesn’t mean any more to win over Stoke, I had a wonderful journey there and left them in a sound financial and good position and did wonderful things. Today was about West Brom getting the points.’ Brown Ideye scores the opening goal during the match between West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City . Ideye's opener was the only goal of the game as West Bromwich Albion beat Stoke at the Hawthorns . Pulis praised the contribution made by Darren Fletcher, who arrived at The Hawthorns on a free transfer on January deadline day after a lengthy struggle with ulcerative colitis in his later years at Manchester United. ‘He’s been a fantastic signing,’ said Pulis. ‘A tremendous lad. His enthusiasm and energy levels are brilliant. I don’t know what illness it was but he looks as sprightly as any 20-year-old. I thought he and James Morrison [who partners Fletcher for Scotland] dominated the midfield.’ There were a few controversial moments, such as referee Michael Oliver’s decision to wave away what seemed a blatant penalty for Geoff Cameron’s hefty second-half challenge on Craig Dawson in the box. Oliver, who was praised for his officiating of Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat by Arsenal on Monday, is likely to get attention for different reasons after waving away penalty appeals, to Pulis’s obvious fury. ‘Michael will look at that again and be very disappointed, that’s a blatant a penalty as I’ve seen in a long time,’ he said. A beautiful cross into the box from Craig Gardner led to the goal in the 19th minute. It was expertly headed in at the far post by a stooping Ideye, who found it far too easy to escape the attentions of Phil Bardsley. Stoke had few chances and manager Mark Hughes lamented: ‘It was just one of those days when we had too many underperforming.’ Ideye celebrates as his first half goal earns the Baggies their fourth successive home win . Craig Gardner celebrates with Ideye in the first half of the game against Stoke City on Saturday . England youngster Saido Berahino joins in with the celebrations as the hosts beat Stoke City . WBA (4-4-2): Foster 6 (Myhill, 56 6.5) Dawson 6, McAuley 7, Lescott 6, Brunt 6; Morrison 6, Fletcher 7, Gardner 6, Sessegnon 6; Berahino (Baird 95') 6.5, Ideye 7.5 (Olsson 90') Subs not used: Wisdom, Pocognoli, Mulumbu, Gamboa . Booked: Foster . Tony Pulis: 6.5 . Stoke: (4-2-3-1) Begovic 6; Bardsley 5, Shawcross 5, Wilson 5.5, Pieters 6 (Cameron, 45 6); Nzonzi 6, Whelan 6; Walters 6(Diouf, 67), Adam 5.5, Moses 6 (Arnautovic, 58 6); Crouch 5.5 . Subs not used: Butland; Ireland, Sidwell, Teixeira . Booked: Wilson, Diouf . Goal: Ideye 19' Mark Hughes: 5.5 . Referee: Michael Oliver 5 . Star man: Ideye . Brown Ideye's 19th minute header was enough to seal victory for West Brom. CLICK HERE to see more from our brilliant Match Zone service . Pulis, who was given the Manager of the Month award for February, has now won seven of 13 games since taking over and appears to have extracted extra oomph from Ideye. Or perhaps it was the threat of life in the Qatari desert that did it. West Brom were close to taking a £6m hit selling him to al-Gharafi but the 26-year-old refused the move and both parties must be glad of his stubbornness now. Ideye thought he had nicked another in the 33rd minute, pouncing after Begovic spilled the ball, but was rightly ruled offside. Ideye limped off in the 40th minute after being clattered by Charlie Adam but hobbled back on seconds later. Ben Foster also suffered a knock to the knee. He struggled on for a while with Chris Brunt stepping in to take free kicks but was eventually replaced by Boaz Myhill after 55 minutes. The deputy did his job well, tipping a Jon Walters header over the bar as a reenergised Stoke sought the equalizer. Referee Oliver, who was praised for his officiating of Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat to Arsenal on Monday, is likely to get attention for different reasons after waving away appeals for what appeared a blatant penalty for Cameron’s burly challenge on Dawson in the box. Mark Hughes and Tony Pulis shake hands ahead of the Hawthorns showdown on Saturday afternoon . Darren Fletcher is tackled by Victor Moses during the match between West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City . Glenn Whelan challenges England youngster Berahino for the ball as the Potters look to get back into the game . After Jonathan Walters was substituted after a clash of heads with Dawson, momentum swung back the way of the hosts. A driving effort by James Morrison was tipped over by Begovic. It was the 82nd minute before Stoke got their second shot on target, Crouch’s tame effort easily collected by Myhill. The keeper again came to the rescue of his side, bringing down Crouch just outside the area when the striker was yomping towards the goal deep into injury time and was shown a yellow card. Stephane Sessegnon started for the first time for West Brom since their 1-0 win over Southampton where he was widely condemned for diving in an attempt to win a penalty. Manager Tony Pulis said he has not yet reprimanded the midfielder who he revealed had suffered a family bereavement in recent weeks. 'I’ve had a good chat with Steph,' said Pulis, as quoted by The Birmingham Mail, 'I don’t want to go into it but it’s a tragedy what has happened and I’ve left it with him to be honest. ‘He’s been a bit down in the dumps lately although he looked a bit brighter on Thursday in training. The greatest healer there will be time.' Lanky striker Peter Crouch jumps highest as he is challenged in the air by Gardner at the Hawthorns . +West Brom boss Tony Pulis admits he takes great pride in Stoke's success under Mark Hughes because his successor is reaping the benefits of his own work at the Britannia Stadium. Pulis welcomes his former club to the Black Country on Saturday hoping to break Stoke's 100 per cent winning record at The Hawthorns. While the Baggies head into the match on the back of two frustrating defeats to local rivals Aston Villa in league and cup action, Stoke are looking for a fourth successive win and sit eighth in the Barclays Premier League. Tony Pulis admits he takes pride in seeing Stoke's success in the Premier League this season . While Pulis stopped short of claiming the credit for Stoke's current success, the Welshman was happy to point out his influence in their squad. 'The great thing for me about the club is that you leave it in a condition where it can grow and grow and get better,' he said. 'Look at the players who are there, the backbone of that football club, like Glenn Whelan, Ryan Shawcross, Asmir Begovic, Steven N'Nonzi, Peter Crouch, Jon Walters, just a few to mention. 'Marc Wilson, Geoff Cameron, wonderful people and wonderful professionals, and it's really nice when you take over a club with all good professionals like that.' He added: 'How many players has Mark brought in? 'I don't know but the majority of the lads who were there before still seem to be picked week-in week-out, that's testament to them as individuals to win over a new manager. Pulis takes credit for the 'backbone' of the Stoke side, which includes Ryan Shawcross (above) 'Glenn Whelan and Ryan Shawcross are the only ones who were there when we got promoted from the Championship. 'They've been brilliant. And they've been brilliant for the football club.' Albion have doubts over strikers Saido Berahino, Brown Ideye and Victor Anichebe for the clash. Berahino and Ideye have been playing through the pain barrier recently while Anichebe has a groin problem. Winger Callum McManaman has a foot injury which boss Tony Pulis has decided to rest for a few weeks. Saido Berahino (centre) is a doubt for West Brom's Premier League clash against Stoke . +Real Sociedad sporting director Loren has praised the work done by coach David Moyes since taking over the Spanish club in November. The former Manchester United manager replaced Jagoba Arrasate, who was sacked last year after a dismal start to the season left the Basque club in 19th place in La Liga. The 51-year-old Moyes has since led Real Sociedad away from the relegation zone and into ninth in the standings with 10 games of the season remaining. David Moyes has led Real Sociedad from the relegation places to mid table after taking charge in November . Real Sociedad striker Imanol Agirretxe celebrates after scoring in the win against Cordoba . 'It was hard for us to replace Jagoba,' Loren said in an interview with Spanish sports newspaper Marca. 'But the team needed to react and it certainly has done so. 'Our immediate aim has been achieved. 'I think the first thing that David (Moyes) did when he arrived was to try to give the team more solidness and consistency, and you can see that he has achieved that. 'The team is improving.' Moyes is under contract with Real Sociedad for another season. Moyes applauds the fans after leading Real Sociedad to their fourth win in five games . 'We were fortunate that a man that initially appeared inaccessible to Real Sociedad, ended up coming here,' Loren said. 'I believe he (Moyes) is giving a big contribution.' Loren believes the arrival of Moyes will open the door for the arrival of British players to the club in the near future. 'It's difficult to bring players from England, unless you have something that can attract the players,' Loren said. 'With Moyes here, the task of bringing players from there (England) can be made easier.' Real Sociedad return to La Liga action on Saturday when they play away to Malaga. +Albert Kelly scored two sensational 90-metre solo tries to help Hull KR shatter St Helens' 100 per cent record in Super League. The Australian half-back twice demonstrated exceptional pace to punish errors by the reigning champions to put the Robins on their way to a 24-22 win and leave Saints still looking for a first victory at Craven Park since 2008. Rovers, who claimed the scalp of Wigan last month, were good value for a third successive home win that rounded off a good day for the club after they earlier announced the notable acquisition of Jamie Peacock as football manager for 2016. Albert Kelly scored two sensational 90-metre solo tries . St Helens, who trailed 24-12 with with five minutes to go, could have snatched a point had former Hull KR co-captain Travis Burns been able to convert Jordan Turner's last-minute try but it would have been tough on the impressive Robins. Saints stay top of the table but they were a shadow of the side that beat Warrington a week earlier and coach Keiron Cunningham must now pick them up for their Good Friday derby at the DW Stadium. The champions were unfortunate to lose England hooker James Roby to injury but they made an ideal start when skipper Jon Wilkin, who began his professional career at Craven Park, re-gathered his own grubber kick to touch down and a goal from Burns made it 6-0 after just three minutes. It was all Saints for the opening quarter but Roby was held up over the line and Kelly twice punished their casual play to put his side in front. The former Gold Coast Titans scrum-half pounced on Wilkin's kick for his first long-range try and then picked off Burns' pass to outsprint the Saints cover for his second. Josh Mantellato converted both to put the Robins into a 12-6 lead but the champions were back level on 26 minutes when the ball was fed back from Wilkin's hoisted kick and Atelea Vea got Tom Makinson over at the corner. Burns landed the difficult conversion but Saints were forced to re-organise their team six minutes from half-time when Roby was forced from the field after taking a head knock. Lance Hohaia demonstrated his versatility by switching from full-back, where he began as third choice in the absence of Jonny Lomax and Paul Wellens, to hooker, with Makinson going to full-back. Rovers had a try disallowed when slow-motion replays indicated a knock-on by hooker Shaun Lunt after he re-gathered Terry Campese's kick but when St Helens winger Adam Swift again demonstrated his fallibility under the high ball his opposite number Ken Sio struck with the home side's third try two minutes before the break. The momentum was clearly with the Robins and Saints were forced to survive a torrid time in the third quarter. Mantellato was wide with a penalty attempt and then had a try disallowed after producing a flying finish at the corner only for slow-motion replays to reveal he was in touch. Kelly could have doubled his try tally following breaks by Lunt and Kris Welham but Rovers could not apply the finishing touches, and they had to settle for two successful Mantellato penalties to edge them 20-12 ahead. Hull KR thought they had sealed it when full-back Kieran Dixon went over for a fourth try on 64 minutes but Saints staged a tremendous late fightback which caused some anxious moments for Chris Chester's men. Forward Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook went over on 75 minutes - Burns' third goal cut the deficit to six points - and Turner took a return pass from Swift to go over four minutes later. +Andrew Henderson celebrated landing the London Broncos coaching job on a permanent basis as Halifax were beaten 22-18. Henderson was given the nod by the London hierarchy this week after a mixed spell in caretaker charge since the departure of Joey Grima. His weakened side put on a fine show to crown his appointment, though, scoring four tries through Daniel Harrison, Matt Garside, Iliess Macani and Brad Dwyer, whose score was the winning one. Iliess Macani, pictured last year, scored one of London Broncos' four tries in the 22-18 win over Halifax . James Saltonstall, Ben Heaton and Mitch Cahalane scored for Halifax. Henderson had spoken earlier in the week about how he felt Broncos were moving in the right direction, and their narrow victory put some substance to his words. The win was just their third in six in the Kingstone Press Championship having been relegated from Super League at the end of last season. +Aaron Murphy scored two tries as Huddersfield ended their hoodoo against bogey side Warrington but it was Danny Brough who starred in the Giants' win. Brough provided the assist for both of Murphy's tries in a typically influential display and the talismanic stand-off also landed four conversions and a drop goal. Jamie Ellis, Jermaine McGillvary and Eorl Crabtree also crossed the whitewash for Huddersfield, who ended a run of 11 games without victory against Wolves going back to 2011. Huddersfield Giants' Aaron Murphy goes over for a try as Warrington Wolves' Kevin Penny attempts a tackle . The hosts welcomed back skipper Joel Monaghan from a two-match injury absence but Ben Harrison, Richie Myler, Gary Wheeler and brothers Ben and Rhys Evans were missing. Huddersfield brought back Anthony Mullally for Josh Johnson but were still without Chris Bailey, who missed the victory at Wakefield for family reasons. The Giants, whose confidence was boosted by three successive victories against Widnes, Castleford and Wakefield after three opening defeats, made a dream start with a try from Ellis. The scrum-half won the race to his own neat grubber kick to score under the posts after six minutes and Brough landed the conversion. Warrington missed a chance when Ben Currie lost the ball after Ryan Atkins had been held up over the line. Craig Kopczak is tacked by Daryl Clark . The Wolves increased the pressure but their own mistakes, a poor kicking game and dogged Giants defence kept Warrington at bay. Ben Westwood lost the ball trying to stretch over the line with Atkins then bundled into touch on the first tackle. Warrington prop Chris Hill and Giants second row Jack Hughes were involved in a skirmish before Huddersfield increased their lead with a trademark Brough drop goal just before the interval. Wolves were fortunate to be only 7-0 down at the break after a mistake littered first half. The lead was increased soon after the restart when Brough's kick bounced awkwardly for Stefan Ratchford and Murphy pounced to race over for a converted try and stretch the advantage to 13-0. Warrington finally broke the resolute Giants defence after 47 minutes when Chris Bridge, after a poor first half, broke through to send in Gareth O'Brien with an inside pass. O'Brien converted his own try and Mickey Higham almost forced his way over after Westwood was held short. Warrington briefly stepped up the tempo with a sizzling break from his own line by Ratchford setting up the chance for Monaghan to put Kevin Penny over in the corner and close the gap to 13-10 after 63 minutes. Brough was a constant threat to Warrington and another precision kick to the corner split the Wolves defence for Murphy to pounce for his second try and make it 17-10 with 13 minutes left. A touchline burst by McGillvary almost brought another try but his cross field kick just eluded Craig Kopczak. Huddersfield sealed victory five minutes from time when McGillvary intercepted Daryl Clark's pass to race 70 metres to touch down for their fourth try and the Giants still had time to add a final try through Crabtree. +Joe Hockey claims an article caused his family great distress, describing the moment his 'elderly and frail' father broke down in tears whilst speaking at a court appearance. The Liberal Politician told the Federal Court that he was 'devastated' when he saw the headline 'Treasurer for Sale' splashed across the front page of a major Fairfax newspaper. He said the headlines had caused his own family - including his elderly father - to question him. 'I was most concerned for my wife, and my children, and for my father,' he told the court, glancing out to the body of the courtroom, where his wife Melissa Babbage sat staring straight ahead, her heels crossed. 'A few days later my daughter asked me whether someone was trying to buy me,' Mr Hockey said. Scroll down for video . Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey (right) arrives at Federal Court with his wife Melissa Babbage (left) to give evidence in his defamation case against Fairfax Media . Sydney Morning Herald Editor in Chief Darren Goodsir outside the Federal Court at Joe Hockey's defamation case against Fairfax Media . Joe Hockey, pictured with his family, claimed his young daughter asked him 'whether someone was trying to buy me' 'The only thing you walk out of politics with is your reputation,' he continued. 'If, in the eyes of your own family, as there was in the phone call with my father, there's a doubt - a brief doubt - then what have you got?' 'He broke down in tears when I called him,' Mr Hockey claimed. Mr Hockey entered the witness box in Sydney on Monday afternoon to testify in his high-profile defamation suit against the publishing giant. The court action centres on stories run in Fairfax Media's flagship newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last year under the headline 'Treasurer for Sale'. The Canberra Times used another headline. The stories examined a political fundraising body in Mr Hockey's electorate known as the North Sydney Forum, where members who paid an annual fee were able to meet with the treasurer at special events. Joe Hockey, pictured with his wife Melissa Babbage, revealed the distress an article caused his family whilst appearing in court on Monday . Mr Hockey has told the court he first became aware of the articles when he received a phone call from his press secretary shortly after midnight on May 5, 2014. When he awoke a few hours later he headed straight for his local newsagency in Canberra. 'I saw the front pages, I was stunned. And Matt the newsagent said, 'What's all this about?' I just shook my head,' Mr Hockey said. 'I went across to the bakery for one of their very ordinary cups of coffee and looked around, and the papers were everywhere.' Under questioning by his barrister Bruce McClintock SC, Mr Hockey said he felt 'absolutely devastated' at the suggestion he was corrupt. Earlier on Monday Mr Hockey's lawyers alleged that Fairfax published 'scurrilous and false allegations' against the treasurer in an act of petty spite. Mr Hockey's lawyers alleged that Fairfax published 'scurrilous and false allegations' against the treasurer in an act of petty spite . Mr Hockey, pictured with his wife Melissa Babbage (left) outside the Federal Court on Monday, said the headlines had caused his own family - including his elderly father - to question him . Matthew Collins QC, for Fairfax, questioned Mr Hockey about a number of critical public comments he made on Twitter and elsewhere about political opponents including former Labor prime ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, as well as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. The court heard one tweet published on Mr Hockey's official account read: 'Access to Rudd, at a price... FACT'. 'Do you consider it part of the rough and tumble of political life to call your opponents hypocrites,' Dr Collins asked. 'As they do me,' Mr Hockey replied. Mr Hockey said he did not intend for the North Sydney Forum to be a fundraising vehicle for his re-election campaign and he did not have a hands-on role in setting up the organisation. 'The organisation's purpose was to establish a business networking forum,' he said. Shown a passage from the North Sydney Forum's website, which stated the Forum was 'vitally important to Joe's ongoing success and the development of effective Coaltion (sic) policy', Mr Hockey said: 'They've overplayed it. Massively overplayed it.' 'I wasn't intimately involved in the activities of the North Sydney Forum,' he added. The court action centres on stories run in Fairfax Media's flagship newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last year under the headline 'Treasurer for Sale' +A Red Bull adviser has warned that the team could pull out of Formula One unless changes were made to the current regulations. Red Bull are among a number of teams frustrated by their inability to keep up with Mercedes, who dominated Formula One last year and cruised to an easy victory in Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix after a virtual procession. Rival drivers described the race as 'boring' and Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said if it went unchecked, it could drive other teams away and reduce interest in the sport. Red Bull may pull out of Formula One if the rules are not changed, an adviser has warned . Helmut Marko (left, with former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel) says the team will evaluate the situation . Marko even suggested that Red Bull, who won four championships in a row before being left in the Mercedes slipstream, might pull out if billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz lost interest. Speaking to German-language media, Marko was quoted as saying: 'We will evaluate the situation again as every year and look into costs and revenues. 'If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit. 'Yes, the danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1.' Daniel Ricciardo could only manage a sixth-placed finish for Red Bull during the Australian Grand Prix . Red Bull's second driver Daniil Kvyat pulled out of Sunday's opening race with a gear box failure . Marko's comments came after Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told reporters that Formula One officials should take action to equalise the engine performances of every team to create a more level playing field. Red Bull made a disastrous start to the new season with Daniel Ricciardo getting lapped before finishing sixth in his home race. His new Russian team-mate Daniil Kvyat didn't even make it to the grid, withdrawing before the start with gearbox failure. 'When we were winning, and we were never winning with an advantage that Mercedes has, double diffusers were banned, exhausts were moved, flexible bodywork was banned, engine mapping was changed mid-season - anything was done to pull us back,' Horner told reporters. VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . Lewis Hamilton (right) and Nico Rosberg finished first and second respectively at the Australian Grand Prix . Red Bull chief Christian Horner is concerned that Mercedes' dominance will be unhealthy for the sport . 'That was not just us, it was done to McLaren and Williams in other years. 'The FIA, within the rules, have an equalisation mechanism; I think it's something that perhaps they need to look at.' Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had little sympathy for Red Bull, accusing their rivals of moaning because they were losing. 'If you try to beat each other and perform at the highest level and then you need equalisation after the first race - you cry out after the first race - that's not how we've done things in the past,' +The final scoreline suggested otherwise. Yet for Gordon Strachan there were spells of a 6-1 thrashing of Gibraltar which felt like a form of misery. As rain and wind swirled around the National Stadium the Scots endured an unexpectedly jittery, uncomfortable first half. Gibraltar, a British Overseas territory of 30,000 residents rejected by FIFA and playing in their first UEFA qualification campaign, reacted to Shaun Maloney's opening penalty by equalising within 60 seconds. It was their first ever goal in a competitive international. Gordon Strachan praised the performance of Gibraltar after Scotland beat them 6-1 on Sunday . Lee Casciaro (second right) scored Gibraltar's first international goal 72 seconds after Scotland went ahead . Casciaro's goal sparked jubilant celebrations from Gibraltar's players as Hampden Park was stunned . 'I have to say that all the credit should really go to Gibraltar,' said Strachan afterwards. 'They made my life a misery for periods of that game. They made it a long game for me as a coach, so well done to them. 'But also well done to my players because there were players out there who personally weren't having a great game but they stuck at it. 'We had some good chances and never took them. It was nice to see Steven Fletcher score a hat-trick I thought he was one of our better players today.' Of late Fletcher has been the subject of unwelcome headlines. Pictured posing beside a £200,000 Lamborgini shortly after Sunderland had lost 4-0 to Aston Villa the striker had managed just four goals all season. At international level his last strike was in a 2-1 win over Iceland in April 2009. 'Some of his touches were lovely today,' said Strachan. 'I was wanting more balls in the first half played through but Maloney, Fletcher, Naismith were marked and wanted balls played through. 'We played square too many times because they were ready for it and wanted it. 'We have people who can turn so I was a wee bit disappointed with that as well. Striker Steven Fletcher (right) led Scotland to victory against Gibraltar with a hat-trick . Fletcher was recently mocked on Twitter for buying a Lamborghini after inconsistent form for Sunderland . Fletcher is the first Scotland player to score three goals in a game since Colin Stein in 1969 . 'To be fair the conditions were not great either. 'It was swirling out there. Andy Robertson and Ikechi Anya had problems with the swirling wind in the first half.' Robertson, the young Hull full-back was dragged out of position when Gibraltar' s Lee Casciano wrote himself into the annals in the 19th minute. Opting to play with a three-man defence – with just Russell Martin at the centre - Strachan admitted the system had worked less well than he anticipated. 'It did get us four goals, but I was expecting that system to work a lot better than that but the goal sort of threw us a bit. Within any system you are hoping your players will play to a level but in the first ten minutes we gave the ball away eight or nine times, that's too much at international level no matter who you are against.' The campaign comes down now to Ireland in Dublin on June 13, a huge game in every sense. Win at the Aviva and a play-off place – at least – becomes more likely than not. 'After five games and performances I am delighted with we are here and we have ten points, I think we are all happy with that. We can go into the second half of this group feeling quite good about ourselves. 'I look back at the performances and I think four so far have been terrific. 'This was not one of our best but we got through. 'We scored six goals and if we had woken up this morning and said we would score six we would have settled for that. 'I wouldn't have wanted the one against us, but that's the way football works some times. 'So it's been a good old day for everybody today. 'Gibraltar got their first goal and unfortunately David Marshall will always be that name now who is the subject of quiz questions everywhere.' Scotland boss Strachan (right) said he is delighted with 10 points from their first five qualifying games . Shaun Maloney scored two penalties for Scotland against Gibraltar at Hampden Park on Sunday . Everton striker Steven Naismith (right) was also on the scoresheet in a big win for Scotland . Despite the scoreline interm Gibraltar coach Davie Wilson can point to the goal his side scored as evidence of improvement. They host Scotland in the Algarve in the final round of fixtures and Wilson says: 'As a Scotsman, it's a horrible thought - but we might just be the ones who get the result that spoils my country's party. 'They come to us in the last game and although I'm not naive enough to say we' ll beat them, if Scotland are under pressure to get a result, who knows?' +The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) Congress held in Paraquay this week has given the first indication that the FIFA presidential election in May might not be a procession to Sepp Blatter’s fifth term in office. The confederation had been expected to give Blatter a unanimous vote of support. But the motion was never put to the 10 delegates, in the knowledge that it would not be fully backed. The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) Congress was held in Paraguay this week . There were signs that Sepp Blatter may not have the unanimous support of South America . CONMEBOL has long been a Blatter stronghold, but a number of the old guard have been replaced by football federation leaders, including President Juan Angel Napout, who won’t necessarily back Blatter at all costs. The significance of the CONMEBOL snub to Blatter is that it was the first confederation gathering since three genuine challengers —Prince Ali of Jordan, Belgium’s Michael van Praag and Portugal’s former world footballer of the year Luis Figo — declared their candidacy for the FIFA presidency. Blatter’s overwhelming shows of support in Asia and Africa occurred when the FIFA president wasn’t expected to face any realistic opposition. But all the challengers were in Asuncion, Paraquay on the campaign trail. All the challengers, including Luis Figo, were in Asuncion, Paraguay on the campaign trail . Radio 5 Live have made little ballyhoo of their considerable coup in having John Francome on their team for the Cheltenham Festival. Natural broadcaster Francome  has done no media work since leaving Channel 4 — where he has been hugely missed — after they changed their racing production company from Highflyer to IMG. BBC’s caution at promoting Francome’s exciting return is understood to be because 5 Live do not yet know how much time he will be available to work. Radio 5 Live have made little fuss of capturing John Francome for their team for the Cheltenham Festival . The disproportionate financial power of the clubs compared to the national ruling body is such that Mike Rigg — a key member of FA technical director Dan Ashworth’s staff at St George’s Park as head of talent identification — can be attracted away to become chief football officer at Championship strugglers Fulham by the offer of nearly four times his FA salary. The FA’s £1.5m-a-year official beer brand deal with Budweiser for the FA Cup until 2018 at least gives them small respite from the scrutiny around their year-long failure to land a lead sponsor — ironically to replace Budweiser — for the most famous club knockout competition in football. The Budweiser contract will also give them exposure on the interview backboards for the quarter-finals at the weekend which were giving the impression that William Hill, the betting partner, were the main sponsor. The FA have a new £1.5m-a-year official beer brand deal with Budweiser for the FA Cup until 2018 . The England Cricket Board are now faced with a number of counties believing the Sky monopoly of cricket must end, with more of the game shown on terrestrial TV to help address falling participation. So, in their wisdom, the ECB have appointed Sky Sports greatest disciple Chris Haynes as their new director of communications — as Sports Agenda predicted. During 24 years as a Sky spokesman, Haynes was seemingly programmed only to be super-positive about his employers. Cheltenham’s former sponsorship chief Peter McNeile fell on his sword two years ago. It came after he told a reporter the Jockey Club, which own the course, were seeking a single, bluechip sponsor from outside the betting industry for three of its top races, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Yet all four of the marquee races at the Festival still have bookmaker names attached to them. A Jockey Club spokesman said Cheltenham had three new sponsors from outside the betting industry and were pleased with the portfolio. Tom Scudamore and Dynaste charge away with the Ryanair Steeplechase at Cheltenham Racecourse . Kate Miller, highly combative head of racing PR for William Hill, is leaving the bookmakers after Cheltenham to join agency GolinHarris who conveniently have just renewed their consumer PR contract with William Hill. Meanwhile, the bookmakers have still to appoint a communications director five months after the search started for a job paying as much as £200,000-a-year to the right candidate. +New Zealand swing king Tim Southee says the Kiwis are ready to cut Australia down to size in the Cricket World Cup final on Sunday. Southee, who has taken 15 wickets for Brendon McCullum’s men in this tournament, insists his team are riding high on confidence and ready to upset their ‘big brothers’. As the co-hosts prepare to do battle at the MCG, Southee said: ‘The rivalry between Australia and New Zealand does cover every sport and is massive. Tim Southee is relishing the prospect of facing Australia in the World Cup final on Sunday . ‘We’re probably seen as the little brothers from across the ditch and we do quite well to compete. ‘Australia have had the wood on us in cricket over the last few years but we’re slowly starting to even that ledger. ‘But as a kid growing up it was always Australia you wanted to play against. ‘You always want to have one up over the big brothers.’ Before their thrilling victory over South Africa, New Zealand had lost each of their six World Cup semi-finals. But they have already beaten the Aussies in the outstanding match of the pool stage, with the Kiwis claiming a one-wicket win in Auckland. New Zealand practiced at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday in preparation for the final . McCullum’s enterprising team have sparked a sporting buzz which is normally reserved for the All Blacks, although the final will be their first away game of the competition. Expatriated Kiwis have travelled from all over the world to Melbourne, while Air New Zealand has chartered extra flights from Auckland. Southee (left) said: ‘We get to do what a lot of people that have gone before us haven’t been able to do, and they are now behind us. The support from back home has been amazing. I can’t explain what it’s like and what it has done for the team. Daniel Vettori will play his last ever ODI for New Zealand on Sunday in the World Cup final . ‘It’s a dream come true for all the guys. As a kid, you grow up either wanting to be an All Black or a Black Cap and the guys are very excited to fulfil a childhood dream. ‘Brendon speaks a lot about it being the time of our lives. We never want it to end. One more big push and I’m sure it’s something the guys will remember forever. ‘It doesn’t get any better than taking on Australia in Australia at one of the best cricket grounds in the world.’ Australia captain Michael Clarke admitted after his side’s semi-final victory over India that defeat to New Zealand last month was ‘a kick up the backside’. Clarke said: ‘The fact that the two hosting nations are in the final is extremely special. ‘There’s a great mutual respect between both teams. New Zealand will take confidence that they’ve beaten us in the tournament. ‘But that was the turning point in this tournament for the Australian team. ‘The boys have got out of bed every single day to try to become better and you’ve seen that in our results. We’ve been improving every game and that will hold us in really good stead.’ New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson practices his football skills during the training session in Melbourne . New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum in the nets just outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground . Grant Elliott has a throw at the stumps in a fielding drill during New Zealand's practice session . New Zealand captain McCullum and fast bowler Trent Boult share a joke during their practice session . New Zealand's lethal opening duo of Boult (left) and Southee (right) practice in Melbourne . The 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground will provide a fitting venue for Sunday's showpiece . +Fresh from leading his side to a 95-run over India in the World Cup semi-final, Australia captain Michael Clarke was temporarily stumped by a reporter's line of questioning during the post-match press conference. Flanked by team-mate Steve Smith, who hit 105 off just 93 balls to propel Australia to victory, Clarke fielded questions from the assembled media following his side's seismic victory. 'Michael you've had tremendous sex as Australia captain,' asked BBC reporter Stephan Shemilt before correcting himself and re-stating that he intended to say 'success'. Australia captain Michael Clarke (left) and Steve Smith are clearly amused by the bungled line of questioning . Steve Smith celebrates after running out Indian batsman Ravindra Jadeja during the World Cup semi-final . 'Interesting,' a clearly amused Clarke replied amid a chorus of laughter among the assembled press. 'You might have that as well I don't know,' replied Shemilt. 'How well do you know me. That's a question for my wife,' Clarke added, as Smith struggled to contain his laughter at the top table. Australia will face arch rivals New Zealand in Sunday's World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Smith whacks the ball for six runs during his innings of 105 from 122 balls as Australia set India 329 to win . Australia skipper Clarke reflects after missing a catch but it didn't prevent their victory . The Black Caps are the only unbeaten team of the tournament so far, having trumped Australia as well in the pool stages, but Clarke said told Sky Sports World Cup: 'We're playing some really good cricket at the moment. 'Losing to New Zealand gave us that kick up the backside. I still don't think we've played the perfect game yet. I think we've improved every game and now we're excited to be in the final. 'I think the boys have played some outstanding cricket. Smithy was exceptional once again. He's hitting the ball so sweetly, and I'm really proud of the execution under pressure there from our bowlers.' Mitchell Johnson jumps for joy after taking the wicket of India's Rohit Sharma for 34 runs . Smith's century comes in a tournament that has already seen him make scores of 95, 72 and 65, and the stand-in Test captain hopes there is plenty left in the bag for Sunday. 'Another big hundred would be nice,' he said. 'It's nice to contribute to a few wins. It was a pretty big stage, the semi-final of a World Cup. I'm just happy that we got over the line in the end.' +England’s Young Lions booked their place in May’s Under 17 European Championship with an impressive 3-1 win over Slovenia at Chesterfield. John Peacock’s team, the defending European champions, surged into a three-goal lead by half-time courtesy of goals from Reece Oxford and Nathan Holland followed by an own goal by Matija Rom. Although Slovenia pulled a goal back through Jan Mlakar in the 65th minute, England were worthy winners and advanced to May’s finals in Bulgaria with a match to spare. England's Under 17 squad secured a place at the European Championships on Monday after beating Slovenia . Reece Oxfoed (centre) headed the England team into the lead after 20 minutes against Slovenia . Oxford (centre), the England Under 17 captain, celebrates putting his side ahead . England (4-2-3-1): Paul Woolston (Newcastle United); James Yates (Everton), Reece Oxford (C; West Ham United), Easah Suliman (Aston Villa), Jay DaSilva (Chelsea): Tom Davies (Everton), Daniel Wright (Sunderland); Nathan Holland (Everton), Chris Willock (Arsenal), Layton Ndukwu (Leicester City); Kazaiah Sterling (Tottenham Hotspur) Substitutions: Will Patching (Manchester City) for Willock 48; Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur) for Ndukwu 54; Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City) for Holland 64. Scorers: Oxford 20; Holland 36, Rom own goal 38 . Booked: Suliman, Oxford . Slovenia (4-3-2-1): Rok Vodisek; Matija Rom, Luka Gucek, Oscar Cvjeticanin, Sven Karic Sostaric; Vitja Malencic, Sandi Ogrinec, Kristjan Sredojevic; Jacob Novak, Timi Max Elsnik; Jan Mlakar (C) Substitutions: Rok Buzinel for Rom 40; Dejan Petrovic for Ogrinec 40; Gaber Petric for Sredojevic 67 . Scorer: Mlakar 65 . Boosted by Saturday’s 3-1 win over Norway at Burton-upon-Trent, England made the short trip north to Chesterfield full of confidence ahead of the second of three Elite Round qualifiers held this week. And they were soon on the offensive, with visiting goalkeeper Rok Vodisek pushing away a fierce shot from the Leicester striker Layton Ndukwu, who was chasing his fifth goal in Euro qualifying, inside two minutes. Slovenia, who had easily beaten Romania 3-0 in their first game of the qualifying mini-group on Saturday night, threatened when Timi Max Semic cut inside and forced England goalkeeper Paul Woolston into a low fingertip save. But England took the lead on 20 minutes and it was all the work of young Everton winger Holland. He helped win a corner with a purposeful run and then swung in a delivery that Oxford, the captain, headed into the top corner. Back came Slovenia and Newcastle stopper Woolston excelled with a one-handed save to keep out Jacob Novak’s thunderbolt. While the away side failed to take their chances, England were clinical and were in total command by half-time. Holland gained a goal that was just reward for his efforts on 36 minutes, playing a one-two with Arsenal man Chris Willock inside the box before drilling the ball into the bottom corner from 10 yards. And Holland was involved in the third too, which arrived two minutes later. Having advanced into space down the right, his cut-back was sliced by full-back Rom into his own net. Peacock was allowed the luxury to make changes in the second period and Manchester City duo Will Patching and Lukas Nmecha were given a run-out, as was Tottenham’s Marcus Edwards. Nathan Holland celebrates adding England's second goal of the game in the 36th minute . Holland celebrates his strike with his international team-mates as England cruised to victory . England's victory meant they qualified with five wins from five and still have a group game remaining . And the latter came close to scoring the fourth following some nifty footwork but his shot from a tight angle was blocked at the near post. Slovenia deserved something on the balance of play and pulled one back 15 minutes from time when Fiorentina man Mlakar, the skipper, looped home a back post header. But a comeback never looked likely and England complete their qualifying campaign against Romania at Burton on Thursday knowing their place in the finals is already rubber-stamped. +Dave Bassett believes the tendency of top-flight clubs to employ fashionable foreign managers is holding back the progress of English bosses. The former Wimbledon and Sheffield United boss made the comments as Sunderland turn to Dutchman Dick Advocaat to turn around the fortunes of the Black Cats. Just nine English managers are working in the Premier League compared to 15 in 1992 and Basset believes things have changed for the worse. Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat issues instructions to his players during the match against West Ham . Sheffield United manager Dave Bassett on FA Cup semi final day against rivals Sheffield Wednesday . Bassett told the Mirror: ‘What’s wrong with giving the Sunderland job to an English guy? There are good foreign managers, but there are more than enough good young managers. ‘It’s just that foreign managers are flavour of the month. This fashionable idea that foreign managers are better than English ones is a myth. ‘It’s like foreign players. They move to wherever they can earn the most money. They are not interested in living the dream for that club. ‘All the nonsense of kissing the badge and they are really only interested in kissing their bank balance.’ Bassett believes foreign players are more interested at kissing their bank balance than their side's crest . +They are known as man's best friend, who will stay loyal to the end. But as this heartbreaking video shows, dogs are just as loyal to their own - even when put in a dangerous situation. In this clip, a golden retriever trots on to a busy motorway in Turkey to protect his friend after he was hit by a car. The injured dog lies helpless at the side of the road, but his companion rushes to his aid and pulls him to safety. Scroll down for video . The fiercely loyal dog stands over his friend after he was hit and left for dead on a busy motorway in Turkey . The dog refuses to leave the side of his friend after he was hit by a car on the motorway in Turkey . Determined not to let him lie stricken on the side of the road, the dog grabs his friend and pulls him to safety . The dog then lies with his wounded companion at the side of the road, refusing to leave his side . He then patiently lies in wait at the side of the busy motorway. The video was posted to the video sharing site, Live Leak. In recent years, a number of stories have emerged of loyal dogs who stay by their companions, human and canine, for hours, days and even years after death, or otherwise find help for friends in sticky situations. Last month, a dog called Cissy hit the headlines, when she disappeared from her yard in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, only to show up about 20 blocks away at Mercy Medical Centre. Her owner, Nancy Franck, has been at the hospital for the last two weeks, after undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer. In August 2014, loyal dog Tommy refused to leave the graveside of his owner Bhaskar Shri, 18, for two weeks after he died in a car accident. Tommy went without food and water for 15 scorching days and freezing nights guarding his grave in Chennai, southern India. In a similar case the month before, a fiercely loyal dog was found in the searing Oklahoma heat refusing to leave the side of his deceased owner . Animal control officers in Oklahoma City were called to the scene as the bull terrier fought hard to stay in the 100 degree Fahrenheit heat. +As part of one of their latest promotions, supermarket giant Woolworths has been handing out Disney Pixar domino packs with each $20 spent. But the toys have garnered somewhat of a cult following online, with parents willing to splash hundreds of dollars to secure particular ones missing from their collections, or an entire set. A quick look on ebay revealed thousands of listings, with some sets receiving dozens of bids over the $100 mark. People are selling full sets of Wooloworths' Disney Pixar dominos for hundreds of dollars . The supermarket giant has been handing them out with ever $20 spent as part of a recent promotion . Full sets of the promotional collectables have parents bidding over $100 for them on ebay . One particular person could soon make $117.50 off a full set of the collectables, as there have already been more than 23 bids on the item. Others have taken to posting ads selling dozens of 'unopened' packets, in their hundreds. Parents are also harnessing the power of social media in an attempt to acquire the missing pieces to complete their children's sets. Those looking for specific dominoes have taken to Twitter and Facebook in an attempt to swap, sell or buy particular numbers. 'Does anyone have a bullseye, eve &flik spare Woolworths dominos?' one tweeter wrote. Has anyone got Buzz Lightyear, Mr Picklepants, Sally (x2) Flik and Emile #woolworthsdominos #helpinghand', another posted. 'I keep shopping at #Woolworths to get Pixar dominos for toddler and we have like 7 Buzz Lightyears but no Woody! #conspiracy' read another tweet. +A grandmother and a four-year-old boy have been found stabbed to death in their home, while the grandfather was bound and gagged nearby, . The Vietnamese couple were babysitting their four-year-old grandson when the grandmother and young boy were killed at their Melbourne home, police believe. Police also found the 61-year-old grandfather bound and gagged on the lounge room floor of the Albanvale home on Tuesday afternoon. A grandmother and her four-year-old grandson were found stabbed to death in Albanvale, Melbourne . The grandmother was found dead in the backyard and the boy was found in a bedroom. A 45-year-old Chinese woman, from Albion, has been arrested and is being questioned. Detective Senior Sergeant Stuart Bailey said police were called to the grandparents' address about 5.10pm, after reports a woman had been assaulted. The scene that greeted them was 'horrific'. The grandfather was also found bound and gagged in the living room . A Chinese woman had arrived at the home earlier in the morning, and an altercation occurred when the 61-year-old grandmother returned home in the afternoon . 'It's an extremely distressing situation for police,' he told reporters on Tuesday night. He said the Chinese woman had arrived at the home earlier in the morning, and an altercation occurred when the 61-year-old grandmother returned home in the afternoon. 'Whereby, she's been fatally stabbed in the backyard,' Det Sen Sgt Bailey said. Police say a Chinese women is being questions after an altercation took place before the stabbing . The grandparents look after their four-year-old grandson every Tuesday while his parents work. Det Sen Sgt Bailey said the boy's parents, from Maidstone, were obviously inconsolable and devastated. Homicide detectives will remain at the scene throughout the night, while several witnesses are assisting police at a nearby station. +The national headquarters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon have launched an investigation into the fraternity's chapter at Louisiana Tech University after two former members came forward to say they heard the racist 'there will never be a n***** SAE' chant sung there, as well. The Louisiana Tech chapter is the third SAE house accused of using the horrifying song that was sung by members of the fraternity at the University of Oklahoma over the weekend. On Wednesday, the president of the University of Texas said he had ordered an investigation into claims brothers at SAE in Austin had used the tune. The fraternity headquarters is investigating in Texas, as well. The vile song 'there will never be a n***** SAE' was sung at the fraternity's chapter at Louisiana Tech University in 2010 and 2011, a former pledge and a former member claim . SAE is also investigating reports that the song was used at the SAE chapter at the University of Texas-Austin . According to BuzzFeed, one former members of the fraternity and one former pledge both said they had witnessed the racist chant in 2010. The former SAE member, who remained anonymous, said he had heard it at least a dozen times in 2010 and 2011. 'The chant was never taught to us during our official pledge education. It was taught in private,' the former SAE said. He added that the university didn't make up the song, claiming it had been 'going around' the fraternity for years. Louisiana Tech administrators told BuzzFeed on Thursday that they had met with leaders of SAE there and warned them that they had 'zero tolerance' for racist behavior. The shocking racist song has been circulating the SAE fraternity at OU for at least three years, trustees said . Dylan Merriman, who was an SAE pledge, told BuzzFeed he was at a party at the fraternity when a drunken brother chanted 'there will never be a n***** SAE.' Merriman said the member then pointed at a picture of his SAE brother and exclaimed, 'There was never a n-word in this chapter and there never will be.' Merriman said he left the fraternity not long after the incident. SAE spokesman Brandon Weghorst confirmed Thursday investigations into chapters at the University of Texas-Austin and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. Weghorst says none of the allegations have been substantiated, and the UT chapter is being 'fully cooperative.' He says the Louisiana Tech probe is still in its early stages. Late Wednesday, the board of trustees and alumni of the University of Oklahoma's SAE chapter acknowledged in a statement the chant surfaced at the chapter 'three to four years ago.' OU President David Boren said the university is investigating fraternity members to determine their 'level of responsibility.' +Police have established a crime scene in the Hollywood Hills after a hiker discovered some skeletal remains in a wooded area on Tuesday. The remains were found in the afternoon in the 3300 block of Bonnie Hill Drive. A LAPD spokesperson told CBS Los Angeles that a call came in from the hiker around 4 p.m. Scene: A hiker came across some skeletal remains in the 3300 block of Bonnie Hill Drive in the Hollywood Hills around 4pm on Tuesday, police say . Police have not yet determined if the remains are definitely human. They are searching the surrounding area for any clues. The crime scene is close to the home of Andrew Getty, grandson of oil tycoon J Paul Getty, who was found dead inside his home today in apparently suspicious circumstances. However police do not believe the two scenes are linked. The investigation continues. Investigation: Police are now trying to verify whether the remains are human . A hiker found skeletal remains this afternoon in the 3300 block of Bonnie Hill Drive in the Hollywood Hills . +A man's naked corpse was discovered on a golf course in northwestern Minnesota on Monday afternoon. The body was identified as Andrew Jon Springer, 35, and he was pronounced dead at the scene at Sandhill River Golf Course in Fertile, Minnesota. It is unknown as to why Springer was naked but after being evaluated at the UND Forensic Pathology Laboratory in Grand Forks, it was determined he died as a result of hypothermia. Scroll down for video . Deceased: Andrew Jon Springer, 35, was discovered naked and dead as a result of hypothermia on Monday . Discovered: Andrew Springer's naked corpse was found at the Sandhill River Golf Course in Fertile, Minnesota on Monday . In addition to shivering and drowsiness, symptoms of severe hypothermia include confusion and poor decision-making, which leads some sufferers of the condition to remove their clothing. According to Springer's Facebook he left behind an infant daughter. Springer's other immediate family members have not spoken out nor have they been identified at this time. 'The preliminary autopsy results do not show any signs of foul pay,' the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to the Star Tribune. 'At this time it appears as if the victim died as a result of hypothermia,' continued the statement. Around 4:10 officials were called to a report seeing a naked and unconscious man on the golf course. Deputy Sheriff Brian Lundeen told the Star Tribune that Springer recently moved to Fertile, Minnesota and lived less than two blocks away from the eastern edge of the golf course. Sandhill River Golf Course could not be reached  and it's unknown at this time as to whether Springer was playing on the nearby course earlier in the day. Father: Springer left behind an infant daughter but it is unknown as to whether or not he was married or lived with the baby's mother . +A Vauxhall Zafira was trapped between two concrete barriers at an exact 90 degree angle after the hapless driver collided with a lorry. The car span before it stopped but no one was injured in the accident. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident on the A1139 near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire yesterday afternoon. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident on the A1139 near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire . A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: 'We took a call at 12.24pm with reports of a collision on the Fletton Parkway in Peterborough between a grey Vauxhall Zafira and a lorry. 'No action has been taken against either of the drivers, as parties agreed to deal with it through their insurance companies.' The car was removed finally by a recovery truck which had to pull it out. Are you the driver of the lorry or the Vauxhall Zafira driver? Contact callum.paton@mailonline.co.uk. +Tottenham target Kevin Wimmer says it would be a 'dream' to join the White Hart Lane club. The 22-year-old Cologne defender is the subject of a £4.4 million offer from Tottenham and has held talks over a summer transfer. Austria international Wimmer told Laola TV: 'The two clubs have yet to agree because of the transfer fee. They are still negotiating. Cologne's 22-year-old Austria international defender Kevin Wimmer is a £4.4 million target for Tottenham . He says it would be a 'dream' to join a top club like Spurs and would relish the challenge of English football . 'It would be a dream to move to a top club like Tottenham. For me, the transfer is a big step, a step with which I can develop myself. That's why I want to take the chance. 'I'm not someone who wants to stop developing. That is why England would be the next step. I'm playing in Germany. This is pretty much the best league in the world. 'The English Premier League is the only one that can match that. For me, the English league would be a great challenge. There I can develop because it's very demanding. I'm a fan of English football.' Wimmer currently has one senior international cap for Austria. Wimmer, who has one senior international cap for Austria, would help Spurs bolster their defensive options . +The race for places in the Champions League among the Premier League's top clubs has just become more urgent after UEFA announced significant increases in prize money for their top competition from next season. Cash for appearing in the group stages onwards is leaping by up to 50 per cent, and for English clubs there will also be steep hikes in 'market pool' money from UEFA's TV incomes. The upshot is that if an English club were to win next season's Champions League, they would earn around €100m (or £74m at today's exchange rates) from central UEFA funds alone. Ticket income plus any commercial bonuses income would be on top. Real Madrid's financial reward for retaining the Champions League would be even bigger than last year . Chelsea's Champions League exit at the hands of PSG has cost them a share of more lucrative prize money . To put that in context, England's highest-earning club in last season's Champions League was Manchester United, who earned €44.8m (£33m) from UEFA for reaching the quarter-finals. As things stand, the four Champions League slots for next season are filled by Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United - with that quartet the favourites to reach Europe's top club competition. But Liverpool in fifth, Southampton in sixth and Tottenham in seventh will still hold out hopes they can finish strongly and perhaps squeak into the top four. Never has that fourth place been so lucrative. Under current prize money arrangements, clubs reaching the group stage receive €8.6m (£6.4m) each plus €1m (£750,000) per group win and €0.5m (£370,000) per draw. The basic fee will rise 40 per cent to €12m (£8.9m) and each win will jump 50 per cent to €1.5m (£1.1m). Prize money for reaching the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will leap up to 57 per cent, respectively to £4m, £4.44m and £5.2m. The prize for being tournament runner-up will jump from €6.5m (£4.8m) to €10.5m (£7.8m) while the winner's prize will jump from €10.5m (7.8m) to €15m (£11.11m). Danny Welbeck will have extra reason to celebrate if Arsenal qualify for the Champions League next season . Manchester United won £33m after losing their quarter-final last year - but that will soon look relatively small . Brendan Rodgers and Raheem Sterling will now be even more desperate to finish in the top four this term . Manchester City flopped again among Europe's elite, but they are set for another windfall next season . The most any team will be able to win will from 'basic' prize cash - before TV market share cash - will jump from €37.4m (£27.7m) to €54.5 (£40.4m), a hike of 46 per cent. Yet it is the market pool money that promises to surge for English clubs especially, because BT Sport's £897m three-year deal with UEFA for all European club football kicks in next season, and is worth double what Sky previously paid. A lot of the increase, if not all, will filter to the English clubs in the Champions League. Last season the four English clubs shared around €70m (£52m) in market pool cash, on top of performance cash, with United getting most, at €24m (£17.8m). From next season, the total sum to English clubs is expected to leap by between 50 and 75 per cent, to between €105m (£78m) and €125m (£93m), with exact amounts to be confirmed. The biggest single English earner could get as much as €40m (£30m) of that pot alone, and more if only three clubs made it to the group stages. Sevilla won the Europa League last season, and Europe's second-tier club competition is getting a cash boost . The likes of Tottenham will benefit from the extra Europa League cash, if they do not finish in the top four . Whichever way the sums are calculated, being in the Champions League is about to become hugely more lucrative for English teams in particular. Prize money for the Europa League will also rise but it will remain very much the junior club competition. Currently for every pound UEFA give in prize money to Europa League clubs, Champions League clubs get £4.30. From next season the ratio will narrow to 3.3 to 1 from 4.3 to 1. But the highest-earning club in the lesser tournament will still only be able to earn a maximum of €15.3m (£11.3m). 'UEFA is really pleased that the new distribution system not only provides for a substantial rise in monies received by clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, but also strengthens UEFA's solidarity principle, namely ensuring an even more substantial increase in solidarity payments to clubs,' said UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino. 'In this way, the new system provides a better deal for everyone, especially those clubs which did not qualify to the group stage of either of the two UEFA club competitions. This is a perfect example of the proper implementation of the solidarity principle which forms an essential part of UEFA's key values.' +The United States held on for 1-1 draw with Switzerland in an international friendly on Tuesday after veteran forward Jozy Altidore was sent off. Brek Shea's curling free-kick gave the Americans a deserved goal on the stroke of halftime, and yet another lead to take into a second period. But the trend of coach Jurgen Klinsmann's team to concede late goals continued after Altidore was shown two yellow cards in the 68th minute, for a foul and then verbal abuse at Italian referee Luca Banti. Switzerland's Valentin Stocker prods in a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw with the USA . Stocker returns to the centre circle with Swiss team-mates after netting an 80th minute equaliser . Former Stoke defender Brek Shea reacts after scoring a stunning free kick to give USA the lead . The USA defender watches as his free kick sails up and over the wall on the stroke of half-time . USA striker Jozy Altidore picked up an immediate second caution for swearing at the referee . Former Sunderland striker Altidore walks off the pitch after seeing red for dissent . Switzerland: Burki; Lichtsteiner (Widmer), Schär, von Bergen, Mobandje; Frei (Kasami), Inler (c), Fernandes (Seferovic); Drmic (Embolo), Shaqiri (Xhaka), Mehmedi (Stocker) Scorer: Stocker 80' USA. Rimando (Yarbrough); Chandler, Orozco (Alvarado), Brooks, Shea; Bedoya (Yedlin), Williams, Bradley (c), Morales (Ream); Zardes (Morris), Altidore . Scorer: Shea 45' Send off: Altidore . Swiss pressure paid off in the 80th when substitute Valentin Stocker scored from just two yards past debutant goalkeeper William Yarbrough. The U.S. has now been outscored 12-1 in the second half of matches since the World Cup. A leveler had seemed increasingly inevitable, and five minutes earlier another Swiss substitute, Pajtim Kasami, header over an open goal from close range. The U.S. also escaped in the 79th when an attempted clearance by defender John Brooks rolled just wide of his own goal. Stocker struck when the ball dropped to his feet after two U.S. defenders challenged for a left-wing cross, leaving him unmarked in front of goal. Switzerland playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri puts US keeper Nick Rimando under pressure . USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and new assistant Berti Vogts watch from the dugout . Former Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore clears the ball away from Switzerland's Gelson Fernandes . USA star Gyasi Zardes puts his best foot forward but cannot reach an opportunity to open the scoring . Alejandro Bedoya of the USA takes the ball under control amid a group of Swiss players . Switzerland's Shaqiri uses his body strength to hold off Danny Williams of the USA . John Brooks of the USA clears the ball from danger as Switzerland start taking control . The Americans never threatened Switzerland's goal after Altidore's rush of blood midway through the second half, first fouling left-back Francois Moubandje then complaining about his yellow card. Earlier, Shea's strike was out of character with a first half of miscues in front of goal. Though the U.S. was the better side, Switzerland was responsible for the best chance and most glaring miss in the 39th. Xherdan Shaqiri was freed down the left wing by a raking, diagonal pass from Fabian Frei and the playmaker's pass across the goalmouth was met with an air kick by Admir Mehmedi from four meters (yards). All the Americans' best work involved Alejandro Bedoya exploiting Swiss left-back Francois Moubandje, playing just his third international match. Twice Bedoya crossed invitingly from the right, but Gyasi Zardes blazed a left-foot volley high and wide in the 15th and Michael Bradley fired well over in the 26th when the Nantes winger cut the ball back from the byline. Altidore watches as Shea makes a sweet connection with a free kick to give USA a first half lead . Switzerland keeper Roman Buerki can only pick the ball from the back of the net after Shea's free-kick . Shea wheels away in celebration after opening the scoring with a free-kick on stroke of half-time . Shea races towards the USA substitutes to celebrate his goal at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich . USA players swamp Shea as they head into the dressing room 1-0 up against Switzerland . Bedoya drew a rare save from Swiss goalkeeper Roman Buerki in the 32nd, darting in front of Moubandje to loop a header toward goal from Shea's bouncing cross. Swiss star Shaqiri mostly drifted out of the game and blazed a long-range shot too high after collecting goalkeeper Nick Rimando's poor clearance in the 17th. Buerki's footwork was unimpressive for Shea's goal and the `keeper was at fault again in the 49th, failing to challenge Zardes for a header which bounced wide of the goal. At the other end, U.S. goalkeeper William Yarborough made his international debut as a halftime substitute. Teenager Breel Embolo came on in the 55th for his Switzerland debut after the Cameroon-born . Swiss keeper Roman Buerki attempts to steal the ball away from USA forward Zardes' head . Altidore argues with the referee before the USA international is sent off for venting his frustration . Stocker makes use of Switzerland's numerical advantage to poke home an equaliser from a corner . Stocker raises his arms in celebration as the inquest between US defenders begins . +Manchester United have handed a trial to Glossop North End youngster Sam Grimshaw. The 21-year-old can play at left-back or as a left-sided winger and has impressed with performances in the North West Counties League this season. Grimshaw spent nine years at neighbours Manchester City and has attracted attention from scouts at other league clubs too this season. Sam Grimshaw (right) has been handed a trial with Premier League giants Manchester United . Grimshaw will train with United this week, and hopes to earn a place in Warren Joyce's Under 21s . Reece James has recently been loaned out to Huddersfield Town, and United are keen to boost their ranks . Grimshaw can run 100m in under 11 seconds, and is set to spend this week training at United who are keen to boost their U21 squad having loaned out Reece James to Huddersfield Town. If Grimshaw were to sign for United, he would not be the first ex-City youth player to join the club. Earlier this year, the Old Trafford club signed Sadiq El Fitouri on an 18-month deal. El Fitouri was recommended to the club by Paul Scholes and Phil Neville while playing for Salford during a match against United's Under 21s. In addition, United gave a trial to Southport's Andrew Lewis last month, while Bolton defender Andy Kellett joined on loan for the season. Sam Grimshaw started his footballing career at Manchester City, playing in their youth team for nine years. From there, he moved to Altrincham's youth set-up, where he captained the side on a number of occasions. He signed first-team forms in October 2012, before moving out on loan. He spent two spells at Radcliffe Borough in the Northern Premier League Division One North, before leaving Altrincham. He moved to Glossop North End, who have previously played in English football's top flight but now reside in the North West Counties League. He helped the team win their FA Vase semi-final match against St Austell on Saturday (setting up a Wembley final), and has now been rewarded with a trial at Manchester United. Quite a week for the 21-year-old. +Real Madrid president Florentino Perez insists the La Liga giants will not sell Welsh star Gareth Bale this summer. Premier League duo Manchester United and Chelsea are believed to be interested in luring the former Tottenham Hotspur man back to England. Bale has struggled to win over the Los Blancos fans this season, but Perez insists the 25-year-old will not be leaving the Bernabeu despite the reported interest. Gareth Bale scores during the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid . Real Madrid president Florentino Perez insists the La Liga giants will not sell Welsh star Bale this summer . Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly interested in bring Bale back to the Premier League . Perez told Spanish publication Marca: 'We would never listen to any offers for Bale no matter what the bid was. 'He is a unique player who has already given so much to the team. 'He is the key to the club's future, just like I cannot imagine a future without Cristiano Ronaldo.' Bale has struggled to win over the Los Blancos fans, but Perez insists he will not be leaving the Bernabeu . Bale was in international action on Saturday as Wales brushed aside Israel at the Sammy Ofer Stadium . +Chelsea are being kept updated on Douglas Costa's fitness ahead of a £20million summer swoop. The Brazil international is a long-term target of Jose Mourinho, who is keen to bring the Shakhtar Donestsk midfielder to Stamford Bridge. And the Blues will revive their interest in the 24-year-old ahead of next season provided they receive assurances over a long-standing knee concern. Brazil international midfielder Douglas Costa is a long-term target of Chelsea and Jose Mourinho . Mourinho and Chelsea are receiving fitness updates about Costa as they want assurances about a knee injury . Costa (left) has also reportedly caught the attention of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Liverpool . Chelsea are being regularly updated on Costa's fitness and will press ahead with a move if they are satisfied with the joint in question. Costa will spark a transfer scramble this summer with Shakhtar Donetsk ready to sell their prized-asset. Shakhtar chiefs are now open to selling Costa and talks with third parties over his departure are underway. The Ukrainian side hope to spark a bidding war for the midfielder in attempt to maximise his transfer fee, with a starting price of £25million. Costa is open to joining a Barclays Premier League club, but wants to be playing Champions League football. However, a host of Europe's top sides will also be in the running to land Costa this summer, Real Madrid and Barcelona among them. Costa (left) plays for Brazil but has dual Portuguese nationality, lowering fears of work permit issues . Costa is said to be open to moving to the Premier League but wants to join a club in the Champions League . Costa could make the switch from Shakhtar Donetsk to Stamford Bridge for £20million . Arsenal have had Costa watched extensively, while Manchester United and Liverpool have both been linked with a move. But Chelsea are set to lead the charge having tracked the Brazil international for two years. Despite playing for Brazil, Costa has dual Portuguese nationality so should not face work permit issues. +Oil-rich Kazakhstan is considering a bid to host the 2026 World Cup. The country is already bidding against Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Almaty and is now in discussions over a possible bid for the World Cup four years later. Kazakhstan FA president Yerlan Kozhagapanov said in French newspaper L'Equipe: 'We are discussing this issue with the government of my country to assess what are our chances. Kazakhstan, who play their home games at the Astana Arena, are considering a bid to host the 2026 World Cup . FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces that Qatar will be hosting the 2022 World Cup in 2010 . 'Our country is developing rapidly, our economy is growing, so why not? We want to organise the winter (Olympic) Games in 2022, and we plan to engage in the race for the organisation of the World Cup 2026.' Kazakhstan, which has a population of 17million, is part of the UEFA confederation which may prove a stumbling block for 2026. Asian confederation countries will be excluded from bidding as Qatar is hosting the 2022 tournament, and it may be that European countries are also excluded as Russia is hosting 2018. FIFA's executive committee will decide on the 2026 bidding rules on May 30, and the 209 associations will vote at the FIFA Congress in May 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. The United States is the early favourite to be named as host nation. Kazakhstan, which has a population of 17million, also plan to host the Winter Olympics in 2022 . +England look set to play friendlies against France, Spain, Germany and Holland should they qualify for Euro 2016. Provided England reach the European Championship - and there is no suggestion they will fail to do so after winning their first five games - they will have a window for two friendlies in November, when the third-placed teams will be involved in play-offs. The Football Association is looking to give England a real test during that period by taking on France at Wembley on November 17 and it then hopes to set up a friendly in Spain later that month. Roy Hodgson has confirmed that England want to play friendlies against France, Spain, Germany and Holland . An FA spokesman confirmed on Tuesday England had agreed to play a friendly against world champions Germany in March. The FA is also in discussions with its Dutch counterparts about facing the World Cup semi-finalists prior to the tournament, which takes place in France. 'We'll have four or five games before France, and each of those will be played against top-class opponents, we think,' manager Roy Hodgson said on the eve of England's friendly against Italy in Turin. 'We have Germany, France, Spain and Holland in mind.' Wayne Rooney looks set to lead his country to Euro 2016 and they've won five out of five qualifiers . Harry Kane must be included in the Euro 2016 if he keeps up his impressive form for Tottenham Hotspur . +Alex McLeish has confirmed he is to leave his position as KRC Genk head coach at the end of this season. The former Aston Villa, Rangers and Scotland boss took up the reins at the Belgian club last August but narrowly missed out on a place in the Jupiler Pro League Championship play-offs. Genk will instead compete in the Europa League play-offs - which start on Friday - but Scotsman McLeish has already to decided to make public his decision to leave in May. Alex McLeish (second right) pictured at his unveiling as KRC Genk head coach last August . McLeish, 56, said: 'I have decided that I won't renew my contract when it expires at the end of the season. 'I've been revitalised with this challenge and I am proud to have worked with a group of players who have improved mentally, tactically and technically. 'I am proud that we have achieved a 46% win rate this season and with 49 points, we have amassed four more points than at this stage last season. 'Communicating this decision creates clarity and will allow us now to put our focus on winning a Europa League place. McLeish on the touchline during a match between Aston Villa and Blackburn at Villa Park in 2011 . 'Myself, the staff and players promise to give every ounce of energy as we did in the regular competition.' A club statement read: 'KRC Genk respects the decision of McLeish and is confident that he, his staff and the players will give their best in the play-offs. 'The club is well aware that Alex has to work in difficult circumstances and yet has put down a good result.' McLeish celebrates Rangers' 3-2 victory against Celtic in the 2002 Scottish Cup final at Hampden . +Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon has revealed that he has found it difficult to see Blues legend Petr Cech reduced to a back-up role at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea No 1 has enjoyed a stunning career in west London over the past decade, but has been forced to warm the bench this season following the introduction of Belgian star Thibaut Courtois. Cech has performed brilliantly whenever called upon by Jose Mourinho and kept a clean sheet to help Chelsea earn a 2-0 Capital One Cup final victory against Tottenham earlier this month. Christophe Lollichon (left) admits it hasn't been easy to see Petr Cech slip down the pecking order . Long-serving Blues goalkeeper Cech is set to end his 11-year stay at Chelsea in the summer . Lollichon, however, admits it's been tough to see Cech slip down the pecking order. He told the Evening Standard: 'It’s not easy because you’ve got a goalkeeper like Petr who is at the top of his form. 'I have a relationship with Petr, who is a special person. We’ve been working together (at Chelsea) for eight years. Our relationship goes beyond just the sporting side. 'There is always that moment when a young goalkeeper arrives.' Cech poses with team-mate Didier Drogba after Chelsea beat Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final . Jose Mourinho has decided to hand Belgian star Thibaut Courtois a regular spot in Chelsea's starting XI . The French coach, who has been working with Cech for eight years at Stamford Bridge, . Cech looks set to leave Chelsea in the summer after he revealed he does not want to spend another season as understudy to Courtois. While accepting Mourinho's decision, Cech, who can class Arsenal and Real Madrid among his suitors, said the situation could not go on indefinitely. The veteran stopper said recently: 'I don't know what the club's idea will be. It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo. 'But that can work for one season only. I don't want another one like this,' he added while on international duty for the Czech Republic who play Latvia in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Prague on Saturday.' Petr Cech joined Chelsea in 2004. Here he is presented alongside Arjen Robben and Mateja Kezman . +Moments after announcing his imminent change of codes, Kevin Sinfield was asked if he had ever played a game of rugby union before. ‘No,’ he said, emphatically. There was a pause, as if the league icon was trying to fathom whether the question had been a joke, before he added: ‘They don’t play much rugby union in Oldham.’ That is undoubtedly true, but the current England fly-half, George Ford, also grew up in the Lancashire town, as did his Bath team-mate, Kyle Eastmond. Leeds Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield is to switch codes and join Yorkshire Carnegie at the end of the season . Sinfield (centre) lifts the Super League trophy after Leeds beat Warrington in the grand final in October 2012 . Now, at the age of 34, Sinfield is aiming to follow those younger converts across the rugby divide, having opted to leave Leeds Rhinos at the end of their season, to join sister club Yorkshire Carnegie. The former England captain is a record-breaking legend in the 13-man game, but he wanted one last career challenge; a late shot at union. ‘It’s something that excites me and I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I never thought that I would get the chance to do it,’ he said, shortly after informing his Rhinos team-mates of his impending move. ‘The club has set targets to get back to where it belongs in the Premiership and that is something I want to be part of. ‘I didn’t want to get to the end of my career and look back with regrets about missed opportunities. So when this opportunity came up, my gut was telling me it was the right thing. Sinfield is tackled during a match between Leeds Rhinos and Leigh Centurions last year . Sinfield (left) in action for England against France during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup quarter-final . ‘I’m very respectful of the game (union) and I like watching it. A lot of rugby league people look down on union and a lot of rugby union people look down on league, but I like both games. As a sportsman, the opportunity to play another professional sport really appeals to me.’ Sinfield has no intention of making life easy for himself, when he tries to translate his enduring talents to union. Many of the converts who have fared best have been outside backs such as Jason Robinson, but his hope is to occupy the primary decision-making role. ‘I’d very much like to play fly-half – that’s the position that would suit my skills-set the best,’ he said. ‘I understand the challenge that is in front of me; the difficulties that rugby league players have faced coming over.’ Sinfield and his Leeds team-mates celebrate after beating Melbourne Storm in the 2008 World Club Challenge . Sir Ian McGeechan was present for the announcement in Leeds, in his role as Yorkshire Carnegie’s executive president, and the man synonymous with the Lions appeared visibly elated about the Championship club’s recruitment of such a pedigree figure, on an 18-month deal. ‘This is fantastic news,’ he said. ‘It is a great opportunity to get someone of Kevin’s quality, not just as a player but as a captain and someone who is an exceptional role model. ‘There was a change of ownership at Yorkshire Carnegie at Christmas and the ambition is for Premiership rugby. To have Kevin involved is a great acquisition for us and a statement of intent. We’ve got a lot of young men willing to learn from a natural leader. I for one am very excited.’ +The Premier League Golden Boot is one of the most sought-after individual prizes in the game - and this season’s competition is delicately poised for the final run-in. The three main contenders - Chelsea’s Diego Costa on 19, Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane on 19 and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero on 17 - are all in with a chance of winning it. Will it go down to form? Will it be rocked by injury and suspension? Will it have the fairytale conclusion that so many would love to see? Sportsmail takes a look at the runners and riders in the race for the Golden Boot... The race for the Golden Boot seems to be between Harry Kane (left), Diego Costa (centre) and Sergio Aguero . Left foot: 5 . Right foot: 10 . Head: 4 . Minutes per goal: 98.26 . Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur . Can Harry Kane’s whirlwind season continue right until the end or will it run out of air? His hat-trick against Leicester in Tottenham’s last league match just goes to show how quickly the goalscorers chart can change as he leapt to catch Diego Costa within the space of 90 minutes. Ultimately, any Englishman and most neutrals would want to see Kane top at the end of the campaign, regardless of which team they support, given his story. Kane’s main downfall will be his lack of experience. Hopefully his youthful exuberance will not fade into nervous tension. Costa, 26, and Aguero, 26, are seasoned experts compared to the 21-year-old, more aware of what is required to find the back of the net after a long campaign when the thighs ache and the quads burn. Tottenham Hotspur's Kane was 500/1 to be the Premier League's top goalscorer at the start of the season . Burnley (A) (scored 1 goal against) Aston Villa (H) 1 . Newcastle United (A) 1 . Southampton (A) Manchester City (H) Stoke City (A) Hull City (A) 1 . Everton (A) Record against remaining teams: scored against 4/8 (four goals total) This zonal map shows where Kane scored his 19 goals this season for Tottenham in the Premier League . This pitch view map shows where Kane scored his goals from around the 18-yard box for Tottenham . Left foot: 5 . Right foot: 11 . Head: 3 . Minutes per goal: 102.42 . Diego Costa, Chelsea . The snarling, street-fighting Chelsea striker is joint-top of the goalscorers chart, but has played fewer games to reach his total goals tally and has one more to play than his two main rivals. Forget Kane and Aguero, however, Costa’s main adversary is himself. His aggressive style of play means he is the most likely of the three to pick up a suspension. He is already on eight domestic yellow cards for the season and was retrospectively banned for three matches for a stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can. Chelsea also have a tougher run-in than Tottenham and Manchester City. They still have to face Manchester United and Liverpool at home and Arsenal away. Having said that, Costa has already scored against Arsenal and Liverpool this season and is yet to face United who have had an unstable defence. Chelsea striker Costa is among the best signings of the season and has 19 goals in the Premier League . Stoke City (H) Queens Park Rangers (A) Manchester United (H) Arsenal (A) (scored 1 goal against) Leicester City (A) 1 . Crystal Palace (H) Liverpool (H) 1 . West Bromwich Albion (A) 1 . Sunderland (H) Record against remaining teams: scored against 4/9 (four goals total) This zonal map shows where Costa scored his 19 goals this season for Chelsea in the Premier League . This pitch view map shows where Costa scored his goals from around the 18-yard box for Chelsea . Left foot: 4 . Right foot: 13 . Head: 0 . Minutes per goal: 107.53 . Sergio Aguero, Manchester City . He is the rank-outsider, but one who you would bet against at your peril. Aguero is trailing the other two by two goals, but he has scored four in one game this season, against Tottenham who he will face again in City’s remaining eight games. Of the three strikers, Aguero is by far the best finisher who can conjure a goal, or two, from nowhere in a game. He has already scored eight times against the last eight teams City have to face - the same amount as Costa and Kane’s record put together in their last fixtures of the season. Injury will be Aguero’s main concern. The knee injury he suffered in December cost him a month out and he has failed to consistently string together games since he moved there four years ago. Manchester City striker Aguero has 17 goals and is just two behind the leading Premier League goalscorers . Crystal Palace (A) Manchester United (A) (scored 1 goal against) West Ham (H) Aston Villa (H) 1 . Tottenham Hotspur (A) 4 . Queens Park Rangers (H) 2 . Swansea City (A) Southampton (H) Record against remaining teams: scored against 4/8 (eight goals total) This zonal map shows where Aguero scored his 19 goals this season for City in the Premier League . This pitch view map shows where Aguero scored his goals from around the 18-yard box for City . My Golden Boot Guestimate… . This is, obviously, no exact science. You can analyse all the statistics, numbers and records in the world and the enigma of chance will always rear its head. For example, Costa has scored more of his goals, eight, against teams currently sitting from sixth to 10th, but only plays one of those, Stoke. Kane has netted eight of his strikes against teams now in the bottom five, and has two of those, Aston Villa and Burnley, remaining. Conversely, Aguero has a more even spread against teams throughout the table. And Aguero has a far better early-season record against City’s last teams than the other two. But then Aguero has not scored in five games, Costa has two in last two and Kane six in his last four. My heart says Kane, but my head goes with Costa, so I choose the Chelsea man. Charlie Austin, Queens Park Rangers (15 goals) Left foot: 2 . Right foot: 10 . Head: 3 . Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Austin is four behind the top goalscorers on 15 for the season . Olivier Giroud, Arsenal (13 goals) Left foot: 8 . Right foot: 1 . Head: 4 . Arsenal are well represented in the top five goalscorers this season so far with Olivier Giroud on 13 . Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal (13 goals) Left foot: 0 . Right foot: 11 . Head: 2 . Alexis Sanchez is another Arsenal star among the top Premier League goalscorers with 13 to his name . The graphics used for Kane, Costa and Aguero's goals were provided by Squawka . +Harry Kane's impact on Friday night was extraordinary. What a delight it was to see a young Englishman, who is leading the Premier League scoring charts, come on and score for England within 79 seconds. Like everyone at Wembley, I left the ground with a smile on my face because of Kane’s cameo appearance. But we do have to measure our praise a little bit. On Friday against Lithuania he was facing a League One back four. To judge Harry properly you need to see him over 10 international games — and probably 10 back-to-back games. He needs those games to settle in and see what international football is about. Harry Kane (left) scored 79 seconds into his England debut against Lithuania on Friday . Kane wheels away to celebrate scoring for England against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday . Kane's incredible rise continued on Friday when he marked his first England game with a goal . What I will say is that from what I’ve seen of him over the past 12 months, stepping up from Under-21 level to the Tottenham first team, to the Europa League and now to full international level, he has looked comfortable at every stage. He can hold the ball up, he leaps well to head the ball, he works hard and can play in either of the front two positions and his finishing doesn’t really need any additional comment. He can be a genuine international player but we have to see him against tougher defences first. If he starts against Italy on Tuesday, it will be more of a test both on the pitch and mentally. On Friday, when he came on, there was nothing to lose. The game was won and their back four, which was struggling anyway, had been stretched. That’s a lovely position to be in as a fresh, young striker. When you start the focus is all on you and the team is looking to you for the breakthrough goals. That’s a different test. And he’s likely to be up against Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, two of the toughest defenders around. I do believe that he will learn quickly and he can raise the bar at international level. Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge will both enjoy playing with him. I’ve said before that we haven’t had this range of attacking talent since I was the England manager and had to pick between Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Michael Owen, Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler and Andrew Cole. There are some great options for Roy now. We’re not going to mess around any more with Rooney playing out wide. But I can see Rooney and Kane playing up top together, with one dropping in behind at times. Both of them can do that, so you can rotate the role. I had the same kind of pleasant problem going into the 1998 World Cup. We knew Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham could play together and they had a wonderful balance to them, with Teddy dropping in and Alan always playing close to the goal. But then Michael Owen burst on the scene with his lightning pace. I didn’t want Alan to play in the pocket if he played alongside Michael, because that’s not his best position. So we had to work at the system so that both of them would have little spells where they would be up top: Michael because of his pace and Alan because of his goal threat. If you look at Michael’s famous goal against Argentina, he comes from deep. That’s because he had dropped in for that period of the game and that was something we had specifically worked on. I didn’t want a 4-4-2 with two strikers playing square because, at international level, that’s food and drink to defenders. Kane headed in England's fourth against Lithuania shortly after replacing Wayne Rooney . It has been queried how Kane (left) would fit in a starting line-up alongside captain Wayne Rooney . Kane and Rooney in the same starting line-up could see formation turn to a 4-3-3 . The attacking full backs, Leighton Baines and Nathaniel Clyne, would be able to provide width to the attack . I think Rooney and Kane can do that, so that when we’re in possession it naturally changes into a 4-3-3, with the wide men pushing high. And if they stay up square of each other, the two wide men can come back down and the full-backs can get overlaps on them. That should happen so you’re changing your shape constantly. It also gives your wide player the opportunity to come inside and, although he can’t play on Tuesday, Danny Welbeck did that fantastically on Friday, driving into the box. He is going to win so many penalties doing that because he’s flying at people and throws defenders off their guard. And with Raheem Sterling, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to add to the mix, it really does feel like a great period for English forwards. Give Harry a bit of time and there’s no reason to think he can’t be an important part of that. It is not just Harry Kane who we have to be careful not to overpraise. We need to be realistic about this England team, too. The qualifying campaign is telling us very little about whether Roy Hodgson’s team have progressed since the World Cup. We’re in control of the games and dominating possession. But we need to know how to play when we don’t have the ball and whether we can keep possession under pressure. We’re not really going to know if they’re good enough until June 2016. Friendlies won’t give us a real idea, as teams like Italy will be chopping and changing. Roy Hodgson is refusing to get carried away with the hype that is surrounding Kane . Danny Welbeck (left) produced a man-of-the-match display in England's win against Lithuania . Raheem Sterling (left) scored his first England goal in the victory over Lithuania on Friday . As the World Cup demonstrated, if you’re a little bit short, two years of work can all be over in 180 minutes of football. There’s nothing like a tournament to apply some cold reality. I think Gary Cahill is a really good defender but he and Phil Jagielka struggled against Italy and Uruguay at the World Cup. We don’t know whether that weakness is still there. And we don’t have the depth of defenders, because Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and John Stones haven’t seized their chance yet. Our wide forward players like Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling look great but they don’t have to defend that much. The problem will come when they get dragged back against much better sides. And let’s see how well the full-backs stand up when they are put under pressure. It was down that left side with Welbeck and Leighton Baines that Italy caught us out in the World Cup. Phil Jones (left) started alongside Gary Cahill in defence for England against Lithuania . Danny Welbeck (second right) celebrates England's second goal with Gary Cahill and Raheem Sterling . If England have less of the possession against Italy on Tuesday it would be probably be beneficial in the long term. We won’t have been used to playing without the ball. Major international tournaments are like being an Olympic athlete who has to be ready for a few days of competition every four years. Let’s hope England are up to the Olympic standard because we’re only going to find out next June. +It's Kim Kardashian's world - we just play in it. On Tuesday Kim took to Twitter to reveal what her close friend and former editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, Andre Leon Talley, would look like in digital form. The flamboyant fashion icon appears as a character on the reality star’s mobile phone game app Kim Kardashian: Hollywood!, looking suspiciously slimmer than usual. Upgrade: Andre Leon Talley is a longtime friend of Kim Kardashian speaking his mind when it comes to fashion . Close: André Leon Talley is the former American editor-at-large for Vogue magazine . Andre will most likely be pleased with his new likeness in Kim's game, as the front-row regular has previously spoken about his long-time struggle with weight. 'The people who are really close to me and know me have stopped bringing my weight up,’ he told Vanity Fair in August 2013. ‘They probably still discuss it behind my back, some of them, in the fashion world.' After undergoing surgery, where Andre received a lap band that has not worked, he said he no longer weighs himself. 'I do not want to get on that scale. I only know what I weigh from the way my clothes fit,' he said. 'I have never felt less of a person because of my dramatic weight gain. Up or down, my confidence and sense of self never wavered.' Andre is a colorful addition to the game both literally and figuratively, and has long been a friend of Kim's. Video star: The game has ranked at or near the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store charts for the most downloaded free game . Last year Andre spoke about his time in Florence at the Kim and Kanye's wedding and didn't spare any details. Speaking about the couple's first kiss he told Bravo's What Happened Live: 'It was extremely long which is probably a good sign. I would say there was probably tongue engagement.' 'I think this relationship has a lot of legs,' he added, 'and I’m looking forward to the next baby, which we’ll probably call South or South West.' Kim released her video game in June last year and it is still in the top-15 most-downloaded apps on iTunes, so far earning her a staggering $50 million. When developing the game, Kim wanted her family members to be a part of it because it’s supposed to be based on her life but she has also branched out to include other people that are part of her circle including Talley. 'Beautiful . and big!' The objective of the game is to 'create your own aspiring celebrity . and rise to fame and fortune' Voice over: In the game, the 33-year-old reality star used . her talents to deliver lines such as: 'I love your style,' 'I love that . on you,' and 'I'm so excited' 'I . love that on you!' Kim's self-titled game app allows players to select . clothes, hit the clubs, and 'fall in love' as house music swells in the . background . The free game allows players to buy digital accessories for real money with $5,000 in virtual money costing $4.99 in US dollars. A pair of high heels cost about $4,000 in the game. The objective of the game is to 'create your own aspiring celebrity and rise to fame and fortune. Kim provides advice to players to help them maneuver their way to the coveted A-list celebrity status. 'Dating famous people will get you more fans, too,' virtual Kim instructs gamers. Kim also has established clothing, cosmetics and jewelry lines. +Being locked up in prison cuts a person off from every aspect of everyday life, including intimacy with a partner. But if a couple are married, in may countries the inmates are allowed are allowed conjugal visits from their husband or wife. In 2007, Romania changed their penal laws to allow such visits and built bedrooms in their prisons for the liaisons to take place. Romanian photographer Cosmin Bumbut has travelled his country taking pictures of conjugal visit rooms in prisons, like this image of Iași prison, which he took in 2011 . Romanian photographer Cosmin Bumbut has spent the last few years photographing these rooms at 35 different jails across the country. He has now published the collection of images in a new exhibition called Camera intimă (The Intimate Room), which has been shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards in the Architecture section. Cosmin told FEMAIL that the Romanian prison system has changed a lot over the last decade. He said: 'Once Romania joined European Union, in 2007, the prison system was reformed; the biggest change was to introduce the right to private visits.' Aiud prison, 2008 . A woman's prison in Târgșor, 2011 . Bistrița prison, 2011 . He continued: 'A prisoner who is married has the right to receive, every three months, a two-hour private visit which takes place in a separate room inside the prison compound.' The project developed by chance while Cosmin was taking photos for a separate collection on prisoners in the Romanian city of Aiud in 2008. He was taking shots of a man and his wife during a conjugal visit and realised that the rooms would make an interesting series on their own. Gherla prison, 2011 . Arad prison, 2013 . Oradea prison, 2013 . Cosmin said: 'In 2008, I took the first photos inside the intimate room with an inmate and his wife after their private visit. 'I realised that these rooms represent the institutionalisation of love, the cancellation of tenderness. 'In 2011, I started photographing the intimate rooms systematically until 2014. 'I shot the rooms and some absurd details and also some footage from the point of view of the inmate lying on the bed.' Chilia Veche prison, 2013 . Juvenile detention centre in Tineri, Bacău, 2011 . Satu Mare prison, 2011 . Botoșani prison, 2011 . Cosmin added that although many prisons have got to the effort of making the rooms appear relatively warm, they are all tinged with sadness. He said: 'In this cold space, with information about STDs and safety hung on the walls, two people meet their loved ones, after months of waiting.' Cosmin's photography work can be found at en.teleleu.eu and www.bumbutz.ro . +A young golf-pro will now have 7,378 square-feet of space to host his many trophies and maybe throw some parties now that he's just old enough to drink. At just 21-years-old, two time PGA tour winner Jordan Spieth can now call a 2,275,000 Dallas, Texas home his own. The luxurious abode originally listed at $2,475,000 sits on just under one acre and boasts five bedrooms and a chef's kitchen with a 12-foot stone island and elegant archway entry, reports The Houston Chronicle. Pool party?: Jordan Spieth's nee home has a large swimming pool, an outdoor summer kitchen, spa fountains, and covered patio space . Five bedrooms: The home's listing says that each of the five ornate bedrooms has their own private bath . Powder room: The home have several bathrooms with large vanities and plenty of room to relax . Chef's kitchen: The well equipped kitchen has stunning archways, plenty of natural light, and a spacious center island . The home's listing says that each of the five ornate bedrooms has their own private bath. The house was built in 2008 and is in Dallas' exclusive Preston Hollow neighborhood. Elegant entryway: The sophisticated home built in 2008 is the the wealthy Dallas community called Preston Hollow . Welcoming: The entrance of the home is filled with light and has a welcoming white spiral staircase leading to the second floor . Living room: The Dallas mansion has several rooms for lounging and has plenty of space to host groups of friends . Winning big: Gold prodigy Jordan Spieth, 21, is now the proud owner of a $2.3m mansion . NBA's Dallas Mavericks owner and TV personality Mark Cuban is also a Preston Hollow resident. The alcove is perfect for hosting parties and includes a 288-bottle wine closet, a large media room, and a gameroom. The pad has an outdoor swimming pool outside with spa fountains and a covered patio. Outside there is also a summer kitchen and stone fireplaces. Spieth's purchase may be a celebratory one as he had a victorious end to 2014. Golf.com reports that the both the Emirates Australian Open in November and the Hero World Challenge a week later in December. Spieth is Currently ranked Number 6 in the world and had his first win of 2015 at the Valspar Championship on March 15. New property: The property was built in 2008 in the posh Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow where  NBA's Dallas Mavericks owner and TV personality Mark Cuban also live . Long hallways: The ritzy home is decorated with pottery and light fixtures that fill the home with radiance . Dining room: This room is the perfect space to host a dinner party with friends and is one of the many luxurious rooms . Dining enclave: There is a small tabe next to the kitchen which is the perfect place to chow down on a quick snack or have a meal . Lavatory: Evbery one of the home's five bedrooms has their own private bathroom equipped with both a shower and a bath . High ceilings: This modern bedroom has a large window, high ceilings, and even has its own fireplace . Guest room: This guest room is the perfect place for a friend or family member to sleep and there is a full dresser for them to store clothes . The study: This office like room is the perfect place to hold meetings or to sit back and read a good book . +The president of the University of Oklahoma has condemned the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity for the racist chant that emerged this weekend and vowed to discipline the students involved - but stopped short of saying they would be expelled from the university. David Boren expressed outrage today at the racist song by members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and revealed that school officials have already identified at least two of the students seen singing 'There will never be a n***** in SAE' on a party bus over the weekend. 'We will look at all possible punishment and what is available to us under the law. Under the civil rights law it may be possible for us to take action against certain individuals,' he said. 'Would I be happy if they left voluntarily? Yes. We don't have room for racists and bigots here.' He added: 'I don't want them here. I'll pay the bus fare to get them out. They're not coming back.' Scroll down for video . Cut it off! As one frat brother gleefully sings a racist chant, another steps in and tries to cut off recording of the shameful incident . University of Oklahoma President David Boren used a bullhorn to address students Monday morning at a rally against the SAE fraternity . Fraternity members moved furniture out of the house in the rain on Monday afternoon. They've been told the vacate the premises by midnight . This student's parents helped him move his belongings out of the SAE house into the back of their Cadillac Escalade SUV . A mother puts a comforting arm around her son in the wake of his fraternity being kicked off campus and shamed the world over for a racist chant . Hundreds of furious students have rallied on campus in Norman this morning to protest the outrageous song by the fraternity brothers. Boren's comments come as a new video emerges that shows a frat brother trying to stop the recording of the sickening song aboard the Sigma Alpha Epsilon party bus. As one tuxedo-clad brother gleefully sings, 'You can hang him from a tree, but he'll never sign with me, there will never be a n***** in SAE' - another stands up and waves his hands in front of a cell phone camera, attempting to stop the filming of the shameful song. Earlier on Monday, Boren gave the fraternity members less than 24 hours to vacate their house on campus. He may have offered to buy the frat members a bus ticket out of town - but it seems some of the members will drive a Cadillac instead. An Escalade SUV was among several vehicles - including two U-Haul trucks that were parked outside the fraternity on Monday morning, according to KOCO-TV. Fraternity members refused to talk to members of the press as they packed up their belongings and loaded them into the trucks. According to the campus student newspaper, the Oklahoma Daily, several fraternity members were also seen fleeing the house on Sunday night with packed suitcases. At a rally on Monday morning, shamed the fraternity brothers, according the Oklahoman newspaper: 'You are disgraceful! Real Sooners are not bigots, real Sooners are not racist.' Fury: Hundreds of students rallied on the campus in Norman, Oklahoma, on Monday morning to protest the horrific chant by the fraternity members . Using the slogan 'Unheard' black students - and their allies - used the occasion to protest what they say is a history of racism at the university . Students refused to speak with reporters as they packed up and left the fraternity. They loaded their belongings into U-Haul trucks and SUVs . Packing up: U-Haul trucks and several SUVs appeared at the SAE fraternity to move members and their belongings out of the house ahead of the midnight deadline to vacate the premises . The OU mascot is the Sooner - in honor of the homesteaders who took up plots of land across the state in the late 19th century. In a statement, he said that the members of SAE have until midnight Tuesday morning to clear everything out of the fraternity house. 'Effective immediately, all ties and affiliations between this University and the local SAE are hereby severed. I direct that the house be closed and that members will remove their personal belongings from the house by midnight tomorrow,' he said. A vandal approached the house an spray painted 'Tear It D' across the wall of the frat house - presumably meaning to paint 'tear it down.' At the SAE chapter at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, a Confederate flag could be seen hanging in the bedroom of one of the fraternity brothers. It was visible from the street through the fraternity's window, according to the O'Colly student newspaper. It has since been taken down. Coming down: University workers on Monday tore down the Greek letters for SAE on the fraternity house - after officials cut all ties to the fraternity . Frat house: The SAE base at the University of Oklahoma is pictured above. The university has cut off all ties to the fraternity and will ban it from campus . Fraternity members refused to speak to members of the media on Monday . Parents came out in to help their college children move out of the fraternity house on Monday . Alumni of the fraternity have also begun raising money Howard, the African-American cook who ran the kitchen at the fraternity for more than 10 years. Blake Burkhart wrote on the IndieGoGo campaign: 'That man is going to walk up to the SAE house tomorrow morning and hear that he no longer has a job. He is going to learn who has been working for. And through some cruel twist of fate, he has to lose the job that he has held for over a decade. He is going to lose his job because of a bus full of racist kids.' The campaign has raised more than $11,000 toward its goal of $50,000 to help provide support for Howard after losing his job. Also on Monday, rapper Waka Flocka Flame canceled his show at scheduled for this spring at the fraternity house. In a statement, the Atlanta-based musician said: 'I must say I'm disgusted and disappointed in the actions of the SAE fraternity at University of Oklahoma and I will be canceling my scheduled performance for them next month. Racism is something I will not tolerate.' The racist footage that kicked it all off was uploaded to YouTube Sunday and shows members of a Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter singing that there 'will never be a n*****' in their fraternity. In the brief clip, one two students stand up to a group of their peers, wearing bow ties and dress shirts, in the vile chant, sung to the tune of If You're Happy And You Know It. The footage is believed to have been filmed on Saturday - when the rest of the nation was focused on Selma, Alabama, where the president said the civil rights movement has not yet completed its long march. 'There will never be a n***** SAE': The vile chant was made by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter at the University of Oklahoma . National heads of Sigma Alpha Epsilon closed the fraternity Sunday night after the video was shared widely online, and suspended all of its members. During the sickening clip the students are clearly heard singing: 'There will never be a n***** SAE, there will never be a n***** SAE. 'You can hang him from a tree, but he'll never sign with me, there will never be a n***** SAE.' A female voice in the background can also be heard asking a friend: 'You've never heard it before?' The footage shows the group on a bus, apparently headed to a party. It was made public by a black students' pressure group at the university called Unheard. In the wake of the video, the national leadership of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which has branches across the country, said the University of Oklahoma chapter would be punished. Reaction: The national heads of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon have said those responsible will be punished . Brad Cohen, the Eminent Supreme Archon of the organization, confirmed that the video was authentic. He added that he was 'shocked and disgusted' by it, and said those responsible 'will be dealt with'. Cohen also said the song, which the video participants seemed to know well, was not part of any SAE traditions. A statement from SAE said: 'Sigma Alpha Epsilon's national headquarters has closed its Oklahoma Kappa chapter at the University of Oklahoma following the discovery of an inappropriate video. 'In addition, all of the members have been suspended, and those members who are responsible for the incident may have their membership privileges revoked permanently. At Oklahoma State University, the SAE chapter has a Confederate flag clearly visible from the street, hanging in the bedroom of one of the fraternity brothers . A vandal painted 'TREAR IT D' - presumably 'tear it down' - on the wall of the fraternity on Sunday night . 'We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way. 'Furthermore, we are embarrassed by this video and offer our empathy not only to anyone outside the organization who is offended but also to our brothers who come from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities.' SAE has more than 200 chapters across the country, 15,000 undergraduate members and around 200,000 alumni. The mission of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is 'to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, and service for our members based upon the ideals set forth by our Founders and as specifically enunciated in our creed, The True Gentleman.' For more than half a century, new members are required to memorize and recite the following: . 'A True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.' +A 19-year-old UC Berkeley student who went missing after leaving an alcohol-fueled frat party over the weekend called a friend in the early hours of Saturday telling her he was 'screwed' and that he got lost, it was revealed today. Eloi Vasquez, an economics major and star soccer player at the prestigious school, was last seen at 1.30am Saturday leaving a spring break celebration held by the University of South California's Tau Kappa Epsilon. Now unreachable, he is the subject of a large-scale police search. Eloi's family are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his safe return. Scroll down for video . Missing: A search has been launched to find 19-year-old UC Berkeley student Eloi Vasquez after a party on Friday. He is pictured (left) in his California Golden Bears team strip, and (right) at the party on Friday night . Last seen: He was last seen leaving a party held by the University of South California's Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity in the early hours of Saturday morning. The star soccer player has no money or ID, police say . His cousin Logan Crespan (left) told DailyMail.com he said he was going to the beach, which is 15 miles away . His cousin Logan Crespan told DailyMail.com: 'He said he was going to the beach when he left the party but the closest beach was 15 miles away.' Eloi's mother, Wendy Margolin, said that at around 2.20am her son called a friend, Aurora, Cardenas, and told her he was 'screwed' and that he did not know where he was. 'He pretty much said, "I need you to come over here, I need help." I asked him, "Where are you?" and he told me that he was in LA and that he didn’t know where he was at and that he was lost,' Cardenas told NBC Bay Area. 'The second time he called it just clicked. I didn’t know if his phone died, or if he hung up.' Addressing the media Sunday, Ms Margolin said her son is very responsible and dedicated to his studies, and that it was it out of character for him not to contact his family and friends. The 19-year-old's parents drove to Los Angeles from Northern California Saturday to join the search for their son. Margolin was planning to scour doughnut and candy shops that are open late in the area of the frat house. Last contact: Wendy Margolin (left), Eloi's mother, said a friend of her son's, Aurora Cardenas (right), got a call from him at around 2.20am Saturday telling her he was 'screwed' and lost . Meanwhile, his friends have been visiting lifeguard towers in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. A missing poster describes Vasquez as a six-foot, 175lb Hispanic man with dark hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a white and red t-shirt, white plimsolls, and gray chinos at the party on the 600 block of W 28th Street, a fraternity hub known locally as 'Greek Row'. Vasquez is not a member of a fraternity. Relatives told police he did not have any money or identification with him at the time. He did have a cell phone on him, but it appears to have died. Cal Athletics released a statement Sunday addressing Vasquez's disappearance. 'Eloi is a wonderful young man who has excelled both academically and athletically here at Cal,' the press release said. 'Our entire Cal Athletics family is very concerned for Eloi’s safety and our first priority is to help in any way we can to locate him.' Vasquez, born in Novato, California, is an accomplished soccer player who trained at France's esteemed Racing Club Strasbourg Alsace and the youth academy of Pachuca in Mexico. Appeal: Friends, relatives and teammates are sharing this missing poster in a bid to track him down . Vasquez, who has trained at soccer camps in Mexico and France, was wearing a white t-shirt and gray pants . Getting the word out: Friends have described him as a 'really special kid' in Twitter appeals . He has also played for the California Golden Bears. A fellow player, Matthew Powell, tweeted a picture of Vasquez with the caption: 'My former teammate, Eloi Vasquez, is missing...last seen at USC. Really special kid, keep spreading the word.' In a statement, his university said: 'Eloi is a wonderful young man who has excelled both academically and athletically here at Cal. Our entire Cal Athletics family is very concerned for Eloi's safety.' +Miami Beach police are searching for a runaway teen girl who has harmed herself in the past and is considered to be in danger. April Kayla Flores, 13, who has previously cut herself, was sent to her room after being punished by her mother before she went missing on Friday, according to police. Police said the teen had been rebelling, possibly drinking, getting into altercations at school and spending time with adult men, according to CBS Miami. Miami Beach Police are searching for April Kayla Flores, 13, who has been missing since Friday . Her mother went to her daughter's room to check on her when she realized she had left, possibly through a rear door. The girl's friends mentioned through posts on Instagram that she could be heading to Tampa and that she might harm herself. The Florida missing child alert said she was last seen in the area of the 4000 block of Sheridan Avenue in Miami Beach. Flores is described as a white female with brown hair, hazel eyes and stands 4'11'' tall and weighs 95lb. The teen girl was last seen in the area (pictured) of the 4000 block of Sheridan Avenue in Miami Beach . +A missing UC Berkeley soccer star who vanished in the early hours of Saturday after leaving a fraternity party 'drunk and disoriented' was struck and killed by a car, the LAPD said on Monday. Eloi Vasquez, 19, was fatally hit by the vehicle at around 2.30am on Saturday, just an hour after he was last seen leaving a party at the University of Southern California fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon. His body was found on the state's 10 Freeway on a ramp around three blocks from the university's campus, his family said. However, police could not identify him immediately because of his injuries. But on Monday afternoon, the LAPD reportedly confirmed that the coroner’s officer had identified the person who was hit on the eastbound freeway as Vasquez - a tragic end to a two-day search for him. Scroll down for video . Missing: Missing soccer star Eloi Vasquez, 19, was struck and killed by a car, the LAPD said on Monday. Above, he is pictured (left) in his California Golden Bears team strip, and (right) at the party on Friday night . Party weekend: Vasquez was last seen leaving the University of Southern California;s Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity giyse (pictured) early Saturday morning while visiting the college during spring break . Death: His body was found on the state's eastbound 10 Freeway (pictured) on a ramp around three blocks from the university's campus, his family said. Police could not identify him immediately due to his injuries . It is unclear what type of vehicle hit the student at up to 70mph, resulting in such serious injuries. 'The family is understandably very distraught and has respectfully asked for privacy,' police told KTLA 5. The devastating revelation came just hours after Vasquez's family had offered members of the public a $100,000 reward - increased from $50,000 - for information leading to the teenager's safe return. Earlier on Monday, Coroner’s Lt. Fred Corral had said that the county agency was investigating a 'John Doe', who had been fatally struck by a vehicle on the major east-west Freeway, near Vermont. Shortly after Vasquez was last seen, he had called a friend saying he was 'screwed' and had lost his way. The economics major and soccer star at the prestigious school had then lost contact. Reports said he was likely drunk at the time. His cousin Logan Crespan told DailyMail.com: 'He said he was going to the beach when he left the party but the closest beach was 15 miles away.' Vasquez's mother, Wendy Margolin, said that at around 2.20am her son had called a friend, Aurora, Cardenas, and told her he was 'screwed' and did not know where he was. Last seen: The star soccer player had no money of ID on him when he left the party, authorities say . Swim: His cousin Logan Crespan (left) told DailyMail.com he said he was going to the beach, which is 15 miles away . Close: It is unclear what type of vehicle hit the student. 'The family is understandably very distraught and has respectfully asked for privacy,' police said. Above, Vasquez was killed just blocks away from the fraternity . 'He pretty much said, "I need you to come over here, I need help." I asked him, "Where are you?" and he told me that he was in LA and that he didn’t know where he was at and that he was lost,' Cardenas told NBC Bay Area. 'The second time he called it just clicked. I didn’t know if his phone died, or if he hung up.' Addressing the media Sunday, Ms Margolin said her son was very responsible and dedicated to his studies, and that it was it out of character for him not to contact his family and friends. Vasquez's parents drove to Los Angeles from Northern California Saturday to join the search for their son. Margolin was planning to scour doughnut and candy shops open late in the area. Meanwhile, his friends were visiting lifeguard towers in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. A missing poster described Vasquez as a six-foot, 175lb Hispanic man with dark hair and brown eyes. Last contact: Wendy Margolin (left), Eloi's mother, said a friend of her son's, Aurora Cardenas (right), got a call from him at around 2.20am Saturday telling her he was 'screwed' and lost . Appeal: Friends, relatives and teammates shared his missing poster in a bid to track him down before receiving the tragic news that he was actually struck and killed by a vehicle on the state's 10 Freeway . He was wearing a white and red t-shirt, white plimsolls, and gray chinos when he died after leaving the party on the 600 block of W 28th Street, a fraternity hub known locally as 'Greek Row'. Vasquez was not a member of a fraternity. Relatives told police he did not have any money or identification with him at the time. He did have a cell phone on him, but it appeared to have died. Cal Athletics released a statement Sunday addressing Vasquez's disappearance. 'Eloi is a wonderful young man who has excelled both academically and athletically here at Cal,' the press release said. 'Our entire Cal Athletics family is very concerned for Eloi’s safety and our first priority is to help in any way we can to locate him.' Vasquez, born in Novato, California, was an accomplished soccer player who trained at France's esteemed Racing Club Strasbourg Alsace and the youth academy of Pachuca in Mexico. Athlete: Vasquez, who has trained at soccer camps in Mexico and France, was wearing a white t-shirt and gray pants at the time of his disappearance and death . Getting the word out: Friends described him as a 'really special kid' in Twitter appeals . He had also played for the California Golden Bears. A fellow player, Matthew Powell, tweeted a picture of Vasquez, writing: 'My former teammate, Eloi Vasquez, is missing...last seen at USC. Really special kid, keep spreading the word.' In a statement at the weekend, the university said: 'Eloi is a wonderful young man who has excelled both academically and athletically here at Cal. 'Our entire Cal Athletics family is very concerned for Eloi's safety.' +We all have those days when nothing seems to go right and it appears it's the same for the animal kingdom too. In this case, a raccoon was seen having a string of bad luck after it was chased up a tree only to fall into a pond of cold water. The moment of misfortune occurred when the cute critter crept inside a lemur enclosure at the North Carolina Zoo. The inhabitants did not take well to their unwelcome guest and it was forced to take refuge in a nearby tree. After waiting for the coast to clear, the stripy creature then attempted to get higher but ended up losing its grip on the way down. It was then captured plunging into a pond below before clambering out looking rather bedraggled. Bemused zoo visitors then watched the raccoon shiver on the sidelines as it attempted to dry off in the springtime sun. Get out! A raccoon was chased away after it crept into a lemur enclosure at the North Carolina Zoo . Swift move: In a bid to escape, the striped critter scampered up a tree and settled in a branch . Going, going... After waiting for the coast to clear, the stripy creature then attempted to get higher but ended up losing its grip on the way down . Unrecognizable: The raccoon was then captured plunging into a pond below before clambering out looking rather bedraggled . +Don't let the size of this tiny 6lb pooch fool you. Michelle Petty filmed her feisty Yorkshire Terrier named Puppies scaring off a herd of deer at a ranch in America. Footage shows him bravely approaching one of the mammals - more than ten times his size - before it instantly flinches away in terror. Caught on camera: Michelle Petty filmed her feisty Yorkshire Terrier named Puppies scaring off a herd of deer at a ranch in America . At the beginning of the clip, Puppies is seen standing in front of the deer for around ten seconds. Then, breaking the silence, the dog runs forward causing his audience to flee. As they scarper away, the deer are heard bleating in alarm. Petty said that the antlered beasts appeared to think Puppies was 'a wolf or something'. Throughout his herding adventure Puppies didn't appear to issue a bark and let his fearsome guise do the talking instead. Whoa: Footage shows him bravely approaching one of the mammals - more than ten times his size - before it instantly flinches away in terror . At the beginning of the clip, Puppies is seen silently standing in front of the deer for around ten seconds . +President Barack Obama may have become used to wearing golf shoes after spending the weekend hitting the links in the Sunshine State. The Commander-in-Chief, returning from a Florida trip where he played golf with wealthy donors, nearly took a tumble when exiting Air Force One on Sunday. He gave a wave to media before stumbling for a second and resuming his trot down to the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. Scroll down for video . Welcome back: President Barack Obama returned to Washington on Air Force One Sunday after a weekend in Florida . Rough return: Obama lost his footing temporarily while leaving his aircraft, gripping on to the handrails for support . Near tumble: The president did not fall during his slip, and was able to recover and continue trotting down the stairs . Back to business: Obama avoided a potentially embarrassing fall and went down to the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington . Obama kicked off the spring season at the resort where he once caused a stir by playing with Tiger Woods and had no official events scheduled. First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha were not on the trip at the Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, less than 50 miles up the coast from Palm Beach. The president's Sunday also featured a golf game with Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, who is a major Democratic party donor with a net worth estimated at $2billion. The pair's foursome was joined by Mitch Carroll, who is on the board of directors at oil company Halliburton, and private equity investor Glenn Hutchins, part owner of the Boston Celtics. Obama flew out of the airport in Fort Pierce, where he arrived before making the short trip to Palm City. The president also took time to reconnect with Florida pizza shop owner Scott Van Duzer, who famously gave Obama a bear hug in 2012. Fearsome foursome: Obama's golf buddies for his Sunday round included Haliburton board member Milton Carroll (left) and Jim Crane (right), owner of the Floridian and the Houston Astros . Sunshine State: Obama embraced Scott Van Duzer, the owner of a Florida pizza shop who famously gave the president a bear hug, while leaving his golf getaway . Leaving on a jet plane: The Commander-in-Chief departed from St Lucie International Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida on Sunday . Security: He spent the weekend at the Floridian National Golf Club (pictured), playing golf with wealthy donors such as club owner Jim Crane . Local media reported the president teed off Saturday with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning, former NFL star and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad and Cyrus Walker, a cousin of Obama's senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, according to WPTV. Two years ago, Obama played 18 holes at the Floridian with Woods and Crane, who owns the club. He also practiced with Woods' former swing coach. Word of Obama's golf game with Woods in 2013 came initially from a professional sports journalist who was on the course and tweeted about it, even though the White House had prohibited the traveling press corps from observing Obama on the course. Like last time, the White House arranged for the reporters covering the president to wait at a separate location on the property where Obama won't be visible. According to local paper TCPalm, Obama was also expected to play the 18-hole course with Woods’ former coach instructor Butch Harmon. VIP luggage: An aide carries a golf bag to the motorcade of US President Barack Obama upon his arrival . Tee off: Obama, seen here playing a previous game of golf with Ahmad Rashad at Marhta's Vineyard in Massachusetts, played with the former NFL player again this weekend . Course buddies: Local media reports say Obama will tee off with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning (left) and former NFL star and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad (right) Controversial: Two years ago, Obama caused a stir during a visit to the same Florida golf resort by closing the course off from the press. It was then revealed he was having private lessons with Tiger Woods . Working on his form: Word of Obama's golf game with Woods in 2013 came initially from a sports journalist who was on the course and tweeted about it. CNN was the only network to get footage of him . Previous administrations have allowed brief news media coverage during presidential rounds of golf. Obama's policy generally is not to allow reporters to observe him. He has made a few exceptions when he's golfed with prominent figures, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, former President Bill Clinton and the leaders of New Zealand and Malaysia. The Federal Aviation Administration issued flight restrictions in a ten-mile area over the Palm City area for the entire weekend. Welcome: The President Barack is greeted on the tarmac by Rep Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., and Fort Pierce, Mayor Linda Hudson, on Saturday . Weekend away: First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha were not on the trip with the president . +President Barack Obama kicked off the spring season on Saturday with a weekend golf getaway in Florida at the resort where he once caused a stir by playing with Tiger Woods. During his stay at the Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, less than 50 miles up the coast from Palm Beach, Obama planned to be out of public view, with no official events scheduled. First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha are not on the trip. Local media reports the 53-year-old will tee off with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning, former NFL star and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad and Cyrus Walker, a cousin of Obama's senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, according toWPTV. Oh hey: President Barack Obama waves from Air Force One upon his arrival at St. Lucie International Airport in Fort Pierce in Florida on Saturday. He is spending the weekend in Palm City playing golf . Air Force One: Obama traveled to Fort Pierce, Florida to stay at the Floridian National Golf Club, where he will hit the links. He is scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday . Welcome: The President Barack is greeted on the tarmac by Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., and Fort Pierce, Mayor Linda Hudson, on Saturday . Weekend away: First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha were not on the trip . VIP luggage: An aide carries a golf bag to the motorcade of US President Barack Obama upon arrival at St. Lucie International Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida . In the zone: President Barack Obama sits in his limousine after his arrival at St. Lucie County International Airport in Palm City on Saturday . Two years ago, Obama played 18 holes at the Floridian with Woods and practiced with Woods' former swing coach. This time, the president's partners were expected to be a few friends who are his frequent golf guests. Obama flew to the airport in Fort Pierce before making the short trip to Palm City. Word of Obama's golf game with Woods in 2013 came initially from a professional sports journalist who was on the course and tweeted about it, even though the White House had prohibited the traveling press corps from observing Obama on the course. Like last time, the White House arranged for the reporters covering the president to wait at a separate location on the property where Obama won't be visible. According to local paper TCPalm, Obama was also  expected to play the 18-hole course with Woods’ former coach instructor Butch Harmon. Tee off: Obama, seen here playing a previous game of golf with Ahmad Rashad at Marhta's Vineyard in Massachusetts, with play again with the former NFL player this weekend . Course buddies: Local media reports say Obama will tee off with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning (left) and former NFL star and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad (right) Controversial: Two years ago, Obama caused a stir during a visit to the same Florida golf resort by closing the course off from the press. It was then revealed he was having private lessons with Tiger Woods . Working on his form: Word of Obama's golf game with Woods in 2013 came initially from a professional sports journalist who was on the course and tweeted about it. CNN was the only network to get footage of him . President Barack Obama waves as he walks from the White House in Washington, Saturday, March 28, 2015, to board Marine One, en route to Andrews Air Force Base and on to Florida . Previous administrations have allowed brief news media coverage during presidential rounds of golf. Obama's policy generally is not to allow reporters to observe him. He has made a few exceptions when he's golfed with prominent figures, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, former President Bill Clinton and the leaders of New Zealand and Malaysia. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued flight restrictions in a ten-mile area over the Palm City area for the entire weekend. Obama planned to return to the White House on Sunday evening. +The University of Mary Washington has suspended activities for its men's rugby team after officials there said an audio recording captured some team members chanting a song with lyrics that seemed to condone abuse toward women and even necrophilia. In an email to the university community on March 19, president Rick Hurley said the school imposed sanctions because the team's actions violated its code of conduct for club sports. According to the school, the recording featured several team members at an off-campus party at the end of the fall semester. Officials say the chant contained sexually explicit, derogatory and violent language. Scroll down for video . Sick: The University of Mary Washington rugby club has been indefinitely suspended after a recording of members singing a song about raping a dead prostitute leaked online . Finally found a wh*** (Finally found a wh***!) She was right and dead. (She was right and dead!) Well God d*** son of a b**** we're gonna get it in! (God d*** son of a b**** we're gonna get it in!) Finally got it in (Finally got it in!) Wiggle it all about (Wiggle it all about!) God d*** son of a b**** I couldn't get it out (God d*** son of a b**** we couldn't get it out!) Finally got it out (Finally got it out!) It was red and sore (It was red and sore!) Moral of the story is never f*** a wh***! Source . 'Finally found a whore,' begins the call and response song. ' She was right and dead...Well g** d*** son of a b**** we're gonna get it in!' The November 2014 incident was recorded by a male partygoer--sans video--with a phone and uploaded to YouTube, Jezebel reports. It was soon reported to the administrations. In the months thereafter, the school's chapter of Feminists United got involved, with their president Paige McKinsey writing an opinion piece in the school paper when the club decided initial sanctions against the team weren't enough. 'As soon as Feminists United started affecting change on campus, we were faced with aggression and hatred,' McKinsey wrote, saying the group was attacked anonymously through the app Yik Yak. The group perservered, however, and in early March, they publicly released a transcript of the chant. With still no response, the group took things a step further by releasing audio of the chant to several news outlets on March 18. That same day, President Hurley informed the team of their punishment. Some students have been exposed to the 'offensive and lurid lyrics due to posting by others on social media,' Hurley wrote. Feminists United: The UMW Feminists United chapter fought for the team to be punished. They were targeted by members of the student body, who attacked them through the anonymous app Yik Yak . At an off-campus party at the close of the fall 2014 semester, several members of theUMW men's rugby club engaged in a chant that contained sexually explicit, derogatory, and violent language. Some students have now been exposed to those offensive and lurid lyrics due to posting by others on social media. No student on this campus should feel unsafe, ostracized, or threatened. Understanding that the offensive chant is antithetical to UMW values, and will not be tolerated, the University pursued action against the men's rugby club. At the beginning of the current semester, sanctions were imposed on the rugby club for willful violations of UMW's code of conduct for club sports. After an appeal by the accused, the disciplinary process concluded on March 18 with this ruling: All rugby club activities have been suspended indefinitely. Further, each member of the men's rugby club is required to participate in education and training sessions regarding sexual assault and violence. UMW's Statement of Community Values informed the process and response to this situation. As I stated yesterday, the University will not stand for such behavior. It not only violates our community values, it is not how members of this collegial campus live, and it is not reflective of the Mary Washington we all know and love. University policies prohibit discrimination, harassment, threats, and derogatory statements of any form. We pride ourselves on being a diverse, accepting, caring community, and we must live up to that ideal. I urge anyone on campus who feels unsafe, ostracized or threatened to immediately contact campus police or Dr. Leah Cox, Special Assistant to thePresident for Diversity and Inclusion. She may be reached at lcox@umw.edu or 540-654-2119. Richard V. Hurley . President . Source . 'No student on our campus should feel unsafe, ostracized, or threatened,' Hurley continued. 'We pride ourselves on being a diverse, accepting, caring community, and we must live up to that ideal.' Other sanctions imposed at the beginning of the semester were appealed and upheld. In addition, the team must participate in sensitivity training and education sessions. Messages left for the contact listed for the rugby team through the school's website and a campus women's rights group were not immediately returned. The incident at the Fredericksburg school follows recent news of a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma that was disbanded after its members were caught on video engaging in a racist chant. Last week, North Carolina State University also disbanded a fraternity chapter after the discovery of a notebook filled with sexist and racially offensive entries in a restaurant off campus. The University of Mary Washington was founded in 1908 and has about 4,000 undergraduate students. Censured: The school administration doubled down on an earlier censure of the rugby club by suspending their activities indefinitely and requiring them to attend sexual assault education courses . +Extreme measures have been taken to fool men into proposing to their partners. It has emerged that positive pregnancy tests have been advertised on a private Melbourne Facebook page, Fairfax Radio 3AW reports. For just $20, the post on the Port Melbourne Garden City and Surrounding Suburbs Buy, Swap and Sell page reportedly sold these tests showing fake results. Positive pregnancy tests were reportedly sold on a private Facebook group - the Port Melbourne Garden City and Surrounding Suburbs Buy, Swap and Sell page . The caption on the post reads: 'Ladies want your man to propose!? Positive pregnancy test for $20ea. Make that man yours!' The post was soon removed after it caused concerns among members from the Facebook group. A woman named Sue told 3AW she and many others failed to see the humour in the post uploaded on Saturday night. 'No one found it funny,' she said. 'This person who actually posted it wrote on there: "It worked for my girlfriend – she said she lost it".' Sue further told the radio station that she was more disgusted to find the person responsible for the post works in the nursing field. It is unknown if the advertisement was genuine or a joke however the post has been deleted and no purchases were made, Yahoo7 News reports. +The chilling February murder allegedly committed by a Coast Guardsman from Virginia who drove 600 miles to kill a lesbian servicewoman with whom he was infatuated may have been videotaped. New court documents reveal Adrian Loya, 31, strapped a video camera to his chest before invading the Massachusetts home of Lisa Trubnikova and her wife Anna in early February, shooting them both and killing 31-year-old Lisa. Police say Loya wanted to enshrine the terrified final moments of the woman who, while serving alongside him in Alaska refused to reciprocate his advances, and said as much in a 250-page essay he allegedly left for authorities detailing why Lisa had to die. Scroll down for video . Horrific: The chilling case of accused Coast Guard killer Adrian Loya (center) became all the more shocking after new court documents revealed the 31-year-old allegedly recorded the murder of servicewoman Lisa Trubnikova in order to capture her terrified final moments . According to court documents, Loya had already been recording the couple using a video camera he'd affixed to a tree outside their Cape Cod home. On his own 31st birthday, Loya drove from Chesapeake, Virginia to the Trubnikovas' home in Bourne, police say. Before reaching the home, police say Loya blocked a street with his car and then set it ablaze and scattered fake bombs around it to slow down police. Armed with three rifles and a handgun, Loya then allegedly donned a black mask and the chest camera, shot his way into the house and then confronted the couple in their bedroom. Loya allegedly then ordered the couple to stand and opened fire. Lisa Trubnikova was shot in the legs and torso and killed, reports the Boston Globe. Lisa's wife of just two years was also critically injured, but managed to call 911 and summon police. As he fled the home and zigzagged around their neighborhood, police say Loya opened fire on them.One police officer, Jared MacDonald, was shot in the back. Tragic: Loya is accused of shooting his way into the home of Lisa and Anna Trubnikova and killing Lisa (right), with whom he'd allegedly been infatuated . Documented everything: Loya allegedly left behind a 250-page essay on his reasons for wanting Lisa dead for police to find . Loya would surrender about a half hour later. In his motel room nearby, police would discover face masks, handcuff keys, duct tape, fire-starting material, a survival handbook, a mess kit, a first aid kit, zip ties, a knife sharpener, and other items, reports the Boston Globe. Loya has since been charged with first degree murder and ordered held without bail, though he remains at a facility where he was subsequently sent for a psychiatric evaluation. His attorney J. Drew Segadelli told the Globe there's more to the case than meets the eye. 'This isn't the entire bulk of the evidence,' he said. 'I still think there's some skepticism as I review the police investigation,' However, prosecutors remained confident they had more than enough evidence for the first degree premeditated murder charge to stick. And when police told Lisa's relatives of the incident, their immediate reaction was that Loya had been 'fixated' on Lisa since working with the couple in Alaska. 'He became obsessed,' a family member told the Boston Globe. 'He was fixated on her.' Unthinkable: After driving some 600 miles to the Trubnikovas' home, police say Loya blocked the road to their condo with his car, set is ablaze and then scattered fake bombs to slow down police . Obsessed? Lisa's family says Loya had been obsessed with Lisa since he served with her and her wife in Alaska some years ago . Lisa and Anna, who married two years ago in New York, were stationed at different bases in Massachusetts, and worked together with Loya in Alaska several years ago. Lisa was a Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class of Coast Guard Base Cape Cod, and Anna is a Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class of Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England. According to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, the attack appeared to be calculated. Loya checked into a hotel near the couple's residence two days before the shooting. 'I think there was a significant amount of planning involved,' O'Keefe said. 'He wasn't crazy,' said Lisa's older brother Luis Berlanga. 'He knew what he was doing.' After his arrest, police say Loya told them he killed Lisa 'based upon a prior interaction' that 'made up his mind that he was going to arrive at her residence in Bourne and murder her.' Court documents did not specify what or where that interaction was. Anna Trubnikova survived the attack but is now without her wife after just two years of marriage . +Long-serving goalkeeper Petr Cech says he will leave Chelsea rather than spend another season as understudy to Thibaut Courtois. The 32-year-old Czech Republic international has lost his place to the young Belgian this term, starting only four Premier League games and being primarily used in the domestic cup competitions. While accepting manager Jose Mourinho's decision, Cech said the situation could not go on indefinitely. Petr Cech would be willing to leave Chelsea in search for first-team football after losing his place . 'I don't know what the club's idea will be. It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo,' he told the Idnes newspaper. 'But that can work for one season only. I don't want another one like this,' he added while on international duty for the Czechs who play Latvia in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Prague on Saturday. Cech joined Chelsea in 2004 and has won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, the Champions League and three League Cups, the last of which was this season when he was in goal for the 2-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. The Czech international is still considered one of the best in the world and wouldn't be short of offers . With Mourinho clearly favouring Courtois, Cech's future will be of interest to a host of top clubs across Europe. 'There always will be speculation, I leave it for the summer,' Cech said. 'It will be important to sit down with the club, with the manager, to consider all the pros and cons. We will see what will work out the best.' Asked about a possible move to European champions Real Madrid, Cech said: 'When a specific offer comes I will consider it. There are offers one cannot turn down'. Thibaut Courtois is Chelsea's first choice and it looks unlikely that Cech will be able to budge him . +Louis van Gaal has given a fascinating insight into the man behind the mask in a sometimes funny, occasionally emotional and often compelling look at his career. The Manchester United manager and a host of current and former players including Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Xavi starred in a 90-minute documentary aired on the club's MUTV channel on Tuesday. Viewers learned the 63-year-old is a ferociously demanding boss but can also be the life and soul of the party - and is not without the ability to laugh at himself. Louis van Gaal and his wife Truus van Gaal pose on the sandy beaches of Vala de Lobo in Portugal. Van Gaal poses with his wife Truus during a dinner to celebrate Bayern Munich's title win . With a twinkle in his eye Van Gaal also revealed that he is very flexible, before adding 'and my wife knows this!' The show, Louis van Gaal: My Life. My Philosophy, took United fans on Van Gaal's journey from kicking a football around Amsterdam as the youngest of a family of nine to proudly striding out at the Theatre of Dreams. In typically bold fashion he relayed tales of his youth, claiming that after a couple of years of street football he was already better than his brothers. Dutch forward Robin van Persie hats with coach Van Gaal during a training session at the Rotterdam Stadium . Then AZ Alkmaar boss Van Gaal looks on in angst ahead of a Uefa cup knock-out match with Newcastle . But a self-deprecating side of Van Gaal rarely seen was evident when he spoke about his own playing career and acknowledged he was not good enough to succeed at his beloved Ajax. 'I was a slow player so I had to think very quickly,' he explained. 'That's why I developed a tactical level that suits me now as a trainer coach.' Van Gaal spoke at length about his fabled philosophy and, in good news for United supporters, revealed that his players now understood it. 'I attack in four phases and I defend in four phases and I think the players know everything about the philosophy but now they have to perform,' he said. The Dutchman also compared United's struggle to adapt to his playing style with his own attempts to adapt to the English roads. Van Gaal shakes hands with Wayne Rooney after the victory against rivals at Anfield in the Premier League . Van Gaal arrives for World Cup match between Brazil and the Netherlands at the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia . 'It's like somebody coming to England like Louis van Gaal who has to drive with the steering at the other side,' he said. 'You have to learn that. I could have forced many accidents but I was fortunate I didn't do that. I was lucky but it was always going better so I don't have to warn people in my neighbourhood!' The programme was not without its sombre moments. In 1994 Van Gaal, a family man, lost his first wife Fernanda to cancer while he was Ajax manager. 'That year, when my wife died, was very difficult for me because I had two young daughters and was manager of the club,' he said. AZ coach Van Gaal reacts during the match between AZ Alkmaar and Newcastle United at the DSB stadium . 'My daughters were 15 and 18. You have to restructure your life. I have to say I had very great support off my daughters and that's why I could continue being manager of Ajax.' He added: 'The championship (they won later that season) was a tribute for my wife.' Ajax legend Ronald de Boer, who was in Van Gaal's team, gave a heartwarming insight into the support the well-liked manager had in the dressing room. 'I remember the day like yesterday,' he said. 'He told us he would not be able to coach every session because he had to be with his wife. He was so emotional and I remember the goalie Stanley Menzo came to Louis and gave him the first hug. I still get goosebumps when I think about it.' Van Gaal shakes hands with England striker Rooney after Manchester United's game against Liverpool . Van Gaal acknowledges the Manchester United fans after the disappointing defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford . Simon Mignolet denies Rooney a goal from the penalty spot at Anfield, but it was in vain as United won . De Boer and a host of other players to have served under Van Gaal also gave revealing glimpses of his training methods. 'He has a road map in front of you and he tells you which direction he wants you to go,' he said. Current United stars Rooney and Van Persie agreed. Van Persie, who has a long relationship with his compatriot, said: 'To play for him you have to be really fit. What he asks from players is not what other coaches ask from other players. 'He can be emotional and that's what I like. Everyone can have a good day or a bad day and he's no different.' Rooney added: 'I think he is someone you can trust. That's a really good quality.' Barcelona legends Xavi and Andres Iniesta both hailed Van Gaal's impact at the Nou Camp to where he moved from Ajax in 1997. Van Gaal returns to the bench during the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Argentina . 'He pushed me into the first team at 17,' said Xavi. 'He helped me so much through that difficult journey. In my opinion he did not get the credit he deserved at Barcelona. 'He was a coach who was ahead of his time.' Van Gaal said he enjoyed his time in Catalonia. 'It was a warm club like Manchester,' he said. 'It had a family culture also. We were champions the first two years, great years. The years we were there were the first three years with my present wife (Truus). With another smile he added: 'They were also a little bit like honeymoon years. That was also nice.' Friends and players from Bayern Munich revealed Van Gaal was exceptionally popular with the ladies of Bavaria. Markus Horwick, Bayern's head of media, explained: 'With men sometimes he is fighting but with ladies Louis van Gaal is playing the violin.' Van Gaal chats with Jose Mourinho prior to the match between Munich and Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena . And German journalist Andreas Werner said: 'We had a party in the town (following a title victory). He is a party monster – it was the Louis van Gaal show.' More praise came from those now working with Van Gaal in Manchester. 'He always says if you ever want to speak to him about anything you can,' said Rooney. 'His door is always open. He's 100 per cent serious (about that). You can speak to him about things other than football and he's a really nice guy.' As for his own thoughts on United, Van Gaal was equally impressed. 'The first feeling I had was especially after 11 matches when we had 13 points and I came in the stadium and I thought the fans shall not be pleased,' he said. 'The fans rose and clapped me when I entered. Now I see the greatness of the club.' +Zinedine Zidane joined in the clamour for the highly-rated midfielder Paul Pogba by claiming it is 'only logical' that Real Madrid want him on board at the Bernabeu. The France international, who is currently nursing a hamstring injury, extended his contract with the Old Lady until the end of the 2018-19 season back in October, however he has been consistently linked with a move away from Turin. The 22-year-old has attracted interest from a number of top European clubs, with Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Madrid all being tipped as potential suitors. Real Madrid Castilla coach Zinedine Zidane is not shocked by his club's interest in compatriot Paul Pogba . Pogba has been a key figure for Juventus this season and is a much sought after talent throughout Europe . Keen on a return to the Premier League, Pogba is reported to be part of a £100million summer wishlist at former club United and is also understood to have been closely monitored by Manchester City and Chelsea. With so much attention surrounding the young star - who has netted seven goals in 22 Serie A appearances this season - Zidane feels such interest should not come as a surprise to those aware of his talents. Juventus midfielder and former United player Pogba is also on Louis van Gaal's radar at Old Trafford . 'When we are talking about a player like Pogba, it is only logical Real Madrid are interested in signing him,' Zidane told French channel Canal+. 'He is a player with immense potential, who still has an important margin for improvement. 'He is still young and has an exciting future ahead of him. 'Where Pogba will play next season? I don't know the answer to that question. You will have to ask him.' +One hockey player literally had his eye glued to the ball in a NHL game last night. Video footage caught the moment the puck flew towards Patrik Nemeth of the Dallas Stars and wedged under his visor. The 23-year-old slid back towards the barrier at the American Airlines Center in Texas before pulling his glove off to remove the hard rubber disk from his helmet. Freak accident: One hockey player literally had his eye glued to the ball in a NHL game last night . Caught on camera: Video footage caught the moment the puck flew towards Patrik Nemeth of the Dallas Stars and wedged under his visor . A Fox Sports commentator likened 6ft 3in Nemeth to a 'pirate' with a patch over his eye. Once the defenseman pulled the puck away he cracked a smile signaling he was okay. However, his eye did appear to be slightly bruised. Spectators were seen looking on at the scene with speechless expressions planted on their faces. The one-in-a-million shot was delivered by Calgary Flames forward, Jiri Hudler. There was more bad luck flying Nemeth's way, as the Dallas Stars ended up losing to the opposition 3-5. Still standing: The 23-year-old slid back towards the barrier at the American Airlines Center in Texas before pulling his glove off to remove the hard rubber disk from his helmet . Lookalike: A Fox Sports commentator likened 6ft 3in Nemeth to a 'pirate' with a patch over his eye . Lucky escape: Once the athlete pulled the puck away he cracked a smile signaling he was okay . +Wales assistant Rob Howley has defended Warren Gatland against Irish claims he has the ‘intellectual properties of a tub of Flora’. Gatland was subjected to a bitter personal attack by 36-cap lock and outspoken columnist Neil Francis, who accused the Kiwi of ‘shameful nepotism’ by selecting 10 Wales players for the final Test on the 2013 Lions tour. Francis added that Gatland was focused on improving his contract negotiations with the WRU at the time, prompting Howley to label the verbal barbs as ‘disappointing’ and ‘unfair’. Warren Gatland prepares his Wales team for Saturday's Six Nations clash against Ireland . Wales coach Gatland was subjected to a personal attack by former Ireland player Neil Francis . How Wales and Ireland will line up for the Six Nations match on Saturday . ‘You have to experience the Lions to understand the Lions,’ said Howley. ‘I’m not too sure if Neil Francis was a Lion. ‘The wonderful thing about rugby is everyone has their opinion about how the game should be played and there are personalities within the game. ‘When it becomes personal it is disappointing. The game is bigger than that. For someone to have an individual criticism and a personal snipe at someone who has won a Lions series, been involved in Six Nations Grand Slams and championships, is disappointing. We don’t need comments like that. It is a personal attack and totally unfair.’ Francis faced Wales four times for Ireland in the 1990s and was involved in a famous bust-up in 1992 with Tony Copsey, who knocked the forward off his feet with a right hook. ‘Neil was a very capable player and wasn’t someone to wind up the opposition,’ recalled Copsey. ‘We got on very well off the field, but he has always liked a controversial comment as a pundit.’ Since Francis played his final Test in 1996, Wales have managed just two wins over the Irish in Cardiff. Gatland was accused of having the 'intellectual properties of a tub of flora' by Francis . Wales assistant Rob Howley leapt to the defence of Gatland, labelling the barbs 'disappointing' and 'unfair' Gatland has endured a prickly relationship with the Irish media — being compared to a ‘menopausal warthog’ in 2010 — and is hoping to silence his critics in Saturday’s Test at the Millennium Stadium. The 51-year-old, who coached Ireland between 1998 and 2001, has refused to engage in a war of words this week and has instead praised Joe Schmidt’s team, laying the pressure on their doorstep. He has bypassed the ‘challenge’ of playing under a closed roof, with Howley confirming on Thursday that Wales will break with tradition and keep it open. The decision has avoided the sideshow that preceded Wales’s opening fixture against England, whose defeat in Dublin last week has been studied by the Welsh coaches. Gatland was also accused of ‘shameful nepotism’ by selecting 10 Wales players for the final Lions Test, 2013 . Howley sais Wales will be looking to dominate possession and territory against Ireland . ‘Watching Ireland against England was similar to our game at Twickenham last year,’ revealed Howley. ‘The things we need to dominate are territory and possession. That’s key against Ireland and they will be looking at those stats as well. ‘If you’ve got possession, then you don’t have to fight the aerial battle and the astute tactical kicking by Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton. Over the last four or five years the aerial battle has been a significant technical part of the game. It’s about winning the sky and we’re happy with where we’re at in terms of that battle.’ Sexton’s kicking game was one of Ireland’s most potent weapons in Dublin but the No 10 has since been struggling with a hamstring injury. He has been named in Ireland’s starting XV and Wales will be hoping the 29-year-old is a yard off the pace following his setback. Neil Francis represented Ireland 36 times during his career and is now an outspoken columnist . He will be joined in the line-up by Lions No 8 Jamie Heaslip, with the Leinsterman completing a remarkable return to fitness after breaking three vertebrae in his back only last month. Heaslip completes a powerful back row alongside Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’ Brien, who developed a close relationship with fellow farmer and Wales flanker Dan Lydiate on the 2013 Lions tour, which drew criticism from Francis. Lydiate — a strong campaigner against falling butter and milk prices — knows he will have to be at his chop-tackling best against the 28-year-old flanker. ‘Sean’s not easy to stop and it’s about slowing him down before he gets going,’ said Lydiate. ‘We got on quite well on the Lions tour and we’d always chat about farming with Tom Youngs and Rory Best. Sean’s sponsored by Massey-Ferguson and it’s only recently that I’ve been sponsored by JCB. ‘That’s something we can chat about after the game, but we’ll be giving blood, sweat and tears come the match.’ +Was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain always destined for England recognition? The Arsenal star took to Instagram on Thursday night to upload a picture of himself as a youngster head-to-toe in a Three Lions home strip - his first ever football kit. The 21-year-old used the picture as part of the trend 'Throwback Thursday' with the midfielder accompanying the post with the caption: '#TB to my first football kit! My parents were clearly planning for it to last me a good few years… "That's the perfect size, plus you've got a bit of room for growth."' Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain posted a picture of himself as a youngster on Instagram . Oxlade-Chamberlain is all smiles with a ball at his feet as he poses in England's Euro 96 kit. Fast-forward to the present and the Southampton academy graduate has won 20 international caps for his country - winning 14 of those games and drawing six. Despite being a firm figure in the senior squad, Oxlade-Chamberlain's age means he is still eligible to play for the Under 21 side at this summer's European Championships. Former England U21 manager Stuart Pearce believes his successor Gareth Southgate must pick the midfielder along with other senior England internationals who can qualify for the tournament. Pearce, who was unable to select a raft of eligible stars from the senior squad for the last U21 Championship, thinks they would benefit immensely if he went to the Czech Republic. Oxlade-Chamberlain (centre) has won 20 international caps for the Three Lions to date . Ex-England Under 21 boss Stuart Pearce believes Oxlade-Chamberlain should play in the U21 Championship . 'England have to take their best players, all of the best players - not just one or two - for me you send the biggest squad out there,' the former England Under-21 coach told TalkSPORT. 'They are playing against the best in Europe at Under-21 level, the seniors are in a fantastic position for qualification. Roy (Hodgson) has done a good job in putting them at the top of their qualifying group, so you are not going to lose a great deal in regard to one or two of our brightest young players going to the Under-21s. The only thing you will do is gain.' England senior boss Roy Hodgson has said Southgate is free to choose whoever he wants for the tournament. That means Southgate could choose Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Calum Chambers, Jack Wilshere, Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Saido Berahino - who have all received senior call-ups. Fellow senior England international Jack Wilshere (left) is also eligible to play in this summer's tournament . +Lewis Hamilton swapped the pit lane for the runway as he took time out to support his friend Olivier Rousteing at Paris Fashion Week. The reigning world champion was enjoying some time off before the new Formula One season kicks off in Australia on March 15. Mercedes driver Hamilton attended the Balmain show in Paris on Thursday evening. Lewis Hamilton posted this picture after attending a friend's show at Paris Fashion Week . Mercedes driver Hamilton attended the Balmain show in Paris on Thursday evening . Former McLaren driver Hamilton poses for a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris . He then posted a picture online of him with some of the models and said: 'Big congrats to my brother @olivier_rousteing for his show today @balmainparis very proud!' After the show, Hamilton attended an after-show dinner as part of Paris Fashion Week, where he was accompanied by some big names from the world of music and film. The 30-year-old was pictured alongside singer and actor Jared Leto, as well as Kanye West and wife Kim Kardashian, who was sporting a new blonde hairstyle. Hamilton was joined at the after-party by Jared Leto, Kanye West, Olivier Rousteing and Kim Kardashian (l-r) Hamilton poses alongside French fashion designer Rousteing (left) and poses for the cameras (right) Hamilton speaks to actor and singer Leto (centre), while television personality Kris Jenner looks on (left) Hamilton laughs as he speaks to British fashion designer Edward Enninful at the Balmain aftershow dinner . On the track, Mercedes were considerably faster than their opponents in 2015 and early signs suggest the same will be true this season. Hamilton, though, is eager for competition. Speaking to Laureus.com, he said: 'I like to race, I really like to race. The 2015 cars are going to be evolutions of last year's cars, so it'll be the same people that we were racing with last year. Red Bull, Williams, and then you're hoping that it's a bit of a better year for those like McLaren and Ferrari, so that we have more people to race. The more the merrier. 'There was one year the first seven races were won by a different driver, a different team, that's what people want to see. But, most importantly, if the cars are close you can have real races where you're overtaking and battling and that's what I love doing. That's what racing's about.' Hamilton takes a break after training for the new F1 season, which starts in March . Jourdan Dunn (left) and Karlie Kloss were also guests at the Balmain Aftershow dinner in Paris on Thursday . Hamilton drives his new car on F1 testing day in Barcelona in late February . The reigning world champion poses for a picture with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg . +Aston Villa's form under Tim Sherwood finally looks to be hotting up with their 2-1 win against West Bromwich Albion - and midfielder Tom Cleverley celebrated by going out for a coffee with his partner Georgina Dorsett. Cleverley started in the 2-1 Tuesday night win at Villa Park, Sherwood's first win as manager and a first Premier League win in almost three months, which certainly merited a low-key celebration. And that's exactly what the on-loan Manchester United midfielder did, popping out to a local Costa Coffee branch in Cheshire with his partner and former The Only Way is Essex star Georgina. Tom Cleverley and his partner Georgina Dorsett walk from a Costa Coffee branch in Hale, Cheshire . The Aston Villa midfielder had a reason to celebrate after playing a part in Tuesday's 2-1 win over West Brom . Cleverley plays the ball past Craig Gardner before later being substituted following an all-action display . Cleverley was substituted after 77 minutes in the Midlands derby on Tuesday night but drew praise from fans for his all-action box-to-box display before being replaced by Leandro Bacuna. The midfielder is showing progress under Sherwood, and could be offered a permanent deal at Villa when his United contract runs out in the summer. Until then though, the focus is on battling against relegation. Tuesday's win lifted Villa out of the drop zone, although they could fall back into trouble with Queens Park Rangers, Burnley and Leicester City all playing on Wednesday evening. Cleverley drew praise from fans after the win over West Brom for his workrate and improved play . Georgina is an former star of The Only Way is Essex and has been with Cleverley since 2012 . 'I'm confident that what I'm telling the players is the correct thing to do,' Sherwood said after the win. 'But there is nothing like a win to cement that. It is huge for us. 'We have got a group that is not really suited for a relegation battle. The old-fashioned way is to battle but we have to play as if we are not in a relegation battle and pass the ball and move. 'If we go down we go down fighting.' Cleverley will hope to keep his place in the side when Villa meet Albion again in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday. Tuesday night's win for Cleverley and his Villa team-mates gave him and his partner good reason to chill out . The Aston Villa midfielder holds open a door at the Costa Coffee branch in Hale Cheshire on Wednesday . +When it comes to leaders on the pitch Ireland coach Joe Schmidt knows he is blessed. Leading out the Grand Slam chasers against Wales in the Six Nations in Cardiff on Saturday will be talisman Paul O'Connell, the giant lock who will be earning his 100th international cap. O'Connell has captained Ireland in all but two of the 16 tests since Schmidt took charge but his style of leadership means other players are given their head when it comes to making decisions in the heat of battle. Ireland fly half Jonathan Sexton has been in superb form for his country this season . Ireland captain Paul O'Connell is set to win his 100th cap against Wales in Cardiff . Sexton works on his ball skills as head coach Joe Schmidt (right) watches on at the Millenium Stadium . 'One of the other things is that Paul doesn't assume every leadership responsibility, he delegates and he encourages and so that is one of the fantastic things for the coaches as well,' Schmidt told the Irish Times. 'It means Jamie (Heaslip) has a definite role. He has some particular things that he leads on, that Johnny Sexton does, that Rob Kearney does, Peter O'Mahony, we have got a number of provincial leaders, Rory Best, who step up and take different roles of leadership. 'So I think of the best things about Paul is that he doesn't try to carry the whole weight of leadership on his own shoulders.' O'Connell will pack down with Leinster lock Devin Toner in the engine room the Irish pack . 'He is incredibly driven to improve his own performance and thereby leads others in doing that.' Fly-half Sexton, who will win his 50th cap against Wales, said O'Connell's very presence, both on and off the field, is an inspiration. 'He's an outstanding leader,' Sexton said. 'When he speaks to the squad during the week the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. 'He know how important his words are.' Sexton's predecessor and long-time team mate of O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara added: 'Paul is very, very special in terms of the ability to deliver the right message at the right time.' That quality will be especially handy in the red-hot cauldron of the Millennium Stadium where Wales, after their opening loss to England, have put themselves back in contention for the title. Victory would leave the grand slam tantalisingly close with an away match against struggling Scotland to finish. 'It's a massive game for a whole lot of reasons. An opportunity to do what no Irish team has ever done in the history of the game,' Schmidt said. +Porto right-back Danilo admits he is proud to be linked with Real Madrid, as the European champions step up their interest in the Brazilian right-back. Although he insists he is fully focused on his current club, Danilo is 'ready' to sit down at the end of the season and discuss his future. 'I'm living a great moment with Porto,' he told Spanish newspaper AS. 'It makes me happy a great club like Madrid is interested in me. Danilo is currently on international duty with Brazil, and admits he is flattered by interest from Real Madrid . AS leads on Danilo's potential move to Madrid, while Mundo Deportivo focus on Gerard 'Piquembauer' Pique . 'When the season ends I'll sit down with Porto and we'll decide what is best for me and them.' The 23-year-old is currently on international duty with Brazil, alongside current Real Madrid defender Marcelo, who is likely to have an impact on Danilo's decision come the end of the season. AS report that it will cost Madrid €30million (£22m) to bring Danilo to the Bernabeu. Elsewhere in Spain, Mundo Deportivo's front page leads on Gerard Pique, and his comparison to Bayern Munich and Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer. Pique has made the centre-back position his own and is now Barcelona's leader at the heart of defence . Beckenbauer is widely regarded as one of the best defenders ever to have lived, and the Spanish paper have dubbed Pique 'Piquembauer' on their front page. 'The comeback', reads the headline, as Mundo claim Pique has taken on the challenge and is once again a world-class performer in his position. The 28-year-old has made 31 appearances in a Barcelona shirt so far this season, and has confirmed his inheritance of the leadership from Puyol at the Nou Camp, 'gaining weight' in the dressing room in the process. Marcello Lippi thinks Juventus can win the Champions League (left) while Michel Platini also has kind words . In Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport carry an interview with Marcello Lippi, two-time Juventus manager and World Cup-winning coach with Italy. He claims he can see himself in Massimiliano Allegri, the current Juve manager, and has backed him to win the Champions League this season. Lippi was in charge of the Italy team that won the World Cup in 2006 despite being underdogs in Germany, and thinks Juve's situation in Europe is similar. 'In the Champions League he can do like Italy in 2006,' Lippi told La Gazzetta. 'We weren't favourites, but we won. Lippi can see himself in Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri (pictured) and has backed him to succeed . 'Max arrived at Juve at the same age I did, he has my pragmatism.' Tuttosport's front page leads on UEFA president Michel Platini, who also has some kind words for his former club Juve. Aside from the Champions League, they are top of Serie A by 14 points and in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. Allegri's side fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Fiorentina in the first leg of their semi-final, but Platini has backed them to make a comeback in the second leg on April 7. 'Juve, this time you can win the cup,' Platini said. +Middlesbrough have agreed a deal to sign Fulham defender Fernando Amorebieta on loan with full back James Husband going the other way. Venezuelan-born centre-back, Amorebieta, 29, will join until the end of the season to bolster Boro's options after injuries to Daniel Ayala and Jonathan Woodgate. Middlesbrough have agreed to sign Fulham defender Fernando Amorebieta on loan until the end of season . Amorebieta has made only eight appearances in all competitions for Fulham this season - with his last coming in their 5-1 thumping loss at home to Bournemouth on March 6. Neither Husband or Amorebieta will be eligible when the sides meet at Craven Cottage on April 25. Left-back Husband, 21, has made six appearances for Boro this season. As part of the deal, Boro full back James Husband will be joining Fulham on loan until the end of the season . +Bournemouth are interested in taking Tom Lawrence on loan from Leicester City this week. The Wales U21 international joined Leicester from Manchester United in the summer but has barely figured and Nigel Pearson is willing to let him go out on loan. Bournemouth want a striker to bolster their attacking options for the promotion run-in and have until Thursday to get someone in on loan. Bournemouth are interested in taking Leicester City youngster Tom Lawrence on loan . Lawrence was at Manchester United last season and was replaced by Ryan Giggs on his debut . Lawrence, 21, has made four appearances for Leicester following his surprise summer move but only one start in the FA Cup against Newcastle. He also had a spell on loan at Rotherham earlier in the season. Several of the Championship's top sides are vying for a striker with Arsenal's Chuba Akpom wanted by Norwich, Derby and Nottingham Forest. Middlesbrough retain an interest also as they look resigned to missing out on Jordan Rhodes with Blackburn refusing to sell. Derby have also enquired about taking James Wilson on loan from Manchester United but that is unlikely at this stage. Several Championship sides are keen on taking Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom (left) on loan . +Atletico Madrid have entered the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain stirker Edinson Cavani in the summer. The Uruguay international has been linked with a move away from the French capital after two frustrating season at PSG, with several Premier League sides monitoring the 28-year-old's situation. However Diego Simeone's side have confirmed they are interested in the striker to bolster their attacking options as they look set to relinquish their La Liga title this season. Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani is rumoured to be leaving the French champions this summer . 'An interest in Cavani? Yes, there is,' Atletico coach Oscar Ortega told Mundo Deportivo. 'As long as there's a chance, we will see what he can offer us. But it depends on his interest in us too.' Former Manchester United striker and fellow Uruguayan Diego Forlan insisted a move to Madrid would benefit Cavani. Cavani, reacting after missing a chance against Chelsea, has attracted the interest of Atletico Madrid . 'Cavani to Atletico Madrid? It would be spectacular,' said Forlan. 'He is a great striker and he is in great shape. I think his style of play would be ideal for Atletico because he is a fast player who likes to counter-attack and to play in space. 'With the exception of [Mario] Mandzukic, the club has always had these kinds of players; Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao or even me.' Cavani shields the ball from Chelsea's Willian as PSG qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals . +Watford have signed Cardiff City defender Matthew Connolly on loan until the end of the season. The 27-year-old, who can play across the back four, has made 26 appearances for Russell Slade's side this season, including 90 minutes on Tuesday night as they drew 1-1 with Bournemouth. Connolly, a former Arsenal trainee, has won promotion from the Championship previously with QPR and Reading. Cardiff City defender Matthew Connolly has signed for Watford on loan for the remainder of the season . A Cardiff statement said: 'We have accepted a loan offer for Matthew Connolly from Watford FC. 'Matthew will link up with the Hornets immediately, subject to international clearance. The emergency loan spell will run until June 1st 2015 inclusive. 'We wish Matthew the very best of luck during his time at Vicarage Road.' Slavisa Jokanovic now has an additional defender to utilise as Watford look to rise up the Championship . +These are the joyous first strokes of a newborn hippopotamus, with its loving mother right there to help out. The baby hippo, who was born yesterday at San Diego Zoo, was filmed Tuesday exploring the waters with its mother, Funani. Zookeepers have not yet determined the name of the hippo calf, who is said to be bonding well with its mother. And they call it hippo love: The baby - yet to be named - and his mother Funani were pictured enjoying the water at San Diego Zoo, California . Observers have said Funani is nursing her newborn regularly - a process which will continue for the next eight months. Adorable footage of the two together shows Funani nudging the calf through the main hippo tank at the attraction. Later, the two relax at the water's edge. Learning: Funani helped nudge her newborn through the water just a day after it was born . Bonding: Zookeepers say the two are getting along well together, and that Funani has been nursing the baby frequently . The calf's father, a 3.6-tonne hippo called Otis, was removed from their tank in anticipation of the birth. The two will be reunited later on. Funani was born at Toledo Zoo in Ohio, and lived in Knoxville, Tennessee before coming West a decade ago. She has given birth two 11 calves since 1989, the zoo said. One was born last April, but died just five days later, according to the San Diego Times. Hanging out: The two spent time at the edge of the water too, where the child nuzzled its mother . Veteran mom: Funani has given birth to 11 calves before, some when she lives in Knoxville, Tennessee . +Saturday's RBS Six Nations clash between Wales and Ireland will be played under an open roof at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Wales assistant coach Rob Howley confirmed during a press conference on Thursday that the roof would be open. Even if Ireland had wanted the roof closed, it now makes no difference. A general view of the Millennium Stadium, which will host Saturday's match between Wales and Ireland . Wales assistant coach Rob Howley speaks to the media during a press conference on Thursday . If there is disagreement between the teams, then the roof stays open. It can be only closed if both sides agree. During Warren Gatland's coaching regime, Wales have consistently preferred a closed roof option, but that will not be the case this weekend. 'It's open,' Howley said. 'We've taken the decision it will be open. We wanted to know sooner, rather than later. 'The weather forecast is pretty good for the weekend, and it's something which we will look forward to.' Wales players prepare for Saturday's match during a training session in Cardiff earlier this week . Wales coach Warren Gatland looks on as his team train at the Vale Hotel in Cardiff on Tuesday . +Here is some news that might cheer up Angel di Maria. The Argentina international is having a miserable season at Manchester United but his form would not appear to be affecting his popularity - with shirts bearing his name requested more than any other player in the Premier League. According to retailers Sports Direct, who sell Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Newcastle shirts, Di Maria's is the name asked for by almost one in 10 of fans in stores. Manchester United's record summer signing Angel di Maria tops the list of SportsDirect player shirt sales . Di Maria has struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford despite a bright start last year . Di Maria, Sanchez and Costa make up with top three with a combined share of 15.66 per cent . His tally of 9.59 per cent puts him streets ahead of Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, with the Chilean playmaker in second place with 3.8 per cent. Di Maria has struggled for form since his £59.7million summer switch from Real Madrid. He has also had to endure an attempted break-in at his home which saw him and his family move to a hotel in a panic before finding a new residence in the heart of the city centre. But these figures will give the winger a boost as he bids to stop his Old Trafford career from ending before it has even began. Alexis Sanchez has 13 Premier League goals to his name and is second with with 3.80 per cent share of sales . Chelsea's Diego Costa sits third as the Premier League's three big summer signings make an impact . Costa, seen here scoring against Arsenal in October, has 19 Premier League goals to his name so far . Another summer arrival on our shores, Chelsea's Diego Costa, is the third most-requested player with 2.27 per cent ahead of Di Maria's United team-mated David de Gea on 2.16 per cent. Speculation that the Spanish goalkeeper will quit Manchester to head back to his home city of Madrid to join Real has not deterred fans from opting for his name on the back of their shirts. Belgium and Chelsea star Eden Hazard is in fifth place followed by United pair Wayne Rooney and Radamel Falcao - another South American import who is struggling to adjust to life in the Premier League. David de Gea's No 1 United shirt is the fourth-most requested with a share of 2.16 per cent . Belgium and Chelsea star Eden Hazard (left) is in fifth place followed by Wayne Rooney . MLS-bound Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is in eighth place followed by Manchester City's Sergio Aguero in ninth while another United striker, Robin van Persie, completes the top 10. Just missing out is Newcastle's popular Spaniard Ayoze Perez, who takes 11th place. As for Christian names 'Jack' is the most popular request, accounting for 0.39 per cent of name sales. Strikers are the most common to be asked for with Luke Shaw, the most popular defender, in 38th place on the list. Steven Gerrard is in eighth place followed by Manchester City's Sergio Aguero (right) in ninth . +Every transfer window, clubs scramble to pick up the best bargains, and fans argue over who their side really need. But, seven months after last summer's window swung shut,which of those deals have proved to be value for money? As we reach the business end of the season, now is the time for the men brought in to start really showing their worth. But who have been the best signings of the season so far? Sportsmail takes a look... 10 - ANDER HERRERA . Athletic Bilbao to Manchester United . Well, he finally became a hit after being allowed to play consistently. Makes Manchester United tick, has an eye for a pass and gets himself involved in the final third, making sure the main striker doesn’t have to come searching for possession. It’s a mystery why Louis van Gaal didn’t fancy the former Athletic Bilbao midfielder to begin with, but he has really made his mark since enjoying a real run in the team. They do love a classy caresser of a ball at Old Trafford, which clearly works in his favour. Ander Herrera has finally begun to show his class at Old Trafford after a slow start under Louis van Gaal . The Spaniard has become a key part of United's midfield, allowing the likes of Juan Mata to flourish . 9 - DARYL JANMAAT . Feyenoord to Newcastle United . Mr Dependable, which is a name you do not normally associate with Newcastle defenders. It is baffling that Van Gaal - who must have known he needed a right back on arriving at Manchester United - did not feel the need to sign a player he started in every World Cup fixture for Holland. Cheap and pleased for the opportunity in the Premier League, Alan Pardew and Graham Carr did their homework on this signing and it’s helped no end at the back for the Magpies. Daryl Janmaat has proved excellent value for Newcastle, becoming a regular at right back in his first season . Janmaat is a Dutch international star, and Newcastle did well to pick him up for such a small fee last summer . 8 - TOBY ALDERWEIRELD . Atletico Madrid to Southampton (loan) Nine clean sheets for Southampton with the Belgian defender in the team and - despite him making noises that he probably won’t be around next season - they have easily coped with the loss od Dejan Lovren to Liverpool. Quick enough for the Premier League, he’s kept up with the best and added a touch of class at the back for Saints. Toby Alderweireld has shown the pace and class needed in the Premier League since joining Saints on loan . 7 - RYAN BERTRAND . Chelsea to Southampton (loan and then permanent) Luke Shaw’s boots may be small in a literal sense, but figuratively Bertrand had a job on. Southampton were smarting at losing their teenage sensation who careered down the left last season, but it’s as if he was never really there as the former Chelsea man carries equal threat going forward and has actually appeared more comfortable defensively. What good business it was then to get Bertrand snapped up on a permanent deal in January. Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne have been inspirational at full backs for Southampton this season . After signing him on loan in the summer, securing Bertrand permanently looks like a masterstroke . 6 - GRAZIANO PELLE . Feyenoord to Southampton . A fairly unknown quantity on signing from Feyenoord for £8m, Pelle’s physical presence and deftness of touch has made him a huge hit on the south coast. Important goals and some panache to go with it, the Italian has earned his first international call-up while on Ronald Koeman’s watch and carries a severe threat inside the 18-yard box. Even after his goals have dried up somewhat, Graziano Pelle' strength and quality have been a major asset . Pelle's goalscoring start to the season earned him his first Italian caps, and he scored on his debut . 5 - MAME BIRAM DIOUF . Free agent to Stoke City . A deceptively effective forward, and terrific value for money for free. Diouf struggled at Blackburn but redefined himself in the Bundesliga with Hannover and has taken that goalscoring form to the Potteries. Scoring more than one in every three starts, the Senegalese has chipped in with crucial goals for Stoke and has been a relatively unsung hero this year. Edges out Southampton’s Sadio Mane in this list based on the respective transfer fees (Mane cost £11.8m) and amount of chances their sides create. Mame Biram Diouf has chipped in with vital goals for Stoke at an impressive record since joining for free . Despite a tough time in his previous spell in England, the Senegalese star has proved his worth this season . Diouf launches into his trademark celebration after scoring one of his nine Stoke gaols this season . 4 - DIAFRA SAKHO . Metz to West Ham United . Has suffered a couple of injuries, but that hasn’t had any lasting effect on his impact at Upton Park in a debut season. Sniffs out goals from nowhere and has that low centre of gravity which has defenders quaking. Strong in the air and with his back to goal, Sakho brings others into play as well as netting on a regular basis. Had he not come back from international duty injured, the Senegalese might have been pushing Harry Kane and Costa for the golden boot. Diafra Sakho's goals were a big part of West Ham's brilliant start to this season, after signing from Metz . The Senegalese striker has shown he can score with his head as well as his feet, and has proved great value . 3 - DIEGO COSTA . Atletico Madrid to Chelsea . That blistering start to the season means Costa will be in every list similar to this from now until May. His 19 Premier League goals are one of the chief reasons why Chelsea look like winning the title. But it’s not all about hitting the back of the net - fans at Stamford Bridge have also bought into his style of play. The Spain international bullies defenders, shakes their confidence and is fairly nasty. Proper Chelsea. Diego Costa has endeared himself to Chelsea fans with his nasty side, showing aggression as well as quality . Costa's 19 Premier League goals already have fired Chelsea to the brink of the title . 2 - CESC FABREGAS . Barcelona to Chelsea . Where would Costa have been without Fabregas? Back in the capital, albeit over the other side, his campaign got off to a similarly stunning start, assisting almost at will as Chelsea battered all those put in front of them. Yes, there is an argument to suggest his form has dipped, but Fabregas is worthy of making the list because of that reintroduction to English football. You get the sense he could move through the gears if necessary, too. Providing more assists than any other player by far, Cesc Fabregas' Premier League return has been superb . His form may have dropped off since the turn of the year, but Fabregas has still been a stand-out star . Offering more defensively than at previous clubs, Fabregas has become the complete midfielder this season . 1 - ALEXIS SANCHEZ . Barcelona to Arsenal . A game-changer. Someone who is capable of turning no points into three and putting opposition to the sword. Fierce in possession, his burst of pace can unlock defences in a flash. Not happy playing second fiddle to Neymar and Lionel Messi at Barcelona, Sanchez has proven this term that he is one of the premier forwards in world football and shown to Arsene Wenger why it’s probably wise to shell out on quality every now and again. Alexis Sanchez's pace and skill have proved to be a match-winning combination since he joined Arsenal . The Chilean forward has provided superb goals and stunning displays since leaving Barcelona this summer . No signing has had as great an impact on their new side this season as Arsenal's Chilean superstar . +Newcastle United are watching Malaga's highly-rated forward Juanmi. The 21 year-old earned a first call-up to the Spain squad last week as a replacement for injured Chelsea striker Diego Costa and is due to play against Holland on Tuesday. Juanmi came through Malaga's youth ranks and is the club's youngest goalscorer after scoring on his debut against Getafe in a Copa del Rey match at just 16 in 2010. Juanmi (11) is being watched by Newcastle and could be set for a move to England in the summer window . Newcastle have had success with former Tenerife striker Ayoze Perez who is attracting interest from other Premier League sides already and are exploring the Spanish market again to see if they can pick a bargain. Juanmi can play on either wing or as a second striker and is contracted to Malaga until 2018. Ayoze Perez (left) has been one of the success stories in Newcastle United's disappointing season . +Newcastle have announced record profits of £18.7million last season due to increases in television income and new deals with sponsors. The club, owned by Mike Ashley, also saw revenues increase by 35 per cent from £95.9m to £129.7m, the club said. More than half Newcastle's income - £78.3m - came from the new Premier League television rights deals, with commercial income also increasing. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has seen his side record a profit for the fourth consecutive year . Newcastle fans have not taken to Ashley since he took control of the Premier League club in 2007 . A Newcastle statement said: 'Most significantly, the club reported strong commercial revenue growth delivering £25.6m in 2014, up from £17.1m in 2013. This 49.7 per cent increase was largely the result of two lucrative new deals with the club's principal sponsors, Wonga and Puma.' It is the fourth successive year the club have made a profit and cements Newcastle's positions in financial terms at least as one of the most successful in the top flight. The club's debt remained static at £129million in the form of an interest-free loan from owner Mike Ashley - none of the debt has been repaid. Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley said: 'I am pleased to report a positive set of results which confirms the healthy financial position the club now finds itself in and is a reflection of the prudent and measured manner in which we operate. A large proportion of Newcastle's income came through sponsorship deals with Wonga and Puma . 'The club benefits from a supportive owner and is financially stable. This gives us a strong platform from which to grow, both on and off the pitch, a result of which means, as we move forward, we are able to net spend on the playing squad and invest in other areas of the business. 'The most pleasing aspect in this set of accounts has been the growth in our commercial revenue and it has been our strongest year yet in that respect. 'With our commitment to keeping ticket prices affordable for our supporters, growing our commercial income has been crucial. The deals we struck with our two main sponsors, Wonga and Puma, together with a stronger focus on our commercial operations, have helped us achieve this growth. 'We believe financial stability will deliver positive on-field results for the club.' +These are the secrets harbored for more than 100 years by a miles-wide reservoir outside of Seattle, Washington. Lake Tapps, which was flooded in 1911 to power a hydro-electric dam, swallowed up four and a half square miles of countryside, including an old railway line and parts of a forest. The images, taken last week by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, also shows discarded items which have been lost in the lake, which is now used for recreation. Scroll down for video . Revealed: This old wooden railway trestle was unveiled by a draining operation at Lake Tapps, near Seattle, Washington . Emptied out: Local authorities started emptying the lake to enable repairs to be made to a nearby dam. In usual conditions the above homes jut out onto the water . Authorities in the Seattle area drained the lake this winter to relieve pressure on the nearby dam, which had developed a crack. The lake was first formed when the Puget Sound Energy energy company filled the area with water to generate electricity. It stopped producing power in 2009 and has been used for fishing, boating and other waterborne activities since. The maintenance project has now been completed, according to Bonney Lake Courier-Herald, and the lake is being refilled. The process is expected to be finished at the end of May. Abandoned: Bits of junk, and items like this CD, were also uncovered by the lake-emptying project . Underwater forest: These tree trunks have been sitting under the water for the 104 years since the area was flooded . New use: The lake hasn't been producing hydro-electric power since 2009, and is now just for recreation . Normally: Pictured above is Lake Tapps as it looked before the draining operation . +Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Clarence Seedorf have lavished praise on Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal after working under the Dutchman during the early stages of their respective careers. Van Gaal appears to have made a lasting impression on the aforementioned trio having managed Xavi and Iniesta at Barcelona during his two spells at the Nou Camp and Seedorf during his six-year stint as Ajax boss in the 1990s. Xavi, Iniesta and Seedorf - speaking exclusively to MUTV in an interview which will be screened on Monday night - have lauded Van Gaal's philosophy. Clarence Seedorf is among a host of players who have heaped praise on Man United boss Louis van Gaal . Van Gaal managed fellow countryman Seedorf during his time at Dutch outfit Ajax in the 1990s . 'For sure he is a coach who knows how to pass on his philosophy to his teams,' said Seedorf. 'And I think what you have seen that with the Ajax spirit when I played there - that's Van Gaal. 'Instead of buying many players you can always fill your first team with your own players who know the club culture, who know the club tactics and have lived for so long that everything for them is natural. 'He is a great coach and his record speaks for itself.' Xavi, who was given his Barcelona debut by Van Gaal back in 1998, and club team-mate Iniesta echoed Seedorf's comments regarding the Dutch tactician. 'Well my personal experience with him was great,' said Xavi. 'He gave me the opportunity to join the first team and he gave me a lot of confidence the whole time. 'I worked with him and he really put his faith in me. He pushed me into the first team at 17 and helped me so much through that difficult journey. Van Gaal (centre, pictured with a young Seedorf in July 1993) managed Ajax between 1991 and 1997 . Barcelona midfielder Xavi has also lauded Van Gaal for promoting him into the Catalan giants' first team . Andres Iniesta has thanked the Manchester United boss for helping him make an 'important step' in his career . 'In my opinion he didn't get the credit he deserved at Barcelona. He had very clear ideas and was very methodical. He was a coach who was ahead of his time.' Iniesta added: 'I was 17 years of age and delighted to be in the first team, and he gave me that opportunity. I knew that he had always done tremendous work with the young players. 'I was excited to work with him and take such an important step in my career. He's hard working, honest, sincere. Above all, he's a hugely successful manager who's done great things in the game.' Current Manchester United stars Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Victor Valdes will also reflect on working under Van Gaal during the MUTV documentary. Van Gaal took over the reins at Manchester United after helping Holland reach the World Cup semi-finals . Current Man United duo Robin van Persie (centre) and Wayne Rooney (right) have also lauded Van Gaal . 'Louis van Gaal: My Life. My Philosophy' airs at 7.30pm on Monday night exclusive to MUTV. Fans can watch MUTV on Sky TV (channel 418) and Virgin Media (channel 528) in the UK or Sky TV and UPC Cable (channel 428) in the Republic of Ireland. For more information click HERE . +Cesc Fabregas has revealed that he is enjoying a 'great moment' at Chelsea as the Spaniard targets Premier League success in his first season with Jose Mourinho's side. Despite a dip in form in recent weeks, Fabregas has been instrumental to Chelsea's domestic campaign, providing the ammunition for fellow summer signing Diego Costa, who has scored 19 Premier League goals so far this season. Mourinho's side have earned a six-point gap at the Premier League summit with a game in hand on nearest rivals Manchester City and Fabregas insists he has 'no reason not to be happy'. Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas has revealed that he is enjoying a 'great moment' for his new club . Cesc Fabregas (right) relaxes in an airport lounge with Spain team-mates Pedro (left) Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Marc Bartra . Despite a dip in form in recent weeks, Fabregas has been instrumental to Chelsea's domestic campaign . He told Spanish newspaper, Marca: 'I am going through a great moment, both personally and athletic. I have no reason not to be happy. I enjoy everything that happens to me. 'I am practically playing every minute for my team and that's what makes me happy. To be important is fundamental. Now we have to fight hard for the Premier League to end a great year. The former Arsenal captain was an unused substitute during Spain's 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifier victory against the Ukraine on Friday, but Fabregas insists he cares more about the team than his place in the starting XI. Fabregas added: 'I do not think I've lost my place in the team because I've never been undisputed, the important thing is the team and if the coach does not put you, it is because they are better.' The 27-year-old midfielder is currently on international duty with Spain, who face Holland on Tuesday . +Kell Brook is talking about fighting Floyd Mayeather or Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez or Brandon Rios — in no given order — before a Wembley blockbuster with Amir Khan sometime next year. Nothing wrong with ambition but the first question Brook has to answer comes in his home town of Sheffield tonight. It has less to do with his undeniable boxing ability than with whether he truly is recovered from the machete attack which inflicted horrific wounds to his left leg. Kell Brook poses on the scales at the weigh in ahead of his match with title challenger Jo Jo Dan . Brook will defend his IBF welterweight title against Dan in his home city of Sheffield on Saturday night . Brook assures us that all is well following that bizarre incident in Tenerife where he was celebrating the stunning win over American Shawn Porter which gained him the IBF world welterweight title. Eddie Hearn, his Matchroom promoter, tells of how demonically Brook has laboured in the intervening six months to rescue his career from near death and the fear of never walking again. But what no-one can know until he climbs into the ring as a world champion for the first time is whether there is any residual damage. For a boxer there is more to getting better than for most of us. It is with the legs that a prizefighter exercises his thrusting mobility. It is from the legs that he generates the majority of his punching power. Brook is set to compete less than six months after a horrific stab attack nearly left him dead in Tenerife . Dan poses on the scales at the weigh in ahead of his title match with IBF welterweight champion Brook . Brook's attack left him with a 12-inch wound on his thigh and he has shown great strength to recover . If either his balance or strength in that leg has been sapped, Brook will find it doubly difficult to perform at elite level. If both are reduced, he will be diminished. Thus the examination about to be conducted by his moderate challenger, Jo Jo Dan, will be more medical than a test of Brook’s talent. With older boxers it is the legs that go first. But you never find out for sure until he is engaged in the heat of battle. Close scrutiny on Sky television will determine whether Brook, at 28, has been slowed prematurely. A small impediment is unlikely to be enough to deprive him of a homecoming victory, even though Romanian- born, Canadian-based Dan insists he has prepared himself to shut out the roar of Brook’s partisan support. Brook claimed the IBF welterweight title in 2014 when he defeated the previous holder Shawn Porter (left) But the issue is whether he wins in athletic style, with the ‘five-star performance’ he is promising his fans. The local crowd, those of us at ringside and British boxing at large will be hoping he can. If so, he will travel to Las Vegas for May 2 to be ringside for the Fight of the Century, eager to argue his case for meeting the winner of Pacquiao and Mayweather in a world welterweight unification fight. That is markedly less likely to happen than an autumn fight with Rios, en route to an eventual showdown with Khan. But if Brook puts on a show this weekend there would be no harm in asking. Brook and Dan square up with one another ahead of their IBF title match in Sheffield on Saturday . Brook has also expressed an interest in facing Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao in the near future . Brook and Dan shake hands ahead of their IBF welterweight title match in Sheffield on Saturday . Brook v Dan is live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm . +George Coetzee and Marcel Siem kept their hopes of qualifying for the Masters very much alive on the opening day of the Hassan Trophy at Golf du Palais Royal. Both men had the daunting task of knowing only a victory in Morocco would be enough to book a trip to Augusta next month for the first major championship of the year. But they got off to excellent starts on Thursday, with South Africa's Coetzee carding a 67 and Siem a 68 to finish two and three shots respectively behind France's Adrien Saddier. German Marcel Siem watches on during the opening day of the Hassan Trophy at Golf du Palais Royal . Siem, chasing a spot at next month's Masters, shot a round of 68 to stay in contention for the title in Morocco . Saddier, who was one shot off the lead before the final round of the Madeira Islands Open was cancelled due to bad weather on Sunday, made the most of his sponsor's invite to card a flawless 65. The 22-year-old chipped in on the first for an eagle and repeated the trick on the sixth for the first of his five birdies to finish one shot ahead of England's Daniel Gaunt, who carded seven birdies and a solitary bogey on the 18th. Coetzee shared third place with Scotland's David Drysdale and England's Chris Wood, with Siem a shot further back after five birdies, an eagle and three bogeys in his round. Starting from the 10th, Coetzee - who won the Tshwane Open on his home course in Pretoria a fortnight ago - birdied his first two holes and also picked up shots on the 16th and 17th to reach the turn in 32. George Coetzee carded 67 on Thursday to remain near the top of the leaderboard in Morocco . Further birdies on the first and seventh took Coetzee to six under, but the 28-year-old ran up a double bogey on the next after his tee shot rolled back off the green and his first chip caught the same slope and came back to his feet. However, the world number 69 made amends with a birdie from 20 feet on the ninth, just minutes after Siem had holed from an almost identical position. 'Augusta is on my mind, obviously,' Coetzee said. 'I'm here to try to qualify, but I'm just trying to play golf and hopefully on Sunday I will be in contention. Coetzee prepares to take a tee shot on the opening day of the Hassan Trophy at Golf du Palais Royal . 'There is still a lot of work to be done. If it all doesn't work out then I've got a nice five-week holiday. I'm just playing and enjoying my golf. I'm in a good space mentally.' Siem led from start to finish here in 2013 and looked to have done enough to climb into the world's top 50 and secure his Masters debut. However, after the results of the Houston Open were taken into consideration a few hours later, the 34-year-old discovered he was ranked 51st and had missed out by just 0.03 world ranking points. 'It's a big week for me and four under is a good start,' Siem told Sky Sports 4. 'I'm really excited about playing the Masters, I've never played it. I finished it off two years ago and still did not get in. It was a little horrible. World No 69 Coetzee must win the title this weekend to qualify to play in the Masters at Augusta . 'I'm going to keep doing what I did today, try hard not to make any stupid mistakes. I have got the experience and I know the golf course. I will make enough birdies I reckon....just (need to) avoid the mistakes.' Siem and Coetzee were not the only members of the field with Georgia on their minds, with Alexander Levy, Andy Sullivan, Tommy Fleetwood and Ross Fisher all having chances to move into the top 50 before Monday's deadline. Fleetwood was the best placed of that quartet after an opening 70, with Levy recording a 72 and Sullivan two over following a 74, while Fisher struggled to a 77 which was matched by defending champion Alejandro Canizares. +Here's the bad news for Robert Rock: despite the camouflage we CAN see what you're wearing at the Trophee Hassan II on Thursday. The 37-year-old Englishman turned heads at the European Tour event by wearing an ostentatious blue and pink camouflage jumper, and in the process added to golf's long list of crimes against fashion. Rock has arguably the most famous hair in golf thanks to his insistence on being one of the few players not to wear a sponsored cap, leaving his carefully-coiffed mane on view at all times. Tiger Woods got a fine view of the do when Rock claimed a brilliant victory by beating the 14-time major champion at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Championship. Robert Rock shows off his camouflage jumper at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco . Englishman Rock hits his tee shot on the 11th hole on his way to a two-over-par round of 74 . Rock is still visible against the trees at Golf du Palais Royal despite his camouflage . But, sadly, neither the hair nor the jumper could inspire a better score than 74 - two over par - in the first round at Golf du Palais Royal in Morocco on Thursday. That left the Staffordshire man nine shots behind the leader, Adrien Saddier, with three rounds to go after the Frenchman's opening 75. Rock is far from the first offender when it comes to golfers breaking the laws of fashion. There are too many examples of awful golfing attire to list here, but among the chief culprits are loud-mouthed and loud-trousered American John Daly, numerous Ryder Cup teams down the years and, of course, the not-so-shrinking violet, Ian Poulter. Here is a taster of some of golf's fashion hall of shame... Big-hitting American John Daly has an infamous collection of loud and proud golf trousers . Tiger Woods, Davis Love and Phil Mickelson show off the awful shirts of the 1999 US Ryder Cup team . Ian Poulter wore his Claret Jug trousers (left) for the Open in 2005 and the Union Jack pair in 2004 . Rickie Fowler wears his garish all-orange outfit on Sundays and as a tribute to his alma mater, Arizona State University (left); Graeme McDowell wears a horrific tartan jacket (right), but to be fair to the Northern Irishman it was his (rather dubious) prize for winning the RBC Heritage tournament at Harbour Town in 2013 . Woody Austin shows off during The Open at Royal Birkdale in 2008 (left - no prizes for guessing his nationality); and what do you ink about Billy Horschel's octopus-print pants at the 2013 US Open? Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo wear matching pink tank tops at the Ryder Cup in 2005 . Oh, and if you want to wear the Rock look yourself, visit Wolsey.com and get ready to shell out £130. Good luck trying to get your local members' club to let you on the course, though... +As speculation mounts over whether a shockingly out-of-sorts Tiger Woods will be able to compete at next month's Masters, his good friend Notah Begay III rates his chances of taking part in the year's opening major as '50-50'. Woods, a former world No 1 whose ranking has plummeted to 96th, has played only twice on the 2014-15 PGA Tour and said he would not return until his game was 'tournament-ready'. Woods, the 14-time major winner, has struggled to find any form this year . 'As far as Augusta is concerned ... it's literally a 50-50 chance right now from what I can tell,' Begay, who played with Woods on the Stanford University golf team, told digital network 120 Sports on Wednesday. 'That's far better odds than what it was, say, three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, I would have said there was maybe a 1-in-10 chance of him playing at Augusta.' Woods has not competed since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open early last month after 11 holes because of tightness in his back, and is still adapting to the fifth swing change of his career. Woods is currently on an indefinite break from the sport but aims to qualify for the 2016 Ryder Cup . He missed the Masters at Augusta last year for the first time in his career after being advised by doctors to have back surgery and his participation this year is in serious doubt given his struggle for form and fitness this season. The 14-time major champion posted the highest score of his professional career as he carded a mind-boggling 11-over-par 82 to miss the cut at the Phoenix Open in January, and many pundits believe he is suffering from the chipping 'yips'. However, Begay, a television analyst with Golf Channel, believes Woods is now settling into his new swing under the supervision of consultant Chris Como. Tiger Woods struggled for form during the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in January . 'It was good for him to take a step back, to reassess a variety of different things and do things on his timeline,' said Begay, a 42-year-old Native American golfer who won four times on the PGA Tour. 'My suggestion to him was to take as much time as he needed to just figure out this issue with his short game and also to work on or clean up a couple of things that might be a little loose with his golf swing. 'Any transition, any change that you are making mechanically, takes a little time to settle, so that's what he's done. We've had some good discussions over the last week or so and he feels good about it.' +Andy Murray goes into his next match at the Miami Open against Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo on Sunday, but his Great Britain Davis Cup colleague James Ward has had to fly home to rest a sore knee. Ward, the British No 2, has paid a high price for his heroic win over John Isner in Glasgow earlier this month, having lost three first rounds subsequently, and now finds himself out of action for two weeks. He was due to play in Guadeloupe next week but instead has gone back to London, where he eventually hopes to be able to begin preparation for next month’s clay court events, once his knee has settled down. Andy Murray is gearing up for a Miami Open clash with Colombia's Santiago Giraldo on Sunday . James Ward has had to return to England to rest his sore knee, and won't play in Guadeloupe as planned . Giraldo, Murray's Miami Open opponent on Sunday, is number 31 in the world rankings . Murray, who plays Colombia’s world No 31 Giraldo in the third round on Sunday, expects to team up with Ward this summer at Queen’s Club for the Davis Cup quarter-final against France. With the newly-extended three-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon, it will mean six weeks of high profile grass court tennis in the UK, and Murray feels the longer run-in after Paris will help him. ‘I think it’s better for me if there are more weeks on grass,’ he said. ‘A lot of the players will go and spend a week at home after Roland Garros whereas for me I can easily practise on grass, for a lot of the players it’s not easy to get on grass courts.’ +With the Flat season starting with Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting on Saturday, Sam Turner (Robin Goodfellow) picks out 10 horses for punters to follow. DANZENO – Michael Appleby . Reported to have thrived again during the winter, we have arguably not seen the best of this 4yo who could achieve anything if he progresses mentally from last year’s campaign. Michael Appleby's Danzeno is said to have thrived in the winter and has the potential to achieve anything . FAYDHAN – John Gosden . This War Front colt was only seen once last term, but the impression created by his six-length Haydock defeat of a horse that won his next two starts suggests he is one to keep onside. HILLBILLY BOY – Martin Smith . Progressed throughout last season and enjoyed a nice warm up on the all-weather recently. One to watch in 7f and 1m handicaps this term and the type to go well at Royal Ascot. Hillbilly Boy had a good warm-up on the all-weather recently and could be one to watch come Royal Ascot . LADY TIANA – Lucy Wadham . Wound up last season with a facile Doncaster success on her beloved soft ground. Looks to be a mare capable of landing Group races over 10 or 12f when conditions suit. Lady Tiana loves the soft ground and is capable of winning Group races over 10 or 12f when conditions suit . LIGHTNING MOON – Ed Walker . Edged out Danzeno in an Ascot Group 3 in the autumn to defend his unbeaten record. Goes well on soft ground and looks capable of graduating to the top sprinting table this term . Lightning Moon could graduate to the top table of sprinting this term, especially on soft ground . LIMATO – Henry Candy . Sauntered through his juvenile campaign, barely coming of the bridle to win Redcar’s Two-Year-Old Trophy in facile fashion. A major contender for sprinting honours this term. Henry Candy's Limato is another major contender for sprinting honours this season . OL’ MAN RIVER – Aidan O’Brien . A potentially high-class stayer with speed, the son of Montjeu won both his juvenile starts at The Curragh and looks just the type to progress into a serious Derby contender. POSTPONED – Luca Cumani . A powerful son of Dubai, Postponed appears just the type to thrive for his patient handler this term after impressing in a York Group 2 when last seen. Postponed could thrive for patient trainer Luca Cumani after impressing when last seen in a York Group 2 . TRYSTER – Charlie Appleby . Has improved beyond all recognition this winter, recording electric speed figures to win four races, including the Winter Derby. Could also be a threat on turf. Tryster has recorded electric speed figures to win four races, including the Winter Derby . OSARUVEETIL – William Haggas . Took an age to get on the track, but once he did, wasted no time in comprehensively beating 10 rivals in a Kempton maiden. Potentially smart colt from a winning family. +Willie Mullins aims to pair champion jockey Ruby Walsh with Ballycasey in the Grand National on April 11 as the trainer pins his sole hopes in the big one at Aintree on the outsider. Mullins withdrew his other potential runners Boston Bob and Prince De Beauchene on Tuesday. But the Irishman believes the conditions and slower pace at Aintree should suit Ballycasey, even if the bookmakers and punters don't see it the same way. Ruby Walsh on Ballycasey before their third in February's Betfair Ascot Chase - the pair look set to combine for April 11's Grand National at Aintree . Trainer Willie Mullins believes Ballycasey (right) will go the distance at Aintree but the bookies don't agree . 'I presume, all being well, that Ruby will ride,' said in The Guardian. 'He loves that type of ground they usually get, he should go the trip and I think he's a better horse in the spring. We think he's got a nice weight.' The last time Walsh rode Ballycasey, in the Ryanair Stakes at the Cheltenham Festival, the Irish jockey pulled the eight-year-old up. 'He didn't fire on the day and Ruby wasn't happy with him from early on,' said Mullins. 'Perhaps the slower pace of the National will suit him. We're hoping he'll be better on a flatter track.' Retiring 20-time champion jockey AP McCoy will likely ride Shutthefrontdoor in the Grand National . Ballycasey is at around 50-1 with mainstream bookmakers and up to 100-1 while Shutthefrontdoor, the likely ride for 20-time champion jockey AP McCoy, among the early favourites with Rocky Creek, Balthazar King and The Druids Nephew. Walsh famously won the Grand National at his first attempt in 2000 on Papillon, trained by his father Ted Walsh, and last tasted victory there over 30 fences for Mullins in 2005 on Hedgehunter. +Jonny Wilkinson has rubbished reports he will join England's back-room staff for the World Cup, claiming 'they've already got all the coaches they need'. World Cup-winner Wilkinson scotched French media reports he would assume a kicking coach role in England's build-up to hosting World Cup 2015. The former Toulon and England fly-half has addressed Stuart Lancaster's squad several times, and admitted he will continue that ad hoc relationship. Jonny Wilkinson (left) insists that he is not on the verge of joining the England coaching team . Wilkinson did admit that he would one day love the chance to be involved with the national team . Jonny Wilkinson has a coaching role at Toulon, the club he finished his playing career with . Wilkinson believes that England already have many accomplished members in the coaching setup . The 35-year-old admitted he harbours 'serious reservations' about whether he will seek a full-time career in coaching, despite currently holding a skills role at Toulon. Wilkinson lives close to England's Pennyhill Park training base in Bagshot, and uses the hotel gym - where he admitted he comes into casual contact with the Test squad. 'They've already got all the coaches they need and everyone can see how good the job is that they are doing,' said Wilkinson. 'There's no need for me to be there, apart from just to be positive. 'It came out of France, which is why it's so random. I don't know why they would know anything about what I'm supposed to be doing. 'But in terms of being around England, it's great because there's no feeling that I need to sneak through, if I see someone, Stuart Lancaster, Graham Rowntree or the players, I just say 'hi, how's things?'. 'There's absolutely nothing I can say about that story, honestly, it's the most difficult thing, because I can say actually nothing about it. 'It's as clear as, I imagine, someone has decided 'I'm going to write this' and then there's a story. 'It's not annoying. It makes no difference to my life either way, but it probably does to you guys. 'I live just round the corner (from Pennyhill Park) and I use the gym so sometimes when I'm walking down to the gym I'll bump into Catty and I'll ask him how things are. Wilkinson (left) won the World Cup with England and scored 1,179 points for his country in 91 matches . Wilkinson has been linked with joining Stuart Lancaster's coaching team for the 2015 World Cup . England finished as runners-up at the Six Nations, falling short of winning the title by six points . 'Sometimes I'll bump into Andy Farrell or Mike Brown, who I've played with and against. When you see them it's good to have a catch-up. 'I live at the gym as well, which doesn't help! 'That's probably the main thread here, that unfortunately I'm at the gym too much, so it might look like I'm hanging out with the squad when I'm not. 'It's nice to be around that atmosphere, it reminds a fair bit of what I used to be up to.' Wilkinson was speaking at the launch of Land Rover's 'We Deal in Real' Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign, putting grassroots rugby at the heart of the build-up to the global tournament. Racal Decca RFC took on Streatham and Croydon at Farnborough rugby club, with Wilkinson running on the kicking tee much to the surprise of the two teams. Frimley-born Wilkinson conceded he may never chase a full-time coaching career. 'I don't know, to be honest I have serious reservations about my ability to coach groups of players,' said Wilkinson, when asked if he wants to coach England in the long run. 'It's a very different job from one-on-one coaching, where you get to know a personality, you understand them and work with them on a day-to-day basis. 'It's a very different job and a very, very tough job taking a group and living that life. 'I don't know, I honestly don't know. 'What I do know is that I absolutely adore working with people one-on-one and getting to know people really well, finding out what they need and trying to supply that in an ongoing supportive role.' England full-back Mike Brown admitted he nagged Wilkinson to seek a more formal arrangement with Stuart Lancaster's squad. The England coaches, including Graham Rowntree (left), pose after beating Scotland in the Six Nations . Wilkinson believes that England can still take encouragement from their Six Nations performances . England international Mike Brown (centre) admits he has nagged Wilkinson to get involved with England . 'I was just speaking to him about it,' said Harlequins star Brown of Wilkinson's involvement with England. 'He's come in before and worked with individuals and little groups. It's great to have someone of that stature and what he's achieved around. 'It's amazing to have him in for the short time he's been in for before. If we can get him again, it will be amazing. 'I hope it will happen. I don't think there's anything concrete or set in stone. 'I told him 'mate, last time you were in it was amazing for us'. Especially for us backs as we are quite young and still learning so much, to have the chance to learn off him; we are in awe of him. 'He came in and addressed the squad and let us know what he thought of how we were playing. He was so positive; it was great for us to hear that.' Land Rover Ambassadors Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Brown were speaking at the launch of 'We Deal In Real', Land Rover's Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign that champions people at the heart and soul of the game by putting grassroots clubs on the global stage. +Manu Tuilagi is a major doubt for the World Cup after it emerged the England and Leicester star is unlikely to play again this season. The powerhouse centre, one of the first names on Stuart Lancaster’s team-sheet when fit, has not featured since October and faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup in September after suspicions his groin injury was worse than first thought were confirmed by Leicester. Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: ‘Manu is improving but it is a long process. The likelihood is, he may not play this season. He may or may not play this season.’ England coach Stuart Lancaster (left) has been hit by the news Manu Tuilagi could miss the World Cup . Tuilagi (centre) has a groin injury that could rule him out of England's tournament in September . Fears that Tuilagi's groin injury is worse than first feared were confirmed by his club Leicester . The 23-year-old, who Mailsport understands is suffering from the notoriously troublesome condition known as ‘Gilmore’s Groin’, is now likely to have just three warm-up matches this summer to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup, which kicks off on September 18. Leicester, who have conducted a root and branch review of their medical department this season, have repeatedly insisted his return is imminent despite growing rumours the problem is more serious than they have let on. In February Cockerill accused Tuilagi of inadvertently exaggerating the extent of his injury after he gave an interview saying he would not feature in the Six Nations. Tuilagi is considered one of the first names on the England team-sheet when he is fit to play . Tuilagi will try to be fit for the start of England's World Cup campaign, which begins on September 18 . Tuilagi (right) missed the whole of England's Six Nations campaign due to injury . As it transpired, he played no role in tournament, although he did spend time with England’s medical team and remains a valued member of the squad. But serious questions will now be asked about the management of his injury after surgery was delayed in a bid to get him fit. England had better news last night when Saracens confirmed injured duo Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt as expected to return in the next two to three weeks. +Hampshire have signed former West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards for the latter half of this summer. Edwards will be registered as a Kolpak player and will arrive at the Ageas Bowl in late July. He will be available for all formats. The 33-year-old from Barbados has played 55 Tests, 50 one-day internationals and 20 Twenty20 games for the Windies, taking 241 wickets across all formats with a Test best of seven for 87 against New Zealand in 2008. Fidel Edwards, the former West Indies fast bowler, has joined Hampshire for the end of the summer . Edwards has taken three international five-wicket hauls in England, his last coming in 2009 at Lords . He has taken three five-wicket international hauls in English conditions - five for 112 at Chester-le-Street in 2007 and six for 92 at Lord's in 2009 in Tests, and five for 45 in an ODI at Lord's in 2007. Edwards said: 'I'm delighted to have signed for such an ambitious club as Hampshire. I hope I can play a part in helping to bring success to the Ageas Bowl this year. 'I'm very much looking forward to my first taste of county cricket. It's also an honour to follow other Bajans like Malcolm Marshall and Gordon Greenidge to Hampshire.' Director of cricket Giles White added: 'Fidel is a good option for us - he arrives ahead of the Royal London One Day Cup and should give our attack variety which we feel is key in the 50-over format.' The 33-year-old pace bowler will arrive at the Ageas Bowl in time for the Royal London One Day Cup . +International Cricket Council president Mustafa Kamal has threatened to reveal details of 'mischievous things' he claims are taking place at the world governing body. Kamal did not, as many expected and prescribed in ICC protocol, take part in the presentation ceremony after Australia beat New Zealand in Melbourne on Sunday to win their fifth World Cup. The Bangladeshi politician previously considered his resignation in protest at umpiring decisions at the quarter-final stage of the tournament. Narayanaswami Srinivasan presents the World Cup to Australia, rather than ICC president Mustafa Kamal . Bangladesh were knocked out by their neighbours India, in a match partially notable for marginal decisions by the on-field and third umpires. Kamal suggested afterwards that the 'I' in ICC stood in effect for the powerhouse of 'India' rather than 'International'. ICC chief executive David Richardson described Kamal's remarks as 'unfortunate' in an official statement. ICC chairman Narayanaswami Srinivasan presented the World Cup to Australia, rather than Kamal - who has reportedly since made it clear in interviews with the Bangladeshi media that he remains far from happy about recent events. Mustafa Kamal (right) has threatened to resign from the ICC and . 'I was supposed to give the trophy,' he said. 'It is my constitutional right. But very unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to do so. My rights were dishonoured.' Kamal does not appear likely to let the matter rest either. 'After I go back home, I will let the whole world know what's happening in ICC. 'I will let the whole world know about those guys who are doing these mischievous things.' +Former Olympic champion and convicted drugs cheat Justin Gatlin has been handed a new sponsorship deal by Nike, sparking outrage in the Athletics world. The 33-year-old was the fastest man in the world last year, but few expected him to be handed such a lucrative contract after twice being banned for doping. And several British athletes, including Paula Radcliffe, who is also sponsored by the sports goods company, hit out at the decision. Justin Gatlin (left) has been given a new sponsorship deal by Nike, despite two bans for doping . Gatlin was the fastest man in the world last yea, but his new deal has sparked controversy . 'I am very disappointed to hear this news,' Radcliffe wrote on Twitter. 'I don't believe it truly reflects the core values of the NIKE that I am poud to represent, nor the integrity and ideals of the people there that I work with on a daily basis.' Olympic silver medalist Steve Backley questioned Nike's message to young athletes, while former heptathlete Kelly Sotherton also hit out at the deal. 'What sort of a message is that from #Nike signing new sponsorship with multiple drug cheat Justin Gatlin? #DrugCheatsOut' wrote Backley on Twitter. The American sprinter has won Olympic gold, but his two drugs bans have made him a controversial figure . Sotherton tweeted: 'What inspiration does Justin Gatlin give up & coming athletes @nike? Take drugs, get caught twice and sign a shoe contract?! #Doping #cheat'. Gatlin was banned for a maximum of eight years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for testosterone at the Kansas Relays in Lawrence in 2006 - his second failed drugs test. He served a four-year ban after appeal to arbitration and - after his return to the sport in 2010 - he ran the fastest 100 metres in the world in last year as he clocked 9.77 seconds to claim a dominant victory at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels last September. +Christian Benteke suffered a minor scare during Belgium training on Tuesday - but will be fit for their Euro 2016 qualifiers and subsequent Premier League run-in. The Aston Villa striker, who limped out of their defeat against Swansea on Saturday, was with Marc Wilmots' squad ahead of their clash against Cyprus at the weekend. While he did leave training early, his manager confirmed there's nothing to worry about. Christian Benteke (foreground) is fit and ready to play for Belgium against Cyprus on Saturday . The Aston Villa striker (talking to team doctor Kris Van Crombrugge) left Tuesday's training early but is fine . Vincent Kompany (left), Toby Alderweireld (back) and Moussa Dembele (right) all took part in the session . Benteke will train with the rest of the Belgium squad as normal on Wednesday . Kompany slides in on Axel Witsel during Tuesday's training ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifier . 'He smiled as he left the field,' Wilmots said before revealing that Benteke will take part in Wednesday's session. The 24-year-old suffered a hip injury at Villa Park last weekend and Tim Sherwood will be relieved his main frontman has felt no lasting damage. Benteke has scored three in his last three games under Sherwood as Villa attempt to beat the drop. He is expected to play some part against Cyprus, with Belgium facing Israel in a friendly next Tuesday. Thibaut Courtois dives to his left in order to stop an effort during training in Brussels . +Stoke City manager Mark Hughes accused Joel Ward of making 'the best save of the match' after being denied a clear penalty during in Saturday's 2-1 home defeat against Crystal Palace. Hughes was left feeling aggrieved after two big decisions failed to go his side's way having taken a 14th minute lead through Mame Biram Diouf. Asmir Begovic was controversially penalised for a challenge on Yanick Bolasie to allow Palace to level from the spot after 41 minutes. And then after Wilfried Zaha had put the visitors ahead, Diouf's goalbound shot in the second half was blocked two-handed by Ward with the Palace getting way with it. Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has accused Joel Ward (right) of making 'the best save of the match' Marko Arnautovic shares words with Crystal Palace's Ward during the Barclays Premier League clash . 'That decision left us scratching our heads,' said Hughes. 'Referee Andre Marriner missed a lot of things. I know Julian Speroni did well in the Palace goal but arguably that was the best save of the match. He has got two hands on it for heaven's sake. How he doesn't give it, I've no idea.' It rubbed salt into the wound for Hughes who had earlier seen Palace awarded their penalty. 'When you see the replay, the lad Bolasie has got his foot up high above Amsir. That has why Asmir has missed the ball and the referee has deemed it a penalty. It was a key moment, that is one you want them (the officials) to get.' Even so, Hughes didn't have any excuses for Palace's winning goal from Wilfried Zaha on the stroke of half-time from Glenn Murray's flick-on. Asmir Begovic was adjudged to have fouled Yannick Bolasie during a colision inside the penalty area . Begovic was shown a yellow card by Andre Marriner after he was adjudged to have brought down Bolasie . 'It was a mistake from us. It was just a long ball, if you don't clear the first ball, you have to deal with the second ball. We didn't and that is what cost us. We are better than that.' Stoke slipped to ninth while Palace are now 11 points above the bottom three and Alan Pardew is above his former club Newcastle United in the table. 'It was a cracking game particularly if you were a neutral or a Palace fan,' said Pardew. 'I think Stoke were unhappy about our penalty. I haven't seen it back but it was a turning point.' Zaha was all smiles after his winner after being told to stop his 'little sulks' by Pardew earlier last week. 'He had a tough game, Erik Pieters was a player we tried to sign, he is an aggressive defender. Wilf struggled but he has his moments and we showed a lot of character to have a go. 'It was a tough day for the officials. All of it was fair, but it was a tough physical encounter. It was almost like a Six Nations game at times, in a tough way.' Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha (far right) celebrates with Glenn Murray after scoring against Stoke City . +Dynamo Kiev have been ordered to close part of their stadium for next month's Europa League quarter-final after racist behaviour by fans towards Everton players. The Ukrainian side has also been fined 15,000 euros (£10,950) by UEFA for the setting off of fireworks and for insufficient organisation. The racist behaviour took place during the 5-2 second-leg win over Everton on March 19. Dynamo Kiev have been ordered to close part of their stadium for next month's Europa League quarter-final . The Ukranian outfit have been punished by UEFA after racist behaviour by fans towards Everton players . UEFA has ordered partial closure of the Olympic Stadium for the first leg against Fiorentina next month . UEFA has ordered partial closure of the NSK Olimpiyskiy stadium for the first leg of the quarter-final against Fiorentina, to be played in Kiev on April 16. A UEFA statement read: 'The CEDB (UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body) has ordered the partial closure of the NSK Olimpiyskiy stadium during the next UEFA competition match which FC Dynamo Kyiv would play as the host club, and in particular, Blocks 43 and 45 of the stadium. 'The Ukrainian club have also been fined 15,000 euros for the setting off of fireworks and the insufficient organisation. +Southampton have been the surprise package of the 2014-15 Premier League season on the pitch and the Mail on Sunday can exclusively reveal they are one of the big winners off it, making a £31.4m profit in their latest accounts. This is the first time Saints have posted a profit since going into administration and plunging into League One in 2009, when they were saved by the late Markus Liebherr. The books for the year ending June 2014, to be published in the coming days, are firm evidence of how his daughter Katharina has is continuing a remarkable turnaround. Luke Shaw is tackled by Steven Naismith at Goodison Park during his time at Southampton . Some fans feared the worst when the club sold Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Calum Chambers and Rickie Lambert last year. But they were replaced well, and at a profit, and Ronald Koeman’s aim of Champions League qualification has seemed surprisingly feasible for much of the season. In an exclusive interview with the MoS, Southampton’s chief executive Gareth Rogers says he expects further similar profits in the future, and there is zero financial pressure to sell any stars this year. ‘We do not need to sell any players in the summer,’ he says. Liverpool's Rickie Lambert celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B match . There is increasing speculation that France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, 25, and England right-back Nathaniel Clyne, 23, might be lured away by giant rivals, possibly Arsenal and Manchester United. Research published this month by research specialists The Football Observatory in Switzerland showed Southampton had the most profitable academy in Europe measured by total sales value of transfers of players produced within each since 2012. The top 10 clubs: . Rank Club Sample star product . 1 Southampton Adam Lallana . 2 Lille Eden Hazard . 3 Real Sociedad Antoine Griezmann . 4 Sevilla Alberto Moreno . 5 Borussia Dortmund Mario Gotze . 6 Real Madrid Esteban Granero . 7 Barcelona Bojan Krkic . 8 Stade Rennais Yann M’Vila . 9 Montpellier Remy Cabella . 10 St-Etienne Kurt Zouma . Rogers cannot categorically say it won’t happen. He does unequivocally promise that any transfers would be made on Saints’ terms and at Saints’ prices. ‘We make decisions based on what is the best thing to do for the club at the time,’ he says. ‘But we don’t need transfer fees to fund the operating costs of the club.’ If any players did leave, any income would be fully available for replacements. Southampton’s accounts show income last season of £106m and a profit after tax of £33.4m. The main source of revenue was TV money, and that rose from £47m to £79.5m. Match day income was up slightly to £17.1m and commercial income climbed 23 per cent to £8.3m. The club’s total wage bill rose by almost a third from £47.1m to £62.95m, and has risen again this season, to be reflected in the accounts in a year’s time. The club’s total debt is £50m, owed mostly to Katharina Liebherr, who injected £20m in the financial year. That money is being used to clear an external historic loan to offshore company Vibrac, effectively a ‘payday loan’ firm to big companies. Rogers says Liebherr’s commitment to making Southampton a stronger club, and a stronger business, was evident in her allowing all of last season’s transfer receipts to be re-invested. Adam Lallana swapped St Mary's Stadium for Anfield Stadium after coming through the ranks at Southampton . Dejan Lovren also swapped St Mary's Stadium in favour of a move to Champions League outfit Liverpool . The headline income for the five major players sold was reportedly £94m but the MoS can reveal Southampton cleared ‘only’ £82m on them - after fees, sell-on payments to Lyon and Bournemouth in relation to Lovren and Lallana respectively, and Premier League levy payments of 4 per cent on each deal. Saints accounted for £31.9m of the quintet’s transfer receipts in the 2013-14 figures, but have spent the balance (£50m) plus another £12.6m on the permanent purchases of Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle, Fraser Forster, Shane Long, Florin Gardos, Sadio Mane and Ryan Bertrand, and on the loans for Toby Alderweireld, Eljero Elia and Filip Duricic. Southampton's Graziano Pelle celebrates scoring during their Premier League match with Manchester United . Summer arrival Dusan Tadic celebrates scoring the opening goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford . Ryan Bertrand was one of many incoming players at Southampton following a summer of changes . ‘There was an opportunity to clear the entire debt of the football club [by selling Lallana et al] and taking out money that had been put in, but Katharina didn’t do that,’ Rogers said. ‘Instead she allowed us to re-invest all of the money, either in fees or contracts. And she also put another £20m in [to clear the Vibrac debt]. ‘It would have been easy to take the money out, but this shows the commitment to the club.’ Rogers, who celebrated the first anniversary in his CEO role last week, after years as the club’s chief financial officer, says Saints’ business plan ‘shows you can be a successful club [on the pitch] and be sustainable at the same time.’ +In reality, Dick Advocaat has six games to save Sunderland's season and his own proud record of never having been relegated. For you can as good as write off the last two matches of this desperate campaign, trips to Arsenal and Chelsea. Sunderland have not won away in 2015 and there is no evidence to suggest they will start to do so at the home of top-four opponents. Sunderland interim manager Dick Advocaat has said his side will play 'ugly' football if they need to . Advocaat's Sunderland debut was marred by a 1-0 defeat at West Ham thanks to Diafra Sakho's late goal . West Ham striker Nene (left) jumps for the ball alongside Sunderland defender Patrick van Aanholt (right) Advocaat set out with beautiful intent at West Ham, naming three strikers having 24 hours earlier rubbished mention of his defensive reputation — but things have very quickly got ugly. 'The only important thing in the final games is winning,' said the 67-year-old, whose Premier League debut ended in defeat when Diafra Sakho struck two minutes from time. 'The way we do that is not important. So if we win games very ugly I like that. We will play very negative if the need is there.' Advocaat has given his players the early part of the week off, an agreed rest period which is the legacy of Gus Poyet's ill-fated reign. The Dutchman joked that the club don't have too many international players so their preparations for the visit of North-East rivals Newcastle a week on Sunday will not be disrupted. That, you feel, is a match Sunderland must now win. By a quirk of footballing fate, previous bosses Paolo Di Canio and Poyet both enjoyed derby victories in their second match in charge. Sunderland winger Adam Johnson prepares to strike the ball after coming on as a substitute on Saturday . For Advocaat, it is arguably his most winnable game of the eight remaining. Defeat is not an option. 'Being at home in derbies gives a big advantage,' he added. 'I know the intensity of these games — I was involved many times in Rangers against Celtic. 'I made the mistake of perhaps not realising that at first and I lost 5-1. 'But Newcastle for us now is the most important thing. We have a good period to practise and I think the (international) break is a good thing. I have time now to see what my best line-up will be.' Hammers boss Sam Allardyce, meanwhile, has been linked with the Sunderland post at the end of the season. He, however, wants a new deal at Upton Park after seeing his side climb to ninth. 'I don't know why people have speculated about me and Sunderland,' he said. 'I'm doing what I did here in my second year, my contract was running out then. 'At the end of the season we will look at the squad. We have to get more players in to build the club and make sure we sustain the growth we are achieving at this point in time.' West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has dismissed speculation linking him to the Sunderland job . +Celtic have vowed to help John Guidetti contest an SFA charge after the compliance officer cited the striker for allegedly making an offensive comment on Dutch TV. Interviewed by a TV station in Holland, the former Feyenoord striker is said to have made a slur against Rangers while relating the words of a song Parkhead supporters sing in his honour. The Swede, who is on loan from Manchester City, is alleged to have breached disciplinary rule 73. He has until next Monday to reply to the charge with a principal hearing date scheduled for April 9. Celtic have vowed to support on loan striker John Guidetti after he was charged by the SFA . Celtic, however, voiced their astonishment that the matter had got this far, spokesperson saying: ‘We are very surprised and disappointed that this has even found its way to an SFA judicial panel. John Guidetti will be defending this charge.’ Meanwhile, the club has been hit with a combined £9,460 fine for two UEFA charges of misconduct during the second leg of last month’s Europa League showdown with Inter Milan in Italy. A penalty of £5,860 was imposed for ‘improper conduct’ on the field as well as a £3,600 punishment for flares set off by fans at the San Siro. Guidetti (left) is said to have made a slur about Rangers and has until Monday to appeal the charge . Defender Virgil van Dijk was sent off for two bookable offences, while five other players were booked in the 1-0 loss which saw Ronny Deila’s men eliminated 4-3 on aggregate. It’s the seventh time the club has been in hot water with the governing body in four years. Inter were also fined £3600 for their supporters letting off fireworks. Three flares were lit in the Celtic end during the Europa League clash with Inter Milan at the San Siro . Celtic responded to the latest fine in a statement which read: ‘Clearly, Celtic Football Club is disappointed by today’s decisions. ‘It should be noted that Celtic players have an excellent disciplinary record in European football over many years and in Scotland, Celtic has been top of the league’s disciplinary table for the last three years, something which we are rightly proud of. ‘Again, it is disappointing that the actions of one or two individuals within a support of well over 3,000, have let the club down by using flares at this match.’ Virgil van Dijk (third left) looks away as he is dismissed in the first half for Celtic against Inter last month . +Neil Lennon insisted on Sunday night that the return of Rangers to the Premiership is 'essential' for the good of Scottish football. The former Celtic boss reckons the Hoops have suffered due to a lack of competition in the top flight since their greatest rivals' liquidation in 2012. Lennon, now in charge at Bolton, told Goal.com: 'It's essential for the game in Scotland that Rangers get back to the Premiership as quickly as possible. Bolton manager Neil Lennon thinks it is essential that Rangers win promotion back to the Scottish top flight . Lennon, who managed Celtic for four years, believes Scottish football is struggling due to lack of competition . 'They are struggling, but new people have come in who I think have the best interests of the club at heart. 'Stuart McCall had a fantastic record at Motherwell. They need to get back to the Premiership for the state of the game up there – in terms of revenue, crowds, competition. 'It's important and I think that's why Scotland has struggled. Celtic need it as well – the competition has been missing.' Lennon guided the Parkhead side to the knockout stage of the Champions League during his four-year spell in the dug-out, but revealed that the overall decline of the Premiership's financial situation had necessitated the sale of key players. Lee Wallace (centre) is congratulated by his team-mates after giving Rangers the lead away to Hibernian . He said: 'It all depends on Celtic. When I was there we ended up selling the crown jewels in terms of Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley, Georgios Samaras. 'It's very difficult to keep churning out those players, but that was the financial situation. There's no doubt the Scottish game is significantly weaker. 'Hibs, Hearts and Rangers are in the Championship and they were a big loss in terms of revenue, crowds, quality and competition. 'It's lacking at the minute, it's not in a great state. There are seven or eight teams in the Premiership who have average gates of 4-5,000 and with that it's very difficult to compete with other European countries.' Kenny Miller slots home to put the game beyond doubt for Rangers and close the gap on Hibernian . Lennon believes that smaller European countries may look to combine with their neighbours to create more competitive leagues. 'There is talk of amalgamating leagues – the Dutch league, they're starting to fall behind a bit, but Belgium have had a resurgence at national level. 'The Eastern bloc, as well – you never see any of those teams participating in the Champions League these days. These countries are trying to make a play for having a fair crack of the whip in terms of revenue or even amalgamating some leagues and creating a better standard.' +Ronny Deila will use international week to scout for Celtic signings but he and his spies are more likely to be spotted at Under-21 or national youth team games than a Euro 2016 qualifier over the next 10 days. Deila wants his club to gain a standing in world football on a par with Ajax for their development and production of young talent. That, he says, will enable Celtic to tempt the elite young stars in European football to Scotland. The Celtic manager’s goal is to close out this season with a domestic Treble, then make the additions capable of helping the squad through the Champions League qualifying rounds. However, it is unlikely that Deila will be throwing a few million pounds to secure any eye-catching signing that would raise supporter expectations ahead of that late summer campaign. Ronny Deila (centre) wants to implement the same youth production standards as Ajax in the future . He explained: ‘We will bring in players but I think we will bring in younger players to build the next generation behind the current one. ‘If we are going to fight with the best clubs in Europe for the best 22-year-olds, then you can forget it. No chance. The only chance we have to get a world-class player is to go to 16/17-year-olds and say: “You will train with the first team”. ‘That’s our chance to get a player in. We have to find some very big talents that can be the best ones. The Celtic boss will use the international break as an opportunity to scout potential younger talent . Celtic have a great chance of completing a domestic treble and thrashed Dundee United once again . ‘We have to think younger and give them the chance to get in the squad and train with the best ones. ‘Ajax get it because they have an unbelievable reputation — and we have to build, over the years, a reputation. That if you come to Celtic, you see what is happening, you get sold to the big clubs and you get a good development.’ Deila helped Real Madrid wonder kid Martin Odegaard on to early stardom by handing him his first- team debut at 15 in Norway. While Celtic would not stand a chance of tempting him to Scotland when Spanish, German or English giants are scrapping for his signature, Deila believes less precocious talent than Odegaard can be mined then nurtured into better long-term prospects under him. ‘There are players there, maybe not at Odegaard level, but close,’ said Deila. ‘With a good development, they can be past Odegaard if he makes the wrong decisions and we make the right ones.’ Deila played a vital role in Martin Odegaard's rise to stardom when he was Stromsgodset manager . +There is no place in Darren McGregor’s mindset for a soppy nod to his old allegiances. He let out a roar of relief, a leap of joy and a pumped fist of celebration after lashing home the key goal that condemned former club Cowdenbeath to a defeat that could damage their hopes of avoiding relegation — and helped Rangers draw menacingly level on points with his boyhood heroes Hibernian. McGregor’s superb strike was the essential response to the visitors drawing level through Kudus Oyenuga and sparked a three-goal flurry in the final seven minutes that saw Rangers claim a first Ibrox victory since January 3. Darren McGregor led Rangers to a 4-1 victory over Cowdenbeath at Ibrox on Saturday . Rangers' Haris Vuckic celebrates his second goal during the Scottish Championship match at Ibrox Stadium . Rangers' Lee Wallace and Cowdenbeath's John Robertson fight for the ball during the Championship match . The gloss finish was provided by super sub Haris Vuckic, who produced the other two late strikes. Rangers may have been landed with the worst-value loan deal in football history by former directors Derek Llambias and Barry Leach sanctioning the signings of four Newcastle fringe players who have been ill or unfit. But on this form — with five goals in nine appearances — the new regime won’t be in a hurry to disentangled themselves from the deal that sees Vuckic here until the end of a season which now features a scrap for the most advantageous play-off positions. Rangers looked in no kind of shape to contend with McGregor’s childhood favourites Hibs for that runners-up berth three weeks ago when they last faced Cowdenbeath. A scoreless shocker at Central Park was one of the most insipid Rangers displays of the past three seasons. The wind and churned pitch were offered up as mitigating factors following that dire effort, but there were no excuses here as a team revitalised by Stuart McCall to gain a first win in six last Sunday at Easter Road sought to build momentum in the spring campaign. Rangers fans celebrated the life of Davie Cooper in the first home match since the 20th anniversary of the wing wizard’s death, with tribute banners and songs. McCall gave the player named after one of the greatest ever Ibrox heroes, David Cooper Templeton, a chance to star on the left flank against the strugglers. In his first start since January 10, Templeton was a marked man. Colin Marshall was booked after 70 seconds for a lunge on the ex-Hearts man. John Robertson soon followed into Brian Colvin’s notebook. Cowdenbeath's Kudus Oyenuga scores his first goal of the game during the Scottish Championship match . Rangers' Vuckic celebrates his first goal during the Scottish Championship match at Ibrox Stadium . Vuckic celebrates his second goal with teammate Ryan Hardie during the Scottish Championship match . That was no discouraging tactic because Templeton was in the mood for mischief and he did as much as any Rangers player to tire out the visitors with his trickery. Rangers quickly brushed off a bright start from the visitors that saw Cammy Bell shut down a Sean Higgins chance. The home side moved the ball around briskly, stretching and asking questions of a Cowdenbeath defence that had leaked 31 times in nine matches. Robbie Thomson kept out centre- halves Bilel Mohsni and Lee McCulloch with headers from corners. Nicky Law picked up the scraps of a mazy Templeton run to carve out a chance that smacked off the far post and fell kindly to the visiting keeper. Both home strikers Nicky Clark and Kenny Miller shot wide when presented with their goes at goal. McCall could have no complaints about the volume of chances being crafted by his side. Cowdenbeath’s endeavours to stem the tide were overseen by Lee Makel, deputising for boss Jimmy Nicholl who was preparing for Northern Ireland’s key qualifier against Finland, and he admitted that they rode their luck to go in level at the interval. Rangers needed a helping hand early in the second period and they got one from Thomson as the away keeper allowed a Lee Wallace drive squirm from his grasp. The penalty-box instincts of Clark beat Nat Wedderburn on the slide as he bundled the ball over the line just inside the left-hand post for his seventh of the season. Clark’s grafting and harrying for the ball was noteworthy as Rangers strived for a second but the 23-year-old will have nightmares over his 71st-minute miss. Once again, Templeton tormented down the left and he delivered a devil of a low ball across the face of goal. Vuckic couldn’t reach it but Clark looked to arrive in the nick of time at the back post to provide the finishing touch, but it was the side-netting that rippled from the forward’s wayward shot. Miller’s fresh air header wasn’t much better and failure to put the game to bed meant that Rangers were only one slip away from losing their grip on the contest. Nicky Clark (left) scored the first goal for Rangers in the victory over Cowdenbeath . Rangers' Lee McCulloch and Cowdenbeath's John Armstrong during the Championship match at Ibrox . Nicky Law (left) has a shot at goal for Rangers in the Scottish Championship match with Cowdenbeath . Cue the latest Mohsni muddle as his ghastly pass was intercepted by Lewis Toshney, who spied Oyenuga in isolation 22 yards out. He spun without pressure and took a couple of strides before maintaining his composure and burying a powerful right-foot finish beyond Bell. All the old frailties were in danger of creeping back to bite Rangers as Templeton looked to injure himself attempting a clever backheel. McGregor was booked for a cynical foul to stop another Cowdenbeath break and fears of a fourth successive home draw brought scorn from the stands. McGregor calmed those nerves with his third goal for the club, latching on to a loose ball on the edge of the area and lashing a shot into the far corner. Makel threw caution to the wind in the hunt for another leveller but that played into the hands of Vuckic, whose class exploited the extra space. He and the excellent Wallace produced a terrific exchange of passes to scythe through the remains of the Cowdenbeath defence, culminating in the Slovenian tucking home a neat finish. +In the shelter of a Murray Park conference room, Nicky Law cut a relaxed figure on Friday. After a leisurely arrival in a pair of shorts and flip-flops, he greeted the assembled media with a smile, a handshake and a joke about his dubious choice of footwear. The atmosphere in the room was relaxed. Jovial, even. And at odds with the previous seven months of a season when the atmosphere surrounding Rangers has usually been much darker and tense. Truth be told, the only guiding light at Ibrox this season has been a half-lit torch leading straight to a land where only chaos itself holds jurisdiction. Where perpetual farce and vitriol have been interrupted only by the false dawns of hope and sanctuary. Nicky Law believes that Rangers' promotion destiny is finally in their own hands after months of anguish . For Law, however, a corner has now been turned. Now in his second season at Ibrox, the 26-year-old midfielder has been one of the few Rangers players who might - yes, just might - have achieved pass-marks so far this campaign. Following last weekend’s 2-0 victory against Championship promotion rivals Hibs - a timely boost for the new regime and caretaker boss Stuart McCall - Law believes that the club’s promotion destiny is finally in their own hands after months of anguish. ‘Last weekend gave a huge lift to everyone, going and beating Hibs at Easter Road,’ he grinned. ‘We had been comfortably beaten by them three times previously this season, so there has been a huge difference in and around the place this week. ‘The manager has relayed the message to us that we are now in charge of our own situation once again – our own destiny. Everyone in our changing room came to play with Rangers in the Premiership and, even as bad as we have been this season, getting promoted is still within our grasp. ‘When you come into work in the morning, you can see everyone smiling again – not just the players, but also all of the club staff. It’s great to see things like that again because it’s been doom and gloom right from the word go this season. Rangers boss Stuart McCall has taken over the Ibrox side in reach of gaining promotion back to the SPL . ‘We lost our first game of the season, then had a little bit of a lift, but things spiralled again from there. It was downhill all the way and it has been difficult. ‘People are now looking forward to coming into training again and they’re looking forward to games, which is the most important thing – the game against Cowdenbeath on Saturday actually can’t come quick enough for us. ‘There has been such negativity surrounding the place. It got to the stage where you genuinely didn’t want to leave the house. If your family wanted to go out you would just say: “No, let’s just leave it and stay in.” The whole thing is so consuming that it affects your personal life – not just your professional one. ‘Then last Sunday against Hibs was a huge improvement. You could see the energy and desire in the team was fantastic. ‘But we are under no illusions. We know that dropping points against Cowdenbeath would be no good, so it’s up to us now to press on. ‘For the first time in a while, we’re probably looking forward to our own game - but we should be looking forward to every single game at home. Lee Wallace (centre) is congratulated by his team-mates after giving Rangers the lead away to Hibernian . Kenny Miller slots home to put the game beyond doubt for Rangers and close the gap on Hibernian . ‘I go back to my old Motherwell days when you had Rangers away and you would dread going to Ibrox. In the week leading up to it in training, you knew you were in for such a tough game. That’s what it should feel like for teams coming to us now. We want to put fear into visiting teams at Ibrox and we will only do that by winning more games.’ Conventional wisdom might point to the old adage of familiarity breeding contempt – but that’s not the case for Law and McCall. Law spent two seasons playing under McCall at Motherwell, before moving to Rangers in the summer of 2013, and was a key figure in the Fir Park side the manager led to consecutive second-place finishes in the Premiership in 2012 and 2013. ‘The gaffer has given everyone such a massive lift since he arrived at the club,’ said Law. ‘His personality, his character and the way he is so positive – it’s all great. He laughs and jokes with everyone and just lifts our spirits. Kenny Miller celebrates his goal with the Rangers fans during his side's win in the Championship last weekend . ‘People might think I’m biased because I have worked with him before, but I have no doubt whatsoever that all of the lads would say the same thing about him. ‘It’s not just his energy, but his coaching ability, too. Last week we switched to a 3-5-2 formation at Hibs. The gaffer made sure we worked on it all week in training, made sure everyone knew their jobs and made sure no stone was left unturned. ‘He gets the best out of you and improves you as a player. In that respect, he is actually the perfect man for the job here because the club is not in a position to go out and spend fortunes on new players. ‘He has a track record of working with a budget, working with what he’s got and doing really well. It’s hard to teach that ability of having an eye for a player and being able to spot talent, but he has it. ‘He’s been first-class with us since the moment he walked through the door. Our confidence was totally shot to pieces. He has played a huge part already in us turning that around and, hopefully, we can now kick on towards promotion.’ +David Seaman believes Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere should be included in Gareth Southgate's England Under 21 European Championship squad this summer. The 23-year-old has been part of the England senior set up for the last five years, but the midfielder has suffered with injuries and has missed large parts of Arsenal's season. Wilshere is closing in on full fitness again and Seaman believes his inclusion in the squad would be a benefit to everyone. Former England goalkeeper David Seaman celebrates a 4-2 penalties win against Spain back in 1996 . Jack Wilshere missed a chunk of the season thanks to this Marouane Fellaini and Paddy McNair sandwich . Wilshere in action during the EURO 2016 Qualifier Group E match against Slovenia at Wembley Stadium . Wilshere applauds the travelling fans following the EURO 2016 Qualifier match between Estonia and England . Seaman, who made 75 appearances for the Three Lions, told talkSPORT: 'I'd like to see him go (to the European Championship). 'He has not played a lot of football this season and, if he is fit, he should go.' The former Gunner also believes Southgate should be allowed to take the best possible team available to him. Seaman believes Gareth Southgate should be allowed to name the strongest Under 21 squad possible . Manchester United left back Luke Shaw and Everton midfielder Ross Barkley are both eligible . Liverpool ace Raheem Sterling, Everton midfielder Ross Barkley and Manchester United left back Luke Shaw are all eligible to play for the U21 side. And the goalkeeper believes all three should travel if chosen by Southgate, despite the fact those eligible players now consider themselves part of Roy Hodgson's senior squad. Raheem Sterling is also eligible to play during the U21 tournament in the Czech Republic this summer . +Gary Lineker has claimed it would be a 'national disgrace' if Premier League clubs tried to prevent their players playing for England in this summer's European Under-21 Championship. England Under-21s twice came from behind to win 3-2 over Germany in a friendly at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on Monday night. And former England striker Lineker reckons Gareth Southgate's squad for the tournament in the Czech Republic should include eligible players from the senior squad to give them the best chance of success. James Ward-Prowse celebrates after scoring the winner in England Under 21's 3-2 defeat of Germany . Saints midfielder completed an unlikely comeback that saw two late goals scored in three minutes . Nathan Redmond leaps for joy after bringing England level at 2-2 with a deflected shot in the second half . Jesse Lindgard brought England level for the first time with a composed finish from Carl Jenkinson's cross . He said on Twitter: 'England's U21's beat Germany. Add a few from the full squad and they could win Euros this summer. Must include all our best youngsters. MUST. 'Tournament football experience is hugely beneficial. If clubs try and pull their players out it would be a national disgrace. 'The PL clubs misunderstanding of the massively positive impact a successful national side would have on the PL has always baffled me.' Perseverance paid off when Redmond brought the sides level for a second time with a deflected shot . Burnley forward Danny Ings embraces Lingard as the two teams head in level at half time . +Gareth Southgate is refusing to be carried away by his England Under-21 side after seeing them take another significant step forward with a victory over fellow European Championship finalists Germany. Southgate's youngsters twice came from behind at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium before surging to a 3-2 win, to the delight of a crowd of 30,178. However, despite also beating Portugal and hosts the Czech Republic, who will also be at this summer's finals tournament, the former England defender is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. James Ward-Prowse wheels away in celebration after scoring the winner in England Under 21's win . Saints midfielder completed an unlikely comeback that saw two late goals scored in  three minutes . Asked if he was excited by what might lie ahead, Southgate said: 'Not really. 'I love working with the group that we have, staff and players, it's a real united body of people. We have got quality and they want to be the best they can be, so they have got a chance. 'But we also know that we are very quick to put people on a pedestal, and we haven't achieved anything yet. We have had some good results, we have had some nice compliments, but we know what our goal is and we know that we are driven to achieve that. 'We are not interested in too much until we do that.' Nathan Redmond leaps for joy after bringing England level at 2-2 with a deflected shot in the second half . Jesse Lindgard brought England level for the first time with a composed finish from Carl Jenkinson's cross . Southgate's caution was perhaps a reflection of an ordinary start by his team as they struggled to get to grips with a Germany squad boasting some 600 more top-flight appearances than his. England fell behind with just 15 minutes gone when Kaiserslautern striker Philipp Hofmann, celebrating his 22nd birthday, expertly controlled and converted a left-wing cross, and after Jesse Lingard had levelled, restored Germany's lead within five minutes of the restart. The home team left it late to make the big push, but when it came, it was decisive. Germany striker Philipp Hofmann scored a brace but could not prevent the Young Lions from securing win . Liverpool and Germany midfielderEmre Can (right) slides in for a tackle on England's Jake Forster-Caskey . Nathan Redmond's strike from substitute Alex Pritchard's pass levelled it with 10 minutes remaining, and it was left to skipper James Ward-Prowse to win it two minutes later when he accepted full-back Carl Jenkinson's ball and calmly steered his shot past keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Asked how he would manage expectation ahead of the summer, Southgate said: 'We will just show people the first 25 minutes of the game - that will keep everybody's expectations in check, it's as simple as that. 'We have belief in the group of players, and they are fantastic to work with. We believe they can play at a very high level, but we believe because of the talent and the ability that they have and the attitude that they have that we can keep pushing them. 'We have to keep pushing because the standard will go up again in the summer and everybody else will be more competitive again, and we have got to be the same.' Burnley forward Danny Ings embraces Lingard as the two teams head in level at half time . +Manchester United and Arsenal have had hopes of landing Palermo's Paulo Dybala boosted after club president Maurizio Zamparini said the striker will depart the Serie A side at the end of the season. The 21-year-old, from Argentina, is reportedly the subject of a £30million asking price after netting 12 times in 27 appearances so far this season in Italy. And Zamparini revealed that Palermo have already begun planning for Dybala's exit. Paulo Dybala has scored 12 times for Palermo this season but looks set to leave once the campaign is over . Dybala is reportedly on the shortlist on Manchester United, Arsenal and Juventus . Maurizio Zamparini, the Palermo president, revealed the club are already preparing for life without Dybala . 'It's clear Paulo will leave,' Zamparini told Live Sicilia Sport. 'Indeed, we're looking for another striker. 'At home we only have (Andrea) Belotti so, besides him, we will have another forward.' Dybala has also been linked with Serie A leaders Juventus and Massimiliano Allegri's side could scupper any move United or Arsenal make to bring him to the Premier League. +L'equipe are reporting that Paris Saint-Germain have identified Manchester United's Angel di Maria and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba as their two main transfer targets. The French paper also reports that Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette, Ligue 1's top scorer with 23 goals so far this season, is also on the shortlist of the reigning French champions. Di Maria has endured an inconsistent first season at Old Trafford since switching to Manchester United in a £59.7million move from Real Madrid in August. L'equipe report that Paris Saint-Germain will target Manchester United's Angel di Maria (right) in the summer . Di Maria has endured an inconsistent debut season at United since moving from Real Madrid . Di Maria (right) has only shown glimpses of the skill that persuaded United to pay nearly £60million for him . The Argentina international started strongly under Louis van Gaal but has found starting opportunities limited lately and was sent off in United's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal for pushing referee Michael Oliver in March. As for Pogba, the France midfielder is one of the most coveted players in Europe. He has been instrumental in helping Juventus establish a 14-point advantage at the summit of Serie A, while helping his side into the quarter-final of the Champions League, where they will meet Monaco. The 22-year-old, who was on United's books, has been linked with a move to Madrid but PSG could try to edge ahead of their European rivals with a big money offer to take Pogba back to France. Lacazette, meanwhile, has spearheaded Lyon's assault on the top of Ligue 1 and the club only trail PSG by a point in the table with 30 games played. Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has reportedly caught the eye of Europe's top clubs with his displays . Pogba (centre) has been essential to Juventus as they have moved 14-points clear atop Serie A . Alexandre Lacazette has scored 23 goals for Lyon and is the top scorer in Ligue 1 . If Laurent Blanc managed to snare the league's top-scorer from his title rivals, it could be a coup that would be equal in importance as any potential arrival of Di Maria and Pogba. Lacazette has undoubted scoring pedigree in France and would strengthen PSG's attack while simultaneously denting Lyon's. PSG were shackled by Financial Fair Play restrictions last summer but Blanc clearly wants to bring at least one star name to the Parc des Princes this year. +Raheem Sterling is expected to be fit for Liverpool's crunch Champions League qualifying clash against Arsenal next Saturday after having an injection in his toe on Friday night. England manager Roy Hodgson confirmed the forward, who impressed against Lithuania, would miss the friendly against Italy to have the procedure in order to cure a long-standing toe complaint. And Sportsmail can confirm Sterling had the injection at Wembley following the comprehensive 4-0 win in order to have maximum recovery time ahead of the visit to the Emirates Stadium. Raheem Sterling posted this picture on Instagram on Saturday afternoon with the caption 'Waay up!!!!' Sterling is expected to be fit for Liverpool's crunch clash against Arsenal next Saturday . Sterling had the injection at Wembley following the comprehensive 4-0 win against Lithuania . Sterling has returned to Liverpool where the club's medical team will monitor his progress following the jab. The 20-year-old has been playing through the pain barrier in recent weeks but the Anfield club are confident Sterling will be available, and fully fit, to face Arsene Wenger's side next Saturday. Manager Brendan Rodgers will be desperate for his prized-asset to prove his fitness for the encounter, particularly with Daniel Sturridge out for a month due to injury. Sterling could be used as a central striker at the Emirates Stadium next week, a role he has excelled in for Liverpool this season, given Sturridge's absence. The 20-year-old Liverpool midfielder scored his first England goal in the second half . Sterling in action for Liverpool during their 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United last Sunday . +Berti Vogts has teamed up with his former player Jurgen Klinsmann after taking up a role to work behind the scenes with the United States national team. Vogts, who managed Klinsmann during his spell as Germany coach during the 1990s, was hired as technical adviser to the US on Thursday after serving as a special adviser before and during last year's World Cup. In an interview last May, Vogts said he has known Klinsmann since he was 16 or 17 and even takes credit for turning him into the striking sensation he would become. Berti Vogts has joined USA as a technical adviser teaming up again with Jurgen Kilnsmann . Vogts managed Klinsmann when he was in charge of Germany during the 1990s . 'He was a winger and then I told him, "Oh, that's not your best position, you have to play in the middle",' Vogts recalled. 'He did that and he started a big, big career. He is always enthusiastic. He's more American than a German. The Germans are thinking about things. Jurgen is always positive. That's an American way of life. That's good. That's good for the team, good for the sport, good for all of them.' Vogts will oversee the development of players in Europe, and collaborate with Herzog and Matthias Hamann on scouting, talent identification and club relationships. 'We had a fantastic experience with Berti during the 2014 FIFA World Cup,' Klinsmann said in a statement. 'His knowledge and experience is a tremendous asset for us. With Andi Herzog having a big focus on qualifying the U-23 team for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Berti will make an even more important contribution.' USA were beaten 3-2 by Denmark in a friendly on Wednesday night . Former Tottenham striker Klinsmann watches his side during the friendly defeat by Denmark . The 68-year-old Vogts was a defender on West Germany's championship team at the 1974 World Cup and made 96 international appearances in all. He coached his national team from 1990-98, winning the 1996 European Championship with Klinsmann as captain. Vogts also coached Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and the national teams of Kuwait (2001-02), Scotland (2002-04), Nigeria (2007-08) and Azerbaijan (2008-14). 'For me he's been a big mentor throughout my life,' Klinsmann said last year, 'and he just has an outstanding soccer brain, an outstanding knowledge the way he reads the game, the way he analyzes things with his tremendous experience he has, is unquestionable, a huge benefit for us.' +Northampton winger George North is to see a specialist next week after being knocked out in the Saints' Aviva Premiership clash with Wasps on Friday. North scored two tries in Northampton's 52-30 win but after the second he was caught on the head by the knee of Wasps forward Nathan Hughes, who was sent off for dangerous play but protested his innocence. Wales international North left the field unconscious and in a neck brace but the club tweeted just before half-time that he was 'awake' and the player wrote on his own Twitter account on Saturday: 'Thanks for all the messages. Feeling ok, up and about.' George North was knocked out after colliding with Nathan Hughes' knee on Friday night . A subsequent statement from Northampton read: 'After the game North was conscious and in the Saints' changing room with the rest of the team. 'He has been into the club today (Saturday) for treatment and will continue to be monitored by the Saints' experienced medical team throughout the weekend. 'As with everyone in the squad, Northampton Saints places the highest importance on player welfare, and as such North will see a specialist early next week for an assessment.' Hughes' knee connects with North's head as he crossed the line to score for Northampton . The winger was knocked out immediately before receiving lengthy medical treatment for his knock . North was immediately knocked unconscious following the contact during Northampton's win over Wasps . North is treated by medical staff before leaving the field on a stretcher . The injury was a worrying sight after North took two blows to the head in Wales' RBS 6 Nations defeat against England last month. He controversially played on in that game before sitting out Wales' next match against Scotland. Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder said after Friday's game: 'He is okay now; he is up and walking about in the dressing room. It is a knock to his head, which is not good. 'We will look after him and make sure he comes back when he is right.' North was also knocked out twice during Wales' Six Nations defeat by England . The Wales wing played on that day but missed the next match as Wales medics came in for criticism . +A controversial red card for Wasps' Nathan Hughes saw Northampton come from behind to win a tumultuous clash 52-30 at Franklin's Gardens and move 14 points clear at the top of the Premiership. Hughes was sent off for kneeing Northampton and British Lions winger George North in the head as he scored Saints' and his second try. The Wasps number eight complained it was unintentional, but after watching replays on the big screen, referee Craig Maxwell-Keys decided to issue a red card five minutes before half-time. George North is treated for a head injury during the Aviva Premiership match at Franklin's Gardens . Nathan Hughes' knee collided with North's head as he crossed the line to score for Northampton . The winger was knocked out immediately before receiving lengthy medical treatment for his knock . After suffering concussion in Wales's opening Six Nations match against England, when he was knocked out twice, there were worrying scenes as North lay motionless on the ground. He started moving shortly afterwards as medics attended to him before he was stretchered from the pitch. A minute before the incident, after 34 minutes, Alex Lozowski kicked a penalty to put Wasps 20-8 in front, but they went in 27-20 down at half-time after a dramatic turnaround saw Northampton add two tries from lineout drives after North's try. Hughes was sent off his tackle but felt aggrieved claiming it was an accidental collision at the try line . Northampton tweeted just before half-time that their star man had woken up from his terrible injury . And yet it was Hughes who inspired Wasps' opening try after four minutes when he turned over George Pisi on the visitors' 22. Wasps shifted the ball to the wing to set Christian Wade free, and speed home. Lozowski added the conversion. Northampton: Wilson; K. Pisi, G. Pisi, Stephenson, North; Myler, L. Dickson; Corbisiero, Hartley, Ma'afu, Lawes, C. Day, Wood, Clark, Manoa . Replacements: Haywood, A. Waller, Denman, S. Dickinson, Fisher, Fotuali'i, Waldouck, Tuala. Tries: North 2, penalty, Corbisiero, K. Pisi, Tuala 2 . Penalties: Myler 3 . Conversions: Myler 4 . Wasps: Miller; Wade, Daly, Downey, Tagicakibau; Lozowski, Simpson; Mullan, Shervington, Cittadini, Cannon, Myall, Johnson, Young, N. Hughes. Replacements: McIntyre, Swainston, Gaskell, E. Jackson, Thompson, Weepu, G. Hughes, W. Helu. Tries: Wade 3 . Penalties: Lozowski 3 . Conversions: Lozowski 3 . Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys . Northampton hit straight back as Stephen Myler fired a crossfield kick into the arms of North to score, while Myler hit the post with the conversion to leave Wasps 7-5 in front. The home side were offside at the restart allowing Lozowski to add three more points and the fly-half then showed an electric turn of pace to skip through a gap to send Wade flying over, while Lozowski converted from the touchline to make it 17-5 after 20 minutes. Myler and Lozowski exchanged penalties, before the match-turning incident. Samu Manoa caught the re-start and sent North powering into the corner, but as he grounded the ball the Hughes ran into him, kneeing the Welsh winger in the head. North appeared knocked out, lying motionless for a short while. As the medics got to him he started moving and after a lengthy delay he was stretchered off. Meanwhile, Maxwell-Keys showed Hughes a red card. Hughes complained to the referee as he walked off and a Wasps water carrier - conditioning coach Dan Baugh - had to be pulled away as he argued with Saints forwards coach Dorian West on the touchline. After a long wait Myler missed the touchline conversion, but Saints had a penalty from the restart and Myler booted it into the corner. Saints' maul steamrollered towards the line only to be dragged down and Maxwell-Keys awarded a penalty try. Myler's conversion suddenly made it 20-20. Christian Wade of Wasps dives in to score his third try of the match but it wasn't enough for the win . On the brink of half-time, Saints kicked another penalty to the corner and as their maul piled towards the line, Alex Corbisiero broke off to touch down and Myler converted to make it 27-20. Facing 40 minutes with 14 men Lozowski kicked a penalty as Wasps moved number eight Ashley Johnson to hooker and managed to win a scrum against the head on Saints' 22. They moved the ball wide where Daly drew two men before offloading to Wade. Lozowski landed the touchline conversion to make it 33-30 with 11 minutes left. Courtney Lawes of Northampton Saints is tackled by Nathan Hughes before he was sent off . Stephen Myler prepares to kick a conversion after George North's try for the Northampton Saints . The comeback was short lived though, as three minutes later Ken Pisi touched down and two tries in two minutes from Ahsee Tuala, plus two conversions by Myler saw Northampton bring up the half-century. Referee Craig Maxwell-Keys angered Wasps director of rugby Dai Young by producing the card after watching replays. But Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder insisted: ‘It was reckless coming in with the knee and some serious consequences happened because of that. The opposition have to be very careful once the try has been scored. North could now miss a number of games after fellow player Mike Brown was ruled out with a similar knock . The collision appeared accidental but it was deemed dangerous enough to send off the number eight . ‘George is OK, he’s come round, he’s in the changing room and he is up and walking about. It’s a knock to his head which is not good. We will look after him and we will make sure that he comes back when he is right.’ Young claimed: ‘When you slow anything down in slow-mo things look a bit worse. But once the crowd gets on a referee’s back, and it was a young referee, there is only one decision that is going to happen. We felt it was harsh. ‘First and foremost we hope that George is all right. Nathan has gone looking for him to make sure he is OK, he’s not that type of person.’ +England's record caps holder Peter Shilton is excited by striker Harry Kane and feels the national team 'need a lot more' like him. Kane has been in tremendous form for Tottenham this season, scoring 29 goals in all competitions, and it took him just 79 seconds to open his England account against Lithuania on Friday night. The 21-year-old is set to lead the line against Italy in Turin on Tuesday night and Shilton, who played 125 internationals, is impressed with what he has seen. Harry Kane scored from the bench just seconds into his England debut, and Shilton called him 'exciting' The Tottenham striker is set for his first start for England when they face Italy in Turin on Tuesday . 'He is a very exciting home grown player,' he told BBC Radio 5 Live. 'He's what we are looking for and what we need a lot more of. 'But let's take it steady with him. International football is a big step up. He's playing tonight, an even bigger test.' Kane is also set to take part in this summer's European Under-21 Championship and while Shilton would not go so far as former team-mate Gary Lineker, who said on Twitter on Monday 'If clubs try and pull their players out it would be a national disgrace', the 65-year-old agrees about the importance of the competition. Kane is likely to start alongside Wayne Rooney, but Shilton says he should not be rushed . The Spurs star has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season, the leading English goalscorer . 'Winning things is a great incentive, it boosts your confidence at whatever level it comes,' Shilton said. 'I think the Under-21s is very important. To go and win a tournament like that would be great for the country.' +Spain will have an extra incentive to win their friendly with Holland on Tuesday night, according to Manchester United midfielder Daley Blind. Blind was part of the Holland side which demolished Spain 5-1 at last summer's World Cup, a result which contributed to the holders exiting the competition at the group stage. Vicente del Bosque's men travel to Amsterdam to face Holland again - in a game which will be broadcast live on MUTV - and Blind believes they will be out for revenge. Daley Blind believes Spain will be looking for revenge against Holland in their friendly on Tuesday night . Blind attempts to block a shot from Turkey's Burak Yilmaz in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday evening . Arjen Robben scores Holland's second goal in their 5-1 win against Spain at last summer's World Cup . Speaking to MUTV ahead of the game, Blind said: 'It's always nice to play against big teams like Spain. We know it will be difficult and a totally different game to the one at the World Cup. 'I would have some revenge feelings if I lost against a team too! That wouldn't only be after a game at the World Cup though. If you lose against any team you always want to win the next time you play them. So I think they will have those feelings.' Blind could come up against David de Gea on Tuesday and he is well aware how tough it will be to beat his in-form United team-mate. Blind could come up against his Manchester United team-mate David de Gea (left) on Tuesday . Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas appears dejected after conceding a fifth goal to Holland at the World Cup . 'David is doing a great job here this season. He's one of the best keepers in the world at the moment. We're very happy that he's in the goal and he has made some great saves,' added Blind. 'All the credit goes to him. He works very hard and is getting better all the time. 'His shot-stopping is one of his best skills but you also have to look at how he plays [with his feet] and how he comes for crosses - the way he has improved that is very impressive. 'He has got better in every way. The skills when he is saving goals and also the skills with his feet - they make him an all-round keeper and that's one of the best things about him.' Daley Blind is set to face David De Gea's Spain with the Netherlands tonight. Fans can watch the game exclusively live only on MUTV in the UK and Ireland. Coverage from 19:30, kick off 19:45. MUTV broadcasts on Sky channel 418, Virgin Media channel 528 and UPC Cable channel 428. For more info click here. +Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are monitoring Malaga's latest starlet Jose Luis Zalazar, known as Kuki. The 16-year-old is the son of former Uruguay international Jose Luis Zalazar but plays for Spain at U17 level where he is regarded as the star turn. Liverpool have been on his trail for over a year. He is a left-footed striker who can play across the front line and has already played for Malaga's first team in friendlies. Kuki is being tracked by the some of the Premier League's big boys and could leave Malaga in the summer . Kuki signed his first professional contract at Malaga last summer and his release clause fee is set at £4.4million but that doubles should he make his first team debut. City beat Real Madrid and Barcelona last year to sign 14-year-old Brahim Abdelkader Diaz from Malaga's academy set-up and are ready to challenge Chelsea and Liverpool for Kuki. Chelsea are also tracking Anderlecht youngster Aaron Iseka. A 17-year-old striker who has already played 11 games for Anderlecht's senior team and has scored one goal. Manuel Pellegrini and his side are watching Kuki and Anderlecht youngster Aaron Iseka . +Shaun Maloney has branded Scotland’s crunch end-of-season clash with Ireland as ‘colossal’ — and vowed that Gordon Strachan’s men are capable of leaving Dublin with three more crucial points on the road to Euro 2016. The goalscoring hero when the two nations met last November at Parkhead, Maloney believes the pressure will be off the scale when the Celtic nations collide for the return at the Aviva Stadium on June 13. The Scots currently lie in third place in Group D, one point behind leaders Poland, level with world champions Germany and two points ahead of the Irish. Scotland currently lie in third place in Group D after Saturday's 6-1 victory over Gibraltar . It has been a hugely encouraging opening five games to the qualifying campaign as Scotland aim to reach the nation’s first major finals since the 1998 World Cup in France. And Maloney insists Strachan’s side can grab the win that would all but end Ireland’s hopes of reaching France next year if they reprise their form against the Irish four months . ago. However, he admitted Scotland’s 3-1 home defeat to England four days later serves as a reminder not to let standards slip. ‘The Ireland game in June is going to be absolutely colossal,’ said Maloney, who now plays with Chicago Fire in America’s Major League Soccer. Scotland have enjoyed a hugely encouraging opening five games to the qualifying campaign . ‘The pressure on both sides will just build and build as we get closer. But I think we can go there and win the game. ‘However, we have to know that we can also lose it if we are not as good as we have been in recent games. ‘Look at our game against Ireland in November and the Poland away game when we drew 2-2. We played well and got results. ‘But then look at the England match, when we were a little bit off it. The better side defeated us. ‘So we have to be very aware of why we have got ourselves into this position and what we need to continue doing.’ Maloney insists Scotland’s ability to handle the intense pressure ahead of that first Ireland match in Glasgow and to emerge with a fine win was a key moment in the development of the team under Strachan. Shaun Maloney was the goalscoring hero when the two nations met last November at Parkhead . And he warned it will be the turn of the Irish in June to see if they can handle the heat of what is now a must-win match for Martin O’Neill’s side. ‘The pressure when we played Ireland at Celtic Park was huge,’ said Maloney, whose two goals in Scotland’s 6-1 win over Gibraltar on Sunday leaves him as the highest scorer in Strachan’s squad with a total of six. ‘It was a pressure for a match (against Ireland) that I hadn’t felt for a long time. So for the team to cope with that was a pretty big step. ‘I think we’ve made some pretty big steps in the last 18 months. But that was probably as big a one we’ve made as a group of players for a while. ‘The pressure will now be magnified for the Irish being at home and it’s a brilliant game to be involved in. ‘I have learned, though, that they are only brilliant if you win them. They sound great on paper, but they are not that enjoyable when you don’t win.' +Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck has pulled out of the England squad because of a knee injury he suffered in Friday's 4-0 win over Lithuania. Welbeck sustained the injury in the second half of the victory at Wembley and was replaced in the 77th minute. The Football Association confirmed on Saturday that Welbeck had been sent back to Arsenal. Danny Welbeck has been sent back to Arsenal after picking up a knee injury in England's win over Lithuania . Welbeck scored England's second in the 4-0 win but will not be present for the friendly against Italy in Turin . The striker will therefore not take part in Tuesday's friendly against Italy in Turin. The FA also confirmed Raheem Sterling, James Milner and Leighton Baines had been sent back to their clubs. Liverpool forward Sterling is carrying a toe injury and Manchester City midfielder Milner did not play against Lithuania as he had a knee problem. Baines has gone back to Everton as Roy Hodgson wants to give Kieran Gibbs his seventh cap in Turin. The England manager has called up Southampton's Ryan Bertrand as cover for the Arsenal defender. Raheem Sterling has also returned to his squad after carrying a toe injury against Lithuania on Friday . Manchester City midfielder James Milner has left and did not play against Lithuania as he has a knee problem . Leighton Baines has gone back to Everton as Roy Hodgson wants to give Kieran Gibbs a cap in Turin . Hodgson told FA TV: 'We knew we were going to be losing Raheem Sterling who had an injection last night on an on-going injury and hopefully that will help him as we go forward. 'We have a problem with James Milner who had to leave, we decided to let Leighton Baines go home and of course we lost Danny Welbeck who unfortunately picked up a slight knee injury (against Lithuania). 'So those four players won't be with us going forward but it means a chance for the other guys in the squad to show what they can do. 'We are going to bring Ryan Bertrand in because with Leighton Baines gone we are now left with only one recognised left-back which is Kieran Gibbs and we wanted two recognised left-backs for both games.' Ryan Bertrand (right) has been called up from Southampton as cover after Baines left Hodgson's squad . Nine players have withdrawn from the squad since it was announced. Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Fraser Forster and Danny Rose all pulled out through injury last week. That means Hodgson has just 17 outfield players to choose from for the game against the country that beat England in their World Cup opener in Manaus last June. Harry Kane scored against Lithuania but is one of just 17 fit outfield players for England to use against Italy . +As the Wembley clock ticked over into the 89th minute, the booming PA system kicked in and proclaimed that Danny Welbeck was England's man of the match. Sometimes the sponsors' choice is met with bewilderment, even derision. Not this time. The reaction was warm applause from all four corners of the stadium - universal acknowledgement and appreciation. Welbeck had been excellent, by some distance the stand-out player. Direct and deadly, this was Danny at his game-changing best. Who needs Harry Kane? Danny Welbeck leads the celebrations after putting England 2-0 ahead against Lithuania on Friday . Welbeck's header deflects into the back of the net to send England into a commanding lead . Welbeck is congratulated by England captain Wayne Rooney after scoring his sixth of the qualfying campaign . Welbeck's pitch map from the Lithuania match shows his influence right across the front line . Welbeck has scored eight goals in 29 appearances for Arsenal this season but has six in four qualifiers for England. On a productive night, Welbeck blasted in the shot that led to Wayne Rooney's opener, stooped to divert home England's second, had three other shots on goal and tormented the Lithuanian defence with his pace, power and passing. The goal augmented his international goal tally to 14 - drawing level with Paul Scholes - and he duly became the leading scorer in Euro 2016 qualifying with six goals, one ahead of Israel's Omar Damari. Welbeck's touch map showed his influence right across the field, switching places with Rooney and Raheem Sterling in a dynamic front three that linked up seamlessly throughout. The only dampener on the evening was the knee injury that will force him out of Tuesday night's friendly with Italy in Turin. Which all begs the question - why doesn't Welbeck play like this for Arsenal? Welbeck caused the Lithuanian defence problems all evening and justified his selection . Welbeck ran directly at the Lithuanian defence all evening in a positive performance . Welbeck is congratulated by former Manchester united team-mate Wayne Rooney after doubling the lead . Welbeck's touch map from the match with Lithuania shows his presence right across the attack . Pushed out to the wing to accommodate the in-form Olivier Giroud, Welbeck has all-too-often looked a spare part in Arsenal colours this season following his £16m move from Manchester United last September. The fact his England goal tally for the campaign is just two shy of his club return speaks volumes - perhaps Arsene Wenger should ask Roy Hodgson for advice on how to get the best out of the frontman. Because he looks a man transformed on international duty - while with Arsenal, the wide berth is regarded as something of a snub, inhibiting his performance. With England it somehow plays to his strengths. With the Three Lions on his chest, Welbeck is content and confident, raising his game to a level rarely seen for the Gunners. There he can be aloof, slow and ineffective. The memes that often go viral on Twitter portraying Welbeck as a World Cup winner or with the Ballon d'Or are very much tongue-in-cheek but he can rise above the mockery. At the moment, Welbeck is unlikely to displace Giroud, who has 17 goals in 26 games this season, but Friday night's electric performance proves that he can perform in a wide position - on both flanks. Wenger should liberate him and say 'you're playing wide for the foreseeable future, but make it your own. Get the head down, get the legs pumping. When you run at opposition defences, it is a frightening proposition. Inevitably, positive play will lead to more goals. And more goals will lead to a sustained title challenge.' Welbeck has often cut a frustrated figure playing wide for Arsenal this season . One of the memes on social media portraying Welbeck as a World Cup winner with England . The Arsenal man holds the Ballon d'Or for best player in the world in another viral image . Another meme had Barcelona star Lionel Messi lifting his shirt to reveal a t-shirt of Welbeck's face . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has pushed Welbeck out to the wings to accommodate Olivier Giroud . Welbeck is the first to congratulate debutant Harry Kane after scoring two minutes after coming on . Welbeck celebrates with Rooney after he turns home the rebound after the Arsenal striker's effort was saved . Welbeck's goals have put England in firm control of their Euro 2016 qualifying group . Sure, it was only Lithuania but Welbeck doesn't select the opposition. He delivered against Switzerland and Slovenia too earlier in the qualifying campaign. With goals comes the confidence to deliver against the top teams as well, in the Premier League, Champions League and Euro 2016 when it rolls around. We now have the blueprint. Let's hope we see Danny deliver. +Barcelona defender Dani Alves is discussing a three year contract with Paris Saint-Germain. The 31-year-old Brazil international is out of contract with Barcelona in the summer and has been offered to several Premier League sides. Alves's agent, Dinorah Santana, confirmed that her client was in 'advanced talks' with another club and the player was in Paris on Tuesday. Brazilian defender Dani Alves is in talks with Paris St Germain over a three-year deal with the French side . Alves, 31, is out of contract at Barcelona this summer and has been linked with clubs in England . Current PSG right-back Gregory van der Wiel has yet to agree terms on a new deal. Alves has played 30 times for Barca this season, including starting at the Etihad Stadium when the Catalan club beat Manchester City 2-1 last month. He has been at the club since 2008, winning four La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and the Champions League twice. The defender was sent off in his last match for Barcelona, a 6-1 win over Rayo Vallecano . Alves has been with Barca since 2008, and has achieved both team and personal success in that time . +Referees' chief Mike Riley has called for video technology to be trialled after the latest case of mistaken identity saw the wrong West Brom player sent off at Manchester City. Gareth McAuley was dismissed after just 89 seconds of the Baggies' defeat for a foul on Wilfried Bony that was actually committed by team-mate Craig Dawson. Referee Neil Swarbrick later apologised for the error while a furious West Brom manager Tony Pulis demanded the introduction of two manager challenges per game. Neil Swarbrick sent off West Brom's Gareth McAuley for a challenge actually committed by Craig Dawson . Referees' chief Mike Riley has called for video technology to be trialled in the wake of that blunder . West Brom defender Dawson (right) makes the original challenge on Wiflried Bony just outside the area . The Ivorian striker heads to the ground under Dawson's clumsy challenge but managed to get back up . Bony continues but McAuley comes in with a challenge of his own from the opposite angle inside the area . Bony goes to ground again under McAuley's challenge, leading to the dismissal of the West Brom player . BT Sport showed the incident from referee Swarbrick's perspective, with No 25 Dawson the closest to him . Swarbrick's blunder is the third case of mistaken identity in a calendar year following Roger East's dismissal of Sunderland's Wes Brown for bringing down Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao last month and a red card for Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs, who was sent off by Andre Marriner when it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who had handled a shot from Chelsea's Eden Hazard last March. Riley, general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), acknowledged that now was the time to test replays. 'I think football as a whole has to look at how we can enhance refereeing performances through the use of technology,' he said. 'We've been open-minded to things like the goal-decision system which has made a great difference and a great benefit to referees in the Premier League. 'We need to see what other technology can be used to get refereeing decisions more accurate.' Riley, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, added that he had spoken to Swarbrick since his gaffe but would not confirm whether he would be selected for the next round of Premier League matches. City went on to win the match 3-0 as they try to keep their Premier League title hopes alive until the final day . Following McAuley's dismissal City ensured a miserable week, which included defeats to Burnley and a Champions League exit in Barcelona, ended on a high at a sunny Etihad Stadium. In a one-sided encounter that often resembled a training ground match of attack versus defence Wilfried Bony's first goal for the home side, a neat finish from close range, set them on their way on 27 minutes. A horrendous defensive mix-up allowed Fernando to tap in City's 1,000th Premier League goal before the break and David Silva deflected substitute Stevan Jovetic's low drive home to complete a dark afternoon for the Black Country visitors. The win, which featured 43 shots, eased some of the pressure on City boss Manuel Pellegrini amid reports he will be sacked in the summer if his side end the season trophyless. Ex-Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, who started the match in place of the injured Yaya Toure, defended the Chilean. 'He has been a pleasure to work with and he's a very good man,' he said. 'He's a very experienced manager, a very good manager, and I don't think there is any finger-pointing at any individual for the recent form.' Frank Lampard has proved himself to be a readily capable deputy in midfield for the injured Yaya Toure . Lampard, who will join sister club New York City FC at the end of the season, admitted tough questions may well be asked in the summer. 'Judgements will be made at the end of the season and that is fair enough,' he added. Pellegrini himself dismissed claims that Chelsea would not surrender their six point lead at the summit. After joking: 'Please, no questions about the sack,' he said 'I don't think they are a winning machine all the time. 'I am sure form now until the end of the season every team will drop points. 'You never know what will happen when you have to play for another 24 points.' Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure to deliver some silverware at the Etihad Stadium . +Brazil responded to World Cup humiliation, shipping 10 goals in their final two games, to bringing back one of their grittiest former captains. Dunga was handed the responsibility of rebuilding a fallen team from the ashes of a 7-1 semi-final defeat by Germany and 3-0 loss at the hands of Holland. His appointment was a controversial one among Brazil supporters, having guided his country in a lacklustre 2010 World Cup before he was sacked the last time. Brazil defender David Luiz looks devastated after the final whistle at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte where the World Cup hosts had just been hammered 7-1 by eventual winners Germany . The Germans huddle to celebrate their fifth goal as the shell-shocked Brazilians head back to the centre . Dunga (right) has stepped up to take the Brazil job and has impressed with six wins from six matches . But when a nation was so embarrassed in their own backyard, a strong head was needed to take control and the 1994 World Cup winner was deemed the man for the job. ‘We want to build a modern, compact, aggressive team but without losing the essence of Brazilian football - the dribble and the creativity,’ Dunga said in Paris ahead of playing France. Six wins from six matches, clean sheets in the first five of those and only one goal conceded plus fourteen scored is the perfect response to former manager Luiz Felipe Scolari’s failings last summer. Dunga has encouraged his full backs to sit deeper, opting for Porto’s Danilo and Chelsea’s Filipe Luis on the flanks despite the more attack-minded Marcelo performing well for Real Madrid. Barcelona’s right back Dani Alves has also been a major casualty of the World Cup and Dunga has waved goodbye to Jo and Fred up front, who sound more like characters from a Last of the Summer Wine episode and played like them, too. Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Willian and Filipe Luis complete a drill during Brazil training in Paris . Thiago Silva takes a selfie in the gym with Willian (left), Marcelo (centre) and Neymar (right) The goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, had to go and Botafogo stopper Jefferson is performing strongly, but being challenged by Valencia’s Diego Alves for the No 1 spot. Thiago Silva is struggling to get back into the side at centre-back alongside Paris Saint-Germain team-mate David Luiz, even though his performances in the World Cup were praised and he missed the mauling by Germany due to injury. In Silva’s absence after he missed the first match, a 1-0 win against Colombia, due to injury, Atletico Madrid’s Miranda has forged a strong partnership with Luiz. The captaincy has also been taken off him and handed to Neymar, who has responded with six goals in as many games. They have more exciting options up front; Shakhtar Donetsk striker Luiz Adriano is currently this season’s Champions League top-scorer and he is vying for a place as their No 9 with Diego Tardelli, who netted a double in a 2-0 win against Argentina. Silva (left) is struggling to get back into the side ahead of Miranda at centre back for Brazil . Neymar has scored six goals in six games since the World Cup and has been in fine form . There are still two places available in Brazil’s attacking midfield three alongside Neymar, and Chelsea’s Oscar and Willian are front-runners. Their pressing attacking play, instilled by Jose Mourinho, is a facet to forward players which particularly impresses Dunga. But another name emerging is 23-year-old Hoffenheim forward Roberto Firmino, who scored a 25-yard bullet to win their last match against Austria after being included in the squad for the first time. He is expected to start against France. Philippe Coutinho, brutally left out of the World Cup squad by Scolari, is another banging on the door, especially with his performances for Liverpool. Philippe Coutinho has been a star performer for Liverpool in recent months and will hope to shine for Brazil . Roberto Firmino (centre) is all smiles as he competes in a training drill at the Stade de France on Wednesday . Maintaining a core from the World Cup, Fernandinho, Ramires, Luiz Gustavo, have all been given chances in the middle. Dunga has also been experimenting with some nostalgic choices. He has just recalled 31-year-old Robinho to the squad, even though he has had a mediocre spell back in Brazil with Santos on loan from AC Milan. He is a favourite of Dunga, but not of the fans. Back in October, Kaka, another surprise omission from the World Cup, also got a late call-up as a replacement for the friendlies against Argentina and Japan. He came on for the last eight minutes against Argentina and 14 against Japan (a game they won 4-0) but has not made it into the latest squad. Neymar poses for a picture with Robinho - who is back in the squad - and Real Madrid left back Marcelo (top) +West Brom striker Brown Ideye is hopeful of being fit in time for the Barclays Premier League home clash with QPR a week on Saturday. Ideye missed the weekend's 3-0 loss at Manchester City due to a knee problem that has subsequently forced him to pull out of the Nigeria squad. The 26-year-old, Albion's record signing, told West Brom's website on Wednesday: 'I am in rehab now so hopefully I will be better before the QPR game. West Brom striker Brown Ideye missed the Baggies' game against Manchester City through injury . Ideye hopes to be back in contention for West Brom's important game against Queens Park Rangers . 'Somebody kicked me from behind in the Stoke game (on March 14) and since then I've been getting pain. 'I thought I could be fit for Nigeria. I thought I could even be fit for the game at Manchester City. But I couldn't run and I have had to stay back instead of risking it by going to internationals. 'I just have to rest. The pain is still there but the doctors and physios have been doing their best to make sure I'm fit for the (QPR) game.' The Nigeria international picked up the injury during West Brom's match against Stoke on March 14 . Ideye has had to pull out of international duty with Nigeria because of the injury to his knee . +French football stadiums will fall silent this weekend to remember the victims of the helicopter crash in Argentina that killed 10 people. Among those that died in Monday's crash were Olympic swimming champion Camille Muffat, boxer Alexis Vastine and sailor Florence Arthaud, who were taking part in French television channel TF1's Dropped show. Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea wore black armbands during their Champions League match on Wednesday night, in memory of those who died. Paris Saint-Germain players wore black armbands for their win over Chelsea in memory of the lost lives . French Minister for Cities, Youth and Sport Patrick Kanner (left) and French junior Sports Minister Thierry Braillard (right) observe a minute on Tuesday in memory of the 10 people that died in the helicopter crash . The French Ligue de Football Professionnel said on its website on Thursday: 'In tribute to the victims of the crash that occurred in Argentina, one minute of reflection will precede the matches on the 29th day of Ligue 1 and the 28th day of Ligue 2.' +Peter Schmeichel has picked his #one2eleven of stars he played alongside throughout his career, on The Fantasy Football Club on Sky Sports. The former Manchester United goalkeeper has focussed heavily on his time at Old Trafford, but the best player he says he has ever played with was actually at Danish club Brondby. Scroll down to find out who Schmeichel says was better to play with than Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, among others. Watch #one2eleven every Friday evening on The Fantasy Football Club, Sky Sports 1 or catch up On Demand. Peter Schmeichel has picked his #one2eleven of stars he played alongside throughout his career . GOALKEEPER: PETER SCHMEICHEL . I've only ever played with myself in goal. I would never do that, normally. But I'm in goal. DEFENDER: GARY NEVILLE . This week he was pundit of the year. That is so typical of Gary Neville. That's him. Whenever he sticks his head to something, he wants to be the best. He probably wasn't the biggest talent, but pure will and so dependable. This guy was unbelievable. You could depend on him. DEFENDER: JAAP STAM . I only played with him for one year and that was a very successful year, winning the treble. He was awesome. I took up smoking that year because I had nothing to do. I was up against the goalpost smoking because I had Jaap in front of me. He was big, strong, quick, unbelievably quick. This guy was quick on half a yard, three yards, 20 yards, 50 yards. Jaap Stam lifts the Premier League trophy as he had a very successful year alongside Schmeichel . DEFENDER: STEVE BRUCE . He was there when I arrived at Manchester United. He was a really good friend. I ended up living next door to him, so he looked after me and my family. I've never played with a player so brave. He was never quick. He was slow, but unbelievable. He could read the game. He was never, ever, ever scared to sacrifice himself in order to do one tiny little thing for the good of the team. DEFENDER: DENIS IRWIN . What can you say about Denis Irwin that hasn't been said before? Doing this team I'm thinking about as a defender you'd remember what mistakes they made. I couldn't come up with a single mistake. So dependable, so reliable. His personality was really, really good for the back four of the team because we had so many outspoken personalities. He would be the guy in between. Set pieces. Fantastic shooting technique, and he would score goals from open play as well. Not many full-backs do that. Former Manchester United player Steve Bruce (left) features in the goalkeeper's best XI he played with . MIDFIELDER: DAVID BECKHAM . What David Beckham has done with his life, people will remember him for that. I hope people won't forget how good a player he was. Not only was he a good player but he is the one guy with the best kicking technique I've ever seen in my life. That came from talent to begin with. Hard work. He was one of the guys who took lessons off what Eric Cantona did. Doing stuff on your own for instance. No-one did that at Manchester United. David Beckham never cut a corner. He got his rewards. MIDFIELDER: ROY KEANE . A person of many different things but for 90 minutes when we played football this guy was unbelievable. I can't remember anyone who had the energy to run box to box, or 120 if it went to extra time. Keep doing the same thing, keep doing the same thing. Driving everybody to do the same. In his prime he was probably one of the best midfield players in the world. MIDFIELDER: PAUL SCHOLES . When I came to United he was a kid back then, playing in the youth team, but he was a striker. You could see there was something very special about him. His technique was incredible. He was converted into a midfield player. Scholes's passes, any kind of distance, from one yard to 40 yards, they were always accurate. Roy Keane (from left to right), David Beckham and Ryan Giggs all make it from Schmeichel's United days . MIDFIELDER: RYAN GIGGS . We know the goal he scored in the semi-final against Arsenal. Unbelievable thing to do. It's been shown time and time again because it is the best goal ever scored in the FA Cup. From 16 years of age to this year, to be able to perform at that level, to give the team so much, this guy has got to be the best Premier League player of all time. What he has given Manchester United and what he still gives Manchester United is fantastic. MIDFIELDER: MICHAEL LAUDRUP . Probably the best player I've ever played with. It's a shame he hasn't played in this country but this is a guy who played in one of the best Barcelona teams ever. He made the journey to Madrid, and played in one of the best Madrid teams ever. Won everything that football has to offer. STRIKER: ERIC CANTONA . The king. Changed everything for us. We had one season in 95 we were struggling. We really, really didn't play the way we should. This guy just changed everything. A different approach to games. Unbelievable. Schmeichel has chosen Michael Laudrup (left) as the best ever player he played alongside at Brondby . +Milos Raonic gatecrashed a party seemingly reserved for the best four players in the world by shocking Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. World number one Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray - the Scot who is fourth in the ATP World Tour rankings - were confirmed as semi-final opponents on Thursday and second-best-in-the-world Roger Federer duly followed them into the last four with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Tomas Berdych. Nadal would have later completed an elite quartet but the Spaniard instead fell to world number six Raonic at the end of three gruelling hours. Milos Raonic celebrates after booking his semi-final place at Indian Wells by defeating Rafael Nadal . Rafael Nadal waves goodbye after his exit following the three-hour match at Indian Wells . Canadian Raonic stretches to make a return during a match in which he rescued six break points . The sixth seed from Canada looked like he might be heading out after losing the first set inside 36 minutes but he rallied to save three match points in an epic second-set tie-break, forcing a decider. Raonic, who fired 19 aces and saved six break points, finally ended the Spaniard's perfect record against Canadians by earning a crucial break in the third and clinching a 4-6 7-6 (12/10) 7-5 victory. He told atpworldtour.com: 'At the moments when I was playing those match points, it didn't really feel like match points. 'It was just like another point that I was trying to get through... (I was) just sort of going through the paces at that moment of what do I need to do now, not really signifying it as a match point.' Nadal reflects on the quarter-finals defeat, which ended his unbeaten record against Canadian opponents . Nadal hits a powerful return in the quarter-final match, which saw three sets lasting three hours . Raonic celebrates after joining Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the last four . In Federer's earlier meeting with Berdych, the Swiss was first to get a break point opportunity in the fifth game, only for the Czech to save it with a forehand winner. But Federer broke him in the seventh to go 4-3 up, and seemed to be into his groove from then on as he breezed through the second set. Federer said: '(It's) not just another win, but another win against a top 10 player; against Berdych, who has played me tough in recent years.' Roger Federer celebrates after knocking out Czech Tomas Berdych to reach the semi-finals . Swiss Federer breezed through to the semi-finals in two sets . Simona Halep of Romania automatically advanced to the women's final after world number one Serena Williams withdrew due to a right knee injury. In a post on her official Instagram account, the American wrote: 'Four months ago I began a journey to play Indian Wells and it was amazing. 'I never dreamed I could do it. But I would not have been able to do this without my fans. 'Though it ended early due to injury this year, I have to say I cannot wait to try again next year.' Halep, now one win away from the first Premier Mandatory title of her career, will contest the title with 2010 winner Jelena Jankovic. The Serbian booked her second appearance in an Indian Wells final with a hard-fought 3-6 6-3 6-1 victory over Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Serena Williams posted a picture and message on Instagram after withdrawing through injury . +Maria Sharapova's life-changing move from Siberia to Florida as a seven-year-old propelled her on a path to fame and fortune but she says she would never turn her back on her mother country. It is sometimes easy to forget that five-times grand slam champion Sharapova, the world's highest-paid female athlete, is actually Russian until you witness her conduct a post-match press conference in her native tongue. With £21.4million in prize money alone, a string of lucrative endorsements, her own sweet business and even a famous boyfriend she is the living embodiment of the American dream. Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova poses with Tania Bryer during their interview on CNBC . Sharapova opens up about her past in the episode of CNBC Meets with host Tania Bryer . Yet, Sharapova baulks at the idea that she would want to trade her Russian passport for an American one, as former Czech Martina Navratilova did early in her glittering career. 'I would have if I wanted to (change citizenships) but it's never been actually a question in my family or in my team whether I wanted to change citizenships,' the Russian told CNBC in an interview to be screened on Wednesday. Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon title aged 17, still gives her all for Russia in the Fed Cup and was a torch bearer at the Sochi Winter Olympics a year ago. She said her Russian heritage moulded her instincts. Sharapova carries the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony in Sochi . Sharapova won the Wimbledon title when she was just 17 back in 2004 . 'It is about the family environment, it is about the rich culture,' the 27-year-old said. 'Just life experiences that I look back to and I know that for so many years I was shaped into the individual I was from those experiences. 'And not necessarily simply the country, but the people, the mentality and the toughness and that never giving up attitude.' World No 2 Sharapova will not have to venture too far from her adopted home at the Miami Open which starts this week. Should the tournament go according to rankings she will play nemesis Serena Williams in the final. Sharapova lost to long time rival Serena Williams at the Australian Open final . Sharapova competes at Indian Wells last week . She beat the American in the 2004 Wimbledon final and again a few months later but lost the next 16, most recently in this year's Australian Open final. But Sharapova said their rivalry still burned strong. 'She's at the peak of her career. I am now number two in the world,' she said. 'I feel like we're still driven and hungry to be the best tennis players. 'I don't think anyone in the tennis world believed that, in 10 years' time, we would still be rivals. I think it's an incredible story.' +Sabine Lisicki staved off three match points before battling into the last four at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, the German edging out defending champion Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in an enthralling contest. The 24th seed advances to face Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals on Friday after the Serb progressed when Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko retired from their last eight encounter with an ankle injury while trailing 6-1 4-1. Lisicki nearly sealed a straight sets win when she earned her first match point while holding a 5-4 advantage in the second before the Italian produced a magical shot to spark a rally that leveled the match. Sabine Lisicki celebrates on match point as she beat Flavia Pennetta in Indian Wells . Pennetta had three match points but the defending champion eventually crashed out . Pennetta then forged three match points of her own at 5-4 in the decider before Lisicki fought back to claim victory in a tiebreaker. 'It's unbelievable,' Lisicki said in a courtside interview. 'It's such a great feeling to be part of such a great match. She saved a match point with an unbelievable backhand. I could not have done much different there and then I saved three match points in the third set. 'It was just an unbelievable feeling to play in front of all of you,' she added for the fans. Former champion Jankovic, meanwhile, broke an error-prone Tsurenko twice to breeze through the opening set in 22 minutes and twice more in the second before the Ukrainian walked across to her opponent and told her the match was over. 'It's never nice to end a match in that way,' Serb Jankovic, 30, said on another hot day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. 'In the second set, she started limping and I saw that she had some problem. 'I had to just focus on my game and try to make as many balls as possible in the point. I was feeling pretty good out there. I was playing my game and waiting for my chances to execute. I was solid. Jelena Jankovic also progressed after Lesia Tsurenko retired from their last eight encounter with an injuy . 'I'm really sorry she got injured. She has had such a great tournament, she has beaten a lot of great players in the draw. Unfortunately she couldn't play a great match today.' Tsurenko, ranked 85th in the world, injured her right ankle during her upset of sixth-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the previous round and was noticeably restricted in her movement against Jankovic. She failed to hold serve in the second and sixth games of the match to be swept aside in the opening set before calling for her trainer to re-tape her ankle. Tsurenko, who double-faulted five times during the curtailed match, was again broken in the first and fifth games of the second set before she retired. The other semi-final will be contested by Romanian Simona Halep and top seed Serena Williams, back at Indian Wells after a 14-year boycott of the event where she alleged she had suffered racist abuse from fans. American Williams, who clinched her 19th grand slam singles title at this year's Australian Open, and world No 3 Halep both advanced from the quarters on Wednesday. Serena Williams is also in the last four after her win over Timea Bacsinszky . +England were in for a prolonged stay in Italy following Tuesday night's 1-1 friendly draw after their flight was held up due to a 'technical issue'. Andros Townsend came off the bench to rescue the Three Lions from defeat with a stunning strike in Turin after Graziano Pelle had netted the opener for the hosts at the Juventus Stadium. But, after the match, news of the stricken plane became apparent with the England squad now due to return home on Wednesday. England's planned flight home from Italy on Tuesday has been delayed by a day due to a 'technical issue' The incident will come as a frustration to England manager Roy Hodgson (left) and the whole squad . Andros Townsend (centre left) came on as a second-half substitute to score England's equaliser in a 1-1 draw . England manager Roy Hodgson said: 'We only know it's a technical issue. That is all we know so that has put the flight tonight out of the question. 'We hope to leave relatively early in the morning.' A Football Association spokesman confirmed England have booked a return flight at noon on Wednesday. Graziano Pelle (right) headed Italy ahead on 29 minutes - flicking home Giorgio Chiellini's cross . +You probably associate Italian football with defenders. And you'd be right; Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Bergomi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro defended the blue shirt with style and steel. Those thoroughbreds made goal prevention an art. But the Azzurri also pride themselves on their goalscorers. From thick-necked battering rams to heaven-sent magicians. Times have changed. Last week an excellent column by Gazzetta dello Sport's Fabio Licari bemoaned the lack of goalscoring options available to national coach Antonio Conte. It's an uncomfortable feeling shared by fans. Italy's national team are famous for their defenders, such as Paolo Maldini, who played with style and steel . Italy are struggling for strikers... Defender Giorgio Chiellini (second right) is top scorer since the World Cup . Euro 2016 is 15 months away and the four-times world champions don't have a regular source of goals. Agricultural defender Giorgio Chiellini is the top scorer of the Conte era (since the 2014 World Cup) with two strikes. The Legends . Nostalgia for the old guys grows stronger by the game. Articles lionise yesterday's sharpshooters. The adored Giuseppe Meazza, after whom Inter and Milan's stadium is named, shot Italy to glory in the 1930s. The Azzurri's late 1960s and World Cup 1970 renaissance owed much to the thunderous force of Cagliari idol Luigi Riva. Another granite-faced striker, Giorgio Chinaglia enjoyed a short but colourful career with the national team in the early and mid-1970s. In 1982 Paolo Rossi spearheaded his country's third World Cup win with a craftier, subtle approach. There was a brief return to the dominant, blockbuster forward with the selfless Gianluca Vialli and blunderbuss Christian Vieri. Perhaps the most famous and popular modern Italian attacker, the masterly Roberto Baggio, played alongside Vialli and Vieri at World Cups, bewitching the football-loving world. His goals drove his team to the 1994 World Cup final. In the past, players such as Giuseppe Meazza, after whom Inter and Milan's stadium is named, shone . Paolo Rossi spearheaded Italy to the World Cup in 1982 with a craftier, more subtle approach . Elsewhere, Giorgio Chinaglia (left, pictured with Pele) and Roberto Baggio (right) live long in the memory . State of the Nation . It doesn't help Conte that four out of five of Serie A's top scorers are foreign. Juventus' Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain of Napoli and Palermo's Paolo Dybala are Argentinian, while Milan star Jeremy Menez is from France. Only Luca Toni (Verona) is Italian, but he is 37 and his career in the national team ended in 2009. Tevez's principal partner at Juve, Alvaro Morata, is a Spaniard. Inter's regular striker force of Mauro Icardi and Rodrigo Palacio hail from the land of the Tango. Roma rarely use an orthodox centre-forward, but rely on the pace of Ivorian ex-Arsenal man Gervinho. Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile are Conte's first choice partnership. After a typically honest but fruitless performance in Italy's 2-2 draw in rain-lashed Bulgaria on Saturday, Zaza admitted: 'I was not satisfied with my performance.' Only Luca Toni is playing well in Serie A at the moment, but he retired from international football in 2009 . Simone Zaza (pictured), along with Ciro Immobile, are Antonio Conte's current first choice partnership . The Sassuolo man was subbed after 58 minutes of the Euro 2016 group H qualifier. Journalist and broadcaster Massimo Callegari says: 'Zaza has good technique and physical attributes, but needs to be more consistent and a bit calmer. When he is having a bad game he loses self-control and gets booked too often. He loses focus.' Immobile is suffering from a lean spell in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. The Neapolitan is a direct, tidy player, but his confidence is low. Mattia Destro, on loan at Milan from Roma, is in a similar mess. A classic box player, Destro is only as good as the service he receives. Milan' s struggles have reduced his efficacy and dampened his spirit. And before you ask, Liverpool's Mario Balotelli isn't Conte's cup of tea, to put it diplomatically. Mario Balotelli posted a picture of him in a mask to show his feelings after being left out of the Italian squad . Conte does not have a large pool of strikers to choose from, and many are going through a barren spell . The only good news from that draw in Sofia was Eder's stunning 84th minute equaliser. The Brazil-born Sampdoria firecracker, unwanted by Selecao chief Dunga, has the flair and unpredictability to give Italy back its goals and smile. At 28 years of age, it's unlikely Eder will make the impact of Baggio or even World Cup 1990 saviour Toto Schillaci. He might get his adopted nation through a difficult patch though. England have been warned. Ranked by the joy they gave Italian football fans, here are five of the Azzurri' s most cherished netbusters: . Giuseppe Meazza . The undisputed leader. Meazza (1910-1979), known as the Da Vinci of football, was acrobatic, a master dribbler and had an unerring shot. The first poster boy of calcio, he scored 33 goals in 53 international games. Roberto Baggio . Anyone who saw the 1994 World Cup knows the majesty of Baggio. Enduring more aches and gripes than the cast of Dad's Army, the gutsy genius dragged his team to the final. 'Roby' also shone at the '90 and '98 World Cups. 27 goals in 56 matches. Paolo Rossi . His early performances at the 1982 World Cup were pallid. But, with the unbending support of his manager Enzo Bearzot, the nippy little poacher sprung into life in the knockout stages, scoring six times, including a hat-trick against Brazil. 20 goals, 48 matches. Luigi Riva . Still Ia Nazionale's top scorer with 35 goals from 42 games, Riva's shots measured 140km/h, which would be closer to 200km/h with modern balls. Known as the Thunderclap, uncompromising Riva was instrumental to the Italy side which finished runners-up at the 1970 World Cup. Christian Vieri . Despite all the headlines regarding his hectic private life, brilliant 'Bobo' plundered five goals in a cautious Italy team at the 1998 World Cup, and four more in 2002 in Japan and Korea. A bulldozing, brave target man with outstanding aerial ability, he gave his team a brutish, British edge. 23 goals, 49 matches. Meazza (left) shakes hands with Hungarian captain Gyorgy Sarosi before the 1938 World Cup final in Paris . Christian Vieri (centre) celebrates with his team-mates after scoring for Italy in February 2004 . +Move over Usher and Chris Brown, because there's a new nimble-toed dancing phenomenon in town. And he goes by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo. Primarily known throughout the globe for his dazzling footwork on the pitch, the Real Madrid star swapped his football boots for some dancing shoes whilst promoting his new CR7 footwear range. Picking up a box of his personally branded kicks, the Portugal captain looks (relatively) at home as he tears up the stage with some, frankly, mesmerising moves - much like he does regularly at the Santiago Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo struts his stuff on the dance floor in an advertisement for his new footwear range . 2014 Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo pulls out a moonwalk whilst fully suited and booted . It goes without saying that we have all grown to love his twinkletoed genius on the turf, but this advert may take some getting used to. Having recently split from long-term girlfriend Irina Shayk, there's no knowing what sort of damage the 2014 Ballon d'Or winner will cause on the dance floor with moves like these. However, it hasn't been plain sailing all the way for Ronaldo's big launch after sponsors Nike, who pay him around £5.5m a year, recently forced their client to withdraw a line of trainers from his new collection in the belief that it competed directly with one of their own. The Real Madrid star is known for his nimble feet on the pitch, but ditched the boots to get his groove on . According to reports in Portugal, Ronaldo would have needed Nike’s prior approval and that was not forthcoming when they became aware of the potential conflict of interests. On a more positive note the Goal.com Rich List reported on Thursday that the-30-year-old is now the wealthiest footballer in the world with a personal fortune of £152m - some £7m more than his rival Lionel Messi. Maybe the mini Argentine needs to start dusting off his tango steps if he is to get back on level terms with his loyal adversary. It would certainly make for interesting viewing. The former Manchester United winger appears to do some break dancing in the CR7 footwear ad . +Steven Gerrard took time to reflect upon the All-Stars charity match held at Anfield on Sunday by uploading a picture with two of his favourite former Liverpool team-mates to Instagram. Gerrard shared a picture of himself alongside Xabi Alonso and Luis Suarez, with the Liverpool captain holding a signed plaque commemorating the game. The charity match pitted two teams, one captained by Gerrard and one by Jamie Carragher, against each other with an array of stars descending on Anfield for the day. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (centre) shared a picture of him with Luis Suarez (left) and Xabi Alonso . Gerrard (right) was able to link up with Suarez once again in the charity match at Anfield on Sunday . Gerrard (centre) converted two penalties as the team he captained drew 2-2 against Jamie Carragher's side . Former Reds Pepe Reina (left) and Fernando Torres returned to Anfield for the charity game . Gerrard was delighted to be joined by the likes of Suarez and Alonso and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Gerrard scored both penalties for his team as Carragher's side surrendered a two-goal advantage which had been established through strikes by Mario Balotelli and Didier Drogba. Former Reds such as Fernando Torres, Alvaro Arbeloa, Pepe Reina and Luis Garcia also returned to Anfield for the game in aid of the Liverpool FC Foundation. +England and France will meet in a winner-takes-all showdown on Tuesday to determine which nation makes July's UEFA Under-19 European Championships in Greece. Both recorded victories on Saturday to maintain their perfect records and take their Elite Round qualifying group to the wire. England squeezed past Azerbaijan 1-0 in Bayeux thanks to a first-half winner from Manchester City's Ashley Smith-Brown, his second decisive goal in two matches. Ashley Smith-Brown scored England's winner as they recorded a vital result over Azerbaijan . France, meanwhile, beat Denmark 2-0 to lead the way on goal difference, meaning that Sean O'Driscoll's Young Lions must beat them in Saint-Lo to take the group's only qualifcation spot. As expected, England dominated possession and chances against Azerbaijan, but could only convert one of them. It came eight minutes before half-time when Smith-Brown collected the ball wide on the left, cut inside and curled a lovely shot into the far corner. Confidence was high in the England camp after twice coming from behind to beat Denmark 3-2 on Thursday and this game reverted to type almost immediately. Faced with an Azerbaijan team with 11 men behind the ball, England knew they would have to be patient and their first effort came from range when Fulham's Patrick Roberts saw a 25-yarder tipped over by goalkeeper Tolga Sahin. Sean O'Driscoll's England side must now beat France on Tuesday to qualify for the European Championships . Lewis Cook, of Leeds United, fired narrowly off target when debutant Aaron Kuhl, of Reading, picked him out on the edge of the penalty area. That pressure eventually told when right-back Smith-Brown marauded forward to score what would prove to be the game's decisive goal. The second-half, unsurprisingly, followed a similar pattern, with Roberts and Kuhl going close during its early stages. Azerbaijan's one and only attack of note culminated in Elnur Jafarov firing wide of the far post when well-placed. Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek had the ball in the net three minutes from time only to be flagged offside but the one goal was sufficient as England set up their showdown with France. Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek saw a late goal disallowed for offside . England (4-2-3-1): Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United); Ola Aina (C; Chelsea), Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic), Brendan Galloway (Everton), Ashley Smith-Brown (Manchester City); Aaron Kuhl (Reading), Lewis Cook (Leeds United); Patrick Roberts (Fulham), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Alex Kiwomya (Chelsea); Bradley Fewster (Middlesbrough). Substitutions: Demarai Gray (Birmingham City) for Roberts 67; Charlie Colkett (Chelsea) for Cook 79; Izzy Brown (Chelsea) for Fewster 83 . Substitutes not used: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Robert Dickie (Reading). Scorer: Smith-Brown 36 . Bookings: Smith-Brown, Kuhl . Head coach: Sean O’Driscoll . Azerbaijan: Tolga Sahin, Ilyas Safarzade, Gazimahammad Gurbanov, Budag Nasirov, Mahir Madatov (C), Mirkamil Hashimli, Fahmin Muradbayli, Elnur Jafarov, Elgun Ulukhanov, Yusif Nabiyev, Gismat Aliyev . Substitutions: Vadim Agaragimov for Muradbayli 45; Roman Huseynov for Madatov 61; Emin Zamanov for Nasirov 90 . Substitutes not used: Agaseyid Gasimov, Bahlul Mustafazade, Renat Agaverdiev, Ilkin Sadigov . Bookings: Safarzade, Gurbanov . Head coach: Nicolai Adam . Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (Switzerland) OTHER RESULT . France 2 Denmark 0 . +Freddie Woodman has been warned by Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer. He has been warned not to drift into obscurity. Woodman – the England Under-19 goalkeeper who is currently Tim Krul's No.2 at St James' Park – was presented with the Jack Hixon Trophy by Shearer earlier this week. Hixon was the Tyneside scout who spotted the future England captain and the prize in his name recognises the best talent in the city. Freddie Woodman walks on the pitch during a Newcastle United training session in March . Freddie (right) takes a catch as he practises with his father Andy during a training session in Newcastle . Woodman, who turned 18 this week, was a deserving recipient. He won the European Championships last summer, has been a regular on the United bench this season - despite his tender years - and starred in Newcastle's run to the last eight of the FA Youth Cup. Shearer, though, has told Woodman all of that will count for nothing if he fails to come good on his undoubted potential. 'It's been a brilliant 12 months,' the stopper told Sportsmail. 'I have seen things around the first-team that I wouldn't have otherwise done this early in my career. 'To win the award was an honour. Alan said to me that some of the names who have won it have not gone on to achieve what they should have done. He said hopefully I would. I certainly intend do.' Woodman's chances of making it big will undoubtedly be aided by the presence of Krul. The young custodian was Newcastle's penalty-shootout hero during last month's victory at Sunderland in the FA Youth Cup, mimicking the World Cup antics of the Dutchman. Krul made headlines around the world when he saved two spot-kicks in Holland's shootout win over Costa Rica in Brazil. And Woodman, whose dad Andy is Magpies goalkeeping coach, said: 'Every time we do penalties I think of Tim. 'The shootout at Sunderland was one of my best moments in football, up there with the Euros. Shearer has told Woodman to make use of his potential and prove that he can be a great goalkeeper . Newcastle's No 2 keeper Woodman was presented with the Jack Hixon Trophy by Shearer earlier this week . 'The feeling of saving the penalty and the fans singing my name was a moment I' ll remember for a long time. It was like the kid coming out of me. For that five minutes I was on top of the world. 'But I've to give credit to Tim. I remember being at home watching that game against Costa Rica and when he came on and did what he did I couldn't have been happier. 'Earlier in the tournament, when Holland played Australia, he rang me up and invited me out to Brazil, courtesy of him. 'That was incredible. A lot of people might think Tim doesn't have time for the young keepers, but he's absolutely top class. 'He works with me and teaches me. He'll say when I'm rubbish and say when I'm good. That's been massive for me. 'He's really taken me under his wing and has said I can take the same path as him. Tim Krul (right) has taken Woodman under his wing at Newcastle and is teaching him the tricks . Woodman says Newcastle's No 1 goalkeeper Krul will 'say when I'm rubbish and say when I'm good' 'I would love to do that. He's up there as one of the best – and that's what I want to be.' London-born Woodman followed his dad to the North-East three years ago and, given his position on Alan Pardew's backroom team, he admits it wasn't easy to be accepted by his peers. 'It's brilliant having my dad as coach, but it's been hard as well,' he said. 'When I first came there as a lot of, "You're only here because of your dad". And I got that a lot. 'I felt I had to work 10 times harder than everyone else. I stayed back after training just to prove that I'm not just here because of my old man. 'But he's great with it. My dad played, it wasn't at the best level and he made mistakes. We talk about them to make sure I don't make those same mistakes. I have to take the right path professionally.' Woodman was on the bench at Spurs earlier in the season when Jak Alnwick needed lengthy treatment. It looked as though he was about to make his Premier League debut at just 17. Woodman is looking to get a first team opportunity from Newcastle manager John Carver this season . Woodman says he feels like he's 'having a kickabout with my mates' but will hope to get Carver's attention . 'When the gaffer turned around and said, "Fred, get warmed up", you do get a feeling where you think, "Woah, this is big",' he said. 'You get a burning feeling inside, but deep down I wanted to get on the pitch and show people that I'm ready, no matter how young I am. 'As soon as you're on the pitch though you forget everything and it feels like you're in the park. I feel like I'm having a kickabout with my mates because I love playing, hopefully I will keep that feeling for the rest of my career. I'm loving every minute right now.' Let's hope he continues to enjoy it, for if not, Shearer might have something to say. +England under 19s made the perfect start to their European Championship qualifying campaign as they twice came from behind to beat Denmark 3-2 on Thursday night. Sean O'Driscoll's Young Lions trailed twice, to goals from Marcus Ingvartsen and Robert Skov, but hit back through Izzy Brown, Demarai Gray and Ashley Smith-Brown to claim an important win. England are in an Elite Round mini-group with Denmark, Azerbaijan and France as they bid to reach the Under 19 European Championship finals in Greece in July. Manchester City's Ashley Smith-Brown scored the winner as England's under 19s beat Denmark . With only the group winners qualifying for the tournament, it was imperative England started with a positive result in Bayeux, northern France and they did in a topsy-turvy game that saw both sides finish with 10 men. Having scored 15 goals in three matches against Belgium, Luxembourg and Belarus to breeze through the preliminary qualifying phase, England knew this week's fixture would represent a step up in quality. And they were rocked when Denmark took the lead just six minutes in - after the England defence failed to deal with a long throw-in, Ingvartsen was there to poke the ball home at the back post. England responded by seizing control of possession, but it was the half-hour mark before they equalised. Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek threaded a ball through to club-mate Brown and, brushing aside two Denmark defenders, he slotted the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Iversen. Brown came within inches of putting England in front soon after, but his powerful strike from 20 yards cannoned back off the crossbar. Izzy Brown, seen here playing for Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup, scored England's first goal . And when Fulham star Patrick Roberts teed up Loftus-Cheek, his shot was cleared off the line by Stefan Gartenmann. Given their dominance, it was frustrating that Denmark took the lead again four minutes before half-time. After a well-worked move, Skov found space just outside the box and fired past goalkeeper Angus Gunn into the far corner. To their credit, England responded immediately and it was 2-2 at the pause. Roberts swung in a free-kick from the right and Gray, the Birmingham City player, flicked in at the near post. After the excitement of the opening 45 minutes, the game entered a lull after the break before exploding to life again in the decisive final 10 minutes. Man City defender Smith-Brown collected the ball wide right, cut inside and fired home a missile from 20 yards that crashed in off the underside of the bar. The game ended with England's Harry Winks receiving a second yellow card and Denmark's Jeppe Hansen also dismissed for a bad tackle on Charlie Colkett. England's second qualifier is against Azerbaijan on Saturday. Sean O'Driscoll's team now play Azerbaijan and France in their other European Championship qualifiers . England (4-3-3): Angus Gunn (Manchester City); Ashley Smith-Brown (Manchester City), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur), Brendan Galloway (Everton); Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic), Patrick Roberts (Fulham), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea);Izzy Brown (C; Chelsea), Charlie Colkett (Chelsea), Demarai Gray (Birmingham City). Substitution: Ola Aina (Chelsea) for Roberts 87 . Substitutes not used: Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United), Lewis Cook (Leeds United), Bradley Fewster (Middlesbrough), Alex Kiwomya (Chelsea), Aaron Kuhl (Reading), Robert Dickie (Reading) Scorers: Brown 33; Gray 44; Smith-Brown 82 . Booked: Winks 58 . Sent off: Winks 87 . Head coach: Sean O’Driscoll . Denmark: Daniel Iversen, Magnus Pedersen, Stefan Gartenmann, Joachim Anderson (C), Mads Pedersen, Jens Thomasen, Marcus Ingvartsen, Jannik Pohl, Jeppe Hansen, Robert Skov, Rezan CorlU . Substitution: Jonas Gemmer for Corlu 58 . Substitutes not used: Sebastian John, Marco Lund, Marcus Mathisen, Mikkel Duelund, Casper Olesen . Scorers: Ingvartsen 6; Skov 41 . Booked: Corlu 14, Anderson 44, Hansen 67 . Sent off: Jansen 83 . Head coach: Bent Christensen . Referee: Marco Guida (ITA) OTHER QUALIFYING RESULT . France 2 Azerbaijan 0 . +A sensational 82nd-minute strike from Ashley Smith-Brown snatched victory for England's U19s over Denmark in their UEFA elite qualifying opener in Bayeux on Thursday. England came from behind twice in the first half as Marcus Ingvartsen and Robert Skov's goals were cancelled out first by captain Izzy Brown and Demarai Gray as they went to the break 2-2. They couldn't be separated until Manchester City defender Smith-Brown pulled the trigger from outside the box and his left-footed shot thundered in off the underside of the cross bar. Ashley Smith-Brown snatched victory for England's U19s over Denmark in their UEFA elite qualifying opener . England: Angus Gunn (Man City), Ashley Smith-Brown (Man City), Ben Chilwell (Leicester), Harry Winks (Tottenham), Brendan Galloway (Everton), Joe Gomez (Charlton), Patrick Roberts (Fulham), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Izzy Brown (Chelsea), Charlie Colkett (Chelsea), Demarai Gray (Birmingham) Sub: Ola Aina (Chelsea) for Roberts 87 Not used: Freddie Woodman (Newcastle), Lewis Cook (Leeds), Bradley Fewster (Middlesbrough), Alex Kiwomya (Chelsea), Aaron Kuhl (Reading), Robert Dickie (Reading). Goals: Brown 33, Gray 44, Smith-Brown 82 . Bookings: Winks 58 Red card: Winks 87 . Denmark: Daniel Iversen, Magnus Pedersen, Stefan Gartenmann, Joachim Anderson,     Mads Pedersen, Jens Thomasen, Marcus Ingvartsen, Jannik Pohl, Jeppe Hansen,   Robert Skov, Rezan Corlu . Subs: Jonas Gemmer for Corlu 58 Not used: Sebastian John, Marco Lund, Marcus Mathisen, Mikkel Duelund, Casper Olesen . Goals: Ingvartsen 6, Skov 41 . Bookings: Corlu 14, Anderson 44,           Hansen 67 . Red card: Jansen 83 . Referee: Marco Guida (Italy) Feverish closing stages followed at the Henry Jeanne Stadium as England fought to keep their lead with a player from either side sent off by the Italian referee Marco Guida. Jeppe Hansen went first for Denmark a minute after the final goal for an unseemly tackle on Colkett before Tottenham's Harry Winks received a second yellow card in the 87th minute. Ingvartsen's opener came from a long throw just six minutes in with the move immediately after Birmingham's Demarai Gray almost put England ahead after a cross from Charlie Colkett. They levelled when Ruben Loftus-Cheek found captain and fellow Chelsea star Izzy Brown, who despite having plenty of work to do evaded two defenders and beat keeper Daniel Iversen. Smith-Brown picks up the ball at the top of the box as England look to create something . The Manchester City defender turns inside as the Danish defence give him plenty of space . Smith-Brown fires off his bullet-like shot that cannons in off the crossbar and wins the match for England . Despite momentum going England's way and a number of chances going begging, Denmark were in the lead again in the 44th minute as Skov burst into the box and beat Angus Gunn for 2-1. In the same minute though Sean O’Driscoll’s side were back on terms as Gray flicked-on Roberts free-kick from the edge of the box with the help of a possible deflection. Neither side took the second half as their own with only half chances coming their way until Smith-Brown's goal came from seemingly nothing more than the Danish defence underestimating his ability from range and giving him too much space. England will play Azerbaijan in their second group match on Saturday. +Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Douglas Costa has admitted he dreams of a move to the Premier League with title contenders Chelsea being his preferred destination. Costa, who has a release clause of more than £35million with the Ukrainian side, was originally linked with a move to La Liga giants Barcelona. However, the 24-year-old has revealed to FourFourTwo that both Manchester United and Chelsea had bids for him turned down in January, with Costa hoping a move to the latter could still take place. Shakhtar Donetsk ace Douglas Costa fights for the ball with David Alaba in the Champions League . Shakhtar midfielder Costa squares up to Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng at the Allianz Arena . He said: ‘I’d be really interested in moving to Chelsea – not only because everything Willian tells me about the club, but because I think that I’d be able to achieve everything I want having someone like Jose Mourinho by my side. ‘Since I left Brazil, I have worked with a marvellous coach (Mircea Lucescu) and got an idea of how much influence such a good professional can have in your football. ‘Now I think it’s time to try a new philosophy and I’m sure that Mourinho’s is the best around He’s always fighting for trophies.’ Costa and midfielder Franck Ribery vie for the ball during the UEFA Champions League second-leg . The current Premier League leaders had an increased offer of £18.7million for the Brazilian rejected in January, having already had an opening bid of £16million rejected days earlier. But because he was cup-tied for the Champions League the former Gremio man was only ever Mourinho's second choice. Instead Chelsea used the money raised from the sale of Andre Schurrle to sign Fiorentina midfielder Juan Cuadrado after activating the 26-year-old's £26.8million buy-out clause. +Manchester United director David Gill has been elected as Britain's FIFA vice-president and insisted he would be a bullish presence on the world governing body. Gill, who is also vice-chairman of the Football Association, will succeed Northern Ireland's Jim Boyce in May and will have a four-year term on FIFA's executive committee. Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has said he wants Gill to be part of the 'awkward squad' on FIFA, asking tough questions and keeping an eye on financial decisions. Man United director and FA vice-chairman David Gill has been elected as Britain's vice-president at FIFA . Gill (left, pictured with Sir Bobby Charlton) is hoping to stamp his authority on FIFA when he takes up the role . Gill, pictured with Sir Alex Ferguson, left his role as Man United's chief executive in the summer of 2013 . Speaking at UEFA's Congress in Vienna, however, Gill said: 'I wouldn't use the word awkward, I've always viewed my role at Manchester United and then the FA and the Premier League to ask relevant and appropriate questions. I don't think that is being awkward that's just doing the job. 'I'm not being elected just to get another blazer with four letters on it, I'm trying to play a role and assist my other colleagues from UEFA and some very good people from around the world.' UEFA president Michel Platini, who persuaded Gill to change his mind and run for the post, added: 'We have to defend European football without breaking world football. A lot people like things as they are. As I told him 'You, the English, are never happy'. Now at least he will be able to express it directly in the ExCo instead of through the press.' Gill, 57, beat Football Association of Wales' president Trefor Lloyd Hughes by 43 votes to 10 in the election by UEFA's 54 member nations. UEFA president Michel Platini (right) persuaded Gill to run for the post at football's world governing body . Earlier, Lloyd Hughes and Scottish Football Association president Campbell Ogilvie failed in their attempt to be elected to UEFA's executive committee. They were among 12 candidates for seven seats - in the second round of voting Lloyd Hughes secured only a single one of the possible 54 votes. The new names on UEFA's executive committee include the former Croatia and Arsenal striker Davor Suker and Borislav Mikhailov, the former Reading and Bulgaria goalkeeper who was renowned for wearing a wig even in matches. UEFA's Congress also heard from the three challengers to Sepp Blatter's FIFA presidency with the incumbent himself also addressing the European delegates, but refusing to do as a candidate. Blatter made no reference to standing again for FIFA president but once again urged football to resist calls to boycott to the 2018 World Cup in Russia due to its involvement in the civil war in Ukraine. Dutch Football Association president Michael Van Praag was the most outspoken of Blatter's challengers, saying: 'The beautiful heritage of international football has been tarnished by accusations of corruption, bribery, nepotism and a waste of money.' Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan said many associations still did not have basic needs such as kits and pitches, adding: 'FIFA has been riding the wave of European football success and while the popularity has soared the image of the organisation has sadly declined.' Former Portugal international Luis Figo dismissed claims that UEFA is trying to take over FIFA, saying: 'Nobody feels that Europe wants to take over football. This is a lie.' +Things usually end badly for England in Turin. Italia 90 culminated in a tear-jerker in this city, as did the Euros in 1980, and David Beckham’s first game as captain was another defeat at the turn of the century. It was 1948 when England last won here and even Michael Caine’s cliff-hanger in The Italian Job, a heist film based around an England game in Turin, did not go to plan — and that was not even real. Roy Hodgson, too, admits his personal record playing Juventus when he was coaching in Italy was not up to much either, so there was no surprise when he and his captain Wayne Rooney insisted they were much keener to talk about the future than the past. England manager Roy Hodgson looks on during a press conference ahead of the match against Italy . Harry Kane poses just days after grabbing his first international goal on his England debut . Here is the first real test for Hodgson’s new wave, playing away against one of the major European nations, even if both teams have something of an experimental feel to them. Hodgson chose to take a young squad to the World Cup in the hope that experience would pay off in the long run and he can go some way to claiming that it already has with seven wins out of seven, while others including Germany, Holland and Italy have stuttered amid the complacent environment that is the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Hodgson speaks to his players on the pitch in Turin ahead of Tuesday's friendly match against Italy . Southampton striker Graziano Pelle could be in line to start for Italy against England on Tuesday . Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva (second left) controls the ball as Italy prepare to take on England . Conte (fourth right) addresses his team as they look to put an end to England's seven wins . The manager remains rightly cautious about getting carried away on the basis of handsome victories against Slovenia and Lithuania. ‘I’m always frightened to say those things,’ said Hodgson, but he is quietly satisfied with almost everything that has happened since his team returned from Brazil. ‘You never know,’ he added. ‘Certainly, there seems to be a group and a talent pool that is growing all the time. Some of the talent that’s already been with us for a couple of years, I see signs of them becoming more comfortable, assured in their play not only with their clubs but with England. The teams we select have a lot of energy and pace around them. These are good qualities a team badly needs. Pace and energy mean you cause teams problems when you attack and when you defend it helps prevent any damage. ‘If we can keep this group of 20-odd players together, they’ll get more international experience and hopefully in a year’s time we might be stronger than we are today. ‘But I don’t feel we’re lagging any more. Or that other teams are moving forward faster than us. We’re keeping pace. By the finals in France, hopefully we’ll be closer to that.’ Perhaps they will if Harry Kane tackles the challenge of his first start as he did his first appearance. Or if another player emerges to demand a place in the team. Even then, the usual fear that England have qualified stylishly in the past only to malfunction during the tournaments, will remain. One of the reasons they have struggled when stepping up a level in recent tournaments has been because they lack the depth of players in defensive areas, including defensive midfield, to give the team a healthy balance. So it will be interesting to see how Phil Jones performs if he is deployed in midfield as expected. Wayne Rooney answers the questions from the press as England continue preparations for Italy . Andros Townsend, Kyle Walker, Ryan Mason and Kane inspect the pitch during a team stadium visit . Goalkeeping coach Dave Watson, Nathaniel Clyne, Gary Neville and Ryan Bertrand check out the stadium . Ignazio Abate (right) controls the ball under pressure from Ciro Immobile during training in Turin . Hodgson urged supporters to wait and judge his team in a series of friendlies being planned against what he called ‘top-class opponents, teams on a par with Italy’ next season. England will play France and Spain in November, assuming they all avoid the need to play off. They are away in Germany in March next year and are in talks for a friendly against Holland. ‘It will be much more relevant when we qualify,’ said Hodgson, who always seems to come over all misty-eyed when he returns to Italy and spoke with touching fondness of the moment he was invited by Massimo Moratti to coach Inter Milan. Antonio Conte was also emotional as he discussed his first return to the Juventus Stadium, although the Italy boss has more immediate problems amid suggestions that he regrets his decision to swap club football for the chance to lead the Azzurri to Euro 2016. The England squad check out the Juventus Arena pitch in Turin ahead of their friendly match with Italy . Neville and the England squad share a joke as they tour the Juventus Arena in Turin ahead of their match . Simone Zaza (centre) attempts to intercept Andrea Ranocchia's (left) pass during Italy training . Already it has damaged his relationship with Juventus, the club he loves, where he played more than 400 games, many as captain and won three titles as coach. Conte, new to international management, has been swamped by controversies around an injury to Claudio Marchisio, which prompted a death-threat, but turned out not to be as bad as first feared and his decision to call-up Brazilian-born Eder, who will start tonight, and Argentina-born Franco Vazquez. ‘What am I missing, what am I lacking?’ said Conte. ‘I don’t know if I’m missing anything. Regardless of what’s going on I will keep working and moving forward. Sometimes I ask myself questions and don’t know the answers.’ Kane looks around at the huge Juventus Arena as he prepares to make his full debut against Italy . Gianluigi Buffon missed Italy's Bulgaria match with illness but was back in training on Monday . The return of Buffon (right) provided a major boost to Italy ahead of their encounter against England . Gianluigi Buffon is fit to start after a fever but this Italian generation is near to the end and braced for a transitional phase. ‘There’s been a big turnover in terms of players and experience at every level and whenever that happens you need a minimum level of patience,’ said Conte. ‘You need to allow the players to grow without being critical at every opportunity. I don’t think this is helpful. ‘When I say we have to be left to work it’s because we have to work. We don’t have a lot of time because the European Championship is next year. All I can promise is that we can work very hard.’ The two teams are in different places. You would rather be Hodgson than Conte and yet we have heard this before. There were similar noises from both camps before they met in Manaus, nine months ago. Even if England prefer to look forward, history is against them in more ways than one. Alessio Cerci (right) controls the ball with his chest as Matteo Darmian closes him down . +Roy Hodgson's side travel to Turin in search of an eighth consecutive victory ahead of their international friendly date with Italy on Tuesday. England continued their recovery from a disastrous World Cup by defeating lowly Lithuania 4-0 on Friday night to maintain a six-point lead at the top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group E. The Azzurri will have learned who Harry Kane is after the Tottenham striker marked his debut with a goal after only 79 seconds, but who will be the players to watch out for from Antonio Conte's revamped side? Italy striker Eder (centre) celebrates scoring on his debut in Italy's 2-2 draw with Bulgaria on Saturday . Harry Kane (centre) celebrates with team-mates after scoring 79seconds into his England debut . Marco Verratti (Paris St Germain) At 22, the great hope for Italian football. Outstanding in the recent Champions League victory against Chelsea, Conte wants to build a team around his star midfielder . Italy are planning to build a team around PSG's pint sized playmaker Marco Verratti (centre) Eder (Sampdoria) Brazilian-born striker who admits he doesn't know the words to the Italian national anthem. Showed why Conte picked him with an outstanding debut goal to earn The Azzurri a 2-2 draw in Bulgaria on Saturday. Brazilian-born Eder repaid coach Antonio Conte's faith by scoring on his debut against Bulgaria . Graziano Pelle (Southampton) A firm Conte favourite despite failing to score a Premier League goal since December. Pelle is regarded highly for his hold-up play and linking with other players, a strength of the current Italian side. The Southampton striker may not have scored a Premier League goal this year but is admired by Conte . Mirko Valdifiori (Empoli) Set for his Italian debut at nearly 29 after an impressive season for Serie A surprise package Empoli. Midfielder who is similar to Andrea Pirlo, the scourge of England in the past. Mirko Valdifiori, a midfielder in the mould of Andreas Pirlo, is set to make a late introduction to the Azzurri . Franco Vazquez (Palermo) Argentine attacking midfielder who qualifies to play for Italy through his mother's nationality. His inclusion at 26 is a sign that, like England, Italy are struggling to find enough international-class players. Argentine Franco Vazquez (right) is another foreign-born player sparking controversy by his selection . +Under-fire Italy coach Antonio Conte is determined to turn things around with the national team, despite reportedly receiving death threats in the days leading up to the Azzurri's friendly against England. Italy welcome Roy Hodgson's men for a glamour friendly at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday, just nine months since they beat the Three Lions in their World Cup opener. However, like England, their tournament ended with a group-stage exit, with former Juventus manager Conte subsequently brought in to replace Cesare Prandelli at the helm. Under-fire Italy coach Antonio Conte reportedly received death threats from angry Juventus fans . It has not been the easiest of rides so far, with tension heightened last week when the Italy coach reportedly received death threats from angry Juventus fans over the treatment of Claudio Marchisio. The midfielder, who netted the opener against England in Brazil, ruptured knee ligaments while warming up on the eve of Italy's Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria - a match the Azzurri required a late goal to draw 2-2. John Elkann, the president of the holding company which controls Juventus, also criticised Conte, who returns to his old stomping ground on Tuesday looking to build some positivity. Former Juventus boss Conte is determined to turn things around with the national team . 'The fans need to support Italy, so I think I have an excellent relationship with Italy fans,' he said. 'They know that we are working hard - myself, the players, everyone. We're all trying to work at a time which is not easy. 'So when everyone gives everything that they've got in what they're doing, you hope that is being appreciated.' This, Conte says, is a transitional period for the Azzurri as they attempt to blood in new, untested players. It is a big ask but one Conte is determined to carry on with, reciting a quote by former Olympic 200 metres champion Pietro Mennea in the pre-match press conference. Italy face England in a friendly just nine months since they beat the Three Lions in their World Cup opener . 'I know it will not be easy but I am carrying on in my work,' he said. 'Mennea said that, to achieve big dreams, one must make great effort.' The Italy coach's desire to find the right formula will see him tinker with the side against England, ahead of which he took the unusual step of naming his starting line-up. Uncapped Mirko Valdifiori and Southampton striker Graziano Pelle are amongst the starters, as are the vastly-experienced Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon. The latter's experience is more important than ever right now, with even the goalkeeper, capped 146 times, surprised by this week's events. 'Obviously the last few days have not been boring, by any means,' Buffon said, laughing. 'We can quite calmly say that. 'But it is also true that this sort of energy is better to really release than to bottle it up because that can ultimately lead to defeats.' Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will add some much-needed experience to Italian line-up . Southampton striker Graziano Pelle will start against England on Tuesday night . +England's campaign at the European Under 21 Championship looks set to be dominated over whether Harry Kane is included - but Gareth Southgate may not need him. In front of over 30,000 at the Riverside Stadium, England came from behind to defeat Germany 3-2 and record a victory against not just old rivals but the pre-tournament favourites in the Czech Republic this summer. Southgate is still expected to do everything he can to include the Tottenham striker, but the win over Germany shows that the Young Lions can go toe-to-toe with the cream of Europe. Here Sportsmail looks at England's three stand-out stars from the win in Middlesbrough. James Ward-Prowse . The Southampton star has already become an established member of the first team at St Mary's and is set to be a key member of Southgate's side in the Czech Republic. The 20-year-old scored the winner with a crisp low effort after ghosting into the penalty box to find space. But his attacking play extends to set-pieces. Germany's Julian Korb reaches out in vain as James Ward-Prowse fires home England's winning goal . The Under 21 captain celebrates his late strike following a fine midfield performance . In Ward-Prowse, England have potentially their best dead-ball specialist since David Beckham with his passing range and accurate shooting already a highlight of his game. Ward-Prowse was captain for the Germany victory and his rapid progress on the south coast in the last two years suggests he is worth keeping an eye on. Carl Jenkinson . Named the official Man of the Match, Jenkinson put in a close to perfect performance - albeit he was slightly at fault for Germany's opening goal after allowing the cross for Philipp Hofmann to fire home. But after a slow start to each half, the West Ham full-back, on loan from Arsenal, imposed himself down the right-hand side. Carl Jenkinson runs the ball out of defence for England as Germany substitute Nico Schulz looks on . Jenkinson put in a Man of the Match display having assisted two of England's three goals . It was the 23-year-old's cross for Jesse Lingard which helped draw the Three Lions level in the first half, while he also provided the pass for Ward-Prowse to tuck home the winning goal. With England's senior team lacking depth in the right-back area, Roy Hodgson could do worse than pick Jenkinson. Because if he doesn't, then Finland will as he can still play for the Scandinavian team. Nathan Redmond . Relished the battle with Germany full-back Christian Gunter, often managing to pull away from his marker to lead an attack down the right wing. Redmond is not all about pace though as he often tried to cut inside to mix up his approach, with his passing in the final third managing to catch the German back four flat on a number of occasions. Nathan Redmond rifles home England's second equaliser across goal into the bottom corner . Redmond celebrates after drawing England level late in the game following an impressive display on the right . It was a much improved version of the winger who struggled in a poor Norwich side in the Premier League last season, but having struck the equaliser against a talented Germany team he looks to be improving. Now a veteran of the Under 21 set-up, it will be difficult for Southgate to leave him out of the side in the summer to help make space for Kane as he has often impressed on the right wing for the Young Lions. +Rangers boss Stuart McCall says he feels sorry for Newcastle loanee Gael Bigirimana, but admits he should never have been signed by the Ibrox club. Burundi-born England youth cap Bigirimana has yet to feature for the Light Blues after being diagnosed with a mystery illness. He was one of five Magpies youngsters signed by former Light Blues chief executive Derek Llambias without being put through a medical - even though Bigirimana knew he was sick before signing for the Glasgow giants. Gael Bigirimana has not played for Rangers since his loan move from Newcastle . The 21-year-old has denied rumours claiming he is suffering from Hepatitis-C, but Gers boss McCall confirmed his condition means he will not be able to feature for his adopted club. The former Motherwell manager would love to have the use of the former Coventry midfielder's services, but believes he should never have been allowed to make the move north in the first place. 'Bigi has got a medical condition which is a personal matter,' said McCall. 'The doctor and consultant are all involved in that. 'I knew him at Coventry. I remember watching him and thought when I came into the job he will be a good one to bring in and give us a bit of energy. Unfortunately because of his medical condition he won't be able to play for us. Bigirimana signed on loan for Rangers alongside Haris Vuckic (middle) and Remie Streete . 'But that is as big a blow to the kid as it is for us. It's not his fault, this [row] has been nothing to do with him. He comes in with a smile on his face each morning, he trains with the fitness coach as hard as he possibly can. 'So as disappointed as we are that we can't use him, you have to think of the boy in this matter because he can't go back, he can't play for anyone else. 'It's an unfortunate circumstance that really should never have happened.' Llambias - a close associate of Magpies owner Mike Ashley - signed off on the five Newcastle loan deals just hours before the January transfer window shut, but did not ask club doctors to check the players over. So far only Slovenian playmaker Haris Vuckic has played regularly. Bigirimana says he knew he was ill before he moved to Rangers . Defender Remie Streete limped off just half an hour into his debut and has not been seen since, while Northern Ireland winger Shane Ferguson has yet to even step foot inside Murray Park after being ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury. Swiss defender Kevin Mbabu has featured for Rangers' youth side but is 'nowhere' near being fit enough for first-team duty, according to McCall. The Gers boss cans sympathise with the players but hit out at the previous regime's decision to sanction some of the signings. Rangers boss Stuart McCall says he feels sorry for Newcastle loanee Bigirimana . McCall said: 'Should these guys ever have been sent here? Well, with Bigi being unable to play that's a no-brainer. With Shane, he was on his way back but had a little setback. 'But I think if you look at it in all honesty, anybody who comes up for a six-month loan should have a medical - obviously that is not the case. 'If that had occurred, two or three of the loans may not have happened. 'But none of the players are at fault here. Shane has not been up but the rest come in and train as hard as they can. They are doing their utmost to be involved.' +Martin O’Neill says this summer’s friendly match with England is simply a means to an end for Republic of Ireland. Roy Hodgson takes the Three Lions to Dublin on June 7, six days before the Irish face Scotland in their decisive Euro 2016 qualifier. O’Neill, though, has played down the significance of England’s visit and prefers to focus his attention on the match with the Scots. Martin O'Neill says that Ireland's game against Scotland is much more important than the England clash . ‘England is (a means to an end) for me,’ he said. ‘I agree it’s a big match, but it’s not for me. The Scotland game is the be all and end all. ‘I don’t think we should overlook the fact that, for me, it’s a build up to the Scotland game. It will be intense and that might be a good thing. ‘But at the end of the day, if you want us to win a load of friendly games I’ll play the 700th rated team in Europe every single week and build it up.’ Roy Hodgson's side travel to Ireland on June 7 for a friendly match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin . O’Neill and his team cannot afford anything other than victory against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium. They salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Poland on Sunday night thanks to Shane Long’ s injury-time strike. Failure to win, however, has left them three points adrift of the table-topping Poles with Germany and Scotland also two points better off. Gordon Strachan and his Scotland side are just above Ireland and the clash has been labelled as 'must win' The team have been praised for refusing to accept defeat against Poland, but also criticised for again having to rely on a last-minute rescue act. O’Neill said: ‘I’d rather get the first goal in the game and take it. We’ve been chasing some of the matches. ‘But overall I think the draw sets it up for Scotland. It’s probably a must-win game for us. ‘We’re still in the competition. It would have been a real blow to lose on Sunday. ‘But I thought we had spirit in abundance. We really cannot wait now for June.’ Shane Long (9) fired home a crucial equaliser against leaders Poland to keep Ireland in the hunt . +Wayne Rooney has warned Harry Kane not to let his full England debut be ruined by dirty tricks from Italy’s defenders. England manager Roy Hodgson confirmed on Monday night that the young Tottenham star will definitely be unleashed from the start in tonight’s friendly in Turin. Phil Jones is expected to operate in midfield as Hodgson tinkers with a team who have won seven out of seven this season, and Theo Walcott could return to the starting line-up. England captain Wayne Rooney has warned Harry Kane not let his full international debut be ruined by Italy . Kane celebrates after scoring his first international goal during England's 4-0 victory over Lithuania on Friday . All eyes will be on Kane, however, and Hodgson spoke of the ‘magic touch’ which has helped him score 30 goals this season, including his first for his country — within 79 seconds of his debut from the bench against Lithuania on Friday. But England captain Rooney, who is set to win his 103rd cap playing at the forward tip of a midfield diamond, warned Kane what he should expect from the likes of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. Rooney said: ‘With Italian defenders, they’re clever defenders. They do anything to try and stop you and you have to be aware of that, and not be frustrated. ‘They’re a passionate country who love their football and they’re probably the closest in Europe to South American teams. They’ll do anything to stop you. They’re tough to play against, organised, make it as difficult to play against as possible. They’re the best in Europe at doing that. ‘Harry’s taking the ball and running at the defenders and getting shots at goal. ‘That’s all he has to do,’ insisted Rooney, who hopes to match Tommy Lawton’s record of scoring in six successive England games, set in 1938-39. ‘I’m sure if he does that the way he has, he’ll be fine.’ Rooney insists Italy's defenders will do anything to stop the opposition and Kane must be aware . Kane will come up against Leonardo Bonucci (pictured) and Giorgio Chiellini on Tuesday night . When Italy beat England at the World Cup in Brazil, no-one thought Kane anywhere near an international breakthrough - but he has made incredible progress. Hodgson said: ‘It’s great to see people like Harry Kane come on the scene and it’s a fairytale for him at the moment. He’s got the magic touch. Within 80 seconds got a goal on his debut. It doesn’t get much better. This will be a tougher test, but he will start and hopefully play a large part in it. ‘Our system will be slightly different because we had a lot of forwards available for Lithuania, but we lost Raheem Sterling and Danny Welbeck, which has changed my thinking. ‘We still have what I consider to be a very offensive line-up. It’ll be hard work for the front six, who have a hard job on their hands.’ England manager Roy Hodgson (left) confirmed Kane will start against Italy and 'hopefully play a large part' James Milner and Leighton Baines have also withdrawn. Meanwhile, Welbeck is facing a race to be fit for Arsenal’s crunch Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday. He returned to north London after sustaining a knee injury in Friday’s win against Lithuania. It is a blow for Arsenal ahead of a game which could prove pivotal in the fight for a top-four finish. Danny Welbeck faces a race to be fit for Arsenal's Premier League clash with Liverpool on Saturday . +Chester City striker Oliver McBurnie has vowed to prove Scotland's Under 19s don't need Real Madrid superkid Jack Harper by firing Ricky Sbragia's youngsters to a winning start in their UEFA Elite Round against hosts Austria on Thursday. Sbragia's decision to omit the promising Bernabeu talent for the tournament has caused uproar, mixed with bemusement, after the former Sunderland boss' comments about Harper not being physically strong enough. Harper's replacement does not have Zinedine Zidane as a coach or the luxury of a five-year deal with Real. In fact, McBurnie is currently on loan from Bradford City at Football Conference mid-table outfit Chester City. On loan Chesterfield striker is ready to step up for Scotland Under 19s against Austria on Thursday . McBurnie in action for Scotland Under 19s against Holland Under 19s during an International Challenge match . However, the 18-year-old is in agreement with Sbragia that Scotland need to be physical in their three games which starts on Thursday in Vienna against hosts Austria, before facing Italy on Saturday and Croatia next week. And he's had plenty of practice playing for Chester against the likes of Alfreton Town, Dartford and Lincoln City's grizzled defenders. McBurnie said: 'Obviously, Jack hasn't made the squad, but it's good to know it' s not just about reputations. If they do come and watch you and you do well then you get the rewards for that. 'The boys are confident and we know we have quality in this team and an ability to hurt the opposition. If we stick to the game-plan and play how we know we can play we've got a chance. It's tough against the hosts, Italy and Croatia for that matter but we want to test ourselves against the best. 'They're all good sides and hopefully we can go out there and prove a point. They're going to be big and powerful sides but we see ourselves in that bracket as well. Hopefully we can cope with that and let our football do the talking. Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper has been left out of the latest Scotland Under 19 squad . McBurnie says that he has had to toughen up playing against conference opposition . 'You have to grow up fast and it's very different to Bradford, although Chester like to try and play a bit to be fair. In the Conference it's tough to play football on some of the pitches against some of the teams. It's a great learning experience and just adds to my game. The defenders have definitely tried to rough me up. 'The worst was at Lincoln away. Both of their centre-backs were about 6ft 6in and I was playing up front on my own. That was tough. But we got through and won, so I enjoy testing myself against bigger and stronger players. It's a different experience.' But the Harper issue does bring back memories of a depressingly frank admission from Billy Stark, then Scotland Under-21 boss, in June 2009. A month earlier, Xavi and Iniesta had passed Manchester United to death during the 2009 Champions League Final at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Recalling a community coaching forum at Hampden 24 hours before, Stark said: 'I was asked whether Iniesta and Xavi would have flourished and come through the Scottish system. 'It's hard to say because you're looking at two different cultures but the answer is - probably not. The Spanish place an emphasis on sheer technique and movement. Our game is based more on power and pace. So there's an argument that they wouldn't have come through in this country to become the players they are now. Scotland Under 19s manager Ricky Sbragia claimed Harper is not big enough physically . Harper is currently midway through a five-year deal with Real Madrid and is tipped to have a big future . 'But the Spanish approach is working for them and it deserves to be copied,' he added. Former Scotland manager Craig Brown has urged caution in the rush to condemn the under-fire Sbragia. 'I've the greatest of admiration for Ricky as a man and a coach,' said the 74-year-old. 'My friend Archie Knox speaks highly of him and he's also worked under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. So I'd like to hear more on the context of the words spoken by him (about Jack Harper). 'But I would say this: people are saying this young lad is a Real Madrid player. He's not; he's never played for Real Madrid. I was a Rangers signing but I never played for Rangers. 'Real Madrid will have hundreds of kids in their system. I'm not for a minute saying Jack Harper is not a good player. I haven't seen him so I don't know. Former Scotland boss Craig Brown (second right) revealed his admiration for Under 19 coach Sbragia . 'But I think people get hypnotised by the name Real Madrid. There's a frenzy going on but if (the same player) played for another club would there be the same impact?' Brown admitted it is an occupational hazard of a national youth selector to end up looking foolish. 'You can't get every player right,' he said. 'Here's my example: When I was Scotland Under 21 manager, I got a phone call from the late Alex Wright, manager of Dumbarton, saying he had a good player for me. It was Owen Coyle, and he was good, but I didn't think he was as good as Kevin Gallacher and Gordon Durie. 'I told Alex the only reason I would be picking Owen would be solely to prevent Ireland getting him – and that would be unfair. He would have been a bench player for Scotland. 'So the Irish picked him instead and our next game was against Ireland at Easter Road. My over-age centre half that day was Alex McLeish and Owen knocked the ball past Alex and stuck it in the roof of his net. 'I remember thinking 'I've messed up here'. But we ended up winning 4-1 and I think Durie scored three. But you can get egg on your face…' +Relentless Robbie Neilson celebrated Hearts clinching the Championship title in March — then ordered his team to smash Hibs’ second-tier record points total. An unexpected 2-0 win for Rangers at Easter Road yesterday left the Tynecastle side — who had beaten Falkirk 3-0 at Westfield 24 hours earlier — an unassailable 23 points clear of Hibs with 21 points left on the board. Neilson learned his team had secured a return to the Premiership without kicking a ball while he was studying for his pro licence at Stirling University yesterday afternoon. Robbie Neilson wants his Hearts team to surpass Hibernian's second-tier points total . Hearts ended up securing their title a day after a 3-0 win against Falkirk . Rangers beat Hibernian to give Hearts an unassailable advantage at the top of the league . But, despite the league being finally in the bag, the 34-year-old vowed there will be no let-up as Hearts hope to usurp Hibs’ record tally of 89 points, set under Alex McLeish in 1999. Should his team rise to his challenge of winning their remaining seven matches, the rampant Gorgie outfit would end the season with a remarkable 99 points. ‘It’s a fantastic achievement to win the league. It’s a great day for the club,’ said Neilson. ‘The objective for the season was to get promoted. We’ve done that and that will give us a head start in planning for next season — but we need to keep winning games. ‘We’ve got seven games left and we want maximum points. We won’t be losing focus. If we could set a new record for points for the division, then that would be fantastic. ‘When you play for a club with the stature of Hearts, you have to keep winning games — and that’s what we need to do. ‘I will rotate the squad and some guys will get game time but you have to win games. We can’t be turning up at venues and losing games. We want to win, starting with three more points against Queen of the South at Tynecastle next weekend.’ Neilson believes his side’s 2-1 stoppage-time win at Ibrox against Rangers on the opening day of the season set the tone for a fine campaign. But it wasn’t until a battling 2-1 victory at Queen of the South on February 21 that he truly believed his side was destined to win the league and return to the top flight after one season away. ‘I don’t think you ever take things for granted until you are over the line,’ he said. ‘But I think that Queen of the South game was a big one for us away from home. We went a goal behind and we had to fight back to get all three points. We eventually got there and, from then on, I thought we had a real chance of taking the league. ‘But that win against Rangers on the opening day was a huge one for us in terms of morale and also for our fans. A lot of times you can go to Ibrox, go ahead and then Rangers draw level and you’re then hoping to hang on for a draw. Hearts' Genero Zeefuik celebrates after giving his side two-goal lead against Falkirk . The Hearts players celebrate as they beat Falkirk and edged closer to an impressive title win . ‘But we went straight up the park and scored again to get all three points and that set the tone for the whole season. It gave us a real belief we could go on to win the trophy and now we’ve done it. ‘To finally get over the line is magnificent. The players have worked so hard and I couldn’t have asked for more. ‘We can now speak to players we want to get from outside the club and speak to players at the club and try to renegotiate. We’ve got guys who have been fantastic for us and we want to keep hold of them. ‘It’s just a great day and it’s testament to the support we’ve had all season from the fans, the hard work of (owner) Ann Budge and (director of football) Craig Levein and all the players. ‘The fans in particular have been magnificent and they deserve to have a great night and a great few weeks.’ Meanwhile, Hearts captain Danny Wilson admitted it was a relief to finally get over the line after months of being billed as champions-in-waiting. Hearts captain Danny Wilson revealed his joy after his side became Scottish Championship winners . ‘It has been difficult, you know,’ he said. ‘Since maybe late December and early January people have had us installed as champions. So it’s been tough, not so much to keep your standards up but to put all that talk to one side. But we’ve done that. ‘The way the season has panned out, we’ve been going about our business in the right fashion. But if you had asked me at the start of the season whether I thought the gap would have been this big, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.’ +Nathan Hines has little interest in any Aviva Premiership points target as Sale Sharks continue their quest to secure European Champions Cup qualification. Sale are currently seventh in the Premiership table - one place off sealing a guaranteed Champions Cup place next term - with five games left. Sharks' final phase of the domestic campaign begins against visitors Gloucester on Sunday, while further appointments await with London Irish, Harlequins, Newcastle and Exeter. Nathan Hines has little interest in any points target as Sale continue European qualification quest . And while Sale realistically cannot afford any slip-ups during the season's closing stages, Sharks' former Scotland lock Hines is not looking beyond tackling Gloucester. 'I don't know what will get us into the top six,' he said. 'All I know is we want to win every game. If we are thinking about how many games we need to win, that will be our undoing. 'We are just thinking about Gloucester, win that one, chalk that one up and then move on to the next. That is the best and most efficient way to look at it, really. Fly half Danny Cipriani set for Sale Sharks return after England international duty . 'I know it's a cliche to say one game at a time, but if you start spreading your focus around too many things, you will come unstuck. 'It's about making sure not to worry if we win and someone else loses. It's more about worrying about our own performance as a team and as individuals. It's about getting our own stuff right.' England international Danny Cipriani is back in Sale's number 10 shirt on Sunday, while on-loan centre Brendan Macken makes his first start for Gloucester, featuring alongside England's Billy Twelvetrees in midfield. +Inspirational Ireland captain Paul O'Connell was voted player of the tournament on Friday after leading his side to a thrilling Six Nations title last weekend. The towering lock, who earned his 101st cap in Ireland's final match against Scotland, secured more than 26 percent of the public vote which was part of the process to select the standout player. 'I'm delighted to receive the RBS Player of the Championship Trophy. When you see the names that have gone before, you realise what a great honour it is,' O'Connell said in a statement. Ireland captain Paul O'Connell poses with the Six Nations player of the tournament trophy . O'Connell lifts the Six Nations trophy as the Ireland team celebrate their victory in Edinburgh last weekend . 'I'm very grateful for all the supporters who voted for me.' O'Connell topped a 12-man shortlist based on statistics from performances throughout the tournament. Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones came second, Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw third and Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar fourth. Italy number eight Sergio Parisse and England scrumhalf Ben Youngs completed the top six. Ireland retained the title on points difference after a compelling final day in which they, Wales and England vied for top spot. O'Connell arrives at Dublin airport last Sunday with the Six Nations trophy . +British No 1 Andy Murray is finally back-to his best after an injury-plagued and frustrating 2014, and is on the verge of rediscovering his best form – that's according to mum Judy Murray. It has been an electric start to the new season for Murray – his quarter-final win against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez last month was enough to see him pass Tim Henman for the most wins by a British player in the open era – it was the 497th victory of his career at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Murray was also a beaten finalist in this year's Australian Open by world No 1 Novak Djokovic back in January, while after reaching the semi-final in Indian Wells last week, Murray is now the second highest points scorer on the ATP Tour this year. Andy Murray poses with fans after his practice at the Crandon Park in Miami . Murray practices for his first match at the 2015 Miami Open at the Crandon Park . A look at the 'Race for London' confirms this has been a decent start to the year for Murray, with him ahead of Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer, in that order. Mum Judy – the current captain of the women's Fed Cup team and star of reality television show Strictly Come Dancing – is convinced Murray's back operation in late 2013 severely hampered his performances across the last 12 months. And she feels son Andy, who is marrying Kim Sears on April 11 in Dunblane Cathedral, is only just starting to move as he did in 2013 when he lifted the Wimbledon title and challenged the supremacy of Djokovic as the world's best player on a near weekly basis. Murray is put through his paces ahead of the Miami Open . Murray had a difficult 2014 due to a back injury but is back to his best now according to mum Judy . '2014 was a difficult year for Andy because he was returning from back surgery and any kind of surgery you just don't recover quickly from,' said Judy Murray, speaking at the SSE Arena at Wembley, where she is a mentor for SSE's Next Generation programme, which provides vital financial and development support to 100 young athletes from across the UK and Ireland. 'But I think when it's in your back it takes a long time to get it to the stage where you can put it through what you need to, to play tennis at the very top level and I think once he got into the back end of the season he finished it very strong. 'He won three tournaments, he qualified for the end of year finals and finished the year at six in the world, which is an incredible achievement considering he had what he would say was an inconsistent season. Amelie Mauresmo watches Murray during practice in Miami . 'But then he had a really good off season with his coach Amelie Mauresmo and played incredible tennis all the way through Australia and the preparation events. 'That was a really good sign and it was good to see him back moving well and happy and healthy and playing his best tennis. 'And I think we saw some of his best tennis again at Indian Wells, which was great to see, so I think he's back on track and he's happy and he's healthy.' Murray is hopeful of adding to his coaching team this week; with the appointment of former world number four Jon Bjorkman. The Swede will join as an assistant to Amelie Mauresmo sometime after he finishes his involvement in a Swedish television dance show. The arrival of Bjorkman to Team Murray is timely after Djokovic dismantled the world No.4 at Indian Wells; the defeat sparked a Twitter row with a disgruntled fan and highlighted the urgent improvements needed if the Scot is to challenge for Grand Slam titles again. But mum Judy has called on fans to be patient as Murray rebuilds his career; while she is convinced another major title is only just around the corner. 'I think you have to remember that Novak is the best player in the world presently and no match against him is ever going to be easy,' she added. 'Andy made the semi-finals of the French Open last year and has a good game for clay because he is a great athlete and has a great engine on him. 'Growing up, we trained a lot on clay in Barcelona. He played a lot on hard courts in Scotland, albeit indoors, so that will always be in my opinion his best surface. 'The grass season is very short and less of the top players play well on grass because they don't have grass courts in their country, so they are not used to it. 'So I think grass always presents itself a big opportunity for any British player. 'But I think Andy's goal is the same as it was when he was a little boy, he wants to win Grand Slams and he wants to be the best. 'He has a very good record in Grand Slams over the last four or five years so he will be out there and doing his best.' SSE's Next Generation programme partners with SportsAid to provide financial support and training to the sports stars of the future. Keep up to date with the latest @SSENextGen . +Harry Kane is set to play for the England Under-21s at the European Championships this summer with the backing of senior boss Roy Hodgson. Kane enjoyed a dream debut for Hodgson's men on Friday night as he netted just 79 seconds after coming off the bench against Lithuania to add to the 29 goals he has scored for Tottenham this season. The 21-year-old is in line to get his first start against Italy on Tuesday night but that looks likely to be his last senior appearance until September as Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate is confident of taking the striker to the Czech Republic. Harry Kane (left) scored 79 seconds into his England debut against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night . The Tottenham Hotspur striker could join up with England Under 21s in the summer in the Czech Republic . Kane wheels away to celebrate scoring for England against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night . England have a friendly against the Republic of Ireland on June 7 and a European Championship qualifier against Slovenia a week later but Southgate has revealed that Hodgson has given the green light for Kane to play in the Under-21 tournament which begins on June 17. 'Roy and I know that the seniors are in a good group position and he feels that the experience of going to the Czech Republic in the summer will be more beneficial to Harry than the two games he has got,' Southgate said. 'That is absolutely the case regardless of his displays between now and then. 'We are not short of good players in the seniors, but understandably for Harry to be there this time, against Lithuania, was merited. 'We still feel we can give the players the best possible preparation to go into the seniors and achieve success if they have got the experience of the European Under-21 Championships behind them. That is still the case with Harry.' Kane will speak to Under 21s manager Gareth Southgate (pictured) before making a final decision . The 21-year-old Tottenham striker is in line to get his first start against Italy on Tuesday night . +Harry Kane will make the final decision on whether to play in this summer’s European Under 21 championship after talks with Gareth Southgate. Kane, who scored on his debut for England against Lithuania, will start in the friendly against Italy in Turin on Tuesday. The Tottenham forward, who has 19 goals in the Premier League this season, has been told to consider his options by club boss Mauricio Pochettino. Harry Kane (left) scored 79 seconds into his England debut against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday . The Tottenham striker must now decide whether to join up with England Under 21s in the summer . Kane has intimated he wants to take part in the tournament and Under 21 manager Southgate wants him in the squad. Kane has represented England at Under 17, Under 19, Under 20, Under 21 and now senior level, and the FA want him to be an example for all young players. England head coach Roy Hodgson has excused him from this summer’s friendly with Ireland on June 7 and the Euro 2016 qualifier with Slovenia on June 14. He travels with Tottenham to Kuala Lumpur to play Malaysia in a friendly on May 27 before they move on to Australia. Kane, 21, is then expected to join up with Southgate’s squad for the Under 21 Euro Championship but Spurs are warning him about burn-out. Kane will speak to Under 21s boss Gareth Southgate (pictured) before making a final decision . Kane wheels away to celebrate scoring for England against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night . +Alastair Cook has slammed the ECB for the timing of his dismissal as one-day captain, claiming the World Cup shambles which followed has shattered the players' confidence. Cook's forthright views increase the pressure on head coach Peter Moores and managing director Paul Downton on the day the Test squad to tour West Indies was announced. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, where he is preparing to play for the MCC, Cook said defeats by Australia and New Zealand proved that the decision to axe him was, with hindsight, incorrect. Alastair Cook was removed as England one-day captain in December, before the cricket World Cup . England's cricketers were eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage by Bangladesh . Cook believes hindsight has proved the ECB wrong to remove him as captain before the tournament . Cook told The Daily Telegraph: 'I can't speak about what's gone on there in depth, but you always back yourself, and I would have loved to have had the opportunity that was taken away from me. 'The selectors made that decision because they thought it was the best for English cricket. Hindsight has probably proved them wrong, but now it's very easy to say that.' He added: 'I wouldn't say all of it [confidence] has been [shattered], but a hell of a lot of it has been. You have to remember that it is a different format and you get a change, but all teams are grouped under the same English cricket umbrella, and we can't be naive enough to think that it's not. 'We have a repairing job to do, and the only way of doing that is by playing some good cricket and start winning. 'We built that momentum a little bit after the Ashes 14 or 15 months ago with a slightly younger side, including the likes of Gary Ballance and Joe Root. There was a feel-good factor about the English game in the middle of August after the Test matches. Since then, it's been tough going. We've got to rebuild again.' Cook (right) feels England have to rebuild the feel good factor that followed Test success against India . Cook (left) will lead England in three tests in the West Indies in April, before New Zealand visit in May . Cook feels the ECB have highlighted the perils of changing captain so close to an international tournament . Cook would have loved the opportunity to complete a challenge he was set when named Andrew Strauss' successor as ODI captain after the previous World Cup in 2011. 'I was there for three-and-a-half years trying to do a job,' he said. 'We got to No 1 in the world with a full-strength side and got to the final of the Champions Trophy. There were things I can be very proud of. 'As any captain will tell you, leading your country in a World Cup is a huge honour and one that can never be taken lightly. I was very much looking forward to that. 'I understand the pressure I was under. I wasn't scoring the runs I should, or could have been scoring so I understand that my position was in jeopardy. 'But I think you saw in Australia the dangers of making such a big decision so close to the tournament. Cook (left) was struggling for runs in one-day cricket when the ECB decided to remove him as captain . Cook believes that England would have made it out of their group at the World Cup if he had been there . 'I don't know what's gone on on that tour ... but it did look like the lads were shell-shocked from the first two games. 'Whether I would have made a difference, I don't know. 'But I was fully confident we would get out of our group.' VIDEO Morgan has 'no regrets' over failed England campaign . +Michael Vaughan believes Alastair Cook is 'clearly bitter', and must set aside his own World Cup disappointment for the good of his England team at the start of their Ashes year. Cook claimed on Wednesday that England's decision to replace him as captain with Eoin Morgan, at the 11th hour before the global tournament in Australia and New Zealand, was proved 'probably wrong' by subsequent events. England made an embarrassing early exit at the hands of Bangladesh, before the knockout stages were under way. Alastair Cook was replaced as Engtland's one-day captain before this year's World Cup . Former captain Vaughan interprets Cook's remarks as a sign that he is still struggling to come to terms with what happened after losing his 50-over role because of his continued poor batting form. Cook will nonetheless lead England in three Tests against the West Indies, on a tour starting early next month, before returning home to face first New Zealand and then Australia this summer. BBC pundit Vaughan said: 'He's clearly bitter. 'I think that's a bad mentality to have, when you think he's going to be back leading the team in a couple of weeks' time.' Cook led England to a Champions Trophy final on home soil two years ago, and the top of the world rankings, but their recent one-day international record under him deteriorated. Vaughan added: 'Alastair Cook's last six captaincy jobs in (ODI) series for England, he lost every single one. 'The only series they've won was away in the West Indies, when he wasn't the captain.' Michael Vaughan claims Cook is 'bitter' about the decision to replace him as captain . Cook could only watch from afar as England beat only Scotland and Afghanistan in their World Cup campaign under Morgan, but he sensed they were 'shell-shocked' and in need of 'real leadership'. Vaughan argues Cook must move on, and start scoring prolifically again - as he has for the vast majority of his record-breaking career. 'I don't think it's great that the captain comes out and criticises the leadership of the captain that takes over - but he's clearly bitter. 'He's got to clear that out of his head, because it's so important that by the time he gets to the West Indies England need him scoring runs. 'He has to score runs in the Caribbean; he has to get runs against New Zealand - so by the time the Ashes arrive in July, no one is talking about Alastair Cook's position in the Test team. 'He hasn't scored a hundred in any format of the game for two years. That has to change in the West Indies.' +Harry Kane is 'loving every minute' right now as the Tottenham striker prepares to meet up with England for the first time buoyed by a maiden Premier League hat-trick. The 21-year-old's scarcely-believable rise continues apace, with the Chingford-born forward making it 29 goals in all competitions with his treble against Leicester on Saturday. Kane's performance helped inspire out-of-sorts Tottenham to a 4-3 win and saw him move top of the top-flight scoring charts - a remarkable feat considering the first of 19 league goals did not arrive until November 2. Harry Kane celebrates scoring the opening for Tottenham in their 4-3 win over Leicester on Saturday . Kane, who joins up with the England team on Sunday for the first time, taps in the give Spurs the lead . It capped a whirlwind few days for the striker, who on Sunday is meeting up with the England senior squad for the first time ahead of the matches with Lithuania and Italy. 'I can't wait,' Kane said. 'It has been a dream to be called up but obviously I want to go and play. 'There is great competition for places and hopefully I can just do my best whilst I am away and see what happens. '(I want to play for England) like any boy would. That's what I want to do. 'There is great competition and I have to keep working hard if I want to get a place in the team.' Kane insists he is able to savour such moments, despite so many things coming 'thick and fast'. It is form he wants to keep up and, as much as he wants to impress for England, retains a focus on club matters. Kane scores his 28th goal of the season on the eve of joining Roy Hodgson's England squad . Kane buries this penalty to record his 29th goal of the season as he overtook Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa . Saturday's win kept Spurs' hopes of a top-four finish alive and was the perfect response to their insipid display in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United. 'Obviously we all know that was a poor game from us,' Kane said, speaking to Sky Sports. 'There is no hiding away from that, but it is how you react. 'I've always said we've got a great bunch of lads here and again we've proved that. We've come back with a great win today. 'We have got a great squad, we all enjoy it. We're loving every minute, obviously we want to keep the wins coming and see how far we can get up the table.' The emotions those connected to Leicester are feeling could not be much different. Kane holds three fingers up after clinching his hat-trick in a perfect precursor to his international debut . Kane applauds the Tottenham supporters as he takes the match ball after the final whistle at White Hart Lane . The Foxes are seven points from safety with only nine matches left after the harsh defeat in north London. City's performance belied that of a side rock-bottom of the standings and manager Nigel Pearson praised his players' character afterwards. 'It's a very disappointing result for us because I think we deserved more,' he said. 'I don't think we deserved to be on the receiving end of a defeat today. 'To be 2-0 down after 13 minutes and really stretch one of the top sides away from home all the way to the end is a measure of the commitment that the players have shown today. 'To a man I thought they were really excellent in terms of how they went about trying to win the game.' +It was the Saturday that saw more refereeing controversy in the Barclays Premier League as Neil Swarbrick mistakenly sent off West Brom's Gareth McAuley instead of Craig Dawson at Manchester City. And after that unfortunate incident after just 63 seconds, City cruised to a 3-0 win to trim Chelsea's lead at the top to three points. Arsenal stayed in touch as Olivier Giroud scored twice at Newcastle United, while Harry Kane grabbed his first Premier League hat-trick in Tottenham's 4-3 win over Leicester City. There were also wins for West Ham, Swansea, Southampton and Crystal Palace. Each week, Sportsmail collates the ratings of our reporters around the grounds to bring you the Premier League team of the day. GOALKEEPER - Boaz Myhill (Manchester City vs WEST BROM) 8 . Down to 10 men after just two minutes against a City side determined to prove a point after a recent slump, West Brom were really up against it. Myhill led the resistance with a succession of excellent saves, in the end limiting the damage to just three goals. West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill gets a grip on Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero . DEFENCE - Jores Okore (ASTON VILLA vs Swansea City) 7 . The Denmark international produced one of the more positive performances as Aston Villa slumped to a disappointing home defeat at the hands of Swansea. Jores Okore tussles with Bafetimbi Gomis during Saturday's match at Villa Park . DEFENCE - Ashley Williams (Aston Villa vs SWANSEA CITY) 7 . At the opposite end, Williams and his central defensive partner Federico Fernandez produced assured performance to earn a clean sheet and keep the Swans in the top half of the table. Swansea captain Ashley Williams talks to Bafetimbi Gomis during their 1-0 win at Villa Park . DEFENCE - John O'Shea (West Ham vs SUNDERLAND) 7 . After the early withdrawal of Wes Brown through injury, O'Shea stepped up and drew on his extensive leadership to marshal the Sunderland defence. Alas, they couldn't quite hold out and claim a precious point in Dick Advocaat's first game in charge. John O'Shea attempts to block an effort from West Ham's Diafra Sakho . DEFENCE - Neil Taylor (Aston Villa vs SWANSEA) 7.5 . A hard-fought win for Swansea in which Taylor's block of a close-range Gabriel Agbonlahor effort early in the second-half proved crucial. Taylor also delivered plenty of crosses from the left, setting up Bafetimbi Gomis, who would later prove Swansea's match-winner. Neil Taylor slides in on Aston Villa's Leandro Bacuna during Swansea's win at Villa Park . MIDFIELD - Charlie Adam (STOKE CITY vs Crystal Palace) 7.5 . Was his usual dogged self in the Stoke midfield but couldn't inspire a victory as Palace emerged from the Britannia with all three points. Charlie Adam slides in on Jason Puncheon during Stoke's defeat to Crystal Palace . MIDFIELD - David Silva (MANCHESTER CITY vs West Brom) 8.5 . The outstanding player in City's comfortable win over West Brom, which cut Chelsea's lead to three points - at least temporarily. The Spaniard tormented the Baggies defence throughout and scored City's third goal when he turned in Stevan Jovetic's shot. David Silva shoots for goal during Manchester City's win over West Brom on Saturday . MIDFIELD - Nabil Bentaleb (TOTTENHAM vs Leicester) 7.5 . A crazy game at White Hart Lane but Bentaleb stood out for his performance in the Spurs midfield, protecting the defence and picking passes to free the front-runners. Was fortunate the referee didn't spot a slap on Leonardo Ulloa, however. Nabil Bentaleb holed off a challenge from Leicester's Matthew James during Saturday's 4-3 win . FORWARD - Wilfried Bony (MANCHESTER CITY vs West Brom) 8 . A day to savour for the Ivorian, who opened his account for Manchester City with a well-taken goal after 27 minutes. Having been involved in the game-changing sending off after just two minutes, Bony broke the deadlock with a neat flick turn and finish. Wilfried Bony celebrates after opening the scoring in City's 3-0 home win over West Brom . FORWARD - Olivier Giroud (Newcastle United vs ARSENAL) 8 . A striker in a real purple patch, Giroud continued his hot streak with a double up at Newcastle to take his run to nine in his last nine matches. His first may have been a fortuitous deflection on Danny Welbeck's header but his second was an effortless header. Olivier Giroud celebrates after scoring the second of his two goals for Arsenal at Newcastle United . FORWARD - Harry Kane (TOTTENHAM vs Leicester) 8.5 . Undoubtedly the player of the day, Kane claimed his first Premier League hat-trick with a bravura performance against Leicester at the Lane. Taking his season tally to 29 goals - including 19 in the Premier League - Kane was simply unstoppable on Saturday. Harry Kane carried home the match ball after his maiden Premier League hat-trick for Spurs against Leicester . +Roy Hodgson should place his trust in Harry Kane and start the in-form Tottenham striker in England's upcoming fixtures, according to Alan Shearer. Kane has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season, including a hat-trick against Leicester City on Saturday, and was handed his first call-up to the senior squad for the games against Lithuania and Italy. And Shearer believes the 21-year-old has done enough to merit a start for the Three Lions, despite competing up front with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge. Harry Kane took home the match ball after scoring three goals against Leicester City on Saturday . Alan Shearer says the uncapped striker should start for England in their upcoming games . Kane strokes home a penalty as Tottenham Hotspur won 3-0 at White Hart Lane in the Premier League . The former England striker said on Match of the Day: 'Well considering he didn't start playing regular Premier league football until November he is now top scorer in the league with 19 goals. I think Roy Hodgson should start him. Yes, he's in the squad but start him in the team. 'He's (Hodgson's) watched him enough times this season, he knows what he is all about an he is on fire. 'The form he is in, I think get him in there and he will score goals. He will be a great foil for Rooney and I am a big fan of his. 'I like his attitude and the way he scores all sorts of goals. I couldn't believe we aren't going to show his goals (during the analysis) but the editor said "he only scored a tap-in, a deflection and a penalty". I said "is that all?". If it was that easy Soldado would have been doing it. 'I am a huge fan of his and would without doubt get him in the England team.' The 21-year-old striker now has 29 goals in all competitions this season for Spurs . Kane sat down with Sportsmail's Martin Samuel recently to speak about his England call-up . +Fans of The Walking Dead series have a chance to make a killing in real estate by buying up part of a ghost town that was featured in the popular zombie show. The former mayor of Grantville, Georgia, has put nine downtown buildings up for sale on eBay for $680,000. Grantville was used as a setting for the popular zombie-drama during during the 'CLEAR' episode in season three of the show. Scroll down for video . The archways and brick wall of this downtown building in Grantville, Georgia, were seen in the Walking Dead . Since the town was featured in the 'CLEAR' episode of the show's third season, tourists have been visiting . Grantville's former mayor has put nine buildings up for sale on eBay for the 'Buy It Now' price of $680,000 . Jim Sells bought the properties, which feature 25,000 square feet of usable space and include commercial spaces, apartments and restaurants, during the recession. He wants to sell the renovated buildings to someone who has experience owning commercial property, WXIA-TV reported. Sells said: 'The hard work has been done. 'We're looking for somebody to put it all into action.' Although $680,000 is the asking price, Sells is open to offers, according to the Newman Times-Herald. He said: 'With the economy picking up, we feel it's just a good time to sell downtown to someone who has a long-term vision for the city. 'We need someone with the expertise to develop this area commercially.' The show returned to Grantville for other episodes after first using a one-block stretch of street to flim . The properties available on eBay feature 25,000 square feet of usable space and include commercial spaces apartments and restaurants . Jim Sells, the town's former mayor, bought the buildings during the recession and is hoping to sell them . The eBay listing, which offers free local pickup, calls Grantville a 'vibrant community'. It continues: 'This is an opportunity for someone to own a piece of history. 'This is a money maker for anyone trying to invest in an area that's about to burst. 'Three movies just signed up to film in Grantville [and] two very well known actors will be staring in the roles. 'These movies are another source of income for the next owner.' Although $680,000 is the asking price, Sells is open to offers on his listing, which offers free local pickup . The Walking Dead (pictured) has helped breathe new life back into the economy in Grantville in recent years . Sells started the Grantville Walking Dead Tour and charges $10 per adult and $5 for kids ages five to ten . Grantville fell on hard times after the town's cotton mill closed, but the Walking Dead has helped breathe new life back into the economy. Sells runs the Grantville Walking Dead Tour and charges $10 per adult and $5 for kids ages five to ten. He said: 'Our main industry right now is Walking Dead tourists. 'We have people coming from all over the world because of The Walking Dead. 'That's paying the bills downtown.' Visitors have come from as far away as Australia, Singapore and Brazil to see the town. The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC. +Kevin Pietersen has paved the way for a summer of potential embarrassment for the ECB after agreeing to rejoin Surrey in an improbable bid to regain his Test place. Pietersen will be available for the county across all three formats but will focus on the four-day Championship as he attempts to force his way back into the England team following his sacking a year ago. Confirmation of his Surrey return is expected on Thursday. Another remarkable news cycle for the English game began with Pietersen telling Test Match Special listeners he would do ‘anything’ to play international cricket again. Kevin Pietersen will return to Surrey in the summer to play in the LV= County Championship . 29 - Pietersen’s average in the 5-0 Ashes drubbing in 2013-14, the last series he played. That is well below his Test average of 47. 20 - months since he last played a first-class match for Surrey . 19 - months since his last century in any form of the game, 113 against Australia at Old Trafford . 39 - his highest score in the T20 Blast for Surrey last season. In 12 innings, he averaged 22 . That comment prompted English cricket’s beleaguered powerbrokers to close ranks once more. Going into a summer in which England desperately need to reconnect with their fans and regain the Ashes, the ECB fear Pietersen will act as a non-stop, hard-to-silence distraction. Test captain Alastair Cook, in Abu Dhabi for the season’s curtain-raiser on Sunday between MCC and Yorkshire, was quick out of the blocks. ‘There’s been a hell of a lot of stuff happened with his book,’ he said, ‘so he is unlikely to come back into the team.’ England selector James Whitaker, who would have preferred to focus on Wednesday’s announcement of the Test squad for the Caribbean, told Sky Sports: ‘We haven’t had discussions at all about Kevin. This last 12 months we’ve been successfully rebuilding the Test team and he’s not part of our plans. ‘We’ve produced some good middle-order players with Gary Ballance, Joe Root and Ian Bell continuing to perform well, so we are happy with where we are in the middle order.’ Pietersen has hinted he could change his IPL contract in a bid to push for an England place . Both Whitaker and ECB managing director Paul Downton — the man behind last year’s controversial sacking — have repeatedly insisted Pietersen will never play for England again, a fate that appeared to have been sealed by the publication in October of his score-settling autobiography. But Pietersen, desperate to add his England-record tally of 13,797 runs and 32 centuries, seized on a stray comment made this month by new ECB chairman Colin Graves, who said the ‘first thing he has to do if he wants to get back is start playing county cricket’. But Graves was simply stating the obvious: affiliation to a county is the minimum requirement for anyone with England hopes. But, emboldened by what he regarded as the first stage of a peace offering, Pietersen took every opportunity to state his desire to play for England once more. After playing for the Big Bash League's Melbourne Stars, Pietersen has signed with the Sunrisers Hyderabad . Surrey were initially wary of resuming ties with a cricketer who turns 35 in June but Pietersen has often been at his best when he has had a point to prove. And the prospect of a hatful of Division Two runs as Surrey push for promotion prompted director of cricket Alec Stewart to bring him into a middle order alongside Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara. County bowlers may not agree, but the move is a smart one. As long as Whitaker, Downton, coach Peter Moores and Cook remain in situ, it is inconceivable that Pietersen can resume his international career. But assuming he manages to extricate himself from his £200,000 IPL deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad, as well as a contract with St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League, that means he could be available for most, if not all, of the county season. The nightmare scenario for the ECB officials who have stated their position so unequivocally is a glut of runs for the man they continue to consider persona non grata. Kumar Sangakkara appeared to confirm Pietersen's return to Surrey this season after Sri Lanka bowed out of the World Cup with a convincing defeat by South Africa . The call from his many fans on social media for Pietersen’s return would grow — especially if England fail to put a disastrous World Cup behind them as they embark on an absurd programme of 17 Tests in 10 months. On Wednesday Pietersen told TMS: ‘If I can do anything that can help me get back into it for England then it’s something I want to do. I love playing for England.’ His best hope is the sacking of all the men who object to him — and for that to happen England would need to perform terribly in the Ashes. In other words, the only plausible scenario that can rescue Pietersen is one he cannot be seen to hope for. Not for the first time, English cricket and Kevin Pietersen find themselves engaged in a tense Catch-22. Pietersen has not played for England since the Ashes tour of 2013-14 after which he was dropped . +This is the result when heat meets the freezing cold. As Canada remains in the grip of bitter cold and record snowfall, one venue decided to make light of the situation. The Takhini Hotel Pools in Whitehorse, Yukon, held their International Hair Freezing contest - and found some winners. Bathers (left to right) Fanny Caritte, Milena Georgeault and Maxime Goyou Beauchamps show off their frozen hair while bathing in a 40C in air temperatures of -30C at Takhini Hot Springs in Whitehorse, Yukon . Milena Georgeault and her friends were this year's victors, thanks to an elaborate freezing of their hair at the hot springs. So long as the temperature goes as low as -30C, the freezing of the hair can happen in under 60 seconds. The competition runs every year in February, and all candidates have to do is enter the springs and freeze their hair. To be in with a chance of winning a $150 prize, people have to post the photo of their frozen hair onto the venue's Facebook before the month is out. Milena Georgeault of Quebec shows off her frozen hair that helped her to first prize in the competition and a $150 prize . By doing so you will also be helping publicise this unique niche of the springs - photos may be used for advertising purposes unless you contact management to say otherwise. All contestants will receive a complimentary pool pass for having participated. The first building development around the hot springs can be dated back to 1907 when a man by the name of Mr Puckett purchased the land at a price of $2,000 per acre. Maxime Goyou Beauchamps was also one of the winners of the annual contest held in Yukon, Canada . The Takhini Hotel Pools in Whitehorse, Yukon, held their International Hair Freezing contest - and found some winners . The site became a popular place for parties - containing a few small cabins, two barns, and a store. Fast forward to present day and Andrew Umbrich and Lauren O'Coffey lease the hot springs to guests who want a unique experience. The venue hosts a number of themed events and discounts throughout the year, including mums go free on Mother's Day, and the same for dads on Father's Day. +Gary Bowyer's final words to his Blackburn players will be very simple before they step out at Anfield on Sunday: 'Good luck.' The Rovers boss knows the odds for the FA Cup quarter-final are heavily weighted in their opponents' favour, and would have been before Liverpool hit the run of form that has seen them win nine of their last 11 Premier League games. 'It's David vs Goliath,' said Bowyer. Gary Bowyer knows the odds are against Blackburn ahead of their FA Cup clash against Liverpool . Jordan Rhodes hit his 13th of the campaign to help Blackburn to their first away win since October . 'Nobody's giving us a chance outside of our dressing room. 'I think they're the most impressive team in the Premier League at the moment and the football that they're playing is fantastic. Obviously full credit to the manager for the way he changed his formation. 'We've studied the videos, we've come up with a gameplan, and we've worked with the players on it. We'll go and take the challenge to Liverpool. 'We've been very organised and very disciplined in the previous meetings with the Premier League teams, and then of course along the way you need a bit of luck. Rhodes turns the ball in past Wednesday keeper Jason Steele to give the visitors the lead . 'The mood's one of excitement and rightly so. The lads have earned the right to play at Anfield with the performances in the previous rounds.' Bowyer said his team will go into the match high on confidence, and they can certainly take great encouragement from their performances in the last two rounds. Neither Swansea nor Stoke enjoyed their visits to Ewood Park, with Blackburn racking up seven goals across the fourth and fifth rounds. Although Anfield presents a major step up, it is a ground that holds the most special of memories for Rovers. Twenty years ago in May, Blackburn celebrated the best moment in their history when they lifted the Premier League trophy at the Merseyside ground. Bowyer believes his team will go into the match high on confidence following the win against Sheffield Wednesday . The achievement will be marked by a minute's applause in the 20th minute on Sunday as a tribute to their late benefactor Jack Walker. Bowyer said of the cup run: 'Financially it's been excellent for the club at a time when we've got a transfer embargo and money's tight. 'For the players and the staff and supporters, it's been a great journey so far. But we want it to continue. 'For the supporters it's going to be a great day out. They're going to bask in the memory of 20 years ago. I think there's something planned in the 20th minute, which is going to be really good, but the players are going to do a job.' Josh King scores for Blackburn during his side's memorable 4-1 victory against Stoke in February . Steven Gerrard is back in training with Liverpool but he won't walk straight back into the team . Bowyer is also taking pride in earning positive headlines for Blackburn after the most turbulent of times. Rovers became a club at war with itself following the takeover in 2010 by Venky's and less than two years later they were relegated from the top flight. They had got through three managers in a season and were heading towards another relegation when Bowyer, who joined Blackburn's backroom staff in 2004, began another stint as caretaker manager in March 2013. Jordan Henderson has scored twice in a week for an in-form Liverpool side . Bowyer believes Brendan Rodgers' side are the 'most impressive' in the Premier League at the moment . His reward for stabilising the club was to be given a chance as permanent boss, and two years later Rovers are finally a football story again. Bowyer said: 'The supporters have been through a hell of a lot over the last couple of years but we're starting to put foundations in place, we've done that over the last 20 months, and we're starting to make progress. We've got to continue that. 'It's a measure of how far we've come already the fact that we're at this stage of the competition, we've got some very talented footballers and they're going to excel in that environment (at Anfield).' +Wigan manager Malky Mackay is adamant David Sharpe is the perfect man to take the club forward after the 23-year-old was appointed the Football League's youngest chairman this week. Owner Dave Whelan, 78, stepped down from his day-to-day duties at the DW Stadium after 20 years this week and entrusted those responsibilities to his young grandson. Although that succession plan had long been in the pipeline for the Whelan family, the fact Sharpe is coming into a position of power at such a tender age still raised eyebrows. David Sharpe is the new chairman of Wigan Athletic after taking over from his grandfather Dave Whelan . Whelan stepped down from his day-to-day duties at the club and handed over the role to his grandson . However, Mackay is familiar with Sharpe having worked closely alongside him since his appointment in November and the 23-year-old, who was only officially appointed on to the board on Christmas Eve, took on a more central role with chief executive Jonathan Jackson during the recent six-week ban imposed on Whelan by the Football Association. And Mackay has seen enough of Sharpe to be convinced the Sky Bet Championship outfit are in excellent hands. 'It's easy to have a throwaway line about a 23-year-old taking over a football club but he's been round about the football club since he was a young man,' said Mackay. 'He's here every day, is at every game and knows the inside of the football club. I look at the experience and the amount of time somebody has been at a football club. Malky Mackay is familiar with Sharpe and believes the 23-year-old will be a good chairman at the club . 'He's got good people round about him and I know the things that drive him, the things he's passionate about and they are good values for wanting a football club to go forward in terms of academy and recruitment.' Whelan had cited his age as the motivating factor behind his decision to step back and he will address Wigan supporters to say farewell before Saturday's home clash with Leeds. Mackay has only been at the club for a few months but paid tribute to the impact Whelan had made on the 2013 FA Cup winners, who he took from the fourth tier into the top flight, where they spent eight seasons prior to relegation two seasons ago. Mackay also paid tribute to Whelan for the work he did as Wigan chairman over the last 20 years . Whelan kisses the FA Cup after Wigan beat Manchester City at Wembley before being relegated in 2013 . 'He's put his heart, soul and life into this football club over the last 20 years,' added the Scot. 'I played at Springfield Park a long time ago and to then 20 years later have a team that have a beautiful stadium, a lovely training ground and have won the FA Cup and played in the Premier League is quite a story in anybody's book. 'He's manufactured and moulded that. It's a fitting tribute tomorrow to him.' Wigan's Gaetan Bong celebrates after an important win away at Norwich for the relegation-threatened side . +Bruce Jenner was seen moving into his new very private and roomy hilltop property nestled deep within the hills of Malibu on Thursday. And on Tuesday the inside of the $3.5m mansion was revealed. The home, his second since leaving Kris Jenner, has modern touches and sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean as well as a luxurious pool. Scroll down for video . On the move: Bruce Jenner was seen moving into his hilltop mansion in Malibu on Thursday . A look inside: On Tuesday a look inside the house, purchased for a little more than $3.5m, was made available; the property features four bedrooms, a three-car garage, and a pool/spa outside . According to sources quoted by Variety on Monday, Kris Jenner's ex bought the house for $3.575m, a bargain well below the $3.9m asking price. The light grey 3,500 square-foot home is far from modest and sits on 11 acres of land (as reported by People). Built in 2010, the concrete-and-glass structure came with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and 360-degree views of the surrounding hills. Views: In addition to 360-degree vistas overlooking the surrounding hills, the house's veranda and pool have unobstructed views of the ocean . The swimming pool and spa attached to the house also offer an unobstructed sightline to the ocean. A built-in grilling station and an outdoor fireplace are features out by the pool, located on a slightly raised wrap-around porch. Back inside, the kitchen has a centre island fitted with white countertops and cabinets, as well as stainless steel fixtures. White features: A large kitchen features white countertops and cabinets, as well as stainless steel features . Open plan: With no division between the living room (right) and dining room (left), glass walls give the house an open and airy feel . The main part of the mansion features an open-plan design, with a step-down living room with a fireplace and a dining room next to it. Hardwood floors and ornate glass doors mark the entryway. Even the master bath features mountain views from the bathtub - with no near neighbours this is still private - and a glass-walled shower. A bathroom with a view: Even the luxury bathroom allows for spectacular views from the tub . Outside areas: The house is surrounded by covered patios and verandas . Outside, covered patios surround the building that has a three-car garage attached. While the existing photos show the house before Bruce moved in, the E! reality star was spotted moving in several items, including a king-sized mattress and a bed frame. Bruce's son, Brandon, was on-hand to help - he took off his shirt to move bar stools from a white pickup truck into the flashy residence. Wider view: The E! star's new spread is surrounded by 11 acres of land . Move-in day: While more furniture and belongings undoubtedly came separated, Bruce and his son, Brandon, were spotted moving in a few items . Three-car garage: A fan of cars and other motorized toys, Bruce will likely fill his new three-car garage . Though it is large, the property is much less ornate that the Spanish style home he shared with Kris, 59, in Hidden Hills until 2013. The Malibu residence also appears to be brand new with an untouched roof and what appears to be fresh landscaping around the home. Bruce may have chosen to move now as he has been under the microscope lately. Casual for the new place: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star wore a blue striped golf shirt while Brandon went shirtless . Not only has he been strongly hinting that he wants to transition into a female (thanks to longer hair, painted nails and what appears to be a more curvy body sometimes covered by Spanx), but he was also the center of a fatal accident on Pacific Coast Highway on February 7. The father of model daughters Kendall, 19, and Kylie, 17, was driving a dark blue Cadillac Escalade at the time and dragging a dune buggy when he hit 69-year-old widow Kim Howe of nearby Calabasas. She was in a white Lexus and pushed into oncoming traffic where a black Hummer smash into her, causing her to die. Several others were involved in the accident as well and were taken to the hospital. Go daddy!: Brandon watched as Bruce went back into the home where he will no doubt be filming his new E! reality series . Good deal: Surrounding houses have been priced as high as $10m, making Bruce's new digs a steal . His old pad: The property is much less ornate that the Spanish style home he shared with Kris, 59, in Hidden Hills . +Scotland defender Gordon Greer has moved to dampen down expectations ahead of the European Championships qualifier against Gibraltar at Hampden Park on Sunday. UEFA's newest member are bottom of Group D after four matches with no points and have shipped 21 goals including seven in the matches against Poland and Republic of Ireland, without getting off the mark themselves. The Brighton player, however, tried to allay any assumptions of a goal fest and believes patience could be key. Brighton defender Gordon Greer has warned against complacency ahead of Scotland's game with Gibratlar . The Scotland squad train ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifier with bottom placed Gibratlar on Sunday . He said: 'I think the pressure that is on us now is to break them down and score the goals because other teams have done that but ultimately it is all about just winning the game. 'Obviously, if you score a lot of goals in front of your home fans and everything is great then it is a perfect afternoon. 'But these players are no mugs and for me it is all about winning the game and moving on. 'It will be a difficult game and difficult to break them down and we are preparing as best we can. Gordon Strachan's side face a team that is yet to win in four attempts in Group D . 'The squad has watched bits and pieces on video. 'Obviously they were playing against some good opposition. They put men behind the ball in the Germany game, the same against Ireland and Poland, so I think it will be much the same on Sunday. 'You have 90 plus minutes in a game so at the end of the day when the final whistle goes you just want to have three points and hopefully the team puts on a good performance.' Substitute Cristophe Berra (left) scored the winner with a late header in the 1-0 defeat of Northern Ireland . Gordon Strachan's side go into the game on the back of a 1-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland at Hampden on Wednesday night where it took an 85th minute header by substitute Christophe Berra to separate the teams. Greer believes playing against such a stuffy side as the Irish were on the night was ideal preparation for a much more important game. 'The game the other night was a good test for us going in to the Gibraltar game,' he said. 'At times we struggled to break them down in the final third but we will do our best to break Gibraltar down as early as possible.' +Gus Poyet is almost certain to be sacked as Sunderland manager when he meets with the club’s hierarchy on Monday. The Uruguayan will take training at the Academy of Light before talks over his future and the unraveling situation at the club. Influential sporting director Lee Congerton has advised owner Ellis Short that Poyet should be dismissed and the search has already begun for a replacement. Gus Poyet looks set to be sacked by Sunderland following the 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa . Poyet cuts a lonely figure on Saturday as Sunderland are humiliated 4-0 by Aston Villa . Fans showed their outrage as the Black Cats slumped to a record of one win in 12 Premier League games . Jermain Defoe looked dejected as Sunderland went 4-0 down before half time on Saturday . Paul Bracewell (left with U21 manager Robbie Stockdale) and Kevin Ball could take over in the short term . HULL . Chelsea (Home) - March 22 . Swansea (Away) - April 4 . Southampton (Away) - April 11 . Liverpool (Home) - April 18 . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Swansea (Home) - March 21 . Man United (Away) - April 4 . Tottenham (Away) - April 11 . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . *QPR (Home) - Date to be arranged . SUNDERLAND . West Ham (Away) - March 21 . Newcastle (Home) - April 5 . Crystal Palace (Home) - April 11 . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . * Arsenal (Away) - Date to be arranged . BURNLEY . Southampton (Away) - March 21 . Tottenham (Home) - April 5 . Arsenal (Home) - April 11 . Everton (Away) - April 18 . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . QPR . Everton (Home) - March 22 . West Brom (Away) - April 4 . Chelsea (Home) - April 12 . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . *Aston Villa (Away) - Date to be arranged . LEICESTER . Tottenham (Away) - March 21 . West Ham (Home) - April 4 . West Brom (Away) - April 11 . Swansea (Home) - April 18 . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. Bottom six of the Premier League . It is likely that Poyet’s backroom team of Mauricio Taricco and Charlie Oatway will also leave and Kevin Ball and Paul Bracewell are on standby to take temporary charge. Poyet insists he wants to fight on but there is a feeling he has accepted that his 18-month tenure is coming to an end. Saturday's 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa left them one point above the relegation zone after a run of one win in 12 matches. Former Holland and Rangers boss Dick Advocaat is the favourite to replace Poyet. Congerton is close to Frank Arnesen – they worked together at Chelsea and Hamburg – and he is thought to have recommended Advocaat for the role. Sam Allardyce is also high on their shortlist andSportsmail understands the West ham manager, who once played for Sunderland, would be interested in a move to the Stadium of Light. VIDEO Under-fire Poyet understands fan anger . +Jozy Altidore was by no means prolific in the Premier League, but across the Atlantic he scored two goals on his debut for Toronto on the opening day of the MLS season. The 25-year-old American scored one goal in 42 Premier League appearances in the red and white of Sunderland, while before that he netted just once in a season-long loan spell at Hull City. His time in England concluded with two goals in 70 Premier League matches - against Manchester City and Chelsea, to be fair - but upon returning to the league in which he began his career, Altidore scored twice to help Toronto to a 3-1 victory in their first game of the season. Jozy Altidore celebrates with his team-mate Jonathan Osorio after scoring his penalty against Vancouver . Altidore is brought down by Pa Modou Kah (left) in the dying moments of the game to win a penalty . The US international striker moved to Canada as part of a swap deal with Jermain Defoe, and got off to a flyer in his first game, netting a brace. Toronto went 1-0 down to Vancouver Whitecaps in the all-Canadian affair, before Altidore scored his first; one touch to take it round the goalkeeper, and one touch to fire home. Toronto took the lead through Robbie Findley, but Altidore was not finished. The USA striker scored once in 42 league games in England, but has already doubled that at Toronto . Altidore celebrates his one and only Premier League goal for Sunderland, against Chelsea in December 2013 . In the latter stages of the game, the former Sunderland man was brought down in the box by Pa Modou Kah, and opted to take the spot-kick himself. Not content with your average penalty, Altidore's confidence was evident when he produced a Panenka to secure a 3-1 away victory for his side. His dismal three seasons in English football will have done Altidore's career no favours, but if Saturday's performance is anything to go by, it'll be back on track in no time at all. +A mother has made a YouTube video telling a boy to stop asking her daughter out. Dr Lindsey Doe, a blogger under the name 'Doe Eyes' who specializes in sexual harassment, dedicated her latest clip to the teenager who has approached her daughter at school, on the bus, and with poems - despite multiple rejections. In a post titled Dear Boy Who Likes My Daughter, that has amassed more than 250,000 views, Doe explains that pursuing somebody without consent is harassment. Instead, she advises, he should write about his feelings in a diary. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . 'Leave her alone': Dr Lindsey Doe directed a message to the boy who keeps asking out her daughter . Doe, who used to work for the University of Montana, says: 'I don’t like how you treat [my daughter.] Are you confused? You probably picked up messages from society about how when you want something, you have to "try harder, go at it, do whatever you can to get it. Don’t give up!" 'Maybe it’s for this reason that you repeatedly ask my daughter out. In the halls, on the bus, and you write her poems.' For his own understanding, she explains the appropriate way to act after asking a girl out. If she says 'I don't know', give her space. 'Maybe' prompts a conversation about her feelings of uncertainty. Only in the instance that she says 'ask me again later' should he ask again - but much later. Doe, who blogs on YouTube as 'Doe Eyes', explains that he is harassing her daughter with his requests . If he wants to express his feelings, she explains, he should write a diary or speak to a trusted friend . But her daughter, she says, has simply responded: 'no thanks', 'stop asking me', and 'no, no go away'. 'Person Who Likes My Daughter, this goes for all aspects of your life,' Doe says. 'If someone tells you "no" in any way and you ask again, it's not cool, it's not attractive, it's not respectful, it's harassment. 'My daughter has the right to change her mind and the ability to let you know if she does. 'Until then I expect that you do not ask her out, do not suggest a relationship, do not talk to her about her discomfort with you pursuing her. Leave her alone.' +Sam Warburton will become Wales’ most capped captain on Saturday after the flanker overcame a knee problem to be named in the starting XV to face Ireland. The 26-year-old will lead an unchanged line-up for the RBS 6 Nations tie at the Millennium Stadium, where Wales are bidding to keep alive their championship hopes and derail Ireland’s Grand Slam charge. Warburton, who limped off during the victory over France, will overtake Ryan Jones on his landmark appearance, leading out his country for the 34th time since making his debut back in 2009. Sam Warburton (left) will become Wales’ most capped captain after the flanker overcame a knee problem . Wales training during their open session ahead of saturday's RBS Six Nations match against Ireland . Wales coach Warren Gatland smiles during the training session ahead of their vital tie . Gatland has named the same XV that beat France as they take on 'Europe's form team' in Cardiff . Wales head coach Gatland and captain Warburton face the media during the team announcement . ‘Saturday is also a fantastic achievement and honour for Sam,’ said Gatland. ‘He has developed into the role fantastically and is a modern day professional. He is a role model that will continue to get better.' Gatland has made just two changes to his matchday squad, with forwards Jake Ball and Rob Evans replacing the injured Bradley Davies and Paul James on the bench. ‘We return to the Millennium Stadium after two tough away trips with two victories and will be looking to build on that,’ said the Kiwi. ‘We saw an improvement against Scotland and then saw another step up against France and we know we will need to do the same against Ireland on Saturday. Ireland are the form team in Europe and we know it is going to be a huge battle. ‘The changes on the bench mean Rob Evans gets an opportunity. We have been impressed with him for his region and at training. Our strength in depth in the second-row is highlighted again as Jake comes back into the squad.’ Wales lost against England in Cardiff, but have been better in wins over Scotland and France (above) Warburton has overcome a knock picked up against France to captain Wales a record-breaking 34th time . Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), George North (Northampton Saints), Jonathan Davies (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro), Liam Williams (Scarlets), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, CAPT), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons). Replacements: Richard Hibbard (Gloucester), Rob Evans (Scarlets), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Scott Williams (Scarlets). +Make no mistake. A first trophy as Celtic manager was a huge, significant step for Ronny Deila. He took the old cup from Rod Stewart, skipped down the Hampden steps and refused to let go until the ‘Ronny Roar’ — his ceremonial bonding session with the club’s supporters. But this was a day when sobriety was the Parkhead watchword. Sober reflection, followed by a sober celebration. Celtic’s first League Cup since 2009 is the platform for Deila to become only the third Celtic boss to win a domestic Treble. But that’s it. A piece in the jigsaw, no more. The Celtic players celebrate on the podium with the QTS Scottish League Cup after beating Dundee United 2-0 at Hampden Park . Celtic manager Ronny Deila gets ready to lift the Scottish League Cup with his players as The Bhoys kicked off their celebrations . A Scottish Cup replay against Dundee United — who else? — beckons on Wednesday and that ensured there was no prospect of Glasgow’s fast-food outlets cashing in on a Celtic team session last night. The players, captain Scott Brown included, were under orders to be in bed by midnight. ‘We should enjoy the moment,’ said a relieved Deila after an eventful, if unremarkable, final. ‘But there is not going to be any nightlife.’ We should have known Brown would be a key figure here again. The Celtic skipper escaped punishment for the tackle which triggered two red cards – both rescinded – when these teams met at Tannadice last week. His manager then overlooked the front-page pictures of a night of rabble-rousing in Edinburgh before the final. Yet the greatest let-off of all might have been here when referee Bobby Madden denied United – who ended the game with 10 men and a strong sense of injustice - a penalty kick. Popstar and devoted Celtic fan Rod Stewart hands Celtic captain Scott Brown the trophy after the 2-0 victory over Dundee United . Scott Brown lifts the Scottish League Cup alongside keeper Craig Gordon (right) after a difficult week in the headlines . Celtic captain Scott Brown takes a selfie with a unusual phone case in hand as he captures the moment at Hampden Park . Kris Commons (left), who scored Celtic's first after 28 minutes, poses with the Scottish League Cup trophy on Sunday . Dundee United (4-3-2-1): Cierzniak 7; Dillon 6, Morris 6, Fojut 6, Dixon 5; Paton 6 (Erskine 72), Butcher 6, Rankin 6; McGowan 6, Dow 6; Bilate 6(Anier 59) Subs not used: Szromnik, Souttar, Telfer, Connolly, Spittal . Booked: McGowan . Sent off: Dillon . Celtic (4-2-3-1): Gordon 6; Ambrose 7, Van Dijk 7, Denayer 7, Izaguirre 7, Bitton 8 (Henderson 81), Brown 7; Stokes 7, Johansen 7, Commons 7 (Forrest 67); Griffiths 7 (Guidetti 67). Subs not used: Zaluska, Scepovic, Fisher, McGregor. Goals: Commons 28, Forrest 79 . Referee: Bobby Madden . Attendance: 49,259 . MOTM: Nir Bitton. Celtic were ahead at the time. They had exploited their opponents being down to 10 men when skipper Sean Dillon collided with Virgil van Dijk and left the pitch in 23 minutes to receive stitches. He was gone for fully eight minutes. ‘I was about to make a change because it seemed to be taking too long,’ said manager Jackie McNamara afterwards. ‘It proved costly for us. ‘I had Blair Spittal ready to come on and I was going to put Ryan McGowan to right-back. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand for those circumstances.’ Dillon would eventually leave the pitch on a permanent basis in the second half for a reckless challenge on Emilio Izaguirre in 56 minutes. Thereafter, Celtic dominated, scoring again through James Forrest and emphasising why the Tayside club were so willing to wait for their captain when he left the pitch for lengthy treatment. He wasn’t to blame for the insipid Paul Dixon free-kick which allowed Craig Gordon to gather and trigger a Celtic counter. But it was from his position that Anthony Stokes – who had a fine game - chipped a left-foot cross that was prodded towards goal by Kris Commons, changing direction as it came off the inner thigh of Jaroslaw Fojut. Somehow Rado Cierzniak in the United goal clawed it brilliantly on to the post, but Commons would not be denied, thumping the rebound emphatically into the net with his right foot for 1-0. ‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing,’ pondered McNamara. ‘If we had scored from that Dixon free-kick, everyone would be saying it was a great decision not to substitute him and give him a little more time.’ There was more cause for United regret in 36 minutes when Ryan Dow, chasing a through ball into the area was pushed in the back by Brown, a villainous figure through Tannadice eyes. Referee Madden had a good, long look then decided to turn the other way. Brown had ducked SFA punishment last weekend and here was the cause of another Tannadice gripe against authority. Not without justification, it should be said. James Forrest curls in the second goal for Ronny Deila's side as the Scottish Premiership leaders proved their superiority at Hampden Park . John Guidetti (left), on loan from Manchester City, celebrates Forrest's strike for The Hoops as they beat Dundee United . Celtic manager Ronny Deila urges his side to remain focused as they continue to chase a domestic treble . Forrest roars in celebration with the Celtic fans at Hampden Park erupting after Deila's team prevailed 2-0 in the Scottish League Cup final . Predictably, Deila – perhaps seeing it through green and white shades – saw things differently. ‘It was hard to say, but, from what I have been told, it was a good decision,’ he claimed. ‘I think the referee was very good. We are after him whenever he does something wrong, but you have to give them credit when they do a good job.’ In contrast, United foamed with frustration and knew they were done for when they went down to 10 men in 56 minutes. Last Sunday, Paul Paton and Dixon were sent packing. Paton’s proved to be a nonsense, but Dillon’s here was inarguable. The defender lunged into a dangerous challenge on Izaguirre. The Honduran was fortunate to escape serious injury. On the United touchline McNamara raged with the perceived injustice of it all. His side had lost the Scottish Cup Final against St Johnstone last May and they knew, now, another showpiece occasion was slipping away. Celtic’s extra man was telling. Dundee United captain Sean Dillon (right) is sent off for this late challenge on Celtic defender Emilio Izaguirre . Dillon can't hide his devastation after the Dundee United captain was sent for an early shower having been sent off at Hampden Park . In Stokes, Stefan Johansen and Nir Bitton, they had the best players on the pitch. In 67 minutes, Johansen got across Fojut to jab a Leigh Griffiths cross towards goal, the ball shaving the post en route to a narrow United escape. It was the last act for Griffiths before he made way for John Guidetti. James Forrest replaced the tiring Commons and the substitutes would make quite an impact. Forrest and Guidetti started brightly enough, the winger sweeping the critical second goal into the net from 16 yards in 78 minutes after the Swede teed up a Johansen cut-back. Their manager was less impressed with the very public falling out as the two haggled over a penalty kick five minutes from time. Kris Commons managed to fire Celtic ahead from an acute angle during the first-half, as Deila (right) roars in celebration . Commons put The Bhoys ahead on the half hour mark with his 11th goal of the season in all competitions with Celtic . Commons is congratulated by his team-mates having put the Scottish Premiership leaders in front during the League Cup final . Referee Madden showed no hesitation when Forrest was pulled back by Dixon. ‘He was very quick to point to the spot that time,’ said a caustic McNamara afterwards. Forrest grabbed the ball, resisting Guidetti’s determined and very vocal efforts to do the same. The winger placed the ball down, then placed a weak effort too close to Cierzniak, the United keeper preventing a third goal. An unimpressed Deila explained afterwards: ‘Both of the players who were going to take a penalty, Leigh Griffiths and Kris Commons, were off the park. It looks like it was the first to the ball, but I don’t like that they argue about that. Forrest earned Celtic a penalty late on under this challenge from Dundee United's Paul Dixon in the closing stages . Several Celtic players wanted Guidetti to take the spot-kick but Forrest insisted and eventually missed his penalty . ‘It is stupid. That is not the team spirit I want.’ As the final whistle signalled a significant day for the Norwegian, Guidetti marched straight down the tunnel in a huff, clearly furious. He was retrieved by Mikael Lustig, possibly on Deila’s orders. ‘There is a lot of emotion in these situations and strikers, especially, want to score goals,’ he continued. ‘Again, we have to put the team in front of ourselves. It is something we have work on all the time and learn from through experience. This is not team spirit. It is individual thinking - and I don’t want anything to do with that.’ Collectively, Celtic have much to excite them. A Treble hovers on the horizon. The late night celebrations can wait. Keeper Craig Gordon gets the drinks flowing in the dressing room and sprays champagne at his team-mates . Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon poses with the Scottish League Cup trophy in the winning changing room . Celtic boss Eonny Deila enters the dressing room with a smile on his face after the The Bhoys won the Scottish League Cup final . Goalscorers James Forrest (left) and Kris Commons (right) pose with the Scottish League Cup final trophy in front of the fans . After a testing week in the headlines for the Celtic captain, Scott Brown holds up the trophy in front of the adoring fans . Deila hopes to become the third Celtic manager to achieve a domestic treble with The Bhoys, having won the League Cup on Sunday . +Two firemen who took a selfie while standing in front of a blazing shopping mall are facing the sack after 17 people died in the fire. Ilya Bykov, 30, and Rostislav Krylov, 28, were called to the incident at the Admiral centre in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday. Around 55 people including two emergency workers were seriously injured in the fire, which is thought to have started in a cafe next door. Ilya Bykov, 30, and Rostislav Krylov, 28, took a selfie while standing in front of a blazing shopping mall in Russia and are now facing the sack after 17 people died in the fire . Officials were alerted to the photograph after it was posted on social networking site VKontakte. The men may now face disciplinary steps, authorities said. The fire was at first tackled by a lone security guard but as it raged out of control he phoned the emergency services. Around 500 riot police were eventually deployed to stop members of the public entering the building. The photograph attracted lots of attention on the site with users criticising the two men. Around 55 people including two emergency workers were seriously injured in the fire. It was not immediately known how many people were missing . Firefighters try to extinguish the huge fire at the Admiral centre in Kazan, which is 720 kilometres (450 miles) east of Moscow . Yegor Tokaryev wrote: 'Christ! People are dying in there and these men are smiling and taking photos!! They are there to save lives.' And Svetlana Kapustina wrote: 'It makes me sick to think that while those poor people were burning to death these two were treating it as some sort of joke. 'Shame on them.' Red mannequins and other debris from the shopping centre were piled up outside while firefighters looked on . Many of those injured in the fire were hurt as they tried to save their shopping, according to local media reports . It is thought that the blaze, which burnt most of the building to the ground, began in a cafe situated next to the shopping centre . A spokesman for the Regional Emergency Situations Department said: 'Most of the emergency workers called to the scene did their job competently and efficiently. 'These two are not characteristic of those who work hard every day, tirelessly saving lives. 'We are looking into the circumstances behind the photo and if it is found that the actions of these two firemen put people's lives at risk they shall be fired and criminal proceedings brought against them.' +When he’s not missing sitters, Arsenal adore him. When they’re not jeering and cheering the decision to replace him, the fans like nothing more than belting out his name to the tune of 'Hey Jude'. Olivier Giroud’s world is a little mixed up right now, but it is never boring. Having missed three months of the campaign with a broken ankle, he is making up for lost time by cramming in the emotions. On Boxing Day, there was the daft red card against Queen’s Park Rangers for butting Nedum Onuoha and there was last week against Monaco. Olivier Giroud stabs in Arsenal's first goal of the evening against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Wednesday . Giroud lifts Arsenal team-mate Tomas Rosicky up in the air in celebration of his goal shortly after the hour mark . Alexis Sanchez cut in from the left hand side to score from a tight angle and end his run of eight games without a goal . Sanchez celebrates doubling Arsenal's lead mid way through the second half at Loftus Road . The Chile international let out a roar after hitting the target at Loftus Road as Kieran Gibbs joined him to celebrate . Sanchez did take a tumble during the match at Loftus Road and almost ended up in a camera pit . Charlie Austin scored a superb consolation goal late in the game after being given too much room by Arsenal's defence . The France international blows kisses to the Arsenal supporters after breaking the deadlock in west London . Giroud was guilty of missed good chances in the first leg of the Champions League tie and took the blame was his side lost 3-1 at home. It is hard to see them getting out of that particular fix, but he has set about making amends for a poor display by getting back in the goals. 'He is strong mentally,' said manager Arsene Wenger. 'He can take criticism and respond.' Giroud was on target against Everton on Sunday and opened the scoring in the 64th minute at Loftus Road last night with his 13th goal of the season, one which gave Arsenal control of this lively London derby. Alexis Sanchez added the second, his first in eight games, and Wenger eased three points closer to the total of 72 he thinks will be required to be safely back in the Champions League next season. As for QPR, the relegation woes deepen and it is beginning to look ominous for them at the bottom. QPR (4-4-2): Green 6; Furlong 6, Onuoha 6 (Hill 45, 6), Caulker 6, Yun 6; Phillips 6, Henry 6, Sandro 5 (Kranjcar 57, 5), Hoilett 5; Zamora 6, Austin 6.5. Subs not used: McCarthy, Isla, Wright-Phillips, Vargas, Zarate. Goals: Austin. Bookings: Henry . Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ospina 6; Bellerin 6.5, Mertesacker 6, Gabriel 6.5 (Koscielny 36, 6), Gibbs 6.5; Cazorla 7, Coquelin 6.5; Rosicky 6.5, Ozil 6 (Welbeck 94), Sanchez 6; Giroud 7.5. Subs not used: Martinez, Chambers, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott. Goals: Giroud, Sanchez. Bookings: Bellerin . MoM: Giroud . Ref: Kevin Friend 5 . Att: 17,977 . CLICK HERE to see Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE feature for stats, goals (like Sanchez's - above), heat maps and more. Sanchez takes on young Queens Park Rangers defender Darnell Furlong during the Premier League clash . Former Real Madrid playmaker Mesut Ozil complains to the referee after feeling he was fouled inside the area . Arsenal's Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina makes a good save during the first half at Loftus Road . Arsenal's latest signing Gabriel pulls up with a hamstring injury before being substituted for Laurent Koscielny . Francis Coquelin, who suffered a fractured nose in Arsenal's previous match, controls the ball under pressure from Karl Henry . They may have enjoyed a sunshine break in the Middle East but they returned to London to find the gulf was still as it was, even though Charlie Austin pulled a goal back with a terrific strike on the turn, eight minutes from time. Austin must hope England boss Roy Hodgson had not gone home early. Other than that, QPR were left with nothing to show for a spirited performance and a bold opening. They were the better team during a high-tempo first half-hour, hustling in midfield, and attacking Arsenal’s centre-halves in the air. It was physical at times. Kieran Gibbs was felled by a stray elbow from Bobby Zamora as the pair jostled for a ball in the air, but no foul was given and there was no obvious intent. Gibbs was able to continue. Onuoha was forced off in the first-half and this time Giroud was not the problem but Steven Caulker. The team-mates clashed heads and Onuoha was left with cut near his left eye. Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista coped well with QPR’s initial aerial attack, and goalkeeper David Ospina commanded his area well during this period. Gabriel limped off before half-time with a hamstring strain, and Wenger fears he may be out for three weeks. The French midfielder at full stretch in mid air during the Premier League clash on Wednesday evening . Ozil, voted Arsenal's player of the month for February, holds off the challenge of Nedum Onuoha . Queens Park Rangers' top scorer Austin unleashes a shot from distance during the first half . Arsenal's top scorer for the season Sanchez is tracked by QPR youngster Furlong at Loftus Road . World Cup-winning midfielder Ozil takes a corner during the first half of the Premier League match . QPR went into this game having not won in nine London derbies. They have another chance to stop the rot on Saturday against Spurs. Austin was the only real threat, looking sharp and hungry around the fringes of the penalty box and quick on draw, striking the ball cleanly and forcing saves from Ospina. He went close with a flashing drive from 20 yards, which faded an inch or two wide. Ramsey’s team, however, could not find the goal which might have galvanised them and, as the first half wore on, they faded. Arsenal enjoyed more comfortable possession and Rob Green came under threat for the first time. Green responded with three solid saves to frustrate Giroud and one to deny Santi Cazorla. Wenger’s team came out with more urgency and purpose after the interval. 'It was important to get the ball on the ground, not only fight but fight and play,' said the Arsenal boss. 'In the second half, we did that. We fought and played.' Tomas Rosicky set the tone, tearing past Sandro to deliver a cross from the right which clipped Mesut Ozil on the shin and flew clear. Ozil callled for a penalty and the replays suggested he had a strong case. Karl Henry pull him by the shirt. It went unseen and Henry, having been booked in the first-half, escaped. Just as Arsenal started to wonder if it might be one of those days, Giroud pounced. An overlap and low cross from Gibbs was blocked by Clint Hill and, when it spilled his way, the French centre-forward reacted swiftly to turn it past Green from an acute angle. The second came from the same area. This time, it was Sanchez who, having come to life after the interval, jinked inside from the left, dummied, jinked again and screwed a low shot into the bottom corner. For Sanchez, it was the 19th of his debut season in England and, if Green was annoyed to be beaten at his near-post, he then produced the save of the night, pushing a deflecting low drive from Ozil onto the post. Austin pulled one back, his 15th of the season, but it was the Arsenal fans who filed out into the streets of Shepherd’s Bush singing Giroud’s name, while QPR fans went home fearing their time in the Barclays Premier League might be ticking away. 'We’re in a pressure situation,' said Ramsey. 'We need to start winning to stay in the division.' QPR defender Onuoha attempts to hold back Arsenal forward Giroud during the first half in west London . Onuoha is taken off injured after clashing heads with defensive partner Steven Caulker - Giroud, meanwhile, protests his innocence . Former Barcelona youth team player Hector Bellerin beats his man while attacking down the wing on Wednesday . Arsenal's other full back, Gibbs, is tackled by QPR winger Junior Hoilett during the second half . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger greets Queens Park Rangers boss Chris Ramsey ahead of kick-off at Loftus Road . +Former Gloucester and Sale boss Bryan Redpath has been appointed as the new head coach of Greene King IPA Championship club Yorkshire Carnegie on a two-year contract. The 44-year-old former Scotland international will join the Leeds club with immediate effect, 24 hours after leaving Sale, and becomes their fourth head coach in a year following the departures of James Lowes, Gary Mercer and Tommy McGee. Executive president Sir Ian McGeechan, who has been in temporary charge, said: 'We are delighted to have secured a coach of the calibre of Bryan for Yorkshire Carnegie. Former Gloucester and Sale boss Bryan Redpath has been named as Yorkshire Carnegie's new head coach . Yorkshire Carnegie's executive president Sir Ian McGeechan was thrilled to have secured Redpath . 'He is someone I have known well for many years and I can see that the same drive and passion he had as a player has been carried through into his coaching career.' Redpath said: 'I am excited about the massive opportunity and challenge we have here at Yorkshire Carnegie. 'There is a clear vision for what the club wants to do over the next few years and I want to be part of that project.' Redpath evades the tackle of Leicester's Harry Ellis during his playing days for Sale back in 2004 . +Stuart Lancaster has indicated it will be England’s forwards who will come under the selection microscope ahead of his side’s Six Nations decider with France. The England coach has ruled out wholesale changes for Saturday’s Twickenham clash but hinted at freshening up his pack in a bid to counter France’s muscular eight. Dylan Hartley’s position at hooker is under threat from Leicester’s Tom Youngs while his club team-mate Geoff Parling could replace Dave Attwood at lock after both men impressed off the bench against Scotland. Stuart Lancaster watches his team win against Scotland, but may still make changes for the final game . Tom Youngs is one of several forwards who could be in line to start against France next Saturday . Dave Attwood, who wasn't as good against Scotland as he had been against Ireland, could be replaced . Alex Corbisiero could come into contention after Joe Marler was twice penalised for scrummaging offences, although concerns remain over the Northampton Saint’s shoulder. The blindside flanker position will also be considered with Tom Wood vying with James Haskell for a starting spot. ‘Selection is based on the team we think is best suited to beat France and that will be the priority,’ Lancaster said. Dylan Hartley, seen here tackling Blair Cowan, could also be replaced as Lancaster shuffles his pack . Tom Wood is likely to compete with James Haskell for the position of blindside flanker against France . ‘I won’t be making wholesale changes. There were enough positives in that performance from players to show that there’s real potential there and the impact from the bench was strong.’ England’s management and players insist they have learned lessons from previous Championship deciders which have seen them fall at the final hurdle, including against Wales two years ago and Ireland in 2011 — before Lancaster took charge. ‘Getting the balance right in the week and making sure we don’t overdo it and play too early in the week is key,’ he said. ‘My experience two years ago was that when it came to the game we were probably emotionally beyond the point we needed to be.’ Going in to the final weekend of the Six Nations, four teams - England, Ireland, Wales and France - are still in with a shout of claiming the trophy. Here's how each can be victorious. +Wolfsburg produced an impressive second-half fightback to win 5-3 at Werder Bremen and tighten their grip on second place in the Bundesliga. From 3-2 behind at half-time, manager Dieter Hecking's visitors turned the contest around with two goals from Bas Dost and Daniel Caligiuri's second of the match to inflict a first league defeat of 2015 on Bremen. Bremen had earlier led three times thanks to Zlatko Junuzovic, Franco Di Santo and a Vieirinha own goal, but Wolfsburg replied through Caligiuri and Maximilian Arnold before the break. Wolfsburg produced an impressive second-half fightback to win 5-3 at Werder Bremen on Sunday . Bas Dost continued his impressive goal-scoring form with a brace during the Bundesliga clash . Andre Schurrle posted a picture on Instagram with his Wolfsburg team-mates . Former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is tracked by Werder defender Theodor Gebre . Dutch striker Dost, on stunning form this year, netted his 10th and 11th Bundesliga goals of 2015 to transform the match in the second half, before teeing up Wolfsburg's fifth for Caligiuri. Bayern Munich continue to lead the way in the German top flight, but Wolfsburg are the closest challengers eight points back, and they in turn hold a 10-point cushion over third-placed Borussia Monchengladbach . Monchengladbach, 2-0 winners on Sunday against Paderborn, have a four-point lead of their own over nearest rivals Bayer Leverkusen. Two deflected goals secured Monchengladbach's victory, with Fabian Johnson and Patrick Herrmann the scorers. Paderborn finished the weekend inside the bottom three for the first time this season. Bremen's Zlatko Januzovic with an acrobatic effort during the Bundesliga match on Sunday . The Werder Bremen players celebrate after taking the lead during the first half . Dutch striker Dost, who's been the club's best player this season, celebrates with Daniel Caligiuri . +Daniel Vettori says it's 'pretty obvious' he'll play his last one-day international for New Zealand in Sunday's Cricket World Cup final. Vettori flew from Melbourne with his team-mates on Wednesday to prepare for the final against the winner of Thursday's match between Australia and India in Sydney. He will play his 295th one-dayer for New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, 18 years and four days since he played his first. Vettori made his debut for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in 1997, aged 18. He has since taken 305 wickets and scored more than 2,200 one-day runs and will retire, aged 36, as New Zealand's most-capped player. Daniel Vettori said it is 'pretty obvious' he will retire after Sunday's World Cup final in Melbourne . Vettori poses for a picture on arrival at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday with the New Zealand team . Vettori said 'it's not what I'm thinking about. It's about enjoying the game, enjoying the build-up to a World Cup final.' New Zealand booked their place in the MCG showpiece with a thrilling four-wicket victory over South Africa at Eden Park in Auckland. The co-hosts have won all eight matches so far in the tournament on their way to the final. Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming heaped praise on current incumbent Brendon McCullum for leading the Kiwis into their first ever World Cup final. The Black Caps had on six previous occasions reached the last four, including twice under Fleming, but never made the final. Vettori and Grant Elliott steered New Zealand to a thrilling final over, four-wicket victory over South Africa . Fleming, one of New Zealand's most successful captains, knows the setbacks his country have endured in the global tournament and admitted his incredulity at their feat in his column on the International Cricket Council's website. He said: 'There is a dream-like euphoria mixed with a pinch-me feeling of disbelief throughout the country, given the Black Caps' success in winning their way through to Melbourne and Sunday's final has finally smashed that World Cup glass ceiling by banishing all the years of semi-final heartaches. 'As a captain who suffered two of those heartaches, in 1999 and 2007, to see a New Zealand side playing with the freedom and quality that Brendon McCullum and his players are producing certainly warms the heart.' New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum arrives at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday . Ross Taylor was all smiles at Melbourne Airport as New Zealand arrived for the World Cup final . Tim Southee signs an autograph for a spectator at Melbourne Airport after a flight from New Zealand . Fleming, who played 111 Tests and 280 one-day internationals, knows their supporters will be outnumbered, whoever triumphs in the second semi-final, but hopes they can reproduce the form that has got them this far. 'It will be a tough one to negotiate,' he added. 'Either way, New Zealand will know they will face a crowd in which their own supporters will be in the minority by quite some margin. 'I am not sure it matters who McCullum's men end up playing because either opponent at this stage of the tournament will be top-notch. 'But the quality the Black Caps have produced has been exceptional time and time again in this tournament and I just hope they can do it once more on Sunday. 'And if they do then that is one dream I would happily never wake up from.' +Arsenal duo David Ospina and Gabriel Paulista are increasingly integral parts of the Gunners back line according to pundit Danny Murphy. Keeper David Ospina put in another reassuring performance, making a string of key saves as Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 on Sunday to recover from the midweek horror show against Monaco. Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy also singled out centre back Gabriel Paulista, a January transfer window acquisition from Villarreal, who impressed in defence in place of Per Mertesacker. Arsenal duo David Ospina and Gabriel Paulista (right) celebrate beating Everton 2-0 at the Emirates . Match of the Day 2 pundit Danny Murphy (right) praised the performance of Ospina and Paulista . ‘Ospina has been really impressive. He made a really important save at 1-0 and got better as the game went on,' Murphy said on Match of the Day. ‘I thought the criticism he received in the week (against Monaco) was harsh. Gabriel reads situations and those two have been real positives.' The Gunners next face Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Wednesday, hoping to cement their place in the Premier League top four. Ospina (left) made some crucial saves and interceptions to keep a clean sheet against Everton at the Emirates . Gabriel Paulista (right) and Ospina, clearing the ball, impressed pundit Danny Murphy in Sunday's 2-0 win . Olivier Giroud celebrates his opening strike at the Emirates as Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 on Sunday . +Liverpool are watching Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello. The 22-year-old has impressed in what has been a difficult season for his club in Serie A. Sportiello has come through the youth system at Atalanta top become the club's first choice keeper this season. Young Atalanta keeper Marco Sportiello has been impressing Liverpool, Inter and AC Milan . Brendan Rodgers wants increased competition for Simon Mignolet at Old Trafford . Milan and Inter have also enquired about Sportiello but Atalanta moved to extend his contract until 2019. Liverpool like the fact that he is also good with his feet and distributes the ball well. Manager Brendan Rodgers wants increased competition for Simon Mignolet. Chelsea's Petr Cech is another option though he would be more expensive and would want to start as No 1. Atalanta currently sit just three points above the relegation zone, having lost four of their last five league games. Reds have also been linked with Petr Cech (right) who has lost his place at Chelsea to Thibaut Courtois . +A filmmaker and Playgirl 'Man Of The Year' centerfold model who made waves when he came out as gay has died. Dirk Shafer, 52, was found dead in his car in West Hollywood on Thursday after a possible heart attack, Deadline reports. He became a pioneering mouthpiece on the subject of gay lifestyle and the heated circuit club scene in the 1990s. Man Of The Year: Dirk Shafer, 52, was Playgirl's 1992 Man Of The Year before he came out as gay and spoke out about the pressures on men to appear straight. He has been found dead in his car in West Hollywood . A fixture of Hollywood, and trainer to the stars, Shafer rubbed shoulders with the likes of Joan Rivers . Will & Grace star Eric McCormack paid tribute to his friend, gym buddy and one-time co-star Shafer on Twitter . Among those to pay tribute was Will & Grace star Eric McCormack, who trained with Shafer. He wrote: 'Lost a good man today. #DirkShafer dear pal and awesome trainer for 17 years. Sending love to his family and so many friends. Be at peace, D' Satirizing the need to appear 'straight' in his modeling career, Shafer directed, wrote and starred in the acclaimed mockumentary Man Of The Year in 1995. Later in life: Shafer went on to make two acclaimed movies, dabbled in acting and physically trained stars . Six years later, his movie about the gay club scene, Circuit, was awarded Best Film at the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Illinois-born Shafer later landed a role as Blaze on the hit sitcom Will & Grace, before becoming a fitness trainer in Hollywood. His celebrity clients at Swapoutworkout included Katy Perry, Richard Dreyfuss, and Tiffanni Thiessen. In 2012, Shafer posed naked once more for Playgirl to mark 20 years since his centerfold. +NFL star Tom Brady worried Patriots Nation and probably caused Bill Belichick to spit out his morning coffee on Saturday after he posted a video of himself jumping off a giant cliff. The 37-year-old, who was with Gisele Bundchen when he made the leap, shared the video on Facebook along with the message: 'Never doing that again! #AirBrady'. After the 15-year veteran shared the video on Facebook in the morning, video of him playing basketball with NBA legend Michael Jordan began to emerge on social media during the afternoon. Scroll down for video . Tom Brady posted a video of himself going cliff diving while he was vacationing during the NFL offseason . Brady was with supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen and their children when he made the leap in Costa Rica . The New England Patriots quarterback launched himself off the edge of a cliff and didn't look back . The 37-year-old star, who has won four Super Bowls during the course of his career, landed safely below . Brady posted the video on Facebook on Saturday and then was seen playing basketball with Michael Jordan . After Brady posted the video of the dive onto his Facebook page, he indicated it might be his last big jump . Brady and his family were recently in Costa Rica on a family holiday, NESN reported. The pickup basketball game, which also featured golfer Keegan Bradley, took place in the Bahamas, according to FanSided. Jordan, who won six NBA titles over the course of his career and is now the  majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, can be heard talking trash during the video clip of the pickup game. Tom Brady (left) golfed with NBA legend Michael Jordan (right) and PGA pro Keegan Bradley (next to him) Before he was seen on the cliff or in the Bahamas, Brady hit the beach with Bundchen and their kids . The three professionals also played golf together at some point, as shown in a photo Bradley posted on Instagram. Brady is taking a well-earned break after guiding New England to a thrilling Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Glendale, Arizona last month. The 28-24 victory over Seattle at the University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1 clinched an elusive fourth Super Bowl ring for Brady, a decade after he won his third. The four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback has earned nearly $150million in salary alone over the course of his career, according to Spotrac. If Brady wins another title, he will be the only quarterback in history with five Super Bowl wins. He would have to win the big game two more times to equal Jordan's six. Jordan, 52, earned about $94million in salary during his 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association . Bundchen and daughter Vivian rocked their two-piece bikinis for the beach trip on the clear and sunny day . The tight-knit family took a walk down the beach shoreline just before sunset to end their day at the beach . The win in Glendale, Arizona, was Brady's fourth Super Bowl title and it might not be his last . +Leon McKenzie, the Premier League striker turned delivery driver, added another chapter to his remarkable story as he won his first title as a professional boxer by claiming the international masters belt at the iconic York Hall. It was 10 years ago next month that McKenzie scored for Norwich in a famous 2-0 win over Manchester United at Carrow Road. It has been a decade of ups and downs since for 'Big McK', who endured crippling depression which culminated in a suicide attempt in a Bexleyheath hotel room. But, in boxing, the former Premier League star has found redemption and has been building to this moment since turning professional in June 2013. And, after making a living from taking his chances on the pitch, McKenzie did not let this one pass. Leon McKenzie poses after winning his first title as a professional boxer by at the iconic York Hall . McKenzie won his first title as a professional boxer by claiming the international masters belt . The soon-to-be 37-year-old dominated Croatian fighter Ivan Stupalo during Saturday night's victory . The 36-year- dominated the 10-round super-middleweight contest against Croatian Ivan Stupalo, winning ever round on referee Marcus McDonnell's card, to claim the strap which makes him the mandatory for the southern area title. He said: 'Look at how far I've come. If you look where I was five years ago, I'm lucky to even be here. I want to thank my team, this is a journey not just about me but about so many other people. I want to thank God – this is my second chance, my second career. 'It was my first 10 rounder and I enjoyed it in there. I had to be cautious, I had to move around and use my jab. I stuck to the game plan and now I've got this belt and the journey continues. I'm 37 in May – how many 37-year-olds do you know who could do that?' Former footballer McKenzie celebrates his win with his family at the Iconic York Hall on Saturday night . Boxing talent McKenzie has made the venue is home having fought all but one of his fights there . Boxing talent is very much in the blood for McKenzie. His father Clinton, his trainer and cornerman here at York Hall, is a former British and European light-welterweight champion. His uncle Duke, meanwhile, remains Britain's only modern three-weight world champion. In fact his father made his professional debut in this very ring in Bethnal Green in October 1976. Then, in 1981, Clinton won his British title here too. It was also a happy hunting ground for uncle Duke, who won both of his fights in this famous corner of the East End. Now Croydon-born McKenzie has made this his home with all but one of his previous fights happening here while his opponent was beaten on his only other outing here, when he challenged Andreas Evangelou for the vacant international masters light-heavyweight title. Mckenzie wins his first title in the ring at York Hall and gives his mum a hug as his Dad Clinton looks on . Stupalo, of Split, has since dropped down seven pounds to the super-middleweight division and represented a real step up in class for McKenzie, who, for the first time, was facing an opponent with a winning record. But operating from behind his stiff southpaw jab, McKenzie dominated a cagey first round and occasionally found a home for his straight left to body. He maintained a composed pace in the second, evading Stupalo's rare forward forays. McKenzie forced the Croatian on to the ropes and ran out with a deserved 100-90 points victory . In the fifth, McKenzie began to let his hands go and opened up a cut on his opponent's head with intelligent use of his backhand. It was not until the seventh road that Stupalo got through, but McKenzie just flashed a grin and got back to his business. By the eighth the man from Croatia was spending a lot of time on the ropes but McKenzie was unable to find a finishing blow and instead ran out with a deserved 100-90 points victory. The fight was part of a Goodwin Boxing Promotion shown live and exclusive on Matchroom Fight Pass. +Veteran Joe Perry claimed the biggest prize of his professional career as he beat Mark Williams to win the Players Championship on Saturday. After seeing off Stuart Bingham with ease in their Bangkok semi-final, Cambridge cueman Perry seemed to have run out of steam as he fell 3-0 down to final opponent Williams. With Williams an experienced final player and having beaten Judd Trump in the semis, there looked to be no way back for Perry as the two-time World Champion rattled in breaks of 64, 57 and 103. Joe Perry in action earlier this week at the Players Championship in Bangkok . Perry beat Mark Williams (pictured) 4-3 in the final on Saturday . But Perry found some resolve and after taking a scrappy frame to stay alive reeled off three breaks north of 50 to get over the line 4-3 and take a first ranking title at the age of 40, as well as a winner's cheque for £100,000. Williams had earlier beaten World Grand Prix champion Trump 4-2. He was never behind against the Englishman - who top-scored with a fine 102 - and got over the line with runs of 74 and 85. Perry was also a comfortable last-four winner, keeping Bingham to one frame in a 4-1 victory. Perry top-scored with an opening-frame 86 and then reeled off three in a row after Bingham had levelled at 1-1. +Twice winner Maria Sharapova and reigning champion Flavia Pennetta advanced to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday, though in sharply contrasting fashion. Russian Sharapova, the second seed, made a fast start to overpower Belgian Yanina Wickmayer early on but then ran into much stiffer resistance before grinding out a 6-1 7-5 win after one hour and 45 minutes of baseline battle. Fifteenth-seeded Italian Pennetta overcame an initial bout of nerves to finish strong as she launched her title defence with a commanding 6-4 6-2 win over American Madison Brengle in the first match of the day on the stadium court. Maria Sharapova is searching for a third title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells . Belgian Yanina Wickmayer put up some resistance before bowing out in straight sets . The world No 2 admitted having trouble in the second set before setting up a clash with Victoria Azarenka . Sharapova, champion at Indian Wells in 2006 and 2013, broke Wickmayer's serve three times to sweep through the opening set in just over half an hour, a crunching forehand crosscourt winner putting her ahead 6-1. However, the Belgian was a very different proposition in the second set which went comfortably with serve until a marathon 10th game where Wickmayer saved four match points before holding to level at 5-5. Sharapova held serve to lead 6-5 and finally converted a sixth match point in the 12th when the Belgian hit a backhand long. 'She's a tough opponent,' world No 2 Sharapova said in a courtside interview. 'She hits the ball quite hard and has an unbelievable serve. I started the match well but the second set was a different story.' Eugenie Bouchard made light work of her second round opponent Lucie Hradecka . The Canadian was ponly on court for just under an hour before breezing into the third round . The Russian will next meet Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who brushed aside Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-2 6-4. Pennetta, best known for her doubles prowess, broke Brengle's serve once in a tightly contested opening set and twice more in the second to wrap up victory in 75 minutes at a sun-drenched Indian Wells Tennis Garden. 'I was nervous in the beginning,' the 33-year-old from Brindisi, a winner of 10 WTA titles, said after ending the match with a rasping forehand crosscourt winner. 'Last year here, I played so well and I have such good memories. This morning I woke up and I was a little bit shaky. So I was trying to be focused on what I had to do, and not rush.' Pennetta will next face Australian Samantha Stosur, who beat American wildcard Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-2. Reigning champion Flavia Pennetta got the defence of her title off to a winning start against Madison Brengle . In Saturday's evening encounter, sixth-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard eased past Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka 6-2 6-2. The 21-year-old Bouchard, who reached the last four in Australia and France as well as the Wimbledon final in 2014, broke her opponent's serve three times in each set to wrap up victory in under an hour. In other matches, fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark battled past Tunisia's Ons Jabeur 7-6(3) 6-4 and fifth-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 champion here, hammered Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-1. +Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini has revealed he does not like seeing foreign-born players on Italy's national team. The former Manchester City boss was responding to this weekend's call ups of Sampdoria's Brazilian-born striker Eder and Palermo's Argentine-born midfielder Franco Vazquez to Italy's squad. Vazquez's mother is Italian while Eder gained citizenship through more distant relatives. Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini thinks that players not born in Italy shouldn't represent the national team . Speaking at a Serie A meeting Monday, Mancini said:, 'The Italian national team should be Italian. 'An Italian player deserves to play for the national team while someone who wasn't born in Italy, even if they have relatives, I don't think they deserve to.' Dozens of foreign-born players - mainly Brazilians and Argentines - have appeared for Italy over the years, highlighted by Omar Sivori and Jose Altafini in the 1960's and Omar Camoranesi during the Azzurri's 2006 World Cup victory. Franco Vasquez of Palermo is eligible to play for the national side because his mother was born in Italy . Brazilian-born Eder of Sampdoria gained Italian citizenship through some distance relatives of his . +England coach Peter Moores should be removed from his current position and put in charge of the 'kids', according to former captain Michael Vaughan. Moores, handed a second stint as head coach last April, has come under intense fire since England's defeat by Bangladesh on Monday condemned them to an early return from the World Cup. Vaughan believes Moores' talents have been wasted: 'Moores was at his best working with the Lions (development team) many years ago,' Vaughan said in the Daily Telegraph. Peter Moores (centre) oversaw a disastrous World Cup campaign with England in Australia and New Zealand . Moores would be better off working with young cricketers, according to Michael Vaughan . 'The job of England coach has become about man management, helping with tactics and picking the right team. At international level you do not have time to coach. 'What is the best thing for English cricket going forward? I believe it is time to remover Peter Moores from his current position and put him in a job where he can have the biggest impact on English cricket.' 'I always say the best coach works with kids and development programmes between the age of 15 and 20.' Vaughan said England's conservative approach to the one-day game had resulted in them being left behind by the likes of Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and India, while even Ireland, Vaughan said, were playing better one-day cricket. Vaughan played for England and oversaw some amazing success while he was captaining the side . Moores should be removed from his current position and put him in a job where he can have the biggest impact on English cricket, according to Vaughan . 'England started the tournament by picking a Test match batting line-up for one-day cricket ,' Vaughan said. '(Managing director) Paul Downton said last night England needed more players appearing in Twenty20 leagues around the world to gain experience. 'Well, Alex Hales has been doing that but England did not pick him. Ravi Bopara, Michael Carberry, Luke Wright, Ben Stokes and Jason Roy, they all played Big Bash cricket but were ignored. England should have looked at these guys last year. England vice-captain Jos Buttler looks disappointed after England were eliminated from the World Cup . A defeat by Bangladesh left England unable to progress from their Pool in the World Cup . 'You do not need five gears any more, you need eight. 'England do not get the fact that you need four Jos Buttlers, not one. You need four or five who have the ability to strike it at a rate of 120 per 100 balls.' Vaughan said the World Cup had been a wasted opportunity for England to change tack. 'I felt they had a free hand here, with no expectation of success,' he said. 'They had the chance to play expansive cricket and press 'G' for gamble. Instead they played the safest, and most timid way.' +Actor Jon Voight has released a video voicing his support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his disdain for President Barack Obama. The Oscar winner and father of actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie does not waste time going after Obama either, saying almost right off the bat; 'President Obama does not love Israel.' He follows this up by saying; 'His whole agenda is to control Israel. In this way, he can be friends with all of Israel’s enemies.' Scroll down for video . Actor Jon Voight (above) has released a video voicing his support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his disdain for President Barack Obama . The Oscar winner claims Obama 'does not love Israel' and rather wants to control the country to be friends with Israel's enemies . He then goes a step further in the video, which is an exclusive to Just Jared, and says of Obama; 'He doesn’t want Bibi Netanyahi to win this upcoming election. America has not been the same since his presidency. I beg all of you to understand the truth.' As for his reason behind the video, he says; 'I love Israel. I want to see Israel survive and not be overtaken by the mad men of this world.' Voight, who attended The Catholic University of America, has long been a fervent and vocal supporter of Israel and its people. He previously attacked Obama for his dealings with the country back in July 2008 in a Washington Times editorial, before he was even elected to office. Voight, a Republican, wrote in the piece; 'If, God forbid, we live to see Mr. Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way.' It's not just Obama either, as he also lashed out at his former costar Jane Fonda in a FOX News interview, saying the actress had been 'aiding and abetting those who seek the destruction of Israel.' He has also previously labeled Obama a liar and an anti-semite in interviews. +England's hopes of landing their first Grand Slam of Stuart Lancaster’s reign have been dashed again as Ireland deservedly earned a victory that leaves them red-hot favourites to retain their Six Nations title. Lancaster’s men rarely threatened reproduce the form that saw them open the Championship with wins over Wales and Italy as Robbie Henshaw’s second-half try, allied to 14 points from the boot of Jonny Sexton, inflicted a demoralising defeat on the visitors. England travelled across the Irish Sea with high hopes of making it three wins from three but were persistently penalised at the breakdown by referee Craig Joubert as they struggled to gain a foothold in the match. VIDEO - Scroll down to see clips from the game . Robbie Henshaw (left) goes over the line to score a try for Ireland and take the game away from England in the Six Nations . Henshaw (left) had to collect a high ball to go over for the opening try, which was scored in the 52nd minute of the game . Henshaw's (right) try brought the Aviva Stadium to life as Ireland beat England in style in the Six Nations . England's players look dejected after they conceded the opening try of the match against Ireland and Henshaw . Henshaw (centre) is congratulated by his Ireland team-mate Jared Payne after scoring the try against England . While not as comprehensive as the 2013 defeat to Wales at the Millennium Stadium, or indeed their loss to Ireland on the same Aviva Stadium turf in 2011, in some ways this was just as demoralising in a home World Cup year. There were some fine individual performances from England, with Billy Vunipola outstanding at No8, but collectively the visitors were no match for Joe Schmidt’s unbeaten Irish. England, desperate for some silverware three years into Lancaster’s tenure, must now regroup to face Scotland and France at Twickenham but they will do in the knowledge their Grand Slam hopes have been shattered again. They retain a small chance of winning the Championship, but that will prove of little comfort in the light of this comprehensive defeat. Dublin was lashed by wind, rain and sleet in the hours before kick off but mercifully the weather relented to leave the Aviva Stadium pitch slippery but not treacherous. England had made two changes to their starting line-up from the side that beat Italy a fortnight ago with Jack Nowell preferred to Jonny May on the left wing and Alex Goode replacing Mike Brown after the Harlequins full back failed to recover from concussion he suffered against the Azzurri. Johnny Sexton was clinical with his kicking and the points he scored provided the backbone for Ireland's victory . Richard Wrigglesworth (left), George Kruis and Chris Robhaw react to England's defeat against Ireland . Conor Murray (centre) passes the ball out from the ruck in Ireland's game against England on Sunday . Ben Youngs (centre) of England is tackled by Sexton (second left) and Rory Best (right) of Ireland . Luther Burrell (centre) of England is hauled down by Ireland's Sexton in the clash at the Aviva Stadium . Ireland: Kearney, Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo, Sexton, Murray, McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Brien, Murphy. Tries: Henshaw . Penalties: Sexton (4) England: Goode, Watson, Joseph, Burrell, Nowell, Ford, Youngs, Marler, Hartley, Cole, Attwood, Kruis, Haskell, Robshaw, B Vunipola. Penalties: Ford (2) Drop goals: Ford . Referee: Craig Joubert . Attendance: 51,500 . Jordi Murphy was Ireland’s only change as he started at No8 in place of Jamie Heaslip, who is recovering from the broken vertebra in his back, caused by an intentional knee from France lock Pascal Pape which led to a 10-week ban. Ireland went into the game on the back of a nine-match winning run, including autumn victories over Australia and South Africa, while England were buoyed by a four-game unbeaten run against today’s hosts. England were desperate to avoid another slow start after going behind in both their first two games of the Championship but, following a lengthy pre-match build up which left the players on the field for several minutes prior to kick off, they were sluggish out of the blocks again. George Ford turned over the ball on the half-way line seconds after kick off and James Haskell infringed at the breakdown after Ireland whipped the ball wide down the left. Jonny Sexton kicked the penalty from 40 metres, with barely two minutes on the clock, before England conceded another penalty from the kick off and Ireland roared back into their opponents half. With the capacity crowd behind Ireland, Sexton hoisted an awkward cross kick which Nowell was unable to gather and the Irish forwards thundered at England with wave after wave of attacks. Another penalty was conceded under the posts, which Sexton converted, as England found themselves 6-0 down having barely drawn breath. The visitors finally gained some sustained possession and Ford was influential in stretching the Irish defence as Luther Burrell and Ben Youngs both made telling incursions before the England fly half slotted a neat drop goal on 12 minutes to get his side on the scoreboard. Ford missed a long-range penalty attempt and England blew another excellent chance after fine build-up play saw Ford kick a penalty to touch only for Dylan Hartley to throw straight to Devin Toner and allow Ireland to clear. Alex Goode (centre) blasts the ball clear to relieve the pressure on England from Ireland in the Six Nations game . Sexton (right) of Ireland tackles Ford (left) of England during the Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium . Conor Murray (second right) clears the ball upfield as James Haskell (right) of England attempts to smother . Simon Zebo (centre) is tackled by the England pair of Jonathan Jospeh and Anthony Watson in the Six Nations encounter . Simon Zebo (centre) of Ireland clings to the ball as England's Jonathan Jospeh challenges for possession . Dave Attwood (upper left) of England wins the line-out ball under pressure from Peter O'Mahoney (right) of Ireland . George Ford replied for England but Stuart Lancaster's side could not run Ireland close in the game at the Aviva Stadium . Ireland flanker Sean O’Brien was taken off after 24 minutes after he was seen lying prone on the floor before attempting to stand up, only to lurch and stagger alarmingly as he battled the medics to stay on. The flanker did not return. Sexton kicked his third penalty as Ireland went 9-3 in front with 30 minutes gone but the fly half could not stretch Ireland’s lead further when he missed a difficult penalty attempt after Anthony Watson was penalised for off-side. Ireland took a six-point lead in at half time as England clung on after 40 minutes that saw that repeatedly penalised by South African referee Craig Joubert. Ireland were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and a sharp break by Conor Murray saw Robbie Henshaw hack through only for Goode to save the day for England with some brilliant defensive work behind the posts. Joubert again penalised England at the breakdown on 47 minutes and Sexton extended his side’s lead to nine points with his fourth penalty and Ireland struck the killer blow when Murray chiped deep into England’s dead-ball area and Henshaw out-jumped Goode to touch down. Robbie Henshaw (left) receives treatment during the game against England but was fit enough to continue and score a try for Ireland . Both sides new that victory would give them the upper hand in the race to win the RBS Six Nations . England's players line up for the national anthem prior to the start of their game against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium . Sexton’s conversion made it 19-3 after 53 minutes and it was impossible to see a way back for England. Ford added his first penalty to chip away at Ireland’s lead after a bulldozing run by Billy Vunipola and gave his side hope after 67 minutes with another three points . It proved a false hope as Ireland held on. Even Jack Nowell’s late try attempt was chalked off when Joubert spotted a forward pass. It summed up England’s day. +A lower league ice hockey team have become the first side to wear a 'selfie jersey' - with a collage of photos of their fans including on the wacky shirt. The Columbus Cottonmouths debuted the top ahead of their Southern Professional Hockey League match against the Pensacola Ice Flyers but ended up falling to a 4-2 defeat. The design was created in honour of 'social media night' and the shirts were later sold in an auction. The Columbus Cottonmouths created the 'selfie jersey' as part of their social media day . Cottonmouth fans had been uploading their selfie entries on Twitter since October, using the hashtag #snakeselfie for a chance to be included in the one off shirt. Columbus play Pensacola again on Thursday but will be back in their normal strip and hopefully can get back to winning ways. The shirt didn't help the result as they were beaten 4-2 Pensacola Ice Flyers before they were auctioned . +David Beckham has taken a trip down memory lane by posting a picture of himself with his son Brooklyn during his playing days at Manchester United. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder took to Facebook to wish his eldest son happy birthday. Proud father Beckham, 39, marked his oldest son's 16th birthday with a black and white snap that sees him nestling lovingly into Brooklyn's hair with the message: 'Happy Birthday to my big boy.' David Beckham took to Facebook on Wednesday to wish his 'big boy' Brooklyn a happy 16th birthday . A second photo shared by the former Manchester United player shows a tiny Brooklyn . The former footballer shared a rare insight into the private family album on Wednesday as he celebrated his eldest child's big day with a photo post to Facebook. Beckham, who also has children Romeo, 12, Cruz, 10, and three-year-old Harper with wife Victoria, 40, played the embarrassing dad card when he also pulled out a toddler snap from the collection. The picture shows Beckham in his full Manchester United kit after winning the Premier League in 2000. Beckham brought his son onto the pitch and held his hand as the toddler marched around Old Trafford wearing daddy's medal. Already following his father's flair for fashion, Brooklyn boasted about a special gift from rapper and fashion entrepreneur Kanye West on Wednesday. Brooklyn woke up to a present from Kanye West on Wednesday, a pair of Yeezy trainers . Brooklyn recently shared a proud older brother picture with brothers Romeo (left) and Cruz (right) Brooklyn woke up to a fresh pair of stylish beige trainers, which he thanked the artist for on Instagram. He said: 'Thanks Kanye for the Yeezys' and captured the box fresh gift for his 361k social media followers. It's been a big couple of weeks for the sweet 16-year-old, who has been dealing with the disappointment of not being dealt a professional contract with Arsenal football club after playing for their youth team. Though his luck might be turning around as it was revealed on Wednesday that Manchester United are keen to snap up the teenager. Meanwhile, Amir Khan's wife Faryal Makhdoom has taken to Instagram to send an affectionate message to her husband and daughter Lamaisah. +Despite their physical and at times heated exchanges during the Champions League clash catching the eye, David Luiz has revealed that Chelsea star Diego Costa is a good friend of his and a 'top guy.' The former Chelsea defender scored the equaliser for the 10 men of Paris Saint-Germain to send the tie into extra-time before Thiago Silva scored late on to send the French side through. The Costa and Luiz duel was highly talked about but the Brazilian has played down the intent of their clashes. David Luiz (right) revealed Chelsea star Diego Costa is a good friend and called the fiery striker a 'top guy' The duo have been involved in a number of heated exchanges over the two Champions League clashes . He said: 'It is normal, Diego is an amazing player, a top guy and we have a lot of physical [battles]. We are friends and were together after the match. We know each other from before.' Luiz has also attempted to make peace with the Chelsea fans and apologised after breaking his promise of not celebrating if he was to score. 'I respect everyone here and I was very happy here,' he added. 'I said I wouldn't celebrate if I scored but the emotion of the moment meant I couldn't keep [to that]. 'The fact I don't score many goals means it is always special for me. I am happy with my team as we showed spirit and character.' The Brazilian has apologised for breaking his promise of not celebrating if he scored against Chelsea . +A female sports reporter has hit back at two radio show hosts over a sexist Twitter exchange in which they referred to her 'giant boobs'. Comcast Sports Network's Aiyana Cristal said she had been cyberbullied by WSCR-AM 670 hosts Dan Bernstein and Matt Spiegel adding: 'sexual harassment is never acceptable'. Writing on her own Twitter page she described the comments as 'ignorant' and said the incident served as a 'gross reminder that women fight every day to be treated equally'. Reporter Aiyana Cristal, who covers the Chicago Bulls for Comcast Sports Network, has hit back at two radio hosts over a sexist twitter exchange in which they referred to her 'giant boobs' Criticism: Matt Spiegel and Dan Bernstein were involved in the exchange which referenced Cristal's breasts . She said: 'Progress has been made for women in sports but we still have a long way to go'. The shameful exchange began on Wednesday night when Ms Cristal was covering a Chicago Bulls basketball match. First Spiegel, host of The Spiegel & Goff Show sent out a tweet criticizing her work. It read: 'Aiyana Cristal makes me uncomfortable. I feel how hard she's trying, & end up awkwardly rooting for her to finish cleanly.' Bernstein, who runs a show on WSCR in the afternoon, responded by saying: 'I have no rooting interest in her work, but enjoy her giant boobs.' Spiegel then says: 'I am improbably distracted from them by her professional discomfort, it's a crime.' Bernstein responds: 'That's a complicated thought. Unpacking that is beyond me.' Ms Cristal responded with a post on her own Twitter page in which she claimed that 'sexual harassment was never acceptable' First Spiegel, host of The Spiegel & Goff Show on 670 AM, sent out a tweet criticizing her work . Bernstein, who runs a show on WSCR in the afternoon, responded, referring to her breats . The pair were slammed by Twitter users who picked up the back-and-forth. One person called it 'appalling' while another called it 'sexist as hell'. The pair have since removed their Tweets and have apologized. Bernstein said he was an 'idiot' on his social media page and addressed the discussion on his radio show. Toni McIntyre slammed the exchange after it unfolded on social media . Katie Bakes simply said: 'This conversation is appalling' under one of Bernstein's messages . Spiegel issued a grovelling rebuttal on Twitter, which read: 'I missed an opportunity to keep the subject on point, & stay respectful. I'm sorry for that on many levels,& sad I offended Aiyana & others. 'My initial tweet was about a reporter's on air presence & work. I stand by that; fair game. I regret the exchange thereafter as it devolved.' He also spoke about the conversation during his morning slot. Other Twitter users have rallied round Ms Cristal. Sean Highkin ‏@highkin wrote: 'I hate that you even had to issue a statement about this. You didn't do anything except do your job.' Gregg Juhlin ‏said: 'If only @670TheScore had the balls to suspend @dan_bernstein over this.' Spiegel issued a grovelling apology on Twitter and spoke about the exchange during his talk show . +Siem de Jong's injury-wrecked season has been cut short after John Carver confirmed the midfielder will return for pre-season training - following his recovery from a collapsed lung. The former Ajax captain who signed for £6million in the summer will miss the remaining ten games, having only made two appearances for the entire season. The Newcastle boss assured the De Jong that he wouldn't be rushed back from such a serious injury. Siem de Jong will miss the rest of the campaign and return for pre-season after suffering a collapsed lung . He said: 'Siem will be back in pre-season. It is one of those we just need to test the water with and see how he is. I've said from the start there's definitely no pressure on him.' Brought in by the cub to add some class and technical ability, the Dutchman managed only one start before suffering a serious thigh injury. De Jong's capture was seen as somewhat of a coup by the club and very much whetted the appetite of the Newcastle fans. But a series of injuries and bad luck have seen the supporters disappointed, with many labeling the club vice-captain a flop. The Dutchman (left) suffered a major setback after being set to return from a serious thigh injury . John Carver (right) is disappointed he won't be able to use De Jong but says the club will be patient with him . The Dutchman, who has six caps to his name, made a promising start during pre-season after signing and Carver is disappointed he won't be able to use him. He added: 'The bits we saw from him in pre-season - he scored a couple of goals and his link-up play - were good. Unfortunately we're not going to get that.' Following news of Papiss Cisse's seven-game ban after spitting at Manchester United's Jonny Evans, the Newcastle boss will no doubt have loved to have De Jong fit and playing, with Ayoze Perez, Emmanuel Riviere and Adam Armstrong his only recognised strikers. Papiss Cisse (left) received a seven-game ban after retaliating and spitting at Manchester United Jonny Evans . Emmanuel Riviere (left) could be leading the line until the end of the season despite failing to find the net . +A radical British Islamist who stabbed a football fan in the head with a pen and skipped bail to join ISIS has uploaded a new photograph showing him posing with a notorious German jihadi in Syria. Abu Rahin Aziz, 33, from Luton, fled the UK before he was handed a 36-week jail sentence in absence for attacking a football fan in London's West End. Since joining ISIS he has spent much of his time of social media posting provocative message aimed at his largely Western audience - including threatening MPs at the coming general election and attempting to justify the brutal burning to death of murdered Jordanian pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh. Now he uploaded a photograph showing him posing arm in arm with notorious German jihadi Denis Cuspert, who had been a relatively successful rapper under the name Deso Dogg before trading in his faux-gangster lifestyle to wage jihad on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group. Militants: Abu Rahin Aziz, 33, from Luton has uploaded a photograph showing him posing arm in arm with notorious German rapper turned jihadi Denis Cuspert, 39 (right) Aziz, an ex office worker from Luton, previously told his followers on Twitter that he 'stabbed a kafir [non-believer] in the back of a head [sic] with a pen in London for insulting the Prophet Mohammed.' Threats: Abu Rahin Aziz, pictured in Syria, told his Twitter followers to attack MPs and servicemen . Last year he was sentenced to 36 weeks for the offence - but by the time the case came to court, he had already skipped bail and travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS. Aziz, 33, who tweets under the name 'Abu Adbullah Britani', is an associate of hate cleric Anjem Choudary who was once a member of radical group 'Muslims Against Crusaders'. Although his Twitter pages have been repeatedly removed thanks to the Anonymous cyber activist group's #OPISIS campaign targeting jihadi social media users, Aziz repeatedly sets up new accounts, which he users to taunt the West. In January Aziz contemplated on Twitter which method he would use to destroy his British passport, confirming his intention not to return to the UK. He wrote: 'Still deciding to what to do with my British passport, could burn it, flush it down the toilet.' Also in January, Aziz used Twitter to incite violence from jihadis who are still living in the West. 'Muslims in the West given instructions to strike the enemies of Islam and Muslims within their own countries,' Aziz wrote. 'Wonder who will strike first? 'Could it be UK first to be attacked? They've attacked us with jets killing scores, plus they have many Muslims in prison as war on Islam. 'Maybe sit and wait outside TA offices? Maybe some other interests, maybe an MP. Hmm interesting. UK can blame foreign policy.' Jihadi: Aziz has posted several photos of himself on Twitter dressed in military clothes and holding a rifle . In another message, Aziz wrote: 'A call upon Muslims in Europe to carry out attacks whether by explosive devices, bullets, car, rocks or even stones.' A separate tweet made a reference to British aid worker Alan Henning, who was beheaded by ISIS' executioner-in-chief, Mohammed Emwazi - also known as 'Jihadi John' - in October last year. 'All kufar [non-Muslims] even if they were good i.e. Alan Henning, Mother Theresa will burn in hell because they died upon disbelief,' Aziz wrote. Aziz's latest tweets showed him posing with German rapper turned jihadi, Denis Cuspert. The 39-year-old, who now calls himself Abu Talha al-Amani, embraced radical Islam and travelled to Syria to fight with militants before becoming the group's main propagandist. In February it was revealed that the militant - who has starred in several grisly beheading videos for the Islamic State - was being spied on for the FBI by a Syrian woman he thought was his wife. The jihadist also posted a photograph of himself and Dr Mirza Tariq Ali, 38, on Twitter which was captioned: 'This is us breaking our bail conditions being together in UK.' Ali, a former NHS surgeon, fled the UK in 2013 . The spy transmitted critical information about the rapper and his ISIS colleagues before escaping to Turkey - where she was arrested and then turned over to the US, according to the German newspaper Bild. The paper said German and American intelligence sources confirmed the existence of the operation, Fox News reports. The unidentified woman fled Syria after her handlers told her it was no longer safe to continue the mission as militants had began to hunt and flush out infiltrators. She is now thought to be in the US. German newspaper Bild believe Cuspert may have been targeted for the operation because of his womanising past. In Germany he fathered three children by three different women, including one who he dumped just before embarking on his career as an ISIS poster boy. Cuspert arrived in Syria in 2013 from a so-called German jihadi colony in Egypt. German rapper Denis Cuspert is the best known of the three known rappers to have joined the Islamic State . Radical: Known on stage as Deso Dogg, the wannabe gangster (left) traded in his failing career to embrace the extremist group's radical brand of Islam . Rapping jihadis: Emino is no trendsetter - at least three other failed rappers - including Germany's Deso Gogg (left) and America's Douglas McAuthur McCain (right)  have joined ISIS in recent years . Last month the US added rapper Cuspert to its list of 'global terrorists' - freezing all his assets under US control and prohibiting any transactions with him in the future. The State Department said: 'Cuspert is emblematic of the type of foreign recruit ISIL seeks for its ranks -– individuals who have engaged in criminal activity in their home countries who then travel to Iraq and Syria to commit far worse crimes against the people of those countries.' Last November, Cuspert was compared to Nazi Minister for Propaganda Joseph Goebbels for his ability to appeal to young, disillusioned people in Europe while providing an alternative ideology. He spent several years as a major player in the Berlin hip hop scene under the name 'Deso Dogg' before embracing radical Islam. He has been known to oversee the group's sophisticated media operation and is reportedly using British fighters in an attempt to attract even more of their countrymen to the war-torn region. It is understood he leads a unit of German-speaking ISIS terrorists operating under the name 'The German Brigade of Millatu Ibrahim'. +Andy Murray is making the most of his free time away from Davis Cup preparation by visiting Scotland's home of football, Hampden Park. The Scotsman and his teammates face the USA at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow with Murray set for an emotional homecoming with brother Jamie also in their team. The Great Britain star posted the photograph of himself posing on the Hampden Park on his Instagram page after finishing training. Andy Murray posted this photo of  Hampden Park following his practice session for the Davis Cup clash . He said: 'Spent a bit of time looking around Hampden Park after practice today... Beautiful stadium..' The World No 5 helped defeat the Americans 3-1 in the quarter-finals last year and he'll be hoping for a repeat result at the weekend. Murray has an impressive record in the Davis Cup and the Scot has won 19 out 21 single matches since he first played back in 2005. The World No 5 has an exceptional record in the tournament, winning 19 out 21 previous matches . The Great Britian star also posted this on his Facebook following his first session on the match court . +Barcelona are thought to be looking at Douglas Costa of Shakhtar and will watch him when the Ukrainian club face Bayern Munich in their Champions League clash on Wednesday. The Brazilian is seen as the alternative to Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus - who recently signed a new deal with the German side. Mundo Deportivo say that Barca have been tracking the player for two years but face competition from Serie A giants Roma for his signature. Douglas Costa is being scouted by Barcelona as they contemplate making a move from the silky attacker . AS and Marca were keen to talk about Real Madrid's embarrassing defeat and Iker Casillas' performance at home to Schalke despite qualifying for the next round of the Champions League. Marca wrote, 'The fans pointed at Casillas and Bale and said goodbye to the team with a tremendous dressing-down,' this was following the goalkeeper's errors which led to a couple of the goals and a less than inspiring performance from the world's most expensive signing. Carlo Ancelotti's damning quotes: 'We won't get very far like this,' were a major talking point for AS and the Spanish goalkeeper wasn't scared to admit he played his part in the defeat, 'a great part of the blame is mine, but nobody is exempt.' Real Madrid's terrible performance at home to Schalke was the main talking point for Marca and AS . Iker Casillas was subject to much criticism after his performance during the Champions League last 16 . It's been a good few years since AC Milan last dominated Serie A - 2010/11 season to be exact - and Thai billionaire Bee Taechaubol is now looking to purchase the club from Silvio Berlusconi. La Gazzetta dello Sport report that the property tycoon has already signed a pre-contract agreement to takeover and will appoint club legend Paolo Maldini with in an operating role. Corrierre dello Sport, however, believe that Taechaubol faces competiton from another prospective buyer saying, 'In Romania they announce the sale to the king of ginseng but then the denial. But there are offers for a sale of a percentage.' La Gazzetta dello Sport say a Thai billionaire wants to buy the club and bring in club legend Paolo Maldini . Corrielle dello Sport think the Thai property tycoon faces competition to buy the Serie A giants . The highly-coveted Paulo Dybala is the main topic of conversation for Tuttosport, with Juventus believed to be watching the Palermo attacker according to former player Mauro Camoranesi, in an exclusive interview. He said: 'Paulo is a loose cannon, but the Uruguayan is ideal for the Champions League.' Porto qualified for the Champions League last eight after cruising past Basle in impressive style and their front pages were keen to praise 'the dragons.' Abola went for the simple headline of 'Fantastic dragons,' while Record called them 'Super' as they booked their place in the next round. The only down side to the victory according to the papers was the injury to Danilo who was taken off on a stretcher but he's not thought to be seriously hurt. Abola praised the Porto players after their impressive 4-0 victory over Basle in the Champions League . The headline reads 'Super Dragons' and Casemiro is the main picture after his stunning free-kick . Danilo's injury was the only downside as the Real Madrid linked defender was taken off on a stretcher . +David Luiz showed that the good feeling of Wednesday's win over his former club is still going after posting an Instagram photograph with his younger Paris Saint-Germain team mates Mory Diaw and Mike Maigan. The ex-Chelsea star played a key role in his new side's extra time victory - despite the Zlatan Ibrahimovic being sent off in the second half. Labeling them with his trademark #geezers, the £50million defender looked relaxed and posted the image with the caption, 'With future goalkeepers PSG.' David Luiz (left) posted the photo with PSG goalkeepers Mory Diaw and Mike Maigan on his Instagram . The defender has come under scrutiny from his former employer's fans after he broke his promise of not celebrating if he was to score. 'I'm sorry for the emotion I showed,' said the defender, 27. 'It was difficult because I was so happy to win, but I was also happy at Chelsea.' Luiz scored a thumping header late in the second half to send the game to extra time before running over to the away fans and celebrating with the passion and emotion Chelsea might well wish they had. David Luiz (centre) celebrated his equaliser in front of the away fans despite his promise he wouldn't . The Brazilian was in excellent form against his former club and also came close with a dipping free kick . +MLB probe: Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart is being investigated for alleged gambling . Major League Baseball said on Wednesday it was investigating whether Florida Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart discussed sports betting with an alleged gambler on his Twitter account. A Florida newspaper, the Miami New Times, reported that direct message tweets were made public on Tuesday purporting to show that Cosart, a 24-year-old right-hander preparing for his third season in the majors, was seeking advice on gambling. Although direct tweets are intended to be private conversations, the alleged unidentified gambler, who regularly tweets advice, decided to release them. Mike Teevan, a Major League Baseball spokesman, said baseball is looking into the allegations. Betting on baseball is a violation of the game's rules. Cosart deleted his Twitter account on Tuesday night. Another Twitter account that opened on Wednesday with Cosart's name discussed the allegations, saying his original Twitter account had been 'accessed by someone else.' 'I have not, nor will I ever, bet on the game of baseball,' a tweet said, according to the New Times, before that account was also deleted. It could not be independently determined if Cosart was the one writing the tweets. The Miami New Times reported that a Twitter user by the name Ghostfade Killah (@ghostfadekillah)  posted an alleged direct message from Coart that said, 'No prob. I bet LARGE. Shhh lol looking for some help anywhere I can.' Another message is blacked out but under it is an alleged response from Cosart that said, 'saw a retweet on your under play and hammered it.' Alleged sports betting: Major League Baseball said on Wednesday it was investigating whether Florida Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart discussed sports betting with an alleged gambler on his Twitter account . Denies gambling: Jarred Cosart posted the gambling allegations on his Twitter account in hopes of dispelling the rumours and then deleted his profile . At 12:34am on Wednesday Ghostfade Killah tweeted, 'Made an MLB player delete his twitter account. Lulz.' Cosart, who issued an apology last year for using a gay slur to describe pop singer Justin Bieber on Twitter, has a career record of 14-12 with a 3.26 earned run average. 'Major League Baseball is investigating and the Marlins have no further comment at this time,' the team said in a statement. Disabled: Jarred Cosart's Twitter has been disabled for the time being as the MLB investigates his alleged gambling with sport's betters . Alleged gambler: Ghostfade Killah published the supposed conversation with Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart . Marlins pitcher: Jarred Cosart of the Miami Marlins pitches during the first inning of the game against the Minnesota Twins at Roger Dean Stadium on March 22 . +An elderly man who has been on the run for 30 years was discovered by police after he refused to pass through an airport security scanner. Clements Lopez was charged with sexually assaulting a girl on 6 May, 1985, but he failed to attend the trial and a $5000 reward was offered. After evading police for three decades, the 86-year-old is being held in custody as his lawyers attempt to grant him bail, reports ABC. Darwin airport, where 86-year-old Clements Lopez was arrested on Thursday after 30 years on the run from police . After he refused to pass the security scanner, police led Mr Lopez aside and ran a security check on him, discovering a 30-year-old warrant for his arrest. Mr Lopez's defence lawyer applied for bail, but Chief Justice Trevor Riley said the charges facing the defendant were too serious. 'He hasn't been heard from since 1986 and now I'm not just going to let him walk away again,' Mr Riley said. Two witnesses who did not attend the original case are currently being sought by police. Clements Lopez was charged with sexually assaulting a girl on 6 May, 1985, but he failed to attend the trial . The defence told the court Mr Lopez's two Queensland based sons have been contacted to provide assurance of his attendance to court should he receive bail. The matter has been postponed until Friday, when a more substantial proposal for bail will be presented. +When applying for a job as a litter picker, a 'head for heights' is not usually required. But for these abseiling cleaners collecting rubbish thrown down the cliff of a Chinese mountain, it's a necessity. The 'spider men' abseil from the side of the 4,500ft cliff edge of Tianmen Mountain, risking their lives to pick up litter thrown away by visitors, according to The People's Daily Online . A cleaner abseils down the side of Tianmen Mountain to collect rubbish thrown over the cliff edge by tourists . Easy does it: The painstaking process is necessary because tourists chuck food packets, empty bottles and cans down the cliffside, defacing its natural beauty . A worker throws a sack tied on a long rope onto the cliff before abseiling to clean the side of the mountain, located in the central Chinese province of Hunan . After finishing cleaning a section, a litter picker pulls himself back over the boundary fence onto the path. The beauty spot is popular with tourists looking to ride the cable cars and visit the temple at the summit . Despite repeated calls by the Chinese Tourism Administration urging tourists not to throw their rubbish over the cliff edge, they continue to chuck empty food packets, bottles and cans into the mountain, as well as spitting and defacing the mountain. The beauty spot, located in Zhangjiajie in central China's Hunan province, is popular with tourists looking to ride the cable car route, reportedly the longest in the world. There is also a large temple on the summit, dating back to the Tang Dynasty which ruled the region for two periods between 610-690 and 705-907. A similar cleaning operation is in place takes place on Mount Emei in Sichuan province, China, where cleaner Peng Wencai has spent 14 years descending down the mountain to collect trash thrown away by tourists. The little pickers risk their lives to clean away the food packets and drinks containers thrown away by visitors . A sack of rubbish is pulled up onto safe ground after being collected by a litter picker. Chinese authorities are urging visitors to stop throwing their litter over the cliff edge . A worker pours the litter, including plastic bags and food containers, into a rubbish bin on Tianmen Mountain . The rope holding the litter picker stay taut as he gathers the rubbish, which is then brought back up to the public pathway before being removed from the mountainside . +Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber is set to accompany Floyd Mayweather into his $300million Las Vegas mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao. The duo have been close friends for years and the 21-year-old performer has accompanied 'Money' into the ring on numerous occasions. He even joined the fighter on stage during a recent press conference ahead of the May 2 fight. Manny Pacquiao has been preparing for his battle with the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jnr in Las Vegas . Justin Bieber holds up a belt for Floyd Mayweather Jnr before taking on Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas . Bieber is joined by rapper Lil Wayne as they enter the ring before Mayweather Jnr took on Canelo Alvarez . Bieber and Mayweather Jnr pose after Cotto is defeated in the WBA super welterweight title fight in Las Vegas . Mayweather Jnr poses for photos with Bieber after defeating Alvarez in Las Vegas back in 2013 . Mayweather's fight with Pacquiao is being billed as the biggest fight in history and there had been questions as to whether Bieber would be forced to take a step back in Vegas. With a 47-0 record on the line, Mayweather knows this fight is without doubt the biggest of his career - and the most lucrative . However, Bieber confirmed in a video posted online that he will be part of Mayweather's entourage for the mega-fight, shouting 'hell yeah' when asked by reporters. +Former Liverpool player Jason McAteer has warned Raheem Sterling he is being 'misguided' amid reports he will reject a contract worth £180,000-a-week to stay at Anfield. Sterling's current Liverpool deal expires at the end of next season and Liverpool are keen to tie his long-term future to the club. But manager Brendan Rodgers has said Sterling will not sign a new deal before the end of the season in order to focus on his football and reports now suggest Liverpool have their work cut out in order to keep him at the club beyond his current deal. Jason McAteer says Raheem Sterling (right) would be best off staying under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers . Former Liverpool player McAteer admitted he thinks that Sterling is being 'misguided' during contract talks . Sterling (left) netted his first England goal in the 4-0 victory over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday . Speaking to talkSPORT, McAteer revealed his belief that the best thing for Sterling's career would be to stay at Liverpool under Rodgers. 'It's stop-start on these contract negotiations,' McAteer said. 'I just think he is being misguided somewhere along the line. 'You know how the football world works, someone will be in his ear telling him this and that. I think he's just got to knuckle down and let his performances do the talking.' The 20-year-old Sterling has been a near enough ever-present in the Liverpool team since Rodgers took over in 2012. The Northern Irishman handed Sterling his first Premier League start and he has made 120 appearances for Liverpool so far in all competitions, scoring 22 goals. McAteer is certain Sterling would be served best by staying under the guidance of Rodgers, who has overseen his transformation from a youth player to a key man for Liverpool and England. 'Liverpool is the right place for him, certainly for the next two or three seasons where he’s going to develop and play every week in the first team. He’s under a good manager and it’s a good young team as well. The 20-year-old attacker Sterling (left) has played 120 times for Liverpool so far in his career . Sterling has become an important member of Roy Hodgson's England team over the past year . Sterling (right) will be absent from England's game against Italy on Tuesday to recover from a toe injury . 'Brendan is a good young coach with great ideas who has worked with youngsters before. He’s a good man manager as well and Liverpool is a massive club.' Sterling will miss England's friendly against Italy in Turin on Tuesday to recover from a toe injury but should be fit for Liverpool's game at Arsenal on Saturday at The Emirates. +A photo has revealed the full extent of Stephen Ireland's injury, which left the midfielder needing '12-13 stitches' after Maynor Figueroa's horror challenge left a three inch gash in his calf. The Stoke City player was taken off at half time and the prognosis of the nasty injury is likely to keep him out of action for a minimum of three weeks. Figueroa is unlikely to receive a ban with any potential retrospective action hinging on referee Neil Swarbrick and his officials' prognosis of who saw the challenge. It is understood at least one of them did witness the incident. The gash in Stephen Ireland's leg following Maynor Figueroa's challenge left him needing ten stitches . The Stoke City (left) midfielder lies injured after the after horror tackle from the Honduras international . The incident left his manager Mark Hughes furious after the game who insisted the Honduras international could have ended Ireland's career. He said: ‘Stephen Ireland has been on the end of a horrendous tackle, one that should’ve seen a straight red. 'The tackle could've finished his career. Why the referee hasn't given a straight red I've no idea. Figueroa cleared the ball and followed through to rake his studs down Ireland's leg . He is likely to escape any action from the FA because the officials have confirmed they saw the incident . Ireland is now expected to miss the next three weeks of the season following his nasty injury . 'Ireland’s come in at half-time and rolled his sock down, there’s a wound needing 12-13 stitches. I’ve watched the video back, it’s shocking. We’re frustrated. They need to do better.' The Britannia Stadium is no stranger to horror injuries, when Aaron Ramsey's leg was broken following a Ryan Shawcross tackle in 2010. Despite the shocking injury to Ireland, the Potters scored a late winner through Peter Crouch to help soften the news of his expected absence. +Inter Milan are ready to offer Stevan Jovetic an escape route out of Manchester City. It is understood that Inter have made contact with representatives of the Montenegro star, who looks likely to leave the Etihad at the end of the season after being axed from City’s Champions League squad to accommodate new £28million signing Wilfried Bony. The Premier League champions were prepared to listen to offers for Jovetic amid interest from Juventus in January if they could have recouped the £22m he cost from Fiorentina in 2013, after rejecting several bids by Inter to take him back to Serie A last summer. Jovetic has only made nine Premier League starts for champions Manchester City this season . The Montenegro forward in action during City's FA Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday in January . January signing Wilfried Bony replaced Jovetic in the Champions League squad . Inter Milan are interested in signing Jovetic with Roberto Mancini reluctant to make Lukas Podolski's loan deal from Arsenal permanent . With former City boss Roberto Mancini reluctant to turn Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski’s loan into a permanent move, Inter have maintained a strong interest in signing Jovetic. The 25-year-old forward spoke of his disappointment last month after manager Manuel Pellegrini replaced him with Bony in his squad for the knockout stage of the Champions League. ‘The manager has killed me with this decision,’ said Jovetic. ‘I have not made any decision about my future. I will wait until the summer then we will see.’ Meanwhile, Matija Nastasic’s appearance for Schalke in Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Real Madrid has triggered a clause in the City defender’s loan to the German club that will make the move permanent at the end of the season. +Nathan Hughes will appear before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel on Tuesday following the incident which saw the Wasps forward sent off and Northampton's George North taken off on a stretcher last Friday. North left the field unconscious after scoring the second of two tries in Saints' 52-30 win, as Hughes was sent off for dangerous play as the Wales wing touched down. Hughes protested his innocence and now faces a disciplinary panel in London on Tuesday. George North was knocked out after colliding with Nathan Hughes' knee during the win over Wasps on Friday . North was immediately knocked unconscious following the contact during Northampton's win over Wasps . The Northampton and Wales winger is treated by medical staff before leaving the field on a stretcher . A RFU statement read: "Nathan Hughes (Wasps Rugby) will appear before an RFU Disciplinary panel on Tuesday evening (6.30pm) at the London Bloomsbury Holiday Inn, charged with striking with the knee and/or shin, contrary to Law 10.4(a), during Northampton Saints v Wasps RFC on Friday, March 27 in the Aviva Premiership." North's injury was a worrying sight after he took two blows to the head in Wales' RBS 6 Nations defeat against England last month. He controversially played on in that game before sitting out Wales' next match against Scotland. +Louis van Gaal hit out at Angel di Maria after the Argentinian was sent off for grabbing referee Michael Oliver's shirt in Manchester United's FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Arsenal. The Gunners set up a semi-final meeting against either Reading or Bradford thanks to a 2-1 win over 10-man United at Old Trafford. Former United striker Danny Welbeck returned to haunt Van Gaal by scoring the winner after Wayne Rooney had equalised Nacho Monreal's opener. Premier League referee Michael Oliver shows Angel di Maria a red card during FA Cup clash at Old Trafford . Di Maria was shown a second yellow card after pushing Oliver shortly after receiving a yellow card . Manchester United summer signing Di Maria trudges off the Old Trafford pitch after his dismissal . The main talking point from the match was the latest episode in what has been a largely disappointing start to Di Maria's career at Old Trafford. After being cautioned for simulation, the former Real Madrid midfielder remonstrated with referee Oliver and then grabbed the back of his shirt and yelled at the official when he had turned his back on him. Replays showed the first booking on Di Maria was harsh and Aaron Ramsey had pulled the player back, but the £60million man's actions thereafter deserved sanction, according to Van Gaal. 'I think he's touched the referee and that's forbidden in every country, so he has no excuses,' the United manager said. 'In Spain he knows that he doesn't touch the referee, but that is also in his emotion. 'I've already spoken with him, he knows my opinion but also I have to see on the video.' +Following Bayern Munich's impressive display in Wednesday night's 7-0 win over Shakhtar, Pep Guardiola praised his 'fantastic' players as they eased into the Champions League quarter-finals. The Ukrainian side had Olexandr Kucher sent off after just three minutes - the quickest in the tournament's history - but the Spaniard's side remained professional throughout and the statistics make for impressive reading. After a tight 0-0 in the first leg, Guardiola was pleased with Bayern's performance and their ability to see the tie through. Pep Guardiola was delighted with his 'dominant' players after their emphatic victory over Shakhtar . Olexandr Kucher (right) brings down Mario Gotze and was sent off with Bayern scoring from the penalty . Thomas Muller (right) scored an impressive double for the German champions to carry on his terrific form . 'We are very pleased,' he admitted. 'We deserved the win. The players did fantastically. 'Of course it is a little easier against 10 men. But from the beginning we could see that the team was alert. Congratulations to the team, we dominated the game.' The scoreline was far from flattering for the German champions and it could have been more with the 25 shots they mustered up over 90 minutes. Bayern had 25 shots with 13 on target compared to Shakthar's three throughout the Champions League clash . Thomas Muller got a double, including a penalty following the red card. Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery, Holger Badstuber, Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze also found the net - showing that Guardiola's side can score goals from all over the pitch. Incredibly, Arjen Robben was the outfield only player who started to not score or get an assist during the demolition of the Ukrainian side - and he was taken off injured after 19 minutes. This was the second time the Germans struck seven past the opposition in the Champions League following their stunning 7-1 win over Roma back in October. Arjen Robben was taken off after 19 minutes and was the only player to not score or provide an assist . Defender Holger Badstuber (28) scored a rare goal as he powered home a header to score the fifth . +Karim Benzema has opened up at his relationship with former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, as he admits that criticism spurred him on to become a much better footballer. The Frenchman signed for the Spanish giants from Lyon in 2009 and was joined at the club by the 'Special One' a year later - with the two of them failing to see eye to eye from the get go. Benzema had felt hard done by Mourinho's scathing comments - where he was labelled as lazy - but admits that it helped him develop into the player he is today. Karim Benzema (right) admits that Jose Mourinho's criticism has made him into a much better footballer . He told Al Jazeera Sport: 'I have had criticism ever since I signed for Real Madrid. 'I really think it is something that has happened since I came to Real where I cannot make a bad pass or have a bad game. 'At the start, it hurt me, but I am used to it now. It affects my family more. I knew that I was being criticised, that Mourinho criticised me, but it was his way of making me react. The Chelsea boss labelled the Frenchman as 'lazy' and singled him out in the media after his performances . 'Actually, after that, I became mad. I worked as much as I could. Now, I come in before everyone else, I have treatment, I go to the gym, and I am the last to leave after training.' While Mourinho had a successful tenure in terms of trophies and halting Barcelona's dominance in Spain, he was also involved in a number of spats with some of their stars. Public fall outs with Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas all but ended his time at the Bernabeu before he returned to England to manage Chelsea once again. The striker has 13 goals so far this season as the La Liga title race hots up between Madrid and Barcelona . +Newcastle United have admitted that if they were look to elsewhere for a head coach, they would consider British or foreign candidates - but he'd need to be 'tactically astute.' During a fans forum meeting Managing Director Lee Charnley and Ambassador Bob Moncur were among the representatives, as the supporters grilled them on issues at the club. With John Carver failing to win over the fans with some dour displays from his side, Newcastle's hierarchy admitted that they could look to someone else for inspiration. John Carver (right) was handed the reins at Newcastle until at least the end of the current season . They said during the fans forum: 'In the event the board should need to look for an external candidate in the summer for the position of Head Coach, the board would not have to start the process all over again due to the level of detail and work which went into the initial search. 'The board would look for an individual who would fit into the club's structure, someone who is tactically astute, and who has a track record of developing young players and the ability to improve players. 'The club has no concerns over whether a potential new head coach is British or from overseas and deems other criteria far more important.' Carver addresses the officials following the clubs controversial defeat at home to Manchester United . With fans keen to know the prospect of who the club's next manager will be, Charnley was quick to reiterate that Carver was the best man for job until at least the summer. 'The board stated that it will not consider the matter again until the end of the season,' they added. 'The board went through a lengthy process in terms of speaking to a number of people about coming to the club as a potential head coach. 'The outcome of that process was that the board felt the best option was for John Carver to be appointed to the position until the end of the season, at which point it will be reviewed.' Steve McLaren (left) is thought to be favourite for the role while Christophe Galtier is also fancied . Derby manager Steve McLaren is reportedly their first choice for the job but it remains to be seen whether he'd be leave his current club with promotion to the Premier League very much a possibility. Remi Garde was installed as the early favourite - with the club allegedly meeting the former Lyon boss in January - and he still remains as a popular choice by the fans. Frank de Boer recently signed a new deal with Ajax to rule himself out, while Christophe Galtier is well thought of by the St James' Park hierarchy, it's unknown whether he'd jump ship. Remi Garde (centre) is believed to have met the Newcastle board and remains in the race for the job . Frank de Boer recently signed a contract extension at Ajax to end speculation over a move to the North East . +Juventus have been given a list of players they should sign if they want to win the Champions League in the future. Super agent Mino Raiola named a number of players including Everton's Romelu Lukaku as must-have signings, while also reiterating keeping hold of his client Paul Pogba is vital. Speaking to Tuttosport, the Italian revealed the stars that the Serie A champions need to buy if they want to be the best team in European football. Romelu Lukaku (left) is a player Mino Raiola has mentioned as a someone Juventus need to sign . Keeping hold of Paul Pogba (centre) is also crucial if they want to win the Champions League in the future . He said: 'In order to win the Champions League, Juve should keep Pogba, then sign Kishna from Ajax, Lukaku from Everton and Jonathas from Elche. 'In defence they ought to buy Rodrigo Ely from Avellino. He is the Pogba of defenders and is liked by half the football world, including Juve. 'Kishna would be a fantastic signing, as he's a mixture of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria and Robin van Persie. We'll see what Ajax think.' Ricardo Kishna celebrates after scoring during the Dutch Eredivisie the PSV and Ajax match . Kishna, 20, came up through the Ajax youth academy, with the versatility to be able to play on either wings and has taken the Eredivisie by storm. Lukaku is Everton's record signing and Belgium international who has 15 goals in 38 competitive club games this season. Brazilian centre-forward Jonathas is currently on loan at Elche from Pescara and has nine goals and five assists in 23 La Liga games this season. Jonathas (centre) whose on-loan at Elche was a player Raiola reckons the club should attempt to sign . Meanwhile, Raiola also confirmed reports Juventus attempted to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund but were rebuffed in their approach. 'It's true, they wanted him in January, but Borussia said he was not for sale. They might make another attempt in June. 'I'd see Mkhitaryan doing very well in the same team as Pogba.' +Southampton's early exit from the FA Cup means that Ronald Koeman's side have a weekend off, and the south-coast outfit headed to snowy Switzerland for a mid-season break. On Thursday, Koeman posted a picture of himself kitted out in full ice hockey kit, but now a video has emerged of the team in action... and they certainly shouldn't quit their day jobs any time soon. The Saints returned to winning ways on Tuesday night against Crystal Palace, but their recent form has seen them slip out of top four in the Premier League. Most of the Southampton squad struggled to stay on their feet as they took to the ice on Thursday . The players looked to enjoy their time playing ice hockey, with one player spinning another round on the ice . Injured striker Jay Rodriguez could not take part, but he watched on and laughed from the bench . Southampton boss Ronald Koeman got involved, taking to the ice in full kit to participate with his players . And talking of slips, most of the squad struggled to stay on their feet as they took to the ice on Thursday to participate in a sport they're less familiar with. One particular struggler was striker Graziano Pelle, who showed less pace than he does on a Saturday afternoon, and needed to be helped around the ice by Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger - who is a former ice hockey player and coach. Ryan Bertrand smiled for the cameras, and celebrated after slotting the puck through the legs of a helpless goalkeeper during a match between two teams. Graziano Pelle struggled more than most, and had to be helped around the ice by Ralph Krueger . Koeman laughs as his players slip and slide on the ice during their time in Switzerland . A disclaimer at the end of the video, uploaded by the club's YouTube account, put Southampton fans at ease . Southampton players took to the ice at Vaillant Arena in Davos, Switzerland on their team bonding trip . Morgan Schneiderlin (left) and Kelvin Davis put on their ice hockey gear before playing on Thursday . Ice hockey is, of course, a sport synonymous with injuries, but a disclaimer at the end of the YouTube video, uploaded by the club, confirmed that the afternoon passed without incident. 'No footballers were hurt during the making of this video,' read the message, and it is one that will relieve Saints fans watching. Koeman's side are back in action next Sunday, when they face perhaps their toughest test of the season - a trip to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. Shane Long was one Saints player who did not fancy his chances on the ice, opting out of the fun . Ryan Bertrand, whose loan signing was recently made permanent, celebrated after scoring a goal . Koeman is helped into his kit in the changing rooms before taking to the ice alongside his players . Pelle laughs with his team-mates as they arrive at the rink before taking to the ice on Thursday . +Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke has been slammed by social media for his appearance in the new Oral B campaign, labelled the worst marketing campaign ever by unimpressed fans. It could have been the photo of him batting with an electric toothbrush, or holding a winning trophy labelled 'The Gnashes,' or even going undercover as a dentist for Oral B, but whichever it was, keyboard warriors acted immediately. He was mocked by being renamed 'Michael Plaque' and called a 'sellout' and 'money-grubber' as he is rumoured to be making £256,000 for the endorsement deal. VIDEO Scroll down to see Michael Clarke's Oral B advert . Australia captain Michael Clarke has been roundly criticised on social media for his Oral B TV advert . Clarke dropped the bat and picked up the toothbrush for his new 'True Blue Challenge' campaign with Oral B . Facebook has slammed Clarke for his endorsement calling him a 'sellout' and 'money-grubber' Clarke had donned these new pair of whites for a campaign called the 'True Blue Challenge,' aimed to boost Australia's oral health and overtake England by 'bowling them over.' 'This is outrageous Australia, the Poms are laughing at us, it's time to take action,' Clarke says in his Oral B adverts. 'I love beating the Poms on the cricket field, it's time to do it again with my oral health.' Social media trolls even furthered their displeasure by comparing his campaign with his performance on the cricket field. 'Can't score more than 40 in grade cricket...may as well advertise mouthwash,' one disgruntled viewer said. 'Glad to see he managed to get through the entire commercial without an injury!' said another. 'I love beating the Poms on the cricket field... It's time to do it again with my oral health,' Clarke says in advert . 'Michael Plaque' has been trending as Clarke's new name since the campaign was initiated . Facebookers have slammed the Australian cricket captain for the endorsement deal . Oral B initially began Clarke's involvement as a 'guess who' campaign with many fans recognising his tattoo . The 33-year-old even took to going undercover as a dentist for his Oral B endorsement deal . Clarke was made an ambassador for Spartan in 2012 which made much more sense to many of his fans . Clarke's tattoos have also received ridicule for their appearance in the adverts, especially the Arabic writing scrawled up his left arm, loosely translating to 'the pain of discipline is nothing like the pain of disappointment.' Viewers took to asking him to step down as captain due to the embarrassment of the endorsement deal calling him a 'goose' and a 'commercial whore.' Clarke has previously become an ambassador for Australian sport products company, Spartan, in 2012. He received mostly praise for this deal among fans. The 33-year-old will be aiming to hit back at his critics with an inspiring performance when the tournament co-hosts face Sri Lanka on Sunday. +New Rangers boss Stuart McCall admits he would never have landed the job if Mike Ashley was still pulling the strings at Ibrox. The former Motherwell manager has been put in charge until the end of the season. The decision to replace caretaker Kenny McDowall, who has now left the club, is the second major upheaval at the club in the space of a week following Dave King's boardroom coup last Friday. Stuart McCall has been named Rangers manager until the end of the season . McCall, like the club's new board, is a man the Light Blues faithful can trust following his trophy-laden stint as Rangers player during the mid-90s. But the 50-year-old does not believe the former regime, backed by Newcastle United owner Ashley's millions, would have welcomed him through the front door on Edmiston Drive so readily. He said: 'I don't think I'd have been offered the job if the new regime hadn't come in. 'I had a chat with John Gilligan yesterday and Paul Murray late last night. It was a whirlwind. 'I'm delighted for the people in charge of the club because I know how much it means to them. I'm delighted for the supporters because that is what they want. McCall will attempt to guide Rangers to promotion from the Championship to the Scottish Premiership . 'That's not to say the people on the board are going to be great successes. But whatever they do, it will be for the good of the club.' McCall hopes he can lead the club to promotion and claim the job on a permanent basis. But he acknowledges the task will be a tough one. The former nine-in-a-row midfielder - who will give up his coaching duties with Scotland while in charge at Ibrox - said: 'My first question was: What do they deem a success? 'You could turn things around slightly, get to the play-off final, get your goalie sent-off after five minutes and then lose on penalty kicks. These are the thin lines between success and failure. 'I think success would be if we could start putting results together, getting belief in everyone, smiles on faces and turn things around.' +Clarke Carlisle previously threw himself in front of a lorry in a bid to take his own life, leaving him injured and the driver unable to get behind the wheel again . The lorry driver who struck former footballer Clarke Carlisle, who had thrown himself into the vehicle's path, has said he may never be able to drive an HGV again. Earlier this year the 35-year-old Premier League defender revealed how he had jumped in front of a lorry near his home on the A64, near York after battling severe depression. He was struck by Darren Pease who feared both would die after glass shattered following the crash, leaving them with cuts to their faces and the driver temporarily blinded. Mr Pease, 53, told the Daily Mirror: 'That feeling is indescribable - to think you are going to die. I don't think I'll ever be able to get behind the wheel of a lorry again. I can't see any way back for me at this point. I can't drive a car properly, never mind a wagon.' The lorry driver, who had been travelling to Driffield in east Yorkshire at the time of the crash, said he spent Christmas wondering if Carlisle, who has three children, was going to survive. Mr Pease said he now struggles to leave the house and has not been able to return to work. He added: 'All I could think was that I had killed someone. How am I going to live with this? What am I going to tell everybody? 'What do you say? It's unreal, the shock meant I couldn't stand or walk, I was in a wheelchair.' Mr Pease also struggles if images of Carlisle appear on the television and has to quickly switch it off. Carlisle was released from hospital last month, around six weeks after the accident on December 22. Scroll down for video . He said after he was released he realised he was unwell. He had been struggling after he was told by ITV he was losing his £100,000-a-year Champions League pundit role. Carlisle admitted he went straight to a casino and blew money he and his wife had saved, only hours later on December 20, to be charged with drink-driving. It was then that the former chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association decided that his children could not have a criminal father and he decided he wanted to die. Carlisle was recently released from hospital six weeks after he was injured in a collision with a lorry . After the accident Carlisle said he had 'overwhelming feelings of shame, guilt and embarrassment.' He was taken to hospital and suffered cuts, bruises, internal bleeding, a broken rib and a shattered left knee. He is now having counselling. Mr Pease has had to take sick leave from his £19,500-a-year job and is receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Carlisle was the first player to win Countdown and in 2002 was awarded the title 'Britain's Brainiest Footballer' In 2011 he became the first footballer to appear on BBC's topical debate show Question Time (far left) After Carlisle spoke out about the incident sports personalities and football clubs posted messages of support. Carlisle, considered one of the most intelligent footballers of his generation with 10 Grade A GCSEs, made more than 500 appearances for nine clubs in a career that spanned 16 years. He was the first football player to win Countdown in 2002 and BBC Sport awarded him the title 'Britain's brainiest footballer.' He has also appeared on Question Time twice. Carlisle (left) played for Northampton Town in 2013 and was pictured (right) after the road accident . His most notable stint as a Premier League player came during his five years with Burnley, with him featuring for them in 2009-10, their first season in the division. After Carlisle spoke out about the crash actor Ralf Little faced criticism after he accused the footballer of not telling the full story. For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details. +Children aged 12 to 13 have made or been part of sexually explicit videos, research shows (file pic) More than one in ten children aged 12 to 13 have made or been part of a sexually explicit video, according to shocking new research. Nearly one in ten in the same age group are worried that they are addicted to porn, a survey of nearly 700 children for the NSPCC's ChildLine service found. And nearly a fifth said they had seen porn images that had shocked or upset them. Dame Esther Rantzen, the founder of ChildLine, said children as young as 11 had contacted the service with concerns about pornography. She said: 'Young people are turning to the internet to learn about sex and relationships. 'We know they are frequently stumbling across porn, often unintentionally, and they are telling us very clearly that this is having a damaging and upsetting effect on them. 'Girls in particular have said they feel like they have to look and behave like porn stars to be liked by boys. 'We absolutely have to talk to young people about sex, love, respect and consent as soon as we feel they are ready, to ensure that they gain a proper perspective between real life relationships and the fantasy world of porn.' Peter Liver, director of ChildLine, said children reported that watching porn made them feel depressed, gave them body image issues and put pressure on them to engage in sex acts they are not ready for. A report by charity ChildWise in 2013/14 revealed that website Pornhub was among the top five favourite sites named by boys aged 11-16. Dame Esther Rantzen, the founder of ChildLine, said children as young as 11 had contacted the service with concerns about pornography . And young people post approximately 18,000 messages regarding exposure to porn on the ChildLine discussion forums every month. Mr Liver said: 'The Government recently proposed plans for children aged 11 upwards to be taught about rape and sexual consent as part of PSHE in schools. 'This would include discussion around what they have learnt from watching pornography. 'Across society, we need to remove the embarrassment and shame that exists around talking about porn - which is why we have launched a ChildLine campaign to help young people to make more informed choices.' +Cara Delevingne proves that she's not just a pretty face in her new YSL campaign. The 22-year-old, who is one of the industry's most revered models, is the star of YSL Beauté's Touche Eclat Rock Lace Collector advert. Cara lends her good looks and her drumming skills to the new advert, which FEMAIL can exclusively reveal ahead of its airing on TV on Wednesday. Scroll down for video . Cara Delevingne has been unveiled as the face of YSL Beauté's Touche Eclat Rock Lace Collector campaign and stars in an advert that will air on screens this week . Donning her signature androgynous black suit, Cara can be seen strutting into a warehouse, looking into a mirror and applying the iconic beauty product. She then takes to the drums to show off her musical prowess. The revolutionary highlighter pen, which was created in 1992 and promises to awaken and illuminate the complexion, has been reinvented for 2015. Cara can be seen strutting into a warehouse wearing her favourite cigarette pants and a casual T-shirt . The model then looks into a mirror and applies the iconic beauty product, which has been reinvented for 2015 . Cara proves there's no limits to her talents as she takes to the drums and performs a set in the advert . The pen, which now comes adorned with black polka dot tulle, has been given a rock makeover - and who better to advertise it than the ultimate queen of cool, Cara Delevingne? Whilst she still proves her worth as a supermodel, Cara is in the midst of rebranding herself as a Hollywood star. Michael Winterbottom, the director of Amanda Knox-based movie, Face Of An Angel, has praised the 22-year-old Brit for her acting skills in the film. Cara has been called on the promote the revolutionary highlighter pen, which was created in 1992 and promises to awaken and illuminate the complexion . Speaking to The Guardian's G2 supplement, he admitted that he didn't actually know who she was before meeting her, despite her global fame, but claimed she is a 'quality' actor. 'I didn't really know who she was, but as soon as I met her I knew she'd be perfect for [the role],' he said. 'The film is pretty much entirely scripted so she is acting, but it's a quality of hers which she's projecting.' The new range has been given a rock 'n roll makeover and now comes adorned with black polka dot tulle . Cara plays Melanie in new film, The Face of an Angel, and has been hailed for her acting prowess . Cara found fame as a model and still walks in the occasional show, including Chanel's AW15 showcase in Paris alongside her best friend Kendall Jenner . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr is known to fancy a flutter, but this time it's he who is the subject of a huge bet. Rapper 50 Cent, who used to be part of The Money Team, plans to stake $1.6million (£1million) on Mayweather beating Pacquiao on May 2. Should Mayweather prevail in Las Vegas, 50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - would pocket $2.3m (£1.5m). VIDEO: Scroll down to listen to 50 Cent talking about Mayweather's fight with Pacquiao . Rapper 50 cent plans to stake £1m on Floyd Mayweather defeating Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 . The rapper (left), pictured with Mayweather (right) in 2007, would pocket £1.5m Pacquiao is defeated . 'I got the champ,' he told The Breakfast Club. 'The champ gonna smoke him. It's gonna look like [the fight] was pumped up for no reason.' 50 Cent said he ran into Mayweather at a Chris Brown concert at the Barclays Centre in New York and that he was 'focused'. It was only last year that the pair were engulfed in a bitter row when 50 Cent promised to donate $750,000 to charity if Mayweather could read a page of a Harry Potter book. Mayweather continues his training in his Las Vegas gym on Tuesday ahead of fighting Pacquiao on May 2 . Mayweather, still undefeated at 37, is training in Las Vegas, where the fight will take place on May 2 . In response, the pound-for-pound No 1 tweeted pictures of his last two pay cheques, totally more than $70m, to remind 50 Cent how rich he was. And he said: ‘'I'd be perfect at reading if it was how I had to feed my family.' Mayweather’s relationship with 50 Cent were business partners until 2012 before they split with the latter forming his own promotional company. Mayweather and Pacquiao both started their training camps on Monday, in Las Vegas and Los Angeles respectively. They will face the media for the only time before fight week in downtown Los Angeles on March 11. Pacquiao trained in the Philippines before jetting to Los Angeles to continue his preparations . Pacquiao watched his basketball team lose on Sunday before flying to Los Angeles to start his camp . +These pictures show the moment a Watford fan was subjected to a sickening attack following his side's draw with Wolves last Saturday. The supporter, 44-year-old Nick Cruwys, was on his way to Wolverhampton train station from the Molineux stadium when he was assaulted by a gang. He is now fighting for his life in hospital after being placed in an induced coma. Police, who have arrested an 18-year-old in connection with the attack, said Cruwys was walking to the station with a group of friends when they were 'completely outnumbered' and suffered serious head injuries. Watford fan Nick Cruwys lies on the ground after being attacked following his side's draw with Wolves . Cruwys had travelled to Wolverhampton to see his team play in the Championship match . A gang assaulted Cruwys, who was walking with a group of friends, but who were 'completely outnumbered' Cruwys is currently in an induced coma and fighting for his life in hospital . Cruwys was heading to Wolverhampton train station when he was subjected to the 'unprovoked attack' A fund set up for Cruwys has already raised almost £23,000 through a crowd funding website . A police statement read: 'We would like to thank the people of Wolverhampton and the wider footballing community from across the country who have already come to us with information. But I would urge anyone else who can help the investigation to contact us as soon as possible. 'Today's arrest is only the start of our investigation and I would also appeal to anyone who was involved in this incident to do the right thing and come forward.' A group of Wolves supporters were so ashamed of the incident that they set up a website, a page dedicated to raising money to pay for Cruwys's travel and tickets to future matches. The initial target was £1,000 but by Wednesday more than 1,700 people had raised almost £23,000. The victim's brother, Chris, thanked those who have helped. He said: 'I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all of the kind words, prayers, support and concerns that have been sent through Facebook for my brother. 'Thank you everyone, it's truly overwhelming. Nick is critically ill and fighting for his life. We are taking positivity from every hour that passes without deterioration. 'We all hope that Nick has the strength to battle through this and when he awkens that he has retained all or at least some of the personality that makes him Nick, a husband, a dad, a son, a brother and an uncle or simply Moo. 'Thank you again everyone, your support is appreciated.' Troy Deeney (left) scores Watford's second goal in their draw with Wolves last weekend . Deeney celebrates his goal as the two Championship sides shared the spoils . Bakary Sako was sent off after Fernando Forestieri went down clutching his face following an altercation . Wolves' and Watford players clash after Bakary Sako was shown a red card by referee Brendan Malone . Both Watford and Wolves football clubs expressed their shock at the attack. A statement on Watford's website said: 'The thoughts of everyone associated with Watford FC are with a Hornets' supporter who is now critically ill after an unprovoked post-match attack.' Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of this incident and our thoughts go out to the supporter concerned and his family. 'As a club we deplore any violence in or around football matches and we will work closely with the relevant authorities to help bring the perpetrator, or perpetrators, to justice. 'All right-minded football supporters will share in our disgust at this violent incident and I would implore anyone with any information to contact the police.' A West Midlands Police spokesman said: 'Detectives have launched an investigation after a Hertfordshire man received life-threatening injuries in an unprovoked assault in Wolverhampton. 'The 44-year-old was with a group of friends making their way to the train station to return home to Hemel Hempstead just after 5pm when they were attacked in Little's Lane.' Detective Sergeant Adam Keen added: 'The group of friends were completely outnumbered and the victim suffered a severe head injury which has left him in a critical condition in hospital. 'His family have been informed and we are in the process of taking statements from witnesses and locating any CCTV which might have captured those responsible for the attack. 'I would urge anyone with information which will help our investigation to contact me as soon as possible on 101.' Anyone wishing to offer information anonymously should call the Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555 111. +Tony Bellew has denied reports that he was involved in a bust-up while filming Rocky spin-off Creed in Pennsylvania. It was alleged by American website TMZ that the Liverpool cruiserweight climbed out of the ring and started punching his on-screen corner man. Sylvester Stallone, who is reprising his role as Rocky Balboa, was alleged to have broken the fight up before the police were called. Tony Bellew poses with some of the cast of Creed as he films the spin-off to the Rocky franchise . But Bellew told Sportsmail: ‘It’s nonsense. Nothing happened.’ The 32-year-old has been filming in America for several weeks after landing the role of Pretty Ricky. The story centres on Adonis Creed, the son of Balboa’s former rival Apollo, who fights Ricky in the film. Creed takes up boxing against the wishes of his family and is trained by Balboa. Former British champion Bellew posted a picture of his chair while filming Creed in America . +England have denied that their worst ever World Cup has been the result of them being tied up in knots by an obsession with statistics and analysis. The lack of freedom in their batting and their apparent reluctant to think on their feet while bowling has been the biggest problem for England in a World Cup where they have failed to live up to even the most modest of expectations. And Peter Moores appeared to sum up their whole constipated approach when he said in the aftermath of England’s humiliating defeat by Bangladesh that he would have to ‘look at the data’ to see what went wrong. Paul Farbrace speaks to the assembled media ahead of England's dead rubber against Afghanistan on Friday . Ian Bell is pictured arriving at Sydney Airport following England's embarrassing defeat against Bangladesh . James Taylor reacts after he loses his wicket en route to a humiliating defeat against Bangladesh . Yet Paul Farbrace, the man who led Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 titles last year before throwing in his lot with England, says that whatever has led to England’s shortcomings here, it is not statistics. ‘There has been a lot said about stats and team meetings,’ said assistant coach Farbrace. ‘But when I was with Sri Lanka we had a lot more meetings and looked at stats a lot more than England do. There’s no question about that. ‘We had a team of six people working with Sri Lanka during the World Twenty20 who provided us with data straight after a game and the next day. Our preparation from fantastic statistics helped us win the final.’ It is Moores who is accused of being driven by the numbers. ‘It’s tough on him but he accepts the criticism and knows it comes with the territory,’ said Farbrace. ‘It’s unfair that Peter is the one in the spotlight. We’re all in this together and we’re all responsible for what has happened.’ The theory that England have been stifled by outdated plans has been given credence by the fact that captain Eoin Morgan, who was expected to be a free spirit here, has repeatedly brought up statistics in press conferences. ‘I can’t answer for them. I can’t say why they said that,’ said Farbrace of Moores and Morgan. ‘All I know is we’re not spending hours talking about statistics and numbers. We don’t do that. Bangladesh celebrate their shock victory over England in the World Cup earlier this week . Eoin Morgan was expected to be a free spirit at the World Cup but has been bogged down by statistics . ‘What we do is allow people to look at footage. Everybody has analysis of the opposition downloaded onto their iPads and it’s up to them if they want to look at it or not. There are lots of different ways that people like to learn. ‘For instance, Ian Bell is someone who is very well planned and methodical. He wants to know how many net bowlers we have, whether there’s a left-arm seamer, how many right-handers there are. And he probably studies the footage in detail. But Moeen Ali will come up to me and say ‘listen Farb, I’m not interested in what’s on my iPad, I just want to go and bat. And he has had praise for his approach. You have to cater for everybody.’ Farbrace has created an excellent impression around the England team amid the wreckage of this tour and, with his experience of leading Sri Lanka to limited-overs success, it would not be a surprise if he takes greater responsibility for the ‘new era’ of one-day cricket they have to produce. ‘There will be a lot of discussion and debate about how we move forward and what the next step is,’ said Farbrace. ‘We have the Caribbean series where there will be a few changes and Alastair Cook and others will come back. ‘We made good progress in Test cricket with the Indian series last year and we have to keep building on that. One-day cricket is a completely different story and we have to make sure that by the time we play New Zealand in 50-over cricket this summer we have clear direction. ‘There’s a fantastic opportunity now for players in county cricket to stick their hands up and say ‘there are spaces in that England team and I’m going to take my chance’. There has never been a better time for people to do that to be honest.’ +Former Newcastle United striker Faustino Asprilla handed an aircraft pilot a bottle so he would not have to leave his co-pilot alone if he needed to go to the toilet mid flight. The Colombian-born football star was after boarding a flight in Moscow when he approached the flight deck. He told his 102,000 followers on Instagram that he expressed his fears to the pilot as a result of the recent Germanwings tragedy where pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed his jet into the Alps. Faustino Asprilla, left, told his 100,000 instagram followers that he warned an airline pilot against taking a mid-flight toilet break during his recent flight. The former Newcastle United player gave the pilot a bottle . Sitting on an aircraft, Asprilla told his followers: 'I went to the pilot's cabin. I strictly forbid the pilot to get out and urinate because if that other lunatic locks the door in, it will happen what happened in that other flight. Everyone knows. 'If he wants to urinate, I have him an empty bottle of water.' Asprilla played for Newcastle United between 1996 and 1998, although manager Kenny Dalglish had problems with the Colombian's playboy lifestyle. Earlier, Asprilla Tweeted a photograph of himself looking nervous in an airport departure lounge with an aircraft over his shoulder. Asprilla joined Newcastle from Italian club Parma and returned after his two-year stay on Tyneside. However, the club is facing serious problems, having been officially declared bankrupt while their chairman Giampietro Maneti was arrested for money laundering. The club faces debts of £60 million. Earlier Asprilla, pictured, posted a photograph on Twitter looking nervous before boarding the flight . +A young Polar bear has been pictured playing in the ice as he made his first public appearance at a German zoo. The cub was born at Rostock Zoo in the North East of the country in December and has now been christened Fiete after his keepers received 3,000 name suggestions. Fiete's father is a male called Lars - the same bear that fathered Knut, a cub that became a global sensation after he was born in captivity in Berlin eight years ago. Scroll down for video . Refreshments: Fiete the polar bear takes a bite at some snow on a branch in his enclosure in Rostock Zoo . Standing tall: Fiete has been pictured playing in the ice as he made his first public appearance at the zoo . Chilling out: Rostock Zoo's four-month-old bear was christened by the city's mayor Roland Methling . Explorer: Four-month-old Fiete, who weighs 20kg, wasted no time looking around his enclosure as he made his first public appearance . Rostock Zoo's four-month-old bear was christened by the city's mayor Roland Methling, who sprayed the young animal with water from a fire hose. At just four months old the bear is still living with his mother Vilma - and has already been seen exploring his snow-covered enclosure. The young animal will remain under the care of his mother for the next two years while he gathers strength. Hear me roar: The young animal will remain under the care of his mother for the next two years while he gathers strength . The cub was born at Rostock Zoo in the North East of the country in December and has now been christened Fiete after his keepers received 3,000 name suggestions . Fiete's father is a male called Lars - the same bear that fathered Knut, a cub that became a global sensation after it was born in captivity in Berlin eight years ago . The last polar bear births at the zoo were ten years ago in 2004 when twins Venus and Valeska were born . The last polar bear births at the zoo were ten years ago in 2004 when twins Venus and Valeska were born. He currently weighs in at 20kg, according to newscom.au. His older brother Knut died in 2011 from the after effects of a brain infection. Before his death, he had drawn millions of visitors to Berlin Zoo. Newscom.au reports that he was the zoo's first polar bear to live beyond infancy in 30 years . +Manchester United keeper David de Gea has revealed it is unthinkable for the club to finish outside of the Champions League places for two seasons in a row. United return to domestic action at home to Aston Villa on Saturday with two wins against top four rivals Tottenham and Liverpool having given Louis van Gaal's side some breathing space behind Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. Now De Gea has underlined just how important it is for United to get back in to European football's blue riband competition after spending this season in the wildnerness. Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea (left) insists the club must qualify for the Champions League . De Gea has played an instrumental role in United's rise to the top four of the Premier League so far . 'We have to qualify for the Champions League, no matter what,' said De Gea. 'We already missed out last season, and a team like Manchester United cannot do that two years in a row.' While Van Gaal's team have struggled for consistency this season, De Gea has been outstanding yet again in goal. The Spanish international's own future remains in doubt as he only has one year left on his contract at the end of this season. The 24-year-old is currently on international duty with Spain, who play Holland on Tuesday night . De Gea is happy to have his countryman Victor Valdes (left) in the Manchester United squad with him . However, De Gea recognises how much he owes the English game for the manner in which it has enabled to improve his game in recent seasons. 'I'm a composed, calm type, which helps me in my profession,' he revealed. 'As a keeper, you need to convey a sense of calm to the rest of the team. 'But, truth be told, English football has changed me a great deal. 'I've developed a lot physically, I have greatly improved my concentration and have generally improved all aspects of my game. 'I was very young when I came here but, four years on, things are very good overall. This league really suits me, as you learn a lot here.' Valdes (right) is helping De Gea improve his game, and offers 20 years of goalkeeping experience . The former Barcelona keeper spend an incredible two decades at the Nou Camp before joining United . Since January, De Gea has been working at Old Trafford with former Spanish international Victor Valdes as his understudy. 'Victor Valdes and I work very well together – I'm very happy to be with him,' added De Gea. 'I'm learning so much from him, not just in goalkeeping terms given his immense experience, but also as a person. 'He's a very straightforward guy with a lot of character. Moreover, he's always ready to lend a hand, trying to help out with his advice, especially during games.' He arrived at Barcelona in 1995, and left in January after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury . Valdes argues with now-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho after Barcelona's match against Inter Milan in 2010 . +Kell Brook successfully defended his IBF world welterweight title against Romanian Jo Jo Dan at Sheffield's Motorpoint Arena on Saturday night. Brook defeated his challenger in four murderous rounds before fans joined him in calling out Khan for what Brook envisages as ‘the biggest fight out there for both of us.’ ‘Who do you want to see me beat next,’ he asked. ‘Khan, Khan, Khan’ came the crowd's response. Brook's triumph and return to the ring came just six months after surviving a machete attack which inflicted horrific wounds to his left leg. Host commentator . Click the above link for Jeff Powell's full report on Brook's victory from Sheffield's Motorpoint Arena. Thanks for following Sportsmail's coverage of the big fight. It's all over and Kell Brook remains the IBF world welterweight title holder. JEFF POWELL: Brook's red shorts covered that wound on his left leg but there was no hiding place for his challenger. Dan was taking right hands to the head as if by habit and he went down for the third time from an accumulation of blows. Make that a fourth, Dan falling a split second before the bell. American referee Earl Brown completed the statutory eight count before agreeing with the challenger's corner that enough was enough. 10-9. JEFF POWELL: Brook was looking for the finish but Dan managed to weather the storm at the opening of the round – and somehow fought back. The Brook attack was relentless and Dan reeled around the ring like a drunk, yet still made it to the end of another three minutes of hell. 10-9 . JEFF POWELL: There were no signs of distress from that left leg which had been savagely severed. This time it was Brook inflicting the pain. One sharp sent Dan reeling. The next, an uppercut, put him down. The third sent him to the canvas again. Only a mix of gallantry and clinching got Dan through more punishment to the bell, which seemed more likely to have condemned him to a continuing world of pain rather than to have saved him. 10-7 . JEFF POWELL: Dan had pronounced himself ready not only to rumble but to ignore the sound and fury of the partisan Sheffield crowd. He started brightly enough to suggest nerves might not be problem but he promptly pressed forward, playing into Brook’s preference for counter punching. The home boy’s straight lefts over the Canadian based Romanian’s southpaw leads were especially effective and he was off to a good start. 10-9 . JEFF POWELL: The Motorpoint Arena was packed to the tank-full, waiting to welcome the fighter Sheffield believes can be its successor to Naseem Hamed. That atmosphere generator had to be restarted after the electric shock of seeing another son of the Steel City, Adam Etches, brutally knocked out by his veteran Belarus rival for the IBF international middleweight belt. The deeply experienced 40-year-old Sergei Khomitsky drew Etches into a clever trap midway through the third round, opening him up for the perfect right cross. Etches went down like an axed tree, crashing his head against the canvas as he landed, and there were no protests as referee Howard Foster instantly waves his arms over the prone body and summoned medical assistance. Video-screening of Brook’s triumphs in the ring and his leg-slashed tribulations outside the ropes restored he mood of optimism. Special K came in to a thunder of expectation and to be greeted by famed Ready to Rumble announcer Michael Buffer. Defending world champion Kell Brook is announced by Michael Buffer and makes his way to the ring. The 28-year-old's Sheffield homecoming has finally arrived. Dan makes his way to the ring with a smile on his face and is looking calm and confident. Kell Brook has vowed not to make the same mistake as the man from whom he ripped the world crown. Brook had been considered a convenient underdog when he went to California in August and surprised the incumbent champion Shawn Porter to wrest the belt by split decision. Brook's trainer Dominic Ingle said: 'Shawn Porter under-estimated Kell Brook and believed his own hype and then he was forced to admit he had over-looked him. 'There is no danger of Kell overlooking Jo Jo in the same way. Jo Jo has got into the mandatory position and he wants to win that title. Kell is looking for big fights ahead but Jo Jo sees no reason why he shouldn't get them too.' Kell Brook is talking about fighting Floyd Mayeather or Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez or Brandon Rios — in no given order — before a Wembley blockbuster with Amir Khan sometime next year. Nothing wrong with ambition but the first question Brook has to answer comes in his home town of Sheffield tonight. It has less to do with his undeniable boxing ability than with whether he truly is recovered from the machete attack which inflicted horrific wounds to his left leg. Click the above link for the story. Sportsmail will be providing you with round-by-round coverage of Kell Brook's IBF world welterweight fight against Jo Jo Dan. Stay tuned for updates from Jeff Powell who is ringside in Sheffield. +French golfer Thomas Levet took a break from participating in the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco on Friday to show off his absurdly impressive balancing skills. The 46-year-old performed the trick, involving three clubs and one ball, as he waited to tee off from the eighth hole during round two of the European Tour event. Fellow competitor Mikko Korhonen captured the quite unbelievable moment before sharing it with his Twitter followers. French golfer Thomas Levet performs an impressive balancing trick during Hassan II Trophy on Friday . Levet endured a tournament to forget bowing out after the second round on 17 over par . Fellow competitor Mikko Korhonen posted the picture to his Twitter account . Rafa Cabrera-Bello led the way with group of four all on six under par after the second round . 'On a slow round of golf it's nice to have some entertainment! @thomaslevetgolf balancing it out,' the Fin wrote on Twitter alongside the picture. Levet would have been happy to momentarily take the attention away from his golf. Having shot and 11 over par 83 on Thursday, Levet followed it up with a second round 78 to end his tournament 17 over par. Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Richard Green, Richie Ramsay and Oliver Farr lead the way on six under par at the end of day two. +Andy Sullivan's bid to qualify for his first major championship ended in emphatic fashion on the second day of the Hassan Trophy at Golf du Palais Royal on Friday. Sullivan needed to win his third European Tour title of the season or finish alone in second to climb into the world's top 50 before Monday's deadline to secure a place in the Masters in a fortnight's time. However, the 28-year-old from Nuneaton could only add a 75 to his opening 74 in Agadir, with his hopes extinguished courtesy of a quintuple-bogey nine on the par-four fourth, his 13th hole of the day. Englishman Andy Sullivan, pictured in action in Agadir, has failed in his bid to qualify for the Masters . 'There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders to perform,' Sullivan told Sky Sports 4. 'I tried to take it off as much as possible but came into it with not really enough preparation. 'I hit a lot of good shots but the bad ones really hurt me. That's golf and I am lucky to just have the opportunity to get into the Masters to be honest. If someone had said that at the start of the year I would have said 'no chance'. 'To have the opportunity to do it was amazing but it's golf, it comes back and bites you a lot of the time. I need to go away and work harder and bounce back from this, but I am not going to be too downhearted. I look back on the golf I have played this year and I have played well.' France's Alexander Levy, who needed to finish joint second or better to make the trip to Augusta, also looked to have missed out after a 75 left him three over par, two shots outside the projected cut. But England's Tommy Fleetwood had kept his hopes of claiming the required win alive with a 71 to finish three under, three behind the clubhouse target set by Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello following a second consecutive 69. France's Alexander Levy looks to have also missed out on Augusta after a second-round 75 . Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello hits his tee shot on the 10th, his first hole, during the second round on Friday . +Serena Williams ruthlessly ended the challenge of 15-year-old wildcard CiCi Bellis to ease into the fourth round of the Miami Open on Sunday. Williams, ranked No 1 in the world, was taking on the game's junior No 1 in a clash of generations, and unsurprisingly it was the top seed who came through against her fellow American. The 33-year-old triumphed 6-1 6-1 to set up a last-16 clash against former two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who ended the challenge of 13th seed Angelique Kerber 6-3 3-6 6-3. Serena Williams moved into the fourth round at the Miami Open for the loss of only two games . The world No 1 was too powerful for 15-year-old wildcard entry CiCi Bellis . Third seed Simona Halep was a 6-4 7-5 winner over Camila Giorgi, but the 30th seed's Italian compatriots fared better. Fifteenth seed Flavia Pennetta defeated former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka 7-5 7-6 (8/6) and Sara Errani, seeded 11th, booked her spot in the last 16 after hitting back to oust Garbine Muguruza 4-6 6-4 6-1. Elsewhere, Switzerand's Belinda Bencic knocked out German qualifier Tatjana Maria 6-4 7-5. Former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka crashed out after losing two close sets to Flavia Pennetta . In the men's draw, British third seed Andy Murray cruised to a 6-3 6-4 victory over Santiago Giraldo with the minimum of fuss. Murray continued the commanding form he displayed in seeing off Donald Young on Friday and his Colombian opponent, seeded 27th, had no answer. British No 1 Andy Murray made light work of his match against Santiago Giraldo . Murray's fiancee Kim Sears shields herself from the Florida sunshine while watching her man . There were, however, shock defeats for seventh seed Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 11th and playing in his first competition this year. Wawrinka was edged out by Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/5), while Tsonga was sent packing after a 6-4 7-6 (7/4) defeat to French compatriot Gael Monfils. Fifteenth seed Kevin Anderson beat Leonardo Mayer 6-4 6-4 while Austria's Dominic Thiem came through 6-4 6-3 against Jack Sock of the United States. +Andy Murray closed in on his 500th career victory on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over hard-hitting Colombian Santiago Giraldo to make the fourth round of the Miami Open. The world number four will now meet South African giant Kevin Anderson on Tuesday in an attempt to become the first British player to make the 500-mark since tennis went fully 'open' to all players in 1968. Now three wins ahead of Tim Henman's career tally, Murray had a mid-morning start against world number 27 Giraldo, who strikes the ball as firmly as anyone from the back of the court. Andy Murray plays a backhand on his way to beating Santiago Giraldo in the third round of the Miami Open . Murray bends down to play a forehand shot during his victory at Crandon Park on Sunday afternoon . Giraldo and Murray shake hands after the Scot overcame a small scare to secure victory . The Scot keeps his eyes on the ball as he sees off Giraldo to set up a clash with Kevin Anderson . Murray serves during his victory against Giraldo - the 499th win of his professional career so far . Giraldo plays a forehand return towards Murray during their two-set match on Sunday afternoon . Murray's coach Ameli Mauresmo (front, left) and fiancee Kim Sears watch on from the stands . But Murray's subtle changes of angles and spins unpicked him, and he closed the match out after a mini-scare when the South American pulled him back from 5-1 up in the second set to win in 84 minutes. 'He hits it very hard and made things difficult at the end so it's good to get through,' said Murray, who now takes on the number fifteen seed. Murray chases down a shot from Giraldo during another sweltering day in the Miami heat . Murray acknowledges the applause from the crowd after earning another victory on American soil . The British No 1 plays a delicate volley as he continues his bid for a third Miami Open title in six years . +Serena Williams cruised into the third round of the Miami Open on Saturday with a comfortable victory over Monica Niculescu. The two players had failed to get on court on Friday due to the weather but the delay did not distract the top seed and she claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory to set up a clash with 15-year-old CiCi Bellis. Williams had withdrawn from the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open last week with a knee injury but insisted her fitness was not a concern. Serena Williams cruised into the Miami Open third round with a comfortable victory over Monica Niculescu . 'It was a little sore in practice, but it was okay today,' she told www.wtatennis.com. 'I really didn't feel it to be honest. On the court you have so much adrenaline going, and the adrenaline kind of kills it. 'So I was surprised. I felt pretty good.' Sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard was also playing catch up after the weather and she made a shock exit as she lost 6-0, 7-6 (7/4) to qualifier Tatjana Maria. In the remaining second round matches to be completed, Sara Errani beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) and Angelique Kerber was a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 winner over Heather Watson. Williams insisted her fitness was not a concern following the knee injury suffered during last week's BNP Paribas Open semi-finals . Fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki moved into the last-16 with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi and will next face Venus Williams, a 6-4, 7-6, (7/3) winner against Samantha Stosur. Daria Gavrilova, the Russian wild card who shocked Maria Sharapova earlier in the week, continued her fine run with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) win over Kurumi Nara to set up a clash with Karolina Pilskova who beat Paula Badosa Gibert 7-5 6-1. Ekaterina Makarova was a 6-0, 6-4 victor over Elina Svitolina and will next face Andrea Petkovic, who beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 6-2, while Carla Suarez Navarro's 6-0 6-4 win over Alize Cornet earned her a clash with Agnieszka Radwanska, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 winner against Irina Camelia-Begu. Caroline Wozniacki (above) moved into the last-16 with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi . In the men's event, top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a wobble to beat Martin Klizan. The Serb won the first set to love but then lost the second before closing out a 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 win and he will next face Steve Darcis who beat Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3. Fourth seed Kei Nishikori beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-1 and will face Viktor Troicki, who overcame Simone Bolelli 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, while fifth seed Milos Raonic was a 6-1 6-4 winner against Teymuraz Gabashvili, next meeting Jeremy Chardy who beat Jurgen Melzer 6-4 6-1. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first match of the season after a spell out with injury as he beat Tim Smyczek . David Ferrer was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Federico Delbonis to set up a clash with Lukas Rosol, a 7-6 (7/0), 6-3 winner over Alexander Zverev. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first match of the season after a spell out with an arm injury as he beat Tim Smyczek 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up an all-French clash with Gael Monfils who won 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7/4) against Filip Krajinovic. Fernando Verdasco will face fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the third round after a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over James Duckworth while there were also victories for Jack Sock, John Isner, Alejandro Falla, Juan Monaco, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Jerzy Janowicz, David Goffin, Adrian Mannarino, Gilles Simon and Thomaz Bellucci. +Manor team principal John Booth concedes his marque 'have a lot of work to do' after their weekend was saved by the Malaysian Grand Prix stewards. After emerging from administration in February and being forced to sit out the season-opening race in Australia due to IT infrastructure woes, the South Yorkshire-based team will race in Malaysia. However, rookie Roberto Merhi failed to set a time within the 107 per cent rule for qualifying, whilst team-mate Will Stevens did not even take to the track due to a fuel system issue. Roberto Merhi failed to post a time within the 107 per cent rule but will be allowed to race in on Sunday . Manor Marussia drivers Stevens (left) of Great Britain and Roberto Merhi of Spain . The stewards, though, granted both drivers dispensation to take part in the race at the Sepang International Circuit due to them setting 'satisfactory times in practice'. Manor's return to competitive action was always going to be an uphill struggle, and so it has proven, with Merhi and Stevens some way off the pace of those cars directly ahead of them. Assessing the situation, Booth said: 'We knew our first weekend of running would not be without its challenges. 'Although we had a positive day on Friday, it has been important to keep our expectations for qualifying in check. 'Our two drivers have done a solid job and Friday's practice showed promise in terms of having the pace for the 107 per cent time. But today underlined we have a lot of work to do.' Will Stevens failed to emerge from the garage, pictured here in practice on Friday, following mechanical woes . Manor team principal John Booth concedes they 'have a lot of work to do' this season after difficult start . Essex-born Stevens has now attended two grands prix with Manor, but has yet to take part in qualifying. Being in the race, however, at least affords Manor and the drivers the opportunity to make progress. 'Obviously I was very disappointed not to take part in qualifying,' said Stevens. 'In FP3 we had a fuel system problem and we were trying to resolve that, but sadly we weren't able to get on top of it in time for me to take part. 'Looking at the positives, as we always try to do, the practice sessions showed promise and my times were within the 107 per cent throughout Friday. 'Step by step we'll get there.' +The 2015 Turf Flat season begins with Sunday’s Lincoln Handicap card at Doncaster. Racemail answers some intriguing questions. Can Godolphin finally regain the ‘fear factor’? Only one European Group One winner in 2014 — Charming Thought in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket — was an unacceptably thin return for Sheik Mohammed’s lavishly-funded Godolphin operation. Ol’ Man River among seven of Aidan O’Brien's horses in the first nine in the ante-post betting for Derby . Charming Thought’s trainer Charlie Appleby was fully aware of the need to do better when he said in October: ‘Ten years ago, we were at the top of the table and everyone was frightened of us. That’s where we will hopefully be again in a year or two.’ The organisation, badly tarnished by the 2013 Mahmood Al Zarooni drug scandal, has seen significant changes, with horses now spread beyond the Appleby-Saeed Bin Suroor twin Newmarket operation. Horses will race in the Godolphin colours from the stables of Jim Bolger and Michael Halford in Ireland, Andre Fabre in France and John Gosden in Britain while they have acquired Richard Hannon’s 2014 2,000 Guineas winner Night of Thunder and a share in Roger Varian’s Dewhurst Stakes scorer Belardo. Top jockeys William Buick and James Doyle have been recruited and the Sheik spent another fortune on yearling talent. Appleby has cleaned up on this winter’s all-weather circuit but, given his ammunition, at times that has seemed like pitting Mitchell Johnson against a third XI batsman. The serious stuff is ahead for an organisation that has not punched its weight. Top jockey William Buick has been recruited by Godolphin . Is the Qatari juggernaut unstoppable? They may lag behind the horse numbers of Dubai’s Maktoum family but Sheik Fahad Al Thani’s Pearl and Qatar Racing now have almost 250 horses while Sheik Joaan Al Thani, who retains Frankie Dettori, has doubled his European string to 150, half of them based here. With the likes of Racing Post Trophy winner Elm Park and £800,000 buy Moheet, who scooted home on his Salisbury debut in October, in their team, a first British Classic win could arrive this summer. Expensive new sponsorships will also be rolled out for the first time at Newbury and Glorious Goodwood as the Qatari influence spreads. Is Aidan O’Brien nailed on for a fourth Derby? When Australia followed up the Epsom successes of Ruler Of The World and Camelot last June it was a historic Derby hat-trick for Ireland’s dominant trainer and a fourth successive victory looks highly likely. He already has a vice-like grip on this year’s race with favourites JF Kennedy and Ol’ Man River among seven of his horses in the first nine in the ante-post betting and Ladbrokes make it even money that an O’Brien horse wins the Derby. Jockeys title race likely to be the shootout between Ryan Moore and Richard Hughes (right) Will Jockeys Championship changes mean a new winner? Despite the marketing vandalism of shortening the title race from 2,000 Guineas day at Newmarket on May 2 to Champions Day at Ascot on October 17, it is likely to be the same shootout between Ryan Moore and the defending champion Richard Hughes, who retires at the end of the season. But do not rule out a hungry Silvestre De Sousa, freelancing and out to prove a point after being ditched by Godolphin. Richard Hannon to be champion trainer again? Sheer weight of numbers would suggest so. Hannon, with more than 250 horses in his care, has to be favourite. He has lost Olympic Glory and Toronado to stud but closest rival John Gosden has waved goodbye to Kingman and Taghrooda. Both have a clutch of Classic hopes. Roger Varian — with St Leger winner and Arc fourth Kingston Hill plus 2,000 Guineas hope Belardo — could narrow the gap but it is a blow that injury means filly Cursory Glance misses the 1,000 Guineas. A final Classic win for Barry Hills? Having retired in 2011, Hills, 78 next month, took out his licence again when son John died last year. He retires again at the end of the season but is overseeing a string of almost 40 horses owned by Sheik Hamdan. Among them are 1,000 Guineas hope Fadhayyil and 2,000 Guineas hope Nafaqa. +Scotland international Geoff Cross has completed his year-long beard growing fundraiser after it was shaved off at his club's training ground on Tuesday. The London Irish prop created a lot of interest during the Six Nations championship with the beard and has raised £10,000 for rugby's children's charity Wooden Spoon - dedicated to transforming the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the British Isles through rugby. His efforts are also helping raise funds for his former club-mate at Edinburgh, John Houston, who is seeking £50,000 to compete in the Wooden Spoon Arctic Rugby Challenge. The before and after shots of Geoff Cross as the Scotland international had his beard shaved off on Tuesday . Cross sits in his chair as he gets ready to have his beard shaved off at the London Irish training ground . Cross's London Irish team-mate Leo Halavatan helps to shave the famous beard off . Cross's efforts raised £10,000 for rugby's children's charity Wooden Spoon . Setting off on April 15, the challenge aims to set a world record for the most northerly rugby match in history after a trek of 100 miles to the magnetic North Pole. When asked if he did indeed have the greatest beard in rugby, Cross said: 'It's really not my place to say but I'm very proud of it. Scotland prop Cross poses with his now detached beard hair after it was shaved off on Tuesday . Cross is pictured in action during Scotland's Six Nations clash against England at Twickenham . Cross tackles England's Tom Wood to the ground during Scotland's defeat at Twickenham earlier this month . 'My wife is really pleased it's going. It has been a long-suffering year for my long-suffering wife.' To donate, visit justgiving.com/drx . +England lock Joe Launchbury could be back in action for his club Wasps by the end of April as he recovers from neck surgery. Launchbury has been sidelined since October with the nerve problem caused by a bulging disc but is closing in on a return to full training with the Champions Cup quarter-finalists. Director of rugby Dai Young has revealed the 23-year-old is on course to resume playing in either the Aviva Premiership match against Exeter on April 26 or Leicester on May 9. Joe Launchbury could return to Wasps by the end of the month as he nears the end of neck surgery recovery . Launchbury (right) is an England international but was out of the Six Nations due to the issue . Launchbury (left) has not played since October but could feature for Wasps against Exeter on April 26 . 'Joe is in the final stage of his rehab, so he's over the worst, but if one or two days don't quite go to plan it will make a difference in when he's back,' Young said. 'We've pencilled in either the Leicester or the Exeter games, so he should be back in either of those games. It will be like having a new signing .' Launchbury will be missing for Sunday's trip to double European champions Toulon with Wasps facing the toughest assignment of the four English teams in the last eight of the Champions Cup. The odds are heavily stacked against the Coventry-based club, but Young is planning to ambush the big-spending Top 14 team with a display bristling with attacking intent. 'If this is a slow, set-piece game we'll lose. If they are allowed to control the tempo, we don't have enough to win,' Young said. 'If we can get some real tempo and intensity and ask questions of them, then who knows what can happen? 'This is a game we have to try to win. If we sit back and are conservative, there's only winner. 'Toulon have lost games and they're not unbeatable, so you have to back yourselves. Launchbury, 23, could play against Leicester on May 9 if the game against Exeter comes too soon . Dai Young has a plan for Wasps' encounter against French side Toulon on the weekend . 'We've shown we can upset the best teams. Against these guys we'll have to play for 80 minutes. We just have to go out there and really play. 'If we can get quick line-outs or taps going then great. Anything within kicking range we'll kick it, but until then let's play rugby. It may be good enough on the day, it may not. 'We're not going to throw caution to the wind, but we have to be a little more adventurous than we would be in the Premiership.' +Brighton’s Amex Stadium could host its first major rugby match ahead of the World Cup if Wasps qualify for the semi-final of the European Champions Cup. Should Dai Young’s side dethrone Toulon at the Stade Felix Mayol on Sunday, they will take on either Leinster or Bath in a final-four knockout match at the Championship football ground. The 30,750 capacity arena, which opened in 2011, hosted and Under 20 Six Nations fixture between England and France earlier this month, gearing up to stage South Africa vs Japan and Samoa vs United States in Pool B of the World Cup. Amex Stadium could host its first major rugby match ahead of the World Cup if Wasps qualify for the last four . Elliot Daly in action for Wasps against Northampton... his side will face Leinster or Bath if they beat Toulon . Should Wasps fail to progress, then Toulon will face Leinster or Bath at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. The second semi-final will be played at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne or the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, depending on the respective winner of Clermont Auvernge vs Northampton. They will take on the winner of Racing Metro vs Saracens. +Jonny Wilkinson has dismissed speculation that he is poised to take up a role with England ahead of this year’s World Cup. Reports in France suggested the World Cup winner was destined to act as a kicking consultant to Stuart Lancaster’s squad, but despite admitting his ambition to work with England at some stage, the 35-year-old icon said there are no imminent plans. ‘I’d love to do that but I’m not coaching there,’ Wilkinson said. ‘I’m not involved in any way. I coach with Toulon and it’s unfortunately something that’s been mis-reported, I think.’ Land Rover ambassador Jonny Wilkinson watches on as a kick is lined up at Farnborough rugby club . Wilkinson chats to 2003 World Cup-winning coach and Sportsmail columnist Sir Clive Woodward . Wilkinson hands the kicking tee to Racal Decca RFC player Robert Holmes at Farnborough RFC . Wilkinson has dismissed speculation that he is poised to take up a role with England later this season . TIGERS' MANU BLOW . Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill has conceded that Manu Tuilagi is unlikely to recover from a groin injury before the end of the season. The centre had originally been expected to return before Christmas. ‘Manu is improving but it is a long process,’ said Cockerill. ‘The likelihood is he will be fit for June and he’ll join England for their World Cup camp.’ Manu Tuilagi breaks clear during England's clash against New Zealand in Dunedin in June 2014 . Saracens centre Brad Barritt is still recovering from a knee injury and is unlikely to face Racing Metro . England centre Brad Barritt is unlikely to be rushed back from a knee injury for Saracens’ Champions Cup quarter-final against Racing Metro on Sunday. Barritt is sidelined along with team-mate Owen Farrell, who is not expected to return until the end of next month. ‘Owen has no chance for next weekend,’ said director of rugby Mark McCall. ‘Brad has got a small chance but we won’t take a gamble on him.’ Saracens and England fly half Owen Farrell is expected to make his return to action at the end of April . +For Danny Cipriani and Billy Twelvetrees, this must have felt like a monumental comedown, eight days after they had participated in one of the great occasions at Twickenham. At least Cipriani had a win to savour, although the Sale fly-half finished Sunday's game in the sin-bin. For Gloucester captain Twelvetrees, it was a miserable result on a miserable day in Salford. Danny Cipriani kicked five out of five to help Sale Sharks to a comfortable victory over Gloucester . Both men had come off the bench as England thrashed France in the Six Nations finale only to miss out on the title again, but there was no residual goodwill as they clashed three minutes from time at the AJ Bell Stadium, before Cipriani was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on. Compared to a last day of the championship that was awash with audacious artistry, this was an alien form of rugby. It was wet and windy and chilly and Sale were more pragmatic and clinical in the difficult conditions. Gloucester had been in Tenerife for a week of warm-weather training, which wasn't ideal preparation for an arm-wrestle contest in the North West. After enjoying the sun, David Humphreys' side caught a cold and yet another defeat in this fixture has left Gloucester stuck in ninth place in the Aviva Premiership table. They continue to punch below their weight. The first half was grim fare. James Hook struck two penalties for the visitors but Sale snatched a try in the 22nd minute when Samoa centre Johnny Leota managed to ground the ball against the base of a post after Andrei Ostrikov had been held up short. Cipriani converted that and added three penalties either side of the break to put his team in control. As impressive as his kicking was Cipriani (centre) was all over the pitch and proved defensively solid . Just before the hour, the hosts claimed a second try and it was a gem. From a rolling maul on the right, the impressive Chris Cusiter broke infield and released Tom Arscott. The wing burst into the 22 and was tackled but from the ruck Cipriani's clever delayed pass sent lock Josh Beaumont over the line from close range. Cipriani added the conversion and Sale stood firm, despite Nathan Hines and Cipriani going to the bin, to ensure Mark Cueto celebrated his 300th game for the club with a win. Gloucester had plenty of attacking possession but not enough nous and precision. Brendan Macken failed to release Charlie Sharples for a clear run to the line and moments later, when the wing received a pass in space from Jonny May, he was scythed down well by Leota. Josh Beaumont crosses the line to score the final try for Sale and put them game beyond Gloucester . Sale's director of rugby Steve Diamond was satisfied but does not believe that his side — currently seventh — are equipped to push for a play-off place despite a favourable run-in. 'We're a good side here,' he said. 'The one area that we didn't have dominance was the scrum. In every other area we were in control of it. I'm really pleased. 'Our first goal is to qualify for the Champions Cup and to do that we have to finish sixth. I think we're probably a bit away from the top four. We can't compete with the super teams. On our day we can beat anyone here but we've got two difficult games away from home.' Humphreys defended Gloucester's preparations, saying: 'We had a very positive training week but we couldn't translate that into a performance today. We've been back for 48 hours to acclimatise again and we had a good training session yesterday in similar weather conditions to this.' Tom Arscott slips the tackle of Elliott Stooke of Gloucester during the Aviva Premiership rugby match . +Birmingham Bears have pulled off a major coup for the NatWest T20 Blast with the signing of New Zealand's powerhouse captain Brendon McCullum. The reigning champions will be able to call on the services of the explosive 33-year-old batsman for their final seven matches of this year's competition. McCullum will link up with the Bears once New Zealand's tour of England has been concluded and his first game is scheduled to be against Lancashire Lightning on June 26 at Old Trafford. New Zealand's powerhouse captain Brendon McCullum has signed for Birmingham Bears for the T20 Blast . McCullum will link up with the Birmingham Bears once New Zealand's tour of England has been concluded . He will arrive on these shores with a fearsome reputation after playing a starring role at the top of the order in the Black Caps' run to the World Cup final. Among his four half-centuries in nine matches for the co-hosts was a destructive 77 off just 25 balls against England in Wellington. Dougie Brown, Birmingham Bears director of cricket, said: 'Brendon's dynamic performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup have demonstrated once again exactly why he is one of the most feared batsmen in the game. 'Securing his availability for our last seven games has to make him one of the biggest overseas player signings in the competition's history. 'His power at the top of the order and experience of playing in big matches are great assets to bolster our already strong squad as we look to win through to the quarter-finals and defend our NatWest T20 Blast title.' He arrives with a fearsome reputation after playing starring role during New Zealand's run to World Cup final . McCullum is the leading run scorer in the history of T20 internationals, with 2,105 at an average over 35, with two centuries. He said: 'The Birmingham Bears had a great season last year, including winning the NatWest T20 Blast, and hopefully I can make a big contribution and ensure that we can progress in the tournament. 'Edgbaston is a fantastic ground to play at and hopefully it will be rocking for the big Friday night matches. I'm really excited about becoming a Bear and the challenge ahead.' Elsewhere, Leicestershire have signed Ireland’s big-hitting all-rounder Kevin O’Brien for the T20 Blast but Lancashire’s plans for the new season have been rocked by seamer Peter Siddle’s inclusion in Australia’s Test squad. +Italian star Valentino Rossi pipped Andrea Dovizioso to win the opening race of the 2015 MotoGP season in Qatar. Rossi, a seven-time world champion in MotoGP, had started on the third row on his Yamaha but worked his way up the grid and claimed victory by just 0.174 seconds ahead of compatriot Dovizioso. Dovizioso's Ducati team-mate Andrea Iannone claimed third, 2.250secs adrift of the winner to make it an all-Italian podium. Valentino Rossi celebrates after winning the curtain raiser MotoGP event in Qatar . The seven-time champion takes the chequered flag just 0.174 ahead of his closest rival . Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished fourth, while reigning two-time champion Marc Marquz rounded out the top five after recovering from a poor start. The 22-year-old Spaniard ran wide on the opening lap and slumped to the back of the pack, but he fought his way back into contention to ensure his season did not get off to a disastrous start. Rossi pipped Andrea Dovizios (left) into second place with Andrea Iannone finishing third . It was later reported Marquez had set the fastest ever recorded speed in MotoGP on his charge up the grid, at one point reaching 217.66mph. His Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa was sixth, while British pair Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith finished seventh and eighth respectively. +Jonny Brownlee sprinted to victory as he claimed gold in the second round of the World Triathlon Series in Auckland on Sunday. The 24-year-old Olympic bronze medallist maintained a challenging position throughout the race after coming home fifth following a disappointing opening race in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. But, in New Zealand, Brownlee burst out of the second transition and established an immediate lead over world champion Javier Gomez of Spain and Frenchman Pierre Le Corre, while current world number one Mario Mola of Spain was a minute down by this stage. Jonny Brownlee sprinted to victory as he claimed gold in the second round of the World Triathlon Series . Though the final stages of the 10-kilometre run brought with them heavy rain, Brownlee reached the final corner clear of his rivals and celebrated along with the crowd over the final few metres before crossing the line in a sprint finish with a time of one hour 55 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Gomez and third-placed Le Corre. Jonny's brother Alistair missed the race because of a minor ankle injury but, with Olympic qualification to be decided in August and September at the test event in Rio and the world series Grand Final in Chicago, none of the leading triathletes will want to peak too soon. Alastair is hopeful of a return in time for the fourth round in Cape Town late next month. Browlee was visibly delighted with victory and said: 'In (the previous round in) Abu Dhabi I made many mistakes, and I've been beating myself up about it for the last few weeks. I've been training hard because I didn't want to do that again, and I wanted to be able to show how good I was. 'I really enjoyed it, I felt good and I'm pleased to win.' The West Yorkshireman added on Twitter: 'Very happy to win #AucklandWTS today. It is a honest triathlon course. Just like the Yorkshire hill's!' Brownlee now takes up the world number one ranking which he carries to the next round on Australia's Gold Coast in a fortnight. In the women's race, Lucy Hall came home 17th to finish just under five minutes behind eventual winner Gwen Jorgensen of the United States. Leicestershire's Hall came home in a time of 2:14.10 but fellow Briton Jessica Learmonth suffered a mechanical issue during the bike ride and was forced to withdraw from the race. +Crystal Palace's James McArthur has been criticised by his manager Alan Pardew, who feels the midfielder should be 'embarrassed' about diving in Saturday's 2-1 win at Stoke. McArthur was booked early in the second half of the Barclays Premier League clash at the Britannia Stadium for simulation having taken a tumble in the box. And Pardew told Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday programme: 'He dived. 'He should be embarrassed. He's a great professional and that's unlike him. I was surprised but it shows what pressure does to players. Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur (left) was booked for diving in the second-half against Stoke City . Alan Pardew told Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday programme that MacArthur should feel 'embarrassed' 'I haven't spoken to him about it but I don't need to. He will see the replay and he will be embarrassed.' The win continued Palace's resurgence under Pardew, who took over in January after leaving Newcastle. Having been in the relegation zone at that point, the Eagles are now 11 points clear of it and up to 11th place - one spot above Newcastle. Pardew had a rocky relationship with the Tyneside club's fans and when his Newcastle side were beaten 1-0 at Stoke in September, several of the away supporters held up signs calling for him to be sacked. However, following a much happier return to the Potteries for the 53-year-old on Saturday, he insisted it was of no real significance to him that Palace had leapfrogged Newcastle in the table. And Pardew also indicated he is not about to take anything for granted in terms of survival. Palace - with 19 points from 10 league games under Pardew so far - have a total of 36, and he said: 'I'm still thinking about another couple of points. Stoke City forward Jonathan Walters (left) hassles Palace's Joel Ward (right) for the ball on Saturday . Palace winger Wilfried Zaha (right) celebrates scoring his side's second goal with team-mate Glenn Murray . 'But nine wins (for Palace in the league over the season) going into this international break - I would have absolutely jumped at that when I arrived.' Asked if there was any significance for him to going above Newcastle, Pardew said: 'No, not really. 'The most important thing for me is that this club is within touching distance of Premier League status for next year. 'That is the only agenda I had when I arrived. We have done absolutely brilliantly. 'It (his previous visit to Stoke) was a difficult night, and I've had them as a manager. You have to show your mettle. 'But it was a different feeling on Saturday because we are in great form. You want to have more of those in your career, and hopefully I can as I continue with Palace.' Stoke midfielder Steven N'Zonzi (left) dribbles the ball away from Palace's Jason Puncheon (right) Stoke, 10th on 42 points, are looking this season to better their Premier League records set last term of a ninth-placed finish and 50-point total. Saturday's result made it back-to-back defeats and manager Mark Hughes is keen for an impressive campaign not to fizzle out. He did, though, stress he thought the Potters' performance against Palace had been an improvement on the previous weekend's loss to West Brom. 'I thought performance-wise it was a marked difference from last week, which was pleasing, but we haven't got a positive result,' Hughes said. 'We are disappointed - we made mistakes, so maybe we didn't do enough to win. 'But we certainly deserved to take something out of it.' Palace have climbed to 11th in the Premier League table since Pardew took over at the club in January . +Malaga are interested in Everton striker Steven Naismith. The Scotland international has arguably been Everton's best player this season and his tireless displays in the Europa League have caught the eye of Malaga staff. However, Naismith is well thought of at Everton and the Spanish side do not have much money to spend. Steven Naismith's displays for Everton in the Europa League have caught the eye of Spanish side Malaga . The 28-year-old joined Everton on a free transfer from Rangers in 2012 and has scored 11 goals in 40 appearances for the Toffees this term. The forward scored during Scotland's 6-1 victory against Gibraltar in Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier and has earned nearly 40 caps for his country. Naismith celebrates scoring during Scotland's 6-1 victory against Gibraltar in Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier . +Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson has risked an FA charge after an astonishing blast at ‘arrogant’ referee Mike Dean. Pearson was furious that Tottenham were awarded a contentious second-half penalty after David Nugent and Danny Rose collided in the area. And the Foxes boss let rip at the official after the final whistle, branding Dean ‘arrogant’. Nigel Pearson was incensed by Mike Dean's decision to award a penalty and labelled him 'arrogrant' Pearson said: ‘Will I speak to the referee? What’s the point? What is the point of talking to him? He is one of the most arrogant men I have ever met. There we are. ‘The arrogance of the man at times is frightening. I just find it difficult to accept that we have to deal with yet another contentious decision that has not gone our way. The ref gave the controversial penalty after David Nugent was adjudged to have brought down Danny Rose . ‘It is two players colliding. Nugent will be the first to admit he should have probably dealt with it a little . bit earlier. The length of time it took to actually give the decision, and I am led to believe nobody else’s opinion was actually involved. ‘He took that length of time to decide if two players colliding in the box is a penalty. I really do feel at the moment that we continue to be short-changed. I am not suggesting that it is deliberate but we can’t be on the receiving end of so many poor decisions.’ On the prospect of an FA fine, Pearson added: ‘Will the FA look at it? I don’t know. Will they?’ Pearson's side were unlucky to not come away with a point after pushing Tottenham all the way . +Steven Fletcher has been buoyed by Dick Advocaat's early influence at Sunderland. Advocaat was drafted in to help the Black Cats avoid relegation after Gus Poyet's sacking and, despite losing his only game so far, at West Ham, Scotland striker Fletcher is upbeat about the run-in. The club lie just a point and a place above the bottom three with eight matches to go, but Advocaat has already made an impact. Dick Advocaat's early influence has been hailed by Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher . Fletcher (right) says it's been 'really lively' at Sunderland since the Dutchman came in . 'It's been really lively since the new coach has come in; he's a lively character and he's brought that into the training sessions,' Fletcher told safc.com. 'He wants us all to give 100 per cent and believes we've got the quality to turn our fortunes around and push up the league. 'He wants us to play a lot more compact and push forward as a unit, and I think we did that in the last game because we won balls back and created chances. We've got to remain upbeat and stick to the task at hand.' Advocaat has been brought in to save Sunderland from relegation after Gus Poyet (pictured) was sacked . Despite their struggles at the helm, both Poyet and his predecessor Paolo Di Canio enjoyed early success against Tyne-Wear rivals Newcastle, and Advocaat has his own opportunity after the international break. 'There's no better game to turn things around in than the derby,' added Fletcher. 'It's a great first home game for the new coach, so we're all looking forward to it.' +Swansea left back Neil Taylor fears he will be sold in the summer after failing to agree a new contract at the Liberty Stadium. The Wales international has just over a year left on his existing desk with Garry Monk’s side and is being monitored by a number of clubs in the top half of the Barclays Premier League. Taylor, 26, has held talks with Swansea about a new deal, but they have yet to agree terms for the former Wrexham defender. Neil Taylor closes down Christian Benteke during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Swansea . Swansea defender Taylor and Leandro Bacuna compete for the ball during the match at Villa Park . Swansea turned down a number of bids for the left-back in the winter transfer window, but his future will be on the agenda again at the end of the season. Taylor, who has made 29 appearances for Swansea in the Premier League this season, has been one of the club’s most consistent players. Taylor has his pace tested by Liverpool's attacking ace Raheem Sterling during game at the Liberty Stadium . +David Cotterill has revealed the first battle for him and Wales captain Ashley Williams ahead of their crunch Euro 2016 qualifier in Israel will just be getting off the ground. Both the Birmingham City winger and the Swansea captain have a fear of flying so will look to each other for support when the Welsh squad head to the skies on Thursday. Belgium’s match in Israel originally scheduled for last September was postponed until this month because of the Gaza conflict. But simply being 30,000 feet high will be of concern to Cotterill. Swansea and Wales defender Ashley Williams has a fear of flying . He laughed: ‘I’m a nervous wreck on every flight I go on, it doesn’t matter where it’s to. Normally when I’m flying I grab my two children’s hands. ‘When I’m on my own, Ashley Williams is across from me and he’s a nervous flier too, we just look at each other like we’re having a panic attack. ‘He’s a warrior on the pitch but when it comes to flying he’s a little baby.’ Cotterill has played an important part in Wales travelling to the Middle East with designs on topping their Euro 2016 qualifying group on departure. The 27-year-old came off the bench in the win over Cyprus earlier in the campaign to score a long-range free-kick, before starting the goalless draw in Belgium. ‘It was an amazing result for us. In previous years we would probably have gone over there and got beaten three or four nil,’ he told Sportsmail. Swansea defender Williams regarded as a fearless competitor on the pitch . ‘I think the squad has improved so much, and we have great confidence. Hopefully we can do something special by qualifying.’ Wales have not made a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup but sit second in Group B on eight points, one behind Israel having played a game more. Belgium are fourth on five points with a game in hand on Wales. Cotterill made his debut a decade ago as a 17-year-old, coming on to replace Ryan Giggs, so is well placed to chart the strides taken by this Wales team and how Gareth Bale has grown in dressing room stature. ‘We have great experience, he said. ‘Baley, Rambo (Aaron Ramsey) and (Chris) Gunter have a lot of caps for their age, obviously brought through from the days of (John) Toshack and (Gary) Speed. ‘A lot of us have been together for many years and that’s only benefitting us now. The group is a lot closer now than in previous years and it’s showing on the pitch.’ He added: ‘Baley’s signed for Real Madrid and he is one of our leaders. He does speak a lot more than he used to. Whatever he says he’s talking sense because he’s playing for one of the best managers in the world. He knows his stuff.’ Bale’s presence, despite his difficult spell at Real, encourages Cotterill to believe Wales can beat Israel, who have a perfect record so far. Birmingham winger David Cotterill (centre) will be part of the Wales squad flying to Israel . ‘We’ve got one of the best players in the world, if that doesn’t give you a lift nothing will. Most of our starting XI are in the Premier League playing week in week out. Our core is quality. We show respect but we have nothing to fear.’ Cotterill has enjoyed a bright season at Birmingham, revived under Gary Rowett, having moved from Doncaster last summer. He has eight goals from the right wing and seven assists, numbers that compete with any players in is position in the Championship. ‘I’m happy the way the season has gone, I’m hoping to score more goals and get to the double figure mark, hopeful add a few more assists,’ he said. ‘Then I could look back at a successful season.’ +Celtic have placed Hearts captain Danny Wilson on a list of potential summer reinforcements. With 12 months to run on his current deal, the Parkhead side believe they could land the 23-year-old for a fee of around £400,000. As of yet, however, there has been no contact between the clubs. The SPL champions expect to lose Dutch central defender Virgil van Dijk, with Sunderland and Southampton long-term admirers. Hearts captain Danny Wilson (right) is a summer transfer target for Celtic and could be signed for £400,000 . Celtic will face a challenge to keep hold of the services of highly-rated Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk . A former Rangers protégé and Scottish Young Player of the Year, Wilson’s career stalled following a £2million move to Liverpool. However, the Edinburgh-born defender has since made 80 appearances for Hearts, the club clinching promotion with seven games to spare. Coach Ronny Deila also faces an uphill battle to convince Manchester City and Jason Denayer the defender should spend another season in Glasgow. Celtic are also tracking the Dutch market closely. An interest in NAC Breda’s Menno Koch has been shelved after the defender suffered a cruciate ligament injury, but PSV’s Belgian winger Zakaria Bakkali is available on freedom of contract. Reports also claim Parkhead scouts are watching NEC Nijmegen’s Iranian wide man Alijera Jahanbakhsh. Midfielder Liam Henderson, meanwhile, has joined Norwegian club Rosenborg on a three-month loan deal. Celtic will want to retain the services of on-loan defender Jason Denayer (left) for at least another season . PSV winger Zakaria Bakkali is another target for the SPL champions and is available on a free transfer . Their manager Kare Ingebrigtsen welcomed the move after describing the Under-19 international as ‘one of Scotland’s greatest talents and a very exciting player’. Ingebrigtsen - who spoke to Celtic boss Ronny Deila and midfielder Stefan Johansen before making his move, added: ‘Liam has huge potential and both Ronny and Stefan speak very highly about him. ‘He is a young, ambitious, hard-working boy with a strong will to win and experience of playing in front of 60,000 spectators, so he knows what the pressure of expectation is.’ Celtic's 18-year-old midfielder Liam Henderson has joined Norwegian club Rosenborg on a three-month loan . +Should Rangers win promotion to the Premiership this season they will have to pay Newcastle United £500,000 as part of the loan deal struck with the St James' Park club for five players. The details emerged this morning as Rangers released financial results which showed the club had made losses after tax of £2.89m for the six-month period to 31 December 2014. Interim chairman Paul Murray described the accounts as 'disappointing'. Haris Vuckic celebrates after scoring in Rangers' 4-1 victory against Cowdenbeath on Saturday . This arrangement with Newcastle was part of a deal struck by the previous board for five fringe players - Gael Bigirimana, Haris Vuckic, Kevin Mbabu, Remie Streete and Shane Ferguson. Only Vuckic has made any sort of impact for the Ibrox club so far. Indeed three of the five players who signed the loan agreements have yet to kick a ball for Rangers, who are currently second in the Championship and can only now be promoted through the play-offs. The prize money for finishing as runners-up in the second tier is £342,000. Despite promotion to the Championship, revenue fell £100,000 to £13.1m, though the club earned £1.3m from hosting the Commonwealth Games rugby sevens. Sponsorship revenue also dropped, falling by £0.3m to £0.4m. Loan signings Vuckic (centre), Gael Bigirimana (left) and Remie Streete are unveiled at Murray Park last month . Murray, who along with Dave King and John Gilligan, ousted the previous board, said: 'The new directors have been in place only a matter of weeks but have already started to repair the damage caused through recent years of neglect and disrespect for this club, its people and its history. 'The mismanagement of the club in recent years has been simply staggering. 'As the Interim Accounts prove, the new board has inherited major problems but while campaigning for change we all knew the club would be in need of major restructuring and repair on all fronts. Paul Murray (left) and Dave King are pictured back at Ibrox after the EGM earlier this month . 'We can and we will return this club to a strong and profitable footing through strategic planning, investment and re-engagement with all of our stakeholders. 'Too many of them have been lost or disenfranchised because of successive failings by a series of directors over the last four years in particular. But they are gone now and this is a new era for this great and special club which must be regenerated, not only for its own good but for the greater good of Scottish football.' +Title winner Robbie Neilson will this week start laying the groundwork for a crack at the Premiership’s top six - as he aims to take advantage of Hearts’ two-month head-start over Hibs and Rangers. The Tynecastle boss will summon in agents to draw up new deals for his out-of-contract stars in the team who wrapped up the Championship title before Easter, before turning his attention to luring new players for an assault on the top flight. The 34-year-old believes that by clinching the title so early he has gained a huge advantage over rivals like Hibs and Rangers, who will not know until after the play-offs – which run from May 9 to June 2 – what division they will be playing in next season. Robbie Neilson believes winning the Scottish Championship title so early has given Hearts a big advantage . Delighted to avoid such a scenario, Neilson believes Alan Stubbs or Stuart McCall will risk miss out on landing the best players available. Neilson said: ‘If you go into the play-offs, you’re looking at June 2 before you know if you’re going to be in the Championship or the Premiership. That’s a lot of time to take off your planning for the following season. With any decent players out there, if you’re having to wait until June before you can offer them a contract, the good ones will be away. ‘So I do think that winning the title so early gives us an advantage. We know where we are going so it gives us the opportunity to get going and get in some recruits. Our pre-season is all planned now, too. Jubilant Hearts players throw Neilson in the air after they confirmed their status as champions . ‘We’re going to speak to the guys who are out of contract, get their agents in and see what we can do. There’s a few coming in this week and the week after that as well. It’s important to try and get them tied up because they have given us so much this season. We want to push to get into the top six so if that means altering the squad a little, so be it. But everything falls into a budget.’ Hearts strolled to the Championship title, losing just once this season, at home to Falkirk in January. Yet while Neilson will keep faith with the core of the team who secured him his first trophy as a manager, he warned them they will need to up their game in the top flight. ‘We’re not getting carried away,’ he said. We’ve just won the Championship, but we’re stepping up to a higher league. We definitely need to recruit but the nucleus of the team will stay the same. There are great players here, players with great potential, young guys that are doing great and some older players who have been fantastic. The Hearts manager celebrates his side's league title with club owner Ann Budge, who got a standing ovation . ‘We’ve got guys now who have won a league and that experience will set them up well for the rest of their careers. But when you move up a level, you have to up your game a bit as well. A lot of preparation will need to be done. There are things we got away with this season that we won’t get away with next season. ‘It will be a different season next year. I don’t expect the kind of season we had this year. I wasn’t expecting to go so many games undefeated, to have so many wins in a row. It will be difficult next season but it’s my job to make sure we are ready.’ Neilson also praised the structure at Hearts in which he works as head coach under director of football Craig Levein, with chairwoman and owner Ann Budge making all the major non-football decisions. ‘To be in this structure is great,’ he said. ‘A lot of clubs are doing it down in England now. The majority of foreign clubs have been doing it for the last 10 years. So it’s probably the way football is going nowadays. Neilson believes that Rangers and Hibs are at a disadvantage when it comes to preparing for next season . ‘Long gone are the days when a manager makes financial decisions about what direction the club’s going to go in. There’s such a big infrastructure that a coach needs to focus on the football and not deal with the other stuff like board meetings. It gives me the opportunity to focus on the things that matter to the players and on their performance on a Saturday. ‘It was great to see Craig and Ann get an ovation from the fans at the end today. They’ve been fantastic. Ann’s come in and given the club a real direction, a togetherness. ‘The way she has handled everything, be it the media or the fans, even the football side of it, has been second to none. ‘She has put her trust in Craig to get the football department together. He has then put his trust in me to look after the first team. Everything has worked out well. We just need to use this as a springboard to go and push on. I want this to be the beginning of something really good.’ Alan Stubbs (pictured) and Stuart McCall have to wait until June to find out which division they will be in . +British Athletics performance director Neil Black has challenged his horde of young athletes to make names for themselves at the European Indoor Championships. A host of Great Britain's rising track stars, who make up the majority of a largely inexperienced team, carry medal hopes into the event, which gets under way at Prague's O2 Arena on Friday. Britain's 60 metres challenge is spearheaded by 21-year-old Chijindu Ujah on the men's side and 19-year-old Dina Asher-Smith on the women's, while the likes of Seren Bundy-Davies, 20, goes into her first major championships as European number one over 400m. Great Britain's 60 metres challenge is spearheaded by 21-year-old Chijindu Ujah in Prague . Katarina Johnson-Thompson is the most high-profile athlete in the team aged just 22-years-old . Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the most high-profile athlete in the team, is only 22 and, fired up by last year's injury frustrations, chasing her first major title in the pentathlon. Thirty-one of the 37 strong team are 25 or under and, in the absence of big names like Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford or James Dasaolu, Black is keen to see them handle the weight of expectation. 'We want to see people who cope with the circumstances, apply themselves well, perform well and out of that come medals, great performances, finalists and personal bests,' he said. 'We are really optimistic we can perform well. Seren Bundy Davies, Lawrence Clarke, Neil Black and Chijindu Ujah at a Prague 2015 press conference . 'For those for whom this is a critical competition to get the experience to demonstrate their progression, it's the biggest thing they've ever done. 'There's a real buzz within the team. It's great to have that combination of young people joining and feeling really good about it.' Sprint hurdler and team captain Lawrence Clarke, who finished fourth at London 2012 and one the most experienced members of the squad at 24, backed his young compatriots to thrive on the big stage. Team captain Clarke has backed his young compatriots to thrive on the big stage in Prague . 'These guys here are putting pressure on everyone else around them,,' the Old Etonian said. 'They know everyone whose there is going to be thinking, 'What are these guys capable of?' They are European leaders, they are some of the best in the world, give them the opportunity.' Britain won 23 medals, including 12 golds, at last summer's European Championships outdoors, their best ever return. Black admitted it was important to keep the momentum going, with the World Championships in Beijing coming up this summer and the Rio OIympics the following year. But he refused to be drawn on whether his team could eclipse their best haul from a European Indoors, 10 medals and four golds from Birmingham in 2007. Clarke and Black attend Great Britain & Northern Ireland press conference ahead of the 2015 Championships . 'It would be pretty weird if we weren't here seriously competing with a view to doing well,' he said. 'We expect to perform well and I think it is important because we all thrive on doing well. We all enjoy it, feel more confident and generally seem to perform better from doing well, so I think it's important to keep that going. 'But I am not relating it to the past. I want to think more about here and now, and the future. I am interested about what these guys do and what they will go on and do in the future.' +UEFA has moved to increase the financial rewards from playing in the Europa League by announcing prize money for the tournament will increase by 65 per cent. An increase in television money for UEFA will also see prize money for the Champions League go up but the disparity with the Europa League will not be so great from 2015-18. At the moment, clubs in the Champions League earn an average of four and half times as much as those playing in the Europa League, but in the future UEFA will fix the ratio at 3.3 to one. Solidarity payments to those clubs who fail to qualify for the group stages will also rise significantly. Real Madrid's financial reward for retaining the Champions League would be even bigger than last year . Chelsea's Champions League exit at the hands of PSG has cost them a share of more lucrative prize money . The prize money for the winner of the Champions League final will rise from 10.5m euros (£7.6m) to 15million euros (£10.9m), and the winner of the competition could earn a maximum of 54.5m euros (£39.6m) in prize money plus TV cash from their share of the market pool. The move comes following a new agreement with the European Clubs' Association (ECA), which is also to have two representatives co-opted onto UEFA's executive committee - one of whom is expected to be ECA president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Sevilla won the Europa League last season, and Europe's second-tier club competition is getting a cash boost . The likes of Tottenham will benefit from the extra Europa League cash, if they do not finish in the top four . UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said: 'UEFA is really pleased that the new distribution system not only provides for a substantial rise in monies received by clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, but also strengthens UEFA's solidarity principle, namely ensuring an even more substantial increase in solidarity payments to clubs. 'In this way, the new system provides a better deal for everyone, especially those clubs which did not qualify to the group stage of either of the two UEFA club competitions. 'This is a perfect example of the proper implementation of the solidarity principle which forms an essential part of UEFA's key values.' +Grassroots clubs are missing out on millions of pounds from the transfer of their former players. That is the fear of Wallsend Boys Club chairman, Steve Dale. His club benefited from the £2million transfer of Fraser Forster from Newcastle to Celtic in 2012 and have now landed another payment in light of his £10m move to Southampton in August. The windfall is all part of the ‘solidarity contribution’ mechanism set out in the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster was formerly registered with Wallsend Boys Club . Wallsend Boys Club is one of the country’s most famous talent factories and had the likes of Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley and Michael Carrick on their books . But because junior clubs have to make an application for their entitlement to the buying club within 18 months of the deal, Dale believes that millions could be going unclaimed by junior clubs worldwide. ‘I'd query how many junior clubs are actually aware of the regulations and what they could be entitled to,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘It's always great to see former players go on to bigger things and everyone at the club is absolutely delighted to see Fraser playing at the top of the game, we all wish him well. ‘At the same time, if the clubs which played a part in his early career can benefit in some small way from his move, this makes a huge difference to the young people we look after week in, week out.’ Wallsend were entitled to payment from the transfer of Forster from Newcastle to Celtic in 2012 and from Celtic to Southampton last summer because the deals were made between different football associations . Former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer played for Wallsend Boys Club before joining Southampton's academy . Wallsend Boys Club chairman Steve Dale fears grassroots clubs could be missing out millions by not claiming money they are entitled to . English clubs only receive the payment when a player moves between clubs registered in different football associations (ie international transfers) and a fee is involved, as was the case with Forster when he swapped Scotland for England last month. It does not apply to domestic deals. Five per cent of every transfer fee between clubs in different associations is set aside to be distributed to any club – including professional - to which the player was registered between the seasons of their 12th and 23rd birthdays. The amount received is proportional to the time spent under their care, which is recorded on a ‘player passport’. For example, if a £10m player spent just one season at a junior club they would land around £25,000. Going forward, it could be an invaluable source of future income for the likes of Wallsend, who had England goalkeeper Forster on their books until he joined Newcastle at 15. The club is one of the country’s most famous talent factories and more than 70 of their youngsters have gone on to play professionally, including Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Michael Carrick, Steve Bruce and Lee Clark. A young Michael Carrick pictured at Wallsend Boys Club in 1994 . And, of their famed alumni, Dale added: ‘Unfortunately, not many of them played abroad! ‘It's increasingly hard for grassroots clubs at all levels to raise funds each year, so if any are fortunate enough to have a player transfer internationally in these circumstances later in his career, it is important to bear this in mind. ‘Wallsend is a registered charity so most of our income is still from donations, but I hope more junior clubs can benefit from similar situations in future.’ Any FA Charter Standard club which thinks it may be missing out can call The FA's free legal helpline on 0191 2117799 or email CSlegalhelp@TheFA.com. +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he puts himself into quarantine after his side lose and feels 'like a dog who is sick.' The Gunners are currently third in the Premier League as they chase another season in the Champions League and Wenger's side won all six matches in March. The 65-year-old, who has been Arsenal manager since 1996, insists if his side suffer defeat he goes into isolation to prevent his bad mood affecting other people in his life. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger looks agitated as he watches his side face Newcastle last weekend . 'I never go out after we lose, I just sit at home miserably and think about why we lost,' Wenger told Arsenal magazine. 'I've had periods where I've stayed at home for two or three days. If we have not got a game for a while, and we have lost, there are times when I have not gone out for days. 'It really hurts. If it does not, you will never survive in the game,' added Wenger. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger watches his side take on Newcastle before the international break . 'People who live around you suffer with you, so the only thing I can do is try to get out of other people's way. 'I try to be like a dog who is sick – I go away into quarantine and come back when I'm cured!' Wenger will hope his side can continue their fine recent form against Liverpool after the international break, in a crucial fixture in the race for Champions League qualification. Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has been in fine form as Arsenal won every match they played in March . +Kell Brook is willing to break with convention and give Amir Khan the lion's share of any payday in an effort to finally lure him into a blockbuster world title fight. Brook has the bargaining chip of a world championship belt but so far that has proved ineffective in drawing the Bolton welterweight into a fight that would attract huge British interest. Sportsmail understands Khan would pocket in the region of £4 million if he met the 28-year-old at Wembley on June 13 – a date Brook's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has penciled in with the national stadium. IBF world welterweight champion Kell Brook poses at a press conference at Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield . Amir Khan hits Devon Alexander during their welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last year . Khan chats to Liverpool midfielder and fellow Maxi Nutrition ambassador Jordan Henderson in a promo . Brook has gone to claim he would be prepared to accept a smaller payday as IBF champion to make the fight. But despite sporadic positive feedback from the Khan camp, who told Hearn at a recent meeting in Blackpool that the bout 'will happen one day', the trail has since gone cold. Brook, who defends his title on March 28 against Jo Jo Dan, said: 'I think he is avoiding me like the plague. He said that I'm an easy fight but how long have we been banging on about wanting the fight with him? 'After I'm done with Amir Khan he will just be a mere memory. 'He wants to fight some of these kids who have been super-featherweights. I am a genuine big welterweight who can seek and destroy him.' Hearn added: 'We want the fight so badly. We don't believe we should take anything less than 50-50 but until we talk maybe we do. Kell has not been in a mega-fight and has masses of monster paydays in front of him. If he has to give Amir a little something to knock him out he probably will.' Khan's fight in Sheffield on March 28 will be his first since the horrific stabbing incident in Tenerife last September that could have cost his life. At the very least it has meant a major delay in Brook defending his world title for the first time. He intends on three more fights this year, though he believes he has a greater chance of attracting the winner of Floyd Mayweather's showdown with Manny Pacquiao than he does of landing a Khan bout that would draw enormous domestic interest. Brook hits the bag during a media workout session at Bary's Gym in Las Vegas in August 2014 . Brook lands a punch on Shawn Porter on his way to becoming world champion in August 2014 . Khan's apparent interest in fighting America's Adrien Broner would indicate that Brook is low on his agenda, with Brook saying: 'I think it is more likely I will end up fighting one of Mayweather or Pacquiao than Khan, the way he is dragging his feet. A Khan fight is so easy to make. All the signs are there for it to be an unbelievable fight. 'I have seen clips of him saying, 'Win a world title', 'Do this, do that'. I have come through everything he has said and still nothing. 'I think people around him are blowing smoke up his **** and he is believing all the hype. Don't get me wrong he is a good fighter but I would take him out. 'We are ready to go with this fight. But I will fight anyone. I have only wanted to fight the very best. Before I leave this fight I want to get in with the best.' Hearn told Sportsmail earlier this week that discussions have started over a possible summer fight for Brook against Juan Manuel Marquez or Brandon Rios, who are both former world champions. Adrian Broner trades punches with John Molina Jr. during their match in Las Vegas earlier this year . +Amir Khan says he would love to fight Adrien Broner in his next bout. The Bolton boxer had hoped to take on Floyd Mayweather but the pound-for-pound king will instead meet Manny Pacquaio in a $300million mega-fight on May 2. And now it seems Khan has set his sights on facing the man dubbed by many as the new Mayweather. Amir Khan (left) says he'd love to fight Adrien Broner after the American said he'd be ready this month . Broner, a former three weight world champion, won a unanimous points decision over John Molina on Saturday as he continued to rebuild his reputation after losing his undefeated record two years ago to Marcos Maidana – who then twice fought and lost to Mayweather. So comfortable was the Molina fight for Broner that on Tuesday he said he would be ready to face Khan 'at the end of this month'. Writing on Instagram, Broner said: 'No disrespect to Virgil Hunter he is a great coach and I got endless love for him but me and Amir Khan can fight at the end of this month I haven't taken any punishment I'm back in the gym and ready to make a fool out of anybody #AboutBillions #ABonNBC' Khan appeared to laugh off Broner's claims on Twitter before going on to tweet: 'Would love to fight @AdrienBroner next! #KhanvsBroner lets make it happen.' Broner won a unanimous points decision on Saturday but says he copped little punishment and is in the gym . On Monday, Broner even suggested he would be prepared to come to England to fight Khan. 'I can't wait. I'd even fight him at Wembley,' Broner told BoxingNews24. Last year Mayweather hit back at Khan's claims he was running scared and told him to prove his credentials by beating Broner on the undercard of his first fight with Maidana. Floyd Mayweather hit back at Khan's claims he was running scared but chose to fight Manny Pacquaio . Mayweather tweeted: 'I don't have an easy fight on May 3, 2014, so I can't overlook @ChinoMaidana but @AmirKingKhan, if you and @AdrienBroner end up fighting each other on my show and you win (which you won't) ... I'll fight you.' The fight never materialised then with Khan instead going on to beat Luis Collazo and then Devon Alexander. But with no opponent named for his next fight, the proposition of fighting Broner may now appeal to Khan. +It was a familiar feeling when David Strettle found himself being towered over by the 6ft 6in Per Mertesacker at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground. The Saracens winger, who was on the books of Manchester City as a teenager, had to give up his ambition of becoming a professional footballer because he was ‘too small’ to make the grade. Ironically, the dream of playing at Wembley transpired through rugby, but an afternoon with Mertesacker, Olivier Giroud and Wojciech Szczesny provided a taste of what might have been. David Strettle (far left) poses with Saracens team-mates during a visit to meet Arsenal players . ‘They all dwarfed us, but gone are the days where you have people like Julian Dicks and Vinnie Jones running around in midfield,’ said Strettle at a sponsors’ cross-code challenge day. ‘I was always a better footballer at school — Andrei Kanchelskis was my idol — but I wasn’t big enough to make it with City. That’s when rugby took over at about 16. ‘It’s funny how both games have changed. Now you’ve got your Iniestas and your Messis: small guys who are so skilful.’ Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud signs a doll for Strettle during a visit to London Colney on Friday . David Strettle scores a try to help Saracens to LV= Cup glory over Exeter Chiefs last weekend . Strettle draws comparisons between the northern and southern hemisphere games, highlighting the superior skillset of forwards in New Zealand and Australia. Their lighter emphasis on the breakdown, he says, forces the big men to stand out in the backline and become more clinical in attack. The record-breaking final weekend of the RBS 6 Nations bucked the trend and, having seen England beat France in a 90-point thriller, Strettle feels more needs to be done to spice up the competition. ‘You need to bring in the bonus point to discourage that conservativeness,’ he said. Strettle has a laugh as Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny tries on a rugby skullcap . Strettle was a promising young footballer, pictured here for the Beechfield Junior FC in his youth . The Saracens wing attempts a scissor kick during a visit to Arsenal's training ground at London Colney . Strettle, who faces his former housemate Danny Care of Harlequins at Wembley on Saturday, topped the Aviva Premiership try count last season, while this campaign he is ahead of all of England’s Six Nations wingers. Yet it is approaching two years since he played the last of his 14 Tests and he has learned not to wait by the phone on the day of Stuart Lancaster’s squad announcements. Jack Nowell and Anthony Watson ended the Six Nations as England’s first-choice widemen, but Strettle, 31, has been surprised at the amount of chopping and changing — with Jonny May and Semesa Rokoduguni both drifting in and out. David Strettle last played for England in the Test against  Argentina on June 8, 2013 . ‘There’s a situation where someone gets dropped after one bad game,’ said Strettle. ‘Then another player comes in and then it’s back to the start again. ‘It’s the coach’s prerogative but this close to the World Cup I can’t get my head around the fact someone is starting one week and not in the squad a couple of weeks later. ‘I’ve learned not to hold my breath about getting picked. My performances show I warrant consideration, but you just have to do your best and then it’s out of your hands. So long as I’ve got the respect of my peers and team-mates, I’m happy.' The 31-year-old watches on as Arsenal keeper Szczesny has a go at a rugby pass at London Colney . +Mike Brown has been in the wars in recent weeks and he has the scars to prove it. But he insists he is ready to battle for his World Cup starting place and is also determined to inject some much-needed confidence into club-side Harlequins' stuttering season. Twelve months ago Brown concluded a Six Nations campaign that ended with an identical result, a second place in the table behind Joe Schmidt's Ireland. But he was also a winner, edging out retiring legend Brian O'Driscoll to be named player of the tournament, with four tries underlining his commitment to the cause. Mike Brown in action against France in the final Six Nations game of the tournament . This time around, there were no personal accolades to dull the disappointment of a fourth consecutive runners-up place. However, Brown believes the manner of England's memorable 55-35 victory over France is a reason to be optimistic ahead of this autumn's Rugby World Cup. But he refutes suggestions by RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie that another second place was 'unacceptable'. 'I haven't done too much reflecting but it's massively disappointing to end the way that we did,' said Brown, speaking at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens - the world's largest schools rugby tournament. 'It was great how we went about the game and how we won but it's disappointing that we didn't achieve our goal of winning it. It's the fourth time I've been involved where I've come second but luckily I don't get bitter. Brown was disappointed with how the Six Nations ended, but says there were positives to take . 'We'll keep going as a squad, keep using things like this to develop us. There are still positives to take out of it and we have to look at the bigger picture.' The free-scoring, free-flowing nature of last weekend's classic at Twickenham was compared by many to a rugby league game. Brown is an admitted fan of the 13-man code and Quins famously released a statement titled 'Brown stays with rugby' when he briefly flirted with a switch. However, Brown believes he has done enough in recent weeks to cement his place as Stuart Lancaster's first choice full-back, ahead of rival Alex Goode, who deputised when he missed the defeat in Dublin after picking up a head injury early in the win over Italy. 'I was very happy with my tournament. When I actually played, I thought I did well,' added Brown, who was casting his eye over the next generation of stars at Rosslyn Park – an event that has previously produced the likes of Gareth Edwards, Lawrence Dallaglio, Will Carling, and Ugo Monye. 'I think my game has come on loads this season. Last year it was all about my running game but I think I've shown that my kicking game has come on alongside my passing game and my defensive game. As long as I can keep improving, I will be happy. Brown will not be in action for Harlequins when they face Saracens at Wembley on Saturday . 'It's just a shame that I did take a knock and missed one a three quarter games, including the big one in Ireland. 'We've spoken about competition for places and 15 is definitely one that is strongly contested. Alex did well, unfortunately he was in that losing team against Ireland but he did well with his opportunity. 'Saying that, I don't want to give him too many opportunities – he is a great player so it is good to have that rivalry and push each other in training. 'Maybe before people might have said he had a better kicking game but I think after this tournament, people can see my kicking game isn't too bad either.' Brown and Goode should be going head-to-head at Wembley this weekend when the two sides clash in front of what is expected to be a world record crowd for a club rugby match. Brown talking to young rugby players at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens . But Brown is sidelined again due to another concussion precaution, after picking up a knock late in the famous win over France. 'We're being a little cautious with that and we're giving it time to recover,' he said. 'After a head knock it's always a big thing to come back playing, especially with two internationals it can be tough. 'I've got next week off because we don't have a game so it's a good two weeks down time. 'It's not been a good campaign for Harlequins and this game could hopefully spark our season. We've worked well at times but we haven't been consistent and don't deserve to be up there. 'That's something to look at in the off season but there's still games to go where we can put ourselves in a good position to be in Europe for next year and that's definitely where we want to be – at the top table of European rugby.' England Rugby Union player, Mike Brown was speaking on behalf of HSBC at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens where he helped run HSBC coaching clinics for schools during the tournament. For exclusive rugby content, follow @HSBC_Sport . +Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s preparations for the richest fight in ring history is intensifying as the May 2 moves closer. The fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas could smash through the half a billion dollar mark after all money for the fight has been taken in. And with both fighters in their training camps they are using social media to keep their fans up-to-date in the build up to the mega-fight. Floyd Mayweather works on his body punches and speed in this Instagram video . Mayweather wears a black t-shirt with the letter TBE (The Best Ever) across the middle . Mayweather's professional record of 47-0 is written on the back of his shirt . Mayweather was working on his speed in the ring by hitting one of his team wearing a body pad. The undefeated fighter was wearing a black t-shirt with gold writing on the back with his professional record of 47-0 across the top. The front of the T-Shirt has the letters 'TBE' written in big gold letters, which stand for 'The Best Ever'. Pacquiao also posted a video on his Instagram account. His video showed him in various stages of his training, from wrapping his hands, to working in the ring, skipping and working on a speed ball. The video was also accompanied by a quote adapted from the Bible. Manny Pacquiao shows him wrapping his hands during his video . Pacquiao is then shown putting his gloves on and having them tied up . The Filipino superstar continues his training in the ring . Pacquiao works on this hand speed as he hits the speed ball . Taken from Corinthians 9: 25-27, the extract read: ‘Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control.’ In the short video the PacMan looks in good shape, but it was revealed on Wednesday that the Filipino superstar suffers from such bad leg cramps during training that he spends a staggering $1,800 (£1,205) on a tube of anti-inflammatory cream. +James Collins is set to play a key role in Wales' Euro 2016 campaign but manager Chris Coleman admits he chose Cardiff's busiest shopping centre for peace talks between the pair so things could not turn ugly. Collins will win his 45th cap in Wales' crunch qualifier against Israel on Saturday night with Hull defender James Chester sidelined by a dislocated shoulder. But it was not so long ago that the West Ham defender's international career appeared over after player and manager fell out following Collins' withdrawal from a Wales squad. James Collins was all smiles as he trained with the Wales squad in Cardiff on Wednesday ahead of their trip to Israel for a Euro 2016 qualifier . Collins contradicted Coleman's claim he had turned down the chance to join the squad as a late call-up prior to the World Cup qualifier against Serbia in September 2013 and the pair had a tense public rapprochement in the middle of Cardiff. 'We had a coffee in the middle of St David's Shopping Centre so it could not kick off!' Coleman revealed. 'There were too many people around so we had to be civil. 'We had our spat, but I have known him since he was a kid and always liked him, and when he has been with us he has been right in the middle of everything. His presence and personality are going to be very important going forward.' Collins has had to bide his time to regain his place at the heart of the Wales defence with Chester having developed an excellent understanding with skipper Ashley Williams since making his international debut last summer. Chris Coleman (right) has cleared the air with Collins as he instructs his backroom staff during training . The 31-year-old has yet to feature in a campaign which sees Wales unbeaten after four games and within a point of Group B leaders Israel. But asked if falling out with him has made Collins value Wales more, Coleman replied: 'Yes, absolutely. I think that is the case. 'This is an opportunity for 'Ginge' now. He was brilliant in the last camp, as were Danny Gabbidon and Sam Ricketts who did not play but were great round the dressing room in Brussels. 'That is great for the younger guys because it is good to have advice from senior players. ''Ginge' likes the challenge and the atmosphere we will find ourselves in, it will be a dogfight which he enjoys.' Collins has earned a recall to the Wales team after impressing in defence for West Ham this term. Here he celebrates a win over Sunderland with team-mate Stewart Downing . Wales are unbeaten but a point behind Israel in Group B, with the table toppers also having a game in hand having won all three of their opening Euro 2016 qualifiers . Coleman also played down security concerns ahead of Wales' first trip to Israel since the two countries met in a play-off qualifier for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Israel have a game in hand on Wales as their September fixture with Belgium was postponed because of the political situation in the Middle East at the time but that match will now be played next Tuesday. 'We have not got any extra security to my knowledge,' Coleman said. 'I did the journey from the airport to the hotel when I was out there last month and we will treat it like any other game. 'We know a lot is going on in certain quarters but there are no worries, there are no extra precautions that we would not usually take.' +Ryan Mason thinks Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino should take a great deal of credit for the role he played in helping him earn his 'dream' England call-up. Mason was drafted into the England squad following the withdrawal of Adam Lallana and could make his debut in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania or the friendly in Italy next Tuesday. If selected, Mason would regard it as the proudest moment of his career. Ryan Mason tracks Raheem Sterling in training after winning his first England call-up this week . Mason says it would be his dream to be handed a first England cap against Lithuania or Italy this week . The Spurs midfielder has been in superb form this season, prompting Roy Hodgson to select him . 'It's every boy's dream to represent their country at any level, so hopefully I can get that and it would be a great achievement personally,' the 23-year-old Tottenham midfielder told TheFA.com . 'It's the pinnacle of your career to represent your country.' Mason's route to the top has been far from straightforward. He signed for Tottenham's academy as a 16-year-old and just 12 months later he made his debut in a UEFA Cup match against NEC Nijmegen. But he then had to wait another six years until he made his Premier League debut. Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp farmed Mason out to Yeovil, Millwall and Doncaster, where he had three loan spells. Redknapp's successor Andre Villas-Boas then sent the player to French club Lorient but he returned without having made a first-team appearance. Kane made his Spurs debut six years ago, but has spent the intervening time on several loan deals . Neither Harry Redknapp or Andre Villas-Boas saw a place for him in the first team, but he is now showing form . Mason started last season on loan at League One Swindon and did not feature under Tim Sherwood at Spurs once Villas-Boas had been sacked. Mason is grateful to Pochettino, therefore, for finally giving him a chance at White Hart Lane this season. 'I've always had confidence in my own ability, but it also comes from a manager who trusts you and is willing to back you. There is nothing like that as a footballer,' said Mason, who has played 29 times for the Argentinian this year. 'The fact that the call-up has come so early in my Premier League career is a great feeling. It's amazing and has been a bit of a whirlwind over the last few months . Mason thanked Mauricio Pochettino for the faith the Argentinian manager has shown in him this season . Last year Mason was on loan at Swindon in League One, but has made remarkable progress since returning . 'It was unfortunate that I didn't kick on at a younger age, it took me a bit longer to establish myself. 'I had a lot of injuries and perhaps went out on loan at the wrong times. 'There were times when players were getting opportunities in the UEFA Cup and I was out on loan. It just never really worked. But now I've got a manager who trusts in me and believes in me, and he came in from day one and said that. 'To have a manager like that it gives me a great deal of confidence. 'Now I'm playing regularly I'm more than happy.' Mason has been pinching himself this week after training alongside some of his heroes at St George's Park. 'I've been a football fan for so long, and the fact that I've been watching these players in the squad who I'm training with now is a great feeling,' he said. +Slaven Bilic was approached by an angry fan towards the end of the game as the home supporters showed their disgust at going out of the competition - but the former West Ham man looked far from intimidated. Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo scored a double to help Club Brugge progress with a 5-2 aggregate win over Besiktas. The 19-year-old cousin of Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to punish the Turkish side who were pushing for a winner. Tom de Sutter had earlier taken advantage of some lax goalkeeping to add to his goal from the 2-1 win in the first leg, meaning Ramon's fine strike for the Turkish side was merely a memory by the time the final whistle blew - with Besiktas down to 10 men after the late loss of Olcay Sahan. An angry Besiktas fan confronts Slaven Bilic (centre) after his side were beaten by Club Brugge in Turkey . The supporter was held back by security and a member of Bilic's coaching staff before being led away . Bilic was no pushover in his playing days and the former West Ham man was known for his passion . Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo (centre) rounds Tolga Zengin to score for Club Brugge and put them through . Lukaku's cousin clearly turned a few heads after his impressive cameo performance off the bench . Brilliant Fiorentina stunned Roma with an early goal blitz to seal their spot in the quarter-finals at the expense of their Italian rivals. Roma might have held a narrow advantage after drawing the first leg 1-1 in Florence but any hopes of progressing were sunk inside 21 minutes on Thursday as Gonzalo Rodriguez, Marcos Alonso and Jose Maria Basanta all netted for Fiorentina. Sorry Roma finished with 10 men following Adem Ljajic's late dismissal. Jose Maria Basanta celebrates after scoring the third goal for Fiorentina as they eased past Roma . Sevilla remain on course to retain their title after easing past fellow Spanish side Villarreal. Having done most of the damage with a 3-1 first leg win at El Madrigal, Sevilla finished things off at home with a 2-1 victory courtesy of second-half goals from Vicente Iborra and his replacement Denis Suarez. Villarreal had netted in-between those strikes through Giovani dos Santos' fine free-kick but almost immediately had centre-back Eric Bailly sent off as they tumbled out 5-2 on aggregate. On-loan Barcelona player Denis Suarez (centre) heads home the winning goal against ten-man Villarreal . Napoli are also through after a hard-fought goalless draw against Dinamo Moscow in Russia. The Italians held a 3-1 lead from the first leg and that proved sufficient as they survived a second-leg onslaught from Stanislav Cherchesov's men. Zenit St Petersburg qualified for the quarters despite going down 1-0 to a late headed goal from Torino's Kamil Gilk at the Stadio Olimpico. Zenit arrived for the second leg in Italy with a two-goal cushion, and it proved just enough for Andre Villas-Boas' team to progress after a bruising encounter. Kamil Glik (right) heads home the winner for Torino but it wasn't enough to see them go through . Finally, Yevhen Konoplyanka's extra-time score booked Dnipro's spot on away goals after they claimed a 2-2 aggregate 'win' over Ajax. Riechedly Bazoer fired Ajax ahead in the 60th minute and levelled the tie at 1-1 after Dnipro had taken a 1-0 lead in the first leg, however neither side could find a winning goal before the 90 minutes were up, meaning the game went into extra-time. Dnipro took the advantage when Konoplyanka calmly broke to the left edge of Ajax's box before unleashing a shot which found the bottom right corner, meaning that Mike van der Hoorn's goal late in extra time served little purpose. Yevhen Konoplyanka (10) fires home the winner deep into extra-time to put Dnipro into the quarters . +Chelsea's Lewis Baker has spoken of his pride at captaining England's under 20 side and believes he is only just setting out on his journey with the Three Lions. The 19-year-old, who is currently out on loan at League One side MK Dons, featured for England in their 1-1 draw with Mexico at Barnet on Wednesday night. Aidy Boothroyd's team won the penalty shoot-out 4-2 after Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom won and then scored a penalty in normal time to cancel out Jose Ramirez's opener. Lewis Baker in action for England's under 20s in their international with Mexico on Wednesday night . The midfielder was appointed captain by Aidy Boothroyd at the beginning of the season . On the responsibility of being captain, Baker told Sportsmail: 'It's a great honour for me. Aidy chose me to be captain at the start of the campaign and that was a massive lift for me personally. 'But everyone in the team, we're all captains on the pitch in the game and we showed today that we can be a team and stick together through the bad times. 'I try to lead by example in what I do on the ball and off the ball. Everyone's aim to get to the under 21s and the seniors. 'All we can do is keep working hard, keeping doing what we can do and give your best.' Although England looked the more likely to score after Mexico goalkeeper Raul Gudino was sent off for fouling Akpom for the penalty, they had been second best for much of the friendly at The Hive. As they look towards the Toulon Tournament at the end of the season, Baker believes there is some room for improvement, starting with Sunday's friendly with the United States at Plymouth. Baker celebrates scoring for Chelsea in last season's Under 21 Premier League final with Manchester United . England under 20s coach Aidy Boothroyd smiles during Wednesday night's match at The Hive . England's under 20s are in action again on Sunday when they play the United States at Home Park in Plymouth. Ticket information can be found here. 'We didn't perform today at the level we have performed at in previous games,' he admitted. 'They were a good side; I thought first-half they had the upper hand and could have scored a few goals but we kept persevering, stayed in the game, had a little talk at half-time on how to get better and we got the result.' Akpom, who has been on the fringes of Arsene Wenger's first team all season, took his England under 20s tally to four when he drilled home his 78th minute penalty. And Baker appreciates his game-changing qualities: 'When Chuba goes through on goal, everyone gets out of their seat because they know Chuba is a great goalscorer. He's done well today, getting the penalty and he scored in the shoot-out as well.' Chuba Akpom of England scores their equaliser from the penalty spot for England Under 20s . England players celebrate during the penalty shoot-out against Mexico on Wednesday night . On a personal level, Baker has scored two goals in five appearances for the Dons since arriving from Stamford Bridge and is set to play a pivotal role as Karl Robinson's men push for promotion. He said: 'I've been playing under 21 at Chelsea for a while now and so the next step was to go on loan and at MK Dons now I'm under great care with the manager and the players. 'With the talent we have got at MK Dons there's no reason why we can't get into the play-offs or even gain automatic promotion.' +Formerly chief executive of the All England Club, Ian Ritchie turned his back on Wimbledon to help rebuild the reputation of English rugby after the 2011 World Cup. Having trained as a barrister, he turned his attention to sport after overseeing the launch of Channel Five in 1997 — famously hiring the Spice Girls for the unveiling. He has also worked as a director for both the Football League and Wembley Stadium Ltd. RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie (left) chats to England head coach Stuart Lancaster at Twickenham . Ritchie was brought on board by the RFU following England's disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign . During his six years in tennis, Ritchie managed the installation of the Centre Court roof and two new show courts. He took credit for modernising the famous grass tournament, before being lured across south-west London to Twickenham. His most notable achievement with the RFU was to act as behind-the-scenes broker for the new television deal for European club rugby, saving the domestic game from isolation. Ritchie is hoping to use this year’s World Cup to galvanise English rugby — boosting the grassroots game and emphasising the sport’s ‘core values’ — while maximising TV audiences and ticket sales. His values shine through the work of Lancaster, whom he promoted from caretaker to permanent coach during his early days in the role, subsequently offering him a long-term deal until 2020. Ritchie (left) managed the installation of the Centre Court roof and two new show courts at Wimbledon . +Aaron Ramsey is refusing to give up hope on the Premier League title as Arsenal continue their ascent up the table and lie just seven points behind leaders Chelsea. The Gunners have won six league games on the bounce and are now within touching distance of second with an automatic qualification for the Champions League firmly in their sights. But Ramsey is still confident that his side can push Jose Mourinho's side all the way in the race for the title. Aaron Ramsey (centre) is refusing to give up on the Premier League title race with Chelsea currently top . He said: 'We just have to focus on ourselves and believe other teams around us will be on the end of upsets. 'We just have to try and win every game until the end of the season. 'In this division teams can lose against anyone. We have just got to be switched on and make sure it doesn't happen to us and maintain this run. The midfielder played a key role in the Gunners victory over out-of-form Newcastle at St James' Park . 'Stranger things have happened.' Arsenal's next game could be a defining moment in the season for both teams involved as they welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium. Liverpool are currently chasing fourth and will be looking to bounce back following Sunday's disappointing defeat to Manchester United. Ramsey has been hampered by a number of injuries this season but is slowly getting back to his best . +Ahead of Tottenham's crucial clash in the race for the Champions League against Manchester United, key man Christian Eriksen enjoyed some downtime during a day out in London with his girlfriend Sabrina Kvist Jensen. The Danish international has been an ever present for Mauricio Pochettino's side in their quest to win in the top four. And with a massive game at OId Trafford on Sunday, Eriksen took some time out to relax and enjoy some quality time with his partner. Christian Eriksen posted this photo on his Instagram with his girlfriend during a day out in London . Eriksen, who has scored nine goals this season, as formed a deadly partnership with Harry Kane in the final third and has proved a vital cog in the Tottenham midfield. With the Champions League in their sights, Spurs can go level on points with fourth placed United if they can pick up three points at Old Trafford. And following their north London rivals Arsenal's victory over Louis van Gaal's side on Monday in the FA Cup, Eriksen and his team mates will be confident they get something in Manchester and boost their Champions League chances. The Danish international (right) has been in fine form for Tottenham this season in their push for Europe . Eriksen has scored nine goals this season and formed a nice partnership with star man Harry Kane . +As Gareth Bale's season at Real Madrid continues to turn sour, the former Tottenham forward is continually being linked with a move away from the Bernabeu. Manchester United and Chelsea have both been credited with having an interest in bringing the world's most expensive player back to the Premier League. Sportsmail asked Chelsea fan Cody Taylor of 90min.com to give his thoughts about a possible switch to the champions elect. Gareth Bale has been criticised by supporters for his performances at Real Madrid this season . Bale performs his trademark celebration as he scored twice during Wales' 3-0 win against Israel on Saturday . Gareth Bale could be available this summer if various transfer reports are to be believed, so naturally Chelsea are being linked with an eye-watering bid - but we have to ask ourselves the question, is he necessary? On the face of it Bale is a good player. At Tottenham he dragged an average team out of hole after hole, but it's easy to be a big fish in small pond. As he's found out in Spain it's much harder in the big pond and that's what it will be like at Chelsea too. Overall he's not had the impact that the world's most expensive player should. There are plenty who would give up everything to have him, but we really don't need to be wasting time on a player that won't be a noticeable improvement, or even fit. Bale holds his hands to his head after Real Madrid were beaten by Barcelona 2-1 in La Liga . Bale leads the wild celebrations after he nets his second of the game against Israel in the Euro 2016 qualifier . Even with his array of qualities, for the money, Bale just isn't worth it. As good a player as he is, he wasn't worth the world record £86m Real paid for him in 2013, after what was effectively only one explosive season. He still isn't worth the £75m that the Spanish giants will allegedly settle for now. There's simply no room for him at Chelsea. Jose Mourinho already has a plethora of young, similarly able attacking players. Willian is not as glamorous as the rest, but even he is a crucial part of the team and the fans love him. The Brazilian doesn't score as many goals or provide as many assists as others, but he is the one above all else that never stops working hard and that type of attitude and passion is more important than everything. Bale reacts with disbelief after having a goal disallowed during the Clasico on March 22 . After the defeat by Barcelona Gareth Bale's car was attacked by angry aupporters . If Bale arrives he is unlikely to do the same and it would negatively change the whole balance of the side which Mourinho has worked hard to build. There is also Juan Cuadrado to think about. The Colombian hasn't shown anything like his best since arriving in January and isn't likely to before the end of the season. He is still settling in and just needs a bit more time before fans will eventually see the player that lit up last summer's World Cup. There's absolutely no point replacing someone before they've even started. Bale is being linked with move back to the England with Manchester United and Chelsea reportedly interested . The former Tottenham player attends an event with with young Jewish and Arab children in Israel on Sunday . Even just a few games away from claiming a well-deserved Premier League title though, any Chelsea fan claiming there is no need to improve with summer additions is a fool. The season has been far from flawless, but the key areas that need strengthening are defensive. If big money is to be spent it has to be used to address real issues, not bringing in additional unnecessary luxury. We are more in need of a centre-back, maybe a full-back, Paul Pogba even, but certainly not Bale. Mourinho has the good sense to see that and Bale in blue is highly unlikely. Besides, if he has any ambition to show himself to be anything other a massive flop, he should reject all offers and do his utmost to prove himself in Spain. For more fan views or to join the conversation visit www.90min.com. +Dave Chisnall’s sensational 7-2 win over World Champion Gary Anderson sent him a point clear at the top of the Betway Premier League table in Exeter on Thursday night. The 2014 Grand Slam of Darts runner-up continued his unbeaten start to the season as he picked up his fourth win in five matches in front of the 4,500 sell-out crowd at the Westpoint Arena. Chisnall nailed six 180s and finished seven doubled from 12 attempts as he stormed to victory over Scottish star Anderson to go a point clear of Michael van Gerwen. Dave Chisnall celebrates his victory over Gary Anderson during The Betway Premier League Darts . Anderson fell to Chisnall during Thursday night's Premier League Darts matches at the Westpoint Arena . Raymond van Barneveld 5-7 Kim Huybrechts . James Wade 5-7 Phil Taylor . Adrian Lewis 3-7 Stephen Bunting . Peter Wright 6-6 Michael van Gerwen . Dave Chisnall 7-2 Gary Anderson . Van Gerwen is also unbeaten so far, but had to settle for his second draw in succession as he was held by Peter Wright. The Dutchman took out an early 120 finish to break and lead 2-1, only for Wright to reply with checkouts of 101 and 158 as he held a slender lead - but van Gerwen finished 145 in the tenth leg before sharing the final two to take a point. A 7-5 comeback win against James Wade insured Phil Taylor extended his unbeaten run to four matches to go third in the league with seven points. Wade opened up a 3-0 lead, but Taylor hit top gear to turn the game around as he won five successive legs to take a 6-4 lead against his opponent. Michael van Gerwen had to settle for his second draw in succession as he was held by Peter Wright . Raymond van Barneveld was stunned by Premier League debutant Kim Huybrechts who claimed his first win in a 7-5 victory over the Dutchman with a stunning 170 checkout in the game’s final leg. There was also a debut win for Stephen Bunting who defeated Adrian Lewis 7-3 having lost his previous three games in the league. Bunting lost the opening leg against Lewis, but returned with five wins in a row to put himself into a commanding lead before being pegged back to 5-3. However, Bunting ensured he was to pick up the points as he landed 180s in the next two. Raymond van Barneveld was stunned by Premier League debutant Kim Huybrechts who claimed his first win . Stephen Bunting defeated Adrian Lewis 7-3 having lost his previous three games in the league . +Their plight was summed up on the whistle. After a game Millwall just had to win in order to retain any hope of survival, the supporters warmly applauded as they trudged off. The fans realise what dreadful circumstances interim manager Neil Harris has pitched up in. It was better but ultimately not enough. The Lions looked every bit a side to have scored just three goals in their previous eight games; plenty of huff, but very little puff. Had Brighton’s Joe Bennett not crashed the bar from 25 yards and later blazed wildly over, it might’ve been worse. Millwall now look consigned to relegation and upbeat Harris will treat the remaining eight fixtures as an audition for when the club make a permanent decision on Ian Holloway’s successor in the summer. Millwall's Aiden O'Brien (right) and Brighton and Hove Albion's Beram Kayal (left) battle for the ball . Milwall winger Martyn Woolford (right) dribbles with the ball during the match against Brighton at The Den . Millwall (4-4-2): Forde, Cummings, Nelson, Hooiveld, Harding, O'Brien (Gueye 73), Abdou, Williams, Woolford (Fabbrini 81), Taylor-Fletcher (Maierhofer 73), Gregory . Subs not used: Upson, Beevers, Fuller, Archer . Booked: Woolford, Taylor-Fletcher . Brighton (4-4-2): Stockdale, Bruno, Halford, Greer, Bennett, Holla, Kayal (Lua Lua 45), Calderon, Stephens, Mackail-Smith (Teixeira 75), Best (O'Grady 75) Subs not used: Hughes, Ince, Walton, Ledesma . Referee: Andy Woolmer . Attendance: 9,105 . ‘The boys couldn’t give me any more apart from a goal,’ he said. ‘The support they gave was absolutely terrific. We’re just trying to give them the belief, to get the fans back onside.’ Harris believes this is already a side the fans can identify with again after disaffection under Holloway. ‘I wasn’t always the best player on the pitch here but I played with my heart on my sleeve,’ he added. ‘We maybe lacked a little bit of creativity in the final third and we’re searching for a goal to kickstart us. ‘The league table doesn’t lie - games are running out. You have to start somewhere. We need to add to that. ‘We’re in a difficult position but we’ve got games to win.’ This isn’t fair on the young boss. It could well be a case of right job, wrong time for the man who’s adopted the club for which he appeared in the 2004 FA Cup final and who stood right behind him when beating testicular cancer. Brighton defender Bruno Saltor (left) slides across to challenge Millwall's Aiden O'Brien (right) on the wing . Brighton striker Leon Best (left) prepares to cross the ball ahead of Millwall's Dan Harding (right) The caretaker has brought more intensity and, while Brighton’s Leon Best drew a smart save from David Forde at the near post, the better opportunities fell to Shaun Williams and Aiden O’Brien. These were small steps in a mission to rejuvenate themselves, and something Chris Hughton has noted. ‘They started well,’ the Brighton boss said. ‘I expected that. They’ve got a very good club man in the job at the moment. Everybody here respects him.’ Respect means Harris won’t be implicated in the probable relegation, and for now he’s just intent on putting smiles back on some faces. Brighton forward Craig Mackail-Smith (left) and Millwall's Lewis Drunk (right) tussle for the ball at The Den . Brighton's Beram Kayal (left) tackles Millwall's O'Brien during the Championship match at The Den . +Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao still 'has faith' that he could stay with the Old Trafford club next season. The Colombia international has managed just four goals in 19 games for Louis van Gaal’s side this season and is expected to return to Monaco before considering other potential loans to Juventus, Valencia or Real Madrid. The 29-year-old has been on form for his country in the last five days, scoring three times in two games, albeit against Bahrain and Kuwait, to equal Colombia’s all-time goalscoring record with 24 goals. Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao equalised Colombia's international goals record with a penalty . The United striker celebrates yet another international goal with his Colombian teammates on Monday . Falcao is fouled by Kuwait's Fahad Awadh Shaheen during the clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium . Falcao fights for the ball with Kuwait's Saleh Al Hendi during a friendly match in Abu Dhabi . Kuwait's goalkeeper Hameed Youssef tries to catch the ball as Falcao challenges during the international . Manchester United striker Falcao fights for the ball with Mesaed Al-Enzi of Kuwait in Abu Dhabi . Falcao controls the ball as Colombia stroll to a 3-1 victory over Kuwait at the Abu Dhabi Stadium . After scoring a penalty in the 3-1 win over Kuwait, Falcao was asked if he expected to stay at Manchester United and replied: 'I have faith about that and when the season finishes I am going to sit down and think about my future and what is the best for my career. 'I think when I score it's always important and that gives me confidence,' he added. 'I said before I need minutes, I need to play games in a row and here in the national team I have had the opportunity. I gave my best and I scored and I now return to Manchester with more confidence. Falcao believes he still has time to impress at Manchester United, but will think about his career in summer . Colombian ace Falcao has been far from impressive for Van Gaal's Manchester United side this season . 'We have the last eight games, I will give my best to have the chance to play as many minutes as possible. 'I have said before I need to play, I need minutes and I am confident about me, about my fitness. I am confident.' United scouts will attend Tuesday's match between Holland and Spain with PSV Eindhoven winger Memphis Depay among the players they intend to watch. Manchester United will send scouts to Holland v Spain as they keep tabs on Dutchman Memphis Depay . Depay is also attracting attention from Manchester City and Liverpool but his agent Kees Ploegsma said: 'There has been a lot of rumours, but he still has a contract with PSV, so for now he is in Eindhoven. We have not been in contact with any clubs. 'They (Depay and Van Gaal) had good contact during the World Cup, but since then there has been no contact.' Paris St Germain are continuing to monitor developments with United's unsettled winger Angel di Maria but United do not intend to sell their record signing. Manchester United's record summer signing is wanted by Ligue One giants Paris Saint-Germain . +England's Under 17 side completed their European Championships qualifying campaign with six wins from six games, after a Ike Ugbo double secured a 2-1 win at the Pirelli stadium. The young Chelsea striker put John Peacock's side ahead after just seven minutes, firing home at the second time of asking having been denied by the Romanian keeper Catalin Vasile when through on goal. Adrian Petre equalised for the visitors six minutes later, but Ugbo scored again in the second half to wrap up the points. Ike Ugbo fires England ahead after just seven minutes as they beat Romania 2-1 in Burton on Thursday . Jay DaSilva of Chelsea battles for the ball with Alexandru Mihai during what was a comfortable win . Stuttgart defender Danny Collinge wins the ball in the air as England completed a good qualifying campaign . The Chelsea youngster could have had a hat-trick, having fired a good chance over the crossbar before the break, but it would not matter in the end. Romania, captained by Ianis Hagi, son of legendary playmaker Gheorghe, were reduced to ten men after 65 minutes when Istvan Kilyen Szabolcs was dismissed for a second yellow card following a poor tackle on Arsenal's Chris Willock. England bossed the game from that point on, and though they didn't add to their lead, they were rarely in danger of letting it slip, and can go to the Euros this summer with good momentum. England: Huffer (Leeds United); Yates (Everton) (Oxford (West Ham) 68 mins), Collinge (Stuttgart), Suliman (Aston Villa), Edun (Fulham); Davies (Everton); Patching (Manchester City), Wright (Sunderland) (DaSilva (Chelsea) 40); Edwards (Tottenham); Nmecha (Manchester City), Ugbo (Chelsea) (Willock (Arsenal) 60). Subs not used: Woolston (Newcastle), Holland (Everton), Ndukwu (Leicester) Goals: Ugbo 7, 53. Romania: Vasile; Tiberiu, Virgil, Harald, Abdrei; Szabolcs; Mihai, Razvan, Hagi (Andrei 68), Carlo; Petre (Florinel 76). Subs not used: Bogdan, Petru Vlad, Ionut, Dumitru Vlad. Bookings: Szabolcs 18; Coman Florinel 80. Red card: Szabolcs 65. Goals: Petre 13; . Ianis Hagi, son of Romanian legend Gheorghe, runs between Tom Davies (left) and Marcus Edwards . England captain Davies, an Everton defender, tracks the run of Hagi as England won at the Pirelli stadium . +When Dominic Solanke sat down for breakfast on Tuesday, the teenager never imagined his morning would end training alongside England's best players. This had been set to be a normal day for the 17-year-old, albeit with the added bonus of watching the senior team train with his England Under-18s team-mates. Instead, they watched him as Solanke took to the field with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling after collecting his England Youth Player of the Year award. Dominic Solanke poses with his Young Player of the Year award with Roy Hodgson and Wayne Rooney . Under 18 star Solanke joined the senior squad for training at St George's Park on Tuesday . The Chelsea forward helped make up the numbers during training at St George's Park on a day that will live long in his memory. 'I got told just after breakfast that I might be getting called up to train with the first-team and I was just hoping that it would be a yes,' Solanke said. 'We were all going down as a squad to watch, then about half an hour before we were going to head over (Under-18s coach) Neil Dewsnip told me that I was going to be training and from then I was just buzzing and really looking forward to it. 'It was a crazy feeling, a mix of excitement and nerves. Obviously, it's all the best players in England so the level was going to be really high. It was a good stage to try and impress as well.' Solanke has been a star for Chelsea's youth sides and made his full debut last October . Solanke made a good impression on his senior team-mates, just as he has done at Chelsea and at youth levels with his country. Jose Mourinho handed the forward his first-team debut in a Champions League tie against Maribor last October, while he played a key role in England Under-17s' European Championship triumph. '2014 was quite a successful year for me, especially with England and winning the European Championship,' Solanke said. 'We went there believing that we could win it, and we just took each game one-by-one. 'I managed to become joint-top scorer too, so it was a great year for me at international level.' +Manchester City are watching Sampdoria's Italy international midfielder Roberto Soriano. The 24-year-old was born in Germany to Italian parents and initially came through the ranks at Bayern Munich. City are looking for versatile attacking midfielders and are keen on Wolfsburg star Kevin de Bruyne. The Bundesliga side want a staggering £40million for the Belgian who they bought from Chelsea for £16.7m and Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain are also in the hunt. Roberto Soriano (centre) is being watched Manchester City scouts as they contemplate a move . Soriano was called up to the national squad last year and can play centrally or on the left hand side. Inter Milan and Schalke have also posted scouts to watch him lately. City had scouts watching Manchester United target Holland international winger Memphis Depay of PSV Eindhoven last week and his highly-rated teammate Jetro Willems, a 20-year-old left-back. Soriano (right) is challenged by Tomas Rincon of Genoa CFC during the Serie A clash . +Celtic have been fined just under £10,000 by Uefa following the misbehaviour of both their players and fans during last month's Europa League clash with Inter Milan. The Hoops have been ordered to pay £5,861 after collecting five or more cautions during the 1-0 defeat to the Italians at San Siro. Virgil van Dijk was sent off for two bookable offences, while five other players were booked in the 1-0 loss. Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk was sent off during his side's Europa League clash against Inter Milan . Celtic stars celebrate during their 3-0 victory over Dundee United at the weekend . They were also hit with a further £3,663 punishment after travelling supporters set off flares during the Round of 32 fixture, which saw the Scottish champions crash out after a 4-3 aggregate defeat. UEFA had already fined the Scottish champions earlier this year for supporter behaviour during their tie with Dinamo Zagreb. This is the seventh time the Parkhead club have been punished for the actions of their fans since December 2011. Roberto Mancini's Inter were also fined £3,600 for their supporters letting off fireworks. Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan side were also fined after supporters let off fireworks . +For Dave King, the battle for control of Rangers is all but over. The resignation of Ibrox chairman David Somers on Monday morning brought confirmation that the end of days has arrived for this reviled current plc board. Yet, the hard work starts here as King and his backers try to revive an institution that has been more akin to a circus than a football club in the chaotic last three years since administration, then liquidation, visited Govan. Here, Sportsmail looks at the tasks that will be taking priority in King’s packed in-tray as he embarks on a rebuilding job that he and his team believe could take up to five years. Dave King is set to take control of Rangers after chairman Dave Somers resigned from post on Monday . 1. Appoint a new executive team . With the repayment of Mike Ashley’s £5million loan, and running costs of upwards of £25m over the next two years, Rangers need a top-class executive team in place as quickly as possible to map out the club’s financial future. After Friday’s extraordinary general meeting, King will install his allies Paul Murray and John Gilligan as directors. The two remaining current plc directors, Derek Llambias, Rangers’ chief executive, and Barry Leach, director of finance, are not expected to tender their resignations. But King’s first move is expected to be to sack and replace them — whatever the cost. Not surprisingly to those following this rapacious Rangers saga, Llambias and Leach have both just been awarded bumper contracts, complete with lengthy notice periods. 2. Appoint a manager . Kenny McDowall tendered his resignation in January and the uncomfortable-looking 51-year-old keeps making it plain he does not want to be the manager of Rangers a minute longer than he absolutely has to. Under his management, performances have been poor with Rangers winning just two of their last six games. But it would take a collapse of monumental proportions for the Ibrox side to be overtaken by Falkirk and Queen of the South for a place in the play-offs. Stuart McCall is being viewed as the favourite for the post, while fans would love to see King bring back Walter Smith, even in a short-term capacity. But whoever the new manager is, the speedier the appointment, the more time he would have to set his players up for a push at promotion. What is unarguable is this: the new man needs to coax better performances than managed by Ally McCoist and McDowall if Rangers are to overcome a Hibs side that has swatted them aside with ease in the Championship this season. Interim Rangers manager Kenny McDowall does not want the job a minute longer than he has to . 3. Player recruitment . There are 12 Rangers first-team players out of contract in the summer. Captain Lee McCulloch, plus Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller, Jon Daly, Bilel Mohsni, Darren McGregor, Richard Foster, Steven Smith, Sebastien Faure, Ian Black, Kyle Hutton and Steve Simonsen all see their deals run out on June 1, 2015. The sheer volume of out-of-contract players makes it easy for the new boss to carry out a mass cull of what was described by Ibrox legend Richard Gough as ‘probably the worst ever’ team in Rangers history. Yet from such a late starting point, the clock is ticking for the new regime to make wholesale changes. And with out-of-contract players free to speak to suitors since January 1, Rangers are already behind the eight ball in recruiting Bosman signings. 4. Mike Ashley and onerous contracts . Mike Ashley's crisis loans kept the Ibrox club afloat in recent times in exchange for security over pretty much everything bar Ibrox, not to mention an increasingly large share of retail revenues. The contracts with Ashley’s Sports Direct are currently the biggest drain on income at Ibrox. Analysis by the Union of Fans suggests that for every £10 spent on merchandise, Rangers receive an eye-wateringly poor 75p. The suggestions are that these onerous deals are watertight but King’s team need to find out if there is room for manoeuvre. They will also need to go through everything they find with a fine-tooth comb to ensure Ashley is not leaving behind any nasty surprises. Mike Ashley's crisis loans kept Rangers afloat but in exchange for a large share of retail revenues . 5. SFA fit and proper tests . Having won the war to take control at Ibrox, King now needs to convince the SFA he is a fit and proper person to become a director of Rangers. A member of the club board under Craig Whyte that eventually saw Rangers liquidated in 2012, tax offences in South Africa saw King fork out £44m in settlement in 2013. That raises issues because the SFA’s professional game board look at whether a proposed director has been convicted within the last 10 years of ‘(i) an offence liable to imprisonment of two years or over, (ii) corruption or (iii) fraud’. The Hampden board also considers whether the applicant has been a director at a club within the five years preceding an insolvency event. King’s prolonged struggle with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has been raised repeatedly by the current plc board. But SARS has imposed no restriction on King acting as a company director and he remains ‘confident’ of passing the SFA’s fit-and-proper-person tests. Paul Murray, who was sacked from the Ibrox board by Whyte, must also convince the SFA he is a fit and proper person to be a director. 6. Infrastructure . Rangers fans regularly complain about the decrepit state of Ibrox. Cash is needed to bring it back up to acceptable standard, especially with fans likely to return through the gates in numbers to support the popular new regime. The club’s Murray Park training base at Auchenhowie, which opened 14 years ago, is also badly in need of renovation. Furthermore, Rangers will have to fork out to appoint a team of talent spotters given that the club’s scouting network was scrapped when Neil Murray left in April 2013. Former boss McCoist previously described the need for a scouting system at Rangers as: ‘My No 1 priority for the club moving ahead.’ Money needs to be spent on bringing Ibrox back up to an acceptable standard . +Michael O'Neill believes his Northern Ireland side are one win away from turning their Euro 2016 dream into a reality. O'Neill's men have been one of the surprise packages of the qualifying campaign, with Sunday's 2-1 defeat of Finland making it four wins from five matches. That leaves them second in Group F, four points clear of Hungary and just a point shy of table-topping Romania. Michael O'Neill (left) believes his side are one win away from turning their Euro 2016 dream into a reality . Kyle Lafferty of Northern Ireland blows a kiss to the home support after their Euro 2016 qualifying win . Anghel Iordanescu's side come to Windsor Park on June 13 and O'Neill believes success then would go a long way to ensuring a first major tournament in 30 years. 'The message is simple. We have given ourselves a fantastic chance, and we have to make sure we take our chance again in June,' he said, after Kyle Lafferty's brilliant brace in Belfast. 'The Romania game becomes massive now. If you can win that game, then it would be hard to think we won't get to the Euros. It takes on extra significance. Do we feel 18 points will be enough? Possibly. 'If we can get to 15 points with four games to go, that has to be our target at this moment in time. We will have the chance to go top of the group against Romania.' The game comes at an awkward time, with the English and Scottish seasons having broken up for the summer, but O'Neill hopes that does not have a major impact. Lafferty scores with a header to make the score 2-0 during their win over Finland in Group F . Northern Ireland are currently second in Group F, behind Romania, and have 12 points from five games . He is relying on dedication from his players and two friendlies - one against Qatar on May 31 and another against Wales - to get his side in shape. The Wales game has yet to be confirmed by the two associations, but O'Neill is already treating it as a done deal. We have two good warm-up games before that so preparation will be excellent,' he said. 'Our preparation in June will be vital, and the warm-up games against Qatar and Wales will be crucial. But players finish their seasons in May, and there is an onus on certain players to maintain their own fitness.' If fit Aaron Hughes is sure to become his country's most capped outfield player in that run of fixtures, with his current tally of 95 leaving him level with David Healy. He had to make do with bench duty against Finland, with O'Neill making the tough choice to pair Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley in the middle while favouring Conor McLaughlin at right-back. O'Neill believes a win on June 13 would go a long way to ensuring a first major tournament in 30 years . They are second in Group F, four points clear of Hungary and just a point shy of table-topping Romania . 'Leaving out Aaron was maybe the most difficult decision I have had to make in my three years, in terms of team selection,' the manager confessed. 'Everyone knows what Aaron Hughes is about and what his qualities are as a player and individual. I sat with Aaron a few nights ago and talked about his situation at Brighton. 'He hasn't played much club football in recent tines, and he fully understood where I was coming from. And Aaron being Aaron, he took it in his professional style. He is still a huge part of this squad, but now we have competition for places which is good. 'Jonny (Evans) showed what a top class player he is, and he showed it at Hampden against Scotland the other night. So it is good. 'But it is only a matter of time before Aaron gets his 96th cap and goes on to win 100.' +Kyle Lafferty hailed Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill as the best manager he has played for after yet another match-winning performance at Windsor Park. In recent months Lafferty has been transformed from an infuriatingly erratic performer to the spearhead of his country's unlikely push for a place at Euro 2016. He netted both his side's goals in Sunday's 2-1 win over Finland, a sweetly-hit volley and a deft header, taking Northern Ireland to 12 points from a possible 15 and his scoring tally to five in as many qualifiers. Kyle Lafferty hailed Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill as the best manager he has played for . Lafferty netted both Northern Ireland's goals in Sunday's 2-1 win over Finland in Belfast . It is all a far cry from O'Neill's first campaign, where Lafferty contributed more red cards (one) than goals (zero). And the 27-year-old, currently on loan at Rizespor from Norwich, knows who to thank. 'The last campaign I let everyone down, but Michael had a word with me and it really hit home. I'm probably glad he did that,' said the man who now occupies second place on Northern Ireland's scoring charts with 14. 'Michael is the best manager I've played under and he gets the best from me and pulls me to one side before every game. What he says inspires me and gets me up for the games. I'm buzzing playing for him.' Lafferty has been named man-of-the-match in all four Northern Irish wins, away in Hungary and Greece and at home against the Faroe Islands and Finland. But while he grows increasingly comfortable with being the side's headline grabber, he is equally keen to share the plaudits. Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill (left) and Corey Evans applaud the home support after the win . O'Neill has seen Northern Ireland take 12 points from a possible 15 during qualifying in Group F . 'I don't like calling myself a hero, I think all the boys were heroes out there,' he said. 'There could have been five or six players who deserved to be man of the match in the game. 'I thought Jamie Ward, for example, was superb. I scored two goals which is brilliant for me personally, but if I don't score another goal in the campaign and we qualify I'll be happy enough.' A place in France next summer would be a remarkable achievement for a side who have never reached a European Championship before, last made the World Cup finals in 1986 and placed fifth in their 2014 group. But belief is starting to turn to expectation before the players' eyes. 'We can't get ahead of ourselves but if we keep playing like we are now, it would be a disappointment if we didn't get there,' he said. We still have five games to go and everyone is beating everyone. 'The next game in June is going to be massive for us against Romania because it's a top of the table clash.' Lafferty of Northern Ireland scores with a header to make the score 2-0 during the match . Lafferty has been transformed from an erratic performer to the spearhead of his country's unlikely push . +Scotland’s title winners were handed a new incentive to reach the Promised Land of the Champions League after UEFA confirmed large increases in the cash sums on offer. Champions for the last three season, Celtic earned £12.6million for reaching the group stage and winning one of their six matches in 2013/14. The same performance next season would bring in at least £16m under the new figures announced by Europe’s governing body — and that does not include ticket sales. Confirming the cash ‘cycle’ for the next three years, UEFA will also seek to narrow the gap between the cash available to Champions League and Europa League clubs. A Scottish club participating in the group stage of the junior competition now stands to make in excess of £4m. Significantly, however, the three Scottish clubs that enter the Europa League qualifiers will now cover their costs via a solidarity payment of £150,000 – even if they crash out at the first hurdle. Celtic failed to make the Champions League this season, crashing out to Maribor in the qualifiers . Craig Gordon saves against Inter Milan in the last 32 Europa League clash at the San Siro . Celtic line up against Inter but the Parkhead club will be greedy for the Champions League rewards . Yet, the Europa League remains very much the lesser of UEFA’s tournaments and Ronny Deila, who failed to navigate Celtic to the Champions League this season, will now come under increasing pressure to deliver qualification – and bigger rewards - this summer. Currently top of the league table and chasing four-in-a-row, the Parkhead side can expect to make over £10m if they retain their title and reach next season’s group stage – even if they fail to win a point - an increase from £6.4m. Broadcasting pool revenues will also rise while the prize for a win will increasing to £1.1m and a draw will bring in £362,000. The rewards for reaching the last 16 – as Celtic did most recently in 2012 – will now leap by a whopping £4m. The biggest winners – as always – will be the English Premier League clubs with their huge broadcasting pool. If an English side were to win next season’s Champions League, they would earn around £74m from central UEFA funds alone. Yet what is good for the elite — and what is good for Celtic — is not necessarily good for Scottish football. Most – outwith Aberdeen - assume the Parkhead side will retain their title at the end of this campaign and will have another crack at the Euro elite. Becoming champions of Scotland is no guarantee of Champions League participation, of course, yet the prospect of a £16m-£20m windfall is a strong incentive to get it right this time. For Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell, it’s an imperative. The fear is that more UEFA cash only widens the gap between the aristos and the proletariat. Not only in Europe, but in countries like Scotland where more European money allows Celtic to lord it while the others eat cake. Giorgios Samaras scores in the Nou Camp for Celtic in their 6-1 loss in the 2013 group stages . Celtic enjoyed a glamour tie against AC Milan in the group stages of the 2013 Champions League instalment . UEFA said the changes are a bid to address this, to narrow the gap between the elite competition and the Europa League — the level SPFL clubs realistically aspire to — with general secretary Gianni Infantino insisting: ‘UEFA is really pleased that the new distribution system not only provides for a substantial rise in monies received by clubs participating in the Champions League and Europa League but also strengthens UEFA’s solidarity principle, namely ensuring an even more substantial increase in solidarity payments to clubs. ‘In this way, the new system provides a better deal for everyone, especially those clubs which did not qualify to the group stage of either of the two UEFA club competitions. This is a perfect example of the proper implementation of the solidarity principle which forms an essential part of UEFA’s key values.’ For every pound UEFA give to clubs in the Europa League currently Champions League clubs receive £4.30. From next season that ratio will narrow. Crucially, where clubs like Aberdeen, Inverness, St Johnstone or Dundee United are concerned, there will also be the new solidarity payments for those who crash out of the Europa League at the qualifying stage. This has long been the norm for Scottish clubs, their pain heightened by the cost of flying to far-flung remote outposts in Russia, Belarus or Moldova. Potentially very good for Celtic, then, UEFA's announcement should also make European football more appealing and rewarding to those further down the food chain. Charles Barnett, partner of the Sports Group of BDO, told Sportsmail: ‘What UEFA are saying is that from next season the revenues from the two competitions will be put into one pot and distributed to all the clubs participating. ‘So there is more money going to the Europa League and, let’s be honest, when you are thinking about Scottish clubs now that’s what you are really talking about. ‘There is more money now coming into the Europa League and more potentially available to Scotland’s participants via solidarity payments if they don’t make it to the group stage. ‘In the Champions League, which might affect Celtic, they are going up 60 per cent. ‘But more pertinent to Scotland is the fact that solidarity payments for failing to reach the Europa League will be higher. ‘What that should ensure is an end to the scenario where Scottish teams knocked out in the early qualifying rounds of the Europa League lose money when they are sent to the furthest corner of Eastern Europe. ‘Some Scottish clubs like Motherwell have lost money spending fortunes chartering planes. ‘To make £150,000 just for getting knocked out in the first qualifier plus revenue from the home tie should cover the costs of the away leg.’ That covering the costs of defeat has become a Scots priority is mildly depressing. Yet Celtic used the Europa League group stage as a parachute after Champions League failure last season. And, as Barnett explained: ‘The group stage of the Europa League will also offer a substantial increase of 65 per cent. Participation could see clubs make £4m now.’ For Rangers, much of this will be a source of anguish. With a stated goal of competing with Celtic as soon as possible, the gap becomes more and more difficult to bridge every year their rivals win the Scottish title and have another crack at the Champions League. On a day they announced more financial losses, the Ibrox board – and others around the country - can see just how difficult it will be to challenge the Parkhead side as the country’s dominant force. Barnett argues differently, however, and added: ‘Celtic could make £3m to £4m for reaching the group stage and for a club like Celtic, playing in Scotland, that is big money. ‘But that barely pays for another striker, never mind his wages. It could affect competition if they were winning the league and qualifying season after season after season, but will that really destroy competition? I’m not sure. ‘It’s good to see, but I’m not sure it will widen the gulf in Scottish football. ‘If anything, we will see other Scottish clubs earn more cash via the Europa League and, therefore, the teams finishing second, third and fourth in the SPFL Premiership have more opportunity to earn more money. ‘We are talking about more money being made available to clubs that don’t make it into any competition.’ +Ronny Deila believes he will soon be fending off interest in Stefan Johansen from English Premier League clubs. The Norwegian midfielder has thrived since his former Stromsgodset manager moved to Glasgow last summer. On the verge of adding the domestic Treble to the championship he won a year ago, the 24-year-old is also a forerunner for the player of the year awards. Celtic boss Ronny Delia believes Premier League clubs will soon come calling for midfielder Stefan Johansen . And, speaking to a Norwegian TV station this week, Deila was asked how long he could keep the player at Celtic Park. He replied: ‘It’s clear it’s difficult. He is good enough to play in the Premier League but then it is a question of whether he wants it. ‘I think Stefan is very fond of Celtic and it’s a much bigger club to play for than for example West Bromwich. ‘Stefan made a wise choice when he chose to go to Celtic. Here he is allowed to develop, not least physically. He has been playing regularly at a high level.’ Johansen, who also spoke with the Norwegian broadcaster TV2, was adamant that he had no immediate desire to leave Celtic, though. The 24-year-old is adamant he has no immediate desire to leave the Scottish giants at present . ‘The reason why I’m doing so well now is that I enjoy where I am,’ he said. ‘I see no reason why I should change clubs. I’m at a club that will win trophies, who have the ambition to play in Europe.’ Meanwhile, Queens Park Rangers are monitoring Jason Denayer’s situation. The Premier League strugglers have had the Belgian watched several times recently with a move to a summer transfer. Deila has stated that he’d like the defender to return to Glasgow for another year-long loan from Manchester City even though the player’s preference is a return to his parent club. QPR boss Chris Ramsey remains hopeful of persuading Denayer to switch to London – regardless of what league his side are playing in. QPR are interested in signing on loan Celtic defender Jason Denayer (left) in the summer . +Kevin Durant, the NBA's reigning most valuable player, will miss the rest of the season as he needs another foot surgery, dealing a blow to the Oklahoma City Thunder's playoff hopes, the team said on Friday. The six-time All-Star will have surgery on his ailing right foot next week and is expected to return to basketball activities in four to six months, according to the Thunder. His loss is a massive blow for a Thunder team hanging onto the final playoff seed in the Western Conference, three games ahead of ninth-place Phoenix, with 10 games to play. Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant watches from the bench during game against Philadelphia 76ers . Durant has suffered a setback in his recovery from foot surgery and has been ruled out for the season . Durant (centre) celebrates with team-mates during the game against LA Lakers on March 24 . Durant, who had averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 27 games this season, had surgery last month to alleviate soreness in his foot caused by a screw that was inserted in October during a procedure to repair a fracture at the base of his small toe. But after he visited two specialists this past week and held several conference calls with a specialist team, it was determined that the fracture, which had shown significant healing previously, was demonstrating signs of regression. 'The bone graft is the standard procedure for the five to eight percent of Jones fracture surgeries that do not initially have success or experience setbacks sometime within the recovery period,' the Thunder said in a statement. 'While everyone is disappointed that Kevin falls into that group, we are encouraged that the bone graft procedure has historically demonstrated long-term health and stability.' Durant is the NBA's reigning MVP and is a four time NBA scoring champion . Durant is embraced by LeBron James after wining gold at the 2012 Olympics in London . The news comes one week after the team said Durant, 26, had been shut down indefinitely due to problems with his surgically repaired right foot. Durant, a four-time NBA scoring champion who starred on the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2012 Olympic Games, had been inching his way toward a return before the team removed him from basketball activities last week. He had been intensifying his on-court workouts from light shooting to 3-on-3 drills even though the soreness from earlier in the season was not resolved. +LaMarcus Aldridge believes his Portland Trail Blazers side have learned from last season's NBA play-off heartbreak to become serious contenders for this year's Finals crown. Last season, Portland reached the Western Conference semi-finals for the first time since 2000 - before losing to eventual champions the San Antonio Spurs in five games. Fast-forward 12 months on and the Trail Blazers are set to qualify for the post-season play-offs once more. Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge believes his side can win the NBA title this term . Terry Stotts' side currently sit fourth in the Western Conference standings having won 44 and lost 25 matches this season. Despite a recent horrible run of form, that has seen Portland lose five on the bounce, power forward Aldridge believes his team are a force to be reckoned with. 'I think the team this year is really good. The team has had its ups and downs - winning streaks and losing streaks are just a part of the NBA season,' he said in a teleconference call with media from Asia on Tuesday night. 'But I think we’ve all grown from last year. I've got better, Dame [Damian Lillard] has got better, every player that was on the roster last year has got better. 'We have an opportunity to win this year, but we have to play a lot better and maximize our time out there. Aldridge (right) was part of the Portland team that lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the semi-finals last season . 'I think we learned a lot from our play-offs series versus San Antonio. We saw how well they executed, we saw how they never stopped playing, how dialed-in they were. They were very particular about the things they did and how hard they played. They were just locked in. 'I think we saw that they we weren't on that level last year but I think every player understands what it takes to win and we saw how they beat us up close and personal. 'So I think we get it. I think this team is probably a little bit better than last year as far as experience goes, from the guys we had being in those moments last year. Then Arron [Afflalo] came in and Steve Blake, they gave us more experience and they make us better, too.' Aldridge, a four-time NBA All-Star, is one reason why Portland have enjoyed a good season so far and are a dangerous opponent in the West. The 29-year-old (left) has helped the Trail Blazers to sit fourth in the Western Conference standings at present . The 29-year-old is enjoying a breakout season with career highs in points, free throws and free throw goal percentages - something the Dallas-born star attributes to maturing as a player and working hard in the off-season. 'It's just getting older. I’m more comfortable out there, I’m in my prime offensively so I think in the last three years I’ve just gotten better, I’ve just felt more comfortable every year,' he added. 'And with the three points, I focused on it last summer, I got a lot more shots. In the off season I’ve tried to become more comfortable with the three. 'I think with our offence, I can take more threes on the floor in games, so I think it’s just a little bit of the hard work in the summertime, and being more comfortable with the offence, and just being in my prime and feeling confident out there.' Aldridge will be hoping his efficiency on the court can help Portland's five-game losing streak when they travel to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The four-time NBA All-Star (right) is enjoying a breakout term with a career high in points and free throws . +Although Steve Nash says his three-year stint with the Los Angeles Lakers was a failure, the two-time MVP point guard heads into retirement with warm feelings for the team-mates and fans who supported him in his injury struggles. Nash formally discussed his retirement on Tuesday at the Lakers' training complex. Three days earlier, he announced the long-expected end of his 19-year NBA career. Steve Nash formally discussed his retirement from the NBA at an LA Lakers press conference on Tuesday . The 41-year-old Nash didn't play this season after emerging from his first pre-season game in excruciating pain. He played just 65 games in three seasons with the Lakers, who traded four draft picks to Phoenix for him. Nash says he doesn't regret his attempt to keep playing through constant back injuries and other resulting woes. He says he never wanted something more than success with the Lakers. Nash (left) played just 65 games in three seasons with the Lakers after his trade from the Phoenix Suns . +Stephen Curry had 33 points and 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors pulled away from the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers in the second half for a 122-108 victory Tuesday that clinched the team's first division title in 39 years. Andre Iguodala came off the bench to score 21 points for the Warriors, who won their seventh straight to push their record to an NBA-best 58-13. Golden State hasn't claimed the Pacific Division crown since the 1975-76 season, the year after the team won the NBA championship. Stephen Curry (right) netted 33 points as Golden State Warriors clinched first Pacific Division title in 39 years . Warriors' 122-108 win against Portland Trail Blazers was their seventh straight victory . With a comfortable lead on second-place Memphis in the Western Conference, Golden State has dropped just one of its last 12 games. Damian Lillard had 29 points for the Blazers, who have lost five straight following a 1-4 road trip. Oklahoma's NBA scoring leader Russell Westbrook poured in 27 points and added 11 assists, and Enes Kanter contributed 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Thunder's fourth straight victory, 127-117 over the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell Westbrook (middle) netted 27 points as Oklahoma City Thunder defeated Los Angeles Lakers 127-117 . Enes Kanter also contributed 25 points as Thunder triumped to their fourth straight victory . Kanter had a double-double in the first quarter with 15 points and 10 rebounds as Oklahoma City raced out to a 37-27 lead. After trailing by 15 at the half, the Lakers closed to 70-61 before Westbrook scored twice in 15 seconds on his way to 14 third-quarter points. In Dallas, Monta Ellis matched his season high with 38 points as the Mavericks rallied in the second half to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 101-94. Ellis hit 16 of 27 field-goal attempts, bouncing back from his 4-for-22 performance Sunday in a loss at Phoenix. In three games this season against the Spurs, Ellis is averaging 34 points. Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 19 points and Danny Green added 17. Khris Middleton was mobbed by his Milwaukee Bucks team-mates after hitting a 3-point winner at the buzzer . The Milwaukee Bucks edged the Miami Heat 89-88 to break a six-game losing streak after Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Bayless missed on a drive down the lane, but Zaza Pachulia tapped the ball back out to Middleton, who buried the winner. He finished with 13. It was a crucial victory for the Bucks, who improved to 35-36 to remain in sixth place in the conference, while the Heat fell to 32-38. In other games, Reggie Jackson had 28 points and nine assists, and Andre Drummond added 21 points and 18 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons beat the Toronto Raptors 108-104, while DeMarcus Cousins had 33 points and 17 rebounds for Sacramento in the Kings' 107-106 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. +Henry Slade enjoys a challenge. The lavishly gifted Exeter threequarter has already overcome more hurdles than many encounter in a lifetime. Stand his ground with troubled foster children? Naturally. Ignore advice from coaches that he was too small for rugby as a teenager? Absolutely. Battle Type 1 diabetes to forge a burgeoning professional rugby career? No problem.Outshine Jonny Wilkinson on his first European appearance? By a distance.Be included as the wild card in Stuart Lancaster's World Cup squad? Just maybe. Exeter playmaker Henry Slade (right) is being touted as a potential wildcard for England's World Cup squad . The 22-year-old has been in superb form for Exeter this season and could slot in nicely in the England set-up . For his many talents, Slade, 22, named Aviva Premiership player of the month for March, remains humble, grounded and reluctant to talk up his World Cup prospects. But his consistently high-quality displays in the Exeter midfield are making his case hard to ignore. The only player name-checked by Lancaster as a possible World Cup bolter after impressing on attachment to the squad during the Six Nations, the lithe left-footer from Plymouth has been told he will definitely feature in England's pre-World Cup camp where he can stake a claim for inclusion. Many believe he could yet prove England's missing midfield link as a physically robust, footballing 12 of enormous potential. 'It's nice to have that knowledge that I'll be there and have a chance to stake my claim,' he said. 'Everyone likes to feel they're ready for that next step. I feel I'm capable but it's not up to me. It doesn't get any bigger than a home World Cup and of course I'd love to be involved. Who wouldn't? But I realise I'm still some way down the pecking order and have plenty to do.' Slade's humility is evident as we sit and talk in Sandy Park's main stand enjoying the milky Devonian spring sunshine. On the field, he has more of a strut; confident in his skills and sure of his intent. A first international cap is a matter of when, not if. But just like the Exeter club he joined as a teenager, Slade refuses to get carried away by success. He is wise beyond his years, having lived with diabetes since a chance diagnosis at the age of 18. Standing up for his younger brothers when his parents took on foster children also opened his eyes to a world beyond the rugby field. 'Mum used to own a hairdressing salon but sold it when she had kids and became a respite foster carer instead,' he said. 'It puts things in perspective seeing kids my age who'd had such difficult upbringings or had been taken away from their parents because they weren't fit to look after them. It's not nice. 'When they started kicking off you'd have to stop them but I'd always try to take a minute to sit back and think, 'Bloody hell, they've had it tough' and think about why they'd be reacting in that way. It was a pretty good life experience.' Slade has overcome many challenges in his career, including diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes aged 18 . A less welcome experience has been the daily injections of insulin and regular blood tests required to check his blood sugar is not at dangerous levels. Typically, Slade considers his glass half full, not half empty. 'Getting the diagnosis at 18 was pretty tough to take,' he said. 'My dad had it as well so I knew how it would affect my life and how organised I was going to have to be. Still, while the other lads get their supplements and beetroot shakes before a match I get a nice big cup of jelly babies, so it's not all bad.' Thriving under the tutelage of director of rugby Rob Baxter at the upwardly mobile Aviva Premiership club, Slade is making a name for himself by stepping up to every challenge put in front of him. He first made the headlines as a 20-year-old in 2012 with an outrageously composed display against Jonny Wilkinson and his Toulon team-mates after being called on as a first-half replacement for Gareth Steenson. Five years earlier, he would have been excused for giving up the game. 'I went for a county under 15s trial and was told I was too small,' he said. 'I was devastated but it made me work harder the following year. Hitting my growth spurt probably helped too.' Now standing 6ft 2in and weighing in excess of 14st, Slade has proved his defensive mettle countless times this season, most notably against Leicester early in the season when he proved a match for his hulking opposite man Manu Tuilagi on a string of occasions. Similar in style to Wallaby maestro Matt Giteau, Slade has taken heart from the performances of fellow 'lightweights' Jonathan Joseph and George Ford during England's Six Nations campaign. 'I obviously understand and respect that winning collisions is a massive part of rugby but there still has to be space for players like George Ford and Jonathan Joseph,' he said. Slade kicks a penalty during the Aviva Premiership match between Exeter and Bath at Twickenham . 'JJ is not the biggest of players but his footwork and the way he beats defenders is top class. It's the same scenario as we had here with me and Sam Hill in the centre. Two different styles who can play to each other's strengths and cover every base. It's the beauty of having a ball player and a physical, trucking-up type centre.' Comfortable at fly-half or centre and an outstanding left-footed goal-kicker, Slade would be a more than useful squad player. If he can make the cut, indications are he has the temperament for international rugby. 'I've always relished the challenge and found the bigger the occasion the more excited I get by it and the more I enjoy it,' he added. So, what money Slade at No12 when England play Fiji at Twickenham on September 18? It is still a long shot, but he has already made a habit of defying the odds. Slade offloads the ball while playing for England Saxons against Ireland Wolfhounds in January this year . +Failure has become a formality for London Welsh and relegation became a reality after they suffered their 18th consecutive Aviva Premiership defeat in a dire meeting with Bath. This was more ‘Sloppy Sunday’ than ‘Super Saturday’ as torrential weather conditions dictated an arm wrestle that confirmed the end of the Exiles’ short-lived spell back in the top flight. For Welsh coach Rowland Phillips, on his first game in charge since taking over from Justin Burnell, it spelt the beginning of a long and painful rebuilding process to get the Oxford-based franchise back to where they want to be. ‘We have to learn our lessons,’ said Phillips. ‘There is honest ambition throughout the club and the mindset has to be about improving. We will have one eye on next season. London Welsh's relegation from the Aviva Premiership was confirmed following their defeat by Bath . Opeti Fonua (centre) scores a try for London Welsh during his side's 29-14 loss against Bath . Alan Awcock tackles Semesa Rokoduguni during the Aviva Premiership match at Kassam Stadium . ‘People could say “that’s it” and wind down for the rest of the season but we’re too proud to switch off and wait for the summer holidays.’ The Exiles have a 653-point deficit going into the final four games of the season but this was one of their narrower defeats against a Bath side that will need to improve exponentially if they are going to challenge Leinster in this Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final. ‘The conditions were terrible,’ said Bath director of rugby Mike Ford. ‘We’ll put that game in the bin and next week will be a different spectacle.’ Running into torrential wind and rain in the first half, Bath scored twice inside 23 minutes through Rob Webber and Leroy Houston. Micky Young of Bath holds the ball as Tom Honer of Bath kicks a conversion in windy condition . Nick Auterac of Bath is tackled by Lachlan McCaffrey as he attempts to make his way up the field . The visitors had rested their England quartet — George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Dave Attwood — and their qualities were missed as Welsh edged back through Nic Reyonlds. They were urged on by a meagre home crowd but hopes of a comeback were dented when Nathan Trevett was sin-binned. With the biblical conditions subsiding, Bath extended their lead when Sam Burgess — who Ford revealed will be involved on Saturday — broke through two defenders. The floodgates soon opened. Houston forced his way over off the back of a scrum and, three minutes later, Alafoti Faosiliva darted through after Carl Fearns intercepted a loose pass. The Exiles’ giant No 8 Opeti Fonua, bound for Leicester next season, crashed over for a late try but the damage was long done. +Sam Twiston-Davies says Rocky Creek is in flying form as it emerged that the Crabbie’s Grand National hopeful could have been given a big advantage by the handicapper. Trained by Paul Nicholls, Rocky Creek — last seen when impressively winning the BetBright Chase at Kempton in February — was among 74 horses after the latest forfeit stage for the Aintree showpiece on April 11. Lord Windermere, the 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner trained by Jim Culloty, heads the weights on 11st 10lb, but Rocky Creek could have 9lb in hand. Sam Twiston-Davies rides Rocky Creek to victory in the BetBright Chase Day at Kempton . Twiston-Davies poses with his ride and trainer Paul Nicholls (right) after winning at Kempton . Twiston-Davies schooled the nine-year-old at Nicholls’ Ditcheat base on Monday as preparations stepped up a gear, while Shutthefrontdoor — the 8-1 ante-post favourite — was put through his paces at Southwell under AP McCoy. While public sentiment will be with McCoy for the big race, Phil Smith, the BHA’s Head of Handicapping, warns that dangers to Shutthefrontdoor lurk all around, not least from Rocky Creek, who is available at 12-1. Champions jockey AP McCoy exercises ante-post favourite Shutthefrontdoor at Southwell . Smith said: ‘Rocky Creek was very impressive when he won at Kempton. If I was framing the weights now, I’d have him 9lb higher. I’d also have The Druids Nephew (a winner at the Cheltenham Festival) 10lb higher.’ Rocky Creek will be one of six bullets that Nicholls aims at the £1million race, which he won in 2012 with Neptune Collonges, and the horse has been trained with Aintree in mind — he finished fifth 12 months ago to Pineau De Re. Twiston-Davies added of the gelding, who has run only three times this season: ‘Fingers crossed, the horse seems to be in good order. Hopefully he’ll get there in one piece. I schooled him and he was very good. He did it well at Kempton and let’s hope he’s ahead of the handicapper. Twiston-Davies believes Rocky Road has a good chance of winning the big race at Aintree . ‘When he ran in the Hennessy (in November and was pulled up) it was really bad ground and I would just write that run off altogether. We have to go to Aintree with an open mind.’ As for Pineau De Re, his trainer Dr Richard Newland could require a new jockey as the veteran chaser bids to become the first horse since Red Rum in 1974 to win back-to-back Grand Nationals. Leighton Aspell, who did the steering a year ago, could be claimed to ride Many Clouds. Newland said: ‘I might have a few calls to make. It is Leighton’s ride if he is available. It is pointless getting worried at this stage. I’m sure there will be a few interested jockeys if Leighton isn’t available.’ +Coneygree became the first novice to strike for 41 years when making most of the running in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup. The eight-year-old, trained by Mark Bradstock and ridden by Nico de Boinville, took the blue riband prize of steeplechasing on only his fourth race over fences. The success fully vindicated the decision to bypass the RSA Chase earlier in the week and run in the Gold Cup instead. Nico de Boinville kisses the Cheltenham Gold Cup following Coneygree's length and a half victory . De Boinville and trainer Mark Bradstock are all smiles with the 2015 trophy . De Boinville and Coneygree clear a fence on their way to victory at the Cheltenham Gold Cup . Coneygree clears the last hurdle to set up a grandstand finish at the Cheltenham showpiece . De Boinville celebrates following his 2015 Gold Cup triumph at Cheltenham . Coneygree became the first novice to strike for 41 years when making most of the running in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup . De Boinville is overcome with emotion on his way to the parade ring following Coneygree's thrilling victory . De Boinville is congratulated by the Cheltenham faithful as he makes his way to the winner's enclosure . The 2015 Gold Cup champion punches the air as he is led past the grandstand . Coneygree trainer Bradstock is overjoyed following his horse's Cheltenham result . Coneygree (right) did just enough to beat Djakadam and Road To Riches in a thrilling finish . Coneygree (7-1) held on up the hill by a length and a half from Djakadam (10-1), with Road To Riches (8-1) two lengths away in third. De Boinville said: 'It's the best feeling ever, I'm lost for words. 'I never thought they shouldn't have run in this, it was a great plan. 'The weather gods were looking down on us and the ground was ideal. AP McCoy looks dejected after Carlingford Lough finished ninth at the Cheltenham Gold Cup . 'He's so deceptive, even when he gets in tight he's brilliant, it's all thanks to the Bradstock family, it's a great family effort. 'I must thank the owners and the Bradstocks for keeping the faith in me. These horses only come once in a lifetime.' Sara Bradstock, wife of the winning trainer and daughter of the late Lord Oaksey, who bred Coneygree, said: 'He (Lord Oaksey) is not here, but he's here in spirit. 'I'd been saying to people, when we win the Gold Cup we'll win the lottery, it's that amazing.' 'It's only his fourth run over fences, but he had so much time off and he's wise in his own way.' Lady Oaksey said: 'I've been asking myself what decision would John (Oaksey) have made? As it turned out, it was a very good decision after looking at Vautour and Don Poli (in the novice chases). 'To win this now - you dream and it's absolutely amazing.' It was the 19-times champion's final ride in the Gold Cup before his retirement . Mrs Bradstock added: 'All the people quoted stats at us, but this horse knows how to jump and how to gallop and he showed them. 'We were forecast real rain, which made the decision for us, and it was an open Gold Cup. 'It's so unbelievable, I've been in the yard from 6am until 10pm and it's all for this. 'All the big yards spend telephone numbers on horses and our mare cost £3,000. 'People were asking after Newbury (when Richard Johnson rode in the Denman Chase) if Nico would get the ride back, but of course he would - he rides him beautifully, he'll be a great jockey. 'It's a little bit back to work later as my favourite person, Carruthers, runs tomorrow (at Uttoxeter), but I might not be at my best! 'It shows anyone can do it, you don't need millions . 'He didn't know he's a novice.' The winning trainer said: 'I'm numb, it's wonderful. It won't sink in for a while, but it's great. Zara Philips (right) was in attendance for the Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase . 'We've done it before in smaller races and we'll still keep doing it, but it's fantastic to do it on the big stage. 'I can't remember where I watched it as I'm not very good at watching races. 'The decision was very tricky because the weather forecast was so up and down and obviously we were liaising very closely with Simon Claisse (clerk of the course) and walking the course. But we made the right decision. 'He's a gorgeous horse and it's so tragic that Sara's dad (Lord Oaksey) wasn't here today to see it.' Rich Ricci, owner of the Willie Mullins-trained Djakadam, said: 'He's run a stormer, I thought we had him but fair play to the winner, to run in this race as a novice and to do that from the front was spectacular. 'He'll be back next year. We've had a great week.' His rider Ruby Walsh said: 'He's run a blinder. He made a few little jumping errors, but he's run a blinder for a six-year-old. 'He stuck his head out and gave me everything he had.' Mullins said: 'We had a fantastic run and I was just commending the winner's brave decision to run in the Gold Cup. It paid off and the winner did it the hard way in front. 'I was delighted with my horse. He ran well. He jumped great and got a good position. I don't have any excuses and Ruby doesn't either. Ruby Walsh (centre) had to contend with second place as Djakadam finished a length and a half behind Coneygree . 'Our fellow is only a six-year-old and the winner's an eight-year-old. In those conditions, when stamina comes to the fore, age will always beat youth. We'll go on to Punchestown.' Noel Meade said of Road To Riches: 'He ran a great race. We're delighted and disappointed. What other way can you be? 'We thought we had a chance at the last. It's possible the ground was a disadvantage to us. Maybe it wasn't, but we think it might have been.' Richie McLernon, rider of fourth home Holywell, said: 'He stays all day and you can't ask any more. He gave me his all today.' His trainer Jonjo O'Neill said: 'We're delighted with our little horse. It was a brilliant race really. 'We had to put a lot of effort in with his jumping. He'd be better on better ground, but today the best horse won. 'Our horse ran a blinder and we're thrilled to bits with him. 'The winner is a fantastic horse and they couldn't catch him.' Paul Nicholls, trainer of the vanquished favourite Silviniaco Conti, who was seventh, said: 'Noel (Fehily) is not really sure. My view is that the ground might have been deep enough for him. It was a bit more testing than we thought. 'Watching that I suppose he is better on a flatter track on better ground. If he's fresh and well we'll probably head to Aintree with him now.' Tony McCoy was ninth on Carlingford Lough in what was his final ride in the Gold Cup before retirement. The 19-times champion said: 'I knew when we got here this morning we were in trouble. He's a horse that likes good ground and for a horse that's slow but has a bit of speed at the end of his race, he doesn't like it when it turns into a drag.' Paying tribute to the winner, McCoy said: 'Fair do's to the Bradstocks for running him. It was an unbelievable performance from a novice chaser. 'He got them at it early and stuck at it well. All credit to them. It's fantastic.' +Two-goal hero Thomas Muller has admitted that his side couldn't have wished for better start after Oleksandr Kucher's red card inside four minutes for Shakhtar Donetsk gave them a man advantage and a penalty - which he dispatched confidently. Pep Guardiola's side were unforgiving after that crucial moment and struck seven past the sorry Ukrainians at the Allianz Arena. With the score poised at 0-0 after the first leg, Muller knew that his side needed a fast start and that was exactly what they got. Thomas Muller revealed that Bayern couldn't have 'wished' for a better start to the game against Shakhtar . 'We took the lead after a couple of minutes and they went a man down. If you were going to wish for anything it would be that, but it's not something we were expecting either,' he told the official Bayern website. 'Donetsk were in real trouble after the second and third goals. Their heads went down, which gave us lots of space – and we used it. 'The situation going into the game was definitely more exciting than the match itself. The course of the match was excellent for us.' The German international scored twice during the emphatic 7-0 Champions League victory at the Allianz . Muller celebrates after scoring his second goal and his side's fourth at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday . +Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has fuelled speculation he's set for a summer move away from the club by admitting a transfer looks likely. The highly-coveted player has previously been linked to north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, with the Frenchman handing in a transfer request at the start of the season. Ronald Koeman is likely to struggle to keep the midfielder at the club - even if the Saints qualify for the Champions League - with his head seemingly turned. Morgan Schneiderlin (right) denies there's a deal in place to take him to Arsenal during the summer . 'I have a contract until 2017,' Schneiderlin told Canal+. 'Today, I aspire to play at the highest level. I haven't been in contact with (Arsenal manager Arsene) Wenger. 'There are clubs that are interested, but I haven't agreed to join anyone. I am concentrating on my matches. I know for sure that something is going to happen.' Despite a rocky start to the season, Schneiderlin has been an ever present in the Southampton side - forming a formidable partnership with Victor Wanyama. The Frenchman did admit that something is likely to happen in the summer and refused to commit his future . The combative midfielder has been an ever present in the Southampton since returning to the first team . +She's a key aide to Ed Miliband and has campaigned tirelessly to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Yet Karen Buck’s son is an amateur gangster rapper who pens lyrics about ‘spreading out the kush’ and ‘blazin’ - colloquial references to cannabis use. Ms Buck, who has worked to reduce drug misuse in her constituency Westminster North, has been Mr Miliband’s Parliamentary Private Secretary since April 2013. Cosmo Buck-Taylor, 21, has posted several videos on his YouTube channel, CuzzyOfficial, in which he appears to be smoking the illegal drug. Rapper: Cosmo Buck-Taylor, 21, has posted several videos on his YouTube channel, CuzzyOfficial, in which he appears to be smoking the illegal drug . His raps, Don’t Like Freestyle and My Reality, show a teenage Mr Buck-Taylor wearing a tracksuit and smoking alongside marijuana paraphernalia. Surrounded by friends dressed in hoodies and caps, Mr Buck-Taylor is filmed rapping in front of graffitied garages and walking through housing estates. Although the videos were uploaded around two years ago, the rapper appears to still promote the Class B substance. Private matter: MP Karen Buck said her son's video had nothing to do with her role in public life . In his newly released single ‘Young Livin I Fade’, he raps ‘we get high everyday’ and ‘we just smoke weed till our eyes get red’. His mother has held the seat of Westminster North since May 2010 and is defending a majority of 2,126 votes at the general election on May 7. The 56-year-old withdrew her son from one of Tony Blair’s flagship city academies - Paddington Academy - in 2006 after he allegedly received barely any education for a year. Mr Buck-Taylor, who was 12-years-old at the time and had only been at the academy for a term following its opening, was switched to a nearby comprehensive school. When questioned about his rap videos, Mr Buck-Taylor said: ‘This is none of your business. This is my personal life, you have no right to interfere in my life. This was when I was 18-years-old. I was not smoking a joint.’ But when questioned about what substance was in the cigarette, he said: ‘No comment’. Ms Buck, who first became an MP in Westminster in 1997, said the video had no bearing on her position in politics. She said: ‘As far as I’m aware this is some time ago. It’s a private matter and I don’t see that it has anything to do with my role in public life.’ Ms Buck, who has been an MP since 1997 when her seat was called Regents Park and Kensington North, made her name while a councillor at Westminster when she was involved in exposing fraudulent behaviour of Shirley Porter and the Homes for Votes scandal. She caused a stir in her ward in 2014 when she infuriated one of her non-muslim constituents by twice sending him a card celebrating an Islamic festival. She admitted that her staff went through the electoral register picking out people with ‘Islamic’ names. +Andre Ward has hinted he has no plans to cross the Atlantic for a potential rematch against Carl Froch. Both men hold different versions of the WBA super-middleweight title and have been ordered to fight by the organisation. Froch called on Ward to travel outside of America for the first time in his career and face him at Nottingham Forest's City Ground. American Andre Ward (left) belittled talks of a United Kingdom rematch with Nottingham fighter Carl Froch . Froch (left) said it was Ward's turn to make the trip across the Atlantic after he travelled to fight in Atlantic City . The Cobra called on Ward to 'travel out of his comfort zone' but the American is proving difficult to convince . But the unbeaten Californian tweeted: 'Looks like Frochy Froch remembered my name all of a sudden. That's good to know. Looks like the old man is still kicking. 'Froch could have gotten this fight years ago, but it took the WBA mandating the fight for him to step up. SMH (Shaking my head). This guy. 'If this fight does happen, Froch is not dictating anything. He must have fell and bumped his head.' Ward has fought just twice since he comprehensively outpointed Froch in Atlantic City in 2011. Froch leans on the ropes during his bout against Ward in their WBA/WBC super middleweight battle in 2011 . And the Cobra said earlier this week: '‘I fought him in the US. Now it’s only right that he comes over here. To be a truly great champion you have to box overseas. 'Ward needs to be forced to travel out of his comfort zone. 'I dare him. He will discover that I’m a very different animal here than I was that night on the Boardwalk.' The two men have until the beginning of April to agree a deal before purse bids are ordered with the fight taking place within 120 days. +Sampdoria striker Samuel Eto'o has revealed he was the victim of racism during his time at Chelsea. The Blues have been in the spotlight recently after five supporters were ordered to appear in court over an alleged racist incident on the Paris Metro. A Paris Saint-Germain fan appeared to be prevented from boarding a train before his side took on Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash. Samuel Eto'o trains with Sampdoria amid claims he was the victim of racism while in London . Eto'o celebrated his 33th birthday with his team-mates after a trainign session on Tuesday . Five men will appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on March 25 in connection with the incident in Paris. Eto'o spent last season at Stamford Bridge and scored nine goals in 21 Premier League appearances, but has revealed there was one unpleasant event during his time in west London. 'I went to go buy a watch at a jewellers, not too far from my house,' he told CNN. 'The watch I wanted to see was expensive. And I asked the saleswoman - who was also black - "Could you show me that watch please?" 'I saw her turn to her co-workers like, "Uh, what should I do?" Eventually, she let me see the watch. I looked at it and said, "OK, I’ll buy it." I took out my credit card and when she went to go run it through the machine, she came back and said that it was declined. I asked her, "Was it declined or did you not want it to be accepted?" Eto'o spent last season at Chelsea, scoring nine goals in 21 Premier League games . 'My brother asked, "What’s going on?" and she said, "Nothing, nothing." but he said, "No, because when I came in, I saw how all of you were looking at us." 'My brother told them, "My brother can afford this and the way you’re treating him shows that you think just because he’s black, he can’t afford this watch." 'The woman then slipped up and said, "No, it’s just that we had some Nigerians in the store the other day who came in with fake credit cards." 'I don’t know if you can imagine the weight of what she said. If one of my own makes a mistake, they judge us all. I don’t think she’s a racist person, but she stereotyped all black people as 'those people.'' +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Sunderland's home clash with Aston Villa... Sunderland vs Aston Villa (Stadium of Light) Team news . Sunderland . Sunderland are without the suspended Lee Cattermole for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light. Cattermole picked up his 10th booking of the season in the recent draw at Hull and picked up an automatic two-match ban. Adam Johnson remains suspended by the club and Emanuele Giaccherini (ankle) and Will Buckley (knee) are both definitely ruled out. Provisional squad: Pantilimon, Mannone, Reveillere, Van Aanholt, Jones, O'Shea, Brown, Vergini, Coates, Bridcutt, Rodwell, Gomez, Larsson, Alvarez, Agnew, Honeyman, Fletcher, Defoe, Wickham, Graham. Sunderland are without the suspended Lee Cattermole for Saturday's Premier League clash with Aston Villa . Aston Villa . Christian Benteke will return to the Aston Villa squad for their crucial relegation battle at Sunderland. The striker missed the FA Cup quarter final win over West Brom with a hip injury but boss Tim Sherwood confirmed he will travel to the Stadium of Light. Ron Vlaar (calf) will be assessed and Kieran Richardson (calf) is a doubt while Aly Cissokho (groin) is a likely absentee and Philippe Senderos (calf), Joe Cole (hamstring), Nathan Baker (knee), Alan Hutton and Jack Grealish (both suspended) are out. Libor Kozak has returned to full training after more than a year out with a broken leg but is not yet match fit. Provisional squad: Guzan, Given, Vlaar, Lowton, Clark, Okore, Kinsella, Richardson, N'Zogbia, Bacuna, Westwood, Delph, Sanchez, Cleverley, Gil, Sinclair, Weimann, Agbonlahor, Benteke. Christian Benteke will return to the Aston Villa squad for their crucial relegation battle at Sunderland . Key match stats (supplied by Opta) Kick-off: Saturday (3pm) Odds (subject to change): . Sunderland 13/10 . Draw 9/4 . Aston Villa 9/4 . Referee: Neil Swarbrick . Managers: Gus Poyet (Sunderland), Tim Sherwood (Aston Villa) Sunderland have failed to score in five of their last six Premier League matches against the Villans, netting just one in the other encounter. Gabriel Agbonlahor has scored in three of his last four Barclays Premier League matches against Sunderland. Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League meetings with Sunderland (W3 D4 L0). Sunderland have won just two of their last 15 Premier League matches at the Stadium of Light (W2 D7 L6). Gus Poyet’s side have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League home matches. Fabian Delph (right) being sent off during Aston Villa's 0-0 with Sunderland in December . There have been seven red cards in the last 12 Premier League meetings between Aston Villa and Sunderland. Aston Villa have the highest tally of red cards in the Premier League this season (6), while Sunderland picked up the most last season (7). The home team has failed to score in five of the last six Premier League meetings between Villa and Sunderland, the exception being the 6-1 victory for Villa in April 2013. Sunderland have drawn more often against Aston Villa than versus any other opponent in their Premier League history (11 times). Aston Villa have scored just six goals in their last 21 Premier League away games and have gone just two minutes short of 10 hours of playing time since they last scored a goal on the road. +A Bollywood actress has created a video with Vogue India in an effort to empower women in the country. The project, which is entitled My Choice, is about installing the belief that women have a choice over the body, their relationships and their future. In the clip, actress Deepika Padukone recites a poem about the freedoms females should be entitled to, while the images of 100, mostly unknown, women from Mumbai flash up on the screen. Actress Deepika Padukone, who has released a video about female empowerment with Vogue India . In the film, she addresses the common notion in most parts of the country that women should dress modestly. She says: 'My body, my mind, my choice. To wear the clothes I like; even if my spirit roams naked. 'My choice; to be a size 0 or a size 15. They don’t have a size for my spirit, and never will, . 'To use cotton and silk to trap my soul is to believe that you can halt the expansion of the universe.' Since it was published at the weekend, the video, which was produced by filmmaker Homi Adajania, has been viewed more than two million times. Deepika at the Cannes film festival in 2010 . While many responses to the clip have been positive, there has also been a significant backlash. Many of its critics have taken issue with one of the parts of the speech where Deepika talks about sex outside of marriage. She says: 'My choice to marry, or not to marry, . 'To have sex before marriage, to have sex out of marriage, or to not have sex, . My choice to love temporarily, or to lust forever.' Twitter user ‏@roopabanerjee wrote: 'The main error in Deepika Padukone's #VogueEmpower video: a world where #MyChoice rules would be a sad and dangerous place to live in.' Another called @Amaa_Yaar wrote: 'The speed of universe's expansion is directly proportionate to a woman sleeping outside her marriage! ' Twitter reactions to the My Choice video . Others have taken issue with who the message is directed at, claiming that the women who would really benefit from it are India's poorest, but that it is being shared among the those who are already empowered - the middle classes. DNA India writer Soumonty Kanungo wrote in a blog post: 'When it says "My Body, My Mind, My Choice", what is the video really trying to convey? Whose choice? Urban women? Educated urban women? Educated, working urban women? Is there any choice for those unexposed to this video? No! 'There are thousands of women in lanes and by-lanes of cities and villages of India who don't have a choice. Choice is too fancy a word for them. They just take orders and obey. 'They take orders in every step of their lives as their choices are not for themselves alone, but for their families as well. 'Are they wrong in thinking beyond themselves? Are they wrong, if they chose to compromise to make room for those they love? These are far more real choices, much more significant than clothes and sex.' +Sam Allardyce admits he was wrong to claim Winston Reid had been tapped up after the West Ham defender finally penned a fresh contract with the club. Talks between the Hammers and Reid had been ongoing for several months, with reported interest from the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal leaving many West Ham supporters on tenterhooks over the future of their New Zealand international. Allardyce said in January that it was 'highly unlikely' Reid had not already verbally agreed to leave Upton Park given that he was yet to sign a new contract and went on to suggest earlier this month that he needed to rope in the questioning techniques of Jack Bauer from television's '24' to get an answer out of the player. Winston Reid signed a new six-and-a-half year deal West Ham last week after it appeared he would leave . Sam Allardyce had said it was unlikely that Reid had not verbally agreed to join another club . But the 26-year-old, who will miss Saturday's trip to Arsenal through injury, has now signed a six-and-a-half-year contract to keep him tied down to the east London outfit - with Allardyce quick to admit he had misread the situation. 'I was wrong, so I admit that,' he said when asked if he was surprised to see Reid sign a new deal having questioned whether he had been tapped up. 'For me, if somebody's out of contract like that it would have all been done and dusted by the end of the season, even though it might not have been done and dusted from a paperwork point of view. 'His agent would have sorted out a deal somewhere or other in this country. I was probably more concerned about abroad because it could have been a pre-contract. The central defender had been linked with the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal before penning new contract . 'One of the bigger clubs in Europe could have seen what Winston has done here and said "he's the one for us" and taken him abroad so I was obviously wrong.' Allardyce believes a strong showing for West Ham this season would have helped convince Reid to stay put - insisting no club bigger than the Hammers had looked like making a move for his signature. 'It was the longest negotiation ever,' he added. 'I think that in the end both parties are very, very pleased with the outcome. I think the big pull for Winston signing this time around is that we've had a good season up until now that we need to finish off as strong as we can. Reid fights for the ball with Tottenham striker Harry Kane during the recent match at White Hart Lane . '(We are) moving to the Olympic Stadium in 2016, so where else is he going to get bigger than West Ham United? 'Probably because nobody of a greater status than West Ham has actually taken up his position, he signs up with us, which we're both delighted about. 'Winston has now been in that position for a considerable amount of time and he now sees West Ham as the best way forward for him and we're absolutely delighted with that because it's been a long, hard negotiation for him. 'It's been well into more than a year of trying to come to an agreement in terms of the contract. Now the contract is secured for a period of time that takes Winston along and hopefully the club along to better things.' +Portugal went top of European Championship qualifying Group I with a 2-1 win over Serbia on Sunday. Defenders scored both Portuguese goals as Ricardo Carvalho and Fabio Coentrao netted in each half, either side of a spectacular equaliser from Nemanja Matic with an overhead kick. Portugal's third straight win under Fernando Santos, who took charge after Cristiano Ronaldo's team lost their opening qualifier against Albania, gave them nine points from four games. Ricardo Carvalho heads past Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic to open the scoring for Portugal . Carvalho is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring the opening goal for Portugal against Serbia . Cristiano Ronaldo takes on Chelsea and Serbia defender Branislav Ivanovic during the game in Lisbon . Portugal: Rui Patricio, Bosingwa, R Carvalho (Fonte 17), Alves, Eliseu, Moutinho, Tiago Mendes, Coentrao (Quaresma 78), Nani, Danny (W Carvalho 86), Ronaldo . Subs not used: Ventura, Eder, Gomes, Vieirinha, Lopes, Soares, Mario, Antunes, Almeida . Goals: Carvalho 10, Coentrao 63 . Serbia: Stojkovic, Basta, Ivanovic, Nastasic, Kolarov, Petrovic, Matic, Markovic (Djuricic 65), Ljajic, Tadic, Mitrovic . Subs not used: Maksimovic, Lukac, Gudelj, Milivojevic, Tosic, Kostic, Tosic, Tomovic, Brkic, Skuletic, Obradovic . Goal: Matic 61 . Referee: Gianluca Rocchi . They are two points ahead of second-place Denmark, who have a game in hand, and Albania, who beat Armenia 2-1 in the day's other Group I game. Serbia have one point from four games as they try to make up lost ground after being deducted three points for disturbances during a home qualifier against Albania last October. The top two from the nine groups qualify automatically for Euro 2016. Carvalho, unmarked in the Serbian penalty area, headed in Danny's cross after 10 minutes, putting Portugal on the road to victory despite a patchy performance. Portugal shifted down a gear after the goal and allowed openings for the Serbians, with Dusan Tadic shooting wide. Ronaldo had little influence on the game until he unleashed a powerful swerving shot on the half-hour which Vladimir Stojkovic just managed to push wide, and two minutes later the striker pierced the visitor's defense with a run before he was closed down. Danny (left) and Thiago Mendes (centre) celebrate wildly after Portugal's opening goal of the game . Real Madrid left-back Fabio Coentrao slots the ball past the keeper to restore Portugal's lead in Lisbon . Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo (right) holds off the challenge of Liverpool's Lazar Markovic . Portugal's three points in Lisbon takes them top of Group I, ahead of Denmark and Albania . Portugal's win over Serbia takes them top, while their opposition lag in fourth position in Group I . Matic levelled with a bicycle kick inside the Portuguese area, but two minutes later Coentrao was at the back post to tap in Joao Moutinho's low cross from the right. Portugal coach Santos was barred from contact with players at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon as he served the first of a two-game ban for improper conduct at last year's World Cup, where he led Greece. Nemanja Matic produced a spectacular overhead kick to level the scores, but only for two minutes . Bruno Alves (right) out-jumps Dusan Basta to head the ball during the European qualifying match in Portugal . Ronaldo drives forward during Portugal's 2-1 win over Serbia in their European qualifier match on Sunday . Portuguese fans show their support to the team ahead of their match against Serbia at Luz stadium . +Uefa has charged Montenegro after their Euro 2016 qualifier in Podgorica was abandoned following Russia players being hit by missiles. The Montenegro Football Association (FSCG) has been charged with holding a match that did not get played in full, and for fans throwing fireworks and missiles. The Russian football union (RFS) has also been charged for the setting off/throwing of fireworks and objects by their spectators. Russia have lodged a formal complaint with UEFA and demanded they be awarded a victory after the abandoned match on Friday. A flare, hurled from the stands, sails towards the Russian keeper in the opening seconds of the game . Akinfeev is carried off the pitch on a stretcher, which led to a 30 minute delay before game was called off . The match in Podgorica was abandoned after 67 minutes with the score still at 0-0 after Russia's Dmitri Kombarov was hit by an object, which led to a melee between the players. The game had already been suspended once, in the first minute when the Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was struck on the head by a flare and was taken to hospital for treatment for burns. Play resumed after a 33-minute delay and the start of the second half was also delayed by 18 minutes due to further disturbances. The eventual abandonment came shortly after Russia's Roman Shirokov had a penalty saved by Vukasin Poleksic. The keeper looks in serious distress as he is carried off the field on the way to hospital for tests . CSKA Moscow have confirmed that Akinfeev should return to face Zenit St Petersburg this weekend . UEFA announced on Monday: 'Disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the Football Association of Montenegro (FSCG) for the setting off and throwing of fireworks and objects by their spectators and for holding a match that did not get played in full. 'Proceedings have also been opened against the Football Union of Russia (RFS) for the setting off/throwing of fireworks and objects by their spectators. 'A protest has also been filed by the RFS and disciplinary proceedings have been opened.' Russia and Montenegro are neck and neck in Group G in third and fourth place, both on five points after four matches. Players from both sides are reported to have shoved each other before referee decided enough was enough . Fans holding flares cut intimidating figures from the roof of the stadium in Podgorica . Montenegro fans light flares from the stands during the Euro qualifier on Friday . Russian fans voice their displeasure after the events in Podgorica . Russia head coach Fabio Capello scratches his head as players leave the pitch after the match is abandoned . Riot police clash with Montenegrin fans after the game is abandoned following a pitch brawl . +Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has defended team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo following his apparent strop during the 2-0 defeat of Levante on Sunday, saying: 'It is difficult to be Cristiano'. The Portuguese superstar was criticised for his cold reaction towards both of Gareth Bale's goals as he failed to score himself before disappearing directly down the tunnel as his team-mates applauded fans after game. It is not often that Ronaldo does not get his name on the scoresheet, although Ramos insists the 30-year-old deserves to be recognised for what he brings to the team beyond his goals. Cristiano Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure during Real Madrid's 2-0 victory over Levante on Sunday . This acrobatic Ronaldo volley was headed off the line, before Bale volleyed in the rebound to make it 1-0 . Bale scored both goals while also releasing his recent frustration with an emotional celebration . Ronaldo doesn't look at Bale after his shot deflected off the Welshman Madrid's second goal . VIDEO Bale was more motivated Ancelotti . 'It is difficult to be Cristiano and he has been performing at a very high level for a number of years,' the defender told the official Madrid website. 'He knows himself better than anyone, he has a very competitive character and we are not worried if he didn't score if Bale subsequently did. 'We have to appreciate what he brings to the team.' The Spain international insists that Madrid can recover from their so-called 'crisis' to beat Barcelona to the La Liga title and retain their Champions League crown. 'We must be more united than ever. It was a difficult game following the run of form that we have had and the level of pressure that is placed on Real Madrid, which is more than at any other team. We have to accept that, but I don't think that this is a troubling period. Madrid defender Sergio Ramos (left) has defended his team-mate, saying he should be appreciated more . Under fire coach Carlo Ancelotti has the support of the dressing room, despite Real's recent slump in form . 'There are two months of top level competition left, we have one point less than the leaders and are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, which is a tournament that is exciting us again.' Ramos also gave his backing to under pressure coach Carlo Ancelotti who, despite bringing Los Blancos their elusive 10th European Cup last term, has found his position questioned following recent results. 'Ancelotti is doing well. He has gone through a difficult situation but if anyone deserves respect, it is Ancelotti, especially after last season.' +Gone are the days when women were too fearful to travel the world on their own. In fact, in recent years, the idea of the 'wandering woman' has risen in popularity, and not just among younger people. Women of all ages are now keen to embark on a solo trip, with 60 per cent of British women revealing that they are open to the idea. Scroll down for video . 60 per cent of British women surveyed reveal that they are open to the idea of travelling by themselves . A quarter of those surveyed between the ages of 35 and 44 were motivated to travel alone in hopes of 'finding themselves.' And in honour of International Women's Day, MailOnline Travel is celebrating all those adventurous women trekking around the globe solo. However, before heading anywhere - and this advice stands whether travelling by yourself or with a group - it is important to take basic safety precautions. Travel deal site, Travelzoo, recommends doing your research ahead of time, alert your credit card company and banks that you'll be travelling and check out if and how your mobile phone will work while abroad. Among the most popular destinations for solo female travellers? France, Spain and Canada . It's also a good idea to make a copy of your passport and other important documents and email them to yourself. Whether you're headed to France, Spain or North America, which are all places favoured by female travellers, or somewhere entirely different, don't simply rely on the internet for recommendations. Speak to reliable locals, such as your hotel concierge or a local tourism office, to find out exactly which parts of town are safe for solo female travellers. Travelzoo has come up with their top travel tips for adventurous women exploring the globe on their own . +Wasps have announced the appointment of Lee Blackett as their new backs coach for next season. The 32-year-old will move to the Aviva Premiership side from Championship club Rotherham, where he is currently head coach. He will replace former Wales fly-half Stephen Jones, who is returning to the Llanelli-based Scarlets in a coaching capacity. Wasps have announced the appointment of Lee Blackett as their new backs coach for next season . Wasps rugby director Dai Young said: 'We always knew the time would come when Stephen would want to return to Wales with his young family. He has done a great job for us. 'Lee is one of the brightest young coaches in Britain, who has won admiration throughout the game for how he has turned Rotherham Titans into one of the strongest teams outside of the Premiership. 'He has impressed knowledgeable onlookers by his attention to detail, enthusiasm and professionalism, and his proven ability to get the best out of the players he coaches.' Blackett (left) pictured playing for Leeds in 2010 as he is tackled by Guillaume Bousses (centre) +More than one million people are expected to attend 15 Rugby World Cup fanzones when the tournament takes place this autumn. Organisers England Rugby 2015 on Thursday announced fanzone locations - featuring big screens, entertainment, food and drink and rugby activities - in each of the World Cup host cities, plus at the game's birthplace in Rugby and in London's Trafalgar Square. Also announced on Thursday was the Rugby World Cup trophy tour in the UK and Ireland, which begins on June 10. Will Greenwood poses with the Webb Ellis trophy at the launch of the World Cup fanzones . The 100 day continuous tour of the Webb Ellis Cup will visit Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales and England, and arrive at Twickenham Stadium on September 18 ahead of the opening ceremony prior to the first game, between hosts England and Fiji in Group A. Debbie Jevans, chief executive officer of England Rugby 2015, said: 'The countdown to Rugby World Cup 2015 is on and fans can now really begin to plan their tournament experience, be it through watching the matches, through fanzones, the festival of rugby and the Rugby World Cup trophy tour. The Webb Ellis trophy is on display at the fanzone announcement . A map showing all the fanzone locations around the country . 'Capacities will range from 2,000 to over 10,000 and we would like to thank all of our host cities, local authorities and the Mayor of London for their fantastic support and we look forward to welcoming upwards of one million people to the official fanzones. 'The Rugby World Cup trophy tour will be the perfect opportunity to excite and engage fans across the UK and Ireland and make 2015 feel like the year of the rugby nation. 'Delivering a continuous 100 day tour means we can give as many fans as possible the opportunity to see the Webb Ellis Cup.' Fanzones will be free to enter, open on matchdays and at varying times across the six-week tournament, which concludes with the October 31 final at Twickenham. The trophy tour follows an international tour, which has to date seen the Webb Ellis Cup make 12 of its 15 visits, with Canada, Germany and France to follow before the return to the UK. Over 300 events are to be incorporated in the tour. +This is the remarkable moment staff and passers-by help a woman as she gives birth to a baby girl at a high-speed railway station in China's Henan Province. Liu Qi, who works at the Hebi East Railway Station, was thrust into the role of midwife and rushed to the waiting room with a stretcher upon hearing the news that a woman was about to give birth. Liu said the woman was unable to walk at the time and that he and several other stewards were needed to assist her and her family. The woman went into labour as she waited for a train at Hebi East Railway Station in China . But as they waited for the ambulance to arrive, the baby’s head started to appear and the stewards were required to react immediately. Liu held the woman’s head back and placed her onto the stretcher before the ambulance finally arrived and medics could take over. After cleaning the mother and her newborn, the medics transferred them both to a hospital where they could be checked over properly. Liu Qi, who works at the railway station, was thrust into the role of midwife as the woman gave birth . The baby was born prematurely and admitted to a hospital affiliated with Henan Xinxiang Medical College . The video, captured by CCTV, shows the dramatic moment the woman is rushed from the platform on a stretcher and placed onto the ground before giving birth. As the baby was born prematurely it is currently suffering from jaundice and has been admitted to a hospital affiliated with Henan Xinxiang Medical College. Zhu Shuaichao, the father of the child, thanked Liu for his role in delivering the baby. +An American student has created a Batman-style suit that can withstand assaults from punches, baseball bats and even knifes. Jackson Gordon, an industrial design student from Philadelphia University, constructed the armoured suit with money raised through Kickstarter – a global crowd-funding platform designed to aid creative endeavors. Hoping to raise $1000 to begin the project, Jackson received backing from 17 enthusiasts and raised $1255 – more than enough to begin assembling the suit. Without breaking a sweat: Jackson Gordon holds his hands behind his head as his friend tests the suit with some heavy punches . Made from Kevlar and silicone moulds, the Batsuit weighs in at just under four stone and took the 21-year-old from Wayne, Pennsylvania five months to complete from start to finish. Videoed testing the final product with a friend, Jackson is featured being repeatedly punched in the chest, back and sides while wearing the suit. Despite Jackson flinching slightly under the impact of the punches, the suit is remarkably durable and the young designer even calls for his friend to hit him harder and with both hands. Made from Kevlar and silicone moulds, the Batsuit is able to withstand the heavy punches that repeatedly rain in . The suit weighs in at just under four stone and took the 21-year-old five months to complete from start to finish . Laughing as the blows rain in, Jackson showcases the strength of the soft plates on the side and shoulder area alongside the harder ones, which also hold up well against the impact. Smiling at the camera in admiration for his suit, The student says: ‘I could do this all day. I can’t even feel it.’ This is the second batsuit created by Jackson, who previously made one based on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy a year before. The student recently tested his new suit at Maryland’s Katsucon – an annual three day anime convention – in February, where he invited people to assault him, unsuccessfully of course. The video shows Jackson's friend successfully testing the softer plates on the back and shoulder . Stunned: Jackson happily boasts that he could do this all day after claiming that he did not feel a single punch that was thrown at him . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr continued his preparations for his fight with Manny Pacquiao in May on day two of his official training camp in Las Vegas. The undefeated welterweight champion kept fans updated of his progress with a series of pictures uploaded to social media website Shots. Mayweather, who currently holds the WBC, WBA and Ring titles, shared snaps from within the gym as he was put through a rigorous pad workout by his trainer. Floyd Mayweather is put through his paces on day two of his official training camp in Las Vegas . The undefeated welterweight champion goes through a pad workout with his uncle, Roger Mayweather . Mayweather is preparing for his May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand . Mayweather is given a pep talk by his father Floyd Snr during the second day of training on Tuesday . Mayweather and Pacquiao finally agreed terms on the fight after protracted negotiations . Mayweather will work with his father and uncle and has, according to reports, already booked the services of former opponent DeMarcus Corley as a sparring partner. The $300million bout was finally agreed, after much posturing from both camps, for May 2 at the MGM Grand in Vegas and both fighters have begun their quest for peak physical condition. The pair will come face-to-face next week for the only time before the week of the fight when they hold a press conference in Los Angeles on March 11. Pacquiao takes to the ring in his Los Angeles gym to show off his speed of movemet . Pacquiao is upping the intensity of his training with just two months to go before he faces Mayweather . Former member of The Money Team rapper 50 Cent revealed on Tuesday that he was planning to put a $1m bet on Mayweather winning the fight. Pacquiao started his training camp on the same day as Mayweather and has also been active on social media, posting updates on his preparations. The Filipino star began his regime in trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in LA, which will be completely shut down next week to preserve the secrecy of his game plan. +Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was left smiling at the end of a difficult weekend by watching the club's new Major League Soccer franchise make a sparkling start to life at Yankee Stadium. The sight of Manuel Pellegrini's men crashing at Burnley on Saturday wouldn't have been easy for Al Mubarak to stomach as hopes of retaining the Barclays Premier League title receded. But he was sporting the broadest of smiles after David Villa inspired NYCFC to see off the New England Revolution and ensure a perfect beginning to their temporary stint in the Bronx. David Villa scored New York City's first home goal in MLS against New England Revolution on Sunday . Villa celebrates in front of a mammoth crowd exceeding 43,000 at Yankee Stadium in New York . The Etihad supremo, along with chief executive Ferran Soriano, did the rounds in the locker room after the match and spoke to members of Jason Kreis' squad, thanking them for their efforts. Al Mubarak told Sportsmail: 'I was really pleased how the team played. It was great to see. 'The first game is always going to be tricky. We were at home, New England had got the to the final last season but it was a great performance. Khaldoon Al Mubarak (centre) did not have a good start to the weekend, but was all smiles on Sunday night . A view of Yankee Stadium during the match, as over 43,000 spectators watched NYC's first home game . 'I was particularly pleased with the second half. The crowd were great.' Spanish superstar Villa was the hero, scoring one and making another for former Revs midfielder Patrick Mullins at the death to seal the triumph in front of a crowd which exceeded 43,000. 'It's very simple. We have a very special player named David Villa,' Mullins said. 'We make good runs and he's going to find us. If we put it away, we're going to score a lot of goals this year.' Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio (second right) is presented a shirt by Villa (centre) and Chris Wingert . NYC got off to the perfect start at Yankee Stadium with a 2-0 win over New England Revolution . +Yaya Toure has suggested he may be about to step away from international football, after claiming 'my target is done'. Toure captained his country to this winter's Africa Cup of Nations, their first major trophy in over two decades, and could now follow his brother Kolo in retiring from Ivory coast duty. Toure said he would take a couple of days to decide, but suggested that the Elephants' new generation should be allowed to flourish. Yaya Toure has hinted that he might step down from international duty with the Ivory Coast . Toure was in action during the draw with Equatorial Guinea in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Sunday . 'My future?' he asked, when questioned by the BBC. 'You have to wait. Now, my target is done. We have to wait for a couple of days and see what we can do. 'My brother has retired, and Copa (Barry, the long-standing Ivorian goalkeeper) as well. The time of the youngsters will come soon. We need to let them. 'It's always beautiful when everything is going in the right way. I'm delighted with the trophy of 2015. Now we just want to focus, I will wait a couple of days before we decide my future.' The comments will be good news for Manchseter City, who struggled in Toure's absence during the Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. Toure said 'my target is done' after leading his country to the Africa Cup of Nations last month . The news would be good for Manchester City, who have struggled in Toure's absence . City won just once, drawing twice and losing twice, during their midfielder's time away, exiting the FA Cup and losing ground on Chelsea in the Premier League title race in the process. But with the next World Cup more than three years away, Toure, 31, doesn't see the tournament as a realistic prospect, so is considering his future with the national team. 'I've done what I have to do and for me that's it,' he added. 'To see an African team win a World Cup we have to wait a couple of years again.' +Hein Verbruggen will be asked by the UCI to resign his position as honorary president of cycling's world governing body after an independent report accused him of colluding with Lance Armstrong and other riders to conceal doping offences. The man who stood as UCI president between 1991 and 2005, and remains in a senior position in the organisation as well as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, was accused of being complicit in one of the biggest cover-ups in sporting history in an independent report into cycling's doping past. Here at the UCI headquarters in Aigle today the current president of the organisation, Brian Cookson, said he would be writing to Verbruggen personally to call for him to stand down. Hein Verbruggen is being asked to resign from his position as honorary president of the UCI . Verbruggen (left with Lance Armstrong in March 2003) is alleged to have interfered in doping issues to protect his star riders such as the disgraced former American superstar . Brian Cookson, the current UCI president will write to  Verbuggen personally calling for his resignation . 'I am very concerned by what I have seen in the report and I will be writing to him asking him to consider his position as an honorary president, which was awarded to him by the Congress of the UCI when he retired as president,' said Cookson. 'Not everything Hein did was bad or wrong. He built this organisation into a strong organisation. But clearly, as is shown in report, decisions were made at that time which were about protecting the reputation of the sport rather than the integrity of the sport. 'There were serious errors of judgement and Hein really should consider his position now.' If Verbruggen refuses Cookson said it would then become a matter for the UCI Congress. 'The UCI Congress was the body that awarded him that status and maybe it would be that they reconsider that in September,' he said. Matt Lawton's exclusive scoop on the Armstrong doping scandal, Daily Mail back page from November 18 . Cookson also accepts the CIRC report is right to suggest that doping remains a serious problem for the current professional peloton. 'One of the things it says is that things have improved substantially in terms of doping in cycling,' said Cookson. 'But it does still say that there is room for further improvement. 'I think what they have said is a pretty accurate reflection. But there is some interpretation there. There are a whole range of contributions, some of which have been picked up by the media. For instance, one person said 90 per cent of the peloton is still doping. Others have said the problem is much much less than that. I'd like to think that it is the latter rather than the former. But there will always be people who will cheat.' Reports allege that the UCI acted favourably to Armstrong by not target-testing him despite suspicions . +Two years after his death, a remarkable twist of fate has meant a loving Navy father's message has finally reached his 10-year-old son. Joseph Torrez passed away two years ago, aged 41, after succumbing to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an incurable neurological disorder. The rapidly-progressing terminal illness eats away at the brain - causing dementia, memory loss, anxiety and psychosis - and affects motor skills and physical movements. Rowan Torrez, now 10, received the postcard (pictured) in the mail at the weekend, almost exactly two years after his father's death . Rowan and his father Joseph play together when he was a toddler. The young boy was his father's pride and joy, his mother Julie Van Stone said . Rowan (pictured) said he remembers his father as a 'very good person' Prior to the onset of the deadly disease, he moved away from his son Rowan, 10, to Boston, to gain two Masters degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9News reported. And while studying or travelling home, he sent countless postcards to his only son reminding him how much he missed him. Now, just days away from the two-year anniversary of his death, his son Rowan has received an incredible gift in the mail. It was a postcard, dated June 10, 2007, which read: 'Hello from Pennsylvania. I love you, and I miss you so much. See you soon. Love, Daddy.' It was a touching moment for Rowan, who remembers his father as a 'very good person' and a good father and, as he told the broadcaster, a fitting final goodbye. +David Villa has graced the grandest stages of them all. World Cup and Champions League triumphs sit proudly on a superb CV. His spell at New York City FC may not be on the same level, yet the unbridled joy displayed at creating history with the new Major League Soccer side’s first ever goal on the hallowed turf of Yankee Stadium was there for all to see. It was his presence which attracted a healthy and encouraging 43,507 here. And it was his typically busy display which ultimately was the difference. David Villa fires past Bobby Shuttleworth to score the first goal for New York City FC at Yankee Stadium . The Spaniard finished off a neatly-worked move with Ned Grabavoy to put the hosts on the way to a well-deserved victory . Yankee Stadium played host to a whole new ball game as the MLS expansion franchise won its first game in the Big Apple . A packed Yankee Stadium watches as the two teams battle it out in the second game of the MLS season . New York City: Saunders; Williams (Facey 79), Hernandez, Wingert, Brovsky; Velasquez (Shelton 66), Diskerud, Jacobsen, Grabavoy; Villa, Nemec (Mullins 84). Booked: Wingert, Williams . Goals: Villa 19, Mullins 84 . New England Revolution: Shuttleworth; Alston (Barnes 59), Farrell, Goncalves, Tierney; Kobayashi, Dorman; Rowe, Nguyen (Caldwell 71), Fagundez; Agueldo (Davies 65). Booked: Agueldo, Dorman . Sent off: Goncalves . Attendance: 43,507 . His first goal since moving to the US this summer was a clinically taken strike on 20 minutes and, on another day and without the seemingly impenetrable Bobby Shuttleworth standing in his way, the 33 year-old would have bagged a hatful. Yet he still managed to retain his composure and cross for Patrick Mullins on 84 minutes to nab the killer second and prove the former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker brings much more to the table than just lightning quick reactions in front of goal. Of course, it's not all about one man and, in truth, Manchester City’s newest fledgling entity were decent value after securing their first win against a New England Revolution side who were harshly forced to play with 10 for the last 23 minutes following Jose Goncalves’ straight red card. City have aggressively marketed their brand new adventure in Manhattan, hammering home the fact that they – and not the New Jersey based Red Bulls – are the true team of New York. The numbers swilling around outside before kick-off suggested it had done the trick. Yankee stadium, no matter how resplendent an arena it is, will never be a perfect fit for the beautiful game. Yet NYCFC and their freshly conceived, enthusiastic fanbase did their best to make it feel like home. The makeshift pitch which has already got the baseball players fretting ahead of their season opener in three weeks time, was certainly passable. There was a decent atmosphere though here in the Bronx. The rarest of sightings in this vast country - away fans - played their part too. It was hard to gauge exactly at what stage Jason Kreis’ side were at in the opening day draw with fellow newcomers Orlando City. They are still in an embryonic stage after just a handful of games together. New York City FC celebrate after Patrick Mullins wrapped up the first victory of the MLS season for the team . Villa leaps into the air after scoring the first goal of his MLS career in front of an adoring crowd . Villa shakes hands with New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio as Chris Wingert looks on before the victory at Yankee Stadium . New York City FC fans wait for the start of the game during the inaugural game of the MLS franchise . New England, who were denied the title last season by Robbie Keane’s LA Galaxy, would certainly provide a much clearer yardstick. And so it proved. Villa buzzed around early on, teeing up frontman Adam Nemec who shot straight at Revolution keeper Bobby Shuttleworth before the Spanish was ace was denied on 15 minutes following a typical jinking run into the box. The former Barcelona man was, by far and away, the most potent player on the pitch. And on 19 minutes came his first MLS strike. It was a classic Villa moment. A sweet exchange with Ned Grabavoy opened up the visitor’s backline and as Villa bore down on goal, there was only going to be one outcome. His finish was assured, calm and clinical. When Frank Lampard arrives in the summer, the added quality will ensure City will be hugely competitive. Yet in the land of single entity leagues and the desperation of ensuring level playing fields, weaknesses in other parts of the pitch are harder to plug. The home side’s defence looked particularly creaky with New England knocking on the door with increasing regularity following Villa’s opener. The best chances fell to Juan Agudelo, the first on 36 minutes when a weak flick dribbled the wrong side of the post before he somehow headed straight at Josh Saunders from four yards out. An New York City fan sports a Frank Lampard shirt ahead of the Englishman's arrival in New York at the end of the Premier League season . Fans flock to the stadium in the Bronx to watch New York's latest sporting team compete against the New England Revolution . Fans wait to enter Yankee Stadium for the MLS match between the two teams in the first home game for New York City FC . Three minutes after the re-start , the game should have been dead and buried. Twice Villa was set free, twice he failed to apply the finishing touch. It was fast becoming the Shuttleworth and Villa show - the Revolution keeper brilliantly tipping over a fierce 12 yard volley from the Spanish superstar. The visitors were soon reduced to ten men on 67 minutes after centre-half Jose Goncalves was handed a straight red for hauling down substitute Khiry Shelton. Yes, he was the last man. Yet contact was minimal if that. It was left to that man Villa though to have the final say when he crossed for Mullins to make it two. Villa has wasted no time in making an impact. He is already the big man in the Big Apple. +A man with taste for the unusual has become the newest internet hit in China due his bizarre outfits. Guo Li, who is believed to be around 50-years-old, regularly roams his hometown in Zhengzhou, central China, wearing a brightly coloured bra over a jumper, a pair of tights and women's ankle boots. In a series of pictures covered by the People's Daily, the man has attracted huge public attention ranging from his bizarre appearance to his story behind him. Unusual: Guo Li fills his bras with two dried steamed buns. He told Chinese media that he used to use apples but people stole his apples all the time . 'Bra Brother' is well-known in Zhengzhou in central China. He often goes to parks or does shopping in his signature outfit . Mr Guo is billed by the Chinese as the 'Bra Brother' and is well-known in Zhengzhou for his bizarre appearance. He told one reporter that he only covers the bra up if it is raining or if it's too cold and he needs to wear a coat. It seems that nobody knows why he dresses up like this exactly, but previous posts suggested that he might have been traumatised by a marriage in his early years. Mr Guo declined to go into details of his back story. But he told the reporter that after he was divorced, he has been detained based on allegations of a girlfriend. He said he is a big fan of ballet and has always liked the idea of tights. After he was released he started wearing women's clothes. Despite being detained several times by the local authorities due to his unusual appearance, Mr Guo said he won't give up his freedom of expression . 'I wear what I like, it's my right!' Mr Guo said. Despite being detained several times by the local authorities for his outfit - and on one occasion being dragged off to a mental institution – Mr Guo said he will never give up his right to freedom of expression. Mr Guo's ensemble often also includes a flower in his hair, and a garishly coloured umbrella usually carried regardless of whether or not it is raining. In his bedroom, Mr Guo keeps many classic Chinese literature, including a Chinese historiography . Mr Guo wears bra every day except when it's too cold and he has to wear a big coat . Perhaps in order to make a good imitation, Mr Guo used to stick apples inside the bra but he said people often stole these apples. That's why he has decided to replace apples with dried steamed buns. 'People laugh at me, and point, but it only makes me even more determined to dress like this. 'I just like to do what makes me happy and dressing like this is my main pleasure.' 'Bra Brother' also bring an umbrella every day to complete his look . +Daley Blind says Manchester United's win over Tottenham was a team effort with no single player deserving the plaudits. The 25-year-old shone at left back, while goalscorers Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini were also impressive in the 3-0 win on Sunday. But Blind believes Louis van Gaal's side deserved a 'team of the match' award as recognition of the way they played a whole. Daley Blind (right) impressed at left back for Manchester United during Sunday's 3-0 win over Tottenham . Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney (right) congratulate Marouane Fellaini on scoring the first goal against Spurs . Rooney breaks away from Jan Vertonghen to make it 3-0 to United before half-time at Old Trafford . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . 'In the last few weeks and months, we have been improving and I think we've played good halves before but we were really aggressive for almost 90 minutes. And that's a step [forward] for this team,' Blind told MUTV. 'Everybody was working so hard together and fighting for each other, winning every ball that we could. And we played like a team. 'It was really enjoyable to play. I think maybe there should be a "team of the match" [instead of man of the match].' Blind was also happy that United got back to winning ways after losing to Arsenal in the FA Cup last Monday. He said: 'If it's a cup game, it's very disappointing, but if you lose in the Premier League, you want to win the next game. 'If you look at 90 minutes, it is [our best game of the season].' Blind and his United team-mates congratulate Michael Carrick on scoring the second goal at Old Trafford . +Former US child prodigy Freddy Adu has finally found a new club after signing for Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) - the 11th team of his short career. The 25-year-old was tipped to become one of the world's best players after breaking through as a teenager with DC United, but has struggled to live up to expectations at a succession of clubs ever decreasing in stature. The former USA international recently spent short-lived spells with Bahia in Brazil and Serbian side Jagodina (plus trials with Blackpool, AZ Alkmaar and Norwegian side Stabaek) and even turned to nightclub promoting before penning a one-year-deal with KuPS. Freddy Adu poses with the shirt after signing a one-year deal with Finnish club Kuopion Palloseura . Adu was last spotted hosting a nightclub event at the Shadow Rooms in his hometown of Washington DC . CLICK HERE to ready how Freddy Adu turned to nightclub promoting in his time off . Adu appears to be philosophical about the move after quoting former Prime Minister Winston Churchill on his Twitter account, saying: 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts!' KuPS finished seventh in the 2014 Veikkausliiga and will be hoping that the American can help them challenge the likes of HJK and SJK in the coming season. The modest club have pulled off  a transfer coup by attracting Adu who will join compatriot Stephen McCarthy in the squad. Once labelled as 'the next Pele' during the early stages of his career, the Ghanian-born forward has played just 59 minutes of competitive football since the end of the 2012 MLS season. Adu made his breakthrough after signing for MLS side DC United as a 14-year-old . Former US star remains the only player to have scored hat-tricks at the U-17 World Championships . Year                     Club                App    Goals . 2004–2006      D.C. United           87       (24) 2007                Real Salt Lake      11        (1) 2007–2011      Benfica                 11        (2) 2008–2009 → AS Monaco (loan)  9         (0) 2009 → Belenenses (loan)            3         (0) 2010 → Aris (loan)                        5         (1) 2011 → Çaykur Rizespor (loan)   11        (3) 2011–2013 Philadelphia Union    35        (7) 2013                Bahia                     2         (0) 2014                Jagodina                0         (0) 2015                Kuopion Palloseura... In 2006 he moved to Real Salt Lake, before Portuguese giants Benfica signed him a year later. He dabbled in Ligue 1 after failing to hold down a first-team spot in Lisbon, joining Monaco on loan for the 2008-09 season. The next season he was back in Portugal with Belenenses, before he moved to Greek side Aris in January 2010. Thirteen months after that he joined Turkey's Caykur Rizespor, but that spell was short-lived and he returned to the US half a year later. Adu finally appeared to be settled after spending two years at MLS side Philadelphia Union, only to suddenly join Bahia in April 2013. He was released by Bahia in November and had trials with Blackpool in February and in June former US boss Bob Bradley offered him a chance at Norwegian side Stabaek. Adu failed to impress Bradley enough to secure a long-term deal, which led to a trial with Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar before his move to Serbia. The 25-year-old is now at his 11th club, having played for sides including Monaco and Benfica (above) The US prodigy posted an image of his time with FK Jagodina where he failed to make a single appearance . +It was the match Martin O’Neill needed to win to convince the many doubters that this qualifying campaign is not destined to end in failure. For regardless of substitute Shane Long’s stoppage-time equaliser amid a frenzied finish, it was a performance and result which again raises more questions than answers. O’Neill will protest that the second-half display was better – it could not have been worse than their sorry first-half showing – but this was supposed to be the making of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, a venue which is yet to produce any iconic nights for the boys in green. Substitute Shane Long celebrates his 90th-minute strike which secured a crucial draw for the Republic of Ireland in Dublin . Slawomir Peszko pounces on a mistake from Republic of Ireland left back Robbie Brady to score the opener in Dublin . Peszko races away to celebrate after his powerful left footed strike put Poland ahead in the 26th-minute . The Poland forward is mobbed by his team-mates following his crucial goal at the Aviva Stadium . The celebrations continue on the sideline following Peszko's first-half strike . Ireland (4-4-1-1): Given 5; Coleman 6, O'Shea 5.5, Wilson 6, Brady 4; Walters 5.5, Whelan 6 (Long 83), McCarthy 6, McGeady 5 (McClean 67, 5) Hoolahan 6; Keane 5.5 . Scorers: Long 90 . Bookings: Hoolahan, O’Shea, Coleman, Wilson, McCarthy . Poland (4-4-2): Fabianski 6; Olkowski 6.5, Glik 6, Szukała 6, Wawrzyniak 6; Peszko 7.5 (Kucharczyk 87), Krychowiak 6.5, Jodlowiec 7, Rybus 7; Milik 6 (Mila 83), Lewandowski 6 . Scorers: Peszko 26 . Bookings: Glik, Szukala, Peszko . Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Swe) Man of the match: Peszko . The Group D standings following Sunday night's draw in Dublin . But therein lay part of the problem, for those in green were outnumbered by the partisan Poles, who celebrated Slawomir Peszko’s first-half opener by firing scores of fluorescent red flares. Thanks to Long’s late intervention, however, Ireland’s hopes of automatic qualification have not gone up in smoke, for now at least. But scrutiny of O’Neill and Roy Keane’s expensive tenure will intensify. They trail table toppers Poland by three points with world champions Germany and Scotland two ahead. It is, you feel, now a shoot-out between Ireland and the Scots – who meet here in June – for the third-placed play-off berth. ‘Scotland now is very, very important. I think we will have to beat them. If the second-half showing is anything to go by then I think we’re capable of doing that,’ said O’Neill. ‘This might just prove an important point. We are still in the competition.’ Poland's Tomasz Jodlowiec tackles Republic of Ireland and Stoke City forward Jonathan Walters in the early stages of the contest . Republic of Ireland defender Marc Wilson (left) clashes with Poland's Maciej Rybus . Wes Hoolahan (left) and Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak speak to referee Jonas Eriksson . O’Neill admitted before the game that defeat would have ended their hopes of finishing in the top two places. Long’s last-gasp effort at least spared the manager that trauma, but his celebration of a ‘terrific’ second half which perhaps deserved more was misplaced. ‘We started off tentatively. We were a little bit nervous. We conceded a poor goal and that put us on the back foot,’ he reflected. ‘But our second-half performance was terrific. We deserved at least a draw and we could easily have won it. We bossed it. ‘We got the momentum going and the crowd stayed with us. So overall I’m pleased. ‘Whatever we may lack, courage and spirit are not among them. It’s no fluke we’ve scored late goals in three games.’ Veteran Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane (left) takes on Poland defender Kamil Glik . Poland fans light flares in the stands during their side's clash with the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin . O’Neill had named an attacking line-up – at least in terms of personnel – but a 4-4-1-1 system did little to inspire an early offensive zeal. His decision to play winger Robbie Brady at left back was already looking like an error of judgment before the mistake which led to Poland’s breakthrough on 26 minutes. Surrendering possession on the fringe of his area, Brady could only watch in horror as Maciej Rybus and Peszko combined with the latter smashing beyond Shay Given. O’Neill’s response to an uninspiring half was to switch to 4-4-2 with Jonathan Walters – wasted on the right-hand side of midfield – moved forward to partner captain Robbie Keane. Republic of Ireland assistant coach Roy Keane watches on during his side's Euro 2016 qualifier clash in Dublin . Republic of Ireland and Everton right back Seamus Coleman (left) shields the ball from Jakub Wawrzyniak . Republic of Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan takes a big tumble after he collided with Arkadiusz Milik . They would have been level but for the width of a post when Brady’s deflected centre spiralled above and beyond a panicked Lukasz Fabianski and cracked the woodwork on 52 minutes. But it was the introduction of substitute James McClean which sparked the revival. He burst down the left within moments of his arrival and landed a cross on the head of Keane whose cushioned nod bounced back off the post. McClean was again the provider for Seamus Coleman but the right back lashed woefully wide from 14 yards as the hosts poured forward in search of parity. And they had to wait until the second minute of injury-time for Long to pounce with a close-range poke when the ball dropped at his feet from Brady’s corner. The goal may have stolen a point, but O’Neill and his team still have a point to prove. +Assuming Northern Ireland don’t now stumble on the road to France, they will owe a big debt of thanks to their big No 10 for firing his country to a major championships for the first time in 30 years. Not since the 1986 World Cup have the Northern Irish graced a big stage. Indeed, they have never qualified for the finals of the European Championships. But after Kyle Lafferty scored twice against Finland at Windsor Park to take his total in qualifying to five goals in five games, Michael O’Neill’s side will never have a better chance as they remain one point behind leaders Romania following their fourth win of the campaign. Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty celebrates after scoring against Group F rivals Finland at Windsor Park . Lafferty scores past Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to open the scoring at Windsor Park in Belfast . The Northern Ireland striker leaped above Finland's defence to double the scoreline just five minutes after his opener . NORTHERN IRELAND (4-1-4-1): Carroll 6; McLaughlin 7, McAuley 6.5, J Evans 6.5, Brunt 6; Baird 6; Ward 7, Davis 6.5 (C Evans 46, 6), Norwood 6, McGinn 6.5 (Dallas 64, 6); K Lafferty 8 (Magennis 79). Subs not used: D Lafferty, Mckay, Mannus, McCourt, McNair, Hughes, McCullough, Grigg, McGovern . Goals: Lafferty 33, 38 . Booked: Baird, Brunt . FINLAND (4-3-2-1): Hradecky 5.5; Sorsa 6, Toivio 4.5 (Arajuuri 46, 6), Moisander 5, Uronen 6; Ring 6, Mattila 6.5, Sparv 6; Hamalainen 5.5 (Pohjanpalo 42, 6.5), A Eremenko 5.5; Pukki 6.5 (Sadik 70, 7). Subs not used: Maenpaa, Moren, Schuller, Lod, Riski, Raitala, Lam, Kauko . Goal: Sadik 90 . Booked: Pohjanpalo, Arajuuri . Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland) Attendance: 10,264 . Star man: Kyle Lafferty . Northern Ireland remain just one point behind Group F leaders Romania . The two countries meet here in June when Northern Ireland will have a great opportunity to go top. Even if it all goes wrong, this result puts them eight points clear of fourth-placed Finland and almost guaranteed of at least a playoff place. ‘We’re in a really strong position, there’s no doubt about that,’ said O’Neill. ‘Will 18 points be enough? Possibly. But Belfast in June is as far as we’re looking ahead.’ Finland simply couldn’t handle Lafferty, the 6ft 4in striker on loan to Turkish club Caykur Rizespor from Norwich after a frustrating spell at Carrow Road, who made life as difficult for them as possible in the blustery conditions. He had already caused central defenders Joona Toivio and Niklas Moisander plenty of problems before putting Northern Ireland in command with two classy finishes in the space of six minutes. The first goal came from a freekick after Lafferty was fouled by an exasperated Moisander in the 33rd minute. Finland cleared Oliver Norwood’s inswinging free-kick but Niall McGinn nodded the ball back to Lafferty 15 yards from goal and he showed fantastic technique to turn and volley it beyond goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and into the far corner. Ireland looked most dangerous down their right-hand side and when Jamie Ward and Conor McLaughlin combined once again in the 38th minute, Lafferty met Conor McLaughlin’s pin-point cross with a glancing header into the bottom corner. Lafferty celebrates with his Northern Ireland team-mates during his side's 2-1 Euro 2016 qualifier against Finland . Premier League stars such as Jonny Evans (centre left on back row) and Chris Brunt (centre right on back row) started for Northern Ireland . It was no surprise to see Toivio hooked at half-time in favour of the more muscular Paulus Arajuuri – ‘a tactical substitution,’ was the curt response from Finland boss Mixu Paatelainen afterwards – or Lafferty receive a standing ovation when he was replaced by Josh Magennis 11 minutes from time. He is now second only to David Healy in the list of Ireland’s all-time leading goalscorers. ‘Kyle was outstanding again and he scored two fantastic goals,’ added O’Neill. ‘He’s going on the pitch believing he’s capable of scoring every time he plays. ‘It’s a little bit like the David Healy situation where things at club level aren’t going as well as he would like. But he’s showing what he’s capable of against top-class European defenders.’ Finland substitute Berat Sadik pulled a goal back in the first of three minutes of added time to set up an unnecessarily nervy finish, but Ireland held on and the celebrations told their own story. France is in sight. Lafferty (right) battles for the ball with Finland's Niklas Moisander during the Group F qualifier at Windsor Park . Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis makes a sliding challenge in an attempt to stop Teemu Pukki . Davis runs with the ball as Roman Eremenko (right) applies pressure in order to win back possession for his side . Northern Ireland defender Chris Baird sees his header disallowed during the Euro 2016 Group F qualifier . Lafferty collects his man of the match prize after hitting a brace against Finland to ensure his side claimed three crucial points . Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill greets fans before the Euro 2016 qualifier against Finland . Two 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy' banners are displayed in opposition to Northern Ireland's first ever home match on a Sunday . A man hands out religious tracts against the backdrop of a George Best mural on Sunday ahead of Northern Ireland's eventual 2-1 victory . +A man in California has proposed to his girlfriend with the help of a drone. Kevin Dilliard, 27, took Courtney Weigand, 25, to Sunset Cliffs in San Diego on Friday afternoon because he said he wanted to show her his drone in action. Standing on the cliffs at about 3:30 p.m. he handed his now-fianceé first-person view goggles to see what his GoPro camera - attached to a quadcopter drone - was filming some 150 feet above the beach. Scroll down for video . When Courtney put on the goggles, the drone was hovering over boyfriend Kevin's proposal which he had written in the sand. It read: 'Court will you marry me?' Kevin Dilliard, 27, took Courtney Weigand, 25, to Sunset Cliffs in San Diego on Friday afternoon and surprised her with his proposal written . When she put on the goggles, the drone was hovering over Kevin's proposal which he had written in the sand. It read: 'Court will you marry me?' When Courtney took off the goggles Kevin – her boyfriend of seven years - had dropped to one knee and was holding an engagement ring. Courtney said yes and a relieved Kevin says the elaborate proposal was well worth the two weeks he spent organizing it, reports FOX5. Courtney took off the goggles and Kevin – her boyfriend of seven years - had dropped to one knee while holding an engagement ring . Courtney said yes and a relieved Kevin says the elaborate proposal was well worth the two weeks he spent organizing it . +A new app has been developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that will enable users to skip the long lines at passport control when they return from traveling abroad. The Mobile Passport app for iOS and Android devices allows travelers to enter and submit their passport and customs declaration information using their smartphone or tablet instead of filling out traditional paper forms. On Tuesday Miami International Airport became the second airport in the country to offer the new customs mobile app after an earlier successful trial at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Scroll down for video . The Mobile Passport app for iOS and Android devices will allow travelers to enter and submit their passport and customs declaration information using their smartphone or tablet . The free Mobile Passport app is free to download and is currently available to U.S. citizens with a valid U.S. passport and Canadian citizens with both a valid Canadian passport and B1 or B2 visa status . The free Mobile Passport app is free to download and is currently available to U.S. citizens with a valid U.S. passport and Canadian citizens with both a valid Canadian passport and B1 or B2 visa status. After downloading the app, qualified travelers are prompted to set up a profile using information contained in their passport. The app also allows families traveling together to create multiple profiles. Once the profile is complete, travelers can use Mobile Passport to answer standard customs declaration questions, submit their information electronically upon landing, and take advantage of dedicated lanes for Mobile Passport users. 'We're embracing every technology tool available to make sure our passenger experience is as good as it gets,' said Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. González. 'MIA is the perfect fit for Mobile Passport: we are America's second-busiest port of entry, handling more than 20 million international passengers each year, and our organization is wholeheartedly committed to bringing the latest travel technology to our airport,' Gonzalez said in a statement when the app first rolled out. The new app has been developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and will enable users to skip the long lines at passport control when they return from traveling abroad . +A news anchor in St Louis looked less than impressed on Monday after her colleagues played a practical joke on her. A video of April Simpson being compared to The Hamburglar by a co-host became an internet sensation last week after comedian Kevin Hart shared it on Facebook. The hilarious video, which showed April throwing colleague Tim Ezell some serious shade, was liked more than 70,000 times and shared over 30,000 times. Scroll down for video . St Louis news anchor April Simpson looked less than impressed on Monday when her colleagues surprised her live on air with a visit from the McDonald's mascot she had been compared to . The joke goes back to a stripey top that Simpson had worn in a 2013 newscast when he co-host had jokingly called her The Hamburglar . A video of the clip has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube and made into countless memes. In the clip, which fired aired in February 2013, Ezell called Simpson as The Hamburglar because of her black and white stripey top. The recent success of the video, which was also discussed on The Talk, inspired Simpson's colleagues at FOX 2 News to have the McDonald's mascot pay her a visit live on air on Monday's 9AM show. Once again Simpson looked less than impressed when she was approached by The Hamburglar as a colleague explained the set-up. 'This is not funny. I'm just letting you all know,' said Simpson as her colleagues laughed and giggled. Later she seemed to soften her stance when she retweeted stories about the video and wrote: 'I don't look amused but I really was.' The joke became an internet sensation after Kevin Hart shared the original clip on Facebook and countless memes soon appeared online . +To most eyes she was just a little girl doing no harm to anyone as she made her way to school with her father. But to the local police, Sophie Lindley was a law-breaking menace... because she was riding her bicycle on the pavement. An officer stopped the four-year-old and threatened to confiscate the purple bike, which is fitted with stabilisers, if she did not get off and walk. Scroll down for video . Left in tears: Sophie Lindley had been cycling with stabilisers on the way to school in Grantham, Lincolnshire . 'Daft': The girl's father Dale Lindley (pictured) had to carry his daughter, who was now in tears, and her bike . Sophie, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, was wearing a helmet and her father Dale was holding a lead attached to the bicycle as she rode to school. They had paused to feed the ducks when the policeman warned her it was against the law to ride on the pavement. Former soldier Mr Lindley, 34, said: ‘At first I thought he was joking but he looked deadly serious. ‘I said, “You must be kidding. What do you want me to do, make her ride on the busy road? It’s rush hour.” ‘He just shrugged and said, “She must get off the bike and walk and I’m going to sit here and make sure you don’t put her back on it. If you do, I’ll confiscate the bike.” I was gobsmacked.’ The officer kept watch as they began the one-mile walk uphill to West Grantham Academy St John’s school. When Sophie arrived at school she was in floods of tears, Mr Lindley said. Traumatic experience: By the time Sophie was in school, 'she was so upset a teacher had to calm her down' ‘The poor thing thought she was going to be put in jail. I’m absolutely outraged that a policeman can act in this way. Surely the police have better things to do than pick on parents taking their kids to school?’ Sophie’s mother Emma Stephenson, 33, said: ‘When Dale came home and told me what had happened I couldn’t believe it. ‘How on earth is my daughter riding her little bike with stabilisers to school a criminal offence? Surely there needs to be some common sense applied. ‘You can’t expect a four-year-old to ride in the road – it’s not exactly safe. ‘I am trying to teach her that they [the police] are friendly. Now that has all gone out the window.’ Lincolnshire Police have now apologised to the family, admitting that common sense should have prevailed, but Sophie’s parents are considering making a formal complaint so no other child is treated in the same way. 'Absolutely outraged': Mr Lindley (left) said his daughter Sophie 'thought she was going to be put in jail' 'Unbelievable': Sophie's mother Emma Stephenson (above) accepted it was illegal to ride on the pavement, but added that it was 'ridiculous to think a four-year-old is not allowed . Cycling groups criticised the officer’s actions. Roger Geffen of CTC, the national cycling charity, said: ‘Everyone lets their children ride on the pavement. It is perfectly normal and not criminal.’ A CTC spokesman said: ‘A four-year-old child should be encouraged to cycle and not be deterred. It is good exercise and gives them a sense of independence. Police officers should use their discretion – this child wasn’t causing any danger or distress.’ Cyclists are told in section 64 of the Highway Code that 'you must not cycle on a pavement' - which is backed up in law by section 72 of the Highway Act 1835. The penalty for cycling on the pavement is a fixed penalty notice of £30 under section 51 and schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. However, children under 10 cannot be charged with committing a crime, although they can be given a local child curfew - an overnight ban from being in public without an adult. Last year cycling minister Robert Goodwill told police that cyclists should not be fined for mounting the pavement to avoid dangerous stretches of road. He urged police to remember official guidelines from 1999 which state that fines are not aimed at those using pavements out of ‘fear of traffic’, provided they show consideration for pedestrians. +MH370 man: The sister of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah has defended her brother in a statement . The sister of the MH370 pilot has urged everyone to stop blaming her brother for the aircraft’s disappearance ahead of the anniversary of the tragedy this week. Sakinah Shah has released a statement in defence of her brother, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who headed the crew on the missing jet, where she claims there is no proof of 'wrongdoing'. Her statement comes as Malaysia’s Transport Minister has admitted that if the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is not found by May search efforts will go ‘back to the drawing board’. Ms Sakinab's statement on behalf of the family was released through The Star in Malaysia, just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of MH370 on Sunday. ‘As things stand today, with no tangible evidence to show no-one, be you politician, scientist, aviation expert, plane crash investigator, pilot, retired pilot, media or whoever else, none of you have the right to blame Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah for any wrongdoing.’ Ms Sakinab recalled how on March 8 2014 her life and the lives of all the families and friends of passengers an crew of the aircraft changed for ever. She recalled how at the time of the ‘tragic occurrence of MH370’ her brother, a father-of-three, was 53 years old and married to his childhood sweetheart Faizah Khanum. Ms Sakinab described her brother as a 'doting father, generous, kind and cool with a warm sense of humour. He had a passion for life, for family and above all for flying. ‘I wasn't kidding when I said that if he could he would have attached wings to himself. He had as much as a man could possibly want in his life; a professional career, family, friends, health and a more than comfortable life. ‘He was very open-minded, coming from a family with a pretty wide range of nationalities through intermarriages. He got on extremely well with family members. The younger ones simply adored him... their Uncle Ari. ‘He was very savvy at DIY. He could fix anything; garden fixtures, floor tiles, old doors, etc. My home and the homes of my sisters and brothers are not short of the things that remind us of him every day; framed pictures, leaking windows now repaired, a fish pond levelled up and nicely tiled, a new TV installed... I could go on and on. 'Back to the drawing board': Malaysia’s Transport Minister Seri Liow Tiong Lai has said that the search area would be extended if the missing MH370 jet is not found by May . Missing: This Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370 . Still lost: The Boeing 777-200 Malaysia Airlines plane was carrying 227 passengers and a crew of 12 when it suddenly disappeared off the radar on March 8, 2014 . ‘The rollercoaster ride since March 2014 has never really stopped, except perhaps momentarily. I want the world to know here is a loving man who will stop at nothing to render help when it is needed. ‘His presence during every family function never failed to light up the occasions. He was always sought after by sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews alike… a man of integrity. He was a generous brother and uncle who often came bearing gifts from his overseas trips. 'Ari was a simple village boy of humble beginnings but had high ambitions of becoming a commercial pilot. 'With the current chatter about MH370 involving big name media organisations like National Geographic, I feel compelled to divulge some information about Captain Zaharie's scholastic ‘prowess’ and academic achievements. ‘I am doing this with some regret knowing that he would not be too happy at this disclosure. Throughout his secondary schooling he was by no means a student genius. In fact he was just an average student. Such being the situation, he certainly didn't have the right foundation to be able to figure out a scheme to hijack his own plane and then to disappear into thin air without leaving a trace. ‘Without a doubt he had a strong sense for loyalty towards Malaysia Airlines (MAS). His aviation training in the Philippines was sponsored by MAS. It was there he served as a pilot and later as a training captain. He had an unblemished flying record of eighteen thousand plus hours, I am proud to say. It is sheer dedication to this profession that prompted him to set up his own home flight simulator just to equip himself in order to give a better teaching experience to his students, all at his own expense. ‘As a training captain he often expressed joy and satisfaction with the camaraderie he shared with all his students. Following March 8th 2014, we received feedback from many of these students, both locally and internationally, all in praise of his accommodating ways and generosity at sharing his knowledge. ‘I know for certain Zaharie opted to remain loyal to MAS despite a few challenging offers from other airlines that came his way. It was his love for family that made him want to remain with MAS until his retirement. ‘When the devastating news of MH370 was broadcast, like everybody else, we were also in a state of shock and disbelief. ‘The last time we met with Zaharie was some two weeks prior to March 8th when we were together for dinner. He was no different from his normal, usual self. He was loud, jovial, and full of chuckles with his share of jokes. ‘We continue to pray and hope that this bizarre mystery will unravel soon. We stand firm in the belief that no matter how long the night, dawn will still break.' Ms Sakinab's statement was released as Malaysia’s Transport Minister Seri Liow Tiong Lai suggested that the search area would be extended if MH370 is not found by May. This means that once again, the search will be carried out from the southern Indian Ocean to the Himalayan Mountains, as far west as the Maldives and as far east - and beyond - as the South China Sea. Mr Liow’s admission is unlikely to provide any comfort to the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew who were on the Boeing 777 when it vanished on March 8 last year about an hour into a six-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Search efforts: Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this week that the search for MH370 off the coast of Australia might have to be scaled back after the year-long-search . He told the New Straits Times that any decision to re-strategise the search - or look again at the methods employed - would only be done if the current scouring of the ocean floor in the southern Indian Ocean did not find the aircraft’s wreckage. ‘It is important to continue the search and hopefully we can complete it by then,’ he said in a reference to May. ‘If the plane is not found we will have to evaluate the figures and rely on the experts to guide us on what to do next. ‘We are confident that the plane is situated in the identified search area in the south Indian Ocean and we are looking forward to finding it,’ said Mr Liow, speaking in Kuala Lumpur. He was responding to a comment by Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, who said this week that the search and recovery effort might have to be scaled back after the year-long-search. ‘There is no discussion on the issue to stop the search,’ said Mr Liow. ‘This is because as far as we are concerned, it is a tripartite decision (between Australia, Malaysia and China) that has made a commitment to complete the search in the 60,000 square kilometers. Therefore it has to continue.’ Australian search director, Paul Kennedy, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation today that ‘we’re scanning continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 'They’re out there for six weeks at a time. And as we search the ground, we analyse the data and we’re just looking everywhere for the plane. Eventually, we’ll find it.’ Mr Kennedy admitted that the search team had a ‘massive responsibility’ to give closure to the families and everybody else who flies on an aircraft. Theories of where the Malaysia Airlines aircraft ended up have covered numerous seas and countries, the reasons for the plane’s disappearance ranging from the credible to the crazy. Despite the massive search currently taking place in the southern Indian Ocean and requests for coastal villagers to keep their eyes open for debris that might have washed up on beaches, not a single piece of evidence from the aircraft has been found. +Bill Cosby has released his first video message since nearly three dozen women accused him of sexual assault and has insisted: 'I'm far from finished.' In the 10-second video, which ABC News showed on Monday morning, the embattled comedian can be seen speaking on the phone as he encourages someone to come to one of his shows. 'You know I'll be hilarious,' he says in the clip, in which he wears his pajamas. 'Can't wait.' He also released a short message accompanying the video. 'Dear Fans, I hope you enjoy my wonderful video message that's filled with LAUGHTER,' he said in the statement, shared by ABC News. 'Hey hey hey, I'm Far From Finished.' Scroll down for video . Speaking out: Bill Cosby has released a 10-second clip showing him speaking on the phone and encouraging someone to come to his show, saying: 'You'll know I'll be hilarious' The statement echoes earlier messages that he has released to the public. He made no direct reference to the accusations or the scores of women making them, but the 77-year-old comedian has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. It comes as Cosby continues to tour the U.S. with his stand-up comedy show. His next appearances are in Wheeling, West Virginia and Lexington, Kentucky this weekend. Although the shows have continued to attract fans, they have also garnered protesters. Among the demonstrations, 100 people stood outside a Denver theater in January shouting: 'Rape is no joke!' Cosby has also canceled or postponed more than a dozen performances amid the allegations, many of which exceed the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution. Just last week, Jennifer K. 'Kaya' Thompson joined the 35 other women who have made claims of sexual assault against the The Cosby Show star to say she had also been assaulted by him. She says the beloved actor pressured her into performing a sexual act on him when she was a 17-year-old aspiring model in 1988. She had met him through her New York modeling agency. When Ms Thompson's story was originally revealed in November 2014, Cosby's lawyer Marty Singer called it 'absurd' to publish an 'unsubstantiated story from this anonymous person'. Promotion: Cosby, pictured on stage in Florida last November, promoted his live shows in the video . Speaking out: Last week, Jewell Allison, pictured left with Cosby and right today, wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post how she felt pressure as an African-American not to tell anyone about the abuse . And in an op-ed published on Friday, former model Jewel Allison detailed how Cosby invited her to dinner and slipped something into her wine, before grabbing her hand and putting it on his genitals. As an African-American woman she said she felt pressure not to speak out, she said. 'Telling my story wouldn't only help bring down Cosby; I feared it would undermine the entire African American community,' she wrote. Last month, Cosby's lawyers asked a federal judge to toss out a defamation lawsuit filed by three women - Tamara Green, Therese Serignese and Linda Traitz - accusing him of sexual offenses. Tamara Green, a 56-year-old California lawyer, says Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in her Los Angeles-area apartment in the early 1970s. Therese Serignese says Cosby drugged and raped her in a dressing room after a show in Las Vegas around 1976, while Linda Traitz alleges he tried to drug her and then groped her on a Southern California beach in about 1970. The former star of The Cosby Show hasn't been charged with any crime. In their defamation lawsuit, the accusers, all of whom have stepped forward in recent years to detail the alleged abuse, said Cosby's representatives publicly branded them as liars while trying to defend his innocence. Support: Cosby's wife Camille, pictured in November, is standing by her man amid the multiple accusations . But Cosby's lawyers said the actor was merely acting in self-defense as his character was under attack. 'The law does not require that one stand idly by while he is publicly attacked,' the lawyers argued in their 38-page filing. 'Instead the law entitles an individual who is accused of serious wrongdoing to rebut the allegations without facing defamation claims.' Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer for the three accusers, said his clients disagree with that position. 'We believe that the law provides that when you make a public statement about an individual, it must be truthful,' he said. 'We look forward to an opportunity to have the truth tried by a jury who can ultimately determine which of the parties was being truthful.' Lawyers for the three accusers have until March 20 to file a reply to Cosby's motion to dismiss the suit. +From suggestive remarks to wandering hands, Britain’s offices have long been home to the occasional oversexed boss. These days, however, there is one big difference – the manager ogling junior staff may well be a she. And instead of harassing their female co-workers, men appear more likely than ever to be the ones being fondled or wolf-whistled at. Power: Judi James claimed women bosses are now more likely than men to flout workplace etiquette - an issue famously portrayed by Demi Moore in the 1994 erotic thriller Disclosure . Experts say the trend is being fuelled by the growing number of women in positions of power – some of whom feel it is ‘payback time’. The issue was famously portrayed in 1994 erotic thriller Disclosure, in which Demi Moore plays a sex-hungry boss who pursues her male colleague, played by Michael Douglas – then sues him for harassment when he turns her down. Yesterday, communication and body language specialist Judi James claimed women bosses are now more likely than men to flout workplace etiquette. She added that the thrill of being in charge affects their behaviour, with some viewing it as revenge for years of sexual inequality in the workplace. Others think nothing of touching a colleague’s bottom, she said, and believe male co-workers should be glad of the attention. Pests: The issue has more recently been shown in the Horrible Bosses films - and is apparently on the increase, according to Miss James, who advised firms on office behaviour . Miss James, who advises firms on office behaviour, added: ‘If I go into a company and someone’s bum’s being mentioned, or pinched, or there’s noises or looks as they walk past, I’d say these days it’s more likely to be a woman boss.’ Horrible Bosses 2 is out on Blu-ray and DVD now. +A college basketball star who was found dead in her dorm room in January died from a blood cell disorder, not from choking on gum in her sleep, as police first believed. The Washington County coroner announced Shanice Clark's cause of death on Monday, nearly two months after the 21-year-old was found inside her room at California University of Pennsylvania. She was found unresponsive at 3.03am on January 18. She was rushed to Monongahela Valley Hospital but she could not be revived and was pronounced dead at 4.10am. California borough police said that a preliminary report from medical personnel indicated the death appeared to be accidental and there were suggestions she had choked on gum. Tragedy: Shanice Clark, 21, was found unresponsive in her dorm room at California University of Pennsylvania, where she played basketball, in January. She passed away from a blood cell disorder . But Coroner Tim Warco blamed it on sickle cell trait, a blood cell disorder that often does not have any symptoms but can lead to sudden death in extremely rare cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. University officials said they were 'deeply saddened' by the death of the 6-foot senior forward, who had played two dozen games for the Vulcans last season. Athletic director Karen Hjerpe called Clark 'a bright student and talented player' and said 'her smile and personality will be missed'. Clark, a communications major, had hoped to become a broadcaster and chose the school because of its good facilities after transferring from Santa Fe College in Florida. But friend Cleveland Clunis told the Toronto Star that she would often joke that she had gone to the university for a different reason. Talented: The 6-foot senior forward, from Canada, had played two dozen games for the Vulcans last season . Loss: Clark, who was from Toronto, was a communications major at the California University of Pennsylvania, pictured, and had dreamed of becoming a broadcaster, devastated friends and family said . 'For Shanice, it was, "There's a good hairstylist",' said Clunis, the founder of a non-profit basketball program she had attended. 'When she shares that with you, you can't help but laugh.' He said that this sense of humor had made her popular among students and staff. 'She could start a conversation with you from morning and still have you laughing and interested till sundown,' he said. Geraldine M. Jones, interim university president, said in a statement after her death: 'Our thoughts today are with the family of Shanice Clark, a senior from Ontario, Canada, who passed away early this morning. 'On behalf of California University of Pennsylvania, I extend my deepest sympathy to all of Shanice's family and friends. She will be missed by her teammates and coaches, her classmates, and by the entire campus community.' Clark left behind her mother, Kashaeka Fearon, and a younger sister. Sickle cell trait means someone is carrying a gene for a serious condition called sickle cell disease, which can cause red blood cells to change their shapes, potentially causing pain and infections. If someone has sickle cell trait, it does not mean they have sickle cell disease. Instead, they are a carrier of the trait and can pass it on to their children. If they were to have children with someone else carrying the trait, that child has a 25 per cent chance of being born with sickle cell disease. People with sickle cell trait have red blood cells with abnormal hemoglobin (a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs and returns carbon dioxide from tissues back to the lungs) but they have enough normal hemoglobin for red cells to successfully carry oxygen around the body. While it is extremely rare for sickle cell trait to cause any complications, there can be problems in conditions of severe physical stress, including low oxygen conditions, severe dehydration, severe physical exercise or very high altitude. In these situations, cells can change their shapes, causing pain and further complications. Sickle cell trait, which is more commonly found in African-Americans than other races, is diagnosed with a simple blood test. Couples planning to have children may want to find out if they have the trait to see if their kids might inherit sickle cell disease. +A schoolgirl in Scotland who roped her schoolmates and teachers into performing in their own version of global hit Uptown Funk has seen her video go viral across the internet. In just a few days, the video, entitled Belmont Academy Does Uptown Funk, filmed by Jen Ross, Deputy Head Girl at Belmot Academy, has attracted more than 75,000 views on YouTube. The footage shows a bored classroom suddenly breaking out into singing and dancing before their infectious rhythm spreads to other parts of the Ayrshire school. Scroll down to watch the video . The video 'Belmont Academy does Uptown Funk' shows pupils throwing their work in the air in favour of singing along to the Mark Ronson hit. The YouTube video has had more than 75,000 views . Brushing away that dirt! Staff at the Scottish school break out their best moves while dancing in the corridors . A director in the making? Deputy Head Girl Jen Ross was behind the project...and managed to persuade her teachers to boogie on down . Teachers leave classrooms to join in with the routines with one group of female staff seen 'brushing dirt from their shoulders', which is one of the key moves in the original video for the Bruno Mars/Mark Ronson song. Jen, who regularly posts her own videos onto YouTube and who has a seat on the Senior Student Council, asked teachers if they'd get involved with her idea. She told FEMAIL: 'Although some of the teachers were a bit worried about how they would come across, they all got involved and it was great to see everyone having such a good time. 'I hope the video shows what a great school we have at Belmont and how good the bond is between teachers and pupils. She added: 'Lots of other schools have made their own fun versions of pop music videos and I just thought it was Belmont's turn. I chose Uptown Funk as it's a fun song that everyone knows.' Although the five-minute video shows plenty of talented moves from the youngsters, some of the teachers might be wondering how their two left feet ended up on camera. Bring on the props: The Belmont Academy pupils get creative for their star turn . Don't believe me, just watch: Headteacher Susan Beattie leads members of her staff as part of the routine . Graeme McLean, Deputy Head Teacher said: 'Jen knew exactly what she wanted to do with this video and she's done a fantastic job. 'The whole school was delighted to get behind the project and it really shows the great pupil-teacher relationships we have – as well as some clearly talented dancers!' Miss Ross used a friend, Catriona Hill, to help her with choreography. Belmont Academy is the sixth largest school in Scotland with more than 1300 pupils attending. +At last, Jimmy Greaves has made it into Tottenham Hotspur’s Hall of Fame. It only took 11 years and 41 others - including Steffen Freund and Paul Allen - to come before the club’s greatest ever goalscorer, with 266 goals in 379 appearances, was rewarded. Depending who you speak to, the long wait is down to Greaves declining the offers, or the club not forthcoming with them. Jimmy Greaves (left) is the highest ever scorer for Tottenham with 266 goals in 379 appearances . Greaves (centre) joined Tottenham in 1961 and won the FA Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup . Greaves (second right) holds the European Cup Winners Cup aloft after Tottenham's 1963 triumph . Greaves was signed for Tottenham from AC Milan by Bill Nicholson for £99,999 . The truth lies somewhere in between, with Greaves understood to have turned down informal invitations in the past but accepting, according to sources close to the former striker, their first formal request last week. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how he got there. He is there now; number 42. Despite claims to the contrary, Greaves has been back to White Hart Lane on many occasions since he left the club in 1970. He went back for the funerals of Bill Nicholson and Bobby Smith and launched his autobiography ‘Greavsie’ at a dinner there. He just hasn’t been back for football matches. But he’s only been to one football match - a Chelsea game with his Chelsea-mad grandson - since he quit playing 35 years ago. Wherever he goes, he is constantly asked by Tottenham fans why he is not recognised as one of their greatest by the club. ‘For all the fans who have asked me when I will be in the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame, I am delighted that we now have a date,’ Greaves said upon the announcement on Monday. ‘I am looking forward to returning to White Hart Lane for this very special occasion.’ Greaves, now 75, joined Spurs in 1961, signed by Nicholson for £99,999 from AC Milan to alleviate the burden of being the first £100,000 English player. In the preceding nine years, he would go on to win the FA Cup twice, FA Charity Shield twice, the European Cup Winners Cup and finish runner-up in the old First Division, scoring 220 goals in 321 league matches. He was gutted and angry when he was eventually sold to West Ham, but that’s not why he doesn’t go back to White Hart Lane for matches. Greaves just likes watching games on the telly. In response to accusations that he turned down an invite to the League Cup final when his two former clubs Chelsea and Tottenham met on March 1, he replied: ‘At no point did Spurs invite me to the game. I wouldn't have gone if they did, but I was not invited. ‘I've got a lovely giant screen HD TV, a lovely dog and a warm fire. That's where I watch sport including football and it's very nice. I'm not interested in driving in heavy traffic and enduring big crowds and being freezing cold. I love it on TV.’ Greaves (right) played for Tottenham for nine years and is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 13 . Greaves is also England's fourth-highest scorer, netting 44 goals in 57 games for his country . Now 75, Greaves chooses not to attend football matches, preferring instead to enjoy them at home . Greaves also loved playing, and is still England’s fourth-highest scorer with 44 in 57 appearances, but he has not shunned Spurs matches, or those of any other club, with any malicious intent. ‘I don't go to games, I never ever have,’ he added. ‘When I was young I played all the time. I've never supported one team over another and I don't apologise for that. I enjoy watching at home on TV.’ Regardless of the rows or the disagreements or how he got there, when Greaves is inducted on May 13, he will finally be in Tottenham Hotspur’s Hall of Fame . +Martin Johnson has offered to help NFL teams with their tackling. Rugby has been used by Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll to 'take the head out of the game' and its influence could be further felt. Johnson, the fearsome World Cup-winning captain and former England coach, says former rugby professionals could assist the college game and the NFL. Martin Johnson rampages through the Australian rearguard on that glorious day in November 2003 . 'It depends if it becomes the vogue but I can see a glut of former rugby players offering themselves up as tackling gurus to the NFL and college game. I think in the world we live in now, every team will want to be seen to do the right thing and I think the NFL teams will consider getting rugby guys in,' he told Britviewnfl.com. The NFL faces a class action lawsuit from former players over hiding the effects of concussion. Chris Borland, a highly-rated 49ers linebacker, was so concerned the safety of the game that he announced his retirement aged 24. 'I would always offer my knowledge to NFL teams if they want to talk to me about tackling. I’m not saying I’m any sort of guru but I would be willing to talk to them if any of the NFL teams were interested. It’s very real from now on with that Borland news, if it wasn’t already.' Chris Borland (left) pursues Seattle's Doug Baldwin. The 24-year-old retired this week due to health concerns . Johnson also spoke of Seattle Seahawks' adoption of rugby techniques to make his team tackle better - and safer. 'I think it is very rare for American sport to look outside of American sport so for them to look at another sport and for Pete Carroll to show videos of rugby, that makes you say, ‘Oh, OK, that’s interesting.’ I’ve seen the Seattle guys training without helmets at times and that’s great because then you really do have to think about your head and your technique, because you have to get that technique right.' +Kell Brook reduced the mandatory challenger for his world title from Jo Jo Dan to Yo Yo Dan in four murderous rounds and then threatened to bounce Amir Khan on and off the canvas ‘as soon as he gets in here with me.’ Brook sent Dan crashing to the brink of oblivion four times and after referee Earl Brown administered a mandatory count eight for the last flattening a split second before the bell ended the fourth stanza of pain, everyone had seen enough. The US official and the now desperate Dan’s corner men agreed to call a merciful halt. VIDEOS Scroll down for Kell Brook's reaction post-fight and his thoughts on Amir Kahn . Kell Brook celebrates stunning return to the ring with his partner Lindsey on Saturday night . Brook retained IBF welterweight world title by beating Jo Jo Dan in Sheffield . This was all Brook could have hoped for after having his left thigh slashed to the bone by a machete wielding hooligan barely six months ago. Having feared either dying or being crippled, he came back fitter and stronger, just like the Six Million Dollar Man of old. There was not a trace of anxiety, a flicker of hesitation or an inkling inconvenience as smashed Dan to pieces. Kell Brook returned from an horrific knife attack to win his first IBF welterweight world title defence in style . Kelll Brook floored Romanian challenger Jo Jo Dan four times in four rounds on Saturday night . Brook    Dan . Round 1:     10           9 . Round 2:     10           7 . Round 3:     10           9 . Round 4:     10           7 . TOTAL        40          32 . This was an exceptional performance by Special K and the Motorpoint Arena rose to anoint Brook as Sheffield’s rightful heir to the throne of Prince Naseem Hamed. The faithful joined him in calling out Khan for what Brook envisages as ‘the biggest fight out there for both of us.’ ‘Who do you want to see me beat next,’ he roared. ‘Khan, Khan, Khan’ came the deafening, blood-thirsty response. Six Million Dollars may be an underestimate for what they both could earn now from a stadium fight in late summer. Brook, already the IBF world champion stamped his credentials as a serious player in the welterweight division and will go to Las Vegas next month pressing his case for fighting the winner of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. But the Khan fight later this year is a more realistic option. Not that Khan would provide such a willing target as the Canadian-based Romanian who went through a world of pain. Brook was defending his IBF world title belt for the first time since beating Shawn Porter in LA last summer . Brook's range-finding left set up a hurtful right and then Dan was put down by a sharp uppercut . Not only did Brook win every round but he inflicted deadly punishment with a right hand which could not miss. The Motorpoint Arena was packed to the tank-full, waiting to welcome the fighter Sheffield believes can be its successor to Naseem Hamed. That atmosphere generator had to be restarted after the electric shock of seeing another son of the Steel City, Adam Etches, brutally knocked out by his veteran Belarus rival for the IBF international middleweight belt. The deeply experienced 40-year-old Sergei Khomitsky drew Etches into a clever trap midway through the third round, opening him up for the perfect right cross. Canada-based southpaw Dan had entered the ring a heavy underdog with a record of 34-3 with 18 early wins . Etches went down like an axed tree, crashing his head against the canvas as he landed, and there were no protests as referee Howard Foster instantly waves his arms over the prone body and summoned medical assistance. Video-screening of Brook’s triumphs in the ring and his leg-slashed tribulations outside the ropes restored he mood of optimism. Special K came in to a thunder of expectation and to be greeted by famed Ready to Rumble announcer Michael Buffer. Dan had pronounced himself ready not only to rumble but to ignore the sound and fury of the partisan Sheffield crowd. Brook showed maturity to be patient, with 10,000 baying fans on their feet in his home town . Brook was dominant from the first bell and was ahead on the scorecards when the fight was stopped . He started brightly enough to suggest nerves might not be problem but he promptly pressed forward, playing into Brook’s preference for counter punching. The home boy’s straight lefts over the Canadian based Romanian’s southpaw leads were especially effective and he was off to a good start. There were no signs of distress from that left leg which had been savagely severed. This time it was Brook inflicting the pain. One sharp sent Dan reeling. The next, an uppercut, put him down. The third sent him to the canvas again. Only a mix of gallantry and clinching got Dan through more punishment to the bell, which seemed more likely to have condemned him to a continuing world of pain rather than to have saved him. Special K stamped his credentials as a serious player in the welterweight division . Brook was looking for the finish but Dan managed to weather the storm at the opening of the round – and somehow fought back. The Brook attack was relentless and Dan reeled around the ring like a drunk, yet still made it to the end of another three minutes of hell. Brook's red shorts covered that wound on his left leg but there was no hiding place for his challenger. Dan was taking right hands to the head as if by habit and he went down for the third time from an accumulation of blows. Make that a fourth, Dan falling a split second before the bell. American referee Earl Brown completed the statutory eight count before agreeing with the challenger's corner that enough was enough. +Rafael dos Anjos stunned UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis with a dominant performance to become the first Brazilian to win the 155lb title. All three judges scored the fight 50-45 to dos Anjos who started aggressively and never slowed down as Pettis was left unable to see out of his right eye. Earlier, strawweight Joanna Jedrzejczyk was crowned Europe's first female champion when she stopped Carla Esparza in the second round. Rafael dos Anjos delivered a dominant performance to beat Anthony Pettis and win the lightweight title . Dos Anjos controls the fight as Pettis struggles to gain momentum in their title bout in Dallas . Dos Anjos looks to land a left knee as Pettis is backed up against the Octagon wall . Pettis could barely see out of his right eye as he suffered sustained punishment at the hands of the Brazilian . Dos Anjos celebrates his win against Pettis with his team and his new lightweight belt . 'Everything went perfect during the fight,' dos Anjos said. 'Our strategy was hit hard and make him afraid of my punch and my hands.' The 30-year-old fought with a knee injury picked up in training three weeks prior to the fight and will now undergo an MRI scan. Pettis rallied late in the fourth round, but it proved too little, too late. 'He hit me with a left. First punch he threw, I couldn't see out my right eye,' Pettis said. Undefeated Jedrzejczyk, meanwhile, looked impressive against Esparza. The 27-year-old Pole backed the champion up against the Octagon with a flurry of punches before the referee stopped the scheduled five-round bout with less than a minute of the second session remaining.. Joanna Jedrzejczyk needed less than two rounds to stop Carla Esparza and win the strawweight title . Jedrzejczyk collapses to her knees in celebration after becoming Europe's first female UFC champion . Poland's Jedrzejczyk celebrates after becoming the UFC women's strawweight champion in Dallas . 'I knew I was going to win, but I didn't expect it would be in the second round,' Jedrzejczyk said. 'Every day I'm 100 per cent. That's why I'm here. 'Nobody going to take this belt from me.' 'She did a great job,' Esparza said. 'There's never an excuse when you lose.' Also on the UFC 185 card, Johny Hendricks returned to winning ways against Matt Brown. Having lost his welterweight title to Robbie Lawler last December, Hendricks won by unanimous decision to remain on course for a chance to reclaim the title. British star Ross Pearson was also victorious, stunning Sam Stout with a second-round knockout after landing a left hook. In the heavyweight division, Alistair Overeem won a unanimous decision against Roy Nelson. Ross Pearson returned to winning ways with a second-round knockout of Sam Stout . Pearson jumped on Stout to finish the contest as the referee dives in to halt the punishment . Pearson celebrates his victory over Stout as he bounced back from defeat last year . +Scotland's Richie Ramsay recovered from seeing a three-shot lead disappear in the space of two holes to win the Hassan Trophy after a rollercoaster final round on Sunday. Ramsay made a blistering start at Golf du Palais Royal, carding four birdies in a row from the third to move into pole position in pursuit of his third European Tour title. The 31-year-old from Aberdeen then three-putted the seventh and ran up a triple-bogey six on the eighth, where he came up short of the green off the tee and saw his first two chips fail to negotiate a steep slope and roll back to his feet. Richie Ramsey poses with the Hassan Trophy after winning the event at Golf du Palais Royal in Morocco . Ramsay reacts after his second shot on the tenth hole during the final round of the Hassan Trophy . That left Ramsay two shots off the lead but he battled back superbly with a hat-trick of birdies from the 12th to reclaim the lead on his way to a closing 69 to finish 10 under par, one ahead of France's Romain Wattel. Wattel chipped in for par on the 15th after duffing his fourth shot just a few feet and birdied the 17th to get within one of Ramsay, but was unable to chip in for another birdie on the 18th to force a play-off. Six players shared third place on eight under, including South African George Coetzee, who had needed to win to move into the world's top 50 and qualify for the Masters. England's Tommy Fleetwood could also have secured a trip to Augusta with victory, but finished joint 17th after a closing 69. An emotional Ramsay, who had missed the cut in four of his five events this season and withdrew from the other after three rounds due to illness, dedicated the win to his wife Angela and brother Robin. Ramsay hits his tee-shot on the first hole during the final round before winning the competition . Ramsay (left) is presented with his winner's trophy by HRH Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco (right) 'It means a huge amount,' Ramsay told Sky Sports 4. 'My brother has supported me since I was so young. This one's for him and Angela. I know they are all back home and probably going crazy at the moment. 'I've gone through some tough times with injury but kept believing and they were at my back and said just go out there and play golf and that's what I did today. It was so much fun out there.' Asked about his triple bogey on the eighth, the former US amateur champion added: 'I just didn't execute the shot exactly as I wanted to. Hit a poor chip, rolled back into a divot, didn't come out, hit it back on, two putts, easy six. It's one of those courses that has so many holes like that. 'I knew I was still in the mix and walking down nine I was still level par for my round and I knew the back nine was very scoreable. I made great putts on nine and 10 just to keep the momentum going and then I stood over a putt on the 12th and felt my putter feels absolutely great. 'I said to myself just got for it, this is your time and pretty much took it by the scruff of the neck the next two holes.' +Jimmy Walker will take a four-shot lead into the final round of the Valero Texas Open after carding a three-under-par 69 at TPC San Antonio on Saturday. The 36-year-old San Antonio resident, a one-shot leader at the halfway stage, is nine under ahead of Sunday's final round - four shots clear of fellow American Jordan Spieth. Billy Horschel is third on three under par, a shot clear of a five-strong group including Zach Johnson and Brendan Steele. Jimmy Walker sits on the third tee as he waits to hit a shot during his third round in San Antonio . Walker hits his third shot on the 18th hole as he takes a four-shot lead going into the final day . Kevin Na and Chris Kirk complete an all-American top-10, with Australian Aaron Baddeley the highest placed non-American alongside them on one under par. Walker started on the front nine and wasted little time in building on his lead by birdieing the par-five second. Successive bogeys at the third and fourth hampered Walker's progress somewhat but he made amends by picking up shots at the sixth and eighth holes to reach the turn in 35. A second bogey on the 12th was almost immediately wiped out as Walker birdied the 14th, before finishing strongly with further birdies on the final two holes for a three-under-par score for the day. Spieth carded six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey to lie second, while Horshel helped himself to third by birdieing the final three holes. Walker hits out of the bunker on the 8th hole at TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course . Walker signs autographs for the fans after finishing his round at the Valero Texas Open . Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, was even par after a 74 which featured an eagle, a birdie, three bogeys and a double bogey. Walker played the conditions extremely well to extend his lead by three shots ahead of Sunday's deciding round and admitted that he exceeded his own expectations. 'It's a tough golf course,' Walker told the PGA Tour website. 'I thought coming into today that even par or maybe one under would be a good score. 'You definitely want to find a way to extend the lead, but you have to be smart about it.' Jordan Spieth tees off on the 16th hole before finishing the day in second place behind Walker . Phil Mickelson walks off the 15th green during his third round in San Antonio . World number six Spieth, like third-placed Horshel, was one under for the day but was not overly impressed with some aspects of his round. 'I'm going to have to hit the ball better than I did today,' he said. 'A couple of tough breaks on the back nine. 'All in all, I was playing a really solid round of golf, minus a couple of decisions and a couple of swings.' +George Coetzee staged a superb fightback to keep his hopes of qualifying for the Masters alive in the Hassan Trophy at Golf du Palais Royal. Coetzee needs to win in Agadir to book a trip to Augusta National for the year's first major championship in a fortnight's time, but found himself six shots off the lead after a front nine of 39 on Saturday. However, the South African carded five birdies and one bogey on the back nine to card a 71 and finish six under par, which proved enough to lie just one shot off the lead as the leaders stumbled on the closing stretch. George Coetzee staged a superb fightback to keep his hopes of qualifying for the Masters alive . South African carded five birdies and one bogey on the back nine to card a 71 and finish six under par . Scottish pair Richie Ramsay and Andrew McArthur share the lead with France's Romain Wattel on seven under, with Coetzee part of a seven-strong group which includes former champion David Horsey, Ireland's Kevin Phelan and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo. Coetzee, who won the Tshwane Open on his home course in Pretoria a fortnight ago, told European Tour radio: 'I am quite happy. I'm quite surprised the guys haven't gone lower. 'I've been battling away the last couple of days but happy to be in the mix. I made some silly errors, mental errors, but I feel like I am still in a good space so (I'm) happy with the comeback today and hopefully (it) puts me in good stead for tomorrow. Coetzee of South Africa in action during the third round of the Trophee Hassan II Golf at Golf du Palais Royal . 'I've got a bit of mental game plan going at the moment and when you make mistakes you focus on doing the mental stuff correct and it kind of takes care of itself. 'The big change came yesterday on the fifth. I hit it left and was going to hack it when my caddie said there's three par fives on the back nine, let's take our punishment, take a drop and work from there. That kept reminding me about the back nine so it always keeps you in a good frame of mind.' England's Tommy Fleetwood also needs to win on Sunday to qualify for the Masters, but is five shots off the lead after struggling to a 73 which included a triple-bogey eight on the fifth. Just four shots separates the top 29 players and Coetzee added: 'There are so many guys in the mix you can't say that you can control it. You just have to go out and play well.' McArthur and Wattel both carded rounds of 67 to move through the field on Saturday, with Ramsay starting the day in a share of the lead but having to settle for a 71 containing five birdies and four bogeys, the last of which on the 18th cost him the outright lead. Romain Wattel waves to the crowd on the 18th hole as his caddie Darren Reynolds looks on . 'It felt pretty good, it just sort of crept up on me,' said McArthur, who is making just his third European Tour start of the season. 'I am delighted. 'I have accepted I am not striking it as I want to but I have found something to get it in play and try and get it pin high, hole a few putts and you never know. 'I played well in Joburg (finishing joint 18th), moved myself up a lot on the last day. I putted well so hopefully that continues on Sunday.' +As speculation mounts over whether Tiger Woods will compete at the Masters next month, the former world No 1 has spurned the chance to play in the Houston Open, the final PGA Tour event before the year's first major. Woods' name was conspicuously absent when the list of players for the Houston event next week was posted on Friday. Should Woods decide to tee it up at the Masters, which starts on April 9, he would do so after not competing for 63 days. Woods, the 14-time major winner, has struggled to find any form this year . A four-time Masters champion whose ranking has plummeted to 96th, Woods has played only twice on the 2014-15 PGA Tour and said he would not return until his game was 'tournament-ready'. He missed the Masters last year for the first time in his career after being advised by doctors to have back surgery and his participation next month is in serious doubt given his struggle for form and fitness. Woods posted the highest score of his professional career, a mind-boggling 11-over-par 82, to miss the cut at the Phoenix Open in January, and many pundits believe he is suffering from the chipping 'yips'. He withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines early last month after 11 holes because of tightness in his back, and he is still adapting to the fifth swing change of his career. Woods is currently on an indefinite break from the sport but aims to qualify for the 2016 Ryder Cup . Earlier this week, Woods' good friend Notah Begay III rated the former world number one's chances of taking part in the Masters as '50-50'. 'It's literally a 50-50 chance right now from what I can tell,' said Begay, a television analyst with Golf Channel who played with Woods on the Stanford University golf team. 'That's far better odds than what it was, say, three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, I would have said there was maybe a 1-in-10 chance of him playing at Augusta.' One thing in Woods' favour is his huge comfort factor at Augusta National where in 2010 he tied for fourth at the Masters after not playing competitive golf for five months. He took an indefinite break from the game in late 2009, as his private life spectacularly unravelled, to try to repair his marriage amid revelations about his extra-marital affairs. 'He knows his way around the Augusta,' Northern Irish world number Rory McIlroy said earlier this month. 'If he feels ready to play and he does play then he knows what to do when there.' Tiger Woods struggled for form during the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in January . +Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-0, 7-5 on Monday to power into the last 16 of the Miami Open along with Japan's Kei Nishikori and Canada's Milos Raonic. The Serbian world No 1, who just like last year won at Indian Wells before heading to South Florida, will face Alexandr Dolgopolov, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, in the fourth round. Djokovic, who is seeking a fifth win at Miami, wrapped up a one-sided first set in 26 minutes but faced a sterner test in the second. Novak Djokoic beat Steve Darcis 6-0, 7-5 to progress to the last 16 of the Miami Open on Monday . Djokovic returns a shot as the defending champion seeks a fifth victory at the Miami Open . Darcis broke to lead 5-4 but Djokovic soon levelled the set before going on to secure the match . Darcis broke to go ahead 5-4 but after the Serb levelled up the set, he broke back and held on to secure the match. Fourth-seed Nishikori had even less trouble as he crushed Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2 in 63 minutes. Troicki, who needed medical treatment to his left side during the match, struggled to cope with Nishikori throughout with the 25-year-old converting five of his six break points. ‘I was almost perfect on the court. It is so exciting that I am playing well here,’ said Nishikori. ‘Maybe he was hurting a little bit but I was still putting him under pressure with my return."’ Raonic also moved into the fourth round after a hard-earned 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3) win over French 31st seed Jeremy Chardy. Japan's Kei Nishikori crusied to a 6-2, 6-2 victory againsy Serbia's Viktor Troicki . Raonic was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second and then Chardy went on to force the third set. ‘He started playing more freely and I sort of went the other way,’ said Raonic. ‘He played well in the second set and I think he played better than I did in the third.’ Belgian 18th seed David Goffin beat Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-3 while Spain's David Ferrer, the sixth seed, got past Czech Lukas Rosol 6-4, 7-5. +Joseph O'Brien has insisted he will still be riding on the Flat this season despite riding over hurdles for the first time at Limerick on Saturday. The 21-year-old jockey rides Egyptian War, trained by his father Aidan and owned by JP McManus, in the Family Fun Day Rated Novices’ Hurdle, . At the same time, the mounts on seven runners also trained by his father at The Curragh are shared between Ryan Moore and Joseph’s apprentice jockey younger siblings Ana and Donnacha. O’Brien, who is almost six feet tall, has admitted his time riding on the Flat is likely to be limited by weight issues. Joseph O'Brien poses with the Gold Cup after winning the race at Ascot last year . This latest news will increase speculation that the switch of codes is near at hand. In a statement, his father said: ‘Joseph is a little heavy at the moment but plans to be back riding on the Flat shortly. He has his first ride over hurdles on Egyptian Warrior at Limerick on Sunday after which he will travel to the Curragh to ride work after racing.’ Joseph, winner of two of the last three Derbies on Australia and Camelot, has a string of big race mounts potentially lined up for him with Gleneagles favourite for the 2,000 Guineas and JF Kennedy currently front runner of clutch of Derby possibles. Should Joseph have to turn his back permanently on the Flat, Moore, the three-time British champion, would be favourite to take more rides for his father’s stable. Teaforthree, the Rebecca Curtis-trained Grand National third in 2013 who got as far as The Chair last year when joint favourite last year, is out of next month’ s race. Teaforthree clears the last fence on the way to victory at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse last month . +Wasps will consider an appeal against the three-week ban handed to Nathan Hughes after their star No 8 was found guilty of recklessly kneeing George North and told he can’t play against Toulon. Hughes was shown a red card in Friday night’s Aviva Premiership clash with Northampton for an incident which saw North suffer his third confirmed concussion in less than four months, leading to calls for him not to play again this season. An RFU disciplinary panel upheld the red card shown to Hughes by referee Craig Maxwell-Keys and banned him until April 28, meaning he will miss Sunday’s European Champions Cup quarter final clash with the two-time champions. Nathan Hughes has been banned for three weeks and will miss Wasps' game against Toulon . George North was out cold on the pitch at Franklin's Gardens after scoring a try . Sir James Dingemans, chair of a three-man panel with Aidan O’Brien and Martyn Wood, said: ‘This was a three week ban on the basis that no intention was found. However, there was recklessness meaning that, notwithstanding the harm, it was a low entry point of four weeks with mitigation of one week to reflect his previous clean playing record.' Speaking before the hearing Wasps director of rugby Dai Young made it clear he did not believe his star forward should be punished further and indicated he would appeal any ban. ‘I don’t think it was a red card,’ said Young. ‘The sending off certainly penalised us enough on the night. If there is a ban we can appeal it. If there’s a ban we’ll have to sit down and decide what to do with Nathan because he needs to be part of the process.’ It is understood any appeal would be heard before Sunday’s clash, meaning Hughes could yet feature. The incident left North concussed in the act of scoring his second try of the match and has led to calls for the Wales and Northampton winger to be rested for the rest of the season over fears for his long-term welfare. North was knocked out again and was forced off after a clash with Hughes during Saints' win over  Wasps . North was unable to continue and has been advised not to play again until the World Cup in September . Hughes was understood to be distraught after the game and sought North out to apologise. ‘I know Nathan,’ said Wasps club captain James Haskell. ‘I don’t think he meant to do it. I think anyone knows he didn’t mean to do it. I don’t think it should have been a red card at all. I think he tried to slow down, he catches George but it is a contact sport. ‘That is what happens. I think they have changed the wording now to say something about being reckless but rugby is reckless. The whole game is reckless. If you are worried about that, I don’t really know what we should be doing. ‘Maybe we should all just wear foam suits and just play touch.’ Young said after the game that he believed the repeated replays on the big screen at Franklin’s Gardens, allied to a partisan home ground, had pressurised the match officials into sending Hughes off. Haskell also has recent experience of the impact of replays following the second-half yellow card he was shown for a trip in England’s Six Nations clash with France by referee Nigel Owens after he viewed footage on the big screen. ‘I don’t think it helps with the crowd getting on top of referees,’ he said. ‘With Nigel Owens, we (England) had set for a scrum. It was a yellow card, there is no arguing that, but the fact they replayed it seven times and the same with Nathan, replaying it, I don’t think it helps. If you slow anything down it will look worse than it is. ‘I just think that those TMOs are there, they have all the angles to see it. It is down to their job, I don’t know why you have to share. Replays are good but any contentious stuff, why would you let emotion (come into it) because we are all fallible. The fact I made a mistake shows I am fallible. Nathan tried his best to slow down and caught the guy.’ +Fresh from winning the Cricket World Cup, Australia have recovered from their celebrations to name their 17-man squad to defend the Ashes against England this summer. Alastair Cook and Co must face some of the sport's fastest bowlers, less than 15 months after pace man Mitchell Johnson condemned England to a humiliating 5-0 defeat. Here, Sportsmail's cricket expert Lawrence Booth runs the rule of the aggressive quicks looking to condemn England to a speedy defeat. Mitchell Johnson heads the list of Australia's fast paced bowlers heading to England for the Ashes . Johnson's pace bowling terrorised England as Australia ran out 5-0 victors in the Ashes last year . MITCHELL JOHNSON . Left-arm fast . Top speed: 95mph . Main weapon: The bouncer into the right-hander’s armpit . Verbals? Oh, yes — delivered in proportion to the length of his moustache . Fear factor: 9/10 . Ryan Harris returns to the Test side after being on Australia's winning side at the last Ashes . Harris pumps the air after taking the wicket of Graeme Swann at the Adelaide Oval in December 2013 . RYAN HARRIS . Right-arm fast . Top speed: 93mph . Main weapon: Almost inhuman accuracy, allied with subtle seam movement . Verbals? Tends to let his bowling do the talking — it’s usually enough . Fear factor: 8/10 . Player of the World Cup Mitchell Starc is another quick bowler that England will need to be wary of . England's Joe Root watches as Starc bowls in the 5th Ashes Test at the Oval in August 2013 . MITCHELL STARC . Left-arm fast . Top speed: 92mph . Main weapon: His yorker was nearly unplayable during the World Cup . Verbals? Never afraid to get stuck in — and can go too far . Fear factor: 8/10 . Rising star Josh Hazlewood will be another fast paced Australia bowler to beware of this summer . Hazlewood (right) poses with his Australia team-mates and the 2015 World Cup trophy . JOSH HAZLEWOOD . Right-arm fast . Top speed: 90mph . Main weapon: A tidy action and a Glenn McGrath-like ability to hit the same spot, time and again. Verbals? On the quiet side, at least by Aussie standards . Fear factor: 7/10 . +Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner is due in England before the end of the week as he presses ahead with plans to sell the club. Lerner has entered into discussion with a consortium over a proposed £150million sale of the Midlands club. And Sportsmail understands Lerner is expected to fly into Birmingham over the coming days for further discussions regarding a sale. Randy Lerner, pictured in 2011, is speaking to a consortium over a proposed £150million sale of Aston Villa . Talks over a takeover are understood to be at an advanced stage and Lerner’s decision to fly into England is viewed as a key step towards the completion of a deal. The consortium is in the due diligence stage of their proposed takeover, though the eventual price of the sale will depend on which league Villa are playing in next season. Christian Benteke is pictured scoring for Aston Villa in their 4-0 thumping of Sunderland last month . Lerner wants to receive his full £150m asking price . Lerner’s expected arrival in the Midlands comes after it emerged Lerner’s Midlands property has been made available as part of the takeover. The farmhouse, located in Bodymoor Heath, is understood to be worth in the region of £3m. Lerner has been keen to sell Villa for some time, a period that has seen the club go through a difficult period on the pitch. The sacking of Paul Lambert and subsequent arrival of Tim Sherwood has helped stimulate the club, as has their pending FA Cup semi-final. But Villa are still in danger of dropping into the second tier of English football for the first time since 1987. Lerner is desperate for the team to avoid that scenario as he looks to receive his full £150m asking price. Relegation into the Championship would severely lower Villa’s value, possibly as much as half. The consortium expect to complete their takeover soon after the end of the season. +Steve Bruce has shown he's not quite the lean fit athlete he once was but showed some impressive diving skills. The former Manchester United defender is currently enjoying a trip away to Barbados with his wife and friend Alan Shearer during the international break and made the most of the sun. With his days of being a tough-tackling central defender gone, the 54-year-old is sporting a much wider circumference nowadays. Steve Bruce was looking larger than life after being snapped holidaying in Barbados with Alan Shearer . The Hull boss showed his diving ability but let's hope that his players don't follow his lead . With Hull facing a battle for Premier League surival, Bruce knows that his side are in no position to slip and face two tough away games against Swansea and Southampton in the next couple of weeks. Just three points separate them and the drop zone and despite their bright start to the season, Bruce's men have arguably the hardest run-in, so relying on other teams slipping up is will also be important. Bruce and friends are spotted on the beach in Barbados as he looked relaxed despite Hull's troubles . +Leicester City have rejected approaches for striker Tom Lawrence from an astonishing nine clubs. The former Manchester United forward has barely played for Leicester since arriving from Old Trafford in the summer but manager Nigel Pearson wants to have all options available as he battles against the odds to keep Leicester in the Premier League. Lawrence, 21, is poised to make his full international debut for Wales in their European Championship qualifier with Israel on Saturday but has only figured in four games for Leicester this season and three as a substitute. Leicester City have rejected approaches for striker Tom Lawrence from an astonishing nine clubs . Championship promotion chasers Bournemouth, Ipswich and Wolves have all asked about Lawrence. Blackburn, Charlton, Leeds, Bolton, Rotherham and Wigan have also made contact. However, they are now looking at other options in a last-gasp bid to bolster their squad. +QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has admitted that appointing Chris Ramsey as Harry Redknapp's successor until the end of the season was a 'gamble' by the Premier League club. Ramsey took permanent charge of QPR in February following Redknapp's departure but the relegation-threatened club have lost six out of seven games since the full-time appointment which leaves them four points adrift of safety. But Ferdinand has backed the QPR boss after admitting any manager taking charge of the Loftus Road outfit would find it a challenge. Chris Ramsey took permanent charge of QPR in February following Harry Redknapp's departure . QPR have lost six out of seven games since the appointment which leaves them four points adrift of safety . 'No regrets at all because I know what a great coach he is,' Ferdinand told Sky Sports. 'It's a gamble, any manager coming in would have been a gamble. 'There's no guarantees that anyone would have kept us in the division or anyone would have done any better than Chris Ramsey’s doing at the moment, so I’ve got no regrets whatsoever. 'Most people say when a manager comes in you need to give him time to build his own team – Chris hasn't had that. He's come in and done us a favour but he's doing a job with someone else's hand.' Director of football Les Ferdinand has admitted Ramsey's appointment as QPR boss was a 'gamble' +Arsenal and Southampton are battling it out over a deal worth £1m for Newcastle keeper Freddie Woodman. The England Under-19, who plays for the national team against France on Tuesday evening as they target a place in the European Championship finals, is one of the biggest prospects in the game. Woodman, the 18-year-old who is the son of Newcastle’s keeper coach Andy Woodman, has already represented England at Under-16 and Under-17 level. Freddie Woodman holds the ball during a Newcastle United training session last month . Woodman (centre) makes a save during an U21 Premier League match against Stoke earlier this month . Arsenal and Saints are both looking to the future and Woodman, who is a regular in Newcastle’s Under-21 team, is on the wanted list. Woodman, who has been on the bench for the first team, helped England win the Under-17 championships in Malta last summer. Newcastle want Woodman to stay at St James’ Park, but the young keeper will be tempted by interest from other teams in the Barclays Premier League. Arsenal and Saints, who have already put down their markers for the keeper, would allow Woodman out on loan next season to gain vital first team experience. Woodman (second right) catches the ball during a session with Newcastle goalkeeping coach and father Andy . +West Bromwich Albion are confident striker Saido Berahino will be fit for their vital relegation clash against Queens Park Rangers. The club's top goalscorer picked up a foot injury in the clash against Manchester City on Saturday. The injury caused him to withdraw from the England Under-21 squad to face the Czech Republic on Friday night and Germany next week. Saido Berahino is fighting to be fit for West Brom's game with QPR . Berahino picked up a foot injury playing against Manchester City last weekend . Berahino has been receiving treatment on the injury this week in hope of proving his fitness for the visit of Chris Ramsey's side. And the youngster has responded well at the club's training HQ and is expected to be shake off the injury in time of the resumption of the domestic season on April 4. Victory against QPR should guarantee WBA their Premier League status for another season. Berahino has been vital to the Baggies this season, scoring 18 goals. +The Premier League has never been richer, with the most recent combined annual income for the current 20 clubs soaring past £3billion for the first time. But a review of the books by the Mail on Sunday also shows club debts standing at more than £2.5 billion. Much of that poses no imminent danger to the clubs encumbered with it. Chelsea’s parent company owes Roman Abramovich £958million, for example, and he is showing no sign of demanding it back any time soon. Manchester United have debts of £342m as a result of the leveraged takeover almost 10 years ago by the Glazers but can service it comfortably, while Arsenal have ‘good debt’ of £241m, borrowed to fund their stadium. Taking their cash pile into consideration they had only £33m of net debt at the end of the last financial year. Roman Abramovich is owed an astonishing £958million by Chelsea's parent company . West Bromwich Albion, on the other hand, are nearly debt-free after being sensibly run over a long period . But a group of clubs including Aston Villa, Hull, Leicester, Newcastle, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham have each racked up debt of around £100m, much of which is owed to their owners. And in an era when the Premier League has never had so much cash it is bewildering so many clubs remain financially unstable and potentially in peril should they get relegated. The ‘boom-and-bust culture’ of unsustainable spending in an attempt to buy success underpins the phenomenon, according to the chief executive of one of the clubs most sensibly run over a long period, West Bromwich Albion. ‘The easiest thing to do when you reach the Premier League is over-reach,’ says Albion’s Mark Jenkins, whose club have just posted their latest set of profitable accounts and are close to being debt-free. Manchester United have debts of £342m as a result of the leveraged takeover almost 10 years ago . West Brom played Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth in the 2008 FA Cup - a team guilty of 'boom and bust' ‘Everyone puts you under enormous pressure to just chuck endless money at it,’ he adds. ‘You’ve got to be strong enough to withstand that pressure and the flak that comes with it if you don’t have the spending level. ‘You can get sucked into a boom-and-bust culture. That’s drained the pockets of many a star-struck or misguided owner.’ Examples of clubs that aimed for the stars but have ended up in administration or other self-inflicted fiscal turmoil are numerous. Leeds, QPR, Birmingham and Coventry spring readily to mind. But it is another example, Portsmouth, that most irks West Brom, who lost to a ‘financially doped’ Pompey in the 2008 FA Cup semi-finals. Portsmouth went on to win the trophy before a spectacular meltdown caused by the unsustainable spending undertaken to assemble and pay Harry Redknapp’s squad at that time. Portsmouth were flying high and eventually won the FA Cup, but are now mid-table in the fourth division . West Brom say they are still frustrated at losing to a team Portsmouth 'basically couldn't afford' ‘It still pinches us at West Brom that we lost our last FA Cup semi-final to a team the opposition basically couldn’t afford,’ said Jenkins. ‘Our fans went home miserable that night. Theirs were jubilant. I suspect they would want to swap places now though.’ Pompey are now mid-table in the fourth tier. West Brom are looking increasingly likely to be safe in the top flight for a fifth year running. Some of their fans may feel they should be taking more risks with bigger-name players but Jenkins insists stability is key. ‘We have shown — along with one or two other clubs — that it is possible to compete in the PL by building, building, building — sensibly, year on year,’ he says. ‘You’re adding to the squad, the club’s infrastructure, sticking to your business plan, trying to get right as many decisions as you can while knowing that some things will go wrong because that is the nature of football. ‘The key thing is if and when that happens you are not so over-stretched that it becomes a catastrophe.’ +Paul Lambert has only 'good things' to say about Aston Villa, the club he left last month after a disappointing run of games. The 45-year-old replaced Alex McLeish at the helm of the Premier League club in June 2012 but following a poor run of results, which left Villa in the bottom three, the club parted company with the Scot and later appointed Tim Sherwood as his successor. He told BBC's Football Focus: 'I don't have any bad things about Aston Villa. It's a brilliant football club as everybody knows. Paul Lambert says he only has 'good things' to say about Aston Villa despite his sacking in Feburary . Lambert believes Villa are in a healthier position than when he arrived, particularly in terms of their finances . 'I came in at really, probably a tough time and obviously when the financial reports came out, their losses are way down now so from that point of view the club is in probably a lot healthier position than when I went there. 'It's a great club with great people at it, and great people left behind. 'There's things when you look back and think "maybe I should have done that better or different" but I've got nothing but good things (to say) about the club.' Since leaving Villa, Lambert has spent time in Germany with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund working towards his UEFA Pro Licence. Lambert has spent time with Borussia Dortmund and Jurgen Klopp working towards his UEFA Pro Licence . Pep Guardiola is another manager in Germany that Lambert has been able to observe at close quarters of late . Although he enjoyed his time overseas and said his time spent there 'was a great experience', Lambert admitted he had no real plans to take up a managerial role abroad at this moment in time and follow the likes of former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes, who is head coach at Real Sociedad. When asked if he fancied managing overseas right now, the former Dortmund midfielder replied: 'Not really, I went over there - I've been back in the country for over a week or so now. 'The two clubs (Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich) there I know very well. Germany's been a big part of my life there but spending that time at Dortmund was a great experience and you learn so much, even though you're only there for that week or so to watch them....it was a great, great experience.' Lambert said he had no desire to follow Real Sociedad head coach David Moyes in managing abroad . Lambert praised the work of Klopp and said that working with his Borussia Dortmund side was eye-opening . Sitting and talking with Guardiola was said to be a great experience for the former Aston Villa manager . Lambert praised the work Jurgen Klopp has done at the German club and admitted working and talking with the Dortmund coach and Bayern's Pep Guardiola was eye-opening. He added: '(Guardiola) and Jurgen Klopp are probably the best I've seen working. Just the way they can get the best out of people. 'I think meeting with him (Klopp) and Pep Guardiola was a great experience, to sit with them and talk to them. Defeat by Hull saw Lambert's Villa move into the relegation zone and he was subsequently sacked . Villa have improved under new manager Tim Sherwood but are still not too far off the Premier League drop . 'With Jurgen, I knew Jurgen from the Pro Licence, but to spend nine days with him was excellent. What you see on TV is what he's like as a guy....eccentric probably. He's a top, top guy and they way you see Borussia Dortmund now is probably due to him.' Lambert, who made 44 appearances playing for Dormund from 1996-1997 and helped them win the Champions League, said: 'Even though I'd played there - that was a massive football club - when I went back and watched them it's exploded really, really quickly and Jurgen has been a catalyst of what's happened.' Christian Benteke celebrates scoring in Villa's big win over fellow strugglers Sunderland under Sherwood . +Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard has declared that playing in England and the Premier League has made him into a better player. The 24-year-old joined the Blues from French side Lille in 2012 and has gone on to win the Europa League in his first season and Capital One Cup earlier this month. Hazard has been one of the stars of the Premier League season so far as Chelsea look set to run away with the title. Jose Mourinho's side currently sit six points clear at the top with a game in hand on all their rivals. Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard has declared that playing in England has made him into a better player . Hazard (right) in Belgium training with international team-mate Michy Batshuayi . 'I have become stronger in England because I play with and against greater players,' said Hazard, according to The Sun. 'I have to raise my level. I am gaining experience. It's a big match every weekend. Each season I find new qualities.' 'This season I score headers. Who would have thought it? I am progressing. I'm happy with my season like I was with last season. I am continuing my apprenticeship.' Hazard has scored 16 times in 43 games so far this season, but has denied talk that he should be netting at a better return. 'People expect Eden to score 30 to 40 goals a season. I don't think about doing it. I'm not like that. If there is a point in my game where I still need to work, it is of course, to be more efficient, to play even more for myself, to score goals. 'But I am having a great season. Maybe I will have two trophies and that will be great.' 24-year-old Hazard has been one of the stars of the season so far for Chelsea in their title challenge . Hazard scoring the opening goal of Chelsea's 3-2 victory at Hull last Sunday . Hazard is currently preparing for Belgium's Euro 2016 qualifying clash with Cyprus on Saturday, as they look to get their misfiring campaign back on track with victory. The Red Devils have just one win from three games so far in Group B, at home to minnows Andorra, with they have been held by Bosnia-Herzegovina and Wales. +Hull have been fined £30,000 by the Football Association for failing to control their players against Leicester on March 14. City initially denied the charge but were on Friday found guilty of 'failing to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion'. The incident was brought about by the reaction of a number of Hull players after Alex Bruce was booked by referee Jon Moss following a tackle on Riyad Mahrez. Hull City were charged for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion . Alex Bruce reacted furiously to being booked by referee Jon Ross for a challenge on Riyad Mahrez . The findings are something of an embarrassment for Hull, whose manager Steve Bruce criticised the Leicester players for their conduct during the nervy 0-0 draw. He was unimpressed by what he perceived to be attempts to persuade Moss to penalise his son. 'I saw everyone surround Alex (asking) for a red card for his challenge,' he said in the post-match press conference. 'The reason we enjoy the Premier League is its honesty and integrity and if we're going to go down the route of every other league - jumping around and whingeing and trying to get people yellow and red cards - for me that's not right.' Hull City manager Steve Bruce was unhappy with the behaviour of Leicester's players . Hull were handed six bookings in the match, two of which led to Tom Huddlestone's sending-off. Foxes boss Nigel Pearson tersely described Bruce's version as 'not a fair assessment' and the FA's independent regulatory commission were in agreement, attributing blame to the Hull contingent. Their statement read: 'Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, Hull City have been fined £30,000 after an FA player misconduct charge brought against the club was found proven. 'It was alleged that in or around the 68th minute of the game against Leicester City on 14 March 2015, Hull failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion. 'The club denied the charge which was found proven by the Regulatory Commission.' +Jon Walters is the kind of footballer who holds up an imaginary substitutes’ board when a referee goes down injured, who picks up a matchday programme hurled in his direction and has a flick through. During Stoke’s victory at Aston Villa last month, his reaction to referee Roger East’s attack of cramp was more comic than concerned. It was similar when an irate Newcastle fan chucked the makeshift missile as celebrations followed Peter Crouch’s equaliser. ‘A referee with cramp! Can you believe it?’ chuckles Walters. ‘He needed to come off, didn’t he? The programme was a good read. 10 out of 10. You’ve got to enjoy yourself. When need be, I’ll get stuck in but I play with a smile. Jon Walters spoke about many subjects, including his desire to play in Euro 2016, in a revealing interview . The Stoke City star takes his football seriously but also has a a fun side as his on-field antics show . The 31-year-old striker/winger claims he has mellowed since being involved in a ruck with Roy Keane . ‘It’s the best job in the world, if you don’t enjoy it there’s something wrong.’ That encapsulates Walters, one of the Premier League’s unlikely lads; tough yet funny, revelling in his fifth year as a Premier League player. He is delivering one-liners on the radio that amuse and slightly frighten, suggesting in the wake of the Jonny Evans-Papisse Cisse flare-up that any player who spat in his face will be ‘eating his supper through a straw’. He is laughing about his appearance in Roy Keane’s book during their final fraught days together at Ipswich — ‘a bust-up… effing and blinding’ — having buried the hatchet at Republic of Ireland camps. ‘I knew what was going to be written… it could have been worse,' he says. And he is pleased by having had such a good season after an inauspicious start. Walters became the first Stoke player to score a Premier League hat-trick with his right-foot, left-foot, header combination against Queens Park Rangers in January and was shortlisted for Ireland’s player of the year award. All this after losing his place at Stoke side last summer. His appearance in Ireland’s dramatic 1-1 draw in Germany in October meant he had completed more minutes for country than club: 180 to 139. ‘We were losing games and I wasn’t getting on, that made me worry more than anything,’ admits Walters, 31. ‘I was going away with Ireland asking a few of the lads how many games they’d played. The Championship lads were saying, “15, 20...”. I’d played two. Jesus! ‘Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane showed a lot of faith to play me. Then I came on (for Stoke) against Swansea when we were chasing the game and I scored. Since then I’ve stayed in the team.’ Walters flicks through a matchday programme thrown at him after Peter Crouch scored against Newcastle . The Potters joker found the funny side when referee Roger East was forced to withdraw with cramp . Walters carries the match ball after becoming the first Stoke player to score a Premier League hat-trick . Listening to soothing sounds has helped. ‘Before kick-off, I’ll have my earphones on and be tuning into some classical music,’ Walters says. He lists Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major and material by pianist Ludovico Einaudi as favourites. He should be listening to some strings before playing against Poland in a game Ireland need to win to further their Euro 2016 ambitions. His participation was in doubt after he suffered a fractured cheekbone a fortnight ago but surgery and a protective mask make him available. ‘It’s a massive game,’ he says. ‘It’s a difficult group but it’s in our hands. There will be ups and downs. Germany was a high, scoring in the last minute. The Scotland defeat was a low. Qualifying is the main thing, it doesn’t matter how.’ Walters’s career has been in the ascendancy since he left then League Two side Chester in 2007. He is Stoke’s top scorer in a season that could still lead to a record-breaking points total and Premier League finish. Impressive when you consider the reshaping done by manager Mark Hughes since succeeding Tony Pulis when Walters’s profile seemed not to quite fit. Whether operating up front or, more frequently, on the wing Walters has crafted his game to suit the passing style now employed under Hughes. ‘In terms of evolving I’ve done that my whole career, from youth at Blackburn, then Bolton, going down the leagues and coming back up,’ says Walters. ‘You have to change your game constantly. ‘There are going to be technically better players. You see some very gifted players down the leagues who just haven’t had the luck. ‘I’ll always work hard but I’m not just here on hard work. You have to have a certain amount of ability. I was taught as a striker, all my runs, my movement, getting in the box. I’ve only really taught myself to play as a winger.’ Walters has forced his way back into Martin O'Neill's thinking for the Republic of Ireland . The striker celebrates with John O'Shea after the captain scored a dramatic late equaliser against Germany . Walters gestures to former Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski (right) as he appeals for a penalty . Walters is listed as a midfielder in the Premier League’s fantasy football game. ‘You get the clean sheet bonus, don’t you?’ he quips. That flexibility has certainly aided Walters, who was bought by Pulis for £2.75million in 2010. He believes Stoke are like that, too, able to alter their game to suit situations in a way that Everton, his boyhood team, find tricky. ‘Mark Hughes came in with different ideas and from day one everyone bought into it,’ he says. ‘We play a slightly different way but still retaining that steely grit. ‘Certain teams we play against, sometimes we have to go a bit more direct. We can dig in. Having all those strings to your bow is massive in this league, teams can figure you out. We can change during a game, me included.’ Walters’s view on the game has been coloured by the health issues suffered by his eldest daughter Scarlett, who was born with gastroschisis, a condition in which the intestines protrude outside the abdomen. In 2005 he switched from Championship side Hull to League Two Wrexham so as to be closer to his family on the Wirral when Scarlett needed surgery. ‘I asked to leave to go back home with her as she was so ill,’ he said. ‘I was living in a hospital for three months. It was tough.’ Scarlett, 10, is better now, with a sister and brother aged six and four. Walters has picked himself up too, joining Ipswich in 2007 before Stoke came calling. That move was the reason for his fallout with Keane, who details in his autobiography how Walters did not believe him that no enquiry had been made. ‘There was a bit of shoving,’ writes Keane. ‘I got carried away and Jon got carried away.’ Walters' goal against Swansea City in October saw him cement a regular starting place in Mark Hughes' team . Walters has adjusted his game to make an impression both domestically and internationally this season . Walters had felt compelled to send in a photograph of his vomit to prove he was sick enough to miss an earlier League Cup game. Here, sitting in an armchair at Stoke’s training ground, he smiles knowingly. The pair shook hands after Keane became O’Neill’s assistant. ‘When he first came to Ireland we spoke about it and had a laugh. I get on really well with Roy. I know he can be hard but he’s pretty spot on in what he says.’ Walters tends not to mince words either, choosing that rather graphic turn of phrase to air his views on spitting. He knows though, with team-mate Stephen Ireland’s horrific leg wound in mind, more serious things happen on a pitch. ‘It’s an insult to spit,’ he says. ‘Anything that threatens a career, breaks bones, or seriously injures someone has to be worse.’ Feigning injury does infuriate him. ‘To see people rolling round when they get touched is poor. What annoys me is to think about if two people are going head to head in the street, would one fall over like they’ve been shot?’ Walters has made up with former Ipswich manager Roy Keane after the pair's infamous bust up . The Potters forward nets against Tottenham in November, he has 10 Premier League goals this term . Walters is made from stern stuff and hates it when players feign injury on the football pitch . One creeping concern is his contract, which expires in the summer of 2016. ‘It’s always at the back of your mind. We haven’t had any talks yet. I’m a realist. They’re always looking for someone to replace you. It’s been no different since I’ve been here. ‘The strikers we’ve had in: Eidur Gudjohnsen, Michael Owen, John Carew, Kenwyne Jones, Cameron Jerome, Crouchy is here, Mame Biram Diouf. If the club want to keep me, they will come to me.’ Walters is recently over a mystery knee injury that had troubled him for more than a year and believes he can play until he’s 38. ‘Fitness-wise I tend to do more running, more high-intensity sprints, more recoveries than anyone. We have heart-rate monitors every day. You have to look after yourself off the pitch through diet. I feel great. I have six, seven years, without a shadow of a doubt.’ +Hull have announced their intention to appeal against an Football Association charge of failing to control their players during the goalless draw at Leicester on March 14. The charge arises from a 68th minute incident in which Tigers players surrounded referee Jonathan Moss after Alex Bruce was booked for his challenge on Leicester's Riyad Mahrez. The club's announcement comes as no surprise in the wake of strong comments made by boss Steve Bruce about the incident on Friday. Hull City have been charged for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion . Bruce declared his club would 'vigorously defend' the charge, adding: 'The frustration was that he (Mahrez) was blatantly trying to get somebody sent off. 'We surrounded the referee because it was a perfectly fair challenge'. The appeal will be heard by an independent regulatory commission. Alex Bruce reacted furiously to being booked by referee Jon Ross for a challenge on Riyad Mahrez . Hull City manager Steve Bruce was unhappy with the behaviour of Leicester players . +Hamburg will not extend the contracts of Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart and full back Marcell Jansen beyond this season, the struggling Bundesliga club said on Saturday. Hamburg captain Van der Vaart has had two spells at the club, playing for the former European champions between 2005 and 2008. He then returned in 2012 after stints at Real Madrid and Tottemhan Hotspur. Meanwhile, Jansen, a Germany international, has been at Hamburg since 2008. Hamburg have confirmed that they will not extend the contract of Rafael van der Vaart beyond this season . Van der Vaart is currently one of Hamburg's top earners and is playing in his second spell at the club . 'Rafael and Marcell are aware that we will not hold any contract talks with them,' chairman Dietmar Beiersdorfer told the club's website. Both players are among the club's top earners with Hamburg battling relegation this season. Beiersdorfer said Van der Vaart could return to Hamburg after his active career end to take over a role at the club. 'Rafael is one of the best and most important players of the recent Hamburg past. We want to give him the chance to return after the ends of his playing career. We will discuss a possible position at the right time.' The 32-year-old midfielder has been struggling for form this season and has lost his starting spot. The club have also confirmed they will not extend the deal of full back Marcell Jansen (right) Germany international Jansen, has been at Hamburg since 2008 and made over 150 appearances for them . +Colin Graves says he wants to 'jazz up' Test matches by reducing them to four days . Colin Graves has risked offending cricket’s purists, saying he wants to ‘jazz up’ Test matches by reducing them to four days from the traditional five. Graves, who takes over as ECB chairman from Giles Clarke on May 15, believes Test cricket faces an identity crisis. And, while he was expressing his personal views only, it seems probable they will get an airing when he meets his international counterparts in the ICC boardroom. ‘You can’t continue to leave Test cricket as it is,’ Graves told the lords.org website. ‘If you look at it worldwide, Test cricket is shrinking in the number of people who are watching it on TV and in the grounds. ‘Somehow, somewhere, there is a way to improve Test cricket. It’s the bastion, but we’ve got to modernise it. We’ve got to jazz it up. ‘I think we should look at four-day Test cricket and play 105 overs a day starting at half past ten in the morning, with the ground drainage you’ve got now, and finish when you finish, as all the grounds now have lights. ‘Every Test match would start on a Thursday, so you have two days for corporates, and two days for families. From a cost point of view you’d save that fifth day, which would save a hell of a lot of money from the ground’s point of view and the broadcasters. ‘In reality, there’s not many people who turn up and watch it on the fifth day.’ Graves’ formula would trim a total of only 30 overs off a Test: the current format is five days of 90 overs each). But it leaves little wriggle room in case of bad weather – a perennial problem during the British summer. And, while he has a point about poor fifth-day attendances, his plan would risk sacrificing some of the thrilling finishes Test matches have witnessed over the past few years. Only last season the games against Sri Lanka at Lord’s and Headingley both came down to the final over. Stuart Broad celebrates taking the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne during day five of last season's Test match . An attempt to squeeze in an extra 15 overs a day would not be without its drawbacks either: Test teams habitually struggle to bowl the current minimum of 90 without making use of the extra half-hour allotted to them. Cricket would also lose one of its enduring charms: the deteriorating fifth-day pitch, even if these are less common than they used to be. And that’s all before the broadcasters have their say. At least Graves’s thought process suggests the kind of open-mindedness too often lacking among cricket’s administrators. Too many have harrumphed ineffectually over the future of the Test game in those parts of the world that favour the shorter formats – only then to announce the formation of yet another domestic Twenty20 tournament. A few weeks ago, Graves insisted Kevin Pietersen, who recently joined Surrey, must be playing county cricket to stand any chance of appearing for England . Whether or not his comments amount to anything other than a personal opinion, they confirm the view that Graves will be very much his own man once he replaces Clarke, who will assume the new role of ECB president. That much was evident a few weeks ago when Graves appeared to offer a route back into the England team for Kevin Pietersen, saying he needed to be playing county cricket to stand any chance. Graves has been perplexed by the spin placed on those comments, insisting England’s stance on the Pietersen issue has not changed. But, with six weeks still to go until he assumes office, Graves is already carving out a reputation as a man who means business. +Kevin Pietersen is still on track to play in this summer's Caribbean Premier League for the St Lucia Zouks. Organisers confirmed the schedule on Tuesday, in a press release which lists Pietersen as one of its stars - alongside West Indies big-hitter Chris Gayle, Martin Guptill and Jacques Kallis among others. Pietersen negotiated a release from the majority of his Indian Premier League contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad next month and in May so that he could agree a new contract with Surrey. Kevin Pietersen negotiated a release from his IPL contract so that he could agree a new contract with Surrey . Pietersen has been in Australia for the Cricket World Cup and this picture suggests he is struggling with jetlag . The superstar batsman, sacked by England last year after their Ashes whitewash defeat, is hoping a return to four-day county cricket may yet pave the way for a Test recall. New England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves has hinted that could be a possibility, if Pietersen performs well. The 34-year-old has said he will 'do anything' to play for England again, and dreams of being back for this summer's Ashes rematch - a series which runs from July 8 to August 24. Pietersen agreed in the close season to return to play for the Zouks, as he did last summer. His commitments for them may, however, clash with part of the Ashes - or his hopes of continuing to press his claims with runs for Surrey. The South African-born batsman hasn't given up on receiving a call-up for the Ashes Tests this summer . The CPL season begins on June 20 and ends on July 26 and the tournament's international director of cricket, Tom Moody, is confident Pietersen will be there. 'At this stage he sees himself very much as part of the CPL, he's made the commitment and will have played a lot of county cricket at that time,' he told the CPL's official website. 'We don't see that changing, he hasn't indicated that's going to be the case (to pull out) but if he's suddenly picked in an Ashes Test match that's all going to change very quickly. 'I think that is probably not a realistic target for him unless something dramatic happens between now and then. It's going to be hard for him, there's a lot of hurdles to be overcome; one, form, which will be his easiest hurdle; two, his fitness and three is his building bridges. There are many to be built after what has been said from both parties over a long period of time.' Pietersen shared a picture of himself celebrating Australia's World Cup win with James Faulkner . +Frank Lampard has taken advantage of the international break to check out properties in Manhattan with his fiancee Christine Bleakley ahead of his move to New York City in July. The couple are reportedly interested in a 9,000 sq ft apartment in the Big Apple, which would cost them an incredible £64,000 ($95,000) per month. Lampard and Bleakley flew to New York for the weekend where they watched his new team take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night at Yankee stadium. Frank Lampard recently went flat-hunting at a £64,000 a month apartment with his fiancee Christine Bleakley . The apartment also comes with 5,300 sq ft of outdoor terraces which give sweeping views over the city . The MLS new boys couldn't put on a show for their soon-to-arrive designated player and Bleakley on Saturday night as they crashed to their first defeat of the season against the visitors from Kansas. Lampard has spent the season at Manchester City after agreeing his Stateside move last summer, but the half-season 'loan' to the Premier League champions caused controversy when it was revealed that the midfielder had instead signed for the entire campaign in England, making him miss the MLS' start. It was reported that Lampard could have even headed to New York for good this month after finding it difficult to break back into Manuel Pellegrini's side, but that now seems unlikely. Lampard is pictured watching on at the Yankee Stadium ahead of New York City's game on Saturday . Lampard has found it difficult to get back into the City team after a good run of games earlier in the season . Having retired from international football, the 36-year-old took the opportunity to see his new city . +Harry Kane may have taken the impact debut to another level with his goal after 79 seconds but he was not the first new cap to make a quick impression in England colours this season. In October, Fabian Delph left his mark on the Swiss in more ways than one, adding much-needed . He was booked less than nine minutes into his first England start as he launched a series of tackles. For a time it was hard to know if his premature end would be via red card or substitution. Fabian Delph of England speaks to the media during the England press conference ahead of the clash with Italy . Delph left his mark on the Swiss in more ways than one, adding much-needed bite to Roy Hodgson’s midfield . Delph  cleaned up his disciplinary record to help international career after collecting 20 yellows in two years . The Aston Villa midfielder soon settled, however, and it turned out to be neither. He produced a terrific display in Basle and won his fourth cap against Lithuania on Friday. He has also cleaned up his disciplinary record to help his international career and, after collecting 20 in two years, has just one yellow and one red in 26 appearances this season for club and country. ‘You’ve got to be more careful,’ said Delph. ‘I like to tackle and I’ve managed to curb it this season. I got the yellow against Switzerland and then the red against Sunderland but other than that I’ve been pretty clean. I’m usually on about nine or 10 bookings at this stage! ‘It’s hard to lunge into tackles in international football. If you lunge in on a top-class international footballer they just skip round you or you bring them down. I tried to set a target. I’ve been able to do that so I’m quite proud.’ Harry Kane made a big impact on debut twith his goal after just 79 seconds seconds at Wembley Stadium . Both Kane and Delph shone for England as Roy Hodgson's side swept Lithuania aside at Wembley . Even so, his natural aggression lifted England in Switzerland, where a 2-0 win restored some of the confidence lost at the World Cup. ‘I remember lining up a few tackles and getting them wrong, but it didn’t faze me,’ said Delph. ‘It was one of those things. I tried to impose myself early on and mistimed it. After that it was just about trying to stay on my feet, trying to get through the game, trying to perform well, with good energy, keep the ball moving and I managed to do that.’ Dennis Wise can testify to this fondness for physical combat having been cut down by a teenage Delph during one of the regular games between the Leeds staff and youth team. Wise, manager at Elland Road at the time, liked his style and picked him for the first team before he was 18. Lithuania's Tomas Mikuckis tracks Aston Villa and England midfielder Delph during the game at Wembley . ‘Those games did get quite tasty,’ said Delph. ‘I did tackle him and he tackled me back. They tended to get quite heated. He gave me my debut. I’m so grateful to Dennis. And Gus Poyet, his assistant. Gus could kick a few people as well.’ This breakthrough rewarded years of commitment from Delph and his mother Donna, who would hop on various buses and trains together to get to academy training sessions. ‘It’s funny to look back on this little kid jumping off the bus to training,’ he said. ‘At one point, it would take three buses and one train. But it’s worked out well. I’ve always been pushed hard to succeed. To get those buses, it was nothing.’ As soon as he was able, he bought his mother a house. ‘She’s my hero,’ said Delph. ‘We didn’t have a car, so she took me on the bus or on the train and she believed in me. She was just a great Mum and a great role model.’ Delph speaks to the media at an England press conference ahead of the midweek clash with Italy . Determination is a recurring theme for Delph, who swapped hometown Bradford for Leeds at the age of 11 and then joined Villa for £6million in 2009, only to be hit by serious knee injuries. ‘I ruptured my anterior cruciate ligament, had bad medial ligament damage and tore my lateral meniscus and (knee surgeon) Andy Williams managed to save that,’ said Delph. ‘I got back quite quickly and then broke down four times. I did my medial again on the other knee and then the knees were done and it was my ankles; the left ankle, the right ankle a few times. It was a rollercoaster ride. It made me stronger. It made me realise how much it takes to play at a high level and physically be strong. I worked really hard in the gym. Aston Villa midfielder Delph has a pop at goal during England's clash with Lithuania at Wembley Stadium . ‘I was confident of coming out the other end but there were always questions. Is he going to get back to his best? Is he going to be the same player?’ As it turned out, he did get back, won his place back in the Villa team and took his England opportunity in the absence of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. He missed two months with a shoulder injury soon after breaking into Hodgson’s team but bounced back again, signing a new deal which ties him to Villa Park until 2019. At 25, Delph is a regular in the England midfield. He is still making an impression, five months after his explosive full debut, and he has the cards under control. +Frank Lampard finally made it to a New York City game on Saturday night, but his new club must have wished they had the Manchester City midfielder on the pitch rather than in the stands as they lost 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City. Barclays Premier League legend Lampard is set to link up with his new club on July 1, but he has been using the international break to check out the city he will call home and to visit the Yankee Stadium to take in what it will be like playing in Major League Soccer. But the MLS new boys couldn't put on a show for their soon-to-arrive designated player and his fiancée Christine Bleakley on Saturday night, crashing to their first defeat of the season against the visitors from Kansas. Frank Lampard is pictured watching on at the Yankee Stadium ahead of New York City's game on Saturday . The MLS new boys lost 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City but Lampard enjoyed the atmosphere on his visit . Lampard has spent the season at Manchester City after agreeing his Stateside move last summer, but the half-season 'loan' to the Premier League champions caused controversy when it was revealed that the midfielder had instead signed for the entire campaign in England, making him miss the MLS' start. Having retired from international football, the 36-year-old had been able to use the break to check out Manhattan properties ahead of the game before jetting back to Manchester to help out in City's bid to catch his former club Chelsea in the title race . It was reported that Lampard could have even headed to New York for good this month after finding it difficult to break back into Manuel Pellegrini's side, but that now seems unlikely. Lampard and his fiancée Christine Bleakley and pictured arriving in New York earlier this week . The Manchester City midfielder has been checking out Manhattan properties ahead of his July move . 'I’m certain we’ll get to spend some time together,' New York City FC coach Jason Kreis said of Lampard earlier in the week. 'It’s really exciting, obviously, that he’s going to take that time and make the effort to come over and see us this weekend when he has a break. 'We’ll look forward to spending some time with him and also getting him around the guys some more. I think that’s important.' Lampard has found it difficult to get back into the City team after a good run of games earlier in the season . Having retired from international football, the 36-year-old took the opportunity to see his new city . +West Ham striker Andy Carroll hasn't had much luck on the pitch lately after injuring his knee in February, which ruled him out for the rest of the season, but he's been keeping busy away from Upton Park. The former Liverpool striker, who has struggled for injuries since sealing his £15m move to the Hammers in 2013, was pictured building a rocking chair for his baby he's expecting with fiance Billi Mucklow. Carroll was obviously missing his team as he wore a West Ham training kit while reading instructions on how to build the chair. Andy Carroll builds a rocking chair for baby he is expecting with Billi Mucklow . The West Ham striker has been plagued by injuries since sealing his £15m move to Upton Park in 2013 . The Hammers' record signing stepped up his recovery this week and completed a spin and gym session. The latest injury, which he suffered against Southampton in February, joins a long list of injuries the 26-year-old has suffered throughout his career. But Carroll was in high spirits as he looks forward to welcoming the new addition to the family. Carroll hasn't played for West Ham since February after injuring his knee against Southampton . Carroll and former TOWIE star Mucklow announced they were expecting a baby on Christmas Day . +Javier Hernandez has voiced his disappointment over a lack of playing time at Real Madrid. The Mexico international, nicknamed Chicharito, joined the European champions last summer on a season-long loan from Manchester United and has made just one Primera Division start. Real have an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season but the 26-year-old forward is unlikely to remain at the Bernabeu stadium. Javier Hernandez says his lack of playing time has been frustrating since he joined Real Madrid on loan . First team opportunities have been thin on the ground for the Manchester United striker during his loan . 'My situation is frustrating,' Hernandez said in an interview with Fox Sports which will air on Monday evening. 'I cooperate, I help and give my 100 per cent in training but in the games the opportunities are slim. 'I'm in a team but left out of what is important, which are the games. 'At times my confidence is rock bottom although I try for it to be sky high, thanks to the people that are always there with me and support me.' Hernandez, who joined United from Chivas de Guadalajara in 2010, feels he has delivered for Real when called upon. He has scored three goals and provided one assist in 13 league appearances for Carlo Ancelotti's side. Hernandez, who scored for Mexico in a friendly this week, has just three La Liga goals this season . The Mexican left Manchester United to get first team football after the arrival of Radamel Falcao . 'The most important thing is to have opportunities and feel confidence in yourself,' Hernandez said. 'Whenever they (Real) have placed their confidence in me, the numbers have been positive.' Hernandez opted to leave United last summer after falling down in the pecking order following the arrival of Radamel Falcao to Old Trafford from Monaco. He is under contract with the Red Devils until June 2016. Hernandez is currently on international duty with Mexico and he started and scored in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Ecuador in an international friendly in Los Angeles. +Raheem Sterling's contract talks at Liverpool have taken a dramatic twist after it emerged he is prepared to turn down one of the biggest deals in the club’s history. Negotiations with Sterling have reached yet another impasse and it is understood that even if Liverpool offer £180,000 a week he will not sign. Sterling, who has turned down a number of offers from Liverpool, believes his best position is in the three forward positions and is becoming increasingly concerned about his position at wing-back. Raheem Sterling is prepared to turn down a mammoth £180,000-a-week deal at Liverpool . The Liverpool forward was in action for his country on Friday night in a European qualifier . The 20-year-old scored for England in their 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night . The forward, who has vowed to concentrate on his football for the rest of the season and not be distracted by contract talks, has returned to Merseyside after spending a week with England. Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group now face a massive battle to persuade Sterling, 20, that his future is at Anfield because it appears it is not just the financial terms causing an issue. Sterling has held talks with Liverpool over his future throughout the season but decided to wait for the summer after they could not agree terms. He performed well in England’s 4-0 victory over Lithuania last Friday when he played in his preferred position as a forward. He had been encouraged by England’s head coach Roy Hodgson to swap positions with Danny Welbeck during the game and responded with a goal and assist for Harry Kane.Hodgson believes Sterling is playing better football for England than his club. Sterling has vowed to concentrate on his football for the rest of the season and not deal with contract issues . Brendan Rodgers will have to convince Sterling to sign a deal that could be one of the biggest in club's history . Sterling misses Tuesday's friendly in Italy because he has returned to Liverpool following an injection on a toe injury. He is set to recover in time for Saturday’s trip to Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League, but his position in the team is not straightforward. Sterling finished the 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United playing as a left wing-back. Although he was used in a forward position for wins over Swansea and Manchester City, he was also used as a wing-back against Blackburn in the FA Cup and Burnley in the league. Sterling has performed well for Liverpool, but he is yet to sign a new deal to keep him at Anfield . +Kevin Pietersen is eyeing a return to the England international fold ahead of the Ashes in the summer but he took time to enjoy himself behind enemy lines after the World Cup final on Sunday. Australia recorded a seven wicket victory over New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to win the World Cup for the fifth time and despite his allegiances to England, Pietersen joined in with the Australia celebrations. The 34-year-old, who was out in Australia working as a pundit during the tournament, uploaded a picture to Twitter of himself taking in the party atmosphere with Australia fast-bowling all rounder James Faulkner . Kevin Pietersen joins in with the Australia celebrations alongside James Faulkner after the World Cup final . Pietersen's former England team-mate responded to Pietersen's picture with a joke referring to John Terry . Mitchell Starc (right) and David Warner continued their celebrations on the pitch after winning the World Cup . Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday . Australia's World Cup final victory is their fifth overall success in the tournament . Pietersen's post immediately drew a barb from former England team-mate Andrew Flintoff, who replied with 'Kevs the new John Terry' in reference to the Chelsea captain's celebrations after the 2012 Champions League final which he missed due to suspension. Australia duo Mitchell Starc and David Warner were seen continuing their celebrations at becoming world champions well into the early hours at the MCG. They were photographed at 2;15am local time on the pitch spraying what appeared to be alcohol over each other after securing victory over their World Cup co-hosts. +Martin Crowe can 'happily live with' New Zealand's World Cup final against Australia being potentially the last match he ever watches. Former Black Caps captain Crowe, 52, is suffering from lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. He made an initial recovery after being diagnosed with the disease in 2012 but wrote on Twitter last September: 'After a brilliant year of self discovery and recovery I have more work to do. My friend & tough taskmaster Lymphoma is back to teach me.' Former New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe is suffering with lymphoma, cancer of the immune system . Crowe says the cricket World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia could be the last game he sees . Australia captain Michael Clarke (left) poses with New Zealand leader Brendon McCullum . He has since undergone chemotherapy but even as his health fails, he cannot contain his excitement about the prospect awaiting his country and its near neighbour. Crowe wrote on ESPN Cricinfo: 'On Sunday, in front of a packed house at the one and only Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia and New Zealand go to war once again. This time not as brothers in arms but as fierce rivals, a rivalry all the more meaningful for our long history together. 'We are brothers and will always be. On Sunday one sibling will upset the other. As one of those proud brothers, I am stunned by the prospect. 'Without question, this will be the personal cricketing highlight of my life, and I sense for New Zealand too. 'My precarious life ahead may not afford me the luxury of many more games to watch and enjoy. So this is likely to be it. The last, maybe, and I can happily live with that.' Brendon McCullum's attacking batting and captaincy has led New Zealand to the final, while Martin Guptill rewrote the World Cup record books with his unbeaten 237 against the West Indies in the quarter-final, while the bowling attack has also been in form. Crowe pictured in action for New Zealand in a test match against England in February 1988 . Crowe praised players such as Martin Guptill (left) as New Zealand gear up for the World Cup final . Crowe continued: 'To see the two sons I never had, Ross Taylor and Marty Guptill, run out in black, in sync with their close comrades, drawing on all their resolve and resilience, will be mesmerically satisfying. 'I will hold back tears all day long. I will gasp for air on occasions. I will feel like a nervous parent. I will, like so many Kiwis making the short trek across the Tasman, feel this to be the greatest cricketing time of our lives. 'Four million dare to believe, while 11 (and back-up) dare to achieve. Whatever happens, March 29 at the MCG will be the most divine fun ever.' +Man of the moment Harry Kane will be handed his first international start for England in Tuesday's friendly against Italy in Turin. The Tottenham striker continued his sensational breakthrough season by scoring after just 79seconds when he came on as a second-half substitute in England's 4-0 rout of Lithuania in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday. The 21-year-old's goal scoring feats, along with injuries to the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck, have seen Three Lions manager Roy Hodgson opt to play Kane from the start against the 2006 World Cup winners. Wayne Rooney and Roy Hodgson address the media ahead of England's friendly with Italy on Tuesday . England manager Hodgson (2nd left) speaks to his players on the pitch in Turin . Man of the moment Harry Kane (right) looks around Juventus Stadium ahead of the match against Italy . Goal hero Harry Kane (left) will earn his second cap alongside Wayne Rooney (right) in England's attack . Kane celebrates his debut goal during England's 4-0 Euro 2016 qualifier defeat of Lithuania . Speaking to reporters ahead of the game at Juventus Stadium, Hodgson refused to follow Italy coach Antonio Conte by naming his starting line-up but did confirm Kane would play up front alongside captain Wayne Rooney. 'I understand why Antonio has done that because this is a friendly match and it's a time to experiment with players,' he said. 'I'm able to (name my team) but I'm not going to. I can tell you that Harry Kane will make his full debut, playing from the start and Wayne Rooney will captain the team. 'If you really want to know our line-up you will have to wait until tomorrow night when the game kicks off. England assistant coach Gary Neville (centre) entertains the players from his mobile phone . Players crack up after reacting to whatever Gary Neville has been showing them from his phone . The Three Lions stars appeared in high spirits ahead of the friendly match with Italy . The England squad take in the Juventus Stadium as they seek an eighth consecutive victory . Hodgson revealed that the pair have been practicing their partnership together during training, while adding that Tuesday's friendly was an opportunity for fringe players to step to the fore. 'I think it's nice to see the two of them (Rooney and Kane) on the field together,' he added. 'They've played a lot in training and the other night they could have but they didn't because Harry took Wayne's place. 'So I am pleased to see them playing together in this game and Harry certainly deserves his chance.' 'We're looking forward to the game and we are taking it very seriously. 'It's an opportunity for some players that haven't been involved in the European qualifying games to show that they deserve to be in the squad and are good enough to take the place of other players that I've selected before them.' England defenders Ryan Bertrand (left) and Nathanial Clyne take a picture souvenir from Turin . (L-R) Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and Ross Barkley take in the surroundings ahead of Tuesday's showdown . Manchester United captain Rooney expressed his delight at partnering Kane on what will be a 'big night' for the Spurs youngster. 'Its exciting for English football that Harry has come through and has been scoring goals for Tottenham. I hope that continues,' said Rooney. 'It's a big night for him, his first start for England. I'm sure he'll be excited and will go out and give his best. 'Obviously I'm excited to play with him and hopefully we can do well to try and help the team win.' Three Lions captain Rooney expressed his excitement at playing alongside Kane . +Liverpool players past and present painted the town red on Sunday night following the All-Stars charity match at Anfield. Among the stars to revel in the moment at the Hilton Hotel in Liverpool was Steven Gerrard, who had earlier captained one of the teams in a 2-2 draw in front of a sell-out crowd in the game organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation. Joined by a host of Liverpool legends, the Anfield faithful were once again graced with the presence of the likes of Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Dirk Kuyt and Pepe Reina, and gave a particularly warm welcome to familiar faces Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres. Steven Gerrard (left) embraces former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina during the night's celebrations . Fenerbahce forward Dirk Kuyt (left) was also among the familiar faces in Liverpool on Sunday . Jose Enrique (right) and Alberto Moreno (left) pose for a photograph with their partners after a spot of dinner . Enrique posted this picture showing an ice sculpture dedicated to the match earlier on Sunday afternoon . Also joining in with the celebrations was Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique, who said it was a 'great party after the game.' Posing for photographs for his Instagram account, Reds captain Gerrard celebrated a successful afternoon that saw him net twice from the penalty spot to cancel out Mario Balotelli and Didier Drogba's goals for the equally star-studded XI skippered by former team-mate Jamie Carragher. Reflecting on a day which will see all proceeds given to various local charities - including not only Liverpool's official charity but also Alder Hey Children's Hospital - the former England captain expressed his pride following the afternoon's events. 'I enjoyed the day. It was brilliant being a part of it,' Gerrard said. 'The main reason we were here today was for the charities, to help give something back to the city. Me and Jamie [Carragher] were keen to do another event and with a big help from the club we've made it happen. We've done it in an enjoyable way.' Enrique and Croatian defender Dejan Lovren (right) smile for the camera at the All-Star after party . Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho (left) and Liverpool captain Gerrard soak up the atmosphere . Back in familiar surroundings was former striker Torres, who scored 65 goals in 102 appearances for the Merseyside club. 'Amazing [to be back]. So emotional after many years to come back here,' Torres said. 'The love of the people is amazing. Everybody knows Liverpoool supporters are different class. For me today is an unforgettable day. 'Amazing [reaction from the Kop]. My best memories in football are playing here at Anfield.' Gerrard (third left) is congratulated by former team-mates Fernando Torres (No 9) and Luis Suarez (third right) Gerrard was on hand to net twice from the penalty spot to level the scores in the second half . Bayern Munich midfielder Alonso leaves the field to a warm embrace with Reds boss Brendan Rodgers . +Talk about making an entrance. The teams were out for the second half, the spectators were seated and the referees were ready to get going but there was one problem: two players were missing. So Anfield waited patiently, expectantly and then they got what they wanted: emerging from the tunnel, wearing No 7 and No 9, came Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres, two of this stadium’s most revered former sons. This was an afternoon for nostalgia, a chance for Liverpudlians to embrace the past and pay homage to some returning heroes and they grabbed their chance when Suarez and Torres took to the field for this All-Star Charity match, between teams captained by Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Steven Gerrard (third left) is congratulated by former Liverpool strikers Fernando Torres (second left) and Luis Suarez (third right) at Anfield . Suarez, Torres, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Pepe Reina and Alvaro Arbeloa pose for a photograph after the game . Mario Balotelli, who hasn't shown his best form since arriving at Liverpool for £16million in the summer, scored a brilliant goal from long range . Drogba Drogba added a second goal to put Jamie Carragher's side 2-0 up, latching on to a pass and rounding goalkeeper Brad Jones to score . Gerrard converted a penalty to bring his team back into the game on a sunny afternoon at Anfield in the all-star charity game . A second penalty of the afternoon followed for Gerrard in the second half and he duly converted that one too to level the scores . Steven Gerrard's XI: Jones (Vigouroux 78 mins), Johnson, A Gerrard (Dann 46), Terry (Williams 46), Riise (Warnock 46), S Gerrard (Teixeira 81), Alonso (Teixeira 32) (Adam 46), Nolan (Spearing 46), Babel, Sinclair (Torres 46), Henry (Suarez 46). Manager: Brendan Rodgers . Jamie Carragher's XI: Reina (Gulacsi 61), Flanagan (Moreno 32), Carragher, Kelly, Arbeloa (Clichy 46), Lucas (Maguire 72), Shelvey (Noone 46), Kewell (Borini 46), Downing (Bellamy 46), Drogba (Garcia 46), Balotelli (Brannagan 46). Manager: Roy Evans . Attendance: 44,903 . Torres, who was sold to Chelsea for £50million two days after Suarez joined Liverpool in January 2011, had admitted to being unsure what kind of reception he would receive, given the circumstances in which he had left. There was also the fact that his last touch on this ground came on April 27 last year, when he slipped the ball past the stranded Simon Mignolet to Willian. The upshot, of course, was the Brazilian scoring and Chelsea blowing a hole in Liverpool’s title challenge. He need not have worried. His name was cheered before the game, he was hailed on to the pitch and his was the first name sung in the second half of a ‘contest’ that should see local charities benefit to the tune of more than £1m. It wasn’t just about Torres, though. This was an opportunity for many big names from Liverpool’s past to say proper goodbyes, for men like Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Suarez, Jon Arne Riise and the non-playing Dirk Kuyt to bring closure to certain chapters in their respective careers. Alonso, for one, had waited six years for this. He could have had a reunion last October with Real Madrid in the Champions League but he had been sold to Bayern Munich two months before. Alonso found out about the emotional draw moments after completing his medical in Germany. He, clearly, enjoyed the 30 minutes he was on the pitch, as did everyone else involved in the game, which came from an idea Gerrard had to say thank you to Liverpool as a city before he starts his new venture in Los Angeles. Drogba puts an arm around West Ham United midfielder Kevin Nolan as stars from across Gerrard and Carragher's careers came out to play . Harry Kewell plays a pass with his left foot as Chelsea captain John Terry and Liverpool captain Gerrard, playing on the same team, watch on . Balotelli opened the scoring at Anfield after just eight minutes, getting ahead of opposition captain Gerrard to slam in a long-range shot . Carragher and his Sky Sports colleague Thierry Henry share a laugh and a high five after the former defender thwarts his friend's chance . Drogba doubled the lead after deceiving goalkeeper Jones with a step-over and then coolly finishing into the empty net at the Kop end . Chelsea's Ivorian centre forward has scored 11 goals against Liverpool during his long career so it was no surprise to see him score at Anfield . Take John Terry and Didier Drogba. For so long these two Chelsea stalwarts have been regarded as the enemy but both were given generous receptions for helping the cause, particularly Drogba when he scored the second goal of the game for Carragher’s team on 31 minutes. The first had been scored by Mario Balotelli and a cracker it was too, the Italian whipping a 25-yard drive that fizzed into the corner of The Kop net on nine minutes. He wasn’t put under great pressure but the finish still smacked of class. At one stage it looked as if Carragher’s side, managed by Roy Evans, would saunter to victory but Gerrard has made comebacks a fixture of his Liverpool career and he ensured this match did not end in defeat. He scored two penalties, one in the 36th minute after Martin Kelly had adjudged to trip Jerome Sinclair and another just after the hour when Carragher quite clearly barged Luis Suarez over. Some would say the Sportsmail columnist was lucky not to make it into Lee Probert’s book. The icing on the cake would have been a goal for either Torres or Suarez but, despite the best efforts of the Uruguayan in particular, it never arrived. No matter. A draw was an appropriate end to a memorable day. The smiles on the faces as a lap of honour was completed confirmed that. Balotelli and Drogba share an embrace after their goals gave Carragher's XI the lead from early on in the charity game . Bayern Munich midfielder Alonso leaves the field at Anfield to a warm ovation and an embrace with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers . Jerome Sinclair was brought down by Martin Kelly inside the Carragher XI penalty area to give Gerrard the chance to pull a goal back . Pepe Reina does his best to put his old team-mate off ahead of his attempt from the spot, but the jibes were all good-natured between the pair . Gerrard was obviously not phased by Reina's antics, and he sent the Spanish keeper the wrong way from the spot, shooting to his left . Two former Liverpool strikers entered the field as half-time substitutes, with Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres both returning to Anfield . Torres holds off the challenge of current Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva as he got back into the experience of playing on Merseyside . Gerrard tucks away his second penalty of the afternoon to level the scores for his team after they came from two goals behind . Afterwards Gerrard told LFC TV: 'It has been absolute brilliant, more than anything the charities have done well with a full house. 'The hairs on my neck were standing up. There were times I didn't know who to pass to. People have gone out of their way to come here. 'It has been absolutely magical. Every player who was asked to come here did, whether they had to drive for an hour or get three flights.' Suarez plants a kiss on the head of his former captain after he converted the penalty won by the Uruguayan to make it 2-2 at Anfield . Charlie Adam tries to get the ball away from Lucas in midfield as the two teams enjoyed a well-fought but fair game on Sunday afternoon . Carragher and Reina, who spent years together at Anfield, enjoy a moment out on the pitch as they renewed their defensive link-up . Suarez, Torres, Garcia, Alonso, Gerrard, Kuyt and Arbeloa (left to right) gather for a photo together after the full-time whistle . The famous Anfield scoreboard shows the names of two of the stadium's most famous players after their two teams played out a 2-2 draw . Balotelli posted this photo after the game captioned: 'LEGENDS. Always nice to see you guys, @didierdrogba you are welcome for my pass . Drogba, Torres and Terry pose together as they caught up on their days at Chelsea together in the Anfield dressing rooms after the game . +Fernando Torres admitted being blown away by the welcome he received from Liverpool fans on an emotional return to Anfield on Sunday. The Spain international returned to his former club to take part in a charity match played between teams picked by Reds icons Steven Gerrard and Sportsmail's own Jamie Carragher. Torres and Luis Suarez both received a standing ovation when they made their second-half introduction. Torres admits being surprised by the response, especially after supporters had acted angrily when he left the club for Chelsea for a then British record £50million in 2011. Fernando Torres applauds Liverpool fans after taking part in a charity game at Anfield . Torres and another returning Reds striker Luiz Suarez were given a standing ovation when they came on . CLICK HERE to read the full match report from Anfield . The famous 'Fernando Torres Liverpool's number nine' chant was sung by the Kop and a clearly moved Torres said afterwards: 'It was just very emotional. 'I didn't know how to react because I was not expecting them to sing the song which I still remember. 'I remember the great games we had here in the Champions league and trying to win the league and fighting for trophies. The Spain international admits he will 'never forget' hearing his name chanted by Liverpool fans again . Torres and Suarez congratulate their team captain Steven Gerrard after he scored from the spot . Liverpool players past and present gather for a photo together after the full-time whistle . 'I have this song in my head and it was so important for me. 'Those three and a half years changed my entire life and I remember every important moment there was always that song from the Kop. 'So to hear that once again is something I will never forget. Goal scorer Didier Drogba (left) shared a picture with Torres and John Terry after the game . Gerrard, who is leaving for the MLS at the end of the season, scored both his side's goals with penalties . 'Everybody knows Liverpool fans are different class and for me today it is one of those things you can only dream about. 'It is just amazing to be able to be here and I just want to thank everybody for the welcome.' Mario Balotelli opened the scoring before Didier Drogba doubled the lead for Carragher's XI in the first half. Departing captain, Gerrard, who leaves for MLS side LA Galaxy at the end of the season, ensured the game finished level by netting a brace from the penalty spot. +Chris Smalling is happy to wait until the summer to begin negotiations over a new contract at Manchester United. Smalling's current deal expires at the end of next season and he is keen to stay at Old Trafford. The England defender is enjoying life under Louis van Gaal, who has selected him in United's last five games. Chris Smalling is happy to wait until summer to begin negotiations over a new Manchester United contract . The United centre back's current deal expires at the end of the season but he is happy with the situation . Manchester United . Appearances: 22 . Goals: 3 . Bookings: 1 . Red cards: 1 . Clean sheets: 7 . England . Appearances: 2 . Goals: 0 . Bookings: 0 . Red cards: 0 . Clean sheets: 0 . And he does not see himself joining another club any time soon. 'Yes, I do,' Smalling said when asked if he wanted to stay at United long term. 'I am enjoying it. I always have, and if I can contribute then I am happy to stay for as long as they want me.' When asked if he was happy to wait until the end of the season to start negotiations, Smalling replied: 'Yeah, and finish as strong as we can. 'If I can contribute as much as I can then I will be very happy. 'I have not even really discussed it with anyone. 'It's a case of the manager showing his faith in me and if I am playing I am happy and we have another eight games to finish as strong as we can. 'There aren't any negotiations (under way) that I am aware of. I don't really take care of that.' Smalling does not see himself joining another club any time soon and wants to stay at Old Trafford . Smalling is on England duty after helping United beat Liverpool at Anfield in the Barclays Premier League . Roy Hodgson's contract runs to the end of Euro 2016 and Smalling would like to see the England manager stay on beyond that tournament. Hodgson signed Smalling for Fulham seven years ago and the defender is a big fan of the 67-year-old. 'Ever since I have worked with Roy, he has shown faith in all the players, especially the younger players,' Smalling said. 'We have all enjoyed training with him and obviously he is focusing on until next summer. I would be very happy to work with him for a longer period.' Smalling sees off the challenge of Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno in what was a crucial win for United . Smalling would like to see England manager Roy Hodgson stay on beyond the end of his current deal . Hodgson maintained his 100 per cent post-World Cup record on Friday when England beat Lithuania 4-0 at Wembley. The Three Lions will make it eight wins in a row if they beat Italy in Turin on Tuesday. Smalling thinks Hodgson has turned England into a fearsome team since their World Cup debacle. 'A lot of teams will be frightened and hopefully on Tuesday we will show that,' he said. 'I think we are on the verge of something special. We are winning games. We are being ruthless and we are really together.' Smalling gets into an argument with Liverpool's Mario Balotelli at Anfield last weekend . +When Sporting Lisbon forked out their biggest transfer fee of the season on an unknown Scottish teenager, you could have expected Ryan Gauld to feel the spotlight burning fiercely on him following his arrival in Portugal. The Scotland Under-21 international insists, however, that he feels under less pressure at his new club than he did at Dundee United. Gauld secured a dream £3million move to Sporting from Tannadice last summer after long being tagged with his ‘Mini Messi’ nickname on these shores amid endless hype about his ability. The Portuguese giants have blooded him slowly into their side, giving the 19-year-old plenty of time to adjust to his new life. After playing in several League Cup ties, he was finally unleashed in a league game against Rio Ave in January. Sporting Lisbon's Ryan Gauld (centre) says he feels at home in Portugal after his move from Dundee United . And Gauld — who starred for Danny Lennon’s Scotland Under-21s during their win in Hungary this week — admits he is delighted at the way he has settled into his new surroundings, highlighting the way he has been able to learn ‘behind the scenes’ as the reason for his successful transition. ‘Of course there was a bit of pressure on me going to Portugal,’ he says. ‘But I was excited at the thought of a new beginning. ‘There was a lot of focus on me in Scotland — a lot of talk about me and what I was going to do. Youngster Gould (right) is currently back in his home country with Scotland Under 21s . ‘But I wanted to escape that. That’s why I was delighted to sign for Sporting because it was like starting again. That was part of my thinking behind the move. To get away from it all and develop as a player behind the scenes. ‘People might think the pressure would increase going to a bigger club in a bigger league. But for me it was almost the opposite. I can relax more at Sporting. I was delighted to get out of the limelight that I had at United. When I was there, there was so much talk about stuff I didn’t like to read about or hear. ‘So going over to Portugal was the right move for me, in terms of development. I knew I wouldn’t go straight into the first team. It took Gauld a while to settle into his new surroundings, but now he feels at home in Lisbon . ‘I was always going to have to play for the B team first but that was perfect for me to learn. There was no pressure on me. I could get on with it behind the scenes.’ Gauld admits it wasn’t all straightforward and that it took some time to settle into life in Lisbon. However, he believes he has finally adapted to both the change of football style and lifestyle and loved making his bow for Sporting, where he was widely praised by coming off the bench and inspiring a 4-2 win at home to Rio Ave. ‘I’m in a good place right now, definitely, in my football and in my life,’ he continues. ‘I’m at a really good point in my career. I’m playing games every week and I’m enjoying it. I feel more settled in Lisbon now than I did six months ago. It was a big move and it was always going to take time to adapt. Gauld (left) played in an international challenge match for Scotland Under 21s against Hungary this week . ‘If I’m honest, it did take longer than I expected it to. But now I’ve been there nine months and I feel totally at home in Portugal. ‘That’s my first year nearly up and it’s flown by. I’ve settled well and I’m really happy. The main thing to begin with was adapting to the way the Portuguese play because it’s very different to what I was used to. ‘It took a lot of games for the B team before I felt comfortable with Portuguese football and the way they play. But I’ve been rewarded by a couple of substitute appearances for the first team, so everything’s going well right now. Gauld has long held the nickname 'Mini Messi' but he feels out of the spotlight playing for Sporting Lisbon . ‘The night when I made my debut in the league was brilliant. It was against good opposition in Rio Ave. ‘To get around 25 minutes and see the tempo the game was played at was a great experience. I was playing with top players. ‘The crowd seemed to take to me. A big deal was made when I went over to sign, so the fans were eager to see what I could do. I think they were quite happy to finally see me in action. Hopefully I’ve not disappointed them.’ Gauld (second left) moved to Sporting Lisbon for £3million from Dundee United (pictured) And while not quite completely fluent in Portuguese yet, Gauld has integrated well with the rest of the Sporting squad. ‘I’ve picked up a fair bit of the language recently,’ he adds. ‘I can now have conversations and stuff off the pitch. I’m maturing as a person over here. Living in a different country by myself and not knowing the language has made me grow up. I’ve matured a lot. ‘I had to learn loads of things and do it on my own. It has made me come out of my shell because I was quite shy before I came. Gauld (right) stretches with Under 21 team-mate Billy King at St Mirren Park this week . ‘There are a couple of Portuguese phrases that I’ve heard the boys saying, so I tried to pick them up. But I can’t seem to get a grip of them and they’re giving me a hard time about it! ‘It’s not swear words, just slang saying like we’d say in Scotland: “What’s happening?” or “what’s up?”. ‘It’s just a casual phrase. I think I’m saying it the exact same way as them but they tell me I get it wrong. Maybe it’s my Scottish accent!’ Gauld (front right) leads the way as Scotland Under 21s arrive at Glasgow Airport on Wednesday . The focus for Gauld now is to get more game time and figure more prominently in manager Marco Silva’s plans. ‘Between now and the end of the season, my aim has to be to be more involved in the first team,’ he says. ‘I’ve had a spell where I was in a lot of squads but now I’m back in the B team. They want to dip me in and out. It’s to make sure I continue to work hard and know what it takes to make the A team.’ +Lewis Hamilton secured the 40th pole of his grand prix career at a rain-hit Sepang on Saturday but the question afterwards was whether Nico Rosberg had attempted to block him in qualifying. And both men were asking it. At the Mercedes press conference, Rosberg put his hand up. Lewis Hamilton shakes hands with Sebastian Vettel after qualifying with Nico Rosberg in the background . Rosberg has been accused of attempting to block Hamilton during qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix . Click here to read Jonathan McEvoy's report as Hamilton secures pole ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg . 'Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG Petronas,' he started, imitating a journalist. 'There are a lot of comments on Twitter saying Nico blocked you. Is it true he blocked you on your second timed lap?' Hamilton replied, smiling: 'I think you should probably ask him. I think he'll have a good opinion on that.' The room laughed, but Rosberg appeared to be annoyed. He shook his head and twice said: 'That's not funny.' Rosberg, going slowly, appeared to stay on the racing line as Hamilton was on a flying lap in the final qualifying session. Hamilton (right) was on a fast lap when he approached the back of Rosberg who had already slowed down . Rosberg (left) remained on the racing line despite his Mercedes team-mate being on a quick lap . Hamilton (right) overtakes Rosberg. It was claimed hat the German had intentionally blocked his rival . But it made no difference because, as it transpired, Hamilton already had pole position sewn up. Rosberg was third fastest. The German was then asked by a reporter if he did indeed intentionally block Hamilton. 'You best ask Lewis about that, he said. 'No, it is not even a relevant discussion because we were both on slow-down laps at that point in time. And that was very, very clear.' Informed Hamilton had set a personal best in the first sector, Rosberg said: 'Yeah, but if you bail out of a lap it turns into a slow-down lap, doesn't it?' It was then suggested to Rosberg that Hamilton only slowed as he came upon the German, to which he said: 'That is not true. He backed off way before coming up on me.' Hamilton mastered the difficult conditions in Malaysia to secure the 40th pole of his grand prix career . The Briton will start ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel as he bids to secure his second straight victory . Although the next question was on a different subject, Rosberg chose not to let the matter drop and remarked: 'How do we make that a fact, that he bailed out before he came across me? 'That is the interesting one because me just saying it isn't going to bear much weight. So, we need to think of one, which I don't have an answer for to make that a fact for you. I will have to think about something later on. Or you can ask Toto (Wolff, Mercedes motorsport boss) who is coming. That is maybe a good one. That will give some more weight to it.' Unfortunately for Rosberg, Wolff was unavailable for his session, and so could not offer an opinion. It is not the first time Rosberg has been accused of blocking Hamilton in qualifying. At last year's Monaco Grand Prix, Rosberg appeared to scupper his team-mate's best shot at pole by deliberately running off the circuit. Yellow flags were subsequently deployed, and Hamilton, running behind his rival on the track, was forced to slow down. Hamilton salutes the crowd after posting the quickest lap in qualifying for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix . +England were warned they would be ‘foolish’ not to consider Kevin Pietersen for an Ashes Test return — by an Aussie. Pietersen, 34, signed a contract with Surrey on Wednesday to play county cricket after IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad agreed to release him from the majority of his contract. Sunrisers coach Tom Moody, a former Aussie Test star who also played for Worcestershire, admires Pietersen’s bid to relaunch his England career. Pietersen was axed by England following their 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia last winter . He said: ‘There’s a lot of water that has to pass under the bridge first, and that includes him showing he’s going to be regularly fit for long periods of time. He also needs to prove his form. ‘If you put those two things together, I think England would be foolish not to consider him as a genuine option. You can’t help but admire his motivation to try to scale Everest again in Test cricket.’ Pietersen was sacked by England following the 2013-14 Ashes defeat but has been tempted back to Surrey after incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves hinted he could return to the Test arena by scoring heavily in county cricket. Kevin Pietersen will have nine County Championship matches for Surrey to impress England's selectors . He's secured a released from Sunrisers Hyderabad to stake his claim for an England return in the Ashes . Moody, whose Sunrisers will get Pietersen back if they reach the IPL knockout stage, anticipates a successful return to The Oval for Pietersen. ‘I think there is a small chance,’ he said of a Test recall. ‘But I think that’s enough to motivate him. ‘He’s got an agenda — to score as many runs as he can to make it near-on impossible for the selectors to ignore him. Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody believes England would be 'foolish' not to welcome back Pietersen . Surrey’s director of cricket Alec Stewart is happy to welcome back the batsman on a contract initially for Championship cricket which could evolve during the season. Stewart said: ‘He has ambitions to play for England — and to do that, or even be considered, he has to score big runs. ‘That’s why we’ve signed him (so that) he gets those hundreds, those double-hundreds. After that, it’s down to the selectors.’ Pietersen, who will donate his Surrey wages to his charitable foundation, insists he will have no problem working with England captain Alastair Cook and coach Peter Moores. Pietersen started the year by playing more short form cricket for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash . ‘Even if this does not work out and I do not get back in the England team, I will at least end my career knowing I gave it another shot,’ Pietersen said in his Daily Telegraph column. ‘I would kick myself for a long time if I walked away now, without having a go. All I am looking for is a fair opportunity to play for England again. I just want a blank sheet of paper, and to be judged on merit. ‘I will be meeting Mr Graves face to face. I think he is open to discussing drawing a line in the sand in terms of what’s gone on.’ +Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping a change of scenery can bring about a change of fortune for the Portugal star as he trained with his international team-mates on Tuesday. The 30-year-old was on the losing side for the third time in four matches on March 15 as his club side Real Madrid lost 2-1 at bitter rivals Barcelona. The El Clasico defeat at the Camp Nou leaves Real four points adrift of the Catalan table toppers with 10 games remaining in La Liga. Cristiano Ronaldo took part in Portugal's training session on Tuesday ahead of their clash against Serbia . Ronaldo (left) will be hoping to guide his nation to their third win out of four Euro 2016 qualifiers on Sunday . But despite this bitter blow, Ronaldo looked in a focused mood as he trained with his national side at their Lisbon base on Tuesday. The forward will be hoping to lead his country to victory when they host Serbia in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday night, as well as adding to his tally of two goals in qualification so far. Former Chelsea duo Tiago and Ricardo Carvalho both took part in Tuesday's session alongside fellow stalwarts Joao Moutinho and Nani. Victory for Portugal on Sunday would stretch their gap over Serbia to eight points after four matches. Portugal players going stretch out during Tuesday's training session at their Lisbon base . Former Chelsea duo Tiago (left) and Ricardo Carvalho (centre) attended the session . Carvalho (left) was joined by Monaco team-mate Joao Moutinho (right) on Tuesday . Fernando Santos' men currently sit second in Group I on six points - just one behind leaders Denmark who have played a game more. Santos will be hoping his side can continue their recent good form which has yielded an 100 per cent record from their last three games including a 1-0 friendly win over Argentina on November 18 at Old Trafford. On Monday it was announced that the 60-year-old coach had won an appeal to cut his ban for misconduct at the World Cup while coaching Greece. However, he will still be barred from contact with his Portugal stars in their next few matches. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said it halved an 'excessive' eight-match ban imposed by FIFA, with two matches of the sanction deferred for a six-month probationary period. Winger Nani (left) was also training with the national squad ahead of games vs Serbia and Cape Verde Islands . CAS added its panel found Santos guilty of 'improper conduct' during Greece's second-round loss to Costa Rica last June in Brazil. Santos was sent from the dugout after extra time, which finished 1-1, as Greece lost the penalty shootout. The court said Santos was 'protesting against the referee and casting doubts on his impartiality.' After Serbia on Sunday, Portugal host the Cape Verde Islands in a friendly on March 31 before travelling to Armenia for their fifth Euro 2016 qualifier. Portugal coach Fernando Santos has won an appeal to cut his ban for misconduct while in charge of Greece . Santos was sent from the dugout after extra time during Greece's last 16 exit against Costa Rica last June . +Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has claimed he has only love for his French footballing life, amid the fall-out from his outburst earlier this month. Ibrahimovic will face a French Football League (LFP) disciplinary commission hearing on April 9 over comments he made after PSG's 3-2 loss to Bordeaux on March 15. The Swede was at the time caught on camera saying: 'He's an a******. Play 15 years, never seen referee this s*** country. Don't even deserve PSG should be in this country. F****** too good for all of you. Should be happy they exist.' Zlatan Ibrahimovic swore loudly as he walked towards the changing room after PSG's defeat to Bordeaux . Ibrahimovic, during his rant, claimed France was 's***' but has now insisted that he likes the country . French sports minister Patrick Kanner had called on Ibrahimovic to apologise, which he later did in a social media post, and the mercurial forward has once again played down the impact of his rant. At a press conference ahead of Sweden's Euro 2016 qualifier against Moldova, Ibrahimovic, in quotes reported in the Swedish media, said: 'I like it in France. 'I would not have played there for so long and I would not have renewed my contract if I did not like it. All the others, all that b******t, they just want to pull me down from the top but I will not go. I like it on top. That's where I'll stay.' Ibrahimovic faces a disciplinary hearing over the comments he made after the Bordeaux game on March 15 . The Sweden striker has called for greater emphasis on referees, noting that they do not get punished . Ibrahimovic does, however, want a greater emphasis placed on referees, adding: 'We the players are punished, but not the referee.' While Ibrahimovic did score a hat-trick for PSG against Lorient in the last round of Ligue 1 fixtures before the international break, he is set to miss their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona after his sending off against Chelsea. His tackle on Oscar earned him a straight red, though PSG did progress in the end, but Ibrahimovic feels the Brazilian had played his part in the referee's decision. 'Play-acting does not belong in my world and I play to win,' Ibrahimovic said. 'I will do anything to win, but play-acting? Not that. 'It is out there, I do not know if it has become part of the game, but I hope not.' +Former Newcastle defender Davide Santon has been called up to the Italy squad for Tuesday's friendly against England. Santon, who made his loan move from Newcastle to Inter Milan permanent last month, has been drafted into Antonio Conte's squad following injuries to Matteo Darmian and Manuel Pasqual. AC Milan defender Ignazio Abate has also been called up. Davide Santon (left) will face England after being called into the Italian squad as a late replacement . Santon spent a spell with Newcastle before returning to his homeland with Inter Milan . Italy warmed up for England's visit with a 2-2 draw in their Euro 2016 qualifier away to Bulgaria on Saturday. Goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon sat out the match in Sofia with flu and he is a doubt for the international against Roy Hodgson's men at the Juventus Stadium. Italy players, including Ciro Immobile (centre), train ahead of Tuesday's friendly clash with England . Theo Walcott has been picked out by Giorgio Chiellini as the England player who can be most dangerous . Meanwhile, Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini is more concerned about the presence of Theo Walcott than the goal threat posed by Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane in Turin. 'I am always a fan of Walcott, a quick sprinter and terrifying for defenders,' Chiellini said. 'England notice his absence. For the world of football, it is positive that Walcott recuperates totally to his top level.' Italy beat England 2-1 in last summer's World Cup and also eliminated the Three Lions from Euro 2008 in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out. +Hristo Stoichkov has lambasted Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal by insisting the Dutchman is 'garbage'. Stoichkov played under Van Gaal during his second spell at the Nou Camp before leaving the Spanish outfit for CSKA Sofia in 1998. Bulgarian legend Stoichkov was far from impressed with Van Gaal and has blamed the Manchester United boss for his premature departure from the Catalan giants. Former Barcelona forward Hristo Stoichkov, pictured in 1997, has blasted Man United boss Louis van Gaal . Stoichkov (left) played under Van Gaal (right) during his second spell at Barcelona in the Nineties . Stoichkov, speaking to Sport Sunday, said: 'I have no respect for him, he’s garbage. 'One day, when I was injured and I was with my wife at the Nou Camp. He went up to her and asked "how was possible that she married someone like me?" 'It was the fault of Van Gaal that I moved on to CSKA Sofia.' In contrast, Stoichkov - who played a major role in helping Barcelona to four consecutive league titles during his first spell at the club - had nothing but good words to say about Van Gaal's former assistant Jose Mourinho. He added: '[I] do not think that Mourinho was a simple interpreter or assistant. He was already a coach, but he never thought he was worth more than [Bobby] Robson. 'Mourinho understood everything. He knew everything about our team, and our opponents.' Stoichkov heaped praise on former Barcelona assistant Jose Mourinho (right, pictured with Van Gaal in 1999) Mourinho and Van Gaal embrace during Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Chelsea in October . +A peaceful religious protest has taken place outside Windsor Park in opposition to Northern Ireland's first ever Sunday fixture on home soil. The Irish Football Association has never before staged an international game on a Sunday but was forced to break new ground by UEFA's 'Week of Football' initiative . Euro 2016 qualifiers are now spread throughout the international period, with dates allocated automatically by computer, and the hosts take on Finland on Sunday. Members of the Tyndale Free Presbyterian Church protest against Northern Ireland's Sunday home fixture . A man hands out religious tracts against the backdrop of a George Best mural on Sunday . The Tyndale Memorial branch of the Free Presbyterian Church has criticised the IFA for failing to seek dispensation and declining to inform local church groups. Reverend Raymond Robinson, whose congregation held placards and handed out leaflets on Donegall Avenue, told Press Association Sport: 'Our opposition is to the breaking of observance of the Lord's day. 'We believe in the Sabbath being kept holy. It seems more and more that the football agenda is being driven by the television companies and not what God says, or what public opinion is. A Northern Ireland football flag is flown as the protester hands out tracts near Windsor Park . Banners are displayed in opposition to Northern Ireland's first ever home match on a Sunday . 'A delegation met the IFA and expressed our concerns. We found it interesting that the likes of Gibraltar and Spain had special circumstances (within the UEFA schedule) but the IFA couldn't have the same for observing Sunday as the Lord's day. 'We were also surprised at the IFA not contacting local churches about the fixture, which we felt would have been common courtesy. 'They did say they would seek to accommodate us and help out but if we had never mentioned it that would never have happened.' Finland fans are pictured making their way to the stadium for the Euro 2016 qualifier . Match programmes are sold outside the ground ahead of Northern Ireland's clash with Finland . +Christophe Berra dedicated his third Scotland goal to Dave Mackay – the day after the Hearts and Tottenham legend was laid to rest. Berra came through the ranks at Tynecastle where the legendary midfielder ruled supreme in the late 1950s. Hampden paid tribute to Mackay with a minute's applause before Wednesday night's game with Northern Ireland - and Ipswich defender Berra, who replaced Russell Martin at the break, ensured the night also had a fitting ending by heading home a winner with five minutes remaining. Christophe Berra gets above his marker to head the ball into the corner for a late winner for Scotland . Berra celebrates his late goal, which was one of the few memorable moments in a game lacking intensity . The Ipswich Town centre back celebrates with his team-mates after securing the win five minutes from time . 'I met him a couple of times when I was at Hearts,' Berra recalled of Mackay. 'He was a confident person. I think it was the way he played, he wasn't shy and had a great career with Scotland, Hearts and Spurs. 'A great deal of respect has been shown to him in football, especially British football. 'So I'm especially pleased I scored tonight. He was strong and could bully people and was a player people could relate to. He had a great career and that minute's applause was great for him and his family. 'It was good to get a goal. That was my first Scotland appearance in a long time and it meant a lot to get 45 minutes. To also score a goal was even better. 'I'd almost scored from a corner five minutes before the goal when I had a header at the front post. I maybe should have done better. 'I said to Matt (Ritchie) to hang it up a bit and it was there to go and attack. I stuck my head on it and thankfully it went into the back of the net. The teams observed a minute's applause for the late Dave McKay before the game at Hampden Park . 'It's my third goal for Scotland and my sixth of the season. As a defender, it' s good to add goals to my name.' Despite heading his second career goal against Northern Ireland, Berra believes he will return to the bench when Gibraltar come calling on Sunday. 'Obviously I am down the pecking order,' he added. 'I just have to be patient and play well for my club and hopefully my international chance will come again.' Until Berra's late intervention, it was a night of missed opportunities in more ways than one. Steven Fletcher, without an international goal since his one and only strike against Iceland almost six years ago, saw a couple of decent chances come and go. Had the occasion been anything other than a friendly, he would have been beating himself up about it. But perhaps the prospect of what should be a turkey shoot against Gibraltar on Sunday allowed him a degree of comfort. 'I'm looking to get back on the score sheet as soon as possible,' he said. 'It' s been a while. For me, tonight was just about getting some minutes under my belt. 'I've not played too much this year so it feels good to get back out there. It doesn't prey on my mind. If I wasn't getting chances, I'd be complaining but I' m getting them so I just need to start taking them.' Crowds clap whilst the Hearse carrying the coffin of Dave Mackay leaves Tyncastle Stadium for his funeral . Asked if becoming the first Scotland player since Colin Stein to net a hat-trick come the weekend was an added incentive, Fletcher quipped: 'I need to get a goal just now never mind a hat-trick. Listen, if we get the opportunities hopefully we can take them. 'If that means one of us getting a few then great. First and foremost, we just want to get the goals that give us a win and push up the table.' So much for two Celtic nations nipping the life out of each other as they sought a miniscule psychological edge to take into their remaining Euro qualifiers. Friendly was what it said on the ticket and, by heavens that is what we got. At the conclusion of a remarkably featureless and benign game it was tempting to ask if much had been gained from it. But, despite the lack of goals, Fletcher believed it was the perfect work-out ahead of Gibraltar on Sunday. Scotland captain Darren Fletcher issues instructions from his position in front of the back four . 'It was good preparation,' he insisted. 'A few of the boys like myself having been playing too much football so it was good to get a few minutes. 'It's another win which keeps the momentum going. There's another big game on Sunday which we are all looking forward to. 'If we'd got an earlier goal, it would have been a bit more comfortable but at least we got one. It's good. 'We could have been ahead earlier. We'd a few chances in the first half – I'd a few myself. 'I'm going to blame the goalie for the one I missed and not myself. In fairness, he pulled off a few good saves although it was frustrating we never got the goal before we did. But the win keeps us going for the weekend. 'Both teams obviously had one eye on the games that really matter at the weekend. You could see that with the changes that were made. 'Both managers wanted to keep everyone's legs fresh. Both nations have got two big games coming up.' Fletcher attempted to temper the expectation that Sunday's game will be a total formality. 'We're not going in there thinking we're going to run them into the ground,' he insisted. 'We just want to put on a performance that the gaffer sets us out to do and if we do that hopefully we can get the win. 'Goal difference doesn't matter against them but it will matter in terms of confidence. We've got a massive game against Ireland in the summer so if we can get a win and a few goals it will be happy days.' +For one, this was a case of treading fresh ground. Quite literally. For others, it was about settling back into roles that were once familiar. Something old, something new. And something surprisingly blue, in the hue of Northern Ireland’s jerseys. Thankfully for Scotland, there was no off-colour outcome. A win is a win. Even when it comes after the typical drudgery that international friendlies can bring. Let’s just say that no-one who sat through this 90 minutes will be feverishly petitioning for the return of the Home Internationals. Matt Ritchie made his first appearance for Scotland against Northern Ireland on Wednesday night . Not that there weren’t points of interest prior to Christophe Berra’s late winner. At least three featured in Gordon Strachan’s starting selection. A debut for Matt Ritchie was the headline act. A supporting cast of talking points came via Craig Gordon’s return in goal and Darren Fletcher being given the nod as captain. In a squad that has a settled core of certainties, Strachan’ s aims are all about fine tuning ahead of the remaining Euro 2016 qualifiers. Ritchie’s admission that he had never actually set foot north of the border caught the attention when he was called up last week. Yet there was also no mistaking the pride felt by the Hampshire-born Bournemouth winger, who qualifies for Scotland through his father Alex - originally from Edinburgh. An instant first cap deepened the family delight. The 25-year-old has been an integral part of his club’s highly promising bid for promotion to the land of milk and honey that is the Barclays Premier League. We will have to wait a bit longer for an accurate assessment of his worth as an international, but this was far from the worst start. He already has an assist to his name after plonking the match-winning corner onto Berra’s head. Ritchie operates on the right but is almost all left foot. That quality was seen early on when he dropped anchor to deceive Daniel Lafferty and fired a curling delivery deep beyond the back post. It was tailor-made for Shaun Maloney, hardly noted for his aerial prowess, but his header back across came to nothing. Bournemouth winger Ritchie qualified for Scotland through his father Alex . The former Swindon man has 11 goals for Bournemouth this season and offered a glimpse of that direct threat just after the hour mark. Working an exchange with Steven Naismith, he hammered a blistering drive wide from 25 yards out. Another, less powerful, effort was comfortably grasped by Michael McGovern. While the Hamilton goalkeeper was just about the busiest man in Michael O’ Neill’ s line-up, the polar opposite was true for Gordon. He had played the second half of the 3-1 friendly defeat from England at Celtic Park to earn a 41st cap, but this was his first start for the national side in more than four years. For long enough, it had seemed that 3-0 win over Faroe Islands at Pittodrie in November 2010 might just have marked the end of his Scotland career. Here, though, was further confirmation of a remarkable revival. At club level, Gordon could well end up achieving an historic domestic Treble with Celtic this year. Having come through a gruelling rehabilitation to fully recover from a complex knee injury, his free transfer signing stands as one of the bargains of this or any other season. Yet he openly admits the dream of returning to a Scotland shirt provided another level of motivation on the long road back to fitness. Now that has been achieved, he has his sights set on a place in the Hall of Fame. Eight more caps are needed. Christophe Berra gets above his marker to head the ball into the corner for a late winner for Scotland . To grab them, he will have to hold off the sizeable challenge presented by David Marshall and Allan McGregor by continuing to impress. Not that there was much chance to do so last night. In his 45-minute outing, Gordon was so under-deployed he could have scribbled out autographs to the supporters sitting behind his goal. The most excitement he got was a brief sprint out of his area to intercept a long through-ball and feed a pass to Craig Forsyth. Hardly enough to have his heart racing. The biggest danger to Gordon was contracting a chill through inactivity, but that even that threat was removed when he was allowed to watch the second half from the bench, wrapped in a warm jacket. McGregor took his place, so what odds Marshall now being given the nod against Gibraltar on Sunday? Given the opposition, the real decision about who is the new No.1 can almost be deferred until the crucial trip to Dublin in June. The same might well be said of the captaincy. This was only Fletcher’s second start under Strachan and, with Scott Brown on the bench, he was always going to take the armband. Like Gordon, there were once doubts whether this scenario would return. His fight against the ravages of ulcerative colitis has been well documented but, following surgery last year, this is the first season in many in which he can be considered fully fit for action. It is also the first of his professional life away from Manchester United. Fletcher’s January move to West Bromwich Albion has provided him with the opportunity of regular first team action that was always going to be problematic as Louis van Gaal reshaped his squad at Old Trafford. His influence has been rapidly felt at the Hawthorns, particularly as Tony Pulis immediately installed him as captain. Back on show at Hampden, he produced typical Fletcher fare. Nothing flashy, but a calm assurance in keeping the team ticking over. Win the ball, pass it wisely, cover space, repeat. Like Scotland as whole, he simply got the job done. +Alexis Sanchez has revealed he is loving life in England with Arsenal ahead of playing for Chile against Brazil at his club's home on Sunday. The two South American nations come together at the Emirates Stadium in an international friendly, and Sanchez is delighted to be playing in the country he calls home after his £35million move from Barcelona last summer. And having made a lightning-quick start to his Barclays Premier League career, Sanchez feels he is now well adapted to the ways of the English top flight. Alexis Sanchez has revealed that he is enjoying life in London ahead of facing Brazil with Chile on Sunday . The Arsenal forward has adapted well to life in the Premier League after his summer move from Barcelona . Chile have been training at Arsenal's London Colney base ahead of their game at the Emirates Stadium . 'I'm well adapted to the country and the league now. I must keep on learning, though,' he said. 'I want to expand my knowledge of English football in general, and Arsenal and my team-mates in particular. 'But overall I love this league. At the end of the day, football was invented in this country, right? I live where football was invented. That makes me really happy.' Sanchez made a lightning-quick start to his Premier League career and says he is adapted to the country . Sanchez controls the ball ahead of Newcastle's Yoan Gouffran during Arsenal's win at St James' Park . +Roger Federer set up a blockbuster rematch with world number one Novak Djokovic by beating Milos Raonic to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open. Following Djokovic's comprehensive 6-2 6-3 victory over British No 1 Andy Murray, Federer reached his 40th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final with a 7-5 6-4 defeat of Canadian sixth seed Raonic at Indian Wells. Sunday's showdown will be a 38th meeting between reigning champion Djokovic and world number two Federer, who is on a 19-set winning streak. Roger Federer celebrates after completing his 7-5 6-4 semi-final win over Canadian Milos Raonic . The Swiss serves during the contest at Indian Well and will now play Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final . Gwen Stefani was in the crowd at Indian Wells to watch Federer's semi-final match . 'I think it's very exciting for both of us, and also for fans, to see a rematch of the great final from last year,' Federer, who lost to the Serbian in three sets in the Californian desert back in 2014, told bnpparibasopen.com. 'I'm looking forward to it, and I hope I can keep up my good play.' Federer earned a break point in the fifth game but Raonic saved it with an ace before holding. The Swiss soon broke for a 6-5 lead and wrapped up the set. The 33-year-old opened the second set with a break to consolidate his lead and went on to endure nine aces before saving a break point to claim victory inside 86 minutes. Raonic (left) had knocked Rafael Nadal out in the quarter-final but couldn't claim the scalp of Federer . The Canadian sixth seed produced a strong performance but couldn't overcome Federer . Supporters of the former world No 1 Federer in the stands at Indian Wells in California . 'I felt good. I felt energetic. I felt like I had the right attitude put forward, and I was going to give it my all,' Raonic told the ATP World Tour website. 'I thought a few points here and there made a difference. I tried to put everything out there that I could, and the outcome was as is.' Earlier on Saturday, Djokovic ended world number four Murray's fine run to a first Masters 1000 semi-final in two years by extending his head-to-head advantage between the pair to 17-8 with a sixth successive win. The Scot elected to receive serve after winning the toss but stumbled as Djokovic quickly reached 4-1 before ruthlessly clinching all three of his break points in the set to prevail. The current Wimbledon champion broke Murray again in the second game of the second set and saved two break points to go to 4-1 and 5-2. Then, after his opponent slipped from 30-0 up to 40-30 down, Djokovic gladly served the match out. Murray said: 'The frustrating thing is obviously getting off to a bad start in both sets. 'Novak didn't give me any free points at the beginning of either set and I made a few too many errors early on. Novak Djokovic (right) had earlier beaten Briton Andy Murray 6-2 6-3 to reach the final . Djokovic salutes the crowd at Indian Wells after completing his semi-final win over Murray . Murray reacts to a lost point during the semi-final match as his Indian Wells challenge came to an end . 'At the end of both sets, I started to play a bit better and made it tougher and was able to push him a bit, but not enough at the beginning of the sets to make it challenging enough for him.' Djokovic told Sky Sports 3: 'I tried to start with the right intensity, I got a crucial break at the start. 'Andy made a lot of unforced errors, his first-serve percentage was low. I'm sure he knows I'm returning well, I know he's returning well, so that puts added pressure on our serving.' The women's final precedes the men's showdown on Sunday and sees 2010 champion Jelena Jankovic tackle Romania's Simona Halep, who received a pass into the final thanks to Serena Williams' withdrawal through injury. +Roger Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-0 and Milos Raonic outlasted Rafael Nadal 4-6, 7-6 (10), 7-5 in a nearly three-hour marathon to set up a semi-final showdown at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. Federer improved to 15-1 this year, with his only loss coming against Andreas Seppi in the third round of the Australian Open. Federer avenged that defeat in the same round at Indian Wells. He earned his first straight-set win over Berdych since 2011 in Paris and just his second 6-0 set ever in 19 career matches against the Czech. 'I'm not the kind of guy who takes great joy out of bageling opponents, to be honest,' said Federer, seeking a record fifth title in the desert. Roger Federer beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets at the Indian Wells Masters in California on Friday . Federer has only lost once this year - at the Australian Open - and took just 68 minutes to beat Berdych . He needed just 68 minutes to advance to the semis against the sixth-seeded Raonic. 'It was one of his very tough performances,' Berdych said. 'He was doing pretty much everything perfect.' Top-ranked Serena Williams plays No 3 seed Simona Halep and No 18 Jelena Jankovic faces 24th-seeded Sabine Lisicki in the semi-finals. Williams is trying to reach the final for the first time since 2001, when she won as a 19-year-old and was heavily booed, leading to her 14-year boycott of the tournament. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic takes on fourth-seeded Andy Murray in the other men's semifinal on Saturday. It was the first time Berdych has lost to Federer in straight sets since 2011 . Raonic beat three-time Indian Wells champion Nadal for the first time in six career meetings, firing 18 aces and hitting 48 winners to 25 winners for Nadal, who had 22 unforced errors. They dueled in the second-set tiebreaker, when Nadal held three match points but he committed errors on two of them and Raonic smashed a winner on the other. Raonic had plenty of chances in the tiebreaker, too, finally converting on his fifth set point when Nadal netted a shot. Neither gave an inch in the third, staying on serve until the 11th game. That's when Raonic earned the only break of the set, hitting a shot on the baseline that Nadal chased down but sent a backhand long. Raonic dropped just one point on his serve in the final game, winning on another backhand error by Nadal, who lost to a Canadian player for the first time in nine career matches. Milos Raonic will face Federer in the semi-final after beating Rafael Nadal in three sets . Had Nadal won the top four seeds would have made the semis along with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic . Nadal's defeat prevented Djokovic, Federer, the Spaniard and Murray - the world's top four-ranked players - from reaching the semifinals at the same tournament since the 2012 Australian Open. Federer had 21 winners, equaling the number of unforced errors by Berdych. Federer won 13 of 14 points at the net, never faced a break point on his serve, and broke Berdych four times in the match, including three times in the second set. 'I was really able to utilize the court much more, play more angles, play with variation, spin and slice. I did that very well,' Federer said. 'Because I was serving well and moving well, so maybe there is not going to be that many chances for him on the return.' Federer served two love games in the first set, when he lost just five points on his serve. 'When you feel that he's in control right from the beginning, then of course you have to come up with your best game from the beginning of the match,' Berdych said. 'There is a very thin line in between that and overdoing it. Today I stepped a little bit over it.' +Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both comfortably sealed a spot in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with straight-set victories on Wednesday. Federer beat American 22-year-old Jack Sock 6-3, 6-2 to set up a last-eight clash with Czech Tomas Berdych. After a tight first set against Sock, Federer ran away with the match in the end as he notched up his 50th win in Indian Wells. Roger Federer reacts after winning a point on his way to victory in the fourth round in Indian Wells . Federer serves in front of a packed crowd at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Wednesday . Federer reaches out to his right to play the forehand as he comfortably progresses to the last eight . American Jack Sock put up a decent fight in the first set but was eventually beaten . Nadal also reached the last eight, beating Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-4 to stay on track for a shot at his fourth career title in the desert. The Spaniard next plays sixth-seeded Milos Raonic, who defeated 17th-seeded compatriot Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2 in a fourth-round match. Nadal served a love game to close out his match that began as a dust storm swirled outside the stadium under overcast skies. He connected on 70 percent of his first serves in beating Simon for the seventh time in eight meetings. Rafael Nadal celebrates after sealing victory against Gilles Simon on Wednesday . Nadal (left) shakes hands with Frenchman Simon after booking his place in the quarter-finals . Nadal is at full stretch out to his left to reach a forehand as he comfortably beats Simon in straight sets . +Roger Federer cruised into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open, dismissing Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 at Indian Wells, to set up a rematch with Andreas Seppi. Federer, hoping to capture an unprecedented fifth Indian Wells title this week, brushed past the world No 63 Schwartzman in just over an hour on Sunday - and then gave an intriguing insight in to how he has kept himself at the top of his sport for so long. The 33-year-old world No 2 will now face Seppi, who beat him 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) at the Australian Open back in January. Roger Federer beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets to reach Indian Wells third round . Argentine Schwartzman was comfortably swept aside 6-4 6-2 by dominant Federer in California . Federer hardly broke sweat in progressing and will now face Andrea Seppi in the next round . And Federer feels his decision to not just 'chase money or more tournament victories' over the years has allowed him to stay competitive. 'The idea was always (about) trying to be around the game for a long time,' he said. 'And for that in 2004, when I became world No. 1, I took a decision with my fitness coach at the time that we're going to plan long-term. Whatever we will do, we will plan long-term. 'Sure, we can chase money or more tournament victories. We can play more frequently, train harder, whatever we will do. But we decided we will try to stay around 20 tournaments during the year, which is a lower number.' Ominously for his rivals Federer believes such an approach has led to him playing some of the best tennis of his career. Federer believes that despite being 33 he is still playing some of the best tennis of his career . For world No 63 Schwartzman, it was a tough afternoon at Indian Wells as he was outclassed . Federer showed off his full range of skills and movement as he comfortably swept aside his opponent . Federer celebrates his win by hitting balls into the crowd at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden . He said: 'I'm happy the plan worked, that at 33 I'm still being super competitive and healthy and happy to be on tour. 'I still believe I can improve my game ... I think you have to try to reinvent yourself. Tennis is actually one of those sports where I feel like you can always do better.' Against Schwartzman, Federer was as impressive as ever - utilising his net skills to win 13 of 14 points, hit eight aces and faced no break points during the rapid win. The 17 time Grand Slam champion will need to replicate such form against Seppi, however, whose surprise victory over Federer was a first triumph in 11 meetings with the Swiss maestro. Seppi advanced to the third round after dispatching Victor Hanescu 6-4, 6-4. Federer was cheered on by supporters clutching Switzerland flags at Indian Wells . +Newcastle United striker Adam Armstrong has revealed how an impromptu pep-talk from England captain Wayne Rooney inspired him to score three times for the under 18s last week. The 18-year-old grew up idolising the Manchester United star, who was only too happy to share some tips on the art of goalscoring when the two met at St George's Park. And the advice clearly sunk in as Armstrong went on to score three times in two friendly matches against Switzerland. England under 18s striker Adam Armstrong received a pep-talk from Wayne Rooney last week that inspired him to three goals in two friendly matches against Switzerland . Armstrong celebrates scoring in England's 6-1 friendly win over Switzerland at Walsall on Saturday . Armstrong's first goal was a well-taken volley (pictured), while his second was a direct free-kick . Rooney delivered a team talk to the whole of Neil Dewsnip's under 18 squad before having a one-on-one chat with Armstrong afterwards. And the Geordie hotshot said: 'I played against him at Old Trafford and he said he liked the way that I always got across the defenders. 'He said that the Manchester United team had watched me in the clips before the game - that was a massive confidence booster for me to have someone like that say that.' Armstrong added: 'He came into our meeting and answered questions from all the lads and then I managed to speak with him one-on-one. 'The lads were all getting photos with him and I just stayed behind after that, and the manager Neil Dewsnip asked if I could ask him a few questions about my game. Armstrong, 18, in the colours of his club Newcastle United in a League Cup game with Crystal Palace . Armstrong holds off the challenge of Switzerland's Samir Bajrami during the match at Walsall . 'I asked him what I can do for myself to improve as I try to play in the same way as him. 'He gave me loads of tips and advice, which was an unbelievable experience for me. Being such a young lads playing in the first-team, he told me that I always need to have confidence when I play and never be afraid to get my shots off. 'As a striker, he just said that I always need to have the belief to go again if it wasn't happening for me and the only way to reach the top level is to continue working hard every day. 'It might sound daft, but I've still got his poster on my bedroom door at home, so it was just class.' While Rooney was scoring for the seniors in England's Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania, taking his international goal tally to 47, Armstrong improved his record for the Three Lions youth teams to 19 in 24 games. Rooney celebrates his goal in Friday night's Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania at Wembley . Armstrong head-to-head with Arsenal's Hector Bellerin during the recent Premier League meeting . He scored the winner in Thursday's behind-closed-doors friendly with Switzerland at St George's Park and then added two spectacular goals in a 6-1 win when the two teams reconvened at Walsall's Banks's Stadium on Saturday. Armstrong has already accomplished a lot in his young career - he has made 14 first-team appearances for Newcastle and was part of the England under 17s team that won the European Championships in Malta last year. +It emerged on Monday that Raheem Sterling could be prepared to turn down as much as £180,000 per week as contract talks with Liverpool continue to stall. The England international's current £35,000-per-week deal has another two years to run at the end of this season and Sterling has so far turned down a number of offers from the Anfield club. Sterling has become increasingly concerned by his constant switching of positions in the Liverpool side and has even been utilised at right wing back by Brendan Rodgers. Here, Sportsmail answers five key questions on the Liverpool star’s future. The Liverpool forward was in action for his country on Friday night in a European qualifier . Raheem Sterling is prepared to turn down a mammoth £180,000-a-week deal at Liverpool . 1) What is Sterling’s issue with the deal on the table? Brendan Rodgers dug himself a hole by claiming Sterling is the one of the best young players in Europe. Someone of that stature is worth, at least, £100,000-per-week. Your moral views on whether a player so young should be paid so much is irrelevant. You pay your best players the going rate. Sterling, arguably, is Liverpool's best player meaning he should be, at least, on a par with Daniel Sturridge's £150,000 per week. Likewise, there are issues with Sterling's role in the team at the moment. He's been shifted around the pitch by Rodgers - even utilised as a right wing back on occasions. He sees his best position as being through the middle. Sterling's current £35,000-per-week deal has two years to run at the end of this season . The 20-year-old scored for England in their 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night . Sterling impressed as part of England's front three but he has been used at wing back by Liverpool . 2) What would it take to get him to sign a new deal? Certainly an improvement on the £90,000-per-week deal they've offered but even that may not be enough for him to sign. Qualifying for the Champions League will also help matters. A player of Sterling's rising stock wants to be plying his trade on the biggest club stage of all. Playing in the Europa League next season is nowhere near as glamorous. Assurances over his role in the side may help, too. 3) Are Liverpool losing patience with their star man? The fans are starting to get a little restless. The longer this drags on, the more agitated supporters become. Fans believe there will be a resolution but that optimism isn't shared by those in the corridors of power at Anfield. They know there's a real danger of Sterling point blank refusing to sign any sort of contract. Liverpool chiefs need to keep negotiations amicable. It's a delicate juggling act for them. There will be no shortage of suitors for Sterling should he leave Liverpool - in the Premier League and Europe . Sterling takes on Lithuania's Georgas Freidgeimas during the Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley . 4) What is the likelihood of Sterling leaving Anfield in the summer? It remains in Liverpool's hands. The fact of the matter is Sterling will still have two years left on his current £35,000-per-week contract this summer. They could sit tight and maintain he isn't for sale. But whether Liverpool want to risk their prized-asset entering the final year of his contract remains to be seen. Also, will Rodgers want a player who has made it clear he doesn't want to stay? If there is no agreement over a contract, Sterling is likely to leave this summer. 5) If he was to go, what are his options? Clubs across the continent will be clambering for his signature should Liverpool decide to sell. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are both monitoring the situation carefully. Likewise, Manchester City will be hugely interested in the forward. Arsenal are also keeping tabs on Sterling's situation but the greater finances of their rivals mean they are likely to be outsiders. Sterling has performed well for Liverpool but he is yet to sign a new deal to keep him at Anfield . Brendan Rodgers must convince Sterling to sign a deal that could be one of the biggest in club's history . +Fans of Leeds United have been involved in more trouble on the nation's railways than any other club in Britain, according to new information released by the British Transport Police. Supporters of the Championship club were involved in 77 incidents dealt with by police on trains over the last two seasons, almost twice as many as any other team. Manchester United supporters were behind more disturbances than any other Barclays Premier League side, among 1,027 incidents involving football fans on trains across the country during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. British Transport Police say there have been 1,027 incidents involving football fans on trains in two years . Fans of Leeds United have been involved in more trouble on the nation's railways than any other club . The worst cases listed were four woundings and four cases of Grievous Bodily Harm on the railway network. Fans of Birmingham City (40 incidents), Nottingham Forest (35) and Manchester City (30) complete the top five for England, with Glasgow Rangers also prominent in the tables released in response to a Freedom of Information request sent by The Sun. BTP said: 'A small minority (of fans) engage in violence.' Brighton supporters leave a station ahead of a game, BTP said: 'A small minority (of fans) engage in violence' Fans of both Manchester United and Manchester City appeared high in the tables released by BTP . +As Gareth Bale guided a shot past Israel goalkeeper Ofir Marciano in the 77th minute on Saturday evening, Wales fans could be forgiven for getting a little carried away. Not only with their side's impressive victory - a 3-0 win over the Group B leaders away from home - but with the continuing brilliance of their two-goal talisman. Bale's double in Haifa and assist for Aaron Ramsey sent Chris Coleman's men top of their Euro 2016 qualifying group to give supporters hope of a first appearance at a major finals since 1958. Gareth Bale celebrates scoring his first goal of the game during Wales' 3-0 victory against Israel on Saturday . But as well as strengthening Wales' chances of a trip to France next summer, Bale's performance served to further enhance his reputation as a Dragons legend in the making. After months of criticism in Spain, the Real Madrid forward reminded everyone of his ability with a clever header to set up Ramsey, stunning free-kick to make it 2-0 and powerful finish to kill Israel off. Still only 25, Bale already has more goals (16) than Wales greats John Charles (15) and Ryan Giggs (12). And with a place at the European Championships at stake, the former Tottenham man has the perfect opportunity to surpass both in the hearts of fans, too. Ryan Giggs celebrates during his playing days with Wales team-mates having scored for his country . Wales legend John Charles, firing in a header, helped guide Wales to the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals . The Wales talisman gets ready to sign a shirt for a fan during a training session with children in Haifa . John Charles . 38 caps (1950–65), 15 goals . World Cup quarter-finals 1958 . Clubs: Leeds United, Juventus, Roma, Cardiff, Hereford United, Merthyr Tydfil . Major honours: Serie A (Juventus) 1958, 1960, 1961 and Coppa Italia 1959, 1960 . Ryan Giggs . 64 caps (1991-2007), 12 goals . Club: Manchester United (1990-2014) Major honours: 13 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, 3 League Cups, 1 FIFA Club World Cup, 1 UEFA Super Cup . Gareth Bale . 49 caps (2006-pres), 16 goals . Clubs: Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid . Major honours: Champions League, Copa del Rey, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup (All 2014) It was Charles who led Wales to the World Cup in Sweden 57 years ago, giving the country an all-too-rare chance to test themselves against the best teams on the planet. They reached the quarter-finals on that occasion, losing narrowly to eventual winners Brazil as Pele grabbed the only goal of the game. Charles, who scored in a group stage draw with Hungary, missed out on the last-eight clash after being injured against the same opponents in a play-off. Bale plays football with a group of children from Arab and Jewish communities in a training session in Haifa . Bale fires homes with a brilliant free-kick as Wales won 3-0 in Israel in the Euro 2016 group B qualifier . But such was his influence on the team that Wales manager Jim Murphy remarked: 'with John Charles in the side we might have won'. It was a view backed up by Charles' former international team-mate Terry Medwin in an interview last year. He told BBC Sport: 'Had he (Charles) been fit enough to play, I'm not saying we would have won, but he was such a great player.' Similarly, it would be hard to imagine where Wales might be without the injection of quality which Bale brings. Former Manchester United favourites Ryan Giggs (right) and David Beckham (left) vie for possession . Bale (centre) leads the celebrations after his second-half free kick put Wales 2-0 up against rivals Israel . John Charles won 38 caps for Wales from 1950-1965, helping them win the 1960 British Home Championship . Would they have beaten Israel without him in the team? Possibly, but there's no chance it would have been as comfortable a victory as we witnessed on Saturday night. Giggs can also claim to be among Wales' finest players, having pulled on the famous red shirt on 64 occasions during his distinguished club career with Manchester United. But he could never quite replicate Charles and drag his country to a major tournament. Giggs, in action for Wales versus Italy, never managed to qualify for a major tournament with his national side . Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale celebrates with the 2014 Champions League trophy next to Luka Modric . Charles (centre) rises highest to out-jump England defenders during a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff in 1953 . Wales would have made it to the 1994 World Cup had they beaten Romania in their final qualifier in November, 1993, but they lost 2-1 at Adams Park. And a decade later they missed out on a place at Euro 2004 after losing 1-0 to Russia in a two-legged play-off. Speaking after watching his side go top of their group on Saturday, Wales boss Coleman said: 'We nearly did it in 1994 and 2004 and now we have the opportunity to go a step further. 'People say it's a golden generation but we need to earn it. We're doing it but we've not done it yet. 'We want the chance to prove since 1958 this team is as good as anything that's gone before.' Fire Wales to Euro 2016 and Bale may well be regarded as the greatest Welsh player of all time. Giggs, who picked up 64 international caps, salutes the Wales fans having scored for his country . +Leeds boxer Josh Warrington will be joined by former football hardman Vinnie Jones on his ring walk for his upcoming fight with Dennis Tubieron next month. Unbeaten Warrington fights Tubieron for the vacant WBC International featherweight title on April 11 at the Leeds Arena as he looks to maintain his perfect professional record. The 24-year-old – who works as a dental technician when not in the ring – is a diehard Leeds Untied fan and has an army of fans who follow him wherever he fights. Josh Warrington will face Dennis Tubieron for the WBC International featherweight title in April . Vinnie Jones became a cult hero at Leeds and will join Warrington on his ring walk next month . Jones swapped football for acting and starred in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells . Jones became a cult hero at Elland Road when he was signed by Howard Wilkinson back in 1989 and helped the club win promotion back to the old Division One in 1991 and despite moving into acting and relocating to LA has been keeping a close eye on Warrington’s progress in the ring. The footballer turned actor has strong connections with football club and the city and has the club crest tattooed on his leg. Jones follows former United midfielder Dominic Matteo and rugby league star Jamie Peacock in joining Warrington’s entourage. Matteo and Peacock carried the British and Commonwealth belts when the boxer last fought in his home town back in October. Warrington has a unbeaten professional record of 20 wins from 20 fights . Warrington was joined by former Leeds footballer Dominic Matteo and rugby league star Jamie Peacock for his last fight in Leeds . Jones was introduced to Warrington by Hayden Evans of HN Sports and he told www.thecitytalking.com: ‘I’ve known Vinnie since he came to Leeds, and I wasn’t surprised when he told me he’d been watching Josh’s fights from over in LA. ‘It says everything about Josh Warrington that so many Leeds sport legends want to give him their support, and when he walks into the ring with Vinnie beside him on April 11th, it’s going to be a special moment on a big night for the city.’ The fight with Tubieron in an official eliminator for the WBC World Featherweight title. +Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is concerned about the fitness of his goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who needed stitches in a knee wound following a hefty collision with team-mate Kyle Walker in the second minute on Saturday's win over Leicester. Spurs medical staff will make checks on the wound this week but the injury will rule him out of France's games against Brazil and Denmark and possibly Spurs' next league game against Burnley on April 5. Though the keeper's wife, Marine Lloris, eased fears that the keeper will face long spell on the sidelines by tweeting: 'Hugo needs to rest bit but he will be back really soon.' Hugo Lloris required stitches in a knee wound after colliding with team-mate Kyle Walker on Saturday . The Spurs medical staff tend to the French goalkeeper after his injury during the victory against Leicester . Lloris had to be taken off on a stretcher and manager Mauricio Pochettino is worried about his fitness . Pochettino said after the game: 'He's in hospital with the doctor and we wait for news. 'He got a big cut on the tendon of his knee. We hope it's nothing big.' Harry Kane scored a hat-trick as Spurs held off a Leicester fightback at White Hart Lane. +John Barnes claims he is struggling to get a job in management because he is black. The former Liverpool star's last managerial job was at Tranmere in 2009. He lasted four months before being sacked. The 51-year-old has previously been in charge of Celtic and the Jamaica national team. Barnes insisted that had he been white he would have got another job. John Barnes has claimed that the colour of his skin is holding him back from another management job . The former England star made an ill-fated introduction to management with Celtic in 1999 . 'A white manager loses his job and gets another job, he loses his job, he gets another job. Very few black managers can lose their job and get another job,' he told John Barnes: Sports Life Stories, to be broadcast on ITV4 on Tuesday. 'What I can judge it from is by looking at society. How many black people are there in the higher echelons of any industry? We can talk about journalism, we can talk about politics. So why should football be any different?' Barnes' first job in management, at Celtic for the 1999-2000 season, ended in the wake of an embarrassing Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness. But he denied that job was too much too soon. Barnes was sacked as Tranmere manager after a run of two wins from 11 league games . Barnes starred for Liverpool during a 10-year spell at Anfield in his playing career . Barnes found some success as manager of the Jamaica national team in 2008-09 . He said: 'Well, if it comes now at 51, I don't think it will be any different. It's more to do with the perception of my ability to do the job, because there's a certain perception of who can make a good manager.' Barnes' former England team-mate Ian Wright agreed that the colour of his skin was counting against Barnes. The former Arsenal man said: 'With someone of John Barnes' ability and stature, to not have worked more in the game with something that he's desperate to do. I don't know what else it can be?' Former England team-mate Ian Wright agrees that skin colour is limiting Barnes' opportunities . Barnes also talked about the guilt he felt after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. Barnes, who attended the funerals and met the families of victims following the tragedy, said: 'I felt this guilt that they were coming to watch me. 'I know that they were coming to watch everybody else, and it's Liverpool Football Club. It's an irrational thought. 'So I felt this guilt. And I wasn't sure how they would react because had that been my loved one, I wouldn't want to go and meet footballers or the football team, or ever watch football again.' +Ateltico Madrid fell seven points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona on Sunday as Diego Simeone's reigning Spanish league champions were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia. Koke drilled Atletico into the lead in the 33rd minute with a fierce low strike from the edge of the area. But Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi headed in a cross that goalkeeper Miguel Moya misjudged in the 78th to deny Simeone's side a sixth straight home league win. Koke's fierce low strike was too much for Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves to save . Koke leads the celebrations after putting Atletico into a first-half lead . Koke is mobbed by his team-mates after his goal had put Atletico ahead against rivals Valencia . Shkodran Mustafi (second right) headed in Valencia's equaliser in the 78th minute . Mustafi celebrates his header with Rodrigo Moreno in the draw at the Vicente Calderon . Mustafi's goal meant Spanish champions Atletico are seven points adrift of leaders Barcelona . The visitors had Javi Fuego sent-off for a second bookable offence in the final moments but held on for the draw. Valencia remain a point behind Ateltico in fourth place. Simeone elected to begin with Mario Mandzukic on the bench, starting with Fernando Torres in the absence of star striker Antoine Griezmann. Torres provided the assist for Koke's opener, heading down a free kick from Thiago Mendes for the midfielder to pounce upon. Atletico manager Diego Simeone gesticulates to his team during the draw at home to Valencia . Fernando Torres controls the ball and holds off Valencia's Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi . Atletico midfielder Gabi (left) vies for the ball with Valencia defender Jose Gaya during the match . Torres was replaced by Mandzukic on the hour mark and ten minutes later, Thiago hit the crossbar form close range when he should have doubled Atletico's lead. It was a costly miss as Mustafi levelled on 78 after a free kick hit the crossbar. Barcelona replaced Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with a 6-1 win over Rayo Vallecano earlier on Sunday. +Toby Alderweireld has hinted he would be willing to join Tottenham after admitting he is keen to play with compatriot and former Ajax team-mate Jan Vertonghen again. The Belgium centre back is currently on loan at Southampton from Spanish champions Atletico Madrid and has caught the eye of a number of Premier League clubs including Tottenham. Southampton have the option to buy the Belgium international at the end of the season but could face competition from Spurs while Manchester City have also shown an interest. Southampton defender Toby Alderweireld has admitted he is keen to play with Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen . Alderweireld, pictured against Chelsea's Diego Costa, is on loan at Southampton from Atletico Madrid . Vertonghen is part of the Belgium squad with Alderweireld and the duo also played together at Ajax . Vertonghen talsk with fellow defender Alderweireld during Belgium's friendly against Colombia in 2013 . Speaking to The Telegraph, Alderweireld said : 'I would like to play with Jan Vertonghen again.'But a transfer will be arranged later, not now. Atlético will decide my future, but I would like to stay in the Premier League. That some of the big clubs show interest proves I’m doing well.'] . Tottenham, meanwhile, have also been linked with Cologne's Austria Under 21 international Kevin Wimmer. According to the Cologne Express, Tottenham have now had a bid accepted and have also reached an agreement over personal terms with the centre back. However, it is understood a deal has yet to be signed off as Tottenham continue to evaluate options. Kevin Wimmer of Cologne is a Tottenham Hotspur target as the London club consider a summer move . +Tottenham have announced an agreement has been reached with Archway Sheet Metal Works which clears the path for their new stadium to be built. The club have plans in place to construct a new 56,000-seater stadium on their White Hart Lane site but have faced a lengthy court battle with Archway - who refused to relocate to allow Tottenham to begin the process. Earlier in the month the business decided not to appeal against a High Court ruling which forced them to find new premises and now Spurs have announced they have reached a private deal with Archway that will allow them to take over the land next year. How Tottenham's new stadium will look for night games from 2018-19 season onwards . A short statement on the club's website read: 'Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd and the Josif Family (Archway) are delighted to announce that a private agreement has been reached for the purchase of Archway's property on Paxton Road by the Club. 'In order to allow Archway to relocate its business appropriately, the Club will not take possession of the land until later this year.' Archway's property was heavily damaged by fire in November as their court battle rumbled on but now Tottenham can continue with their plans - which have been approved by Haringey Council for some time. Despite the good news, Tottenham will still need to find a temporary home for the 2016-17 season as the work is carried out - with the likes of MK Dons' Stadium mk, the Olympic Stadium and Wembley all touted as potential locations. Archway Sheet Metal Works, which is located next to White Hart Lane on the last patch of land Tottenham needed for their stadium have dropped their legal challenge against the club . Tottenham have the go-ahead for their new 56,000-plus capacity stadium at White Hart Lane . +Hearts were the source of all of Gary Locke’s childhood dreams. The chance to play, captain and manage the club ensured that, for long enough, the love affair was requited. A year ago, though, a long-standing relationship hit the buffers with a rather dull thud. Widely acclaimed for the way he led the club throughout administration and a season of near-certain relegation, the 39-year-old awoke one day having to digest one of the game’s great truths: No one is indispensable. Gary Locke is currently manager at Kilmarnock after leaving his post at Hears last year . Locke chats with Ryan Stevenson last season . Brutally axed as Ann Budge and Craig Levein made way for Robbie Neilson, Locke licked his wounds before returning to Kilmarnock, initially as assistant manager to Allan Johnston. What’s transpired since the parting of the ways has been utterly intriguing for both parties. Neilson’s side romped to the Championship title with seven games to spare to mute anyone still clinging to the notion that they were wrong to dispense with Locke’s services. Yet, in only losing one of seven games since taking the reins from Johnson last month at Rugby Park, Locke, in turn, has underscored his dug-out credentials and then some. Would Hearts have won the Championship title with him still at the helm? We shall never know. But, as he puts the finishing touches to a new long-term deal in Ayrshire this week, the growing feeling among observers is that his former employers were perhaps both right and wrong. ‘I don’t think I have proven a point to Hearts,’ Locke insisted. ‘I didn’t feel I had anything to prove. I did a good job there. ‘It is like any football club. When new people come in, if they have their own ideas and want to change things then that is what they will do. ‘I am delighted to see them coming straight back up - they have some cracking young players there and it is great to see them do so well. ‘But my focus now is Kilmarnock. All I want is the best for them. Hopefully, we can finish the season strongly.’ Privately for Locke, the irony of what’s gone on at Tynecastle over the past year or so won’t be so much painful as excruciating. Locke insists his focus is on Kilmarnock and wants to end the season strongly in the Scottish Premiership . Last season, boxed in by administration and a transfer embargo, he played the kids. Fledglings like Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker featured in sides that were routinely thrashed. Some feared for the psychological impact it would have on them but Locke knew what he was doing. To say the experience has stood them in good stead is a huge understatement. Supported by a string of more experienced campaigners, those little boys lost have flourished under Neilson’s tutelage. Might it be said that the club which binned Locke now owe him a huge debt of thanks? ‘You probably have to ask people at Hearts,’ he added. ‘I think the young lads certainly learned the hard way. A lot of them had to play when they probably were not ready. ‘I think that certainly set them up for this season and full credit to them. They have had a fantastic season, they have played some great stuff and scored lots of goals. ‘Yes, I’ve been in touch with couple of them. They didn’t thank me and I didn’t want them to. ‘I’m just glad to see them doing very well because I knew they all had fantastic potential. ‘It’s good to see them all fulfilling it.’ A consummate professional all his days, Locke’s dedication to Kilmarnock is now absolute. And yet, when the prospect of returning to Tynecastle next term is put to him, the broad grin on his face says it all. Locke says he is happy to see the youngsters come through in Edinburgh after working with them last year . ‘It will be strange going back,’ he conceded. ‘I went back as a Kilmarnock player and all I want now is for Kilmarnock to win games. ‘You’ve got to be professional. I was very fortunate in life in that the team I grew up supporting, I managed to play for, captain and manage. ‘There’s not a lot of people who can say that. ‘But my only focus now is Kilmarnock football club. I’m employed here and I want to very best for them.’ Be that as it may, does what happened in Gorgie getting on a year ago still rankle with him? ‘Not at all. It’s football,’ Locke insisted. ‘One of my best mates in the game, Davie Weir, is at Brentford. You see the job he’s done there with Mark Warburton yet they are leaving at the end of the season. Nothing surprises you. ‘It’s a game that’s great to be involved in but it can be tough, as well. I’m not the type of person that feels sorry for myself. You’ve got to take these things on the chin and move forward. Fortunately for me, I got a great opportunity back here and hopefully I can take it.’ That new contract should be inked by the end of this week and then the building for the future can start in earnest. The 39-year-old manager admits it will be strange facing his former club Hearts next season . Finally, without the yokes of administration and the intentions of new owners, Locke is relishing the chance to lead the Rugby Park side unhindered. Diplomacy prevented him talking openly of his desire to see Kris Boyd assume a playing/coaching role next term but it’s evidently part of Locke’s plans. ‘Obviously I played with Kris, he’s a friend of mine and possibly because I was sitting beside him at Ibrox on Saturday, someone saw me,’ he said. ‘He’s very much a Rangers player and his focus is obviously trying to get Rangers back in the top flight. ‘It’s not for me to speculate on other team’s players as they have a lot of big games ahead. ‘It wouldn’t be right of me to comment on Kris Boyd. I’m not sure how many goals he has scored this season but he has still contributed eight or nine goals. ‘If we had a striker contributing that, we might be in the top six. I know Boydy well and I’m pretty sure that wherever he ends up next season, he will score goals because that’s what he does.’ The prospect of Boyd returning to Kilmarnock for a third spell will gladden the hearts of the Rugby Park faithful. The striker may have endured a poor season second time around at Rangers but, at 31, still has the capacity to ensure a return to his first club is a successful one. For Locke, too, Rugby Park has largely been a very happy second home. For all his strong Tynecastle links, it was in East Ayrshire that he spent seven years as a player. And, after being cut-adrift by Hearts last summer, it was Killie that offered him a way back into the game. You sense that’s something that will never be forgotten. Locke was speaking at a Tesco Bank Football Festival at Rugby Park . ‘I played at Killie for seven years and I know what they are capable of,’ he added. ‘The facilities here are fantastic. I spend a lot of time down here and I see what the club is doing in the local community. ‘There are kids here every single night of the week, which is fantastic to see. Things are really positive. ‘When I played here there were a lot of Celtic and Rangers strips about the town and now there are lots of Killie ones so that’s encouraging in terms of the future. ‘Hopefully, we can see a lot of these younger kids coming through like we do at the moment - we have eight academy players in the first team which is great. ‘The club is moving forward in the right direction and hopefully it can keep moving forward.’ GARY LOCKE was speaking at a Tesco Bank Football Festival at Rugby Park. Over 700 children from 16 schools are expected to be involved in this year’s programme across East Ayrshire. +Jann Mardenborough has been released from hospital after the accident in Germany on Saturday that resulted in the death of a spectator and has left the British racing driver 'very distressed'. Mardenborough was competing in the VLN1 event at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe when his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 flipped up in the air as it crested a rise in the circuit. The car eventually landed on its tail further down the track before bouncing over the catch-fencing into a crowd of people. A spectator died at the Nurburgring on Saturday after a crash involving a British racing driver . The Nissan of Jann Mardenborough flipped into the air and crashed into a crowd of spectators . Mardenborough's car started to lift into the air as it crested a rise in the circuit in Germany . The Brit's Nissan remained in the air for about 30 metres with the front of the car facing the sky . Mardenborough is a 23-year-old who is currently competing in the World Endurance Championship . Mardenborough, the 23-year-old from Cardiff, is renowned for his epic rise into motor racing just four years after winning Nissan's 'gamer-to-racer' project. In 2011, he won the GT Academy, a scheme run by Nissan and Sony that turns armchair gamers into professional racers. Over the past few years Mardenborough has competed in sportscars and single-seaters. Nissan recently confirmed Mardenborough would take part in a full season of the World Endurance Championship, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The incident resulted in the death of one fan, with two others injured, whilst a seemingly-unharmed Mardenborough, a 23-year-old from Cardiff, was taken to hospital for routine checks following an initial examination at the circuit medical centre. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the crash. An update statement from Nissan read: 'After the terrible events during yesterday's VLN race, Nissan is pleased to have received information that the two injured spectators have been released from hospital. 'Jann has completed a series of medical tests and has also been released from hospital. Naturally he is very distressed about the outcome of yesterday's accident. Mardenborough's car crashed into barriers on the outside of one of the turns at the Nurburgring . The car took off and flipped over catch-fencing and into the crowd, leaving a spectator dead . 'The vehicle has been impounded by the German authorities and Nissan has offered full co-operation in their investigation. 'Everyone at Nissan would like to again extend their deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased and to the spectators who were hurt. 'Nissan would also like to thank everyone for the support they have shown for the fans involved, the team and for Jann.' The damage caused as a result of the crash during the event on Saturday at the Nurburgring . Mardenborough is seen leaving the car after his terrifying collision in Germany . Mardenborough in action at Brands Hatch last August while racing in the British GT Championship . Mardenborough has enjoyed a meteoric rise in motor racing, just four years after winning Nissan's 'gamer-to-racer' project. In 2011, he won the GT Academy, a scheme run by Nissan and Sony that turns armchair gamers into professional racers. Over the past few years Mardenborough, son of former professional footballer Steve, has competed in sports cars and single-seaters. In mid-February, Nissan confirmed Mardenborough would take part in a full season of the World Endurance Championship, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans . +When it comes to four-wheel grand prix racing, Britain’s future looks in good hands. Lewis Hamilton is the Formula One world champion, and judging by the form he showed to win the Australian Grand Prix, he looks in good shape to become the first ever British driver to retain his title. But glance towards two-wheel grand prix racing and you will find Britain is still dining off championships and even race wins from the late great Barry Sheene. Britain's Cal Crutchlow will be riding for the LCR Honda team during the 2015 MotoGP season . Crutchlow hopes to hit the front of the MotoGP grid with Honda after a disappointing year with Ducati . MotoGP has arrived in Qatar to kick off the 2015 season on Sunday, and while Britain is looking for its first premier class victory since Sheene triumphed in Sweden in 1981 – its future also looks intriguingly bright. YEAR . 2014 . 2013 . 2012 . 2011 . TEAM . Ducati . Tech3 . Tech3 . Tech3 . PLACING . 13th (74 pts) 5th (188 pts) 7th (151 pts) 12th (70 pts) In fact, the talent coming through is arguably showing greater promise than that seen in F1 right now. Bradley Smith, 24, and Scott Redding, 22, impressed during 2014 and will be targeting podium finishes as a realistic possibility this season. For Cal Crutchlow, he’s been there before – often narrowly missing out on the top step of the podium in 2013. But following a terrible season at Ducati last year, the Coventry born star once again looks in a position where he could sneak on an opportunity to end Britain’s 34-year wait for a premier class race win. In 2015, Crutchlow will be on a Honda bike not too far off the specification ridden by double world champion Marc Marquez, who dominated the 2014 campaign after winning the opening 10 races on his factory Honda. Crutchlow tests his LCR Honda around Malaysia's Sepang circuit during a pre-season test for his new team . The Brit has also been testing at Qatar's Losail circuit - posting impressive lap times . Riding for the satellite LCR Honda outfit, race wins are not expected but they certainly won’t be ruled out. It’s very much the same scenario that Crutchlow was in at Yamaha’s Tech3 team in 2012 and 2013 and one the 29-year-old is aiming to return to. ‘So many guys could get on the podium.’ Crutchlow told Sportsmail. ‘There are 15 guys that are all so close at the moment. ‘I’d like to say my chances of getting on the podium are more than they were last year. If I could get back to where I was in 2013 and 2012, I’d be quite happy because we were competitive enough there when I finished fifth and seventh in the championship. They were good years.’ Crutchlow sounds upbeat. There’s a positive tone to his voice and a calmness to him which suggests he is much happier now than when I spoke to him at Silverstone last August, shortly after his Ducati departure following just one season was confirmed. Ducati was always going to be a tough monster to tame. Even the great Valentino Rossi gave up on the bike following two highly uncompetitive years. Crutchlow reflects that while he has no resentment towards the team, he was constantly on the back foot following a big crash in just his second race on the Desmosedici. 'The Austin crash wrecked the season for me,' Crutchlow added. 'From that point on it was a downward spiral because I was riding injured for a long time but up until Texas I was riding good and was really confident. Cal Crutchlow rides his Ducati around Aragon during practice for last year's grand prix . Crutchlow would on to clinch third behind Aleix Espargaro (left) and race winner Jorge Lorenzo during the Grand Prix at Aragon late in the season which would prove to be his only podium with Ducati . ‘When I crashed at Texas, it was through no fault of my own. It was of the biggest crashes that I’ve ever had when I really hurt my hand but I came back too soon. The other two Ducati riders were riding really well at the time and it was like a double whammy. ‘We came back towards the end of the season and we started to ride very strongly, but I enjoyed my time at Ducati and they look to be doing a great job this year.’ Crutchlow referred to the testing times that saw Andrea Dovizioso top the time sheets in a pre-season Qatar test, but it’s not just the Italian outfit that are on resurgence. Having ridden much of 2014 injured, Crutchlow states that he is going into the new season with no problems and that includes on his unfamiliar Honda where he aims to get more potential out of a bike which has already produced encouraging testing times in Malaysia. ‘I feel good, I feel strong and my physical condition is no problem. But racing a motorcycle is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world and people don’t really realise that. ‘It’s more than twisting the throttle and braking. We have average heart rates of 192-200BPM over 45 minutes. ‘When I was at Yamaha it was different [learning a new bike]. I was coming from World Superbikes and the bike was completely different to anything I knew at all. The second and third years were quite similar to where I am now. Crutchlow has previously mixed with the top guns in MotoGP, finishing second behind Marc Marquez (centre) and Valentino Rossi (right) in the 2013 German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring while with Tech3 Yamaha . Crutchlow claimed four podium finishes with Tech3 Yamaha in 2013 including a second place at Le Mans . Crutchlow lifts the front wheel of his Tech3 Yamaha during a 2013 pre-season test at Jerez . ‘Last year was a little tougher for me to get used to the Ducati, but I was still quite confident even then. ‘I‘ve been happy enough with my testing times, but I haven’t taken advantage enough of the new tyre which I thought I would take. But that’s just the way it is. The Honda you don’t take advantage as much as you would with the other bikes. ‘But learning to ride the bike is more important. It’s been encouraging, the long run I did in Malaysia was ok, and of course I didn’t do the long run in Qatar because of the rain.’ The subject of the British Grand Prix comes up. Considering Silverstone is a venue where Crutchlow’s crashes see him visit the medical centre more than the podium in recent times, even he can admit that the circuit stepping in for the next two years to cover for the lagging Circuit of Wales project is a good thing. Silverstone is the familiar home of the British Grand Prix in Formula One, but the circuit has also stepped in to replace Donington and the Circuit of Wales to host MotoGP for the next two years . ‘It’s good. It should never have left us - not when there is not a circuit to go to. Silverstone have put is so much time and effort to get us there in the first place and they really listened to the riders. ‘Then they said it was going to Donington because the Circuit of Wales was not built and I didn’t think that was right. They might as well have kept it at Silverstone so it’s good to be back there.' So with a British Grand Prix in place (where an impressive 138,000 fans attended over the 2014 weekend) and talent clearly coming through the system – why has Britain struggled so badly to find a premier class winner? With a hint of frustration, Crutchlow states that the money being poured into MotoGP over in Italy and Spain is harming the opportunity for Brits to land top rides. ‘We don’t get the opportunity. There’s been no British riders on factory bikes. The year I was in a factory team, the bike wasn’t capable of winning, we saw that. There’s not been a chance to get on a factory Honda or Yamaha when it’s winning and that’s down to the system I feel. ‘There’s not enough money going to the riders like there is in Italy and Spain, and it’s just endless.’ The 2015 MotoGP season gets underway on 29th March in Qatar, you can watch this race and all the other action throughout the year exclusively live only on BT Sport. For more information visit btsport.com. +George North should be stopped from playing rugby until the World Cup in September after suffering his third bout of concussion in four months. That is the view of former Scotland full back Rory Lamont, who fears for the Wales and Northampton winger’s long-term health after revealing his own battle against depression as a result of multiple head injuries. North was left unconscious in Friday night’s Aviva Premiership fixture against Wasps and Lamont, knocked out 12 times during his career, is convinced the 22-year-old has been ‘let down.' Rory Lamont reveals he battled depression after suffering 12 concussion during his rugby career . The weight of impact required to cause a bout of concussion reduces the more times a player suffers head injuries. Yet there are indications that North could still play against Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup quarter-final on Saturday. ‘It’s a complete disgrace that it’s got to this stage,’ Lamont told Sportsmail. ‘George has been let down. That a player can still be exposed to this at the top level is crazy. They’ve tipped him over the edge now because he’s had too many concussions in a short period of time. He should take six months out, but even then he will be increasingly susceptible. ‘I’ve got metal plates in my jaw, cheekbone and eye socket, but it’s the unseen damage that worries me. There are still moments during the day when I can’t remember my best friend’s name. I went through depression, irritability and lack of form after these knocks. George North was knocked out again and was forced off after a clash with Nathan Hughes of Wasps . ‘I nearly walked away from the game in 2008 and, if I’d had the same information that’s mainstream today, I probably would have. If the brain is gone, you’re just left with an empty vessel.’ North, who was concussed when playing against the All Blacks in November, remarked that ‘rugby is not tiddlywinks’ after he was knocked out twice against England last month. ‘There’s this standard bravado attitude,’ said 32-year-old Lamont, who believes there is a cultural problem that needs to be addressed. ‘George is right: it’s not tiddlywinks. But this is brain damage we’re talking about and it can lead to early onset dementia. Lamont has been knocked out 12 times and has suffered because of the multiple head injuries . 'Players don’t want to dig in and face up to the dangers. They have committed themselves to this career and they love it — it’s so much fun. There’s a wilful ignorance because you don’t want to accept the thing you love might end up killing you. ‘I know an England international who suffered a few concussions in one season and now, as a result, he suffers panic attacks. But he’s still playing because the thought of stopping is too scary. The money is coming in and he’s hanging out with his mates every day. ‘The players just aren’t educated: a lot of my friends are still playing and their knowledge of the long-term implications is shocking.’ North was unable to continue and Lamont thinks that he should be prevented from playing until the World Cup . North’s latest concussion occurred when he was caught by the knee of Wasps No 8 Nathan Hughes, who was shown a red card and will face an RFU disciplinary panel this evening. After the game Northampton issued a statement, saying: ‘North will continue to be monitored by the Saints’ experienced medical team throughout the weekend. ‘As with everyone in the squad, Northampton Saints place the highest importance on player welfare and as such North will see a specialist early next week for an assessment.’ Wales medical manager Prav Mathema has also been in dialogue with Northampton’s doctors over the weekend. There was immediate concern for North after the incident and Hughes was shown a red card for the clash . Any subsequent decisions will be highly scrutinised, with North’s double blow against England becoming one of the most controversial incidents of the RBS Six Nations. The WRU were cleared of any wrongdoing after North was allowed to stay on the field but Lamont, whose countryman Tim Visser signed for Harlequins yesterday, feels the World Rugby body need to take a more pro-active stance. Return-to-play protocols permit players to be available for selection within six days if they are symptom free, while boxers face a mandatory, 90-day stand-down if they lose consciousness for less than a minute. ‘We need to preserve George’s career and life after his career,’ said Lamont. George North suffered concussion against England in the Six Nations but played on for the rest of the match . ‘But I just don’t know if rugby is going to manage him properly. Even if he passes all the assessments, they are far too flawed. There will be great pressure to get him fit for the business end of the season but you’re playing with fire. He needs to be protected from his club and country. Independent experts need to make the decision. ‘Far too much faith is put in the protocols. When a player gets concussed it should be an absolute minimum of 21 days’ rest. There’s no way they should be playing six days later. A bruised leg doesn’t recover in six days and a bruised brain certainly doesn’t. ‘Because we can’t see a bruised brain, people don’t look at it the same way. It’s utter nonsense and business aspects are prioritised above player welfare. There is no room for error.’ +George North has been warned he could put his career in jeopardy if he plays again this season after suffering a third confirmed concussion in the space of four months. The Northampton and Wales winger, who sustained two head injuries against England in February but was controversially allowed to play on after medics missed the incidents, was knocked unconscious again on Friday night in Saints' Aviva Premiership win over Wasps. Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder indicated after the game that the 22-year-old could still be considered for next Saturday's European Champions Cup clash with Clermont, but brain injury experts insist he should not play again this season. 'George needs to be given an extended rest period to figure out if this is something that he has just not recovered from or whether there are genuine issues,' World Rugby concussion advisor Professor Willie Stewart said. George North was knocked out after colliding with Nathan Hughes' knee during the win over Wasps on Friday . 'I think he personally needs to say, 'No, I'm not playing again this season'. If he does play again too soon it could be the end of his World Cup or even his career. 'The people looking after him, including Northampton and the Welsh Rugby Union, should be recommending some time out and the experts he is seeing should recommend some time out. 'No-one should be talking about playing him next week. That's just ridiculous. I know at this time of year we're getting into the thick of it for trophies and championships but it's also getting into the sharp end for George's brain. 'I would be surprised if he makes another appearance. 'The people who are minding him and looking after his career should be saying to him that in World Cup year, even if he feels 100 per cent better in six weeks, it is not worth risking his chance on the highest stage.' North was immediately knocked unconscious following the contact during Northampton's win over Wasps . The Northampton and Wales winger is treated by medical staff before leaving the field on a stretcher . North missed Wales' win over South Africa last autumn after being concussed against New Zealand and was given three weeks off in February after the outcry over the way his double head knock against England was handled. A Northampton statement read: 'After the game George North was conscious and in the Saints' changing room with the rest of the team. He has been into the club for treatment and will continue to be monitored by the Saints' experienced medical team throughout the weekend. 'As with everyone in the squad, Northampton Saints places the highest importance on player welfare, and as such North will see a specialist early next week for an assessment.' England full back Mike Brown, rested for a month during the Six Nations after being knocked out against Italy on February 14, missed Harlequins' Wembley clash with Saracens after experiencing further concussion-related symptoms in recent days. Earlier this week former Wales international Jonathan Davies said he feared for Leigh Halfpenny's career if the full back did not improve a tackling technique that contributed to him being concussed in his side's final Six Nations win over Italy. The North and Brown cases have again raised questions over rugby's return-to-play protocols, which can permit concussed players to play again within six days if they are shown to be symptom free. In professional boxing, a sport with a concussion rate comparable to professional rugby's, any fighter who loses consciousness for less than a minute faces a mandatory 90 day stand down. A loss of consciousness of more than a minute leads to an enforced 180 day rest period. North was also knocked out twice during Wales' Six Nations defeat by England earlier this year . The winger played on that day but missed the next match as Wales medics were criticised for their decision . +Looking lean and healthy and sporting something of a George Clooney look, Darren Clarke signed on for his first official engagement as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain. There are 550 days to go before Clarke takes his golfing monument men to Minnesota to try to bring back the trophy — and many of those days will be filled with the sort of media engagements that occupied his time at the Sofitel at Heathrow’s Terminal Five. No doubt Clarke may struggle for something to say on occasion but that was not the case here as he spoke about Rory McIlroy and other pertinent matters, including one surprising comment regarding the Ryder Cup. Darren Clarke will captain Europe at next year's Ryder Cup in Minneapolis . The former Open champion holds aloft the trophy on his first official appointment as captain . After the comprehensive win at Gleneagles last time in 2014, the overwhelming temptation must be to keep everything the same but Clarke is considering one small change to the blueprint. He plans to study the data on wildcards in the tournament before deciding whether to recommend cutting their number from three to two. Of course, there are arguments both ways. He might leave himself short of options if too many of the top players fail to qualify automatically but there is an equally compelling case for saying the man finishing in 10th spot deserves to make the team by right. Even this far out Clarke is unequivocal, however, about who will be the team leader — it just has to be McIlroy. Clarke has known the 25-year-old Ulsterman since before McIlroy was even a teenager. ‘Rory always was special as a kid and a golfer,’ said Clarke. ‘He was different from everyone else and still is.’ Clarke has backed his compatriot Rory McIlroy to complete his grand slam of all four majors . The world No 1 travels to Augusta in a fortnight needing only the Masters to complete his set . The skipper is excited to see how McIlroy fares at the Masters next month but is adamant about one thing: Rory will complete the career Grand Slam one day. ‘If he doesn’t win it this year, he will win it next year,’ he said. ‘He’s just too good not to win it, with all his gifts and on a course made for his game.’ What sort of captain will Clarke be? Given his emotional personality, it is hardly surprising he picks out the Ryder Cup ships run by Ian Woos-nam and Sam Torrance. ‘Sam once said to me that playing in the Ryder Cup is like having your first child, that you really can’t describe it until you’ve gone through it, and that’s always stuck with me,’ he said. ‘I was fortunate enough to experience the pressure of contending for a major and coming through to win, but for me the pressure of the Ryder Cup was far greater. ‘And I will be a player-friendly captain. Some might think I’m too close to the players but I will not shirk my responsibilities.’ Clarke is keen to foster that community feeling that marked Paul McGinley’s team in 2014 and one or two earlier incarnations. ‘It was interesting seeing that from the outside at Gleneagles,’ he said. ‘I was working for Sky but that togetherness was still so easy to see and clearly so beneficial.’ Players celebrate with former captain Paul McGinley after winning the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles last year . Clarke had a well-publicised falling out with McGinley but, thankfully, both are keen to present a united public front. ‘Of course I will be taking up his offer to talk with him,’ said Clarke. ‘Paul couldn’t have done a better job so it would be foolish not to talk. I intend to speak to all the captains. How can that not be a help?’ The first day in a new job can often be a nervous one but Clarke was composed and confident, and enjoyed some light-hearted football banter. After Sir Alex Ferguson’s motivational talk at Glen- eagles, would Clarke the Liverpool fan ask keen golfer Steven Gerrard to speak in Minneapolis, given he will be playing in America by then? ‘After yesterday, what a time to ask me that!’ he said. What price Tiger Woods pulling out of the Masters next week just as he did last year? Whatever happens, it is guaranteed already to be another sad landmark in his startling fall from grace. Now down to 96th in the world, Woods is certain next Monday to fall out of the top 100 for the first time since October 13, 1996. Tiger Woods is set to fall out of the top 100 for the first time since October 1996 . ‘I have a dislocated shoulder and it has been keeping me out of the gym, which is disappointing. I want to stay fit because . . . well, I shall be old one of these days.’ Arnold Palmer holding court as tournament host last week. Now 85, the great man promised that not even a dislocated shoulder would prevent him from hitting the ceremonial first tee shot at the Masters. In the words of the old Bob Dylan song, may he stay forever young. Arnold Palmer (right) presents Matt Every with the trophy after winning the Invitational in Orlando . There is a fine line separating Paul Casey in 49th place in the world rankings from Marc Warren in 51st but right now it is making a huge difference. One is heading to the Masters in a fortnight’s time while the other is not. That could all change, however, following the Valero Texas Open this week. Anyone inside the top 50 after this event will get an invitation to Augusta and while Warren has secured a prized sponsor’s invitation, Casey has decided to stay at home in Arizona. Paul Casey will be sweating on Marc Warren's performance at the Texas Open to find his Masters fate . What price Scotsman Warren, on a straight-shooter’s course that ought to suit his eye, tipping the Englishman out of the field for the season’s first major? It is to be hoped that both scrape in. Under the ranking system, Casey is actually projected to move up a spot without taking the week’s events into account (proceedings at the Trophee Hassan in Morocco on the European Tour could also influence matters). So not just Warren but two other players would have to go past Casey to deny him a Masters outing. As for Warren, anything resembling the tied-17th finish he achieved in his last start at Miami’s Cadillac Championship would do the trick. Among those who could also force their way to Augusta via their efforts in Morocco are Englishmen Andy Sullivan (61st) and Tommy Fleetwood (66th). +An artist from Seattle has created a form of street art that is guaranteed to brighten up your rainy day. Rainworks, the brainchild of Peregrine Church, is a form of water-activated art that only becomes visible when it is raining. Its inventor came up with the concept when he discovered superhydrophobic coating – a nanoscopic surface layer that repels water. Peregrine Church has developed art that will make people's rainy days feel a whole lot better . He claims that he was intrigued by the numerous viral videos that featured the miracle substance and believed he could create interesting patterns with light and dark contrasts on pavements. Travelling around the streets of his native Seattle, Peregrine sprays through stencils to create motivational messages – that are initially invisible – on the ground. Demonstrating his work in the video, the artist throws a bucket of water onto a piece of inconspicuous pavement and from nowhere a hopscotch appears on the floor. Discussing his work, he says: ‘I make things that make the world a more interesting place like a Rainwork.’ Peregrine sprays through stencils to create motivational messages – that are initially invisible – on the ground . The artist says he hopes his work will 'make the world a more interesting place' Featured on his computer, Peregrine designs a number of feel-good stencils to be used on the street. He notes that Seattle is a place synonymous with rainfall and that his artwork is therefore ideal for the seaport city. Later in the video he discusses his numerous murals and where they can be found in and around Seattle and as far as Olympia. Peregrine was intrigued by the numerous viral videos that featured a miracle substance that protected surfaces from liquids . Two men brave it to pose for a special experiment as they get ready to be covered in paint . It's clear to see which man had the superhydrophobic coating – a nanoscopic surface layer that repels water . He says: ‘The very first one I did said ‘stay dry out there’ and had a bunch of raindrops falling. It was on a bus stop. 'And now there are about 25 to 30 Rainworks out there.’ The video concludes with the artist positively noting: ‘It’s going to rain no matter what, so why not do something cool with it?’ Peregrine uploads examples of his work to his website and the original video can be viewed here. The numerous murals and where they can be found in and around Seattle and as far as Olympia . There are around 25 to 30 Rainworks around Seattle . +Filmmaker Brett Ratner has turned his attention away from Hollywood blockbusters this month to produce a glossy television commercial for Blade's new airport helicopter transfer service, Bounce. Blade, a short-distance aviation app which launched last year as a fast way to get to the Hamptons, is now offering customers the chance to fly to New York airports in just minutes for less than $700. The advert, debuting exclusively with DailyMail.com today, features beard model Luke Ditella picking up his comely date for a quick flight at Blade's swanky heliport lounge on Manhattan's East Side. App-based service: Brett Ratner's Bounce advert, debuting exclusively with DailyMail.com, opens with beard model Luke Ditella looking down at his phone to see the words, 'helicopter has arrived', flash up on the screen . Smartening up: Ditella then glances at his watch and straightens his tie (pictured), before picking up his comely date for the short helicopter trip at Blade's swanky heliport lounge on Manhattan's East Side . New focus: Filmmaker Ratner (pictured), who directed the Rush Hour film series and X-Men: The Last Stand, turned his attention away from Hollywood blockbusters this month to produce the glossy commercial . It opens with Ditella looking down at his smartphone to see the words, 'helicopter has arrived', flash up on the screen, alongside the time of his Blade flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport. He then glances at his watch, before meeting his date in the Blade Lounge and telling her: 'Sorry I'm late'. The woman, wearing a dark blue dress, turns to him and replies: 'Your helicopter. Your rules.' The pair then climb into a black helicopter at the East 34th Street heliport, which takes off. The 30-second commercial, which ends with the aircraft flying into the distance, was shot in a single day. Apology: After walking over to his date, Ditella, dressed in a suit jacket and shirt, tells her: 'Sorry I'm late' 'Your rules': The woman, wearing a dark blue dress, turns to him and replies: 'Your helicopter. Your rules' Ready to travel: Ditella glances out of the window of the Blade Lounge, at their helicopter, on East 34th Street . Producer Ratner, 45, who directed the Rush Hour film series, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Family Man and Red Dragon, and other crew members lent their talents to the advert for free. Blade, dubbed 'an Uber for helicopters', offers flights to 'any New York area airport' via its Bounce app. The six-seat aircraft, costing $695 a trip, arrives as soon as 20 minutes after being ordered. The booking process itself takes no longer than 30 seconds. Blade's new commercial will first air on New York television Monday morning. A quick trip: The pair then climb into a Blade helicopter (pictured), which takes off. The commercial for Blade's new service, called Bounce, was shot in a single day. Ratner, 45, and other staff lent their talents for free . Date night: Blade, dubbed 'an Uber for helicopters', is offering direct flights to 'any New York area airport' for $695 via Bounce. The six-seat aircraft can arrive as soon as 20 minutes after being ordered by a customer . Up and away: Blade's new commercial for Bounce will first air on New York television on Monday morning . +This unusual weeping willow was snapped by an amateur photographer who noticed it looked strikingly like a nose. Bob Carter spotted the tree at Chanterlands Avenue Cemetery, Hull, where he spread his best friend's ashes. The photograph shows the tree's trunk jutting outwards to create the bridge of the nose. And definite mounds give the illusion of nostrils. Not to be sniffed at: The weeping willow at Chanterlands Avenue Cemetery, Hull looks strikingly like a nose . Mr Carter, 57, said he felt like his friend, George Kennedy, had led him there and that he just 'burst out laughing' when he saw it. He said: 'As soon as saw the tree I noticed the nose. It's just so obvious to me. I've never seen anything like it before. 'I was there with the family of one of my best friends - George Kennedy - to spread his ashes. 'He knew how much I loved photography and I felt like he led me there. 'He knew I'd have appreciated it and I just burst out laughing when I saw it.' Touching: Bob Carter spotted the tree when he was at Chanterlands Avenue Cemetery, Hull, pictured, to spread his best friend's ashes. The 57-year old said he thought his friend, George Kennedy, had led him there . +The women's world champion, Reanne Evans, has been given a place in the qualifying round's of this year's World Championship, World Snooker has announced. The 29-year-old - the dominant player of the women's game with 10 successive world titles to her name - will head to Sheffield's Ponds Forge in April in a bid to qualify for the main event at the Crucible. Evans will be one of 128 players to bid to join the game's top 16 in the tournament and she will need to win three matches in order to do so. Reanne Evans (left) will be playing for the chance to face the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan at the crucible . She would become the first women to compete in the World Championship if successful, having become the first woman to qualify for any ranking event last season when she got through to the main stage of the Wuxi Classic in China. A new infrastructure introduced by the sport's governing body means that all players seeded outside the top 16 will join the 128, while invitations have been extended to former world champions no longer on the tour and amateur players. As such, Evans has been invited to qualify, as have former champions Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, while James Wattana has also been invited. 'So please (sic) to finally be able to say I've been given a place in this years world championship!!! 3 wins and I'll be at the crucible!!! Thanks to all my fans and sponsors,' Evans, a long-time campaigner for the women's game to be given greater prominence, wrote on her Facebook page. Evans will be the first woman to take part in the World Championship if she makes it through qualifying . Commenting on the news, Jason Ferguson, the chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, said: 'Reanne's achievements in the ladies game are incredible - to win 10 world titles in a row in any sport is a phenomenal record. 'She is a true sporting great and proved her ability to compete on the open professional tour when she reached the final stages of the Wuxi Classic in China. 'She deserves the chance to play in the World Championship and she will be aiming to become the first woman ever to play in the main event at the Crucible. Reanne is a trail-blazer for female players around the world.' Were Evans to win even one of her qualifying matches it would carry prize money of £6,000 - a fee comfortably in excess of the tariff on offer for winning the women's World Championship. +When Cristiano Ronaldo started the year with a Ballon d'Or award nobody thought 2015 could ever turn into his annus horribilis. But since his 'Siiii!' war cry in Zurich when he collected the trophy and sent an 'I'm coming for you' message to Lionel Messi, the Real Madrid forward's fortunes have been in free-fall to the extent that the exit door that leads back to Manchester United has been opened once again. Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes told Spanish radio his player would go on scoring goals for Real Madrid until he is 40 as the club and the player's entourage celebrated his well-deserved gong in January. Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo sits on the Bernabeu pitch during his side's 2-0 win against Levante . The former Manchester United man endured a frustrating evening despite his side's La Liga victory . Ronaldo has a shot at goal on Sunday night but he was unable to find the back of the net . But since then he has been sent off and banned for two games; chastised by supporters for holding a birthday party through the early hours after a humiliating derby day defeat by Atletico Madrid and pledged a vow of silence after the team's defeat in the Champions League to Schalke. Manchester United have been linked with both a bold move for Gareth Bale or a romantic return for Ronaldo. Sources in Madrid now say of the two moves, it would be a bid for Ronaldo that would meet with less resistance. For all the boos and whistles for Gareth Bale from sections of the Santiago Bernabeu crowd the club president Florentino Perez is firmly behind his £86million signing and sees him as Ronaldo's heir apparent. Ronaldo is even understood to have done more to help the former Tottenham forward as he tries to push his profile and get himself on next year's Ballon d'Or podium. The request was not received with open arms. Much like Bale when he scored twice on Sunday against Levante. Gareth Bale celebrates after opening the scoring but Ronaldo appeared frustrated that he hadn't found the net . Ronaldo celebrates winning the Premier League title with Manchester United shortly before leaving in 2009 . A return to Old Trafford is not out of the question for the Portuguese superstar after a miserable start to 2015 . Real Madrid trio Ronaldo, Bale and Karim Benzema share an embrace after the Welshman's second goal . Bale, pictured with his partner Emma Rhys-Jones, is seen as the heir to Ronaldo by Florentino Perez . Ronaldo failed to celebrate his team-mate's opening goal because he was too busy lamenting his own misfortune at not scoring after failing to connect properly with a scissor kick from the edge of the six-yard area. Like the incredible sulk of old, Ronaldo could be seen throwing his arms up in the air both before and after Bale converted the rebound. Gary Lineker tweeted: 'Ronaldo's extraordinarily stroppy reaction to Bale scoring from a rebound from his effort was bizarre and unhealthy.' He was also frustrated when Bale scored his second goal getting the slightest of touches on a Ronaldo shot but enough to divert it past the Levante goalkeeper to wrap up the three points. And with those two goals for Bale and a string of misses from himself in what remained of the game, including one sitter in injury-time and a weak shot from a perfect Bale cross in the first half, Ronaldo went straight down the tunnel at full-time, not to the centre circle to applaud supporters. Ronaldo split up with his long-term girlfriend, Russian model and actress Irina Shayk, in January . Ronaldo's form has dipped since his split and Lionel Messi now has more goals than him this season . Irina accompanied Ronaldo to the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards in January 2014 but she was absent this year . Off the pitch things have gone no better for him with a split from Russian girlfriend Irina Shayk ensuring he has filled the pages of many of Spain's gossip magazines amid speculation about why the couple broke up and who his next partner will be. All this with the Clasico on the horizon – a match he would never have dreamed he would go in to on fewer goals than Messi who now has two more than his rival. Last year Ronaldo raced to a 12-goal lead over Messi who was struggling for form and fell out spectacularly with his manager Luis Enrique. Messi's relationship with his coach is now on the mend and he has scored 20 goals since the start of the year. Things change so quickly in Spanish football and Ronaldo's last three months are evidence of that. What also may have changed is the possibility that after six extraordinary seasons at the Bernabeu Ronaldo could yet find time in his record-breaking career to go back to Old Trafford for a glorious swansong. VIDEO Bale was more motivated - Ancelotti . +An emotional Michael Clarke dedicated Australia’s unprecedented fifth World Cup triumph to his former team-mate and friend Phillip Hughes after his side trounced New Zealand in the final at Melbourne. Clarke – who joins Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting (twice) in the pantheon of Australia’s World Cup-winning captains – scored a classy 74 in 72 balls in his final one-day international before quitting the format to focus on Tests. And with Australia overhauling the New Zealanders’ disappointing total of 183 with seven wickets and nearly 17 overs to spare, he went out in style, watched by an MCG crowd of 93,013 – an official world record for a single day’s cricket. Michael Clarke kisses the World Cup after guiding his team to glory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . The Australia side celebrate after defeating New Zealand to be crowned Cricket World Cup champions . Clarke celebrates with his wife Kyly and the trophy in the Australian dressing room . Referring to the black armband he wore in memory of Hughes, who died in November after being struck on the neck by a short-pitched delivery during a domestic game in Sydney, Clarke said: ‘As you can see it's got PH on it. I’ll wear it every game I play for Australia. For everyone in Australian cricket it’s been a tough few months. ‘We played this World Cup with 16 players and this is certainly dedicated to our little brother and team-mate Phillip Hughes. Hughesy used to party as good as any of them, so I’ll make sure we drink two at a time – one for Hughesy and one for us. 'Hughes used to party as good as any of them so I'll make sure we drink two (beers) at a time tonight, one for Hughesy and one for us.' Hughes would have approved of the manner in which Australia crushed their trans-Tasman cousins, even if the neutrals were deprived of the climax which the tournament – if it’s honest with itself – so badly needed. From the moment Mitchell Starc bowled New Zealand’s captain and talisman Brendon McCullum in the game’s first over, a sense of inevitability descended on the MCG like the evening shadows. Here were the pre-tournament favourites doling out a painful lesson to a team taking part in their first World Cup final. The Australian captain receives a kiss from his wife Kyly after winning the World Cup . Kevin Pietersen didn't do his hopes of an England recall any good by posing with James Faulkner . The one-way traffic was held up only during a gutsy fourth-wicket stand of 111 between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott, New Zealand’s hero during their semi-final thriller against South Africa. But James Faulkner, named man of the match for figures of 3 for 36, removed Taylor and the big-hitting Corey Anderson in the first over of the batting powerplay, and wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi fell in the next, to the outstanding Starc. Elliott went on to make 83, but New Zealand’s last seven fell for just 33 in 10 overs. After eight successive games on their smaller, less intimidating, home grounds, they never came to terms with either the occasion or the relentlessness of the Australian attack. The dismissal of Martin Guptill, who had hammered West Indies for an unbeaten 237 from 163 balls in the quarter-finals, summed up their day: trying to dab a gentle off-break from Glenn Maxwell through backward point, he was bowled for 15. Australia lost Aaron Finch to Trent Boult in the second over of the reply, but for New Zealand’s bowlers that was as good as it got. David Warner hit 45 in 46 balls, before Clarke joined Steve Smith – his heir apparent – to add 112. After carting Tim Southee for four successive fours, Clarke chopped on against Matt Henry with nine runs still needed, but Smith was there at the end, a fifth successive half-century in his increasingly irresistible bag. Clarke received a standing ovation as he left the field having been dismissed in his final one-day international . The Australian captain scored 74 from 72 deliveries to anchor his team's chase of 184 . Clarke said: 'We're really proud, it's a wonderful achievement. It's a great thing just to make a World Cup final, but to be able to win in your own back yard in front of your family and friends is extremely special and I guarantee we'll celebrate hard tonight. 'Obviously I'm over the moon. What a tournament. 'The New Zealand team deserve a lot of credit . They're always a tough team to beat it seems in any sporting event. Australia v New Zealand is always an exciting contest and tonight was no different.' 'It's been an honour and a privilege to represent my country in both Test and one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket. 'The time is right for me to walk away from one-day cricket, but I'll keep playing Test cricket.' Clarke poses with the World Cup trophy after Australia's fourth success in the last five editions . Clarke dedicated the victory to Phillip Hughes, who died after being hit on the side of the head by a bouncer . As Australia prepared to celebrate into the night and beyond, it was left to McCullum to confirm his status as one of the World Cup’s most impressive characters. He said: 'It's been one hell of a ride for us right the way through. I think we've played some outstanding cricket and we ran into an outstanding Australia team tonight who continue to set the way in international cricket and full credit to them, they deserve to be champions. 'Michael Clarke as well, he deserves to bow out a World Cup-winning champion too. They were outstanding in this World Cup and thoroughly deserved to win. 'We were the second-best team on the day and all credit to Australia.' McCullum took time to reflect on the tournament as a whole and said he was 'proud' of his team's performances as they became the first New Zealand side to reach a World Cup final. He added: 'We've forged some memories and friendships that will last forever. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum admitted his side were second best on the day . 'Obviously we're not able to lift the trophy but the brand of cricket and the entertainment that we've been able to give people throughout our country and throughout the world is something we're immensely proud of. 'We have no regrets and we walk away from this tournament with our heads held high. 'It's the greatest time of your life to be able to represent your country on the international stage with a group of friends and then put your skills against the world's best - it is the greatest time of our lives and that's how we tried to play the game, play with a free spirit and plenty of heart all the way along. 'It's taken us so far in this tournament but we weren't obviously able to get over the final hurdle, but it's something that I'm immensely proud of, all the guys in the team, all the management group and all those that have been part of this team over the last few years and helped build us into what we are. 'We've still got some work to do but we can be very proud of our achievements in this tournament.' +Seven points. All that separates Premier League leaders Chelsea and third-placed Arsenal, two sides who, up until the last couple of months, were deemed to be having wildly contrasting seasons. How times change. The Gunners are on a hot streak and the champions-in-waiting are stuttering, having drawn their last two league games at fortress Stamford Bridge. Manchester City still sit second despite Saturday evening's deflating defeat by Burnley but Manuel Pellegrini's men are out of form and look increasingly unlikely to retain their crown. Arsenal's players celebrate after Mathieu Flamini's goal in their 3-0 win against West Ham on Saturday . Chelsea captain John Terry looks dejected after his side's 1-1 draw with Southampton on Sunday . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 *Postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . *Due to FA Cup . That leaves Arsene Wenger's side as the biggest threat to Chelsea, something which seemed almost unthinkable come the final hours of New Year's Day. Arsenal fell to sixth on January 1 after a woeful 2-0 defeat by fellow Champions League chasers Southampton, a result best remembered for two Wojciech Szczesny howlers. But, with summer signing David Ospina establishing himself as the club's No 1, the Gunners have been on an upward trajectory ever since. Arsenal overcame a 12-point deficit to beat Manchester United to the Premier League table in May 1998 . The Gunners secured the 1997-98 title with a 4-0 win over Everton at Highbury, lifting the title that day . VIDEO Arsenal still not in title race - Wenger . One league defeat - albeit to north London rivals Tottenham - is the only blot on their record since that forgettable day at St Mary's, while a return of 24 points from a possible 27 is the best in the division. Saturday's comfortable 3-0 win against West Ham was Arsenal's eighth consecutive victory at home, a feat they last achieved at Highbury in 2005. And that run, combined with Chelsea's lacklustre 1-1 draw with Southampton on Sunday, left Jose Mourinho admitting that the north Londoners can be considered title challengers. 'Of course Arsenal are in it,' he said. 'They are seven points behind Chelsea, but have one less match to play than Chelsea. The only defeat in Arsenal's last nine league games came against Tottenham; they've won the other eight . Jose Mourinho (right) has a lot of history with Wenger, and he still believes Arsenal have a chance . 'Both City and Arsenal are in the title race. It depends on the momentum for Arsenal - the 3-1 defeat against Monaco or the 3-0 defeat against West Ham? 'So the danger is always there. But I keep saying, we are there. If someone had told me in August that, at the end of March, we'd be six points in front with a match in hand, I'd have signed for that immediately.' Mourinho is a master of mind games and may well have been attempting to pile pressure on Olivier Giroud and Co ahead of a crucial nine-match run-in. But the fact remains that Arsenal - and Wenger in particular - have history when it comes to late title charges. Just cast your mind back to March 1998. Arsenal trained on Monday in preparation for their Champions League game against Monaco on Tuesday . Arsenal lost the first leg 3-1, and will be focused solely on the Premier League if they get knocked out . The Gunners were 12 points behind Manchester United and had three games in hand with a little over two months of the season remaining but went on a magnificent 10-match winning run to wrap up the title with two games to spare. The task this time around is undoubtedly more difficult, particularly given Chelsea's extra game, but Arsenal's superb home form and some favourable fixtures should at least offer fans some hope. As well as having an opportunity to claw back three points against the leaders at the Emirates on April 26, they also have games against struggling Newcastle, Burnley, Hull and Sunderland to look forward to. Ian Wright (left) plants a kiss on the cheek of Arsenal captain Tony Adams after winning the 97-98 title . Marc Overmars scored twice against Everton to help Arsenal to the title in 98... but can they do it this season? A home clash with in-form Liverpool next month and a trip to Manchester United in the season's penultimate fixture will be tough, although last week's FA Cup win at Old Trafford should fill Wenger's squad with confidence. Chelsea also have some games they will relish but the visits of United and Liverpool to Stamford Bridge at least offer potential for Mourinho's men to drop points. It will need to be some slip-up for Arsenal to take advantage like they did 17 years ago but Wenger's men - who could well be free of Champions League football this week - should not be discounted. It might not be the title race we expected two-and-a-half months ago but Chelsea cannot breathe easy just yet. +Former Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has hit out at owner Ellis Short by insisting that he and not Gus Poyet is to blame for the club’s sorry state. The controversial Italian was sacked just six games into the 2013-14 campaign despite saving the Black Cats from relegation the previous season. Poyet, too, has now been axed by Short after Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa left them one place and one point above the drop zone. Former Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has hit out at chairman Ellis Short over the club's relegation battle . Di Canio has been critical of Short (above), his transfer dealings and his interference in the dressing room . Di Canio celebrates his first victory as Sunderland manager, over Everton back in April 2013 . But Di Canio came out in support of his successor, claiming that billionaire American Short is responsible for Sunderland’s current plight. ‘It’s not Poyet’s fault because chairman Ellis Short is the real origin of all these troubles,’ Di Canio told Fox Sports. ‘I saved Sunderland when the club was sinking, along with my staff. I completed a true miracle, on and off the pitch. ‘We tried to change the philosophy of the team. In the two previous years, no fines were given, despite players getting drunk and partying until late, even a few days before a match. ‘I was giving fines even for (players being) five minutes late. ‘It’s fundamental, to keep order in the dressing room. I took all the responsibilities, but my project was immediately cut off. ‘It was a choice which came from above. When I was the manager, two directors chose 16 players. ‘None of them are still at the club - neither the players, nor those directors.' Sunderland manager Gus Poyet was shown the door after his team's dismal display against Aston Villa . Sunderland's Connor Wickham tussles with Aston Villa's Charles N'Zogbia during his side's 4-0 loss . Gabriel Agbonlahor celebrates his second goal as Sunderland players look dejected at the Stadium of Light . One Sunderland fan holds up a sign, calling for Poyet's sacking during the 4-0 drubbing at home to Villa . However, Di Canio believes Poyet should have done more to deal with ill-discipline in the squad and says supporters would never have streamed for the exits under his charge, as they did during the weekend loss to Villa. ‘I don’t want to blame Poyet, but if you’re afraid to fine one of your players, then you have to expect some troubles,' he added. 'This team is just looking for three worse teams to leave behind. 'When I was their manager, it never happened to see the supporters leaving the stadium before the final whistle. 'This never happened because we always played with dignity, regardless of the bad results. I don't know what's happening now, but it looks like the team is drifting. VIDEO Under-fire Poyet understands fan anger . Villa midfielder Fabian Delph slides in with a challenge on Sunderland winger Sebastian Larsson . Villa's Belgian striker Christian Benteke celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal against Sunderland . +Louis van Gaal has not gone trophyless in his first season at Manchester United after all as the Dutchman received the Anton Geesink Award in his native country on Sunday night. The award, named in honour of deceased Dutch judo legend Anton Geesink, is awarded every year to a person, city or organisation for their 'remarkable sport performance'. The judges felt Van Gaal was a worthy recipient on the back of his impressive performances leading the Netherlands at the World Cup last summer. Louis van Gaal (right) arrives on stage to receive the Anton Geesink Award on Sunday night . Van Gaal received the award on the back of leading the Netherlands to third place at the 2014 World Cup . Van Gaal celebrates with Robin van Persie after the striker's wonder goal against Spain at the tournament . Van Gaal's last chance for silverware went up in smoke at the beginning of the month when United crashed to a 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat against Arsenal at Old Trafford. The defeat to the Gunners all but ended Van Gaal's search for a trophy in his debut season in England. 'For me this award is very special since I have personally known Anton for many years.' said Van Gaal. Van Gaal watches on from the sideline during Manchester United's 2-1 victory against Liverpool . 'Anton and I have the same character and we have both struggled, although with different resistances.' United are currently fourth in the Premier League table as they look to secure a coveted Champions League spot for next season. +When number seven for Steven Gerrard's side walked onto the hallowed Anfield turf once again, a roar was heard from all sides of the stadium, as fans welcomed the return of the brilliant, exciting and unpredictable maverick that is Luis Suarez. The Liverpool fan favourite got tongues wagging after refusing to rule out a return in the future, while disappointing the likes of Manchester City after revealing that he would only ever play for the Merseyside club. Speaking to Liverpool TV he said: 'You never know in football what the future holds but if I ever play in England again, I will play for the Liverpool team and not another team. Luis Suarez took to Twitter and posted this photo of himself and Steven Gerrard after the game . Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez share a joke at the end of the Liverpool All-Star charity game . The Barcelona striker and Fernando Torres come on as substitutes and made their return to Anfield . It was no surprise to see Suarez receive such a welcoming from the Reds faithful after a unforgettable three-and-a-half-year spell with the club. And while he is forging his own reputation in Barcelona now, he still fondly remembers his spell in England. 'I've missed the fans,' added Suarez, who scored the winner in El Clasico against Real Madrid seven days ago. Suarez and Gerrard thank the officials who took charge of the All-Star game at Anfield . 'The atmosphere is unbelievable, it's amazing. Everyone who's played for Liverpool knows how important the supporters are. They know they are in my heart.' Suarez was also delighted to back alongside his friend and former team-mate Steven Gerrard and holds the midfielder in the highest regard. Suarez was quick to praise the Liverpool captain and tweeted a picture of the duo captioned: 'Unbelievable to be back at Anfield and surrounded by great players... Here a picture with the greatest one!!' Suarez in action at the Kop end where he was greeted with deafening cheers after coming off the bench . Liverpool fans loved to see the attacking trio of Torres, Suarez and Gerrard playing at Anfield again . Jamie Carragher was captain of the other side and he pleased to see the Barcelona star back at Anfield, albeit on the opposition side. He posted: 'Great to see Luis back at Anfield today I gave as good as I got but he nutmegged me obviously!' The game finished 2-2 after Gerrard converted two penalties to level up the scores and it was a fitting way for the game to end. Suarez came up against former team-mate Jamie Carragher who praised the striker following his return . Suarez and Jamie Carragher compete during the Liverpool All Star Charity Match at Anfield . The Uruguayan congratulates Gerrard after he scored from the spot to equalise and make it 2-2 . Despite his goal scoring troubles on the pitch for Liverpool, Mario Balotelli was in top form, firing home a thumping effort and setting up Thierry Henry for the second. The Italian striker was sure to not let the Arsenal legend forget it when posting a picture of the duo and Didier Drogba on his Instagram. He said: 'LEGENDS...Always nice to see you guys. @didierdrogba you are welcome for my pass.' Mario Balotelli (centre) took this selfie with Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry following the charity match . Steven Gerrard poses with former Liverpool team-mates at the end of the All-Star Charity Match . +Oh be still my beating heart. Here we are, standing on the gravel outside the library doors at Highclere Castle, the English stately home in Hampshire that provides the ravishing setting for the television series, Downton Abbey. We are on the very spot where Matthew Crawley asked Lady Mary to marry him in the first Downton Abbey Christmas special, broadcast in 2011. Remember when the violins soared and snowflakes fell? When Matthew got down on one miraculously recovered knee to propose? For many viewers, this was their all-time favourite Downton scene. Scroll down for video . To the manor married: Lady Carnarvon, the real-life equivalent of Downton Abbey’s Cora, in front of Highclere . ‘Well, that wasn’t my favourite scene!’ cries the Countess of Carnarvon, the current chatelaine of Highclere and the real-life equivalent of Downton’s Cora, who’s Countess of Grantham. ‘The crew were using ash to recreate the snow. It got inside the house and we had to spend ages dusting and cleaning the rooms. And the smell! Very acrid. We reached the point where we had to stop them doing it.’ Lady Carnarvon has always been quite frank about the travails of letting a film crew loose inside her beautiful home. On the plus side, there are the location fees and increased visitor traffic; the crowds paying £20 a head to goggle at the splendour of her Highclere interiors and the red velvet sofas where the Crawleys gather to take tea. ‘Yes. It’s like that show, Poke Your Nose Through The Keyhole,’ she says. On the downside, damage and disruption. ‘I do get annoyed when visitors chuck litter about, but my husband goes around picking it up. We fill black bags with the stuff.’ And since the very first day of Downton filming, when a technician smashed a much-loved green objet de vertu trinket box, she has been on red alert for transgressions. When she is not telling the crew that she pops open the champagne the minute they leave, she is issuing instructions on the correct way to move precious antique furniture. ‘You lift a girl in your arms and a chair by its bottom,’ she will say. As Carson the butler (‘Oh, I adore him, he is divine’) would no doubt agree, the problem with having high standards is that so few manage to live up to them. Another who has incurred her displeasure is Ralph Lauren. The wealthy American designer and his family recently attended a swanky dinner at Highclere, hosted by the Earl and Countess. The Laurens committed the social faux pas of taking numerous photographs of themselves grinning cheesily on the famous Oak Staircase, and elsewhere in sumptuous Highclere, then proudly posting the snaps online. Her ladyship was not best pleased. ‘My interpretation of dinner is having a meal and his interpretation is taking photographs. It seemed to get out of hand. I have to live with that.’ Has she seen the pictures? ‘No and I don’t want to, because I don’t want to be irritated by them. My idea of a nice evening is having a conversation, not taking snaps. I have never knowingly taken a selfie, I am useless at photography. I am just . . . different, I suppose.’ The Countess of Carnarvon is the equivalent of Downton’s Cora, played by Elizabeth McGovern . To whizz down the mile-long drive to Highclere Castle is to travel back in time to a more gracious age. The stately home made famous by Downton has been the ancestral seat of the Earls of Carnarvon since 1679. Flanked by elegant pines planted from seed three centuries ago, the house sits in a rolling landscape designed by Capability Brown. To look upon the soaring architecture of Highclere is to understand the ambition and conceit of the old English upper classes, who once thought that life behind these ramparts of Bath stone, surrounded by Reynolds, Van Dycks and walls covered in green French silk, would go on for ever. Yet even the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by Lord and Lady Grantham in the fictional series is far removed from the realities of today. My dears, in the real Downton, the current chatelaine doesn’t even have a lady’s maid. ‘Certainly not!’ she says. ‘And sadly not, because I would absolutely love one.’ In this house, with more than 300 rooms and ‘about 80’ bedrooms, the servants’ bellboard is still there outside the kitchen, just as it was over 100 years ago. But now, instead of tinkling bells, estate staff are summoned by the crackling walkie-talkie her ladyship carries in her hand. Here, amid her six dogs, her horses, her staff and her husband, Lady Carnarvon gives the impression of a woman who reigns supreme. She was Fiona Aitken before she married Geordie Herbert, the Queen’s godson and soon to be eighth Earl of Carnarvon, 16 years ago. Fiona was a foxy blonde and arch Sloane Ranger. The eldest of six sisters, she was raised in Fulham, West London, and is a trained accountant who once designed and sold crushed velvet evening wraps to other Sloanes. Only two years after they married, she and Geordie took over Highclere when the seventh Earl died. ‘Then you understand that you marry the man and the house,’ she says today. While her husband runs the estate, the jolly, sporty 52-year-old has become the face and force of the real Downton, in charge of monetising the legacy from the popular TV show. In this, she has been enormously successful, writing two best-selling books about previous Carnarvon wives; Almina and Catherine. Lady Carnarvon gives the impression of a woman who reigns supreme, much like Dame Maggie's Dowager Countess of Grantham . She also gives talks all over the world. In Texas next month, the socialite Lynn Wyatt is hosting a champagne Highclere Tea where Texan fans of Downton can meet the countess over cake, all for the price of a £440 ticket. She is quite the draw, happy to take on the ambassadorial role while her husband stays in the background. Right on cue, Lord Carnarvon appears in his Dad jeans and trainers, coffee mug in hand. Seeing that the morning room where we are talking is occupied, he quietly reverses out the door, like a dog in a Crufts obedience trial. ‘He is very shy,’ his wife explains. No one, least of all the couple themselves, imagined that Downton Abbey would be so successful. Now screened in more than 100 countries, it brings Americans and Chinese visitors here in droves. ‘Who would have thought an Edwardian drama beginning in 1912 would have such huge appeal?’ she wonders. Who indeed, but shooting began this week on the sixth Downton series. ‘I am sure they would like to go on making more series,’ she says. ITV director Peter Fincham has told her that he wants Downton to go on for 18 years. ‘That made me gulp.’ The money that flows into the Highclere coffers as a result of the series must surely, however, cushion the blow of domestic disruption. After all, before Downton hit our screens, the Carnarvons admitted that their estate needed £11.75 million of repairs, including £1.8 million of urgent work on the main house. Although the family will not say how much money they get for the rental of the castle for filming, Lord Carnarvon has since said the show had ‘taken the pressure off’ them financially. There is also talk of a Hollywood film, which Lady C does not deny. ‘I try not to lie awake at night worrying about money,’ she says. ‘Obviously, like everyone else, I have a sense of complete panic every so often. I am not in a position where I have so much money I worry about what to do with it.’ On sleepless nights, she roams the Highclere corridors, and likes to sleep in her son’s bed when he is at boarding school. She soothes herself by listening to the Shipping Forecast on Radio 4, feeling grateful that she is not ‘alone in a boat on the ocean’. Lady Carnarvon first met her husband at a dinner party where they bonded over a love of World War I poetry. Her former lover, an eccentric cove called Sir Benjy Slade, had sued her for the return of a pet labrador and claimed she was ‘the ruthless golddigger of the year’. Highclere Castle, the English stately home in Hampshire, provides the ravishing setting for Downton Abbey . It’s far more likely that the Carnarvons were two slightly broken people who made each other complete. He had recently separated from his first wife and two young children; she was grieving over the early death of both her parents. They married in February 1999 and had their son Edward in October; a honeymoon baby for a gilded life. It is to her credit that she does all her work on Highclere in the full knowledge that it is her husband‘s son, not hers, who will inherit the Carnarvon title and all the lands. Edward gets nothing, but that does not bother her. ‘I am not worried. If I make some money from books, that is his. In life it is not what you take, it is what you give that matters most.’ She and Geordie appear to have a healthy working partnership, one that she describes as ‘50/50 with a one per cent swing either way.’ They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together every day and never get tired of each other. Heaven for them is supper on a tray in front of the television. Her transition from confident and capable young woman to countess is fascinating. ‘I would hate to be considered snobbish,’ she says, although she learned, in the upper class way, to use charm as a weapon to get what she wants. ‘You could walk into somewhere like Highclere and just stand like a petrified creature in the headlights, doing nothing. Or you could take it one step at a time. It is the end, not the journey, that matters.’ A journey that sometimes takes in some aggravating neighbours along the way. ‘I am a woman,’ she says, ‘who knows which battles to fight.’ +Arsenal legend Thierry Henry gave fans at Anfield a glimpse of his very, very best after nailing a cheeky pass to Ryan Babel during an All-Stars game between a Steven Gerrard XI and a Jamie Carragher XI. The former Arsenal man hung up his boots in December, but there was no sign of rustiness as the 37-year-old former France international pulled off the audacious move. Henry, who had been playing for MLS side New York Red Bulls before calling it a day, looked set to pull the trigger after picking up the ball on the edge of the box, only to dummy a shot with his right and play a pass with his left. Arsenal legend Thierry Henry looks set to go for goal as he picks up the ball on his right foot just outside the box during the game . But the former France international fools everybody has he dummies the shot and passes with his left foot to find Ryan Babel in space . A confused defender backs away as Henry's trickery gets the better of him in front of the Anfield support as he plays Babel through . The ball falls to Babel who sadly drags his effort wide of goal as fans at the All-Stars game applaud Henry's trickery at Anfield on Sunday . Henry (second left) shares a joke with Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva at Anfield, as the two teams make their way from the pitch . Babel was the man to benefit from the pass as it rolled perfectly to his feet, but the Dutchman dragged his effort wide in a manner Liverpool fans had become fully accustomed to during his time on Merseyside. The first goal of the game had been scored by Mario Balotelli and a cracker it was too, the Italian whipping a 25-yard drive that fizzed into the corner of The Kop net on nine minutes. He wasn’t put under great pressure but the finish still smacked of class. At one stage it looked as if Carragher’s side, managed by Roy Evans, would saunter to victory but Gerrard has made comebacks a fixture of his Liverpool career and he ensured this match did not end in defeat. Henry (right), who played for Steven Gerrard's team in the charity match, shakes hands with his Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher . Balotelli opened the scoring at Anfield after slamming in a long-range shot into the corner of the goal as Steven Gerrard looked on . Drogba added a second goal to put Jamie Carragher's side 2-0 up at Anfield after rounding the keeper and slotting into an empty net . Pepe Reina does his best to stop Gerrard from scoring from the spot after a penalty was awarded to the Liverpool captain's side . A second penalty of the afternoon followed for Gerrard and he duly converted that one too to level the scores at Anfield Stadium . He scored two penalties, one in the 36th minute after Martin Kelly had adjudged to trip Jerome Sinclair and another just after the hour when Carragher quite clearly barged Luis Suarez over. Some would say the Sportsmail columnist was lucky not to make it into Lee Probert’s book. The icing on the cake would have been a goal for either Torres or Suarez but, despite the best efforts of the Uruguayan in particular, it never arrived. No matter. A draw was an appropriate end to a memorable day. The smiles on the faces as a lap of honour was completed confirmed that. The famous Anfield scoreboard shows the names of two of the stadium's most famous players after their two teams played out a 2-2 draw . Suarez, Torres, Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Alvaro Arbeloa gather for a photo together after the full-time whistle . Balotelli posted this photo after the game captioned: 'LEGENDS. Always nice to see you guys, @didierdrogba you are welcome for my pass . Drogba, Torres and Terry pose together as they caught up on their days at Chelsea together in the Anfield dressing rooms after the game . Afterwards Gerrard told LFC TV: 'It has been absolute brilliant, more than anything the charities have done well with a full house. 'The hairs on my neck were standing up. There were times I didn't know who to pass to. People have gone out of their way to come here. 'It has been absolutely magical. Every player who was asked to come here did, whether they had to drive for an hour or get three flights.' Suarez plants a kiss on the head of his former captain after he converted the penalty won by the Uruguayan to make it 2-2 at Anfield . Two former Liverpool strikers entered the field as half-time substitutes, with Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres both returning to Anfield . +Former Brazil international Alex De Souza had his name sprayed onto the field of play during his testimonial by none other than the referee. Alex celebrated the end of his career by playing alongside a host of his footballing friends in his Palmeiras' testimonial. During the match as the ex-Fenerbahce ace was about to take a free-kick, the referee used his vanishing spray to write out the word 'Alex' in tribute to the 37-year-old. Alex De Souza had his name sprayed onto the pitch by the referee during the Brazilian's testimonial . The referee shared a joke with Alex as the former Brazil international was preparing to take a free-kick . Alex found the referee's gesture amusing during his testimonial match in Brazil on Saturday . Alex, who played 48 games for Brazil, spent the majority of his career in his homeland before moving to Italian outfit Parma in 2002. His most successful spell in Europe came in Turkey with Fenerbahce where the attacking midfielder scored an impressive 136 goals in 245 games. Alex decided to hang his boots up in December after spending 19 years in the professional game. Alex, pictured with Tuncay Sanli, spent eight years at Turkish outfit Fenerbahce before returning to Brazil . +When Liverpool slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace in November, the obituaries were penned mourning the loss of the team who had thrilled so much in their pursuit of last season’s title. Here they were; losers in their last four matches, sandwiched between West Brom and Stoke in the bottom half of the table and just four points from the drop zone. Indeed, Sportsmail noted: ‘As a gauge for Brendan Rodgers to measure Liverpool's regression it might be quite accurate. No better at the back than they were six months ago, much worse up front and utterly devoid of belief’. Brendan Rodgers (right, jokes with Emre Can) at Liverpool training at Melwood last week . Rodgers was in good spirits as he also shared a joke with defender Kolo Toure . Steven Gerrard trains with team-mates Joe Allen (left) and Glen Johnson (centre) Liverpool have not lost in their last 12 games - a run that has seen them rise from 10th in the table to fifth. Should they beat Swansea on Monday then they will be just two points off fourth place. D - 2-2 Arsenal (H) W - 1-0 Burnley (A) W - 4-1 Swansea (H) D - 2-2 Leicester (H) W - 1-0 Sunderland (A) W - 2-0 Aston Villa (A) W - 2-0 West Ham (H) D - 0-0 Everton (A) W - 3-2 Tottenham (H) W - 2-0 Southampton (A) W - 2-1 Man City (H) W - 2-0 Burnley (H) It was, of course, a reference to Liverpool’s surrender of a three-goal lead at Selhurst Park during the final weeks of the previous campaign. Six months on and, minus Luis Suarez, the assumption was that Rodgers and his team had been found out. Then came a 1-0 win at home to Stoke – achieved thanks to a Glen Johnson strike five minutes from time – and so started a run of 11 victories in 16 games. Another at Swansea on Monday evening would see them move back to within two points of Manchester United in fourth. Given their lowly residence in November, Rodgers arguably deserves more credit this time around than he did for last season’s unlikely title tilt. The return to fitness of Daniel Sturridge was always going to aid his cause and that has been evidenced by three goals and six league games without defeat with the striker back on the pitch. The unbeaten run, in fact, extends to 12 matches and is just two shy of last season’s best sequence set by Chelsea. Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno (right) celebrate after scoring against Crystal Palace in February . Sturridge, injured on England duty before the start of season, has had a stop-start season in 2014 . But the revival was in place before Sturridge vacated the treatment room. A change of formation in December, 3-4-2-1 put in place, has, almost to a man, brought about an impressive improvement. There is no finer example than Jordan Henderson. The midfielder was never struggling but, since Christmas, he has matured into the leader everyone at Anfield was hoping he would become. There was one game at former club Sunderland which marked his emergence as successor to Steven Gerrard. When the skipper made way at half-time, Henderson took the armband and proceeded to boss the contest from the centre of the park – it was an awesome display and one which won warm praise from Rodgers afterwards. Jordan Henderson has thrived for Liverpool this season and stepped up in Gerrard's absence . Luis Suarez (left) departed Liverpool for Barcelona during the summer in a £75million deal . The boss, though, should be applauded for the manner in which he is aiding the development of a player who is still just 24. The future captaincy is an incentive smartly employed to take Henderson’s game to another level – and it has worked. But there are others, too. Raheem Sterling is unrecognisable from the troubled teen as which he has previously been cast. Rodgers has found a way to extract craft and graft from Sterling and playmaker Philippe Coutinho, a pair who are certain to feature on the shortlist for PFA Young Player of the Year. He has also kept faith with goalkeeper Simon Mignolet – derided earlier in the season – while Dejan Lovren – another mocked following his £20m arrival from Southampton – has returned to a three-man backline which has kept four clean sheets in six. Steven Gerrard's slip at Anfield against Chelsea last year proved costly and allowed Demba Ba to score . Ba slots the ball past Simon Mingolet as Chelsea win 2-0 and end Liverpool's title hopes . VIDEO Every game counts for Rodgers . In short, Rodgers is getting the best out of each of his number – unmanageable Mario apart, that is. But sideshows such as Balotelli and Gerrard’s impending departure have not been allowed to derail their recovery. A penalty-shootout exit from the Europa League could prove a blessing as Liverpool chase a Champions League finish. They have 10 games to achieve as much and Rodgers has factored a return of 23 points as being enough. Were they to achieve that, Rodgers would certainly have proved a point of his own. CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 POSTPONED . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Swansea (away) - March 16 . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'POSTPONED' will be rearranged due to the FA Cup. +Michael Owen failed to get his hands on silverware at a World Cup when playing for England but Brown Panther, a horse he both bred and co-owns, ensured he came away from Saturday's Dubai World Cup meeting with a trophy. The seven-year-old, trained by Tom Dascombe at Owen’s Manor House Stable in Cheshire and ridden by Richard Kingscote, was always close to the pace in the two-mile Dubai Gold Cup and quickened to beat Star Empire by a decisive three and a half lengths. The victory, the 11th of Brown Panther’s career, secured a first prize of £384,000, by far the biggest Owen has ever won in his racing venture. Brown Panther had a convincing victory for co-owner Michael Owen at the Dubai Gold Cup . Former England striker Owen watches on at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday in Dubai . Owen, who won the 2014 Irish St Leger with Brown Panther, said: ‘He is the horse of a lifetime and a superstar in my eyes. That was a tough race – two miles in this heat and he kept on galloping like he did in the final furlong. ‘He is a talented horse but has great courage. I am very proud of him.’ The success was also rewarding for Kingscote. He has had a race against time to get fit after suffering a broken collar bone, snapped arm, broke wrist and elbow plus punctured lungs in a fall. There was a second win on the Meydan card for Europe when Sole Power, trained in Ireland by Eddie Lynam and ridden by Richard Hughes, landed the Al Quoz Sprint. While British jockey William Buick landed the $10m World Cup on Saeed Bin Suroor-trained 14-1 shot Prince Bishop, who beat 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome. The success for an eight-year-old who has never won at group one level in Europe and was running in his fourth World Cup was another surprise result in the race. It again showed the Dubai World Cup may be the richest race on the globe but it is of questionable quality. Another former England striker Peter Crouch was also in Dubai with his wife Abbey Clancy . Owen is pictured being questioned by the media after victory for his horse Brown Panther . Meanwhile, owner Marwan Koukash continued his good run of sporting form when 12-1 shot Gabrial, trained by Richard Fahey and 22nd winner of the year for jockey Tony Hamilton, landed the Betway Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster. It was a second win in four years for Gabrial’s team, having landed the 2012 Lincoln with Brae Hill. Flamboyant Koukash is the owner of Super League team Salford Red Devils, who have risen to sixth in the table after a run of three wins in their last five games. Gabrial, who had been unplaced on the Dubai World Cup card 12 months ago, had also run over middle distances last year as Koukash harboured hopes he may become a Melbourne Cup contender. But he showed slick turn of foot over the mile of the Lincoln to beat Mondialiste a neck. Owen and trainer Tom Dascombe pose with Brown Panther after winning the race . Owen is pictured with his family at the Meydan Racecourse after his victory . Fahey said: They raced in a very tight pack and I wasn't sure he was going to get out in time. "That's the first time I've ever seen him really pin his ears back and have a real go as he's a bit of a character. Tony said he always felt like he was going to win. ‘The only reason he was running over further last year was because after Mount Athos got injured. Marwan wanted a Melbourne Cup horse but he didn't stay.’ Trainer Mark Johnston made a perfect start to the Flat season as his first three runners all won. After Ravenhoe had won the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster, the traditional curtain-raiser to the Turf season, Johnston-trained Rah Rah won at Kempton and Buratino at Chelmsford. The composition of Johnston’ s stable has changed this year with 130 of his 210 horses being two-year-olds. +In five weeks time Las Vegas will pay host to the biggest boxing match in history when Floyd Mayweatehr Jnr and Manny Pacquiao roll into town for their $300million mega fight. It is an evening Amir Khan desperately wanted to be involved in after repeatedly calling for Mayweather to take him up on his challenge to dethrone the undefeated American. It hasn't kept the Bolton-born boxer away from the bright lights of Vegas, however, as he was pictured at 1 Oak Nightclub in the Mirage Hotel and Casino on Friday night. Amir Khan poses with TV personality Scott Disick during night out in Las Vegas . Khan's wife Faryal Makhdoom uploaded this picture montage from the night out at 1 Oak Nightclub . Khan uploaded a picture taken from his taxi as he drove to his hotel in Las Vegas . Khan posed for pictures during the night out with his wife and television personality and star of American show Keeping Up With the Kardashians Scott Disick. Khan, who has yet to agree his next opponent after missing out on securing a bout with Mayweather, believes the American will emerge victorious against Pacquiao on May 2. Khan told Sky Sports News: 'It's going to be a great fight and I think five years ago it would have been ever better because they were both at their peak and it was a fight that everyone was dying to see. Khan trains in the gym as speculation continues over who his next opponent will be . Khan hits Devon Alexander during their welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last year . 'Since then Manny Pacquiao has had two defeats. He’s been knocked out once by (Juan Manuel) Marquez and then he got beat by (Timothy) Bradley which was a little controversial, but I think Mayweather will take the fight. 'He will be much smarter and he’ll pick his shots a little bit better. He’ll make it a little boring at times because Manny, as we know, is a come-forward fighter who likes to do a lot of punches. 'But Mayweather will try to avoid all those punches and just maybe throw that one shot that will count and then move away again. But time will tell. 'I’ve been watching Mayweather train on social media and he has been training very hard so he might come up with a different gameplan this fight, something that we have not seen before. +Arsenal are awaiting clarification regarding Petr Cech's future before moving for the Chelsea goalkeeper. The Czech Republic international is set to leave Stamford Bridge this summer, with the club now prepared to part with the keeper - but only for £10million or above. Given Arsenal and Chelsea's rivalry, a move to the Emirates Stadium for Cech would be hard to broker. Petr Cech, in action for Czech Republic against Latvia last week, is poised to leave Chelsea in the summer . Cech, who joined Chelsea in 2004, has started only four Premier League games this season . And the Gunners want to ensure they have a realistic chance of landing Cech before launching a move, with Chelsea likely to be reluctant to sell to a direct rival. Cech revealed last week that he does not want to spend another season as understudy to first-choice keeper Thiabut Courtois at Stamford Bridge. The 32-year-old Czech Republic international has lost his place to the young Belgian this term, starting only four Premier League games and being primarily used in the domestic cup competitions. Cech revealed last week that he does not want to spend another season as understudy to Thiabut Courtois . 'I don't know what the club's idea will be. It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo,' Cech said. 'But that can work for one season only. I don't want another one like this.' Cech joined Chelsea in 2004 and has won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, the Champions League and three League Cups, the last of which was this season when he stared ahead of Courtios for the 2-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. 'There always will be speculation, I leave it for the summer,' added Cech. 'It will be important to sit down with the club, with the manager, to consider all the pros and cons. We will see what will work out the best.' +Monaco have stepped up preparations for their all-important Champions League second leg clash against Arsenal by training in La Turbie. Leonardo Jardim and his coaching staff put Monaco's first team stars including  Ricardo Carvalho, Dimitar Berbatov and Geoffrey Kondogbia through their paces ahead of Tuesday's European showdown at Stade Louis II. Spirits in the Ligue 1 outfit's camp looked high as they were seen joking around and juggling the ball during the training session in front of a picturesque backdrop. Former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov trains ahead of his side's encounter against Arsenal . Ex-Premier League defender Ricardo Carvalho juggles with the ball as Monaco's stars look relaxed ahead of their upcoming match . Monaco's players go for a gentle jog before putting the final touches on their preparations for their European showdown . Carvalho speaks to Almamy Toure (centre) and Alain Traore (right) before the training session in La Turbie . Monaco trio Kondogbia, Jeremy Toulalan and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco are all major doubts for their side's match against Arsenal. Jardim set his side up with with a starting back four of Layvin Kurzawa, Carvalho, Aymen Abdennour and Andrea Raggi during the session. Meanwhile, Carvalho has warned his team-mates that Arsenal are capable of clawing back what is essentially a three-goal deficit. The Ligue 1 outfit head into their second leg against Arsenal knowing their opponents have to score at least three goals at the Stade Louis II to have any chance of progressing to the next round of the Champions League. However Carvalho believes his side must be extremely wary of the threat posed by Arsene Wenger's side. The former Chelsea defender, speaking to Perform, said: 'I don't know [if Arsenal underestimated Monaco]. I don't think so. 'Sometimes that happens in football. Of course, for most people it was a surprise. 'Arsenal are a great team, but sometimes in football, it's true that it can happen. So it can happen with us at home, so we have to be ready to play well, because in football you can have that kind of surprise.' Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim addresses his players ahead of their all-important match against the Gunners . Monaco forward Anthony Martial shares a joke with Jardim shortly after arriving for training in La Turbie . Ligue 1 outfit Monaco trained in front of a beautiful backdrop during Monday's training session . Carvalho, pictured playing in a pre-season match against Arsenal in August, believes the Gunners are capable of scoring three goals at the Stade Louis II . The 36-year-old, who missed his side's 3-1 win against Arsenal through injury, also lavished praise on Wenger before stating his desire to feature in the second leg. He added: 'Everyone respects the work he does, and in football those kind of games can happen. 'Everyone wants to play those kind of games. I have a lot of experience and fortunately I've played a lot of those games - semi-finals and finals, I played two finals. 'In that moment, I was injured, but more important for me was to be pleased with my team doing a great job.' Carvalho has heaped praise on Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger ahead of Tuesday's encounter at Stade Louis II . The Monaco defender, pictured during the 2007 Capital One Cup final, knows all about playing against Arsenal . +Arsenal superstars were put through their paces during a final training session before they head to France in a bid to rescue their Champions League hopes in their last 16 return leg clash with Monaco. The Gunners trail the Ligue 1 side 3-1 after a disastrous first leg capitulation at the Emirates on February 25, but the team carried determined expressions on their faces as they trained at London Colney on Monday. World Cup winner Mesut Ozil has called on his team-mates to overturn the two-goal deficit by scoring three at the Stade Louis II - a feat that has not been managed by any other team in the last 42 months. (L-R) Gabriel Paulista, Tomas Rosicky, Per Mertesacker, Santo Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil pose for a picture . Arsenal players look determined as they put in a final training session at London Colney before heading to France . World Cup winner Ozil has called for his side to 'fight from the first minute until the last' in comeback bid . Arsenal stars make their way to the training ground wearing gloves to combat the cold conditions in St Albans . Aaron Ramsey (left), Laurent Koscielny and Walcott will be likely starters at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday . Walcott and Cazorla (right) laugh as Sanchez stumbles to the floor while chasing the ball . Emirates boss Arsene Wenger keeps a close eye on his players as they warm up with a light run . Olivier Giroud has an opportunity to make amends after being criticised for missing chances in the first leg defeat . Gunners leading scorer Sanchez will be hoping to get back among the goals as Arsenal look to overturn a 3-1 deficit . Cazorla (left) appears to be leading his Arsenal team-mates on a funny walk procession as the players stretch . Theo Walcott (left) and Aaron Ramsey take part in some light training ahead of Tuesday's Champions League decider . Ramsey introduces team-mates Calum Chambers (left) and Giroud (centre) to the all-important ball . Former Monaco manager Arsene Wenger (centre) reads through his team tactics that require they score at least three goals . Wenger goes through his notes as Arsenal bid to come up with a master plan while Sanchez concentrates on his skills . Gunners playmaker Cazorla appeared relaxed ahead their potentially season defining game . Sanchez uses his trickery to evade the attentions of Arsenal's holding midfielder Francis Coquelin . All of Arsenal's stars will have to shine if they are to reverse the 3-1 deficit to reach the Champions League quarter finals . Sanchez looks dejected as Monaco complete a shock 3-1 first leg lead at the Emirates on February 25 . The stylish midfielder has vowed to fight from the first minute until the last to keep the Premier League side in the competition, but appreciates the importance of scoring early on Tuesday night. Speaking to the club's official website, Ozil said: 'It's very important to score early, but we will remain patient. We want to fight and battle from the first minute until the last. 'This is a match that we are determined to win. We have to score three goals and our aim is to do just that while remaining tight in defence. 'If we play as we are capable of doing in Monaco, I still believe that we have a real chance to progress. Germany World Cup winners Ozil and Mertesacker appear to goad some of their Arsenal team-mates during the session . Wenger faces an emotional return to Monaco where he won the Ligue 1 title with the club in 1998 . Walcott will be hoping for a starting spot on Tuesday after gradually returning from a long spell on the sidelines . A passing conversation with Spanish defender Nacho Monreal brings a smile to Wenger's face during training . Monreal appears to give his manager a reassuring pat on the cheek after their exchange . Arsenal's new defensive signing Gabriel Paulista (centre) juggles with the ball during a team talk . Walcott was all smiles (left) while Ozil covered himself from the cold with a snood (right) as they practiced their passing . Mikel Arteta (centre) is unlikely to start the crunch game after only recently returning from injury . 'We want to disrupt their rhythm and try to score as early as possible. It's going to be difficult to score three times because they have defended well in the tournament so far, but if you look at our past matches and the way we played against Manchester United last week, I think there's a chance we can still progress. 'We have to believe in ourselves. When you believe in yourselves, a positive energy grows that you can achieve your aims. In football, things that may look unlikely can happen. 'I know that if we believe in ourselves and utilise our potential, we can still go through.' Former Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck will be hoping he can repeat his recent goal scoring heroics at Old Trafford . Welbeck (right) pulls a bemused expression during a chat while stretching with team-mate Chambers . Tomas Rosicky has his attention distracted while the rest of the squad gather round in a circle on a misty morning . Keeper David Ospina prepares to throw out the ball while hoping to keep hold of the No 1 jersey . All eyes are on the ball as Arsenal's superstars concentrate on the matter at hand ahead of the make or break tie . Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring as Arsenal warmed up for their European game with a 3-0 victory over West Ham . Meanwhile, former Monaco and Tottenham star Glenn Hoddle has predicted a 'difficult' evening for Arsenal. The former England manager, who was part of the Monaco side that won the league title under Wenger in 1988, is doubtful that Arsenal will be able to score three goals at the Stade Louis II. Speaking to TV station beIN SPORTS, Hoddle said: 'It will be an emotional game for Arsene Wenger, to return here. Difficult. 'Arsenal are playing very well now, they're quick and technical, but AS Monaco are tough defensively.' Meanwhile, former Tottenham star Dimitar Berbatov (centre) joins his Monaco team-mates for a training session in the principality . +Shocking footage has emerged of the moment a police officer is seen forcefully throwing a teenage girl to the ground. Senior Constable Steven Trewin has been charged assaulting with Cassandra Swann, who was 19 at the time of the incident, the ABC reported. In the video, a blonde woman is seen hitting a police officer in the neck with her hand. Scroll down for video . Senior Constable Steven Trewin is accused of assaulting Cassandra Swann who was 19 at the time . The officer then grabs the woman by the arm and forces her to the ground in one rapid motion. Trewin told a court in Perth, Western Australia he was trying to stop the woman from hitting him. The incident was caught on CCTV inside the Northbridge police complex on August 25, 2013. Ms Swann and her friends had come to the station to report they had been attacked by some men while they were leaving a nightclub. A police officer is seen grabbing a blonde woman in CCTV footage on August 25, 2013 at Northbridge police station in Perth . The police officer said Ms Swann was swearing it at him and he had to arrest her for her disorderly conduct . She was drunk at the time Trewin allegedly assaulted her and had been swearing at him. He then arrested Ms Swann when she did not leave and did not stop throwing profanities at him. Trewin told the court while he was taking her into custody she hit in the face twice with what he believed to be a blunt object. 'I then transferred to the arm bar [arrest technique] to force her down to the floor,' he said. The woman is then forcefully thrown to the ground by the officer. The magistrate will make a decision about the case . 'My intention was to stop her striking me. I intended to force her to the ground, not to throw her to the ground.' While he was questioned about his behaviour by the prosecution, Trewin said he thought he followed the proper procedure to arrest Ms Swann. The magistrate residing over the matter will make a decision about the case later this month. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +ITV’S sporting shake-up continued with Jacqui Oatley brought in as a major player in their football coverage next season. Oatley, who was the first female commentator on BBC’s Match of the Day in 2007, has stepped across to take a major position within ITV 4, where she will anchor football programmes during the 2015-16 season. The highly respected broadcaster will also present ITV’s darts coverage, starting with the PDC European Championship in Belgium at the end of October. Jacqui Oatley has been signed up by ITV and will host football coverage from the start of next season . Oatley has previously worked for the BBC, and was the first female commentator on Match of the Day . The move continues ITV’s major shake-up, which has so far seen Adrian Chiles’ axed earlier this year and replaced by BBC Radio 5Live’s Mark Pougatch. Chiles had led ITV’s Champions League and England coverage, as well as last summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Long-standing pundit Andy Townsend has also been told his contract will not be renewed when it expires in the summer, along with Matt Smith, whose position as the broadcaster’s secondary football reporter has been taken by Oatley. Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said yesterday: ‘Jacqui’s outstanding knowledge and experience make her a first class addition to the ITV Sport team. We look forward to welcoming her on board in September.’ Oatley, who has previously presented football programmes on ITV, including the FA Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, added: ‘I'm delighted to have been asked to join the ITV team from next season. ‘I've had a fantastic time working with them over the last couple of years and look forward to continuing that relationship at major tournaments.’ Oatley added that her new role will not see her cut ties with the BBC, where she has also fronted the Football League Show and covered snooker, golf, motor racing and the Olympic Games. Oatley tweeted: ‘I’m not leaving the Beeb as such. Still hosting the WWC [women’s World Cup] coverage in summer and match reporting, etc next season. Love covering live games.’ Having lost live Champions League and Europa League football from next season, ITV’s only live football beyond outside major tournaments will be England’s international fixtures and other European qualifiers. However, they will show highlights of both UEFA club competitions next seasons. +Australians are renowned for knowing how to party and the Australia cricket team stayed true to tradition after securing their fifth World Cup title with a seven wicket victory over New Zealand. Darren Lehmann, coach of the triumphant Australia team, posted pictures of his players celebrating their win as the sun was rising over Melbourne. Still in their yellow-and-gold kits, the Aussies had taken celebrations well into the morning, with Lehmann's images uploaded at 7am local time. Darren Lehmann (left) uploaded images to Twitter of Australia continuing their World Cup celebrations . Lehmann (left) wrote 'Still going with the Kings and going hard' after beating New Zealand in the final . Australia won their fifth World Cup trophy with a seven wicket victory against New Zealand on Sunday . New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was bowled out for a duck in the fifth ball of the final on Sunday . Australia captain Michael Clarke led the way for his team in the final by scoring 74 from 72 deliveries . Australia dismissed their World Cup co-hosts New Zealand for 183, with Mitchell Starc removing Kiwi captain and talisman Brendon McCullum for a duck with the fifth ball of the match. Australia surged to their required total with skipper Michael Clarke providing the backbone of the innings with 74 runs from 72 balls in his final one-day international appearance. Steven Smith hit a boundary to take Australia over the finish line with a four, sparking jubilant celebrations that are clearly yet to cease among his team. +Antonio Valencia has apologised to Manchester United's players and fans after his mistakes helped Arsenal dump his side out of the FA Cup in Monday's quarter-final defeat. The cup exit effectively ended any hopes of silverware ended up at Old Trafford this season - and Valencia more than played his part in a dismal display from Louis van Gaal's side. The midfielder-cum-defender put in a weak challenge and allowed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to set up Nacho Monreal for Arsenal's first before playing a poor backpass to set up Danny Welbeck for his second-half winner. Antonio Valencia was poor for Manchester United on Monday night and was at fault for two goals . The midfielder-cum-defender inexplicably let Danny Welbeck in for the winner with an awful backpass . Nacho Monreal (left) scored Arsenal's first, with Valencia involved in the defensive collpase . Valencia posted this lengthy apologies to his team-mates and supporters after the defeat by Arsenal . Valencia was panned by fans and television pundits alike for his awful performance, and the 29-year-old has now offered up an apology for his showing. 'I want to apologise to my team-mates and the fans of Manchester United,' Valencia said on Instagram. 'Tomorrow is another day and keep working,' he added before tagging team-mates Marcos Rojo, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Rafael and Robin van Persie in the message. Valencia tries to get close to Chile winger Alexis Sanchez during Monday night's FA Cup defeat . Former United captain Roy Keane called Valencia's defensive contribution 'disgraceful' and accused the Ecuadorian of 'downing tools' in his television analysis. And things got even worse for Van Gaal's first choice at right back on Tuesday when Rafael put in a brilliant - and goalscoring - performance for United's Under 21s to pile the pressure on Valencia ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur. Rafael (left) was excellent for United's Under 21s, scoring and looking a viable alternative to Valencia . +Frank Lampard has been admiring the scenery of New York during the international break as he prepares for his highly anticipated move to the city's football team and Major League Soccer on July 1. The attacking midfielder will join up with New York City after Manchester City's Premier League season finishes and he has been taking time to get used to his new home city while the club season pauses for Euro 2016 qualifiers and international friendlies. Lampard uploaded a picture to his Facebook account posing with the city providing a spectacular backdrop after going for a jog alongside fiancee Christine Bleakley. Frank Lampard (left) uploaded a picture to his Facebook page with fiancee Christine Bleakley in New York . Lampard has been in New York to prepare for his move to play for New York City as of July 1 . Lampard went to see his new team in action in the MLS but they lost 1-0 at home to Sporting Kansas City . Lampard (left) greets a supporter in New York as he visits the city during the international break . Former Chelsea man Lampard had the chance to see his team in action for the first time when New York played Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. But his side could not give him an early welcome present. In the absence of striker David Villa, who was injured, New York fell to a 1-0 home defeat, their first loss of the season. Lampard will return to Premier League action when Manuel Pellegrini's side head to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace on April 6. +Barcelona superstar Neymar has scooped the Samba Gold Award, which recognises the best Brazilian player in European football. The annual award by French organisation Sambafoot collects over 150,000 votes worldwide as well as opinions from respected journalists and former players. The 23-year-old edged out compatriots Miranda of Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray midfielder Felipe Melo after an impressive 2014 season at the Nou Camp. Neymar has scooped the Samba Gold Award, which recognises the best Brazilian player in European football . Neymar returned to Barcelona from international duty to pick up the Samba Gold Award . The Brazilian was involved in his country's 1-0 friendly defeat of Chile at the Emirates on Sunday . 2008 Kaka . 2009 Luis Fabiano . 2010 Maicon . 2011 Thiago Silva . 2012 Thiago Silva . 2013 Thiago Silva . 2014 Neymar . Neymar has scored 26 goals in all competitions for Luis Enrique's side to follow PSG defender Thiago Silva who has collected the award for the past three seasons. This was the seventh edition of an accolade that has been presented since 2008 with past winners including Kaka and Maicon. Meanwhile, Neymar has responded to Gary Medel's accusation of 'theatrics' by saying he does not know who the Chile midfielder is. The pair were involved in Brazil's feisty 1-0 defeat of Chile in an international friendly on Sunday before the former Cardiff enforcer accused Neymar of play acting. 'I don't know Medel, I don't know who he is. If he says that it is theatre, from there I will say nothing else. Only that it was a tough match,' he told Mediaset. Thiago Silva (left) had collected the last three Samba Gold Award while playing for PSG . Neymar claimed not to know who Gary Medel was after being stamped on by the Chilean at the Emirates . +Asked to nominate his dream strike partner past or present, Wayne Rooney settled on the name of Alan Shearer. It is easy to visualise them together, those barn-storming runs of Shearer and the clever link-up play from Rooney alongside him. In the No 9 and 10 shirts of England, they would have been lethal. ‘I admired Alan Shearer when I was growing up,’ admitted Rooney, as he prepares to lead England out for a prestige friendly against Italy in the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night. Alan Shearer is the England striker Wayne Rooney would love to have joined up front for his country . Former Newcastle striker Shearer celebrates his goal against Luxembourg at Wembley in 2000 . ‘I loved the way he played and he was a real goalscorer, as his record shows. I would have worked well with him as a strike partner.’ Shearer scored 30 in 63 appearances for England, seducing a young Rooney at a time when he was still making his way through Everton’s centre of excellence. Partnering them together is the stuff of fantasy, but there will be a dose of reality when Harry Kane is added to an exhaustive list of forwards Rooney has played with since his debut against Australia in 2003. Shearer celebrates with Manchester United legend Paul Scholes after his goal against Scotland . James Beattie also played his first game for England that night — with Rooney’s partners down the years also including Michael Owen, Darius Vassell, Andrew Johnson, Daniel Sturridge, Peter Crouch and Theo Walcott. It is a mixed bag. So what does Rooney, who scored his 47th goal for his country in the 4-0 rout of Lithuania on Friday evening, look for in a partner? ‘I’ve played with a lot of different players with different qualities and I’ve adapted to every player,’ added Rooney. ‘With Michael Owen I was deeper, leaving Michael to run behind, and with Emile Heskey I tried to stay close — he’s a big lad who can hold the ball up.’ Rooney played deeper when Michael Owen was in the England team beside him . Rooney tried to stay close to Emile Heskey when the pair played in the same Three Lions line-up . Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring against Lithuania in the Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley on Friday . Hodgson has been forced to change his system in the absence of Raheem Sterling and Danny Welbeck . Rooney scores from the spot at Wembley Stadium in the Euro 2016 Group E Qualifier against Slovenia . Rooney scores during the UEFA Euro 2004, Group B match between Croatia and England at the Luz Stadium . Jay Rodriguez and Rooney were in the team to play Chile in a friendly at Wembley in November 2013 . Peter Crouch (centre), at the 2006 World Cup, last played for England in 2010 . A young Rooney training beside Darius Vassell ahead of facing Turkey in 2003 . Rooney congratulates Jermain Defoe (No 23) after his goal against Slovenia at Wembley in 2009 . For all manner of reasons, including the absence of Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling, Hodgson has been forced to change his system for this game against Italy. Rooney will be at the tip of the diamond, the man responsible for threading those intuitive balls across the box for Kane, or to split Italy’s sweeper system by using the pace of Walcott to get behind them. Gary Neville laughs with England players including Phil Jones and Rooney during a team stadium visit a . Debutant Harry Kane celebrates his maiden England goal in Friday's 4-0 win over Lithuania . Kane is expected to gain his first England start during the international friendly match against Italy . ‘I’m probably as excited about Harry Kane as everyone in the country,’ admitted Rooney. ‘He’s had an unbelievable season. I’ve seen the comparisons out there but Harry is his own player. He’s good in the air and can shoot with both feet. ‘He’s taking the ball and running at players, which is great to see. At the moment he’s very confident to score. ‘There were questions going into the season about where he would play for Tottenham because he was starting Europa League games, but not the Premier League. He gave his manager no option but to play him and he’s not looked back. ‘After scoring his goal on Friday I bet he can’t wait to get out on the pitch and try to score another goal.’ Rooney is back for more, testing himself against the Italians again as he faces them for the first time since England’s 2-1 defeat in the opening game of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He spoke yesterday of their uncompromising tactics over the years, but the England captain is also a big admirer of the football played here, particularly when Fiorentina boasted the Argentine forward Gabriel Batistuta. Rooney admitted he is a big admirer of former Argentina and Fiorentina ace Gabriel Batistuta . ‘It’s a passionate country and they love their football,’ added Rooney. ‘They are probably the closest in Europe to South American teams. They’ll do anything to stop you. They’re tough to play against, organised, (and) make it as difficult to play against as possible. They’re the best in Europe at doing that. ‘I’ve never thought about playing in Italy but growing up I watched Italian football. They had some great teams like Juventus and AC Milan and I loved to watch Fiorentina because I loved Batistuta.’ The Argentine — fondly known as Batigol — is one of the game’s greats, also playing for Roma and Inter Milan during his 12-year spell in Italy. The Argentine is one of the game’s greats, also playing for Roma and Inter Milan 12-year spell in Italy . This is Rooney’s year for England, growing into the role of captain for club and country. These days he speaks with increasing maturity and conviction. Here in Turin, as the questions fizzed around over Ross Barkley’s startling dip in form, Rooney recalled a conversation he once had with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he was named as a substitute at Manchester United. Ross Barkley burst onto the scene, but his form this season has failed to live up to expectation . ‘With Everton they hit the heights last season, but he hasn’t done as well and the team hasn’t done as well recently,’ added the England captain. ‘I spoke to him after the game on Friday night and the only advice I gave him was to watch the game from the bench with England. He will know how to get into the opposition, where the spaces are. ‘That’s what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said to me when I was young, so you know where to be when you come on. If it helps, then great.’ +Javier Mascherano has admitted Barcelona had trouble 'behind the scenes' at the start of the year. Barcelona's first game in 2015 ended in a 1-0 defeat against David Moyes's Real Sociedad with Lionel Messi starting on the bench following a reported disagreement with Luis Enrique in training. But Barca are currently top La Liga after their win over Real Madrid on Sunday and Mascherano feels they are back to their best. Javier Mascherano has admitted Barcelona had trouble 'behind the scenes' at the start of the year . Mascherano, pictured hugging Lionel Messi after beating Real Madrid, feels they are back to their best . 'We started the year with difficulties, with the defeat at Anoeta, which left us four points behind Real Madrid,' Mascherano told TyC Sports. 'Things weren't so good behind the scenes. 'The team seemed to have doubts. But this situation has now disappeared. This is the situation we live in. The demands at Barcelona are massive and it's not easy to meet them.' And Mascherano is refusing to rule out the threat that Real pose, despite their 2-1 win. 'Now we're four points ahead of Real Madrid. But this could always be turned on its head. The best thing is to always focus on the next game,' he said. 'Clasicos are difficult games, against opponents that push you to the limit, that are as good as our team. You need to try your hardest for every minute of the game, and that's what helped us to win. That's why we got the result we did. 'We're aware that we didn't beat Real Madrid with our best football. Barcelona always like to win, and especially to be better in a footballing sense, over and above the result.' Mascherano is refusing to rule out the threat that Real pose, despite their 2-1 win over their great rivals . +West Ham striker Andy Carroll and fiancee Billi Mucklow could not contain their excitement as they soaked up the sun just weeks before becoming parents for the first time. After jetting off to Abu Dhabi as Carroll recovers from knee surgery, the pair posed for a photograph in their snazzy swim wear. The 26-year-old is set to miss the rest of the season after being forced off through injury during the Hammers' goalless draw with Southampton in February. Scroll down for video . Pregnant Billi Mucklow and Andy Carroll, couldn’t hide their excitement as she shared a picture of the couple . Carroll was pictured wearing a leg brace earlier this month (left) and poses with Mucklow in Abu Dhabi (right) Mucklow and Carroll smiled for the camera as the TOWIE star perched on her future husband's sun lounger whilst lovingly cradled her bump. Carroll also rocked floral shorts and mirrored sunglasses as he wrapped an arm around his expecting partner. Billi captioned the picture saying: ‘Because I'm Happy’. She also posted a selfie of the pair which was titled: ‘First Night Of Our Babymoon #bbq #beach#chilled #relaxing #meandmyMR @andytcarroll’. Andy Carroll gives a thumbs up after completing a spin and gym session as he continues his rehabilitation . Billi had caused fans to believe she might be expecting more than one child in a recent tweet as she gushed: ‘The Triplets Are Coming #triplets.’ The 26 year old even put three baby emoji's alongside her social media post. As expected, Billi sent her fans into a frenzy when she announced the news of her possible triplets on Twitter with one asking: ‘Omg really?!’ However, it turns out Billi was just watching a TV show called The Triplets Are Coming!. Billi broke the news of her pregnancy on Christmas Day by donning a festive jumper with the words 'making my little pudding' in an Instagram snap with West Ham United footballer Andy, who posted the picture : 'Merry Christmas #OurLittlePudding.' The England international already has two children, a daughter Emilie Rose aged four, and a two-year-old son Lucas. +Two of boxing's greatest heavyweights descended on New York on Thursday night for a screening of new documentary Champs. Featuring former world champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, the film examines the lives of the three men in and outside of the ring. And the two giants of the sport made a special appearance at Village East Cinema. Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson attend the Champs New York Screening with director Bert Marcus . Tyson and Holyfield pose for photographs almost 20 years after their infamous rematch . Directed by Bert Marcus, Champs focuses on the aforementioned trio's rise from poverty to the top of the sport. Tyson and Holyfield, of course, twice met in the ring and have rebuilt their relationship since their controversial rematch in 1997 when Tyson took a chunk out of his opponent's ear. Both are long retired but 50-year-old Hopkins has yet to announce whether he plans to continue after losing to hard-hitting Russian Sergey Kovalev last November. Tyson pretends to take a chunk out of the director's ear while Holyfield poses at a previous event . Tyson bites a chunk out of Holyfield's ear in their heavyweight rematch in 1997 . Tyson, meanwhile, has admitted that UFC champion Ronda Rousey might 'kick his ass'. Rousey defended her bantamweight title last month when she submitted Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds. 'S***, Ronda Rousey might kick my ass,' Tyson told the Huffington Post. 'That 14 seconds the last fight, s*** man, you got to take that seriously. 'She's marketed herself, and not necessarily from a publicist's perspective. She put in the work, too. She's putting these people to bed, she's tapping them out, she's doing the 14-second thing.' +An extraordinary gun fight in Brazil in which an off-duty policeman holding a child exchanged fire with two bandits has been caught on camera. The dramatic scene unfolded in a store in Belo Horizonte and ended with the two alleged bandits fleeing. Security camera footage of the incident begins with the two suspects walking into the store in Contagem, a district in the city, and talking to the doorman. An extraordinary gun fight in Brazil has been caught on camera. It involves two armed suspects, one in a dark top, the other in a white top and baseball cap - and an off-duty policeman holding a child (right) After the two suspects talk to the store clerk, the policeman realises they are intent on committing a crime and draws a gun as he steps away from them . The two suspects dodge the policeman's shots and run further inside the store . A few words are exchanged, then the officer reaches for his gun and spins around with the child in his arms. The suspects, one wearing a white T-shirt and the other a dark top,  sprint further inside the shop, underneath the camera. At this point it doesn't appear that either has produced a weapon. As they run off the policeman takes cover on the pavement behind a pillar. After peeking around it he moves quickly out of shot. Then the bandit in the white T-shirt rushes out and points a gun in the direction the off-duty policeman left in, before fleeing the scene. The other man follows shortly afterwards. Police said that the attempted robbery took place at around 4pm on Avenida José Faria da Rocha. No one was injured in the shootout. The suspects are still at large, Em.com reported. After a few seconds the man in the white T-shirt produces a gun and points it in the direction of the policeman, before fleeing the scene with his accomplice . +Stuart Hogg has been warned he may provoke a furious England backlash at Twickenham after suggesting Scotland’s Calcutta Cup rivals do not respect them as a rugby nation. While Stuart Lancaster, who represented Scotland at age-group level, dismissed any notion that his team will take Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations visitors lightly, Hogg’s incendiary remarks to Sportsmail drew a stern response north of the border. Former Lions prop Peter Wright accused the full-back of a ‘misjudgment’ in making what amounted to a familiar claim of English arrogance. Stuart Hogg claimed England have 'no respect' for Scottish rugby ahead of Saturday's Twickenham clash . Hogg breaks away to score the opening try during the Six Nations game against Wales in February . ‘Under previous England coaches maybe there was a lack of respect for Scottish rugby but under Stuart Lancaster that has changed,’ said Wright. ‘He always gives respect to the opposition. The England lads will be angry to be accused of not respecting Scottish rugby because they do and that could fire them up even more.’ Wright’s comments followed a Twitter reaction to Hogg’s outburst by Will Carling, who said: ‘I always thought you earned respect through your performances. Old fashioned I know…’ His point was a clear reference to the fact that Scotland have failed to win at Twickenham for 32 years. Hogg (centre) wants to record Scotland's first win of the tournament against England at Twickenham . Wright added: ‘Will Carling has every right to suggest respect has to be earned by Scotland. He is a former England captain who led them to three Grand Slams, played in a World Cup final and went on tour with the Lions, so he has every right to take issue with Hogg. ‘I am surprised Stuart said it in the first place and I hope he isn’t made to regret his comments by an England side that will respect Scotland on Saturday but may now want to beat them even more.’ There was a more measured response from within the Scotland camp yesterday. Brad Barritt injured his ankle in Saracens' win over Wasps on Sunday and is now a doubt for England . Exeter Chiefs' 21-year-old fly-half Henry Slade earned himself a call up to Stuart Lancaster's England squad . Assistant coach Matt Taylor added: ‘I don’t see a lack of respect at all. Under Stuart Lancaster they are quite a humble group and they will be taking us seriously.’ Lancaster said: ‘We have a healthy regard for their team, their players and their coaching team.’ England have been forced to rule out Brad Barritt (ankle), Tom Croft (shoulder) and Henry Thomas (shoulder) from the rest of the championship. Exeter’s Henry Slade has been called into the squad and while he may push Billy Twelvetrees for a bench place, he is being viewed as a rising World Cup candidate. Luther Burrell and Mike Brown are expected to start against Scotland. +Sunderland have sacked manager Gus Poyet in the wake of Saturday’s humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. The result leaves the Black Cats one point and one place above the drop zone and owner Ellis Short believes a change of manager is needed to avoid relegation. Poyet – who leaves after 17 months in charge – was informed of the club’s decision having taken training at the Academy of Light on Monday morning. Gus Poyet has been sacked by Sunderland with the club just one point above the relegation zone . Sunderland fans turned on manager Poyet during the defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday . Sportsmail reported earlier in the day that influential sporting director Lee Congerton had advised Short to sack Poyet. A statement on the club's website confirmed the news on Monday afternoon, in which Short said: 'I would like to thank Gus for his endeavours during his time at the club, in particular last season’s "great escape" and cup final appearance, which will live long in the memory of every Sunderland fan. Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon looks dejected as Sunderland were thrashed at home by Villa . Gabriel Agbonlahor scored two of Aston Villa's goals in the 4-0 win on Saturday . 525 - Poyet's number of days in charge since his arrival on October 8, 2013. 75 - The Uruguayan's number of games in charge, winning 23, losing 22 and drawing 30. 3 - The number of games against bitter rivals Newcastle. He won them all with an aggregate of 6-1. 35 - Poyet was the 35th man to manage Sunderland either permanently or as a caretaker. 22 - The number of years between Sunderland's appearances in a major final. Poyet took them to the 2014 Capital One Cup final, 22 years on from their defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup showpiece. They lost to Manchester City. 14 - Sunderland's final position in Poyet's first season. 4 - The amount of games won in the Premier League by Sunderland this season. The joint-worst with bottom side Leicester. 'Sadly, we have not made the progress that any of us had hoped for this season and we find ourselves battling, once again, at the wrong end of the table. We have therefore made the difficult decision that a change is needed.' Poyet’s position had become untenable after a breakdown in relationship with Congerton and the club’s fans, thousands of whom streamed for the exits with the team trailing by four at half-time against Villa. A handful of supporters even tried to storm the dugout while some targeted the directors’ box – including chief executive Margaret Byrne - leaving the club hierarchy in no doubt that a change was necessary. Holland boss Dick Advocaat has already spoken to the club about a short-term deal until the end of the season and he could be installed before Saturday’s trip to West Ham. Congerton is close to Frank Arnesen – they worked together at Chelsea and Hamburg – and he is thought to have recommended Advocaat for the role. The new man will inherit a team which has won just once in 12 matches and is without a home goal in more than five hours. Poyet leaves Sunderland after just over a year in charge . Poyet was appointed by Sunderland in October 2013 following the sacking of Paolo Di Canio . They were dumped out of the FA Cup by League One Bradford City last month and away fans fought among themselves at Valley Parade. Bizarrely, Poyet blamed the Press for Sunderland’s woes after that game but his excuses did not wash with supporters. Former Rangers and Holland manager Dick Advocaat is one name in the frame to take over . The goodwill generated by last season’s League Cup final appearance and their escape from relegation in the final weeks of the campaign had long since evaporated and few fans will be mourning his departure. Poyet’s backroom team of Mauricio Taricco and Charlie Oatway are also expected to leave the club. The next home match sees North-East rivals Newcastle visit the Stadium of Light on Easter Sunday. HULL . Chelsea (Home) - March 22 . Swansea (Away) - April 4 . Southampton (Away) - April 11 . Liverpool (Home) - April 18 . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Swansea (Home) - March 21 . Man United (Away) - April 4 . Tottenham (Away) - April 11 . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . *QPR (Home) - Date to be arranged . SUNDERLAND . West Ham (Away) - March 21 . Newcastle (Home) - April 5 . Crystal Palace (Home) - April 11 . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . * Arsenal (Away) - Date to be arranged . BURNLEY . Southampton (Away) - March 21 . Tottenham (Home) - April 5 . Arsenal (Home) - April 11 . Everton (Away) - April 18 . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . QPR . Everton (Home) - March 22 . West Brom (Away) - April 4 . Chelsea (Home) - April 12 . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . *Aston Villa (Away) - Date to be arranged . LEICESTER . Tottenham (Away) - March 21 . West Ham (Home) - April 4 . West Brom (Away) - April 11 . Swansea (Home) - April 18 . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. +The new finance minister for Greece has been accused of making an offensive gesture to Germany during a speech. Yanis Varoufakis is continuing to negotiate for a reduction in Greece's debt from the EU and has been doing a whistlestop tour of Europe in a bid to get support for his proposals. But the new finance minister has been hit by an allegation recently that he held up his middle finger when giving a speech about Greece's finances and Germany in 2013. Scroll down for video . Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has been accused of making an offensive gesture with his middle finger during a speech he gave in 2013 about the country's finances, and mentioning Germany . He is alleged to have made the offensive gesture before he was appointed as finance minister, and Varoufakis has denied sticking up his finger. The minister claims the footage has been doctored. A video of the speech appears to capture the offensive gesture. As he raises his finger, Varoufakis says: 'My proposal was that Greece should simply announce that it is defaulting, just like Argentina did, within the euro, in January 2010, and stick the finger to Germany and say well, you can now solve this problem by yourself.' The claims are likely to make a tense situation even more tricky for Varoufakis who has been trying to negotiate favourable terms for Greece to pay back its debt to the EU since the election of the radical left-wing party Syriza in January. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left-wing party heading the new coalition, immediately demanded a renegotiation of Greece' £179 billion international bailout deal. Yanis Varoufakis has been under increasing pressure to secure a better loan repayment deal for Greece . The party has continued to describe itself as 'anti-austerity.' The call catapulted Varoufakis onto the European stage. Last month he visited George Osborne in London to garner support for the move and has been touring several European countries. Greece was likely to run out of money by March if a deal was not reached before the end of February and a four month extension to the bailout programme for Greece was agreed on a conditional basis. February 9 2010 – Greek Parliament approved first austerity package measures -  included a freeze in the salaries of all government employees, a 10% cut in bonuses, and cuts in overtime workers. March 3 2010 – Parliament passed a new major austerity package. Measures included: Pensions freezes, an increase in sales tax from 19% to 21%, rises in taxes on fuel, cigarettes and alcohol, rises in taxes on luxury goods, cuts in public sector pay. April 23 2010 – George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister formally requested an international bailout. The financing will come from an emergency aid package with the participation of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. May 2 2010 – Papandreou, the IMF, and euro-zone leaders agree to a €110 billion bailout package that would take effect over the next three years. The government announced the new austerity package measures. June 29 2011 – Parliament passed the new austerity package. October 20 2011 – Government passed the multi-austerity bill, amid protests and violent riots outside the parliament building. February 12 2012 – Parliament passed new austerity package measures amid violent protests. Many buildings in the centre of Athens burnt during riots. November 5 2012 – Parliament adopted new round of austerity cuts required for Greece to receive the next installment of the international economic bailout. April 28 013 – Parliament approved bill that included cutting 15,000 state jobs . July 17 2013 – Parliament approves new austerity measures . March 30 2014 – Parliament passed new multi-bill needed for Greece to receive its next bailout. April 10 2014 – Greece returned to financial markets, with the issue of 3 billion Eurobonds. December 8 2014 – Greek government announced snap presidential vote. Next day the Greek stock market fell 12.78%, a fall record since 1989. December 29 2014 –Government collapses after failing to elect new president of Greece. January 2015 - Alexis Tsipras of Syriza becomes prime minister and launches attempt to persuade European Union and IMF to ease terms of bail-outs. But there are still concerns the country could run out of money, as Greek officials complain the repayment measures are starving them of money. It was confirmed today that Greece had handed over 580m euros to the International Monetary Fund - clearing its debt for this month. But it will face another 350m euros bill on Friday - generating further tensions between Greece and the eurozone and fears that the country could drop out of the single currency altogether. The allegations come as Varoufakis, an outspoken Marxist economist and blogger, has faced a number of criticisms. He came under fire after taking part in a photo shoot for Paris Match - him and his wife posing with glasses of wine on their roof terrace. +Former Manchester United defender Paul McGrath is certain that his old team will pip rivals Liverpool to a top-four finish in the Premier League this season, following The Red Devils' superb 3-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday. United had gone into that game with a number of doubts cast over their Champions League credentials, having delivered some unconvincing performances in recent weeks. But on Saturday, they were back to their best with a performance replete with pace and verve that blew Spurs away. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney scores his side's third goal in the 3-0 win over Tottenham . Former United defender Paul McGrath believes his old club will beat Liverpool to a top-four finish . United playmaker Juan Mata shields the ball from the oncoming Tottenham defender Danny Rose (left) United are currently fourth in the league table with 56 points from 29 games, five ahead of Liverpool who have played one fixture less. Liverpool travel to Swansea on Monday night in the hope of closing that gap, but McGrath feels the momentum is firmly in United's favour. He told TalkSport, 'Liverpool are the only team who can do a bit of damage to Manchester United. I don't see it happening now though. 'United are clicking into gear at the right time and are relaxed in the way they're playing their football.' McGrath also singled out Maourane Fellaini for special praise after the Belgian continued a fine run of form with a goal against Spurs. Marouane Fellaini continued his superb run of form with an eye catching display against Spurs on Sunday . 'Marouane Fellaini is the fulcrum of the side now,' he said. 'I don't think Van Gaal can take him out. 'Fellaini gives them the option of going long, he can hold it up and bring other players into play. He is giving the whole team a great lift.' McGrath played for United between 1982 and 1989, winning the FA Cup in 1985. Rooney attempts a long-range effort at goal during the Premier League game with Spurs at Old Trafford . Rose gives chase to United defender Marcos Rojo as the Red Devils run out convincing 3-0 winners . Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen is challenged by Manchester United's Antonio Valencia (left) CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Swansea (away) - March 16 . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to FA Cup . +A Texas man has been arrested for allegedly carjacking an ambulance and taking it on wild joyride, which was caught on camera. Kenneth Golightly, 29, was apprehended last Wednesday and charged with aggravated robbery in connection to the armed hijacking of a MedStar ambulance in Fort Worth. Police say the suspect pulled a knife on the driver of the emergency vehicle, telling him, 'I'm taking this ambulance.' Scroll down for video . Joyride: Police in Fort Worth, Texas, say Golightly pulled a knife on a MedStar driver and forced him out of the ambulance. He then took the vehicle on a high-speed ride that lasted several blocks . Perp: Kenneth Golightly, 29, was charged with aggravated robbery after he allegedly carjacked an ambulance . Not obeying the rules: The ambulance ran a red light while going more than 70mph . According to investigators, the MedStar ambulance had just departed from John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth when the driver pulled over to complete some paperwork. That is when police say Golightly approached the vehicle and pulled a knife on the driver, reported the station NBC DFW. The 29-year-old suspect then got behind the wheel and drove off in the MedStar transport, which luckily was not carrying a patient at the time. A camera installed inside the vehicle captured the long-haired, blond perpetrator running a red light and reaching speeds of more than 70mph before crashing through a metal fence. The footage ends with Golightly, dressed in a football jersey, unbuckling his seatbelt and preparing to flee on foot. Crash: The emergency vehicle eventually crashed through a metal fence . Getaway: Golightly fled the ambulance on foot after the collision . But Golightly was not on the run for long. Police say a Good Samaritan witnessed the crash and Golightly's getaway, and followed him until officers responded to the scene and placed him under arrest. The stolen MedStar vehicle was damaged in the crash and will have to undergo repairs. +Ronda Rousey has squashed talk of the prospect of her ever fighting a male opponent in a UFC octagon. The 28-year-old is the talk of the sport at the moment as she continues to dominate the women's UFC bantamweight division. Rousey currently boasts an 11-0 record in the sport having defeated Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds in her most recent contest on February 28. Women's UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey says she'll never enter the octagon with a male fighter . Rousey (right) is currently undefeated and beat Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds on February 28 . Last month's rapid victory began theories about how the undefeated 135-pound division champion would fare against the opposite sex. But during an interview with a UFC interactive panel at the SXSW festival on Monday, Rousey shot down notions. 'There should never (be) a venue where we're celebrating a man hitting a woman,' she told the panel. Rousey's words were greeted with cheers and applause as UFC President Dana White echoed her sentiments by adding: 'With our organisation, she'll never fight a man.' The 28-year-old (right) grapples Zingano during their UFC 184 mixed martial arts bantamweight title bout . UFC President Dana White (centre) has echoed Rousey's (right) thoughts that men shouldn't fight women . +Speculation that Tiger Woods might play at the Masters next week has spread like wildfire after the 39-year-old played 18 holes at the Augusta National Golf club. Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg confirmed to USA TODAY, that his client had flown to the Georgia course where has won four green jackets early on Tuesday morning. Steinburg revealed that Woods, who is currently on a self-imposed hiatus from golf to recover from injuries and improve his form, 'will advise in coming days what the plan is.' Tiger Woods could return to the Masters next week after completing 18 holes at the Augusta Golf Club . Woods has not played on the PGA Tour since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on February 5. Six days after that event, he announced he was taking a leave of absence from the sport to work on his game and would not return until he felt ready to compete with the world's best players once again. He has played just 47 holes on the Tour this season and has recently dropped out of the top 100 in golf's world rankings. Woods is currently on a hiatus from the sport to work on his game and recover from niggling injuries . Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines earlier this year on February 5 . +A nine-year-old Rory McIlroy predicted he would usurp the world's greatest golfer after penning a letter to Tiger Woods back in 1999. Although the American legend may have never read the prophecy, a New York Times Magazine profile pieced together its contents through interviews with McIlroy and close family members. Having just won the 1998 Doral-Publix Junior Golf Classic in Florida for the 10-11 age group, the young McIlroy's message was clear: 'I'm coming to get you. This is the beginning. Watch this space.' A nine-year-old Rory McIlroy predicted he would catch Tiger Woods to become the world's best golfer . The Northern Irishman heads to Augusta hoping to complete a full set of major titles . Woods injury problems have seen him slip out of the top 100 for the first time since 1996 . When asked if he recalled the letter, the three time major winner sheepishly admitted: 'A lot of those memories have kind of blurred together. But, yeah, it went something like that.' Whether Woods, ranked an unassailable No 1 at the time, would have paid much attention is unlikely but 16 years later it's the Northern Irishman who heads golf's rankings - while Woods has slipped out of the top 100 for the first time since 1996. And, not only has McIlroy surpassed him on the course but he has also taken his former idol's role as Nike's poster boy and the face of EA Sports video game. In 1999, when McIlroy's letter was written, no one could touch Woods at the top of golf's table . McIlroy has taken Woods' place on the course and as poster boy for Nike and EA Sports . Meanwhile, McIlroy heads for Masters bulked up in bid to complete a career grand slam by winning his third consecutive major title. Although the 25-year-old still has a long way to go before surpassing Woods' record of 683 total weeks as world No 1, he is undoubtedly the American's successor as golf's heavyweight star - both on and off the greens. And his obsession with the gym is giving the star more than a helping hand. 'It was when I started to notice results that I fell in love with it,' said McIlroy . Rory McIlroy hits the gym as he prepares for the Masters at Augusta next month . +British tennis found itself with a ready made second top 100 player on when Aljaz Bedene, the world No 83, announced that he is now a UK citizen. The 25-year-old is originally from Slovenia but since 2008 has lived in Welwyn Garden City with his girlfriend Kimalie, a pop star in her native land who is a protegee of renowned record producer Jeff Wayne. Bedene attended a citizenship ceremony in Hatfield on Tuesday and posted pictures of the occasion. He will formally receive his passport within the next two weeks and start entering tournaments as a British player. Aljaz Bedene is pictured at his British citizenship ceremony in Hatfield on Tuesday morning . Bedene poses for a picture with friends and family outside the petty sessional court building in Hatfield . Aljaz Bedene was born in the Slovenian capital of Ljublana in 1989 but has made the UK his home since 2008. The 25-year-old lives in Hertfordshire and trains at Gosling Sports Park in Welwyn Garden City with British coach James Davidson and fitness trainer Martin Skinner. Bedene's career-high ranking was No 71 in February 2013 and he reached his first ATP tour final earlier this year when he finished runner-up at the Chennai Open in January. However, whether he can play Davis Cup for GB is a different matter, as he has three times been in the Slovenian squad, albeit never having played a 'live' rubber. He is appealing a new rule banning players from representing two nations on the basis that his citizenship application was being processed at the time. 'Today is one of the most special days of my life,' said Bedene. 'This has been a long process and to gain citizenship almost seven years to the day after arriving is just overwhelming. 'This is something I have wanted since the moment I stepped foot in this beautiful country and I feel honoured to be able to compete under the Union Jack on the ATP Tour. Davis Cup is another dream and one I will have to fight for with everything I have.' Bedene is the most significant British tennis import since Greg Rusedski. A quick and agile baseliner, he has already been ranked No 71 in the world and after being held back by injuries last year ought to be heading into the top 50 before too long. He has long been managed by Stevenage-based firm Global Tennis Connections and has a British coach in James Davidson. He has actually represented Hertfordshire in the County Cup, the team being captained by tennis nut Wayne, famous for his War of the Worlds production. Bedene in action against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in Melbourne earlier this year . Bedene (right) with girlfriend Kimalie, who is a pop singer in her native land of Slovenia . Bedene will now slot in as British No 2 although it must be highly unlikely he could play in the Davis Cup quarter-final after Wimbledon against France, especially after James Ward's heroics against the USA in the first round. The likes of Ward, who has been a stalwart of the Davis Cup team through thick and thin, might understandably be peeved were Bedene suddenly to walk into the team. Otherwise there should not be too much friction as Bedene, who is certainly not a product of the LTA or the British game, is not competing for wildcards or funding. Andy Murray has welcomed the news of Bedene's switch and feels that he could be a useful addition to the Davis Cup team in future years. Murray told Sky Sports: 'I don't know him extremely well but I know that he's obviously playing some very good tennis right now. Bedene plays on the grass of London's Queen's Club at the 2013 Aegon Championships . The Great Britain Davis Cup team celebrate their victory against the USA in Glasgow earlier this month . 'I think maybe in the future it's possible for him to be involved in the Davis Cup team but I'm not sure exactly what the rules are. 'I know the rules change a little bit this year, that you're not allowed to play for two countries, so I'm not 100 per cent sure if he's going to be eligible. 'This year we have a team that's being doing extremely well and I would expect that this year we would stick with that team and revisit it again in the future if he becomes eligible.' British No 4 Liam Broady - who will drop to No 5 when Bedene officially starts representing Britain on the tour - was also warm in his reaction, tweeting: 'Welcome to GB mate.' +Top seed Serena Williams advanced to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Monday as Venus Williams upset Caroline Wozniacki. Serena Williams beat 24th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3, while her elder sister Venus, who is the 16th seed, beat fourth seed Wozniacki of Denmark 6-3 7-6 (7/1). Venus Williams will play Carla Suarez Navarro, the 12th seed, in the last eight after the Spaniard beat seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 5-7 6-0 6-4. Venus Williams celebrates after defeating Caroline Wozniacki to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals . Venus defeated the Dane, who was seeded fourth in the tournament, 6-3 7-6 (7/1) Williams reaches to make a return during her victory over Wozniacki at Key Biscayne . Wozniacki was the fourth seed in the Miami Open but crashed out at the last 16 stage . Serena Williams will next play Sabine Lisicki of Germany after her 6-1 6-2 defeat of Sara Errani of Italy. Third seed Simona Halep of Romania and 15th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy were in action late on Monday night. The winner of their match will next play Sloane Stephens after the American reached the fifth round for the first time in her career by dispatching Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 6-4 7-6 (7/5) in a gruelling encounter. Ninth seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany beat eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-1 7-5 and will play Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova next after her 6-3 6-2 defeat of Daria Gavrilova of Russia. Serena Williams celebrates after winning a game in her 6-2 6-3 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova . Serena will face Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the quarter-finals after making it through on Monday . In the men's draw, world number one Novak Djokovic resisted a brave rally from qualifier Steve Darcis to reach the fourth round. The Serbian, victorious at Indian Wells earlier this month, swept Belgium's Darcis aside in the first set but was given a sterner examination in the second before closing out a 6-0 7-5 win. Djokovic will next play Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, who defeated Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 7-5 6-4. Fourth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia, the 32nd seed, 6-2 6-2 and will next play 18th seed David Goffin of Belgium, after his 6-4 6-3 defeat of Poland's Jerzy Janowicz. World No 1 Novak Djokovic in action against Steve Darcis at the Miami Open . Fifth seed Milos Raonic of Canada claimed a 6-1 5-7 7-6 (7/3) win over France's Jeremy Chardy, the 31st seed. Raonic will next play John Isner after the big-serving American got the better of ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov to win 7-6 (7/2) 6-2. Sixth seed David Ferrer comes up against Gilles Simon in the next round after ousting Lukas Rosol 6-4 7-5. Simon, France's 12th seed progressed by beating Alejandro Falla 6-3 6-4. +Trainer Aidan O’Brien has acknowledged he is likely to have Ryan Moore riding more of his horses this season. Speculation has raged about the likely riding plans for Ireland’s champion trainer, with son and stable jockey Joseph having his first ride over hurdles at Limerick on Sunday when fifth on Egyptian Warrior. Joseph said that he will be back riding on the Flat on Wednesday at Dundalk but the constant battle with the scales for the jockey who is almost 6ft has seemingly never been tougher. The Warrior ridden by Ryan Moore on the way to winning the Big Bad Bob Maiden at Curragh Racecourse . Aiden O'Brien's son Joseph struggles with his weight since he is almost 6ft tall . Three-time British champion Moore stepped in for three rides for Aidan O’Brien at the Curragh on Sunday, winning on The Warrior. The trainer said: ‘We’ve a good relationship with Ryan and we always have. We used Ryan more last year than we did the year before and hopefully it will be that way again this year.’ Acknowledging his son’s weight issues, O’Brien added: ‘Obviously (doing) nine stone has been a problem for the last two seasons and last year it was a big problem. ‘This year he’s heavier than he was this time last year. He’ll go gently and we’ll see what will happen.’ Leighton Aspell will ride Many Clouds (left) at Aintree after winning the Hennessy Gold Cup . Meanwhile, OIiver Sherwood has said his Hennessy Gold Cup winner Many Clouds will run in the Grand National a week on Saturday with Leighton Aspell on board. Daryl Jacob will now ride Aspell’s Dr Richard Newland- trained 2014 winner Pineau de Re. Emma Lavelle, who had expected Jacob to ride her outsider Court By Surprise, is now searching for a replacement. David Bass rides Kim Bailey’s Aintree hope The Rainbow Hunter. Bailey supplied AP McCoy with a win on his final day riding at Ascot on Sunday. It was a vintage McCoy effort as he urged Bailey’s Un Ace to a short-head win over Royal Regatta. The retiring champion received a special presentation from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. +California Chrome, the 2014 Kentucky Derby winner who finished second to Prince Bishop in Saturday’s Dubai World Cup, has been confirmed as a definite runner at Royal Ascot in June. The four-year-old, trained by Art Sherman, has the 10-furlong Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on June 17 in his sights but could first take in the one-mile Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 16. California Chrome will be based at Rae Guest’s stable in Newmarket during his stay here. California Chrome has been confirmed as a definite runner for Royal Ascot in June . Co-owner Perry Martin said: ‘We are grateful for the opportunity to race at Royal Ascot and hopeful that California Chrome can put up a good show. We are looking forward to the experience.’ Further overseas interest in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes could be supplied by Japan’s Spielberg, a Grade One winner on his home turf and third in the Japan Cup in November. The news of California Chrome’s British venture emerged hours before Newmarket trainer Roger Varian confirmed that his 2014 St Leger winner and Arc fourth Kingston Hill will miss the first half of the season. Prince Bishop crosses the finish line at Meydan to win the Dubai World Cup on Saturday . Races like the Coronation Cup at Epsom and the King George at Ascot had been expected to be on Kingston Hill’s agenda. Varian said: ‘He has sustained a superficial injury to his left fore. He is sound but sore. He has an area of significant bruising and inflammation which will take time to settle. ‘We will now target the top middle distance races later in the season with all roads leading back to Longchamp in October for a another crack at the Prix de l’ Arc De Triomphe.’ +Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Parish insists the club are in no rush to sell but they need a financial investment if they want to expand. American businessman Josh Harris, who owns NBA side Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, had been in talks to buy the Premier League club. But Parish believes there is no need for the south London club to sell up but is wary of the financial implications of commissioning new projects. Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Parish said that the club are in no rush to sell up . 'Taking on commitments and building things is risky,' he said. 'You could lose a lot of money really quickly. People have lost hundreds of millions in this game in a year or two. 'I could probably stay 20 years and I could get a new main stand and a new training ground and find a way of financing it every year. 'But if you finance it, it puts the club at risk. If you get relegated, you've got a project you're committed to and suddenly your wage bill is bigger than your income. Palace are 11th in the Premier League table and look set to avoid relegation to the Championship again . 'We need a sizeable chunk of investment to do things quickly.' Palace are currently 11th in the Premier League table and look set to avoid relegation to the Championship for the second season in a row. +Burnley possessed the most English starting XI of any Premier League team in the last round of games, with seven players in Sean Dyche's team eligible to play for Roy Hodgson's men. Tom Heaton, Ben Mee, Jason Shackell, Kieran Trippier, Ashley Barnes, David Jones and Danny Ings meet the criteria for selection, with none of the XI who played against Southampton on Saturday, March 21 drawn from outside the United Kingdom. However, none of that English contingent have yet featured in one of Hodgson's senior squads. The pool of English talent has again been in the spotlight over the last fortnight with Football Association chairman Greg Dyke announcing changes to the work permit system and proposals to increase the number of homegrown players in Premier League squads, all with a view to boosting England's performance at major tournaments. David Jones (right) was among seven English players to take to the field against Southampton on March 21 . Clarets boss Sean Dyche regularly flies the flag for England by starting a majority of English players . England and Tottenham striker Harry Kane was one of six Enlgish players to feature against Leicester City . Harry Kane - held up by Dyke as the sort of talent whose development must not be stifled by foreign imports - heads a six-strong group who featured for Tottenham against Leicester, including fellow new call-up Ryan Mason, while five of the Manchester United team which won at Liverpool were England internationals. At the bottom end of the chart are the leading two teams in the Premier League, Chelsea and Manchester City. Central defensive pair Gary Cahill and John Terry were part of Jose Mourinho's defence as they won 3-2 at Hull - another team with just two England-qualified starters - while Manchester City had only Joe Hart and retired England midfielder Frank Lampard in their XI. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been credited for adding a greater English element to his side in recent years, but the team which won at Newcastle featured only two who would qualify - Calum Chambers and Danny Welbeck. Chelsea's duo of John Terry (centre) and Gary Cahill were the only English players to start against Hull . Overall, only 81 of the 220 Premier League starters in the last round of matches were eligible for England selection - a fairly pitiful 36.8 per cent. England face Italy on Tuesday night, and the proportion of players in Serie A starting line-ups who were born in Italy - or have otherwise represented Italy at senior level - over the same weekend was 43.2 per cent. That proportion would increase still further if you included those who may qualify under residency rules or those - typically of South American birth - who hold Italian passports due to their ancestry. In the English Championship, the most 'English' teams were Blackburn and Huddersfield with nine, with a few caveats. Jordan Henderson (centre) and Michael Carrick (right) made up nine English players to start in the derby . Huddersfield duo Sean Scannell and Joel Lynch both appear to have nailed their colours to the masts of the Republic of Ireland and Wales respectively, yet neither has made a senior competitive appearance yet so are still technically eligible for England. Adam Henley is still England-qualified for Blackburn after he was an unused substitute in Wales' Euro 2016 qualifier in Israel. Until Matt Ritchie featured for Scotland against Gibraltar on Sunday, Bournemouth also had nine, with the Cherries' Republic of Ireland call-up Harry Arter still England-qualified as he did not feature for the Irish against Poland. League Two's AFC Wimbledon fielded eleven English players in their most recent game against Tranmere . Also flying the flag of St George with an all-English XI were Hartlepool United (pictured) and Southend United . The percentage of England-qualified players starting in the Championship was 57.2 per cent, rising to 76.1 per cent in League One and 86.0 per cent in League Two. Five teams in League One - Bristol City, Chesterfield, Colchester, Crewe and Rochdale - were just one player shy of an entirely England-qualified XI. You had to go down to League Two to find a fully England-qualified XI, with AFC Wimbledon, Hartlepool and Southend flying the flag. Southend's Adam Thompson has won two caps for Northern Ireland, but both came in the 2011 Nations Cup which does not classify as an official competition under FIFA regulations, so he technically remains eligible for England. Premier League . Arsenal - 2, Aston Villa - 4, Burnley - 7, Chelsea - 2, Crystal Palace - 5, Everton - 5, Hull - 2, Leicester - 4, Liverpool - 4, Man City - 2, Man Utd - 5, Newcastle - 4, QPR - 6, Southampton - 3, Stoke - 2, Sunderland - 4, Swansea - 4, Tottenham - 6, West Brom - 4, West Ham - 6 . 81 out of 220 players eligible: 36.8 per cent . Championship . Birmingham - 5, Blackburn - 9, Blackpool - 8, Bolton - 7, Bournemouth - 8, Brentford - 7, Brighton - 6, Cardiff - 6, Charlton - 4, Derby - 7, Fulham - 6, Huddersfield - 9, Ipswich - 6, Leeds - 7, Middlesbrough - 7, Millwall - 6, Norwich - 4, Nottingham Forest - 8, Reading - 3, Rotherham - 6, Sheff Wed - 6, Watford - 3, Wigan - 6, Wolves - 7 . 151 out of 264 players eligible: 57.2 per cent . League One . Barnsley -7, Bradford - 5, Bristol City - 10, Chesterfield - 10, Colchester - 10, Coventry - 9, Crawley - 8, Crewe - 10, Doncaster - 7, Fleetwood - 8, Gillingham - 8, Leyton Orient - 8, MK Dons - 9, Notts County- 9, Oldham - 9, Peterborough - 7, Port Vale - 7, Preston - 8, Rochdale - 10, Scunthorpe - 9, Sheffield United - 7, Swindon - 9, Walsall - 9, Yeovil - 9 . 202 out of 264 players eligible: 76.5 per cent . League Two . AFC Wimbledon - 11, Accrington - 10, Burton - 7, Bury - 10, Cambridge - 10, Carlisle - 9, Cheltenham - 9, Dagenham & Redbridge - 9, Exeter - 7, Hartlepool - 11, Luton - 10, Mansfield - 10, Morecambe - 10, Newport - 9, Northampton - 10, Oxford - 10, Plymouth - 9, Portsmouth - 10, Shrewsbury - 8, Southend - 11, Stevenage - 9, Tranmere - 9, Wycombe - 10, York - 9 . 227 out of 264 players eligible: 86 per cent. Italian representation in Serie A . Atalanta - 7, Cagliari - 3, Cesena - 6, Chievo - 4, Empoli - 8, Fiorentina - 1, Genoa - 2, Hellas Verona - 3, Inter Milan - 2, Juventus - 6, Lazio - 4, Milan - 5, Napoli - 2, Palermo - 6, Parma - 6, Roma - 4, Sampdoria - 7, Sassuolo - 10, Torino - 7, Udinese - 2 . 95 out of 220 players born in Italy or otherwise senior Italy internationals: 43.2 per cent. Survey Criteria . *Players born in England or with an English parent or grandparent qualified as English for the purposes of this survey, provided they had not played a competitive senior international for another team. Matches for other countries at youth level, or in senior friendlies or games not classed as official competition do not make the player ineligible for England. *FIFA rules permit a player to gain residency after five years' continuous living in their adopted country, provided they had not played a competitive senior international for another team. However, under a Home Nations agreement, it is understood the residency rules for England eligibility are different. If not born in England, a player must have spent at least five years in education in England prior to his 18th birthday to be eligible. *For Serie A, only players born in Italy or otherwise having represented Italy at national team level were counted in our survey. Many other players may qualify under residency rules or hold Italian passports owing to their parents or grandparents. +Newcastle United are willing to pay the £2million compensation fee for Derby County boss Steve McClaren, Sportsmail understands. Senior sources within St James’ Park are convinced that the former England manager will be their next head coach come the summer and say the £3.5m pocketed from Alan Pardew’s defection to Crystal Palace in January will cover the cost of his arrival. It is McClaren’s relationship with United’s chief scout Graham Carr – in essence, the club’s director of football – which is the driving force behind their move for the 53-year-old. Newcastle United are willing to pay the £2million compensation fee for Derby County boss Steve McClaren . Head coach John Carver looks set to be replaced come the end of the Premier League season . Carr has been tasked with finding the new boss should the Magpies decide to replace current head coach John Carver - and that is looking increasingly likely. Sources at Newcastle have indicated McClaren is the only name being considered and they feel there is a willingness on his part to swap Pride Park for St James’ Park. McClaren’s camp deny this, instead insisting he is fully focussed on winning promotion to the Premier League with Derby. Derby boss McClaren has a good relationship with United’s chief scout Graham Carr (pictured) Despite a strong campaign, Derby are in danger of missing out on automatic promotion to the top flight . That, however, is to be expected given his promise to the club’s hierarchy that he would see out the season with the Rams when he was first linked with Newcastle in January. McClaren signed a new three-year deal in August and chief executive Sam Rush has again insisted this week that their manager is going nowhere. However, Derby are in danger of missing out on automatic promotion to the top flight and there is even a chance they could slip out of the play-off places. They announced losses of £7m this week, compared to the £18.7m profit recorded by Newcastle, who intend to invest heavily in their playing squad this summer. It is thought all of those factors will be enough for Carr to persuade McClaren to head to the North-East ahead of next season. +John Carver says Newcastle United need a clear-out this summer. The head coach is in danger of missing out on a permanent appointment following a string of desperate displays by his team, who were accused by Match of the Day pundit Phil Neville of having their flip-flops on. Carver hit back at that on Friday but fired his own warning to those who have performed so poorly. And with Sammy Ameobi, Ryan Taylor and Jonas Gutierrez out of contract in the summer, plenty of players will come under threat. John Carver says there needs to be a clear-out at Newcastle United in the summer . Sammy Ameobi (left) is one of many players whose contracts expire at the end of the season . ‘They know there has to be a clear-out,’ he said. ‘It’s pretty obvious, to the man in the street and to the professionals — it has to be done. ‘There are people out of contract, people who are not good enough — they know that.’ Carver’s words are his strongest since taking over from Alan Pardew in January. The Magpies held a dressing-room inquest in the wake of last Sunday’s 3-0 surrender at Everton and the boss admits everyone — himself included — is fighting for his future at the club. ‘We all are,’ he said. ‘That’s why I was a bit astonished when people (Neville) came out and talked about us being on the beach and wearing flip-flops. How can players do that when they know that everybody is playing for their futures?’ Carver’s situation has not been helped by the lack of player investment in the January window which has left him with just 13 senior players ahead of today’s visit of Arsenal. The Newcastle players applaud the fans after the disappointing defeat by Everton last weekend . Right-back Daryl Janmaat will deputise for suspended skipper Fabricio Coloccini at centre-back, despite admitting earlier in the week that he’d never played there. Carver said: ‘I think he’s a great professional and he will deal with it. He understands the game, he is a full international. It’s another string to his bow and I think he’ll cope with it. ‘He’s been great around the place. He’s such a character. He’s larger than life and he’s quite funny, but he’s a good professional with it. ‘When we lost Mathieu Debuchy (to Arsenal) it was a blow but we replaced him with a better all-round player. ‘But I must admit I’ve never been in a position like this (with injuries and suspension) and I don’t think anybody I’ve ever worked with has, either. ‘I’m missing my best players and that’s how I look at it. With Papiss Cisse it’ s like Tottenham being without Harry Kane. With Siem de Jong, it’s like them being without Christian Eriksen. ‘It’s tough, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse and throw in the towel. Definitely not.’ Darly Janmaat will captain Newcastle in the Premier League fixture against Arsenal on Saturday . The Dutch defender is deputising for Fabricio Coloccini who was sent off against Everton . +Newcastle United have just three fit defenders ahead of Wednesday’s visit of Manchester United. The Magpies have confirmed that left back Massadio Haidara will miss the game after picking up a knee injury during Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Aston Villa. Midfielder Ryan Taylor is set to deputise after replacing the stricken Frenchman at the weekend. Ryan Taylor looks set to start against Manchester United after Massadio Haidara sustained a knee injury . Taylor (centre) has made just four Premier League appearances since the start of the season . Haidara had to be carried off on a stretcher during Newcastle's 1-0 win against Aston Villa . Head coach John Carver is already without Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett, while Davide Santon and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa were allowed to leave the club in January. And he said: ‘We thought Haidara might be available but he's got a bit of fluid on the knee and has been for an injection, so he almost certainly won’t make it. ‘We're short of defenders and we've not got many possibilities, so Ryan comes into contention and he filled that role very well the other day. ‘But with another injury I'll have to start to try pulling rabbits out of a hat.’ When asked if he had been left short by the club’s failure to bring in January reinforcements, Carver said: ‘The squad itself is big enough, we've just been so unfortunate with these injuries. ‘You normally have three or four of these long-term injuries per season, but we've had more than that with nine already. ‘Our squad at the start of the season was in a healthy position, the only thing you can do is go into the out-of-contract market and it might be something we look at, but not yet.’ Papiss Cisse will be hoping to add to his first-half winner against Aston Villa when he faces Man United . John Carver is all smiles as he puts his players through their paces ahead of Wednesday's match . +Cartagena and Lucena players protested months of unpaid wages in a dramatic show of unity by refusing to contest the opening moments of their Segunda B match at the weekend. After the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game Cartagena’s strikers played the ball forward the bare minimum before walking back to their half to join their team-mates. The home side’s starting XI stood arm in arm and faced their fans in a line while the modest crowd at Cartagonova Stadium stood in unison and applauded. Cartagena and Lucena players stage a protest against months of unpaid wages after starting their match . Lucena, whose plight is largely in parallel with their opponents, dropped to their knees and put their arms behind their backs in their own form of protest. Almost 40 seconds passed before a Cartagena player got the match proper under way and it became business as usual in their fight for survival. A 71st-minute strike from former Real Madrid youth player Chus Hevia decided the 1-0 result for the home side but their sides' statement was made long before that. The Segunda B sides line up as if it was a normal match and kicked off when the whistle was blown . But after the ball is rolled forward by Cartagena the players turn to join together for the protest . Cartagena players face the crowd in their mostly empty stadium while the Lucena side kneel down . Fans in Cartagonova Stadium show their support for the players with a standing ovation . Play recommenced with almost 40 seconds of the first half passing by with Cartagena eventual 1-0 winners . Players from both clubs haven’t been paid for several months by their relatively new investment company owners and are clearly reaching the end of their tether. Lucena was taken over in summer 2014 by a group of investors led by Eduardo Bouzon while Cartagena was acquired by the company Sporto Man Gol 2020. +Top players often try to find a way to avoid difficult questions from the press, but Daniel Alves has found a more inventive method than most. The Barcelona full back was hounded by journalists while travelling home from a few days off over the international break. Alves has been linked with a move away from the Nou Camp when his contract expires this summer, and he was repeatedly asked where he would be going. After being pressed about his future at Barcelona, Daniel Alves started singing at journalists . Alves is out of contract at Barcelona this summer, and has been linked with a move to PSG . Despite Alves wearing headphones and giving every indication that he had no interest in talking to the press, the questions kept coming. Eventually, when directly asked about a reported agreement with Paris St Germain, the Brazil defender lost patience, grabbing the microphone off one of the reporters and bursting into song, blasting out a few bars of Bazilian singer-songwriter Xande de Pilares . Fortunately Alves is a better footballer than a singer, and despite not featuring during this international break, and being allowed to leave Barcelona, is not without suitors amongst Europe's elite. +With the expansion of the European Championships from 16 to 24 teams for 2016, there has never been a better opportunity for all four of the Home Nations to qualify for a big tournament. And after the fifth round of qualifiers this weekend, all have a strong chance of making it to France next summer. At the half-way point in the qualification campaign, we look at the story so far and assess the chances of each making it. WALES . The story so far . Wales have enjoyed an excellent start to their campaign, with three wins and two draws putting them top of Group B. The reformatting of the competition means that the top two from each group advance automatically to France 2016, while the third-placed side enter the play-offs. Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring a late free-kick in Wales' 2-1 win over Andorra . Wales started sluggishly, requiring a late Gareth Bale free-kick to spare them from embarrassment against minnows Andorra, before earning a credible goalless draw at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina, who played at the World Cup in Brazil. Goals from David Cotterill and Hal Robson-Kanu saw off Cyprus before a 0-0 draw away to Belgium, on paper the strongest team in the group. On Saturday, they went top following a 3-0 win against 10-man Israel. Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey put them ahead on the stroke of half-time before the sending off, and two Bale strikes made absolutely sure after the break. Results: Andorra 1 Wales 2; Wales 0 Bosnia 0; Wales 2 Cyprus 1; Belgium 0 Wales 0; Israel 0 Wales 3 . Aaron Ramsey celebrates his opening goal in the 3-0 win over Israel at the weekend . Wales are currently two points ahead of Israel in Group B though they have played one game more . When did they last reach a major tournament? You have to go all the way back to 1958, when Wales reached the World Cup in Sweden, to find their one and only finals appearance. They came close to reaching Euro 2004, but lost to Russia in a play-off. What's still to come? Much now rests on their match with Belgium, who are currently third, in Cardiff on June 12. If Chris Coleman's team can get something from that, they will be in a very strong position. September sees a visit to Cyprus and a home return with Israel, before the campaign concludes with a tricky trip to Bosnia and a final home game with Andorra. From here, there really is little excuse not to make it but Wales have come close before, only to agonisingly miss out. Fixtures: June 12 - Wales vs Belgium; September 3 - Cyprus vs Wales; September 6 - Wales vs Israel; October 10 - Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Wales; October 13 - Wales vs Andorra . Bale was on target twice in Haifa as Wales lifted themselves top of qualifying Group B . SCOTLAND . The story so far . It was a case of hardest match first for the Scots, who mounted some stiff resistance away to World champions Germany and even drew level through Ikechi Anya before succumbing 2-1. A nervy 1-0 win over Georgia at Hampden Park followed before a fine performance earned a 2-2 draw in Poland. Scotland actually led in Warsaw after goals from Shaun Maloney and Steven Naismith but were pegged back. But two wins from two home games - 1-0 against the Republic of Ireland and 6-1 against Gibraltar on Sunday - have left Gordon Strachan's side third, good enough for a play-off spot as it stands but just a point off the lead. Results: Germany 2 Scotland 1; Scotland 1 Georgia 0; Poland 2 Scotland 2; Scotland 1 Republic of Ireland 0; Scotland 6 Gibraltar 1 . Ikechi Anya celebrates his goal to pull the Scots level in their opening match with Germany in Dortmund . Shaun Maloney fired home the winning goal at Celtic Park as the Republic of Ireland were beaten 1-0 . Scotland are currently third in Group D - enough to secure a place in the play-offs as it stands . When did they last reach a major tournament? In 1998, Scotland reached the World Cup finals in France so a return there is very much on the cards. They have twice made the European Championship finals previously, in 1992 and 1996. What's still to come? The next match, away to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin is absolutely key. If they win, they will establish a five-point gap over them. If they lose, Ireland will leapfrog them. Scotland have an advantage in that their remaining games against the strongest sides, Germany and Poland, come at home. They must take maximum points from their away trips to Georgia and Gibraltar. But in the most competitive group of the lot, they have every chance of making it. Fixtures: June 13 - Republic of Ireland vs Scotland; September 4 - Georgia vs Scotland; September 7 - Scotland vs Germany; October 8 - Scotland vs Poland; October 11 - Gibraltar vs Scotland . Steven Fletcher scored a hat-trick in Scotland's 6-1 rout of Gibraltar at Hampden Park on Sunday . NORTHERN IRELAND . The story so far . It's been an excellent campaign for Northern Ireland so far, with four wins out of five putting them second to Romania in Group F. Michael O'Neill's side have exceeded all expectations, starting off with a 2-1 win over Hungary in Budapest thanks to late goals from Niall McGinn and Kyle Lafferty. Goals from Gareth McAuley and Lafferty saw off the Faroe Islands at home, before Jamie Ward and Lafferty secured a 2-0 win in Greece three days later. Their only blip came in a 2-0 loss to Romania, but more Lafferty goals on Sunday against Finland saw them return to form. Results: Hungary 1 Northern Ireland 2; Northern Ireland 2 Faroe Islands 0; Greece 0 Northern Ireland 2; Romania 2 Northern Ireland 0; Northern Ireland 2 Finland 0 . Kyle Lafferty celebrates after scoring in Northern Ireland's 2-1 win over Hungary in Budapest . Gareth McAuley scores the first goal in Northern Ireland's 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands in October . Northern Ireland are just one point behind leaders Romania in Group F at the mid-way point . When did they last reach a major tournament? Northern Ireland have never made a European Championship and the last of their three World Cups was back in 1986. What's still to come? The top two in the group, Northern Ireland and Romania meet next at Windsor Park. In September, it's the Faroe Islands away and Hungary at home. The campaign concludes with Greece in Belfast and a tip to play Finland in Helsinki. Encouragingly for Northern Ireland, there is a gap of eight points between themselves and Finland in fourth, so there really is little excuse not to make it into the top three from here. Fixtures: June 13 - Northern Ireland vs Romania; September 4 - Faroe Islands vs Northern Ireland; September 7 - Northern Ireland vs Hungary; October 8 - Northern Ireland vs Greece; October 11 - Finland vs Northern Ireland . Lafferty scored twice as Northern Ireland beat Finland 2-1 at Windsor Park on Sunday . ENGLAND . The story so far . A perfect five from five for Roy Hodgson's men, who are making qualification look like a breeze. They have a six-point lead over Slovenia in second and it would take a real calamity not to make it through from here. Two Danny Welbeck goals saw them to victory in Switzerland back in September and that was followed by a predictable crushing of San Marino. Wayne Rooney curled home a free-kick winner in a tough game in Estonia, before Slovenia were beaten 3-1 at Wembley, with Rooney and Welbeck (2) finding the net. Friday night's 4-0 win over Lithuania made this England's best start to a season ever, courtesy of goals from Rooney, Welbeck, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane. Results: Switzerland 0 England 2; England 5 San Marino 0; Estonia 0 England 1; England 3 Slovenia 1; England 4 Lithuania 0 . Danny Welbeck's two goals against Switzerland in Basle got England off to the perfect start . Danny Welbeck is the leading goalscorer in Euro 2016 qualifying with six in five games . England have made a perfect start to Group E, with five wins out of five . When did they last reach a major tournament? Regular qualifiers for both the World Cup and European Championships but normally falling well short of expectations. What's still to come? A victory away to Slovenia in Ljubljana in June should just about secure England's place in the finals and, failing that, away trips to minnows San Marino and Lithuania, plus home meetings with Switzerland and Estonia should do it. Hodgson's men should really be aiming for a perfect record of 10 wins from 10. Fixtures: June 14 - Slovenia vs England; September 5 - San Marino vs England; September 8 - England vs Switzerland; October 9 - England vs Estonia; October 12 - Lithuania vs England . Debutant Harry Kane celebrates his maiden England goal in Friday's 4-0 win over Lithuania . +Ronaldo, Game of Thrones and digestive biscuits are just some of the things that Theo Walcott likes after braving the hot-seat while on England duty. The Arsenal forward is currently away in Italy with the national team but still took the time to take part in 'Gone in 60 seconds' quick fire question. The short video was posted on England's Facebook page, where Walcott revealed he's the fastest player in the squad - ahead of the likes of Andros Townsend, Nathaniel Clyne and Danny Welbeck. Theo Walcott opened up about his likes during a quick fire question round while on England duty . Cristiano Ronaldo may have won the Ballon d'Or but is still second choice behind the original, when Walcott was given the choice. The Targaryen's and the Stark's make up some of the important character's of his favourite show Game of Thrones, while revealing he likes a digestive biscuit. The only controversial moment was Walcott's decision to change is mind from 'The Great British Bake Off' to 'Gogglebox' when asked which of the two he preferred. The winger could start on Tuesday for England when they play Italy in a game which will see Harry Kane start his first game for Roy Hodgson's side. Walcott (centre) could start for Roy Hodgson's England against Italy in Tuesday night's friendly . Walcott chose Brazilian Ronaldo (left) ahead of Cristiano when given the option of who he preferred . +For  a moment, the image seemed wrong. Celebrating in the corner were a group of giddy England players, while slumped in the penalty area were clutch of crestfallen Germans. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Important matches between these two old foes tend to end one way and rarely is the outcome happy for England. Under-21 head coach Gareth Southgate, after all, knows that better than most. But this was no apparition: two goals in two minutes from Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse provided further evidence this squad Southgate has impressively moulded is an emerging force. When Euro 2015 starts 80 days from now, do not doubt they possess what it takes to win it. This 3-2 win at a rain sodden Riverside Stadium, achieved after they had trailed twice, was stamped with the qualities of a team that can win a major tournament: quality, technique and spirit coming to the fore. Never was it more evident than when Ward-Prowse scored the decisive goal. James Ward-Prowse wheels away in celebration after scoring the winner in England Under 21's 3-2 defeat of Germany . The Southampton midfielder completed an unlikely comeback that saw two late goals scored in the space of three minutes . Nathan Redmond leaps for joy after bringing England level at 2-2 with a deflected shot in the second half . England were heading towards defeat before Redmond's strike on 79minutes brought them back into the game . Jesse Lindgard brought England level for the first time with a composed finish from Carl Jenkinson's cross in the first half . Germany striker Philipp Hofmann scored a brace but could not prevent the Young Lions from a memorable victory . Hofmann slides in in front of Everton defender John Stones to restore Germany's lead at the start of the second half . ENGLAND (4-2-3-1): Bond 6.5: Jenkinson 7.5, Stones 7, Gibson 6.5 (Keane 77mins), Garbutt 6.5: Ward-Prowse 7.5, Forster-Caskey 7: Lingard 7.5, Hughes 6.5 (Pritchard 65mins 6), Redmond 8: Ings 7 . Subs not used: Bettinelli, Moore, Woodrow. Scorers: Lingard 34, Redmond 79, Ward-Prowse 82. GERMANY (4-3-3): Ter Stegen 7: Korb 6.5, Ginter 7, Knoche 6.5, Gunter 6.5: Can 7, Leitner 6 (Kimmich 46mins 6), Younes 6: Bittencourt 6 (Gnabry 46mins 7), Hofmann 7.5, Meyer 6.5 (Schulz 68mins) Subs not used: Orban, Geis, Zimmer, Klaus, Horn, Karius. Booked: Leitner. Scorers: Hofmann 15, 50. Man of the match: Carl Jenkinson. Referee: Davide Massa (Italy) 7. Expectations of a bold show in the Czech Republic can now build but Southgate, who has only lost one of the 16 games for which he has been in charge, was rather more circumspect. Yes, he was pleased but he was also quick to sound a note of caution. ‘How do I keep a check on expectations,’ he asked. ‘That’s easy. I’ll just show people the first 25 minutes of this game. We have tremendous belief in this group of players and some elements of what they did really pleased me. Other aspects showed we can definitely improve.’ The last time Southgate had stood in the technical area of this particular stadium, it came before one of the darkest moments of his career: the events of October 20, 2009, when he was sacked by Middlesbrough, will never leave him. He returned, however, a more confident and mature manager and he has thrived in this role with the FA, getting the Under-21s playing a vibrant, attractive brand of football that will see them go to the Czech Republic with genuine ambitions of success. Germany, though, will go there with the same mind-set and there is no doubt they will be big players when the tournament starts because of the big players they have in their ranks; Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, the Barcelona keeper, Emre Can of Liverpool and Max Meyer of Schalke to name but three. They started this contest impressively, moving the ball with purpose and ambition and in the first 10 minutes England had trouble getting out of their own half. Germany retained possession with ease and there was an inevitability they would strike first. When Germany broke the deadlock, they did it in style. Matthias Ginter skipper down the left and clipped in a cross that Philipp Hofmann, celebrating his 22nd birthday, controlled with his right foot before smashing a drive beyond Jonathon Bond with his left. For a moment it seemed like Germany might go through the gears but this England team has spirit as well as ability and their speed caused problems; Lingard (twice) and Danny Ings both tested Stegen before Lingard’s industry was rewarded in the 34th minute and parity was restored. Half-time arrived and checked England’s momentum. Germany made changes and the introduction of Arsenal flyer Serge Gnabry gave them blistering pace and trickery to attack Everton left-bacl Luke Garbutt. He made an immediate impact, thrilling providing Hofmann’s second of the night. Yet England were not done and they staged a grandstand comeback, Redmond equalised in the 78th minute before Ward-Prowse won it when bursting through. The players, then, can start to dream and, perhaps in a quiet moment, Southgate will too. ‘We have not achieved anything yet,’ he said. ‘We know what our goal is and we want to get there.’ Hoffman, who plays in Germany's second division, strikes to open the scoring for Germany after 15minutes . The Germany striker wheels away in celebration after handing the visitors the lead in this international friendly . Germany players celebrate after opening the scoring, but left the Riverside Stadium in shock after England's comeback victory . Liverpool and Germany midfielder/defender Emre Can (right) slides in for a tackle on England's Jake Forster-Caskey . England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate looks on at the stadium where he spent his career as a player and manager . Lingard watches his composed finish find the net after meeting a right wing pass from Carl Jenkinson . The Manchester United forward races off to celebrate his first goal for England's Under 21s . England team-mates race to congratulate Lingard for bringing them level while fans rise from their seats . Burnley forward Danny Ings embraces Lingard as the two teams head in level at half time . Liverpool target Ings tries to take the ball under control as England start to get back into the game . Hoffman takes advantage of an England lapse of concentration after the break to net his second goal . Derby County forward Will Hughes strolls forward with the ball from midfield as England withstand pressure . England's perseverance paid off when Redmond brought the sides level for a second time with a deflected shot . The Norwich City forward can not contain his pleasure as he celebrates his equaliser in front of England fans . Ward-Prowse netted England's winner within three minutes of drawing level in the closing stages . The England Under 21 captain shows his joy as the Young Lions chalk up a memorable victory against the old enemy . +John Stones and Luke Shaw will be included in England’s squad for Euro 2015 as Gareth Southgate gets close to formulating his 23-man party. The coach is ‘certain’ of 21 of the names and his list includes Everton central defender Stones, who was outstanding in the friendly wins over the Czech Republic and Germany, and Manchester United left back Shaw. Stones went to the World Cup last summer and was a regular in Roy Hodgson’s senior squad at the beginning of the campaign but, like Calum Chambers, he dropped back down with aplomb and will be a key figure in the Czech Republic. John Stones played in the impressive 3-2 win against Germany U21s and will head to the Czech Republic . Luke Shaw hasn't played for the U21s since October but he will be headed for Euro 2015 . Shaw has not played for the Under 21s since the play-off victory over Croatia last October but he was included regularly in the early part of Southgate’s reign. Everton’s Ross Barkley is expected to have the summer off. The midfielder has never been in one of Southgate’s squads and last played for the Under 21s in August 2013. England’s first Group B game is against Portugal in Uherske Hradiste on June 18. +Defender Ben Gibson is hoping England Under 21s' 3-2 friendly victory over Germany was a dress rehearsal for a European Championship finals showdown. Both sides will head for the Czech Republic during the summer as manager Gareth Southgate attempts to guide the Young Lions to glory, and England will do so having got the better of their German counterparts with a 3-2 win at the Riverside Stadium on Monday evening. Southgate's men had to come from behind twice to set the stage for a late decisive push, and Middlesbrough's Gibson is hoping that will stand them in good stead for the finals tournament. Ben Gibson (right) is hoping England 21s' 3-2 victory against Germany will boost the team's confidence . James Ward-Prowse wheels away in celebration after scoring the winner in England' 3-2 victory . He said: 'Germany were always going to be a good side. You know they are going to be technical and strong, and that's what they were. But we thought we could match them - we did that and ended up getting the result. 'We are hoping we will play against them at some point either in the semi-final or final in the Euros - that would be nice. It would be another tough game. 'They are a good side, so for us to get the win, that was the important thing.' The win against Germany was England's third against fellow finalists with Portugal and the hosts having already succumbed at their hands, and while Southgate is confident progress is being made, he is taking nothing for granted. England were heading towards defeat before Nathan Redmond's strike on 79 minutes . He said: 'We have got depth, which really excites me because I don't think you can go to a tournament relying on a couple of players. 'We have shown across the campaign - we started with the likes of Raheem [Sterling] in, we have had Luke Shaw in, we have had to win matches without all of these players at different times, without Harry [Kane], without Saido [Berahino], and they have kept doing it. 'And then new players have emerged, people like Jesse [Lingard] , who has come back from injury and who has got great potential; Alex Pritchard has just come into the squad. 'The 23, I am probably reasonably clear on 21. There are a couple of places that still, in my mind, people are playing for, but I know whoever goes is totally committed. There won't be any loafing around, there won't be any lads who feel it's a chore to go. England boss Gareth Soutgate looks on during the friendly clash at the Riverside Stadium . 'They'll be in there backing their team-mates, and again, that's important going into a tournament.' England's players had to back each other throughout a testing 90 minutes on Teesside during which impressive Kaiserslautern striker Philipp Hofmann fired the visitors into a 15th-minute lead and after Manchester United winger Lingard, currently on loan at Derby, had levelled, restored their lead five minutes after the restart. But there was to be a twist and after Norwich's Nathan Redmond had made it 2-2 10 minutes from time, skipper James Ward-Prowse capped a fine individual display with an 82nd-minute winner, to the delight of a crowd of 30,178. Jess Lingard (centre) races off to celebrate his first goal for England's Under 21s . The England youngsters celebrate Ward-Prowse's later winner in front of the Riverside crowd . It proved the perfect conclusion to the perfect evening for Gibson, representing his country on his own home ground. He said: 'It was a fantastic occasion. Not just to represent your country, but to do it on your home ground is a bit of a dream come true. 'It was a fantastic moment and the fans were brilliant. I got a great reception and I can't thank them enough for that.' +Middlesbrough forward Mustapha Carayol is close to signing a new contract, despite being on loan at Championship rivals Brighton. The-26-year-old joined the Seagulls until the end of the season last week, but is set to put pen to paper on a new two-and-a-half year deal at the Riverside Stadium. Boro boss Aitor Karanka, despite allowing in Carayol leave on loan, still feels the Gambian can have a career under him and has pushed for him to sign an extension. Mustapha Carayol joined Brighton on loan for the rest of the season after recovering from serious knee injury . Middlesbrough forward Carayol is close to agreeing a new deal at the Riverside Stadium . The 26-year-old has not featured for Middlesbrough this season due to injury . Carayol was a regular for Middlesbrough last season, but he hasn't featured for the club during the current campaign following a serious knee injury. It is hoped he can get some regular game time at the Amex Stadium before returning north ahead of next season. +Slavisa Jokanovic affords himself a sneaky peak through the green mesh fence at Watford's London Colney training ground. Next door Arsenal are going through their paces. It is not too revealing but for Jokanovic it is a glimpse into what he hopes is the very near future. The former Chelsea midfielder wants to manage a Premier League club and Watford, one of seven teams to have been top of the Championship so far this season, have a foot in the door. 'I take a little look now and again,' he says wryly. 'It's good to have them so close, it's a reminder of what we want to be. We can't get ahead of ourselves as this is an unforgiving division but it's the dream. It's our focus.' Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic hopes he can lead the club to the premier league next season . Jokanovic is the fourth man to be put in charge of Watford during this campaign and joined them in October . Unforgiving is befitting of a Championship promotion race that has nine teams still vying for a Premier League place with seven games remaining. The next week is a defining moment with Watford second in the table and facing rivals Derby County and Middlesbrough in their next two matches. The fact Watford are there at all is testament to the former Chelsea midfielder when you consider he is their fourth coach of the season. Perhaps ominously, he is also out of contract in the summer. 'It's true we didn't have the best start in terms of changes,' he says, with understatement. 'But I knew what I was coming to.' Italian Beppe Sannino began the season in charge and started well but his exit followed talk of dressing-room unrest. In a bizarre five-week period, Oscar Garcia succeeded Sannino but stepped down after suffering chest pains in his first game and was replaced by Billy McKinlay. Eight days later, after a win and a draw, owner Gino Pozzo called for Jokanovic, who had won two doubles with Partizan Belgrade and the Thai Premier League with Muangthong United. He was recommended to Pozzo by staff at one of the Italian businessman's other clubs, Granada, who recognised his ability to 'find solutions on a small budget'. Jokanovic shrugs. 'It was definitely strange. It's normal for other countries but unusual here,' he says. 'For me, it was just a great opportunity; a small door opened to a big chance. I didn't know the Championship well but I knew what to expect from my time at Chelsea. I've always watched English football and I believe in myself. 'You can look at the fact the club had three coaches before I arrived but I've never been one to worry about what may happen tomorrow, just try and control today. I was excited not worried. I knew there would be little money, that I couldn't bring my own staff but fortunately after a few days I found I was working with quality people. I'm confident I can make any team better. I've lived with pressure since I was 18. My family instilled the same principles, there's no magic formula, just a belief that if you work hard, life will treat you well.' Despite losing 1-0 to Ipswich in their last game, Watford are currently second in the Championship table . Watford midfielder Adlene Guedioura (left) dribbles with the ball ahead of Ipswich's Kevin Bru (right) Jokanovic, or 'Slav' as he prefers, is outside the training ground canteen, sipping coffee. The 46-year-old Serb cuts an imposing figure. He is tall, lean, ruggedly handsome and has a disarming charm when he talks passionately about his desire to return to the Premier League. He was frustrated in the transfer window as the Pozzo principle is more about work than spending, often making players fit between their three clubs Watford, Granada and Udinese. He says Bournemouth are the best team in the league but believes he has four good strikers who can make a difference. As a player, he was the 2000 model of Chelsea's defensive midfield linchpin Nemanja Matic; signed by Claudio Ranieri from Deportivo La Coruna. His regret, you sense, is that the Premier League did not see the best of him. 'I was 32 — and a half! My best time had been at Deportivo but I still played 52 games for Chelsea,' he says. 'It was faster, stronger. 'My debut was against Liverpool in the Worthington Cup and I remember being tackled and playing up for the free-kick like we did in Spain but my team-mates turned, saying 'Get up, get on with it, we don't do that here'. I was used to playing a passing game, even if it meant going backwards, but the fans would shout and [coach] Ray Wilkins took me to one side and said, 'I know what you want to do but here you have to move it forward more quickly'. It was all part of learning a different culture, it was good preparation for when I came back.' He has kept in touch with former team-mates Gianfranco Zola and Gus Poyet. Both have been sacked in recent months but he does not feel the need to call. 'Now is a time for them to be with their own thoughts,' he says. 'They know my feelings for them. They are champions and good friends.' Jokanovic during his Chelsea days pulls back Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tim Sherwood (right) Watford players celebrate after Troy Deeny's goal against Rotherham United in February at Vicarage Road . Home is a few miles away near St Albans. He is at the training ground for 8am and likes to be last to leave. It is a solitary existence as his wife and three children have remained in Madrid, their family home for the past 13 years. Indeed, Jokanovic holds a Spanish passport. 'My eldest daughter is 19 and she came over to visit but it helps that I'm on my own because it sharpens my focus. The job is my life. It consumes almost every hour whether I'm considering the bigger picture or small details. This season could come down to one corner or one free-kick. Listen, if a team in this title race lose concentration, they can pay a very expensive price. Sir Elton John has promised Watford players a big party if they can secure promotion to the Premier League . 'I know what getting into the Premier League means to everyone. I was introduced to Sir Elton John when he opened the stand at Vicarage Road named in his honour before Christmas and he's a good guy, he promised he'd send champagne and we'd have a great party if we go up.' Although he confesses Watford's 'Rocket man' is not on his iPod playlist, Jokanovic will occasionally watch his favourite Robert De Niro film, the gangster epic Once Upon a Time In America, and is reading Sir Alex Ferguson's autobiography as he sources extra motivation. 'You always need to improve and find an edge so it makes sense to look at the man who won the Premier League more than anyone else. Hopefully, his words can help. I'm ready for this fight and I don't intend to surrender until I win it.' Whether it is admiring the neighbours or his reading material, Jokanovic is certainly looking in the right direction. If Jokanovic can secure Watford's return to the top flight, it will be their first appearance since 2006-07 . +Tom Daley had a disappointing outing in the year's first FINA World Series event, failing to qualify for the final of the 10 metre platform in Beijing. Daley, a bronze medal winner at London 2012, again used his new 'firework' dive at the Water Cube but scored a modest 54 for the routine. Tom Daley failed to qualify for the final in the first FINA World Series event of 2015 . The 20-year-oldwon bronze at London 2012 but failed to spark in the Far East . The 20-year-old came seventh overall as China's world record holder Jiang Yang claimed first place ahead of American David Boudia and Germany's Sascha Klein. Great Britain's Tonia Couch fared better in the 10m women's platform, placing fourth ahead of team-mate Sarah Barrow in sixth. +Theo Walcott will return to Arsenal with Roy Hodgson's warning ringing loud and clear. 'An important few months,' said the England boss, and that was before a frustrating night spent all-too-easily shackled by three Italian centre-halves. Starved of the ball in an unfamiliar position in an even less familiar line-up it was easy to feel sympathy for Walcott as he was hauled off after 55 minutes in Turin. Theo Walcott struggled for England against Italy and was starved of the ball playing in an unfamiliar position . But sympathy won't do him much good. What he needs is football and plenty of it if he is to recapture the zip, rediscover his rhythms and regain ground on those who have passed him at club and country. With a contract set to expire next year and Arsene Wenger seemingly reluctant to offer him game time, even when Alexis Sanchez is running on empty, there is lots to consider. Unlike those striking deals to be excused a half here and a game there, Walcott reported for international duty desperate to feature. He added two more caps. He was encouraged to get the nod to come on ahead of Andros Townsend against Lithuania and thrilled at the chance to start against Italy but it was heavy going. Walcott shoots at goal during England's friendly against Italy at the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday . Walcott was starting his first international game in 18 months having injured his cruciate ligaments . Tottenham winger Andros Townsend came on, also out of position, and fired home England's equaliser . England improved as an attacking threat after Michael Carrick's introduction towards the end of the first-half and pulled level as the game became disrupted by substitutions. To make matters worse for Walcott, it was Townsend who came on, also playing out of position on the left of Hodgson's midfield diamond, and fired a terrific equaliser past Gianluigi Buffon. Walcott goes back to Arsenal to prepare for Liverpool on Saturday, but when Wenger catches up on this game, he will not see any compelling evidence to offer a recall to the first team against one of the clubs likely to show interest if he is to leave the Emirates Stadium. That is not a decision he has yet made. But it will emerge as a possibility if Walcott cannot impose himself on the end of the season. He has just turned 26, he has been an England international for nearly nine years – this was his 38th cap - and he needs to play regularly. If he is on the market, there will be demand from Barclays Premier League clubs anxious to add to their English contingent, but he has to choose carefully. Arsenal may ultimately make the decision for him. England winger Walcott failed to make an impact for the Three Lions as his touch map (right) shows . In Turin, Walcott was starting his first international start for 18 months, having played less than nine hours of competitive football since damaging cruciate ligaments in January last year. When he was injured he was playing up front in an FA Cup tie against Spurs. It' s safe to assume that at that point he did not expect his next England start to be in tandem with Harry Kane, who was on the Tottenham bench that day. Their partnership is unlikely to be rekindled. It started badly, with a moment of miscommunication with Kieran Gibbs, his Arsenal team-mate. Walcott turned and dashed away while Gibbs rolled a pass into the area he had just vacated. Then his touch let him down. His touch was too poor too often, a clue to his lack of match sharpness. The failure of either Kane or Walcott to hold up the ball contributed to an insipid start and the gentle rhythms of the first-half seemed to have sent the crowd to sleep until Graziano Pelle stirred them with his goal. Walcott dropped deeper in search of the ball. His touch was better when he accepted a long, wonderful right-to-left pass from Wayne Rooney, just before Pelle scored. He tried to duck onto his right foot and curl one towards the far post but his effort was blocked by Andrea Ranocchia. Walcott, pictured against Italy's Leonardo Bonucci, lacked match sharpness after his time on the sidelines . That was his only real sniff of goal. Another chance was smothered after a knock-down from Kane. England were flat in the first-half, and less effective on the turnover than they have been. They never utilised Walcott's pace in behind and so did not unleash his greatest asset, although Ian Wright partly blamed the Arsenal man for making the wrong runs. This is one reason he will remain primarily a winger. He can finish and has a healthy goal rate at the time of his injury but he thrives in the open. He was too easily policed by the Italians, but so was Kane, the hottest striker in England. At the start of the second-half, Walcott switched roles with Rooney, playing in the N.10 position, one he is even less familiar with. But, 10 minutes after the break, he was replaced by Ross Barkley, who also made a good impression. The work out will do him no harm, but Walcott is in danger of slipping down the order at England as well as Arsenal. None of which bodes well for his chances of getting what he really needs at club or country. Harry Kane, the Premier League's joint-top scorer, was easily dealt with by Giorgio Chiellini and Co . Walcott was replaced by Ross Barkley and the England team seemed more comfortable with the Everton man . +Arsene Wenger was handed a timely boost ahead of his side's trip to Liverpool this weekend as several first-team players continued their comebacks from injury. England midfielder Jack Wilshere played 45 minutes and opened the scoring in a friendly against Brentford - his first run-out for the team since suffering an injury against Manchester United in November. Club captain Mikel Arteta, also absent since November, managed to get through the first half, while French full back Mathieu Debuchy completed 60 minutes. Jack Wilshere takes on Herson Rodriguez of Brentford as he continued his comeback from injury . England star Wilshere scored the opening goal and created another in a promising return to fitness . Abou Diaby carries the ball out of defence as Mathieu Debuchy (left) and Mikel Arteta (right) look on . Debuchy has struggled with injuries in his first season at the club and is currently recovering from his second serious setback of the season, a shoulder injury sustained against Stoke. Compatriot Mathieu Flamini - who hasn't started a game since February but has been fit enough for the bench in recent weeks - also lasted over an hour, while Abou Diaby managed to play half the match as he continues his return from yet another injury. Diaby has played just once this season for the first team - in the Capital One Cup - and three games for the Under 21s. He is hoping to prove himself worthy of a new contract after a career blighted with injuries. The quartet could now be available for the visit of Brendan Rodgers' side this weekend. Danny Welbeck, though, remains a doubt after picking up a knee injury during England's win over Lithuania on Friday night. Debuchy, who has struggled since joining Arsenal, has been out since January when he injured his shoulder . Diaby has been blighted by injuries for the best part of a decade and could be about to leave Arsenal . The Frenchman is out of contract in the summer and has played just once for the first team this season . Diaby has had a torrid time with injuries since joining Arsenal but is the club's second-longest serving player . Young midfielder Dan Crowley started alongside Wilshere in midfield, scoring the second goal . There was also a run-out for January signing Krystian Bielik, who is yet to feature for the senior side under Arsene Wenger. But it will be Wilshere's return, coupled with a strong performance, which pleased Wenger most, the 23-year-old marking his comeback with a goal and an assist. The England star put Arsenal ahead after just  seven minutes before playing in promising youngster Dan Crowley for the second 12 minutes later. The Gunners Under 21 striker Alex Iwobi added two more before the break in a comfortable victory. Club captain Mikel Arteta, absent since November, also managed to play half the game against Brentford . Debuchy (left), Arteta (right) and Mathieu Flamini emerge from the training facilities to step up their recoveries . +Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has urged Arsene Wenger to sign Raheem Sterling as the Liverpool forward's contract talks continues to stall. It emerged on Monday that the England international is prepared to turn down a whopping £180,000-per-week to stay at Anfield. Sterling, who performed so well for England against Lithuania on Friday night, will have two years to run on his current deal after this season but is showing no signs of putting pen to paper on a new one. The Liverpool forward was in action for his country on Friday night in a European qualifier . Raheem Sterling is prepared to turn down a mammoth £180,000-a-week deal at Liverpool . The 20-year-old scored for England in their 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night . Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has urged Arsene Wenger to sign Liverpool forward Sterling . And Wright, who scored spent seven years playing in north London between 1991 and 1998, wants Wenger to bring Sterling to the Emirates. 'Come on Arsene! Go in and get "Raheem the dream Sterling" from Liverpool and play him where he wants!' Wright tweeted on Monday. Sterling has already turned down a number of contract offers from Liverpool and is becoming concerned about the regularity with which he is being used as a wing back by Brendan Rodgers. Sterling's current £35,000-per-week deal has two years to run at the end of this season . There will be no shortage of suitors for Sterling should he leave Liverpool - in the Premier League and Europe . Sterling impressed as part of England's front three but he has been used at wing back by Liverpool . Sterling showed what he is capable of in a forward role as he scored and set up Harry Kane during the Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley last week. Sterling returned to Liverpool after the Lithuania match and will miss the Italy game on Tuesday as he recovers from a toe injury. +Hector Bellerin's remarkable rise this season has been a surprising, but important component of Arsenal's recent form, and the Spanish youngster says it justifies leaving Barcelona. Bellerin has played 19 times for the Gunners this season because of injuries to Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers, his first taste of top-flight football since joining from the Catalan club as a 16-year-old. And the full back admits he might never have been handed top-level football if he'd stayed in Spain rather than travelling to North London. Hector Bellerin has stressed that he was right to leave Barcelona at the age of 16 to join Arsenal . Injuries have seen the Spanish defender play regularly at right back this season for the Gunners . 'I got the chance and I took it', he told Spanish paper Marca. 'Wherever you are, you have to work. If I'd stayed at Barcelona, I don't know if I'd have made it to the elite, you just never know. 'I've worked as hard as I could and always had the mentality of reaching the top. Whether I was in one place or another, I'd have done the same.' Although he knows breaking through at Barca would have been tougher than in the Premier League, Bellerin refused to accept that English football is that far behind La Liga, despite our teams' failure in the Champions League this season. Bellerin was on loan at Watford last season, but is now a Premier League regular under Arsene Wenger . 'A lot of people in Spain watch Premier League games and know what kind of a league it is, he added. 'It would be madness to say that it isn't among the best leagues in the world. 'The Spanish league is also at a very high level, with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico. In the Champions League maybe we should have done things better. Perhaps we underestimated Monaco.' +Danny Welbeck is facing a race against time to be fit for Saturday's crunch showdown against Liverpool. The Arsenal forward has returned to North London for treatment after sustaining a knee injury in England's win over Lithuania on Friday. The news will come as a blow to Arsene Wenger ahead of the clash against Liverpool, which could prove pivotal in the race for a top-four finish and qualification for next season's Champions League. Danny Welbeck sustained a knee injury in England's win over Lithuania at Wembley Stadium on Friday night . The Arsenal star will miss England's game against Italy on Tuesday after he returned to London for treatment . Welbeck is responding well to treatment at Arsenal's London Colney HQ and has not be ruled out of the visit of Brendan Rodgers side. Gunners medical staff will make a late decision on his availability for the encounter but are confident he will prove his fitness. Welbeck, in action against Newcastle, faces a race to be fit for Arsenal's Saturday clash against Liverpool . +Johnny Sexton must come through 'modified training' to prove his fitness for Ireland's pivotal RBS 6 Nations clash against Wales in Cardiff. Ireland's lynchpin fly-half has 'hit all his markers so far' in battling hamstring trouble, but is still fighting to recover to face Wales on Saturday, according to team manager Mick Kearney. Number eight Jamie Heaslip was due to take contact training on Monday for the first time since fracturing three vertebrae in his back against France on February 14. Ireland's Johnny Sexton is winning his battle to be fit to face Wales in the RBS 6 Nations on Saturday . The Leinster stalwart is now expected to be fit to face Wales, where victory would leave Ireland almost nailed-on for the Grand Slam. 'Johnny Sexton continues to improve following a mild hamstring strain,' said Kearney. 'As a precaution he will have modified training during the early part of the week with an expectation that he will train fully towards the end of the week. 'We are very happy where he is at, at the moment. He has hit all his markers so far. 'Johnny will have modified training in the early part of the week and if he comes through training through the latter part of the week, he will be available for selection. Sexton has come through all the tests asked of him so far but there is still a chance he could miss the game . 'Jamie Heaslip is expected to train fully this week and barring any setback will be available for selection. 'Sean O'Brien and Jared Payne have both progressed well through the return to play protocol and will be re-introduced to full training during the week. 'Johnny will have modified training today. Jamie will train fully today.' Team manager Kearney admitted British and Irish Lions Sexton and Heaslip are both 'extremely eager' to face Wales this weekend. Ireland are gunning to retain the Six Nations title for the first time since 1949, and also claim a second Grand Slam in six years. Sexton limped out of the latter stages of Ireland's 19-9 victory over England in Dublin on March 1 and has been battling to recover ever since. The 29-year-old has a history of hamstring problems, but Kearney does not expect that to colour his recovery. Jamie Heaslip is expected to train fully this week and barring any setback will be available for selection . 'From what I remember the last time he had a problem was between the Australia game and New Zealand game, in the November series just over 12 months ago,' said Kearney. 'He actually recovered pretty quickly then. 'He came off at half-time against Australia and was fit to play and played the whole game, or most of the game against New Zealand without any issue. 'That certainly wouldn't be a worry at the moment. 'Jamie (Heaslip) hasn't taken any contact yet. He will train fully today and provided there is no reaction he should be available for selection. 'They are extremely eager, absolutely: very eager to play.' Fit-again Ulster lock Dan Tuohy has been drafted back into Ireland's wider 36-man training squad . Fit-again Ulster lock Dan Tuohy was drafted back into Ireland's wider 36-man training squad for the final two weeks of Six Nations action. Ireland must win in Wales and Scotland to secure the Grand Slam and retain their Six Nations title - but, barring injury, will do so without veteran centre Gordon D'Arcy. The 35-year-old Leinster centre has been omitted from Schmidt's training squad, with Ulster's Darren Cave and Munster's Keith Earls providing midfield cover. Team manager Kearney refused to accept D'Arcy's absence could spark the end of his glittering 81-cap Test career however. His long-term centre sparring partner Brian O'Driscoll retired last summer, but D'Arcy himself has always been determined to push on to this year's World Cup. 'That is a selection issue, yes,' said Kearney of D'Arcy's absence. 'Gordon has been an unbelievable servant for Irish rugby. 'He's back fit, back playing for Leinster, so certainly I wouldn't rule him out for future consideration.' Both teams must give consent for Saturday's Millennium Stadium match to be played under a closed roof. Team manager Kearney said Ireland will delay their decision until later in the week, and base it around the chances of rain. 'We are waiting to see what the weather forecast turns out like,' said Kearney. 'We don't have to make a decision on that until 7pm on Thursday. 'We will wait until then before we make a final decision. 'I think overall, our preference would be for a dry day and decent weather, rather than wet and miserable weather. 'In good weather our preference would be for it to be open.' +Mark English landed Ireland's first medal at the European Indoor Championships as he timed his finish to perfection to take silver in the 800 metres in Prague. The 21-year-old, a European bronze medallist outdoors last summer, chased down Thijmen Kupers and dipped to cross the line in one minute 47.20 seconds, edging out the Dutchman by 0.05secs. Polish race favourite Marcin Lewandowski was the convincing winner in 1:46.67. Mark English (left) poses with his European Indoor Championships 800m silver medal . English left fans worried he may have left his move too late as Sweden's Andreas Almgren went to the front of the pack. But as Lewandowski, who finished second four years ago, wrested control the youngster Almgren faded to finish in fourth. Meanwhile, English chose his moment well. Scotland's Guy Learmonth to finish last in the field in 1:47.84. Poland's Marcin Lewandowski was a convincing winner in 1:46.67 as English time his finish perfectly . English delivered Ireland's first medal of the championships after chasing down Holland's Thijmen Kupers . +Seren Bundy-Davies continued her remarkable rise by winning a 400metres bronze medal in 52.64sec at the European Indoor Championships in Prague. The 20-year-old biomedical science student had not broken 54sec until May last year. But she has been running so well this year — coming into her first senior major championships as the fastest in Europe — that missing out on gold was a blow. ‘I realise it’s a massive achievement but I did come into it wanting to win it,’ she said, ‘I know how hard I’ve worked and I think maybe I should have just got to the bell first.’ Seren Bundy-Davies continued her remarkable rise by winning a 400metres bronze medal in Prague . Bundy-Davies, who studies part-time at the University of Manchester, was controversially beaten by drugs cheat Nataliya Pyhyda, who has served a two-year ban for taking anabolic steroid stanozolol. There was good news for Jenny Meadows, whose luck may be finally turning, it seems. Meadows, 33, is through to Sunday's 800m final after Russian Anastasiya Bazdyreva was disqualified for running outside the track. Meadows finished fourth in her semi-final but has been suffering from a bad cold all week and is not hopeful of getting a medal in the final. ‘I think I just need to go to bed,’ she said. Gold medal winner Nataliya Pyhyda, silver medal winner Indira Terrero and bronze winner Bundy-Davies . Bundy-Davies competes during women's 400 meters during the European Athletics Indoor Championships . Lee Emanuel took silver in the 3,000m behind Ali Kaya, who some argued should not be competing at the championships. Emanuel ran a personal best of 7min 44.48sec and was a long way behind Kaya, who was born and lives in Kenya but was representing Turkey. Meanwhile British pair Richard Kilty and Chijindu Ujah teed up a mouthwatering clash in Sunday's 60m final. Both sprinters each won their heat in identical times of 6.57sec. +Shaun Edwards says that Wales see 'a lot of potential' in uncapped Exeter prop Tomas Francis. The York-born tighthead qualifies for Wales through his grandmother, and he has proved an important part of Exeter's ongoing push for Aviva Premiership play-off status this season. And the 22-year-old has now been invited to train with the Wales squad by head coach Warren Gatland as they go into the final stages of their RBS 6 Nations campaign. Exeter tighthead prop Tomas Francis (top right) has been called up to train with the Wales squad . 'His scrummaging is outstanding, but he is also a skilful player as well,' Wales assistant coach and defence specialist Edwards said. 'Francis is a big kid, and I have seen him play. The scrum at Exeter has been going excellently recently, so we have brought him in. 'He is a young man who is coming from a great environment at Exeter which prides itself on hard work, and we would like to think we are a similar sort of environment. 'It's a case of trying to get the best players playing for us, and we see a lot of potential in this lad.' Francis, who weighs in at more than 20 stone, played Championship rugby for Doncaster and London Scottish before he was snapped up by Exeter, and he could easily push for a World Cup squad place with Wales later this year if he continues to impress. Wales coach Shaun Edwards says that Wales see 'a lot of potential' in uncapped Exeter prop Francis . Experienced Scarlets hooker Ken Owens, meanwhile, has been called into the Six Nations squad and reported for duty at Wales' training base on Monday. Wales, despite losing their opening Six Nations game to England, have given themselves a fighting chance of landing a third title in four years following successive away victories over Scotland and France. Reigning champions and unbeaten title favourites Ireland are next up in five days' time, and Edwards is under no illusion how big a task will be presented by Joe Schmidt's team. 'We have looked at our opponents, and we are coming up against the best team in Europe, the form team in Europe,' Edwards added. The 22-year-old was invited to train with the Wales squad by head coach Warren Gatland . 'They have got two brilliant half-backs, for a start, who have got great tactical brains. 'They have a strike-runner on the outside in Tommy Bowe who maybe the best defensive winger in the northern hemisphere. He is magnificent in picking up interceptions, and we have to keep our eye on Tommy. 'The forwards are well-drilled and a cohesive unit, and play with a lot of passion and aggression, and they have got excellent coaches. 'These are the big games you get excited about, and big-time players rise to the challenge.' Two key areas that Wales will need to perform strongly in are the lineout, where Ireland will be spearheaded by their captain Paul O'Connell, and shackling an impressive new Irish midfield combination of Jared Payne and Robbie Henshaw. Francis played Championship rugby for Doncaster and London Scottish before he was snapped up by Exeter . Edwards said: 'They (O'Connell and Devin Toner) are a very experienced second-row pairing. 'Having worked with Paul, he is a very wily operator and a guy who I have huge respect for. 'Our guys will have their work cut out at lineout time, but they have already been in this morning having meetings and looking at the different structures. They know we are in for a challenge in that area, and I am sure they are up for it. 'And I have been very impressed with them (Ireland centres). 'I knew more about Payne, having watched Ulster more than Connacht. But Henshaw is a big physical guy, and Payne has a cutting edge on the outside. It's important we don't give them any space whatsoever.' +Of all the things you can roast, matchday tickets for a Championship match do not normally come high up on the list. However a Norwich City fan was left stunned when he noticed his mum had accidentally roasted 16 tickets for the Canaries' upcoming match against Brighton. Mikey Knights' mum put the tickets, worth £500, into the oven along with a chicken on Tuesday as she prepared dinner for her son. Mikey Knights' mum roasted 16 matchday tickets for Norwich's Championship match against Brighton . Mr Knights was left stunned when he noticed his mum had roasted matchday tickets worth £500 . The tickets for Norwich's away match against Brighton on April 3 came out black and unreadable after being in the oven for approximately 40 minutes. Luckily for Mr Knights, Brighton have agreed to reprint the tickets in time for the league match at the Amex Stadium. 'I went round for tea on Tuesday and my mum asked me if I was in a good mood. I said "yes",' Knights told the BBC. 'Then I was told the football tickets had got roasted. There were the tickets, roasting away nicely. I thought it was a wind-up at first, but then I opened the envelope and the 16 tickets were inside, all black. 'There wouldn't usually be this many tickets to cook, but as the match is on Good Friday more people wanted to come along. 'I've already got my train tickets, but it's a good job those didn't go to my mum's address. She might have put them in for afters.' Championship promotion hopefuls Norwich face Brighton at the Amex Stadium on April 3 . +Brazilian zoo keepers were required to adopt a rare white lion cub after it was rejected by its mother from birth. The two-month-old female named Clara is the first white lion to be born in captivity in Brazil. After its mother left it to fend for itself, zoo keepers at Beto Carrero World were required to take over the reins. The two-month-old female named Clara is the first white lion to be born in captivity in Brazil . As shown in the video, Clara is fed a bottle containing goat’s milk and vitamins every few hours. And she has her own private section in which to relax in the country’s sunshine, away from the other animals. Zoo keepers plan to reintroduce Clara to the rest of her pack when she is six-months-old. Zoo keepers at Beto Carrero World have taken over the reins from the mother and are caring for the lion cub . Clara the two-month-old white lion is fed a bottle containing goat’s milk and vitamins every few hours . But for now, they are enjoying interacting with the animal with a series of toys including ropes and dog bones. Contrary to popular belief, white lions are not actually albino. Their colour is a result of a recessive trait derived from a less-severe mutation in the same gene that causes albinism. Zoo keepers are enjoying interacting with the animal with a series of toys including ropes and dog bones . Clara has her own private section in which to relax in the Brazilian sunshine away from the other animals . Unfortunately however, their lack of camouflage makes them easy prey for hunters in the wild and many white lions are held in captive in zoos and circuses. Clara’s parents themselves were brought to the Brazilian zoo from Pretoria, South Africa in 2011. Beto Carrero World is located in Penha, Santa Catarina, Brazil and is twinned with the biggest theme park in Latin America, which was opened in 1991. Clara’s parents were brought to the Brazilian zoo from Pretoria, South Africa in 2011 . Zoo keepers plan to reintroduce Clara to the rest of her pack when she is six-months-old . +David Sisi will rejoin former club London Irish on a season-long loan from Bath this summer. The 22-year-old London Irish academy graduate will return to the Madejski Stadium club for the entire campaign, in a bid for regular first-team rugby. Sisi joined Bath in the summer of 2013 when the Recreation Ground club completed an extensive raid on some of Irish's prized assets. Bath back-rower David Sisi will rejoin London Irish on a season-long loan from next season . The Germany-born back-rower followed Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Matt Garvey in making the switch from Irish to Bath. Former London Irish coaches Toby Booth and Neal Hatley were able to entice that clutch of talent out along the M4 to Bath, and now Sisi is travelling the other way - in the short term, at least. 'I'm excited to be returning to London Irish on loan next season,' said Sisi. 'It will be great to go back to a club that has done so much for me in the past and I'm looking forward to making the most of the opportunity over the season. 'All young players need consistent game time to help them improve and learn, and the back row is such a competitive position at Bath that this is a really good opportunity for me to get that time on the pitch.' The German-born forward (centre) will return to his former club in a bid for regular first-team rugby . Full-back Tom Homer is the latest Irish player to make the Bath switch, joining head coach Mike Ford's squad earlier this term. Former Irish prop Max Lahiff has also joined Bath this season, further swelling the Reading ex-pats in the west country. Sisi will return to Bath for the 2016-17 season, by which time the coaching staff hope he will be ready to challenge the likes of Francois Louw and Leroy Houston for starts in the back-row. 'Dave is a very talented young player, so we're looking forward to seeing how he progresses with London Irish before coming back to us,' said Bath boss Mike Ford. 'We want our young players to become the best players they can be, and this loan move gives Dave that chance.' Sisi (top) joined Bath from Irish in the summer of 2013 - having graduated from the Exiles' academy system . Junior World Championship winner Sisi blazed a trail through London Irish's much-vaunted academy system, and operations director Bob Casey is delighted to welcome back the young talent. The Exiles are rebuilding under new ownership and more stable investment, with new coach Tom Coventry arriving to take the helm for next season. 'David joined London Irish at 16 and came through our AASE and academy programmes,' said Casey. 'We are delighted he will be returning to the club next season. 'He is young, English and can play across the entire back row and is ambitious and excited about the challenge of returning to London Irish.' +A green jacket worn by Network Ten’s Natarsha Belling to present the news is causing a stir on social media after her phallic shaped neckline was pointed out. A photo of Belling wearing the jacket in question on Ten’s Eyewitness News has been liked over 110,000 times on Facebook after the website Unilad posted the caption ‘once you see it, you cannot unsee it’. The image has also been shared over 6,000 times as the comments over Belling’s outfit rage on. 'Once you see it, you cannot unsee it...': This photo of Natarsha Belling's green jacket has been shared thousands of times online . Facebook users were left bemused by the photo until looking up what the joke was about . Sarah Herbert wrote: 'Yep, definitely cannot unsee this now' The bemusement and fascination with her top appears to stem from the fact when you first look at the photo it’s hard to notice anything – but once the neckline’s shape is pointed out it’s hard to 'unsee' it. Ruben Haywood wrote on Facebook, garnering 26,408 likes: ‘Like if you came here to find out what it is.’ Sarah Herbert wrote: ‘Yep, definitely cannot unsee this now.’ And Chris Thompson added: ‘Thank you, you have enlightened me on this picture.’ ‘You legend I couldn't find what was happening but you've made me at ease now,’ Adam Baldwin said. The Channel Ten news presenter wore the green jacket with a pearl necklace at one point . Social media users laughed as they all realised what the joke was about . One Facebook user pointed out 'you gotta have one to find one' On Reddit, one commentator mused: 'I thought it was because her microphone looks like the claw of a monster' And Lourens Odendaal realised: ‘Ooo that’s what it was… now I get it.’ Meanwhile, on Reddit, one commentator mused: ‘I thought it was because her microphone looks like the claw of a monster about to burst from her chest.’ And another added: ‘I thought it was the slight crease in her v neck on the right side, yet the top was the same length… I was sure it wasn’t that so came to the comments. ‘I guess this means I'm growing up, because five years ago I’d see this straight away.’ The 39-year-old is an Australian national news presenter on the Network Ten . +World number one Jenny Meadows has been forced to pull out of Sunday's 800 metres final at the European Indoor Championships in Prague through illness. The 33-year-old, who has been battling a virus, admitted on Saturday when she scraped into the final on appeal that she would be unlikely to do herself justice in the medal race. A statement from British Athletics confirmed the Wigan athlete had withdrawn from the race at the O2 Arena following a medical at the team hotel after her condition worsened overnight. Jenny Meadows (centre) has withdrawn from the European Indoor Championships due to illness . Meadows said: 'I'm really disappointed not to be running today. I went to bed really hopeful that I could compete and knowing that anything can happen in an indoor final. 'I've deteriorated further overnight and following discussions with medical staff and my coach, this could be one push too far for myself. 'I would have given everything I have got in me over those four laps, but I am serious about doing well in the outdoor season this year and that has to be the bigger picture.' British Athletics Performance Director Neil Black added: 'We're massively disappointed for Jenny that she can't take her place on the start line.' The runner admits she struggled in the semis and was in no fit state to take part in the final race . Meadows is fully focused on the outdoor season following her withdrawal from the Indoor Championships . +England goal hero Harry Kane enjoyed his first taste of international football and now he is hungry for more. Kane took just 79 seconds to make his mark on international football by scoring the final goal in England's 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday. The 21-year-old peeled away from his marker and nodded Raheem Sterling's cross in at the far post with just his third touch since coming off the bench. Harry Kane Wheels away after taking just 79 seconds to score his first international goal . The Spurs striker headed in at the far post from a Raheem Sterling cross shortly after coming at Wembley . Kane celebrates as England cruise to a 4-0 victory over lowly Lithunania on Friday night . England debutant's fastest goals: . Bill Nicholson                  19secs . John Cock                       30 . Harry Kane                     79 . After enjoying such a remarkable season with Tottenham, it did not come as a surprise that Kane made such a dramatic entrance to the international arena. The forward has now scored 30 goals so far this term and he was delighted to turn his boyhood dream into reality at Wembley. 'It's a dream come true. Obviously I was very excited to make my debut, and to score as well is what I dreamed of as a little kid,' Kane told Sky Sports News. 'It was a special night, a proud night, and one I won't be forgetting for a while.' Many goal-scoring debutants have seen their England careers quickly fizzle out into nothing. Francis Jeffers and David Nugent found the net on their first appearances and never played for their country again. Kieran Richardson took four minutes to break his international duck against the United States in 2005. He scored again 40 minutes later, but never started another game for the Three Lions. Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson will decide if Kane starts against Italy in their friendly on Tuesday . David Nugent scored a solitary goal against Andorra but was never selected for England again . Kieran Richardson scored twice against the USA in 2005, the last time he pulled on an England shirt . CLICK HERE to read how the Spurs striker fared on his Three Lions bow . Roy Hodgson believes Kane is here to stay, though, and the player himself is desperate to earn more caps. 'This is where I want to be, playing for England and scoring goals,' Kane said. 'It's my first taste of it and I loved it and hopefully I can keep doing well for club and country and see where it takes us.' Danny Welbeck's withdrawal through injury increased Kane's chances of starting against Italy in Turin. And the striker is ready to answer Hodgson's call if needed. 'That's down to the boss, but I'll be ready, raring to go if called upon. I will be looking forward to it,' Kane said. 'The lads have picked up some really good results home and away. We continued that against Lithuania and now we have a tough game coming up, but we are full of confidence.' If Hodgson brought Kane into the starting line-up, he would have to dispense with the 4-3-3 formation that worked so well against Lithuania, unless he started Wayne Rooney as one of the two wide-men alongside Kane. He is more likely to switch to a 4-4-2 diamond, with Kane and Rooney up front as a strike partnership. Kane's chances of facing Italy were raised after Danny Welbeck was forced to withdraw with injury . The Spurs striker could form a partnership with Wayne Rooney after replacing the captain on Friday . Hodgson was giving little away about team selection for Italy, but he accepts he will face increasing calls for Kane to start after his stunning debut. 'If I listened to clamour every time then a lot of players would be playing from the start in the next game,' said Hodgson, who has also released Raheem Sterling, James Milner and Leighton Baines from his squad. 'People come and go but I think Harry is here to stay. 'It could well happen (that Kane starts). We won't have Sterling and Welbeck so his chances increase all the time.' Hodgson was keen not to burden the youngster with even more pressure although he admits the forward's debut could not have gone any better. 'The word fairytale comes to mind and it's great when fairytales come true in this way,' Hodgson added. 'I'm delighted for him, he's had a good week in training and we've been quite excited to see him. 'But let's keep things in perspective, for him it's been a whirlwind romance for him in terms of playing top-class football and, if anything, I would like to try and relieve the pressure on him rather than heap pressure on him.' Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand (right) has been called up as cover for Kieran Gibbs . The 20 players left in the squad were given the rest of Saturday off after a morning warm-down session and team meeting. They will train again on Sunday, when Ryan Bertrand will join in after being called up as back-up for Kieran Gibbs. Seven of the 17 players left in the squad are yet to reach 10 caps, so Hodgson knows stretching England's winning streak to eight matches will be difficult. 'It will be an enormous test for the ones we put in because some of them won't have played in the national team for a long time and they are going to be playing against a top team, but we need a good squad going forward and we need competition for places,' Hodgson said. +Harry Kane took only 79 seconds to open his account for England, but there are two other players who took even less time to find the back of the net on their debuts. The Tottenham striker continued his sensational scoring form this season by netting the final goal in England's 4-0 Euro 2016 qualifier defeat of Lithuania shortly after coming on at Wembley on Friday night. However, the 21-year-old's strike was precisely a minute slower than legendary Spurs manager Bill Nicholson while John Cock also scored in less than half the time on his debut for the Three Lions. Harry Kane Wheels away after taking just 79 seconds to score his first international goal . The Spurs striker headed in at the far post from a Raheem Sterling cross shortly after coming at Wembley . England debutant's fastest goals: . Bill Nicholson                  19secs . John Cock                       30 . Harry Kane                     79 . Nicholson scored after only 19 seconds against Portugal in 1951. He remains the only player to have scored for England with his first touch in international football and subsequently never play at that level again. Cock, who was also the first Cornishman to play for the national team, was on target after 30 seconds against Ireland in 1919. Cock would go on to win only one more cap, scoring against Scotland in 1920. Kane had scored just one Premier League goal when Roy Hodgson's men last took to the field more than four months ago, but his rise has been so rapid that the striker's introduction at Wembley was met by a standing ovation on Friday. Bill Nicholson (left) and John Cock (right) both scored faster goals than Kane on their England debuts . Kane celebrates as England cruise to a 4-0 victory over lowly Lithunania on Friday night . CLICK HERE to read how the Spurs striker fared on his Three Lions bow . Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling netted the others, but the headlines belonged to just one man after this one-sided Euro 2016 qualifier. Asked if he knew how long he had taken to open his account, Kane said: 'Maybe a minute? Eighty seconds? Hey, it's not too bad! 'It's the start I dreamed of, it's a little bit of a blur at the minute. 'It's the best moment by far, to represent your country at senior level is the top. Hopefully I can keep doing it and it's the first of many.' +Italy's controversial debutant Eder saved his adopted country from a major embarrassment with a fantastic late strike to lift spirits ahead of their friendly against England on Tuesday. Criticism aimed at Azzurri coach Antonio Conte for picking the Brazilian-born Eder – named by his football-loving parents after the 1982 Brazil World Cup star of the same name – was forgotten as the Sampdoria striker produced a brilliant finish after 84 minutes to preserve Italy's unbeaten record in Euro 2016 qualifying Group H. Italy striker Eder (left) celebrates scoring late equaliser with coach Antonio Conte . Eder's late strike extended Italy's unbeaten run in Euro qualifying to 45 matches . Bulgaria (4-2-3-1): Mihailov, Manolev, Bodurov, Aleksandar Aleksandrov, Minev, Gadzhev, Dyakov, Milanov (Ventsislav Vasilev 88), Popov (Slavchev 85), Mihail Aleksandrov, Mitsanski (Bojinov 73). Subs Not Used: Stoyanov, Bandalovski, Stoychev, Terziev, Malinov, Chochev, Tonev, Radoslav Vasilev, Mitrev. Booked: Dyakov. Goals: Popov 11, Mitsanski 17. Italy (3-5-2): Sirigu, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Antonelli (Gabbiadini 77), Candreva, Verratti, Bertolacci (Soriano 71), Darmian, Zaza (Eder 58), Immobile. Subs Not Used: Marchetti, Moretti, Cerci, Ranocchia, Valdifiori, Parolo, Pelle, Vazquez. Booked: Immobile, Soriano,Darmian. Goals: Minev 4 og, Eder 84. Att: 6,000 . Ref: Damir Skomina (Slovenia). Eder Citadin Martins, to give him his full title, turned brilliantly on the edge of the penalty area and hammered a right-foot curler that gave goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov no chance. Ex-Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, now in charge of Inter Milan, was among those who opposed his selection and said the Azzurri should only pick Italian-born players. Eder didn't move to Italy until he was 16. His late equaliser saved Italy from a major humiliation in rain-soaked Sofia. Despite being gifted an early lead with an own goal, Conte's team then capitulated to trail 2-1 after 17 minutes against opponents who had only managed to beat Azerbaijan in their other four group games. Even so, the Italian manager now faces an uncertain reception in Turin against Roy Hodgson's Three Lions with Juventus fans also blaming him for a knee injury to midfielder Claudio Marchisio sustained in Azzurri training on Friday. Italian Football Federation President Carlo Tavecchio claimed on Saturday that death threats issued over the internet against Conte had left the manager “shaken” and angry. Conte left Juventus to replace Cesare Prandelli after last summer's World Cup and he rounded on his critics after Saturday night's draw by saying: 'I am Ok – but I don't forget. You can draw your own conclusions. Ivelin Popov equalised for Bulgaria with an 11th-minute strike on Saturday night . Kuban Krasnodar midfielder Popov celebrates his goal against Italy in Sofia . Ciro Immobile of Italy challenges Aleksandar Aleksandrov and goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov . 'In terms of the performance and the chances created, we deserved the victory. It’s a shame, as we achieved the bare minimum with the utmost effort in an arena that is traditionally difficult. 'I liked the lads, we dominated the game and they were restricted purely to counter-attacks.' Bulgaria are a far cry from Hristo Stoichkov's side that reached the World Cup semi-finals in 1994. And the match seemed to be going according to the formbook after four minutes when goalkeeper Mihaylov pushed a cross into the path of defender Yordan Minev who couldn't help it crossing the line for an own goal. Without legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who was taken ill with flu shortly before the match, Italy's traditionally-strong rearguard was left all at sea. Italy struck early when goalkeeper Mihaylov pushed a cross into the path of defender Yordan Minev . Bulgaria hit back when Georgi Milanov's pinpoint cross to the far post was headed home by Ilian Micanski . Bulgaria's Ivelin Popov, right, and Italy's Leonardo Bonucci battle for control in torrential rain . Bulgaria's Ivelin Popov, 2nd left, takes free-kick at the Vassil Levski stadium in Sofia . Paris St Germain No1 Salvatore Sirigu didn't look a bad replacement but he had no chance with Bulgaria's equaliser after 11 minutes when Ivelin Popov took advantage of a back-pedalling defence to arrow in a low shot from 18 yards. Incredibly, Bulgaria then quickly went ahead. Italian striker Simone Zaza carelessly lost the ball by the halfway line going for a mazy dribble and the home side counter-attacked at speed. Georgi Milanov's pinpoint cross to the far post was aimed for Ilian Micanski and he got ahead of sluggish defender Andrea Barzagli to expertly headed in beyond Sirigu. It was beyond the dreams of the Bulgarian fans, most of whom were getting thoroughly soaked by a torrential downpour. In fact, the National Stadium was only half-full because of low expectation among home fans but those who turned up were rewarded. Conte sent on Eder for Zaza as a desperate measure to salvage a point – and it worked. Italy, second in their group, are now firm favourites to qualify for Euro 2016 alongside leaders Croatia who they face in Zagreb in June. Conte will definitely be without Marchisio for England's visit even though initial reports the midfielder suffered ligament damage look unfounded with medical tests showing nothing more serious than a sprain while Buffon will do his best to return from his illness. The only Premier League player on show, Southampton striker Graziano Pelle, was an unused substitute for Italy but could face England and his Saints team-mate Nathaniel Clyne this week. +Legendary Italian goalkeper Gianluigi Buffon has been ruled out of his country's important Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria on Satuday night with flu and is a doubt for their friendly against England in Turin on Tuesday. Buffon, 37, was left back at his hotel as his team-mates arrived at the National Stadium in Sofia with Paris St Germain No1 Salvatore Sirigu named in Antonio Conte's starting XI. The Azzurri will be skippered in Buffon's absence by Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini, famous for being the victim of Luis Suarez's bite at last summer's World Cup. Gianluigi Buffon has been ruled out of Italy's crucial European Championships qualifier against Bulgaria . The legendary Italian goalkeeper has flu and may also miss Tuesday's match against England in Turin . Buffon's illness is the latest piece of bad news for Conte who has been blamed by Juventus fans for over-training his players and causing midfielder Claudio Marchisio to sprain his knee in training on Friday. Marchisio is ruled out for an estimated two weeks though earlier reports that he had suffered knee ligament damage appear exaggerated. Conte received death threats on the internet following Marchisio's injury according to the Italian federation president Carlo Tavecchio. Buffon was all set to start in goal on Saturday night, but has now pulled out through illness . The news comes as a further blow to Italy manager Antonio Conte, who has received death threats this week . Italy are unbeaten in six matches under former Juventus coach Conte since he replaced Cesare Prandelli after the World Cup. They have 10 points from four matches and hot favourites to qualify from their group for the finals alongside Croatia or Norway. +Wales have called Scarlets hooker Ken Owens into their RBS 6 Nations squad. Owens, who has won 26 caps, met up with the squad at their training base on Monday. Wales continue their Six Nations campaign next Saturday when they host unbeaten title favourites Ireland. Wales have called Scarlets hooker Ken Owens into their RBS 6 Nations squad against Ireland . Uncapped Exeter prop Tomas Francis, meanwhile, is to train with the Wales squad. Francis, 22, was born in York, but is Wales-qualified. He has impressed for Aviva Premiership play-off contenders Exeter this season. He previously played for Championship clubs Doncaster and London Scottish. Uncapped Exeter prop Tomas Francis (left) is also set to train with the Wales squad . +There is a digital clock in the foyer of the old RFU offices on Rugby Road that is counting down to the beginning of the World Cup. As England walked out to play Scotland yesterday evening, it said there were 180 days to go. Everything England do in this Six Nations is being seen through the prism of their prospects in the tournament which will start here at Twickenham on September 18 with their opener against Fiji. When Stuart Lancaster’s side failed their biggest test of this competition, slumping to a shattering 19-9 loss to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium a fortnight ago, many observers said the rest of the Six Nations was redundant for them. Exeter wing Jack Nowell crosses over to score England's third try and send them top of the Six Nations table . Ben Youngs hands off a tackle as England recovered from a half-time deficit to win at Twickenham . VIDEO O2 Inside Line: England v Scotland match review . They said that the match against Ireland was the only game that could tell us whether England were making significant progress in the build-up to the World Cup and nothing that happened in their last two games against France or Scotland mattered. They were damned for the manner of their defeat, of course. Unflattering comparisons were drawn with where this side stands six months before the World Cup to the level Clive Woodward’s side had reached at the same stage prior to the 2003 tournament. ‘Based on their performances in the Six Nations, England are running the risk of being labelled the most foolish team in the competition,’ England World Cup winner Will Greenwood wrote. ‘England need to play with tempo, yes, but they need to do it with their rugby brains fully engaged and that is not what they have been doing at key moments.’ England won the game but they haven't shown enough to convince yet during the Six Nations . Mike Brown was one of the better performers but England spurned too many opportunities at Twickenham . Despite the predictions, though, Saturday's battle for the Calcutta Cup told us plenty about England’s prospects in the autumn. It wasn’t all good by any means. In fact, the evidence of an exhilarating first half suggested again that England are still short of the standard they have to achieve to be realistic contenders for the World Cup. It felt like a wasted opportunity. Despite concerns that the match had not sold out, the atmosphere at Twickenham had been bolstered by the scenes playing on the screens inside and outside the stadium from Cardiff where Wales’ victory over Ireland put England back in with a chance of winning the Six Nations. When England tore Scotland apart in the opening minutes, it felt as if this could yet be the game that ignited their confidence and laid the foundation for future success. That feeling did not last for long. George Ford got England off to a perfect start in the second-half but the first half will have worried them . The England squad smile for the cameras having defeated Scotland 25-13 to win the Calcutta Cup . Defeating Scotland however will not lead the top nations to fear England, and time is running out . England were not ruthless enough in attack. They squandered chance after chance to convert breakaways, eschewing easy passes, making the wrong decisions. They should have scored four tries before half-time but they were limited to Jonathan Joseph’s score after a neat sidestep five minutes into the game. It seemed then as if England were about to embark on the points rampage that would put them in prime position ahead of the final fixtures of the competition next weekend. That rampage did not materialise. Instead, Scotland came back into the game and more doubts began to surface about England. This time, it was their defence which suffered in comparison to the heroic efforts of the Welsh earlier in the day. Mark Bennett bulldozed his way over for a score with Scotland’s first chance of the game midway through the half. Twickenham may still be a formidable place to get a result, but England are not unbeatable there . Tom Youngs (centre) leads an England breakaway as Lancaster's side returned to the Six Nations summit . England allowed Scotland back into the game too easily, and they lack momentum heading to the World Cup . Scotland actually led 13-10 at the interval. Their supporters began to dream of a first victory at Twickenham for 32 years. It was hardly the response to the defeat in Dublin that Lancaster was looking for. ‘England need to be careful out there or they could end up with real egg on their face,’ Woodward said at half-time. England banished that idea when George Ford burst over for a try three minutes into the second half but, even though Scotland never threatened again, England remained unconvincing. There were times when they seemed to be trying to set a new record for ways in which they could ruin their good work. Anthony Watson runs clear but England repeatedly failed to take their chances at Twickenham on Saturday . Twice they had tries ruled out for forward passes. A late score in the corner from Jack Nowell put a healthier gloss on the result but they will only take a four-point advantage over Ireland into the deciding weekend. It should have been more and when the final whistle went, it was met only by lukewarm applause. Sure, England may yet win the Six Nations next Saturday but the truth is that there is no sense of momentum about their build-up to the World Cup. There are moments when they excite, certainly, but there are times when they bewilder, too. The suspicion remains that even here at Twickenham, the best in the world will be too much for them in the autumn. And all the time, that clock in the old RFU headquarters keeps on counting down. +Celtic have joined the clutch of clubs who will consider taking Steven Gerrard on loan next January. The Liverpool captain is joining LA Galaxy in the summer but, fitness permitting, will explore loan options in their off-season. Gerrard has already indicated that he will maintain fitness by training at Liverpool and the club will consider whether to offer him a loan period themselves. Steven Gerrard, training with Liverpool on Saturday, could go on loan in January with Celtic showing interest . The Liverpool legend mocked up in the LA Galaxy kit he'll wear from next summer after deciding to move on . Gerrard does not wish to play against Liverpool so failing their interest he will look at options outside of England. Real Sociedad may also come forward should David Moyes remain in Spain. The former Manchester United boss is a big admirer of Gerrard and was interested In signing the 34-year old before he agreed to sign for the Galaxy. Celtic will struggle to match Gerrard's wages but hope a compromise could be reached if necessary. Celtic manager Ronny Deila calls for focus from his players during Sunday's Scottish League Cup final . Kris Commons, celebrating his League Cup final opener against Dundee United, could line up with Gerrard . +Jonny Howson's double inspired Norwich as they maintained their promotion charge in style with a ruthless 4-1 triumph over relegation threatened Millwall at The Den. The hosts spurned numerous chances in a tense first half before Howson surged from midfield to fire a sublime left-footed strike beyond keeper David Forde. Gary Hooper doubled Norwich's lead with a penalty just before the break after Cameron Jerome was felled by Alan Dunne, before Wes Hoolahan made it three and Howson scored his second on the hour. Jonathan Howson scores the first goal of the game during the Championship match at The Den . Howson celebrates his opener with Norwich City teammate Bradley Johnson as the Canaries smash Millwall . It's all too easy for the away side as they deal Millwall manager Ian Holloway yet another striking blow . A stunned Millwall found enough resilience to claim a goal back after Diego Fabbrini won a penalty that Lee Gregory converted but it was too little too late to ease the pressure on beleaguered manager Ian Holloway. After sustained Norwich pressure for the first 20 minutes, Millwall began to respond, as Jos Hooiveld saw his powerful volley blocked by Carlos Cuellar before Ricardo Fuller struck team-mate Martyn Woolford with another effort. The lively Fuller continued to threaten as first Cuellar and then Martin Olsson clumsily fouled the striker on the edge of the area, but the hosts squandered both opportunities from either side of the box. Gary Hooper celebrates his goal from the penalty spot as Norwich all but seal the points at The Den . Norwich City's Wesley Hoolahan celebrates scoring their third goal in the win against Millwall on Saturday . The hosts' wastefulness was duly punished in the 38th minute when Howson surged through midfield and struck an exquisite drive beyond Forde from outside the area to give Norwich the lead. While Howson's goal was slightly harsh on Millwall, the hosts had themselves to blame for Norwich's second on the stroke of half time. Graham Dorrans' long-range effort was saved well by Forde, only for Alan Dunne to needlessly fell Jerome as the striker went to retrieve the rebound, with Hooper firing the resulting penalty straight down the middle. Millwall manager Holloway looks on as his Lions are tamed by the Canaries at The Den on Saturday . Norwich City manager Alex Neil gives his squad the thumbs up as they comfortably see off Millwall . Millwall's Shaun Williams (left) and Martyn Woolford combine to stop Norwich City's Johnson . Norwich had barely broken sweat in establishing a two-goal advantage and had a chance to make it three soon after the restart but Jerome headed Olsson's cross straight at Forde. Yet it was not long before the visitors effectively ended the contest as a slip by Millwall's Sid Nelson was capitalised on ruthlessly by Hoolahan, who drove a left-footed strike beyond Forde on 57 minutes. And just three minutes later, the Canaries claimed a fourth all too easily as Jerome broke down the left before calmly delivering the ball across the box for Howson to slot into the empty net. Norwich City striker Cameron Jerome wins a header unchallenged as the away side easy to victory . The hosts were now conceding chances with alarming regularity as Jerome went close twice before Dorrans struck the inside of the right post after Hoolahan found the West Brom loanee unmarked on 68 minutes. The hosts claimed a goal back in the 82nd minute as Fabbrini drew Gary O'Neil into a foul in the area and substitute Gregory struck the penalty into the bottom right corner. Millwall's Sid Nelson does his best to disposes Norwich City's Martin Olsson on Saturday at The Den . +Felix Magath has refused to rule out a role in a restructured management team at Rangers. A three-time Bundesliga-winning coach with Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, the German legend purchased 810,000 shares in the Ibrox club in January. And Magath has proxied his stake to the Rangers Supporters Trust ahead of a General Meeting Thursday which is expected to sweep the current board from power. Felix Magath has refused to rule out a role in a restructured management team at Rangers . Magath has not had a job since being sacked from Championship side Fulham last year . The appointment of a new football management set-up will be a priority thereafter, with Magath touted for a technical director role at the club. Out of work since leaving Fulham in September, the 61-year-old declined to close the door on a job at Rangers, telling Sportsmail: ‘I would not rule it out. ‘I don’t know. At the moment I am fine. I follow things at Rangers closely. We have to wait for Friday then we will see what is happening. ‘I am keeping in touch with things, for sure. I am interested in the situation at Rangers because I have bought shares, so of course I have an interest. But I’m not involved as such. I have an interest, but I am not there. I am just waiting for the result of the vote on Friday like other people.’ Caretaker boss Kenny McDowall has already tendered 12 months’ notice and admits Saturday’s trip to Cowdenbeath could be his final game in charge. Asked if it could be his last stand, McDowall said: ‘It could very well be, but I could have said that right from the start. Kenny McDowall will leave his post at rangers at the end of the current season after handing in his notice . Rangers players train at Murray Park last month as they bid to get their season back on track . Rangers manager McDowall during a training session at Murray Park on Wednesday afternoon . ‘This is probably my last game, but I have handed my notice in and have 10 months or so to do and if I need to be here for the 10 months I have said all along that’s what I will do. Whether I am in charge or coaching — if the club need me I am here.’ McDowall has warned supporters that, even if King and allies Paul Murray and John Gilligan do claim the keys to Ibrox, it could still take five years to rebuild the shattered club. ‘I think fans understand the need to be patient,’ said the former No2 to Ally McCoist, ‘because they know what has gone on here. It won’t be overnight. ‘At least five years I think, until it can be what it was. The whole infrastructure has got to be looked at. It has pretty much been decimated over the last four years. ‘This is a long-term project, it’s not going to be fixed overnight. No chance. That’s why it’s so important whoever comes in that they get it right.’ +Holywell (Cheltenham, 3.20) is a horse that polarises opinion, but his Festival record is beyond criticism and he can silence his doubters with victory at the highest level in Friday's Betfred Gold Cup. Victories in the Pertemps Final and in a fiercely competitive handicap chase at the past two Festivals endorse the view that Jonjo O’Neill is a master at bringing the eight-year-old to a peak in the spring and, after a couple of modest efforts, he looked on good terms again with a better round of jumping last time in a small-field Kelso event. Holywell polarises opinion but can silence his doubters with victory in Friday's Betfred Gold Cup . Wins in the Pertemps Final (above) in the past two Festival's handicap chase endorse his Cheltenham form . Jonjo O’Neill is a master at bringing the eight-year-old Holywell to a peak in the spring . The bare form of that success is miles away from the requisite level on Friday, but when Holywell is good he is very good, as he was at Cheltenham last year when beating Thursday's Ryanair Chase runner-up Ma Filleule. A subsequent Aintree success was arguably more impressive where the selection destroyed Don Cossack and fellow Gold Cup contender Many Clouds, among others in the Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase, a display which truly announced him as a potential Gold Cup winner. He must progress again to trouble King George Chase hero Silviniaco Conti, who sets a lofty standard for his 17 rivals to surpass, but the ante-post favourite must exorcise the memories of a capitulation after the last fence a year ago, where he faded to finish fourth. Paul Nicholls is convinced the stomach ulcers and breathing problems which beset Silviniaco Conti are behind him and he remains a huge danger to all, even granted his modest course record. Paul Nicholls' Silviniaco Conti has a modest course record but still poses a danger to the field . Stablemate Sam Winner was an honourable third to Road To Riches in the Lexus Chase, and looks a huge price given he has tons of track form and just three lengths to make up with Noel Meade’s charge. The form of his gritty defeat of The Druids Nephew here before Christmas has taken a sizeable boost this week with that rival bolting up and the tongue tie and cheekpieces are utilised in combination for the first time, which appears a shrewd move. His handler has sent out 36 horses to contest the Gold Cup and 18 have won or been placed, so he merits real consideration for a tasty each-way wager. +Arsene Wenger has warned Per Mertesacker he cannot guarantee him an automatic return to the team. World Cup winner Mertesacker was dropped after an awful defensive display by Arsenal in the Champions League defeat by Monaco last week. Gabriel, signed in January from Villarreal, came in for his first Barclays Premier League start against Everton on Sunday and impressed. Per Mertesacker has been told there is no guarantee he'll return to the Arsenal defence soon . Gabriel was signed by Arsenal to cement a first-team spot at centre back, says Arsene Wenger . Wenger, pictured with Mesut Ozil in training on Tuesday, said he cannot guarantee Mertesacker game time . Arsenal vice-captain Per Mertesacker (right) sat out Sunday's 2-0 victory against Everton at the Emirates . Gabriel produced a fine tackle to stop Romelu Lukaku during the game and could play against QPR . Arsenal train at their London Colney base ahead of Wednesday night's trip to Queens Park Rangers . Wenger said: 'Like everybody, we are all here to serve the club and raise above our own interest. He has played many games, has a fantastic mentality, he has great mental stature, absolutely remarkable, and his contribution to the team has been excellent up to now.' There were no assurances he would return at QPR on Wednesday from Wenger, who added: 'I cannot tell you, I have not decided yet. Honestly.' As for Gabriel, the Arsenal boss added: 'We bought him to play regularly and of course, that is the target for him. His English is not perfect yet. Yes, he understands more than he talks. 'He has shown that he is a defender who is committed, focused and can integrate well in our defensive style. Overall his first game was a very positive one.' Mertesacker struggled against Monaco in the Champions League defeat last week . The French boss also gave updates on Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin, with both in contention to play on Wednesday night. Ramsey hasn't played since the beginning of February, while Coquelin was forced off against Everton after suffering a broken nose. The French midfielder would need a face mask if he were to play against Chris Ramsey's relegation candidates. Aaron Ramsey has not played for the Gunners since their clash against Leicester in early February . This clash of heads left Francis Coquelin with blood gushing out of his nose against Everton . Arsenal midfielder Coquelin broke his nose after two knocks to the face on Sunday against Everton . +Peter Lawwell called it the ‘Le Guen hump’ and for certain Celtic players the chief executive’s words might be tweaked to read ‘taking the hump’. It’s to his credit that, with typical candour, Kris Commons admits he had teething problems with the regime change that saw Ronny Deila walk into Celtic intent on wholesale reform. Lawwell knew that by appointing the Norwegian in the wake of Neil Lennon’s resignation he was taking a risk, and recently likened the gamble to Rangers’ decision to install Paul Le Guen in 2006. After a difficult start, Kris Commons has now build a strong relationship with Celtic manager Ronny Deila . The Frenchman lasted barely six months at Ibrox and departed in the wake of a dressing-room revolt. Yet, while the likes of Kris Boyd and Barry Ferguson actively railed against Le Guen’s methods, the resistance to Deila’s changes was more subtle. There was, however, bemusement that the club should seek to change the winning formula that had seen Lennon land three titles in a row alongside consecutive qualifications for the Champions League group stage. Having clinched the major Player of the Year honours and scored 32 times last season, Commons more than most was perhaps entitled to feel his game had little need for refinement. He readily admits to feeling unsettled by the changes that saw the former Stromsgodset chief place a greater emphasis on fitness as he attempted to realise a high-tempo pressing game. As with most human squabbles, communication has proved the key to a solution. Deila’s policy of regularly sitting down to speak individually with his players has given Commons a right of reply and he has used it, returning to first-team prominence and signing a new contract last month. Commons has adapted well to the manager's demands of his players to be physically fitter than before . Commons is likely to start the League Cup Final and has declared himself all in as Deila bids to win his first trophy as Celtic manager. ‘It is always difficult when you feel like you’ve come off a season doing really well then someone comes in and wants to change things, as he sees it, for the better,’ he said. ‘But through that transitional period we got knocked out the Champions League and didn’t get off to a great start in the league. It had an effect on the park. ‘I wasn’t playing every week and, when I was in, I’d try to do the things the manager wanted. In recent weeks, when I have been fit and healthy, I’ve felt like a different player and added more to my game than usual. ‘We speak one-to-one on a regular basis about what he wants and what I want. He’s good that way, super. He’s not telling me anything I don’t know already, it’s just sometimes you need a push in the right direction to make you a better player.’ Bright, articulate and possessed with a healthy sense of his own ability, Commons is one of the bigger characters in the dressing room and it was always crucial that Deila found a way to bring the Mansfield-born attacking midfielder on side. Even Lennon had a rocky spell with Commons during the player’s first full season at the club but the pair went on to forge a productive working relationship to the extent that the Northern Irishman admitted he would happily take Commons off Deila’s hands as he settled into his new job at Bolton. Commons talks with captain Scott Brown in training ahead of the Scottish League cup final on Sunday . A return to the Championship, where the 31-year-old had performed comfortably and without the incessant pressure to win inherent at Celtic, would have been an easier and possibly more lucrative option. ‘I’m not looking for an easy way out,’ he contends. ‘I wasn’t looking just to plod away through these next two or three years. I have a lot of goals for myself — to win more trophies, more cups. I want to win a Treble and play in the Champions League these next couple of years. I’ve not signed a deal where I think: “Oh, that’s great, I can get my feet up”. ‘The manager will put pressure on me to keep improving, so I’ve got to show signs of doing that and that’s one of my goals — I want to get better as a player as I get older.’ Commons admits he is ‘three to four kilos’ lighter thanks to Deila’s demands that his players cut their body fat and admits he feels fitter as a result. Where Lennon would borrow from the likes of Martin O’Neill in allowing his players to freewheel on the proviso that they delivered on matchdays, Deila demands that, in his own words, his players are 24-hour athletes. Commons is desperate to win the competition, which has eluded him in his four years in Scotland . He may never boast a physique to rival Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale, but he has bought into the new manager’s philosophy — and regards the November win at Pittodrie as a pivotal moment for the new boss. ‘I think Aberdeen away was a big result, when big Virgil (van Dijk) scored in the last minute. I think that was a turning point. Even before that game we saw the benefits on the training field. ‘We are trying to play this high pressing game and everyone is looking to try and improve as much as possible, whether that is a 19-year-old kid that’s just come in or me at 31. ‘The manager wants everyone to make targets to get fit, get healthier, make better touches, make better decisions on the ball and things like that. It is just completely different from last year. ‘Then if you were doing well, it was a case of just keeping doing what you were doing. ‘Ronaldo, is this supreme athlete. He’s the pinnacle, isn’t he — he is the quickest, he can jump highest, he can score most goals. He probably has no fat. That is the target, so whatever I am over that, that is the target. ‘That is not just myself. Even Craig Gordon has had words about it, Nir Bitton and Charlie Mulgrew, too. ‘The manager has goals and aspirations. He wants to makes us better, not only as professionals, but as a team. He wants us to dominate domestically and then take that on to the European stage next year — and not just take part there, but put pressure on teams, especially away from home. ‘I think Inter Milan away we showed signs we are getting there. Even though we were down to 10 men, we showed a really gutsy performance.’ Hampden and the League Cup provided Kris Commons with a glorious Celtic debut yet, four years later, he is still waiting to get his hands on the trophy in celebration. Commons is battling a hamstring injury but hopes to be fit in time to face Dundee United on Sunday . Having completed his £300,000 move from Derby County a day earlier, Commons took just eight minutes to rifle home his first Celtic goal in the 2011 semi-final against Aberdeen. Yet although his spectacular strike set the tone for a largely fulfilling period of his career, he went on to suffer disappointment in the final as Rangers prevailed courtesy of Nikica Jelavic’s goal in extra-time. A year later and caught in a personal form slump, he was a substitute and restricted to the final four minutes as Celtic unsuccessfully tried to equalise Dieter van Tornhout’s shock winning goal for Kilmarnock. The past two seasons have seen St Mirren and Morton provide further misery as the trophy became the one honour to escape the clutches of Lennon. The glaring absence from his own medal collection was just one of the reasons Scotland’s reigning Player of the Year elected to sign a new contract in January and put an end to persistent talk that he was on his way out of the club. A hamstring injury has dogged Commons since he penned his new deal last month but he’s trained this week and, with Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong cup-tied, he looks a good bet to claim one of three attacking midfield slots in Deila’s team to face Dundee United. ‘I feel fine and I’m looking forward to playing — if selected,’ said Commons. ‘It’s the only cup I’ve not won in Scotland, so it’s a big deal. ‘I think Scott Brown is the only member of the squad who has won it.’ +A jockey has sustained two punctured lungs after being kicked by horses following a fall at the Cheltenham Festival. Tom Weston, who is an amateur rider, was airlifted to the hospital on Thursday after falling off Benbane Head and getting kicked by several following horses toward the end of the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup. Tom Weston is in intensive care after sustaining two punctured lungs in a fall at Cheltenham on Thursday . Martin Keighley, trainer of Benbane Head, says Weston will be in intensive care for two days and does not have any head injuries, which was the main concern. Jockey JT McNamara was paralyzed after a fall in the same race two years ago. Weston, pictured here at Newbury in 2011, fell off Benbane Head and was kicked by several following horses . +The United Arab Emirates have been suspended by the International Equestrian Federation indefinitely over horse welfare and rule infringements in endurance events. Under the ban UAE riders will not be allowed to compete for their country in any international events, although they will be allowed to compete under an FEI flag in non-endurance disciplines outside of the Emirates. There has been growing concern over the treatment of endurance horses in the UAE and the world body recently stepped in to remove two endurance events in UAE from the winter season. Three horses were reported dead at the 74-mile Al Reef Cup in Abu Dhabi on February 1 and one, Splitters Creek Bundy, appeared to have broken both front legs. It was at the Al Reef Cup that Splitters Creek Bundy front legs appeared to collapse beneath him . Click here to read chief sports writer Martin Samuel's column from October 2013: Sport is not about driving horses to their deaths . FEI president Ingmar de Vos said the FIA's Bureau had been unanimous in suspending the UAE federation. 'The decision to suspend a National Federation is not something that is taken lightly and we only should do this if no other remedy can be found,' he said in a statement. 'Sadly this was the only option left, but we have to take our responsibility and must never be afraid of tackling major issues head-on. Where horse welfare is concerned the FEI has to show leadership and solve problems in a structural way without making any concessions.' De Vos said the FEI had hoped strict enforcement of new rules brought in on August 1 last year would reduce the numbers of 'catastrophic injuries' and fatalities in the UAE. Dubai’s Sheik Mohammed (right) takes part in an endurance race in the Jordanian desert . The statement was quite devastating. The International Equestrian Federation had removed the two remaining International Endurance events scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates in an emergency measure to protect horse welfare and preserve integrity. Put bluntly: some of the most respected horsemen in the world can’t be trusted to look after horses. Within days, Endurance Great Britain dropped a proposed blanket sponsorship from the Meydan Corporation, owned by Sheik Mohammed Al Maktoum, citing national and international pressures and sensitivities. With this scandal mounting for close on two years, it is incredible and embarrassing that Meydan got through the door, no matter how much money was at stake. 'Regretfully this has not been the case,' he added. 'In the end we had no other choice than taking this drastic measure to deal with an unacceptable situation.' Endurance races in the Middle East can be brutal with distances of 100 miles a day, covered at high speed, common. Allegations of horse identity fraud have also been investigated by the FEI, according to the paper. The World Horse Welfare welcomed the move, Chief Executive Roly Owers said: 'In many ways this is a sad day. However the FEI’s drastic move to suspend the UAE federation is a reflection of the seriousness of the situation within endurance. 'While we are disappointed that it has come to this, this action had to be taken for the welfare of the horses and the integrity of the sport.' The ban could raise doubts over Dubai's suitability to host the world championships in 2016 wih the Swiss and Belgium equestrian federations threatening a boycott. The UAE Federation' place in the next year's Summer Olympics in Brazil could also be in jeopardy. It has 30 days to appeal against the suspension. +England produced an error-strewn display which promised so much but ultimately delivered less than it should have done as Stuart Lancaster’s men developed a severe case of white-line fever. The 12 point win means Lancaster’s side have an excellent chance of claiming an unlikely Championship title if they can see off France more convincingly than Ireland beat Scotland or Wales beat Italy. But they will be kicking themselves at an incredibly wasteful display which saw no fewer than six gilt-edged try-scoring opportunities wasted as passes went astray and support runners were ignored. England captain Chris Robshaw lifts the Calcutta Cup after England beat Scotland 25-13 at Twickenham in the Six Nations . The England squad smile for the cameras having defeated Scotland 25-13 to win the Calcutta Cup in their Six Nations clash . Jonathan Joseph (centre) is congratulated by his England team-mates having scored an early try at Twickenham . George Ford got England off to a perfect start in the second-half with this early try to put the home side back in front . Exeter wing Jack Nowell crosses over to score England's third try of the evening at Twickenham to send them top of the table . ENGLAND XV: Brown, Watson, Joseph, Burrell, Nowell, Ford, Youngs, Marler, Hartley, Cole, Attwood, Lawes, Haskell, Robshaw, Vunipola . Replacements: Youngs, M.Vunipola, Brooks, Parling, Wood, Wigglesworth, Cipriani, Twelvetrees . Tries: Joseph, Ford, Nowell . Conversions: Ford (2) Penalties: Ford (2) SCOTLAND XV: Kearney, Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo, Sexton, Murray; McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: Cronin, Healy, Moore, Henderson, Murphy, Reddan, Madigan, Jones . Tries: Bennett . Conversions: Laidlaw (1) Penalties: Laidlaw (2) England did score three tries to Scotland’s one, leaving their points difference four points to the good over nearest title rivals Ireland, but they could so easily have been out of sight if they’d kept their composure with the line at their mercy. Jonathan Joseph, George Ford and Jack Nowell all crossed for Lancaster’s men, with Nowell’s late score adding some gloss to the scoreline. But Lancaster and his men will know this should have been so much more convincing. The Calcutta Cup may be theirs, but this was far from the dominant, clinical performance England craved after the no-show in Dublin a fortnight ago. Rarely can a side have dominated an opening 20 minutes of international rugby so completely but to so little effect. Time after time Scotland’s defence was torn to ribbons only for the England player in possession to run clumsily into contact, seemingly without any awareness of support runners or the need to shift the point of attack. Luther Burrell started the pattern after just two minutes when he completely ignored Anthony Watson on his right to blunder head down into Scotland full back Stuart Hogg, who pulled off the first of three fine tackles. In truth, England should have scored with something to spare. With five minutes on the clock, and Scotland seemingly on the ropes already, England piled into Scotland territory again and fly half George Ford whipped a cleverly delayed pass to Jonathan Joseph and the Bath centre hot-stepped his way over. Ford added the extras to make it 7-0 and it looked for all the world as if England were set to take the visitors for a cricket score. After three slow starts in succession, finally Lancaster’s men had the momentum early in the game. No excuses now. But, despite their dominance and superior attacking edge, England were simply unable to convert chances. Tom Youngs (centre) leads an England breakaway with his team-mates sprinting to joining in with his venture forward . Ben Youngs hands off the tackle of Scotland's Greig Laidlaw as England recovered from a half-time deficit to win at Twickenham . Mike Brown, making a welcome return from the concussion he suffered against Italy a month ago, latched on to a smart break down the short side from Ben Youngs after sharp work from Jack Nowell. The England full back pinned his ears back from 20 metres but Hogg had his measure on an arcing run and again the chance was lost as the ball was turned over. Nowell – who looked sharp throughout – was at fault next when he made a powerful break through the middle of Scotland’s defence only to ignore support runners on both sides and slip ineffectively into Hogg’s grasp. It was another chance lost and England could hardly believe they were just seven points ahead after a first quarter that promised so much but ultimately delivered little. England's Mike Brown attempts to keep a run going whilst missing a boot at Twickenham during the clash with Scotland . Scotland attempt to clear their lines during the Six Nations clash at Twickenham with Courtney Lawes (right) trying to block . Anthony Watson runs clear for Stuart Lancaster's England side during the Calcutta Cup contest with Scotland at Twickenham . If England have serious pretentions to challenge the world’s top sides on a consistent basis they simply cannot afford to waste chances like this. As Scotland sensed they’d somehow weathered the early storm, centre Mark Bennett forced his way over the line after 23 minutes on his side’s first serious incursion into England’s 22. Greig Laidlaw kicked the conversion and somehow Scotland were level at 7-7. As the half wore on, Scotland’s confidence grew. Joe Marler was penalised twice for boring in with England’s scrum dominant while Dylan Hartley’s line-out radar was once again out of kilter. It came as no surprise when the England hooker was substituted early in the second half. England back-row Billy Vunipola evades the tackles of two Scottish opponents, hoping to kick start another attack . Ford and Laidlaw exchanged penalties before Brown was forced into emergency defensive action when Scotland wing Dougie Fife cut through England’s defence and look to be bound for a try. But Brown took him down, only for another penalty to be conceded, with Laidlaw kicked, as Scotland took a three-point lead in at half time. England again started the second-half brightly and Ford went over within two minutes of the re-start when Chris Robshaw passed behind England’s first line of attackers and the fly half scurried in behind the Scotland defence. Referee Romain Poite chose not to refer his decision to the video referee despite suggestions of crossing. Another penalty from the excellent Ford saw Lancaster’s men into a 20-13 lead on 51 minutes but old habits die hard and Tom Youngs, on for the ineffective Hartley, became the latest England latest player to qualify as a master butcher when he scythed through Scotland’s defence only to throw yet another pass to nowhere. England’s profligacy was astonishing to witness, for all the wrong reasons. Brown looked to have scored on 62 minutes but – you guessed it – James Haskell’s pass was rightly deemed forward and England had their second try chalked off for a forward pass. Watson had crossed in the first half only for Ford’s earlier pass to Burrell to be called forward. Nowell dotted down late on to make it three tries to one. England's Dan Cole (left), Dylan Harltey (centre) and Jaoe Marler (right) prepare for another scrummage during the Calcutta Cup . Joe Marler is hauled to the ground with team-mate James Haskell (right) watching on as England looked to build on their second-half lead . Joe Marler (centre) celebrates England's second try with scorer George Ford (left) as Lancaster's side recovered to win on Saturday . England and Northampton lock Courtney Lawes jumps highest to win the lineout for the hosts as Lancaster's side went on the attack . Whilst the England players celebrate Jack Nowell's late try, the Scotland players look devastated during the Calcutta Cup defeat . Battered and bruised England players Dan Cole (left), Joe Marler (centre) and the Youngs brothers (right) pose with the Calcutta Cup . The England squad pose together with captain Chris Robshaw (centre) looking after the Calcutta Cup after defeating Scotland 25-13 . +After a blistering start, England were forced to work for their win against Scotland, which took them level on points with Ireland and Wales at the top of the Six Nations championship table. Jonathan Joseph had Stuart Lancaster's side ahead inside five minutes, but Scotland fought back and forced a thrilling finale. Sportsmail's Chris Foy was there to run the rule over the two teams: . Courtney Lawes gets up above Jonny Gray to secure line-out ball for England in a hard-fought battle . ENGLAND . Mike Brown – Ominous when he dropped first high kick but settled well and posed a threat whenever he had the ball. 7. Anthony Watson – A game of near-triumph for him, but he scored a ‘try’ which was ruled out, as was another he helped set up. 7. Mike Brown takes on Finn Russell as the England full back looked to create opportunities . Jonathan Joseph – Took his try with typical, swerving aplomb, to showcase his nifty footwork. Held up well in defence. 7. Luther Burrell – Squandered glorious early scoring chance. Forceful as ever, but not igniting this campaign as he did last year. 6. Jack Nowell – Exeter wing was electric with his broken-field running. Some suspect decision-making but good finish for try. 7. Jonathan Joseph dives over to score England's early try, which looked to have set them on their way . George Ford – His authority grows. Created openings with distribution and pace, and scored a try. All was well until late missed kicks. 8. Ben Youngs – Was a livewire threat early on and continued to test the Scottish defence with his darts around the fringes. 7. Joe Marler – Deft handling in run-up to Ford try, put in familiar busy shift in defence and was at the heart of set-piece onslaught. 7. George Ford dives over the line for his try in a game where he contributed 15 points and controlled the play . Dylan Hartley – This was a fast-and-loose encounter, so his work in the tight was most felt with his part in a first-half scrum blitz. 6. Dan Cole – The Leicester tighthead is quite content to win scrums and hit rucks, in which case he was in his element here. 7. Dave Attwood – Not as prominent as he was in Dublin, when his defensive work was so valuable and not among top carriers. 6. Dave Attwood gets the ball away out of the tackle as England in another good display from the second row . Courtney Lawes – Largely effective in the way he orchestrated the lineout and a dynamic, punishing presence around the field. 7. James Haskell – Made his fair share of tackles but no major carrying or breakdown impact. His place may be under threat. 6. Billy Vunipola – Determination to impose himself was clear from sheer number of times he pounded the Scottish defence. 7. Billy Vunipola goes on one of his characteristic runs as he offers England some momentum . Chris Robshaw – Not a towering presence before the break, but more influential later, especially as a link-man in attacks. 7. Replacements: Tom Youngs exploded from the bench to provide impetus and fellow front-rower, Kieran Brookes, was involved in the build-up to Nowell’s try and Tom Wood made one strong late burst. Chris Robshaw needs two Scottish tacklers to bring him down as he led England to a Calcutta Cup victory . SCOTLAND . Stuart Hogg – Did well to chase back and prevent a try by Brown. Frustrated by restricted chances and threw some wild passes. 6. Dougie Fife – Had a couple of jinking bursts but largely well shackled. Covered effectively when Watson threatened in second half. 5. Stuart Hogg goes low to bring down Jack Nowell but Scotland couldn't hold out for long . Mark Bennett – Kept his head when the chance came; ignoring men outside to touch down. Largely occupied with tackling. 7. Matt Scott – Was an emergency replacement for Alex Dunbar and this wasn’t a day for him to prove his creative credentials. 5. Tommy Seymour – A regular threat. He came in-field looking for work and often found gaps. Kept choosing clever lines. 7. Finn Russell – Was all at sea in the first quarter but grew into the game. Some shrewd touches but also some glaring lapses. 6. Finn Russell looks for territory as the Scots struggled to get good field position to make a late charge . Greig Laidlaw – Behind a beaten pack, he struggled to control proceedings and didn’t challenge England with box-kicks. 6. Alasdair Dickinson – The prop was damned by association with a scrum effort which was hapless as England took command. 5. Ross Ford – He has had far more commanding outings than this, as he failed to make many dents in a pack on the back foot. 5. Euan Murray – After early tussle with Dan Cole, was left flailing as George Ford scored his try and couldn’t prevent scrum rout. 5. Greig Laidlaw kicks clear as Courtney Lawes attempts to get through two Scottish forwards to charge down . Jim Hamilton – It wasn’t his day. Took a blow to the head that led to an early exit and not the usual snarling menace. 5. Jonny Gray – Nearly touched down when the Scots finally gained a foothold. Couldn’t disrupt English supply at the lineout. 6. Rob Harley – Had a hand in the try scored by Bennett but against the big, strong home forwards he was a lightweight presence. 5. David Denton – Last year, he was almost a lone threat to England and this time he again fought the good fight in vain. 7. Jonny Gray carries the ball as Scotland fought back from a poor start to make a game of it . Blair Cowan – Aside from one slick aerial off-load to send Seymour hurtling clear, he was a low-profile figure in this game. 5. Replacements: The lack of Scottish depth was harshly exposed. None of them sent on from the bench by Vern Cotter could do anything to turn the tide against their team. +They simply do not draw games, and that’s something which could see Watford over the line in this season’s race to the Premier League. Not since late October, 21 fixtures ago, have the Hornets shared the points. It’s very much boom or bust under Slavisa Jokanovic and the pendulum is swinging in their direction at the moment. Against Fulham Troy Deeney’s 15th of the season secured their eighth win in the last ten. The signs are ominous for the rest and one of the first words out of the manager’s mouth afterwards was ‘champion’. Why not? They are just one point behind Middlesbrough. Troy Deeney (centre) fires home to give Watford the lead and send them third in the Championship . The Hornets captain celebrates as his side continued their quest for an automatic promotion place . Watford starting XI (3-5-2): Gomes 6.5; Cathcart 7, Angella 7.5, Hoban 6; Motta 6, Abdi 8 (Forestieri - 86), Watson 7, Guedioura 7, Pudil 6.5 (Layun - 58 6); Deeney 7.5, Vydra 7 (Ighalo - 68 6) Subs not used: Bond, Paredes, Anya, Tozser, . Goals: Deeney 9 . Booked: Guedioura . Fulham starting XI (4-3-3): Bettinelli 6; Richards 6, Hutchinson 6, Bodurov 6, Stafylidis 6.5; Tunnicliffe 6, Fofana 7, Kavanagh 6.5 (Kačaniklić,- 76 6); Ruiz (Smith - 76 7), Woodrow 6.5 (Rodallega - 66 6), McCormack 7 . Subs not used: Kiraly, Hoogland, Amorebieta, Dembélé . Booked: Richards, Fofana . ‘It’s nice winning 5-0 or 3-2 but sometimes it is difficult,’ Jokanovic said. ‘If you have a champion’s mentality you must suffer together and get through games like this. ‘They caused us problems. It’s positive for us because we were working all together. It wasn’t a brilliant game but you’ve got to be optimistic if you win these.’ It’s only six months since managerial turmoil looked to undermine the foundations previously laid when Billy McKinlay left after a matter of days but Watford will take some stopping from here. When all is said and done in two months’ time, they will make sure not to hold any regrets. The winner came on nine minutes after Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, rather bizarrely, opted to travel away from his goal to retrieve a ball for Almen Abdi to whip in a wicked corner; from that Craig Cathcart’s header was partially saved but Deeney was on the spot to smash in the rebound. ‘Disappointing’ was Kit Symons’ summation. ‘It’s the second phase of a corner.’ Jokanovic’s side are top scorers in the division - netting 16 in their last five at Vicarage Road before this - but are occasionally susceptible to pace and Ross McCormack might’ve drawn the visitors level soon after, only for his half-volley to be thwarted by former Tottenham stopper Heurelho Gomes. Ryan Tunnicliffe (centre) tussles with Almen Abdi for the ball during his side's defeat to Watford . Match winner Deeney fights with Kostas Stafylidis for possession during the first half at Vicarage Road . Despite Fulham looking bright, it was the Hornets who could’ve sewn the points up before half-time. Abdi is afforded the freedom to roam from his central berth and that gives Watford an added dimension. Capped by Switzerland, he buzzes in possession and isn’t afraid of bypassing Deeney and Matej Vydra in pursuit of goals. Here the two strikers combined brilliantly to tee Abdi up and he thumped just wide. Make no mistake, this was not vintage Watford but you sense they don’t need to be weekly, such is the quality stacked up in a well-stocked squad. Vydra crashed an effort against the bar after sparkling Adlene Guedioura footwork before Jazz Richards only saw yellow for raising his hands to the striker off the ball. Ben Watson (centre) climbs higher than Bryan Ruiz during his side's crucial victory over Fulham . Symons saw Cauley Woodrow head over from a corner and Seko Fofana’s vicious strike was deflected wide. Fulham failed to build a real period of sustained pressure until introducing giant striker Matt Smith; his knockdown fell to McCormack but Gomes rushed out, spread himself and superbly blocked the Scot’s certain equaliser. ‘Matt did well when he came on,’ Symons said. ‘He’s a physical presence up there and we can play a bit more direct. There was a chance at the end when Hugo Rodallega and Ross got in each other’s way. We deserved a point.’ Watford might usually be a pleasure to watch, but they’ll be thankful for that mad Brazilian between the sticks - this ended up being as gritty as they come. +Mesut Ozil might have been in good form since returning from injury this season, but he still needs to be better if Arsenal are to challenge for the title, according to Gunners legend Gilberto Silva. The Brazilian, a member of the Gunners' Invincibles team, labelled the German 'slow' and says he has to be more decisive. Gilberto acknowledged Ozil's quality, but insists that he needs to start paying off the faith Arsene Wenger showed by spending £42.5m to bring him to the Emirates Stadium from Real Madrid. Mesut Ozil has not found things easy since moving to Arsenal, but has improved recently . Ozil has a shot deflected over the bar against Everton, and Gilberto Silva says he must offer more . 'You speak about Arsenal and how they don't spend big money on a player often but they did with (Mesut) Ozil and it is always a bit risky,' he said. 'Coming from Spain it is tough to adapt, it doesn't always happen straight away. 'I do really like him as a player but sometimes in the game he does look quite slow, although he has that quality to change the game. 'He can be more decisive for Arsenal for the quality he has, he can be much more decisive for the club. Arsenal have not won the Premier League in the 11 years since Gilberto and his team-mates went unbeaten, and the 38-year-old believes they still don't have the financial firepower to challege Chelsea and Manchester City. Gilberto was a key member of the Arsenal team that went an entire Premier League season unbeaten in 2004 . Arsenal have not won the title since their Invincible season, but Gilberto insists it is now time to challenge . But Gilberto also stressed that the club should be aiming for the title, and given time Arsene Wenger can lead his current squad to glory. 'Arsenal hasn't been able to compete with Chelsea and Manchester City for a few years because they spend money on big names and this is not the Arsenal culture', said Gilberto. 'They don't spend a lot of money to sign players but apart from that it is not easy to find a way to get back on track to win titles. Ozil is the Gunners record signing, but in general the club has not tried to compete with rich clubs financially . The German playmaker will need to improve if Arsenal are to mount a serious title challenge, says Gilberto . 'It was important for them last season that they won the FA Cup but a team like Arsenal need more and I hope they find a way to achieve what they always look for. 'If you look at Chelsea, they spent a lot of money on a player like Diego Costa and he has settled really well and is scoring lots of goals, that has worked for them but it is not as easy for Arsenal. 'If the players concentrate on their job and pull together they can form a strong team and try to feel good in their play. 'Sometimes people expect quick results but it doesn't always work like that.' Brazil v Chile is on March 29 at 3pm at the Emirates Stadium in London. Tickets are still available from £30 Adults/£15 Concessions at www.arsenal.com/tickets . +It's the final day of the Cheltenham Festival and our racing expert Marcus Townend is back with another video preview. Marcus gives us his views on AP McCoy's last ever day at Cheltenham, reveals his tips for the day's races and previews the big one - the Gold Cup. The action gets going at 1.30pm but stick with MailOnline Sport for the best build-up to and coverage of the greatest show on turf. +Scrum-half Ben Youngs has warned that England must be much more clinical next weekend against a France side capable of upsetting the party at Twickenham. Youngs was upbeat but also in realistic mood after Stuart Lancaster’s men defeated Scotland, acknowledging that England blew several chances in the first half. England had trailed 13-10 at the break so captain Chris Robshaw looked more relieved than anything else at the end as he raised the Calcutta Cup to cheers of approval from supporters. Those fans had certainly seemed worried when half-a-dozen first-half chances had gone begging. Ben Youngs runs with the ball as England won at Twickenham, but the margin could have been greater . Youngs was named man of the match but admitted that England will have to improve against France . VIDEO O2 Inside Line: England v Scotland match review . Lancaster’s men should have had a far better points tally but had two tries wiped out for forward passes. They also failed to finish off promising moves due to poor decision-making and last-gasp Scottish tackling. Leicester star Youngs said: ‘It was a crucial win and puts us in with a great chance of the title but we have to do the business against France here at Twickenham next Saturday. ‘We beat ourselves up a little bit and you can’t do that in Test rugby. We are disappointed we left a few tries and points out there. ‘To have so much of the ball, put them under so much pressure and go in at half-time losing was a real blow. We had a few words in the changing room and made sure we put things right. ‘Scotland are a very good team but we should have been more clinical in the first half.’ Teh scrum half celebrates with his front row, brother Tom (right), Dan Cole (left) and Joe Marler . Jack Nowell scored England's late try which put them top of the standings on points difference . Exeter wing Jack Nowell, whose late try ensured England went top of the Six Nations table, said: ‘I’ve not played in an England team where we created so many chances but let them slip by. ‘But the win has given us a real chance of getting our hands on the title. Now we have to get up for France — an even harder match. They’ll come to Twickenham with nothing to lose. ‘I was delighted to get that try at the end. I’d had a few openings during the game but for one reason or another the try did not come. So it was something of a relief at the end there.’ Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw admitted: ‘We had our chance when we led at half-time. After that we did not defend so well and England began to make us pay. ‘It’s another disappointing defeat but the lads will try to finish the tournament with a win over Ireland.’ +Scotland are clutching at positives in their bid to avoid the Six Nations wooden spoon, with centre Mark Bennett calling on his side to unsettle Ireland in next week's final round. Defeat at Twickenham to title-chasing England on Saturday leaves Scotland without a win from four games and with victory over Ireland, who are bidding to retain the championship, required to avoid a Six Nations whitewash for the second time in four years. Ireland have lost on their last two trips to Murrayfield - in the August 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up and the 2013 Six Nations - while Scotland avoided the wooden spoon in 2010 by winning in Dublin. Mark Bennett (centre) of Scotland is tackled by Kieran Brookes (left)  and Anthony Watson of England . Bennett attempts to take down Jack Nowell (left) of England during the clash at Twickenham . Bennett went over to score a first half try for Scotland under pressure from England's Dan Cole . Bennett, who scored a first-half try at Twickenham, said: 'We really need to go into the week knowing that we can win. 'The whole week is about preparing to win. We've got to go out next Saturday and get the win. 'Getting the win next week is huge. It would put us in a better position in the tournament and a better position to build on come World Cup time. 'Our performances have been a lot better than results have shown. 'With the way that we've played in three out of the four games - the Italy game being a bit of a blip - I wouldn't have expected us to be bottom. We're playing the way we want to, we're starting to create opportunities. 'It's not going to be a negative, going into the game thinking 'oh no we can't come away with the wooden spoon'. It's more "we're coming into the game to get the win". '(Ireland) have been playing a really hard, tight game of rugby, very disciplined, putting in great kicks, contesting in the air, squeezing things. We've got to just try to break the mould and run them ragged.' England captain Chris Robshaw lifts the Calcutta Cup after England beat Scotland 25-13 at Twickenham . George Ford was among those to go over for England earlier in the second half to put them back in front . Nowell crosses over to score England's third try of the evening at Twickenham to send Scotland to defeat . Scotland's wait for a first Twickenham win since 1983 goes on. Vern Cotter's side took a half-time lead in the Calcutta Cup clash, but failed to score in the second half as England won 25-13. Bennett acknowledged Scotland's front-line defence was not at its best against England, but feels improvement in the scrambled, less structured defence and a reduced penalty count are signs of progress. The Glasgow Warriors centre insisted Scotland must not dwell on what has already happened as they bid to end the tournament on a high. 'It's disappointing, but you've got to look at why it's disappointing,' he said. 'It's our own downfall. We've made too many errors and penalties in the past. (But) it's a case of this is the problem, this is how we fix it, lets move on.' +What more can Alexis Sanchez do to force his way back into the middle? Out on the left wing against Queens Park Rangers, where he has moved to make way for Mesut Ozil since his return from injury, he cut a frustrated figure for much of the game. But when he started making runs through the middle, testing Queens Park Rangers defenders and putting them on the back foot with his pace, the chances came. After 70 minutes, that was rewarded with a wonderful individual goal. Alexis Sanchez takes on young Queens Park Rangers defender Darnell Furlong at Loftus Road . Mesut Ozil, voted Arsenal's player of the month for February, holds off the challenge of Nedum Onuoha . The talk ahead of kick-off was that Sanchez simply does not perform as well when Ozil is on the pitch. In the first 45 minutes, they exchanged the ball a total of three times. That’s not to say that every player on the pitch must combine at all times, but Arsenal fans are within their rights to expect £72.5million worth of talent, playing next to each other in an attacking midfield trio, to develop some kind of wavelength. In the first half Sanchez, Arsenal’s best player this season by far, could not get into the game on the flank, making way for Ozil as No 10 since his comeback from injury. In October, there were stories in Chile, from newspaper La Tercera, that Sanchez and Ozil had fallen out. Sanchez felt the German was not giving him enough opportunities on the pitch, it was reported. From this performance, he would have a point. It took 22 minutes before they found one another, Sanchez passing into his team-mate. Sanchez cut in from the left hand side to score from a tight angle and end is run of eight games without a goal . Sanchez celebrates doubling Arsenal's lead mid way through the second half at Loftus Road . At one stage, the Chilean was screaming for the ball wide and free on the left, but Ozil went to play the switch and instead feinted. But perhaps it is not even about the pair of them being on the pitch together so much as Sanchez being wasted on the left. By the 62nd minute, he was clearly frustrated out wide when he made a run down the wing and Olivier Giroud failed to send the ball into his path. He let his team-mate know. In one red-hot period after he scored his first goal for the club against Besiktas he netted 12 in 14 games, from August to the start of November. Now it is just one in eight games, coinciding with Ozil’s return. When he ventured into the middle in the 47th minute, carried the ball into the box with a step-over before aiming one for the far right bottom corner, it was hard to see why he is not guaranteed a central spot all the time. He repeated the act in the 58th minute, growing in confidence with every shot on goal. These two acts alone far exceeded anything Ozil produced. Former Real Madrid playmaker Ozil complains to the referee after feeling he was fouled inside the area . World Cup-winning midfielder Ozil takes a corner during the first half of the Premier League match . Then as if to reaffirm his ability to score, he evaded the presence of young QPR full-back Daniel Furlong inside the box on the left, before firing a shot into Rob Green’s near post for Arsenal’s second. It is all well and good Sanchez displaying an enviable work-rate down the wing, one that surely impresses Arsene Wenger, but it’s more well and good if he is through the middle stretching defences to breaking point. Against QPR, this was not vintage Arsenal and they made hard work of a team fighting relegation, a team they should be sweeping aside. It cannot be denied that they are finding results, getting wins, but in the biggest match of their season, against Monaco, they were found lacking. As this game drew on, Sanchez displayed a lovely deftness of touch to control the ball with his knee then flick it over an opponent in one fluid motion. Where was he? In the middle of the attacking third. Where he belongs. Olivier Giroud stabs in Arsenal's first goal of the evening against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road . Charlie Austin scored a superb consolation goal late in the game after being given too much room . +It is a job that would move the most mild-mannered soul to explode in a Malcolm Tucker-esque burst of coarse cussing a dozen times a day. If you can’t deal with a steady stream of frustrations, don’t ever move into coaching - it’ll break your heart *and* send you halfway round the twist. Take Vern Cotter’s experiences yesterday. He’s picked his XV to take on England at Twickenham, the toughest test of this exasperating Six Nations campaign. Vern Cotter has had a difficult time of things, with Alex Dunbar picking up a late injury before Saturday's game . Coach Cotter said the 24-year-old centre Dunbar had played a key role in the Scotland XV . He’s watching the boys run through their paces in the final training session before catching a lunchtime flight to London, when Alex Dunbar – without another player within touching distance – changes direction and crumples to the turf. Suddenly one of his key men, a wrecking ball in attack and a bear in defence, is out not just of tomorrow’s Calcutta Cup clash, but the rest of this season – possibly including the World Cup. Stern Vern has to move from barking orders to comforting a young man facing up to a potential six months in rehab. If he didn’t believe in voodoo, hoodoos, juju and jinxes before he took the Scotland gig … . ‘We’re a team who don’t get things easy,’ said Cotter, looking more than a little shaken by the turn of events. ‘It’s another example of it. ‘It’s the kind of thing that can happen any time, of course. I will give you an example. Thursday training when I was in charge at Clermont, we had finished, I’d blown my whistle. Wesley Fofana and Jason White were running, laughing, Wesley tackles Jason and breaks his leg. These are just the things that happen, unfortunately.’ Cotter’s declaration that the squad may be brought closer together by the sudden loss of Dunbar - his team-mates moved to win one for the Gipper, so to speak - is understandable. It does no-one any good to start tearing cloth and weeping over the absence of one player, however influential. Matt Scott has ability and form enough to deputise, definitely, while recalls for Jim Hamilton at lock and David Denton at No8 should help Scotland in their bid to do something pretty ambitious – out-England the English big men. Dunbar, here showing his disappointment after Scotland's loss to Wales, awaits results of scans on his knee . How England and Scotland will line up for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash . ‘England are a big physical team and they play a very percentage-orientated game, based on occupation, field position and a strong pack,’ said Cotter. ‘They also have very good finishers in their team, strong runners, line breakers. So they are a team based around their power, their line-out and their scrum. ‘We’ve been looking at trying to compete – and put them under pressure in what they consider to be their strong points. Hopefully if we can contest there and keep the game as tight as possible for as long as possible, you never know. ‘Ireland got on top of them around the rucks and I think they will be more aggressive in that area to get the go-forward they didn’t get against Ireland. Ireland shut down their passing game and got them into an arm wrestle. ‘Defensively, Ireland played very well against them and didn’t let them put in several passes. They will have worked on how to counter those tactics. First and foremost, we look at our contact zone and our set piece. We have to be able to adapt. ‘We also need to be better in the air. We have known that since the start of the six Nations. We know that they use the ball in the air a fair bit. ‘Jim Hamilton is there for his experience. He knows their players very well and I think he may be able to unsettle them with his individual knowledge. He is there to give us that solid base at scrum and lineout.’ Dougie Fife wins just his fifth cap on the right wing, given the chance partly due to a Sean Maitland injury but also because Cotter likes ‘his energy, enthusiasm, his kick-chase,’ adding: ‘He is a young player who is strong, creates line breaks and is a finisher as well. It was tight, but we think his energy, especially in the aerial game, will be important.’ Alex Dunbar faces a race against time to be fit for the Rugby World Cup after injuring his knee at training . Cotter spoke in the aftermath of the home defeat to Italy about the brutal honesty required in order to fix the problems so obviously exposed, although he plays down any notion that he’s been tearing his players limb from metaphorical limb this week. Instead, he says that suffering that late loss might even be of long-term benefit to his squad, pointing out: ‘We were two minutes away from lauding the character of a young team for getting out of a tough situation with a scrum penalty. ‘In a lot of ways it has been a bit of a blessing because we can really look in depth at things that may have been ignored or smoothed over. We have had a good look at ourselves. Everybody. The coaches, the players, everybody.’ Addressing those promises of a bloody inquest into the worst performance of the campaign, he added: ‘Those things are always a little exaggerated. We were just very clear on what we want to see and what we expect. We need to learn from certain things. That was the theme behind this week’s training. ‘This weekend, there is the Calcutta Cup and the result two weeks ago. That means there has been more of an edge to training. It is always nice to have an objective. ‘We are two days away from playing for something that we could bring home. It has been a few years since Scotland won at Twickenham. No one is giving us much of a chance. I can understand that. But we will be measuring our improvements from two weeks ago and those things will help us develop our game and become more competitive.’ Hardly a rousing cri de coeur aimed at whipping his men into a frenzy. But, then, maybe he’s saving all his fired-up frustrations for the pre-match address. As the Six Nations rolls on to the penultimate weekend of the campaign, Cotter may have enough fuel left to strip the paint from the walls of Twickenham. +You could literally fry an egg on the tarmac at the Sepang circuit on Friday. The mercury nudged 140°F, but it is the steam-room humidity rather than the pure heat that will make Sunday's grand prix such a soppy, sapping and exhausting test of survival. Drivers will lose just under 7lb during the 90-minute race. For McLaren’s Jenson Button, preparation has included a week at the Thanyapura training facility, exercising outside rather than in the gym to acclimatise to the conditions. ‘Jenson will wear a cool vest before he gets into the car,’ explained Button’s physio Mike Collier. ‘It’s like an ice pack you would put into a cool box. British driver Jenson Button will have to battle extreme elements at the Malaysian Grand Prix . Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat uses dry ice to try and cool down in temperatures of  around 140°F . ‘If you have as much as a 10 per cent reduction in body weight during the race, you get the effects of heat stroke — loss of vision and lack of reactions. We want to keep it to under a five per cent reduction. ‘So he will have a pre-race drink made up of carbohydrates, electrolytes — minerals such as sodium — and protein. Former world champion Fernando Alonso cools down with a cold towel during practice in Sepang . Button's speeds through a practice session in the Malaysian heat, drivers are expected to lose 7lb in the race . ‘His supply for the race is contained in a kind of bladder. It is one of the last things to go into the car to keep it as cold as possible for as long as possible. 'He will get the drink by pressing the drinks button on the steering wheel. It goes through a series of tubes and through a hole in his balaclava into his mouth. ‘The drink will get extremely hot as the race goes on but it will still be beneficial to him. ‘He will then have a recovery drink over the four to six hours after the race. It is a slightly different composition — higher in carbohydrates, proteins and fats.’ Button speaks to wife Jessica Michibata ahead of the race on Sunday . +Millwall have dismissed manager Ian Holloway and installed club legend Neil Harris as they attempt to try and avoid relegation from The Championship. Chairman John Berylson and the board are believed to have lost patience with Holloway following Saturday's 4-1 home defeat against Norwich City and a decision was announced on Tuesday morning. Harris scored a club record 138 goals in 432 appearances for The Lions and currently works at The New Den coaching their elite development squad. Ian Holloway scratches his head, but time has run out for him to find the solutions to Millwall's problems . Jonathan Howson scored for Norwich during their 4-1 win over Millwall, the club's fourth straight defeat . He served as caretaker-manager last season after Millwall sacked Steve Lomas before appointing Holloway. The dismissal of Holloway is a devastating blow to one of football's most colourful and quotable managers. Known throughout the game as 'Olly', he helped Blackpool win promotion to the Premier League where they were only relegated on the final day with a defeat at Manchester United. Neil Harris, currently the elite development squad coach at Millwall, has been caretaker-manager before . Harris is a legend at Millwall, having scored over 100 times for the club as a player . Holloway fails to get his message across to his players in another defeat for the Championship strugglers . But since leaving Broomfield Road, Holloway was sacked by Crystal Palace and things haven't gone well at Millwall this season. The club have picked up only two wins from 15 matches and are eight points from safety. He was booed by fans at the weekend and now his 14-month tenure at the club is over. +Nine-man Cardiff survived a late Brentford onslaught to dent the home side's promotion charge with a smash-and-grab 2-1 win. All the goals came from goalkeeping blunders in a game which ended with Kadeem Harris and Federico Macheda both seeing red for Cardiff. Andre Gray gave the home side a first-half lead, but goals from Macheda and Alex Revell turned things round for Cardiff. Cardiff's Kadeem Harris was sent off for a reckless lunge on Brentford midfielder Alan Judge . The Welsh club came to west London with a game plan to stifle the fluent Bees by breaking the game up at every opportunity, and Brentford at times looked rattled by their physical approach. Yet the Bees took the lead midway through the first half after a howler by their former stopper Simon Moore, who could only parry Alex Pritchard's dipping free-kick into the path of Gray to bundle home from close range. The hosts should have put the game beyond doubt by the break, only an acrobatic Moore save denying Pritchard's deflected looping shot. Jota also caused havoc down the right flank and Gray twice went close to extending the lead before the break. Brentford striker Andre Gray beats Cardiff goalkeeper Simon Moore (left) to score opening goal . However, the Bluebirds upped the physical stakes after the interval and made Brentford pay for a lacklustre display. Macheda drew them level on 53 minutes when Brentford goalkeeper David Button collided with his own centre-back Harlee Dean and dropped the ball into the path of the Italian, who slid home from 12 yards. And the comeback was complete on 68 minutes when Button raced off his line to intercept a hopeful through ball and was caught in no man's land for Revell to chip home into the empty goal. However, the sheen was taken off the win by two red cards for the Welshmen. Alex Revell (left) celebrates scoring Cardiff's winner with Federico Macheda . Harris, on loan at Griffin Park last season, was the first to go on 78 minutes, having come on as a half-time sub, for a reckless lunge on Bees midfielder Alan Judge. And former Manchester United striker Macheda followed him to the dressing room with minutes remaining for a second yellow card. That sparked a frantic spell of pressure from Brentford which saw James Tarkoswski head over when well placed and Tommy Smith's goal-bound drive blocked by a melee of City bodies as Russell Slade's men held on. Cardiff almost snatched a third deep into stoppage time, but Kenwyne Jones squandered a gilt-edged chance to give the scoreline a flattering feel by blazing over after racing on to a through ball with the home defence committed. CHARLTON 1-3 BLACKBURN . A clinical double from Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes ensured victory against lacklustre Charlton. It was Blackburn’s third win of the season over Charlton, having already beaten them 2-0 in the reverse fixture and 2-1 in the FA Cup at the Valley. Blackburn keeper Jason Steele takes out Charlton Athletic's Igor Vetokele and gives away a penalty . Alex Baptiste of Blackburn and Igor Vetokele chase after the ball . Gary Bowyer’s side have now lost only one of their last nine games in all competitions, and the win keeps alive slim play-off hopes. Craig Conway was also on target for Blackburn, while Yoni Buyens pulled one back from the spot. Bowyer was delighted with Scottish international Rhodes, and said: ‘I thought his two goals were outstanding quality. The second one is a great piece of poaching and a sublime finish, and the first one is an unbelievable finish from a great bit of quick play from us.’ LEEDS 0-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST . Dougie Freedman was happy to go home with a draw after Nottingham Forest’s stalemate at Leeds. Forest had won six of their first eight games under the Scot to raise hopes of a late run to the play-offs. There was no denying Forest had the better moments as Chris Burke and Ben Osborn drew smart saves from Leeds keeper Marco Silvestri, but they could not get past the Italian and headed back down the M1 with a point. Freedman said: ‘I’m happy with a point. Because of the run we’re on and the standards we’ve set, we expect to win games. ‘We have to be realistic and to come to Leeds and get a point is a good result. We were the better team, and we had better chances.’ ROTHERHAM 1-2 WIGAN . Wigan kept survival hopes alive as two free-kicks from Jermaine Pennant helped close the gap on Rotherham. The win was Malky Mackay’s side’s fourth straight away victory, and gives them a glimmer of hope ahead of the end-of-season run in. Mackay said: ‘Jermaine’s delivery on both was sensational. It’s not until you look at it again that you see exactly what he did, and how he has executed them.’ Matt Derbyshire pulled one back, but it was not enough to save Rotherham. BIRMINGHAM 1-1 HUDDERSFIELD . Joe Lolley, a product of Birmingham’s academy, returned to St Andrew’s to earn Huddersfield a rare away point with a vital equaliser. Huddersfield Town's Joe Lolley (far right) scores the equaliser against Birmingham . Making only his third start since being signed from Kidderminster for £300,000 a year ago, the 22-year-old justified manager Chris Powell’s decision to play him against his former club when he cancelled out David Cotterill’s opener. Powell said: ‘Joe is a real natural talent, but I would like to see the day when he can last 90 minutes. ‘We are just trying to cajole him. We are trying to get that talent shown regularly out on the pitch.’ SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1-1 FULHAM . Stuart Gray felt his Sheffield Wednesday side should have been given a free-kick for diving in the build-up to Fulham’s equaliser. Fulham striker Matt Smith is surrounded by Sheffield Wednesday players . Fulham midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe went down in the Wednesday area before poking the ball to goalscorer Matt Smith in the 75th minute. The goal cancelled out a header from Wednesday substitute Stevie May. Gray said: ‘I think the referee shouted play-on because he presumed the lad had dived. That’s what the lads are saying, so if he thought he dived you would have thought he’d have pulled up and given us a free-kick. You’re taught as a kid to play until the whistle goes, and we did seem to stop.’ BOLTON 2-0 MILLWALL . Neil Lennon described Adam Le Fondre as a ‘priceless commodity’ after watching his on-loan striker shoot down Millwall. Bolton's Paddy McCarthy (left) challenges Lee Gregory of Millwall . Le Fondre now has five goals in 10 games since his arrival from Cardiff, and Bolton boss Lennon said: ‘They were two great finishes, and he is our joint second top-scorer and he has only been in the building since late January. ‘It is a priceless commodity being a goalscorer, and he has done that his whole career.’ New Millwall manager Neil Harris admitted: ‘We are in a difficult position, and there are no promises from anyone in the dressing room as to what we are going to do.’ BRIGHTON 1-1 WOLVES . A late goal from Rajiv van La Parra rescued a point for play-off chasers Wolves. Spanish defender Bruno Saltor raised hopes of a fourth successive home win for Brighton, but Wolves hit back to equalise four minutes later when Van La Parra’s cross went in off David Stockdale. The Brighton keeper then produced a brilliant late save to deny Bakary Sako, and Wolves manager Kenny Jackett said: ‘It was a close game, and a fantastic save at the end to deny us. ‘We have to keep pushing. Two teams above us lost and we have two important games coming up. We would have loved three points, but thin dividing lines decide games. ‘A number of clubs are looking for promotion, and it is still open for us.’ +You know you’re having a bad day at the office when Crystal Palace’s Joel Ward is celebrating a goal like he’s Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s precisely what happened to hopeless Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. Ward converted Crystal Palace’s third goal inside 42 minutes at a rampant Selhurst Park after earlier strikes from Wilfried Zaha and James McArthur. Joe Ward (right) pulls his best Cristiano Ronaldo celebration after scoring the Eagles' third goal . The Crystal Palace defender wheels away after scoring his side's third goal in the 3-1 victory . Ward is chased by his Crystal Palace team-mates as he races towards the corner flag . Ward takes part in the beginning of his Ronaldo-esque goal celebration as fans laugh behind . Ronaldo shows hos his trademark celebration ends after netting against Schalke in midweek . Ronaldo's trademark celebration fails to win over Liverpool fans during a Champions League clash . And Such was Ward’s enthusiasm with his first goal in close to 100 appearances for the Eagles, you can perhaps forgive him for his rather cringe-worthy celebration. Picking up the ball inside the QPR penalty area, Ward slotted the ball past Rangers stopper Rob Green with a cool left-footed strike. The 25-year-old then sprinted off towards the corner flag before leaping up in the air and stretching his arms behind his back. Ronaldo hasn’t played in the Premier League for the best part of six years following his mega-money move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009. But for a moment it was as if the world footballer of the year was back in England’s top flight. Alan Pardew has taken struggling Crystal Palace to within two points of his former club Newcastle . Wilfried Zaha was credited with opening the scoring before colliding heavily with the goal post . James McArthur gestures to his shin after doubling the Eagles' lead at Selhurst Park . It summed up an embarrassing 45 minutes from QPR who are set to be cast further adrift of Aston Villa as they, along with Burnley and Leicester City, stare at immediate relegation back to the Championship. In contrast, Palace, flying-high under Alan Pardew, are set to move to within two points of his old team Newcastle in 11th place. It isn’t the first time a Premier League star has mimicked one of Ronaldo’s iconic celebrations. Earlier this season, Peter Crouch attracted much hilarity when he puffed out his chest in the same vein as the Real Madrid star after scoring in Stoke’s win against Arsenal. Stoke striker Peter Crouch (centre) raised a smile by copying Ronaldo after scoring against Arsenal . +Andy Murray's immediate reward for scoring his 500th career win on Tuesday night was to be presented with a giant green cake that would threaten to add a few inches to any man's waistline. The deeper satisfaction will have been in passing a significant landmark that few manage, and it came with a hard-fought 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over South African Kevin Anderson that sees him into the last eight of the Miami Open. He now faces Austria's 21 year-old world No 52 Dominic Thiem after becoming the 47th man to get 500 wins since the game went completely open to amateurs and professionals in 1968. Andy Murray pretends to take a bite out a celebratory cake presented to him after winning his 500th match . Andy Murray gets pumped up on his way to victory over Kevin Anderson at the Miami Open . Murray completed the 500th victory of his professional career to reach Miami Open quarter finals . Big serving Anderson (left) took the British No 1 to three sets in the Florida sunshine . Federer - 1012 . Nadal - 721 . Djokovic - 625 . Ferrer - 623 . Hewitt - 612 . Haas - 561 . Berdych - 507 . Robredo - 505 . Murray - 500 . That averages out at one per year and it is a fitting testament to Murray's admirable consistency at the top of the game. Only nine active players can claim the same distinction. It was also a day notable for British tennis gaining a second, ready-made top 100 player, as Slovenian-born world No 83 Aljaz Bedene confirmed that he has received British citizenship and will be playing under the Union Jack. After carefully managing not to take a bite from his garish acreage of confectionery Murray contemplated the feat and said, 'It's an amazing feeling, winning matches these days is extremely tough. Murray proudly poses with the cake, saying 'It's an amazing feeling' after reaching the 500 club . A close up of the commemorative cake presented to Murray after the match in Key Biscayne . Murray shakes hands with the towering South African after a hard fought three set battle . Murray speaks to the umpire after being given a time violation during the Masters 1000 tournament . The British No 1 is one of only nine current players to reach the 500 wins milestone (see above) CLICK HERE to read the most memorable moments from Andy Murray's 500 wins . 'It's very pleasing and not something I expected to do when I first came on tour. It's great to do it here in Miami where I spent a lot of time training and put in do a lot of the hard work.' This has been a prosperous tournament for him, and it was a 25th victory at this Masters level event. There was plenty of high quality tennis as he just about defused the power of the giant South African world No 15, despite suffering a lull that saw him fall 0-4 behind in the second set. He will soon be joined in the British ranks by 25 year-old Bedene, who since 2008 has lived in Welwyn Garden City with his girlfriend Kimalie, a pop star in her native land who is a protégée of renowned record producer Jeff Wayne. Bedene attended a citizenship ceremony in Hatfield on Tuesday and will formally receive his passport within the next two weeks and start entering tournaments as a British player. Murray's fiancee watches from the shade of her hat at the tournament in Key Biscayne . Kim Sears was made to wait until the final set before seeing her beau get through to the last eight . However, whether he can play Davis Cup for GB is a different matter, as he has three times been in the Slovenian squad, albeit never having played a 'live' rubber. He is appealing a new rule banning players from representing two nations on the basis that his citizenship application was being processed when it was introduced. Bedene is the most significant British tennis import since Greg Rusedski. An athletic and agile baseliner, he has already been ranked 71 in the world and after being held back by injuries last year ought to be heading into the top 50 before too long. 'This is something I have wanted since the moment I stepped foot in this beautiful country,' he said. ' I feel honoured to be able to compete under the Union Jack on the ATP Tour. Davis Cup is another dream and one I will have to fight for with everything I have.' He is unlikely to figure for GB in July's quarter final against France, especially after the heroics of James Ward against the USA. However, he would be a huge asset in any clay court ties. Slovenian-born world No 83 Aljaz Bedene has received citizenship to play for Great Britain . +France set themselves up for their last-day showdown with title-chasing England at Twickenham by shutting out Italy in Rome yesterday. Coach Philippe Saint-Andre praised his side’s resilience after they bounced back from two successive defeats in the Six Nations to overcome Italy in a scrappy match. Les Bleus scored two tries and five penalties to seal an emphatic victory at the Stadio Olimpico after a dour first half in which a wet ball and rain-soaked pitch led both sides into a string of handling errors. France's Yoann Maestri (right) scores a try against Italy - one of his side's two in the match . Scott Spedding (left) tries to break through the challenge of Luca Morisi and Andrea Masi . Camille Lopez of France clears the ball downfield during the RBS 6 Nations match between Italy and France . France went into the break leading 9-0 after two penalties from fly-half Camille Lopez and one from full-back Scott Spedding but broke away in the second half with tries from second-rower Yoann Maestri and replacement centre Mathieu Bastareaud. Replacement Jules Plisson converted both tries and added two penalties. The relentless French defence, with only one missed tackle all match, stifled any hope for Italy. Italy's George Biagi wins a line out during the Six Nations match at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy . Sergio Parisse (left) tries to bring down France's Noa Nakaitaci during the match on Sunday . Giovanbattista Venditti (R) of Italy competes for the ball with Bernard Le Roux of France . ‘We had a team today that’s for sure. In terms of commitment and aggression and defensively as well,’ Saint-Andre said, singling out flanker Thierry Dusautoir, celebrating his 50th match as captain. ‘Our scrum was of very high quality,’ the coach added. Dusautoir acknowledged that after defeats by Ireland and Wales, France were under pressure to produce ahead of the trip to Twickenham. ‘It was a big test today. In our last few matches, we weren’t able to find this defiance, or quality or this hunger,’ he said. ‘The first half maybe wasn’t very productive but it wore them down and it allowed us to end the match well,’ he said. Going in to the final weekend of the Six Nations, four teams - England, Ireland, Wales and France - are still in with a shout of claiming the trophy. Here's how each can be victorious. Franceis Maxime Mermoz (second right) is tackled by Andrea Masi (centre) and Luciano Orquera (right) Referee JP Doyle (left) insists that Morisi (right) must be substituted after a head injury during the match . Morisi makes a pass as Lopez (left) closes in for the challenge the Six Nations match at Stadio Olimpico . +Australian tennis pro Bernard Tomic allegedly told a teenage girl he had a stash of cocaine worth $50,000, court documents say. The young woman claims the 22-year-old sports star told her about the drugs while they were both at nightclub boss and developer Jamie Pickering’s penthouse in Surfers Paradise, Queensland. The teenager’s allegation was heard at Southport Magistrates court, on the Gold Coast, on March 12, during a magistrate’s decision, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports. Magistrate Ron Kilner’s written decision said Pickering will have to stand trial for four counts of supplying cocaine, two of which were to minors. Scroll down for video . Australian tennis pro Bernard Tomic allegedly boasted to a teenage girl that he had a stash of cocaine worth $50,000 . Nightclub boss Jamie Pickering is pictured here with tennis ace Bernard Tomic . Pickering is accused of supplying cocaine to girls as young as 16, between January and April, last year at his Surfers Paradise penthouse. The nightclub owner is a friend of Tomic and the tennis star has previously partied at Pickering’s establishments such as Varsity and Sin City nightclub on the Gold Coast. Pickering told the Gold Coast Bulletin that if Tomic did talk about cocaine to the girl it would have been a joke because ‘he doesn’t touch anything or even go near it’. ‘If it was said, I know it was in jest,’ Pickering said. Pickering said Tomic would have no idea his name had been mentioned in court and was trying to contact him to let him know. ‘Puffery, people make jokes — if he said it, it was purely as a joke, and like I say it could only have been in jest. He would not have been serious in any way,’ Pickering reassured the paper. Tomic was famously photographed partying at Pickering’s Sin City nightclub in 2013 while preparing for the upcoming Australian Open . He was snapped enjoying a lapdance from two women at the club . Tomic was at the club during Schoolies week with Big Brother 2013 winner Tim Dormer . Tomic’s name was mentioned by Magistrate Kilner as he spoke about the statements from four girls who claimed they’d seen a white powdery substance at Pickering’s penthouse. They believed it was cocaine but one girl admitted that no one had identified the powder as drugs or cocaine. Mr Kilner said in the decision: ‘The only exception to that statement was when Bernard Tomic stated to her on one occasion that he had $50,000 worth of cocaine.’ No charges have been made or considered against Tomic. Pickering also told the Gold Coast Bulletin he strongly denied the charges against him. Tomic currently lives in Monaco but lived on the Gold Coast in Queensland for 15 years . No charges have been made or considered against Tomic, police confirmed . Tomic, who is ranked world No. 35, moved to the Gold Coast in 1996 at the age of three when his family migrated from Germany. He currently lives in Monaco in Europe but returns to Australia to visit friends. On one such trip, he was famously photographed partying at Pickering’s Sin City nightclub in 2013 while preparing for the upcoming Australian Open. Tomic was pictured shirtless while enjoying a lapdance from two women during Schoolies week with Big Brother 2013 winner Tim Dormer. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Bernard Tomic's management for comment. Tomic, seen here at the 2015 Australian Open at Melbourne Park, is currently ranked world No. 35 . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Arsenal are searching for a fourth consecutive Premier League win at Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday night as they look to chase down second-placed Manchester City. With a nine-point gap to leaders Chelsea, the title looks to be beyond Arsene Wenger's men yet again despite their recent good form. But would finishing as runners-up to Jose Mourinho's men be good enough for a club with 13 titles to its name? Arsenal fan Lee Hurley of blog Daily Cannon tells us whether coming second would be a success for the Gunners. Just four points from second place, Arsenal haven’t finished that high in the league for 10 years and it can be no coincidence that their surge to catch the oil-rich Manchester City comes after the Emirates-austerity period has ended. But while it represents an improvement in the eyes of fans, it can’t be the end of Arsenal’s ambitions and it won’t be seen as success in its own right. This is a club that wins titles, 13 of them for those who think football was just invented in 2005 when Chelsea decided to start buying trophies as they couldn’t win them any other way. Arsenal players look dejected during the Monaco defeat as they now face a daunting second leg comeback . Arsene Wenger found it painful viewing as his Arsenal side capitulated in a 3-1 defeat by Monaco . Alexis Sanchez has been a star performer for the Gunners this season as they seek a top-two finish . In a league that contains clubs who have been outspending Arsenal significantly, to finish second is not to be sniffed at and had it not been for the crippling injury problems that afflicted Arsenal, again, at the start of this season, who knows how much closer to Chelsea they might have been. But that’s how it’s been with Arsenal over the past 10 years – a severe case of the ‘might have beens’ – what might have been had they not lost so many top players to City and Barcelona and United, or if Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny not been monumental idiots in the League Cup final, or the oil money not flooded in as soon as the club lay the foundations for the Emirates or Eduardo’s leg not been snapped in 2008 when Arsenal were running away with the league or last season when injuries did the same, albeit in a less dramatic fashion. Or, or, or.... If I’m honest, it's all got a little tedious for many fans, which is why the FA Cup success last season was celebrated so wildly – a nice little change of pace from finishing fourth and embarrassing ourselves in the knockouts. The departures of Thierry Henry (left) and Cesc Fabregas (right) to Barcelona in the past were huge blows . Arsenal players Mathieu Flamini (left), Olivier Giroud (middle) and Aaron Ramsey (right) celebrate FA Cup success in May 2014 - the club's ended a nine-year trophy drought . Wenger has come under a barrage of criticism from Arsenal fans after last Wednesday's defeat to Monaco . I can’t speak for all Arsenal fans. Such is the divide between Gooners, nobody could do that (so don’t trust anyone who claims they do). For some fans nothing short of a trophy every year would represent success to them, regardless of how stupid that expectation is. For others they recognise how hard it is to just get in the top four every year (don’t believe me, ask Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester United, even Chelsea who dropped out for a season) and how the footballing landscape has changed so dramatically over the past decade. Ultimately, football is about what you can celebrate and while it’s great fun to get into the Champions League every year, at least until the group stages are over, it’s just not the same as watching your captain lift aloft that great big trophy. After years of scrapping fourth, I’d be more than content should Arsenal grab second place. I want more, though, and I think that is the one and only thing that unites Arsenal fans – they all want more. How patient we all plan to be for it to arrive is another matter altogether. Daily Cannon is part of the Football Collective blogger network. Follow them on Twitter @DailyCannon. +Former Chelsea star Salomon Kalou is being sued for €10,000 (£7,100) after appearing to smash a lump out of the Berlin Wall with a hammer and chisel. Kalou, who is now at Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin, was filmed chiseling the Wall by German terrestrial broadcaster ARD in a preview video for Hertha's game against Schalke on Saturday. The clip, which was filmed in the autumn, was shown in the Olympic Stadium before the game, and repeated on ARD's Saturday night highlights show Sportschau. Former Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou was filmed taking a piece out of the Berlin Wall . TV presenter Gerhard Delling was left stunned after seeing Kalou take a chunk out of the Berlin Wall . The Ivory Coast international could be hit with a £7,100 fine after smashing lump out of Wall . The producers had come up with the idea of the hammer and chisel as a metaphor for Kalou's task of smashing his way into Schalke's rigid defence, with the Berlin Wall representing Schalke coach Roberto Di Matteo's unpopular defensive style. The former Chelsea man obliged unquestioningly, and set about attacking a section of the East Side Gallery, an open air graffiti exhibition which is one of the longest remaining sections of the Wall. The Ivorian was apparently unaware that the Gallery, which attracts more than a million tourists a year, is protected under German monument protection law. Not only that, but the gallery is beloved of many Berliners, with hundreds joining David Hasselhoff and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters to protest against its partial dismantlement last year. Kani Alavi, head of the artist's initiative in charge of East Side Gallery, was particularly incensed by Kalou's actions. 'When I initially saw the pictures, I nearly fell off the sofa,' Alavi said. 'Some celebrity is promoting himself at the cost of a monument, and public broadcasters are playing along. It shows a lack of respect. I'm very disappointed.' ARD producers came up with idea ahead of Hertha Berlin's match against Schalke in reference to Roberto Di Matteo's defensive approach . Hertha Berlin striker Kalou played the full 90 minutes of his side's 2-2 draw with Schalke . The initiative has now made an official complaint to the police, and is looking to sue Kalou for around €10,000 (£7,100) worth of damage. The actual extent of the damage, and whether or not Kalou or the broadcaster will be held responsible, remains unclear. 'It's not the first time it's happened,' Alavi told BZ. 'We had a case a few years ago where someone was caught daubing the wall without permission, and they were ordered to pay €2,500 (£1,800) by the court. Alavi was not the only one shocked by the clip. When it was broadcast on Sportschau, presenter Gerhard Delling was visibly taken aback, saying 'he's really taken a piece out of the Wall, there. The beautiful, old Berlin Wall!'. Delling's comment led to even more uproar, and the presenter was forced to defend himself against accusations of nostalgia for the oppressive Wall. +Incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves has promised an inquiry if the upcoming tour to face a 'mediocre' West Indies side does not go to plan. England's Test team are third in the world and are expected to return from the Caribbean with a success, which would be the ideal preparation ahead of an Ashes summer. A Test series boost will also go a long way in restoring faith in the coaching staff - head coach Peter Moores in particular - who have come in for criticism after the World Cup group-stage exit. Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves vows an inquiry if England don't beat West Indies in their Test series . England coach Peter Moores is under pressure after England's disastrous World Cup . However, Graves has sounded a grim warning should Alastair Cook's team fail to beat West Indies, especially as the islanders will be be losing the likes of Chris Gayle to Twenty20 franchises in India. 'If we don't win, I can tell you now there will be some inquiries of why we haven't,' Graves told BBC Radio Leeds. 'I'd certainly be disappointed if we don't win the West Indies series, because I am pretty sure the West Indies are going to have a mediocre team. 'A lot of their stars are going to be playing in the Indian Premier League anyway, not in the Tests, so we should win that series.' Graves is due to start his job at the ECB in May, amid reports of a potential international return for Kevin Pietersen, with the exiled batsman hopeful of first signing for an English county. Test captain Alastair Cook struggled for form in the MCC's nine-wicket defeat to Yorkshire on Tuesday . But before all of that, Graves accepts the board has to start getting back to its roots. With Tom Harrison having taken charge as the new chief executive, Graves added: 'I think we've been seen as a governing body who might have been a bit aloof or a bit away from the coal face. 'I want to get back to the coal face, and our new chief exec is of the same opinion. That's top of the list. 'We want to be open, transparent and we want to work with the counties and everybody else, all the stakeholders, to make sure that we are doing the right thing.' West Indies will be without destructive batsman Chris Gayle who will be playing in the Indian Premier League . +A well-known male panda living in Taipei, Taiwan, has failed to complete his most important job of the year because he was distracted by an apple. When Tuantuan's long-term mating partner, Yuanyuan, was in heat last week - a precious window lasting about 72 hours every year - and Taipei Zoo went to great lengths to entice them to mate naturally. Determined: To celebrity panda Tuantuan, an apple is much more attractive than his long-term girlfriend Yuanyuan who, was on annual heat last week . But the food they used to guide Tuantuan into position ruined the plan, as the 10-year-old male ditched his girlfriend and leapt towards the apple, according to People's Daily Online. Despite the fact that Yuanyuan repeatedly lifted up her tail, a sign to show she was in heat, Tuantuan changed direction and went for the apple dangled in front of him. Female pandas are generally only in heat once a year for one to three days. In order not to miss Yuanyuan's heat period, Taipei Zoo decided to obtain sperm from Tuantuan through an operation. Yuanyuan was artificially inseminated twice the same night. Gift: The two pandas were given to Taiwan from mainland China in 2008 as a diplomatic present. Their combined name 'tuan yuan' means reunion in Chinese . Stardom: The pair landed in Taipei in December 2008. Thousands went to the zoo to welcome them and millions more watched the event on television . A spokesman from the zoo said they will discover whether the inseminations were successful in about three months. The two pandas were given as a gift to Taiwan from mainland China in 2008. Their combined name 'tuan yuan' means 'reunion' in Chinese. The two became parents for the first time when a baby girl cub called Yuanzai was born in summer 2013. The pair have become local celebrities. The zoo allows up to 19,200 visitors to the pandas section every day and all visitors are asked to enter a lottery in order to get in. +Need some help and inspiration deciding who to back at Cheltenham? Sportsmail's Peter Scudamore and Marcus Townend reveal their favourites while Sky Sports News HQ presenter Alex Hammond and other celebrities have also shared their tips for the Festival. PETER SCUDAMORE . Eight-time champion jockey and rider of 13 Festival winners . DOUVAN . (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, 1.30) Rated one of the best horses Irish trainer Willie Mullins has brought to the meeting, which is saying something. Having beaten some very decent opposition without coming off the bridle, it is impossible to truly measure his merit but the vibes are strong and he should be able to successfully start what could be an amazing afternoon for Mullins and his stable jockey Ruby Walsh. L’Ami Serge looks best of the British but that might not be good enough. BEST ODDS: 13-8 . Douvan, pictured at the gallops, is rated one of the best horses Willie Mullins has brought to the meeting . UN DE SCEAUX . (Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase, 2.05) Another Mullins-trained hot-pot. Fell when clear on his steeplechasing debut but has since pulverised some good performers including Tuesday’s rival Clarcam by 15 lengths in January. Some fear his temperament might get the better of him given the atmosphere but he was far more tractable for Walsh on that last run. BEST ODDS: 8-13 . THE NEW ONE . (Champion Hurdle, 3.20) My pick to derail the Mullins bandwagon by beating hot favourite Faugheen and his two-time champion stablemate Hurricane Fly. Some say the gelding trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by his son Sam wasn’t as unlucky as he looked last year when almost brought down at the third hurdle and his failure to keep up on the run to the home turn was crucial. But that ignores how significant a loss of momentum and rhythm can be in a top-quality race. BEST ODDS: 7-2 . ANNIE POWER . (OLBG mares’ hurdle, 4.00) Mullins has won this race with Quevega for the last six years and this mare, whose only career defeat came in last year’s World Hurdle, could be even better. Kept off the track all season by injury but only needs to be near her best to beat a field of inferior rivals. BEST ODDS: 8-13 . The New One is Peter Scudamore's tip to beat favourite Faugheen and Hurricane Fly . MARCUS TOWNEND . SEEDLING . (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, 1.30) Fair form last season but really flourished this term winning all three races. That includes giving weight and a length-and-a-half beating to Tuesday’s rival Some Plan at Cheltenham in December. The run looks even better when you factor in his bad jumping error at the fourth flight. Trainer Warren Greatrex has his string back in good form after quiet spell. BEST ODDS: 20-1 . SGT RECKLESS . (Arkle Challenge Trophy, 2.05) Lacks experience, racing over fences only once when winning at Uttoxeter in October having been kept away from the worst of the winter ground. Winning a Flat race on the all-weather is unconventional preparation but Mick Channon’s gelding was a fast finishing fourth in last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and has frame claims if he can pounce off a strong pace set by favourite Un De Sceaux. BEST ODDS: 16-1 . L’UNIQUE . (OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, 4.00) Annie Power is the red-hot favourite for the race but Alan King’s L’Unique looks a great each-way option. She is a Grade One winner who peaks in the spring and was third in this race last year. She also has a decent weight pull for her course defeat by Polly Peachum. BEST ODDS: 16-1 . Sgt Reckless was a fast finishing fourth in last year's Supreme Novices' Hurdle . Sky Sports' Alex Hammond is backing The New One . AND THE CELEBS... Here's who the celebs are backing in the Champion Hurdle. ............................................................................ SIR PETER O’SULLEVAN - Legendary racing commentator . JEZKI . Faugheen might be anything but at the prices, last year’s winner looks the each-way bet. ............................................................................ JAMES SIMPSON-DANIEL - Former rugby union star turned bookmaker . FAUGHEEN . I have been a fan all season and those who say he has beaten nothing are wrong. ........................................................................... HAYLEY TURNER - Professional jockey . FAUGHEEN . Willie Mullins’ star gelding is one of my strongest fancies for the whole of the Festival week. ALEX HAMMOND - Sky Sports News HQ presenter . THE NEW ONE . Unlucky in this race last year and I prefer to back a proven hurdler rather than one with potential. He should have a better race this time round. IWAN THOMAS - Former 400m athlete and TV presenter . FAUGHEEN . The popular choice but I hope he can live up to the nickname ‘Faugheen the Machine’. +Diego Costa is never short of controversy and Sunday was no different as he played a prominent role in Chelsea's 2-0 win against Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final. The 26-year-old clashed with Tottenham trio Eric Dier, Nabil Bentaleb and Kyle Walker in the first half of the game, as he got stuck into Mauricio Pochettino's men. Here, Sportsmail looks at Diego Costa's main moments from the Wembley showdown. 7min: It didn't take long for Costa to pick his first personal fight of the afternoon. The striker loses possession after seeing the ball whipped from him by Eric Dier's sliding challenge - with the Chelsea man in no uncertain terms letting the Spurs defender know what he thought of the challenge. Diego Costa (right) feels the full force of a crunching challenge from Tottenham defender Eric Dier (left) The 26-year-old reacts angrily to the challenge from the Spurs youngster in the opening stages of the game . The Chelsea striker (second left) and Nabil Bentaleb (right) have to be separated by referee Anthony Taylor . 29min: Moving on from Dier, Costa then upsets Nabil Bentaleb, raking his hand down the face of the Algerian while blind to the Spurs midfielder. Play is waved on despite the duo tussling right in front of referee Anthony Taylor. 29min: Walker and Costa are then caught at loggerheads moments later as they have their own falling out following a duel for possession. Bentaleb (right) hits out at Costa, while the Chelsea man looks on undeterred (middle) Walker (right) reacts furiously to Costa (left) after the Chelsea striker winds the Spurs defender up . Chelsea's main man picked up a coin that was thrown on to the pitch in the first half - tucking it into his shorts. Every little helps after all... 31min: Costa sure does know how to wind Spurs up - that's for sure. Dier - who earlier in the match he clashed with - receives a booking after the Chelsea man goes down under a sliding challenge from him. Spurs players and Dier alike, are furious with the decision. 45min: Dier is lucky to remain on the field after another exchange with Costa, with the latter rolling around in perceived agony following a kick from the 21-year-old. The combative striker picks up a coin that found its way on the pitch during the first half . Chelsea's main man pockets the coin as he tucks it into his shorts shortly after . Dier (second left) can't believe his eyes after being yellow carded for a challenge on Costa (far right) 56min: He's never one to stay out of the headlines and today has been no different. Costa's deflected effort - which goes down as a Walker own goal - looks to all but have secured the Capital One Cup for Chelsea after linking up well with Cesc Fabregas - a familiar scenario for Blues supporters who have watched their side throughout this season. 93min: Costa is replaced in stoppage time by veteran striker and Chelsea's Wembley hero many a time over the years - Didier Drogba. The striker is given a rousing applause by the Chelsea faithful with cries of 'Diego' echoing around Wembley. A job well done in his first cup final for the West Londoners. The Chelsea striker fires a fierce left-footed drive from a tight angle on goal - which deflects off Walker . The Spaniard celebrates after he celebrates Walker's own goal - which came as a result of his strike . Costa (left) celebrates Capital One Cup success with captain John Terry (right) after the match . +Dirk Kuyt has hailed former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard as the best player he has ever played with. The 34-year-old forward spent six years at Anfield having joined from Feyenoord in 2006. The Dutchman moved on to Fenerbahce in 2012 after more than 200 appearances for the Anfield side, and he was full of praise for the Liverpool captain. Dirk Kuyt believes that Steven Gerrard is the best player he has ever player alongside . Kuyt spent six years at Anfield playing alongside the Liverpool captain between 2006 and 2012 . Kuyt was supposed to be part of a Liverpool charity match between a Jamie Carragher XI and a Gerrard XI but has pulled out due to injury. He told The Sun: 'I have had time on the pitch with some greats - Luis Suarez, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Fernando Torres. All fantastic players but for me Gerrard was the best of them all. 'Steven saw I would do everything for my team. In my first season there I played as a second striker and scored 14. But the next year we signed Tores and I moved out to the right. I did that without any problems and Steven liked that. Gerrard will leave Liverpool this summer to join MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy after spending his entire career at Anfield. +Monbeg Dude has been given the all-clear to run in the Crabbie’s Grand National at Aintree on April 11 after disappointing trainer Michael Scudamore at the Cheltenham Festival. Scudamore has also revealed a shot at the Grade One Celebration Chase at Sandown on April 25 is one of the options for Grand Annual Chase winner Next Sensation. Monbeg Dude, the gelding part owned by former England rugby union captain Mike Tindall and fellow international James Simpson-Daniel, was a never-dangerous 14th in the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase under Paul Carberry. Trainer Michael Scudamore has given Monbeg Dude the green light to race at the Grand National . Scudamore has run a series of tests on the 10-year-old, who was seventh in last year’s National. With the results coming up negative, Scudamore believes the most likely reason for Monbeg Dude’s below par effort was his resentment of a tongue tie being fitted for the first time. The trainer said: ‘We were disappointed with his Cheltenham run but he has come back fine. There is no reason not to run at Aintree and the tongue tie will be left off. ‘We think maybe he did not enjoy running in it even though he has plenty of experience of it being fitted at home.’ Tom Scudamore celebrates winning the A.P. McCoy Grand Annual Handicap Chase with New Sensation . Scudamore is not thinking of Aintree for Next Sensation and the gelding has options at both Ayr and Punchestown but the trainer is tempted by the Celebration Chase. Scudamore added: ‘We are looking at Ayr and Punchestown, although my only worry about Ireland, given he is a nervy character, is the travelling. The Celebration Chase is in the back of my mind. They are talking of taking (2014 winner) Sire De Grugy there but there are usually only five or six runners.’ Scudamore will discuss Monbeg Dude jockey plans in the next week and also looking for a rider is Neil Mulholland, whose The Druids Nephew, a 12-1 Grand National shot, won the Cheltenham race they both contested. Barry Geraghty is hoping to return for the Punchestown Festival after falling and breaking his shinbone . Mulholland has lost both first choice Barry Geraghty, who broke shinbone in a fall on Sunday, and second choice Davy Russell, who broke his arm 24 hours earlier. Geraghty is hoping to be back in action for the Punchestown Festival which starts on April 28. Mange All, trained by William Haggas, has been trimmed to 11-2 favourite for Saturday’s Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster by William Hill. +Trainer Michael Scudamore is hoping a breathing operation will make the crucial difference between Next Sensation winning the Grand Annual Chase after last year’s near miss. The eight-year-old put in a spectacular front-running performance in the Festival finale before fading into fourth beaten one and three-quarter lengths by Savello. It was initially hoped the improving gelding might even be up to challenging the top two-mile chasers this season but he has failed to win in four runs, most recently at Newbury in November. Consequently, he lines up in the Grand Annual off a mark only 1lb higher than he raced off 12 months ago. Next Sensation ridden by jockey Tom Scudamore in The Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Steeple Chase . Jockey Davy Russell on Savello (right) wins the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase . Scudamore, who also plans to saddle Grand National contender Monbeg Dude at the Festival, said: ‘He had a racecourse gallop and that went very well and a breathing operation since his last run. ‘Hopefully, that and better ground we will see him back to somewhere he should be. ‘He hates the soft ground and every time we have run him this year it has nearly been heavy. We actually thought he ran a great race at Newbury considering the conditions.’ Monbeg Dude goes onto finish third in The Betfred Grand National Trial at Haydock Park . Sponsors William Hill make David Pipe’s Bidourey 6-1 favourite to preserve his unbeaten record in the Imperial Cup at Sandown on Saturday. Bidourey holds Festival entries in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle and would secure a £100,000 bonus if he manages to win the Imperial Cup and go on to success at Cheltenham. Pipe has won the Imperial Cup three times in the last 10 years, twice with four-year-olds – Gaspara in 2007 and Ashkazar in 2008. Gaspara successfully secured the bonus with success in the Fred Winter but Ashkazar was second. Bidourey ridden jumps the last to win the Nomad Novices' Hurdle Race at Leicester Racecourse . Irish trainer Gordon Elliott has booked crack amateur jockey Jamie Codd to ride Cause of Causes in the four-mile National Hunt Chase on the opening day of the Festival. The seven-year-old, who was second in last year’s Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase, looks to have been trained specifically for the race have run only three times since, most recently over hurdles. Davy Condon riding Cause Of Causes win The Ladbroke Hurdle Race at Ascot racecourse in 2012 . +World No 1 Mark Selby booked his place in the second round of the China Open after beating Mark Joyce 5-3 despite suffering from neck pain. The 31-year-old world champion's form was hampered by a neck problem three years ago but he persevered on Tuesday to advance - having raced into a three-frame lead over Joyce. Wallsall's Joyce fought back to win three of the next four before Selby sealed his spot in the second round courtesy of a 90 break in the eighth frame. World No 1 Mark Selby booked his place in the second round of the China Open after beating Mark Joyce 5-3 . 'Yesterday I pulled my neck again, as I did a few years ago. So I felt a bit uncomfortable out there,' said Selby. 'Hopefully it won't be as bad as it was before and I'll be okay within the next few days. Yesterday I was struggling so I did some stretches, took some painkillers and had a massage. 'It felt OK before the match started, then at the interval I went to the toilet and slipped, and felt it. I can get down on the shot, it's just a little bit of pain so hopefully it will wear off. My health is more important than anything else.' Judd Trump, who staged a tremendous comeback to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan and claim the World Grand Prix crown earlier in the month, ended Andrew Higginson's hopes of turning the tables as he also recorded a 5-3 win to progress. Judd Trump ended Andrew Higginson's hopes of turning the tables as he also recorded a 5-3 win to progress . Having gone 3-1 up courtesy of two three-figure breaks, Trump saw Higginson battle back to 3-3 before taking the final two frames. There were also wins for John Higgins and Mark Williams, who saw off the threat of two Chinese players in Yu Delu and Zhao Xintong, respectively. Joe Perry lost the final three frames to be eliminated 5-3 by David Gilbert whilst Michael White beat Ken Doherty after a 74 break in a deciding frame. Elsewhere, Shaun Murphy and Michael Leslie eased through whilst Graeme Dott came from 3-2 down to beat Daniel Wells and reach the second round. +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned against a quota-based system being used in the Premier League believing it will dilute the quality of the division. Football Association chairman Greg Dyke would like to see the number of home-grown players in top-flight squads increased from eight to 12, a move he feels will benefit the national team. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore claims clubs were told by Dyke at a meeting on Thursday that the FA could not impose the change. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has spoken out against a quota-based system for home grown players . And Wenger believes those changes will not benefit the league or the national team. In an interview with beIN Sports, Wenger said: 'I believe that we are in the world of competition. Competition means who of you or me is the best one. We have to accept that. 'That means as well that the rules of the game must be structured to favour the best. Or we are not in a competition anymore. The Arsenal boss, on the bench at Newcastle before the international break, is against Greg Dyke's proposals . 'So we can say one of two things - we protect the mediocre or we produce the best players.' Wenger warned that similar schemes in other countries had led to young players becoming 'professional subs', not enhancing their development but downgrading the league standard. 'I give you two examples, he said. 'In Yugoslavia in the past they decided you had to play three players on the team sheet who were under 21. What happened? They became professional subs. It happened in France, too. FA chairman Greg Dyke would like to see at least 12 home-grown players in top-flight squads . 'Then they decided you had to play three players (aged) under 21 from the start. You know what happened? They subbed all three after five minutes.' Dyke's proposal to toughen up home-grown player rules has the backing of UEFA president Michel Platini, who hinted that he intends to follow suit. Should UEFA implement the regulations, then the Premier League would likely have to back down. Dyke hopes a quota-based system for home-grown players would help England manager Roy Hodgson (left) +For one final time, the greatest ever jump jockey will grace his sport’s most spectacular and exciting stage. I urge you not to miss him. McCoy. AP. Nineteen-time champion jump jockey and the most recognisable initials in sport. The 2015 Cheltenham Festival boasts a glittering cast of equine and human stars but the spotlight is on one man. Ruby Walsh (right) will ride Willie Mullins-trained Faugheen in the Champions Hurdle at Cheltenham . The one who will finally walk away from the sport by the end of this season after announcing his abdication following an unchallenged 20-year reign. He is the phenomenon whose record-smashing, off-the-scale achievements have transcended the parochial boundaries of horse racing, the patron saint to millions of punters and sworn enemy of bookmakers. But both sides of that age-old skirmish will probably be praying that the 40-year-old from County Antrim has a final Festival to remember. The next four days for McCoy are not the last time he will ride. It will probably not even be the last time he rides at Cheltenham. McCoy celebrates winning the Gold Cup with Synchronised in 2012 . But it seems like the equivalent of Roger Federer’s last game on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Ronnie O’Sullivan playing his final frame at The Crucible and — should Liverpool make it through — Steven Gerrard stepping on to the Wembley turf in an FA Cup final. But none of those icons can boast the domination of their own sport like McCoy has ruled racing. He is arguably the best pound-for-pound sportsman around — something crucial in a sport where weights and measures equate to short-head victories or defeats. And nobody loves winning and hates losing more than AP. Thirty Festival wins started with Kibreet in the 1996 Grand Annual Chase. Look back a further 12 months and no-one would have guessed the shape of the last 20 years. His first meeting, then held over three days, consisted of seven rides, three of them 100-1 shots. First up was Supreme Master, who was 16th of 20 in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Champion jockey AP McCoy will be competing his his last Cheltenham Festival before retirement . There was a seventh place finish on veteran Beech Road behind Master Oats in the Gold Cup and his best was sixth place on Brave Tornado in the Triumph Hurdle. The middle Wednesday he was riding at Nottingham — a track that does not have a jumps course any more — where he rode a winner. That first experience of the Festival probably taught the young McCoy that Cheltenham is great when you are successful but miserable when it goes wrong. Losing can tear you apart. It is a feeling I know well and McCoy probably enjoyed that Nottingham winner far more than merely being able to play a bit part at the Festival. Just taking part has never been enough for him. There have been times when his pain has been plain for all to see. He got plenty of stick for not smiling even when he won, never mind when he lost. There have been agonising defeats and seasons when his lack of big race Festival ammunition has been tough to take. The fatal injuries to Gloria Victis in the 2000 Gold Cup and Valiramix in the 2002 Champion Hurdle deeply affected him. Jump jockey McCoy has always been a fans' favourite at Cheltenham . As he has got older, he has become better equipped to cope with the Festival roller-coaster of emotions. There will be plenty who point to the tally of 41 Festival wins for Ruby Walsh — a total fuelled by his alliance with Irish powerhouse trainer Willie Mullins and his former tie-up with British champion trainer Paul Nicholls — and ask what the McCoy fuss is all about? Who is the better jockey? Who has the best technique? These are subjective assessments which will never be finally settled. I cannot tell you McCoy has some peerless faultless technique others can only dream of. But I can write of the single-minded drive the like of which I have never known. The bloody-minded determination that can make the impossible possible, just as he did when lifting home Wichita Lineman to win on the opening day in 2009. There is the massive physical strength and resilience to inevitable injury. And I can tell you of the unparalleled professionalism he brings to every ride, an unmatched ability to get off a horse and accurately assess its ability and future career direction as well as his encyclopaedic knowledge of rivals’ strengths and weaknesses. Over the next four days, the chances are Walsh will ride more winners than McCoy, who is 10-1 to be top jockey at the meeting. But AP will view those odds as a challenge. He has sound claims in today’s Champion Hurdle on title holder Jezki, a clutch of handicap possibilities and a strong chance with Hargam in Friday’s Triumph Hurdle. Later that day, Carlingford Lough will be his mount to win a third Gold Cup. The Irish Hennessy Gold Cup winner, who runs in the colours of his boss, owner JP McManus, and is trained by John Kiely, has solid claims in an open year. Victory would be a fairytale ending for both AP and the sport. And you would not bet against it. You never bet against AP. +Harry Kane's brother, Charlie, took to Twitter on Sunday to show his support to his younger sibling ahead of Tottenham's Capital One Cup final against Chelsea. Charlie posted a selfie with his family and friends on the social networking site, as they made their way to Wembley for the showpiece clash, with a number on show wearing masks of the in-form Spurs forward - who has scored an impressive 24 goals in 38 appearances this season. Charlie is clearly very supportive of his brother, as just last month he was caught on video in a local pub celebrating Spurs' 2-1 North London derby success over Arsenal, leading the chants of 'He's one of our own', after Kane Jnr grabbed a crucial double in the win. Charlie Kane (front) poses for a selfie with family and friends as they make their way to Wembley . Harry Kane warms up on the perfect Wembley turf ahead of Tottenham's cup final against Chelsea . Fans begin to arrive at the National Stadium ahead of Sunday's mouthwatering game . A day earlier Kane Snr posted on Twitter 'Sleepless night ahead' as he looked forward to Sunday's crunch clash . Kane himself - whose remarkable rise to Premier League stardom is the story of the season - couldn't contain his excitement ahead of the match either when talking to Sky Sports. He said: 'It’s special you know - I can’t wait. The atmosphere is going to be electric and I just can’t wait for it all to start. ‘Any boy growing up playing will tell you that their ultimate dream is to play in a cup final. I’m just so excited of course, and is the whole team.' Tottenham youngsters poses for a photo outside Wembley ahead of Sunday's showdown . Chelsea youngsters look in confident mood as they get ready to watch their side take on Tottenham . +Just a few weeks ago, Real Madrid were the most dazzling side in Europe as they chased Champions League and La Liga glory. Now, they find themselves in a crisis with boss Carlo Ancelotti under fire, record signing Gareth Bale booed by his own fans and Cristiano Ronaldo taking a vow of silence. Here, Spain-based reporter RIK SHARMA runs through just what has gone wrong at the Bernabeu after Tuesday night's 4-3 defeat at home by Schalke. Gareth Bale was subjected to boos from Real Madrid fans as they were beaten at home by Schalke . Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring, but he couldn't prevent his side slumping to a 4-3 defeat . Carlo Ancelotti, pictured hugging Schalke boss Roberto Di Matteo, is under growing pressure at the Bernabeu . It seems that all is not well at the Santiago Bernabeu... You could say that. In fact, you could say a lot worse, and the Spanish newspapers have. 'What horror!' screamed the front page of Marca. 'The odds of being eliminated by Schalke were comparable to those of being killed by a piano,' said AS, after Madrid scraped into the Champions League quarter finals. The Barcelona papers were no kinder. 'A pitiful Madrid!' spat the front page of Sport, while Mundo Deportivo labelled Carlo Ancelotti's side 'ridiculous'. So, what's the problem? Where do you start? Ancelotti's expensive cruise liner is full of holes and the water is flooding in, just at the wrong time. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, for one, was at fault for three of the four goals Madrid conceded. By the way, the last time they shipped four at the Bernabeu in the Champions League was 15 years ago, against Bayern Munich. Virtually the only thing Casillas stopped on Tuesday night was players like Cristiano Ronaldo from leaving the pitch without applauding the fans. Iker Casillas failed to keep hold of Max Meyer's shot which led to Klass-Jan Huntelaar giving Schalke the lead . Gareth Bale, Alvaro Arbeloa and Cristiano Ronaldo look frustrated as Real Madrid were booed off the field . Surely it is time to play Keylor Navas then? It's not that simple. Jose Mourinho started a war within the club with his treatment of the legendary Casillas. While it's plain to see that the Spanish stopper has been far below his best level for a long time, displacing him could cause more trouble than it's worth. Ancelotti reinstated him and the tension at the club has since simmered down. He will have to think long and hard about whether he wants to start a new battle. Casillas was described as a 'celebrity' rather than a goalkeeper by Marca's Roberto Palomar, but the fact remains that he's the team's captain and has a big influence at the club. Iker Casillas has been below his best for some time, but replacing him is not as simple as it sounds . Casillas called on his Real Madrid team-mates acknowledge the home supporters following the surprise defeat . A group of Real Madrid fans waved a white handkerchief after the final whistle following a disappointing result . Why did Casillas have to force Ronaldo to stay on the pitch? Ronaldo is not having a happy time right now. Ever since he was berated for celebrating his 30th birthday on the evening of Madrid's embarrassing 4-0 defeat by rivals Atletico Madrid, he's been in a strop. Despite leading Lionel Messi in the Pichichi (golden boot) by 13 goals during mid-December, the pair are now level on 30 goals each in La Liga. After winning the Ballon d'Or in January, his productivity levels have dropped considerably. Ronaldo netted twice against Schalke, and both times he celebrated with fury, rather than joy, as if he was proving a point. Ronaldo scored a double against Schalke, but his relationship with the Madrid supporters is strained . The world player of the year has grown frustrated at the lack of support from the Real Madrid supporters . What’s got Cristiano’s goat? A recent poll in AS suggested 30 per cent of Madrid fans wanted to see him dropped - he probably doesn't think he has anything to thank them for. The whistles screaming around the Bernabeu at full time would have angered Ronaldo particularly, given his contribution to the Madridista cause over the past six years. After the game he angrily declared that he wouldn't be speaking to the press until the end of the season. The Spanish media were deeply critical of Real Madrid in Wednesday morning's newspapers . Marca and AS both opted for striking headlines following Real Madrid's defeat at the hands of Schalke . Gareth Bale looked tired against Schalke . What about his partner in crime, Gareth Bale? The past few weeks have been terrible for the Welshman. After last season's heroics in the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals, Bale was expected to continue his development and become a Bernabeu hero. Instead, he's more often the scapegoat. After the controversy where he shot instead of passing to Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, he was labelled selfish and castigated in the Spanish media. Since then, he's been far more reluctant to shoot. That's manifested itself in his recent productivity; he has no goals and no assists in eight matches. That's a long time to go without contributing as a forward for any side, let alone Real Madrid... Yes, it's quite astonishing really. For the most expensive player in football history, in a top team, to fail to contribute anything in that spell, is a surprise. He's played every minute of those eight games, and only in Madrid's 2-0 win over Deportivo de la Coruna on February 14, could he say that he put in a good performance. Is he tired? He looked exhausted against Schalke? That could be the case. Carlo Ancelotti has largely refused to rotate his side, particularly the strikers. The Italian described the 'BBC' attack as 'unnegotiable'. That's a terrible message to send to both the attacking trident, and players like Javier Hernandez and Jese, who are fighting for a place in the team. If Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema will start every game, regardless of performance, it's not going to motivate them or their underlings to produce good displays. It’s understandable that a player like Bale, who relies on his explosive pace, is feeling the strain. Madrid went to the United States to play friendlies in the summer, and then Morocco for the Club World Cup, all of which takes its toll. Carlo Ancelotti's future at Real is the subject of discussion despite delivering the club their 10th European Cup . So, is this all Ancelotti's fault? Well, he's the one that's under pressure now. He's being asked about his future at Madrid, which seems a little unfair given he finally landed them La Decima -  the club's 10th European Cup - last season. However, he's not helping his own cause with some of his comments. 'We've played so badly that it is difficult to explain,' he said after the Schalke game. Unfortunately, Carlo, it is your job to not just explain, but also fix the damage. The white handkerchiefs were out... It's a traditional sign of discontent among supporters in Spain, adopted in football from bullfighting. In that 'sport' it's seen as a positive thing, with spectators waving handkerchiefs to encourage the president of the fight to award the fighter a part of the bull (e.g. an ear, or a tail) as a reward for a good performance. Occasionally handkerchiefs can be waved to show support in football, after a great performance, but that was certainly not the case against Schalke. It's not unique to Real Madrid, but they are the team you associate it most with. The fans are, shall we say, high-maintenance. This is good for Barcelona then, who have overtaken Madrid in the league, heading into El Clasico next Sunday? Very good. Luis Enrique’s men are flying, reaping the rewards from a sensible summer schedule and the rotation which the coach was criticised for at the start of the season. Luis Suarez’s enforced rest means he’s finding his best form at the opportune moment, as Manchester City found out a few weeks ago. So Barcelona will beat Madrid in El Clasico and win La Liga? It’s not that simple. Real Madrid didn’t become a giant of world football by rolling over and having their bellies tickled by their bitter rivals. Luka Modric made his return on Tuesday night and he’s a key part of the team, so during the past three months they’ve sorely missed him. Sergio Ramos has been injured, too, along with James Rodriguez. While the latter won’t make El Clasico, Ramos and Modric should play, and that will help Madrid regain some balance and poise. +Levante manager Lucas Alcaraz has played down any talk of his side causing an upset at the Bernabeu on Sunday. Despite Real Madrid's poor run of form, which has seen the fans turn on some of the players and the management, Alcaraz knows that on their day they are more than capable of beating his side. Speaking to Levante's official website, Alcaraz explained it would need an excellent team effort. Levante manager Lucas Alcaraz takes his team to the Santiago Bernabeu to face Real Madrid on Sunday . Levante's Kalu Uche (left) celebrates after scoring against Eibar in a 2-1 victory last weekend . He said: 'The players have to play as a team, being able to have order when we have the ball and not suffer losses. 'The potential of Madrid is always high.' A 2-1 over Eibar lifted Levante out of relegation trouble, but the manager does not think it will mean much come Sunday. 'Clearly we won the last game, but there is a vast difference between the potential of Madrid and ours,' he said. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti (centre) takes charge of a training session at Valdebebas on Saturday . Gareth Bale (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo prepare for Sunday's La Liga clash with Levante . Madrid president Florentino Perez was forced to come out in support of his manager this week, declaring 'Ancelotti will continue'. A patchy run of form has seen them drop to second in the table, but it was arguably the 4-3 defeat to Schalke on Tuesday night which was the more damaging to the atmosphere around the club. Despite the uncertainty, Sergio Ramos brushed off the concerns, telling Marca: 'If there's one thing that defines our camp it's joy, in every 'rondo' [piggy-in-the-middle passing drill] and exercise we do. 'First and foremost you have to be happy and have fun, and we have a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room.' Real Madrid president Florentino Perez holds a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday . Ramos is expected to return to the side after injury, but Toni Kroos is expected to be rested in preparation for next week's crucial clash with Barcelona. That means midfielders Lucas Silva and Luka Modric are likely to be recalled to the side, the latter after making his comeback from a serious thigh injury in the Champions League defeat. Daniel Carvajal could also be welcomed back after returning to training with the rest of the squad, but despite a step-up in his rehab, James Rodriguez is not yet ready to return to action. +UFC lightweight Ross Pearson has admitted that he put a lot of 'personal' pressure on himself to claim a knockout win over Sam Stout at UFC 185 on Saturday. The British fighter, who met Stout at the preliminary rounds in Dallas, needed a win to halt a run of one win, two losses and a no contest from his four previous fights - and to avoid questioning his future in the sport. 'It was all personal to me,' he said backstage at UFC 185. 'Live by the sword, die by the sword situation. I went out there and I put a lot of pressure on myself to win.' Ross Pearson celebrates after a second frame knockout over Sam Stout at UFC 185 in Dallas . The British fighter connects with a strong right hand to end a recent inconsistent run in the Octagon . The referee moves in to stop the fights as Pearson lays into the prone Canadian on the canvas . Pearson admitted putting a lot of 'personal' pressure on himself to win the fight . Pearson agreed that, following his recent results, defeat by Stout would have led to him making some 'massive decisions'. 'Like, where was I going in my career in the UFC,' said the 30-year-old, who emerged by winning the lightweight tournament on The Ultimate Fighter 9. 'I don't think the UFC thinks I'm going to be out the door any time soon, because I'm winning fights, but it was personally, what am I going to do in this division? The 30-year-old also picked up a 'Performance of the Night' bonus of $50,000 (£34,000) Stout aims a kick at Pearson but could not keep the Brit at bay before being knocked out in Dallas . The pair face each other at the weigh-in before Pearson admitted defeat would have raised 'questions' 'Am I going to be a gatekeeper, or am I going to be a guy that's going to push to the top of the world?' Pearson came through his personal test by out striking Stout before knocking out the Canadian with a booming left hand in the second frame, earning the Brit a $50,000 (£34,000) 'Performance of the Night' bonus. Next up, Pearson has set his sights on '1,2 and 3' or the top fighters in the 155-pound division. +Cristiano Ronaldo was far from happy during Real Madrid's defeat by Schalke but he will be able to take solace from the fact opponent Max Meyer was wearing his branded pants. The Schalke midfielder was pictured wearing CR7-branded underwear during his side's shock 4-3 win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Meyer played the full 90 minutes against Ronaldo and Co as his side were eliminated from the Champions League despite their emphatic victory on Tuesday night. Schalke midfielder Max Meyer wore CR7-branded underwear during his side's win against Real Madrid . Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates as Meyer stands in the background . Ronaldo was far from happy with his side's display against the Bundesliga outfit and vowed not to speak to the media during the final few months of the season. 'I wont talk again until the end of the season,' Ronaldo told reporters. Real Madrid's first team players were jeered and the Santiago Bernabeu crowd waved white hankies as they left the pitch - despite their side's progression to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Ronaldo will be hoping his side can get back to winning ways against Levante on Sunday as Real Madrid look to close the one-point gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona. Ronaldo shows his frustrations as Real Madrid lost 4-3 at home to Schalke in the Champions League . Ronaldo was left angry on Tuesday night and has vowed not to talk publicly until the end of the season . +Novak Djokovic rallied from a set and a break down Tuesday to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7, 7-5, 6-0 in the fourth round of the Miami Open. Dolgopolov led 4-1 in the second set before the world No 1 mounted a comeback to remain in contention for his fifth Key Biscayne title. After the second set, Dolgopolov received treatment from a trainer, who bandaged the soles of both feet. Novak Djokovic came back from a set down to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Tuesday . Alexandr Dolgopolov had both of his soles bandaged and won only three points in the final set . The Russian moved poorly after that and won only three of 27 points in the final set. As Djokovic fell behind in the first set, he busted a racket in anger, drew jeers from the crowd and was cited for two code violations, which cost him a point penalty. However, he won a succession of long exchanges late in the second set that allowed him to even the match. Djokovic claimed a succession of long exchanges in the second set to even the match and go on to win . +Gareth Southgate has told Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha he still has time to make the England Under 21 squad for Euro 2015. Zaha won the last of his 10 Under 21 caps against Finland in November 2013 and has not been considered by the head coach since he pulled out of a qualifier against Wales last May with injury. Southgate made it clear at the start of the season he would only use players who were fully committed to playing for England and there is no question Zaha would need to show he has matured to stand a chance of going to the Czech Republic in June. Crystal Palace ace Wilfried Zaha has scored two goals and made one assist in his last six games . Gareth Southgate has told Zaha he still has time to make the England Under 21 squad for Euro 2015 . But his form for Palace has not gone unnoticed — he has scored two goals and made one assist in his last six games — and Southgate intends to visit Zaha to see whether the 22-year-old can force himself into the frame. ‘We have always said with Wilf the door is never closed,’ Southgate said. ‘Unfortunately for him, his move to Manchester United never worked out, the loan to Cardiff never worked out and we have had other forwards who have been in good form. ‘You always have to look at players who are in form and playing well. It would be foolish to rule anyone out. But we have got Danny Ings, Jesse Lingard coming back, Alex Pritchard has got good numbers in terms of goals and assists. Wilf is going to have to play really well to force his way in.’ Southgate admits it would be foolish to rule anybody out of contention ahead of this summer's tournament . Burnley striker Danny Ings has been in fine form during the Premier League season at Turf Moor . Palace boss Alan Pardew said after his side beat Queens Park Rangers earlier this month he intended to speak to Southgate about why the coach would benefit from including Zaha in his plans. Southgate has not heard from his former Palace team-mate but while he would welcome the call, he stressed that Zaha had scored once and made one goal in the 17 games before his burst of form. ‘I said to him (Pardew) when he got the job it would be really interesting to see if he could get Wilf back to where he is,’ said Southgate, whose side face Germany at The Riverside Stadium this evening. ‘He is playing well but there has to be consistency. One of the biggest parts of my role is to go and watch players. Wilf, now he is playing regularly, will be one I have to see.’ +West Brom are leading the chase for Wolves winger Bakary Sako whose contract at Molineux runs out in the summer and is regarded as being among the most attractive Bosman signings in the next transfer window. Albion are already looking towards next season with their Premier League status virtually assured under Tony Pulis and have put the 26-year-old Mali international winger top of their wish-list. The traditional rivalry between Wolves and West Brom is not seen as an issue with Sako undergoing his footballing development at French club St Etienne before arriving in the west Midlands in 2012. West Brom are keen to sign Wolves' Mali international winger Bakary Sako when the transfer window reopens . The 26-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and will be available on a free transfer . Veteran coach Tony Pulis has managed to stablize West Brom since taking over at the club earlier this year . In addition to blistering pace and quick footwork, Sako is a regular goalscorer and had found the net 12 times this season as Wolves have enjoyed an impressive return to the Championship after being relegated two seasons ago. Wolves have accepted they are unlikely to be able to persuade Sako to stay given that there is Premier League interest in him - unless they make a late run into the play-offs and are promoted themselves. Albion are clear favourites to land the player if he decides to stay in England but there could also be rival interest from abroad. Sako (left) tussles with the Ivory Coast's Ismael Diomande (right) during the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations . Sako has scored 12 times for Wolves this season and is attracting plenty of interest on the transfer market . +West Brom legend Laurie Cunningham's historic first England cap is to be sold at auction to raise money towards the Celebration Statue in the town centre. Cunningham, who was previously the first black player to represent England at any level after playing for the Under 21s, won the first of his six international caps against Wales at Wembley in 1979. Cunningham's mother Mavis gave the cap to local businessman Jim Cadman who is determined to give supporters an opportunity to see it before it is put up for sale in late summer. Baggies legend Laurie Cunningham will have his first England cap auctioned for charity . Cunningham was previously the first black player to represent England at any level after playing for U 21s . Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, he said: 'The family are absolutely delighted with the statue and she told me we could have a cap. 'To then discover it was his first cap is extraordinary. When it comes to memorabilia it is a real piece of history. The Three Degrees meet Cunningham, Brendan Baston (centre) and Cyrille Regis (right) at the Hawthorns . 'It is far too valuable to auction off straight away, so having spoken to the PFA and Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson we want the fans to see it first. 'We will take it on a mini tour with the help of the Albion Supporters Club and then auction it in the late summer early autumn with all the proceeds going to the final phase of the statue funding.' Cunning scored 21 goals in 86 appearances for the Baggies as part of the so-called 'Three Degrees' alongside Cyrille Regis and Brendan Baston before being sold to Real Madrid where he won the La Liga and Copa del Rey double in 1979-80. +Turn on the telly, lie back and think of England the way it used to be. It isn’t difficult. Not with David James, Phil Neville, Jamie Carragher, Martin Keown and Lee Dixon sharing their expertise and defensive acumen. Or maybe there’s the midfield craft of Steve McManaman, Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and Jamie Redknapp. Or the striking instincts of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen. That’s a decent international team right there, boasting more than 500 caps and more than a hundred goals, even without Match of the Day host Gary Lineker. Or Gary Neville, one of a few England internationals from his generation involved in coaching, when his Sky TV duties allow. Holland beat England 2-0 in 1993 and almost all of the Dutch side are in coaching but not one player from England is in management... HOLLAND . De Goey: Now works with goalkeepers at Dutch amateur side DHC Delft . De Wolf: Ex-boss at Zwart, Halsteren, SVVSMC, Haaglandia, Turkiyemspor, Voorschoten 97, WKE & Sliedrecht, recently retired as assistant at Sparta Rotterdam and now working on TV . R Koeman: Southampton manager . Minutes after escaping a red card for pulling down David Platt, Ronald Koeman fired a free kick past David Seaman . F de Boer: Ajax manager . Rijkaard: Ex-Barcelona manager now retired . Wouters: Ex-manager of Ajax & Utrecht, also coached at Rangers & PSV, now head of youth development at Kasimpasa in Turkey . E Koeman: Southampton assistant, also ex-manager of Waalwijk, Feyenoord, Hungary, Utrecht & PSV . Bergkamp: Ajax assistant . Overmars: Ajax director of football . R de Boer: Was Ajax U18 & U19 assistant, but chose TV when urged by Ajax to make a career choice . Roy: Ajax B – U16 & U17 coach . Subs: . Winter: Netherlands U19 coach . Van Gobbel: Coaching 8-10-year-olds at Feyenoord . Paul Merson is tackled as he challenges for the ball (left) as Alan Shearer loses out to Frank de Boer (right) ENGLAND . Seaman: Occasionally helps Arsenal coach their goalkeepers . Parker: Ex-manager of Chelmsford and Welling, last seen blogging for Yahoo . Dorigo: Various media . Ince: Ex-manager of Macclesfield, MK Dons, Blackburn, Notts County and Blackpool . Pallister: Works in the media . Adams: Ex-manager of Wycombe, Portsmouth and Gabala in Azerbaijan . Platt: Ex-manager of Sampdoria, Nottingham Forest, England U21s and assistant at Man City . Palmer: Coaching at an independent school in China . Shearer: Eight games as Newcastle’s caretaker manager in 2009, now BBC pundit . Merson: Less than two years as Walsall manager, now Sky TV pundit . Paul Merson challenged by John De Wolf as England crashed to defeat in the vital qualifying match . Sharpe: Abu Dhabi sports pundit . Subs: . Sinton: Ex-manager of Fleet Town and Telford United . Wright: BBC broadcaster . Ian Wright  is dejected after England's hopes of reaching the World Cup in 1994 . Many former England stars have opted for the sofa. Who can blame them? Coaching is a vocation, an all-consuming passion; not something to dabble at in the hope of discovering you possess a magical gift. Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson have devoted their lives to it. Many top players from the previous generation were chewed up and spat out having been through the usual routine: use your name to get a job, discover it’s damn hard and totally different to being a player and either get disillusioned or sacked or both. Soon the name doesn’t open doors because you’re no longer a star footballer but a failed manager. In the Championship, managers survive an average of eight months, not even long enough to complete the UEFA Pro Licence course, the top qualification which is required to coach in the top two tiers of English football. Gary Neville is one of a few former England internationals involved in coaching after stopping playing . Jamie Redknapp (left) and Jamie Carragher right) chose to work as pundits upon ending their playing days . Southampton boss Ronald Koeman is one of a number of Dutch professionals who have gone on to coach . It is a staggering statistic but out of the 92 Football League managers, only four have played for England and they have just 25 caps between them. They are Sheffield United’s Nigel Clough (14 caps), Huddersfield’s Chris Powell (5), Aston Villa’s Tim Sherwood (3) and Carlisle’s Keith Curle (3). Here lies the mangled logic at the heart of the problem. In the spirit of the football culture in this country, many good players are impatient, convinced they should bypass the qualification process. They would rather learn on the job but the job is too insecure on which to learn. Time in charge is diminishing, as is the likelihood of a second chance. Little wonder English coaching has become a punchbag for the failing national team, although English coaches actually do nothing much different to their foreign counterparts. Did we not like it when Holland beat England in Rotterdam in October 1993? Look back on the teams and none of Graham Taylor’s players are working full-time in football, although most have tried and some may return. Paul Ince managed for 238 games. Almost all the Dutch side are locked into the game at different levels. Six of them have the Pro Licence, compared with three of the English. Frank de Boer is coach of Ajax and has won the Dutch league four times in as many seasons . Danny Blind (left) is part of Holland's coaching setup and is earmarked to succeed Guus Hiddink (centre) Former Arsenal winger Marc Overmars (right) is now the director of football at Ajax . Ronald Koeman is at Southampton and coveted by Barcelona, Frank de Boer is at Ajax, where Marc Overmars and Dennis Bergkamp are in senior roles. Ronald de Boer was involved in the Ajax youth set-up until the club ordered him to choose between his coaching and broadcasting. He chose TV, surprisingly. Move on to the Euro 96 meeting between the nations and the Dutch team includes PSV Eindhoven boss Phillip Cocu and Danny Blind, earmarked to succeed Guus Hiddink as Holland coach. With Giovanni van Bronckhorst stepping up to become Feyenoord boss next season, it means Holland’s ‘Big Three’ clubs will be led by legends with more than 300 caps between them. There is nothing comparable in this country. Scour 92 clubs and you can find 25 England caps, property of Tim Sherwood (3), Keith Curle (3), Chris Powell (5) and Nigel Clough (14). There is a better show from some of the other Home Nations. In Terry Venables’ Euro 96 team which beat Holland 4-1, there was Gareth Southgate, now England U21 manager, protected in the confines of the FA bubble where Stuart Pearce spent much of his coaching career and where Gary Neville is learning. There was Teddy Sheringham, part-time at West Ham, and also in the squad were Les Ferdinand, QPR’s director of football, and Steve Stone, coach at Newcastle. Nothing proves elite players make the best coaches. The opposite could be true to some extent when you look at Ferguson, Wenger or Mourinho. But international players can make fine coaches as Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Bobby Robson, Don Howe and Venables proved. Some who have devoted much time to this subject conclude that the trend is rooted in the British culture, where academic teaching has always held sway over sporting education and where youth coaching is not treated as a career in itself — unlike in parts of Europe and the Americas. Huddersfield manager Chris Powell is one of four former England internationals in the Football League . Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood played three times for England but now manages in the Premier League . The opening of St George's Park has boosted the facilities on hand to the England national team . Why would millionaire footballers trade their comfortable lives to start at the bottom of a profession struggling for identity? This friction has lingered since the days of Sir Walter Winterbottom, who met resistance from traditionalists running clubs and the FA when he tried to modernise the England team to keep pace with countries such as Hungary and Italy in the ’50s. Barriers have been removed. The opening of St George’s Park and recent changes to coach education at the FA represent a big step forward according to many, but some views are deeply engrained. Winterbottom once asked Robson, one of his England players, what he might do when he finished playing. ‘I don’t know,’ replied Robson. ‘I don’t think cleaning windows is an option.’ Nor was a job on Sky Sports, so Winterbottom persuaded Robson to attend one of his coaching courses. Imagine Sven Goran Eriksson asking David Beckham the same question. ‘I’m going to help banish child poverty, model underpants and buy a franchise for a soccer team in Florida, Sven.’ How do the Dutch get their players into the coaching system? And how do they stay there when so many of the English slide out? Is it because England is a nation which prefers coaches to have come through the system? Quite the opposite, really. The obsession with rushing big-name players into high-profile jobs was more probably part of the problem. They weren’t ready for it, since they had no coaching experience, and have fallen out of the system, no doubt bruised by those who sit in judgment and brand them coaching failures. Swansea manager Garry Monk is the top-ranked English manager, his team eighth in the Premier League . Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, is the highest ranked British coach in fifth . Meanwhile, there are brilliant coaches who have spent their lives in the lower leagues, a welcoming hand never reaching out to them from the Premier League. Many of the ’93 Holland team went through the Ajax gateway to a coaching career, a club with a reputation for producing elite talent. They were not thrown in at Wycombe like Tony Adams or at Stockport like Carlton Palmer. Holland is a hot-house football environment. Fewer professional teams mean it has a more concentrated focus of talent in competition. There is a greater tactical education and a desire to exchange ideas, all of which works for both young players and young coaches. Swansea’s Garry Monk is the top-ranked English manager in this country whose team are eighth in the Premier League. Of nine English managers in the top flight, five are in the bottom six fighting to prove their worth as the foreign coaches contest the title with Brendan Rodgers, the top-ranked Brit offering hope in fifth. Mauricio Pochettino has already managed Southampton and Tottenham at the age of 43 . Burnley manager Sean Dyche (left) and Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe are both highly rated British coaches . Should anyone slip, there is a ready supply of experienced and fully qualified foreign coaches, often ex-internationals, waiting to step in. Ambitious coaches such as Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino regularly jump ahead of promising homespun talent such as Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe. England, meanwhile, are in danger of surrendering an entire generation of international footballers to an array of media opportunities. +Belgium survived a red card to captain Vincent Kompany as Marouane Fellaini's early goal was enough to beat Israel in their Euro 2016 qualifier. Fellaini finished well after Kompany's initial shot had been saved, with the Manchester City skipper sent off after the hour mark as he picked up a second yellow card for fouling Eran Zahavi. That dismissal was a boost for Belgium's Group B rivals Wales, with Kompany now suspended for the game in Cardiff in June. Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini scores the only goal of the game for Belgium as they win 1-0 . Manchester City and Belgium captain Vincent Kompany (left) is sent off for his side, but they still go on to win . Israel forward Ben Sahar (left) battles for the ball with Belgium's Toby Alderweireld (right) in Ramat Gan . Belgium and Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin de Bruyne (right) challenges Israel's Bibras Natcho (left) on Tuesday . Israel (4-4-2): Marciano, Dgani, Ben Haim, Gershon, Ben Harush (Barda 84), Natcho, Bitton, Yeini (Refaelov 67), Zahavi, Hemed (Ben Haim 45), Sahar . Subs not used: Harosh, Dasa, Shechter, Tawatha, Kayal, Bar Buzaglo, Kahat, Muanes, Haimov . Booked: Dgani, Yeini . Belgium (4-3-3): Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Lombaerts, Vertonghen, Fellaini, Nainggolan (Origi 86), Witsel, De Bruyne, Benteke (Denayer 67), Hazard (Chadli 63) Subs not used: Ferreira-Carrasco, Mignolet, Gillet, Mertens, Deschacht, Dembélé, Batshuayi, Vanden Borre, Ciman . Booked: Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen . Sent off: Kompany . Scorers: Fellaini 9 . Referee: Mark Clattenburg . The win took Belgium above Wales on goal difference and into top spot in the pool, though, with Fellaini scoring his third goal of the week to seal three points. The Manchester United man was on hand to turn home after Israel goalkeeper Ofir Marciano pushed out Kompany's effort following Kevin de Bruyne's deep free-kick. De Bruyne came close to doubling the Red Devils' lead, but could only drill his 25-yard effort wide, with Israel's first clear chance not coming until just before the break as Thibaut Courtois kept out Tomer Hemed's shot. Berbras Natcho and Zahavi both brought smart stops out of the Chelsea goalkeeper in the second half before Kompany was given his marching orders by Premier League referee Mark Clattenberg. Despite a numerical advantage, Israel could not find an equaliser as Ben Sahar, Natcho and Nir Biton came closest to rescuing a result for the hosts. Belgium almost made sure of the points, but Axel Witsel missed the target with a header and Toby Alderweireld's effort was not strong enough to beat Marciano. In the end it did not matter as Fellaini's solitary strike not only continued his own fine goalscoring form but also saw Marc Wilmot's side move to the head of the group. Israel midfielder Eran Zahavi (left) prepares to take on Belgium defender Nicolas Lombaerts (right) Zahavi (left) vies with Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard (right) on Tuesday night . Chelsea playmaker Hazard (left) carries the ball for Belgium as they edge a narrow Euro 2016 qualifier . Belgium and Southampton defender Alderweireld (right) slides in with a tackle on Tomer Hemed . +Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has boldly stated he can win the Ballon d'Or award during his career. The France international is confident his club success at the Bernabeu can force his way into contention for the prestigious award. However Benzema's Los Blancos team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has picked up the last two accolades for the world's best footballer whereas Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi prevailed between 2009-12. French and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema believes he can win the Ballon d'Or award in his career . Despite the duo's dominance, Benzema is adamant he can compete for the title if he continues to perform for Real Madrid and at international level. 'If I keep winning titles then I can win this award in future,' he told Le Parisien. 'We have Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, the two best players. We know I won't reach 80 or 100 goals in a season. They can do that. Benzema toiled in Paris as Brazil defeated France 3-1 in a friendly at the Stade de Frances on Thursday . Benzema's Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has won the past two Ballon d'Or awards . 'After that, there are a lot of players who are worth it. They can put me in the top 5, but I don't know.' Benzema fired a warning to his team-mates ahead of a titanic clash with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals. 'PSG are a great team, that's all,' he said. 'It will be more difficult than usual for Barca because Paris Saint-Germain are known to have increased their standing in the Champions League. PSG have every chance of going through.' The Frenchman, in action against Brazil on Thursday, has scored 20 goals for Real Madrid this season . Benzema failed to make an impact during the damaging 2-1 El Clasico defeat at Barcelona last weekend . +We've divided the Premier League into teams from the north and south of England - with Welsh side Swansea included in the south. Rob Draper had the choice to pick any players from the south teams, in any formation, with no limit on the number of players from each club. Here's how we split the clubs: . South . Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, QPR, Southampton, Swansea City, Spurs, West Brom, West Ham United . North . Burnley, Everton, Hull City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Stoke City, Sunderland . North vs South. It is perhaps the fiercest argument between the people of England. But without dipping into the political allegiances, property prices and weather, we're sticking to the ultimate debating point – football. This week we are starting a new North vs South debate - who would you pick and who would win? In the NBA, each season they stage an All-Star match that pits the best from the West against the cream of the East. And wouldn't it be fascinating if the Premier League adopted a similar event? Kicking off today, Rob Draper selects his South XI - plus seven subs. A full explanation of the criteria is below. Tomorrow, Joe Bernstein will reveal his North XI. Then on Wednesday, we'll reveal who would win the match thanks to our friends at Football Manager. And, as always, we want you to tell us who you would have picked in your team... Chelsea are top of the Premier League, and they provide the back-bone of our south XI to face the north . Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) Not much to say – either him or David de Gea as goalkeeper of the season, so he’s a natural for the southern No 1 slot. Right back: Nathaniel Clyne  (Southampton) You can wrestle this one back and forth with Branislav Ivanovic who has been superb. But I want a little more pace from my full backs and also am looking to the future by giving Clyne the nod. Centre back: Jose Fonte (Southampton) Everyone thought Dejan Lovren was the mainstay of the Southampton defence – but quietly getting on with his job and holding together the best back four in the country has been Fonte. Thibaut Courtois has proven himself to be a genuine Premier League star in his first season in England . Nathaniel Clyne (left) has earned himself an England spot, and keeps Branislav Ivanovic out of our side . Despite losing his centre back partner last summer, Jose Fonte has marshalled the best defence in the league . Centre back: John Terry (Captain) (Chelsea) Would be ridiculous not to pick him – the best defender in the Premier League at present. Left back: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea) Outstanding. Unfussy and consistently good. Best left back in the Premier League. Defensive midfield: Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) For months he has been the pivotal player for Chelsea in providing balance – in the mould of Patrick Vieira and there is no higher praise. Defensive midfield: Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton) The steadying influence in Southampton’s rise, all the more remarkable given his disaffection at the start of the season. John Terry - still the best defender in the Premier League - will captain our south XI, as he does Chelsea . Morgan Schneiderlin has bounced back from his uncertain summer to be a mainstay for Southampton . Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard and Terry have been at the heart of Chelsea's table-topping form this season . Right wing: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) Better on the left but nevertheless we need to find room for him in this team. The Sanchez-Cazorla-Hazard axis would terrify any team. Attacking midfield: Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) Appears to be at the absolute peak of his career. Previously you wondered if he had the authority and character to dominate games - now, in his favoured central role, he is showing that. Left wing: Eden Hazard (Chelsea) Potential player of the year. Impish, quick and delightfully skilful. A pleasure to watch – and a much more mature player now after two years in the Premier League. Alexis Sanchez has been superb since signing for Arsenal, and is on the right wing for this side . Hazard's goals have helped take Chelsea top of the league, and he is a player of the season contender . Santi Cazorla has shown his best form since returning to a central role, and will operate behind the striker . Striker: Harry Kane (Tottenham) The easiest pick of all. The south is blessed with the best strikers, so much so that maybe we’ll go 4-4-2 later in the game to get Diego Costa or Olivier Giroud on. But there’s no doubt as to who is in best form at present. Subs . Rob Green (QPR) Petr Cech is probably the next best goalkeeper in the south; but we need a keeper who is sharp and playing regularly and Green has been superb. Harry Kane has emerged this season as one of the Premier League's leading strikers, and is a must-pick . Branislav Ivanovic is unlucky to miss out on a starting spot, but stays on the bench for our south XI . Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) Very hard to leave him out. He has been a monster this season, rarely dipping below a 7/10 performance. Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) I’m a little worried that pace may be an issue for my centre halves – if it is we have Koscielny to cover. Excellent defender as well, despite Arsenal’s frequent debacles. Fabien Delph (Aston Villa) No doubt he will be outraged at being in a southern team – but we had to draw the line somewhere. Just a really good, solid midfielder now. Yannick Bolasie (Crystal Palace) Has come on enormously this season and the Africa Cup of Nations break doesn't appear to have affected him at all – causes problems to every team he plays against. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) Unfashionably good. His strike rate has been superb and his physicality and ability to hold the ball up is now perhaps the best in the Premier League, alongside... (4-2-3-1): Courtois, Clyne,  Fonte, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Schneiderlin; Sanchez, Cazorla, Hazard; Kane. Subs: Green, Ivanovic, Koscielny, Delph, Bolasie, Costa, Giroud . Diego Costa (Chelsea) The season has ebbed and flowed at times but through it all he has remained the striker you want to have on your side. Edged out by Kane at present but he’ll play a part in this game. Honourable mentions to Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea) and Charlie Austin (QPR) who have both been excellent and who will be on the stand-by list. Fabian Delph - though not particularly southern - has done enough this season to earn a spot on the bench . Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie has caused problems for every defender he has faced this season . Olivier Giroud, underrated but efficient, celebrates yet another Premier League goal for Arsenal . +Arsenal will not qualify for the Champions League as Chelsea, Manchester United, City and Liverpool will finish in the top four, believes Phil Neville. The 38-year-old predicts Arsenal will not qualify for Europe's elite competition for the first time under Wenger, and that his former club United will even finish second behind champions Chelsea. 'For me Chelsea are going to win the league. I think they'll win it with three or four games to spare,' Neville said, as reported by The Express. Arsenal will not qualify for the Champions League for the first time under Arsene Wenger, says Phil Neville . Neville thinks Louis van Gaal's Manchester United will finish second in the Premier League behind Chelsea . How the top of the Premier League is shaping up . 'I'm going for an outside bet of Manchester United finishing second and then I'm for City and Liverpool.' For Neville's prediction to come true, Liverpool will have to make up a six-point gap between themselves and Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League. The teams are currently away during the international break but the race for the top four continues on Saturday, with Arsenal vs Liverpool the early match at the Emirates. For Neville's prediction to come true, Liverpool have to make up six points between themselves and Arsenal . +Pakistan-born bowler Fawad Ahmed has been tipped to give England a stern examination this summer after being called into Australia's Ashes squad on Tuesday. The 33-year-old, who sought asylum in Australia in 2010 before securing residency two years later, is one of 17 players selected for both the five-Test series and a preceding tour of the West Indies. Ahmed took 48 wickets during Victoria's triumphant Sheffield Shield campaign, catching the eye of national selector Rod Marsh, who feels the spinner can make life difficult for England's batsmen when the Ashes series starts in July. Fawad Ahmed celebrates after taking eight wickets for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield final last week . Ahmed bats for Victoria during the Sheffield Shield final with Western Australia in Hobart . 'Him being a leg-spinner as opposed to a finger spinner gave him a slight advantage,' Marsh said at a press conference organised to announce the squad. 'Believe it or not, Australia is always looking for leg-spinners. We've had a proud history of leg-spinning in this country and we want that to continue. '(Ahmed) doesn't bowl too much rubbish and he creates a lot of pressure. 'He has men around the bat in most instances and he keeps asking the batsmen questions, which is what good spinners do. 'He maintains good economy and asks questions of both left and right-handers, bearing in mind that England may have up to seven left-handers.' Ahmed pictured during a one-day international with England at Old Trafford in September 2013 . Ahmed has caught the eye of Australian selector Rod Marsh (left), seen here with Adam Gilchrist . There was no place for all-rounder Glenn Maxwell despite his World Cup heroics but Adam Voges, the scorer of 1358 runs in Shield cricket last season, will be on the plane departing for the West Indies on May 19. One-day specialist Maxwell, named in the International Cricket Council's team of the tournament following Sunday's triumph over New Zealand in Melbourne, made only 41 runs and failed to take a wicket against Pakistan in his last Test appearance for the Baggy Green back in October. Marsh said of Voges: 'I looked at him on four or more occasions and I thought 'I don't know how anyone will get this bloke out', he was that dominant. 'It wasn't just the 1300-odd runs, it was the way he made them. 'It was as good a Sheffield Shield batting as I have ever seen. Pure weight of runs, the way in which he got those runs, you could see Test player written all over him.' Adam Voges, seen here playing for Western Australia, has been selected after an excellent season . Glenn Maxwell has not been picked in the squad despite helping Australia to World Cup success . While fast bowler Ryan Harris is included, he will remain in Australia throughout the tour of the West Indies, which begins in Dominica on June 5, as he anticipates the birth of his first child. After the second Test in Jamaica - scheduled to conclude on June 17 - he will travel to the United Kingdom to reunite with his team-mates ahead of the first Ashes Test at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on July 8. James Pattinson misses the trip to the Caribbean due to an injured left hamstring but will be observed over the coming weeks and may become an option later in the Australian winter. New South Wales wicket-keeper Peter Nevill is included in a Test squad for the first time after scoring 764 runs throughout the Shield campaign. Ryan Harris has been selected but will miss the tour of the West Indies prior to the Ashes . 'Peter Nevill has been on our radar for some time and deserves his opportunity through weight of runs and performances behind the stumps,' said Marsh. 'He has also demonstrated impressive leadership qualities which have caught our eye.' Also travelling are skipper Michael Clarke and his vice-captain Steve Smith, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon. Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Shane Watson complete the selection. Marsh told cricketaustralia.com: 'The Test team has performed very well in recent times, but the big challenge is to do that away from home. 'We believe this squad has sufficient depth for these important Test matches against the West Indies and England and will give us the best chance of success.' +World Cup winners Australia could arrive in England this summer with arguably the most fearsome pace attack in Test cricket since the ferocious West Indies sides of the 1980s. Less than 48 hours after claiming their one-day prize, the Aussies turned their attention on the summer's Ashes series. While captain Michael Clarke might have marked Sunday's final triumph over New Zealand by confirming his retirement from the 50-over game, his desire for Test cricket success burns as bright as ever. Australia celebrate after winning the World Cup in Melbourne on Sunday . Clarke was still recovering from a day-long champagne party with fans on the streets of Melbourne when the Aussies confirmed their squad to play a Test series in the West Indies before arriving in England for the start of the Ashes in July. And if Alastair Cook & Co still have nightmare memories of the way they were blown apart by the pace of Mitchell Johnson as they suffered a 5-0 whitewash in Australia, then there is a new nightmare to come. Australia could have as many as four bowlers who have all logged speeds of 90mph plus in their line-up, with both Johnson and his World Cup pace partner Mitchell Starc in the squad. World Cup hero Glenn Maxwell is the glaring omission despite starring on Australia's run to the final . They will be backed up by Ryan Harris, who misses the West Indies trip to stay home for the birth of his first child but will then join up in time for the Ashes. While 24-year-old James Pattinson is also not on the list because he is currently out with a damaged left hamstring, he will also be monitored with the chance to be included in time to travel to England. Clarke will lead a side anxious to rub away bitter memories of their last Ashes tour when they were beaten 3-0 in 2013. World Cup batting hero Steve Smith, who averaged only 38 in that series, is a far improved batsman now and will be expected to get big runs. David Warner, axed from the early Tests and sent away in disgrace after throwing a punch at Joe Root in a nightclub, will also want to make his mark on the series. National selector Rod Marsh told cricketaustralia.com.au: 'The Test team has performed very well in recent times, but the big challenge is to do that away from home. 'We believe this squad has sufficient depth for these important Test matches against the West Indies and England and will give us the best chance of success.' Two players who starred in the World Cup campaign, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner, were tipped for the squad but have missed out. Mitchell Johnson's pace bowling terrorised England as Australia ran out 5-0 victors last year . 'Adam Voges and Fawad Ahmed had sensational seasons at domestic level and their performances just couldn't be ignored. They thoroughly deserve their call-up and the opportunity to be a part of this squad. We believe that both can play important roles in the side if required. 'Adam had one of the great seasons in Sheffield Shield history. He is an experienced player and quality character who will add talent and leadership to the touring party. 'Fawad has worked incredibly hard on his game and has demonstrated throughout the season that he can be a consistent wicket taker. 'Peter Nevill has been on our radar for some time and deserves his opportunity through weight of runs and performances behind the stumps. He has also demonstrated impressive leadership qualities which have caught our eye.' Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. James Faulkner . Age 24 . Caps 1 . Verdict Played his only Test to date at The Oval in 2013, where he got up England’s noses by accusing them of boring batting. A left-arm seam-bowling all-rounder, he can give the ball an almighty whack. James Pattinson . Age 24 . Caps 13 . Verdict Injuries have limited him since he burst on to the scene in 2011-12, but the talent is undeniable: tall, aggressive and fast, he should trouble England more than his brother, Darren, when playing for England in a single Test against South Africa in 2008. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Brad Haddin (wkt) Age 37 . Caps 63 . Verdict Australia’s second-most important cog in their 5-0 Ashes wheel in 2013-14, after Mitchell Johnson. His sledging from behind the stumps is considered the heartbeat of the team. Chris Rogers . Age 37 . Caps 20 . Verdict This will be his last hurrah in a late-blooming Test career. Calm, compact and the perfect foil for the exuberance of his opening partner Warner. Steve Smith (vice captain) Age 25 . Caps 26 . Verdict One of world cricket’s rising stars, he scored four tons in Australia’s recent home series against India. Will captain the side full-time after Clarke retires, and can burgle the odd wicket with his leg-spin. Nathan Lyon . Age 27 . Caps 39 . Verdict A steady off-spinner who troubled England’s right-handers during whitewash. But, really, they should have nothing to fear. Mitchell Starc . Age 25 . Caps 15 . Verdict Another left-arm seamer, and Man of the Tournament at the World Cup. His yorkers are as dangerous in Tests as they are in ODIs, and accuracy and pace have improved. Ryan Harris . Age 35 . Caps 27 . Verdict If he can drag his injury-laden body through one final series, Australia will be thrilled. He was an unsung star during their 3-0 defeat here two years ago, and produced the ball of the series to bowl Cook in Perth. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. Fawad Ahmed . Age 33 . Caps 20 . Verdict The Pakistan-born leg-spinner has played only three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games for Australia, so would represent a risk. But Australian leggies have done well in England before… . Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Mitchell Marsh . Age 23 . Caps 4 . Verdict A rangy all-rounder and younger brother of Shaun, Marsh stunned England during the World Cup with figures of 5 for 33 at Melbourne – despite having taken only six ODI wickets until then. His batting is the stronger suit. Peter Nevill . Age 29 . Caps 0 . Verdict Peter who? Nevill has been chosen as the reserve wicketkeeper behind his New South Wales team-mate Haddin, although he has also played as a specialist batsman for his state team. Unlikely to get a game unless Haddin breaks a finger. Adam Voges . Age 35 . Caps 0 . Verdict An outsider for a Test debut, but he knows English conditions well – Voges has spent time with Hampshire, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire – and bowls left-arm spin to complement his middle-order hitting. +Rafael Nadal’s season plunged to a new low when he was dismissed from the Miami Open 2015 by one of those compatriots he usually defeats for a pastime. After Andy Murray had earlier eased through to the fourth round, the World No 3 floated limply away on the brisk Florida breeze, desperately inconsistent in going down 6-4 2-6 6-3 defeat to World No 34 Fernando Verdasco. He was in decent company because another top player in Murray’s half of the draw, Stan Wawrinka, also perished. The 27 year-old Scot is the survivor on that side after a comfortable 6-3 6-4 victory over Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo, and he now meets South African Kevin Anderson. Rafael Nadal was sent out of the Miami Open in the third round by Fernando Verdasco in three sets . Nadal (left) shakes the hand of Verdasco after defeat to his compatriot knocked him out of the Miami Open . Verdasco rarely looked threatened by Nadal, whose season has hit a new low after the defeat . Nadal has a lot of thinking to do following his defeat to 31 year-old left-hander Verdasco, who had only beaten him once in fourteen previous meetings. Only when the challenger seemed to get flustered after missing an early break in the second set was the French Open champion able to assert his normal superiority. The former World No 1 was troubled with wrist, back problems and appendicitis that caused him to miss much of last season’s second half. But he has played a full schedule in 2015, in which he has only reached one final, winning the relatively low-key ATP clay event last month in Buenos Aires. The question is whether the constant strains on his body are finally catching up with him at 28, although he has stuttered before at this time of year before coming storming back on the European clay, where has been undisputed king for 10 years. Once he had reeled in the second set the expectation was that Verdasco might fade, but after a long toilet break he reasserted himself and found that Nadal’s was in generous mood. Nadal struggled to generate his best shots from his traditionally formidable forehand . The 28-year-old Nadal was unable to exploit any potential nerves that could have been felt by Verdasco . Nadal could not build on winning the second set and was beaten 6-3 in the third as Verdasco secured the win . His feared forehand was particularly awry, and whole movement less assured than usual, never able to take advantage of his opponent’s potential nerves. Nadal maintained afterwards that he was unconcerned about his body, and that it was more an issue of his confidence being low: 'The physical problems are past. I am in competition. I'm playing weeks in a row, it is not an excuse,' he said. 'I don't have this self confidence that when I hit the ball I’m going to hit the ball where I want to hit it, to go for the ball running and knowing that my position will be the right one. I need to fix my nerves and my self-control.' +Before getting married next week, there are a couple of things Andy Murray would like to achieve in his last tournament as a single man. The immediate goal is to pass the milestone of 500 career victories — he is within one win of doing so after beating Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the Miami Open. Murray can pass the mark on Tuesday if he defuses the huge serving power of giant South African Kevin Anderson. Andy Murray could become the first British tennis player to win 500 career games if he beats Kevin Anderson . Should Murray survive that encounter, it is possible he could edge ahead of Rafael Nadal and move back up to No 3 in the world rankings, although that also depends on the performances of others here. Going past 500 is something nobody can take away from him, however, and it will stand as testament to his consistency at the top of the game. Since tennis went open in 1968 — the old barriers between amateurs and professionals torn down to make a unified circuit — only 45 men have clocked that many wins. Only eight who are currently active have managed it. Murray defeatedSantiago Giraldo of Columbia in their third round match during the Miami Open . No British player in that time has got there, Tim Henman pulling stumps on his career within four of the mark. Murray said: ‘It’s nice because when you see the list of players who have won this many matches there aren’t loads. ‘Even if it doesn’t happen here then at some stage I’m sure I will get there. Murray could leap ahead of Rafael Nadal in the rankings if he beats Anderson in the fourth round . ‘I obviously want to win more and hopefully I still have quite a few years ahead of me to add to that number. ‘It’s not easy in this era to win that many matches, so it’s a good sign.’ Of those Murray victories, 24 have come so far at this event, making it his most productive Masters level tournament. Murray and Giraldo shake hands after their match which saw the Scot progress to the next round . Factors like it being a familiar training base for Murray — he has a home only three miles away from this Key Biscayne island site — and the tendency for it to be windy during the tournament have all contributed to that. He is one of the best at adapting to such conditions. After two days of unsettled weather that have hardly enhanced South Florida’s reputation for reliable sunshine, it was a regulation glorious morning as he kicked off the programme against Giraldo, one of the steady trickle of decent tennis players who come out of Colombia. The No 27 seed, who beat Murray in their previous meeting on the clay of Madrid last year, is the kind of opponent who illustrates that racking up the wins on the ATP Tour is hardly a straightforward endeavour. Murray's form is improving as the season continues and he looks in good shape for Wimbledon . He gives the ball an almighty biff from the back court but was slowly unpicked by Murray’s clever mix of angles and spins. The Scot definitely looks a better player than he did a year ago, although the tendency towards the odd lapse in concentration is still evident. He let the South American, as usual enjoying good support in this part of the world, creep back from 5-1 down in the second set but then served it out at the second time of asking. Murray is set to marry long-term partner Kim Sears (right) next week following the tournament in Miami . +England may have thrashed Lithuania to take another step along the road to France 2016 but success has certainly not been confined to the senior team this week. When the Three Lions teams are put together from under 17 level upwards, they have won 11 matches out of 11 during this international spell, scoring 27 goals in the process. The under 21s won 1-0 away to the Czech Republic in a friendly on Friday, while the under 20s have beaten Mexico on penalties after a 1-1 draw and seen off the United States 2-1. England's team from under 17 to senior standard have won all 11 matches played this week . England's under 19s have won the first two of their European Championship qualifiers - 3-2 against Denmark and 1-0 against Azerbaijan, meaning they must defeat France on Tuesday to get through. The under 18s got on a roll against Switzerland, winning 1-0 and 6-1 in a double-header of friendlies, and the under 17s won all three of their European Championship qualifiers - against Norway, Slovenia and Romania. So, on the evidence of the past few days, a bright future awaits for the England team. Here, Sportsmail looks at some of the players to have performed well at each age group. UNDER 17 . Ike Ugbo . Age: 16 Club: Chelsea Position: Forward . Chelsea frontman Ugbo has set his sights on emulating club-mate Dominic Solanke by helping England's under 17s to European glory. Solanke played a key role as John Peacock's side lifted the trophy in Malta last year and Ugbo scored twice against Romania at Burton on Thursday to ensure England made this year's finals in Bulgaria with a 100 per cent record. 'It would be a dream come true for me,' said the Chelsea under 18 player afterwards. 'Seeing them win it last year, with Dom doing as well as he did too, it would be great to be able to follow on from them.' Chelsea frontman Ike Ugbo shoots for goal during England under 17's win over Norway last week . Reece Oxford . Age: 16 Club: West Ham Position: Centre-back . Proudly wearing the captain's armband, Oxford headed home to set the Young Lions on their way to a 3-1 win over Slovenia in the second of their Elite Round qualifiers. Despite being just 16, Oxford has featured regularly in West Ham's under 21 side and is tipped for a very bright future. Indeed, the teenager, who made Sam Allardyce's first-team squad for the Capital One Cup tie with Sheffield United earlier in the season, has been the subject of interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. Reece Oxford celebrates scoring for the under 17s against Slovenia in last week's qualifier . Danny Collinge . Age: 16 Club: Stuttgart Position: Centre-back . Scorer in England's 3-1 win over Norway, the first of the three qualifiers, Collinge has been a mainstay of the under 17 team for some time. He is something of a novelty in that he belongs to Stuttgart's academy in Germany, having joined them last summer from MK Dons. Reflecting on his goal against Norway, he said: 'I was over the moon - it was just being in the right place at the right time. But my celebration was a bit poor, that needs some work for next time.' Danny Collinge runs away in celebration after scoring his first England goal against Norway . UNDER 18 . Adam Armstrong . Age: 18 Club: Newcastle United Position: Forward . A pep-talk from England captain Wayne Rooney proved a source of inspiration for Newcastle hotshot Armstrong, who took his Three Lions goal tally to an impressive 19 in 24 matches with three goals in the friendly double-header with Switzerland over the weekend. Having scored the winner in Thursday's behind-closed-doors match at St George's Park, he contributed two stunners in a 6-1 rout of the same opponents at Walsall on Saturday. Already involved in Newcastle's first team, he has made 14 appearances for his hometown club and was also part of the England squad that won the Under 17 European Championships last season. Newcastle United hotshot Adam Armstrong scored twice in the under 18's friendly against Switzerland . Tammy Abraham . Age: 17 Club: Chelsea Position: Forward . Abraham was delighted to get off the mark on the international stage after scoring twice in the 6-1 defeat of Switzerland on Saturday but it was merely the continuation of an excellent season. He is the leading goalscorer nationally at under 18 level with 21 and has also played a key role in the Blues run to the FA Youth Cup final. He will now compete with club-mate Dominic Solanke and Armstrong for an England starting spot. Abraham said: 'I just have to keep scoring. That's the aim of any striker. I'll keep working hard to be picked again, and I'll be doing my best to achieve.' Chelsea's Tammy Abraham scores England's third goal against Switzerland at Walsall on Saturday . Taylor Moore . Age: 17 Club: Lens Position: Centre-back . Another Englishman abroad, defender Moore signed a three-year professional deal with French club Lens late last year. Capable of playing in central midfield as well as defence, the 17-year-old has become a regular in Neil Dewsnip's under 18 side this season. He too was part of the under 17s squad that tasted European glory in Malta last year, converting a penalty during the shoot-out win over Holland in the final. Taylor Moore on the ball during the under 18's emphatic 6-1 win over Switzerland on Saturday . UNDER 19 . Ashley Smith-Brown . Age: 18 Club: Manchester City Position: Defender . It's been quite the week for Manchester-born Smith-Brown, who scored vital winning goals in the under 19's qualifiers against Denmark and Azerbaijan, keeping Sean O'Driscoll's team on course for the finals in Greece. Primarily a right-back, Smith-Brown is more than capable of playing in any defensive position and has been involved with City's under 21 side this season, as well as the UEFA Youth League squad that reached the quarter-finals. Ashley Smith-Brown of Manchester City pictured in the colours of England . Patrick Roberts . Age: 18 Club: Fulham Position: Winger . A key component of the under 17 team that lifted the European Championships last year, Fulham whizzkid Roberts has quickly advanced to the under 19 level and looks very much at home. Indeed, in the initial qualifying phase he scored four goals and set up four more. Roberts made his Premier League debut last season and has continued to play for Fulham following their relegation to the Championship. Roberts has scored four goals for England during the current qualification campaign . Izzy Brown . Age: 18 Club: Chelsea Position: Forward/winger . Another member of the England team that triumphed at the Under 17 European Championships, the prolific Brown has made the step-up to the under 19 standard effortlessly and scored in the 3-2 win over Denmark last week. He is already a member of Jose Mourinho's first-team squad but features mainly in the Blues under 21 squad and the under 19 team that has reached the last four of the UEFA Youth League. Izzy Brown celebrates scoring for England against Italy in an under 19 international at Rotherham . UNDER 20 . John Swift . Age: 19 Club: Chelsea Position: Central midfield . An accomplished central midfield player, Swift has worked his way up the England youth ladder from the under 16s and is now a central cog in Aidy Boothroyd's under 20s. He opened the scoring in Sunday's 2-1 win over the United States in Plymouth. Brought through the Chelsea academy, Swift is currently out on loan at League One club Swindon Town to gain experience and has impressed, scoring two goals in 10 matches as they push for promotion. John Swift in action for the England under 20s in their 2-1 win over the United States in Plymouth . Moses Odubajo . Age: 21 Club: Brentford Position: Right-back . Brentford's Odubajo was called into the under 20 squad by coach Aidy Boothroyd for the first time and impressed in both matches to suggest that future appearances in the Three Lions shirt may be on the cards. The 21-year-old has been important in Brentford's surprising push for Premier League promotion this season and made the transition to the international arena effortlessly, putting himself in the frame for a place in Gareth Southgate's under 21 squad for the summer's European Championships. Moses Odubajo delivers a cross during England's under 20 win over the United States on Sunday . Alex Mowatt . Age: 20 Club: Leeds United Position: Midfield . This was Mowatt's second appearance in the colours of England and he made a strong case for future inclusion with a good performance in the win over the United States. His form in that match compliments his good season for Leeds United in the Championship, where he has made 31 appearances in all competitions and become a mainstay of the side. Leeds United star Alex Mowatt on the ball for the under 20s in their win over the United States . UNDER 21 . Tom Carroll . Age: 22 Club: Swansea City on loan from Tottenham Hotspur Position: Midfielder . Scored the winning goal as England under 21s defeated the Czech Republic, host nation of this summer's European Championships, on Friday night. The midfielder has been a part of Gareth Southgate's squad for some time and has been playing for Swansea City during this campaign on loan from Spurs. Tom Carroll celebrates with a clenched fist after scoring England's winner against the Czech Republic . John Stones . Age: 20 Club: Everton Position: Defender . A player who has experience with the senior team but seems content to gain experience with the under 21s for the time being. He figured in the win over the Czech Republic and looks set to be included in the squad for the Euros in the summer. Still only 20, Stones is a regular fixture in the Everton defence and manager Roberto Martinez has tipped him for a bright future for both club and country. Stones pictured in training ahead of England's under 21 game with the Czech Republic . Matt Targett . Age: 19 Club: Southampton Position: Left-back . Another product of Southampton's prolific production line, Targett made the jump up to under 21 standard on Friday night having previously played for the under 19s and under 20s. It has also been a breakthrough season for the 19-year-old at club level, with Ronald Koeman playing him in 12 Saints matches this term. Matt Targett made his debut for the under 21s in the win over the Czech Republic . +When Louis van Gaal has time between figuring out the Angel di Maria conundrum and plotting Manchester United’s Champions League return, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink would love a coffee. Hasselbaink is keen to pick the brains of his former coach, in his words one of the world’s greatest, to help League Two Burton Albion’s promotion push. The former Dutch international is doing pretty well so far by himself in his first managerial job in England, leading Burton to top spot since surprisingly taking over in November. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has impressed since taking over at Burton Albion; they are top of League Two . Hasselbaink scores for Chelsea, against Tottenham, during his playing days in April 2004 . Sportsmail's graphic shows Hasselbaink's long and illustrious career across a number of countries . But getting advice from the United manager with whom he shares a bond can only help. ‘I was always one of his favourites,’ smiles Hasselbaink, who won most of his 23 Holland caps under Van Gaal. ‘He wanted to sign me for Barcelona from Chelsea in 2003. I will never forget this. The fee was already arranged, then they played Valencia, he lost at home, he got the sack, and the deal didn’t go through.’ Does Hasselbaink recognise the prickly Van Gaal we have seen during low ebbs this season? His face lights up. ‘He is mild! I’m telling you,’ he says. ‘I have not spoken to him yet. I need to find the time to go over to Manchester and have a cup of coffee or tea with him when he is not that busy. ‘He is somebody who tells you exactly what he wants, how he wants and when he wants. There are no prisoners. But he is a very loving man and a top coach, one of the best in the world. Louis van Gaal and Hasselbaink get on well, and the Burton boss would like some advice from his countryman . Hasselbaink and Van Gaal (centre) know each other from when the now United boss was in charge of Holland . Hasselbaink is doing well on his own, but admits he would like to sit down for a chat with the United boss . ‘Of course he has come in for criticism because he is manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world, but let’s not forget, Man United is changing. I am 100 per cent he will succeed and they will play attractive football.’ Hasselbaink would hope players under his guidance one day say similar things about him. At 43, his managerial career is embryonic. He was a novice when he took the reins, despite a year at Royal Antwerp in Belgium. His first fortnight at Burton brought challenges even the most experienced manager might have found daunting. In his debut training session goalkeeper Dean Lyness broke his leg. ‘He is a guy who everybody really likes so that was a big blow,’ says Hasselbaink. ‘But he is back training and getting stronger.’ Then, just days after his first match in charge, at Wycombe, there was an emotionally crushing event — the funeral of Lydia Bennett, a 17-year-old who played for Burton’s women’s team. She had collapsed and died at home on November 4. Hasselbaink thinks Van Gaal is one of the best coaches in the world, and insists he was one of his favourites . Hasselbaink had an esteemed playing career, pictured celebrating a goal for Chelsea in 2001 . Hasselbaink admits that as a player he was more loud - and sweary - than he is as a manager . ‘That was devastating,’ says Hasselbaink, his eyes dewy. ‘I have an 18-year-old and for somebody to lose their child at that age is not right.’ He bangs the table. ‘That was very hard. The only thing I could do was go to the funeral and represent the club the right way. I still have Lydia’s black armband in my office hung up. We see it everyday. You get reminded of the real things in life. At times we forget.’ To hear Hasselbaink talk with such sensitivity only underlines why chairman Ben Robinson selected him ahead of 60 other applicants when predecessor Gary Rowett left for Birmingham. Robinson has a knack here, also giving Neil Warnock and Nigel Clough their breaks in management. Hasselbaink’s motivation to plunge into the lower divisions was not obvious. This is a man who scored so many Premier League goals for Leeds United, Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Charlton (127) he still sits 11th on the all-time list, despite retiring seven years ago. The Burton boss sat down with Sportsmail's Laurie Whitwell at the club's stadium after a training session . Hasselbaink's yearly earnings are believed to be around £40,000 - minimal compared to his playing days . Money is not the driving factor. When it is suggested he earns in a year what he once earned per week at Chelsea he grins. The figure is believed to be about £40,000 a year. If he simply wanted to stay in football he could have ticked along with punditry jobs. As recently as last October he was on Match of the Day. ‘As much as I’ve enjoyed the punditry, it’s very easy sitting there and judging people,’ he says. ‘You’re not under pressure. Do you know what has happened in that week’s training? You don’t. ‘So I always wanted to be with the players, seeing them smiling, sweating and, at times, moaning. Yes it’s hard. I love it. The second best thing in football — after playing.’ Still, why Burton? Hasselbaink answers emphatically. ‘It was a great opportunity. A very stable club with ambition, a great chairman who works with his managers, a good squad, excellent training facilities, and you can teach players. The Burton boss could easily pick up more than he currently earns, but he wants to cut his teeth at lower level . Scott Parker (left) and Eidur Gudjohnsen (right) watch on as Hasselbaink celebrates a goal at White Hart Lane . ‘I didn’t look at League Two, League One, Championship or whatever. I was always looking at the job. Can I have a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink feeling there? What’s the identity of the club? Does it fit with me? Do I fit with them?’ We are sitting in an executive suite at Burton’s Pirelli Stadium, a neat ground with 7,000 capacity, opened a decade ago. Training at nearby St George’s Park — the FA centre of excellence costing £105million — has just finished. It does seem to fit. Hasselbaink finds inspiration in Swansea’s incredible rise through the ranks; bottom of the Football League to established Premier League force in 10 years. ‘Swansea have the perfect model. They have an identity of the club and then they find a manager who fits. A lot of other clubs get a manager because he is doing well. He then wants to change lots of players. ‘Swansea have kept their way of playing. Every manager who has come has tweaked it a bit, but not lost the identity of the club. Hasselbaink has impressed since taking over at Burton in November, and looks to be closing in on promotion . The Burton boss wants to follow the model of Swansea, who rose from the lower leagues to the very top . ‘We are still far, far away from Swansea. But they give smaller clubs hope because of how structured and stable they are. If you plan well you have an opportunity to go far, if you stick with that belief.’ Hasselbaink’s belief in a passing style has seen Burton win 14, draw five and lose three of his matches to date. They can go five points clear at the top if they beat Stevenage at home on Monday night. ‘What has surprised me is that the players are better than people say they are,’ he says. ‘I find that there are some really technical players in League Two.’ He tries to remain cool on the touchline. ‘I want to stay as focused on my team as possible, because that’s where I can affect the game. I’m trying not to swear at the fourth official. ‘So far I’ve been more than good! No four-letter words. As a player I was different and always at it. But that is gone. I try to be as respectable as possible.’ Steve McLaren is another manager Hasselbaink speaks to in order to get advice on coaching . McLaren signed Hasselbaink for Middlesbrough during the Burton manager's playing days in the mid 2000's . Steve McClaren lives fairly close and ‘at times we go for lunch or a quick supper’, says Hasselbaink. McClaren signed him for Middlesbrough and took him to Nottingham Forest as a coach, his last role in England. McClaren had one response when Hasselbaink asked him about the Burton offer: ‘Take it.’ Hasselbaink says: ‘He’s a very good manager. I pick up a lot but I don’t copy. You have to make things your own. He is somebody I can call if I need to ask advice. Somebody I really respect.’ Ronald Koeman is another Hasselbaink has phoned. Where he does not wish for assistance, as he sees it, is through the colour of his skin. Hasselbaink, studying for his UEFA Pro Licence, is one of only five black managers in the Football League, but rejects the proposal of a Rooney Rule that would ensure at least one candidate for each vacancy is from a minority ethnic background. He says: ‘If I apply for a job I want to get an interview because they think I am the right person. Not because one of the six has to be black. I want to know they want me because they think I can take the club further. Otherwise I don’t need it.’ It would appear Burton, with sights on breaking into the third tier for the first time in their history, need Hasselbaink. +Ronald Koeman is weighing up a summer move for Fulham goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg. The 32-year-old is on a season loan at Monaco but has barely figured with Danijel Subasic their regular number one. Stekelenburg has played in just four games, including last week's 3-1 win over Reims but has yet to be on the losing side. However, the campaign has proved a disappointment for him so far and he is looking for a fresh challenge. Ronald Koeman is weighing up a summer move for Fulham goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg . Stekelenburg is on loan at Monaco but has barely figured with Danijel Subasic their regular number one . Stekelenburg has played in just four games and is yet to be on the losing side for the Ligue 1 side . The former Ajax and Roma keeper, who has 54 caps for Holland, has two years left on contract at Fulham and they will sell in the summer. Southampton manager Koeman needs an experienced performer after losing England international Fraser Forster for eight months with a fractured kneecap. He has 38-year-old Kelvin Davis in reserve with Paulo Gazzaniga, 23, and Cody Cropper, 22, as back-up. Koeman needs an experienced performer after losing England international Fraser Forster for eight months . +Dusan Tadic ensured that Southampton remain the spot-kick kings of the Premier League with his penalty against Chelsea on Sunday. The Saints have a near perfect record when it comes to penalties in the Premier League era, scoring 52 of their 55 kicks for a 95 per cent success rate. During their time in the Premier League they have had two of the best penalty takers around. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Matt Le Tissier was the designated penalty taker – and his career record was 47 goals from 48 kicks - which is one reason why their record is so impressive. Dusan Tadic scores from the spot against Chelsea - Southampton's 52nd success in the Premier League era . Matt Le Tissier only missed one penalty during his career - against Nottingham Forest in 1993 . His sole failure to score came in March 1993 in a match against Nottingham Forest, his effort being saved by keeper Mark Crossley. Since promotion back to the Premier League in 2012 they had Rickie Lambert with a perfect record from the spot - six from six in the Premier League before his transfer to Liverpool. Of the teams who have been ever present in the Premier League since its inception back in 1992, Chelsea have the best record with a success rate of 88 per cent (99 goals from 113 penalties). Dennis Wise beats Everton keeper Neville Southall from 12 yards back in 1997 . Manchester United's Eric Cantona was one of the most accurate penalty takers in the Premier League . Spurs forward Harry Kane sees his penalty saved by West Ham goalkeeper Adrian earlier this season . Liverpool have been awarded the most penalties of all the clubs that have been in the Premier League since the first season with 132 - of which they scored 101 (77 per cent success rate). Aston Villa have scored just 64 of their 95 spot kicks (67 per cent) since 1992 – the lowest of the ever-present teams. Manchester United have had some excellent penalty takers over the years with Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo all proving lethal from 12 yards – but they are down in mid-table with 77 per cent (89 goals from 116 attempts) QPR are struggling at the bottom of the table and they have the worst penalty record from their years in the Premier League with just 12 goals from their 18 attempts (67 per cent). VIDEO Mixed feelings for Mourinho over Saints draw . +David Beckham has long been known as a fashion icon, with billboard campaigns almost as common as England appearances during the later years of his career. Now, England's most capped outfield player is posing again, this time alongside comedian James Corden, in a less orthodox shoot. Beckham's chiselled physique is placed alongside Corden's rather fuller frame in a fake advert filmed for the comedian's new role as host of CBS' 'Late Late Show'. James Corden (right) joins David Beckham for their spoof 'D+J briefs' advert on his new show . The comedian poses with former England star Beckham during the short clip for CBS' 'Late Late Show' Both men narrate over the video, with Beckham claiming 'beauty is skin deep - it's underneath that counts' while Corden dances around him. And Beckham also gets a bit of the 'hairdryer treatment' - though not in quite the same way he used to face it from former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The shoot ends with Corden giving the tagline: 'D+J briefs. Underwear for a man with a great body... and David Beckham'. Beckham is now stranger to modelling underwear, but this could be a first for Corden . The two men voice over the short clip, with Corden hugging and dancing around Beckham . Beckham gets the 'hairdryer treatment' from his friend Corden during the fake advert . +Following their easy 4-0 win against Lithuania in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier England will face a much sterner test when they travel to Turin for an international friendly against Italy on Tuesday night. Here, Sportsmail's Sam Cunningham reminds you of 10 classic matches between the two sides. Italy 1-1 England, May 1933, friendly (Stadio Nazionale del PNF, Rome) This was the first ever meeting between the two sides, most famous for Italy’s fascist leader Benito Mussolini cheering from the stands and being played in a stadium which translated into English as the ‘National Stadium of the National Fascist Party’. England’s squad had to travel by train, setting off from London Victoria, and boat to get to Rome for the match. Italy’s Giovanni Ferrari put the home side ahead in the fourth minute, but Arsenal striker Cliff Bastin scored his first England goal to cancel it out. The England football team pictured at Victoria station as they depart for Rome to face Italy in 1933 . England 3-2 Italy, November 1934, friendly (Highbury, London) This game was labelled ‘The Battle of Highbury’ afterwards. Italy defender Luis Monti broke his foot in only the second minute and it was full of ferocious challenges. Italy were perhaps spurred on by reports at the time that Mussolini had offered the players an Alpha Romeo and £150 each if they won. That incentive back-fired when England went three goals ahead in the first 12 minutes; Eric Brook scoring three minutes in, adding a second after 10 and Ted Drake getting a third. They almost managed to throw it away, allowing Guiseppe Meazza to score twice in the 58th and 62nd minute, but held on for the win. England beat Italy 3-2 'The Battle of Highbury' during the second meeting between the two teams in 1934 . Italy 0-4 England, May 1948, friendly (Stadio Comunale, Turin) The Italians were still world champions, having won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938 and it being cancelled on the next two occasions due to World War Two. Italy’s manager was the great double World Cup winner Vittorio Pozzo, but they were rocked by Walter Winterbottom’s England. Stan Mortensen gave England a fourth-minute lead, Tommy Lawton added another and Tom Finney hit two second-half strikes within two minutes of each other. Goalkeeper Frank Swift, in his first match as captain, pulled off some stunning saves to keep Italy out with the score at 2-0. The result reverberated around the football world. Tom Finney scores England's fourth goal as England beat Italy 4-0 in Turin in 1948 . Italy 2-3 England, May 1961, friendly (Olympic Stadium, Rome) Goals from Omar Sivori and Gerry Hitchens put the scores level at the break, but Sergio Brighenti struck another shortly after and with only 13 minutes to play England were still trailing 2-1. That was until Hitchens netted his second of the match and with only five minutes remaining former Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves got the winner. The match was 54 years ago, but still the last time England beat Italy on their own soil. England and Italy line up at the Olympic Stadium in Rome ahead of the Three Lions' 3-2 win in 1961 . England 3-2 Italy, May 1976, friendly (Yankee Stadium, New York) England’s greatest comeback against the Italians came in the USA Bicentennial Cup Tournament. They were two goals behind by half-time, both strikes coming from forward Francesco Graziani. But in a devastating eight-minute spell after the restart England were in front. Former Southampton striker Mick Channon netted a minute from kick off, Liverpool defender Phil Thompson levelled the match two minutes later and in the 53rd minute Channon got the winner. England's Joe Royle watches on during England's 3-1 win against Italy in New York in 1976 . Italy 2-0 England, November 1976, World Cup qualifier (Olympic Stadium, Rome) This was the game which effectively stopped England qualifying for the 1978 World Cup. By the end of the qualifiers, even a draw would have been enough to send them through, but Giancarlo Antognoni scored first and Roberto Bettega, set up by a stroke of genius from Franco Causio, sealed the win for the Azzurri. England won all of their remaining matches and both teams finished the group joint on points, Italy three ahead on goal difference. It ended the reign of England manager Don Revie. The Italy players celebrate as Giancarlo Antognoni gives them the lead against England in 1976 . England 2-0 Italy, November 1977, World Cup qualifier (Wembley Stadium, London) The return was meaningless in terms of World Cup 1978 qualification, but Ron Greenwood had succeeded Revie as caretaker manager and England responded to their previous defeat with goals from Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking. It set up Greenwood to go on to the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where they came home undefeated despite being knocked out in the second group stage of the Finals. England's Trevor Brooking Beats Keeper Dino Zoff To Score England's Second in the 1977 qualifier . Italy 1-0 England, June 1980, European Championship group stage (Stadio Comunale, Turin) Italy were the home nation for the 1980 European Championship, and essentially sent England home in the second group match with this slim victory. England badly missed the injured Trevor Francis and lacked firepower up front. His absence proved costly when Marco Tardelli sent the crowd wild with a 79th-minute strike. England managed to beat Spain 2-1 in their final group match, but, at a time when there were only two groups, it was not enough to help them progress. Dino Zoff makes a great save as England are beaten 1-0 by Italy in Turin in the 1980 European Championship . Italy 2-1 England, July 1990, World Cup third-place playoff (Stadio San Nicola, Bari) England had been agonisingly knocked out of Italia ’90 in the semi-finals on penalties by Germany, while hosts Italy suffered the same fate against Argentina. It meant they met in the third-place playoff. Roberto Baggio put Italy ahead in the 71st minute and 10 minutes later David Platt levelled. But four minutes from time, Paul Parker conceded a penalty which Toto Schillaci slotted in to finish as tournament top-scorer with six. England's Peter Beardsley is foiled by Walter Zenga and Ciri Ferrara during the 1990 third-place play-off . Defender Mark Wright appeals next to goalscorer David Platt during the 2-1 win for Italy . Italy 0-0 England, October 1997, World Cup qualifier (Olympic Stadium, Rome) This was a bruising, battling performance which left Paul Ince covered in blood and forehead bandaged, but England with the vital draw they needed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France. The stadium was thick with tension - as was a nation back home in England - and in the latter stages Ian Wright hit a post while Italy’s Christian Vieri headed narrowly wide. The result meant Italy would have to qualify for the tournament via a playoff against Russia, but England were through. Paul Ince was left bloodied after England's battling draw against Italy to secure qualification for 1998 World Cup . Plus two that live in the memory, for very different reasons… . ANDREA PIRLO'S PANENKA . England 0-0 Italy (Italy win 4-2 on penalties), June 2012, European Cup quarter-final (Olympic Stadium, Kiev) The first 120 minutes were not the most glamorous. Italy tortured England with possession and produced 31 shots on goal, but Roy Hodgson’s players produced a lesson in defending, John Terry particularly heroic, to take the game to penalties. What made this tie was Andrea Pirlo’s genius Panenka penalty. England were clinging on in the shoot-out until the Italy midfielder produced a moment of brilliance, sending Joe Hart plunging to his right as the ball floated down the middle with a whirlwind of backspin. Andea Pirlo chips the ball straight down the middle during the Euro 2012 quarter-final penalty shootout . DAVID BECKHAM'S FIRST GAME AS CAPTAIN - AND SETH JOHNSON'S SOLO CAP . Italy 1-0 England, November 2000, friendly (Stadio delle Alpi, Turin) The match was David Beckham’s first in charge as captain of the national team - a duty he would continue for many years - but it would end in defeat. Sven-Goran Eriksson was set to take over and was watching from the stands as caretaker boss Peter Taylor played an experimental side, in which Seth Johnson earned his one and only England cap. They lost by a single goal when Gennaro Gattuso hit an incredible strike in off the crossbar from 30 yards. David Beckham salutes the supporters after the defeat by Italy in his first game as England captain . +Order and progress – Ordem e Progresso – read the Brazilian flags adorning the stands at the Emirates on Sunday, and the Samba stars have certainly made some decent headway since their unceremonious exit from their home World Cup eight months ago. Make no mistake, this was no vintage Selecao showing. There was little of the free-flowing football we have come to expect from Brazil. Head coach Dunga, himself a World Cup-winning defensive midfielder, has implemented a defence-first policy, with long balls up to the strikers very much the order of the day as far as attacking play was concerned. Firmino celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the friendly match between Brazil and Chile . Firmino is congratulated by teammates after scoring the opening goal during the match at Emirates Stadium . Neymar was in the wars again after this foul on the touchline left the Barcelona star in apparent agony . But Brazil, missing David Luiz, Dante and Maicon from the back four who started the 7-1 humiliation against Germany, looked a vastly more robust outfit defensively. Thiago Silva, so sorely missed in that ill-fated semi-final, was an assured presence at the heart of the back line, while centre-back partner Miranda weighed in with impressive physicality – especially in dealing with the driving force and trickery of Alexis Sanchez. Brazil are the pioneers of the attacking full back, but much-coveted Porto defender Danilo, despite his excellent through-ball for Fermino’s opener, was relatively reserved on the right side of defence. Danilo (right) springs into an acrobatic challenge to try and win back possession for his side from Sanchez . Jefferson SAMBA STAR . Danilo SAMBA STAR . Miranda SAMBA STAR . Thiago Silva SAMBA STAR . Marcelo SAMBA STAR . Costa SAMBA SHOCKER . Souza SAMBA STAR . Fernandinho SAMBA STAR . Coutinho SAMBA SHOCKER . Luiz Adriano SAMBA SHOCKER . Neymar SAMBA STAR . Left back Marcelo, perhaps a surprising inclusion given his culpability in Belo Horizonte, was also uncharacteristically disciplined, but still offered support to Neymar and Philippe Coutinho when the situation called for it. Sitting midfielders Souza and Fernandinho – the latter being the only other survivor from the World Cup semi-final – were effective in protecting the back four and took their clear pre-match objective to kick lumps out of Sanchez very seriously. Though the Manchester City man rode his luck a few too many times in dangerous positions. Where Dunga’s men really struggled to deal with Chile’s high-pressing game was in attacking midfield. Coutinho and Douglas Costa were hassled and harried by their opponents’ packed midfield on the rare occasions they maintained possession, and as a result created very little for their forwards, who were often forced to drop deep to influence the game. Brazil forward Luiz Adriano struggles to keep his balance as Medel challenges his opponent for possession . Barcelona star Neymar keeps his eye on the ball as he tries to control and begin another attack . Barcelona star Neymar is evidently in pain after Medel's cynical stamp at the Emirates stadium on Sunday . Predictably, Neymar drew the majority of attention – both from his baying supporters and his on-pitch adversaries – and he was by far Brazil’s biggest threat in attack. His lively play in a free role was vital to ensure they didn’t stagnate at the business end of the pitch and his ability to occupy multiple defenders was invaluable to his side. Strike partner Luiz Adriano, on the other hand, was ineffectual. With the creativity of Coutinho and Costa stifled, the Shakhtar man saw very little of the ball and appeared disinterested in forcing the issue. Neymar has all eyes on the ball against Chile midfielder Medel at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday . Real Madrid left back Marcelo attempts to clear the ball under pressure from Vidal during the friendly . Brazil manager Dunga passes on instructions to his right back Danilo as he watches his side take on Chile . Arsenal forward Sanchez sprints away from Thiago Silva (left) on the Emirates stadium pitch . Firmino skips past the on-coming Claudio Bravo on 72 minutes to slot Brazil ahead at the Emirates stadium . His replacement, Firmino, showed impressive composure in scoring Brazil’s winner, and his intelligent movement was a definite upgrade. Though at that stage, Jorge Sampaoli’s men were looking leggy after 72 minutes of dogged pressing, and Firmino exploited this. On the whole, we witnessed a complete change in Brazil’s philosophy since the World Cup, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Their gung-ho approach dictated by passionate home support was perhaps their biggest downfall last summer. A lengthy Mexican wave in the first half told the story of Brazil’s performance, but in sacrificing an emphasis on attack Dunga looks to have addressed Brazil’s major defensive defects. Attacking cohesion will have to wait. +Disturbing footage has emerged showing two young women engaged in a violent brawl inside a supermarket. The two girls-who appear to be teenagers-can be seen throwing punches and pulling each other's hair in the checkout section of the Geelong supermarket, as one staff member continues to stack shelves. Police have identified the two women in the video, but they have yet to lay charges and the investigation is ongoing. The two girls-who appear to be teenagers-can be seen throwing punches and pulling each other's hair in the busy supermarket . A crowd of onlookers, including the person who filmed the fight, refrain from trying to stop the fight or help either of the girls. The vision was captured in a Coles supermarket in north Geelong. A police spokesperson told 9 News the supermarket is currently working to improve security. 'The people in the video have been identified, but no one has been interviewed at this stage and the investigation is ongoing,' the spokesman said. 'Victoria Police condemns this behaviour and will investigate the incidents. Those caught engaging in assaults or other criminal behaviour should expect to be charged.' Victorian police have urged anyone who witnessed the incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 . A police spokesperson said the Geelong supermarket is currently working to improve security . A crowd of onlookers, including the person who filmed the fight, refrain from trying to stop the fight or help either of the girls . Police have identified the two women in the video, but they have yet to lay charges and the investigation is ongoing . +Thierry Henry has urged England's rising stars to make the most of their time with Wayne Rooney before he calls it a day. Henry has hailed Rooney as one of the greats of the game with the 29-year-old England captain just two goals from equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for his country. And the former Arsenal and Barcelona striker insists that young players like Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling must not waste their training sessions alongside Rooney. Thierry Henry (right) and Wayne Rooney pictured alongside each other during a Premier League match in 2002 . Wayne Rooney celebrates his 47th goal for England against Lithuania on Friday night . Henry wrote in The Sun: 'You will only truly appreciate Rooney when he has retired. It's a shame but it's always like hat. 'I would absolutely urge all those youngsters in the squad, such as Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, to watch and learn off Rooney from this day onwards. 'They are extremely lucky to be on the same training pitch as this guy and they must make the most of it. It will be a real waste if they do not. 'They must try to copy him. In terms of his dedication and the way he plays. I would also say this to the young lads at Manchester United. Rooney heads in the opening goal past Lithuania goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis at Wembley . Rooney heads the ball past Arlauskis to give England the lead in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier . 'To play well for six months or a season in football is nothing. To do so for over a decade like Rooney is extraordinary. I know what it takes and it isn't easy. 'Trust me, people talk about him outside of this country. In Spain and France, he is appreciated as a top, top player.' Meanwhile, Rooney has admitted that the excitement generated by Kane, who scored just 79 seconds after coming on as a substitute in the 4-0 win over Lithuania, reminds him of his early games for England at the age of 17. Rooney was a teenage sensation for England twelve years ago and caused even more of a stir when he starred in England’s 2-0 win over Turkey in 2003. Rooney said: ‘There was one stage in the game, after his [Kane's] goal, where he ran down the left and took a few players on which reminded me of that. Tottenham striker Harry Kane celebrates scoring his first goal for England on his debut . Kane (left) headed in England's fourth against Lithuania shortly after replacing England captain Rooney . Wayne Rooney (right) praised Harry Kane's immediate impact for England against Lithuania . ‘But he will tell you himself he still has a lot to learn but at the minute he is scoring goals left right and centre and it is great for us as a nation to have that excitement around us. ‘It's incredible really. You can feel the excitement around the country. You could tell when he came on everyone wanted him to come on and even he himself didn't think he'd score so quick, but we are all delighted for him. 'He's an exciting player. When you speak to him you can see he is a level headed guy and I am sure he has good people around him so will be able to cope with it. Rooney starred on his England debut against Turkey in 2003, at the age of 17 . Rooney (centre) said Kane's debut reminded him of his early games for his country . ‘There are things I could say to advise him but I think there are things you have to learn on your own, which I am sure he will do in the next year or two. 'He is obviously a little bit older than I was and a bit wiser as I was 16 or 17 when I came in. But he is level headed and can cope. ‘I think people try to help you but it is best to learn on your own. When you are a young lad you do make mistakes and you have to learn from them because it will make you a better player.’ +Worry: Dame Esther Rantzen, the founder of ChildLine, said that children as young as 11 had contacted the service with concerns about porn . More than one in ten children (12 per cent) aged 12 to 13 have made or been part of a sexually explicit video, according to new research. Nearly one in ten (nine per cent) of children in the age group are worried that they are addicted to porn, a survey of nearly 700 children for the NSPCC's ChildLine service found. And around one in five (18 per cent) said they have seen porn images that have shocked or upset them. Dame Esther Rantzen, the founder of ChildLine, said that children as young as 11 had contacted the service with concerns about pornography. She said: 'Young people are turning to the internet to learn about sex and relationships. 'We know they are frequently stumbling across porn, often unintentionally, and they are telling us very clearly that this is having a damaging and upsetting effect on them. 'Girls in particular have said they feel like they have to look and behave like porn stars to be liked by boys. 'We absolutely have to talk to young people about sex, love, respect and consent as soon as we feel they are ready, to ensure that they gain a proper perspective between real life relationships and the fantasy world of porn.' Peter Liver, director of ChildLine, said children reported that watching porn made them feel depressed, gave them body image issues and put pressure on them to engage in sex acts they are not ready for. A report by charity ChildWise in 2013/14 revealed that website Pornhub was among the top five favourite sites named by boys aged 11-16. And young people post approximately 18,000 messages regarding exposure to porn on the ChildLine discussion forums every month. Mr Liver said: 'The Government recently proposed plans for children aged 11 upwards to be taught about rape and sexual consent as part of PSHE in schools. 'This would include discussion around what they have learnt from watching pornography. 'Across society, we need to remove the embarrassment and shame that exists around talking about porn - which is why we have launched a ChildLine campaign to help young people to make more informed choices.' Around one in five (18 per cent) children aged 12 to 13 said they have seen porn images that have shocked or upset them . ChildLine has created the Fight Against Porn Zombies (FAPZ) campaign to tackle the problem. It will use animations to illustrate the implications of exposure to porn in both boys and girls. Ruth Sutherland, chief executive of Relate relationship support charity, said: 'We very much welcome ChildLine's new campaign, particularly because we know that children and young people do not feel that adults understand the online issues they face. 'In an IPPR poll last year, 61 per cent of young people said adults are out of touch with young people's relationships and friendships, and 56 per cent said adults find it hard to understand or help with online issues. 'That's why high quality, consistent relationships and sex education in schools is so important. 'We must get the right experts helping young people to understand what building blocks are needed for strong relationships, and ensure that what's being taught is applicable in the digital age. How easy access to porn is affecting young people - for example their sexual expectations and self-image - should be a vital component of this.' +Roy Keane called Manchester United's Antonio Valencia 'disgraceful' for his part in both of Arsenal's goals in the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford on Monday. Valencia's short backpass gave Danny Welbeck the chance to score Arsenal's winner by rounding David de Gea, and the former United captain thought he was poor. Keane was also annoyed at Arsenal's opening goal which saw Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ride three challenges before setting up Nacho Monreal with Daley Blind and Valencia at fault. Roy Keane was very critical of Manchester United's Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia on Monday . A poor defensive showing from United allowed Nacho Monreal to score Arsenal's first-half opener . The former United skipper is known for his outspoken views and made it clear that the pair were not fulfilling their responsibilities. 'It’s too open some times – it was a shocking goal to concede,' Keane said. The former United captain had told presenter Gary Lineker not to ask him about United's defensive efforts for Monreal's opener and when the subject was mentioned he was highly critical. 'I'm looking at it in terms of the defending, and character and putting your body on the line,' Keane added. 'The lads have just downed tools there. Blind goes in for a challenge on Alexis Sanchez at Old Trafford but his work for the goal was criticised . Valencia was panned for his 'absolutely disgraceful' contribution which Keane called a 'schoolboy error' 'Blind and Valencia - it's absolutely disgraceful. Schoolboy errors and that’s what costs your team. Big moments in a football match and if you give Arsenal, with the quality that they have, that type of freedom that’s what happens. 'It was too easy, shocking. Absolutely disgraceful.' Valencia was also at fault for Arsenal's second, laying a goal on a plate for former United striker Danny Welbeck with a under-hit back pass to David de Gea. Keane said the freedom given by the players to Alex Oxlade Chamberlain was poor . David de Gea could have taken out Danny Welbeck and taken a red card as a sacrifice said Keane . 'Shocking defending, this is even worse (than the first goal,' Keane added. '(Phil) Jones, there's a time to clear, he can do better and Valencia of course is compounding from the first goal.' And Keane felt David de Gea maybe would have been better served taking out the goalscorer and accepting a red card. 'Maybe the goalkeeper should sacrifice himself and take Danny out,' he said. 'Sometimes you need to sacrifice.' +Real Madrid president Florentino Perez called an emergency press conference on Thursday to express his support for manager Carlo Ancelotti and defend under-fire Gareth Bale. Marca, the Madrid daily sports newspaper, had claimed on Thursday that the former Chelsea boss was close to being sacked, leading their front page with the headline: 'Not One More'. Marca claim that defeat against Barcelona at the Nou Camp in 10 days' time would spell the end for Ancelotti, who led the club to a Champions League and Copa del Rey double last season. But, in direct response to that report, Perez said: 'To use the fact that we are not on our best form at the moment to report information that is not true is unacceptable. Florentino Perez jumped to the defence of both Real Madrid boss Ancelotti and record signing Gareth Bale . Madrid newspaper Marca ran with the headline: 'Not One More' and claimed the Italian was close to the sack . Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scores one of four goals Real Madrid conceding in defeat by Schalke on Tuesday night . Perez labelled Gareth Bale 'one of the best in the world' and said he is being chased by 'the biggest clubs' 'I want to state categorically that the club has full confidence in our coach and in our players. And I want to say, contrary to a report published today, that whatever happens in the coming days and weeks Carlo Ancelotti will remain the coach of Real Madrid. 'As president of Real Madrid, I appeal to our fans to support our coach and our players and ask that they feel proud of them for all they have given us and for all they will continue to give us.' Real have gone without a win in their last three games, surrendering top spot in La Liga to rivals Barcelona and only scraping through to the Champions League quarter-finals on aggregate after a 4-3 home defeat by Schalke on Tuesday night. Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) expressed his anger after the match . Real were beaten by Athletic Bilbao at the weekend to slip behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race . Ancelotti looks to the heavens as Real Madrid's winless run goes on and the pressure mounts on him . World record signing Gareth Bale, who cost the club £86million, has been the subject of jeers and whistles from the club's fans for his recent form, as has captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas. On Bale - who, like Ancelotti moved to Madrid in the summer of 2013 - Perez said: 'Gareth Bale is one of the best players in the world. 'The biggest clubs fought and continue to fight to secure his services. 'The only thing I can say is that we shouldn't forget what he was able to achieve in his first year at Real Madrid.' Real Madrid Iker Casillas lifts the Champions League trophy back in May of last year . +Mario Balotelli has pledged his support for Down's Syndrome Awareness Week by posing for a selfie wearing a 'Keep calm it's only an extra chromosome' T-shirt. The snap of the Liverpool striker donning the charity shirt was uploaded to the Cheshire Down's Syndrome Support Group's (CDSSG) Facebook page on Sunday before Balotelli shared it on his own official account the next day. Awareness week runs from Monday March 16 until Sunday March 22 with World Down's Syndrome Day - observed globally since 2012 -  held on Saturday. Mario Balotelli poses for a selfie wearing a T-shirt to support Cheshire Down's Syndrome Group . Balotelli shared the picture of Facebook and urged people to show their support for CDSSG . Balotelli poses for a photo with AC Milan's Stephan El Shaarawy after paying a visit to former team AC Milan . 'Guys, Awareness Week for Down's Syndrome is here,' Balotelli wrote on Facebook. Let's #getinvolved in ‪#‎WDSD15‬ (World Down's Syndrome Day 2015) by liking and sharing the Cheshire Down's Syndrome Group's work and leaving your donation.' The post was awash with positive comments from the public praising the Italy international for his work with the charity. Seany Fdm Pogson wrote: 'My daughter has a rare chromosome condition and she says SUPER MARIO ROCKS.' CDSSG expressed their gratitude for the Liverpool striker's support . Balotelli was last in action for Liverpool against Balckburn in the FA Cup goalless draw at Anfield . 'Downs kids are amazing so friendly and happy kids great cause x,' commented Gillian Simpson, while Donovan Bent wrote 'well done ballo you have a heart of gold my brother.' CDSSG are delighted that such a well-known football player is supporting the charity and expressed their gratitude to Balotelli on Facebook. 'What a fantastic start to Awareness Week Mario Balotelli Liverpool Striker supporting Cheshire Down's Syndrome Support Group,' read the post. The Liverpool front man has endured a difficult season back in the Premier League . 'We are all a little bit overwhelmed ......... Have a great match tomorrow (Monday). Thank you!' CDSSG is a not-for-profit charity that offers support to families and carers of children with Down's Syndrome within Cheshire. Balotelli will turn his attention back to Liverpool's Premier League top-four charge on Monday night as Brendan Rodger's side take on Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. +If you suffer from Arachnophobia then it is advisable to look away now. And if you don’t, then you will after watching this horrendous video that features more spiders than your mind could possibly fathom. The clip, which appears to have been captured in some sort of disused outside cabin, begins by showing three huge clusters of spiders attached to a wall. The first shot shows the extent of the infestation as thousands of legs run between clusters of spiders . And believe us, the footage doesn’t get any better from here. Panning around, the camera picks up thousands of legs scurrying about in between ten further spider groupings. Suddenly as the camera moves in to focus on one of them it falls from the wall causing the spiders that make it up to disperse immediately. The video maker pans to show five more clusters of spiders and begins focussing on one of them . The video maker films the spiders up-close exiting the cabin and climbing up the door frame . The video maker reacts by turning around and running from the cabin. Filming the doorway, the camera picks up a large number of spiders exiting and a further two clumps of them fall from the ceiling. The video maker moves in close once more to record the eight-legged critters running about on the floor before focusing on them on the door and wall. After filming a cluster of spiders up-close the video maker turns around and runs off in panic as one of them falls from the wall . The final shot shows the sheer extent of spiders inside the cabin, which make the walls look like they are moving . The final shot shows the sheer extent of the spider infestation inside the cabin, which make the walls look like they are moving. Little information has been released alongside the footage but the skin-crawling footage was recorded in Mexico City, Mexico. +These are the stomach-churning images captured when a fearless teenager scaled a 700ft Hong Kong skyscraper without using any safety equipment. Daredevil Andrej Ciesielski, 18, strapped a Go-Pro camera to his head before climbing the Manulife Plaza, located in Causeway Bay. When at the top of the 50-storey block, the adrenaline junkie from Munich, Germany, stood on the side of the huge building to capture spectacular footage of the city below. Scroll down for video . Don't look down: Germany teenager Andrej Ciesielski climbed the Manulife Plaza in Hong Kong with a camera strapped to his head . Andrej said while he went to extreme lengths to get the footage, he was more scared of being caught by police than falling. He said: 'The tricky thing about this building is that it's a commercial office so it's well secured. At the top there is a big spire that is absolutely amazing. 'I had to climb this one alone because my friend who was on the trip with me was afraid he would get caught and arrested. Daredevil: The 18-year-old completed the climb to the top of the 700ft building without any safety equipment, and wearing 'good shoes with good grip' Fearless: The teenager from Munich looks over Hong Kong from the top of the Manulife Plaza. He said climbing makes him feel 'so free' 'When I'm 'roof-topping' it's not the height I'm thinking about, it's the police. I'm not thinking about falling, I'm just thinking about getting caught. 'After this particular climb I was paranoid for the entire day that I'd been caught on the security cameras but fortunately I wasn't. 'I didn't use any safety equipment, just some good shoes with a good grip. 'My parents like the end result, they enjoy looking at my pictures but they aren't very happy about what I do. They don't like watching the videos because they're scared I could fall one day. 'When I'm climbing though I just feel so free. It makes me really happy. I know some people will struggle to understand that but for me it's freedom and I do it because I love it.' Dangling: Intrepid explorer Andrej stands by the edge of the top of the 50-storey Manulife Plaza in Hong Kong, which is 700ft tall . The teenager chronicles his adventures and escapades on Instagram @andrejcie, where he shares pictures from the top of other skyscrapers and buildings he has scaled. He revealed that he had been 'blacklisted' for Hong Kong after he was caught on the roof of a hotel. Andrej wrote: 'Unfortunately I’m on the blacklist in Hong Kong now! 'We were caught at the second day on the Hotel Panorama roof. 'But on the last day I managed to climb the Manulife Plaza. #NoRiskNoFun' View: A bird's eye view of Hong Kong captured from the top of Manulife Plaza by Andrej Ciesielski . +For once the north London spotlight didn't fall on Arsenal this Sunday afternoon. After the week they've had, Arsene Wenger would have been happy to shun the limelight this time. Ask Gunners fans prior to kick-off if they'd rather three points or a Spurs loss in the Capital One Cup final and you'd have been greeted with split responses. Olivier Giroud connects with a corner to fire Arsenal in front in the first half as they continue their bid for a top-four finish . Giroud watches as the ball heads for goal as Arsenal take the lead against Everton who were suffering from their European exertions . Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard can only stand and watch, along with the rest of his defence, as the ball trundles into the net . Giroud, content that the ball will cross the line, turns away to celebrate as Howard makes a late but unsuccessful attempt to stop it . In the end, as arch-rivals Tottenham prepared for their date with destiny at Wembley, the Gunners got their win, courtesy of goals from Olivier Giroud and Tomas Rosicky, to move four points behind second-placed Manchester City. But much like their demoralising Champions League loss to Monaco on Wednesday night, this didn't make for comfortable viewing. The 2-0 scoreline doesn't tell the full story. Everton dominated large spells of this clash - the Emirates Stadium a bag or nerves until Rosicky's last minute goal. Nevertheless, while their participation in this year's Champions League is under huge threat, their qualification for next year's competition is firmly on course thanks to this win. Wenger rang the changes following Wednesday's hugely disappointing loss. Vice captain Per Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck were axed following the loss to Monaco and replaced by Gabriel and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. For Gabriel, in particular, it was a huge chance to cement himself in his manager's first-team plans. Mertesacker's role in the starting XI has been called into huge question this season following a string of below-par displays. And it seems Wenger's reached the end of his tether with the German World Cup winner after another disappointing display in midweek. Giroud struggled in Arsenal's midweek defeat by Monaco but showed his delight at the Emirates after firing the Gunners in front . Giroud points to the heavens after scoring (left) and points to his temple as if to urge Arsenal to maintain their concentration . Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ospina 7.5; Bellerin 7, Gabriel 6.5, Koscielny 6.5, Gibbs 6.5; Coquelin 7 (Chambers 89), Cazorla 7.5; Oxlade-Chamberlain 8 (Rosicky 82), Ozil 6.5, Alexis 6.5 (Welbeck 87); Giroud 7 . Subs not used: Szczesny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Walcott. Goals: Giroud 39, Rosicky 89 . Booked: Giroud, Koscielny . Manager: Arsene Wenger - 7 . Everton (4-3-2-1): Howard 6; Coleman 7, Jagielka 6.5, Stones 6.5, Garbutt 6.5; McCarthy 7, Besic 6.5 (Naismith 77), Barry 6.5 (Gibson 84); Mirallas 6.5 (Lennon 62), Barkley 7; Lukaku. 6.5 . Subs not used: Robles, Kone, Alcaraz, Osman . Manager: Roberto Martinez - 6.5 . MOM: Oxlade-Chamberlain . Ref: Andre Marriner . Att: 59, 925 . Ratings by SAMI MOKBEL at the Emirates . Alexis Sanchez did not manage to get on the scoresheet for Arsenal but the Chilean was his usual busy self, covering the left wing as the Gunners beat Everton. Click here for more pitch maps and stats in our brilliant match zone. Tomas Rosicky had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes when he fired a deflected effort beyond Howard in the Everton goal . Rosicky was left in acres of space and allowed time to take aim as he made sure the points were staying at the Emirates . Rosicky and GIroud, Arsenal's two goalscorers, celebrate the former's strike in the dying minutes against visiting Everton . A strong display from Gabriel against Romelu Lukaku may have heralded new central defensive partnership - alongside Laurent Koscielny - for the Gunners until at least the end of the season. But the former Villareal defender nearly fluffed his lines on his big audition in the 18th minute as he failed to deal with a long-ball to allow Lukaku a free run a David Ospina. Thankfully for the Brazilian, his fellow South American bailed him out with some excellent goalkeeping. It didn't impress the Gunners fans, nor did it his manager who almost saw his central defensive gamble backfire in woeful fashion. Everton deserved the opening, too, after a confident start at the Emirates. Left-back Luke Garbutt, 21, on only his second Premier League start had made a bright start, while Muhamed Besic and Ross Barkley were seeing plenty of the ball in midfield. Arsenal, on the other hand, started lethargically - lacking any vigour or pace in their play. That was until Giroud missed a guild-edged opportunity to hand Arsenal a 28th-minute advantage. Having brilliantly escaped the attentions of Phil Jagielka deep inside the penalty area, the Frenchman had time to pick his spot from Alexis Sanchez's cross - but the striker sent his close range header wide. It was the last thing Giroud needed after his high-profile misses against Monaco on Wednesday. Supporters didn't get on his back this time, fans responding to by Giroud's wastefulness by chanting his name. Francis Coquelin was forced off after initially clashing heads with a team-mate before being hit on the face with the ball . Coquelin is looked at by medics getting a bloody nose. The Frenchman carried on but was later forced off with a suspected broken nose . His nose already hurt, Coquelin took another hit when the ball smacked him square in the face as he challenged for it . Coquelin's face was left in a mess as his nose bled following the second of two incidents during Arsenal's win over Everton . Wenger probably wouldn't have been quite so understanding on the bench, however, having watched the striker, who he has spoke glowingly of in recent weeks, squander yet another chance. The miss, though, did herald a period of sustained pressure from the home side after their slow start. However, if Gabriel hadn't produced an excellent last-ditch tackle to deny Lukaku in the 38th minute then the growing sense of optimism would have instantly waned. The challenge would have made Gabriel feel an awful lot better after his earlier howler. And his mood would have improved further when the Gunners took the lead just a minute later. So to did Giroud, who put his midweek woes behind him to nip in front of John Stones to flick home Mesut Ozil's corner. It was the perfect response after the barracking from his own fans during the defeat to Monaco. Perhaps it was harsh on Everton after a first-half in which, for the most part, they looked comfortable, if not the better side. Gareth Barry tried, spectacularly, to put the Toffees back on level terms inside five minutes of the restart but sent an acrobatic bicycle kick over the bar. Luke Garbutt attempts to drive down the win but his progress is stalled by the intervention of Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin . Gabriel was handed a start in the heart of Arsenal's defence and he made his presence felt with this challenge on Romelu Lukaku . Giroud puts his head in as Everton defender Phil Jagielka stretches his leg out in an attempt to win the ball as Arsenal push forward . Everton forward Kevin Mirallas then saw a penalty appeal rejected by Andre Marriner, claiming Oxlade-Chamberlain had handled in the box. Much like the first-half, Roberto Martinez's side had made a positive start after the break - Garbutt's delivery from dead-balls causing Arsenal's defence problems. The Everton boss threw on Aaron Lennon in place of Mirallas in search of a leveller. Given his Spurs connections, Lennon was afforded a horrendous ovation from home supporters. There'd have been more boos in the 65th minute had Ospina not tipped over Lukaku's first-time shot from Barkley's cross as Everton continued to make life uncomfortable for their hosts. It was even more uncomfortable for Francis Coquelin who was left with a bloody nose following an accidental collision with team-mate Giroud. He would later be replaced after taking a ball full in the face. Lennon missed a glorious chance to score on his return to the capital, firing straight at Ospina deep inside the area after great work from Seamus Coleman down the right. The Emirates Stadium was a bag of nerves. Ozil should have eased the tension in the 80th minute after being sent through by Oxlade-Chamberlain but the German's shot was blocked by Jagielka. Substitute Rosicky, finally, eased tensions in the 89th minute with a strike from the edge of the area that took a deflection off Jagielka. +Every day Sportsmail takes a look at the European papers to see what are the biggest stories creating talking points on the continent. We'll start in Spain where the focus is on Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and the emergency press conference called on Thursday to express his support for Carlo Ancelotti. After originally reporting that Ancelotti would be sacked if his side lost to Barcelona next week, Marca report that 'Perez contradicts' the Madrid daily newspaper while labelling the situation as 'Florentino's war'. Marca lead with Florentino Perez's 'war' against the press following his emergency press conference . AS use the headline 'Florentino dressed up as (Jose) Mourinho' as they cover Perez's 'attack' Perez jumped to the defence of both Real Madrid boss Ancelotti and record signing Gareth Bale on Thursday . In direct response to Marca's original report, Perez said on Thursday: 'I want to state categorically that the club has full confidence in our coach and in our players. 'And I want to say, contrary to a report published today, that whatever happens in the coming days and weeks Carlo Ancelotti will remain the coach of Real Madrid. 'To use the fact that we are not on our best form at the moment to report information that is not true is unacceptable.' Marca's front page features five different images of Perez as the president 'defends Iker (Casillas), Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Gareth) Bale and asks for unity'. AS also cover the emergency press conference, covering a range of quotes from Perez, including: 'I understand that some media want to have influence, but they are going too far.' Away from the Perez saga, AS also report that Barcelona star Sergio Busquets will 'find it difficult' to be fit in time for the El Clasico on March 22 as he looks to recover from ankle ligament damage. Marca ran with the headline: 'Not One More' and claimed the Italian was close to the sack on Thursday . Over to Italy now, where the main focus is on how the Italian's teams got on in Thursday night's Europa League clashes. Corriere dello Sport hail 'King' Gonzalo Higuain for a brilliant hat-trick against Dinamo Moscow as the Argentina striker guided Rafael Benitez's team to a 3-1 last 16 first leg victory. La Gazzetta dello Sport hone in on Inter Milan's 3-1 'ugly' defeat against in-form Wolfsburg as the Italian outlet point fingers at manager Roberto Mancini for his 'unconvincing changes'. The Italian newspapers focus on the Europa League, which including a 3-1 victory for Napoli . +For once, the focus of north London did not fall on Arsenal on Sunday. After the week they've had, Arsene Wenger was happy to shun the limelight this time. Ask Gunners fans prior to kick-off if they'd rather three points or a Tottenham defeat in the Capital One Cup final and you'd have been greeted with differing opinions. As it happened, they all got their wish. Their arch-rivals lost to Chelsea at Wembley and Arsenal got their win — by the same scoreline, — courtesy of goals from Olivier Giroud and Tomas Rosicky, to move four points behind second-placed Manchester City. Olivier Giroud points to the sky after scoring the opener against Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday . Giroud had a less than enjoyable time in his side's Champions League defeat against Monaco on Wednesday . The French striker congratulates team-mate Tomas Rosicky after he doubled the Gunners' lead on Sunday . But much like their demoralising Champions League loss to Monaco on Wednesday night, this didn't make for comfortable viewing. The 2-0 score doesn't tell the full story. This was unconvincing from Arsenal; the Emirates Stadium a bag of nerves until Rosicky's last-minute goal. Nevertheless, while their participation in this year's Champions League is under huge threat, their qualification for next year's competition remains on course. Despite their lack of fluency, Wenger would have been pleased with the response shown by his wounded players following the midweek loss. Giroud, barracked by his own supporters on Wednesday, did not hide; likewise Francis Coquelin, who played on after breaking his nose. This wasn't the Arsenal we're accustomed to, but after the Monaco monstrosity that didn't concern Wenger. 'I think what was really important was the mentally united response,' he said. Rosicky had been on the pitch for a matter of minutes when he doubled Arsenal's lead at the Emirates . Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he was proud of his side's response to the loss against Monaco . 'I am very proud of the response we have shown. Our defensive concentration was at a much higher level than on Wednesday. 'We know with the ball we can do better but overall what was important for us was to respond with a win. Not everyone can produce that after such a disappointment and it was vital for us to win.' Wenger's comments, particularly regarding his side's defensive stability, will have resonated with Per Mertesacker. The Frenchman rang the changes following Wednesday's loss. Vice-captain Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck were axed and replaced by Gabriel and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. For Gabriel, in particular, this was a huge opportunity. Per Mertesacker (right) was demoted to the bench following Arsenal's Champions League loss to Monaco . Giroud shows his strength in an impressive display to hold the challenge from Everton defender Phil Jagielka . Mertesacker's role in the starting XI has been called into huge question this season following a string of below-par displays, including against Monaco. On reflection, it wasn't the most convincing of performances from the 24-year-old on his first Premier League start since arriving for £13.5million from Villareal in January. A clean sheet is a clean sheet, though. Mertesacker knows that more than most. Gabriel very nearly gifted the visitors an early lead, failing to deal with a long-ball to allow Romelu Lukaku a free run at David Ospina. Thankfully for the Brazilian, his fellow South American bailed him out with some fine goalkeeping. A goal would not have flattered Everton, who started brightly. Arsenal, though, were lethargic. Giroud, unmarked from six yards, headed wide in the 28th minute after escaping the attentions of Phil Jagielka inside the penalty area. It was the last thing the striker needed after his wasteful display on Wednesday. But this time supporters didn't get on his back, responding to the miss by chanting his name. Arsenal's Gabriel (right) did not have the most convincing performance but managed to keep a clean sheet . Francis Coquelin was forced off after initially clashing heads with a team-mate before being hit in the face . This certainly had the desired effect, as the France international nipped in front of John Stones to flick home Mesut Ozil's corner in the 39th minute. Gareth Barry tried, spectacularly, to put Everton level but his acrobatic bicycle kick flew over. Kevin Mirallas then saw a penalty appeal rejected by Andre Marriner, after claiming Oxlade-Chamberlain had handled. Much like the first half, Roberto Martinez's side made a positive start after the break — Luke Garbutt's dead-ball delivery causing Arsenal's defence problems. Aaron Lennon, given his Spurs connections, was afforded a horrendous welcome when introduced in the 62nd minute. There would have been greater boos three minutes later had Ospina not tipped over Lukaku's first-time shot from a Barkley cross. It was even more uncomfortable for Coquelin (below), who was left with a broken nose following an accidental collision with Giroud. Luke Garbutt attempts to drive down the win but his progress is stalled by Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin . Lennon missed a glorious chance to ram Arsenal supporters' insults down their throats, firing straight at Ospina after great work from Seamus Coleman. The stadium was a bag of nerves by this point. Ozil should have eased the tension in the 80th minute after being sent clean through on goal by Oxlade-Chamberlain but the German's shot was blocked by Jagielka, before substitute Rosicky struck in the final minute to ensure Wenger could finally relax. +Roy Hodgson wants his fringe players to prove a point to him in Turin as he prepares to field an 'experimental' line-up against Italy. England's confidence is running high after they thumped Lithuania 4-0 on Friday to stretch their post-World Cup winning streak to seven matches. They know a much stiffer test lies around the corner though. Italy find themselves in the midst of a crisis after coach Antonio Conte received death threats from angry Juventus fans who blame him for causing Claudio Marchisio to break down with a serious knee injury. Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson will change up his starting XI for the friendly against Italy on Tuesday night . The Azzurri are also without experienced campaigners Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi, but they are still by far the toughest opposition England have faced since their winless and joyless campaign in Brazil. Hodgson's plans have been turned completely upside down after nine squad withdrawals, though. The likes of Chris Smalling, Kieran Gibbs, Andros Townsend, Theo Walcott and Ross Barkley are likely to get a chance in Turin and with competition for places increasing, particularly in midfield and attack, Hodgson wants to see encouraging signs from those who step in. 'We've got a tougher test ahead of us against Italy and we will be playing that game with players we wouldn't normally rely upon,' the England manager told FA TV. England fringe players will get a chance to impress manager Roy Hodgson during a friendly in Turin . 'There are an awful lot of people in the squad I count on that we've lost, but what it means is for those who are still with us, many who are relatively untried, there will be a chance for them to show that my faith in selecting them for this squad was justified.' Hodgson confirmed on Saturday that Danny Welbeck, Raheem Sterling, James Milner and Leighton Baines would all return to their clubs. Southampton full-back Ryan Bertrand is the only replacement so Hodgson now has 20 players - including three goalkeepers - to choose from. Those left are an inexperienced bunch. Eight players have 10 caps or less. Arsenal forward Theo walcott, who was a second-half substitute against Lithuania, could start on Tuesday . England duo Wayne Rooney (left) and Danny Welbeck (right) celebrate their strikes on Friday night . Everton midfielder Ross Barkley runs with possession during a late cameo on Friday in the Lithuania match . In a bid, perhaps, to dampen expectations running high following Harry Kane's impressive debut on Friday, Hodgson was moved to describe his line-up as 'experimental' on Sunday. The England manager says his team should not be judged on the result of Tuesday's game at the Juventus Stadium, but later in the season when they are expected to play big friendlies against the likes of Spain, Holland and France. 'The real test against tougher opposition will be when the qualifying campaign is over,' the 67-year-old said. 'When the qualifying campaign ends - we believe we'll be qualified in October - then we have two very important friendlies in November, two important friendlies in March, certainly in May. 'Hopefully we'll get really quality opposition to play us in those matches which will really put us seriously to the test. Harry Kane celebrates scoring on debut as England cruise to a 4-0 victory over Lithunania on Friday night . 'There are a number of players who quite seriously believe they should be in the team and none of them will be in Italy. 'Italy and Ireland (in June) will be to some extent experimental and a chance to break in to what we think is our best XI.' Still, a win against the nation that beat them in their World Cup opener last summer will do no harm to morale, especially if Kane puts on another performance like the one that saw him score after just 79 seconds on the pitch on Friday. For Hodgson it will be the first time he has visited the new Juventus Stadium. Italy striker Eder (left) celebrates scoring a late equaliser against Bulgaria with coach Antonio Conte . He did not enjoy that much success at the Old Lady's former ground, the Stadio delle Alpi, when he was in charge at Inter Milan, mainly because he always came up against a team containing the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane. Hodgson lost twice in the league at Juventus, but a 3-0 Coppa Italia win over the Turin giants is still remembered fondly by Inter fans. 'I didn't have many happy moments in Turin,' Hodgson said. 'Juventus were clearly the best team in the country during my time with many, many star players. 'Apart from one cup victory which we had there, invariably we didn't get the results we wanted. 'But I'm happy to be going back to Italy as a country and I'm happy to be playing Italy again.' +So was The New One the unluckiest horse at last year’s Cheltenham Festival? Twelve months of wondering should finally be answered at around half past three on Tuesday afternoon. The ground the gelding surrendered when hampered by the fatal fall of Our Conor at the third flight seemed crucial at the time. But were we all conned by the final-furlong surge that he conjured under jockey Sam Twiston-Davies to grab third place behind Jezki and My Tent Or Yours, just in front of dual winner Hurricane Fly in fourth? Sam Twiston-Davies has unfinished business in Monday's big race at Cheltenham . Twiston-Davies riding The New One on the way to victory in the StanJames.com Champion Hurdle Trial . Jezki and Hurricane Fly, who have traded punches all winter across the Irish Sea, are back again. They have been joined by Hurricane Fly’s unbeaten stablemate Faugheen, christened ‘The Machine’ because of the stunning visual nature of his performances. Significantly, he is also the choice of stable jockey Ruby Walsh. Together they make up one of the strongest ever Irish assaults on the Stan James Champion Hurdle. Britain can muster only three runners and two of them, Bertimont and Vaniteux, are rank outsiders. With hopes resting on the shoulders of the 22-year-old Twiston-Davies and the gelding trained by his father Nigel — and with the Irish wave advancing — Sam could be forgiven if he felt like Michael Caine in the film Zulu. However, he is totally focused on exorcising last year’s nightmare experience. It was one which prompted an enduring image of the 2014 Festival, the crest-fallen Sam with his head in his hands. Back in 2013 Ireland outscored Great Britain by winning 14 of the 27 races, the first time in Festival history that the Irish have won the majority of the races. Great Britain was back on top last year (15-12) but face a strong challenge this time, with five of Tuesday’s races containing favourites from across the water. Ireland dominates the betting for the feature Champion Hurdle, with The New One an island of red, white and blue amid the green, white and orange of the main contenders. Twiston-Davies is entirely focused on exorcising last year's nightmare experience . If the hot four favourites trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh all win on Tuesday, bookmakers claim they could be facing their worst day since Frankie Dettori’s Magnificent Seven at Ascot in 1996, which cost them £40million. The Irish duo struck twice on opening day last year and team up this time with Douvan in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Un De Sceaux in the Arkle Chase, Faugheen in the Champion Hurdle and Annie Power in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle. Coral’s Dave Stevens said: ‘If all four win it will be our worst day in Festival history. They are bound to be popular and linked in accumulators.’ Sam says: ‘There are loads of different opinions and I’d love to know what the answer is. I have watched the video hundreds of times. ‘It is one of the hardest things I have had to deal with. I had run the race scenario through my head so many times and that was the only one I had not thought of. ‘I was prepared for anything else — to finish second or even to fall off. To see him finish as strongly as he did, if things had gone his way he could have won. Luckily, the owners were very kind. They did not make me hang around (in the unsaddling enclosure) afterwards. We talked about what had happened on another day. ‘I just wanted to sit down and put a towel over my head in the weighing room. ‘The only certainty is that I am now able to deal with defeat and disappointment better than I was. That is the experience of growing up.’ Since last year’s Champion Hurdle, The New One has won all of his five races, four of them this season. He gained plaudits for his impressive victory in Cheltenham’s International Hurdle in December but was less impressive when being forced to dig deeper than expected by Bertimont in his final prep at Haydock. But Sam says that is not a concern, adding: ‘I wouldn’t say we have drawn a line through Haydock because we learned that he doesn’t want heavy ground. He would not run on it that bad again. ‘We also learned when things are not going right he is able to win from a bad situation. We now know if it was a dogfight in the Champion he could cope. I loved his performance in the International Hurdle. It was spectacular. He jumped the last upsides and put four lengths between him and Vaniteux.’ Twiston-Davies says he is now able to deal with defeat and disappointment much better . Victory on Tuesday afternoon would be made even more satisfying given the familial nature of the challenge. Since last year’s meeting, Sam, whose two Festival winners include The New One in the 2013 Neptune Investment Novices’ Hurdle, has been appointed stable jockey to champion trainer Paul Nicholls, the best job in jump racing. It means a string of good rides lined up this week, including Vibrato Valtat in this afternoon’s Arkle Trophy and Saphir Du Rheu in Thursday’s World Hurdle. But he admits he does not know if he would have accepted such riding riches had he been made to leave the star in his father’s stable behind. ‘It’s a very interesting question and I could not give an answer,’ Sam says. ‘I have been lucky to win a lot of big races but The New One is spectacular — one of the best I have ever ridden. ‘He is massive. Dad’s big chance of the week. To do it as a family would be a dream. He goes there in good form. ‘I just hope last year wasn’t supposed to be his year.’ +With 60 years of managerial experience between them, Louis van Gaal and Arsene Wenger have more big match experience than most coaches still involved in European football. They have, as they saying goes, forgotten more about the game than many people will ever know. Games like this, however, still throw up unique questions and challenges, both before and during play, and on Monday night he two men faced one of their biggest nights of the season in a competition their respective clubs are unusually desperate to win. Here, Ian Ladyman assesses how they shaped up at Old Trafford. TEAM SELECTION . Managers are paid to make the right calls and sometimes that involves an element of risk. Wenger’s decision to include Danny Welbeck ahead of Olivier Giroud seemed baffling. Giroud had scored five goals in his last five games and it was hard to think Welbeck would have anything in his repertoire that his former team-mates in the United ranks didn’t know all about. For an hour here it seemed as though the Arsenal manager had blundered a little. Arsenal were familiarly quick and progressive through midfield but Welbeck seemed unable to hold of possession long enough to bring his supporting players Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in to play. Arsenal left back Nacho Monreal jumps in the air after putting his side in the lead . Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney cancelled out Nacho Monreal's opener . Ultimately, though, Wenger’s decision was vindicated when Welbeck was bright enough to anticipate Antonio Valencia’s back pass and calm enough to win his subsequent challenge with David de Gea and score the winner. For their part, it was surprising to see United without their best passer, Michael Carrick, but they still had a bold look about them at the start and that was indicative of the fact that this was a game Van Gaal wished to win at the first attempt. Daley Blind was selected as United’s only holding player and that, in turn, released Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini to try and hurt Arsenal further up the field. Most interesting, though, was Van Gaal’s decision to select Ashley Young as a traditional winger. Young has looked good going forward from left-back this season and by shunting him further up the field, Van Gaal gave him licence to trouble young Hector Bellerin. It was a plan that worked early on, as Bellerin was booked for a foul, but Young couldn’t maintain the threat and spent too much time in his own half. Ashley Young celebrates with Rooney following the Manchester United and England captain's equaliser . TACTICS AND STYLE . Wenger is nothing if not brave when it comes to these games and that was reflected in his decision to pair Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil as central players. Some Arsenal supporters may have wanted their team to look rather more secure and at times the visiting team did look vulnerable when Fellaini edge forwards to impose his unique brand of physicality on to the Arsenal central defenders. Arsenal’s three-man attacking formation took a while to click but the holders’ full-backs Bellerin and Nacho Monreal got significant change out of their opposite numbers, forcing them back, and this allowed the visiting team to stretch the play in a fashion that made United look distinctly uncomfortable. Santi Cazorla (second left) vies for the ball with United trio Young, Daley Blind and Marouane Fellaini . When United did have the ball it was clear they had been instructed to play with more urgency. Certainly Van Gaal’s team moved the ball more quickly early on and tried to deliver telling balls between two Arsenal central defenders that can be vulnerable, something that paid dividends when Wayne Rooney equalised. Unfortunately, this is not a United team that has any great confidence or belief and as soon as things started to go wrong their game plan fell apart to the extent that the final 20 minutes saw them launch a succession of long balls up towards Fellaini. That, it must be said, was startlingly unsophisticated. One final question, here: If Rooney is the man chosen to take your free-kicks from out wide, just what does that say for the abilities of Young and Angel di Maria? TECHNICAL AREA SAVVY . Wenger once got so animated here that he ended up standing on the platform behind the dug-outs after being sent from his seat. It was not a good look but then his team were on the brink of a defeat at the time so perhaps he was to be excused signs of madness. On Monday night he was visible at times and contributed a lovely 360 degree dance after the first goal. A place in Strictly Come Dancing beckons in retirement, perhaps. Van Gaal, meanwhile, rarely ventures from his seat and whether that is the right thing or not depends on whether you think footballers actually benefit from a frantic man in a suit screaming at them while they are trying to put in to practice the things they have spent all week rehearsing. As usual, Van Gaal spent much of the time sitting down whilst scribbling mysteriously on his big black clipboard. It will be some letter home by the time the season ends and, sadly for him, will not include any stories about Wembley. Arsene Wenger (left) was animated on the touchline during Arsenal's win against Manchester United . SUBSTITUTIONS . Van Gaal sees football as an 18-man game and his use of substitutes – both good and bad – has been a feature of his time at Old Trafford, just as it was during last summer’s World Cup. Here, the United manager saw his team very much in the game and gathering momentum towards the end of the first half but then made two changes during the interval. It is hard to say they worked, the hooking of Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera serving only to rob United of any impetus. Luke Shaw was taken off in the second half for United after proving to be ineffective on the left . Equally, the early subs left Van Gaal with no wild card as United chased the game late on. As a result, Radamel Falcao remained on the bench. Wenger, meanwhile, was prepared to wait a little longer but his hand was forced when Oxlade-Chamberlain was injured immediately after the interval. Wenger’s response was positive, sending on a like-for-like replacement in Aaron Ramsey. VERDICT . If you come away with a victory on a night like this then you win the duel, it’s as simple as that. Wenger gambled with his selection and tactics and knew he would be criticised if it didn’t come off. Managers are paid to make the decisive calls, however, and to the victor the spoils. Louis van Gaal (middle) issues instructions to United midfielder Ashley Young . The Frenchman points the way during his side's FA Cup quarter-final win against Manchester United . +The biggest impression Grant Elliott had made on world cricket came when he was barged by Ryan Sidebottom during a one-day international at the Oval seven years ago and was unwittingly caught in the middle of a major row between England and New Zealand. Now he will be remembered for all the right reasons. Elliott, a little known all-rounder born in South Africa but a naturalised Kiwi, played one of the great one-day innings on Tuesday for his adopted country against the nation of his birth to take New Zealand to their first World Cup final. It led to jubilant scenes at Auckland’s Eden Park, a venue more readily associated with New Zealand’s rugby triumphs than cricketing ones, and breathed life into a tournament in which exciting finishes have been all too rare. Grant Elliott celebrates hitting a six against South Africa to put New Zealand through to the World Cup final . Daniel Vettori embraces Elliott while bowler Dale Steyn lays on the ground after the crucial blow . Elliott, 36, powered his way to what would be a match-winning unbeaten 84 in the Black Caps chase . What a day for New Zealand and what a day for 36-year-old Elliott, who had not played international cricket for 14 months when he became one of coach Mike Hesson’s inspired choices for this World Cup. Elliott beams as he meets the press after the match . Elliott will surely never play another innings like his unbeaten 84 which earned New Zealand the most nerve-racking of victories with just a ball to spare against a South African team who fell short when it most mattered yet again. And Elliott will surely never play another shot like the six that soared over the short long-on boundary with five needed off two balls from the world’s greatest fast bowler in Dale Steyn. A man who has had a largely anonymous career that has taken in Transvaal, Wellington and Surrey was humble enough to console the stricken Steyn in scenes reminiscent of Andrew Flintoff’s Ashes embrace of Brett Lee in 2005. Then Elliott talked of how much this means for a country who will now take on either Australia or India in the final on Sunday after falling short in no fewer than six previous World Cup semi-finals. ‘I was looking to hit that ball for six or four,’ said Elliott. ‘I was just going to line it up and it was going over the boundary. It means a lot to the players but you only had to look to the stands to see how much it meant to a lot of people.’ This was glorious vindication for the attacking, modern brand of one-day cricket that New Zealand have been producing under their impressive captain Brendon McCullum with players who have not always been regarded as dynamic. Elliott goes for broke on the penultimate ball of the match and his sweet strike soars into the stands . Steyn, for many the world's best fast bowler, stands with his hands on his knees as Elliott celebrates . Elliott shakes hands and consoles Steyn as the conclusion of the match at Auckland's Eden Park . The batsman sparked memories of Andrew Flintoff's sportsmanship with Brett Lee in the 2007 Ashes . Elliott has never been seen as the epitome of modern 50-over power and nor has Martin Guptill, who came of age as a limited-overs batsman with his double century in the quarter-final against West Indies. If they can do it, then why not England, if they throw off the shackles and start again in one-day cricket after their embarrassing exit in the group stages? New Zealand were in all sorts of turmoil two years ago when they messily sacked Ross Taylor as captain but what has happened since has been little short of phenomenal, and they will provide the stiffest of opposition to England in both Test and one-day cricket in May and June. Before his semi-final heroics, Elliott was best known for his collision with Ryan Sidebottom in 2008 . Then captain Paul Collingwood apologised for upholding the appeal that saw Elliott run out after the clash . This was heartbreaking for South Africa, who did little to shake off their reputation as perennial chokers on the big occasion. Yet to use the ‘c-word’ they hate so much would be harsh on South Africa. They fumbled two crucial run-out chances and then saw JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien collide in the deep (above) when Eliott offered a skyer with 14 needed for victory, but were simply beaten by the better team. ‘I really did feel the pressure, it was stressful towards the end,’ said Elliott, who saw New Zealand home in company with the veteran Dan Vettori. That was of little consolation to South Africa captain AB de Villiers, who struggled to contain his emotions after coming off second best in one of the great World Cup games. ‘We wanted to take the trophy home and lift our nation’s hearts but we weren’t able to do that,’ said De Villiers. ‘But life moves on and the sun will come up tomorrow.’ +Sean Dyche has revealed that he tried to sign new England hero Harry Kane on loan for Burnley when he first took over at Turf Moor. Burnley face Tottenham at home on Sunday and Dyche must try to find a way of stopping Kane whose career has rocketed since honing his skills out on loan at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester earlier in his career. Dyche was also in the queue to sign Kane after taking over as Burnley manager in 2012, and he believes that the 21-year-old striker's spells in the Championship have helped make him the player he is today. Harry Kane at the Juventus Arena in Turin ahead of his firsts start for England . 'He's a player that most people would have had a look at when he wasn't in the side at Tottenham,' said Dyche. 'It's a good reflection of how the loan system can work, and it doesn't have to be the glory loan – the one where it works every time. He's had his ups and downs on loan but that can be a massive part of a young player's development, experiencing the fact that it doesn't always work hand in glove. 'It's not always perfect, you don't play every week, you have to challenge yourself to keep going and keep grinding and be professional every day to be ready to play when you're called upon. 'He was out at Millwall and it was possibly a step too early when he went out to Norwich to play there, and then Leicester a few bits and bobs off the bench. Kane enjoyed a phenomenal start to his international career by scoring on his debut last Friday . Kane headed home against Lithuania just 79 seconds after coming on to the field as a substitute . 'All of that for a young man who seems to me to have a very good temperament and a very good desire to be a footballer, (shows that) if you stick at it long enough you get your rewards. It has to be the ups and downs of football to bring the reality.' FA chairman Greg Dyke tabled a series of new proposals last week aimed at increasing the number of homegrown players in the Premier League. Burnley are the only team in the top-flight to field an all-British team this season, and Dyche believes that the only way for players like Kane to truly progress is to be given a chance at the highest level. Kane was sent on loan to several clubs in the lower leagues, including here at Millwall, before he found fame . The 21-year-old striker has taken the Premier League by storm this season with his glut of goals . 'It's not an exact science,' he added. 'The way the FA are trying to take a grip of it is to try and crunch it down to a better chance of elite young players coming through the system, and an improved chance of them being future England players. 'I don't think there's a perfect situation but they are certainly searching hard to find the best situation of allowing those players real growth. 'But that is inevitably playing in the Premier League. The earlier they can get that experience to play at the top level is the best learning curve.' +Gloucester have announced that Tom Lindsay will be joining the club from Wasps at the end of the season. The 27-year-old hooker has spent the whole of his career at Wasps since joining 11 years ago, making over 100 appearances and going on to achieve international recognition with the England Saxons. He has been a regular in the squad this season, but has opted to move to Kingsholm as they build for the 2015-16 season. Gloucester have announced that Tom Lindsay will be joining the club from Wasps at the end of the season . Director of rugby David Humphreys was pleased with the deal, telling the club's official website: "We are delighted to be bringing a player of Tom's quality and experience to the squad for next season. 'His set-piece work is good, he carries the ball well, he's English qualified with a lot of experience and we hope has his best years ahead of him. 'Next season is unique due to the delayed start of the Aviva Premiership and the intensity of the season after the Rugby World Cup will test the depth of every squad. We are preparing for that and continue to build a squad with quality players competing for each starting spot.' Lindsay, who will compete with Richard Hibbard and Darren Dawidiuk for a starting berth, added: 'I feel that the time is now right for me to experience a new environment to help me really develop and achieve my potential. 'The opportunity to move to Gloucester is an exciting one, and one I'm really looking to when the time arises. 'I've always enjoyed playing at Kingsholm, it's a great, traditional rugby venue and, with the city hosting Rugby World Cup matches in 2015, it's going to be a great place to be next season.' +HOW DO I GET TICKETS? Tickets are available online at www.cheltenham.co.uk - Friday’s Gold Cup is sold out - or at the racecourse in three bands: . Best Mate Enclosure £35 (opposite the main grandstand) Tattersall Enclosure £49 (access to grandstand steps) Club Enclosure £80 (access to main grandstand & finish) (Gates open at 10.30am) Tickets for the Cheltenham Festival are available online but Friday's Gold Cup is sold out . TRAVEL TIPS . By car: Parking is £8 in advance and £10 on the day. By train: A bus link runs from Cheltenham Spa Station, starting two hours before racing. By coach: National Express will be operating coach services from many UK locations for all four days. Or in style: The Cheltenham website has details of arriving by steam train or helicopter. WEATHER . Tuesday: Dry and sunny with a light breeze, 3-9°C, 5mph winds. Wednesday: Cloudy with heavy rain in the afternoon, 3-9°C, 16mph. Thursday: Cloudy with heavy rain in the evening, 4-10°C, 15mph. Friday: Clousy but dry with sunny spells, 5-9°C, 12mph. Clare Balding will host Channel 4's coverage . ON TELEVISION . Clare Balding and Nick Luck host Channel 4’s coverage of what should be a four-day feast of racing, culminating with Gold Cup holder Lord Windermere hoping to defend his title on Friday. Channel 4 Schedule . Tuesday . 8.0-9.0am: Morning Line . 12.35-4.20pm: Day 1 Live . Midnight-0.50am: Highlights . Wednesday . 8.0-9.0am: Morning Line . 12.35-4.20pm: Day 2 Live . Midnight-0.50am: Highlights . Thursday . 8.0-9.0am: Morning Line . 12.35-4.20pm: Day 3 Live . 1.0-1.45am: Highlights . Friday . 8.0-9.0am: Morning Line . 12.35-4.20pm: Day 4 Live . 0.20-1.10am: Highlights . ON THE RADIO . Every race live on BBC Radio 5 Live or Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. MAILONLINE . LIVE: Keep track of the winners, top tips and pictures with our unrivalled coverage each day. VIDEO: Racing correspondent Marcus Townend gives his verdict from the course each day. +Francis Coquelin was left nursing a bloody nose for a second time this month after a collision with Marouane Fellaini just five minutes into Arsenal's FA Cup quarter final victory at Old Trafford. The Frenchman was seen to by the Arsenal medical staff, and was given the all clear before returning to give a Man-of-the-Match performance. The Arsenal midfielder suffered a broken nose at the beginning of the month following a bruising bump with team-mate Olivier Giroud during the Gunners 2-0 Barclays Premier League win over Everton. Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin (left) takes a blow to the face from Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini . The young Gunners star falls to the Old Trafford turf after Fellaini's arm made contact with his nose . The bloodied Frenchman is given the once-over by medical staff before given the go ahead to continue . He was forced to wear a protective mask during Arsenal's victory at QPR last week and trained with it too. And he could have done with it in Manchester after requiring the club's doctors to rush on the pitch to clean him up. Not wearing his mask, the young Frenchman was left bloodied after an early blow from United midfielder Fellaini. The 23-year-old was swiftly back on his feet, however, and was cleared to continue. Coquelin and team-mate Olivier Giroud collided heads during the Gunners' clash with Everton . The 23-year-old receives treatment from Arsenal medical staff after his collision at the Emirates Stadium . After a lengthy stoppage out, Coquelin was allowed to return the field of play having received treatment . Arsenal midfielder Coquelin (right) was forced to wear a protective mask during his side's win against QPR . +The transformation of India's bowlers at the World Cup has been 'wonderful to watch' and the reigning champions will have a great chance of reaching the final if 10 Australian wickets tumble on Thursday, says Virat Kohli. India's bowlers were hammered all over Australia between December and mid-February as the team lost their Test series 2-0 and failed to win a single match in the following Tri-series, which also featured England. However, fast bowlers Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have upped their game considerably at the World Cup and have combined with the strong spinners to forge a potent attack. India vice captain Virat Kohli is confident India can upset Australia to reach the World Cup final . The renowned batsman pushes through the nets during practice ahead of Thursday's semi-final . With the help of several run-outs, the Indian bowlers have dismissed the opposition in all seven matches on their way to the semi-finals. Kohli, the leading light in the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up, said everyone was aware of the areas where improvement was required and he was pleased by the way the pacemen had responded. India's bowlers including Mohit Sharma (centre) have picked up their game after early struggles Down Under . India's Mohammed Shami (right) celebrates after taking a wicket in the quarter final defeat of Bangladesh . 'The way the bowlers have reacted and the way they have performed with the composure and the confidence and the aggression all together, it's been wonderful to watch,' he told Cricket Australia's website. 'So we expect the bowlers to step up if you want to beat quality sides in the world and the way they have done this in this World Cup has been commendable. 'We've played the right kind of cricket and the difference now is how our bowling attack has come into play in this World Cup taking 70 wickets in seven games. Umesh Yadav (centre) celebrates after taking another wicket against Bangladesh to reach the last four . New Zealand celebrate en route to beating Australia to reach the Cricket World Cup final . 'That's probably been the difference, and if we continue to do that we have a great chance come game day.' India have not beaten Australia in any format since they arrived Down Under in late November but Kohli thinks Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground is the perfect opportunity to break that cycle. 'There couldn't be a better time for us,' he said. 'It's an opportunity for us to do justice to the way we've played so far in Australia, and we haven't had the results.' +The Islamic State has released a new propaganda video showing two deaf fighters speaking in sign language and urging more Westerners to join the terror group. The video is titled 'From Who Excused [sic] To Those Not Excused' - suggesting that disability is no excuse for not serving for ISIS. In the five minute clip the two men, who are deaf-mutes and brothers, are shown working as traffic police in Iraq's second city Mosul, which has been under ISIS control since last summer. Scroll down for video . Two deaf-mute brothers who claim to be fighting for ISIS in Iraq have taken part in the group's latest propaganda video, in an attempt to recruit more people with disabilities to fight for the terror group . The footage, which features the Islamic State flag in the top right hand corner, also shows them working for the traffic police in Mosul, in an attempt to depict an normal life as part of the terror group's Caliphate . Speaking in sign language with English and Arabic subtitles, one of the men says: 'I am a deaf mute who works in the traffic police in the Islamic State with my brother Abu Abdur-Rahman. 'As for my message to the apostate peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) we will strike you soon, by Allah's permission. I am living in a land in which Allah's sharia is established.' Wearing black jumpsuits, ammunition pouches and carrying what appear to be M16 assault rifles, the pair also speak about their desire to 'slaughter' their enemies including Britain, America, France and Italy, saying 'you will not stop our advance'. The fighters also threaten Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and those who have allied with the West, vowing to destroy them. In the final section of the slickly produced and professionally edited film, the brothers are shown assembling simple rocket launchers which they claim are used to fire at Kurdish fighters. The weapons consist of little more than crudely made explosives balanced on a metal frame which is tilted upwards and held in place using a few rocks. In the last seconds of the film, which features the Islamic State's logo in the top right hand corner, one of the men presses a trigger, launching the rockets. The last seconds of the film show the pair wiring up and launching two crude missiles which they claim are being aimed at Kurdish peshmerga fighters . Alex Kassirer, a researcher at Flashpoint Intelligence, who spoke to NBC News, said the video 'represents an attempt by the group to recruit other physically or otherwise impaired individuals, as well as demonstrates the multifaceted responsibilities of those in its ranks.' ISIS's ability to recruit western jihadis using online propaganda films and its monthly magazine, Dabiq, is well documented, and the films often feature fighters speaking about their daily lives, in an attempt to present life under the extremist Caliphate in a positive light. However this is thought to be the first film which deliberately features disabled people in an attempt to recruit more from Europe and the West. +Arsene Wenger is facing another midfield injury headache after Francis Coquelin suffered a broken nose on Sunday. The Frenchman will discover today whether he needs surgery after he was injured in a nasty collision with team-mate Olivier Giroud before taking another blow in the closing stages. Should he need an operation, Coquelin could expect a prolonged period on the sidelines, but even if a procedure isn't required the midfielder is a doubt for Wednesday's trip to Queens Park Rangers. Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin broke his nose after two knocks to the face on Sunday against Everton . After a lengthy stoppage out, Coquelin was allowed to return the field of play having received treatment . This clash of heads in the second-half left Coquelin with bloody gushing out of his nose . Arsenal are already without key central midfielders Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere, while Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini, who didn't feature on the bench yesterday, only returned to training at the end of last week. 'Yes, Coquelin has broken his nose. If he needs surgery or not I don't know,' said Wenger. Coquelin needed lengthy treatment following the clash of heads in the 67th minute but played on until the 89th when he was hauled off after taking a second blow as he went up for a header with Steven Naismith. Coquelin is evidently in pain on the ground after a collision with Giroud broke his nose at the Emirates . And Wenger revealed it was the 23-year-old's decision to continue playing. 'After he took a hit on it again I had to take him off,' Wenger added. 'I had been told by medical people he could stay on and he wanted to stay on.' Arsenal keeper David Ospina made three excellent saves to shut out Everton and manager Roberto Martinez said: 'I felt we were the ones creating the chances and when you create them you need to take them.' +Arsenal target Charles Aranguiz has admitted it would be a ‘dream’ to move to the north London club. The Chile midfielder plays for Brazilian club side Internacional, but has been scouted by Arsene Wenger since he starred in last summer’s World Cup. Aranguiz had a taste of what a move would have to offer when he featured in Chile’s 1-0 defeat to Brazil at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Charles Aranguiz (left) played for Chile against Brazil at The Emirates and is linked with a move to Arsenal . Chile international Aranguiz (left) has been linked with a £5million switch to Arsenal from Internacional . Aranguiz (left) closes down Brazil international Neymar in the friendly at The Emirates on Sunday . Afterwards asked about Arsenal he said: ‘They're a great team, and it would be a dream but for now that's all it is, a dream. ‘I don't know anything about it. I've heard about it through the press but nobody has talked to me.’ Aranguiz, 25, has the unusual blend of being a bullish midfielder as well as a creative playmaker and impressed during Brazil 2014. Any move, which could potentially take place during the summer, would be eased by his national team-mate Alexis Sanchez already playing at Arsenal. Aranguiz's Chile international team-mate Alexis Sanchez (right) already plays for Arsenal . Aranguiz (left) believes that he would be suited to the physicality of the Premier League . It is thought that a bid in the region of £5million would be enough to prise Aranguiz away from his club side. He is keen on a move to England where his game would be suited to the style of play in the Premier League. +These days the Cheltenham Festival is a marathon not a sprint but Willie Mullins appears to have an outstanding chance of establishing a big lead in the trainers’ title with four stellar chances on Tuesday. Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle favourite DOUVAN (Cheltenham, 1.30) is the first of the Mullins battalion to leave the blocks before the baton is passed to powerhouses UN DE SCEAUX (Cheltenham, 2.05) in the Arkle Chase and the exciting FAUGHEEN (Cheltenham, 3.20), who boasts an outstanding chance in the Stan James Champion Hurdle. Many feel Annie Power will complete the victory parade with her coronation in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, but she will be priced prohibitively to do so and her task may not be as straightforward as it seems after a year’s absence. Douvan is the first of Willie Mullins battalion to race at Cheltenham on Tuesday . Of the quartet, Faugheen arguably faces the most competition with last year’s winner Jezki and The New One, an unlucky third following an interrupted passage, in opposition along with National Hunt legend Hurricane Fly. However, Faugheen’s potential is as yet untapped, whereas the level his rivals have reached is known — albeit a lofty standard. The selection destroyed the opposition in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton with the form receiving a boost when third-home Blue Heron, beaten 17 lengths by Faugheen, hammered Irving at Wincanton in Grade Two company. That performance poured scorn on the theory Faugheen has beaten nothing in his unbeaten eight-race hurdling career, although it is worth noting he also boasts a 22-length mauling of Josses Hill in a Punchestown bumper and a 12-length demolition of the talented Valseur Lido on his record. Fuagheen, pictured on Monday, faces tough competition from last year's winner Jezki and The New One . In short, the son of Germany could prove to be a class apart, especially if The New One continues to drift right at his hurdles, a habit which threatens his hopes of becoming a champion. Jezki is solid and comes to himself at this time of year on spring ground, but his limitations have been somewhat exposed by Hurricane Fly in Ireland this winter and he remains vulnerable to an emerging talent like Faugheen. Hurricane Fly has been done few favours by the drying ground, but the third of Mullins’ representatives, Arctic Fire, could sneak into the places. Tuesday’s nap vote goes the way of CAUSE OF CAUSES (Cheltenham, nap, 4.40), who appears to have undergone an interesting preparation for the National Hunt Chase and was a fine second in a handicap at the meeting 12 months ago when an error at the last fence denied him victory. +Kevin Pietersen's advisers can try to conclude negotiations for a new contract at Surrey, as he seeks to reignite hopes of an England recall, after agreeing his Indian Premier League release. Pietersen was axed by England in February 2014 after their Ashes whitewash defeat in Australia, but is hoping for a still unlikely international return. He confirmed, on his website kevinpietersen.com, that he has taken another key step to that end by sealing his release from the majority of his IPL contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kevin Pietersen will have nine County Championship matches at the most to impress England's selectors . He's secured a released from Sunrisers Hyderabad to stake his claim for an England return in the Ashes . Pietersen said: 'My focus is now very much on the upcoming season in England, and I'm absolutely determined to score as many runs as possible.' Surrey de-registered Pietersen at the end of last season. They have nonetheless long been front-runners to re-sign him, but had no update on Tuesday to the situation as of a week ago when a spokesman said: 'We are still in discussions.' Pietersen's availability for all formats, as soon as possible, has appeared a starting point for his possible return to The Oval - and his presence at the start of the season, rather than spending six weeks at the IPL, is therefore a key development. New England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves this month revived the record-breaking 34-year-old batsman's hopes of a return to the fold, contrary to the public remarks by anyone else associated with the governing body. But a pre-requisite from Graves was that Pietersen must first of all find a way back into county cricket - and then, of course, start scoring runs again. Pietersen will miss the regular season in the IPL but could be summoned for the knockout stages . Imminent Surrey signing Pietersen says he will 'do everything in my power to earn a recall' with England . Pietersen may still be recalled by the Sunrisers for just a one-week period, should they qualify for the IPL knockout stages between May 19 and May 24. That, however, ought not to be an insurmountable problem for any county interested in securing his services. He added: 'I've never made any secret of my overwhelming desire to once again represent England, and I'm going to do everything in my power to earn a recall to the international set-up. 'To once again put on that England shirt would be a privilege and an honour, but now I have to focus on performing domestically and give myself the best possible chance of meriting selection.' A statement on his website spelled out Pietersen's next move - without specifying Surrey as his immediate destination - and that he has his heart set on an England return in time for this summer's Ashes rematch, beginning in July. Pietersen was axed by England following their 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia last winter . Pietersen in action for Surrey in the Natwest T20 Blast last summer . Pietersen started the year by playing more short form cricket for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash . It read: 'The four-time Ashes winner, who is also England's highest ever run-scorer in all formats, will... join a domestic county with the aim of earning a place in the England squad for the upcoming Ashes series.' Pietersen quickly made it clear at the start of this month that he was delighted to take Graves at his word, that the slate will be wiped clean for all under his tenure, and he has since confirmed he has already spoken to the incoming chairman on the telephone. The controversial South Africa-born batsman has received little encouragement yet in public remarks from other quarters - including ECB managing director Paul Downton and national selector James Whitaker. Pietersen, however, has said he will 'do anything' to play for England again. +Chelsea secured the first major silverware of the season with a 2-0 win over London rivals Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley. John Terry pounced to fire in from close range just before half-time and Diego Costa secured the trophy with his deflected strike after 56 minutes. Here, Sportsmail's Sam Cunningham rates every player's performance at Wembley. Chelsea captain John Terry (centre) celebrates with Blues team-mates having opened the scoring at Wembley . CHELSEA (4-3-3) Petr Cech - 7 . Huge pressure was on his shoulders after getting the nod ahead of Thibaut Courtois and he was as reliable as Jose Mourinho would’ve expected. Nothing spectacular, but a cup final clean sheet. Branislav Ivanovic - 7 . The full back was in a rare miss shock early on when he headed wide at the back post. Cleverly won the free kick for Chelsea’s opener, controlling John Terry’s long ball well before going down when pulled by Nacer Chadli. Gary Cahill - 7.5 . Completely nullified the threat of Tottenham’s main man Harry Kane. Almost scored with a header, seconds before the break and moments after Chelsea had gone ahead. Chelsea forward Eden Hazard holds off the challenge of Spurs right back Kyle Walker at Wembley . John Terry - 8.5 . Leading by example as he fired Chelsea ahead just before the break and was equally as solid at the back. Cesar Azpilicueta - 7 . Was in the wars and ended the game with a heavily bandaged up head. Part of an incredibly solid Chelsea back line. Ramires - 6.5 . Solid and reliable performance, if not emphatic. Controlled in defensive midfield alongside an unlikely partner in Zouma and did what was required. Kurt Zouma - 6.5 . Looked out of position in defensive midfield at first but improved vastly. Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas dispossesses Tottenham's Harry Kane (left) in the Capital One Cup final . Eden Hazard - 7.5 . The creative cog in Chelsea’s midfield, finding space on the left-hand side and through the middle. Inches wide with an effort in the second-half. As per usual, the target of several fouls. Cesc Fabregas - 7.5 . Quiet first-half, but made his presence felt early in the second by using his chest to flick the ball into the air then execute and audacious overhead kick which almost beat Hugo Lloris then set up Diego Costa for the second. Willian (substitute for Cuadrado, 76th minute) - 7 . Expertly delivered ball into the box for Chelsea’s first-half goal and was on-song throughout against the club he almost signed for. Diego Costa (substituted for Drogba, 90th minute) - 8 . Dealt the killer blow in the tie with the second goal. At his usual, infuriating best. Involved in early exchanges with Eric Dier, then palmed Nabil Bentaleb in the face. Subs not used: Courtois, Filipe Luis, Ake, Oscar, Remy. Diego Costa celebrates after Chelsea went two goals ahead after his shot deflected past Hugo Lloris . TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1) Hugo Lloris - 6 . Crucial save to deny Cahill a second just before the break, which would’ve surely buried Spurs, but was powerless to keep out either goal. Hugo Lloris (centre) fails to keep out Terry's opener from close range at Wembley Stadium on Sunday . Kyle Walker - 5.5 . He did not get close enough to Costa in the second half to stop him getting the shot away which then took a deflection off him which wrong-footed Lloris on its way in. Eric Dier - 5.5 . Let Costa rile him in the early stages and picked up a yellow card going through the back of the striker then failed to clear Willian’s free kick to allow Terry to score. Jan Vertonghen - 6 . The calmer of the two heads in Tottenham’s centre of defence and barely put a foot wrong during the match. Tottenham defender Walker shields off the challenge of Chelsea's Eden Hazard at Wembley . Danny Rose - 5.5 . Crucial diving header to stop a Chelsea break at speed in the first-half, covering in the centre of defence, then was at fault for conceding the opener by flicking on Willian’s free kick. Nabil Bentaleb - 5 . Contributed little to Tottenham’s performance and picked up a silly yellow card late on for an unnecessary foul. Mason (substitute for Lamela, 71st minute, 6) - 5.5 . Resorted to shooting from distance, going for the spectacular when a more patient approach was needed. Christian Eriksen of Tottenham attempts to hold off the challenge of Chelsea centre back Kurt Zouma . Nacer Chadli (substituted for Soldado, 80th minute) - 5.5 . He gave away a foolish foul, pulling on Ivanovic’s arm, which gave Chelsea the free kick they scored the opening goal from. Christian Eriksen - 6.5 . Hit the bar early on with a free kick and was Spurs’ most dangerous player going forward, generating a few openings that Cech dealt with fairly easily. Andros Townsend (substituted for Dembele, 62nd minute, 6) - 5.5 . Too ineffectual down Tottenham’s right-hand side. Tried to get on the ball and run at Chelsea but created little of note. Tottenham's in form striker Kane takes on Chelsea duo Ramires (right) and Zouma (left) Harry Kane - 5 . Spent the game in Cahill’s back pocket. Spurs fans were desperate for their man-of-the-moment, and top scorer, to run the show, but he was almost invisible. Subs not used: Vorm, Davies, Fazio, Stambouli. +Ivan Rakitic hit the beach with his wife to prepare for a crucial week in Barcelona’s season as Luis Enrique’ side pursues a treble. The La Liga leaders face Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 second-leg, having won the first-leg 2-1 last month, before hosting Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday. Rakitic has become an integral part of the Barcelona midfield ranks since joining from Sevilla last summer, making 36 appearances so far this season for the Catalan giants. Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic enjoys a sunny afternoon at the beach with his wife ahead of a crucial week . The Croatian international posted a sunny snap on his Instagram with his Spanish wife Raquel Mauri ahead of the Manchester City clash with the caption ‘familiar Sunday’. Seemingly Rakitic is a regular on Barcelona’s beach but it’s not all leisure for the Croatian, having posted another picture on his Instagram account on Sunday from the team gym as he prepares for a ‘big week’. Luis Enrique’s side remained top of La Liga on Saturday with a 2-0 victory at Eibar, courtesy of a brace from Lionel Messi. Enrique is hoping to lead Barcelona to a treble, having reached the Copa del Rey final, the Champions League knockout stages and are currently leading La Liga. The Croatian (left) celebrates after Lionel Messi (right) fires Barcelona to victory at Eibar on Saturday . VIDEO We were clinical - Enrique . Rakitic is all smiles ahead of a busy week, facing Manchester City and then Real Madrid in El Clasico . +As Manchester United turned in their most dominant display of the season against Tottenham on Sunday, the influence of one man cannot be underestimated. Michael Carrick's return to Louis van Gaal's starting XI proved crucial at Old Trafford, and could be the turning point for United as they look to finish in the top four this season. He took less than nine minutes to stamp his authority on the game and show the Old Trafford faithful what they have so missed during his two months out. Michael Carrick (second left) heads Manchester United 2-0 up against Tottenham on Sunday . Carrick is congratulated on his goal by his United team-mates during the 3-0 win at Old . UNITED WITH CARRICK . P15 W10 D3 L2 . Win percentage: 66.70% . Points per game: 2.2 . UNITED WITHOUT CARRICK . P14 W6 D5 L3 . Win percentage: 42.90% . Points per game: 1.6 . With Daley Blind on the ball at left back and no Tottenham players covering a huge gap just in from the left touchline, Carrick burst forward to receive the ball before instantly playing a perfectly weighted pass for Marouane Fellaini to open the scoring for United. Ten minutes later Carrick had headed his side 2-0 up and sent them on the way to a vital win. But it was the composure and attacking intent that Carrick provided on Sunday that United have missed so much in recent weeks - something which was not lost on his manager. 'Michael Carrick is not my second captain for nothing. He is one of the best passers also, not only wide but also forward. We need midfielders who have that passing,' said Van Gaal after the game. Indeed, with Carrick in the side United have picked up 2.2 points per game compared to just 1.6 without him. The club have won 66.7% of the game the midfielder has played but than number drops to 42.9% without the England midfielder. Daley Blind played at left back against Tottenham but has spent most of the season in central midfield . Ander Herrera (left) has impressed in midfield for United since signing from Athletic Bilbao in the summer . Marouane Fellaini (left) has been played in an advanced midfield role for United this season . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . In truth, nobody should be surprised. Carrick has been a mainstay of United's midfield for years now, anchoring the side from a deep position. Whether his midfield partners have been of the necessary quality over the years is debatable, but with the likes of Ander Herrera and Blind - as well as the revitalised Fellaini - now available, Carrick should not have to carry the burden all by himself. At 33, however, Carrick remains United's main man. As well as Herrera and Blind have done in their first seasons in English football, neither have the authority or influence of Carrick. With trips to Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton to come too, Carrick's big-game experience will also be key. With nine games to go, United will be hoping Carrick stays fit, because with him in the side, they have a much better chance of finishing in the top four. +UEFA president Michel Platini has defended a ban on third party ownership (TPO) of footballers - labelling the practice 'shameful' and a form of 'slavery'. Super agent Jorge Mendes, who includes Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho among his clients, has claimed the ban is illegal and will kill competition in Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese leagues have also opposed the ban. TPO is a practice which takes place in several countries, particularly in South America, where companies own the economic rights of players and benefit from their transfer fees. It has been banned in the Premier League since 2008. UEFA president Michel Platini has defended a ban on third party ownership (TPO) of footballers . Platini, who pushed FIFA to impose the ban - said the ban would stop huge sums of money disappearing from football. Speaking on a UEFA video forum in response to a question from Paris St Germain manager Laurent Blanc, Platini said: 'I have put a lot of pressure on FIFA to stop third party ownership. 'Today, it's shameful to see some players with one of their arms belonging to one person, a leg belonging to a funds pension located who knows where, and a third person owning his foot. 'It is shameful; we're dealing with a type of slavery that belongs to the past. 'Everyone earns money on such transfers, and while we are trying to find money to invest in football, that money goes in the pockets of I don't know who, and I don't know where. 'It's about time that the world of football wakes up, and that the money coming into football remains in football, and doesn't disappear.' Kia Joorabchian, head of Media Sports Investments, part-owned a number of high-profile players . Platini also said in the forum that the biggest misconception about him was that he alone took major decisions about football. He added: 'I think that the people in Europe, or in the world, they think that I take my decisions alone. But you have to understand one thing, I am very democratic and very transparent, and I never take a decision alone without the support of the executive committee or with the Congress of the UEFA. 'I listen to everybody very carefully and I take my decision, when it is necessary to take a decision, always for the good of the game and for the good of football. Don't think that I am very despotic.' Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, pictured here in 2006, were some of Joorabchian's TPO players . +Disgraced NRL player Todd Carney could make his way back into the league after the NRL appeals committee ruled in his favour declaring he was unfairly dismissed from his former team, the Cronulla Sharks. Tribunal chairman, Ian Callinan QC, ruled that the Sharks board failed to allow the 29-year-old footballer due process before severing his contract. This came after a photograph of the player urinating into his own mouth went viral on social media last June. Mr Carney's contract was torn up after a photo emerged of the player urinating in his own mouth . The committee’s findings state that the former Dally M medallist should have been allowed an opportunity to plead his case in front of the Cronulla board. Cronulla Sharks chairman Damien Keough said the club will respect the decision made by the appeals committee, adding it is their responsibility to follow correct procedure. “The big oversight was that someone needed to check that the process being followed was correct,’’ Keogh told The Telegraph. Mr Carney's agent claims the photo was a set up and 'an optical illusion' “What’s important to remember here is that it’s not a question of the facts, it’s a question of the process, but the reality of the situation is, the decision would likely have been the same. He said he wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of the former Origin player returning to the league but 'there has been a lot of water that has flown under the bridge since last June.' There's no denying Mr Carney is a talented player, however, his antics off the field have led to the termination of three contracts . The Daily Mail Australia reached out to the Cronulla Sharks however they declined to comment. Mr Carney is currently in France nursing broken ribs, sustaining the injury in only his second game for the English Super League Club Catalans. After what most believed was ultimately the end of the troubled player's career, the five-eighth may surprise us all by staging a return to the league. The disgraced player fled to France to pick up the pieces of his damaged career where he sustained a rib injury . As Cronulla is the third team to terminate a contract with the fallen star, the question remains, which team would be game to pick up the controversial player? Paul Gallen has spoken out on Triple M Radio saying he thinks Mr Carney should allowed to return to the league however he would need a strict contract to curb his bad behaviour. ‘If he wants to come back to the NRL he has to sign a strict contact saying if anything happens to do with alcohol, alcohol related incidents, you are banned for life,’ says Paul Gallen . ‘If he wants to come back to the NRL he has to sign a strict contact saying if anything happens to do with alcohol, alcohol related incidents, you are banned for life.’ Rumours are flying on Twitter that the Manly Sea Eagles might be in the market for a five-eighth after the Kieran Foran announced he would be moving to Parramatta in the 2016 season. Rumours are starting to circulate about the former Cronulla player's options for the 2016 season . Alternately, the ruling now gives Mr Carney the option of perusing legal action against the club by filing an unfair dismissal claim with the Industrial Relations Commission. +Former Monaco and Tottenham star Glenn Hoddle has predicted a 'difficult' evening for Arsenal as they try to stage a Champions League comeback against Monaco on Tuesday. The Gunners' European hopes are hanging by a thread following a 3-1 capitulation against the French side in the first leg at the Emirates. Hoddle, who was part of the Monaco side that won the league title under Arsene Wenger in 1988, is doubtful that Arsenal will be able to score three goals at the Stade Louis II - a feat that hasn't been managed by any other team in the last 42 months. Mark Hateley and Glenn Hoddle (left) recently returned to their former club Monaco . Arsene Wenger took Hateley and Hoddle to the south of France and won the Ligue 1 title in their first year . Alexis Sanchez looks dejected as Monaco tie up a 3-1 Champions League first leg lead at the Emirates . Speaking to TV station beIN SPORTS, Hoddle said: 'It will be an emotional game for Arsene Wenger, to return here. Difficult. 'Arsenal are playing very well now, they're quick and technical, but AS Monaco are tough defensively.' Arsenal warmed up for the crucial decider with a 3-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday, while Monaco defeated Bastia by the same scoreline on Friday - giving the Ligue 1 side an extra 24hours rest. Olivier Giroud scored as Arsenal warmed up for the return leg with a 3-0 defeat of West Ham . Arsenal manager Wenger faces an 'emotional return' as the Gunners bid to come back at the Stade Louis II . Meanwhile, another former Monaco player Mark Hateley believes the contrasting styles between the two teams should lead to a 'fascinating' encounter. 'I think Arsenal are obviously very attacking minded, like to go forward and score lots of goals. I think Monaco are very, very well organised defensively, they are a good group, they play with great discipline, said the former England striker. 'So it'll be a fascinating game. A good game to watch.' Former Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov takes part in a Monaco training session ahead of the game . +Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale certainly grabbed the headlines with their goal celebrations at the weekend. Manchester United's captain comically gestured boxing after scoring in the 3-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday after a video emerged appearing to show Rooney being knocked out by his former team-mate Phil Bardsley. Then over in Spain, Gareth Bale went berserk after ending a ten game goal drought by kicking the advertising hoardings, cupping his ears and stamping on the corner flag in response to recent criticism and boos from the Bernabeu crowd. These scenes brought back memories of other entertaining goal celebrations, have a look at some of our favourites below... Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney jokingly re-enacted a video of him boxing a former team-mate . Ashley Young laughs as Rooney falls backwards as part of his humorous boxing celebration at Old Trafford . Gareth Bale covers his ears to demonstrate he has ignored the recent boos from the Real Madrid fans . Bale let out some pent-up frustration on Sunday having found the net for the first time since January . Temuri Ketsbaia (vs Bolton 1998) The former Newcastle striker ripped off his shirt and proceeded to run over to the advertising boards. Angered at his role as a substitute, the Georgian proceeded to lash out and kick the boards until being removed by his Newcastle team-mates. Former Newcastle forward Temuri Ketsbia (centre) lashed out in anger having been used as a substitute . Ryan Giggs (vs Arsenal 1999) Manchester United's Welsh wizard struck an outrageous injury-time winner to defeat bitter rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals after a mazy run left the Gunners defence flat on the floor. Giggs ran away in delight, whipping off his shirt to keep Sir Alex Ferguson's treble dream alive. Ryan Giggs sprints away in celebration having scored a wonder goal against Arsenal in the 1999 Fa Cup . Giggs whipped off his shirt as he sprinted towards the Manchester United dugout after scoring the winner . Stuart Pearce (vs Spain 1996) England's Euro 96 quarter-final with Spain went to the dreaded penalties at Wembley. Having missed a crucial penalty for the Three Lions in 1990, Pearce stepped up to score a fine penalty and helped secure England's passage to the semi-finals with an eye bulging celebration as he roared to the ecstatic crowd. Stuart 'Psycho' roars during his iconic celebration, having scored a penalty for England at Euro 96 . Marco Tardelli (vs West Germany 1982) This was pure passion. The Italian defensive midfielder fired in his country's second during the 1982 World Cup final victory against West Germany. Tardelli couldn't hold back the emotions as he wielded away screaming and shouting towards the touchline in a classic World Cup moment. Marco Tardelli (centre) celebrates as Italy win the 1982 World Cup final by defeating Marco Tardelli . Eric Cantona (vs Sunderland 1996) Old Trafford's maverick striker was at the peak of his powers, chipping in this sublime goal to send Manchester United on their way to another victory. The Frenchman decided to go for an understated celebration, gazing round at the stands and nonchalantly soaking up the applause from fans and exacerbated team-mates. Eric Cantona chipped in this audacious goal for Manchester United against Sunderland in 1996 . Paul Gascoigne (vs Scotland 1996) Clearly 1996 was a memorable year for goal celebrations. Gazza fired in a remarkable volleyed goal against Scotland at Euro 96. After England players had been photographed on a drunken night out in the build-up to the tournament, with Gazza and Teddy Sheringham shown sinking booze in a 'dentist's chair', the Three Lions talisman replicated the controversial snaps after his fine strike at Wembley. Paul Gascoige scored this remarkable solo effort during England's Euro 96 match against Scotland . Gazza replicates the 'dentist chair' pictures that surfaced in the media before the Euro 96 tournament . former Liverpool forward Craig Bellamy shows off his golf swing having scored against Barcelona . Craig Bellamy (vs Barcelona 2007) During his Liverpool spell Craig Bellamy found himself in hot water after chasing team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club during a fierce row. In an incredible turn of events both Bellamy and Riise scored as Liverpool shocked holders Barcelona 2-1 in their Champions League tie, with the Welshman replicating his golf swing in celebration. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (right) enjoyed Bellamy's comical celebration at the Nou Camp . Robbie Fowler (vs Everton 1999) Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler was fined £60,000 by the club after his celebration in the 1999 Merseyside derby. Fowler scored against neighbours Everton and sprinted over to the touchline, knelt down and pretended to snort it, in response to accusations of drug abuse from the rival fans. Robbie Fowler was fined £60,000 by Liverpool for this controversial celebration in the 1999 Merseyside derby . Former Hull midfielder Jimmy Bullard shows his sense of humour, mocking Phil Brown's on pitch team-talk . Jimmy Bullard (vs Manchester City 2009) Football's chief prankster Jimmy Bullard mocked his former manager Phil Brown during a superb team celebration. Brown had given a half-time team talk on the pitch during a dismal 5-1 defeat earlier in the season and Bullard poked fun at his former boss by replicating the incident at the Etihad after equalising for Hull. Ian Wright, during his West Ham days, enjoys a comical celebration with team-mate Neil Ruddock (right) Ian Wright and Neil Ruddock (vs Southampton 1998) Striker Ian Wright celebrated a goal for the Hammers re-enacting the infamous push from Paolo di Canio on referee Paul Alcock, which had happened the previous week in September 1998. Hammers team-mate Neil Ruddock was on hand to take the role of di Canio as Wright comically took the place of Alcock. +A shoulder injury to James Tomkins means Cheikhou Kouyate is likely to find himself at the heart of West Ham's defence at Arsenal on Saturday - and the Senegal international has a plan. The 25-year-old midfielder has been used to plug a hole in the centre of Sam Allardyce's defence already this season and Kouyate wants to use the performance of his former club Anderlecht as inspiration for leaving the Emirates Stadium with a positive result. Tomkins, who has recently penned a new long-term deal at Upton Park, dislocated a shoulder in training on Thursday and joins fellow defender Winston Reid on the injury list - with forwards Andy Carroll, Carlton Cole and Enner Valencia also likely to miss out and Alex Song nursing a slight knee injury. West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate (right) is looking forward to facing Arsenal at the Emirates stadium . James Tomkins is one of three defenders who are unavailable for Saturday's Premier League clash . Add to that Carl Jenkinson's ineligibility against his parent club, and Allardyce will be selecting from a much-depleted pool for a fourth successive Barclays Premier League London derby. But Kouyate was in the crowd as his previous side Anderlecht recovered from a 3-0 half-time deficit to take a Champions League point home from north London and he wants to follow in the footsteps of the Belgian outfit. 'I have never played at the Emirates stadium before, but I know I will play my game and try to enjoy it. I want to help the team and battle for the points,' he told whufc.com . 'Arsenal is a very big team, but West Ham need the points. It's a very good game and London derby, which I like. I'll go to Arsenal to do battle. 'I went to the Emirates to support Anderlecht in the Champions League earlier this season and they did very well and drew three-all. Kouyate went to the Emirates to watch his former club Anderlect secure a dramatic 3-3 draw in November . The Gunners were stunned as the Belgian side came from 3-0 down to grab a point in the Champions League . 'I was very happy because Anderlecht is my second family. Arsenal went 3-0 up and I was thinking "What is this game?" but in the second half Anderlecht came with a new mentality. 'It went to 3-1, then 3-2 and then 3-3 - it was unbelievable! 'I am very happy for Anderlecht, but now West Ham go to Arsenal and it would be fantastic if we could do the same. We want to get a draw or even a win.' The Hammers confirmed on Friday morning that Tomkins required hospital treatment as he became the latest player ruled out of Allardyce's squad. 'West Ham United can confirm that James Tomkins has suffered a dislocated shoulder. The 25-year-old was taken for hospital treatment and will continue to be assessed by the club's medical staff,' they wrote over two tweets. Kouyate, pictured with Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas, says West Ham are aiming for a 'a draw or even a win' Kouyate enjoyed a short stint at the heart of West Ham's defence alongside Tomkins due to injuries earlier in the year - scoring against Manchester United and quickly adapting to the role. It is likely he will return to that position for the trip to Arsenal, with the highly-rated but inexperienced Reece Oxford another option. In attack, Cole and Carroll are missing with respective hamstring and knee problems, whilst Valencia is a doubt having suffered a deep cut to his toe after standing on a broken teacup. The number of key first-team players in the treatment room will no doubt be a worry to Allardyce who has seen his side win just one of their last 11 Premier League fixtures. +Wales will have to wait to lay their hands on the RBS Six Nations trophy, if they claim the title on Saturday - as the silverware will be elsewhere. Organisers of the championship have been presented with a difficult logistical problem, by the unusual fact that three teams are in the hunt to finish top of the pile, going into the final weekend. There are two of the new tournament trophies, and they will be stationed at Murrayfield and Twickenham. Wales will not get their hands on the prestigious Six Nations trophy on Saturday if they claim the title . Wales captain Sam Warburton (right) drives forward during his side's win against Ireland on Saturday . VIDEO Wales dash Ireland's Grand Slam hopes - highlights . England lead the table on points difference and Ireland are close behind them, with third-placed Wales requiring an emphatic victory over Italy at Rome's Stadio Olimpico to snatch the title. On that basis, a decision has been made to place the trophies in Edinburgh and London. In the event of an English triumph, captain Chris Robshaw will raise a trophy at HQ, in front of the home crowd. If the Irish retain their title, Paul O'Connell and Co will be presented with a trophy in the Scottish capital, although it is likely to be a low-key ceremony at a post-match function. England skipper Chris Robshaw could get his hands on the Six Nations trophy after lifting the Calcutta Cup . Ireland captain Paul O'Conell (centre) will look to lead his country to victory against Scotland this weekend . However, if Wales surge past their rivals to seize the prize, they will travel home to Cardiff and arrangements will be made for a trophy presentation on either Sunday or Monday. That raises the possibility of a public ceremony, which could be expected to draw a sizeable attendance, depending on the exact location. +Manchester United's German-based scout Peter Braund watched Roberto Firmino on Saturday. The Hoffenheim midfielder has been monitored by Premier League clubs over recent seasons and United are the latest to check on his progress. Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal have all considered bids for the 23-year-old Brazilian who has a release clause reputedly set at £14.5million. Manchester United watched Hoffenheim midfielder Roberto Firmino in action against Hamburg . Brazil international Firmino is said to have a £14.5million release clause inserted into his contract . The 23-year-old has been linked with moves to Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal during the past few years . Firmino played 86 minutes for Hoffenheim on Saturday in a 3-0 win over Hamburg but failed to really impress. He has scored six goals from midfield this season but can also play as a winger or secondary striker. Firmino has two caps for Brazil after being called up last year for friendlies against Turkey and Austria. Bundesliga duo Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg have also been following his performances. Meanwhile, United remain keen on Southampton full back Nathaniel Clyne and have expressed an interest in Burnley's coveted striker Danny Ings. The Red Devils remain keen on signing Southampton right back Nathaniel Clyne . Burnley striker Danny Ings is also attracting interest from Manchester United . +It wasn't one for the scrapbook, but Ronald Koeman won't care a jot. When Sadio Mane fired home eight minutes from time, not only did it end a run of three games without a win - it ended a 387 minute spell without a home league goal. This wasn't a display that said much for Southampton's Champions League credentials, nevertheless their top-four dream is still alive after this scrappy win over Crystal Palace. Sadio Mane races away to celebrate following his 83rd minute strike at St Mary's . Mane watches on as his strike secured a much-needed three points for Ronald Koeman's side . Southampton (4-2-3-1): Forster 6.5; Clyne 6.5, Fonte 6.5, Yoshida 6, Bertrand 6.5; Wanyama 6.5, Schneiderlin 6.5; Elia 6 (Tadic 59), Djuricic 6 (Ward-Prowse 78), Mane 6.5; Pelle 5.5 (Long 70). Subs not used: Kelvin Davis, Gardos, Steven Davis, Alderweireld . Manager: Ronald Koeman 6 . Goal: Mane 83 . Crystal Palace (4-4-1-1): Speroni 6.5; Ward 6.5, Dann 7.5, Delaney 7, Kelly 6.5; Ledley 6.5, McArthur 7; Zaha 6.5, Puncheon 6.5, Bolasie 6; Gayle 6. Subs not sued: Mariappa, Hangeland, Hennessey, Ameobi, Boateng, Gray, Souare. Manager: Alan Pardew 6 . Booked: Delaney, McArthur . Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire) 6.5 . Attendance: 28,351 . Click here to check out our brilliant Match Zone for pitch maps, heat maps and all the stats from Southampton's late victory. 'We scored and we won at home, so I'm relieved, but I can't say we deserved to win,' said Koeman. 'It's all about confidence and we didn't have that tonight. But I think it can one of the key moments in our season. 'Qualifying for the Champions League will be difficult, but we will try our best.' Palace manager Alan Pardew wasn't as contented in his post-match press conference, however. The Eagles boss was angered by referee Martin Atkinson's decision not to award the his side a second half penalty after Jose Fonte bundled over Yannick Bolasie in the 70th minute. 'Fonte was over aggressive in the box,' insisted Pardew. 'It should have been given, but we've been harshly treated by officials in the last few games and sometimes you get a run like that.' In response to Pardew's comments, Koeman said: 'It's easy to tell that story after losing game, the ref wasn't involved in final result. 'We scored, they didn't. I know that feeling, it's too easy and people talk too much about referees. I don't like that.' Pardew may change his mind once he sees replays of Fonte's shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bolasie. Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha (right) controls posession under pressure from Southampton defender Maya Yoshida . Eagles forward Zaha makes a run as Saints midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (left) gives chase at St Mary's Stadium . Perhaps the Palace manager, who was without skipper Mile Jedinak, who on Tuesday accepted a four match suspension for elbowing Diafra Sakho on Saturday, was trying to mask his disappointment at leaving the south coast with nothing when they could easily have left with all three points. The fact Palace players hardly appealed for a spot-kick tells its own story. Southampton enjoyed the upper hand during the opening exchanges, Filip Djurcic fashioning the first chance, controlling Victor Wanyama's mishit shot only to fire over the bar in the 11th minute. But despite their dominance in terms of possession, this looked a Southampton side void of invention in the final third. Even 25 minutes into the game, you could sense the anxiety from home supporters. Earlier this week a local newspaper scrapped an idea to print full-page arrows for Saints fans to display as a tongue-in-cheek reminder to players of where the opposition goal is. Crystal Palace's Yannick Bolasie takes a tumble following the twin challenge of Nathaniel Clyne (left) and Victor Wanyama . Mane is upended by the challenge of Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley . Graziano Pelle (left) and Scott Dann both hit the turf as the Italian chases his first goal looked to add to his single goal in 13 appearances . But on the evidence of the opening 45 minutes, Koeman's side needed all the help they could get. The anxiety in Southampton's attacking play even trickled back to their usually tight defence in the 36th minute, goalkeeper Fraser Forster misjudging a high ball, nearly allowing Wilfried Zaha to tap into an empty net. Palace keeper Julian Speroni made the first real stop of the night in the 40th minute, saving Eljero Elia's shot from a half-cleared Morgan Schneiderlin corner at his near post. Saints midfielder Eljero Elia (left) rises high to beat James McArthur to a high ball in the Crystal Palace box . Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster gets down to secure the loose ball under pressure from the onrushing Zaha . Southampton striker Pelle blows a great chance to break the deadlock as he shoots wide from close range . Southampton manager Ronald Koeman (right) watches on from the technical area with Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew not far away . The rebound fell to Pelle, but the struggling striker could only stab his effort wide from close range. During the opening months of the season, the ball would have nestled in the back of the net for the Italian. How he must long for those heady days. So to must have Koeman as he faced up to yet another half-time team talk without a goal from his side. Likewise, Palace offered next to nothing in the attacking third during the opening 45 minutes, nevertheless Pardew would have been satisfied with the outcome of their first half. He'd have been even happier if Forster hadn't produced an excellent save from Jason Puncheon in the 48th minute after the former Saints forward turned Maya Yoshida brilliantly in the box. Seven minutes later the visitors went even closer, Zaha hitting the inside of Forster's far post after the England goalkeeper's initial save from Bolasie. Koeman replaced Elia with Dusan Tadic just before the hour mark in search of attacking impetus, Shane Long and Shane Ward-Prowse soon followed. Saints boss Koeman was fearing another goalless 90 minutes from his side in the 69th minute when Maya Yoshida somehow fired wide from three yards after Schneiderlin's corner. But eight minutes from time, St Mary's erupted as Mane fired home after Speroni failed to hold from Ward-Prowse's shot. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni tips the ball over the bar as both sides struggles in front of goal continue . Clyne is hit hard in a sliding tackle by Crystal Palace's Dwight Gayle during a tense second half of action . Crystal Palace boss Pardew has a word with Bolasie as his side look to hold on for a precious draw late on . +Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet admits Liverpool's improved defensive resilience is making life a little easier for them and instilling confidence throughout the side. A 2-0 victory over struggling Burnley - which the Belgium goalkeeper stressed was just as important as Sunday's win over high-flying Manchester City - saw the Reds record their sixth clean sheet in eight Premier League matches. They have now not lost in 12 league games, picking up 30 points, and have won seven of the last eight. Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (left) believes the team's improved defence helped confidence to grow . Mignolet kept another clean sheet against Burnley on Wednesday and has been pleased with his form . Jordan Henderson (third left) struck Liverpool's first goal from the edge of the area in the first half at Anfield . Liverpool were not seriously tested by the second-bottom visitors at Anfield on Wednesday night but Mignolet said that should not detract from the defensive work being done by the side. 'I think we defended really well. We were very organised and we didn't give too many things away,' he said. 'A clean sheet is nice and I am happy with how things are going but we all have to keep improving and keep looking forward. 'We're doing our jobs at the moment and we have to keep that going until the end of the season because it makes it easier for us to win games. 'Even at half-time, when it was 1-0, we were saying that we had to keep going because one goal can change the whole game. 'We wanted to make sure we didn't give any silly goals away. We kept calm and defended well and then we got that second goal, which makes things a little bit easier for us at the end. 'Teams likes Man City and Chelsea lost points against Burnley at home so we needed to get three points, otherwise that win over Man City would have meant nothing. 'So six points out of six was what we wanted, and we can move forward and we need to keep going like this until the end of the season.' Stand-in captain Jordan Henderson opened the scoring for the second successive game and the 24-year-old is growing into the senior midfielder role in the absence of Steven Gerrard, who returned to training this week after a hamstring injury. Gerrard leaves for Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer and Henderson, as current vice-captain, is favourite to assume the armband on a permanent basis. Henderson (left) has been filling in as captain in the absence of Steve Gerrard through injury . Gerrard (centre) is back in training but will leave Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of the season . Daniel Sturridge (right) headed in Liverpool's second goal in the game against Burnley on Wednesday . 'Jordan is a massive player for us,' said Mignolet. 'He is a very positive character who always works hard and leads by example. 'He's vocal both on the pitch and in the dressing room. He goes in front of us and everyone follows behind. 'We've got a young squad but that doesn't mean there aren't leaders in the team. 'Every individual is contributing to the team. The big thing for us is we're a unit and we're working well together. 'But individuals score goals and at the moment it's Jordan, Philippe (Coutinho) and Studge (Daniel Sturridge) doing the business for us.' Liverpool have not lost in the 13 matches Henderson has started as captain, with an incredible record of eight Premier League wins out of nine. He made his 200th league appearance in the win over Burnley but admits his record as skipper is of less interest to him. Mignolet also praised the recent form shown by attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho (right) Liverpool have not lost when Henderson (right) has been captain during the course of this season . 'The 200 games means I'm getting a bit older - which is not nice - but the captain one doesn't make any difference to me,' Henderson told liverpoolfc.com. 'I just try to do what I always do and lead by example, whether I'm captain or not, and so does everyone else. 'The performance and the points are the most important thing - I'll let everyone else look at the stats.' +David Villa and New York City FC made their MLS debuts together on Sunday night as football fever took hold in the US, although it all appeared too much for team-mate Sebastian Velasquez. Villa's side were held to a 1-1 draw with another franchise making their first appearance Orlando City in a game that attracted 63,000 to the Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium in Florida. The former Spain and Barcelona striker posted an Instagram picture of himself sat next to an unflattering image of Velasquez sleeping open mouthed on the flight home, accompanied by the caption: 'Back in New York! What great company from @tian26 on the flight...' David Villa (right) wasn't impressed by the in-flight entertainment from team-mate Sebastian Velasquez . Villa and New York City FC made their debuts together in a 1-1 draw with Orlando City on Sunday . New York City's Velasquez chases Orlando Designated Player and former Brazil star Kaka (right) Villa provided an assist for Mix Diskerud to open the scoring for the visitors against the run of play but it was another global superstar who grabbed the headlines. Orlando City marquee signing and Brazil legend Kaka scored a late equaliser with a heavily deflected free-kick to send the crowd wild and avoid getting the new chapter in his career off to a losing start. Villa has embraced life across the Atlantic, which has included collaborating with Irish singer/songwriter Sarah Packiam and rapper MC Sterlin for an unofficial NYC FC song titled ''New York City All the Way' (see below). Kaka celebrates after scoring a late equaliser to earn the home side a draw in their first MLS game . The game attracted 63,000 enthusiastic supporters to the Orlando Citrus Bowl . +Montenegrin fans who keep causing trouble and forced Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Russia to be abandoned are 'barbarians', according to the general secretary of their FA. The Group G match ended midway through the second half after two outbursts of violence, the first 25 seconds after kick off when a home fan hit Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev with a flare in the head. The match resumed after a 33-minute delay but following fighting between rival fans during halftime and another 18-minute delay for the second half to begin, more trouble erupted. VIDEOS Scroll down to watch footage of mass brawl and flare incident . Montenegro fans light flares from the stands during the Euro qualifier on Friday . A mass brawl between Russia and Montenegro players led to the Euro 2016 qualifier being abandoned . Fans holding flares cut intimidating figures from the roof of the stadium in Podgorica . German referee Deniz Aytekin called the game off in the 67th minute after Russian midfielder Dmitri Kombarov was hit with a missile from the terraces, following a scuffle between players on the touchline. 'These fans sing "Montenegro we love you" but throw flares, insult rivals and cause all sorts of incidents every time they turn up and that's outright hypocrisy,' general secretary Momir Djurdjevac told reporters after the ugly scenes in the stadium. 'We have left the impression of barbarians and this is a complete disaster. It seems we don't deserve to have a nation, a soccer team or a berth in a major tournament. 'As far as I am concerned the game should not have continued after the first-minute incident. We can only thank God that no one was seriously hurt.' Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev is knocked to the ground by a flare thrown from the stands after one minute . Akinfeev is carried off the pitch on a stretcher, leading to a 30 minute suspension of the game . Akinfeev was taken to hospital with a concussion and neck burns, undergoing a brain scan and a number of other tests. Montenegrin media also reported a charged atmosphere in Podgorica several hours before kick-off with riot police deployed in numbers to separate rival fans congregating in the city centre. UEFA said it would wait for reports from the match delegate and the referee before opening disciplinary proceedings and Djurdjevac acknowledged any punishment would be suitable. 'We will in all likelihood pay a hefty fine and say goodbye to a major tournament but what scares me is that this can happen again and someone must step forward and say "Enough".' Russia head coach Fabio Capello scratches his head as players leave the pitch after the match is abandoned . Riot police clash with Montenegrin fans after the game is abandoned following a pitch brawl . 'Who wants to play for the national team under such circumstances? 'These players have a big dream and it's to qualify with our tiny nation for a major tournament but we are going nowhere.' While Russia have demanded to be awarded victory following the abandonment in Podgorica on Friday night. Russian Football Union president Nikolai Tolstykh said in a statement that his organization would file a protest to UEFA and that 'in our view, it should be a technical defeat for Montenegro.' He added that the match should have been abandoned following the attack on Akinfeev. +Depraved militants fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq are attaching high-definition cameras to the barrels of their guns in order to film barbaric executions in gruesome detail. The shocking pictures were captured by the terror group's Tigris River branch, who are currently engaged in fierce battles with up to 30,000 Iraqi Army soldiers and Shia militia roughly 70 miles north of the ISIS-held city of Tikrit. Still images from the video shows a group of blindfolded prisoners being forced to their knees while heavily armed militants line up behind them. The photographs then cut to the gun barrel cameras, which display in graphic detail the young men being shot to death from point blank range. The unorthodox camera view and the use of HD equipment give the footage the appearance of a computer game and is just the latest example of ISIS attempting to portray their atrocities in a manner that could appeal to young men and women living in the West. Savages: Depraved militants fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq are attaching high-definition cameras to the barrels of their guns in order to film barbaric executions in gruesome detail . Killers: It is understood that the group behind the savage murder represent ISIS' presence along the River Tibris. They have attached HD cameras (circled) to their guns to film the atrocity . The unorthodox camera view and the use of HD equipment give the pictures the appearance of a video game . The horrific images have been shared online by Arab-language supporters of the brutal terrorist group. They show a group of men being dragged before a baying crowd of local men, who gather along a roadside and use mobile phones to film the shocking scene. The victims - who wear Western-looking clothing and have their hands bound behind their backs - are forced to their knees by the bearded militants, who tower over them while wearing military fatigues. One jihadi stands behind each of the five victims, brandishing all manner of guns - from what appears to be small .9mm handguns to massive AK47 assault rifles. At least one of these larger weapons has an HD camera attached and captures in gruesome detail the horrific moment a bullet hits one of the prisoner's head, causing blood and brains to spray into the air. The next image is a close-up shot of the five victims lying in a pool of their own blood while bloodthirsty onlookers stand and cheer, raising their fingers in the air in a symbol of religious devotion. Death: The victims - who wear Western-looking clothing and have their hands bound behind their backs - are forced to their knees by the bearded militants, who tower over them while wearing military fatigues . Professional: The photographs carry the distinctive yellow branding of ISIS' propaganda wings, suggesting they may be stills from an as-yet unreleased propaganda video . It is understood that the group behind the savage murder represent ISIS' presence along the River Tibris, which flows from southern Iraq into Turkey, passing through regime held cities such as Baghdad, as well as the militant stronghold Mosul and current frontline city Tikrit. It was not immediately clear where the images were taken, but this particularly ISIS group typically operate in and around the remote villages off Iraq's Highway 1, such Azwya and Al-Shirqat. The photographs are high quality shots and carry the distinctive yellow branding of ISIS' propaganda wings, suggesting they may be stills from an as-yet unreleased propaganda video. The victims are believed to be a group of local men accused of attempting to organise an anti-ISIS resistance group, although this information has not been independently verified. Warfare: Shia fighters fire a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants near Tikrit earlier this week . Smoke rises as the Iraqi army, supported by volunteers, battles Islamic State extremists near Tikrit yesterday . Taking their rest: Shia militiamen relax behind a sand berm as the Iraqi Army, supported by the volunteers, battles Islamic State extremists outside Tikrit yesterday afternoon . An Iraqi Army soldier raises his finger in the air in a sign of religious devotion before attacking an ISIS target . The shocking use of cameras attached to gun barrels is just ISIS' latest attempt to portray life under the terror group as similar to a video game. The approach is believed to make an effort to make their atrocities more palatable and possibly even appealing to a generation of Westerners raised on graphic shoot 'em ups that portray human life as cheap, and even reward and encourage users to commit cold-blooded murder. This morning Islamic State group militants in the north of Iraq set oil wells ablaze in an attempt to foil government forces battling to reclaim territory. A bomb ripped through an outdoor market in the Baghdad suburb of Nahrawan, killing three civilians and wounding 12, a police officer said. Another bomb targeted a military patrol in the northeastern district of Rashdiya, killing three soldiers and wounding seven, he added. Mortar shells hit a residential area in the southern district of Dora, killing two civilians and wounding six, another officer said. An explosion in a market in Mahmoudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, killed three civilians and wounded seven. Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have thrown yet another young man to his death from a building after accusing him of being gay. Stomach-churning photographs show a large bloodthirsty crowd gathered at the foot of a multi-storey building in the group's de facto capital Raqqa to watch the murder of the young victim. With the baying crowd clambering on to rooftops to get a better view of the savage scene, the blindfolded man is dragged to the roof of the tallest building in the neighbourhood by bearded militants, who use mobile phones to film him being barbarically thrown to his death. Barbarians: Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have thrown yet another young man to his death from a building after accusing him of being gay . Horror: The blindfolded man is dragged to the roof of the tallest building in the neighbourhood by bearded militants, who use mobile phones to film him being barbarically thrown to his death . Sick: The stomach-churning photographs show a large bloodthirsty crowd gathered at the foot of a multi-storey building in the group's de facto capital Raqqa to watch the murder of the young victim . The images were released by local activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, who work undercover in the ISIS stronghold to expose the terror group's atrocities. The photographs carry the distinctive yellow logo of ISIS' propaganda wing Al Hayat Media Centre, suggesting they come from an as-yet unreleased video of the savage murder. The photographs shows a huge crowd gathering at the foot of a run-down building in the west of the city, which ISIS captured in early 2014 amid the ongoing chaos of the Syrian Civil War. +Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol is adamant that the Reds will beat arch-rivals Manchester United to a Champions League qualification spot come the end of the season. The Merseysiders are just one place and two points behind United, who currently occupy fourth, with 10 Premier League games remaining. Brendan Rodgers' side are the form team in England's top flight having collected 29 points from their last 11 matches - having bounced back after making a poor start this season. Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol believes the Reds will beat Manchester United to fourth place . Jordan Henderson (right) opened the scoring in their 2-0 win over Burnley on Wednesday night . Daniel Sturridge headed home Liverpool's second as they remain two points behind United in fifth . Nicol (right) enjoyed a trophy-laden 12 years at Liverpool - where he made 468 appearances for the club . United too have strung together a decent run of results with Ashley Young's late winner against Newcastle on Wednesday night ensuring that Louis van Gaal's side keep Liverpool at bay in their top-four battle. The two sides meet at Anfield on March 22 and Nicol believes Liverpool's momentum means it's only a matter of time before they overtake United in the table. 'Man United got themselves into a great position but at this stage of the season it is all about momentum,' he told talkSPORT's Extra Time show. 'You can't argue that Man United are picking up points. But Liverpool at the moment don't care who is put in front of them - they just go about their business. Ashley Young (centre) fired home the winner for United to earn his side a valuable three points at Newcastle . Despite the win for Louis van Gaal's men (left) Nicol believes the momentum is all with Liverpool . 'The good Liverpool teams of the past have all been about good passing and good movement and this team's passing is accurate, the movement is fantastic, and they are giving anybody that is put in front of them a headache. If they keep playing the way they are, who is going to beat them? And the 53-year-old feels Liverpool could finish higher than fourth and even challenge for third place with Arsenal. 'If Liverpool continue to steamroll teams, they even have a chance of third place,' he added. 'I think Arsenal are guaranteed [to finish in the top four]. It is Arsenal and Liverpool for third and fourth.' Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool side have now collected 29 points from their last 11 league matches . +Tottenham striker Harry Kane is in contention to make his England debut on Friday night against Lithuania in their Euro 2016 qualifier. The 21-year-old has been in sparkling form for Spurs this season - having netted 29 goals in all competitions so far. 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst believes Kane has what it takes to shine on the international stage for Roy Hodgson's side. 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst (left) believes Harry Kane has what it takes to be an England star . Thrill of a debut . I’ll never forget what it was like getting that first call. It was the start of 1966 and West Ham’s manager Ron Greenwood took me aside in training and said I had been picked for a game against Poland. It was real elation even if I didn’t play. I made my debut a month later against West Germany. Why this is relevant to Harry is the confidence you get from reaching that level. That could be a very big factor for this lad. Hurst made his debut for England in a 1-0 friendly win against West Germany in February 1966 . Confidence . Self-belief is a huge thing in football, especially for strikers. When I got my England debut I felt 10 feet tall. With the season Harry has had, and now this selection, his extra confidence means we should be able to expect even more from him. The challenge will be doing it again next season. People will analyse how you mark him, how you stop him. It will be very interesting to see how he reacts to that. I would say he is not vulnerable to that, when I think about his character. Kane could make his England debut against Lithuania in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday night at Wembley . Character . What I like is that Harry has not had it all his own way - he had to fight to get in, he had to go out on loan. It has not been smooth. I wasn’t a world-class player coming through but we have seen lots of players who have become more successful than those around them with more talent. Dedication and attitude are such key traits and Harry has those in abundance. I saw him receive an award recently at a charity dinner. You could see how level-headed he is. Kane has had several spells out on loan before breaking into the Tottenham first-team this season . The Ingredients . Looking at Harry, I am reminded of a speech I heard years ago by Bill Shankly. He was talking about Chelsea’s Peter Osgood and said: ‘Peter is deceptive - he is much slower than you think he is.’ I liken that to Harry. He is deceptive - he is much better than you think he is. Harry is a bit like Thomas Muller, the Bayern Munich and Germany forward. On your first glance at Muller, he doesn’t look like a footballer. He has his socks down his shins, looks ungainly. But he’s a fantastic player. I liken Harry to that type of all-round player. Hurst believes Kane's deceptive style of play can be compared to Germany forward Thomas Muller (right) Strengths . I like how he shoots. He is almost always on target. He can score from distance or a tap-in - and that is a whole different skill. He can anticipate and poach. He has excellent technique. He strikes the ball cleanly and that is why he is often on target. It is also why he is so good at keeping the ball low. How often do you see him shoot over? The other thing is they come from all directions. He will still be unpredictable next year because there is not one set place he shoots from. Kane (left) battles for the ball against Tottenham team-mate Ryan Mason during England training on Thursday . It helps that he is so comfortable with each foot, unlike a lot of players today. More than that, Harry has football intelligence which is especially important for strikers. His awareness of space on the pitch is very good. Throw in the fact he is very, very good in the air, strong physically and willing to press and defend, and you have a striker to be excited about. He is a team player. I will save my excitement until the end of next season to see if he has done it again - look at Ravel Morrison - but Harry looks very good. Hurst is impressed with Kane's (right) ability to shoot off either foot as well as his ability in the air . Weaknesses . I don’t think he has electric pace. But I didn’t have that and it didn’t do me any harm. He is not slow - he can still run at players - but it is not electric pace. Teddy Sheringham was like that and I think Harry has Teddy’s intelligence. Despite a lack of pace, Teddy Sheringham made 51 appearances for England - scoring 11 goals . Sir Geoff Hurst is encouraging communities to nominate a local #GrassrootsHero for the FA & McDonald’s Community Awards. Nominations in England close on March 27; to make your nomination, go to: www.mcdonalds.co.uk/awards . +A video maker from Peterborough captured some incredibly eerie footage of a disused RAF station in Upwood. Daniel Munns, a Lincoln University graduate, travelled to the Cambridgeshire station with a Phantom 2 DJI drone and a GoPro camera. He was drawn to the location because he was bored of filming the fields around where he lives and after purchasing a drone believed the station would be an interesting place in which to capture some unique footage. Helped by his friend Sean Young, who drove the pair to the location, Daniel squeezed through a hole in a fence and spent an hour filming and an additional nine hours editing once home. Looking back on the project, Daniel, who was merely testing out his new equipment on the day, admitted he was ecstatic with the final product. He said: ‘It had been a bit trial and error at first as I don’t have a monitor for the drone so I was flying blind. ‘I was just holding certain shots and hoping they would come out okay. When I got back and saw the outcome though I was buzzing. Daniel was drawn to the location because he was bored of filming the fields around where he lives in Peteborough . After squeezing through a fence, Daniel captured some truly atmospheric footage of the abandoned RAF base . 'I knew for sure that the drone had been a good purchase.’ The video itself is both chilling and mesmerising and captures the abandonment of the place in all its eerie glory. Opening on a shot of tall trees, the footage fades into a birds-eye view of the abandoned RAF station. Unsettling music accompanies the clip throughout as the drone moves slowly around the area capturing it entirely. Footage of the buildings up-close show the extent of the deterioration that has taken place since the base was closed . Daniel was only testing his GoPro camera and drone but was ecstatic with the final outcome nevertheless . Royal Air Force Station Upwood is a former non-flying station. It was under the control of the United States Air Force from 1981, and one of three RAF stations in Cambridgeshire used by the United States Air Forces in Europe. In 1994 the station was closed by the Ministry of Defence and most of it was vacated with the land and buildings being sold off to civil ownership. Daniel explained that the size of the abandoned place was overwhelming and that this helped influence his decision to depict it in a spooky way. He said: ‘It was eerie being in there so it only felt right to edit it in the way that I did.’ The drone then stalks a man (Daniel’s friend Sean) walking through the isolated landscape before ascending over his head. The footage then fades into arguably the best shot of the piece – a vantage point that captures the sun breaking through miserable clouds, and the trees appearing as silhouettes. Featured in the film is Daniel's friend Sean, whose presence adds another spooky element to the piece . Daniel captures a great shot of the sun breaking through the miserable clouds and the building's dark and empty windows . Also featured in the shot is the building’s darkened, empty windows as well as a row of them in the distance that appear to look like a series of letters. Faster footage of the buildings follow and a close-up shot of one of the entrances show the depreciation that has taken place. Sean again features – standing in one of the windows – giving the piece another strange and spooky element. Daniel admitted however that his intention had been to use someone dressed in military uniform so as to provide an even ghostlier edge, but stated that he does intend to do a follow up piece at a later date. Daniel took a total of nine hours to edit the footage of the station after filming it for an hour with a drone . ‘I felt I could have done a lot better if I had planned it,’ he said. ‘But for test footage I was chuffed to bits with it.’ Daniel studied Media Production at university, with a focus on film and TV, script writing and film production. He has recently started a media company called ShotSightMedia, where he uploads videos of his work. Daniel studied Media Production at university, with a focus on film and TV, script writing and film production . +An Indonesian town was high on more than just life when police set fire to more than three tons of confiscated cannabis. Residents of Tangerang, 15.5 miles west of the capital Jakarta, reported suffering from headaches and dizziness after inhaling the tangy smoke given off by the bonfire. The 3.3 tons of marijuana were burned by Palmerah police at their subprecinct office in West Jakarta earlier this month. Indonesian police accidentally intoxicated the population of the entire town of Tangerang, 15.5 miles west of Jakarta, by holding a bonfire of 3.3 tons of confiscated marijuana outside a subprecinct office . The haul was valued at $1 million, according to Breitbart.com . Tangerang police chief Senior Commander Riad told The Jakarta Post his officers seized the stash in south Tangerang on February 2. Police wore masks to protect them from the fumes but watching civilians were left unprotected. The smoke spread from the yard to surrounding residents' houses. One resident named Deden said: 'I got a headache because I wasn't wearing a mask.' A journalist reported having to 'sit down and have a cup of tea' to deal with the high. Officers also destroyed 1.8 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 2,538 ecstasy pills by blending them. The destruction of the illicit substances was witnessed by several officials from the West Jakarta municipality. A police officer throws packages of cannabis onto a fire in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in August last year. That blaze destroyed two tons of the drug while the latest one in Tangareng burned 3.3 . +Pele will be a guest at Anfield on Sunday to watch the crunch top four battle between Liverpool and Manchester United. The Brazilian great, now 74, appeared in a TV advert with Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge ahead of last summer’s World Cup in Brazil. He is at Anfield as part of his commercial work with Subway Restaurants, who are one of Liverpool's business partners. Brazil legend Pele will be a guest at Anfield to watch Liverpool take on Manchester United on Sunday . Pele played in Liverpool, across the park at Goodison, for Brazil in 1966, but he limped off injured . It is not Pele's first visit to the city, the Brazil legend having appeared as a player for Brazil at Everton's ground Goodison Park in 1966 during the World Cup finals. However, he does not have too many happy memories of Liverpool, having been forced to limp out of the tournament after being given rough treatment by Bulgaria and Portugal. The two sides are both in the hunt for a Champions League spot, and both come into the game in good form, with Liverpool's last league defeat coming at the hands of United back in December. Juan Mata scored the final goal when the teams last met in December, making it 3-0 to United . David de Gea was in fine form for the clash of the two giants, denying Mario Balotelli on several ocassions . Balotelli has since fallen out of favour at Anfield, and is unlikely to start against United on Sunday . +Midfielder Harry Arter has been rewarded for his contribution to Bournemouth's bid for Barclays Premier League football with a first call-up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad. The 25-year-old, who regularly represented his country at Under 17 and Under 19 levels, has been included in a provisional 35-man party for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on March 29. Manager Martin O'Neill will reduce the initial squad before the players meet up on March 22 ahead of what could prove to be a key game in the qualification campaign, but there could yet be a place for a surprise inclusion in the shape of Arter. Harry Arter (left) has been called up to the Ireland squad after impressing for Bournemouth this season . David Forde (Millwall), Shay Given (Aston Villa), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday) Darren Randolph (Birmingham), Rob Elliot (Newcastle), Richard Keogh (Derby), Marc Wilson (Stoke), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie (Derby), John O'Shea (Sunderland), Alex Pearce (Reading), Paul McShane (Hull), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Derby), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Stephen Ward (Burnley . Harry Arter (Bournemouth), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Darron Gibson (Everton), Paul Green (Rotherham), Aiden McGeady (Everton), Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff), James McClean (Wigan), Robbie Brady, Stephen Quinn, David Meyler (all Hull), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich), Jon Walters (Stoke), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Anthony Stokes (Celtic), Simon Cox (Reading), David McGoldrick (Ipswich). O'Neill said: 'He is having a very good season. I think, yeah, why not? It would be nice to have a look at him. 'He's obviously played at under-age level and I wanted to introduce another fresh face. There are no guarantees of anything. I've met him twice now and I think he deserves that chance. 'This might be a surprise to him as I didn't say anything to him. He will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.' Former Charlton trainee Arter is currently in his fifth season with the Cherries after joining them from Woking in June 2010, and has scored six goals in 38 appearances to date during the current campaign. Bournemouth head into the weekend having returned to the top of the Sky Bet Championship table as a result of their 5-1 victory at Fulham last weekend, but only on goal difference with Derby, Watford and Middlesbrough all level with them on 66 points and Norwich just a point behind. Hull midfielder Robbie Brady and Everton counterpart Aiden McGeady have been included, although Brady in particular is struggling with a torn calf muscle, while former Celtic winger McGeady is nursing a bruised knee. Arter has been the driving force behind Bournemouth's quest for promotion to the Premier League . But there was no place for Aston Villa's Jack Grealish, who is yet to make up his mind over whether to opt for Ireland or England, a process which has been ongoing for some time to the particular frustration of O'Neill's assistant and former Villa number two Roy Keane. The Poland game could prove crucial to the Republic's hopes of making it to the finals in the wake of November's 1-0 Group D defeat in Scotland. O'Neill's men opened their campaign with victories in Georgia and at home to Gibraltar, and a 1-1 draw in Germany in October boosted their hopes of claiming second spot with the reigning world champions expected to recover from a less-than-impressive start by their lofty standards. However Poland, who were expected to rival the Irish and the Scots for the runners-up spot, currently enjoy a three-point lead over Germany, Scotland and Ireland at the top of the table having beaten the Germans 2-0 in Warsaw during October, only to be held to a 2-2 draw by Gordon Strachan's men three days later. O'Neill said: 'Poland are a very strong team, they've obviously got off to a great start. Confidence is obviously very high there. They look up to the task. It will be a tough game for us.' +A selfie stick and snowboard might seem like a recipe for disaster but one thrill-seeker decided to test the combination for himself. David M, 18, took his camera holder down a slope in Kopaonik, Serbia, to film himself in action. Footage shows the extreme sportsman bombing it down a slope before losing his balance and tumbling forwards headfirst into the snow. The crash occurred just four seconds in. The camera swivels to the sky as David rolls to the ground. Luckily, he escaped the incident unscathed. After the fall, he is seen swiftly getting up with the selfie stick in his hand. He then gives a jubilant cry out to the camera. Some viewers have advised David to get a camera attached to his helmet for next time. However, he says he's confident of his skills, as his love of snowboarding started when he was just eight years old. Action shot: A selfie stick and snowboard might seem like a recipe for disaster but one thrill-seeker decided to test the combination for himself . High speed: The unidentified extreme sportsman took the camera holder down a slope in Kopaonik, Serbia, and filmed himself in action . Going, going: Footage shows him bombing it down a slope before losing his balance and tumbling forwards headfirst into the snow . Sun breaking through: The camera swivels to the sky as the snowboarder rolls to the ground . Unfazed: Luckily, David escaped the incident unscathed and carried on his way . +She is famed for her huge behind and since attempting to 'break the internet' Kim Kardashian has faced little in the way of rivals - until now. Striking a Kim-like pose, this is Kit Kardashian the nine-year-old tabby cat who bears an uncanny resemblance to the American socialite. The moggy, who is being cared for by Blue Cross after her owner died, was named after charity workers noticed her extraordinary large behind - which measures 10in across. Scroll down for video . Striking resemblance: A tabby cat has been dubbed Kit Kardashian for her uncanny likeness to reality star Kim . The cat also weighs a staggering 8.4kg - making her twice the size of the average domestic feline. As well as her sizeable bottom, Kit has also perfected a cheeky coquettish look back over her shoulder as she mimics Kim's famous 'break the internet' nude pictures. After being admitted to the Blue Cross pet charity, the cat was put on a strict new diet to help her shed the pounds. Kit, who was previously named Phoebe, is currently being looked after by volunteer Belinda Smith at her home in Cobham, Surrey. New rival? Kit's bottom measures 10in across and she appears to have perfected the Kim Kardashian pose . She is hoping the tabby can find a new home. Miss Smith, 53, said: 'I have been looking after her for two weeks now. 'A lady from Blue Cross brought her over to my home and when she came out of her cage I said 'Oh my goodness, she's a big girl'. 'A colleague had already come up with the name 'Kit Kardashian' after Kim's famous bottom - there is a striking resemblance. 'I have two other cats here but 'Kit' weighs 8.4kg - which is more than the other cats put together. On a diet: Kit weighs 8.4kg, twice as much as an average cat. The moggy's owner recently died and although she is currently being cared for by a Blue Cross volunteer, the tabby needs a new home . 'She was originally named Phoebe but everyone seems to prefer the name 'Kit Kardashian'.' Miss Smith, who has been a volunteer at the charity for three years, said Kit 'struggles' to move but has a 'pretty face'. She added: 'I hope we are able to find her a home. She tries to run around but struggles. 'But she has got such a pretty face and is such a lovely cat, I'm sure she'd make a new owner very happy.' +Middlesbrough are confident of beating promotion rivals Derby and Norwich to the signature of Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes. The 25-year-old is the nephew of Boro assistant Steve Agnew and that is thought to have played a part in the Scotland international favouring a move to Teesside. Rhodes is set to join on loan before the weekend with a £8million permanent deal arranged for the summer, should he help Boro win promotion to the Premier League. Further clauses have been inserted should Aitor Karanka’s side then stay in the top flight. Jordan Rhodes (centre left) is set to complete a loan move to promotion-chasing Middlesbrough . The striker has an incredible goal-scoring record in the Sky Bet Championship and is an impressive coup . The Riverside club are concerned that their challenge is beginning to falter and see Rhodes – who has 13 goals for Blackburn this season and was a £12million target of Hull last year – as the addition needed to bolster their claims for a top-flight return. Karanka’s men are one of four teams at the top tied on 66 points but sit at the bottom of that pack because of goal difference. They have lost three of their last five with the club’s strikers coming in for criticism during that run. Should the Rhodes deal go through then he could be in the squad for Saturday’s lunchtime visit of Ipswich Town. Aitor Karanka has a formidable strike force as they look to continue their march for automatic promotion . +Michael O'Neill is preparing to do battle with a familiar face on Sunday, as an old friend attempts to derail Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 dream. Finland are the opponents at Windsor Park, led by Mixu Paatelainen - the man who gave O'Neill his coaching break as his number two at Cowdenbeath. The pair have already crossed paths on the international circuit, sharing an entertaining 3-3 friendly draw in 2012, during O'Neill's early days at the helm. Michael O'Neill is preparing his Northern Ireland side to do battle with Finland in Euro 2016 qualifying . He will be up against former assistant manager Mixu Paatelainen (pictured) who is current Finland boss . There is a whole lot more riding on the follow-up, with Northern Ireland having taken nine points from a possible 12 in Group F, while their opponents face a fight to stay in contention with just four points from their four fixtures. O'Neill admits he and Paatelainen have declined to swap advice about other teams on the road to France, but accepts the two men know each other's style 'inside out'. 'We're similar to players, I think. When you've played at a club with someone and then you've worked briefly with them as a coach there's obviously a relationship there. 'But we didn't spend hours on the phone or anything up to that, so the relationship hasn't changed at all. Obviously we are less inclined to discuss the opposition because he probably thinks he doesn't want to tell me things I perhaps don't know and vice versa. But we both know each other inside out and how our team will play. 'Regardless of what happens it won't affect how close we are.' O'Neill even sees a parallel between the two national sides, with both he and Paatelainen attempting to eke the best out of a small number of top-tier players, while building a strong group in support. 'I think Mixu has done a great job there and his job is quite similar to mine,' he said. 'You have a limited pool of players to choose from and he has got them playing in a nice style. 'There's no doubt Finland are a good team but there is a dependence there on five or six players and the team's make-up is quite similar to mine.' Christophe Berra scores as Northern Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Scotland in midweek . Manchester United defender Paddy McNair (left) made his debut for Northern Ireland in the defeat . The Northern Ireland match-winner in recent months has been striker Kyle Lafferty, who scored against Hungary, Greece and the Faroe Islands before being shut out in the defeat by Romania. He has had a change of scenery since then, leaving Norwich for a loan spell with Turkish side Rizespor. Part of his motivation for that unexpected move was a desire to get regular game time at centre forward, with the Canaries having used him predominantly in a withdrawn role. Davis, a former Rangers team-mate of Lafferty, explained: 'He just wants to go out and get regular football, and a chance to play up front. 'He's had a few experiences in other countries so I think at the time he knew it was the time to move on. He had Northern Ireland in the back of his mind, he wanted to improve his football for international level too. 'He's always going to give you 100% commitment and effort, give you everything but it's about getting him focused. 'We've seen a focused Kyle Lafferty in this campaign so far and long may it continue.' +Holland scored in stoppage time through a deflected Wesley Sneijder shot to secure a 1-1 draw with Turkey on Saturday and avoid their first ever home defeat in European Championship qualifying. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar got a slight deflection to a long-range strike from captain Sneijder in the 92nd minute to rescue a point for the Dutch, who looked to be heading to their third defeat in five matches in Group A. Burak Yilmaz scored in the 37th minute at the Amsterdam Arena, given time in the penalty area to fire off a shot that took a deflection off Bruno Martins Indi to put the Turks ahead at halftime. Holland captain Wesley Sneijder (right) rescued Holland with a late strike against Turkey . Sniejder (right) celebrates scoring Holland's last minute equaliser against Turkey . Burak Yilmaz (left) fired Turkey into the lead in the 37th minute in their game against Holland . The Netherlands stayed third in the standings with seven points from five games. Turkey have five points at the halfway point of the qualifying campaign. The home team had several chances in the first half with captain Sneijder, deputising for the injured Robin van Persie, going closest but their best came after the break when substitute Luciano Narsingh missed an open goal. Sneijder shot narrowly wide with a free kick and full back Jetro Willems went close with a rasping shot 10 minutes from time. The introduction of tall forward Bas Dost forced the Dutch to throw everything forward in a final assault and the equaliser came when Sneijder's shot struck Huntelaar on the back of the head and deflected into goal. 'From the first minute we went for victory,' Sneijder told Dutch television. 'Turkey had one chance in front of goal. We dominated and made chances but we took until injury time to get the equaliser. We did not impose ourselves enough in the first half but we were more attacking in the second and something had to fall for us in the end.' Avoiding defeat will not lift the pressure on coach Guus Hiddink, who received a public vote of confidence from the Dutch football association after defeat in Iceland in October. Turkey's players celebrate taking the lead away to Holland in the first half of their Group A game . Guus Hiddink (left) is under increasing pressure as Holland manager, despite saving a point vs Turkey . Dutch fortunes have fallen dramatically since finishing third at the World Cup in Brazil last year under coach Louis van Gaal. His successor, given a two-year contract until next year's European Championship in France, has been under increasing pressure after the team lost two of their opening three qualifiers. A 6-0 home win over Latvia in November gave Hiddink breathing space but he will face more questions after narrowly avoiding defeat. +Critics of Floyd Mayweather say that 'Father Time' may be catching up with the WBA and WBC welterweight world champion and on some new video evidence they may be right. However, for fight fans looking forward to his upcoming bout against Manny Pacquiao on May 2 - they need not worry. And that's because footage of the 38-year-old running has been slowed down for a visual effect. Floyd Mayweather uploaded a Facebook on Friday of himself going for an afternoon run . Mayweather is currently training ahead of his highly-anticipated welterweight fight against Manny Pacquiao . The 38-year-old looks focused as he gears up for his bout on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas . Mayweather uploaded a Facebook video on Friday of himself working up a sweat as he went for a run. Accompanied with the caption: 'Out For An Afternoon Run ‪#‎MayPac‬ ‪#‎May2‬ ‪#‎TBE‬,' the orthodox fighter can be seen going through his paces while being chaperoned by a Rolls Royce and a Chevrolet. The unification bout against WBO champion Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is expected to total $300million - in what will be the most expensive bout in boxing history. Mayweather can be seen going through his paces while being chaperoned by a Rolls Royce and a Chevrolet . The unification bout sees Mayweather put his WBA and WBC titles on the line against Pacquiao's WBO belt . In the UK, Sky Sports are expected to win the bidding rights to broadcast the fight. Sky has been in fierce competition from Frank Warren’s BoxNation channel but are believed to be on the brink of clinching the British broadcasting rights for the richest fight in ring history - as revealed by Sportsmail's Jeff Powell. US networks HBO and Showtime are sharing the broadcast in America, where Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is predicting a record-breaking four million buys - for the highly-anticipated bout. Mayweather's hotly-anticipated bout with Pacquiao (right) is expected to be shown on Sky in the UK . Pacquiao's bout against Mayweather will be one of the biggest fights ever in history . +Floyd Mayweather was put through a gruelling workout on Tuesday as he continues his preparations for the $300million showdown with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2. The 38-year-old once again took to Instagram to document his rigorous training regime as he stepped up the pace in his latest gym session in Los Angeles. Mayweather uploaded a video to the social media site showing him working on his hand speed as he trained on the pads and the bag. Floyd Mayweather showed incredible hand speed during a pad workout on Tuesday . The American was continuing his preparations for the $300m fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 2 . The undefeated American displays incredible movement while he grimaces with pain as he pushed himself to the limit to ensure he is in the best possible shape to take on Pacquiao at the MGM Grand. Meanwhile, Mayweather has reserved special praise for his personal chef, who will be fuelling him during the build up to the mega fight. The WBA and WBC welterweight champion posted a a video while his chef was preparing food insisting she is the 'best chef in the world' and that she will be 'with me until I die'. Mayweather was also put through his paces with a workout on the bag during his latest training session . Both fighters had agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing without reservation and will be tested out of competition prior to the fight and in competition after the fight. An inspector made a surprise visit to the house where Pacquiao is staying earlier this week to take the Filipino's sample. The PacMan readily complied with tests for both blood – a process about which he had previously expressed his dislike – and urine. ‘No problem,’ he told the medic, with a smile. Pacquiao was paid a surprise visit by an anti-doping examiner on Sunday to take a drug test . +The bidding war for the British television rights for the Fight of the Century is coming to its climax. Sky Sports have been considered favourites to screen Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao since their $300 million purse deal was struck for May 2 in Las Vegas. They appeared to have moved firmly into pole position when given access to Mayweather’s gym in Las Vegas prior to joining the battery of cameras at the official red carpet launch of the promotion in Los Angeles. The rights to broadcast Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao's May 2 bout in the UK is to be decided . Sky Sports appeared to be in the box seat for the rights when given access to Mayweather's Las Vegas gym . However, Frank Warren's BoxNation remains in contention with a potentially innovative package . Their film of those events and interviews feature in their Ringside programme this very Thursday evening. However, it is understood that Frank Warren has been in urgent discussions with Mayweather’s own promotion company and Pacquiao’s Top Rank promoters overnight on Wednesday. Warren has built a strong relationship with the Americans while screening a steady flow of major fights in the US on his dedicated BoxNation channel, including Mayweather and Pacquiao bouts. All the major players in the Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight of the Century pose on stage on Wednesday night . Mayweather and Pacquiao will be the richest fight ever and set the UK broadcasters alone back at least £12m . It is expected that whoever wins the rights will have to put at least £12 million into the financial pot for the richest fight of all time. Sky are having to consider pushing their pay-per-view charge above their notional £20 barrier. Warren is believed to be offering an innovative package for his monthly subscription network which could raise the ante higher. +Floyd Mayweather's superfight against Manny Pacquiao on May 2 is to be conducted under the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing program. The welterweight rivals have agreed that their Las Vegas showdown will observe the rules established under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing. Both fighters have agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing without reservation and will be tested out of competition prior to the fight and in competition after the fight. Floyd Mayweather Jnr posted pictures to his social media ahead of mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 2 . Some of the banned substances that will be tested for at the WADA-accredited laboratory are growth hormone (HGH), erythropoietin (EPO) and the use of carbon isotope ratio (CIR). 'It's a strong statement of the importance of clean and safe competition to have these two fighters voluntarily agree to have a WADA level anti-doping program implemented for this fight,' said USADA chief executive Travis Tygart. 'We commend them for their stance on clean sport and the message it sends to all those who want to compete clean at the highest levels of all sport.' Mayweather vs Pacquiao is widely considered to be one of the biggest boxing fights of all-time . Mayweather and Pacquiao are set to earn hundreds of millions from the blockbuster fight . Plans for the pair to clash five years ago when at the peak of their powers were abandoned after Pacquiao refused to participate in blood testing at Mayweather's insistence. The two went head to head for the first and only time prior to their collision at the MGM Grand at a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. No publicity tour has been scheduled and they will not meet again until fight week. The showdown is set to be the richest in boxing history, with an estimated shared purse of 250,000,000 US dollars (£167.4million). Mayweather, 38, is coming to the end of a brilliant, and as yet unbeaten, professional boxing career . +Manny Pacquiao has claimed his predicted defeat of Floyd Mayweather in the pair’s $300million mega-fight on May 2 would be a boost for their sport. ‘Beating Floyd is good for boxing,’ the Filipino superstar said, referring to Mayweather’s long-running dominance and money-flaunting lifestyle. ‘When athletes have great success, their success goes to their head. That is bad for boxing.’ Manny Pacquiao on the PR trail with Stephen A. Smith from ESPN First Take, on which he continued to issue some fighting words to Floyd Mayweather ahead of their May 2 mega-fight . Manny Pacquiao, here during his training camp in Los Angeles, says he will 'easily' beat Floyd Mayweather . After dishing out some fighting words on Tuesday, Pacquiao works the heavy bag at Wild Card Boxing Club . Pacquiao, a resounding underdog for the May 2 showdown at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand, has come out fighting long before the bell saying Mayweather’s fights put him to sleep and urging the master tactician to fight aggressively. The 36-year-old’s confident jibes come even before the pair face-off in Los Angeles for their only joint press conference in the lead-up to the fight. ‘I'm here to prove that I can easily beat the undefeated,’ Pacquiao said on ESPN in comments shared by his minders on Twitter. Pacquiao and Mayweather come face-to-face on Wednesday night in their only pre-fight press conference . ‘I am very happy that Floyd Mayweather and I can give the fans the fight they have wanted for so many years.’ Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division world champion, added his nimble feet and combinations will give him the edge over the American with an imposing 47-0 record, and that his bouts against Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya instilled more fear in him. ‘My footwork and hand combinations will be my advantage,’ he said. ‘I tell you Cotto and Margarito punch hard. This is boxing and its about punches.’ +Staff had to be on their guard at Gold Coast Airport in Australia this morning when a snake came within inches of getting onto a plane. As passengers began to settle into their seats aboard the Virgin flight to Sydney, a green snake slithered its way up the stairs to the entry door. Eagle-eyed passenger Stuart Robert, who rather fittingly works as the Assistant Minister for Defence, was on hand to capture the action unfold. The snake was halted just inches from entering the main body of the plane by airport staff . The snake's actions were caught on camera by Australia's Assistant Defence Minister Stuart Robert (file photo) 'The green snake had slithered up the front stairs so the passengers had to board from the back,' he told MailOnline Travel. 'It was probably enjoying the warmth of the tarmac and steel and may have made its way up there as people were boarding. 'I took the photo just as the staff had got the little guy into a bag, so it wasn't quite 'Snakes on a Plane' and we didn't have an extra passenger to Sydney.' MP Robert was full of praise for the way the drama was handled by staff at Gold Coast Airport. Delays were minimal at Gold Coast Airport today after a snake was halted entering a plane on the tarmac . 'The airport staff acted quickly and brought a bag with a rod to gather up the little guy and probably take him back to where he came from. 'They responded well and the delay was minor.' It is not known as to what kind of snake it was. Staff were expected to return the reptile back to its natural habitat. +It is a common problem for airlines, ferries and cruise ships - how do you make passengers pay attention to the safety briefing? Condor Ferries believes it has found the solution, producing a video complete with a rapping captain and dancing staff that certainly attracts attention. Doing away with the monotone yet informative messages usually portrayed in safety briefings, the Portsmouth-based company said it wanted to inject some 'fun' into this year's offering. But not everybody is a fan, with some commentators saying they would prefer to jump overboard than listen to the song. The captain introduces the rap for a very different safety demonstration . Condor Ferries have produced the safety rap as part of their 'Good Times' branding . Slightly out of sync and with some incredibly cringeworthy dance moves, the video seems to have done the trick and has already been viewed nearly 20,000 times since it was posted on YouTube several days ago. The video begins with a captain sporting blue sunglasses and some questionable moves as he announces: 'To ensure you have good times on board, please listen up to the following safety message from Condor Ferries.' It's soon time for the crew to get involved as they raise their hands in the air singing, 'life jackets, life jackets, they're right beneath your seat.' The pair then instruct those watching how to operate the life jacket. 'It clips together so easily just listen for the click,' sings the female. 'That means you've done it properly and you look so very hip.' That may be a matter of opinion. The steward raps how to fix the life jacket on and blow the whistle, all out of sync . All you have to do is just 'listen for the click' says the stewardess, and that means you've done it right . The male then takes the lead when notifying of where the emergency exits are, complete with some cringeworthy dance moves that involve bouncing on the spot and hilarious hand signals. But it only gets worse. It's back to the captain, as he comes into shot singing 'now ladies, hey ladies,' while making what can only be described as an 'uncomfortable' facial expression. However, rather than flirting, he is simply advising that 'sharp objects can't go on our slides, so leave those heels behind.' The steward then bounces on the spot and uses amusing hand gestures to warn of the emergency exits . The emergency slide is then shown, at least in graphic form, as the stewardess demonstrates how, well, to slide down it. The video then uses graphics to show how the staff can help passengers from wheeling their luggage, to using a resuscitator and defibrillator, as 'you name it, we have it.' The star of the show then comes back, the captain, as he sings: 'So who would have thought that the Condor could bust out such good rhymes?' The video is being broadcast on all sailings between Poole and the Channel Islands. He's back! The captain then makes a somewhat unnerving re-appearance as he warns ladies not use heels down the emergency slides . The idea was conceived and produced by Bournemouth-based Walker Agency, working closely with the Condor Ferries safety, marine operations and marketing teams. Alicia Andrews, executive director – commercial at Condor Ferries, said: 'We're really proud of the new safety video, it's been a very fun project to work on, and we're delighted with the results. 'Our brief was simple, we wanted something a little bit different, something that our passengers would sit up and take notice of, and which would appeal to all members of the family. We think that the rap, with the Good Times messaging does just that. The stewardess demonstrates how passengers would use the emergency slide... not too difficult . 'Ferry travel is very family-friendly, there are no restrictions on the amount of luggage you can bring – you can pack everything in to your car, and off you go. 'We hope that our passengers, whether they are frequent travellers or joining us for the first time this summer will enjoy the video and their Good Times experience onboard Condor Liberation as we set sail to Jersey and Guernsey.' However the video has been met with less-than positive comments by users on YouTube, where it has been hosted. The staff are there to help with passengers' every need, according to the safety video . Liam Gilheany wrote: 'I want to pour lava into my ears,' while James Lund added: 'I'd want to jump into the harbour if this is for real.' Nathan Thomas is somewhat dubious as to the authenticity of the captain writing: 'I hope they keep a look out for fishing boats better - now they seem to have employed a stripper as a captain.' Condor are believed to be the first ferry operator to produce an onboard safety video to feature a rap. The release has coincided with the launch of its brand new state-of-the-art Condor Liberation with a new mission statement of 'Good Times.' The video has been met with pleasure by senior executives at Condor Ferries . +Missing: The painting was stolen by the Gestapo from Julius Priester's Vienna home in 1944 . A multi-million pound masterpiece by 16th century artist El Greco has been reunited with its rightful owners more than seven decades after it was stolen by the Nazis. El Greco's 'A Portrait of a Gentleman' had been missing ever since the Gestapo raided the collection of Jewish banker Julius Priester in 1944. Mr Priester, a prominent art collector, had fled to Paris with his wife Camilla six years before, when Austria was annexed into Germany as part of the Anschluss in 1938. The couple, who moved to Mexico City two years later, never gave up hope of finding the 50 precious works which had been stolen. When the war ended in 1945, Mr Priester set about trying to recover his collection - a hunt his heirs took up on his death in 1954. That determination to trace it has been rewarded after a 70 year search, when it was discovered on sale through a London art dealer last year. Although the value of the painting's value is unknown, the world record price for an El Greco is £9.2million. But it seems the emotional reward may have been even greater. When they were finally reunited with the oil painting, Mr Priester's heirs were thrilled to see it was still in the same frame it had when it was hanging above the dresser in the couple's Vienna dining room. Anne Webber, co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which helped reunite the Priesters with the painting, revealed they were 'absolutely delighted' to get it back. 'It was very moving when they saw it for the first time - it was still in the same frame it was in when it hung in Mr Priester's apartment,' she said. 'It has taken more than 70 years to reunite the painting with its rightful owners and we are delighted for the family.' Mr Priester's art collection, comprising of pieces by celebrated artists including Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony Van Dyke, was just one of many plundered from wealthy Jews on direct orders from Hitler. When the Nazis were defeated in 1945, Mr Priester set about trying to track down the whereabouts of his stolen art. He spent the best part of a decade searching for the art, working with the Austrian authorities to spread the word around the world. Reunited: The painting, which hung in the dining room, pictured, is still in its original frame . In 1953, the Austrian Federal Police wrote to Mr Priester to say his missing El Greco painting had been sold by the Gestapo to New York art brokers Knoedler, arriving in the city in 1952. However the dealer Frederick Mont refused to comply, denying all knowledge of the painting and thereby halting the investigation. Domenikos Theotokopoulos, better known as 'El Greco', was born in 1541 in Crete, into a wealthy family. He began his career as an 'icon painter', and by 1563, he was described as a 'master'. About four years later, he moved to Venice where he developed his intense, colourful mannerist style. He remained in the city until about 1570, before moving to Rome - the heart of the art world at the time. Here he studied the works of Michealangelo and Raphael, and continued to develop his own style. But it was during his time in Toledo, in Spain, where he moved in 1577, when he would produce his best works - even being commissioned by King Philip II. El Greco died in April 1614, but his genius was not recognised until the 20th century, when his work began to be noticed by the art world. Nowadays, an El Greco painting can sell for millions . But Ms Webber revealed: 'It turns out Knoedler had the painting for more than 30 years and showed it worldwide with a false provenance. 'It spent 13 years in London before going to a Swiss private collector in 2003.' When Mr Priester died in 1954 aged 84, his family picked up the search and continued investigations into the missing artwork. In 2005 the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, a non-profit organisation which helps track down stolen art, were called into help with the search. A breakthrough came last year when the commission discovered the El Greco listed for sale in a gallery in New York via a London art dealer - and a claim was immediately put in for it. 'The dealer acted admirably as soon as he realised the painting's true history and we were able to negotiate a deal to return the painting to Mr Priester's heirs, who now live in Britain,' said Ms Webber. Christopher A. Marinello, CEO of Art Recovery International, which represented the art dealer the painting was acquired from, added: 'This case proves that equitable restitution of looted works is attainable. 'Without the strength and precision of the historic claim on one side and the compliance and co-operation of the gallery on the other, this would never have been possible.' Julius Priester was a banker and president of Austrian petrol firm Petroleumgesellschaft Galizin. He began collecting art in the 1920s, building up a notable gallery. The Commission for Looted Art in Europe, a non-profit organisation, has helped return more than 3,500 pieces of stolen artwork to their rightful owners since it launched in 1999. +Oklahoma University alumni are rallying around an African American chef who has been forced out of his job at the school's disgraced fraternity after footage emerged of members performing a racist chant. Howard has worked at Sigma Alpha Epsilon for more than 15 years, cooking raved-about chili dogs and cheering students with his 'infectious smile', former members say. But on Monday, his role was terminated after the university closed SAE with immediate effect. It was a reaction to a video of fraternity brothers chanting 'There will never be a n***** in SAE' to the tune of If You're Happy And You Know It. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Support: Howard has worked as a chef at Oklahoma University's Sigma Alpha Epsilon for more than 15 years but is now unemployed because the house was shut down after members were filmed singing a racist chant . Calling for support for Howard and his family as he looks for a new job, one former SAE member created an Indiegogo fundraiser page, and wrote: 'He is going to lose his job because of a bus full of racist kids... Because of these kids' actions, many will be affected. None more so than Howard.' Howard, he writes, 'was always there to chat with you' but now 'he is going to learn who has been working for. And through some cruel twist of fate, he has to lose the job that he has held for over a decade.' Within roughly 12 hours, the fund had amassed $5,000. And it is not the only one. 'Infectious smile': Howard befriended all students he came into contact with, alumni say as they raise money . 'There will never be a n***** SAE': The vile chant was performed by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday. The society has since been shut down . Simultaneously another former SAE brother set up a GoFundMe page slamming 'the disgusting chant' and lauding Howard as 'hard-working and loyal'. That page has at least $3,000. A Twitter user who shared a link to the fundraising page wrote: 'I went to an OU SAE tailgate one time, (had a great time) an i met that man howard, he grills a mean burger.' All members of the fraternity have until midnight on Monday to leave the premises, University of Oklahoma President David Boren announced at a press conference amid a chorus of furious reaction to the footage. Hitting back: The fraternity's now-defunct building has been spraying with graffiti reading 'TEAR IT DOWN' Frat house: The SAE base at the University of Oklahoma is pictured above. The national organization has some undergraduate 15,000 members . +Dozens of copies of the order of service from the reburial of Richard III have appeared for sale on eBay, with some retrieving bids of more than £255. Church leaders have condemned online profiteers for attempting to sell the order of service booklets which were handed out at Leicester Cathedral during the reburial ceremony last Thursday. One Service of Reinterment has already sold on the auction site for a whopping £255, plus £5.72 postage. Scroll down for video . A collection of all three order of services from the Leicester Cathedral's three major Richard III ceremonies - including the revealing of the coffin, the reburial, and the revealing of the tomb, sold on eBay for £255 (above) A listing on eBay today for the Service of Reinterment has already received 19 bids and is up to £155 . Another listing on eBay for the order of service, ending in 23 hours, currently has eight bids and is at £102 . An order of service from the reburial last Thursday sold on eBay yesterday for £200 plus £3 postage (above) Some sellers have bundled together all three order of services from the cathedral's major ceremonies, including the Service of Reveal, the Service of Reinterment and the Service of Compline (pictured together) Some booklets have even been bundled together into 'souvenir packs', which feature the order of services from the ceremony marking the coffins arrival, the reburial and the revealing of the tomb. These, which also come with a copy of a local newspaper, are fetching in the region of £200 plus an additional £2.50 postage. The Dean of Leicester, the Very Rev David Monteith, said it was 'sad' that people were trying to cash in on the extraordinary event. He added that the cathedral is printing a full set of all three main service booklets, including March 22 when the king's coffin first arrived in Leicester, for just £12.50. The Dean added that some of that money goes directly to the cathedral, which is still raising the £2.5million it needs to pay for hosting the historic week of events and overhauling the old building. 'We've noticed that service booklets from the cathedral's services are being sold for extortionate prices on eBay, presumably by those who attended the services,' he said. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is pictured holding the Service of Reinterment booklet at the Richard III reburial ceremony last Thursday. Dozens of the order of service have now appeared on eBay for more than £200 . Several sellers have bundled the reburial order of service in with official memorabilia from March 22, when the coffin arrived in Leicester, and from March 27 when the new tomb for his body was revealed to the public . 'This is very sad - many would have welcomed being there and keeping this as a souvenir. 'We have had extra copies printed and we are selling a set of all three for £12.50 to cover costs from Christian Resources in St Martin's House, next door to the cathedral.' Cathedral bosses have been at great pains to ensure last week's reburial of the last Plantagenet king was a solemn occasion of 'dignity and honour'. There are currently numerous listings of the order of service from the reburial, which is titled: 'Service of Reinterment of the remains of King Richard III by the grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland', for sale on eBay. Others have already sold for more than £250, with one selling today – which featured all three order of service books - for a whopping £255 plus £5.72 postage. Another sold for £199 plus £2.80 postage on Saturday, with another fetching £200 plus £2.99 postage yesterday. Actors Robert Lindsay and Benedict Cumberbatch could be seen holding the order of service as they chatted ahead of the reburial at Leicester Cathedral last Thursday. Cumberbatch later read a poem to the ceremony . The Dean of Leicester, the Very Reverend David Monteith, said it was 'sad' that people were trying to cash in on the extraordinary event and said the church was selling all three order of service booklets for just £12.50 . The Archbishop of Canterbury during the internment of the remains of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral . Richard III's coffin is lowered into place at Leicester Cathedral during last Thursday's reburial ceremony . A third order of service was published for the revelation of the completed tomb of Richard III at the cathedral . The majority of sellers who have listed the items claim to be based in Leicestershire, suggesting they obtained the order of service at the ceremony before trying to make a quick profit online. The church said other sellers had visited the cathedral in recent days to buy the souvenir pack before listing them for sale on eBay. The auction site said it allowed the sale of artefacts, provided the terms and conditions it sets out were followed. A spokesman said: 'We provide guidance to eBay sellers in our help section to make sure that any artefacts they may try to sell comply with the guidelines issued by the authorities, and are always ready and willing to investigate any listings causing concern. 'We work with experts and will remove items from sale based on their advice.' +The wonderful Estadio Do Dragao has two huge gaps between the seats and the roof behind each goal. Porto have learned that it is useless to try and keep prying eyes out. Every summer, as the transfer window opens, the dragon's lair is raided. Giants from all over Europe come ashore at this Atlantic port with their treasure chests of booty, eager to snatch the latest talent off the conveyor belt. Jackson Martinez produced an outrageous back heel flick to set up Cristian Tello's first for Porto . The Colombian's audacious assist set Porto on course for a comfortable 3-0 win over Sporting Lisbon . The result closes the gap between Porto and current leaders Benfica to just four points . Cristian Tello, celebrates the first goal of his hat-trick to fire Porto to a 3-0 victory over rivals Sporting Lisbon . PORTO (4-3-3): Fabiano; Danilo (Indi 84), Maicon, Marcano, Sandro; Casemiro, Goebel (Neves 71), Herrera; Brahimi Quaresma 57), Martinez, Tello . Subs not used: Hernani , Quintero, Helton, Paciencia . Scorer: Tello 31, 58, 82 . Booked: Sandro, Danilo . SPORTING LISBON (4-3-3): Patrici; Oliveira, Silva (Capel 61), Soares, Figueiredo; Carvalho, Mario, Silva; Montero (Slimani 61), Carrillo (Martins 80), Nani . Subs not used: Boeck, Tanaka, Rosell, Lopes . Booked: Silva, Soares, Nani . Last year it was Manchester City, who prised away the prized assets of Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando. Before that, Zenit St Petersburg swiped Hulk. Atletico Madrid made off with James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao. The list goes on. Left to pick up the pieces this season has been Julen Lopetegui Argote, a man who has coached Spain's Under 19s, 20s and 21s. It has not been easy. While a 1-1 draw at Basel put them in the box seat for the last eight of the Champions League, before kick-off here on a rainy, foggy night, the hated Benfica were almost out of sight in Primeira Liga. Seven points clear, anything other than victory over their third-placed Lisbon rivals Sporting would put Porto's domestic season in danger of ending in March. Not that Argote is criticised. A perceived establishment bias towards Benfica is bemoaned, with talk of a season blighted by refereeing injustices. Adrien Silva of Sporting Lisbon aims to bypass the challenge of Porto's Jackson Martinez on Sunday night . Tello, on loan from Barcelona, completed his hat-trick in the second-half to keep Porto close to Benfica . Inevitably, it was a man widely thought to be the next out of the door who unlocked Sporting's defence. There seemed to be little danger in a tight contest when the ball bounced towards Arsenal and Manchester United target Jackson Martinez just inside the opposition half on 31 minutes. The 28-year-old, with his back to goal, calmly chested it down before volleying an audacious backheel over his shoulder and over the retreating green and white wall. Barcelona loanee Cristian Tello was perhaps the only person in the stadium who saw it coming. He raced through a static defence, latched onto the flick and cooly slotted past Rui Patricio to ease the tension amid the crowd of 43,111. Porto's Algerian forward Yacine Brahimi (right) takes on Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho . United may be wary of Colombian strikers approaching 30, but in an instant Martinez displayed a vision rarely seen at Old Trafford this season. After the break the pair of them were at it again, although this time it was more orthodox. Martinez's sidefooted through ball found his teammate in space and Tello, ousted by Neymar at the Nou Camp, finished emphatically into the roof of Patricio's net. On 83 minutes Tello had his hat-trick. This time Mexican Hector Herrera provided the assist as he beat the offside trap once more before another sidefoot past Patricio's outstretched arms. Manchester United loanne Nani is booked for Sporting Lisbon during the 3-0 defeat to Porto on Sunday . Tello is approaching the halfway mark of a two-year loan deal. Many more performances like this and he may well have scouts returning down the well-trodden path to Porto. The home side, however, are not the only ones susceptible to Europe's cash-rich big guns. At Porto's wonderful year-old museum (complete with statues of Bobby Robson, Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas) visitors are informed that it took 12,000 tons of iron and 90,200 cubic metres of concrete to build Estadio Do Dragao. They may have used something similar to put together Sporting's man-mountain William Carvalho. The 22-year-old defensive midfielder is also said to be wanted by United and Arsenal but here he was often outshone by the crafty Yacine Brahimi. The Algerian international, replaced by ex-Chelsea flatterer to deceive Ricardo Quaresma, is rumoured to have interested City and on the evidence of this display Manuel Pellegrini may soon be back here. Porto's Cristian Tello (right) celebrates his goal against Sporting with his teammate Ruben Neves . For the visitors, United outcast Nani will have been relishing the opportunity to give a UK audience watching on ESPN a reminder of his talents. He scored a 35-yard volley last weekend which he celebrated with tears. There was more sadness here. Isolated on the left he did little to show why Louis van Gaal should change his opinion on a night when others jostled for places at the checkout of Europe's supermarket. Porto's noisy fans unfurled a giant banner before the game depicting one of their supporters elbowing a Benfica fan out of the way underneath the European Cup while a pot-bellied Sporting follower looked on uninterested. They clearly take solace in the fact they are the only Portuguese side left in the Champions League but after this routine victory they should not give up hope on domestic glory. BT Sport shows multiple live games from Portugal’s Primeira Liga every week as part of a European football line-up including UEFA Europa League, Germany’s Bundesliga, France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A. +It seems like just yesterday that David and Victoria Beckham announced the arrival of their first child. But today Brooklyn Beckham, rumoured to have been named after the place he was conceived, turned 16 years old. His birthday marks the end of an 18-month period in which he has stepped out from his parents shadow, becoming all the more famous in his own right. Scroll down for video . Brooklyn Beckham, the eldest of David and Victoria's children, turns 16 today. We look back over his transformation from super sweet football mascot to star in his own right . To celebrate Brooklyn's birthday his father David took to his Facebook page, he shared this sweet snap of himself with his son under the caption, 'Happy Birthday to my big boy xx' Bonpoint Tamara pleated dress . Now sold out! Visit site . It's official: two of New York Fashion Week's most watched women, Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham have been upstaged by their adorable daughters. But whilst little North West has been hitting the headlines for her tantrums, Harper Beckham managed to hold it together for her mother's Fall 2015 catwalk show. Well, when surrounded by Anna Wintour, as well as David, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz Beckham, who wouldn't be stunned into silence?! As ever, she looked ridiculously cute, this time wearing a black pleated dress by Bonpoint, which features a cutesy contrast Peter Pan collar. We love this formal frock, and Harper has clearly inherited her mum's love of the little black dress! Unfortunately, this exact style flew off the shelves as soon as Harper was spotted in it, but luckily there are plenty of options to help you dress up your little darlings. This Fendi number in particular is just too cool for school. Boden cosy velour dress (now $32.50) Visit site . Fendi kids logo dress at Zappos Couture . Visit site . Petit Lem sequin star dress at SAKS (now $24.99) Visit site . Imoga little girl dress at SAKS (now $40) Visit site . Indeed, from attending fashion shows, to modelling for magazines and even a rumoured romance with a Hollywood actress, Brooklyn has put his name firmly on the map. He was even gifted a pair of shoes by Kanye West on his big day, he posted a picture of a fresh pair of Yeezy Boosts on his Instagram account this morning saying: 'Thanks Kanye for the yeezys.' Of course, it can't hurt that David and Victoria are undoubtedly one of the most famous and best-loved couples in the world. And their much adored family unit, including Brooklyn's siblings, Romeo, 12, Cruz, 10 and Harper, three, has gone a long way to cementing their overall popularity. They have been taking Brooklyn out from a young age. As a little boy he was regularly spotted at his father's football matches or out and about with his mother. But it's only been in the last year or so that he's truly stepped out of his shell, even attending events on his own. On Instagram, the teen is incredibly popular, having only opened his account in November he already has 359,000 followers. Brooklyn has boosted his popularity by joining Instagram and posting pictures of his family . Brooklyn often posts photographs of himself posing for selfies to his Instagram account, much to the delight of his young fans . In August Brooklyn attended the If I Stay premiere in LA. At the time he was rumoured to be dating actress Chloe Moretz who stars in the film . He regularly posts selfies which amass thousands of likes and pictures of himself enjoying the jetset lifestyle including luxury holidays around the world. When in November he posted an image of himself with his designer mother at the wedding of Elton John and David Furnish it was picked up by websites around the world. But Brooklyn's transformation into the young man he is today first started as long ago as November 2013, when Victoria took him as her date to the Harper's Bazaar Women of the year awards. Since then he has become a regular on the red carpet. In February and September 2014 he hit the FROW at his mother's NYFW shows. Attending again in February this year along with his little brother's and sister. Brooklyn is a regular at his Mum's fashion shows, pictured her at her February show with his siblings Harper, being carried by Victoria, Cruz (front) and Romeo (left) Brooklyn always dote on his younger siblings, he was photographed carrying a sleepy Harper through the streets of New York following his Mum's fashion show in February . In October he took part in his first ever solo photoshoot for New York Times Style Magazine, looking very much the spitting image of his famous father. Indeed much has been made of the likeness between Brooklyn and his father, especially after he bleached his hair blonde - as his Dad once had - in January. At the time he posted a picture of himself on Instagram, hilariously captioning it: 'Blonds have more fun.' His rumoured relationship with Chloe Moretz, 17- neither part have confirmed or denied that they were ever a couple - also helped to boost his profile. The pair were regularly spotted out and about together in 2014. Chloe has described Brooklyn as: 'A very good guy,' adding, 'I like hanging out with him. And in December he was photographed leaving red carpet event, ‘A Night With Nick,’ along with singer Talia Storm and blogger Tessie Hartmann. Brooklyn was supposed to join Arsenals training academy but unfortunately he failed to make the cut, it was announced that he had not managed to get a sponsorship in February . One of a handful of appearances where neither his mother or father played chaperone. He also attended the premiere of If I Stay (in which Chloe stars) without them in Hollywood in August. But despite this move into the limelight Brooklyn, it seems, remains grounded. In fact, it has been widely reported that he has a job in a local coffee shop which apparently pays him just £2.68 an hour. He is also a hands-on big brother to his younger siblings Cruz, nine, and Romeo, 12, and sister Harper, three, often photographed carrying and cuddling her. And he still enjoys the same hobbies that most young teenagers enjoy such as skateboarding and hanging out with his friends. Unlike most teenagers though, Brooklyn does have a superstar sporting legend as a father, and he is tipped to follow in his dad David’s footballing footsteps. However, a spanner was recently thrown in the works for the young star after he was dropped from Arsenals training academy after failing to earn himself a scholarship. From football mascot to selfie taking star we look back over Brooklyn Beckham's transformation... David's little mascot Brooklyn was welcomed onto the pitch at just 18 months old. He was spotted walking around with his father as he celebrated a Manchester win against Tottenham in the year 2000 . Brooklyn also started watching football at an early age, here he is pictured at a Bolton VS Manchester United match at Old Trafford with David, at age 2 . Brooklyn joined his father on the pitch again following a match at Old Trafford in 2001. David carried his son after winning the premiership with his team . Brooklyn, clutching a sweet picture of a plane, sat with his mother as David played with England in the Euro 2004 championships at the Coimbra Stadium in Portugal . In the same year Brooklyn would walk the red carpet, aged just 5, at the Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed premiere in Islington, North London . As a celebrity child Brooklyn got to live the jet set lifestyle, travelling with Victoria in 2006 to Nuremburg to watch David play in the Fifa world cup . Brooklyn had famous friends from a young age, here he is pictured in Los Angeles at the World Series of Football Exhibition game in 2007 pulling faces at a young Suri Cruise, the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes . Brooklyn wasn't just a fan of football, he also enjoyed basketball and was pictured watching a game between the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers in California with his father in 2008 . By 2010 Brooklyn was becoming used to the cameras, posing with David in a smart suit at The Sun Military Awards which were held at the Imperial War Museum, London . Brooklyn and his two brothers Cruz (centre) and Romeo (right) posed with their parents on the red carpet with Victoria the only member of the family choosing not to wear dark colours . By 2012 Brooklyn had a smart new hair cut just like his father, the family attended an event together in LA where they lived at the time . In 2013 Brooklyn made a splash on the red carpet as his mum took him as her date to the Glamour Awards in Berkeley Square, London . At the end of the year Brooklyn made another appearance at the premiere of his father's film 'The Class of 92,' much has been made of the likeness between Brooklyn and his father. Romeo and Cruz also attended . In February 2014 Brooklyn joined his family on front row at his Mum's fashion show, David snapped a picture of his young children at the event which was held in New York . In November 2014 Brooklyn shared this photograph of himself and Victoria at Elton John and David Furnish's wedding, it quickly gained thousands of likes in just a few hours . Brooklyn was hopeful that he would follow in his father's footsteps as a footballer - pictured here with some of his Arsenal U16 team-mates. However, he failed to get a sponsorship for the team . In another snap shared by Brooklyn on Instagram he showed off his younger brothers Romeo (left) and Cruz (right) at his mother's fashion show in New York in February . Brooklyn sat front row again this season at Victoria's show, he is pictured sitting next to one of his younger brothers, Harper sits on her father's lap next to Vogue editor Anna Wintour . +Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has urged his former club to sign PSG talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the summer. The well travelled Sweden international has been linked with a move to Old Trafford in the past and could be tempted to leave Ligue 1 should the big spending Parisians not qualify for the Champions League next season. Schmeichel, who won five Premier League titles and the Championships League during his time at United, believes Ibrahimovic has the 'personality' required to succeed at the club in the same mould as former greats Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has the necessary 'personality' to play for Manchester United, says Peter Schmeichel . United legends Eric Cantona (left) and David Beckham were cut from the same cloth . The Sweden striker scored both goals in his country's 2-0 Euro 2016 defeat of Moldova on Friday . The former Denmark No 1 told L'Equipe: 'What he does with PSG is incredible. He gives so much credibility and visibility to PSG .. This is someone who takes his responsibilities. 'Last summer there were rumours that he would come to Manchester United. I then said that Zlatan was built for the club, he was born to play there. 'It's why Cantona was so strong when he was there, not at Leeds or in all other clubs in France? Why? Because it is Manchester United. In Manchester, there was the freedom given to the players, but also responsibilities. The PSG striker could leave France should the reigning champions fail to qualify for the Champions League . Former keeper Schmeichel won five Premier League titles and the Champions League at Old Trafford . 'We do not care who you are or what you love, we look at what you're doing on the pitch and the influence you have in the club. If you do not respect that, you're leaving. 'But you can have any personality. Beckham, Cantona, they could go out and also be at their best. There are hundreds of players who are trying to be a Beckham or Cantona, but do not have the personality, and they fail.' Louis van Gaal is expected to sign a new forward in the summer as doubts continue to surround the lon-term future of loan signing Radamel Falcao who has managed to score only four goals since his arrival. +Reading have unveiled their new loan signing, Chelsea's Dutch Under 21 international Nathan Ake, who will be at the Championship side until April 22. The 20-year-old, who joined the Blues in the summer of 2011, has made 11 Chelsea first-team appearances, including games in the Champions League and was an unused substitute in the 2015 Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham. Ake, who can play as a defensive midfielder, left-back or centre-half and has a long-term contract at Stamford Bridge, will gain some more valuable experience with the Royals, who are now managed by former Chelsea assistant boss Steve Clarke. Chelsea youngster Nathan Ake holds up his Reading shirt having joined the Royals on a month loan deal . Ake takes part in Reading training as he gets used to surroundings at the Championship club . 'I am delighted to add a player of Nathan's quality to our first team squad at this important time of the season,' Clarke said on Reading's official website. 'He has been a fixture in Chelsea's first team squad this season and we are grateful that Chelsea have allowed him to join us here at Reading to get some competitive minutes on the pitch. 'He is a very talented player who I have been aware of for some time and I look forward to working with Nathan in the coming weeks.' Reading will face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley during Ake's loan spell, but the player is ineligible having played against Watford in round three. The 20-year-old is unveiled in his Reading shirt having joined the Championship club on loan for just a month . Ake will hope to help the Royals secure safety in the Championship as he aims for first-team football . Chelsea have loaned Dutch Under 21 international Nathan Ake to Reading until April 22 . +Brazil defender Marquinhos has extended his contract with Paris Saint-Germain by one year until 2019, the French champions said on Thursday. The 20-year-old Marquinhos, who plays at centre back or full back, joined from AS Roma in 2013 on a five-year deal. He had been a target for Manchester United as Louis van Gaal looks to bolster his defence, but this new deal will be a blow to the Dutchman. Marquinhos has extended his contract at PSG, saying he is happy to part of a 'magnificent' project . The Brazilian defender has become a key player for the Parisiens since signing from Roma in 2013 . After putting pen to paper on the extension, Marquinhos said: 'I'm very honoured that I have been given this confidence, it is a new stage of my life. The project here is magnificent and life is beautiful in Paris!' Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of the club, said: 'Marquinhos is the future of this team, and the renewal of his contract is an important gesture that certifies his attachment to PSG. 'We are very happy to have been able to extend by one year our adventure with this very talented man, which confirms our policy in tying down the best young people. 'The biggest clubs in Europe following, this renewal consolidates and strengthens the new long term project of PSG ' Marquinhos (right) celebrates scoring for Brazil, and has been described as the 'future of the team' at PSG . The new deal will keep the 20-year-old in Paris until 2019, and should deter the likes of Manchester United . +Swansea City right back Dwight Tiendalli has joined Middlesbrough on loan until the end of the season. The 29-year-old has only managed one Premier League start this season - a 5-0 defeat by Chelsea at the Liberty Stadium in January - and has fallen out of contention at the south Wales club. Garry Monk signed Kyle Naughton from Tottenham in the January transfer window while Angel Rangel signed a contract extension earlier this month. Dwight Tiendalli has only started one Premier League game this season - a 5-0 defeat by Chelsea . Tiendalli challenges Oscar during the heavy defeat by Chelsea at the Liberty Stadium in January . Eden Hazard takes a tumble under the challenge of Tiendalli, who has now joined Middlesbrough on loan . Tiendalli's last appearance for the Swans came in their disappointing 3-1 FA Cup fourth round exit at the hands of Blackburn. Michael Laudrup brought Tiendalli to the Liberty Stadium as a free agent two and a half years ago following a two-year stint at Eredivisie club Twente. The full back, who has been capped twice for Holland, will now try to help Aitor Karanka's side win promotion to the Premier League. Middlesbrough are currently third in Championship and just one point behind league leaders Bournemouth. +Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom has joined Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season. The 19-year-old striker has made seven appearances for the Gunners this season but will now look to gain more first-team experience under Dougie Freedman at the City Ground. Akpom tweeted: 'Delighted to have joined @Official_NFFC on loan. Can't wait to get started and meet up with the squad after the internationals'. Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom has joined Nottingham Forest on loan for the rest of the season . Akpom scored in for England Under 20s on Wednesday night in the win on penalties over Mexico . The Gunners centre forward scored in for England Under 20s on Wednesday night in the win on penalties over Mexico, and also successfully converted his spot-kick in the shootout. He is expected to appear again for his country in Sunday's friendly with the USA before heading to join up with his new club before they play Wolverhampton Wanderers on Good Friday. The 19-year-old striker has made seven appearances for the Gunners this season but is moving on for now . Akpom spent time at Brentford and Coventry City last season in League One, but this is his first Championship loan. Forest currently sit on the edge of play-off contention in the Championship, 10 points behind sixth-placed Ipswich Town with seven games left to play. Dougie Freedman now has an extra striker to boost his squad ahead of the Championship run-in . +Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has urged Harry Kane NOT to play for England Under 21's this summer. Kane is set for his first senior call-up later this month for the games against Lithuania and Italy. But the plan then is for Kane to drop down back into the Under 21's for this summer's European Championships in the Czech Republic. Harry Kane is likely to be included in England Under 21's European Championship squad in the summer . Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has already warned the FA he wants talks with the FA before giving them his blessing to call-up Kane this summer. And Vertonghen, who played in the tournament in 2007, says the 21-year-old, who has played 41 games already this season, should skip the tournament in preparation for next season. The Belgian said: 'It’s difficult for me to judge. Of course England want him. He is a brilliant striker and he can be the main man, but I think he needs his rest for next season. Jan Vertonghen (right) believes the striker should stay at home and instead prepare for next season . 'It’s his call and I know a player always wants to play but sometimes you have to be careful. It’s a difficult one because last season I played with injuries, but sometimes you just can’t. You have to think about what’s going to come. It’s his decision and it’s a totally different situation from when I played in 2007. Did that benefit my development as a player? It’s hard to tell. 'I enjoyed playing for my country because I never played international football at youth level. 'So that was my first tournament as a Belgium player and I enjoyed it. It was in Holland and I played in Holland for Ajax at the time, so for me it was brilliant.' Kane rounds Rob Green in the Queens Park Rangers goal to double Tottenham's lead on Saturday . The striker has been in terrific form and continued his goalscoring run with two goals at Loftus Road . +Wales manager Chris Coleman has noticed no difference in Gareth Bale's mood ahead of his side's huge Euro 2016 qualifier in Israel and believes the Real Madrid superstar is ready to perform. Bale has had to endure a rough ride in Spain of late, with his worth to Real being questioned by both fans and the powerful Madrid media. The world's most expensive player has been booed by his own supporters and had his car attacked outside the club's training ground following last weekend's Clasico defeat to bitter rivals Barcelona. Wales captain Ashley Williams (left) shares a joke with Gareth Bale (right) in training on Friday . But Coleman insists Bale remains relaxed around the Wales camp and the thought of him having a conversation with the forward about his club situation has not even entered his head. 'I cannot see any difference in Baley at all,' Coleman said on the eve of Group B's top two sides meeting in Haifa on Saturday night. 'If I thought it was bothering him, and we're all human beings so I know it can bother you from time to time and you can get a bit down, and it was a problem then I would have sat down with him and had that conversation. Wales boss Chris Coleman is adamant his side can cope with a hostile atmosphere in Haifa on Saturday . Real Madrid star Gareth Bale , who has received harsh criticism in recent weeks, appears relaxed in training . 'But we have not mentioned Real Madrid, we have only talked about Wales, Israel and the job in hand. 'He is happy, relaxed and more importantly he is fit and ready to play.' Bale has been singled out for some rough treatment in the group so far, most noticeably from Cyprus last October, and the 25-year-old could be a marked man again on a night where a hostile atmosphere is expected as group leaders Israel defend their unblemished record against second-placed Wales. Israel coach Eli Guttman insists his side do not have players 'strong enough to kick Bale out of the game' but Coleman remains philosophical about the treatment his star man could receive at the Sammy Ofer Stadium. Aaron Ramsey (left) and Bale (right) watch on as Wales defender James Collins holds possession . 'We cannot come back without anything,' Coleman said. 'That is not the stage we are at. We know what we are up against and they will know that about us. 'Their game against Belgium on Tuesday will not exist for them, they are only thinking about us and that is not our business. Bale holds off his team-mates in training as Wales hope to maintain their unbeaten start in Group B . 'It is up to Israel to do what they want to do,' Coleman said. 'Israel have to do what they have to do to get a result, as do we. But the attention is nothing new for Gareth. 'He has played most of his football in the Premier League and that is the most physically demanding league in the world. 'I've also watched him out in Spain come through the Madrid derbies and the Clasico and we know all the focus will be on him. 'But we have a good squad and our strength is our togetherness. 'We are not here because of one player. Gareth is a huge help, but he is part of something that has been growing.' The Real Madrid star stretches during a training session in Israel on Friday afternoon . Wales remain unbeaten after four games but are one point behind Israel, who play their match in hand at home to group favourites Belgium on Tuesday. Coleman has described the Haifa showdown as Wales' biggest match since the Euro 2004 play-off defeat to Russia, and admits that failing to make the finals in France in two years' time would hurt everyone connected with Welsh football. 'I was part of a couple of great Welsh sides that never did it, qualified for a major tournament,' Coleman said. 'I enjoyed the excitement but the disappointment lasts forever. We have a good current group and we are going in the right direction but we have been here before. 'One foot in the door does not get you there. I do not want to play things down, we have earned this pressure and this is what it is all about. 'But we have to continue to work hard to get to where we want to go and I'm not being arrogant when I say it's about us and not anyone else.' +Eleven suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested after they were seen clinging to a moving lorry. The group, believed to be from Syria, were arrested on the M20 motorway near Folkestone, Kent, on suspicion of illegal entry into Britain after they were seen riding on top of the vehicle by a fellow driver. Police were called at 7.15am to reports that a group of men had been jumping down from a tanker or lorry at the slip road to junction 11. Eleven suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested after they were seen clinging to a moving lorry on the M20 motorway near Folkestone, Kent . The suspected illegal immigrants were arrested close to the turn-off for the Eurotunnel at Folkestone. Police at the scene liaised with Border Force staff and have now handed those arrested over, . A Home Office spokesman said: 'Home Office Immigration Enforcement was contacted by Kent Police after police attended an incident on the M20 in Kent. 'Eleven men, all claiming to be Syrian, were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences and have been taken into immigration detention while their cases are dealt with.' Calais has also struggled to deal with thousands of illegal immigrants who have gathered in the town (file) Just one week ago, 17 illegal immigrants were caught on the M25 motorway in Surrey. Fourteen people were seen fleeing from the back of a lorry after it stopped at Cobham Services. They were caught by police and taken into custody. Then three others were arrested nearby at Cobham and Stoke d'Abernon station after reports of people on the tracks. All 17 were believed to be from Sudan and Eritrea. +This is the moment a brand new fleet of Ford cars were wrecked after a transporter driver's unfortunate short-cut ended with him becoming wedged under a low bridge. The driver had attempted to take a quicker route to avoid queuing traffic when he collided with a 14.5ft (4.4m) high bridge. Witnesses described hearing a 'crunch' as the top tier of five brand new Ford Focus cars, which had not yet had the chance to clock up a single mile, were virtually flattened in the crash. Crushing: The highest tier of five brand new Ford Focus cars on top of the transporter were virtually flattened after the driver collided with a bridge . The hapless driver had taken a short-cut to avoid queuing traffic when he collided with a 14.5ft (4.4m) highSnowford Hill railway bridge . The damage to the vehicles, as well as to the Snowford Hill railway bridge, is estimated to run into tens of thousands of pounds. No-one was injured in the crash which took place at 8.30am on March 13 when the driver, from Merseyside, drove under the bridge near Long Itchington, Warwickshire. A motorist who witnessed the incident described it as 'like watching it in slow motion.' 'It's a long road and it was pretty obvious the transporter was too high for the bridge but it kept going and suddenly there was a crunch and all these new cars got wrecked,' he said. Witnesses described hearing a 'crunch' when the cars hit the low bridge, causing major damage to the new Ford cars and utterly destroying some . Metal work was ripped off the back of this black Ford in the incident which happened at 8.30am on March 13  near Long Itchington, Warwickshire . A spokeswoman for Ford confirmed the 'serious incident' was currently under investigation, while the damage to the new Ford cars and the bridge is believed to run into the tens of thousands . 'The driver wasn't hurt but he looked as white as a sheet, he was no doubt trying to think of how he was going to explain it to his bosses at Ford. 'It had to be Friday 13th when the accident happened. If you want take a chance on a short-cut that is not the day to try your luck.' An engineer from Warwickshire County Council was sent to inspect the damage and report back tomorrow. A spokeswoman for Ford confirmed the 'serious incident' was currently under investigation and said it was not possible to comment further at this stage. The condition of the cars in the lower tiers has not yet been confirmed. The entire side of a brand new white Ford Focus was yanked off when the driver of the transporter hit the low bridge on Friday 13th March . Evidence of the incident, including white body work belonging to a Ford Focus and parts of a dashboard, were scattered along the roadside by the bridge . Remnants of the crash: A piece of metal belonging to one of the crushed cars remains hanging down from the Snowford Hill railway bridge . +Fujiyama Crest, the legendary racehorse of Frankie Dettori, has died at the grand old age of 23. The stallion became part of racing history when he completed Dettori's 'magnificent seven' at Ascot in 1996 with a victory in the Gordon Carter H. Following that famous win, Fujiyama Crest became a hurdler for a while before returning to the flat. He was set to go through the sales ring in 2000, but Dettori purchased his winning horse and Fujiyama Crest lived out the rest of his life as the jockey's pet. Fujiyama Crest, the legendary racehorse of Italian jockey Frankie Dettori has passed away aged 23 . Dettori told thoroughbreddailynews.com, 'He died peacefully in his paddock. He's been at my home in Stetchworth ever since I bought him when he was up for sale 15 years ago and I'll never forget him.' The Italian added: 'He changed my life. There would have been no magnificent seven without him. He's been a real family pet out in the paddock at home and all my children have sat on him.' Dettori celebrates on Fujiyama Crest in the last race at Ascot in 1996, when he won on all seven mounts . +Mats Hummels' eagerly-anticipated move to Manchester United looks increasingly likely to happen after it emerged he made a promise to Sir Alex Ferguson three years ago. As revealed by Sportsmail at the time, then-United manager Ferguson made a trip to Germany for the 2011-12 Cup final, in the hope of tying up an audacious triple transfer for Hummels, Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa. In the event, he only managed to lure Kagawa to Old Trafford after Dortmund stood firm over their other two prized assets, in the wake of a stunning victory over Bayern Munich. Mats Hummels (right) tussles with Giorgi Chanturia of Georgia in Sunday's Euro 2016 qualification clash . Hummels has been dedicated to Borussia Dortmund but is now ready to quit after a dreadful season . But sources in Germany have revealed a conversation took place between Ferguson and Hummels and that the Dortmund centre-back gave his word that, if he moved abroad, it would be to Old Trafford. With the 26-year old now indicating he is ready to quit the Westfalenstadion at the end of a traumatic Bundesliga campaign for Dortmund, after years of remaining loyal to them, it confirms he is likely to become the cornerstone of a new-look United defence next season. Dortmund will hold out for around £36million for their stylish defender but that will not stop Louis van Gaal pushing through a deal as part of another lavish spending spree this summer. Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign Hummels by making a personal trip to Dortmund back in 2012 . But Ferguson was only able to land Shinji Kagawa, who has since returned to the German giants . +Italian football's new anti-racism campaign will use the friendly against England in Turin on Tuesday as the focus of its efforts to change attitudes in a country that has an uncomfortable history of race relations in the game. The Italian campaign is being headed by Fiona May, the English-born former Olympic long-jumper who chose to represent Italy after marrying an Italian, and she admits she has a tough challenge. May was appointed by the Italian FA's controversial president Carlo Tavecchio, the 71-year-old who was banned from all football activities for six months in November after referring to 'eating bananas' when discussing foreign players. Mario Balotelli was subjected to racial insults while training with the Italian national team in Coverciano . Fiona May (centre, pictured in Turin) has been tasked with improving race relations within Italian football . Since then, former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi caused a storm in February by saying there were 'too many black players, even in the youth teams' in Italy, while racist abuse of players by extremist fans is relatively commonplace compared to the UK - Liverpool's Mario Balotelli was even subjected to racial insults while training for Italy at the Italian FA's (FIGC) training centre in Coverciano before the World Cup last year. May admits she had to think long and hard before taking on the 'daunting' task of heading the Italian FA's anti-racism committee in September last year, but has taken heart from the response to the recent launch of a 20-month campaign. She said: 'I didn't accept it straight away - it was a pretty daunting task, but I do like a challenge and felt it was important to show a bit of courage. 'There was nothing existing, we have to start from scratch and the main thrust is to target youngsters, the next generation.' May's campaign is called 'Racists? Ugly race (...and we don't want them in our stadiums)'. It is holding 20 events in 20 months in 20 different cities across Italy, and the second of these takes place in Turin on Monday ahead of the England game. The first involved more than 2,000 young people in Florence, May's adopted home city. Ex-Italy boss Arrigo Sacchi, pictured in 1996, said there's 'too many black players, even in the youth teams' The Italian media has had a reputation for ignoring racist incidents in its football, but May believes that has changed, shown by the coverage given to the Tavecchio and Sacchi remarks, as well as the actions of Kevin-Prince Boateng who led his AC Milan team-mates off the pitch after being abused in a friendly. Even so, Sacchi's comments in particular were hard for May to take. 'I was shocked and disappointed - he's a big name in Italy and it didn't exactly help our cause,' she added. The events around the Italy vs England match will mainly target registered players aged between 10 and 18, and will include educational programmes in regional schools, a talk show targeted at teenagers plus a social media campaign. Juventus and Torino have both promised one first-team player to take part in the events as well as local politicians in Turin. May, who was raised in Derby and is still a keen Rams fan, admits all those efforts will seem a waste of time if England players are on the receiving end of racist abuse from Italian fans on Tuesday. She said: 'I can't say it's not going to happen, but I really hope not - and we know FIFA and UEFA are now watching these matches very, very closely.' May, 45, who has become a well-known actress after retiring from competition, also hopes Italy will learn from Britain that part of the key to eradicating racist abuse is through legislation - Italian anti-racism laws are nowhere near as tough as they are in the UK. 'The legislation has to change, has to be stronger,' May said. 'But at least we are doing something now and slowly but surely I believe it's changing.' +FA chairman Greg Dyke has conceded that there might be some truth in Les Ferdinand's view that covert racism exists in English football. Ferdinand, director of football at Premier League club QPR, feels that covert racism has contributed to why there are so few managers from ethnic minority backgrounds in the English game. The former England striker suggested that some club owners and chairmen are being racist - even if they don't realise it - by not considering minority candidates, and has backed a Rooney Rule style law to be implemented in England to improve representation. Dyke told Sky Sports News HQ, 'I think there is probably covert racism in parts of our society and therefore it would be surprising if it was not in football.' FA chairman Greg Dyke believes that 'covert racism' exists in English football and must be tackled . QPR director of football Les Ferdinand is supportive of a Rooney Rule style law to improve representation . He said, 'I don't think people are blatantly racist but I still think there are views and I think that we've got to change those.' Meanwhile, Dyke is hopeful that he will not have to force Premier League teams to accept his proposed changes to the homegrown talent rules. Dyke wants to increase the minimum number of players per club that have been trained in England for a period of three seasons before their 21st birthday from eight to 12, as part of a strategy to get more Englishmen playing regularly in the top flight. He explained, 'This is not something we want to enforce. What we would like is to have a discussion with the clubs, with the leagues, 'these are our ideas, these are their ideas,' it's exactly what we did on overseas players outside of Europe and we came up with a solution which will reduce the numbers - that's what we would like to do on this.' Dyke wants to increase the number of homegrown players required at each Premier League club . He hopes that more players like Harry Kane (left) can go on to play regular first-team football for their club . England manager Roy Hodgson (left) discusses tactics with first team coach Gary Neville (right) +Gareth Bale has been taking more than his fair share of flak from Real Madrid fans this season but supporters of the club's basketball team would surely welcome him with open arms. That's if the Wales forward's performance during the NBA halfcourt challenge is anything to go by. Bale followed in the footsteps of his former Tottenham team-mates by taking on the challenge and scored an incredible three shots out of five from halfway, bettering anyone from the north London club. Gareth Bale poses in a Miami Heat basketball kit as he prepares to take on the NBA halfcourt challenge . The Real Madrid forward managed to score three out of five attempts to lead the way . The former Tottenham forward celebrates after scoring a basket during the challenge . Bale leads the list of footballers to take part in the challenge ahead of Demba Ba, Petr Cech, Andre Schurrle, Geoff Cameron and Brad Friedel, who all managed just one. The 25-year-old missed with his first attempt but found his range with the second before narrowly missing his third shot after the ball bounced off the rim. But Bale hit the target with his final two attempts to round off a hugely impressive display before throwing the gauntlet down to team-mate Luka Modric and Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton. Bale's fondness for basketball stemmed from a holiday in Miami. '(Miami Heat) were playing in the Finals and just from then I have been really intrigued by it and enjoy watching it,' Bale said. Bale revealed his NBA dream team including himself, Peter Crouch, Luka Modric, Yaya Toure and Brad Friedel . Bale performed much better than any of the footballers to take on the challenge so far . Bale shoots and scores with his final attempt to make it three out of five . Bale scored twice for Wales on Sunday as they beat Israel 3-0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier . 'Just from there I have supported the Heat and obviously LeBron James being there before was a big reason in that.' Bale also selected his NBA dream team, and named himself among the starters. 'Peter Crouch for a nice bit of height in the team, Luka Modric for the playmaker, Yaya Toure for the lungs of the team for the back and forth and Brad Friedel. Brad's got the safe hands, he's American, knows the game and he can control everything.' +Mike Conley scored 18 points and Jeff Green had 16 as the Memphis Grizzlies ended a three-game losing streak and moved back into the second spot in the Western Conference playoff race with a 97-83 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. The Grizzlies are now a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets, who lost 99-96 at Toronto. Zach Randolph scored 15 points for Memphis, and Marc Gasol had eight points and 11 rebounds. Kosta Koufos grabbed a season-high 12 boards as the Grizzlies outrebounded the Kings 45-41. Mike Conley goes to the basket on his way to 18 points in the Memphis Grizzlies win over Sacramento Kings . Grizzlies guard Jeff Green adds another two points as his side end a three-game losing streak . In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 42 points and tied his career best with 11 rebounds as the Raptors earned their eighth straight home victory over the Rockets. Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 points for Toronto, and Lou Williams had 13. James Harden scored 31 for the Rockets, who had won four in a row. Houston has not won in Canada since March 2007. In other games, Boston beat Charlotte 116-104 to move back into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Portland secured a playoff berth with a 109-86 win over Phoenix, and East-leading Atlanta maintained its rhythm heading into the playoffs with a 101-88 win over Milwaukee. DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 42 points for Toronto in their win over the Houston Rockets . Boston's Avery Bradley had 30 points and eight rebounds and Evan Turner scored 15 points as the Celtics won for the 10th time in the last 16 games. The Celtics are now a few percentage points ahead of Brooklyn in the battle for the East's final playoff spot. Charlotte's playoff hopes have dimmed after dropping four of its last five games. In Portland, Oregon, Damian Lillard scored 19 points for the Blazers, who have won four straight to edge closer to their first Northwest Division title since 2008-09. Damian Lillard scores on his way to 19 points for the Portland Trail Blazers' against Phoenix . LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points and seven rebounds, and Portland led by as many as 31 points. The Blazers rested their starters in the fourth quarter after building a 92-65 lead. Atlanta has already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference but is trying to maintain its playing edge while staying healthy for the final two weeks of the regular season. DeMarre Carroll scored 23 points to help Atlanta improve to 56-18, one win away from tying the team record. Elsewhere, Jordan Clarkson made the tiebreaking basket with 0.7 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Los Angeles Lakers past Philadelphia 113-111 in a matchup of two of the NBA's worst teams. Utah's Gordon Hayward scored 22 points as the Jazz topped Minnesota 104-84. +It was once a common way for boxers to hone their bodies for a big fight, but modern training methods have seen the practice of chopping wood somewhat die out. Floyd Mayweather, however, has gone old school in his preparation to face Manny Pacquiao. The pound-for-pound king has released a video of himself chopping wood on his official Instagram account - emulating past greats such as Muhammad Ali, Rocky Graziano and the fictional Rocky, of course. Floyd Mayweather chops wood as he prepares to take on Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas . Mayweather went back to old school training methods by chopping wood in his latest video . Muhammad Ali chops wood as he prepares in Pennsylvania to fight Joe Frazier in 1974 . Wearing a yellow top and white beanie, Mayweather takes eight impressive hacks at a log on the floor. And even for a supreme athlete such as Mayweather, the task is somewhat of a struggle with the 38-year-old clearly challenged by the task. Mayweather's latest video comes after he was filmed skipping in his gym - to Phil Collins' no less - and pictured hitting a speed bag and heavy bag. With a little over seven weeks until Mayweather meets Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2, the training will no doubt intensify . Mayweather posted this pictured of his new diamond encrusted, gold watch on his Shots account. Pacquiao last week was filmed pounding the streets on numerous occasions and then working out with fans at a public event. Away from the fight, Mayweather gave fans another glimpse of what the riches of boxing can buy, posting a picture on his Shots account of a diamond encrusted watch. It is unknown how much the timepiece cost, but the custom-made jewellery would not have been cheap - although for the man who calls himself Money that would be no problem. VIDEO Mayweather and Pacquiao camps exchange verbal blows . +Manny Pacquiao continues to step up his preparations ahead of the $300million (£200m) mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather in May. Having come face-to-face earlier in the week in Los Angeles, the pair returned to their respective camps and got back to the serious business of training. On Day 12 of his road workout Pacquiao was joined by fans as he stretched and pushed himself to the limits as he looks to step up his fitness levels. Manny Pacquiao continues to step up his preparations ahead of the mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather . Both athletes’ momentum is gaining rapidly and it was announced earlier in the week that the duo had agreed to conduct the mega-fight under the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing program. The Las Vegas showdown will observe the rules established under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing. Both fighters have agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing without reservation and will be tested out of competition prior to the fight and in competition after the fight. Mayweather posted a video of himself skipping on Instagram as he prepares to face Pacquiao . Mayweather was watched by a large crowd as he skipped - while Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight was playing . Mayweather posted a video on Instagram of himself working out on Friday - with Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight playing in the background. Earlier in the day, he posted pictures of himself working on the speed bag, heavy bag and pads. And on Thursday Pacquiao also posted a video on Instagram as he continued his road work with another group running session. Manny Pacquiao was joined by a large entourage as he once again hit the streets . Pacquiao and Mayweather have agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing prior to and after their fight . Mayweather hits the speed bag as his training camp continues in his Las Vegas gym . Mayweather pounds the heavy bag as he prepares to defend his unbeaten 47-0 record against his rival . Mayweather is taken on the pads with just seven weeks until he takes on Pacquiao on May 2 . +Manny Pacquiao has been stepping up his preparations for his $300millon mega fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr on May 2. The 36-year-old took to Instagram on Thursday as he continued to document his training regime for the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao shared a video on the social media site as he was filmed  going for a run and was followed by a large entourage. Manny Pacquiao hit the streets for a road run on Thursday as he continued preparations for May 2 bout . The Filipino was joined by an entourage of runners as he completed day 10 of his training . Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao face-off at their Los Angeles press conference on Wednesday . Mayweather and Pacquiao pose ahead of trading verbal bards at the Nokia Theater in Hollywood . 'Day 10 of my road work out. Its a beautiful day that God had provide us. Thank you Lord.' the Filipino wrote on Instagram. Pacquiao and Mayweather came face-to-face for the first and only time before fight week as they held a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. There was none of the usual trash talk though. ‘It is all about the best fighting the best and Pacquiao is one of the best fighters of this era,' Mayweather said of his opponent. 'He’s a great fighter. To reach where he has in the sport of boxing, to be here now, he has to be doing something right. This is part of the fascination of this fight.' Mayweather makes his way to the stage to occupy the same space as Pacquiao before they take to the ring . Mayweather addresses the massive crowd assembled under the bright lights to see the fighters . Pacquiao takes his turn at the podium to say his piece ahead of the blockbuster bout . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao come face-to-face in Los Angeles on Wednesday . The meeting marks the first, and only time, the pair will square-off ahead of the weigh-in, 24 hours before their mouth-watering May 2 blockbuster bout, so it promises to be explosive. The press conference gets under way at 8.30pm (UK time) and Sportsmail will bring you live coverage so be sure to tune in. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao (right) come face to face on stage in Los Angeles on Wednesday . Mayweather arrives in Los Angeles for the press conference, accompanied by his security team . Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach (right) and Bob Arum (second left) pose as they arrive in Los Angeles . Host commentator . Thanks for joining us guys. It took a while but it was worth it. A quick recap of the highlights for you: . Freddie Roach (Pacquiao's trainer): 'We are in the toughest fight of our lives, we are fighting the best fighter in the world... but we are going to kick his ass.'Manny Pacquiao: 'For the fans of boxing, I believe, this is what you are waiting for since five years ago. Both of us are going to undergo hard training for this fight and we will do our best on May 2 to make you happy.'Floyd Mayweather: 'This is a fight the world can't miss, it is an unbelievable match-up. I'm in the gym working right now, dedicating myself to the sport because I've never wanted to win a fight so much in my life.' So, the boxers won't square up until the weigh-in on May 1 in Las Vegas. Until then stayed tuned as Sporstmail will bring you all the latest news, pictures and videos as we gear up to the biggest fight in boxing history. See you all soon. The fighters stand up and talk to their respective teams and step off stage. But no handshake between the two at the moment. Mayweather: 'First off, I have to thank my father. Unbelievable trainer, unbelievable person. 'It has been a long road but we are here now. Al Haymon - remarkable guy. 'May 2 - the fight of the century. It is all about the best fighting the best and Pacquiao is one of the best fighters of this era. It is all about timing and we couldn't choose a better time. 'Our game plan is to be smart and take one fight at a time - like all 47 fights.' 'This is a fight the world can't miss, it is an unbelievable match-up. I'm in the gym working right now, dedicating myself to the sport because I've never wanted to win a fight so much in my life. 'One thing I do know about any sport, when you lose it is in your mind. If you've lost once it is in your mind. If you've lost once, it is your mind. If you've lost twice, it is in your mind. From day one I've been taught to be a winner.' Pacquiao: 'I'd like to thank God for providing us a wonderful day and giving us strength. 'For the fans of boxing, I believe, this is what you are waiting for since five years ago. Both of us are going to undergo hard training for this fight and we will do our best on May 2 to make you happy. 'I want to let the people know that God can raise someone from nothing to something - and that is me. I came from nothing to something and I owe everything to God. ' I want to thank all the Flippino fans who are watching at home. I want to thank Freddie Roach for being very nice to me and Bob Arum. We have been working since 2001 and we have loyalty and are the longest working pair in boxing. ' Freddie Roach: 'This is the biggest challenge of my life and I've been looking forward to this for a long time. We are in the toughest fight of our lives, we are fighting the best fighter in the world... but we are going to kick his ass.' Bob Arum and Stephen Espinoza joking about who is the biggest draw in boxing. Espinoza: 'Mayweather is the No 1 pay-per-view-draw in boxing' Arum: 'Everybody has there own opinion, Steven' The man who signed the £200m six-deal Show Time fight with Mayweather, says: 'Floyd is fighting an opponent many thought he would never fight.' Stephen Espinoza says Tyson-Lewis, Mayweather-Canelo did not generate anywhere near the excitement that Mayweather-Pacquiao has done so far. He says that Pacquiao has been always been high on Mayweather's list and that the first fight didn't happen in 2009 because of the infamous drug-testing clause. Bob Arum talking about the importance of this fight - which he says the whole world will be watching. He says 'it is a credit to the sport of boxing' that this fight is happening. A lot of back-patting between here as everyone congratulates each other on getting this fight done. And the official time is in: 38 seconds Mayweather and Pacquiao stood face-to-face. Mayweather now walking on to the stage to join Pacquiao... and he's walking out to 'We Will Rock You' It is Pacquiao to come first on to the stage... Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, let's get ready to rumble. After all the talk and hype, finally the two fighters are about to come on stage. Apparently, Mayweather made £2,500 in his first pro-fight when he beat Roberto Apodaca. On May 2 he will earn a little bit more than that. No wonder he is smiling... The reel of highlights continues, with the audience now treated to Pacquiao's dominant performance against Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 - a fight that turned Pacquiao into a superstar. Ok, now we are back to Mayweather and his unanimous points win over Juan Manual Marques back in 2009.  The Money man knocked down his opponent in the second round and dominated the fight from start to end. Ok, now it is the turn to relive one of Pacquiao's greatest moments. His destruction of Miguel Cotto in 2009. As we wait for the fighters, we are treated to re-run of Mayweather's 2001 fight with Diego Corrales and specifically the seventh round, when Floyd knocked down his opponent three times in a fight he would go to win with a TKO in round 10. Ken Hersham, the head of HBO, who will also be showing the fight in the States, says this fight will 'transcend boxing' and that May 2 'will be very special' and worth the wait. Let's hope so... Stephen Espinoza, the head of Show Time, who will be showing the fight in the States, says he knew the fight would happen when Mayweather and Pacquaio meet at the Miami Heat basketball game and cleared the air. As we get nearer to the press conference kicking off, tension in the arena in L.A is growing. The pair's previous fights are being shown to the audience. Stayed tuned as we wait for the boxers to get on the stage. AS we gear up for the press conference - which is about to start in a matter of minutes - the red carpet is packed with media, fans and boxing lovers all wanting a piece of Mayweather and Pacquiao. Away from the two star turns, we have some pretty famous boxing faces in attendence - including ring announcers Michael Buffer (left) and Jimmy Lennon . Mayweather is a veteran at these promotional days and is clearly in his element, laughing and joking as he poses for pictures on the red carpet. Not to be out done by Pacquiao, Mayweather has showed up in an equally dapper grey suit. Although the pound-for-pound king has opted to leave the tie at home. Mayweather and his entourage - including two pretty imposing bodyguards - have arrived in Los Angeles for this first and only press conference ahead of the May 2 fight. Stay tuned as the fights are due to come face to face in the next half an hour (if everything runs on time) And the man of the moment, Mr Floyd Mayweather has arrived in Los Angeles. As we wait for Mayweather to make his arrival, here is Pacquiao on why him winning the $300m mega-fight would be 'good for boxing'. READ the full story here. Do you agree? We've got less than 45 minutes until Pacquiao and Mayweather square off... but there is no sign of the pound-for-pound king yet. Stayed tuned because as soon as he shows up, you'll hear it here first. Pacquiao, Arum and Roach are deep in discussion on the red carpet. I wonder if Arum is asking over Pacquiao and Roach plan to stop the undefeated Mayweather on May 2? Pacquiao, as is his way, looks relaxed and calm. May be because his training seems to be going so well. The 36-year-old has been keeping his fans up to date with his progress. Watch his latest video here. Pacquiao has certainly made the effort for today - shades and all! Pacquiao and Roach have been full of confidence ahead of the May 2 fight - maybe it is because they've got a secret sparring partner from Floyd's camp - and they certainly look relaxed as they pose for pictures. First to arrive is Manny Pacquiao, accompanied by his hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach and promoter Bob Arum. And isn't Manny - in his crisp dark suit and purple tie - looking the part. Evening all and welcome to Sportsmail's live coverage of the first - and only - press conference between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio. We're due to get underway at 8.30 UK time but excitement is already building ahead of what should be an explosive day in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for all the latest updates, pictures and reaction. +Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao come face-to-face in Los Angeles on Wednesday and you can watch their press conference as it happens. The meeting marks the first, and only time, the pair will square-off ahead of the weigh-in, 24 hours before their mouth-watering May 2 blockbuster bout, so it promises to be explosive. The press conference gets underway at 8.30pm (UK time), so make sure you tune-in to our live stream to catch every minute of the action… . +Los Angeles. The carpet was red. Not in memory of all the Oscar winners who walked it down the Hollywood years but for the bad blood soon to be spilt by the two greatest boxers in the world. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao took this starry detour en route to their appointment with destiny in Las Vegas on May 2. The Academy Awards have outgrown the Nokia Theater now but this landmark still plays host to those who dream of immortality. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao face-off at their Los Angeles press conference on Wednesday . Mayweather and Pacquiao pose ahead of trading verbal bards at the Nokia Theater in Hollywood . Mayweather makes his way to the stage to occupy the same space as Pacquiao before they take to the ring . Mayweather addresses the massive crowd assembled under the bright lights to see the fighters . Pacquiao takes his turn at the podium to say his piece ahead of the blockbuster bout . Pac-Man is all smiles as he enters the arena that once hosted the glitzy Academy Awards . Click here for all that was said as Floyd Mayweather and May Pacquiao came face-to-face for their press conference ahead of their mega-fight on May 2 in Las Vegas . Ultimate stardom can bring out the best or worst in fighting men and Pacquiao had said that it would be good for boxing if can defeat Mayweather, who he sees as bloated with arrogance by success and wealth. So the man who calls himself Money presented himself in a quiet suit and a modest demeanour, speaking with admiration of his challenger as the best pound-for-pound man in the ring. Even though he does expect to win the richest fight of all time. And although he dubs himself The Best Ever, he was full of respect for the legends who preceded him in the lighter-to-middling weight divisions. ‘When I saw Thomas Hearns versus Marvin Hagler I thought to myself there would never be a bigger fight, ever. They were great. Yet here we are today. Getting ready to make some history.’ There was no trash-talking. Floyd said of Manny: ‘It is all about the best fighting the best and Pacquiao is one of the best fighters of this era. 'He’s a great fighter. To reach where he has in the sport of boxing, to be here now, he has to be doing something right. This is part of the fascination of this fight. Mayweather and Pacquiao separate after posing on stage for the sea of cameras . Lights. Camera. Action. The scene is set for the preamble to boxing's richest-ever fight on May 2 . Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum (left) speaks on behalf of his star during the blockbuster promotion . Mayweather says he didn't think he'd see a bigger fight than Thomas Hearns versus Marvin Hagler. 'They were great. Yet here we are today. Getting ready to make some history.' ‘I can always figure out an opponent instantly and I will have to do it again.’ He also predicts – in addition to ‘my emerging victorious yet again’ – that this event will live up to it’s gigantic hype. He says: ‘I’m excited. He’s excited. It’s gonna be exciting. This is a fight the world can't miss. It is an unbelievable match-up . ‘Styles make fights. I’m not psychic so I can’t tell you exactly how it play out. But I can’t wait. Manny is a very interesting fighter but I’ve only seen him fight live twice in the last five years – I’m more of a football and basketball fan these days – but I will find the key to Mr Pacquiao. Just as we’ve beaten all the other top guys. 'He wants to win just the same way I want to win. But one thing I do know about any sport, when you lose its in your mind. If you’ve lost once its in your mind, if you lost twice its in your mind.' Nor does he accept the widespread perception that, with him aged 38 and Pacquiao 36 – that the fight has come five years too late. He says: ‘Everything is always in the timing. When we met each other for the first time at that basketball ball game the other night and then talked man to man in his hotel room, the time was right to make this fight. ‘We’ll see if we’re too old. I feel good. I look forward to looking good.’ Mayweather Jnr laughs for the cameras as he arrives for the press conference in Los Angeles . Pacquiao was also in a positive mood as he turned up looking sharp in a suit and tie . The 47-0 American champion is surrounded by sizeable security guards on the red carpet . Slick in shades, Pacquiao comfortably makes his way through a sea of photographers and well-wishers . Of his alleged vulnerability to southpaws, of which the Pac-Man is the prime example, Mayweather says: ‘I’m eight wins in a row against southpaws in my 47 victories to date. For me it’s business as usual.’ Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum questioned that: ‘When Floyd was with me Floyd Snr (his trainer and father) used to say, "No Southpaws. No Southpaws".’ Nevertheless, Mayweather denied there had ever been serious differences between himself and Arum: 'There's never been animosity. It was just that the time had come for me to be my own promoter and to gain that experience.’ While Mayweather talks of ‘just continuing to do what we’ve always done,’ Pacquaio admits he has been preparing mentally for this during the seemingly ever-lasting negotiations. He says: ‘It’s been five years and I’ve been thinking about it all that time. Running it through my mind. Now I can put all that to good use.’ Always ready to put on a show, Mayweather enjoys himself in front of the photo board . Pacquiao poses with trainer Freddie Roach, with whom he's preparing for the fight at their Hollywood base . (From left) A model, promoter Bob Arum, Pacquiao and Roach show their fists for the cameras . Ring announcers Michael Buffer (left) and Jimmy Lennon are ready to see Mayweather and Pacquiao rumble . Pacquiao draws on that to sustain his own belief that he will win: ‘I am 100 per cent confident I will win. In truth I was more worried about boxing Oscar De La Hoya – very good boxer – and Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito (both bigger men and very hard punchers) – than I am about this fight.’ Equally well-dressed and just as courteous, Pacquiao stressed the importance of victory not only to himself but his country, where he is an elected Congressman: ‘If you take a video camera to the Philippines on May 2 you will see that everyone in my country watching the fight – and their amazing reaction when I win.’ Pacquiao added: 'I want to let the people know that God can raise someone from nothing to something - and that is me. I came from nothing to something and I owe everything to God.' Freddie Roach, meanwhile, said: 'This is the biggest challenge of my life and I've been looking forward to this for a long time. We are in the toughest fight of our lives, we are fighting the best fighter in the world. But we are going to kick his ass.' Mayweather has demanded, as is his custom, home advantage in his adopted city of Las Vegas. Mayweather and Pacquiao were joined on stage after the press conference by pop superstar Justin Bieber . But he insists there could be ‘no better stage in the world’ for an event of this magnitude. Ever the showman-cum-salesman, he set the scene perfectly: ‘Lights, camera, action.’ Those lights, cameras – and of course the music – then turned up to dazzling glare and deafening blast as they strode down the aisle of the Theater and onto the stage for the big-sell. This rehearsed razzamataz was beamed around the world via satellite by the two giant cable TV networks in America, who are sharing the $350 million to half-billion dollar bonanza. Arum put the size of the fight into context by saying: ‘We are used to seeing events like the Olympics get this sort of attention but it rarely happens in boxing. Now Mayweather v Pacquiao will be watched by pretty much everyone in the world. These are two great fighters and what they are doing will be great for boxing.' +Manny Pacquiao has enticed a 'secret sparring partner' from Floyd Mayweather Jnr's gym to help him prepare for their $300million (£200m) mega-fight, according to his trainer Freddie Roach. The build-up to the showdown on May 2 has been dominated by tales from sparring sessions after a report that Mayweather dropped one of his dance partners with a body shot last weekend. And Roach previously claimed that Mayweather's manager Al Haymon was paying fighters not to spar with his Filipino charge. Freddie Roach has claimed he has lured a sparring partner from Floyd Mayweather's gym . Manny Pacquiao works the heavy bag during a training session at the Wild Card Boxing Club . He now believes he has played his trump card by luring an unnamed boxer from his Las Vegas gym. 'I have a secret sparring partner,' Roach told GMA News. 'He doesn't want to get beat up or something like that because he's leaving Mayweather's camp. 'I'm happy with Manny. Me and Manny are on the same page. We're really happy with each other right now.' Pacquiao and Mayweather will come face-to-face on Wednesday night in their only press conference before fight week. Mayweather reportedly dropped a sparring partner during a session last weekend . +Adam Ashe admits Scotland are desperate to avoid a Six Nations whitewash — even if victory over Ireland today means handing the Championship crown to old rivals England. Defeat at Murrayfield today would ensure a fourth wooden spoon and third whitewash in 12 years for the home side, who have been relegated to a mere sideshow in what is set to be thrilling finish to this year’s tournament. Adam Ashe is determined to spoil the Irish party at Murrayfield on Saturday . The day kicks off with Italy playing Wales at the Stadio Olimpico, before Scotland host Ireland and then England round things off against France at Twickenham. Wales, Ireland and England are all locked on six points each, with the destination of the title set to be decided on points difference. As things stand, England are in the driving seat with a points difference of 37 from their first four games, with Ireland on 33 and Wales off the pace with 12. The Irish will be determined to run in the tries against Scotland, so as to apply pressure to Stuart Lancaster’s men when the take on the temperamental French. Ashe, for his part, is determined to spoil the party. ‘Ireland are focusing on a big win and looking forward to taking the title but we don’t want to let that happen, regardless who goes on to win the Championship,’ said the Glasgow Warriors forward. Ashe doesn't think his selection was a gamble for such an important match . ‘I would say there is more pressure on us going into this match because we have been losing games while playing well. ‘Yes, Ireland have got a lot of pressure on them to win the Championship — but that could be taken out of their hands by us.’ Ashe, who has been brought into the Scotland side at the expense of Rob Harley, denied it was a gamble throwing him in from the start of a such an important match. The 21-year-old, who picked up a neck injury playing against New Zealand back in November, said he was now at peak fitness despite playing a total of just 94 minutes of professional rugby in 2015. ‘I played in the Munster game a few weeks ago and that was my first game back after three months out,’ said Ashe. ‘I had a bit of a reaction with my neck a few days after but it settled down quickly enough. That was always going to happen coming back from my injury. ‘Although I have not played much rugby, I am hungry for it. I am not just physically ready but also mentally ready, too. I want to go out there and give everything I’ve got against Ireland. ‘It was tough missing the first three Six Nations games through injury but I am glad to be back involved and able to do my part.’ +In the Stockton-on-Tees hall of fame, Richard Kilty is sandwiched between John Walker, the inventor of the matchstick, and George Stephenson, who envisaged the first passenger steam train. There can be no doubt which hometown boy is delivering the most high-octane thrills these days, but even the most fanciful residents in the North East market town could not have predicted the success Kilty now enjoys back in 2013. After missing out on the London Olympics with a torn hamstring he had no coach, no Lottery funding, had quit athletics and was about to join the Army. Kilty (second left) was close to quitting athletics after missing out on the London Olympics in 2012 . He had a torn hamstring, no coach, no Lottery funding and was planning to join the army . The Teeside Tornado took 60m gold for Great Britain at the European Indoor Championships in Prague . Kilty was not a stranger to hard times. As a 13-year-old, for seven months he shared one room in a homeless hostel with his parents and four siblings after the family ran into financial difficulties. Citing his ‘mental strength’, he decided to give athletics one last roll of the dice. It paid off with a 60m gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot last year, where he surprised everyone - including the bookmakers who had him at 33-1 - by beating Jamaican Nesta Carter in the final. Boosted by his extra income, Kilty has rejoined the Linford Christie training group of which he was a part in the run-up to London 2012. Asked after his golden 6.51sec season’s-best run on Sunday what Christie had brought to the party, Kilty did a double gun salute. After his victory Kilty gave the event mascot, a mole called Krtek, a relieved hug . Stockton-on-Tees high-achievers (from left): John Walker, the inventor of the matchstick, and George Stephenson, the man who envisaged the first passenger steam train . Kilty (third right) clocked 6.51 seconds in a commanding win and is now targeting 100m outdoor glory . ‘I’m stronger. I’ve got a bit more bicep there,’ he said, ‘We didn’t necessarily train for the indoors but if you saw the semi-final I dropped my arms and could have run about 6.45sec.’ He doubts whether even the Americans and Jamaicans, including Usain Bolt, could beat him over the distance. ‘Kim Collins beat me a couple of times but a lot of people beat me early season. They don’t count. In a championship I think it would be very difficult.’ He has now set his sights on breaking that hallowed 100m 10-second barrier outdoors. ‘Some people think I’m a spring runner but you’ve only seen me on the scene for 12 months now. ‘If you watched the race today and saw the way I ran away from the field you can see what is going to happen outdoors.’ +Richard Kilty, the self-proclaimed ‘Teesside Tornado,’ is like a prizefighter trying to sell tickets to his next bout with a whirl of punchy declarations and threats to his rivals. ‘A few people have called me a one-hit wonder and counted me out,’ he said after backing up the World Indoor 60m title he won last year with the European equivalent in Prague. ‘I don’t think they should do that again. I’m a fearless warrior when I’m on the track, I come alive on the battlefield.’ He talks a good game but over the last 12 months has backed it up with performances. Victory in Poland last year over a host of American and Caribbean sprinters was a surprise, but he arrived in Prague as favourite and proved himself with a 6.51sec, 33-stride, dash in the final. Richard Kilty took gold in the 60 metres for Great Britain at the European Indoor Championships in Prague . Christian Blum (left) and Julian Reus of Germany took silver and gold respectively behind the Brit speedster . Kilty (third right) clocked 6.51 seconds in a commanding victory in Prague . Kilty (second left) described himself as 'a fearless warrior' after his gold medal-winning performance . After his victory Kilty gave the event mascot, a mole called Krtek, a relieved hug . ‘When I am in good physical shape I don’t think anyone can mentally break me,’ he said, ‘It’s my absolute dream and has been since I was a kid to stand on these start lines and compete. It’s just second nature for me so why should I be unnerved by it.’ Kilty got a good start and maintained his speed to the line to beat German duo Christian Blum and Julian Reus comfortably into the minor medals. It had been teed up as a battle of the Brits but Chijindu Ujah, who qualified second quickest for the final behind Kilty, was disqualified for a false start. The 20-year-old became the fifth Briton to break the 10sec barrier over 100m last year with a time of 9.96sec surpassing anything Usain Bolt did at the same age. But he sat on the outfield head in hands as his compatriot raced to glory and was close to tears afterwards. ‘I felt they were holding us in the blocks for too long,’ he said, ‘I’ve never false started in my life so for it to happen here I’m gutted. I thought I could’ve won.’ Chijindu Ujah denied fans the Battle of the Brits tipped before the race when he was disqualified . Ujah, 20, was took quick out of the blocks and forced to watch his compatriot Kilty race to victory . An official makes Ujah's ejection from the race official with a red card at the Prague event on Sunday . But Kilty, who is only the third man after Dwain Chambers and Jason Gardner to hold both the World and European titles at the same time, was in no doubt he would have come out on top. ‘I was looking forward to winning the race outright with no questions,’ he said, ‘I’m certain, 110 per cent, I was going to take the victory no matter what the circumstance.’ The British team’s chances of beating their best ever medal haul evaporated with Ujah’s qualification. The final tally of two gold, four silver and three bronze medals fell one short of the 10 won on home soil in Birmingham in 2007. For Dina Asher-Smith it was the Crusades on Monday, the Renaissance on Tuesday and officially becoming the world’s fastest teenager in history over 60m on Sunday. ‘It’s back to lectures in two days,’ said the 19-year-old, who studies history at King’s College London. On International Women’s Day it was fitting she became the first British woman in 30 years, since Heather Oakes won bronze in Athens in 1985, to win a 60m medal. Her time of 7.08sec earned her the silver medal and equalled Jeanette Kwakye’s British record. 60m silver medalist Dina Asher-Smith has been balancing competing alongside university history studies . Asher-Smith became the first British woman since Heather Oakes in 1985 to win a 60m medal . Asher-Smith' second place finish was fast enough to make her the fastest ever teenager over the distance . ‘People were saying “You could break it or equal it” but there’s a difference between saying it and doing it,’ she said. ‘I’m really happy to get a PB in the final — that never happens to me.’ Asher-Smith is at the forefront of a group of talented British female sprinters including Jodie Williams, Bianca Williams and Ashleigh Nelson. But she was not letting her studies suffer, completing an essay on The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis before turning her attention to the track. A celebratory pizza with room-mate Morgan Lake, who broke the British junior pentathlon record on Friday, was on the cards. ‘She’s been holding out for the whole champs,’ said Asher-Smith, ‘she hasn’t got a Domino’s to tease me yet.’ The women’s 4x400m team executed a remarkable comeback to win silver. They were in sixth place after Kelly Massey’s first leg but Seren Bundy-Davies demonstrated her powers of recovery with a rapid second leg to move them into fourth. Laura Maddox consolidated their position and Kirsten McAslan ran a storming anchor leg to cross the line in 3:31.79, just behind France. The GB women's 4x400m relay team celebrate their come-from-behind silver medal performance . Kirsten McAslan (second left) anchored the work of Kelly Massey, Seren Bundy-Davies and Laura Maddox . The men’s 4x400m squandered any chance of a medal after a disastrous handover from Conrad Williams to Jamie Bowie on the first leg. In a thrilling 1500m final, Chris O’Hare strained every sinew to hold off Germany’s Homiyu Tesfaye in the dying metres and clinch bronze in a season’s-best time of 3:38.96. The Scot executed his challenge perfectly, positioning himself on the shoulder of home favourite and eventual winner Jakub Holusa. A nasty cut on his heel did not dampen O’Hare’s delight. ‘In the first five metres I got stood on from behind,’ he said. ‘I thought “That’s not handy” but I’ll get some stitches and I’ll be all right.’ Chris O’Hare battled to hold off Germany’s Homiyu Tesfaye to win 1500m bronze in a season’s-best time . O'Hare (right) ignored a cut on his foot to finish only behind (from left) Tanui Ozbilen and Jakub Holusa . +Richard Kilty dressed up as Superman to power into the 60 metres semi-finals at the European Indoor Championships in Prague - and then set his sights on winning a domestic duel for gold with Great Britain team-mate Chijindu Ujah on Sunday. Kilty, the surprise world indoor champion 12 months ago, and Ujah were the fastest two qualifiers from Saturday's heats at the O2 Arena, both clocking 6.57 seconds and looking easy doing so. The 25-year-old was clad in an all-in-one bodysuit for the race and said: 'It's Superman this look. I told my little niece I would dress up for her as Superman in the heats.' Richard Kilty (centre) clocked 6.57 seconds to reach the 60m semi-finals in Prague . The British sprinter was a surprise winner at the World Indoor Championships last year . Kilty had a quick spar with the event mascot, a mole called Krtek, after the race, but will have Ujah firmly in his sights on Sunday. The 21-year-old also wears a bodysuit to race in which has helped him earn the nickname Spiderman. 'Superman can beat Spiderman, so it'll be a great battle tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it,' said Kilty. Ujah went into the championships as the fastest man in the field, having run 6.53secs this year, but Kilty said he had plenty more to give. 'I wanted to remind people a little bit, but I thought that would be 6.60s with the effort I put into it,' he said. 'I've come here in great shape. There are still a few technical things - when I looked at the replay I wasn't quite standing low enough in the blocks - but there are massive improvements to come as long as I keep enjoying myself and keep the same mentality. 'I think I've got something to prove coming out here.' Chijindu Ujah, nicknamed Spiderman for his own bodysuit, prepares at the European Indoor Championships . Sean Safo-Antwi was the third Briton to reach the semi-final stage of the event . The third Briton in the field, Sean Safo-Antwi, also booked his place in the semi-finals, clocking 6.67. Less than 24 hours after finishing an essay assessing American historian Natalie Zemon Davis' 1983 book 'The Return of Martin Guerre', Dina Asher-Smith showed she was in the form to break the British 60m record by storming into the semi-finals in the women's event. The 19-year-old history student clocked 7.10, a personal best, to win her heat with ease. That she eased down well before the line indicated Jeanette Kwakye's mark of 7.08 would be under serious threat in the semi-finals and final on Sunday. Asher-Smith was the joint second fastest qualifier, with Dutch gold medal favourite Dafne Schippers leading the way with 7.07. Germany's Verena Sailor also clocked 7.10 and the medals look set to be shared among the trio. Dina Asher-Smith (centre) broke the British women's 60m record on her way to the semi-finals . 'It was a heat so I did try and control it so I could get into the semi-finals, but at the same time I'm really shocked by the time,' Asher-Smith said. 'I'm over the moon. I really wasn't expecting to run so quickly. 'Dafne was amazing and I saw Verena as well so I knew the track was quick. Obviously it wasn't going to change my race, but I did have that at the back of my mind that maybe if I put in a bit less effort I could still get a quick time. 'Hopefully I've got lots to improve on and there's more to come in the semis.' Kwakye is ready for the record to go, tweeting: 'Someone in Prague please tell @dinaashersmith that my British 60m record is gift wrapped and ready to give to her! Aftercare advice inc!' p':: . Rachel Johncock also went through in 7.26. Â . +Jose Mourinho's son has labelled Chelsea fans a 'disgrace' and the 'worst [he's] ever seen' after they booed Cesc Fabregas during Sunday's 1-1 draw with Southampton. Jose Mario, 15, a goalkeeper at Fulham, defended the Spanish midfielder and insisted he did not deserve to be singled out for criticism. Fabregas has struggled to hit the heights he set during the first half of the season when he made 13 assists and Jose Mario claimed supporters were on his back on Sunday. Jose Mario Mourinho (left, watching a game last season and with his dad) has criticised Chelsea fans . Jose Mario celebrates winning Chelsea's Capital One Cup victory with some of the players . Jose Mario took to Instagram to criticise Chelsea's fans before deleting his account . Jose Mario stands up behind the Chelsea dugout as he watches the team play Manchester City in 2013 . Cesc Fabregas was booed by some Chelsea fans during Sunday's draw with Southampton at Stamford Bridge . The 27-year-old has not scored or assisted a goal in his last 10 games in all competitions and the last goal he made was against Swansea on January 17. But Jose Mario, who is regularly seen at Stamford Bridge supporting the team and celebrated on the Wembley pitch with players after Chelsea won the Capital One Cup earlier this month, wrote on Instagram: 'Why is everyone hating and blaming Fabregas for Sunday's performance… It was a team effort. 'Fabregas might have not played as well as most expected but at least he kept fighting… Showed a lot of character, I've seen bad Chelsea fans but Sunday was the worse I've ever seen, Fans booing Cesc not singing at all, I completely agree with the chant 'Mourinho's right, you're fans are s****' 'Our fans are a disgrace!!!!' Fabregas (right) has come in for criticism from supporters in recent weeks after a dip in form . Jose Mario tells one Instagram user that the clubs young players are not ready to play in the Premier League . Mourinho with his wife Matilde Faria . Responding to comments left by other Instagram users, Jose Maria also wrote that: . Responding to two users criticism, Jose Maria wrote: 'I'll show the fans some respect, when the fans respect the team.' To another user, he wrote: 'Who has been scoring goals??? Iva... Willian he is just having a bad time, every player has that doesn't mean you can boo them and put their momentum down... Oscar, he hasn't done anything wrong, please elaborate, cuz I don't see anything wrong with him.' To the same user, he also wrote: 'That's why every single staff of Chelsea hate Chelsea fans!! Oscar has created a lot of our chances... Willian and Ivanovic are probably the players who track back the most they don't stop running Ivanovic has saved us this season, scored so many goals and helped beat Liverpool with their s****y youngsters... Willian put the cross in... You need to remember who you are talk to and realise I know a lot more than you.' And in a third exchange with the same user, he added: 'Does it look like any of our youth are good enough to play in the best league in the world... No they are too young too weak... if fans kept supporting Fabregas he could change his mind set, booing him won't make him better at all.' Jose Maria has since deleted his Instagram account. Chelsea refused to comment when approached by Sportsmail on two occasions. Jose Maria is following in his dad's footsteps in criticising Chelsea's fans. At the end of last year, Mourinho was unhappy at the support his side were receiving at Stamford Bridge. Speaking in November, Mourinho said: 'I can clearly say we are the team to get less support in home matches. I think it’s getting worse. When comparing to my pre­vious time, I think it’s getting worse. I don’t question the passion and the love – I’m nobody to question that and I know clearly that’s not true. 'Chelsea fans show us their passion for this club every day, but there is a certain line of living [way of behaving] at the matches at Stamford Bridge.' Jose Mario also claims all Chelsea staff hate Chelsea fans and tells him to listen to his views . Jose Mario claims he will respect the Chelsea fans when they respect the team . Jose Mourinho (left) shouts instructions at his players during Sunday's draw with Southampton . +Juventus are ready to resist big offers from top European clubs for midfielder Paul Pogba this summer. The Turin giants have no interest in selling the France international, who has been a big hit since arriving at Juve in 2012 after leaving Manchester United as a free agent. 'There are clubs that are ready to spend 70 to 80 million euros for Pogba,' Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta told Italian radio station Radio Deejay. Paul Pogba scores Juventus' winning goal against Sassuolo in Turin earlier this month . The 22-year-old midfielder is a target for clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain . Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta is not interested in selling Pogba for big money this summer . 'There are many suitors for Pogba, but we do not want to open negotiations and we want him to stay with us. 'If we want to increase our level, we need players of great quality and Pogba is one of them.' The 22-year-old midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to Paris St Germain at the end of the season while Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid are also reportedly keen to acquire his services. Pogba has scored seven goals and set up two more in 22 league appearances to help Juve remain on course for their fourth successive scudetto. The Frenchman is under contract with the Turin giants until June 2019. Marotta did reveal that Juve are keeping a close eye on Palermo's Argentinian striker Paulo Dybala. The Serie A giants are keen on Palermo's Paulo Dybala, who has scored 12 league goals this season . The 21-year-old, who has been watched by a number of Premier League clubs, is out of contract in 2016 . Dybala, 21, has been impressive this season for the Sicilian outfit, scoring 12 goals while providing seven assists in 27 league games. 'Dybala is a very interesting youngster, who not only has attracted our attention but (that) of other teams too,' Marotta said. 'We are looking to see what is out there in order to form a strong attacking line.' Dybala moved to Palermo in 2012 from home-town club Instituto and helped them gain promotion to Italy's top flight in the 2013-14 campaign. The South American turned down a contract extension earlier this year and becomes a free agent in June 2016. +A quarter of us suffer from 'Sunday night insomnia' – and it's all down to our fears of starting a new working week. Even commuting causes fretful nights, with 10 per cent of Britons too worried about their journey to work on Mondays to enjoy a proper night's rest, a study has found. On average, Britons manage just six and a half hours' sleep a night, which is far less than the recommended eight hours. More than half only get four hours sleep or less. A quarter of Britons suffer from 'Sunday night insomnia' as we are too scared to start a new working week . The study, carried out by the Tune Hotels Group, reveals a nation suffering from a sleep deficit due to the anxieties about the start of a new working week. Jason Ellis, Professor of Sleep Science at Northumbria University, said: 'As a general rule, the average person needs around eight hours sleep a night to feel the full restorative benefits. 'This is particularly true of people who have very physically or mentally challenging jobs. '"Sunday-somnia" is something I see a lot and it's important that people deal with the issues surrounding their sleep deprivation so that it doesn't have a knock on effect on sleep later in the week.' Commuting to work causes 10 per cent to have a restless sleep on Sunday night ahead of work the next day . +Manchester United defender Paddy McNair is in line to make his Northern Ireland debut this month, having been included in a 27-man squad for matches against Scotland and Finland. Manager Michael O'Neill has convened a familiar group for the friendly at Hampden on March 25 and the Euro 2016 qualifier that follows at Windsor Park on March 29, with the 19-year-old set for his first senior appearance. He was an unused substitute against Romania in November but with O'Neill set to rotate his squad in the first fixture, McNair can expect to add another landmark moment to his breakthrough season. VIDEO Scroll down to see Paddy McNair's goal-scoring prowess for Manchester United . Manchester United defender Paddy McNair tussles for the ball with Tottenham striker Harry Kane . McNair's United team-mate Jonny Evans retains his place in the squad despite his stop-start season taking another turn for the worse with his six-game domestic ban for spitting at Papiss Cisse. Doncaster's Luke McCullough is also included alongside veteran defenders Gareth McAuley, Aaron Hughes and Chris Baird, meaning Hull's Alex Bruce again misses out. Brentford winger Stuart Dallas is another who may benefit from a run-out in Glasgow having returned to the squad. Jonny Evans was handed a six-game ban after being found guilty of spitting at Newcastle's Papiss Cisse . Brentford winger Stuart Dallas (centre) is bidding to win his first Northern Ireland cap since 2011 . Dallas won his first and only cap against Wales in 2011's Carling Nations Cup and withdrew from his previous call-up due to injury. Shane Ferguson, on loan at Rangers from Newcastle, is the only natural left-back but is expected to withdraw with a knee injury. That could yet open the door for the absent Daniel Lafferty, who has been starved of first-team football at Burnley but has recently joined Rotherham on loan. Kyle Lafferty, who has three goals in four Euro 2016 qualifiers so far, leads the forward unit and will travel from Turkish outfit Caykur Rizespor. But there was no place for Martin Paterson, on loan with Major League Soccer franchise Orlando City. Northern Ireland squad: R Carroll (Notts County), A Mannus (St Johnstone), M McGovern (Hamilton), A Hughes (Brighton), C Baird (West Brom), G McAuley (West Brom), J Evans (Man Utd), C Cathcart (Watford), S Ferguson (Rangers, loan) C McLaughlin (Fleetwood), L McCullough (Doncaster), P McNair (Man Utd), S Davis (Southampton), C Brunt (West Brom), S Clingan (Kilmarnock), C Evans (Blackburn), O Norwood (Reading), R McLaughlin (Liverpool), B Reeves (MK Dons), P McCourt (Notts County, loan), S Dallas (Brentford), K Lafferty (Rizespor, loan), N McGinn (Aberdeen), J Ward (Derby County), J Magennis (Kilmarnock), B McKay (Wigan Athletic), Will Grigg (MK Dons). Caykur Rizespor's Kyle Lafferty has scored three goals in four Euro 2016 qualifiers for Northern Ireland . +Japan have named former PSG manager Vahid Halilhodzic as their new national team boss. The Japanese Football Association have been without a manager since they parted ways with Mexican coach Javier Aguirre, who was dismissed amid concerns of his alleged involvement in an ongoing match-fixing scandal that would interfere with their 2018 World Cup qualification. Halilhodzic's appointment was formally approved at an executive board meeting on Thursday and reports in Japan suggest he will be handed an annual salary of £1.5million. Japan have named former Algeria and PSG manager Vahid Halilhodzic as their new national team boss . The Bosnian, 62, has been out of work since his exit from Turkish outfit Trabzonspor last November. His first match in charge of Japan - managing the like's former Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa and Southampton's Maya Yoshida will come on March 27 against Tunisia. Halilhodzic (L) faced Jose Mourinho and Chelsea in the Champions League, when he manged PSG in 2004 . Halilhodzic impressed at last year's World Cup in Brazil when he guided African nation Algeria into the knockout stages for the first time, only to lose 2-1 in extra time to eventual winners Germany. The one-time Ivory Coast coach is expected to arrive in Japan on Friday to complete the deal. Halilhodzic will be tasked with leading Shinji Kagawa (pictured) and Japan to the 2018 World Cup in Russia . +Sweden's top flight players earn too much money and youngsters should see the league as a chance to develop rather than become rich, according to Helsingborg manager Henrik Larsson. The former Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United striker, who started and ended his career at Helsingborg, was speaking at a media day to launch the 2015 Allsvenskan season, with his side kicking off at Kalmar on April 4. Appointed by Helsingborg last November, Golden Boot winner Larsson took over at a club that, although known as a powerhouse in Swedish football, found itself struggling financially. Former Celtic and Barcelona striker Henrik Larsson now manages at his former club side Helsingborg . To arrest the alarming economic slide, Larsson decided the fat wage packets paid by the club would be a thing of the past. With Helsingborg's blessing, he introduced a salary cap reported to be a modest 40,000 Swedish crowns ($4,700) a month -- about half the average wage in the Swedish top flight. 'I won't comment on the sums, but I will say that it's not the wages that Helsingborg used to pay in the past,' Larsson told Reuters. The former Sweden international gets emotional during his last playing appearance for Helsingborg in 2009 . 'I don't mind players earning money, but it should mean at the same time that the club is doing good. 'If the club is doing good, the club is getting income, then the club can share it with the players. But when the situation is not going according to plan, you have to look at the financial bit and see what you can change.' Larsson learned his trade with Helsingborg before traveling the well-worn path taken by Swedish players to the Dutch league, joining Feyenoord before moving to Celtic and winning global recognition, and no shortage of riches, for his scoring feats. Larsson won four Scottish league titles with Celtic and two La Liga titles at Barcelona plus the 2006 Champions League. The 43-year-old finds the back of the net for Sweden in the 2006 World Cup group stage clash with England . Larsson was a prolific scorer for club and country, celebrating against England back in 2006 . He recommended that young Allsvenskan players seeking to emulate his success and that of former Malmo striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic should play to develop their game, rather than their bank account. 'I think that the average wage in Sweden is too high. They won't be financially independent from the money they earn here (Helsingborg). 'They earn good money, but I think there has to be the desire to develop, to go on to a bigger league and earn your money there.' Helsingborg's wage cap might have restricted his options a little but Larsson said the chance to work with one of Europe's great finishers - himself - may have helped attract players. 'It's always difficult, but there are always players that have the desire to do something with their football,' the 43-year-old said. Larsson is a club legend at Celtic, seen here lifting the 2004 SPL title with the club he played at from 1997-04 . 'There are players who tend not to look at the money short-term, they have a bigger plan. I haven't found it that hard to attract good players to the club.' Among the players at his disposal this season is his 17-year-old son Jordan, who signed for the club several months before his father took over as manager. 'When we're at the ground he's a football player like everybody else. Even though he is young I expect him to do what everybody else is doing - I don't make a difference just because he's my son,' Larsson smiled. Having performed the near-miracle of keeping minnows Falkenberg in the Swedish top flight last year, Larsson is looking forward to being back in his home town. 'Everything is possible in football,' he said, not ruling out the possibility of a title run with his new charges. 'But for us the most important thing is to steady the ship and make progress with the team.' Larsson (left) celebrates winning the Champions League in 2006 with La Liga giants Barcelona . +The figure of speech 'a chip off the old block' appears to an apt one for Henrik Larsson's son, Jordan following his recent stunning strike. The son of former Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United striker Henrik scored a sublime solo effort for Norwegian side Helsingborg against Syrianska on Wednesday night. Larsson Jnr's strike is certainly one that his dad, and the current manager of Helsingborg, would have been proud of as he opened the scoring in their 2-2 draw during the Swedish Cup encounter. VIDEO Scroll down to see Jordan Larsson's stunning goal for Helsingborg . Henrik Larsson's son, Jordan (centre) scored a stunning goal for Helsingborg on Wednesday night . The 17-year-old curled home a stunning shot into the top corner during their clash against Syrianksa . Running on the shoulder of the last defender, the 17-year-old gathers the ball on the edge of the box before turning and unleashing a beautifully curled effort that flies into the top corner. According to some reports in Sweden after the goal, Helsingborg fans sang: 'He's better than his dad!' And judging by that striker Larsson could well emulate his father's goalscoring talents that illuminated Europe for 25 years. Larsson is probably best remembered for his seven-year spell at Celtic where his honours included four league titles and two Scottish Cups. On Thursday the Scottish giants announced that they have signed a long-term deal with sports manufacturer New Balance - who will become their official kit supplier from the 2015/16 season onwards. Larsson (right) wheels away in jubilation at his brilliant goal to give his side the lead in their Swedish Cup tie . The teenager was mobbed by his team-mates as fans reportedly sang 'He's better than his dad!' Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell commented: 'New Balance is one of the world's leading sportswear manufacturers and will cater to the huge global demand for the Celtic FC kit. Importantly, our cultures match well. 'While New Balance is relatively new to football, its sporting heritage dates back more than 100 years and there is huge excitement around the brand and its ambitions globally. Our supporters are rightly proud of the similarly long and prestigious history of our Club, and both Celtic FC and New Balance look forward to an exciting, long and rewarding future collaboration. 'Once again we are pleased to connect with a brand of such quality and stature and we are sure our supporters will warmly welcome New Balance to the Celtic family.' Henrik Larsson (left) enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at Celtic where his honours included four league titles . Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell announced they signed a long-term deal with New Balance on Thursday . Celtic's partnership with New Balance will start next season with Lawwell (right) excited about the deal . +Flight attendants often complain that their uniforms are itchy or too tight, but these outfits worn by staff on a flight in China may rank among the most comfortable ever. Cabin crew for Tianjin Airlines surprised passengers recently when they wore their pyjamas and dressing gowns instead of their usual uniforms on flights across the country. But the publicity stunt wasn’t intended for their own comfort. Scroll down for video . Tianjin Airlines flight attendants wore their pyjamas and onesies on flights across the country recently . The regional carrier, based in Tianjin in northern China, was promoting the benefits of a good night’s sleep by dressing its employees in their PJs and onesies. Organisers of the event said many physical and psychological problems can be cured by establishing proper sleep patterns. It appears to have worked, with passenger Tain Li, 35, telling local media: ‘I was getting onto the plane and there to show me to my seat was a beautiful girl in her night clothes. ‘I thought I must be dreaming. I think it worked though as I quickly fell asleep and got a few hours in, which is more than normal for me on a plane.’ The airline, based in Tianjin in northern China, was promoting the benefits of a good night's sleep . Flight attendants gave instructions on how to relax and meditate to help passengers fall asleep . Flight attendant Tao Chu, 27, said many passengers find it hard to sleep on planes, and they’ll often miss out on a whole night’s sleep. She added: ‘We gave them instructions in how to relax and meditate so they will be able to sleep, even on a plane on long flights. ‘It is very important to have the right number of hours sleep to you want stay healthy. It not only helps the body to heal and regenerate, but also helps us to work better and concentrate.’ +Arsenal may be facing a 3-1 aggregate deficit ahead of their Champions League clash against Monaco, but Arsene Wenger's squad looked in high spirits as they jetted off to France on Monday afternoon. Alexis Sanchez and Co left Luton airport following a morning training session ahead of Tuesday night's last 16 tie as they look to overturn Monaco's 3-1 win at the Emirates last month. Per Mertesacker, Olivier Giroud and Francis Coquelin were all smiles despite the daunting task facing the Gunners, who will need to score at least three goals at the Stade Louis II. Olivier Giroud (left) and Mathieu Flamini prepare to board Arsenal's flight to France on Monday afternoon . Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez poses for the cameras before boarding the flight from Luton airport . Francis Coquelin (left) and Per Mertesacker seemed in a relaxed mood ahead of the trip to Monaco . Monaco may have one of the best defensive records in Europe, but Wenger believes Arsenal can produce an unlikely result against the club he guided to the French title 27 years ago. 'We have to put it right. Sometimes in life, you make a big mistake, and there is no comeback, no way you get the chance to put it right again. 'In football, you can do it, so let's just give everything to do it,' said Wenger, whose side beat West Ham 3-0 on Saturday to cement their place in the top four of the Barclays Premier League. 'We know that (in the first leg) we were impatient and threw ourselves forward too much, that we lost our patience and composure. 'We wanted too much to make a difference in the first game and forgot our basics, that means to defend well and attack well. We just focussed on attacking well, but because a goal didn't go in we opened ourselves up.' Wojciech Szczesny (centre) may have to settled for a place on the bench on Tuesday night . David Ospina (left) and Nacho Monreal will be hoping Arsenal can pull off a memorable victory in France . Mesut Ozil (right) believes it's 'very important' that Arsenal score an early goal against Monaco . Arsenal players look determined as they put in a final training session at London Colney . Gunners midfielder Mesut Ozil also insisted that his side can progress into the Champions League quarter-finals, but the German believes Arsenal must score early to do so. Speaking to the club's official website, Ozil said: 'It's very important to score early, but we will remain patient. We want to fight and battle from the first minute until the last. 'This is a match that we are determined to win. We have to score three goals and our aim is to do just that while remaining tight in defence. 'If we play as we are capable of doing in Monaco, I still believe that we have a real chance to progress. (L-R) Gabriel Paulista, Tomas Rosicky, Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla, Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil pose for a picture . Arsene Wenger (centre) reads through his team tactics that require they score at least three goals . All of Arsenal's stars will have to shine if they are to reverse the 3-1 deficit to reach the Champions League quarter-finals . +Tiger Woods has dropped out of the world's top 100 golfers for the first time since 1996. The 39-year-old has struggled to return to the form which saw him spend a record 683 weeks as world No 1 and is now ranked 104 in the official rankings. The 14-time major winner carded an 82 at the Phoenix Open in January, a round which he described as his worst as a professional. Tiger Woods has not been outside the world's top 100 since 1996, when he was just 20 years old . Woods has not played competitively since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open in February . Woods (right) receives the green jacket from Nick Faldo after winning the Masters at Augusta in 1997 . Woods has not played since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on February 6 saying he will not return until he can "compete at the highest level". Woods has said he is "hopeful" of a return at the Masters which starts on April 9, but if he does forgo the tournament it will be the second successive occasion he has done so. Woods was last outside the top 100 in September 1996 when he was ranked 225. The then 20-year-old won the Las Vegas Invitational, the first of his 79 PGA Tour victories. Woods (right) walks the fairway with Rickie Fowler before withdrawing from the February event with an injury . Tiger Woods (left) pictured with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn at the Alpine World Ski Championships last month . +Paul Casey is returning to Augusta after securing his place at next week's Masters. The 37-year-old has not played in the season's first major for the last two years but will tee it up on April 9 due to his position in the world's top 50. The Englishman, whose world ranking got as high as three in 2009, came into the new season outside the top 50 but a second-placed finish at the Northern Trust Open followed by a tie for third at the Honda Classic saw him move back in and his place at Augusta has now been assured. England star Paul Casey is returning to Augusta after securing his place at next week's Masters . Casey secured a third-place finish at the Honda Classic as he continued his renaissance previously . The 37-year-old has not played in the season's first major for the last two years but will do so next week . The 37-year-old said he is relieved that he held on to the last qualifying spot for the Masters when the matter was decided by results elsewhere and said: ‘On the outside looking in is hardly where you want to be for the season’s first major.’ Casey's best Masters finish was a tie for sixth on his debut in 2004. Indian Anirban Lahiri, who has two European Tour wins this season, will be making his debut at Augusta alongside Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. South Africa's Branden Grace, too, has earned an invitation for the third consecutive season. There’s still no word on whether Tiger Woods will play, although he did turn up at Augusta for a practice round on Tuesday. +Former world No 1 Tiger Woods will drop outside the top 100 in the rankings on Monday for the first time in more than 18 years. The 39-year-old American is down at No 96 and a world ranking official revealed that he is likely to slip to No 102 when the list is adjusted after this weekend's tournaments. Woods posted an 82 at the Phoenix Open in January, his worst round as a professional, as he slumped outside the leading 50 in the rankings for the first time in more than three years. Tiger Woods (left) pictured with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn at the Alpine World Ski Championships last month . Tiger Woods plays his tee shot on the 17th hole at the Farmers Insurance Open on February 5 . Woods (right) walks the fairway with Rickie Fowler before withdrawing from the event with a back injury . Since then the 14-time major winner has continued a downward slide that resulted in him failing to qualify for this month's WGC-Cadillac Championship, an event he has won seven times. Woods is yet to make a decision on whether he will play at the Masters, which begins on April 9. Woods was ranked 433rd when he turned professional in September 1996. He then jumped to 75th after landing his first victory as a professional at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, the first of 79 PGA Tour titles. Woods is interviewed at the Greater Milwaukee Open in Wisconsin in September 1996 . Woods (right) receives the green jacket from Nick Faldo after winning the Masters at Augusta in 1997 . Woods first moved to world No 1 when he finished 19th at the 1997 US Open. The American spent a record total of 683 weeks at the top of the rankings until he lost the No 1 spot to Australia's Adam Scott in May 2014. Current No 1 Rory McIlroy has been top of the rankings since August. +Hometown boy Jimmy Walker held his nerve to close out victory at the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. The Ryder Cup player added to his Sony Open title this season and three PGA Tour victories in 2014 as a closing 70 maintained his four-shot overnight lead. Jordan Spieth was second on seven under, having perhaps left his run too late before finishing with four birdies in the last five holes. Jimmy Walker poses with the Valero Texas Open trophy after recording a four-shot win . Walker took the trophy at his hometown tournament and now has six wins since the start of 2014 . Walker went into his final round with four-shot lead and managed to preserve his advantage . Walker birdied the par-five second when he laid up short of the green, pitched on and holed a straight eight-foot putt - though he gave the shot back at the fourth. Another bogey at the seventh was off-set as he pitched stone-dead from an awkward bunker stance at the next, and he birdied 10 as well before dropping a shot at 12. Playing partner Spieth made a late bid to exert some pressure with birdies at the 14th - via a 45-foot putt - and 15th and when his tee shot at the showpiece 16th spun back out of the fringe, there was scope for Walker to crack. Instead, the San Antonio resident struck a lovely pin-high tee shot and read the left-to-right break to perfection on the ensuing 16-foot putt. His birdie was matched by Spieth but the four-shot margin remained and despite a poor tee shot, Walker also birdied the penultimate hole with a good putt from 18 feet. Spieth did likewise and both parred the last to leave Walker as the tour's first repeat winner this season. He told NBC: 'It's at home and it's cool, you can feel support of friends, family and fans. It doesn't happen often, to win in your home town. 'It played hard today, sometimes it's hard to make pars. I wasn't putting very good but I finally got the putting stroke smoothed out and holed a couple. 'And Jordan... holy cow! I'll be having nightmares about that guy!' Spieth's efforts mean he has now finished in the top seven in eight of his last 10 starts. Walker, meanwhile, is building momentum for the Masters in two weeks' time and he said: 'I like Augusta. Walker adds the Valero Texas Open to the Sony Open title which he has already won this season . Jordan Spieth finished as runner-up, despite carding four birdies on the last five holes . Spieth said he found it hard to make par at times on the course but was Walker's closest challenger . 'All this keeps adding momentum and confidence and I'm excited to go. I'll head over tomorrow and take another look at it.' Billy Horschel, the third player in the group, finished third outright at four under. Chesson Hadley birdied the last hole to finish joint fourth with Daniel Summerhays at three under. Several players went into the tournament with hopes of breaking into the world's top 50 and qualifying for the Masters, but none were able to produce the finish they required. +He only touched down on Sunday but Manny Pacquiao wasted no time in starting his training on American soil with a run through the streets of Los Angeles. The 36-year-old will meet Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on May 2 and he is in LA to complete the second part of his training camp at trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym. Pacquiao posted a video of his run on his Instagram account on Monday as he looks to reach peak fitness for the mega-fight at the MGM Grand. VIDEO Scroll down to see Manny Pacquiao in training for his fight with Floyd Mayweather . Manny Pacquiao shows off his speed and power as he trains at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym . The Filipino star is in Los Angeles to complete his training regime for his fight with Floyd Mayweather . Mayweather and Pacquiao will meet at a press conference on March 11 before fighting in Las Vegas on May 2 . And on Tuesday he followed it up with a clip of his bag work, showcasing the speed and power he hopes will end Mayweather's unbeaten record in a little under two months. Alongside the video, Pacquaio wrote: 'First day of training here in wild card gym, feels good to be back. Thank you Lord for the strength that you have given me day by day.' Pacquiao, who will come face-to-face with Mayweather at their first and only press conference on March 11, has refused to comment on his impressions of the American outside of the ring. Pacquiao also posted a video of himself running through the streets of Los Angeles on his Instagram account . The 36-year-old is attempting to reach peak fitness ahead of his hotly anticipated fight with Mayweather . Speaking to Yahoo Sports, he said: 'I don't want to talk about that. 'I don't have anything to say about him right now. I'm not talking about him.' The Filipino was more open about Mayweather's boxing style, praising the 38-year-old's ability while maintaining an air of confidence in his own. 'He has very good speed and footwork, and he has punches, and that makes him look good,' Pacquiao said. 'But it depends on the fighter he is going to fight. For me as a boxer, I know what the job is. I'm going to throw a lot of punches, a lot of hard punches. Mayweather began training in his Las Vegas gym exactly two months before fighting Pacquiao . Mayweather and Pacquiao finally agreed terms last month for one the most eagerly anticipated fights ever . Mayweather, still undefeated at 38, is training in Las Vegas, where the fight will take place on May 2 . 'There is nobody out there who really has thrown a lot of punches at him, but I'm going to do that. He is a very good boxer, but I know how to box and I can move side to side and throw punches.' Mayweather, meanwhile, has also started his training for the fight which promoter Bob Arum believes could earn the boxers an eye-watering $300million (£200m). The American took to social media website shots.com to share images of his training regime at his gym in Las Vegas, which included a sparring session and lifting weights. +Tragic: Ollie Floyd was weeding the fairways at Celtic Manor Resort golf course in Newport, South Wales, with his father (pictured together) when his buggy crashed into the freezing water . This is the 20-year-old groundsman who was killed at one of Britain's top golf courses yesterday when his buggy plunged into a lake. Ollie Floyd was weeding the fairways at Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, South Wales, with his father when their buggy crashed into the freezing water, trapping him inside. Staff on the 'Twenty Ten Course', which hosted the Ryder Cup in 2010, dived in after the vehicle and managed to drag Ollie to the water's edge. Emergency services were called and Mr Floyd, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, was taken to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His 46-year-old father, was also in the 'agricultural spraying vehicle' when it rolled into the lake and was taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The pair worked on sports pitches and stadiums across the country - including Celtic Manor Resort and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - for Complete Weed Control Limited. Staff who had jumped in to rescue Ollie were treated at the site. Ollie, who lived with his mother Hayley, 47, was today remembered by members of Ross-On-Wye Rugby Football Club, where he played alongside his father and brother, Tom. Chairman Paul Haley said: 'We are absolutely shocked and devastated. His dad and granddad, they have both been players at the club. 'I'm struggling, it’s very difficult. We are just waiting for someone to ring up and say it’s not true.' Ollie had been named 'most committed player of the season' shortly before his death. A club spokesman said: 'It’s with great sadness that I have to inform you that Ollie Floyd was killed in a tragic accident this morning. 'On your behalf I would like to offer our condolences to Haley, Nick, Tom and all members of the family. A great friend and clubman to us all.' The Celtic Manor Resort will now be the subject of an investigation carried out by Gwent Police and Newport City Council’s health and safety team. A golf club spokesman said yesterday: 'The Celtic Manor Resort can confirm that a serious accident took place on its Twenty Ten Course at around 7.50am. Committed: Ollie, left, who lived with his mother Hayley, 47, was today remembered by members of Ross-On-Wye Rugby Football Club, where he played alongside his father, centre, and brother, Tom, right . 'The accident resulted in one person being taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in a critical condition. 'The incident is currently subject to an investigation which the Celtic Manor Resort is co-operating with fully. 'The Resort is unable to comment further at this stage. Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.' A spokesman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said its crews had 'assisted paramedics in assessing members of staff who had gone in to the water to assist with the rescue'. A spokesman for Gwent Police said: 'A 20 year old man has died following an incident this morning on the grounds of the Celtic Manor Resort at a lake on the Twenty Ten Course. Accident: The 'agricultural spraying vehicle' rolled into this lake on the 'Twenty Ten Course' at the Celtic Manor Resort. Above, the lake pictured during the opening ceremony of the Ryder Cup in 2010 . 'The man, from the Ross-on-Wye area, was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in a critical condition this morning just after 8am after an agricultural spraying vehicle that he was in went into the water. 'Another 46 year old man, also from the Ross-on-Wye area, who was also in the vehicle was taken to the hospital with minor injuries where he remains receiving treatment. 'Gwent Police together with Newport City Council's health and safety team from the environmental health department are carrying out enquiries into the incident.' +Palermo starlet Paulo Dybala has revealed he'd 'swim to Barcelona' to secure a move, if the Catalan giants came calling for his signature. The 21-year-old has been in sensational form for the Serie A side this term, netting 12 goals in 24 league appearances, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Manchester United, Manchester City, Juventus, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund have all shown an interest in the highly-rated youngster, with Barcelona also believed to be keen on Dybala. Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring in a 2-1 win against Hellas Verona last month . The 21-year-old - pictured celebrating another goal - has been watched by Italian duo Juventus and Napoli . When asked by Radio Belgrano if he'd be interested in a move to the Spanish giants in particular Dybala answered honestly: 'Would I be open to a move to Barcelona? I would swim to Barcelona if they came knocking. 'I wouldn't even have to change into my swimming gear. After all, I would only have to cross the Mediterranean Sea.' Just last month in an interview with Italian sport magazine Guerin Sportivo, Dybala admitted he had aspirations of playing for Luis Enrique's men, as well as Premier League champions City. Dybala has impressed this season and has been watched by representatives of Manchester United . Palermo club president Maurizio Zamparini has likened Paulo Dybala to Manchester City star Sergio Aguero . He said: 'When I play with the Playstation, I always choose Barcelona or Manchester City. 'I dream to play one day with one of those clubs.' Just last month Palermo club president Maurizio Zamparini dubbed Dybala - a £9million signing back in April 2012 - as the new Sergio Aguero. Representatives of United were also present at Palermo's match against Inter Milan on February 8, as the interest in the Argentina forward continues to grow. +Andy Murray marched into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells with a routine 6-1 6-3 win over Canadian Vasek Pospisil. The Scot raced through the opening set, carving out five break points and taking three, before another two breaks of serve in the second earned him victory in one hour and 19 minutes. His opponent, the world number 62, did not trouble the 27-year-old, making only 46 per cent of first serves. Andy Murray is all smiles after sealing his progress into the last 32 of Indian Wells on Saturday . Andy Murray (right) shakes hands with Vasek Pospisil having beaten the Canadian 6-1, 6-3 at Indian Wells . Murray took full advantage to set up a meeting with Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber. 'I thought I did quite well,' the British number one said on Sky Sports 3. 'He didn't serve so well today. 'I thought I played quite solid. I was using my forehand well.' Murray put in an assured performance to defeat the World No 62 in just under 80 minutes . Murray admitted the contrast in atmosphere from Great Britain's Davis Cup tie against the United States in Glasgow last weekend took some getting used to. 'It's a completely different vibe on the court,' he said. 'It's extremely different to what it was like in Davis Cup. I tried to give myself some positive energy - that helped a little bit, but it was tough.' Murray, who earlier this week revealed he was set to add Jonas Bjorkman to his coaching team, said he would like the Davis Cup quarter-final with France in July to be held at Queen's Club. The British No 1 celebrates his comprehensive win by hitting some signed tennis balls into the crowd . +Northern Ireland will face 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar in Crewe on May 31. The fixture will take place at Gresty Road with a 5pm kick-off. The sides have never faced each other before, but with Qatar basing themselves at St George's Park for a training camp and the Irish FA keen to line up opponents before their Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania on June 13 the parties agreed on the date. Michael O'Neill's Northern Ireland will face Qatar in an international friendly in May . Qatar will be in England for a training camp at England's base St George's Park (pictured) Northern Ireland are also hoping to set up a friendly meeting with Wales as they attempt to hone their squad in the British off-season. Manager Michael O'Neill said: 'This match will help us retain our focus as a squad into June as we prepare for the crucial Euro match against Romania.' +Workers at a cold storage facility in Illinois are being credited with intercepting a massive marijuana haul spread across 1,512 boxes of frozen avocado pulp. In total more than of a ton of weed was seized with an estimated street value of $10 million. Staff at the suburban facility in Lyons became suspicious of the weight of the shipment. They also questioned its instructions for an 'urgent pick-up'. All organic: Authorities found more than $10 million worth of marijuana hidden in a shipment of 'Frozavo' frozen avocado pulp at a west suburban cold storage facility in Lyons, Illinois, on Wednesday . Concealed: Flat bricks containing 2,100 pounds of weed were spread across 1,512 boxes of pulp . Sheriff’s police responded to the building on the 8400 block of West 47th Street with a narcotics-sniffing dog, which detected drugs inside the pallets, according to NBC Chicago. Authorities ultimately found 2,100 pounds of marijuana. The drug had been packed into flat packs that were covered in the avocado pulp. No arrests have been made in relation to the seizure. Intercepted: Staff became suspicious of the shipment and its strict 'urgent pick up' instructions . The company, Frozavo, is based in Michoacán, western Mexico. Their website says they ship to five countries. However there is no suggestion yet the company were responsible for what was in their packages. +Bournemouth winger Matt Ritchie has been given a surprise call-up to Gordon Strachan's Scotland squad for this month's double header against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. The 25-year-old was born in Gosport but qualifies for the Dark Blues thanks to his Scottish-born father Alex. Fulham striker Ross McCormack and Blackburn hitman Jordan Rhodes have been recalled to Strachan's 26-man squad - but there is no place for new Celtic duo Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven. Bournemouth winger Matt Ritchie has been rewarded with his first call-up to the Scotland squad . The 25-year-old is one of Gordon Strachan's 26-man squad; as is Fulham's Ross McCormack (second left) Ritchie started his career at Portsmouth but also had loan stints at Dagenham & Redbridge, Notts County and Swindon before signing permanently for the Robins in 2011. He was on the move two years later when he switched to Bournemouth and has played an important role as Eddie Howe's side have stormed to the top of the SkyBet Championship. Ritchie has scored 11 times for the Cherries so far this season, including two in a 5-1 win at Fulham a fortnight ago. Strachan's Scotland face Northern Ireland in a friendly and a qualifier against Gibraltar at the end of March . Scotland take on Northern Ireland in a Hampden friendly a week on Wednesday before hosting European Championship qualifying opponents Gibraltar on Sunday, March 29. Strachan's side sit third in Group D with seven points from four games, while Gibraltar - UEFA's newest member - are bottom with no points from the same number of fixtures, having failed to score a single goal while conceding 21. +Rugby World Cup chiefs have warned fans not to buy tickets from unofficial sources after it emerged that a single ticket for the final is being advertised for £59,000. The category A ticket, which has a face value of £715, is up for sale on a secondary ticket website, StubHub.co.uk, for 82 times its original price. The site also has category D tickets for the final at Twickenham on October 31 which originally cost £125 for sale for £7,500, some 60 times the face value. Debbie Jevans, chief executive of England 2015 Rugby World Cup, said organisers hoped new legislation forcing secondary websites to publish the exact row and seat number would prove a deterrent - people buying tickets from unofficial sources can be refused entrance. Rugby World Cup chiefs have warned fans not to buy tickets from unofficial sources ahead of the tournament . Jevans said: 'Our message is to buy those tickets through the official sources - not least to ensure that it is a genuine ticket and not a fraudulent one, and to ensure fans are not ripped off. 'The new legislation means secondary ticket websites will have to show the row, the seat and access of that ticket. That brings greater transparency which will allow us to have more exposure to who is selling those tickets and at what price. 'We will be monitoring these sites, this gives us the ability to do so to a greater degree and we do reserve the right to refuse access. One ticket on StubHub.co.uk for the showpiece final has been advertised for sale at a price of £59,000 . 'Our terms and conditions reserve the right not to allow access if that ticket is sold through an unofficial source. 'We have the ability to track the tickets down.' StubHub did not respond when asked to comment. Meanwhile, Jevans said the success of the Rugby World Cup, which is being hosted by England in the autumn with some matches in Wales, will not depend on whether Stuart Lancaster's side make it through their tough group. England are in Pool A along with Australia and Wales, with only two countries going through to the quarter-finals. Tickets to watch England are expensive, and the tournament's success will be judged on the team's progress . World Rugby's chief executive Brett Gosper, an Australian, reacted to England's early exit from the Cricket World Cup by tweeting: 'England fail to exit pool in World Cup?...? not the words we want to hear during #RWC2015.' Jevans said: 'Of course you think about it when you at the tough group England are in and the impact that may or may not have, but from our perspective it doesn't make a difference. 'As a fan I would be very upset but from a delivery perspective we are looking at it being about 20 teams and ensuring they can all compete to the best of their ability. Debbie Jevans, chief executive of England 2015, said those using unofficial sources could be refused entrance . 'We want to celebrate the sport and our focus is not about who wins or who is the final. When you look at the ticket sales we have only 10 matches left with tickets available and I think that demonstrates the country is getting behind the event, so I am not at all concerned about England being the sole focus.' Wales head coach Warren Gatland said last week he was 'surprised' by the tweet, adding: 'Probably the head of World Rugby doesn't need to be doing that, but that's his own personal views and his own personal decision.' +As preparations for Easter begin, Nestle has come up with a new way of harnessing the appeal of the Easter bunny. The confectionery giant has launched special edition apple pie and carrot flavour Kit Kats for the Japanese market. Nestle came up with the idea after it surveyed Japanese chocolate fans and found apple and carrot were the flavours that most would like to see. Scroll down for video . The Japanese arm of Nestle has launched an apple pie and carrot flavour Kit Kat in the country for Easter . The idea has proved so popular apple pie and carrot flavour Kit Kats have now gone into production in time for Easter. The chocolate sweet made by Nestle has existed as a product since the 1920s and is now sold all over the world. Versions of KitKats sold in Japan are well-known for being different to the main product sold elsewhere in the world with limited editions often made available for Christmas and Halloween. The carrot flavoured KitKat is the firm's first attempt at coming up with a product for the Easter market. The new Kit Kat was created after Japanese customers were asked for their favourite flavour combinations . In special versions of the chocolate there will be limited editions, featuring a bunny and Easter message . The treats went on sale from today and are priced at 540 yen (£3) for a pack of 12. For the first time in the company's 42-year history in Japan they will use a bunny . A spokesman for Nestle said: "We will have 13 different designs, so anybody who wants to collect all the labels may have to buy more than one packet." He said in addition every 30th chocolate bar would have a limited special edition design for collectors. Kit Kats are extremely popular in Japan, with novelty forms such as Special Chilli already being sold . Kit Kats are considered lucky In Japan and Tokyo already has its own chocolatory for special flavours . Japan is no stranger to novelty forms of KitKat. Last year the confectionery giant launched bake-ready versions of the snack which can either be baked and eaten or consumed raw. Other flavours included Sublime Bitter, Special Sakura Green Tea and Special Chilli. Tokyo has its own KitKat Chocolatory in Seibu Department Store in Ikebukuro which produces limited edition versions of the snack, considered lucky in Japan. +Lionel Messi is unattainable for most football clubs in the world, according to Barcelona sporting director Ariedo Braida. If he wasn't expensive enough through goals alone, news of his marketability will perhaps scare away any more potential suitors as Barcelona bosses further hailed their star man. '[Messi] is a very strong player and is the icon of world football,' Braida told Radio Anch'io Sport. 'He sells lots of shirts around the world, it's extraordinary. Lionel Messi is unattainable to most football clubs in the world, according to the Barcelona sporting director . There were rumours of Messi falling out with coach Luis Enrique (pictured), but they have been put to bed . 'The president [Josep Maria Bartomeu] always says that Messi is an alien. I think and hope that economically he's unapproachable for other clubs. 'Even if you have to pay attention to new investors, Messi has a release clause of €250 million (£179million) and for most teams that is an unattainable figure. 'Leo in Barcelona is much-loved by all, I think it would be a mistake for him to change team.' Ariedo Braida (pictured) says that it would be a mistake for Messi to change teams . The Argentinian has helped Barcelona to the top of La Liga ahead of their crunch El Clasico with Real Madrid . Earlier in the season, there had been speculation over a potential exit for the Argentinian superstar. Rumours of a bust-up with coach Luis Enrique circulated, but they have been put to bed and Messi has helped the team to the top of La Liga. For much of the season, Real Madrid held the top spot in Spain, but last week Barca overtook them ahead of next weekend's El Clasico. +Australian Open champion and top seed Novak Djokovic launched his BNP Paribas Open title defence in ruthless style on Saturday, crushing Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-1 6-3 in the second round. Playing near-flawless tennis from the baseline, the Serb broke his opponent twice in each set to coast to victory in just under an hour on the showpiece stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Fourth seed Andy Murray erased memories of early losses at the venue with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of Canadian Vasek Pospisil and Japanese trailblazer Kei Nishikori recovered from an erratic start to beat American Ryan Harrison 6-4 6-4. World No 1 Novak Djokovic made light work of his first round match at the BNP Paribas Open . Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis was no match for the Australian Open champion at Indian Wells . Djokovic, seeking a fourth title at Indian Wells, breezed through the opening set in just 25 minutes before sealing the win when Baghdatis hit a backhand long on the second match point. 'It went very well for me, a very solid performance from the beginning,' the world No 1 said courtside after improving his record this season to 15-2. 'I served well and from the baseline I didn't give Marcos many chances to come back in the match. Great performance against a quality opponent, against somebody that was a former top-10 player and that knows how to play on a big stage. 'Of course, having won the title in Australia, it allows me to have and carry this confidence into every other event that is coming up in the season.' Djokovic takes time out from the tournament to have a kickabout in the sunshine . Andy Murray celebrates his first round victory over Vasek Pospisil by hitting a ball into the crowd . Murray broke Pospisil's serve three times in the opening set and twice in the second to ease to victory in 79 minutes on a sweltering afternoon. Ousted in the opening round in 2011 and 2012, the 27-year-old Scot hit 14 winners and won five of his nine break point chances to dominate the match. 'I've struggled a bit in the last few years here so I decided to try and play a very solid match and adjust to the conditions,' world number four Murray said. 'It was very hot and that made the ball pretty lively. 'Controlling the ball isn't that easy. I thought I played quite a smart match.' Kei Nishikori was made to sweat before finishing off local boy Ryan Harrison in straight sets . Nishikori, who became the first Asian male to reach a grand slam singles final at the U.S. Open last year, broke Harrison five times while losing his own serve on three occasions before sealing his win in just under an hour and a half. 'It was a bit up and down but I played well in the second set,' said the 25-year-old Japanese. 'I was playing almost a perfect game.' The fifth seed, who lost to Marin Cilic in last year's U.S. Open final before ending a landmark season with four ATP World Tour titles, will next play Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who beat Australia's James Duckworth 6-2 7-6. In other matches, 10th-seeded Croatian Cilic, back on the circuit after being troubled by a shoulder injury, was upset 6-4 6-4 by Argentine Juan Monaco while eighth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer battled past Croatia's Ivan Dodig 4-6 6-1 7-6. +A pregnant woman with two 18-month-old twins in her car,both not wearing seat belts, allegedly drunkenly crashed into another car. Angel Oliver, 28, was arrested on Wednesday night on DUI charges in Ocala, Florida, say police. Click Orlando Reports that Oliver was allegedly arguing with another driver before crashing into the back of his car. DUI charges: Pregnant mom Angel Oliver, 28, allegedly drunkenly crashed into another car after arguing with the driver while her two infant twins sat in the back seat without seat belts . Police say that when they arrived at the scene, Oliver appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Oliver's breath test results were .228 and .236, police said. Police report that they found beer in the back of Oliver's car. One of the children who was not strapped in fell to the floor of the backseat of the car during the crash. The twins’ father was contacted and the infants were taken to a hospital for evaluation. The condition of the children is unknown at this time. Oliver was taken to Marion County jail and was s also issued two citations for not having the children restrained in car seats. She also got a ticket for having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle. The crash: The crash occurred at this intersection in Ocala, Florida on Wednesday night . +Andy Murray's hopes of playing July's Davis Cup quarter final at Queen's Club look likely to be fulfilled after positive noises emanated today from the famous west London venue. While there will undoubtedly be logistical challenges in hosting what is Great Britain's biggest home tie in 29 years there appears an enthusiasm among the club's hierarchy to overcome them. Given Murray's desire to play at a venue where he has won the Aegon Championships title three times already, there is likely to be a concerted effort to make it happen, including on the part of the Lawn Tennis Association. Andy Murray with the Aegon Championship trophy at the Queen's club in West London last month . 'We have been approached, along with some other venues, and are actively looking at whether or not we could host it,' said a Queen's spokesman. 'There are a number of logistical issues that would have to be resolved, but if it is possible to overcome them Queen's would be delighted to host the Davis Cup in July.' That date of July 17-19 comes nearly four weeks after the conclusion of the Aegon Championships, which is the main Wimbledon warm-up. Among the issues is keeping up the huge main stand which takes the centre court capacity to nearly 7,000, above the 6,000 threshold required for a quarter final. Other challenges include a scheduled refurbishment of the clubhouse due to begin in early July, and making sure the grass court – the quality of which is reckoned to be at least Wimbledon's equal – can recover in time from the summer ATP event. Murray celebrates beating USA in the Davis Cup to set up a quarter-final against France for Great Britain . The British No 1 won the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queen's in 2013 (left), 2011 (centre) and 2009 (right) Great Britain vs France . Australia vs Kazakhstan . Argentina vs Serbia . Canada vs Belgium . It will also require considerable commitment and patience from members, with the construction of the main stand already beginning in early May and the prospect of it being up on the site of two hard courts for nearly three months. It had been thought the disruption might be too prolonged, although today's statement appears to knock that down. At the weekend Murray, due to play Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in Indian Wells on Monday night, pointed not only to his own good record at Queen's but also the fact that his brother Jamie has made the doubles final there and James Ward the semi-finals. However, it is also a place where French players have done well, notably Jo Wilfried Tsonga, who is an enormously popular regular visitor. The Scot is in action at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, facing Philipp Kohlschreiber on Monday night . Eastbourne, Birmingham's Priory Club and Nottingham have also been approached, but Murray's opinion carries a decisive amount of weight. France were the opposition when Queen's last staged a Davis Cup tie, back in 1990. GB were beaten 5-0 then, but with Murray in his prime and France' s players by and large – bar the presently injured Tsonga – not at their best on grass, it is likely to be extremely close this time. With a three week gap between Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, it means there will be six weeks of top-class grass court tennis played in the UK this summer. Murray poses with friend and former Aegon Championships tournament director Ross Hutchins at Queen's . Murray on the centre court at the Queen's Club, where he has won the Aegon Championships three times . +ATP World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard took on fellow Canadian Justin Bieber as well as comedy duo Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart in the 11th annual Desert Smash. Bouchard took to the court to do battle with the world renowned stars at La Quinta Resort and Club in California. Fellow professional tennis players Fernando Verdasco and Sam Querrey also took part, as did Mardy Fish and Daniela Hantuchova. Eugenie Bouchard poses with Justin Bieber, Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart at the 11th annual Desert Smash . Bouchard returns a shot as she takes on the celebrities at the 11th annual Desert Smash in California . Bouchard in action at La Quinta in California as she helps raise money for cancer research on the courts . Bouchard and Daniela Hantuchova shake hands as they prepare to take part in a friendly tennis battle . Candian duo Bouchard and Bieber prepare to do battle on the court at the 11th annual Desert Smash . Ferrell and Bouchard are all smiles as they pose courtside in the Californian sun at the Desert Smash . Tennis player Fernando Verdasco and Comedian Hart attend the 11th Annual Desert Smash in California . Hart struts his stuff on the court as fans look on at the charity event at La Quinta Resort and Club California . Ferrell hosted the event, which raises money for Cancer for College, a charity founded by friend Craig Pollard. However, the host himself didn't last too long when it came to taking on some of the tennis elite as the comedian walked off the court claiming he had an inflamed buttock muscle. Instead Ferrell, famed for Anchorman among other films, sat on the sidelines making fun of Bieber as he strutted his stuff on the California courts against Bouchard and co. Bouchard and Hantuchova pose at the tennis based charity bash hosted by Ferrell in California . Candian duo Bouchard and Bieber pose courtside at the 11th annual Desert Smash in California . Comedy legend and host Ferrell takes time out to pose with singer Bieber in the Californian sun . +Turkey has withdrawn its bid to stage the Ryder Cup in 2022, leaving five nations in the running ahead of inspection visits from tournament officials which will get under way this week. Ahmet Agaoglu, president of the Turkish Golf Federation, said: 'We have greatly enjoyed working on this project and assessing whether we would be in a position to launch a viable bid to host the 2022 Ryder Cup. 'Although we believe that Turkey is now an established golfing destination, with a collection of world-class courses, it has not proven possible to secure the necessary logistical arrangements in order to proceed and so we have reluctantly decided to withdraw from the process at this time. The Ryder Cup will not being taking place in Turkey in 2022 after the Turkish Golf Federation withdrew their bid . Europe team captain Paul McGinley celebrates winning the Ryder Cup with his team last year at Gleneagles . 'We have enjoyed working with Ryder Cup Europe and firmly believe that the information gained during this period will one day allow us to revisit this incredible opportunity.' In November the Turkish bid was reportedly withdrawn due to concerns over the number of trees which needed to be removed from the chosen course, only to be re-instated 24 hours later. Germany's bid will be inspected on Tuesday with visits to Spain and Italy scheduled for next week. Officials from Ryder Cup Europe plan to visit Austria at the end of the month, while there is no date confirmed for the visit to Portugal. Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Portugal are all bidding to be hosts for the famous tournament . +Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has stars in his eyes on the front page of Marca on Saturday in the form of Lionel Messi and Diego Simeone. The Spanish paper says ‘Look what’s coming!’ in their headline as they outline two major challenges ahead for the Real manager. ‘The height of rivalry: Ancelotti’s Madrid play for La Liga and the Champions League inside a month against Messi’s Barca and Cholo’s Atletico.’ Marca's front page on Saturday shows Lionel Messi (left) and Diego Simeone (right) in Carlo Ancelotti's eyes . Ancelotti's job is believed to be under pressure and the high-profile fixtures he faces could decide his future . It’s as tough as it gets in Spain as they face a rampant Barcelona on Sunday as they look to peg back the point they trail their great rivals by before next month’s clash with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter finals. AS also focus on the European tie of the round between last year's finalists, looking at Real's determination to make up for their poor record against Atleti this season while the underdogs seek redemption from last year's final. Real have yet to win a game against Atletico this season despite playing them six times, with the most recent result being a 4-0 triumph for their city rivals. AS talks revenge for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the Champions League while Mundo Deportivo looks at Barcelona's two 'Clasicos' - against Real on Sunday and their Champions League tie with PSG . Real Madrid's Institutional Relations Director Emilio Butragueno (L) shakes hands with Atletico Madrid's General Manager Clemente Villaverde at the Champions League draw after the clubs were paired together . Mundo Deportivo, as expected, take a Barcelona focus as they preview Barca's Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain and Sunday's El Clasico. They also touch on how Barca and Athletic Bilbao have formally asked for the Bernabeu as the venue for the Copa del Rey final. In Italy, almost every major club - bar Juventus - seem to be in some sort of crisis, if you believe their front pages. While La Gazzetta dello Sport looks forward to Juve's favourable draw against Monaco in the Champions League quarter-finals with the headline: 'Juve Grand Prix', Corriere dello Sport focus on how AC Milan will be 'left on its own' ahead of a planned fan walkout against Cagliari at the San Siro. Almost every Italian club other than Juventus looks to be in trouble according to the front pages there . Juventus' players celebrate their brilliant 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund that secured a last-eight place . The club's Ultras are reported to be planning a boycott in protest as Filippo Inzaghi's position as manager comes under threat. Back with La Gazzetta, they also look at a big clear-out at Inter Milan and chaos at Roma after their Europa League exit in difficult times for Serie A's big clubs. +A loving granddaughter skipped her high school graduation ceremony in Wyoming and instead wore her cap and gown to a Texas hospital to surprise her grandmother who was battling leukemia. Sharon Thompson, who was recovering from brain surgery at the Houston Methodist Hospital, was proudly watching a live feed of her eldest grandchild Taylor Thompson's graduation in Cody, Wyoming. However, when Taylor's name was called she burst into her 70-year-old grandmother's hospital room instead of appearing on stage. And now a video of the touching moment has become an internet sensation, with the YouTube clip – which was first shared last June – accumulating more than a million views, the majority of which were amassed during the last two days. Perfect prank: Taylor Thompson (left) skipped her graduation and surprised her grandmother Sharon Thompson (right), who was in the hospital recovering from brain surgery as she battled cancer . The touching footage shows Sharon, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, enjoying the graduation ceremony from the confinements of her hospital bed. But before her granddaughter's name was called, the speaker made a surprising announcement. 'The next graduate is not here this evening because she has a surprise for someone special in her life,' the announcer said. 'Her grandmother has been battling cancer this past year and can't be at graduation, so she is watching the ceremony live over the internet right now.' He added: 'Dressed in her cap and gown, our graduate is going to walk into her grandmother's hospital room as I call her name.' Sharon burst into tears of joy when she realized what was happening. 'I can't believe it,' she told her granddaughter who was also moved to tears. 'I am so happy to see you.' Proud grandma: Last June, Sharon watched a live feed of her eldest grandchild's graduation ceremony on the internet . Shocking surprise: She was filled with joy when she realized that Taylor had come to visit her instead of walking in the ceremony, which was taking place in Cody, Wyoming that very moment . Unforgettable gift: Sharon happily cupped Taylor's face in her hands, later telling her that everyone should have a granddaughter like her . In the middle of the emotional moment, Sharon joked: 'This is enough to push me over the edge.' Sharon then held Taylor's face in her hands and told her how pretty she looked in her cap and gown. Taylor explained to her grandmother that she had flown to Houston the day before and that she had been pulling her leg the entire time. 'Everybody should have a granddaughter like you,' Sharon replied. Hanging above Sharon's hospital bed was a banner that the nurses had made her, which read: 'Congratulations Taylor Class of 2014.' But she couldn't get over the unexpected surprise. Magic moment: Taylor took a moment to hug her grandfather, who was also unaware of her plan . 'It's like a dream - a good dream,' Sharon said. 'It's real. I got to touch you.' At the end of the clip, Taylor kept with the commencement tradition and moved the tassel to the left side of her cap before throwing it in the air. 'To me, graduation was much more special how I did it,' Taylor told Cody Enterprise last year. 'It was the ultimate graduation for me.' And Sharon confirmed that she had ‘no idea' what her granddaughter was planning. 'I had given her pearl earrings, her birth stone, and she was wearing them,' she explained. 'I had brain surgery the day before and thought I was hallucinating.' She added: 'Oh my gosh, it was the surprise of a lifetime. Really wonderful, it made my day. My husband didn’t even know.' +Curiosity - or greediness - almost got the better of this brazen cat. Denis Ovcharenko from Russia filmed his kitten Marquise jumping up on a desk in a bid to get his paws on a couple of ice cream sandwiches. Footage shows the feline mischievously tiptoeing backwards as he hauls away one of the frozen treats to demolish. But as he retreats, he fails to realize he's reached the desk's edge. Suddenly his back feet go and then his entire body disappears from view as he tumbles to the ground. The ice cream sandwich is left upturned on the wooden counter top with a small bite missing. Marquise's owner can be heard laughing as he watches the scene unfold. But never fear; it appears that the Himalayan cat lived to tell the tail. A video uploaded to YouTube after the ice cream sandwich incident shows the pet seemingly dancing on his back legs to a power ballad. Up to no good: Denis Ovcharenko from Russia filmed his kitten Marquise jumping up on a desk in a bid to get his paws on a couple of ice cream sandwiches . Greedy: The cat is seen mischievously tiptoeing backwards as he hauls away one of the frozen treats . Faux pas: But as he retreats, Marquise fails to realize he's reached the desk's edge . Going, going, gone: Suddenly his back feet go and then his entire body disappears from view as he tumbles to the ground . Set to melt: The ice cream sandwich is left upturned on the wooden counter top with a small bite missing . Comedic timing: Marquise's owner can be heard laughing as he watches the scene unfold . +Manchester United winger Ashley Young hopes his recent form has been good enough to earn him an England recall. Young was tipped to leave Old Trafford last summer but much to many observers' surprise, he has been one of United's best players this season. England manager Roy Hodgson, who names his squad for the upcoming games against Lithuania and Italy on Thursday, was in the crowd at Old Trafford on Sunday to watch the midfielder star in United's 3-0 victory over Tottenham. Ashley Young has played well under Louis van Gaal at Manchester United and wants an England recall . The 30-cap winger has not played for England since September 2013 but his form could lead to a return . Young has not played for his country since September 2013, but he remains hopeful of earning his 31st cap in the near future. 'Fingers crossed I can get myself back into the England team,' the United winger said. 'I've always said that I want to represent my country. It's always an honour to play for England and hopefully I've done enough to get myself back in the squad.' Young's form has sparked rumours he will be offered a new contract. Young takes on Tottenham Hotspur's Nacer Chadli on the wing during United's 3-0 win at Old Trafford . His current deal expires at the end of next season, but he is not concerning himself with the matter at the moment. 'That's down to the chairman and manager to speak about,' he said. 'I'm just concentrating on my football. 'I'm not thinking about the length of my contract. I just want to do well in every game that I'm picked to play.' When asked whether he would consider leaving the club, the 29-year-old said: 'Of course not. I'm a United player and I've got a year left on my contract.' Young also said he is concentrating on his football rather than the prospect of a new United contract . +Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been told he can leave France by the nation's far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. Ibrahimovic branded the referee of his side's 3-2 Ligue 1 defeat against Bordeaux as 's***' and said that France doesn't deserve Paris Saint-Germain. The 33-year-old was caught on camera by infosport+ after the defeat against Bordeaux halted the defending champions' charge for the French title. Zlatan Ibrahimovic swears loudly as he walks towards the changing room after PSG's defeat to Bordeaux . Ibrahimovic reacted angrily to the defeat and said it was the worst refereeing display he'd ever seen . The Swedish striker claimed that France doesn't deserve the Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain . Speaking in English but in partial sentences, the Sweden striker can be heard saying: 'He's an a******. Play 15 years, never seen referee this s*** country. Don't even deserve PSG should be in this country. F****** too good for all of you. Should be happy they exist.' Despite apologising for his actions, Ibrahimovic has now been told he should leave France by Le Pen. The National Front Leader told France Info Radio: 'Those who consider that France is a s*** country can leave it. It's as simple as that.' The 33-year-old striker has been told he 'can leave' France by National Front leader Marine Le Pen . The former Barcelona and Inter Milan hitman took to his social media sites to clarify his comments. Ibrahimovic said: 'Regarding my comments after tonight’s game; they were not against France or the French people. I spoke about football. 'I lost the game, I accept that but I can’t accept when the referee doesn’t follow the rules. It’s not the first time and I’m sick of it. My sincere apologies if anyone was offended or took it the wrong way.' Ibrahimovic had twice equalised for PSG in Bordeaux, the first from a Javier Pastore (second right) pass . +Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock billed taxpayers for more than $10,000 on private flights last fall, including a trip on a private jet to a Chicago Bears football game. The flights last November don't include more than a dozen other trips on donors' planes that Schock has paid for out of his House office expenses or campaign funds since joining Congress in 2009. Schock, a 33-year-old Republican representing Peoria, had already been facing scrutiny for using congressional funds to redecorate his Capitol Hill office in the style of the TV show 'Downton Abbey.' He repaid those charges last month out of his own pocket; his office had said it's reviewing other expenses. Rep. Aaron Schockis accused of billing taxpayers for more than $10,000 on private flights last fall that included a trip to a Chicago Bears football game . Schock and his entourage flew in an Eclipse 500 aircraft like this one . The Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday night that Schock flew from Peoria, Illinois to Chicago to attend a Bears game against the Minnesota Vikings on November 16, 2014 . Overall, according to the paper, he used $20,855 in taxpayer money for the Chicago trip and another to New York in September, where his political action committee spent another $3,000 for tickets to the Global Citizen Festival concert. This week Schock reportedly hired a pair of lawyers to audit his political and legislative operations. Spokesmen for Schock declined to comment to the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, and did not respond to a request from Daily Mail Online. In a statement last week they said a legal team was already poring over 'compliance procedures in his official office, campaign and leadership PAC to determine whether they can be improved.' The football game was part of a longer trip on a chartered six-seat business jet that took off from a civil aviation airport in Manassas, Virginia en route to Peoria on a Friday. The Bears defeated the Vikings but the game may ultimately defeat a congressman . DOWNTON OFFICE: Schock spent $40,000 in taxpayer funds redecorating his Capitol Hill office, but had to pay the money back . The Sunday trip was a sideline before the aircraft returned to Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport a day later. All the seats were filled, according to pilot Keith Siilats, who told the Sun-Times that Schock's district director Dayne LaHood and three others were aboard. He also said he accompanied the congressman and his group to the football game. He was paid $10,802 for 'commercial transportation' in November, the last month for which numbers are available. 'That whole weekend was paid by the government,' he said. Schock 'called me on Saturday and said "what do you think about’ a Chicago trip?"' Siilats recalled for the paper. Chicago Bears single-game tickets range in cost from $106 to $430. It's not clear who paid for them. +Screaming in fear as they are violently shackled, these monkeys are traumatised as they suffer chemical testing after being transported by Air France. The shocking footage shows the helpless macaque monkeys being restrained and force fed with tubes shoved down their throats and up their noses. Chemicals are then pumped into their bodies and the distressing footage shows the panicked animals writhing in agony after being injected. The monkeys are then forced into tiny cages and held in plastic tubes where they can be seen desperately trying to escape as they are held captive. Scroll down for video . Terrified: These macaque monkeys are clearly traumatised as they are experimented on in a laboratory . Tortured: The monkeys are seen having tubes forced up their noses and down their throats to sedate them before the testing . Shocked: The footage shows the monkeys being tested on . The shocking scenes were caught on camera by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), as part of their protest against Air France being the only major carrier still shipping monkeys destined for experiments. Last year, more than 23,000 non-human primates were imported into the United States alone, PETA said. The monkeys are primarily crab-eating macaques, thousands of which are transported from Mauritius to laboratories in the United States and Europe. In the horrific footage, one lab technician even warns his colleague about her brutal treatment as she tries to insert the tube, and says: 'You're going to kill him.' But the woman angrily fires back: 'I'll ram it down his f***ing throat.' Many of the thousands of monkeys shipped from Asia and Africa by Air France were first torn away from their homes and families in the wild. The sensitive and intelligent animals are crammed into small wooden crates and transported inside dark cargo holds for nearly 30 hours, often on passenger flights just below unsuspecting customers. Restrained: With their arms and legs secured, the monkeys are also restrained at the neck to make sure they comply with the laboratory's demands . Panicked: The monkeys are held in plastic tubes where they can be seen desperately trying to escape as they are held captive . Caged: The macaque monkey are also forced into tiny cages where the lab technicians are seen forcefully handling them . When the monkeys reach their final destinations, they are imprisoned in tiny cages and tormented in painful, terrifying – and often deadly – experiments. The footage in the video was taken inside a for-hire laboratory, that conducts toxicity tests on monkeys in which they are force-fed chemicals pesticides and drugs. Previous footage taken inside a laboratory that conducts toxicity tests showed monkeys being force-fed chemicals, pesticides and drugs. Many of the monkeys are also sold on to private companies and universities that poison, mutilate, cripple and kill them in cruel experiments. Previous videos have also shown monkeys that have suffered from rectal prolapse from the stress of being restrained, blackened lungs, trembling, collapse, bleeding and self-mutilation - including one animal who chewed its finger to the bone . Mimi Bekhechi, UK Director of PETA, said: 'By shipping thousands of monkeys to laboratories, Air France are just as responsible for the mutilation and death of these intelligent, social animals as are the experimenters who wield the drills, scalpels and syringes. Most major airlines in the world – such British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, United and dozens of others – refuse to take any part in the industry and prohibit the transportation of primates to laboratories. This week, the founder and managing director of renewable-energy company Ecotricity, Dale Vince sent an angry open letter to Air France calling on them to stop transporting the monkeys. Ecotricity, founded in 1996, began with a single wind turbine and now supplies thousands of people with green electricity. Outraged: Dale Vince, founder of renewable-energy company Ecotricity, has fired off an angry letter to Air France as the company continues to transport the animals . In his letter, Mr Vince points out that Air France are the only remaining major airline that still participate in what he describes as a sickening practice and says that his company will not fly with the airline. He joins a growing list of celebrities – including musician Peter Gabriel and TV presenter Chris Packham - who have spoken out against Air France's carriage of primates. Mr Vince wrote: 'Having previously flown with Air France, I was shocked to learn from my friends at PETA that you are the last airline that continues to ship monkeys to laboratories in the EU and the US. 'These highly intelligent, sensitive animals are either torn away from their homes and families in the wild or bred in squalid conditions on notorious factory farms in Asia and Africa. 'They are then shipped – by your airline – to laboratories, where they face even greater horrors, including being intentionally brain-damaged, shocked, addicted to drugs or force-fed chemicals, before they are finally killed. 'All this suffering, pain and fear occurs for experiments which – as articles in the prestigious publication BMJ have highlighted – fail to translate into effective treatments for humans. 'It truly sickens me to think that these terrified monkeys, crammed into tiny wooden crates for as long as 30 hours before they reach their final destination, are frequently flown in Air France cargo holds – right below the feet of passengers who are completely unaware that purchasing a ticket from your airline means that they are supporting this shameful trade and condemning these wonderful animals to death.' But an Air France spokesman told MailOnline the transportation of animals on its flights - which is dealt with by Air France Cargo - complies with current regulations. The company also holds an authorization to transport animals issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, certifying this fact. The spokesman added: 'The company has established strict standards in terms of comfort and well-being to ensure animals optimal conditions of transport. Primates travel to private research laboratories as well as public research laboratories . 'This highly supervised activity is paramount in the development of research and medicine in France and Europe.' Support: TV presenter Chris Packham (left) and rock star Peter Gabriel (right) have spoken out in the past about Air France's transportation of the animals . Campaign: PETA have called on Air France to stop transporting the monkeys to the laboratories around the world . The animals, and the conditions they are subject to, are also subject to random checks on breeding conditions and use. 'Worldwide, the use of primates for research is crucial in many medical areas,' the spokesman said. 'Research in diseases of the central nervous system, research in autonomic diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimer's, research in psychological diseases like depression and addiction to alcohol, as well as research in infectious diseases like HIV, malaria, hepatitis C. 'As such, Air France management has received numerous letters of support from various public or private research institutes.' +Former Brazil international Roberto Dinamite, who was president of Vasco da Gama when the club sold Philippe Coutinho to Inter Milan, believes the Liverpool playmaker will wear the Brazil number 10 shirt for years to come. Dinamite was head of Vasco when they reluctantly packed the teenager off to Europe in 2010. Dinamite said: 'He already stood out when he left Vasco. And he is fulfilling his potential at Liverpool. He has that Brazilian talent, honed and developed in Europe, and he will keep getting better. Philippe Coutinho scores a stunning goal against Southampton at St Mary's in February . Coutinho has scored a number of key goals for Liverpool this season, including against Manchester City . 'He came to us aged 14 and it is a shame we only had him for a short time but the offers for him came very soon. Brazil need players who play the way he does with the close control and passing that he displays.' Coutinho was overlooked by Luiz Felipe Scolari ahead of last summer's World Cup but it seems new coach Dunga wants to build his team around his partnership with Neymar. The 22-year-old has been in excellent form for Liverpool this season, scoring a number of crucial goals to help them in their pursuit of the top four. +Italy coach Antonio Conte believes that players of Italian descent should be free to decide whether they want to play for the 'azzurri'. Conte's latest call-ups, Argentine-born Franco Vazquez and Brazilian-born Eder, have caused a stir in Italy even though both players possess Italian passports. 'I'm not the first (to call-up a player of Italian descent) and I won't be last,' Conte told a news conference on Monday. Brazilian-born Eder (right) is one of two players not born in Italy to be called up by Antonio Conte . The Italy manager had defended his right to call up foreign-born players to the national squad . Argentine-born Franco Vazquez (left) has an Italian mother and made it clear he wanted to play for the azzurri . 'In the past (Mauro) Camoranesi (Mauro) won the World Cup with Italy. (Christian) Ledesma, (Gabriel) Paletta, Thiago Motta, Amauri and Romulo all played with the national team. 'At the last World Cup, of the 736 players that took part 83 were born in a different country from the one they were playing for,' Conte added. Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini expressed a different opinion earlier on Monday. Former City boss Roberto Mancini had previously disagreed with foreign-born players being picked . 'I believe that an Italian player deserves to play for Italy,' Mancini said. 'Anyone who wasn't born in Italy, even though he may have Italian relatives, shouldn't be allowed to play. At least this is my opinion.' Conte said Vazquez had made it clear right from the start that he wanted to represent Italy. 'It's not that I forced him to accept,' the coach added. Mauro Camoranesi (right) was born in Argentina but won the 2006 World Cup playing for Italy . Vazquez's mother was born in Padua and Eder's great grand- father was from Treviso. Italy travel to Bulgaria for a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday and host England in Turin three days later in a friendly. Conte's team are second in Group H, behind Croatia on goal difference with 10 points from four games. Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Perin (Genoa), Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain); . Defenders: Barzagli (Juventus), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Moretti (Torino), Ranocchia (Inter); . Midfielders: Antonelli (Milan), Bertolacci (Genoa), Candreva (Lazio), Cerci (Milan), Darmian (Torino), Florenzi (Roma), Marchisio (Juventus), Parolo (Lazio), Pasqual (Fiorentina), Soriano (Sampdoria), Valdifiori (Empoli), Verratti (Paris Saint Germain); . Forwards: Eder (Sampdoria), Gabbiadini (Napoli), Immobile (Borussia Dortmund), Pellé (Southampton), Vazquez (Palermo), Zaza (Sassuolo) +Red Bull Racing have launched their 2015 Formula One car race livery for the upcoming season as they hope to recapture their titles. Their new 2015 RB11 car has been used in F1 testing with a camouflage livery in order to ward off rival teams attempting to copy their design secrets. Red Bull won consecutive Drivers' and Constructors titles between 2010-13 but relinquished their crowns to a dominant Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton last season. Red Bull Racing have tweeted this picture of their 2015 RB11 car with this season's livery, which is back in their usual team colours . The new colour scheme was displayed on the team's Twitter page with the hashtag '#BackInColour' as Red Bull returned to their usual look. The most notable shape change to the 2015 car is the lower nose box and front of the chassis, which were amended in line with the latest regulations. Drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat have been putting the camouflaged RB11 through F1 testing in Catalunya but have managed a staggering 397 less laps than reigning champions Mercedes on the track as they look to close the gap. The 2010-13 Constructors champions hope their 2015 RB11 car can help the team reclaim the title off last year's champions Mercedes . Daniel Ricciardo (right), taking a break from pre-season testing, hopes to build on three race wins during last season . Here is the livery that Red Bull racing will have on the grid for the 2015 Formula One season with Ricciardo and Kyvat in the driving seat . The Red Bull RB11 used in pre season testing has had a camouflaged livery before they unveiled the new chassis on Monday . CHASSIS . Composite Monocoque structure, designed and built in-house, carrying the Renault V6 engine. TRANSMISSION . Eight-speed gearbox, Longitudinally mounted with hydraulic system for power shift and clutch operation. WHEELS . OZ Racing . FRONT: 12.0 Inches X 13 Inches diameter . REAR: 13.7 InchesX 13 Inches diameter . TYRES . Pirelli . SUSPENSION . Aluminium alloy uprights, Carbon-composite double wishbone with springs and anti-roll bar, multitude dampers. BRAKES . Brembo calipers . ELECTRONICS . Mesl standard electronic control unit . Red Bull only won three races last season, thanks to the efforts of Ricciardo, as their power-unit supplier Renault struggled and Mercedes dominated to win 16 of the 19 Grand Prixs. Australian driver Ricciardo is optimistic about the season opener but admits Mercedes are clear favourites: . 'In terms of the pecking order, which is obviously what everyone wants to talk about, it's hard to say where anyone is at,' Ricciardo told Red Bull Racing's website. Red Bull racing have been using the RB11 in Formula One pre season testing with a camouflage livery . 'Aside from one team, I'd say it's pretty close after that, but we'll see in Melbourne. I think there's more to come from us. 'Personally, I feel really ready to race now and I think we'll be good come Melbourne.' Ricciardo and Kyvat, who has replaced Ferrari's new signing Sebastian Vettell in the hotseat, will hit the grid for the first Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne on March 15. Red Bull have managed 943 laps in pre season testing, 397 fewer than reigning champions Mercedes as they look to regain the title . +When Rachel Abbott sold her successful media company for £5 million, she set herself two goals: to embark on a new career as a novelist and to find a dream home in Italy. With no previous writing experience, Rachel knew the former would be tricky – but what she hadn’t counted on was how difficult it would be to crack the latter. Despite viewing countless properties in Tuscany, she and husband John were left disappointed until they discovered a ruined 15th Century monastery in neighbouring Le Marche. Instantly smitten, they swapped their home in the Pennines for one in the Apennines. Dream home: Rachel Abbott and her husband viewed countless properties in Tuscany before discovering the monastery in neighbouring Le Marche . Resurrected: The couple paid just £150,000 for the monastery in 2000. Pictured: the ruins of the monastery . ‘When we went to Italy we knew what we wanted – an ancient building that had been completely modernised,’ says Rachel, 62. ‘There were lots that fitted the bill but something about them didn’t click – they weren’t right. ‘Then, finally, an estate agent took us to this place and we just knew…’ All that remained of the monastery was the chapel – minus the roof – and the oratory. Yet the couple were mesmerised by the building and its location. ‘It had views to the Adriatic in one direction and the mountains in the other,’ says Rachel. ‘We got such a sense of peace and tranquillity.’ The region also excited them. Whereas Tuscany is teeming with wealthy second-home-owners from Britain, Le Marche is the ‘real Italy’ – a place where they could mix with the locals. Back in its glory: After a two-year restoration project, which set the couple back a further £1 million, the monastery was transformed into a modern eight bedroom home . Luxurious: The property also boasts seven en suite bedrooms, a swimming pool and a five-hole golf course. Pictured: the living room . The monastery, near the hilltop town of Treia, cost only £150,000 back in 2000 but a two-year restoration project on which the couple then embarked set them back a further £1 million. Luckily, the old building had survived until the 1960s, so they were able to find photographs, enabling their architects to recreate the style of original. They covered two layers of stone used for the walls in terracotta tiling, just as would have been done in the 15th Century, and windows were installed exactly where they were in the pictures. Behind the facade, the couple built a modern eight-bedroom home with seven en suites, a swimming pool and, for John’s benefit, a five-hole golf course in the five acres of grounds. Price €2.5 million (£1.8 million) Location Near Treia, Le Marche . Bedrooms 8 . Unique features Converted 15th Century monastery, swimming pool, five-hole golf course, five acres . It was only in 2005, when they were fully ensconced in the old monastery, that Rachel turned her attention to her second ambition – to become a successful writer. She had been toying with an idea for a psychological crime thriller for some time, and by 2010 she had finished her first work, Only The Innocent. Then, however, she was faced with another problem: how to find a publisher. Rachel did not fancy the anguish of rejection, so her solution was to self-publish on Amazon instead. At first her novels sold at the rate of only six a week. ‘Then I thought, “This is crazy. I know about marketing, I’m going to make this book sell.” ‘I set up a Twitter account, which now has 12,500 followers, and emailed every blogger and reviewer I could find. I spent countless hours on forums and Facebook. As a result I changed my life.’ Rachel’s subsequent success has been astounding. A first novel is thought to have done well if it sells 3,000 copies – Only The Innocent and follow-up books The Back Road and Sleep Tight have together sold a million. All three have been No 1 bestsellers on Amazon’s Kindle store, and Rachel now outsells many well-established authors. Price tag: The couple have now put the property on the market for €2.5 million (£1.8 million). Pictured: one of the bedrooms . Life in Italy has gone well, too. The couple have made money by letting out the chapel as a venue for upmarket weddings. And with children from previous relationships visiting them, Rachel and John’s house has often been buzzing with guests – just as she had planned. But now they have put their home on the market for €2.5 million – about £1.8 million – and want to move to the Channel Island of Alderney. ‘We already rent a flat there,’ says Rachel. ‘It’s a wonderful place – friendly and virtually crime-free. As much as we love Italy, we now want to buy a property there.’ Uniqueliving.com, 020 7148 6480. Rachel Abbott’s latest book, Stranger Child, is out now. +Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew is promising an exciting summer of recruitment at Selhurst Park after the club effectively guaranteed their Premier League survival with a comeback victory at Stoke City. Palace are now 11 points clear of the drop zone and Pardew can think about building for next season, buoyed by the new Sky Sports TV deal and a possible takeover from American businessman Josh Harris. Recruitment is now uppermost in Pardew’s mind and he revealed: ‘We are getting calls regarding players from Inter Milan and Benfica because they are our market now. Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace came from behind to beat Stoke 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium . Pardew (left) congratulates wing wizard Yannick Bolasie at full-time after Palace's impressive victory . Wilfried Zaha has scored in his last two games against QPR and Stoke, the first time he’s netted consecutively since October 2012 in his first spell with Palace . ‘Palace now come into the same group as everybody below the likes of Everton, Tottenham and Liverpool, and the most important thing is to try to trade well. ‘It’s important to preserve your Premier League status early. If you leave it late, it is very difficult to get players. You don’t want other teams putting packages together and working on players before you can. ‘We are pretty secure in approaching clubs and players now as a Premier League side for next season and that’s what we will do. We have the finance to do what we say we are going to do. So it does give us a slight advantage.’ One player who will remain is reborn winger Wilfried Zaha who scored the winner at The Britannia for his first back-to-back goals since 2012. In February, Wilfried Zaha (right) was sad, but according to Alan Pardew he is now playing with a smile . Zaha signed for Manchester United after Palace's promotion, but his career nosedived at Old Trafford . Zaha’s career nosedived after a £15million move to Manchester United went sour and he has gone from being capped by England to not even making the Under 21 squad. He was ordered to smile more and sulk less by Pardew last week and celebrated his goal at Stoke by playfully sticking out his tongue. ‘He looked a sad player when I arrived (from Newcastle in January),’ said Pardew. ‘You are never going to play your best football when you're sad and sometimes good management is not about tactics but inspiring players. He was down in the dumps for whatever reason. ‘Young players need that exuberance, particularly with the way he plays. And smiling and being happy is part of that exuberance.’ Nonetheless, 22-year-old Zaha doesn’t plan on transforming himself into a cartoon clown. ‘I do smile when I need to!,’ he stressed. Crystal Palace players celebrate with Glenn Murray after he scored a penalty to draw Palace level . Stoke manager Mark Hughes was distraught with two key decisions by referee Andre Marriner . ‘When it is time to be serious, I’m serious. When it is time to play around I will play around. ‘We’ve got the points we’ve needed to now so we can play without pressure and enjoy the rest of the season.’ There wasn’t much hilarity from beaten Stoke manager Mark Hughes who felt his side were robbed by two key decisions from referee Andre Marriner after taking a 14th-minute lead from Mame Diouf. Hughes has joined West Brom manager Tony Pulis in saying technology should be brought in immediately to stop the wrong decisions being made. The Stoke boss was furious that Mr Marriner awarded Palace a penalty when Asmir Begovic and Yannick Bolasie collided and Glenn Murray levelled from the spot. And after Zaha had put Palace ahead, the official waved away a strong appeal for handball against Palace defender Joel Ward. Hughes believes that Palace defender Joel Ward (right) was guilty of handball in the penalty area . Hughes slammed the standard of refereeing in the Premier League this season . Hughes said: ‘It was clear to everybody that he has thrown his body, his arms to stop the ball going goalwards. It was a shot on target, he was not close to the ball, he was about five yards away so it was a clear penalty. ‘I don’t think the standard of refereeing this year has been as good as it needs to be. They need a little bit of help and I’m an advocate of TV replays. ‘I think it is quite simple. If a big decision is made, he needs to ask the question: is there any reason why I should not give a penalty, or why I should not give a goal. Within 10 or 15 seconds they can give the referee an answer and there will be more correct decisions. They need to be given that option because at the moment they need a lot more help. ‘I think we have reached a tipping point. Before there were debates one way or the other but now I think it needs to come in.’ +On the night where Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup, former midfielder Paul Pogba showed his former side exactly what they are missing as his spectacular half-volley secured victory for Juventus against Sassuolo. The 21-year-old struck eight minutes from full-time as the Italian giants went 11 points clear at the top - ending a two-match winless streak in the process - as they edged past Eusebio Di Francesco's men on Monday night. A 1-1 draw with Roma in their last league match, coupled by losing their long-standing unbeaten home record the game before against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, meant they went into the game with a point to prove. Paul Pogba celebrates his late winner for Juventus on Monday against Sassuolo . The 21-year-old struck a superb half-volley to break a resilient effort from the visitors . Juventus forward Alvaro Morata (middle) looks to take the ball on during the first half against the visitors . It looked like the three-time defending champions were in for another frustrating evening, before Pogba broke the deadlock with his first goal since January. In the 82nd minute at the Juventus Stadium, Pogba took a pass from Simone Pepe, used one touch to control the bouncing ball and then pounded it into the back of the net from beyond the area with his next touch. After the game a delighted Pogba admitted: 'It was a very, very difficult match. I can still do more too. I've got to continue working hard to become a great player.' Carlos Tevez (right) strikes a left-footed effort on goal for Juventus during the game . Stephen Lichtsteiner appeals for a decision from the referee during Monday night's game . Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio (left) challenges for the ball with Sassuolo forward Simone Zaza . +Ten-man Roma scored a late equalizer to salvage a 1-1 draw with Juventus on Monday and keep alive their faint Serie A title hopes. Former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita headed in following a free-kick in the 78th minute at the Stadio Olimpico after Carlos Tevez had given Juventus the lead 14 minutes earlier with a curling free-kick. Tevez's goal came shortly after Vasilios Torosidis was shown a second yellow card for a debatable foul on Arturo Vidal, marking the fourth red for Roma in their last four Serie A meetings with Juventus. Seydou Keita rose highest at the back post to head the home side level with just over 10 minutes to play . Keita turns away in celebration after heading his side's equaliser as Gianluigi Buffon pics the ball out the net . The former Barcelona midfielder celebrates with former Arsenal striker Gervinho . The latest red card could revive the controversy that followed the teams' first meeting this season in October, which Juventus won 3-2 with the aid of glaring refereeing errors. The rematch was a physical test that saw 11 yellow cards brandished. It marked Roma's sixth consecutive draw at home and the Giallorossi's seventh stalemate in their last eight matches. 'We needed three points and nothing else,' Keita said. Juventus maintain a nine-point lead over Roma with 13 rounds remaining, while Roma moved four points ahead of third-place Napoli in the race for a direct Champions League berth. 'I'm pleased with what we did until the 70th minute,' Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. 'In the second half we improved a lot, we took the lead, but then we stopped playing. 'The season still has a long way to go and we're going to have to win more matches, especially on the road. We took a step forward but we're still far from reaching our goal.' Carlos Tevez gives the visitors the lead with a sublime free kick after Roma were reduced to 10 men . Tevez lifts his shirt as he runs towards the travelling support to celebrate his stunning free kick . The former Manchester City striker celebrates his strike with team=mate Leonardo Bonucci . Vasilis Torosidis was sent off for Roma and Tevez struck from the resulting free kick . 'Down a goal with 10 men, a reaction like that shows the squad is alive and has personality and character,' Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. 'Now we've got to focus on defending second place. 'The match was very tactical with the goals coming from set pieces.' The match started 15 minutes late to show solidarity for crisis-hit Parma, who are on the verge of financial failure and have had their last two matches postponed indefinitely. Neither side produced clear chances in a tense and physical first-half that saw no shots on goal. The closest either team came to scoring early on came when Kostas Manolas intercepted a cross from Alvaro Morata and nearly redirected it into his own net in the 22nd minute. On the half-hour mark, Keita couldn't take advantage of a close-range opportunity and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon quickly collected the danger. Roma XI (4-3-3): De Sanctis, Torosidis, Manolas, Yanga Mbiwa, Cholevas, Pjanic, De Rossi (Nainggolan 73), Keita, Gervinho, Totti (Iturbe 71), Ljajic (Florenzi 65) Subs not used: Skorupski, Curci, Astori, Spolli, Cole, Paredes, Ucan, Sanabria, Verde . Scorer(s): Keita 78 . Booked: De Rossi, Pjanic, Yanga Mbiwa . Sent off: Torosidis 63 . Juventus XI (3-5-2): Buffon, Caceres, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra, Lichtsteiner (Padoin 90), Vidal, Marchisio, Pereyra, Tevez, Morata (Coman 84) Subs not used: Storari, Rubinho, Barzagli, Ogbonna, De Ceglie, Pogba, Pepe, Llorente, Matri . Scorer(s): Tevez 64 . Booked: Evra, Morata . Referee: D Orsato . Former Manchester united left back Patrice Evra tangles with Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic . Former Arsenal forward Gervinho (right) tries to escape the challenge of Giorgio Chiellini . Juventus manager Max Allegri issues instructions to his players from the sidelines . Juventus winger Roberto Pereyra dribbled past three defenders to set up Tevez in the 42nd but the Argentine's shot was deflected wide. Both sides came out with more aggression for the second-half and a long, angled shot from Vidal went just wide in the 50th. It wasn't until just after the hour mark, though, that the course of the match changed. That was when Torosidis was penalised for what appeared to be a light touch on Vidal. With Juve free-kick specialist Andrea Pirlo missing due to injury, Tevez stepped up, and curled the resulting free-kick over Roma's wall and inside the left post from 22 yards. Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis was left rooted as the ball sailed past him into the net. The home crowd set off flares as they wave flags during the top of the table clash on Monday night . Roma legend Totti makes his way out for the warm-up ahead of kick off at the Olympic Stadium, Rome . It was Tevez's 15th goal of the season, moving one ahead of Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi atop the league scoring chart. Buffon then preserved the lead by pushing wide a header from Manolas in the 72nd. In the 77th, Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini - the recipient of Luis Suarez's bite at the World Cup - was shown a yellow for a foul on Roma substitute Juan Iturbe just outside the area on the right flank. Florenzi's ensuing free kick was redirected by Keita beyond the reach of Buffon with Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio claiming the last touch in a failed attempt to deny the goal-bound effort. +Manchester City are pressing ahead in their interest for Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne. The Bundesliga side want to keep the Belgium international for at least one more season as they plan a crack at the Champions League next year. However, City, Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain are all interested in signing him this summer. Manchester City are pressing ahead with a deal for Wolfsburg playmaker Kevin de Bruyne . De Bruyne has been in fine form for club and country this season and is rated at £40m . De Bruyne celebrates with Marouane Fellaini (c) and Radja Nainggolan after a goal against Cyprus . De Bruyne’s agent Patrick de Koster has hinted it would take a bid close to £40million for Wolfsburg to consider selling. Talking last week he said: ‘Clubs who are ready to bid 30million euros for Kevin have no sense of reality. A player like Kevin has a market value of some €50million, €55m or even €60m by now.’ De Bruyne, 23, cost Wolfsburg £16.7m when he signed in January 2014 from Chelsea and has scored 14 goals for his club this season. City defender Aleksandar Kolarov has admitted he’s tempted by a return to Italy after starting just 11 Premier League games this season. The 29-year-old Serb, who cost £16m from Lazio in 2010, fuelled the speculation while praising the job compatriot Sinisa Mihajlovic has done as manager of third-placed Sampdoria. He told Sky Italia: ‘I’d like to return to Italy, but it’s difficult. ‘I’m happy for Mihajlovic. He’s doing very well, as are Lazio.’ De Bruyne, who signed for Wolfsburg in January 2014, chats with team-mate Andre Schurrle against Mainz . De Bruyne is a former Chelsea youngster but never got a real chance to impress at Stamford Bridge . Meanwhile, Yaya Toure has suggested he may be about to step away from international football, after claiming ‘my target is done’. Toure captained the Ivory Coast to glory in this winter’s Africa Cup of Nations, their first major trophy in over two decades, and could now follow his brother Kolo in retiring after suggesting that the Elephants’ new generation should be allowed to flourish. ‘My future?’ he said. ‘You have to wait. Now, my target is done. The time of the youngsters will come soon. We need to let them. ‘It’s always beautiful when everything is going in the right way. I’m delighted with the trophy of 2015. Now I will wait a couple of days before we decide my future.’ +Formula One needs teams like Marussia to survive and thrive, rivals said after the tail-enders moved closer to a return to racing. While Caterham appear destined for the scrap heap, or at least the liquidation of their assets, Marussia were named on the official Formula One entry list on Friday after securing their exit from administration. 'I am so pleased... I think it's great to see them back,' Williams technical head Pat Symonds, who joined his current team after a stint at Marussia, told Reuters at the final pre-season test. Marussia were named on the official Formula One entry list after securing their exit from administration . Will Stevens has been confirmed as Manor's first race driver for the upcoming 2015 season . '(Team principal) John (Booth) and (sporting director) Graeme (Lowdon) are two great guys, real racers. I started 35 years ago at Toleman and Toleman was not as professional as Marussia,' he added. 'But the seed of that team produced Benetton and Renault and now Lotus. (Designer) Rory Byrne, all his wins, my career. There is such a place for teams like that, they are so important to the sport.' With Caterham's demise, Formula One will have just 10 teams this season with the future of some of the smaller outfits far from secure. Struggling Caterham appear destined for the scrap heap, or at least the liquidation of their assets . Marussia, who are entered as Manor Marussia F1 subject to conditions including their car passing a crash test and complying with the 2015 technical regulations. 'Against all the odds it looks like they are going to be in Melbourne, which is fantastic,' Symonds said. Force India deputy principal Bob Fernley, whose privately-owned team vetoed a proposal for Marussia to be allowed to race temporarily with their 2014 car, also welcomed their return while defending his earlier stance. Force India deputy principal Bob Fernley welcomed Marussia's return . 'It was entirely safety related. Why would we allow a technically unsafe chassis to race when everybody else has made them safe?' he told Reuters. 'It wasn't that we were against the concession, it was against the fact that it was carte blanche. What were we going to do, allow the 2014 car in for the whole year? In which case why have we gone and made 2015 cars? 'All we can do is wish success. If they can do that (satisfy the 2015 regulations), that's what they should have done in the first place.' +Barcelona and Real Madrid's Sunday night showdown dominates the front pages of Spain's newspapers as El Clasico nears. Marca ask the question 'MSN or BBC' as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar go head to head with Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. The feeling in Spain's newspapers is that this match could decide who wins the La Liga title, with Carlo Ancelotti's Real just one point behind Luis Enrique's Barca. MSN or BBC? Spanish newspaper Marca say this match could decide who wins the La Liga title . Spanish newspapers Sport and Mundo Deportivo have led on El Clasico coverage for Sunday . AS go with Real Madrid on the front and call it a 'universal Clasico' as they prepare to travel to Barcelona . Marca quote Barcelona manager Enrique as saying: 'I know we are going to cause them a lot of danger.' Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, meanwhile, responds with: 'Let nobody forget, these players won La Decima.' The game is set to be watched by more than 400 million people, and the world's best stars will need to be at their best at the Nou Camp. Over in Italy their newspapers are concentrating on AC Milan.The Italian club are seventh in Serie A after beating Cagliari 3-1 on Saturday. They have only won against the bottom three in 2015, and those points were needed to avoid remaining behind rivals Inter. Corriere dello Sport say 'quiet, Milan are back up' on their front page, while La Gazetta Sportiva write: Milan Vive La France.' La Gazzetta Sportiva write 'Milan Vive La France' while Corriere dello Sport go with 'quiet, Milan are back up' +Williams and Ferrari are poised to make a good start to the Formula One season after both finished winter testing with another strong showing on Sunday. Valtteri Bottas steered his Williams to the fastest time on the final of 12 days of preseason tests, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel right behind him at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. Bottas clocked an early flying lap of 1 minute, 23.063 seconds. The Finnish driver and teammate Felipe Massa have consistently been among the fastest performers with both in the top two times through the final four days of testing. Valtteri Bottas clocked the fastest time for Williams on the final of 12 days of preseason tests on Sunday . Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Sauber's Felipe Nasr both trailed the Williams driver by less than one second . Vettel catches up with Nico Rosberg of Mercedes during day four of the final Formula One winter testing . Vettel and Sauber's Felipe Nasr were both less than one second slower than Bottas. Nasr put in the most laps of the day with 159 in another promising ride by the newcomer. Whether a revamped Ferrari and confident Williams can challenge champion Mercedes is another issue. Nico Rosberg may have had a subdued final turn behind his Mercedes, but the German team has given no indication of slippage after dominating last season when Rosberg was Lewis Hamilton's only challenger for the title. The Mercedes pair had set the pace on the previous two days, with Rosberg recording the fastest overall lap time in eight days at Montmelo of 1 minute, 22.792 seconds. Toro Rosso's precocious Max Verstappen, who at 17 is the youngest F1 driver in history, again proved steady behind the wheel with the fourth fastest time. He was followed by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Williams' and Ferrari's impressive displays during testing will give them confidence to challenge Mercedes . Next came Sergio Perez in his first turn behind Force India's new car, right in front of Rosberg. McLaren's Jenson Button, meanwhile, toiled to another session-low 30 laps after only managing two before the lunch break. McLaren has been in a mechanical muddle as it adjusts to its new Honda engines. It was also without driver Fernando Alonso for the final four days of testing while he recovers from a scary crash here last weekend. McLaren only managed to complete 380 laps this preseason. Compare that to Mercedes at 1,274 laps. Or Force India, which in only two and a half days, still racked up 365. Lotus' Pastor Maldonado was the day's slowest driver, and the only one to end up in the barrier when he went off course at curve four. The Australian Grand Prix is in two weeks. +History man Steven Fletcher has spoken of his pride as he ended a six-year international scoring drought to become the first Scotland player to net a hat-trick since 1969. The Sunderland striker hit his treble in the 6-1 triumph over Gibraltar, with two Shaun Maloney penalties and a Steven Naismith strike also helping Hampden recover from the shock of Lee Casciaro’s first-half equaliser for the Group D minnows. Not since Colin Stein bagged four against Cyprus in 1969 had someone scored more than two for the national side. Steven Fletcher celebrates after scoring the second of his three goals against Gibraltar on Sunday . Fletcher (right) curls the ball around the Gibraltar defence to net his third goal of the game at Hampden Park . Regardless of the weak opposition in the Euro 2016 qualifier - albeit the Scots fell victim to the visitors’ first-ever competitive goal to make it 1-1 - Fletcher admitted he was thrilled to have achieved a feat that eluded even the great Kenny Dalglish. ‘I got asked after the Northern Ireland game if I could get a hat-trick and I laughed it off,’ said Fletcher. ‘I said I would be happy with one goal as I haven’t scored for a while. So to get the hat-trick was really pleasing. I was delighted. Gibraltar goalkeeper Jamie Robba dives to his right but is unable to stop the ball hitting the back of the net . Sunderland forward Fletcher is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring against minnows Gibraltar . ‘I’ve been told that it was 46 years since the last Scotland hat-trick and I was shocked. ‘I thought Kenny would have managed it so I am very happy and proud to be part of history. ‘It means a lot. It’s really good and it will be one of the best achievements of my career. ‘I’ve got the match ball and I’ll probably put it in a little glass cabinet. I have another one from my Hibs days when I scored a hat-trick against Gretna, so I will put it next to that. That was my last hat-trick so it will go beside that one.’ Fletcher had last scored for Scotland against Iceland in 2009, and had drawn a blank since his return from a 19-month international exile in 2011. The 28-year-old gave thanks to Gordon Strachan for sticking by him and hopes this boost will help him over the remainder of the Euro 2016 campaign, which continues with a crunch trip to Dublin in June. Fletcher was recently mocked on Twitter for buying a Lamborghini after inconsistent form for his club . Scotland boss Gordon Strachan admitted he is upbeat at his side's position in Group D after their win . ‘It’s been a while since I scored for Scotland and I was aware of that. I get told every day,’ he said. ‘It’s good to get off the mark again, especially after being out for a long time. Was it getting to me? Not really. I was still confident going in to games. ‘To be honest I haven’t had many chances in games but I had a lot against Gibraltar. I could have scored more than three but I was just happy to get the goals. ‘Getting the hat-trick will definitely help my confidence going into the summer. Hopefully I have done enough to stay in the gaffer’s plans and I’m looking forward to it. ‘The manager likes my link-up play. I know people have been saying I haven’t scored but I’ve been doing other parts. ‘He’s praised me for that and if I can keep doing that, and add goals, then I’ll be happy. ‘He’s been a massive support to me. He’s been great with me since I came back into the Scotland squad and I owe a lot to him.’ +Wayne Rooney insists England are slowly rebuilding their international credibility after a disastrous World Cup and that opponents will be wary of them despite their failure in Brazil. England have won seven straight games since the 0-0 draw against Costa Rica, but they face a tough test in Turin on Tuesday when they take on Italy, who beat them in Brazil. The England captain insists that the team is making progress under Roy Hodgson, even though the victories have been recorded against less exacting opposition. England captain Wayne Rooney is delighted with the progress the team has made since the World Cup . England captain Rooney (left) scored his 47th international goal in the 4-0 win against Lithuania . Since England's 0-0 draw with Costa Rica at the World Cup, Roy Hodgson's team have won seven from seven . Rooney said: ‘After the World Cup we spoke and knew it would take time but we are gradually getting better. 'You are seeing the results on the pitch but there is still a long way to go. I’m not saying we are happy with this level. We will still need to improve before hopefully getting to France in 2016 but there is time to improve. ‘I think, looking at the team we have got, when we lose the ball we go and win it back quickly. What we have been working on is pressing as a team from the back. ‘There are times when we have to tuck in as a team and then hit teams on the break and we have so much pace in the team, which players don’t like playing against. ‘Teams will be a bit wary about that when they play us because of the pace and ability we have. ‘I am one of the older guys in the dressing room and I have responsibility that I am enjoying as captain and with the experience I have I hope to pass that on,’ he added. Rooney admitted he is excited at the prospect of becoming England's all-time top scorer . Rooney has scored 47 goals for England and Sir Bobby Charlton holds the record with 49 . After scoring against Lithuania, Rooney is two goals short of equalling Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time goalscoring record for the national team. And he admits he thinks about becoming England’s all-time top scorer. ‘It is always at the back of my mind, there is no getting away from it. It could be on Tuesday, it could be in the summer, or it could be after that,’ he said. +Cristiano Ronaldo displayed his humorous side on Thursday when he pranked international team-mate Ricardo Quaresma by covering his car in tin foil and the Real Madrid star is now set to feature in a stand-up comedy show. Well, not exactly. Scouse comedian and contestant on quiz show A League of Their Own John Bishop seems set to dress up as Portugal forward Ronaldo during one of his shows next week. The 48-year-old comic from Liverpool posted a picture on his official Twitter account on Friday wearing a Real Madrid replica shirt appearing to be wear a prosthetic face mask to closer resemble the former Manchester United forward. Comedian John Bishop dressed up as Cristiano Ronaldo and looks set to perform as the Real Madrid during next Thursday's Supersonic show at the Royal Albert Hall . The Real Madrid forward talks to Portugal boss Fernando Santos during a training session on Friday . Ronaldo looked in high spirits ahead of Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia . Ronaldo took to Instagram to showcase his car prank on Portugal team-mate Ricardo Quaresma . Ronaldo re-designed Quaresma's car into the style of his Nike Mercurial Superfly CR7 football boots . Ronaldo was wearing his signature model boots during Portugal's training session on Thursday . 'Morning, to know what all this is about you have to be at my DVD record at the Royal Albert Hall next weekly. Buy it,' Bishop tweeted alongside the post. The cryptic tweet suggests that he will be playing the role of Ronaldo during his show at the Royal Albert Hall next Thursday. Bishop will be performing his latest show Supersonic at the famous hall in central London. The show could be the last time he performs the set live and is being recorded for DVD. +Barcelona midfielder and former Spain international Xavi is close to agreeing a deal to join Al Sadd, the Qatari side said on Saturday. The 35-year-old has played for Barca a record 751 times since he graduated from the academy to the first team in 1998 but has had limited game time this season under coach Luis Enrique. 'Al Sadd Sports Club confirms that the latest news about bringing the Spanish star Xavi Hernandez to the club is still under negotiation,' Al Sadd announced on their website. Al Sadd have announced on their website they are close to signing Barcelona's legendary playmaker Xavi . Xavi has made 751 appearances for Barcelona since graduating from the club's youth academy in 1998 . 'The Spanish player is currently in Doha with his family to know more about the country where he will live in the near future,' the club added. 'The club assures it will announce the news immediately through both local and regional media once the player has signed officially.' Spanish media reported this week that Xavi was poised to sign a three-year deal with Al Sadd worth around 10 million euros (£7m) a season with an option for a further season. One of the most decorated footballers of all time, Xavi represented Spain 133 times, a record for an outfield player and only bettered by goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas. After making his debut in a friendly against Netherlands in November 2000, he was a key figure in La Roja's glittering run when they won the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup. Xavi has won three Champions League crowns, seven La Liga titles and a host of other trophies with Barca. Xavi has won seven league titles and three Champions League trophies while playing for Barcelona . +Misfiring Inter Milan forward Lukas Podolski has moved to defend himself as he reacted angrily to critics of his recent performances in Serie A, following a loan switch from Arsenal in January. The Germany international has failed to score in his 11 appearances so far for the Nerazzurri and has come under intense scrutiny from the Italian press, with some outlets even branding him as the worst signing of the season. But Podolski feels that these attacks are unfair and counter productive to him rediscovering his form. 'People keep bringing up how the Italian media looks at me,' he said, 'What can I do about it? Should I just dig myself into the ground and give up playing football?' Inter Milan forward Lukas Podolski has hit back at critics of his performances since joining the club . Podolski joined Inter on loan from Arsenal in January but has so far struggled to make an impact in Serie A . While Podolski might be struggling at club level, his international career has suffered no such dip. The 29-year-old came off the bench to score his 48th goal for Germany, a dramatic late equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Australia on Wednesday. That goal has now placed Podolski third in his country's all-time leading scoring charts and he is keen to carry on being part of the international set-up. 'I have always been part of the team and I hope this will continue to be the case,' he said. 'I always enjoy being with the national team and always give my all in training to show the coach what I can do. It's then up to him to make a decision.' Podolski (left) dribbles with the ball towards Australia midfielder Tommy Orr (right) on Wednesday night . Podolski scores a late equaliser for Germany to spare their blushes in a 2-2 friendly draw with Australia . Podolski's 48th goal for Germany sees him move third in the all-time leading scoring charts for his country . +Alexis Sanchez has been training at Arsenal's London Colney training base with Chile ahead of their game against Brazil in London, but has been joined by some unlikely new team-mates: his dogs. Sanchez's Chile meet Brazil in a repeat of last summer's World Cup second-round clash at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, and the Arsenal forward has been making the most of his home comforts between training sessions with his international colleagues. In what seems a slightly unusual way of preparing for a game, the 26-year-old has been taking his dogs around the pitches during the international break. Alexis Sanchez is pictured with his two dogs Atom and Humber during training with Chile on Saturday . The Chile star joined his two dogs for a jog around Arsenal's London Colney base ahead of facing Brazil . Dog-loving Sanchez's canine duo Atom and Humber were pictured accompanying their owner on a jog around the north London base. Sunday's South American showdown at the Emirates pits Sanchez against his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar, who he still holds a close friendship with. The pair last met at the World Cup, with Neymar's Brazil prevailing on penalties. Sanchez had scored Chile's first-half equaliser in Belo Horizonte but missed in the shoot-out before Neymar sealed the win for the hosts. The game against Brazil at the Emirates Stadium reunites Sanchez with his former team-mate Neymar . The pair spent a year together at Barcelona before Sanchez was sold on to Arsenal last summer . 'I'm so excited and honoured to be playing for the national team of Chile, against our great rivals Brazil, in front of the incredible Arsenal fans at Emirates Stadium,' Sanchez said. 'I also look forward to playing against my good friend Neymar. 'Matches between Brazil and Chile are always exciting encounters, and for me, to play this game at Emirates Stadium will make the match even more special.' Training at London Colney with Chile is a familiar experience for Sanchez, as it is usually Arsenal's base . The 26-year-old forward has had an impressive season since arriving in the Barclays Premier League . +Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is currently Europe's 29th best forward in 2015 while Barcelona's Lionel Messi ranks first, a study has revealed. CIES Football Observatory have compiled the best-performing players in five positions this year, crunching the numbers by focusing on shooting, chances created, take-ons, distribution, recovery and rigour. The rankings throw up unexpected results with Manchester City's Gael Clichy crowned the best full back, and Arsenal's Mesut Ozil the joint-top attacking midfielder with Chelsea's Eden Hazard. Cristiano Ronaldo ranks 29th in a table of the best forwards in the top five European leagues in 2015 . Real Madrid and Portugal star Ronaldo played for his country in the weekend win over Serbia . CIES Football Observatory Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are: . Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi ranks first in CIES Football Observatory's statistics . Ronaldo has scored just six goals in La Liga this year after winning the Ballon d'Or in mid-January, and rival Messi has swept the Real Madrid forward aside with 19 as Barcelona sit top of the table by four points. Messi, with the top score of 100 in the rankings, is followed by Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben (92), Wolfsburg's Bas Dost (77) and Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez (71). Then come the Barclays Premier League's top scorers. Chelsea's Diego Costa (61) and Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane (57) have 19 goals apiece, and rank fifth and sixth as a result. Kane shares sixth spot with Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus (57) as he continues to surprise at White Hart Lane, having earned his senior England debut against Lithuania. Barcelona's Messi ranks first in the list of the top 10 forwards, compiled by CIES Football Observatory . Arjen Robben (right) comes second while his Bayern Munich team-mate Xabi Alonso (centre) is in another list . The Premier League's top goalscorers Diego Costa (left) and Harry Kane come fifth and sixth in the list . 1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona (100) 2. Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich (92) 3. Bas Dost, Wolfsburg (77) 4. Luis Suarez, Barcelona (71) 5. Diego Costa, Chelsea (61) =6. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur (57) =6. Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund (57) 8. Lucas Barrios, Montpellier (56) 9. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund (55) 10. Christophe Mandanne, Guingamp (54) As for centre backs, since January 1, Bayer Leverkusen's Emir Spahic ranks first with a score of 100, but the Premier League is represented by three players in the top 10. Runner-up is Manchester City's Martin Demichelis (89), while Manchester United's Chris Smalling (76) and Marcos Rojo (68) are fourth and eighth respectively. Third-placed Mats Hummels (79) has long been courted by those at Old Trafford, and for good reason it seems. Louis van Gaal may well get the Borussia Dortmund defender this summer after Sportsmail revealed he promised Sir Alex Ferguson he would move to Manchester three years ago. As for full backs, it's more good news for those at the Etihad. Clichy ranks first with a score of 100 ahead of Real Madrid's Marcelo (75), while his team-mate Pablo Zabaleta (70) comes fifth. Bayer Leverkusen's Emir Spahic is ranked top of the centre backs in Europe since January 1 . Martin Demichelis (left) ranks second in the top 10 centre backs while Mats Hummels (right) is third . Gael Clichy (left), pictured at the Liverpool All-Star match, is the best full back, while Marcelo is runner up . 1. Emir Spahic, Bayer Leverkusen (100) 2. Martin Demichelis, Man City (89) 3. Mats Hummels, Borussia Dortmund (79) 4. Chris Smalling, Man Utd (76) 5. Thiago Silva, PSG (71) =6. David Luiz, PSG (69) =6. Stefan de Vrij, Lazio (69) 8. Marcos Rojo, Man Utd (68) =9. Konstantinos Manolas, Roma (64) =9. Neven Subotic, Borussia Dortmund (64) 1. Gael Clichy, Man City (100) 2. Marcelo, Real Madrid (75) =3. Marcio Rafinha, Bayern Munich (72) =3. Wendell Nascimento, B Leverkusen (72) 5. Pablo Zabaleta, Man City (70) =6. David Alaba, Bayern Munich (69) =6. Jordi Alba, Barcelona (69) 8. Layvin Kurzawa, Monaco (68) 9. Dusan Basta, Lazio (67) 10. Juan Bernat, Bayern Munich (65) Over to central and defensive midfielders, where Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin (100) takes the crown despite his club's struggles in the Bundesliga. Runner-up is Juventus ace Paul Pogba (96) with Manchester City's Fernandinho (94) third. Xabi Alonso, at the age of 33, represents Bayern Munich in eighth place with a score of 79. Finally, to the attacking midfielders. The Premier League dominates this category with Chelsea's Hazard and Arsenal's Ozil sharing the top spot, each with the top mark of 100. Then comes Manchester City's Jesus Navas (86), joined by team-mate David Silva (77) in seventh. Fourth and fifth are occupied by former Premier League players in Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne (85) and Borussia Dortmund's Shinji Kagawa (84). Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin ranks first in central and defensive midfielders, while Paul Pogba is second . Chelsea's Eden Hazard (left) and Arsenal's Mesut Ozil rank joint-first with the top mark of 100 in their category . 1. Nuri Sahin, Borussia Dortmund (100) 2. Paul Pogba, Juventus (96) 3. Fernandinho, Man City (94) 4. Lucas Biglia, Lazio (89) 5. Ilkay Gundogan, Borussia Dortmund (87) 6. Marco Verratti, PSG (85) 7. Clement Chantome, Bordeaux (84) 8. Xabi Alonso, Bayern Munich (79) 9. Bastian Schweinsteiger, B Munich (78) 10. Arturo Vidal, Juventus (77) =1. Eden Hazard, Chelsea (100) =1. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal (100) 3. Jesus Navas, Man City (86) 4. Kevin de Bruyne, Wolfsburg (85) 5. Shinji Kagawa, Borussia Dortmund (84) 6. Marek Hamsik, Napoli (79) 7. David Silva, Man City (77) 8. Maximilian Meyer, Schalke (73) =9. Roberto Pereyra, Juventus (72) =9. Javier Pastore, PSG (72) +Gordon Strachan admitted on Tuesday that he faces a huge dilemma over who should be his Scotland captain. Fit-again Darren Fletcher and Celtic skipper Scott Brown are vying for the armband ahead of Wednesday's friendly with Northern Ireland and Sunday’s Euro qualifier with Gibraltar. Brown was Strachan’s pick when Fletcher was missing with a chronic bowel disease or on the bench for recent internationals. Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher (left) is fit again and ready to start for Gordon Strachan's side . Celtic captain Scott Brown has been Scotland skipper in the absence of Fletcher . Since leaving Manchester United for West Brom in January, however, the 31-year-old has staked a claim to add to his 66 caps in the upcoming games. And Strachan admitted: ‘I’ve got a hard decision to make. I’m trying to make sure everybody gets involved in the games. I want to be fair on the club managers. ‘At this moment, I haven’t picked the team so I can’t pick a captain. Once I pick the team, I’ll have an idea. Scotland manager Strachan says he doesn't know who will be his captain for the upcoming fixtures . Fletcher left Manchester United in the January transfer window and is now the West Brom captain . ‘I know the system, the players know the system. ‘I have other decisions to make as well. Who’s the goalie? Who’s going to be the main one up front? Who’s going to be the wide players? They are smashing decisions to have to make.’ Strachan has almost a full squad to choose from for both games – with Ross McCormack the only call-off. +We are constantly being nagged to floss, with dental experts claiming it can add years to our life. But according to one dentist, most of us have been doing it incorrectly for years. Dr Carlos Meulener, a dentist from New Jersey, has released a video showing the best way to floss teeth in order to have the healthiest smile. ‘Brushing is great but it’s not enough - you need flossing to remove the bacteria between the teeth,’ he says. Dr Calos Meulener has released a video showing his 'one minute flossing technique' which he says helps rid the mouth of bacteria. He is pictured holding floss between two thumbs, about an inch apart . He advises taking a piece of wax dental floss and winding it up with the index fingers, but not so tightly that it hurts. When flossing the upper row of teeth, put the thumbs around an inch apart from each other on the floss. Dr Meulener said: ‘The reason why most people have a problem flossing is that they try to get too much floss in their mouths. ‘The way to control it is to use your thumbs for your upper teeth and middle fingers for your lower teeth. ‘Put that amount of floss between these fingers so you can manipulate it easily from one side to the next.’ Then, put the floss between two teeth and floss in and up and down motion along the teeth, rather than a sawing motion from side to side. 1. Take a piece of wax dental floss and put each thumb about and inch apart . 2. Put the floss between the upper teeth . 3. Keeping the back thumb stationary, move the front thumb up and down to floss the tooth . 4. Do not floss in a 'sawing motion' - back and forth - but up and down, rubbing the floss up and down the tooth . 5. Repeat using the middle fingers for the bottom teeth . ‘We’re flossing the walls of one tooth and the other tooth and polishing the bacteria off those surfaces,’ Dr Meulener said. One thumb should stay stationary while the other thumb is moved up and down, creating the flossing motion. Similarly, when flossing the lower teeth, one middle finger should stay stationary while the other is moved, it in order to manipulate the floss so it rubs up and down against the inside of the tooth. Dr Meulener says this method, which takes just a minute, is the best and most efficient way to floss. He said: ‘It takes a minute and it really makes a difference to dental health.’ In the past, studies have shown that flossing teeth can prevent the build up of plaque, which sticks to teeth and causes irritation, inflammation to gums known as gum disease. Gum disease causes bad breath, bleeding gums and, if untreated, cavities, receding gums and tooth loss. Worldwide, 15- 20 per cent of adults aged 35-44 years have severe gum disease, which may result in the loss of teeth. He advises using two thumbs for the upper teeth, or two middle fingers for the lower teeth, and flossing in an 'up and down' motion rather than 'sawing' from side to side . In the UK, the The Adult Dental Health Survey of 2009 found 47 per cent of  the population had moderate to severe gum disease - around 30 million people. Research shows losing teeth could signal a higher risk of suffering heart disease and diabetes. Swedish researchers found people with fewer teeth and bleeding gums were more likely to have a range of cardiovascular problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. They found poor dental hygiene and bleeding gums could allow up to 700 different types of bacteria to get into the bloodstream, which increases the risk of a heart attack regardless of how fit and healthy the person is. Previous studies have also linked bad teeth to Alzheimer's, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, lung disease and even miscarriage and premature birth. +Real Madrid left back Fabio Coentrao admits playing for Manchester United would be an honour as Louis van Gaal's side continue to be linked with a move for the 27-year-old. Portuguese ace Coentrao, a good friend of former Red Devil Cristiano Ronaldo, has been linked with a move to Old Trafford time and time again, including in January 2014. Current United left back Luke Shaw has failed to live up to the hype since his move from Southampton and Coentrao has admitted he has always admired the Manchester club should they come calling again. Fabio Coentrao and former Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo enjoy a joke on the training ground . Coentrao has again been linked with a move to Premier League giants Manchester United . He told O Jogo: 'It's [Manchester United] one of the best clubs in the world, a club I admire greatly. It would be an honour to play there.' However, the defender was quick to remind Real Madrid fans that he still has a lot to give the club during the four years that remain on his contract. He added: 'I hope to have more minutes at Real Madrid, though the coach needs to trust me more, something that has not happened so far.' Coentrao admits he would be honoured to play for United in the future but is committed to Real Madird . Coentrao comes up against Manchester United ace Robin van Persie in the Champions League . +Endless hours of rigorous training, countless repetitive rehearsals to perfect your technique and you fluff your lines on the big stage. A horrifying scene no athlete wants to be part of. However that's what happened to Russia's unfortunate skeleton slider Elena Nikitina, when she overshot the mark and completely missed her sled in her very first run of the World Championships in Germany. At the height of her speed in front of an eagerly awaiting crowd, the poor Russian took a tumble and slid down the hill further than a certain Sol Campbell tackle on Ivica Olic when England played Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. It was all going to plan as Elena Nikitina began her first run in the Skeleton World Championships in Germany . However the Russian slider failed to grab on to one of the sled's handles, completely missing her target . We're happy to announce that Nikitina emerged uninjured after her unfortunate episode in Winterberg, only suffering a minor blow to her pride. Great Britain's Lizzy Yarnold is on course to completing a career quadruple after setting a new track record on the Winterberg Hochsauerland bobsleigh track. Yarnold will look to stay in contention for gold as the women head into the final day of the competition on Saturday. The 22-year old looks up in dismay as her sled careers toward the finish line without her on board . Skeleton slider Nikitina bares all as she poses for a photoshoot back home in Russia . +Barcelona star Neymar is certainly no stranger to giving opponents the run-around and it would seem even his pet dog gets similar treatment. The 23-year-old took to Instagram on Friday to show-off a short clip of himself playing a game with his pet pooch named Poker. Neymar begins by playing hide-and-seek around the dog's kennel before attempting to catch up with Poker and failing to do so. Barcelona forward Neymar (right) hides from his pet dog Poker while at home on Friday . The curious pooch looks for 23-year-old Neymar, who can be seen hiding behind the dog kennel . Poker seems to get the better of Neymar, which is more than can be said for Villarreal, who were beaten 3-1 by Barca in the Copy del Rey semi-final second leg on Wednesday. The Brazilian youngster tormented the Villarreal defence throughout and grabbed two goals as Luis Enrique's side booked a final spot alongside Atheltic Bilbao. Neymar's playful pooch video marks an end to a brilliant week after he was named in the Brazil squad for the forthcoming internationl friendlies against  France and Chile. The Brazilian star scored on Wednesday in Barca's 3-1 win over Villarreal in the Copa del Rey . Neymar has been training with Barca ahead of facing Rayo Vallecano with the hope of closing a league gap . 'Since he has been designated captain of the team, he has had an upgrade on his level of football,' Dunga said of Neymar. 'He likes challenges, the more responsibility he has, the more he will develop and get better. 'We are very happy to have him; he is doing fantastic things in Europe. Neymar posted this picture on Instagram of him and his team-mates at Barcelona's training ground . +Manchester United's No 1 transfer target Mats Hummels has left the door open to a move to Old Trafford though admits he is still undecided about his future. The World Cup-winning Borussia Dortmund centre back has been tracked by United ever since Louis van Gaal took over last summer and the club are preparing a summer bid for the German. Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 and reached the 2013 Champions League final but are currently 10th in the German table and in danger of missing out on European football altogether next season. Manchester United target Mats Hummels has admitted he could be keen on a move away from Dortmund . The Germany international has been stringently linked with a move to Man United during the past few years . United manager Louis van Gaal wants to bolster his defensive options during the summer transfer window . And Hummels, 26, admitted to Kicker magazine that he is mulling over his future. 'Some days I think I would definitely like to move abroad but then, other days, I think I don't fancy it at all,' he said when asked of United's interest. 'Basically, I think moving abroad would be good for my professional and personal well-being. Eventually, I'd like to leave the Bundesliga. 'I have had many conversations with the leaders of Dortmund, where I know I am a big part of the team, but I am yet to make a decision about my future. 'I'm being open about this because I'm not a fan of those who claim they are staying but, behind the scenes, have actually secretly agreed a transfer away from their current club. 'I will do what is best for my career and what I would like to do. Everyone knows how much I love it at Dortmund but I also want to make sure I'm part of a strong team with powerful players.' Hummels would compete with the likes of Chris Smalling (left) and Phil Jones (right) if he was to join United . +Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao remains determined to break back into Louis van Gaal's starting XI despite talk of a permanent move to Juventus this summer. The Colombian, who is currently on loan at Old Trafford from Monaco, has failed to impress this season and has not started a game since the 2-0 win against Sunderland on February 28. Juventus are keen on the former Atletico Madrid man, with the Serie A side having opened talks with Monaco about a deal earlier this month. Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao insists he is 'focused 100 per cent' on Manchester United . Colombia striker Falcao scores his first of two goals in a friendly against Bahrain earlier this week . However, Falcao is refusing to discuss a move to Italy and insists he is concentrating on helping United finish the season strongly by grabbing a Champions League place. 'Juventus looking for me? They talk a lot, but now I'm focused 100 per cent on Manchester United,' he told Radio Caracol. The 29-year-old has just four Premier League goals in 19 games but he remains hopeful of breaking back into Van Gaal's plans for the last eight games. Falcao added: 'Before the end of the season there are some crucial matches and I hope that this situation will change.' Falcao has struggled for form since joining Manchester United and looks unlikely to stay beyond this season . Falcao celebrates after scoring his second goal against Bahrain in their 6-0 victory . +Roger Goodell has hinted that London could be set for more NFL games in the near future. With three International Series games scheduled for the second season in succession, 2016 may see a further increase, according to the 56-year-old NFL Commissioner. Speaking to Peter King of TheMMQB.com on the eve of the league's owners meeting in Pheonix, Goodell said: 'Yeah, we’re looking at more games.' The NFL wanted to host more games in England this year, but were hampered by the rugby World Cup, which sees Pennyhill Park - a favourite haunt of visiting NFL teams - booked up by England and Wembley hosting two games during rugby union's showpiece event. Roger Goodell wants England to host further NFL games going into the 2016 season . Julio Jones is tackled by Glover Quin during the Detroit Lions' 22-21 win over Atlanta at Wembley last year . Week Four . New York Jets vs Miami Dolphins . Sunday, October 4, 2:30pm ko . Week Seven . Buffalo Bills vs Jacksonville Jaguars . Sunday, October 25, 1:30pm ko . Week Eight . Detroit Lions vs Kansas City Chiefs . Sunday, November 1, 2:30pm ko . 'I think every year we’ve learned something from our experience, which is the objective. First and foremost is the passion of the fans—they want more. … What we’re getting from authorities is that, “We’d love to have a permanent presence here.” Stadiums are another big part of it,' Goodell to King. Goodell also spoke about the Deflategate saga, saying the saga is rumbling to a close two months after the NFL began their investigation. The NFL is investigating the New England Patriots after 11 of 12 game balls they used in their 45-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC title game were found to be underinflated. And Goodell said he expects to get the final report 'soon' from independent investigator Ted Wells. 'I think that if you’re going to be thorough, it takes time. You’re having to meet with a lot of people. I guess it’s always too long, because you want to get to that issue and deal with it. It’s important not to exert any pressure to short-circuit or do anything other than be fair and transparent,' he said. +After a NFL season to forget, Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson celebrated his 30th birthday in style with an extravagant Arabic-themed party in his home state of Texas. Peterson put speculation about where he’ll be playing next season behind him and took his own life into his hands as he entered his birthday bash on the back of camel. The elaborate celebrations included costumes, an ice bar, a cake shaped like a middle eastern palace and a special guest appearance by actor Jamie Foxx who can be seen hamming it up on the dance-floor and in the DJ booth in mobile phone footage that has since appeared on social media. Scroll down for video . Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson celebrated his 30th birthday in style on Saturday by entering the extravagant Arabic-themed party on the back of a camel . Peterson, posing above with one birthday guest, celebrated turning 30 on Saturday with a no-expense-spared party in his home state of Texas . The big 3-0 typically signals the beginning of the end for an NFL running back, but Peterson didn’t let that spoil his fun on Saturday night. The Vikings' all-time leading rusher appeared in only one game in 2014 because of the child abuse case that involved injuries to his four-year-old son. He was indicted on September 11, 2014, by a Montgomery County, Texas, grand jury on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child that occurred on May 18, 2014. He is accused of beating his four-year-old son with a tree branch, which Peterson consistently referred to as a 'switch', causing severe welts and bleeding on the child's back, legs, buttocks, genitals and ankles. In their initial response, the Vikings deactivated Peterson for a single game. Peterson’s 2014 NFL season was over after arbitrator Shyam Das ruled in favor of the NFL on November 18, 2014, saying, 'the league can keep Adrian Peterson on the commissioner’s exempt list,' effectively terminating the Minnesota Vikings running back's season. Actor Jamie Foxx was one of the guests in attendance for Peterson's party and he can be seen hamming in up on the dancefloor and in the DJ booth in cellphone footage that has appeared on social media since . The elaborate celebrations included costumes, an ice bar and a cake shaped like a middle eastern palace . His suspension, ordered by Commissioner Roger Goodell through at least April 15, was tabled after a federal judge knocked down the NFL arbitrator's denial of Peterson's appeal. Peterson was returned to the special exempt list, pending further developments on the legal front. He has three years remaining on his Vikings contract and is owed $12.75 million next season, but relations between the two parties are currently described as tenuous. While team officials have said they want Peterson back, he has questioned their commitment in the wake of the suspension controversy. The Vikings' all-time leading rusher appeared in only one game in 2014 because of the child abuse case that involved injuries to his 4-year-old son . In an interview with ESPN last month, he called the collaboration between the Vikings and the NFL to place him on paid leave the week after he was indicted in Texas 'an ambush.' Peterson's agent, Ben Dogra, said on Friday that he declined an invitation from Vikings general manager Rick Spielman to meet over dinner during the NFL owners meetings in Arizona next week. The Texan has featured in six Pro Bowl selections, run for 10,190 yards and scored 86 touchdowns since joining the NFL. He has only played for the Vikings since his league debut in 2007. In 2012, Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, finishing nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's all-time record for running yardage in a single NFL season. An ice sculpture of an elephant on display at Adrian Peterson's 30th birthday bash. The big 3-0 typically signals the beginning of the end for an NFL running back . The big 3-0 typically signals the beginning of the end for an NFL running back, but Peterson didn’t let that spoil his fun on Saturday night . Actor Jamie Foxx entertains the crowd at Peterson's party on Saturday night . Peterson, pictured outside court in October. His suspension, ordered by Commissioner Roger Goodell through at least April 15, was tabled after a federal judge knocked down the NFL arbitrator's denial of Peterson's appeal . +Kimi Raikkonen was left to bemoan bad timing as the reason why he faces an uphill struggle to claim a podium finish in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix. Throughout practice at the Sepang International Circuit Raikkonen had suggested a top-three position was on the cards as he emerged the closest rival to Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. But come qualifying, and the start of the second session with a storm brewing overhead, the Finn found himself out of position in the queue to take to the track and set a banker lap. Kimi Raikkonen's chances of a podium finish in Malaysia were dampened by a storm during qualifying . The Finn eventually qualified in 11th position in his Ferrari at the Sepang Circuit . Click here to read Jonathan McEvoy's report as Hamilton secures pole ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg . With team-mate Sebastian Vettel at the head of the line of cars, the four-times champion eventually emerged quickest in Q2 as the drivers only had time for one hot lap before the heavens opened. That lap proved to be a mad scramble from which Raikkonen could only qualify 11th, with Sauber's Marcus Ericsson his undoing. 'I tried to overtake Ericsson because he was in front of me,' said Raikkonen. 'But at the last corner I couldn't slow down because there were other people pushing me forward. 'In my mind we just got the timing wrong. That's how it ended up.' Television pictures of qualifying showed lightning and stormy conditions approaching the circuit . Dark clouds gather in the background at the Sepang International Circuit during the qualifying session . Raikkonen, though, opted not to point an accusing finger at his team, adding: 'I don't know if it helps to blame anyone. 'It's easy to say afterwards we should have been waiting behind one another, but the end result is this and whatever we will do now will not change it. It is unfortunate. 'Obviously, we have made our life very difficult, so I have no idea what we will do tomorrow. We will try our best and see where we end up.' Vettel, meanwhile, became the first Ferrari driver since this race two years ago to qualify on the front row, splitting Hamilton and Rosberg who were denied a 10th consecutive front-row lock-out. World champion Lewis Hamilton will begin the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang on pole position . Sebastian Vettel (right) split the Mercedes drivers to put his Ferrari second on the grid in Malaysia . With further rain forecast for the race, the outcome could be wide open, potentially playing into Vettel's hands as his car appeared strong in the wet. 'Obviously when it starts to rain here - and there's always a high chance - it can mix up things,' said Vettel. 'It was an interesting qualifying session. The car felt good in both dry and wet conditions at the end. 'I'm reasonably happy, and also the long runs look good on practice days, so we should be in good shape, but we know they (Mercedes) are difficult to beat. 'That's ultimately why we turn up trying to win, so we will see what we can do. Maybe it looks like we are a little bit closer here, but we will have to wait and see.' 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:49.834 . 2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:49.908 . 3. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:50.299 . 4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:51.541 . 5. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) 1:51.951 . 6. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) 1:51.981 . 7. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1:52.473 . 8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1:52.981 . 9. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 1:53.179 . 10. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1:53.261 . 11. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:42.173 . 12. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) 1:42.198 . 13. Nico Hulkenburg (Force India) 1:43.023 . 14. Sergio Perez (Force India) 1:43.469 . 15. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 1:43.701 . 16. Felipe Nasr (Sauber) 1:41.308 . 17. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1:41.636 . 18. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1:41.746 . 19. Roberto Merhi (Marussia) 1:46.746 . 20. Will Stevens (Marussia) +For Steve Clarke, there were no apologies, no guilt and no sense of remorse. He deemed the nine changes before their defeat at Watford necessary if Reading are to be ready for Bradford in their FA Cup quarter-final replay on Monday night. Of those nine, four were making full debuts. Discounting Simon Cox, the rest of the Royals side had made just 34 Championship starts between them this season. Whatever Clarke says, this was an unwrapped gift to a team chasing promotion to the Premier League. But the manager must be well down the list when blame is apportioned. Jem Karacan's Reading team-mates gather to congratulate the midfielder after his goal against Watford . Steve Clarke played a decidedly under strength side at Vicarage Road that will completely change on Monday . Reading's Pavel Pogrebnyak and Bradford's Stephen Darby clash in the 0-0 draw that forced Monday's FA Cup replay at the Madejski Stadium, with both sides nursing their squads in the lead-up to the fixture . It is the fault of broadcasters that he had just 48 hours between leaving Vicarage Road on Saturday and kicking off against Phil Parkinson’s Bradford on Monday evening. Domestic cup fixtures cannot be played on the same night as Champions League games and, as such, there is no way around this ludicrous situation. Clarke is expected to name a completely fresh XI at the Madejski Stadium, while Parkinson, who made six changes of his own side for the 1-1 draw at Notts County, will mix and match, too. Bradford had five players who retained their place from the Cup game. Reading had none. Fifteen changes was the sum total and for one reason only. Clarke is dealing with a ludicrous 48-hour turnaround between playing Watford and Bradford . These will be two teams going hell for leather in a competition they have prioritised. Their tedious goalless draw at Valley Parade last week may have been wretched to watch, but this tie is harking back to the FA Cup’s old days, neither side giving an inch. They could not bear losing at this stage. Reading supporters won’t remember the 4-1 defeat at Watford in a decade’s time, but a day out at Wembley, taking on holders Arsenal, would stick in the memory should they progress. The Royals have nothing to play for in the league. They are safe and will not trouble the second tier’s play-offs. Almen Abdi (centre) scored the opener against a Reading side with nothing to play for in the league . And club captain Jem Karacan, who made only his second appearance for the club since September 2013 because of injury, backed his manager’s decision to ring the changes. ‘The gaffer has to bear the replay in mind,’ said Karacan, who scored his side’s consolation as Watford ran riot with strikes from Almen Abdi, Matej Vydra, Troy Deeney and Fernando Forestieri. ‘If you put a team out that doesn’t win at Watford you get criticised, but if you don’t win on Monday you get criticised as well so it’s a catch-22 for the gaffer. ‘Playing at Wembley is one of those things that you just can’t describe. The feeling we had when we went there before (the 2011 Championship play-off final loss to Swansea) will always stay with me.’ Reading's Yakubu Aiyegbeni passes under pressure as his side struggled against the promotion hopefuls . Parkinson has had a trickier balancing act. Bradford are three points beneath the League One play-offs and will have two games in hand once Tuesday’s programme of fixtures is complete. He couldn’t afford to make changes quite so wholesale for their trip to Nottingham, knowing promotion is by no means out of the question. Those in West Yorkshire will think of two years ago when they were capable of juggling that fairytale journey to the Capital One Cup final and the league campaign, which ended in promotion from League Two. Reading will doubtless have the fresher side tonight and Parkinson knows his team blew their best chance of reaching the semi-finals. But they feed off adrenaline. Just ask Chelsea and Sunderland. Two games in three days will not faze this collection of loanees and cast-offs. After all, Arsenal await. PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND . Maybe, just maybe, Ronnie Moore can inspire Hartlepool to Football League survival. Marooned at the foot of League Two for months, all looked lost. The 1-0 win at Morecambe - thanks to an Andy Parrish own goal - was their first three points on the road since October, their first clean sheet away from Victoria Park for 12 months and puts them within two results of safety. No wonder defender Scott Harrison was close to tears in the dressing room afterwards. WHAT'S CAUGHT MY EYE . +Torpedo Moscow must play two home matches behind closed doors because of the racist abuse aimed at Zenit St Petersburg forward Hulk in Sunday's Premier League match. 'Due to the offensive racial behaviour of the Torpedo fans towards Hulk we have fined the club 300,000 roubles (£3,342) and they will have to play two home league matches behind closed doors,' Russian Football Union disciplinary committee chief Artur Grigoryants told reporters on Wednesday. 'If there is a repeat of this racial abuse there will be an even stronger punishment next time.' Torpedo Moscow have been hit with a two-match stadium ban after their fans racially abused Hulk (right) Russian outfit Torpedo will have to play their next two matches behind closed doors following the incident . Brazil international Hulk, 28, scored the only goal for leaders Zenit in their 1-1 draw at fifth from bottom Torpedo. It is not the first time this season that Torpedo supporters have been punished for offensive behaviour. The club were sanctioned in September for racist chants directed at Dynamo Moscow's Christopher Samba, playing one match with part of their stadium closed. Torpedo supporters were also found guilty in November of aiming monkey chants at Rostov's black players which resulted in the club having to play three home fixtures with part of the stadium closed. Torpedo were made to play with part of their stadium closed for one match after fans aimed abuse at Christopher Samba back in September . Earlier on Wednesday, Premier League president Sergei Pryadkin vowed to hit offenders hard. 'This is not the main problem facing us but racism certainly is a problem,' said Pryadkin. 'In some countries where football is very well developed this problem occurs and racism happens every week. Even in England it is a problem. 'We will take responsibility for what has happened. Together with the Russian Football Union and the Sports Ministry we will work to cut out this problem,' added Pryadkin. 'We have a lot of different nationalities in our country, no other country in the world has as many, but every club unfortunately has its undesirable elements. Only tough measures will help to overcome the problem of racism.' +FIFA President Sepp Blatter says he's concerned by a study highlighting the scale of Russia's racism problem ahead of the 2018 World Cup. The Fare network organization and the Moscow-based SOVA Center detailed dozens of cases of discriminatory behaviour linked to Russian football over two seasons. The report has been received by FIFA and Blatter told The Associated Press: 'I am aware of the report ... sure we are concerned, definitely.' Sepp Blatter admits he is concerned about the level of racism in Russia ahead of their hosting the World Cup . In 2013, CSKA Moscow were ordered to close part of their stadium for racist chanting against Yaya Toure . Last year, Blatter spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about making tackling racism a priority in 2018. Blatter says 'if it does not stop then there must be some sanctions.' Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Northern Ireland, Blatter added: 'Racism is one of the items which is on my agenda on the very top, every day.' Fans of FC Torpedo Moscow chant during the Russian Premier League match against FC Rostov . Blatter and Russian president Vladimir Putin pose at the official World Cup handover ceremony last year . +The Premier League will break extraordinary new ground this weekend when fans are taken inside the dressing room ahead of Arsenal vs Liverpool. In a first for top-flight football, both pre-match teamtalks by the captains will be streamed live to the world from the Emirates on Saturday. As they bid to keep track with the latest technology, the Premier League has convinced both clubs to take part. But it was only rubber-stamped last night after the rivals agreed to a strict number of rules that will ensure neither side is left at a disadvantage. Per Mertesacker and Jordan Henderson will give teamtalks in the dressing room that will be broadcast live . Although the teamtalks by Per Mertesacker and Jordan Henderson will not be screened on BT Sport - who are covering the match live on TV - fans who own a smartphone will be able to tune in. New social media tool Periscope - which was launched last week - will host both teamtalks as it bids to break into the sports market. Arsenal and Liverpool were initially reluctant to take part in the broadcast - but Premier League chiefs have assured them it will not compromise their attempts to win the match. Although Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers - who famously starred in the Being Liverpool documentary on Channel Five - was willing to take part, his counterpart Arsene Wenger was hesistant over fears of giving away his side's secrets. However, a meeting between the clubs and Premier League officials has left both convinced it is a clever marketing idea as they aim to draw more fans from the United States and Asia. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger warmed to the idea and is now in agreement with Brendan Rodgers . Sportsmail understands that the rules agreed between the teams are: . Periscope are hoping they will have a combined 250,000 viewers for the two broadcasts which would set a new record for the app. They have even deployed a special IT unit to ensure the broadcasts hold up with huge number of expected viewers. If successful, they would then attempt to convince the Premier League to make it a regular feature on match days. If you are scratching your head at this story, perhaps check the published date at the top... Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Sunderland defender Wes Brown will be tackling questions during an appearance on All Star Family Fortunes to raise money for charity. The former Manchester United star will take part with his family on the popular ITV game show in a bid to raise funds for the Beechwood cancer charity's Silver Wing Appeal. The programme has not been aired yet, but Brown's wife Leanne offered a sneak preview after posting an Instagram picture of the family accompanied by the caption: 'Looking forward to this week's family fortunes! It's the Browns vs the Halpenny's'. 'The Browns' will be pitted against actress Jill Halfpenny and her family on the Sunday game show . Brown's wife, Leanne (2nd left), posted an Instagram picture ahead of the show's broadcast . The former England defender and his wife will answer questions from Vernon Kay and his 'survey' Kay waits for an answer from the Browns, although Leanne said she wished they 'could have won more' Brown and his family have been pitted against actress Jill Halfpenny and her loved ones on the Sunday night show hosted by Vernon Kay. Brown's wife Leanne, who also appears in Real Housewives of Cheshire, told the Manchester Evening News: 'It was a great experience – I just wish we could have won more.' The family chose the Beechwood charity as Brown's uncle is currently battling cancer and his wife and grandaughter have been using the charity's support services. The Sunderland defender is raising money for cancer charity Beechwood's Silver Wing Appeal . Wes Brown has had his red card rescinded after being wrongly sent off against Manchester United . The former England defender trains with team-mates ahead of Sunderland's clash with Aston Villa . Angela Gray, fundraising manager at the Stockport charity, said: 'We are thrilled to have been chosen as the charity by Wes and Leanne. 'Natasha, Wes's sister came into Beechwood and really enjoyed having a look at what we do, a really lovely family.' Sunderland face Aston Villa on Saturday with Brown eligible to play after having his red card against United rescinded when referee Roger East appeared to send the wrong player off. Clarke Carlisle famously won Countdown on his debut appearance in 2010, but the former Burnley star is not the only footballer to be seen on TV game shows... Peter Shilton, Graeme Le Saux, Geoff Hurst, Lee Dixon, Mark Bright, Steve Bull, and Martin Peters have all appeared in Pointless . Clarke Carlisle won Countdown on his debut appearance in 2010 . Sportsmail columinist Jamie Redknapp is team captain on A League Of Their Own, which has featured players including Rio Ferdinand, Joe Hart, Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler, Gary Neville and Vincent Kompany . John Fashanu, Rodney Marsh, Neil Ruddock and Jimmy Bullard have all been on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! And, Vinnie Jones, Neil Ruddock and Ron Atkinson have starred in Celebrity Big Brother. +Jonny Evans' wife, Helen, had to leap to the defence of the Manchester United defender in a rather awkward phone-in conversation with celebrity Arsenal fan Piers Morgan. Mrs Evans, a presenter on the club's MUTV channel, dealt with the rather unwanted and uncomfortable call on Thursday night while sat alongside former Red Devils defender David May. As she previewed United's FA Cup sixth-round tie at home to Arsenal, Morgan shifted the conversation on to her husband's 'spitgate' (a term used by Morgan) incident with Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse last week. Helen Evans has defended her husband, Jonny, during a phone-in conversation with Piers Morgan . Evans, a presenter on Manchester United's TV channel MUTV, spoke to the celebrity Arsenal fan on Thursday . Jonny Evans (left) appears to launch spit in the direction of the Newcastle's Papiss Cisse, who then retaliates . Evans and Cisse clashed near the halfway line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Manchester United defender Evans received a six-match ban from the FA after the ugly incident . Tempers threatened to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gathered following the incident . Arsenal (h) March 9, FA Cup*; . Tottenham (h) March 15 . Liverpool (a) March 22 . Aston Villa (h) April 4 . Man City (h) April 12 . Chelsea (a) April 18  (*Possible replay or FA Cup semi-final could mean he is available for the Chelsea game) A disciplinary panel ruled that Evans and Newcastle rival Cisse had spat at each other in an incident missed by referee Anthony Taylor during the St James' Park clash. Cisse was banned for seven games (he was given an extra match as it was a second suspension of the season) by the Football Association, while Evans was handed a six-match ban - despite fiercely denying the charge. And the 27-year-old's wife reiterated his stance when Morgan quizzed her over his innocence. 'That's definitely the case [he had no idea about the spitting incident], he didn't even know that he had got spat back at until after the game when he had watched the footage,' she told Morgan. 'People can believe what they want but that's the truth. 'Jonny spat on the floor and it was obviously near [Papiss] Cisse so unfortunately it was just the way that the camera looked at it and saw it and also the way that Cisse saw it, but what can you do.' Evans, nee McConnell, met the defender shortly after she landed her dream job for the club's official TV channel. There is no right of appeal so Evans will not be able to contest the decision by the three-man panel . The couple started dating shortly after in 2011 and got married two years later at Clough Presbyterian Church in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Last year they became parents for the first time following the birth of baby Lottie in May. Her husband's ban, which starts against the Gunners on Monday, could see him miss the FA Cup semi-final in April should United overcome their north London rivals. However, Morgan feels Louis van Gaal's cup run will end at Old Trafford before boldly predicting a comfortable win for the visitors and more disciplinary problems for the Red Devils in a tongue-in-cheek comment. 'It's my usual confident prediction 5-0 Arsenal, [Olivier] Giroud hat-trick,' he added on MUTV. 'I'm also predicting at least three members of United's team to be sent off for spitting.' As well as quizzing Mrs Evans, Morgan boldly predicted a 5-0 win for his beloved Arsenal on Monday night . Piers Morgan: 'Have you got any comments about spitgate?' Helen Evans: 'Now I thought you might start with that one. No comments to make everything is in the statement Piers, I don't need to anything else.' PM: 'I was just curious whether that Helen who knows Jonny [Evans], obviously better than the rest of us, that when he says he had absolutely no idea he had even be seen spitting whether she thought that was the case? HE: 'That's definitely the case [he had no idea about the spitting incident], he didn't even know that he had got spat back at until after the game when he had watched the footage,' she told Morgan. People can believe what they want but that's the truth.' PM: 'I certainly believe you but what I wonder, when you see the footage back, if you were [Papiss] Cisse and you watch that video back you could see why he felt that he been deliberately spat on, right?' HE: 'Oh yeah. Jonny spat on the floor and it was obviously near Cisse so unfortunately it was just the way that the camera looked at it and saw it and also the way that Cisse saw it, but what can you do.' HE: 'Thanks for talking to us tonight.' PM: 'Well you haven't asked me for my prediction yet.' HE: 'Yes go for it.' PM: 'It's my usual confident prediction 5-0 Arsenal, [Olivier] Giroud hat-trick. Enjoy your evening.' HE: 'Well we're predicting 8-2!' PM: 'I'm also predicting at least three members of United's team to be sent off for spitting.' +Lionel Messi remains a doubt for Argentina's friendly against Ecuador having missed Saturday's 2-0 win over El Salvador on Saturday. The Barcelona forward was kept on the bench during the victory in Washington and Argentina boss Gerardo Martino has vowed not to risk the 27-year-old. 'The third training day he was unable to wear the right boot,' Martino told reporters. 'We all understand that the fans had hoped to see him play, but he was really unable.' Lionel Messi remains a doubt for Argentina's friendly with Ecuador on Tuesday because of a foot injury . Messi was kept on the bench during Argentina's 2-0 win over El Salvador on Saturday at FedExField . Messi was forced to watch from the sidelines as Argentina held a training session on Friday in Maryland . 'Leo always tries to play. We'll wait for his recovery until the last minute before the kick-off, but we won't risk him. 'If he remains this way, he won't play on Tuesday.', . On Monday, Messi welcomed new Argentina team-mate Federico Mancuello to Instagram after posting a photo with the winger to the social media site. Mancuello, who plays his club football for Independiente, scored on his Argentina debut in the win over El Salvador having replaced Angel di Maria in the second half. Messi welcomed new Argentina team-mate Federico Mancuello to Instagram on Monday evening . Mancuello is congratulated after scoring on his Argentina debut during the victory over El Salvador . +Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates took a break from training in America to pose for a photo with professional basketball player Pablo Prigioni. The Argentinian-Italian baller, who plays for the Houston Rockets, spent time with the squad as they prepared for their upcoming clash against Ecuador just days after beating El Salvador. Gerardo Martino's side dominated that game and took the lead in the 54th minute thanks to a Nestor Renderos own goal deflected from Ever Banega's shot. Lionel Messi and the Argentina squad pose with Houston Rockets baller Pablo Prigioni in America . Argentina's Federico Mancuello (right) dribbles with the ball ahead of El Salvador's Arturo Alverez (left) Substitute Federico Mancuello then made sure of the win with a free kick from a tight angle on 88 minutes to ensure they were rewarded for the performance. Martino started Carlos Tevez for the first time since taking over the team last year during the game as Messi missed out. The upcoming game against Ecuador will be Argentina's last warm-up match before the Copa America in June and the Barcelona wizard is expected to regain his place in the starting line-up. PSG winger Ezequiel Lavezzi makes his first appearance for Argentina since the World Cup final last year . Argentina forward Angel di Maria (left) shields the ball from El Salvador's Richard Menjivar (right) +El Salvador players and fans were left bemused ahead of their friendly against Argentina when, instead of pumping out their national anthem, the stadium's sound system instead played the anthem of Kazakhstan. The Central American minnows, ranked 89th in the world by FIFA, were facing the World Cup runners-up at Washington DC's FedEx Field on Saturday but their large travelling support were unimpressed as the stadium DJ's mistake became apparent ahead of kick-off. Rather than the familiar 'Himno Nacional de El Salvador', staff at the stadium which usually hosts the NFL's Washington Redskins played out 'Menin Qazaqstanim'. El Salvador players were left bemused when the Kazakhstan national anthem was played instead of theirs . The players, stood proud with hands on their chests, look confused by the error, glancing around . Having listened to the Kazakh anthem, the Salvadorans head for the handshakes with their heads down . Supporters instead the stadium had prepared a huge banner for the anthem but ended up booing it . El Salvador (5-4-1): Carillo; Flores, Mendoza, Molina, Renderos (Ceren 88), Larin; Alvarez, Ceren, Menjivar (Punyed 76), Alas (Santamaría 67); Bonilla (Burgos 59) Argentina (4-2-3-1): Guzman; Zabaleta, Musacchio, Funes Mori, Orban; Pereyra, Banega; Di Maria (Mancuello 73), Lavezzi, Tevez (Pastore 78); Higuain . Scorers: Renderos OG 54, Mancuello 88 . The players stood out on the pitch, with their hands across their chests looked confused at first, before becoming increasingly frustrated as boos rang out on to the field. The supporters - who had prepared a 'Vamos Selecta, Houston' flag to be carried over the crowd - reacted furiously. Washington is home to one of the largest Salvadoran communities outside of Central America and their followers outnumbered the Argentine support. To make things worse, El Salvador fell to an expected defeat against an Argentina side who left out Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. The distance from El Salvador to Kazakhstan is 7,909 miles, a fairly big mistake for the stadium staff to make . Argentina players celebrate after Federico Mancuello (left) scored a goal during the international friendly . Lionel Messi was not required by Argentina in their 2-0 win, and neither was Manchester City's Sergio Aguero . Gerardo Martino's side dominated the game and took the lead in the 54th minute thanks to a Nestor Renderos own goal deflected from Ever Banega's shot. Substitute Federico Mancuello then made sure of the win with a free kick from a tight angle on 88 minutes. Let us salute, the Motherland, proudly, . To be its children, called we can, . And let us swear our lives spiritedly, . Without rest to its good, consecrate! Of peace enjoyed in perfect happiness, . El Salvador always nobly dreamed. To achieve this has been her eternal proposition, . To keep it, Her greatest glory. With inviolable faith, the path of progress, . She strives to follow, . To fulfill her great destiny, . And conquer a happy future. A stern barrier protects her, . Against the clash of vile disloyalty, . Ever since the day when her soaring flag, . Wrote Freedom with it's blood. Translated from Spanish . Golden sun in the skies, . Golden seed in the steps, . Legend of courage, . Take a look at my country! From the antiquity our heroic glory emerged, . They did not give up their honour, . My Kazakh people are strong! The way was opened to the descendants, . By the vast land I have. Its unity is proper, . I have an independent country, . It welcomed the tests of time, . Like an eternal friend, . Our country is blessed, . Our country is such! Translated from Kazakh . +Stoke striker Bojan Krkic continues to step up his recovery from cruciate knee ligament surgery, posting a video on his Instagram account proving his progress. The 24-year-old suffered the injury during Stoke’s 4-1 FA Cup win at Rochdale at the end of January and subsequently had surgery on February 11 back in Barcelona. The video shows the Spaniard running on the spot in a swimming pool and then on the treatment table with some peculiar apparatus assessing his leg muscles. Stoke striker Bojan Krkic continues his recuperation in the swimming pool after knee ligament surgery . Bojan posted a video on his Instagram account with this machine working on his leg muscles . However the Stoke forward is all smiles in the quick video and hopes to be back in light training by May. Since surgery last month the former Barcelona striker has documented his recovery on social media, accompanying this Instagram video with the caption ‘#Day27 #ComingBackStronger’ Bojan began to hit top form for Mark Hughes’ side with five goals this season before the injury struck and is evidently determined to return in the same form. Providing that his recovery continues without complications, Bojan will be fully fit and ready to go on the first day of pre-season for next campaign with the Potters. The 24-year-old Stoke striker raises a thumbs up to the camera as he continues his recovery from surgery . Bojan damaged his knee during the FA Cup tie with Rochdale back in January and has since has surgery . Bojan Krkic receives treatment after damaging his cruciate knee ligament against Rochdale in January . Bojan celebrates scoring against Rochdale before suffering his knee injury at Rochdale . +Juventus have revived their interest in Chelsea midfielder Oscar. Scouts from the Italian league leaders were present in Paris on Thursday night specifically to watch the Brazilian against France. The 23-year-old scored in Brazil's 3-1 win and Juventus are weighing up an offer for the summer. Liverpool also have an interest but that deal would prove difficult. Oscar fires past Mamadou Sakho in the 40th minute during Brazil's 3-1 victory over France in Paris . Juventus scouts were at the Stade de France to watch Oscar in action . Oscar signed a contract extension up until 2019 last year and Chelsea would want premium price for a player they paid £25m for. Liverpool want a goalkeeper, midfielder and striker for the summer but their budget will depend on Champions League qualification. They are losing Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and will listen to offers for Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini. Liverpool will listen to offers for striker Mario Balotelli during the summer . +Karim Benzema says Brazil were far superior than France as the five time World Cup winners cruised to victory in Paris. In a repeat of the 1998 World Cup final – which France won 3-0 – Brazil ran out 3-1 winners at the Stade de France. France took the lead thanks to a Raphael Varane header but Brazil hit back with goals from Oscar, Neymar and Luiz Gustavo. France captain Karim Benzema was left frustrated with the defeat by Brazil . And France skipper Benzema says his side can have no complaints over the result. He said: 'A defeat is never good. It was a tough game, high level. They were better than us, even if we put them in danger in spurts. We have not had enough risk-taking. 'To celebrate in these kinds of games, you have to be thorough from the first to the 95th minute.' Oscar scored Brazil's first goal as they came from behind to beat France 3-1 . Neymar also got on the scoresheet in the Stade de France . France play Denmark in a friendly in Saint-Etienne on Sunday, and Benzema was relieved to have a chance to rectify the mistakes made against Brazil so quickly. 'What's nice is that there is a game on Sunday and that should enable us to erase this defeat.' And France goalkeeper Steve Mandanda agreed with his captain. He said: 'They were superior, period. They were very solid at the back, and offensively as well. 'We did some good things, by opening the scoring and then having opportunities to come back. 'Good things like the worst should be analyzed. We must use this match to see what we are missing.' +Muhammad Ali wants Manny Pacquiao to emerge triumphant over Floyd Mayweather, according to the legendary boxer's daughter. Rasheda Ali revealed that her father respects Pacquiao's boxing capabilities but also admires how he handles himself away from the ring. 'My dad is team Pacquiao all the way,' she told TMZ. 'My dad really likes Manny, he's a huge fan of his. VIDEO - Scroll down to see Pacquiao's Rocky inspired run . Muhammad Ali wants Manny Pacquiao (right) to beat Floyd Mayweather when they clash on May 2 . Ali is widely considered as the greatest boxer ever and his daughter said he 'really likes' Pacquiao . Pacquaio uploaded the above image to Instagram, keeping his supporters updated on his training progress . 'He knows Manny's a great fighter but it's more about what he does outside the ring. He's such a charitable person.' Rasheda added that her father acknowledges Mayweather's own boxing capabilities but admitted they are two very different personalities. 'My dad stood for things. Mayweather... I don't think there's a comparison,' she said, before revealing that Ali will not be in attendance for the fight in Las Vegas on May 2 but will watch it on television. 'There's no question he's going to order it,' Rasheda said. 'It takes my dad way back to when he was fighting.' With the bout a little over a month away, Pacquiao has kept supporters updated with his progress ahead of the Mayweather encounter. Pacquiao also shared a picture of him conducting an interview with excitement growing as the fight nears . Pacquiao (right) uploaded a video of him recreating a famous scene from the film Rocky . The footage had Pacquiao running up a flight of steps as he continues his preparations to face Mayweather . He posted pictures on Instagram of him training and conducting an interview, as preparations for when he goes toe-to-toe with Mayweather intensifies. But while the serious business draws closer, Pacquiao showed his sense of humour by also uploading a video of him running up a long line of steps, reenacting the famous scene from the film Rocky. +We've divided the Premier League into teams from the north and south of England - with Welsh side Swansea included in the south. Joe Bernstein had the choice to pick any players from the north, in any formation, with no limit on how many from each club. Rob Draper picked his South XI on Monday, and you can read that here. Here's how we split the clubs: . South . Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, QPR, Southampton, Swansea City, Spurs, West Brom, West Ham United . North . Burnley, Everton, Hull City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Stoke City, Sunderland . North vs South. It is perhaps the fiercest argument between the people of England. But without dipping into the political allegiances, property prices and weather, we're sticking to the ultimate debating point – football. This week we are starting a new North vs South debate - who would you pick and who would win? In the NBA, each season they stage an All-Star match that pits the best from the West against the cream of the East. And wouldn't it be fascinating if the Premier League adopted a similar event? Yesterday, Rob Draper selected his South XI. Here, Joe Bernstein reveals his North XI - plus seven subs. Then on Wednesday, we'll reveal who would win the match thanks to our friends at Football Manager. And, as always, we want you to tell us who you would have picked in your team... Goalkeeper: Joe Hart (Manchester City) Tough call between David de Gea and Hart, but the City stopper is better at organising his defenders and more commanding in the air. And, as he showed against Lionel Messi, he can stop a penalty too. Right back: Daryl Janmaat (Newcastle United) Been outstanding this season and Toon fans will have an anxious wait this summer to see if a bigger club snaps him up. Janmaat can also play in the centre of the defence but he's most threatening down the right where his crosses would cause havoc to any rearguard. Creative player too. Centre half: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) Would surely have been an England regular if he played for a more glamorous club than Stoke. Better than Gary Cahill or Phil Jagielka, less injury-prone than Phil Jones. This team is so crammed with attacking talent, the two centre-halves are in purely to defend. And they're good at that. Joe Hart has been superb in the league and showed against Barcelona he can do it in Europe too . Daryl Janmaat has been outstanding this season and Newcastle fans will have an anxious wait this summer . Ryan Shawcross pictured scoring for Stoke City against Manchester United at the Britannia Stadium . Centre half: Martin Skrtel (Liverpool) Totally fearless, he keeps putting his head and body in the way of danger - just what you want from a centre-half. Useful in both penalty areas at set-pieces too, he gets his fair share of goals for a defender. Him and Shawcross wouldn't let anything pass, allowing the two full backs to push up. Left back: Leighton Baines (Everton) Just gets better and better with age. Fantastic at set-pieces, both delivery and shooting, and so calm on the ball. Has got over the disappointment of not joining Manchester United and it's no coincidence Everton hit their dodgy patch when he was out of the team injured. Right wing: Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) Showed at the last World Cup he has now taken over Wayne Rooney's mantle as the best player in the England team and it's hard to believe he is still only 20. The one player in Roy Hodgson's squad that you think could actually make it with Real Madrid or Barcelona, he is quick, skilful, has natural balance and courage on and off the ball . Liverpool's totally fearless defender Martin Skrtel (right) squares up to David de Gea at Anfield recently . Everton's Leighton Baines just seems to get better and better with age in the demanding Premier League . Raheem Sterling has become an brilliant performer for Liverpool this season as they look to tie him down . Central midfield: Michael Carrick (Manchester United) People ask why Manchester United's form has improved in the last couple of matches. Simple, Michael Carrick is back from injury and making the team tick. Always seems to know when to play the right pass, and makes average players around him look good and the good players look great . Central midfield: James McCarthy (Everton) If this team has steel down the middle in Skrtel and Shawcross, and stealth in Carrick, McCarthy adds speed. He can cover ground to make tackles and when he needs to use the ball, the Irishman is neat and tidy. One of Roberto Martinez's best signings and no wonder bigger clubs want him. Left midfield: David Silva (Manchester City) With Leighton Baines behind him, Silva wouldn't have to hug the left-hand touchline like a traditional winger, he would start from there, link up with Baines at times but also drift inside and drop grenades infield. On his day, a hugely talented and influential player. Juan Mata is rightly getting plaudits at the moment, in Spain they say Silva is better. Michael Carrick has returned from injury and is making Manchester United tick for manager Louis van Gaal . James McCarthy, pictured scoring for Everton against Newcastle United at Goodison Park, makes the XI . David Silva (above) and Manchester City team-mate Sergio Aguero make it into our North XI . Striker: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) Has taken over Luis Suarez's mantle as the best player in the league. Absolutely lethal against any type of opposition as his hat-trick against Bayern Munich showed in the Champions League. May be asked to leave the penalties to Leighton Baines though after his fluffed effort in the Nou Camp. Striker: Wayne Rooney (captain) (Manchester United) Rooney has often formed good strike partnerships with players who are of similar build and technique, Henrik Larsson springs to mind in his brief spell at Manchester United, so I have no doubts he would be prolific with Sergio Aguero. I can see them being on the same wavelength and Rooney would spot the Argentine's runs early. Wayne Rooney captains our North XI for his outstanding form for Louis van Gaal's Manchester United . Subs . Asmir Begovic (Stoke): Another in the Hart mould; big, commanding, won't leave his defenders alone. Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City): If you need someone to see out the final 20 minutes, he's perfect. Phil Jones (Manchester United): Another who can put his body in the way if you're defending for your life. Yaya Toure (Manchester City): Totally unpredictable, if you don't know how he's going to play, how can the opposition? Ashley Young (Manchester United): Coming into some great form, can play right or left, and will track back when needed. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool): A great impact sub, can score in instant with his quick feet . Robin van Persie (Manchester United): Been written off this season, but it's less than a year ago he scored that header in World Cup. Yaya Toure just misses out on the starting XI but the Manchester City star makes our subs bench . There is no room for Steven Gerrard (left) but Daniel Sturridge (right) can act as a great impact sub . Manchester United's Robin van Persie (left) and Ashley Young (right) just miss out on the starting XI . (4-2-3-1): Courtois, Clyne,  Fonte, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Schneiderlin; Sanchez, Cazorla, Hazard; Kane. Subs: Green, Ivanovic, Koscielny, Delph, Bolasie, Costa, Giroud . (4-4-2): Hart; Janmaat, Shawcross, Skrtel, Baines; Sterling, Carrick, McCarthy, Silva; Aguero, Rooney . Subs: Begovic, Zabaleta, Phil Jones, Yaya Toure, Young, Sturridge, Van Persie . +Everton midfielder Ross Barkley accepts his form this season has fallen below his best but insists he is not feeling the pressure. The 21-year-old's fortunes on the pitch have mirrored that of his team as neither have been able to reproduce the standards of last season, when a brilliant campaign saw the Toffees finish fifth after being in contention for the Champions League for a long period. Barkley has struggled to rediscover the form which made him such an integral part of the team's success but he is working hard to get back to his best. Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has admitted he has failed to replicate last season's performances . Barkley, pictured scoring against Newcastle, has netted just two goals so far this season . 'From my point of view I haven't done as well as I know I can, but things like this happen,' said the England international. 'You have to go through bad days to get to the great days you have in your career. 'Everything's a learning curve. We haven't been going through the best period at the moment but we're going to come through this and be really good at the end of it. 'I don't feel pressure. I believe in myself and I know what I can do. It's not me feeling pressure, it's just me putting pressure on myself if I don't do my best, and I know I can do better. The 21-year-old (right) is expected to start against Italy after coming on in the second half against Lithuania . 'I just focus on getting better every day, putting things right in training and then hopefully what I'm doing right in training I'm going to show in games as well.' Barkley, when he has started, has found himself switching positions regularly and has not been given a long spell behind the centre forward where he was most effective last season. Many observers appear to have pencilled him in for a deeper midfield role but he does not feel that will get the best out of him. 'I'm a striker,' he said. 'I feel I can have my greatest impact there because I'm free to roam around the pitch, take players on, have shots and create chances.' +Arsenal's Mesut Ozil ranks alongside Chelsea's Eden Hazard as Europe's joint-top attacking midfielder in 2015, a study has found. Ozil's performances in the Barclays Premier League led to him being labelled a 'flop' previously, but rankings by CIES Football Observatory suggest the £42.5million player is pulling his weight. The statistical research group compiled rankings for the position based on shooting, chances created, take-ons, distribtuon, recovery and rigour, and gave Ozil and Hazard a score of 100 each. Arsenal's Mesut Ozil ranks alongside Chelsea's Eden Hazard as Europe's joint-top attacking midfielder . Ozil's performances in the Premier League led to him being labelled a £42.5million 'flop' previously . =1. Eden Hazard, Chelsea (100) =1. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal (100) 3. Jesus Navas, Man City (86) 4. Kevin de Bruyne, Wolfsburg (85) 5. Shinji Kagawa, Borussia Dortmund (84) 6. Marek Hamsik, Napoli (79) 7. David Silva, Man City (77) 8. Maximilian Meyer, Schalke (73) =9. Roberto Pereyra, Juventus (72) =9. Javier Pastore, PSG (72) It follows Ozil revealing he is 'convinced' he can win the Ballon d'Or within the next few years. The German World Cup winner moved to Arsenal from Real Madrid in September 2013, and has been trying to adapt to the 'physical test' of the Premier League. 'If I continue to develop well and stay healthy, I would like, in the next few years, to hold the Ballon d’Or in my hands. I am convinced that it can happen,' Ozil told Sport Bild. 'I’m feeling very positive. I’m a world champion and I play at a top club in the Premier League. 'There is much more of a physical test here than there is in Spain or in the Bundesliga – I constantly have bruises, but that makes me harder. I feel physically better than ever.' The 26-year-old, currently on international duty with Germany, made headlines for the wrong reasons previously after being spotted in a Berlin nightclub just hours after missing Arsenal’s Premier League win over Newcastle United due to a cold. Ozil has not scored in all competitions since February 7 and has three Premier League goals to his name this season, while Hazard has 11. Chelsea's Hazard pictured in action for Belgium during their 5-0 win over Cyprus on Saturday night . Hazard ranks top of the attacking midfielders in Europe but what is more surprising is that he is tied with Ozil . Ozil congratulates Marco Reus (right) after he scored against Georgia in a 2-0 win in Euro 2016 qualifying . Arsenal's Ozil pictured in action for Germany during their 2-2 draw with Australia last week in a friendly . CIES Football Observatory Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are: . +World Cup winners Germany eased past hosts Georgia 2-0 in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday with two goals in five minutes from Marco Reus and Thomas Mueller enough to get their Group D campaign back on track. Reus scored after 39 minutes and Mueller soon doubled their lead as the Germans, who had an erratic start to qualifiers last year and lost in Poland, were never threatened by their weaker opponents. The win lifted Germany to 10 points from five games, as many as leaders Poland, who take on Ireland later on Sunday. Scotland are also on 10. Marco Reus (right) fires home to give Germany the lead in their Euro 2016 qualifying match with Georgia . Germany XI: Neuer; Hector, Hummels, Rudy Boateng; Schweinsteiger, Kroos; Reus, Ozil, Gotze (Podolski - 86); Muller (Schürrle - 86) Subs not used: S. Mustafi, B. Höwedes, S. Khedira, R. Zieler, C. Kramer, R. Weidenfeller, M. Kruse, Gündogan . Goals: Reus 39, Muller 44 . Booked: Schweinsteiger . Georgia XI: Loria; Lobjanidze, Kverkveliya, Kashia, Amisulashvili (Dvali - 4), Navalovski; Makharadze (Kenia - 63), Kanvana; Okriashvili (Chanturia - 46), Kobakhidze; Mchedlidze . Subs not used: M. Daushvili, V. Kazaishvili, B. Tskhadadze, L. Kakubava, L. Totadze, M. Alavidze, M. Vatsadz, N. Dzalamidze, N. Revishvili . Booked: Makharadze, Kankava, Chanturia . 'A look at the table before the game was enough to see the urgency of the situation,' Germany coach Joachim Loew told reporters. 'We played a dynamic game, we then controlled it in the second half but did not have the same drive towards goal.' Loew said their conversion rate would need to improve after again spurning several good chances and hitting the woodwork twice. 'We again missed some good chances. We had good combinations but failed to score a third or fourth goal.' Georgia have had a tough start in Group D, recording four defeats and a win in Gibraltar to stay on three points. It did not take long for Germany, with several World Cup winners back in the squad including captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, to threaten with Reus' powerful drive palmed on to the crossbar by keeper Giorgi Loria after five minutes. With coach Loew reverting to a four-man defence from a three-player experiment against Australia in a friendly on Wednesday, the Germans were in and around their opponents' box for most of the first half. Thomas Muller slots home the second for Germany as they comfortably dispatched of Georgia . Mueller fired at goal from a corner only to see the ball fly just wide and Mesut Ozil missed another big chance as the visitors had the hosts firmly on the backfoot. Reus did better in the 39th when Mario Goetze charged into the box and was lucky to scramble the ball to the winger, who drilled home for his second goal this week, after also scoring in their 2-2 draw against Australia. Mueller then fired in another on the stroke of halftime to firmly put them in the driving seat. New Georgia coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze added a forward after the break but it was Reus who came close again, rattling the bar for a second time on the hour with another powerful shot. 'We are not yet fully on track and still have to improve,' said Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. 'But there is sufficient time and I am very confident.' Mario Gotze (right) fires just wide of the Georgia goal as Germany dominated the game throughout . +Manchester United are still able to attract star players such as Angel di Maria and Juan Mata to Old Trafford despite being in debt because they continue to make the most income in the Barclays Premier League. The Old Trafford outfit are in £342million of debt which has lingered at the club since the Glazer takeover back in May 2005. However the Premier giants are able to compete for the world's best players because they remain a global attraction. Arsenal . Income: £298.7m (MD £100.2m,TV: £120.8m, Com £77.7m) Wages: £166.4m (56% of income) Pre-tax profit: £3.8m . Debt: £240.5m . Healthy revenues easily cover ‘good debt’ borrowed for stadium. Will allow regular star buys like Alexis Sanchez. Aston Villa . Income: £116.9m (MD £12.8m, TV £72.7m, Com £31.4m) Wages: £69m (59% of income) Pre-tax loss: £3m . Debt: £104m . Continue to struggle on the pitch after budget cuts by Randy Lerner, whose loans keep them afloat. Dread the drop. Burnley . Income: £19.6m (MD £3.9m, TV £11.9m, Com £3.8m) Wages: £16m (82% of income) Pre-tax loss: £7.6m . Debt: £8m . Well run, only lost cash last season through promotion bonuses. Will earn much more this term. Chelsea . Income: £320m (MD £71m, TV £140m, Com £109m) Wages: £193m (60% of income) Pre-tax profit: £19.1m . Debt: £958m . Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas are playing key roles as Chelsea cement status as a powerhouse on and off the pitch. Crystal Palace . Income: £96m (MD £11m, TV £74m, Com £11m) Wages: £38m (40% of income) Pre-tax profit: £20m . Debt: £7m . Steve Parish wants new investment to take Palace ‘to the next level’. They’re slowly becoming secure in the Premier League. Everton . Income: £120.5m (MD £19.3m, TV £88.5m, Com £12.7m) Wages: £69m (57% of income) Pre-tax profit: £28.2m . Debt: £28m . As with their £28m record signing Romelu Lukaku, fans expect more than they’re getting this season. Hull . Income: £84.4m (MD £7.4m, TV £68m, Com £9m) Wages: £39m (46% of income) Pre-tax profit: £3.3m . Debt: £71m . Assem Allam has amassed debt and caused controversy in trying to stabilise Hull but has invested heavily to improve the squad. Leicester . Income: £23m (Breakdown of Leicester’s income unclear) Wages: £30m (130% of income) Pre-tax loss: £20m . Debt: £103m . Financial picture is as clear as their survival chances — not good. Loss-making, dependent on owners. Liverpool . Income: £255.6m (MD £50.9m, TV £100.9m, Com £103.8m) Wages: £144m (56% of income) Pre-tax profit: £5.5m . Debt: £127m . Chaos of the previous era is receding as the finances stabilise and Brendan Rodgers is given time to build. Man City . Income: £346.5m (MD £47.5m, TV £133.2m, Com £165.8m) Wages: £205m (59% of income) Pre-tax loss: £17.7m . Debt: £67m . Still losing money despite TV cash and Middle East income. Buys like £32.5m flop Eliaquim Mangala don’t help. Man Utd . Income: £433.1m (MD £108.1m, TV £135.7m, Com £189.3m) Wages: £215m (50% of income) Pre-tax profit: £67.9m . Debt: £342m . Debt lingers from Glazer deal but income still allows top signings like £59.7m Angel di Maria. Newcastle . Income: £130m (Full breakdown of income unavailable) Wages: £60m (46% of income) Pre-tax profit: £40m . Debt: £129m . Mike Ashley spent more than intended early on. It’s all about survival as cheaply as possible. QPR . Income: £38.7m (MD £5.6m, TV £28m, Com £5.1m) Wages: £75m (194% of income) Pre-tax loss: £9.8m (after £60m ‘exceptional’ item) Debt: £120m . The outstanding basket case in the top flight, in disarray after years of mismanagement. Southampton . Income: £104.9m (MD £17.1m, TV £79.5m, Com £8.3m) Wages: £62.9m (60% of income) Pre-tax profit: £31.4m . Debt: £57m . Surprise package on and off the pitch, Ronald Koeman helping continue an amazing turnaround since 2009 administration. Stoke . Income: £98m (MD £8m, TV £76m, Com £14m) Wages: £61m (62% of income) Pre-tax profit: £3.8m . Debt: £28m . Seventh straight season in the League, aspiring to greater on-pitch achievements on solid fiscal footing. Sunderland . Income: £101m (MD £16m,TV £72m, Com £13m) Wages: £68m (67% of income) Pre-tax loss: £16.3m . Debt: £39m . Dick Advocaat has to save not just a season but stop a drop that could trigger meltdown. Swansea . Income: £98.7m (MD £9.2m, TV £80.7m, Com £8.8m) Wages: £63m (64% of income) Pre-tax profit: £1.3m . Debt: None . Stable, fan-owned, debt-free, mid-table and looking up, Swansea are a model of ‘small-club’ potential. Tottenham . Income: £181m (MD £44m, TV £95m, Com £42m) Wages: £105m (58% of income) Pre-tax profit: £36m . Debt: Zero . Daniel Levy drives a hard bargain. He also runs a tight ship. In shape to challenge the top four. West Brom . Income: £86.8m (MD £7m, TV £69m, Com £10.8m) Wages: £66m (76% of income) Pre-tax profit: £12.8m . Debt: £1m . Few fans like prudence but West Brom are well run, posting consistent profits as they gradually grow. West Ham . Income: £114.9m (MD £19.5m, TV £75.4m, Com £20m) Wages: £64m (56% of income) Pre-tax profit: £15.3m . Debt: £110m . Owners like to say club can be title challengers in five years — but they . need a partial sale to clear debt first. KEY TO CLUB-BY-CLUB GUIDE: MD = match day income; TV = all broadcasting income; Com = commercial, retail and other income. † In Championship last season. * Some elements estimated. United spend 50 per cent of their income on wages with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Di Maria all earning over £250,000 a week. Chelsea's debt to Roman Abramovich is approaching £1billion, while Tottenham and Swansea are completely debt-free. Arsenal have been able to complete deals to sign the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in recent years as healthy revenues easily cover 'good debt' borrowed for their stadium move. Manchester United are able to attract star names such as Angel di Maria because they make the most amount of income in the Premier League . Chelsea's debt to Roman Abramovich, pictured during his side's victory parade in May 2012, is approaching £1billion . +The accolades keep coming for Gary Neville. Recently named Pundit of the Year, the former Manchester United defender, who won eight Premier League trophies at Old Trafford, is to now be inducted into the English Hall of Fame. Neville, 40, joins fellow former Three Lions full back Stuart Pearce in this year's list of inductees at the National Football Museum in Manchester. Gary Neville, pictured in England training on Thursday, has been voted into the English Hall of Fame . Neville played for Manchester United for almost 20 years and won 85 caps for England between 1995 and 2007 . Neville lifts the Premier League trophy in May, 2007, with United team-mate and friend Ryan Giggs . The pair will be joined by another defender, ex-Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland legend Paul McGrath, along with the first PFA Footballer of the Year, former Leeds stopper Norman Hunter. Also recognised are ex-Fulham and Tottenham midfielder Alan Mullery and 'The Golden Boy of Welsh Football' Ivor Allchurch, who played a starring role in Wales' 1958 World Cup campaign. One of the women's games standout talents Faye White, who spent a successful 17 years at Arsenal Ladies, Gary Davies from the England Cerebral Palsy team and Blackburn Rovers legend Bob Crompton, who played over 500 times for his club in the early part of the 20th century complete the line-up. Each will all be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a prestigious award ceremony on October 14. Former Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame in October . Former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland defender Paul McGrath (left) has been voted in . The first ever PFA Player of the Year, Norman Hunter (left), has also earned a place in the English Hall of Fame . They join a host of existing members of an exclusive club which includes Alan Shearer, Peter Schmeichel, Gordon Banks, Cliff Jones, Trevor Francis and Sir Tom Finney. Inductees are chosen by a panel featuring the likes of museum President Sir Bobby Charlton, Vice President Sir Alex Ferguson, Gordon Taylor and Mark Lawrenson. National Football Museum Director Kevin Moore said: 'Each year we think the event and calibre of inductees can't get any higher and each year our expectations are surpassed. 'This year we've received more votes than ever with Ossie Ardilles, Jimmy Armfield, Michael Owen and Colin Bell just some of the names who've taken the time to cast their vote.' +Two months before man set foot on the moon for the first time, Gordon Strachan stood on the Hampden terraces to witness a Halley's Comet moment. Just 12 at the time, he could hardly have known 46 years would pass before a Scotsman scored another international hat-trick. 'I was here when Colin Stein scored four,' said the Scots boss after Steven Fletcher's star turn against Gibraltar. 'It's a long time ago — and a few stone ago — but I was there.' Steven Fletcher celebrates scoring a hat-trick for Scotland in the 6-1 victory over Gibraltar . Fletcher is the first Scotland player to score three goals in a game since Colin Stein in 1969 . Fletcher (right) scored his third goal with a left-footed strike from range for Scotland against Gibraltar . Fletcher was recently mocked on Twitter for buying a Lamborghini after inconsistent form for his club, Sunderland . Shaun Maloney converted a penalty to put Scotland ahead against Gibraltar at Hampden Park on Sunday . Scotland (3-4-3): Marshall 6; Hutton 6, Martin 6, Robertson 5; Ritchie 4 (Greer 46), Brown 6, Maloney 6, Morrison 5, Anya 6 (Bannan 74); Naismith 6 (Rhodes 66), Fletcher 7. Subs not used: Gordon, McGregor, Russell, McArthur, May, Darren Fletcher, Forsyth, Berra, Forrest. Goals: Maloney 18, 34 (both pens), Fletcher, 29, 70, 90, Naismith 39. Gibraltar: (4-5-1): Robba 4; Wiseman 5, Joseph Chipolina 6, Artell 4 (Garcia 53), Ryan Casciaro 5; Roy Chipolina 5 (Gosling 74), Lee Casciaro 6, Payas 5, Walker 5, Priestly 5; Bardon 5 (Daniel Duarte 82). Subs not used: Jordan Perez, Coleing, Kyle Casciaro, Sergeant, Brian Perez, John Paul Duarte, Bosio, Jolley. Goal: Casciaro, 19 . Referee: Mattias Gestranius (Finland) The Group D standings after Scotland's 6-1 win vs Gibraltar . He was back again, on Sunday night. The old ash wooden steps are long gone, but the technical area provided an excellent vantage point to watch the landmarks tumble down as heavily as the rain over Glasgow. Fletcher climbed back into his Lamborghini as the first Scotland player to drive home a hat-trick since Stein in an 8-0 win over Cyprus in May 1969. Strachan's team became the first in dark blue to rack up half a dozen goals since a 6-0 thrashing of the Faroes in 2006. And, to prove history comes in all shapes and sizes, David Marshall became the first keeper to lose a goal to the minnows of Gibraltar in a competitive international. 'McGregor and Gordon now love me,' said Strachan, only half joking. 'They think I'm the best manager in the world for not picking them —they're not in the history books.' Rightly, Scotland's boss was quick to hand credit to the visitors. Fletcher took the headlines with his first goals for his country since April 2009, Shaun Maloney scoring two penalties and Steven Naismith the other. Yet this was a patchy, unconvincing performance at times. The Scots won the three points and are still on course in Group D. The Gibraltar team of semi-pro part-timers put together by Scot Davie Wilson made the first half an astonishing affair at times. Their tally of goals against is now 27 in five qualifiers. But for 10 minutes the one they scored threatened to break the worldwide web. 'I'm so proud of all the players,' said Gibraltar's interim coach. 'They've given us everything. And now we're even getting free fish and chips to celebrate — the Blue Lagoon chippie in Glasgow sent a card to the hotel this morning saying they were laying them on for us…' Presumably the fish was as battered as their defenders at the end of a long 90 minutes. Scotland's breakthrough came from the penalty spot in 18 minutes via a dubious award. Matt Ritchie, earning his second cap, played a pass inviting Maloney to give chase. The attacker got to the byeline first, knocking the ball past keeper Jamie Robba and out of play. Had the keeper kept his hands to himself Gibraltar would have survived. Instead he sent the striker tumbling rashly. It took a word from the assistant behind the goal to make the Finnish ref's mind up, Maloney tucking home. That, we assumed, was that. With a goal at their back Scotland would make short work of the spirited, plucky underdogs. So there was widespread disbelief when Gibraltar refused to be patronised or quelled. It was glorious stuff, in truth. The very essence of football. The visitors had already caused panic in the eighth minute when Joseph Chipolina threw in a cross from the left flank which keeper David Marshall flapped at horribly, the ball careering off his own crossbar. Maloney (left) won the first penalty and picked himself up to score and put Scotland in the lead . Lee Casciaro (second right) hauled Gibraltar level 72 seconds later with their first ever international goal . Casciaro's goal sparked jubilant celebrations from Gibraltar's players as Hampden park was stunned into solence . Gibraltar's team celebrate as they draw level in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland . Gibraltar had around 500 supporters inside Hampden Park to witness their teams first ever competitive international goal . Fletcher (left) scores Scotland's second and his first of the game to return his team into the lead . Maloney scored Scotland's third and his second of the game which also came from the penalty spot . Trying — and failing — to adapt to the novelty of a three-man defence featuring one central defender and two full-backs in a 3-2-4-1 formation, Scotland were caught cold in the aftermath of the opener. 'We took it for granted Gibraltar were not going to score,' admitted Strachan. It was a big mistake. Andrew Robertson was out of position when Lee Casciaro wrote himself into the history books, racing onto a pass by Aaron Payas to slot through the legs of Marshall for 1-1. Pre-match expectations of a rout suddenly felt rather foolish. Scotland spent 10 minutes at home tied with a British Overseas territory of just 30,000 people. They reclaimed the lead in 29 minutes, Fletcher scoring his first since April 2009. A right-footed cross from the left flank by Ikechi Anya was headed unconvincingly up into the air by defender David Artell. Fletcher reacted first, nodding the ball inside the right-hand post as the keeper scrambled in slow motion across his line. He savoured the moment, sliding on his knees in relief as much as anything. The monkey, at last, was off his back . Collectively, there would be no repeat of the calamity which followed the first goal. Scotland began to relax. In the aftermath of the third goal, in 34 minutes, the game followed its pre-ordained script. It came from a second penalty of the game, rightly awarded for a bizarre flying challenge from Gibraltar scorer Casciaro on Naismith. Maloney opted for the tried and tested, going for the same corner, but a little higher. It flew into the net for 3-1. Gibraltar were now a busted flush. Fletcher hit the outside of the post with a deft effort, but the fourth goal came seven minutes before the interval. The visitors played themselves into trouble in their own area, Anya managing to stay onside before picking out Naismith with a cut-back. He netted smartly for 4-1. The scoreline, as half-time beckoned, had a more acceptable hue. Oddly, however, Scotland refused to apply a foot to the throats of their fading visitors. Fletcher, in truth, might have had five here. He blew a wonderful chance from an Alan Hutton cross in 62 minutes but improved markedly when Jordan Rhodes appeared to provide some back-up in attack. The only disappointment was that Rhodes didn't claim a goal or two as well. He had his chances, controlling a long diagonal ball from fellow sub Barry Bannan in 76 minutes before thrashing the ball into the side-netting. He atoned within a minute when his cross from the right flank picked out Fletcher for his second goal — a downward header. The Sunderland striker should have had his hat-trick four minutes from time when he thumped a neat Rhodes lay-off towards goal but Robba saved. Yet the Gibraltar keeper was merely delaying the inevitable. With one minute of normal time to play, Fletcher produced the kind of calm, composed finish which comes of renewed confidence, passing the ball into the bottom corner from 16 yards for a small, long-awaited slice of Scottish footballing history. Everton striker Steven Naismith (right) extended Scotland's advantage on 38, sweeping home a cross unmarked . Fletcher added Scotland's fifth goal with his second of the game in the 77th minute for Scotland . Fletcher celebrates his second goal for Scotland against Gibraltar on Sunday . Scotland manager Gordon Strachan shouts instructions to his team during the match against Gibraltar . +As far as cross-sport dream teams go, it doesn't get much better than Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. The NBA legend and the NFL icon teamed up in the Bahamas in a game of basketball. Four-time Super Bowl champion Brady showed he is quite handy at basketball as well, draining a shot from the top of the key. Michael Jordan and Tom Brady joined forces in a basketball game in the Bahamas . The former Chicago Bulls player, who won six NBA titles, takes a shot from deep . New England Patriots quarterback Brady sinks a shot during the game in the Bahamas . Brady had recently posted a video on Facebook of a daring cliff dive while on holiday with wife Gisele Bundchen. He is taking a well earned break during the NFL off-season after guiding the New England Patriots to victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at Glendale, Arizona on February 1. Jordan, meanwhile, is widely regarded as the best basketball player ever having won six NBA titles, five MVP crowns and two Olympic gold medals. Brady, Luke Donald, Keegan Bradley and Jordan join up for a round of golf . The pair followed up their basketball game with a round of golf alongside Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley. It's a tough life being a highly successful sportsman. +Fiji reclaimed the Hong Kong Sevens title when it routed defending champion New Zealand 33-19 in the final on Sunday. Fiji blasted to a 21-0 lead in the first half, taking the tension out of the 12th final matchup between the tournament's most successful sides. Each time New Zealand rallied, Fiji had a reply, and even denied New Zealand the last say when Fiji's Vatemo Ravouvou and Apisai Domolailai bundled out Rieko Ioane just shy of the left corner flag. VIDEO Scroll down for highlights from Hong Kong . Fiji celebrate after defeating New Zealand to win the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday . Fiji players celebrate the team's victory at the Hong Kong International Stadium . Fiji supporters celebrate in the stands after their side scored a try in the final against New Zealand . 'Tactically, we were really astute,' Fiji coach Ben Ryan said. 'I'm really pleased with the way they managed the final.' The win was Fiji's third in four years in the Hong Kong Sevens, and a record-extending 13th in the tournament it prizes above all others. Fiji's third win from six tournaments in the sevens world series also lifted it above New Zealand into second place, two points behind leader South Africa, and in position to win a first series in nine years. New Zealand, also defending the series title, was one point behind. The Japan Sevens is next weekend in Tokyo. Great support play set up Savenaca Rawaca for the opening try, then Semi Kunitani stole ruck ball from New Zealand and sent in Jerry Tuwai. New Zealand tried a five-man attacking lineout, but then trying to back up the sole player out wide ended up giving an intercept try to Rawaca. Fiji's Jerry Tuwai goes high in the air to catch a ball during Sunday's final . Tuwai (left) attempts to run clear from New Zealand's Jo Webber . New Zealand's D J Forbes is tackled to the ground by Fiji players during the final . Beaudine Waaka's try just before halftime put New Zealand on the board, and Scott Curry's immediately after raised hope. But it was dampened by a try by Jasa Veremalua for 28-12 with seven minutes to go. Curry scored his second try after Sam Dickson took in three defenders, but Ravouvou swept around the left and gifted Domolailai the fifth and last try for Fiji. 'That's a great Fijian side,' New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens said. 'They defended really well and a couple of length-of-the-field tries killed us.' Fiji did well merely to survive its quarterfinal. It led England 14-5 with a penalty try, then lost a man to the sin-bin, too. England, at 14-12 down, gave James Rodwell a chance in the right corner, but Rawaca pulled off a brilliant try-saving tackle. Fiji blasted to a 21-0 lead against South Africa in the semifinals then just managed to hold on 21-15 in another thriller. South Africa finished third, beating Samoa 26-5. +Tottenham sensation Harry Kane took his first steps as an international footballer at Wembley on Friday night. But how did his fare on his big night? 7.20pm - Preparing for the biggest night in his fledgling career, Kane takes to Wembley's hallowed turf for the first time as senior a England international to complete his warm-up. He completes the formality of his sprints and stretches whilst soaking in the growing Wembley atmosphere. He has a slightly nervous look on his face, understandably. Harry Kane wheels away in celebration after coming on to score on his England debut . The 21-year-old netted England's fourth goal with a header 79 seconds after being introduced . Kane dodges an official after keeping his sensational scoring run this season going . Harry Kane's goal came after England won back possession allowing Raheem Sterling to send in a far post cross - CLICK HERE for more stats from our brilliant Match Zone . CLICK HERE to read the full match report from Wembley . 7.40pm - He takes his seat on the Wembley bench alongside Tottenham team-mate Andros Townsend just before the two starting line-ups emerge. As ever, there isn't a hair out of place as Kane makes himself comfortable, but, still, his looks far from relaxed. Wayne Rooney's early goal should have eased the tension, though. 34mins  - He climbs off the bench for the first time, together with Townsend and and James Milner, to have jog along the byline. He's given a generous round of applause from home fans, he responds by giving them a gentle clap back before beginning some abductor stretches. Gently easing his way into the England life. Kane warms up on the Wembley turf after manager Roy Hodgson chose to omit him from the starting XI . The young striker laughs after taking a tumble during the pre-game warm up . Kane watches the match unfold from the Wembley stands, hoping his introduction would come . The Spurs revelation warms up on the sidelines as England take a 2-0 half-time lead . 63min — Kane gets the call from England assistant Ray Lewington. To add to the tension, he’s made to wait in the technical area for almost six minutes before replacing Rooney. Wembley erupts. Have they got a new hero? 73min — Can. You. Believe. It? With his third touch, less than two minutes into his debut, he plants a header home from Raheem Sterling’s cross to make it 4-0. He slides on his knee in celebration as Wembley go mad. Absolute fairytale stuff. Kane strips off after being given the nod by Hodgson to come on in the second half . The Premier League's joint leading goalscorer replaces England captain Wayne Rooney on 70 minutes . In less than two minutes, Kane opened his account with a far post header from Raheem Sterling's cross . Kane races down the touchline as England supporters ramp up the noise at Wembley . The Premier League's leading English goal scorer cannot hide his delight after netting his debut goal . Kane will hope to cement a starting place in Hodgson's side after making a goal scoring introduction . 76min — Kane comes close to a second after a scramble in the box then nearly sets up Theo Walcott for a fifth. Those early nerves are a distant memory as Kane takes to international football like a duck to water. 94min — The final whistle goes to end a match Kane will never forget. The focus of attention for much of the week, on the biggest night of his career he delivered. A few team-mates swapped shirts at the end — but there was no chance of him doing the same. Danny Welbeck, scorer of England's second goal, rushes to congratulate his north London rival . Harry Kane was not on the pitch for long but made the most of his opportunity - CLICK here for more stats from our brilliant Match Zone . Kane celebrates with his England team-mates after staking his claim to start against Italy on Tuesday . +Alan Pardew claims that Matt Phillips’ 40-yard wonder strike for QPR against Crystal Palace was better than David Beckham’s goal from inside his own half at Selhurst Park 19 years ago. Phillips picked the ball up in the middle of the park and took a touch before belting an effort over Palace keeper Julian Speroni and into the top left corner from 40 yards. But it proved to be too little, too late as QPR went down to a 3-1 defeat on Saturday afternoon. Palace manager Pardew said: ‘I remember Beckham scoring the goal here and, from a technical point of view, Phillips’ was better because it was an outstanding hit. 'Matt can be very proud of it. In 25 or 30 years on a training ground, I can’t remember seeing a better goal.’ Matt Phillips unleashed a ferocious strike from 40 yards that found the top corner . Phillips' effort dipped and swerved past Julian Speroni but it was too little too late for Rangers . Phillips grabs the ball in a hurry as he makes his way back to the centre spot . +The war of words continues between two of Britain's most talented boxers as Billy Joe Saunders demands Chris Eubank Jnr beats Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan for the rematch to become a possibility. It was just five months ago that Eubank Jnr and Saunders walked into the ExCel Arena to do battle for the British, Commonwealth and European middleweight titles and it appears there's no love lost between the pair. Unbeaten Saunders defeated the son of boxing legend Chris Eubank Snr on points, in a match-up which could have gone either way. Chris Eubank Jnr (left) and Billy Joe Saunders previously fought in November at the ExCel Arena . Billy Joe Saunders started the argument when he tweeted Chris Eubank Jnr and calling him a 'bottlejob' Saunders got the better of Eubank on points but their dislike for each other shows no sign of ending . The spat show that their is no love lost between the feuding pair and a rematch is very much on the agenda . Their feud was ongoing up until the bout and it's shown no signs of letting up since - if their latest Twitter bust-up is anything to go by. Saunders reignited the argument by tweeting Eubank Jnr and provoking him into a reaction over commenting about a potential fight with Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan - calling him a 'bottlejob.' Eubank was quick to fire back and stated that he'd defeat O'Sullivan before coming for Saunders and a potential rematch. These tweets transcended into chaos as both fighters went toe-to-toe in an online argument with insults instead of punches being exchanged. The boxers continued to exchange insults to keep their ongoing disagreement going after their match . Saunders defended his British, Commonwealth and European middleweight titles when he won the bout . It leaves open the door for a rematch to be agreed and after gaining the attention of the Twitter-sphere - it's sure to be a fight that the boxing world wants to see. Saunders is yet to fight since dispatching of Eubank Jnr, with the Hatfield-boxer turned down a shot of the IBF middleweight title to honour his vow to fight for the WBO. Eubank has been quick to try get career back on track after losing his unbeaten record to his rival and stopped Dmitry Chudinov of Russia at the O2 Arena in February. Eubank's final tweet to Saunders was sure to get under his skin as the online battle between them exploded . Saunders (left) has previously fought Gary O'Sullivan (right) and called for Eubank Jnr to fight him . +The luxurious mansion once live in by former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson in Southington, Ohio is set to be transformed into a church. Tyson was forced to sell the home for $1.3million in 1999 following his fall from grace which saw the American facing huge financial difficulties after being convicted for rape. The champion boxer lived in the Ohio residence during the late 1980s and 1990s while training for fights at Don King's facility 20 miles away in nearby Orwell. The iron gates at the entrance to the derelict mansion in Southington, Ohio, still bear the name of the former heavyweight champ . The boxer lived in the property in the late 80s and early 90s until his dramatic fall from grace when he was jailed for rape . The property features five bedrooms, several living spaces, seven and a half bathrooms, a full kitchen, a mini-kitchen/washroom, two attached garages, one external garage, full size pool and Jacuzzi, tiger cages and a basketball court . Tyson is pictured in 1988 after knocking out British champion Frank Bruno (left) and at the Mike Tyson at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday . One photographer Johnny Joo, 24, was allowed inside to explore the property which featured gold-plated furnishings, a mirrored ceiling jacuzzi and a swimming pool twice the size of the average family home. It features five bedrooms, several living spaces, seven and a half bathrooms, a full kitchen, a mini-kitchen/washroom, two attached garages, one external garage, full size pool and Jacuzzi, tiger cages and a basketball court. Tyson decked out the mansion with crystal chandeliers, a pool larger than most homes, tiger print carpet and everything else necessary to make it his private party pad. But now the property lies eerily quiet with just the shell of what was once home to the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at age 20. Tyson (right) is the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at age 20 . Tyson stands knocks down heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick to become the youngest heavyweight world champion in history in 1986 . Opulent: Tyson's jacuzzi hot tub features a mirrored ceiling, lashings of black marble and gold plated taps . No expense spared: Another view of the boxer's marble and gold jacuzzi room now falling into disrepair and daubed with graffiti . Sauna room: More marble, glass and gold adorn the former heavyweight champion's steam room . Stagnant: The vast indoor swimming pool complex, the same size as many family homes, has also fallen into disrepair . The property features five bedrooms, several living spaces, seven and a half bathrooms, a full kitchen, a mini-kitchen/washroom, two attached garages, one external garage, full size pool and Jacuzzi, tiger cages and a basketball court . All mod cons: The bar in the swimming pool room complete with beer taps and industrial buffet-style food warmers . Tyson, now 48, used the property as a base while training for fights at Don King's (right) facility 20 miles away in nearby Orwell . The massive entertainment room features bespoke cabinets for the huge television and sound system speakers the champion boxer had installed . Tyson, now 48, occupied the spacious home in Southington, Ohio, USA, during the late 1980s and 90s while training for fights at Don King's facility 20 miles away in nearby Orwell . Another view of the massive entertainment room where the champion boxer entertained friends and hangers-on during his glory days . Photographer Mr Joo, from Cleveland, Ohio, said: 'My journeys have taken me to some strange places but nothing quite like the abandoned home of a former professional boxer. 'It felt cold, rather empty and eerie - not so much a creepy eerie but a more interesting one. 'I knew Mike Tyson had once just hung out here and now I stood staring down everything that had been left behind. 'I loved the bathroom simply because of the view and the mirrored ceiling above the Jacuzzi tub. 'But the pool was probably my favourite just because of how incredibly large it was and thinking how vibrant it was at one point in time. 'The room was bigger than three of my houses, it was pretty incredible to look at while standing at one end. Everything was so full of life and now simply collects dust. 'As I wandered the halls and rooms I imagined the wild parties which must have taken place within these walls. 'I looked across a living room once full of life but now empty of parties, tigers and celebrities.' Gold-plated fittings line the top of the landing at the vast home which is due to be renovated this year after being bought up in December . One of several grand staircases at the Ohio mansion, once home to the champion boxer once dubbed 'the baddest man on the planet' The heavy wooden front door opens up to an expanse of black marble but the once stunning home has fallen into disrepair . Tyson decked out the mansion with crystal chandeliers, a pool larger than most homes, tiger print carpet and everything else necessary to make it his private party pad . Another grand staircase leads down to the mansion's man hall with an open fire space at the bottom . The boxer was taken into custody in 1991 on allegations of rape and in 1992 a jury found him guilty with the ruling committing him to a six year prison sentence with four years of parole. In 1995 Tyson was granted parole and released from prison, returning to rural Southington in hope of escaping the media which ended up following him. Because of his increasingly desperate financial situation he put the mansion up for sale and sold it in 1999 for $1.3m (£870k). It has since had multiple owners - including one who was the subject of an FBI investigation when he tried to sell it - and is now set to be converted into a church. The current owners bought the property in December 2014 and will transform it throughout the rest of 2015, allowing Johnny to explore before the work takes place. The mansion's descent into disrepair could be said to mirror the former heavyweight champion boxer's own fall from grace . The current owners bought the property in December 2014 and will transform it throughout the rest of 2015 . He added: 'I've seen a few restorations throughout my work but nothing so contrasting as this. 'But it's definitely one of the more well-preserved structures I have been in through years of exploring and photographing abandoned places. 'It makes a perfect candidate for the church to move into and build their sanctuary. Structurally the home is wonderful and I can't wait to see the restoration completed over time. 'The group would like for Mike to attend the first gathering inside the churches sanctuary. 'I hope to help by sharing this story far and wide, maybe bringing his attention to this matter. It could be quite an experience for him walking through his former home, seeing it brought to a completely different light.' +Will Ferrell has raked in box-office millions playing the earnest goofball in a string of sports movies. He took it to a new level on Thursday, when he played all nine baseball positions and coached for 10 teams in five Arizona ballparks in a spring-training blitz. In addressing the crowd at his final stop in Peoria, the comedian said, 'Ruth, Musial, Mantle, Will Ferrell. Who would have thought that one day those names would be synonymous? Show of hands - scratch that, never mind.' Ferrell started at noon in an Oakland Athletics uniform at shortstop, and ended eight and a half hours later playing right field for the San Diego Padres in the ninth inning. Will Ferrell took part in spring training in Arizona on Thursday as part of an HBO special for a good cause . Ferrell - pictured in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform - played for 10 different teams in one day . The funny man couldn't resist creating a beard out of nachos as he played every baseball position possible . 'When I embarked on this journey way back at breakfast,' Ferrell said, 'I thought to myself, "Could I do it?" The answer is yes.' Memorabilia from his journey, filmed for an HBO special, is to be sold at auction on MLB.com with proceeds going to Cancer for College and Stand Up to Cancer. He hugged a guy in an elf suit as he left Mesa, held up a sign saying 'Remember These Games Don't Count' as impromptu third base coach for the Chicago Cubs, struck out twice on three pitches each, watched two home runs sail over his head, and chased the ball around the outfield during a challenging stint in left field for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His ten uniforms, and other baseball memorabilia, will be auctioned at MLB.com to raise money for charity . Another of Ferrell's teams was the Seattle Mariners - he is pictured running around the field on Thursday . Los Angeles Angels were also on the list as he played in an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs . 47-year-old Ferrell looked pumped as he raised his fist in the air, clad in the red and white uniform of LA . Ferrell wore No. 19 for every team except his last one. He didn't want to wear the late Tony Gwynn's number, so donned No. 20 for the Padres. When it was over, the star of 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and 'Elf' took the public address microphone to the infield and recounted his day. 'There's no doubt I turned some heads today, even if it was just for a moment,' Ferrell said. 'I brought passion to the field, dedication, ability, and a lot of ignorance. The ball moves fast out there, a lot faster than it looks on television. It's like a speeding bullet. It's horrible, terrifying.' The Angels then traded Ferrell to the Chicago Cubs for a washing machine, and he played third base coach . At the top of the fourth innings the Cubs let Ferrell step up to plate, and he batted against his former side . Ferrell, acting as the third base coach, talks to Chicago Cubs' Addison Russell during the match in Arizona . A grumpy-looking Ferrell appeared to want the cameras out of his face as he played baseball . In his final stop, he also took the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers and got San Diego's Rico Noel, the only batter he faced, to bounce out to the pitcher. 'Is there life in this 47-year-old arm?' he said. As he walked off the field, Ferrell waved his cap and gave a security guard a high five. He managed an impressive catch, having kicked off the day by boasting about his abilities in the field . Ferrell showed off his graceful moves as he co-operated with his various teammates throughout the day . Later in the day he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks, but had to wolf down a hotdog before the match . Ferrell throws the ball in hilarious fashion for the Diamondbacks, in their match against Cincinnati Reds . 'They say there's nothing more American than grabbing a hot dog, heading to the ballpark, and watching nine guys from the Dominican Republic,' he said. '... But you know what, today I learned that was wrong. They had eight Dominicans, and one guy from Irvine, California. 'Was I the best player on the field today?' Ferrell said. 'Maybe, maybe.' Then he led the crowd in a chant - 'May-be, may-be, may-be.' After playing for Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds, Ferrell then went on to Chicago White Sox . After climbing out of ‘Penguin Air’ in full uniform, he stepped up to the plate to bat for the White Sox . Unfortunately, he disappointed and was promptly traded to the White Sox's opponents San Francisco Giants . +A spring training baseball game between Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels was held up by a pitch invasion of honey bees. The pesky visitors landed on the backstop netting and microphone during Sunday's game in Tempe, Arizona, causing quite a buzz. The unusual visitors delayed the start as an exterminator was brought in to deal with the swarm. Not safe: The match between Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels was delayed when a swarm of bees traveled across the pitch and landed on the net (top right) Bee swarms are common in Arizona in March and it's not the first time the Angels have had to deal with the flying nuisances. In 2013 they have two regular season games delayed and disrupted by a swarm in Anaheim. Manager Mike Scioscia admitted he had never seen the honey makers create the kind of buzz they did on Sunday. Sciosa said: 'We've never had them migrating, but like a tornado, they landed on the microphone. Fortunately, they stayed there until we could get rid of them.' Pitch invasion: The honey bees flew across the pitch and settled on the microphone and back netting in the match in Tempe, Arizona . But Royals boss Ned Yost was left a little saddened by the whole thing. He said: 'I've never seen mass bee genocide like that. 'All you have to do is get some smoke. Trust me, I live in the country. 'You take some smoke out there because the queen is in there somewhere, you get a Shop-Vac and suck them all in and take them out to the parking lot and let them go. 'They're just honey bees, man. There's a decline in honey bees. We need them. It was sad to see, but they had to do what they had to do.' Strike out: Fans take photos as the exterminator gets rid of the bees which delayed play between the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels on Sunday . +Wayne Rooney has sung Michael Carrick's praises after his cameo against Italy on Tuesday night, saying the England midfielder was the best player on the pitch 'by a mile'. Carrick, who plays with Rooney at Manchester United, replaced Chris Smalling towards the end of the first half with Roy Hodgon's side struggling at 1-0 down. But England went on to level courtesy of an Andros Townsend stunner, and Rooney believes Carrick played a huge part in the friendly draw. Michael Carrick was the best player on the pitch after he came on against Italy, according to Wayne Rooney . Carrick celebrates with his team-mates after Andros Townsend's strike salvaged a 1-1 draw for England . 'The best player on the pitch by a mile was Michael Carrick,' Rooney told ITV after the game. 'He came on and dictated the game for us you - saw how much control we had after that. I think he was the big difference between two teams in second half.' Ross Barkley was also introduced in the second half and impressed alongside Townsend and Carrick at the Juventus Stadium, as England bounced back after Graziano Pelle's opener. England captain Wayne Rooney strikes the ball at goal during the friendly international in Turin . Hodgson also reserved praise for United midfielder Carrick, who has only been capped 33 times by his country. He said: 'Michael did very well. We experimented in first half, Jones did well, but we missed players like Carrick and Wilshere. 'There might come a game when we need a Phil Jones-type in midfield.' Carrick, who was also praised by manager Roy Hodgson, applauds the fans at the final whistle . +England stretched their undefeated run to eight matches as a late Andros Townsend strike canceled out Graziano Pelle's first-half header. Here Sportsmail's Rob Draper casts his eye over Roy Hodgson's side and their Italian hosts. England (4-1-2-1-2) Joe Hart 7 . No blame attached for the goal and a very good save from Eder on 51 minutes. One of the positives for England. Nathaniel Clyne 5 (Walker 45) Always willing to offer an outlet in attack but the system left him exposed in defensive areas and switched at half time. Chris Smalling 5 . Aggressive and firm early on but along with Jagielka completely failed to dominate the box when needed most for Italy's goal. England and Tottenham forward Harry Kane is challenged by Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini . England and Manchester United defender Phil Jones (left) falls following a challenge from Roberto Soriano . Phil Jagielka 5 . Heavy touch in bring the ball out and, along with Smalling, failed to command the penalty area for Italy's goal. Look ill at ease. Kieran Gibbs 6 (Bertrand 88) Like Clyne, often looked lost without support from a wide midfielder. Had chance to equalise on 54 minutes but drove into side netting. Improved in second half. Phil Jones 4.5 (Carrick 44) When Carrick came on to relieve him from the holding midfield role as it was though he'd escaped purgatory. Static and beaten embarrassingly easily for the goal – but better, unsurprisingly as centre half. Two Italian fans share a smile ahead of the international friendly between Italy and England in Turin . England and Manchester United defender Chris Smalling hassles Italy's Eder Citadin Martins for the ball . Jordan Henderson 6 (Mason 74) Scurried here and there with plenty of intent but little guile. Didn't ever really settle into the system. Fabian Delph 5.5 (Townsend 70) Much the same. Harried and was strong in tackles but too often was a man chasing around in search of a game plan. Wayne Rooney 7 . The flashes of class England showed invariably came from him; shot off the bar on 22 minutes, a glorious cross field ball for Walcott on 27 minutes. Tested Buffon in second half – perhaps should have scored on 72 minutes. Harry Kane 6 . Lost in a vortex of team-mates' inability to pass the ball. Looked eager to impress with no opportunity to do so until late on when he had strikes to trouble Buffon. England and Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph (right) prepares to tackle Italy's Vitaliy Mandziuk on Tuesday . England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney (centre) is surrounded by Italian defenders in Turin . Theo Walcott 5 (Barkley 55) Looked out of place in a front two and even more so when he played behind the front two. Never convinced. SUBS . Michael Carrick 8 . Provided much better distribution that Jones could; baffling why he didn't start. England were much more fluid with him on the pitch. Kyle Walker 6 . Exposed almost immediately when Eder drifted past him to set up scoring chance but improved from thereon in. Michael Carrick passes the ball for England ahead of the oncoming challenge of Italy's Ciro Immobile (right) Tottenham forward Kane (left) takes a hand to the face from Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci (right) in Turin . Ross Barkley 7 . Offered more pace, drive and direction to the England midfield. Will be encouarged. Andros Townsend 7.5 . Superb strike for goal which rescued England and sparked by far their best period. Incisive and ful of running even though on left. Ryan Mason 7 . Can feel satisfied with a decent debut. Contributed to England's best spell . Ryan Bertrand 6 . Southampton and Italy striker Graziano Pelle (left) plays the ball ahead of the oncoming defender Jones (right) Italy: (3-5-2) Gianluigi Buffon 7.5 . Rarely called on initially but fine save from the Rooney striker on 72 minutes and then again on 80minutes. Andrea Ranocchia 6.5 . Part of an immaculate back three for an hour – suddenly looked a little vulnerable as the changes unsettled Italy. Leonardo Bonucci 7 . Looked imperious until the changes in the last 15 minutes left Italy looking a little exposed. Pelle scores the opening goal of the game with a glancing header across the England box on Tuesday night . The ball nestles into the bottom corner as Italy take the lead and England defenders watch on helplessly . Giorgio Chiellini 7.5 (Moretti 72) Beat Jagielka to deliver glorious wrong-footed cross for Pelle goal. Was great in defence before being wrong footed for the Rooney chance a minute before being taken off. Allesandro Florenzi 6.5 (Abate 60) Solid throughout – was full of running when England's midfield allowed him space in the first half. Marco Parolo 7 . Able and capable in possession – well on top of England's midfield for much of the game. Mirko Valdifiori 7 (Verratti 67) Quietly distributing in the Pirlo role – may never be in that class but did his job last night until replace by Verratti. England and Arsenal forward Theo Walcott attempts a shot at goal but is closed down by Andrea Ranocchia . Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (right) comes out to punch the ball away from the head of England's Kane . Spurs forward Kane has another shot at goal but is closed down by Italy defender Ranocchia (right) in Turin . Roberto Soriano 6 . Decent performance, passed well and kept his head. Only lost track in final twenty minutes. Matteo Darmian 6.5 (Antonelli 73) Plenty on incursions down the left as Clyne struggle to contain his man. Graziano Pelle 7.5 (Immobile 60) Lovely glancing header to make it 1-0, his first goal since January. Replaced on the hour by Immobile. Eder Citaden Martins 6 (Vazquez 60) Not as successful as Pelle; best chance on 55 minutes when Hart saved. England and Tottenham winger Andros Townsend (centre) dribbles with the ball ahead of Marco Verrati (left) Townsend celebrates scoring England's equalising goal against Italy during the friendly match in Turin . +We reveal how to get the enviable physiques of the stars. This week: Laura Dern's shoulders. Actress Laura Dern's toned shoulders look to be the result of much gym dedication. Laura Dern says she keeps fit through yoga, swimming and taking the stairs . The 48-year-old mother-of-two, who recently starred in the film Wild with Reese Witherspoon, says she keeps fit through yoga, swimming and taking the stairs. But, she adds, it's classes at SoulCycle (a fast-paced exercise bike class) in Los Angeles two to three times a week that keep her in prime bikini shape. At SoulCycle, you work the arms and shoulders with handheld weights and perform core-engaging moves to music. What to try: The overhead press works the muscles in the shoulder area. You will need a set of dumbbells or two bottles of water. But it's classes at SoulCycle in Los Angeles two to three times a week that keep her in prime bikini shape . Stand with your back straight, feet shoulder-width apart, a dumbbell in each hand resting on the shoulders and your palms facing each other. Extend your arms overhead, allowing them to rotate so that when they are straight, palms face the front. Keep your trunk pulled in and don't lean back. Make sure you don't take the weights behind your head. Pause at the top, lower back down and then repeat 12 to 15 times. +Brazil head coach Dunga has labelled Chelsea midfielder Willian as one of the keys to his tactical revolution alongside Neymar as the Selecao prepare to face Chile at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The five-time World Cup winners trained on the pitch of Arsenal's 60,000-capacity ground on Saturday ahead of the sell-out South American showdown in London on Sunday. And with just over two months until the Copa America begins, Dunga - appointed head coach in the post-mortem of Brazil's embarassing World Cup elimination - sees Willian and Neymar as two of the key men in his tactical revolution. Thiago Silva, Miranda and Neymar (L-R) are at the centre of the laughs as the Brazilians enjoy training . Real Madrid defender Marcelo (left) leads his team-mates into a huddle for a photo at the Emirates Stadium . Neymar (left) laughs during a conversation with Chelsea midfielder Willian (third left) during a brief break . Neither player started in the 7-1 humiliation against Germany in last year's semi-final, and Dunga wants the movement and mobility the pair share to help redefine the way Brazil play in the hope of bouncing back from their last tournament appearance. 'The movement and mobility of our players is key,' Dunga said. 'The more they play together the more things become automatic. 'Willian is skilled. He has a lot of pace, a speed in his reasoning and he can make the difference in many games. Neymar is doing very well and will only grow.' 'In regard to goals I don't think that will be a problem. But the record we really want him to get is Pele's number of World Cup wins.' Brazil head coach Dunga talked up the abilities of Neymar and Willian as two of his star players . Willian has grown into an increasingly important figure for Brazil since last summer's World Cup disaster . Marcelo, Neymar and Luis Adriano (L-R) are all expected to be involved in Sunday's friendly in London . Both Neymar and Willian are set to be key men in Dunga's side for this summer's Copa America, where he has confirmed that no new players will be brought into his squad. 'Those who have never been called (for the squad) are not out, but they will have to wait for another opportunity,' he said. 'The Copa America is a competition, where we have to put players who already have an answer. The Copa America is not the place to test a player. I can't select someone I haven't worked with.' Barclays Premier League pair Philippe Coutinho and Oscar put themselves about during the training session . Neymar has been getting used to the Emirates pitch as he looks to further his impressive international record . Brazil have no new injury problems though Dunga said he will make changes to his side in London. David Luiz and striker Diego Tardelli are both missing again but London fans will see plenty of familiar faces including Chelsea trio Oscar, Willian and Filipe Luis. Brazil defender Gabriel Paulista could be up against his Arsenal team-mate Alexis Sanchez at their usual home. Coutinho gestures during a game as Chelsea's Filipe Luis (left) looks on during Saturday's session . Dunga has no new injury problems to deal with ahead of the Chile clash in a World Cup second-round repeat . +Trying to find a way to explain the birds and the bees to children can be a difficult task for any parent. So luckily for this father, a pair of raccoons took it upon themselves to make his job a little easier by giving a little demonstration in the garden. The hilarious footage captured in Seattle begins innocently enough with some excited children looking out of the window at two raccoons scaling their fence. The children watch on excitedly as the male raccoon chases the female from the fence and into the garden . As the youngsters speculate about whether they will jump from the fence – before a little ‘muffin man’ song interlude – one of the raccoons descends into the garden closely pursued by the other. One child, sensing the tension, asks: ‘Can raccoons fight?’ While another exclaims: ‘Woah, they’re wrestling.’ As one raccoon mates the other, the children begin to laugh and the father responds quickly be saying: ‘They’re doing more than wrestling I think.’ Laughing along in the excitement, the father continues to film the episode in the garden until one of the children offers up an explanation in the form of a question: ‘Is he doing the Heimlich manoeuvre?’ The children laugh hysterically as the two raccoons begin mating and offer up a number of innocent explanations for their behaviour . ‘I think so,’ replies one of the children before the father confidently states: ‘Yes, that’s the Heimlich.’ Raccoons usually mate between late January and mid-March, in a period triggered by increasing daylight. During the mating season, males spend much of their time searching for females in an attempt to copulate in the three-to-four day period when conception is possible. The encounters can last over and hour and may be repeated over several nights, so it is likely that the children have some laughs still yet to come. The Heimlich manoeuvre? Raccoon copulation can last over an hour so it is likely the children had some more laughs later . +The first rule of Brazil versus Chile is: You do not talk about Brazil versus Chile. The second rule of Brazil versus Chile is: You do not talk about Brazil versus Chile. Brazil may have come away with a 1-0 win through Firmino’s second-half strike, but this match between two South American rivals was more like a scene from cult ‘90s film Fight Club, in which Brad Pitt and Ed Norton get normal men kicking lumps out of each other every week, than the showpiece friendly expected. As the film goes, the third rule of Fight Club: Someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. No-one told the Chilean players as they repeatedly floored Neymar with challenge after challenge after challenge. Hoffenheim's Roberto Firmino (left) celebrates with team-mates Elias and Neymar having opened the scoring for Brazil against Chile . Firmino managed to skip past the on-coming Claudio Bravo on 72 minutes to slot Brazil ahead at the Emirates stadium on sunday . Neymar watches on after tangling with Chile defender Gary Medel and the former Cardiff player appears to stamp on the Brazilian . The Barcelona star is evidently in pain after Medel's (centre) cynical stamp on Neymar's leg at the Emirates stadium on Sunday . Remarkably referee Martin Atkinson didn't punish the stamp by Medel as Neymar was left in pain on the Emirates stadium pitch . Brazil (4-2-2-2): Jefferson 7; Danilo 7, Thiago Silva 6.5, Miranda 6.5, Marcelo 6 (Filipe Luis 76); Souza 6.5 (Elias 60, 6), Fernandinho 6; Douglas Costa 6 (Willian 62, 6), Coutinho 6 (Robinho 60, 6); Neymar 7, Luiz Adriano 5.5 (Firmino 60, 7). Subs not used: Diego Alves, Grohe, Gil, Oscar, Gabriel, Fabinho, Luiz Gustavo. Manager: Dunga 6 . Booked: Thiago Silva, Neymar, Miranda, Fernandinho, Elias. Chile (3-4-1-2): Bravo 6; Medel 6, Jara 6, Albornoz 6; Isla 6, Millar 6 (Fernandez 74 6), Aranguiz 6, Mena 6 (Gonazlez 82); Vidal 6.5 (Vargas 80); Sanchez 7.5, Hernandez 6. Subs not used: Roco, Garces, Cornejo, Pizarro, Orellana, Gutierrez, Fuenzalida, Lichnovsky. Manager: Jorge Sampaoli 5 . Booked: Albornoz, Gonzalez . Referee: Martin Atkinson 7 . MOTM: Alexis Sanchez . Attendance: 60,007 . The Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. Here at the Emirates Stadium it was 11 on 11. The first savage blow came three minutes in. Brazilian enforcer Souza crunched Alexis Sanchez. Somewhere, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger winced and knew it would be a nervy 90 minutes watching his star player. It was clear this was going to be a ‘friendly’ in the very loosest terms. Miiko Albornoz was next in referee Martin Atkinson’s book, nailing Neymar twice in a matter of minutes as the Chileans competed against each other for how many times they could take out Brazil’s star man. Gary Medel tried the hardest, taking him down in a challenge then standing back up on his calf. The former Cardiff defender was lucky to remain on the pitch, perhaps helped by Neymar writhing around as if he had been tasered. 'They didn’t get much protection,' Dunga said of his players’ treatment after the game. On Medel’s stamp, he added: 'The decision is the referee’s. Chile has a great team, very dynamic, great fighting, but some players make mistakes. These days we have 300 cameras focusing on the action so you have to play football. There’s no other solution.' There were flashes of quality and skill, from Sanchez and Neymar mainly, the pair sending either side of the stadium into raptures of screeching and screaming with their every touch. On 37 minutes, Neymar scooped the ball out of an opponent’s reach, which prompted their best chance of the first-half. The ball made its way to Marcelo and he crossed for Douglas Costa to the right of goal, who controlled the ball with his chest but could only volley over. Neymar also came close with an in-swinging free kick from out on the right after 26 minutes, which almost tucked into the far right post before Claudio Bravo tipped it wide. Early in the half Sanchez took a lovely touch to get clear and raced into the box, but was eventually blocked out. The first 45 minutes were brought to a close by Fernandinho flying in with studs raised only to find air and Neymar being booked for tripping Gonzalo Jara. It was fitting. If anyone was expecting anything different in the second-half, they were duly disappointed 100 seconds into it when Mauricio Isla went through the back of Neymar, who was down clutching his ankles yet again. Sanchez started taking the game by the scruff of the neck, while the others were too busy taking each other by it, and making things happen. The international friendly between Brazil abd Chile added a bit of South American flare to proceedings in a rain drenched North London . Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez sprints away from Thiago Silva (left) on the Emirates stadium pitch he has become very familiar with . Brazil manager Dunga passes on instructions to his right back Danilo as he watches his side take on South American rivals Chile . He got the wrong side of Miranda on 63 minutes and was brought down, earning the Brazil defender a yellow card. Three minutes later he beat three men before being tripped by substitute Willian and moments later he was spinning and shimmying past more again. The resulting free kicks, however, were poor. Finally, after 72 minutes of the match, there was a chance of real note - and the Brazilian’s scored it. Substitute Firmino was played through by a wonderful pass from right-back Danilo and he rounded the goalkeeper to score. Dunga was satisified with victory, he said: 'It's true Chile controlled the game, but we had more chances at goal. So it wasn't just luck - we deserved to win. We are building a competitive team, working through obstacles very well, played against a very strong France team, changed six players but stayed stable and strong.' Managers across Europe with a vested interest in this game would have been relieved to hear the final whistle blow and no major injuries incurred. By the end, seven yellow cards had been brandished and it was incredible there were no reds. But the match is over now and, remember, the first rule of Brazil versus Chile is: You do not talk about Brazil versus Chile. Real Madrid left back Marcelo attempts to clear the ball under pressure from Chile's Arturo Vidal during the international friendly . Brazil's Danilo (left) in action against Chile's Eugenio Mena (right) as the South American sides clashed at Arsenal's Emirates stadium . An ardent Brazil fan wore the green and yellow of her nation as thousands of South American football fans attended the Brazil vs Chile match . Barcelona star Neymar keeps his eye on the ball as he tries to control and begin another attack for his national side . Brazil forward Luiz Adriano (left) struggles to keep his balance as Medel challenges his opponent for possession at the Emirates on Sunday . Brazil right back Danilo (right) springs into an acrobatic challenge to try and win back possession for his side from Chile's Sanchez . Neymar was in the wars again after this foul from Mauricio Isla of Chile on the touchline left the Barcelona star in apparent agony . +England football coach Roy Hodgson was the talk of the League Managers Association President’s Dinner after he was upstaged by inspirational speaker Paul McGinley, Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup captain. Hodgson and McGinley were interviewed on stage by Sky Sports’ David Jones on the subject of leadership. But Hodgson paled next to McGinley, who gave a masterclass at the Lord’s function in explaining the attention to detail, perception and man-management which went into beating the USA at Gleneagles. It would not have been McGinley’s intention but his thoroughly modern approach to leading a team only exposed Hodgson’s old-school philosophy. And FA technical director Dan Ashworth, plus FA board members David Gill and Heather Rabbatts, would surely have gone away thinking Euro 2016 should be Roy’s last major tournament as England boss. Roy Hodgson was upstaged on stage at the League Managers Association President's Dinner . Paul McGinley, the Ryder Cup-winning captain, showed the England boss up with his attention to detail . Certainly any new contract should depend on how England perform in France. Ireland’s golf team at the Rio 2016 Olympics, including world No 1 Rory McIlroy, will be the next side to benefit from the McGinley factor. Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton’s seemingly fanciful attempt to learn to ride well enough to compete in next year’s Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham is widely regarded as a Betfair publicity stunt. However, Nina Carberry, winner of the same race yesterday, is one of the few who thinks Pendleton will be ‘fine’. Victoria Pendleton’s attempts to race at Cheltenham next year is widely regarded as a Betfair publicity stunt . Nothing stops record-breaking Irish trainer Willie Mullins at Cheltenham apart from the currency exchange. Mullins has National Hunt’s biggest spenders among his owners yet he withdrew surprisingly at the £200,000 mark in an auction battle with David Pipe for five-year-old Champers On Ice, who went for £205,000 at the Brightwells Cheltenham Festival Sale. Mullins explained the horse had got too expensive in terms of euros, which are struggling against the pound. Willie Mullins (right) withdrew from an auction because the horse had got too expensive in terms of euros . The patrons of Cheltenham’s A&R club, grand racing families whose relatives safeguarded the future of the racecourse in the 1960s, have seen their traditional boxes bulldozed to make way for the new £45million grandstand. And the old guard are upset they will not be able to keep bringing food and drink into the new premises. Their main gripe concerns having to pay big prices for ordinary plonk, instead of enjoying their own far superior stuff. BELL'S FESTIVAL CLANGER . Rupert Bell, the talkSPORT racing correspondent and brother of royal trainer Michael, did a special commentary on the Festival Charity Race because the station’s betting expert, Coral PR director Simon Clare, was riding. And Bell called Clare, who finished in midfield, as first home because he was riding in similar red colours to the winner. Bell, commentating in overdrive in the belief Clare had triumphed, only realised his error after the field passed the post. talkSPORT still played the gaffe when Clare gave his tips yesterday. Rupert Bell called Simon Clare's horse as winning the Charity Race, it was actually Knight's Parade (pictured) Racing Media Group, ready to let broadcasters tailor their bids for the big meetings in the next TV tender, will find ITV keen to look at screening the Cheltenham Festival. This only adds to the belief that selling the showcase events separately is the most lucrative way forward for racing, especially as viewing figures for Channel 4’s monopoly terrestrial coverage are in steep decline. ITV are keen to look at the opportunity to screen the Cheltenham Festival next year, even without AP McCoy . FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s three election rivals will be boosted by the North and Central American confederation, a previous Blatter stronghold, deciding in Philadelphia that their member countries can vote individually for their candidate of choice. This comes a week after South America did not give its expected total support for Blatter at their summit. Sepp Blatter’s three election rivals will be boosted by the North and Central American confederation . BBC Radio 5 Live, paranoid about Cheltenham blunders following presenter John Inverdale’s ‘rose-****** glasses’ slip, found themselves apologising twice for trainer Warren Greatrex’s mild ‘Oh s***’ comment to correspondent Cornelius Lysaght after Cole Harden won the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. +The frustrations of certain Scotland coaches appeared to boil over after their late defeat to Italy on Saturday afternoon. A picture from the Telegraph shows how a reinforced glass door in the Scotland coaches' booth at Murrayfield was smashed during the late 19-22 defeat to Italy. It is not known whether it was head coach Vern Cotter who smashed the door, which can only be accessed by coaching staff or the media, or one of his assistants. A reinforced glass door in the Scotland coaches' booth at Murrayfield was smashed following the defeat . A team spokesman failed to deny that a member of the coaching team had caused the damage after Scotland had given them numerous reasons to get angry. Cotter concedes his 'message' is not getting through to his players after watching them crash to their third RBS 6 Nations defeat on the spin. The Dark Blues' faces were left matching their crimson red change strip as they threw away victory against Italy with a late collapse - leaving them near certainties to take home the Wooden Spoon. Having struggled to deal with the Azzurri's driving mauls and referee George Clancy's pedantic meddling at the scrum, the Scots found themselves a man light as debutant lock Ben Toolis was sin-binned two minutes from time. Alberto De Marchi celebrates after beating Scotland during the RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield stadium . And the visitors to Murrayfield clinched a 22-19 victory when Clancy's patience finally ran out as he awarded a penalty try after Scotland resorted to another infringement just inches from their own goal-line in a desperate bid to halt Italy's last-gasp surge. It was the 14th foul committed by Cotter's men and came after penalty-littered defeats to France and Wales. The Kiwi had warned Scotland to be on their best behaviour but after falling to the Italians for the seventh time in 15 years, he said: 'I'm obviously not getting the message across. Matt Scott reacts at full time in the Six Nations rugby union match between Scotland and Italy . A downbeat Sean Lamont sits on the Murrayfield Stadium grass following the defeat to Italy on Saturday . 'That's one of those things that has been spoken about and it needs to be taken on board. 'I still think there is a lot of growth in this side. Things have gone forward. 'We just need to address a couple of simple things which will help us change and control outcomes better.' But Cotter also admitted he will have to take his share of the blame. Asked if he regretted replacing skipper Greig Laidlaw with five minutes to go just as the Italians were turning the screw, he said: 'Not just that. I'm responsible for the defeat so I will be having a good look at myself and how we can move forward.' Samuela Vunisa celebrates on the pitch after the Six Nations rugby match between Scotland and Italy . +Fernando Alonso is convinced success is on the horizon for McLaren on the day when he saw former team Ferrari return to glory. After missing the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he recovered from a concussion sustained in a test crash, Alonso's first outing on his return to the team ended in retirement after 21 laps of the Malaysian Grand Prix due to an ERS cooling issue. As Alonso spoke and delivered his verdict on the weekend when McLaren have at least made some progress, Sebastian Vettel was charging around in the background en route to his first win for 16 months. McLaren driver Fernando Alonso is all smiles in Malaysia despite not finishing the Grand Prix on Sunday . Alonso's McLaren is wheeled into the garage after he was forced to retire from the Malaysian Grand Prix . The German is, of course, Alonso's replacement at Ferrari as the 33-year-old opted to quit the Maranallo marque after five years without success of trying to claim a third title. What must Alonso have thought later when he saw Vettel stand on the top step of the podium, the first time a Ferrari driver had done so since the Spaniard himself in his home grand prix two years ago. Whatever Alonso's thoughts, all he can do now is remain convinced McLaren's early woes in conjunction with new power-unit supplier Honda will ultimately lead to the results he craves. It is a case of short-term pain for long-term gain as Alonso said: 'These reliability problems are normal. The Spaniard failed to finish the race on Sunday, managing just 21 laps at the Malaysian Grand Prix . 'What you normally find in winter testing, we have to find in the first couple of races unfortunately. We need to accept maybe some retirements and we are ready to do so. 'Definitely it has been a very nice weekend and a very nice surprise to see the improvements from Australia to here. 'If we keep up this rate then we will enjoy success very soon.' Overall, Alonso expressed 'mixed feelings' as to how the weekend had unfolded, adding: 'I'm happy to be back and very happy with the progress the team has made. Both McLaren's failed to finish the race in Malaysia as they continue to struggle for form this F1 season . 'Watching the race on the TV in Australia, we were very far off - four seconds in the race and just one McLaren running alone at the back. 'Here we were much more competitive in qualifying, running with everyone in the race, which was a very nice surprise. 'But not finishing the race is never a nice feeling, so let's see if we can improve next time.' Team-mate Jenson Button retired on lap 42 with a turbo issue, leaving neither of the team's cars classified for the first time since the 2006 United States Grand Prix. Â . +Neymar has revealed he has no plans to move over to the Premier League any time soon. The Barcelona and Brazil star is one of the hottest properties in world football and could have his pick of the planet’s top clubs if he decided to leave the Spanish giants. Neymar is still only 23 yet that has not stopped him racing to 43 goals in 62 games for Brazil and he was the poster boy of the World Cup last summer. Neymar, Brazil's captain and superstar, says he has no desire to move to England any time soon . Neymar embraces his 'big friend' Alexis Sanchez, who was a team-mate of his at Barcelona until last summer . But being in only his second year at Barcelona following a £48.6million move from Brazilian club side Santos in June 2013, he wants to stay there for far longer. Neymar said: ‘As for playing in England myself, I’m very happy playing for Barcelona and I still have a long road to walk here.' Neymar played at Barcelona with Alexis Sanchez before the Chilean moved over to Arsenal last summer. ‘Alexis is a big friend,’ he added, ‘and someone who I had the privilege of playing with at Barcelona. We used to get along very well on and off the field, so I’m very happy to see him so well at Arsenal.’ Neymar says he enjoyed playing with Sanchez but does not want to join him at Arsenal . The Chile and Brazil stars played out a friendly at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium this weekend . The pair went head-to-head in Brazil’s 1-0 win against Chile at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon and Sanchez paid tribute to his former team-mate. ‘Neymar raised everyone’s spirits as he is a very joyful person,’ Sanchez said. ‘I hope he never changes. 'His happiness is contagious and that’s something I really like. Regarding his quality, I cannot come up with something new. Everybody knows how good he is. ‘He dares to so some stuff with the ball no one would dare to that. That’s the beauty of football.’ +Manchester City full-back Aleksandar Kolarov has admitted he would like to return to Italy. Inter Milan are among the clubs tracking the Serbia defender who spent three years in Serie A with Lazio before joining the Barclays Premier League champions for £16million. It was Roberto Mancini who signed Kolarov at City in 2010 and the Inter manager is understood to be interested in being reunited with his former player this summer. Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov marks Cristiano Ronaldo during Portugal's win over Serbia . Kolarov has admitted he would like to return to Italy and could leave the Etihad during the summer . Kolarov's wages could be an issue for Inter after he signed a new three-year deal with the club in June 2014, but the 29-year-old could be looking for the Etihad exit at the end of this season. 'I'd like to return to Italy, but it's difficult,' Kolarov said following Serbia's 2-1 defeat by Portugal on Sunday night. 'I'm happy for [Sampdoria manager Sinisa] Mihajlovic. 'He's doing very well, as are Lazio. They're having a great season and I hope they can end it in third or even second place.' Kolarov has made 101 appearances in the Premier League for City, winning the title twice. Kolarov celebrates with Yaya Toure (right) during one of his 101 Premier League appearances for City . Inter Milan are among the clubs tracking the Serbia defender who spent three years in Serie A with Lazio . +Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea have all made enquiries for Palermo striker Paulo Dybala. Manchester United have also been to watch the Argentine but he is not high on their list. The 21-year-old is valued at £30million by Palermo president Mauro Zamparini and Juventus are considered favourites even though they have had an opening offer rejected. Paulo Dybala of Palermo is a transfer target for three British clubs in the summer, but may cost £30million . Palermo are also expecting to sell Italy midfielder Franco Vazquez in the summer transfer window . Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City are three English clubs interested in signing striker Dybala . Palermo also expect to sell Italy midfielder Franco Vazquez this summer. Zamparini said: 'Dybala and Vazquez will probably be sold this summer. Will they go to Milan? No. 'They are being tracked by Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.' +Leicester City winger Anthony Knockaert is discussing a potential Bosman move to Standard Liege. The Frenchman, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is free to talk to overseas clubs and has been to Liege to check out the facilities and discuss personal terms. Knockaert, 23, has made only five starts for Leicester this season and has not featured since the FA Cup win at Tottenham Hotspur in January, when he was an unused substitute. Leicester City's Anthony Knockaert (left) has held talks over a move to Belgian side Standard Liege . The French winger is one of 10 players reaching the end of their contracts with the Foxes . Knockaert is one of ten first team players out of contract at Leicester as well as Esteban Cambiasso, Matt Upson, Paul Konchesky, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Dean Hammond, Marcin Wasilewski, Conrad Logan, Paul Gallagher and Zoumana Bakayogo. Meanwhile, the Foxes have rejected approaches for striker Tom Lawrence from an astonishing nine clubs. The former Manchester United forward has barely played for Leicester since arriving from Old Trafford in the summer but manager Nigel Pearson wants to have all options available as he battles against the odds to keep Leicester in the Premier League. The Foxes have rejected bids from nine different clubs for striker Tom Lawrence (right) +Wales captain Ashley Williams says summer holidays for the squad have been put on hold as qualifying for Euro 2016 takes precedence over visiting exotic hot-spots. Chris Coleman's Group B leaders host Belgium for their next qualifier but the June 12 fixture at the Cardiff City Stadium causes problems as far as preparation is concerned. The fixture comes nearly three weeks after the conclusion of the Premier League season and almost a full six weeks from the final match of the regular Championship campaign, which could mean an extended break for the likes of Reading pair Chris Gunter and Hal Robson-Kanu. Ashley Williams (right, with Gareth Bale) was in impressive form during Wales' win in Israel on Saturday . The Dragons currently sit top of Group B after their 3-0 impressive victory in Haifa, Israel . Gareth Bale (right) celebrates his first and Wales' second goal of the evening with team-mate Chris Gunter . Wales boss Coleman is still undecided whether to go ahead with a planned Cardiff friendly against Northern Ireland on June 4 or have a long training camp before the Belgium game. But Williams says that whatever the decision, Wales will not be taking their eye off the ball following the 3-0 victory in Israel on Saturday night, a win which gave the nation its longest unbeaten start to a qualifying campaign since the 1976 European Championships. 'There was a big wait for this game and it will be the same for the Belgium game in June,' Williams said. 'When the season ends we will get focused again and keep the ball rolling. Williams has his heart set on helping Wales qualify for their first ever European Championship finals . 'We have not spoken about that break yet and I don't know what they are going to do with us. 'But everyone understands the importance of that game and no-one is going to be in Vegas or Miami before. 'We will have a rest and keep ourselves fit.' Wales will lose top spot in the group on Tuesday night should the delayed Israel-Belgium game in Jerusalem produce a winner - the fixture postponed last September because of the political situation in the Middle East. Chris Coleman's men reached their target of being in the top three teams at the halfway mark of qualifying . But Coleman said Wales have met their pre-group target of being in the top three at the halfway stage of the qualifying campaign and, with seven or eight points potentially enough to claim one of the two automatic qualifying places for France 2016, three of their last five games are now at home. 'We have a massive game in June,' Williams said after winning his 50th cap against Israel in Haifa. 'A win over Belgium will be a big step to where we have to go. 'There is still a lot of football to be played after that so I wouldn't go as far as to say that we win that and we are there. 'We do know that a win over Belgium will make a big difference. 'We understood how big the Israel game was but there is another massive game in June which will be even more important. ' +Every day Sportsmail takes a look at the European papers to see what are the biggest stories creating talking points on the continent. Let's start in Spain where it would seem Gareth Bale is finally being given some credit following his impressive two-goal display for Wales against Israel on Friday night. Madrid-based newspaper Marca lead with an image of Bale and a headline which reads 'Yes, like this Bale', as they report on the Welshman's performance. Madrid newspaper Marca report that their is still a bright future for Gareth Bale at Real Madrid . Marca believes the forward's future could still be bright at Madrid if he 'starts from the centre with total freedom in attack and without defensive obligations'. The same Spanish newspaper slated Bale less than two weeks ago after Madrid's 2-1 El Clasico defeat at the Nou Camp for which Marca rated his performance as zero. Now, however, Marca hint that Bale will be able to shine even given the right role at the Bernabeu. Elsewhere is Spain, AS report that Sergio Ramos 'does not feel valued' at Madrid as talks stall over a new contract for the Spanish defender. AS focus on Sergio Ramos' contract talks while Mundo Deportivo claim Barcelona will bid for Paul Pogba . Mundo Deportivo claim that Barcelona are planning a 'secret' swoop for Juventus star Paul Pogba, who has been attracting attention from the biggest clubs across Europe. 'Barca are prepared to sign the Frenchman and loan him for one more year to his current club Juventus', reports Mundo Deportivo. To Italy now, where Tuttosport reveal that a group players are speaking out in support of under-fire boss Antonio Conte. Conte has received death threats from angry fans who blame his training methods for the injury which was initially believed to have ruled midfielder Claudio Marchisio out for the rest of the season. 'Everyone for Conte' reads the headline as Tuttusport claim that Juve's Azzurri stars have launched an appeal to the fans ahead of Tuesday's international friendly against England. Tuttosport report on Italy's players 'launching an appeal' in support of Italy boss Antonio Conte . +Gareth Bale insists the intense criticism of his Real Madrid form will fall on deaf ears and he is firmly confident of his elite abilities. Having weathered a storm of whistles from the stands to spearhead Wales to victory in Israel, Bale spoke in assured tones about doing likewise in Spain. Exactly a week ago Bale found his white Bentley under attack from irate Real fans after the Clasico defeat to Barcelona in which influential newspaper Marca scored him zero mark. He has been subjected to boos from the stands and had his £86million pricetag mocked and questioned. Gareth Bale celebrates scoring his first goal of the game during Wales' 3-0 victory against Israel on Saturday . Bale scored a brilliant free-kick as Wales won 3-0 in Israel in the Euro 2016 Group B qualifier . Bale (centre) leads the celebrations after his second-half free kick put Wales 2-0 up against rivals Israel . But in Wales' hugely important Euro 2016 qualifier in Israel Bale was magnificent, scoring twice to move onto 16 in total for his country, level with Cliff Jones, Mark Hughes and Robert Earnshaw, and beyond the great John Charles in the all-time list. And Bale said: 'I don't need to answer the critics. I know, and everyone around me knows, what I can do. 'There are ups and downs in football, you have to take it with a pinch of salt and all you can do is respond with your performances on the pitch, like that. 'I don't feel I need to prove anyone wrong or right, I just need to play my football. 'I love playing for Wales, it's a big honour and the most important thing is I focus on my football. I don't listen to anyone else, what they're saying, just enjoying my football with the boys.' Bale was an image of relaxation as he flew back to Cardiff with his Wales teammates yesterday, smiling, chatting and sharing sweets. He will enjoy some home time before travelling to Madrid. Wales boss Chris Coleman was at the head of the plane perusing tactical notes. Job done in Israel, the manager is already looking forward to the visit of Belgium on June 12. Emerge from that game unscathed and Wales will begin to smell the croissants. A point or more would bring to life the vision of qualifying for France 2016, a first major tournament in more than half a century. That is thanks to a substantial victory in Haifa that removed any lingering doubt this gilded crop possess the ability, application and mental strength to succeed. The performance in winning 3-0 could in future be seen as era-defining. Bale (second left) has struggled to hit the form Madrid supporters want to see from him . Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey (centre) put Wales a goal to the good against Israel in Haifa on Saturday . Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen (right) was impressive for Wales in the encounter against Israel . Wales have been in promising positions before since reaching the 1958 World Cup, but failed. The way they set about business in Israel, who entered the game with a 100 per cent record in Group B, told of a team likely to make history, not repeat it. Plenty of times Coleman has referenced this golden generation, headed by the irrepressible Bale. He set up Aaron Ramsey's opener before scoring the final two goals at the Sammy Ofer Stadium, a wnderful free-kick and composed finish. To a man Wales were composed, Joe Allen particularly good, silencing a feverish atmosphere. The team had also needed to block out some perceived dirty tricks in this desert nation. Coleman revealed there had been a wrong turn and delayed luggage on arrival. Some stadium floodlights also went out as the match neared the final whistle. 'As a player I remember going to places, you know the shenanigans,' he said. 'We arrived on Thursday and the journey from the airport to hotel is 45 minutes. It took us an hour and 55 minutes because our escort 'missed the turn off'. Manager Chris Coleman has heralded his current Wales team as a 'golden generation' The Wales players celebrate at full time as the three points took them to the top of Group B . 'And then our bags arrived three or four hours later. So the games were starting to be played but we said laugh, joke. We used to get angry about it and you walked on the pitch wanting to tear someone in half. Someone gets sent off, you're 2-0 down after 20 minutes and it's all over. 'So we just said, 'Keep calm, we've worked hard to get here, let's not do anything stupid. Be brave with the ball.' We were all of that. I thought we could have won by more.' +Aaron Ramsey has dedicated his opening goal in Wales' impressive 3-0 win over Israel to the memory of his grandmother, who died recently. The Arsenal midfielder opened the scoring in Haifa just before half-time as the Welsh moved top of European Championship qualifying Group B ahead of Belgium, Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina who are all ranked above them. And Ramsey used his post-match comments to pay tribute to his grandmother after he ended what he described as a 'tough week' on a huge high. Aaron Ramsey celebrates his goal in Israel by pointing to the sky in memory of his deceased grandmother . The Arsenal midfielder opened the goalscoring just before half-time to set Wales on their way to victory . The 24-year-old pointed to the sky during his celebrations, and he has now clarified that the gesture was in memory of his nan. 'My nan passed away on the weekend, that's why it's been quite tough,' Ramsey said. 'My goal was for her. I'm just really proud I could score the goal for her. I know she's looking down on me and I was glad I could score. Ramsey wheels away after giving Wales the lead on the stroke of half-time at the Sammy Ofer Stadium . Ramsey points to the sky as the Welsh players are led back to the halfway line on Saturday afternoon . 'I shut my eyes, got my head on it and thankfully it went in. It was a great performance and Ginge (James Collins) said in the dressing room that's maybe the best performance away from home he has been involved in. 'We looked quite comfortable and played with a lot of belief. It was a great performance from the boys, we came here believing we could get a result and we managed to do it.' Gareth Bale added two further goals for Wales, who now look to have a great chance of qualifying for Euro 2016 in France next summer. Gareth Bale scored twice in the second half to seal a convincing win with Wales moving up to top the group . +Aaron Ramsey believes Wales can pull off a summer surprise against Belgium and take a huge stride towards reaching the Euro 2016 finals in France. Wales coasted to a 3-0 victory over Israel in Haifa on Saturday night to top Group B in European Championship qualifying, with their next game at home to group favourites Belgium on June 12. Belgium are ranked fourth in the world and made their own statement of intent on Saturday when they thrashed Cyprus 5-0 in Brussels. Aaron Ramsey (right) insists Wales can spring a surprise against Belgium on June 12 . Ramsey wheels away in celebration after scoring the first goal during Wales' 3-0 victory against Israel . The Red Devils will top the group by beating Israel in Jerusalem on Tuesday but Wales held Belgium in Brussels in November and Ramsey believes they can upset them again in the return fixture at the Cardiff City Stadium. 'We'll be looking forward to Belgium,' Ramsey said after opening the scoring against Israel with his ninth international goal. 'It's a tough game but we are full of confidence at the moment. We are top of the group, so why can't we win the game?' Arsenal midfielder Ramsey revealed his goal celebration when he pointed to the heavens was in honour of his grandmother who died last weekend. 'My nan passed away on the weekend, that's why it's been quite tough,' Ramsey said. Ramsey (right) points to the heavens in honour of his grandmother who died last weekend . Ramsey was mobbed by his Wales team-mates after putting them ahead at the end of the first half . 'My goal was for her. I'm just really proud I could score the goal for her. I know she's looking down on me and I was glad I could score. 'I shut my eyes, got my head on it and thankfully it went in. It was a great performance and 'Ginge' (James Collins) said in the dressing room that's maybe the best performance away from home he has been involved in. 'We looked quite comfortable and played with a lot of belief. 'It was a great performance from the boys, we came here believing we could get a result and we managed to do it. 'We kept ourselves in the game, defended really well and then we got the goal before half-time and it opened up a bit more.' Marouane Fellaini scored twice to help Belgium to an impressive 5-0 victory against Cyprus on Saturday . Eden Hazard (left) bagged a goal and an assist as Belgium continued their Group B march . Ramsey's goal preceded a double strike from Gareth Bale which took the game away from 10-man Israel in the second half. Bale's form for Real Madrid has been widely criticised in Spain but he has now scored six goals in his last six appearances for his country. 'He was unbelievable,' Ramsey said. 'Every time he comes away with Wales he puts on a performance. He got two goals himself and an assist, it was a good job for him.' Ramsey hailed his Welsh team-mate Gareth Bale as 'unbelievable' following his two-goal performance . Bale uploaded this picture to Instagram afterwards with the caption 'what a performance from the lads' Wales now have 11 points from five games and manager Chris Coleman believes 20 will prove enough to claim one of the two automatic qualifying spots on offer. 'You've got to be really unlucky if you get to 20 and you don't get to the first top two,' Coleman said. 'We've done some good work and we're on the right road but there's some distance left. We've got the chance to prove we are the best Welsh team since the one that qualified for the 1958 World Cup. 'I played in Welsh teams in 1994 and 2004 where we nearly did it and now we have the opportunity to go a step further. 'People say it's a golden generation but we need to earn it. We're doing it but we've not done it yet. 'But we want the chance to prove since 1958 this team is as good as anything that's gone before.' +Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be given to Wales is that this cauldron of noise, which at kick-off seemed so threatening, was reduced to a quiet hum after the 50th minute. That was the moment when Gareth Bale reminded us why Real Madrid paid £86million for his signature, why the caustic treatment of his recent performances in Spain seems so odd. Having drawn a foul from Eytan Tibi inches outside the box with his pace, he dispatched the ball into the net as simply as if from the penalty spot in any. His shot curled over the wall with surgical placement, leaving goalkeeper Ofir Marciano stock still. It was pure quality. Gareth Bale scored twice as Wales beat Israel in Haifa on Saturday in Euro 2016 qualifying . Bale (second left) lashes in his second goal of the game for Wales against Israel . Bale celebrates as his team moved to the top of Group B with victory in Haifa over Israel . Bale (centre) leads the celebrations after his second half free kick put Wales 2-0 up against rivals Israel . Bale (third right) uploaded a picture to Instagram afterwards with the caption 'what a performance from the lads' Israel (4-3-3): Marciano 6; Dgani 5.5, Ben Haim I 5.5, Tibi 3, Ben Harush 6; Yeini 5, Natcho 5, Refaelov 5; Ben Haim II 5 (Biton 60’ 5), Zahavi 6 (Sahar 71’ 5), Damari 4 (Hemed 44’ 5) Booked: Refaelov . Sent off: Tibi . Manager: Eli Guttman 5 . Wales (5-3-1-1): Hennessey 6; Gunter 6, Collins 6, Williams 7, Davies 7, Taylor 7; Ramsey 7.5 (MacDonald 86’), Allen 7, Ledley 6.5 (Vaughan 48’ 6); Bale 8; Robson-Kanu 6.5 (Vokes 69’ 6.5) Manager: Chris Coleman 7 . Referee: Milorad Mazic 7 . MoM: Bale . His rapturous celebration spoke of the goal’s personal significance and collective importance. He answered his critics without uttering a word and made certain a momentous victory in Welsh ambitions to reach Euro 2016. It was his 15th goal in 49 caps for Wales, moving him level with John Charles in the all-time scorers chart. He went past the great man 13 minutes from the end to rubber stamp Wales’s ascension to top of Group B at the halfway stage on 11 points and within sight of a first major tournament since 1958. Aaron Ramsey provided the assist, seizing possession on the left and cutting back for Bale to finish into the corner. It was goal number 20 for Bale in a season that has been judged underwhelming in Spain. Ramsey deserves praise too, having turned in his best performance in a Welsh shirt for some considerable time, getting the opener eight seconds into first-half injury time that sucked the feverish hostility from the throats of Israel’s fans. It was route one stuff. Wayne Hennessey pumped the ball long and Israel allowed it to bounce. Bale stole above Tibi to nod into the path of Ramsey, who delivered a brilliant header over Marciano. Ramsey celebrated by running to the 900 Wales fans and pointing to the skies, his grandmother having died last week. Bale dedicated the win to much-loved kitman Dai Williams, who passed away last month with the players wearing black armbands. By the end, Wales were running through 10-man Israel at will, Tibi having been sent off for a second booking shortly after 2-0 for fouling Bale again. Substitute Sam Vokes, making his first international appearance in a year following serious injury, nearly scored, as Bale twice went close to getting his hat-trick. Israel are no mugs. Their 3-0 win over Bosnia here in November and perfect record prior to this game, is indication of that. But they were made to look woefully short by Wales. Bale said: ‘We’re in a good position now and we’ve got a chance of qualifying. We will keep fighting and working hard and hopefully our performances and results will do all the talking. It’s amazing to be top of the table and we go from here.’ Ramsey (right) wheels away in celebration after putting Wales into the lead at the end of the first half . Ramsey was mobbed by his Wales team-mates after putting them ahead at the end of the first half . Wales defender James Collins (left) missed a tremendous chance to put Wales ahead after only 19 minutes . Bale (centre) run between the Israel players Eytan Tibi (left) and Orei Digani . Bale was at the centre of attention from Israel's defence but still scored his country five minutes into the second half . Chris Coleman was ebullient, and said Bale had responded in perfect fashion to the scathing judgments in Spain. ‘A plus with international football is when you come away from your clubs, then you are concentrating on something different,’ said the Wales manager. ‘There's a bit of criticism flying at Gareth in Madrid, but he did tonight what he's been doing for some time with Wales.’ Coleman thinks three wins from five remaining matches will seal qualification. All the ingredients to make this a defining night were mixed together in the Sammy Ofer Stadium. Two nations enjoying unprecedentedly good qualifying campaigns with designs on reaching a major finals for the first time in a generation. The noise for the Israel national anthem as thousands held up Star of David flags told you that. The whistles greeting early touches by Wales players were piercing in the extreme. Bale’s name over the tannoy drew louder cat calls than any. ‘Haters gonna hate,’ read a sign in the away section, directed more towards Real Madrid’s critical following than those here in Haifa. He did have at least one fan in the home crowd. A poster of ‘We love you Bale’ could be seen behind one goal. Little battles all over the pitch showed the tension. An early shove by Neil Taylor on Orel Dgani as the pair tussled for a throw in drew high-pitched screeching from the stands. James Collins suggested Eli Guttman might ‘f*** off’ when the Israel manager appealed for a card after Omri Ben Harush dramatically rolled on the turf following a collision for a high ball. Bale (left) of Wales tries to keep possession under pressure from Israel's Sheran Yeini in the Euro 2016 qualifier . Bale (left) missed a good chance to increase his tally and his side's lead shortly after making it 2-0 . Wales captain and defender Ashley Williams (left) contests an aerial challenge alongside Israel's Eran Zahavi (right) Arsenal midfielder Ramsey (left) fends off Israel's Sheran Yeini as he tries to get possession of the ball . Wales and Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen (left) challenges opponent Eran Zahavi for the ball . Wales took control where it mattered, Joe Allen, Joe Ledley and Ramsey exhibiting their Premier League pedigree. Their pressure cranked up with a sustained spell in the Israel half on 20 minutes. As the seconds ticked on the disapproving clamour from the home fans grew unbearable almost. Allen had a shot blocked, Ramsey a corner cleared and then Bale delivered a wonderful cross to an unmarked Welshman at the back stick. Unfortunately it was Collins, who stood on the ball from two yards out rather than apply the finishing touch that had seemed certain. The pause allowed Israel to clear. In the end, as Wales fans sung ‘We are top of the league’, it was a mere footnote . Bale (left) is sent tumbling to the ground after a challenge from Israel midfield player Eran Zahavi . The Wales squad have a huddle before the start of their Group B European qualifier in Haifa against Israel . The Wales team were backed by a vociferous following for the encounter in Haifa . +Having wrapped up the world’s largest human migration, the Spring Festival season, China is the scene for a breathtaking animal migration this week. Stunning images from The People’s Daily Online show herdsmen transferring 400,000 livestock in knee-deep snow and blizzards in north-west China. Covering more than 300 kilometres (186 miles), the annual animal migration started late last week and is expected to last ten days. Harsh weather: A herdsman drives sheep on a snow-covered path in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture . Strong will: Most of the herdsmen are ethnic residents, such as Kazakhs, who are moving their livestock to spring pastures . Long march: The animal migration covers more than 300 kilometres and is expected to last for 10 days . Far flung: The images were taken in the most north-western part of China near the Kazakhstan border . The extreme journey takes place in the remote Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in north-west China. Ethnic herdsmen must move livestock - consisting mainly of sheep and horses - from the winter pasture in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture southwards to the grassland in Ili, where the animals will spend spring. The journey follows a passage through Guo Zi Gou, one of China’s most beautiful gorges and a key section on the Silk Road. Crucial passage: The journey passes Guo Zi Gou, one of China's most beautiful gorges that was a section of the Silk Road . Animal adventure: The livestock among the 400,000 animals on the move include sheep and horses . The massive migration is a major task for local administrations. Snow has to be ploughed in advance and emergency forage is arranged in several key locations along the way. Xinjiang is one of the country’s strongest regions for animal husbandry. There are approximately 57.2 million livestock in the province in total. All prepared: Local authorities have arranged snowploughs and emergency foraging for the animals along the way . Almost there: Herdsmen are expected to complete the challenging task by the end of the week . +The Duke of Wellington is famously quoted as saying that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. And now an amazing 150-year-old photograph has emerged of boys at the private school playing cricket - one of the earliest images ever taken of the sport. The earliest ever photograph of a school cricket match, and the second oldest of any cricket anywhere, has been discovered and is to be sold at auction. An 1860s photograph of young men playing cricket at Eton has been discovered and is to be sold at auction. It is thought to be the second oldest image of the sport ever taken . The photograph was signed by Victor A. Prout in pencil. It will be sold at auction by Dominic Winters Auctioneers in Cirencester . Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was a British leader who is said to have traversed the playing fields at Eton College when he was a student in the 1780s. The Duke attended Eton, which was founded in the 15th Century by King Henry VI, before he joined the army in 1787 and later helped defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. According to history, he touched the ground at Eton and claimed: 'There grows the stuff that won Waterloo.' He was later misquoted repeatedly as having said: 'It is here that the battle of Waterloo was won.' His statements were construed by historians as references to the 'manly character induced by games and sport' among the English youth. The previously unseen image was taken in the early 1860s and shows 11 young men dressed smartly in trousers and waistcoats. Resting on their bats, they pose for the photographer with the distinctive Eton College visible behind them. The photograph was taken by Victor A. Prout who signed it in pencil afterwards. Dating from around 1862, it was taken just five years after the first ever image depicting the sport. It is to be sold by Dominic Winters Auctioneers in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and is expected to fetch at least £500. Auctioneer and Senior Valuer Chris Albury said: 'This early, and previously unknown, cricket photograph in this album probably dates from circa 1862, some five years after the earliest photograph of a cricket match.' The first ever photo of cricket was taken by Roger Fenton in 1857, a founding member of the Royal Photographic Society and famous for his photographs of the Crimean War. He first captured the sport in during a match between the Royal Artillery and the Hunsdonbury Cricket Club at the Honourable Artillery Ground in Islington, London, 25 July 1857. Around 100 years before the image of taken the Duke of Wellington is said to have traversed the playing fields at Eton where he was a student. Touching the ground, history claims he said: 'There grows the stuff that won Waterloo.' He was later misquoted repeatedly as having said: 'It is here that the battle of Waterloo was won.' Eton College was founded in the 15th Century by King Henry VI to school 70 poor boys. The pupils were then sent to Kings College in Cambridge, founded in 1441. The school has long been associated with cricket with its annual fixture against Harrow dating back to 1805. Cricket has long been part of Eton's sporting curriculum. Above, members of the first XI before a match against Household Brigade in 1925 . Schoolboys and teachers watch a match on the Eton playing fields in the 1930s. The fields were made famous when described by Lord Wellington as the place 'there grows the stuff that won Waterloo' Eton College was founded in the 15th Century by King Henry VI to school 70 poor boys. The pupils were then sent to Kings College in Cambridge, founded in 1441 . English poet Sir Henry John Newbolt (pictured) perhaps summed up the spirit of the 19th Century best, with his famous work known as 'Vitaï Lampada' In the 19th century, character building through sports was said to be vital in morally equipping young men to achieve greatness later in life. Many held the view that 'manly characteristics' were developed by gaming and sports, and that those who flourished on the field would go on to carve successful careers as soldiers or engineers. English poet Sir Henry John Newbolt perhaps summed up the spirit of the age best, with his famous work known as 'Vitaï Lampada'. The poem, written in 1892, refers to how a schoolboy, a future soldier, learns selfless commitment to duty in cricket matches in the famous Close at Clifton College. Vitaï Lampada, which means 'the torch of life', also makes reference to the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan in January 1885. The poem, in full: . There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night— . Ten to make and the match to win— . A bumping pitch and a blinding light, . An hour to play and the last man in. And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat, . Or the selfish hope of a season's fame, . But his captain's hand on his shoulder smote . 'Play up! play up! and play the game!' The sand of the desert is sodden red,— . Red with the wreck of a square that broke;— . The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead, . And the regiment blind with dust and smoke. The river of death has brimmed his banks, . And England's far, and Honour a name, . But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks: . 'Play up! play up! and play the game!' This is the word that year by year, . While in her place the school is set, . Every one of her sons must hear, . And none that hears it dare forget. This they all with a joyful mind . Bear through life like a torch in flame, . And falling fling to the host behind— . 'Play up! play up! and play the game!' +Lawrence Okoye is set for the next step in his NFL career. Since swapping the discus for the defensive line, mentor Jim Tomsula said the 6ft 6in man mountain has adapted to the sport well, but is set to face a steep learning curve in his third year with the San Francisco 49ers. 'The development has been significant. But he’s playing a position that’s not like anything else that he’s done. So everything is completely brand new and that’s a hard transition.' 'This year, he's going to be in there against guys that are going to make the other team. Let's see where we're at,' head coach Tomsula said at the NFL owners meeting. Lawrence Okoye faces a battle to make the 53-man roster and Jim Tomsula is keen to know where he stands . Jim Tomsula spoke about Lawrence Okoye's future and was gushing about Jarryd Hayne's NFL hopes . After signing as an undrafted free agent in 2013, Okoye's first year in the Bay Area was injury-hit. Last season he played against third and fourth-stringers in pre-season before being signed to the practice squad. Despite Tomsula's expertise as a defensive line coach, 23-year-old former Olympian Okoye faces a battle to make the 49ers final 53-man roster due to enormous depth at the position. Even without the likes of Justin Smith and Ray McDonald, Tomsula reckons it's the best positional group he's had in his eight years with the franchise. Tomsula also spoke of fellow NFL-convert Jarryd Hayne, who joined the 49ers from Australia's NRL as a free agent earlier this month. The 49ers plan to use Hayne as a running back but Tomsula would not rule out using him as a returner, and spoke of his excitement at working with the 27-year-old. 'He’s a guy used to being downfield catching a ball with people running at him,' Tomsula said. 'He’s used to making tackles in open spaces. You’ve got a guy used to carrying the ball, catching the ball and avoiding. Obviously, with the explosive qualities that he has, you can’t help but be excited.' +Mike Zimmer says the Minnesota Vikings have no intention of trading Adrian Peterson. But the player and his agent have other ideas. 'We're planning on him being back. We have no plans to trade Adrian,' he said. 'We're good to go. I mean, he's under contract and we expect him to honor it,' Zimmer said at the NFL Annual Meeting. 'I think when he goes into the Hall of Fame, he's going to want to go in with the jersey that everyone remembers him as. That will be as a Viking.' Adrian Peterson played one game for the Vikings last season before being suspended . But Ben Dogra, agent of the superstar running back, has other ideas. 'Adrian and I feel it is in his best interest, and it would be his desire, to play elsewhere in the NFL. This is not personal in any way, it is business,' he told the Associated Press. Three years remain on the 30-year-old's deal with $12.75million due this season. None of the money is guaranteed. Peterson remains on the Commissioners Exempt List until at least April 15 after hitting his four-year-old son with a switch and the 2012 MVP has been less than enthusiastic about returning to Minnesota. Zimmer also poured scorn on notions that the Vikings are set to trade 2013 first round draft pick Cordarrelle Patterson. Mike Zimmer spoke to reporters during the NFL's annual meeting in Phoenix . The eccentric receiver and returner made the Pro Bowl after his first year in purple, but found himself sidelined with the emergence of Charles Johnson and his inability to run routes. 'No, no chance whatsoever,' Zimmer told 1500ESPN.com. 'Cordarrelle is a young, emerging player who was with his third coordinator in three years. Quite frankly, we need to do a good job of figuring out how we can use him better and he needs to understand where he's supposed to be, the routes and everything.' +Between them, they could do some damage in their prime and look like they still could as Arnold Schwarzenegger posed with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and UFC queen Ronda Rousey. Arnie - a seven-time Mr Olympia, three-time Mr Universe and ex-governor of California - was at Wrestlemania when he got a photograph with the pair and uploaded it to Instagram. The Rock and Rousey even got involved in the action, taking to the ring with Triple H as the undefeated women's bantamweight champion lifted the wrestler and threw him over her shoulder. Arnold Schwarzenegger (centre) poses with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and UFC queen Ronda Rousey . The Rock and Rousey even got involved in the Wrestlemania action, taking to the ring with Triple H . Schwarzenegger wrote with the snap: 'Great to see you two tonight at Wrestlemania. The Rock, you're looking lean and mean, my friend. Ronda Rousey, you look ready to win another three championships in a row.' Despite getting involved, Rousey is unlikely to swap UFC for WWE as her appearance was part of a recent media tour in the United States. She featured on Jimmy Fallon last week, and demonstrated her ability to make opponents tap using her trademark armbar on the talk show host. 'They call you the arm collector because you almost snap people's arms in half when you're fighting,' Fallon said. 'If they don't say the right word, their arm is getting broken.' Like Fallon, Triple H almost found that out too by the looks of things. UFC queen Rousey begins to demonstrate her armbar on talk show host Jimmy Fallon last week . Fallon mistakenly asked the undefeated women's bantamweight champion about her trademark move . Rousey appeared on Fallon's talk show as she makes a media tour to get herself known in the United States . +Lewis Hamilton was involved in a series of curt radio exchanges with his team as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the surprise winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton’s Mercedes team had threatened to dominate this season but to the great relief of Formula One fans throughout the world — including some patriotic Hamilton supporters — they have been caught up. Hamilton, who finished second to head the championship standings by three points, exchanged words with his obviously jittery engineers on the pit wall. Lewis Hamilton waves to the crowds from the podium after finishing second at the Malaysian Grand Prix . During the race, Hamilton was involved in a number of frustrated exchanges with his engineers . Hamilton looks dejected (left) as he stands on the podium alongside Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg . F1 stats provided by F1 Stat Blog . He questioned their choice of tyres and told them not to talk to him while he was cornering. Apart from saying some of the messages were ‘confusing’, Hamilton refrained from criticising the team after the race and admitted that even if Mercedes had got their strategy right, Vettel ‘would still have been hard to beat’. INCIDENT 1 . Lap 39 — Hamilton complains about choice of tyres: . Hamilton: This is the wrong tyre, man. His engineer replies they had no choice. Engineer: The other was well used. INCIDENT 2 . Lap 40 — with Vettel picking up the pace, Hamilton vents his anger again: . Hamilton: I can hear you (in response to one engineer trying to grab a quick word.) I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. Paddy (Lowe, team technical chief) says I might be doing another stop. Engineer: That was just miscommunication. That was just chatter. INCIDENT 3 . Lap 42 — Hamilton snaps after being distracted: . Engineer: Lewis you are scheduled to catch Vettel with five laps remaining. Hamilton: Don’t try and talk to me through the corners, man, I nearly went off. James Restall . Hamilton wasn't happy that he could hear radio chatter as he took on a corner, claiming he nearly went off . Hamilton sips champagne alongside race winner Vettel (right) on the Malaysian podium . +Bernie Ecclestone is considering a women’s Formula One championship to give fans extra value for money during grand prix weekends. Ecclestone, the sport’s chief executive, floated the idea at a meeting with team bosses before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. If he manages to get his way, the likes of Williams test driver Susie Wolff, her counterpart at Lotus Carmen Jorda, IndyCar’s Danica Patrick and emerging British talent Alice Powell could all be handed drives. Bernie Ecclestone floated the idea at a meeting with team bosses before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix . ‘I thought it would be a good idea to give them a showcase,’ said Ecclestone. ‘For some reason, women are not coming through — and not because we don’t want them. Of course we do, because they would attract a lot of attention and publicity and probably a lot of sponsors. ‘We have to start somewhere so I suggested to the teams that we have a separate championship and maybe that way we will be able to bring someone through to F1. They could race before the main event or perhaps on the Saturday qualifying day. ‘It is only a thought at the moment but I think it would be super for Formula One and the whole grand prix weekend.’ The likes of Williams test driver Susie Wolff could feature in Ecclestone's proposed women-only race . Lella Lombardi was the last woman to start a Formula One race, in 1976, and the only one to score points. Ecclestone’s support for a female series comes 15 years after he controversially joked that women should dress in white like all domestic appliances. Lotus F1 development driver Carmen Jorda is another driver who could feature in the proposed move . +Sebastian Vettel now has 40 victories in his grand prix career, which is just one behind the legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna though the German has achieved the feat in 21 fewer races. His triumph for Ferrari ends a 34-race winless drought for the famous constructor. Their last victory came at the Spanish Grand Prix in May 2013 when Fernando Alonso triumphed in front of his home crowd. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel celebrates with his team following his triumph at the Malaysian Grand Prix . Alonso, who ended his five-year relationship with Ferrari to join McLaren, retired from the race with a cooling problem after only 21 laps as his troubled start to the season continued. Team-mate Jenson Button’s race also didn’t last the distance. This meant McLaren did not have a classified car for the first time since the 2006 United States Grand Prix, some 158 races ago. Fernando Alonso retired from the race with a cooling problem after only 21 laps . Max Verstappen became Formula One’s youngest points scorer after he finished seventh. At just 17 years and 180 days, he eclipsed Russian Daniil Kvyat’s record by exactly two years. And now with the rules preventing any driver under 18 to be given a super licence, Verstappen’s record will probably never be broken. Max Verstappen became Formula One’s youngest points scorer after he finished seventh in the race . Alonso left Ferrari under a cloud last season and Vettel’s win for the Italian constructors appeared to attract much amusement from the Lotus team. They tweeted: ‘We wonder if the TV channel has been changed in a certain Spanish driver’s room right now?’, as Vettel was presented with the winner’s trophy. +Jenson Button was pleasantly surprised by McLaren's performance at the Malaysian Grand Prix despite the fact both he and Fernando Alonso failed to finish the race. The McLaren pair began the race with Button 17th and Alonso 18th but were involved in a battle in the middle of the pack for the first half of the race. Alonso was forced to retire, though, after being called in by his team after 21 laps while Button lasted double the amount of time as his team-mate. Jenson Button was happy to see McLaren be more competitive at the Malaysian Grand Prix . Fernando Alonso only lasted 21 laps in Sepang in his first race of the 2015 season . Button seen on the tail of Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz at the Sepang International Circuit . But Button was happy to see his team challenging again after a lonely Australian Grand Prix where he could only manage to nurse the car home. He told Sky Sports: 'I would rather this way around (being forced to retire) than get to the end and be nowhere. 'We were quicker than the Force India. The Sauber was there and the Lotus wasn't that much quicker. It was a nice surprise but it was also good to see where our strengths and weaknesses were compared to the rest of the cars. 'It was interesting to race with other people and a little bit unexpected. It wasn't so bad, it was just a little bit messy with the pit stop and safety car.' +Roy Keane's court appearance has been rearranged at the request of the defence. The former Manchester United star and current Republic of Ireland coach was due at Trafford Magistrates Court on Tuesday following an allegation that he was at the centre of a road rage rant with a taxi driver at a set of traffic lights. But the first hearing will now take place on Wednesday, April 8. Roy Keane's court appearance for an allegation that he was at the centre of a road rage rant with a taxi driver, has been rearranged at the request of the defence . Keane, seen here during a Republic of Ireland training session, has been summonsed to appear at Trafford Magistrates Court following the incident in Altrincham . Keane was with the Ireland squad and manager Martin O'Neill for Sunday night's last-gasp 1-1 Euro 2016 qualifier draw with Poland in Dublin. Sportsmail understands that the case was put back at the request of the ex-midfielder's representatives. Keane, who managed Sunderland and Ipswich Town, is not required to attend court, but the postponement suggests that he may intend to do so. He was said to have launched into a foul-mouthed tirade and made obscene gestures after jumping out his Range Rover in Altrincham, Greater Manchester on the morning of January 30. Taxi driver Fateh Kerar, 44, claims the row last month was sparked when he and his female passenger spotted the TV pundit at a cash machine in nearby Hale. He says he said 'hello' to the 43-year-old and asked him to 'smile' before Keane got into his car and began following his taxi. Ireland boss Martin O'Neill (right) and Keane gesture to their players during the 1-1 draw against Poland . Keane, who worked alongside Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert (right), is not required to attend court . It is then alleged that when the cars stopped at traffic lights an 'angry' Keane, who lives in Bowdon, Cheshire, got out and started acting 'very aggressive'. Police launched an investigation into the incident and Keane, previously a coach at Aston Villa, was interviewed under caution by officers at a police station earlier this month. They have now decided to bring him to court. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'A summons was posted on 2 March 2015 for Roy Keane to his home address in Hale to appear before Trafford Magistrates court on 31 March 2015 for a Section 4A Public Order offence. 'This is in relation to an incident on Friday 30 January 2015 when police were called to Ashley Road, Altrincham to a report that a man had behaved aggressively towards another man.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Roy Keane has been summonsed to court after he was accused of a road rage rant with a taxi driver at a set of traffic lights. The former Manchester United star has been ordered to attend Trafford Magistrates Court later this month for a Section 4A Public Order offence. Ex-Sunderland and Ipswich Town manager Keane, currently Republic of Ireland coach, was said to have launched into a foul-mouthed tirade and made obscene gestures after jumping out his Range Rover in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Roy Keane, seen here at his book launch in Dublin last year, has been summonsed to appear at Trafford Magistrates Court following accusations of a road rage rant at a taxi driver in Altrincham, Manchester . Roy Keane was questioned under police caution following the alleged bust-up with taxi driver . Fateh Kerar, 44, claims the row last month was sparked when he and his female passenger spotted the TV pundit at a cash machine in nearby Hale. He says he said 'hello' to the 43-year-old and asked him to 'smile' before Keane got into his car and began following his taxi. It is then alleged that when the cars stopped at traffic lights an 'angry' Keane, who lives in Bowdon, Cheshire, got out and started acting 'very aggressive'. Police launched an investigation into the incident at 11.30am on January 30 and Keane, previously a coach at Aston Villa, was interviewed under caution by officers at a police station earlier this month. Keane coaches with the Republic of Ireland and is pictured ahead of a Euro 2016 qualifier in Germany . Keane worked alongside Paul Lambert at Aston Villa during the first part of the season . They have now decided to bring him to court. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'A summons was posted on 2 March 2015 for Roy Keane to his home address in Hale to appear before Trafford Magistrates court on 31 March 2015 for a Section 4A Public Order offence. 'This is in relation to an incident on Friday 30 January 2015 when police were called to Ashley Road, Altrincham to a report that a man had behaved aggressively towards another man.' +Norway international Martin Odegaard has become the youngest player to start a European Championship qualifier. The Real Madrid star, aged 16 years and 101 days, started for his country in their Group H tie against Croatia on Saturday. Odegaard previously became the youngest footballer to play in a Euro qualifier when he came on as a substitute against Bulgaria at the age of 15 years and 300 days. Real Madrid youngster Martin Odegaard started for Norway against Croatia on Saturday evening . The 16 year-old has become the youngest player ever to start a European Championship qualifier . Odegaard (top left) lines up alongside his international team-mates ahead of their match against Croatia . The game did not start well though, as Croatia took the lead after half an hour. Marcelo Brozovic was the scorer as the group leaders went ahead once more. Going into the game, Croatia had not lost any of their opening four fixtures, and they continued that run, eventually winning 5-1 and brushing Norway aside with ease. Odegaard, although unable to stop his country from losing on Saturday, is a talented young forward with a big future ahead of him. He joined Real Madrid in January, and has been plying his trade with Castilla, Madrid's reserve side. Odegaard, pictured signing autographs while training with Norway, played for his country on Saturday . Odegaard joined Real Madrid in January, and is playing his football for Castilla, their reserve side . Odegaard signed for Madrid after copious amounts of attention from a number of clubs around the world . +Kell Brook has called Amir Khan's bluff regarding a potential grudge fight between the pair - telling his British rival: 'It's not about money for me.' The calls for Khan to finally settle his long-running feud with Brook have grown stronger in the last few days, but the Bolton fighter insists he has more pressing issues. While Khan is keen to meet the IBF welterweight champion 'one day', he added he would be keen on a winner-takes-all fight. Kell Brook called out Amir Khan in an interview after beating Jo Jo Dan in Sheffield on Saturday night . Khan's last fight came against Devon Alexander in December, whom he beat to take his record to 30-3 . Brook, though, is unfazed as he told Sky Sports News HQ: 'It's not about money for me. It's about everywhere I go, (people asking) "when are you going to fight him?". 'It's public demand now. I think that he's getting forced in to this fight if he gets in.' Brook defended his world title with a four-round demolition job of mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan over the weekend and is supremely confident he could do a similar job on Khan, whose much-maligned chin is still considered to be a major weakness. 'He's been knocked down to the canvas by super-featherweights in his career,' said Brook. 'He's fighting a big, strong welterweight in myself who's a world champion, who's very confident, who's never lost, who's determined to flatten him. 'Don't get me wrong, Amir Khan is a very, very, very good fighter; very fast hands, most definitely the fastest hands I will have been in with. But the fact is when I connect on his chin, it's good night Vienna. 'I'm all wrong for him. I'll find a way to catch him, we've got 12 rounds. We'll have the perfect gameplan.' Brook demolished Dan in Sheffield, beating him in just four rounds to retain his IBF World Welterweight title . Khan has previously refused a fight with Brook but now promises it will take place within 12 months . Khan, though, is chasing a showdown with the winner of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super-fight and told Brook earlier on Tuesday that he would have to wait his turn. 'I'd love to fight Kell Brook because it could be his last fight - I'd give him so much of a beating that it could end up being his last fight,' Khan told Sky Sports. 'Maybe he wants it because he knows that one fight against me will financially secure him for the rest of his life. 'But it's all about timing. If I've got a different route and I want to face the likes of Mayweather or Pacquiao out there; Kell Brook will have to wait. 'It'll happen one day and if Kell really wants to fight me, I'll fight him, but the winner takes all. I'll do a huge bonus because I know he's going to lose the fight. 'Give him a little guarantee, but the guy who wins the fight takes a big lump sum. That's how confident I am against Kell Brook.' Brook, pictured celebrating his win over Dan on Saturday, appears to have got his wish to fight Khan . Promoter Eddie Hearn has responded to Khan by claiming the Olympic silver medallist has no interest in meeting his boxer. 'Amir seems to have this thing in his head about Kell not respecting him,' Hearn told Sky Sports News. 'Kell doesn't want to respect him - he wants to knock him out. Kell doesn't like him. It's quite simple. 'It's a tough fight. You can't take anything away from Amir Khan - he's a quality fighter. 'I just always felt that Kell Brook would win the fight. I don't think Khan would deal with Kell's power. 'Right now, Kell is golden and Amir is struggling to find an opponent. Whatever opponent he'll choose on May 30 isn't going to be Kell Brook and that's not what the public want. People will be disappointed with the opponent. 'Amir has put himself under pressure saying the fight will happen in the next 12 months and we hope so but unfortunately for him, Kell's stock continues to rise and the split is probably getting worse and worse as days go by. 'Winner takes all? I'll believe that when I see it because they have no desire to fight Kell Brook.' +Brazil superstar Neymar has responded to Gary Medel's accusation of 'theatrics' by saying he does not know who the Chile midfielder is. The pair were involved in Sunday's feisty international friendly at the Emirates where Medel was fortunate not to be sent off for what appeared to be a nasty stamp on the Brazilian. After the game, which Brazil won 1-0 through Roberto Firmino's late goal, Neymar commented that he did not consider the way Medel and the Chile players approached the game to be football. Former Cardiff enforcer Gary Medel appears to stamp on Neymar during Chile's friendly with Brazil . Medel walks off nonchalantly during the feisty encounter at the Emirates on Sunday . The Brazilian was left writhing in agony, although Medel accused him  of 'theatrics' after the game . Medel responded by posting a Twitter picture of the 23-year-old forward appearing to catch him with a tackle accompanied by the caption: 'Some engage in theatrics while others keep playing.' The Barcelona forward reignited the argument on his return to the Nou Camp, telling Mediaset: 'I don't know Medel, I don't know who he is. If he says that it is theatre, from there I will say nothing else. Only that it was a tough match.' Meanwhile, Neymar has picked up the Samba Gold Award, which recognises him as the best Brazilian player plying his trade in Europe. The Barca striker received 19 votes to beat Miranda and Felipe Melo who each collected 16 votes. Roberto Firmino skips past the Chile keeper to score the winner against the run of play . +Brazil's 1-0 victory against Chile may have been an ill-tempered affair, but the Selecao squad seemed in high spirits during a night out in London on Sunday night. Neymar enjoyed an evening at Novikov restaurant before heading to Kensington club Boujis, where former Black Eyed Peas star apl.de.ap was also in attendance. Neymar posed for pictures with fans while clutching a can of energy drink before heading into the popular nightspot while Chelsea star Willian was accompanied by his wife Vanessa Martins. Neymar enjoyed a night out at South Kensington club Boujis following Brazil's friendly against Chile . Chelsea winger Willian was also out on Sunday night but didn't join Neymar at the club . Willian, Douglas Costa and even Brazil boss Dunga were also out in London, although they didn't join Neymar later on at the nightclub. Earlier on Sunday, Barcelona star Neymar hit out at the 'UFC' style bully-boy tactics deployed by Chile during his side's 1-0 friendly victory at the Emirates on Sunday. The 23-year-old was on the end of some tough tackling throughout the ill-tempered clash and was lucky to escape injury following a nasty stamp from Chile midfielder Gary Medel. The former Cardiff City man seemed to tread on Neymar's ankle following a challenge in the first half, but escaped with even a yellow card. Douglas Costa (left) also tagged along, wearing a matching Mickey Mouse hooded top and cap . Willian was accompanied by three friends including his wife Vanessa Martins (right) Brazil boss Dunga (left) and his Brazil team were joined by Black Eyed Peas star apl.de.ap (right) Neymar and Co enjoyed an evening at Novikov restaurant before heading to Kensington club Boujis . Roberto Firmino (left) scored the only goal of the game to hand Brazil a 1-0 victory on Sunday . Neymar watches on after tangling with Gary Medel as the Chile star appears to stamp on the Brazilian . 'This wasn't a game of football,' Neymar said. 'It's meant to be football not UFC. The referee is there to stop these things from happening, but there were four referees and none of them saw anything! 'It seems we have to suffer. I am a sufferer.' A Roberto Firmino strike was enough to seal victory for Dunga's side, who have now won eight games in a row since their disappointing World Cup exit. The Barcelona star is evidently in pain after Medel's stamp on Neymar's leg at the Emirates stadium . Remarkably referee Martin Atkinson didn't punish the stamp by Medel as Neymar was left writhing . +One group of supporters will ride in a Hummer 130 miles to London, two special ales have hit the market and a song has entered the charts alongside the likes of Coldplay. The mayor ranks the occasion higher than Noddy Holder receiving the freedom of the borough. Walsall are at Wembley on Sunday for the first time in their 127-year history, taking on Bristol City in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final, and fans are already celebrating. ‘I’ll be a 55-year-old kid,’ says Supporters Trust secretary Steve Davies. ‘To actually make it to the home of English football is something special.’ At 3.30pm, Walsall will happily exit a group of Football League teams never to have played at Wembley, leaving behind Accrington Stanley, Crawley Town and Hartlepool United. Walsall's Tom Bradshaw celebrates with supporters after booking their place in the JPT final at Wembley . They have come close four times. They lost to Bournemouth and Millwall in area finals of the same competition in 1998 and 1999. In 1984 they succumbed 4-2 over two legs to a Liverpool side featuring Ian Rush and Alan Hansen in their Milk Cup semi-final, and they were beaten by Crewe in the 1993 Third Division play-off semi. They did reach the 2001 Division Two play-off final against Alan Pardew’s Reading — but with Wembley under reconstruction, their 3-2 victory took place at the Millennium Stadium. That day in Cardiff, 15,000 fans showed up. Nearly 30,000 are making the trip to England’s capital, around seven times Walsall’s average home gate. ‘It’s unprecedented,’ says Walsall chief executive Stefan Gamble. ‘We’ve never had to deal with demand on this level. It has given the club, town, and supporters a real lift and captured the imagination. ‘For a club of our size it makes a significant impact on the manager’s playing budget for next season. This one match will generate more revenue than all our home games put together. It’s huge.’ Manager Dean Smith (centre) hailed the 'amazing achievement' admitting pride at getting Walsall to Wembley . Smith is the fourth longest-serving league manager behind Arsene Wenger, Paul Tisdale and Karl Robinson . More than 70,000 tickets have been sold, making the match the biggest in England this weekend and likely bettered only by El Clasico for attendance in Europe. Dean Smith, the fourth longest-serving league manager behind Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, Exeter’s Paul Tisdale and Karl Robinson at MK Dons, has succeeded where many others have failed. ‘It’s an amazing achievement, especially when I think of the calibre of some of the managers who have been here before me,’ Smith says. ‘I feel very proud.’ The run began last October at Rochdale. Davies was among the 102 ‘hardy souls’ in attendance when Mathieu Manset scored the winner, his only goal for Walsall. He has since joined Cheltenham. There was then a slender victory over Sheffield United, cup conquerors of four Premier League teams in two seasons, and a penalty shootout win over Tranmere in the area semi-final. Preston were favourites in the area final but Walsall won the first leg at Deepdale 2-0 through late goals from Anthony Forde and Tom Bradshaw, aged 21 and 22. James Baxendale is carried by fans on the pitch at Banks' Stadium after a 2-0 aggregate win over Preston . Bradshaw is congratulated by supporters at the end of the 0-0 draw with Preston North End in January . ‘The second leg was fraught,’ says Davies. ‘We tend to be a little fatalistic as Walsall fans. Even at 2-0 we wouldn’t actually believe it was happening until the fat lady sang. We’d been to the area final twice before and cocked it up.’ The match at the Banks’s Stadium ended goalless in front of 10,038 fans — but chairman Jeff Bonser was not among them, having been in self-imposed exile from home matches for close to five years. Bonser, who took control of Walsall in 1992, stopped going in the face of fierce criticism from fans over his running of the club, having decided his presence would undermine performances. He will be at Wembley, though. ‘He comes into the club every day during the week and still fully supports the club both financially and morally,’ says Gamble. ‘He is as keen as anyone to see us win.’ Former players will be in the stands, too. Watford striker Troy Deeney, who scored 27 goals in 136 games for Walsall, visited his old manor on Wednesday to buy his ticket and Mark Rees, who played in that League Cup tie against Liverpool 31 years ago, will be there. Davies, meanwhile, has booked a Hummer for the drive down. ‘We’re doing it properly,’ he laughs. A young Walsall supporter celebrates after the club reached the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy . Many fans will have supped either (or both) of the ales produced in recognition. The Backyard Brewhouse, the only brewery in Walsall, has been pumping Super Saddlers beer to local pubs in recent weeks and the Supporters’ Trust have a limited number of bottles of their own offering, which features a picture of Forde’s goal from the Preston game on the label. Walsall FC Go To Wembley, a song by local band The Assist, is riding high in the iTunes ‘alternative’ music chart, sparring with tracks by Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys. ‘It’s not a singalong, they’re an indie band. The lads are chuffed,’ says Davies. The town has been painted red. Literally. A famous concrete hippo in the centre has received a splash of club colours. ‘There have been some memorable events recently but this will be the highlight whether we win or lose,’ says councillor Pete Smith, the mayor. ‘The second is when we gave Noddy Holder, a Walsall lad, freedom of the borough.’ Come on feel the noise. +A cold Saturday in Ashington on England's north east coast is a far cry from some sun-baked cricket pitch in the Tropics but for Steve Harmison there is no other place he would rather be as he upholds a family tradition. In his prime Harmison was one of cricket's elite fast bowlers, taking 226 test wickets for England and starring in a side that included Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan and James Anderson. Now, with his cricketing whites retired for good, he is forging a career as a football manager in the former mining heartland of northern England. Steve Harmison took over his hometown club Ashington FC in February after retiring from cricket . The Newcastle United fan has returned to run hometown club Ashington FC of the Northern League Division One, the ninth tier of English football, where he stewards a team of teachers, bricklayers, students, sports coaches and factory workers. With England cricketers toiling at the World Cup, Harmison is embroiled in a relegation struggle, although since he took over last month, the 36-year-old has overseen a change in fortunes with three victories and two defeats. His side are also in the semi-final of the Northern League Cup. The Northern League side have won three and lost two in Harmison's first five games in charge . The former England cricketer have a chance of some silverware after reaching the semi-finals of the cup . His aching back, a legacy of the punishing strain of bowling balls at nearly 100mph, still causes him pain, but the camaraderie of a team environment makes up for it. 'I've always been asked if I miss playing (cricket). No, not one bit,' Harmison, who retired from cricket in 2013, told the Sunday Times. 'But I miss the dressing room like you've never seen. 'Ashington is not a very big place so if you come from Ashington you support the cricket team and you support the football team. The northeast is like that.' The ex-fast bowler admits he doesn't miss playing the game of cricket but he misses the dressing room . Ashington holds a special place in Harmison's heart. He was born in the town and his father was a stalwart for the club as a player and later an assistant manager. 'Managing anyone else would not have been interest to me,' Harmison added. 'It tells you what Ashington means to all of us. 'To the family it means a hell of a lot. It tells you a lot that in 1966 he's there as a boy in the background and in 2015 I'm managing the place. 'Did anyone from my family say, 'Are you sure?'. Yes, James (Harmison's brother and first signing as manager). He knew what was coming. My wife was fine, the kids are loving it. It all fell into place. Ashington FC are the only club Harmison would manage due to how much the club means to him . 'It gave me a purpose to get out of bed.' +Alexandre Lacazette scored his first international goal as France beat Denmark 2-0 in a friendly match on Sunday. Three days after slumping to its first defeat since last year's World Cup in a 3-1 loss to Brazil, the 2016 European Championship host recovered with a convincing display of attacking football. Although the hosts were less fluid in the second half and allowed Denmark more ball possession, the French were never seriously troubled. Olivier Giroud (right) was on target as France defeated Denmark 2-0 in their international friendly . The Arsenal forward (right) is congratulated by team-mates after doubling France's first-half  lead . Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette (right) reacts with Morgan Schneiderlin after opening the scoring for France . FRANCE: Ruffier, Tremoulinas, Koscielny, Varane, Jallet, Kondogbia, Schneiderlin (Valbuena), Griezmann (Fekir), Payet (Pogba), Lacazette (Matuidi), Giroud . Goals: Lacazette 14', Giroud 38 . DENMARK: Schmeichel, Wass, Kjaer, Sviatchenko (Hansen), Boilesen, Jacobsen, Kvist (Delaney), Krohn-Dehli, Eriksen (Schone), Bendtner, Vibe (Jorgensen) Lacazette scored from a rebound in the 14th minute with a powerful shot after Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel parried Antoine Griezmann's effort. Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud then doubled the hosts' lead with a shot under Schmeichel from Geoffrey Kondogbia's through ball. Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner hit the post with a header just before the interval and the visitors had a couple of chances denied by France keeper Stephane Ruffier in the second half. 'We did better during the first half, but it's logical with all the changes we made,' said France coach Didier Deschamps. France forward Antoine Griezmann (left) comes close to scoring before being denied by Kasper Schmeichel . Lacazette (centre) gets a shot away in between Denmark defenders Nicolai Boilesen and Simon Kjaer (right) Lacazette watches as his shot sails into the net after Schmeichel could only parry Griezmann's shot . Lacazette wheels away in celebration after netting the opener from Schmeichel's parried save . France manager Didier Deschamps (right) doesn't look too impressed despite his side taking the lead . The Lyon star races away to celebrate handing his side the lead against Denmark in St Etienne . France enjoyed most of the possession in a lively first half, with Dimitri Payet adding pace and creativity in midfield. After earning his sixth cap, Lacazette and his Lyon teammate Christophe Jallet were jeered by sections of Saint-Etienne fans, whose club is involved in a fierce local rivalry with Lyon. But Lacazette's goal silenced them and the whistles stopped. The bulky forward had another chance 10 minutes later but the French league's leading scorer saw his 20-meter shot pushed out for a corner by Schmeichel. The Danish keeper looked well beaten in the next minute when Payet's angled shot ended just a few inches wide of the top corner. Chelsea target Raphael Varane (right) wins an aerial duel with Denmark defenders . French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia (left) battles for the ball before supplying the pass for Giroud's goal . Giroud embraces team-mate Kondogbia after his pass set the Arsenal striker up to score France's second . Giroud celebrates his goal that follows a rich vein of scoring form in the Premier League . Giroud made it 2-0 in the 38th minute following a devastating run from Kondogbia, who beat the Danish defense before releasing the Arsenal striker. The Danes could not find the momentum that helped them to a 3-2 win over the United States midweek and their only chance of the half came when Michael Krohn-Dehli sent in a cross for Bendtner, whose header hit the base of post. The French were less dominant in the second half and their penalty claims were waived away after Lacazette took a tumble in the area between two Danish players. Saint-Etienne keeper Stephane Ruffier enjoyed a quiet evening but made two decisive saves after the hour-mark, denying Christian Eriksen's shot and another effort from Bendtner when the visitors enjoyed a spell of dominance. Les Bleus forward Griezmann vies for the ball with Denmark defender William Kvist (right) Tottenham playmaker Christian Eriksen (centre) takes on Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (left) Giroud takes the ball down on his chest amid attention from Kjaer (right) and Erik Sviatchenko . Southampton anchorman Schneiderlin harries former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner (right) Giroud gets his head to the ball as the France striker searches for a second goal . +CSKA Moscow says Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev should be ready to play this weekend after recovering from being hit in the head with a flare during a European Championship qualifying match against Montenegro. A flare thrown from an area occupied by Montenegro fans hit Akinfeev in the back of the head during Friday's game. He was rushed to the hospital and treated for burns and a concussion. The match was later abandoned following more crowd trouble. Midway through the second half a scuffle ensued between players near the touchline, with Eastern Europe's Sport Klub television reporting that a missile hurled from the terraces appeared to have hit another Russian player. Akinfeev is carried off the pitch on a stretcher, which led to a 30 minute delay before game was called off . A flare, hurled from the stands, sails towards the Russian keeper in the opening seconds of the game . The keeper looks in serious distress as he is carried off the field on the way to hospital for tests . CSKA Moscow have confirmed that Akinfeev should return to face Zenit St Petersburg this weekend . With the score at 0-0 in the Group G game, German referee Deniz Aytekin ordered the players back into the dressing room for the second time moments after Montenegro keeper Vukasin Poleksic saved a Roman Shirokov penalty. Montenegro and Russia supporters clashed at halftime, forcing riot police to move in to separate them. Montenegrin daily Vijesti reported on its website. Nonethless, CSKA assistant coach Viktor Onopko tells Russia's Tass agency that Akinfeev is expected to be back in training Tuesday and will "probably" be able to face Zenit St. Petersburg on Sunday. Another CSKA player, Alan Dzagoev, will miss the Russian league match after injuring his thigh against Montenegro. Riot police clash with Montenegrin fans after the game is abandoned following a pitch brawl . Russia head coach Fabio Capello scratches his head as players leave the pitch after the match is abandoned . +The absence of Gianluigi Buffon from Italy's team was a major blow for Antonio Conte's side before their 2-2 draw in Bulgaria in Euro 2016 qualifying on Saturday. Buffon was taken ill with flu shortly before the game but the legendary Juventus goalkeeper was seen back in training on Monday as the Azzurri stepped up their preparations for the visit of Roy Hodgson's England in Turin. The friendly is a repeat of the 2014 World Cup group match which Italy won 2-1 and Conte will want his team to repeat the result as he looks for a response to the draw that kept Italy second in Euro 2016 qualifying Group H. Gianluigi Buffon missed Italy's Bulgaria match with illness but was back in training on Monday . The return of Buffon (right) provided a major boost to Italy ahead of their encounter against England . Buffon appeared to be over the worst of the flu, which ruled him out of playing against Bulgaria . Simone Zaza (centre) attempts to intercept Andrea Ranocchia's (left) pass during Italy training . Alessio Cerci (right) controls the ball with his chest as Matteo Darmian closes him down . Ignazio Abate (right) controls the ball under pressure from Ciro Immobile during training in Turin . Southampton striker Graziano Pelle could be in line to start for Italy against England on Tuesday . Antonio Conte (left) watches on as his Italy players warm up at the beginning of training . Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva (second left) controls the ball as Italy prepare to take on England . Conte (fourth right) addresses his team as they look to put an end to England's seven wins . Eder (left) runs to Conte after scoring Italy's equaliser in the 2-2 draw against Bulgaria . Croatia lead the standings on 13 points, two ahead of Italy, who like England were left praising a goal from a debutant after the game. Brazilian-born Eder, a 58th minute substitute, marked his first appearance for Italy with a goal in the 83rd minute to rescue a point for Conte's team. But England and Italy failed to qualify from Group D in the World Cup, which resulted in a managerial change for the Azzurri as Conte replaced Cesare Prandelli. And Conte could be tempted into rotating his squad for the visit of England, with Southampton's Graziano Pelle potentially starting while Eder could get his second cap after marking his first with a goal. +Arsenal dynamo Alexis Sanchez can already consider himself a legend in the game, according to former Real Madrid and Chile star Ivan Zamora. The Chilean was highly admired before leaving Barcelona for the Gunners in a £35million deal. Sanchez's stock has risen in the Premier League where he has scored 19 goals in all competitions and could finish his debut season with a Champions League finish and the FA Cup. The Arsenal forward, who starred during Chile's 1-0 friendly defeat to Brazil at the Emirates on Sunday, is also in the top five most capped players and leading goal scorers for his country - leading Zamorano to insist the 26-year-old has already earned a place in Chilean football folklore. Alexis Sanchez (right) is a legend for his conquests in the made with Chile, says Ivan Zamorano . The Chilean forward starred in his country's narrow 1-0 defeat to Brazil at the Emirates on Sunday . Former Chile great Zamorano scored 34 goals in 69 appearances for his country . Sanchez's scoring for club and country over last few seasons: . App    Goals . 2011 - 14          Barcelona        88       39 . 2014 -               Arsenal            27       13 . 2006 -               Chile                77       26 . Speaking to the Daily Star, Zamorano said: 'Alexis Sanchez has already earned a place in the history of Chilean football, I've no doubt about that. 'He's playing at the highest level, he has shown he can be a 'leading actor' in the biggest teams of the world such as Barcelona and Arsenal. 'He's not just one of the best attackers, but one of the best Chilean players of all time. The former Real Madrid and Inter Milan attacker, who scored 34 goals in 69 appearances for Chile, only regrets never sharing the same pitch as the flying forward. 'I'm very proud to have played with some of the best forward in the world but I'd have loved to play with Alexis.' Sanchez embraces his close friend Neymar after the international friendly staged in London . Sanchez, training with Chile team-mates, is in the top five all-time goal scorers for the South Americans . Sanchez has had a sensational debut season in the Premier League following his £35m arrival . Meanwhile, having made a lightning-quick start to his Premier League career, Sanchez feels he is now well adapted to the ways of the English top flight. 'I'm well adapted to the country and the league now. I must keep on learning, though,' he said. 'I want to expand my knowledge of English football in general, and Arsenal and my team-mates in particular. 'But overall I love this league. At the end of the day, football was invented in this country, right? I live where football was invented. That makes me really happy.' +Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has not given up hope of playing for Spain again. The 26-year-old has not featured for La Roja since a 3-0 triumph over Australia in Spain's final group game at last year's World Cup in Brazil. Mata, who has scored 10 goals in 34 appearances since making his Spain debut six years ago, wrote on his blog: 'Many of you are asking me these days about the Spanish national team. Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata (left) is aiming for a return to the Spain squad . Mata has played 34 times for Spain and has won the European Championship and the World Cup . Mata (left) last played for Spain in their final 2014 World Cup match, a group game against Australia . 'As I always say, I have been very lucky to play and to win a World Cup and a European Championship, to participate in the most important competitions, but I'm still excited as the first day. 'I am convinced that I'm in a perfect age in my football career and I look forward to keep contributing and achieving more success with my national team. 'That's what I work for every day, training and playing to the maximum, trying to do the best I can. 'After that, obviously, the manager is the one who picks the players for every game. 'So now I take these quiet days to keep working, as I said, but I also switch off and rest a bit.' Mata, who was voted as United's player of the month for March by the club supporters, is looking forward to making an impact during the remainder of the campaign. 'I want to thank our fans for the Player of the Month award for March,' he said. 'It's been a month with several key victories and a boost of confidence for the team. 'As I always say, your support is vital for us! 'We are in the last stage of the Premiership, with just eight weeks ahead: eight crucial games to determine where we will finally stand on the table.' Mata has scored seven goals in 25 Barclays Premier League appearances this season to help United remain on course for a top-four finish and qualification for next season's Champions League competition. 'Personally, I think setting our goals game after game is the right thing to do,' the former Chelsea player said. Mata (centre) celebrates winning Euro 2012 with the Spanish national team after beating Italy in the final . Mata (right) feels United's wins over Liverpool and Tottenham are good preparation for their April games . Mata was voted United's player of the month for March by the supporters of the Old Trafford club . 'Trying to win as many of them as possible and keeping the momentum following these two wins versus Tottenham and Liverpool. 'I check the calendar and I see four big games for us in April: Aston Villa, Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton. 'All of them are big clubs and we want to show that we can beat them, getting close to our goal and also making our fans happy.' +Hugo Lloris says Harry Kane is now a 'machine' after bulking up and has become a 'complete player'. Kane announced himself on the international stage on Friday night when he scored on his England debut in a Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania. But it's his 29 goals for Tottenham that have stolen the headlines this season and with 19 of those coming in the Premier League, he is joint top scorer with Chelsea's Diego Costa. Harry Kane celebrates after scoring on his England debut against Lithuania on Friday night . Kane took his season goal tally to 30 for club and country with his goal in the Euro 2016 qualifier . Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has described Kane as a 'machine' after improving his physique . In quotes reported by The Sun, Lloris said: 'Harry has a very strong personality, very calm. He's taken on another dimension physically, where he's become a running machine, defending and attacking. 'He's a complete player now. Harry has kept this desire to keep improving, to always want more. And that is what helps him push back his limits.' Kane has been in superb form for Tottenham this season and scored a hat-trick against Leicester last week . Lloris sat out France's friendlies against Brazil and Denmark after sustaining a knee injury following a collision with team-mate Kyle Walker (right) during Tottenham's 4-3 win over Leicester . Lloris sat out France's friendly double-header against Brazil and Denmark this week with a knee injury sustained in Tottenham's 4-3 win over Leicester City. He could miss their next league game against Burnley on Sunday. +Trainer Aidan O’Brien has acknowledged that he is likely to have Ryan Moore riding more of his horses this season. Speculation has raged over the weekend about the likely riding plans for Ireland’s champion trainer with son and stable jockey Joseph having his first ride over hurdles at Limerick on Sunday when fifth on Egyptian Warrior. Joseph has said that he will be back riding on the Flat on Wednesday at Dundalk but the constant battle with the scales for the jockey who is almost 6ft tall has seemingly never been tougher. Aidan O’Brien has acknowledged that he is likely to have Ryan Moore riding more of his horses this season . The Warrior ridden by Ryan Moore on the way to winning the Big Bad Bob Maiden at Curragh Racecourse . Three-time British champion Moore stepped in for three rides for Aidan O’Brien at the Curragh on Sunday, winning the maiden on The Warrior. Moore’s reluctance to move to Ireland has always been an obstacle to a permanent role at Ballydoyle but O’Brien’s desire to secure his services more often is clear. The trainer said: ‘We've a good relationship with Ryan and we always have. We used Ryan more last year than we did the year before and hopefully it will be that way again this year.’ Jockey Joseph O'Brien (right) has struggled with weight issues over the past couple of years . Acknowledging his son’s weight issues, O’Brien added: ‘Obviously (doing) nine stone has been a problem for the last two seasons and last year it was a big problem. ‘This year he's heavier than he was this time last year. He'll go gently and we'll see what will happen. There's no doubt he'll come back down to the Flat gently and how far down he'll go, we'll wait and see.’ Joseph travelled from Limerick to the Curragh to ride in the annual gallops O’ Brien stages at the track and partnered 2,000 Guineas favourite. The colt is just one of a clutch of Classic hopefuls he can potentially ride this season. Australia gets a kiss from O'Brien after winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh Racecourse . Meanwhile, OIiver Sherwood has said his Hennessy Gold Cup winner Many Clouds will run in the Grand National a week on Saturday. The eight-year-old’s Aintree participation had been in doubt since his sixth to Coneygree in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Sherwood, successful with Puffin Billy at Ascot, said: ‘It is always a concern when (a race) is an after-thought but I still have it in the back of my mind that he did not run his race at Cheltenham . Many Clouds jumps the last on their way to victory in the BetBright Cup Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse . ‘I don’t know if it was because we were put out of our comfort zone by the winner or just ran a bit flat. We won’t know and until we run next time. Sherwood will be hoping to improve on a poor National record. His four previous runners have not completed and both Sacred Path (1988) and Eric’s Charm (2010) fell at the first. Court By Surprise ridden by Aidan Coleman clears the last to win the Best Mate Handicap Steeple Chase . The Many Clouds news created a jockey shuffle. He will be ridden by Leighton Aspell, whose place on Dr Richard Newland-trained 2014 winner Pineau de Re is taken by Daryl Jacob. Emma Lavelle, who had expected Jacob to ride her outsider Court By Surprise, is now searching for a replacement. Paul Nicholls, who has six entries, has warned he needs to be convinced Sam Winner is over his Gold Cup exertions and the ground to be soft enough for Benvolio before they are confirmed in his team. +As a schoolgirl, Emma Lavelle had twin passions — politics and horses. Had she chosen to pursue the former, spring 2015, with an election looming, could well have proved an important time in her life. But the woman who now runs a 70-box stable in Hampshire is hoping that, having favoured horses over Hansard, the same period definitely turns out to be momentous when she saddles Court By Surprise, her first runner in the £1 million Crabbie's Grand National on April 11. If the 10-year-old wins, Lavelle would be the third female trainer to win Jump racing's best known race this century following Venetia Williams, with Mon Mome in 2009 and Sue Smith, with Auroras Encore in 2013. Emma Lavelle poses with Court By Surprise, her first runner in the £1 million Crabbie's Grand National . And she would also be feted, along with her former jockey husband and assistant Barry Fenton, for executing a long-term precision plan. Court By Surprise has not run since November as Lavelle patiently kept him fresh for the drier spring ground on which he excels. Lavelle said: 'I did a lot of public speaking and debating at school. Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. Love her or hate her, she was a big presence. I loved her. As a schoolgirl, Lavelle had twin passions — politics and horses - now she is targeting the Grand National . 'She got me interested in politics. I am opinionated and I like talking. I am not so sure now because it is all so grey but at the time I would have been happy to go down that road.' Lavelle's communication skills with owners and staff have been essential after a devastating setback at the start of the season when she lost two of her best horses. Timesremembered, who had finished sixth in the Coral Cup at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival, was killed in his first steeplechase, at Aintree in October, and Le Bec, thought capable of contesting top-quality steeplechases, suffered a serious tendon injury at Ascot a week later. Court By Surprise has not run since November as Lavelle patiently kept him fresh for the drier spring ground . Lavelle said: 'It really hit us hard. It was like a football team losing their best two players at the start of the season. 'It was hard to pick up and get going again. But you have to keep positive, keep going forward and take your team with you.' Lavelle's season has been rebuilt around Grade Two winner Closing Ceremony, much-improved Parish Business, exciting Bumper winner See The World and, of course, Court By Surprise, who is owned by Kempton chairman Nick Mustoe. Lavelle's decision to enter racing rather than politics was heavily influenced by the late Toby Balding . Court By Surprise ridden by Aidan Coleman clears the last to win the Best Mate Handicap Steeple Chase . The National entry, who will be ridden at Aintree by Daryl Jacob, won at Exeter in October and was then awarded the Badger Beer Chase at Wincanton after finishing second to fast-improving unqualified entry, The Young Master. Subsequent events tell us Court By Surprise faced handicapping Everest that day. For Saturday week, trainer and horse have that essential Aintree ingredient — a good story to tell. Lavelle's decision to enter racing rather than politics was heavily influenced by working for the late Toby Balding, who won the Aintree race twice. Lavelle, who was first invited to spend a week with Balding aged 11 when he trained a horse for her father, said: 'I was so lucky he let me be so involved. I wasn't strong enough to carry the water bucket in the morning. I filled it and had to get someone to carry it back to the stable. When I look back I found it staggering that, even having ridden ponies, he let me ride racehorses. The National entry, who will be ridden at Aintree by Daryl Jacob, won at Exeter in October . 'He was someone you could learn as much as you wanted to off. If you asked the questions, he would give you the answers. He was a big man who enveloped you in everything.' Court By Surprise, an overpriced 50-1 shot allotted 10st 3lb, has overcome two serious problems — a leg injury when falling on his point-to-point debut and an infected leg which kept him off the course for almost two years and could have ended his career. Lavelle added: 'Having missed the best part of two years, he has not had much racing but maybe it is a blessing in disguise; he is so much stronger. Now, he's the best he's ever been.' +Need some help and inspiration deciding who to back at Cheltenham? Sportsmail's Peter Scudamore and Marcus Townend reveal their favourites while a group of racing enthusiast celebrities have also shared their tips for the Festival on day two. PETER SCUDAMORE - Eight-time champion jockey and rider of 13 Festival winners . BEAST OF BURDEN . (Neptune Investment Novices’ Hurdle, 1.30) This Rebecca Curtis-trained contender has long been on my radar and looks a horse of massive potential. Beaten over a shorter distance at Newbury over Christmas — his hurdling debut — but has won his other three races this season with great authority. BEST ODDS: 12-1 . Beast Of Burden winning the Excel Signs Novices' Hurdle Race at Bangor-on-Dee Races on February 6 . DON POLI . (RSA Chase, 2.05) One of the Irish hotpots of the week and looks a future Gold Cup contender. Won the Martin Pipe Conditional Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at last year’s meeting and has won his two races as a novice chaser. The most recent of those was his authoritative three-length defeat of the highly-rated Apache Stronghold in the Grade One Topaz Novices’ Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas. BEST ODDS: 6-4 . Don Poli, ridden by jockey Mikey Fogarty, winning the Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle last year . Racemail tipsters got off to a stunning start on the opening day. Robin Goodfellow (Sam Turner) and Captain Heath (Marcus Townend) napped 8-1 National Hunt Chase winner Cause Of Causes, while Townend also landed his next best bet (The Druids Nephew 8-1) to complete an 80-1 double. Turner also picked winners Douvan (2-1), Un De Sceaux (4-6) and Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen (4-5), while Peter Scudamore went for the first two Willie Mullins’ winners. BARADARI . (Coral Cup, 2.40) Rated by jockey Aidan Coleman (above) as one of his best chances of the meeting. His boss Venetia Williams has to be respected here and this contender looks like he still could be a touch in front of the handicapper. BEST ODDS: 16-1 . SIRE DE GRUGY . (Queen Mother Champion Chase, 3.20) Usually two quick runs might be a negative with the chance they have knocked the competitive edge of horse but Gary Moore’s reigning champion thrives on racing and there are very positive reports emanating from his Sussex stable as he prepares to defend his crown. He looks to have put his injury problems behind him judging by his last time out Chepstow win. Punters looking for a longer-priced each-way option should consider Simply Ned. BEST ODDS: 3-1 . Baradari (right) on the way to winning The Keltbray Holloway's Hurdle Race at Ascot on January 17, 2015 . MARCUS TOWNEND - on the best each-way bets . BARADARI . (Coral Cup, 2.40) Staying on really strongly when fifth in last year’s shorter Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle and was on the mark over two miles three furlongs at Ascot in December. That form has worked out well. This stiffer test looks likely to elicit even more improvement and he looks one of Venetia Williams’ best chances of the week. She won this in 2005 with Idole First. BEST ODDS: 16-1 . SOURIYAN . (Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, 4.40) Lambourn trainer Jamie Snowden was successful on the opening day of last year’s meeting with Present View and, although that injured gelding has unfortunately not made it back the time, this stablemate looks a lively outsider. Has won only one of his three hurdle races but his two defeats should not be held against him, especially last time out on bottomless ground at Ffos Las. Has improvement in him. BEST ODDS: 25-1 . Modus ridden by Tom O'Brien winning the EBF Junior' Standard Open NH Flat Race at Cheltenham last year . MODUS . (Weatherbys Champion Bumper, 5.15) Eighth in this race last year and purposely saved for another crack at the prize by his Welsh trainer Robert Stephens. He reckons his contender is a much stronger more mature performer now so he can give the Irish, who dominate this race, a run for their money. BEST ODDS: 25-1 . AND THE CELEBS... Here’s who the celebs are backing in the Queen Mother Champion Chase. GRAHAM CUNNINGHAM -  Channel 4 Racing pundit . SPRINTER SACRE . Sometimes it is best to let your heart rule your head and I am cheering for Sprinter Sacre to get 50,000 hearts racing. JOHN MCCRIRICK - Former racing pundit . CHAMPAGNE FEVER . Has a fantastic course and Festival record and is also tactically adaptable. He can win held up or making the running. Sky Sports pundit and former Footballer Alan McInally (left) has backed Sire De Grugy for victory . ALAN MCINALLY - Former footballer and pundit . SIRE DE GRUGY . Looks to be back to his best and it’s a tip I got from the horse’s mouth – Jeff Stelling! EMMA SPENCER - Channel 4 Racing presenter . SIRE DE GRUGY . The signs seem really positive for him to defend his crown. ED CHAMBERLIN  - Sky Sports presenter . SIMPLY NED . I am going to back him each way because I think this is a race that is ripe for an upset. Sky Sports presenter Ed Chamberlain (right) is backing Simply Ned in the Queen Mother Champion Chase . +Fernando Alonso hailed McLaren’s progress as ‘fantastic’ despite qualifying a lowly 18th for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button will start from the penultimate row, and have only been spared the embarrassment of propping up the grid after Manor were permitted to start tomorrow’s race by the stewards despite Roberto Merhi qualifying outside the 107 per cent rule and Max Stevens failing to post a time. It is the second consecutive grand prix where the McLaren have been knocked out in the first phase of qualifying, but Alonso, back in the cockpit after he missed the season opener in Melbourne through injury, moved to praise the team’s improvement. Fernando Alonso posted a picture with Ron Dennis (right) and Eric Boullier (second left) on Saturday evening . Fernando Alonso failed to make it out of Q1 and will start from 18th position in Sunday's Malaysian GP . Alonso, back at the wheel of a F1 car, hailed McLaren's progress since the opening race of the season . ‘I'd say the progress we've made since Australia has been fantastic,', said Alonso. ‘We're much closer to the cars in front now but we're still under-performing and we still need to improve.' Alonso then posted a picture on Twitter of him dining out with Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman, and team principal Eric Boullier. The snap comes after Alonso contradicted McLaren's version of events surrounding the mysterious testing crash which ruled him out of the race in Melbourne. ‘Our form today wasn't unexpected but I think our performance so far this weekend has maybe been better than I'd have anticipated before arriving here in Malaysia,' Alonso added. ‘However, the steps we're taking with the car show a lot of progress, so I'm optimistic that I won't be qualifying in Q1 for that much longer. ‘This isn't an ideal position from which to start the race, but I'm fully aware that McLaren-Honda is a long-term project. We want to beat Mercedes, and to do that you need time, and to be prepared to take your chances as they come.’ Jenson Button will start from 17th on the grid, one place ahead of his McLaren team-mate Alonso . The Briton, sporting a moustache in Malaysia, believes there are a 'lot of positives' McLaren can drawn from . Button, who qualified one place ahead of Alonso, echoed his team mate's sentiments and admitted that the speed at which McLaren have closed the gap on the cars in front was a good sign. ‘Before qualifying, I think we'd have hoped to be a bit closer to the cars in front of us, but this weekend has seen us take a massive step forward in performance,’ said the Briton, who finished last and two laps down on race winner Lewis Hamilton at the curtain raiser in Australia. ‘Also, I think our race pace and our consistency over a long run look like giving us a little extra. I'd like to think we could get closer to some of the cars in front tomorrow; that'll be something to look forward to. ‘There are a lot of positives to take from this weekend: we've made a big step forwards in terms of pace. There's more to come from the engine and the aero package but we know what to do.’ +England World Cup hopeful Henry Slade has been named Aviva Premiership player of month for February. The 21-year-old fly-half was in fine form throughout the month as Exeter Chiefs won all three of their matches to propel themselves right in to play-off contention. Slade scored 54 points in total, including two tries, in victories over Newcastle, Harlequins and Bath. Exeter Chiefs fly-half Henry Slade has been named Aviva Premiership player of the month for February . Slade scored 54 points including two tries as the Chiefs won all three of their matches in February . Slade has continued that fine form in to March, scoring a try and kicking a further 13 points in last weekend's 74-19 demolition of London Welsh that sent Exeter second in the table. England head coach Stuart Lancaster this week heaped praise on Slade, who can also play in the centres or at full-back, as he called the Chiefs playmaker in to his squad as an injury replacement for Brad Barritt. 'The more I see him, the more I think he's got fantastic potential,' said Lancaster. 'I've always known it having seen him come through the age-group teams. 'We have a lot of competition at fly-half, but he's also adept in the centres. That's one of the options I'd like to look at for him in the future. For definite he'll be a part of our World Cup camp.' Slade looks on during England training at Pennyhill Park this week after his call-up . Slade crossed during Exeter's win over London Welsh to make it three tries in four matches . Former England international, BT Sport analyst and Aviva ambassador Austin Healey was also glowing in his praise of Slade, who remains uncapped but did impress for an England XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham last summer. 'Every time Henry Slade touches the ball something happens,' Healey said. 'There is no doubt in my mind the lad has the potential to win 50 caps or more for England. He is too talented and works too hard not to achieve Test caps. 'I have been watching him closely this season and I believe he is ready to step into the England team now. The youngster scores a try at Twickenham as an England XV defeated the Barbarians last summer . Both Stuart Lancaster and Austin Healey talked up Slade's England prospects ahead of the World Cup . 'Henry is one of the best attackers in Aviva Premiership Rugby, is solid in defence and can kick goals – is there anything this lad can’t do? Those attributes make him a much deserved winner of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Month Award for February. 'The only decision left is where he finally plays for England. It could be any of three positions – 12, 13 or 15.' Slade beat Wasps outside back Elliot Daly, Northampton flanker Calum Clark and Newcastle winger Sinoti Sinoti to the award. +Mike Brown believes RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie was 'spot on' to describe England's RBS 6 Nations performance as unacceptable - but the Red Rose and Harlequins full back still thinks Stuart Lancaster's side are genuine World Cup contenders. England were only narrowly pipped to the Championship on points difference by Ireland after a dramatic final day and have had praise lavished on them from all quarters for their attacking brand of rugby, which saw them score 18 tries in five matches. But for Brown, like Ritchie, second place is simply not good enough. Mike Brown is adamant that second place is not good enough despite England's impressive performances . The Harlequins full back was in fine form for England throughout the Six Nations . 'We're not in there to be second so he's spot on really,' he said. 'We didn't have an aim of coming second, we had an aim of winning silverware and coming first, so he hasn't said anything we don't agree with or think ourselves. 'We don't accept coming second because we want to win, and that's it.' Brown has been forced to sit out Harlequins' trip to Wembley to face Saracens in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday with concussion. If you include the Italy match, when he was taken off after being knocked out in the opening minutes, it will be the third match out of five he has missed through concussion for country and club. With no game next week though, Brown is hoping an extended break and a holiday in the sun will have him fit and raring to go for the season finale. Brown said: 'It's disappointing but first and foremost it's about my health and with a big year coming up that's the most important thing for me and England. 'I got a couple of knocks right near the end of the France game and on Sunday and Monday had a little bit of a headache so we're being cautious and doing the right things. 'I was off next week anyway, the England guys have a week off and there isn't a game so that was always the plan. 'So we'll see how I am after that, hopefully a bit of sun and a tan will cure it.' Brown lies motionless after being knocked out against Italy. He was taken off and missed the Ireland game . With just six months to go until the World Cup it is a nervous time for any England hopeful but, typical of the man, Brown is adamant the only way to approach the next two months of club rugby is to go hell for leather. 'It can be difficult because it's always in your mind, such a big goal,' Brown said of balancing club and country ambitions. 'I've never played in a World Cup so for me it's everything, it's what I've worked towards. 'And the fact it's in our home country adds a bit extra and we have got a realistic chance of winning the thing because of the way we are playing and the way we have progressed. 'It's hard not to think about but once you're back at your club the games come so thick and fast you leave it in the back of your mind and focus on just giving it your all.' With five matches to go, Quins are down in eighth place in the table, nine points off an automatic Champions Cup spot and four off a play-off place. For a side that won the title just three years ago and have finished in the top four in the last two seasons, it has been a campaign of disappointment so far. But with Brown, England captain Chris Robshaw, club captain Joe Marler and veteran No 8 Nick Easter all back in their ranks from international duty for the final push, they have more than a fighting chance of salvaging it. Brown trudges off the Twickenham pitch after England were pipped to the Championship by Ireland . Attention switches to club rugby now for Brown as Harlequins look to finish in the top six . Brown says: 'We want to be playing at the top level of European rugby, we want to have those great nights at the Stoop, so we're desperate to try and get that top six spot and we know we can do it.' Whatever the outcome, next season holds exciting prospects for Harlequins with legendary Lions prop Adam Jones and former Australia captain James Horwill joining their ranks. Brown enthused: 'Those two guys have played at the highest level, so that sort of experience will be great for us and great for our young guys. 'Jones will be great for our two young tight heads (Kyle) Sinckler and (Will) Collier who are going to turn out to be two world class players. 'I've heard he's a good character off the field as well so to have another guy like that to go with Minty (Easter) and Danny (Care) will be great for the squad and give it a good blend.' Brown works closely with GB Wheelchair Rugby and backs them as part of the Aviva Community fund, which launched this week. He has donated all of his autumn international man of the series prize money to them in 2013 and also sells his kit viainmylocker.com to raise money for the team. It is something that is close to his heart, as he explains. 'I got introduced to wheelchair rugby through my future father-in-law, he saw it on the internet and thought it might be something I'd be interested in, knowing the sort of fast-paced sports I like. 'There is a little link with my Dad as well because he's got mild MS and sometimes has to use a wheelchair. It's great to help in any way I can.' Brown poses in January with GB Wheelchair Rugby duo Mike Kerr (left) and Chris Ryan (right) Mike Brown was speaking about his support of GB Wheelchair Rugby at the Aviva Community Fund launch, a nationwide initiative from Aviva, title sponsor of Aviva Premiership Rugby, which offers support and funding to causes close to your heart. Visit aviva.co.uk/community-fund . +What do you do when you are in some of the world's most beautiful locations, and your wife doesn't want a photo. One husband found a novel way to overcome the problem, but using a teddy bear instead. Amateur photographer Christian Kneidinger has taken extensive holiday snaps of his bear in more than 21 breathtaking destinations. Photographer Christian Kneidinger has travelled to some of the most beautiful locations in the world, but his camera-shy wife was not keen to make the family album...luckily he had his teddy to step in . Globetrotting bear: Kneidinger's bear pictured propped up against a block of ice next to glacier lake in Iceland . Blending in! The sandy coloured bear posing next to the Rochester Falls in Mauritius . The album was put together after wife Ranati, 51, refused to be featured in any holiday snaps, but the couple still wanted a personal touch on the landscape pictures . The bear has posed on volcanic rock in Iceland, sat at the base of a stunning waterfall in Mauritius, and sunbathed on the beaches of Dubai. The Austrian father-of-two said said: 'Photography is my passion and I was keen to capture these moments of stunning natural beauty. 'I asked my wife to be in the pictures but she wouldn't do it so I decided to do it with 'Teddy' instead.' Instead of wife Ranati in his holiday photo albums, his golden bear is pride of place. The landscapes captured are visually stunning, but adding his teddy has given a personal touch to the places Christian, 51, has travelled to. The photographs include the teddy donning a bandana on a beach in Dubai, with the iconic Burj al Arab hotel in the background. Amateur photographer Kneidinger has positioned Teddy in some of the most beautiful locations on earth from glaciers to mountain tops . In paradise! Teddy pictured in Svartifoss in Skaftafell national park, Iceland. The Austrian now has a collection of Teddy in 21 beautiful spots . Watch your step! The father-of-two could not resist placing the bear in a stunning shot of Dettifoss in Iceland . Model moment: Teddy is the star of the show, pictured in 21 locations including in Snalfellsjokull, Iceland . Father-of-two, Christian, who is from Austria, said: 'Photography is my passion and I was keen to capture these moments of stunning natural beauty.' I asked my wife to be in the pictures but she wouldn't do it so I decided to do it with 'Teddy' instead' Ready for his close up! Teddy in an adorable scarf and hat for warmth, (left), and having an snug ride up the mountain in a backpack, (right) Great view! Teddy pictured on the north coast of Iceland which boasts spectacular landscapes, with fjords, lakes, rivers and waterfalls, snow-covered mountain peaks, and unusual rock formations . Right at home! Kneidinger posed Teddy next to the seven-star Burj al arab in Dubai, a haunt favoured by many celebrities . Sandy bear! The golden bear, owned by Christian and wife Ranati, almost blends in with the surroundings at Chamarel beach in Maritius . With a friend! Teddy is joined for a photoshoot in the Highlands of Iceland by a smaller furry friend . Teddy visiting Svínafellsjökull, a breathtaking outlet glacier with spectacular scenery and views . Contemplating: Teddy pictured on Black Beach in Iceland. The Vik beach is called by its local name, Reynishverfi, and since it is famous because of its unusual colour and basalt sea stack . +England might be out of the Cricket World Cup but they still provide the combatants for potentially the tournament’s biggest flashpoint, with arch-enemies Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann set to come face to face in the Test Match Special commentary box. Pietersen, who is being loaned to TMS for radio stints by his World Cup employers Fox Sports, will work alongside Swann for the first time at the Auckland semi-final a week on Tuesday. And the powderkeg confrontation between the ex-England team-mates, whose relationship disintegrated in the fall-out from the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash, has been given spice with the possibility KP might now return to county cricket and the national team. Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen, once happy team-mates, are not longer on such good terms . Swann and Pietersen are to help commentate on Test Mach Special for the World Cup semi-finals next week . Swann has accused KP of ‘upsetting people wherever he goes’, says the ECB were ‘justified’ in terminating his England contract and calls Pietersen’s autobiography a ‘work of fiction’. Despite the history, TMS producer Adam Mountford is hopeful there will be no trouble between the pair on the day, saying: ‘They’re adults, I’m sure they’ll behave professionally.’ If Pietersen were to pull out of the IPL and re-sign for Surrey, his most likely replacement at Sunrisers Hyderabad is Kumar Sangakkara. The Sri Lankan — Surrey’s overseas player — is only an IPL reserve despite four straight World Cup hundreds. Pietersen has announced his intention to return to county cricket to try and get back in the England set-up . The Six Nations is a rare BBC sporting event not involving Clare Balding. However, Scotland’s blond back-row forward David Denton answers to the nickname ‘Balding’ because of his hairstyle. England’s beleaguered cricket coach Peter Moores, with a reputation for being obsessed with statistics, is likely to be remembered for supposedly saying after the World Cup defeat against Bangladesh: ‘We thought 275 was chaseable, we’ll have to look at the data.’ Peter Moores came under fire for his 'data' response, but he actually said 'we'll have to look at that later' However, what Moores actually said to Test Match Special reporter Ali Mitchell was: ‘We’ll have to look at that later.’ Moores did mention data when interviewed by Sky Sports. Paul McGinley’s leadership insight that so impressed guests at the League Managers Association President’s Dinner last week included the revelation that he persuaded the European Tour to pair some of his potential Ryder Cup partnerships during regular tournaments — without them realising — to see how they gelled. Ryder Cup winning captain Paul McGinley has revealed he got the European Tour to help him test pairings . MCC plot with Cubans . Fidel Castro’s Communist Cuba is an unlikely ally of the MCC in their battle to repel property developers Rifkind Levy Partnership. The MCC hope to block RLP’s building plans behind the Warner Stand at Lord’s by switching a 10-year lease to Cuban Embassy staff. The £8m house earmarked for Cuba personnel is the home of MCC secretary Derek Brewer, who would transfer to the MCC-owned house on Grove End Road currently occupied by the Cubans. The MCC have further kept RLP at bay by buying another well-placed house on the same street. Christian Purslow may not want to leave Chelsea, where he heads their global commercial operation, having secured a £220million shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama Rubber since arriving in October. It’s understood, though, that former Liverpool managing director Purslow is on the short-list to succeed George O’Grady as chief executive of golf’s European Tour. Twickenham, building up for the Rugby World Cup, have installed a football-style mixed zone which rugby players, far more approachable than their football counterparts, have to walk through while the media are kept behind ropes. Twickenham has introduced a mixed zone for rugby players, but how long before it becomes like football? Sadly, it can only be a matter of time before rugby players wear headphones or talk on their mobile to avoid being interviewed. Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson has made a good start as manager of Chinese Super League side Shanghai East Asia, where he is understood to be earning as much as £6m a year. Eriksson is said to still need the money, after being swindled out of £10m by a crooked financial advisor and facing big demands from HMRC over tax from film investments. Sven Goran Eriksson is understood to be earning around £6million a year as Shanghai East Asia manager . +David Cameron has revealed he is related to the reality TV star Kim Kardashian. The Prime Minister said he was the thirteenth cousin of the US celebrity, who is married to rapper Kanye West. The startling revelation comes despite Mr Cameron insisting that he could not understand 'why everyone is interested in the Kardashians' after being asked about his TV habits. Scroll down for video . Prime Minister David Cameron has revealed he is the thirteenth cousin of the US celebrity Kim Kardashian . In an interview with the celebrity magazine Heat, Mr Cameron was asked if he watched Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Mr Cameron said: 'No, but I'm related to them.' But he added: 'Did you know I'm 13th cousins with them?' The Prime Minister and his celebrity cousin, who shot to fame after starring in a leaked sex tape, are linked by their mutual ancestor, Sir William Spencer, born in 1555, according to genealogy website geni.com. Asked if he fancied a family reunion, he replied: 'That would be great, thanks.' But the Kardashians are not the only famous relatives of the Prime Minister. Mr Cameron, who is descended from a long line of wealthy stockbrokers and bankers, is also related to the Queen. The Tory leader is descended from King William IV – who fathered a number of illegitimate children with mistress Dorethea Jordan. The PM and his celebrity cousin are linked by their mutual ancestor, Sir William Spencer, born in 1555, whose daughters Elizabeth Russell and Catherine Spencer are direct ancestors of Mr Cameron and Kim Kardashian . One of them was the PM's great-great-great-great-grandmother, meaning Mr Cameron is a fifth cousin of the Queen. During the interview with Heat magazine, Mr Cameron made a number of also admitted he could not multi-task, was scared of rats and once aspired to be a lorry driver. Asked what he wanted to be when he was growing up, he said: 'All sorts of things: a soldier, a lorry driver, a farmer. 'I wasn't sure til I left university, then decided I wanted to be a politician.' +Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Jessica Ennis-Hill’s burgeoning rivalry has all the ingredients to propel athletics into the spotlight in a similar manner to the Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett clashes which captivated sports fans in the 1980s. ‘They could have a rivalry like Steve and I had,’ said Lord Coe. ‘Head-to-heads are what get people excited. My kids got up at the weekend to watch Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The more opportunities we have for athletes going head-to-head, the better. It’s what people talk about. ‘It’s actually not just the thought of Jess and Kat but you have Morgan Lake, too, coming through and I’m sure she will be equally good. It’s an extraordinary period to be entering.’ Katarina Johnson-Thompson won the World Indoor's in Prague, Czech Republic to become world No 1 . Jessica Ennis-Hill is the Olympic Champion and her future rivalry with Johnson-Thompson is 'exciting' Johnson-Thompson, 22, is the World’s No 1 hept-athlete and broke Ennis-Hill’s British record at the European Indoor Championships in Prague this month. Her blistering form — coupled with murmurs from the Ennis-Hill camp that her training for a comeback after the birth of son Reggie is going very well — has set the scene for a mouthwatering duel. The pair are understandably keen to play down talk of a rivalry, Johnson-Thompson out of reverence for the Olympic champion of whom she claims to be ‘in awe’ and Ennis-Hill because she is unsure what competitive shape she will be in. But those charged with promoting the sport are keen to make the most of the fact that Britain boasts the world’s two leading multi-eventers. They were expected to compete against each other for the first time since London 2012 — when Johnson-Thompson was 15th — at the Hypo-Meeting at the end of May, when the world’s leading heptathletes descend on the Austrian alpine town Gotzis. But Brendan Foster revealed to Sportsmail that he is trying to set up a head-to-head for earlier that month at the Great CityGames in Manchester. Lord Sebastian Coe wants the heptathletes to have an exciting duel like he did with Steve Ovett in the 1980s . ‘Kat has already agreed to do the 200 metres hurdles and long jump,’ said Foster. ‘Jess was invited to take part in the same events and soundings are favourable from her. ‘With heptathlon they might only battle it out twice a year but if sport in Britain is to benefit from the rivalry that is going to be inevitable between these two then they should compete against each other a couple more times head-to-head in one, two or three events. It’s in their interests and very much in the sport’s interest.’ Both Johnson-Thompson and Ennis-Hill, 29, have the World Championships in Beijing this summer as their primary aim and will probably be joined by 17-year-old Lake, who has surpassed anything either of them achieved at the same age. Johnson-Thompson and Ennis-Hill are friends off the track despite the well speculated competition . Lord Coe and Ovett were great rivals in the 80s and provided huge entertainment for the athletics world . With 12 years spanning their ages the three are unlikely ever to stand on the podium together but Lord Coe thinks that they can transform the image of a sport that increasingly seems to command the spotlight only when a new doping scandal emerges. ‘Those three can really help engage, particularly with young girls where the challenge is to get them involved in sport,’ he said. ‘Stars like Kat and Jess are important for the sport. They are from normal backgrounds, they haven’t come out of some kind of super-schools, they are like the kids next door and that is really important so that people can identify with them.’ The Morrisons Great Newham London Run takes place on Sunday, July 19 and gives you the chance to run on the track and cross the finish line in the Olympic Stadium. To take part, visit www.greatrun.org. 17-year-old Morgan Lake is highly regarded and could add serious competition to the title in the future . +Freddy Ovett describes himself as ‘50-50’ British and Australian, though the soft Queensland accent seems a giveaway. It isn’t quite as simple as that, because Freddy is the son of Steve, 1980 Olympic 800 metres gold medallist and a legend of British sport, whose rivalry with Sebastian Coe captivated a global audience. Three decades on, Freddy is forging his own path — but as a cyclist, not a runner, having switched sports 18 months ago and made such rapid progress that he has trained with Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour de France winner, and recently signed with France’s top development team. Cyclist Freddy Ovett is all smiles as poses for a picture with his former athlete father Steve Ovett . Ovett Jnr spent his first seven years in Dumfriesshire, where his parents moved after Steve’s retirement, and where his father competed in the odd cycle race until he collided with a car in 1994 — by coincidence, the year Freddy was born. Freddy knows little about his father’s brief cycling career, and laughs as he says: ‘I can imagine him rocking up, thinking he was stronger than anyone.’ But he knows everything about his running: ‘My depth of knowledge about the history of athletics is more than my dad’s. I have to correct him sometimes on what he did and didn’t do.’ Freddy and his father Steve hit the running track, somewhere Steve is very familiar with . Father and son are cut from the same cloth. ‘We’re so, so close, and so similar,’ he says. That augurs well for Freddy and badly for opponents, since the older Ovett, now 59, was famously competitive. He was equally famously prickly with the press — a trait that doesn’t seem to have been inherited by the genial, open Ovett Jnr. Had social media existed in the 1980s, it’s difficult to imagine Steve asking a journalist to publish his Twitter handle (it’s @freddyovett, since you ask). Freddy recently signed with France’s top development team after swapping running trainers for a bike . Freddy was a promising middle-distance runner, just like his dad, and in 2012 won a scholarship to the University of Oregon. Then he suffered a knee injury. ‘It was so frustrating. I came back to Australia and did a bit of cycling to keep in shape,’ he says. Tests at the Victorian Institute of Sport suggested he had promise. ‘I think I was meant to be a cyclist all along,’ Freddy says. ‘I always followed it, I was always staying up to stupid hours watching the Tour de France. It fascinated me, despite the scandals. I was a big fan of Lance Armstrong before the whole downfall.’ MEDALS: 800m Olympic gold, 1500m bronze (1980); 1500m European gold (1978); 800m European silver (1974, 1978); 5,000m Commonwealth gold (1986). WORLD RECORDS . Ran a 3:48.8 mile in 1980 to beat Seb Coe’s record . Battled with Coe for the mile record in 1981 — it changed hands three times in nine days . Set three 1500m records between 1980 and 1983 . Set a two mile record in 1978 that lasted nine years . Ovett was also BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1978 . What did his father make of him turning his back on running? ‘When I started cycling, we weren’t speaking,’ says Freddy. ‘It was a strange time, it lasted about a year, which was tough on both of us.’ His parents are divorced and while his mother is still in Noosa, Queensland, his father lives down in Melbourne with his new partner. ‘When I went to Europe last year, my dad and I got back in contact,’ Freddy continues. ‘He sees the way athletics is at the moment and he saw how difficult it was for me to break through. ‘He’s super supportive about my cycling — and excited more than anything. When I speak to him I can sense that.’ Freddy has a lot to live up to if he wants similar levels of success as his father Steve . One of the challenges in athletics, says Ovett Jnr, is dealing with doping, which — surprisingly — he thinks is worse in his original sport than in his new one. ‘Cycling has taken more of an aggressive approach in trying to stamp it out,’ he claims. ‘In athletics, a lot of dodgy stuff is going on that the general public are not aware of, because they’re not knowledgeable enough.’ Freddy, 21, is based in Chambery in the Alps, in an apartment owned by his new team, AG2R. They are as French as cycling teams come, but manager, Vincent Lavenu, a top rider in the 1980s, was interested in a rider called Ovett. ‘He was a fan of my dad’s,’ says Freddy. Steve Cram and Ovett during the heats of the Men's 1500 metres event at the Summer Olympics in 1984 . He shares an apartment with a French rider and a chef comes in to cook lunch and dinner. The team is paying for French classes — he goes to school for three hours a day. The question of his nationality is unresolved. Enquiries were made about him riding for Scotland at last year’s Commonwealth Games, but he is undecided. ‘I have dual citizenship. I don’t want to rush anything,’ he explains. He is wary of declaring for Britain or Australia when he feels he hasn’t proved himself deserving of a place in either national team. Steve was a 1980 Olympic 800 metres gold medallist and a legend of British sport . ‘I need to learn in Under 23 racing before trying to be a hero,’ he says. ‘But I’m definitely not opposed to representing the UK.’ What does his dad think? ‘I don’t know, he’s good at letting me feel my own way. He’s trying to not put too much pressure on me. Both (British and Australian) set-ups are really good — both have incredibly strong national teams.’ Last year, during his first racing trip to Europe, Ovett stayed with his agent, Baden Cooke, in Monaco, which is also where Froome and his Sky team-mate Richie Porte live. Freddy, 21, is based in Chambery in the Alps, in an apartment owned by his new team, AG2R . ‘It was fantastic,’ says Ovett. ‘I went on quite a few rides with Richie and got on really well with him — he checks up on me. And I rode with Chris, including one ride where he was training for the Vuelta. I learned so much. ‘He is such a nice guy and I read a bit about him — he is like this African Maasai warrior, extremely talented but he couldn’t get a handle on how to race. ‘I don’t compare myself with him but I can relate to that. I feel strong enough to make up for my poor bunch racing skills, but I know I’ve got so much to learn.’ Freddy was a promising middle-distance runner and in 2012 won a scholarship to the University of Oregon . +Randy Gregory has admitted to failing a marijuana test at the NFL scouting combine last month. One of the most talented edge rushers in the upcoming draft, Gregory starred for Nebraska at outside linebacker for the past two seasons. 'I blame myself,' Gregory told NFL media's Kimberly Jones from his Atlanta home. 'And I know it sounds cliche, but there's really no one else I can blame.' The 22-year-old found out about the failed test a fortnight ago on the phone to his father. He had asked him to open an envelope which he mistakenly believed to be an invitation to the draft in Chicago. Randy Gregory impressed at the combine, running the 40 in 4.64 secs with a 125 inch broad jump . Gregory had 17.5 sacks in his two years at Nebraska and is one of the most coveted linebackers in the draft . Many experts have the 22-year-old as a top-five pick. At 6ft 5in he is versatile enough to rush the quarterback or operate in coverage, but in a class loaded with pass rushers, he spoke of his concerns. 'Am I worried? Yeah, I'm worried,' he said. 'At the same time, I'm confident. I know I'm going to be all right in the end.' Gregory told Jones that he hasn't smoked marijuana since December, and that he did not use other recreational drugs. 'I don't wake up every day saying, I'd really love to go smoke,' he said. 'It's not a struggle for me every day (now), it really isn't. In the past, hell yeah, it's been a struggle. It really has been.' Gregory's issues with the drug were well-documented. He failed two drug tests in January and April in 2014 at Nebraska. 'I was worse at Nebraska than I've ever been at any other time of my life. But I know how I am now. I think if teams really look at how I am now more so than the past, they'll see I'm making strides to get better, as a person and as a player,' he said. Despite the red flags, 29 NFL teams spoke to Gregory at the combine and if they did not know of his off-field issues, Gregory made them aware during the interviews. Gregory will enter the NFL in the first stage of the league's substance abuse programme. 'This incident right now is a step toward ending my career. The last thing I want to do is fail another drug test and be out of the league.' +Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has conceded to being a worried man in the wake of Sebastian Vettel's Malaysian Grand Prix victory. Suggestions of another season of Mercedes domination in the wake of a comfortable one-two in the season-opening race in Australia were blown apart by Ferrari and Vettel in Malaysia. As Vettel himself noted, his triumph was achieved 'fair and square' as he beat reigning champion Lewis Hamilton by 8.5 seconds, with team-mate Nico Rosberg a further four seconds adrift in third. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff (right) was surprised by Sebastian Vettel's Malaysian Grand Prix victory . Despite searing heat of more than 30 degrees, Vettel's Ferrari was kinder on its tyres, stopping just twice compared to three for both Hamilton and Rosberg. It has left Wolff concerned, as he said: 'We were pretty sure the three-stop strategy would work for us. 'We probably went a bit too aggressive on set-up, which pushed us into a direction of a three-stop. Wolff admitted that the German driver deserved to win and Ferrari got their tactics spot-on in the soaring heat . Vettel celebrates after winning his first race of the season and opening up the Drivers Championship . 'But in the circumstances, with the high temperatures, they were able to go at a faster pace over long runs than us. 'We need to analyse why that was the case, and it clearly shows it's not going to be an easy one. 'It is clear they won the race, which is worrying. It wouldn't be right to say we lost it.' F1 stats provided by F1 Stat Blog . Vettel finished 8.5 seconds ahead of Hamilton (left) and 12.5 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg . Wolff at least gave credit where it is due to Ferrari, although has also admitted to surprise at how quickly his team have been reeled in given their margin of victory in Australia. 'Ferrari deserved to win,' Wolff added. 'From a racing perspective, you have to acknowledge they have done a great development over the winter. 'For Formula One it (their win) is a positive, particularly after all the talk we had in Melbourne of a boring race and Mercedes running away with the championship. Hamilton had to pit three times in the race compared to Vettel's two and that was a major blow for him . 'It is what Formula One needed, but we didn't expect them to catch us this quickly. 'We were pretty dominant in Melbourne - we were a little bit sceptical about our own advantage. 'That we've been caught up by a Ferrari in two weeks, that they beat us fair and square on the track, is a bit of a surprise, but equally a bit of a wake up call, which is good for us. 'We just need to analyse in the next couple of days where we went wrong, what we need to improve, whether we need to bring any developments forward and put them on the car quicker. Rosberg (6) finished in third and continued his solid start to the Formula One season in Malaysia . 'Definitely we need to increase the pace of our development.' Wolff insists, though, Mercedes will not over-react to the situation, particularly as the cooler conditions at the next race in China in a fortnight are expected to favour his cars. 'There is no panic, but we are in a new situation,' he said. 'We were not in control of things. We had new information which was different to what we had assessed over the weekend. 'Things didn't pan out in the way we expected them to pan out, but it was clear the winning streak would not go on forever.' The German celebrates with his Ferrari team after winning the second Formula One race of the season . Suggested to Wolff the loss was the end of an era, he said: 'We must not be extreme in our assessment. 'In Melbourne there was extreme thinking we would win all season, and here we are two weeks later and we say is this the end of an era? 'It is not the end of an era - maybe the start of a new era, of a good battle, a battle we would like to take on. 'It's about staying calm, assessing, trying to return with confidence and with the speed we have had in the last couple of races.' +Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has hailed Sebastian Vettel's Malaysian Grand Prix victory as a 'classic' performance. Horner and Red Bull were forced to bid farewell to Vettel at the end of last season as the 27-year-old decided to pursue his dream of driving for Ferrari. Despite winning four world titles and 39 grands prix with the Milton Keynes-based marque, Vettel felt the time was right to try pastures new. Sebastian Vettel celebrates emerging victorious at the Malaysian Grand Prix with Ferrari on Sunday . Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised Vettel's performance, saying 'he drove brilliantly' Vettel celebrates taking victory in his Ferrari in the immediate aftermath of the Malaysian Grand Prix . On the back of his triumph at the Sepang International Circuit, it would appear to be an inspired move as Red Bull are floundering, whilst Ferrari are clearly back with a bang. Acknowledging Vettel's display, Horner said: 'On a personal note it's great to see him win. I'm pleased for him. He looked a happy chap. 'I thought he drove brilliantly. It was classic Vettel. He got his head down at the front, managed the tyres and managed to make a two-stop strategy work. 'The Ferrari did look very gentle on its tyres in the heat and temperature (33 degrees centigrade). 'Seb has clearly got a good feel in the car, it has good driveability and he's very good at looking after the tyres, and in that situation he is quite often unbeatable.' Looking at the bigger picture, Horner added: 'Although it wasn't a great day for us, it was at least a good day for Formula One in that in a straight race Ferrari managed to beat Mercedes.' The start to the new season has so far been disastrous for Red Bull for after complaining vociferously about power-unit supplier Renault after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, it was brake issues that proved the team's undoing in Malaysia. Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo could only manage ninth and 10th respectively, even finishing behind the rookie pairing from 'sister' team Toro Rosso in Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr who were seventh and eighth. Holding up Ferrari's turnaround as an example of what can be achieved, Horner added: 'They have done a good job. 'It demonstrates everything is possible, and shows how things can change quite quickly. 'We just have to focus on our issues and address them in the forthcoming races because we had a very tough afternoon. F1 stats provided by F1 Stat Blog . Daniil Kvyat was Red Bull's highest finisher in Malaysia, crossing the line in ninth position . Horner wants his Red Bull team to use Ferrari as an example of the level of turnaround that can happen . 'As soon as we started to run into traffic, temperatures started to get out of control, in particular managing the brakes, and then we didn't really have any pace. 'It was then about trying to manage our race to make sure we got to the end, so a frustrating afternoon really. 'We need to go away and understand some of the issues from the weekend and make sure we address them, hopefully in time for the next race in China.' +Judd Trump continued his good form by easing to a 4-0 victory over up-and-coming Belgium cueman Luca Brecel in the first round of the Players Championship in Thailand. Trump, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan to win the World Grand Prix last Sunday before travelling to Bangkok, reached the last 16 with a top break of 71. 'I played well and Luca didn't, so in the end it was convincing,' Trump told worldsnooker.com. 'I need to play better next time.' Judd Trump, pictured in action at the World Grand Prix, eased past Luca Brecel in Thailand on Wednesday . Shaun Murphy reeled off three frames in a row after going 1-0 down on his way to a 4-2 victory over Rod Lawler which included top breaks of 93 and 69. Murphy said: 'Rod was unlucky today, on another day he might have won. I'm trying my best, I have won this title before and I'm trying to win it again. 'I always enjoy coming to Thailand, the people are very friendly and they love snooker.' Shaun Murphy, pictured in action at the World Grand Prix, overcame Rod Lawler 4-2 after going 1-0 down . Meanwhile, world champion Mark Selby chalked up a 4-0 win over Dominic Dale while Martin Gould defeated Indian Open champion Michael White 4-3. Mark Davis saw off Ricky Walden 4-2. Wales' Mark Williams claimed a 4-1 win over home favourite Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. +Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart has praised Kevin Pietersen's 'outstanding' character, but admitted the batsman's chances of an England return are slim. Pietersen has rejoined Surrey to play in LV= County Championship Division Two in a bid to win a Test recall for the Ashes this summer. The 34-year-old was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board after the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash, but Stewart revealed he has never had any problems with his attitude. Kevin Pietersen has been hailed for his 'outstanding character' by Surrey chief Alec Stewart . Pietersen shared a picture of himself celebrating Australia's World Cup win with James Faulkner . Surrey cricket director Stewart (right) can't see a way back for Pietersen with England . 'He's been as good as gold with us. If he was a bad character we wouldn't have had him,' he said on BBC Radio 5 Live. 'Whenever he's been with us he has been outstanding. He's helped the youngsters, he's been in the nets, he's put on batting clinics and he's tried his heart out. So hopefully, and I have no reason to disbelieve, he will be exactly the same this time, if not even more hard working and desperate to score runs.' Stewart accepted, though, that Pietersen's hopes of playing for England again were likely to be dashed. Pietersen was axed by England following the controversial whitewash by Australia in last year's Ashes . Test captain Alastair Cook (left) admits an England recall is unlikely for the Surrey batsman . ECB managing director Paul Downton has been steadfast in his appraisal that Pietersen will not come back - as have national selector James Whitaker and coach Peter Moores, while Test captain Alastair Cook rated the prospect 'highly unlikely'. 'If England are winning, they have a good West Indies tour which we expect, then it's going to take an injury or a huge loss of form for a vacancy to become available,' Stewart added. 'But all Kevin can do and, that's what he's said to us, he's going to score runs, sit back and see what happens.' +Stuart Lancaster hailed Sam Burgess’s ‘winning attitude’ as the rugby-league convert played a full part in a feisty England training session on Wednesday ahead of this Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash. Burgess, who signed for Bath from the South Sydney Rabbitohs last year, has joined Lancaster’s squad to gain more experience of his new code in the hope he can be fast-tracked into England's World Cup training camp this summer. Lancaster earlier this week ruled out any possibility of Burgess featuring against Scotland - and on Wednesday afternoon named his starting XV which sees recalls for Mike Brown and Courtney Lawes – but admitted he has been impressed by the 18 stone centre’s contribution. Rugby league convert Sam Burgess in action during a full training session with England on Wednesday . Burgess, who has played for the England Saxons, impressed Stuart Lancaster with his 'winning attitude' While not yet a contender for an England spot, Burgess is aiming to challenge for a World Cup position . ‘It’s the first time I’ve coached him,’ Lancaster said. ‘He played in the Saxons game (against Ireland in February) for which I was an observer but not coaching in. ‘He came in after that game for camp but was injured and didn’t train. I’ve been impressed by just how quickly he’s picked things up. 'Clearly there’s a new calling system for him to work with. He’s got a very good manner about him and clearly he’s got a physical presence. England fly-half George Ford runs at the line during a 15 v 15 session on Wednesday . Returning second rower Courtney Lawes runs the ball during an intense training session in Surrey . ‘We talked yesterday and he was one of the first contributors to talk about what it takes to win. That winner’s attitude is something you need in your team. ‘Whether he can have enough time to learn the game and challenge for a World Cup place we will have to wait and see. But he’s certainly got that winner’s attitude and that’s an important quality to have.’ Lancaster put his squad through a 15-a-side training session at their Pennyhill Park base and, with George Kruis, Alex Goode and Nick Easter omitted from the squad that lost to Ireland, the England coach was encouraged by the ferocity on show. ‘You can describe it as a backlash or whatever you want but we had 15 v 15 training today and I had to calm it down,’ Lancaster said. ‘You have 15 people who want to be in the starting 15 and it was me blowing the whistle in the end to make sure we didn’t play the game too early.’ Mike Brown will start at full back after missing the Ireland defeat due to a concussion . +It is almost a full month now since the despised old regime at Rangers was routed in the battle for control of Ibrox. But the influence of ex-chief executive Derek Llambias continues to be felt in the Blue Room as the new board of directors stumble across a series of strategically-placed landmines. One particularly nasty surprise exploded into the public domain on Tuesday as it emerged the price of promotion to the Premiership for Rangers will include an extra £500,000 payable to Mike Ashley. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley will be laughing all the way to the bank if Rangers win promotion . Ashley will receive payment for the loan of five Newcastle players including Haris Vuckic (centre), Gael Bigirimana (left) and Remie Streete . That sizeable sum is in return for Ashley loaning the Ibrox club five of his Newcastle United players; four of whom turned out to be either injured, ill or unfit. Of course, the long-suffering Rangers fans have grown wearily accustomed to their club being treated with contempt while ruthless businessman Ashley lines his pockets. The support have witnessed the Newcastle United owner’s placemen sell the naming rights to their beloved Ibrox for just £1 – albeit Ashley subsequently gave up those rights amid a backlash from the rank and file. They then watched in disbelief as a deal was sanctioned with the billionaire’s Sports Direct firm that sees just 75 pence of every £10 spent on Rangers merchandise going to the club. But Tuesday's revelation in the club’s latest accounts is perhaps the most depressing example of the callous regard in which the outgoing board viewed the Ibrox club. In a scenario that’s being viewed at Rangers as ‘vindictive, it’s believed that Rangers’ own medical staff were overruled by Llambias when they insisted on medicals for the five loan Rangers. Had that happened, Rangers would have found Remie Streete and Shane Ferguson were in no state to play while Kevin Mbabu was patently unfit. Streete duly limped off 45 minutes into his debut after Llambias had ordered caretaker manager Kenny McDowall to start him. Proper testing would also have shown that Gael Bigirimana was ill, with a condition that had already been diagnosed by medics at Newcastle. Vuckic has been the only player loaned from Newcastle that has been a success at Ibrox . 20-year-old defender Streete suffered an injury in his one and only first-team appearance for Rangers . Of the five loan Rangers, midfielder Haris Vuckic has been the sole success - but campaigning Rangers fan Craig Houston says the situation jars when he recalls the sale of star player Lewis Macleod to Brentford in January. ‘That was done on the pretext they were protecting the future of Rangers,’ said Houston of the Sons of Struth supporters group. ‘But I believe they only got £250,000 for Macleod and then they shell out £500,000 for five loan players. ‘Macleod would add more to the team than Vuckic. And I would rather have Lewis at Ibrox on a permanent basis – increasing his value – than all five Newcastle loan players, even if they were all fit.’ New Rangers chairman Paul Murray recently held up the decision by Llambias and his then finance director, the Sports Direct executive Barry Leach, to spend £300,000 on an EGM - when it was clear the old board was finished – as examples of the financial madness that has plagued Rangers since liquidation. And yet another landmine was stumbled upon as it emerged auditors Deloitte had informed the previous board of their intention to resign last June. Defensive midfielder Bigirimana has been ruled out of action for Rangers with a mystery illness . Not only did the previous board fail to announce this, or seek a replacement, they inexplicably included the reappointment of Deloitte on their resolution notice in November for the following month’s AGM. ‘It’s just another example of the deplorable mismanagement at Rangers, or of people burying their heads in the sand,’ said Houston. ‘The resolution was passed in December but Deloittes were long gone as auditors.’ As Rangers revealed losses after tax of £2.89million for the six-month period to 31 December 2014, the accounts reiterated two Emphasis of Matter warnings outlined in full-year accounts signed off by Deloitte relating to the company’s ability to trade as a going concern. But new chairman Paul Murray confirmed Sportsmail’s exclusive that the club is planning a rights issue in the summer to raise funds - believed to be £10m – to sustain the club in the medium and long term. In his statement, Murray said the club would become ‘self-sustaining’ and ‘free from the kind of funding crises that have plagued Rangers in recent years.’ He vowed that, under the new board, the Ibrox club would be back competing at the top level at home and in Europe by 2022 - in time for the 50th anniversary of the club’s 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph in Barcelona. Stuart McCall is a 'strong candidate' to extend his position as Rangers boss beyond the end of the season . Describing interim boss Stuart McCall as a ‘strong candidate’ for the permanent position, Murray called on fans to back his board by investing in season tickets. He said: ‘The vision is to focus on the next seven years so that by 2022, the club’s 150th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Barcelona, we, Rangers, will be back at the very top. ‘Over the next few years the finance we are putting in place now will provide the infrastructure and personnel at Murray Park to make sure Rangers are competing and winning in Scotland’s top flight as well as stepping back into the European arenas again. ‘Then for the three or four years after that all our efforts will be directed towards making Rangers stronger and European regulars as our 150th year approaches. That year should be one of celebration. ‘A massive rebuild is required at every level and in every department of this huge club of ours and we cannot and will not shy away from those tasks. ‘After years of mismanagement we need patience and support. We must never forget what has happened to our club in the last four years. The new board will ensure that it never happens again. This is our Club, we have taken ownership of it and with our 2022 vision we will not fail.’ +Rangers are determined to exhaust every possible avenue in a bid to avoid paying Newcastle United £500,000 for the five loan players sent north under the instructions of Derek Llambias. The small print of the deal emerged on Monday as the club posted half-yearly losses of £2.89million. The accounts also revealed the new board are still searching for a nominated advisor (NOMAD) to avoid being de-listed on the Stock Exchange - and that the club's auditors Deloitte quit in June in a move that was not revealed by the previous regime. Gael Bigirimana (left), Haris Vuckic (middle) and Remie Streete (right) pose after their loan moves to Rangers . Interim chairman Paul Murray described that as a sign of the 'staggering mismanagement' that had gone on at Ibrox. But fans have been left aghast at the stunning revelation that should Rangers win promotion through the play-offs this season they will have to fork out £500,000 to Newcastle . Of the loanees, only Haris Vuckic has seen regular first-team action while Remie Streete was injured in his only top-team appearance. Shane Ferguson, Gael Bigirimana and Kevin Mbabu are unlikely to ever appear as they battle back from either illness or injury. 'It's another kick in the teeth for Rangers fans,' said Craig Houston, of the campaigning Rangers supporters group Sons of Struth. 20-year-old defender Streete suffered an injury in his one and only first-team appearance for Rangers . 'I think it's right for the board to pursue this. I have faith in the guys running Rangers now and this is not the only deal they will be trying to unfold and unravel. 'But it's a bit of a cheek. Derek Llambias sold the idea as these five costing Rangers no money. But we've since found out there's £1,000 to be paid each per week, and it's my belief the club is paying for rental property, too. Now we find out about this lump sum if we are promoted. 'The night the transfers went through, we saw the players leaving Newcastle but nobody saw them arrive at Murray Park prior to signing. 'We've been questioning for a while the ridiculous decision to not give them medicals. Had they done that, it would show two were injured and would probably never pull on a blue jersey and a third was ill and couldn't play football.' The controversial deal was struck by the club's previous board led by chief executive Llambias – a cohort of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley. Sportsmail understands however that the new board are now set to approach the Scottish FA and their English counterpart as they seek advice on whether there are grounds for quashing the £500,000 payment clause. The bombshell that Rangers – who would earn just £342,000 for finishing second in the league – would have to shell out the cash to Newcastle if they are promoted emerged as the Ibrox club released 'disappointing' financial results. Interim chairman Murray railed against the previous regime after announcing the near £3m loss for the six months to December last year. Vuckic is the only one of the five Newcastle loanees to have held down a regular starting spot at Irbox . The 22-year-old Slovenian midfielder has scored four goals in just eight league games for Rangers . Despite promotion to the Championship, Rangers' revenue fell £100,000 to £13.1m, though the club earned £1.3m from hosting the Commonwealth Games rugby sevens. Sponsorship revenue also dropped, falling by £0.3m to £0.4m. Rangers have until Saturday to appoint a new nominated advisor (NOMAD) or face being de-listed from the stock market although it's believed an extension will be sought to that deadline. Murray, who along with Dave King and John Gilligan ousted the previous board led by Llambias, said he was confident Rangers can overcome their difficulties. He said: 'The new directors have been in place only a matter of weeks but have already started to repair the damage caused through recent years of neglect and disrespect for this club, its people and its history. 'The mismanagement of the club in recent years has been simply staggering. 'As the Interim Accounts prove, the new board has inherited major problems but while campaigning for change we all knew the club would be in need of major restructuring and repair on all fronts. 'We can and we will return this club to a strong and profitable footing through strategic planning, investment and re-engagement with all of our stakeholders. 'Too many of them have been lost or disenfranchised because of successive failings by a series of directors over the last four years in particular. But they are gone now and this is a new era for this great and special club which must be regenerated, not only for its own good but for the greater good of Scottish football.' Defensive midfielder Bigirimana has been ruled out of action for Rangers with a mystery illness . +Paul Murray admits the new Rangers regime is still waiting to see whether Mike Ashley will send two of his men onto the board. The Ibrox interim chairman confirmed the terms of the initial £5million loan taken from Sports Direct by the previous hierarchy means Ashley retains the right to appoint directors. Murray insists Rangers now have no need for any further money from the Newcastle United owner, having this week instead secured a £1.5m loan from the Three Bears consortium to cover short-term needs. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley holds an eight per cent stake in Rangers and loaned the club £5m . However, he hopes to have talks with Ashley once a wider review of existing commercial deals with Sports Direct – who own 75 per cent of the club’s retail subsidiary – is complete. ‘We’ve had no discussions with Mike Ashley or Sports Direct so far but, as we have said before, we are happy to engage with them and feel we should do,’ Murray told Rangers TV. ‘They are an eight per cent shareholder and have financial arrangements with the club. We need to have that conversation pretty soon, but as yet we’ve had no discussions with them. ‘Mike Ashley does have the right to nominate two board members. It would be to the main public company, the International Football Club, and he has got rights under the first £5m loan to do that. ‘He’s showed no intention of doing it so far but he has the right to do it if he wants to - and we’d have to address that if and when he chooses to do that. Interim chairman Paul Murray (left) will have discussions with Ashley about his involvement at Ibrox . ‘I think, as Dave King was saying, one of the big information-gathering exercises was to look at the whole relationship between Sports Direct and the club. ‘There are a lot of relationships and there is a lot of documentation to go with those and we have spent the last three weeks looking at all of that. ‘We haven’t finished that review yet. I think once we have done that we will sit down, hopefully with Sports Direct and Mike Ashley, and try and agree a way forward.’ King has held off from becoming a director but intends to step into the chairman’s role providing he passes the SFA’s 'fit and proper’ person test. ‘The processes regarding both mine and Dave’s fit and proper persons test are pretty advanced,’ added Murray. Prospective chairman Dave King (right) has to pass the SFA’s ‘fit and proper’ person test . ‘We have said, and we will honour the fact, that we want to rebuild the relationship with all the governing bodies and we have to respect their processes and procedures.’ Murray also insisted he wants to help build a ‘modern Rangers upon traditional foundations’. He said: ‘People have spoken about having Rangers men on the board and getting back to a Rangers way of doing things but I think we also need to be a bit more forward-thinking. ‘I am looking a lot at this moment at the structure of various clubs and trying to get a sense of what would work at Rangers because there are different structures around Europe and even in Britain. ‘For example, the structure at Barcelona might not be appropriate for the structure at Rangers and we need to look at that kind of thing.’ +Holland beat Spain 2-0 in a friendly on Tuesday to earn embattled coach Guus Hiddink some breathing space after a poor start to his second term in charge of the national team. Centre back Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Davy Klaassen scored first-half goals in the morale-boosting victory. Spain, thrashed 5-1 by Holland at the World Cup, never looked like gaining revenge thanks to a combination of bad finishing and good goalkeeping by Kenneth Vermeer. Stefan de Vrij (second from left) heads a cross from team-mate Wesley Sneijder past Spain goalkeeper David de Gea to make it 1-0 . Holland defender De Vrij celebrates after giving the hosts the lead against Spain after just 13 minutes . Davy Klaassen doubles Holland's advantage after seeing his initial effort saved by Spain goalkeeper De Gea . Klaassen celebrates as De Gea screams at his defence after conceding a second goal after just 18 minutes in Amsterdam . It was a double celebration for De Vrij (left), Daley Blind (centre) and Bruno Martins Indi as they celebrated 25 caps for the Holland team . Holland: Vermeer, Janmaat, de Vrij, Martins Indi, Willems, Blind (De Guzman 73), Sneijder (Wijnaldum 62), Klaassen, Narsingh, Huntelaar (Dost 79), Depay (Afellay 84) Subs not used: Cillessen, van der Wiel, Veltman, Bruma, Nigel de Jong, Luuk de Jong, Promes, Krul . Goals: De Vrij 13, Klaassen 16 . Spain: De Gea, Carvajal, Albiol, Pique (San Jose 68), Bernat, Fabregas, Mario Suarez (Ramos 68), Isco (Silva 45), Cazorla (Iniesta 76), Juanmi (Morata 62), Pedro (Vitolo 45) Subs not used: Casillas, Bartra, Busquets, Koke, Juanfran, Sergio Asenjo . Referee: William Collum (Scotland) Hiddink's second stint as coach has been disastrous so far. In seven matches ahead of Tuesday's friendly, his team had beaten only Kazakhstan and Latvia in European qualifiers and lost to Italy, the Czech Republic, Iceland and Mexico in qualifiers and friendlies. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, missing Chelsea striker Diego Costa, fielded an experimental side at the Amsterdam Arena, while Hiddink again had to make do without his injured stars Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben and was also missing center back Ron Vlaar. The veteran coach made five changes to the team that needed an extra-time equaliser on Saturday to salvage a 1-1 draw against Turkey that left Holland third in Euro 2016 qualifying Group A. Scorer De Vrij had a double celebration as he, along with Daley Blind and Bruno Martins Indi, marked their 25th cap. Blind posted a picture of the trio on Instagram with the message: 'Happy with the win against Spain! What a result! Also proud of my achievement; 25 caps for the Dutch squad! Congrats to @stefandevrij3 and @brunomartinsindi.' After the game, Dutch captain Wesley Sneijder said: ''We had a point to prove after the match against Turkey and we did that well.' De Vrij gave Holland the lead in the 13th minute when he headed in a cross from Sneijder after Spain only half-cleared a corner. Ajax midfielder Klaassen scored his first international goal to double the Dutch lead three minutes later when he slipped away from Santi Cazorla and fired a shot that David de Gea parried before Klaassen hammered in the rebound. Vermeer preserved the lead with two good saves around the half-hour mark as Spain pressed forward. First the Feyenoord keeper advanced off his line to deny a rushing Gerard Pique and two minutes later scrambled to swat away the ball after Pedro had dispossessed Bruno Martins Indi. Willems, brought in to left back to provide more attacking options, looked vulnerable early, giving away the ball twice in dangerous positions before providing the assist for Klaassen's goal. 'We have to learn from those mistakes where we shot ourselves in the foot,' Hiddink said. Goalscorer De Vrij slides in on Spain midfielder Mario Suarez during the first half on Tuesday evening . Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas looks frustrated after watching Spain go 2-0 down after just 16 minutes . Holland goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer saves a close-range effort from Spain defender Gerard Pique . Holland midfielder Wesley Sneijder (right) gets away from Spain's Juanmi during a comfortable opening period for the hosts . Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla (right) tries to keep his balance under pressure from Holland's Bruno Martins Indi (centre) Holland's Jetro Willems (left) tussles with Spain forward Pedro Rodriguez at Ajax's Amsterdam Arena . Holland keeper Vermeer catches the ball under pressure from Spain full back Dani Carvajal (left) Substitute David Silva (right) is challenged by Holland star Sneijder as he brings the ball forward . Spain looked the more dangerous team after the break but could not convert its chances. Cesc Fabregas and Vitolo both missed good chances before substitute David Silva finally found the net in the 70th minute - only to be ruled offside. In between, Martins Indi missed a simple chance to put the match beyond Spain's reach when he headed a Sneijder cross into the ground and over the bar from close range. 'It's a shame we didn't take three points at the weekend,' Hiddink said. 'But this gives the team confidence.' +Zlatan Ibrahimovic appeared desperate to score another wonderstrike on Tuesday night but had to settle for a simple header during Sweden's 3-1 friendly win over Iran. The PSG frontman, who scored an incredible overhead kick against England in 2012, attempted to score a similarly impressive acrobatic goal but was foiled twice by the Iranian defence. However, Ibrahimovic did find the net at the Friends Arena, heading home at the back post to give Sweden the lead on 11 minutes. Zlatan Ibrahimovic appeared desperate to score one of his trademark wonderstrikes for Sweden on Tuesday . Ibrahimovic produces an impressive acrobatic strike during Sweden's friendly victory over Iran in Stockholm . The PSG striker attempted another overhead kick but was foiled by the Iran defence at the Friends Arena . Ibrahimovic and Iran defender Morteza Pouraliganji crash to the floor following the striker's acrobatics . Ibrahimovic celebrates during Sweden's friendly victory over Iran having settled for a simple header . Ibrahimovic headed in at the back the post to give Sweden the lead against Iran at the Friends Arena . Sweden's talisman runs and punches the air to celebrate after finding the back of the net at the Friends Arena . Sweden's No 10 scored and made another in a slick first-half performance, where the vast majority of the 33,773 crowd at the Friends Arena were cheering for the away team. Sweden is home to more than 60,000 people who were born in Iran, and together with their children and grandchildren they packed the stands, outnumbering the Sweden fans and creating a cascading wall of noise for much of the match. Ibrahimovic silenced them, albeit temporarily, when he gave Sweden the lead in the 11th minute. His clever pass found Erkan Zengin, whose chipped return was powerfully headed home by the Sweden captain at the far post, despite the best efforts of Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi to keep it out. Marcus Berg, currently playing his club football for Panathanaikos, slides in to double Sweden's advantage . Ibrahimovic skilfully holds off the challenge of Iran's Vahid Amiri during Sweden's friendly victory . Zlatan turned provider 10 minutes later, heading Pierre Bengtsson's cross into the path of Marcus Berg, who swept home with a deft first-time finish. Minutes later the huge contingent of Iranian fans roared in delight as their team reduced the deficit via a penalty, with captain Javad Nekounam thumping home the spot kick after Vahid Amiri was brought down in the box by Andreas Granqvist. Reza Ghoochannejhad came close to equalising early in the second half, bundling the ball past goalkeeper Robin Olsen only to see it come back off the foot of the post. Iran coach Carlos Queiroz urged his sideon from the edge of the technical area, but Ola Toivonen put an end to their hopes with a towering header from Sebastian Larsson's cross just before fulltime. Iranian fans celebrate in the stands after Javad Nekounam (third right) scored from the penalty spot . Ola Toivonen climbs highest to powerfully head home Sweden's third goal with just a minute to go . And here's when Ibrahimovic did find the back of the net with a propeller shot against England... +It may have been a friendly, but Bosnia-Herzegovina's clash with Austria turned ugly on Tuesday night after Edin Dzeko appeared to grab Aleksandar Dragovic by the throat. Incensed by the reaction following a poor challenge from Muhamed Besic, the Manchester City striker leapt to the defence of his team-mate by screaming at the young Austrian defender. Standing directly in front of the referee, Dzeko then raised his hands to throttle the reported Premier League target, though he was only booked for his actions. Edin Dzeko raises his hands to throttle Austria defender Aleksandar Dragovic during an international friendly . Dzeko leapt to the defence of Bosnia-Herzegovina team-mate Muhamed Besic (7) after his poor challenge . The referee was standing right next to Dzeko as he went over to confront the young Austrian defender . Tensions boiled over in the friendly in Vienna after Besic's late lunge on Kevin Wimmer. The Everton midfielder was booked, but didn't appear to show any remorse after the tackle. Several Austrian players charged over, with Dynamo Kyev man Dragovic, who has admitted he is flattered by Manchester United and Arsenal interest, leading the line as a spat soon broke out. Dzeko captained Bosnia in the 1-1 draw, and it was clear he was taking his role of helping his team-mates to the next level after his actions, for which he could face retrospective action. Marc Janco opened the scoring for the hosts at the Ernst Happel Stadion, before Izet Hajrovic equalised. Besic was booked after this foul on Kevin Wimmer and a spat soon broke out at the Ernst Happel Stadium . Dzeko was only booked after confronting Dragovic but may face retrospective action . Dzeko and Dragovic compete for the ball earlier on in the 1-1 draw in Vienna on Tuesday night . +A Portugal side missing Cristiano Ronaldo were shocked 2-0 by African islanders Cape Verde in Estoril. The Ballon d'Or winner was released from international duty ahead of this friendly meeting at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota and Portugal dearly missed his guile and killer instinct. Odair Fortes and Gege scored the Blue Sharks' goals before half-time and the dismissal of Portugal defender Andre Pinto on the hour mark made a comeback even more unlikely. It would not materialise. Cape Verde Islands defender Gege celebrates after scoring the second goal against Portugal on Tuesday . Fernando Santos (right) looks dejected as his Portuguese side were beaten 2-0 by the African nation . Jeffry Fortes competes with Adrien Silva during the international friendly in Estoril . PORTUGAL: Lopes, Cedric, Andre Pinto, Oliveira, Antunes, Adrien (Pizzi 65), Andre Gomes (A Almeida 79), Joao Mario (Ukra 46), Bernardo Silva (Danilo 61), Vieirinha, Almeida (Eder 64) Subs not used: Ventura, Marafona, Tiago Pinto, Andre Andre, Cavaleiro, Lucas Joao, Rui Fonte . Booked: Oliveira . Sent off: Andre Pinto . CAPE VERDE ISLANDS: Vozinha, Jeffrey, Varela (Calu 71), Gege (Steven 56), Nivaldo, Nuno, Semedo, Julio (Ryan Mendes 81), Platini (Babancao 62), Odair Fortes (Garry 80), Heldon (Ricardo Gomes 81) Subs not used: Kevin, Carlitos . Booked: Semedo . Goals: Odair Fortes 38, Gege 43 . It was the first time since 1986 that Portugal had lost to an African nation, though it shouldn't come as too much a surprise with Cape Verde up at 37 in the FIFA world rankings, above the likes of Scotland and Sweden. Cape Verde made a lively start but the European side began to stamp their mark on proceedings soon after Vozinha was called into action on a number of occasions in goal, keeping out Vierinha and then Bernardo Silva. But the visitors were in front in the 38th minute, as  Fortes' cross-cum-shot looped over Lopes at the far post. Five minutes later they doubled their advantage after Heldon's free-kick fell kindly for Gege, who made his way up from defence and could hardly miss. Hugo Almeida spurned a golden chance in the second half as Fernando Santos' side tried to rally, but Portugal's hopes of mounting a comeback were dealt a major blow on the hour mark when Pinto was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Heldon. Pinto's sending off did not affect Portugal's attacking ambition, but their efforts ultimately proved fruitless on a famous night for Cape Verde. Cape Verde midfielder Platini vies with Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva in Estoril . Andre Pinto holds the ball up as Julio Tavares looks to get back possession for Portugal . Hugo Almeida heads the ball on under pressure from Cape Verde defender Jeffry Fortes . +Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao equalised Colombia's international goals record with a 74th-minute penalty in his country's 3-1 away win over Kuwait in a friendly on Monday. Falcao may have struggled for goals and form on the domestic stage this season, but the 29-year-old certainly hasn't had any trouble impressing on the international stage. His penalty was his third international goal in two games and takes his tally to 24 goals in 56 matches, level with Colombian legend Arnoldo Iguaran. Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao equalised Colombia's international goals record with a penalty . The United striker celebrates yet another international goal with his Colombian teammates on Monday . Falcao is fouled by Kuwait's Fahad Awadh Shaheen during the clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium . Iguaran's record has survived untouched for 24-years, but Falcao looks set to overtake the former Millonarios striker, who bagged his 24 goals in 68 matches. Falcao, quoted by the Colombian daily El Tiempo, suggested the record was not on his mind when he took the penalty after being brought down on the edge of the box. 'The fact is you're concentrating on taking (the penalty) and thank God I was able to score,' said Falcao, who has struggled to hold down a first team place at Manchester United this season. Colombian legend Arnoldo Iguaran bagged his 24 goals in 68 international matches . Falcao fights for the ball with Kuwait's Saleh Al Hendi during a friendly match in Abu Dhabi . Kuwait's goalkeeper Hameed Youssef tries to catch the ball as Falcao challenges during the international . Manchester United striker Falcao fights for the ball with Mesaed Al-Enzi of Kuwait in Abu Dhabi . +Sebastian Vettel will 'get p****d tonight' to celebrate his victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The 27-year-old German produced a stunning performance to win in his Ferrari ahead of Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at the Sepang International Circuit. The four-time world champion was visibly emotional on the podium after enduring a torrid 2014 season, his final year with Red Bull before switching to Ferrari over the winter. Sebastian Vettel signalled his intentions to get drunk after winning the Malaysian Grand Prix . The 27-year-old German was visibly emotional on the podium after his win in the second race of the season . Vettel produced an excellent drive at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday . During his podium interview with Eddie Jordan, Vettel said: 'It's been a while I've not been on the top step, and my first time with Scuderia Ferrari. There was a big change over the winter, and the welcome the team gave me when I arrived was fantastic. 'I've only done two races, but I'm so proud of today. We beat them (Mercedes) fair and square, I guess that's why it's a bit emotional. This is a great achievement and we have a great car. 'Today was a very, very special day, and will remain a part of me. Thank you to the team - grazie Italia. I want to celebrate today and get p****d tonight.' The four-time world champion dances with delight on the podium after his victory in Malaysia . Vettel left Red Bull over the winter to join Ferrari, a move he described as a dream come trune . Vettel's victory at Sepang came in just his second race since joining the sport's most iconic team, a move he described as a dream come true. The German added; 'I remember when the gate opened at Maranello, it was like a dream coming true. I remember the last time I was there I was a kid watching Michael Schumacher over the fence. Now I’m driving that very red car - it’s incredible.' It was Ferrari's first victory since Fernando Alonso won the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix and Vettel's first victory since Brazil at the end of the same season. Vettel finished over eight seconds ahead of Hamilton to claim the victory ahead of the Mercedes pair . Vettel stands on top of his car after winning the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang . F1 stats provided by F1 Stat Blog . Ferrari's pace in Malaysia was also proven by Kimi Raikkonen, who finished in fourth place despite starting from 11th on the grid and an early puncture that forced him into an extra pit stop. Speaking on Sky Sports, Raikkonen said: 'We had a very poor weekend in the sense of things going wrong. After the puncture I got a little bit of damage to the floor and I think we did the maximum we could. 'It is good for the team and good for Sebastian and after where we were last year it is a good job the team has done.' +World Cup runners-up New Zealand have had five players named in the International Cricket Council's team of the tournament. Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum has been chosen as skipper of the side with fellow opener Martin Guptill, all-rounders Corey Anderson and Daniel Vettori and fast bowler Trent Boult also representing the beaten finalists. McCullum scored 328 runs in nine World Cup matches with four half-centuries at a strike-rate of 188.50, while Guptill was the tournament's highest run-scorer with 547 including a stunning World Cup record 237 not out against the West Indies in the quarter-finals. World Cup runners-up New Zealand have had five players named, including captain Brendon McCullum (right) McCullum's fellow New Zealand opener Martin Guptill (centre) has also been named in the best team . Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand, captain), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wicketkeeper), Steve Smith (Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Corey Anderson (New Zealand), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Trent Boult (New Zealand), Morne Morkel (South Africa), Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) (12th man) Champions Australia were also well represented with Mitchell Starc, who was joint highest wicket-taker alongside Boult with 22, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell all selected. South Africans AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel complete the side along with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara while Brendan Taylor of Zimbabwe is 12th man. 'There were a number of other players that were discussed as possible selections in the team,' said Geoff Allardice, chairman of the selection panel. 'These included batsmen Mahmudullah (Bangladesh) and Shaiman Anwar (UAE), fast bowlers Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami (both India), Wahab Riaz (Pakistan) and spinners Imran Tahir (South Africa) and R.Ashwin (India). 'But there were so many brilliant individual performances during the tournament that it was not possible to fit them into the team. The panel eventually came up with this side, which, in their view, was the most balanced outfit that is capable of beating any side on any given day.' Corey Anderson and Daniel Vettori (pictured centre, hugging) following the Cricket World Cup semi-final . New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult also represents the beaten finalists in the World Cup's best team . +Ireland captain Will Porterfield accused the International Cricket Council of 'shutting doors in the face' of associate nations with their plans to reduce the 2019 World Cup to 10 teams. The 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand featured 14 teams but the ICC are pressing ahead with plans to streamline the tournament in four years time, a move that Porterfield condemned. The Ireland captain suggested there was no point in associate nations continuing if the ICC decide to run a 'members only' club and make more money for the elite nations. The 30-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'It's frustrating when we keep doing everything that's asked of us by the ICC, and then they keep slapping you in the face with decisions like this. Ireland captain Will Porterfield blasted the ICC's decision to reduce the next World Cup to 10 teams . Ireland came close to reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup and beat West Indies in the group stage . 'Cutting teams is not the way forward. It's only full members, pretty much, they're giving the opportunities to - it may as well be a members' cup, as opposed to a World Cup. 'It's a decision that not only I but a lot of other people completely disagree with. If you look at any other sport around the world, they're looking to expand and develop. The way the ICC are going, they don't seem to be doing that really. 'I think how we've done, and what we've shown over the last few years, merits a place at the World Cup. But the ICC just seem to be shutting doors in your face really. 'It's almost getting to the stage of "What's the point?" for a lot of the teams. If you keep closing the door, they can't get on to the world stage. Kevin O'Brien's century helped Ireland stun England at the 2011 World Cup in Bangalore, India . 'I'd like to know what Dave Richardson's (ICC chief executive) vision for the game is. It's not just Ireland here - we're talking about a global game. 'This is the International Cricket Council. If his vision for the game is to shrink it and make as much money for the top few nations as possible, then come out and say that.' Ireland narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of this World Cup when they were beaten by Pakistan in their decisive group game in Adelaide. Porterfield's side won three of their first four matches in the tournament including victories over the West Indies and Zimbabwe before falling short against India and Pakistan. Ireland advanced to the super-eight stage of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean after beating Pakistan . Their impressive performances at this tournament follow their win over Pakistan in Jamaica in 2007 and against England in Bangalore in 2011. Before the current World Cup, their last ODI against an elite nation was against Sri Lanka in Dublin in May 2014. Ireland are also due to play England and Australia in one-off matches this summer. Porterfield added: 'The last four years between World Cups, we've played nine games against top-10 teams. Even if we'd won every single game we played, we still can't break in - so that's what we're up against.' +Suresh Raina hit an unbeaten 110 as India defeated Zimbabwe by six-wickets to ensure they finished the group stages unbeaten. Earlier, Brendan Taylor had hit an impressive 138 in his final match for Zimbabwe before moving to England to play for county side Nottinghamshire as a Kolpak player. However, the 29-year-old was denied a fairytale ending by Raina and MS Dohni as the reigning champions were pushed hard to ensure they kept up their winning momentum. Suresh Raina of India celebrates after scoring a century during India's victory against Zimbabwe on Saturday . Raina waves his bat in celebration as captain MS Dhoni congratulates his team-mate . Despite being an emotional day for Taylor, who had spoken about his sadness at leaving the international stage, he became the first Zimbabwean player ever to hit back-to-back World Cup centuries. And, on a record-breaking day Taylor passed his mentor Alistair Campbell for the most one-day international hundreds scored with his eighth ton. For India, they passed their first real test as they stretched their World Cup winning streak to 10 – behind only Australia on 25. On a green wicket, batting first always seemed like the ideal option but having won the toss Dhoni said he wanted his side to be tested and face a chase, so chose to bowl. It seemed unlikely that Dhoni was going to be granted his wish as his consistently impressive trio of fast bowlers, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma, each took an early wicket to reduce Zimbabwe to 33-3. Plenty of supporters were still finding their way into Eden Park when a fuller Yadav delivery caught the outside edge of Hamilton Masakadza’s bat (2) and Dohni took a low catch behind the stumps. Raina's unbeaten 110 earned him the Player of the Match trophy as India kept up 100 per cent record . Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor hit an impressive 138 in his final international match . Six balls later Chamu Chibhabha (7) followed his fellow opener back into the hut as he sent a thick edge into the hand of Shihkar Dhawan in the slips off the bowling of Shami. And when Solomon Mire was caught behind off Mohit for a turgid nine from 22-balls, Zimbabwe looked to be buckling against the world champions. However, it arguably brought Zimbabwe’s two best batsmen, Taylor and Sean Williams, to the crease and together they rebuilt their side’s innings. The pair shared a 93-run fourth wicket partnership as both batsman battled against each other to reach their half-centuries first, with the chase won by captain Taylor. Williams (50) followed suit the very next ball but then fell tamely has he attempted to whack the ball hard past bowler Ravichandran Ashwin only to be caught sharply by the spinner. Taylor though wasn’t willing to leave the international stage without a personal milestone and he found a willing partner in Craig Ervine to help him to his ton. Taylor takes his helmet off as he celebrates his second successive century . As the wicketkeeper-batsman passed 73 he became the highest Zimbabwean run-maker in a World Cup, surpassing Neil Johnson’s 367 in 1999, finally finishing with 405 runs for the campaign. And, after reaching the all-important three figures Taylor exploded, smashing one Ravindra Jadeja over for 24 runs. However, he departed in the next over as he lofted the ball to Dhawan at mid-off off Mohit for an impressive 138 off 110 balls. Congratulated by many of the Indian players, Taylor walked off to a standing ovation by the 30,000 strong crowd. Zimbabwe’s progress could easily have been stunted by their loss of regular wickets but their deep batting line-up continued to impress as they regularly cleared the ropes. India’s spinners, Ashwin and Jadeja, who were seen pre-World Cup as their main bowling threat, disappeared for a collective 1-146 from their 20 overs. Taylor is congratulated by India batsman Raina - who would go on to win the match for the champions . A quick-fire 28 from Sikandar Raza helped propel Zimbabwe to 287 all out but India’s supposedly weak bowling line-up bowled out their sixth side in six matches. Buoyed by Taylor’s exceptional innings Zimbabwe strode confidently out on to the field after the innings break. Despite Tinashe Panyangara’s first over going for nine runs India struggled to get the ball away early on. The pressure of tight bowling and a build-up of dot balls saw the dangerous Rohit Sharma (16) attempt to drive a length ball from the right-arm bowler only to be caught by a back-pedaling Raza at cover. Dhawan departed just four balls later as Panyangara’s shattered his stumps to silence the shocked crowd, to give the bowler a double-wicket maiden. Zimbabwe have conceded on average just 3.25 runs in the first powerplay, the lowest of all 14 teams, and India struggled to 35-2 at the end of 10 overs. Dhoni embraces century-scorer Raina as India made it 10 wins in a row in World Cup matches . With their side struggling Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane shared a 50-run partnership before the latter was run-out as he attempted to test fielder at cover and failed. Zimbabwe were all over India and reduced them 92-4 as Kohli attempted to sweep Raza round the corner and was bowled for 38. With the run-rate creeping up Raina and Dohni continued to find it hard to get the ball away but the turning point in match came when Raina was dropped by Hamilton Masakadza on 47. It was a hugely costly error as the-28-year-old went on to score his hundred off just 94 balls, having hit seven fours and four sixes. And, for the ninth one-day international match of his career Dhoni (77 not out) ended the match by sending the ball clear past the ropes for six with eight balls remaining. Admittedly it was a disappointing end for Zimbabwe, who’s future once again looks unclear with the lost of one of their greatest players, whilst India’s march towards a second consecutive World Cup title continues at pace. +By the time referee Wayne Barnes blew the final whistle, large chunks of the world-record crowd had long since drifted away into the north London night. Such was Saracens’ dominance of a Harlequins team who have completely lost their way, even the dubious lure of a Mexican wave had lost its appeal for the ‘away’ fans. Those left inside did muster a roar when Billy Vunipola dotted down for a deserved try with two minutes remaining, but Quins had been so inept for large parts of this game that a five-try victory felt slightly hollow. Saracens' Chris Wyles (left) manages to go over the line despite a last ditch tackle from Marland Yarde (right) Saracens' Chris Hodgson (centre) releases the ball as Harlequins' Joe Marler (left) close him down . Pop singer Pixie Lott performs at half-time in front of the record breaking 84,068 crowd at Wembley Stadium . The 24-year-old performs for the Saracens and Harlequins supporters during the Aviva premiership match . Saracens won’t care a jot. They were tack sharp for much of the game, physical and confrontational when they needed to be with a pack more than willing to mix it and a back line full of invention. It was just a shame the 84,068 crowd, many of them no doubt watching their first game of professional rugby, witnessed such a no-contest. Saracens have won all but one of their last 14 matches against their London rivals and on this evidence it will be a long time before they are troubled again. Quins, eighth in the Aviva Premiership table and with next to no chance of European qualification, really were that bad. Their returning England contingent of Chris Robshaw, Joe Marler and Nick Easter were unable to make any notable impact up front, while behind the scrum they were devoid of ideas. The world record breaking 84,068 attendance for a club rugby match is revealed on the Wembley scoreboard . Harlequins' Danny Care chips the ball forward during his side's 42-14 defeat by Saracens at Wembley . Saracens' Wyles and Harlequins' Ross Chisholm both try to catch the high ball during the premiership match . They missed the cutting edge of their concussed full back Mike Brown and scrum-half Danny Care is badly short of confidence after being dropped by England last autumn. The same cannot be said of Saracens, who consolidated their second spot in the table with a bonus-point win that saw winger Chris Ashton score an excellent brace. USA centre Chris Wyles excelled at 12 alongside the equally impressive Marcelo Bosch. With Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt and Schalk Brits set to return from injury soon, Saracens appear to be coming good at the right time. ‘The second 20 minutes of the first half was as good as we’ve been all season,’ said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall. ‘We counter attacked really well and looked dangerous on the ball. We went off the boil in the next 20 minutes but put a lot of pressure on towards the end.’ Saracens' Billy Vunipola (right) recovers the ball and dives over the line to score his team's fifth and final try . Wyles (left) scored two tries in Saracens stunning 42-14 victory over Harlequins at Wembley on Saturday . Harlequins' Care (centre) breaks free of a late tackle from Saracens' Neil de Kock (bottom) on Saturday . The only blot on Ashton’s copybook was the yellow card shown for a tip tackle on Matt Hopper with eight minutes to play. No matter. Saracens still scored two tries with the wing off the field. ‘It’s incredibly frustrating,’ said Quins director of rugby Conor O’Shea. ‘We’re just too easy to knock off. It’s been a really difficult couple of months. You can see that by how easily we get knocked off our stride, mentally. When you are used to success it hurts even more.’ It could all have been so different for Quins. On the same Wembley pitch where Harry Kane had taken just 78 seconds to open his international account for England the night before, young Quins flanker Jack Clifford dotted down 28 seconds into this contest after charging down Neil de Kock’s clearance. It proved to be as good as it would get for Quins as Wyles and Ashton scored superbly worked first-half tries. Quins lost prop Kyle Sinckler with a knee injury sustained courtesy of a dubious tackle by flanker Jacques Burger. Ashton’s 52nd-minute try put Saracens out of sight before the two more late tries put deserved gloss on the score. They will travel to face Racing Metro in the last eight of Europe next Sunday full of belief. Harlequins' Nick Evans (right) drives forward with the ball past the challenge of Alistair Hargreaves (left) Care pounces on the loose ball as Saracens' David Strrettle (right) gives chase at Wembley on Saturday . Harlequins' Chris Robshaw (right) charges forward with the ball and is tackled by Saracens' George Kruis . Saracens' Jackson Wray (centre) is tackled by Harlequins' George Robson (left) and Jack Clifford (right) +A New South Wales company has been forced to settle a tab of more than $10,000 with the ACCC, after it advertised '100 per cent Aussie' beer that was actually made in China. The Independent Liquor Group was hit with an infringement notice by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and had to pay the fine of $10,200 after its green and gold clad beer was falsely advertised. Independent Liquor Group was fined for advertising this Chinese brewed beer as 'Aussie beer' 'Aussie Beer' labelling from March 2014 to August 2014 featured a map of Australia with '100 per cent owned' inside it, and the statement 'Australia's finest malt'. However, contrary to what its packaging suggested, the beer is made in China. The ACCC dished out the penalty in accordance with the Australian Consumer Law. 'Country of origin representations, particularly those designed to grab the eye of the consumer by using well known symbols, colours, or slogans, must be truthful,' ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said. The ACCC fined the New South Wales company $10,200, in accordance with Australian Consumer Law . 'Consumers will often place a premium on the provenance of a product, but are unable to check the accuracy of those claims. This is particularly the case with Australian made products which encourage consumers to support local industries. 'Consumers are entitled to expect that prominent representations made on packaging are accurate without having to check for disclosures in the fine print.' +If Uxizandre’s Ryanair Chase success on Thursday is to be AP McCoy’s last Festival win - the 31st of his career - it will stick long in the memory. But, typically, at least for the time being, it will be confined to the recesses of the McCoy memory bank as he fixes his thoughts on the prospect of a fairy-tale end to his Cheltenham career on Friday afternoon. Over breakfast, he might afford himself a smile - of contentment not satisfaction, you don’t win 19 championships being satisfied - as he dares to dream what might be when his Betfred Gold Cup mount, Carlingford Lough, begins his bid for glory shortly after 3.20pm. One thing is certain, the mood will be better at the McCoy table than it was 24 hours earlier. AP McCoy rides Uxizandre to victory in Thursday’s Ryanair Chase for his 31st Cheltenham Festival win . McCoy celebrates with the trophy after his first Festival win of 2015 with his Peadar McCoy by his side . Wife Chanelle admitted the atmosphere had been ‘melancholy’ after two fruitless days amid, no doubt, a creeping fear that things were not going her husband’s way for his last performances on the greatest of jump racing stages. McCoy's wife Chanelle admitted a ‘melancholy’ had come over AP after two winless days but that he was delighted to break his duck on the 16-1 shot . All that changed when 16-1 shot Uxizandre, not even the first string of his trainer Alan King in the Ryanair Chase but transformed by the fitting of a visor, galloped out in front and never looked like being caught as he passed the finishing line five lengths clear of Ma Filleule. Even the crowd seemed stunned at first. The roar took time to grow but by the time McCoy had returned to the winners’ enclosure, they were raising three cheers. After being joined on the winner’s podium by Chanelle, his father Peadar and boss JP McManus, McCoy said: ‘Cheltenham is a very special place. It is where every jockey wants to win and I am no different. These are the days I am going to miss that’s for sure. ‘I had lots of rides coming into the week but did not have any real bankers. ‘You have to keep going race after race and hope one of them wins. That is how my life has normally been, so there is no point changing this week. ‘I was all right. You can try your best to make them go faster but you need the horse — and this horse is very well. ‘I was a bit worried he would not have the stamina to see it out but he got a lot of the others in trouble trying to keep up with him.’ McManus, his ally for a decade, looked as if he derived just as much satisfaction at being able to supply one last winner for his retained jockey as he does landing one of his legendary punts. He said: ‘It is great to have a man like AP on your side. I am just so happy he has had a winner at his last Festival and that we provided it for him makes it even better. JP McManus, AP's ally for a decade, was as delighted for his jockey as he was for his own win . JP said: 'I am so happy he has had a winner at his last Festival ... that we provided it for him makes it better' ‘I remember years ago Christy Roche rang me and said ‘‘Have you seen this young lad ride? He should be handicapped, not the horses’’. ‘I respect AP and love everything he does on and off the racecourse.’ McCoy will wear the green and gold McManus colours on John Kiely-trained Carlingford Lough, as well as his three other four rides on his last day as a jockey at the Festival — Hargam, Princely Conn and Ned Buntline in the concluding Grand Annual Chase which carries his own name. McManus has not ruled out the dream Gold Cup ending . He said: ‘Carlingford Lough has a chance in a very open race. I was hoping he might be good enough. ‘He had a few problems earlier in the season but nothing serious. He improved from the run in the Lexus Chase at Christmas and has a good 10-1 chance of winning in an open Gold Cup.’ There are definitely plenty of dangers — about 17 of them — as few can be ruled out. Defending champion Lord Windermere aims to win at his third consecutive Festival and provide his trainer, Jim Culloty, with a first win under rules since the week after last year’s Gold Cup. A win for last year’s fourth and the form horse of the race, favourite Silviniaco Conti, would also put his trainer Paul Nicholls, who additionally saddles Sam Winner, level with the late Tom Dreaper as a record five-time race winner. McCoy stands with Carlingford Lough after their win in the Hennessey Gold Cup at Leopardstown on February 8. He'll be riding the same mount in the Betfred Gold Cup on Friday shortly after 3.20pm . But his lack of course form is a worry and, the chaotic and close nature of last year’s finish means it is surely better to look at one of the younger first time runners; horses like Noel Meade’s Road To Riches, Oliver Sherwood’s Many Clouds and Jonjo O’Neill’s Holywell, who at one point looked like being McCoy’s mount. Also in that category is the Willie Mullins-trained Djakadam, behind whom there is growing confidence, and Carlingford Lough. But if McManus acknowledged he was unsure if his horse could supply the win everyone craves, he reckons he has found a way to replace his soon- to-retire jockey. ‘We’ve had him cloned,’ he joked. AP McCoy kisses the Gold Cup after his win on Syncronised in 2012 . 1995 BEECH ROAD (T Balding) 100-1 7th . 1996 BARTON BANK (D Nicholson) 16-1 4th . 1997 MR MULLIGAN (N Chance) 20-1 1st . 1998 CYBORGO (M Pipe) 10-1 Pulled Up . 1999 UNSINKABLE BOXER (M Pipe) 14-1 Pulled Up . 2000 GLORIA VICTIS (M Pipe) (13-2) Fell . 2001 No race (Foot and Mouth) 2002 SHOOTING LIGHT (M Pipe) 10-1 Pulled Up . 2003 YOU’RE GOODUN (M Pipe) 50-1 9th . 2004 THEREALBANDIT (M Pipe) 15-2 7th . 2005 THEREALBANDIT (M Pipe) 16-1 9th . 2006 IRIS’S GIFT (J O’Neill) 16-1 Pulled Up . 2007 EXOTIC DANCER (J O’Neill) 9-2 2nd . 2008 EXOTIC DANCER (J O’Neill) 17-2 5th . 2009 EXOTIC DANCER (J O’Neill) 8-1 3rd . 2010 DENMAN (P Nicholls) 4-1 2nd . 2011 KEMPES (W Mullins) 9-1 Pulled Up . 2012 SYNCHRONISED (J O’Neill) 8-1 1st . 2013 SIR DES CHAMPS (W Mullins) 4-1 2nd . 2014 TRIOLO D’Alene ( Henderson) 10-1 10th . +Outnumbered but definitely not outgunned. Trainer Mark Bradstock should adopt it as his stable motto. The Oxfordshire trainer will certainly be hoping that is the case when Coneygree bids to become the first novice to win the £550,000 Betfred Gold Cup since Captain Christy in 1974. Talk of such lofty ambition started after Bradstock and his assistant trainer wife, Sara, saw Coneygree stroll home by 40 lengths in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day in only his second steeplechase. Oxfordshire trainer Mark Bradstock's Coneygree will b out to make history in the Betfred Gold Cup on Friday . Coneygree is running to be the first novice to win the £550,000 Betfred Gold Cup since Captain Christy in 1974 . Proof the performance was not a fluke came when Coneygree slammed Hennessy Gold Cup runner-up Houblon Des Obeaux by seven lengths in Newbury’s Denman Chase on February 7. Part of the credit for Coneygree’s performances has been shared with son Alfie. He is pursuing a showjumping career under the guidance of former international Graham Fletcher and regularly tutors Coneygree over the poles. Bradstock, who spent 12 years as assistant to legendary trainer Fulke Walwyn, said: ‘Coneygree’s strength is an incredibly high cruising speed and being able to efficiently jump at that speed, when most can’t. 'For a small stable like us to even have a runner at the Festival is fantastic, let alone a fancied one. ‘But I never feel like an underdog. We can put it up the bigger stables, even with their £250,000 horses, as 99 per cent of our horses are front-runners — they are fit and know how to jump.’ Coneygree won the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day in just his second steeplechase . Coneygree is under the direction of Mark, assistant trainer wife, Sara, and showjumping jockey son Alfie . +Need some inspiration deciding who to back at Cheltenham? Sportsmail's Marcus Townend and Peter Scudamore reveal their favourites... Peter Scudamore - Eight-time champion jockey and rider of 13 Festival winners . HARGAM (Triumph Hurdle, 1.30) No secret that this is regarded as one of AP McCoy’s best chances of the week. He was recruited from France, where he showed decent form on the Flat, and although he was beaten by a good rival on his hurdling debut, has won his two races since. Last time out he slammed Starchitect, who ran a commendable fourth in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle here on Tuesday. BEST ODDS: 6-1 . AP McCoy and Hargam won the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham in December . HOLYWELL (Gold Cup, 3.20) Rain would admittedly diminish confidence in Jonjo O’Neill’s runner but he has all the credentials to run really well. He has won at the past two Festivals, peaks at this time of year and has been re-fitted with the blinkers which seem to bring out the best in him. His last time out victory at Kelso indicated the spark had been rekindled in this gelding by his shrewd trainer after a couple of moderate efforts. BEST ODDS: 9-1 . CURRENT EVENT (Foxhunters’ Chase, 4.0) Owned, but not trained, by Paul Nicholls and prepared for this race by one of his long-time staff, Rose Loxton. Had won his previous seven point-to-points before being taken up to Musselburgh where he sauntered home in a Hunter Chase. Paul Nicholls is pictured with Sir Alex Ferguson and owns Current Event . BEST ODDS: 9-1 . NEXT SENSATION (Grand Annual Chase, 5.15) Fourth in this race last year after trying to make all the running and only being overhauled after the last fence. He races off a similar handicap mark and, while his form this season has been a touch below par, he has had a breathing operation since his last run. BEST ODDS: 10-1 . CAPTAIN HEATH - Marcus Townend on the best each-way bets . KAREZAK (Triumph Hurdle, 1.30) Alan King’s entry has been locking horns with the best juvenile hurdlers all season and, while a sequence of four second places might seem off-putting, he does not lack heart. Fast pace should play to his strengths and could hit the frame. BEST ODDS: 20-1 . Karezak (pictured right) is a decent each way bet in the opener on the Festival's final day . TEA FOR TWO (Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, 2.40) Romped home in January’s Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton and subsequently beaten at Ascot. But those races were at a shorter distance and the mount of Lizzie Kelly shapes as if he will improve for the greater stamina test. BEST ODDS: 33-1 . THE GIANT BOLSTER (Gold Cup, 3.20) Has become a regular in this race having finished second, fourth and third in the last three runnings. Form this season has been unspectacular but this has been the day local trainer David Bridgwater has trained him for all season. Hard to see him winning but easier to see him in the places under regular jockey Tom Scudamore. BEST ODDS: 33-1 . HOTSPOTS . Work Whisper: One Last Dream (Wolverhampton, 5.45) Weighting Game: That’s The Deal (Fakenham, 2.55). Down 22lb from last winning mark. Burnt Fingers: Revolutionist (Lingfield, 4.25) +It has proved somewhat of a mixed week for trainer Nicky Henderson with some success and a few near misses, but PEACE AND CO (Cheltenham, 1.30) has looked a class act since joining the Lambourn maestro and is taken to land the JCB Triumph Hurdle. Henderson, who had his first winner of the Festival when Call The Cops won the Pertemps Network Hurdle, has a strong hand in the opener with Top Notch and the classy Hargam providing terrific back-up artillery for his main gun. They should both run huge races, with the latter especially dangerous given the way he travels and jumps. However, Peace And Co looked to have an extra gear in reserve on his British debut at Doncaster and I have rarely seen a juvenile hurdle with such enthusiasm and precision. Peace and Co looks a solid bet to land the JCB Triumph Hurdle . Nicky Henderson also has Top Notch and the classy Hargam running in the opener . Everything went wrong for the son of Falco on trials day as a small field and sluggish pace led to him pulling hard and over-racing early on, but he still possessed the quality to score readily and the likelihood of a stronger gallop is sure to suit today. The Willie Mullins trio of Dicosimo, Kalkir and Petite Parisienne all look to have viable credentials with preference for the latter, who was a smooth winner of the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown, one of the chief trials for his race. LE MERCUREY (Cheltenham, 4.40) is another French import who arrived on these shores with a big reputation and, although he has been a slower burner than most, he could be ready to strike. Paul Nicholls has been highly competitive in the week’s hurdle events and his five-year-old shaped with plenty of promise in an Ascot handicap on his latest start when staying on nicely late on behind Baradari. Some will think he has plenty of weight, but his handler looks to have found a race where exciting conditional Sean Bowen can be utilised fully, and Nicholls won this event two years ago with Salubrious before Caid Du Berlais was third last year. Paul Nicholls stands alongside Sir Alex Ferguson and the trainer can look for more success . Le Mercurey is pictured at Nicholls' Manor Farm Stables  in Ditcheat . The progressive Roi Des Francs, winner of a Grade Three Hurdle at Clonmel last time, looks dangerously well treated and rates as the chief danger, while course winner Barizan could be overpriced, given his stable switch and change of headgear. Alan King pulled a rabbit from the hat with AP McCoy’s 16-1 mount Uxizandre in the Ryanair Chase and GRUMETI (Cheltenham, nap, 5.15) looks a sporting bet to land the finale. Like Uxizandre, King reaches for the first-time headgear for his seven-year-old, who was progressing nicely over fences until he stepped up in trip for a Sandown Grade One last time and found it all too much. His previous efforts, including behind Vibrato Valtat in a Warwick novice chase, read pretty well and he won with plenty in hand at Plumpton on his penultimate start, a victory which qualifies the selection for a bonus if he can complete the double today. Ned Buntline is sure to have plenty of supporters behind his rider and he should again run well given he was only beaten a length in the race last year, while it would be no surprise to see a resurgent Next Sensation, fourth 12 months ago, also acquit himself well. +Bookmakers predict a £10million betting avalanche on AP McCoy for his final five Cheltenham Festival rides on Friday afternoon. The soon-to-retire 19-time champion struck for the first time at this meeting on Uxizandre in Thursday's Ryanair Chase and will be on board Irish-trained 10-1 shot Carlingford Lough on Friday as he tries to win the £550,000 Gold Cup for a third time. He also has fancied rides on Hargam in the Triumph Hurdle opener and Ned Buntline in the concluding Grand Annual Chase, which has been named in his honour. AP McCoy gets a kiss from his wife Chanelle after winning the third race of the third day of the Festival . A message on the giant screen pays tribute to McCoy who has just one day of his final Festival left . McCoy’s wife, Chanelle, had admitted that two unsuccessful days had left her soon-to-retire husband in a downbeat mood. But after joining him on the winner’s podium, she said: ‘Inside he will be feeling elated. He is not the most animated at the best of times and he was slightly melancholy leaving the house this morning. This will absolutely mean the world to him. I’ll have a happy husband.’ Uxizandre led from start to finish as his rivals failed to catch him during the Ryanair Chase on day three . McCoy's success has led to an avalanche of support for the jockey with the bookies . McCoy’s 31st Festival success sets him up for his 20th and final ride in the £550,000 Gold Cup today on Carlingford Lough, owned, like Uxizandre, by his boss JP McManus. He has four other rides, including favourite Ned Buntline in the concluding AP McCoy Grand Annual Chase. +The charity race at Cheltenham is supposed to be all about the taking part - except when serial winners Sir Alex Ferguson and multi-champion trainer Paul Nicholls are involved. Co-owner Fergie and Nicholls were so keen for the Ditcheat trainer’s head lad Clifford Baker to ride the winner that his fancied mount Rainy City, who cost £100,000, had exploited the grey areas of eligibility for the last race on the Festival card yesterday. The regulations, confirmed by a Cheltenham spokeswoman, state that horses in the line-up should all have been given an average BHA rating to ensure a competitive race. Sir Alex Ferguson (right) and Paul Nicholls (left) were at Cheltenham to watch Rainy City finish fifth . Yet Rainy City, who is highly thought of in the Nicholls yard, had no BHA rating, and rival jockeys were concerned that Fergie’s horse was far superior to the rest of the field. The get-out clause buried in the fine print was that any horse without a rating could be handicapped by Cheltenham at their discretion. In the event, Rainy City finished an outpaced fifth, having led for most of the 1m 5f. Nicholls said: ‘Of course we wanted to win. But it’s a charity race and we entered to give Clifford a ride.’ Arena Racing Company, who own racecourses that stage 40 per cent of UK fixtures, still chose to hold their annual drinks party during Cheltenham, even though it is not one of their tracks. ARC are owned by the Reuben brothers, the billionaire property developers who have caused serious upset by closing down popular racecourse Hereford and moving its meetings to the over-raced Chepstow and Uttoxeter tracks. Hereford is now empty most of the time as part of a long-term property play between the local council and the Reuben brothers, who are never seen at the races. Arena Racing Company were among many companies hosting their annual drinks at Cheltenham . It doesn’t say much for the commitment to developing homegrown cricket talent that England selector Mike Newell, in his other role as Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, has signed Zimbabwe batsman Brendan Taylor as a Kolpak player. The 29-year-old has played 23 Tests and 166 ODIs. The move follows another England selector, Middlesex boss Angus Fraser, bringing in New Zealander James Franklin on an Irish passport. Minister for Sport Helen Grant is a guest of the British Horseracing Authority and Jockey Club at Cheltenham today. But Grant, a modest drinker, is unlikely to embrace the liquid Festival hospitality as heartily as one of her predecessors did last year. The former minister was barely able to walk through the car parks after the meeting. Minister for Sport Helen Grant, a modest drinker, is unlikely to end up like a predecessor at Cheltenham . LTA back in fat cat mode . LTA chief executive Michael Downey has yet to justify an annual salary and benefits package of £434,000 plus a massive one-off relocation payment of £190,000. Nor did the Canadian do his image much good by wearing a GB tracksuit top during last weekend’s Davis Cup triumph over the USA in Glasgow — a cardinal sin for a sports administrator. LTA chairman David Gregson had said Downey would receive a £300,000 salary on his appointment but it seems the excesses of the Roger Draper regime are already in danger of being repeated. LTA chief executive Michael Downey was not his usual suited self in Glasgow - he wore a GB tracksuit top . There will be only five more racing days after Saturday before Clare Balding turns her back on presenting the sport following Royal Ascot. But the Balding effect has not boosted Channel 4’s viewing figures — quite the reverse. The Cheltenham peak of 996,000 was down again on Wednesday, year on year, by 20,000. And the last time Cheltenham enjoyed four consecutive days of 1m-plus ratings was pre-Balding in 2012, when Highflyer produced the coverage and John McCririck, John Francome and Derek Thompson were all still on board. Clare Balding arrives at Cheltenham Festival, but her presence has not helped viewing figures . Only Cheltenham could consider £30,000 for two season tickets in the Cheltenham Club good value. However, 100 of the 300 memberships available for the grand top-floor facility in the new £45million grandstand, which are being sold on a minimum three-year basis, have already been bought. And that’s where AP McCoy will be found at Cheltenham next year, having been signed up as the Club ambassador. AP McCoy will be among those in the Cheltenham Club next year, having signed up to be its ambassador . +Five offers have been made for an interest in either Birmingham or parent company Birmingham International Holdings Limited, receivers have confirmed. Ernst & Young, who are in effective control of BIHL, are assessing the bids in relation to the Sky Bet Championship club or its parent company. A statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange read: 'The receivers are currently exploring all strategic options, including a number of offers from parties expressing an interest in the company and/or Birmingham City Plc.' Birmingham are the subject of five offers from parties expressing an interest . Gary Rowett has overseen Birmingham reaching 15th in the Championship this season . Birmingham have assured the Football League they are not in any financial danger . 'Up to 30 March 2015 the receivers have received five indicative non-binding offers from independent third parties in relation to possible acquisition of an interest in the company and/or Birmingham City Plc. 'As at the date of this announcement, no formal agreement in relation to the Indicative non-binding offers has been entered into and the Indicative non-binding offers may or may not proceed and/or lead to any transaction in relation to the disposal of any part of the group's interests.' Ernst & Young were asked to take control of BIHL in February to help stop the infighting between the board and this month started investigating the affairs of the company. Employees Stephen Lui and David Yen Ching Wai were appointed chairman and chief executive respectively. Carson Yeung (centre), the former Birmingham owner, is currently serving six years in prison . Birmingham will be back in action in the Championship on Friday when they play Rotherham . Peter Pannu, Birmingham's former acting chairman, was removed from the BIHL board along with Chan Shun Wah and seven other directors resigned. Carson Yeung, Blues' former owner who bought the club in 2009, is currently serving six years in prison for money laundering. The Football League have received assurances the club are in no financial danger and Birmingham are 15th in the Sky Bet Championship under Gary Rowett, ahead of Friday's visit of Rotherham. +Simon McClaren-Tosh, right, is accused of sexually assaulting five girls as young as eight at his home in Berkshire, pictured with a young polo player whose face has been obscured to protect his identity . A former top polo player was accused yesterday of sexually abusing five girls aged eight and nine. Simon McLaren-Tosh allegedly filmed himself molesting his young victims at his polo centre home last year. McLaren-Tosh, 49, a former professional player who sits on the game’s global ruling body, the Hurlingham Polo Association, was charged on Sunday and was remanded in custody when he appeared in court yesterday. In a case that will rock the polo world, police swooped on the married father of two after receiving a tip-off from police in Russia. Officers from Thames Valley Police raided his home, seizing his phones and computers, Slough Magistrates’ Court in Berkshire was told yesterday. Tina Flannery, prosecuting, alleged: ‘The sexual assaults were committed against young children aged eight years old. ‘The assaults were also photographed by him, he filmed himself committing the offences. There is a huge breach of trust.’ McLaren-Tosh, a former member of the Royal Berkshire Polo Club, is accused of five charges of sexual assault on a child under 13. The offences are alleged to have happened on two occasions between April and August last year. Wearing a navy blue fleece jumper, dark jeans and glasses, blond-haired McLaren-Tosh spoke only to confirm his name and deny all five counts when he stood in the dock yesterday. Presiding magistrate Anne Brown remanded him in custody to appear before a judge at Reading Crown Court for a preliminary hearing next month. McLaren-Tosh’s family home is at a polo centre and farm in the wealthy village of Maidens Green, near Warfield, Berkshire. He owns two businesses: Livery and Polo Management, which is based at his family home; Berkshire Classic Cars, which buys and sells collectable cars. The court heard that since the allegations emerged he has moved out of the family home, which he shared with his wife Louise and two children, and moved in with his parents at their farm in Devon. McLaren-Tosh was arrested by Thames Valley Police after returning from a holiday to France last month and was then released on bail. He was re-arrested and questioned by police on Sunday and then charged. McLaren-Tosh plays off a polo handicap of two and now umpires matches. In 2000, when he was playing professionally, he was part of a team that won the Roehampton Trophy, the oldest polo trophy in the UK. McLaren-Tosh’s family home and business is set in huge grounds in Maidens Green. Yesterday a tractor and horse box could be spotted through the hedge but there were no staff or horses in the deserted grounds. Slough Magistrates' Court heard that Thames Valley Police launched an investigation into McLaren-Tosh, pictured, after they received information from Russian police about indecent images . Slough Magistrates' Court heard that McLaren-Tosh, right, had moved out of the family home he shared with his wife Louise, left, and their two young children and moved in with his parents in Devon . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Cologne forward Anthony Ujah has apologised for grabbing the club mascot -- a goat -- by the horns during celebrations in their 4-2 Bundesliga victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. After scoring to secure a 4-1 lead in the 81st minute, the Nigerian ran to the side of the pitch where the goat is positioned during home games, grabbed the animal named Hennes VIII by the horns and attempted to drag it onto the pitch. The animal's handler was initially taken by surprise but managed to quickly recover and pull the goat back before the forward returned to the pitch as Cologne celebrated their first home win since October. Cologne's Nigerian forward Anthony Ujah celebrates his goal by man handling a goat against Frankfurt . The 24-year-old African striker ran over to the touchline to pull the goat by the horns during the match . The goats' handlers try to stop the Nigerian international from pulling the goat on to the football pitch . 'Perfect Sunday. Sorry Hennes. I was a bit too rough on him,' Ujah wrote on Twitter and Facebook while also posting a photo of him pulling the goat. The club also saw the humorous side of the celebrations. 'Hennes is used to such stuff. He may have a bit of a sore neck,' sports director Joerg Schmadtke told reporters. The striker later celebrated on his own in a far more normal way following his goal against Frankfurt . +An Air Canada plane made an abrupt landing and left the runway at the Halifax airport in bad weather, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, authorities said early Sunday. The airline said all passengers with Flight AC624 from Toronto left the plane and went to the terminal. Halifax Airport said there were no injuries reported. An Air Canada plane went off the runway at the Halifax airport early Sunday (file photo above) The airline said a preliminary count indicated 132 passengers and five crew members. Flight tracking service FlightAware showed that the plane is an AirbusA320, which has typical seating for 150. Power at the airport was briefly knocked out, but Nova Scotia Power said they had since restored it. The cause of the outage was not yet clear. The Halifax region is currently under a snowfall warning, with an Environment Canada alert saying, 'Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.' Another flight tracking site, Flightradar24, listed several cancelled flights at the airport Sunday morning. +Bournemouth have added extra firepower to their promotion effort with the loan signing of Kenwyne Jones from Cardiff City. Prominent sources at Bournemouth and Cardiff told Sportsmail on Thursday that the deal will be completed subject to international clearance. The move will infuriate elements of the Cardiff support, who have seen their squad decimated since relegation as Russell Slade seeks to slash their wage bill. Cardiff City striker Kenwyne Jones will join Championship promotion-chasers Bournemouth on loan . Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has moved to bolster his strike force as they chase promotion . Jones pictured celebrating a goal for Stoke City in a Europa League fixture with Maccabi Tel Aviv . Jones is the club’s top earner on a salary understood to be in excess of £30,000 a week, but in January Slade insisted he wanted to keep the 30-year-old, saying: ‘He is our leading scorer. I’ve had assurances. At this stage there is no kind of mandate to lose Kenwyne Jones at all.’ Jones has scored 13 goals for City this season but, assuming the move goes through ahead of Thursday’s loan deadline, he will join the Championship leaders. +New York City have signed Manchester City goalkeeper Eirik Johansen on a permanent deal after impressing during pre-season. The 22-year-old is a product of the Premier League champions' academy - having joined in August 2008 before signing a professional contract at the Etihad Stadium in 2012. Johansen, a Norway Under 21 international, came on as a second half substitute in two matches for New York City during pre-season - first against Brondby and then in a Carolina Challenge Cup clash against Houston Dynamo. New York City announced the signing of Manchester City goalkeeper Eirik Johansen on Tuesday . 'I had a great experience working with squad and coaches during the pre-season and I'm excited to re-join the team on permanent basis,' Johansen told the New York City's official website on Tuesday. 'The quality of the training really impressed me, as did the way the team came together in such a short period of time.' New York head coach Jason Kreis believes the signing of Johansen merely strengthens their options in the goalkeeping department. The 22-year-old (pictured in 2011) joins the MLS outfit after impressing during their pre-season . 'We had a good look at Eirik over the course of the pre-season, and he adapted well to the team and to our style of play,' he added. 'It's always good to have strong competition for places in the team, and Eirik will add to an already strong group of goalkeepers vying for game time. 'It's a long season and guys will get their opportunities for various reasons.' Johansen will be linking up with Frank Lampard once more when the latter's loan at Manchester City expires this season. The former England international has been using the international break to admire the scenery of New York as he prepares for his highly anticipated move to the city's football team and Major League Soccer on July 1. The attacking midfielder will join up with New York City after the Premier League season finishes and he has been taking time to get used to his new home city while the club season pauses for Euro 2016 qualifiers and international friendlies. On Monday, the 36-year-old uploaded a picture to his Facebook account posing with the city providing a spectacular backdrop after going for a jog alongside fiancee Christine Bleakley. Frank Lampard (left) uploaded a picture to his Facebook page with fiancee Christine Bleakley in New York . +Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski insists he wants to carry on playing in the Barclays Premier League despite being linked to Italian giants Roma. Poland international Fabianski joined Swansea from Arsenal on a free transfer last summer and has proved a fine acquisition in keeping 11 clean sheets to help the Welsh club into the top half of the league. Fabianski's fine form has apparently alerted Roma, who currently lie second in Serie A behind Juventus, but he says he is not bothered about transfer speculation surrounding him in the Italian media. Swansea and Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has played down talk of a move to Roma this summer . Fabianski concedes a late equaliser against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Sunday evening . 'My brother mentioned that this information (about interest from Roma) appeared in newspapers, but to be honest, I feel very good in the Premier League,' Fabianski told Polish paper Przeglad Sportowy. 'I know the language and culture. I think that the Premier League, despite the failure of English teams in European competitions this season, is still the most attractive place to play. 'That's why I'd rather not move anywhere.' Fabianski insists he is happy in the Premier League and does not want to move abroad this summer . Fabianski has played in the Premier League since leaving Legia Warsaw in 2007. He made 78 appearances in seven seasons at Arsenal and won an FA Cup winner's medal there last May when the Gunners beat Hull 3-2 in the Wembley final. The 29-year-old's form has also been noted by his country as he returned to the Poland team for their 1-1 draw away to the Republic of Ireland in Euro 2016 qualifying on Sunday. +Arsenal are understood to have made an opening offer for Palermo striker Paulo Dybala and are the player's preference should he move to the Premier League. Chelsea and Manchester City have also watched the 21-year-old Argentine striker in recent weeks but Juventus are still considered favourites. Palermo president Mauro Zamparini is keen to close a sale at £30 million. Paulo Dybala's first choice Premier League club is Arsenal, says Palermo president Mauro Zamparini . Arsenal are believed to have made an opening offer for the Argentine but Juventus are still favourites . Talking to Italian station Radio Marte, Zamparini said: 'Juventus and Arsenal have already made ​​the offerings, Pierpaolo Triulzi, the boy's agent, will be in Italy on Friday. 'My request is more than 40 million euros. Dybala would prefer to stay in Italy, but among the English clubs Arsenal is the first choice of the boy for the way he plays the team coached by (Arsene) Wenger.' Dybala has scored 12 goals in 27 games this season. Dybala's 12 goals in 27 games this season have also caught the attention of Chelsea and Manchester City . +What next for Javier Hernandez? Unwanted by Manchester United last summer, Real Madrid softened the blow by bringing the Mexican to the Bernabeu in an unlikely move that raised eyebrows across the football world. Could the Spanish giants see something that David Moyes, who had no appetite for Little Pea, could not? Apparently not. Javier Hernandez hasn't been able to make the most of his loan spell at Real Madrid . Hernandez has scored three times in 13 league appearances, coming off the bench on 12 occasions . The 26-year-old was back in the goals for Mexico during their 1-0 victory against Ecuador on Saturday . Hernandez has started just one league match for Carlo Ancelotti's side this season and on Monday night told Fox Sports that he, like fellow Old Trafford outcast Radamel Falcao, had cried at his situation. Still only 26, Hernandez is set to return to Manchester following the expiration of his year-long loan where he will face an uncertain future. The striker's contract with United expires in 2016 and the club will no doubt be looking to cash in. Hernandez made the revelation while on international duty. 'I've cried,' he said. Hernandez is set to return to Manchester following the expiration of his year-long loan in Madrid . 'I've been through everything. The feeling I have most of all over the last couple of years is one of frustration.' He added: 'You feel frustrated when you're part of a team, you do everything you can in training, collaborating and helping, then at the weekend the opportunities to play are minimal. 'I'm in a team but left out of what is important, which are the games.' Hernandez joined United from Guadalajara in 2010. He made 154 appearances in four years at the club, scoring 59 goals and rapidly became a cult hero among fans. But after falling out of favour under Moyes, he moved on when Louis van Gaal arrived. Things have not gone any better in Spain, where Hernandez has scored three times in 13 league appearances, coming off the bench on 12 occasions. While suffering under Moyes the player's agent, Eduardo Hernandez, claimed that six clubs were interested in securing his services, including one global superpower. Hernandez has made 154 appearances in four years at the club, scoring 59 goals . The Mexican frontman struggled to earn a regular first team place under former United boss David Moyes . That was borne out when Madrid swooped - although his stock will have fallen in a miserable 12 months. Will he get another chance at Old Trafford? That is unclear. While Hernandez's cause will no doubt have been helped by a poor season from Falcao, Van Gaal is understood to have lined up replacements and is set for another big-spending summer. Eduardo, if he has not already, might want to start ringing around those other six clubs. United manager Louis Van Gaal is understood to have lined up replacements for Hernandez . +Ryan LaFlare faces one of the toughest challenges of his unbeaten career as he takes on perhaps the most decorated Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner ever to grace the Octagon in Demian Maia. Maia proved against welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald last year that once he takes control from the top, there is no way out. But while New Yorker La Flare acknowledges the tough test that lies ahead, he believes he will hold the advantage in the striking and wrestling departments. Ryan LaFlare will be hoping to make it 12 from 12 when he takes on Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 62 . LaFlare kicks his opponent John Howard during their bout at UFC Fight Night 39 in Abu Dhabi . Veteran fighter Maia (left), pictured fighting Alexander Yakovlev, will pose a real threat to LaFlare's record . 'The guy is one of the top guys in the world, you know, of course he's good,' he told Sportsmail. 'I'm just a little better. I think that his striking is maybe a little more basic for me. 'I think I have a little bit more of an awkward, outside of the box approach to it and I think that that's something I can use. A lot of his wrestling is pretty basic and I've been wrestling my whole life, so that's another thing I can use.' Having been out of action for nearly a year after being struck down with a bone infection last August, Maia is reporting a clean bill of health ahead of the contest and the submission specialist is looking to impress his countrymen in Rio. 'I am very proud to be here in Brazil again,' he said. 'I'm very happy with the opportunity the UFC has given me, to fight a main event here in Rio de Janeiro, a city I love - especially returning from an injury. I am 100 per cent now, I feel much stronger than I felt in my past camps.' Maia poses duriong the UFC Fight Night weigh ins at Maracanazinho earlier on Friday . And when it comes to LaFlare's 11-0 record, which includes four consecutive wins under the UFC banner, Maia knows that he will have to be on top form to put the first blemish on the American's clean record. 'I will need to want to win the fight a lot more than he wants to,' he added. 'Because I know he has a lot of will power, but I need to have more than him.' Despite other fighters citing their reluctance to face off against a Brazilian opponent on their home turf, LaFlare believes that the crowd will offer Maia no advantage once the Octagon door shuts. 'I don't think it makes any difference to me. Once the Octagon doors are shut, it's just me and him in the cage,' he said. 'Some people could think differently but, for me, it's just me and him – just another day in the office.' The Brazilian Fight Night's co-main event packs a huge punch as well, as spectacular striker Erik Silva faces off against polarizing UFC veteran Josh Koscheck. Stepping in as a late replacement for Ben Saunders, this is a must-win situation for 'Kos' who is currently on four-fight losing streak in the UFC. Josh Koscheck, pictured here in 2012 against Johnny Hendricks, is looking to arrest his losing streak . Erik Silva (left) punches Dong Hyun Kim in their welterweight bout during the UFC Fight Night in 2013 . +England's friendly came with a Turin cloud for Manchester United as Chris Smalling was forced off before the end of the first-half. His injury curse seemed to strike again when he crumpled under a challenge and was unable to continue. Michael Carrick came on and Phil Jones curtailed his midfield experiment, which had not been going especially well, and dropped into defence. Chris Smalling had to be substituted against Italy on Tuesday night as the England defender felt unwell . Smalling crouches down on the ground before the half-time whistle at the Juventus Stadium in Turin . Smalling looked groggy as he trudged down the tunnel, but a spokesman from the Football Association said he was unwell, rather than injured. Manchester United will be hopeful he can be back in action quickly because his form has been excellent recently. Ahead of the eve of the game, Smalling agreed that he felt as if he was in the form of his career having won the trust of Louis van Gaal at Manchester United. 'The manager has shown a lot of faith in me and especially in these last couple of months,' said Smalling ahead of the game. 'I have stayed fit. The manager has chosen me and I am enjoying my football. Smalling is escorted off the pitch as Michael Carrick came on to replace the young centre back . The former Fulham defender has been in fine form for Manchester United in recent weeks . +Rugby World Cup organisers are urging fans trying to buy tickets to remain patient amid mounting anger about endless delays on the official website. There was huge demand when general sales resumed on Tuesday and by the evening, there were tickets still available for 17 matches in the tournament - being held in this country in September and October. All seats on sale at this stage for the opener, England v Fiji, had been snapped up, but two of Wales’ matches, against Fiji and Uruguay in Cardiff, remained up for grabs. Rugby World Cup organisers have asked fans to be patient amid anger about delays on the official website - sales for Millennium Stadium fixtures continued to lag behind other venues . The total number of tickets available when they first went on sale in September last year. Sales for fixtures at the Millennium Stadium continued to lag behind other venues, with a further three matches there still showing availability, although the remaining tickets for France v Ireland had been bought. The latest allocations for New Zealand v Argentina at Wembley and Scotland v South Africa at St James’ Park had also been rapidly claimed. However, it was a day when many supporters were left incensed by the process of trying to buy tickets online. With vast numbers attempting to the access the official website, delays of several hours and various technical glitches were reported by many of those trying to buy. Social media was awash with tales of angst as the system struggled to cope with the traffic. Recently departed chief executive Debbie Jevans had insisted before she resigned that the website would cope with demand. ‘The capacity we’ve built into the system means we are confident it will stand up,’ she predicted. But the experiences posted on Twitter by frustrated would-be spectators told a different story. Former head of the organising committee Debbie Jevans insisted the website would cope with demand . Tom Andrews tweeted: ‘I have been in online Queue for rugby world cup tickets for 8hrs 45 mins, unbelievable!!’ Rupert Garrett was equally fed up, posting: ‘Been queuing since 10am for Rugby World Cup tickets but still having to wait! Same happened with Olympics. Waste of time Disillusioned Joke!’ It was a similar story for ‘LittleMead’, who tweeted: ‘I know British people love to queue, but the Rugby World Cup tickets wheel of doom is something else! #whyarewewaiting’ Jamie Cleland added: ‘Seems to be a consistent pattern of ticket distribution for major sporting events. You’d think best practice would now be learned.’ An England Rugby 2015 spokeswoman insisted on Tuesday night that many thousands of tickets were sold yesterday but conceded that ‘there have been a lot of queues on the website and we are aware of that’. The official line is that those who managed to access the system often spent long periods browsing the options, which led to a delay for others in the queue. Having begun the day with around 70,000 tickets to sell, officials were attempting to keep potential spectators informed of progress via Twitter. But with an official re-sale programme now in operation, matches will not be declared official sell-outs as tickets may become available again at a later date. +This was the biggest night of Harry Kane’s extraordinary breakthrough season, so how did the England striker cope with the famed Italian brand of defending on his full debut? ALL SYSTEMS GO . Credit to Roy Hodgson for abandoning his original system in the 54th minute. It simply wasn’t working with Theo Walcott up front with Harry Kane. Ross Barkley replaced him and Wayne Rooney, a peripheral first half figure, was promoted up front to partner Kane. That bold and decisive move gave this more physical duo far more presence in their battle with Italy’s three-man defensive shield. Harry Kane grapples with Emiliano Moretti and Gigi Buffon as the England man makes a nuisance of himself . Kane has a dig from outside the area as England press for an equaliser in the second half . Kane and Spurs team-mate Andros Townsend beam at the final whistle after England's 1-1 draw in Turin . ‘We struggled physically in the second half,’ admitted Italy coach Antonio Conte. He was right. Kane had a couple of decent chances, one deflected away for a corner and another saved well by Gianluigi Buffon when he fed off the scraps from Andros Townsend’s shots. The beauty of this boy Kane is that he shows no fear, standing tall with the rest of this England team as they fought their way back into this game. At the final whistle, Buffon embraced the Tottenham striker before he walked towards the England fans to salute them for travelling to Turin for this friendy. He belongs in this company. ITALIAN MARKING . Prince Harry had Leonardo Bonucci marking him throughout the first half and he was so tight to the England forward it was skin-on-skin at times. Bonucci, along with his central defensive partner Giorgio Chiellini is part of a Juventus team who are top of Serie A and have only conceded 14 goals in the league. You don’t get much change out of these two, especially at international level. It is almost a criminal act for an Italian defender to concede a goal, no matter what the circumstances or the occasion. Kane is sandwiched by Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini as Italy defend a high ball . Chiellini keeps Kane under wraps as the England man struggles for space in the area . Antonio Conte’s team spend hours on the practice pitches going through defensive drills, denying opposition players space in the areas where they can be hurt the most. Rooney had warned this England team about the dirty tricks, but Italy have turned defending in to an art form over the years. They are masters of their trade. This is part of Kane’s education, working out ways to unsettle Italy’s three man defence and pulling at least one of them out of position to open up some space in central areas. STARVED OF SERVICE . Kane's biggest contribution to the first half was his knock-down for Walcott’s effort that rebounded to Wayne Rooney lurking just inside the penalty area. England’s captain hit the bar. That was better, getting the ball in to dangerous areas of the field for Kane to finally do some damage. Still, it was hard to get away from the statistics. Kane leaps for a corner but the ball is punched away but Italy's veteran keeper Gigi Buffon . Kane attempts to rob Alessandro Florenzi of possession during a tricky night in Turin . By the time the England team walked off the pitch at half-time in the Juventus Stadium, when they were losing 1-0, Kane had only touched the ball 15 times, Theo Walcott had 13. That is not nearly enough at this level. The alternative is to stay on the last man, as he did after the break by treading on the toes of Chiellini, his designated second half marker, and acting as a target man. The change gave England options and Kane’s effort at the start of the second half would have troubled Italy’s legendary keeper Gianluigi Buffon, but it was deflected wide for a corner. THAT WAS THE WEEK . This time last year Harry Kane had scored just two goals in his entire career for Spurs: one against Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League and another against Hull City in the Capital One Cup. This has been a momentous week in Harry Kane’s life and he returns to Tottenham’ s training ground to prepare for Sunday’s clash with Burnley as a full international. Kane trudges back to the half way line after England fell behind in the first-half . Kane has a go from outside the box but failed to get on the scoresheet against the wily Italians . After scoring 29 times for Tottenham this season, plus another on his debut for the national team against Lithuania at Wembley last Friday, he remains very much man of the moment. Even at 21 he looks like a man who can take it all in his stride and there is even the possibility that he will be named PFA player of the year or FWA footballer of the year in May. UNDER 21 DILEMMA . Gareth Southgate will hold more talks with the Tottenham forward, but there is pressure from within Wembley for Kane to commit to the Under 21 tournament this summer. Kane has represented England at various levels throughout his international career and it will send a strong message to players that they are expected to play in summer tournaments. Kane looks up after finally evading Chiellini's attentions as the England man looks for attacking options . Kane is kept at arm's length by Chiellini as the Juventus defender keeps a close eye on the England man . The Spurs forward has played an awful lot of football this season, but there is a real momentum building with the Under 21 team after their fine comeback and eventual victory over Germany at the Riverside on Monday evening. With Kane in the Under 21s this summer, along with West Brom forward Saido Berahino, England would have one of the most potent attacking partnerships at the tournament. +He has found the back of the net for Tottenham on 29 occasions this season, but one goal in particular stands out for England's newest hero Harry Kane. It arrived on February 7 and proved to be the winner, 86 minutes into a fiercely contested north London derby with  local rivals Arsenal. It was Kane's 22nd strike of a remarkable season and one he won't be forgetting in a hurry. Tottenham striker Harry Kane will make his first start for England in a friendly against Italy on Tuesday . Kane counts this header against Arsenal in February as the best goal he has scored during his career . Harry Kane was speaking to Match magazine . Asked what the best goal he has ever scored is in an interview with MATCH magazine, Kane said: 'It'll have to be the header against Arsenal, mainly because of the importance of it. 'A good goal is where you score it as much as how you score it. That was a big moment in the game and it was my first north London derby.' The Spurs striker will make his first start for the Three Lions on Tuesday night when he lines up alongside Wayne Rooney for a friendly against Italy in Turin. Kane scored just 79 seconds into his debut against Lithuania last Friday as England continued their charge towards Euro 2016 with a comfortable 4-0 win. As well as targeting a place in Roy Hodgson's squad for the tournament in France next summer, Kane also hopes to represent his country on the biggest stage of all. Asked whether he dreams of playing at the 2018 World Cup, he added: 'Yeah, of course. As a kid, you grow up wanting to play for your country in the major tournaments. 'It's definitely something I aspire to do. Hopefully I keep improving and when the time comes, hopefully I can play in one.' Kane heads home his first international goal just 79 seconds into his England debut against Lithuania . Kane admits that he is dreaming about playing for England at the 2018 World Cup in Russia . Kane has won plaudits for his work-rate this season but he insists that working hard for club and country just comes naturally to him. Questioned about why other strikers don't appear to put as much effort in as him, Kane said: 'Ha, ha! That's quite a compliment! 'I think other strikers do, but it's in my personality to work as hard as I can for the team. You'll have to ask other strikers why they don't work so hard.' Harry Kane spoke to MATCH magazine at a PlayStation Schools Cup event in London. MATCH is on sale every Tuesday . +Former England striker Rodney Marsh says he would pay £100million for Harry Kane and backed the Tottenham striker to have a better career than Alan Shearer. Kane, 21, has scored 29 goals in all competitions for Spurs this season and speaking to talkSPORT, Marsh explained that he would pay the incredible sum for the player if he was a chairman. 'I reckon he is worth £100million, I honestly do,' Marsh said. 'If I was a chairman of a football club, that is what I would pay for Harry Kane. I think he is going to go on and be a bigger and better player than Alan Shearer.' Harry Kane's form in the Premier League makes him worth £100million, according to Rodney Marsh . Marsh, who played for England during his own career, said he would pay the fee if he was a chairman . Kane marked his first England appearance with a goal against Lithuania in the 4-0 win on Friday . Marsh justified his belief by comparing Kane to other players who have joined the Premier League for big fees and are yet to match his form. 'Manchester City paid £32million for a relatively untried young player called Eliaquim Mangala. If Mangala is worth £32million, Harry Kane is worth £100million all day long,' Marsh explained. 'Angel di Maria cost Manchester United £60million. I think Harry Kane is a much better player than Di Maria in the Premier League,' Marsh added. Marsh backed Kane to become a 'bigger and better' player than England and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer . Marsh said the form and fees of Angel di Maria (left) and Eliaquim Mangala make Kane worth £100million . Kane marked his England debut with a goal 79 seconds after replacing Wayne Rooney against Lithuania on Friday. And the Tottenham man could make his first England start when the Three Lions take on Italy in a friendly in Turin on Tuesday. +Being in the right place at the right time is a mark of a successful Formula One driver — a truism that will almost certainly lead Lewis Hamilton to agree a new deal at Mercedes, possibly within the week. The double world champion has chosen shrewdly throughout his career by hitching himself to McLaren in the early years and then moving to Mercedes for the 2013 season, despite the aristocracy of British motor racing advising him to stick with his existing team. The importance of making the correct decision was reinforced on the podium after Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, when he saw Sebastian Vettel on the top step after the German’s own successful move from Red Bull to Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton sits on the podium alongside Sebastian Vettel after he claimed his first victory for Ferrari . Hamilton, out of contract at the end of the season, says his new Mercedes deal will be completed this week . Hamilton, who finished second, also thought of Fernando Alonso, whose career management has been disastrous since he left Renault in 2005, the year he won the last of his two world titles. The Spaniard then walked out on McLaren when he could have won a third championship, went back to Renault as a stop-gap, joined Ferrari while it was moribund and returned to McLaren this season as they are slowly coming to terms with new engine partners Honda. Alonso managed less than half of Sunday’s race before a cooling problem intervened. Vettel, in only his second race for Ferrari, won in the car Alonso had just vacated. ‘It’s nice to see Ferrari back up,’ said Hamilton. ‘I sat next to Sebastian and thought to myself, “What is Fernando thinking?” I remember when I left McLaren and came here, we were better the next year. I had a good feeling then, but he’s almost done the opposite of what I did. It could have been him today. It’s just strange how things turn out. Hamilton finished behind race-winner Vettel in Sepang but still remains in the lead of the world championship . Hamilton led Vettel off the start-line at the Malaysian Grand Prix but eventually lost out to the German . ‘McLaren are a fantastic team. It looks bad now but I’m sure they’ll get it together. Before you know it, it will be the three of us fighting, I’m pretty sure.’ Alonso’s predicament is a terrible shame because he was the heir who supplanted Michael Schumacher as the German approached his first retirement in 2009. Hamilton, 30, does not want to fall into the same trap, and says he is ready to sign a new contract with Mercedes for three more years beyond this season. The tantalising prospect of his joining Ferrari, where he is hugely admired by president Sergio Marchionne, seems remote. They have Vettel and Hamilton is already part of a top team. No matter Sunday’s result — Hamilton beaten on pure pace by Vettel’s Ferrari — Mercedes are the team of the moment. Asked about signing for Ferrari, Hamilton said: ‘No, don’t be silly. My contract at Mercedes should be done this week. There’s no reason why not. Honestly, it’s 99.6 per cent done.’ Hamilton is expected to earn more than his current annual £20million salary when he pens his new deal . The exact terms of drivers’ contracts are kept secret, but it is thought that Hamilton will get more than his current annual £20million salary, though probably not match Vettel’s deal at Ferrari, which could be worth up to £35m if he collects all his bonuses and extras. The Mercedes board want their team to be cost-efficient and will not pay the Earth even for a driver of Hamilton’s talent. As well as tying up the contract, Mercedes will spend the fortnight before the next race in China responding to the Ferrari challenge. It is believed that the cooler temperatures expected in Shanghai will favour Mercedes, but at least their defeat after eight successive wins relieved the monotony. ‘I don’t think Ferrari’s win is a one-off,’ said Hamilton. ‘I don’t think they were lucky or it was a fluke. There’s always talk that they are easier on their tyres. ‘I think we’ll manage. We’ve got a great group of people, a great approach, and from this we’ll take a step back. ‘Second for me and third for Nico (Rosberg) is still good but they’re too close to us in the championship, so we’ll work very hard to analyse. It was not a kick; it was a pinch. We have now got a race on our hands.’ That is good news for the sport and hope for all the teams. +Jenson Button has praised Ferrari for taking the Formula One fight to Mercedes, although feels Sebastian Vettel may have 'lucked' into the team's latest resurgence. After a run of eight straight Mercedes victories stretching back into what proved to be a crushing 2014 campaign, Ferrari and Vettel proved there may be a battle ahead this term with a win in Malaysia on Sunday. It was Ferrari's first triumph for almost two years and has given the championship scrap this season a shot in the arm after Mercedes' romp in the opening race in Australia which suggested another dominant run was looming. Sebastian Vettel waves the Ferrari flag in parc ferme after winning Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix . The four-time world champion clenches his fists are claiming the first victory of his Ferrari career . Assessing Ferrari's success, McLaren star Button said: 'I am really happy to see Ferrari win. I thought Mercedes were going to trounce it this year, so it is great for the sport and for other teams to see another take it to Mercedes. 'It is not as if the weather was funny or safety cars destroyed their race, Sebastian was just quicker. I was very impressed by him. 'He did a great job which shows things can turn around over a winter, which is good to see for every team. It's nice to see someone challenge them.' But despite how well Vettel drove, Button feels there has to be an element of good fortune he was back on the top step after leaving Red Bull at the end of last season for Ferrari. The Ferrari pit-wall salute Vettel as he crosses the line to win the second round of the championship . Jenson Button is pictured speaking to Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat ahead of Sunday's race in Malaysia . Button has intimated it is unlikely new McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso would have left Ferrari if he had known the team would be winning again just two races into 2015. 'He has definitely lucked into a situation, I would say,' added Button. 'I am sure he had the same information as Fernando when Fernando left the team. 'It is one of those situations which sometimes works out for you, for example (Daniel) Ricciardo was overtaken by his new team-mate (Daniil Kvyat), and lapped by his ex-team-mate (Vettel) on the same lap. 'Who would have thought that at the end of last year, so sometimes you do luck into a situation.' It would appear McLaren need luck and a whole lot more besides to make them competitive any time soon as both Button and Alonso retired with technical issues. It was the first time neither McLaren had been classified since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. 'We have a lot of work to do before we can think about winning,' said Button. 'I don't think we will be even fighting for points when we go to the next race in China, maybe Bahrain if we make a small step before then. 'But it is probably going to be Europe we start fighting for points, and that would be a massive step.' +Steven Gerrard's sending-off was so quick that the clock on the Anfield scoreboard was stuck on 00.00 when he was given his marching orders at the start of the second half. The official time referee Martin Atkinson produced the red card was after just 38 seconds. The sending off was so quick that Gerrard became the subject of jokes and virals on social media, including a mock heat map of his brief time on the pitch. Steven Gerrard's red card was mocked on social media with a pitch map showing him going on and off . Gerrard was also mocked up on a film poster for the movie Gone in 60 Seconds . Steven Gerrard is shown a red card early in the second half for a foul on Juan Mata . Pele gets red carpet treatment . Very little unites these two bitter rivals but Brazil legend Pele got a standing ovation from both sets of fans when he appeared on the pitch at half-time, posing for photos with Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre and club ambassador Kenny Dalglish. The great man was on the pitch longer than Steven Gerrard! Pele was cheered by the crowd as he went out onto the Anfield pitch ahead of kick off . Pele poses with Manchester United greats Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson . Louis van Gaal revealed that he offered his team the chance to revert to the three-man defence they have used on previous occasions in order to match Liverpool’s 3-4-3 formation. ‘I said that we can play with three defenders or shall we continue with 4-3-3?’ he said. It appears they chose the latter. Louis van Gaal says he offered his team the chance to revert to a three man defence . Fans rescue Super Mario . Mario Balotelli threatened to add to the heated atmosphere at Anfield after he was tackled into the advertising boards by Chris Smalling. But before he could square up to the defender, Balotelli was helpfully restrained by two Liverpool fans. Mario Balotelli was held back by fans as he tried to confront Chris Smalling . Wayne Rooney expressed his regret at not handing Juan Mata the chance of a hat-trick when United won a penalty. The striker said on Twitter: ‘Very happy tonight. Fans were amazing. @juanmata8 great goals. Should have let him take penalty.’ Rooney’s miss saw his Anfield goal drought stretch to more than 10 years. The last time he found the net there was in January 2005. Wayne Rooney saw his stoppage time penalty saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet . +Arsenal have put a new central defender on their summer shopping list, throwing Per Mertesacker's role at the club into doubt. Gunners scouts have been instructed to identify potential central defensive targets this summer, despite the fact Gabriel only arrived from Villarreal in January. Borussia Dortmund's Neven Subotic has been scouted in recent months, while Aleksandar Dragovic is also on the club's radar. Per Mertesacker impressed in Arsenal's victory at Manchester United in the FA Cup on Monday evening . The World Cup winner, pictured celebrating with Aaron Ramsey, has been criticised this season . Gabriel and Laurent Koscielny's place in Arsene Wenger's plans for next season look secure. But the arrival of a new centre back in the summer is likely to have repercussions for Mertesacker. The German's performance have been criticised this season, though he was excellent in Monday's euphoric FA Cup win over Manchester United. Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic has been scouted in recent months by Arsenal . Aleksandar Dragovic, pictured in action for Dynamo Kiev, has also been targeted by the Gunners . He was recently dropped by Wenger, but Gabriel's hamstring injury has seen the defender handed an instant route back into the first-team. And the arrival of a new centre-half could marginalise Mertesacker's role in Wenger's plans. The capture of a new central defender could also have consequences for Calum Chambers. The England international has been used as cover at centre-back this season, but the club's transfer plans could mean Wenger sees his long-term future at right-back or holding midfield. +Diafra Sakho has had no trouble finding the net for West Ham this season, and that continued on the Hammers' mid-season break to Dubai. Unfortunately for the Senegalese striker, it was on the tennis court as he took some time away from the sport he knows best. West Ham fans will be relieved to find that Sakho is unlikely to quit his day job for a place on the ATP World Tour any time soon... that's if his Instagram video is anything to go by. Diafra Sakho takes on Chelsea's Gary Cahill during West Ham's last Premier League game, on Wednesday . The east London side have headed to warmer climes to enjoy their week off from Premier League action as attention turns to the FA Cup. Sam Allardyce's men were knocked out by West Brom in the fifth round, and will not take to the field again until they face Arsenal next weekend. While the Southampton squad headed to the slopes in snowy Switzerland, West Ham opted for something warmer; the 30 degree heat of the United Arab Emirates. Sakho has scored 11 goals for the Hammers so far this season; nine of which in the Premier League, and he and his team-mates have now been rewarded for their hard work with a trip abroad. On West Ham's mid-season break to Dubai, Sakho took to the tennis court in the Dubai sunshine . Sakho did not seem as comfortable on the tennis court as he does for West Ham on the football pitch . West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald told the club's official website: 'Since the start of December it's been full on and we're only just coming up for air at the start of March. 'It's been a tough couple of months but what we normally do is go away so the lads can get a bit of sun on their backs. 'We do a bit of training in the gym and along the beach, as well as having a couple of football sessions. It's more important that they have a bit of relaxation time and get the sun on their backs. 'In last two or three months everyone’s had their tracksuit tops, gloves and hats on and it’ll be great to go across there and we’ll still be working, but special for the boys that it’s in the heat.' The Senegalese striker (left) has scored 11 goals for the Hammers in all competitions so far this season . Sakho brings the ball down, looking to take the ball past Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney (right) +Real Madrid have reached an agreement with FC Porto to sign right back Danilo next season. The 23-year-old defender will join the La Liga giants on a deal up until June 30 2021, it was announced on Tuesday night. Danilo, who started both of Brazil's recent international friendly wins against France and Chile - has won 14 caps for his country so far. Real Madrid have reached an agreement to sign defender Danilo from Porto next season . The full back has been strongly linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu in recent months and on March 25 - he admitted he was flattered by the speculation linking him to the European champions. 'I'm living a great moment with Porto,' he told Spanish newspaper AS. 'It makes me happy a great club like Madrid is interested in me. 'When the season ends I'll sit down with Porto and we'll decide what is best for me and them.' After breaking through at Brazilian side America Mineiro he joined domestic rivals Santos in 2010 where he helped them win the Copa Libertadores a year later. The 23-year-old (right) will join Real Madrid on a deal up until June 30 2021, it was announced on Tuesday night . His performances with the South American giants helped earn him a move to Porto in 2012. During his time at the Estadio do Dragao he has has won two Portuguese league titles and two Super Cups to date. The athletic defender has also tasted success at international level where he was part of Brazil's triumphant side at the Under 20 World Cup in 2011. His imminent arrival at Real will provide competition to current full backs Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Arbeloa in that position. Danilo (right) has won 14 international caps for Brazil - his latest coming in their 1-0 win over Chile on Sunday . +Caroline Wozniacki won her first title of 2015 with victory at the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. The Dane had won just four WTA events since losing her No 1 ranking in 2012 but took her career total to 23 with a 4-6 6-2 6-1 victory over Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru. The top seed could not find her rhythm in a rain-interrupted first set and an upset looked on the cards as Dulgheru moved ahead in her hunt for a first title since 2010. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki came from behind to beat Alexandra Dulgheru in the Malaysian Open final . Denmark's Wozniacki lost the rain-interrupted first set but dominated the second and third for victory . But that seemed to spur Wozniacki into life and she cruised to the next two sets without conceding a break point as she claimed victory in an hour and 50 minutes. Wozniaki was quick to express her delight on Twitter after the win in her second final of the year with a celebratory selfie. 'Woohoo!!Title #23, couldn't be happier! First ever trophy selfie. Thank you Malaysia for a great week!' the Dane said. Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru (left) and Wozniacki pose with their respective trophies on Sunday . Wozniacki takes what she later called her 'First ever trophy selfie' in Kuala Lumpur . +Top seed Caroline Wozniacki eased into the second round of the BMW Malaysian Open with a comfortable straight sets victory in Kuala Lumpur. The Dane needed just an hour and 15 minutes to brush aside Chinese qualifier Yafan Wang 6-3, 6-1 and will next face Lin Zhu, who claimed a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Ukraine's Yuliya Beygelzimer. Second seed Sabine Lisicki made an early exit as she lost 6-4, 7-5 to Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru. Caroline Wozniacki found an easy path to the second round at the BMW Malaysian Open with a 6-3, 6-1 win . Wozniacki needed just an hour and 15 minutes to simply brush aside Chinese qualifier Yafan Wan . And third seed Casey Dellacqua also suffered a shock as she went down in three sets to wildcard Hsieh Su-wei. The 2012 champion took the first set but Dellacqua fought back before falling 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Hsieh will next face Japan's Misa Eguchi who claimed a hard-fought 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium. Things didn't go so well for Sabine Lisicki, who was knocked out by Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru, 6-4, 7-5 . Fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova is through with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Cagla Buyukakcay while Julia Goerges beat Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 7-6 (7/2). Klara Koukalova beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-1, 6-3 and will next face Carina Witthoeft, a 7-5, 7-5 winner over Misaki Doi. Casey Dellacqua suffered a shock as she went down in three sets to wildcard Hsieh Su-wei . Despite winning this tournament in 2012 Dellacqua lost out 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 despite coming from a set down . +Geraint Thomas claimed third place at the Gent-Wevelgem sprint classic in Belgium on Sunday despite suffering a crash. The Welshman's spill came with 58 kilometres to go when he was blown off the road in wet and windy conditions in Flanders, but the Team Sky rider bravely fought back to claim a podium place. Katusha's Luca Paolini took the title with Niki Terpstra of Etixx-Quick-Step finishing runner-up. Geraint Thomas of Team Sky reacts on the podium after the Gent-Wevelgem sprint classic . Commonwealth Games champion Thomas, who took victory in E3 Harelbeke on Friday, said on www.teamsky.com: 'Today it was just on all day - stress and full gas. 'I'm happy to be on the podium again. Obviously it would have been nice to go for the win but it's hard when you're coming into the final and everyone's attacking. You can't really go with everything and some people don't want to pull as much. On his crash, Thomas added: 'The grass was softer than the tarmac! It was unbelievable. The gusts were incredible. It was hard enough just trying to stay on the bike. Fortunately it was all okay in the end. 'I'll rest up now. Have a good massage, eat well, stay in bed and put my feet up until Sunday.' Sir Bradley Wiggins was included in the Team Sky line-up for the 239-kilometre one-day event but withdrew during the race. Niki Terpstra of team Etixx-Quick Step, Luca Paolini of team Katusha and Thomas of Team Sky on podium . +Sir Bradley Wiggins has been included in Team Sky's line-up for Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem sprint classic. Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion, will be joined by fellow Great Britain Olympian Geraint Thomas for the 239-kilometre one-day event in Belgium. Sir Bradley Wiggins (right) has been included in Team Sky's line-up for Gent-Wevelgem sprint classic . The 239-kilometre one-day event will take place in Belgium on Sunday . Bernhard Eisel, who won the event in 2010, is also included in an eight-man team along with Christian Knees, Ian Stannard, Andy Fenn, Luke Rowe and Elia Viviani. Giant-Alpecin's John Degenkolb is the defending champion in Flanders. +The world’s leading authority on the detection of banned performance-enhancing drug EPO in blood says a particularly low level of the substance is explicable only by renal damage or doping — a conclusion that raises fresh doubts over historic alleged doping by a current staff member at Team Sky. As The Mail on Sunday reported last week, court documents in France show that an expert at a 2001 criminal trial concluded from a blood sample taken from a Dutch rider, Servais Knaven, that he had taken artificial EPO. The toxicology reports that led to testimony that Knaven had taken EPO were compiled by two doctors whose evidence was challenged in court, but the court ruled it was good evidence. Knaven has been a ‘directeur sportif’ with vital strategic responsibilities at Team Sky since 2011 and was a 27-year-old rider with Dutch team TVM when the sample was taken during the 1998 Tour de France. Dave Brailsford, former director Sean Yates and Servais Knaven (second right) with Bradley Wiggins in 2012 - a 1998 sample from Knaven showing an EPO level of 0.7 was used to convict traffickers in a French court . The technical paperwork relating to his blood tests carried out by an expert, Francoise Bressolle, showed an EPO level of 0.7. Team Sky say their own unnamed experts, paid by them to examine documents unearthed by the MoS, have exonerated Knaven of any wrongdoing, for reasons unspecified. Knaven was never on trial and therefore did not have an opportunity to challenge the medical evidence; rather his tests and testimony were used to convict EPO traffickers. Knaven never disputed the reading of 0.7 but denied ever taking EPO. Now Robin Parisotto, who invented the first ever blood tests to detect EPO, has told the MoS: ‘The only known causes of such a low EPO level in blood [0.7] is either due to significant renal damage where the kidneys cannot sustain normal production of natural/endogenous EPO and/or the current and previous administration of recombinant [banned] EPO.’ Directeur sportif for Team Sky Knaven signed a police statement in 1998 saying he did not contest the EPO finding. He said he believed it may have been due to ‘great exertion’, which expert Robin Parisotto . Sky did not answer our specific questions but gave this statement: . ‘This relates to events over 15 years ago that were contested and well documented at the time. We looked carefully at the information provided to us by The Mail on Sunday last week, including a review by a panel of three independent world-class experts. Nothing here, including the new medical opinion, causes us, or the experts, to change our view. There is no proof of Doping. Servais Knaven continues to maintain his innocence and to be a valued member of Team Sky.' The MoS has asked Knaven and Team Sky if Knaven had renal damage at the 1998 Tour de France. They have not answered. Parisotto was lead researcher on the pioneering EPO tests, first implemented at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. These tests have morphed into the athlete biological passport and since been adopted by a number of international sporting bodies. Parisotto also currently sits on the biological passport panel of cycling’s world governing body, the UCI. In 1998, Knaven signed a police statement saying he did not contest the EPO finding, but said he did not know why it was so low. He told police he believed it may have been due to ‘great exertion’. Parisotto says: ‘I don’t think that “great exertion” is a plausible explanation for such a low EPO level.’ FRENCH COURT DOCUMENTSNo 1:  This is an extract from the court expert’s summary, specifically in relation to Knaven’s blood and his EPO level, saying in her opinion this was a result of the ‘feedback’ phenomenon where the body is now producing such low levels of EPO as it had recently stopped taking artificial EPO. It finishes by saying: ‘Conclusion: Took exogenous EPO.’ No 2: An extract from the official court summary of the case showing expert witness BRESSOLLE had concluded EPO use by four of the TVM riders, from blood samples. Knaven was one of those four. Ouchakov, Blijelevens and Voskamps were the others. No 3: A summary of an interview, quoting Knaven’s own words, following a police interview on 3 Dec 1998, signed by Servais Knaven to show it is an authentic and accurate representation of what he had said in that interview. He says: ‘I do not dispute this rate [of 0.7]. On the other hand, if this rate is so low, it can result from lots of things other than stopping taking EPO. At least that is what I’ve heard from lawyers and doctors. I believe these people all the more because I’ve never taken EPO. ‘For my part, although I am not a doctor, I think that this perhaps comes from the fact this is due to an earlier great effort.’ No 4: The vital readings that Mrs Bressolle found in Knaven’s blood. The key figure here is the EPO reading in the body: 0.7. This was an abnormally low reading. Last week we revealed that The Mail on Sunday had unearthed a collection of documents, never published or reported before, containing detail about the involvement of Servais Knaven, Team Sky’s Sporting Director, in one of cycling’s major doping scandals. Last week’s revelations came after months of in-depth investigations. When we passed our findings to Team SKY, they refused to act. Most major cycling teams, including Team Sky, have employed former dopers in the past three years - either as riders, coaches, doctors or all three, and there is no rule against this, but Team Sky have a ‘zero tolerance’ (ZT) policy, meaning that if past doping comes to light, that person must leave. Several Team Sky staff have left after confessions since 2012, but not Knaven. Question 1 . The world’s leading blood expert on EPO, Robin Parisotto, has examined the paperwork from Reims. Parisotto invented the first blood tests to detect EPO and sits on the biological passport panel of the UCI. He says the testing Francoise Bressolle did on Knaven’s blood remains credible, concluding: ‘The only known causes of such a low EPO level in blood is either due to significant renal damage where the kidneys cannot sustain normal production of natural/endogenous EPO and/or the current and previous administration of recombinant EPO.’ Did Servais Knaven have renal damage at the Tour de France in 1998? If not, what is his own explanation for that EPO reading, which he did not contest as accurate in a signed police statement in 1998? Question 2 . Servais Knaven’s urine from July 28 1998 showed irregular levels of a banned drug, cortisone. In signed contemporaneous statements he said he ‘did not contest’ the presence in his samples of numerous substances, cortisone included. His explanation was he didn’t know how they got there. Would Team Sky today, with a zero-tolerance policy, accept the rider’s explanation ‘I don’t know how it got there’ as a valid defence? Question 3 . Who are the three ‘independent world-class’ experts cited in Team Sky’s statement of March 7 who say the court documents are no proof of doping? Question 4 . The evidence provided last week by the MoS, and studied by these experts, was accepted as valid in a criminal court case where three defendants were given prison sentences in verdicts, never appealed. On what specific, scientific basis did these three experts reject this evidence? Question 5 . Dave Brailsford said on The Telegraph’s cycling podcast last week that the experts, paid by Team Sky, did not know Servais Knaven’s name when analysing the papers. Is it true the experts didn’t know the papers related to Knaven? (His name appears across the papers) If so, why not? Question 6 . Knaven explicitly told police in 1998 he had no medical conditions requiring treatment with prescription drugs, yet admitted use of one prescription drug, Persantin — a blood thinner — and tested positive for another, Naftidrofuryl. The latter is used by heart patients. Knaven said in 1998 he’d never heard of it, but now admits he used it. Why the apparent contradictions? Question 7 . Team Sky say they were unaware until last week of the contents of the police statements relating to Servais Knaven from 1998 and of various findings during that Tour, including products in his room and system. You now know about the court documents in Reims. Will you go to review them? Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Gareth Bale is being linked with a move away from Champions League winners Real Madrid as the former Tottenham forward continues to face criticism from the club's supporters. Manchester United and Chelsea have both been credited with having an interest in bringing the world's most expensive player back to the Premier League. Sportsmail asked Manchester United fan Dave Ford of 90min.com to give his thoughts about a possible switch to Old Trafford. Gareth Bale reacts with disappointment as Barcelona players celebrate after the Clasico on march 22 . Bale scored twice to help Wales beat Israel 3-0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday . Given the opportunity, there's not a club in the world who wouldn't want to sign Gareth Bale and Manchester United are no different. The Welshman is the future of football. United are showing signs of life again. We've picked up our form under Louis van Gaal, sit in the Premier League's top four and beat Liverpool at Anfield prior to the international break. Big money was spent last summer and it will be this year too. It's all systems go in terms of firing us back to the top of English and European football. However, while the attack is starting to click into gear, something is still missing. Some kind of X-factor. Most of us have confidence that Angel Di Maria will come good, but we still want more. Bale is what we want. Having two former Real Madrid stars in tandem at Old Trafford is the stuff of dreams. Sure, we'd love to have Cristiano Ronaldo back too, but our former No 7 has just turned 30 and dare we say it - his best days may be behind him. A 25-year-old Bale is the man to pin the hopes on. Bale's celebration was cut short as he had a goal disallowed for offside against Barcelona . Bale argues with Barcelona forward Neymar Jnr as Real lost 2-1 to the La Liga leaders . It's not all plain sailing for the boy from Cardiff in Spain. He has been criticised in the Madrid press for not pulling his weight, he went missing in last weekend's Clasico and his car even got a boot up the backside from a supporter in the fallout. Real Madrid fans are historically fickle and Bale is their latest scapegoat. Rest assured that it'll be his head on the chopping block next time Real lose a game. He doesn't deserve to be treated like some children's toy - picked up when loved and thrown down to the ground when not. Bale should seek a club where his talents are appreciated. Manchester United are prepared to offer an escape route and the subsequent affection he needs. Unfortunately, Bale is still a big part of Florentino Perez's plans and the player himself feels like he still has so much to prove. United are not an option that Bale wants to take just now, but the offer will always remain on the table. Bale has been criticised by fans this season and even had his car attacked by angry supporters . The former Tottenham forward leads the celebrations after scoring his second and Wales' third of the match . His potential signing is not a case of need. After all, no club is going to spend £86m on a player if he isn't considered some kind of luxury. Bale is a player that can lead us to our former glory. You'd only have to look at the effect he had on Tottenham before leaving for Spain for proof of his influence. However much he'd cost, Bale would be a worthwhile investment. His ability to play on either flank or through the middle make him a great option, given he can fit around the likes of Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney in whatever system suits. Heck, he could even play alongside Marouane Fellaini. Any move might unfairly consign the excellent Ashley Young back to bench-warmer, but football has a habit of not being fair. Nevertheless, don't expect the move to happen this summer. Bale has a lot left to prove in Spain and he's too proud a person to walk away from his dream club just yet. But if there's ever a return to the Premier League on the cards for Gareth Bale, we will be waiting with open arms. For more fan views or to join the conversation visit www.90min.com. +This is the college student who was filmed biting the head off a live hamster, DailyMail.com can reveal. Brady Eaves, 18, is a University of Mississippi scholar, Phi Delta Theta fraternity brother, star football player, and stepson of one-time Mississippi Governor candidate John Arthur Eaves Jr, who is now an esteemed pro-life lawyer. Sources close to Eaves told DailyMail.com he was top of his class at private Jackson Preparatory School, and described him as an 'animal lover' whose numerous pets include a raccoon and a parrot. However, on Saturday the teenager from Madison, MS, swept the internet in a video that showed him pull a hamster from a cage, bite off its head, and hurl its body into the distance - shrieking with laughter. According to sources connected to the incident, the party of college students force-fed the hamster vodka and 'hot-boxed' its cage with marijuana before the sickening stunt. The footage, allegedly filmed during a drunken spring break party in Florida, could see Eaves charged with felony animal cruelty charges, which carry a maximum jail term of five years and $5,000 in fines. His stepfather John Arthur Eaves Jr, a born-again Christian who was slammed for blaming unemployment on the state's Hispanic population during his 2007 election campaign, has yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for a comment. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT - SCROLL DOWN FOR EXCLUSIVE VIDEO . Pictured: This is Brady Eaves (right), the privately-educated fraternity brother, described by friends as an 'animal lover', who was filmed biting the head off a live hamster during a drunken spring break party . Horrific: This video shows University of Mississippi student Brady Eaves, 18, biting the head off a live hamster at a spring break party in Florida. The stunt could see him charged with felony animal cruelty . A censored picture of the hamster's head and front arms shared exclusively with DailyMail.com via Snapchat . Elite family: His stepfather is John Arthur Eaves Jr, pictured with his mother Angel Eaves, during the 2007 campaign for governor of Mississippi. Eaves Jr, the Democratic candidate, lost and is now a pro-life lawyer . Now CEO of Eaves Law Firm in Jackson, Mississippi, Eaves Jr has unsuccessfully run for state governor and U.S. Congress. He lost to the Republican incumbent Haley Barbour, winning 42 per cent of the vote, following controversial claims about the state's growing Latino population. His clients today include victims of the Costa Concordia cruise boat crash. He has three sons from his first marriage, and a young daughter with Brady's mother, advertising executive Angel Eaves, in leafy Madison, MS. In the video, his stepson Brady is surrounded by friends in beachwear who shriek with laughter as he pulls the animal from a blue cage. He is a star soccer player with a scholarship at the University of Mississippi where he is a Phi Delt brother . Eaves (circled) is pictured at Jackson Preparatory School after winning his scholarship to college . Graphic: He bites, spits, then throws the rest of the animal over a fence. Sources close to Eaves described him as an 'animal lover' who has numerous pets including a raccoon and a parrot at home in Madison, MS . Beaming: Eaves, and other party-goers, shriek with laughter and beam gleefully into the camera. Sources told DailyMail.com the students force-fed the hamster vodka and 'hot-boxed' its cage with marijuana . The footage starts with the voice of one party-goer balking: 'Oh my f***ing God! No way!' Others can be heard jeering: 'So good! So good!' Hurling the hamster over a fence, Eaves bellows a yell as others are seen grinning and laughing behind him. The video was uploaded to YouTube on Friday night under the name 'psycho drunk spring breaker bites head off of hamster'. Within minutes, it was removed from the video-sharing site for violating its codes of conduct. Caching the video, animal rights group PETA launched a manhunt to track Eaves down. Screaming: Eaves bellows a yell and smiles into the camera as party-goers look on open-mouthed . Stephanie Bell, PETA's Cruelty Casework Director, told DailyMail.com they plan to press charges. 'It is horrific. We don't know who this man is but we are working to track him down and prosecute,' Bell said. 'Animal abuse is a community concern. People who abuse animals rarely do so only once and almost never stop there. 'The link between cruelty to animals and inter-personal violence is undeniable. Many of our nation's serial killers and most school shooters share a history of animal abuse. 'Often, humans and animals are abused at the same time. For example, the guy who kicks the family dog is likely abusing his spouse and children too. Cruelty to animals is always a red flag.' +Sportsmail columnist Martin Keown has picked his #one2eleven of stars he played alongside throughout his career, on The Fantasy Football Club on Sky Sports. It is little surprise the former Arsenal defender has chosen 11 players that once donned the red of the Gunners, but who makes his best line-up? Watch #one2eleven every Friday evening on The Fantasy Football Club, Sky Sports 1 or catch up On Demand. Sportsmail columnist Martin Keown (centre) has chosen his best XI he ever played with in his career . GOALKEEPER: DAVID SEAMAN . David Seaman has to be my No 1 goalkeeper. I'd come from Everton with Neville Southall. You couldn't look at Neville because if you looked at him he'd blame you if the ball was in the back of the net. But David was the complete opposite. David had really sort of soft hands. He was able to take the sting out of a shot. We had a decent defence but it was nothing without David in goal. RIGHT BACK: LEE DIXON . If I'm having to pick one, it has to be Lee Dixon. He was sort of my eyes and ears. He was almost part of my own body. I never had to look to my right because Lee was telling me everything that was going on. Arsenal's Lee Dixon (left) and Tony Adams (centre) shout at Barcelona's Phillip Cocu after a penalty incident . DEFENDER: TONY ADAMS . First bumped into him at the age of 13. Cockney lad, swaggering into the room. I was a little bit of a country bumpkin. We kind of set up a partnership in the youth team. I knew him inside out. I knew his strengths, I knew his weaknesses. He has to get into that team. There's no doubt about it. DEFENDER: SOL CAMPBELL . He turned up at Arsenal around all that publicity and expectation. It was on a train that didn't get out of the station to start with. Wenger stuck with him. Eventually once that train got going, it was unstoppable. It was a real force. He's quick, strong, could see danger. Once he was focussed, he was as good as anyone. LEFT BACK: ASHLEY COLE . Straight away I could see that this kid was going to be a bit special. Ashley would park himself around the senior players. He would listen in, he was a very, very quick learner. A real winner. Just disappointed he had to leave Arsenal early. Gunners captain Patrick Vieira lifts the FA Cup after Arsenal beat Manchester United in the final in 2005 . RIGHT WING: ROBERT PIRES . Just on another planet. The goal that stands out was at Villa Park when he knocks it over Peter Schmeichel. He'd just embarrassed a top keeper. He was just capable of that. You've got to look at what you see in training behind the scenes, and Robert Pires had people applauding the stuff he was capable of. MIDFIELDER: PATRICK VIEIRA . He was the catalyst for all the success that was to come. Without Patrick there wouldn't have been any of these trophies. I can tell you that. He pretended he couldn't speak English at the start, then everyone was talking about him, and I think he grabbed someone by the throat in the dressing room. It showed he had some fight about him. As it unfolded I became his minder. I think people could see he could react a bit and we needed him on the pitch. Absolute top talent. Still to this day he's the same person that walked through the door that very first day at Arsenal. MIDFIELDER: EMMANUEL PETIT . It was a competition between him and Patrick Vieira who was going to be man of the match. Game after game. He was a warrior that could play with that finesse and gave us that buffer whenever we had to defend. Those two in front made our lives very easy. Vieira and Emmanuel Petit celebrate during their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur in 1999 . LEFT WING: MARC OVERMARS . You've got to ask Gary Neville how pleased was he to see him leave. He was so quick that it was almost as if someone had picked him up and put him there. You didn't see him travel. He put fear into teams. You could just see people backing off giving him space to play in. STRIKER: DENNIS BERGKAMP . His ability. The way he could bend balls around players. Pace as well. Once he got away from you in training - I was no slouch - and you wouldn't catch him. Slow start when he came. I think he was a little bit unsure of the situation he found himself in. Again we weren't really ready. To play with Dennis was a joy. I remember Ian Wright skipping down the marble halls at Highbury when he heard Dennis was coming, because he knew that meant goals. STRIKER: THIERRY HENRY . He had that sort of textbook finish. He was more basic in his finishing. His pace. His power. You've never seen anything like it. This was a top athlete without spikes, he had football boots instead. Unbelievable. I gave him a hard time when he came, as I did with all the strikers. He had that swagger as he does now even in front of the camera. He was turning to the rest of the team: 'You better be able to stick with me.' Whereas at the start we were demanding he came with us. Those two together was an absolute nightmare and I used to giggle when I'd see them in action because I had to train against them. Thierry Henry hugs strike partner Dennis Bergkamp and the pair make Keown's best XI he played with . +Amir Khan insists the time is not right for a fight against Kell Brook - because nobody in America knows who the Sheffield welterweight is. Brook called out his British rival after stopping Jo Jo Dan in four rounds in the first defence of his IBF world title. But Khan has his eyes on bigger fish, despite promoter Eddie Hearn booking Wembley for June 13 should the Bolton man has a change of heart. Amir Khan (left) has rejected the chance to fight Kell Brook in June at Wembley because of Ramadan . Brook defended his IBF Welterweight title against Jo Jo Dan after knocking him down four times . He told fighthype: 'No one in America knows who Kell Brook is, whereas I can't walk the street without it getting crazy, everyone knows who Amir Khan is but it's a nice thing. 'June I can't do because of Ramadan, maybe that's why he's calling me out because he knows that I can't do June. Maybe the end of the year it could be done, I fight twice a year but that's because Ramadan falls right in the middle. 'I've seen his performance against Jo Jo Dan and he's going on like beating Jo Jo Dan is like beating a five-time World Champion. The Bolton-boxer didn't deny the fight could happen in the future but wants Brook to fight better opponents . The Sheffield fighter has been gunning for Khan for a number of years and feels he deserves a shot . 'He was fighting a b, c-class opponent, no disrespect to Jo Jo Dan but Kell is now a world champion and he needs to fight world class opponents, the likes of the [Keith] Thurman and you have big names in the welterweight decision but he's picking and choosing who he wants to fight.' Khan has made it clear he wants a big fight in America to really boost his profile and is targeting two of the biggest names in the sport to give him what he wants but refused to deny that the Brook won't happen sometime in the future. 'Whoever they put in front of him, he beats, so you can't really disrespect that but the fight between me and him won't happen until the end of the year or maybe next year. It's a fight I know that is going to happen but not just yet because I'm taking a different route. Khan is more focused on fighting the big names like Floyd Mayweather (right) and Manny Pacquiao . 'My route is to fight the big names like the Manny Pacquiao's and the [Floyd] Mayweather's and be amongst those names and also to fight in America and bring my name up over here. 'I just have to keep on doing what I do and keep putting on great performances for my fans. Whatever fights the fans want to see, I'll give it to them. 'The Thurmans and the Brook fights will happen so I'll never say no to any opponent - like the [Marcos] Maidana fight and I was one of the first guys to beat him and the first guy to put him down. +Kell Brook is giving Amir Khan 48 hours to commit to a Battle of Britain at Wembley Stadium on June 13, or else he will find another big name to be given the Special K treatment this summer. Khan says sorry but he will be fighting in America next month, although he will oblige Brook in due course. Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn does not believe Khan is scared of his man but said: ‘Amir’s family are not certain he would win the fight and realise that if he were to lose it would be game over for their boy.’ Kell Brook celebrates after beating Jo Jo Dan during their IBF World Welterweight Title Fight in Sheffield . There was a whiff of Mayweather-Pacquiao in the Saturday night air in Sheffield after Brook flexed the vivid scar in his left leg and vexed his six months of anxiety since that machete attack on an inadequate challenger for his IBF world welterweight title. By keeping the world waiting for five years, the Money Man and the PacMan have built their rivalry into a half-a-billion-dollar bonanza in Las Vegas on May 2. By keeping the United Kingdom on tenterhooks for another 12 months, Brook and Khan can crank up the ante way beyond what Hearn describes as ‘the biggest pay-day of their lives.’ Brook has called out Amir Khan for the 'Battle of Britain' and gave the boxer 48 hours to commit . Just so long as neither of them is beaten in the interim. That risk will be difficult to evaluate until they each identify their next opponent. Brook is going to Vegas to celebrate his 29th birthday by watching Floyd and Manny contest - the richest fight of all time. He will throw down the gauntlet to the winner but has more realistic alternatives. Brook knocks down Jo Jo Dan for the first time during the one-sided fight at the Motorpoint Arena . They include Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez in front of 40,000 of Brook’s neighbours at Sheffield United’s Brammall Lane football ground or Tex-Mex slugger Brandon Rios in the Manchester Arena or London’s 02. Khan is hoping to announce a foe for somewhere in America sometime next month. Ideally Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto at catch-weight, maybe controversial Adrien Broner, or the less compelling recent Pacquiao victim Chris Algieri. In truth – impressively though Brook proved his full recovery from that bizarre machete attack in Tenerife six months ago – any of the above would provide sterner opposition than the Canada-based Romanian he employed as a punch-bag in the Motorpoint Arena this weekend. The welterweight knocked Dan around the ring like a rag doll and wants a big one against Khan . Jo Jo Dan became Yo Yo Dan as he went down and up four times in the four one-sided rounds which ended in the inevitable stoppage. As a homecoming party for Brook after winning his world title in the US then almost losing his life in that deeply scarring assault, it was fun for all concerned except the hapless gent in the other corner. Desperate Dan reeled around like a drunk as Special K had him for breakfast, lunch and dinner at one sitting. Brook sends Dan flying for a third time and then knocked him down a fourth before it was stopped . Brook’s first right-hander wobbled him. More of the same dropped him in the second round. He somehow stayed upright in the third but the punishment was unrelenting and down he went twice more in the fourth. The final knock-down came a split-second before what proved to be the final bell. American referee Earl Brown conducted the required standing eight-count before ushering Dan into his corner and then refusing him permission to come out again. Not Brook’s fault since this was his mandatory challenger and he was right to point out that Dan had not been stopped before. Wembley Stadium has been booked for the fight by Eddie Hearn but its remains to be seen if Khan accepts . Although that does beg serious questions of the IBF rankings procedures. Dan reeled around like a drunk in the ring and it is arguable that Brook might have found a tougher rival in the pub round the corner. Brook now rates himself up there with Mayweather, Pacquiao and Khan among welterweight royalty. Hearn concurred with that opinion, saying: ‘When Kell first came to me his father told me he would beat Mayweather one day. Now he is just one more big win away from fighting Floyd.’ That victory will be easier to realise than the super fight in Vegas, since anything other than an anti-climax on May 2 seems certain to result in a second-fortune rematch for Mayweather and Pacquiao in the autumn. Dan had no answer to the power and speed of Brook whose recovered well from his stabbing . But against whom? Marquez is easing his ruptured knee back into training but is not certain to box again and will be expensive to bring to Sheffield if he does. So the greater likelihood is Rios. Brook and his towns-folk would prefer it to be his fellow Brit. When he took the microphone to ask who they wanted him to beat next, the packed crowd roared: ‘Khan, Khan, Khan.’ Brook celebrates after beating Jo Jo Dan during their IBF World Welterweight Title Fight . Hearn would love that, too, and he believes it is also what the British fight fans desire. But he says: ‘If we don’t start talking for real in the next couple of days it will be too late for June 13. And I’m not expecting my phone to ring within 48 hours. They have already said that our fight will happen – but not next.’ Brook can rest easy on his world title and a left leg repaired by nuclear medicine. Having done all that was required of him to stay unbeaten all he needs to do now to bring the big bucks rolling in is stay out of trouble. +Kell Brook has called on Amir Khan to accept his 'Battle of Britain' challenge after defending the IBF welterweight world title in style in Sheffield on Saturday. Just six months after he was stabbed with a machete in Tenerife, Brook had mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan on the canvas four times during his return before the Romanian was pulled out of the fight by his corner after the fourth round. Brook now has fellow Brit Khan in his sights and promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed on Saturday that he has Wembley Stadium booked for June 13. Kell Brook celebrates after defending his IBF welterweight world title belt in Sheffield on Saturday . Brook speaks to Sky Sports News on Sunday less than 13 hours after defending his title . Brook called on Amir Khan to accept his challenge of a fight at Wembley Stadium in June . Khan appears reluctant to accept this particular challenge, though that has not stopped Brook from piling on the pressure. The 28-year-old told Sky Sports News: 'Amir Khan has just stepped up to welterweight. It's a massive fight in Britain. It will fill out Wembley. It's something I would really be up for and get excited for. 'I have got the title. To be honest with you, we are going round in circles with that fight. I am the champion. He's got nothing to offer. 'There's a belt on the line. I'm giving him an opportunity. There's going to be a lot of money there for him, probably the most he's earned in a fight. Brook celebrates with his girlfriend Lindsey Myers in the ring after cruising to victory . Brook sends mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan to the canvas during the title fight . Brook put the Romanian on the floor four times before it was stopped after the fourth round . Brook walks out in front of his home crowd at Sheffield's Motorpoint Arena for his title defence . 'It's in Britain. It's a war of the roses. I don't know why he hasn't taken the fight. It baffles me. 'He knows he's delicate around the whiskers as I keep saying. It's just a matter of time before he's forced into that fight because of the public demand and we'll see him on the canvas once again.' Brook also revealed on Sunday that he wants to take on the winner of the May 2 superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in a unification bout. Amir Khan (left) pictured with TV personality Scott Disick at a nightclub in Las Vegas on Friday . Brook wants to fight the winner of the May 2 superfight between Floyd Mayweather (left) and Manny Pacquiao . He told TalkSport: 'The fact is Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao; they’re the ones with the belts along with me. There are only three men who hold them, so I’m looking at targeting the winner of Mayweather and Pacquiao to set up a big unification fight. 'I want to be involved with the very best fighters out there and they’re the names that really excite me and get me up in the morning. They’re the kind of fights that I want. 'You never know what’s going to happen in boxing. Something could happen with Mayweather and Pacquiao and I could slip in there – you never know.' +World Cup winners Australia could arrive in England this summer with arguably the most fearsome pace attack in Test cricket since the ferocious West Indies sides of the 1980s. Less than 48 hours after claiming their one-day prize, the Aussies turned their attention on the summer's Ashes series. While captain Michael Clarke might have marked Sunday's final triumph over New Zealand by confirming his retirement from the 50-over game, his desire for Test cricket success burns as bright as ever. Team Australia celebrate after winning the Cricket World Cup in Melbourne . World Cup hero Glenn Maxwell is the glaring omission despite starring on Australia's run to the final . Clarke was still recovering from a day-long champagne party with fans on the streets of Melbourne when the Aussies confirmed their squad to play a Test series in the West Indies before arriving in England for the start of the Ashes in July. And if Alastair Cook & Co still have nightmare memories of the way they were blown apart by the pace of Mitchell Johnson as they suffered a 5-0 whitewash in Australia, then there is a new nightmare to come. Australia could have as many as four bowlers who have all logged speeds of 90mph plus in their line-up, with both Johnson and his World Cup pace partner Mitchell Starc in the squad. They will be backed up by Ryan Harris, who misses the West Indies trip to stay home for the birth of his first child but will then join up in time for the Ashes. While 24-year-old James Pattinson is also not on the list because he is currently out with a damaged left hamstring, he will also be monitored with the chance to be included in time to travel to England. Player of the tournament Mitchell Starc has been included in Australia's fast paced attack for the Ashes . Mitchell Johnson's pace bowling terrorised England as Australia ran out 5-0 victors last year . Clarke will lead a side anxious to rub away bitter memories of their last Ashes tour when they were beaten 3-0 in 2013. World Cup batting hero Steve Smith, who averaged only 38 in that series, is a far improved batsman now and will be expected to get big runs. First Test . Cardiff (Jul 8-12) Second Test . Lord’s (Jul 16-20) Third Test . Edgbaston, (Jul 29-Aug 2) Fourth Test . Trent Bridge (Aug 6-10) Fifth Test . The Oval (Aug 20-24) WHEN WILL ENGLAND NAME THEIR SQUAD? Not until after three Tests in the West Indies and two at home to New Zealand, ending in June. David Warner, axed from the early Tests and sent away in disgrace after throwing a punch at Joe Root in a nightclub, will also want to make his mark on the series. National selector Rod Marsh told cricketaustralia.com.au: 'The Test team has performed very well in recent times, but the big challenge is to do that away from home. 'We believe this squad has sufficient depth for these important Test matches against the West Indies and England and will give us the best chance of success.' Two players who starred in the World Cup campaign, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner, were tipped for the squad but have missed out. 'Adam Voges and Fawad Ahmed had sensational seasons at domestic level and their performances just couldn't be ignored. They thoroughly deserve their call-up and the opportunity to be a part of this squad. We believe that both can play important roles in the side if required. 'Adam had one of the great seasons in Sheffield Shield history. He is an experienced player and quality character who will add talent and leadership to the touring party. 'Fawad has worked incredibly hard on his game and has demonstrated throughout the season that he can be a consistent wicket taker. 'Peter Nevill has been on our radar for some time and deserves his opportunity through weight of runs and performances behind the stumps. He has also demonstrated impressive leadership qualities which have caught our eye.' Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. James Faulkner . Age 24 . Caps 1 . Verdict Played his only Test to date at The Oval in 2013, where he got up England’s noses by accusing them of boring batting. A left-arm seam-bowling all-rounder, he can give the ball an almighty whack. James Pattinson . Age 24 . Caps 13 . Verdict Injuries have limited him since he burst on to the scene in 2011-12, but the talent is undeniable: tall, aggressive and fast, he should trouble England more than his brother, Darren, when playing for England in a single Test against South Africa in 2008. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Brad Haddin (wkt) Age 37 . Caps 63 . Verdict Australia’s second-most important cog in their 5-0 Ashes wheel in 2013-14, after Mitchell Johnson. His sledging from behind the stumps is considered the heartbeat of the team. Chris Rogers . Age 37 . Caps 20 . Verdict This will be his last hurrah in a late-blooming Test career. Calm, compact and the perfect foil for the exuberance of his opening partner Warner. Steve Smith (vice captain) Age 25 . Caps 26 . Verdict One of world cricket’s rising stars, he scored four tons in Australia’s recent home series against India. Will captain the side full-time after Clarke retires, and can burgle the odd wicket with his leg-spin. Nathan Lyon . Age 27 . Caps 39 . Verdict A steady off-spinner who troubled England’s right-handers during whitewash. But, really, they should have nothing to fear. Mitchell Starc . Age 25 . Caps 15 . Verdict Another left-arm seamer, and Man of the Tournament at the World Cup. His yorkers are as dangerous in Tests as they are in ODIs, and accuracy and pace have improved. Ryan Harris . Age 35 . Caps 27 . Verdict If he can drag his injury-laden body through one final series, Australia will be thrilled. He was an unsung star during their 3-0 defeat here two years ago, and produced the ball of the series to bowl Cook in Perth. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. Fawad Ahmed . Age 33 . Caps 20 . Verdict The Pakistan-born leg-spinner has played only three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games for Australia, so would represent a risk. But Australian leggies have done well in England before… . Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Mitchell Marsh . Age 23 . Caps 4 . Verdict A rangy all-rounder and younger brother of Shaun, Marsh stunned England during the World Cup with figures of 5 for 33 at Melbourne – despite having taken only six ODI wickets until then. His batting is the stronger suit. Peter Nevill . Age 29 . Caps 0 . Verdict Peter who? Nevill has been chosen as the reserve wicketkeeper behind his New South Wales team-mate Haddin, although he has also played as a specialist batsman for his state team. Unlikely to get a game unless Haddin breaks a finger. Adam Voges . Age 35 . Caps 0 . Verdict An outsider for a Test debut, but he knows English conditions well – Voges has spent time with Hampshire, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire – and bowls left-arm spin to complement his middle-order hitting. +It seems cricketer Kevin Pietersen is struggling with a dose of jet lag as he returns to England following the completion of the Cricket World Cup. The former England captain posted a picture to Instagram of himself struggling to stay awake while on board an Emirates flight. Pietersen was a pundit as Australia were crowned tournament winners at the expense of New Zealand in Melbourne. Kevin Pietersen's current state suggests the cricketer is struggling to come to terms with hos jetlag . However, jet lag is probably not the only reason Pietersen is struggling to stay awake after joining in with Australia’s post-tournament celebrations following victory. Earlier this week Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart praised Pietersen's 'outstanding' character, but admitted the batsman's chances of an England return are slim. Pietersen has re-joined Surrey to play in LV= County Championship Division Two in a bid to win a Test recall for the Ashes this summer. Pietersen shared a picture of himself celebrating Australia's World Cup win with James Faulkner . Cricketer Kevin Pietersen has been hailed for his 'outstanding character' by Surrey chief Alec Stewart . Surrey cricket director Stewart (right) can't see a way back for Pietersen with England despite his return . +Fresh from being crowned World Cup champions, Australia have announced their 17-man squad to face England in the Ashes this summer. Alastair Cook and Co face a daunting prospect in trying to reclaim the urn they surrendered with such a whimper last year, especially with pace men Mitchell Starc and last year's danger man Mitchell Johnson in their prospective bowling line-up. Here, Sportsmail's cricket expert Lawrence Booth assesses the intimidating Australian squad man-by-man. Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. James Faulkner . Age 24 . Caps 1 . Verdict Played his only Test to date at The Oval in 2013, where he got up England’s noses by accusing them of boring batting. A left-arm seam-bowling all-rounder, he can give the ball an almighty whack. James Pattinson . Age 24 . Caps 13 . Verdict Injuries have limited him since he burst on to the scene in 2011-12, but the talent is undeniable: tall, aggressive and fast, he should trouble England more than his brother, Darren, when playing for England in a single Test against South Africa in 2008. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Brad Haddin (wkt) Age 37 . Caps 63 . Verdict Australia’s second-most important cog in their 5-0 Ashes wheel in 2013-14, after Mitchell Johnson. His sledging from behind the stumps is considered the heartbeat of the team. Chris Rogers . Age 37 . Caps 20 . Verdict This will be his last hurrah in a late-blooming Test career. Calm, compact and the perfect foil for the exuberance of his opening partner Warner. Steve Smith (vice captain) Age 25 . Caps 26 . Verdict One of world cricket’s rising stars, he scored four tons in Australia’s recent home series against India. Will captain the side full-time after Clarke retires, and can burgle the odd wicket with his leg-spin. Nathan Lyon . Age 27 . Caps 39 . Verdict A steady off-spinner who troubled England’s right-handers during whitewash. But, really, they should have nothing to fear. Mitchell Starc . Age 25 . Caps 15 . Verdict Another left-arm seamer, and Man of the Tournament at the World Cup. His yorkers are as dangerous in Tests as they are in ODIs, and accuracy and pace have improved. Ryan Harris . Age 35 . Caps 27 . Verdict If he can drag his injury-laden body through one final series, Australia will be thrilled. He was an unsung star during their 3-0 defeat here two years ago, and produced the ball of the series to bowl Cook in Perth. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. Fawad Ahmed . Age 33 . Caps 20 . Verdict The Pakistan-born leg-spinner has played only three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games for Australia, so would represent a risk. But Australian leggies have done well in England before… . Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict: If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Mitchell Marsh . Age 23 . Caps 4 . Verdict A rangy all-rounder and younger brother of Shaun, Marsh stunned England during the World Cup with figures of 5 for 33 at Melbourne – despite having taken only six ODI wickets until then. His batting is the stronger suit. Peter Nevill . Age 29 . Caps 0 . Verdict Peter who? Nevill has been chosen as the reserve wicketkeeper behind his New South Wales team-mate Haddin, although he has also played as a specialist batsman for his state team. Unlikely to get a game unless Haddin breaks a finger. Adam Voges . Age 35 . Caps 0 . Verdict An outsider for a Test debut, but he knows English conditions well – Voges has spent time with Hampshire, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire – and bowls left-arm spin to complement his middle-order hitting. +Michael Clarke hit a supreme 74 as the departing Australian captain led his country to World Cup glory against New Zealand with a seven-wicket victory in Melbourne on Sunday. A crowd of 93,013 witnessed Australia claim their fifth world title as a match that promised so much ended up being incredibly one-sided. New Zealand were always looking for a miracle after being bowled out for a below-par 183 in 45 overs, despite 83 from Grant Elliott – as Mitchell Starc bowled Brendon McCullum for a duck in the first over. VIDEO Scroll down to watch highlights . Australia captain Michael Clarke lifts the World Cup after his country's seven-wicket victory against New Zealand . Australia's players spray champagne as they celebrate their convincing win at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday . The World Cup trophy is held aloft as Australia's players stand triumphant in front of a record crowd of 93,013 . Australian captain Clarke holds aloft the World Cup (left) and receives a kiss from his wife Kyly (right) Shane Watson (left) and Steve Smith celebrate after securing victory in the World Cup final against New Zealand . Australia's players sprint on to the field after beating rivals New Zealand by seven wickets at Melbourne Cricket Ground . Australia captain Michael Clarke (right) shakes hands with Brendon McCullum after being dismissed for 74 . New Zealand's players look dejected after their disappointing innings cost them the chance of glory in Melbourne . In response, Clarke and Steve Smith shared a 112-run third-wicket partnership as Australia cruised to victory in 34 overs. McCullum called right at the toss and on a sun-bathed Melbourne Cricket Ground the New Zealand captain understandably chose to bat. So often the 33-year-old’s own innings sets the tempo of the Black Caps innings and on Sunday it was no different. Having come out swinging and twice been beaten, McCullum was bowled for a duck by a full, in-swinging Starc delivery that cannoned into off-stump. It sent the MCG crowd into a fit of delirium as a wicket fell in the first over in a World Cup final for the first time ever. Aggressive starts to matches with the bat has seen New Zealand boast an average run-rate of 7.70 in first 10 overs of their innings during this tournament but Australia’s early stranglehold on their opposition saw them make just 31 for one. Clarke’s inspired bowling change provided the next breakthrough as the impressive Glenn Maxwell bowled Martin Guptill (15) with just his second ball. And six balls later New Zealand were reduced to 39 for three as Kane Williamson departed for 12 having attempted to block the explosive Johnson but only succeeded in sending the ball straight back to the bowler. It was the perfect start for Australia and Clarke remained on the attack with two new New Zealand batsman at the crease. But Ross Taylor and semi-final hero Elliott steadied the ship and slowly began to rebuild, with the latter top-edging Starc for a 72-meter six into the leg side. The pair shared a 111-run fourth-wicket partnership and looked to have brought New Zealand back into the match only for the batting powerplay to spark a dramatic collapse. James Faulkner, who is quickly becoming one of the best powerplay and death bowlers, was brought back into the attack and immediately had Taylor caught behind for 40. The 24-year-old Tasmanian deceived the batsman with a slower ball and Brad Haddin took an exceptional low catch, diving to his right, with the ball dying on him. Two balls later the heavy-hitting Corey Anderson was sent back to the pavilion having failed to score as he was beaten for pace as the ball came back off his pads and shattered the stumps. A double-wicket maiden in a World Cup is impressive, a double-wicket maiden in a powerplay to induce a collapse is sensational and looked to be the potential match-winning moment. Five out quickly became six as wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi’s time at the crease lasted just six minutes as he edged Starc to Michael Clarke at first slip for a four-ball duck – the first two overs of the powerplay accounting for three wickets and just a single run. Meanwhile, Elliott – fresh from his semi-final match-winning unbeaten 84 - continued to time the ball sweetly as all those around him played as if they had never picked up a bat before. Australia captain Michael Clarke plays a shot as he helps his country to victory in the World Cup final against New Zealand . Batsman David Warner watches one of his shots as Australia close in on victory at Melbourne Cricket Ground . Mitchell Starc (left) celebrates with his Australia team-mates after taking the wicket of Luke Ronchi . New Zealand's Trent Boult (right) looks on as Warner (centre) sees a shot reach the boundary . Australia's Steve Smith attempts an acrobatic catch after a shot from New Zealand's Grant Elliott . And, whereas Clarke’s one-day international swansong was going to plan Daniel Vettori could only muster nine before a full in-swinging yorker from Johnson hit the 36-year-old’s pad and rattled onto the stumps. New Zealand were crumbling and Elliott having effortlessly moved to 83 became Faulkner’s third victim of the afternoon as he mistimed his shot and an outside edge was gleefully taken by Haddin. When needed most, the Black Caps tail failed to wag and the final wicket run-out perfectly summed up both side’s days up to that point. Boult defended a short Johnson ball to Maxwell at short leg and in a single move the allrounder picked up the ball and hit the non-striker’s stumps. Tim Southee’s bat stuck in the ground and he was run-out, as New Zealand stumbled to 183 all out. It was telling that Australia leaked just 12 fours and three sixes against such a fierce and deep batting line-up and added further proof of their remarkable day in the field. Early wickets were going to be vital if New Zealand were going to make their first World Cup final they have featured in competitive and their best bowler, Boult, delivered. New Zealand's Martin Guptill walks off the field after being dismissed by Australia's Glenn Maxwell . Starc celebrates after taking the wicket of Brendon McCullum during a disappointing day for New Zealand . Steve Smith helps Australia regain control after the early wicket of Aaron Finch in Melbourne . New Zealand's Ross Taylor is left on the turf after dropping a potential catch following a shot from Warner . New Zealand's Grant Elliott bats on his way to 83 - the highest score by any player during the Black Caps' innings . Both Australia and New Zealand stand for the national anthems at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday . Aaron Finch attempting to push a fuller ball off his legs only succeeded in hitting the ball into his pads, up into the air and into the waiting Boult’s hands. The Kiwi fans, silent for large parts of the first innings, were now making themselves heard but David Warner soon quieted them once again. Warner found the boundary seven times in his 45 off 46-balls before Matt Henry claimed his first wicket of the World Cup having batsman caught at deep square leg, attempting to pull the ball. The loss of the second Australian wicket put McCullum back into an aggressive mindset and Clarke was welcomed to the field with seven catchers and only one man outside the 30-yard circle. But the right-handed batsman was equal to the task and having passed fifty he smacked Southee for four successive fours before chopping on a slower ball from Henry, having made 74 off 72-balls. And, Smith (56 not out) hit his fifth consecutive half-century as the MCG erupted in jubilation as the celebrations begun. It was a disappointing end for New Zealand who had been brilliant with the bat and ball and in the field throughout the World Cup. But the day and night belonged to the Australians who once again were crowned as the best one-day team in the world. +Dark sunglasses were the order of the day for Australia's triumphant cricket team on Monday as they paraded the World Cup trophy to hundreds of fans at a public reception after a night of heavy partying at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. With voices hoarse and complexions pasty after a few snatched hours of sleep, players grinned and sometimes grimaced as their team mates battled to communicate their elation to a relentless MC and a large media throng. 'A little hungover,' Australia's retiring one-day captain Michael Clarke said at Melbourne's Federation Square, when asked how he felt a day after his team's crushing seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the final. Australia captain Michael Clarke holds aloft the Cricket World Cup trophy alongside his team-mates as thousands of jubilant fans thronged Federation Square in Melbourne to celebrate Sunday's triumph over New Zealand . Clarke made his final one-day international appearance at the MCG on Sunday, leading Australia to a seven wicket win over New Zealand . Under cloudless skies in Melbourne, Clarke and Australia marked a fifth World Cup triumph after successes in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007 . Green and gold confetti showered the players as they showed off the trophy in Federation Square . 'I think I speak for everybody in that sense. 'No, look, I think we're extremely proud. The fact there was a lot of expectation and added pressure put on us at the start of the tournament being a home World Cup was something we embraced from the first ball of the tournament. 'And I think the boys should be really proud of what we've achieved.' Clarke enjoyed a fairytale finish to his one-day career, hitting a team-high score of 74 in front of a record crowd of over 93,000 and making bowling changes that led to immediate wickets. Australia have yet to name a successor but Steve Smith, who led the test team against India and enjoyed a fine World Cup with the bat, is expected to take the reins. '(Clarke) was a great captain. He's been an aggressive captain on the field, sets aggressive fields. He's got to be somebody that we'll definitely miss,' Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson told reporters. David Warner (left) signs autographs for the huge assembled crowd as Australia once again claimed cricket's biggest prize . Mitchell Starc was one of many Australian players who donned sunglasses after a heavy night of partying following Sunday's win . Warner is all smiles as he goes into the sea of green and gold to sign a few autographs for delighted fans . Wearing their winner's medals around their necks, the Australia team share a joke on stage as they reflect on their triumph . Shane Watson grins as he signs autographs for lucky fans in sunny Melbourne, scene of Australia's fifth World Cup victory . Australia have now won four of the last five World Cups, their quarter-final loss to eventual champions India at the 2011 tournament the only interruption to their dominion over one-day cricket dating back to 1999 in England. Along with Clarke, who will continue to captain the test side, a number of seasoned players are likely to have played their last World Cups, including Johnson, all-rounder Shane Watson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. But Australia will be able to retain the bulk of their squad and such is their record of regeneration and innovation, they will back themselves to defend their title in England in 2019. Left-arm seamer and player of the tournament Mitchell Starc, already a frightful prospect for most batsmen, is 25 and can only get better if his fitness allows. Mitchell Starc, who was named the Player of the Tournament, poses with the trophy and two Emirates stewardesses . Steve Smith, who saw Australia home with a half-century on Sunday, poses for a selfie with smiling fans during the celebrations . Starc allows fans a closer look at the handsome Cricket World Cup trophy, which now bears Australia's name for the fifth time . Glenn Maxwell poses for a selfie with fans to add to his collection as the party gets into full swing in Melbourne . Captain Michael Clarke lifts the World Cup trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday after Australia's seven-wicket success . Fireworks explode above the MCG as Australia receive the trophy amid a shower of confetti on Sunday . Steve Smith (right) and Shane Watson celebrate after the former knocks off the winning runs to seal Australia's triumph . He will not be short for quality fast bowling company, with Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Faulkner all under 26, not to mention a fit James Pattinson, who missed selection for the World Cup by dint of a lack of preparation after a long battle with injury. Australia may not want for batsmen either, with David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Smith all easily young enough for a tilt at back-to-back trophies. Though the personnel will be important, Australia's drive to remain top of the heap will be essential as teams plot their downfall over the next four years. Opening batsman Warner laid any doubts about that quality to rest. 'Our goal is to be number one in all formats,' he said. Coach Darren Lehmann posted this picture of the Australian celebrations continuing into the early hours in Melbourne . Lehmann wrote 'still going with the Kings and going hard' as he posted this picture of the players marking the sunrise . Some of the players took the opportunity to read about themselves in the morning papers as the partying continued through the night . The partying was reminiscent of England's after winning the Ashes in 2005, enjoyed especially by Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen . +Record-breaking former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has announced his retirement from international cricket. The 36-year-old has called time on a career that has included 113 Test matches, 295 one-day internationals and 34 T20Is. His last appearance for his country came in Sunday's World Cup final against Australia in Melbourne, where New Zealand suffered a seven-wicket defeat. Daniel Vettori (centre) has retired from international cricket after his World Cup campaign for New Zealand . Vettori (right) was named in the ICC Team of the Tournament for the World Cup for taking 15 wickets . Vettori's last international game for New Zealand came in the World Cup final, which was lost to Australia . He told reporters at Auckland airport: 'It was my last game for New Zealand, in the final, so it was a lovely way to finish. 'Obviously it would have been great to win, but I'm pretty proud of everyone, the way we've gone about things the last six weeks.' The left-arm spinner, who was named in the ICC team of the tournament after taking 15 wickets, added : 'To be able to finish in the final, albeit without a win, I'm just very grateful for the amount of support I had, particularly from Brendon (captain McCullum) and Mike (coach Hesson). 'To be able to get back from a number of injuries and to be here and to be part of it, and hopefully to be a big contributing factor, is something I'll always treasure.' Vettori became New Zealand's youngest-ever Test player when he made his debut against England in February 1997 at the age of 18 and went on to take 361 wickets in the format, leaving him second in the country's all-time list behind Sir Richard Hadlee (431). Vettori is only one of three men to have scored 4,000 Test runs and taken 300 Test wickets, along with Sir Ian Botham and Kapil Dev. His ODI bow came a month later against Sri Lanka and his final tally of 297 wickets is a Black Caps record, with Kyle Mills second on the list with 240 scalps. Vettori (right) is one of three players in Test history who has scored 4,000 runs and taken 3,000 wickets . Vettori captained New Zealand in all three formats of cricket and made his debut when he was 18 . Vettori (right) holds the record for Test and ODI appearances but has quit at the age of 36 . The Auckland-born spinner, who captained New Zealand in all three formats, also holds the record for the most Test (112) and ODI (291) appearances for New Zealand. He also played one Test and four ODIs for the ICC World XI in 2005, taking nine wickets in total. Vettori, who has played for Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire in county cricket, is the head coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. +Pakistan have named Azhar Ali as captain for one-day cricket after ignoring the middle-order batsman for the Cricket World Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarter-final. Ali, who played the last of his 14 one-day internationals in 2013, replaces Misbah-ul-Haq, who has retired from ODIs. Misbah will continue to lead in test matches, where Ali will be vice-captain. Azhar Ali is the new Pakistan one-day captain, despite being overlooked for the Cricket World Cup . Ali (left) was also announced as vice-captain of the test team for Pakistan on Monday . Misbah-ul-Haq (right) has retired from ODIs following Pakistan's World Cup exit at the quarter-final . Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed was named as vice-captain for ODIs and will also be Shahid Afridi's deputy in Twenty20s. Former test batsman Haroon Rasheed will be the new chief selector, with Kabir Khan - who has coached Afghanistan - included in the four-member selection panel. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan says captain and coaches will have no voting rights in selection and can only give their suggestions to the selection committee. +The famous weathervane at the Home of Cricket has been damaged during high winds over the weekend. Father Time, who sits above the Mound Stand at Lord's, has been bent almost 90 degrees by strong wind in London. Weekend gales in St John's Wood have knocked the deathly steel figure parallel to the ground, but mercifully still in his elevated roof-top position with scythe and bail on stumps intact. The Father Time weathervane at Lord's has been bent almost 90 degrees by high winds . The famous weathervane has been at Lord's since 1926 after it was presented to the MCC . Father Time is one of the famous features at Lord's and staff are working to get it back to normal . Staff from Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord's, are working with specialists to restore it to its original position as soon as possible. Lord's is due to host its first game of the season on Sunday, April 12 when Middlesex entertain Nottinghamshire in the LV= County Championship. This is not the first time the weathervane has fallen foul of the elements, back in 1992 it was struck by lightning and the subsequent repairs were featured on children's TV show Blue Peter. Father Time was given to MCC in 1926 by the architect of the Lord's Grand Stand, Sir Herbert Baker. During World War II, it was wrenched from its original perch when it became entangled in the steel cable of a barrage balloon. Staff set about trying to repair and restore Father Time to it's original glory . Father Time tweeted to say he had been diagnosed with copper damage and will be undergoing treatment . It was reattached to the top of the Grand Stand where it sat until 1996 when it was relocated to the Mound Stand. The symbolism of the figure derives from Law 16(3) of the Laws of Cricket: 'After the call of Time, the bails shall be removed from both wickets.' But he has, as his name indicates, moved with the times - and tweets these days on behalf of Lord's Cricket Ground, including an update on his latest mishap. The two posts read: 'NEWS: I've was felled by high winds last night! Ouch! 'Apologies for my poor grammar in the previous tweet - but I'm not feeling my best after being damaged last night!' Father Time later tweeted: 'I've been diagnosed with copper damage and will be undergoing treatment ASAP.' +Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will have to pull off the seemingly impossible to avoid being sacked, believes Jamie Carragher. Sportsmail columnist Carragher feels Pellegrini must try to emulate what Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc did against Chelsea in the Champions League if he is to save his job. City travel to Barcelona 2-1 down from the first leg and it could take something similar to PSG's heroics at Stamford Bridge for Pellegrini to avoid going the same way as Roberto Mancini in 2013. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini may have to pull off the seemingly impossible to avoid the sack . Pellegrini poses with the Premier League trophy in May 2014 after guiding City to the title . Roberto Mancini (left) won the Premier League in 2012 but was sacked the season after . Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher feels Pellegrini must try to do what PSG manager Laurent Blanc did . Mancini was dismissed a year after winning the Barclays Premier League title and Pellegrini has told Sportsmail he recognises his challenge for this season is to repeat the trick or do better in Europe. Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports, said: 'I think he's got a big problem in terms of his job because you only have to look at the owners and how they dealt with Mancini - a man who won the league, I think he won the FA Cup. Pellegrini won a domestic cup and the league in his first season. 'The exact same thing is happening. They're just drifting in that second season. I think he's going to need a result like Laurent Blanc got. 'I think Laurent Blanc saved his job at Paris Saint-Germain in that Chelsea game. I think he's going to need something like that on Wednesday night in the Nou Camp to stay there at the club.' City meet Barcelona on Wednesday night having lost 2-1 in their opening leg at the Etihad, where former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez scored twice and Gael Clichy was sent off. PSG manager Blanc hugs David Luiz after pulling off the seemingly impossible against Chelsea . Blanc applauds the travelling PSG supporters after his 10-man team saw off Chelsea at Stamford Bridge . +They reached the FA Cup quarter-final under the radar - escaping attention with victories over Huddersfield, Cardiff and Derby County in the early rounds. Next month a convey of cars and buses will make the 37-mile trip down the M4 to watch Steve Clarke’s team play the mighty Arsenal in an FA Cup semi-final. Reading are back on the map now. This was a brutal destruction by The Royals, as close as it comes to a complete tactical masterclass at this level of the game. They were ruthless against Bradford. Reading players mob goalscorer Garath McCleary during the home side's 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final replay victory against Bradford . Hal Robson-Kanu (right) finds space inside the Bradford City penalty area and directs his header towards goal . The Reading striker prepares to wheel away in celebration after watching his header fly past  Bradford goalkeeper Ben Williams . Reading (4-4-2): Federici 6.5; Gunter 7, Pearce 7, Hector 7, Obita 7; McCleary 8 (Norwood 86'), Williams 7.5, Chalobah 7.5, Robson-Kanu 7.5 (Blackman 86'); Mackie 7.5, Pogrebnyak 7.5 (Yakubu 89') Subs not used: Cox, Karacan, Andersen, Cooper . Booked: Williams . Goals: Robson-Kanu 6', McCleary 9', Mackie 69 . Manager: Steve Clake 7.5 . Bradford (4-2-3-1): Williams 6; Darby 6, McArdle 6, Sheehan 6, Meredith 6.5; Halliday 6 (Yeates 59, 5.5), Knott 6.5 (Dolan 73'); Hanson 6, Morais 5, Liddle 5; Hanson 6; Stead 5 (Clarke 59, 5.5). Subs not used: Clarke, Zoko, MacKenzie, Routis, Urwin . Booked: Sheehan, Meredith, Knott . Sent off: Morais . Manager: Phil Parkinson 6.5 . MOM: McCleary . Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire) Att: 22, 908 . Player ratings by NEIL ASHTON at the Madejski Stadium . Good for Clarke and his assistant Kevin Keen, the men who controversially changed all 11 players for their 4-1 defeat at Watford last Saturday. Who will remember that score now? ‘We sneaked in under the radar, but I’ll be more excited about an FA Cup semi-final nearer the time,’ revealed a dead-pan Clarke. It was hardly champagne popping stuff, but that is Clarke’s nature after a coaching career that has also taken him to Newcastle, Chelsea and West Brom. He left the celebrations to the fans. By the end this place was raucous, with jubilant Reading supporters spilling on to the pitch at the final whistle. A spine-tingling opening ten minutes had seen a goal from former Arsenal trainee Hal Robson-Kanu and another from winger Garath McCleary put Reading in command. Jamie Mackie’s strike in the 68th minute was reward for his endeavour, a fabulous finish after locking on to Nathaniel Chalobah’s delayed pass. By then Bradford were down to ten men, chasing shadows after Filipe Morais was sent off for raking his studs down the body of Chalobah. Silly boy. The sharpest minds were in Reading’s team, with the soothing voice of captain Alex Pearce at the back containing and nullifying the threat of Jon Stead and James Hanson. On a night like this you have to feel for Bradford’s fans, delayed in traffic for hours on the way to the Madejski Stadium. In the end Phil Parkinson’s team never got out of first gear. ‘Are you Chelsea in disguise?’ sang Bradford’s fans, hoping beyond hope for a comeback similar to the one they experienced at Stamford Bridge last month. It was there that they beat Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea 4-2, recording one of the greatest FA shocks of all time. They needed one more super-human effort, calling on Gary Liddle, Billy Knott, Stead and Hanson to provide the resistance against this rampant Reading team. They could not cope. Reading went in front after six minutes and it is here that the romance begins for Robson-Kanu as he prepares to play his former club on the game’s biggest stage. The winger was released from Arsenal in 2004, the year the Invincibles went an entire season unbeaten on the way to clinching the Premier League title. Robson-Kanu jumps for joy following his early header which set Reading on their way to an easy victory . Garath McCleary's looping effort in the ninth-minute proves too much for Williams as Reading take a 2-0 lead . The 27-year-old sprints towards the corner flag as he makes the most of putting Reading into an early 2-0 lead . Chris Gunter joins McCleary as the pair hit the floor during the early stages of the FA Cup quarter-final replay . Chelsea loanee Nathaniel Chalobah congratulates the Reading winger on his ninth-minute strike . Bradford boss Phil Parkinson (left) shouts instructions to his side and Steve Clarke makes notes during the first half . The Bantams were reduced to 10-men after this high challenge from midfielder Filipe Morais (left) Referee Mike Jones brandishes a straight red card to Morais as Chalobah (right) looks on from the turf . Reading vs Arsenal . Aston Villa vs Blackburn/Liverpool . The games will be played over the weekend of April 18 and 19. Here nobody could touch Robson-Kanu and he beat Bradford captain Stephen Darby at the near post to put Reading in front with a terrific header from eight yards. The place erupted as Reading took control. Three minutes later they scored again. McCleary darted in from the right and when his shot took a deflection off the leg of Andy Halliday, the ball looped beyond the hands of Bradford keeper Ben Williams. It shattered Parkinson’s dreams, his formation splintered by the class of Danny Williams and Chalobah in the centre of Reading’s midfield. Next month’s semi-final is another chance to shine, as Clarke prepares for Wembley’s wide open spaces with a team that is tactically cute and comfortable in possession. Reading have been to Wembley for play-off finals, but it is 88 years since they played in an FA Cup semi-final. This is Arsenal’s specialist competition — winning the trophy five times under Arsene Wenger and making Wembley a second home. When the Royals arrive, they will deserve the red carpet treatment. The Portuguese midfielder looks on in frustration following his red card which left Braford with a mountain to climb . Jamie Mackie (left) fires home from a wide angle to give his side a 3-0 lead against 10-man Bradford . Former Queens Park Rangers striker Mackie celebrates in front of the Readin faithful after sealing victory . The Reading players charge towards Mackie (centre) following his 68th-minute strike . The Bradford player look dejected as Reading take a commanding 3-0 lead at the Madejski Stadium on Monday night . The second half was interrupted by a pitch invader, who looked to get the better of several stewards before being taken off . Jones collects a plastic water bottle which was thrown onto the pitch by Bradford fans during the second half . Play was temporarily halted during the second-half as several missiles were thrown onto the Madejski Stadium turf . Thousands of the Reading faithful ran onto the pitch after watching their team secure an FA Cup semi-final clash against Arsenal . One Reading fan holds a blue flare aloft as the home supporters celebration their team's 3-0 FA Cup victory . +Gary Lineker took a cheeky swipe at Bradford City as Phil Parkinson's side fell to a 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final replay defeat against Reading on Monday night. The BBC has come in for criticism after overlooking the League One club despite their stunning upset of Chelsea in the last 32. Bradford's Twitter account also posted a tweet aimed at Lineker and fellow BBC presenter Mark Chapham following the club's 2-0 giant killing against Sunderland in the next round. Gary Lineker aimed a cheeky tweet in Bradford's direction during the FA Cup quarter-final replay . Lineker and Mark Chapam were subject to a cheeky tweet from Bradford City following their last FA Cup win . Along with a 'Bradford 1-0 BBC' image, the Bantams tweeted: 'See you in the next round @GaryLineker @markchapman Don't stand us up this time....' And with Bradford finally being given their time to shine with live coverage on BBC One, Lineker joked that he wasn't sure why the Bantams had made 'such a fuss'. He tweeted: 'Not sure why Bradford made such a fuss about not being on the BBC.' First-half goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Garath McCleary gave the home side an impressive early lead before Jamie Mackie added a third goal to set up a Wembley semi-final against holders Arsenal. Garath McCleary (left) wheels away in celebration after giving Reading an early 1-0 lead . The Bradford players looked dejected after conceding the third and final goal . +A mother-of-two stabbed her husband in the neck after finding naked photos of another woman on his phone, police say. Jasmine Teltow, 21, was reportedly looking through the 34-year-old victim's album at home in Dos Palos, California, when she spotted the images. After a brief argument, she seized a kitchen knife and drove it into his neck, it is reported. Jasmine Teltow, pictured here in a Merced California booking photo, alleged make a discovery on her husband's phone over the weekeend . Outburst:  The mother of two, 21, is charged with driving a knife into her husband's neck after finding naked photos of another woman on his cell phone picture album. He was rushed to hospital and survived . The victim was transported to a hospital in Modesto with non-life-threatening injuries, ABC30 reported. He has since been released. Charged with attempted murder, Teltow remains in custody on a $500,000 bail. Their two children, aged one and four, have been taken in by social care. Investigators told the Associated Press they are also seeking domestic violence charges. Investigators are also seeking domestic violence charges and both Teltow's children are now in social care . +Fiorentina piled on the misery for AC Milan by scoring twice in the last 10 minutes as they came from behind to win 2-1 and put more pressure on Filippo Inzaghi's team on Monday. A superb brace from Felipe Anderson gave Lazio a 2-0 win at Torino which took them clear of Napoli in third place, the Champions League playoff spot, in another of Monday's games. Monday's defeat at Fiorentina heaped more pressure on Filippo Inzaghi . Fiorentina's winning goal came after chaotic scenes at the Artemio Franchi stadium where the referee went off injured and the teams kept playing before he had been replaced, apparently unaware there was nobody in charge of the match. In driving rain, Mattia Destro put Milan ahead against the run of play when he diverted Giacomo Bonaventura's shot into the net from 12 metres in the 56th minute. Milan, who conceded a 95th minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Verona in their previous game, held on until Gonzalo Rodriguez headed in Joaquin's cross with seven minutes left. Gonzalo Rodriguez headed in Joaquin's cross to level in the 83rd minute against Milan . Joaquin scored the winner for Fiorentina with a header in the 89th minute . Referee Carmine Russo was replaced by the fourth official amid confusion shortly afterwards. Milan, joint tenth with 35 points from 27 games, appeared to lose concentration and allowed Joaquin to score the winner with another header in the 89th minute. Milan coach Inzaghi, whose future is the subject of speculation after almost every draw or defeat, left the pitch looking thoroughly soaked and miserable. The seven-times European champions have won two out of 11 league games since the winter break. Mattia Destro had put Milan ahead against the run of play against Fiorentina . Fiorentina's Gonzalo Rodriguez, left, fights for the ball with AC Milan's Mattia Destro . Anderson set Lazio on their way to a fifth successive league win when he dribbled past three defenders and fired past Daniele Padelli in the 71st minute in a run that began near the halfway line. The Brazilian struck again from Miroslav Klose's pass seven minutes later to take Lazio third with 49 points, with Napoli fourth on 46 and Fiorentina on 45. +Juan Mata has described Manchester United's impressive opening 45 minutes against Tottenham as 'arguably our best half of the season'. The Spanish playmaker, who was included in Louis van Gaal's starting line-up to face Tottenham after being named on the substitutes' bench for Manchester United's last seven games, was part of the side which raced into a 3-0 lead after just 34 minutes. And Mata, writing in his weekly blog, has said he was extremely pleased with his side's style of play during the opening exchanges of Sunday's match at Old Trafford. Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata was delighted with his side's first-half display against Tottenham . The Red Devils raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals by Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . United are currently fourth in the Premier League . 'It was a very important victory in order to finish in the top four, since Tottenham are also in the same race. It was arguably our best first half of the season. 'In those 45 minutes we got three goals and we could have scored some more. The team played with a fast, intense and vertical style, also pressing on Spurs’ half of the pitch. 'I was very happy for the fans after the disappointment in the FA Cup against Arsenal last Monday. 'The best way to recover was by playing a good game and winning for the fans, and that’s what we gave to them - to you - against Tottenham, a very good team that we managed to neutralise.' The 26-year-old has called on his team-mates to maintain their focus during United's final nine Premier League games of the season and lavished praise on the Old Trafford crowd. He added: 'We must focus on each of the remaining games, and they are not many, in order to achieve our goal which is to bring the Champions League back to Old Trafford. Mata was delighted with the reception he received from the Old Trafford faithful on Sunday afternoon . 'Some of our rivals are also fighting for the same but I hope this win against Tottenham will give us confidence to perform at our highest level. 'I heard your applause and I want to thank you for that. Ever since my first day as a United player I felt the love from Old Trafford and I want you to know that it helps a lot when you play. 'Your applause when I was substituted and on my way to the dressing room is something I will never forget.' +After little more than an hour of a match that was proving difficult for Liverpool, Jordan Henderson removed the captain’s armband from his left bicep and handed it to Steven Gerrard. He did so out of respect. He did so because he recognises that a player who only joined this contest as a second-half substitute remains arguably the finest to have represented the club. But four minutes after the exchange of that iconic piece of elastic came a moment when Gerrard might have felt it appropriate to hand it back. Jordan Henderson scored a second-half winner for Liverpool as they continued their impressive recent form . Henderson runs off to celebrate his winner that moved Liverpool within two points of the Premier League's top four . A delighted Henderson let out a roar for the Liverpool fans in the Liberty Stadium . Henderson's shot was deflected over the top of Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski's head and into the back of the net . Henderson was mobbed by his team-mates after scoring what proved to be the winner in Wales . Swansea: Fabianski 6, Naughton 6.5, Amat 7, Williams 7, Taylor 6.5, Ki 6 (Dyer 80), Cork 6.5, Shelvey 7, Gomis 7.5, Sigurdsson 7 (Emnes 89), Routledge 6 (Montero 73). Subs Not Used: Britton, Nelson Oliveira, Rangel, Tremmel. Liverpool: Mignolet 8, Can 6.5, Skrtel 8.5, Sakho 7, Lallana 6 (Johnson 88), Henderson 7.5, Allen 7, Moreno 6 (Gerrard 64, 6.5), Sterling 5.5, Sturridge 5, Coutinho 7. Subs Not Used: Jones, Toure, Lovren, Lambert, Markovic. Booked: Henderson, Sterling, Moreno. Goals: Henderson 68. Att: 20,828 . Man of the match: Skrtel. Ref: Roger East (Wiltshire) RATINGS BY DOMINIC KING . Jordan Henderson, whose heat map is shown above, produced another commanding performance in Liverpool's midfield - CLICK HERE FOR MATCH ZONE . It was then, 68 minutes into this contest, that Henderson did something that has long been synonymous with Gerrard: he came to Liverpool’s rescue. If it lacked finesse, and owed more to good fortune, a winning goal that narrowed the gap to Manchester United in the fierce battle for Champions League places owed everything to Henderson’s desire and determination. It was an ugly goal, Jordi Amat’s attempted clearance spinning off Henderson’s shin and flying beyond the reach of Lukasz Fabianski. But it was Henderson who made the run in pursuit of Daniel Sturridge’s flick-on and Henderson, after a stuttering first half, who had given Liverpool impetus with his ambition and endeavour after the break. The goal was Henderson's third in the last three Premier League games after his strikes against Manchester City and Burnley . Liverpool recorded their fifth successive Premier League victory ahead of their huge clash against Manchester United on Sunday . Henderson clattered into Shelvey with this kick to the head after just 16 seconds but Roger East opted not to even book him. If Gerrard had an impact, it was his deployment as a holding midfielder that allowed Henderson to get forward. And the fact the goal came so soon after Gerrard’s first appearance in eight games reflected well, once again, on Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers deserves enormous credit for the run of results Liverpool are enjoying. It is now 13 games unbeaten since they lost at Old Trafford in December and six away from home in the league without conceding a goal, an achievement that equals the club record set by Emlyn Hughes and Co in 1972. Rodgers has succeeded where some of his counterparts have failed in addressing the problems of a struggling side. It has been tactically astute leadership. But Rodgers also needed players to step out of Gerrard’s shadow and prove they can survive without him. Nobody has met that challenge with more authority than a young midfielder in Henderson now reflecting on three goals in Liverpool’s last three games. The pressure was on here with Sunday’s game against United at Anfield and a trip to Arsenal to follow. And against a Swansea side displaying a find blend of ambition and graft under the guidance of Garry Monk, Liverpool struggled in that opening 45 minutes. Monk might have been the managerial apprentice but Rodgers would have recognised how well Swansea’s players had mastered their boss’s instructions. They were excellent, using the pace and power of Bafetimbi Gomis to good effect. Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet makes a full-stretch save to deny Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson a goal in the first half . Liverpool's Belgian goalkeeper Mignolet had to make a number of important stops in the first half as Swansea piled on the pressure . Swansea midfielder Wayne Routledge evades a challenge from Liverpool midfielder Henderson . Liverpool, by contrast, were disappointing, with Henderson among those losing possession far too cheaply. Gerrard brought much-needed composure to Liverpool’s midfield. Given how well Liverpool had been playing, the decision to omit Gerrard from the line-up was understandable. He had been injured, after all. And Liverpool started with their usual intensity, the pressing game that is designed to dominate their opponents and stop them playing. But Swansea were managing to attack effectively on the counter, with Gomis accelerating past Emre Can only for Joe Allen to make an important interception. In the end Ki Sung-Yueng had a real chance to score but his header was weak and cleared by the outstanding Martin Skrtel. Liverpool's Raheem Sterling takes on Swansea left back Neil Taylor at the Liberty Stadium . Henderson hands the captain's armband to Steven Gerrard after he came off the bench for Liverpool in the second half . Henderson looks set to be in charge of the armband for the long term when Gerrard leaves Anfield at the end of the season . Gerrard made a return from injury as he came on in the second half of the Premier League clash in south Wales . VIDEO Monk rues missed chances . Liverpool have kept six straight away clean sheets in the top-flight for the third time in their history, and the first since 1972. The other run came in 1966. Skrtel would make another headed clearance to deny Gomis, who had escaped the clutches of the Liverpool back four to meet a cross from Kyle Naughton with a better header. Swansea were dominating possession and Gomis was proving a proper threat. A neat one-two with Routledge and he was through on goal with only Simon Mignolet to beat, but much to Monk’s dismay his shot was scuffed and Liverpool’s goalkeeper made the save. An effort from Philippe Coutinho aside — it was gathered neatly by Fabianski — Liverpool offered little in response. Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge tries to wriggle away from a challenge from Swansea's Jack Cork . Swansea's Sung-Yueng Ki drifts away from Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, who loses his footing . Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel clears the ball under pressure from Swansea centre back Ashley Williams . Swansea were offering plenty, Mignolet making a hugely impressive diving save to deny Gylfi Sigurdsson before Adam Lallana diverted a powerful strike from Jonjo Shelvey to safety with a courageous header. But after the interval Liverpool were better — there was more urgency, more composure, with Henderson very much at the centre of things, even if the arrival of Gerrard from the bench was important. That gave Henderson freedom to bomb on and in the 68th minute he chased a fine ball forward from Skrtel that was diverted into the Swansea box by Sturridge. Sigurdsson attempts a shot from distance for Swansea as Joe Allen and Mamadou Sakho attempt to close him down . Amat and Henderson gave chase, with Amat winning the race but not the contest. It was tough on Swansea and Monk. Rodgers would have admired his former student for the way he prepared his team. Until Henderson’s goal, they looked the more likely winners. But Liverpool, rather like Henderson at that crucial moment, have what teams need come the business end of the season: momentum. So much so that they almost scored again moments before the final whistle, Sturridge sending his shot against a post. +Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on Shinji Kagawa by calling the former Manchester United midfielder 'the sausage in a sandwich'. Klopp decided to bring Kagawa back to the Bundesliga in the summer after the 25-year-old failed to settle into life at Old Trafford. However Kagawa appears to have had no such trouble impressing his manager since returning to Westfalenstadion despite scoring just one league goal since completing a £6.3million move. VIDEO Scroll down to see Kagawa score on his return to Borussia Dortmund . Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on Japan international Shinji Kagawa . Kagawa sealed a move back to Dortmund after failing to hold down a first-team spot at Manchester United . Klopp, speaking to Uefa's official website, said: 'Shinji is someone who moves so well in the most difficult areas of the pitch, between the two lines of four. 'It's like he is the sausage in a sandwich, because players are coming from all sides.' The 47-year-old German tactician went on to hail Marco Reus for deciding to reject a big-money move to the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. Klopp added: 'Just how important Marco is, you could see from the extension of his contract. With such a top player, and with our history [financially], you would think a player of his calibre would leave the club at some point. 'But even though the whole world wanted him, he said: "I'm staying here". 'I think that was an extraordinary act at such a young age and not normal, so that's why I think he is a great player and a great lad.' Klopp has stated his delight at Marco Reus' decision to extend his stay at the Bundesliga outfit . +Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud believes he is playing some of the best football of his career and insists he is unfazed by any accusations of inconsistency. The Frenchman's brace against Newcastle on Saturday brought his seasonal tally to 17 goals in 26 appearances so far, as The Gunners remain on course to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League. Giroud told RMC Sport, 'Since I have been at Arsenal, this is perhaps my best period. I have to continue like that.' Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud (right) celebrates his second goal against Newcastle United at St James' Park . The Frenchman loses his marker, Newcastle defender Mike Williamson (centre), to score with a header . Newcastle defender Daryl Janmaat (left) jumps to win the ball from Giroud during the game at St James' Park . He continued, 'I scored 16 or 17 goals in the league last year. I would like to do better.' In addition to his own personal targets, Giroud is determined to help Arsenal to a strong end to the campaign and has not ruled out a late push for the title. 'Finishing second or third would be fine, although we will be hoping (league leaders) Chelsea slip up. Winning the FA Cup is also an objective. I continue my progress. I feel very well at Arsenal. It is important to continue to progress.' Giroud came under scrutiny recently after spurning two clear-cut chances in Arsenal's 3-1 defeat to Monaco in the Champions League, but the 28-year-old feels that he has answered his critics with his form since then. Giroud (left) beats Williamson (right) to score Arsenal's opening goal against Newcastle on Saturday . Giroud controls the ball ahead of the oncoming Jack Colback (left) and Williamson (right) at St James' Park . 'I did an interview last week before the match against Monaco. We had covered everything and the journalist said to me me: 'Giroud, this is not the same name as Sergio Aguero or Diego Costa'. I simply answered that a good striker lets his statistics speak.' He added, 'Obviously, it's was not at the good moment because I lacked efficiency in that game. I did a little teasing. But it's good to have shown mental strength to come back even stronger and prove that critics do not reach me.' Only Chelsea's Costa and Tottenham's Harry Kane have scored more than Giroud in the league this season and both have played over 500 minutes more game time. Giroud has scored 17 goals in 26 appearances for Arsenal this season and is not ruling out a late title push . +Lewis Hamilton, the winner of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, has told Formula One’s cynics that the rules of the sport should not be ripped up to slow him down. The world champion was replying to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who called on the FIA to limit the superiority of Hamilton’s Mercedes team to make the season a more even fight. Horner’s view was supported on Monday by Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial boss, who said: ‘Red Bull are 100 per cent right. Lewis Hamilton celebrates his Australian Grand Prix win after he finished ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg . The British Formula One star appeared in good spirits as he was pictured at Sydney Airport on Monday . ‘There is a rule I think (former FIA president) Max Mosley put in that in the event of a particular team or engine supplier doing something magic, which Mercedes have done, the FIA can level up things. Mercedes have done a first-class job. We need to change things a little bit now. ‘What we should have done was frozen the Mercedes engine and leave everybody else to do what they want so they could have caught up. We should support the FIA to make changes.’ The indications were that the FIA, the sport’s rule-makers, will not rush to act on Ecclestone’s words, which may have been intended primarily to soothe Red Bull, whose motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said they might walk away in light of rules that ‘will kill the sport’. Hamilton, celebrating his 34th career victory in Melbourne, detected an irony in Red Bull’s criticism. Also on the podium was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who, as a Red Bull driver, won four consecutive championships from 2010. On Sunday it was third-placed Vettel’s turn to finish more than half a minute behind Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton and Rosberg finished more than half-a-minute ahead of third-placed Sebastian Vettel on Sunday . Hamilton sprays champagne after winning the opening race of the year; his seventh win from the last eight . VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . Hamilton said: ‘I was sitting next to Sebastian after the race and I said: “Sebastian, you did this for four years. You were 30 seconds ahead. So I know how it must have felt back then.” ‘He had nobody behind pushing him. At least I’ve got my team-mate, who I was really racing. I don’t remember that ever being the case with Red Bull.’ Ouch, even though Mark Webber did sometimes push Vettel, and not all of the German’s championships were comfortable, with his first title coming down to a four-way decider in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton added: ‘If you want to put someone in the same car, there is no doubt where I would be finishing. People say it’s all the car. Well, it’s a big team that built this car. I’m the one who has to get in and extract the best from it. There has never been a driver that has won the championship that hasn’t had a great car that year. There’s nobody who had a Marussia and won the world championship, is there? Fangio still had a great car.’ Former Red Bull racer Mark Webber interviews his old boss Christian Horner ahead of Sunday's race . Horner's Red Bull have threatened to withdraw from the sport if changes are not implemented . Hamilton’s views will be shared by those who believe Mercedes should be allowed to reap the rewards for their hard work, but Red Bull’s Marko said: ‘We will evaluate the situation again in the summer. If we are totally dissatisfied, we could contemplate an F1 exit. ‘Yes, the danger is there that Mr Mateschitz (the owner) loses his passion for F1.’ Meanwhile, Ecclestone has said Manor must pay for not putting out a car in Melbourne. The team, who blamed software problems for not turning a wheel, believed they had met the terms of their contract and would collect £28million in prize money by turning up in Australia. But Ecclestone said: ‘They had no intention of racing. Zero.’ 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:31:54.067 . 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +00:01.360 . 3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 00:34.523 . 4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 00:38.196 . 5. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber - Ferrari 01:35.149 . 6. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Renault 1 lap . 7. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap . 8. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap . 9. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap . 10. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap . 11. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 2 laps . r. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 18 laps . r. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso - Renault 25 laps . r. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Mercedes 58 laps . r. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Mercedes 58 laps . r. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull - Renault 58 laps . r. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 58 laps . ns. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes . (rank: r = retired, nc = not classified, ns=not started) Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton,01:30.945, lap 50. +In seven years as Monaco boss Arsene Wenger was never once distracted by the lure of its famous casino. 'I spent a lot of time on the football pitches, I don't think anyone saw me in there,' said Wenger, as he arrived at the Stade Louis II on Monday night, aware that on his first competitive return to Monte Carlo he will be expected to gamble. Arsenal paid the price for taking risks in the first leg and lost 3-1. As a result history is stacked against them. In the Champions League era, no team has overturned a deficit of two or more goals having played at home first. Arsene Wenger knows he will be expected to gamble when he returns to Monaco for Tuesday night's match . Arsenal manager Wenger walks on the pitch at the Stade Louis II on Monday night ahead of their match . Arsenal will have to shine if they are to reverse the 3-1 deficit to reach the Champions League quarter-finals . Gabriel Paulista, Tomas Rosicky, Per Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil (from left to right) pictured during training on Monday . Delve back into the European Cup and Ajax were the last to manage it, when they needed a play-off to beat Benfica in 1969. Wenger was still playing for Mutzig in the French third division back then, and Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim was not yet born. 'The statistics are against us, we are conscious of that,' said the Arsenal boss. 'We have to give absolutely everything to make the stats lie. That's our desire. We believe we can do it and I'm confident we will. If we didn't believe we wouldn't be here. Football is not predictable. 'We totally missed the first leg, which was surprising. We did not play well. Sometimes in life if you miss a chance, you do not have a second chance, but we do, so we will play it fully.' But he would not commit to a gung-ho charge from the outset. 'Early goals or late goals but we need full power and must not forget the organisation and structure of the team,' he added. Disturbing stats lay behind the headline stat. Monaco have not lost a European tie at the Stade Louis II for 10 years. And they have not lost one at home by a score which would knock them out since Leeds won 3-0 here, nearly 20 years ago. Arsenal must score three and hope to keep Jardim's team at bay, something they were unable to do in London. Wenger has no shortage of creative flair at his disposal and backed France striker Olivier Giroud, who has scored six in seven, to make amends for chances missed at the Emirates Stadium. It might be easier if Monaco were not so miserly. But this team is built on a stern defence. They have conceded only once in the last 12 home games and did not let in a goal in three home Champions League group games. Despite all this, Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker echoed the idea that belief in the camp is strong, and has been improved by a team meeting in the aftermath of the first-leg defeat, three weeks ago. Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim speaks during his Champions League press conference on Monday . Jardim feels Arsenal still pose a threat even if Monaco carry a 3-1 lead from their first leg win at the Emirates . Monaco striker Dimitar Berbatov stretches as he joins the rest of his team-mates for a training session . Monaco train at their base in La Turbie in France as they prepare for the second leg against Arsenal . 'We have a second leg in this competition, thank God,' said Mertesacker. 'A lot of things went not so well in the first game, especially a few decisions which did not go for us. 'We know in the first leg we weren't up for it mentally. From the start you could feel that there was a bit of pressure and we couldn't cope. 'We feel like after that game we moved on and improved a lot. That is why we are confident that even away from home, we can beat any team in the world. 'Obviously we did something wrong to get that result but we can learn. We need a good performance. It is not going to be easy, but we would like to show a different face.' Arsenal vice-captain Mertesacker (right) joined Wenger at the press conference on Monday ahead of their tie . Mertesacker echoed Wenger's idea that belief in the camp is strong despite their 3-1 loss in the first leg . Monaco turned on the charm on Monday night. Vice-president Vadim Vasilyev met Wenger on his return to Stade Louis II and presented him with a framed collection of photographs to mark his time at the club. Wenger seemed more concerned about the state of the pitch and went out to inspect, even though his players had trained in England, earlier in the day. He came back with a positive pitch report. Arsenal's support in the 18,000-capacity stadium is expected to be boosted by their French fan-base, which is another by-product of the Wenger years, and they can cling to one positive statistic: the Londoners have not lost in 10 games in France. Even then, it might not be enough. 'Paris Saint-Germain knocked out Chelsea and showed the quality of work being done here in France,' Monaco boss Jardim warned. 'Who knows, this might be the year when France beat the English.' Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev presents Wenger with a framed collection of photographs on Monday . Wenger's seven years in Monaco saw him deliver the title in 1988 and the Coupe de France in 1991 . A younger-looking Wenger celebrates a goal in 1990 as he was given his chance as a young coach in Monaco . Wenger pictured in 1990 during a training session taken while he was manager of Monaco . +A Michigan man who was recently charged with possession of child pornography is now a 'person of interest' in his stepdaughter's murder. Family members and investigators believe James Turnquist, 47, has 'knowledge pertaining to' the death of Julia Niswender, according to the Ypsilanti Police Department. Niswender was suffocated and drowned in her bathtub in December 2012. James Turnquist, 47, is now a 'person of interest' in his stepdaughter's 2012 murder after he was arrested on February 26 for possession of child pornography . Lt. Deric Gress said Turnquist has yet to give police a formal account of where he was in the days leading up to Niswender's murder and is thus now a 'person of interest'. Turnquist previously spoke out against the way his stepdaughter's homicide case was being treated by police and told 7 Action News a few months ago that the family didn't 'like the way they are handling it'. Julia Niswender was suffocated and drowned in her bathtub in 2012 . No suspects have been named in Niswender's murder. Turnquist was arrested on February 26 and is now in jail on $100,000 bond for unrelated child pornography charges. He has been charged with one count of possessing sexually abusive material involving a child. Niswender's twin sister Jennifer has spoken in defense of her stepfather, who she says she is behind '100 per cent'. 'I have no idea why they're trying to link my dad to this case,' she told the Detroit Free Press. 'I feel like they have been kind of after him the entire time and we have no idea why.' Jennifer said Turnquist, who she called an 'awesome father figure', took both girls in when they were 10 years old. She added that he has passed two polygraph tests for the case and regularly meets with detectives. Julia's twin sister Jennifer said she stands by her stepfather '100 percent' and called him an 'awesome father figure' who took in both girls when they were 10 years old . +March 16, 2014. Liverpool travel away from Anfield for a game that will shape the destiny of their season and Brendan Rodgers' confidence is telling. 'If we beat them, they cannot do it,' Rodgers proclaims ahead of a trip to Old Trafford. He had just been asked what the consequences would be if Manchester United, who were trying desperately to keep pace in the race for the Champions League, lost to Liverpool. His words are backed up by a swaggering display, full of devilment, wit and counter-attacking menace. Manchester United are left punch-drunk by a 3-0 defeat that could have been even heavier, as Steven Gerrard – with two pressure penalties – and Luis Suarez ran amok. Steven Gerrard scored two penalties as Liverpool won 3-0 at Manchester United on March 16, 2014 . Luis Suarez (bottom) was also on the scoresheet as Liverpool built a 14-point gap over their arch-rivals . Liverpool headed home that afternoon with a 14-point gap over their rivals in the Barclays Premier League and had effectively destroyed any lingering hope that David Moyes had of commandeering a top four spot. It was a day when Rodgers saw his players make a massive statement of intent, a day that suggested there was a shift in the balance of power of this rivalry; leaving Old Trafford then, you felt it would be a long time before the deficit would be clawed back. Fast forward to March 16, 2015. Again Liverpool were away from Anfield for a vital fixture and again Rodgers' confidence in the build-up was telling but, this time, there was no performance of verve and invention to back up his pre-game message. There was, however, doggedness, determination and the result was just as crucial. Jordan Henderson's freak goal, coming after they had spent much of a rain-sodden night in South Wales riding their luck and defending for their lives, has set them up for another afternoon of destiny with their most bitter foe. Jordan Henderson scored a second-half winner for Liverpool as they won 1-0 at Swansea on Monday night . Henderson runs off to celebrate his winner that moved Liverpool within two points of the top four . Henderson's (right) shot was deflected over the top of Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and into the net . The goal was Henderson's (right) third in the last three Premier League games for Liverpool . No trophy will be presented at Anfield next Sunday but there is the sense that the winner of Liverpool and Manchester United's latest showdown will take all in relation to the final spot in next year's Champions League. It is going to be another day of reckoning. Do not underestimate how much Liverpool needed this result at the Liberty Stadium. They have stylishly worked their way into contention for the top four with a long unbeaten run but United's victory over Tottenham had threatened to alter the landscape. What if a loss in Wales and had then be follow up with a defeat at Anfield? Such a scenario would have left bleak consequences for Liverpool. Those result would have left them with an eight-point deficit and not enough time to claw it back, especially with some tricky assignments looming. As it is, they go into English football's Clasico brimming with confidence, two points behind United but ready to leapfrog Louis van Gaal's men. They will need to step up on what they produced against Swansea to topple United but Rodgers has a glint in his eye and faith in his team. Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge (centre) tries to wriggle away from a challenge from Swansea's Jack Cork . Liverpool might not have last year's electric swagger but they certainly know how to fight and, in some ways, the results they have put together since losing at Old Trafford on December 14 have been just as impressive as their unexpected title-charge. Nobody proved that determination more than Henderson, who emerged from a difficult first 45 minutes to keep on running and score the decisive goal, his challenge on Jordi Amat looping over Lukasz Fabianski's head to leave Rodgers' punching the air. Henderson keeps on producing these important moments. For all the noise that is being created around Raheem Sterling and his contract stand-off, the most pressing contractual issue Liverpool have is with their vice-captain. He has scored in each of his last three Premier League games and has led the team with distinction in Gerrard's absence. Young, hungry, talented English players like him are not ten-a-penny and it would be folly to let this drift. Liverpool should really get this business concluded. Raheem Sterling (left) runs at left back Neil Taylor during Monday's clash at the Liberty Stadium . Henderson (right) passes the armband to Steven Gerrard after he comes on as a second-half substitute . CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to FA Cup . +He was the best-paid footballer of his time – but it turns out that retirement is far more lucrative for David Beckham than his glory days on the pitch. The former England captain, 39, made £50.5million last year, despite having hung up his football boots in 2013. US magazine Forbes puts him second in a list of the highest-earning retired athletes after basketball star Michael Jordan, 52, who took £67million in 2014. Scroll down for video . David Beckham at a photocall during the filimg of a Diageo advert from its new single grain whisky, Haig Club, which the former footballer endorses . After Beckham ended his 20-year football career, his earnings were ‘supercharged’ by two deals that netted him more than £13.5million last year. It says: ‘Beckham was the top-paid player in soccer, including endorsements, for most of the last dozen years of his career. ‘But in his first full year of retirement, Beckham posted the highest earnings of his career with $75 million [£50.5 million] in 2014. His previous high was $51 [£34.3 million] in 2012.’ One was with drinks giant Diageo to launch Haig Club whisky. The other was with the Global Brands Group in Hong Kong to create his own branded products such as clothes and luxury goods. The former England captain has also fronted a campaign for H&M underwear, right, and has a partnership with Coty, which sells Beckham fragrances . Forbes said: ‘The deals also have significant potential thanks to Beckham’s ownership stake in the ventures. ‘Beckham remains one of the top product pitchmen in sports, with a dozen deals to his name, including four in China.’ Other endorsements include Adidas, Sky Sports, Breitling watches and Samsung. He also has a partnership with the cosmetics firm Coty, which sells Beckham-branded fragrances such as Instinct worth more than £67million a year. Forbes said the contract, which runs into 2017, makes an estimated £4million annually for Beckham. The former footballer in an advert for Armani. His earnings were ‘supercharged’ by two deals that netted him more than £13.5million last year . It added: ‘Beckham partnered with Swedish retailer H&M in 2012 for a line of bodywear. The venture expanded with swimwear in 2014. 'A new line of menswear this year will expand product offerings, as well as Beckham’s take. Doing business with Brand Beckham tends to be good business for everyone involved.’ Marc Ganis, president of consultancy Sportscorp, told Forbes: ‘These athletes created brands for themselves before people focused on brands. Bechham starring in an advert for Pepsi alongside Modern Family star Sophia Vergara in the US . ‘Their brands received a tremendous amount of free publicity every time they were on TV or reporters wrote about them. Some of them converted that brand into a lot more than a free car at the local dealership.’ Beckham earned a £1.95million-a year base salary with US club LA Galaxy in 2012. He retired from the sport in May 2013 after five months at French club Paris Saint-Germain, where he donated his £170,000-a-week salary to a children’s charity. Beckham has also famously posed in his underpants for fashion house Giorgio Armani, and has lucrative promotional contracts with companies including Adidas, clothing chain H&M and Sky Sports. +With their exit from the FA Cup against Arsenal, Manchester United's attention now rests solely on their Premier League campaign. Supporters won't expect Louis van Gaal to be winning any silverware this season, but a top four finish is a must for a club that invested heavily in the summer. Is that now a realistic possibility, though? United haven't beaten a side currently in the top half of the Premier League since their home win against Liverpool in mid December last year. Manchester United face a testing final 10 games in the Premier League, they'll play all of their rivals . Louis van Gaal has won less than half of his games against side's in the top six of the Premier League . To make matters worse, they now face the prospect of playing four of the top six in their next five games (and all of them before the end of the season). With Liverpool just a point behind United in the league, and Tottenham a further two points behind them, Van Gaal knows he can't afford to slip up. His record against the top six, though, is not especially encouraging. A fortuitous win at Arsenal and comfortable victory against an out-of-form Liverpool are the only notable moments. Monday's FA Cup tie proves the Gunners will be no pushover and Liverpool are unbeaten in the league since their loss at Old Trafford in 2014. With just 10 games to go until the end of the campaign - half are away from home and half are against direct rivals - Van Gaal and his side will need to show considerably better form to secure Champions League football next season. After Angel di Maria's red card against Arsenal, United will be without their record signing for the next match . United will have to stop the league's most in-form striker when they face Tottenham in their next game . Tottenham (H) - Sunday March 15 . These two sides drew 0-0 at White Hart Lane earlier in the season but with the Premier League's most in-form striker among Spurs' ranks this will be a stern test for United, who will be without the suspended Angel di Maria. Liverpool (A) - Sunday March 22 . A formidable proposition for Van Gaal. Liverpool haven't lost in the league in three months and have won nine of their last 11 matches. Aston Villa (H) - Saturday April 4 . A month ago United fans would have considered this an easy win but Tim Sherwood has reinvigorated Villa, who have now won their last two games in all competitions. Liverpool have not lost a Premier League game since they were beaten by United in December 2014 . United still have to host their fiercest rivals, and Premier League champions, Manchester City . Manchester City (H) - Sunday April 12 . United lost to their rivals 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium, City aren't in the most convincing spell of form but they are the Premier League champions nonetheless. Chelsea (A) - Saturday April 18 . Away at the league leaders. This isn't a match Van Gaal can rely on getting anything from. Everton (A) - Sunday April 26 . Everton have struggled this season but Goodison Park is always a difficult place to go, as United know well from recent history. A trip to league leaders Chelsea will be arguably the most difficult challenge of United's season . Arsenal's win at Old Trafford in the FA Cup quarter-final suggests this will be a difficult match for hosts . West Brom (H) Saturday May 2 . Arguably the easiest of their remaining games, but Tony Pulis will make sure West Brom don't go down without a fight. Crystal Palace (A) - Saturday May 9 . Alan Pardew's Palace are a force to be reckoned with at Selhurst Park. Arsenal can testify to that - the Gunners were fortunate to escape with three points when they visited and so will United. Arsenal (H) - Saturday May 16 . Arsene Wenger's side are in fine form and their win at Old Trafford in the FA Cup quarter-final suggests this will be a difficult match for hosts. Hull City (A) - Sunday May 24 . After an abysmal start to the season, Steve Bruce's side are finally finding some form and have only lost once in their last five matches. +Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson insists he has no regrets about choosing to join Tottenham over Liverpool despite enduring a disappointing two seasons in north London. The Iceland international made his name in the Premier League at Swansea under Brendan Rodgers and had the opportunity to follow him to Liverpool in 2012. Sigurdsson chose Tottenham instead but returned to south Wales after a disappointing two-year spell at White Hart Lane. The 25-year-old has no regrets, though. Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson scores against his old club Tottenham on Wednesday night . Sigurdsson made his name in the Premier League at Swansea City under Brendan Rodgers . Sigurdsson said he enjoyed his time at Spurs and was pleased to play with people like Gareth Bale . He said: 'I always say I enjoyed my time at Spurs and I improved as a player so I don't look back and think "what if?". 'I played with some really good players and I'm in a good team now and really enjoying my football. 'With the Brendan link in the Press it seemed it was more likely I'd go there but Tottenham showed a lot of interest in me and at that time they had players like Gareth Bale and things looked really good. 'Obviously there have been plenty of changes over the past two years and new faces have been brought in but I will always remember my time as a positive one.' Sigurdsson left north London after a disappointing two years in which he failed to establish himself . Sigurdsson said he had a lot to thank Rodgers for after playing under him at Swansea and Reading . Swansea host Liverpool in their next Premier League match, which is on March 16 at the Liberty Stadium . Sigurdsson and Swansea will come face-to-face with Rodgers and Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium in their next league match, and the midfielder admitted he has a lot to thank the Northern Irishman for. 'He was the one who pushed me into the first team,' said Sigurdsson. 'I played my first games under him at Reading and he brought me to Swansea as well so I will always be grateful to him for his confidence. 'He is a great manager. His one-on-one skills are really good and he protects the players as well. 'He's gone through that phase when some people wanted him to leave Anfield, has come back strong and the team is playing really well. 'I will always remember what he did for me, he has played a big part in my career. I will always be thankful for that.' +Three months ago Francis Coquelin was surplus to requirements at Arsenal, now the French midfielder is considered so vital to their plans he's forced to play even if not fully fit. The 23-year-old was involved in a collision with team-mate Olivier Giroud against Everton at the weekend that left him with a fractured nose and bloodied shirt. The situation worsened when Coquelin was involved in a second clash in the same game, which led to him writhing on the floor in agony before being substituted. Francis Coquelin, who suffered a fractured nose in Arsenal's previous match, playing in his protective mask . The French midfielder at full stretch in mid-air during the Premier League clash on Wednesday evening . Coquelin's unusual head gear, made by Cavendish Imaging, didn't appear to hinder his performance . Arsene Wenger even admitted Coquelin underwent a minor surgical procedure following the incident, but that didn't stop him playing just three days later against QPR. Coquelin, known for his robust style of play, wore a white protective mask during the Premier League clash at Loftus Road. But the former France Under 21 international showed no signs of being hindered by the unusual-looking head gear, throwing himself into tackles in a physical encounter in west London. Arsenal midfielder FCoquelin broke his nose after two knocks to the face on Sunday against Everton . The first collision was mid-air with team-mate Olivier Giroud in the second-half of the 2-0 victory . Calum Chambers was called on to replace Coquelin in the late stages after his second knock to the face . +Former Newcastle team-mates Jonas Gutierrez and Steve Harper have teamed up to raise money for a men's cancer charity. Harper, who now plays at Hull City, joined forces with former Newcastle Falcons and Scotland player Richard Metcalfe, as well as businessman Paul Varley to create an underwear company Oddballs. Ten per cent of the money from all sales of the products will go to testicular cancer charities. Former Newcastle United team-mates Jonas Gutierrez and Steve Harper with their cheque for the charity . The 31-year-old Argentine at St James' Park while his companions model the underwear . The charity tweeted to say they were extremely grateful for the donation an honoured to meet the duo . Gutierrez missed 17 months of football in total after getting, and beating, the disease twice. And the 31-year-old Argentine, who made his return to competitive football against Manchester United last week, was present as a cheque for £2,500 was donated to the charity Ballboys. The charity then tweeted: 'Just received a very generous donation from @myoddballs & met  @egalgojonas @steveharper37 #honoured'. Gutierrez stunned many when he made his return to competitive action recently, but now the former Mallorca midfielder is hopeful of securing a new contract. ‘I am living day by day,’ he said. ‘All I can do is work hard in training and work as hard as I can. I’m going to fight for my place — I always try to do that. ‘I’m recovering, I’m healthy and I’m feeling strong — now I have to wait for my opportunity and fight for that. ‘I have three months to do my best and we’ll see what happens. This is football, you are going to get opportunities so you have to be ready for that.’ Gutierrez missed 17 months of football in total after getting, and beating, the disease twice . The Argentine midfielder made his return during the defeat by Manchester United at St James' Park . Gutierrez lunges in for a tackle on United winger Adnan Januzaj during the Premier League clash . To learn more about the company Oddballs, or Ballboys, the charity they donated to, visit their respective websites - www.myoddballs.com and www.Ballboys.org.uk. +Tottenham's fans may have been sick of the sight of Chelsea blue after their Capital One Cup final defeat, but their captain didn't appear to be. Spurs lost 2-0 to Jose Mourinho's men at Wembley Stadium, but as Hugo Lloris led his team up to collect their loser's medals, he appeared to don a Chelsea scarf. In fairness to the French goalkeeper, he didn't appear to notice it wasn't his team's colours - time playing for Les Bleus will do that to you. As Hugo Lloris goes up to collect his medal, he sees that something has been thrown at him . Without realising that it is a Chelsea scarf, the Tottenham captain picks it up and wraps it round his neck . Lloris wearing the scarf after defeat by Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley . As a clearly distracted Lloris walked up to get the medal, a member of the crowd threw the scarf at him. The former Lyon man then nonchalantly picked it up and chucked it around his neck before trudging onward. It was an unfortunate end to an unfortunate day for Lloris in which he conceded twice after opposition shots took wicked deflections off of his own players. +Australia's cult labels were on show on Monday night at Virgin Australian Melbourne Fashion Week's opening premium runway events. Samantha Harris stole the spotlight walking for designers including Camilla and Marc, Dion Lee, and Tome. The beautiful 24-year-old model remains a firm designer favourite, and stole the spotlight at the two catwalks shows held at Central Pier. In the spotlight: Samantha Harris, in Camilla and Marc, walked the catwalk at Virgin Australian Melbourne Fashion Week's opening premium runway events on Monday night . It Girl: The model turned heads in a number of Australian designs, including Être Cécile (right) The 24-year-old beauty remains a firm designer favourite . Samantha turned heads in an off-the-shoulder lace and fringe dress by Camilla and Marc. She also walked for Être Cécile in a bright blue cropped parka from the label's Pre-SS15 collection . Premium Runway 1, presented by Miss Vogue, showcased creations by Dion Lee, Camilla and Marc, Tome, Scanlan Theodore, Être Cécile, and Bassike. All black everything: Model sin sunglasses opened Premium Runway 1 at Central Pier . A parade of models in head-to-toe black and sunglasses opened the show. Scanlan Theodore continued the black theme, sending models down the runway in an array of elegant evening wear. The event marked the debut on an Australian runway for internationally established brands Être Cécile and Tome. The former showcased slogan tops and prints, accessorised with bowling hats. New York-based Tome presented metallics and mesh skirts, as well as bright pops of colour. The second runway of the evening, presented by Frankie magazine, showed designes by Alpha60, búl, Gorman, Kloke, Kuwaii, and Limedrop. +Lukasz Fabianski revealed Swansea's players were in shock after striker Bafetimbi Gomis collapsed against Tottenham and admitted the incident had scared him. The French forward lost consciousness during the match at White Hart Lane on Wednesday and while Gomis made a full recovery Fabianski insisted it had left the player shaken. 'From the moment when I saw something was wrong it was when Bafe was already on the floor and you could feel that everyone was in kind of shock,' said Fabianski after the match. 'But from what I heard he's OK now so hopefully everything is OK.' Lukasz Fabianski revealed Swansea's players were in shock after Bafetimbi Gomis collapsed against Spurs . Gomis lies face down on the pitch after collapsing during Swansea's game with Tottenham . Concerned Tottenham players look on as the Swansea forward is attended to by medical staff . When asked if seeing his team-mate like that scared him, Fabianski replied: 'Obviously, it was a shocking moment, especially because it's the same ground where something similar happened before, you just don't want the same thing to happen. Those kind of things go through your mind.' Swans midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson added: 'I asked the doctor and he said he was OK and hopefully would recover. Hopefully he will be back with us soon. 'It's never nice to see someone go down like that. We have a good medical team and they came on to the pitch very quickly. Swans midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson said he was looking forward to having the striker back in the team . Gomis is helped by French goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso after the collapse in Guincamp . Players and staff call for help after then-Lyon striker Gomis collapses during a match in 2010 . 'It will be really nice to have him back, he's an important player for us.' Shocking as it was, it wasn't the first time Gomis has experienced such a collapse. In 2009, Gomis lost consciousness in both a pre-season friendly match with Lyon and during a training session with the French national team. He also lost collapsed during a match between Lyon and Monaco in 2010, after which he said: ‘I had an incident early in the game. I often do early in the season. I immediately felt good after that. I think it was related to stress and the desire to resume the season.’ A vasovagal syncope, which is what Bafetimbi Gomis suffered on Wednesday night, is caused by a sudden decrease in blood pressure or heart-rate, triggered by emotional or physical factors. Reduced blood flow to the brain makes a person faint. It can be prompted by extreme exertion or anxiety. On the physical side, there are numerous tests that can be done when a player has a medical and it appears Swansea knew all about Gomis’s history. They will have checked the flow through his blood vessels under exercise stress, though emotional triggers are harder to quantify. It is a rare condition for a professional sportsman and is more common in older people. It is not something I have encountered in any other footballer. Thankfully, it is not an especially dangerous condition in isolation. The risks are low beyond what happens when you fall. You could hit your head or suffer trauma damage to another part of the body on landing. Often there is a stimulus that the person will recognise and they can act, by sitting down. Most sufferers feel fine in a matter of moments. +Vincent Kompany and his Manchester City team-mates were out training on Tuesday as the club captain ramped up his attempt to reclaim his place in the side. The Belgium international was dropped for City's last game - where they beat Leicester 2-0 - but will be hopeful he can return for their clash with Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday. The rest of the players looked in high spirits as they trained. Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri could be seen laughing and joking during Manuel Pellegrini's session. Edin Dzeko, Vincent Kompany and Gael Clichy head out to training ahead of their clash with Burnley . Samir Nasri, Manuel Pellegrini, Wilfried Bony, Yaya Toure and Stevan Jovetic during training . Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero shares a joke with team-mates during a training session . Pellegrini's side have struggled in recent months, winning just four of their last 11 matches in all competitions. But the league champions will be hoping to build on last week's win when they travel to Turf Moor by winning back-to-back games for only the third time this year. City are currently five points behind table-topping Chelsea in the Premier League, although Jose Mourinho's men have a game in hand. Perhaps more worrying for City is that their dip in form since the turn of the year has allowed both Arsenal and Manchester United to gain ground on them. The Gunners are just four points behind while United trail by four. +Danny Welbeck may not have left Old Trafford with much goodwill on Monday night but the Arsenal striker was given a warm reception as he arrived for the FA Cup clash with Manchester United. Welbeck scored the winning goal as Arsene Wenger's side knocked their hosts out of the FA Cup and advanced to the semi-final. The FA, though, have since released footage of scenes that weren't quite so well publicised on the night. Danny Welbeck lets out a smile as he arrives at Old Trafford on Monday night for the FA Cup clash . Welbeck shakes hands with a member of staff at Manchester United's stadium on Monday night . Welbeck leans in for a kiss with a member of staff ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford . The video, which is shot inside the tunnel at Old Trafford, captures moments supporters wouldn't normally get to see. Welbeck was greeted with plenty of handshakes from United staff and coaches, and even received a kiss on arrival. Sportsmail's Martin Keown shared a joke with former team-mate and current assistant at Arsenal Steve Bould while Wenger chatted to Peter Schmeichel and his son Kasper. At half-time Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez were engaged in discussions about tactics while United's players looked glum. Their mood didn't brighten after the final whistle, either, as the Arsenal players congratulated each other on the way back to the dressing room. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger chats to Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel . Schmeichel was at the match with his son (and Leicester City goalkeeper) Kasper . Former Arsenal team-mates Steve Bould and Sportsmail's Martin Keown share a joke in the tunnel . Welbeck shakes hands with a Manchester United coach as Phil Neville watches on . Arsenal forwards Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez engage in discussions about tactics at half time . Both sets of players trudge down the tunnel at half time of the FA Cup quarter-final . +Sebastian Coe has warned against calls from the Ukrainian president to boycott World Cup 2018 in Russia over the conflict between the two nations. Lord Coe is challenging Ukraine's pole vault icon Sergey Bubka for the presidency of world athletics governing body the IAAF, to replace Lamine Diack, who steps down in August. Coe, the former chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), believes sporting boycotts only 'damage competitors and athletes'. Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko told German newspaper Bild the country's allies should consider boycotting the 2018 FIFA tournament in Russia if Moscow does not pull all of its troops out of his territory. Lord Sebastian Coe believes that boycotts only serve to 'damage competitors and athletes' 'I will always oppose boycotts of sport, because I don't think they actually achieve what they set out to do,' said Coe. 'The only people they really damage are competitors and athletes.' Poroshenko told Bild he will push Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel towards tougher sanctions against Russia, citing the fact Shakhtar Donetsk are forced to host matches 1,200km away in Lviv because their home city is occupied by pro-Russia separatists. 'I think there has to be discussion of a boycott of this World Cup. As long as there are Russian troops in Ukraine I think a World Cup in that country is unthinkable,' Poroshenko told Bild. Coe, however, believes politicians should use sport as a 'soft power' to try to bring about change through inclusion rather than exile or boycott. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko wants Russia to withdraw all troops from his territory . Conflicts have been ongoing between Ukraine and Russia, leading to a call for a 2018 World Cup boycott . 'I think it is far better to have sport as a soft power, helping change all sorts of things, and we can't pick, we can't a la carte menu sport,' said Coe. 'You either believe in its power to change and to be a catalyst for social and political change or you don't. 'I happen to believe that sport has done far more to bring communities together than to isolate and separate them.' Coe was back at the centre of the triumphant 2012 Olympic Games on Monday, the Olympic Park, to launch the 2015 Morrisons Great Newham London Run. The 10k run will be held on Sunday, July 19, and will be the first event staged in the former Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Coe rates coaxing more young people into athletics as the greatest challenge facing the sport, and his ideas to boost participation form the crux of his manifesto for the IAAF presidency. The double Olympic gold medal winner said it was important he took time out of his hectic campaign schedule to continue the legacy work from London 2012. 'I will support anything, particularly running, but anything that adds to the lustre and legacy of this extraordinary park,' said Coe. Brendan Foster (left), Jo Pavey, Coe and Mayor of Newham Robin Wales pose for a photo at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London to launch the Morrisons Great Newham London Run 2015 . 'It's 10 years since the IOC's evaluation commission were through here. 'We've delivered a Games but that was never the end of the story, it was always about making sure this was a living, breathing community, with sport at its absolute epicentre. 'It's an extraordinary thing to help launch.' Attempts by the Football Association to resurrect the Team GB football side for the 2016 Rio Olympics look under threat, amid opposition from Irish and Welsh bosses. The Football Association of Wales and Irish Football Association are understood to oppose any moves for the return of the Team GB XI. Coe admitted the British Olympic Association (BOA), which he chairs, is locked in talks to back the FA's stance but refused to be drawn beyond that. 'The British Olympic Association is obviously in discussion, I chair the BOA and that's something we're looking at, and I know discussions are taking place,' said Coe. 'But we will see where that gets to. 'I know from my own experience of having chaired the organising committee that that is a complex process, but I'll leave that to my colleagues at the BOA and the home nations to figure out. 'Consensus is always better than disagreement, but it really is a matter for the home nations and the British Olympic Association.' +Paris Saint-Germain defender David Luiz has warned Chelsea they won't achieve success by simply sitting back when the two sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. The first leg of the Champions League tie ended 1-1, meaning a goalless draw would be enough to send Jose Mourinho's side through to the next round. But Luiz, who spent three years in west London before his £50million summer transfer to PSG, said it would be foolish of his old club to invite pressure on themselves considering the strength of the Ligue 1 champions' attacking options. David Luiz has warned his old club Chelsea of the dangers of simply sitting back against Paris Saint-Germain . Luiz spent three years in west London before his £50million summer transfer to the French champions . 'I know how Jose (Mourinho) will prepare for this, he will be telling the boys to be patient and hit us on the counter attack,' Luiz told The Mirror. 'He knows that we need to score and that they don't, I know that is his way. We must be careful because I know that Chelsea have the ability to hurt on the counter attack, but they must be careful as well. 'To sit back and just defend against Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), (Edinson) Cavani and (Ezequiel) Lavezzi can also be very dangerous, so it is not just us who have to be careful.' He added: 'We have players that are used to big occasions, and playing in big stadiums, we know we can do this.' Edinson Cavani scored against Chelsea when these two sides met in February at the Parc des Princes . Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea the lead in the first leg of the Champions League tie at Parc des Princes . The first leg finished 1-1, but Souleymane S will not be there to see the second leg after refusing his invitation . +Mohamed Salah sent out a message to parent club Chelsea after scoring twice in a 2-1 win against Juventus to take his goal tally at Fiorentina to six in seven matches. The Egyptian's brace in Turin earned his side a slender lead to take into the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final and condemned Juventus to their first home defeat in 48 matches. Salah scored his first 11 minutes in when he sprinted past three defenders and dribbled for 60 yards before launching in a shot from inside the area. Mohamed Salah opens the scoring with after a superb solo run from his own half against Juventus . Juventus striker Fernando Llorente equalised for the hosts with a well-taken header in the first half . But Salah, on loan from Chelsea, popped up again to score the winner in a tight game in Turin . The Fiorentina squad join hands and run towards their fans in celebration of the win . The Egypt international salutes the crowd after scoring against Serie A champions Juventus . Fiorentina's German forward Mario Gomez congratulates his team-mate on Thursday evening . BASLE: 67 appearances, 13 goals. CHELSEA: 19 appearances, two goals. FIORENTINA: Seven appearances, six goals. EGYPT: 35 appearances, 20 goals. Fernando Llorente then equalised with a superb header in the 24th minute, but Salah scored the winner in the second half with an angled shot inside the box. Since moving to Italy on loan, Salah has scored three goals in Serie A, one in the Europa League against Tottenham, and two in the Coppa Italia. The Egyptian was used as a bargaining tool in Jose Mourinho's deal to bring Juan Cuadrado from Florence to London but has already outshone the Colombian, who is yet to score in five appearances for Chelsea. Blues midfielder Eden Hazard was clearly impressed with Salah's performance, tweeting after the game: 'Momo Salah on fire.' Lazio and Napoli drew 1-1 in the other semi-final on Wednesday. The return legs will be played on April 7 and 8. Micah Richards posted this online after the game and said: 'Great win from the boys tonight!' Salah (right) spent most of his time at Chelsea on the substitutes' bench . Salah kisses the ground in celebration after scoring during the Coppa Italia clash on Thursaday . Micah Richards, on loan from Manchester City, holds off Juventus midfielder Kingsley Coman . City loanee Richards tracks former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba during the match in Turin . Argentine forward Carlos Tevez holds off a challenge from Fiorentina's captain Gonzalo Rodriguez . The defeat for Juventus was their first at home in almost two years, ending their 47-match unbeaten run there . Fiorentina's players celebrate wildly in front of their supporters following the final whistle . +Lionel Messi's hunger at Barcelona was questioned during the first half of the season, but the Argentina superstar showed an appetite of a different kind is still intact on Sunday. Fresh from scoring a hat-trick in their 6-1 La Liga victory over Rayo Vallecano earlier in the day, the 27-year-old was spotted in London at the Colony Club Casino Bar. Messi visited the Mayfair exclusive hotspot with girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo as they enjoyed a double date with Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas and his partner Daniella Semaan. Lionel Messi (left) was in London on Sunday night enjoying a double date with Cesc Fabregas . Messi flew over from Spain with girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo (left) to see Fabregas and Daniella Semaan . The quarter were all smiles in the car following their visit to the Colony Club Casino Bar in Mayfair, London . The Colony Club has a casino room for American Roulette, Blackjack, Three Card Poker and Baccarat . The restaurant inside the exclusive Mayfair nightspot is open seven days a week from 7pm until late . The happy couples have been close for years following Fabregas' return to Barcelona from Arsenal in 2011. Fabregas subsequently moved to Chelsea last summer but the quartet's friendship evidently remains as Messi and Roccuzzo flew from Spain to spend time with the Spain international and Semaan. But any chance of Messi and Fabregas' rekindling their on-the-pitch partnership seem remote for now following comments from Barcelona's international sporting director Ariedo Braida. Messi leaves the field with the match ball after netting a 12-minute hat-trick on Sunday . The Argentina international netted his first of the afternoon from the penalty spot . Messi celebrates after finding the bottom corner with his spot kick to make it 3-0 to Barcelona . Speaking to Catalan TV channel Esport 3, Braida says the club will do everything they can to keep Messi at the Nou Camp but accept they may not be able to match a potential offer from a bigger-spending club. Messi who is Barca's all-time top scorer, is tied to the Catalan giants until June 2019 and has a £205 million release clause in his contract. When asked about the dimunitive No 10's future, Braida said: I believe it's very difficult that Messi will leave Barca but at times in football strange things happen. 'Now with these clubs that have so much money like (Manchester) City, certain amounts don't seem to have a value. 'In football things happen that appear impossible but I hope he will remain.' The 27-year-old taps home from close range in front of a packed Nou Camp as Barca went top of La Liga . Barcelona forward Messi looks to the sky as he celebrates following his second goal against Rayo Vallecano . Messi claimed earlier this year that he was happy at Barca and quashed speculation that he would leave the club this summer. The Argentina international created a new hat-trick record in Spain by scoring three goals in Barca's triumph over Rayo - his 24th league treble for Barca in all competitions. The outcome at the Nou Camp lifted Luis Enrique's team to the top of Primera Division, just one point clear of Real Madrid, who lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Messi has enjoyed an outstanding campaign, scoring 30 goals and setting up 14 more in 26 league appearances. 'He is not just a player,' Braida added. 'Messi is a phenomenon, he is an alien.' Like our Barcelona Facebook page. Messi brilliantly rounds Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper Cristian Alvarez to seal his hat-trick . Messi taps into the empty net after securing his hat-trick with a sublimely taken goal . +He may be without a club at present but that hasn't stopped Ravel Morrison linking up with whom many refer to as the best player on the planet. Morrison, who had his contract terminated at West Ham last month, bumped into Barcelona superstar and 'maestro' Lionel Messi while out and about on Monday afternoon. The chance occasion was clearly one the 22-year-old didn't want to miss out on as a photo was taken with the four-time Ballon d'Or winner before being uploaded to Instagram. Ravel Morrison (left) uploaded an Instagram photo after posing with Lionel Messi (centre) on Monday . Lionel Messi (left) was in London on Sunday night enjoying a double date with Cesc Fabregas . Messi flew over from Spain with girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo (left) to see Fabregas and Daniella Semaan . Teams played for: West Ham, Cardiff (loan), QPR (loan), Birmingham (loan), Manchester United . Appearances: 81 . Goals: 14 . Honours: FA Youth Cup (2011) Accompanied with the caption: 'Out and about with the maestro and reece @leomessi,' the duo are all smiles as they pose for a picture. While Messi, who was in London on Sunday night with girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo and former Barcelona team-mate Cesc Fabregas and his partner Daniella Semaan, is continuing to break records this season Morrison is just a mere spectator. The 22-year-old, who has signed a pre-contract agreement with Lazio, is a free agent. Ravel Morison has had his contract terminated at West Ham ahead of his summer move to Serie A side Lazio . However, the midfielder cannot represent another club this season as he has played in two countries - England and Wales - this term and FIFA don't allow a third. Morrison only made two appearances under Hammers boss Sam Allardyce this season; with his last outing coming in a 3-1 home defeat to Southampton back on August 31. A series of disciplinary problems had hampered his progress at Upton Park and he was loaned to Birmingham, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City - with his three-month deal at the latter cut short earlier in December. However, the England Under 21 international will now look to resume his career in Italy next season. Like our Barcelona Facebook page. Morrison (centre right) has not played for West Ham since their 3-1 defeat vs Southampton on August 31 . +West Ham will return home from their mid-season break in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, but not before a spot of shopping in Dubai. The Hammers' squad had a week off from Premier League action, and were treated to some sunshine after their topsy-turvy first half of the season. Sam Allardyce's men started magnificently, hovering around the Champions League places, but have since dropped off with one league win in 2015. Enner Valencia, Adrian and Cheikhou Kouyate (left-right) pose for a photo at The Dubai Mall . On West Ham's mid-season break to Dubai, Diafra Sakho took to the tennis court in the sunshine . Kouyate has played 25 times for the Hammers since arriving in the summer, and has scored three goals . On their trip, the players have spent time playing tennis and relaxing in the 30 degree heat, and Monday saw them take to the shopping mall for some last-minute spending before they return home. Cheikhou Kouyate, who joined the east London club for £7million in the summer, was one of the players in attendance, and he later uploaded a photo to Instagram alongside team-mates Adrian and Enner Valencia. The trio are posing in front of a waterfall at The Dubai Mall, which boasts an ice rink and an aquarium, as well as stunning views from the top of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. West Ham face Arsenal upon their return to England, before a home game against Sunderland on the following Saturday. Kouyate (centre) battles with Jason Puncheon during West Ham's loss to Crystal Palace in February . +Cristiano Ronaldo's ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk has taken a swipe at her former partner, claiming she felt 'ugly standing next to the wrong man'. The Real Madrid superstar often gets tongues wagging when it comes to his relationships, and there was much media speculation over the reasons for his split with Shayk in January. Now, in an interview with Spanish magazine Hola, Shayk has spoken out about her 'ideal man', with some claiming that her words are an attack on the 30-year-old world player of the year. Cristiano Ronaldo and Irina Shayk broke up in January after a five-year relationship turned sour . Russian model and actress Shayk has now spoken to a Spanish magazine about her 'ideal man' 'My ideal man is faithful, honest and a gentleman who knows how to treat women. I don't believe in men who make us feel unhappy, because they're boys not men. 'I thought I had once found the ideal man but it didn't turn out that way.' She added: 'I think a woman feels ugly when she's got the wrong man at her side. I've felt ugly and insecure.' Ronaldo reacts to a decision on the pitch as Real Madrid lost 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday . Shayk walks down the catwalk during the Mexican Fashion Week; she is single after breaking up with Ronaldo . The pair were together for five years, and the Portuguese footballer said of their break-up in January: 'After dating for five years, my relationship with Irina Shayk has come to an end. 'We believed it would be best for both of us to take this step now.' 'I wish Irina the greatest happiness.' Like our Real Madrid Facebook page. Ronaldo and Shayk watch a basketball match in Madrid during the early stages of their relationship in 2010 . Shayk was a regular attendee to awards ceremonies with the world player of the year before their break-up . +Former baseball star Jose Canseco's model daughter got busted for a DUI in the heart of Hollywood early Monday morning. Eighteen-year-old Josie Canseco was pulled over about 1am after police officers saw her hit a curb with her car. She had to do a series of sobriety tests, which she failed, and was subsequently arrested, police said. Jose Canseco's 18-year-old model daughter Josie Canseco was busted for a DUI on Monday after police in Hollywood saw her hit a curb. A source said police believe Josie may have been under the influence of drugs . Josie Canseco was told to do several sobriety tests after being pulled over. After failing, she was arrested . Josie (pictured left in 2013 and right as a child with her father Jose) was booked by police at 6.15am. She was held on a $15,000 bail . Police don't believe, however, that Canseco was under the influence of alcohol, but believe she could have been under the influence of drugs, sources told TMZ. She was booked at about 6.15am and was held on a $15,000 bail. Josie's father Jose had his own run-in with drugs when he was accused of using steroids when the slugger played Major League Baseball. He admitted to using steroids and in a 2005 book he opened up about the widespread use of the drug in the MLB. Jose Canseco (pictured left in 2014 and right in 1989) admitted to using steroids when he played Major League Baseball. He claimed in a 2005 book that steroids are more widely used in the MLB than it's known . +Shocking new images have emerged showing the risks taken and the injuries sustained by the young men who jump on to and off speeding trains in Mexico in a desperate attempt to reach the United States. The majority of those attempting to hitch a ride on the trains are from Central American countries like Honduras and El Salvador who are willing to risk their lives for the opportunity to work illegally in menial jobs should they ever actually reach the U.S.. Referring to America as 'the promised land' the train hoppers that manage to make it on to a speeding locomotive are seen clinging on for dear life as they tear through the countryside of northern Mexico to the border they stand little to no chance of actually making it across. Shocking: The images show the risks taken and the injuries sustained by the young men who jump on to and off speeding trains in Mexico in a desperate attempt to reach the United States . Making a jump: A man is seen either jumping or falling off of a speeding train as it passes through the Mexican countryside near Tabasc . Treatment: A seriously injured young man is taken to hospital by medical workers after a failed train jump near the city of Tabasco . Recovery: Raul Ordonez Martinez, 42, is seen recovering after having both legs amputated at the Municipal Hospital Emiliano Zapata. Raul had both legs amputated after he tried to jump on a moving train in Tenosique . Before the U.S.-bound trains appear on the horizon, the young men are seen relaxing and sleeping on the railway tracks of northern Mexico. Many of them have already travelled thousands of miles from countries deeper in South America - but their journey is far from finished. While many of the young men wait near train stations so they can jump on to trains that have yet to build up speed, others consider that approach fair to likely to raise the suspicions of the driver or platform guards. Instead they wait out in the Mexican countryside, where they are unlikely to have been spotted and make the death-defying leap on to trains speeding along the rails. While many somehow manage to make it on to the trains, others are unsurprisingly dragged beneath the 36-inch steel wheels and crushed to death. One of the biggest threats to the young men's lives is exhaustion. Having already travelled thousands of miles and spent several nights clinging to trains or sleeping in the open, when the time comes for them to make the all-important jump, their bodies fail them and they either fatally miscalculate the leap, or else suffer life-changing disabilities. Lucky: One of the biggest threats to the men's lives is exhaustion. Having already travelled thousands of miles and spent several nights clinging to trains or sleeping in the open, when the time comes for them to make the all-important jump they often miscalculate the distance . Rest: Before the U.S.-bound trains appear on the horizon, the young men are seen relaxing and sleeping on the railway tracks of northern Mexico. Many of them have already travelled thousands of miles from countries deeper in South America - but their journey is far from finished . Young Central American men are seen sitting on top of one of the trains as it speeds through the Mexican countryside near Tabasco . Risk: Referring to America as 'the promised land' the train hoppers that manage to make it on to a speeding locomotive are seen clinging on for dear life as they tear through the countryside of northern Mexico to the border they stand little to no chance of actually making it across . Wedged between cargo cars, perched on tanker tops, stuck in stuffy boxcars, with money sewn into shirt cuffs and pants hems, they hop on, often in daylight, high noon even, because arresting impoverished migrants has not, historically, been a top priority in Mexico . Making the leap: While many of the young men wait near train stations so they can jump on to trains that have yet to build up speed, others consider that approach fair to likely to raise the suspicions of the driver or platform guards . Dozens of desperate young men die every year jumping on to U.S.-bound trains in Mexico. The majority have come from poverty-stricken countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and are aged in their late teens or early 20s. Another thing unites the men too - their all or nothing desire to start new lives in the United States where, as illegal immigrants, they are unlikely to find work other than as exploited, below-minimum-wage workers in restaurants, cleaning and maintenance businesses and on building sites. 'The trains are for the poorest of the poor,' says Carlos Miranda, a migration expert in the southern state of Chiapas. 'If they thought they had any other choice, they would take it.' Nobody knows precisely how many migrants take the trains, but on certain days, in the most popular train towns - Arriaga, along the southern Pacific Coast, and Tenosique, a modest farming town south of the Yucatan - you will find hundreds, even thousands, of people waiting by the tracks. If they are lucky, they will hang on long enough to make it to Mexico City, where they switch lines in the massive train yards, and then in dwindling numbers head out again, pushing north to the U.S. border, or as close as they can get. The risks are enormous: They must navigate a spidery network of aging rails — the trains themselves sometimes jump the tracks — through jungles and deserts and mountains, searing heat and icy rain. They face attacks by the bandits and gun-toting gangs that patrol the trains, and must hop off and on at immigration checkpoints, risking limb and life each time. The trip can take weeks, or months, if you allow for all the pitfalls and stopovers to earn a few pesos for food. Death-defying: Mexico tries to catch the train hoppers before they enter the country. But the southern border is porous, and, says Mexico's immigration commissioner, Hipolito Trevino, 'we cannot stop them all' Nobody knows precisely how many migrants take the trains, but on certain days, in the most popular train towns - Arriaga, along the southern Pacific Coast, and Tenosique and Tabasco (pictured) - you will find hundreds, even thousands, of people waiting by the tracks . Tragic: Dozens of desperate young men die every year jumping on to U.S.-bound trains in Mexico. The majority have come from poverty-stricken countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and are aged in their late teens or early 20s . No other option: 'The trains are for the poorest of the poor,' says Carlos Miranda, a migration expert in the southern state of Chiapas. 'If they thought they had any other choice, they would take it.' Dozens of desperate young men die every year jumping on to U.S.-bound trains in Mexico. The majority have come from poverty-stricken countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and are aged in their late teens or early 20s . New life: A train jumper with a missing leg is seen using crutches to travel through the Mexican town of Tabasco earlier this month . Forty million people live in Central America, and nearly half are poor. In Honduras, 46 per cent live in extreme poverty. In Guatemala, 130,000 lost their homes in Hurricane Stan. El Salvador is crippled by drought, and in Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, the majority of the people have little or no work. This is why they come. Mexico tries to catch the train jumpers before they enter the country. But this southern border is porous, and, says Mexico's immigration commissioner, Hipolito Trevino, 'we cannot stop them all.' How many lose arms or legs along the way? Impossible to know - not everyone is counted. Wedged between cargo cars, perched on tanker tops, stuck in stuffy boxcars, with money sewn into shirt cuffs and pants hems, they hop on, often in daylight, high noon even, because arresting impoverished migrants has not, historically, been a top priority in Mexico. Women and children are most vulnerable, to both the elements and to the men, and are usually the most difficult to spot. If they can, they wait for the trains to stop in the dusty yards then make a dash for it. You can find them hiding in the dark hollows of the hopper cars, the children wide-eyed, their mothers fingering the family Bible. +Manchester United have joined the running to sign Burnley striker Danny Ings. Louis van Gaal sent chief scout Jim Lawlor to watch Ings play against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night after the 22-year-old scored at Old Trafford in February. Liverpool were favourites to sign the England Under-21 forward in January with his contract ending this summer, but Brendan Rodgers has competition to bring him to Anfield. Manchester United have joined the running to sign Burnley striker Danny Ings after sending scouts to watch . Ings (centre) has been Burnley's star player as they try to stay in the Premier League this season . Ings scored for Burnley against United in his side's 3-1 defeat and impressed with his display . Born: England, July 23 1992 (age 22) 2006-2009: Bournemouth (youth) 2009-2011: Bournemouth (27 apps, 7 gls) 2010-2010: Dorchester Town (loan) (9, 4) 2011-NOW: Burnley (112, 36) 2013-NOW: England U21 (7, 4) Ings has been tracked by Real Sociedad and the former Bournemouth youth travelled to Spain to meet manager David Moyes three weeks ago. But Burnley would receive about £6million in compensation if Ings joined another club in England, while a move abroad would net the second-bottom side just £300,000. It would cost £43m for United to make Radamel Falcao's season-long loan from Monaco permanent, and Ings is a cut-price option. The starlet was reluctant to leave Burnley in January but becomes a free agent after May. Manchester City contacted his representatives in February and want to sign Ings to boost their homegrown quota. The champions bought Wilfried Bony from Swansea City for £25m, rising to £28m, in January but Juventus have shown interest in Stevan Jovetic, while Edin Dzeko could leave for Wolfsburg. The loss of Frank Lampard to New York City and possibly James Milner would leave Manuel Pellegrini short of home talent, and Ings could fill the gap. Louis van Gaal sent chief scout Jim Lawlor to watch Ings play against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday . The £5million compensation would be far cheaper than the £43m they would have to pay for Radamel Falcao . Falcao has not impressed enough at United since joining from Monaco on a season-long loan . +Arsenal keeper David Ospina has joined up with his Colombia team-mates for the international break. The in-form stopper helped the Gunners secure three vital points at Newcastle on Saturday with a series of fine saves as Arsenal prevailed 2-1 at Newcastle. Victory keeps Arsene Wenger’s side hot on the heels of League leaders Chelsea and Manchester City with the international break upon the footballing world. Arsenal keeper David Ospina (bottom right) poses with his Colombia team-mates on a flight on Sunday . Colombia face Bahrain on Thursday before facing Kuwait at the end of the month in a duo of international friendlies. Ospina was snapped on the plane out on Sunday by team-mate and Borussia Dortmund striker Adrian Ramos, who posted a picture from the cabin with Toulouse’s Abel Aguilar and Aston Villa’s Carlos Sanchez. Ramos captioned the picture: ‘Again with family ... yes yes Colombia with my people…blessing’ as the quartet appeared in high spirits as Colombia look to build on a World Cup quarter-final outing last summer. David Ospina (centre) made a string of fine saves to help secure three points for Arsenal at St James' Park . Ospina is congratulated but double scorer Olivier Giroud after Arsenal beat Newcastle 2-1 on Saturday . Adrian Ramos (far right) lines-up with Borussia Dortmund team-mates after beating Hannover on Saturday . Aston Villa's Carlos Sanchez (left) in action against Swansea, under the challenge of Wayne Routledge . +Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has no future at Arsenal and should move on for the sake of his international career, according to former Liverpool stopper Jerzy Dudek. The former Anfield man, a fellow countryman of Szczesny, believes that Arsene Wenger will always choose David Ospina and the Polish keeper should move on to improve his chances of playing for his country. 'It's a serious matter,' Dudek told Poland's TVP Sport. 'Fortunately, we have two other goalkeepers who are able to provide an adequate level in our goal. Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has played second fiddle to David Ospina since the turn of the year . Jerzy Dudek believes that Szczesny should move on for the sake of his international career with Poland . 'In excellent form is Lukasz Fabianski and, on the other hand, Artur Boruc is very experienced. I think [Adam] Nawalka [Poland manager] will wait to make the decision until the very end. 'Wojciech is the least likely to play in the match with Ireland. If I were in his place, I would wonder whether there are still opportunities to arise at Arsenal and wouldn't wait as long as Fabianski, because you can see that Arsene Wenger is firmly set on David Ospina.' Fabianski (Swansea) and Boruc (on loan at Bournemouth from Southampton) are both goalkeepers with Premier League experience and, perhaps more importantly, regular first-team game-time this season. Ospina has impressed since taking the reigns from Szczesny after the Southampton game on January 1 . Dudek believes that Szczesny is below Lukasz Fabianski and Artur Boruc in the Poland pecking order . Szczesny started the season as Arsenal's No 1, but was dropped after being caught smoking in the showers at Southampton on New Year's Day. Since then, he has made just three appearances for the Gunners, all of which in the FA Cup. Premier League goalkeeping duties have been placed in the hands, quite literally, of Colombian Ospina, who has made 13 appearances for Wenger's side since the turn of the year. +Sebastian Vettel paid an emotional homage to Michael Schumacher for providing the inspiration for his maiden victory with Ferrari. Four-times world champion Vettel was highly emotional as he stood on top of the podium after taking the chequered flag in the Malaysian Grand Prix in only his second race with the Maranello marque. Not since Schumacher's last triumph with the Scuderia at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2006 have the German and Italian national anthems been played back to back to hail such a combined Ferrari success. Sebastian Vettel (centre) jumps for joy after his impressive Malaysian Grand Prix win with Ferrari on Sunday . Vettel (centre) holds up his trophy as Lewis Hamilton (second left) and Nico Rosberg (second right) applaud . Vettel revealed it was former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher who inspired his skillful win in Malaysia . For Vettel, it was the realisation of 'a dream' sparked by his hero Schumacher who won five of his seven titles with Ferrari, but who suffered life-changing injuries following a skiing accident 15 months ago. 'The team has been phenomenal, welcoming me the first day,' recalled Vettel. 'I remember when the gate opened in Maranello it was like a dream coming true. 'I remember the last time I was there was as a young kid watching Michael over the fence driving around in the Ferrari, and now I'm driving that very red car. It's incredible. 'Of course, when I grew up Michael was my hero, and for all of us - and I speak for all of the kids at the go-kart track at the time in Germany - we looked up to him. 'When he turned up every year, and to look after us a little bit, it made our lives. 'So that's why I think...I probably don't understand yet how special it is. Very, very emotional.' Vettel's win was no fluke, beating Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in a straight fight as he made good use of better tyre wear in the 30 degree heat at the Sepang International Circuit. Schumacher (right) celebrates winning the Malaysian Grand Prix with team-mate Rubens Barrichello in 2000 . Following Mercedes' domination last season, when only technical woes denied them victories in all but three of the 19 races, and after an easy win in the season-opening event in Australia, this defeat came as a surprise to reigning champion Hamilton. 'Huge congratulations to Seb and Ferrari,' said Hamilton, who finished 8.5secs adrift of Vettel at the end of the 56 laps. 'You have to hand it to them - I wasn't expecting them to be as quick as they were. They had some serious pace and deserved the win.' Rosberg, meanwhile, was left chewing on his words as a fortnight ago after the race in Australia he had called on Ferrari to give them a fight. It was a case of 'be careful what you wish for', with an unhappy Rosberg stating: 'Ferrari did an awesome job and deserved to win. Vetel crosses the finishing line and gives the fistpump as Ferrari team members celebrate at trackside . Ferrari's Vettel in front ahead of German compatriot Rosberg, of Mercedes, during the Malaysian Grand Prix . Four-time world champion Vettel on his way to a comfortable victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday . F1 stats provided by F1 Stat Blog . 'We'll be back next race. All I can say now, on behalf of our team is: game on, Ferrari!' Kimi Raikkonen could arguably have joined team-mate Vettel in the top three but for a lap-one puncture as the Finn finished fourth. Behind Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa in fifth and sixth, Max Verstappen created Formula One history by becoming the youngest to score points at the age of 17 years 180 days by claiming seventh in his Toro Rosso. Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen makes his way back to the pits with a blown out tyre . As for Fernando Alonso, what must he be thinking after quitting Ferrari last year to join struggling McLaren as in his first race for the team he retired after 21 laps with an ERS cooling problem. Team-mate Jenson Button retired 21 laps later with a turbo issue, leaving neither of the team's cars classified for the first time since the 2006 United States Grand Prix. Although three laps down, Manor's Roberto Merhi saw the flag, a triumph for the team who unfortunately had to withdraw Will Stevens ahead of the race after failing to fix a fuel pressure problem. +Michael Schumacher's 15-year-old son Mick has signed a contract with Van Amersfoort Racing to drive in the Formula 4, a series for young talents. The Dutch team's owner Frits van Amersfoort says 'we have watched his skills in test driving and are looking forward to a successful season.' Mick Schumacher finished second in the world, European and German kart championships last season. His father Michael is the most successful driver in Formula One history with seven titles. Michael Schumacher's son, Mick, is following in his father's footsteps by starting a racing career . Mick Schumacher, 15, has signed a deal to race for Van Amersfoort Racing in Formula 4 . Mick finished runner-up in the world, European and German kart championship last year . Michael Schumacher suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in Meribel in the French Alps in December 2013. He was retired from F1 at the time of the accident. Van Amersfoort Racing propelled Max Verstappen - son of Schumacher snr's 1994 Benetton F1 team-mate Jos - to prominence in Formula 3 last season. Verstappen jnr, 17, will race for Toro Rosso in F1 in the 2015 season. 'In the last couple of years, it has become a tradition for us that we offer the runner-up from the German junior karting championship a test session in our simulator,' added Van Amesfoort. 'This is handled by the DMSB, the German motorsport authority, and that is how we first got in touch with Mick Schumacher last autumn. He spent a full day in the simulator at our headquarters in the Netherlands, then we witnessed him during a test session at Valencia and, eventually, we reached an agreement to compete together in this year's ADAC Formula 4 series.' Michael Schumacher was seriously injured after a skiing accident in December 2013 . Schumacher snr is Formula One's most successful ever driver with seven world championships . Schumacher takes the chequered flag upon winning the Canadian Grand Prix for Benetton in 1994 . Michael Schumacher emerged from an induced coma in June last year, and left hospital in September. He has since started to recognise family members, according to someone claiming to be a family friend. Philippe Streiff, a former Formula One driver, told French media Schumacher 'has yet to recover the power of speech' but is 'nevertheless starting to recognise those close to him'. However, Schumacher's manager has disputed the comments, saying the 46-year-old faces a 'long fight' for recovery and that Streiff is not a family friend. 'We need a long time,' Sabine Kehm said. 'He is making progress appropriate to the severity of the situation. Mick Schumacher could follow the path of Max Verstappen, who also raced for Van Amersfoort Racing . 17-year-old Verstappen will drive for Toro Rosso in the 2015 F1 season after his prodigious rise . +Ryan Colclough returned from 16 months on the sidelines by getting the goal which moved Crewe out of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone as they beat Sheffield United 2-1. The 20-year-old forward had been sidelined by a troublesome hernia problem since November 2013 but made up for lost time by coming off the bench to strike a 90th-minute winner which lifted the Alex up to 18th. Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle had given the Alex a half-time lead but his goal was cancelled out by Jason Holt 10 minutes into the second half. Lauri Dalla Valle (centre left) scored Crewe's opening goal in the 2-1 defeat of Sheffield United . Sheffield United's Paul Coutts sits dejected after the final whistle at Bramall Lane . Table-topping Bristol City were only able to extend their lead by a solitary point after being held to a 2-2 draw by rejuvenated Barnsley at Ashton Gate. The Robins were back in action six days after lifting the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Wembley and they made the perfect start when Marlon Pack converted a penalty after Jean Yves Mvoto fouled Aaron Wilbraham. However, former Oldham loanee Jabo Ibehre levelled matters and Josh Scowen scored the goal which looked to be consigning Bristol City to their first defeat in nine games before Joe Bryan rescued a point which sent his side 11 points clear of second-placed Preston. Notts County started life without Shaun Derry by drawing 2-2 with fellow strugglers Scunthorpe at Meadow Lane. Paul Hart had been placed in temporary charge of the Magpies and his reign got off on the wrong note when Iron debutant Theo Robinson opened the scoring inside a minute. Joe Bryan (left) scored as Bristol City extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points . Notts County caretaker boss Paul Hart could only manage a draw with Scunthorpe in his first game in charge . Goals from Gary Jones and Balint Bajner turned the game on its head before Niall Canavan rescued a point for Mark Robins' men four minutes from time. Rochdale recovered from their derby-day defeat at Oldham in midweek by beating bottom-of-the-table Yeovil 2-1 to move into sixth. All three goals came in six second-half minutes, with Rhys Bennett and Jack O'Connell putting the hosts two goals up before James Hayter pulled one back for the struggling Glovers. Colchester, the team directly above Yeovil, were not in action as their game against Swindon was postponed due to the Robins' international call-ups, but Leyton Orient put further distance between themselves and the bottom two following a 3-1 triumph over Port Vale. The visitors led through Chris Birchall but Chris Neal's dismissal just after half-time proved costly as the O's took full advantage of their one-man advantage, David Mooney levelling from the penalty spot before Neill Collins' own goal and Dean Cox's strike gave the hosts all three points. Gillingham's Jermaine McGlashan in congratulated after scoring to drag Crawley into the drop zone . Crawley sunk into the drop zone after going down 2-1 to Gillingham at home, Jermaine McGlashan scoring the winner after Bradley Dack and Izale McLeod had traded goals. Dean Holden's Latics, Rochdale's Tuesday night conquers, went down to a 2-0 defeat against Bradford thanks to Billy Clarke's second-half brace. Peterborough slipped to eighth as Blair Turgott scored the goal which enhanced Coventry's survival chances, while Chesterfield were also 1-0 winners over Walsall thanks to Sam Hird's 86th-minute header. +Dressed in supermarket-branded loungewear, unemployed Ronnie Moore would look out at his freshly-trimmed lawn with a washing-line full of cottons blowing above it and wonder if his future lay in the kitchen rather than the dugout. Sacked by Tranmere Rovers last April having admitted an FA charge of breaching rules regarding betting on matches – a ‘joke’ he calls the whole affair - the Scouser was at rock bottom. Meanwhile, 150 miles north of Liverpool in Hartlepool, the town’s football team had themselves plunged new depths. Bottom of League Two having lost seven of the previous eight, their proud status as residents of the Football League since 1920 was under threat. Ronnie Moore reacts in the touchline as his Hartlepool side continue to fight for survival in League Two . In December, they turned to Moore, a month shy of his 62nd birthday. It was a long-shot for both parties. ‘People must have thought I was crackers coming in here,’ he says on the eve of a home match with Cambridge which could see Pools emerge from the relegation zone for the first time since October. ‘But I had been out of work for eight months. I knew how to wash up, hang washing out, what heat your cottons should be on. My back garden was like bloody Wembley. I was even going shopping and looking for the cheapest thing – the own brands. ‘Others might not have given me the chance considering all the crap that was written. ‘I was not going behind people's backs betting thousands of pounds on things. It was nothing but a family syndicate. The whole thing was a joke. Marvin Morgan (left) celebrates scoring a winning goal for Hartlepool in February against Northampton . ‘So just to be given the opportunity when no-one wants you, just to get back in, that drives you on.’ Within a few weeks, however, Hartlepool had fallen 10 points adrift of safety. They had still not won under Moore’s care. He had been horrified when it took 15 minutes during his first training session for the team to string five passes together and commented, ‘We’ve got some f****** bad players.' He had some harsh words for them in public, too. ‘I have sent out a circular to say we have players available but I don’t expect my phone to be red hot to be honest,’ he said in January. ‘Where do they think they are going to go at the end of the season? They are not going to Real Madrid. ‘One of them might go to League One, but one or two of them might be working in Asda. Hartlepool, who are currently bottom of League Two, have won their last three matches . ‘These lads don’t have a clue what life is about. They go home at 1pm, get their feet up and watch Home & Away. All we can try to do is wise them up.’ Wise up and shape up they have. Indeed, three wins in a week without conceding has moved them to within one point of safety. ‘From where we were, to keep us up would have to be the best thing I have ever done as a manager,’ says Moore. ‘It would be better than my two promotions at Rotherham. Everyone thought we were dead and buried.’ There have been dressing-room dressing-downs for several players, including former Newcastle and West Ham striker Marlon Harewood. He even accused some of having ‘a heart the size of a peanut’ and told them there would be no days off until they won – he had to renege on that threat after four games. Hartlepool players celebrate during a return to form in recent months and can still survive relegation . Neil Austin has seen seven managers during six years at Victoria Park. The 31-year-old defender admits Moore was exactly what was needed. ‘As soon as he walked through the door he got respect straight away,’ he says. ‘He knows how to treat players. People might have thought some of his comments were harsh, but given the league position you couldn’t argue. ‘We had a harder job trying to work out who the League One player was - because everyone else was heading for Asda!’ Hartlepool are expecting their biggest crowd of the season on Saturday after cutting ticket prices to as low as £10. Hartlepool have taken Preston striker Jordan Hugill for the rest of the season on loan . Austin adds: ‘Survival is massive for the town. The club is part of the town and its identity. ‘This is a proper Football League club with a proper, old-school ground. Too many grounds now feel a bit fake, a bit like a Subbuteo set. ‘Here, you can smell the Bovril coming from the terraces when you’re playing and we want it bouncing again tomorrow. We’re all in it together now and we will stay up, I’m sure of it.’ Should Austin prove right, Moore will no longer feel the need to air their dirty linen in public. +The Premier League has been the loudest opponent of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar switching to a winter tournament — staged from November 21 to December 18 — that will be rubber-stamped at the FIFA ExCo meeting in Zurich on Friday. But the richest league in world football is not expected to kick off yet again when the dates become official this week. The PL is resigned to that decision being a formality since the opinions of PL chief executive Richard Scudamore and other European leagues chiefs were virtually ignored at the task force summit in Qatar which recommended a November-December competition. The dates from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are expected to be confirmed on Friday in Zurich . Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup in the winter despite opposition from Europe's big leagues . Instead, the PL and their European counterparts will be concentrating on winning concessions for such a disruption to their calendar. The biggest confrontation is likely to be with their own UEFA confederation over tightening the Champions League programme. This not only spreads itself over a ridiculous four weeks for their last-16 round but also forbids domestic fixtures taking place on those nights. The PL will also be wanting talks about cutting international friendlies, FA Cup replays and two-legged Football League Cup semi-finals in that season. But more conflict looks inevitable as the FA and Football League will not want their broadcasting deals affected by losing fixtures. However, a December 18 finish would see the Premier League restart on Boxing Day. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has been among the loudest critics of a winter World Cup . The Global Sporting Director Summit at the Etihad Stadium on April 29 has attracted former England cricket managing director Hugh Morris, who hardly put a foot wrong during his low-profile tenure that included three Ashes victories, as well as Paul Downton, who hasn’t put a foot right since taking charge in January 2014. If the beleaguered Downton were to take any advice from Morris he would surely be told to do his work behind the scenes rather than at centre stage all the time. Hugh Morris (left) and Paul Downton (right) will both be at the Global Sporting Director Summit in April . The Football League are certainly in the right place if they were ever to be worthy of News at Ten attention. Having been evicted by the Premier League, their new offices in London’s Gray’s Inn Road are next door to the ITV news studio in the ITN building. And the complex production role of supplying content from all three lower league divisions in time for the 9pm Channel Five highlights show next season will be handled by ITN. Jason Leonard, RFU president from June, was surrounded by rugby fans on the Twickenham concourse before the Scotland game. It showed rugby definitely got one decision right — fast-tracking Leonard to be president during the World Cup, rather than some anonymous suit. And England Rugby 2015 will be making the most of Leonard being the Twickenham kingpin. Jason Leonard will take up his role as RFU president from June ahead of the Rugby World Cup . Moore’s tweet revenge . Only loveable BBC rugby co-commentator Brian Moore could go on Twitter seemingly to embarrass his own employers. Moore said on air that England scrum-half Ben Youngs was his choice as official BBC man of the match against Scotland. But Moore then went on social media to tell followers: ‘Just to point out I picked (Courtney) Lawes as MoM but Youngs came up and had to deal with it.’ A BBC spokesperson said the right graphic of Youngs was screened and was correctly announced and that Moore stood by his decision. No he didn’t on Twitter. Former Chelsea and Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon is busy advising Premier League promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough, having brought in the club’s first foreign manager Aitor Karanka. He is also running global football funds with super agent Jorge Mendes. Jersey-based Kenyon is also playing an influential role as chairman of burgeoning rugby agency Esportif. UEFA have put out a banal YouTube interview with president Michel Platini answering recorded questions that would have created derision if Sepp Blatter had done it. To Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas’ probing: ‘Mr President, I’d like to ask if you miss playing football?’ Platini replies: ‘Iker, it’s always a pleasure to see you on TV. Normally, when I see you, I give you a cup.’ +Angel di Maria's old mansion is up for sale - but Manchester United fans need not worry that it means he is on his way out of Old Trafford. The Argentina international has not returned to the £4.15million, luxury six-bedroom pad in the leafy Cheshire village of Prestbury since an attempted break-in at the end of January. He moved with his family to The Lowry Hotel in Manchester city centre where they had a round-the-clock-security team. A general shot of the house that Angel di Maria and his family were staying in up until the break-in that occurred at the end of January . The house has been put up for sale after the Di Marias moved out following the break-in at the end of January . A night-time photograph of the swimming pool inside the mansion which Di Maria was renting . Di Maria's mansion had its own gym included next to the swimming pool at the luxury pad . A photograph of Di Maria's lounge in his mansion which has now been put up for sale by its private owners . The lounge which Di Maria and his family stayed in after he moved to Manchester United from Real Madrid . The kitchen in the luxury six-bedroom £4.15m mansion which Di Maria and his family were renting . A jaccuzzi in the luxury Prestbury mansion used by the Di Marias, which is now being put up for sale by its owner . One of the six bedrooms in the luxury mansion that is now being put up for sale following the break-in . Di Maria and his family will no longer stay at the mansion following the break-in that occurred at the end of January . A photograph of the bathroom in the mansion formerly rented by United's £60m signing Di Maria . Another photograph of the bathroom in the luxury pad that will no longer be rented by Di Maria . The hall in the mansion will no longer be used by the Di Marias as they have now found somewhere else to live . Angel di Maria's drop in form can be put down to the break-in at his house . But Sportsmail understands the Di Marias are no longer at the hotel and have found more long-term alternative accommodation at the Beetham Tower. The 27-year-old winger rented the stunning property, which features an indoor swimming pool, children's TV room, office, gym, changing rooms and apartment for staff, following his £60m switch to Old Trafford. Last month, Di Maria and his family suffered a 'terrifying raid' while inside the house. The player, who has struggled for form since his move from Spain, was reportedly having dinner with his wife, Jorgelina, and children as crooks tried in vain to smash through his patio doors.The three would-be thieves then fled empty-handed after triggering an alarm system. It is understood the house owner is now looking to sell the property but would be open to renting it again. A source said: 'It was a very unfortunate scenario and something that is very, very rare. The house is absolutely beautiful.' The advert, on Rightmove, states: 'Magnificent mansion set in well-manicured grounds in the heart of Prestbury on a private road. Indoor swimming pool with glass panels into the sitting room and hallway which truly envelopes the pool into the heart of the house.' Di Maria and his family are understood to be staying at the Beetham Tower following the break-in at their former mansion . Di Maria pictured with his wife Jorgelina in November 2014, just weeks before the break-in at his home . Di Maria and his wife Jorgelina attend the FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony in Zurich in January 2015 together . United assistant Ryan Giggs insists Di Maria is not suffering from a crisis of confidence, however, and expects him to play a major role in their push for FA Cup glory and Champions League qualification. 'I think his confidence is fine,' Giggs said. 'He's a quality player and we'll be looking for him to produce because it is big game after big game now. 'Players get used to different leagues, sometimes quickly and sometimes it takes a bit of time. He had a really good start to the season but with players who take risks and who can win games it's always difficult to be consistent because they will try things that other players won't do. 'They're capable of doing that and that's why they're match-winners and the best players.' Di Maria has been replaced in Manchester United's last two Premier League games before the end . Di Maria has seen his form drop off in recent months after making a positive start to his career at Old Trafford . +Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini praised James Milner's heart and determination and labelled the English midfielder a complete player. Milner is one of few home-grown players in Pellegrini's first-team squad and could be set for a move away from Manchester at the end of the season when his contract runs out. But the City boss was full of praise for Milner and his attitude and commitment. James Milner was praised by Manuel Pellegrini for his attitude, heart and 'big balls' Milner is one of few home-grown players at Manchester City and could be set for a move away . Pellegrini is under pressure to keep his job after watching his City side fall out of the title race . ‘It would be very difficult to find a more complete player than [James] Milner’ Pellegrini said. ‘There are players who are better technically. There are quicker players. 'There are players who head the ball better. But show me a player who does all the things that Milner does well and there isn’t one.' Milner has played 36 times for City this season in all competitions and contributed six goals. The 29-year-old has been in Manchester since a big-money move from Aston Villa in 2010, but his stay at Eastlands could be drawing to a close as his current deal is up in the summer. Milner has scored six goals for Manchester City this season in 36 appearances for the club . Pellegrini described Milner as a complete player and said it is difficult to find someone better . The 29-year-old has played in almost every position since his big-money move from Aston Villa in 2010 . Pellegrini added: ‘And whatever position I put him in he plays well: at full-back – which is the only place he doesn’t like playing– attacking midfield, wide, or as a striker. I used him this season as a forward and the team was scoring three goals a game. ‘You leave him on the bench and he is furious, but watch him during the game, encouraging and shouting. And in the next training session he kills it for 95 minutes. 'It’s very difficult to find another Milner – an intelligent player, with big balls and a massive heart.’ READ OUR FULL INTERVIEW WITH MANUEL PELLEGRINI HERE . +David Moyes' Real Sociedad side ended their long wait for an away win in the Primera Division as they triumphed 1-0 at Getafe. Sociedad were the only La Liga side without a win on the road this season going into Monday's clash at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, but they finally got that monkey off their backs courtesy of Inigo Martinez's second-half header. The Sociedad academy product rose highest to nod home Esteban Granero's accurate free-kick off a post in the 66th minute, although Getafe keeper Vicente Guaita will be disappointed at not being able to stop it. Inigo Martinez celebrates his second-half header which secured all three points for Real Sociedad . Martinez is mobbed by his Real Sociedad team-mates after scoring the only goal of the game on Monday . David Moyes pays tribute to the travelling fans after Real Sociedad claimed their first win on the road . Moyes' men have moved up to 10th in the table . Victory takes Sociedad up to 10th, level on 33 points with ninth-placed Espanyol, while Getafe remain 13th. Moyes' side, who like Getafe came into this game on the back of two wins and a defeat in their last three matches, saw plenty of ball early on but did little with it. The hosts looked sluggish during the opening exchanges, but they had a penalty appeal turned down in the ninth minute. Pedro Leon cut into the box and just as he looked to get it out of his feet and pull the trigger he was stopped in his tracks by a bumbling challenge from Sociedad centre-back Martinez. Referee Melero Lopez waved away the appeals, but the incident sparked Getafe into life and Quique Flores' side should have taken the lead when Alvaro Vazquez beat three defenders and then disappointingly toe-poked straight at Sociedad's grateful keeper Geronimo Rulli. Leon came within inches of opening the scoring after 20 minutes when he exquisitely curled onto the bar from the corner of the box. Getafe goalkeeper Vicente Guaita dives helplessly as Martinez's second-half header sails past his grasp . Gonzalo Castro (right) and Getafe's defender Alexis Ruano battle for the ball during the Monday night clash . Moyes shakes hands with Getafe's head coach Pablo Franco ahead of the La Liga encounter . Rulli was beaten all ends up as the ambitious shot sailed over his head and he - as well as everyone else - no doubt expected it to miss the target comfortably, but a deceptive dip saw it drop down sharply and clip the frame of the goal. Imanol Agirretxe had a few headed chances as Sociedad began to show more in the final third, but Leon went close with a wicked shot from distance before Diego Castro was bravely thwarted by Rulli in a goalmouth scramble as it remained 0-0 at the interval. Sergio Canales starred as Sociedad upped the tempo in the second half, first rounding three defenders and then forcing a good save out of Guaita, before desperate defending blocked his goal-bound shot from hitting an empty net in the 57th minute. Martinez made the pressure count by leaping highest to head Granero's pinpoint free-kick in with the help of a post as Guaita got close to clawing it away after it bounced off his right upright, but fell just short of getting a good enough contact. With Getafe frustrations boiling over after the goal, Juan Rodriguez protested too loudly when his penalty appeal for a challenge by Martinez and Granero was rejected and he was duly booked by Lopez. The hosts frantically probed for an equaliser late on, with Mehdi Lacen again forcing Rulli into another good save with six minutes remaining, but Sociedad held out to finally get a reward on their travels. +Chelsea striker Diego Costa was involved in yet another confrontation on Wednesday as he appeared to strike Aaron Cresswell during his side's 1-0 win against West Ham. Costa, who was not punished for the incident, has a reputation for trying to unsettle his opponents by throwing his weight around. The 26-year-old striker escaped the attention of Premier League official Andre Marriner, who failed to see the severity of the incident. Chelsea striker Diego Costa appeared to raise his hand in the direction of West Ham's Aaron Cresswell . Cresswell felt the force of Costa's right arm during Chelsea's 1-0 win against the Hammers at Upton Park . Costa tussles with West Ham defender Carl Jenkinson as Jose Mourinho watches on from the sidelines . West Ham boss Sam Allardyce warned his players against trying to provoke or intimidate Costa ahead of the fixture at Upton Park. 'I think trying to wind Costa up only makes him better – which is a silly thing to do,' said Allardyce. 'He will take a bit of shackling. We can't get involved with him. I've told our central defenders not to get involved with the fact he might try and upset them. 'He's an old-fashioned type of centre-forward because he seems to like getting motivated on the physical and niggle aspect of it all. I've told them not to get involved in that and get distracted, simply to focus on him in the final third.' Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho's side remain five points clear at the top of the table - with a game in hand - following their win over their London rivals. Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard scored the only goal of the match to help his side claim all three points . +Louis van Gaal will have to find a cure for Manchester United's travel sickness if his side are going to win their battle to claim a Champions League spot ahead of either Arsenal or Liverpool. Manchester United appointed Van Gaal to repair the damage caused by their disastrous 2013-14 campaign under David Moyes. However the Dutchman's first season at the helm of the Barclays Premier League outfit has not exactly gone to plan. Louis van Gaal's Manchester United laboured to a 1-0 win against Newcastle on Wednesday evening . Ashley Young scored in the 89th minute to give his side a crucial win in their race for a top four spot . P     W     D     L      F       A      PTS     W% . 2014/15                          14     4      7      3     17     16      19       28.57 . Under David Moyes     18     10     3     5      34     21      33      55.56 . David Moyes saw his side win 10 of their 18 Premier League matches away from Old Trafford . Liverpool vs Manchester United - March 22 . Chelsea vs Manchester United - April 18 . Everton vs Manchester United - April 26 . Crystal Palace vs Manchester United - May 9 . Hull vs Manchester United - May 24 . Manchester United's away form has been nothing short of average with Van Gaal's side collecting maximum points on just four of their 14 away trips. The Red Devils need to win two more games from their last six away matches to avoid a new club record low in the Premier League. Their worst season away from Old Trafford came in the 2010-11 season when Sir Alex Ferguson's then side claimed just 25 points from 19 away matches. Manchester United managed to win the title in 2011 despite their poor away form as they won 18 of their 19 home league games. United won the league title in 2011 despite their worst Premier League season away from Old Trafford . Van Gaal's away record is remarkably worse than Moyes' win percentage on the road as the Scotsman guided his side to 10 wins out of a possible 18 during his short stint at the club. Moyes' away win percentage at Manchester United was 55.56 per cent, which looks impressive when compared to Van Gaal's 28.57. And Van Gaal's side, who claimed a late 1-0 win against Newcastle at St James' Park on Wednesday, are yet to face rivals Liverpool and Premier League leaders Chelsea at Anfield and Stamford Bridge respectively. +Daniel Sturridge has provided Liverpool with a major boost in their race to claim a Champions League spot by declaring he is ready to play in his side's remaining 10 games of the season. Sturridge, who has been hampered by injuries this season, played 83 minutes of Liverpool's 2-0 win against Burnley on Wednesday night. And the 25-year-old, who scored his fourth Premier League goal against the Clarets, has revealed he is feeling 'really good' after playing his 10th game since returning from a troublesome thigh injury at the end of January. Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge scored in his side's 2-0 win against Burnley on Wednesday night . Sturridge, who was substituted in the 83rd minute against Burnley, believes he is nearing full fitness . Sturridge, speaking to the Liverpool Echo, said: 'I feel good, I have felt really good since I came back and I am ready to play every game. 'I don’t want to be eased in but I suppose that is what the manager wants.' The England international heaped praise on team-mate Jordan Henderson by claiming the midfielder has 'taken it to the next level'. He added: 'He is improving every game and he has taken on the responsibility with the captain’s armband. He has taken it to the next level.' The England striker (centre) has heaped praise on Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson . +Former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini appears to be under pressure after failing to improve Inter Milan's fortunes since taking up at the reins at the San Siro. Mancini looks a distressed figure on the front cover of Monday's La Gazzetta dello Sport after seeing his side fail to claim all three points against Serie A relegation candidates Cesena. The 50-year-old conceded after his side's 1-1 draw with Cesena that his side were going to struggle to qualify for next season's Champions League. Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini looked extremely distressed after seeing his side slip up against Cesena . Mancini could hardly watch as his side fought to save face against relegation battlers Cesena . Inter must finish third or win the Europa League if they are to qualify for next season's Champions League . Inter either have to close the nine-point gap on third-placed Lazio or turnaround their two-legged encounter against Wolfsburg, which they lost 3-1 in Germany, before going on to win the Europa League. Mancini told Sky Sport Italia after Sunday's encounter against Cesena:'With a win we would've climbed to 39 points with 11 rounds to go. 'Now it's going to be pretty difficult to reach third place. 'With a victory we could've had hope, but there are too many teams in front of us now. 'At the moment there's no point talking about third place and it's not even logical to do so.' Inter host Wolfsburg on Thursday before facing Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Inter Milan's players look subdued despite Rodrigo Palacio's equaliser against Cesena on Sunday . Cesena, who are second bottom of the Serie A, opened the scoring with a lobbed finish from Gregoire Defrel . +Jose Mourinho insists Arsenal can mount a late charge to win the Barclays Premier League title, however statistics from the last 10 years show Chelsea tend to finish the season off in fine form. Premier League leaders Chelsea have dropped an average of just 8.6 points per season during the last 10 years. If the Blues replicate the form they have shown in their last 10 games during previous seasons then Manchester City will not be able to retain the league title even if they claim nine consecutive wins. Chelsea look set to win the 2014-15 Premier League title as the Blues tend to finish the season off in fine form . Chelsea dropped two points against Southampton at the weekend but are still odds-on favourites to win the title . Jose Mourinho insists Arsenal have joined Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League title race . 2013-14: 11 points dropped . 12-13: 7 . 11-12: 15 . 10-11: 10 . 09-10: 5 . 08-09: 6 . 07-08: 10 . 06-07: 11 . 05-06: 6 . Average: 8.6 points dropped . Chelsea are seven points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand of both their title rivals . Arsenal are even further behind as they are currently seven points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, having played a game less than the Gunners. However Mourinho said after his side's 1-1 draw with Southampton: ‘Of course Arsenal are in it. They are seven points behind Chelsea, but have one less match to play than Chelsea. ‘Both City and Arsenal are in the title race. It depends on the momentum for Arsenal - the 3-1 defeat against Monaco or the 3-0 defeat against West Ham? ‘So the danger is always there. But I keep saying, we are there. If someone had told me in August that, at the end of March, we'd be six points in front with a match in hand, I'd have signed for that immediately.' Chelsea would finish the season off with over 85 points (85.4 to be exact) if history is to repeat itself - based on the average number of points they have dropped in their last 10 games of the season. The maximum amount of points Manchester City can ascertain is 85 and that would mean Manuel Pellegrini's side defeating the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and Southampton. Arsenal, on the other hand, will be on 84 points if they win their remaining nine fixtures of the campaign. So it appears Mourinho's statement on Arsenal's title credentials may have just been a ploy to ease the pressure on his players following their draw against Southampton. Premier League champions Manchester City slipped up against Burnley at the weekend . CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to FA Cup . +Roma's season went from bad to worse after losing 2-0 at home to Sampdoria on Monday to leave Rudi Garcia's team in danger of losing out on second place in Serie A after Lazio won 2-0 at Torino. Lorenzo De Silvestri and substitute Luis Muriel scored to inflict Roma's first home league loss of the season amid loud jeers at the Stadio Olimpico, and the hosts' misery was compounded by Seydou Keita's late red card. Roma had started the year battling with Juventus for the title but Garcia's side have now fallen 14 points behind the defending champions. Sampdoria's defender Lorenzo De Silvestri (centre) fires Sampdoria in a second half lead . De Silvestri celebrates putting his side into the lead midway through the second half . Roma were looking to get back to winning ways after five successive league draws at home and things looked promising in the first half as Sampdoria goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano was forced into a series of fine saves to keep the home side at bay. The visitors took the lead against the run of play on the hour mark when Samuel Eto'o held off two Roma players to pull back from the byline for De Silvestri and the former Lazio defender fired into the bottom right corner. Muriel doubled Samp's lead in the 78th, four minutes after coming off the bench. He sped forward and his initial effort came off the post but Roma failed to clear and Muriel hit the target at the second time of asking. There was more misery for Roma as Keita was cautioned and then immediately shown a second yellow card and sent off after sarcastically applauding the referee. The midfielder was distraught and his team-mates struggled to get him off the pitch. Sampdoria's Luis Muriel (second right) celebrates in style with his team-mates after scoring . Roma's Miralem Pjanic kicks out at the post after missing a chance for his side . Davide Astori (left) and Stefano Okaka vie for the ball during the Serie A clash . Seydou Keita was shown a second yellow card for sarcastically applauding the referee . +Nine members of Jamaica's Under 17 side required treatment after they were involved in a freak lift accident during their team's stay at the Hilton Princess hotel in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The Jamaican youth team players entered the lift on the third floor of the hotel but were shocked when they found themselves having to worm their way out of the ground floor car park. Demar James and Deshane Beckford were admitted into hospital after sustaining minor injuries. Nine members of the Jamaica Under 17 side sustained injuries during an accident in a hotel lift - the players above may not have been involved in incident as picture is of U17 team in October 14 . The hotel lift at the Hilton Princess in San Pedro Sula, Honduras plummeted to the ground floor car park . Garfield Fuller, head of Jamaica's delegation, told the Jamaica Observer: 'The players are pretty scared and frightened and one player mentioned it was like a heart attack because of the pace at which the elevator crashed to the ground. 'We just give God thanks that we didn’t experience the worst.' Jamaica's FA president Captain Horace Burrell added that he was planning to take action against those that were responsible for the incident. 'We want to ensure that the players’ welfare is looked after down the road if an injury is experienced and can be substantiated because of this,' said Burrell. 'I don’t want to leave them out on a limb, so I am taking legal steps to ensure that the players’ interests are being protected in a comprehensive way.' Meanwhile, hotel general manager Anthony Corbin said he was 'taken aback with what happened' and was 'very sorry' that the incident occurred. +Manchester United's first team stars looked in high spirits as they prepared for their quarter-final clash against Arsenal at the club's Aon Training Ground. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Radamel Falcao and Marouane Fellaini were put through their paces by Manchester United's coaching staff as they geared up for Monday night's fixture. Louis van Gaal has revealed ahead of the upcoming match at Old Trafford that his side's main focus is sealing qualification for next season's Champions League campaign, however the Dutchman will be hoping his players are fully prepared for the visit of Arsenal. Manchester United duo Marouane Fellaini and Luke Shaw are all smiles ahead of their side's match against Arsenal . Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj watch on as Wayne Rooney takes part in a running drill during Sunday's training session . Louis van Gaal looked in high spirits as he put his players through their paces at Manchester United's Aon Training Ground . Manchester United playmaker Januzaj hugs Andreas Pereira as he talks to Spanish duo Mata and Ander Herrera . The Dutchman previously said his primary objective for his first season in charge of United was to win a trophy, however he now appears to have changed his stance. Van Gaal, speaking ahead of his side's upcoming match, said: 'I always want to get the goals what we have set. And the goals we have set is the top four. 'A title is fantastic. When you win the FA Cup you are not in the Champions League which is important for the club, but you have won a title. So for the players it is fantastic, for the manager it is fantastic but our goal is to reach in our first year together a place in the Champions League. 'I think that for a club the Champions League is the highest level. To finish in the first four is a fantastic result, I think. And for us, Manchester United, more I think.' Manchester United captain Rooney will be particularly desperate to help his side progress to the semi-finals as the 29-year-old is yet to get his hands on an FA Cup medal. In fact, Robin van Persie and Juan Mata are the only members of Manchester United's current crop of players to have won an FA Cup winner's medal. Meanwhile, Manchester United defender Jonny Evans took part in training despite being hit with a lengthy suspension. Evans will miss his side's next six games after spitting at Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse during his side's 1-0 win at St James' Park. Jonny Evans, pictured with Michael Carrick, took part in Sunday's training session despite his six-match suspension . Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea makes his way on to the training pitch with Fellaini and Shaw . Manchester United duo Phil Jones (left) and Radamel Falcao (right) will be hoping to start against Arsenal . Red Devils centre back Chris Smalling stretches out during his side's training session . Mata is one of two Manchester United stars to have won the FA Cup while Shaw is yet to win a senior competition . Marcos Rojo, pictured wearing Manchester United gloves, shares a joke with fellow summer signing Falcao . Manchester United captain Rooney, pictured loosening his muscles, is yet to win an FA Cup winner's medal . Manchester United duo Antonio Valencia and Daley Blind are both expected to start against Arsene Wenger's side . Manchester United first team stars Rojo, Jones, Evans and Carrick look focused as they take part in training drill . +The Copa del Rey final is making headlines in Spain as the venue of the prestigious fixture has still yet to be confirmed. Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona will battle it out to win the Spanish cup competition however the duo want the final to be held in different locations. Barcelona have their heart set on the May 29 final taking place at Valencia's Mestalla Stadium whereas Athletic have said it should be held in Seville. La Liga giants Real Madrid have refused to host the 2015 Copa del Rey final . Spanish newspapers Mundo Deportivo and Sport also report on where the Copa del Rey final could be held . Real Madrid, according to AS, have told the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) that they will not host the Copa del Rey final. The Spanish giants hosted the final, which has been held in a number of different locations over the past few years, in 2013 and are against holding the event once again. An AC/DC means the final cannot be held at either Vicente Calderon or Espanyol's Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, leaving the RFEF short of options ahead of the final. Elsewhere in Spain, Marca report on former Osasuna president Miguel Archanco's arrest over the whereabouts of £1.7million which was taken out of the club's accounts. Former Osasuna president Miguel Archanco and two of his board members spent the night at a police station . +So here's the question. If Petr Cech, at 33, is available in the summer, and Arsenal have a chance of buying him, what should be Arsene Wenger's best offer? Jose Mourinho says Cech can leave Chelsea if he wishes, but only for big money as he rates him one of the top three goalkeepers in the world. The three most expensive goalkeepers so far: Gianluigi Buffon (£32.6m), Manuel Neuer (£19m) and David De Gea (£18m) – although all were 25 or under when they made their move. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said goalkeeper Petr Cech can leave Stamford Bridge in the summer . David de Gea, Manuel Neuer and Ginaluigi Buffon are the three most expensive goalkeepers in history . Cech cannot command such a fee at his age. A better marker may be the £9m Liverpool paid for Simon Mignolet. Is Cech better than Mignolet? Yes. So if Chelsea asked for £10m for a 33-year-old reserve, should Arsenal be tempted? Yes again. The absence of a world class goalkeeper is holding Arsenal back. Cech could easily last another four years at the top, making him value at £10m. Pat Jennings was 32 when he switched from Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal in 1977; he played his last game for the club in 1985 at the age of 39. There has never been a question over his worth and Cech could be as important. Cech is a better goalkeeper than Liverpool stopper Simon Mignolet whom the Reds paid £9million for in 2013 . Pat Jennings, pictured with Liam Brady, spent seven years at Arsenal and played his final game aged 39 . +Andy Murray showed his appetite for Davis Cup glory by tucking into four boxes of sushi during Friday's crunch tie against the United States. The British No 1 was shown on live TV munching on the healthy, high protein snack as he cheered on Great Britain team-mate James Ward on Friday night. Andy Murray arrives courtside on Friday carrying his late afternoon snack . The British No 1 was keen to refuel following his four-set victory over Donald Young . Commentators were impressed with Murray's forehand technique with the chopsticks but fans were less than impressed with a slow motion replay. Kat Wray tweeted: 'Did the @bbc really just show Andy Murray eating sushi in slow motion? I mean, REALLY? Good old licence fee. Would hate to have missed that.' Vici Royle said: 'Well done, @BBCSport, that slow-mo replay of Murray's Sushi forehand was fantastic.' Fans were not impressed with the BBC showing a slow motion replay of Murray eating . Murray had put Great Britain 1-0 ahead in the World Group clash by dispatching Donald Young 6-1 6-1 4-6 6-2 in Glasgow. Murray then returned to show his support for Ward as he battled against the American No 1 in a five-set thriller. An emotional Ward finally clinched his sixth match point to sensationally beat the world No 20 6-7, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6, 15-13. Andy Murray and Jamie Murray roared on James Ward to victory in five-set thriller . Andy Murray celebrates epic victory with team-mate Ward . James Ward dug out a sensational fightback against John Isner on Friday night . +The agent of Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes his client is capable of playing until he is 43 but does not believe he will end his career in the French capital. Ibrahimovic, 33, has just over a year on his current contract at Parc des Princes and is said to be happy at the Ligue 1 outfit, however his representative Mino Raiola has questioned whether the Sweden international can play another eight to 10 years at PSG. Raiola, speaking to RMC, said: 'Zlatan still has a year and a half on his contract. PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic can play until he's 43, according to his agent Mino Raiola . Ibrahimovic, pictured with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill, has just over a year left on his current deal at PSG . 'He is happy in Paris, he tries to do his best and is in good shape, though he had some problems this year. But for Zlatan the future is short. 'I don't know if he can finish his career at PSG. He worked for himself for 15 years, now he will work for me for the next eight years. I think he can play until he is 42 or 43 but I don't know if he will play another eight years at PSG.' Ibrahimovic is eager to get his hands on the Champions League after failing to win the prestigious competition during his time at the likes of Juventus, Barcelona and AC Milan. PSG face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday in the second leg of their last-16 clash which currently stands at 1-1, and Raiola is hopeful Ibrahimovic can lead his side to Champions League glory. 'I hope he wins the Champions League for his sake, for PSG and for French football,' added Raiola. 'It is a matter of luck too as it is not always the best team who wins. 'Zlatan told me the first-leg game against Chelsea was perfect. It was a perfectly prepared game. There is a lot of respect between Laurent Blanc and Ibra. I can tell he likes Blanc.' The Sweden ace has won trophies in Holland, Italy, Spain and France but is yet to win the Champions League . +Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has refuted reports suggesting he could replace Manuel Pellegrini at the helm of Manchester City. The former Barcelona boss has been linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena as talks over a new contract have been put on hold until the summer. Guardiola, whose current deal at the Bundesliga giants is due to expire in 2016, has revealed he wants to remain at Bayern Munich for a 'long time'. Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola is happy to stay at the Bundesliga outfit for a 'long time' Guardiola has ruled out the possibility of replacing Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad Stadium . The 44-year-old, speaking in a press conference, said: 'Manchester City? I hope to stay at Bayern Munich for a long time. 'I have a contract with this wonderful club and aim to fulfil that. I have not received any offers. 'We will see what happens after next year. I am very happy at Bayern.' Current Manchester City boss Pellegrini has dismissed claims suggesting he has to win a trophy if he is to remain in charge of the Barclays Premier League champions. Manchester City manager Pellegrini does not believe he is under pressure to win a trophy this season . Pellegrini said ahead of Manchester City's league encounter against Leicester City: 'I am not under any pressure to win an amount of titles or win a title every year. 'I don't feel any pressure. 'I only feel pressure when I don't see my team playing the right way. 'All the other things are not important. 'When I signed my contract nobody told me about winning five titles in five years. That was what [chief executive] Ferran Soriano said [to the media]. But that doesn't have to be one a year.' +Harry Kane is the third highest goalscorer in Europe's top five leagues with only La Liga superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ahead of the Tottenham star. Barcelona ace Messi leapfrogged rival Ronaldo to lead the way as Europe's most potent striker by scoring a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano to take his tally for the season up to 41 goals in 38 games. Messi, who helped his side to an emphatic 6-1 win on Sunday, has now scored 40 goals or more in each of his last six seasons. Tottenham striker Harry Kane celebrates at Loftus Road after scoring in his side's 2-1 win against QPR . Kane netted a brace in front of the watching Roy Hodgson to help his side claim a crucial win in west London . Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi leads the way after scoring a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano . Kane's double against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday put him level with Messi's Barcelona team-mate Neymar. Both Kane and Neymar have scored 26 goals in all competitions during the course of the current campaign, with the Tottenham netting 18 Barclays Premier League goals thus far. Kane's rise has been mesmeric. The 21-year-old run riot in his side's Europa League campaign, helped his side seal a spot in the Capital One Cup final and has played a major role in Tottenham's quest to finish in the top four. He is also likely to earn his first senior England call-up later this month when Roy Hodgson, who was at Loftus Road on Saturday, names his squad to face Lithuania and Italy. Mauricio Pochettino heaped praise on his star striker after his side's 2-1 win against QPR by calling the Tottenham star 'fantastic' but stressed there is room for improvement. Cristiano Ronaldo is three goals behind Messi having scored 39 goals during the course of the season . Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette has scored 25 goals while Sergio Aguero has found the net 23 times this season . 'It was a fantastic performance, he scored two goals,' said Pochettino. 'He is young, can improve more and now it is Roy's decision. 'I don't know if (he deserves a call-up). Roy needs to decide whether this it time to pick him or not. 'I think that today was a great game, a great performance. We showed character, I am very pleased for our players.' Alexandre Lacazette, who has been linked with a summer move to England, follows closely behind Kane and Neymar, having scored 25 goals for French outfit Lyon. Premier League top scorer Sergio Aguero, Guingamp striker Claudio Beauvue, Juventus ace Carlos Tevez and Atletico Madrid's Mario Mandzukic make up the rest of Europe's deadliest top nine strikers. +Frank Lampard will be thanking his lucky stars that he decided to postpone his move to New York City FC after seeing future team-mate David Villa's attempt at providing backing vocals for his side's new anthem. The MLS outfit have released a snippet of the music video for their track 'All The Way' which includes contributions by singer-songwriter Sarah Packiam, MC Sterlin and Villa. New York City ace Villa took to Twitter to provide his 6.96million followers with a chance of having a 'sneak peek' at his collaboration with the music duo. David Villa is all smiles as he provides backing vocals for New York City FC's new anthem . The 33-year-old stars in the music video along with Sarah Packiam and MC Sterlin . The full version of the song will be released on Wednesday ahead of New York City's opening game of the 2015 MLS campaign. Villa's first competitive match in America will see the former Barcelona ace go up against Kaka's Orlando City Soccer Club at the Citrus Bowl on Sunday. New York City fans will be hoping his highly-anticipated MLS debut is somewhat better than his laboured music video performance. Packiam and MC Sterlin take to the streets during the music video performance . Villa is expected to make his MLS debut against Orlando City FC on Sunday . Kaka - Orlando City SC . The Brazilian won the Ballon d’Or back in 2007, so it is understandable that a lot is expected of him with new MLS franchise Orlando City. He may not be the player he was back in 2007 but he still has the ability to dribble past players and pick a pass. Frank Lampard – New York City FC . One of two high-profile signings made by New York City on their introduction to the league. Lampard won more than 100 caps for England and 11 major trophies with Chelsea in 13 years. He is due in New York in the summer once he has finished playing with Manchester City. Steven Gerrard – LA Galaxy . The Liverpool midfielder will become the second former England captain to join LA Galaxy following the successful period of David Beckham. Like Lampard, Gerrard will not join Galaxy until the summer once the Premier League has finished. He will link up with former Reds team-mate Robbie Keane. David Villa - New York City FC . Villa became New York City’s first marquee signing when he joined after helping Atletico Madrid win La Liga last season. He has spent time on loan at Melbourne City in the Australian A League and he will be expected to score the bulk of New York’s goals in their debut season. Bradley Wright Phillips - New York Red Bulls . Overshadowed by brother Shaun in England but since moving to MLS he has been the star man for the Red Bulls. He won the Golden Boot last season with 27 goals in 32 games. With the departure of Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill he could struggle to score as many this term. +A hen called Ping Pong laid a one-in-a-billion perfectly round egg - which has now sold on eBay for £480. Owner Kim Broughton, 44, from Latchingdon in Essex, was left shell shocked after her prize Buff Orpington hen laid the spherical egg on Pancake Day. Ms Broughton and Ping Pong decided to auction the egg off on eBay and were amazed when it sold for £480. She is planning to donate the money to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust after a friend's son died from the disease. Owner Kim Broughton (pictured) was left shell shocked after her prize Buff Orpington hen, which has now been re-named Ping Pong, laid the 'one-in-a-billion' perfectly spherical egg last month . The one-in-a-billion round egg (right) is pictured next to an ordinary slightly pointed egg (left) Ms Broughton, 44, said she thinks the winning bidder will probably preserve the unusual egg, rather than eat it. The perfectly spherical egg attracted 64 bids during the online auction. Ms Broughton said she had been tempted to cook and eat the egg before being told it was 'one-in-a-billion'. She said: 'I was literally about to crack it open to make a pancake when a mate saw the photo I put on Facebook and messaged me to say 'Don't do it!' 'Apparently somebody had sold one before for more than £90 so I thought "Great if I can sell if for that". 'When it was at £20 I thought 'Who'd pay that for an egg?' and then it went through the roof - it's unbelievable,' she told BBC Essex. The Buff Orpington hen named Ping Pong is pictured with her perfectly spherical egg on Pancake Day . +Ever thought you'd see a professional footballer taking aim at a Subbuteo goal? Well here's your chance as Roma have become the latest club to feature in a promotional advert for Paddy Power. Roma stars Radja Nainggolan, Alessandro Florenzi and Miralem Pjanic played out a number of different challenges to promote the Irish bookmakers. Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic managed to hit the back of a Subbuteo goal net . Paddy Power collate tweets aimed at the players taking part in the video before playing out the hilarious predicaments. Pjanic takes a free-kick at a Subbueto goal, Nainggolan races against a motorbike while Florenzi celebrates with a grandma after scoring a superb training-ground bicycle kick. Roma's first team stars will be getting back down to serious business on Thursday night when they face Serie A rivals Fiorentina in the last 16 of the Europa League. Radja Nainggolan raced against a man on a bike in Paddy Power's latest promotional advert . +Twitter is an unforgivable place at times and that would be to Manchester United's downfall on Monday night as Louis van Gaal and Co were mocked on social media following their FA Cup exit at the hands of Arsenal. Prior to the game Dutchman Van Gaal labelled Welbeck 'a substitute', resulting in why he was allowed to leave the Old Trafford side for the Emirates in the summer transfer window. The Manchester-born forward came back to haunt his former side with the winner on Monday, and unsurprisingly he took centre stage on Twitter, in particular. Below are the best memes from the night... +FIFA president Sepp Blatter has delivered a warning against a boycott of the 2018 World Cup and insisted the world governing body had every right to move the 2022 tournament to the winter. Ukraine's president has called for a boycott of the 2018 tournament in protest at Russian military involvement with pro-Moscow separatists. Blatter responded by claiming the World Cup could actually help bring peace. FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists the 2018 World Cup will take place in Russia . He told a news conference in Zurich: 'What is 100 per cent is that the World Cup will take place in Russia in 2018, that's sure. 'A boycott of the World Cup or any sporting event has never brought any solutions to anybody. 'The European Parliamentary committee is asking for a boycott of the World Cup three or four months ago - it was a boycott of the World Cup in Qatar and now it is the World Cup in Russia. 'In my opinion the World Cup in Russia will be able to stabilise all that region in Europe.' Blatter said he had been buoyed by IOC president Thomas Bach and German FA president Wolfgang Niersbach coming out against a boycott. Asked whether FIFA should apologise for the chaos caused by playing the Qatar tournament in winter, Blatter added: 'This was a decision taken by executive committee of FIFA, they have a right to do it. If something happened the FIFA ExCo can change so we can also say play in winter.' FIFA has also moved to head off opposition from the clubs over playing the 2022 World Cup . FIFA has announced it made a profit of $338m (£227.2m) over the last four years and now has cash in the bank totalling $1.5bn (£1bn). Blatter said reserves that size are needed in case a World Cup, which generates almost all the money for FIFA, had to be moved or postponed. FIFA has also moved to head off opposition from the clubs over playing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the winter by trebling the amount clubs who release players will receive for the tournaments from $70m (£47.3m) in Brazil last year to $209m (£141.3m) for Russia and Qatar. Blatter, 79, is standing for a fifth term of president on May 29 and faces three rivals, but has so far not released a manifesto. Asked about that issue, he responded: 'I am not campaigning, I am doing my job as FIFA president and I will do that until last day of my mandate which was given to me in 2011. 'My manifesto is the work I have done in FIFA - I have now been 40 years in FIFA and 17 years as president of FIFA. This is my manifesto.' +Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has changed his mind over his side's main aim this season as the Dutchman is now prioritising Champions League qualification over winning the FA Cup. Van Gaal, who has been criticised during the course of the season for constantly tinkering with Manchester United's tactical approach, said back in February that winning the FA Cup was his side's main objective. The Dutchman, speaking after Manchester United's 3-0 win against Cambridge United on February 3, said: ‘We have a real chance now. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal appears to have changed his mind over his side's main priority . Van Gaal, pictured after United's win against Newcastle, is focused on Champions League qualification . United are currently fourth in the Premier League . ‘Why? We are the highest qualified team in the FA Cup so people are maybe betting on us. I am not allowed to (bet), I am not a casino man – but I give you a tip. ‘Of course, I think the highest qualified teams have more possibilities to win than lower qualified teams. But Arsenal is still in the cup and Liverpool will fight tomorrow (Wednesday, February 4). ‘For me, personally, I have always won a title in my first year everywhere I have worked so the chance of winning the title is bigger in the FA Cup than the Premier League. ‘Every club in the FA Cup wants to win, and so do we. For the club, the fans and the coach and my staff, we want to win a title this year. The biggest chance is the FA Cup, but we still have to win four games to do that.’ Van Gaal, pictured after winning the Bundesliga in 2010, previously said his main aim was to win a trophy . However Van Gaal, speaking ahead of his side's quarter-final clash against Arsenal, now insists finishing in the top four is more important than winning a piece of silverware. Van Gaal said: 'I always want to get the goals what we have set. And the goals we have set is the top four. 'A title is fantastic. When you win the FA Cup you are not in the Champions League which is important for the club, but you have won a title. So for the players it is fantastic, for the manager it is fantastic but our goal is to reach in our first year together a place in the Champions League. 'I think that for a club the Champions League is the highest level. To finish in the first four is a fantastic result, I think. And for us, Manchester United, more I think.' +Manchester United playmaker Angel di Maria failed to live up to his £60million price-tag once again on Wednesday night with his main flaw surrounding his inability to pick out a red shirt. Di Maria, who looked incredibly disappointed after being hauled off in the 59th minute, was Manchester United's worst passer with a passing accuracy percentage of 63.6 per cent. Louis van Gaal's decision to replace the Premier League's record signing with Adnan Januzaj comes just days after Di Maria was hooked off at the interval against Sunderland following another below-par performance against Gus Poyet's side. Angel di Maria trudges off the field after another disappointing performance for Manchester United . United's record £60m signing has struggled to adapt after a bright start to his Old Trafford career . The Argentina international is ushered back to the dugout after being substituted in the 59th minute . Marcos Rojo - 87.8 . Antonio Valencia - 96.9 . Jonny Evans - 88.9 . Chris Smalling - 88.5 . Angel di Maria - 63.6 . Daley Blind - 89.2 . Ander Herrera - 90.7 . Ashley Young - 79.3 . Marouane Fellaini - 83.3 . Wayne Rooney  - 90.3 . Adnan Januzaj - 66.7 (came on in 59th minute) Juan Mata - 100 (came on in 82nd minute) Di Maria's passing accuracy in the opposing half was even worse with the Argentina international completing just 54.5 per cent of his passes. Januzaj, who came off the substitutes' bench to replace Di Maria, also seemed to be on a different wavelength to his Manchester United team-mates as his passing accuracy percentage was just 66.7 during the 31 minutes he was on the field of play. The likes of Ander Herrera (90.7 per cent), Wayne Rooney (90.3 per cent) and late substitute Juan Mata (100 per cent) all impressed on the ball during their side's slender 1-0 win over Newcastle. Van Gaal, who said Di Maria needs a year to adapt to life in the Barclays Premier League, will be hoping his record summer signing can replicate the form he had shown in his last few months at Real Madrid. Manchester United host Arsenal in the FA quarter-finals on Monday before switching their attention back to the race to finish inside the top four. Louis van Gaal hauled Di Maria off early for a second consecutive Premier League game . Ashley Young (right) scored a late winner at St James' Park to ensure Man United remained in fourth spot . +Radamel Falcao started in attack for Manchester United's Under 21 side just 24 hours after being given the cold shoulder by Louis van Gaal. The Colombian striker, who was an unused substitute during United's FA Cup defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Monday night, was named in a strong starting XI which also included fellow first team stars Rafael, James Wilson and Victor Valdes. Falcao, who earns £280,000 a week at the Barclays Premier League outfit, was replaced in the 72nd minute after failing to hit the back of the net in what proved to be yet another lifeless display. Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao started in attack for the Red Devils' Under 21 side . The Colombian was taken off in the 72nd minute after failing to impress at Old Trafford . First team stars Falcao, Victor Valdes, Rafael and James Wilson started against Tottenham . Rafael showed Falcao how to it's done by chipping Spurs keeper Luke McGee with his left foot from 30 yards to cancel out lively Tottenham midfielder Kenny McEvoy's opener. Falcao now has just 10 first team games to prove his worth to Manchester United manager Van Gaal before the end of his season-long loan deal. Manchester United have an option to sign Falcao on a permanent basis for £43million in the summer with Van Gaal deciding to stall his decision for as long as possible. Falcao has scored just four goals since joining the Red Devils on a temporary deal - with his latest strike coming against Leicester City on January 31. United boss Van Gaal jumped to the defence of Falcao on Monday night by hitting out at the press for criticising the former Atletico Madrid star. Falcao was left on the substitutes' bench for the duration of Manchester United's FA Cup defeat . Van Gaal and Falcao walk down the Old Trafford touchline after Manchester United's defeat by Arsenal . 'He scored four goals and has three or four assists, so that is his contribution,' said a clearly annoyed Van Gaal. 'And he stimulates also the other players, so that's also an aspect of the profession.' 'But it is now easy for you to say that (criticism of Falcao), and that's why you are saying that. And you are very happy to say that, I see that in your face.' Victor Valdes, on the other hand, has not made a senior appearance for United since finalising his move to Old Trafford at the beginning of January, while Rafael appears to be heading for the exit door. Manchester United goalkeeper Valdes is yet to make a first team appearance since joining the Red Devils . Rafael's last appearance for Manchester United came against Yeovil Town at the beginning of January . +Serie A strugglers Parma have announced their game against Atalanta will go ahead as scheduled after reaching an agreement with a security firm to provide stewards for Sunday's match at the Stadio Ennio Tardini. Parma's last two league matches against Udinese and Genoa have been postponed due to the club's financial crisis. However GOS security firm have agreed to attend the game in order for the fixture to take place. Parma have an illustrious history, however the club are in dire straits financially and could go out of business . The gates at the stadium were locked as Parma's second match in a row was postponed last weekend . A banner on the locked gates said the Ennio Tardini stadium was  ‘Closed for robbery’ 'Parma FC communicates that GOS [the security firm] met this morning at the police headquarters in Parma and have agreed to work at Parma-Atalanta at Stadio Tardini,' the club announced on their official website. 'As a result, Parma FC has independently guaranteed all the services required by the law. 'Parma FC thanks all the suppliers who have worked together with the club to achieve this outcome.' Club captain Alessandro Lucarelli said before Parma's match against Genoa, which was due to take place on March 1, that his team-mates had requested for the game to be postponed. It remains to be seen if Parma's first team stars will be willing to face Atalanta after threatening to go on strike. Parma's players have not been paid since July, which has left Lucarelli and Co extremely disillusioned with their situation at the Italian outfit. Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli and his club team-mates have not been paid since July . Hernan Crespo, now a youth team coach at the Italian club, used to play for them and he fears for the future . +His arms out-stretched in a hero pose, former international footballer Michael McIndoe milks the adulation as a spray of champagne washes over him. The 35-year-old wasn't celebrating a cup triumph but the millions flowing through his accounts from an alleged £30million investment scheme that snared a string of top-flight players. Pictures have now emerged of McIndoe in 2011 - at the height of his scheme - surrounded by beautiful women and empty champagne bottles as he revelled in a millionaire playboy's lifestyle in Marbella with a limitless credit card and wads of cash. Former Wolves and  Coventry player Michael McIndoe celebrates in Marbella during the height of his scheme . A member of staff at the beach bar lifts a Methuselah champagne bottle out of an ice bucket . Another former footballer revealed that McIndoe had spent £40,000 on champagne in one day . McIndoe (second from the right) parties in Marbella using money earned from the elaborate scheme . McIndoe started out at Luton Town, making his debut in 1998 and playing for the Hatters 39 times before joining Hereford on a free in 2000. Yeovil then took advantage of the Bulls' financial plight and snapped him up for £25,000 the following year. He scored 22 goals in 91 outings for the Glovers, winning promotion from the Conference in 2003 before joining Doncaster for £50,000. McIndoe twice made the PFA Team of the Year with Rovers and was his side's joint-top scorer in 2004-05 with 12 goals. He twice represented the Scotland B side during his time at Rovers. After a loan spell at Derby he joined Barnsley then Wolves, on loan again, before the deal was made permanent for £250,000. He signed a three-year contract with Bristol City in 2007 and scored the winner against Crystal Palace in the second leg of the 2008 Championship play-off semi-final. They lost out to Hull at Wembley and McIndoe had one more season at Ashton Gate before joining Coventry. He also had a brief loan stint at MK Dons. But the former Wolves and Coventry midfielder, who is accused of persuading 300 stars including Jimmy Bullard as well as a string of lower league players to invest with him, is now being investigated by police. He was forced into a bankruptcy court with debts approaching £3m earlier this month where he claimed to be penniless and living on the charity of friends and family. The Metropolitan Police are investigating and have started quizzing victims and associates. 'He was the Mr Big in Marbella, buying loads of champagne and girls all over the place. He even had a bodyguard,' said one footballer, who lost around £75,000 in the scheme, which promised a 20 per cent return on investments. McIndoe, from Edinburgh, hired pop star Alexandra Burke to perform at a party and invested in a private members club, in London. But it was in Marbella that McIndoe indulged the lavish lifestyle - shown in these exclusive photos - he could not afford as his playing career ended in non-league football. He hired a modernist £2m mansion for £27,000-a-week for a three-week holiday spree and spent £40,000 on champagne in one day at a beach club party. Friends had bottles of champagne and vodka at their tables whenever they went to nightclubs. McIndoe celebrates scoring for Doncaster against Arsenal in the League Cup in 2005 . McIndoe with the girlfriend Emma Frain during one of his holidays in Spain . McIndoe used the promise of 20 per cent returns on people's money to fund his champagne lifestyle . The former Scotland B player rented a £27,000-a-week mansion for a three-week holiday in Spain . 'There were lots of girls and lots of drink,' said the player, who had been befriended by McIndoe when he was a young apprentice at the same club. 'He was spending money like you've never seen before.' McIndoe was photographed lounging on a white sofa with his then girlfriend, model Emma Frain, and smoking a huge cigar while surrounded by friends as he bankrolled their luxury holidays. The player added that McIndoe targeted fellow professionals and businessmen football supporters and initially gave them the 20 per cent return paid monthly in cash. The scheme sucked in around 300 players and the former QPR and Hull star Bullard is thought to have lost around £600,000 which prompted him to go on the ITV reality show, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. He told original investors to get other 'clients' involved and they would be rewarded. McIndoe and his friends at the Ocean Club in Marbella where 'beds' can cost up to 7,950 euros (£5,790) More than 60 bottles of Veuve Cliquot Champagne stand empty at a party funded by McIndoe in Marbella . Large bottles of the expensive Dom Perignon champagne are buried into an ice bucket . Jimmy Bullard (pictured here in 2011) was one of the investors, and is thought to have lost around £600,000 . McIndoe lived at the five-star Mayfair Hotel, paying £4,000 a week for a suite, and also rented a Belgravia apartment for an upfront £150,000 annual fee, it is alleged. He ran glitzy parties at celebrity nightclubs including Funky Buddha, in London, and drove around in a Bentley and a Maybach. He was reportedly gambling heavily before the scheme crashed and is said to have run through £1m on bets with one bookmaker in a year. 'He had the gift of the gab but was very cagey about the scheme, saying the money was in property, gold or City investments,' added the player, who declined to be named. 'People were convinced when they saw him paying out but then he suddenly closed the scheme down. He kept telling me to wait and that I would be a wealthy man.' McIndoe celebrates sinking Crystal Palace to reach Wembley in 2008 . But he was consoled by Wayne Brown after Bristol City lost the 2008 Championship Play-off final to Hull . Another person to have been caught out by the former Scotland B international was glamour model Georgia Eden, who was one of 30 women hired to attend club nights organised by McIndoe. In total, McIndoe was due to pay the model agency who organised the women £12,000, but the money never materialised. Speaking to the Daily Record, Eden said: 'We were asked to mingle around and talk to guests in the club. The organisers said they were really pleased with what we had done and we were told we would be paid within 30 days. Georgia Eden was one of 30 models hired to attend a event put on at a club by McIndoe . But Eden, along with her colleagues, was never paid for her work with the agency said to be owed £12,000 . McIndoe (right) in action playing for his former club Wolves against West Bromwich Albion in 2007 . 'That date came and went and a lot of excuses were made to the agency. 'To have that amount of girls booked for one job was a really big deal so it was a big let down to not be paid for the work we had done.' McIndoe was made bankrupt in October last year with disclosed debts of £2.4m. He told the London bankruptcy court this month that he had no income and was living off £13,900 surplus from the sale of his mother's house but £6,000 of that had been given to his girlfriend, who lives in Epping, Essex. 'That money has been running thin of late so I have been getting help from friends and family,' he told the hearing. He added that he was not working and was living with his mother in Edinburgh or staying with a friend in London. After the hearing, he faced accusations from creditors that he had not responded to their questions about repayment. 'I have nothing to say, I cannot comment about this,' he said. The hearing was adjourned until March 25 and he must attend a meeting with the bankruptcy trustee later this month. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Police have released chilling CCTV footage of a women walking alone just minutes before she was fatally stabbed to death while she was on the phone to her husband. Prabha Arun Kumar, a 41-year-old Indian national, was seriously injured by a sharp object on a public walkway between Argyle Street, Parramatta, and Amos Street, Westmead on Saturday night, just 300m from her home. Ambulance Paramedics treated the IT professional at the scene before transporting her to Westmead Hospital, where she died about 12.45am yesterday. Scroll down for video . Prabha Arun Kumar (pictured) a 41-year-old Indian national, was seriously injured by a sharp object on a public walkway between Argyle Street, Parramatta, and Amos Street, Westmead on Saturday night . Prabha was talking to her husband, G. Arun Kumar, who lives in India with their 10-year-old daughter, when a suspicious man appeared. Her husband then heard her screaming before the line went dead. He did not hear about his wife's death until he arrived in Sydney on Sunday morning. 'She was walking while talking to Arun on the phone when she said that a suspicious-looking man was following her,' her brother-in-law, Thrijesh Jayachandra, told The Hindu. 'The next moment, he heard her scream for help and then plead with the man not to harm [her] and take all her belongings if he wanted. Seconds later, he heard her scream and say she was stabbed.' Ambulance Paramedics treated the IT professional at the scene before transporting her to Westmead Hospital, where she died about 12.45am yesterday . It's believed Prabha got off a train at Parramatta Railway Station about 9pm, before walking along Argyle Street and turning left onto the walkway. Police believe she was attacked while on the walkway. She sustained a number of injuries, which police believe were inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon. A woman who was stabbed in a 'horrific' attack has been identified as Prabha Arun . Nearby resident Arvand Amirian told 9News he had found Ms Arun with blood all over her body after hearing 'crying screams' that 'didn't sound normal'. 'There was blood covering her face, her neck, her chest - her chest wasn't even moving so that's when I assumed she was gone,' Amirian said. Her friend Sarada Angadimani, who Ms Arun was staying with, told 9News: 'Prabha was a really hard working, beautiful person. And, most importantly, a loving mother.' 'I hope God gives the family enough strength to endure this pain.' Prabha, who moved to Sydney in 2012 for an off-site project with global technology firm Mindtree, was expected to return to India for a family reunion in April. 'She last called me three days ago, when she said it was taxing for her to stay away from family,' her aunt Bharathi Jayachandra said. She complained that work pressure was severe, and she planned to return home for good in April.' Prabha's elder brother, Shankar Shetty lives in Perth and identified her body on Saturday night. Prabha was talking to her husband, G. Arun Kumar, when a suspicious man appeared. Her husband then heard her screaming before the line went dead . It's believed Prabha got off a train at Parramatta Railway Station about 9pm, before walking along Argyle Street and turning left onto the walkway . Strike Force Marcoala has been formed to investigate the death. It compromises police from Parramatta Local Area Command and State Crime Command's Homicide Squad. Police are hoping that the images will jog the memory of anyone who was in the vicinity of Argyle Street, Park Parade or Amos Street that evening, and encourage them to come forward and speak with police. Superintendent Michael Willing has appealed to the public for help. 'We are really at a loss at this point in time as to who may be responsible,' he said. The 41-year-old was stabbed to death on this walkway in Parramatta . Flowers have been laid in the Sydney park where her body was found . The CCTV footage didn't appear to show anyone following the victim when she left the station about 9pm, he said. 'It's a horrific crime; (she) was killed in a very vicious way,' Supt Willing said. It's believed Mrs Kumar was stabbed in the neck on the path through Parramatta Park that cuts between a golf course and a high school. Results from a post-mortem examination should be ready on Monday afternoon or early on Tuesday and will hopefully give police a lead. Mindtree general manager Anoop George said her colleagues were devastated. Locals have left flowers and tributes on the path where she died. 'My prayers are with you and your family. Lots of love. Mary,' one tribute said. Prabha's elder brother, Shankar Shetty lives in Perth and identified her body on Saturday night . Locals from Sydney paid their respects at the scene today . Strike Force Marcoala has been formed to investigate the death.It compromises police from Parramatta Local Area Command and State Crime Command's Homicide Squad . +Somewhere in the slew of congratulatory messages aimed at Katarina Johnson-Thompson after winning her first major gold medal was one from Jessica Ennis-Hill, whose British pentathlon record she had just broken. The Olympic heptathlon champion had earlier posted pictures of herself looking in superb shape as she prepares to make a comeback after the birth of son, Reggie. ‘Sad to see my record go but couldn’t have gone to a more deserving athlete,’ she said. ‘I know how you feel,’ replied Johnson-Thompson, addressing Morgan Lake, who had just broken Johnson-Thompson’s own British junior record. There is more love than loathing in this emerging three-way rivalry but it could be just what athletics needs to capture the interest of the British public. Katarina Johnson-Thompson won European Indoor pentathlon gold in Prague on Friday . ‘I heard that the Davis Cup tennis on the BBC got switched off to go to the athletics to watch my world record attempt, which is insane,’ said Johnson-Thompson. ‘It’s great for the sport and if heptathlon can be the driving force to get people watching athletics then it will be nothing but positive. The rivalry will be good in the summer with the Olympic champion coming back and hopefully me and Morgan coming through. It’s great.’ All three will meet for the first time in a heptathlon at the Hypo meeting in Gotzis in Austria at the end of May. The youngster collapsed to the floor in celebration after finishing the 800 metres . Fellow British pentathlete Morgan Lake looks on despondently after crashing out at 1.95m . For Lake, who is just 17 but better than both her illustrious compatriots were at the same age, it will be another step on her ascent to the senior ranks. But if Johnson-Thompson continues her meteoric rise and Ennis-Hill can come close to recapturing the form which saw her win gold at London 2012, their battle could be one of the most gripping in sport this year. Johnson-Thompson clearly sets herself high standards. Crestfallen after missing out on the pentathlon world record by 13 points, she burst into tears of despair. Coach Mike Holmes, mother Tracey and a host of Great Britain teammates were on hand to remind her she had become only the second woman in history to break 5,000 points in the pentathlon. Great Britain's Jessica Ennis poses with her gold medal at the 2010 World Indoor Athletics Championships . Johnson-Thompson shows off her pentathlon gold at the European Athletic Indoor Championships . Laying in her bed on Friday night, her body exhausted after what she deemed the most gruelling day of her career but mind unable to shut down, she ran through the day’s events. Perhaps, she mused, if the organisers had been kinder with the competition schedule she might have been able to recover better in time for her assault on the 800 metres, the final event. Or maybe if she had someone to push her in the 60m hurdles, she could have gone that split-second quicker. But her ambition should not be confused with arrogance. Johnson-Thompson, 22, claimed she would be in awe of Ennis Hill when they next compete. It will be the first time they have met since the London Olympics when she finished 15th, aged 19. Much has changed but even though she is now the world’s No1 heptathlete, Johnson-Thompson remains respectful of the elder stateswoman. Johnson-Thompson celebrates gold in the Pentathlon at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships . ‘I’m in awe of any Olympic champion,’ she said. ‘She’s one of the people who inspired me to be a heptathlete and I’ve seen her do it from a young age. It’s strange that I’m now breaking her records but she’s the Olympic champion and she’s got the British record outdoors. There’s a big difference between the heptathlon and pentathlon. I don’t know what would make me consider me her equal. I don’t like all the talk about it.’ Johnson-Thompson has been wary of setting targets in the past but admitted a medal in Beijing and gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016 were on her radar. ‘I didn’t imagine three years ago that I would be in this situation,’ she said. ‘It has come quicker than I expected. I’ll try to win in Rio, but I will be in my prime for Tokyo in 2020.’ The only problem is that by then Lake may be snapping at her heels. +One of Britain’s most popular online bookmakers has been branded a ‘rip-off company’ after failing to honour odds offered during a crucial Chelsea match. Furious customers are demanding a bigger payout after placing wagers with Sky Bet that the Premier League leaders would be knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. The firm’s mobile phone app was offering odds of 25-1 for a PSG win in extra time – but when it came to settling the bets, they paid out at just 9-2. It means the winnings for a £10 wager would have been cut from £260 to £55, including the return of the original stake. A customer placing a bet at 9.50pm received generous odds of 25/1 (left), but when it came to settling the bets, they paid out at just 9-2 (right) Sky Bet claims the better odds were offered by ‘mistake’ – and its actions are in keeping with their small print . Sky Bet claims the better odds were offered by ‘mistake’ – and its actions are in keeping with the small print in its terms and conditions. The longer odds were offered while Chelsea were leading 2-1 in extra time. But the French side equalised, despite being reduced to ten men, and won the two-legged clash on away goals. Punters who successfully bet on the result were told they would be paid less than they expected only after the match was over, with an email sent from the company blaming an ‘administration error’. David Luiz celebrates scoring PSG's first goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, second leg . Emil Bolstad, 26, was expecting to win £150 plus his £6 stake back – but profited by only £27. He said: ‘It’s false advertising. I made the bet based on 25-1 odds, not 9-2. It was only when it came time to pay up that I noticed the odds had changed. ‘If they can do this because of an “error”, they can do it for all their odds. They could triple their odds and after people have bet say, “Oh no, it was a mistake” and not pay out.’ Labour MP Graham Jones called the move 'outrageous' Labour MP Graham Jones said: ‘This is outrageous. What would have happened if a rival firm had better odds but people chose Sky Bet because of the 25-1 odds? Customers would have lost out. You can’t change the price after the sale. ‘Sky Bet are clearly a rip-off company who are willing to take their customers to the cleaners and deceive them. This is typical of the gambling industry.’ Sky Bet’s managing director Richard Flint said the longer odds were ‘clearly’ wrong. He said: ‘Occasionally mistakes happen. In this case a wrong price was displayed for around three minutes, and a small number of customers bet at the incorrect odds. These odds were clearly wrong – we showed odds of 25-1 when the true odds and the odds displayed by all other bookmakers was 9-2. We settled at the correct odds.’ The terms and conditions for the Sky Bet app – which has been downloaded 700,000 times on to iPhones and iPads – reserve the right to ‘correct obvious errors and either settle bets at the correct odds or void bets’. +Celtic were on Friday standing by skipper Scott Brown after images of him slumped on the pavement and apparently drunk on a night out in Edinburgh emerged just days before Sunday's League Cup final. The pictures, published in a tabloid newspaper, were taken after the Scotland captain had allegedly spent Wednesday night drinking with friends in lap-dancing bars in the capital. Brown was also shown eating fast food in the photographs, flying in the face of manager Ronny Deila’s instructions to his players to be ‘24-hour athletes’. Celtic captain Scott Brown eats fast food while sat on the floor and apparently drunk . Brown is seen leaving Baby Dolls after being reportedly told by a bouncer to 'get some food and sober up' Brown tucks into a pizza after popping in to Kingfisher kebab and pizza shop . Celtic manager Ronny Deila has banned chips and fizzy drinks from the players’ menu since his arrival . The midfielder was described as being unsteady on his feet by witnesses in Edinburgh on Wednesday . Brown looks to be enjoying his food as he polishes off the pizza while still sitting on the floor . Celtic refused to comment on the reports but Sportsmail understands the Parkhead club are playing down the seriousness of the incident after Deila gave his squad Thursday off. Brown, who has made 42 appearances for his country and is just eight caps away from entering the SFA’s hall of Fame, returned to training on Friday ahead of Sunday’s clash with Dundee United at Hampden. The Scottish Sun reported that Brown was in the Burke and Hare nightclub where he enjoyed the attention of scantily-clad girls and offered to buy dances for fellow drinkers. But he was reported to have had an argument with some of the dancers and a barman had to intervene to calm the situation. Brown then left for the Western Bar where he was refused entry but was successful in getting into the nearby Baby Dolls lap-dancing bar. The Sun reports that Brown was told by a bouncer to 'get some food and sober up' and he went on to fall asleep during a dance. Brown (right) was out with a group of friends after a day off from training by Celtic manager Ronny Deila . Brown (left) was likely to have some explaining to do when he reported for Celtic training on Friday . Brown is put through his paces during the Scottish giants training session on Friday . Brown will be hoping to lift the Scottish League Cup on Sunday when Celtic play Dundee United . A source from Baby Dolls told the Sun: 'Brown and his pals weren’t in long. They had a couple of dances then left with no trouble, although they both clearly had a good drink in them. 'Scott was a bit wobbly on his feet.' Brown was a £4.4million signing from Hibernian in 2007 – the largest fee between two Scottish clubs. The Scotland international (left) joined Celtic in a £4.4m deal from Hibernian in May 2007 . +Friday 13 didn't leave Mercedes red-faced as they dominated free practice at Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but they did emit a crimson complexion of a different kind as they showed their support for Red Nose Day. Last season's F1 World Constructors' Championship champions wore red noses in support for the British charity. Defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton was the only one from the party to not be seen wearing a red nose, but the British racer did wear a T-shirt backing. Mercedes F1 team showed their support for Red Nose Day by wearing merchandise on Friday . Mercedes' drivers Lewis Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg both also wore T-shirts in support of Red Nose Day . Rosberg wore the red nose while conducting interviews and signing autographs to fans at Albert Park . Captioned with the slogan 'I think I may be the voice of a generation,' the 30-year-old is all smiles as he poses for photographs with team-mate Nico Rosberg. Rosberg was also pictured wearing a T-shirt, as well as a red nose, for the biennel telethon charity event which takes over the BBC on Friday evening. And Friday's F1 practice proved a good one for the German as he set the fastest lap of 1:27.697secs in the second session on a glorious day at Albert Park, topping Hamilton by one tenth of a second. Rosberg was also quickest in the first session, his best time of 1:29.557secs edging Hamilton as the constructors' champions carried their ominous form from winter testing onto the track. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest on his debut for Ferrari in the second session, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fourth best. The German made a flying start to his season as he topped the timesheets in both practice sessions . Rosberg pictured in action ahead of Sunday's season opener at the Australian Grand Prix . World champion Hamilton finished behind Rosberg in both practice sessions on Friday . Hamilton takes time out in the garage during the first practice session of the new season . But with Vettel's fastest time over seven tenths of a second adrift of Rosberg, the opening day's practice will strengthen belief that the first rounds of the new season may be a private duel for race wins between the Mercedes duo. At the other end of the grid, and dogged by reliability problems during winter testing, the gloom in the McLaren garage followed drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen onto the track. Magnussen, who has taken injured Fernando Alonso's seat at Albert Park, skidded into the gravel at turn six in the second session and his car had to be winched off the track. That was after he and Button finished slowest of the 15 cars in the first session that posted flying laps. Button improved in the second but only marginally to be 13th fastest. McLaren endured a difficult day at the office with Kevin Magnussen slamming his car into the barriers . Magnussen's McLaren is winched away by a tractor after he skidded into the gravel ain the second session . Magnussen's team-mate Jenson Button (left) looks concerned after a disappointing day of practice . Button struggled in Melbourne as he and Magnussen finished at the back in both free practice sessions . 1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:29.557secs, . 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.586 . 3 Valteri Bottas Williams 1:30.748 . 4 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso 1:31.014 . 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.029 . 6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:31.067 . 7 Felipe Massa Williams 1:31.188 . 8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31.310 . 9 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:31.451 . 10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:31.570 . 11 Daniel Kvyat Red Bull 1:32.073 . 12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:32.247 . 13 Nico Hulkenbrrg Force India 1:32.261 . 14 Jenson Button McLaren 1:34 . 15 Kevin Magnussen 1:34.785 . 16 Romain Grosjean Lotus 2:17.782 . 17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber . 18 Felipe Nasr Sauber . 19 Will Stevens Manor . 20 Roberto Merhi Manor (All no time) 1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.697secs . 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.797 . 3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:28.412 . 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:28.842 . 5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:29.265 . 6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:30.016 . 7 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso 1:30.071 . 8 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:30.104 . 9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:30.205 . 10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:30.473 . 11 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:30.755 . 12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:30.980 . 13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.387 . 14 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:31.395, . 15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:32.303 . 16 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:33.289 . 17 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull . 18 Felipe Massa Williams . 19 Will Stevens Manor . 20 Roberto Mehri Manor (All no time) +While he may not be green-fingered, this Chinese farmer deserves a high-five for growing a huge hand-shaped vegetable. Mr Chen, who lives in the Zhongjiang County in central China, has harvested an impressive vegetable grown from a mysterious sprout, according to People's Daily. The creative Chinaman then decided to use it to make soup, and it tasted like a yam. Hand or foot: Mr Chen, who lives in the Zhongjiang County in central China, has harvested the vegetable . Referred to by Mr Chen as the 'foot yam', the curious vegetable weighs 14.6kg and measures around 70cm. Last spring, Mr Chen discovered some small green shoots in the abandoned vegetable garden behind his house. 'I never gave it any fertiliser so did not expect it to grow so big,' he said. But he unexpectedly found the huge vegetable a few days ago. The duck house behind Mr Chen's home is suspected to have fertilised the ground which would provide the 'foot yam' with all the nutrients it needed to grow. Referred to by Mr Chen as the 'foot yam', the curious vegetable weighs 14.6kg and measures around 70cm . 'This feet yam has the flavour of certain traditional medicine with a delicate taste and nice texture,' Mr Chen said. He also said there was too much to eat, so he shared it with his relatives. +With London now a mainstay of the regular season calendar, the NFL is looking further overseas to expand its product. Mexico, Canada and China have been touted as the next locations to stage games. 'The work we're doing now is to ask, "How do we accelerate the agenda in Mexico, Canada and China?",' Mark Waller, the NFL's executive vice president international told NFL.com. 'Those would be our next stage, and we have offices in those three countries. And then, after those, where should be our focus? I think we've concluded that Brazil and Germany are the next two frontier markets, which is where the Pro Bowl idea comes from.' The Detroit Lions will return to Wembley in October after beating the Falcons there last year . Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders strut their stuff ahead of the game with the Steelers in September 2013 . Next year's all-star match-up will be played in its traditional location, Honolulu, but there are rumours that it will move to Brazil. Germany is traditionally a stronghold of the sport, but the NFL have struggled to strike an adequate deal with television companies. Meanwhile, after eleven NFL games at Wembley, three more follow this season. The New York Jets play the Miami Dolphins in the first overseas conference game on October 4. The Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars compete three weeks later with the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs playing the week after that. +The Astana cycling team have denied reports they have been stripped of their WorldTour licence by the Independent Licence Commission. Last month the UCI requested that Astana's licence be revoked by the commission following an independent audit into the team of 2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali, which came after a number of anti-doping infringements by Astana and their feeder team. On Monday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Astana would lose their WorldTour licence and would only be allowed to apply for a Continental licence, the third tier of professional cycling, saying the decision had been made on March 20. The Astana cycling team have denied reports they have been stripped of their WorldTour licence . The Licence Commission is due to meet with Astana on Thursday, and the team said they believed that meeting would mark the start of the decision-making process, with no verdict yet in place. An Astana statement said: 'Astana Pro Team has every reason to believe that our meeting on April 2 with the Independent Licence Commission will be a properly conducted legal meeting with due process and is not a foregone conclusion. 'We aim to present evidence that Astana Pro Team is in full compliance with the ethical codes in place and is taking pro-active measures to enhance our role in the global fight against drugs in cycling.' When Astana were awarded their 2015 licence in December, conditions were attached after five riders linked to the team failed doping tests in 2014, including brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy, trainee Ilya Davidenok and two members of Astana's continental development team - Artur Fedosseyev and Victor Okishev. On Monday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Astana would lose their WorldTour licence . Astana was made to submit to an audit from the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne as a condition of its licence. At the conclusion of that audit, the UCI asked for Astana's licence to be revoked, saying the reality of the team's policies and structures differed markedly from what Astana told the licence commission during a review last December. Kazakhstan-based Astana previously said they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if their licence was revoked. There has been no suggestion of wrong-doing on the part of Tour winner Nibali. The UCI has not responded to requests for comment on Monday's report. +Second-tier French club Nimes will be relegated at the end of the season after its former president was found guilty of trying to fix matches. After interviewing about 50 officials, players and coaches, the French league disciplinary commission says Jean-Marc Conrad tried to fix four matches as his club fought off relegation last season. He was banned from football-related activities for seven years. Seven games involving Nimes were investigated after Conrad was arrested last November. Nimes' former club president Jean-Marc Conrad was arrested for his involvement in match-fixing last year . The investigation followed a 1-1 draw against Caen last May that kept Nimes in the second division and saw Caen promoted to the top flight. Preliminary charges of corruption have been filed against Caen president Jean-Francois Fortin and Conrad, who has stepped down in the aftermath of the scandal. Nimes can appeal the sanction. The Ligue 2 side will be relegated at the end of the season following the match-fixing scandal . Monaco forward Valere Germain (centre) vies with Nimes players Larry Azouni (right) and Anthony Marin (left) +A team official sparked a match-fixing row in Italy's Serie B after dropping his notes and leaving them on the team bench, where they were found by officials of the other club. Virtus Entella scrambled a 3-3 draw at Frosinone in Saturday's game after equalising with a controversial penalty in stoppage time. Frosinone president Maurizio Stirpe said his club had found a note on the Virtus bench on which the words 'we score with a penalty' had been scribbled, which was interpreted as a forecast of what was going to happen and raised suspicions of match manipulation. Frosinone (whose fans are pictured away at Pescara Calcio in November) claim they found a note on their opponent's bench on Saturday, with the words 'we score a penalty' on it . Frosinone (pictured) drew 3-3 with their opponents Virtus Entella on Saturday, who scored a late penalty . 'If the story is confirmed, would cast more shadows on the entire football system,' he told Italian media. However, Entella angrily denied the suggestion. 'It is not a prediction of the end of the game as feared by some media but rather just a report on the match,' team manager Maurizio Podesta told the club's website. Podesta said he always wrote a detailed report on the team's games, however, he ran out of space near the end and noted down the penalty on a second sheet of paper. 'On the final whistle, and during the celebration of our unexpected draw, I let the second sheet fall, presumably in the vicinity of the Entella team bench.' Despite Frosinone's claims, Virtus Entella have angrily denied the suggestion of match-fixing . Entella's statement added: 'It is with great sadness that we have to reconstruct the facts, which led fans and executives of Frosinone to create a climate of tension and suspicion towards the players, officials and supporters of Virtus Entella.' Last month, Lazio president Claudio Lotito, also a powerbroker in the Italian federation, caused uproar in Italy by naming several small clubs that he did not want to be promoted from Serie B in a leaked phone conversations. Lotito said that promotion of the clubs, which included Frosinone, would be a financial disaster for Serie A. Serie B was hit by a match-fixing scandal in 2010/11 which led to more than 50 players being banned and several clubs suffering points deductions. However, Italian football is also riddled with conspiracy theories, known as 'biscuits', which often turn out to have little or no foundation. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Fast bowler Mohammad Amir came agonisingly close to a hat-trick in his return to domestic cricket on Friday after a ban of four-and-a-half years. Amir removed opening batsman Naved Malik and Ali Sarfraz off successive deliveries in his fourth over of a grade-two match, one level below first-class cricket. He still took three wickets in his first six-over spell at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, conceding 23 runs. However, his second spell was ineffective as the left-armer was smashed for 31 runs in three overs without success. Mohammad Amir (centre) took three wickets in on his comeback on Friday after his four-and-a-half year ban . 'I always try to make batsmen play as much as possible,' he said. 'I am trying to give 100 percent, but to be honest with you, it's not easy after all these years. It's like starting from zero.' Amir was banned from all cricket after pleading guilty in 2010 to charges of bowling deliberate no-balls at pre-arranged times to fix spot betting markets, while playing for Pakistan in a Test against England at Lord's. The International Cricket Council shortened his five-year ban in January, for his cooperation with its anti-corruption and security unit. The 22-year-old Amir made a delayed return when his match last Tuesday was washed out. He's playing for Omar Associates in the three-day Patron's Trophy. 'Four and a half years ago I was at my peak, and I can't get back those years,' Amir said. 'But as a Muslim, I believe there's always a lesson in life. I can't rewind those years but I should avail what time I have ahead of me.' Amir (left) almost took a hat-trick in his opening spell but did manage to take three wickets for 23 runs . He has at least two more three-day matches in the tournament, then plans to play in domestic T20 tournament next month. 'I delivered 90 percent of my deliveries where I wanted to. The inswingers which were there in 2009 are still coming up nicely,' he added with a broad smile. Amir has received a mixed response about his international future. Former Pakistan board chairman Tauqir Zia and ex-captain Ramiz Raja say he shouldn't represent Pakistan again because he's tainted. But Amir seems to be unruffled by the critics. He has set his sights on Pakistan's series against India in December. Amir (left) was banned from all cricket in 2010 for spot-fixing during Pakistan's Test vs England at Lord's . 'Who doesn't want to play against India?' Amir said. 'It's a dream of every Pakistani cricketer to play against India, and my aim is to give performances, stay fit, and get selected.' He was considered Pakistan's next great bowler, having taken 51 wickets in 14 tests at an average of 29.09, and 25 wickets in 15 one-day internationals at an average of 24. He also had 23 wickets in 18 Twenty20s. Sabih Azhar, the coach of Rawalpindi Rams, for whom Amir will play in the T20 tournament next month, supported Amir's return. 'He certainly deserves one more chance,' Azhar told The Associated Press after watching Amir from the boundary line at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. 'He's ready for international cricket, and his body language clearly tells you that he's hungry to do well for Pakistan.' Amir has set his sights on making an international return for Pakistan's series against India in December . +A Spanish court says the former president and two other former board members of football club Osasuna were arrested on Friday as part of an investigation into financial irregularities that authorities think may be linked to match fixing. The regional court of northern Navarra says ex-president Patxi Izco, former vice president Juan Pascual and former director Diego Maquirriain were brought in to give testimony before judge Fermin Otamendi. Another former president and two other former board members were arrested Thursday and also gave evidence before Otamendi. Patxi Izco, ex-president of Spanish club Osasuna, appeared before a judge in connection with match fixing . Former president Juan Pascual also appeared to give a testimony in the regional court in Narvarra . The arrests came as Otamendi investigates the disappearance of at least 2.4million euros (£1.7m) from the club's coffers between November 2013 and June 2014. Current club director Pedro Baile Osasuna has acknowledged a government sports council audit last year uncovered an unaccounted-for payment made by the club. +Glasgow Warriors will hope their nine returning Scotland internationals will be fired up by thoughts of revenge as they take on Leinster on Friday night. Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Finn Russell, Fraser Brown, Tim Swinson and Rob Harley have been named in the starting XV for the Guinness Pro12 clash, while Jonny Gray and Adam Ashe both start on the bench at the RDS Arena. All nine featured for the Dark Blues as they ended their RBS 6 Nations with a fifth and final defeat to Ireland last Sunday. Stuart Hogg (right) looks dejected as Scotland are beaten by Ireland in their final Six Nations match . But they will have extra motivation for their club return as they take on a Leinster outfit that features seven of Joe Schmidt's victorious side from Murrayfield in their matchday 23. Ian Madigan, Eoin Reddan, Marty Moore and Jordi Murphy all start, while Sean Cronin, Cian Healy and Luke Fitzgerald are named among the replacements just six days on from playing winning roles in the 40-10 triumph which sealed their second title in a row during a thrilling climax to the Championship. Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said: 'We're looking forward to returning to action after our recent break and we've been boosted this week by the return of our Scotland internationals. 'We've had some great battles with Leinster over the past few seasons and we're expecting another one (on Friday evening). Mark Bennett goes over against England at Twickenham to score his second try of the tournament . 'It'll be the first time we've returned to the RDS since last season's Pro12 final and we know we'll need to play our best rugby if we're to come away with a positive result against the defending champions.' Hogg returns at full-back, while Seymour comes in on the right wing and Canadian international DTH van der Merwe continues on the opposite side. Peter Horne and Mark Bennett form the centre partnership, while Russell takes up his slot at stand-off. Niko Matawalu keeps his place at scrum-half. Alex Allan comes in at loosehead, Brown returns at hooker and after a number of stand-out performances for Scotland Under-20s, Zander Fagerson starts his second game for the Warriors at tighthead. Young fly-half Finn Russell - who also scored against Ireland - was another positive for Scotland . Al Kellock captains the side for the 150th time in the second-row and packs down with Swinson in the engine room. Harley, Chris Fusaro and Josh Strauss continue in the back-row. Scrum-half Henry Pyrgos is named on the bench after recovering from a knee injury and he could make his first appearance since the narrow to defeat to Bath in January. +What an incredible day of rugby that was. I thought it might be exciting, I hoped it would be exciting but never did I think it would hit the levels it did. What a shame, then, that Scotland allowed themselves to get caught up in the story which unfolded rather than focus on their task at hand. In the second half at BT Murrayfield, Vern Cotter’s men lost the plot rather than doing the basics right and there did not seem to be anyone giving direction in the last 20 minutes. It is an inexperienced side and we saw that naivety in spades on Saturday. Scotland's dismal Six Nations campaign ended with a 40-10 thrashing by Ireland at Murrayfield . Scotland should not concede 40 points at home and lose by a margin of 30 points to Ireland. A championship that promised so much has, ultimately, delivered very little and Scotland’s dismal run in the Six Nations continues. In 12 matches, we have won only once and that was courtesy of a last-minute drop goal in Rome last season. That says it all really. It is particularly painful when placed against the style and substance displayed by the Irish, England, France and Wales on what was a stunning day. For the tournament to go down to the last second of the last game was amazing but it was what happened in the lead-up to those tense dying moments which made Saturday truly remarkable. Scotland's huge loss on Saturday was their fifth in the tournament and they finished bottom of the table . I thought Wales would rack up a load of points against Italy but they only did this in a devastating second-half display. As that game was drawing to a close, with Wales 28 points better off than Ireland and looking like scoring again, it appeared that it was game over and Wales would win the Six Nations. But they missed the chance and Italy scored down the other end. There was a collective cheer in Italy, Ireland and England because it gave the latter two countries a chance. I felt Wales were still favourites as, although I thought Ireland and England would win their games, I didn’t think they would be able to accumulate enough points to go above Wales. How wrong I was! I felt it was a perfect day for Scotland to really show what they were all about because there was no pressure on them whatsoever and they could just go out and play with total freedom. To a point, they did this but so did Ireland — and they did it far better than their hosts. Ireland were crowned Six Nations winners after a dramatic final day that saw them edge England and Wales . Both England and Ireland had targets they knew they had to win by to have a chance of lifting the Six Nations trophy. This very rarely happens in rugby and I thought this might mean their focus would be on scoring tries rather than playing the game in the normal safety-first manner. England did adopt this approach and it ultimately cost them but Ireland were able to operate a normal game plan, mainly because of how Scotland were playing. It was an exciting first half where Ireland dominated the early stages but Scotland hung in and eventually played some really good rugby that led to Finn Russell’s try. That was just about it for Scotland and the last 40 minutes of the Championship was painful — with so many mistakes, turnovers, penalties conceded and poor leadership. England beat France 55-35 at Twickenham but it wasn't enough to overhaul Ireland . Wales had earlier moved into pole position when they beat Italy 61-20 in Rome . With that thumping victory, Ireland set England a target of 26 points that they had to win by to snatch the trophy. The difference in this game was that France really did come to the party and easily produced their best performance of the Six Nations. Mind you, so did England — and 90 points scored tells you that the attack was very much on top with defence an optional extra at times. That England came within a metre and six points of winning the Six Nations was incredible and the drama was off the scale. When France won a penalty after 80 minutes had passed, the whole of Ireland celebrated but the drama was not over. Inexplicably, France ran the penalty on their own line and gave England one more chance to win the ball back and caused a nation to have a collective heart attack. Eventually they saw sense and kicked the ball out to finish off the most amazing day in the history of the RBS Six Nations. When the dust settled, Ireland were crowned Six Nations champions but huge credit goes to England, Wales and France for their contribution to an incredible day. As for Scotland and Italy, they contributed as well but in a very different way. +Scotland rugby fans are not, as a rule, the kind of folk who fling Mars bars at directors’ boxes or strike up furious chants demanding a change of leadership. It takes something hugely infuriating to prompt them out of their beery reverie and happily soused sense of match-day bonhomie, a state of mind where every stranger is regarded as just a friend they haven’t met, and where the pain of loss is tempered by the knowledge that their new best pals are enjoying victory. The actions of one poor demented soul at Murrayfield on Saturday evening offered a brief and revelatory glimpse, then, of how deeply the national mood has darkened at the end of an emotionally exhausting Six Nations Championship, a campaign that moved from promising to properly poor without bothering to shift through the gears. Scotland's dismal Six Nations campaign ended with a 40-10 thrashing by Ireland at Murrayfield . Scotland's huge loss on Saturday was their fifth in the tournament and they finished bottom of the table . Scotland's Finn Russell is tackled by Conor Murray and Rory Best during their Six Nations rugby match . Storming up the steps at the back of the main stand with about five minutes to go, Angry from Maryculter whistled sharply for the attention of Vern Cotter and his coaching team, safely ensconced behind reinforced glass in their secure box. Satisfied that he had caught their eye, the furious fan — a sensible enough looking chap — pointed and roared about the ‘disgrace’ and ‘joke’ of a performance he had been watching all afternoon. Give that man a hand. Or a blog on the BBC website, at least. None of the home fans among the 67,000 sell-out enjoyed seeing their team reduced to mere fodder — an absolute irrelevance — by an Ireland side involved in a run chase, a mathematical exercise in points accumulation. Considering the paucity of the Scotland performance, devoid of spark and littered with the kind of basic errors that would move a mini-rugby coach to break down in tears, the sound of patience snapping all over the stadium could hardly have come as a surprise to anyone. Still, at least the Irish had a right good day out, with head coach Joe Schmidt making a point of mentioning how welcoming the home crowd had been to his boys. Fortress Murrayfield, eh? Available for conferences, weddings, bar mitzvahs and even title celebrations — complete with fireworks — by anyone but the regular residents. Sean O'Brien of Ireland scores the second try in the Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland . Ireland players celebrate at the end of the match at Murrayfield before being crowned Six Nations champions . Ireland's O'Brien and Devin Toner escape Scotland's Gray during the Six Nations match at Murrayfield . If everyone involved in the Scotland set-up, from the kit man to self-styled comedy guru and full-time director of rugby Scott Johnson, didn’t feel at least a little uncomfortable watching the Irish party on Saturday night, something is very wrong. Our home ground certainly lacks the intimidation factor that comes with a winning team, the best we can offer being a Billy Connolly lookalike wandering on to the field with a claymore and a monkey, with a microphone, yelling at people to support the team — or even giggling to himself as he makes his one joke about Geoff Cross’ beard again and again and again. Given the situation, Ireland — ranked third in the world and chasing a second successive Six Nations title — were never going to flinch from the task in hand. They ran in four tries, forced Scotland to concede a dirty dozen penalties, won every contest that mattered … and genuinely seemed capable of taking the ball back from Scotland any time they damn well pleased. The visitors won a dozen turnovers and, if some of those were the result of excellent work in the breakdown, most were about the Scots simply dropping the ball, knocking it on, losing it when hanging on might, just might, have given them a chance of avoiding a 30-point demolition. Sure, Finn Russell scored a nice enough try for the home team, finishing with a bit of cheek for good measure. But dear oh dear, the majority of the fare served up was miserably thin. Vern Cotter (centre) has his position as Scotland head coach under scrutiny after a winless Six Nations . Russell (right) touches down for a Scotland try in the defeat against Ireland on Saturday . Scotland were outclassed by Ireland at Murrayfield as the visitors secured the Six Nations title . Take the passage of play leading up to Ireland’s third try as perhaps the ideal snapshot of the entire afternoon. It all started with a brilliant Tommy Seymour take on a high ball plummeting to earth inside the Irish half, the Scotland winger collecting and driving forward. When Greig Laidlaw’s low pass in front of Jonny Gray was knocked on by the stooping big man, though, it handed Ireland a scrum on halfway. A scrum that they converted into a penalty by simply pulverising the Scottish eight. A kick to touch, a line-out cleanly taken, an efficient working of the ball through the phases — and bang, Jared Payne scores under the posts. Absolutely maddening. Errors like that, of which there were far too many to document on Saturday, have left Cotter banging on about the same problems that confronted him on day one of his reign. He still talks with some degree of animation, by his standards, about possession, grabbing hold of teams and shaking them until they hurt, treating every second in every game as a moment of truth. Already he is looking forward to a long training camp ahead of the World Cup, promising that working and drilling them, going back to basics and forcing them to confront their own shortcomings will bear dividends. Improvement should be possible. Important players, leaders, will return from injury. We will duly skelp Japan and beat the USA in our opening two World Cup games, raising hopes just in time for the crucial group fixtures against South Africa and Samoa. If that is the limit of our ambitions, grand. If we are content to be bumping along the bottom of the Six Nations table, occasionally rousing ourselves for the odd Autumn test against undercooked southern hemisphere opposition, carry on. Cotter obviously hopes to achieve more than that in his time as Scotland head coach. But he can’t do it alone. Given the lack of strength in depth, even his most promising players must, absolutely must, take personal responsibility for carrying themselves and their team-mates to at least the middle ground of international respectability. Russell, celebrating his very first professional try a year into his career, said: ‘Vern keeps talking about detail. We need to improve as individuals, as well as improving as a team. Russell backed coach Cotter to inspire Scotland to turn their form around with the World Cup coming . Conor Murray (second right) makes a break for Ireland during the Six Nations game against Scotland . Jonny Gray (centre) of Scotland wins a line out ball during the Six Nations match against Ireland . ‘It’s up to individual players to go away to their clubs and work on these things. Then we should come back for pre-season, hopefully, with all the players tweaking things and returning as better rugby players. ‘Because we do know that we need to step up again for the World Cup. Personally, as a playmaker, I have to take a lot out of this campaign and look at what I can do better. It will come. We will go to the World Cup as a better team.’ As promises go, it’s not quite up there with a dazed David Denton seemingly suggesting that Scotland might contend for the Webb Ellis Trophy half a year down the line. Right now, we would settle for performances that keep the fans at bar’s length from open revolt — and the Mars bars tucked firmly in place between the hip flask and the tartan tammy. +Six Nations champions Ireland returned home to their native country as heroes after retaining the title in spectacular fashion in Scotland. The tournament went right down to the wire with England, Wales and the Irish all in with a chance of lifting the trophy. But it was the reigning champions who triumphed thanks to an emphatic 40-10 over the Scots - who lost every game in this year's competition. Rob Kearney (centre) holds the Six Nations trophy in front of a mixture of youthful and experienced fans . Jamie Heaslip (centre) poses for a photograph with a young fan after returning to Ireland . Joe Schmidt's side were on course for the Grand Slam after impressing in the opening three fixtures but defeat in Wales, opened up the Six Nations title race and made sure it came down to the final day. Two tries from Sean O'Brien, one for Paul O'Connoll and Jared Payne completed a comfortable victory for the Irish and it was left to England needing to score 26-points to claim the title. Unfortunately for Stuart Lancaster's side it was too much of an ask with a mixture of poor defending and individual errors playing their part in conceding sloppy tries. Winning by 20 points just wasn't enough and Ireland's players were left celebrating at the end of the final game before receiving the coveted Six Nations trophy. It was the first time Ireland retained the title since 1949 and upon their return you could see what it meant to the country with hundreds of people turning out to greet them. Jonny Sexton (left) and Paul O'Connell (right) arrive at Dublin Airport with the trophy fully in her grasp . Ireland's fans got a chance to touch the coveted Six Nations trophy outside Dublin Airport . Heaslip (right) was in high spirits and enjoyed posing for photos with the fans waiting to greet him . The number eight was a top performer for the Irish throughout the competition and looked delighted . +A mother has revealed her horror after she discovered she married a paedophile. Mel Alford, of Exeter, Devon, said she only found out her husband Jonathan's past when he appeared in court to admit grooming an underage girl for sex. The 37-year-old, who has three children, first met the man she knows as JR, in April 2012 through Facebook as she was friends with his older brother. Mel Alford said she had no idea her husband Jonathan was a paedophile until he was in court . Ms Alford said she agreed to go on a date with him after he ‘kept sending nice messages’. She revealed: ‘We ended up getting engaged in August and brought the wedding forward to November that year when I found out my dad was dying from cancer. 'We were together most of the time and the start of our marriage was really good. He was great with my kids and treated me like a queen. 'I had no idea what he was really like until a social worker visited me and told me he was on bail for sleeping with an underage girl. 'That girl had come to my children's dad's house and told him and he contacted social services.' Ms Alford said that her husband denied it and pulled up what he told her was the girl's Facebook page which had a message to him saying 'sorry I lied’. Mel - pictured with Jonathan on their wedding day - said he treated her 'like a queen' She said: 'It turns out he had set up a fake account to send that message. 'Myself and the kids believed him so we just carried on. But he became so jealous after we got married and I could not answer the door in case it was a man and he would sleep outside in his car if we had a row. 'In September 2013 I kicked him out. But I didn't know the allegations were true until I saw he was in court.’ At Exeter Crown Court, Jonathan Alford admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child, seven of making or possessing indecent images of children, three of having extreme pornography and one of perverting the course of justice. Alford was also caught with child abuse and bestiality images on his computer and was jailed for seven years and three months in July last year. Ms Alford said she was totally unaware of his charges until he appeared in court and said struggled to believe that the man she loved and brought into her family was capable of such crimes. Jonathan Alford was jailed for more than seven years after he admitted admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child and other related offences . 'I went along to the court and shouted and screamed on every plea. I heard all about his sickening crimes,’ Ms Alford said. 'It was so disturbing I don't think it was really sinking in on the day. 'I walked into the middle of the court and called him a “dirty bastard”. He smiled at me and I just wanted to kill him. 'He had been brought into my family and been around my kids. I was sickened. Still all I know is what I heard in court that day. I still don't really know the full story. 'I never saw him again after that. I wanted to go to his sentencing hearing but because I had kicked off at the previous hearing the police wouldn't let me in. 'I have asked my kids if he ever tried it on with them and they have said no. But he should not have been allowed anywhere near me and my three children while he was on bail. 'There should have been checks done.' Ms Alford said she is now awaiting her final divorce papers to come through, and has set up an unofficial website to ‘name and shame’ offenders – which the police have told her to take down. She said: 'It has certainly made me a lot more cautious about people and I am passionate about what I am doing. 'I am proud to have met so many people and victims. I am not a counsellor but they tell me their story and I try and help them.’ She added: 'You have no idea who is a paedophile. I was married to one and did not know. 'I hear so many stories - many of them extremely heart-breaking. I just want people to be more aware of who they are dating and allowing to be around their children.’ She said: 'I carry a lot of guilt that I put my children in danger by having this man around them. I don't think I will ever get over that.’ +A Palestinian refugee achieved his lifetime ambition to one day own a lion when he adopted two of them and brought them into his home. Saad al-Jamal purchased the two-month-old lion cubs from the cash-strapped Rafah zoo. He has plans to raise them at his house in the Al-Shabora refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, although he faces a difficult task as the lions - and their appetites - grow. Saad al-Jamal holds the lions in his arms as one of them struggles in an effort to get back on the ground . Mr al-Jamal plans to raise the cubs at his house in the Al-Shabora refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip . He refused to say how much he paid for the cubs, but admitted to AFP that he has received a $9,000 offer (£6,000) to buy them. The two lion cubs, one male and one female, have been named Alex and Mona. They have been living in the three-bedroom flat ‘like members of the family’ for 10 weeks, and they play 'all day long' with Mr al-Jamal's children and grandchildren. Footage shows the cubs play-fighting on the floor of the family's flat, and interacting with young children. The lion cubs can be seen on the video interacting with Mr al-Jamal’s children and grandchildren . Bringing the cubs outside, Mr al-Jamal holds the lions in his arms and as of them fights against him to be put back down. Other clips show the owner is featured stroking them as they bask in the sun. It is believed that the parents of the cubs were brought into Gaza via a tunnel along the border with Egypt around three years ago. Raising two lion cubs is a costly venture, and Mr al-Jamal has plans to use them to earn money. He intends to lease them to parks, restaurants and seaside resorts once they are a few months older. Saad Al-Jamal purchased the two-month-old lion cubs called Alex and Mona from the Rafah zoo . Once the cubs are 15-months-old they will develop adult teeth and possess the ability to tear flesh . At just two months, the cubs eat half a kilogram of meat a day, and their appetites will become even larger as they get older. Right now the animals are at an age where they are unable to inflict any real damage. But once the cubs reach 15-months-old they will develop adult teeth and will possess the ability to tear flesh. At which point, Mr al-Jamal’s living situation might not be so harmonious. +Seydou Keita scored a late equaliser to give Roma the advantage in this all-Italian Europa League last-16 tie - and saved team-mate Adem Ljalic's blushes at the same time. Ljalic had the chance to cancel out Josip Ilicic's first-half opener with a penalty on the hour mark but saw his effort saved by Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto. The away goal for Roma could be vital as the second-place Serie A side look to take the initiative in the return leg at the Stadio Olimpico next week. Seydou Keita runs over to team-mate Gervinho to celebrate his equalising goal for Roma against Fiorentina . Josip Ilicic celebrates scoring the opening goal for Fiorentina but it was Roma who would later be laughing . Fiorentina (4-3-3): Neto; Tomovic, Rodriguez, Basanta, Alonso; Badelj, Pizarro (Fernandez 46 minutes), Valero (Aquilani 72); Joaquin, Ilicic (Babacar 81), Salah. Unused subs: Lezzerini, Pasqual, Richards, Vargas. Goal: Ilicic 17. Booked: Pizarro, Alonso, Ilicic, Neto, Badelj. Manager: Vincenzo Montella . Roma (4-3-3): Skorupski; Torosidis, Manolas (Astori 26), Yanga-Mbiwa, Holebas; Nainggolan, De Rossi (Pjanic 22), Keita; Florenzi, Ljajic (Gervinho 75), Iturbe. Unused subs: Cole, De Sanctis, Doumbia, Verde. Goal: Keita 77. Penalty missed: Ljajic 60. Booked: Nainggolan. Manager: Rudi Garcia. Referee: Antonio Mateh Lahoz. The hosts started stronger, and it was no surprise when Mohamed Salah fashioned the chance for the opening goal after 17 minutes. Salah has been a revelation since arriving in Serie A on loan from Chelsea, with six goals in seven appearances, and he continued his good run of form by playing Ilicic in for the opener. With Fiorentina on the counter-attack, Salah picked up the ball on the left flank - slightly unfamiliar for him - and drove forward at pace. No challenges came in and the Egyptian had the simple task of slipping the ball between two defenders to the feet of Ilicic, who took a touch to compose himself before smashing a left-footed drive past Lukasz Skorupski at his near post. Roma came more into it as the half went on and missed good opportunities through Juan Manuel Iturbe and Alessandro Florenzi but they did also lose both captain Daniel de Rossi and Kostas Manolas to injury. Radja Nainggolan also picked up a booking meaning he will miss the second leg in the Italian capital. After the break the two sides edged back into their shells a little in fear of giving away more of an advantage, but the game burst back into life on the hour mark. Fiorentina fans hold up an impressive tifo mosaic at the Artemio Franchi stadium ahead of the last-16 tie . Ilicic's shot flies into the net at Lukasz Skorupski's near post after he latched on to Mohamed Salah's pass . Ilicic (hidden) is mobbed by his team-mates after opening the scoring at the Artemio Franchi stadium . Iturbe broke clear down the right and, one-on-one with Neto, tried to dodge past the Fiorentina keeper but was brought down. The protests were fierce as the Brazilian clearly got a hand to the ball but referee Antonio Mateh Lahoz refused to waver. Ljalic stepped up and hit the penalty hard and low but Neto dived low to his right to palm it away. Brazilian goalkeeper Neto brought down Juan Manuel Iturbe to give away a penalty on the hour mark . But Neto swept himself down, got back between the sticks and brilliantly saved Adem Ljalic's penalty . But Roma were not to be denied for too long. Just 17 minutes later Keita found space to nod in Florenzi's corner and grab the crucial away goal. Fiorentina could have restored a lead moments later but Milan Badelj was brilliantly stopped by Skorupski. But it was not enough, Roma take a slender lead back to the Stadio Olimpico next Thursday. Keita crashed in an equaliser with his head to give Roma the first-leg advantage on Thursday . Keita found himself in acres of space to level the scores and put Roma in the driving seat of the tie . Mohamed Salah set up Fiorentina's opening goal with a bursting run but it was not enough to secure the win . +Radamel Falcao's miserable time at Manchester United plumbed new depths when he turned out for the club's Under 21s in their 1-1 draw with Tottenham. At a virtually empty Old Trafford the £280,00-a-week misfit endured a lifeless 72 minutes before suffering the ignominy of hearing cheers when his number was held up. United handed Monaco a £6m loan fee for Falcao, 29, and have an option to buy him for £43.2m at the end of the season. Catch up on all the action with Sportsmail's Oliver Todd. Host commentator . It could have been a win for Manchester United on Tuesday night, had Falcao not found his way in front of two goalbound shots. The expensive loanee did more harm than good to United's attack. One big positive for the home side though was Rafael. His all-round performance and excellent goal will surely give Louis van Gaal food for thought with regards to the left back slot. Anyway, that's it from our live coverage. Check out Mike Keegan's match report HERE. Thanks for following! That's it, the referee has blown the final whistle and United and Spurs play out a 1-1 draw. Kenny McEvoy scored the opener for Tottenham before Rafael equalised with a brilliant chip in the second half. But despite an attack boasting Radamel Falcao and James Wilson, United couldn't find a winner and Spurs had the best chance of the second half when they hit the bar. Liam Grimshaw heads Pereira's first corner wide via a deflection - a second comes in but it only ends with captain Tom Thorpe fouling the goalkeeper. There will be three minutes of time added on. Andy Kellet's brilliant back-heel sets up Pereira for a cross. His pin-point ball comes to the feet of Harrop but he hesitates in a way that resembled the man he replaced, Falcao. When he finally got the shot off, the effort was blocked and the chance was gone. Still both teams going in search of a winner. Meanwhile, Spurs make a sub. Lesniak is off for Aaron McEneff. Axel Tuanzebe is on as United search for a winner. Off comes Shaquile Coulthirst to be replaced by Daniel Akindiyini. United arguably look better with Falcao off the pitch and James Wilson trusted with a more central role. Rafael's cross from the right just evades the young striker sliding on and shortly after Pereira puts another Rafael delivery over the bar. Falcao is being subbed off! He's been poor in truth and has done more harm than good to United's attacks. Louis van Gaal is unlikely to be impressed and you would think he has no chance of starting at the weekend on this showing. He is replaced by Josh Harrop. Oh, and he awkwardly didn't seem to realise it was him that was being hooked at first, just as he did with the first team against Preston North End. It's fair to say the Old Trafford crowd weren't too impressed with him either: . Valdes comes out to scoop up the ball under the feet Shaquile Coulthirst but the Spurs make takes exception to his efforts and they have a bit of a shove at each other. Nothing special too and they're both just warned by the referee. Reece James comes off and surprise January signing on loan from Bolton, Andy Kellet, joins the action. Brilliant work from Rafael down the right flank for United and he finds himself in acres of space and with loads of time to pick a pass to the onrushing Goss at the edge of the area. He hits a low shot and it lands at the feet of Falcao but he can only find a slight deflection and it's easily saved. Again, it looked originally goalbound. McEvoy again provides from the left, this time his cross goes all the way to the edge of the area and Will Miller, who pokes a shot towards goal but it's easily saved by Valdes. A free-kick routine ends with McEvoy playing a short cross to Cameron Carter-Vickers at the near post and his glanced header hits the bar with Valdes nowhere near it. Best chance of the half so far goes to Spurs. Not too much happening here but Rafael is again looking the star of the show for United. Don't think we've seen Falcao touch the ball yet in the second period since he kicked us off. Meanwhile, Christian Fuchs has just put Schalke ahead against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League. It's 1-0 but that leaves Real still 2-1 ahead of aggregate. Keep up to date with our coverage HERE. The Spurs forward makes a darting run forward through midfield with a couple of feints thrown in for good measure, but he's eventually tackled on the edge of the D. Into the second half at Old Trafford. Falcao kicks the second period off from the centre spot. That's it for the first half. Rafael equalised for United with an excellent chip after Kenny McEvoy opened the scoring for Spurs. It's not been great from star man Radamel Falcao so far but he's putting himself about and you feel a better chance will come if he's not hooked at the break. Coming up to half him and Andreas Pereira is the latest United player to have a pop from range. This time it's from 25 yards and it goes a few inches over McGee's head. He had the keeper worried. One minute of added time is shown at Old Trafford. A poor - and unnecessary - challenge sees the United youngster booked. Rafael is showing himself as the best player on the pitch here and it's seems a little bizarre that his first-team prospects are in doubt under Van Gaal when you consider Antonio Valencia's recent form.. Spurs are producing some good passing play and at times Falcao is reduced to feeding off scraps in the air up against young defenders. Surely he couldn't have envisaged that when he arrived back in August. Meanwhile, Sportsmail's Mike Keegan reports that the steadily growing crowd at Old Trafford are finding their voices after the goal. Just when Spurs looked to be getting on top goalkeeper Luke McGee drops a bit of a clanger. He collects the ball from a cross ahead of Falcao and looks to bowl it out to a team-mate. Instead it hits Rafael and the Brazilian has all the time in the world to send a sumptuous chip back over the goalkeeper's head and into the net. Left-footed, and from 35 yards. Impressive. 1-1. Awful pass out of the area from Donald Love for Manchester United and Shaquile Coulthirst latches on to a ball back in. A brilliant bit of skill gets him away from his marker but a cheeky chipped finish past Valdes drops just wide. Close. Shades of United's defeat on Monday night here.... Shocking back pass from Joe Rothwell and it arrives at the feet of Spurs' Kenny McEvoy. He advances forward past one challenger and slots in an excellent finish past Victor Valdes. Ah, that's not so good from the on-loan forward. James Wilson makes an excellent run cutting in from the right wing and fires in a thunderous left-footed shot. It looks to be going on target but instead the smashes into the back of Falcao and out of play. Whoops. Joshua Onomah, a star of Spurs' FA Youth Cup semi-final first leg win over Chelsea last week, has a chance to put his side ahead after being played in over the top. Unfortunately for the visitors he blasts over from a tight angle. Another chance for Falcao, this time he teams up with Rafael again and is one-on-one with marker Bongani Khumalo but he can't break past him and the tackle dispossess him. Sean Goss follows up and fires narrowly wide from 20 yards. The stands are filling up at Old Trafford a little more during the opening stages - it's not every night you get a £40million-rated star striker playing in a free-entry game. Grant Ward's free-kick for Tottenham the only real dangerous opportunity so far. Rafael is another United first-team player hoping to impress tonight and he bursts into the box down the right but a deep cross cannot be controlled by Falcao and Spurs clear. The Colombian has been flagged offside once and at least seems willing to get himself about - this could be a positive evening for him. Meanwhile a brilliant run from Grant Ward for Tottenham draws a foul and Spurs have a free-kick in a dangerous area, but it's sent well over the bar into an empty Stretford End. Manchester United's expensive loanee has his first opportunity of the game, receiving the ball in off the right flank and trying to turn a marker inside the area. The ball gets tangled under his feet though and the chance is gone. Not the greatest start, but a start nonetheless. The two teams are out, with Falcao at the back of the United line-up and we've kicked off. Louis van Gaal's assistant manager Ryan Giggs is in attendance at Old Trafford tonight and is sitting alongside his former team-mate Nicky Butt. If Falcao wants a place in the side to face Tottenham's first team this weekend then he'll have to show something to impress Giggs. The two teams tonight sit joint top of the Barclays Under 21 Premier League (although Spurs have a game in hand), so tonight's result will decide who becomes the outright leader. It might be United's only chance of silverware this season after their FA Cup exit on Monday night, which you can read Martin Samuel's match report for HERE. United are expected to play a 4-1-2-1 diamond, with Falcao and Wilson leading the line, a pairing that has faced Yeovil and Cambridge United in the FA Cup this season. And if you're wondering how United can field Falcao in this competition, here's a bit of context for you: . Here's tonight's team sheet from Old Trafford, courtesy of Sportsmail's Mike Keegan. A couple of names that stand out compared to your regular Barclays Under 21 Premier League game, with Radamel Falcao, Victor Valdes and Rafael all starting alongside James Wilson and the other players under the age of 21. +Gary Cahill wants to prove a point to his critics after coming under fire for some poor performances at the heart of Chelsea's defence. England centre back Cahill was widely praised for his water-tight partnership with John Terry last season, and in the early stages of the current campaign, but his ability has been called into question with a few poor performances of late. Cahill was poor for Chelsea in the New Year's Day 5-3 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and he allowed Raheem Sterling to run unchecked for Liverpool's goal in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at Anfield. Gary Cahill wants to prove his doubters wrong by finding his best form again in Chelsea's defence . Cahill started and helped Chelsea keep a clean sheet in Sunday's Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham . But having contributed to keeping Harry Kane quiet and ensuring Chelsea kept a clean sheet to win the cup at Wembley on Sunday, Cahill wants to show his worth all over again. 'I have proved it time and time again. I proved it when I was at Bolton and I got the England call-up. I was told "you can't play for England, you're at Bolton",' Cahill said. 'I proved them wrong. I came to Chelsea and it was "oh, you can't play Champions League, you can't do this, you can't do that" and I proved them wrong.' Cahill and his partner in the centre of defence John Terry (left) pose with the Capital One Cup . Kurt Zouma (right) has emerged as a credible alternative to Cahill in the centre of Jose Mourinho's defence . Cahill's mixed form has coincided with the emergence of young French defender Kurt Zouma, who has started in place of his more senior rival in some big games of late. But now the 29-year-old wants to use his time back in the first team to help Chelsea to glory in the Barclays Premier League and Champions League. 'It's that fire in your belly,' he said. 'Although you'd wish not to have it, dealing with criticism is probably what has got me to where I am today. This is no different. I will come out the other end without a shadow like you see today.' Harry Kane (left) gave Cahill a torrid time on New Year's Day but was well shackled at Wembley . 'That 5-3 defeat was a bad day at the office for the team. Certainly since I have been at the club we have been fortunate enough to have positive results against Tottenham. 'It was said before Sunday's game that that result would have no reflection on the final and so it proved. I use it as motivation to prove people wrong time and time again. 'You are not a robot. Up until the halfway point in the season it was no problem – but I have come through it time and time again. It's not the first time I've had have a dip in levels of performance.' Cahill (right) and Diego Costa (left) celebrate Terry's opening goal against Tottenham at Wembley Stadium . +UEFA have announced ticket details for the Champions League final in Berlin - with each finalist receiving just a 20,000 allocation and prices ranging between £50 and £280. The show-piece final of Europe's premier competition takes place later than usual this year, with 16 clubs still fighting it out for a place in Berlin on June 6. Tickets for the general public via UEFA's ballot go on sale on Thursday at 11am UK time, with 6,000 available to fans worldwide. This season's Champions League final is on June 6 at the 70,500-capacity Olympic Stadium in Berlin . Tickets for the show-piece event at the Olympic Stadium will cost between £50 and £280 . Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal will all hope to be playing in the vast arena come June 6 . Each club competing in the final will be allocated 20,000 tickets. That would be bad news for season-ticket holders from Chelsea (24,000), Manchester City (36,000) and Arsenal (45,000), of whom a significant number would miss out. The ticket prices, split across four categories, represent a price-freeze compared to last year's final won by Real Madrid against local rivals Atletico Madrid in Lisbon. But supporters of any English club with their eyes on Berlin's Olympic Stadium in June could be disappointed with their allocation as Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal all have more season-ticket holders than that figure would accommodate. However, the 20,000 figure is more than Chelsea were given for their two most recent European finals in Munich (17,500) for the Champion League and Amsterdam (9,800) in the Europa League. Arsenal and Chelsea received allocations of 21,000 for their previous finals in Paris and Moscow respectively. The remaining 24,500 tickets - more than one third of the 70,500 capacity - have been shoehorned for UEFA to impress sponsors, corporate partners and their members. Season ticket holders from Manchester City (left), Arsenal (centre) and Chelsea (right) could miss out . While City and Arsenal face an uphill task to even reach the quarter-final stage after home first-leg defeats to Barcelona and Monaco respectively, Chelsea will hope their 1-1 draw away at PSG will be enough to help them through in the return leg at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday. Members of the public can apply for up to two tickets per person via UEFA.com. Those lucky enough to secure themselves a ticket through the ballot will be informed by April 10. Real Madrid players including Gareth Bale (second right) celebrate winning last year's final in Lisbon . +Premier League 'B' teams could be allowed to play in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy under new plans discussed at a meeting of Football League clubs. Walsall are set to play Bristol City in the final of this year's tournament on March 22, but in future second-string sides from the Premier League would be allowed to compete with the 48 League One and Two teams if plans are finalised. Football League clubs authorised the Football League's executive to push forward with the plans last month, although a formal proposal is yet to be passed. The Johnstone's Paint Trophy could involve Premier League 'B' teams in future if plans get the go-ahead . Youth squads from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea could soon be headed for the lower-tier cup . If the Football League do bring 'B' teams into the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, they could adopt a similar format to that suggested by Greg Dyke last year, meaning teams would: . And in a meeting of AFC Wimbledon's Supporters' Trust, The Dons Trust, it was revealed that only one League Two club voted against the idea - Wimbledon themselves. FA Chairman Greg Dyke proposed the idea of bringing 'B' teams into the league pyramid itself in June last year but was told that Football League clubs had 'no appetite' for such a move. However it now seems that they are more keen on introducing the development squads into the JPT in a move that could one day see youth sides from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea facing each other in a Wembley Stadium show-piece final. A statement from the Football League clarifying the situation read: 'Clubs have been asked to consider the concept of permitting 16 U21 teams from clubs with category one academies to participate in The Football League Trophy. 'The competition would feature 16 groups of four teams with one U21 team in each group, before a knockout stage leading to a final at Wembley Stadium. 'Given the previous concerns of the League and its clubs about Premier League B teams playing in the pyramid, any final proposal would also be accompanied by a change to the League's Articles of Association that would protect the current 72 club constitution, save for any changes to promotion/relegation that clubs wished to make. Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson holds the trophy last year - but a youth coach win it in future . 'Therefore, having provided them with this comfort, clubs willingly debated the potential commercial, financial and player development benefits of having U21 teams in this competition from 2015/16. 'No formal proposals were tabled and no formal vote taken. 'Instead, League One and Two clubs were asked to indicate whether they were content to see The Football League progress the matter, which would include discussions with the Premier League and Football Association, so that clubs can consider a full proposal at a future point.' Fans head to Wembley Stadium for the show-piece final of last year's competition in March . +His lack of goalscoring early on in his Barcelona career might have drawn some critics, but Luis Suarez is the best signing of the season in terms of chance creation - ahead even of Barclays Premier League assists king Cesc Fabregas. CIES Football Observatory have compiled the top 12 signings of the season in the top five European leagues for rigour, take-ons, recovery, chance creation, distribution and shooting - using statistics to analyse and narrow them down. And £75million summer buy Suarez comes out on top in the 'chance creation' category ahead of two of the Premier League's finest, Fabregas and Swansea City's Gylfi Sigurdsson. Luis Suarez has been the best signing in terms of chance creation this season, say CIES Football Observatory . Cesc Fabregas is in second place on the 'chance creation' indicator despite his 15 league this season . Here are how the CIES Football Observatory Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) work: . Chance creation: ability to put team-mates in a good position to score. Shooting: ability to take advantage of goal opportunities through accurate shooting. Take on: ability to create dangerous situations by successfully challenging opponents. Distribution: ability to keep a hold on the game through efficient passing. Recovery: ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through proficient interception work. Rigour: ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through robust duelling. Suarez seems to finally be finding his feet at the Nou Camp, and he scored twice in the 2-1 win at Manchester City in the first leg of Barca's Champions League last-16 tie - but it's his work in support of team-mates which has really impressed his manager and supporters since his summer arrival. He has scored just 10 times in all competitions in 24 games, but there is no crisis because of a love for the new Suarez – the one who makes their all-star front three of him, Lionel Messi and Neymar tick. That new-found selflessness puts him ahead of Fabregas in terms of chance creation - despite the Chelsea star's 15 assists in the Premier League this season. That has obviously come at a sacrifice though, and Suarez hasn't been able to get close to the No 1 signing in the shooting category: Chelsea's Diego Costa. 1. Luis Suarez . 2. Cesc Fabregas . 3. Gylfi Sigurdsson . 4. James Rodriguez . 5. Toni Kroos . Barcelona . Chelsea . Swansea . Real Madrid . Real Madrid . 1. Diego Costa . 2. Antoine Griezmann . 3. Khouma Babacar . 4. Luciano Vietto . 5. Felipe Caicedo . Chelsea . Atletico Madrid . Fiorentina . Villarreal . Eibar . Suarez has moved from a goalscorer role to that of a provider since moving to Barcelona in the summer . Diego Costa (left) and Fabregas (right) have formed a deadly combination for Chelsea since signing . Costa is tops the rankings for 'shooting' as shown here by his fierce effort leading to a goal against Tottenham . An impressive 17 league goals put Costa top ahead of Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann . Top scorer in the Premier League with 17 league goals, and having played a key part in the Blues' Capital One Cup triumph against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, nobody would contest that £32m Costa has settled perfectly into the Stamford Bridge set-up. Behind him is Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann who looked to have been signed primarily as the creative force to feed another signing, Mario Mandzukic, but instead has been showing his own goalscoring prowess in a more advanced role. Some more surprising names in that list come from Fiorentina, Villarreal and Eibar in the form of Khouma Babacar, Luciano Vietto and Felipe Caicedo respectively - with West Ham's bargain buy Diafra Sakho coming in just outside the top five in seventh. Alexis Sanchez, despite his recent drought, is 12th. 1. Karim Bellarabi . 2. Angel di Maria . 3. Alexis Sanchez . 4. Diego Perotti . 5. Sadio Mane . Bayer Leverkusen . Manchester United . Arsenal . Genoa . Southampton . 1. Xabi Alonso . 2. Cesc Fabregas . 3. Toni Kroos . 4. Gary Medel . 5. Ivan Rakitic . Bayern Munich . Chelsea . Real Madrid . Inter Milan . Barcelona . Karim Bellarabi (left) is top for 'take on' as he showed by going past Atletico's Guilherme Siqueira last week . Angel di Maria (left) has struggled to keep up his standards at Manchester United but does well for 'take ons' Xabi Alonso might have been surplus to requirements at Real Madrid but his distribution is valued at Bayern . Fabregas' passing ability has helped to bring Chelsea to the level of potential league champions this season . Another surprise name doing well in the distribution group is former Cardiff City flop Gary Medel (left) Jose Mourinho's summer business has been widely lauded and it is perhaps telling that Fabregas is also second in the 'distribution' indicator, with none of Chelsea's former players who moved on making it into the top 12 of any of the categories. Fabregas is only ousted in the list focused on efficient passing by Bayern Munich's Xabi Alonso, who is top ahead of his replacement at Real Madrid, Toni Kroos, in third. Inter Milan's Gary Medel, who signed from relegation Cardiff City in the summer is fourth with Ivan Rakitic fifth. Players from the Premier League dominate the 'take on' group, with Angel di Maria (second), Sanchez (third) and Sadio Mane (fifth) - although all fall in the wake of Bayer Leverkusen trickster, and reported Manchester United target, Karim Bellarabi. 1. Walter Gargano . 2. Wendell . 3. Dusan Basta . 4. Jin-su Kim . 5. Davide Astori . Napoli . Bayer Leverkusen . Lazio . Hoffenheim . Roma . 1. Dejan Lovren . 2. Davide Astori . 3. Michael Keane . 4. Sergi Gomez . 5. Ermin Bicakcic . Liverpool . Roma . Burnley . Celta Vigo . Hoffenheim . Walter Gargano (right) looks to have been a top signing for Napoli if you trust his recovery stats . Dejan Lovren (left) surprisingly tops the 'rigour' category despite a difficult first season with Liverpool . Burnley's Michael Keane (left) is another surprise name on that list after moving from Manchester United . While there are some surprise names on the lists, perhaps the biggest is Liverpool's £20m centre back Dejan Lovren, who somehow finishes top of the 'rigour' category for 'ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through robust duelling'. Lovren, widely regarded as a transfer flop, finishes ahead of Roma's Davide Astori - who also scored highly in the 'recovery' category - and Burnley's Michael Keane. And Rafael Benitez seems to have done good business in signing Walter Gargano for Napoli. He tops the 'recovery' category with only one English-based player in the top 12, Manchester United's Daley Blind - in 12th place. Manchester United's Daley Blind is the only top 12 player in terms of 'recovery' from the Premier League . +January signing Krystian Bielik made his first start in Arsenal colours on Tuesday night, but the teenage prodigy could do nothing to stop Derby County beating the Gunners at the iPro Stadium. Bielik has been told that he will not play for Arsenal's first team this season as Arsene Wenger looks to bed the 17-year-old into the squad slowly, but he has been used by the youth sides, although not as an Under 21 starter until Tuesday. The Poland midfielder put in quiet but tidy performance before Derby's Ivan Calero smashed in a corner to steal the show and all three points in the Barclays Under 21 Premier League. Krystian Bielik breaks away from Alban Bunjaku of Derby County on his Arsenal youth team full debut . Bielik signed for Arsenal for £2million in January but has been told he is not yet ready for the first team . Bielik, signed from Legia Warsaw in January for £2million, even saw a header cleared off the line in the closing stages of the game but a dream youth team debut wasn't to be. The defeat for Arsenal meant Derby leapfrog them in the U21 Premier League on goal difference, although the Gunners have three games in hand. Derby were on top from the start and went close through Shaquille McDonald, Daniel Crowley and Callum Guy before Jamie Hanson curled two free-kicks against the crossbar. George Dobson aims a pass away from the challenge of Alefe Santos of Derby at the iPro Stadium . Daniel Crowley tries to escape the attentions of Bunjaku, but Arsenal lost and were leapfrogged by Derby . Arsenal looked like holding out but the deadlock was finally broken by Calero 19 minutes from time. Bielik had his effort from a Daniel Crowley corner cleared off the line with a minute to go but the evening was Derby's. +Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has spent 21 months since returning to Stamford Bridge trying to mould the team spirit that he craves - and now he seems to have achieved it, labelling his side as a band of 'brothers'. Chelsea ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday night and their manager reserved special praise for the togetherness of his players, with John Terry and co embracing at the final whistle before applauding the travelling support. The scenes were similar to a defining game of Mourinho's first spell at Chelsea, in an away game at Blackburn in February 2005 when Arjen Robben split the sides in a gritty Ewood Park clash. Chelsea captain John Terry (right) leads Jose Mourinho's band of 'brothers' to the away support at full-time . Terry, Gary Cahill (second left), Thibaut Courtois (second right) and Branislav Ivanovic (right) celebrate . Mourinho celebrates victory at full-time in what he considers one of the toughest away games of the season . And manager Mourinho believes that collective show of strength is exactly the sort of thing the league leaders will need to get them over the line in the Barclays Premier League title race. The Special One also confirmed that his players would be enjoying two days off with a week's gap until they play Paris Saint-Germain in the return of their Champions League last-16 tie. ‘My team were brothers on the pitch,' Mourinho said. 'That is important if you are to win the most difficult league in the world. I want to sleep now until midday. We could easily have lost two points. ‘The way West Ham play, nobody is better than them. They are the best at the way they play. It is not just to play football, the pressure, the tension and the emotion, my players were fantastic. ‘I told the referee is it very difficult to be a ref here, because of the style of their game. Lots of long balls. West Ham had lots of balls in the box, very difficult, very intense and really difficult for the referee. They complain for everything, the crowd is behind them and it is really, really difficult.' The Chelsea players, led by Mourinho (fourth left) leave the pitch at Ewood Park after winning in 2005 . Arjen Robben is congratulated by Damien Duff and Eidur Gudjohnsen after scoring against Blackburn . Joe Cole tries to skip between Robbie Savage (second left) and Lucas Neill (right) on a tough night for CHelsea . Eden Hazard scored the winner at Upton Park and was one of Chelsea's best players even after playing a full part in Chelsea's Capital One Cup final triumph over Tottenham on Sunday. And Mourinho led the plaudits for the playmaker who he has criticised in the past for his work ethic. 'Eden Hazard was fantastic,' he said. 'He is punished by opponents in a very hard way. Not in a violent way, just an aggressive football way because they tried to stop him but the kid is playing, scoring and defending.' But the Portuguese coach was less impressed with the rescheduling of Chelsea's game against Leicester, which could have been held this weekend with both clubs out of the FA Cup but will instead take place on April 9. ‘It is not a good thing that we play Leicester in two months now - that’s not a good thing, for someone in the title race to have played one match less,' he said. Cesar Azpiliceuta and Terry embrace as they leave the field together at full-time at Upton Park on Wednesday . Eden Hazard scored the only goal of the game against West Ham at Upton Park and drew Mourinho's praise . Hazard heads past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian to give Chelsea another three points in their title charge . Mourinho hugs another one of the 'brotherhood', his assistant Steve Holland at full-time on Wednesday . +Roy Keane is back at Old Trafford as a pundit for BBC Sport ahead of Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester United and Arsenal. The former United captain joined presenter Gary Lineker, former adversary Alan Shearer and Ian Wright in the Old Trafford studio to provide his views on the quarter-final clash. Keane, who has never been afraid to air his views either in his TV work or in his two autobiographies, was working with the BBC for the first time having previously worked for ITV. Roy Keane (left), Alan Shearer (centre) and Ian Wright (right) were working for the BBC as pundits on Monday . Gary Lineker addresses the punditry trio during some of their heated pre-match discussion at Old Trafford . Keane was famously red carded for lashing out at Shearer with a punch at St James' Park in 2001 - but the pair seemed happy enough to sit next to each other in the studio on Monday. He also joked that he hated Wright, who played for Arsenal while the pair were both players and there were moments that their debate became heated at Old Trafford. In Keane's book The Second Half, he includes Shearer, on a list with Alf-Inge Haaland, Rob Lee, David Batty and Patrick Vieira in as players 'at the back of my mind'. Keane made it clear that although he regularly came across Alan Shearer while working as a TV pundit, there is little or no chance of them ever building bridges such is the mutual dislike of each other. Wright talked briefly about the rivalry and hatred between Arsenal and Manchester United . Shearer rows with Keane during their playing careers back in 2001 - and they were back together for TV . Last year, Wright claimed in a video on his YouTube channel that Keane was the best TV pundit around at the moment. 'Roy Keane is the best,' the former Arsenal striker said. 'He's got credibility and he's another one who doesn't care what anyone thinks. What he says is most probably right but it's brutally honest and some people don't like that.' Keane last worked for ITV on their coverage of Chelsea's Champions League first-leg draw against Paris Saint-Germain on February 17. Keane (second right) lashes out at Shearer at St James' Park which saw him sent off for his punch . Keane has to be held back by David Beckham from Newcastle United captain Shearer back in 2001 . +West Ham striker Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 after he admitted breaching FA rules in relation to social media with an offensive tweet. Cole was involved in a Twitter spat with a Tottenham Hotspur fan after West Ham's 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw at White Hart Lane on February 22 and replied to an insult with a tweet saying 'F off you c***'. He later deleted the message. The 31-year-old, who has 122,000 followers on the social networking site, was responding to a message from Spurs supporter Stuart Hardy that read: 'Hi @CarltonCole1 when your own team-mates don't kick the ball out when you're lying injured for 2 mins, you think it's time to call it a day?' West Ham striker Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 for tweeting a fan saying 'F off you c***' last month . Cole tweeted back to a Tottenham fan who had insulted him on Twitter, telling the supporter: 'F off you c***' Carlton Cole is far from the first footballer to have be censured over his behaviour on Twitter: . Darren Bent, 2009 - £120,000 fine . Bent was fined by his club Tottenham for a blast at chairman Daniel Levy. He tweeted: ‘Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go Stoke NO do I wanna go Sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy.’ Carlton Cole, 2011 - £20,000 fine . Cole tweeted during England's friendly with Ghana saying: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap!' Rio Ferdinand, 2012 - £45,000 fine . Ferdinand appeared to endorse a tweet by another user which described Ashley Cole as a 'choc ice', a term said to mean a person is black on the outside but white on the inside. Ashley Cole, 2012 - £90,000 fine . Cole was unimpressed with the FA's judgement in the John Terry racism case, tweeting: 'Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S' Michael Chopra, 2014 - £15,000 fine . Referring to life at crisis club Blackpool, Chopra posted: ‘F****** joke this come in training only 6 f****** players here then find out the fitness coach taken the football session #joke.’ Rio Ferdinand, 2014 - three match ban and £25,000 fine . QPR defender used the word 'sket' in reference to another Twitter user's mother this season. Cole, who has over 100,000 Twitter followers, was also 'severely warned' as to his future conduct by the FA. An FA statement said: 'Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, Carlton Cole has been fined £20,000 after he admitted breaching FA Rules in relation to social media.' 'The West Ham United player, who was also severely warned as to his future conduct, admitted posting a comment on his Twitter account which was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, in breach of FA Rule E3.' The former Chelsea striker has been in trouble before for previous postings on social media and that may be taken into account in his punishment. He was fined £20,000 by the FA in April 2011 for a tweet he posted during England's friendly against Ghana that read: 'Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! 'The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St George's flag!' Cole, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury that forced him off during the game at Tottenham, will look at Rio Ferdinand as an example of how to avoid future misdeameanours. The QPR defender was handed a three-game ban earlier this season for a second FA charge over social media activities - with the former England captain not contesting the suspension despite labelling the severity of the decision as 'crazy'. Cole could have left West Ham in January's transfer window but a move to West Bromwich Albion fell through . The striker celebrates after scoring for West Ham against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in August . +Adnan Januzaj must have hoped that between Angel di Maria being sent off and Antonio Valencia's poor defending, eyes would be off him for Manchester United - but his blatant dive at Old Trafford was clear to see for everyone, including the referee. The United youngster now has five yellow cards for diving compared to four goals, and added to the embarrassment for Louis van Gaal's side in their FA Cup defeat by Arsenal with his blatant simulation attempt in the 87th minute on Monday night as the 10-man home side chased the lead. Making it into the penalty area ahead of Nacho Monreal, the Belgian went to ground in search of a late penalty but instead the only reaction Michael Oliver gave him was to dish out a yellow card. Adnan Januzaj breaks into the penalty area in the 87th minute of the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford . The Belgian midfielder was being closely tracked by Nacho Monreal, who had earlier scored for Arsenal . Well clear of the defender, Januzaj bends his ankle as he begins to head for the deck in the 2-1 defeat . Januazj falls but referee Michael Oliver was having none of it and issued him with a yellow card for simulation . The referee got an earful from the Stretford End faithful and United captain Wayne Rooney but was right to caution Januzaj, who made it into the all-time Barclays Premier League top two for simulation bookings in his first full season in United's first team. Sportsmail's Graham Poll agreed with Oliver's decision and was impressed with his performance, saying: 'Oliver was brave and correct again when Adnan Januzaj clearly dived in front of the Stretford End – some players never learn.' Di Maria had already been booked for diving by Oliver, moments before he earned a second yellow card for inexplicably grabbing the official. And between him and Januzaj, the home side were left even more embarrassed at Old Trafford while Arsenal fans rejoiced in the stands - and that was already after two defensive errors was their final hope of a trophy extinguished. A bad night for Van Gaal's men. Januzaj (centre) appeals to Oliver while United's players hold their heads in disappointment at Old Trafford . Wayne Rooney tries to make his opinions known as captain of Manchester United but was unsuccessful . +Paris Saint-Germain might be going into their Champions League second leg against Chelsea as underdogs, but defender Maxwell thinks Chelsea got lucky in their previous 1-1 draw and hopes to reach the quarter-finals with a win on Wednesday. Edinson Cavani levelled the tie at the Parc des Princes with his second-half strike cancelling out Branislav Ivanovic's away goal - and Chelsea certainly owed some of the credit for a decent result to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Manager Jose Mourinho admitted as much, labelling the Belgian stopper as 'phenomenal' post-match - and now PSG defender Maxwell has spoken out, saying that he was what kept Chelsea in the tie in Paris last month. Paris Saint-Germain defender Maxwell (top) celebrates a goal in their 4-1 win over Lens on Saturday . Thibaut Courtois (right) earned the praise of his manager Jose Mourinho and Maxwell for his first-leg display . 'We played very well in the first leg and showed that we are capable of beating Chelsea,' the Brazilian defender said. 'They saved the result because of their goalkeeper. 'The first leg has brought us a lot of confidence and we head into the return leg looking to qualify.' Courtois made three saves from PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in an almost perfect performance in Paris. Courtois was in fine from at the Parc des Princes, and here tips over a PSG effort from a set piece . Javier Pastore (left) celebrates with Maxwell during the weekend's 4-1 win which will have raised confidence . After the 1-1 draw, when asked whether Chelsea were let off the hook, his manager Mourinho said: 'When you see the performance of our goalkeeper, you have to say yes. He made two or three important saves in the game. 'I think 1-1 reflects one half for Chelsea, one half for Paris. But if you go to chances created and the goalkeepers' performances, we have to be honest and say they had more than us. If somebody was closer to winning the game, it was Paris and not Chelsea.' PSG fly to London on Tuesday hoping for better luck than in last year's away goals exit to the same opponents with a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge following a 3-1 win in Paris. The French champions moved back to the top of Ligue 1 with a 4-1 win over Lens on Saturday. Courtois is likely to start again for Chelsea on Wednesday and may have to perform similar heroics . +Gary Neville says he is a worried that Liverpool's recent form will see them knock Manchester United out of the Barclays Premier League top four and leave them without Champions League football for a second successive year. Liverpool face Burnley at Anfield on Wednesday night having taken 19 points from a possible 21 in the last two months while United have stumbled, claiming just 13 in the same period. Louis van Gaal's side travel on Newcastle United on Wednesday ahead of a daunting run of fixtures that includes Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea within their next seven games. Liverpool have emerged as serious contenders for a top four place in the Barclays Premier League . Manchester United defeated Sunderland at the weekend but are far from firing on all cylinders . Gary Neville fears Liverpool could leapfrog Manchester United and take the final Champions League spot . And United legend Neville is concerned that his former club will be unable to hold off the Merseyside club in the fight for a top-four place as the season reaches its biting point. 'For the first time this season I am concerned as to whether Manchester United can fight them off in the scrap for the Champions League places,' Neville wrote in his Daily Telegraph column. 'It’s fair to say Liverpool have emerged as much more of a threat than I considered a few weeks ago. Neville believes the Anfield club are as well equipped as anyone to take the final Champions League spot . Record £60million signing Angel di Maria has struggled for form along with his United team-mates . 'I arrived at Anfield expecting City to reassert themselves in the title race and make their extra few days preparation. It both impressed and concerned me to see Liverpool play as they did.' Chelsea and United's local rivals City are widely expected to take up two of the Premier League's four qualification places and with Arsenal going strong in third place, United, Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham will all be eyeing the last spot. 'Liverpool look as well equipped as any side to take that final Champions League spot now,' Neville added. 'They've stopped conceding goals, have found a system that works for their players and have their high intensity game back.' Although now a pundit, Neville remains supportive of United from his playing days spent at Old Trafford . Philippe Coutinho scored a brilliant winner for Liverpool against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday . +Former Manchester United player Ray Wilkins believes Radamel Falcao has not done enough to earn a permanent deal at the club - and says he looks a shadow of his former self. Falcao, on a season-long loan at Old Trafford from Monaco, has been a huge disappointment having notched just four goals in 20 appearances since moving to the Barclays Premier League. A series of poor performances have seen him left out of Louis van Gaal's side of late and with Monaco expecting a fee for around £40million for the former Atletico Madrid striker in the summer, United face a tough decision over his future. Radamel Falcao has been a disappointment at Manchester United and it looks unlikely that they will sign him . Ray Wilkins cannot see United taking up the option of signing Falcao with the way his form has been . Van Gaal seems so disappointed in the forward that he left him on the bench away at Newcastle United on Wednesday night - even when United were desperate for a goal in the closing stages. And former United midfielder Wilkins feels that Falcao's days are numbered after failing to convince the club to invest even more money in him. 'Falcao has been struggling for goals,' Wilkins told talkSPORT. 'He hasn't shown any type of form that we expected when he arrived at Manchester United.' Falcao chases down a ball at Old Trafford, but he has recently found himself benched by Louis van Gaal . Sunderland defender Patrick van Aanholt gets to grips with Falcao, who has struggled for form in England . The 29-year-old cost Monaco over £40m when signed a year-and-half ago from Atletico Madrid, where he forged a reputation as a goalscorer and netted a hat-trick against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup in 2012. But Wilkins says he is nowhere near the standards that he showed at that game in Monaco. 'His form has been very poor in fact, we haven't seen anything like the player who absolutely destroyed Chelsea with Atletico Madrid a few years back,' he said. 'They have already paid a huge loan fee and his wages are extremely expensive. To take him on would require a big fee, I would think they will look elsewhere.' Falcao was at St James' Park for United's trip to face Newcastle United but didn't make it off the bench . +Cristiano Ronaldo's stylist will be used to the Ballon d'Or winners high maintenance preening by now - but it must seem like a weird part of the job when he is sent to perform beauty treatments on his waxwork. The Museo de Cera in Madrid has held a statue of the Real Madrid superstar since December 2013, and it is one of the most popular of hundreds of celebrity waxworks. And that might be something to do with the incredible likeness to its real-life twin, which is apparently down to a monthly visit from Ronaldo's stylist. Cristiano Ronaldo (right) poses with his waxwork (left) at its unveiling in Madrid in December 2013 . Ronaldo celebrates scoring against Villarreal in La Liga and he comes up against Athletic Bilbao next . Staff from the museum have revealed that his wax figure gets a once a month check-up from the beauty professional with the main job to brush his hair - which is imported from India. 'Cristiano told us to be sure his figure was perfect,' Gonzalo Presa, the museum's communication director told Cadena Ser Catalunya. 'He sent his own hairstylist to brush his figure once a month. Cristiano's (the waxwork's) hair is natural. It is not a wig and it comes from India.' Staff at the Museo de Cera say that Ronaldo's waxwork has its hair brushed once a month by his stylist . The waxwork uses real hair, imported from India, according to the staff at the museum in Madrid . Real-life Ronaldo is next in action for Real on Saturday as the La Liga leaders visit Athletic Bilbao looking to keep nearest rivals Barcelona at arm's length. Barca moved to within two points of Real with a 3-1 win at Granada at the weekend while Ronaldo was unable to inspire his side to victory over Villarreal. Ronaldo scored against Villarreal at the weekend but a 1-1 draw allowed Barcelona to catch up on the leaders . +It won't come as much a surprise for those who watch his masterful displays in La Liga every week, but Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been revealed as Europe's top dribbler by statistics looking at the continent's top five leagues. The Argentine forward tops the table for players taking on an opponent and making it past them whilst retaining the ball with 258 successful dribbles, beating Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard by just four over the two-season period analysed. Cristiano Ronaldo, widely regarded as the best player in the world alongside Messi, can't get close to his Ballon d'Or rival in these rankings though. He has completed less than half the number that Messi, Hazard and four other players have managed. Lionel Messi's tops this WhoScored table for successful dribbles in Europe's top five leagues . Messi tops the table for players taking on an opponent and making it past them whilst retaining the ball . Eden Hazard is second in the rankings, just four places behind Messi for his efforts with Chelsea . Cristiano Ronaldo missed out on the list, but having won the Ballon d'Or he's probably not too worried . Ronaldo managed just 99 dribbles over the same period, putting him outside the top 20 across Europe's top five leagues in the tables put together by WhoScored.com. Hazard, with 254 successful dribbles, is one of only two Barclays Premier League representatives in the top 10. He is joined by Raheem Sterling in joint-eighth spot with 172 to his name. The table seems to show a solid trend of short, explosive playmakers with Messi, Hazard and Sterling as prime examples. Raheem Sterling uses his explosive pace to try to get past Burnley's Ben Mee on Wednesday night . Bayern Munich pair Arjen Robben (left) and Franck Ribery (right) are two of six Bundesliga representatives . And Germany seems to be the place to be if you want to watch those kind of players - six of the top 10 ply their trade in the Bundesliga. Other big names included are Bayern Munich pair Franck Ribery (175) and Arjen Robben (172) and Paris Saint-Germain's Brazilian winger Lucas Moura. Hoffenheim's Roberto Firmino (244), Borussia Monchengladbach's Raffael (222), Karim Bellarabi of Bayer Leverkusen (206) and Eric Choupo-Moting from Schalke (200) complete the 200+ club with Messi and Hazard. Hoffenheim's Roberto Firmino (left) with 244 and Monchengladbach's Raffael (right) with 222 rank highly . Karim Bellarabi of Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke's Eric Choupo-Moting have 206 and 200 respectively . For more detailed statistics and player ratings visit WhoScored.com or download the WhoScored.com app http://bit.ly/16H248b . +Southampton's Champions League qualification hopes have cooled of late - so it was perhaps fitting that manager Ronald Koeman took his players to snowy Switzerland for a mid-season team break. The Barclays Premier League's surprise package of the season have dropped off the pace in the race for the top four recently, and their Dutch boss has seen fit to organise a three-day football-free trip to the Swiss Alps - and Koeman even found time to play ice hockey as his team take a break from training. With a weekend off after being knocked out of the FA Cup and having slipped to four points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, the Southampton players have an 11-day gap to chill out before next Saturday's league visit to leaders Chelsea. Ronaldo Koeman posted this picture on Twitter captioned: 'Fantastic experience! Shattered' Southampton's squad pose for a photo with manager Ronald Koeman (back, centre) in Davos, Switzerland . Koeman tweeted Friday's plan for the Southampton squad in Davos . The trip is all about rest for Koeman and his worn-out players, who seem to be feeling the strain of a long campaign, although there are 'activities' planned that are 'good for the health and the body'. 'It’s a team building trip, we will stay together, we will do some different activities and it’s good for the health and good for the body,' Koeman said. 'They will have some free time to do what they what and that will be good for us until Saturday.' James Ward-Prowse (front) uploaded an image to Instagram of the Southampton team on the plane . Sadio Mane (centre) scores the decisive goal as Southampton beat Crystal Palace 1-0 on Tuesday . The Dutchman hopes his side can refocus and regain energy ahead of the final push in their last 10 league games of the season. 'It’s a big achievement what we have until now,' he said. 'There are still ten games and we know we will fight until the last second to keep the highest position in the table that is possible.' The trip seems to be getting a mixed reception from the players though: While Toby Alderweireld posed for a photo with 'his boys' surrounded by snow, January signing Eljero Elia tweeted: 'It's too cold for me'. Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has taken the squad to Switzerland fora team break . Southampton's displays have been inconsistent lately but Mane's goal kept up their Champions League hopes . +It's fair to say that Mario Balotelli hasn't quite hit the ground running at Liverpool, and according to his agent that could be down to his struggle to cope with the high demands of manager Brendan Rodgers. Balotelli has scored just one Barclays Premier League goal this season - and cryptically revealed on Wednesday that 'someone doesn't like me'. And his agent Mino Raiola says Rodgers is asking more of him than any other manager has done in a career that has seen him work under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini. Mario Balotelli has spent a fair amount of time on the bench after finding it tough to meet expectations . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers asks Balotelli to track back, something he has never been asked to do . 'Right now, I think Mario has a very interesting development for his career,' Raiola said. 'He has found a coach who asks of him things that had never been requested of him until now, including the discipline of running without the ball. But Raiola sees the challenge issued to Balotelli as a positive - despite the expectation that he will be cast off by the Anfield club in the summer. 'This allows him to grow as a person and as a football player,' Raiola told RMC. 'He'll come out even stronger.' Balotelli is again expected to start on the bench when Liverpool face Blackburn Rovers in their FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday. Balotelli looks towards Rodgers as he is subbed off in Liverpool's defeat against Besiktas in Turkey . The Italian striker heads down the tunnel at Anfield ahead of another appearance on the bench on Wednesday . Balotelli celebrates scoring a penalty in the first leg against Besiktas but his Premier League form is lacking . +Contrary to reports earlier this season that Barcelona players - and particularly Lionel Messi - were unhappy with head coach Luis Enrique, midfielder Ivan Rakitic has thrown his backing behind his boss, and says the rest of the Barca squad rate him, too. A tough start to the season in La Liga that saw Barca fall away from league leaders Real Madrid had Enrique under pressure within weeks of taking the job, but a brilliant turnaround in form seems to have swung things in his favour. Enrique's charges are now just two points behind Real after clawing back the lead with a run that has seen them drop just eight points from their last 15 league games, and look well set for the Champions League quarter-finals after their 2-1 first leg win away at Manchester City. Ivan Rakitic says Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique has the backing of his players, who see him as the boss . Enrique was under pressure earlier this season and was said to have a difficult relationship with some players . And that transformation looks to have been helped by the attitude of his players who, according to summer signing Rakitic, are all behind their boss. '(Luis Enrique) is the boss and he knows what is best,' the Croatian told Sportske Novosti. 'We all believe in him. 'Our success is in the collective act of all for one and one for all.' Luis Suarez congratulates Rakitic after he scored the opening goal against Granada in a 3-1 win on Saturday . The victory helped to close the gap on Real Madrid and Barca are now in with a shout of silverware . Enrique knows what's best, according to Rakitic, who spoke of the collective Barca group in an interview . Rakitic scored Barca's opener in their 3-1 win over Granada on Saturday to close the gap on Real, who could only draw with Villarreal, but the midfielder says he is making no time to think about the fortunes of the current leaders. 'Today, Real are ahead but the road is a long one,' Rakitic said. 'We just think about ourselves, as there is no need to think about Real. 'We believe that everything is possible.' Lionel Messi later scored in the 3-1 win over Granada to bring Barcelona to 59 points, just two behind Real . A disappointing draw against Villarreal had Real Madrid defender Marcelona looking dejected on Sunday . +Police in Madrid have arrested two Schalke fans after a scuffle broke out between officers and supporters on the eve of their Champions League second-leg clash with Real Madrid. The German club have over 3,000 fans in the Spanish capital as they looked to overcome a 2-0 defecit from the first leg in Gelsenkirchen - and some had been enjoying the hospitality of the city's bars the night before the game. But fights broke out after police tried to shepherd fans off the streets and into a bar in the Puerta del Sol square, which then saw beer thrown over officers who reacted to stop the trouble. A Schalke supporter in Madrid on Monday night is arrested by police after beer was thrown over officers . The bloodied fan is pulled up from the ground after trouble kicked off when police tried to force fans into a bar . Schalke have over 3,000 fans in Madrid for Tuesday night's return leg of their Champions League last-16 tie . One supporter was arrested and put into a police car in the square, covered in blood from the melee that ensued while another was also later arrested. Schalke supporters are known for the vocal backing of their team, often travelling in huge numbers for away trips across Europe. Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo at the Veltins-Arena effectively settled the tie before the half-way point last month, with European champions Real expected to easily see off their German opponents. Schalke's players warm up at the Santiago Bernabeu on Monday as they put in their final preparations . Schalke fans are known for their colourful and vocal support - but it is usually blue, not blood red . +It might not have seemed like it at the time, but Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes his side's 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace back in November was the best thing that has happened to them this season. The November 23 loss at Selhurst Park saw Liverpool drop as low as 12th in the Barclays Premier League, but a spectacular turn in form since has seen Rodgers mark the defeat as the turning point that sparked a top-four charge. Victory over champions Manchester City on Sunday stretched the Reds' unbeaten run in the league to 11 games and they are now just two points behind Manchester United in the race for Champions League qualification. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Brendan Rodgers on turning around Liverpool's season . Brendan Rodgers celebrates Liverpool's latest win - over Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday afternoon . Rodgers saw the defeat at Crystal Palace as the game that sparked Liverpool's turnaround in form . You can just make out Philippe Coutinho on the right of this shot as he scores the second against City . Coutinho (No 10) was running off to celebrate after giving City keeper Joe Hart no chance . Hart had already been beaten by a superb curling effort from Jordan Henderson (centre) at Anfield . Rodgers spoke alongside former Palace boss Neil Warnock on talkSPORT on Monday morning and joked that his opposite number should take some of the credit for Liverpool's hot streak. Speaking about Warnock, Rodgers said: 'He should (take credit). That was the defining moment, fair play to them, they were excellent on the day. 'I needed to come away from that and look at the team. We were certainly nowhere near the level we had been in the past 18 months. That was turning point.' Mile Jedinak celebrates scoring Palace's third goal in the November win against Liverpool . Rodgers (right) jokingly offered credit for Liverpool's Champions League charge to Neil Warnock (left) Liverpool were poor at Selhurst Park but their form since has been impressive under Rodgers . Rodgers' tactical switch to 3-4-3 has been lauded as a major contributor to the change in fortunes, but the Northern Irish manager revealed he had already trialled the system earlier in the season - with mixed results. 'I'd looked at it (3-4-3) at the beginning of the season, but thought I needed to change something,' Rodgers said. 'We played it away at Newcastle, and in cup competitions - nobody picked up on it. 'We played well at Newcastle, Raheem Sterling was in a wide role - it didn’t suit him, I had to go away and make it work for him. 'It’s come together quite well now we've been able to work on it more - they (the players) believe in it. Other people have to work out how to play us.' Liverpool have lost just once in the Premier League since their trip to Selhurst Park in November . +Mohamed Salah might have been dismissed as a flop after just a year spent at Chelsea, but he's already proving popular in Italy after moving to Fiorentina on loan, with fans voting him Serie A's best January signing. Things don't seem to be going too well for Lukas Podolski, on loan at Inter Milan from Arsenal, though. After being told he 'isn't doing enough' by manager Roberto Mancini he was ranked as the league's second-worst signing. Podolski's only saving grace was AC Milan's loan purchase of Alessio Cerci, who topped the poll conducted by Gazzetta dello Sport with 44.9 per cent of fans rating him as top transfer flop. Mohamed Salah whips his shirt off after his goal against Tottenham - one of four since joining Fiorentina . Lukas Podolski has underwhelmed for Inter Milan since moving on loan from Arsenal during in January . Roberto Mancini has demanded more from Podolski after the forward made it to eight starts with no goals . Mohamed Salah - Fiorentina - 48.4 per cent . Xherdan Shaqiri - Inter Milan - 19.7 per cent . Manolo Gabbiadini - Napoli - 9.6 per cent . Maxi Lopez - Torino - 6.5 per cent . Luca Antonelli - AC Milan - 3.6 per cent . Marcelo Brozovic - Inter Milan - 3.4 per cent . Luis Muriel - Sampdoria - 2.9 per cent . M'Baye Niang - Genoa - 2.6 per cent . Alessandro Diamanti - Fiorentina - 1.7 per cent . Paul-Jose M'Poku - Cagliari - 1.6 per cent . Alessio Cerci - AC Milan - 44.9 per cent . Lukas Podolski - Inter Milan - 35.4 per cent . Seydou Doumbia - Roma - 9.2 per cent . Suso - AC Milan - 2.8 per cent . Alessandro Matri - Juventus - 2.6 per cent . Victor Ibarbo - Roma - 2.0 per cent . Marco Borriello - Genoa - 1.4 per cent . Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina - 0.8 per cent . Mobido Diakite - Cagliari - 0.5 per cent . Stipe Perica - Udinese - 0.4 per cent . Salah has started just three games for La Viola but has impressed supporters by bagging four goals, including one against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League. He even scored the winning goal against Podolski's Inter side atthe San Siro on Sunday, with both players involved. Podolski, on the other hand, has no goals in eight starts over in Milan and it looks increasingly likely that he will be sent back to north London come the end of the season. Former Liverpool midfielder Suso was also high up on the flops list - although his fourth place ranking only comes from 2.8 per cent of the voting. Podolski goes down under a challenge from a Fiorentina defender in Sunday's 1-0 defeat at the San Siro . Salah celebrates after scoring the only goal of the game which saw Fiorentina claim three important points . +Chelsea youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek would be playing regularly in the Barclays Premier League if his side weren't under pressure in a title race situation, according to manager Jose Mourinho. Loftus-Cheek was on the bench for Chelsea's 1-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday and is now a full-time member of Mourinho's first-team squad having made substitute appearances against Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City this season. And Mourinho believes the 19-year-old midfielder is ready to play in the first team at Chelsea, although he is yet to start a game even in the absence of Nemanja Matic or John Obi Mikel. Ruben Loftus-Cheek would already be playing for Chelsea if the pressure wasn't so great, says Jose Mourinho . Mourinho had high praise for Loftus-Cheek despite him not appearing from the bench against West Ham . Mourinho rates the 19-year-old midfielder and has used him against Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City . Find out more about Ruben Loftus-Cheek with Sportsmail's guide to the 19-year-old midfielder HERE. 'I had Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the bench and I have to say that, in my opinion, next year, this kid will be a big surprise in the Premier League,' Mourinho said after the win over West Ham. 'This season, if I was not playing for the title and if we were not playing with the pressure we have when you are playing for the title, this kid would already be on the pitch. 'But it's step-by-step and today was again a day for (Kurt) Zouma to help John (Terry) and (Gary) Cahill in a game when (Diafra) Sakho and (Enner) Valencia are very difficult opponents.' Loftus-Cheek could even see more game-time before the end of the season, with Mourinho likely to rest players for a potential Champions League bid if Chelsea wrap up the title early enough. The youngster has already been earmarked as a future England international by Mourinho and previously attracted the interest of Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Kurt Zouma (left) was selected for a second successive game in midfield in Mourinho's Chelsea side . Loftus-Cheek takes on Carlos Mane of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League in December . March 15: Southampton (H) March 22: Hull City (A) April 4: Stoke City (H) April 12: Queens Park Rangers (A) April 18: Manchester United (H) April 26: Arsenal (A) April 29: Leicester City (A) May 2: Crystal Palace (H) May 9: Liverpool (H) May 16: West Bromwich Albion (A) May 24: Sunderland (H) +Chelsea and Everton have both been fined £30,000 by the FA for player misconduct in their February 11 clash at Stamford Bridge. Players from both teams became embroiled in a melee four minutes before the end of Chelsea's 1-0 win, and the clubs have now been charged with 'failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour'. The charge against Chelsea also claims that their players surrounded referee Jonathan Moss 'and/or became involved in a mass confrontation'. Chelsea and Everton have been fined over the mass confrontation towards the end of their February meeting . Branislav Ivanovic escaped punishment despite appearing to aim a headbutt at Everton's James McCarthy . Branislav Ivanovic escaped a personal punishment despite appearing to aim a headbutt at Everton's James McCarthy during the incident. Chelsea and Everton both admitted the charges and were warned about their future conduct. The incident sparked up after a Gareth Barry's foul on Willian that saw him dismissed for a second bookable offence. Referee Moss also showed cards to McCarthy, Cesc Fabregas and Ramires after the coming together. After the game Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho walked out of a BBC interview when asked about the Ivanovic incident and when questioned by BT Sport, he replied: ‘Don’t make me laugh, don’t make me laugh.’ Ivanovic grabs hold of McCarthy in the melee that led to both Chelsea and Everton being fined £30,000 . Angry Chelsea and Everton players square up in front of the dugouts as Jonathan Moss tries to take control . In his post-match press conference, Mourinho threatened another walk-out, saying: ‘I’m concerned with my reaction because one more question (about this) and I will leave.’ Mourinho was critical of Everton, adding: ‘They made lots of fouls, what you would call intelligent fouls, but if the referee follows the rule it’s yellow card after yellow card and then inevitably you get a red card — which they eventually did.’ Everton manager Roberto Martinez was in no doubt that Ivanovic should have seen red over the alleged butt. ‘If you look at the images Ivanovic’s behaviour is wrong,’ said Martinez. ‘He grabs him around the neck in a forceful manner then puts his head against him when James McCarthy didn’t react, and if you want to be on top of the laws that’s a red card.’ Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho refused to talk about the melee or Ivanovic's actions . +As soon as Jose Mourinho declared Chelsea's Capital One Cup final against Tottenham as the most important final of his distinguished managerial career, it was hard to see past The Special One's side. And that could, in part, be down to the Chelsea manager's brilliant record in cup finals: he's lost just one final across 11 full seasons as a coach, winning 10 along the way plus seven league titles and four Community Shields or Super Cups. That makes it 21 trophies across 727 games, an average of a winner's medal every 35 matches. Jose Mourinho holds the Capital One Cup aloft, it is the 21st trophy of his career as a manager . The Portuguese coach lifts the cup in delight, and he believes 'finals are not for playing, they are for winning' The ecstatic Chelsea boss showed a contrasting mood to the miserable figure from recent press conferences . June 15, 2003: Taca de Portugal final. Porto 1-0 Uniao de Leiria. May 21, 2003: UEFA Cup final. Celtic 2-3 Porto (after extra time). May 26, 2004: Champions League final. Monaco 0-3 Porto. February 27, 2005: Carling Cup final. Liverpool 2-3 Chelsea (aet). February 25, 2007: Carling Cup final. Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal. May 19, 2007: FA Cup final. Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (aet). May 5, 2010: Coppa Italia final. Inter Milan 1-0 Roma . May 22, 2010: Champions League final. Bayern Munich 0-2 Inter Milan. April 20, 2011: Copa del Rey final. Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid (aet). May 17, 2013: Copa del Rey final. Real Madrid 1-2 Atletico Madrid (aet) March 1, 2015: Capital One Cup final. Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham. 'Finals are not for playing, they are for winning,' Mourinho said at full-time at Wembley, and he certainly believes in his own words given the impressive record he holds on show-piece occasions like Sunday. Victory over Spurs ended a two-year mini-drought for Mourinho, having come through a difficult final season at Real Madrid before failing in all three cup competitions and finishing third in the Barclays Premier League with Chelsea last season. That was his longest stretch without a trophy while in constant employment as a manager - and Sunday marked his first cup final success in almost four years. The only final that a Mourinho-led team has been beaten in came in 2013's Copa de Rey final when Real Madrid were defeated 2-1 by local rivals Atletico Madrid - and even then it took extra time to kill off Mourinho. Prior to that though, he had won all nine of his previous finals, picking up the Taca de Portugal, UEFA Cup and Champions League with Porto, two Carling Cups and an FA Cup in his first spell at Chelsea, a Coppa Italia and Champions League with Inter Milan and a Copa del Rey with Real. The stats show Chelsea's master motivator knows how to gee up his players for the big occasion: you don't have such a strong record without that ability. 'For me, it's important to feel that I'm a kid,' Mourinho said after the game at Wembley. Mourinho celebrates in front of his supporters with his UEFA Cup winner's medal after beating Celtic . Mourinho's career as a top coach really took off when he won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 . Mourinho started his Chelsea trophy haul with a Carling Cup victory in Cardiff in 2005 after extra time . Back-to-back titles with Chelsea in 2004-05 (left) and 2005-06 (right) kept Mourinho happy at Chelsea . Mourinho poses with the Community Shield, won with Chelsea again in Cardiff to add to his title in 2005 . The Special One won his second League Cup in Cardiff in 2007, with Didier Drogba seeing off Arsenal . Drogba was again up for the big occasion as Mourinho won the FA Cup at the new Wembley's first cup final . 'And before the game, I had the same feelings as my first Final however many years ago. 'It's important to feel the same happiness after the victory, and to feel like a kid at 52 years old. 'It's difficult for me to live without titles. I need to feed myself with titles. This is important for me and the boys. Porto (2002–2004) Primeira Liga: 2002–03, 2003–04 . Taca de Portugal: 2002–03 . Supertaca Candido de Oliveira: 2003 . UEFA Champions League: 2003–04 . UEFA Cup: 2002–03 . Chelsea (2004–2007) Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06 . FA Cup: 2006–07 . Football League Cup: 2004–05, 2006–07 . FA Community Shield: 2005 . Inter Milan (2008–2010) Serie A: 2008–09, 2009–10 . Coppa Italia: 2009–10 . Supercoppa Italiana: 2008 . UEFA Champions League: 2009–10 . Real Madrid (2010–2013) La Liga: 2011–12 . Copa del Rey: 2010–11 . Supercopa de Espana: 2012 . Chelsea (2013-present) Football League Cup: 2014-15 . The Inter players hold the Italian Super Cup after beating Roma at the San Siro, Mourinho's first trophy there . Mourinho celebrates winning the Serie A title in his first season with Inter Milan in 2009 after beating Atalanta . The Portuguese coach lays a kiss on the Coppa Italia trophy after Roma were beaten 1-0 in the final . 'I went in a different direction, with two seasons without a trophy, and it looked like I was 20 years without a trophy. 'This is a good problem, to have that feeling that two years is a long time. That's a good feeling.' With The Special One giving his players just 20 minutes to celebrate before thoughts were focused back on their Premier League title charge, Mourinho will hope to add a couple more trophies in the 13 games (or as many as 18 if they reach the Champions League final) before the end of the season. And now that he's managed to give his new squad the big game pedigree that they needed, few would back against the Portuguese coach to add to his rich honours list. Mourinho joins his Inter players after winning a second successive Serie A title in his second year in Milan . A second Champions League title for Mourinho came at Inter Milan with a 2-0 final win over Bayern Munich . Mourinho waves to Real Madrid supporters during the celebrations after winning the La Liga title in 2012 . Serial winner Mourinho celebrates after victory over Tottenham at Wembley with his Chelsea players . +There was Marlon Brando, James Dean, Brad Pitt. But in 2015, the term 'heartthrob' has taken on a new meaning. Once confined to their dimly-lit basements, videogamers are now flocking from America to South Korea where they are lauded as 'studs' - and win millions. They sit on the stage of a 50,000-strong stadium in Seoul playing League of Legends. And the female attention is unrivaled. Scroll down for videos . A whole new world: Women dress as cyber characters to laud the world's top videogamers at mass tournaments in South Korea . Stud: Hai Lam, 22, from Michigan, is one of the most celebrated gamers in the world and attracts swarms of women . Champions: Cloud 9 has won two Leagues Of Legends seasons and reached the top 8 in the Season 3 finale . Tasha, from Spiral Cats, tells Vice's five-part docu-series that female cosplayers are scantily-clad because that is their superpower . Strategy: If she looks beautiful, she says, her allies will be more likely to help her in battle . Scantily-clad Korean women dressed as cyber characters flood the stands in the hope that they might bump into Cloud 9, America's celebrity gaming squad. Documenting the surreal and exclusive world of eSports in a new five-part docu-series by Vice Media, reporter Matt Shea joined the millions of hysterical fans at this year's League of Legends final. Besotted, Shea meets Spiral Cats, four stunning women who professionally dress up as virtual reality characters. But when Cloud 9's Hai Lam walks past, he loses every inch of their attention. They come in their droves: League Of Legends has 67 million monthly users - more people than there are in France . Superstars: The American team consists of (L-R) 20-year-old An 'Balls' Le, 21-year-old William 'Meteos' Hartman, Hai Lam, 25-year-old Daerek 'LemonNation' Hart, and 21-year-old Zachary 'Sneaky' Scuderi . YouTube.com/HyperX . Battling it out: Teams that make it to the League Of Legends semi-final have already won $150,000 but could get $1 million . The cheerleaders: The tournaments are attended by professional cosplay team Spiral Cats who say beauty is their superpower . Lam, 22, grew up in Grandville, Michigan, and studied media at the University of Michigan. All the while, he would spend his nights fighting his way to become one of the top 10 gamers in the world. His teammates are 20-year-old An 'Balls' Le, 21-year-old William 'Meteos' Hartman, Hai Lam, 25-year-old Daerek 'LemonNation' Hart, and 21-year-old Zachary 'Sneaky' Scuderi. Rocketing to the upper echelons of this fanatical world, they have joined the lauded Chinese team OMG, which features a player who goes by the name Cool. Samsung White, Samsung Blue and Starhorn Royal Club are just a few of the other star squads which struggle to walk through a crowd in Seoul without courting attention. Spiral cats: The girls have a dressing trailer at the site to transform into the characters then spend a day posing with fans . Vice reporter Matt Shea discovers they are courteous with fans and outsiders but flock to Cloud 9 when they get a chance . South Korea's video-gaming scene is unrivaled, as the activity accounts for 90 per cent of addictions nationwide . As Vice notes, League Of Legends has 67 million monthly users, which is more than the entire population of France. They travel in their droves to South Korea, the epicenter of the scene - where, Vice discovers, gaming accounts for 90 per cent of addictions. Most of the commentators for each match are American or British. Thousands of people sit in the stands and first each team member's head shot is projected on a screen. As the battle commences, the players' tense faces are shown. They could win big or lose everything. How it works: Thousands of people sit in the stands and first each team member's head shot is projected on a screen . High stakes: As the battle commences, the players' tense faces are shown. They could win big or lose everything. The game is also projected on a second screen and the audience has different colored lights to show who they are supporting . Champions: Korea's Samsung White squad are one of the most successful gaming squads in the world . +Kevin De Bruyne or Cesc Fabregas? Jose Mourinho knows who he'd choose. The Chelsea boss made a brave decision when he shipped the former off to Wolfsburg, basing the spine of his team on £30million man Fabregas. But could it have been the wrong choice? This season, De Bruyne has racked up more goals and more assists than Fabregas, while Mourinho's current midfield maestro searches desperately for his first goal since December. Kevin De Bruyne has scored more goals and assisted more than Cesc Fabregas has this season . Fabregas (centre) has not scored a goal for Chelsea since mid-December, while De Bruyne is impressing . De Bruyne is in the process of establishing himself as one of the biggest talents in the Bundesliga, helping Wolsburg cement their place in the top echelons of German football. Typically, the pair play in slightly different positions. Fabregas is more suited to a defensive midfield role, while De Bruyne roams further forward. Despite this, for £30m you would expect Fabregas to be firing on all cylinders, chipping in with more goals than he has been. De Bruyne was signed for just shy of £7m in 2012, but mostly consigned to a place on the Stamford Bridge bench, starting just two Premier League games in two years at the club. He was criminally underused in the league, especially if this season's stats hint at his ability. 19 assists to Fabregas' 18, 13 goals to Fabregas' four. Indeed, it is the goal count that is most worrying for Chelsea. De Bruyne was sold to Wolfsburg, and has scored 13 goals in the Bundesliga this season . For Chelsea, De Bruyne was only given two starting places in the Premier League in two years . Fabregas was stifled against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday . Was Jose Mourinho right to sell Kevin De Bruyne? Was Jose Mourinho right to sell Kevin De Bruyne? Now share your opinion . They have not been desperate for scorers, admittedly - Diego Costa and Eden Hazard have that covered - but their side could surely have been improved with the talents of the Belgian midfielder. At the start of the 2013/14 season, De Bruyne was given a fleeting chance to impress, before the door slammed shut on his Chelsea career. His final two starts in the Premier League. First up, Hull. As assist for Oscar, and an impressive performance that warranted praise from Gary Neville. 'The surprise of the season,' he was tipped as. Following that, he was entrusted with a place in the starting XI against Manchester United. 60 minutes, zero goals, zero assists. And from there, zero starts. His only further Premier League appearance came against Fulham a month later. Five minutes at the end, when the game was already won. He was shipped out on loan to Werder Bremen in January, where he impressed. Perhaps it was the change of surroundings, perhaps slightly easier opposition, but German rivals Wolfsburg later decided that his performances were enough to be worthy of £18m. He scored 10 goals in 33 appearances on loan in Germany, and has continued where he left off this season. A brace against Inter Milan on Thursday is his latest story of success. Wolfsburg are now in a commanding position in their Europa League last 16 tie, and that is mainly thanks to De Bruyne. When he wasn't scoring, he was setting them up, and he earned deserved praise from all corners. De Bruyne's European week was far more impressive, as he scored twice against Inter Milan . Jose Mourinho has impressed in charge at Chelsea, but may be ruing his decision to let De Bruyne go . Fabregas, on the other hand, could not do the same against Paris Saint-Germain. Another level of competition, yes, but it is worth considering whether De Bruyne would have been able to make an impact. Stifled by Marco Verratti and Thiago Motta, the Spain international was largely anonymous. There is no questioning Mourinho's eye for talent. He has produced them time and time again, but everyone makes mistakes. De Bruyne may not have impressed week in, week out in a Chelsea shirt, but he was only 20 years old when he joined. Three years later, he has matured into an impressive footballer. Still baby-faced, but far from it with the ball at his feet. Fabregas (right) and his team-mates look dejected after conceding against PSG in the Champions League . A baby-faced De Bruyne in action against Singha Thailand All-Star XI during a 2013 pre-season game . +Per Mertesacker says that a frank team meeting between the defenders has sorted out the problems that bedevilled Arsenal's first leg of their Champions League tie against Monaco. The Gunners face Monaco on Tuesday night knowing they must score at least three times after their 3-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium last month. But Mertesacker, the Arsenal vice-captain claims that the response of the team since that result – with four straight wins, including the FA Cup sixth-round victory at Manchester United, and in conceding just two goals since then – is an indication that the team is ready to overturn the two-goal deficit and produce an extraordinary comeback. Per Mertesacker speaks to the assembled media ahead of Arsenal's Champions League tie in Monaco . The World Cup winner shares a joke with Mesut Ozil as the Gunners prepare for their second-leg clash . 'We speak a lot to each other, even when we win,' said Mertesacker. 'We need to learn after defeat and winning. We always try to improve as a defensive unit. It’s always a topic to analyse things that went right and things went wrong. ‘After that game lot of things didn’t go well. That is a mental thing for tomorrow. We know mentally that we weren’t really up for it and at times we could feel there was a bit of pressure and we couldn’t really cope with that. 'But we feel after the game we moved on from that and that’s why we’re confident we can beat any team in the world. ‘We’re coming out of great week with two important wins and a good level of confidence. There is always a good mood in the squad and during the season we’ve responded well. But we have to face truth and show a different face tomorrow. We need to embrace the challenge.' Mertesacker tangles with Ashley Young during Arsenal's FA Cup victory at Manchester United . Mertesacker celebrates in front of the Arsenal fans at United after their impressive Cup win . +Tony Irish, the boss of the international players’ union, has criticised the ICC over their decision to cut the 2019 World Cup in England to 10 teams, saying: ‘The global game needs a global view.’ With the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan – two of the more engaging sides in this year’s tournament – in danger of missing out on qualification in four years’ time, the ICC have faced tough questions over their commitment to spreading the game beyond its 10 Test-playing Full Members. But Irish’s comments, part of a wide-ranging interview with Sportsmail about some of the major issues faced by international cricket, carry particular significance: FICA, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations of which he is chief executive, represents the players unions in England, Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies. Tony Irish, the South African boss of the international players’ union, says cricket needs a global view and not a 10-game World Cup that the ICC has planned for 2019 that will exclude the likes of Ireland (above) Fans of Afghanistan, who haven't been disgraced in their first World Cup in Australia and New Zealand . In other words, he is speaking on behalf of the majority of the world’s top cricketers. ‘FICA takes a global view on the game,’ said Irish. ‘One of the objectives must be to try to grow the global game. The opportunity for other countries to participate in the World Cup, the pinnacle tournament, is important. ‘However, we do accept the challenge relating to the length of the event. We think we should look at reformatting the event, perhaps into four pools, or having a pre-qualifier.’ Irish, whose push for FICA to play a greater role in determining the game’s future has not been helped by India’s refusal to form their own players’ union, said the format of future World Cups should not be influenced by the TV-driven desire to guarantee as many group matches as possible for the Indians. Afghan and New Zealand playes come together after their World Cup  pool A match in Napier . ‘One can understand that from a commercial point of view, and from the point of view of satisfying the biggest cricket market,’ he said. ‘But you’ve got to balance against that the fact that a sporting event is a sporting event, and if a team performs poorly in a particular format, then that’s how the results go. The growth of the game is equally important. ‘The ICC has 105 members – 10 Full Members, and a number of competitive Associate members. The important thing is that the body that administers the global game needs to have a global view.’ Irish, who also heads up the South African players’ association, questioned how Associate nations were supposed to get exposure against the Full Members when the international schedule is already full to bursting. India haven't got a players' union which hinders the international union's powers to push for an inclusive game . He said: ‘There’s very little framework any more to the Future Tours Programme. It’s not being governed by a set of principles which allows… cricket to have a greater context. It’s a lot of individual agreements between countries, which are just plugged into a matrix. ‘It’s a pity the world Test championship has been shelved. The team rankings give some sort of context, but they’re extremely difficult to understand.’ And Irish is concerned that the takeover of the ICC by the Indian, English and Australian boards last year will result in an increasingly unlevel playing field at international level. Though the ICC have promised more funds to all Full Members and the best six Associate teams as a result of their latest broadcasting deal, many are worried that the Big Three will pull away from the Small Seven because they will simply schedule more lucrative series against between themselves. Under the old FTP, teams were obliged to play each other home and away every four years in series of at least two Tests and three one-day internationals. Now, the fixture list is drawn up on the basis of individual agreements between teams. ‘The fear is that the stronger countries will just play each other more and more, and the weaker countries will have less opportunity to play the stronger countries,’ said Irish. ‘The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.’ For a full transcript of the interview, click here . +Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini would consider a move to Napoli, according to the Chilean's agent. Pellegrini is coming under increasing pressure with his side five points behind Chelsea, who have a game in hand, in the Premier League. City also face a tough task to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals after losing 2-1 to Barcelona at home in the first leg. Manuel Pellegrini looks on during Manchester City's match against Leicester City last week . Napoli coach Rafa Benitez is pictured after his side's 2-2 Serie A draw with Inter Milan on Sunday . And Pellegrini's agent has revealed that Napoli would be considered if they came calling, with current manager Rafa Benitez out of contract this summer. Jesus Martinez told Radio Crc: 'Manuel has another year on his contract, and he intends to respect it. I don't know, however, what the leadership's intentions are. 'Pellegrini has Italian roots, he's also been on holiday in Naples. He's a lover of language and culture. He greatly appreciates Italy and Neapolitan culture. Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring for Barcelona against City in the Champions League last month . An aerial view of the Italian city of Naples, home to Napoli football club . 'You never know in football. Could he replace Benitez? Pellegrini does not allow me to talk about him in relation to a position at a club which already has a coach under contract. 'We have to wait a few more months, then if [Napoli President Aurelio] De Laurentiis calls, we'll discuss it.' +Massimiliano Alegri has warned his players to brace themselves for an important week as Juventus look to continue their push towards the Serie title and bid to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Italian champions take on 11th-place Palermo on Saturday as they chase down their fourth consecutive Scudetto before travelling to Germany to to defend a 2-1 lead over Brussia Dortmund on Wednesday. Juve currently hold an 11-point lead over nearest rivals Roma but Allegri insists there is still work to do to secure the title as the club head into what the coach describes as a decisive week. Massimiliano Allegri says his Juventus players must be on top of their game ahead of a decisive few days . Paul Pogba celebrates after scoring the winner against Sassuolo on Monday . 'We begin a week that's more or less decisive as far as the league's concerned, which still hasn't been won, and the Champions League, where we've got a knockout game,' he said. 'But for now we'll just stay focused on Palermo. 'I think we'll have a difficult game because they're in a healthy position in the table and can play quite a carefree game. 'There will also be a full stadium and playing Juventus will provide a huge boost for them, I think. 'Crucially, they have shown themselves to be strong at home, they've taken 26 points at home, so it will not be an easy game.' Juventus maintained their 11-point lead at the top of Serie A with the victory . Allegri insists that Juventus still have work to do in the title race ahead of Saturday's game against Palermo . Juventus have been heavily linked with Palermo's impressive 21-year-old striker Paulo Dybala, who has netted 12 Serie A goals this season, but Allegri was giving nothing away when asked about the Argentinian. 'I think Dybala can get even better and eventually play for a great team,' Allegri said. Former AC Milan coach Allegri added that his side will have to be at their very best to reach the last eight of the Champions League but insisted the ambition is to turn Juventus into one of the best teams in Europe. 'On Wednesday we will have to be very good. 'Can Juve get into the top five in Europe in the future? It must be the goal and ambition.' +A former Michigan high school football coach was arrested Friday and faces multiple charges including sending explicit images to students as young as 13 years old. Louis Michael Rau, 46, faces 12 charges including seven counts of distributing sexually explicit matter to a minor; four counts of selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor; and one count of accosting a minor for immoral purposes -- which is a four-year felony, the Morning Sun reports. Rau resigned from his position at the Beal City High School in January after complaints from parents about the coach's alleged inappropriate conduct led to an investigation by the Isabella County Sheriff's Department. Multiple Charges: Louis Rau, 46 (photographed), was arrested Friday and faces multiple charges including sending explicit images to students as young as 13 years old . During the investigation, the department conducted several interviews and searched phones, tablets, cameras, computers, DVD's, text messages and emails, Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski told MLive. The search found that Rau sent nude photos to five victims -- all student-athletes -- between 2011 and 2015, People reports. One of the victims was 13 when the ex-coach began sending him the sexually explicit photos, and all of the others were under 18 years old. Court records obtained by the Sun state that in addition to the photos, Rau gave the boys sex toys. Rau reportedly once gave an eighth grader a toy 'described as a vagina with a tube.' On four different occasions, the Sun reports, Rau purchased alcohol for three of the victims; court records note that both text messages and Rau's admission confirmed the purchases. Victims: The search found that Rau sent nude photos to five victims -- all student-athletes -- between 2011 and 2015 . Toys/Alcohol: Court records state that in addition to the photos, Rau also gave the boys sex toys and bought them alcohol . At Friday's arraignment, Rau's attorney, Dan O'Neill, described Rau as a 'home-grown boy' and noted that the 46-year-old had no criminal record, the Sun reports. He spoke of Rau's notoriety as 'the most celebrated football coach Beal City has ever had.' Rau's bail was set at $80,000, lowered from $120,000 which was set during the time of his arrest, the Sun reports. Upon his resignation, Rau, who also served as a substitute teacher at the school, was banned from school grounds except for school board meetings and public elections held at the school, MLive reports. As part of his bail conditions, Rau is not allowed in any school zones, not allowed to be in the presence of minors, not allowed to attend sporting events where minors or present, and is not allowed to contact the victims in any way, according to MLive. In 2006, Rau received a 14-day unpaid suspension for allegedly slapping a player at a football banquet. Slap: In 2006, Rau received a 14-day unpaid suspension for allegedly slapping a player at a football banquet . High School: A Beal City High School (photographyed) graduate, Rau began coaching at the school in 2000 and led the team to a state championship in 2009 . An investigation into the incident was launched after a concerned parent of a former-player wrote a letter detailing the July 2006 incident, saying several football players saw Rau slap the student in the face. 'When I asked [the victim] about the incident myself, he said that, 'Yes. Mr. Rau b**** slapped me,'' the letter reads. A Beal City High School graduate, Rau began coaching at the school in 2000 and led the team to a state championship in 2009. Rau posted bail shortly after his arraignment Friday and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a probable cause hearing. +Perched atop Norway's snowy Seven Mountains sits the stunning Tubakuba cabin. But the off-the-grid property, made of glass and wood, isn't just known for it's sweeping views of the city of Bergen below. In order to reach the small architectural marvel, guests are required to crawl through its tunnel-like entryway, which remarkably resembles an otherworldly black hole. High above the city of Bergen in Norway sits the Tubakuba cabin, which boasts a very unusual, vortex-like entryway . Made up entirely of glass and wood, staying overnight in the cabin is free for families with young children . Designed as part of a workshop at the Bergen School of Architecture, OPA Form Architect, Espen Folgero was the mastermind behind the striking cabin. It's name is inspired by the tuba, thanks in large part to its curved entryway that opens like a vortex to the woods outside. The interior is made of plywood, while the exterior is crafted from burnt larch that has been treated with a traditional Japanese method called Shou Sugi Ban to prevent fungal decay. It's the portal-like entrance that's really something special, however, made up of curved shavings of pine and untreated larch, which will turn gray with time. The interior is made of plywood and has floor to ceiling windows along one side to allow guests to experience the breathtaking views . There is no electricity and the cabin's amenities are basic with only a wooden stove, bare wooden platforms and lofted sleeping space . To reach the inside of the 14-square-metre cabin, everyone must crawl through the house's 'black hole' tunnel entrance . Best of all, for families with young children, it's free to stay overnight in the playful space. The 14-square-metre cabin offers basic amenities, such as a wood stove, bare wooden platforms and a lofted sleeping area. There's no electricity, but the property is so small that it doesn't require much heating. And it's the view that guests truly stop by for: large windows overlooking the rocky mountainside give visitors the impression that they are 'floating' above the valley below. Every detail of the tunnel was considered, right down to the the use of untreated larch wood, which will turn grey with time . These drawings show exactly how the architecture students envisioned guests relaxing in the lofted sleeping spaces . Referred to as a 'wooden bubble,' the property has since been nominated for a European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture . Sketching was an important part of the students' learning process and helped them identify structural problems and solutions . The tuba-like tunnel is not just a way to reach the cabin's interior, it's also a play space in and of itself for children if the hut is closed . Speaking to Fast Company, architect Espen Folgero explained the concept behind the avant garde house. 'The entrance is shaped like a mouth of a tuba to experiment with wood as a material, to give children a place to play even if the hut is closed, and to force adults to crouch to get in, even if kids don't have to,' he said. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Tubakuba has been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture-Mies van de Rohe Award. +Reading manager Steve Clarke is hoping to take over from Bradford City as FA Cup underdogs after seeing his side knock the League One outfit of the competition and set up a semi-final meeting with Arsenal. Following a drab goalless draw in the initial tie, Reading welcomed Bradford to the Madejski Stadium on Monday night and eased to a 3-0 victory against 10 men to reach just a second semi-final in the history of the club. Hal Robson-Kanu headed home in the sixth minute before a deflected Garath McCleary shot doubled their advantage shortly afterwards. Reading boss Steve Clarke hopes they can take over from Bradford as FA Cup underdogs after their 3-0 win . Hal Robson-Kanu (right) finds space inside the Bradford City penalty area and directs his header towards goal . Garath McCleary (left) sprints towards the corner flag after putting Reading into an early 2-0 lead . Jamie Mackie (left) fires home from a tight angle to give his side a 3-0 lead against 10-man Bradford . Filipe Morais was sent off for a high kick on Nathaniel Chalobah before Jamie Mackie thrashed home a third to send the Royals to Wembley. And now Clarke wants to replicate the cup giant-killing exploits of Bradford - who knocked out Chelsea and Sunderland on their way to the sixth round. 'You see tonight what it means to us,' he said of Reading's cup run. 'We go to the semi-final, a difficult game against Arsenal, but we go there with hope and belief that maybe we can continue the good work of Bradford. Bradford have been fantastic underdogs in this tournament this year and we look to pick up the baton now and do it in the semi-final.' Clarke made 11 changes to the side which slipped to a 4-1 defeat at Watford in the Championship on Saturday and believes he made the right decision to do so. The Bantams were reduced to 10-men after this high challenge from midfielder Filipe Morais (left) Referee Mike Jones brandishes a straight red card to Morais as Nathaniel Chalobah (right) looks from the turf . 'I am paid to do a job for the club and I have to do what is correct for the football club and I think I did that,' he added. 'I am pleased for the players - it has been a difficult season for them. It was very comfortable because we got off to a great start. From there we controlled the game very, very well and the third goal was the one that killed it. It was a very comfortable night.' Bradford boss Phil Parkinson, who was given a warm reception at the Madejski Stadium having enjoyed a distinguished 11-year playing career with Reading, felt the stuffing had been knocked out of his players following the hosts' lightning start. 'Reading were the better team on the night and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb,' he said. 'They played with a spring in their step after that and we found it difficult to respond. A two-goal lead after 10 minutes lifted the whole crowd and their players but we have got to be immensely proud. Bradford City boss Phil Parkinson felt the stuffing had been knocked out of his side following the hosts' start . 'This is tough to take, we wanted to progress but we have got to quickly move on and reflect on this year's competition. 'When you have these cup runs as a lower-league side there is always a danger you will have an off-day. The lads were deflated on the pitch and I couldn't wait to get them into the dressing room at half-time to give them a lift.' Parkinson had no complaints about Morais' second-half red card and was quick to wish Clarke and his players good luck for the remainder of the competition. 'We wish them all the best in the semi-final against Arsenal,' he added. 'We have got 11 games to go, no-one else in our division has had the high-profile games we have had to contend with and the lads have kept going really well. Now we can focus on the league, we are going to have a good go.' +Manchester City playmaker David Silva believes the Barclays Premier League champions have got to stop Barcelona scoring if they are to have any chance of pulling off a miracle at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night. Silva and his team-mates are 2-1 down after the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and head into the game having been written off by just about everybody. However, the Spanish international believes Manuel Pellegrini's team can progress if they manage to become only the fifth team — and the first in the competition — to stop Luis Enrique's team scoring. Manchester City playmaker David Silva believes they have to stop Barcelona scoring to have a chance . Silva and his City team-mates are 2-1 down after the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie . It is a task easier said than done to stop Barcelona, led by Lionel Messi, from scoring at home . Messi (centre) and co will have something to say about City's progress when the come to the Nou Camp . 'We need the kind of mentality we showed in the games against Roma and Bayern Munich in the group stages,' Silva said. 'The most important thing is not to concede a goal because obviously things then become more difficult. 'Strange things can happen. Everybody wrote Schalke off before they played Real Madrid but they won 4-3 and could have scored again which would have put them through. Nobody predicted that. 'Not many thought PSG could beat Chelsea, especially with only 10 men for so long, so I know that everything can happen, not only in the Champions League but in every game. 'Everyone is expecting Barca to go through but hopefully we can give a strong performance and we don't have any kind of pressure on us because we are behind and playing away.' Silva is preparing to face Barcelona with his City team-mates on Wednesday night at the Nou Camp . Silva feels City can progress if they can stop Barcelona from scoring against them in the last-16 tie . City travelled to Spain at this stage last season, having lost the home leg 2-0. This time they are slightly better off following Joe Hart's last-minute penalty save from Lionel Messi at the Etihad Stadium three weeks ago. 'We played well in the second leg against Barca last season and played with freedom so we will see,' added Silva. Revered in Spain, where he played for first Celta Vigo and then Valencia, Silva has long been coveted by Barcelona and indeed Real Madrid. The 29-year-old has insisted, however, that he isn't thinking about a move away from City and has enjoyed playing further up the field under Manuel Pellegrini this season. 'I have played closer to the box in a more advanced position this season and that's why I'm scoring goals,' he said. Manuel Pellegrini will look to perform a miracle on Wednesday night against a powerful Barcelona side . 'It's more about the team than individuals. If we are good as a group we can make the difference. I always have freedom in the pitch but now we need all the players at their best if we are to go through . 'I have four more years on my contract and I'm very happy here — I have always said that. The way the supporters are with me is something I'm very proud of and it inspires me to play my best and I'm humbled to have that kind of appreciation every time I play.' City will train at their own base in Manchester on Tuesday morning before flying to Barcelona early in the afternoon. +Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool have second place in their sights after they boosted their Champions League hopes in Swansea. Jordan Henderson’s freak goal in the 68th minute ended Swansea’s spirited resistance and put Liverpool within two points off Manchester United. The two biggest clubs in English football go head-to-head at Anfield this weekend and whoever wins will be favourites to finish in the top four. Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool have second place in their sights following the win against Swansea City . Jordan Henderson (pictured) scored with a deflected strike that was enough to seal victory for the away side . Rodgers, however, insists Liverpool should be aiming higher and feels Manchester City’s defeat at Burnley has opened the table up. Liverpool’s manager said: ‘The aim is to finish as high as we can. Everyone talks about fourth but it’s the same every year for me. ‘We do the best that we can do and the Manchester City result at the weekend gives us an opportunity to finish second so our mentality, the run and confidence we have at the moment we are just going to take that into every game and see where it takes us.’ This was Liverpool’s sixth consecutive away clean sheet in the league – they have not conceded on the road since losing at Old Trafford on December 14 – and defending provided the bedrock of this performance. They equalled a club record dating back to 1972. Liverpool were not at their best in the opening 45 minutes and needed some smart interventions from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet before Steven Gerrard came on as a second half substitute to provide some composure. Rodgers says Liverpool should be aiming higher and feels Manchester City’s defeat has opened the table up . Rodgers added: ‘What we did second half was run more without the ball and that notion for the team that you’ve got to move not just when you have the ball - you’ve got to run off it. ‘We talked at half-time about penetration and options for the guy in possession. But Steve came on and offered that calmness. We switched to a diamond in the second half and he came on and fitted into the bottom of that and his calmness and control was important to that. ‘You have to pay respect to the team as well .They’ve been playing well getting results and over the last 3 months we’ve been in great form but we have to pay attention. ‘He’d been out for a considerable period of time now but he is fit and you see how important he is when he came on.’ Liverpool are now just four points behind City, who struggled to a 1-0 defeat against Burnley on Saturday . Looking ahead to the showdown with United, Rodgers added: ‘We can now really look forward to that. We needed a result so to get the victory was a huge result. They are massive games, great games to be involved in. ‘Hopefully it will show the strides we have made since we played them a number of months back and for that I have to give immense credit to the team. We have put ourselves in a great position but there is still a lot of work to go and recover now and get ready for the weekend.’ Swansea boss Garry Monk feels Liverpool will make the top four but he insisted his side were unfortunate not to take something from the game. Rodgers' Liverpool side face the visit of Louis van Gaal's Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday . Monk said: ‘I think especially after the first half, we really controlled it, dominated it, and that’s the opportunity missed really. ‘We should have scored a goal, maybe a couple in the first half. Second half, we started to make the wrong decisions with the ball, and invited a little bit of pressure. ‘But for all that pressure, they didn’t have a lot of chances. Had it been a well-worked goal, you could have taken that a bit better. We definitely deserved something from the game.’ VIDEO Monk rues missed chances . +Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has spoken to Sportsmail's Pete Jenson ahead of their Champions League last-16 showdown with Barcelona. Here are the top 10 quotes from the interview with the Chilean boss. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has spoken to Sportsmail's Pete Jenson . Pellegrini on Manchester City's triumphs last season going unrecognised . 'We were fighting on all fronts. We won the Capital One Cup, reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, played in the Champions League and we won the League scoring 157 goals. Liverpool only had one competition and that's an enormous advantage.' Pellegrini on Liverpool getting the attention . 'The slip from (Steven) Gerrard? They lost that game 2-0, not 1-0. If he had not slipped, does it end in a draw? We'd still have been two points ahead of them. So why was it Liverpool losing the league and not us winning it?' Pellegrini on being told to buy English players . ‘It is important to have English players but can you sign them? Can you get (Raheem) Sterling? Maybe if you go to Liverpool with £100million you can. If I want an English player in the position of (David) Silva who is there? Maybe (Wayne) Rooney, but who else?' Pellegrini on European silverware . 'Manchester United in all of that great era under (Sir Alex) Ferguson only won two Champions Leagues. Real Madrid went 32 years without winning the European Cup. It is important to be there in the later rounds but you can't think that not being there is a disaster.' Pellegrini poses with the Premier League trophy in May 2014 after he saw his team win the title . Pellegrini on Barcelona . 'You can talk about tactics and technique but if you go a man down against Barcelona, you're put in a terrible position. It is not a disgrace to get knocked out by them. Their squad, if it is not the best in the world, it is the second best. No other team can put together Leo Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez but I want to play them with 11 and if they knock us out then let that be because they were better than us.' Pellegrini on his days as a centre back before becoming a manager . 'If you want to say I was a disaster of a player then say it. But give me another disaster of a player who played almost 500 games across 14 years.' Pellegrini on Manchester City's riches . 'This year Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have all spent more than us. People don't accept that we are trying to become a big club in a very short time. I don't think there's such a difference between the top five or six squads.' Pellegrini feels English clubs aren't helped in European competitions by the domestic fixtures during winter . Pellegrini on the festive fixture list . 'English football gives other leagues an advantage. There are some traditions you can't change, I realise that. Boxing Day is non-negotiable. But you can't play nine games in December and nine in January. You have to stop at some point.' Pellegrini on James Milner . 'It would be very difficult to find a more complete player than Milner. There are players who are better technically. There are quicker players. There are players who head the ball better. But show me a player who does all the things that Milner does well and there isn't one. 'You leave him on the bench and he is furious, but watch him during the game, encouraging and shouting. And in the next training session he kills it for 95 minutes. It's very difficult to find another Milner – an intelligent player, with big balls and a massive heart.' Pellegrini on pressure in England compared to in Argentina . 'Here the pressure is normal. There, it's every day, and it's life and death. I've never had a problem with pressure because I believe in my own ability. Last year I wanted to show I could win a major league in Europe. This year the challenge is to repeat the title or to do better in the Champions League.' Pellegrini has spoken to Sportsmail about James Milner, the pressure he feels and on their trophy aims . +Adnan Januzaj, James Wilson and Paddy McNair turned out for Manchester United's Under 21 side on Monday night. The trio were hoping to force their way into Louis van Gaal's plans by impressing against Everton at Southport's Haig Avenue. Winger Adnan Januzaj hopes to force his way into Louis van Gaal's plans . Man United striker James Wilson scored but then hobbled off before half-time . Wilson opened the scoring in the eighth minute by firing home the rebound after Andreas Pereira's shot had been parried by keeper Russell Griffiths. But the striker was forced off in the 40th minute after failing to shake off the effects of a heavy challenge early on in the match. Paddy McNair (L) celebrated Northern Ireland call-up by scoring against Everton . McNair, called up by Northern Ireland for their matches against Scotland and Finland later this month, doubled United's advantage just before half-time when a clearance fell to the defender and he lobbed the ball into an unguarded net. Jonjoe Kenny scored a late consolation from the penalty spot for Everton but the Reds held out for a hard-earned success. The 2-1 victory consolidated top spot in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League table. +Bundesliga club Cologne has been ordered to pay a heavy fine and close part of its stadium for three home games following crowd disturbances involving its fans. The German football federation (DFB) says Cologne must pay £143,000 (200,000 euros) and close two standing areas for league games against Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke. Cologne has also had its ticket allocation for away games reduced, and all tickets for away games have to be personalized to the end of the season. Cologne fans in white jumpsuits run away from police after running onto the pitch in Monchengladbach . After being kicked and punched repeatedly the fans are led away by heavily armed police . Some fans looked seriously hurt after they were beaten by both police and rival supporters . The punishment comes after crowd disturbances at Duisberg in the German Cup on October 28, and at the Rhine derby at Borussia Monchengladbach on February 14, when flares were set off and masked Cologne supporters wearing white overalls stormed the pitch, leading to violent scuffles with security staff and police. +This meeting is fast turning into a gala performance by the double act of Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins and his British counterpart Paul Nicholls. Having seen Mullins, ably assisted by stable jockeys Ruby Walsh and Paul Townend, smash the home team on Tuesday with four winners headed by his Champion Hurdler Faugheen, it was Nicholls’ turn on Wednesday. He won the feature £350,000 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase with Dodging Bullets as well as the Coral Cup with Aux Ptits Soins, both ridden by stable jockey Sam Twiston-Davies, and the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle with Qualando, the mount of Nick Scholfield. Dodging Bullets (front) delivered a second winner of day two for jockey Sam Twiston-Davies . With Mullins also landing the RSA Chase with Bryan Cooper-ridden Don Poli, the two dominant stables in jump racing have now won eight of the 14 Festival races run so far. Nicholls denied he had driven home on Tuesday depressed or frustrated having drawn a blank in the face of the Mullins’ mullering. But the mood for the journey home last night must have been some contrast. Almost amazingly, Dodging Bullets’ one-and-a-quarter length defeat of 33-1 shot Somersby was the first steeplechase Nicholls had won at this meeting since Kauto Star landed the 2009 Gold Cup. Back in third was Irish-trained front-runner Special Tiara but the big two — 2013 winner Sprinter Sacre and last year’s champion Sure De Grugy — blew out. Trainer Gary Moore and jockey son Jamie felt the ground had dried out too much for fourth-placed Sire De Grugy, who has endured an injury-plagued season while Sprinter Sacre, a spent force by the home turn, was pulled up before the last by his jockey Barry Geraghty. Twiston-Davies and Dodging Bullets successfully clear a fence on their way to victory . Twiston-Davies laps up the applause as he is led in after winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase . His trainer Nicky Henderson said there was no evidence Sprinter Sacre’s old fibrillating heart problem had affected his gelding and a scope examination showed no signs of a significant blood vessel break. However, the feeling was an old breathing issue might have re-surfaced. There will be no snap decisions but there must be a chance he has run his last race. Henderson said: ‘It is disappointing for everybody who has worked their socks off to get him back.’ The outcome once again showed how hard it is to come back and the result had echoes of the 2010 Gold Cup won by Imperial Commander when the focus was on the Nicholls-trained pair of Kauto Star and Denman. This time it was the turn of 9-2 shot Dodging Bullets, winner of this season’s Tingle Creek and Clarence House Chases, to be cold-shouldered in the build-up as the spotlight fell on the big two. And there to cheer him home was his breeder, three-time champion Flat jockey Frankie Dettori, looking like he should be part of Elliot Ness’s crew in his brown trilby and mac. He hoped he was breeding a future Derby winner when he sent the mare Nova Cyngi to the stallion Dubawi. He ended up producing the victor of one the season’s biggest jumps races. Dettori said: ‘I am only a small part in this amazing story but I am so pleased for Paul and the owners. I can say I have bred the best jumps horse of 2015.’ Dodging Bullets returned at 9-2 after landing the Queen Mother Champion Chase . Twiston-Davies celebrates with the Queen Mother Champion Chase trophy . The result was no surprise to Nicholls, who said: ‘He was the form horse. He beat Sprinter Sacre at Ascot and I couldn’t see how he could turn that around. With all due respect to Gary Moore, I also thought Sire De Grugy had it all to do. He has had a problem. ‘I can see the sentiment side of it but the progressive horse normally comes out on top. I was fairly confident I had them covered, Champagne Fever was the one I was getting worried about and he was a non-runner.’ Nicholls puts Dodging Bullets’ improvement this year down to greater maturity and solving a gastric ulcer problem, as he has with tomorrow’s Gold Cup favourite Silviniaco Conti. This success can only serve to strengthen both stable and punter confidence in his chance. Nicholls added: ‘We felt he was losing his way but couldn’t work out why. We found the gastric ulcer, treated for that, and like Silviniaco Conti he is a different animal. He won the best turned out award and it was as well as he has been.’ The results were also further vindication of Nicholls’s decision to hand the pressure job of stable jockey to 22-year-old Twiston-Davies at the start of the season, a move made earlier than expected when others threatened to sign him up. Nicholls heeded advice from former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. ‘He said, “you don’t want the best striker in the league playing for another team.” Someone said Sam will last me until I retire. I don’t know if he will last that long but he is a good lad who will be part of the team for a long time.’ A bad day for Henderson was made worse when Rolling Star suffered a fatal injury in the Coral Cup. It was all smiles for the connections of Dodging Bullets . Frankie Dettori (second right) couldn't hide his excitement after Dodging Bullets' victory . +Nottinghamshire have bolstered their depleted batting ranks by signing up Zimbabwean Brendan Taylor. With Michael Lumb and Jake Libby injured, Taylor will come in to patch up the squad. Terms of his stay at Nottinghamshire will be agreed once Zimbabwe complete their World Cup campaign with a pool match against India on Saturday. The club's director of cricket Mick Newell said in a statement: 'Ahead of the upcoming season, we have found ourselves with two batsmen injured and face the potential loss of players to international commitments. Zimbabwe batsman Brendan Taylor is set to join Nottinghamshire after the Cricket World Cup . Taylor has impressed Down Under despite Zimbabwe being eliminated at the group stages . 'We have decided to strengthen our batting order with Brendan, a proven player who will be an excellent addition to the side.' Although Zimbabwe cannot reach the knock-out stage, Taylor, 29, has been a strong performer for his country at the World Cup. After innings of 40, 47, 37 and 50 in Zimbabwe's opening four matches, he scored a rapid 121 in the defeat to Ireland. The signing is subject to England and Wales Cricket Board approval, Nottinghamshire said. Nottinghamshire are down on numbers after injuries, including England's Michael Lumb (left) +Steven Gerrard would have been delighted to make a return to action after injury, but there was something else that also made him smile at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night. The Liverpool captain was named on the bench for the Premier League clash and came on in the second half in south Wales. While warming up along the touchline in the first half, Gerrard stopped to greet a young fan who had made his own replica kit with the 34-year-old's name on. Steven Gerrard received a tribute from a young supporter at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night . The Liverpool captain was warming up along the touchline when he received the tribute . Gerrard pats the young kid on his head after shaking his hand during Liverpool's win over Swansea . The 34-year-old midfielder walks away with a smile on his face . Gerrard came on in the second half on Monday night and Jordan Henderson passed him the armband . Unfortunately the spelling of 'Gerard' left a lot to be desired, but the Liverpool captain appreciated the tribute. Gerrard was back in action for Liverpool in their 1-0 win over Swansea after missing the last seven games with a hamstring injury. Jordan Henderson's second-half goal was enough to earn Brendan Rodgers' side a victory that drew them within two points of fourth-placed Manchester United in the race for Champions League football. +Reading booked an FA Cup semi-final date against Arsenal on Monday night - but their celebrations were marred by an allegation of racist abuse towards winger Garath McCleary. The Royals cruised to Wembley with a 3-0 win, ending Bradford's heroic run in the competition. It will be Reading's first FA Cup semi-final in 88 years, but the achievement was overshadowed by suggestions McCleary, a Jamaica international, was racially abused by a Bradford supporter. Reading's celebrations were marred by an allegation of racist abuse towards winger Garath McCleary . It was suggested that McCleary, a Jamaica international, was racially abused by a Bradford supporter . It occurred five minuted before half-time when McCleary tried to retrieve the ball from the Bradford end . Reading comfortably strolled into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win. Click here to read the full match report . The incident occurred five minuted before half-time when McCleary tried to retrieve the ball from the Bradford end. McCleary, who scored the second goal, was shocked by something a fan said to him; the Royals winger immediately informed the referee's assistant, who subsequently told fourth official Andre Marriner. Marriner relayed the information to a senior Reading security chief, who is understood to have promptly ensured the fan in question was ejected from the stadium. The supporter was then arrested. In confirming the incident, a Reading statement read: 'An incident was reported to the match officials just before half time, who in turn told Reading staff. A man was then arrested and ejected during the half-time interval.' Royals manager Steve Clarke admitted after the game he was aware of an incident involving McCleary. Fans invaded the pitch after full-time as Reading secured their place in the FA Cup semi-finals . Bradford players applaud the supporters after full-time as they lost 3-0 against Reading on Monday night . The FA will wait for referee Mike Jones' report before deciding on what course of action to take, if any, this morning. Likewise, the end of the encounter was soured by a mass pitch invasion from elated home supporters. And the invasion sparked angry scenes between both sets of supporters as stewards prevented furious Bradford fans from entering the pitch to confront jubilant Reading supporters. Supporters proceeded to throw missiles, including bottle of waters, on to the pitch. Earlier, a pitch invader goaded travelling supporters which caused Bradford fans to throw more missiles onto the pitch. Reading keeper Adam Federici was seen handing a coin over to a steward guarding Bradford fans. On his side's comfortable win, Reading manager Steve Clarke said: 'I'm pleased for the players because it's been a difficult season. Reading manager Steve Clarke admitted after the game he was aware of an incident involving McCleary . 'We got to the Arsenal game with hope and belief, when we get to the day we will be quite excited. 'But we won't think about it yet, if you think it will be difficult to forget about the semi-final then you don't know me. We've got important league games before then and that's out focus.' Bradford manager Phil Parkinson, whose side beat Chelsea and Sunderland en route to the quarter-final, added: 'We've got to be immensely proud of what we achieved, but this is tough to take. But we've got to move on. We've got so many great memories that we can take into the rest of this season for years to come. 'We came up against a team that play really well. When you have an off day against a higher level opponent you get punished.' +Toby Alderweireld would like to make his loan move to Southampton permanent, despite reported interest from the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham. The 26-year-old's September arrival from Atletico Madrid appeared quite the coup, especially as the season-long loan gave Saints the option to make the move permanent for just £6.8million. Alderweireld's impressive performances have made that fee look all the more paltry, but parent club Atletico could cancel that buy-out clause by paying Saints £1.5million . Toby Alderweireld (left) has revealed he would like to make his loan move to Southampton a permanent move . Alderweireld celebrates victory against Hull with fellow teammates Jose Fonte and Morgan Schneiderlin . That, along with growing interest in his services, muddies the water somewhat, but the Belgium international would be keen to stay at St Mary's. 'If I could choose then of course I would like to stay here,' Alderweireld, set to return against Chelsea after nine weeks out with a hamstring complaint, told the BBC. 'It's not up to me. Atletico could decide that they want me back. I have two years left there so it is difficult for me to answer the question. 'I'm enjoying the Premier League, I'm enjoying playing for Southampton - I love the club and I love the fans. I am enjoying it here and my mind and focus is on Southampton.' Alderweireld runs with the ball during the match between Belgium and Colombia at King Badouin stadium . +Kris Boyd has insisted that even Jose Mourinho himself would have struggled to change Rangers’ fortunes if he were in charge at Ibrox. After their dismal 1-1 draw at home to Livingston on Saturday, the Govan club languish in third position in the Championship table – 24 points behind runaway leaders Hearts – and face an uphill task if they are to secure promotion via the end-of-season play-offs. However, Boyd believes that with the club now on its third manager of a farcical season, the time has come for all those on the playing staff to give themselves a brutal reality check – before they end up costing yet another man his job. Manager Stuart McCall puts Rangers, third in the Championship, through their paces in training . Boyd said it would not matter if Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (pictured) was in charge at Ibrox . ‘We’re now on our third manager and it gets to the stage where you have to ask questions of the players,’ said Boyd, ahead of Rangers’ league meeting with Alloa on Tuesday night at Ibrox. ‘It doesn’t matter if you were to go and bring in Jose Mourinho – he would still have the same players to deal with. ‘Sometimes it can help when a new manager arrives and is looking at it from a different angle - a fresh eye. But, ultimately, it’s the same players going out on the pitch and if we’re being brutally honest, it’s us who need to get a grip. ‘We can sit and say we’ve got international players in the dressing room but, at the end of the day, we haven’t performed and two managers have lost their job because of that, so we need to start winning games of football. ‘It can’t be all the manager’s fault. That’s why we need to look ourselves in the mirror and ask if we’ve done enough. I can safely say that I don’t feel as if I have. And I’m willing to bet the majority - if not all the players - would say the same thing. Kris Boyd in action for Rangers in their 1-1 draw with Livingston on Saturday . ‘We have a period now until the end of the season where everyone on the playing staff needs to get a grip. You can blame all different aspects - but it’s only excuses. We haven’t performed on the pitch and that’s the bottom line.’ After admitting recently that his second spell at Ibrox had been a failure on a personal level, with only three league goals to his name, Boyd has certainly not tried to shy away from the grim reality surrounding the club. And he believes that due to their current malaise, the fear factor has now well and truly gone for any team visiting Ibrox. He added: ‘I’ve been in the situation myself when you turn up at Ibrox or Parkhead and you’re already beaten. They might have won 4-0 or 5-0 the week before and you look around you and think: “Oh no”. ‘But that’s not the case any more. Teams are coming with confidence and have seen that we’ve been weak. Previously, it was only European teams who didn’t change their game for Rangers - but teams now aren’t worrying about us. ‘Livingston came at the weekend and got the ball down and passed it crisply. They deserved their point. They might have lost five games previously, but they probably looked at us as being weak and tried to get in our faces.’ +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Chelsea's home clash with Southampton. Chelsea vs Southampton (Stamford Bridge) Team news . Chelsea . Jose Mourinho will resist wholesale changes for Chelsea's Premier League clash with Southampton on Sunday following the midweek Champions League exit. The Blues boss insists 'everyone wants to play' and has Nemanja Matic available for domestic duty after a two-match suspension was served prior to the European exit to Paris St Germain. John Obi Mikel (knee) is the only definite injury absentee for the contest. Provisional squad: Courtois, Cech, Ivanovic, Luis, Fabregas, Zouma, Ake, Ramires, Oscar, Hazard, Drogba, Remy, Costa, Matic, Willian, Cuadrado, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Blackman, Loftus-Cheek. Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic will return to domestic duty following a ban . Southampton . Toby Alderweireld is set to make his first appearance in nine weeks when Southampton take on Chelsea this weekend. The Belgium defender has been out since picking up a hamstring complaint at Manchester United on January 11 and after been an unused substitute last time out, is likely to start at Stamford Bridge. Jay Rodriguez (knee) and Emmanuel Mayuka (groin) remain absent, but Ronald Koeman has no fresh injury concerns. Provisional squad: Forster, K Davis, Gazzaniga, Clyne, Bertrand, Targett, Gardos, Yoshida, Alderweireld, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Reed, Elia, Tadic, Mane, Djuricic, S Davis, Long, Seager, Pelle . Toby Alderweireld (left) is set to return for Southampton following nine weeks out with injury . Key match facts (supplied by Opta) Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 Barclays Premier League games against Southampton (W6 D4 L1). Shane Long has scored in two of his three Premier League appearances at Stamford Bridge. Kick-off: Sunday (1.30pm) Odds (subject to change): . Chelsea 1/2 . Draw 3/1 . Southampton 6/1 . Referee: Mike Dean . Managers: Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) Ronald Koeman (Southampton . Chelsea are the only team in the four divisions of English football who have not lost a home match in the league this season. Chelsea are the only team in the Premier League to recover anything from a game where Southampton have taken the lead this season. Both sides scored from their only attempts on target in the 1-1 draw back in December. Eden Hazard has scored two Premier League goals against Southampton, both in the 45th minute. After winning 10 straight Premier League home matches, Chelsea have scored only once in each of their last three and drawn two of them (W1). Shane Long celebrates scoring for West Brom against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in August 2011 . The Blues have conceded just seven goals in their last 21 Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge, keeping 16 clean sheets in that run. Sadio Mané has scored in five of his last seven Premier League starts. Southampton are the only team not to concede a penalty in the Premier League this season. +He may only have spent a season and a half in Istanbul, but Didier Drogba showed he still has a soft spot for Galatasaray. The Chelsea striker took time out to pay a visit to his former team-mates at their training base in Turkey. Galatasaray shared a selection of images on Instagram of the 37-year-old forward, who was sporting a camouflage jacket, on his visit to the club. Didier Drogba paid a visit to Turkey to see some of his former Galatasaray team-mates . The 37-year-old Chelsea striker sported a camouflage jacket on his trip to Istanbul . Drogba with Galatasaray manager Hamza Hamzaoglu at the team's training headquarters . Drogba spent a season and a half at Galatasaray before rejoining Chelsea in the summer of 2014 . Drogba scored 20 goals in 53 matches for Galatasaray during his spell there and helped them to the Turkish league title in 2013. The Ivorian then rejoined Chelsea in the summer of 2014 having left the club two years earlier following their Champions League success. Drogba also took time out last October to meet his former team-mates when Galatasaray travelled to London for a Champions League tie against Arsenal at the Emirates. The 37-year-old has scored six times for Jose Mourinho's side this season in all competitions. After joining from Shanghai Shenhua in 2013, Drogba helped Galatasaray win the Turkish league title . Drogba has scored six goals for Chelsea this season since his return to the west London side . +A creepy video shows how a burglar manages to break into a man's house before helping himself to a number of electronic and personal items. The footage was captured by a New Zealand man who installed security cameras around his home after being broken into four times in two and a half years. David Hooper, 56, was at work at a local cinema in Whanganui on the country's North Island and was monitoring the live CCTV footage from his mobile phone when he noticed the signs of a break in. Mr Hooper reviewed the video, which shows the thief knock on his front door before walking around the side of the house to climb through a window he smashed open with a brick. Scroll down for video . David Hooper, 56, from Whanganui in New Zealand captured the moment a thief broke into his house . The thief stole a number of items and smashed the flat screen TV in an effort to yank it away from the wall . The burglar can then be seen rifling through the draws on a TV stand and filling up a washing basket with electronics and games. He then smashes Mr Hooper's flat screen TV in an effort to yank it away from the wall. The thief then makes his way into a second room to search through more drawers, before walking through the kitchen armed with Mr Hooper's guitar. The man walks out the front door with the guitar slung over his shoulder, carrying the basket of items. He pulls the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands to close the front door without leaving fingerprints. The break in occurred between 6.55pm and 7.20pm last Tuesday, but Mr Hooper did not notice his trashed home until 9pm. As he was the only person manning the cinema he could not leave until after 10.30pm. He installed security cameras into his home after being broken into four times in two and a half years . The burglar can be seen rifling through the draws and filling up a washing basket with electronics and games . 'When I saw it at nine o'clock I was pretty upset, it was not very pleasant at all,' Mr Hooper told Daily Mail Australia. 'Especially when I saw him breaking the TV - there was no need for that.' The man had stolen his PlayStation, seven games, a digital camera, a guitar, an e-cigarette and even meat from his freezer. Mr Hooper said there could be more items he doesn't yet know about. He estimates $15,000 worth of stuff has been stolen over the five break-ins. The security video was shared on his work's Facebook page and was viewed more than 27,000 times. The security video was shared on his work's Facebook page and was viewed more than 27,000 times . A woman who had purchased the items from the thief saw the video, recognised him and alerted police. They arrested him after finding his fingerprints at the scene. Mr Hooper said break-ins occurred all over Whanganui, and he believes he has been targeted so often because he lives by himself. 'I just live alone and when my car's not home, I'm not home,' he said. 'All I wanted was a nice quiet life and to live in peace… I'm a bit too scared to go home now.' Mr Hooper said he would love to sell his house but property prices in the area have recently taken a dive, and he would not consider renting it out after bad experiences in the past. 'When I did have it rented they absolutely trashed the house so it's put me off getting tenants,' he said. 'I'm sort of stuck.' +Ryan Seager has won the inaugural Barclays Under 21 Player of the Month award after impressing for Southampton in February. The 19-year-old made his debut for the senior team last month against Swansea, as well as scoring one and making one assist for the youth side, and has been chosen ahead of all the players in Division 1 and 2 (24 teams) based on his performance statistics. Seager also recently netted a hat-trick against Derby County in the Under 21 Premier League Cup, and is looking to follow in the footsteps of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse in making the step up on the South Coast. Sportsmail held an exclusive Q&A with Seager after he found out about his award. Southampton youngster Ryan Seager has been chosen as the inaugural Barclays U21 Player of the Month . What's your style of play? A poacher, getting in around the box, it's where I score most of my goals. Who do you model your game on? Michael Owen in his early days, and obviously with Southampton it's Matt Le Tissier. He was my biggest inspiration from early on as a Saints fan. Have you worked with the first team? In the last few months and when I made my debut I was training with them quite a lot, they've got near enough a whole first-team squad fit now so it's getting harder but I still train with them every now and again. It's a good experience. Young striker Seager says he models his game on Matt Le Tissier (left) as a Saints fan and Michael Owen . Do you speak to Ronald Koeman often? He gives me advice in training, as do Shane Long and Graziano Pelle, with my shooting and movement. What do you do to relax away from football? Hobbies? I'd love to say golf but I'm not very good at it! I just relax really, I like all sports but don't play too many. Last album you listened to? Probably The Wanted, someone like that. Last film you watched? Fury. I loved it - I love war films. Another youngster you'd tip to make it at Southampton? Jake Hesketh. Made his debut for the first team in December, we're a good combination on FIFA! I've got a career mode on the game with Southampton at the moment, only in my first season so don't know if I get any good yet. I bring myself off the bench though... The 19-year-old fights for the ball with Chelsea midfielder Isaiah Brown during a youth game . Seager says the best youth player he has ever played against is Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj . Best young player you've played against? Adnan Januzaj in Under 18's. We played them away from home and he was just tearing it up. It was before he made his United debut, but I knew he would make it. What would you be doing now if you weren't a footballer? I think about that all the time. I've always thought it would be nice to work in a supermarket. Don't ask me why. I've always found it interesting. Best advice you've been given? Rickie Lambert, last season when I trained with him, told me I don't always have to shoot with power, to finesse it more often, and since then I've scored most of my goals from that. I look back to that advice. Any advice for young players? Work hard. If you keep working, you never know! Seager says he might fancy working in a supermarket if he wasn't a footballer at Southampton . The award has been established to recognise the next generation of players coming through, coinciding with Barclays' own work to encourage the next generation of fans, which will see thousands of tickets and unique football experiences given away via the Barclays Spirit of the Game website. A winner will be selected every month for the rest of the season, as well as the Barclays Under 21 Premier League Player of the Season being unveiled in May. +There is no questioning Raheem Sterling's talent on the football pitch. His Dobby impression, on the other hand, is a little frightening. The Liverpool forward, who will have grown up in the same era as the Harry Potter series, provided a remarkable impression of Dobby the Elf, to the delight of one of his friends. It is certainly a contender for weirdest clip of the season, as the 20-year-old puts on a squeaky voice to imitate the character, voiced by Toby Jones in the JK Rowling adaptations. Raheem Sterling has had a busy season on the pitch, playing in 41 matches for Liverpool in all competitions . A bizarre video has emerged of Sterling impersonating Dobby from the Harry Potter films . In the video, Sterling squeaks: 'Harry Potter must not go to Hogwarts, or else he'll be in mortal danger,' before the camera pans to his friend, howling with laughter. 'Dobby must protect Harry,' Sterling concludes, before the video cuts out. On the pitch, Sterling has helped the Reds to fifth in the league, and is expected to start against Swansea on Monday, where they can close the gap on fourth to just two points. Sterling himself has made 41 appearances in a Liverpool shirt this season, scoring 10 goals. Dobby is a character from JK Rowling's Harry Potter films, voiced by actor Toby Jones . Sterling's last game came against Blackburn, and he is expected to start against Swansea on Monday . VIDEO Every game counts for Rodgers . +A tourist has videoed the exact moment a Japanese volcano erupts - including the rare phenomenon of volcanic lightning. Shot by filmmaker Marc Szeglat, 47, the footage shows the highly active Sakurajima volcano on the Japanese island of Kyushu. The volcano explodes into life as it sprays burning hot ash high into the air - followed by a deafening shockwave. Mar Szeglat managed to capture the rare occurrence of volcanic lighting at the Sakurajima volcano on the Japanese island of Kyushu . The volcano explodes into life as it sprays burning hot ash high into the air - followed by a deafening shockwave . The German videographer was able to capture the volcanic lightning, as well as an explosive shockwave which rippled through the sky. Sakurajima, translated as Cherry Island, has been erupting on a regular basis since 1955 and is a constant danger to the nearby city of Kagoshima, which has a population of over 600,000. In 1914, the then-dormant volcano emitted the largest eruption in Japan during the twentieth century. Marc explained what it was like to photograph such an active and dangerous volcano - which erupted between March 2 and 7 2015. The videographer described the experience as 'scary' when it was happening right in front of him . The German videographer found a perfect vantage point so as to catch the beautiful, yet ferocious moments, of eruption . Sakurajima, translated as Cherry Island, has been erupting on a regular basis since 1955 . He said: 'There was a delay of several seconds between seeing the eruption and the arrival of the shockwave and sound. 'This was very exciting as I didn't know how strong the shockwave would be. 'But when it happened I felt the breath of wind from the interior of the earth like an extremely brief squall. In 1914, the then-dormant volcano emitted the largest eruption in Japan during the twentieth century . Szeglat was able to capture the volcanic lightning, as well as an explosive shockwave which rippled through the sky . 'After that, my friend and I laughed loudly and we were very happy. 'The lightning is very rare and does not appear in a normal ash cloud but in clouds from pyroclastic flows - which are mixtures of rock fragments and hot gases. 'Pyroclastic flows are the most dangerous hazards on volcanoes and so I was a little bit afraid when a big one was happening in front of me - but in fact the whole experience was a great adventure.' +Paul Scholes has blasted Chelsea for their role in getting Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off in their Champions League last 16 second leg encounter on Wednesday night and has warned the Blues that referees will be wiser to their antics in future. Ibrahimovic was dismissed during the first half after challenging for a 50/50 ball with Chelsea midfielder Oscar. The tackle by the Paris Saint-Germain star left the Brazil international in heap as his team-mates clamoured to the referee for the 33-year-old to be sent off. Paul Scholes has criticised Chelsea's part in Zlatan Ibrahimovic red card against them on Wednesday night . Ibrahimovic's (right) challenge on Chelsea midfielder Oscar earned the PSG striker a red card . Ibrahimovic (centre) holds his hands up after the challenge as the Chelsea players begin their protests . Chelsea's players surround referee Bjorn Kuipers as he sends off Ibrahimovic (second right) in the first half . John Terry (centre) led the protests as he screamed at the referee following Ibrahimovic's first-half challenge . Blues striker Diego Costa makes a beeline for Ibrahimovic as the referee raises the red card . Ibrahimovic has since condemned Jose Mourinho's side as 'babies' and Scholes has sympathy for the striker. Writing in his column for the Independent, the former Manchester United midfielder believes Chelsea's pressuring of referees over decisions has been a recurring theme this season and the west London outfit need realise when they have gone too far. 'I could tell that he [Ibrahimovic] knew he was going off when he looked up and saw every single outfield Chelsea player around the referee telling him to get his red card out. Chelsea have been doing it all season – if it is not the players trying to referee the game, then Mourinho does it from the touchline,' Scholes wrote. 'I accept that at Manchester United, we could also pressurise the referee at times and the picture of Andy D’Urso being backed into a corner is often held up in evidence. But we realised that it had become too extreme and from that point there was much less of it. Chelsea would not be the first team to pressurise a referee but they have to know when they have gone too far. 'When Diego Costa is rushing from 60 yards away to get involved in the argument then that is a sign that things have got out of hand. Against PSG the tactic worked in getting Ibrahimovic dismissed, but it became so extreme that referees will be prepared for it in future. They will have it highlighted in their preparation and they won’t want to make the same mistake that Bjorn Kuipers made on Wednesday.' Former Manchester United midfielder Scholes believes referees will note Chelsea's antics in future now . United infamously hounded referee Andy D'Urso (left) after he awarded a penalty against them in 2000 . The referee (centre) is almost completely hidden from view as the Chelsea players make their case . Ibrahimovic called Chelsea 'babies' for their reaction to the challenge which led to his first-half dismissal . +Jonathan Martin has been claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers. Aday after his release from the San Francisco 49ers, the offensive tackle joins his third NFL franchise in three years. Martin was a second round pick for Miami in 2012 and was at the centre of the Dolphins bullying scandal. He was abused by team-mates Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey and left the franchise in October 2013. Jonathan Martin heads to Carolina after drawing a close to his one-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers . Martin joined San Francisco last year and played 15 games at right tackle. The 25-year-old joins Michael Oher, who came to Carolina in free agency after a year with Tennessee, and the returning Mike Remmers on a revamped offensive line. 'Our goal is to build the strongest roster possible and add competition at every position,' Carolina general manager Dave Gettleman said in a team release. "Jonathan brings quality experience to our offensive line, having started 32 games in his career at both tackle spots.'' Carolina also strengthened their receiving corps with the addition of Jarrett Boykin on a one-year deal. +Ronda Rousey has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC. The women's bantamweight champion has won all 11 mixed martial arts fights in her career, including five in the UFC. Rousey is next in action against Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in Rio on August 1. Ronda Rousey at 'Good Morning America' to promote the Entourage the movie and Furious 7 . Rousey during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon as she pretends to execute her signature armbar . 'I'm a UFC fighter,' Rousey said on ESPN's First Take. 'I just renegotiated. I have a lot of fights that I have in the UFC before I would be able to go do anything else.' Rousey also admitted she would love to take on a boxing world champion in the future but said a fight against Muhammad Ali's daughter and former champion Laila was unlikely. 'I think that would be amazing. I'm not even saying specifically [against Ali]. 'She's retired and has kids and has moved on with her life. I would think maybe someone closer to my weight that has a world title belt. 'I would love to try it, but I have a lot going on. I have fights. I have two movies coming out. I have a book coming out. My schedule is a little full.' Rousey needed just 14 seconds to beat Cat Zingano and retain her UFC bantamweight title . +Real Madrid defender Pepe has revealed he does not miss former boss Jose Mourinho and says he is much happier now that Carlo Ancelotti is in charge of the club. Mourinho managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013, winning the Copa del Rey in 2011 and La Liga in 2012, but his final months in Spain were marred by a series of high-profile fall outs with senior players, including Pepe. The outspoken centre-back told COPE: 'I don't miss Mourinho. It was a different era which is over.' Real Madrid defender Pepe (left) takes on Schalke's Matija Nastasic in the Champions League last 16 . Schalke striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar (centre) scores his side's fourth goal in their 4-3 win over Real Madrid . Jose Mourinho managed Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, but Pepe says he does not miss him . Current Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has faced criticism in recent weeks for the team's dip in form . Mourinho was replaced at the Santiago Bernabeu by Carlo Ancelotti, who guided Los Blancos to 'La Decima' - the club's 10th European Cup - last season after they beat city rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the final. However, with Madrid's recent dip in form - they have lost their last two games - the Italian's stock has fallen among the fans. But Pepe is adamant that Ancelotti is the right man for the job and in his opinion, better than Mourinho. 'Ancelotti is not too lenient with us. He has a very distinguished curriculum and he demands a lot from us. Our training sessions under Ancelotti are much more intensive than they were under Mourinho,' he said. 'I thank God that I've a coach like him, he's really helped me a lot. He tells me: 'Pepe, with your quality, you've got to anticipate play. You're fast and strong and you read the game well. You need to be focused'.' The 32-year-old also took time to defend captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for his performances. Despite a nervy display against Schalke in the Champions League, Pepe insisted that Casillas is the best players in the world in his position. 'Casillas is the best goalkeeper in the world right now. It's strange that someone like him gets whistled.' Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas (right) has come under fire for an unconvincing display against Schalke . Pepe is confident that Ancelotti can lead Real Madrid to an upturn in fortunes following the loss to Schalke . +Casey Stoney believes she is in the form of her life. Now all she has to do is convince England coach Mark Sampson before the women’s World Cup in Canada in June. The former England and GB captain has only played once for her country since Sampson took over from Hope Powell 15 months ago. Stoney, 32, is in the squad for the Cyprus Cup tournament, which starts on Wednesday with a match against Finland. Casey Stoney (centre, pictured in July 2013) is hoping to worm her way back into the England fold . The 32-year-old captained Great Britain during the 2012 Olympic Games in London . The central defender, who has 117 caps, was voted players' player of the year at Arsenal in the last Women's Super League season. She was left out of England's squad for the 3-0 friendly defeat by Germany at Wembley in November and was an unused substitute for the 1-0 defeat by the USA at MK Dons last month. England face four games in just over a week in the annual friendly tournament in Cyprus and Stoney told Fanbookz.com that she feels she merits a recall. ‘My actual form last season was my best since the Women's Super League started,’ she said. ‘When I go away with England I feel I'm competitive and working really hard, so that's all I can keep doing. I'm delighted to be in the England squad and if the opportunity comes, hopefully I can take it. ‘I've played 117 games for England and kept clean sheets against the best teams in the world, so I know that I can do it. It's just a matter of getting the opportunity to show it. Stoney has played just one game for her country under Mark Sampson, who replaced Hope Powell in 2013 . ‘This will be a good chance for the team to try different players and game plans but for me personally, with four matches in just over a week, this is an opportunity to play and show what I can still do.’ Steph Houghton, who succeeded Stoney as captain, and either Lucy Bronze or Laura Bassett have been selected in the centre of defence in recent games. Stoney points to her best fitness results over the lose season, since recovering from a hip injury. ‘You can never lose what you never had and I was never quick in the first place,’ added Stoney. ‘I continue to work hard on trying to read the game well, understanding what's likely to happen. Getting good detail on the opposition allows me to feel one step ahead.’ England play Australia and the Netherlands in their other group games before finishing up with a fourth friendly in Cyprus. At the World Cup in Canada they face France, Mexico and Colombia. +Police are continuing to make inquiries into an alleged biting incident involving Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie. The 24-year-old, who has been banned for biting before, was accused of sinking his teeth into the hand of Stevenage defender Ronnie Henry during Saturday's League Two fixture at the Lamex Stadium. The pair clashed near the touchline when Henry tried to wrestle the ball out of Labadie's arms after play had been stopped. Henry immediately appeared to signal to the nearby assistant referee that he had been bitten. Stevenage's Ronnie Henry (in the white) has accused Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie of biting him . The duo squared up after this clash on Saturday - and police are continuing to make inquiries . Boro manager Graham Westley revealed after the match that Henry, 31, had suffered 'a nasty injury' and had 'nearly lost his finger'. Dagenham have since said that Labadie denies the accusation. A Hertfordshire Police spokesperson said: 'Hertfordshire Constabulary is aware of an alleged incident that took place between two football players during the Dagenham vs Stevenage match at the Stevenage FC ground on Saturday, March 22. 'Police are making inquiries into the incident.' Labadie was fined £2,000 and banned for 10 games for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks while playing for Torquay in February 2014. Luis Suarez holds his teeth after biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Italy defender Chiellini shows off his bite marks left by Uruguay forward Suarez . In November 2010, Luis Suarez was handed a seven-match ban by the Dutch FA and a fine by his then-club Ajax for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal. Suarez then bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic - his second victim - and the FA charged the then-Liverpool striker with violent conduct. He received a 10-game ban and a fine from his club. Then, Suarez was found guilty of biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup. The Barcelona forward was banned from all 'football-related activities' for four months and received a nine international match suspension. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +A grandfather 'used like a football' by hooligans was today in a coma and fighting for life after a matchday pub brawl that police broke up using CS gas. Cambridge United supporter Simon Dobbin, 42, was found on the ground with serious head injuries following the fight involving about 15 people after his side’s match at Southend United in Essex. Football fans have already raised more than £5,000 towards transport and accommodation costs for Mr Dobbin’s family, who are travelling from Mildenhall, Suffolk, to visit him in Southend Hospital. Scroll down for video . Brain damage: Father-of-three Simon Dobbin (left), who is married to Nicole (right), 43, also suffered damaged hips, broken ribs and a broken nose in the attack - and he is now on a life-support machine . Before the trouble: Mr Dobbin (centre) with fellow Cambridge United fans at Roots Hall for the match against Southend United on Saturday. It was attended by 7,224 fans, including 791 supporters from Cambridge . His father-in-law Jim Faley told the Bury Free Press: ‘If Simon doesn’t come around soon, he may never wake up. We are all hoping - but in the back of our minds we are not 100 per cent sure.’ ‘Even if he comes out in a wheelchair, at least he will still be with us. There were 12 to 15 guys who came out of the pub, they were singing and dancing, and then they just jumped them. ‘The doctors aren’t holding out much hope. They [the attackers] just used him like a football. According to some people, if it wasn’t for his friend laying on top of him they would have killed him.’ Father-of-three Mr Dobbin, who is married to Nicole, 43, suffered brain damage, damaged hips, broken ribs and a broken nose in the attack - and he is now on a life-support machine. Terry Waye, manager of the Half Moon pub in Mildenhall, where Mr Dobbin is a regular, told the Cambridge News: ‘The last we have heard is that he may come off the ventilator on Wednesday. 'But he will still be in a coma and he may not pull through. If he does he may never walk again and has suffered brain damage. He is the most gentle man I know and very kind.' Scene: Mr Dobbin was found on the ground with serious head injuries following the fight involving about 15 people outside The Railway Tavern pub - next to Prittlewell train station, and a short walk from Roots Hall . Brawl: Police were called to the scene at about 7.20pm on Saturday, before arresting a 33-year-old man from Southend and a 23-year-old man from Westcliff on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm . Mr Dobbin's son Liam said on Facebook: ‘I can't explain how much we appreciate all the support. ‘My dad is a well-loved bloke who cares so much for everyone and it's nice to see when times get tough like this everyone pulls together and supports him. Thank you.’ The skirmish followed a League Two match between Southend and Cambridge at Roots Hall stadium, a short walk from The Railway Tavern pub - next to Prittlewell train station. Police were called to the scene at about 7.20pm on Saturday, before arresting a 33-year-old man from Southend and a 23-year-old man from Westcliff on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. The first was due to answer bail yesterday, while the latter was bailed to May 27. Witnesses reported seeing about 20 police cars and a helicopter on Saturday night - while one fan claimed to have escorted his father and wife out of the pub's back door when the fighting began. Dan Wilson, a Southend fan who lives near the pub and witnessed the scene from his home, told MailOnline: ‘We heard shouting coming from the pub, and saw about four guys coming out. ‘There were guys inside the pub trying to get out, and then the guys outside the pub started chucking a billboard outside through the door. All you could hear was glass being thrown. ‘Four guys started walking towards Prittlewell station down the hill and about 20 people ran across the road. Someone said “you've just hit my old man”. Then they've all gone into the pub. ‘I saw people running across the road - and two guys punched the window of the pub with their hand, before coppers dragged them away. It happened so quickly.’ Another supporter named Rayleigh Dan, writing on the Southend fans’ forum ShrimperZone, said on Saturday that he heard a window being broken before people in the pub rushed outside. He added: ‘The next thing I knew the police had cordoned off the pub and we weren't allowed to leave for about an hour. Following this they examined everyone thoroughly. ‘We had to give full details of name and address, what we had and hadn't saw - they we're scanning and filming us with some sort of camera. Confrontation: Fans also told of trouble at the Spread Eagle pub – next to the football ground – before the match, and a video showed supporters being moved along on the pavement outside . Tense scenes: Six Southend fans were issued with banning orders last season, compared to one from Cambridge, according to Home Office data, although both figures are relatively low compared to other clubs . ‘I'm not one for trouble so didn't recognise the device. It was horrible to experience and I hope anyone involved is caught and dealt with swiftly.’ A 47-year-old man from Cambridge was also arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, after the pub’s door was smashed. Earlier, fans told of trouble at the Spread Eagle pub – next to the football ground – before the match, and a video showed supporters being moved along on the pavement outside. The game - which was billed in advance by Southend as a 'Community Day' - finished 0-0 and was attended by 7,224 fans, including 791 supporters from Cambridge. Cambridge chairman Dave Doggett said: ‘The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Cambridge United are with Simon and his family and friends.’ And a Cambridge club statement said: ‘Simon Dobbin was walking to Prittlewell train station with his friend and a small group of fellow United fans after watching the rugby in a pub following the U's 0-0 draw at Southend on Saturday. Match: Southend United's Barry Corr beats Cambridge United's Richard Tait to the ball during the 0-0 draw . Location: The Railway Tavern (file image) is next to Prittlewell station, on the London Liverpool Street line . ‘The U's fans made the 500m walk to Prittlewell station but were attacked as they made their way down towards the platform. Simon remains in Southend University Hospital in a critical condition.’ A statement on the website raising funds for Mr Dobbin - which had already doubled its £2,500 goal by 9am today – said: ‘A loving gentle giant who is a father, husband, son, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, son-in-law, grandad and a top friend was brutally beaten and left in a coma fighting for his life. ‘He is suffering brain damage. We are asking for your support and donations - however much you can afford - to help towards costs of transport and accommodation and any other general financial needs of Simon, his wife and children. I want to thank you for your donations and support. Please send a prayer to Simon for a full recovery.’ Six Southend fans were issued with banning orders last season, compared to one from Cambridge, according to Home Office data, although both figures are relatively low compared to other clubs. +Ask Andy Murray about the most memorable victories in his career and quickly revealed are two aspects of his character — the modest and the contrarian. There is no mention of ending Britain’s Wimbledon men’s singles drought, nor the similar emulating of Fred Perry at the US Open, nor the flaying he gave Roger Federer on Centre Court to win the Olympic gold medal. Instead, he refers to a win over an obscure journeyman ranked No 110 in the world, and another at a now-defunct and largely-forgotten tournament in California. Andy Murray warms up for match against Kevin Anderson in Miami on Monday . The subject arises because he has the opportunity to win a 500th professional singles match on Tuesday, when he takes on South Africa’s world No 15 Kevin Anderson in the fourth round of the Miami Open. It comes around nearly 12 years after making his professional debut as a 15-year-old in Manchester. He began with a victory over Wesley Moodie, another South African. Moodie was only just outside the top 100 at the time, so it was a fair indication of his opponent’s outstanding promise. Murray does not mention that one, but recalls two of the matches that set him on his way, and most clearly the period when he was trying to establish himself on the main ATP Tour. ‘I remember certain wins, like the first one I had at Queen’s (at the then Stella Artois Championships in 2005) against Santiago Ventura,’ he says, referring to the then world No 110. ‘It might seem irrelevant now but at the time, for me, that was huge. It was big for my confidence, gave me a sense of belonging. I really remember those first few events on the tour, more than some of those in the last three or four years. Coach Amelie Mauresmo takes a photo of Murray during practice session . ‘I can remember the players I played against around then. I went to Newport (Rhode Island) after my first Wimbledon and then I played in Indianapolis and Cincinnati.’ By the end of that summer, not long after turning 18, he was already knocking on the door of the top 100 and had beaten three players inside the top 30. Early in 2006 comes the other match he picks out, the final of the indoor San Jose Open, where he beat former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. ‘That was a first ATP title for me and was really important,’ he says. ‘I was without a coach, only 18, and Lleyton was someone I loved watching growing up. To win 7-6 in the third set at that age against someone as good as him, with no coach there, privately meant a lot. ‘I didn’t really feel the pressure — it was, “Here I am, I’m 18 and playing an ex-No 1 in the world, a great player and nothing is expected”. ‘I played (Andy) Roddick in the semis and didn’t feel nervous at all. It definitely changes over the years, you start to feel the expectation but then as you get older it changes again as you start to deal with the expectation and learn how to handle it.’ Murray takes time out to signs autographs for fans in Miami on Monday . Interestingly, ask which win took the most out of him and he instead cites one of his 155 defeats, the near five-hour loss in the 2012 Australian Open semi-final to Novak Djokovic. The Serb subsequently managed probably the most talked about recovery in history, beating Rafael Nadal two days later in nearly six hours to win the title. ‘Against Novak in the Australian Open was the hardest match, I’ve no idea how he managed to recover and win the final. I literally couldn’t walk for four days. That was the match my body hurt the most after finishing. I was extremely sore, stiff, everything hurt.’ Murray is guaranteed to overtake Nadal in next week’s rankings after his defeat on Sunday by Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard heads to Monte Carlo to begin what is usually a triumphant roll through the European clay courts admitting he is lacking confidence and that he ‘needs to fix again’ the nerves that have affected him this season. The 28-year-old insisted there are no hidden physical issues behind his modest 15-5 record this year. Normally the mere feel of the dirt under his feet imbues Nadal with belief, and with Djokovic targeting Roland Garros above all else this year, he will need all of that. +If Roy of the Rovers made a comeback as a defender, he would be an all-action Brazilian with electric hair, have 6.5million Instagram followers and call them all ‘geezers’. The new comic book star would score a magnificent booming header against his former team, celebrate with a screaming knee slide, scrap with the evil baddie of the opposition (Diego Costa) and finish the struggle victorious, shaking hands with the ground staff before exiting for his next adventure. The problem for the script writers, if they were to copy the life and times of David Luiz, is that they would have no idea what David Luiz was going to do next, so what chance do the opposition – or his team-mates – have? David Luiz jumps for joy after his bullet header forced the game in to extra-time on Wednesday night . Luiz celebrates victory with team-mates Thiago Motta (right) and Maxwell at the final whistle . When you expect Luiz to be heading it clear, he’s chasing the glory, when you expect him to be chasing the glory, he appears from nowhere to head it clear. Losing 7-0 in a World Cup semi-final, he still thinks he can get a goal back. Maybe a second. Who knows? A hat-trick. On that occasion it finished 7-1 and the one-man reconnaissance mission broke down, leaving gaps behind him for the German team to exploit. Would it change his approach? Of course not. Even on Wednesday night, with Paris Saint-Germain drawing 2-2 at Chelsea with minutes remaining and set to go through with 10 men on away goals, he turned up on the right wing to collect the ball and retain possession. Luiz looks on in disgust as Germany celebrate one of their seven goals in last summer's World Cup semi-final . He’s a defender who sees defending as a part-time job. So concerned was Laurent Blanc, a World Cup-winning centre back with 97 caps, which suggests he knows a bit about defending, that he played Luiz in midfield in the first leg, with two centre backs behind him for cover. He was back in the back four for the second leg and, when it works, it works spectacularly. Who else could have got them through when their talisman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, had been sent off? Luiz could have been sent off too for his feuding with Costa, but instead he rose majestically in the land of the giants that is Chelsea’s penalty area to send a thunderball of a header into the roof of the net. The defender stumble backwards after one of many confrontations with Diego Costa on Wednesday night . To get ahead of John Terry, Gary Cahill or his marker Branislav Ivanovic takes great skill, movement and courage but to meet the ball with such ferocity… maybe there’s more to Luiz than his Sideshow Bob nickname and carefree style. Then came the celebration. Not just a former player quietly enjoying the moment against the club that sold him, but a full-pelt emotional surge of joy. He said he wouldn’t celebrate on his first return to Stamford Bridge, but who can blame him for loving the moment? It was a goal worth celebrating. Chelsea sold him because they thought the deal was too good to refuse and, presumably, because they thought Terry and Cahill could do the job better. Few can argue with that – Terry, especially, has been magnificent as a defender this season but can he hit a dipping, swerving free kick, Cristiano Ronaldo style, from more than 30 yards, as Luiz did on Wednesday night? Jose Mourinho has a word with Luiz on the touchline as PSG manager Laurent Blanc watches on . Luiz rises to beat Branislav Ivanovic to Thiago Motta's corner and head home PSG's equaliser . Not everyone is a Luiz fan – Jamie Redknapp wrote on this website that ‘whoever struck the deal to sell Luiz for £50m deserves a knighthood’. And, as Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel reported, Jose Mourinho thought Luiz was too much of an optimist as a defender. Samuel wrote: ‘Mourinho wanted miseries at the back. He wanted players who feared the roof was about to fall in, the move was going to break down, a counter attack was only a stray pass away. Luiz wasn’t like that. He roamed, he left gaps, he charged upfield and if that break went wrong he thought it wouldn’t matter. He didn’t check for danger, he was rarely alarmed. Luiz was too much of an optimist to defend properly.’ The optimist will make mistakes. He will raid upfield when he should be focussing on shutting the door, but he had a lot of fun at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night and he’s still in the Champions League. Luiz has a moment of reflection as PSG progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League . +New Rangers manager Stuart McCall has urged his players to pick themselves up after their recent woes as he targets promotion to the Scottish Premiership. Rangers have only won one of their last five Championship matches and currently sit in third position, 22 points behind leaders Hearts. And while an automatic promotion place looks to be beyond their reach, McCall is hoping to kick-start a run of results which will secure the Glasgow club a play-off place and help return confidence to the camp. Stuart McCall looks in good spirits as he takes Rangers training at Murray Park on Friday . McCall shows off his skills during the training session ahead of Saturday's home match against Livingston . Rangers players look dejected after a 1-1 draw with Queen of the South at Ibrox on Tuesday night . McCall told TalkSPORT: 'There is a good squad of players here but it’s down to them to start proving it and showing it. 'Confidence is low and everyone has just got to take a jersey and go out and play. The supporters have been outstanding as they always have been. They’ll back the players. 'Off the park, things have moved well with Rangers-minded people in charge now and we just need to get it right for the fans on the park. Former Rangers player McCall was unveiled as the new manager on Thursday . McCall (left) in action for Rangers during an Old Firm derby at Celtic Park in January 1998 . 'We’re just hoping one result breeds a bit of confidence, a bit of belief, and then we can kick on from there. 'It’s easy to talk a good game but we’ve got to start doing it on the park.' McCall's first match in charge is at Ibrox on Saturday against bottom-of-the-table Livingston. +Real Madrid will need to play with intensity for 90 minutes and not just the first half if they are to have a chance of beating Barcelona in Sunday's La Liga 'Clasico', according to Real coach Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti praised his side for their performance before the break in Sunday's 2-0 win at home to Levante but said he was concerned by the way his players relaxed and let the visitors off the hook in the second period. A Gareth Bale double, his first goals in 10 matches, had put Real in control by halftime and they appeared to be cruising to a big win but Levante pushed Real hard in the second half and had chances to get back into the game. Gareth Bale scored his first goals in 10 games to help Real Madrid to a 2-0 win over Levante on Sunday . Bale has received a lot of criticism, but silenced his doubters with a La Liga double at the Bernabeu . It was not the dominant performance Real needed to silence their critics after three matches without a win but at least meant they will only be a point behind Barca when they run out at the Nou Camp. 'The whole team showed more desire and focus and they all understood what they had to do,' Ancelotti told a news conference. 'We did that in one part of the match and on Sunday we need to do that for the whole match,' added the Italian. Both goals were scored in the first half, and Carlo Ancelotti says they must have 90 minutes of intensity . Real Madrid travel to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona in their next match; a potentially title-deciding game . 'We played with confidence in the first half, the second worries me a bit. 'We were more relaxed and played a more horizontal game. We lacked verticality.' Bale, in particular, looked like he had a point to prove against Levante after he was one of the players targeted with whistles by Real fans upset with the team's recent poor form. Ancelotti said Bale's resurgence may have something to do with the return to action of midfielder Luka Modric, who he played with at Tottenham Hotspur, after a four-month injury layoff. Barcelona have been in brilliant form and are now top of La Liga after winning at the weekend . Real Madrid have slipped behind Barcelona to second in La Liga, and need to win to regain first position . 'Bale looked more motivated and more hungry,' Ancelotti said. 'The presence of Modric offers more depth for Bale to link up with his team mates. 'They know each other well, they played together at Tottenham, and there's no doubt that Bale is more comfortable with Modric on the pitch.' Real have the rest of the week to prepare for Sunday's showdown at Barca, who take a 2-1 lead into their Champions League last 16, second leg at home to Manchester City on Wednesday. +The French Press greeted Paris Saint Germain's extraordinary victory over Chelsea with euphoric acclaim on Thursday morning, lauding Laurent Blanc's men as 'heroes' and delivering a withering assessment of the 'cynicism' of Jose Mourinho's team. L'Equipe's match report proclaimed the dramatic 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge as a 'magnificent, incredible, heroic night…' and adding that 'the performance of PSG should take pride of place among the pantheon of the Parisian club's most glorious nights, awakening memories of magical victories against Real Madrid in 1993 and Barcelona in 1995'. For Chelsea, the assessment was damning. The French media believe that Mourinho was responsible for the red card delivered to Zlatan Ibrahmovic after only 31 minutes for a challenge on Oscar. Chelsea have been broadly criticised as nine of their players surrounded the referee in the immediate aftermath of the incident. L'Equipe pays respect to PSG heroes but were less enthusiastic about the performance of Diego Costa (right) PSG captain Thiago Silva (right) scores the decisive goal in extra time to send French side through . Silva celebrates before claiming that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho 'lacked respect' before the game . CLICK HERE to read how the drama unfolded at Stamford Bridge . L'Equipe write: 'It was an incandescent minute, which saw Mourinho benefit from all that he has grown to embody through his years of experience on the European scene…he flaps his arms, harangues, gesturing frantically in the direction of the referee Kuipers'. Chelsea's lethargic showing was panned by L'Equipe in the ratings, with the respected French daily awarding only 3/10 to Branislav Ivanovic, Oscar and Diego Costa. Only Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois were awarded marks higher than 5/10, with L'Equipe handing sixes to the pair. Chelsea stars Oscar (left) and Branislav Ivanovic (right) were also given miserly ratings by the French media . French media claim that Jose Mourinho was responsible for getting Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) sent off . Nine Chelsea players surrounded the referee as the Swedish talisman received his marching orders . The Spanish forward Costa is the centrepiece of the spread, poetically described as a 'demon without wonder'. The newspaper continues: 'Diego Costa wears within him a natural anger which always leaves him on a knife-edge. By looking to wind-up opponents, by constantly confronting them, sometimes head-to-head, he creates an electricity and we await the spark. Last night, it never arrived. As his centre forward, he has been provoked a lot by Mourinho but now he has forgotten to play.' The Portuguese manager's side were criticised for being cynical in the game at Stamford Bridge . Former Chelsea defender David Luiz celebrates wildly after bringing PSG back into the game in normal time . PSG were viewed rather more generously, and their valiant performances were hailed in the match ratings, with the returning David Luiz awarded a 9/10, and L'Equipe described him as the 'perfect example…demonstrating that he can remain concentrated defensively.' Marco Verratti, the brilliant Italian technician, received an 8/10, praised for 'setting the tempo of the match' and his 'huge impact' on the game. Ibrahimovic, harshly sent off after only half an hour, was not given a mark while Edinson Cavani, who missed a guilt-edged chance in the second half, was handed a 4. Pint-sized playmaker Marco Verratti (left) pulled the strings fro PSG from midfield . +For Stuart McCall, the hope is that the sleepless nights that preceded his exit from Motherwell can be replaced by a sweet dream. Visualising the joy of completing the journey back to the top flight is something he wants all now under his command at Rangers to do. The power of positive thinking will be deployed in the fight for promotion McCall took on Thursday evening. The 50-year-old stepped down from his post at Fir Park in November after admitting much soul-searching in a bid to halt a form slump. New Rangers manager Stuart McCall raises the club scarf after being unveiled on Thursday afternoon . The new Rangers boss takes his first training session at Murray Park on Thursday afternoon . His was surely a classic case of becoming a victim of your own success. Hindsight only makes the prior back-to-back second places finishes he attained on a meagre budget look all the more incredible. Revitalised, refreshed and fully motivated, the lure of resuming his managerial career with a return to Ibrox was simply too great to resist. McCall’s current deal only runs to the end of the season but if his infectious enthusiasm can transform an underachieving, down-in-the mouth squad into play-off victors then his claim for a longer stay will be extremely difficult to ignore. He won six titles and five cups in seven years as a midfielder with Walter Smith’s all-conquering side of the 1990s, but reckons taking Rangers up this season might well be the greatest achievement of his footballing life. ‘It would have to be up there and I have been quite fortunate in my time,’ he mused. ‘Yeah, I suppose it would be. ‘There might still be sleepless nights but it is something to dream about. I want the lads to have a focus about that. Picture yourself running around Ibrox having won promotion. The former Motherwell manager has taken charge of the Ibrox club for the rest of the season . The former Bradford player faces the press as he is unveiled on Thursday . ‘The lads who have been here have done it for two years. Obviously the circumstances were quite different. ‘I would think at this moment in time - and I am not putting the boot into the players because they know this themselves - anyone who has watched Rangers for the last three or four months would say they would struggle. ‘But there are enough good players in the squad I saw as I looked around in our meeting today. ‘They wouldn’t be at Rangers if they weren’t good players. I saw flashes of it today in training. Go and express yourself. All of the players who have come from all these different clubs, I would have signed most of them. ‘It hasn’t sunk in and it won’t sink in for a while. But I’m going to make the most of it.’ McCall believes his new charges still have what it takes and, clearly, he wouldn’t have been getting to grips with a new office in Murray Park if he didn’ t think he could work a little magic alongside trusted assistant Kenny Black. ‘When I got the opportunity, I thought about the whole thing last night,’ said McCall, reflecting on the whirlwind of events that led to him replacing caretaker manager Kenny McDowall, who has made an amicable exit. ‘In an ideal world you will come in for pre-season and have four-six weeks to look at players, try different systems, and look at strengths and weaknesses. That’s obviously not going to happen and I will have to hit the ground running. ‘But just being out on the training ground again gave me a buzz and I’m relishing it. The results have got to be right, of course. ‘There have only been 13 managers in about 123 years so for me to be given the opportunity is beyond belief. ‘I got a nice text from my daughter pointing out that I had played and managed Bradford. I have played for Scotland and worked on the management team and now I’m managing Rangers having played for them. ‘I want to make it a success. I’m not an over-confident person. I know it will be a struggle and I will beat myself up every day but I will do my best.’ Rangers announced that caretaker manager Kenny McDowall has left the club ahead of a new appointmnet . McCall (centre right) celebrates the 1992 SPL during his Rangers playing days with the Ibrox club . He inherits a squad where a dozen first-team players are coming to the end of their contracts but insists that should only add to the shared motivation to stick around a while longer. ‘This club might not know until May 30 what league they are going to be playing in next season. ‘So regardless of who is manager, I don’t think contracts are going to be handed out at this moment in time. ‘I’m sure Hearts will be handing out contracts to a lot of players, because they know they are going to be in the Premiership next season and they deserve to. ‘So the message to the lads out of contract here is “go and and earn yourself one”. They can still turn it around. ‘If they play well and we do well as a team, is there a possibility I might be here next season? Yes, it’s a possibility. But it’s down to themselves if they are here. It’s still in their hands.’ McCall will open his tenure with tomorrow’s home game against Livingston as he seeks to eat into the five-point lead Hibernian currently have in second place. What, though, if Rangers can battle through to the play-off final and have to meet his old love Motherwell to complete the job? ‘It would make me sick,’ he grimaced. ‘It would. But I honestly hope – and believe – they won’t be in the bottom two. ‘I’ve had a lot of texts from the Motherwell lads. I think the signings of McDonald and Pearson coming back will really help them and I think there is enough there. ‘There is no guarantee we are going to be in there but that is the aim. I want to be playing that 11th team at the end of the season. I just hope it’s not Motherwell and I’m confident they are good enough to get out of it.’ McCall will take a sabbatical from his role in Gordon Strachan’s backroom staff for the matches against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar later this month as he focuses on his short-term challenge. The future beyond that remains unclear – with a longer appointment at Ibrox almost certainly meaning his exit from the national set-up - but he insisted the former Celtic manager had been a source of sage advice. ‘I didn’t make any decision until I spoke to Gordon Strachan,’ he added. ‘I spoke to him about 6.30pm the other night. He had just come off the golf course in Spain and he said: “I take it it’s about the Rangers job?” ‘He was fantastic. I won’t go into what he said, but his advice was terrific. He has really helped since I have been working with Scotland. I didn’t know him until he offered me the post out of the blue. ‘I won’t be involved in the Northern Ireland and Gibraltar games but who knows what might happen in the future.’ +Jerome Sinclair produced a match-winning performance for Liverpool's under 21s on Monday night as they defeated Chelsea 2-0, winning a penalty and scoring an eye-catching individual goal. And his classy display drew high praise from an Anfield legend afterwards. Jamie Carragher, who was summarising the match for Sky Sports, was very impressed by the teenager's abilities. Liverpool's teenage striker Jerome Sinclair chases the ball in a UEFA Youth League match with Real Madrid . Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, working as a pundit on Sky Sports, praised Sinclair's performance . Talking about Sinclair's second-half strike, his 22nd of the season, Carragher said: 'It was an outstanding finish. 'He got the penalty [converted by Harry Wilson] and was maybe fortunate in the first-half but there he left them for dead. 'Centre-backs don't like being put in that position out wide. He has pace and composure on his weak foot. ' But who is the hotshot winning such high-profile admirers? Sportsmail has everything you need to know. Sinclair breaks beyond the Chelsea defender Fankaty Dabo during Monday night's under 21 match in Chester . Sinclair slams home Liverpool's second goal in the 2-0 win over Chelsea on Monday night . Name: Jerome Sinclair . Age: 18 . Club: Liverpool . Position: Striker . Carragher certainly isn't the first pundit to notice the spectacular season Jerome Sinclair is having in Liverpool's academy teams. Across the under 18, under 19 and under 21 age groups, the England youth international has found the net 22 times this campaign. Chelsea, the defending champions in the under 21 league, were hoping to leapfrog a cluster of clubs and claim top spot as they headed to the Deva Stadium in Chester on Monday night. But Sinclair and Liverpool had other ideas. After just eight minutes, Sinclair used his abundant pace to get in behind the Blues defence and was wrestled to the ground by Fikayo Tomori. Harry Wilson, another highly-rated player, converted the spot-kick. Sinclair's unpredictable movement had been a headache all night and, shortly after half-time, he again burst past Tomori and finished high into the net from an acute angle. Sinclair gets away from the Chelsea back line during Liverpool's 2-0 win on Monday night . Jerome Sinclair scored twice as Liverpool's under 19s beat Ludogorets Razgrad in the UEFA Youth League . It was the assured finish of a player in the best form of his life and someone well on the way to achieving his obvious potential. This was just one example of the many types of goal Sinclair is capable of and a small glimpse into the buzz around a 18-year-old coaches at Anfield believe can become the next Raheem Sterling. Sinclair already holds the distinction of being the youngest player to turn out for Liverpool, making his senior debut with a nine-minute cameo in a League Cup tie at West Brom in september 2012. He was a tender 16 years and six days old. Although that remains Sinclair's one and only senior outing, he has been making great strides at youth team and under 21 level. Born in Birmingham in September 1996, Sinclair was a member of the West Brom academy between the ages of 10 and 14 before being spotted by former Liverpool club scout Stuart Webber. Sinclair gets beyond Manchester United's Joe Riley in an under 18 Premier League match last season . He spent the 2011-2012 campaign mainly with the under 16 side but made a handful of appearances for the under 18 team towards the end. His coach Mike Marsh was impressed by his talent and a 15-year-old Sinclair was even invited to rub shoulders with the likes of Carragher and Steven Gerrard at Melwood, something he later described as a 'great learning curve.' It wasn't long before Sinclair found his scoring boots, with a prolific pre-season in 2012 leading to a call up into the squad Rodolfo Borrell was about to lead into the NextGen Series. Sinclair impressed in the first group match away to Inter Milan, winning a penalty that Krisztian Adorjan converted and going close himself on a number of occasions. Liverpool were narrowly beaten 3-2 in that game but went on to advance from the group, Sinclair scoring his first goal in continental competition in a 4-1 win over Rosenborg. Sinclair is challenged by Alex Davey of Chelsea in a FA Youth Cup semi-final in April 2013 . These appearances came either side of that first team run-out at The Hawthorns, a moment Sinclair described as a 'dream come true' in a later interview. But things have really taken off for Sinclair this season, with six goals in the group phase of the under 19 UEFA Youth League amongst his haul. The youngster has credited another club legend, Robbie Fowler, as a massive influence on his development with his coaching sessions at the club's Melwood training ground. Sinclair told the Liverpool Echo last week: 'Robbie is a legend at this club so to get a few helpful tips from him and some advice is brilliant for me. Sinclair takes on Ro-Shaun Williams during an under 18 match with Manchester United this season . 'This is a guy who has been there and done it and played at the pinnacle of the game. It's fantastic for me to get the chance to work with him and it can only improve my game. 'He has given me a few little tips on my first touch, and worked with me on different types of finishing. He is always there to help me in any way he can.' Internationally, Sinclair has represented England at under 16 and under 17 level. His debut came in the Victory Shield in October 2011, when Wales were beaten 4-0. His first goals for the Three Lions came at the 2012 Montaigu Tournament in France, helping to secure wins against the hosts and also Morocco. Sinclair breaks through the Italy defence during an under 17s international in Burton back in 2012 . As shown of late, Sinclair is already a good finisher and has a knack of getting into the right place at the right time to gobble up loose balls. He seems strong on both feet when in and around the penalty area and has good placement. At 5ft 8in, Sinclair won't win a great deal in their air but he has tricky feet and good acceleration too, so he fits in with the fluid passing game the Liverpool academy try to foster. And the signs look promising that Sinclair will be the next bright youngster to come through Liverpool's academy ranks. +Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho 'lacked respect' for Paris Saint Germain ahead of their Champions League last 16 showdown, according to the French side's captain and matchwinner Thiago Silva. The Blues were eliminated from the competition on Wednesday night after a 2-2 extra-time draw at Stamford Bridge sent the Ligue 1 side through to the quarter finals on away goals - with Silva scoring the decisive header after conceding a penalty earlier which had given Chelsea the lead. Back in December, Mourinho had claimed that the French champions were the side he would most like to meet since they were close to home. PSG captain Thiago Silva celebrates after eliminating Chelsea to reach Champions League quarter-finals . Silva scored the decisive goal with an extra time header that looped over Blues keeper Thibaut Courtois . Jose Mourinho 'disrespected' the Ligue 1 side by claiming they were the team he would most like to meet . CLICK HERE to read how the drama unfolded at Stamford Bridge . Mourinho said in December: 'We don't have much choice, there are only five possibilities, but to make it easy for everybody, I would say Paris Saint-Germain. 'It's easy for us to travel, easy for the fans to travel and they won't have to spend a lot of money to go there. They are a very good team and I would prefer a really good team, which will motivate the boys. So, if I could choose, even though I can't, I would say Paris.' Former Chelsea defender David Luiz celebrates wildly after bringing PSG back into the game in normal time . Chelsea players look shell shocked as they trudge off the field at the end of the game at Stamford Bridge . This riled the Brazil defender who believes Mourinho should have shown more dignity, although he cited last year's defeat, when Demba Ba scored late to send his side out at the quarter final stage of the competition, as the source of motivation. 'It wasn't revenge, but they really lacked respect for us, particularly Mourinho, because he said he wanted to play PSG because it was close and that it was easy for their supporters to travel there,' the Brazil international is cited as saying by RMC. 'But I don't think our display was because of that, it was because of last year.' Demba Ba's late goal sent PSG crashing out of the quarter finals of the competition last year . +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Leicester City's home clash with Hull City... Leicester City vs Hull City (King Power Stadium) Team news . Leicester City . Kasper Schmeichel may make his return for Leicester after four months out with a broken foot. The goalkeeper has been in full training and is now fit enough for first-team action ahead of the visit of Hull, and boss Nigel Pearson must choose between him, Mark Schwarzer and Ben Hamer. Dean Hammond (calf) and Anthony Knockaert (personal reasons) are out for Pearson's side, though, with the Foxes bottom of the Barclays Premier League. Provisional squad: Schmeichel, Schwarzer, Hamer, Moore, Konchesky, De Laet, Simpson, Upson, Wasilewski, Morgan, Schlupp, Mahrez, Drinkwater, James, King, Cambiasso, Albrighton, Vardy, Nugent, Ulloa, Kramaric. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel may make his return for Leicester after four months out with a broken foot . Hull City . Mohamed Diame, Liam Rosenior and James Chester are close to first-team returns but will not be fit for Saturday's trip to fellow strugglers Leicester. Rosenior is back in training and could be joined by Diame and Chester next week, though none are ready to take on the Foxes. Robbie Brady (calf) remains sidelined and Robert Snodgrass (knee) is out for the season. Provisional squad: McGregor, Harper, Davies, Dawson, McShane, Robertson, Bruce, Elmohamady, Livermore, Meyler, Quinn, Huddlestone, Jelavic, Hernandez, Aluko, Ramirez, N'Doye. Hull City midfielder Mohamed Diame is closing in on a first-team return for Steve Bruce's side . Key match stats (supplied by Opta) Kick-off: Saturday (3pm) Odds (subject to change): . Leicester City 6/5 . Draw 11/5 . Hull City 5/2 . Referee: Jonathan Moss . Managers: Nigel Pearson (Leicester City), Steve Bruce (Hull City) Leicester City have lost just one of their last seven league meetings with Hull City (W4 D2 L1). Steve Bruce’s side have won just one of their last 13 Premier League away matches (W1 D5 L7). Both sides were shown a red card in the closing stages of the reverse fixture at the KC Stadium back in December, which was the first ever meeting between Leicester and Hull in the top flight. There have in fact been five red cards in the last six league meetings between the two teams. The last time this exact fixture was played was in the Championship in September 2012 and David Nugent netted a hat-trick in a 3-1 win for the Foxes. Dame N'Doye has scored in all three of his Premier League starts for Hull City . The Tigers have failed to score in seven of their last 10 Premier League matches on the road. Leicester City have won just three of their last 25 Premier League home matches (W3 D12 L10), losing six of the last eight (W1 D1 L6). Nigel Pearson’s side have scored just three goals in their last eight Premier League games at King Power Stadium. Dame N'Doye has scored in all three of his Premier League starts for Hull City. Hull City have conceded the most goals from outside the penalty area this season (11). +The evergreen Eidur Gudjohnsen opened the scoring and Birkir Bjarnason netted twice as Iceland romped to a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan to join Czech Republic at the top of Euro 2016 Group A qualifying on Saturday. The Czechs, however, can reclaim outright first place by beating Latvia later in the day. Bolton Wanderers forward Gudjohnsen, back in the side for the first time since going back on his November 2013 decision to retire from international football, gave Iceland the lead in the 20th minute. Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen (left) jumps for the ball with Kazakhstan's Yuri Logvinenko (right) Iceland's Birkir Bjarnason (left) vies for the ball with Kazakhstan's Ilia Vorotnikov (right) on Saturday . The former Barcelona and Chelsea marksman received a pass from Johann Gudmundsson and the 36-year-old slid the ball into the corner of the net to notch his 25th goal for his country and his first since 2009. Bjarnason headed the second from a cross by Swansea City's Gylfi Sigurdsson 12 minutes later and the same player then completed the scoring in stoppage time when his shot went in after taking a big deflection. Iceland now have 12 points from five games while Kazakhstan are rooted to the bottom of the group with one. Kazakhstan's forward Daurenbek Tazhimbetov (left) vies for the ball with Iceland's Birkir SÊvarsson (right) Iceland's Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (left) challenges Kazakhstan's Askhat Tagybergen (right) on Saturday . +Stuart McCall admits taking on the challenge of steering Rangers to Premiership promotion was a gamble he couldn’t refuse as he bids to earn a longer stay as Ibrox boss. The 50-year-old was unveiled on Thursday as manager until the end of the current season – following the exit of caretaker Kenny McDowall - and hasn’t received any promises about what could lie beyond that point. However, the former Rangers midfielder insists he didn’t think twice about returning to the club where he won six league titles in seven years during the 1990s. New Rangers manager Stuart McCall raises the club scarf after being unveiled on Thursday afternoon . McCall, 50, will take charge of the club he used to play for until the end of the season . The new Rangers boss takes his first training session at Murray Park on Thursday afternoon . McCall views it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is focused on revitalising a play-off push that could convince the new Rangers board he is the man for the future. ‘I know what the expectation levels are at this club,’ he said. ‘It’s a gamble, it’s a massive challenge but it’s an opportunity I never thought I’d get and I had to take it. ‘It’s an honour and a privilege to be asked to come and help out at this club until the end of the season. ‘People have been texting me good luck and asking me if I know what I’m doing. But it’s a wonderful opportunity for me.’ McCall addressed the players and conducted an afternoon training session at Murray Park after cancelling their scheduled day off. He spoke with director John Gilligan and interim chairman Paul Murray to reach an agreement on Wednesday but confirmed no guarantees were given beyond the 11 remaining games of the regular season. The former Motherwell manager has taken charge of the Ibrox club for the rest of the season . The former Bradford player faces the press as he is unveiled on Thursday . McCall said the chance to manage Rangers for just 11 guaranteed games was a 'wonderful opportunity' ‘There’s nothing concrete,’ said the former Motherwell boss, who will again be assisted by Kenny Black. ‘My question to the board was: “What do you see as success?” ‘I don’t want to do as well as I can, turn it around, and then see others coming in. ‘Progress will obviously be an upturn in results and everyone will say success is gaining promotion to the Premiership. But you could get to the second leg of the play-off final, see your goalkeeper sent off and lose on penalty kicks. ‘It can be a thin line between whether you go up or not. We’ve got to improve our performance and it’s about self-belief and regaining confidence. There are no guarantees either way if we go up or have to stay down. ‘I want to make it a success. I’m not an over-confident person. I know it will be a struggle but I will do my best.’ Rangers announced that caretaker manager Kenny McDowall has left the club ahead of a new appointmnet . McCall (centre right) celebrates the 1992 SPL during his Rangers playing days with the Ibrox club . McCall also confirmed he would not have taken the job had Dave King and his allies not attained boardroom power. ‘I get paid to try and get the best out of a group of players,’ he added. ‘There is no magic formula or a pill you can give them for confidence. It’s about trying to restore self-belief. A couple of results can change things. ‘The supporters are there, willing them to do well. They don’t want to come and boo. The club has had a kicking, but the team have had two promotions in the past two seasons and there is still an opportunity to get another one this year.’ McCall spoke at length with McDowall on Thursday morning, before the latter’s amicable departure was then confirmed later in the day. McDowall was a reluctant leader at Rangers and was boss for 10 games, winning just three of those . Stuart McCall (left), who was Scotland assistant under Gordon Strachan, has taken charge at Ibrox . McDowall became caretaker manager after Ally McCoist was placed on garden leave by the old regime just before Christmas. He was, however, always a reluctant conscript to the role and had handed in his own notice in January. ‘It was an honour and privilege to work for Rangers Football Club and I will leave with so many positive memories,’ said McDowall, who originally arrived at Ibrox as first-team coach in 2007. ‘I have worked with so many talented people since I joined and I will forever be in Walter Smith’s debt for bringing me to Rangers. ‘Working with Walter, Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant, Jim Stewart and all the backroom staff plus the staff at Ibrox and Murray Park was a pleasure and I wish the club well for the future. ‘I was delighted to play a part in the club’s history and I wish the supporters and new management team all the very best.’ +Comedian and prankster Howie Mandel became the butt of a joke when his house was TP'd with more than 4,000 rolls of toilet paper. Fellow prankster Roman Atwood brought the toilet paper and friends to Mandel's Californian mansion as the former Deal or No Deal host was flying home from New York. They unloaded the truck full of materials and Atwood and friends - along with Mandel's son - covered the house end to end. Scroll down for video . Prankster Roman Atwood visited former Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel's house while he was away and TP'd it with more than 4,000 rolls of toilet paper . Atwood (pictured) received help from friends and Mandel's family to pull off the ambitious prank and cover the Californian home . YouTube.com . 'My dad just landed and I sent my mom to stall him at the airport,' Mandel's son Alex Mandel told Atwood. Thirty minutes later, Mandel, who pranked people in his TV show Howie Do It, pulled up to the house, shocked to see it covered in toilet paper. 'Oh my God! How do you get into a gated community? Are you f******* kidding me? What is this?' he said as he walked up to the house. Atwood and his friends had enough toilet paper to fill an entire U-Haul truck. They unpacked it all and lined the house before throwing it on to the roof . With toilet paper ready and lined up with the house, Atwood, friends and Mandel's family took turns throwing rolls . When Mandel (pictured) arrived home, however, he did not seem pleased with the mess. At first he was shocked anyone could get into his gated community . Atwood even wrote a special message with the toilet paper - 'Smile More' - and Mandel eventually found humor in the prank. At the end of the video Mandel can be seen picking up paper from around the driveway, and Atwood jokes that he has to leave. 'It's so weird. I was going to run out to get toilet paper. Give me a key to the door, I have to go to the bathroom. I really have to go, it's not a joke. I'll take some with me, it's crazy!' Mandel said in a behind-the-scenes video. But by the end of the prank when Atwood reveals himself, Mandel laughed and embraced the toilet paper mess . +Damon Hill fears McLaren will experience a painful start to the upcoming Formula One campaign. The British team arrive in Melbourne for this week's curtain raiser off the back of a troubled winter. Powered by Honda engines for the first time in more than two decades, they managed fewer laps than any other team during pre-season testing. Indeed favourites Mercedes, completed almost 1,000 more laps than McLaren, who were plagued by reliability issues, at the three tests in Jerez and Barcelona. Damon Hill (right) is predicting a miserable start to the Formula 1 season for McLaren . Jenson Button's partnership with Fernando Alonso will be delayed from forming after Alonso's crash . Alonso sustained concussion in a crash and has been ruled out of the first race of the season . 'There is going to be pain, lots of pain,' Hill, the 1996 world champion, gloomily predicted. 'The McLaren-Honda thing has to work at some point, but Formula One is so difficult now. There is so much technology and you are taking on so many strong teams. 'I expect a modest beginning, but from whatever they start at you want to see a trajectory which is pushing to regular top sixes and a podium at the end of the season.' McLaren and Honda forged one of the sport's most successful partnerships as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost delivered four consecutive drivers' and constructors' championships between 1998 and 1991. And their return to the grid this season was expected to bring a similar change in fortune for the British team who haven't tasted victory at a single race in two lacklustre years. 'Only winning is good enough for McLaren,' added Hill. 'But if they end the season challenging for podiums then they have made a massive step forward. Hill believes it would be a step forward for McLaren if they challenge for podiums at the end of the season . Button pictured driving the McLaren in winter testing in Catalunya ahead of the start of the season . Kevin Magnussen will compete in place of Alonso for the season opener in Australia . 'They can't be saying they only need to be in the top 10 because that is not good enough for a team like McLaren.' Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso form a new-look partnership at the Woking outfit this season after the Spaniard signed from Ferrari and Button was retained for a fifth campaign. But Alonso will be absent from the season opener in Melbourne after suffering concussion during a high-speed crash at the final winter test in Jerez. He will be replaced by Kevin Magnussen. Sky Sports F1® is the only place fans can watch all 20 Grand Prix weekends live across TV, Sky Go and NOW TV . +Oakham Under 15s centre Tyrese Johnson-Fisher impressed with an amazing display of finishing, scoring four tries against Bishop Wordsworth's School to help his side reach their first NatWest Schools Cup final in 10 years. Johnson-Fisher is the latest in a long line of rugby stars to emerge from the independent school in Rutland, which also educated Rob Cook, Tom Croft, Ron Jacobs, Lewis Moody and Matt Smith. The teenager was effectively untouchable as he floated effortlessly between the flailing Bishop Wordsworth's challenges, feinting one way before turning another with blistering pace. Tyrese Johnson-Fisher bursts to score the first of his four tries against  Bishop Wordsworth's School . The win over Bishop Wordsworth's School sees Oakham reach the NatWest Schools Cup final . Johnson-Fisher's impressive display has seen the youngster tipped to play for England in the future . Johnson-Fisher is also a decorated youth sprinter and has run 100m in 10.91 seconds . Clips of Johnson-Fisher's dazzling performance have gone viral and won him plenty of admirers . Of course, Johnson-Fisher's speed should come as no surprise, given that the youngster is also a decorated sprinter. Less than a year ago, he won the English Schools' Championships junior boys' 100 metre title with a time of 10.91 seconds. Boarding fees at Oakham school total at £29,940 per year, while day fees are £17,970 per year. Former England captain Lewis Moody (pictured here, right, in 2011) was also educated at Oakham School . +Lewis Hamilton is heading into the new Formula One season as the favourite to seal his third world championship, but the Briton is only the fourth-most marketable driver in the sport. According to a survey released by Repucom on the eve of the curtain raiser in Australia, Hamilton fails to make the top three, which is headed by Fernando Alonso. Alonso has been ruled out of the season opener in Melbourne after he sustained concussion during a testing crash in Barcelona last month. Fernando Alonso, who will miss the season opener in Australia, is the sport's most marketable driver . Defending champion Lewis Hamilton, pictured at the BRITs with singer Ellie Goulding is fourth on the list . Alonso heads the top 10 with his former team-mate Felipe Massa and four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel completing the podium places . But the McLaren driver’s popularity in his native Spain sees him top the 'most marketable' list ahead of the Williams driver of Felipe Massa, with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel snatching the final podium spot. ‘Consumer brands will gravitate naturally to where the leading drivers are and with the dominance of Alonso’s profile off the track, a strong first season at McLaren could well see him pull even further from the pack,’ said Nigel Geach, Senior Vice President of Motorsport. ‘However, this season, the one to watch is Lewis Hamilton. With a host of personal endorsements to his name already and being a part of a team everyone was chasing last year, Hamilton has an opportunity to grow his reputation internationally as potentially one of F1’s finest. He has a high profile domestically brands will be watching the performance of this driver in 2015 very closely.’ Felipe Massa, pictured playing Aussie Rules on Wednesday, is third on the list of most-marketable drivers . Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel completes the podium places in the Repucom survey . Hamilton, who is in the final stages of contract discussions with Mercedes over a deal to seal his foreseeable future with the team, is the highest climber in the survey which is based on the perceptions of people from the racers’ native countries. Ninety-three per cent of Britons know of Hamilton, according to the survey. This compares to 98 per cent of Spaniards for Alonso, and a whopping 99 per cent of Brazilians who are aware of the former Ferrari driver. Jenson Button is fifth on the list, with Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean, 17-year-old Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez completing the top 10. +Manager Tony Pulis praised Darren Fletcher's growing influence at West Brom after they moved clear of trouble. The Baggies beat Stoke 1-0 on Saturday and are eight points above the Barclays Premier League relegation zone. It was their fourth straight home win in all competitions and Pulis believes 31-year-old midfielder Fletcher, who joined from Manchester United in January, has been key to that success. Darren Fletcher is tackled by Victor Moses during the match between West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City . Fletcher talks to referee Michael Oliver (right) during the clash at The Hawthorns . West Brom boss Tony Pulis has praised the growing influence of his captain Fletcher . 'He's been a fantastic signing. He's a tremendous lad, his enthusiasm and energy levels are top class,' Pulis said. 'He looks as sprightly as any 20 year old. He and (James) Morrison dominated the midfield. They've played together for Scotland and a lot of good stuff came from those two.' Brown Ideye scored his seventh goal of the season as the Baggies won their seventh game out of 13 under Pulis. Brown Ideye scores the opening goal during the match between West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City . Fletcher (left) celebrates with team-mates Craig Gardner (centre) and Ideye (right) after the goal . 'We looked a good team,' said the Baggies boss. 'The one thing you have to do is make your home a fortress. The crowd was fantastic. The Stoke fans were good and our supporters rose to that and were fantastic. 'That win was for the fans.' +Alex Song believes West Ham can follow Monaco's example and keep his former club Arsenal subdued at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Hammers head across London looking to kickstart their Premier League campaign, having plummeted down to 10th place after no wins in the last six and back-to-back defeats. Arsenal, meanwhile, have surged back into the top four and are into the FA Cup semi-finals after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday night. Alex Song believes West Ham can kickstart their Premier League campaign against Arsenal on Sunday . Despite Arsenal's formidable run of seven consecutive home victories in the Premier League, Song - who played for the Gunners between 2005 and 2012, before joining Barcelona - believes the Irons can repeat Monaco's performance after the unfancied French side stunned the Emirates Stadium with a 3-1 Champions League victory last month. 'I know this stadium very well and I know when you play with Arsenal it's very hard, but I think Monaco is how you want to play when you play in the Emirates,' Song told the West Ham website, www.whufc.com. 'The best thing to do is to try to be together, defend together very well and when you have the opportunity to go on the counter attack, you have to do it very well like Monaco did it. Song played for the Gunners between 2005 and 2012 before joining Barcelona . 'If you want to go to Emirates and try to play you will not have any chance to win the game there because this stadium is very hard to play in. 'You have to stay together very compact and not give them any room, then take the opportunity on the counter attack. 'If we do this very well like Monaco did, then we can get a good result there.' Song, the 27-year-old on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season, feels the Irons can raise their game against Arsenal. 'We have shown a lot of things this season as a team, especially when we play against teams at the highest level like Manchester City and Liverpool or Tottenham. We've done very well and we need to continue to improve in this way,' said Song, who stayed in London to work on his fitness while the rest of the squad were away at a warm-weather camp in Dubai. The 27-year-old feels West Ham can raise their game against Arsenal in the same way Monaco did . 'We can play better and hopefully this game on Saturday will be a very good test for us. 'It has been a long time since we won a game in the league, so we must try to come back and try to win or get one point there. 'Everything is possible in football and we just need to keep believing and trying hard on the pitch.' Song maintains there can be no room for sentiment against his former club. 'They are one part of my life and, because I went there when I was 17, I always say it is my family,' the former Cameroon international said. 'I know this is a special game for me, but that is football and I have to take all the emotion out and just try to play my game, to play the best football I can to help the team to win.' +Theo Walcott took to Instagram to show off his birthday cake from his Arsenal team-mates ahead of their Champions League showdown with Monaco on Tuesday night. Walcott turned 26 on Monday and Mesut Ozil was among those wishing the England international a happy birthday on social media. While the perfect present may be qualification for the quarter-finals, Ozil wrote on Twitter: 'Happy 26th birthday to my friend @theowalcott #Stayhealthy #bestwishes #Gunners' Theo Walcott took to Instagram to show off his birthday cake from his Arsenal team-mates on Monday . Walcott turned 26 on Monday and Mesut Ozil was among those wishing the England star a happy birthday . Walcott, meanwhile, wrote on Instagram: 'Thank you to everyone for all the birthday messages today and a nice birthday cake surprise with the team.' We know what he may be wishing for as Arsenal need to overturn a 3-1 deficit from their first leg in the Champions League last-16 tie at the Emirates. It sees a return to Monaco for manager Arsene Wenger, who was in charge of them between 1987 and 1994. Walcott (left) jokes around during Arsenal's training session ahead of their Champions League showdown . Gabriel Paulista (from left to right), Tomas Rosicky, Per Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez, Walcott and Mesut Ozil pose during training . VIDEO 'We can do it' says Wenger ahead of Monaco crunch match . +Judging by his social media activity, Mario Balotelli was very annoyed to miss Liverpool's victory over Swansea on Monday night. The 24-year-old striker was ruled out of the game at the Liberty Stadium with a stomach bug and didn't travel with the rest of the team to south Wales. And Instead he took to Instagram to post a picture of himself with the caption: 'ENJOY YOUR TIME TILL I'LL BE BACK.' Mario Balotelli shared a photo on Instagram after missing Liverpool's win over Swansea . Balotelli has scored just four times for Liverpool this season after a £16m move in the summer . Balotelli has scored just four times in all competitions this season for Liverpool since his £16million move in the summer. And the Italian striker will be targeting Liverpool's clash against Manchester United on Sunday for a return to the starting XI. Jordan Henderson's second-half goal gave Brendan Rodgers' side a hard-fought win over Swansea on Monday the drew them within two points of fourth-placed Manchester United in the race for Champions League football. Jordan Henderson lets out a roar of delight after his winner for Liverpool against Swansea . VIDEO Rodgers has eye on second place . Henderson watches his shot loop over Lukasz Fabianski and into the back of the net for Liverpool's winner . +West Brom's Chris Brunt has requested a personal hearing after being charged by the Football Association for allegedly verbally abusing a match official. The midfielder is alleged to have used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour in the tunnel after Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup quarter final defeat to Aston Villa. A Baggies statement published on Friday read: 'Chris Brunt has requested a personal hearing after being charged by The Football Association. Chris Brunt (right), pictured disputing a decision with Anthony Taylor, has been hit with an FA charge . Brunt has requested a personal hearing after being charged by the Football Association . 'The midfielder will continue to be available for selection, including Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash against Stoke, until a date for the hearing is finalised.' Referee Anthony Taylor sent off Albion's Claudio Yacob and Villa's Jack Grealish during the game, which sent Villa through to the semi finals where they will play Blackburn or Liverpool. An FA statement on Brunt, released on Monday, said: 'It is alleged that in or around the tunnel area after the end of the fixture the player used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards a match official.' Both Albion and Villa are also awaiting the results of FA and police investigations after crowd trouble at Villa Park where home fans twice invaded the pitch. Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Seats were thrown from the West Brom section in the North Stand into the Villa fans during the second half with boss Tony Pulis insisting anyone found guilty should be banned for life. It was the second time the teams had played each other in a week after Villa's 2-1 Premier League win. +Harry Kane's goalscoring debut came as little surprise to his England team-mates, with Phil Jones expecting nothing less from the 'on fire' striker. A sold-out Wembley witnessed the latest chapter of the 21-year-old's fairytale rise, which has seen him go from Tottenham squad player to the country's most lethal frontman in just a matter of months. Kane was welcomed by a standing ovation when he came on as a second-half substitute and it took just 80 seconds for him to get the fans back on their feet, heading home with one of his first touches to wrap up a 4-0 win against Lithuania. Harry Kane celebrates his goal after drifting in at the far post and nodded in Raheem Sterling's cross . A jubilant Kane laps up the applause from England fans as he celebrates his first England cap with a goal . After the Euro 2016 qualifier centre-back Jones was asked whether he was surprised by Kane's goalscoring impact, to which he responded with a laugh: 'No! 'He has been doing it in training as well this week. He is on fire and we're delighted for him. 'He has been brilliant this season. He thoroughly deserved his call-up and the lads are delighted for him in the dressing room to score his first goal. He has been lively, he is a great lad and he has been scoring a lot of goals.' Kane connected with the looping ball to nod past keeper Giedrius Arlauskis as his fairytale season continues . Kane was named on the bench but when his chance came he grabbed it with both hands . The victory against Lithuania continued England's 100 per cent start to Group E - a cake walk which makes Tuesday's friendly in Italy an important test. The Three Lions have won seven successive matches since returning embarrassingly early from the World Cup and have a chance to lay some ghosts to rest against a side they lost to in Brazil. 'That will be a big test for us,' Jones said. 'We're going to Turin, it is a big stadium, a big crowd. It is always a tough game against Italy. We're going there wanting to win the game. 'We highlighted that (we are on an impressive run) in the pre-match talk, that we want to keep that run going and hopefully we can do that in Turin as well.' Phil Jones (left) says he was not surprised by Kane's impact on his England debut . Jones was solid at the back as England ran out comfortable winners at Wembley on Friday night . +England have slipped down the FIFA world rankings for a second consecutive month with Roy Hodgson's side now lying in 17th place, behind the likes of Romania and Czech Republic. After a disastrous World Cup, the Three Lions have fallen despite winning all four of their Euro 2016 qualifiers against Switzerland, San Marino, Estonia and Slovenia as well as international friendlies against Scotland and Norway. However, with rankings based on results over the last four years, England are below Costa Rica (13) who held them to a goalless draw in Brazil before winning their World Cup Group D. England have fallen behind the likes of Romania and Czech Republic in the latest FIFA rankings . Three Lions manager Roy Hodgson has seen his side fallen despite being unbeaten since the World Cup . A team’s total number of points over a four-year period is determined by adding: . The average number of points gained from matches during the past 12 months . And, the average number of points gained from matches older than 12 months (depreciates yearly). Meanwhile, 2010 World Cup winners and reigning European champions Spain have fallen out of the top 10 in FIFA's rankings for the first time since 2007. World Cup winners Germany is still No 1 ahead of Argentina, Colombia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The only change in the top 10 is that Italy rise two places up to 10th, while Spain drop one spot to 11th. None of the elite teams played in the last month, but games played earlier in the four-year cycle of results lost ranking value. Reigning European champions Spain have fallen out of the top 10 for the first time since 2007 . Romania rise two places at No 14 and could be seeded in July when European qualifying groups for the 2018 World Cup are drawn. Costa Rica remain No 13 to lead CONCACAF nations. The United States falls one to No 32. Algeria at No 18 lead the African nations. Iran are Asia's best at No 42. World Cup winners Germany unsurprisingly remain at the top of this month's FIFA world rankings . 1. Germany (1)                                                                    11. Spain (10) 2. Argentina (2)                                                                    12. Switzerland (11) 3. Colombia (3)                                                                    13. Costa Rica (13) 4. Belgium (4)                                                                      14. Romania (16) 5. Netherlands (5)                                                                15. Chile (14) 6. Brazil (6)                                                                          16. Czech Republic (17) 7. Portugal (7)                                                                      17. England (15) 8. France (8)                                                                        18. Algeria (18) 9. Uruguay (9)                                                                      19. Croatia (19) 10. Italy (12)                                                                         20. Ivory Coast (20) Also: 32. United States (31)                                                 (previous position) +It is the game which, ultimately, could define the success or otherwise of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane’s expensive Republic of Ireland tenure. Installed amid much fanfare 18 months ago, £1million-per-year O’Neill and his assistant Keane – with a £600,000 salary - were given a remit of qualification for Euro 2016, a task made easier by the expansion to a 24-team format. Defeat against Poland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, however, would all but render redundant any hope of automatic progression to next summer’s finals in France. It would be they and Scotland left to do battle for the play-off berth. Aiden McGeady jokes with Ireland assistant Roy Keane during a training session earlier this week . Sunderland defender John O'Shea catches a bib as the side prepare for the crucial qualifier against Poland . The mood here in Dublin is not one of optimism. An inquest, you feel, awaits O’Neill and his regime should they fail to beat the group leaders. One newspaper described their manager as ‘bookish and vaguely befuddled’, while the ‘carnage’ which follows Keane was also noted. Certainly, there has been a definite effort to play down the chaos around Keane this week and the No 2 gave an untypically subdued and low-key performance in front of the press. O’Neill, meanwhile, has kept all talk to football. He has ignored the opinion pieces which have called into question his impact since his arrival. He has, though, recognised the magnitude of the outcome against the Poles. ‘The importance of the occasion should not be missed,’ he said. ‘Defeat would be a big dent in our hopes of automatic qualification. It might not decide everything, but it is very significant. We have to try to win. Martin O'Neill addresses his squad at the training session as they bid to go level with Poland in Group D . The Ireland players are out through their paces in preparation for the Euro 2016 clash . ‘I’ve said all along that the home games will shape our destiny. This is the first of that group. We have to make them count.’ O’Neill, whose fourth-placed side trail Poland by three points, added: ‘We can change all of that (negative talk) with one result and one fantastic performance. ‘We will not get very far with a pessimistic approach and I’m not overly concerned with what people say before the game. ‘We have given ourselves a chance (of qualification) but we will have to be right on top of our game to win this match.’ One criticism of O’Neill is that he does not know his preferred XI or, indeed, formation. That much was obvious by him talking this week of players winning a starting place should they impress at their coastal training base in Malahide. O'Neill is hoping to banish all the negativity around the squad with a result against Poland . One player not guaranteed to start is captain Robbie Keane. He was dropped for the morale-shattering 1-0 defeat in Scotland in November. The LA Galaxy striker, 34, was sat next to O’Neill at Saturday's pre-match press conference and was diplomatic when pressed on his possible exclusion. ‘That’s up to the manager (if I play),’ he said. ‘I’ll be ready whether that’s from the bench or starting. I’m the captain, I have to set an example. ‘But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could make a difference. I still want to be the best. I have that hunger.’ Keane, sensing the air of negativity in his homeland, added: ‘It’s up to us to make this a turning point for the team. Victory would give this squad and country a huge confidence boost.’ Lose and it could prove an awfully long three months for O’Neill before they face Scotland back in Dublin. Win, and that £1m salary would look like a shrewd investment. +Gordon Strachan would like the Scotland fans to buy into his patient approach to their European Championship qualifier against Gibraltar - but he knows that is unlikely to happen. The Scotland boss recognises the Tartan Army will turn up expecting plenty of goals - and quickly - against UEFA's newest members. However, Strachan has confidence that his players will cope with those expectations and produce a mature display against the team from the British Overseas Territory. Scotland squad are put through their paces ahead of their upcoming Euro Qualifier against Gibraltar . Scotland's Barry Bannan (left) speaks with James Morrison prior to their training session . Gordon Strachan arrives at Scotland's press conference at Hampden Park ahead of the match . All week he has drilled into his players the need to probe for openings rather than rush balls forward too soon - and he is optimistic the practice will pay off. Speaking just before taking his players for a training session at a wet and windy Hampden, Strachan said: 'We don't want to be panicking and rush into things. We will look forward and try to play forward at every occasion, but that can't happen all the time. 'There are areas where we will have space to go and attack, there are areas where it might be harder. We will have to be patient to get the areas where we think we can work at being successful.'When asked whether he had a message for supporters to replicate that patience, the former Celtic boss said: 'That would be handy if they could. 'But fans come along to lose their inhibitions, shout and scream. They want to see goals. 'If the weather was scorching hot, they would maybe be more patient but I don't think it's going to be like that. I think the fans will be wanting something to warm them up right away. 'But we can't be sucked into trying to score a goal with the first touch of the ball. We have done a lot of work and you might at times think we are not going anywhere, but we have to be patient and try to find the weaknesses.' Scott Brown (centre) focused in training in front of Darren Fletcher (left) and Gordon Greer (right) Brown leads the Scotland squad in training on the pitch at Hampden Park on Saturday . Scotland's Steven Fletcher (front) gears up ahead of his side's clash against Gibraltar . Strachan has his own cautionary tale from May 1991 when Scotland laboured away to international newcomers San Marino in a European qualifier before the then Leeds midfielder broke the deadlock from the spot in the 63rd minute, on their way to a 2-0 win. 'It wasn't an easy ride, that's for sure,' Strachan said. 'I have taken a lot of penalties in big games but that one was really pressurised because I didn't want to be remembered as the guy that missed a penalty against San Marino. 'We had some good players playing in that team and it took a corner-kick and a penalty.' Strachan's side have made a positive start to the group with a draw in Poland and victory over the Republic of Ireland putting them in a decent position, although their two main rivals for second spot - assuming Germany will win Group D - previously stole a march by taking points off the world champions. Strachan believes Gibraltar, who pick their team from a population of about 30,000, are a more difficult challenge than when they began their competitive international campaign. Scotland's Johnny Russell (left) and Shaun Maloney are put through their paces at training . Scotland players warm up on the Hampden Park pitch ahead of the game with Gibraltar on Sunday . Brown leads the players as they get accustomed to the turf at the Glasgow stadium . They conceded seven goals against both Poland and the Irish but then the same amount combined in games against Georgia and Germany. They have already secured their first friendly win, against Malta, and also drew in Estonia last year. Strachan said: 'In the first couple of games of the championship, the excitement was so great, but you could see in the Germany game there was a bit of reality about it. The world champions only scored four goals. 'Four goals is definitely enough to win a game of football, that's for sure, but that's the improvement we have seen from the first couple of games. You get over that initial excitement of just being there and then you want to be hard to beat, and I think that's the stage Gibraltar will be at.' Hull's Allan McGregor was not present at training, although Strachan said earlier that he could pick any one of his three goalkeepers and 'not lose any sleep'. +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Everton's home clash with Newcastle. Everton vs Newcastle (Goodison Park) Team news . Everton . Full-back Leighton Baines (groin) faces a late fitness test ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Newcastle at Goodison Park. Centre-back John Stones is expected to be available again after missing Thursday's Europa League win over Dynamo Kiev due to a virus, and winger Aaron Lennon definitely is after being cup-tied for that match. Midfielder Gareth Barry misses out as he starts a two-match suspension, while Bryan Oviedo (hamstring), Tony Hibbert, Steven Pienaar and Aiden McGeady (all knee) remain sidelined. Provisional squad: Howard, Robles, Stones, Alcaraz, Jagielka, Coleman, Baines, Garbutt, Besic, McCarthy, Barkley, Gibson, Osman, Mirallas, Atsu, Lennon, Naismith, Lukaku, Kone. John Stones is expected to be available after missing the midweek Europa League tie through illness . Newcastle . Striker Papiss Cisse will miss Sunday's Barclays Premier League trip to Everton as he begins a seven-match ban. The Senegal international incurred the suspension after accepting an FA improper conduct charge, and he will swap places with midfielder Jack Colback, who is available once again after sitting out the last two games following his 10th booking of the campaign. He will be joined in the squad by keeper Rob Elliot following his recovery from a long-term thigh injury and midfielder Remy Cabella, who has shaken off a knee problem, but full-back Massadio Haidara is out after having an injection in his damaged knee and joins a lengthy list of absentees. Provisional squad: Krul, Elliot, Woodman, Janmaat, Williamson, Coloccini, R.Taylor, Anita, Abeid, Colback, Sissoko, Gouffran, Ameobi, Obertan, Gutierrez, Riviere, Perez, Armstrong, Satka. Papiss Cisse (right) will miss Sunday's Premier League trip to Everton as he begins a seven-match ban . Key match facts (supplied by Opta) Romelu Lukaku has scored four goals in five Barclays Premier League appearances against Newcastle United. Kick-off: Sunday (4pm) Odds (subject to change): . Everton 4/5 . Draw 13/5 . Newcastle 10/3 . Referee: Martin Atkinson . Managers: Roberto Martinez (Everton), John Carver (Newcastle . Newcastle’s victory on 28 December ended a run of five without a win against Everton, with the Merseysiders winning four of those five. Ross Barkley and Arouna Kone have both scored in two of their three Premier League games against Newcastle. Everton scored from both of their attempts on target in their 2-3 defeat at St James Park back in December. The Toffees have won just four of their last 16 Premier League games at Goodison Park (W4 D7 L5), drawing the last four in a row. There has been a goal scored inside the first five minutes in three of the last four Premier League games between the Magpies and the Toffees. Ross Barkley scores past Tim Krul as Everton beat Newcastle 3-2 at home last season . Newcastle have won just one of their last eight Premier League away matches (W1 D2 L5). The overall league record between Everton and Newcastle United is pretty even with the Toffees winning 62, the Magpies 63 and 34 draws. Everton have now kept only three clean sheets in their last 18 Premier League games. Newcastle have scored the highest percentage of second half goals in the Premier League this season (69%). +Jonny Evans' actions in spitting at Papiss Cisse were 'simply disgusting', a Football Association regulatory commission ruled. The written reasons for Evans' six-match ban were released by the FA on Thursday. The Manchester United defender and Newcastle striker Cisse were both charged after spitting at each other during the Red Devils' 1-0 victory on March 4 in an incident missed by referee Anthony Taylor. Newcastle's Papiss Cisse and Manchester United's Jonny Evans squared at St James' Park last week . Cisse has been banned for seven games, while Evans has received a six game suspension . Cisse accepted the charge and a seven-match ban - one extra because of a previous offence this season - but Evans insisted he had not intended to spit at the striker and contested it. The three members of the regulatory commission accepted 27-year-old Evans was the only person who could know his intent, but stated: 'It is clear that Mr Evans is looking directly and indeed aggressively at Mr Cisse. His lips are 'pursed' and he is close to Mr Cisse. 'If he was, as alleged to be the case, a person who 'habitually spits', then the commission were concerned as to why he did not turn his head away from Mr Cisse when so spitting. 'If that had been a family member or indeed another team member or his manager in front and below him would he still have carried out the same manoeuvre? Evans' actions have been described as 'simply disgusting' by the FA's regulatory committee . Both Evans and Cisse were charged and banned by the FA for spitting, but Cisse admitted the offence . 'Mr Evans had (and has) a duty of care, if spitting for whatever reason, not to direct the same in the general direction of an opponent, or indeed anyone else. The video clips clearly show that he failed in his duty of care. 'There may, in some quarters, be substantial sympathy for Mr Evans, but the video evidence shows that he did what he did, and the ordinary man in the street will find his action to be simply disgusting and should not be allowed in any walk of life, let alone on any football field.' The written report also reveals Manchester United questioned the length of the suspension but the commission did not consider there were any 'truly exceptional' circumstances to reduce it from the standard six matches. +Lukasz Fabianski admits Swansea want to make up for a night of Anfield misery when they welcome the Barclays Premier League's most in-form team to the Liberty Stadium on Monday night. Liverpool have won seven and drawn one of their last eight league games to close the gap on fourth-placed Manchester United and move right back into contention for a Champions League place. Brendan Rodgers' side also swept Swansea aside 4-1 at Anfield at the end of December and Polish goalkeeper Fabianski says that defeat still hurts at the Welsh club. Lukasz Fabianski admits Swansea want to make up for a night of Anfield misery against Liverpool . Adam Lallana was among the goalscorers as Liverpool beat Swansea 4-1 in December . 'It wasn't the best of nights but this is a game you want to play in, a second chance and an opportunity to put that right,' said Fabianski, who was culpable for Liverpool's second goal that evening when his attempted clearance cannoned off Adam Lallana and into the Swansea net. 'We have had a good rest (from the Tottenham match) and this is a good game to bounce back in. 'We have shown with the way we put the defeat to Chelsea to bed by beating Manchester United what we can do at home. 'Liverpool are on a good run and playing well but hopefully we can compete against them and take something from it.' Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey (right) scored an own goal for former club Liverpool to make it 4-1 . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (right) all smiles with Emre Can in training on Saturday . +Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for West Brom's home clash with Stoke City... West Brom vs Stoke City (The Hawthorns) Team news . West Brom . Tony Pulis has doubts over strikers Saido Berahino, Brown Ideye and Victor Anichebe for the Barclays Premier League clash with Stoke on Saturday. Berahino and Ideye have been playing through the pain barrier recently while Anichebe has a groin problem. Winger Callum McManaman has a foot injury which boss Pulis has decided to rest for a few weeks. Provisional squad: Foster, Myhill, Pocognoli, Wisdom, Lescott, Baird, Dawson, Olsson, McAuley, Gamboa, Morrison, Yacob, Mulumbu, Brunt, Gardner, Sessegnon, Berahino, Ideye. Striker Saido Berahino is a doubt for West Brom ahead of Saturday's clash with Stoke City . Stoke City . Ryan Shawcross is available for Stoke after recovering from a back problem and could return to face West Brom. The defender has been out since January but boss Mark Hughes must make a decision whether to throw him straight back in. Stephen Ireland is likely to sit out with a gashed leg while Philipp Wollscheid (groin) is struggling and Bojan Krkic and Peter Odemwingie (both knee) remain long-term absentees. Provisional squad: Begovic, Butland, Wollscheid, Shawcross, Cameron, Wilson, Bardsley, Pieters, Nzonzi, Adam, Whelan, Sidwell, Walters, Arnautovic, Crouch, Moses, Diouf, Shenton, Teixeira. Ryan Shawcross is available for Stoke after a back problem and could return to face West Brom . Key match facts (supplied by Opta) Saido Berahino has scored in three of his last four Premier League appearances. Kick-off: Saturday (3pm) Odds (subject to change): . West Brom 11/8 . Draw 21/10 . Stoke City 11/5 . Referee: Kevin Friend . Managers: Tony Pulis (West Brom), Mark Hughes (Stoke City) Mame Biram Diouf has scored three goals in two Barclays Premier League appearances against West Bromwich Albion. West Brom have failed to score in eight of their 11 Premier League meetings with Stoke City. The Potters have lost just one of the 11 Premier League meetings with the Baggies (W7 D3 L1). Stoke have won six and lost none of their last seven league visits to the Hawthorns winning all five visits in the Premier League. Six of the last eight Premier League goals Stoke have scored have been headers. Stoke City have scored 97 goals away from home in Premier League history. Mame Biram Diouf scoring for Stoke City as they beat West Brom 2-0 in December last year . There have been just 18 yellow cards in the 11 Premier League meetings between West Brom and Stoke, with no Baggies player being booked in seven of those 11 games. West Brom have kept five clean sheets in six games in all competitions at the Hawthorns under Tony Pulis. Pulis had five seasons as boss of Stoke City in the Premier League, winning 29% of his matches. He was replaced by Mark Hughes in May 2013 who has a 38% win rate. +Queensland Reds player Karmichael Hunt was suspended for six weeks by the Australian Rugby Union, ordered to undergo a drug rehabilitation program and fined A$30,000 (£15,200) after admitting to cocaine possession Thursday. 28-year-old Hunt pleaded guilty in a Gold Coast court to four charges of possessing cocaine after purchasing 12.5 grams (0.4 ounces) of the drug from Sept. 1 to Oct. 3 when he was playing for the Australian Football League's Gold Coast Suns, an Australian rules football team. In court, he was fined $1,950 (£1,500) but had no conviction recorded. Hunt, who has also played in the National Rugby League, bought the drugs from a former professional rugby league player. Karmichael Hunt pleaded guilty in a Gold Coast court to four charges of possessing cocaine . The Reds, who signed Hunt to a three-year Super Rugby contract late last year, suspended the fullback on Feb. 20 when the drug investigation was first announced. The ARU and Queensland Rugby Union said that since Hunt had already missed two weeks of play while awaiting his court case, he will return during Super Rugby's eighth round. He will be allowed to train at the Reds practice facility at Ballymore at times when the rest of the squad is not there. 'We are extremely disappointed in Karmichael's actions as illicit substances have no place in rugby,' ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said. 'However we acknowledge that he is sincerely remorseful and has cooperated with the investigation and our integrity enquiries throughout this process. Karmichael has also accepted the penalty and consequences of his actions and understands the requirements of a professional athlete and the expectations of our code.' The Reds also said Hunt would no longer be a vice-captain of the team. 'I intend to work through the education and rehabilitation program and will return to the game in a way that sends a clear message to sports fans of all ages that the use of illicit substances has no place in sport,' Hunt said in a statement provided by the Reds. Hunt says he was relieved wiht the outcome and admitted it has been difficult for him and his family . Speaking outside court before his ARU suspension was announced, Hunt said he was relieved with the outcome. 'It's been a difficult couple of weeks for me and my family,' he said. 'We're looking forward to putting this process behind us.' In court, Hunt was provided with character references from several sports officials, including seven-time NRL premiership coach Wayne Bennett of the Brisbane Broncos. Hunt's lawyer Alastair McDougall told the court his client had shown remorse by pleading guilty. 'He's suffered enormous economic loss,' McDougall said. 'His two young daughters, with a third on the way, must grow up knowing their father has broken the law.' The same investigation which implicated Hunt also resulted in notices being served to eight current or former members of the Gold Coast Titans NRL team. Two of those players, Beau Falloon and Jamie Dowling, also had their cases initially dealt with on Thursday, but they'll return to court at a later date. Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission also issued an arrest warrant for former Titan Steve Michaels, who is playing for Hull in England's Super League. Karmichael Hunt in action for the Queensland Reds in a Super Rugby match against the Brumbies last month . +Rangi Chase says he would be happy to switch to full-back for Salford, revealing he grew up playing the role in rugby union. The former Castleford and England stand-off won the Man of Steel award in 2011 for his brilliant displays with the number six on his back but an injury crisis has left the Red Devils without three specialist full-backs for Saturday's game against Catalans Dragons in Perpignan. Coach Iesytn Harris has called up youngster Jon Ford in the absence of Kevin Locke, Niall Evalds and Ben Jones-Bishop but admits he is considering moving Chase into the full-back spot. Rangi Chase, pictured in action for England in 2013, could be set to play at full-back for Salford . 'I'll play wherever,' Chase said. 'I grew up playing full-back in rugby union, so I'm not unfamiliar with it. 'Obviously I've not played there for a while but, if I do get put there, I will have to adjust. 'Obviously when we're attacking it doesn't bother me but defensively you've got to make sure you're in the right spots. I've got to make sure my communication is right if I'm back there.' Chase stepped into the full-back role towards the end of last Saturday's game against Hull after Evalds went off with a pulled hamstring and Harris believes he could perform the role from the start against the Dragons. 'Rangi is a versatile player,' Harris said. 'He can play a little bit of nine if he has to, he can play in the halves, he can play at full-back. He's a natural footballer and he generally creates opportunities wherever he plays on the field. 'And he's very much a team player, he wants to do what's best for the team. The most important thing is Rangi being on the field. It's trying to get the balance right within the team.' Wherever he plays on Saturday, Chase's duel with the Catalans' Australian playmaker Todd Carney promises is a mouthwatering prospect, although the player himself is playing it down. 'I'm not bothered if it's Todd Carney or if it's someone else,' Chase said. 'I'm not worried about him and I'm sure he's not worried about me. At the end of the day, I'll just focus on my own game.' Chase was in masterful form as he steered Salford to their first win of the season against Hull but he admits they will be to take a step up against a Dragons team who are near invincible at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. 'It was a good win in the end,' Chase said. 'We had to dig deep for each other and hopefully we can take some confidence from that. We need to build again. 'It is tough going there. They'are an aggressive side and, when they're at home, they grow even more with their support. 'I think the squad they have is the best they've had since I've been here so I'm looking forward to that.' +Edin Dzeko has pointed to the relentless nature of the Premier League as part of the reason for Manchester City's continuing problems in Europe. Manuel Pellegrini's side trail Barcelona 2-1 ahead of their Champions League last 16 return leg at the Nou Camp with a quarter final place looking beyond them for a fourth consecutive season. The Bosnia international believes the ultra-competitive domestic campaign has left players from English clubs feeling fatigued before playing European fixtures. Edin Dzeko believes English players are left exhausted by hard fought games in the Premier League . The Bosnia international couldn't find the net in City's shock 1-0 defeat by Burnley on Saturday . 'In all the other leagues, there is too big a gap between the top teams and the others - there are one, two, maybe three teams fighting for the title,' he told Goal.com. 'In England there are six or seven teams that can become champions and, as well, teams from the bottom can beat the top teams. 'That is one of the reasons why English teams sometime fail in Europe. With the Premier League as the strongest league in the world, every match is hard. Luis Suarez returned to England to score both goals in Barcelona's 2-1 defeat of Manchester City . City's Champions League hopes would be practically over had Joe Hart not saved Lionel Messi's late penalty . 'You cannot rest players, you always have to play full strength, while opponents in Europe can sometime rest some players in their domestic leagues. 'The first leg against Barcelona was very important,' the forward added. 'We tried not to lose at home but we were not good, especially in the first half. In the second half, we played better, scored, had a few chances to score more and who knows what would have happened if we didn't receive the red card? 'Now we want to surprise Barcelona. It will be tight until the end; we want to play much better than in the first leg and we will see if it will be enough to progress.' Dzeko faces competition for a starting role at the Nou Camp from new signing Wilfried Bony . +Radical new proposals including law changes and possible punishments for team doctors are being drawn up in a bid to halt a shocking 900 per cent increase in reported concussions ahead of this year’s World Cup. High-profile incidents suffered by players during the current Six Nations — including Wales wing George North, England full-back Mike Brown and Ireland flanker Sean O’Brien — have reignited concerns over the extent of concussion in professional rugby and how the potentially fatal injury is handled. A recent RFU audit revealed reported rates of concussion were 59 per cent higher during the 2013-14 Aviva Premiership season than the previous year, with 10.5 concussions occurring every 1,000 player hours. Full-back Mike Brown suffered a heavy blow to the head in England's victory over Italy . But figures seen by The Mail on Sunday show the rate of reported concussions for the current Six Nations stand at 25 per 1,000 player hours after three rounds — more than double the RFU’s figure and almost 10 times the number reported a decade ago. ‘It’s a massively high number and it’s causing significant concern across the sport,’ said one insider at the governing body, World Rugby. ‘Something needs to be done because the World Cup is coming up and the eyes of the world will be on rugby. Concussion is unquestionably the biggest issue facing the sport.’ Significant strides have been made by the sport’s governing bodies in recent times, with a compulsory education programme introduced in the Aviva Premiership at the start of this season and a gradual introduction of pitch-side video technology for medics to access. Brown was ruled out of Ireland game after failing stage three of the return to play concussion protocol – a process all players must undergo after suffering head injuries . World Rugby bosses, aware of potentially damaging long-term effects of multiple concussions to players and desperate to avoid potentially crippling legal action seen in the NFL, have also instituted an extensive education programme. And they are in the processes of drawing up a legally binding document to ensure strict player welfare guidelines are adhered to at the World Cup. But there are fears the current measures do not go far enough and The Mail on Sunday understands World Rugby chiefs have agreed the introduction of further medical protocols ahead of the World Cup which include: . Wales admitted George North should have been removed from play after being knocked unconscious . Rugby union has been on high alert since the NFL agreed to pay out close to a billion dollars to more than 4,000 former gridiron stars with neurodegenerative conditions linked to multiple concussions and the latest figures will do little to ease concern. This week, World Rugby’s head of medicine Dr Martin Raftery presented to the world governing body’s executive committee when the proposal to draw up a worldwide group of players, coaches, referees, doctors and medics with a remit to look at law changes to reduce concussion rates was ratified. ‘We are now starting to understand the magnitude of the problem,’ said Dr Raftery. ‘If we had started the prevention programmes five years ago, we would have been saying, “We need to get it down from five [concussions per 1,000 hours]. Now we know it’s going to be at least 10.5 if not more and I think we’ll see another increase. We are getting far better compliance around concussion but we don’t believe we have finished this process. We’ve reached a baseline but we are not going to allow people to drop the ball in this area. If there’s an issue it will be referred to a disciplinary tribunal and we’ll investigate it.’ There was widespread criticism of the Wales medical team for failing to spot two incidents in which North appeared to be knocked unconscious but was allowed to play on. A World Rugby concussion panel — comprising Dr Raftery and some of the world’s leading brain injury experts — accepted the Welsh medical team’s explanation that they were unsighted for both incidents, although questions remain as to why no one among the team’s backroom staff, some with access to BBC broadcast footage, alerted the medics. ‘The Welsh didn’t have to co-operate but they were extremely co-operative,’ said Raftery. ‘They were also extremely embarrassed about what happened.’ Concerns also persist that so-called ‘independent’ match-day doctors in the Six Nations are often employees of the home union and therefore highly unlikely to challenge or even over-rule a team doctor if they believe a serious breach in protocol has occurred. ‘They will have to be fully independent match-day doctors at the World Cup,’ said Raftery. ‘Every other match day appointment is independent so why not doctors? Imagine if England were playing Australia and the match-day doctor was English and decided that Israel Folau should come off with 20 minutes left even if the Wallaby team doctors said he was fine. There would be absolute outcry. We have to avoid that scenario. ‘The match day doctor has the ability to over-rule team doctors but I’d hope they would look to work together.’ Exeter Chiefs have announced a new research programme to investigate effects of concussion on their players, while Saracens are also trialling micro-chip technology to assess the extent of forces their players are being exposed to. +When England crashed out of the last global limited-overs tournament there was just the small matter of a dead rubber against the Netherlands to complete what had been a hugely disappointing World Twenty20. Fast forward 10 months and here we are again amid more recriminations over another lost campaign and a final match, this time against Afghanistan, where England have far more to lose than just a meaningless group match. Ashley Giles will not need reminding that a dispirited England lost to Holland in Bangladesh and any hope he had of becoming head coach disappeared along with their chances of making an impact on yet another world stage. Peter Moores talks to his players before an England nets session at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday . Moores (centre) chats with captain Eoin Morgan as England prepare for their final Cricket World Cup match . Indications are Peter Moores will keep his job, at least for the Test series in the Caribbean, whatever happens at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday but the last thing he needs is another humiliating loss against another of the ‘minnows.’ The fact England turned up early on Wednesday for what used to be known as naughty boy nets and had a full training session said everything about their desperate need to take something, anything, from their worst ever World Cup. England are the laughing stock of world cricket again and there is no body of people who enjoy that scenario more than an Australian nation who cannot believe their luck that the old enemy have gone out of their World Cup so soon. Victory against an Afghanistan side who have made a remarkable journey from the refugee camps of Pakistan to be here would barely regain any pride for an England team who are still coming to terms with what they have done. England's Stuart Broad runs with a rugby ball during the training session on Wednesday . The England team gather round in a huddle as they prepare for the dead rubber against Afghanistan . But for Moores it would perhaps keep the wolves away from his door for just a short while before he helps put the finishing touches to a squad for the three-Test series in the West Indies next month that will be named on Tuesday. England will be without Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, two players who can still expect a one-day future, when they face Afghanistan and it is far from certain that both will be able to take their places on the plane to St Kitts on April 2. Moeen strained an abdominal muscle when bowling in the fateful defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide while Woakes has a ‘stress reaction’ in his third metatarsal of his left foot. Both will be assessed when England get home. In their absence it is to be hoped England give games to the two players yet to appear in this World Cup in James Tredwell and Ravi Bopara, not least before both could then be making their final one-day international appearances. England's Chris Jordan bowls during the nets session at Sydney Cricket Ground . Morgan warms up ahead of a full training session in Sydney on Wednesday . If England are serious about ever making an impact in one-day cricket they have to start from scratch after this tournament with a squad full of players who will be at or near their peak in 2019. That means there is little point in them persevering in 50-over cricket beyond Friday with the likes of Tredwell, Bopara and the senior trio of Ian Bell, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who yesterday insisted he wants to play on. A dead rubber against Afghanistan is hardly the way all of them would have wanted to bow out but at least they will be meeting a team with an identical World Cup record as themselves – just a single victory against Scotland. There was a familiar figure at the helm of the Afghan team at the SCG on Wednesday in the avuncular form of coach Andy Moles, the former Warwickshire batsman who has ignored security advice to work in Kabul. Moles has been in charge of a team who have defeated England before – when he coached New Zealand in the Champions Trophy – and would have no qualms about piling on the misery for his homeland. Moores (left) and England vice-captain Jos Buttler are pictured in discussion on the field . Bangladesh celebrate after sealing an upset victory against England at the Adelaide Oval on Monday . ‘England are not in the best of nick and we still believe we’ve got a scare in us in this World Cup, especially if we show composure at the top of the order,’ said Moles. ‘If we hold our nerve and are at our best we can pull off a shock. ‘I’m obviously sad to see England’s demise but I’m delighted to be here with Afghanistan. We’ve had some great learning experiences, had our first win and gave Sri Lanka a scare. This has been a shop window for Afghan cricket and I think we’ve made friends. We play with a freedom that I’ve tried to enhance.’ It is the ability to play with freedom that has been so badly lacking in England’s cricket but they have one more chance to get it right before they slink off on an early flight home. Otherwise they will lose as many friends as the Afghans have gained. +Jenson Button has called for patience from McLaren's fans as the team head into the unknown following a tough winter of pre-season testing. Of the nine teams on display over the three four-day tests these past few weeks, McLaren suffered the ignominy of finishing bottom of the pile in terms of kilometres and laps covered. That was perhaps not too unexpected given the team's switch to Honda power units from this term, with the Japanese manufacturer the new kids on the block and a year behind in development of the complicated system compared to Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Jenson Button has called for patience from McLaren fans after a tough winter of pre-season testing . The major surprise was just how few laps McLaren managed overall - just 177, less than half of another surprise team in eighth on the list in Red Bull who chalked up 359. With this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix approaching fast, at present there are doubts as to not only the pace of the McLaren-Honda, but also whether Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen - standing in for Fernando Alonso - will even see the chequered flag. As ever, though, Button's enthusiasm is boundless as he said: 'I'm so excited to be back in Melbourne. 'After the ups and downs of 2014, I feel the challenge of 2015 is a completely new chapter in my career and I'm totally up for it. 'I also love Melbourne. It's a fantastic city with great people and the atmosphere is always buzzing, and Albert Park is the perfect place for the season-opener. 'While we know the city and the circuit well, what is more of an unknown is how we will fare in the MP4-30. Button drives his McLaren car during day two of winter testing in Montmelo last month . 'McLaren-Honda have been working incredibly hard over the winter, and although we would, of course, have liked to cover more miles in Jerez and Barcelona, I can definitely see a difference in the car from the first day to the last. 'The team's commitment to development and improvement, in Woking and in Japan, is astonishing, and despite some tricky days in testing we are seeing definitive progress. 'The car is a solid base which gives me optimism we will get there, we just need patience.' Button appreciates this weekend may be a tough one for all the team, but the 35-year-old will be giving it everything to gain a result. 'Melbourne is always a fascinating spectacle, nobody quite knows where they'll be in comparison to their rivals,' added Button . Button celebrates after winning the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in March 2012 . 'Even though the other teams are in the second year of the turbo era, all of the development from last year has been done very much behind the scenes, so I don't think anyone has quite shown their full hand yet. 'For us, the race at Albert Park will be a huge learning curve, but I'll be working flat-out with my engineers to get the car set up as best we can. 'Together we'll fight right until the last moment to get the most out of the weekend.' The fact there is also no Alonso serves as another blow to the team, with the Spaniard advised by doctors not to compete this weekend in the wake of sustaining concussion from a heavy crash in testing. There are a number of observers who feel not all has been explained as to the reason behind the crash and just why he spent three days in hospital for mild concussion when all tests came back clear. Fernando Alonso waves as he leaves hospital in Sant Cugat, Spain after a crash during testing last month . With Alonso poised to return to the cockpit for the next race later this month in Malaysia, Button said: 'Fernando not being able to race is a real shame. 'I just hope he makes a speedy recovery so that he can get behind the wheel again very soon. 'But it's great to see Kevin back in the car, though, and I know he'll do a great job in Fernando's absence, so I wish him well this weekend.' +Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to miss England's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania with a hamstring strain. The Arsenal star limped off during the second half of Monday night's FA Cup win over Manchester United. And Sportsmail understands initial fears are that the midfielder will miss up to four weeks with the injury. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain receives treatment during Arsenal's FA Cup win against Manchester United . The midfielder had to be replaced by team-mate Aaron Ramsey in the second half at Old Trafford . England star Oxlade-Chamberlain has been ruled out for four weeks with a hamstring injury . He underwent a scan on Tuesday and club medics will hold further checks before making a definitive diagnosis. But Oxlade-Chamberlain is a huge doubt for the clash against Lithuania and the friendly against Italy. Roy Hodgson names his squad for the double-header next week. The news will come as a blow to Arsene Wenger despite the euphoria following the win at Old Trafford. Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss a string of Arsenal matches including next week's Champions League clash in Monaco and next month's league visit of Liverpool. Oxlade-Chamberlain sprints away from Manchester United duo Daley Blind (left) and Luke Shaw . The former Southampton man still managed to celebrate his side's FA Cup quarter-final victory . +Ross Barkley believes he needs to wise up to recapture his edge after admitting he has fallen below the standards of his dazzling debut season. The Everton midfielder lit up Roberto Martinez’s first campaign in charge and was instrumental in helping his side reclaim a place in Europe; his form was so good that he broke into England’s squad and went to the World Cup in Brazil. This time around, though, things have not been so straightforward. Barkley began the campaign by damaging his medial ligaments and he has struggled to recapture his swagger, playing in unfamiliar roles out on the wing. Ross Barkley scored Everton's third goal against Newcastle United during their 3-0 win on Sunday . Barkley began the campaign by damaging his medial ligaments and has struggled for form . But Barkley looked sharper after he came on as a substitute in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Newcastle and he restored some confidence by scoring the final goal. He maintains the education has been beneficial and is determined to have a string finish to the campaign, starting in Kiev on Thursday. ‘It has been a tough season for me,’ said Barkley. ‘I’m still learning and I am still a young lad. Every game is different and because last year was my first full season in the Premier League and then maybe no one really knew about me. ‘Maybe this season they know part of my game and it is up to me to learn and adapt. If people think they know what I am going to do, I have to come up with something different and have other options. ‘Our season hasn’t been the best and everyone else is still learning, but hopefully this season will be a good experience for me. I know I haven’t been at my best but the gaffer will give us confidence in training saying he knows what we are capable of. ‘All the backroom staff and the more vocal lads in the team like Gareth Barry, Sylvain Distin, Jags, Bainesy, Tim Howard – all the older lads in the team, the most experienced ones, they help us because they have all been through similar experiences. Listening to what they say helps.’ Barkley looked sharper after he came on as a substitute in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Newcastle at Goodison Park . Everton manager Roberto Martinez pictured during their 3-0 win against Newcastle . For all that things have not gone as Barkley would have wanted, both from a personal and club perspective, he has never gone into hiding during games and that was shown against Newcastle; before he scored his goal, Barkley had missed a clear chance. ‘I am always going to try and want the ball,’ said Barkley. ‘That is the way I have been brought up through the academy. Even if I make a mistake, I will keep wanting the ball because I know eventually things will click together and I will create chances and the goals will come. ‘I feel like this can be a turning point for me and the team. All the lads were buzzing, we got three points and you could see the crowd were happy as well. Everyone is getting on with each other and we are looking forward to the games coming up, gathering some points and climbing up the table.’ Before Everton’s next Barclays Premier League assignment against Queens Park Rangers, they can book a place in the Europa League quarter-finals if they preserve the 2-1 advantage they secured against Dynamo Kiev last Thursday. ‘We are going to approach it the way we approach every game,’ said Barkley. ‘We did well at home and hopefully now we can do that in the away game. We have to be positive and give our all.’ +Paris St Germain will NOT be able to appeal Zlatan Ibrahimovic's dismissal during Wednesday night's tempestuous Champions League clash with Chelsea. The Sweden striker was given a straight red for a foul on Oscar in the first half of a 2-2 draw which sent the French side through to the last eight on away goals. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Ibrahimovic had no ill intent and should be cleared to play in the quarter finals next month, while PSG manager Laurent Blanc said the club would discuss whether to lodge an appeal . Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second right) is shown the red card by referee Bjorn Kuipers (centre) on Wednesday night . Ibrahimovic (centre) makes the challenge on Oscar (left) and is sent off during the Champions League clash . Ibrahimovic (left) immediately raised his hands to protest his innocence after the tackle on Oscar . However, Uefa have told Sportsmail that clubs can only appeal red cards if they believe the referee has mistaken the identity of the offender. All red cards picked up in European competitions carry an automatic one-match ban which may be increased to three after a disciplinary panel reviews footage. UEFA says the panel will study the case at its March 19 meeting. If they decide to extend the ban, then PSG can launch an appeal against the additional matches but not the first. In England, the situation is different. Clubs are allowed until the end of the next working day after the match in question to lodge an appeal against a decision regardless of whether the referee has identified the correct offender. They then have a further 24 hours to supply evidence. Ibrahimovic protests his innocence as Oscar begins to writhe on the floor following the tackle . Ibrahimovic is shown the red card by the referee, under pressure from nine Chelsea players surrounding him . Ibrahimovic trudges down the tunnel after he had been sent off during the first half at Stamford Bridge . +Newcastle have made initial moves to sign Marseille forward Andre Ayew. The 25-year-old Ghana international is out of contract in the summer and his representatives have an outline offer from Newcastle. However, there is also interest from Roma while Tottenham and Everton have asked to be kept informed. Andre Ayew is out of contract at Marseille this summer, and Newcastle have made an initial approach . Ayew has netted six times for Marseille this season, as well as scoring three during the Africa Cup of Nations . Ayew scored three goals for Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations and has managed six all season for Marseille. Newcastle have also expressed interest in FC Sion striker Moussa Konate. The Ghana forward is wanted by several of Europe's top sides including Tottenham, Everton and Roma . +Ryan Shawcross is ready to make his return from a six week injury lay-off in time to face his old manager Tony Pulis. The Stoke captain has been out since aggravating a back injury during the 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers in January but could start against West Bromwich Albion. Shawcross has come through his first full week of training since suffering the problem and is a welcome boost for boss Mark Hughes as he targets a fourth straight Premier League victory. Stoke are set to have captain Ryan Shawcross (centre) back for their trip to West Brom on Saturday . Shawcross hasn't played since January after aggravating a back injury in their 3-1 home win over QPR . The Stoke captain (left) winces as he attended to by the club medic hurting his back . Speaking on Friday morning Hughes said: 'Ryan has joined in with the rest of the group for the best part of the week and he has come through it okay. 'Obviously there is still another session in front of us, and as long as he suffers no affects from that then he will certainly be in my thoughts. 'We have a doubt over Philipp Wollscheid anyway so having Ryan available could help us in that regard. We lost him early on in the last game against Everton and Geoff Cameron came on and performed superbly well. 'Whether Ryan or Philipp is available I still have good options available to me, so I aren’t too worried about it.’ Shawcross (left) could come in for Philipp Wollscheid who is a doubt for the trip to West Brom . +Jack Wilshere looks close to an Arsenal return as the England midfielder steps up his training routine. Wilshere missed Monday night's impressive FA Cup win against Manchester United, but he can look forward to a date at Wembley as the Gunners booked their place in the semi final. The 23-year-old treated fans to fitness update on Tuesday when he posted pictures of him at the gym alongside French teammate Mathoeu Flamini. Jack Wilshere posted a picture of himself training alongside French teammate Mathieu Flamini on Tuesday . The English midfielder shows off his leg work in his new Nike trainers as he closes in on a return to action . Wilshere has been out since February after picking up an ankle injury during the Premier League tie with Manchester United. Her will definitely miss the home clash with West Ham United on Saturday but he could be back in time to travel to France as Arsenal face Monaco in their must win Champions League clash. The Gunners find themselves 3-1 down on aggregate after a shock defeat to Leonardo Jardim's side. +Diego Costa doesn't look the same player in Europe as the one who reached the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid last season, according to former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. The Blues were eliminated from the competition after a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night sent Paris Saint-Germain through to the quarter finals on away goals. Costa cut a disconsolate figure throughout the game and, although he has taken the Premier League by storm this season, he has not scored in Europe's elite competition in all seven games this term. Diego Costa (2nd left) has failed to score in all seven of Chelsea's Champions League games this season . Costa was poor again as Chelsea crashed out of Europe with an away goals defeat to PSG . Chelsea cult hero Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (centre) doesn't think Costa looks the same player in Europe . Former Stamford Bridge favourite and now-Burton Albion manager Hasselbaink believes the 26-year-old has been afforded less space this term. 'Diego Costa needs space behind the defence, that's where he's at his best,' he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show. Costa celebrates scoring against Chelsea to reach last year's final with Atletico Madrid . Costa battles with former Chelsea defender David Luiz (left), who did manage to score at the Bridge . 'The Champions League is another level to the Premier League though. 'Last year he had that space when playing for Atletico Madrid, but this campaign he hasn't looked as good in Europe as when he's playing in the Premier League.' The Brazil-born forward was involved in several spats during the game, including a row with former Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye after the final whistle, and was widely condemned by the French media with L'Equipe giving him a miserly 3/10 rating. The Brazil-born striker reacts after being denied another decision during a frustrating evening . The Spaniard was involved in several rows, including with Yohan Cabaye (right) after the game . +Steve Bruce has brought an end to the uncertainty surrounding his future at Hull City after agreeing a new three-year deal. The Tigers boss was previously on a rolling 12-month contract at the KC Stadium - meaning he always had one year to run – but he will now put pen to paper on a long-term extension. Bruce had been linked with the recent vacancies at Newcastle and Fulham. Steve Bruce has agreed a new contract at Hull City which will be signed in the next 24 hours . Bruce's side are 15th in the Premier League standings, five points clear of the relegation zone . Bruce (centre) took Hull to the FA Cup final last season, where they lost 3-2 to Arsenal . Indeed, Sportsmail understands the former Manchester United defender was interested in the position at St James’ Park, while he was sounded out by Niall Quinn regarding the post at Craven Cottage. Bruce, though, has chosen to remain on Humberside. He said: ‘We have achieved a lot in the few years we have been here but this is just the beginning of the journey. Hull City supporters show their faith in manager Bruce for their last home game against Sunderland . Hull drew that game 1-1 with Dame N'Doye (right) scoring for Bruce's side . Bruce revealed that he has plenty of other aims that he wants to achieve in his time at Hull . ‘Premier League survival is now crucial for us at this time, as is improving our training facility as we look to continue to grow and become a solid, well-run Premier League club.’ Bruce took charge of Hull in the summer of 2012 and won promotion to the top-flight in his first season. They survived and made it to the final of the FA Cup last time around and are currently five points clear of the relegation zone. +This is the sickening moment a youth team footballer knocks out his opponent on the pitch. With the ball long gone, the shocking footage shows the Morecambe U18s striker appearing to launch his right fist into the temple of unaware Oldham Under 18s starlet Jack Tuohy. The sucker punch – creating a disturbing audible moment of impact - sends Tuohy, who had his back turned, crashing to the turf and seemingly unconscious. VIDEO: Scroll down to watch the sickening punch that knocks out Oldham youngster . Jack Touhy is struck from behind in the head, apparently with no provocation, by an opponenent . The Oldham youth player is knocked from his feet as he is knocked out by the punch . Tuohy later went to hospital after beginning to feel sick while his opponent was shown the red card for his staggering act of violence. The dramatic clip was taken during the second-half of Oldham's 7-2 victory over Morecambe at the club's Chapel Road Training Ground on Saturday. One witness said: 'It was Morecambe's number nine who lost it. Minutes earlier he had elbowed one of the Oldham lads in the face. The ref didn't see it and Oldham took the player off because he was bleeding and he had lost it. 'Then the ball has gone and the same lad just whacks another Oldham player in the face as he has his back turned and is running away. The striker had reportedly also elbowed an opponent just a few moments before . The Morecambe No 9 keeps running past the young Oldham star as if nothing had happened . 'In years and years of watching football I have never seen anything like it.' The witness added: 'I don't think the ref saw this one either but the Oldham players came running over and the linesman ran onto the pitch. 'He then sent the Morecambe lad off.' Oldham declined to comment on the incident but Sportsmail understands Tuohy was sent home after being checked over at hospital later on Saturday. After the game he tweeted: 'Good 7-2 win good to get a goal and head is killing me now wow.' A Morecambe statement read: ‘We have been made aware of an incident that occurred in a youth team game against Oldham and will hold our own enquiries into the matter over the next few days.’ +Two weeks of pent-up angst erupted during a full-throttle training game as England prepared to take out their frustration on Scotland. Defeat in Dublin in their last RBS Six Nations outing led to a prolonged post-mortem and fostered collective unrest, which came to a head three days before their next fixture, at Twickenham. The desire to produce a backlash in the Calcutta Cup encounter led to a feisty 15-a-side match at England’s HQ on Wednesday, overseen by Test referee JP Doyle. England head coach Stuart Lancaster instructs his squad during a training session on Wednesday . The England squad played out a fiercely committed training match on Wednesday ahead of facing Scotland . Head coach Stuart Lancaster said afterwards: ‘I had to calm it down, blow the whistle at the end and make sure we didn’t play the game too early.’ He was delighted by the players’ commitment and the calibre of opposition provided to a Test XV featuring two changes — with Mike Brown and Courtney Lawes recalled, as reported by Sportsmail. ‘The (non-starting) pack was Mako (Vunipola), Tom Youngs, Kieran Brookes, Parling, Kruis, Easter, Wood and Kvesic — who came in today as cover,’ said Lancaster. ‘You can see the quality of the players who were training against the starting XV. George Ford runs with the ball during a committed and well fought training match at England HQ . Mike Brown, who suffered concussion against Italy, is back in the starting XV for England on Saturday . Bath's Sam Burgess impressed head coach Stuart Lancaster as he took part in England training . ‘Both sides had an edge about them. The non-XV, if you like, had a point to prove but also wanted to create some intensity in the session, particularly at the breakdown, to make sure we were accurate as a team. ‘They did that and were a huge challenge for us defensively. We had talked in the review of the Ireland game about being accurate at the breakdown and sharp. Those components came into play and it was the type of session you need sometimes in the lead up to a big game.’ Asked if the coaches sought to nurture the needle which was in evidence yesterday, Lancaster added: ‘You look for it, and the players were in the right place for today. I’ve been in training weeks where it’s been like that — and you have to make sure that translates to match day. The England players played out some pent up frustration during a bruising training session . England: M Brown; A Watson, J Joseph, L Burrell, J Nowell; G Ford, B Youngs; J Marler, D Hartley, D Cole, D Attwood, C Lawes, J Haskell, C Robshaw (capt), B Vunipola. Subs: T Youngs, M Vunipola, K Brookes, G Parling, T Wood, R Wigglesworth, D Cipriani, B Twelvetrees. ‘We wanted to put the starting team under pressure so that they get used to making decisions under pressure and the more you can replicate that in training, hopefully when the game comes around, it comes easy.’ Lancaster conceded that England needed to clear the air with a no-holds-barred session. What he also needed was to see some of his fringe squad operating at that intensity, so he paid close attention to Exeter centre Henry Slade and Bath’s cross-code recruit Sam Burgess. Lawes has been reinstated in the second row at the expense of George Kruis and he confirmed that training yesterday had been combative. ‘It was tough,’ said the Northampton lock. ‘The boys were certainly up for it, which is what you want going into a game like this. You need to be on edge. It showed out there that we were certainly up for it at the weekend.’ This is not music to Scottish ears. England have been stewing, they are wound up and desperate to right the wrongs of Dublin. They’ve scrapped it out among themselves, now they’re primed to tear into Vern Cotter’s strugglers. Exeter's Jack Nowell concentrates as he works hard in preparation to face Scotland at Twickenham . England captain Chris Robshaw (centre) talks to his team-mates during a break in training . Courtney Lawes, passing during a training drill, will start against Scotland on Saturday at Twickenham . +Searching for clues to the recent decline of Angel di Maria, the break-in that occurred at his house in January cannot be overlooked. Di Maria’s form had dropped off before that, true, but not as alarmingly as it has in recent weeks. He wasn’t getting hooked at half-time before this event. Alvaro Negredo suffered a similarly shattering blow that ended his family’s love for their new country. He was not the same player after it happened. Di Maria is believed to be relocating his family to a new, high-level apartment following their traumatic experience. Angel di Maria has seen his form drop off in recent months and has been substituted in the last few games . Di Maria has been replaced in Manchester United's last two Premier League games . Alvaro Negredo had a tough time at Manchester City and left for Valencia . Negredo has returned to Spain on loan with Valencia . The player would not be human if he was unaffected, particularly as - like Negredo - he is still learning to speak English and must already feel quite alone. Manchester City came to the conclusion that Negredo was lost to them, and only a return to Spain would solve his problems. Manchester United may decide this is also the case with Di Maria — but have so much more to lose, financially, if he departs at the end of the season. +TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson escaped the furore surrounding his BBC suspension by heading to Stamford Bridge for Chelsea's crunch clash with PSG. The 54-year-old Top Gear presenter was suspended on Tuesday for allegedly punching a producer in a fight over food. TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson was spotted at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night . The 54-year-old appeared to be in high spirits despite suspension by the BBC . Chelsea fan Clarkson talks to Frank Lampard Snr before the match . And 24 hours later Chelsea fan Clarkson was spotted cheering on Jose Mourinho's men in the Champions League last 16 second leg tie. But the night ended in disappointment as Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League on away goals after extra time. Clarkson is being investigated for allegedly 'smacking' Oisin Tymon, 36, in the face after being told there was no hot food after a day's filming in Newcastle. More than 500,000 supporters have signed a petition demanding he is reinstated by the BBC while many more used the #BringBackClarkson and #jesuisClarkson hashtags to show support. Clarkson laughed and joked in the stands before Champions League clash at Stamford Bridge . Clarkson was suspended on Tuesday for allegedly punching a producer in a fight over food . More than 500,000 supporters have signed a petition demanding Clarkson is reinstated by the BBC . Clarkson looked in high spirits at Stamford Bridge ahead of Chelsea's Champions League exit . The online petition has become the fastest-growing ever to be hosted by Change.org - beating other high-profile campaigns including attempts to get The Sun to drop its topless page three models which received 240,000. Co-presenter James May admitted his friend was involved in a 'bit of a dust up' over dinner where a punch may have been thrown, but said the row was not 'serious'. The BBC has decided Top Gear will not be aired on Sunday and the further two remaining episodes of this year's series may also be axed while he is investigated. But Mr Clarkson, whose BBC contract expires this month, is considering quitting Top Gear even if he is cleared of punching Mr Tymon and moving to a rival TV network, a friend said. +Arsene Wenger has chosen Martin Keown's confrontation with Ruud van Nistelrooy as his most memorable moment in Arsenal's rivalry with Manchester United - and admitted he doesn't know where his FA Cup-winners medals are. Arsenal and United have had plenty of heated battles with Wenger referencing the infamous 'Battle of Old Trafford' incident as the one that stands out. Speaking to Sportsmail columnist Keown on BBC Radio 5 Live, Wenger recalled the defender's confrontation with Van Nistelrooy following the United striker's penalty miss in September 2003. Martin Keown confronts Ruud van Nistelrooy following the United striker's missed penalty in September 2003 . Keown screams at Van Nistelrooy following his last-minute spot kick miss during the 'Battle of Old Trafford' Arsene Wenger told Keown that the incident was his most memorable from Arsenal's encounters with United . 'The most memorable? You were involved in it,' Wenger said jokingly to Keown. 'Of course that famous incident with the penalty with Van Nistelrooy.' As Arsenal gear up for their FA Cup sixth round tie against Manchester United next Monday, Wenger insists he is as hungry as ever for success. Arsenal and United have enjoyed an intense rivalry in the cup down the years and are only separated by a point in the Barclays Premier League. Ahead of Monday's clash, Wenger admitted he didn't know where his FA Cup medals from previous successes were. 'Medals, I don't even know where there are,' said Wenger. 'That tells you that I don't look back. The human side of the game is more important to me as opposed to the medals. 'I prefer a box of memories. In this job, you have a big influence in people's lives, they have a big influence in your life as well. 'At the top top level, these are special people - that remains longer with you than the medal, it's not the only thing that matters. 'You want to think you can have a positive influence on people lives, the club and the style of play.' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger oversees training at the club's base in Colney on Monday . Wenger will attempt to outwit United manager Louis van Gaal, who has been criticised recently, but the Frenchman reserved special praise for the Dutchman. 'I think he's a great manager,' said Wenger. 'If you look at what he's done in his career, its incredible. He's stabilised the club. They've only lost two in 18 games. The job is more demanding now. Every game now is a trial where you judged before and after.' Arsenal's intense rivalry with United was defined for years by Wenger's clashes with Sir Alex Ferguson. 'I'm much happier to see him now than before,' Wenger added. 'In the end, it became more peaceful and respectful. He was not always objective defending his time, nor was I. 'Today, we are happy to have a good dinner or good glass of wine and just talk about football.' Mathieu Flamini (left) and Olivier Giroud celebrate with the FA Cup following Arsenal's 3-2 victory against Hull . Wenger admits that he and former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson (above) get on far better these days . +Hull City will be able to make another bid to change their name to Hull Tigers after an arbitration panel set aside the Football Association's decision to reject the name change. The club's owner Assem Allam wants to re-brand the club but the name change was rejected by the FA Council last year. Now an arbitration tribunal has ruled the name should remain Hull City for the time being but that the Council's decision be set aside after the involvement of Football Supporters' Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke on the sub-committee which recommended the name change be rejected. Hull City are free to make a new application to change their name to Hull Tigers . Hull owner Assem Allam, pictured in August 2014, wants to change the club's name to Hull Tigers . The findings of the arbitration tribunal stated: 'We have concluded that the decision of the council cannot stand. We set it aside. 'At this stage of the season it would be impractical and wholly inappropriate to direct the association to make a fresh decision to take effect during the current season. 'The club is free to make a new application.' Hull managed to claim a point against Leicester despite Tom Huddlestone's 72nd-minute dismissal . +Manu Tuilagi's recovery from a persistent groin injury remains a distant prospect and the wrecking-ball centre is racing to be fit to play any further rugby this season. The 23-year-old has not played since being forced off during Leicester’s Champions Cup tie against Ulster last October. The initial prognosis was that he would be sidelined for six to eight weeks, but that was soon exposed as wishful thinking. A series of target dates for his comeback have come and gone, and now it appears Tuilagi won’t resurface until the last month of the season — if at all. Manu Tuilagi has not featured since injuring his groin playing for Leicester back in October . The England centre is in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup, starting in September . Sportsmail understands he is setting his sights on playing four or five games for the Tigers in late April and May, but only time will tell if that ambition can be realised. England were already resigned to being without their midfield colossus for the entire RBS 6 Nations campaign, but having had Tuilagi in camp to oversee his rehabilitation, the management are aware that he is not close to being match-ready. The latest bulletin represented another setback in an alarmingly drawn-out recovery. ‘He is making good progress and is doing straight line running, but he still has some way to go,’ said head coach Stuart Lancaster ahead of another Calcutta Cup encounter which will not feature Tuilagi. ‘I think he’ll come good at the end of the season. Certainly Phil Pask (physio) has done a good job with him, but it’s not in the near future. By the end of the season he’ll be back playing. ‘It is about making sure his groin and the healing around it is strong enough to cope with the forces he puts through it. He is a powerful man and he needs to make sure the groin has healed sufficiently. It is a step-by-step process to make sure he does not re-injure it, so that is why people are very cautious.’ Leicester and England are keen to build their attacking game around Tuilagi’s forceful ball-carrying but the pattern in the last two years has been for longer spells injured than fit. He has made only four appearances for the Tigers this season, following a modest tally of 10 last season in a campaign disrupted by a prolonged recovery from a pectoral injury. Tuilagi is a destructive figure but when he breaks down it takes a long time for his powerful body to heal. In early December, his club’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, predicted an imminent return and outlined just what Leicester and England were missing. ‘Manu should be back by the end of December,’ he said at the time. ‘In the modern game you’ve got to be able to dent the line of the opposition — you need physicality and Manu gives you that. He has been huge for England. The midfield is the biggest problem England have and Manu gives you that one position solved.’ Tuilagi could make a return in the final month of the season but his World Cup place is in jeopardy . Tuilagi has struggled with injury over the past two seasons and has only played nine Tests since 2012 . Worryingly for Lancaster and his assistants, uncertainty over Tuilagi’s ability to withstand the rigours of his profession remains part of the problem. In 2012, he played 10 times for his country, culminating in a devastating contribution to the record win over the All Blacks at Twickenham. Since then he has made only nine Test appearances, four of them as a replacement and one of those for the Lions on a tour where his impact was undermined by yet another injury. Despite attempts to alleviate his condition using prolotherapy — involving injections of a sugar solution into the bone — it is thought that a recent improvement has been brought about by intensive physiotherapy. Leicester will hope his best-case scenario of a return for the business end of the season ignites their Aviva Premiership title challenge, while England will want Tuilagi to join their initial World Cup training squad in June, ready to play a full, active part. England head coach Stuart Lancaster confirmed Tuilagi is no closer to making a return . Lancaster oversees training as his side prepare to face Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday . How England will line up against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday . He remains the most potent weapon in the team’s back-line, when available. He can splinter the best defences and has even spooked the All Blacks with his explosive exploits in midfield. That continues to be the primary area of concern for Lancaster despite the advances made by Jonathan Joseph during this championship, to the extent that Henry Slade and Sam Burgess have been under close scrutiny in camp this week. That pair are seen as World Cup contenders. Billy Twelvetrees appears to be running out of chances to prove his Test credentials at 12, Luther Burrell is striving to claim that position and Kyle Eastmond appears to have been tried and discarded. Lancaster has said Tuilagi will be considered at inside centre, if that is the position to fill, while he was even shunted out to the wing in New Zealand last June. Whatever the number on his back, England will surely pick him, but by now they would ideally have spent ample time fine-tuning their centre combination. Instead, if Tuilagi is eventually cleared for a comeback, there will be a maximum of three pre- tournament friendlies to reintegrate him before the main event comes around. +Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk admits he feared his cup final dream had been wrecked by last week's red card at Tannadice. The Dutchman was sent-off during the Hoops' William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final draw with Dundee United following an off-the-ball spat with the Taysider's Calum Butcher. Referee Craig Thompson sent-off Van Dijk before making a major gaffe when he wrongly dismissed Butcher's Terrors team-mate Paul Paton. Virgil van Dijk (2nd left) goes up for a header during Celtic's 2-0 Scottish League Cup final win . Hoops boss Ronny Deila celebrates winning his first piece of silverware since arriving at Parkhead . That left both men sweating on their places for Sunday's QTS Scottish League Cup showdown at Hampden. But there was relief for Van Dijk and Paton as they were later cleared to play after successful appeals to the Scottish Football Association's disciplinary panel. And it was the Celtic centre-half who was left bearing the brightest grin as his side clinched Ronny Deila's first trophy as Parkhead boss with a 2-0 win at the National Stadium. Van Dijk said: 'It was quite a tough week. I've never experienced anything like it in my life. 'It would have been very disappointing if I'd not been allowed to play on Sunday, especially with it being my first final ever. 'But you know, justice was served and I was able to play. Luckily I got the red card overturned and we did a good job.' The Dutch defender was sent off for a clash with Callum Butcher in Scottish Cup quarter finals . Van Dijk is sent off but was later cleared to play on Sunday following a successful appeal . Dundee United's Paul Paton also had his red card rescinded after being wrongly sent off . Van Dijk has been linked with summer moves to south, with Barclays Premier League high-flyers Arsenal and Southampton monitoring his progress. But for now the 23-year-old is happy to enjoy Celtic's treble chase. 'It means a lot to have lifted the League Cup,' he said. 'It's my first cup trophy ever. 'This club is an amazing place, I have always said that. I have been improving since the day came here. 'That is the most important thing for a player. If you win trophies, that's even better.' Kris Commons fired Celtic ahead midway through the first half before substitute James Forrest stroked home a second 12 minutes from time. The Hoops winger also had time to miss a late penalty as a United side that spent the last 35 minutes a man down following skipper Sean Dillon's red card avoided a heavier defeat. However, Jackie McNamara's team will go for revenge when the sides meet for part three of their four-game duel with Wednesday's Scottish Cup replay. Van Dijk said: 'We made it tough for ourselves on Sunday and should have finished the game faster in the second half. James Forrest celebrates scoring Celtic's second goal before missing a late penalty at Hampden . Scorer of Celtic's first goal, Kris Commons, celebrates with the trophy following Celtic's win . 'One-nil is a dangerous score - if they had scored one goal they would have had the believe to hit us with everything. 'At moments it looked tough but Craig Gordon only had one save to make in the first half and nothing in the second half, so I think we did well. 'It's a big boost for us ahead of Wednesday night. We can go for the second cup now full of confidence. 'They will be up for it on Wednesday night and know they have possibilities with the players coming back in to their team. 'But we need to be ready and win the game.' +Leighton Baines may have been an Everton defender for eight years, but it seems he still isn't quite sure who is in charge of what at the club. Baines, who is currently out of the side because of an injury, was a pundit for ITV's coverage of his team's 2-1 win over Dinamo Kiev. But when asked about how his team defend from corners, following Oleg Gusev's first half header, Baines seemed completely stumped over who makes the decisions - even though he has played 63 times under manager Roberto Martinez. Oleg Gusev heads home Dynamo Kiev's first goal, with no player on the near post for Everton . Gusev celebrates, but Leighton Baines was unsure as to why there was no-one defending on the line . 'I'm not too sure,' said Baines, when asked whether it was Tim Howard's decision not to have a man on the near post at corners, or if the orders came from Martinez. 'We get the organisation before the game from the manager and the assistant manager before the game, so I'm not too sure who makes the final call.' What Baines was confident about was that the defending wasn't good enough. 'There's shades of the goal we conceded against Arsenal as well,' he added. Everton bounced back from the early set-back, as goals from Steven Naismith and Romelu Lukaku saw them take a lead from the first leg. Baines has been at the club for eight years, but still doesn't seem sure who calls the shots at Everton . +Winston Bogarde has applied for the vacant manager's job at Oldham Athletic. The former Holland international, infamous for four bench-warming years at Chelsea, is one of 70 people who have registered their interest in becoming Lee Johnson's successor at Boundary Park. Bogarde, 44, won a Champions League with Ajax in 1995 but it is the the centre-back's lucrative stint at Stamford Bridge for which he is most remembered in this country. Winston Bogarde spent four unsuccessful years at Chelsea between 2000 and 2004 . Bogarde in an Ajax shirt during Edwin van der Sar's testimonial at the Amsterdam Arena in 2011 . Bogarde celebrates Champions League glory after Ajax beat AC Milan in Vienna in 1995 with team-mates (left-right) Finidi George, Michael Reiziger, Marc Overmars, Nwankwo Kanu, and captain Danny Blind . Picking up a reported £10m, he started just four games under Gianluca Vialli and Claudio Ranieri and spent his final season commuting from Amsterdam, catching the early flight into Heathrow and training with the youth team at Harlington before his eventual retirement. In 2011, Sportsmail revealed Bogarde was facing financial ruin after his £3.2m luxury home was repossessed. Oldham say they are in no rush to appoint a new man after Johnson left to join League One rivals Barnsley despite being only five points outside the play-offs with a game in hand on most others. They were hammered 4-0 at home by Preston North End on Saturday and head to Port Vale on Tuesday evening again under the guidance of caretaker boss Dean Holden and playing assistant Adam Lockwood. Lee Johnson left League One side Oldham to become manager of Barnsley last week . Oldham have spoken to lifelong fan Paul Scholes about taking the role but admit any agreement with the United legend is unlikely. Former boss Iain Dowie is a fans' favourite but whether the club could give him the funds he feels he needs to take them to the next level is doubtful. Others in the frame include ex-West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Irvine, former player Shefki Kuqi and ex-Manchester City coaches Scott Sellars and Steve Eyre. +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was presented with a framed collection of photographs from his time with Monaco by vice-president Vadim Vasilyev as he made his return on Monday. Wenger faces the club he first managed in 1987 on Tuesday night when Arsenal try to overturn their 3-1 defeat from the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The Frenchman left Monaco in 1994, six years after winning the Ligue 1 title in his debut season, but Wenger will put sentiment aside as he tries to inflict defeat on the club he still remembers fondly. Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev presents Arsene Wenger with a framed collection of photographs . Arsenal manager Wenger was in bullish mood ahead of their Champions League showdown in Monaco . Arsenal boss Wenger walks on the pitch at the Stade Louis II on Monday night ahead of his team's match . Wenger, ahead of his first competitive return to Monte Carlo, said: 'For me personally, it’s a very special moment. 'I was a young coach here and was here for seven years. But tomorrow we have a Champions League game and the experience I gained here can help me. 'I am able to separate the importance of the game for my club and the pleasure I have at coming back. 'The best way to enjoy it most is to do well and to turn it around. 'My real pleasure would be to come back here more to see friends when there is not a match. I’m here for work and job is for the club to win. 'I have lots of respect for Monaco and I want to thank the club because they gave me my chance as a young trainer.' Wenger's seven years in Monaco saw him deliver the title in 1988 and the Coupe de France in 1991, but he will have to make history again on Tuesday night if Arsenal are to qualify. No team in the Champions League era have come back from a two-goal home deficit in the first leg and gone through. The last team to do so was Ajax in 1969 when they came from behind against Benfica and went through following a replay. Even worse for Arsenal is Monaco have not conceded three goals at home in a match for three-and-a-half years, and Wenger has his work cut out for him at his former club. Wenger's seven years in Monaco saw him deliver the title in 1988 and the Coupe de France in 1991 . A younger-looking Wenger celebrates a goal in 1990 as he was given his chance as a young coach in Monaco . Wenger returns to Monaco looking to cause an upset as Arsenal must come back from a 3-1 first-leg defeat . Wenger pictured in 1990 during a training session taking place during his time as Monaco manager . VIDEO Monaco favourites to progress . +At 100-plus kilometres per hour, Molly Taylor's car goes into a sideways slide that has it teetering on the brink of flipping over into an uncontrolled roll. No problem for Ms Taylor. She adjusts the steering wheel, shift's down a gear, and slams her foot on the accelerator to power out of the turn. Meet the young Australian driver who is smashing through the glass ceiling of motorsports. Not literally, of course. Australian Molly Taylor is the only woman competing in the World Rally Championships . Motorsports has always traditionally been a macho industry, but two women are breaking through the glass ceiling with fearless grit and determination . Ms Taylor, 26, is the only woman competing on the World Rally Championship circuit - a competition in which 19 drivers have been killed since it began in the earlier 1970s. She has joined Brit Susie Wolff, the only female Formula One test driver in the world, as women at the top of their chosen sports, both traditionally dominate by men. Both women were born with racing pumping through their veins - their parents worked in the motorsports arena. Although it wasn't expected that they follow in their footsteps - they were certainly never discouraged to take up the male-dominated sport because they were female. Susie Wolff, who now lives in Switzerland, is the only female F1 test driver in the world . Susie Wolff poses with fans before the first practice session at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne . The 32-year-old (right) grew up in the rugged highlands on the west coast of Scotland and rode her first motorbike at the wee age of just two years old . Born and bred in Sydney, both Ms Taylor's parents were competitors in rally car driving but it was her mother who had the most prominent career as a co-driver for Toyota. 'As we were growing up she was the high profile person, even more than my father, so I didn't think that was weird,' she said. 'Dad was at home making our lunches for school while my mum was competing around the country, so I didn't really think that was anything abnormal - I just thought everyone's mums did that. 'So if you have that mindset from the start and then find what you love doing that's what you base it on and everything else happens around you.' Ms Taylor's first taste of being behind the wheel of a rally car was when she was learning to drive and her parents tested out her skills purely for safety purposes. Molly Taylor, 26, (left) and Susie Wolff, 32. (right) have accelerated to the top of their respective motorsports and don't plan on taking the foot of the pedal anytime soon . What a rush: Born and bred in Sydney, both of Ms Taylor's parents were competitors in rally car driving but it was her mother who had the most prominent career . 'I couldn't believe the adrenalin rush and how much fun it was,' she said. 'When you start to enjoy something you get competitive, and when you get competitive you want to win, and then once you win in that category you want to move up - and then you're hooked.' Daily Mail Australia was given exclusive access to Ms Taylor and Ms Wolff in the lead up to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne - including a heart-stopping ride in the navigator's seat of Ms Taylor's rally car. The most impressive thing to witness was Ms Taylor's unflinching concentration and precisely honed skills, even with the car racing around the track at high speed, with dust flying and the engine screaming. Hundreds of thousands of hard-core rev heads gearing up for the Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend . Endearingly unassuming about their success, these two know that they have excelled in their fields because they have worked hard - and not because they are just the token females in a man's world . Wolff, who now lives in Switzerland with her husband who heads the Mercedes Benz F1 team, started her love for all things fast not long before she could walk. The 32-year-old grew up in the rugged highlands on the west coast of Scotland and rode her first motorbike at the wee age of just two years old. 'My brother is only 18 months older so I was always of the belief that I could do anything he could do,' she said. Her father owned a motorbike shop and he met his wife-to-be when she walked into buy a set of wheels. Taylor's (right) first taste of being behind the wheel of a rally car was when she was learning to drive and her parents tested out her skills purely for safety purposes . 'When you start to enjoy something you get competitive, and when you get competitive you want to win, and then once you win in that category you want to move up - and then you're hooked,' the 26-year-old (right) said . Now she's a test driver for Williams Martini Racing team and the only woman on the F1 circuit. Ms Wolff said her parents never pressured her into following any particular - her brother, for example, became a film maker. 'I have so much respect for my parents that they allowed us to chase our dreams because we both dropped out of uni to follow our own path and I'll always be thankful for that,' she said. 'There is so much pressure to go along that standard path of go to university and get a job.' Taylor's parents had a similar attitude when their children were growing up. 'My parents would have been exactly the same if I wanted to be a rally driver or a pilot' she said. 'They were just always supportive of whatever my passion was - which happened to be the same as them.' It is believed many more women will climb the motorsport ladder over the years until it eventually becomes the norm . Both women have no doubt that being born with that competitive streak and instilled with a great determination and belief that they can do whatever they put their minds to has helped get them to where they are today. A sense of fearlessness is also very important as both women insist you can't allow that emotion to enter your head if you want to succeed. Taylor has only ever come away with a few scratches and bruises despite facing tough terrain for up to an entire day. 'The car gets hurt more than me - and my wallet hurts too,' Taylor said. 'The moment you are scared you are not thinking about the job.' Wolff echoed those words saying you can't afford to have fear when you are in control of the car. 'I respect that cars go fast and can be dangerous but if you get scared, it's time to stop because you are not concentrating,' she said. Both women have no doubt that being born with that competitive streak and instilled with a great determination and belief that they can do whatever they put their minds to has helped get them to where they are today . Endearingly unassuming about their success, they know that they have excelled in their fields because they have worked hard - and not because they are just the token females in a man's world. Taylor said she has only ever been supported in her career over the past decade. 'I think when I started I was just focused on what I wanted to do and if you come across and act professional and serious about what you do then there's no resistance and you get the same respect back and then you're treated as just one of the boys,' she said. Wolff believes that they are in their roles because they are simply the best people for the job. 'Racing is a very performance-based environment on and off the track,' she said. However, she admits the attention that females attract in the sport is a double-edged sword because the more the word gets out there, the more young girls will be inspired to jump on board. 'It's good that it has been brought across in a positive way but I'm not in racing to prove a point - I'm in racing because I found my passion and I love it.' They have watched the industry evolve over time and believe many more women will climb the motorsport ladder over the years until it eventually becomes the norm. Wolff said it takes generations to see that kind of change but it is happening. 'There are no clear role models - the little girls watching F1 don't see many women so there are not enough girls starting at a young age, she said. 'But I see it changing a lot in F1 - nobody came and said we need more women - the women just came in to do the best possible job,' she said. 'Now there's a lot more women in the paddock which means they were the best for the job.' Taylor is also seeing a significant shift in rally car driving. 'It's certainly something that's changing because it such a difficult sport - you have so many people that start out at the grassroots level and then that filters out as you get higher in the levels - so it's just a matter of time before we see more women progressing all the way up,' she said. +So Everton continue to fly England’s flag in Europe and there is no sense they are ready for this adventure to end. This has been a hugely frustrating domestic campaign, one in which Everton have lurched to the brink of calamity. But the Europa League has provided excitement and opportunity and did so again, with Everton now 90 minutes away from the last eight. True, it will be difficult to get there. Allowing Dynamo Kiev to score an away goal means Everton will require a performance of strength and discipline in Ukraine next week but at least they can travel with confidence thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s 82nd-minute penalty. Romelu Lukaku celebrates his late penalty which gives Everton a precious lead ahead of next week's return leg in the Ukrainian capital . After a long wait, a nervy Lukaku put the ball to Oleksandr Shovkovskiy's left and his penalty just about beat the keeper to nestle in the net . Steven Naismith celebrates his leveller as the Scot's instinctive finish restored parity before the break after great work from Lukaku . Naismith coolly slips the ball beyong the onrushing Oleksandr Shovkovsky to raise the roof at an expectant Goodison Park . Oleg Gusev slips away from Ross Barkley on the far post, darts toward the near post and connects with a corner to steer past Tim Howard . Gusev wheels away in jubilation after giving the visitors the lead to give Toffees fans plenty to think about on a nervy European night . Lukaku reacts after squandering a chance to put Everton ahead, but the club's £28m record signing made amends later with his spot kick . EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard 6: Coleman 6.5, Alcaraz 6, Jagielka 8, Garbutt 7: McCarthy 6.5, Barry 7: Naismith 7.5, Barkley 6 (Osman 74, 6), Mirallas 6 (Kone 64, 6): Lukaku 7 . Subs not used: Joel, Gibson, Besic, Atsu, Browning. Booked: Mirallas . Goals: Naismith 39, Lukaku 82 . Manager: Roberto Martinez 6.5 . DYNAMO KIEV (4-2-3-1): Shovkovskiy 5.5: Vida 6, Dragovic 6.5, Silva 6, Antunes 6: Veloso 7, Sydorchuk 7: Gusev 7 (Kravets 76mins), Buyalskiy 6 (Garmesh 67mins 6), Yarmolenko 7: Mbokani 6 . Subs not used: Rybka, Chumak, Khacheridi, Kalitvintsev, Teodorczyk . Booked: Mbokani . Goal: Gusev 14 . Manager: Sergei Rebrov 6 . Referee: Carlos Carballo (Spain) 6 . Attendance: 30,000 . MOTM: Jagielka . Ratings by Dominic King . Steven Naismith’s goal had dented Kiev’s hopes of a first win in England in 12 visits but, more importantly, it showed Everton’s appetite to fight. On a filthy night when the rain tumbled relentlessly, it would have been easy for them to buckle. As it was, they kept going. There were excellent performances, not least from captain Phil Jagielka and Gareth Barry, and there was also courage, not least from Lukaku. His seventh European goal of the campaign may just be the one Roberto Martinez needs to turn things around. ‘It has to be a turning point,’ said the Everton manager. ‘Our fans know that we have got an honest group of players. When we get the tempo right and have that expression in our play, we have shown that we are a good team. ‘You cannot underestimate how important it is to win in Europe. Our intensity was very pleasing. That was us at our best level. We know we have a good side.’ Usually for such contests, there is a crackle of anticipation around Goodison Park but things were markedly different. Everton’s dreadful form through a bleak midwinter has left many fans sceptical and miserable performances have sapped their energy. A positive start would have quelled anxieties but Everton, playing in all blue on orders from UEFA to avoid a clash with Dynamo, were sluggish and horribly short of confidence. No one was prepared to take charge or provide a run to open gaps for others. Sensing they could profit, Dynamo began to venture forward with increased purpose, and after 14 minutes they inflicted the kind of blow that Martinez had spoken of with dread in the build-up, a goal to complicate an already difficult task. In many ways, it highlighted Everton’s current ills. Andriy Yarmolenko flung in a corner, James McCarthy was too slow to react and Oleg Gusev nipped in to direct a volley into the roof of the Gwladys Street net. Standing on the touchline in the downpour, Martinez looked shell-shocked. When Sergei Sydorchuk then tested Tim Howard with a shot from 20 yards that skidded off the greasy surface, the groans were becoming louder and there was a definite sense that rebellion was in the air. Naismith finished off some wonderful work from Lukaku to give Everton a foothold in the game. Check out more from Match Zone . Lukaku shows a clean pair of heels to Danilo Silva as the Everton frontman begins another attack for the home hopefuls . Romelu Lukaku fires in a free-kick but the big Belgian failed to trouble the scoresheet on this occasion . The Dynamo Kiev wall jumps in unison as Lukaku's fizzing effort sails past the men in white and out for a corner . Then, from nowhere, Everton started to play. ‘We gave a cheap goal away but I could not be more proud of our reaction,’ said Martinez. The momentum shifted when Jagielka charged down a loose ball and surged upfield, passing to Lukaku with Dynamo keeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy stranded outside his area. Had Lukaku returned the pass, Jagielka would have had an open goal to aim at but instead the Belgian shot horribly wide. No matter. Everton had a spark and in the next attack, after 37 minutes, Luke Garbutt’s inswinging corner was met flush by Jagielka but the England defender’s header was cleared from under the bar by Danilo Silva. Antolin Alcaraz then smashed the rebound over the bar. Gareth Barry leapfrogs Sergei Sydorchuk as the veteran midfielder battles for possession in the Everton engine room . Kevin Mirallas and Silva battle for the ball during a gritty encounter on Merseyside which leaves Everton neatly poised to progress . Lukaku terrorises three Dynamo Kiev players as the Everton talisman attempts to showcase his attacking prowess . This was a significant improvement and soon Everton were level. Lukaku can infuriate with his ability to make the wrong call but his play to create the equaliser for Naismith was outstanding, bull-dozing his way past three challenges before slipping in the Scot, whose finish was admirably cool. As he wheeled away to celebrate, Naismith made a point of signalling to Jagielka and for good reason. He had played a captain’s role, taking the game by the scruff of the neck and driving his team forward. His input was crucial. Half-time came but it did not check Everton’s impetus. They came out of the blocks for the second period with purpose and Lukaku’s hulking presence continually unsettled Silva and forced him to make mistakes. One such error led to a corner from which Naismith almost scored with a header. That Naismith missed was not a problem. The mood around the stadium had completely changed. Everton looked dangerous every time they attacked and the suspicion was that Shovkovskiy would buckle if they kept testing him, as the impressive Garbutt did with a fizzing free-kick. Luke Garbutt lies on the sodden turf and winces as Everton's Europa League campaign continued in sterling fashion . Roberto Martinez shares a moment with Sergei Rebrov as the former Spurs and West Ham striker made a losing return to England . The travelling fans were in good humour and voice as the leaders of the Ukrainian Premier League travelled to Merseyside en masse . Each raid forward attracted encouragement from the stands and aware of the difference the crowd could make, Lukaku urged them to keep making a noise. Suddenly it felt like Everton could pinch a lead and so it proved with eight minutes remaining. When Silva handled substitute Leon Osman’s cross, referee Carlos Carballo had no hesitation pointing to the spot. Lukaku did the rest, firing his penalty straight down the middle. Warsaw on May 27, for the moment, remains an aspiration.Lukaku said: ‘The team reacted well after the first half. We should have maybe scored three goals to be safe but they have top-class players. It’s up there with my best performances. If we want to save the season we have to keep playing like this.’ +Stuart McCall says he hopes to be appointed Rangers boss on a long-term basis – after agreeing to join the club until the end of the season. McCall replaces Kenny McDowall with the remit to get the Ibrox club, rejuvenated off the field following Dave King’s successful ousting of the previous board, out of the Championship. And, while he is urging the dozen out-of-contract players at Rangers to concentrate on winning new deals, he made it very clear that he’d like to stay on beyond the summer. New Rangers manager Stuart McCall raises the club scarf after being unveiled on Thursday afternoon . The former Motherwell boss said: ‘Yes. Regarding the players playing for their futures and new contracts, I’m in the same boat. ‘We’re here for the short term, we know that. But we’ve got an opportunity to put down a marker. If we can do well, who knows what will happen in the future? ‘I’ve enjoyed being back on the training ground. It’s a big, big challenge. Anyone who has seen the side over the last three or four months will know that. But it’s a massive opportunity, privilege and honour. McCall will be tasked with rejuvenating Rangers' promotion bid with the team third in the Championship . Stuart McCall (right) during his spell as Motherwell manager, where he was in charge from 2010-14 . Rangers announced that caretaker manager Kenny McDowall has left the club ahead of a new appointmnet . McCall (centre right) celebrates the 1992 SPL during his Rangers playing days with the Ibrox club . ‘I’ve got a million and one text messages wishing me good luck – and I’ll need them all. But look at quality of squad. They know we’ve underperformed. There is enough quality in there to do better. ‘Football can change so quickly. There is no magic pill for confidence, which has severely lacking. But sometimes a new voice can provide a spark. ‘Their main aim should be turning things around. There are 12 boys out of contract, go win yourself a contract. McDowall was a reluctant leader at Rangers and was boss for 10 games, winning just three of those . ‘Be there at end of season, going around a full Ibrox to cheers, rather than hurrying down tunnel being booed off.’ McCall spoke to McDowall on Thursday and intends to make contact with former team-mate Ally McCoist, still technically on gardening leave from Rangers. His reign began with hard work on Wednesday, calling the players in on their day off to go through an afternoon training session, explaining: ‘Our aim is to get out of the league. The quicker we could get down to it, better. Stuart McCall (left), who was Scotland assistant under Gordon Strachan, has taken charge at Ibrox . ‘They got a group text at half eleven to come in for half two, which would have been tricky for some of them. We had meeting, set a few things out, went out and trained in lovely rain. ‘To cap it off, the under-20s beat Ross County 6-1, So we’re off to a good start! It was a great to get back on the coaching field and I look forward to progressing. ‘People say they don’t look fit. If you are playing with confidence, you look a yard quicker. Rangers interim chairman Paul Murray said in a statement that McDowall will 'always be welcome' at the club . ‘Off the park, things look to be going great. I’ve always said it’s important to have Rangers people on the board. ‘You don’t need someone Ranger-minded as manager. But somebody who knows the league, knows players, knows Scottish football was probably right choice. ‘In an ideal world, you would want to come in to a club in pre-season. We’ve got to hit the ground running. ‘The supporters don’t want to boo and criticise, they want to get behind the team. This club has been kicked for too long.’ +Arsene Wenger is still haunted by the game which was the catalyst for Manchester United’s greatest ever achievement. It was in 1999, another FA Cup tie, a semi-final. It was at Villa Park, with 90 minutes of a replay having failed to separate the two teams that then dominated English football in that era. United were down to 10 men and Dennis Bergkamp had missed a penalty for Arsenal in the final minute of normal time with the game locked at 1-1. Arsene Wenger looks on dejectedly after losing the FA Cup semi-final replay to Manchester United in 1999 . Dennis Bergkamp (right) missed a penalty in that game in United's treble winning season . Ryan Giggs (right) struck United's winner with a sensational solo effort to send them through to the final . Then on 109 minutes, Patrick Vieira misplaced a pass, Ryan Giggs picked up the ball in his own half and set off on a run which would end up in him revealing an alarming amount of chest hair after scoring one of the great goals in the history of the tournament. In Wenger’s mind, it tipped the balance in the title race and provided the foundation for United to achieve an unprecedented treble of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League. ‘I can still hear the shouts of that team, having won,’ said Wenger. ‘They couldn’t believe it because they were down to 10 men. And I think that put them in a state of euphoria. In the same way, they won the title — just. ‘I saw that goal again when Giggs retired. I think that goal won them the treble because, if Bergkamp scores, I think the game is over. It was a trauma for us and a positive for them. That goal was certainly what decided their season.’ Wenger still remembers the details of the title run in, saying: ‘They played at Blackburn and we lost at Leeds in the last minute, when Nigel Winterburn was kicked off [the pitch]. Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink scored at the far post and Kaba Diawara hit the bar twice. After that, they won the Champions League final in the last minutes — 1999 was a miracle year for them.’ Bergkamp recalls missing the penalty in his book and admitted it bothered him for a while after the game . Giggs (second left) will now take on Wenger from the dugout as an assistant to Louis van Gaal . Wenger will be hoping to avenge the defeat by beating United in Monday's FA Cup quarter-final . Bergkamp in his book, Stillness And Speed, said: ‘I still took the odd [penalty] without problems, without hesitation and without missing. But that miss did bother me for quite a while and next season Thierry Henry became our penalty taker.’ Ray Parlour, who was interviewed for the same book, said: ‘In those days it was only us and United. Dennis, if he scores that penalty, we win the double because...their heads would have gone down in the league.’ As for Monday, Wenger said: ‘Let’s not consider Man United. Let’s focus on our performance. They play at home where they feel confident. So, to compensate that we have to put more effort in and produce a really top-level performance.’ +Gareth Bale's first-half brace against Levante on Sunday helped Real Madrid to their first win in three games and also provided the perfect response for the Welshman to some of the recent individual criticism he has faced. World-record signing Bale had not scored in the nine games preceding the clash with Levante and had been the target of plenty of boos and whistles around the Santiago Bernabeu stadium; and following his opening goal on 18 minutes, the winger made a point of venting his frustration, covering his ears and kicking the corner flag. Spanish sports newspaper Marca splashes on Bale and Real's timely return to form ahead of their La Liga title showdown with Barcelona next week. Marca splash on Bale's superb performance against Levante as the Welshman responds to his critics . AS say that Bale's inspired performance against Levante can help Real Madrid to regain their confidence . AS leads with a similar line, 'Bale therapy for the Nou Camp,' suggesting that the player's goals are the ideal tonic for Los Blancos' recent dip in confidence after some disappointing results. Elsewhere, Mundo Deportivo previews Barcelona's Champions League last 16 second-leg with Manchester City. Barca currently lead City 2-1 on aggregate following their win at the Etihad Stadium back in February, and the magazine spotlights talisman Lionel Messi as the Catalan side's main goal threat. The Argentinian forward scored twice against Eibar on Saturday to bring his seasonal tally to 43. Mundo Deportivo's match report of Real Madrid's game, meanwhile, centres in on a sub-plot of Bale's renaissance - the seeming unhappiness of team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. Indeed, Ronaldo was visibly frustrated after his failed bicycle kick was cleared off the line, only for Bale to pounce on the rebound. It was hardly the action of a man playing solely for his team. As Mundo Deportivo preview Barcelona's clash with Manchester City, Messi is singled out for attention . +England head coach Stuart Lancaster believes the 'fantastic potential' of Henry Slade will drive his challenge for a place in the World Cup squad. Slade has been called up as midfield cover ahead of Saturday's RBS 6 Nations clash with Scotland after centre Brad Barritt was ruled out of the remaining two rounds by a sprained ankle. Only a late flurry of injuries would see Slade plunged into action in the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham, but that has not stopped Lancaster looking to the looming World Cup and its warm-up games as the right time to blood the 21-year-old centre and fly-half. Henry Slade has impressed Stuart Lancaster, who thinks he will compete for a World Cup place . England coach Lancaster has been looking for the right time to blood the 21-year-old Slade . Salde (left) pictured in domestic action for his club side Exeter Chiefs against Bath rugby . Superb game management, accomplished kicking skills and solid defence have established Slade's reputation in the Aviva Premiership with the Exeter Chiefs and the wait for full international honours may soon be over. 'The more I see him, the more I think he's got fantastic potential. I've always known it having seen him come through the age-group teams,' Lancaster said. 'We have a lot of competition at fly-half, but he's also adept in the centres. That's one of the options I'd like to look at for him in the future. For definite he'll be a part of our World Cup camp. 'In your World Cup squad of 31, you absolutely have to have players who can play in different positions like Henry. You need that flexibility, it's crucial. 'We will have to generate training time before we throw him into a game at international level. Lancaster believes Henry's versatility could be crucial during the World Cup . Lancaster will start his camp for the World Cup, held in England, on June 21 . 'In the very short term we have a chance to do that on Tuesday and Wednesday, which we've done anyway when he's been in camp. 'This Six Nations programme is going to finish in 12 day's time and then our World Cup camp starts on June 21. Then we've got all of June, July and August until we have to make a decision. 'Someone like Henry can be reasonably confident of being there or thereabouts.' +Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League as 10-man Paris St Germain twice came from behind to win an ill-tempered last-16 tie on away goals at Stamford Bridge. The first leg was drawn 1-1 and Chelsea's advantage grew when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was harshly sent off after 31 minutes. Gary Cahill's strike nine minutes from the end of normal time was cancelled out by former Chelsea defender David Luiz, but the hosts went ahead for a second time through an Eden Hazard penalty early in extra-time. PSG captain Thiago Silva, who conceded the spot-kick for handball, was denied from a corner by Thibaut Courtois but then netted with a header moments later to make it 2-2 on the night and send the visitors through. Chelsea striker Diego Costa clashes with former Blues defender David Luiz . Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Thibaut Courtois 6.5 . Mainly unflappable, but beaten by Cavani’s dummy on 57 minutes; great save from Thiago Silva header in extra time. Cesar Azpilicueta 6.5 . Should be known as the running man as he never stops but not enough going forward. Branislav Ivanovic 6 . Pushed on plenty, defended in characteristic style and consistent if nothing else. Costa pushes over Marquinhos behind the back of referee Bjorn Kuipers (right) Gary Cahill 7 . A superb strike to score from Terry’s flick back on 81 minutes; mostly strong when required in defence though with the odd unsure moment. John Terry 6.5 . Kept cajoling and leading his team and defended with customary determination and provided flick back for Cahill goal but allowed Thiago Silva above him for the winner. Oscar 6 . Worked hard defensively, precise in his passing. Victim of the Ibrahimovic tackle. Costa (left) gets into an altercation with Paris St Germain's Thiago Motta (right) Cesc Fabregas 5.5 . Slow when defending counters; good in distribution. Stifled by Verratti and Motta. Nemanja Matic 6 . Solid as ever in holding midfield but struggled to get the tempo going after Ibrahimovic’s sending off. Ramires 5.5 . Couldn’t inject urgency into Chelsea attacking play as they struggled against 10 men. PSG styriker Edison Cavani remonstrates with Chelsea's Eden Hazard . Eden Hazard 7.5 . Impish, skittish and at times delightful. Found it hard to find space as PSG solidified after red card but stepped up with coolness to score the penalty . Diego Costa 6.5 . A running duel with Thiago Silva and David Luiz. It was for nights such as this he was signed and he battled throughout but to no avail. Costa argues with PSG midfielder Yohan Cabaye after the final whistle . Subs . Drogba (for Ramires 90) 5.5 . Made little impact on his 37th birthday . Zouma (Matic 84) 6 . Solid enough in defensive midfield . Manager . Jose Mourinho 6 . Not much wrong with the shape or selection but Chelsea couldn’t seem to hit the required tempo – playing against ten men made no difference. PSG (4-3-2-1) Salvatore Sirigu 6 . Occasionally unsure but in the main was solid enough and up to it when called upon. Maxwell 7.5 . Prodigious getting forward when necessary; tucked in and defended well too. Marquinhos 7 . Marking Hazard in impish form is one of the hardest jobs in football; but acquitted himself extremely well . David Luiz sinks to his knees after the final whistle with PSG progressing at the expense of his old club . David Luiz 8.5 . Dramatic falls, play-acting, some solid defending and a superb goal. Thiago Silva 8 . Looking like a man who’d walked out of a bar-room brawl, he was imperious at the back until that moment of madness to give away the penalty. Then redeemed himself with in the most glorious manner possible. Javier Pastore 6.5 . Defended with aplomb, supporting Marquinhos whenever he could. Luiz celebrates after scoring the equaliser against his former club at Stamford Bridge . Marco Verratti 7.5 . Sprung forward whenever he could, passed with intent and defending robustly. Thiago Motta 7.5 . Was the team’s foundation stone, marshalling the space in front of the back four; came into his own after the Ibrahimovic sending off. Blaise Matuidi 6.5 . Quikc on the counter, soild in the tackles. Did the job that was asked of him tirelessly. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is beaten by a header from PSG's Thiago Silva . Zlatan Ibrahimovic 5 . He was unfortunate the ref reached for red rather than yellow – but the red-card tackle was undisciplined and un-necessary and put him at risk. Edinson Cavani 7 . Lucky to avoid conceding a penalty on 43 minutes when he fouled Diego Costa; hit post for narrowest of angle after superb run to put himself through on 57 minutes. Subs . Lavezzi (for Verratti 83) 6 . Rabiot (for Matuidi 83) 6 . Manager . Laurent Blanc 7 . Even when the game plan went to pot after Ibrahimovic’s sending off, PSG remained a discipline defensive block. Their plan was well executed. +Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League on away goals after a 2-2 draw at home to PSG, who progressed to the quarter-finals with the aggregate score finishing 3-3. Here, is a look at some of the best reactions on Twitter. Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney: 'That is one of the best performances I've ever seen with 10 men from psg.' Zlatan Ibrahimovic is shown a red card as the Chelsea players call for treatment for Oscar . Both players flew into the tackle, as it appeared Ibrahimovic was withdrawing his legs as the pair collided . Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker: 'Extraordinary performance from PSG. To play with 10 men for an hour and a half without their best player and overcome Chelsea is a triumph.' PSG's official Twitter feed: 'GAME OVER!!!! DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!! 10-MAN PSG ADVANCE TO THE @ChampionsLeague quarterfinals!!!!! £CHEPSG.' Former Argentina midfielder and Tottenham manager Osvaldo Ardiles: 'Very very poor performance for Chelsea, so defensive. Pity to see such a wonderful array of players playing so negative. Best team won.' David Luiz gets up above Branislav Ivanovic to power his header past Thibaut Courtois to draw level . Luiz celebrates after scoring against his former club, sliding on his knees in front of the travelling fans . Former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland striker John Aldridge: 'Chelsea simply got what they deserved.The way they played portrayed their manager.Negativity at home rarely works.' Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright: 'Don't know what they'd do without Hazard ! 10 men for 90 minutes?' Former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler: 'People will respect Mourinho tonight if he comes out and says exactly what we've just seen.' Thiago Silva's late header loops over Courtois to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League . Jose Mourinho's men cannot believe they have conceded again as they trudge back towards the halfway line . Former five-time world darts champion Eric Bristow: 'Oh well, my boys Chelsea out, but fair play best team won, well done Paris SG.' BBC pundit and former Crystal Palace forward Mark Bright: 'I think Courtois has got away without a mention, his position from the corner wasn't good, tries to anticipate the cross get caught out £cfc.' +The soothing tones of Bob Marley drifted through the air at Stamford Bridge as the teams prepared for extra-time. Some were down on their haunches, receiving pellets of information, others flat on their backs receiving muscle rubs. 'Don't Worry 'bout a Thing,' sang Bob. Then Didier Drogba came on. If this were T20 cricket it might have been his theme tune, a special request on his 37th birthday. Why worry? This was all under control. Never in doubt. Someone seemed to be guiding Chelsea on a celestial path into the last eight. Was it Eden Hazard? Thibaut Courtois? Bjorn Kuipers? Bob Marley and the Wailers? Jose Mourinho and the Wailers? Or another other-worldly force. Chelsea players look dejected after being dumped out of the Champions League at home to PSG . Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho looks furious on the touchline after watching his team twice concede a lead . Turned out it was none of them. Turned out there was something to worry about. That something was Paris Saint-Germain, a team with bottle to match their talent. A team which took everything Mourinho could throw their way, scored twice from set-pieces and emerged triumphant. It leaves Chelsea to focus on the Barclays Premier League title. Roman Abramovich looked down from his seat in the West Stand. The Champions League will have to wait for another year. And it leaves English football to contemplate the prospect of no teams in the last eight for the second time in three years. Chelsea can have no complaints. Almost every decision went their way. Still Mourinho had the audacity to shake his head when the fourth official declared two added minutes at the end of extra time. Roman Abramovich looks down from his seat in the West Stand as Chelsea crashed out of Europe . His players left the pitch in scenes reminiscent to the defeat against Barcelona, only this time they would not blame the referee. And it all seemed to be going to plan, When the chaos first descended before half-time, Mourinho snuggled back into his seat alongside Rui Faria in the Chelsea dug-out. A few yards to his right, Laurent Blanc was flapping his arms in despair. On the pitch, David Luiz was in danger of losing control. Story of the game: minute 31, minute 43, minute 58, minute 96, minute 114 as is the fashion at Stamford Bridge. At least, that's how it went on the previous outing, an equally frenzied draw against Burnley, the fall-out of which was still falling out days later. PSG manager Laurent Blanc holds his arms out in the direction of the fourth official as Mourinho looks on . Former Chelsea man David Luiz gestures towards Blues striker Diego Costa during Wednesday's encounter . Here was Mourinho's chaos theory unfolding again. Traps set were stumbled into by PSG, a club still naive to the injustices of this competition in the closing stages, when the teams are so tightly matched, tactics cautious and the importance of decisions by the officials magnified beyond belief. Chelsea learned the hard way over the years but are now among the most seasoned. They break up play, they milk the contact, they circulate the tacklers, they over-react and pressurise the officials. On the side, Jose and the Wailers do their bit. It does not guarantee anything, of course. Not against this calibre of opposition. But every little helps, and their manager understands this better than most. Hence his pre-match posturing and the clear mind to react when the tie tilts and blurs. Edinson Cavani took the ball around Thibaut Courtois (right) but rattled the post with the goal exposed . PSG frontman Cavani reacts after missing the chance to put the Ligue 1 side ahead in the 58th minute . As the first half ended in manic scenes, Mourinho made his decisions. Here was the theory amid the chaos. Off came Oscar, to prevent a second yellow card, to tighten the centre of the pitch with Ramires and to add the fizz of Willian. Cards played, the manager was tenser and prowled his technical area during the second half, his hands sunk into his coat pockets, until it was time to remonstrate and demand more his players. Tighter, faster, they could not allow the tempo to slip against PSG. Edinson Cavani rattled the woodwork. That was minute 58. Perhaps he should have scored. His team-mates threw themselves to the turf in despair. Minute 43 was a penalty Chelsea might have had. Minute 31 was the red card for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It was harsh and it might have killed off weaker teams. Not so Paris. They have bottle to go with their ability. Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is shown the red card after a collision with Chelsea's Oscar . The 33-year-old heads into this challenge with Oscar (left) in the first-half which got him sent off . The PSG forward immediately acknowledged his fault in the incident having collided with Oscar . Chelsea captain John Terry (left) reacts after Ibrahimovic's tackle on Oscar in the first-half at Stamford Bridg . Chelsea had work to do. They had to stop football breaking out, for one thing, because when it did, the French were better at it. As in Paris, Courtois came under fire as those in front of him started to wilt. It has been an intense campaign and, despite his fears about the relentless intensity of the English game and the way some training sessions are more competitive than the games in French football, Mourinho has been low on rotation. He has relied instead on the rotation enforced by various suspensions. On Thursday night he lost Matic, and the decision to send on Kurt Zouma backfired when they conceded almost immediately. Minute 81 they liked at the Bridge. Minute 86, not so much. When Gary Cahill scored, the first thing Mourinho did was to turn to the crowd and urged calm. Then he sent on Zouma. When Luiz equalised, again he called for calm. This time the message was aimed at his players. Take it into extra-time if necessary, with the extra man. That was the idea. No-one had Minute 114 on their Burnley bingo card. This time the chaos theory did not work. PSG defender Luiz celebrated excitedly after scoring against his former club at Stamford Bridge . Thiago Silva's late header loops over the outstretched arm of Thibaut Courtois to knock Chelsea out . +Former Liverpool defender John-Arne Riise has picked his #one2eleven of stars he has played alongside throughout his career, on The Fantasy Football Club. It is no surprise that Riise's team is dominated by Liverpool players past and present, as the left back played in the side that won the 2005 Champions League. But World Cup winner and Roma's long-standing captain Francesco Totti gets a worthwhile mention with team-mate Daniele De Rossi, and Fulham's Kieran Richardson also gets a look in too. Watch #one2eleven every Friday evening on The Fantasy Football Club, Sky Sports 1 or catch up On Demand. John-Arne Riise said his former Liverpool team-mate Pepe Reina (centre) was 'always trying to make jokes' GOALKEEPER: Pepe Reina . 'He's the funny one. He's always trying to make jokes and has so much confidence in himself, which to be a goalkeeper you really need to have.' RIGHT-BACK: Steve Finnan . 'The most calm person I've ever seen; never stressed. Not the most defensive right back but I really enjoyed playing with him and never seemed to make any big mistakes.' The quartet of (left to right) Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard were all included . DEFENDER: Jamie Carragher . 'I remember one game against Blackburn [in 2003] and he broke his leg. He didn't want to get carried off, he wanted to walk off. He wanted to carry on playing. He's a proper, proper defender. He's an easy choice. Best defender I've ever played with. DEFENDER: Sami Hyypia . 'Great right foot. Great left foot. Good in the air because he's 2 metres tall. Read the game perfectly. One of the nicest guys I've ever met in football.' Ex-Fulham team-mate Kieran Richardson took up a place as left back as Javier Mascherano also featured . LEFT BACK: Kieran Richardson . 'He was a machine. Very quick, strong, powerful, offensive, defensive. Even if you pass him he was so quick at turning he'd catch you up again. He gave me a big fight [for my position].' DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD: Javier Mascherano . 'He's a dog. I know the opposition hated playing him because he's always on your toes and always tackling you.' DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD: Daniele De Rossi . 'Sees openings and passes that maybe not many other players could see. He will go down as one of Roma's greatest players.' Riise (second right) described his 2005 Champions League winning skipper Gerrard as 'the perfect captain' DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD: Xabi Alonso . 'Probably the pass master. Nobody can pass the ball like him. I remember on his debut at Anfield, it probably took him about 39 minutes before he misplaced a pass. Unbelievable player.' MIDFIELD: Steven Gerrard . 'Best player I've played with without a doubt. I'm really privileged to have played with him because Stevie will go down as the greatest of all time. He's an amazing person also and for me he was the perfect captain.' Roma legend Francesco Totti (left) was one of three non-Liverpool players to be named in Riise's dream team . STRIKER: Francesco Totti . 'The God of Rome. I've never seen anything like it. As a football player he's not quick and he's 38-years old now but he has his technique and ambition, and a touch that's God's gift.' STRIKER: Fernando Torres . 'He has got a bit of stick since he left Liverpool and still has to come back to his best form, but while I was there he was a scoring machine. I think the pressure was too much for him at Chelsea. I think it got to him a little bit and it was too much to handle. I think he's back where he belongs [at Atletico Madrid].' +Claims that Tiger Woods is serving a one-month suspension - rebutted by the player's agent and the PGA Tour - have been withdrawn. Woods is taking an indefinite break from golf as he attempts to get his game 'tournament ready' after a poor run of form and injuries. Former Tour player Dan Olsen, who played in 35 Tour events between 1989 and 2011 - missing 22 cuts - alleged in an interview on US radio station 730AM The Game on Friday that Woods was serving a drugs ban, but on Monday retracted his claims and issued an apology to the 14-time major winner. Dan Olsen had alleged in a radio interview that Tiger Woods (pictured) was serving a one month suspension . Olsen has since apologised to Woods and to the PGA Tour for the comments he made . 'I retract the entire interview,' Olsen said in a statement on the radio station's website. 'My comments were ill-advised. I want to apologise to Nike, the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and (Tour commissioner) Tim Finchem.' The allegations had brought a strong denial from the PGA, with PGA Tour executive vice-president and chief marketing officer Ty Votaw issuing a statement. 'There is no truth whatsoever to these claims,' it read. 'We categorically deny these allegations.' Woods' agent Mark Steinberg also quashed the allegations, labelling them 'unequivocally and completely false'. 14-time major championship winner Woods, pictured here in June 2013 at Merion Golf Club, hopes to reclaim his world No 1 status from Rory McIlory when he returns to the sport . 'These claims are absolutely, unequivocally and completely false,' he said. 'They are unsourced, unverified and completely ridiculous. 'The PGA Tour has confirmed that there is no truth to these claims.' Woods has not played since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open at the start of February, less than a week after firing a career-worst round of 82 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. No date has been set for the 39-year-old's return, with the Masters at Augusta starting on April 9. Woods is currently dating USA skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn, with the pair pictured together here in 2013 . Woods is currently on a hiatus from golf in order to recover from injuries and a dip in his form . +Unless your name is Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton or Mo Farah, sport is probably nothing more than an enjoyable hobby. Now a new study has revealed that your choice of sport says more about you than you could possibly have imagined. According researchers, cyclists are more likely to be emotionally stable, runners the most extrovert and swimmers the happiest, while walkers are the least materialistic. Scroll down for video . Happiest: Swimmers such as Rebecca Adlington are happier - and tidier - than most . Best for romance: According to the research, swimmers make the best lovers . The psychological study, which was carried out by experts Mindlab, also revealed that sport can also offer clues to a person's attitude to charity, reading habits and even their voting intentions. Cyclists, for instance, are most likely to vote Liberal Democrat and tend to be laid back and calm, if keen on acquiring material possessions. Meanwhile runners tend to be Labour-voting extroverts who love being the centre of attention and have a penchant for upbeat dance music. Those who swim tend to make the best lovers, are tidy and are also the most charitable, although according to Mindlab, 61 per cent of adults are fond of charity regardless of their choice of sport. Walkers, a category that includes those who enjoy rambling, orienteering and trekking, are least concerned about material possessions and like their own company. 'It has long been known that exercise is not only good for your body, but also your mind,' comments neuropsychologist, Dr David Lewis. Extrovert: Runners such as Mo Farah tend to be extroverts with a taste for upbeat music . The research claims cyclists love shopping and vote Liberal Democrat . 'Past research has shown that exercising can act as a mood-enhancer, can be used to treat and possibly even prevent anxiety and generally has a positive effect on mental health. 'The results from this study show that no matter what kind of person you are, there is the right kind of exercise for everyone.' The study, which was commissioned by the British Heart Foundation to mark the launch of its 2015 series of events, also found that favourite sports vary by area. Thus in Birmingham and London, cycling is the sport of choice for most while running wins the race in Leeds and Newcastle. Swimming was most popular in Cardiff, Dublin and Manchester, while walking was most loved in Bristol, Glasgow, Norwich and Nottingham. Peaceful: Those who love walking tend to enjoy their own company and are least materialistic . Supporters: Pippa Middleton (left) and heptathlete Louise Hazel (right) are high profile BHF supporters . The British Heart Foundation is famous for its sporty fundraisers and will once again stage the London to Brighton bike race this June. Pippa Middleton, one of the charity's best-known supporters, is set to take part, as will Olympic heptathlete Louise Hazel. 'Whatever your sports personality or level of fitness, I would encourage everyone to sign up to a BHF event,' said Hazel. 'Heart disease devastates too many lives, killing around 80,000 people every year. I lost my father to heart disease, he was just 50 years old. This is why I’m taking on a cycling challenge for BHF. 'Taking on a challenge can help you to get fit, enjoy the sport you love and also help to raise funds for vital research which could help save more people like my dad.' CYCLISTS... WALKERS... RUNNERS... SWIMMERS... +Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta is back in full training after recovering from an ankle problem. The 32-year-old underwent surgery in January to remove a bony spur which had been causing him inflammation and discomfort since November. His last Premier League appearance came against Manchester United that month but he is now expected to be fully fit at the start of April. Mikel Arteta sprints during Arsenal's training session on Friday after returning from an ankle injury . The former Everton midfielder takes part in a drill with Theo Walcott (left) and Santi Cazorla . Arteta shakes hands with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger at London Colney on Friday . Arteta is out of contract at the end of the season but he is expected to agree a new one-year deal. Arsene Wenger, who was pictured shaking hands with the former Everton man in training at London Colney on Friday, has confirmed that he wants his skipper to remain at the Emirates. Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's game with West Ham, the Frenchman said: 'Normally I would like him to stay on, yes. 'He has a huge experience and is very important in the squad.' Aaron Ramsey shared this picture of himself and Theo Walcott wearing their Comic Relief red noses . Francis Coquelin (right) entertains team-mates Olivier Giroud (left) and Mesut Ozil in training . Arsenal's hero against Manchester United on Monday, Danny Welbeck, gets put through his paces . Arsenal's players appeared in good spirits after seeing off Manchester United earlier in the week to progress to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Francis Coquelin were among those pictured laughing and joking at London Colney as the Gunners prepared for the visit of London rivals West Ham. Midfielder Aaron Ramsey also took to Instagram to share a picture of himself and team-mate Theo Walcott wearing red noses for Comic Relief. Alongside the image, the Welshman wrote: '@theowalcott and I have our noses on for @rednoseday, looking forward to @comicrelief tonight #RND15' Walcott (left) challenges Alexis Sanchez for the ball as Arsenal prepare to face West Ham on Saturday . Hector Bellerin (left) and Olivier Giroud are both expected to start for the Gunners at the Emirates . Germany midfielder Ozil leaps into the air as Wenger's players warm-up ahead of the pre-match session . +The stakes are high for Manchester United as they aim to secure a place in the Champions League next season and Louis van Gaal's men showed their gambling instincts of a different kind on Monday. Fresh from Sunday's comfortable 3-0 win over top four-rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, United stars Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were present at the club's official launch of their bwin casino app. The quartet were all smiles with club ambassadors Denis Irwin and Bryan Robson as they promoted the new groundbreaking technology at Manchester's 235 Casino. Manchester United launched the world's first-ever club-based real money casino app on Monday . United stars Juan Mata (left), Phil Jones (centre) and Chris Smalling were in attendance for the app launch . Club ambassadors Bryan Robson (centre) and Denis Irwin (right) were also present on Monday afternoon . The Red Devils have been at the forefront of English football for many a year and off-the-pitch they are trying to follow suit with the launch of the first football club-based, real money casino app in the world. Titled the 'bwin Manchester United Casino' the specifically-designed app gives users a realistic 3D casino environment, set against the backdrop of Old Trafford. Users are welcomed to the casino lobby by likenesses of United players, complete with voiceovers which guide them through the gameplay. It is the first of its kind and extends the popular range of services and products that United's online gaming and betting partner provides to fans. Users will see a realistic 3D casino environment, set against the backdrop of Old Trafford as they gamble . Manchester United Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold, said: 'Since Manchester United launched its relationship with bwin in 2012, we have been impressed by their commitment to setting the standard in their industry and providing dynamic and innovative user experiences, as is clearly demonstrated in the bwin Manchester United casino. 'The launch of the app is an important milestone in our partnership, and is yet another exciting platform to bring the Club closer to its fans.' Sam Sadi, Director of bwin Labels, added, 'Our aim is to offer sports fans unique gaming experiences anytime, anywhere. Working with the club, we have used our partnership to create something entirely new and standout in our industry that will appeal to both Manchester United fans and casino players looking for superior graphics and gameplay.' Users are welcomed to the casino lobby by likenesses of United players complete with voiceovers . +Jamaican Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt cruised to victory in his first individual race of the season, clocking 46.37 seconds over 400 metres at the GC Foster Classic in Kingston on Saturday. Bolt, the world record holder at 100 and 200 metres, used the race as part of his build-up for the upcoming season, where he plans to defend his sprint titles at the IAAF world championships in Beijing in August. 'Give thanks for an injury free 400m run,' Bolt, who was slowed by injuries last year, said on his Twitter account. Usain Bolt is looking forward to an injury free season after winning his first race of the year comfortably . Bolt has been training at his base in Jamaica ahead of what will be an important season for him . The six-time Olympic gold medallist came off the final curve comfortably ahead of the field and his time was slightly faster than his last effort at the distance, 46.44 seconds in 2013, but more than a second slower than his personal best of 45.28 in 2007. In his only other race of the year, Bolt's Racers Lions 4x100 metres relay team wound up second in the Gibson McCook Relays on February 28. Bolt is currenlty the double world and Olympic champion, and will defend that world title this year . +Usain Bolt is putting in the hard yards ahead of a busy summer on the track as he builds up to the world championships in Beijing, as shown in his latest post of his training regime on social media. Six-time Olympic champion Bolt posted a glimpse of his training progress at his base in Jamaica on Instagram on Thursday with footage of a block start in slow motion. Bolt explodes out of the blocks in the baking sun and drives a few steps before slowing up in the post accompanied by an inspiration quote from one of his heroes Mohammad Ali. Usain Bolt gets primed for a starting drill during training in Jamaica ahead of a busy summer of competition . 'I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion”,' Bolt’s social media profile said with the vine video. After missing the majority of last season due to injury, the 100 and 200 metre world record holder is leaving nothing to chance in 2015. He’s locked in dates in Paris where he’ll run in the 100m on July 4 and the following week at the Athletissima Diamond League in Switzerland where he’ll compete in the 200m. The later event is one which hold special significance for Bolt who has said he’s keen to attack the elusive 19 second mark – his world mark stands at 19.19. The six-time Olympic gold medalist explodes out of the blocks in this Instagram post on Thursday . Bolt posted the video on social media with a quote he could relate to from boxing great Muhammed Ali . In an interview with Sportsmail’s Matt Lawton last month Bolt outlined his aim to become the ‘greatest sportsman ever’ and emulate his heroes including Ali, Michael Jordan and Michael Johnson, whose 200m mark he overtook. His major target in the short-term is the world championships in Beijing in in August. But Rio de Janeiro and his bid to win a third consecutive treble in the 100m, 200m and 4x100 relay is the holy grail. Just – and in Bolt’s case it is just – winning a third 100m title would put him in the history books. +Usain Bolt will run the 200metres at the Athletissima Golden League meeting in Lausanne on 9 July. It will be Bolt's second big race of the summer, with the six-time Olympic champion from Jamaica also set to line-up in the 100m at the Areva meeting in Paris five days earlier. Bolt has yet to finalize the remainder of his summer program before the world championships in Beijing from 22-30 August. Usain Bolt (left) has signed up to run at the Athletissima Golden League meeting in July . Bolt is pictured before running in his first race of the season at the Gibson Relays in Kingston, Jamaica . Bolt, the world-record holder in the 100m and 200m, will race the 200m for the fourth time in Lausanne. He holds the meeting record of 19.58 seconds, set in 2012. Bolt ran his first race of the season during the Gibson Relays in Kingston, Jamaica on February 28. Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie also confirmed his participation to the meeting, the ninth leg of the Golden League. +Thierry Henry has claimed he was unfairly hounded for the infamous handball that cost the Republic of Ireland a place at the 2010 World Cup while Lionel Messi was labelled a 'genius' after a similar incident. The France striker used his hand to control a cross before setting up William Gallas to score the 103rd-minute goal that took France to the finals in South Africa at Ireland's expense. Henry, then a Barcelona player, was heavily criticised for his actions at the time but has pointed out the contrasting reaction when his former Nou Camp team-mate Messi scored with his hand against Espanyol in 2007. Thierry Henry controls the ball with his hand to set up a goal for William Gallas in France's World Cup 2010 play-off with the Republic of Ireland in November 2009 . Henry claims he was vilified after the incident, claiming the reaction was as if he'd 'killed someone' Henry, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, claims he was unfairly criticised over his handball . The Arsenal legend told Canal Plus: 'You are talking about people I spent so many times on the pitch with. 'I just said to them, 'Yes, it was hand, I'm sorry.' And you know what? They told me: 'We don't blame you.' 'I saw Liam Brady, the Arsenal legend, and he asked me: 'Did you touch it with your hand?' And I answered, 'Yes, it was my hand.' I spoke to the press that night. I could have ignored them but I didn't. 'I spoke honestly - it was a reflex. A reflex by a competitor, just like when you reach out for the ball on the line when your goalkeeper is beaten. 'When I see Messi scoring against Espanyol, diving to touch the ball with his hand, people say, 'What a genius, now he is closer than ever to Maradona.' But when it was me, it was like I had killed someone.' Lionel Messi scored a goal with his hand in Barcelona's league match with Espanyol back in June 2007 . Diego Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' moment against England at the 1986 World Cup . The 37-year-old, who is now a pundit on Sky Sports, left Barcelona for New York Red Bulls shortly after the handball controversy, which occurred in a qualification play-off, second leg at the Stade de France in Paris. But Henry denies that the storm of criticism following the handball was behind his move. 'I have always wanted to go there,' he said. 'Anyone who knows me would tell you that. Also, to escape what? To escape who? I wanted to go as soon as 2009, but I didn't because I kept playing with the national team. That is total rubblish.' +After officially announcing his $300million (£200m) mega-fight against Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jnr returned to his Las Vegas gym, and to work. With just over seven weeks to go until the biggest fight in boxing history, Mayweather was putting his 'Hard work, dedication' motto into practice. The 38-year-old took turns working on the speed bag, the heavy bag and had a session on the pads. Floyd Mayweather hits the speed bag as his training camp continues in his Las Vegas gym . Mayweather is taken on the pads with just seven weeks until he takes on Manny Pacquiao on May 2 . One man with a first-hand view of Mayweather's training is Londoner Ashley Theophane who regularly appears on the superstar's undercard. Writing on his blog, Theophane said: 'Being part of Floyd’s team. I’m very privileged to be witnessing something very special at close and intimate quarters. 'I get to see the things that many fans and the media will never know or see.'It’s both inspiring and motivating' Mayweather pounds the heavy bag as he prepares to defend his unbeaten 47-0 record against his rival . Mayweather and Pacquiao face off after their press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday . +Michael Phelps could be allowed to compete at this year's world swimming championships. USA Swimming banned the 18-time Olympic champion for six months following a second drink-driving offence in Baltimore last September. That is due to run out in early April but Phelps' punishment also resulted in him being excluded from the US team for the world championships in Kazan. Now Phelps is potentially in line for a reprieve, with USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus telling ESPN.com: 'It's complicated, but there are ways in which it could happen. There's a pathway for things to be reconsidered - or considered.' Michael Phelps will be able to compete for USA when his ban runs out in early April . Phelps is an 18-time Olympic champion and could be back in action sooner than expected . +Venus Williams has suggested she is likely to follow her sister Serena and end her 14-year boycott of the prestigious Indian Wells tournament next year. The 34 year-old American gave her clearest indication yet that she would return before the end of her career following a 6-3 7-6 victory over Caroline Wozniacki that took her into the quarter finals. Venus has not played in March's high profile WTA event in the Californian desert since 2001 when, as has been well-documented, she made a late withdrawal from a semi-final match against her sister with a knee injury. Serena subsequently got a hostile reception when she played in the final. Venus Williams has suggested she will return to Indian Wells doe the first time since 2001 . The elder Williams sibling reached the quarter finals of the Miami Open on Monday . Williams shakes hands after defeating Carloine Wozniacki in straight sets at the event in Key Biscayne . Rory McIlroy's former fiancee could not contend with Williams' game, going down 6-3 7-6 . The younger sibling ended the family boycott this year, and now it looks like both of them may well be back as well in 2016. Asked what she thought of Serena's warm reception at Indian Wells earlier this month Venus responded: 'It was wonderful to see. I definitely watched every moment, and it was great to see her and my family there. Next year will be a big year for us being an Olympic year. I can't exactly say what my schedule will be, but it was wonderful to see her reception.' Did that mean she had softened her own stance? 'Oh, yeah, absolutely. I have heard so much about how much the tournament has just improved in general in terms of the fans and the players. 'So it will be something to see for me.' Serena is comforted by her family after being jeered by the crowd when winning at Indian Wells in 2001 . The world No 1 returned to the tournament this year where she reached the semi-finals . Williams plays a shot on the run during her fourth round victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in Miami . Venus said that she had not fully discussed the matter with Serena but went on: ' I think really what Serena did and how she went about it was just awesome for me as a big sister to see, because I feel like usually I'm the big sister. I feel like in this instance she took the role of big sister. 'It was really nice. I love how, you know, we continue to protect each other no matter what. She did a fantastic job out there, even though she wasn't feeling her best. So like I said, I think the tournament's amazing. I also said next year is an Olympic year, so my whole focus is on trying to get to the Olympics. 'So I don't know what tournaments I'm going to play as long as I'm at the Olympics. That's my goal, to be healthy enough. So I think it would be awesome to return, but I don't know what my schedule is next year. It's going to be all around that.' +Boca Juniors striker Dani Osvaldo took team celebrations to a whole new level on Wednesday night. After scoring his side's fourth goal in a 5-0 routing of Venezuelan club Zamora in the Copa Libertadores, the Argentina-born Italy international ushered his team-mates into an elaborate group 'selfie', taken by a Boca coach. The man on loan from Southampton then added a second goal to his tally to complete an emphatic win for Boca, who have won all three of their group stage games in the competition so far. Boca Juniors striker Pablo Osvaldo (centre) leads his team's celebrations during the 5-0 win over Zamora . Osvaldo organised an impromptu team photo after scoring the fourth goal in the 5-0 rout . The Boca players strike a pose as a coach takes the photograph on the sidelines . Boca Juniors have won all three of their group stage games in the Copa Libertadores this year . Osvaldo joined Southampton from Roma in August 2013 for a club-record £15million fee. However, after a string of disciplinary problems and a struggle to adapt to the English game, he was loaned out to Juventus during the following January transfer window. For the 2014-15 season, Osvaldo was loaned to Inter Milan as part of an exchange deal for Saphir Taider. At Inter, Osvaldo's form improved and he scored seven goals in 18 appearances, but his poor disciplinary record persisted, as the striker was suspended for failing to turn up to training two days in a row. This led to the early termination of his contract with the club. Osvaldo joined current club Boca in February this year and so far has three goals in four appearances. The Italian striker is currently on loan from Southampton and has scored three goals in four games . Osvaldo scores against Manchester City during the Premier League game back in December 2013 . +He may be less of an influence on the pitch than in previous years, but Didier Drogba is determined to do his bit to help his Chelsea win the Premier League. The Ivorian striker has only scored three league goals since returning to the club, but insists his role is as much about mentoring the younger members of the squad. Drogba re-joined Chelsea, where he scored 100 league goals in his first spell, to offer a calming presence, and the forward says his role is about helping others to take the lead on the pitch. Didier Drogba has only scored three Premier League goals this season, but is still important for Chelsea . Drogba is helping to mentor the likes of Kurt Zouma (left) as Chelsea push for the Premier League title . 'They're going to be there,' he said of Jose Mourinho's young core. 'We won't be any more so it is up to us to give them all they need and pass it on to the younger players as well. 'It's important for us, the older players, to be there to support them, but at the same time it's even more important for them to take the lead now, to feel there is no restriction from us. 'They can play, they can talk, we can debate and exchange because all we're doing now is for the team - to be better next year, in two years and five.' However, Drogba also pointed out the benefit of keeping older stars like John Terry around, after the Chelsea captain signed a new contract. Drogba and Petr Cech were both at the club when Jose Mourinho won his first Premier League title . John Terry (centre) has recently signed a new contract, and will continue to help Zouma and Cahill develop . 'It's logical when you see the way he's performed this year and the way the manager is happy with him,' added Drogba. 'You can see he has the desire to carry on playing and being the best defender. It's deserved and I'm really happy for him.' +Adam Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland after his arrest on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl. The 27-year-old former England winger, who earns £50,000 a week, was arrested by Durham police at his £1.85million mansion on Monday morning and later bailed. Sunderland have confirmed that Johnson, who recently became a father, will not be available for selection pending the outcome of the investigation, beginning with Tuesday’s Premier League clash at Hull. The Black Cats signed the Sunderland-born midfielder for £10m from Manchester City in 2012. Adam Johnson has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl . Johnson (pictured playing against Switzerland in 2011) has 14 England caps to his name . The £1.85million house in the North East where Johnson was arrested on Monday . The gates at Johnson's property were shut on Monday evening following his arrest . Peterlee Police Station in County Durham where Johnson was taken after he was arrested . Johnson was released on bail on Monday night and will continue to help police with their inquiries . He has scored 20 times in 105 games for the club, including the winner at Newcastle in this season’s Tyne-Wear derby. However, he has struggled to rediscover the form which won him an England call-up in 2010. His last cap for the Three Lions came three years ago. Johnson began his career at Middlesbrough before joining City in 2010, where he won a Premier League title and the FA Cup. The FA refused to comment on the arrest of the winger who has represented his country 12 times, although he failed to make the squad for the World Cup in Brazil last year. Johnson gained a reputation as a keen party-goer when he played for Manchester City five years ago. At the time, he was renting Cristiano Ronaldo’s former house near Alderley Edge and would often be seen in the village socialising with fellow players and women. ‘He liked the attention of being a well-known footballer and attracting women was not a problem,’ said one local, who did not wish to be named. ‘He would often leave his car in the village after a night out as he liked a drink and would always get a taxi home.’ Johnson pictured with his girlfriend Stacey Flounders in 2012 after Manchester City won the Premier League . Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland pending the outcome of the police investigation . But three years ago, after returning to his native North East, Johnson began dating Stacey Flounders. Miss Flounders recently posted photographs of the couple’s first child, Ayla Sofia, who was born on January 8. It was unclear if she and her daughter were at home at the time of the player’s arrest. And speaking from Miss Flounders' family home, her mother told the Daily Mirror that her daughter and Johnson were still 'very close' and 'absolutely still together'. She added: 'He is 100 per cent innocent and we will stand by him. 'He hasn't been found guilty of anything. He is a great lad and has not done anything wrong. This is a horrible situtation.' Friends say Johnson opted to live near the quiet hamlet of Castle Eden to get away from the ‘bright lights’ of city life. Three unmarked police cars, a police van, several plain-clothed officers and a forensics team were seen at his house as he was questioned at a Durham police station. Johnson’s stunning gated property boasts six bedrooms and a sweeping gravel drive and is set in more than two acres of mature woodland. The house is a typical Footballers’ Wives-style property with Italian stone flooring, and a spiral staircase to a mezzanine level. The master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, dressing room and balconies at the front and rear while the other five bedrooms are all en-suite. Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United on Saturday . Johnson speaks to the Duchess of Cambridge at St George's Park with England team-mate Frank Lampard in 2012 . It is unclear where the alleged assault is said to have taken place and police would not release any further details. Johnson was born in Sunderland and raised in Easington, County Durham, before joining Middlesbrough’s youth academy as a 12-year-old. After making his Premier League debut for Middlesbrough in 2005 he was sold in February 2010 to Manchester City before being signed three years ago by Sunderland. On Monday night a Durham Police spokesman said: ‘A 27-year-old man was arrested earlier today on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16. He has been released on police bail pending on-going investigations. ‘A blank firing pistol, which replicates the sound of real gunshots but does not require a licence to own, was also recovered during a search of the property.’ Former Middlesbrough star: Adam Johnson has represented England at senior level 12 times . Adam Johnson began his career at Middlesbrough, where he made his debut in a Uefa Cup game in 2005, aged just 17. Almost six months later, he turned out for the first time in the Premier League, taking part in a 2-1 home win against Arsenal. He was loaned out to Leeds United then Watford, scoring 12 goals in his three-month stay at the Hertfordshire club. On his return to Middlesbrough, he again showed strong form, then made a £7million move to Manchester City in February 2010. In three seasons at the Etihad Stadium, the speedy winger made 97 appearances, helping win the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield. In August 2012 he moved back to his native North East, to Sunderland, in a £10million deal, and highlights of his time there have included a hat-trick on January 11 last year in a 4-1 away win over Fulham. He said after taking the match ball as a memento: ‘These days don't come along too often unless you're Messi or Ronaldo, so it was nice for me to get that ball as a souvenir to look back on. ‘This is up there with one of my best days of my career along with playing for England, scoring for England.’ He was awarded the Barclays Player of the Month award that month. The 27-year-old has represented England at under-19 and under-21 level, and at senior level 12 times, the last of them in a friendly victory over Italy in August 2012. He has struggled to reproduce his best form on a sustained basis at Sunderland, but endeared himself to the fans with goals in each of the club's three derby victories at Newcastle in as many seasons, including a late winner at St James' Park on December 21 last year. Derby win: Winger Johnson scored a late winner against Newcastle United at St James' Park last December . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Paul Scholes says Manchester United look a worse team despite spending £220million in 18 months as he accused Louis van Gaal of lacking ambition. The Reds legend turned pundit slammed the Dutchman for being 'really happy to be fourth' and criticised his style of play after Wednesday night's 1-0 win over Newcastle United. Asked if Van Gaal was setting his sights high enough, Scholes responded: 'No. He looks really happy to be fourth but this is a club that needs to be challenging to win the league. He's spent £150m. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal sits with assistant Ryan Giggs at Newcastle on Wednesday night . United legend Paul Scholes (left) has criticised Van Gaal's team after all their summer spending . 'They spent £70m last year under David Moyes as well, that's £220m in 18 months and they look worse. 'He's not obsessed with possession but it is a very possession based game and what we've been used to over the years is not what are getting - and we probably won't get that. It's not great to watch but you have to say they are winning games. 'Not finishing fourth is not good, but to me not challenging for the league is not good enough. But we have to give him time. They can't keep on sacking managers.' Scholes, who was speaking on BT Sport's Fletch and Sav show, said United must be patient with the Dutchman but stressed that questions would have to be asked if the club were not challenging for the title next season. 'Maybe the coach does need time to settle in too, but the one thing he has got is (Ryan Giggs, United’s assistant manager) to help him settle and get him used to what to expect from Liverpool and from Newcastle,' he said. 'I can probably forgive him for this season - he's brought new players and they need time to settle in and so does he. But this time next year if they are not challenging for the league then something is wrong.’ Ashley Young runs away in celebration after scoring United's last-gasp winner against Newcastle . United remain fourth after the 88th-minute winner from Young saw them claim three points at St James' Park . Scholes has blasted United for seeming to be comfortable with fourth after spending £220m on players . +Multi-million plan investment: US Tycoon Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Links, Scotland . US tycoon Donald Trump has unveiled plans for a new multi-million pound investment in his Scottish golf resort - despite previously vowing to halt all developments on the 200-acre site. The billionaire will be submitting a proposal for a number of additions to Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, including staff accommodation, a banquet hall and 400-capacity ballroom. The move comes two years after he threatened not to invest 'another penny' in the project over plans to build an offshore wind farm off the Aberdeen coast, which he said would spoil scenic views. In a statement released on the planning proposals, The Trump Organization claimed Swedish utility firm Vattenfall, the primary developers behind the farm, could no longer finance the project. It also said the technology 'is now widely regarded to be obsolete and outdated'. The company said that this, combined with other stakeholders withdrawing from the project, had led to confidence being restored that the 'shoreline will not be blighted' by the 'industrial energy plant'. Despite this, Mr Trump will continue his legal challenge to the decision to grant the farm planning permission off the Aberdeen coast. A spokesman denied this claim on behalf of Vattenfall, and its project partners, Aberdeen Renewable Energy group, stating that they 'want to see the scheme to come to fruition'. Mr Trump called Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, which opened in July 2012, 'one of his greatest achievements' and said his commitment to develop the site 'was stronger than ever'. The businessman is now pushing ahead with expanding the site, known collectively as the Menie Estate, with further applications for private houses and hotel rooms tabled for later in the year. His current application includes public notifications for a second gold course and additional hotel accommodation and facilities at the five-star MacLeod House and Lodge, named after his mother. George Sorial, executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation, said: 'This will be a substantial investment - it really will allow us to carry out the original vision that Mr Trump had for the entire site. Our work there is not done.' The billionaire has submitted a proposal for a number of additions to the Aberdeenshire estate including staff accommodation, a banquet hall and more rooms in MacLeod House, illustrated with an artist's impression . The move comes two years after he threatened not to invest 'another penny' in the project over plans to build an offshore wind farm nearby, which he said would spoil scenic coastal views, pictured above . News that the organization would be re-investing in the site was welcomed by business leaders. Ian Armstrong, regional director for the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, said: 'At a time when there are some economic clouds on the horizon, the announcement of the plans by the Trump Organisation for further substantial investment in their site at Menie is a great boost to the region. 'The significance of a major international investor looking beyond short-term issues and adopting a long-term view should not be underestimated in terms of the fillip it provides to the north-east of Scotland and its economy.' Robert Collier, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, added: 'The business community in the north-east will be pleased to welcome the continued investment in Trump International Golf Links.' The claims made by Trump Organizations were denied by Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group. A spokesman said: 'Widely accepted as a much-needed centre of significant European importance, the EOWDC is pivotal to helping the Scottish and UK Governments meet their ambitious renewable energy targets and is planned to test and demonstrate innovation and next generation technologies. 'It would also be an integral, flagship project for Aberdeen City and Shire’s enterprising Energetica initiative, further positioning the region at the forefront of the sustainable energy evolution as well as supporting the diversification of its energy-based economy.' +A fashion label that used a bare-breasted nun as part of an advertising campaign is at the centre of a row over blasphemy in Naples, as Pope Francis prepares to visit the port city. The giant billboard shows an image of a woman dressed in a nun's habit and jeans, with naked breasts. The campaign by fashion label Rosso di Sera has caused controversy in the southern Italian city, ahead of a scheduled papal visit next weekend. 'Obscene': Locals have expressed horror at fashion label Rosso di Sera's new billboard erected in Naples just one week ahead of the Pope's visit to the city . Locals have denounced the image as 'obscene' and 'ugly' . One Franciscan Facebook user said: 'I am an atheist but I find it offensive to intelligence, to women, to good taste and to faith.' Other saw the 20 x30ft image in the city centre as a cynical marketing move. But the company Rosso di Sera denied the billboard had been deliberately timed to cause a fuss. Apology: The clothing firm has insisted 'there was no intent to blaspheme' adding that the company 'strongly regrets being accused of things extremely far from our values and our culture' 'We recognise that we have made a strong marketing choice but there was no intent to blaspheme,' the company said in a statement. 'Trivialising the act of prayer was not the intention in any way,' Rosso di Sera said, adding that the company 'strongly regrets being accused of things extremely far from our values and our culture.' The Pope is set to visit Naples on March 21 and will also be visiting Pompeii on his trip. Pope Francis, pictured leading a mass in Rome this week, is set to visit Naples on March 21 . +This video gives a whole new meaning to the expression 'barking up the wrong tree'. Casey Lantz from Las Vegas filmed his brother's dog enthusiastically getting his teeth into park shrubbery. Footage shows the canine determinedly attacking a tree trunk and attempting to rip off branches. But despite his best efforts he fails to break off any twigs. Lantz tells the pup to get down but the creature refuses to listen. He continues to sabotage the timber. At one point the pup dangles from the tree with a branch between his jaws. After more than half a minute he shows no sign of giving up. Another video shows the dog repeating the same stunt with a different tree. Caught on camera: This video gives a whole new meaning to the expression 'barking up the wrong tree' High jump: Casey Lantz from Las Vegas filmed his brother's dog enthusiastically getting his teeth into park shrubbery . Standing tall: Footage shows the canine determinedly attacking a tree trunk and attempting to rip off branches . Disheartened: But despite his best efforts he fails to break off any twigs . +Lewis Hamilton used the regular pre-race drivers’ briefing to demand answers from Formula One’s governing body about the mysterious crash that caused Fernando Alonso to miss the opening Grand Prix in Australia. The double world champion asked race director Charlie Whiting what the FIA’s investigation into the accident had revealed. Observers said Hamilton repeatedly demanded more details in the meeting on Friday night, ahead of Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix in which he will start from pole position in his Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix in pole position in his Mercedes . Hamilton secured pole position during miserable wet conditions in Malaysia . Hamilton drives during final practice for the Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang Circuit . Alonso was silent as Hamilton spoke. Whiting, one of Formula One’s most experienced and respected officials, then took Hamilton aside to reassure him that the data showed no failing on the McLaren car Alonso was driving. Hamilton said he would be ‘very interested to hear’ the FIA’s findings. But the FIA have decided not to publish their investigation, although senior figures within the organisation have privately said that McLaren’s own 37-page explanation of the accident, which gave their car a clean bill of heath, was scrupulously accurate in every detail. McLaren’s position is irreconcilable with Alonso’s assertion last week that the accident was caused by his steering locking. Fernando Alonso stands in front of the world's press as he poses for the cameras ahead of Sunday's race . Alonso has claimed his steering wheel locked which caused his pre-season testing crash in Barcelona . Alonso insisted he will have no problems stepping back into the cockpit for first practice on Friday . His maverick statement caused some tension in the team but both ‘sides’ now want to move on. McLaren told journalists at their post-qualifying press conference not to ask about the incident, and Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman, said deftly: ‘There is no problem between the team and Fernando. He gave his recollection of events, we provided our data relating to the accident and that’s the end of the story. Everything is fine.’ Amid wet conditions, Hamilton took pole again. He set the fastest time with his first lap of the final session. But, shock of shocks, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will start in second place with Hamilton’s team-mate, Nico Rosberg, only in third. ‘Yes, P2, great, Rosberg 50.2,’ chimed Vettel over the radio after beating his fellow German by three-tenths of a second in tough but fast-drying conditions. Daniil Kvyat drives ahead of Nico Rosberg during qualifying for the Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix . +Lewis Hamilton hailed his crew of mechanics following a difficult day at the office that he claims left him 'heavily compromised' ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Fresh from an Australian Grand Prix 'triple crown' of pole position, fastest lap and race win, Hamilton was forced to pull his Mercedes to one side after just four installation laps in the first practice session at the Sepang International Circuit. Mercedes mechanics fix Lewis Hamilton's car at the team's garage after its engine failure on Friday . After the car was hauled back to the garage there were initial fears an engine change may be required, only for the fault to lie within the power unit inlet system. The depth of the issue within the system, however, meant Hamilton did not return to the track until 38 minutes into the 90 of FP2. But the 30-year-old wasted no time in getting up to speed as he went on to set the fastest lap, being the only driver to dip under 100 seconds with a time of one minute 39.790secs. 'It was an amazing job done by my guys to rebuild the car, get the engine and gearbox back on and to get back out,' said Hamilton. 'I am very grateful for that. Especially here where it is so hot and so difficult for the tyres, so it was really important get back out.' Hamilton overcame the engine problems in the morning practice session to set the fastest time . Losing too much time, however, may yet prove costly as Hamilton added: 'It affects you quite a bit. 'Fortunately I got a few laps in with a longer run at the end, but in terms of my set-up, I have not made any changes and it is quite a bit off from where we need it. 'Overall, my preparations have been heavily compromised. Whenever you lose a session, and most of the second session too, that definitely doesn't help. 'In the end, just to get some laps was crucial. If I had missed all of today then Sunday would be hard. 'Right now I have some improvements to make to the balance and the settings, so I am sure we will tweak and improve it because we have not got the car dialled in.' But the British world champion says his Malaysian Grand Prix preparations have been 'heavily compromised' Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest in both sessions, the Finn finishing 0.373secs adrift of Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg in FP1, and remarkably exactly the same time off the Briton in FP2. Although Ferrari are showing signs of closing in on Mercedes, Raikkonen said: "The car is still not perfect, but I'm sure we can improve for tomorrow. 'We have some work to do on the set up to make everything easier, but we'll do our best and we'll see where we end up in qualifying.' Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen during practice for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday . Rosberg had to settle for third best, just over four tenths of a second behind Hamilton, followed by Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. As for ailing McLaren, the returning Fernando Alonso was down in 16th, 2.7secs off the pace, closely followed by team-mate Jenson Button. Alonso, who sat out the first race Down Under as he recovered from concussion suffered in a crash in testing, claims McLaren have progressed from where they were a fortnight ago in Melbourne. The double world champion said: "It felt great in the car. 'After the gym, the simulator, whatever you do it is not the same as the car, so I enjoyed so much driving here. Fernando Alonso returns to the track after recovering from concussion he suffered in Australia crash . 'It was really the second day of testing for me because I had one good day in Barcelona with 63 laps and then today with 45 laps. 'And the car was much better than expected. The experience we had in winter we had a lot of problems after four or five laps. 'But today we ran 45 laps with zero problems, everything went as we predicted. 'We will see in qualifying where we are, but I think we were 4.6 seconds behind pole position in Australia. 'Here, maybe we could be 3.5 seconds down, so that is a one second or 1.5 second gain in two weeks, so a big step forward.' Alonso claims McLaren have progressed from where they were a fortnight ago in Melbourne . Manor also hit the track for the first time this season after months of uncertainty and missing Australia due to technical issues despite being present at the Albert Park circuit. Rookie duo Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi completed 34 laps between them, with the Briton 5.9secs down and the Spaniard 7.4secs adrift, with the latter's day cut short by a spin into the gravel. +Bump on the head or not, Fernando Alonso is the same wily maverick he always was. This most brilliant yet political of drivers, who is apt to spell the word team with the pronoun ‘I’, delivered his disloyal lines here yesterday quietly, courteously and devastatingly. A steering problem, he told a press conference before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, was the cause of the McLaren driver’s apparently innocuous accident during pre-season testing in Barcelona last month. Just one thing: McLaren repeatedly said there was nothing wrong with their car. Calling on every conceivable bit of tele-metry, they compiled a 37-page report, which they presented to the FIA, substantiating that view. Fernando Alonso stands in front of the world's press as he poses for the cameras ahead of Sunday's race . The Spaniard is back in action this weekend after missing the season-opening Australian Grand Prix . Alonso has claimed his steering wheel locked which caused his pre-season testing crash in Barcelona . ‘The steering problem came in the middle of turn three,’ elaborated Alonso, who missed the opening race in Melbourne as he recovered from the crash that threatened his career. ‘It locked into the right and when I approached the wall I braked at the last moment, I downshifted from fifth to third, and unfortunately we are still missing some data.’ How routine steering data would not be readily available baffled most observers, including a host of former drivers. ‘I’ve listened to Alonso’s very clear explanation of the incident,’ said broadcaster Martin Brundle, who drove in 158 grands prix. ‘Now I’m really confused.’ One of the FIA’s most senior technical officials commended McLaren’s report as honest and robust. Why, then, would the Spaniard blame a steering problem when there is apparently no supporting evidence? Alonso is set for his second McLaren debut after he left the team at the end of the 2007 campaign . The Spaniard was in good spirits as he addressed the media in Sepang after being declared fit to race . The two most obvious reasons are that he was either too proud to admit he made an error, or a possible neurological glitch caused him to black out prior to hitting the wall (even though he was changing gears, he may have been semi-conscious as he did so). It appears he did not mention any steering problem to McLaren until last week - three weeks after the accident. They then smuggled a quotation from him citing this explanation into the middle of a press release on Monday, perhaps to appease him. What they did not expect was Alonso to make such a fuss about the issue when he spoke in the Sepang paddock. That left McLaren snookered. They could not disregard their meticulous data, nor could they publicly argue with their £25million-a-year driver - relations between the team and Alonso still have not entirely recovered from the fractious year he spent at McLaren in 2007. Alonso barely speaks to Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman. His relationship with the de facto team principal Eric Boullier, who was not at McLaren during Alonso’s first spell there, is somewhat more trusting but he is closer to Andrea Stella, an Italian who moved with him from Ferrari to remain his race engineer. These scenes echoed 2007, when Alonso threatened to report incriminating evidence about Dennis to the FIA during the Spygate scandal. Alonso arrives in the Sepang paddock for the Malaysian Grand Prix; the second round of the championship . The double world champion in the paddock with compatriot Carlos Sainz prior to Thursday's media briefing . Back then, the team were split in two. Alonso and his manager Luis Garcia Abad would brief Spanish journalists in one corner. The same procedure happened at the team’s hospitality area here on Thursday. Alonso was again surrounded by his cabal - Abad and his deputy Alberto Fernandez, and physiotherapist Edoardo Bendinelli - as he ate jacket potatoes as part of the so-called ‘boys’ lunch’ ... the meal provided for the team’s mechanics and engineers. By this point, Alonso, who arrived at the track at 9.45am, had been cleared by the FIA’s doctors to compete on Sunday, a virtual formality after he passed more extensive tests by three Cambridge University doctors at the weekend. Yet still the mystery goes on. Alonso said he was ‘perfectly conscious at the time’ of the accident - a version of events that seems to contradicts with McLaren’s public statements and eyewitness accounts at the scene. Alonso insisted he will have no problems stepping back into the cockpit for first practice on Friday . Alonso smiles in his car in the garage at Sepang, home of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix . ‘I lost consciousness in the ambulance or in the clinic at the circuit but the doctors said this is normal because of the medication they gave me for the helicopter transfer and the checks they did in hospital,’ he said. ‘There is a time I don’t remember from two o’clock to six o’clock, but that was normal on the medication.’ Alonso more plausibly denied reports originating in Spain that he woke up believing himself to be a teenage go-karter. He said he could remember everything the following day, but then said it took him ‘three or four days’ to gather his memory. Baffling. But not for his team-mate Jenson Button, who said: ‘I’ve seen every single bit of data many times. Nothing has changed. It all says that the car is OK.’ It was Button’s polite way of saying what we were all thinking about the confused nature of Alonso’s testimony. +Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt will make his first appearance in the United States in five years when he competes in the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League meeting in New York City on June 13, organisers said on Wednesday. The Jamaican sprinter set his first 100 metres world record at the meeting in 2008 when he clocked 9.72 seconds. His only other appearance in the U.S. since then was to anchor a Jamaican 4x100 metres team at the 2010 Penn Relays. 'No one could ever forget their first world record, and I will never forget the crowd in New York that night,' Bolt said in a statement. Usain Bolt broke his first world record in New York in 2008, running a remarkable 9.72 seconds . Bolt (right) beat Tyson Gay (centre) and Leroy Dixon to the line in 2008, but has not run in New York since then . 'They had to wait for an hour during a thunderstorm delay before our race, and I don't think a single person left the stadium. 'They deserved a great performance, and I'm glad I was able to give it to them. I'm looking forward to running in New York again.' Organisers did not announce whether Bolt would run over 100 or 200 metres in the meeting at New York's Icahn Stadium. Bolt is the current world record holder and Olympic champion, after success at the London Olympics in 2012 . Bolt says he is excited to return to New York, a place that holds fine memories after his previous success . He holds the world record in both, having run 9.58 seconds in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200 in 2009. Bolt, who won Olympic gold in both sprints and the 4x100 relay in the Beijing and London Games, will begin his 2015 sprint season with a 100 metres in Rio on April 19. The 28-year-old Bolt also has announced races for Paris on July 4 (100 metres) and Lausanne on July 9 (200) as he prepares for August's world championships in Beijing. +Emmanuel Adebayor has promised to try and win back the Tottenham fans after ending his first team exile with a return at Manchester United. Adebayor admits he has come through a 'dark moment' and has fallen from favour at a club where he was a goal hero this time last year. He understands how quickly things change in football and issued a warning to Harry Kane on this score, but vowed to join forces as they attempt to salvage Spurs' top four aspirations. Emmanuel Adebayor made his first appearance since January as Tottenham lost 3-0 to Manchester United . The Togo international has vowed to win back the supporters after going through a 'dark moment' Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . 'I went through a little bit of a dark moment in my career but now I am back training hard and that's it,' said the Togo international. 'A lot of things went wrong. We are all human beings. We all go through a lot at certain time of our lives. I think I have learned from it. I went through a lot of family issues. As I said earlier on, now it is behind me and I am back on the football pitch. I am very glad to be back.' Adebayor, 31, returned as a late substitute at Old Trafford on Sunday, his first appearance for nearly two months, during which he returned to Africa to address family problems. While he was out 21-year-old Kane has reinforced his position as Tottenham's first-choice striker. Adebayor said: 'I'm very happy and pleased for Harry Kane, who has been doing fantastic. In football, we all have our moments. He is a young lad that came out and at the moment, I think he is the only one that can save our season, like I did the last season. 'Two years ago, it was Gareth Bale. So you know, football is always changing. I am very happy for him, very pleased for him. He is a young lad. He is learning through his difficult moment as well but he is fantastic player. VIDEO Top four still possible - Pochettino . Adebayor has fallen out of favour with Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino and had been criticised by fans . Adebayor had not featured for Tottenham since the end of January in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Leicester . Tottenham's defeat by United left them six points adrift of the top four places . 'If he keeps scoring two goals every weekend, he can help us into the top four. But don't get me wrong, now people are starting to get to know him and what he can do and what he cannot do, his positives and negatives on the pitch. 'But he is an intelligent lad and he just has to find his way again and bounce back. We all have a huge faith and believe in him. Hopefully, he will drag us out of the top seven and put us in the top four. 'And for me, sitting on the bench, as a player, I have been there before. I just have to work hard on the pitch and come back and play football. Football is a fun game. Today, you are zero. Tomorrow, you are a hero and the most important thing is you, what makes you happy, keep believing, keep doing your thing on the pitch.' Adebayor was in demand on transfer deadline day in January, when he rejected a move to QPR but almost joined West Ham before Spurs chairman Daniel Levy blocked the loan transfer. 'That is already behind me,' said Adebayor. 'I am still at Tottenham so for me, the most important thing is now Tottenham and help the team achieve our target which is to finish in the top four. Don't get me wrong, it's going to be hard but at the moment, just let me focus on my game and how I can help the team. Adebayor was given the captain's armband for the second leg of the Captial One Cup semi-final against Sheffield United in January . Adebayor posted this picture to Instagram days before the United match, with a message saying it is not important what people think of you, but who you are . 'Why not? I am part of the squad. I am very happy. And for me, the most important thing … I'm not 21 years old any more. I am 31 and I look at things differently. As I said, I am available. We have a lot of fantastic players in the squad and the manager has a choice to make. 'If I am in, like when I came in for ten minutes I run around, I did what I can do and whenever I am selected, I just have to help my team and show respect for them and show respect for the club. 'The summer is a long way to go. We've got what, nine games to go? Which is almost two months. So we've got plenty of time. At the moment, I'm a footballer, I'm a professional... keep doing my work, keep doing my job as professional as I can. At the beginning of the last season, everyone wanted me out; at the end of the season, they wanted me to stay. I just have to keep believing in myself, keeping doing my thing. 'I travelled to Europe to be a footballer and today, I am a footballer. Already, I am very glad because obviously in my country, only God knows how many people would love to wear the Tottenham shirt today and play for Tottenham. So whenever I have a chance to wake up and be alive, I always thank God for that and for me, all the rest is a bonus. Keep enjoying my life, keep enjoying myself.' Adebayor was booed onto the pitch at Old Trafford by travelling Spurs fans, upset with what they consider a casual attitude and comments made earlier in the season that the team would rather play away than at White Hart Lane. Adebayor came close to leaving Spurs in January but chairman Daniel Levy blocked a move to West Ham . The striker returned to favour under Tim Sherwood last season and scored 11 goals after January . He added: 'I don't know if I have been punished or not but what I know is, I'm me, I'm being me, and if I have to say it and correct the future for the club, I will do it. Don't get me wrong, this club has given me the chance to play again in London and I'm so grateful. 'If Tottenham won the cup a few weeks ago, I'm part of the club that won the Capital One Cup in 2015. Tottenham didn't win it. Me and the fans are in the same boat. So today, obviously, I am very disappointed and I think the fans are disappointed as well. At the end of the day, somebody will say something that people will misunderstand and take the wrong way but I have nothing against the fans, I always love the fans. 'I don't want to get involved in that any more. It's behind and for me now, it's just play football and enjoy my life again. As a Togolese boy, who has suffered a lot and today he's in Europe. As I tell you before, my junior brother, my senior brother, my uncle, I think they would love to be in my position today, being a footballer, being a striker for Tottenham, trust me. Even just travelling with the team, a lot of my family members, a lot of my countrymen, would love to do that. For me, let me just enjoy it and embrace it.' +Emmanuel Adebayor has sent a message to his doubters by posting a wacky picture of himself accompanied with a statement suggesting he is not worried what people think about him. The eccentric character lived up to his personality by posing in a pair of sunglasses with skulls on each of the lenses. Adebayor wrote on Instagram: 'The important thing isn't what other people think you are. It's who you are. #Godfirst #aftertraining #GodisGood #faith #workhard #team228 #whynot #RR #lifesgood.' Emmanuel Adebayor has hit out at his doubters by stating he is not worried what other people think . Adebayor's last appearance came in the FA Cup fourth round against Leicester City . The Togo international has not played for Tottenham since January 24 when he came off the substitutes' bench to make a late appearance in his side's FA Cup defeat against Leicester. Adebayor will be hoping to feature against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon as Tottenham look to close the gap on their upcoming opponents. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, who gave his players a two-day break in the lead up to this weekend's showdown, has a fully fit squad available for their visit to Old Trafford. The 31-year-old will be hoping to face Manchester United on Sunday afternoon . +He is best known for his post-match rants outside Old Trafford but here is Manchester United fan Andy Tate as you have never seen him before delivering a more upbeat verdict following a final whistle in a slightly different environment. The YouTube sensation, who shot to fame slating David Moyes in a thick Manchester accent last year, works as a steward up the road at Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park to make ends meet. Word of his presence spread to the Latics players and following their 3-0 derby thumping of neighbours Rochdale on Tuesday night they invited them into a celebrating dressing room. Manchester United fan Andy Tate swapped Manchester United for Oldham, where he works as a steward . Tate was invited into the Latics' dressing room after their 3-0 derby win to deliver a rousing speech to players . A video posted by goalkeeper Paul Tyson on Instagram shows Tate, wearing a blue Oldham shirt, in a much happier state of mind. With giggles in the background, and in his now-famous dulcet tones, he tells them: 'I got this job on a technicality at Boundary Park off (ex-Manchester City boss) Brian Horton but I love it working here and you lot of lads are the best in the division. Good look to you for the rest of the season.' The victory lifted Oldham to 11th in League One, four points outside the play-offs with eight matches to go. And with Tate admitting he cannot afford a season ticket at United next season, the blue shirt might be there to stay. +Willie Mullins has described his historic achievement of having the first three home in the Stan James Champion Hurdle as his greatest ever training achievement. The dominant nine-time champion Irish trainer has become used to swatting aside the opposition in his homeland and bruising the home defence with his increasingly potent Festival raids. But the feat of the Ruby Walsh-ridden 4-5 favourite Faugheen leading home stablemates Arctic Fire and dual champion Hurricane Fly will take some surpassing even for a man who has won a Grand National. The nearest any other trainer has come to matching what this modern-day racing William the Conqueror achieved was Irish colleague Aidan O’Brien, who sent out Istabraq and Theatreworld to be first and second in both the 1998 and 1999 Champion Hurdles. A jubilant Walsh enters the winners enclosure on board the Champions Hurdle winner Faugheen . It is the most outstanding feat since Michael Dickinson trained the first five in the 1983 Gold Cup. Mullins said: ‘A one-two-three is a dream. On paper it is my best training feat, certainly. To get three horses in that condition is good for anyone but then to get the luck in running is vital.’ And it is even more remarkable given what else Mullins managed on the first day of the Festival with three other winners — Douvan (2-1 favourite) beating stablemate Shaneshill in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Un De Sceaux (4-6) in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and Paul Townend-ridden Glens Melody (6-1) in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle. Punters jumping on the Mullins bandwagon cost the bookmaking industry an estimated £10million as they linked them in accumulator bets. But it could have been worse. Walsh-ridden Annie Power, 1-2 favourite and the horse Mullins had regarded as his certainty of the day, was clear at the last in the Mares’ Hurdle when taking a crashing fall. Walsh celebrates on Faugheen after the seven-yeatr-old won the Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy . Mullins said: ‘Annie Power got a horrible fall and she will have a sore neck and shoulder in the morning but she will be OK. It’s rare to have four runners on a day like this, let alone four winners. I keep saying to myself, “enjoy it while it lasts”. ‘You couldn’t write a script like that, but I just knew that all the horses were doing everything right. It was going scarily well and I thought coming here it was either going to be a great success or a blow-out.’ The latter does not happen very often for Mullins. The man who has now trained 37 Festival winners and has been top trainer at the meeting for three of the last four years might as well pop the trophy in his suitcase for the flight home. Faugheen was imperious as he led home a Willie Mullins-trained one-two-three at the Cheltenham Festival . Douvan, like Faugheen owned by former Barclays Investment banker Rich Ricci, had been decribed as one of the best Mullins had brought to the Festival. He jumped with efficiency to set the ball rolling with a four and a half length win in the Supreme. Front-running Un De Sceaux proved fears about his headstrong nature were unfounded with a performance of total control in the Arkle Chase. And there was Faugheen, the horse who has developed from an ugly duckling into a fully-fledged hurdling swan unbeaten in nine races. After he had made the running before sprinting clear off the home turn, Mullins revealed Walsh had formulated the battle plan months ago, even though he had only confirmed he would ride the seven-year-old on Saturday. Walsh glides over the fence on his way to winning the Champions Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival 2015 . Mullins said: ‘I didn’t think he would win that impressively. I was wondering like punters, the media and the bookmakers, could he take on the Grade One horses and beat them because we picked races for him that did not have top Grade One horses in. It paid off and he learned his trade. Ruby rode him with huge confidence and he showed that he was the good horse Ruby and everybody else thought he was.’ His next run is likely to be at the Punchestown Festival and he is 6-4 to win next year’s Champion Hurdle. But he still has somewhere to go to usurp dual champion Hurricane Fly in Mullins’ affections. ‘He is a very good horse and probably over hurdles the second best I’ve trained.’ Some second best. Walsh made his intentions clear as he took Faugheen to the head of the line before the tapes went up . +Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Graeme Dott 4-1 to progress to the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix in Llandudno, but called his performance 'diabolical'. The 39-year-old did not reach the heights he is capable of, but was still more than good enough to get past the Scot - the man he beat to win the second of his five World Championships in 2008. Ronnie O'Sullivan was in no mood to pat himself on the back after beating Graeme Dott . Neither man made a break of three figures and O'Sullivan missed a handful of easy-looking shots, but Dott was unable to punish him, most notably in the fourth when he missed a green off the spot as he tried to clear to level at 2-2. O'Sullivan made him pay, but was in no mood to pat himself on the back. 'Graeme has had a good tournament, been consistent and is always a tough match,' O'Sullivan told ITV4. 'We both played poorly, I felt nervous for some reason and couldn't see the wood for the trees. It was strange, one of those evenings and it was lucky Graeme played as badly as me. 'I was sitting there thinking of how good Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis were and they started twitching, and thought 'is this my time?'. I missed so many balls, it was diabolical. Martin Gould beat Peter Ebdon 4-2 to book a place in the last four in Llandudno . 'I'm just relieved, tomorrow is another day, but you want to build momentum as this stage of a tournament.' Earlier in the day, Martin Gould beat Peter Ebdon to ensure O'Sullivan would avoid a collision course with his old nemesis. He called the veteran, a man who has tormented him in the past, 'Peter f****** Ebdon' in a newspaper interview this week, but Ebdon was dispatched 4-2. O'Sullivan will face Stuart Bingham in the last four after he beat Mark Davis 4-0 in a low-scoring affair. +There is upset within the rugby fraternity about the RFU, the richest rugby union in the world, charging for disabled access to England matches at Twickenham for the first time this season. The proceeds from Saturday's full house for the Six Nations title decider against France includes money from wheelchair users having to pay £41 for entry when the RFU policy had always been for free access and car parking for those using wheelchair facilities — and their carers, if needed. One RFU mandarin said: ‘It’s quite appalling such a charge should be brought in when the wheelchair-bound have been allowed in free at Twickenham from time immemorial. It’s not as if the RFU need the money and is just another example of their rampant commercialism to squeeze extra cash from everywhere, even the disabled. It’s a scandalous state of affairs that needs to be quickly revoked.’ The RFU are charging wheelchair users £41 to watch England play France at Twickenham on Saturday . RFU policy had always been for free access and car parking for those using wheelchair facilities . The RFU, who have 2,318 wheelchair enclosure spaces and a terrace with lift access for 112, say their executive staff brought in the charges following an audit of disabled access by Level Playing Field with the new pricing package being deemed industry standard. LPF said in their report that charging the same price as for able-bodied spectators in the same seating category promotes equality. A RFU spokesman said: ‘We are committed to investing all additional ticket revenue raised from the new charging policy to the upgrading of disabled facilities within Twickenham and we have had a lot of positive feedback. We do not charge for tickets issued to charities nor for tickets to those injured playing rugby.’ England play France on Saturday still in with a chance of being crowned Six Nations champions . The England cricket team’s apparent over-reliance on data during their hapless World Cup campaign led to huge criticism aimed at head coach Peter Moores. And England team analyst Nathan Leamon, a Cambridge maths graduate and former Eton schoolmaster, badly hurt his foot after kicking out in anger in his hotel room in Wellington after a late-night debate with some media pundits about the importance — or not — of cricket stats. The unnecessary comment that had Leamon steaming was from the obnoxious Paul Allott, Lancashire director and peripheral figure on Sky Sports, who asked the numbers expert: ‘Have you ever played the game?’ England's apparent over-reliance on data at the World Cup led to criticism aimed at Peter Moores . The proposed 2016 Olympics men’s Team GB football side, mischievously relayed to the other home nations by former FA general secretary Alex Horne on his last day in office, has been kiboshed, not only by the FIFA ExCo in Zurich last Thursday, but at the FA board meeting on the same day. The three other countries were strongly opposed and the issue has also raised questions as to why England have had a monopoly on the GB football seat on the British Olympic Association. However there are still plans to send a GB women’s side to Rio. There will be no 2016 Olympics men’s Team GB football side in Rio next summer . Adam Johnson is set to receive a tough reception if, as expected, he returns for Sunderland at West Ham on Saturday following his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old. Upton Park chants aimed at the England winger will be brutal. The match is live on Sky and talkSport and both will have sound engineers on their outside broadcast teams to monitor the volume of crowd obscenities. Adam Johnson is set to return to the Sunderland team after his suspension by the club was lifted . Champagne’s puzzle . Former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne’s fanciful bid for the FIFA presidency — which failed to get the necessary backing from five countries — seemed from the start to be at Sepp Blatter’s bidding. And Champagne wouldn’t comment yesterday on speculation he has written Blatter’s mission statement ahead of the election. Blatter said: ‘My manifesto is the work I have done in FIFA.’ UEFA president Michel Platini snubbed the official FIFA ExCo dinner in Zurich on Thursday night — preferring pasta with his entourage to celebrate the Champions League progress of his former club Juventus. Jerome Champagne’s bid for the FIFA presidency failed to get the necessary backing from five countries . Simon Clegg, chief operating officer of the inaugural European Games in Baku this year, has ambitions to become chairman of the British Olympic Association if Lord Coe is elected president of the IAAF. But Clegg needs the Azerbaijani-bankrolled Games to go well first and he’s just lost his second communications chief in quick succession — both leaving suddenly for personal reasons. +The wonderful thing with horses is that they know so little. Coneygree didn’t know he was a novice, didn’t know he was fragile, didn’t know he wasn’t worth anything at all. He didn’t know a first-timer hadn’t won the Gold Cup since 1974, or that winners of blue riband races are rarely so gauche that they lead from start to finish. And what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. It is different for humans. Sara Bradstock, wife of winning trainer Mark, and daughter of racing legend Lord Oaksey, who bred Coneygree, remembers every doubt, every raised eyebrow, every cruel remark on the road to one of the most remarkable victories in the history of this race. And one in particular. Nico de Boinville kisses the Cheltenham Gold Cup following Coneygree's length-and-a-half victory . De Boinville and trainer Mark Bradstock are all smiles with the 2015 trophy . On November 17, after two years out with injury, Coneygree was withdrawn by a vet at the start of the SIS Live Novices’ Chase at Plumpton. After 660 days off the track injured, the veterinary professional inspecting horses before the race decided Coneygree showed signs of lameness. ‘I said to him, “It’s not just any horse that you’re f****** me about with here”,’ said Mrs Bradstock, with a countryside earthiness that contrived to sound jolly, sporty and bloody furious at the same time. ‘And do you know what he said to me? He said, “He’s had two years off, he’s not worth anything anyway”.’ No doubt there is a vet in the South Downs area of Sussex who is feeling a little sheepish this morning. The diagnosis aside — Mrs Bradstock felt so angry about it she threatened to get her brother, a QC, to sue — Coneygree was worth something after all. He was the horse that could, overcoming newness, shyness and an ability to pick up the strangest injuries to beat a field that included Tony McCoy on his last Gold Cup ride, Carlingford Lough. To be fair, not even the love of the common people was present for McCoy’s horse, which went off at 14-1 and never contested, and some will say that Coneygree’s victory was evidence of a poor field. Mark Bradstock insisted there was no such thing — just the odd Gold Cup that was more open than in other years, and either way, the manner in which Coneygree came home made him one of the bravest, if not the best, Cheltenham has seen. There is something so marvellous about a front-runner. It is the honesty, for a start. Everything is out there. It is why the public warmed to Paula Radcliffe. By the time Coneygree came up the hill, any onlooker not financially involved will have been yearning for him to hold on. Doubly so if they knew his history . Coneygree clears the last hurdle to set up a grandstand finish at the Cheltenham showpiece . De Boinville and Coneygree clear a fence on their way to victory at the Cheltenham Gold Cup . ‘This little mare that only cost £3,000,’ said Mrs Bradstock of Coneygree’s mum, Plaid Maid. She had been bought to give her father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s late in life, a little interest in his retirement. He bred Coneygree from her, and another horse of note, Carruthers, which won the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in 2011. ‘All of the big yards spend telephone numbers on horses,’ Mrs Bradstock added. ‘People quoted statistics at us, but this shows anyone can do it. I always said, when we win the Gold Cup we’ll win the lottery — it feels that amazing. Dad isn’t here, but he is looking down on us today, I know. ‘Before the race I spoke to Nico (de Boinville, the jockey). I was reminded of what David Elsworth said about Desert Orchid. Nobody thought he could step up from two miles to three for the Gold Cup but David said, “If you go 20 yards clear, go 30”. That’s what I told Nico. If he wants to go clear, let him go clear.’ And he went clear. Not by much, nothing like 20 lengths. The winning margin was one and a half lengths and Coneygree was made to fight by Djakadam and Road To Riches. De Boinville was told he did it the hard way. He said he did it the easy way. ‘He could go again,’ he said, admiringly. In the distance, Coneygree steamed happily. They are proper horsey people, the Bradstocks, and not just because Sara’s father was a rider and later a brilliant journalist and broadcaster. It is a small stable, no more than 10 horses, and whatever Mark spends the proceeds on, it isn’t a stylist. His hair looked like he had been dragged through a hurdle backwards. He said he wasn’t good at watching races and had spent Coneygree’s three miles, two furlongs and 110 yards pacing and smoking. Bradstock had the air of a man who could have given Alex Higgins a run for his money in a smoke-off. His wife said he had nearly been arrested by security when his horse won. De Boinville celebrates following his 2015 Gold Cup triumph at Cheltenham . Coneygree became the first novice to strike for 41 years when making most of the running in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup . De Boinville is overcome with emotion on his way to the parade ring following Coneygree's thrilling victory . De Boinville is congratulated by the Cheltenham faithful as he makes his way to the winner's enclosure . Coneygree had been led up by the Bradstocks’ daughter Lily, whose junior riding career was curtailed by a neurological problem in her left leg following a kick from a horse. She wouldn’t have been able to walk two years ago, said Sara. Their son Alfie, who has a showjumping background, is credited with a lot of work, too. Coneygree jumped beautifully, testament to the effort Alfie has put in, along with rider De Boinville. Sara said they had sent the horse over hurdles four times this week to prepare him for the Gold Cup. One imagines Sara is the real driving force in the family. ‘I’m drinking champagne and Sara will be washing him down in his box,’ Mark said. ‘She does most of the work behind the scenes. She’s magical.’ For there to be 41 years between novice victories at the Gold Cup — the last one was Captain Christy —suggests this was a win steeped in horse sense. The Bradstocks knew Coneygree’s injuries made it more experienced than the average novice, and chose to run it here rather than in Wednesday’s RSA Chase. The wet weather, and the result it helped produce, vindicated the call. Captain Christy was seven when he outran The Dikler in 1974. Coneygree is a year older. Mrs Bradstock talked about his perceived fragility — the ‘ridiculous’ long legs and a feisty temperament she believes can be expressed at the Wantage stable, but would make him shrink in a big yard. ‘He’s different,’ she explained. ‘He got an injury to a small muscle at the top of one of his legs. The vet said he had never seen a horse hurt that muscle before.’ She smiled. This was a different memory, without the sneer of that afternoon at Plumpton. That vet said Coneygree had been nodding his head. ‘Of course he was, he was excited to be on a course again,’ Mrs Bradstock explained. Coneygree steamed on. He didn’t know he had won the Gold Cup. But whatever the hell had just happened, it definitely seemed like fun . The 2015 Gold Cup champion punches the air as he is led past the grandstand . Coneygree trainer Bradstock is overjoyed following his horse's Cheltenham result . Coneygree (right) did just enough to beat Djakadam and Road To Riches in a thrilling finish . AP McCoy looks dejected after Carlingford Lough finished ninth at the Cheltenham Gold Cup . It was the 19-times champion's final ride in the Gold Cup before his retirement . Chanelle McCoy (left) and Gillian Walsh were full of hope at the off and urge on husbands AP and Ruby as the race hots up . Zara Philips (right) was in attendance for the Cheltenham Gold Cup . Ruby Walsh (centre) had to contend with second place as Djakadam finished a length and a half behind Coneygree . +England's friendly against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, June 7 has been scheduled for a 1pm kick-off. The match at Dublin's Aviva Stadium will be just the second time the two nations have met since the infamous abandonment at the old Lansdowne Road ground in 1995, and the first in Ireland. James McCarthy tries to escape the attentions of England pair Michael Carrick (left) and Phil Jones in 2013 . England and Ireland players leave the field after a 1995 friendly in Dublin was abandoned due to crowd trouble . In May 2013 the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Wembley. Following discussions with the FA and the Garda (Irish police), England have been allocated 3,000 tickets for the fixture. +England Women got back to winning ways with a 42-13 Six Nations victory over Scotland on Friday night. After defeat to Ireland two weeks ago in Ashbourne, the world champions were in more convincing form and Ruth Laybourn led them to an eight-try victory with a hat-trick. England were ahead inside a minute with Katy McLean, Ceri Large, Fiona Pocock and Lydia Thompson all combining to allow Laybourn to touch down. Ruth Laybourn touches down for one of her three tries as England thrashed Scotland in Darlington . Lydia Thompson dives in for a score, one of eight that England managed on the night, in an impressive display . Katy McLean directs proceedings from behind the scrum as England bounced back from defeat to Ireland . McLean missed the conversion and a Nuala Deans penalty cut the deficit before Tamara Taylor barged her way over after a nicely floated McLean pass. Lisa Martin booted another Scottish penalty but two further tries before the break from Justine Lucas and Rochelle Clark put England in control with a 14-point lead. Bianca Blackburn and Harriet Millar-Mills put Pocock over in the second half but Eilidh Sinclair replied for Scotland, with Deans adding the conversion. That was as good as it got for the Scots, though, with Laybourn adding her second on 56 minutes before Thompson went over with Amber Reed adding the extras. Laybourn then crossed over for her hat-trick to seal a comfortable England win. Fiona Pocock dives over for a second-half score before Eilidh Sinclair hit back for Scotland's only try . England's Tamara Taylor breaks through two Scottish tackles as her side returned to winning ways . +This is the moment a young man and his friend posed for a video selfie in front of a dumpster blaze in Connecticut - only to be struck in the head by a powerful jet of water from a firefighter's hose. Thomas Lavery and Krystine Hall, who are both believed to work at Apple, were walking through New Haven on Sunday when they spotted firefighters tackling a raging fire outside a restaurant. But instead of standing back to allow the crew to deal with the blaze - which had started in a dumpster outside the pizza joint - they decided to capture themselves on video in front of it. Not a good idea: This is the moment Thomas Lavery and Krystine Hall posed for a video selfie in front of a dumpster blaze in Connecticut - only to be struck in the head by a stream of water from a firefighter's hose . Joking around: The pair, who are both believed to work at Apple, were walking through New Haven on Sunday when they spotted firefighters tackling a raging fire. Above, they are seen laughing during their selfie video . On its way: Instead of standing back to allow the crew to deal with the blaze, the friends decided to capture themselves on video in front of it. Above, water from a firefighter's hose is seen shooting over the dumpster . In the footage, later posted to YouTube by Mr Lavery, the pair are seen posing and smiling just feet away from the fire. Mr Lavery tells the camera, 'it's a fire', as his friend pulls a series of faces. Mr Lavery and Ms Hall then burst into fits of laughter after the latter realizes her colleague is taking a video, not a photo. Mr Lavery then tells her: 'I just wanted to see them [the firefighters] get it out.' He goes on to say, 'here we go', as a firefighter picks up a water hose and aims it at the blaze. But seconds later, his words are drowned out as the stream of water strikes the pair on the head. Both Mr Lavery and Ms Hall are heard screaming loudly as they are forced out of the shot, while the video cuts out almost immediately. A final clip shows the screen of the camera covered in water. Stunned: Seconds later, Mr Lavery and Ms Hall are struck on the head by the jet, forcing them out of the shot . Damaged: Both Mr Lavery and Ms Hall are heard screaming loudly as they are battered by the water while the video cuts out almost instantly. A final clip shows the screen of the camera covered in liquid (pictured) The incident, which occurred on the same day as New Haven's St Patrick's Day parade, is believed to have been captured on Mr Lavery's phone. He later posted the YouTube link on Facebook. Many of his friends deemed the video - which Mr Lavery captioned, 'just another day in New Haven' - 'hilarious' and 'amazing', while others commented on the 'unexpected' stream of water at the end. On his Facebook page, Mr Lavery, who lives in Milford, suggests he works at Apple Inc, while Ms Hall, from New Haven, lists her occupation as a 'Family Room Specialist' at the technology firm. No further details on the dumpster blaze are known. Colleagues: The incident, which occurred on the same day as New Haven's St Patrick's Day parade, is believed to have been captured on Mr Lavery's phone. Above, Mr Lavery and Ms Hall in Facebook photos . +A car mechanic spent his life savings to build his own private plane only for the propeller to be damaged on its maiden flight. Li Shilong quit his job and returned to his hometown of Xiangshui, eastern China's Jiangsu Province, to pursue his dream of building his own the plane. According to the People's Daily News, the 26-year-old spent his entire life savings - 100,000 Yuan (£10,000) - on the project. Car mechanic Li Shilong quit his job and spent his entire life savings on building his own private plane . The 26-year-old plane ethusiast spent his entire life savings of 100,000 Yuan (£10,000) on the project . The plane enthusiast said he decided to have a go at a home-mad plane after seeing other people do it on television. He said: 'I saw news of others making planes at home, and think I can also do it.' Li, who worked as a car mechanic for more than 10 years, left his job in October last year to pursue the project. Measuring 7.3m long and 10.5m wide, the project was completed in just three months. However, on a test flight in Yancheng yesterday, the propeller was damaged, according to ecsn.com. But Li is not deterred and plans to purchase new parts to realize his 'airplane dreams'. Li Shilong said he saw others on the news build planes and home and decided to have a go. Pictured, his home-made plane under construction . Li, who has worked as a car mechanic for more than 10 years, started his plane-making project last October . The project, build in his hometown, took three months, and the finished plane is 7.3m long and 10.5m wide . But unfortunately, the propeller was damaged on the plane's maiden flight in Yancheng yesterday . But Li (pictured, putting the finishing touches to his project) is not deterred and plans to buy new parts . +A goodbye to the giraffes, a lingering look at a pregnancy scan and even a meeting with Lionel Richie. These touching pictures show the final wishes of terminally-ill patients fulfilled thanks to the work of a Dutch hospice. And most are simple, everyday pleasures - a trip to the zoo, a tour of museum or indulging in a good meal. The Ambulance Wish Foundation Netherlands, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, professional paramedics and comfortable stretchers, aims to give every patient the attention they deserve and bring a little light to their final days. Here are just a few of the wishes they have granted... Scroll down for video . Cancer patient Mario, 54, says goodbye to the giraffes at Rotterdam Zoo, whose enclosure he used to clean . This woman's wish came true when she met Lionel Richie after he performed at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome . One terminally ill woman's last wish was a visit to the hospital to see the scans of her unborn grandchild . All this terminally ill man (pictured with his teddy bear) wanted for his wish was to go home again . Wrapped up warm, this patient, from dirksland, wanted to enjoy the stunning views of Rotterdam from the Euromast tower . Volunteers took this patient for a delicious fish supper in a restaurant in Scheveningen . Even the most extravagant requests are met, like this man's wish involving a yellow Lamborghini Diablo . A costumed worker entertains a smiling patient on her classic wish for a three-day trip to Euro Disney . A woman with bowel cancer say goodbye to her horse in Best, a village in the south of the Netherlands . Although no longer able to fly, volunteers took this man for a last look at his aircraft at Soesterberg . This football fan watched his team, Feyenoord Rotterdam, play a match from the comfort of his stretcher . A terminally ill taken to say goodbye to the horses on the horses refugee camp in Soest, Germany . Despite the snowy weather, a patient enjoyed a visit to the Royal Burgers' Zoo in Arhem, Netherlands . Volunteers took a woman, pictured with her daughter and grandson, who is no longer mobile, to the zoo . This terminally ill man was able to spend the day with young daughter at Rotterdam Zoo . A touching photograph captures the moment a terminally ill says goodbye to her, who is also sick . A 27-year-old mother smiles as she returns to Poland to spend her final days with her husband a baby . This woman took a friend to enjoy the aromas of the Market Hall in Rotterdam for a final time . For her final wish, this woman, from Port Denison, took a couple of friends to see War Horse in Apeldoorn . This cancer patient, from Pernis, wanted to sail again, so his stretcher was taken on boat in Flushing . This woman's last wish was to enjoy an evening cruise along the canals of Amsterdam with her family . Despite no longer being able to drive, thiswonderful husband wanted to take his wife to pick up new car . This 77-year-old woman, from Heemskerk, enjoyed a last look at a self-portrait by Rembrandt in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam . A man enjoys a last visit to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (Dutch National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden . Voluneteers help another art lover enjoy a final look around an art gallery in The Hague . A family trip to Disneyland in Paris (left) and a woman visits the Dom Tower, Utrecht, with her loved ones (right) A terminally ill woman, from Sint-Michielsgestel, fulfilled her last wish of making a pilgrimage to Kevelaer . And this terminally ill woman, suffering from lung cancer, was taken  on a safari in the Beeksebergen . +A driver was stunned to spot a sheep being driven around London in the back of a Volvo. John Bowden was on his way home when he saw the animal staring back at him through the back window of the car in front. The 44-year-old said he couldn't believe his eyes when he noticed the unusual passenger as he pulled up to traffic lights on the South Circular Road near Tulse Hill station, south London. Baaad driver: John Bowden was stunned to see a sheep staring at him from the back of a Volvo in London . Mr Bowden told The Mirror: 'We had just pulled up at the cross roads and I thought, hold on that's a sheep in the back of a Volvo. 'My wife said 'I've seen it all now'.' He added the black Volvo was being driven by an 'old bloke' - who had also plastered a sticker proclaiming 'I love sheep' to the back of his vehicle. 'He had a white hair and white moustache - he was all in white like the sheep,' he added. Mr Bowden, who is a street ambassador for the Heart of London Business Alliance, said the picture has garnered a huge amount of attention from his friends after he uploaded it to Facebook. Shear genius: The Volvo with the unusual passenger also featured a sticker with the words 'I love sheep' +Rory McIlroy now has something else that that once belonged to Tiger Woods - the cover of EA Sports' latest video game. Electronic Arts Inc. announced on Monday that McIlroy will be the new face of its golf series. 'EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour' is to be released in June and will be the first EA Sports series to use the new Frostbite technology that provides sharper pictures and eliminates load times between holes. Rory McIlroy has replaced Tiger Woods on the front cover for the popular EA Sports PGA Tour video games . Woods had been on the front cover of EA Sports PGA Tour golfing game franchise for 16 years . 'I'm very proud and humbled to see my face and name on EA SPORTS Rory McIlroy PGA TOUR,' said McIlroy. 'This is a great honour, and something I couldn't even dream of growing up playing the sport.' EA Sports built its PGA Tour series around Woods from 1998 until it ended its relationship with him in 2013 when Woods was still No 1 in the world. McIlroy has been No 1 since August and the pair shared the cover in 2011. The game will be available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. One of EA Sports' first game with Woods as their front cover star was the 1999 version (left) with 2014 his last . +Britain's fittest grandmother has set a new world record in weightlifting just one year after she took up the sport because her local swimming pool was closed as result of council cuts. All-action Lindsey Gowland, 57, played basketball to a national level as a teenager and then took to the water after turning 40. She won a European gold and World silver medal at Masters level but was forced to give up competing when two of her local pools were shut down in 2009. Super-gran! Sports-mad Lindsey Gowland shows off her muscles with this deadlift . The lecturer won three weightlifting golds at the British Championships in Stafford last month . Lindsey Gowland, from Kingswinford, West Midlands, discovered weights when her swimming pool closed . The mum-of-four - who works as a sports lecturer and lives in Kingswinford, West Midlands - was then introduced to dumbbells by her colleague Martin Beastall at the end of 2013. Lindsey initially lifted the weights to keep fit but soon realised she was good enough to enter the Midlands Championships in Worcester in October last year. After qualifying with ease she then went on to win three gold medals in her first ever British Championships in Stafford in February. Lindsey took home first place in the deadlift, squat and bench press categories when she competed in the 63kg weight class and 55 to 59 age grouping. Incredibly, she set a world record of 121kg in the deadlift as well as a European best in the 60kg squat and a new British record with 43kg in the bench press. Lindsey, who lives with her PE teacher husband Ian, 58, admitted she doesn't look like a typical weightlifter. Mum-of-four and grandmother-of-three Lindsey weighs 9st 9lb and was introduced to weights by a colleague . Lindsey during her qualifying event for the British Championships in Worcester in October 2014 . Lindsey with her colleague and personal trainer Martin Beastall, who first introduced her to dumbbells in 2013 . The 5ft 7in grandmother-of-three, who weighs 9st 9lb, said: 'I used to swim three or four times a week with a club but they closed down the one pool and a couple of years later they closed down the pool we moved to because of council cuts. 'Martin got me into weights. He has had a go at it in the past and he looked at what I was lifting for swimming training and said I had a good chance of competing. 'He asked if I fancied giving it a go and I just thought, "why not?" 'When I first started training I was doing sessions at Dudley College, where the gym is mostly used by students. 'Lots of them used to look at me and think 'I bet you're not going to lift much' and I think they were quite surprised to see I could pull the weights I can pull. 'I never thought of myself as someone who would be able to lift heavy weights. It has really been so unexpected. 'I am reasonably tall but I am not a big person. I certainly don't look like the stereotypical weightlifter. Lindsey, centre, won gold at her last swimming championship in 2009 but gave up when two local pools closed . 'But had it not been for the pool closing I think swimming would still be my main sport.' Lindsey has now got her sights set on beating her global competitors when she enters the World Single Lift Championships in Telford, Shrops., in June this year. The sports lecturer - who has four grown-up children Ian, 34, Emma, 33, Amy, 26, and Kelly, 25 - is also targeting the world record for the squat which stands at 65kg. Lindsey often cycles as part of her fitness routine . She added: 'I had lifted weights in the past but only for conditioning to support swimming. 'I virtually had to re-learn my technique because when you weight train for fun you can get away with slightly less technique but when you compete it's very strict. 'I couldn't believe it when I broke the world record, I think there was a Russian woman who held it before me. I have lifted 125kg in qualifying but I just couldn't quite hang on to it in the finals. 'I want to work towards the squat world record. I need to get another 5kg on to the 60kg (European record) which I think I can achieve by June. 'I won't know who is turning up until the day of the world championships but there could be people from all over the world in my age group so it will be a challenge.' Lindsey grew up in Lancashire before moving to the West Midlands in 1976, where she met her husband, Ian. All four of her children have caught the fitness bug and her only son Ian is the captain of the Swedish national rugby union team after he emigrated there with his wife. The fitness fanatic only weight trains once a week but also plays netball and swims an average of 3,000m every week. And Lindsey hopes her success will show other people that they can keep active and strong as they get older. She added: 'When you look at others lifting big weights who are older than myself it shows that you do not have to get weaker with age,' she said. 'Just because someone gets older it does not mean they can't do lots and lots of different things. 'It is all about high impact stuff, they have done studies that prove if you do high impact sports where your feet are coming off the ground then muscles, bones and joints stay stronger for longer. 'You lose strength and fitness with age but you don't have to lose it as quickly. 'I would like to think I feel younger and could give the college students a good run for their money in a lot of sports.' +Always wanted to act the part of an art critic but don't know anything about paintings? Now's your chance (if you have nearly £1million sitting in the bank). A Parisian couple are selling their apartment in the French capital and including their art collection worth £750,000. The Art House is a lavish three-bedroom home which was given a complete renovation taking more than 18 months. A Parisian apartment has gone on sale for £2.56million . There are a dozens of painting, prints and sculptures which give The Art House a stylish, contemporary feel. It is estimated the art inside the property in Etoile Parc Monceau, Paris, cost the owners more than £750,000. They are now selling up and throwing the artwork in as part of the £2.56 million price-tag. Susie Hollands, CEO and founder of VINGT Paris, the boutique agency selling the home, described it as a 'piece of art in itself'. The three bedrooms each have walk in dressing room and en-suite bathrooms . Pieces of art and books on the subject cover every wall . The flat also features bespoke wavy Corian doors which cost £2,500 each to make (left) She said: 'The interiors were specially designed around the beautiful contemporary art works so as to merge art and property together. 'A person who loves art will appreciate the time and dedication it has taken to create such a unique place to live in the heart of Paris.' The 2,744 sq/ft property boasts features grand open-plan living spaces, a large kitchen and breakfast room and three big bedroom suites complete with walk in dressing room and en-suite bathrooms. The traditional exterior gives no hint to the modern art stashed inside . The furniture is equally modern, offsetting the art on the walls . The top-of-the-range kitchen wouldn't look out of place in a high-end restaurant . Natural stone and wood has been used throughout and blended with man-made materials. The entrance hall was created with large concrete slab flooring, with each slab weighing 100kg (15st 10lb) and bespoke wavy Corian doors which cost £2,500 each to make. In the living space there are bespoke cabinets, wood flooring, fireplace and a dining area perfect for entertaining. +Switzerland star Xherdan Shaqiri says Roberto Mancini was the reason he decided to swap Bayern Munich for Inter Milan. Shaqiri struggled to secure a regular starting place in his three years at Bayern Munich and made the move to the San Siro in January after speaking with Mancini. The 23-year-old had offers to move to Spain and England but opted for Inter and hopes to repay the faith shown in him by Mancini. Xherdan Shaqiri says he moved to Inter Milan to get more game time . Shaqiri helped Inter get passed Celtic in the Europa League . Speaking in La Gazzetta dello Sport, he said: ‘Inter had been in contact with my agents and my brother Erdin for some time. 'Then there were two phone calls from Mancini. We had two good chats. I immediately felt like I would be very important for him. 'At my age, what interested me most was the chance to play regularly, which hadn’t happened a lot lately. Shaqiri says he turned down offers from England and Spain to join Inter . Shaqiri spoke to Inter manager Roberto Mancini and he swayed him to move to the San Siro . 'Mancini explained to me that I would see a lot of time on the pitch. He spoke about his philosophy and that of the club, and his desire to take Inter back to its glorious recent past.’ Inter travel to Napoli on Sunday and will look to get back to winning ways after defeat by Fiorentina last week, but Shaqiri knows it will not be an easy game. He added: ‘It is not easy to win at Napoli, but getting three points there would be very important psychologically. We must play well and try to grow. We have everything it takes to do that.' +Thorgan Hazard has revealed it remains his ambition to return to Chelsea, despite only leaving the club on a permanent basis in February. The 21-year-old younger brother of Eden joined Borussia Monchengladbach on loan last summer and made the deal with the Bundesliga club permanent just last month. Hazard moved to Chelsea from Lens in 2012 and spent two seasons on loan at Belgian club Zulte Waregem before moving to Germany. Thorgan Hazard made his loan deal with Borussia Monchengladbach permanent at the end of February . Hazard signed a contract until 2020 with the Bundesliga club, but Chelsea have retained a buy-back option . Hazard has revealed he wants to return to Chelsea after proving himself in the Bundesliga . The youngster is still highly-rated at Chelsea, who have retained a but-back option as part of the transfer, and Hazard has revealed he dreams of returning to the Premier League leaders in the future. 'Now I've signed here I'm only focused on Monchengladbach. After this, playing at Chelsea remains a goal,' he told Le Figaro. 'I hope that, in a few years, I can return and play there. 'First, I want to have a big season in a major league. I've not done that yet. I hope that, in a few years, I can have accomplished that. But for now, I'm only focused on Monchengladbach. 'If, one day, I want to play at Chelsea again I better play well. But first, I need to help the team achieve our goals.' +Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse were at the centre of a spitting storm as Manchester United grabbed a last-gasp victory at Newcastle - and the pair could now be banned for six games each. Ashley Young’s 89th-minute winner stole three points for Louis Van Gaal’s men following a gaffe from Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, but it was a clash between United defender Evans and his rival Cisse that produced the main talking point of the night. The pair tangled during the first half at St James’ Park and appeared to aim kicks at each other before the situation turned even more unsavoury. Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the floored Newcastle striker . Papiss Cisse subsequently retaliates, and appears to aim spit of his own back at the United man . Evans (left) and Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant set-to . The FA are waiting for referee Anthony Taylor's report. As he missed the incident between Jonny Evans and Pappis Cisse, it is unlikely the it will be included in his report - meaning the FA can retrospectively punish the pair. Hull striker George Boyd was banned for three games last season after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA have issued new guidelines to move in line with new FIFA guidelines meaning Evans and Cisse could now be banned for six games. As Cisse climbed to his feet, TV footage appeared to show Evans spitting down on the floor in the direction of his opponent. Cisse reacted by putting his head towards Evans and seemed to spit back at him, although it is not clear if it landed on the Northern Ireland international. The referee missed the incident meaning the FA, who are waiting for Anthony Taylor's report, can ban the pair retrospectively for six games each. Last season Hull City striker George Boyd was banned for three matches after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA upped the punishment for spitting to six games to come in line with new FIFA guidelines, which state that any player 'dismissed from the Field of Play for spitting at an opponent or any other person' will be suspended 'following the match in which he was sent off until such time as his Club has completed its next six matches in approved Competitions.' If found guilty, Cisse will be banned for an extra game because of a previous violent conduct ban for elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman. Afterwards, Van Gaal defended Evans. ‘I did not see that (incident) from the bench, but I cannot imagine he would do that,’ said the Dutchman. Newcastle head coach John Carver said: ‘You can't do it can you? It's one of the worst things in football. But I can't comment on it, I just know there was a fracas on the halfway line and I need to have a look at it.’ Neither player was booked at the time by referee Anthony Taylor, who awarded a free-kick to Newcastle for the original tangle, but if the official missed the spitting incident the pair could face retrospective action from the FA. The Senegalese striker points the finger at Manchester United's defender after the incident . Tempers threaten to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gather on the pitch . Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, covering the match as a pundit for BT Sport, slammed Cisse while suggesting Evans wasn’t a guilty party. ‘I think Jonny is spitting on the floor. I know Jonny, he’s not that type of person,’ he said. ‘If he wants to do that then it’s not hard to miss, is it? He’s only stood a yard away from him. What Cisse does afterwards is unforgivable.’ Scholes’ colleague, ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid star Steve McManaman, said: ‘I’d like to think he (Evans) is spitting at the floor and not at Cisse. But then Papiss Cisse stands up and spits right at Jonny Evans’ neck from about six inches. It’s absolutely disgusting.’ Van Gaal, meanwhile, was relieved to see Young steal three points on a night when all of the top four won. ‘I was very pleased with the win, especially here,’ he said. ‘I lost here as a coach of Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar. I knew it was difficult and Ryan Giggs said there is a lot of pressure from the crowd. But we made the crowd quiet. The players share heated moments at St James' Park as they exchange points of view . ‘But we don’t reward ourselves (with goals). If you don’t reward yourselves you can get negative results and David de Gea had to make two fantastic saves. ‘It was important to win after you see all of the results of our competitors in our rat race. ‘Everyone is now full of confidence going into the FA Cup game with Arsenal.’ As for Carver, he was furious that Newcastle were denied an early penalty when Chris Smalling fouled Emmanuel Riviere. ‘It’s frustrating and I’m so disappointed for the guys,’ he said. ‘For 89 minutes we were outstanding but we don’t have world-class players like they do. ‘To concede like we did is disappointing but what is more disappointing is the blatant penalty in the first half which was not given. Anthony Taylor is a human-being and he’s missed it. That would have set us up nicely.’ +Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given dressed as a leprechaun on Tuesday morning to wish his fans a happy St Patrick's Day. The 38-year-old, who has 127 caps for the Green Army, took to Twitter and posted a snap of himself wearing a Leprechaun hat and ginger beard. Giving the thumbs up, the Aston Villa stopper said: 'Happy St. Patricks Day everyone, hope you all have a great day.' St Patrick's Shay: Given dresses as a leprechaun on Tuesday morning to mark the Irish national holiday . The Republic of Ireland keeper retired from international football in August 2012 following the European Championships that summer before making himself available for selection once more five months later. Given is the second most-capped Republic of Ireland player in history - behind record-holder Robbie Keane who has earned 138 caps - and has kept 55 clean sheets for his country. Meanwhile, in the Premier League, Given has played No 2 to Brad Guzan at Villa Park during the last few seasons having signed for the Midlands club in 2011 from Manchester City. However, the former Newcastle City stopper has featured in all four of his side's FA Cup matches this term during Aston Villa's march to Wembley. Tim Sherwood's side will face Liverpool or Blackburn in the FA Cup semi-finals next month. Given has 127 international caps for the Republic of Ireland and has kept 55 clean sheets . Given dives at the feet of Saido Berahino during Aston Villa's 2-1 FA Cup victory over West Brom last week . VIDEO Sherwood credits strikers for Villa resurgence . +Erik Lamela turned 23 on Wednesday and the midfielder was able to celebrate his birthday in the 'best way' after Tottenham beat Swansea 3-2 at White Hart Lane. The Argentina international took to social media after the match on to thank everyone who had wished him happy returns, insisting that the victory was the perfect way to end the day. The Spurs midfielder, who was an unused substitute for the Premier League clash, uploaded a picture to his Instagram and Twitter accounts of him holding two massive balloons displaying his age. Erik Lamela poses with balloons displaying his age as he celebrated his birthday on Wednesday night . Tottenham winger Andros Townsend celebrates after firing home the third goal against Swansea City . Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason lashed in a right-footed shot for the second against Swansea City . Lamela wrote: 'Thank you very much to everyone who greeted me on my birthday... Winning makes me finish it in the best way!!' Earlier on Wednesday striker Roberto Soldado wished  his team-mate happy birthday and posted a picture of the pair on Twitter in the build up to the Swans game. Nacer Chadli, Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend fired Mauricio Pochettino's side to victory - their first in six games - against Swansea as Tottenham remained in the hunt for a top four finish. Nacer Chadli (left) beats Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to score the opening goal . Roberto Soldado tweeted this picture with Lamela on Wednesaday and wished the winger happy birthday . Ki Sung-yueng equalised in the first half before former Spurs midfielder Gylfi Sigursson scored late on to give the home side a scare in the closing minutes. It was the perfect way to respond after the club were dumped out of the Europa League last week by Fiorentina before suffering Wembley heartache as Chelsea emerged triumphant in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday. +After an impressive 2014 Josh Warrington is bidding to become Leeds' very own Ricky Hatton and the Leeds Warrior has set his sights on winning world titles. The featherweight fighter earned the British, Commonwealth and European belts last year and the 24-year-old will be looking to continue his winning start to 2015 when he faces Filipino Dennis Tubieron on April 11. The bout in his home town at the First Direct Arena, Leeds comes just weeks after outclassing Edwin Tellez in Berlin in February - his first fight outside the UK. Featherweight boxer Josh Warrington is aiming to bring world titles to Leeds . The 24-year-old is facing Filipino fighter Dennis Tubieron at the First Direct Arena in Leeds in April . Promoters Matchroom Boxing have released a behind-the-scenes video of Warrington as he prepares to preserve his undefeated record and make it 21 wins out 21 professional fights. 'I grew up watching Ricky Hatton from Manchester,' Warrington says. 'I thought that was something special, I though "why hasn't Leeds got that". 'I want to bring success to the city of Leeds. I want to bring world titles to Leeds. All the years of training and sacrifice all comes down to this one moment.' Warrington is undefeated having recorded 20 wins out of 20 professional fights . The featherweight enjoyed a successful 2014 and started 2015 with a win in first fight abroad last month . The video provides glimpses of Warrington's rigorous training schedule as he runs in the countryside and works out in the gym as he prepares for April's fight. The bout with Tubieron is a world title eliminator fight and the winner will land the vacant WBC International featherweight strap. +Zenit St Petersburg took a giant stride towards the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night after overcoming 10-man Torino in the first leg of their round of 16 tie. Axel Witsel and Domenico Criscito were on target for Andre Villas-Boas' side at the Stadion Petrovskij as Marco Benassi was dismissed in the first half for the visitors. Zenit have not progressed beyond this stage of a European competition since they won the UEFA Cup back in 2008 but will be clear favourites heading to Turin next week for the second leg. Axel Witsel celebrates after opening the scoring for Zenit St Petersburg against Torino on Thursday . Marco Benassi is sent off after just 28 minutes after picking up his second yellow card . Bazilian forward Hulk takes a strike at goal during the first leg of the Europa League last-16 clash . Zenit (4-2-3-1): Lodygin; Smolnikov, Neto, Garay, Criscito; Javi Garcia, Witsel; Hulk, Shatov (Ryazantsev 81), Danny; Rondon . Subs not used: Baburin, Lombaerts, Zuev, Mogilevets, Tymoshchuk, Sheydaev . Scorers: Witsel 38, Criscito 54 . Booked: Garcia, Smolnikov, Ryazantsev . Manager: ANdre Villas-Boas . Torino (3-5-2): Padelli; Maksimovic, Glik, Moretti; Darmian, Benassi, Gazzi, El Kaddouri, Molinaro; Martinez (Vives 34, Farnerud 50), Quagliarella (Lopez 74) Subs not used: Castellazzi, Bovo, Silva, Amauri . Booked: Glik, Molinaro . Sent off: Benassi 28 . Manager: Giampiero Ventura . The Russians returned from a two-and-a-half month break in competitive football at the end of February and came into Thursday's match with three straight wins without conceding a goal. Zenit controlled the early exchanges, dominating possession as Torino defended deep. The Italian's already difficult task became harder when, on just 28 minutes Benassi walked. The midfielder was cautioned as early as the 12th minute when he pulled back Hulk as the Brazilian attempted to spring a counter-attack, before naively challenging Witsel to earn a second booking. The hosts eventually took the lead in the 38th minute. Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel pounced inside the penalty area when Torino failed to clear after Daniele Padelli could only parry an Igor Smolnikov effort. Salomon Rondon thought he had doubled the advantage before the break when he turned Witsel's pass into the net, but it was correctly ruled out for offside. Belgium international Witsel is mobbed by his team-mates after giving Zenit the lead in the first half . Domenico Criscito is congratulated by his team-mates after doubling the Russians' advantage . After the restart Hulk should have increased the lead. After a neat one-two with Danny the former Porto forward fired a tame effort that was easily kept out by Padelli. But Zenit were soon celebrating again as Italian left back Criscito turned home the rebound after Hulk had struck the post. +World Cup winner Toni Kroos says he joined Real Madrid to play under manager Carlo Ancelotti and has revealed how the Italian told him he would make the team better. Former Bayern Munich midfielder Kroos joined the Spanish giants last summer for £24million after becoming a world champion with Germany at the World Cup in Brazil. And Kroos has spoken about how a chat with former Chelsea boss Ancelotti convinced him to leave the club he had been at for eight years and move to a new league. Toni Kroos protects the ball from team-mate Sami Khedira during Real Madrid training on Wednesday . The World Cup winning midfielder puts pressure on Javier Hernandez during training . 'Ancelotti's also one of the reasons I came here – I think it's normal to talk with the coach before taking that step,' Kroos told the official Uefa website. 'He gave me a positive impression and told me Madrid would be even stronger with me in their ranks. It was obviously a good conversation. Kroos claims he has a very good relationship with the Italian and is grateful that Anceoltti put his faith in him, even to play in a position that he was unfamiliar with. Kroos throws his arm out in frustration during Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Villarreal last weekend . Kroos, playing a more defensive position than he did for Bayern Munich, slides into a challenge . 'He trusted me from the beginning in a position where I hadn't played that much, which was nonetheless in midfield. I enjoy playing in this position. 'Our relationship is good. We communicate a lot before each game. We discuss how I have to approach each game according to the opponent we're facing. I still don't know every team that well, which is normal. But he tries to fill in the gaps.' +Juventus head coach Max Allegri claims that fatigue is behind Paul Pogba's recent dip in form and admits the midfielder must learn to pace himself throughout matches. The former Manchester United man is widely considered one of the best young players in Europe and has excelled for Juve since joining the club in 2012. After a brilliant first half of the season the France international has suffered a lull in performances and again far from his best as the Italian champions succumbed to a 2-1 Coppa ltalia defeat by Fiorentina. Paul Pogba has suffered a lull in performances in recent weeks for Italian champions . The former Manchester United midfielder tussles for possession with Mohammed Salah . Pogba looks on during Juventus' Coppa Italia defeat by Fiorentina on Thursday night . And former AC Milan boss Allegri claims the 21-year-old is just suffering from burnout and admits the midfielder must learn to control games without overexerting himself. 'Any player over 40-50 games per season will have moments of fatigue, let alone a 21-year-old who has a lot to learn on how to control games and pace himself throughout 90 minutes,' the coach told reporters. 'I always tell him technique is not enough, he needs to put in a certain type of performance. Youngsters are going to have peaks and troughs, as Alvaro Morata did, on their way to maturity.' +When Santiago Wanderers midfielder Marco Medel was summoned by his manager to get stripped and ready for action he would have been hoping to steal the limelight, and he did. But instead of scoring the winning goal or setting up a team-mate the 25-year-old Chile international hit the headlines after picking up an injury just seconds after entering as a second-half substitute. Medel suffered the embarrassment of injuring himself as he jogged on to the pitch before immediately signalling to the bench that he had a problem. Marco Medel was brought on as a second-half substitute for Santiago Wanderers . Medel grimaces as he picks up an injury as soon as he jogs on following the change . The 25-year-old midfiedler goes down injured just seconds after entering the pitch . The Chile international puts his hand to his face as he lies on the ground in pain . Medel had to leave the field on a stretcher just moments after coming on . As soon as he stepped foot on the pitch when he replaced Paolo Tamburrini Medel wore a strained grimace across his face as he realised he wouldn't be able to participate in the match. He motioned towards the dugout to suggest he had snapped his achilles tendon before crumpling to the floor in a heap. The unfortunate Medel had to leave the pitch on a stretcher in what must be one of the shortest ever substitute appearances. Santiago Wanderers ended up drawing the match 0-0 with Universidad de Concepcion in the Chilean top flight to leave the club 12th in the table. +Real Madrid and Manchester United target Danilo was rushed to hospital on Tuesday night after a sickening collision with his own goalkeeper during Porto's 4-0 Champions League win against Basle. The Brazilian right back appeared to momentarily knocked unconscious after Fabiano came rushing out of his area to make a headed clearance. Danilo, with his eyes on the ball, failed to see the on-rushing keeper as the pair came together with Fabiano's shoulder making contact with the unfortunate full back's face. Danilo lays stricken on the turf following the collision with Porto goalkeeper Fabiano . Danilo collided with Fabiano as the Porto keeper cam rushing out of his goal to make a headed clearance . Fabiano headed the ball clear but made contact with Danilo's head with his shoulder . Danilo's head was snapped back by the force of the contact with the goalkeeper . Concerned team-mates and opposition players surround Danilo as he appeared unconscious . Medical staffed tend to the Brazil international after the sickening blow with his own keeper . The defender's head snapped back under the force of the collision as Danilo collapsed to the turf seemingly knocked out. After a lengthy stoppage in play Danilo left the field on a stretcher with his neck in a brace before being loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital. It was later revealed by the Porto press officer that Danilo was conscious and following a medical examination was cleared of any serious injury. That news will be well-received by Real Madrid who, Sportsmail understands, already have an agreement in place to sign the Brazil international in the summer for a fee in the region of £27million. Members of the medical staff check Danilo before loading him on t a stretcher . Danilo was loaded on to a stretcher and left the field with his neck in a brace . The full back was taken to hospital but later cleared of suffering any serious injuries . Porto captain Danilo (right) joins in the celebrations after Yacine Brahimi opened the scoring for the hosts . Potuguese paper A Bola have also reported that a move to the Spanish giants at the end of the season has been agreed. Carlo Ancelotti, however, denies a deal has been completed. Danilo has also been attracting interest from Manchester United with club officials making checks over the proposed move to Real Madrid. Luis van Gaal is in the market fro a new right back. Having been unimpressed by Rafael the United boss has persevered with playing Antonio Valencia - who was at fault for both goals in the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal on Monday - out of position. +Despite notching up four straight Bundesliga wins Sebastian Kehl admits Dortmund's focus remains firmly on avoiding relegation this season. After a dismal run of form Jurgen Klopp's side were bottom of the league and looked in real danger of falling out of the top flight. In the last month, however, Dortmund have transformed their fortunes and moved up to 10th in the Bundesliga with a  last weekend's 3-0 win against local rivals Schalke. Sebastian Kehl jumps with Dynamo Dresden's Quirin Moll during the victory in the German Cup on Tuesday . Ciro Immobile celebrates scoring the first goal in the cup tie as Dortmund booked quarter-final place . The Dortmund squad celebrate in the dressing room as they beat local rivals Schalke 3-0 last week . But ahead of their visit to Hamburg on Saturday former German international midfielder Kehl insists the players are looking no further than retaining their status in the top tier of German football. 'We lost at home to Hamburg earlier this season and that helped give them a bit of a boost,' the veteran midfielder, 35, told Ruhr Nachrichten. 'This time we hope we can be the ones getting three points. We urgently need to reach our goal. 'Nothing's changed on that front. CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and the coaches issued a 40-point target and to avoid relegation. That's all that matters right now.' +He may be more known for his outlandish character and raucous behaviour, but Mario Balotelli has been reminding everyone he has a softer side. The Liverpool striker took to Instagram on Monday to post a picture of him sleeping next to his baby daughter Pia. The Italy international announced he was the father to the two-year-old a little over a year ago after having it proved conclusively by a positive DNA test. Mario Balotelli uploaded a picture to Instagram of him taking a nap with his baby daughter Pia, two . Balotelli fathered a child with former girlfriend Raffaella Fico (pair together pictured in 2012) Fico pictured swimming while on holiday in Saint Tropez last summer . Balotelli was back in Liverpool training on Monday after Sunday's 2-1 victory against Manchester City . Balotelli was all smiles in training during a race with defender kolo Toure at the club's Melwood training ground . And Balotelli showed off his paternal side as he took a nap with Pia the day after Liverpool boosted their top four hopes with a 2-1 win against Manchester City. Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho struck brilliant goals either side of an Edin Dzeko equaliser as Rodgers' side made it eight wins in the last 10 league games. The win moved the Reds above Southampton into sixth place just two points behind Manchester United in fourth and three behind third-place Arsenal. Balotelli, pictured talking to Daniel Sturridge, was just a substitute for the clash on Sunday . Jordan Henderson celebrates after giving Liverpool the lead against Manchester City on Sunday . The impressive Philippe Coutinho won the game for Brendan Rodgers' side in the second half . The former City striker did not feature in the clash on Sunday as the 24-year-old continues to find game-time and goals limited at Liverpool. Balotelli hasn't started a Premier League game for the Anfield club since November and has only scored four goals from 23 appearances since joining from AC Milan last summer. +Following his apology over his rough treatment of the Cologne club mascot - a goat - forward Anthony Ujah showed there were no hard feelings as he celebrated Hennes VIII's birthday. The Nigeria international rushed over to the sideline after scoring during a 4-1 win against Frankfurt on Sunday before pulling forcefully on the unsuspecting Hennes' horns in celebration. And after admitting his regret over the incident the 28-year-old striker spent the day at the local zoo as mascot Hennes celebrated his eighth birthday. Anthony Ujah holds Hennes VIII, the Cologne mascot, as he celebrates his eighth birthday on Tuesday . The Nigeria international apologised for his rough treatment of the goat after scoring on Sunday . Cologne vice-president Toni Schumacher (right) holds up a replica shirt with Hennes on the back . Ujah was pictured holding the goat on a lead and was even snapped holding a bunch of carrots while feeding the mascot. On Monday Ujah took to social media to apologise for his overzealous handling of Hennes. 'Perfect Sunday. Sorry Hennes. I was a bit too rough on him,' Ujah wrote on Twitter and Facebook while also posting a photo of him pulling the goat. The 24-year-old striker feeds Hennes at the local zoo at the goats birthday celebrations . Ujah apologised on social media for his rough handling of Hennes during the win against Frankfurt . Ujah pulls forcefully on Hennes horns as he celebrated his goal during the Frankfurt win . The club also saw the humorous side of the celebrations. 'Hennes is used to such stuff. He may have a bit of a sore neck,' sports director Joerg Schmadtke told reporters. +Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson has blasted his side's 'embarrassing' and 'shocking' performance against Aston Villa that had supporters heading for the exits even before half-time. Gus Poyet's side were four down at the break as fans attempted to storm the Uruguayan's dugout in anger as Sunderland were plunged deeper into the relegation mire. Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor both scored twice at the Stadium of Light on Saturday as Sunderland suffered a humiliating first-half capitulation. Sebastian Larsson (left) branded Sunderland's 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa as embarrassing and shocking . Gus Poyet was sacked as Sunderland head coach on Monday following the humiliating defeat on Saturday . Fans showed their outrage as the Black Cats slumped to a record of one win in 12 Premier League games . Poyet, who accepted responsibility for the defeat after the match, was sacked following talks with the club's hierarchy on Monday. But Larsson insists it is the players who are to blame for the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of relegation rivals Villa. 'It's a shocker of a performance in the first half after a good start,' Larsson told the Sunderland Echo. 'All of us 11 players out there have to take the blame. Sunderland fans attempt to storm Gus Poyet's dugout as the home side fell behind to Aston Villa . Midfielder Larsson insists it was the players that were to blame for the performance . 'The goals we conceded in that first half were so avoidable, every single one. 'It's just a ridiculous amount of mistakes from all of us out there. Look at all four goals and none of them should be going in. 'That's the very, very frustrating thing. 'It's just embarrassing. For one bad goal to go in and for us to collapse the way we did, is absolutely shocking.' +The build-up to Manchester United’s FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal has inevitably rekindled memories of their epic encounter in 1999; Roy Keane’s sending-off, Peter Schmeichel’s penalty save and Ryan Giggs’ mazy, mesmerising winner followed by a shirt-stripping celebration. United’s semi-final victory at Villa Park that night came to epitomise Sir Alex Ferguson’s Treble-winning team. The penchant for high drama. The never-say-die spirit that he instilled in his players. And a ‘we’ll score more goals than you’ attitude in going toe-to-toe with any opponent, be it Barcelona or Blackburn Rovers. So as United prepare to face the Gunners again for a place at Wembley on Monday night, it’s perhaps understandable if their supporters are growing disillusioned by the brand of football being offered up by Louis van Gaal’s team. Ryan Giggs (right) scored arguably the greatest FA Cup goal in Manchester United's 1999 win over Arsenal . Giggs watches his left-foot strike fly past David Seaman as defender Toy Adams slides in too late . Giggs' semi-final winner was followed by a shirt-stripping celebration in an iconic moment at Villa Park . United won the Treble with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's late Champions League strike against Bayern Munich . It doesn’t seem to matter what tactics the Dutchman employs, the result seems to be the same. Whether it’s down to a three-man defence, a midfield diamond, or simply a case of launching high balls up to Marouane Fellaini, United simply haven’t been very entertaining this season. There is a caution, a lethargy, to Van Gaal’s side at odds with the traditions of the club. The Manchester United way. Giggs espoused it when he was installed as caretaker manager for the final four games of last season. ‘It’s going to be my philosophy, Manchester United’s philosophy,’ said Giggs at the time. ‘I want players to play with passion, speed, tempo and be brave with imagination – all the things that are expected of a Manchester United player. United’s philosophy is to attack.’ No wonder the Old Trafford legend seemed a little underwhelmed as Van Gaal turned to him to celebrate a late 1-0 win over Newcastle last week. Current Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has been criticised for his brand of football this season . Van Gaal's philosophy this season is different to United's trademark cavalier style of play . Juan Mata (right) leads the way as United's current crop prepare to face Arsenal in the FA Cup . David de Gea, Marouane Fellaini and Luke Shaw (L-R) could all start against the Gunners at Old Trafford . Paul Scholes, Giggs’s former team-mate who joined him on the coaching staff for that brief stint last year, has described United’s football as ‘miserable’. ‘United’s history was built on attacking football, which does not always mean that the team kept clean sheets or did not concede chances,’ says Scholes. ‘To beat opposing teams you have to attack, and to attack you have to take risks. Too few of the players in the current team are prepared to take those risks.’ Ferguson’s teams did not always dazzle on the big stage, of course. The goalless 2005 FA Cup final against Arsenal ranks as one of the worst in recent memory, though largely due to the negative tactics employed by Arsene Wenger before his side won on a penalty shootout. Equally, United’s 1979 final against the Gunners is lauded as one of the classics by those who sometimes forget that the first 85 minutes were pretty turgid. Sir Alex Ferguson guided United to 13 Premier League titles during his 1,500 games in charge of the club . Eric Cantona (left) led United to four Premier League titles during the 1990s . Cristiano Ronaldo (right) was the epitome of United's pleasing-on-the-eye style during his time at the club . Dave Sexton was in charge of United that day. His sacking two years later in 1981 was attributed to the fact that his team were just too boring even though United had just ended the season with seven straight wins, typically six of them by a one-goal margin. It is a reminder that results are not always everything at Old Trafford as Van Gaal continues to build on an impressive record of just two defeats in 22 games. Sexton paid the price for failing to play the United way; a cavalier style built on width and speed and a commitment to attack and entertain the fans. ‘All those lads you see going to the factory in Trafford Park, they come to watch you on Saturday,’ Sir Matt Busby told a teenage Bobby Charlton on his arrival at the club. ‘They have boring jobs, so you have to give them something they will enjoy.’ Dave Sexton (centre) was sacked as United manager in 1981 after failing to play the United way . United supporters displayed a banner demanding the sacking of Ferguson during the late 1980's . Tommy Docherty embraced Busby’s philosophy. Ron Atkinson too, though neither with the greatest success. When home attendances dropped to 33,000 during Ferguson’s darkest period in late 1989, it was largely down to a dreadful run of results that left United hovering above the relegation zone. One could argue that United are not much worse to watch under Van Gaal than they were under David Moyes, with better results. But fans expect more from the £150million spent last summer and the names on the team sheet. They find it hard to take when Wayne Rooney is dropped into midfield, Fellaini goes up front, and Sam Allardyce of all people gets to label their team ‘Long Ball United’. In recent weeks, they have taken to urging their team to ‘attack, attack, attack’ and booed when the ball is passed back to David de Gea. Van Gaal is understandably proud of the fact that he has won a trophy in his first season at each of his clubs. But as United aim to move a step closer to lifting the FA Cup for a record 12th time, he would do well to remember that style counts every bit as much as silverware at Old Trafford. Angel di Maria's form has dropped alarmingly after a bright start at Old Trafford following his summer move . Di Maria (centre) was substituted at half-time during United's 2-0 win at home to Sunderland last month . Deploying Marouane Fellaini (right) as a makeshift forward has also received negative feedback this term . +Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola is keen to continue his relationship with the club after insisting he is not waiting for any offers from elsewhere. Guardiola took charge of the German powerhouses in June 2013 and has led them to success in the Bundesliga and in domestic and European cup competition. His time has been dogged by speculation over swapping leagues, most notably to England and to names like Manchester City, with his current Bayern deal set to run out in 2016. Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola has distanced himself from moving to Manchester City in the summer . However, ahead of his side's DFB-Pokal game against Eintracht Braunschweig, the former Barcelona boss told a press conference: 'Of course I'll stay here. I haven't had a contract offer and I am not waiting for a contract offer from anyone else. 'I'm happy here at Bayern, my only idea right now is to stay and work for this club here. 'I can stay in this club five or six years even. This also depends on the players. I'm not the most important thing for the club.' Bayern are currently eight points clear at the top of Bundesliga and their current form is formidable . Guardiola celebrates their 4-1 win over Cologne with his captain and German international Manuel Neuer . +Gerard Pique launched his new mobile football game on Friday but the Barcelona defender looks may need a bit more practice after struggling to find the target during a short demonstration. The app, called Final Kick, is a penalty shootout simulation game and the former Manchester United player attended the Mobile World Congress in Spain to show off his latest off-pitch venture. The 28-year-old Spain international was invited on to the stage during the event in Barcelona to discuss the game and even showed the audience how it's done. Or not in this case. Gerard Pique attended the launch of his new mobile football game Final Kick on Friday . Pique got up on stage to give the audience a demonstration of the penalty shootout simulation . The Barcelona defender addresses the audience during the launch at the Mobile World Congress . Pique take a penalty with Barcelona team-mate Neymar Jnr during the demonstration . Pique hit the cross bar with another attempt as he showed the audience how to play . The Spain international signs a Barcelona shirt to give away as a prize . Pique, playing the game as Barcelona team-mate Neymar, blazed his first attempt high and wide of the target but managed to see the funny side as he hung his head in shame. His got closer with his next attempt as the ball cannoned off the crossbar as he failed to find the net for a second time. After his short demonstration presentation, Pique handed out prizes to participants after they took part in an organised Final Kick tournament. The game has proved hugely popular among football fans and has already been downloaded a staggering eight million times. +Porto cruised into the last eight of the Champions League after a comprehensive victory against Basle at the Estadio do Dragao on Tuesday night. The teams drew 1-1 in Switzerland three weeks ago but goals by Yacine Brahimi, Miguel Herrera, Casemiro and Vincent Aboubakar settled the tie to send the Portuguese side into their first quarter-final since 2009. The one sour note on an otherwise perfect night for Porto was that captain Danilo had to be carried off on a stretcher with his neck in a brace, but it was later confirmed he had suffered no serious injury. Casemiro slides to his knees in celebration after finding the top corner with a stunning free-kick . Casemiro points the sky in celebration after firing Porto into a 3-0 lead on the night sealing the victory . Tomas Vaclik dives in vain as Casemiro's unstoppable strike flies into the top corner in Porto on Tuesday . Porto: Fabiano; Danilo, Maicon, Marcano, Sandro; Herrera, Casemiro, Evandro (Quaresma 79 mins); Tello, Aboubakar, Brahimi (Neves 74). Subs not used: Helton, Martins Indi, Quintero, Torres, Paciencia . Scorer(s): Brahimi 14, Herrera 47, Casemiro 56, Aboubakar 76 . Booked: Marcano . Manager: Julen Lopetegui . Basle: Vaclik; Xhaka, Schaer (Embolo 57), Samuel, Safari; Elneny, Frei (Kakitani 63); Gonzalez, Zuffi, Gashi (Calla 77); Streller . Subs not used: Vailati, Traore, Degen, Ajeti, . Booked: Gashi, Gonzalez, Safari . Sent off: Samuel . Manager: Paulo Sousa . Referee: Jonas Eriksson . Basle were reduced to 10 men in injury time after experienced defender Walter Samuel was dismissed for a second bookable offence for an off-the-ball incident with Aboubakar. Algerian midfielder Brahimi opened the scoring for the home side in the 14th minute with a superbly executed free kick after on-loan Barcelona forward Cristian Tello was clumsily felled right on the edge of the penalty area by former Inter Milan defender Samuel. Brahimi placed the ball with purpose before the 25-year-old sent a bending effort over the wall and into the top corner, leaving Basle goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik rooted to the spot. Porto were then dealt a major blow as captain and Real Madrid target Danilo was involved in a sickening collision with his own keeper Fabiano. The clash left both men in a heap but it was the Brazilian right back that came off worst. Danilo crashed to the floor, visibly knocked following contact with Fabiano's shoulder. The 23-year-old left the field on a stretcher with his neck in a brace before being placed in an ambulance and taken to hospital, where tests revealed no lasting damage. Yacine Brahimi opened the scoring for Porto with a brilliantly placed free kick in the 14th minute . Hector Herrera wheels away in celebration after giving Porto a 2-0 lead early in the second half . Cameroon striker Aboubakar falls to his knees as he celebrates his goal in front of the fans . After a lengthy stoppage in play Porto could have added to their lead in the first half as the Portuguese side controlled the game. First Casmeiro and then Aboubakar went close as the home side had to settle for a one-goal lead at half-time. But Porto did extend their advantage just minutes after the restart. Goalscorer Brahimi turned provider this time as he teed up Hector Herrera after a fine run down the left flank. Brahimi twisted and turned before cutting back to the Mexican on the edge of the area, who beat Vaclik with a perfectly placed curling effort from 18 yards. Algerian Brahimi lifted the ball over the Basle wall from the the edge of the box leaving the keeper rooted . It got even better for Porto as on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro produced a stunning free kick, a cut above even his team-mate's in the opening 45. The 23-year-old struck a dipping effort from more than 30 yards that left poor old Vaclik picking the ball out the net again to put the tie beyond any doubt. The fourth goal, coming with 15 minutes to play, was just as good as the three that preceded it. Basle defenders backed off Aboubakar as he marauded forward before the Cameroon international unleashed a ferocious strike from 20 yards that nestled in the top corner. Frustration boiled over for Samuel in the final moments of the match as he was involved in an altercation with Aboubakar off the ball. The Argentine defender was shown a second yellow card for his troubles as Porto marched into the last eight. Vincent Aboubakar completed the scoring with another brilliant strike from 20 yards to make it 5-1 overall . Brazilian right back Danilo left the field on a stretcher after a sickening collision with his own keeper . +Barcelona booked their place in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday night to set up a clash with Athletic on May 30, with the showdown likely to be played at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu. A Neymar brace and a Luis Suarez strike earned the Catalan side a 3-1 win against Villarreal, comfortably progressing 6-2 on aggregate. Athletic, meanwhile, overcame Espanyol 2-0 away from home following a 1-1 draw in the first leg to set up a final between the competition's two most successful clubs. The front page of AS says 'All roads lead to the Bernabeu', while Marca's headline reads 'Game of thrones' Barcelona have won the tournament 26 times while Athletic, despite not claiming any major silverware for more than 30 years, have 23 Copa del Rey titles. And it is the Cup that dominates the Spanish papers on Thursday morning. 'Game of thrones' reads the headline on the front page of Marca, while AS focuses on the probable venue of the final claiming: 'All roads lead to the Bernabeu. After the Copa del Rey finalists are confirmed the sides agree on on a neutral stadium to play in and both clubs want the May final to be held at Real Madrid's famous stadium. The Copa del Rey final also features on the front pages of Spanish papers Sport and Mundo Deportivo . Meanwhile in Italy, Napoli held Lazio to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night. Former Germany striker Miroslav Klose gave the home side the advantage before Manolo Gabbiadini leveled for Rafa Benitez's side to leave them well placed to reach the final. In the other semi-final Juventus host Fiorentina in Turin on Thursday night and it is the Coppa Italia that dominates the front pages in the Italian press. The Italian press is dominated by the Coppa Italia semi-finals aas Napoli drew with Lazio on Wednesday before Juventus play Fiorentina on Thursday . Tuttosport look ahead to Thursday's clash and lead with the headline 'Greedy Juventus' in reference to manager Max Allegri's desire to win the competition with Serie A all but sewn up. Corriere dello Sport claim that Napoli are the favourites to reach the final after Wednesday's draw in Rome. 'Napoli for the final,' reads the headline on the front page and hailed the draw as an 'important' result. +Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has his sights firmly set on finishing in the top-two of the Premier League after closing the gap to just two points on rivals Manchester City. Louis van Gaal's side produced arguably their best performance of the season to blow top-four rivals Tottenham away in a dominant first-half display. Following Manchester City's shock defeat by Burnley on Saturday evening, United are within touching distance of Manuel Pellegrini's side with nine games remaining. Michael Carrick celebrates after giving Manchester United a two-goal lead against Tottenham on Sunday . The midfielder scored against his former club with a header during the first half at Old Trafford . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . Carrick, who was instrumental in Sunday's win at Old Trafford, says United are now aiming to catch their city rivals. 'We have got to aim for second,' the midfielder was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News. 'We're within touching distance now. You look at the table now and it is so tight. But I suppose really we've just got to look to next Sunday. 'It sets us up for another big game at Anfield. Every game is important now. There are going to be ups and downs because that is how it is, especially in the last nine or 10 games. Carrick is joined by his team-mates after netting the second goal during the 3-0 win . Manchester City were beaten 1-0 by Burnley on Saturday - United are now just two points behind them . 'Hopefully when that pressure kicks in, and it goes up and up, then we perform even better and we're going to have to in the weeks to come. 'For this club the Champions League is the place to be isn’t it? We had been in it for so long and not being involved on the big nights makes you realise what it is all about.' +Winning three Champions League titles proves that Carlo Ancelotti can be a tough operator and is no pushover when it comes to coaching, the Real Madrid coach said on Friday. Despite Real holding a two-point lead at the top of La Liga, Ancelotti has been criticised for their lull in form since the Christmas break and he has also been accused of being too soft on the players. 'I have felt supported by the club since the first day I arrived,' Ancelotti, who took charge of the club in 2013 having previously led AC Milan to two Champions League titles, told reporters. Cristiano Ronaldo takes on Dani Carvajal during Real Madrid's training session on Friday afternoon . Carlo Ancelotti (right) watches on as his players train at their ground in Valdebebas on Friday . Ancelotti rejected recent criticism and pointed to the three Champions Leagues he has won (above - 2007) Ancelotti won his first European Cup with AC Milan in 2003 after overcoming Juventus at Old Trafford . Ancelotti is thrown in the air by Real Madrid's players after guiding them to European success in 2014 . 'I have a lot of experience. I have been coaching for many years and with this 'weak' arm of mine I have managed to win three Champions Leagues.' Fans have become used to Real sweeping aside the opposition as they did during their Spanish record 22-match winning streak at the end of 2014. As a result there was discontent among the Bernabeu faithfuls when they drew 1-1 with Villarreal last weekend. In particular they took exception to the substitution of the creative Isco for Asier Illarramendi and there was a chorus of whistles. Karim Benzema trains with Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, who both scored in the 2014 Champions League final . Ronaldo takes a shot while being tracked by Portugal international Pepe . Former Tottenham duo Bale and Luka Modric train ahead of their clash with Athletic Bilbao . Former Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos shows off his skills in training on Friday . Former Malaga midfielder Isco dribbles away from Jese Rodriguez during the training session . 'I have had a normal week and we are preparing well for tomorrow's game,' said Ancelotti. 'I am used to criticism, this was not the first time and it won't be the last either but it won't change my attitude. I have full confidence in the team and I will repeat that I would make the same substitution again.' Ancelotti admitted though that the team needs regain its potency in attack. 'We have been finding it more difficult to score goals as we have lost efficiency. We are not playing the ball through quickly enough from the back and we are finding it difficult to make openings when teams defend solidly,' he said. 'The game against Athletic (Bilbao this weekend) will have a high intensity as they pile on pressure very well and we need to start well.' Marcelo, Benzema and Raphael Varane in action during training on Friday afternoon . Carvajal slides in as he attempts to block a shot from France international Benzema . World Cup winning midfielder Sami Khedira holds off Portugal full back Fabio Coentrao . Goalkeeper Keylor Navas shouts instructions to his defenders during the training session . Javier Hernandez, on loan from Manchester United, evades Nacho Fernandez in training . +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Emre Can to become a world class player after the Germany Under 21 international continued his impressive form against Burnley on Wednesday. The Reds made it nine wins from 11 Premier League games as they remained on course for a top-four finish with a 2-0 win against Sean Dyche's side at Anfield. Liverpool's resurgence in recent months has been epitomised by the performances of former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Can, who has become a key part of the Reds' side. Emre Can strikes at goal during Liverpool's 2-0 win against Burnley at Anfield on Wednesday night . Emre Can will become a world class player in the future, according to Reds boss Brendan Rodgers . Germany Under 21 international closes down Burnley striker Danny Ings on Wednesday . Rodgers has reinvented Can as the right-sided defender in Liverpool's back three and the former Swansea boss claims that the 21-year-old will be good enough to play for any team in the world. 'If you give Emre another couple of years, he could play in any team in world football,' said the Reds boss as quoted by Liverpool Echo. 'That's how highly I rate him. 'Playing at the back he is strong, aggressive and fast. He moves the ball well and can move into midfield, and whether central or out wide you can see his intelligence. Liverpool manager Rodgers says Can will be good enough to play for any team in world football in two years . Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson (left) celebrates scoring the opening goal for his side against Burnley . Daniel Sturridge loses his man and leaps to score a headed goal and give Liverpool a 2-0 lead . 'Emre can break through lines with his power and pace and has great composure. 'You can see from the response of the crowd that they love him. He does the dirty work as well. He doesn't just play and look nice, he presses the ball and is aggressive. 'I feel he will develop into a world-class player.' +New York City head coach Jason Kreis has refused to dwell on the furore surrounding Frank Lampard's delayed move to the club and says his arrival midway through the season could actually provide a well-timed boost. Former Chelsea midfielder Lampard agreed to sign for the new Major League Soccer franchise last July and was set to join up with his new team-mates in January ahead of the new season, which starts on Sunday. The 36-year-old then joined New York's sister club Manchester City - both part of the City Football Group - on what was initially reported to be a short-term loan deal. Frank Lampard agreed to join New York City when he left Chelsea last summer . Former England international delayed move to the MLS franchise until the end of the Premier League season . Lampard joined Manchester City at the start of the season on a short-term deal . Head coach Jason Kreis says Lampard's late arrival can provide the team with a boost during the season . As it transpired, the deal at City was in fact a standalone one which, after a number of impressive performances for Manuel Pellegrini's side, was extended beyond January until the end of the Premier League season. Lampard's decision to remain in Manchester and miss the start of New York's debut MLS campaign riled supporters of the franchise, but Kreis appears to have taken the potentially exacerbating episode in his stride. 'You know, I think we could look at that from a very negative point of view and say this is going to be really difficult and we had him pencilled in one way or another,'Kreis said in an interview with Bleacher Report. Frank Lampard (wearing black, third right) poses for a picture with his New York City team-mates in February . The deal was extended until the summer after a number of impressive displays for City . Lampard will now join up with his new club in JUly, missing the first four months of the season . 'Or we can look at it from a positive point of view and say, OK, well, this means that some other guys are going to get meaningful opportunities to make significant contributions in his position for the first four or five months of the season, and you need that in our league. 'When you get to the end of the season and there's some real fatigue, injuries and suspensions, you need guys to be able to step in and not miss a beat. I think this affords us that opportunity. 'We're going to be having a player that's going to be at the top of his game, extremely fit, coming right out of a Premiership season, which hopefully will he will have another medal to put in his pocket, and we can have a really significant, positive boost in the middle of the season.' New York begin their season against fellow MLS debutants Orlando City on Sunday. Bleacher Report's Mobile App 'Team Stream' helps you stay in the know with your favourite teams across a range of sports via hand-picked, curated sports stories from around the web. Get news for your teams all in one place and get real-time alerts for breaking stories. DOWNLOAD NOW. +Roberto Soldado has warned his Tottenham team-mates they face another 12 finals just days after suffering Wembley heartache as the striker wishes team-mate Erik Lamela a happy birthday. Tottenham saw the dream of winning their first silverware in seven years crushed by Chelsea on Sunday as Jose Mourinho's side handed them a 2-0 defeat in the Capital One Cup final. Mauricio Pochettino's side were also dumped out the Europa League by Fiorentina three days before the League Cup disappointment leaving an assault on the Premier League top four their only ambition for the rest of the season. Roberto Soldado (right) tweeted this picture with Erik Lamela and wished the winger a happy birthday . A dejected Soldado looks on as Chelsea celebrate Capital One Cup final victory in the background . Soldado tussles with Chelsea full back Cesar Azpilicueta during Sunday's Wembley final . Former Valencia forward Soldado has, in typically cliched fashion, slammed home the importance of the remaining 12 league fixtures, starting with the White Hart Lane clash with Swansea on Wednesday night. 'It only remains to look ahead and to be focus on the Premier League,' the out-of-favour striker tweeted on Tuesday. '12 matches, 12 finals. We need to be in the top 4.COYS!!' Meanwhile, Lamela was celebrating his birthday on Wednesday and Soldado took to social media to wish his team-mate many happy returns ahead of the match against Garry Monk's side. 'Happy birthday @Coco_Lamela!! I hope tonight you have the best gift,' he tweeted along with a picture of the pair. Mdfielder Lamela turned 23 on Wednesday and Soldado hopes he can celebrate with a win against Swansea . Tottenham go into Wednesday night's game in seventh place six points behind Manchester United in fourth, but having played a game less. Swansea are one place behind in eighth and can close the gap on Spurs to just a single point if they can take advantage of recent struggles for the north London club. Tottenham have failed to win any of their last five games since beating Arsenal 2-1 back at the start of February. Swansea, in contrast, have recorded back-to-back wins to keep alive the hope of securing Europa League football next season. +Defending champions Sevilla have one foot in the Europa league quarter-finals after they scored three away goals against La Liga rivals Villarreal in their round of 16 tie on Thursday night. Vitolo opened the scoring for the visitors after just 13 seconds - the fastest goal in Europa League history - before former QPR midfielder Stephane M'bia doubled the advantage to hand Sevilla a commanding first-half lead at El Madrigal. In-form Villarreal forward Luciano Vietto pulled a goal back for the home side just minutes after the restart but Sevilla's two-goal advantage was almost instantly restored through Kevin Gameiro. Kevin Gameiro netted the third for Sevilla moments after Villarreal had pulled a goal back . In-form 21-year-old striker Luciano Vietto reduced the deficit for the home side shortly after half-time . Villarreal had only lost once in their last 14 matches at home in all competitions but Marcelino's side got off to the worst possible start. With the very first attack of the game former PSG striker Gameiro flicked on a hopeful ball forward into the path of the breaking Vitolo who coolly slotted the ball past Sergio Asenjo in the Villarreal goal. Cameroon international M'bia gave the away side a two-goal advantage after 26 minutes. Villarreal failed to clear a set piece and Benoit Tremoulinas delivered from the left and the midfielder got in front of Juanme to head home. Former QPR midfielder Stephane M'Bia doubled the visitors' lead after 26 minutes . Sevilla midfielder Vitolo celebrates after giving his side an early lead against Villarreal . Vietto halved the deficit moments after half-time when Denis Cheryshev's strike fell kindly to the Argentine youngster via the arm of M'Bia before he finished past Sergio Rico - his sixth goal in the competition this season. There was some confusion about whether the goal had stood as Sevilla defenders seemed to think the officials had awarded a penalty for handball, but the goal stood. Any fears of a Villarreal comeback were quelled as the two-goal advantage was immediately restored. Vicente Iborra headed a set piece back into the danger area and Gameiro smashed home. +Barcelona defender Dani Alves is close to agreeing terms to join another club this summer, according to the player's agent Dinorah Santana. The Brazil international's contract with the Catalan club is due to expire at the end of the season and he will be free to leave for nothing. Alves had been willing to remain at Barcelona but the club have not offered him an extension to his deal and has been free to talk with other clubs outside of Spain since January. Dani Alves looks set to leave Barcelona on a free transfer at the end of the season after contract expires . Dani Alves, in action against Manchester City, is close to signing for another club, according to his agent . The defender has been linked with a move to the Premier League with Manchester United having been credited with an interest. Santana has now revealed that an agreement for Alves to join another club at the end of the season has almost been reached and that his client is not willing to wait any longer for Barcelona to offer new terms. 'We are close to signing for another club. We are in advanced talks,' Santana told Rac1. Alves kicks some water bottles in frustration after being substituted against City last week . Brazil defender had been willing to stay at Barcelona but the club failed to offer him a new deal . 'Dani is still available for Barcelona to keep hold of this summer, but he will not wait for them for much longer. 'People are trying to make Dani look like the bad guy in this situation and that's wrong. This situation is quite tiresome.' +Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez returned to training this week as he stepped up his recovery from a fractured metatarsal that has kept him sidelined since the start of February. The Colombia ace, signed from Monaco for £63million last summer, sustained the foot injury during Real Madrid's 2-1 La Liga win against Sevilla one month ago and has now started work on the training pitch. The 23-year-old trained alone on Wednesday and he went through some light exercises with the ball as he closes in on a return to full fitness. James Rodriguez undertook a light training session away from the main squad as he steps up recovery . Gareth Bale flies into a challenge with full back Marcelo during Real Madrid training on Wednesday . The Wales forward looks to evade the challenge of Jese Rodriguez as team prepare for Saturday's match . The 25-year-old former Tottenham player has been the subject of criticism from supporters this season . Meanwhile, Gareth Bale and Co prepared for Saturday's league match against Athletic Bilbao at San Mames as Real look to ramp up the pressure on Barcelona. Luis Enrique's side don't play in La Liga until Sunday and, should Carlo Ancleotti's side return to winning ways against Athletic, could find themselves five points behind the league leaders doing into the clash with Rayo Vallecano. Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw with Villarreal at the Bernabeu on Saturday after being pegged back Gerard Moreno after Cristiano Ronaldo had given the hosts the lead in the first half. Ancelotti is unlikely to be have lost too much sleep as Real are still well placed to win their first La Liga title since 2011-12 under Jose Mourinho. Luka Modric (centre) has not featured for Real since November after missing four months with a thigh injury . Sami Khedira, who hasn't played for almost a month, has also returned to Real Madrid training . The Real players listen to instructions from manager Carlo Ancelotti in preparation for Athletic Bilbao clash . Alvaro Arbeloa stretches out a leg as Jese shields his face from the ball . They also have one foot in the last eight of the Champions League after winning their last 16, first leg at Schalke 04 last month 2-0 and host the Bundesliga side for the return on March 10. 'The team is improving,' Ancelotti told a news conference after the Villarreal game. 'We've dropped two points but La Liga will be decided in the final match,' the Italian added. 'We have to focus on the two-point lead we've got, which isn't much, but is a lead we must make the most of. Now we have to carry on and in the next game, which will be difficult, try to produce a good reaction.' France striker Karim Benzema is closed down by Brazilian midfielder Lucas Silva . On loan Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez protects the ball from Germany international . Iker Casillas dives to his left and reaches out to make a one-handed save during Wednesday's session . +Jose Mourinho dubbed Paris Saint-Germain the 'most aggressive' team Chelsea has played this season, including a cup encounter with Shrewsbury Town from League Two. Mourinho claimed the most surprising aspect of the first leg in the Parc des Princes which ended 1-1 was that the French champions had not tried to play more football. So after the return leg at Stamford Bridge, which team won the Battle of the Bridge? +Footage of a four-year-old boy firing a gun into the air has caused outrage in Mexico after video showing him firing wildly in the middle of the street was posted online. While Mexican laws allow residents to keep guns within their own homes, the boy can be seen firing the pistol repeatedly above his head while several adults stand around apparently unconcerned. Despite the fact that the gun recoils after each bullet, he is clearly well versed in using it and fires off several rounds. The boy can be seen standing in the middle of the street with the gun poised above his head . He then begins firing off rounds, while adults standing nearby appear completely unconcerned . The video caused outrage across Mexico after it was posted online and went viral . Police are now being urged to investigate both the child and the adults who appear in the video . The video has now gone viral with authorities being urged to track down the boy and adults, and take legal action. It is a common misconception that guns are illegal in Mexico but ownership is strictly controlled, with only licensed firearms allowed to be kept at home for reasons of personal protection. A police spokesman confirmed to local media that a child standing in the middle of the street firing a gun indiscriminately into the air was definitely not legal under any circumstances. He said: 'We have heard about the case including the allegation that happened in Mexico, but at the moment we have no more details.' He added that if anybody knew any more details including the location and the names of the three adults who also appeared in the video then they should contact police and pass it on. The video shocked many in a country that is used to gun violence. Virgo Tierra wrote: 'How awful, those are the values that children are taught it seems.' And another, Alfredo Taquillo, said: 'I guess in a few years when he has killed somebody his parents will say he must have got in with bad company.' +Yaya Toure has snubbed his Manchester City team-mates by failing to name any of them in his dream team. The midfielder has chosen to omit the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany but has named former colleagues Gerard Pique, Dani Alves, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Lionel Messi in his ideal XI. To add insult to injury, Toure has revealed he would call on the services of four players from his former side's arch-rivals - Real Madrid. Manchester City star Yaya Toure failed to name a single Premier League star in his current dream XI . The 31-year-old decided to omit the likes of Vincent Kompany (above) and Sergio Aguero . Toure is likely to start against Barcelona on Wednesday after missing the first leg through suspension . 3-5-2: Casillas; Ramos, Pique, Hummels; Dani Alves, Iniesta, Xavi, Schweinsteiger, James Rodriguez; Ronaldo, Messi . Real Madrid quartet Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez are included in Toure's side, while Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund complete the team. The 31-year-old has not named a single player from the Barclays Premier League despite playing in England for just under five years. There were no stipulations when picking his side which makes his choice to not include any of his Manchester City team-mates even more bizarre. Frank Lampard took part in the same exercise back in September and he named current City team-mate Kompany in his dream XI. Premier League stars Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry and Didier Drogba were also included in Lampard's selection. The only stipulation was that he could only select players who are still 'playing today'. Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas got the nod to start in goal despite his recent dip in form . Gerard Pique (centre) and Sergio Ramos (top right) were selected in a back three with Mats Hummels . Andres Iniesta (centre) was chosen to play in midfield with Dani Alves, Xavi and Bastian Schweinsteiger . Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi are named in the forward positions with James Rodriguez behind . Frank Lampard named Manchester City captain Kompany in his dream team back in September . Toure is expected to feature against his former side on Wednesday as Manchester City travel to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona. The Ivory Coast international, who missed the first leg through suspension, will be hoping he can help his current side mount a comeback after losing 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Luis Suarez struck twice during the match in late February before Aguero pulled one back to keep Manchester City's dreams of winning their first ever Champions League alive. Meanwhile, City playmaker Silva has warned his team-mates that they must not concede a goal at the Nou Camp if they are going to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals. David Silva insists City have to stop Barcelona scoring to have a chance of progressing to the next round . Silva and his City team-mates are 2-1 down after the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie . 'We need the kind of mentality we showed in the games against Roma and Bayern Munich in the group stages,' said Silva. 'The most important thing is not to concede a goal because obviously things then become more difficult. 'Strange things can happen. Everybody wrote Schalke off before they played Real Madrid but they won 4-3 and could have scored again which would have put them through. Nobody predicted that. 'Not many thought PSG could beat Chelsea, especially with only 10 men for so long, so I know that anything can happen, not only in the Champions League but in every game. 'Everyone is expecting Barca to go through but hopefully we can give a strong performance and we don't have any kind of pressure on us because we are behind and playing away.' Barcelona forward Luis Suarez netted a brace during the first leg of his side's match against Man City . Aguero pulled one back for Manchester City before Messi missed a penalty during the closing stages . +A Tigerair flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore was delayed on Thursday after flight attendants were thought to have spotted a severed finger on board. While cleaning the plane, a crew member found what was believed to be a human finger and immediately alerted airport security. Upon inspection, it turned out that the finger was not actually severed at all, but a prosthetic. A Tigerair flight was delayed on Thursday after what was thought to be a severed finger was found on board . However, the incident was alarming enough to delay the aircraft for two hours on the runway in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. 'The flight was delayed as airport authorities carried out checks when a prosthetic finger was discovered on board during a routine transit cabin inspection,' a Tigerair spokesperson told MailOnline Travel. The airline also said that the flight did eventually arrive safely in Singapore at 8:28pm on Thursday, two hours and 20 minutes behind schedule. 'The matter has been handed over to the Malaysian authorities for investigation and follow up,' the spokesperson added. +Manchester United are seeking confirmation from Porto over Danilo's proposed switch to Real Madrid. Louis van Gaal is in the market for a new right back this summer, with the 23-year-old Brazilian a primary target. But Sportsmail understands Danilo has agreed to join Real Madrid ahead of next season, despite manager Carlo Ancelotti insisting a deal has not been completed. Porto defender Danilo (right) is a target for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal . The 23-year-old Brazilian right back looks to have secured a summer transfer to Real Madrid . And United have contacted Porto chiefs for definitive confirmation over the Brazil international's mooted switch to Spain. Van Gaal remains a big admirer of Danilo and is reluctant to end his interest in the defender. But United do not want to waste their time in pursuing Danilo if a move to Real has already been rubber-stamped. Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne and Barcelona's Dani Alves are also on United's radar. And the Old Trafford club will look to press ahead with moves for Clyne or Alves should they hear Danilo's move to the Spanish capital is agreed. Dani Alves (left) is available in the summer and is a transfer alternative for Van Gaal . Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne (right) is another right back on United's radar . +Common sense would suggest that when molten lava meets a sheet of ice it will simply melt through. But geologist Professor Jeff Karson and artist Professor Bob Wysocki from Syracuse University in New York found that the results can be far more spectacular. Using a lava furnace to heat gravel to temperatures of more than 1,100°C (2,000°F) they were able to pour it onto a slab of ice to produce a seething, bubbling mass of molten rock. Lava turns ice directly into steam which bubbles up through the molten rock to form bizarre glass bubbles . Professor Karson, who has been pouring lava in a series of experiments to better understand how it behaves and forms geological formations, described it as 'scrambled eggs from hell'. Rather than melting straight through the ice, the lava instead flows rapidly on top of it on a cushion of steam. Steam from the ice below bubbles up through the molten rock as it tries to escape, forming a layer of glassy bubbles. Professor Karson said: 'The first guess is that it is going to explode or it is tunnel down and make a hole in the ice. Of course it didn't do any of those things. 'It did things we just didn't really expect.' Professor Karson and Professor Wysocki have together set up the Lava Project at Syracuse University's department of Earth Sciences to study how lava behaves in different situations. They create lava by melting basalt gravel in a giant gas fired furnace and then pouring it over sand, ice and through water. According to Alistair Linsell, a nuclear chemist working with EDF Energy and a science presenter with the Science Channel, the extreme heat of the lava is what causes the strange formations to form when it hits the ice. He said: 'The lava is so hot that when it is poured on to the ice, the ice turns not into water but straight into steam. 'The formation of all of this steam helps the lava to flow. It is sitting on top of a blanket of steam rather than the ice itself, this means the friction between the lava and the ice surface is very low. The lava flows rapidly across the surface of the ice on a cushion of escaping steam it creates as it moves . 'As the lava cools we start to get a thick black layer forming on top and that starts to trap those bubbles of superheated steam inside the rock. 'It is kind of like a natural form of glass blowing.' The team used a specially created lava furnace to heat basaltic gravel to temperatures of more than 1,100°C . Professor Jeff Karson (left) and Professor Bob Wysocki (right) have been studying how lava flows behave . +For years, Nicklas Bendtner has unofficially held the title of Lord, albeit mostly in jest. But now, the former Arsenal striker can legitimately claim to be Lord Bendtner, after Danish magazine SE Og HOR are said to have bought him one square foot of land in Glencoe Wood, Scotland. After hundreds of tweets and even a twitter account in his name - @LordBendtner - the wolf of Wolfsburg has finally been rewarded with the title his many legions of fans believe he is worthy of. Nicklas Bendtner, now at Wolfsburg, has been made a Lord after a Danish magazine bought him a plot of land . The former Arsenal striker, who left the club last summer, thinks 'it's a fun gimmick', according to his agent . And Bendtner is said to be delighted with the news, according to his agent Elisa Lykke. She said: 'We have seen it, and Nicklas thinks it's a fun gimmick. 'We have asked to be sent a receipt and we are pleased that it supports a nature conservation area.' Bendtner was previously made aware of the nickname, and spoke of his confusion during an interview with a German magazine. The Danish striker has currently scored one goal for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga this season . For years, Bendtner has held the title of 'Lord' among his fans on social media site Twitter . 'The problem with this [nickname] is that I do not know where it comes from and understand if it is funny,' he told Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. 'Am I being ridiculed? Is it serious? I think it is a phenomenon of the youth [on social media]. They think that sounds good.' Bendtner left Arsenal for good in the summer, joining Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on a three-year-deal. Unfortunately for the Danish striker, it hasn't worked out quite as planned and he has only managed one league goal this season. A brace in the Europa League has been the highlight of his short career in Germany, but perhaps his new-found title will improve his fortunes on the pitch, too. A 'certificate of sale', posted on Twitter, reveals the full details of the purchase by the Danish magazine . +The only free ticket promised by Bob Arum for the richest fight of all time is for female UFC star Ronda Rousey, who he heard was preparing to spend all her career fight winnings thus far on a seat as close to ringside as that amount could buy. As Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao prepare to touch gloves in the biggest fight of the century on May 2, the UFC women's bantamweight champion will be counting her lucky stars that Arum chose her to be the recipient of the golden ticket. Boxing promoter Arum expressed that he was a huge fan of Rousey's and wanted to show his support by offering her such a prized asset for the Las Vegas bout. UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was promised a free ticket to the fight of the century . Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will battle it out in the most eagerly anticipated fight of a generation . Pacquiao is putting his WBO championship title on the line for his fight with Mayweather on May 2 . Rousey has continued to take the ultimate fighting world by storm and headlined UFC184 on Saturday when she took on the unbeaten Cat Zingano in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old retained her bantamweight title, beating Zingano after a record-breaking 14 seconds with an armbar submission and continuing her unbeaten record to 11-0. 'We were expecting that she might come out and do something flying at me right away,' Rousey said. 'That's not usually how you land an armbar at that angle, but it works. It was a lot like judo transitions, where you scramble the second you hit the ground.' Rousey grapples with Zingano before celebrating in the Octagon after her record-breaking win on Saturday . +Anthony Pettis is expecting a tough night as he defends his lightweight title against Rafael dos Anjos. Pettis makes only his second defence of the belt he won against Benson Henderson 18 months ago as he headlines UFC 185 in Dallas. And although he is predicting a knockout, the American knows he won't have it all his own way. Anthony Pettis (left) goes face-to-face with Rafael dos Anjos at Friday night's weigh-in in Dallas . The American looked in fantastic shape as he took to the scales in front of the world's media . An Octagon girl greets the fighters at the weigh-in . 'The pressure is on. When all these people support you, you want to be able to perform. 'He's probably the most dangerous guy in the division in my opinion. I think he’ s a great competitor. He’s got a solid, well-rounded game, he’s a great kickboxer, amazing jujitsu, I just feel like his biggest strength is his heart. He doesn’t quit, he just keeps coming.. 'His biggest weakness is that he’s never fought a guy like me. I feel like my angles and the things I throw in the Octagon are second to none. My prediction - knockout. I need a knockout, it’s been a long time since my last knockout and I’m not going past the first round. 'He's a good fighter, but I'm a great fighter.' Dos Anjos has won his last three bouts, including a stunning first-round knockout of Henderson last August. And he has no fear about being the underdog once again. 'I am going to go in there and take my belt,' he said. 'I do not know how the fight is going to go, but I know it will not go to the judges. I will not allow the judges to decide and it will not go five rounds. 'I will pressure him like I pressure all my fights. I will be ready for his style and he will not be ready for my power. I am going in there to take my belt. That is all I want from him. 'I am very excited to be the first lightweight champion from Brazil. The belt has a date to be mine and that will be Saturday. It's in God's hands. 'It does not bother me to be an underdog. I am an underdog in most of my fights. Maybe it is a good thing for me, he has all the pressure.' American Carla Esparza faces off with her Polish opponent Joanna Jedrzejczy ahead of their title fight . The American fighter smiles to the camera during the weigh-in. She has vowed to end the bout in 14 seconds . Polish fighter Jedrzejczyk poses on the scales . In Saturday's co-main event, Joanna Jedrzejczyk bids to become the first European female UFC champion when she takes on Carla Esparza for the strawweight title. 'They [the fans] see me as the champion because I'm going to be on Saturday anyway,' she said. 'I think Carla is just focused on her wrestling and I've already shown I can beat that. So, good luck to her. 'The UFC saw that I'm ready and I can handle it [the title shot]. I was born for this. I'm comfortable and I'm treating it as any other fight.' But Esparza plans to upset the Pole's party with an early finish. 'I'm hoping the fight is going to go how everyone thinks it'll go; grappler takes striker down and grappler wins. My goal is to do it in under 14 seconds,' she said. 'I feel like I'm most likely going to have the strength advantage; I feel like with longer, lankier athletes they're not as strong as athletes with my build. 'I only care about winning fights; I don’t care about the hype or promotion behind it. If I'm not the champ the hype and talk doesn't matter. 'I think female MMA is the biggest female sport out there. We're being put on the same stage as the men and sometimes headlining in Ronda [Rousey’s] case. We're on top right now.' +Ronda Rousey recorded the fastest-ever finish in a UFC title fight as she submitted Cat Zingano after just 14 seconds in Los Angeles. Rousey was expected to face the toughest examination of her reign as bantamweight champion against the unbeaten Zingano. But having avoided a flying knee in the opening seconds, Rousey took her opponent down and set to work trying to execute her trademark armbar. Scroll down to watch Rousey beat Zingano in 14 seconds . Ronda Rousey manoeuvres herself into position to submit Cat Zingano after 14 seconds of their fight . Rousey attempts to lock in her trademark arm bar finish as she defended her bantamweight title . Rousey consoles Zingano after her stunning victory inside 14 seconds at the Staples Center in Los Angeles . Rousey grapples with Zingano before celebrating in the Octagon after her record-breaking victory . Ronda Rousey bt Cat Zingano via sub . Holly Holm bt Raquel Pennington via SD . Jake Ellenberger bt Josh Koscheck via sub . Alan Jouban bt Richard Walsh via KO . Tony Ferguson bt Gleison Tibau via sub . Roan Carneiro bt Mark Munoz via sub . Roman Salazar bt Norifumi Yamamoto N/C . Tim Means bt Dhiego Lima via TKO . Derrick Lewis bt Ruan Potts via TKO . Valmir Lazaro bt James Krause via SD . Masio Fullen bt Alexander Torres via SD . Rousey had landed on her head but the champion gracefully flipped Zingano on to her back, got up and manoeuvred swiftly into position to wrench Zingano's arm grotesquely. Rousey forced the challenger to tap out. 'We were expecting that she might come out and do something flying at me right away,' Rousey said. 'That's not usually how you land an armbar at that angle, but it works. It was a lot like judo transitions, where you scramble the second you hit the ground. 'I made that up on the fly, to be honest. But it was kind of funny: We were going toward the ground, and I kind of reverted back to judo mode and was thinking, 'Don't touch your back. It's a point.' 'That's where the acrobatic thing came from, was thinking about not touching your back in judo.' It was hard to work out who was more stunned, Zingano or the sell-out 17,000-crowd at the Staples Center. 'She's really good ... but that wouldn't happen again,' the beaten challenger said. 'It was a knee and then a throw and then a scramble, and then she was wrapped around my arm. I got caught. I was ready to do a million different things. I planned on getting in a fist fight tonight.' Zingano looks in pain as Rousey moves herself into position to execute the armbar finish . Rousey has won all 11 of her mixed martial arts fights and all but one inside the first round . Rousey celebrates as Zingano is attended to by the referee following her early defeat in Los Angeles . Dublin featherweight Conor McGregor (left) and light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones were in attendance . Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was Octagon side as Rousey eased to victory . For the first time in the promotion's history, two women's fights headlined a pay-per-view event as boxer Holly Holm made her debut with a split-decision victory over Raquel Pennington in the co-main event. Middleweight champion Chris Weidman originally was scheduled to fight Vitor Belfort but had to withdraw injured. Zingano had earned her title shot two years ago with an upset victory over Miesha Tate, but was forced to wait after suffering a serious knee injury before she was hit by her estranged husband's suicide last year. Holm, meanwhile, ended an 11-year pro boxing career to concentrate on MMA two years ago but looked far from the complete package against Pennington. Both fighters landed big shots during a stand-up fight, and while Holm finished with a bloody nose, she left Pennington with a swollen left eye. UFC Octagon girls Vanessa Hanson, Brittney Palmer, Arianny Celeste and Chrissy Blair pose for pictures . Vanessa and Brittney introduce the first round of the respective fights during UFC 184 in Los Angeles . Holly Holm (right) made a winning debut with a split-decision victory over Raquel Pennington . Holm moved from a boxing career to mixed martial arts and remains unbeaten . Pennington lands a left hand on Holm as she battled hard only to lose by split decision . Actresses Mandy Moore (left) and Minka Kelly pose for a photograph during the UFC 184 event . Vin Diesel was also at the Staples Center (left) as UFC president Dana White poses with Mark Wahlberg . +For a player that has yet to regularly score at club level, Nicklas Bendtner certainly needs no invitation to where the back of the net is while wearing a Denmark shirt. The former Arsenal striker became an outcast at the Gunners and is now struggling for game time at Wolfsburg. But a hat-trick against the USA on Wednesday shows the striker has no problems at international level. Here Sportsmail looks at the Dane's international scoring record as well as nine other hot-shots who have failed to replicate the form shown for their country at their clubs. Ali Daei (International caps 149, goals 109) Ali Daei is in a league of his own. As the top international goal scorer of all time he is the only player to net over 100 times for his country. Ali Daei celebrates scoring for Bayern Munich against Hamburg during his short stay with the German giants . Daei was prolific for Iran and featured in the 1998 World Cup where he played against the USA (above) But the striker found banging goals in for Iran was a lot easier than doing it on a weekly basis in Germany. Bayern Munich signed him in 1998 but within a year he was at Hertha Berlin, who offloaded him to Dubai in 2002 following just six league goals. Stern John (Trinidad & Tobago - International caps 115, goals 70) With an international strike rate better than Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robin van Persie, you would hope a player as prolific as that on the global scene to at least make a splash in the Premier League. Birmingham's Stern John (right) goes down under pressure from Bolton's Jay-Jay Okocha in 2002 . England's John Terry clears the ball off the line in front of John and Rio Ferdinand during the Three Lions' 2-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago at the group stages of the 2006 World Cup . But Stern John never stood out during his two years at Birmingham between 2002 and 2004, while Sunderland also opted against giving him much of a chance in the top flight. It certainly doesn't reflect well on the international opponents Trinidad & Tobago must have been playing. Lukas Podolski (Germany - International caps 122, goals 48) Since making his international debut over 11 years ago, Lukas Podolski has gone on to become a regular for Germany, winning over 120 caps and of course the World Cup last year. Arsenal's Lukas Podolski (right) fends off Bayern Munich's Javi Martinez during a Champions League game . Podolski has over 120 caps for Germany and took a selfie with Bastian Schweinsteiger after winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil last summer following a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final . His international breakthrough came while starring for Cologne but since moving to Bayern Munich in 2006, his club form never again hit the same consistent heights. A flop at Bayern and frozen out at Arsenal, he is now toiling on loan at Inter Milan from the Gunners. Milan Baros (Czech Republic - International caps 93, goals 41) Between 2002 and 2008, Milan Baros failed to establish himself as a Premier League striker following an average spell at Liverpool, a poor two years at Aston Villa and a very brief loan spell at Portsmouth. Manchester United's Roy Keane slides in on Liverpool's Milan Baros during a Premier League game in 2005 as United's Darren Fletcher looks on . Milan Baros was the top scorer at Euro 2004 as he celebrates one of his five goals against Latvia . Czech Republic reached the semi-finals thanks to Baros' two goals in a 3-0 quarter-final win over Denmark . So it was intriguing to see that during this period he was also the top scorer at Euro 2004, scoring five goals as Czech Republic reached the semi-finals. David Healy (Northern Ireland - International caps 95, goals 36) Now David Healy wasn't a bad player, but for a striker that holds the record for the most goals in a European qualifying campaign  (13 for Euro 2008), you would have expected him to make more of his opportunity in the Premier League. Ashley Cole can only look on as David Healy fires home the winning goal for Northern Ireland in a famous 1-0 victory over England in a World Cup qualifier back in 2005 at Windsor Park . David Healy celebrates scoring for Fulham against Middlesbrough in 2007 before seeing the goal ruled out . But just five league goals for Fulham and Sunderland between 2007 and 2011 indicated otherwise. Still, Northern Ireland fans will cherish the memory of his famous winner against England in 2005. Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark - International caps 65, goals 29) Much maligned during his Arsenal spell, and even loan spell at Sunderland and Juventus failed to land him permanent moves. Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner (right) and Chelsea's Michael Essien compete for the ball during a fourth round Capital One Cup match in 2013 at the Emirates Stadium . Nicklas Bendtner has a fine scoring record for Denmark, here he celebrates a Euro 2012 goal against Portugal . Even now at Wolfsburg, Bendtner can hardly get a kick. For Denmark though he is a totally different prospect. His hat-trick against USA on Wednesday reflects well on a record which has seen him score five goals more than he did in the league at Arsenal in 43 fewer games. Helder Postiga (Portugal - International caps 71, goals 27) It seems incredible to think that a striker who couldn't even get into one of Tottenham's worst ever Premier League teams during the 2003-04 season is still mixing it with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo at the highest level.. Helder Postiga scored his only league goal for Tottenham against Liverpool in January 2004 . But Postiga would later haunt England after equalising against the Three Lions in a Euro 2004 quarter-final . Postiga scored just one league goal at Spurs, but he had the last laugh on England. Postiga scored for Portugal against the Three Lions in Euro 2004, while also featuring in the team that dumped out Sven Goran Eriksson's side at the World Cup two years later. Jozy Altidore (USA - International caps 79, goals 27) It was no surprise earlier in his career that not just Hull but Sunderland decided to bring the powerful looking forward to the Premier League. Jozy Altidore fends off Chelsea's David Luiz in a 2014 Capital One Cup quarter-final . Altidore (second right) celebrates scoring against Denmark in an international friendly on Wednesday . But just one league goal in 42 appearances for the Black Cats though soon had the North East outfit packing him off to Toronto in a swap deal for Jermain Defoe. Despite this, Altidore still holds his own in the starting XI of a respectable United States outfit. El Hadji Diouf (Senegal - International caps 69, goals 21) The star man of Senegal's 2002 World Cup campaign which helped him land African Footballer of the Year for the second year running after the tournament. El Hadji Diouf is sent off for Liverpool in a Premier League match at Chelsea as John Terry looks on in 2004 . Diouf celebrates after Senegal beat Sweden to progress to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals . So it was seen as quite a coup for Liverpool when they signed the forward for £10m. Just three league goals in three years though saw his stock dramatically fall and despite holding down a place after joining Bolton, he never hit the same global stardom which earned him his high profile Reds move. Danny Welbeck (England - International caps 32, goals 12) Frustrated at a lack of playing time in his six years at Manchester United, Danny Welbeck is finding a similar problem now at Arsenal in that he cannot get a start as a striker in front of Olivier Giroud. Danny Welbeck struck for Arsenal recently in their 2-1 win at Manchester United in the FA Cup . Welbeck's clever back-heel goal helped England beat Sweden 3-2 during the group stages at Euro 2012 . Welbeck has impressed when playing as a striker for England. Here he celebrates a goal against San Marino . Stick the 24-year-old in an England shirt though and he comes to life. His cheeky back heel against Sweden at Euro 2012 underlined his ability, and his recent addition to the side in partnering Wayne Rooney seems to have also improved the form of the England captain. +Floyd Maywaether Jnr is ready to capitalise on Manny Pacquiao's weaknesses when the pair step into the ring for their $300m showdown in Las Vegas on May 2. The undefeated American described Pacquiao as a 'solid' but 'reckless' fighter, who makes a lot of mistakes and insists he will be ready to take advantage at the MGM Grand. Mayweather has often been labelled as a boring and he relies on his defnsive skill to outbox opponents rather than come out on the front foot and he says he will try to nullify the threat of Pacquiao. Floyd Mayweather Jnr continues his preparations for the fight against Manny Pacquiao . Undefeated Mayweather works on the bag as he trains for the $300m fight against Pacquiao . Mayweather has been sharing pictures from within his training camp on social media . Floyd Mayweather ans Manny Pacquiao will go toe-to-toe in Las Vegas on may 2 . 'A lot of guys do a lot of things wrong, but they are still successful,' Mayweather is qouted as saying on mlive.com. 'So I want to know what he [Pacquiao] does right, so I can take that away from him, so I can take that arsenal away from him. 'What I do, when I'm facing a guy, whatever he does good, I take that away from him, so he has to resort to doing something different.' 'I just want to look good for myself. I want to look very impressive. I'm pretty sure he's going to bring his A-game, and it's all about excitement. Mayweather pictured working on his body punches and speed during a training session last week . The unbeaten 38-year-old American was hitting hard during the session . I got here somehow, some way. He's a solid competitor, but very reckless, and he makes a lot of mistakes,' Mayweather continued. 'But he's been successful. Remember what I said – you've got guys that make a lot of mistakes but still are successful.' +Manny Pacquiao has quite literally been stepping up his preparations for the $300million fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas om May 2. The WBO welterweight champion was put through his paces on Friday morning during a rigorous workout at the Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, where Pacquiao is based for his training. The Filipino boxer took to Instagram to share a video of him climbing the stairs at the athletics stadium as he bids to reach peak physical fitness for the fight in just six weeks time. Manny Pacquiao runs up the steps of Drake Track and Field Stadium as he trains for May 2 fight . The 36-year-old jumps up the steps of the athletics ground as he prepares for Floyd Mayweather fight . Pacquiao has been documenting his training regime since beginning his official training camp . Pacquiao runs up the steps of the stadium as he bids to reach maximum physical condition for the fight . Meanwhile Pacquiao has splashed out £8.4m on a luxury new mansion in Beverly Hills, and sealed the deal by offering four tickets to the fight against Mayweather. Pacquiao acquired the 10,000 square-foot, seven-bedroom property in an exclusive community in California just over a month away from his showdown with the unbeaten American. As well as the offer of US$12.5m, it was four tickets to one of the biggest fights in boxing history at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 that struck him the deal. 'No doubt it helped,' Pacquiao's estate agent Elsa Nelson told USA Today Sports. 'The sellers are great fans of boxing and of Manny, so it was a big deal.' Manny Pacquiao has paid $12.5million for a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills, California . The Filipino boxer acquired the property just over a month out from his fight against Floyd Mayweather . Pacquiao also threw in four tickets to his fight against Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 . +Construction workers have been forced to build a £10 million road project around two apartment blocks in China after several families refused to move. The embarrassing rebuke by the ten households has forced developers to curve the major new route around the properties in the city of Yongjia, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, The People's Daily reports. Officials launched the multi-million pound blueprint to much fanfare, saying the new 10-mile provincial road would provide a fast and efficient route between the city and 19 surrounding villages. In the way: The two building are in the direct path of the £10 million road project in Yongjia, eastern China . But although work started in December 2011, construction was forced to stop when 10 families refused to accept the compensation offered to allow their properties to be demolished. This year local council officials lost their patience and ordered the road builders to go around the properties. The four-lane highway opened last month with many drivers arguing the bizarre layout is dangerous. Won't budge: Ten families have refused to leave their homes, that are in the path of a new road, until they are offered a fair price . Road rage: Officials ordered the new thoroughfare to be built around the two buildings 10 families have refused to leave in Yongjia . In China, it is common practice to ask people to move out of their homes to make way for important public sector developments. People who refuse are known as 'nail homeowners' - a term which comes from the nuisance a nail causes when stuck in a fence post. The homeowners say they are happy to move but only if they are offered a fair price so they can afford a new property and be compensated for the inconvenience of leaving homes where they were perfectly happy. Around the houses: Drivers have complained the revised road layout is dangerous after the No.41 provincial route opened last month . Jun Lo, 40, who lives in one of the properties with his wife and parents said they would not be bullied into leaving. He said: 'They tried all sorts of mean tricks to get other people to move out, but me and the others won't budge now because we don't want to be bullied. 'If they want us to go, then they need to pay a decent price otherwise we are just going to sit here.' +Andres Iniesta wants Manchester City to ‘suffer’ in tomorrow’s Champions League tie in the Nou Camp. Barcelona lead 2-1 from the first leg at the Etihad and are expected to progress to the quarter-final of the competition. Iniesta said: ‘We play in a comprehensive manner, we want ball possession so that they suffer. We need to find our superior skills and minimise their potential. We want to control what goes on at every moment. Andres Iniesta, rested in Barca's weekend win over Eibar, is expected to return to the staring line-up to take on City on Wednesday . Barcelona's Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic controls the ball as Xavi and Pedro look on during training before Wednesday's clash . Neymar aims a friendly kick at fellow Barcelona striker Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan ad gone down during training . The Brazil captain was in high spirits throughout the session, as Barcelona prepared for their Champions League last 16 second leg . ‘In a season there are different moments, I am not there in Manchester City with the team and this players but from a distance, as an opposition player, my perception is that they are a sound team. ‘They are a team with top quality players, it is difficult opposition.’ Iniesta also admitted Barcelona will have to pay special attention to their former midfielder Yaya Toure after he returns from suspension. Iniesta said: ‘He is very important for them, he is very powerful physically, he has important qualities because of all his skills. We will try to minimise his potential.’ Iniesta's team-mates seemed to be enjoying themselves ahead of City's visit with a lively training session on Tuesday with Neymar in particular acting the joker. The Brazil star was seen laughing with team-mates throughout, and gave fellow striker Luis Suarez a kick up the backside after the Uruguayan had taken a tumble during one exercise. Suarez and Lionel Messi were in fine form in the first leg as Barcelona beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium . The Barca stars will be hoping to reach the Champions League quarter finals by holding off Manchester City at the Nou Camp . Barca have not failed to reach Europe's last eight since 2007, and saw off Manchester City at the same stage last season . But Iniesta insisted that his team-mates are taking Wednesday's game very seriously, and are not letting next week's Clasico, or talk of a potential treble, cloud their mines. 'It is true that after tomorrow we have a very important match on Sunday against our main opponents in La Liga in Real Madrid, but we don't think beyond tomorrow,' he added. 'It's very important we are totally concentrated on tomorrow.' Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has played all of Barca's Champions League games so far but not a single league game, prepares for City . The Barcelona players move the ball around during a training exercise ahead of the vital showdown with City . Neymar shares a joke with Jeremy Mathieu as the Brazilian enjoyed his final training session before the last-16 second leg . Experienced midfielder Xavi fails to see the funny side of things but his Barcelona team-mates looked to be enjoying themselves . Manager Luis Enrique will be hoping his team take another step on the road towards . +Mexican cockfighting promoters on Friday kicked off an event billed as the largest exhibition of the bloodsport the country has ever seen. The annual Texcoco Horse Fair, which takes places on the eastern fringes of Mexico City, will see 16 nightly bouts of cockfighting over the space of a month – all of which end in the death of one of the animals. Trainers from all over the country compete not only for the title of best trainer, but also to keep alive what they claim is a proud Mexican tradition despite demands to ban the 'disgusting' sport. Scroll down for video . Injured birds are given only 15 seconds to recover, even if they are incapable of fighting back, in the brutal cockfights staged nightly during the month-long Texcoco Horse Fair . Razorblades are attached to the birds' left leg to make the fights 'more interesting' for gamblers and trainers . Trainers often spit on a rooster's head in a common technique used to anger the bird before it fights . Trainers from all over the country compete not only for the title of best trainer, but also to keep alive what they claim is a proud Mexican tradition - even though the 'sport' has been met with furious protests . 'Cockfighting is deeply embedded in Mexico's rural culture', Texcoco tourism spokeswoman Rosalinda Benitez told MailOnline on the opening night of the month-long bloodsport bonanza. 'We want to showcase the proud tradition to our visitors'. The event, which includes fairground attractions and one of Mexico's biggest horse auctions, expects to receive more than 600,000 visitors over the month. 'Banning these events will never be accepted by the public', said Jaime Rodriguez, a Texcoco resident who looks forward to the annual fair every year. 'This year they want to make clear how much the people love to come and watch quality cockfights'. While cockfighting is banned in all 50 US states and Europe (it was banned in England in 1835), it nevertheless draws big crowds in Mexico, where fans come to gamble on the fights and drink until the early hours of the morning. Male birds are vicious and often emerge from the scuffles with their beaks filled with other's feathers . 'We train our animals to attack with their legs and feet first, and use the beak to finish the job later' The dominant bird at this stage of the fight has ripped away some feathers from his stricken opponent . Starting on the edge of the arena, the gamecocks are shown to one another, producing aggressive crowing, before being placed in their respective corners and let loose to attack one another . A cock struts proudly in the ring, though it will only take one blow from a razor blade to strike him down . The gamecocks are displayed to the gamblers by being paraded around the circular arena before the fights . Cockfighting is also banned within the limits of Mexico City, four cities in the state of Veracruz and Coahuila state on the Texas border, but the bloodsport is nevertheless extremely popular in more rural areas of the country. Indeed the cockfighting arenas, known as palenques, are often the social hubs of many Mexican towns. 'Cockfighting is a family business', said Gregory Castillo, a gamecock trainer from Ranchito Gaby, one of the eight gamecock-producing ranches competing on the fair's opening night. 'We get a good reception wherever we perform and people always come out to witness the spectacle. It always produces a good party atmosphere'. Gregory had already seen two of his prize gamecocks die against superior opponents that evening, and was engaged in strapping the curved razorblade of Mexican cockfighting regulation onto the left leg of his third bird. 'The razorblades make for more interesting fights', he told the MailOnline as he spat on the rooster's head, a common technique to anger the bird before it enters the battle. 'We train our animals to attack with their legs and feet first, and use the beak to finish the job later'. The cuurved weapons attached to the birds' legs must be changed every five minutes in order to ensure they are not left blunted by the sand of the arena . Spatters of blood cover the floor of the cockfighting ring, surrounded by fans enjoying drinks and snacks . The cocks often scrap furiously on the floor of the arena, which is covered in blood from previous fights . 'Banning these events will never be accepted by the public', according to Jaime Rodriguez, a Texcoco resident who looks forward to the annual fair every year . The cockfighting areana, known as a palenque, in Texcoco has a capacity of more than 3,000 people, and few seats were left unsold as the public clamoured to see the opening event of the month-long celebration . The weapons attached to the birds' legs must be changed every five minutes in order to ensure they are not left blunted by the sand of the arena. 'It's a disgusting practice and there's no reason that it should continue simply because it's seen as tradition', said Leonora Esquivel, a leader of the AnimaNaturalis animal rights organisation, in a telephone interview with the MailOnline. Leonora's organisation, which works closely with Mexico's Ecologist Green Party, is currently petitioning the government to put an end to animal cruelty in the country. The group focuses particularly on bullfights, cockfighting and illegal dogfights which occur periodically around the capital. Each cockfight runs for a maximum of 15 minutes, though most are over within two. Starting on the edge of the arena, the gamecocks are shown to one another, producing aggressive crowing, before being placed in their respective corners and let loose to attack one another. The flurry of feathers, beaks and claws is rapid and furious. The male birds are extremely vicious and often emerge from the scuffles with their beaks filled with other's feathers. Even if a bird is injured and not attempting to fight any longer, it is permitted only a 15 second recovery period before being placed within a yard of its opponent and forced to continue. The flurry of feathers, beaks and claws, when it comes, is rapid and furious and fights are always to-the-death . The sport revolves entirely around gambling, and betting odds are always 2:1 on the fight's outcome . 'Sometimes it comes down to luck. A weak bird might land a fatal blow with the razor and it's all over' A fight is declared over only when one of the birds is lying dead on the arena floor. The sport revolves entirely around gambling, and betting odds are always 2:1 on the fight's outcome. The gamecocks are displayed to the gamblers by being paraded around the circular arena, before being placed in front of a non-competitor mona ('monkey') gamecock to allow the gamblers to gauge their reactions. 'The more aggressively they peck, scratch and display their neck feathers at the mona, the more likely it is that they will be a good fighter', said Mauricio Alvarez, an observer in the crowd who had quadrupled his money over the previous two fights. 'But sometimes it comes completely down to luck. A weak bird might land a fatal blow with the razor and it's all over'. Bookmakers patrol the circular arena taking bets whenever a fight is not in progress. The high-rollers are always invited to seats within five rows of the arena and bookies' fees are negotiated depending on the size of the bets. The month-long Texcoco Horse Fair also features bullfighting and attracts more than 600,000 visitors a year . The facade of the main cathedral building in Texcoco (left). Mexico's national sport, charreria, is a kind of rodeo made up of different equestrian competitions and is also practiced at the fair (right) Cockfighting is banned within the limits of Mexico City, four cities in the state of Veracruz and Coahuila state on the Texas border, but is permitted in Texcoco, on the outskirts of the capital . For people further back in the stands, tennis balls with slits in them are thrown back and forth between gamblers and bookmakers: stuffed with stakes, winnings and losses. The palenque in Texcoco has a capacity of more than 3,000 people, and few seats were left unsold as the public clamoured to see the opening event of the month-long celebration. Following 16 cockfights, each ending with the bloodied loser unceremoniously dumped in a cement bucket, one of Mexico's most famous bands 'Los Angeles Azules' (The Blue Angels) took the animals' place to play to a packed house. The fair will culminate with three shows by Luis Miguel, one of Latin America's most famous artists and a Michael Bublé-esque crooner, from April 9 to 11. All the shows will follow directly on from the cockfights. In December of last year animal rights activists achieved a nationwide ban on the use of wild animals in circuses, imposing fines of up to £180,000 on organisations which cannot prove the domestic origins of any animals which are used in their performances. The Mexican government is currently engaged in the struggle to find homes for more than 2,000 repossessed tigers, lions, elephants and other such animals which have been freed as a result of the law. International supermarket chain WalMart was in trouble late last year as shoppers complained that a store in Veracruz state hosted a cockfight in order to promote a soft drinks company. +The BBC has apologised after John Inverdale made an x-rated comment during BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of the Cheltenham Festival. While interviewing former jockey John Francome and young jockey Lizzy Kellie, the presenter referred to 'rose-c*****' glasses live on air. Speaking to Kelly, Inverdale had said: 'This is looking at it through rose-c*****... rose-tinted glasses from the past... (I) apologise there for a slip of the tongue, but Lizzie your love of the sport just shines through' The BBC has had to apologise after presenter John Inverdale said 'rose-c***** glasses' live on air . After the incident, a BBC spokesperson said: 'It was a slip of the tongue and John apologised immediately afterwards.' It is not the first time Inverdale, who has over 30 years' broadcasting experience, has been forced to apologise for making inappropriate comments. A BBC spokesperson said: 'It was a slip of the tongue and John apologised immediately afterwards.' Inverdale previously said Marion Bartoli was 'never going to be a looker' live on air at Wimbledon . In 2013 he sparked outrage when he said tennis player Marion Bartoli was 'never going to be a looker' live on air before her appearance in the Wimbledon women's singles final. Inverdale later apologised to Bartoli, while also claiming his comments were in part attributable to a bout of hayfever which had left him feeling under the weather. +A New Hampshire man has been charged with punching his three-month-old son, with doctors saying the baby had 17 broken bones and skull fractures when he was admitted to hospital. The baby is now in a medically-induced coma. His father, Jose Orta-Santana, 25, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, was been remanded in custody on a $100,000 bond. He was charged with first- and second-degree assault. Abusive: Jose Orta-Santana, 25, was charged with felony first- and second-degree assault on Thursday after allegedly punching his three-month-old son and causing 17 broken bones . Investigators say the boy was taken to a New Hampshire hospital on Saturday after suffering a seizure. He was then taken to a Boston hospital, where doctors found evidence of skull fractures and 17 broken bones. Local media reports say Orta-Santana confessed that he punched his son in the head three times after becoming 'frustrated' with him. Police are now investigating suspicions the child's injuries date back to when he was born. 'This is probably the most serious child abuse case that we've dealt with in a long, long time,' Police Chief Kevin Cyr told WMUR 9. 'I've been a police officer 30 years, and this has got to be in the top two or three that I've ever seen.' Police said Orta-Santana confessed he was frustrated with the baby and punched him in the head three times . Court officials say Orta-Santana was not represented by a lawyer. +Seth Lane has made a heartbreaking plea for people to wear yellow to support him as he waits for a bone marrow transplant, confined to his hospital bed . Five-year-old Seth Lane has one wish - for the world to wear his favourite colour, yellow. The brave youngster lives in a 'bubble' and can only dream of life outside the confines of his hospital room. He is bound to his bed by a rare immune disorder, which has made the outside, germ-infested world his enemy. Seth was born without an immune system and has lived in a sterile environment for more than half of his short life. Following an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant, his immune system turned on him once again. Since January the five-year-old has been forced to live in his hospital room. As he waits for a life-changing second bone marrow transplant Seth has made a heartbreaking video, watched by more than two million people, in which he appeals for people to show their support. Using speech boards the adorable youngster asks people to wear yellow on March 27, and post a picture on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #WearyellowforSeth. Seth's parents, Leanne and Nik Lane, from Corby in Northamptonshire, said they have been astonished when the video went viral, with more than 2.5 million views in a matter of days. Hundreds of thousands of strangers have already pledged to wear yellow to show Seth they are thinking of him. The video features a smiling Seth perched on his bed holding up yellow cards asking for support. He said: 'Hello I'm Seth. I'm five-years-old and I love Fireman Sam, Paw Patrol and yellow. 'I'm in hospital, I was born with no immune system, and I need a second bone marrow transplant. 'On March 27 lots of people are going to wear yellow to show me how much support I have. Are you going to join in? 'Post a picture of you wearing yellow to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with #wearyellowforseth.' Mrs Lane, a full-time mother-of-two, said: 'We never meant to start any sort of campaign, and only expected friends and family to join in. 'I can't believe it has taken off like this. It is overwhelming. Scroll down for video . The five-year-old was born without an immune system, leaving him vulnerable to picking up life-threatening infections. The condition, known as 'bubble disease' requires sufferers to live in a sterile 'bubble' 'I don't think there is a single country in the world that hasn't got someone who has got involved. 'It all helps show Seth that people are thinking of him. I told him about the views and he asked, "Is it more than 20?' I said "yes it is" and he said "wowee".' Seth was admitted to hospital at the age of six months with an extreme chest infection. His parents were told he had severe combined immunodeficiency. Known as 'bubble boy disease' it is caused by a mutated gene and means the body's antibodies cannot respond to infections, leaving sufferers extremely vulnerable to germs. He was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where he had a bone marrow transplant from donor umbilical cord cells. But he was kept in a 'bubble' - unable to interact with children, go to nursery or play outside in parks - for two years while his body got stronger. Mrs Lane, who has a five-month-old son Hugo with her husband, Nik, 31, said: 'He had no contact with other children until he was two-and-a-half. 'We would go out in the pram and I would have to put the rain cover over him with a little fan inside - people probably thought I was mad.' But after just a couple of years of normality - after Seth had started school and made his first best friends - his body turned on him in October. When he had his transplant as a baby he developed graft versus host disease - where his donated cells saw his own body cells as foreign and attacked them. A first bone marrow transplant failed, when his immune system turned on him. It means Seth is now confined to his hospital room once more, waiting for a second transplant . His father Nik Lane is set to be Seth's donor, and doctors are waiting until the five-year-old is well enough before performing the operation . Seth's parents recorded an adorable video of him holding up screen cards, appealing for people to wear his favourite colour, yellow, to show their support. It has so far been viewed by more than two million people . Initially, it only affected his skin - leaving him with painful red patches - but in October it turned on his own bone marrow, once again wiping out his entire immune system. Seth returned to his 'bubble' - an ultra-hygienic single room at Newcastle's Great North Children's Hospital - in a bid to keep him free from potentially lethal infections, in January. 'If I'm a bit run down and have a coldsore I can't touch him,' said Mrs Lane. 'And if we have a cold we can't go in at all. 'Everything has to be sterilised and his room has filtered air. The staff are scrupulous with cleaning. 'Nothing can leave the room once it has come in and been cleaned, his soft toys are washed at 60 degrees every couple of days and his bed sheets are boil washed every day. 'Nik is with him all the time so his clothes have to be washed at 60 every day and Seth has never been out the room.' His father - who will be a donor for Seth once he is well enough - recorded the video of Seth last week. In just six days it has attracted 2,483,855 views and hundreds of thousands of people have messaged Mrs Lane to say they are planning on wearing yellow. It is thought Seth will have his transplant in around six weeks, but will probably have to remain in near-isolation for around a year after the operation. 'It's hard for him, and he is getting bored, but he never complains and he understands,' said Mrs Lane. After his operation and around a year in a sterile environment, Seth's parents hope he will be able to play with his friends and little brother again . +At the end of last year Apple overtook sales of Android devices for the first time since 2012. And in a bid to fuel this trend further, the Californian tech giant is reportedly planning to extend its recycling and trade-in scheme to include rival handsets. Reports claim Android, as well as BlackBerry and potentially Windows Phone customers, will be able to exchange their handsets for gift cards and credit towards Apple products. Apple is reportedly planning to extend the recycling and trade-in scheme it launched in 2013 (pictured) to include rival handsets. Reports claim Android, as well as BlackBerry and potentially Windows Phone customers, will be able to exchange their handsets for gift cards and credit towards an Apple product . These reports first appeared on fan site 9to5Mac and came from unnamed sources. Apple launched its iPhone Reuse and Recycle trade-in scheme in 2013. It lets people take old handsets into a store and get credit to put towards the purchase of a new one. These handsets can be recycled online too, and Apple offers an iPad version of the scheme. The amount of credit depends on the device and its condition, and its likely that figures for Android handsets, which are typically much cheaper than Apple phones, will be low under the scheme. Apple has not confirmed these plans but the report said the scheme could roll out 'in the coming weeks.' The latest smartphone sales data show that Apple’s share of sales grew last year thanks to the iPhone 6 (left). Samsung will be hoping to claw some of this back with its Galaxy S6 (right) The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show that Apple’s share of sales grew across the US, Europe and China during the fourth quarter of 2014. In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since 2012 albeit by 0.1%. Across Europe, Android’s share declined by 3.8% year-on-year to 66.1 per cent while iOS rose by 6.2%. The UK had the biggest impact on the decline as iOS grew its share by  13.1% compared to this time last year with Samsung, LG and Sony all losing market share year-on-year. Apple has not confirmed these plans, but the report continued employees in stores are being trained on the changes now and the scheme could roll out 'in the coming weeks.' The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show that Apple’s share of sales grew across the US, Europe and China during the fourth quarter of 2014. In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since the same period in 2012 albeit by 0.1 per cent. Notably, the iPhone 6 was the best-selling smartphone in the US, with Samsung in second place with is Galaxy S5. Across Europe, Android’s share declined by 3.8 per cent year-on-year to 66.1 per cent while iOS rose by 6.2 per cent. The UK had the biggest impact on the decline as iOS grew its share of sales by 13.1 per cent compared to this time last year, . Samsung, LG and Sony all losing market share year-on-year. Explore smartphone market share data using the interactive graphic below . +America, this Bud Light's for you. At least that is what a new map showing every country's most popular beer indicates. The map was created using everything from research reports to corporate filings and it shows the 'beer brands of the world are as diverse as our planet itself'. Scroll down for video . The most popular beer for each country was determined by market share and VinePair made the map . Bud Light is the most popular beer in the US, while Bud is tops in Canada and Corona is king in Mexico . England prefers Carling over anything else, while Ireland opts for Guinness and Iceland goes for Viking . The map was created by VinePair. Although data wasn't available for every country - the US State Department recognizes 194 according to WorldAtlas.com - the map does include more than 100 countries. If data was available, VinePair determined the most popular beer for each country by market share. Australians go for Victoria Bitter while Lion Red is the top dog in New Zealand and Bintang rules in Indonesia . Skol is the preferred choice in Brazil, Chile likes Cristal and Quilme shows up as Argentina's beer of choice . China likes a beer called Snow, Russians go for Baltika above everything else and India likes Kingfisher . Many of the beers on the map come from one of the two largest beer companies in the world's -A nheuser Busch InBev or SABMiller. Anheuser-Busch Inbev controls the most popular beers in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and Argentina, according to the Washington Post. SABMiller owns the most popular beer in Colombia, South Africa, Peru, Ecuador and other places. Tango is the preference in Algeria, Turkey goes for Efes and Gold Star is the gold standard for beer in Israel . Carling Black Label Beer is No. 1 in South Africa while Windhoek Lager is the top beverage in Nambia . A previous chart from VinePair shows that six of the top twenty beers in the US are versions of Budweiser . +A Geelong housing commission tenant is under investigation from the department of housing after she was found to be sub-letting her public housing property and pocketing the cash. The Salvation Army granted Tammy Kenyon and her partner Jamie Hutchinson a commission home in the southern suburb of Belmont last year. But Ms Kenyon has been caught after advertising the property online and keeping the money in a rental scam, reports A Current Affair. Tammy Kenyon, whois behind a rental scam in which she advertised her trust home online and pocketed the bond . The mother-of-three was exposed after advertising the property and rental prices on her Facebook page. "Three bedrooms, large yard, carpet all the way through, kitchen, bathroom and laundry have lino, $280 a week, $600 bond," one of the posts reads. In another, she claimed to sympathise with the would-be tenant about knowing what it’s like to be without a home. Ms Kenyon requested the money to be transferred into her account, then pocketed the cash without ever planning to move out of the property. The Salvation Army granted Tammy Kenyon and her partner Jamie Hutchinson a commission home in the southern suburb of Belmont last year . But she was caught out after advertising the property for varying prices on Facebook . Single mother Leonie O'Connor fell victim to the scam after getting repeated burglaries at their family home. She paid a $400 bond, but became suspicious when she noticed the home was still being promoted on Facebook. "She spent my bond money and I don't think I am ever going to get it back," Ms O'Connor said. Single mum Leonie O'Connor (left) paid Ms Kenyon a $400 bond, while Em Radford (right) also fell victim to the scam . When confronted, Ms Kenyon has admitted she knew what she was doing was illegal, and that she used the money to pay her own bills . Another victim, pregnant mother-of-four Lorna, lost $850 in bond money from the scam. When confronted, Ms Kenyon has admitted she knew what she was doing was illegal, and that she used the money to pay her own bills. She claims to be in the process of paying back the people she's scammed, but the department of housing claim none of her victims have yet to have been paid back. +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger returns to familiar surroundings on Tuesday night although it's a long, long time since he was in the Stade Louis II. Wenger managed Monaco between 1987 and 1994 - landing the Ligue 1 title in his first season and adding the French Cup a few years later - and his old club stand between the Gunners and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals. The team from the principality lead 3-1 after storming the Emirates three weeks ago and with the second leg set up to be a cracker, we've produced this picture special to mark the occasion and celebrate the early days of Wenger's career as a boss. Monaco was Wenger's second club after a three-year spell at Nancy. He also managed Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan after Monaco and moved to Arsenal in 1996. Arsene Wenger got off to a flyer as Monaco manager, winning the Ligue 1 title in 1988 to put the lid on a fine first season . Wenger worked with some huge names in Monaco and is pictured giving instructions to Jurgen Klinsmann who played there from 1992-94 . English pair Mark Hateley (left) and Glenn Hoddle arrived at Monaco in 1987 . Wenger has Luc Sonor (left) on one side and Roger Mendy on the other as he takes his players on a jog during a 1991 training session . Wenger was in charge when Belgian playmaker Enzo Scifo joined Monaco from Italian outfit Torino - he won the title in 1997 after Wenger left . Wenger was hoisted high after guiding Monaco to the French Cup in 1991 - they beat Marseille 1-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris . Wenger puts his players through their paces - making full use of the security barriers in the Stade Louis II in 1992 . This one goes back a bit - it's Wenger playing AGAINST Monaco for Strasbourg during a league game in 1978 . Monaco's training sessions were not always full pelt as Wenger takes a breather during a session in 1990 . Midfielder Marcel Dib hugs Wenger after Monaco made the final of the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup by beating Feyenoord on away goals . Wenger kitted out for sessions in charge of his Monaco players - that adidas gear (right) goes down a storm now with lovers of all things retro . It would be fair to say Wenger had some hair-raising moments during his time at Monaco - if this picture from 1987 is anything to go by . Wenger with Johan Cruyff - the Dutch legend was manager of Barcelona when the current Gunners boss was in charge of Monaco . Wenger's assistant Jean Petit was well named when sitting next to his boss in the Monaco dugout. Purple shell suits? Definitely 1989 . This was Wenger during his first match in European competition as Monaco manager - a victory over Valur Reykjavik in 1988 . VIDEO 'We can do it' says Wenger ahead of Monaco crunch match . +Manchester City's first team stars appeared to be in a playful mood during Tuesday's training session ahead of their European showdown with Barcelona. Eliaquim Mangala was the butt of the jokes at Manchester City's training ground as he feigned an ankle injury following a tackle by Vincent Kompany before sharing a joke with his team-mates. Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping his stars are fully fit and raring to go as they face a tough task of trying to overturn a 2-1 first leg defeat against the Catalan giants. Manchester City centre back Eliaquim Mangala rolls around on the floor following a challenge by team-mate Vincent Kompany . France centre back Mangala is helped up to his feet following the challenge by Manchester City's captain . Mangala rolls on the floor while his team-mates - including Kompany - decide not to take any notice of the former Porto defender . The 24-year-old was an unused substitute during Manchester City's surprise defeat at the hands of Premier League strugglers Burnley . The City boss, who said earlier this month that his position will not be under threat even if his side are eliminated from Europe and fail to win the Barclays Premier League, held a meeting with his players on the training pitch before the session. Manchester City must score at least two goals at the Nou Camp if they are to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. One man who believes they can do just that is right back Pablo Zabaleta - despite the Argentina international admitting Barcelona are 'one of the best teams in the world'. 'We are going to play against one of the best teams in the world. It's not going to be easy, but nothing is impossible in football,' Zabaleta told Four Four Two. 'You have to be ready for these moments. Things can change on games like this. 'You just have to move on to the next game and try to win it. That's what football is. 'It's good that the game [comes after] just three days. We need to recover well, go to Barcelona and see what we can do. Hopefully we can do it.' Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, who will come up against his former side at the Nou Camp, shares a joke with Mangala . Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini addresses his players during Tuesday's training session ahead of their trip to Barcelona . Pellegrini insists his position at Manchester City is not under threat despite facing the possibility of not winning a major honour this season . Manchester City duo Gael Clichy and James Milner are all smiles as they go for a gentle jog during the training session . Wilfried Bony will be hoping to start against Barcelona after making a cameo appearance during City's 1-0 defeat by Burnley . Manchester City right back Pablo Zabaleta insists his side are capable of coming back from 2-1 down to eliminate Barcelona . Frank Lampard could play his final Champions League match if Manchester City are knocked out by Catalan giants Barcelona . Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart is put through his paces ahead of his battle with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez . +The progress Liverpool have made since that defeat at Old Trafford in December has been nothing short of remarkable. They remain the only unbeaten team in the Barclays Premier League this year and it owes much to the solidity of a defence now boasting six straight away games without conceding a goal. Clearly, it amounts to a tactical triumph for manager Brendan Rodgers. Not least in the way he tore up his own blueprint for life without Luis Suarez and came up with an entirely new strategy that has worked for the players who remain at Anfield. That is no easy task, as Roberto Martinez and Louis van Gaal would probably testify. Simon Mignolet dives to spectacular deny Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson during Liverpool's 1-0 win on Monday . Emre Can has slotted in well in defence after Brendan Rodgers changed his system . Brendan Rodgers (left), Colin Pascoe (centre) and Mike Marsh talk tactics on the Liverpool bench . Liverpool have not lost in their last 13 games - a run that has seen them rise from 10th in the table to fifth. Should they beat Swansea on Monday then they will be just two points off fourth place. D - 2-2 Arsenal (H) W - 1-0 Burnley (A) W - 4-1 Swansea (H) D - 2-2 Leicester (H) W - 1-0 Sunderland (A) W - 2-0 Aston Villa (A) W - 2-0 West Ham (H) D - 0-0 Everton (A) W - 3-2 Tottenham (H) W - 2-0 Southampton (A) W - 2-1 Man City (H) W - 2-0 Burnley (H) W - 1-0 Swansea (A) But watching Liverpool at Swansea on Monday night, their success in stopping their hosts from scoring was down to more than the clever deployment of certain players. Yes, there is no doubt the decision to move Emre Can into a back three - when he was signed principally as a midfielder – was quite brilliant. Can has been superb in the role alongside Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho, who have also benefitted hugely from a tactical reshuffle that appears to provide them with more security and with it greater confidence. The decision to drop Simon Mignolet earlier this season has also proved an astute piece of leadership by Rodgers. How a player responds is of the utmost importance and Liverpool’s goalkeeper, much like we saw with Joe Hart at Manchester City, has returned with greater focus and determination. Against Swansea he made some marvellous saves, in particular to deny Bafetimbi Gomis and Gylfi Sigurdsson. That said, Liverpool’s defence also demonstrated against Swansea that they remain prone to the occasional mistake. There was a moment at The Liberty Stadium, which led to the Mignolet save to deny Gomis, when a neat exchange of passes between Swansea’s French striker and Wayne Routledge left a gaping hole in Liverpool’s back three. In the press box we do not have the benefit of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville’s tactical analysis but I can imagine one of them might have highlighted that on their super-duper tactics board at half-time. This is where Liverpool have also been riding their luck a little; a luxury teams sometimes enjoy when they have a bit of momentum and something that was illustrated further by the nature of Jordan Henderson’s winning goal. Jordan Henderson (right) scored Liveprool's winning goal after a lucky deflection . But football teams often make their own luck and the truth is their success in defending their own goal in recent weeks goes way beyond good organisation and some fine individual performances. It points to the fact that Liverpool, having started the season so poorly, are working doubly hard to get back into contention for the Champions League places. They are defending as a team, with players tracking back tirelessly from midfield to rescue their colleagues when mistakes are made. Neil Taylor tested Can on Swansea’s left flank but it was Henderson who was there to make one important interception, even if the challenge was a little over-zealous and earned the England midfielder the first yellow card of the night. When Gomis burst past Skrtel later in the game, it was Joe Allen who was there to cut out the shot. Desire and determination are important qualities at this stage of the season and Rodgers declared his side’s ambition to finish second again this season in the knowledge that these players want it every bit as much as he does. VIDEO Monk rues missed chances . Mamadou Sahko (right) puts in a challenge on Jonjo Shelvey as he again impressed for Liverpool . Martin Skrtel (left) is proving himself a leader at the back of a much improved Liverpool defence . Yes, the defenders look more assured. Yes, Skrtel is proving himself a leader in the Liverpool defence. Against Swansea he was outstanding, even producing the initial pass that led to Henderson’s goal. And yes, Sakho and Can are now playing to the level we have long come to expect of Liverpool defenders. But they are working as a team, and playing with more composure after Rodgers realised the more cavalier approach they employed when Suarez and Daniel Sturridge were terrorising defenders just wasn’t working this season. The statistics make interesting reading. Only five Premier League goals conceded in 10 games in 2015 compared to 25 in the 19 they had played before the turn of the year. But it’s as much down to hard graft as the intelligence of Rodgers. And while the deployment of Gerrard as a holding midfielder, and with it a slight change to a diamond formation, gave Henderson the freedom to get further forward last night, it was the mere fact that Henderson was fit enough and determined enough to make that run in pursuit of Sturridge’s flick-on that earned Liverpool their goal. Seriously motivated, Liverpool are on the move again. +Reading's dream run in the FA Cup has been soured after video emerged of a supporter hurling a flare towards Bradford City supporters at the Madejski Stadium. The Royals were clinical in beating Bradford 3-0 in Monday night's quarter-final replay to reach their first FA Cup semi-final in 88 years - they face Arsenal on April 18 or 19 - but their joy has been tempered by several unsavoury off-field incidents. During the game a Bradford fan was arrested after allegedly racially abusing Reading's Garath McCleary, while one home fan invaded the pitch and goaded Bradford supporters. There was also a mass pitch invasion by home fans after the final whistle and the new video clearly shows that a flare was hurled into the South Stand where the travelling support were. VIDEO Scroll down to watch the incident . Blue smoke can be seen billowing from a flare carried onto the Madejski Stadium pitch on Monday night . The flare leaves a trail of smoke as it is hurled into the crowd during the pitch invasion . The trail of smoke shows the flare's path into the South Stand, where Bradford's support was sat . The flare was spouting smoke which matches Reading's signature royal blue kit colour. Thames Valley Police confirmed on Tuesday that an 18-year-old man from Bradford had been arrested and cautioned for carrying a flare - but this occurred outside the ground before the match. No further arrests have been made concerning the incident after the game. A spokesman said: 'An 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firework while trying to enter a designated sports ground. 'He was given a caution.' The video attracted angry and dismayed comments from fans as it was widely shared on Twitter. One user, Chris Hilton, who describes himself as a Bradford season ticket-holder, said: 'A flare getting chucked into the #bcafc end from the Reading fans #StayClassy' A man is pictured holding a flare while on the pitch at the Madejski Stadium after the full-time whistle . The man's arm is soon pictured raised and the gaze of other nearby fans suggest he has thrown the flare . It is unclear whether this is the fan who threw the flare into the Bradford supporters' end at the Madejski . The pitch invasion was just one of several unsavoury incidents which marred the match . A man raises a flare above his head while on the pitch after the FA Cup quarter-final replay . An eyewitness told MailOnline: 'Celebrating your team’s victory is one thing, goading the opposition fans with sick taunts is another. 'There were kids showing off lighters and mouthing the words "fire, fire, fire" which we all knew was a reference to what happened at Bradford in 1985. 'One youth quite clearly launched the flare into the crowd, while, as they had done all game,  the stewards sat back and allowed it to happen.' Gary Lineker, who hosted the BBC's live coverage of the match from a studio at the Madejski Stadium, had described the pitch invasion as 'lovely scenes' in the immediate aftermath of the match. Lineker's comment was surprising considering the obvious safety concerns raised by a pitch invasion. The invasion sparked angry exchanges between both sets of supporters as stewards prevented furious Bradford fans from entering the pitch to confront jubilant Reading supporters. Twitter users expressed their dismay at the video, which was widely shared on social media . Reading comfortably strolled into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win. Click here to read the full match report . Supporters proceeded to throw missiles, including bottle of waters, on to the pitch. Earlier, a pitch invader goaded travelling supporters which caused Bradford fans to throw more missiles onto the pitch. Police confirmed that a 20-year-old man from Wokingham is still in custody after being arrested on suspicion of 'going on to playing area at a football match' at around 9pm. Two other arrests were made on the night, one 24-year-old from Bradford on suspicion of possession of a Class A drug and a 27-year-old man from Bradford on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in a public place before the match. Reading keeper Adam Federici was seen handing a coin to a steward guarding Bradford fans. The pitch invasion also follows the ugly scenes at Villa Park earlier this month, when there was chaos as thousands of Aston Villa supporters piled on to the pitch following victory over rivals West Bromwich Albion in their FA Cup quarter-final. Fabian Delph claimed he was bitten, while Boaz Myhill, Craig Dawson, James Morrison and Callum McManaman all appeared to be barged aggressively. And video footage appeared to show further player altercations with on-rushing fans. Concerning the alleged racial abuse of McCleary, a spokesman said: 'A 36-year-old man from Bradford was arrested. We had reports of indecent or racist chanting.' The man was freed on bail until next month. Reading's celebrations were marred by an allegation of racist abuse towards winger Garath McCleary . Fans invaded the pitch after full-time as Reading secured their place in the FA Cup semi-finals . Hundreds of supporters ran onto the pitch after watching Reading secure an FA Cup semi-final spot . Bradford players applaud their supporters after full-time in the FA Cup quarter-final replay . Referee Mike Jones collects a plastic water bottle which was thrown onto the pitch by Bradford fans . The incident occurred five minutes before half-time when McCleary tried to retrieve the ball from the Bradford end. McCleary, a Jamaica international who scored the second goal after his shot took a big deflection, was shocked by something a fan said to him. The winger immediately informed the referee's assistant, who subsequently told fourth official Andre Marriner. Marriner relayed the information to a senior Reading security chief, who is understood to have promptly ensured the fan in question was ejected from the stadium. The supporter was then arrested. In confirming the incident, a Reading statement read: 'An incident was reported to the match officials just before half-time, who in turn told Reading staff. A man was then arrested and ejected during the half-time interval. The FA will wait for referee Mike Jones' report before deciding on what course of action to take, if any, this morning.' Reading players mob goalscorer McCleary during the home side's 3-0 victory . Hal Robson-Kanu (centre) prepares to wheel away in celebration after scoring the opener past Ben Williams . The man arrested faces a lifetime ban from City games if found guilty, according to chairman Mark Lawn. 'I heard about that and when we find out who it was we will take action,' said Lawn. 'I understand the police are prosecuting so we can't do anything at this stage, but if that person is found guilty we will take action. 'There is no place for that in the game, it is unacceptable. 'I would think we're looking at a lifetime ban if he's found guilty but that decision can only be made after consultation with the club's board.' +Liverpool have become the Premier League's best side on the road having claimed their seventh clean sheet away from home in Monday night's 1-0 win at Swansea. Brendan Rodgers' side also equalled Bill Shankly's club record of six consecutive clean sheets on the road having not lost a Premier League game in 2015. The Reds have conceded just 16 goals in 14 away games having faced the fewest shots - 169 - along with Manchester City. Scroll down for the full rundown of the Premier League's defensive stats away from home . Steven Gerrard congratulates Simon Mignolet after Liverpool earned their seventh clean sheet of the season . Mignolet dives to deny Gylfi Sigurdsson during Monday night's 1-0 win at the Liberty Stadium . Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers smiles after his side's win sees them keep up their pursuit of the top four . Liverpool have enjoyed a fine run of form since the turn of the year and are in the running for a Champions League spot with the Merseysiders just four points off second-place. Manchester United and rivals City have conceded the same number of away goals as Liverpool while leaders Chelsea have conceded 17. Southampton's miserly defence have the best record for goals conceded though - letting in just 11 goals away from home - while goalkeeper Fraser Forster has managed to keep four clean sheets. The Saints' impressive displays at the back sees Ronald Koeman's side - tipped for relegation at the start of the season following a summer of upheaval - in the running for a place in the top four with nine games remaining. Southampton stopper Fraser Forster has kept four clean sheets for high-flying Southampton this campaign . Meanwhile, West Brom, currently 13th in the table, have managed six clean sheets away from The Hawthorns this term. However, the big shock is perhaps the fact new manager Tony Pulis - who took over from Alan Irvine at the start of the year and is famed for tightening his teams up at the back - is responsible for just two of the six occasions the Baggies defence has not been breached. At the other end of the stats table, relegation battlers QPR, Burnley and Leicester - along with Newcastle - have conceded the most goals on their travels. West Brom have kept six clean sheets this season - the second-highest total in the Premier League this term . The trio of sides promoted to the Premier League last season have managed just four cleans sheets between them. West Ham, meanwhile, also have a poor record on their travels in terms of goals conceded having kept just one clean sheet away from home - against Southampton in February. Leicester have conceded a huge 273 shots at goal away from home this season - the most in the division - with 87 of those on target. Arsenal's defence have made an impressive 310 interceptions away from the Emirates this campaign, Crystal Palace have completed the most tackles with 334 challenges while Hull City have made 82 blocks - the highest number in the Premier League this term. +Arsene Wenger’s Champions League record is as phenomenal as it is deeply disappointing. The paradox is apparent is Wenger’s own mantra, oft repeated, that the club’s record of qualifying for the tournament for 17 consecutive years and having reached the equivalent of knock-out stages for the last 15 years is extraordinary. Yet having contested the Champions League and its predecessor the European Cup 18 times now (including twice at Monaco), he has never won it. Perhaps more damningly he has been in the final just once and the semi-finals three times, once with Monaco and twice with Arsenal. Arsene Wenger is undoubtedly one of the managerial greats but his European record is a blot on his CV . Wenger leads his Arsenal side against Monaco on Tuesday night hoping to turn around a 3-1 deficit . Wenger looks towards the Champions League trophy after losing the 2006 final to Barcelona in Paris . Progression to the quarter-finals of the Champions League would require Arsenal to do what no other side has done in the Champions League - overturn a two-goal home leg deficit. So to inspire the team, Arsenal fans have taken to Twitter and created the hashtag #MiracleInMonaco in the hope of inspiring their side to a famous victory, with the topic now trending worldwide. Supporters will hope Mesut Ozil and co can live up to their alter-egos from Arsenal's Christmas party in 2013 where the squad dressed up as superheroes. For a manager of such iconic status who for most of those years has overseen one of Europe’s biggest and best-resourced clubs, that is a poor record, which points to his limitations. Just to be clear, before the debate immediately descends into a pro- or anti-Wenger polemic, there are shades of grey in this argument. Wenger is undoubtedly one of the great managers and will always be revered as such. But his failure to win any European trophy and to have contested just three finals in 22 years of qualifying for various European tournaments, is a glaring omission in his career. It is why the game against Monaco is so poignant. It is not just that he is returning to where his European pedigree began. It is the fact that this tie should have been the perfect platform for Wenger to have another go at building a European success. It hasn’t turned out that way after that awful, shambolic 3-1 defeat in the first leg at The Emirates. Of course, should Arsenal pull off the most unlikely of comebacks, it will rank as one of his greatest moments in the tournament. More significantly, with Real Madrid faltering, Wenger will feel his team, coming nicely into form, has a genuine chance of finally winning it. Few will agree with him though on analysing his record. The failure clearly irks Arsenal. Freddie Ljungberg admitted as much last year, when interviewed about Wenger. For all the plaudits of the incredible Invincible team, they themselves sense a gap in their CV. ‘When we meet up, the old players, we are very disappointed we haven't won the Champions League,’ said Ljungberg. ‘We felt we had a good enough team to win it. Personally that's where I have my biggest regrets, because that was a few years that it happened, and internally, the team thought we had a great chance of winning.’ The closest Wenger came to realising his dream was the Champions League final in 2006, when ten-man Arsenal led until the 76th minute against Barcelona. Who is to say that Arsenal wouldn’t have won that day had Jens Lehmann not been sent off? This is thrust of Wenger’s argument when questioned on his record: that the fine margins and necessary luck which plays its part in football is to blame for him not having achieved his goal. VIDEO Monaco are favourite to progress . Freddie Ljungberg admitted that it was one of the biggest regrets for Wenger's great side to not win in Europe . Ashley Cole reacts after Arsenal lose out in Paris, courtesy of goals from Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti . Thierry Henry could not inspire Arsenal to victory in Wenger's only European Cup final back in 2006 . It is compelling up to a point. Clearly Wenger is an infinitely better coach than Roberto Di Matteo and Tony Barton, both of whom have won the trophy. But judged against his peers, the managerial greats of the modern era, Wenger’s record is lacking. Leave aside for now the fact that Bob Paisley won the trophy three times in six attempts and Brian Clough won it twice in four attempts, in the modern era Wenger’s does not rank among the elite group of coaches. Carlo Ancelotti has won the trophy three times in twelve attempts; Jose Mourinho has won it twice in eleven (counting this season, as he is already out); Pep Guardiola has won in twice in five attempts. And even Guardiola can’t match Jupp Heynckes record of two wins and four finals in five attempts. Heynckes Champions League ‘nadir’ was going out in the semi-final to eventual winners Red Star Belgrade in 1991. Wenger looks on as Barcelona lift the trophy - and he is still without a European trophy in his long career . Jens Lehmann was sent off early in the game and Barcelona's pressure eventually told as they beat Arsenal . A persistent critique of Sir Alex Ferguson’s ability as a coach (as opposed to manager) was that, given his resources he ‘only’ won the trophy twice in 21 years. He also qualified for the competition three times with Aberdeen, but left them to join United midway through the 1985-86 competition. Monaco tonight is the reminder that Wenger is the consummate qualifier in Europe but never the victor. In his six years here at the club, the team qualified for European competition every season, losing in the final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1992 to Werder Bremen. Remarkably, given the relative size of the club, they reached the Champions League semi-finals in 1994, losing 3-0 to AC Milan. No disgrace in that, however; that was Fabio Capello’s team which proceeded to take apart Barcelona 4-0 in the final. Carlo Ancelotti has won the Champions League three times, including last year, in twelve attempts . Jose Mourinho has won the big trophy twice in eleven entries (counting this season, as he is already out) Jupp Heynckes has a hugely impressive record of two wins and four finals in five Champions League attempts . Wenger’s gifts are undeniable. But an 18-year sample should take account of bad luck and the statistical vagaries of football. There is a missing link in Wenger’s tactical psyche. It is as evident in the defensive displays against Chelsea and Liverpool last season as it was against Monaco two weeks ago. It has always been there and it holds him back from being the very best. The year he perhaps should have done it but didn’t was not so much 2006, when that team was beginning to decline, but the Invincible year of 2003-04, when a late Wayne Bridge goal at Highbury knocked Arsenal out in the quarter-finals in the days when Wenger’s teams were considerably stronger than Chelsea. It is a difficult to remember a night when Wenger has looked more disconsolate. He seemed so full of fury that he was on the point of bursting into tears. For all the professonial stereotypes, he is a deeply emotional man. Wayne Bridge fired in a late Chelsea winner at Highbury in 2004 in one of Arsenal's best chances of winning . Bridge's goal defeated an Arsenal side that were superior to Chelsea and went on to win the Premier League . Wenger cannot hide his disappointment as then-Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri celebrates a rare win . Nothing would give English football lovers greater pleasure that to see Arsenal execute a remarkable comeback tonight and for Wenger to go on and finally lift the trophy ‘with the big ears,’ as Patrick Vieira always called it. Or, at some stage in these, surely the final few years of his career, for him to achieve that goal. His reputation demands it and on a sentimental level, having achieved so much, he’s earned it. But the Champions League is an unforgiving beast. It may not be a perfect barometer of coaching ability, but it is quite a good, crude measure of how well you pit your wits against the best minds in football. And Wenger, for all his accolades, comes up short. Wenger is back at his former club Monaco on Tuesday night with the hope of reaching European glory . +Jordan Henderson required a slice of luck after an uninspiring first half against Swansea, Jordi Amat’s sliding tackle sending the ball ricocheting on to his shin and ultimately looping beyond the reach of Lukasz Fabianski. But there has been nothing fortuitous about the manner of his improvement over the past two years. He has blossomed from a player talked about in the same breath as Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam  - as examples of how Liverpool wasted the money from the sale of Fernando Torres - to England’s best midfielder. Liverpool have not lost any of the 15 games where their vice-captain has worn the armband this season, winning 12 and drawing three, proving himself in the dressing room and on the pitch a worthy successor to the departing Steven Gerrard. Jordan Henderson celebrates scoring against Swansea, the latest high point in his huge improvement . Henderson was almost sold to Fulham by Brendan Rodgers but is now England's best midfield option . The former Sunderland man was spoken about as a waste of money but is Steven Gerrard's successor now . An incredible unbeaten run in the league stretching back to December has put Liverpool just two points behind Manchester United in fourth and Henderson has been the key to their revival. Even when he is not playing well, as was the case against Swansea, the 24-year-old is a hub of industry, harrying the opposition and straining every sinew and devoting every ounce of energy to the cause. He also keeps popping up at the crucial moments - this was his third goal in as many games and a vital one which keeps the momentum going for his side. Sportsmail’s Jamie Carragher speaks of him as one of the best midfielders in the Barclays Premier League. Not bad for a bloke from Wearside who runs funny. Henderson was not even playing particularly well against Swansea but he made the difference for Liverpool . Liverpool have not lost any of the 15 games played by Henderson as captain in Gerrard's absence . Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson turned down the opportunity to sign Henderson . That was the assessment of none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, who wrote in his autobiography that Steve Bruce, then Henderson’s manager at Sunderland, recommended United sign the youngster. Ferguson declined citing Henderson’s gait ‘might cause him injuries later in his career'. Of course now he is just the sort of player Manchester United would want marshalling their midfield when the sides meet on Sunday in what could transpire to be pivotal in the race for the final Champions League spot. Henderson laughed off Ferguson’s mean observation, even taking it as a compliment that the pair were discussing him. Over his career so far, he has demonstrated an enviable resilience and a thick skin. When he first arrived at Anfield for £16million and failed to immediately deliver on the promise shown for boyhood club Sunderland he was widely, and understandably, maligned. Even Brendan Rodgers wanted to sell him to Fulham at one point. When he first arrived at Anfield, Henderson failed to immediately deliver on the promise shown at Sunderland . Ferguson turned down Henderson while he was at Sunderland but Manchester United could do with him now . Rodgers considered selling Henderson to Fulham but has been won round by the player's ambition . But Henderson won the Northern Irishman round with his desire and ambition and the two have struck up a good relationship. Henderson credits Rodgers' insistence that he work on his tactical nouse with his improvement. Gary Neville, who works closely with Henderson in the England set-up, has observed a big change in him in the last 12 months and praised his fanatical approach to working on set-pieces. ‘He has a massive conscience in terms of caring about his game and practising on the training ground,’ Neville said on Sky’s Monday Night Football. ‘I remember last year seeing a big change in him in terms of training and practising free-kicks and set pieces. Henderson poses with Charlie Adam, Kenny Dalglish, Alexander Doni and Stewart Downing (left to right) upon signing but in his early days at the club he was viewed as an example of Liverpool wasting money . Henderson is a leader in the dressing room at Liverpool, and with England, according to Gary Neville . The midfielder accepts the congratulations of his team-mates after a hard-fought win in Wales on Monday . ‘You saw him taking set-pieces with Steven Gerrard in the middle. Who would have thought that would happen two years ago? He is not frightened to pull people out and talk, that is why he has the captain’s armband. He is one of the leaders in the dressing room at Liverpool and he is the same with England.’ There may have been moments of luck along the way for Henderson but his story is one of perseverance and boundless improvement. Liverpool and England will hope there is even more to come. Henderson initially struggled to meet expectations at Liverpool but is now valuable for club and country . Jordi Amat slides in to clear for Swansea but the clearance rebounded off Henderson and into the net . +Next time you drag yourself out of bed and think it's an effort to shower and grumpily start struggling to put on your clothes and do your make-up, spare a thought for Manon Slomkowski. The 20-year-old partially paralysed French woman has released a video revealing how she manages to get ready every day with the use of just one arm. Ms Slaomkowski suffered a horrific motorcycle accident in the tunnel of Nanterre near Paris in March 2014 and as a result is unable to move her left arm due to brachial plexus palsy and the nerve damage it has caused. In the moving video posted on her Facebook page, the footage shows how simple everyday actions have become an ordeal for her. 'I am teaching myself every day how to support myself, how to find solutions,' she told the HuffingtonPost. 'I live with neuropathic pain (unbearable) which also suffer amputees. My suffering is physical as well as moral, my body is heavily damaged and tired faster than normal. 'Normally, we need five nerves to control one arm; four nerves from my marrow have already been torn off, so they are not recoverable, and I have already undergone two surgeries, one of which was a nerve graft,' she wrote in a description accompanying her video. Partially paralysed Manon Slomkowski has released a video revealing how she manages to get ready every day with the use of just one arm . The French woman does everything including painting her nails and putting on her watch with her right hand . The 22-year-old suffered a horrific motorcycle accident in the tunnel of Nanterre near Paris in March 2014 and as a result is unable to move her left arm . 'When I first came back from the hospital, I remember going up to my room and bursting into tears. This is when I first realized what had happened to me and that my life would completely change. 'It took me a while to recover my life rhythm, to eat again, to sleep, and to slowly reduce the doses of painkillers. 'At first, I had a hard time doing things by myself and everything felt painful, every movement or gesture. I couldn't find pleasure in doing anything.' She adds that whilst she looks to the bright side, there are moments of uncertainty: 'I am deprived of my passion but also a lot of activities, my family is worried about me and my future.' 'What's been the most difficult, and still is today - all people who have paralyzed or amputated limbs will back me up on this -- is how to bear the neuropathic pain, also known as "phantom limb pain". 'This kind of pain is very difficult to manage and some people are completely unable to bear it. But there are techniques to help us relieve this pain. Most of the times, I can manage it, so I'm OK. Ms Slaomkowski, above, lies on the bed and rolls over to do up her bra with her right hand . She then shimmies the bra up her body and over her right arm, above . She says: 'I am teaching myself every day how to support myself, how to find solutions,' 'You can see in my video, for instance, the solution for my bra: one of my friends, who is able-bodied, gave it to me, because I was tired of always waiting for somebody to help me hook it up! 'I have always hated somebody else helping me do something or doing it for me. 'There are tons of activities I still cannot do by myself. My single real fear about the future is for when I become a mother and I need to take care of my baby as a single-handed mother... Fortunately, I have heard from mothers suffering from plexus palsy that they generally do very well.' 'If I had to give advice to all the people who have suffered from injuries caused by any kind of road accident, I would tell them 'Be happy and fight for your lives,' because you still have the chance to see tomorrow,' she says. 'To all road drivers, remember that you are not untouchable, and the 30 seconds when I thought I was almost killed me. You don't want that, so drive slowly and carefully.' +Annie Power’s last hurdle fall in Tuesday’s OLBG Mares’ Hurdle has been described as the fall that saved the bookmaking industry a £40million payout by a Ladbrokes spokesman. A loss out on scale similar to that when Frankie Dettori went through the card with seven winners at Ascot in 1996 looked on the cards as punters piled cash won on the first three winners of the day trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins – Douvan, Un De Sceaux and Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen – on to 1-2 favourite Annie Power. She was well clear and heading to victory before she hit the deck with jockey Ruby Walsh. Thankfully, both Annie Power and Walsh emerged seemingly none the worse. L'Unique was another faller, but also got up. Annie Power falls at the last fence during the OLBG Mares' Hurdle as Ruby Walsh was denied another race . Walsh had stormed to the front on Annie Power and she was travelling easy ahead of the final hurdle . Walsh and Annie Power fell to the ground, but luckily both emerged seemingly none the worse . Even though Annie Power's Mullins-trained stablemate and 6-1 shot Glens Melody won the race to add to his domination of day one of the meeting, she was not as well backed. David Williams of Ladbrokes said: 'Had Annie Power won we were facing up to the worse day’s betting in our history. We were looking at a pay-out in the region of £50m. ‘We estimate the industry loss is still £10m but we have dodged the most expensive betting bullet ever. It has turned out to be a bad day at the office rather than an horrendous one.' Walsh was looking for a Cheltenham first day Grand Slam in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle Race on Tuesday afternoon . Ruby Walsh walks back to the weighing room after falling at Cheltenham - he said: 'I don't know why she did it.' Glens Melody (left, ridden by Paul Townend) went on to claim victory in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle Race . Townend celebrates after the race as stablemate Annie Power fell at the final hurdle . Walsh said of Annie Power: 'I don't know why she did it. She was a bit far away and came down under the top bar and turned over. That's racing, that happens. 'It's been a super day. Douvan was great, Un De Sceaux was brilliant, Faugheen winning the Champion Hurdle was magic. At least Annie Power got up and there'll be another day.' Walsh glides over the fence on his way to winning the Champions Hurdle on Faugheen at Cheltenham Festival 2015 . Walsh celebrates after winning his first race of the day on Douvan on Tuesday at Cheltenham Festival . +2,000-year-old artefacts looted from ancient sites in Iraq and Syria by ISIS are being sold on eBay as jihadis cash in on relics dating back millennia. Jewellery, ceramics and coins plundered from museums within ISIS territory are known to pass between criminal gangs before turning up in Gulf States and later appearing on trading websites. Two coins from Apamea, in western Syria, which date back to Ancient Greece have appeared on eBay with price tags of £57 and £90. Scroll down for video . Selling on eBay: Historical artefacts believed to have been looted by ISIS, such as this coin of Apamea dating back to the time of Ancient Greece, are beginning to appear on eBay . This comes after entire Roman mosaics were ripped up by a bulldozer from the ancient site. The trade in antiquities is a profitable business for the terror group and is thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds, The Times reports. As well as looting ancient artefacts, ISIS is known to levy a 'tax on valuable and historical items found in its territory to ensure the group's central administration benefits financially from raids on museums. The number of artefacts flowing from the war zone is so great that their market price has actually fallen. Spoils of war: Small coins such as these are easy to smuggle across borders to criminal gangs in neighbouring countries. Above, the artefact is advertised on eBay . It is believed that ISIS takes orders from dealers in neighbouring countries, with small items such as coins easy to smuggle across borders due to the number of people being displaced. Using smuggling routes and links to criminal gangs in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, the ancient treasures can be packed in with cargoes of oil, drugs and weapons as they move across borders. eBay insist that they pay attention to the authorities. A spokesman for the company told The Times: 'We remove items from sale based on their advice, support law enforcement investigations and are always prepared to investigate listings causing concern.' Axel Plathe, director of Unesco's Iraq office, told The Times: 'We are seeing a more systematic approach to looting under ISIS, linked to generating revenue. Also selling: Another Greek coin advertised as 'Coin of Apamea 'Turreted Tyche & Nike' Era of Pompey Year 16 VF recently sold on eBay for the equivalent of £90 . This coin, which came from the ancient city of Apamea in western Syria, sold for $135 on eBay - the equivalent of around £91 . 'Excavations at the sites have increased and we believe trafficking is on the rise but without access to the sites we still don't know the true scale.' It is thought that increased pressure from the Iraqi army is encouraging jihadis to loot anything of value in the territory while they can. They have also desecrated countless Assyrian treasures treasures at Mosul, Nimrud and Dur-Sharrukin. In Nimrud, northern Iraq, militants even smashed up 3,000 year-old winged statues that are placed at the gates of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal. Erasing history: Two weeks ago ISIS extremists targeted a museum in Mosul by using power drills and sledge hammers to destroy artefacts, sparking global outrage . Desecration: An ISIS fanatic uses a power tool to destroy a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity at a museum in Mosul two weeks ago . The attack came just days after extremists targeted a museum in Mosul by using power drills and sledgehammers to destroy artefacts, sparking global outrage. A statement last week from Iraq's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities didn't elaborate on the extent of the damage. However, they added that ISIS 'continues to defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity.' The ancient city of Nimrud was the second capital of Assyria, an ancient kingdom that began in 900BC, partially in present day Iraq, and became a great regional power. The city, which was destroyed in 612 BC, is located on the Tigris River, just south of Mosul, which was captured by ISIS last June. +A 28-year-old Italian tourist was killed when he was crushed by a large piece of ice that broke from a glacier, Alaska state troopers say. Troopers say Alexander Hellweger died on Sunday shortly after 5pm at the head of Lake George Glacier, north of Anchorage. Hellweger, from Bruneck, Italy, was on a week-long vacation in Alaska with seven friends from Italy and Belgium. Alexander Hellweger, pictured above two days ago, from Bruneck, Italy, was on a trip with friends when a large piece of ice from a glacier fell and crushed him . The body of the 28-year-old, pictured above last year, was not immediately retrieved because of diminishing light and the danger of more ice breaking . Hellweger (third from the right), pictured last week, was on a week-long vacation in Alaska with seven friends from Belgium and Italy . Guides had transported seven members of the party by helicopter to the backcountry to do heliskiing, or off-trail skiing and snowboarding accessed by helicopter as opposed to ski lift. The party was later transported to the glacier site. While the group was viewing the glacier up close, a piece of ice calved off the glacier and crushed Hellweger, according to Alaska Dispatch News. The eight friends were visiting the head of Lake George Glacier, north of Anchorage, when Hellweger was crushed . A friend of Hellweger's, Johan Maesen, wrote on Facebook that the group went to Alaska as eight 'enthusiastic young people for an unforgettable adventure', but they will only return as a group of seven . Johan Maesen, a friend of Hellweger's from Belgium who was on the trip, expressed his sadness on Facebook on Monday. 'We came up with 8 enthusiastic young people for an unforgettable adventure, we return not back with 7 people,' he wrote. Hellweger's body was not retrieved because of diminishing light and the danger of more ice breaking off. Troopers say they have made arrangements to recover the body later. Hellweger's family has been notified and arrangements. +Having spent 15 years in the NFL watching linebackers run towards him in an attempt to leave him on the ground, there can't be much that scares New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. But it seems the four-time Super Bowl winner has met his match. The 37-year-old shared a video on Facebook of himself diving off a cliff into a pool at the bottom of a waterfall while on a family holiday, accompanied by his wife Gisele Bundchen. Brady wrote a message to accompany the video saying: 'Never doing that again! #AirBrady'. Tom Brady took on a daring cliff dive while on a holiday during the NFL off-season . The New England Patriots quarterback launches himself off the edge of a cliff . Brady posted the video on Facebook with the message 'never doing that again' The 37-year-old rises from to the surface of the water after his courageous dive . The Patriots quarterback is taking a well-earned break after guiding New England to a thrilling Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Glendale, Arizona last month. The 28-24 victory over Seattle at the University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1 clinched an elusive fourth Super Bowl ring for Brady, a decade after he won his third. Brady and his family have recently been in Costa Rica on a family holiday. Brady and his wife Gisele Bundchen watch a World Cup game in Brazil in the summer of 2014 . Brady guided New England to a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX on February 1 . The win in Glendale, Arizona was Brady's fourth Super Bowl title in a glittering NFL career . +Mixed Martial Arts is the biggest growing sport in the world and every Thursday, Bleacher Report will bring you a buzzing story. Their five-star Mobile App “Team Stream” helps you follow the MMA 24-7: DOWNLOAD NOW . UFC title shots don't come around all too often. They are rarely earned without sacrifice and can serve as a fighter's career-defining accomplishment. But as difficult as it is to cement a shot at promotional gold, it's even tougher to take advantage of the opportunity. And for those challengers who taste defeat only to feel their time in the spotlight slip away, forging a divisional comeback is the only way to patch the wound. Here are three recently vanquished title threats who may be close to earning another shot at gold. Joseph Benavidez . Team Alpha Male standout Joseph Benavidez resides in a division dictated by arguably the most dominant champion around in Demetrious Johnson. But considering Benavidez is the flyweight version of Urijah Faber, meaning he doesn't lose outside of a title fight, the two men should cross paths once more. Joseph Benavidez (right) kicks Dustin Ortiz in their flyweight bout during the UFC event in November . Ortiz (right) punches Benavidez in their flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event . Expected to take on fellow Mighty Mouse leftover John Moraga at UFC 187, the 30-year-old has a chance to extend his current win streak to three. And in a weight class as shallow as a glass of water, Benavidez could once again find himself fighting for a title by the end of 2015 (if not early next year). He's a premier draw at 125 pounds, and one of only a few contenders who can actually instil some doubt about the champ's unheralded reign. Benson Henderson . Despite a recent jump up to welterweight and an impressive finish over rising contender Brandon Thatch, former lightweight champ Benson Henderson is still in the mix at 155 pounds. Add in the fact that Anthony Pettis just handed his title over to Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 185, and Henderson should have an easier track back to contention considering Showtime had beaten him twice. Benson Henderson (left) lands a kick to the body of Brandon Thatch in their welterweight fight . Henderson attempts a submission against Thatch in their welterweight fight last month . While RDA also defeated Smooth via knockout less than one year ago, it was a close contest before the Brazilian landed on unforeseen uppercut that shortly put Henderson on another planet. Needless to say, the 31-year-old is still in the pinnacle of his career and remains one of the most dangerous entities in the deepest division in MMA. He'll be able to log two more Octagon appearances by the end of the year and will have enough momentum to earn a shot should he win both outings. Ricardo Lamas . With an epic showdown between featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo and Irish sensation Conor McGregor looming in the distance, guys like Ricardo Lamas are being drastically overlooked. While Aldo swiftly defended his title opposite The Bully at UFC 169, Lamas did enough in the championships rounds to suggest an upset could happen should he dominate early. Ricardo Lamas punches Dennis Bermudez in their featherweight bout in Mexico City last November . Lamas knocks Bermudez to the mat with a kick in their featherweight fight . But in order to get back into the mix in a division ruled by two international dynamos, the 32-year-old Chicagoan must debunk the evolving arsenal of former title contender Chad "Money" Mendes when the two collide at UFC Fight Night 63. Mendes is another name that could easily make this list, but he is at least two impressive victories away from a trilogy fight with the champion. Of course, if McGregor captures the title from Aldo in July at UFC 189, then all slates will be wiped clean. +As well as fancying himself as a boxer, Wayne Rooney believes he is the finest singer at Manchester United. Rooney was subjected to an unwanted set of headlines on Sunday after apparently being knocked out by Phil Bardsley during a sparring session in the kitchen of his Cheshire mansion. The England and United captain did not seem unsettled by the episode, scoring a fine goal in a 3-0 rout of Tottenham and then engaging in some celebratory shadow boxing. Rooney took part in a 'Chevrolet FC hosts Man Utd in Google+ Hangout' on Monday, which was full of light-hearted exchanges and made no mention of his boxing. When Rooney, who was sitting between Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera and apparently at Old Trafford, was asked who the best singer is at the club, he replied: 'Probably me. 'Over Christmas a few of the players got up and did a few songs. Quite good some of them. Michael's not bad.' Herrera said of Carrick: 'He's humble, but he's the best.' Wayne Rooney mocked recent headlines with a 'knockout' celebration at Old Trafford on Sunday . Paul Gascoigne, scoring at Euro 96, was Rooney's favourite English footballer and hero growing up . The host then asked Rooney what songs he liked to sing. 'Opera,' Rooney said, before adding: 'Only joking. I like to sing a bit of indie rock.' There was a slight sneer when it was suggested, tongue in cheek, that Rooney would be asked to sing later in the Hangout, something which did not materialise. Rooney was asked who his favourite English footballer and hero was growing up. His answer was Paul Gascoigne, a player who also attracted tabloid attention for his off-field antics as much as his on-field displays. Rooney added: 'I think he's probably still to this day the greatest English player. For excitement and goals, he was my favourite player.' Michael Carrick (second left) heads Manchester United 2-0 up against Tottenham on Sunday . Carrick is congratulated on his goal by his United team-mates during the 3-0 win at Old Trafford . Asked what it was specifically about Gascoigne that Rooney liked, he said: 'His ability to turn games round on their head and produce magical moments. He was a perfect entertainer on the pitch.' A number of other questions were Rooney related. Told only one player had scored more penalties for United than Rooney, the skipper conferred with Carrick and Herrera before saying: 'We think it's Dennis Irwin.' Asked how confident they were in their answer on a scale of one to 10? Rooney replied '11'. Wayne Rooney applauds the Old Trafford crowd after his side consolidated their place in the league top four . But they were wrong. The correct answer was Ruud van Nistelrooy with 28 penalties. Asked how many he had scored, Rooney said: 'I've no idea.' The next Rooney related question was about the percentage of his 229 United goals scored at Old Trafford. 'We think 58 (per cent),' Rooney said. The correct answer was 54 per cent. Rapid fire questions followed for Dwight Yorke, co-hosting the event in London in front of a live audience. Ander Herrera (left) has impressed in midfield for United since signing from Athletic Bilbao in the summer . Rooney asked: 'What was the score on your Manchester United debut?' Yorke was correct in answering a 0-0 draw at West Ham. Rooney's next question was, 'Can you spell Januzaj backwards?' Yorke was right, with Rooney saying, 'Yes, well done.' Asked if it surprised him that Yorke was correct, Rooney said: 'Knowing Dwight the way I do, it actually did surprise me.' +Romania fans complained the country had been made to look stupid after two men armed with car sponges battled hopelessly to soak up water from a rain-drenched pitch ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifier against the Faroe Islands. Footage of the groundsmen desperately sponging the surface and squeezing minimal amounts of water into buckets ahead of Sunday's match caused a stir with fans taking to social media to label organisers a laughing stock. The game, which Romania won 1-0, took place but only after an interior ministry helicopter was drafted in to hover over the centre of the pitch in an effort to disperse surface water at the Ilie Oana stadium in Ploiesti. Sport.ro . Two men attempt to clear the rain-drenched pitch with sponges ahead of Romania's Euro 2016 qualifier . Romania fans complained the country had been made to look stupid by the attempts to drain the pitch . Footage showed the men sponging the surface before squeezing tiny amounts of water into a bucket . A helicopter was drafted in in an attempt to disperse surface water at the Ilie Oana stadium in Ploiesti . While Group F leaders Romania were underwhelming against the minnows from the Faroe Islands, the ire of fans was directed towards organisers. 'It's unbelievable,' Romania fan Mihai said. 'They made us look like idiots.' It was only the second competitive game that Romania have played in the town of Ploiesti, located 56km north of the capital Bucharest and they may not be in a hurry to return after coach Anghel Iordanescu joined in the chorus of criticism about the condition of the pitch. Romania top the Group F table with 13 points from five matches, one point ahead of Northern Ireland. Claudiu Keseru celebrates after scoring the only goal of the game as Romania beat the Faroe Islands . +The men expected to carry the can for England’s World Cup humiliation will attempt to ride the storm swirling around their embarrassing exit and plough on into an Ashes summer. Paul Downton, the managing director who has endured a torrid first 14 months in office, gave his full backing to beleaguered coach Peter Moores on Tuesday while making it clear he expects the full support of the ECB. Downton has had to make some momentous decisions since replacing Hugh Morris in the wake of England’s 5-0 Ashes debacle and it was his call to bring back Moores for a second spell as coach that is most under the spotlight now. Peter Moores' place as England coach is safe in the short-term, says ECB managing director Paul Downton . England crashed out of the World Cup at the first hurdle on Monday after defeat by Bangladesh . Downton says no decisions on the future of players or staff, including Moores, would be made immediately but a review will take place . Moores is fighting for his credibility at international level after England failed to live up to any expectations at the World Cup by crashing to a first-round exit sealed by defeat against Bangladesh. Yet Downton, who called Moores the ‘outstanding coach of his generation’ when preferring him to Ashley Giles, was adamant that nothing had changed when he addressed England’s worst World Cup of all from London on Tuesday. ‘Peter is an outstanding coach and I don’t think 10 months is a fair amount of time for him to prove that, particularly when we have spent the last six of those playing one-day cricket and trying to catch up,’ said Downton. ‘Clearly as head coach he feels responsible for what has happened but we all feel responsible frankly, because we feel we’ve let the country down and nobody wants to do that. ‘Everybody’s still raw but no decisions are going to be made in the short-term. In less than a month we will be playing in the West Indies so I don’t expect anything to change before then. ‘I’m not saying everybody’s job is safe and I’m not saying everybody’s going to get sacked. It feels as though, from your perspective, there needs to be a scapegoat or a target. ‘We’re in a transitional period and it will take time. It’s too early to talk of definites in terms of “he’s going or staying”.’ Bangladesh players celebrates after their victory over England that eliminated Morgan's side from the Cup . England batsman Moeen lays on the ground after being run out by Bangladesh wicketkeeper Rahim . The question now is whether English cricket’s two new bosses agree with Downton because if they do not, incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves and new chief executive Tom Harrison will have a big call to make. England are due to name their Test party to tour the Caribbean next Tuesday and if they want to get rid of Moores, they have to move quickly. ‘I’ve worked with Colin Graves over the last year and he’s been extremely supportive,’ said Downton, whose position would be untenable if his superiors moved to replace Moores. ‘We spoke yesterday and had a meeting through most of the game. ‘Tom has been with us two months and we’ve spent a lot of time together. They want English cricket to improve as I do but let’s not fudge around it. We’re trying desperately hard to drive the team forward. There are no quick fixes.’ So does Downton expect himself and Moores to still be in place come the first Ashes Test in July, before which England have to play a revitalised New Zealand in Test and one-day series after returning home from the Caribbean? It’s imperative England begin again in one-day cricket with a young, vibrant side in tune with the modern 50-over game and give them as much experience as possible before the next World Cup in 2019. WHO SHOULD GO? So the group of senior players who have failed to produce the goods at this World Cup must all go now — that means Ian Bell, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad should all concentrate on Test cricket. Captain Eoin Morgan needs to regain his form if he is to prove that he may yet have a future with England in limited-overs cricket. It should now also be the end of the road for Ravi Bopara and James Tredwell. WHO SHOULD STAY? England need to build a new one-day team around the core of Joe Root, who should be the new captain, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali. They can be supplemented by Chris Woakes, James Taylor and Chris Jordan while Gary Ballance may yet grow into the modern one-day batsman familiar to Yorkshire, and Steven Finn remains an enigma who should not be discarded in any form just yet. WHO SHOULD COME IN? England need players who can carry them forward now. Step forward Alex Hales, who has to be given a proper run in 50-over cricket, Surrey’s Jason Roy, Kent’s exciting batsman-keeper Sam Billings, Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid to spin the ball away from the right-handers, Hampshire’s classy batsman James Vince and Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes. It is crucial for England to find a left-arm quick bowler — and Essex’s Reece Topley may be the best bet for our 2019 squad. Moores endures the post-match press conference after his side fell 15 runs short of their target . Downton says incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves, who did not appoint him, has been supportive . ‘That’s the plan. Absolutely,’ said Downton.’ The problem for England is the dearth of quality alternatives to Moores, particularly as some of the leading coaches in the world in Gary Kirsten, Stephen Fleming and the man the ECB would most like — Jason Gillespie — do not want the year-round slog of international cricket. Downton made some valid points on Tuesday about the volume of cricket and the need for England to create as different a one-day team from the Test side as possible. But he knows he can only call England a team in transition for so long. This summer’s Ashes will determine the validity of much of what Downton has done over the last 14 months and there was yet another reminder yesterday of the first of his seismic decisions, sacking Kevin Pietersen. Bowler Ahmed (right) celebrates with team-mate Sarkar Soumya after dismissing England batsman Taylor . Did Graves give Pietersen a glimmer of hope when he told the BBC last week that the exiled star might be considered again if he played county cricket? ‘The position hasn’t changed,’ said Downton. ‘What Colin said was right. To be picked by England you have to be scoring an awful lot of runs in county cricket and you have to be perceived by the selectors to be a positive influence.’ Downton was lost for words when asked if he would meet Pietersen to discuss his situation. ‘He hasn’t asked for a meeting,’ said Downton. Then, after a pause: ‘I don’t know what to say to that. It’s not at the forefront of the selectors’ minds — nothing has changed with regards to Kevin in the last year.’ Yet until England start winning regularly the Pietersen question will go on being asked of Downton, not to mention those questions over the ability of Moores to finally prove he belongs with England. l England have injury concerns over Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali ahead of their dead-rubber final World Cup match against Afghanistan on Friday. THE HISTORY: Afghanistan played their first ODI in 2009 but their record is not as bad as you might expect. They have won 25 of their 50 ODIs, but most of those came against the likes of Scotland, Holland and Canada. THE FORM: Not good. But then neither is England’s. Afghanistan have lost four of their five World Cup matches. They won the other by one wicket with three balls to go against Scotland. THE PLAYERS: Samiullah Shenwari could cause some damage. He has scored 247 runs this tournament at an average of 49.40. That’s more runs and a better average than any England batsman has managed. With the ball, left-arm fast bowler Shapoor Zadran (right) has been the pick of the bunch, taking 10 wickets at an average of 24. HEAD TO HEAD: England have never played Afghanistan in a one-day game, but they did meet at the ICC World Twenty20 in 2012 in Colombo. An England side featuring Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler hit 196 before skittling Afghanistan for 80. +BBC Sport's determination to retain their coverage of the Six Nations has been significantly helped by their record-breaking viewing figures for the tournament and the positive feedback from the organisers. A peak of 9.63million watched England beat France and go agonisingly close to clinching the title after 4.1m had tuned into the Italy-Wales game followed by a 5.1m audience for Ireland-Scotland as the audience built hugely during one of rugby’s greatest days. The BBC website also had its best ever figures, with 8.22m searching for the Six Nations last Saturday. 9.63million watched as England beat France at Twickenham but fall agonisingly short of Six Nations glory . England captain Chris Robshaw (right) wanders off the Twickenham pitch after his country's win over France . England fell six points short of winning the Six Nations after beating France 55-35 on Saturday . The Beeb value the Six Nations along with Match of the Day and Wimbledon as their three most precious annual sporting properties and the viewing success of this year’s tournament was even more important, with the Six Nations preparing to talk to subscription channels for the next rights deal from 2018. But the Six Nations are known to be delighted with the coverage of their competition by the Beeb across all regions and outlets. And there is the opportunity for more of the same over the next two years. The 2016 fixture list sees the last game in Paris between France and England starting at 8pm, while the 2017 climax will be Ireland v England in Dublin at 5pm. +Stuart Lancaster might be inclined to spend the last two weeks of May hiding behind his sofa, hoping against hope that his World Cup plans are not wrecked by the business end of the club season. England’s head coach will name a preliminary training squad of around 45 players in the middle of that month, before the semi-finals of the Aviva Premiership. Clubs such as Northampton, Saracens and Bath — who provide large contingents to the national squad — are bound to be involved in those blood-and-thunder matches and there is a significant risk of untimely injuries as the league campaign reaches its anticipated explosive climax. Stuart Lancaster will name his 45-man preliminary World Cup squad before the Premiership semi-finals . Lancaster must then reduce his squad to 31 players by for the World Cup on August 31 . England will have a final World Cup warm up match against Ireland at Twickenham . A day after the Premiership final at Twickenham on May 30, an England XV made up of emerging rookies will face the Barbarians at HQ. The senior players will reconvene to begin their summer training camp in Surrey on June 22, and the two weeks from July 13 will be spent at altitude in Denver — Colorado’s ‘Mile-High City’. A week off upon their return from the States will be followed by a return to camp as England prepare for one experimental encounter with France at home, followed by a return fixture in Paris which they intend to treat as a more full-on Test. Lancaster must announce his final World Cup squad of 31 on August 31, before a final warm-up match, against Ireland at Twickenham. Explaining the schedule of events as the tournament countdown intensifies, Lancaster said: ‘The training camp will start on June 22 and the wider squad will be about 45. It will be announced mid-May, before the Barbarians game, which is the same weekend as the Premiership final. ‘The side to play the Barbarians will probably be made up of younger players. No-one in the squad will play in that, though one or two who have had injuries might come back into the equation. ‘From a selection point of view, we will use the first warm-up match to look at wider options. As you narrow down to the second game, the World Cup squad and the Ireland game, they will be proper games then.’ However, England will not wait for their encounters with France and Ireland to assess their players’ credentials in match conditions. The plan is to host in-house matches of their own. Lancaster explained: ‘We’ll spend a lot of time with proper 15-on-15 games internally anyway. ‘We’ll make sure the players are put under that sort of Test-match pressure. England will also play France twice in the build up to the 2015 World Cup . Courtney Lawes was cited for his challenge on Jules Bisson but no further action will be taken . Lancaster's side beat France 55-35 in the Six Nations on Saturday but did not secure the title . ‘We have two high-quality teams now and you can replicate the intensity on training alone. They will vary in intensity as we go through June and July. ‘When we go to Denver, we were thinking of bringing in opposition, but actually we’re probably better off having a bash against each other.’ One man who certainly ‘had a bash’ against France on Saturday was Courtney Lawes. The Northampton lock was reportedly cited by the visitors after his monster hit on France fly-half Jules Plisson, but the match commissioner has seen no need to take the matter any further. +A baby girl born in India with a 'trunk-like' protrusion between her eyes is being worshipped by locals who believe she is the reincarnation of the Hindu god Ganesha. The girl, who has yet to be named, was born Thursday in a village in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in the country's north, ANI reported. The news that there is a 'divine' child in the village has spread, bringing many visitors who have nicknamed her 'Lord Ganpatni' meaning 'Ganesha's wife'. Scroll down for video . A baby girl born in India with a 'trunk-like' protrusion between her eyes is being worshipped by locals . The baby girl, who has yet to be named, was born Thursday in a village in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh . 'My sister-in-law gave birth to a girl at 7:00 a.m. and her face looks exactly like Lord Ganesha. Everybody is saying she is an incarnation of the God,' the baby's aunt Rajani told ANI. 'This is why whoever hears about her is coming here to get a glimpse of the baby and are making whatever offerings possible.' The girl comes from a poor family with her father, a vegetable vendor who earns 250 rupee ($5.17) per day, hoping his daughter's birth will bring the family better luck, the Times of India reported. She has three healthy older siblings and lives in a small house in the northern Indian village. Doctors said the girl's protrusion was most likely due to a gene mutation, caused by malnutrition and pollution. Locals have nicknamed her 'Lord Ganpatni' meaning 'Ganesha's wife' after the elephant-headed god . The news that there is a 'divine' child in the village has spread, bringing many visitors . The girl comes from a poor family with her father hoping his daughter's birth will bring the family better luck . +A same-sex couple in Ohio were left flabbergasted when a local videographer refused to film their wedding citing religious reasons. Jenn Moffitt and her partner Jerra Kincely had sent an email to video production business Next Door Stories in Bexley, about filming their upcoming wedding. 'Unfortunately at this time I do not offer services for same-sex weddings,' replied owner Courtney Schmackers. Jenn Moffitt and Jerra Kincely contacts Next Door Stories in Bexley, Ohio, last month but owner Courtney Schackers replied that she doesn't do same-sex weddings for religious reasons . Courtney Schmackers has refused to comment publicly on the issue but posted her version of events on Facebook and said: 'I made a business decision based on my spiritual beliefs and the biblical definition of a marriage because I thought I had a right to that' 'I couldn't believe it,' Moffitt told CNN. 'It is a small business, and I thought this was a tight knit community. We wanted to support local commerce and to get that kind of response was astounding.' Schmackers has refused to comment publicly on the issue but posted her version of events on Facebook. 'I made a business decision based on my spiritual beliefs and the biblical definition of a marriage because I thought I had a right to that. Unfortunately I gave the wrong answer to the wrong person, who decided to make a private issue into a public platform,' she wrote. Angered by their treatment, the couple filed a complaint against the business with the Bexley Area Chamber of Commerce. In a statement, Bexley Mayor Ben Kessler said: 'Understandably, the community is concerned about a recent internet post regarding a query to a Bexley based business, in which the private business in question has reportedly denied a service based on sexual orientation. 'The City is concerned as well. We are proud of our community's welcoming environment and encourage mutual respect and inclusivity. Jerra Kincely shared both the reply from Schmackers and the videographer's explanation for refusing to film the couple's upcoming wedding . 'Bexley, Ohio is a community that embraces diversity and welcomes businesses, families and individuals of ALL sexual orientation, race, religion, age, nationality, ethnicity, disabilities, socio-economic levels, etc. As an employer and a provider of services to our residents, we extend that same openness and inclusivity.' The city is currently one of the municipalities in Ohio that doesn't prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Moffitt hopes the attention from officials will lead to legislation that protects Ohio's LGBT community. 'The outpouring from strangers has been absolutely amazing,' she said. Ohio is one of 13 states that currently does not allow same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether the state's same-sex marriage ban is constitutional come spring. +A man has been charged with animal abuse after taking his dog to the veterinarian. Jermell Blackman of Westbury, New York, took his dog in after he was concerned about how much weight the animal had lost and thinking it had been poisoned, at which point it was discovered the severely underweight dog had been eating wood and plastic. What's more, the dog was filthy, covered in sores and so cold that its temperature did not register on a thermometer. Jermell Blackman (above) was charged with misdemeanor animal abuse on Monday after one of his dogs, Scotia, was found underweight, covered in sores, and so hungry it had begun eating wood and plastic . Blackman also bred and sold dogs to friends, frequently posting photos of the animals alongside his email address and phone number (above) Blackman (left with one of his dogs) bred Scotia with another dog last year, and was selling one of the resulting pups (right) in December for $2,000 plus shipping . Newsday reports that the 2-year-old dog Scotia, a pit bull-terrier mix, also had a heart rate that was one-half to one-third to what a normal dog's heart rate should be. After almost an hour trying to save the dog, it was euthanized. Blackman, 34, was arraigned Monday on misdemeanor animal abuse and released soon after. According to his Facebook page, Blackman also bred and sold dogs to friends, frequently posting photos of the animals alongside his email address and phone number. He even had his own Facebook and Instagram accounts for his business, called Trucklife Bullies. Blackman bred Scotia with another dog last year, and was selling one of the resulting pups in December for $2,000 plus shipping. +When a legendary figure like Pat Jennings says none of the other 1,097 matches in his career was comparable with the 1979 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United, you know it was something special. Forever known as Wembley's 'five-minute final', Arsenal threw away and then regained the trophy in an incredible late sequence that saw them squander a 2-0 lead going into the 86th minute before winning 3-2 in the final moments with a goal that put Alan Sunderland's name in FA Cup folklore. It created a superstar in Arsenal's man-of-the-match Liam Brady and broke the career of Manchester United manager Dave Sexton. Pat Jennings (left) and Pat Rice pose with the FA Cup after the dramatic Wembley final of 1979 . Jennings reacts after conceding a goal as Manchester United fought back to level the scores at 2-2 . But Alan Sunderland scored the winning goal for Arsenal to write his name into cup folklore . Victorious captain Pat Rice was so drained and overcome with emotion as he climbed the famous 39 steps to finally lift the trophy, he delivered an unwitting snub to the famous royal guest of honour. Rice recalls: 'Prince Charles was there to present the trophy. He said, 'Congratulations' as we shook hands but as soon as I saw the cup, I turned around to lift it up to the Arsenal fans. 'I didn't realise he was still waiting to give me my medal. It was only when I turned back, I saw him with it in his hand. It must have looked insulting but it wasn't meant like that. Eager is the polite way of putting it. Just a couple of minutes before I'd been out on the pitch thinking 'f***, we've blown it'.' Sammy McIlroy, who had scored United's dramatic equaliser on a baking hot May afternoon, says the impact of the game has not diminished with time. 'It's 36 years on and people still ask me about it every week,' he adds ruefully. 'They always want to know about that final rather than the one we won against Liverpool two years earlier.' United and Arsenal meet again in the FA Cup on Monday in a quarter-final at Old Trafford but it is impossible that Wayne Rooney and Alexis Sanchez will grip the nation like their predecessors did. 'There has not been a final before or since with the twists and turns of that game,' says Brady, who helped set up the winning goal when Arsenal were on their knees reeling from McIlroy's equaliser. 'I played two short of 1,100 games and I have never known four minutes like that,' adds Jennings, a gentle giant of a goalkeeper who otherwise stayed unflappable in a 23-year career with Watford, Spurs, Arsenal and Northern Ireland. Sammy McIlroy (left) scored United's equaliser against Arsenal in the dramatic 79 cup final . Alexis Sanchez (left) of Arsenal and Wayne Rooney (right) of Manchester United will lock horns on Monday . The 1979 showpiece took place eight days after Margaret Thatcher had been elected Great Britain's first female Prime Minister and given the prestige of the FA Cup final in those days, the two events seemed equally important at the time. A full house of 100,000 and a TV audience of 15 million was guaranteed. United travelled to their team hotel a full three days before the match to fulfil the insatiable demands of the press, photographers and television cameras, with BBC and ITV planning their entire Saturday schedules around the final. Then, as now, Arsenal and United were big clubs in transition. Arsenal had not won a trophy for eight years, while United were rebuilding after the glory days of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton. They had been relegated to the Second Division five years earlier. Both sets of supporters flocked down Wembley Way convinced good times were about to return for their club. For 85 minutes, the match appeared routine, with Brian Talbot scoring for Arsenal after 12 minutes and Frank Stapleton adding to it with a 43rd-minute header. The only talking point was over who should be credited with the opening goal — Talbot or Sunderland, who appeared to connect at the same time. 'I know it was mine. I've got a picture on my trophy cabinet showing me kicking the ball and Alan kicking my boot,' says Talbot. With Arsenal leading 2-0 going into the final minutes, complacency crept in. 'It was unprofessional but I met eyes with Liam as if to say, 'Yes, we've won it',' says Graham Rix. 'We were coasting, comfortable,' adds Talbot. Even the experienced Jennings says: 'I was imagining myself going up the steps.' Brian Talbot (right) opened the scoring for Arsenal after only 12 minutes in the cup final against United . Gordon McQueen (fifth left) pulled a goal back in the 86th minute to give United hope . Then, with just five minutes left, Arsenal boss Terry Neill decided to send on substitute Steve Walford for David Price as a thank-you for his performances in earlier rounds. It backfired disastrously. Out of nowhere, in the 86th minute, Gordon McQueen drove in a loose ball from a set piece to make it 2-1. Just 106 second later, McIlroy jinked past David O'Leary and Walford before toepoking past an onrushing Jennings to equalise. Pandemonium ensued in the stadium as Arsenal fell apart. 'I knew the cameras were on me so I put on my best acting, trying to look concerned but not terribly worried,' says Neill. 'In reality, my insides were going up and down.' Reflecting now, McIlroy says: 'The Arsenal boys were gone, on their knees. If we'd taken it into extra-time, we would have won. 'I went crazy, I could have run out of Wembley and back in again after that goal. After the game, Bob Bishop [the scout from Northern Ireland who discovered both McIlroy and Best] told me we'd celebrated too long, we should have gone back to the halfway line and concentrated. 'He was probably right but it was not what we wanted to hear after throwing it away.' At 2-2, United were now red-hot favourites but what happened from the restart is part of FA Cup legend. Brady surged into the United half past Mickey Thomas, then past Lou Macari, and slipped a ball to Rix on the left. Frank Stapleton in possession for Arsenal in the cup final against United at Wembley in 1979 . Liam Brady (left), Frank Stapleton (centre) and David O'Leary (right) were in Arsenal's winning squad . Rix, a 21-year-old from a south Yorkshire pit village, delivered a cross that arced away from United goalkeeper Gary Bailey, leaving Sunderland the chance to score from close-range. The picture of the bouffant-haired forward running away in total ecstasy chased by the most-relieved substitute in history, Walford, remains an iconic image. 'When I picked up the ball, I was initially just trying to get the ball away from our goal,' says Brady. 'I went past one challenge, two challenges and I was in the final third and I saw Graham outside me.' Rix takes up the story. 'I didn't know Sunderland was at the far post, my only thought was to take the cross away from the goalkeeper. It was something I'd trained on with [coach] Don Howe all those wet and windy Wednesday nights: keep it out of the keeper's grasp.' Sunderland says: 'I went into auto-pilot and when the ball went it, the pent-up emotion came out.' Just two minutes, 59 seconds had elapsed between the three goals and history had been made. More than 250,000 Arsenal fans greeted the team's heroes in Islington the following day. The Arsenal players collected bonuses nearly three times their £1,000-a-week wages but for some the long-term rewards turned out to be far greater. Brady's performances against Juventus in the following season's European Cup-Winners' Cup persuaded the Italian giants to sign him and he blazed a trail for many other First Division stars like Ray Wilkins and Paul Gascoigne to go to Serie A. For United, being a runner-up was not good enough and Sexton was sacked within two years. 'He was unlucky, if we'd won the final, he would have been given more time,' says Thomas, a comment that will be of interest to Louis van Gaal. More than 250,000 supporters came out to greet Arsenal the day after their FA Cup triumph . Arsenal parade the trophy around Wembley after securing a dramatic victory over United . Arsenal's Class of '79 still meet up for reunions at the Emirates and Rice will be at Old Trafford tomorrow with the club's board of directors. 'I still remember the elation,' says the former Arsenal captain. 'When Sundy scored, I thought, 'Right, we're not going to bloody lose this again'.' If Monday's tie produces just a quarter of the late drama of '79, it will be a thriller. +Jonny Evans has grudgingly accepted the six-match ban imposed on him by the FA for spitting at Papiss Cisse. There is no right of appeal for the Manchester United defender and he begins his ban immediately by missing Monday's FA Cup quarter-final with Arsenal. Though he maintains that he did not spit at the Newcastle United striker, the FA found Evans guilty and confirmed in a statement: ‘Mr Evans denied the charge but it was found proven.’ Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the Newcastle United striker, who then retaliates . Evans and Papiss Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Manchester United defender Evans has received a six-match ban from the FA after the ugly incident . Cisse already served a three-match ban for violent conduct this season after elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman in December. As a result, the Newcastle striker gets an additional one-match suspension after admitting his guilt, while Evans gets six. The incident, during United’s 1-0 win at St James’ Park on Wednesday, was not seen by referee Anthony Taylor or his assistants, but was caught on TV. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the footage on Thursday and agreed the players should have been sent off, prompting the FA to bring a charge. An independent regulatory commission heard the charge and decided both players should be banned. Cisse, 29, pleaded guilty and issued an apology for his part in the incident. He is suspended for an extra game as he was banned in December for elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman. By contrast, Evans, 27, had denied the charge on Thursday, saying: ‘I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse.’ Cisse has been banned for seven games after accepting the charge from the FA on Thursday . Tempers threaten to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gather on the pitch . Arsenal (h), Monday (FA Cup quarter-final) Tottenham (h), March 15 (Premier League) Liverpool (a), March 22 (Premier League) Aston Villa (h), April 4 (Premier League) Man City (h) April 12 (Premier League) Chelsea (a) April 18 (Premier League) The FA also looked at an incident where Evans was alleged to have spat in the direction of Emmanuel Riviere during the game but that was dismissed. Evans will potentially miss any FA Cup semi-final should United progress plus their Premier League games against Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City. If United were to lose on Monday, Evans would then miss the trip to Chelsea and would not return until United’s Premier League trip to Everton on April 26. United defender Evans has received a six-match ban from the FA - one less than Newcastle striker Cisse . There is no right of appeal so Evans will not be able to contest the decision by the three-man panel . 1. The Association may act against a Participant in respect of any 'Misconduct', which is . defined as being a breach of the following: . (a) the Laws of the Game; . (b) the Rules and Regulations of The Association and in particular Rules E3 to 28 below; . (c) the Statutes and Regulations of UEFA; . (d) the Statutes and Regulations of FIFA; . (e) the rules or regulations of an Affiliated Association or Competition; . (f) an order, requirement, direction or instruction of The Association. That would be a blow for United manager Louis van Gaal, who insisted ahead of the Cup clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford that the main priority for United this season must be to qualify for the Champions League. United haven’t won the FA Cup since 2004 and haven’t landed any silverware since Sir Alex Ferguson left, but the Dutchman says the competition must still be treated as a welcome bonus rather than the club’s primary objective. ‘I always want to get the goals we have set. And the goal we have set is the top four,’ said Van Gaal. ‘A title is fantastic. When you win the FA Cup you are not in the Champions League, which is important for the club, but you have won a title. So for the players it is fantastic, for the manager it is fantastic but our goal is to reach in our first year together a place in the Champions League.’ Cisse was banned for an extra game after being sent off for elbowing Seamus Coleman in December . +While Manchester United and Arsenal meet at Old Trafford on Monday, the match-winning hero of the 1979 FA Cup final between the clubs will be watching in solitude two thousand miles away in Malta. Former Gunners striker Alan Sunderland emigrated there 20 years ago after his life in England turned sour but he still follows Arsenal’s fortunes and returns two or three times a year as a guest of the club. ‘When Arsenal play a big game, I have to watch on my own, I’m nervous if I am around fans of the other teams,’ he said. Yet he showed no sign of nerves in 1979 when he slid in to win the Cup for Arsenal. Alan Sunderland celebrates scoring the winning goal for Arsenal in the 1979 FA Cup final at Wembley . Sunderland's 89th minute goal handed Arsenal a 3-2 victory over Manchester United at Wembley . Sunderland, 61, said: ‘The night before the final, an Arsenal fan at our hotel gave all the players a silver dollar as a lucky token — I’ve still got mine!’ But his luck ran out after he retired through injury at the age of 36 having played for Wolves, Arsenal and Ipswich. He went through a divorce, was given a driving ban that hindered coaching opportunities and drifted from jobs in insurance, pubs and letting. Then, despite having three children in England, he decided on a radical change. He had an apartment in Malta as a holiday home and 20 years ago decided to stay. He said: ‘It’s an easy life, the island is small and you’ve got the sea.’ Arsenal hero Sunderland pictured outside of the modern day Wembley stadium . Sunderland (centre) pictured slotting in the winning goal for Arsenal in the 1979 final against United . He admits to being a solitary person but he is still recognised by fans after that late winner. ‘People talk about my hair in all the pictures from the final,’ he added. ‘Everyone had perms then but mine was naturally frizzy. ‘It’s getting a bit rough and wiry again as it happens. I must get it cut!’ +He might have only just learned to write his own name, but Wayne Rooney's five-year-old son Kai had an opportunity to show off his skills with a pen when signing autographs at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Manchester United captain's son was mascot for the 3-0 Barclays Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur, and his dad's celebrity status seems to be rubbing off a little - at least in the eyes of Manchester's autograph hunters. Kai was spotted signing for fans by the Old Trafford dug-out before his dad netted United's third in the comprehensive victory that kept United in the Premier League's top four which will be remembered for Rooney's 'knockout' celebration. Kai Rooney was pictured signing autographs for one fan during Manchester United's win over Tottenham . Kai was mascot for Manchester United on Sunday and was even signing autographs for supporters . Rooney points out something in the crowd to his son ahead of scoring in United's 3-0 win over Tottenham . Wayne and Kai walk hand-in-hand out on to the Old Trafford turf ahead of the Barclays Premier League clash . Rooney wrapped up United's first-half scoring, with a celebration choreographed after Sunday newspaper reports pictured him appearing to be knocked out by his friend, Stoke City's Phil Bardsley, during an easy-going boxing session. Nabli Bentaleb presented the ball straight to Rooney 10 minutes before half-time and the United captain surged forwards to hold off two players before beating Hugo Lloris with his left instep. Rooney ran towards the corner flag, aiming three punches at thin air before falling backwards to the turf as if knocked out in a predictable but amusing celebration. It was a vital win for the home side who clung on to a two-point lead over Liverpool in fourth place, with England's two biggest clubs set to face each other at Anfield on Sunday in what is being billed as a potential Champions League qualification decider. Rooney's son, sporting a 'Kai 10' United shirt evidently drew the attention of supporters on Sunday afternoon . Rooney delivered a knockout blow to Spurs before beginning his celebration with punches to the air . Rooney falls backwards as if knocked out in a nod to the video released of him in Sunday's newspapers . Flat on his back, Rooney mocked reports of the boxing incident with Stoke City's Phil Bardsley . +A cat got his head stuck in an outdoor toilet and had to spend a night in subzero temperatures before being rescued by firefighters. The black moggy was discovered in a public toilet in Simferopol, on the Crimean peninsula, by a resident taking her rubbish out to a bin. Rescuers were called quickly - but they had to lift him by the tail and use a pole and hammer to remove him. Scroll down for video . A cat got his head stuck in an outdoor toilet and had to spend a night in subzero temperatures before being rescued in Simferopol, Crimea . Nina Kharitonova, 45, said: 'I was woken up at night by the sound of a cat meowing but I just assumed it was having a fight or something. 'The next morning I went out to empty some rubbish and I could still hear it so I followed the noise into the toilet and saw this poor animal with its bottom in the air and its head down the loo. 'He was shivering with cold. I am surprised he didn't freeze to death during the night as it had been so cold.' Rescuers used a long black pole and a small hammer to chip away a section of ceramic. Once they got a section free they delicately tugged the rest of the base from around the cat's neck. Once they got a section free they delicately tugged the rest of the base from around the black cat's neck . At one point it didn't look like the base of the toilet would ever come off - but luckily it did . One of the rescuers, Alexey Petrenko, said they had to be careful not to break the cat's neck. The 53-year-old said: 'We gently chipped away at the surrounding area and I held him up by his tail while my friend freed him. 'It took about two minutes and he was so cold he could barely stand so I took him home, gave him some milk and put the fire on to warm him up. 'After two hours he seemed happy enough and back to normal and I let him go.' The whole rescue took about two minutes. The cat was given milk and put near a fire to warm up for two hours afterwards . +Jamie Carragher would not select club captain Steven Gerrard for Liverpool's top-four showdown with Manchester United at Anfield next Sunday. While Gary Neville says Angel di Maria, available again after serving a one-match suspension, should return to Louis van Gaal's side in favour in Juan Mata despite United's convincing win against Tottenham at the weekend. Gerrard made his first appearance for Brendan Rodgers' side since early February when he came on as a second-half substitute against Swansea on Monday. Steven Gerrard returned to the Liverpool team as a second-half substitute against Swansea on Monday . Former defender Jamie Carragher says Gerrard should not start against Manchester United on Sunday . Liverpool remained unbeaten during Gerrard's recent injury lay-off Carragher says he will have to settle for a place on the bench . And Sportsmail columnist Carragher would not bring the captain back into the starting XI for the crucial clash at Anfield . 'No I wouldn't,' Carragher said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football show. 'The team is playing well. They're on a great run since Steven's been out the team. 'Unfortunately, and he'll know himself, when you go out the team and they continue on a great run it's hard to get back in. 'It's unfortunate for him but we've all been there towards the end of our careers. There are players playing too well that you can't leave them out.' Carragher says that Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen cannot be dropped from the team . Carragher would also play Raheem Sterling up front, like he did during the win against Manchester City . Sportsmail columnist Carragher would sacrifice Daniel Sturridge because he is not back to his best yet . Carragher also thinks Rodgers should sacrifice Daniel Sturridge and move Raheem Sterling up front, adopting a similar style to in the Manchester City game, which Liverpool won 2-1 earlier this month. 'The problem you have with Daniel Sturridge is, he is your best striker and you want him in your team, but he's not quite right yet. He's not quite 100 per cent. 'He's not actually producing and these games are becoming vital. But you need to play him to get back to his level. Gary Neville says he would select Angel di Maria after serving his one-match suspension . Neville would drop Juan Mata for Di Maria because the Argentine's pace could be key against Liverpool . Former United defender Neville would make Di Maria for Mata the only change to the side that beat Tottenham . 'But I go back to that Man City game and that may come into Brendan Rodgers' thinking. That was Liverpool at their best, that high intensity and that pressing. That's what you get from Sterling at the front that maybe you lack with Sturridge.' Meanwhile, former United defender Neville believes Angel di Maria's pace could prove vital against Liverpool and says he would bring the Argentine in to replace Juan Mata. 'I think nine of them are absolute certainties, rest-aside injuries that could happen in training,' Neville said. 'I think Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Fellaini, Carrick, Herrera, Young and Rooney will all play. 'The big decision is Di Maria or Mata. I would go with Di Maria for pace. I think they will need to play on the counter attack and also match the speed of Moreno and Coutinho (on the Liverpool left).' Simon Mignolet; Emre Can, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho; Lazar Markovic, Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen, Alberto Moerno; Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho; Raheem Sterling . David de Gea; Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind; Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini; Angel di Maria, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney . +The NFL sent a tough message to Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer for texting. However, the league didn't delete any of Cleveland's precious draft picks. Farmer has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2015 regular season for sending text messages to the sideline during games last season. The league announced its punishment on Monday, ending an investigation that hung over the franchise during yet another turbulent offseason and threatened to undermine the Browns' upcoming draft. Farmer, who acknowledged sending the messages weeks ago, will not be paid during his suspension. The league said his ban begins on midnight of the Sunday preceding the Browns' first regular-season game and will end immediately after the fourth regular-season game. Farmer cannot be involved in any club matters and is prohibited from being at the team's offices, practice facility or games, the league said. Ray Farmer sent text messages to the sideline last season during games and has been suspended . 'I respect the league's decision and understand that there are consequences for my actions,' Farmer said in a statement released by the Browns. 'Accountability is integral to what we are trying to build and as a leader I need to set the right example. I made a mistake and apologize to Jimmy Haslam, (coach) Mike Pettine, our entire organization and our fans for the ramifications. Learning is a big part of who I am and I will certainly be better from this situation.' The Browns were also fined $250,000, but that's pocket change considering what they could have lost. Cleveland has 10 picks in the upcoming draft, including two in the first round (Nos 12 and 19) and six of the first 115. The Browns, who went 7-9 last season, could be positioning themselves to make a run at one of the top quarterbacks, and losing any assets would not only have weakened their bargaining power, but prevented a team with several holes from adding young talent. The Browns haven't been to the playoffs since 2002 and have had just two winning seasons since 1999. Owner Jimmy Haslam, who has remained supportive of Farmer, has said the team is committed to finding a franchise quarterback. The team signed free agent Josh McCown, backup Thad Lewis and is waiting for Johnny Manziel to be released from rehab. Johnny Manziel's first NFL season was plagued with doubts about his lifestyle and ability to knuckle down . During its investigation, the league said it found no evidence that Haslam or other team executives knew about the texts. Troy Vincent, the NFL's vice president of football operations, said Farmer used a cellphone on 'multiple occasions' during games in 2014. League rules prohibit teams from using any electronic devices beginning 90 minutes before kickoff through the end of a game. The rule forbids communication to the sidelines, coach's booths, locker room or any other club-controlled areas. The only exceptions are the league-issued tablets coaches use for still photos. The texting inquiry was just one of several issues to hound the Browns this winter. Along with Manziel's trip to rehab, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan had a messy departure and troubled wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended by the league for at least one season for multiple drug violations. Throughout the inquiry, Haslam professed his loyalty to Farmer, who was promoted in February 2014 when team president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi were fired. 'We accept the league's ruling,' Haslam said. 'Ray made a mistake and takes full responsibility for his role in violating the policy. It is critical that we make better decisions. Ray has tremendous integrity and I know has great remorse for what occurred. We are all committed to learning from this and making the Browns a stronger and better organization.' +The NFL have fined the Atlanta Falcons and stripped them of a draft pick following the team's use of fake crowd noise at home games. In a statement released on Monday, the league announced that the Falcons have been fined $350,000 (£237,000) and will forfeit their fifth-round selection in the 2016 draft. If the Falcons have multiple picks in that round, the highest selection will be forfeited. Team president Rich McKay has also been suspended from the league's Competition Committee beginning April 1. Atlanta Falcons have been fined £237,000 for their use of fake crowd noise at the Georgia Dome . Owner Arthur Blank acknowledged the team's wrongdoing and described the incident as embarrassing . The NFL noted throughout the 2013 season and into the 2014 season the Falcons violated league rules that state 'at no point during the game can artificial crowd noise or amplified crowd noise be played in the stadium.' The league also said Roddy White, the team's former director of event marketing, was directly responsible for the violation and would have been suspended without pay for the first eight weeks of the 2015 regular season had he still been with the club. The Falcons fired him. The league determined that Falcons ownership and senior executives, including McKay, were unaware of the use of an audio file with artificial crowd noise. But as the senior club executive overseeing game operations, McKay bears some responsibility for ensuring that team employees comply with league rules. McKay can petition Commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement to the committee no sooner than June 30. The Falcons played fake crowd noise during the 2013 and 2014 seasons . Falcons president Rick McKay has been suspended from his position on NFL Competition Committee . Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in early February that he had seen enough of the NFL's investigation to acknowledge wrongdoing by his club. 'It's not really a fine line,' Blank said. 'I think what we've done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong. Anything that affects the competitive balance and fairness on the field, we're opposed to, as a league, as a club and as an owner. It's obviously embarrassing but beyond embarrassing it doesn't represent our culture and what we're about.' The Falcons say 101 of 103 games have been sellouts since Blank bought the team in 2002. Actual turnouts declined during losing seasons the last two years. Atlanta ranked 10th among the 32 NFL teams with its average home attendance of 72,130 in 2014. Construction is underway for a new $1.4 billion stadium that will replace the Georgia Dome in 2017. The new stadium will have a similar seating capacity. +Real Madrid's training session saw Martin Odegaard swing in a cross for Cristiano Ronaldo to score a header ahead of the 16-year-old's potential debut in the Champions League this week. Odegaard joined Real in January after the La Liga giants won the race to sign the Norwegian starlet, and he has tried to show manager Carlo Ancelotti why he deserves to face Schalke on Tuesday. The Norway international has already scored for Real Madrid's B team Castilla and reports suggest he could be in line to make the step up to the first team. Martin Odegaard crosses the ball into the box during a Real Madrid training session . Cristiano Ronaldo rises above the rest to head the ball into the back of the net during training . Ronaldo scoes via Odegaard's cross as Real Madrid work on their set pieces in training . Real's Champions League last-16 tie sees them carry a healthy 2-0 lead from the Veltins-Arena in Germany to Madrid as they look to defend their crown. And should Odegaard make his debut then he would become the youngest player to play in the Champions League - beating the record of 16 years and 87 days held by former Chelsea and Newcastle man Celestine Babayaro by three days. Yet before that Real have a La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to deal with. Real were held to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu by Villarreal in their last match, allowing Barcelona to cut the gap to just two points, and can not afford another slip. Odegaard (centre) joined Real in January after the La Liga giants won the race to sign the Norwegian starlet . +Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can overturn a 2-1 Champions League first leg deficit against Juventus on Wednesday due to their watertight defence. The improving Germans, who have recovered after a dismal first half to the domestic season that saw them anchored in last place as recently as last month in the Bundesliga, have kept a clean sheet in their last three league games, including a 0-0 draw against Cologne on the weekend. With Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels back fit in central defence, along with full backs Marcel Schmelzer and Lukasz Piszczek, Dortmund's defence has been as solid as it has been all season. Jurgen Klopp talks to his Dortmund players during a training session ahead of the second leg with Juventus . (Left to right): Adrian Ramos, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Marco Reus . The Dortmund squad are put through their paces in training ahead of the crucial game against Juventus . Aubameyang (left) talks with Reus (right) as the Dortmund pair limber up in training with some leg stretches . '(Against Cologne) we played another game without letting in a goal and that is something we can build on,' Klopp told reporters. 'We want to advance to the quarter-finals and we can do this.' Dortmund boast a fine record at home in Europe having won 11 of their last 14 Champions League games at the Westfalenstadion. But in order to book a spot in the last eight they have to snap a losing run at home against Juventus, having lost all three previous encounters against the Italians in Dortmund. Klopp will be counting on goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has scored five in his last seven outings and in-form Marco Reus, who has struck five times in eight games. Marco Reus cancelled out Carlos Tevez's opener before Alvaro Morata scored a 42nd-minute winner . Juventus are flying high in Serie A, edging closer to the Italian title with their first triumph away from home in over two months at Palermo, opening up a 14-point lead. 'One less win needed to win the league,' Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri said, knowing he will now need to shift his focus to Dortmund and their attacking game. 'We will need to take the lead there, maybe score more than one goal,' said the coach. They will, however, be without influential playmaker Andrea Pirlo who has yet to fully recover from a thigh injury suffered in the first leg. 'He has made good progress but not enough to be in Dortmund,' the club said in a statement. Klopp knows that his side will have to be at their absolute best to overcome high-flying Serie A giants Juve . Dortmund have won 11 of their last 14 home ties in the Champions League at the Westfalenstadion . +He is the protege of Total Football mastermind Rinus Michels, but 'Little General' Dick Advocaat has been pitched straight into battle at Sunderland. In nine games there will be little time to roll out the revered brand of football which won fame and acclaim with the Ajax and Holland teams of the 1970s. Instead, the 67-year-old is tasked with saving a failing side from relegation. Then, successful or otherwise, he will be gone. But who is the man who, at 67, is making his Premier League debut as Sunderland’s oldest-ever manager? Dick Advocaat (left) in action during his playing days for Roda against PSV Eindhoven . Advocaat on a cycle ride when assistant coach with Holland in 1987 - seen here with Adri van Tiggelen, Ronald Koeman, Rene van der Gijp and Marco van Basten . Advocaat has held many managerial positions both in his native Holland and abroad - see here at PSV Eindhoven in 1996 . Advocaat is best remembered in Great Britain for his two league titles with Rangers in the late 1990s . Advocaat certainly doesn’t want for experience. This is the 18th job of a 28-year managerial career which has taken in nearly 900 matches and yielded 10 major trophies. He is best known on these shores for three-and-a-half years at Rangers, a stay which produced two SPL titles – including a record 21-point winning margin – two Scottish Cups and a League Cup. Advocaat, though, has since been accused of reckless spending – a claim he defends – and it was at Ibrox that he splashed out a club record £12million for Chelsea striker Tore Andre Flo. That name alone is enough to cause alarm among followers of Sunderland. For they paid Rangers £6.75m for the Norwegian after a relatively successful two years north of the border. VIDEO Sunderland appoint Advocaat as manager . There will be a few familiure faces in the Premier League for Advocaat. He has worked with and against Ronald Koeman in Holland . Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is another manager that Advocaat knows well . Former England, Manchester City and Leicester boss Sven Goran Eriksson is someone else that Advovaat knows from his time in the game . Successful, however, is not a word used to reflect on his time at the Stadium of Light and, after four league goals in 29 appearances, he left on a free transfer. That, of course, is not Advocaat’s fault and there will be no scope for new additions during his time on Wearside, should the Flo connection cast doubt over his judgment. Rather, it will be his ability to make a snap judgement on those already in residence which will determine his legacy with the Black Cats. He is certainly well remembered at the likes of PSV and Zenit St Petersburg, where in 2008 his domestic champions beat former club Rangers in the final of the UEFA Cup, a triumph which won him honorary citizenship of the Russian city. Working with Premier League players will not be new to Advocaat as he has come across many in his time in international football - including Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini while he was coach of Belgium between 2009-10 . Former Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin is another player Advocaat has worked with during his time as Russia manager between 2010-12 . Advocaat signed Brazil international Giovane Elber for German side Borussia Monchengladbach in 2005 . During his first spell in Eindhoven in the mid-Nineties he lifted the Dutch Cup and Eredivisie title, working with the likes of Brazilian striker Ronaldo. His second stint in 2012 saw the club finish second in the league and lose in the cup final, but a win ratio of 65 per cent equalled that of his initial tenure and still stands as the best of his career. Were he to win six of nine matches with Sunderland then it would perhaps eclipse everything he has achieved. But there have been rocky times, too. Advocaat has nine games left in the Premier League season and his aim is to ensure Sunderland don't go down . Despite his years of managerial experience, Advocaat has never been in a relegation battle before . He was hounded from his second spell as Holland national-team boss after both the media and supporters were critical of his handling of the team, despite them reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2004. Ten years earlier he took Holland to the last eight of the World Cup but was on the brink of losing his job before the finals in the USA after a fallout with star player Ruud Gullit, who retired from international football in protest. Subsequent posts at South Korea and Russia saw his teams fail to emerge from the group stages of World Cup 2006 and Euro 2012 respectively, while his latest job was an unhappy five-month period in charge of Serbia, where he was sacked in November. Despite his origin as a pupil of Michels, Advocaat has been criticised for playing defensive football with too much emphasis on structure and discipline. However, on the evidence of Sunderland’s shambolic 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, structure and discipline is probably the best place to start. +Chris Evert has given a vote of confidence to Laura Robson by insisting that the former British No 1 can still make the world’s top 10 when she finally gets back from injury. The American, among the all-time greats of the women’s game, reckons that Robson can make up for lost time despite having been out for 14 months with a wrist injury that required surgery last April. Evert offered her endorsement as current Great British No 1 Heather Watson went out of the Miami Open second round on Saturday, beaten 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 by world No 15 Angelique Kerber after creating enough chances to have won. Heather Watson makes her way off the court after crashing out of the Miami Open to Angelique Kerber . Watson was beaten 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 by world No 15 Kerber at Crandon Park Tennis Centre on Saturday . ‘Yes it has been a very long but Laura is still young so she will be fine,’ said Evert, speaking at the launch of her new Chrissie by Tail clothing line. ‘If she was 27 or 28 there would be a problem but she has got plenty of time on her side,’ said the 18-time Grand Slam winner. ‘I was very impressed with her at Wimbledon in 2013 before the injury. I was thinking top 10 for sure and that can still be attainable. But she has got to get herself really fit for her return to the tour and that is going to be tough for Laura.’ Current British No 1 Watson (left) shakes hands with Kerber at the net after their second round match . Laura Robson has been backed to reach the top 10 upon her return from a 15-month injury lay-off . There are signs that Robson may finally be ready for a return to action in time for May’s French Open in Paris, despite missing out on Miami and taking her name off the entry list for next month’s WTA Tour event in Bogota. When she does come back, however, it is likely to be at a lower-profile event. Meanwhile, her long-time friendly rival Watson resumed at 5-7 down in her rain-delayed contest with Kerber, having missed a set point the previous afternoon before a deluge arrived. The final two sets proved to be as wildly undulating as the first one had been. The 22-year-old from Guernsey, breathing down the neck of her career-high ranking of 38, will know that this was a match she could have won against a player who has been as high as No 5 in the world but has suffered a disappointing year to date. Watson plays a shot at the 2013 US Open - she has been out injured after needing surgery on her wrist . Former US tennis star Chris Evert has backed Robson to return to her best and make it to the top 10 . With a little more composure she would have done, and an indication of how much it hinged on the more vital moments was that she ended up with more points than her more experienced opponent, with 113 to 111. The games often came in blocks as two nervous combatants became confident and then fearful again, depending on the scoreboard. In relatively cool conditions for this event, Watson went 2-0 up in the second, then 3-2 down, before reeling off the next four games. Watson 'will be fine' as she is very young, according to former World No 1 Evert . Kerber, a left-hander who has been to the Wimbledon semi-finals, then surged to 5-1 as Watson was broken immediately in the decider, losing one point through a volleying error of astonishing simplicity. The anxious German looked tired — ‘she’s knackered, Heather’ cried out an English voice — and Watson duly got back on serve to 4-5 before four unforced errors sealed her fate. It could have been a different end to this segment of the season, and once her doubles is over she will be concentrating on the clay courts. +Those who would love to see the lesser spotted Laura Robson back competing on a tennis court are learning that it is a question of hope trumping expectation. Having withdrawn from the qualifying event of this week’s Miami Open, she has now removed herself from the entry list to next month’s WTA Tour event in Bogota, and the new target for her return appears to be the French Open in May. That suggests she is going to be left with at least 16 months of catching up to do when her troublesome wrist is deemed fit for full tournament play again, having not played since the Australian Open in January last year. Former British No 1 Laura Robson protects her wrist while out in London . Nobody is more frustrated about this than Robson herself, now 21 and without a world ranking. She would dearly love to be in Miami now, but instead is back practising over in Bradenton near Tampa at the IMG Academy. Perhaps encouragingly, she posted a picture of herself on Twitter doing a full, tendon-testing handstand. Robson admitted last summer that she has shed tears over this hiatus in her career, which has proved longer than feared since she played her last match in Melbourne before eventually undergoing wrist surgery. Here this week her manager, Max Eisenbud, issued a positive-sounding update while preaching patience: “I’m happy with the way it’s been going and she’s been hitting the ball great in practice,” he said. “ It’s a question of waiting until the coaches think she can play five matches in a week. It’s all about when she is ready to compete. We don’t want to put her in a situation where she can’t play a full tournament.” Among Eisenbud’s other clients include Maria Sharapova, whose intermittent struggles with her shoulder have informed his approach. “I learned a lot from the whole experience with Maria, and that’s why I feel strongly about not rushing it. Laura is still young with a lot of time ahead.” Sharapova seems to have won her battle, but there are other examples of players who show just what a tough road lies ahead for Robson - and that on the assumption that she shows a full-on appetite for hard work that has not always been evident. When she finally decided to go for surgery last April to repair a minor tendon tear she sought the advice of 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, who has had operations on both wrists. She used the same specialist at the Mayo clinic in Minnesota. Ironically this has turned out to be the Argentine’s own comeback event and on Thursday evening he lost 6-4 7-6 to Vasek Pospisil. The fact that this was just his second tournament in fourteen months after an abortive return in January shows just how infernally complex wrist injuries are for tennis players. He was just delighted to be back on court: “It's not 100% free, but I felt even better than Sydney tournament in January,” he said. “ It's only two months after my second surgery and my left wrist. I feel better week by week, but it's still very early to feel 100%. “Mentally you must be strongest enough to deal with the problem and get up every morning to do your treatments and rehab and stay calm, looking forward for the future. I'm not hurried to be in the top 10 very soon. I want to play tennis. It doesn't matter how long it's take me to be in the top again.” Being absent for a long period of time with any injury brings with it problems in a tennis world that constantly evolves. An example of this is 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva, who was out for 17 months following the 2012 Olympics due to a shoulder problem that required surgery. Robson has sought the advice of 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro . Del Potro made only his second tournament appearance in 14 months at the Miami Open . Since returning at the start of last year the talented Russian has not got past the third round at any event and her ranking still languishes at 153. She lost another first round here this week. So it could be hard for Robson whenever she returns, although on her side is that she does have bags of natural ability and is a superb ball striker. That much was clear when, enjoying a rare spell free from injury, she became the first British player since Jo Durie to reach the world’s top 30 in the summer of 2013 aged only 19. It might yet make more sense for her to wait until the season begins on more forgiving grass rather than arduous clay to make her return. When she does she will have a new clothes sponsor in Nike after being dropped by adidas, and will be coached by Colombian Mauricio Hadad, a former guide of Heather Watson. The 22 year-old from Guernsey plays world No 15 Angelique Kerber in the second round while Andy Murray will take on America’s Donald Young. +Laura Robson has aborted her planned comeback at next week's Miami Open, having decided her wrist is still not ready for full on match play. The former British No 1 had accepted a wildcard into the qualifying event for the prestigious tournament involving both sexes in South Florida. However, she has now handed it back, as looked likely after she posted a picture of herself on Saturday night at a fashion exhibition in London. Laura Robson attended a fashion event in London as she continues to recover from a wrist injury . The former British No 1 has not played since having problems with her wrist in Australia last January . Caution has been the watchword for Robson since she underwent surgery on her wrist early last summer. She had hoped to come back at some small events in California last month ahead of Indian Wells this week, but that was postponed for the Miami wildcard. The next possible target is a WTA event in Colombia next month although seeing will be believing. Robson is not said to have suffered any major setback in her rehab but the view is that there is no point rushing and doing further long term damage as she is still only 21. It is now 14 months since Robson last appeared, at the 2014 Australian Open, where problems in her wrist ligament fully flared up. It will inevitably be a long road back when she manages to regain full fitness. Robson receives treatment on her wrist during the Hobart International in Australia . +Michael van Gerwen went top of the Betway Premier League table following a 7-3 victory over Phil Taylor on Thursday night. World champion boxer Carl Froch was among a crowd of more than 6,000 at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena. Michael van Gerwen and world champion boxer Carl Froch at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena . Van Gerwen and Froch with two of the walk-on girls on Thursday night . They witnessed a nervous start between the top two in the world with the opening seven legs going against the darts. The Dutchman landed his first 180 of the match in the eighth leg on his way to his 10-darter and he also went close to a 170 finish in the following leg. 'I couldn't wish any better tonight,' Van Gerwen told Sky Sports. Van Gerwen went top of the Betway Premier League table following a 7-3 victory over Phil Taylor . World champion Gary Anderson thrashed Adrian Lewis 7-1 on Thursday night . 'We were both struggling in the beginning and we couldn't hold our own throw because we both wanted to win hard because the winner goes top of the table. 'I knew that and I just had to do the right thing at the right moments. I'm really glad I did in the end.' In the night's other action, James Wade defeated Raymond van Barneveld 7-3, Gary Anderson thrashed Adrian Lewis 7-1, and Peter Wright edged to a 7-5 victory over Kim Huybrechts. +Fans of Chelsea, Blackburn and Wigan may be shocked to learn that unheralded striker Franco di Santo is currently one of the hottest properties in Germany's Bundesliga with Werder Bremen where he has scored 12 goals in his last 18 matches. Even more surprising is the Argentine's views on the respective merits of the two leagues. Contrary to popular belief, the 25-year-old insists players in Germany are made to train harder than their Premier League counterparts and that games are more intense and competitive in the Bundesliga. A few months ago, Di Santo's opinions might have been ridiculed but given the dismal performances of English clubs in Europe this season, it appears he may have a point. Franco di Santo is loving life in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen after stints with three English clubs . The Argentine striker moved to England with Chelsea but also played for Blackburn and Wigan . Following Chelsea's exit against Paris Saint-Germain, it is unlikely any Premier League will be in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with Manchester City and Arsenal both losing their first leg matches at home. In contrast, Bayern Munich are safely through to the last eight with Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen having a great chance of joining them from the Bundesliga next week. Their fourth representative Schalke gave Real Madrid an almighty scare at the Bernabeu before going out 5-4 on aggregate. 'When I came to Germany, I thought it would be a little bit less intense than the Premier League,' admitted di Santo, who signed for Bremen on a Bosman free following Wigan's relegation in 2013. 'But when I got here and felt the intensity, it was like “Wow”. Everything is fast just like in England but sometimes I feel there is more pressure here. In the English league, you have time to turn around and go against the defender face-to-face, but here it is always pressure, pressure, pressure. Di Santo says he thought it would be a little bit less intense than the Premier League but he was surprised . Di Santo says that after a career as a young player in the Premier League he finds the Bundesliga as intense . 'The other thing that is different is the kind of training. Here, we train twice-a-day two or three times a week. It was hard for me coming from English football where you sometimes have two days free in a week. 'Here it is impossible to do that. Maybe you have one day off every two weeks. The philosophy is completely different. In England, they think your body needs to rest to be fit for the game, to get it in great condition. Here it is the opposite, you have to train more. 'Sometimes it feels too much but you do feel stronger in key moments because you are training, training. When I was in England I would be a little bit more tired in the last 10 minutes. Here I feel good, so maybe for my body it is better to train!' The reputation of the Premier League has taken a nose-dive recently but Di Santo is not surprised our top clubs aren't able to dominate in the Champions League and suggests there may be a snob value towards the Bundesliga because of the dominance of Bayern Munich. The 6ft 4in centre forward has 12 goals in his last 18 games as Bremen rise up the Bundesliga table . 'I think Germany and England have the strongest two leagues but the big difference is the marketing. The Premier League has 10 years more experience in that,' he says. 'On the pitch, the Premier League is not better or quicker. 'Of course, Bayern Munich is by far the best team in Germany but it's not because the other teams are s***, it is just because they very strong. 'If Bayern came into the Premier League, they would finish top-three for sure and they could win it, why not? They have World Cup winners and players like (Arjen) Robben, (Robert) Lewandowski and (Franck) Ribery. Di Santo, modestly for his league, believes Bayern Munich would be in the Premier League's top three . The big striker took on Chelsea and their midfield giant Nemanja Matic in pre-season. Bremen won 3-1 . 'Just because some of the other teams in Germany aren't big names, it doesn't mean they're not good. 'We played Chelsea in pre-season and beat them 3-1. OK, it was pre-season but Chelsea put out a good team and it wasn't like they were able to score 10 against us.' Di Santo, a 6ft 4in centre forward, has packed a lot of experience into his short career. He left Argentina for Chile very young and at 17 signed for Chelsea with a big reputation. It didn't quite happen for him at Stamford Bridge and he failed to score a goal for them in two seasons. 'I had to be realistic, I was competing against (Didier) Drogba, (Nicolas) Anelka, (Andriy) Shevchenko, (Claudio) Pizarro and (Salomon) Kalou for a place and they were probably better than me at the time,' he admits. 'The most time I got was 45 minutes against Aston Villa when Anelka got injured.' The presence of Didier Drogba (left), who is still Di Santo's friend, made it difficult for him to get game time . Di Santo (right) says his loan to Blackburn went well at first but then he was dropped by Sam Allardyce . Franco di Santo has hailed his Argentine international team-mate Angel di Maria as one of the top 10 players in the world. Di Maria has struggled in England, as Di Santo did, following a record £59.7million summer move to Manchester United. But di Santo insists: 'Di Maria did so well in the World Cup for Argentina, it was a shame he was injured for the final against Germany otherwise the outcome might have been different, for sure. 'He is among the top 10 players in the world. His best position is on the wing, either right or left. He is quick and skilful but some players need more time to settle into a new league than others. 'I'd say (Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo are on a different planet but after them, there are five or six of around the level – Sergio Aguero, Arjen Robben, Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic – and di Maria.' He went on loan to Blackburn. 'I played every single game for a half a season and did really well, but didn't score - that was my big problem. I decided to stay another six months but then the manager Sam Allardyce didn't play me any more. It was weird, from amazing to becoming very hard. But I did get a goal and assist in our local derby against Burnley and they made a DVD of the match with my face on the cover!' Ironically, it was Roberto Martinez – now in charge of England's sole Europa League survivors Everton – who helped start to turn his career around by signing him for Wigan on a permanent basis in 2010. 'It was my personal decision to leave Chelsea, I still had time on my contract but needed to play. Roberto told me I was good enough to play for Argentina, he gave me confidence. And he made me think about getting into the penalty area more. Before then, I only wanted to score pretty goals, go past a lot of players. 'Now I realise if it comes off my knee, it still counts as one goal and that has helped me.' Wigan won the FA Cup – Di Santo was an unused substitute - and were relegated in the same season, and Martinez left for Everton. He signed Arouna Kone, Antolin Alcaraz, James McCarthy and Joel Robles – but not Di Santo. 'There is no problem with that, it would have been difficult to sign so many players from Wigan,' says the player. Blackburn fans mob Di Santo after he scored against Burnley and it even earned him a space on a DVD cover . Wigan lifted the FA Cup at Wembley before being relegated, although Di Santo didn't play a single minute . Instead, the forward – who won three caps for Argentina during his time at the DW Stadium – went to Bremen in northern Germany and is finally fulfilling the promise everyone predicted in his teens. His winning goal against Freiburg last weekend lifted Bremen up to eighth, just six points of a Champions League berth. Unfortunately a booking also means he is suspended for Saturday's big match against Bayern. He still keeps in touch with old Chelsea pals like Drogba and Branislav Ivanovic and friends from Wigan like Alcaraz and Maynor Figueroa. He admits though that having not been ready for English football at 17, he would fancy a return at some point to see how the intensity and hard work in the German League have helped him develop. Wigan owner Dave Whelan gets a champagne shower from Di Santo, but they would soon part company . While Di Santo is enjoying the Bundesliga, he says he fancies a shot at 'revenge' in the Premier League . 'I am happy here really, I know I am in a league that is very competitive, one of the best in the world,' he said. 'In one way I am very happy here, I am doing well and playing in a very competitive league. But for the other side I would like to have my revenge in the English League, show what I can do with the experience I now have. It may depend on Roberto Martinez or other coaches what happens! 'If I have to stay in Germany, I am going to be happy, and for the other side, if I have to go to England, I will try to do my best to show I am better than last time.' Di Santo still has friends in England from his time there and keeps contact with a few Chelsea players . Di Santo faced top players in England but says Germany's lack of big names doesn't make teams 's***' +Divock Origi ended a six-month scoring drought with a hat trick as Lille defeated Rennes 3-0 in the French league on Sunday. Origi, on loan from Liverpool, helped to secure a third consecutive win for Lille, which climbed to eighth in the standings, three points clear of the Brittany side. Despite a bright opening spell, Rennes failed to convert its early chances and was then overrun by the hosts. VIDEO Scroll down to see Origi spurn a previous chance to end his drought . Divock Origi (centre) celebrates after scoring for Lille against Rennes at the Pierre Mauroy stadium . Origi, on loan from Liverpool, returned to form as he scored a hat-trick in Sunday's Ligue 1 clash . Origi put Lille in front in the 38th minute from close range after making the most of a poor clearance from defender Fallou Diagne. He doubled his tally from the spot in the 63rd then latched on to Nolan Roux's cross at the back post 10 minutes later to complete his hat trick. Rennes should have equalized in the 49th when Ola Toivonen netted a clever lob that was incorrectly disallowed for offside. Origi (left) celebrates with team-mate Sofiane Boufal as Lille ran out 3-0 winners against Rennes . Origi (right) is challenged by Renne's French midfielder Fallou Diagne during Sunday's match . +Lord Windermere, the 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, has been confirmed as a ‘definite’ starter in the Crabble’s Grand National at Aintree on Saturday week. Trainer Jim Culloty has made no public comment since the nine-year-old was pulled up behind Coneygree last month when trying to defend his title. Since that run jockey Davy Russell has lost the ride on Lord Windermere, although a broken arm 24 hours after that news emerged means Russell would not have been available anyway. The 2014 Gold Cup winner Lord Windermere has been confirmed as a definite Grand National starter . Culloty will also be represented by Spring Heeled, who also won at last season’ s Cheltenham Festival, as his launches a twin assault on the £1million prize. A spokeswoman for Culloty’s Co Cork stable said: ‘Both horses are definite runners. There are no concrete jockey plans at the moment.’ Victory for either gelding, both of which run in the colours of Dr Ronan Lambe, would make Culloty, who won the 2002 race as a jockey on board Bindaree, only the sixth man to both ride and train a Grand National winner. Trainer Jim Culloty has made no comment since the nine-year-old was pulled up behind Coneygree last month . Best known as the rider of three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate, Culloty would also join Fred Winter as the only man to have ridden and trained the winner of both the Grand National and Gold Cup. Jockey options for the Culloty pair could include Robbie McNamara, who won the 2014 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup on Spring Heeled, who has been kept fresh for his National challenge. Spring Heeled is a 20-1 shot for the Aintree race but confirmation that Lord Windermere, due to carry top weight of 11st 10lb, will run could prompt the few bookmakers making his a 50-1 shot to trim his odds back in line with rivals. Trainer Jim Culloty's second representative Spring Heeled is a 20-1 shot for the Grand National at Aintree . Definitely out of the National is Jonjo O’Neill’s Merry King, who has a breathing problem while Nicky Henderson’s Hadrian’s Approach is rated ‘very doubtful’ after picking up a leg injury. Merry King’s exit frees up jockey Richie McLernon, who looks a riding option for Emma Lavelle’s Court By Surprise. Alan King has confirmed Godsmejudge, the 2013 Scottish National winner, run despite the gelding being beaten almost 70 lengths on his latest run over hurdles at Bangor. King said: ‘I don’t know what happened at Bangor. It just did not happen for him but he is in good form and Wayne Hutchinson rides.’ Ryan Moore rides War Envoy for Aidan O’Brien in the Listed Patton Stakes at Dundalk on Wednesday night as trainer’s son Joseph, who had said he expected to be in action at the meeting, is again missing. The move is further evidence of Moore’s increased role with O’Brien for the Flat season. Joseph’s weight problems prompted him to take a first ride over hurdles on Sunday. +Diego Forlan has called time on a highly successful international career with Uruguay, a decision that the striker says has left him in a state of 'mourning'. Forlan won 112 caps for his country, scoring 36 goals - a total bettered only by Barcelona forward Luis Suarez. He represented his country at three World Cups and was awarded the Golden Ball at the 2010 tournament in South Africa. VIDEO Scroll down to see Diego Forlan score a thumping 30-yard free kick . Uruguay's Diego Forlan (left) tussles for the ball with Ireland's Keith Fahey during a friendly match in 2011 . Forlan won the Golden Ball Award for his performances at the World Cup in South Africa back in 2010 . Forlan's tally of 36 goals for Uruguay is bettered only by Barcelona forward Luis Suarez who has 43 . The 35-year-old, who now plays his club football with Japanese outfit Cerezo Osaka, told The National: 'The national team has been a big part of my life for a long time and I'll miss it. 'I feel like I'm in mourning at the moment, but I've had time to prepare for this decision. It wasn't something I decided overnight and I could see that things were changing after the World Cup in Brazil, with fresh blood brought in.' But the forward insists that he will remain a passionate supporter of his country. 'I'll love watching Uruguay on television and I'm still playing club football. I love this game, I'm still in fine shape and I've just started a new season in Japan.' Prior to joining Cerezo Osaka, Forlan's club career had seen him play for some of Europe's top teams, including Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid. Forlan scores a goal past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina while playing for Atletico Madrid in 2010 . Forlan has a shot at goal while playing for Manchester United in the Champions League back in 2002 . +Richard Scudamore’s elevation to the role of Premier League executive chairman reinforces his commitment to the organisation, which he has led for the last 15 years. His promotion and the appointment of two non-executive independent directors in Claudia Arney and Kevin Beeston, as revealed by Sports Agenda, was finally rubberstamped at Thursday’s club summit. The three-strong board will meet monthly to ensure proper scrutiny of Scudamore’s increased powerbase, with the newcomers also attending the PL’s club summits six times a year. Richard Scudamore was elevated to the role of Premier League executive chairman on Thursday . Scudamore, who has recovered from serious heart surgery last summer, said: ‘This is almost a re-commitment. This isn’t something you would do if you were about to leave. ‘Look at me, I’m up for it and my health is absolutely fine. This is a very enjoyable job. My enthusiasm for it has never waned.’ Arney, an Arsenal season ticket-holder, is a non-executive director of Halfords. She used to work at Goldman Sachs and the Treasury. Beeston is chairman of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey. He was a board member of Ipswich during their financial troubles and is a Chelsea season ticket-holder. Oddly, the Premier League say he enjoys watching rugby and tennis. Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves vows an inquiry if England don't beat West Indies in their Test series . Colin Graves, the incoming chairman of the ECB, has already stated he expects England to beat a ‘mediocre’ West Indies side in the Caribbean next month. And Graves will be in Barbados for the last of the three Tests, when head coach Peter Moores and England managing director Paul Downton will surely have to be shown the door if a series defeat follows the World Cup debacle. Barclays will definitely not be renewing their title sponsorship of the Premier League when their £40million-a-year contract expires at the end of next season, clubs were told on Thursday. The PL will not be short of offers, even at a higher price, to endorse the world’s richest league, with Guinness said to be interested. Barclays first raised doubts about their deal at the start of 2014, when a senior executive was alleged to have said the sponsorship had ‘zero value’ in the UK. On top of that, group chief executive Antony Jenkins doesn’t like football. Barclays have sponsored the Premier League since 2001 but the 2015-16 season is set to be their last . It will not help promoter Barry McGuigan’s negotiations with ITV over Carl Frampton’s next fight that foreign exchange traders CWMFX, who heavily sponsored his first super-bantamweight world title defence on the network, have had their London offices raided by police. Thirteen people were arrested on suspicion of fraud. ITV declined to comment. The Webb Ellis trophy will be contested for at the home World Cup, which begins in September . Around 350,000 World Cup tickets being returned by the International Rugby Board to ER2015 are not expected to include many for England matches at Twickenham. This is much to the annoyance of the official England Rugby Supporters Club. They are upset at the number of Twickenham tickets that have gone to official hospitality, especially after being told they had priority status for World Cup matches — apart from England at Twickenham. ER2015 say they will have a ‘few thousand’ extra England tickets to put on sale, while corporate hospitality were given 21,000 tickets for England group games at HQ. FA chairman Greg Dyke is adamant more homegrown players need to play in Football League sides . Premier League clubs and FA chairman Greg Dyke had a remarkably civil encounter on Thursday considering their conflicting positions on Dyke’s campaign for more homegrown players. It was agreed there would be consultation on the issue after a club asked Dyke whether he would force through changes. The FA and Milltown Partners, their PR advisers, had been very bullish about making it happen after Dyke announced his campaign last Monday, but the FA chairman rode back on Thursday, telling clubs he only wanted debate. England rugby head coach Stuart Lancaster has just been told by RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie that four runners-up finishes in the Six Nations is ‘unacceptable’. So it’s not the best week for the Leaders in Sport website to be promoting a video about Lancaster ‘creating a winning formula for one of the most physical sports in the world’. Not yet he hasn’t. +The treatment of Gareth Bale in Spain suggests it is not just in the Premier League that foreign players can get a raw deal. Bale’s form has dipped lately, but before that he scored vital goals — at a rate close to one every other game — and helped his team win their 10th European Cup. The condemnation he receives from the local media and crowd, therefore, is mystifying. He is accused of not being a team player. Few in England would recognise that description. Gareth Bale has attracted criticism from Madrid fans and media but ended his barren spell against Levante . Bale celebrates his second with Cristiano Ronaldo as Real Madrid closed the gap on Barcelona to a point . It reminds of the scenes in Nicolas Roeg’s film The Man Who Fell To Earth, when alien Thomas Jerome Newton, played by David Bowie, is kept captive for investigation by government scientists. One of the tests alters his appearance for good. He looks at his tormentors sadly. ‘We’d have probably done the same to you, if you’d come round our place,’ he concludes. The androgynous David Bowie plays Thomas Jerome Newton in Nic Roeg's bold The Man Who Fell to Earth . Bale scored at important times last season in the Copa del Rey (above) and Champions League finals . VIDEO Bale was more motivated - Ancelotti . +Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva has shown off his black eye suffered during their 2-0 win over Monaco to reach the Coupe de France semi-finals on Wednesday. Silva took a knock from former Manchester United, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov that left the centre-back with a shiner but he got the last laugh. PSG remain on course for the domestic treble in France as they made the final four thanks to David Luiz and Edinson Cavani's goals, and their skipper gave a thumbs up on Instagram. Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva has shown off his black eye on Instagram on Thursday . Silva applauds the supporters after their 2-0 win over Monaco in their Coupe de France quarter-final tie . PSG's David Luiz (centre) and Edinson Cavani (right) scored and their captain Silva (left) took the knock . Silva's caption read: 'Thanks for the messages! I would say to all friends and fans I'm fine! So this a little swollen and purple, but without pain!' Their 2-0 quarter-final win came just three days after Monaco and PSG played out a 0-0 stalemate at the Stade Louis II in Ligue 1. PSG are preparing to face Lens in the league on Saturday before making the trip to London to verse Chelsea in their Champions League last-16 second leg tie. Silva took the bump from ex-Manchester United, Fulham and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov (left) +The good news for all concerned in Monaco was that it had stopped raining. Arsene Wenger had raised fears on the eve of the game and as the downpour continued into the night the Arsenal manager wasn't the only one casting anxious glances skywards. This is a big day for the new AS Monaco and they do not want it washed out. Arsene Wenger had raised fears over the playing surface at Monaco's Stade Louis II on Monday night . The Stade Louis II has a poor surface and groundstaff have worked hard to help it drain after heavy rainfall . Dimitar Berbatov celebrates during Monaco's 3-1 win against Arsenal at the Emirates last month . A recent game against Montpellier had been cancelled and because the pitch at the Stade Louis II is a notoriously poor surface, with so much going on beneath it: car parks, swimming pools, etc groundstaff worked through the night to help it drain as they prepare for what they hope will be a famous victory, one which will see them into the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since 2004, when they went on to the final and lost to Jose Mourinho's Porto. Much has happened to Monaco since then. They almost dropped into the third tier of French football and faced extinction before Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev came to the rescue and got them moving in the right direction once again. The first leg result against Arsenal was confirmation that the Rybolovlev project is still on track, having survived a change of direction and an exodus of top players like James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao last summer. Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev rescued the club from almost dropping into the French Third Division . Porto celebrate winning the Champions League in 2004 after beating Monaco in the final in Germany . Monaco wideman Jerome Rothen shields the ball away from Porto midfielder Pedro Mendes during the final . Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez both left Monaco for Man United and Real Madrid respectively . No club in the Champions League era has surrendered a two-goal lead after playing the first leg away and Leonardo Jardim's team prides itself on tight defence. They have conceded only once in the last 12 home games and are quietly confident history will not be rewritten, with Jardim expected to enhance his reputation for caution by making a tweak or two to his team to make it even more solid. If they park the Bentley as smartly as they did at the Emirates Stadium, it promises to be one of the great nights in Monaco's recent history. VIDEO Monaco favourites to progress . Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim has guided his team to eleven clean sheets in their last twelve home games . Aymen Abdenoour celebrates the win over Arsenal and Monaco will be confident history will not be rewritten . The 18,000 capacity stadium is sold-out, which rarely happens. There were fewer than 6,000 in to see them beat nine-man Bastia on Friday, a 3-0 win which kept them in touch with the Ligue 1 leaders. Despite its rich history, Monaco will never be one of the France's football hotbeds. It is a unique club set in the playground of the privileged, where most of the local residents are far wealthier than any of the players and many of them more recognisable. In Monte Carlo, the most famous of the Principality's districts, you would hardly know there was a big Champions League game on. The stadium is set in Fontvieille, a district reclaimed from the sea in the 1970s, and cut off by a tunnel from the more recognisable sights such as Casino Square, the Opera, a harbour crammed with super-yachts and the Grand Prix circuit. Abdenoour and Ricardo Carvalho congratulate goalscorer Anthony Martial during Friday's 3-0 win over Bastia . Work has started this week in preparation for the Monaco Grand Prix in May. Wenger's first return to the club he managed for seven years until 1994 fails to make the social calendar for many of those who settle here to enjoy tax-free life in the world's smallest monarchy. L'Equipe has devoted it's pages to Tuesday's clash . Prince Albert, the ruling monarch, continues to support the club he used to run and will be at the game, as the French attempt to claim another football triumph against the English after Chelsea were knocked out by Paris St Germain last week. French sports paper L'Equipe devoted its first five pages to the game with the disciplinary saga of PSG idol Zlatan Ibrahimovic relegated to Page 6. Instead, rival strikers Olivier Giroud and Dimitar Berbatov were pitched head-to-head on the front. At Stade Louis II on the eve of the game, Wenger was met by Monaco's vice-president Vadim Vasilyev and presented with a framed picture designed to commemorate his work at the club, where he won the French title in 1988. In an interview with Sportsmail, last month, ahead of the first-leg, Vasilyev hailed Wenger as 'one of the iconic coaches of modern football' but the Arsenal manager is not big on sentiment. He was wounded by the 3-1 defeat in the first leg and aware that history is against a glorious comeback, but the noises from the Arsenal camp were all about believing the impossible to be possible. With their array of attacking talent, scoring three goals seems an achievable target. Keeping Monaco at bay at the other end while doing so, may be a different proposition. Wenger watches on during his first match in European competition as Monaco manager - a victory in 1988 . +Former Charlton and West Ham manager Alan Curbishley has joined Fulham’s coaching team until the end of the season. Curbishley has been brought in to help out manager Kit Symons in the remaining 11 matches in the Championship this season. Curbishley spent a short spell at Fulham as director of football last season – but was sacked when Felix Magath was appointed manager in February last year. Former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley has joined Fulham’s coaching team until the end of the season . Curbishley has been brought in to help out manager Kit Symons in the remaining 11 matches . Fulham have struggled in recent weeks and are 20th in the Championship and have won just once in their last eight games. Now Symons has brought Curbishley back to the club as part of his backroom team, and the Fulham manager said: ‘I am delighted. Alan is someone who I know reasonably well. And I know him by reputation extremely well. He’s been around a long time with a wealth of experience. ‘That’s the one thing that myself and my staff, who have been fantastic I’ve got to say, haven’t got at that level. He’s got that experience in abundance. I’ ll be certainly tapping into him trying to get as much knowledge and use his experience as much as possible. ‘I want to be as good as I can be and want the staff to be as good as they can be and I want the football club to do as well as it can. And Alan Curbishley coming in will help that.’ Ryan Tunnicliffe in action during Fulham's recent 1-0 Championship defeat by Watford . Curbishley and Ray Wilkins pictured as technical director and assistant manager last season . +Millwall defender Matthew Briggs and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Neil Danns have been called up by Guyana for their upcoming friendlies against St Lucia and Grenada. Briggs, 24, is on loan at Colchester United and has been capped by England at U16 through to U21 level. He became the Premier League's youngest ever player, being 16 years and 65 days old when he made his debut for Fulham vs Middlesbrough in May 2007. Bolton midfielder Neil Danns (right) has been called up by Guyana to take part in two friendly matches . Millwall defender Matthew Briggs will join Danns in the Guyana squad to face St Lucia and Grenada . Danns, a 32-year-old Liverpudlian, is set to miss Bolton's next two Championship games at Ipswich and Wigan through suspension. He has never figured internationally before and qualifies for Guyana through his grandfather. The friendly games will be played at the 15,000-capacity Providence Stadium in Guyana - built for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. +Matt Lawton has been crowned Sports Journalist of the Year for revealing the Malky Mackay texts sensation. The Daily Mail's Chief Sports Reporter beat a stellar shortlist that included The Mail on Sunday's Nick Harris to win the award at the prestigious Press Awards. Chief Sports Reporter Matt Lawton (left) revealed the Cardiff text scandal in August (right) Lawton was named Sports Journalist of the Year for leading the way with coverage of the story . Lawton, who was also praised for his interview with sacked Manchester United manager David Moyes and a feature on Jonathan Trott's mental anxiety issues, picked up the award at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in London. Harris was shortlisted for his pieces on Tour de France winner Chris Froome, the Football Association's 'fixers' and his investigation into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Elsewhere, Mail photographer Kevin Quigley was shortlisted for Sports Photographer of the Year. His entry included the stunning images of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard celebrating at Fulham, English cyclist Jason Kenny being beaten by Sam Webster at the Commonwealth Games and flares in the crowd at Arsenal vs Galatasaray. Sportsmail photographer Kevin Quigley captured this image of Steven Gerrard celebrating in February 2014 . Quigley also took these stunning photos of Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and cyclist Jason Kenny (far right) Kevin Quigley (left) and Nick Harris (right) were both shortlisted at the Press Awards . Sportsmail was nominated and highly commended for Sports Team of the Year for coverage of Moyes' sacking at Manchester United, an investigation into rugby's drug problem and the on-going Concussion Campaign focused on rugby. +Eden Hazard capped off an excellent week by being crowned London Footballer of the Year less than a week after picking up his first domestic trophy with Chelsea. Hazard helped Chelsea win the Capital One Cup on Sunday with a 2-0 win over London rivals Tottenham and the Belgium international scored the only goal of the game on Wednesday night as the Blues maintained their five point advantage at the top of the Premier League with a win at West Ham. Eden Hazard was crowned Footballer of the Year at the London Football Awards . Tottenham's Harry Kane was named Young Player of the Year and Mark Warburton Manager of the Year . England manager Roy Hodgson and wife Sheila were at the awards along with Bob Wilson . And on Thursday night he scooped the Player of the Year award at the London Football Awards. Hazard has been in great form for Jose Mourinho’s side this season, scoring 14 goals in 40 games as Chelsea challenge for domestic and European honours. Chelsea team-mate Thibaut Courtois won the Goalkeeper of the Year award for his excellent displays between the sticks for the Premier League leaders this season. Former England manager Glenn Hoddle and England World Cup winner Geoff Hurst were at the awards . Former Watford striker Luther Blissett and Ex-Chelsea striker Jimmy Greaves and former Fulham defender George Cohen were also at the London Football Awards . Manager of the Year - Mark Warburton, Brentford . Goalkeeper of the Year - Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea . Outstanding Contribution to a London club - Arsene Wenger, Arsenal . Women's Player of the Year - Ji So-Yun, Chelsea . Young Footballer of the Year - Harry Kane, Tottenham . Community Project of the Year - Leyton Orient, Coping Through Football . Footballer of the Year - Eden Hazard, Chelsea . Tottenham’s Harry Kane – who has scored 24 goals in all competitions this season – was named Young Footballer of the Year. And Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to a London club. While outgoing Brentford boss Mark Warburton was named Manager of the Year after guiding the Bees into the play-off places in their first season in the Championship. The London Football Awards raises vital funds for Willow - the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable special days. +Derby County have revived interest in Fulham's Ross McCormack. The Championship promotion hopefuls had made enquiries about signing Jordan Rhodes from Blackburn Rovers but the Ewood Park club's reluctance to deal has prompted fresh questions about McCormack. The Scotland international made an £11million move from Leeds in the summer but the move has backfired with Fulham falling perilously close to the relegation places in recent weeks. Fulham striker Ross McCormack battles with Bournemouth's Matt Ritchie during their clash at Craven Cottage . Fulham striker McCormack gets his shot away as Fulham take on Watford in the Championship . McCormack has been linked with a move to promotion hopefuls Derby County as Fulham stutter in the division . McCormack, 28, has still managed 12 goals in a struggling side and Derby are keen to see if Fulham will loan him with a view to a permanent deal should they go up. Fulham's form is poor with just three wins this year and they are unlikely to want to lose one of their best forwards. They have an eight point cushion between themselves and Wigan and plan a re-structure in the summer should they survive. Second-placed Derby face promotion rivals Norwich on Saturday. Jordan Rhodes (centre) was on the subs' bench for the duration of Blackburn's FA Cup match with Liverpool . +Arsenal face an uphill battle to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League when they take on Monaco but Arsene Wenger's men should take heart from some previous European comebacks. The Gunners must score at least three away goals on Tuesday as they look to overturn the 3-1 defeat they suffered at the Emirates late last month. Here, Sportsmail takes a closer look at 10 of the greatest second leg comebacks in European competition. Arsenal's players, pictured in training on Monday, are looking to overturn their 3-1 first leg defeat by Monaco . Chelsea 4-1 Napoli (Agg 5-4 after extra-time), Champions League last 16, March 14, 2012 . Chelsea looked dead and buried after a dismal 3-1 defeat in Naples but, after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas, the Blues stormed back to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. Goals from Didier Drogba and John Terry had Roberto Di Matteo's men in control before Gokhan Inler's strike in the 55th minute put the visitors in charge. Frank Lampard levelled the tie with a 75th minute penalty and Branislav Ivanovic popped up in extra-time with a thumping finish to continue Chelsea's charge towards the trophy. Branislav Ivanovic celebrates after scoring the decisive goal in Chelsea's 4-1 win against Napoli in 2012 . Fulham 4-1 Juventus (Agg 5-4), Europa League last 16, March 18, 2010 . Fulham also suffered a 3-1 defeat in the first leg of this tie but the Cottagers didn't require extra-time to make it through to the last eight of the Europa League in style. David Trezeguet's goal appeared to have ended the contest early on but strikes from Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera - either side of a red card for Fabio Cannavaro - had Roy Hodgson's men back in it. Gera netted another from the penalty spot before Clint Dempsey sealed Fulham's progress with a delightful chip beyond the helpless Antonio Chimenti. Clint Dempsey's chip catches out Juventus goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti to seal Fulham's progress . American star Dempsey celebrates as Fulham fans go wild during the Europa League last 16 win in 2010 . Deportivo 4-0 AC Milan (Agg 5-4), Champions League quarter-final, April 7, 2004 . AC Milan could be forgiven for thinking this tie was as good as over after their 4-1 first leg win at the San Siro but Deportivo had other ideas. The Spanish side wiped out the visitors' advantage with first-half goals from Walter Pandiani, Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque, putting themselves in the driving seat on away goals. The Serie A outfit had no answers and substitute Gonzalez Fran added a fourth goal 15 minutes from the end to seal Deportivo's place in the last four. Deportivo's players celebrate after scoring their third goal against AC Milan at the Riazor stadium in 2004 . Monaco 3-1 Real Madrid (Agg 5-5), Champions League quarter-final, April 6, 2004 . Fernando Morientes mocked Real Madrid's decision to send him out on loan as he dumped his parent club out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage. After scoring in a 4-2 first leg defeat at the Bernabeu, the Spaniard struck again after goals from Real striker Raul and team-mate Ludovic Guily. The Frenchman netted his second goal of the evening with a clever backheel to secure victory on away goals and set up a semi-final clash with Chelsea. Monaco captain Ludovic Giuly celebrates after his side's 3-1 second leg win against Real Madrid . Bayern Munich 2-3 Inter Milan (Agg 3-3), Champions League last 16, March 15, 2011 . After beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League final the season before, Inter Milan once again had the last laugh against the Bundesliga giants. Mario Gomez's late strike had given Louis van Gaal's men victory and an away goal in the first leg but Samuel Eto'o cancelled out Bayern's advantage after just three minutes. Gomez and Thomas Muller put the hosts 3-1 up on aggregate but a second-half goal from Wesley Sneijder and 88th minute winner from Goran Pandev sent Inter through on away goals. Goran Pandev (right), pictured having a shot, scored Inter Milan's winning goal against Bayern Munich late on . Middlesbrough 4-1 Basle (Agg 4-3), UEFA Cup semi-final, April 6, 2006 . Middlesbrough made a habit of dramatic comebacks in their successful run to the UEFA Cup final in 2006 but this was perhaps the best. Steve McClaren's men were 2-0 down from the first leg and trailing 1-0 on the night before two goals from Mark Viduka, another from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and a last minute strike by Massimo Maccarone sent them through. Boro produced another brilliant come-from-behind win in the semi-finals, seeing off Steaua Bucharest 4-2 on aggregate after being 3-0 down 24 minutes into the second leg. Massimo Maccarone smashes the ball into the back of the net in the last minute to complete Boro's comeback . Barcelona 1-4 Metz (Agg 5-6), UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, 1984 . No French TV or radio stations bothered to send anyone to this game after Barcelona's comfortable 4-2 victory in the first leg in France. But after going 1-0 down on the night Metz rallied, scoring four unanswered goals to sensationally beat Barca at the Nou Camp and progress to the second round 6-5 on aggregate. Striker Tony Kurbos netted a hat-trick as Bernd Schuster was left to rue his words after the first leg when he offered to 'give the Metz players some ham to thank them for all the presents they’ve given to us tonight'. Valencia 5-0 Basle (Agg 5-3 after extra-time), Europa League quarter-final, April 10, 2014 . Paco Alcacer was the hero for Valencia as they overturned a three-goal first leg deficit to reach the last four of the Europa League. The talented striker netted either side of an Eduardo Vargas strike as the hosts forced an extra 30 minutes following their 3-0 defeat in Switzerland. Alcacer completed his hat-trick in the 113th minute before Juan Bernat wrapped things up with just a couple of minutes to play against nine-man Basle. Paco Alcacer celebrates one of his three goals against Basle in the Europa League quarter-finals . Real Madrid 4-0 Borussia Monchengladbach (Agg 5-5), UEFA Cup third round, 1985 . Real Madrid appeared on the brink of exiting the UEFA Cup at the third round stage after being thrashed 5-1 in the first leg in Germany. But Los Blancos turned things around at the Bernabeu as braces from Jorge Valdano and Santillana meant the hosts progressed on away goals. Real Madrid went on to the lift the trophy after a two-legged victory over Videoton of Hungary. Barcelona 4-0 AC Milan (Agg 4-2), Champions League last 16, March 12, 2013 . Another stunning display from Lionel Messi helped Barcelona overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat as they thrashed AC Milan 4-0 at the Nou Camp. David Villa's 55th minute strike proved decisive as Jordi Alba added gloss to the scoreline with a goal just before the final whistle. Barca progressed to the semi-finals after beating Paris Saint-Germain but were then humiliated by Bayern Munich, losing 7-0 on aggregate. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi scores his second goal in side's 4-0 win against AC Milan in March, 2013 . +Newcastle will watch FC Sion striker Moussa Konate in action today as they consider a summer move. The 21-year-old Senegal international, who is due to line up against Young Boys of Berne, has scored six goals in 14 games this season and Newcastle head of recruitment Steve Nixon is due to take a closer look. Konate first attracted English clubs' interest while playing for his country's Olympic side in 2012 where he scored five goals in four games and finished as the tournament's second top scorer. Newcastle United are sending their scouts to check on FC Sion striker Moussa Konate this weekend . English clubs West Ham, Fulham and Aston Villa have tracked Konate, who was on loan at Genoa last season . West Ham, Fulham and Aston Villa have all tracked his career at various stages. Newcastle have checked on Aleksandar Mitrovic at Anderlecht, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund, Marseille's Andre Ayew and Burnley's Danny Ings but fear they could miss out on all in the summer and are weighing up alternatives. Konate is quick and 6ft tall. He can play on either wing and as a central striker and replaced West Ham's Diafra Sakho in Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations squad. Newcastle have checked on Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (left, wearing a Batman mask) +Reading have signed former Fulham, Aston Villa and Bolton defender Zat Knight on a free transfer until the end of the season. Knight, who has two England caps, started his career at Fulham before making a £3.5million move to Villa in August 2007. He had been training at Watford in recent weeks but they opted not to make him a contract offer. However, Steve Clarke decided to give him a chance. Reading have 10 games left in the Championship as well as an FA Cup quarter-final replay. Zat Knight has moved to Reading on a free transfer after a short spell with MLS side Colorado Rapids . 'With the team currently in the middle of a really hectic schedule, I felt it was prudent to bring another experienced defender to help share the load,' Royals manager Steve Clarke told the club website. 'When I heard that Zat was back in the UK and looking for a club, I felt he would be a perfect fit.' The 34-year-old joined Bolton for £4m in July 2009 but left at the end of last season and had a brief spell with Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer. The former Aston Villa defender had been training with Watford but they decided against signing him . +Fernando Alonso paid an unexpected visit to McLaren’s factory in Woking on Monday as he prepares for his potential return in the Malaysian Grand Prix a week on Sunday. The double world champion, who was concussed in an unexplained testing accident in Barcelona last month, spoke to senior engineers during his trip. ‘He seemed in good spirits and is confident he can race in Kuala Lumpur,’ said a source within the factory. Alonso also talked through the data from the accident. Fernando Alonso was pictured with Eric Boullier at McLaren's headquarters in Woking on Tuesday . Fernando Alonso waves as he leaves hospital in Barcelona at the end of last month . Alonso and girlfriend Lara Alvarez are seen arriving in Oviedo from Barcelona hospital in February . Alonso, seen on a stretcher in a helicopter, suffered concussion from a pre-season crash in February . The 33-year-old will return to the factory – officially called the McLaren Technology Centre – this week to drive the simulator, probably on Thursday. A spokesman for the team confirmed to Sportsmail that he would spend a day on the high-tech machine, which would be set to replicate the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. It is the usual procedure for their drivers to go in the simulator before any race. However, Alonso must be cleared by the FIA’s doctors before he can get in the car again. A date for those tests has yet to be set, though they could take place in the paddock a week on Thursday. McLaren driver Fernando Alonso posted this picture showing the results of his gym work out regime . The 2005 and 2006 World Champion is all smiles with McLaren chairman Ron Dennis last December . The Spaniard spent three days in hospital after the accident and returned for further scans, but was not allowed to take part in the opening race of the season in Australia last Sunday. His place was taken by Kevin Magnussen, whose car gave up on him before the lights went out. Alonso, who is paid £27million a year, has returned to the gym to get ready for his return. Driving the simulator will allow him to restore his confidence after the discombobulating crash. His return would boost McLaren, who were last of the finishers at the weekend through Jenson Button – an even worse team display than they were expecting. +From abseiling onto traffic-jammed roads to fitness training on city pavements, ISIS' newest video shows its 'elite' Special Forces squadron in action. The comical eight-minute video shows them practicing forced entries on unlocked doors, rappelling down the sides of buildings and bizarrely using large logs to help each other up walls. And the lack of a formal base does not deter the hapless extremists who make do with the side of a busy road in an unknown Middle East location. 'Special': One recruit struggles to free himself from the rope he traversed down in a new video showing ISIS' elite fighting unit . Tactical training: With no formal base to hone their deadly skills, the extremists make do with main roads in an unknown Middle Eastern location . Teamwork: Extremist soldiers undergo strange training scnearios in the eight-minute propaganda video which shows the soldiers helping each other up walls with a log . Tight squeeze: After his overweight colleague throws a flash-bang grenade into this abandoned house, a Jihadi soldier takes the unusual entry route through the window . Taskmaster: The soldiers' commander - dressed completely in black - forces them to crawl on pavements as he literally walks all over his recruits . Death-defying: The militants practice high-octane manoeuvres like rappelling down tall buildings in unison to show off their military prowess . Showboating: One soldier shows off by displaying the black Jihadi flag as he hangs upside down, hundreds of feet above the ground below . Here the recruits are moulded into the terror group's deadliest soldiers by a commander who makes them army crawl on pavements and - literally - walks all over them. One sheepishly looks to the camera as his colleague kicks open an unlocked gate and another seems to lose his balance as he kneels to take his position inside. And there is little secrecy about this Special Forces unit who train in front of hundreds of bemused onlookers. A triumphant soldier even showboats to the crowd below by holding up the notorious black flag used by Islamist groups as he hangs upside down - hundreds of feet above the ground below. But one of his partners in terror struggles to free himself from the rope he traversed down, while some overweight soldiers look a little sluggish running through traffic. The formation of such a force is not a cause for concern according to former SAS soldier Andy McNab who described the footage as a 'very funny' PR film. The man who uses the name as a pseudonym to protect his identity told MailOnline: 'Just looking at the guys as they handle weapons... it is clear that not even regular soldiers have much to worry about from these guys.' And although Islamic State's aspiration to train a deadly Special Forces battalion is worrying, it is mostly a 'display of force for a local and international audience' according to Director of International Security Studies at security think-tank RUSI. Daring: One Jihadi soldier in army fatigues rappels upside down as hundreds of onlookers watch from below . Hardened: The 'Special Forces' unit's intensive training culminates in the recruits traversing a narrow and shallow river with their weapons . Show of force: Such public displays of dominance 'makes people both fear them, but also makes them an attractive force for people to want to go and join', one defence expert told MailOnline . Elite: Raffaello Pantucci from RUSI said the propaganda video is a chance for ISIS to glorify not only its tactics and soldiers - but the weapons it has seized . Leader: One ISIS commander - the only one not masked in the entire video - addresses the audience flanked by four menacing ISIS soldiers . Deadly: The ISIS soldiers - who trained in a busy Middle Eastern city - also carry out heavy weapons training in a slightly more remote location . Raffaello Pantucci told MailOnline: 'They are showing off their capabilities and captured equipment given the US issue M16 rifles on display. 'By showing off their men's ability, training and captured equipment, they are demonstrating that they are a strong force that is still in control of its territory and are an effective force. 'This makes people both fear them, but also makes them an attractive force for people to want to go and join.' Previous footage from Islamic State's training camps believed to be in Iraq showed recruits disguised as bushes. Other drills involved the extremists performing unnecessary forward rolls over mounds which would leave them far more exposed to enemy fire than keeping low with a commando crawl. While in some scenes, the recruits have a crack at martial arts by taking it turns to smash wall tiles over their own heads. The terror group, which has been determined to portray itself as a formal military force, showed off its 'sniper battalion' in a much more threatening display in late February. Through its vast social media channels, it released pictures of bearded and clean-shaven men posing with long-range sniper rifles in northern Iraq. Sharpshooters: In later February, the militant group has revealed pictures of its special 'sniper battalion' (pictured) Violent legacy: Islamic State Twitter accounts are linking the sniper battalion to a famous Iraqi sniper . Believes to be a propagandist reply to the hit US film American Sniper, the fighters were kitted out in khaki uniforms, peaked caps and ski goggles to protect them from the glare of the sun. The unit is part of the Ninewa Division of northern Iraq according to US-based Jihadi tracking organisation SITE. ISIS snipers have seen action in both Syria and Iraq where they have been responsible for the deaths of many Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers. They played a prominent role in the battle for Kobane which involved intense street fighting even though the extremists were eventually expelled from the city. ISIS Twitter accounts were quick to link the battalion to a famous Iraqi sniper who plagued American forces during the Iraqi conflict. One said the unit was carrying on the legacy of 'Juba the Sniper' - a Sunni insurgent who operated in Baghdad from 2005 where he is said to have killed around 40 American soldiers. +A father in Pittsburgh sought on his own revenge on his daughter's accused rapist. Dustin Moffat, 32, has been accused of raping the young girl multiple times in 2011 when she was just 13, and uploading videos of the act online. He was arrested on Tuesday and charged, and later that day, with a news crew outside Moffat's home, the father of the alleged victim came by and destroyed his car. Scroll down for video . Dustin Moffat (above) has been accused of raping a girl in 2011 when she was just 13-years-old and posting the videos online . Moffat was arrested on Tuesday morning, and later that day the alleged victim's father destroyed his car (above) A television news crew waiting outside Moffat's house filmed the entire incident . According to WTAE, the alleged victim  said that Moffat knew she was only 13-years-old at the time and that 'he would wait for her to get off the school bus and that he allegedly threatened to hurt her if she told anyone, claiming that he slapped and choked her.' Authorities discovered the young girl while investigating other cases involvoing Moffat, and 'used evidence lifted from Mocospace, a mobile game community, after the suspect uploaded the acts to the site.' Moffat has also been accused of abuse and stalking by two ex-girlfriends, who both filed protection from abuse orders against him. He is now facing charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and sexual exploitation of children. He has also had his own daughter since this alleged incident occurred. Moffat's car was left destroyed by the time the man was done . Since the alleged attack took place, Moffat has had a daughter of his own (above) 'We're not friends with the guy. He seems like a normal Joe. You always hear that on the news. I had no sixth sense about it. Nothing like that,' said neighbor Steve Patton. As for Micki Golden, who lives in the house right next to Moffat and has twin girls who are 12-years-old, she said; 'I'm appalled. He lives right there. No, I can't have that.' +Formula One champion and Australian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton has responded to calls for changes to tackle Mercedes' dominance by saying other teams need to hire some better people. Hamilton's world championship defence got off to a flying start on Sunday with a crushing victory for Mercedes in the season-opening Melbourne race as F1 rivals succumbed to a farcical rash of reliability problems. Pole-sitter Hamilton started from a grid reduced to 15 cars from a possible 20 and cruised to his 34th race win with a 1.3sec gap to runner-up team-mate Nico Rosberg. Lewis Hamilton celebrates his Australian GP win in front of second-placed Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel . Hamilton stormed to victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix following a dominant performance . Nico Rosberg followed Hamilton home as Mercedes picked up where they left off with total domination . By the time fans were heading out of Albert Park, Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko was discussing the possibility of billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz falling out of love with the sport and leaving. Appearing on an afternoon TV show in Sydney on Tuesday, Hamilton agreed that Mercedes' dominance had caused controversy and responded to suggestions of a possible Red Bull withdrawal by saying all the other teams could do better. 'It's very interesting to hear that when they dominated for four years, big time. They've not had a good couple of years - they didn't do so bad last year. Hamilton and Rosberg (right) shake hands after Mercedes pair finished more than 30 seconds ahead of third . Helmut Marko (left, with former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel) says the team will evaluate the situation . 'But you've seen a real big improvement from Ferrari, they've actually overtaken Red Bull and Williams have made a really big step and I think you're going to have to watch them really closely this year. 'There's a lot of potential, particularly in the rules for them to make big steps and close the gap. So we still have a fight on our hands,' said Hamilton. There have been suggestions that F1 is too technical and complicated. but Hamilton did not agree. 'It's not for us...So you've got to hire some better people I guess. Ultimately it's a test and a challenge of evolution, of innovation and we've hired great people to - and we've done a great job and we weren't complaining when they were doing.' Red Bull chief Christian Horner is concerned that Mercedes dominance will be unhealthy for the sport . Horner's Red Bull team won consecutive titles between 2010-2013 with Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel . Asked if criticism was just 'sour grapes', the British champion said: 'I'm not going to get into the political side of things, I just drive. I'm really grateful for, for what Mercedes have done as a team. 'There's over 1,000 people in our team who've done an amazing job, and the car's fantastic - best car I've ever driven, so happy with it and I want to really grab the opportunity with both hands and do the best job I can.' Asked if Mercedes' domination of Sunday's race was boring, Hamilton replied: 'Definitely wasn't for me!' +This is the moment a pair of skydivers dramatically set fire to their petrol-soaked parachute canopies sending them plummeting to earth at 120 miles per hour. Alex Aimard and his friend Petter Jonsson leapt from a plane over Eloy in Arizona armed with a parachute doused in kerosene, a flare gun and a Go Pro camera. And after deploying their parachutes, the pair then pull out the guns during their descent to set fire to their canopies. Alex Aimard aims his flare gun at his petrol-soaked parachute after jumping out of a plane over the Arizona . The fire from the gun causes the parachute to ignite and causes a blaze in the Mr Aimard's canopy . With just seconds to react and release the now flaming parachutes before the fire travelled down cords to their bodies, the pair free themselves. But luckily they also have an emergency parachute, meaning they then glide safely to the ground. The pair, who are both experienced professional skydivers and BASE jumpers, had meticulously planned the dangerous stunt, which took place earlier this year. Mr Jonsson, from Sweden, said: 'I was so focused on my task that I didn't have time to be scared or think about what could have gone wrong.' The fire then takes hold and starts to travel down the cords to their bodies meaning Mr Aimard has to quickly free themselves . After being freed, Mr Aimard then deploys his emergency parachute so he can glide safely back to the ground . While Mr Aimard, from France, added: 'Petter jumped first so when I exited the plane I saw something that I will never forget - a big cloud of smoke made by the explosion of his chute. 'It was like being part of a Rambo movie for real.' The duo had been taking part in a two-week online project called Living the Dream, when they travelled to Utah and Arizona to perform the sky dives. The potentially deadly fire stunt took place on the last day of their trip. Mr Aimard explained: 'We struggled with the weather conditions and the project was on hold for a few days due to a strong wind, which gave us plenty of time for preparation. 'When the wind finally slowed down, everything happened in a couple of hours. Petter Jonsson then attempts the stunt and shoots the kerosene soaked parachute with the flare gun . With the parachute in flames,  Mr Jonsson then starts plummeting to earth at more than 120mph . But despite the dangerous stunt Mr Jonsson makes it safely back down to the ground thanks to his emergency parachute . 'Skydiving itself is not without danger and flying in a plane with two big buckets full of gas and two flare guns doesn't decrease the risk. 'You can imagine a lot of things going wrong but with fine tuned preparation there was no room for doubt or uncontrolled fear.' But despite the stunt receiving praise from fellow skydiving professionals, there was some online criticism. But Mr Aimard explained: 'Globally the response was very positive, but we got a couple of messages complaining about the pollution and how immature it was to do that. 'And I kind of agree, I guess this is why it was so much fun.' +A nanny in Argentina is facing child abuse charges after she was secretly filmed hitting a baby and then stealing his food. The footage shows 25-year-old Eve Mantaras slapping and backhanding the cowering two-year-old, who is sat in his high chair. She then takes a plate of food that is meant for him and sits down to eat it in front of the hungry boy. Scroll down for video . The secret footage shows the two-year-old boy begin to cower as nanny Eve Mantaras approaches him . She then starts to hit the boy as he sits in his high chair at the table in the family home in Argentina . The toddler's mother Cristina Ceril had installed the secret camera in the family home in the city of Parana in the north east of Argentina and linked it to her smartphone. It came after she discovered a series of bruises on the youngster. Meanwhile neighbours had also warned her that the toddler and his 10-year-old sibling were often heard screaming and were seen in tears on days when they were left alone with the nanny. Mrs Ceril said: 'We would sometimes hear her with our son crying very early in the morning. 'It now makes my blood run cold to think what she might have been doing.' The toddler's mother Cristina Ceril installed the secret camera linked to her smartphone after discovering bruises on her son's body . As well as hitting the boy, the nanny also stole his food, despite the toddler being hungry and sat down and ate it in front of him . Police and prosecutors now say they footage will be used in evidence as Mantaras faces criminal assault and child abuse charges. The mother added: 'We always thought she was a bit lazy around the house but we never imagined for a second that she was violent too. 'She actually stole my son's food and then hit him for saying he was hungry. She is sick.' +Trekking through the dunes of the Sahara in 40 degree heat can be thirsty work even for camels. And one for one of the animals taking a long swig from a beer bottle was just what they needed to refresh themselves. The herd of camels were on a trek across the Erg Chebbi dunes in Morocco, where one of the group was snapped having a refreshing drink. A camel takes a swig from a beer bottle on a short refreshment stop while trekking across the Sahara desert . Tour guides filled the beer bottles with water for the camels to drink as temperatures reached as high as 40 degrees . But rather than swigging down beer the bottles had actually been filled with water by the guides for the camels to drink. Photographer Joao Victor Bolan, who captured the image, said: 'The picture where a camel drinks from a bottle, it was obviously just for fun. It was just water. 'They don't usually drink too often and while we were there, I hadn't seen any camel drinking. 'We only made a short stop - I would say not more than 15 minutes - but judging by how fast they drank it, I guess they were thirsty.' Mr Bolan travelled over 370 miles across the High Atlas mountain range from the Moroccan city of Marrakech to reach the sand dunes. The pictures were snapped by photographer Joao Bolan, who spent time trekking across the Erg Chebbi dunes in Morocco . The 26-year-old travelled with a guide and a friend and when they reached the dunes, they hired a total of six camels to help them explore the area. And while there, they experienced extreme temperatures ranging from soaring heat during the day to freezing temperatures around minus five late at night. Mr Bolan, from Sao Paulo, Brazil added: 'I was photographing the route from Marrakech to Erg Chebbi through the High Atlas region. The group experienced extreme temperatures on their trek ranging from soaring hear during the day to freezing temperatures at night . 'We stopped at a base camp for the dunes where we spent the night. 'Like any other desert, it was incredibly hot during the day and cold at night. 'Riding the camels was a little uncomfortable to be honest. 'After two hours, your back really starts to hurt but I would say that was a nice experience because it's a huge animal that goes on a paced rhythm in a majestic environment.' +From the London Eye to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, landmarks across the globe have been going green in honour of St Patrick's Day. Around 150 structures around the world are being floodlit with green light to mark the patron saint of Ireland's national holiday. Tourism Ireland are believed to have spent about €65,000 ob their Global Greening initiative which includes iconic landmarks such as Rome's Colosseum in Italy, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland and Leinster House in Dublin. While the Office of Public Works paid another €30,000 to turn buildings in Ireland green in the run-up to the celebrations. This year there is a whole collection of places taking part for the first time ever including the the Sacré Cœur basilica in Paris, Nelson's Column in London, and several buildings in Iceland. Tonight's illumintions will culminate a day of international St Patrick's Day celebrations which has includes parades in Dublin, New York and scores of other cities. In the UK, Prince William and his heavily pregnant wife, Kate, marked the day by presenting shamrocks to soldiers from the Irish Guards at the barracks in Aldershot. While in the emerald isle itself, hundreds of thousands of people lined the nearby route of the Dublin parade, the culmination of a four-day festival featuring music and dance performances, pub crawls, cultural tours and street arcadesIn the US, which is home to more than 40 million who claim Irish descent, their flagship parade down Fifth Avenue in New York brought the city to a halt. The London Eye casts an eerie green reflection across the Thames as it is illuminated in green to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland's national holiday (left) while the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Italy is one of around 150 buildings worldwide that will be lit up this evening to celebrate Ireland's patron saint (right) Landmark buildings across the world have been floodlit green as global celebration of St Patrick's Day, including the Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Wales . Tourism Ireland spent about €65,000 on greening more than 120 buildings and monuments worldwide, including the Government buildings in Dublin . The Colosseum in Rome, Italy has agreed to take part and be floodlit with green lights for the first time ever to celebrate St Patrick's Day . Edinburgh Castle looks ghostly all lit in green for the Tourism Ireland's Global Greening annual initiative which aims to cast the world's most famous places in green light . Edinburgh Airport control tower in Scotland is illuminated as Tourism Ireland praised the 'impressive' line-up of landmarks taking part in the fun (left) and some places taking part for the first time ever include the Colosseum in Rome, the Sacré Cœur basilica in Paris, and Nelson's Column in London (right) Glasgow's SSE Hydro Arena and Armadillo looks alien in bright green light, reflected from the water in the initiative to mark the national holiday of the Emerald Isle . Leinster House in Dublin is illuminated in green to mark a day of international St Patrick's Day celebrations which has includes parades in Dublin, New York and scores of other cities . Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin takes on a Gothic air thanks to the green floodlights below which pick out the building's features, watched over by a person in a devil-horned hat . The annual Global Greening initiative has gone from strength to strength from its beginning in 2010, with just the Sydney Opera House going green, to this year, when about 150 landmark buildings and iconic sites across the world will turn a shade including The Convention Centre in Dublin . The Office of Public Works is said to have paid €30,000 to turn Irish buildings green in the run-up to the Patrick's Day celebrations today . It is believed that Tourism Ireland had to pay the London Eye, on the bank of the Thames in central London, a staggering €6,500 to be illuminated . The outter walls and tower at the city hall in Munch, Germany, were flooded with green light earlier today to mark St Patrick's Day . The day was also being celebrated in Belgrade in Serbia today where the Ada Bridge on the Sava river was lit up with green lights . Cars pass by the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria, as the building is lit up in green in celebration of St. Patrick's day this evening . Sea of green: Thousands of people pulled on green hats and clothing for the annual St Patrick's Day Parade in the heart of Dublin today . Bottoms up: Five friends, dressed in green hats suits and sunglasses, raise their glasses as they begin festivities in central Dublin . The Dublin St Patrick's day parade created a sea of green as it made its way down O'Connell Street towards St Patrick's Cathedral . Hair raising: A woman with a bright green St Patrick's themed wig smiles as she prepares to take pictures of the spectacular parade today . Dressed to impress: The parade featured a series of stunning acts including these three performers in giant dresses waving to the crowds . Thousands of people took to the streets of Belfast with many waving green flags as they prepared to celebrate St Patrick's Day in style . Performers lap up the applause as they take part in a parade through the centre of Belfast in Northern Ireland this afternoon . Some of the performers dressed up in colourful sweet outfits as they took part in a stunning parade in Dublin today . +David Duckenfield has admitted that his failure was a direct cause of the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans at the Hillsborough disaster . The police match commander in charge of Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest in 1989 has admitted that his failure to close a tunnel was the direct cause of the deaths of 96 fans at the Hillsborough disaster. During the inquest into the deaths today, David Duckenfield also admitted that he 'froze' on the day in question, while Paul Greaney QC suggested that a child of 'average intelligence' could have realised the consequences of opening a gate to relieve congestion. Up to 2,000 fans entered Hillsborough stadium's Gate C, with many heading straight for a tunnel in front of them which Mr Duckenfield had not ordered to be closed. They then continued to the already full central pens on the terrace which led to the fatal crushing. Mr Greaney reminded Mr Duckenfield of his earlier evidence to Christina Lambert QC, counsel for the inquest, about his state of mind after the opening of Gate C when he told her: 'It was a momentous decision and your decision is such that you do not think of the next step. My mind for a moment went blank.' Asked again if he 'froze', Mr Duckenfield said: 'It appears to be a distinct possibility.' Mr Greaney said: 'You know what was in your mind and I will ask just one last time. Will you accept that in fact you froze?' Mr Duckenfield responded: 'Yes sir.' Mr Greaney went on: 'Do you agree with the following, that people died in a crush in the central pens?' Mr Duckenfield said: 'Yes sir.' Mr Greaney said: 'That if they had not been permitted to flow down the tunnel into those central pens that would not have occurred?' The witness repeated: 'Yes sir.' Liverpool supporters were crushed to death during an FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest in 1989 . Liverpool supporters and family members of the victims of the disaster have long sought justice . The barrister continued: 'That closing the tunnel would have prevented that and therefore would have prevented the tragedy.' Mr Duckenfield said again: 'Yes sir.' Mr Greaney said: 'That you failed to recognise that there was a need to close that tunnel.' Mr Duckenfield said: 'I did fail to recognise that sir.' Mr Greaney said: 'And therefore failed to take steps to achieve that.' Mr Duckenfield replied: 'I did sir.' A young Liverpool fan is carried away from the danger as supporters are forced on to the Hillsborough pitch . Mr Greaney said: 'That failure was the direct cause of the deaths of 96 persons in the Hillsborough tragedy.' Mr Duckenfield said: 'Yes sir.' Earlier Mr Duckenfield had claimed he was unaware of the geography of Sheffield Wednesday's ground, this being his first match in charge, and denied that he 'bottled it'. Mr Greaney, representing the Police Federation, put it the retired police chief: 'Do you agree that never mind a competent match commander it might only take a child of average intelligence to realise what the consequences of your actions might be?' Thousands of Liverpool fans hold up scarves during a Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield last year . Mr Duckenfield replied: 'I did not think of it on the day, sir, because of the pressure I was under.' Mr Greaney asked: 'Is the explanation of your failures Mr Duckenfield not that you were ignorant of the geography for example but rather that you knew the geography, you knew what the consequences might be of people entering the crowd but you simply froze?' The witness replied: 'I am not in a position to make that judgment, sir. Others should make that judgment.' Mr Greaney continued: 'You bottled it. You panicked and you failed to take the action that you knew needed to be taken to avoid consequences that you had foreseen. Now does that describe your state at the time?' Mr Duckenfield said: 'I disagree with you sir.' A shirt of local rivals Everton is among thousands of flower tributes laid at Anfield shortly after the disaster . 'Why?' asked Mr Greaney. Mr Duckenfield said: 'Because that's my view.' The barrister said: 'Why is it your view?' Mr Duckenfield said: 'Because it is my view and there can be no other view than mine.' Mr Greaney said: 'Do you accept that might thought to be a rather arrogant thing to say?' The witness replied: 'Sir I apologise. If that appears arrogant I didn't mean that to be so.' The inquests have heard that Mr Duckenfield told the 1989 Taylor Inquiry into the disaster that he had made the right decisions on the day but he now accepted that he had made errors - some of which were 'grave'. Chair of the Hillsborough Families For Justice, Margaret Aspinall, arrives at the inquest last week . He has told the jury that his serious failings were due to his lack of experience and that others also played their part in the cause of the deaths. Mr Duckenfield agreed with Mr Greaney that it was 'totally unacceptable' that a match commander 'did not have a grip on the geography of that ground sufficient to enable you to understand the consequences of your decision making'. He also accepted that when giving evidence to Lord Justice Taylor it appeared that he was aware that the congested Leppings Lane turnstiles did lead to the central tunnel. Mr Duckenfield said he did not want to go into detail about his 'personal circumstances' - he has previously said he suffered post-traumatic stress - but it may have been he was 'confused' when giving evidence in 1989. Supporters pay their respects to the deceased at the Anfield gates in Liverpool after the disaster in 1989 . Mr Greaney said: 'The other possibility that I put to you is that you did at the time know much more about the geography of that ground and you are seeking to conceal that knowledge from this jury.' Mr Duckenfield said: 'I can assure you, sir, I had no idea where fans would go from A to G (turnstiles) or the opening of Gate C.' Mr Greaney pointed out that Mr Duckenfield could have looked at a plan of the ground layout in the police control box before opening the gate at 2.52pm and that he could have consulted a fellow senior colleague with greater experience of the ground. A memorial service is held at Liverpool's Anfield ground on the April 15, 1989 anniversary of the disaster . The barrister told the court that another officer who was in the control box, who was operating the CCTV cameras, had earlier told the jury that he thought Mr Duckenfield was 'not a leader in that control room during that critical period'. Mr Greaney asked Mr Duckenfield: 'Do you agree that (the officer) was describing a match commander who had frozen?' Mr Duckenfield said: 'It is a possibility, sir, but that is his view and I cannot comment further.' Mr Greaney said: 'Can you not tell us whether on that day in that situation you simply froze?' The witness replied: 'Sir, I think it is fair to say that we were all in a state of shock.' Duckenfield agreed with Greaney that it would be 'disgraceful' and 'cowardly' to shift blame for his failings . Mr Greaney said: 'You were the one whose job it was to get past any feelings of shock, do you agree?' Mr Duckenfield said: 'Yes, sir, but I am human.' Mr Greaney said: 'Do you agree that you failed to offer any true leadership in that situation on that day?' The witness replied: 'That is not my view.' Earlier, Mr Duckenfield agreed with Mr Greaney that it would be 'disgraceful' and 'cowardly' to try to shift blame for his own failings to officers under his own command. The retired chief superintendent of South Yorkshire Police has previously said he had expected police officers on the perimeter track of the ground and those in the West Stand overlooking the Leppings Lane terrace pens to have kept an eye on monitoring the filling of them. But he accepted they had no received formal instructions to do so. The Hillsborough Memorial at Anfield has been relocated during the redevelopment work on the stadium . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +The extreme and potentially lethal game of Russian roulette has been reinvented with Taser guns taking the place of the previously used live ammunition. The updated version of the game was founded by Valeriy Eshenko, and is rapidly growing in popularity in the Russian city of Perm. Modelled on the original game, Valeriy’s version features Tasers with an amperage of 0.1W being used in the first round raising to 0.4W used in the last. Scroll down for video . The updated version of the game was founded in Russia and is rapidly growing in popularity in the city of Perm . Competitors stand in a circle of six and hold the Tasers to the hands, heads and necks of their fellow participants. They then twist the barrel, which holds a single cartridge, and pull the trigger to produce an electric shock. If a competitor winces then they are theatrically dead and out of the game. The Tasers that feature in the video are made from pneumatic gas pistols with real electro revolvers. Competitors twist the barrel of their guns in order to produce an electric shock and if someone winces they are theatrically dead and out of the game . The Tasers that feature in the video have are made from pneumatic gas pistols with real electro revolvers . Andrey Vejevitov, who can be seen participating in the game, says: ‘What does it feel like? It is a spasm, a muscle reduction. It is practically impossible to resist [reacting].’ Competitors aged between 18 and 40 are able to take part and are required to pay 200 roubles (around £2.20) for the experience. And if they are able to resist the urge to flinch under the increasing pain they could win a prize fund of 311342.50 roubles (around £3,400). The power of the Tasers raise with each progressing round from 0.1W in the first to 0.4W in the last . Michael Pashkov, another participant featured in the video, says: ‘I wanted to get an adrenaline rush and test myself. ‘I have never taken part in such games but I do extreme power [work outs] so I would like to get extreme here too. ‘I suppose that this game is very extreme and checks your male characteristics, staying power and of course your luck.’ Competitors stand in a circle of six in each round and hold the Taser guns to the hands, heads and necks of their fellow participants . The origins of Russian roulette are unclear, but one theory is that it started in the nineteenth century when Russian prison guards forced inmates to play. The term itself was invented by Georges Surdez who coined it in a short story of the same name published in Collier's magazine in 1937. A revolver, specifically a Russian Nagant M1895, is said by folklore to be a popular gun used in the infamous game. Competitors aged between 18 and 40 are able to compete for a chance to win a prize fund of 311342.50 roubles (around £3,400) +This is the world's longest hot tub that is so big that as well as relaxing in it you can also use it for swimming. The luxurious tub measures in at 12 metres, is intended to cater for eight people and is split into two sections. The first has a current which users can swim against as a way of keeping fit. The world's longest hot tub, which measures in at 12 metres and is intended to cater for up to eight people at a time . The tub is split into two sections, one designed for relaxation and another for exercise, To burn calories, users swim against a current . According to manufacturers swimming against he current can help a person burn 400 calories an hour and can be used by two people simultaneously. Meanwhile the second section has a steady flow of hot water to help relax the body and muscles and can sit six people at a one time. It also uses chromotherapy, an alternative treatment that uses coloured lights, which claims to help cure common ailments. It is said that the lights in the tub help to replenish, heal, develop and balance a person's enerfy after a swim against the current. It also comes with several other additional features such as an audio system and a waterfall. According to manufacturers swimming against he current can help a person burn 400 calories an hour and can be used by two people simultaneously . The hot tub also comes with several other additional features such as an audio system and a waterfall and uses chromotherapy, a form of alternative therapy using colours . The Hot Tub BL-856 is priced at $73,000 and is designed by Italian company Beauty Luxury. It comes with a ready-to-use with an outer stainless steel frame, that comes in five finishes and 18 different colours. The tub can also be installed as it comes or buried with the ground. +Former football coach Shane Hughes, who is accused of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl . A former Chelsea children's football coach has appeared in court accused of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl. Shane Hughes, who is believed to have worked for the Premier League club's Community Foundation, faces 14 counts of raping the girl. The alleged rapes dates back to 2011 and relate to one female victim, who is now aged 16. The 30-year-old, wearing a blue suit, with a white shirt and no tie, stood emotionless in the dock while Guildford Crown Court heard the charges laid out against him. Judge Christopher Critchlow said the charges against Hughes relate to when he was a football coach. He explained: 'These are allegation concerning his role as a football coach and what he did in that capacity.' The court was also told that Hughes, of Lenham in Kent will deny the charges against him. Gordon Ross, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant at the moment faces 14 charges of rape in relation to a claimant under the age of 13. 'The incidents date back to 2011 and thereafter. 'The early indication is that this will be a contested matter with a complete denial of any sexual activity.' Hughes was granted conditional bail to return to Guildford Crown Court on May 22 for a plea and case management hearing. An order was made banning Hughes from contacting the alleged girl victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Hughes was granted conditional bail at Guildford Crown Court, pictured, and will return on May 22 for plea case management . Formed in 2010, the Chelsea Foundation is an independent charity working within the community, which includes coaching courses for children. The club have declined to comment on the case but a source told the Sun on Sunday: 'He had worked for the foundation and not for the club or its youth set-up directly.' The case continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Liverpool defender Glen Johnson looks certain to leave Anfield when his contract expires this summer as he looks at clubs which he feels could help 'turn around his career'. Johnson was a late substitute in Liverpool's 1-0 win over Swansea City on Monday night but is already looking for a new club despite Brendan Rodgers' attempts to keep hold of the England full back. It seems likely that Johnson will follow the example of fellow English full back Ashley Cole and opt for a move abroad when his deal expires, though there is a chance he could stay in the Barclays Premier League is the right move comes up. Glen Johnson (right) could be joining Steven Gerrard (left) out of Liverpool's exit door this summer . Brendan Rodgers has said he wants Johnson to stay but the 30-year-old is now looking at other clubs . Jonathan Barnett, Johnson's agent, says his client is looking for 'somewhere where he can turn around his career', indicating that the England right back does not see his long-term future in Merseyside. 'He's obviously looking for things at the moment. He's looking at many clubs,' Barnett said. 'Glen is obviously looking for somewhere where he can turn around his career. That's the most important thing for him. (Somewhere) where he can play nicely under a good club that's challenging for things. That is where he wants to be.' Serie A side Roma had been touted as one potential destination in a move that would see Johnson reunited with former England team-mate Cole, but Barnett says the club from the Italian capital are yet to get in touch. Johnson challenges Edinson Cavani during last summer's World Cup, but he has struggled this season . Johnson is free to talk to overseas clubs with less than six months remaining on his Liverpool contract . Johnson is free to talk to overseas clubs with less than six months remaining on his Liverpool contract. 'I can't really say if he is considering Roma, we've had no contact with Roma, although Rome would be a lovely place for him,' Barnett added, speaking to RomaPress. 'Ashley Cole absolutely adores it there, I represent him as well. Ashley thinks very highly of Rome but we've had no contact with Roma regarding Glen.' Johnson has played 21 times for Liverpool this season but has not started in the Premier League since the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on December 14. Ashley Cole (right) moved to Roma last summer and Johnson could join him in what is a 'lovely place' +A French baker has become embroiled in a racism row after selling dark chocolate cakes depicting an obese man and woman. Patissier Yannick Tavolaro has been selling the cakes, named Dieu and Desses (God and Goddess) in his shop in Grasse in the south of France for the past 15 years. They are made from chocolate to look like nude human figures, which have over-sized genitalia and breasts. Baker Yannick Tavolaro with the Dieu and Desses cakes he sells in his patisserie in the south of France, which have been branded racist . The Council of French Black Associations say the cakes are racist because they ridicule African religions . But the Council of French Black Associations (CRAN) has branded the pastries racist saying that they ridicule African religions after they were alerted to them by a member of the public. And now they are calling for Mr Tavlaro to take the cakes from the shelves of his bakery. In a statement the organisation's president Louis Georges Tin said: 'These cakes are inspired by colonial fantasies about black people with wide-eyed expressions, over-sized mouths and obligatory nudity. 'Worse still, considering their name, they ridicule African religions, presenting their divinities in a grotesque way, only good enough to be munched up.' The anti-racism group are calling for the cakes to be pulled from the shelves of Mr Tavolaro's bakery . But Mr Tavolaro says that in no way is he racists and that he only uses dark chocolate for the cakes because it is easier to work with . But Mr Travaloro is refusing to stop selling them, saying in no way are they racist and he only uses dark chocolate as it is easier to work with. He told Le Parisien: 'If they were racist, people wouldn't order them – the only thing people are offended by is the fact they’re black – if they were white nobody would mind. 'But black chocolate is easier to work with. 'People don’t know me – I’m being judged on these cakes. I’m not racist and nor are my customers.' Mr Tavolaro says he has been selling the cakes in his bakery in the town of Grasse for the past 15 years . Mr Tavolaro's supporters have now launched a Facebook campaign to show solidarity with the baker. The complaint by CRAN follows a similar case in France last year, where a chocolate maker changed the name of two of his specialties called 'Bamboula' and 'Negro'. The chocolate maker in Auxerre agreed to rename the chocolates, despite saying they were a centuries old tradition that actually paid tribute to Senegalese soldiers injured during the war and in no way racist. +Paris Saint-Germain defender Serge Aurier has apologised for his comments about referee Bjorn Kuipers after his side's Champions League clash with Chelsea. Aurier, currently out injured, is the subject of UEFA disciplinary action after posting a video on Facebook in which he labelled the Dutch official a 'dirty son of a b***h' in response to the dismissal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He will learn his fate on Thursday and showed remorse for his outburst in a series of posts on his Twitter account. Serge Aurier has apologised for his comments after his side's Champions League clash with Chelsea . After posting a video, Aurier is the subject of UEFA disciplinary action and will learn his fate on Thursday . Aurier now faces the prospect of a sanction from European football's governing body . Aurier, out injured for PSG's visit to Chelsea, said 'referee, dirty son of a b***h' on the video . Referee Bjorn Kuipers reaches for his pocket to send off PSG's Zlatan Ibrahimovic last Wednesday . 'I beg the pardon of Mr Kuipers, his assistants and all match officials for my reaction after the match at Chelsea,' Aurier wrote. 'My team-mates and myself are working to reinforce the image of Paris and France in European football. This negative image is obviously not what we want to send out. 'My passion for football and my frustration at being injured for such a match led to my reaction, which had no place in football. 'The job of the referees is not easy and I am sorry.' Ibrahimovic himself is facing a disciplinary hearing with the French league, also on Thursday, after aiming derogatory comments at Lionel Jaffredo as he left the field following PSG's 3-2 defeat to Bordeaux on Sunday. Marseille's Dimitri Payet could also face sanctions after another video, captured by Canal+, showed the France playmaker aiming expletives at the closed door of the match officials' dressing room following Sunday's goalless draw with Lyon. Zlatan Ibrahimovic swears loudly as he walks towards the changing room after PSG's defeat to Bordeaux . Ibrahimovic reacted angrily to the defeat and said it was the worst refereeing display he'd ever seen . The Swedish striker claimed that France doesn't deserve the Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain . +Sunderland winger Adam Johnson is keeping fit by training at his mansion with a coach from the club,Sportsmail understands. The 27-year-old, arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl, has been suspended by the Premier League strugglers pending the outcome of a police investigation. However, the Black Cats are sending a fitness coach to Johnson’s two-acre woodland pad to oversee private workouts. Adam Johnson, pictured with girlfriend Stacey Flounders,has had his bail extended until April 23 . The 27-year-old Sunderland winger was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl . The player is understood to have told Sunderland, who appointed Dick Advocaat as new manager on Tuesday following the dismissal of Gus Poyet, that he is innocent. And while publicly club officials moved to suspend him, privately they want to keep him fit in the event that he is cleared in time to join their fight against relegation. A source said: ‘There’s a fitness coach going pretty much every day. The idea is to keep him ready so that if the allegations are dropped he can go straight back into the side.’ The gates at Johnson's £1.85million were shut following his arrest earlier this month . Former Manchester City man Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland since his arrest . Johnson was arrested on March 2. Three unmarked police cars, a police van, several plain-clothes officers and a forensics team were seen at Johnson’s luxurious £1.85m house, close to a quiet hamlet in County Durham, and he was questioned at Peterlee police station before being bailed until March 18. That has now been extended and he will report back to police on April 23. Police officers raided dressing rooms at Sunderland's Stadium of Light as they investigate Johnson . Changing rooms at the club's Academy of Light training ground were also scoured by local police . As revealed by Sportsmail, as part of the probe, officers also turned up at the Stadium of Light and the 60-acre Academy of Light and scoured both dressing rooms as part of their hunt for evidence. All Sunderland staff were called to meetings following the arrest and warned away from posting anything about it on social media and from speaking to the press. Sunderland-born Johnson, whose long-time girlfriend Stacey Flounders gave birth to daughter Ayla Sofia in January, signed for the club for £10m from Manchester City in 2012. He has played 12 times for England. Peterlee Police Station in County Durham where Johnson was taken after he was arrested . Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United shortly before being arrested . Johnson, pictured playing against Switzerland in 2011, has 12 England caps to his name . Sunderland's players look lost during their 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday . VIDEO Sunderland appoint Advocaat as manager . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Adam Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland after his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and will miss Tuesday night's Premier League game at Hull City. Although he has not played for England for almost three years, Johnson has established himself as a Premier League winger having operated at Middlesbrough, Manchester City and Sunderland. Johnson has also commanded almost £20million in transfer fees during his career. Here,Sportsmail takes a look at his timeline. Adam Johnson has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl . 1987 . Born in Sunderland and brought up Easington, County Durham. 1995-1997 . A Newcastle fan, Johnson attends St James' Park school of excellence for two years. 1998 . After winning skill schools competition at Butlins, he dazzles in front of England legends Johnny Haynes and Emlyn Hughes in seven-a-side tournament at Wembley. Youngster scored two goals and Haynes tells him: 'You're a great little player, you've got a lovely left foot.' Johnson (front row, second from left) poses with school freinds and Gary Lineker as a child . 1999 . Johnson chooses to leave Tyneside to try his luck at Middlesbrough's academy after impressing scout Peter Kirkley. 2003/04 . Was Part of Middlesbrough's FA Youth Cup winning side. Future players Tony McMahon, Matthew Bates, David Wheater, Andrew Taylor, James Morrison, Seb Hines and Lee Cattermole also feature. 2005 . March: Makes senior debut for Boro in UEFA Cup tie at Sporting Lisbon. May: Signs professional terms at the club . September: Makes Premier League debut against Arsenal, and shines in Stewart Downing's absence during a 2-1 win at the Riverside. Makes England Under 19 debut against Belgium. The winger celebrates with George Boateng at Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup just after his breakthrough . 2006 . May: Scores first goal for the club, a deflected effort in a 1-1 draw away to Bolton Wanderers. Not involved in the UEFA Cup final against Sevilla. June: Signs four-year contract extension. October: Joins Leeds United on months loan and impresses despite club's struggles. Plays four times before returning to Middlesbrough. 2007 . August: England Under 21 bow comes against Romania. September: Joins Watford on three-month loan and nets five goals in 12 appearances. Recalled and becomes a regular at the Riverside. 2008 . Battles with in-form winger Stewart Downing for a first-team place at Middlesbrough, but still makes 32 appearances. However, Gareth Southgate's side are relegated from the Premier League later in the season. Johnson enjoyed a successful spell at Watford in the Championship, scoring five in 12 games . Johnson volleyed home an equaliser against Manchester United in the Carling Cup in 2008 but Boro lost 3-1 . Johnson relished life in the Championship, and was linked with several Premier League clubs . 2009 . Relishes life in the Championship at Boro, scoring 11 goals in 29 appearances. November: Voted for the North East Football Writers' Young Player of the Year award. Plenty of Premier League clubs eye his progress, including Sunderland. December: Johnson refuses to sign new contract. 2010 . January: Big-spending Manchester City pull off surprise £7m swoop for Johnson. City boss Roberto Mancini says: 'Adam is a very good player with fantastic potential, and as a club we are always keen to sign British talent.' February: Makes first start for City against Bolton alongside Carlos Tevez and Emmanuele Adebayor and is named man of the match. Scores first goal for club against Sunderland. England manager Fabio Capello publicly praises him. May: Handed first England cap in World Cup warm-up against Mexico at the age of 22. Named in provisional squad for tournament in South Africa - public angry when he wasn't selected. September: Scores two goals in two games for England, against Bulgaria and Switzerland respectively. Manchester City snapped up Johnson for £7m, and he was named man of the match in debut against Bolton . He became an England star shortly after his move to Man City, scoring a fine goal against Switzerland . Johnson lifted the FA Cup with Manchester City, but was about to fall out of favour under Roberto Mancini . 2011 . May: Finishes with four goals from 31 Premier League games for City, most of which from the bench. Comes on as a substitute as Mancini's side win the FA Cup after beating Stoke at Wembley. 2012 . May: Manchester City claim the Premier League in dramatic style, but the season is a frustrating one for Johnson. 26 league appearances see him seek a move elsewhere. On standby for Euro 2012. August: Sunderland sign winger for £10m, and hand Johnson a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light. December: Scores winner against former club Man City on Boxing Day. Johnson's last England cap came against Italy in Bern in August, 2012 . The Sunderland winger scored the winner against former side Man City on Boxing Day in 2012 . 2013 . May: Finishes debut season with the Black Cats with five goals in 35 games. September: Loses place in the side under Paolo di Canio. Italian boss is sacked shortly after. 2014 . January:  Nets a hat-trick in a 4-1 away win over Fulham. He said after taking the match ball as a memento: 'These days don't come along too often unless you're Messi or Ronaldo, so it was nice for me to get that ball as a souvenir to look back on. 'This is up there with one of my best days of my career along with playing for England, scoring for England.' He was awarded the Barclays Player of the Month award that month and tipped for Three Lions recall. May: Sunderland stay up by the skin of their teeth, Johnson finishes with best goal tally in his Premier League career with eight. December: Scores winning goal away at Newcastle in derby and 'ssh's' the fans at St James' Park. Johnson celebrates with Craig Gardner at Old Trafford (left), and gestures after a hat-trick at Fulham (right) 2015 . January: Nets penalty at Man City but Sunderland eventually lose game 3-2. March: Johnson released on bail after he was arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16. The Sunderland winger is questioned by police after the allegation involving a girl who is believed to be 15, and is suspended by the club, pending the outcome of the police investigation. Johnson scored a lat-gasp winner for Sunderland against Newcastle at St James' Park in December . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Following a promotional tour which has spanned 13,000 miles in 10 days and visited eight countries on three continents, Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo come face-to-face for the final time in Dublin ahead of their UFC featherweight title showdown in Las Vegas on July 11. McGregor will be on home turf in the Irish capital and can expect a warm reception as the trash talking between himself and his Brazilian opponent continues. Watch the press conference live here on Sportsmail from 6pm. The partisan Dublin crowd await the arrival of local hero Conor McGregor and title holder Jose Aldo . +By Tuesday evening, Conor McGregor will have travelled more than 13,000 miles in 10 days and visited eight countries on three continents. He has 14 weeks to prepare his challenge for the UFC featherweight title and will train for hundreds of hours before his date with destiny in Las Vegas on July 11. But he insists he will need just four minutes to dethrone champion Jose Aldo. Conor McGregor (right) stares out Jose Also ahead of their UFC world title showdown . The Irishman is confident of knocking Aldo out in the opening 'four minutes' when they meet in Vegas . McGregor and Aldo faced the media in London on Tuesday on the penultimate leg of their world tour which has taken in Rio, New York and Los Angeles among others. And the Dubliner said: 'I find the route to victory here. That's the key to victory here, when I hit people they do not survive. I map out my shot selection and put people away every time. 'Jose has got the basics down well. He's got the right hand, he's got the low kick; he can catch people but after that it's wild, it's sloppy and they escape. 'Look back at his career, you can see the shots remain the same. Then look at my career; my evolution is undeniable and I will continue to get better. McGregor did most of the talking during the press conference, insisting he was 'prepared to kill' Defending champion Jose Aldo has not been defeated in 10 years while defending his title eight times . 'He does not want it the way I want it. He doesn't want me around, he always wants separation but there will be no separation on July 11. 'I will show up prepared to kill. It will be decided in the first four minutes; he will be out on his feet. The shots I want to land will land and it will be a formality after that. How long he can take that is up to his chin. 'He has been through war after war after war, 25 minutes of getting hit. The brain does not recover, it does not get younger. I will hit him and I will hit him hard. It will be wrapped up within the first four minutes.' McGregor smiles as the pair's globetrotting tour that has visited three continents nears its end . McGregor takes in the sights from the London Eye on the penultimate stage of the world tour . McGregor also revealed he plans to dominate not just his current weight class but, in time, the lightweight division too. 'I definitely have my eyes on the lightweight division,' he added. 'I came into this company as a two-weight champion. I am the only Irishman, the only European to hold belts consecutively. 'Most certainly I'm looking to replicate that achievement on the biggest stage, the UFC. But there are plenty of featherweights who have spoken out of turn and who should have kept their name out of their mouth. 'When you speak my name in vain, no matter how many years down the line, I'm like an elephant, I never forget and I'll come and get you.' UFC president Dana White speaks at the pre-fight press conference in London . Aldo, who is unbeaten in 10 years and has made eight defences of his title, cut a quieter figure alongside his charismatic challenger. 'I don't fight for anyone else,' he said. 'I feel comfortable with this, I don't have any emotions. He can talk if he wants, he can do anything, the most important thing is to be the champion. 'I'm going to be well prepared and ready to end the fight as quickly as possible.' +Gareth Southgate was irritated. England had just put one over their oldest rivals in thrilling circumstances but something was gnawing away at the Under 21 head coach. For some reason, Southgate couldn’t get over the first 25 minutes at the Riverside Stadium, even though England had beaten Germany 3-2. England, he felt, were overawed by Germany who looked a team of stars, passing smoothly in tight areas, winning cute free-kicks and making their experience tell. They were doing everything their numbers suggested they would. The numbers? Norwich's Nathan Redmond, who scored England's second goal, deserves a Premier League return . Jesse Lingard levelled for England to make it 1-1 in Middlesbrough during an impressive victory . James Ward-Prowse hit the winner to give Gareth Southgate's men a tremendous win ahead of Euro 2015 . Nathan Redmond: West Ham and Stoke considered moves for the winger last summer. Should Norwich fail to get promotion, he might be going up any way. Danny Ings: Currently exploring his options with his deal at Burnley ending in June. Liverpool is his most likely destination. Luke Garbutt: Out of contract with Everton at the end of the season, Roberto Martinez is convinced he will sign a new deal. If he can’t, others will be on alert. Jack Butland: Just three FA Cup games is not enough for England’s No 3 keeper since returning to Stoke from his Derby loan. If Asmir Begovic doesn’t moves on, he might. Will Hughes: Some may think he is too lightweight but Hughes is an elegant player. If Derby don’t make the leap into the Premier League, others may try to entice him. Tom Carroll: Tottenham midfielder on loan at Swansea, a club that suits his style. He would benefit from making the switch permanent. The team Horst Hrubesch selected had 639 top-flight appearances between them; the squad’s combined number was a staggering 977. That figure would have been more than 1,100 had key players Bernd Leno and Kevin Volland not withdrawn through injury. Marc-Andre ter Stegen, the German goalkeeper, is only 22 but he is playing in the Champions League with Barcelona, Emre Can with Liverpool and Max Meyer’s goal against Maribor in December helped Schalke reach the last 16 of the Champions League. How does the top-flight experience of the England starting XI measure up? The figure is 230, the squad’s total is 389. It gives credence to the point FA chairman Greg Dyke has made about young English players not getting sufficient opportunities but when you see the impressive way they tore into Germany, it makes you wonder why some can’t break through the glass ceiling. Southgate has been deservedly praised for how he has handled things since taking over in September 2013 but a run of one defeat in 16 games — with 13 victories — is not solely down to the man in charge. Southgate was not happy with the first 25 minutes of England's match against their German counterparts . ‘We want to get the ball down and score lots of goals,’ said James Ward-Prowse, whose late goal defeated Germany. ‘It’s also down to players putting in the effort.’ Ward-Prowse is one of the luckier squad members. With 67 Barclays Premier League appearances, he was the most experienced starter against Germany and has benefited from being at Southampton, where youth is given its head. So what about the rest? Experts talk about a team’s spine but England had four players — goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, Ben Gibson, Jake Forster-Caskey and Will Hughes — in key positions who had never kicked a ball at the highest level. ‘I spoke to Oliver Bierhoff about what happened in Germany,’ John Barnes, the Liverpool and England legend, told Sportsmail two years ago. ‘The German Federation said in 2002 they needed young German players to be playing regularly for their clubs to help the national team. ‘All the clubs are German-owned, so they feel a responsibility to the national team. Bayern Munich had to be the drivers. The clubs had to go through a period of not winning anything in Europe but look at them now.’ Hughes has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs, most notably Liverpool, but nobody has taken the plunge. Skilful, elegant and thriving under Steve McClaren at Derby, he scored the goal against Croatia last October which secured England’s place at Euro 2015. Will Hughes is good enough to play in the PRemier League, despite his diminutive status . Danny Ings showcased his talents too, and he is looking likely to ply his trade away from Burnley . Jesse Lingard, who scored against Germany, is another who is benefiting from working with McClaren but the odds are against him getting regular game time at Manchester United after his loan spell. But if not United, why not somewhere else in the Premier League? Will anyone gamble on Nathan Redmond? The Norwich winger, who excelled against Germany, believes the Championship has toughened him up since his side were relegated last May and a good showing in the finals this summer will help him. Critics will argue they are not good enough or lack mental toughness but the way they played on Monday doesn’t back that up. Germany are the best team England have faced at this level since Spain at Euro 2011, when they were chasing shadows before scrambling a 1-1 draw with a late Danny Welbeck goal. The performance against Germany showed how much England have evolved and why they are genuine contenders to win the European Under 21 Championship, even if their numbers suggest they don’t have enough experience. ‘We’ve got good quality in the team,’ said Ward-Prowse. ‘The games will be different in the summer, but we can take a lot of confidence into the tournament.’ +Mark Cavendish has issued a typically blunt assessment of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission report into past practices of doping and suggested Lance Armstrong's charity return to the Tour de France 'could be done in a different environment'. CIRC was established to investigate whether the UCI, cycling's world governing body, was complicit in past doping practices, such as the Armstrong affair, which saw the American stripped of his seven Tour titles and banned for life. Some of the reports findings were scathing but, according to 2011 world champion and 25-time Tour stage winner Cavendish, little was revelatory. Mark Cavendish says there were few revelations in the Cycling Independent Reform Commission report . The 25-time Tour de France stage winner said the report was 'all the s*** that's been out there the last few years just compiled into the one document' Cavendish, speaking after announcing he'll compete in August's Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, said: 'To be brutally honest, I don't really think there's anything new in there. 'There's all the s*** that's been out there the last few years just compiled into the one document. 'People talk about the past of cycling like it's the present. It's a little bit frustrating; that would be an understatement. 'As long as cycling's cleaning up and I'm racing in a fair playing field in a sport I love, then I'll continue to be happy with that.' One unnamed but 'respected' professional cyclist told CIRC that 90 per cent of the professional peloton continues to dope, while another reported the figure was 20 per cent. Cavendish doesn't see much use in the report, commissioned by new UCI president Brian Cookson . Cavendish did not confirm if he had read the report in full or just the media dispatches which followed its publication earlier this month. He did not speak to CIRC and was unaware that riders could approach the commission to share their views. Asked if he felt the report represented the views of the modern peloton, Cavendish said: 'Absolutely not. I really don't. I wasn't asked at all to say anything. 'Ninety-five per cent of the peloton will know the one rider who will have said certain comments and the other five per cent won't have raced or known that rider, so couldn't comment on it. 'I think certain quotes from unreliable sources don't really mean anything and completely warp the sense of the whole process.' Armstrong plans to return to the Tour alongside former footballer Geoff Thomas, another cancer survivor. Lance Armstrong (left) plans to return to the Tour de France, the event for which he was stripped of seven titles due to doping, as part of a charity ride with former footballer Geoff Thomas . Thomas is riding the Tour route one day ahead of the professional peloton, which includes Cavendish, to raise funds for charity and has invited Armstrong to join him. Cavendish said: 'There's no denying what Lance did for charity; he did work a lot for charity. 'But maybe this situation could be done in a different environment.' +Liverpool and Manchester United met on Sunday and renewed hostilities in English football's greatest rivalry, but 100 years ago they were making headlines for all the wrong reasons in a scandal that shocked the nation. The events ultimately cost one player his life and left another broken. It was Good Friday, April 4 1915 and Britain was at war. As the two sides met, Manchester United were struggling to avoid relegation, while Liverpool were in mid-table. In an oddly tame affair, George Anderson put United 1-0 up before Liverpool defender Bob Pursell conceded a penalty yet United's Patrick O'Connell missed by some distance. Anderson added a second before Liverpool forward Fred Pagnam hit the crossbar and was seemingly chastised by teammates for trying to score. Sandy Turnbull (second row, third from right) sits next to Enoch West and Arthur Whalley sits on the left of the front row (all three are circled) The sparse 18,000 Old Trafford crowd, sensing something was awry, jeered and booed, the match referee and local reporters noted Liverpool's lack of commitment. United manager John Robson is alleged to have left the stadium in disgust. 'The second half was crammed with lifeless football,' reported The Manchester Daily Dispatch. 'United were two up with 22 minutes to play and they seemed so content with their lead that they apparently never tried to increase it. Liverpool scarcely ever gave the impression that they would be likely to score.' A fortnight later, handbills were circulated alleging that a large amount of money had been bet at odds of 7/1 on a 2–0 win to United. A suspiciously large number of bets had been made on that very scoreline causing odds to shorten to 4/1. The two points United won from the game were enough to earn them 18th place and safety. United with the three trophies they won in 1909. Turnbull is seated front right . The Sporting Chronicle published a notice from a bookmaker called 'Football King' who promised a substantial reward for information that would lead to punishment of the 'instigators of this reprehensible conspiracy'. It stated: 'We have solid grounds for believing that a certain First League match played in Manchester during Easter weekend was 'squared,' the home club being permitted to win by a certain score.' Mark Wylie, curator of the Manchester United museum, has been reflecting on the scandal this week as the 100th anniversary approaches with many questions still unanswered. 'Football was under intense scrutiny anyway, with it being wartime,' he said.' There had been so many complaints in the newspapers, in parliament, from the military, that professional football was being played while British soldiers, sailors and airmen were being killed, so the powers-that-be were anxious to see that football wasn't tarnished any further and they launched an investigation.' The Football League's lengthy delving found that players from both sides had been involved in rigging the match: Sandy Turnbull, Arthur Whalley and Enoch West of United, and Jackie Sheldon, Tom Miller, Bob Pursell and Thomas Fairfoul of Liverpool. United captain Charlie Roberts holding the FA Cup on the steps of Manchester Town Hall . They were accused of plotting the events during clandestine meetings at the Dog and Partridge pub in Stretford. Sheldon, a former United player, was found to be the plot's ringleader. Liverpool's Fred Pagnam and United's George Anderson had refused to take part; Pagnam had threatened to score a goal to ruin the result hence his teammates remonstrating with him when he hit the crossbar. He later testified against them and claimed Sheldon had offered him £3 in a taxi en route to the game. At the same hearing, United legend Billy Meredith denied any knowledge of the match-fixing, but said that he became suspicious when none of his teammates would pass the ball to him. Manchester United 2 Liverpool 0 (April 2, 1915) Anderson (2) MANCHESTER UNITED: Beale; Hodge, Spratt, Montgomery, O'Connell, Haywood, Meredith, Potts,  Anderson, West, Norton. Manager: Jack Robson . LIVERPOOL: Scott; Longworth, Pursell, Fairfoul, Bratley, MacKinlay, Sheldon, Banks, Pagnam, Miller,  Nicholl. Manager: Tom Watson. Attendance: 18,000. On December 23, 1915, the seven were banned from playing for life. Stockport County's Lawrence Cook, a first class Lancashire cricketer, and Manchester City's Fred Howard were also suspended for their part in placing bets. A distraught West, the only United player to have appeared in the game, protested his innocence and sued the FA for libel. 'It wasn't a glorious episode,' says Wylie. 'Players could see that football was changing. With the sport under such scrutiny amid wartime, it was pretty obvious that football in 1915/16 would be very different, if it happened at all. Summer wages were being abolished, so once you got to the end of April there would be no wages until the end of August, and it was still unclear what would happen the following season. They could see their livelihood going. That was supposed to be encouragement for players to do things for the war effort.' By the time their bans were handed down, the Football League had suspended operations for the duration of the First World War. It was suggested that if the men joined the armed forces their punishment would be rescinded. All except West, signed up. For Turnbull it was to have tragic consequences. The death certificate of Sandy Turnbull (right), featuring the memorial at Arras in France . A forward of great repute, Turnbull was a Boys' Own character who had joined United from Manchester City with Meredith. The fiesty Scot, pioneered the first footballers union and his 1909 FA Cup final winning goal prompted United's owners to build Old Trafford to herald a new dawn. Fittingly, Turnbull, who lived in Maine Road, scored United's first goal at the Theatre of Dreams. Yet following the betting scandal and facing a life without football, Turnbull went to war. Sadly, on May 3 1917, at the age of 33, Lance Sergeant Sandy Turnbull was killed during a muddled, unsuccessful night attack on German lines just east of Arras, France. His body was never found. He left a widow, Florence, and four young children. The FA gave him a posthumous reinstatement. All the other players, except West, had their bans lifted by the FA in 1919 in recognition of their service to the country. West, who had been good friends with Turnbull, had continued to fight a different battle, one to clear his name. In February 1916, when United and Liverpool played in a regional match, he took to standing outside Old Trafford handing out handbills: '£50 reward. To all whom it may concern: I, Enoch James West (late Manchester United), offer the above sum to be given to any Red Cross Fund if any person or persons can prove that I bet or won any money in any way over the match at Old Trafford, Manchester United v. Liverpool, on Good Friday, 1915, the said match over which I got suspended. (Signed) Enoch James West, 68 Railway Road, Old Trafford. West twice unsuccessfully attempted to sue the FA for libel and in 1918 was caught and banned again for playing under an assumed name for a club in Ireland. He was eventually pardoned under a general amnesty in 1945, by which time he was aged 59. He had served the longest ban in football and maintained his innocence until his death in 1965. His family carried on his fight. A book entitled 'Free the Manchester United One' by Graham Sharpe pleaded Enoch's case. On publishing, Sharpe said: 'I am confident that at the very least, I have established that there is little or no genuine evidence which can be interpreted as conclusive proof of the guilt of Enoch West as he was charged.' West's great grandson, Graham West, said: 'I would just like to set the record straight, Enoch 'Knocker' West was wrongly accused of match fixing and he protested his innocence till his death bed. Having been accused of this, it broke his heart, all he lived for was football. He died a broken man thanks to these accusations that were never proved.' Sadly, the full truth may now never be known. The Liverpool Daily Post reported: 'A more one-sided first half would be hard to witness.' The . Sporting Chronicle wrote 'The Liverpool forwards gave the weakest . exhibition in this half [the second] seen on the ground during the . season.' The Manchester Daily Dispatch reported, maybe most . tellingly: 'The second half was crammed with lifeless football. United . were two up with 22 minutes to play and they seemed so content with . their lead that they apparently never tried to increase it. Liverpool . scarcely ever gave the impression that they would be likely to score.' +With their skin stained white by clay and calcite sand, these elephants look like ghosts haunting the sun-drenched savannah. The unusual-looking animals were photographed by a watering hole in Namibia's Etosha National Park after cooling off from the blazing heat with a mud bath. Once the moisture dried, a residue of dry white calcite sand and white clay was left covering their leathery skin. Fun and frolics: Elephants play by a watering hole in Namibia's Etosha National Park after coating themselves with water made muddy by the region's white soil . 'Ghosts': The elephants are said to look like spectres after covering themselves with the water, which stains them white with a combination of white clay and calcite sand . Felix Reinders, 30, an industrial engineer from South Africa, captured the famous 'white ghosts' of Etosha National Park in September last year. 'The big Etosha elephant bulls come from all different directions to the Nebrownii waterhole and then will spent the whole afternoon there bathing till late,' he said. 'It is almost like their social appointment meeting at the bar. They stand against each other or spraying each other with water.' The word Etosha means 'great white place', after the vast expanse of white, salt-laced earth which forms a pan in the centre of the national park. Elephants gather wherever they can find moisture, wallowing in and splashing themselves with mud and water in an effort to cool off beneath the beating hot sun. When the mud dries they are left caked in the white earth, earning them their reputation as the 'great white ghosts' of Etosha. Famous: The 'great white ghosts' of Etosha are well known and a big draw for tourists, like South African industrial engineer Felix Reinders, who took these photographs in September last year . Wide open space: The word Etosha means 'great white place', after the vast expanse of white, salt-laced earth which forms a pan in the centre of the national park . Survival: Elephants gather in Etosha wherever they can find moisture, wallowing in and splashing themselves with mud and water in an effort to cool off beneath the beating hot sun . 'Some of them will stand and just sleep next to the waterhole,' said Mr Reinders. 'Then there is a local black rhino that also wants a sip of the water but the elephant bulls don't like this visitor to their bar.' +When 50-year-old Consuela Ross went for a walk on the banks of Loch Ness with her daughter and granddaughter, she was simply hoping to photograph some of the stunning scenery. But now she is claiming to have witnessed the latest glimpse of the fabled monster that dwells in its depths as it came to the surface for air. However, despite having her camera in her hand she says she was too captivated to take a picture, and instead only managed to record the moment after the beast dived under the surface. Tourists taking pictures of Loch Ness swear they spotted the elusive monster that lurks in its depths, but were too mesmerised to photograph it, instead capturing the moment after it dived under (pictured) Consuela Ross, 50 (left), was visiting the Loch with daughter Reyshell Avellanoza, 29 (centre), and granddaughter Heather Elizabeth, five (right), when they made the sighting. Husband Campbell Ross, 74 (centre), was waiting in the car park at the time . A video taken at the time shows a mysterious circle of disturbed water spreading outwards from the centre of the lake, which Mrs Ross swears was occupied by the beast moments earlier. Miss Ross was walking beside the lake with daughter Reyshell Avellanoza, 29, and granddaughter Heather Elizabeth, both from the Philippines, when the incident happened. The family had spent the day visiting nearby Urquhart Castle with Mrs Ross's husband, Campbell Ross, 73, when they decided to drive to the lake. Mr Ross stayed in the car while the others went to the water's edge, when Heather, who was seeing the Loch for the first time, pointed out a strange shape. Earlier this year Swedish monster-hunter Bjarne Sjöstrand, 52, won a £2,000 prize in a Nessie spotting competition after picking out a strange object on satellite images . Another sighting: International paranormal investigator, Jonathan Bright, took this photo three years ago, which he claims shows Nessie's head emerging from the Loch . Consuela told the Daily Record: 'She said it looked like a big black belly. We looked and could see this big disturbance quite a way out and this big black object in the middle of it. 'We were so mesmerised, we didn't immediately think of taking pictures although we had the cameras in our hands. 'By the time we realised what we were seeing and began filming and snapping away, the object had sank virtually out of sight and moved away further into the loch, leaving behind a perfect circle of water - like a whirlpool.' Earlier this year Swedish monster-hunter Bjarne Sjöstrand, 52, won a £2,000 prize in a Nessie spotting competition after picking out a strange object on satellite images. Mr Sjöstrand, who has never visited Scotland, won the best Loch Ness Monster sighting of 2014, in an annual competition run by bookmaker William Hill. In 2013, this shadowy form measuring around 100ft long and seemingly having two giant flippers powering it through the waters of Loch Ness was photographed by Apple's satellite map app. The image was studied by experts at the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, who concluded it is ‘likely’ to be the elusive beast. A satellite high in the atmosphere, accessed using Apple's satellite map app, took this amazing image of a creature swimming below the surface of the world famous loch . The systems administrator was at home in Stockholm when he spotted a long thin object in the water on a Google Earth image taken above Horse Shoe Scree on the loch's southern side. Mr Sjöstrand said: 'I am very interested in anything regarding Nessie and the history of Loch Ness. 'The reason I found this image on Google Earth was that I was sitting one night at home reading about Nessie and Loch Ness on the internet and thought I would check to see if I could see something from above - and that proved to turn out well. 'I have never been to Scotland but my hopes are that one day I will visit Loch Ness.' The picture is the latest in a series of possible Loch Ness Monster pictures. In November MailOnline reported that grainy footage had emerged showing a long and thin shape swaying in the water - one that bears a striking resemblance to Nessie’s fabled slender neck. The video shows the object waving in the choppy water, around 500ft from the loch’s shore. It was captured by Richard Collis – who counts himself amongst the most ardent Nessie cynics after years of fishing on the waters without a sighting. But the tree planter was so taken aback by the mysterious shape he noticed while driving along the edge of the loch that he filmed it on his iPhone, and believes he might have stumbled upon the real deal. 'As I was watching, I was thinking what the hell is that?’ said Mr Collis, 58, who noticed the shape while travelling around a mile from Fort Augustus at the south-west end of Loch Ness. He added: ‘I don’t really believe in anything like that until I see it.' An online register lists 1067 total Nessie sightings. The list was created by Gary Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com . Mr Campbell said: 'Jonathon's photo bears an incredible similarity to Bob Rines series of pictures and will certainly further stimulate discussion about this enduring legend.' Among the most famous claimed sightings is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson (below). It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged. This famous photograph, produced in 1934, was exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling . In 2001 semi-retired photographer James Gray and friend Peter Levings took this while they were out fishing . This picture, said to show the monster, was taken by Hugh Gray in 1933 and published in the Daily Express . A close-up of what could be the Loch Ness Monster. The photo was taken by William Jobes in 2011 . +He was the manager who wanted to be sacked. For while Gus Poyet may have vowed to fight on in the wake of Saturday’s 4-0 humiliation at home to Aston Villa, Monday’s dismissal as head coach of Sunderland would have come as a mighty relief. Poyet has long since lost faith in his vision for Sunderland. Frustrated by the influence of sporting director Lee Congerton in transfers, he was left with a dysfunctional team made up of players signed by both himself and the club hierarchy. Gus Poyet was sacked as Sunderland manager on Monday with the club one point above the relegation zone . Poyet was dismissed following the Black Cats' 4-0 Premier League defeat at home to Aston Villa on Saturday . Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon looks dejected as Sunderland were thrashed 4-0 at home by Villa . Gabriel Agbonlahor (centre) scored two of Aston Villa's goals in the 4-0 win on Saturday . Sunderland fans turned on manager Poyet (bottom left) during the defeat by Villa on Saturday afteroon . VIDEO Poyet sacked as Sunderland manager . 525 - Poyet's number of days in charge since his arrival on October 8, 2013. 75 - The Uruguayan's number of games in charge, winning 23, losing 22 and drawing 30. 3 - The number of games against bitter rivals Newcastle. He won them all with an aggregate of 6-1. 35 - Poyet was the 35th man to manage Sunderland either permanently or as a caretaker. 22 - The number of years between Sunderland's appearances in a major final. Poyet took them to the 2014 Capital One Cup final, 22 years on from their defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup showpiece. They lost to Manchester City. 14 - Sunderland's final position in Poyet's first season. 4 - The amount of games won in the Premier League by Sunderland this season. The joint-worst with bottom side Leicester. Some of Poyet’s press-conference outbursts distanced him from the personnel on the pitch and were not well received at boardroom level. ‘I am not going to be a head coach when it suits and a manager when it doesn’t,’ he said in December. ‘It is clear what we need to do. That is down to recruitment. So, if you ever get the chance to speak to anyone on the recruitment side and ask them about it, you are lucky. If you don’t, don’t ask me.’ Such comments would not have been tolerated at other clubs and Congerton informed owner Ellis Short that Poyet was not the man to take them forward. Poyet grew particularly disillusioned during January and when he let coach Charlie Oatway take a pre-match and half-time team talk there was a feeling he had lost interest. Subsequent team selections left players and senior figures baffled - four central midfielders named in the starting XI versus Hull, who play with wing-backs, being the most alarming example. Poyet had lost his faith in his vision for Sunderland and was fed up sporting director Lee Congerton (centre) Poyet advised his son Diego to sign for West Ham last July rather than join him at the Stadium of Light . But the players should not escape criticism, either. This is the third manager, following Martin O’Neill and Paolo Di Canio, who has been sacked with the core of the current squad on the books. They have fought relegation during the past two seasons and have survived despite falling short of 40 points on each occasion. The squad has gone stale and so had Poyet. He did not think the players were good enough to implement the attractive football he craved. Certainly, not once was there any evidence of such a brand of play during his 17 months in charge. Tellingly, the Uruguayan also advised his son Diego to sign for West Ham last July rather than join him at the Stadium of Light. Then there was his failure to promote from within the club’s academy, a major source of contention among staff who work with the youngsters. Indeed, they were miffed at the sight of assistant boss Mauricio Taricco joining in first-team sessions rather than sending for one of their players. But Poyet’s refusal to entertain academy prospects - not one such player started a game during his tenure - was symptomatic of his loss of love for the project on Wearside. Results, if not performances, were always just enough - 14 draws this season - to keep talk of a crisis in the background. Poyet was appointed by Sunderland in October 2013 following the sacking of Paolo Di Canio . But discord and discontent rumbled all the while and only now is it all being laid bare after the situation unravelled on the pitch in such shambolic fashion at the weekend. Poyet’s behaviour in the dressing-room on Saturday did little to convince the players he was scrapping for his and their survival. For Poyet no longer wanted to be at the club and the key powerbrokers no longer wanted him there, either. His sacking was the best outcome for all parties. HULL . Chelsea (Home) - March 22 . Swansea (Away) - April 4 . Southampton (Away) - April 11 . Liverpool (Home) - April 18 . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Swansea (Home) - March 21 . Man United (Away) - April 4 . Tottenham (Away) - April 11 . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . *QPR (Home) - Date to be arranged . SUNDERLAND . West Ham (Away) - March 21 . Newcastle (Home) - April 5 . Crystal Palace (Home) - April 11 . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . * Arsenal (Away) - Date to be arranged . BURNLEY . Southampton (Away) - March 21 . Tottenham (Home) - April 5 . Arsenal (Home) - April 11 . Everton (Away) - April 18 . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . QPR . Everton (Home) - March 22 . West Brom (Away) - April 4 . Chelsea (Home) - April 12 . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . *Aston Villa (Away) - Date to be arranged . LEICESTER . Tottenham (Away) - March 21 . West Ham (Home) - April 4 . West Brom (Away) - April 11 . Swansea (Home) - April 18 . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. +Cristiano Ronaldo is the wealthiest footballer in the world with a personal fortune of £152m - some £7m more than his rival Lionel Messi. After an outstanding 2014 which saw Ronaldo inspire Real Madrid to Champions League success and win the Ballon d'Or, he has increased the wealth gap to the Barcelona and Argentina star. According to the Goal.com Rich List, released on Thursday, Ronaldo and Messi enjoy fortunes considerably higher than any other footballer currently playing professionally. Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo tops the 2015 Goal.com Rich List with a £152m fortune . Ronaldo celebrates after scoring Real Madrid's fourth goal in last season's Champions League final . The Portuguese retained his Ballon d'Or accolade in Zurich back in January . Barcelona's Lionel Messi was second on the Rich List with a personal wealth of £145m . 1. Cristiano Ronaldo £152.3 . 2. Lionel Messi £145m . 3. Neymar £97.9m . 4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic £76.1m . 5. Wayne Rooney £74.6m . 6. Kaka £69.6m . 7. Samuel Eto'o £63.1m . 8. Raul £61.6m . 9. Ronaldinho £60.2m . 10. Frank Lampard £58m . Source: Goal.com . Their totals, which take into account sponsorship revenue as well as wages and bonuses, are well above that of Neymar, who comes third in the list with a fortune of £97.9m. Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Paris Saint-Germain and Sweden is worth £76.1m, while Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is the highest-ranked Englishman on the list in fifth on £74.6m. Brazilian star Kaka, about to start his career with Orlando City in Major League Soccer, is sixth in the rankings on £69.6m, followed by Samuel Eto'o (£63.1m), Raul (£61.6m) and Ronaldinho (£60.2m). Former England midfielder Frank Lampard, currently playing for Manchester City ahead of his move to New York City in the MLS, rounds out the top 10 with a personal fortune of £58m. Other English players in the top 20 are Rio Ferdinand (12th, £52.2m), Steven Gerrard (14th, £46.4m) and John Terry (20th, £40.6m). Barcelona and Brazil star Neymar comes in third on the list with an estimated fortune of £97.9m . PSG's striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the fourth wealthiest footballer, worth £76.1m . Manchester United's Wayne Rooney comes fifth on the list and is the highest-placed Englishman . There are two other Man City players listed, with Yaya Toure in 15th on £44.9m and Sergio Aguero 19th on £42m. Last year's Goal Rich List revealed Ronaldo had a personal wealth of £122m, with Messi close behind on £120.5m. +Women are grossly underrepresented in professional football, both in terms of TV coverage of female games and in the number of women working in the male section of the sport. Those that do venture into men's football are often subjected to regular abuse - according to the campaign group Women In Football, two thirds of females working in the industry have been on the receiving end of sexual harassment. So a female lineswoman who was filmed talking back to the Ponte Preta footballer Biro Biro during the Campeonato Paulista match on Sunday has been heralded a hero by fellow members of her sex. Scroll down for video . Tatiane approaches Ponte Preta footballer Biro Biro to argue back against a criticism he had about one of her decisions . During the match between Sao Paulo and Ponte Preta, lineswoman Tatiane Sacilotti is seen to signal a throw-in. But Biro Biro is not happy with the decision and heads over to Tatiane to give her a dressing down. Unimpressed with the attack, Tatiane takes it upon herself to follow Biro back down the pitch, arguing back furiously. Shocked by the comeback, Biro then walks off with a wave of his hand, so Tatiane heads back to her post with a fuming backwards glance. The clip has since been shared hundreds of times on social network sites. @CANNCDavis wrote on Twitter 'Looool Tatiane Sacilotti has made my day she was not having it.' Another said: 'Brazilian lineswoman puts abusive player back in his box.' Tatiane is furious as she follows Biro Biro up the pitch . As Biro Biro is shocked into heading back onto the pitch, Tatiane heads back to her post, shooting a glowering look back at her opponent . It isn't the first time in recent years that a lineswoman has been headline news. In January 2011, TV commentators Andy Gray and Richard Keys, who apparently believed their microphones were switched off, were recorded making disparaging remarks about Sian Massey, 25, before Liverpool’s Premiership clash with Wolves. Commenting on Ms Massey, Mr Keys said: ‘Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her.’ Mr Gray, a former Scottish international footballer, replied: ‘Can you believe that? A female linesman. Women don’t know the offside rule.’ Mr Keys replied: ‘Course they don’t. I can guarantee you there will be a big one today. 'Kenny (Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish) will go potty. This isn’t the first time, is it? Didn’t we have one before?’ Gray’s contract was immediately terminated by Sky Sports' managing director Barney Francis for unacceptable behaviour, while Keys resigned soon after. Name: Tatiane Sacilotti Dos Santos Camargo . Born: Brazil, February 10, 1986 . Age: 29 . Job title: Assistant referee . Tatiana faced much abuse during her junior years as a referee, including being spat at by fans. By 2011, she had graduated to the premier league in Brazil though, where she has stayed ever since. Tatiana's dream is to work up the career ladder at FIFA and her idol is the Brazilian referee Luis Flavio de Oliveira. To substitute her income as a referee, Tatiane has launched a pancake delivery service with her mother Antoinette called House of Pancake, which sells 29 different recipes. The family, who are descended from Italians, run the company together - Tatiane and her mother make the pancakes and her father and brother deliver the produce. When she is not busy with one of her jobs, Tatiane is deeply religious and regularly attends church in Cachoeira. She also exercises daily with a personal trainer, where she does circuit training and runs eight km. Speaking of her parents' reaction to her training as a referee, she told refnews.com: 'She supported me at the time. 'My mother does not even like football but she watches all of my games and requires complete silence in the room and bites her nails. 'She gets mad when they say I messed up, but she does not know whether it was right or wrong. 'Her support has been very good.' Although she is well respected in the game, Tatiane continues to suffer abuse from men in the game occasionally. During one incident in 2013, a footballer complained about one of her decisions and assaulted her. Tatiane said: 'He complained much of a marking mine. 'I asked him to calm down and put a hand on his chest. 'Then he slapped me, but it was light, not reported to the referee.' +Anis Ben-Hatira used his super powers for good after the Hertha Berlin striker celebrated scoring against Schalke by donning a Spiderman mask in support of an eight-year-old fan battling cancer. The Tunisia international netted the opener in his side's 2-2 draw in the Bundesliga on Saturday before racing to the bench to retrieve the mask and pointing out young Jannik in the crowd. Ben-Hatira has been visiting the stricken youngster at a Berlin hospital since October when the pair made a pact shared on his Instagram account, which also includes pictures of the two wearing super hero masks. Anis Ben-Hatira dons a Spiderman mask after scoring in Hertha Berlin's 2-2 draw with Schalke . Ben-Hatira opened the scoring on his return to the Hertha Berlin side following injury . He said: 'We decided to fight against his illness together. In such moments I realise: a healthy person has 1,000 desires. A sick person just one. 'Cute guy: you promised me to recover and I promised to stay on your side during the chemotherapy. I will visit you regularly. 'In less than six months we will stand in front of the fans at the Olympic stadium and celebrate your recovery.' While Ben-Hatira was cautioned for his celebration, Jannik received a rapturous response from the crowd before being allowed on the pitch to meet some of his own heroes. The Hertha Berlin striker opened the scoring against Schalke with an athletic finish . Ben-Hatira then raced to the bench to retrieve a Spiderman mask for his gesture . The Tunisia international did not seem to mind picking up a caution for his troubles . Ben-Hatira led eight-year-old Jannick around the pitch amid rapturous applause after the game . +Police officers on Merseyside are on alert for Sunday's crunch clash between Liverpool and Manchester United after a number of well-known United hooligans saw their banning orders expire. The match between the two fierce rivals, which carries the highest security risk rating, kicks-off at Anfield at 1.30pm. Along with the usual bragging rights, this season it also features the added tension of both sides being in direct competition for a Champions League spot. Police officers on Merseyside are on alert for Sunday's clash between Liverpool and Manchester United . And it is understood around half-a-dozen known United troublemakers are free to go to the game after orders preventing them from going to matches ended last year. United will take around 3,000 followers to Liverpool. While police are happy with the early kick-off time, they are aware of the various elements which could potentially turn things ugly but remain confident they can deal with any situations. In November, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) deployed around 400 officers for the Manchester derby, which the previously-banned hooligans were also able to attend. United earned a 3-0 win in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in which Wayne Rooney scored the opener . Raheem Sterling had several opportunities to score for his team, but failed to find the net last December . While the match passed without major incidents of disorder a large-scale brawl was captured on a mobile phone video more than 90 minutes after the final whistle. There, a number of United fans fought with City supporters outside a pub close to the Etihad Stadium, setting off a flare and hurling bottles. Police said fans used chairs and wooden poles as weapons amid chaotic scenes. Five men were later arrested, while a man thought to be a City fan lay motionless on the ground after being punched and kicked in the head. He later declined hospital treatment. When Liverpool played United at Old Trafford in December the match, which ended 3-0 to the home side, passed with a small number of arrests. Police officers on Merseyside are on alert for Sunday's crunch clash between Liverpool and United at Anfield . +Germany coach Joachim Low has extended his contract by another two years until 2018. The German Football Federation says the new deal includes the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where Germany would be defending champions if the team qualifies. Low took over as Germany coach from Jurgen Klinsmann after the 2006 World Cup in Germany. His first title was last year's World Cup in Brazil. Joachim Low (left) signs his new contract alongside DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach (right) on Friday . Low (bottom left) poses for a photo with the DFB Executive Board in Frankfurt . Low drinks a toast to Andreas Kopke during the DFB Executive Board meeting in Frankfurt . Germany got off to a slow start in qualifying for next year's European Championship in France and trail Poland by three points after four matches. Low says that 'confirming the title from Brazil remains an incredible challenge and motivation' and that Germany's young team is 'not at the end of its development.' Germany coach Low has extended his contract to the 2018 World Cup in Russia . Low (centre) lifts the World Cup trophy after Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the final in Rio de Janeiro last year . Mario Gotze (right) scores the winner past Sergio Romero (centre) for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final . +Putting your thumb up is a recognised hand signal the world over, and the ultimate sign of approval. So it was a good choice of gesture for Elle-Rose Williams, 25, and her fiancé Paddy Moogan, 30, to pick as their go-to pose while on an around-the-world trip. The couple documented their mammoth journey, spanning months and continents, by capturing photographs of their thumbs in front of landmarks, skyscrapers, beautiful scenery and historical monuments. Scroll down for video . A view from a cliff in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the first leg of the couple's world tour . Thumbs up outside The Louvre in Paris, despite a rainy day. No landmark was left unphotographed . Elle, a social media manager and travel blogger from London told MailOnline: 'It started as just a fun way to record where we'd been, whenever we saw something gorgeous or memorable we'd take a photo of a thumbs up in front of it. 'As we travelled more it became a running joke, and we'd make sure we did it everywhere we visited.' The duo's adventure kicked off in New Zealand two years ago. After living in Queenstown for six months they visited Australia before passing through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the USA, thumbs at the ready. This time in San Francisco in USA during a day trip to see The Golden Gate Bridge . View of Las Vagas by night from the The Foundation Room roof top bar of Mandalay Bay Hotel . Commenting on the aesthetics of the thumb photos Ellie, who writes the blog The World and Then Some says: 'They aren’t great photos. They’re not artistic. They’re not even lit properly in most cases. But they tell our story. They show where we’ve been and how far we’ve come.' With so much time in front of the camera, the couple's thumbs have won attention online. Elle describes the The Grand Palace in Bangkok as 'one of the most beautiful places I've ever been' On a cold day in Central Park in New York Ellie and Paddy's gesture still takes centre stage . To date, they've been photographed front of the The Louvre in Paris, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Central Park in New York, the Harbour Bridge in Sydney, The Grand Canyon and Notre Dame, also in Paris. Elle says, 'My favourite photo is the one we took in NYC at Christmas time (its the darkly lit one, with a Christmas tree in the background). A view - behind the thumbs - of Queenstown in New Zealand on a clear day from the top of a cable car . 'The most thumbs up moment of my life so far': Photo taken after Paddy proposed to Elle in NYC . Elle broke her finger in New Zealand zip lining but she still managed give a version of the salute . 'It was taken moments after Pad proposed to me, in the exact spot it happened. Which might be the most 'thumbs up' moment of my life so far.' 'We get married next year - so of course I'm hoping to get a photo of us after saying 'I do' with the wedding rings included!' 'I think the photos sum us up as a couple, we're very laid back, happy and just take things as they come.' Sometimes a landmark deserved a full body shot. Ellie and Paddy pose in front of the Sydney Opera House . Role reversal: Paddy's thumbs appears on the left and Elle's on the right at Angthong National Park in Thailand . Happy days overlooking the spectacular view of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong . The scenery changes but the thumbs stay the same as the couple ride a chair lift in Queenstown, New Zealand . Elle-Rose Williams is a social media manager and travel blogger behind the webiste The World and Then Some . New Years Eve in Sydney, Australia with a view of the Sydney Opera House and fireworks . Another day, another thumb selfie - this time in front of The Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia . A pit stop during a day's drive along The Great Ocean Road in Melbourne Australia . Face time for the couple who have been together for five years and this year got engaged . Elle and Paddy stopped off in Europe on their route home to visit Notre Dame in Paris . The duo demonstrate their excitement with a familiar gesture at Grand Canyon, USA . In Germany they went up the Berlin TV Tower (207m high) to take pictures of the cityscape . Elle captions this shot on her website: 'Bay of Islands, New Zealand (we really loved our hire car OK!?)' A sunny day in Wellington, New Zealand and the thumbs show no sign of abating . Back in the UK Paddy and Elle went to St Ives in Cornwall and stayed in Tregenna Castle . The couples' car radio broke before they had a five hour drive to do, hence thumbs down . Before snorkeling the couple decided to give their faces a moment in the limelight - not forgetting the thumbs . +The clocks have gone forward so it's time to make the most of the longer days. We reveal where you can explore remote islands surrounded by turquoise waters, eat your way through top food festivals and join a Tudor knees-up to celebrate the Bard... Some of England's most magnificent and exotic greenery can be found at Westonbirt Arboretum . BROADSTAIRS . It you're a food fanatic looking for delectable local produce, look no further than the Broadstairs Food Festival from April 4 to 6. You can browse 50 stalls showcasing the best local produce from the Kent coast, tasting everything from Kentish blue cheese to locally distilled sloe gin. Later in the month, stomachs will be rumbling in Exeter, when more than 100 local food producers fill the streets for three days of foodie heaven from April 24 to 26. In between the eating and drinking, make time for one of the cooking demonstrations and workshops hosted by well-known chefs. STRATFORD-UPON-AVON . Enjoy a literary knees-up in Stratford-upon-Avon . Pull on your ruff for a literary knees-up as the town celebrates William Shakespeare's birthday with a weekend of celebrations. The annual street party, which has been taking place for more than 100 years, is held on the nearest weekend to April 23 - the Bard's birthday and also the day he died. With a packed programme of historical-themed events and costumed characters parading in front of original timber-framed buildings, it will feel as if you've skipped back in time. BOURNEMOUTH . Escape to Dorset's cosmopolitan seaside town on a midweek holiday with Shearings. With its vast stretches of golden sands and luscious gardens, Bournemouth makes an idyllic base for a coach tour. You'll take day trips to the cities of Portsmouth and Salisbury to discover historical gems and will spend time in the charming town of Lyndhurst in the New Forest before heading back to the Majestic Hotel in Bournemouth each night for dinner and evening entertainment. GLOUCESTERSHIRE . Some of England's most magnificent and exotic greenery can be found at Westonbirt Arboretum, just 40 minutes from Bath. Once a wealthy Victorian's pleasure park, it is now owned by the Forestry Commission and is home to some of the rarest trees in the world, including a few that smell like candyfloss. Take a guided walk with a knowledgeable volunteer, wander among the towering trees that cover 600 acres of countryside and head to Savill Glade and Circular Drive to admire spring flowers. Walks take place on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays and bank holidays. ISLES OF SCILLY . Spot dolphins, head for a wild food foraging walk and join a local artist for beachcombing in the Isles of Scilly . With clear, warm waters, white-sand beaches and towering palm trees, the Isles of Scilly are England's tropical paradise. Visit between April 11 and 17 when more than 20 themed walks are held across the islands for Walk Scilly 2015. Spot dolphins, head out on a wild food foraging walk and join a local artist for beachcombing. +It may lay claim to being the 'Happiest Place on Earth', a magical kingdom ruled by fairytale princesses and the like, but even Disneyland was still built with bricks, mortar and hard graft. The only theme park to have been completely overseen by Walt Disney himself, Disneyland Park, celebrates 60 years in 2015 and extensive celebrations are planned. A time-lapse video from the Disney archives reveals how the park, which forms half of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, was built from nothing before its opening on July 17, 1955. Sleeping Beauty Castle at the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California, emerges from scaffolding . The castle at the first Fantasyland, with imitations at all other parks since, in Disneyland in Anaheim . The fun park, the only one of its kind to be fully overseen by Walt Disney, opened on July 17, 1955 . The site was bought in 1953 with construction beginning in 1954 and the grand opening the year after that . The Rocket to the Moon is lifted into place in front of the futuristic Tomorrowland attraction . From an expanse of brown dirt, iconic features such as Tomorrowland's Rocket to the Moon are raised into place while Sleeping Beauty Castle emerges like a turbo episode of Grand Designs. Other original features rising from the earth include the Main Street Train Station's clock tower, the shell for jungle-themed Adventureland and rocky Old West throwback Frontierland. Looking down Main Street USA to the original Fantasyland, Sleeping Beauty's Castle forms perhaps the most iconic image of the park, which emerges like a mini-town in Orange County. Later years have seen the introduction of New Orleans Square in 1966, Critter Country in 1972 and Mickey's Toontown in 1993, followed by an entirely new Disney California Adventure Park in 2001 - together they are now known as Disneyland Resort. The view down Main Street USA as final building and cosmetic works are completed in 1955 . What Main Street looks like today as millions continue to stream through the gates every year . The time-lapse video of the creation of Disneyland looks like a turbo version of Grand Designs . While the idea had been in his thoughts for some time, Walt Disney didn't muck about with the making of the park - purchasing a 160-acre site in 1953, beginning construction in 1954 and opening the year later. Although it was supposed to have been unveiled in a press preview day with about 14,000 invitees on Sunday, July 17, 1955, that opening saw 28,000 people go through the gates due to thousands of counterfeit ticket sales. The whole affair was televised and not a good look for the company, with a series of bloopers during the coverage by ABC Television, who partly funded the project. Main Street USA is an expanse of dirt as a mini-town emerges in Orange County, California . The first thousands of guests flood through the gates at Disneyland, the original Disney fun park . Far from the fantasy Walt would have hoped for it was labelled internally as 'Black Sunday' after a number of operational mishaps that range from chaotic queues to a gas leak in Fantasyland that closed Fantasyland, Frontierland and Adventureland for the afternoon. But it was merely a minor setback for what is now Disney's Parks and Resorts division which now overseas Anaheim's Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort in Floria, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Shanghai Disney Resort, a fleet of cruise liners and a host of hotels. And just like the end of this timelapse, which show the first guests arriving in Anaheim, millions continue to flood through the turnstiles - more than 130 million a year, in fact. +Huge icebergs the size of boulders have been washing up on the shores of Cape Cod after one of the bitterest winters in living memory. Months of frozen temperatures have created huge sheets of ice up and down the coastline and now the temperatures have warmed slightly they are breaking up and washing ashore. In Wellfleet, on the Massachusetts coast, the ice made the beach look more like an artic wasteland than the soon-to-be summer playground of the rich and famous of the East Coast. Cape Code National Seashore administrator Marianne McCaffery told the Boston Globe that 'They are bigger this year because there has been no snow melt in between storms. 'I’m not surprised, considering the type of winter we have had.' Leonard Croteau, a Wellfleet Assistant Harbormaster, told the newspaper of the chunks 'They are all over the place. 'This year has been a lot more than normal, but usually we don’t have snow this long either. It’s been here for a while.' Meterologist Jim Andrews told Accuweather 'It's obvious that the ice 'boulders' have a more complex history than the typical ice found on calmer waters such as lakes and sluggish rivers.' 'Most likely it is formed by the bashing together of pancake ice or ice floes.' Chilly weather: An onlooker is seen bundled up while walking past ice chunks on Cape Cod, Massachusetts . Nature: 'Dapixara,' a photographer from the cape town Wellfleet, snapped the images of the larger-than-life chunks . Can you reach the top? A person holds out their hand to feel one of the ice chunks . Snowy weather: A pooch is seen standing on top of one of the smaller ice chunks . +Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao is the fight which just keeps on giving. Especially to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. The initial projection of a purse split of $150million to the Money man and $100m to the PacMan has just been upwardly revised by Pacquiao's promoter. Bob Arum is now predicting a '$300m distribution' to the protagonists - $180m to Mayweather and $120m to Pacquiao under their 60-40 percent agreement. Floyd Mayweather could earn $180m from his May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao given the huge public interest . Pacquiao will receive 40 per cent of the purse, which could hit $120m on projected record pay-per-view buys . Mayweather laughs while watching the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Boston Celtics . Those figures are based on Arum's firm expectation that this, the richest fight of all time, will not just break the pay-per-view record in America – but double it. He says: 'We are looking at four to five million buys. The interest is amazing, even from people who do not follow boxing, even people who don't follow any sports. 'Wherever you go everyone is talking about this fight.' They are also bending his ear for tickets in the 16,000-capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2. Arum has already told a host of A-list celebrities: 'No comps this time. The demand is so huge that the only answer is everyone has to pay.' The only free ticket promised by Arum is for female UFC star Ronda Rousey, who he heard was preparing to spend all her career fight winnings thus far on a seat as close to ringside as that amount could buy. Promoter Bob Arum believes there will be between 'four and five million buys' of the fight on May 2 . Arum has only promised one free ticket to the Las Vegas showdown - to UFC star Ronda Rousey . Pacquiao, pictured working out in Minila, has already started preparing for his fight with Mayweather . Tickets are expected to be priced from the lowest at $1,250 to upwards of $6,000 for a seat at ringside. But it is unlikely any at all will go on general sale. Purchases may well be restricted to those holding a $250,000 credit line, or higher, at the MGM group of casinos on the Strip. Although there will of course be a thriving black market at eye-watering prices. Speaking at an ESPN fights night in New York state, Arum said: 'One guy offered me a hundred grand for a ticket.' Then he joked: 'I told him he could have my seat for $200,000.' The double-up factor will begin with the Grand Garden taking $40m at the box office, compared with the previous high-mark of $20m for Mayweather v Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in September 2013. But it is the pay-per-view TV sales – with rival networks HBO and Showtime sharing the broadcast – which will generate most of the revenue. The record number of buys stands at 2.4m for Mayweather v Oscar De La Hoya eight years ago. Oscar De La Hoya's fight with Mayweather in 2007 holds the record for the most pay-per-view buys at 2.4m . Pacquiao was last in action when he dominated Chris Algieri over 12 rounds in Macau in November last year . Mayweather's last fight came when he beat Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas in September 2014 . Naturally the charge has risen substantially since then, probably to $99.95 per subscription. Thus Arum's five million buys – along with such ancillary income as TV rights overseas, including Britain - would make this 'The Half-Billion Dollar Fight'. That would generate $200m to be shared among the likes of the local broadcasting stations, the MGM hosts, the promoters, the undercard fighters and so on. As for the $300m to the two best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, Arum says: 'Floyd loves cars and he could buy so many as to satisfy very dealer in Las Vegas. A lot of Manny's money is going to charity in the Philippines.' Each to his own – and the Las Vegas sports books are bracing themselves for seven-figure bets on Mayweather, the favourite, and Pacquiao, the under-dog. +Several top leaders of El Salvador's Mara street gangs have begun a hunger strike to protest conditions at the Zacatecoluca prison. The Ministry of Justice and Public Safety did not identify the prisoners Friday, but local media say they are leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs. Justice Minister Benito Lara says some prisoners are on hunger strike for better conditions. Several top leaders of El Salvador's Mara street gangs have begun a hunger strike to protest conditions at the Zacatecoluca prison . He says, 'They are all stable; there are no problems.' The prison is known as 'Zacatraz' and it has stricter rules than most Salvadoran prisons. No conjugal visits are allowed and there are few opportunities for contact with the outside world or participation in prison programs. Most of the leaders are serving sentences of 20 years or more for crimes like homicide or extortion. +It's safe to say he probably isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. A 24-year-old man from Vienna, Austria, attempted to rob a city bank yesterday armed with nothing but a stainless silver spoon. The unnamed man walked in to the bank demanding cash and pretended he had a knife  - but bank staff immediately spotted he was just carrying a dessert spoon. A 24-year-old man from Austria attempted to rob a bank yesterday armed with nothing but a silver spoon . They called the police and refused to hand over any money to the would-be robber. The man entered a bank branch just before 4pm in Weintraubengasse in the 2nd district yesterday afternoon, walked straight over to the cashier and demanded money. He seemed to be under the impression that the spoon would be mistaken for a knife, reports The Local. The cashier pretended he was going to get some cash and instead called the police. The man sat down in the waiting area and was still sat there patiently when police found and arrested him. Witnesses told the English language newspaper that no one took the man seriously. He is currently being held in prison and said he did it because he needed the money. The incident took place yesterday in Vienna's Weintraubengasse area in the 2nd district (pictured) +World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko stepped away from preparing for his bout with Bryant Jennings by taking his three month baby daughter Kaya for a walk with fiance Hayden Panettiere. The couple were pictured on Saturday for the first time bringing their daughter out for a walk in Nashville, Tennessee. The 38-year-old Klitschko, from Ukraine, would have undoubtedly enjoyed the calm moments with his young family as his training intensifies for facing Jennings, an opponent he admitted he respects. Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko (left) were pictured taking baby Kaya out for a walk . Klitschko has a bout in April against Bryant Jennings, from the United States, in New York . Klitschko (left) has 63 career victories behind him as his clash with Jennings nears . Klitschko (right) will be back in New York to take on Jennings, a prospect he is looking forward to . 'I do have great respect for Bryant Jennings and his achievements,' Klitschko said of his next opponent, who has 19 wins and nine knock-outs from 19 bouts. 'He has good movement in the ring and good technique. I know this will be a tough challenge.' Klitschko also revealed his excitement to return to New York and Madison Square Garden, the venue for the encounter. 'I am extremely happy to fight in New York again,' Klitschko said. 'I had my first unification fight here and a lot of great heavyweight matches have taken place at Madison Square Garden.' Klitschko has 63 career victories, with an astounding 54 coming through knock-outs. When he steps into the ring against Jennings on April 25, he will become the joint record-holding fighter with most heavyweight title fights with 27, alongside the legendary Joe Louis. The actresses glowing look may have been helped by her illuminous yellow jacket . The couple were happily engrossed in conversation the whole time . +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is confident fatigue will not hamper their bid for a top-four place despite an arduous season so far. European commitments and a run to the semi-final of the Capital One Cup, in addition to their continued involvement in the FA Cup, means the Reds have played 46 matches this season. That is already three more than in the whole of the previous campaign, which saw them fall agonisingly short of winning the Premier League. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (right) in talks with Emre Can during training . Rodgers shares a laugh with Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure (left) during the session . Martin Skrtel works on his fitness and conditioning with Liverpool coach Ryland Morgans (left) Liverpool pair Lazar Markovic (left) and Dejan Lovren strike a pose during the training esssion . Such a toll manifested itself in a sluggish performance last weekend in a goalless FA Cup quarter-final at home to Blackburn - their third match in six days including an early-morning return from Turkey. However, with an eight-day break, during which the players were given some much-needed time off, Rodgers believes they will be firing on all cylinders on his return to former club Swansea on Monday. 'Our last performance against Blackburn was at the end of a real tough period of games,' said the manager. 'I've seen all the numbers and all the statistics on it and, physically, it was the lowest we have been for this season. Now we're re-energised and refreshed mentally and physically. 'We go into a run of games now, starting with Swansea, and we feel we can go in and push on in terms of our level of performance again. We know it will be tough. 'It's that period of the season where you taper your training. You don't need to be as long in your training and preparation as the players have got a real good level of fitness, so it's more explosive and more intensive, but in shorter blocks. 'The players have been brilliant this week. They're looking really sharp, looking really confident and we just want to continue with our sequence of performances and good results.' Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is back in contention for the trip to Swansea after an injury layoff . Slovakian central defender Skrtel jumps to power a header in during the session at Melwood . Vice captain Jordan Henderson in action alongside Skrtel (right) during a training drill . Captain Gerrard trains ahead of team-mates Joe Allen (left) and right back Glen Johnson (centre) Liverpool are the form team of 2015, having not lost in the league since mid-December, when they were 10th and seven points off fourth, in a run which has seen them take 30 points from a possible 36. They are now only seven points off second place but Rodgers knows with Manchester United - whom they play next weekend - to catch and Tottenham and Southampton chasing them there is still plenty of work to do. 'I think it's going to be very tight, of course,' he said. 'We've rejoined the race for that in the last three months and everything counts in the games. 'We just need to ensure we continue to be aggressive in our game and give everything that we have between now and the end of the season. Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana (left) vies for possession with left back Jose Enrique . Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert strikes one on the volley with his left foot during training . Reds Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet gets down low to his right to stop the ball with his hand . Liverpool left back Alberto Moreno all smiles during Saturday's session at Melwood . 'The points total is all very close and very tight but we just have to continue playing and working as hard as we have done. 'If you're a team that wants to do well, you have to be able to have that character, resolve and mentality to win away from home. 'We've got great counter-attack speed when the space does open up and we've got technically-gifted players who can play in the spaces. We're in a good moment, but we respect it'll be a very difficult game at Swansea.' +He's about to make the biggest move of his life, trading his long career with Liverpool FC for US club Los Angeles Galaxy. And Steven Gerrard looks just about ready to live in the lap of luxury when he relocates to the West coast of the States this summer with his family. One sprawling Malibu mansion the footballer has reportedly viewed with wife Alex and children has been unveiled, an outstanding property overlooking the ocean which used to belong to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster. Scroll down for video . Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and his family are set to move into this sprawling mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean when he relocates to Los Angeles to play for LA Galaxy in June . Gerrard (left) with his daughters and wife Alex are looking forward to their big move later this year . The Liverpool captain is set to end his 17-year career with the club at the end of the season . The 34-year-old (right) will be leaving his boyhood side for LA Galaxy on an 18-month deal in early June . The family will reside in Los Angeles for 18 months while he plays out his contract with the team, and although it's a long way from his home in Merseyside, there's no doubt the family will feel incredibly comfortable in the not-so-humble abode. Reportedly worth $25m - £16.8m - the luxurious pad is said to have been offered to the midfielder, 34, by his new football club, who'll foot the $20,000 a week (£13,400) rent over the 18-month period he's signed to the team. Steven, along with his model wife Alex, 32, and their daughters Lilly-Ella, ten, eight-year-old Lexie and Lourdes, three, are already said to be building themselves a £3million five-bedroom house on a two-acre site in an upscale area in Merseyside. But that doesn't much compare to their potential American property, which they could be set to move into in early June after the sportsman's long and illustrious career with Liverpool comes to an end in late May. With six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, the swanky property also boasts sweeping mountain and Pacific Ocean views and was regularly featured on reality show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Yolanda Foster and her music producer husband David had the modern property custom-built to their taste in 2009, and resided there with the 51-year-old star's three children, including model Gigi Hadid. The property, reportedly worth £16.8m, includes six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and plenty of living space . Gerrard's new home is just a short 15 minutes from beach-perfect Santa Monica . Gerrard will be able to enjoy a spot of billiards in his games area - which comes complete with a bar . Located in the resplendent area of Carbon Canyon in Malibu, near to Los Angeles International Airport and just a short 15 minutes from beach-perfect Santa Monica, it seems the Gerrard family will have lots to keep them occupied over the next year and a half. The large house also includes separate exercise, massage and sauna areas inside, and also a magnificent infinity pool outside. There's a sizable barbecue area too, and a garage big enough for three cars, housed in its own private orchards of citrus and avocado trees. The stylish home also includes a screening room for those big-movie moments, and a 'sports room', with a full-sized billiards table and bar, for when Steven wants to forget about football after work and let his proverbial hair down. The house is perfect for entertaining, and US reality star Yolanda had a professional chef’s kitchen build with a custom floor-to-ceiling glass refrigerator. One of the bedrooms in particular opens up into a stunning panorama of the ocean . Gerrard (left) will be hoping to end his Liverpool career on a high by winning the FA Cup this season . Gerrard follows in David Beckham's footsteps who played for LA Galaxy between 2007-2012 . In the official pictures of the impressive property, it is clear it's finished to an incredibly high standard, a combination of both contemporary and classic design, with a deluxe Californian and certainly Hollywood-style vibe. It's going to be a huge adjustment process for both Steven and his family, but he's not the first British footballer to make such a move: David Beckham famously left Madrid to play with LA Galaxy back in 2007, and he moved his entire family out to Los Angeles for the job. The MLS team recently confirmed Steven's signing following his decision to turn down the offer of a contract extension and leave Liverpool after 17 years with his beloved team. 'Football is my life and will continue to be for a couple of years,' he said on confirming his move. 'I'm not going over there for a holiday or to enjoy myself. I'm going over there to win, and if I win and play well, then my life becomes more enjoyable. 'There's obviously a bonus of where the LA Galaxy are located as well. That will be nice for my family to come out of our comfort zone and try something different.' Gerrard scored twice from the penalty spot during Liverpool's Foundation charity match on Sunday . And a senior Galaxy official confirmed: 'The club is helping Steven and Alex with every imaginable aspect of their family move and we are obviously hoping to get them settled as soon as possible.' Alex returned to Liverpool last month after jetting to Los Angeles in search of a new home for her, her husband and their adorable girls. Tweeting shortly before she returned, she wrote: 'Last day in LA coming home tonight !! VIlla Blanca for lunch then last few bits of shopping, looking forward to seeing my man and girls.' And it seems like the move can't come quick enough for the Gerrard family. Alex, who has been married to the footballer since 2007, recently tweeted her disdain for the typical British rain, something she surely won't miss when moving to sunny California in June. 'Wish this rain would do one !!!' she wrote on Twitter while watching her man play in the All-Star Charity match at Liverpool's Anfield on Sunday. MailOnline has contacted a representative for Steven Gerrard and is awaiting comment. Gerrard and wife Alex, pictured last year in Ibiza, are excited to be moving to sunshine-drenched California . +David Beckham has lifted the lid on his son Brooklyn's first date, in which the former Manchester United midfielder watched on from a nearby table in a London restaurant. Speaking to James Corden on the Late Late Show in America, Beckham told the hilarious story of his 16-year-old son's first foray into the world of dating. When probed by Corden, who asked, 'He must be getting quite big into the dating circuit now?', Beckham said: ''Yeah, it's happening. He's going to hate me for this. David Beckham embarrassed his son Brooklyn on James Corden's Late Late Show in America . Brooklyn watched on from the audience as his father told the story of his first date, at a sushi bar in London . Beckham was a guest on Corden's show, alongside Claire Danes (second left) and Bob Odenkirk (right) 'I'm fine with it, because on his first date - when he was about 14 and a half - it was Valentine's Day so he said, "I'd love to take this girl to dinner." 'I said, "Okay, great." I spoke to Victoria, and she was like, "Really?", so I said, "Yeah, he's going to do it." 'She said, "Okay, make sure you take him and then make sure you sit in the restaurant." So I was like, "Really, you're going to make me do that?" and she said "Yeah, that's the only way I'm going to let him go."' Brooklyn is looking to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a professional footballer . Beckham's affection for his son is clear; he posted this on Brooklyn's 16th birthday at the start of March . 'So we took him to a small sushi restaurant and he sat at the sushi bar and I sat about five tables back. By the way, my daughter is four years old. When she gets to that age, I will be closer than that!' Beckham's son Brooklyn, who was sat in the audience as his dad retold the embarrassing story, is aiming to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a professional footballer. This season, he has been playing for Arsenal's Under 16s but was recently dealt a blow with the news that the Gunners will not hand him a new deal at the end of the season. Beckham also told the story of his son getting a weekend job at a French cafe to get him pocket money . Beckham kept a close eye on Brooklyn's first date, after being instructed to by wife Victoria (right) Corden began hosting the Late Late Show on March 23, and Beckham was a guest on his fourth show . For now, Brooklyn is enjoying his teens, but being the son of one of the most famous men in the world has not stopped him from having to get a weekend job. 'A couple of years ago, you know what kids are like, they want new sneakers, they want new soccer boots,' Beckham told Corden. 'It came to the point where he turned 14, 14 and a half, and I thought "If you want something, then go and work and you've got your own money". 'It got to the stage where I was like, "Okay, if you wanna buy some new stuff, or new boots or new trainers, then if you're working for them then you can afford them yourself". 'Much to his dismay, we packed him off to the French cafe and he works there every Saturday and Sunday and gets his own pocket money.' +Former Southampton star Matt Le Tissier will swap Soccer Saturday for Countdown to become the fourth professional footballer to appear on the Channel 4 show. Le Tissier, 46, announced on Twitter he has passed his contestant audition and will be filming this autumn. The eight-cap England international has previously appeared as the show's 'Dictionary Corner' guest in 2009, memorably solving a numbers round puzzle which had foxed both contestants - including an eventual series semi-finalist - and resident maths expert Rachel Riley. Matt Le Tissier previously appeared on Countdown as a 'Dictionary Corner' guest in 2009 . Ryan Giggs (left) appeared on the show in 2013 to present Rachel Riley with a signed Manchester United shirt . Clarke Carlisle became the first Premier League player to appear on the Channel 4 game show in 2010 . 'Hope you've brushed up on the numbers,' Le Tissier joked to the Oxford graduate as he announced his upcoming appearance. He faces stiff competition for bragging rights from his fellow ex-pros who hold seven victories between them - former Norwich man Adrian Coote failed to secure the Countdown teapot but Clarke Carlisle won two games and Neil MacKenzie won five en route to a series quarter-final berth. Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling was a host of the show before Nick Hewer took the reins, as was former BBC and ITV anchor Des Lynam. Jun 30, 2008: Neil MacKenzie (Notts County) - Won - Score of 71 . Jul 1, 2008: Neil MacKenzie - Won - 104 . Jul 2, 2008: Neil MacKenzie - Won - 72 . Jul 3, 2008: Neil MacKenzie - Won - 104 . Jul 4, 2008: Neil MacKenzie - Won - 63 . Jul 7, 2008: Neil MacKenzie - Lost - 66 . Dec 8, 2008: Neil MacKenzie - Lost - 57 . Dec 1, 2009: Adrian Coote (Norwich City) - Lost - 62 . Feb 24, 2010: Clarke Carlisle (Burnley) - Won - 89 . Feb 25, 2010: Clarke Carlisle (Burnley) - Won - 101 . Feb 26, 2010: Clarke Carlisle (Burnley) - Lost - 86 . Le Tissier (right) also appeared on a celebrity edition of the ITV hit quiz show The Chase in October 2013 . Le Tissier will appear on the show with Riley (right), host Nick Hewer (centre) and Susie Dent . +Former Newcastle United striker Faustino Asprilla handed an aircraft pilot a bottle so he would not have to leave his co-pilot alone if he needed to go to the toilet mid-flight. The Colombian-born football star was after boarding a flight in Moscow when he approached the flight deck. He told his 102,000 followers on Instagram that he expressed his fears to the pilot as a result of the recent Germanwings tragedy where pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed his jet into the Alps. Former Newcastle striker Faustino Asprilla (left) claims he ordered a pilot to remain in cockpit during flight . Sitting on an aircraft, Asprilla told his followers: 'I went to the pilot's cabin. I strictly forbid the pilot to get out and urinate because if that other lunatic locks the door in, it will happen what happened in that other flight. Everyone knows. 'If he wants to urinate, I have him an empty bottle of water.' Asprilla played for Newcastle United between 1996 and 1998, although manager Kenny Dalglish had problems with the Colombian's playboy lifestyle. Earlier, Asprilla tweeted a photograph of himself looking nervous in an airport departure lounge with an aircraft over his shoulder. Faustino Asprilla told his 100,000 Instagram followers that he warned an airline pilot against taking a mid-flight toilet break during his recent flight. The former Newcastle United star gave the pilot a bottle instead. Asprilla joined Newcastle from Italian club Parma and returned after his two-year stay on Tyneside. However, the club is facing serious problems, having been officially declared bankrupt while their chairman Giampietro Maneti was arrested for money laundering. The club faces debts of £60 million. Asprilla posted a photograph on Twitter looking nervous before boarding the flight . +While his Italian team-mates are away vying for Euro 2016 qualification, Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli is reminiscing on a past tournament... by recreating his famous goal celebration from 2012. The out-of-sorts striker, who was left out of Antonio Conte's squad for Italy's qualifier against Bulgaria and a friendly with England, posted the picture to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon. In 2012, after scoring for the Azzurri against Germany in a European Championship semi-final, Balotelli whipped off his shirt, before striking a pose to show off his muscular frame. Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli recreated his famous goal celebration for an Instagram photo on Tuesday . The Italian scored for his country against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 2012 in Warsaw, Poland . Perhaps serving as a reminder of what he can do, Balotelli recreated the celebration for Instagram, alongside the message, 'Old euro cup pose LOADING....' In the most recent picture, Balotelli appears to be sporting a new tattoo on his pectoral, as well as a far less zany hairstyle. The Reds forward has struggled for goals of late, only netting four in 25 matches this season. He did, though, get on the scoresheet for Jamie Carragher's XI in last weekend's Liverpool All-Star game. He'll be hoping he can take that form into the Premier League, starting with Arsenal next Saturday. Balotelli is congratulated after scoring for Jamie Carragher's XI in the Liverpool All-Star game on Sunday . Balotelli also posted a picture of his football boots, inscribed with his initials and number: 'MB45', on the back . +At the beginning of March, we brought you Cristiano Ronaldo's new footwear advert... and now, the Real Madrid superstar has released a behind-the-scenes look at exactly how it was filmed. The 'CR7 footwear' clip sees a twinkle-toed Ronaldo showing off some impressive dance moves to promote his new brand of shoes, and the latest installment has revealed the secrets behind the shoot. Unseen in the advert itself, Ronaldo's moves are perfectly choreographed by a dancer, with the Madrid man simply copying his off-camera expert. Cristiano Ronaldo has released a brand new behind-the-scenes video of his CR7 footwear advert . The video reveals the secret to Ronaldo's dance moves... he is copying a choreographer off-camera . The Real Madrid superstar practises his dance moves with his choreographer before filming the advert . The shoot takes place in a studio, and the 30-year-old can be seen laughing between takes as he gets to grip with the dance moves. The advert was all in aid of his new CR7 franchise, which got off to a bad start when Nike forced Ronaldo to withdraw a line of trainers from his collection in the belief that it competed directly with one of their own. Nike pay the Portugal forward around £5.5million a year, and according to reports, he would have needed prior consent from the sportswear giants to release a similar trainer, which he did not have. Ronaldo shows off a number of different styles of shoe in the advert, posted on YouTube . The 30-year-old's silky footwork is not just limited to the football pitch, it seems, as he shows off his moves . The advert, to promote Ronaldo's new range of footwear, is called 'Shine In My Shoes' +He used to be a Gunner so it's no surprise that Sol Campbell has become a sharp-shooter for real. The former England, Arsenal and Spurs defender has revealed he loves to dress up in the latest country gear and shoot birds. 'I managed to shoot 11 birds having never picked up a gun before,' boasted Campbell in an interview with Shooting Gazette magazine, out on Thursday. Former Arsenal, Tottenham and England defender Sol Campbell poses in his shooting gear . The latest Shooting Gazette is out now . Campbell, who retired from playing football officially in 2012 and has since kept himself busy off the field, spoke about his desire to coach anywhere in the world. 'I'm in the last six months of my Pro-License Coaching Badges training,' Campbell said. 'Once those are completed I'll be able to coach around the world at any level. 'I'm also helping out the Conservatives on various issues to do with sport and diversity,' said the 40-year-old. The former Gunner found himself enjoying shooting having been introduced to the pastime by his wife's family. 'I've only just started really. My wife's family kept inviting me to shoot and I just didn't want to go, but since retiring from football I've had more time and I thought... let's get all the kit and practice,' added Campbell. 'I didn't want all the gear and no idea, so that was my starting point – shooting clays. 'I do like the attire. I have all sorts of country clothing because we live in Northumberland as well as London. You need good quality gear. Campbell (second right, top row), with England at Euro 2004, won 73 caps playing for his country . Campbell (right) celebrates the 2002 Premier League title with Thierry Henry (left) and Robert Pires (centre) 'The style is important to me, but the quality goes hand-in-hand with it. I love the fabrics, the materials and the cuts. I love the whole sporting side of it. 'This year I shot about 30 birds. That was a mixture of birds. The banter was just lovely. 'As long as the birds end up on a dinner table and people are enjoying them, then that's fine. That's the point for me. I wouldn't want to go deer stalking, that's just not for me.' Sol Campbell (centre) was part of the 'Invincibles' Arsenal side which won the Premier League in 2004 . For the full interview read the April issue of Shooting Gazette, out now . +Mozambique club Ferroviario Maputo paid the price for celebrating their goal against K-Stars when their opponents took advantage of their exuberant celebration by scoring straight from the kick off. In the 2015 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament, where the likes of Sunderland and Orlando Pirates are also taking part, Ferroviario were hoping to take advantage of their first appearance at the annual competition. Dos Santos Adriano had given Ferroviario the lead with an impressive free-kick when the whole team, including the goalkeeper, decided to run around the pitch, throw in a few somersaults and make the most of the occasion. Dos Santos Adriano had given Ferroviario Maputo the lead with an impressive free-kick . Ferroviario were making their first appearance at the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament . The Mozambique club's goalkeeper joined in the celebrations and ran over to their fans . Zambian club K-Stars were allowed to kick-off by the referee with Ferroviario oblivious to what was going on . Kapilingo Francisco noticed the opponents goalkeeper was off the line and took a shot at goal . K-Stars celebrate together after Francisco lobbed the goalkeeper in bizarre fashion to level the scores . But want happened next was quite astonishing when Zambian side K-Stars took advantage of the overenthusiastic celebration in bizarre fashion. The referee allowed K-Stars to kick off while Ferroviario were still soaking up the atmosphere and Kapilingo Francisco lobbed the stray goalkeeper to level the scores with the match finishing 1-1. It was certainly a goal celebration that Ferroviario won't forget in a hurry. +Who says cats hate water? Jaguar this week launched its new, second-generation XF compact sports saloon with a high-wire drive over water on cables just an inch thick. In a stunt worthy of the latest Bond film Spectre — for which the firm is supplying many of the cars — the XF was revealed in a dramatic stunt in the heart of London's Docklands. High over the Royal Dock in Canary Wharf, stuntman Jim Dowdell — a veteran of the Bond, Bourne and Indiana Jones films — drove the car 240 metres across wires to demonstrate the car's lightweight aluminium construction and agility. Don't look down! Jaguar's new XF seen crossing London's Royal Dock by high wire this week . Excitement aside, Jaguar's XF sport saloon promises 'business class' levels of comfort and refinement with a new generation of frugal engines. It's being built at Jaguar Land Rover's Castle Bromwich factory in Birmingham alongside the allaluminium F-Type sports car and top-of-the-range XJ limousine. Its official global debut is at the New York motor show on April 1 before going on sale in the autumn from £30,000 to £80,000. Jaguar's XF sport saloon (pictured) promises 'business class' levels of comfort and refinement with a new generation of frugal engines . The new version is 80kg lighter than its closest competitor. This helps it return more than 70 mpg with CO2 emissions of 104g/km. Engines include 163bhp and 180bhp 2-litre Ingenium diesels linked to six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic gearboxes. The manual 163bhp diesel is 'the lightest, most efficient non-hybrid diesel model in its market segment,' says Jaguar. All other engines are eightspeed automatics. There is also a powerful 3-litre 300bhp V6 twinturbo diesel and a 3-litre 380 bhp V6 supercharged petrol engine. The proportions have also been tweaked. While 7mm shorter and 3mm lower than its predecessor, its wheelbase is 51mm longer, meaning more back seat space, legroom and headroom. Jaguar is investing £600 million in its manufacturing capacity in Britain, £400million at its Castle Bromwich plant. Great to see Britain's former 'Motown' — Coventry, once the capital of our motor industry — getting some bumper good news this week. The city that for decades has built the iconic London taxi is to gain a new factory, costing £250million, creating up to 1,000 jobs and building up to 36,000 vehicles a year. Chinese motor giant Geely , which bought the UK firm outright two years ago after holding a stake since 2006, said the state-of the-art research, development and assembly plant for the London Taxi Company will be built in the city of Lady Godiva (and Peeping Tom). It is a tenfold increase on the company's site, which has been home to London taxis for 70 years and heralds the introduction of the next generation electric and ultralow emission London black cab. Coventry's links with China go back a long way after it had the foresight in the early Eighties to twin itself with the Chinese city of Jinan in Shandong province. What the two cities had in common was silk: Jinan is at the end of the Silk Road and Coventry — before the rise of the motor industry — was a centre for the finest silk-working. The Chinese think long-term and have an important concept called guanxi — or social connections — which help smooth business. Coventry was early to establish these vital connections. Looks like it's paying off. April should put a spring in the step of outdoor touring types as order books open for the new generation of Audi's epic seven-seat luxury sport utility vehicle the Q7. But you'll have to wait until August for first deliveries. In April order books open for the new generation of Audi's epic seven-seat luxury sport utility vehicle the Q7 (pictured) Priced from £50,340 to £53,835, it will be available at launch with a 272 bhp V6 TDI engine. A 218bhp 3.0 TDI Quattro is expected to follow in late summer 2015. And finally ... what possible future could there be for a loud, middle-aged, overweight, motormouth petrolhead who's originally from 'up North', is always behind the wheel of some fancy car or other, divides opinion, drives everyone nuts and is not even that funny? Wonder if I should apply for that vacant Top Gear slot now that whatsisname's gone and got the sack? +Not to be outdone by Tom Brady leaping off a cliff, adrenaline junkie DeAndre Levy can add wing-walking to his nerve-jangling offseason exploits. Last year the Detroit Lions linebacker hiked in Macchu Picchu for five days, swam with sharks in South Africa and boarded down - and crashed on - an active Nicaraguan volcano. But the 28-year-old hit new heights in a biplane, leaving the cockpit to clamber along the aircraft before the pilot spins the plane 180 degrees at approximately 3,500 feet. Levy was one of the success stories of last season and contributed to the Lions' fearsome defense . Not satisifed with that, the daredevil displayed pictures on his Instagram account of him sat on top of the plane in a harness. Levy has documented his adventurous experiences on Instagram, saying: 'Not ready for the offseason yet, but last year's included riding horses in exotic locales, hiking and sleeping atop a dark cold mountain for two nights, volcanic craters, sledding down an active volcano, cockfights, and saving a woman from a rushing river,' three months ago. And the thrill-seeker can now add walking in the Troposphere to his antics. After last year's win over Atlanta, Levy and the Lions will once again travel to England ahead of their game with the Chiefs at Wembley on November 1. +Conor McGregor grabbed Jose Aldo's belt in front of 5,000 screaming fans on Tuesday night after the UFC featherweight champion declared himself the King of Dublin. On the last stop of an eight-city, three-continent world tour, the challenger revelled in being back in his home city to promote the Las Vegas showdown on July 11. And the friction between the warring pair could lead to a staggering 1 million pay per view buys and a gate of $7m (£4.7m) at the MGM Grand. Conor McGregor grabbed Jose Aldo's belt in front of 5,000 screaming fans on Tuesday night . McGregor, UFC featherweight champion, declared himself the King of Dublin . All appears calm as Aldo (left) and McGregor are paraded on stage in the Irish capital . UFC president Dana White - wearing an Ireland football shirt - steps in as tempers flare onstage . UFC president Dana White, who was wearing an Ireland football shirt, stepped in to prevent the showdown . And after Aldo's taunt in the Irish capital, McGregor said: 'Him? You're looking at the king of Dublin,' before grabbing the belt. UFC president Dana White, who was wearing an Ireland football shirt, stepped in to prevent the featherweight showdown breaking out 14 weeks early as Aldo shouted obscenities in Portuguese while the crowd erupted. Both fighters answered questions from the rather biased crowd before facing off for one final time before they meet again in the summer. McGregor also revealed his plans for a feature-length film of his life following the success of his television show Notorious. 'I’m proud of that show, that wasn’t for nothing. I had full creative control of the show,' he said. 'I want a feature film now, two-and-a-half hours. I want it in cinemas all over the world, finishing my story. 'Long after I’m gone, my story will still be told. White smirks as McGregor hurls a tirade in the direction of his bemused Brazilian opponent . The pair continue to exchange views in a frank fashion in front of 5,000 spectators and the world's media . Aldo has not been beaten for 10 years and has made eight successful defences of his title, but McGregor has no doubt that his reign will soon be over. 'I will hit him, I’m not trying to sell nothing, I’m trying to kill him. It’s not a joke, it’s not an act,' he added. 'I want it, he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to hold onto that belt, it’s a mental sign, I’ve learned he does not want me near him. 'He’s never seen anyone like me. Now I’m here, now he’s keeping quiet. 'He’s banged up badly after every fight. There’s only so much the brain can take when you meet someone like me. He has been through the wars; I don’t have a scratch.' +Richard Kilty tiptoes to the front door of his old home, careful not to muddy his new trainers. It is semi-derelict and the windows are boarded up, soon to be demolished as this notoriously tough Stockton-on-Tees council estate is redeveloped. A man repairing a garage roof warns our photographer to conceal his camera but there is barely a soul about. 'It still gets eventful on the evenings,' says Kilty, pointing out a black gate blocking an alleyway entrance, installed at the behest of police officers tired of suspects they were chasing disappearing into nooks and crannies. Sprinter Richard Kilty poses on the deprived estate where he grew up in Stockton-on-Tees . Kilty waves on the podium after receiving his 60m gold medal at the European Indoor Championships . The 25-year-old, who briefly retired from athletics in 2012, works out at Deny's Gym in Stockton-on-Tees . Kilty no longer lives on the estate after experiencing success on the world stage over the last 18 months . Age: 25 . From: Stockton-on-Tees . Events: 60m, 100m, 200m . Golds: 60m - 2014 World Indoor Championships, 4x100m relay - 2014 Europeans, 60m - 2015 European Indoor Championships . Nickname: Teesside Tornado . 'It was usually just kids' stuff,' he says, but delve a little deeper and you realise how remarkable his rise has been from the deprivation of the Victoria estate to one of Britain's fastest men. A block of flats on the edge of the estate was a 'no-go zone' says Kilty, recalling mother Melanie asking him to rescue his younger brother Jack. 'I found him in a room with about 30 heroin addicts. They weren't physically intimidating, they only weighed about six stone but you didn't know if one of them was going to pull a knife on you.' In the moments before the 60metres final at the European Indoor Championships in Prague last month, Kilty glanced around the call room at his competition and his mind flickered back to life on the estate. 'I recognised the look of fear in their eyes, I've seen people in much more dangerous situations on the estate and they looked less scared than some of these athletes. 'On the evenings after I'd got home from school there'd always be fights. People would get stabbed or hit with hammers. We'd hang around in little gangs, that was just something you had to be part of. Kilty gets away from Pascal Mancini (left) and Christian Blum to win gold in Prague earlier this month . Kilty poses outside his local gym in Stockton-on-Tees after returning to the area where he grew up . Kilty shows off his 60m gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Poland in March last year . 'All of us have gone down different paths, my friend David drowned in a river, another friend just got out of prison for aggravated burglary with a gun. I've managed to run my way out of poverty so why should I be scared standing on a start line for a race?' A year to the day after winning the World Indoor Championships in Poland Kilty, 25, won his second international title. The circumstances were very different. He was favourite, whereas 12 months earlier bookmakers had made him a 33-1 outsider with Jamaican Nesta Carter in the field. Six-and-a-half seconds and 33 strides later his life had changed. 'I went there with £17 in my bank account and by the time the plane landed back in the UK I had six figures — £40,000 from winning the race, a British Athletics bonus and a four-year contract with Nike. 'I can remember sometimes not having much money for food and clothes. When I eventually do have kids I want them to live a comfortable life not like I did. I feel I'm doing a good job of that, a couple more years like this and I'll be OK.' He knows all too well what it's like to have it all snatched away. 'I've been homeless twice,' he says. 'The first time I was five and a half and we were put in a hostel up the road, six of us sharing a room in the same building with prostitutes, asylum-seekers and drug addicts. Looking back it was crazy and dangerous but it just seemed like a bit of an adventure at the time. Kilty was made homeless twice and lived in a hostel with prostitutes, asylum seekers and drug addicts . Kilty poses with Adam Gemili, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and James Ellington (L-R) after winning the 4x100m final at the European Championships in Zurich last year . Kilty holds his head as he discusses his childhood and rise to becoming one of Britain's fastest men . 'We moved to the estate after that, my parents owned a pub and made good money for a time but my mum was an alcoholic and addicted to amphetamines. Somehow they lost all their money and we ended up with nothing. 'When I was 14 we were back in the hostel and I had come to my senses. I realised how dangerous it was, luckily my dad was strong and could protect us. I was living there when I won the English Schools title.' Kilty represented Great Britain through the junior age groups but struggled to make the leap to the senior team. Linford Christie took him under his wing before London 2012 but Kilty missed out on selection for the London Olympics despite achieving the qualifying standard for the 200m. 'I had no option but to return home to live with my mam on the estate,' he says. 'One night someone was hit with a baseball bat and nearly killed. I got arrested and was later cleared, I was 150m away when it happened but the damage had been done, my face was plastered all over the news-papers. The week after I was arrested for an alleged kidnap which again was nothing to do with me and I was cleared. But I should never have been in that environment. 'I retired from athletics and was about to join the Marines but one day I was walking by the river and I suddenly decided I couldn't let my talent go to waste. I didn't want to become a failed product of the estate so I decided to give it one last roll of the dice.' Kilty celebrates after surprising the field - and the bookmakers - to win gold in Poland in March last year . Kilt beats Christian Blum (right) to the line to win the 60m European Indoor title earlier this month . Kilty believes his success on track has helped bring his family closer together after problems in the past . Kilty's five-year-old niece, Olivia, hair tied neatly in bunches, arrives to watch her uncle have his picture taken. She is the daughter of his half-sister and still lives on the estate. They are a close family now but it was not always the case. His father Kevin, who has 12 children, was granted full custody of Kilty and his three full siblings after social services became involved. 'One side of the family was at war with the other,' he says. 'It was dysfunctional growing up but everything is good and happy at the moment. I think my success has brought the family together.' Kilty is being coached by Christie again as his focus has switched to making the British team for August's World Championships in Beijing. Vehemently anti-drugs, Kilty believes his coach's protestations that his positive drugs test for nandrolone in 1999 was erroneous. 'He'd been retired three years at that point,' he says, 'I don't believe he took drugs. I'm a clean athlete and I wouldn't train with him if I believed he was a drug abuser. 'But there definitely is a doping crisis at the moment. Justin Gatlin (current 100m world leader) is running faster at 34 — supposedly off drugs — than he was on drugs.' 'I line up against a drugs cheat in virtually every race — Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Dwain Chambers, Asafa Powell. It's annoying knowing convicted dopers are out there when you've worked so hard to get where you are.' +The NFL will gear up for the landmark Super Bowl 50 next year with a series of golden celebrations throughout the season. Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California will host the showpiece event, and the league announced plans for their 'On The Fifty' campaign. The NFL will use the golden theme in a number of ways throughout the 2015 season in preparation for the end-of-season blockbuster on February 7, 2016. Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara will host Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016 . The 50-yard line numerals and NFL logo will be painted gold at all 31 stadiums in the league while team logos on the sideline will be given a golden accent. Whatsmore, the 2015 season will feature 19 previous Super Bowl rematches while the uniforms for next year's Pro Bowl also heavily feature gold. The NFL's website already has a golden look as the countdown to Super Bowl 50 begins . The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona when they beat the Seattle Seahawks . The previous 43 Super Bowl MVPs will be celebrated during the season, ending in a ceremony at Levi's Stadium, and teams also plan to host their very own Super Bowl homecomings. New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks in this year's Super Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. +Eugenie Bouchard suffered a shock defeat in her opening match at the Miami Open against qualifier Tatjana Maria on Saturday. Bouchard, who was seeded No. 6, won less than half her service points, had five double-faults and was broken five times in the 6-0, 7-6 (4) defeat. Eugenie Bouchard was beaten in straight sets in her opening match at the Miami Open on Saturday . Bouchard hits a forehand during her match at Miami's Crandon Park Tennis Center . Bouchard has struggled on the tour since reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open . The Canadian, a Wimbledon finalist last year, has a 6-4 record this year and has struggled since reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. It was the first time Maria, a German ranked 113th, had beaten a top 10 player since 2010. Bouchard (left) shakes hands with Maria across the net after the German secured victory . Qualifier Maria celebrates her straight-sets win against sixth seed Bouchard in Miami . +PSV frontman Memphis Depay has been tipped to match Arjen Robben and even touted as a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age. With 16 Eredivisie strikes to his name, the 21-year-old winger has stormed to the top of the goalscoring charts this season and even found the net for Holland at the World Cup in Brazil last summer. Wanted by Manchester United and Tottenham, Depay may well depart the Philips Stadion at the end of the season after PSV admitted it may be difficult to keep him at the club. Here, Sportsmail tells you everything you need to about the exciting Dutch hotshot. PSV star Memphis Depay is wanted by Man United and Tottenham and tipped to one day match Arjen Robben . The 21-year-old is the current leading goalscorer in the Eredivisie having scored 16 league goals this season . Early years and PSV Eindhoven . Born in 1994, Depay started out at hometown club VV Moordrecht - a Dutch amateur side in south Holland - at the age of six before joining Sparta Rotterdam three years later. The son of a Ghanaian father and Dutch mother, Depay moved to PSV at the age of 12 before making his first-team debut in September 2011 having impressed during a trial. Depay signed his first professional contract in June 2012 and has already made over 100 appearances for the Dutch giants. Depay joined PSV at the age of 12 before making his first-team debut for the Dutch giants in September 2011 . Signing a professional contract in 2012, Depay has already made over 100 appearances for the Dutch giants . Playing style . Pacy, with neat close control, Depay loves to run at defenders and completed the most dribbles in the entire Eredivisie during the 2013/14 campaign. Adding more goals to his game this season, the youngster is more than capable at shooting from distance and boasts an explosive right-foot. Often playing on the left-wing and cutting inside, Depay is strong on the ball and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve to bamboozle opponents. However, still at a young age and learning the game, the 21-year-old can sometimes be guilty of making the wrong pass or keeping hold of the ball for too long. Depay loves to run at defenders and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve to leave opponents for dead . Depay boasts neat close control, an explosive right foot and is often deployed on the left wing for PSV . Top of the scoring charts . Depay's strike during Saturday's 3-0 win away at Go Ahead Eagles was his 16th of the season and took him to the top of the Eredivisie goalscoring charts - one ahead of PSV team-mate Luuk De Jong. An impressive feat for a player who is not an all-out attacker. The No 7 has enjoyed a steady flow of goals during the last two seasons and has found the net 19 times in all competitions this term. Scoring four braces, Depay's goals from out wide have helped fire PSV eleven points clear at the top of the Eredivisie table and will have certainly caught the eye of Europe's biggest clubs. Depay, pictured scoring against Feynoord, has found the net 19 times for PSV in all competitions this term . Depay is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring during PSV's win at Go Ahead Eagles on Saturday . Talent to one day match Arjen Robben... and already better than a young Cristiano Ronaldo? While Depay has been tipped to become as good as Dutch star Arjen Robben by PSV manager Phillip Cocu, one man believes the Holland youngster could one day rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Ed van Steijn, the man who scouted Ronaldo for Manchester United, believes Depay is better than the Real Madrid star was at the same age. Speaking to Dutch daily newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, Van Steijn said: 'If I compare him to a young Cristiano Ronaldo at the time, then Depay has more strings to his bow. I like him better. 'Ronaldo did the same things wrong at Manchester United as he did when he was 17.' Ed van Steijn, a Dutch scout, believes Depay is a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age . Van Steijn believes Real Madrid star Ronaldo made similar mistakes at Man United as Depay did at 17 . Meanwhile, former Holland midfielder Cocu said of Depay: 'Whether he can be as good as Arjen Robben? I think so. 'They are different players, but they are both fast and have a good shot. And both always have the urge to learn. 'But Memphis is only 21-years-old and only in a few years can real conclusions be drawn.' Depay's PSV team-mate Stijn Schaars is also a fan and told Helden Online: 'He's doing everything to reach the top. 'He has a body of a true athlete, power and flair. I'm not afraid of him losing his head. His drive is huge. I like him a lot.' PSV coach Philip Cocu congratulates Depay after the frontman's strike set his side up for victory on Saturday . Cocu believes Depay is capable of matching Holland and Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben in the future . International star and World Cup goalscorer . Depay was handed his first Oranje call-up by Louis van Gaal in 2013 and was selected for Holland's World Cup squad a year later. The energetic frontman scored the winning goal in Holland's 3-2 victory over Australia, before coming off the bench to net against Chile and help Van Gaal's men seal top spot in Group B. Having impressed in Brazil, Depay was nominated for the tournament's 'Best Young Player' award but lost out to France midfielder Paul Pogba. Depay was handed his first call-up by Louis van Gaal in 2013 and also made the Holland World Cup squad . Depay scored the winning goalas Holland beat Australia 3-2 in Group B during the World Cup finals in Brazil . Van Gaal shares a laugh with Depay during a Holland training session in Rio de Janeiro last summer . Standing out in the crowd . As well as his supreme talent, Depay catches the eye with his large collection of tattoos. The young PSV star even has the inside of his lip inked. On his left arm, the winger has artwork dedicated to his grandfather who passed away the day after Depay's 15th birthday. The PSV frontman boasts a large collection of impressive tattoos and even has the inside of his lip inked . The winger also has an inking on his left arm dedicated to his grandfather, who died when Depay was 15 . On the move? With Manchester United keen, and Tottenham even putting in a £14.6million bid for the winger, PSV general director Toon Gerbrands is resigned to the fact Depay is likely to leave the club when the next transfer window opens in June. Speaking last week, Gerbrands told Dutch broadcaster NOS: 'Tottenham were willing to offer €20m (£14.6m) for Depay. We decided to keep hold of him, but he has the option to leave after this season.' Depay's team-mate Georginio Wijnaldum has also been linked with a summer switch to French champions PSG and Gerdbrands is expecting bids for the midfield duo. 'I think these two players are very attractive to a lot of clubs in Europe,' the PSV director said. 'So far, no-one has come forward with an offer but I expect we will come under great pressure.' PSV general director Toon Gerbrands is expecting summer bids for Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum (right) +This is the heart-warming moment two young African elephants locked trunks in a touching embrace that was caught on camera. The very public display of human-like affection was photographed by Jacques Matthysen at the Kariega Game Reserve, east of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It occurred while a herd of nearly 30 elephants playfully chased each other and rolled around on the floor at the popular tourist destination. Photographer Jacques Matthysen said two young elephants locked trunks, like humans would hold hands, in a touching embrace . Jacques, who works as a photographer for the reserve, said he is used to seeing the young elephants act in a playful manner, but their affectionate behaviour took him by surprise. As Jacques and a group of visitors looked on, two of the elephants stopped chasing each other and entwined their trunks in a loving gesture. At one point it appeared as if they were ‘kissing’. The 37-year-old photographer said: ‘The mood in the herd seemed “excited”. We moved out to a safer distance - about 50 metres (164ft) - away when one of the younger bulls, about eight years of age, started chasing a younger bull. The heart-warming moment occurred as a herd of nearly 30 elephants playfully chased each other and rolled around on the floor . ‘What we first thought to be aggression, turned out to be all playfulness. ‘Soon a number of younger bulls and cows started to play around. They pushed, head butted and rolled onto each other for quite a few minutes. ‘Soon after, it looked like they were embracing each other, with gentle touches to the faces with their trunks.’ Jacques Matthysen, the game reserve's photographer, said the elephants' affectionate behaviour caught him by surprise . He said two of the elephants locked trunks like humans would hold hands. ‘I quickly focused my camera on them, to capture the “loving” moment. ‘I am very happy with the sighting and images. This just shows us how these giants, that can be so dangerous and so aggressive, can in fact be so gentle and loving animals.’ +To get in touch with Martin, leave your comments below or send your tweets to @MailSport using #TackleKeown . Sportsmail columnist MARTIN KEOWN answered YOUR questions after an entertaining week in the Champions League and the FA Cup. Chelsea were knocked out by PSG on Wednesday night, with subjects ranging from the referee's performance, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's comments on the Blues being 'babies', David Luiz's return and whether the Premier League is still the best in the world. Also, Arsenal overcame their Old Trafford hoo-doo to beat Manchester United on Monday night, and the former Gunners legend was at the game. But what was that 'money' sign to Arsene Wenger all about? You can read all the answers below. Host commentator . It’s certainly a good way to sum it up. If you think about how you’d react in that situation, he didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry. He probably thought the referee had got it so wrong, and everyone could see it, that he’d get off the hook. The controlled reaction of the Chelsea players was definitely a factor in the red card. Many years ago, when I was playing under George Graham against United, he accused us of being too nice during half-time. He said we had to get around the referee as they were influencing every decision. From that day, I contested every decision, almost giving the referee a running commentary. I would often say, ‘who’s in charge, them or you?’. There’s nothing worse for a referee to hear. I appreciated why people don’t like to see it, but as well as influencing the referee, it makes you fight and compete for everything. It makes you more alive and puts your receptors on red alert. It’s like a game within a game, and believe me, it works. Niall came into the game quite late. As a youngster he did his A-levels and his club Reading helped him through. Just recently he’s turned a huge corner, particularly since Steve Clarke was appointed and started involving him in first-team training. Ireland asked about him last year, but he had an operation, which curtailed his development. Now he’s in the Under 21 squad and we’re very proud. It looks ironic, given that I played for England, but a lot of my family were shocked I didn’t play for Ireland as I come from a big Irish family. I could have played with as much passion for Ireland as I did for England, and it’s Niall’s right to play for Ireland, too. It was a clear demonstration from United that he’s not going to be a part of their future. We know he hasn’t played well, and he looks like he’s lost some sharpness because of his knee injury. Though his last contribution for United, winning a penalty against Sunderland, was very important and has been largely overlooked. He hasn’t played since! I think letting him go is probably the right call though. He’s not sharp enough, and doesn’t strike fear into the opposition. He looks to have given up trying to certain extent. I think Van Gaal is largely responsible for United’s situation at the moment though, not the players. Man management was Sir Alex Ferguson’s forte, and some players find it harder to cope than others. Mangers have to work with players’ minds, bodies and hearts. And when all is not right in their mind they will react to everything. It feels like Van Gaal has created this environment. Fergie would squeeze every ounce out of his players. If he were still there, they wouldn’t be so far away from top of league. I don’t blame either of them, Ben. They were shown the door, so why not? When Roman Abramovich first took over at Chelsea, he offered a lot of money for Thierry Henry, but Arsenal refused and Henry was flattered by it. I think Luiz would have been half-hoping for that same reaction from Chelsea. As for Welbeck, he’s a young man early in his career and was never really given a chance as a centre forward – his preferred role. And then there were the unnecessary comments from Van Gaal, claiming Welbeck was only good enough to be a substitute at United. He wanted to fulfill his dreams at United and he had to listen to that. Now he has the chance to fulfill his dreams with Arsenal. Everyone in the studio thought it was so funny. It’s like showing a montage of Gary [Lineker]'s misses! I was trying to explain that Andy Cole’s run takes me off Giggs’s line so I ended up caught in the middle. My most vivid memory is from after the game when I went into United dressing room to show some respect, but they were in full celebration mode and didn’t show a great deal of respect to us. I felt I had to say something though, it was an epic battle. But they weren’t better than us that day, put it that way... I had to have my smile surgically removed! It was fantastic. I must admit, I was surprised at how many of the young United fans in the ground wanted photos with me and autographs. They were very respectful. I had to walk through the United fans to get to the gantry, and it was a bit intimidating, but overall it was fine. Maybe, because the fans were so young, that hadn’t seen everything that used to go on! There was one occasion when I exclaimed out loud when Arsenal wasted a chance – that got a few comments from the crowd, but it was good to feel like part of my old club again. All credit to Luiz – he has so much self-belief. People were saying Mourinho was a genius for letting him go, but was he a genius last night, Calvin? Of course, he had to let him go for that kind of money. It’s just unfortunate for him that the player came back to demonstrate he was worth every penny. Though I must say, Thiago Silva was magnificent with those successive headers at the other end late on. You couldn’t have written a better script. David Luiz looks like the hero at his old ground, then Silva gives a horror penalty away but snatches the winning goal. It’s a valid argument, Jaymie. However, I think Chelsea’s performance has quite a lot to do with winning the Capital One Cup. I’ve never liked that trophy being awarded so early in season. It’s possible you’ll lose focus, making it tough to keep going. When Chelsea celebrated winning the cup I think they were also enjoying the fact that Manchester City had lost to Liverpool earlier in the day. They were probably thinking they had the league title wrapped up that weekend as well as the League Cup. That looks to have taken the edge off of them. They had a tough game against West Ham afterwards, and they were very lucky to get a result there. They look to have the wrong mentality. Money sign? We were talking about the grass! The Old Trafford pitch is part synthetic, part grass, which was a change sanctioned by David Moyes last season. We were remarking on how it compares to a normal grass pitch. I don’t think it makes it any less interesting, Nico, but whether it’s the best? I’m not even sure I thought it was best when Chelsea and Manchester United were in the Champions League final in 2008. Before Christmas, it looked like Chelsea and Real Madrid could win it. Suddenly there are huge question marks. It’s all about finding consistency and form at right time. The workload doesn’t help, but Chelsea had seven days to prepare. Routine is everything for footballers, and perhaps going from a game every three days to one a week might have affected them. Usually Chelsea control the tempo. They tried to press, but the likes of Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti were so calm and technically gifted... this forced the Chelsea players to sit off a bit as they couldn’t get the ball off them. PSG didn’t panic with ten men, they were brave and kept the ball in tight situations. They just ignored the fact they had 10 men, it was an incredible show of strength. It was like they had been hypnotised into thinking they had 11 men! Jose Mourinho was just as guilty as his team. Usually he’s very decisive – sending on three subs if he needs to – and gets it spot on. But he had them time wasting after they scored the first goal. They didn’t go out to win the match. Ibrahimovic goes to ground, realises he could make heavy contact and tries to pull away - I agree. Oscar knows exactly what he’s doing by feigning injury – it’s not nearly as bad as he makes out. I don’t think he should have been sent off, I’m not even sure it was a booking. The speed at which the Chelsea players all surround the referee is important – it’s the quickest you’ll ever see John Terry run! They can’t even be certain what’s happened or if their player is injured, but it doesn’t stop at least five or six of them waving their arms in air. It’s a calculated, orchestrated reaction, and they’ve been doing it for a while. +There has always been a great rivalry between these sides, but I never played at Old Trafford with any fear. I went there as a youngster in 1986 and won with Arsenal and during the Arsene Wenger years we had a team that could go and win anywhere. We were a physical team but we could play, and it was almost a compliment when United tried to match our physicality. Arsenal defender Martin Keown confront Ruud van Nistelrooy following his missed penalty in 2003 . Keown and his Arsenal team-mates taunted the Dutchman following his last-minute spot-kick miss . Keown's confrontation with Van Nistelrooy was the final act in what is now known as the 'Battle of Old Trafford' In 1999, Ryan Giggs scored that classic FA Cup goal and it turned the season. Arsenal could have won the double but United went on to win the treble. Andy Cole made a run to drag me out of position, but sometimes you just have to admire moments of genius. The other game people love to remind me of is the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ in 2003. In the little black book of opposition players, Ruud van Nistelrooy was one not to be trusted. He was a top player and a fighter, but he would look for any reason to go down. Perhaps I overreacted, but the whole team was infuriated by him. And I’m still not convinced I deserved to give away the penalty that Ruud eventually missed! Keown was part of a physical side that felt they could win anywhere under Arsene Wenger . +Australia's 17-man squad to defend the Ashes against England this summer is packed with pace men as well as a fair share of ageing stars. Ten of their squad are in their thirties, paving the way for a raft of Dad’s Army references that will gather momentum if they get off to a bad start in Cardiff. Nonetheless, this is a squad that I would pick to defend the urn. Never mind planning for the future, their tour will be all about the present. Team Australia celebrate after winning the Cricket World Cup before naming their Ashes squad . NICE BALANCE . My first thought when I saw the squad was that it’s the way I’d have gone about selection. A five-Test series in England is not the time to experiment and the Australians have put faith in experience. Australia's selection of Adam Voges will bring an experienced head with them this summer . Adam Voges is an interesting choice: like Chris Rogers, he knows English conditions well. It’s not a tour for blooding a young batsman. It’s also why they’ve gone with Peter Siddle among the seamers. If Ryan Harris breaks down, Siddle can slot straight in. FIREPOWER . IF Mitchell Johnson bowls anything like he did during the last Ashes, Australia should win. Both sides know there’s still some scarring. Mitchell Starc managed to swing the white Kookaburra during the World Cup so he should be able to swing the red Dukes ball in England. He swings it late, too — as Brendon McCullum found out in the final. Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson will be hoping to terrorise English batsmen like he did last time around . I was impressed with Josh Hazlewood, too. He could prosper in England with his hit-the-deck style. Harris always has wicket-taking potential, although I wonder how quickly he’ll slot back in after sitting out the West Indies tour. No 3 THE KEY . The series could hinge on Australia’s No 3. Whoever it is, England will think they have a chance. Shane Watson has done the job in the past without ever really making it his own and there’s been talk of Steve Smith moving up the order. Steve Smith has been in sensational form and could get moved up the batting order to No 3 . He’s in the form of his life but he still moves around a lot at the crease. If the ball’s swinging, that could spell trouble. The other option would be Voges, who has just averaged 104 in the Sheffield Shield. AGE CONCERN . I firmly believe you should try to get every last drop out of some of these cricketers, especially in an Ashes. As England discovered in 2013-14, an ageing side is only a problem if the players are approaching retirement, like Graeme Swann. At 37-years-old, Brad Haddin is likely to be playing his last Ashes along with a few others . But for someone like Rogers this tour will be a last hurrah. I’ll be watching Brad Haddin. He’s a fierce competitor but he’s 37 and keeping in England can be tricky because of the late swing. DODGY AT THE BACK . Part of the reason Michael Clarke has given up one-day internationals is to manage his dodgy back. Mike Atherton will tell you a bad back can go at any moment, although Clarke looked physically sharp during the World Cup. Captain Michael Clarke will be hoping he doesn't suffer a recurrence of his back problems . But if the Australia captain’s back is stiff when they play in England, the bowlers will test out the 33-year-old’s suppleness against the short ball. He’s still vulnerable early on. Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. James Faulkner . Age 24 . Caps 1 . Verdict Played his only Test to date at The Oval in 2013, where he got up England’s noses by accusing them of boring batting. A left-arm seam-bowling all-rounder, he can give the ball an almighty whack. James Pattinson . Age 24 . Caps 13 . Verdict Injuries have limited him since he burst on to the scene in 2011-12, but the talent is undeniable: tall, aggressive and fast, he should trouble England more than his brother, Darren, when playing for England in a single Test against South Africa in 2008. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Brad Haddin (wkt) Age 37 . Caps 63 . Verdict Australia’s second-most important cog in their 5-0 Ashes wheel in 2013-14, after Mitchell Johnson. His sledging from behind the stumps is considered the heartbeat of the team. Chris Rogers . Age 37 . Caps 20 . Verdict This will be his last hurrah in a late-blooming Test career. Calm, compact and the perfect foil for the exuberance of his opening partner Warner. Steve Smith (vice captain) Age 25 . Caps 26 . Verdict One of world cricket’s rising stars, he scored four tons in Australia’s recent home series against India. Will captain the side full-time after Clarke retires, and can burgle the odd wicket with his leg-spin. Nathan Lyon . Age 27 . Caps 39 . Verdict A steady off-spinner who troubled England’s right-handers during whitewash. But, really, they should have nothing to fear. Mitchell Starc . Age 25 . Caps 15 . Verdict Another left-arm seamer, and Man of the Tournament at the World Cup. His yorkers are as dangerous in Tests as they are in ODIs, and accuracy and pace have improved. Ryan Harris . Age 35 . Caps 27 . Verdict If he can drag his injury-laden body through one final series, Australia will be thrilled. He was an unsung star during their 3-0 defeat here two years ago, and produced the ball of the series to bowl Cook in Perth. Josh Hazlewood . Age 24 . Caps 3 . Verdict One of a batch of promising Australian fast bowlers, he proved economical beyond his years during the successful World Cup campaign. A flawless action bodes well. Fawad Ahmed . Age 33 . Caps 20 . Verdict The Pakistan-born leg-spinner has played only three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games for Australia, so would represent a risk. But Australian leggies have done well in England before… . Michael Clarke (capt) Age 33 . Caps 108 . Verdict Age has not diminished his class, as he proved in the World Cup final. But his dodgy back could be an issue in a five-Test series. Should out-captain Alastair Cook once more. David Warner . Age 28 . Caps 36 . Verdict Could win a Test or two by himself if he bats for a couple of sessions. Moeen Ali’s off-breaks will be crucial in pinning him down. Likes to say a word or two. Shane Watson . Age 33 . Caps 56 . Verdict Has a decent record in Ashes cricket, but has never reached the stage where he frightens England. But his medium-pace balances Australia’s team in a way Cook can only envy. Shaun Marsh . Age 31 . Caps 12 . Verdict A gritty left-hander, and son of former Test opener Geoff. Began Test career with 141 in Sri Lanka in 2011, but success has been sporadic since then. CV includes six ducks. Mitchell Johnson . Age 33 . Caps 64 . Verdict If England haven’t got over the trauma of the 2013-14 series, when Johnson took 37 wickets at 13 apiece, the Ashes will stay with Australia. Peter Siddle . Age 30 . Caps 56 . Verdict The banana-loving seamer is a veteran of two Ashes tours, and could provide relentless accuracy while the quicker bowlers fire around him. Kevin Pietersen, for one, found him almost impossible to score off in 2013-14. Mitchell Marsh . Age 23 . Caps 4 . Verdict A rangy all-rounder and younger brother of Shaun, Marsh stunned England during the World Cup with figures of 5 for 33 at Melbourne – despite having taken only six ODI wickets until then. His batting is the stronger suit. Peter Nevill . Age 29 . Caps 0 . Verdict Peter who? Nevill has been chosen as the reserve wicketkeeper behind his New South Wales team-mate Haddin, although he has also played as a specialist batsman for his state team. Unlikely to get a game unless Haddin breaks a finger. Adam Voges . Age 35 . Caps 0 . Verdict An outsider for a Test debut, but he knows English conditions well – Voges has spent time with Hampshire, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire – and bowls left-arm spin to complement his middle-order hitting. +My heart says it is New Zealand to win this World Cup final but in my head I have to go for Australia, although not by a wide margin. The important thing for the event as a whole is that it has got the right final, involving the two best sides. I thought India were the one team who might just have a say but Australia were too strong —both these sides fully deserve to be here. The reason they have both earned it is that they have played the full-on, modern brand of one-day cricket: powerful batting combined with wicket-taking bowling marshalled by two captains constantly looking to make things happen. It is the completely up-to-date version of 50-over cricket — slightly different to what was seen from certain other teams we could mention. Tim Southee is relishing the prospect of facing Australia in the World Cup final on Sunday . Aaron Finch will hope to make an impact for Australia in the World Cup final . Everyone likes an underdog, and part of you wants to see the Kiwis win because it would be great to have a new winner. They have played exhilarating cricket and you also get the sense that their whole country is really behind them. From an England point of view, they are visiting in early summer and to welcome them as world champions would really add something to it. But my head is ruling the heart largely due to the home advantage of Australia playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. To me that is a massive factor at World Cups. The Black Caps have played every match at home so far and I fear that it is going to be difficult to travel to a venue that is going to be quite different to where they have been playing. Australia celebrate as they book their place in the final with a win over India in the semi-finals . David Warner thanks the crowd after winning the semi-final against India . The ball has swung around in New Zealand, but, with the drop-in pitch, that has not been so much the case at the MCG which, apart from anything else, is much larger than where they have been so far. On some of the grounds in New Zealand even the mishits will go for six, and that will not happen this time. One of the more notable statistics of this tournament has been that Brendon McCullum has scored 85 per cent of his runs in boundaries, . The remarkable Kiwi captain is the most important single figure in this game. As a batsman he’s shown that he is looking to tee off virtually every time. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has scored 85 per cent of his runs in boundaries . He has made some dashing knocks in the earlier rounds without pushing on to a really big score. If he could do that in the final it would be huge for New Zealand. He has been my captain of the tournament. He is aggressive without doing anything for show, but he may have to be a little more conservative in his field placings in this match, and how he uses the spin of Daniel Vettori will be key. Apart from McCullum I like plenty of cricketers in this New Zealand side, there are lots of tough nuts who are a bit unsung, guys such as Vettori, Ross Taylor and Grant Elliot. Daniel Vettori will play his last ever ODI for New Zealand in the World Cup final . The 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground will provide a fitting venue for Sunday's showpiece . I do not expect them to choke, but I think Australia may be building up to a big performance. The Aussies haven’t quite played their best yet and they have been more stop-start, with a game called off and the loss to New Zealand. That will not have too much bearing in my view, and you have got to be impressed by the firepower that runs through the team — look at those late runs from Mitchell Johnson that were so important in the semi-final, for example. This could go either way, but home advantage should just tip it for Australia. And it should be good for the neutral. +It was not as if England lost to Bangladesh in the sub-continent. These were English-type conditions and it was seamers who took the wickets, not spinners. That makes it even more of a diabolical result. Players always have to take responsibility and have a good look at themselves but mistakes have certainly been made by Peter Moores and this management. They had six months to prepare for this tournament rather than in two of the last three World Cups when they have come in to it off the back of the Ashes. Chris Woakes walks towards his bowling mark during the World Cup match between Bangladesh and England . They changed the captain just ahead of this tour which to me was not the wrong call but one made too late. They should have replaced Alastair Cook a year ago and then Alex Hales could have been opening the batting for a year by now. Then at the last minute here they came up with this cunning plan of picking Gary Ballance which smacked of England losing their bottle and reverting to old-fashioned type and going with the Test No3. And why did it take until this game for Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad to pitch the ball up? Eoin Morgan said it wasn’t a team plan so why were they bowling too short and why didn’t someone tell them to stop it before now? England's batsman Ian Bell plays a shot as Bangladesh wicket keeper Mushfiqur Rahim looks on . James Taylor heads back to the dressing room after losing his wicket to Taskin Ahmed of Bangladesh . Yet, in all honesty, I watched that match and I wasn’t too fussed about the result because my feeling is that even if England had won and gone on to the quarter-final they would have been hammered by India, South Africa or whoever they faced on a drop-in pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England are playing a different brand of cricket from the top five or six teams and the underlying problems need to be looked at as much as the position of the coach, who comes under scrutiny after every tournament disappointment. Stuart Broad slips over during the World Cup match between England and Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval . Masrafe Bin Mortaza celebrates after getting the wicket of Alex Hales match at the Adelaide Oval . There are exciting players out there. You could tell that Hales had something about him two years ago. Then there are others like Sam Billings and Jason Roy. We need someone with a keen eye picking these guys out and then sending them round the world to play in the Indian Premier league, the Big Bash and other tournaments where they may learn. One-day cricket cannot be an afterthought any more for England. There is no magic fix but we must change our culture. Let the players have a carefree attitude – not reckless – but carefree. Then start moving forward and catching up. Bell reaches his 50 during the World Cup match between England and Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval . +John Barnes did get a second chance as a manager in British football. What he didn’t get was a third. Having tried and failed at an elite club, Celtic — he left after the infamous loss to Inverness Caledonian Thistle — Barnes managed Jamaica and then Tranmere Rovers. On October 9, 2012, when he was sacked after a run of two wins in 11 matches, Tranmere were 22nd in League One. John Barnes, at the Oxford Union, tried and failed at Celtic before spells at Jamaica and Tranmere Rovers . Barnes, pictured in charge of Celtic, left the club after their infamous loss to Inverness Caledonian Thistle . Barnes believes black managers don’t get the second chances afforded their white counterparts, but where could he have gone from there? Nothing in his record suggested he would thrive in the lower leagues, his experience at Celtic will have damaged his appeal to bigger clubs. Barnes was stymied by circumstances, not the colour of his skin. Jason McAteer, his assistant, has not worked since, either — and neither have three of the four managers subsequently employed and ditched by Rovers. Chris Hughton, formerly of Tottenham, Newcastle United, Birmingham, Norwich, and now boss at Brighton . The experience of Chris Hughton (Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Birmingham City, Norwich City, Brighton and Hove Albion), Paul Ince (Macclesfield Town, Milton Keynes Dons, Blackburn Rovers, Notts County, Blackpool) or Keith Curle (Mansfield Town, Chester City, Torquay United, Crystal Palace, Notts County, Carlisle United) supports the theory of the managerial merry-go-round, but suggests that once a black coach is on board, his opportunity is no different from that of a white one. The problem is getting the elusive first job, not where to go if it doesn’t work out at Tranmere. We know what happens then, black or white. +England’s seven-game winning streak does not include Italy. Lithuania, but not Italy. Slovenia, but not Italy. San Marino and Estonia, but not Italy. So the idea that the heat has been taken out of Harry Kane’s full debut for his country by a string of victories since last summer’s World Cup does rather overlook a salient fact. That England’s seven wins, as welcome as they may be, are against the also-rans of European football. Only Slovenia are on course to qualify automatically for the European Championship at the halfway stage — by coming a distant second to England — while Norway, Switzerland and Scotland are in third place in their respective groups, Lithuania lie fourth, Estonia fifth and San Marino where they always are. This is not Roy Hodgson’s fault. His players can only beat what is in front of them. Tottenham striker Harry Kane is set to make his full England debut against Italy on Tuesday night . Kane celebrates after scoring on his England debut against Lithuania just 79 seconds after coming on . Kane looks on as England manager Roy Hodgson talks to members of the squad at the Juventus Stadium . Yet just as Hodgson is trying to play down the clamour around Kane, playing down the euphoria around England’s present run may be equally wise. It is not a year since England’s poorest World Cup finals performance in recent memory and what we do know is that when a group of players that are the scourge of the Baltic nations plus an odd mountain range or two came up against Italy in Manaus last June, they did not have the wit to win. That is where Kane comes in. Italy and England may be depleted in Turin, but certain standards remain. Italy’s defence will be of a calibre England have not experienced since the World Cup. Their ambition will be greater than that of previous opponents, too. The Spurs striker headed in against Lithuania shortly after coming on as a substitute at Wembley . Kane celebrates his first international goal as England cruised to a 4-0 win over lowly Lithunania . This is a genuine test for Kane, in a way his cameo role against Lithuania wasn’t. He will not have played against a team of Lithuania’s standard since he was being farmed out by his club on loan to gain experience. Lithuania fielded a starting back four featuring players from Rangers, Hapoel Haifa, Zalgiris Vilnius and Cambuur of Holland. On Tuesday, he will play against two of the men who have powered Juventus to the pinnacle of Italian football — Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci — plus Andrea Ranocchia of Inter Milan. It is an upgrade. And that is what England require of Kane, too: an upgrade. Hodgson knows he already has the players to qualify for a major tournament — but he didn’t have ones who could muscle past Italy or Uruguay once there. The hope is Kane could change that. Kane will come up against Italy and Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci (left) on Tuesday night . Giorgio Chiellini (second right), pictured with his Italy team-mates, will also come up against the England man . Italy players train at the Juventus Stadium in Turin ahead of Tuesday's friendly against England . At the moment we are left asking questions to which we probably know the answer. Why is Danny Welbeck so prolific for England — Europe’s top scorer in the current qualifying campaign, no less — yet still finding his feet with Arsenal? Why is Raheem Sterling’s form so inconsistent for Liverpool, yet so vital for England? The explanation can be found in that Lithuanian back four. When does Welbeck get to play against defenders at the level of the Scottish Championship with Arsenal? When does Sterling face opposition such as Cambuur? Danny Welbeck, top scorer in Euro qualifying, celebrates with Wayne Rooney after scoring on Friday night . Raheem Sterling comes up against better quality opposition for Liverpool than when playing for England . Chelsea send their promising youth-team players to Vitesse Arnhem on loan, and they often make the first team. Vitesse are currently fifth in the Eredivisie; Cambuur are 10th. The last time they met, on February 4, two Chelsea players featured for Vitesse, who won 2-0. So that is what Welbeck and England were up against on Friday — defenders who might not quite be at the level of Chelsea’s best youngsters. Faced with John Terry in the Premier League, different rules apply. Yet against Terry on January 1, Kane nhad one of his best games of the season. Kane had one of his best games of the season against John Terry during Spurs' 5-3 win over Chelsea . He is English football’s top scorer playing often against players with the quality we shall witness on Tuesday night. What Hodgson must be hoping is that in Turin he sees a player who can take England beyond. Wayne Rooney was Europe’s top scorer on the way to South Africa in 2010, too. Having qualified, England failed to attain the necessary level when competing in the finals. Hodgson talked of Kane on Monday as a squad player being given the chance to show what he can do — albeit with one of his most promising lines of supply severed as Sterling is back on Merseyside nursing a minor injury. Yet he is more than just that. If Kane demonstrates that he can pose a genuine threat to high- level defenders, he has the capability to change the way England approach matches. The Premier League's top scorer will be up against defenders of real quality when England take on Italy . Welbeck does a job for Hodgson, but that is what it is: a job. It is a good job — he is the player Hodgson relies upon when he is concerned the opposition has superior technique — but it has limitations. Welbeck works hard, he closes down, he has pace on the counter-attack — and he does exactly what the manager asks of him. And, for now, that is enough. Welbeck has been prolific as England power through the mediocrities. Welbeck does a good job and is often relied on by Hodgson when England face sides with superior technique . Extra is needed in France in 2016, however, if England are to be more than just present. Hodgson must discover match-winners, players who have the beating of contenders like Italy. So Tuesday night is much more than a friendly for Kane. This is a moment when he has the opportunity to alter the potential of English football and, if successful, we shouldn’t be frightened to embrace this. +Tony Fernandes thought Queens Park Rangers were not getting enough out of their players. He thought the younger ones should get more of a chance. Now he knows. Darnell Furlong, 19, was removed at half-time against Crystal Palace and replaced by a 36-year-old with flu, having been given a terrible time by Yannick Bolasie. Palace were leading 3-0 by then. Adel Taarabt played a full 90 minutes and looked heavy and poor. So there was no secret stash of talent, ignored by the previous manager. Darnell Furlong (right) finds it tough going against Glenn Murray and was substituted at half-time . Charlie Austin tries to point Adel Taarabt in the right direction but QPR look to be heading down . Fighting relegation all season, Rangers would have been one of the easiest teams to make. A talented youngster or an outcast like Taarabt would have been instantly recalled had there been the slightest spark or inclination. There are some clubs — and Tim Sherwood has proved that Aston Villa are one — where an underachieving group can be energised. That isn’t the case at QPR. The best players were playing and weren’t good enough. It really was no more complicated than that. Austin (left) looks dejected with team-mates Steven Caulker and flu-victim Clint Hill, who replaced Furlong . Tony Fernandes will be in no doubt now that the players at Loftus Road are not good enough to stay up . +Debbie Jevans is understood to have received a six-figure pay-off from the RFU after walking out as chief executive of England Rugby 2015 less than six months before the World Cup. That the RFU are prepared to hand over around £150,000 suggests the Twickenham hierarchy were just as keen to part company with Jevans as she was to leave them. Jevans is believed to have been paid around £250,000-a-year and her leaving cheque would consist of the remainder of her contract for 2015 plus part of her bonus agreement. Debbie Jevans has left her role as chief executive of England Rugby 2015 ahead of the World Cup this summer . Jevans is understood to have agreed a £150,000 pay-off with the RFU after her departure . Despite the breakdown of her relationship with the RFU high command of Ian Ritchie and Bill Beaumont, the size of the pay-off shows tournament preparations were in good shape. The last big split before the Jevans affair in which both sides kept this quiet followed Adrian Chiles’ sacking as ITV’s lead football presenter. Chiles has still not spoken out about losing his prime sports host role to Mark Pougatch, despite having settled his pay-off terms with ITV. Jevans' relationship with RFU duo Ian Ritchie (pictured left) and Bill Beaumont deteriorated . Television presenter Adrian Chiles has still not spoken out after settling his pay-off terms with ITV . +England fans upset at the FA for switching the extra loyalty value of attending matches from away games to Wembley will be infuriated at the way their appeal over the change has been ignored. The FA intend to carry on regardless awarding two caps to their England club members for coming to home games and one cap for trips abroad. For years it had been the other way round for the loyalty league table that will next be used to allocate FA tickets for what will be a hugely over-subscribed Euro 2016. England supporters have chanted their upset - ‘two caps for Wembley, you’re having a laugh’ - at every international game since the World Cup and the matter was raised by fans chief Malcolm Clarke at the last FA council meeting. England fans are unhappy with the FA's move to switch loyalty value of attending away games to Wembley . England supporters who attended England's friendly in Italy will have earned just one cap for the trip . The FA board said they noted Clarke’s concern. But rather than look fully into whether they had made the right decision, the FA are staying on the same course. They claim that the hardcore loyal support who go to home and away games are not being disadvantaged and that filling Wembley is the over-riding priority. England fans ambassador Kevin Miles said: ‘We have appealed in the right way through our council representative and it will be disappointing in the extreme if our complaints are effectively ignored. The FA have not heard the last about this.’ Andros Townsend shoots and scores during England's 1-1 draw against Italy at the Juventus Stadium . Land Rover, who pulled their England rugby sponsorship after boorish behaviour by the players on a company day during the 2011 World Cup fiasco in New Zealand, have purposely made their tournament sponsorship in 2015 grass-roots related. Yet Land Rover still felt the need to spice up their launch match between two amateur sides at Farnborough Rugby Club by inviting along rugby celebrities Sir Clive Woodward, Jonny Wilkinson , Matt Giteau and Will Greenwood. And so much for grass-roots delivery — all the junior and mini-rugby sessions were cancelled so committee members could meet the big names. Land Rover, sponsors of next year's Rugby World Cup, invited Jonny Wilkinson to their launch match . Brian Cookson, the UCI president charged with cleaning up rotten cycling, faces a difficult day on Thursday. UCI’s licence commission meet to discuss his recommendation to withdraw leading team Astana’s elite competition licence following major doping offences by their riders. Drug-riddled Astana are expected to take their case to the Council of Arbitration for Sport if they lose their permit. They will claim Cookson has not followed the correct legal procedure as there is nothing in the UCI statutes about withdrawing team licences for rider transgressions. Potentially, Astana — backed by the Kazakhstan sovereign wealth fund — could then sue the UCI for massive damages if their appeal is upheld by CAS. League One club Scunthorpe have tenuous links with the England team through being the first professional clubs of Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence. And they are now in the unlikely position of having their chief executive of 10 days Jim Rodwell on the FA international committee. Rodwell was in Turin on Tuesday night as an FA representative. Jim Rodwell, pictured during his spell as a Rushden & Diamonds player, is on the FA international committee . Jevans’ RFU pay-off . The size of Debbie Jevans' six-figure pay-off from the RFU after walking out as chief executive of England Rugby 2015 points to Twickenham’s high command wanting her out — even if she made the first move. It is understood the breakdown of Jevans’ relationships with the RFU leadership included those with affable chairman Bill Beaumont as well as chief executive Ian Ritchie. Debbie Jevans received a pay-off after walking out as chief executive of England Rugby 2015 . It is said Jevans had been thinking about leaving since New Year, such was the disconnect. So there would have been time to ensure she did not depart Twickeham empty-handed and her believed £150,000 severance payment reflects tournament preparations going well. The last big split before the Debbie Jevans affair in which both sides kept this quiet followed Adrian Chiles’ sacking as ITV’s lead football presenter. Chiles has still not spoken out about losing his prime sports host role to Mark Pougatch, despite having settled his pay-off terms with ITV. +The extent of the fall-out between Debbie Jevans and the RFU hierarchy has started to emerge since the England Rugby 2015 chief executive suddenly quit last Friday. As Sportsmail revealed, Jevans had become so exasperated with the increasing level of interference in her forensic planning of the Rugby World Cup that she felt she couldn’t work at Twickenham any longer. But it’s now understood that the RFU had become equally fed up with the way Jevans always demanded her own way — as in her previous role as director of sport at the London Olympics — and didn’t properly accommodate the host nation position at a World Cup where the financial guarantee stops with them. Debbie Jevans resigned as chief executive of England's World Cup 2015 organising committee last Friday . And although Jevans resigned of her own accord, the RFU made no attempt to change her mind. The crucial relationship between RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie and Jevans had began to unravel over the last few months and culminated in a series of huge rows in Ritchie’s office at Twickenham last week. This led RFU chairman Bill Beaumont to tell a member of staff: ‘We’ve got a major problem here.’ It was Ritchie who was responsible for signing the highly combative Jevans, whom he knew from his role as CEO of the All England Club where Jevans is an influential committee member. The exact flashpoint that forced Jevans to resign less than six months before the start of the tournament is not known. But staffing levels at ER 2015 are known to concern the RFU with nearly 200 already on the ER 2015 payroll. The relationship between RFU chief Ian Ritchie and Jevans had began to unravel over the last few months . Sources say Ritchie walked through ER2015’s expanded office space recently, wondering what the huge army of employees actually did. The 1991 World Cup, hosted by five unions, had been organised by less than 25 full-time staff — not many more than turned up on the ER 2015 team recently to arrange a single fanzone. The split with Ritchie also left Jevans isolated as she made no attempt to embrace the rugby fraternity or commercial agencies like IMG. Certainly, the clubs regarded her as very difficult to deal with — unplayable some even said. Also, Ritchie is not the jovial, happy-go-lucky CEO he portrays on the surface but a ruthless, cold-eyed businessman who has seen off Jevans in the same ruthless way he brought her in to replace Paul Vaughan . Ritchie’s desire to curb ER2015 excess and bring the organising committee into the bosom of the RFU can be seen by the installation of RFU finance director Stephen Brown as the new ER2015 managing director. Jevans had previously held the role of director of sport at the London Olympics . The International Rugby Board have kept their distance from the Jevans walk-out. But they have to take some of the blame for the crazy structure of the Rugby World Cup where they receive an £80million guarantee but still keep sponsorship, corporate hospitality and TV rights while leaving the host nation and the organising committee to sell the tickets and fight for recognition. Jevans has made it clear she will not be explaining the personal reasons behind her departure any time soon. The International Rugby Board, headed by Bernard Lapasset, have kept their distance from the Jevans saga . It hasn’t helped the strained relationship between the Premier League and the FA over homegrown player numbers that the clubs kept FA chairman Greg Dyke waiting for one hour and 20 minutes outside their Piccadilly meeting last week. Dyke had prepared a presentation but wasn’t given the opportunity to address the clubs. FA chairman Greg Dyke was not given the opportunity to address the Premier League clubs last week . Eden Hazard, Chelsea’s world-class forward who shuns the trappings of a superstar, has re-organised his representative management in keeping with his low-profile image. Hazard is having his management run by family members — apart from former Chelsea executive Andy Dart looking after commercial opportunities. Chelsea star Eden Hazard is having his management run by family members . Nike’s signing 18 months ago of new England star Harry Kane — well before his breakthrough for club and country — has increased their stranglehold on the England squad. The swoosh stable also includes Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Joe Hart, Ross Barkley and Danny Welbeck. Nike signed up Tottenham and England star Harry Kane to their brand 18 months ago . +The battle over homegrown players overshadowed the Premier League, FA and Government’s get-together on Friday in a fanciful show of harmony to promote grassroots facilities. The League’s opposition to FA chairman Greg Dyke’s campaign to increase the homegrown players in their squads from eight to 12 made pictures of Dyke, PL chief executive Richard Scudamore and Minister for Sport Helen Grant at a new 3G pitch in Brixton rather incongruous, especially as how the money will be spent or who will administer it has not been decided. ‘The nitty gritty will be worked out,’ promised Grant on her last day in office before the election, just when she’s starting to looking the part. Greg Dyke’s has a campaign to increase the homegrown players in their squads from eight to 12 . The PL want to kick Dyke’s project into the long grass, claiming it will never get through the necessary committees on which the League have seats. Dyke has ridden back from his aggressive approach on Monday when he said the FA had looked into forcing change but did not want to do so. When Southampton asked Dyke at the clubs’ summit if he was going to force it through — as the FA could — he denied he’d said that. Instead, there will be a consultation process with an FA document arriving soon which the PL and their clubs will inevitably reject. Scudamore said: ‘We haven’t actually seen the consultation document, we haven’t seen the process. When that arrives, we will consult properly on it.’ The FA’s best hope is that UEFA can persuade the European Commissioner to allow 12 home-grown players in Champions League squads. Minister for Sport Helen Grant's appearance at a new 3G pitch in Brixton was rather overshadowed . The non-stop spin about who’s giving what to grassroots football was in full force. Scudamore, Dyke and Grant were each accompanied by at least two of their PR team or policy advisors, all spinning like tops over a supposedly joint initiative. It was likened to a three-legged stool by Scudamore, who added: ‘They fall over if any one of the legs gets sawn off.’ The three speeches at the UEFA Congress from Sepp Blatter’s challengers for the FIFA presidency do not seem to have had much impact on voters. According to his supporters, Blatter  is still on course for a ridiculous fifth term in office with a landslide 160 territories out of 209, which explains why he doesn’t feel the need to go out on the campaign trail. That support includes around half of the UEFA countries, which is the percentage estimated by the Slovenia and Iceland delegations in Vienna. According to his supporters, Sepp Blatter is still on course for a fifth term in office . FA of Wales’ loveable loose cannon president Trefor Lloyd Hughes gave the impression he didn’t really know where he stood at the UEFA Congress over his noisy claims to the British vice-presidency on the FIFA ExCo because it was Wales’s turn. And this was borne out by his official FAW statement congratulating the successful candidates after the elections in ‘Vienna, Switzerland’. FA cutting to the Max . The FA’s desire to find 15 per cent cuts from every department to fund the England commission coaches and pitches initiative doesn’t stop them bringing in costly management consultants Maxxim to find more efficient ways for football’s ruling body to work. Complaints from the national game about the proposed cuts to the FA Trophy and Vase prizemoney brought the FA board response that sponsors should be found by the commercial department. Hardly likely when the flagship FA Cup has been without a backer all season. Four second places in the Six Nations is not stopping England head coach Stuart Lancaster talking about coming first for a change. His latest speaking engagement, for the NSPCC, is a glitzy evening with himself and Jonny Wilkinson at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on April 23 talking to 450 guests about ‘What it takes to Win’. Whether it’s advisable, even for a good cause, for Lancaster, with his track record, to be talking in tandem with a fabled World Cup winner is debatable. RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie chats to Lancaster at England's base in Pennyhill Park in Bagshot . The ECB are negotiating a car deal for England with Toyota set to replace Jaguar. And if Kevin Pietersen does return, he should be required to arrive at matches in a Toyota. He famously annoyed Jaguar by refusing to drive their car when on a central contract because he wouldn’t commit to sponsors’ player appearances. Kevin Pietersen famously annoyed Jaguar by refusing to drive their car because of players appearances . +Steve Howey was in England’s Euro 96 squad that reached the semi-finals. Wolves’ striker Steve Bull was in the England squad that only missed out on a World Cup final in 1990 after another penalty shootout failure. I applaud them, and I certainly don’t mean any disrespect, but if you’re honest you’ll agree it’s hard to believe what Steve and Steve achieved. England are looking strong and should have a good chance at the European Championship next year . Roy Hodgson has an exciting squad at his disposal and England should go deep into the tournament . England players head out of the Wembley tunnel for the second half of their Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania . What it shows is that you don’t have to have 23 truly top class players in your squad to make an impact at a tournament. So what’s stopping England next summer? History – that is all. And the right partner for Gary Cahill. If one of John Stones, Phil Jones or Chris Smalling – or maybe a centre half who might burst on to the scene next season – can show the quality and consistency needed to make himself a regular in the England team then that’s Roy Hodgson’s last problem solved. All other departments are looking healthy, fitness notwithstanding. Goalkeeper Joe Hart is looking the best he’s ever looked. Finding a partner for Gary Cahill in central defence is Hodgson's main concern ahead of the tournament . Phil Jones played alongside Cahill against Lithuania but the place is far from nailed down . Goalkeeper Joe Hart has performed consistently well for club Manchester City and country . We have athletic young full backs who thrive in the modern game at club level; Cahill is still trusted by Jose Mourinho, and has another year of learning off John Terry to come . In midfield it’s now a shock if Jordan Henderson doesn't start for club and country; Adam Lallana is looking a class act after an injury-hit difficult start at Liverpool. Michael Carrick is at last being trusted by an England manager and if Roy keeps ignoring those who say he isn't quick enough (his reading of the game more than makes up for that) or doesn't score enough goals (the goal counters playing FIFA have a lot to answer for) he may well be rewarded. Fabian Delph looks at home in an England shirt if he keeps his discipline and then there are other talents like Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ross Barkley. Up front England have their best options since Euro 96. Danny Welbeck has work-rate in abundance, he also has quality and goals. Jordan Henderson has tied down his place in the centre of the England midfield . Michael Carrick appears to have won the trust of manager Roy Hodgson at last . Raheem Sterling was electric on Friday and if he can replicate that at the Euros, then he certainly is a player opponents will be scared of. Look at his trick and cross for Harry Kane’s goal – that’s top class. Wayne Rooney is on the brink of becoming an England legend, his focus and ambition has been sharpened by the captaincy and by the reality that he’s running out of time to make a significant impact at a major tournament. Theo Walcott’s pace could be useful, and of course Harry Kane is ripping it up whenever he sets foot on a football pitch. When I think about the players England have, I feel optimistic. These players are playing in a way that is pleasing on the eye, credit to Hodgson for that. But then I think of the World Cup and how horrible that was from the fans' point of view. And then I remember every other tournament we’ve been in since Euro 96 and we’ve either not played very well, or not got very far. Raheem Sterling capped an electric performance against Lithuania on Friday with a goal . Captaincy has improved Wayne Rooney even more and he is on the verge of becoming an England legend . Harry Kane, who scored on debut against Lithuania, provides further reinforcement up front . History demands a negative outlook and it’s up to the manager and the players to prove that wrong. They’re playing some good stuff, albeit in some straightforward qualifiers, but then some big nations are not sitting top of their groups right now - Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain and Belgium most notably. And England’s group may be comfortable, but arguably the best performance came in the toughest game since the World Cup, away to Switzerland, a team who got further at the World Cup and who are above us in the world rankings. The challenge for Hodgson is whether he can maintain those standards when the opposition is tougher in France 2016. There is one thing Hodgson has that so many previous England managers lacked. He has the trust of the players and that could be vital. England imploded in South Africa in 2010 when Capello picked the wrong players and then treated them appallingly at the tournament. Unlike Fabio Capello in 2010, Hodgson has the complete trust of his squad . Hodgson resisted calls to replace the in-form Danny Welbeck with Kane and was proved correct . For the Lithuania game on Friday, Hodgson ignored the calls to start Kane and that was exactly the right thing to do. Not because Kane isn't good enough – far from it. But Hodgson knew that if he dropped Welbeck the rest of the players would not – could not – respect that decision. Welbeck has been excellent in qualifying so far for England – there was no reason to drop a man who scored both goals in our toughest qualifier so far. If a player has done the job asked of him, there is no reason to drop him. If a manager drops that player, that decision instantly affects the relationship between players and manager. At international level, with limited time to nurture or repair relationships, a manager cannot afford to lose the trust of his squad. There are lots of positives about the current England situation. But as fans can we afford to be positive when we’ve been let down so many times in the last 20 years? I want England to win the European Championship, but until it happens it will always be an unrealistic dream. +I always thought international football was about the best players from one country pitting themselves against the best players from another country. But this is a fantastical idealistic notion. The cosmopolitan nature of the world in general, and the easy, frequent movement of large numbers of people from country to country in modern times has made the globe a smaller place. At the weekend, Italy's equaliser against Bulgaria was scored by a Brazilian, Eder, who first arrived in Italy when he was 16. He has admitted he doesn't know the words to the Italian national anthem. An Argentina-born striker, Franco Vasquez, is also in Antonio Conte's squad. Eder, who was born in Brazil, celebrates his goal for Italy in their Euro 2016 qualifier with Bulgaria . Eder, who moved to Italy when he was 16, has admitted that he doesn't know the national anthem . Argentina-born Franco Vasquez is also part of Antonio Conte's Italy squad . Italy's Italian strikers are either too old (Luca Toni, Antonio di Natale) or out of form (Ciro Immobile, Mario Balotelli, Graziano Pelle), hence the foreign call-ups. The controversy led to Roberto Mancini saying that 'the Italian national team should be Italian. An Italian player deserves to play for the national team, while someone who wasn't born in Italy, even if they have relatives, I don't think they deserve to.' It's nothing new for Italy: they won the World Cup in 2006 with Argentinian Mauro Camoranesi in the side. He moved to Italy at the ripe old age of 23, didn't sing the national anthem, spoke in Spanish after the game when he dedicated the victory in the final in Berlin to the people back in his neighbourhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires – roughly 7,000 miles from Rome. As if more confusion was needed, he now manages in Mexico and his middle name is German. Italy won the World Cup in 2006 with the Argentinian Mauro Camoranesi in their squad . Roberto Mancini, the former Manchester City manager, said the Italian national team should be Italian only . Italy's casual approach to 'Italianness' when it comes to football stretches back nearly 100 years: midfielder Luis Monti played in a World Cup final for Argentina in 1930, and then won the 1934 tournament with Italy. Italy of course are not the only ones. Spain called up Brazilian Diego Costa, and England have done it too: Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica, but there is a difference. Sterling moved to England aged five. And this is an important point: Mancini is wrong to believe you have to be born in the country for which you play: there are circumstances which may lead to you being born in one country, but brought up in another. The truth is that Sterling is proud of his Jamaican roots, but feels English. 'Irish Blood, English Heart' sang Morrissey, summing up the complexity of identity in four words. Diego Costa is another high-profile player who was born somewhere other than the country he plays for . Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica but has lived in England since the age of five . There are plenty of English-born players who feel Irish because of their family history – a father from Ireland perhaps. Would it be wrong to deny them the chance to play for Ireland? I think so. Back to Camoranesi, who even after winning the World Cup for Italy, said he felt Argentine. Italy and Spain are stretching credibility with their foreign internationals. And perhaps the worst of all is Gordon Strachan selecting Matt Ritchie. The Bournemouth star admitted he had not even been to Scotland before his call-up and debut last week. He belted out the national anthem like he was one of The Proclaimers. No rules were broken because his dad was born in Edinburgh, but how Scottish can Ritchie feel if at the age of 25 he had failed to make the effort to even visit the country of his father's birth? Good luck to him, but the whole mess raises questions about the nature and future of international football. Matt Ritchie of Bournemouth had never been to Scotland before making his debut for them last week . Ritchie's father was born in Edinburgh, making him eligible to play for Scotland . When one country faces another country on a football pitch, shouldn't the main purpose of that match be to see how 11 players from one nation fares against 11 players from a different nation? Isn't that a fundamental premise and prerequisite of international football? If it isn't, and the international game has become a free for all involving bending the rules so that it no longer matters where you were born and which nationality makes your heart beat stronger, then what is the point of it. When I go to see England play against Italy I want to see the best English players play against the best Italian players. Not a few ringers who aren't good enough to play for other countries. Of course, clinging on to a view that footballers should only play for the country in which they were born will these days lead to accusations of xenophobia or discrimination. But those accusations are lazy and unintelligent. International football should always be about one country against another. There is nothing wrong or racist about that. But a Brazilian playing for Spain, an Argentine for Italy and several Englishmen playing for Scotland dilutes the passion of the occasion. It's become more about players enhancing their careers when it should be about the passion you feel for your country. And that just isn't right. +A lot of Gareth Bale’s friends and fans are letting their hearts rule their heads and are making themselves look spectacularly naive. Bale was stunning again for Wales in Israel. With a little bit of help from his friends – notably Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ledley – he has spearheaded the charge to the top of Group B. Chris Coleman is arguably the luckiest manager in international football – Bale is shining for Wales at exactly the same time as the European Championship has been expanded, and it would be a huge failure if Wales didn’t qualify for the finals in France next year. Coleman is well on course to make history with his current squad. Gareth Bale scored two goals for Wales in Israel but has not been up to scratch for Real Madrid this season . Bale celebrates one of his two goals in Israel as Wales won their Euro 2016 qualifying match in Group B . Bale has been brilliant for Wales but his form for Real Madrid has left a lot to be desired in Spain . International football should be the best of one country against another... not a Brazilian playing for Spain, an Argentina in Italy colours or an English-born Scot . England's exciting squad and flawless form give real reasons for optimism ahead of Euro 2016... but only if Roy Hodgson can instil a positive mentality . But as brilliant as Bale has been for Wales, his form this season for Real Madrid is still a subject for debate. He hasn’t been good enough, and needs to step up to the plate between now and the end of the season to keep his reputation at the Bernebeu intact. His supporters have expressed their disgust at anyone who dares to question Bale’s Real Madrid credentials. Honestly, did these people think that Bale or any player for that matter, could go to a club the size of Real Madrid and not be scrutinised? It seems these people are unaware of the amazing history and traditions of this great club – and the demands that go with it. This isn’t the Welsh national team, where a couple of goals in Israel makes you a national treasure. This isn’t Spurs where reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo vents his frustration next to team-mate Bale during a La Liga match . Bale has failed to meet the high standards at Real Madrid this season in front of football's harshest critics . No, this is Real Madrid, where they win their 10th European Cup and immediately ask if the players are good enough to win it again the following season. Where finishing behind Barcelona is almost regarded as a crime. Where finishing third last season behind Atletico Madrid AND Barca was seen as utter humiliation. Standards are spectacularly high at Real Madrid and it’s hard to make a case to support the notion that Bale has maintained the level he reached last season. As far as his Bernebeu future is concerned, Saturday’s man-of-the-match display in Haifa will have done nothing to appease the Madridistas. In a Wales shirt Bale is everywhere – it’s exhausting watching him. He scored two, he set up the other, he created more chances with some awesome passing. He ran at defenders, committing them, forcing fouls or mistakes from them. In short he was brilliant. Compare that with the Bale who shrunk, disappeared (dare I say hid?) in the Nou Camp in the second half of El Clasico the week before. Now you can see why Real Madrid fans are so frustrated with Bale. Unless his form and impact changes at club level, Bale could be on the way out of Real Madrid this summer. Bale scored recently against Levante to end a goal drought and covered his ears as if to mute the criticism . Bale could be on the way out of Madrid this summer if his form does not pick up by the end of the season . The club demands big-name signings every summer and Bale’s second-season slump may be enough to render him dispensable. It might seem harsh to some, but if you know how high the standards are at Real Madrid, then it’s perfectly normal. Bale should come back to the Barclays Premier League. He’d be the perfect signing for Arsenal in so many ways, but he’d also fit perfectly into Jose Mourinho’s way of thinking at Chelsea. Manchester City’s inertia in evolving their team could be tackled by the signing of Bale. But Manchester United should blow the others out of the water – they have bargaining chips in David de Gea or possibly Angel di Maria who has struggled to settle after his blistering start. Bale has the energy to raise United’s tempo and take them back to the big time. Whatever happens to Bale he should feel proud of his achievements. He has helped create special history at Real Madrid, and he’s on the brink of doing the same for Wales. Angel di Maria has struggled at Manchester United this season so far following his £59.7million move . United goalkeeper David de Gea could be used as a bargaining chip for Bale to leave Madrid this summer . +Five years ago England beat Spain to win the Under 17 European Championships. The winning goal came from a striker who burst powerfully into the box, between two opponents, before firing home a sweet shot into the corner beyond the keeper. A cool finish on a big occasion. A few months later, I saw him come on as a substitute in the Championship and display some clever touches and neat footwork. He stood out as one of the more technically gifted players on display in the second tier game. Fast forward a few more months and that teenage striker - playing in the Championship - picked up the ball in his own half, ran towards the opposition goal, beat two defenders, wrong-footed the keeper and slotted into an empty net. Connor Wickham made a disastrous decision to move to Sunderland when his career was flying . In the Championship, he impressed and looked like one of the most technically gifted players on the pitch . Two weeks after that he scored a hat-trick. In the summer of 2011 he made what has proved to be a catastrophic career move. He signed for Sunderland. To those who didn't follow Connor Wickham's career before he went to the North-East, all they will know of him is that he is highly-paid, and not exactly outstanding. Sure, there was a flurry of goals to help Sunderland stay up at the back end of last season, but that has been it. Stories emerged last season of his big spending - £17,500 on a gold bottle of champagne, and a £140,000 Ferrari. These barely make a dent in his £60,000-a-week salary, and they look cheap compared with team-mate Steven Fletcher and his £260,000 Lamborghini parked next to his £160,000 Bentley. These underachieving Sunderland players don't mind showing off their wealth, do they? Stories have emerged of Wickham's extravagant spending - £17,500 on a bottle of champagne, for example . In a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, he also impressed - there is no mistaking his ability as a footballer . Is it something about the club that means these players have no self-awareness whatsoever? Is nobody at the club telling them that all the time they're so truly terrible on the pitch, it might be a good idea to keep things on the down low off the pitch? One of Wickham's managers called him 'a playboy model,' and said he needed a 'slap in the face' to help him realise his talent. And make no mistake, Wickham is a very talented footballer. Unfortunately he chose the wrong club. Since Wickham joined Sunderland he has had 10 different managers at club level, including his loan spells. That is not the ideal environment for young talent to be nurtured and flourish. Managers come and go so quickly that the pressure for immediate results is huge, so the time a manager can devote to individual players on and off the pitch is restricted. Wickham should be spearheading England Under 21s' Euro campaign but he has not been selected . The 21-year-old has been stuck out on the left for Sunderland when he is clearly a centre-forward . At a more stable club, the chances are that Wickham might have a better environment to succeed. On the pitch he has been stuck out on the left when he is obviously a centre forward. That's where he did so well at the end of last season. Off the pitch, has the so-called 'playboy model' been guided properly? Evidence suggests not: Gus Poyet even admitted he ignored Wickham when he first arrived at the Stadium of Light as manager. He revealed he didn't even sit down and talk to the player. Sunderland signed Wickham but their duty doesn't stop there. They need to provide that player with every chance to succeed. Hopefully stability will reign at the Stadium of Light in the near future, Wickham will get the right guidance off the field, and he will be allowed to play to his strengths on the field. Sunderland need to provide their players with a chance to succeed but Wickham has not been guided . Sunderland are a basket case of a club and Wickham made the wrong decision when he joined them . Five years on from scoring a wonderful goal to win the European Championship for England I am disappointed Wickham is nowhere near the senior squad as we prepare for a Euro 2016 qualifier this week. Even more worrying, repeated pull-outs from the Under 21 squads mean he's way down the pecking order, even with injuries this week. He should be spearheading our charge to the Euros in the Czech Republic this summer. The ongoing debate about English talent failing to develop after promising early signs needs to look at examples like Wickham. All the ability, but no significant strides made. He should have made that progression. The fact that he hasn't is down to Sunderland being a complete basket case of a club. Let's hope for Wickham's sake – and England's – the next chapter for Sunderland will help him become the player he should be. +I brought you the Manchester United haters test a few weeks ago – you can read it HERE. Now it’s time for the ‘Wayne Rooney Test.’ What’s the first thing you think about when you hear the name Wayne Rooney? a) How close he is to breaking scoring records with Manchester United and England . b) Any of the following - Being punched in his kitchen by Phil Bardsley, demanding a massive salary at Manchester United or barking into the camera at the 2010 World Cup and at West Ham. If you answered b) then I’d question your passion for football. Wayne Rooney played a key role in Manchester United's win over Tottenham on Sunday . Rooney scored the third goal for United in their win at Old Trafford . Liverpool can't expect any loyalty from Raheem Sterling if they are not prepared to offer him the same deal as Daniel Sturridge . Chelsea look knackered... Jose Mourinho must start putting his faith in youth or he'll blow the Premier League . One thing I have discovered about England is that if you come from humble beginnings, but go on to improve your lot in life, the reaction of the rest of the country will be split. As you drive by in your expensive car, some will say ‘good on him, he’s done well for himself.’ Others though will be less generous. They might say ‘Lucky sod’ or ‘he doesn’t deserve that.’ Jealousy is a terrible thing. These people will focus on anything but football. And Rooney is a classic example. I take one look at Rooney’s career and I’m seriously impressed. I find it hard to look at it any other way. Rooney celebrated by mocking the story that he was knocked out in a playful fight with Phil Bardsley . Rooeny collapsed to the floor after scoring in reference to being 'knocked out' by Bardsley . VIDEO Van Gaal refuses to discuss 'ridiculous' Rooney story . But others concentrate on things away from the football pitch and twist them into a reason to condemn Rooney. They see a working-class kid who played football in the streets of Liverpool, who made it big because of his talent, demanded big wages, lives in a massive house and they can’t stand him for it. They can’t handle that he did something they didn’t. They refuse to applaud someone who has made the most of his talent, realised his dreams and become very wealthy in the process. I even had one Twitter clown so obsessed with bringing Rooney down that he told me he had a violent streak – just because he fouled someone. So if you are a football lover, what was the big story on Sunday? Was it Rooney leading Manchester United superbly, scoring a brilliant goal and getting three crucial points against Spurs? Rooney was criticised by some fans for swearing into a TV camera after scoring at West Ham in 2011 . Rooney is closing in on goalscoring records for both Manchester Untied and England . Or was it Rooney messing around in his own home with a mate and doing absolutely nothing wrong? Rooney’s celebration said it all. It’s a joke. I understand why it’s a story of course – it’s a great scoop. But is it a reason to hammer Rooney? And should he be judged as a footballer because of it? Those who can’t handle Rooney’s success need to look at themselves. Are they upset because he achieved in life while they didn’t? Or do they dribble and drool over their keyboards because they hate everything about Manchester United? Rooney gets into every team in the world – from Man United to Munich to Madrid and Man City. That’s my opinion, and of course, not everybody will share it. But he’s not done badly for himself in his career. He went to Manchester United and became a club legend – that’s not easy to achieve given the rich history of that great club. Sometimes he could have conducted himself better on and off the field, but I cannot see how any of that stuff deflects from his brilliance as a footballer. Unless you hate Man United, or you’re jealous of Rooney’s success and wealth. I’ve got a message for Wayne, keep knocking 'em out champ! +The Raheem Sterling contract situation at Liverpool is coming to the boil, after the latest snub from the player’s representatives, and an indication that talks won’t resume until the summer. Brendan Rodgers says he’s relaxed but I find that hard to believe. He won’t want to lose Sterling, a talent that he can rightly be proud of, and justifiably claim he has helped turn into a star quality player. But I can’t understand why Liverpool have consistently put the message out that there will not be a problem with the Sterling situation. The outcome of that policy is that Sterling looks greedy – why do the football club want to make one of their star players look bad in the eyes of the supporters? Raheem Sterling's contract situation at Liverpool is unlikely to be resolved until the summer . Sterling and his representatives are understood to have knocked back the latest £100,000-a-week offer . Chelsea look knackered... Jose Mourinho must start putting his faith in youth or he'll blow the Premier League . If you view Wayne Rooney as anything other than a fantastic player then you have no passion for football . So now there is a situation locally with fans and the press are questioning his representatives, with the Liverpool Echo declaring this week that Sterling ‘needs to ask who is looking after his best interests.’ The answer to that question is simple. In football terms, Liverpool have looked after him. In the same way QPR looked after him before he was snapped up by the Reds, and in the same way Real Madrid might look after him if they choose to pay big money. Liverpool Football Club can’t expect too much loyalty from a player who was happy to leave QPR after seven years at Loftus Road. What goes around comes around, I guess. In financial terms - his agent is looking after his best interests, obviously. He’s got a family, he wants to set himself up comfortably for the rest of his life, and I can’t think of a reason why a player shouldn’t be allowed to do that. Brendan Rodgers says he is relaxed about Sterling's contract situation at Liverpool . Sterling left QPR after seven years at the club . Sterling’s contract runs out in 2017 and there is no way Liverpool will want this impasse to continue. If he even approaches the final year of his current deal without this being resolved, Liverpool could lose out. The days of a player accepting less than he feels he is worth because he is at a great club that gave him a big opportunity are long gone. It’s naive to think otherwise. A five-year deal of £100,000 a week has been rejected by Sterling. Daniel Sturridge is on £150,000 a week. Is there a reason why Sterling shouldn’t be on the same as Sturridge? Sterling is younger, but I’m not sure why age should come into it. Sterling has proved he can be a match winner, a key player and is a regular starter for Liverpool – same as Sturridge. Sterling’s fitness record is considerably better, which is unfortunate for Sturridge, but when an agent is negotiating on behalf of his player it is definitely something which counts in Sterling’s favour. The big difference between the careers of Sturridge and Sterling is that Sterling has proved himself at a much younger age. Why should he accept a less lucrative deal because of that? Makes no sense. If a player is committing to a club long-term, then the deal has to be right. The figures are ridiculous – but this is the Premier League where players' salaries are abnormally high. That’s not news. And to expect Sterling to launch his own one-man crusade for fairer wages in football is laughable. Daniel Sturridge is on a contract believed to worth £150,000 per week at Liverpool . VIDEO Rodgers has eye on second place . It’s a harsh reality for some who haven’t quite caught up with how modern football works, but Sterling is an excellent footballer, and his agent is working for his player to get the best deal for him. By making the offer of £100,000 a week, Liverpool Football Club have told Sterling that he is two-thirds of the player Sturridge is. If the agent had accepted that then Sterling would surely have sacked him. +Wouldn’t it be embarrassing for Jose Mourinho if he blew the title and gifted it to that ‘specialist in failure’ Arsene Wenger? Would the Special One be able to show his face in English football again after such humiliation? It’s a big call if you think the Gunners will win the title, but history suggests there is a chance Chelsea could implode. This time last year Mourinho was reeling from an unlikely 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa. That day at Villa Park Chelsea huffed and puffed, Ramires was sent off, and Mourinho was charged by the FA after he went on to the pitch to question referee Chris Foy. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho gestures to his players during the 1-1 draw with Southampton . Mourinho saw Chelsea draw with Saints in the same week they crashed out of the Champions League . Liverpool can't expect any loyalty from Raheem Sterling if they are not prepared to offer him the same deal as Daniel Sturridge . If you view Wayne Rooney as anything other than a fantastic player then you have no passion for football . They went on to drop points at Crystal Palace and at home to Sunderland and Norwich. In fact, in the world of hypothetical football that we all scoff at but all think about, if you add on even less than half the points Chelsea dropped in the last nine games of last season they would have won the title. A year on, Chelsea are huffing and puffing again, dropping points again, and Mourinho went early with his campaign against referees. Will history repeat itself, or has Mourinho learned from his mistakes? The Chelsea team looks knackered, doesn’t it? They’ve made a habit recently of drawing home games, and that cost them dearly in Europe. Why is it happening? Youth and energy are missing, and I’m thinking of three players in particular who might have made a difference, either off the bench, or pitched in to games here and there to energise the team. Those players are Kevin de Bruyne, Patrick Bamford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Arsene Wenger has seen Arsenal move to within a point of second-placed Manchester City . Mourinho has won a lot of praise for his transfer dealings and I can see why. In simple terms, he has improved his best XI and balanced the books at the same time. Chelsea may well go on to win the title and that has to be a successful season for them. But how can Mourinho explain that Champions League exit? How does he account for the lethargy his players have been displaying for the past two months? The answer lies in the quality of his squad – or rather the lack of it. And that’s down to errors made by Mourinho that have almost gone unnoticed. De Bruyne has been on fire for Wolfsburg this season to maintain their position as closest challengers to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Chelsea's season unravelled last year when they lost away at Aston Villa and Mourinho was charged . Chelsea had a bad week by their standards last week after going out of Europe and drawing in the league . I can’t help thinking he might have provided some energy and quality at this stage of the season. Mourinho’s decision to sell seemed to be made in haste – the Belgian made fewer than 10 appearances for Chelsea. There was a suggestion that issues off the field could have forced De Bruyne out. I cannot believe that, not with Mourinho’s skills as a man-manager. Letting him go doesn’t look good on Mourinho and hindsight is a wonderful thing of course - but Jose is paid a lot of money to be the ‘Special One’ who spots the kind of things ordinary mortals cannot. I’m also a little sceptical of Jose’s insistence that he will put youth in the team some time soon. When he made that promise recently he was referring to academy product Loftus-Cheek, who has had game time for Chelsea this season of course, but not much – roughly 10 minutes in total. Even with Nemanja Matic out, deep playmaker Loftus-Cheek didn’t get a look in, Mourinho instead preferring to put a centre half in that position. Kevin de Bruyne was sold by Mourinho and the Belgian has been in excellent form for Wolfsburg . Patrick Bamford scored two excellent goals for promotion-chasing Middlesbrough against Ipswich . Ruben Loftus-Cheek (left) has not seen much first-team action at Chelsea this season . Mourinho says the only reason he hasn't seen more action is because Chelsea have been under pressure to win lots of games in different competitions. I would have thought that would be the perfect reason to use a player like that rather than keep him on the sidelines. And what happens next season when Chelsea are competing on all fronts again? Will he be ready then? Strange logic from the Chelsea manager, and the fact they failed to make the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season proves that he didn't get it right. The reliance on Diego Costa up front has cost Chelsea. Loic Remy is decent enough, but looks like he needs to play regularly to be truly effective in the Premier League, and Didier Drogba will always be a club legend, but won’t always be the answer coming off the bench. When you need energy, a striker who has just turned 37 isn’t likely to be your best plan. Oscar was Chelsea's only outfield player on Sunday under the age of 24 while Didier Drogba is 37 . Did you see young Chelsea striker Bamford score two brilliant goals at the weekend on loan at Middlesbrough? His second came after a truly world-class piece of imagination that had me out of my seat. The ball came to him just inside the Ipswich half, he had his back to goal. He spun round, without the ball, deceived the bewildered defender, then chased the ball into the box and fired home. Remember the Pele moment in 1970 when he dummied the keeper? It had a hint of that about it. It was that kind of quality from Bamford, except the youngster finished the move off with a goal. It was the kind of creativity Chelsea have looked devoid of in recent weeks. VIDEO Mixed feelings for Mourinho over Saints draw . How the top of the Barclays Premier League looks . This kid has done his time on loan in the Championship before this season, so why send him back there? Surely his presence at Chelsea would have been no bigger a risk than re-signing an ageing Drogba? You could argue he’s too young and inexperienced - you could even suggest he might not be good enough. The truth is we don’t know if Bamford could have contributed to Chelsea’s push on four fronts this season. But we do know the striking options Mourinho went with were definitely not good enough. Has Mourinho done his mate at Middlesbrough Aitor Karanka a favour at the expense of his own club Chelsea? I’ll believe Mourinho’s commitment to the Chelsea Academy when I see it. De Bruyne, Bamford and Loftus-Cheek could have provided something currently missing from the Chelsea team. Two of them are doing it elsewhere, another is receiving high praise at Stamford Bridge, but has gone missing. Of Sunday’s outfield players who started for Chelsea only one – Oscar - was under the age of 24. If Jose’s tired team make the same errors in the run-in as last season then the title race is still wide open. CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 POSTPONED . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'POSTPONED' will be rearranged due to the FA Cup. +Being at Old Trafford on Saturday was a surreal experience – and I’m not even referring to the Wes Brown-John O’Shea red card cock-up. Manchester United dominated the game, were by far the better side, and they won comfortably. But their fans were not satisfied. At one point in the first half, a deep United corner found its way back to David de Gea in goal. Boos echoed around Old Trafford, and then a loud chant rang out: 'Attack! Attack! Attack, attack, attack!' Wayne Rooney leaps for joy after scoring a brace against Sunderland on Saturday as Manchester United won . United only took control of the game after Wes Brown was sent off against his former club . There is a lack of realism among United’s critics and some of the supporters this season. They need to understand and accept that it used to be champagne and caviar with Fergie; last season was bread and water; this season it’s a bag of chips with one of those little bottles of cheap, weak continental beer. David Moyes took the club in the wrong direction in so many ways. We’re waiting to see if Louis van Gaal is the right man, but United’s football doesn’t look good when compared with the recent greatness. Between 2007 and 2013 Manchester United had the most successful period in their history. They won the title five times in that period. They made the Champions League final three times in a four-year period, winning it once. It would not be wrong to say United in that spell were second only to Barcelona in the world, and that Barca side under Pep Guardiola is the best club side I have ever seen. In the years before Sir Alex Ferguson retired, United were phenomenal. That side was arguably their best ever. Despite the win there were sections of the home crowd that were not totally satisfied with the performance . The champagne and caviar days that supporters were used to under Sir Alex Ferguson are over . Some great players contributed to that run of success – Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney up front. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic – possibly the Premier League’s greatest ever centre-half partnership – were rocks at the back. Edwin van der Sar was the long-awaited replacement for Peter Schmeichel in goal. And of course Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs were still weaving magic spells on the pitch in that side, while Gary Neville was as solid and dependable off the pitch as on it. Of all those names only one is still playing for United, and he scored both goals in Saturday’s win. Another – Michael Carrick – has been injured for most of this season. There is an array of talent and character listed there, and that cannot easily be replaced. Shorn of such star quality, a massive rebuild job is now underway. And having sunk to an unimaginable low last season under frankly the wrong manager, expectations of Manchester United need readjustment. Many of Ferguson's title-winning team in 2013 have left the club and it is hard to replace those players . Ferguson celebrates winning his final Premier League title in 2013 before retiring . Some United observers seem to think that the signing of a £60million player should automatically return the side to the breathtaking football from a few years ago. It doesn’t work like that – it’s about building a team after that glorious side under Ferguson was decimated. The football has been far from brilliant but it will take time. Angel di Maria started life at Old Trafford on fire, but injuries affected him badly, and a burglary has unsettled his young family in a new foreign country, and that’s clearly impacted on the player (although his pass to set up Ander Herrera’s goal at Swansea was sublime). In the first half on Saturday he was pretty awful but he was also targeted by Sunderland. First Lee Cattermole, then Jordi Gomez, clattered into him, yet somehow escaped bookings. It’s too easy to break Di Maria’s spirit on the pitch at the moment. But as Gus Poyet said after Saturday’s game, United fans have nothing to worry about if they remember this is Di Maria, who is actually one of the world’s best players most of the time. Louis van Gaal is rebuilding the Manchester United team and it is a work in progress . Angel di Maria has been criticised in recent weeks and was awful in the first half against Sunderland . There are some surprising positives for United this season – notably Ashley Young, who has been consistently impressive and effective out wide. But it’s a work very much in progress. I understand that United fans want to play football the Fergie way. But you’re asking too much too soon. A few years ago the most successful United side in the club’s rich history dominated domestically and were the only side to challenge the brilliance of Barcelona. Fast forward a couple of seasons and that team has been ripped to shreds. The rebuild is underway. But it’s unfair to expect 'Fergie football' so soon. +The claws are certainly out in one feline-filled household. Cathy Wallis from Tuscon, Arizona, filmed the moment Lucifur the cat sprung a surprise attack on his housemate, Honey Boo Boo. Footage shows his victim blissfully unaware that she's going to get pounced on as he lurks in a kitchen cupboard behind. As the camera continues to roll Lucifur can be seen peering out of the cabinet and waving one paw in the air. He appears to be judging the right time to strike. Finally, after much deliberation, the kitty springs out from his hiding place. Honey Boo Boo lurches back in fear as her eye gets a beating. Caught on camera: Cathy Wallis from Tuscon, Arizona, filmed the moment Lucifur the cat sprung a surprise attack on his housemate, Honey Boo Boo . He's behind you: Footage shows his victim blissfully unaware that she's going to get pounced on as he lurks in a kitchen cupboard behind . The animals' owner reassured viewers that neither pets were hurt in the fray. She says that Lucifur is often up to no good and a bit of a troublemaker. Along with him and Honey Boo Boo, Wallis apparently owns 16 other cats and three dogs. When they're not fighting, the cats' other favorite hobby appears to be sleeping judging by photos and videos uploaded to social media. Grand reveal: As the camera continues to roll Lucifur can be seen peeping his head out of the cabinet and waving one paw in the air . Not a happy face: He appears to be judging the right time to strike - finally after much deliberation, the kitty springs out from his hiding place . +Professor David Nutt was sacked from his job as the UK Government's chief adviser on drugs after saying saying ecstasy and LSD were less harmful than alcohol . A British scientist trying to reveal what the human brain looks like on LSD is asking the public to fund his research after official channels refused. In the controversial study, 20 British volunteers will be the first in the world to have their brains scanned while high on LSD. Early results are said to be 'exciting' but the full findings must wait until funding can be found to complete the research. The research, being conducted at Cardiff University, is being led by the former drugs tsar David Nutt. Professor Nutt was sacked from his job as the Government's chief adviser on drugs in 2009 after saying saying ecstasy and LSD were less harmful than alcohol. At a briefing in London this week, he spoke out against restrictions on research on recreational drugs which he called 'the worst censorship in the history of science'. Having been turned down by 'classic funders', he is now campaigning to raise the £25,000 needed to carry out analysis of the brain scanning data from the science crowdfunding site Walacea.com. He compared current attitudes to studying recreational drugs with the Catholic church's clampdown on pioneering Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in the 17th century. 'The only comparable example is when the Catholic church banned the telescope in 1616,' said Professor Nutt, who is based at Imperial College London. 'We've banned research on psychedelic drugs and other drugs like cannabis for 50 years. 'Truly in terms of the amount of wasted opportunity, it's way greater than the banning of the telescope. This is a truly appalling level of censorship.' The LSD study involved giving the volunteers injections of a 75 microgram dose of LSD before probing the activity of their brains. Two kinds of scans were used, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (Meg), which measures small magnetic fields generated in the brain. None of the participants reported having a bad experience, but three described some anxiety and temporary paranoia. Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, also from the Imperial College team, said the dose of LSD given to the volunteers was a 'tiny speck'. But he added: 'The effects are quite profound. It would be described as a moderate dose, but a moderate dose of LSD can still produce a profound state of consciousness. In the controversial study, 20 British volunteers will be the first in the world to have their brains scanned while high on LSD . 'I wouldn't say that it's a dangerous experiment, but I would say that LSD has potential negative effects. 'Probably the crucial one is a bad trip. It's not uncommon for people to have anxiety during a psychedelic drug experience .. the experience can be nightmarish at times. 'What's especially intriguing.. is that people can have a very challenging experience yet afterwards they seem to be somehow psychologically refreshed by the experience. That's how they describe it.' He said there had been no evidence of psychedelic drugs such as LSD triggering psychosis in research studies, although there were anecdotal reports of this occurring through recreational use. Professor Nutt said LSD was widely studied in the 1950s and 1960s and shown to be therapeutically useful in treating 'many conditions', in particular alcoholism. Since it was made illegal in 1967 it had only been the subject of one clinical study in Switzerland and two neuroscience studies. 'That is an absurd amount of censorship,' Professor Nutt added. He stood by the claim that got him into trouble with the Government - that psychoactive drugs such as ecstasy and LSD were considerably less harmful than alcohol. 'Interesting drugs that we've been researching like MDNA (ecstasy) and LSD, are relatively low in terms of harms, considerably less even than cannabis and very much less than alcohol,' he said. 'But no research is done on them. 'The law is actually wrong. The law is supposed to be based on evidence of harm but isn't.' He maintained that the risks of taking LSD had been 'massively exaggerated' by the CIA and US Drug Enforcement Administration. Initial funding for the LSD study came from Imperial College and the Beckley Foundation, which promotes drug policy reform and research into the medical benefits of psychoactive substances. Professor Nutt said LSD (a molecule of the drug is pictured) was widely studied in the 1950s and 1960s and shown to be therapeutically useful in treating 'many conditions', in particular alcoholism . Professor Nutt said he approached the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust for the outstanding funding to no avail. 'The issue always comes 'well look, these are recreational drugs', and the recreational label is so powerful I think it scares people off,' he said. 'I personally think the neuroscience that's been uncovered by these drugs is revolutionary. 'This research is so important it should be funded to the tune of millions.' Dr Carhart-Harris said: 'This is the first LSD brain imaging study that's ever been conducted. 'We think it's essentially important to understand how these drugs that are widely used and seem to have this therapeutic potential work in the brain. Once we've done that, we want to look at how these drugs can be put to good use.' A previous brain scanning study was carried out by the same team on volunteers under the influence of the magic mushroom active ingredient psilocybin. It showed that the drug affected the brain's 'hub structure' and led to more connections between regions that are not normally linked. This, it is thought, may have a bearing on creative thinking. In May, the team is planning a study, funded by the Medical Research Council, looking at how psilocybin might be helpful in treating depression. +Ashley Judd is vowing to press charges against anyone who used vulgar and threatening language to harass her on Twitter last Sunday during the Southeastern Conference basketball championship. The 46-year-old Insurgent actress and longtime University of Kentucky fan received violent threats on social media after she posted a tweet saying that she thought the University of Arkansas was 'playing dirty' while watching the team play her alma mater. 'I am pressing charges,' she told MSNBC's Thomas Roberts on Monday. Scroll down for video . Taking a stand: Ashley Judd told MSNBC's Thomas Roberts that she plans on pressing charges against those who harassed her on Twitter during the Southeastern Conference basketball championship . Online trolls: Ashley explained that after she tweeted that she thought the University of Arkansas was 'playing dirty' during the game, she received hateful comments that were extremely explicit and offensive . Ashley explained that if she was in a 'more calm state of mind' she would have perhaps phrased her initial tweet about Arkansas differently but noted that people should not be aggressively harassing one another on social media . She responded to the graphic and hateful comments she received that day reposting them on Twitter. 'When I express a stout opinion during #MarchMadness I am called a w****, c***, threatened with sexual violence. Not okay,' she tweeted. She added: 'I am sorry to retweet but this is a typical example. “@Leeroy_MAX: @AshleyJudd Go s*** on Cal's two inch d*** ye B**** w****.”' Shameful messages: Before the premiere of her new film Insurgent, the 46-year-old also sat down with NBC's Craig Melvin to discuss the amount of gender violence directed toward her on social media . 'Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for what they write and not allowing this misinterpretation and shaming culture on social media to exist,' she said on MSNBC, before insisting that she was going to file legal complaints against every Twitter user who sent her violent or abusive messages. Ashley also spoke to NBC national correspondent Craig Melvin before last night's premiere of her upcoming movie Insurgent. 'The amount of gender violence that I experience is absolutely extraordinary,' she said. 'And a significant part of my day today will be spent filing police reports at home about gender violence that's directed at me in social media.' Outrage: Ashley took to Twitter to speak out against the violent threats that she received during and after the game . Hitting back: The star wanted to highlight the sort of abuse that she received and shine a spotlight on those who think it is acceptable to use such violent language on Twitter . Super fan: Ashley can be seen cheering on the University of Kentucky during the SEC tournament final last Sunday . 'That many people?' Craig asked her. 'That many people. That explicit. That overt,' she replied. Since speaking out about the abuse, Ashley has received an outpouring of support from her fans on the social media site, many of whom have praised her for having the courage to pursue action against her abusers. 'Great interview w/ Thomas Roberts. The "c" words I choose are caring and classy!! Oh and go cats!!' one person tweeted. Another another added: 'As [an] Arkansas Razorback fan, I am very sorry for the pain that any Hog fan might have caused you. Simply unacceptable!!!' Number one fan: The 46-year-old stood in the stands as she watched her alma mater play the University of Arkansas during the championship game . Big smooch: ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale gave the University of Kentucky fan a kiss before the game started . Shake it off: The next day, Ashley attended the New York City premiere of her upcoming movie Insurgent . Despite having to endure such a horrific spate of abuse at the hands of the Twitter trolls, the game wasn't all bad for Ashley, who was able to watch her team claim a 78-63 win over their opposition. The screen star also ended up on the receiving end of a very enthusiastic pre-game kiss from ESPN announcer Dick Vitale. Shortly before the teams took to the court, Dick was pictured leaning in to kiss Ashley smack dab on the lips while she leaned away, her face in a tortured expression. She later took to Twitter to insist that the less-than-romantic smooch was actually her idea: 'Only surprise in my planting one on dear @DickieV is I've adored him for 10 years. At thrilling [University of Kentucky] games I've been known to kiss strangers!' +Kenny McDowall would welcome Ally McCoist back into the Rangers dug-out were he to make a surprise return from gardening leave. The question of who leads the squad for the remainder of a flagging promotion campaign is high on the agenda for Dave King and the new Ibrox directors. McDowall became caretaker manager when McCoist left under the previous regime before Christmas, but began working his own notice period in January. Kenny McDowall and Ally McCoist (right) worked together before the latter left Rangers on gardening leave . Interim chairman Paul Murray has stated that new board — which has already been approached by number of managerial candidates as they weigh up a longer-term appointment — will have to speak to both men to ‘ask what they want to do’ given that they remain employees. A financial agreement over McCoist’s remaining contract may well be the more likely outcome, but McDowall would be happy to see his old colleague back for the Championship run-in were that to transpire. ‘I was working with Ally, so obviously that would appeal to me,’ said McDowall. ‘But it’s a difficult one to answer because the board will obviously have their own ideas.’ McDowall said it wasn't for him to decide but that he would welcome Walter Smith back to the club too . Another former Ibrox boss, Walter Smith, refused at the weekend to completely rule out what would be a third stint in charge, but stressed that he wasn’t looking for it ‘in any way, shape or form.’ McDowall was first-team coach during Smith’s hugely successful second spell and admitted his presence would provide a guaranteed boost. ‘It’s not for me to decide,’ said McDowall, who is keen for coach Ian Durrant to return to first-team duties after being demoted by the old board. ‘It’s for Walter to discuss with the board, if that’s the case. ‘But Walter Smith going anywhere would absolutely give the place a lift. He is a great man and has done so much in the game. Why would you not, at the end of the day? But, as I say, it’s not my call. McCoist left the Ibrox club before Christmas on gardening leave and McCall later did the same . ‘We had a very successful time when he was here but times are different. It’s been a tough, tough time we’ve had since he left. ‘Ally did a fantastic job without getting a whole lot of credit. But that will come eventually.’ The new directors are likely to speak with McDowall about his own future once tonight’s game against Queen of the South is out of the way. They met yesterday with former Fulham boss Felix Magath, who is a Rangers shareholder and has ideas on how the footballing department could move forward. But he is not thought to be an immediate candidate to replace McDowall. Felix Magath is not thought to be an immediate candidate to replace McDowall despite a meeting with the club . ‘Every day, there is someone else being quoted — Walter, Felix Magath, Billy Davies, Stuart McCall, Terry Butcher,’ said McDowall. ‘All of those guys are out there and it’s the board’s right to talk to whoever they want. It doesn’t really affect me, because talk about replacing me has been there since I took the job as caretaker manager. ‘I’m here and ready to meet the new board whenever they want to meet me. I’m working my notice. If they want to keep me, they can keep me. If they want me to go then I’ll go. ‘There is nothing tricky about it. I’m here and I’m doing my best to try and get the team through a difficult period.’ +Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat will not come up against old adversary Louis van Gaal during the final nine matches of the Premier League season. It is thought the Dutch pair - who famously posed with models painted in their clubs' respective strips during the 1995-96 Eredivisie season - have a good relationship despite a rivalry which dates back to the mid-Nineties when Advocaat’s PSV and Van Gaal’s Ajax were vying for domestic honours. But the new Black Cats coach has had his say on his compatriot’s first season at Manchester United. Dick Advocaat and Louis van Gaal, pictured posing with models in 1995, are said to have a good relationship . Advocaat and Van Gaal were in charge of Dutch giants PSV and Ajax respectively twenty years ago . Advocaat, pictured celebrating an AZ Alkmaar goal in 2013, has been named the new Sunderland manager . Speaking on Studio Voetbal in Holland last month, Advocaat said: ‘Firstly, let’s be clear, Louis is a fantastic coach. ‘But after spending €200m in the summer, he should not be complaining and should have made sure that his team were in the top two. ‘And it hasn’t happened.’ It was Advocaat who replaced Van Gaal as national-team boss when Holland failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2002, subsequently guiding them to the semi-finals of Euro 2004. But it is the Old Trafford chief who has the edge when it comes to silverware in their homeland. Van Gaal has four titles and one Dutch cup, while Advocaat has just one league crown and one cup success. They have each won the Johan Cruyff Shield three times. Manchester United are in the race for a top four spot but Advocaat believes the club should be in the top two . Advocaat insists Van Gaal can not complain this season having spent big at Old Trafford this summer . +A preview segment for NBC's Nightly News turned into a sweet father-son encounter when anchor Lester Holt met his own son on-air. Stefan Holt, who has followed in his father's footsteps and anchors the local news in Chicago, said 'Hi, Dad!' before handing over to the national host for a preview of that evening's stories. Lester responded 'proud of you' before going on to walk viewers through what was coming up later that evening. Scroll down for video . Father to son: NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt, right, shared a sweet exchanged with his son Stefan, left, who handed over to him after a 5pm newcast . The two also traded jokes about Stefan's bedtime, as the younger Holt was already 'up late' covering the evening newscast for a colleague. Indeed, both Holts crossed paths on the airwaves because they were filling in for somebody else - Lester Holt for the scandal-hit Brian WIlliams. Holt, previously the Nightly News weekend anchor, stepped up to the weeknight job after Williams was yanked off the flagship newscast by NBC bosses. It followed repeated revelations that Williams had lied about his personal involvement in stories, including being hit by an RPG over Iraq. NBC, which said he had violated the trust of their viewers, suspended Williams for six months without pay. He is one month in to the punishment. In his absence, Holt has managed to keep ratings steady at the Nightly News program. Proud of you: Lester Holt, who is filling in for scandal-hit Brian Williams, said he was proud of his son, who is following in his footsteps . +Shocking footage has emerged from inside a Florida classroom showing a girl being paddled by her teacher as three or four male students hold her down. However the parents of the girl - now 18 - have limited legal options to pursue after signing a corporal punishment permission form when their daughter started at the institution. The disturbing incident occurred at Zarephath Academy, a Christian school in Jacksonville. 'Once they got me, they flip me over and grab me by my arms and my legs,' the girl, identified as Roshada Smith, told News4Jax. Disturbing: Cellphone video has emerged online showing a teacher at Zarephath Academy in Jacksonville waiting for a group of students to hold down a girl before paddling her . Scary: This is the moment the teacher - who has not been identified - raises the paddle getting ready to hit the girl, who was caught running in cafeteria . Smack: At least two male students can be seen in the video holding the girl, who can be heard screaming . Corporeal punishment: This is the moment the teacher strikes the girl, who is being restrained by a group of male students . 'So once they did that, my teacher just felt like they got me so she paddled me on my butt, close to my back.' Smith, who spoke with local press but did not want her face on camera, said she was being punished for running in the cafeteria. Smith was so humiliated she has not returned to school since the incident, which was last Wednesday. The school has not responded to calls for comment. Victim: Roshada Smith, 18 - who asked her face not bee shown - speaks to a local reporter about what happened to her. She has not returned to school since the incident . Scene: The disturbing incident occurred at Zarephath Academy, a Christian school in Jacksonville. The school asks parents to sign a corporal punishment permission form . The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed they had seen the video and investigated. However they also confirmed the parents did sign the corporeal punishment slip, meaning there was little they could do. Smith is also now 18. Lawyers not affiliated with the case told News4Jax that Smith's parents to show the video to the state attorneys office, who will investigate whether any battery charges can be pursued against the teacher or any of the students that were involved in holding Smith down. The teacher who wields the paddle has not been identified. On its website, Zarephath Academy describes the school as: 'Zarephath Academy’s mission is to educate our youth socially and spiritually in a Christian environment; a school that is operated by men and women that are in love with God. We are a close-knit community serving students grades Kindergarten through 12th.' +Arsene Wenger never knows when he is wrong, and that flaw has cost the Arsenal manager, according to his former midfielder Emmanuel Petit. Petit, who was part of Wenger's team at Tuesday night's opponents Monaco before joining him at Highbury in 1997, won the double under the Frenchman the next year, and has known the Arsenal boss for three decades. But as well as praising his former manager's work ethic, the former Gunners star, 44, also questioned Wenger's stubbornness and inability to switch off. Arsene Wenger is preparing to take Arsenal back to his old club Monaco in the Champions League . Petit (right) worked with Wenger at both clubs, but says his former manager has a striking fault . 'He's a workaholic, someone who lives for the job,' Petit told France Football. 'He has a passion, almost pathological, for football. He almost forgets to live his own life. He never disconnects. 'For 35 years he has coached, I've know him for nearly 30, and he has never changed. He has another flaw: he does not recognise when he is wrong.' Petit revealed that, at times of stress, Wenger can be found walking barefoot around the training ground to get back in touch with nature. 'He has tics,' the Premier League winning midfielder continued. For example, when he's fuming and needs to think, he must walk barefoot in the grass. He needs to be in contact with the elements, like in The Matrix!' Petit signed for the Gunners in 1997, alongside Marc Overmars (right), and won the double under Wenger . The Frenchmen celebrate winning the league in 1998, but Petit has said Wenger can be too stubborn . However, the former Gunners midfielder did praise Wenger's man management and his work ethic . Wenger's great strength, however, according to Petit, is his ability to get the best out of his players by understanding them on a personal level. 'Before you are even interested in the football player, he is interested in the individual,' said Petit. 'He attaches great importance to human relations. He is very attentive to detail.' Petit departed Arsenal in 2000 for a short stint at Barcelona, after playing just one season with the man who would go on to become the club's record goalscorer, Thierry Henry. But Petit was quick to stress that his compatriot, who has been working back at the club while doing his coaching badges, should not be talked about as Wenger's successor yet. Thierry Henry, Arsenal's record goalscorer during two spells at the club, has been tipped to succeed Wenger . But Petit says Henry, who was part of the 2004 Invincibles, should not be thought of as a manager yet . 'It's way too early to tell [if Henry can succeed Wenger],' he told RMC Sport. 'We live in a society where fast food is consumed very quickly and we also quickly discard what was consumed. For Henry, as with Zidane, he needs time. 'You do not become a coach just because you pass your degrees. It's like when you become a parent. One becomes a function of his children, we adapt, we learn about ourselves. So getting the degree is one thing. Become a coach week after week, that's something else.' +An elderly couple were tied, gagged and tortured during a burglary at their home by a gang wearing white boiler suits and balaclavas. Four thugs tormented their victims, who are in their 70s, after bursting into their home in Coton, Cambridgeshire, last November. The gang used a sledgehammer to break down the door and a crow bar to force their way into the property. A solid silver Aztec artefact, which was taken after an elderly couple were tied to chairs and tortured during a burglary at their house . They then bound the couple together with gaffer tape and repeatedly pricked the male victim with a pin brooch while demanding cash. The woman suffered a broken toe after being hit by a hammer and also sustained a black eye during the four hour ordeal. The gang fled with several valuable items including a pair of jade storks, a solid silver Aztec artefact and antique stone chickens and left the couple locked inside their home. Cambridgeshire Police have now confirmed that two men aged 28 and 34 were arrested last Friday in connection with the attack. It follows the arrests earlier this year of three men aged 33, 35 and 42 from Peterborough, Merton in London and Cambridge. Detective Inspector Alan Page said: 'This elderly couple were put through a terrifying ordeal by four armed men. A pair of jade storks, that were also taken during the raid, at the elderly couple's home in Coton, Cambridgeshire . Two antique stone chickens that were taken during the burglary. Police have now arrested five people in connection with the incident . 'It was a cowardly and calculated attack that left its victims in fear for their lives. 'This robbery was one of the most horrendous offences I have investigated in 20 years of policing.' 'I urge anyone with information to get in contact. People like this do not deserve your protection or loyalty.' All five men who were arrested have now been released on police bail. A £5,000 reward has also been offered to catch the culprits. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Yaya Toure believes Manchester City will have to be wary of trying to 'run after the score' as they look to overturn a 2-1 Champions League last 16 aggregate deficit against Barcelona on Wednesday. Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez scored twice in the first leg last month before Sergio Aguero gave City a ray of hope to take into the Nou Camp, but Toure admits his side must remain calm during the early stages. Speaking to Nissan, the official automotive sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, Toure said: 'It is always difficult to play against Barcelona when you have to run after the score. Yaya Toure (left) and Sergio Aguero arrive at Manchester airport ahead of their flight to Barcelona . Joe Hart (left) and Vincent Kompany will know keeping a cleansheet at the Nou Camp will be crucial . 'But in football anything can happen, we have our chance and they have their chance as well and we will see on March 18.' Despite the daunting task of having to beat Luis Enrique's side by two clear goals in order to qualify, Toure, who will be returning to action after a three game European suspension, insists that City have the players to pull off the feat. He added: 'We have got a few fantastic players at City and I think it is a 50-50 game because they won [the first leg] 2-1.' City boss Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping his side can record a memorable night in Barcelona . Frank Lampard (left) and Samir Nasri make phone calls shortly after getting of the team bus . Aguero arrived at Manchester airport slightly later than the rest of his City team-mates . Toure believes City must be wary of trying to 'run after the score' against Barca on Wednesday . The City players are put through their paces on Tuesday before boarding their flight to Barcelona . Toure was speaking to Nissan, the official automotive sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, as part of his role as the car manufacturer’s global ambassador. +A 22-year-old New York-based model had a wine glass thrown at her head following an altercation at a Manhattan nightclub, according to reports. Brittany Bader, who is signed to Model Mayhem, was partying Saturday at Provocateur, an invite-only club inside the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking district. According to The New York Post, Bader 'butted heads' with another woman, Kathleen Ward, 23, around 2.50am. Scroll down for video . Assaulted: Manhattan model Brittany Bader, 22, was struck in the head by a flying wine glass at Manhattan nightclub Provocatuer on Saturday, according to reports . Scene: The alleged incident occurred at Provocateur, an invite-only club inside the Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan's Meatpacking district . Following the run-in, Ward allegedly grabbed a wine glass and threw it at Bader. The glass then hit the 5"9 brunette in the left side of her head. Bader reportedly yelled out inside the club: 'I had a glass thrown at me!' The police were called and a criminal complaint was filed. Ward was charged with felony assault, and using a weapon with intent to cause physical injury. However the alleged blow could not have done any major damage, with Bader posting on her Twitter on Tuesday that she was at a photo shoot. Struck: Brittany Bader is seen here in a recent shot from her Instagram account . Model: Brittany Bader, who is signed to Model Mayhem, was partying Saturday at Provocateur, an invite-only club inside the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking district, when she was hit in the head with a glass . Bader is originally from San Diego. On her Model Mahem she describes her career goals. 'To me modeling isn't just a pretty face! It's about personality, the love for fashion and just to be apart of it all!' the profile states. 'My goal is to make it of course whether it be with modeling or just finding whatever makes me happy!' +Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Yohan Cabaye has recovered from a groin injury and has been included in the squad to face Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday. Cabaye has been out since limping off the field in PSG's 2-2 home draw against Caen on February 14 and he missed the first leg of the Chelsea match three days later. The game finished 1-1. PSG will be without Brazilian winger Lucas and right back Serge Aurier for the trip to Stamford Bridge. Both are recovering from injury. PSG midfielder Yohan Cabaye is fit to join the squad for their last 16 second leg clash with Chelsea . The Ligue 1 outfit will however be without Lucas (right, in PSG's 2-0 quarter-final defeat by Chelsea last term) PSG lost to Chelsea at the quarter-final stage last season, winning the first leg 3-1 and losing the return 2-0. Ahead of the second leg clash in London, former Blues defender David Luiz stoked the fire, insisting his old boss Jose Mourinho 'is not special' to him. Luiz, who moved to the French champions for £50million in June, refused to admit that the Portuguese - commonly labelled the 'Special One' - was anything spectacular in managerial terms. The 27-year-old told L'Equipe: 'He (Mourinho) is special for you, but not for me.' +Sunderland will ‘review its position’ regarding suspended winger Adam Johnson after police extended his bail following his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. The club suspended the 27-year-old ‘pending the outcome of the police investigation’ when he was arrested at his £1.8million mansion in County Durham on March 2. It was confirmed on Tuesday that Johnson has now been told to report back to a Durham police station at 10am on Thursday, April 23. Adam Johnson, pictured with girlfriend Stacey Flounders, has had his bail extended until April 23 . Johnson, pictured with his girlfriend, was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl . The gates at Johnson's £1.8million mansion were shut following his arrest earlier this month . And the club said in a statement: ‘Following the decision by the police today (Tuesday), the club will be reviewing its position and will not make any further comment at the present time.’ Johnson has missed their last two matches but could now be available to new boss Dick Advocaat if the club decide to lift the player’s suspension. Sportsmail reported on Tuesday that Johnson has been training at home with a fitness coach in the hope that the case would be dropped. Meanwhile, Durham Constabulary issued a warning to those using social media that identifying the alleged victim is a criminal offence. A spokesman said: ‘Durham Constabulary is aware this investigation has resulted in considerable rumour and speculation, much of it on social media and in relation to the victim. Former Manchester City man Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland since his arrest . Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United shortly before being arrested . ‘This has caused distress to the victim and her family and is very unhelpful while we still have a number of actions to carry out as part of our enquiries. ‘We stress again the warning we have already given, that anyone who publishes anything which may identify the victim of a sexual offence is committing a criminal act and will be dealt with accordingly. ‘At the time of the man’s arrest, media reports suggested a weapon had been recovered from the house. This has now been fully examined and confirmed to be an item which does not require a firearms certificate, therefore no further police action will follow.’ Johnson, pictured playing against Switzerland in 2011, has 12 England caps to his name . Peterlee Police Station in County Durham where Johnson was taken after he was arrested . Police officers raided dressing rooms at Sunderland's Stadium of Light as they investigate Johnson . Changing rooms at the club's Academy of Light training ground were also scoured by local police . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Bumbling: Natalie Bennett on stage at the spring conference in Liverpool . The Greens like to do things differently. One of their deputy leaders had just blown a few billion pounds more from their wish-list budget when the chairwoman – who could hardly be seen in her green jumper against the vast green background – announced an ‘attunement’. This turned out to be a reflective – and to my mind rather long – minute’s silence. ‘It’s incredibly successful if people get stressed,’ explained our host, although several people around me merely used the pause to check social media on their smartphones. Welcome to the world of Britain’s wackiest political party, on display this weekend at its spring conference in Liverpool. There is something mildly amusing about a party that insists on meditative breaks, has a keynote speaker identified as ‘a non-binary person from Belarus’ and chairwomen who say things like: ‘I would like to hear from someone who does not identify as a man.’ And a party that uses such a contorted form of internal democracy it ends up with daft policies to ban most cars and seriously debates proposals to extend human rights to all animals. Yet this is currently the country’s most successful political party, attracting 100 recruits a day from people dismayed by traditional party politics. Bizarrely, the duffest interviews given by its bumbling leader Natalie Bennett only drive up membership. Joining the hundreds of enthusiastic delegates – a mixture of grizzly bearded hippies, elderly ideologues, earnest young recruits and well-spoken women in charity shop chic – offered fresh insight into what is now the third biggest party in England and Wales. They proclaim the politics of the future. Yet much of the time it felt like I had stumbled into an Alan Bennett sketch filled with middle-class people munching on non-meat sandwiches as they debated how to save a world wrecked by austerity, bankers and Conservatives. Scroll down for video . Bennett (the leader, that is) told her adoring followers the Greens had gone from 13,000 members a year ago to 55,000 members today. This is undoubtedly impressive. But it also means they might play an influential role in determining who runs the country after the next Election. Many of these new members – half of whom voted Liberal Democrat at the last Election – are young people inspired by the idea of reshaping politics. They were given special badges declaring their status and enthusiastically snapped up green T-shirts on sale. Presumably they were not the people targeted in a seminar explaining how to use email. Yet for all these new recruits rushing around excitedly, there were also the same old stalls offering vegan recipes for raspberry cake, T-shirts emblazoned with ‘Still Hate Thatcher’ and angry leaflets denouncing the monarchy. Bennett told her followers the Greens had gone from 13,000 members a year ago to 55,000 members today . On one, I found Jon Liebling, a friendly 47-year-old dancer promoting the medicinal use of cannabis. He said he had smoked the drug for 26 years to curb anxiety attacks. His stall proclaimed ‘United Patients Alliance with Norml Women’s Alliance’. When I asked about Norml Women, he said its founders ‘felt there was too much testosterone in the cannabis movement’ – but they had not turned up and he had forgotten the acronym’s meaning. The Australian-born Bennett promises a new style of politics – which many people might say she exemplifies with her stumbling interviews and inability to explain key policies. Yet after she spoke on Friday, managing to avoid ‘mind blanks’ as she promised lots of new taxes, the grey-haired woman next to me could not stop gushing: ‘I am so excited. I am overwhelmed. I feel like I belong here.’ She turned out to be a Labour deserter. And this is why the sudden Green surge is giving her previous party palpitations as it is outflanked on the left. Indeed, electoral mathematics mean it is possible the Greens might not just impact on voting outcomes in May but even be in position to join a coalition led by Ed Miliband. This is a party that wants to ban the monarchy, House of Lords, much of the Armed Forces, free schools, foie gras and fur – while freeing up drugs, borders, brothels and, said its leader, allowing people to join terror groups such as Islamic State. Yesterday they chucked in free university undergraduate education, joining the Greens’ desires for free social care, free universal childcare, 500,000 extra new homes and a basic income for everyone costing almost three times the budget of the National Health Service. Since they also want to end economic growth, I asked their press team how these policies would be paid for. ‘There’s lots of money around,’ replied one party veteran, looking at me as though I was stupid. A younger colleague said children would not start schooling until six under a Green government – although it is hard to believe this would raise the requisite £350 billion or so needed to close the annual gap between their policies and economic reality. The Green Party’s emphasis on ultra-democracy is admirable, giving all members a voice – but it means scores of strange ideas end up on its statute books since anything is possible with its Alice in Wonderland politics. Among the proposals considered this weekend, for instance, is the extension of human rights to ‘all sentient life forms’ with ‘the murder, torture and kidnapping’ of dogs and dolphins carrying the same penalties as when such crimes are committed against people. Leader Natalie Bennett is embraced by Green MP Caroline Lucas . I went to one meeting where 19 people were determining a ban on foie gras due to the force-feeding of geese. One young man dissented on the grounds this was discriminatory to dairy cows that were being ‘raped’ and their calves ‘murdered’. ‘To have a ban on the dairy industry would not be popular with the public. It would be a vote loser,’ responded session leader Ronnie Lee – although hastily adding he had been a vegan for 44 years in case anyone might think him unsympathetic to animals. Then there was the well-attended gender group, which agreed people should be allowed ‘a third option of X gender’ on passports – although the discussion leader then confessed this might create risks for people publicly identified as transgender in many countries. The meeting also agreed parents should be allowed to avoid putting children down as either male or female on birth certificates. One elderly Green from Tyneside, doing his best to keep up, admitted he was confused by the latest terms for transgender people. He was not the only one, with talk about LGBITQ people – the ‘I’ turned out to be for Intersex and the ‘Q’ for Questioning. At the peace and defence group, software engineer Chris Burdess said they needed to review policies that were ‘unnecessarily inflammatory and aggressive’ towards diplomats and members of the armed forces. ‘We don’t want to single them out as evil,’ he said. But their policy-making process is so ponderous, Burdess admitted this could not be achieved before the Election. Mind you, they have pledges to pass measures that were actually passed nearly two decades ago. Such eccentricities might be endearing if the Greens had not suddenly emerged as a semi-serious force in British politics. Yet its leaders brush aside criticism of policy absurdities by saying they are merely promoting new ideas and looking long-term. Downstairs in the Liverpool convention centre was a gathering for fans of fantasy games. Upstairs, they seemed to be playing fantasy politics. But if this shambolic bunch ever got a sniff of power, the entire country would be losers. +Israel coach Eli Guttman has claimed Gareth Bale cares more about Wales than Real Madrid ahead of his side's crunch Euro 2016 qualifier against the Dragons. Guttman's astonishing claim comes on the back of Real Madrid's dramatic slump in form and £85.3million world record signing Bale being booed by his own fans at the Bernabeu. The European champions suffered their fifth defeat of 2015 when they lost 4-3 at home to German side Schalke on Tuesday night, and although that was enough for Real to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League 5-4 on aggregate, it did not spare the players from the wrath of angry Madridistas. Gareth Bale endured a frustrating evening on Tuesday night but Real still qualified for the quarter-finals . Fans waved white handerkerchiefs - the traditional symbol of disgust at a bad performance - with Bale once again made the scapegoat for Real's problems. Bale was branded selfish and castigated in the Madrid media after choosing to shoot rather than pass to Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema against Espanyol in January and the Welshman has since suffered a dip in form with no goals or assists in his last eight games. And now Guttman has added fuel to the fire by insisting Bale is saving his best for Wales' visit to Israel on March 28, when the top two sides in Group B meet in Haifa. Bale celebrates scoring a late winner for Wales against Andorra back in September last year . Israel coach Eli Guttman (right) believes Bale (left) cares more for playing for his country than Real Madrid . 'I feel that Bale is saving himself for the national team,' Guttman told sports.walla.co.il. 'The level of the miles he does and the level of his commitment to the national team is nothing like how he plays for Real Madrid. 'When they had a player injured [George Williams, who revealed he is out for six months after requiring knee ligament surgery] Bale was the first to [tweet] 'get well soon'. 'They are like us, they are one group, but Bale is the one that gives them balance.' The Welshman, playing against Schalke on Tuesday, has struggled for form in recent weeks for Los Blancos . Cristiano Roanldo scored twice as the Champions League holders advanced 5-4 on aggregate on Tuesday . Israel and Wales are the early surprise front-runners in Group B, with Guttman's leaders having won their opening three games against Cyprus, Andorra and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Second-placed Wales are a point behind Israel and unbeaten after four games, and confidence is high in Chris Coleman's squad after the goalless draw against group favourites Belgium in Brussels in November. Guttman admits that stopping Bale is key to Israel staying top of the section, but he takes heart from keeping the Welshman's Real team-mate Ronaldo off the scoresheet in a 3-3 draw in Tel Aviv two years ago. Real Madrid fans were pictured waving handkerchiefs after the final whistle against Schalke on Tuesday . In that 2014 World Cup qualifier, only an injury-time equaliser from Portugal full-back Fabio Coentrao prevented Israel from recording a famous victory. 'I remember how Sheran Yeini [Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder] was able to stop Ronaldo.' Guttman said. 'Whenever Ronaldo was on the side of the pitch, somebody else guarded him. 'We have to be close and don't let Bale empty space. If we won't do it, it will kill us.' +Barcelona may never have been here today. Not the team harboring the awesome power of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez up front. Not the club who have won four European Cups and so many domestic trophies they require a small cave rather than a mere cabinet to hold them. Irishman Patrick 'Paddy' O'Connell is credited with rescuing Barcelona from extinction . The awesome trio of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez may not have been assembled if not for O'Connell . Not Luis Enrique's side who are aiming to knock Manchester City out of the last 16 of the Champions League. All of that is unlikely to have existed were it not for Irishman Patrick 'Paddy' O'Connell, who as a player captained the red side of Manchester during five years at United from 1914 but has inadvertently played a crucial role in setting up City's two-legged fixture with Barcelona a century later. O'Connell is credited with rescuing Barcelona from extinction during his time in charge between 1935 and 1940. Barcelona have enjoyed great success in recent years but it was O'Connell that saved the club . In Spain, he became known as 'Don Patricio' - a title reserved for royalty or noblemen - for his successes after moving over aged 35 and first leading Racing de Santander to five regional titles before becoming one of the founding members of La Liga. He took charge at Real Oviedo and then won the Spanish title at Real Betis, but his greatest legacy was shaped when Barcelona came calling. After just one season at the Catalan club, the Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936 and the country was in chaos. O'Connell (back row, far right) pictured for Ireland against Wales in 1914/1915 . On the streets of Barcelona, anarchy was escalating. As the tanks rolled in, football was flattened in the country. La Liga was suspended and, despite playing in and winning the Mediterranean League, cash was running out fast. The club were facing financial ruin. O'Connell orchestrated himself and the players taking a huge wage cut - reducing his salary by a third from $1,500 to $1,000 - but Barcelona were still heading out of business, until the wily Irishman had a bright idea. Barcelona celebrate with the Champions League trophy following victory over Manchester United in 2009 . Former Barcelona captain and defender Carles Puyol holds the Champions League trophy in Rome . He took the team on a tour of Mexico and America, playing 14 games and raising $5,000 - the equivalent of $83,000 today. It was little, but enough to survive. By the time the war ended in April 1939, O'Connell had dragged the team back from the brink of oblivion. Why then would this Barca legend come to die alone and penniless in London 20 years later? While O'Connell is remembered so fondly in those sunnier climes, on our own shores an entirely different character is recalled by those he should have loved dearest. 'He was the hero in one way but also the swine who left his family in poverty,' his grandson Mike remembered. 'There are two sides to it, a sad family story, but I'm proud he was my grandfather.' O'Connell (back row, one from the left) as part of the Hull City team in 1913-14 . O'Connell was a gambler and a misogynist; a chancer, swindler and trickster. He played for Belfast Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City before impressing Manchester United enough for them to pay £1,000 for his services in May 1914. The same year he captained Ireland to the British Home Championship, playing the final game against Scotland with a broken arm. O'Connell was a brash, brazen, no-nonsense centre-back and was made captain of United straight away. However, the first season was a catastrophe and they avoided relegation from Division One by a single point. Even worse - a victory against Liverpool in April was deemed fixed. Puyol holds up the Club World Cup trophy after victory against Santos FC at the tournament in Yokohama . Sandy Turnbull and Enoch 'Knocker' West photographed in 'cricketing' pose at Old Trafford in 1911 . The First World War had broken out and no football was to be played the following season. A group of United and Liverpool players, fearing unemployment and what the future held, met in a pub the day before the game and agreed to the more unlikely 2-0 United win and bet on it at odds of seven-to-one. The scam was uncovered when the Football Association investigated claims of a lack of effort from Liverpool players. United's Sandy Turnbull, Enoch West, Arthur Whalley, and Liverpool's Thomas Fairfoul, Tom Miller, Bob Pursell and Jackie Sheldon were banned indefinitely by the FA. Former Barca man Cesc Fabregas holds the UEFA Super Cup after beating Porto at Louis II Stadium . Bob Pursell was banned after rigging a game to win money when Liverpool faced Manchester United . Liverpool's Jackie Sheldon was one of those players banned indefinitely by the FA . Liverpool's Thomas Fairfoul was also banned for his part in the corrupt game between the rival teams . O'Connell struck a penalty well wide with the score at 2-0, but somehow avoided punishment. Yet O'Connell's family admit that maverick streak ran through him. It was these scrapes and scraps which shaped an eventual legend. 'He was an incredible success as a footballer but as a man he was probably a bit of loveable rogue,' Mike's wife Sue explained. 'As a father he was a non-starter.' He remained a United player through the war and after it ended had a year at Dumbarton before moving to Ashington in 1920. David Beckham is one of 40 players who have supported a fund to raise money for a fitting memorial . O'Connell was determined to find success in football and would let nothing stand in his way. Not even family. He left his wife Ellen at Newcastle station in 1920 after she had travelled there to plead with him to return home. It was the last time O'Connell would see her and he married again in Spain, another Irishwoman called Ellen. At Ashington, he was made player-manager and had his first taste in running a club, before the sniff of adventure took him abroad. Johan Cruyff has also supported the plea to get O'Connell a more fitting memorial following his death . But for all his heroics in Spain, when O'Connell returned to England in 1958 he faded into destitution before he died in London a year later where he remains in an unmarked grave. Last year, a fund was set up to raise money for a more fitting memorial. So far, more than 40 notable football names have supported it, including Sir Bobby Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Paolo Maldini and David Beckham. There is a bust of O'Connell in the FC Barcelona Museum. There, he will always be remembered as the man who saved the club. AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini is one of more than 40 players to support the memorial idea . +Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen admits it took longer than they expected to turn their season around but he now has every confidence they can make it a success. A dreadful start to the campaign saw them slip to 10th, seven points off the minimum requirement of a top-four place, in mid-December and exit the Champions League at the group stage. Since then, however, they have taken 30 points from their 12 subsequent Premier League matches to put themselves firmly in the mix for a top-four place and have an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn to face next month. Joe Allen (centre) warms up with SImon Mignolet and Lazar Markovic (right) last week . Allen (left) trains with team-mate Steven Gerrard and right back Glen Johnson (centre) 'We always knew we'd turn it around but we wondered how long it was going to take. It did take longer than we expected, I think,' said Wales midfielder Allen. 'Losing Luis Suarez in the summer (to Barcelona) and Daniel Sturridge being out (injured) for so long as well and the change we had, we always knew there'd be a little bit of a rocky patch but we didn't expect it to go on so long. 'We put expectation on ourselves because we think we're good enough to go on runs like this. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is trying to tie down a number of his first-team stars to longer deals . Emre Can and Kolo Toure (right) battle each other as they go for a sprint during training . 'With the players we've got, and the confidence we're playing with, I think it's a case of long may it continue.' The turnaround came after their Champions League failure was followed immediately by a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United, their main rival for a top-four spot. A change in system to a 3-4-2-1 formation has brought the best out of a number of players, particularly 22-year-old playmaker Philippe Coutinho and utility man Emre Can, who recently turned 21. Liverpool goalkeeper Mignolet gets down low to his right to stop a ball with his hand in training . Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert strikes one on the volley with his left foot during training . Martin Skrtel works on his fitness and conditioning with Liverpool coach Ryland Morgans (left) 'People forget sometimes that we're a pretty young team and squad,' Allen, who is fit again after a hip problem to face former club Swansea this evening, told liverpoolfc.com. 'The beauty of that is that we will get better. We've shown that as the season has gone on. 'With this run of games we're going on, we're really looking forward to Monday night's game and we'll be setting our stall out to go there and pick up three points. 'We've grown massively and I think you can see the change in formation. We've taken to that really well and quickly, which is important. 'I think we seem to have that edge back, even if we're not playing the most flowing football or things aren't going 100 per cent to plan, we still look like we're going to get the result and I think that speaks volumes about how much everyone has taken things forward.' Manager Brendan Rodgers is keen to keep the nucleus of this young side together, and while contract negotiations with Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson have dragged on for several months now they have just opened talks with the 24-year-old Allen over a new deal. 'We're at the early stages at the moment but the signs are good,' he told BBC Wales Sport. 'From my point of view I'm looking to commit my future here and hopefully I can be here for years to come. 'For me it's just a case of playing regularly and putting in consistent performances. I've always been confident that I'll be able to be successful here.' CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 POSTPONED . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Swansea (away) - March 16 . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'POSTPONED' will be rearranged due to the FA Cup. +The Oklahoma Sooners football team made their stance against the university's racist fraternity chant row known on Thursday, as they have every day since Monday, by declining to take part in a scheduled practice. Instead, the team took to the field--all of them dressed in black--and stood arm-in-arm in a silent vigil. Coach Bob Stoops said in a statement that letting the world know the team's stance was more important than their practice. Scroll down for video . Vigil: The University of Oklahoma football team stands arm in arm on Owen Field on the campus in Norman, Oklahoma on Thursday in response to the recent racist video from a now-closed campus fraternity . Quarterback Trevor Knight also made his personal thoughts on the disgraceful video, in which members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon's University of Oklahoma chapter sing a song that used a derogatory term for black people and referenced lynching. 'Extremely proud of our guys right now for the way WE have handled this issue! I love this university and I love this team! #WeAreOne,' the 21-year-old posted to Twitter. Saying they were committed to curing the 'disease' of racism, Oklahoma football players called Thursday for the expulsion of fraternity leaders tied to a racist video and vowed to help the mostly white campus end its 'culture of exclusivity.' 'Our hope is to shed light on this issue and promote meaningful change at a national level,' the players said in a statement many released nearly simultaneously on their social media accounts. 'But before we can change the nation, we make it our mission to change our campus.' Two students have been expelled and university President David Boren ordered the chapter house to be shut down. Not practicing: The Sooners have silently protested while clad in black all week long while declining to participate in scheduled practices . Boren plans to meet with team captains after spring break, but the players haven't waited to express their displeasure. They banded together Monday and marched arm-in-arm into the school's indoor practice facility, wearing all black, with coach Bob Stoops front and center. The team has not practiced all week, instead silently demonstrating at Owen Field during its normal practice time. Two students have been expelled and university President David Boren ordered the SAE chapter house to be shut down after the video went viral . The university has about 27,000 students, about 5 percent of whom are black. The players said they want SAE leadership 'expelled, suspended or otherwise disciplined severely.' 'Allowing this culture to thrive goes against everything it means to be a Sooner,' said the players, who vowed to raise awareness of racism and show 'we are defined by more than the numbers on our jerseys and that we are human beings that desire to get to know our classmates.' The situation already has hurt the football program, usually a national power. North Mesquite (Texas) High School football star Jean Delance, a top offensive lineman prospect who had verbally committed to Oklahoma, said he would not attend the school because of the video. Two other verbal commitments from the Class of 2016, both black, will stay. Jon-Michael Terry, a tight end from Victory Christian High in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Adrian Hardy, a quarterback from Dekaney High in Houston, have not changed their plans. Boren's strong response played a role in keeping Hardy's mother, Umeki Davis, from becoming concerned. 'As long as they (those leading the chant) were escorted off, and they have nothing to do with OU, and OU stood up for their kids - I'm OK with that,' Davis, said. 'It would have been different if OU wouldn't have stood up for what was right. What was right to me was when they stood up and those students were removed from the school. I'm fine with that.' Victory Christian football coach Brent Marley said he discussed the situation with Terry, and nothing changed. #WeAreOne: Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight tweeted this week, 'Extremely proud of our guys right now for the way WE have handled this issue! I love this university and I love this team! #WeAreOne' Oklahoma's former players said the incident was not an overall reflection of the campus. 'I just believe that doesn't represent the school,' former defensive end Chuka Ndulue said during his Pro Day workout this week. 'No matter where you go, it's just - stuff like that happens. It's just because we're in this day and age where social media runs everything where they happened to catch the guys on camera. It doesn't reflect the student body. That's not the image of the University of Oklahoma.' Former Oklahoma offensive lineman Adam Shead said he was glad to see things that normally get swept under the rug out in the open. He said he was encouraged when the team marched on Monday. 'I was proud,' he said. 'I was happy to see coach Stoops right there in the front, leading the pack, and all the rest of the coaches right there behind him. I'm proud to have been a part of the program that thinks like that and does things like that, who believes in doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do.' Standing together: Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker, left, gestures as he answers a question following a demonstration by the Oklahoma football team against racism Thursday. From left are Striker, center Ty Darlington, quarterback Trevor Knight, cornerback Zack Sanchez and defensive end Charles Tapper . +A black man pushed off a Paris Metro train by Chelsea fans chanting racist abuse last month says he can no longer take public transport and is depressed after the attack. The man, identified as Soulemayne S, says the incident, which happened before Chelsea played a Champions League match agains Paris Saint-Germain, has 'destroyed' him. He says coverage of the attack, for which five men have been handed court summonses, has 'traumatised' his children, and forced him to explain the concept of racism to them. Soulemayne S, the black man subjected to racist abuse on the Paris Metro last month, said the incident has left him depressed, unable to work, and has 'traumatised' his children . A video showed the men pushing Soulemayne before chanting 'we're racist and that's the way we like it' (pictured). Police say five men are due to appear in court in connection with the attack . Soulemayne was recorded being pushed off the Metro train by a group of supporters who then began chanting 'we're racist and that's the way we like it.' He told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'I'm here like a child. I have got a phobia of public transport. I can't take public transport to go to work - since what happened I have been under a lot of pressure. 'I have been referred to a psychologist. I can't sleep any more. Every hour, every instant, I think about what happened. I think about the ordeal.' He said his family had been 'divided' by the 'humiliation' he experienced, adding : 'I am obliged to tell [my children] that there are people who aren't very nice, and that there are people who don't like black skin.' Speaking about Chelsea's offer of a free ticket to last night's second leg match at Stamford Bridge, he said: 'This offer to go, this invitation, is just an attempt to make things up. For the moment I don't want to come because of what they've caused, the team and their fans. 'The Chelsea supporters have destroyed me. Even when I drive my car I feel like I'm being followed. I don't know if I am being followed by Chelsea fans, or police or the media. 'Even when I go and see my lawyer I am followed, when I go to see my therapist I feel like I'm being followed, and I've never had that in my life. 'The only problem I have in my life right now is because of Chelsea and their fans.' On his decision to reject the invitation to tonight's game, Soulemayne S previously told RTL radio: 'I don't want to sit in that stadium next to those people who pushed me. This is the moment Chelsea fans were recorded pushing Soulemayne off the Metro ahead of a clash with Paris St-Germain, an incident which Soulemayne says has 'destroyed' him . Soulemayne refused to attend last night's second leg clash between Chelsea and Paris St-Germain in London, which Jose Mourinho's men lost, knocking them out of the Champions League . 'I won't go. They can't buy me with a little piece of paper. I'm not a child.' A Chelsea spokesman said: 'We appreciate he doesn't want to come to this particular game, however, our offer remains open and we hope he'll take us up on it so he can meet real Chelsea fans and experience the true spirit of the club.' Five men involved in the incident were today and yesterday served with summonses over the issue, Scotland Yard said. The men will appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on March 25 'regarding a police application for football banning orders'. Football banning orders are issued by courts following a conviction for a football-related offence after a complaint by the Crown Prosecution Service or local police, the Home Office website says. They can last for between three and 10 years. Breaches of the orders can result in a sentence of up to six months in prison. Chelsea FC said previously it was 'appalled' and apologised to the victim, while manager Jose Mourinho said he was 'ashamed' of the fans involved. Fans were again accused of racism this month after claims a group were heard using the N-word and anti-Semitic slurs on a train from London to Manchester. One supporter was allegedly overheard saying 'Paris, Paris, Paris, that's the way we like it, a n***** on the door' after their victory over Tottenham in the Capital One Cup. +Spain goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas is unlikely to lose his place in the national side despite a recent poor run for his club Real Madrid, coach Vicente del Bosque said on Wednesday. Casillas is one player, along with Wales winger Gareth Bale, who has been blamed by Real fans for the European champions' slump and he was again the target of their ire during Tuesday's 4-3 Champions League loss at home to Bundesliga side Schalke 04. Although they squeezed through to the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate, Casillas and his team mates were whistled off the Bernabeu pitch by their angry supporters, already fuming after Real gave up the La Liga lead to Barcelona with a loss to Athletic Bilbao. Iker Casillas was blamed for this goal as Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar pounced on his poor parry . Huntelaar buried his finish and the Real Madrid fans booed their keeper after the 4-3 Champions League loss . 'He did not play well and he admitted that,' Del Bosque said in an interview with Radio Marca. 'He also saved Madrid at the end,' added the 64-year-old, who coached Casillas when he was in charge at Real between 1999 and 2003. 'We don't have to make a change unless the dip in form is alarming. I think he is in good shape.' Del Bosque has plenty of options if he decides to call time on Casillas's international career, with the likes of David De Gea (Manchester United) and Kiko Casilla (Espanyol) pushing for a starting place. Casillas's apparent drop in form doesn't bother Spain coach Vicente del Bosque who's back his keeper . Casillas (left) shows his disappointment alongside Toni Kroos after Real's loss to Schalke . However, he has consistently backed his captain during several difficult periods in recent years and is unlikely to drop him unless he suffers a sustained slump. Casillas has made 160 appearances for Spain, more than any other player, and led the side to back-to-back European crowns in 2008 and 2012 with the nation's debut World Cup triumph in between in 2010. Spain's next game is a Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Ukraine on March 27. With four matches played, Spain are second in Group C on nine points, three behind leaders Slovakia, who beat them 2-1 in Zilina in October, and level with Ukraine. Casillas is helpless as Austrian defender Christian Fuchs opens the scoring for Schalke on 20 minutes . The keeper and captain admitted his team had hit rock bottom after a recent poor run of results . +Mario Balotelli appears to be far from happy if the Liverpool striker's latest Instagram post is anything to go by. The forward missed his side's 1-0 victory against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium through illness and didn't travel with his team-mates to the game. The 24-year-old shared a less than friendly video on his page, in which he claimed people don't know the real him. Mario Balotelli puts his finger to his mouth as he tells people to 'shut up' at the end of his Instagram video . The 24-year-old missed Liverpool's clash with Swansea at the Liberty through illness and asks in the video, 'do you know what I've been through in my life?' He said: 'Do you know me? Did you ever talk to me, personally? Do you know what I've been through in my life? 'You just saw me play football on the pitch, man, shut up!' The summer signing from AC Milan has been somewhat of a disappointment since his arrival - having scored only four goals in all competitions. The Italian forward has been less than impressive since his big money move from Serie A giants AC Milan . It remains to be seen if he'll still be at the club next season, with his acquisition failing to inspire the Anfield faithful. With a huge game against Manchester United on Sunday, Brendan Rodgers will be hoping Balotelli will be available and help his side push into the Champions League places. +Manchester City have signed teenage Watford forward Jadon Sancho in a £500,000 deal. The Championship club agreed terms on Friday and the 14-year-old will link up with City's academy. Sancho, an England Under 15 international, already has a sponsorship deal with Nike and is tipped to make a top flight career. Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City have recruited youngster Jadon Sancho from Watford . Sergio Aguero (right) pictured in action in City's last Premier League game, a 2-0 win over Leicester City . James Milner (right) scored the second goal for City in the 88th minute of the game against Leicester . City will pay an initial £66,000 with the fee increasing on appearances and Watford have also secured a 10percent sell-on. Liverpool had also shown an interest in the youngster. City's next game in the Premier League is against Burnley at Turf Moor on March 14. +Ben Amos has confirmed he expects to leave Manchester United this summer. The 24-year-old goalkeeper is on loan at Championship side Bolton but out of contract at Old Trafford at the end of the season. Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos has made six appearances on loan at Bolton . He said: 'Being a United fan, I’ve always believed I can play for Manchester United and always aspired to be a Manchester United player. 'Pre-season, I was told I was number two. With the cup games, if I'd got a sniff of that, that would have made it worthwhile sticking around for. 'As soon as Victor Valdes was brought in, I was essentially demoted to fourth really - you've got to move on. Amos has seen his chances limited by David de Gea (right) and Victor Valdes . 'Being 24, I can leave on a Bosman so that gives me a little bit more flexibility of where I can go. I'll assess the options in the summer, see what is about and see what the best thing for me is. Sir Alex Ferguson handed Amos his first team debut in a League Cup tie against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford in 2008. He played against Valencia in the Champions League and made his top flight bow in a 2-0 home win against Stoke in 2012. Amos has made six appearances for Bolton after replacing injured Andy Lonergan against Nottingham Forest. +Arsenal, for a change, performed with a trace of discipline. They played with poise. For once, Arsene Wenger’s team refused to be lured into the high-speed pursuit of glory. They went about it all in a sensible manner. That has not always been the case. Perhaps lessons had been learned from the Charge of the Lightweight Brigade three weeks earlier. Fifteen consecutive years of Champions League knockout football and still learning important lessons. Talk about slow on the uptake. Such qualities should be ingrained in the club’s fabric by this point. Arsene Wenger looks on as his side win in Monaco - but it was not quite enough to progress to the last eight . Olivier Giroud gave the Gunners hope, finishing with aplomb to increase the nerves among the home side . Aaron Ramsey stepped off the bench to latch on to a loose ball in the box to level the tie on aggregate . After the debacle at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg, they learned not to repeat their mistakes but it did them no good. Wenger’s team kept a clean sheet and scored twice against a defence which had conceded only once in its previous 12 home games, but it was meaningless. Instead, here was another spectacular near-miss to file away in the collection. There was Robin van Persie’s red card and Nicklas Bendtner’s late chance in Barcelona and that 2-0 win in Munich against Bayern, a carbon copy of this tie, two years ago. There were the Lionel Messi four goals in 2010 when Pep Guardiola’s Barca were at their peak, the penalty conceded by Kolo Toure at Liverpool and a near-miss against AC Milan, when Wenger raged at the referee, having lost by four in the San Siro. Again, there were what-ifs. What if Alexis Sanchez had been awarded a penalty instead of booked for diving? What if Danny Welbeck’s shot had not hit Aymen Abdennour and deflected wide before half-time? What if Danijel Subasic had not clawed that one out of the top corner in the dying minutes? What if Arsenal learned how to cope with two-legged knockout ties against quality opposition? For a team who aspire to win major trophies, they have failed to make it past this stage for five successive years. They have not won a first knockout round tie since beating Porto in 2010. In this sense they have slipped backwards and next season they are likely to lose their privileged status as top seeds. They are not alone. In this last-16 round, it is France 2 England 0. Laurent Koscielny clatted the bar from close range in the first half as Arsenal showed their intent . The Edge, Larry Mullen Jnr and Bono were among the attendees at the Stade Louis II . Sure Monaco wobbled, seemingly petrified by the proximity to such a huge result, but they did just enough to dispel the myth that it takes time to adjust to this competition. The French club are in it for the first time in nine years, having lost key players last summer, and still Leonardo Jardim has forged an effective unit from a few old-timers and some promising youngsters. They seized on Arsenal’s frailties in London and clung to their lead. Little wonder they erupted in triumph at the final whistle. History would not be rewritten. In the Champions League era, no team has recovered from losing at home in the first leg by two or more goals. There would be no Miracle in Monaco, under the terracotta tiles of Stade Louis II, where Irish rock band U2 came to watch on St Patrick’s Day, and might have played Arsenal out with a chorus of Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Wenger’s selection was typically bold — four at the back, shielded by Francis Coquelin, who was later discarded for Aaron Ramsey. There was no shortage of attacking options, but it would take a night of clinical finishing to get out of this corner. An early goal might have exerted more pressure on a team in unfamiliar territory and made them anxious, but 35 minutes had elapsed when Olivier Giroud struck. To score before the interval was important. Arsenal at last had exposed Monaco’s nerve ends and the Monegasques shifted uneasily. Giroud perhaps epitomises the Arsenal riddle better than anyone. His goals have fuelled an upturn in form since the turn of the year. VIDEO Arsenal paid price for first leg - Wenger . Alexis Sanchez reacts after missing a chance on an ultimately frustrating night for the visitors . The Monaco bench erupts after the full-time whistle after the elimination of Wenger's side . He showed mental strength to overcome the disappointment of missed sitters in the first leg but chances went astray again: a header nodded wide early in the game and another into the goalkeeper’s hands. By the end, he was getting in a muddle with Sanchez as the impossible briefly promised to materialise. Mesut Ozil went close, but not close enough, and the German did not manage to provide an image to eclipse the one of him swapping shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia on his way off the pitch at half-time. Half-time shirt swaps do not go down well, especially during a defeat. Just ask Andre Santos. Theo Walcott shook the woodwork and substitute Ramsey levelled the tie at 3-3 but this was the stage they reached two years ago, against Bayern Munich. Still more was required. Time ran out on Arsenal. Time runs out on Wenger’s dream of ever winning the Champions League. +FA chairman Greg Dyke has described as ‘pretty scary’ the increase in disciplinary cases brought against players surrounding referees to try to influence decisions. Dyke was speaking out a week after Chelsea’s Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain during which nine Chelsea players crowded around the Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers following Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s challenge on Oscar which resulted in the Swedish talisman being sent off. The FA clampdown on such incidents has seen an increase in clubs in the top five divisions – from the Premier League to the Conference - charged with 'surrounding match officials' (three or more players from one club approach a match official in a confrontational manner) from six last season to 16 with another three months of the campaign still to go. John Terry, Cesc Fabregas and their Chelsea team-mates surround referee Bjorn Kuipers . All nine outfield Chelsea players remonstrate with Kuipers as Oscar is left in a heap on the floor . Warnings or reminders are also up from 23 last campaign to 29 during 2014-2015. Dyke said: 'We have seen a pretty scary increase this season in the number of clubs charged with their players surrounding referees. As a result we have written to the clubs in the top five divisions reminding them of the rules and their responsibilities. 'I believe it is particularly important for professional cubs to set an example so that this kind of conduct is not replicated at grassroots and youth level. The whole game needs to ensure it is addressing this issue.’ The rapid increase in FA charges follows not only the December letter sent to 116 teams but also visits to clubs last summer when this issue was raised directly with players who were told that it would not be tolerated. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off for his challenge which provoked an aggressive reaction from Chelsea . Chelsea captain John Terry moved to defend his side's actions during their clash against Paris Saint-Germain . The FA will now look at heavier fines than the current sliding scale of costs from £20,000-£500 or other options to address the worrying upward curve in harassing the match officials. Referees could also start to be more proactive themselves by showing yellow cards to the players surrounding them, which is within their powers. Ironically, considering that the Chelsea players' distasteful conduct brought this issue to the fore, UEFA do not have a similar charge in their rulebook. Chelsea captain John Terry admitted after the PSG match that the willingness to surround referees ‘doesn’t look good’. But Terry was adamant they would continue to do so if they believe opponents - such as PSG – are attempting to exert their own influence on the match officials. Terry said: 'For me, if I have to run 20, 30 yards, it doesn’t look great, but when you’re standing back and seeing five or six of their players surrounding the ref... for me, I think I support my team-mates. 'And once I go, four or five go with me. It doesn’t look good at all, but that’s part of the game.' +Around 100 solar panels have been stolen during two separate overnight raids on a massive eco-friendly power farm near Derbyshire. The criminals managed to sneak past security guards who carry out 24-hour patrols on the 112-acre site near Sudbury. Police say the gang would have needed at least one vehicle to transport the panels which measure 2ft by 3ft each. Stolen: Thieves stole around 100 solar panels from a massive site at Aston House Farm near Derbyshire . Theft: They stole 11 panels the first night and 84 the next at the 112-acre solar farm being constructed by Solarcentury . Between 6pm on Tuesday, March 3 and 7am the next morning, thieves went into the Aston House Farm fields and stole 14 panels. And another 84 panels were stolen from another site on the same road between 6pm on Friday, February 27 and 11.30am the next morning. Once the stolen panels are replaced and the solar farm being constructed by Solarcentury is switched on, the 20 megawatts of energy it generates will be enough to power 5,500 homes. A spokesman for Derbyshire police said a sit-on roller was stolen from a third site also on Lichfield Road between 6pm on Tuesday, January 13 and 7am the following day. He added: 'We want to hear from anyone who may have seen suspicious vehicles or people in the area around the times of the offences.' Eco-friendly: Once the panels are replaced and the 20 megawatt farm is switched on, it will generate enough electricity to power 5,500 homes . Robbery: Police say the gang would have needed at least one vehicle to transport the panels which measure 2ft by 3ft each . +An Australian ex-pat who runs a successful sail boat tour company on the tourist island of Phuket in Thailand has been charged with murder. Mark Pendlebury - known affectionately by locals as 'Captain Mark' as he is never without his captain's hat and pipe - was trying to break up a fight outside Taipan nightclub on Wednesday night. The former Perth businessman, 59, was on his way home from a Patong Rotary meeting when he came across the scuffle, Phuket Wan reported. Mark Pendlebury (right) runs a successful sail boat tour company on the tourist island of Phuket . The 59-year-old man who is from Perth was charged with murder after he tried to intervene during a scuffle . It is alleged Pendlebury stabbed security guard, Sanya Khluewaengmon, after he tried to stop the Australian from filming the fight outside the nightclub about 12.30am local time on Wednesday. 'Before I knew it, I was being badly beaten up. I pulled out my knife and waved it back and forth to defend myself,' Pendlebury told local media from his jail cell at Kathu Police Station. 'A couple of Indians jumped in and with their help I was able to escape a little distance down the street. If the Indian tourists hadn't rescued me, I reckon I would be dead.' Pictures have emerged of Pendlebury that show him with a bloodied arm in a hospital bed, while being interviewed by police. The knife used in the alleged stabbing of a security guard at Taipan nightclub in Patong in Thailand's south . Pendlebury appears to have blood down his arm and is here being interviewed by police in his hospital bed . He is often seen with his captain's hat and a pipe, which earned him the nickname 'Captain Mark' Local media have described him as a generous man who volunteered through the Rotary club. Mr Sanya was also taken to Patong hospital along with Pendlebury, but hospital staff were unable to save Mr Sanya. He died an hour and a half later. It is understood Australia's honorary consul has visited Pendlebury in jail as his lawyers seek bail for the Australian ex-pat. During his interview with police, Pendlebury said he had pulled out a knife to defend himself against the security guard who had tried to stop him filming a scuffle outside the club . He said he remembered being beaten up badly after he was told to stop filming by Sanya Khluewaengmon . Mr Sanya died an hour and a half after he was taken to Patong hospital from his injuries . Kathu Police Station's superintendent Chaiwat Auikam said investigations into the incident were ongoing. Detectives are going through CCTV footage along with seeking out video taken by witnesses on the night. The 59-year-old has a Thai wife and has been running his business since 2004. +Authorities in the Cayman Islands have ended a search for a U.S. Marvel/DC comic book artist who went missing while snorkeling with his wife on a vacation. Norman Lee, who worked on Avengers and X-Men, were about 250 yards off the coast of Grand Cayman on Thursday afternoon when he became separated from wife of fives years, Jan. Despite round-the-clock helicopter, diving and boat searches, investigators have found no sign of the 47-year-old from Weymouth, Massachusetts. Tragic: The search for Norman Lee, an inker for Marvel/DC Comics, in the Cayman Islands has been called off . Went missing: He was snorkeling with his wife Jan on Thursday when they became separated . On Saturday evening, the search was called off after chief inspector Brad Ebanks said the currents are so strong it is 'unlikely that we will make any recovery at this stage.' Lee started working for Marvel and DC Comics in 1995 as an 'inker', drawing over pencil sketches in pen before the comic goes to print. He is scheduled to appear at Boston Comic Con this summer. Long career: Lee, from Weymouth, Massachusetts, worked on Avengers and X-Men during his career . He was a permanent fixture at Comic Con events and is scheduled to appear at Boston's this July . Tributes have flooded in on Lee's Facebook page. One of his favorite artists and a source of inspiration, Mark McKenna, wrote: 'I was thinking last night about my friends, Norman and Jan Lee, whom my heart aches for at this moment... No BS in Norman, he told it like it was.' Fellow X-Men artist Jorge Molina wrote: 'A great talent and positive guy with a smile on his face 24/7, my thoughts go to him and his family.' Fans: Tributes have flooded in for Lee with many calling him 'a great talent' and gushing about his energy . +Three Delaware teenagers involved in videotaped assaults of a mentally disabled man have been sentenced to probation and house arrest, followed by placement in a secure juvenile facility. The teens were sentenced Monday after each pleaded guilty to a single felony count of crime against a vulnerable adult. The boys, two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, were sentenced to probation and house arrest for the rest of the school year, followed by summer placement at a juvenile facility. Videos posted online showed the 27-year-old victim being body-slammed to the ground, stomped on and kicked, and repeatedly punched in the head. Scroll down for video . Attack: The victim (in gray) can be seen trying to stop the youths from attacking him . Violent: One of the boys picks the man up before throwing him to the ground. Others can be heard laughing . Hurt: The man, who can be heard groaning, was reportedly treated at the hospital afterwards for injuries . The defendants were charged with offensive touching, assault of a vulnerable adult, and conspiracy. Prosecutors later added hate-crime charges, which were dropped along with other charges following the guilty pleas. A video that was posted to YouTube shows a group of teenagers pursuing the victim as he shouts: 'Leave me alone!' One boy swings at the man, repeatedly punching him, before picking him up and throwing him to the ground on at least two occasions. The boys then crowd around the man - while one teenager who is filming the attack on his cellphone nears the man to get a closer shot as he writhes on the floor. A separate video reveals them attacking the man in a wooded area, Fox29 reported. In that attack, the victim can be heard crying, while a female voice says: 'You guys are so mean to him.' In September, the victim's mother Yana told WPVI that while initially seeing the video she felt 'Rage, anger - because of the situation, with him being mentally disabled, he doesn't do anything to anyone but be kind.' Yana told the television station her son Karon has Williams Syndrome. Those with Williams Syndrome often have an intellectual disability, heart defects, a slight stature and distinctive facial features, including a flat nasal bridge. Sufferers are often extremely friendly. 'He's not doing too good,' his godmother Debra Jackson told CBS3 in September. 'One, he's ashamed about it happening, he’s embarrassed.' She added that her godson thought the teenagers were his friends. That same month, one teenager who appeared in footage told CBS 3 that he assisted in reporting what happened. He said the assaults were filmed in Newark. He told the television station at the time 'The right thing to do was call the cops. If you beat up a mentally disabled person, you should be locked away for good.' Cruel: As the group surround him, one of the teenagers (with the backpack) is more concerned about getting a close-up snap of the victim than helping him . Concern: The victim's godmother and sister (seen in September) said that he is ashamed and thought the teens were his friends . See video below . +Back on form, back on top and no need for the Bournemouth bean counters to worry about the cost of their goal rush. As their manager, Eddie Howe, put it: ‘We don’t pay goal bonuses.’ On nights like this, that will make for a healthy saving. Across the course of this remarkable season, in which their tally of 74 goals is more than any other side in the top four divisions, it must be worth a fortune. Bournemouth midfielder Matt Ritchie hit two as the Cherries romped to an easy victory over Fulham . Striker Brett Pitman celebrates scoring his second goal of the game at Craven Cottage . Steve Cook (second left) is congratulated by his team-mates after rifling home the Cherries' fifth goal . Cherries manager Eddie Howe has guided Bournemouth back to the summit of the Champions table . Fulham (4-1-3-2): Bettinelli, Hoogland, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Amorebieta, Parker, Tunnicliffe, Kavanagh (Fofana, 72), Ruiz (Stafylidis, 72), Rodallega (Smith, 45), McCormack. Subs: Kiraly, Stafylidis, Voser, Woodrow, Burn. Scorer: Smith, 66 . Booked: Fofana . Sent off: Amorebieta . Bournemouth (4-4-2): Boruc, Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels, Ritchie (Stanislas, 86), Surman, Arter, Pugh (Smith, 81), Pitman, Wilson (Rantie, 77) Subs: Camp, MacDonald, Kermorgant, Ward. Scorers: Pitman 29, 61, Ritchie, 37, 61, Cook, 84. Attendance: 16, 317 . Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire) And yet it will be nothing compared to the kind of windfall that will head Bournemouth’s way if they somehow stay the course. Can they do it? Really? With their 12,000-capacity ground and 125-year history of never coming close? The assumption has long been that this club will slip away quietly. But it isn’t quite working out that way. They had their blip in the past few weeks, at one stage going five without a win. But with two straight wins, it is looking increasingly possible that Howe will be a top-flight manager next season. For most observers of this bright, English coach, that status has only ever been a matter of time in the coming. He has taken Bournemouth to this point from League Two and last night led an annihilation of a side not afraid to spend. Brett Pitman and Matt Ritchie shared four goals between them and Steve Cook scored a fifth but, truthfully, the rout could have been greater. Suddenly, Howe has to manage expectations of automatic promotion. He said: ‘The (Championship) lead has changed so many times. It is almost the tag no one wants. ‘Our best finish is 10th in 130-odd years of football, so to say it’s a failure if we don’t make top two, I don’t buy that.’ Bournemouth defender Tommy Elphick is late to slide in as Fulham frontman Ross McCormack shoots . Bryan Ruiz controls the ball and holds off the challenge of Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter . For Kit Symons, the only consolation was that Matt Smith briefly brought the score back to 3-1. The rest of the game, like Fulham’s season, was a misery. He said: ‘No one is under any illusions. Look at the table - we know where we are.’ Symons added: ‘We never got going here. They were a different level all over the pitch from start to finish. Three games in a week against three top sides affected us. We got up for the first two but we couldn’t get going in this one. It looked top against bottom.’ Fulham have an eight-point cushion on the relegation zone, but Symons said: ‘Until we are mathematically safe we have to be conscious of what is below and behind us.’ They were struggling from the start here. Within nine minutes, Bournemouth’s Marc Pugh saw a shot nudged over and moments later Ryan Tunnicliffe cleared Brett Pitman’s effort off the line. From there, it only got worse for Fulham, a side that might well find itself two divisions removed from Bournemouth in a few months. They were woeful, a disjointed mess of a team that was summed up early on when Hugo Rodallega flicked the ball and realised no team-mate was anywhere nearby. Fulham defender Tim Hoogland and Bournemouth frontman Callum Wilson tussle for the ball . Wilson evades Fulham's Nikolay Bodurov before racing forward with the ball during Bournemouth's victory . They have won one in 11 in all competitions and that form really is no great mystery. They fell behind after 29 minutes here when Pitman was given too much space by Nikolay Bodurov and buried a Charlie Daniels cross. Luck was against Fulham seven minutes later when Matt Ritchie’s deflected in off Bodurov. Pitman scored a brilliant third shortly after the hour mark, taking possession in his own half before embarrassing Shaun Hutchinson and Scott Parker and nailing the finish. Matt Smith pulled a goal back for Fulham but Fernando Amorebieta’s red card for tripping Callum Wilson in the 70th minute killed the home side. Ritchie was teed up from the resulting free-kick and scored Bournemouth’s fourth from the edge of the area. Cook then rocketed Bournemouth’s 74th goal of the season for good measure. +Eddie Howe saw his free-scoring Bournemouth side rack up another five goals against Fulham and joked: 'Thankfully we don't pay goal bonuses!' The country's top scorers marched back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship courtesy of two goals apiece from Brett Pitman and Matt Ritchie followed by a late cracker from Steve Cook to seal a thumping 5-1 victory. 'I'm delighted with the win,' said Cherries boss Howe. 'We felt it was going to be a difficult fixture when you see players Fulham have, but we started well, we were very positive, we scored at good times and could have scored more. Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has joked that he is happy not to have to pay out goal bonuses . Bournemouth players celebrate Steve Cook's (second left) goal during the 5-1 away win against Fulham . 'Thankfully we don't have goal bonuses in the contracts. We took them out.' Pitman, only in the side due to an injury to Yann Kermorgant - who hit both goals in their midweek victory over Wolves - got the ball rolling just before the half-hour mark with his first goal since Boxing Day. Ritchie doubled the advantage before half-time with a deflected effort and Pitman helped himself to a fine solo goal on the hour. Matt Smith pulled one back with his first goal in Fulham colours, but any hopes of a home comeback were extinguished when Fernando Amorebieta was sent off for fouling Callum Wilson and Ritchie blasted in the resulting free-kick. Cook then crashed in number five with six minutes remaining to put the icing on the cake for the Cherries, who made it back-to-back victories after five games without a win to put their promotion bid right back on track. Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson (centre) rounds Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli (right) Brett Pitman (centre) breaks away with the ball for Bournemouth while Fulham's Scott Parker (right) chases . 'During the five games we didn't win the performance levels were still strong,' added Howe. 'I didn't think there was anything wrong with the team and I think we have proved that. When we have that ruthlessness we are hard to stop. 'The lead has changed so many times it's almost become the tag no one wants. That's been the nature of it and it may stay that way until the end of the season, so back-to-back wins are so important.' Fulham, by contrast, are looking over their shoulders at the relegation battle - their cushion could be cut to five points by Saturday evening. 'It looked like top against bottom,' admitted manager Kit Symons. 'All credit to Bournemouth but we are bitterly disappointed with the performance. 'Until we are mathematically safe we have to get as many points as we can. We are conscious of what's below us. No one is under any illusions, you only have to look at the table. Everyone is fully aware of where we are.' Matt Ritchie (centre) scored a brace as the Cherries moved top of the Sky Bet Championship table . +Manchester City continued their preparations for the Premier League game with Burnley on Saturday as players took part in a spinning session at the club's training ground. But they know it will be no easy task at Turf Moor and will be wary of Sean Dyche's side following the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium back in December. While City are desperate to make ground on league leaders Chelsea and close the five-point gap between first and second, Burnley will be motivated in the battle to retain their Premier League status. (Left to right): Midfielders Jesus Navas, Frank Lampard, David Silva and James Milner chat during training . City players take part in a spinning session ahead of the Premier League game with Burnley on Saturday . Silva tussles for the ball with Leicester captain Wes Morgan during City's 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium . Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini and his side are under pressure to deliver against Burnley . Indeed, Burnley have frustrated a few of the bigger clubs this season, claiming points against City, Chelsea and Manchester United. Manuel Pellegrini's men got themselves back to winning ways last time out with a 2-0 victory over Leicester, but Chelsea's position at the top is strengthened by the fact they have a game in hand. City cannot afford any more slip-ups in their Premier League run-in and will have to be on alert against a very direct Burnley side. Silva scores the opening goal for City during their 2-2 draw with Burnley back in December . City goalkeeper Joe Hart looks dejected after Ashley Barnes scores a late equaliser at the Etihad Stadium . Milner scores City's second goal during the 2-0 win over Leicester in the Premier League last weekend . Burnley striker Danny Ings celebrates after scoring against Manchester United in the Premier League . Burnley manager Sean Dyche faces a difficult task to keep his side in the top flight this season . +Denis Irwin remains convinced Luke Shaw will be a big star at Manchester United. Irwin, one of the most decorated defenders in United's history, tipped Shaw to star for United shortly after he signed for the club, but the teenager has had a mixed maiden campaign so far. Shaw has impressed on a few occasions, but injury has prevented him from fulfilling his potential. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Denis Irwin: No doubt that Luke Shaw will be a top United player . Luke Shaw tussles with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during Manchester United's FA Cup clash defeat by Arsenal . The former Southampton defender has failed to replicate his form for Southampton last season . The 19-year-old was made to train on his own after turning up to pre-season out of shape and he was then hit by hamstring and ankle problems. The left-back has started just 12 Premier League games so far, but Irwin is sure the club will start seeing a return on their £31.5million investment once his injury troubles are over. 'I have no doubt he will be a great player for us in years to come,' Irwin told Press Association Sport. 'Until he gets a run of games I don't think you are going to see the quality Luke Shaw can bring to a side. 'When he gets that under his belt you will see the best of him. 'Hopefully he will stay injury-free for us for the rest of year and get a run of games.' United beat strong competition from Shaw's boyhood club Chelsea to sign the defender from Southampton last summer. Denis Irwin played for Manchester United for 12 years between 1990 and 2002 . Shaw jokes about with Marouane Fellaini during a United training session last week . Irwin believes it is unreasonable to expect too much too soon from a player who only made his Premier League debut in November 2012, regardless of how much United paid for him. 'He has had a big couple of years,' said Irwin, who played 529 times for the club. 'He had a couple of years at Southampton, he had a big-money move here and he was involved in a World Cup at just 18-years-old so the spotlight has been on him through no fault of his own. 'When you are 19 you will make mistakes and you will learn from them. 'I have no doubt he will be getting plenty of advice from the coaches and the manager.' Shaw, who has been suffering from another hamstring injury recently, sat out United's 3-0 win over Spurs on Sunday. The win tightened United's grip on fourth place and they now sit just two points behind second-placed Manchester City. Irwin (left) celebrates with Roy Keane and David Beckham after scoring a penalty against Liverpool in 1999 . The long-time United left back slides into a challenge with a young David Dunn against Blackburn in 1999 . Irwin was impressed by the performance against Spurs and he now hopes the team will produce similar performances against their top-four rivals in the coming weeks to secure the Champions League football which they have missed so dearly this term. 'It was a big loss for us when we didn't qualify for the Champions League. It's been a strange year,' said Irwin, who was part of the team that won the trophy in the most dramatic fashion in 1999. 'We have missed Champions League football, I have missed big teams coming here. 'There are some big matches coming up in the round of 16. We are not involved and it's not nice watching. 'City go to Barcelona this week and we watch that and wish we were part of it because it's the best club competition in the world.' Denis Irwin was speaking at the launch of bwin Manchester United Casino - the world's first club-based real money casino app which is available now on Android from bwin.com/manutdcasino and will be available soon on iOS through the App Store. +Sergio Aguero is a modern day football genius who always plays the game with a smile on his face, according to Manchester City team-mate Frank Lampard. Lampard says he is quite an intense player who can get quite down if things are not going his way, but revealed the Argentina international is quite the opposite. Aguero has been in good form this season, scoring 23 goals in all competitions, and City will hope he is at his best again this week when they travel to the Nou Camp in the second leg of their Champions League tie with Barcelona. Frank Lampard says Sergio Aguero always plays and trains with a smile on his face . City players train ahead of their second leg game with Barcelona . Frank Lampard (middle) warms up during training ahead of his final game at the Nou Camp . Manuel Pellegrini's side trail 2-1 after the first leg in Manchester and face an up hill task if they are to overhaul the La Liga leaders. Lampard in Match of the Day magazine: ‘Football comes easy to him – he bounces into training without a care in the world, then plays like a genius. I’m intense about my football and if I have a bad day I can get quite upset, so it’s always nice to see someone like Sergio, who also has bad days but just smiles it away!’ After spending 13 years at Chelsea, Lampard moved north to Manchester City and says he is getting on well with his new teammates. Lampard would like to play more games for Manchester City before he heads to play in MLS . Lampard has had some memorable moments at the Nou Camp with Chelsea . Match of the Day magazine is available now . He added: ‘I get on with them all but David Silva is a fantastic bloke. I’ve loved him as a footballer from afar, but when you meet him you realise how humble he is.' Lampard will head Stateside at the end of the Premier League to link up with new MLS franchise New York City FC and so this is likely to be his last game at the Nou Camp. He added: ‘It’s one of football’s great arenas. I’ve had the runaround there, but I’ve also been fortunate to have some of my best nights there. The old stadium, the size of it, the fans – you can feel the magic and the history. I’ll be delighted to go back. ‘Football is like a religion in Spain, but what I will say is that all the Spanish players who come here never stop talking about how great it is to play football in England – the fans, how every stadium you go to has a great atmosphere, so we can't complain.’ And with Lampard’s time in England coming to an end, he is able to look back on his years in the Premier League with fondness – even though he would like a few minutes on the pitch before he heads to New York. He said: ‘I’d like to play more minutes and games – that would be a start! Football is not always about fairytales, but my career as a whole has been a fairytale. I never dreamed I’d get to win the Champions League with Chelsea and play for my country over 100 times. I’m pretty happy with that.’ For the full interview with Frank Lampard make sure you pick up a copy of Match of the Day Magazine, which is on sale between March 17-23 . +Manchester United sent scouts to watch Brazilian attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino at Hoffenheim this weekend. The 23-year-old, who has been in fine form in the Bundesliga, is in high demand, with United the latest in a string of Premier League clubs to show an interest. Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal have all considered bids for the 23-year-old Brazilian who has a release clause reputedly set at £14.5million. Sportsmail tells you everything you need to know about the Hoffenheim forward. Roberto Firmino celebrates scoring a late winner for his Hoffenheim side against Eintracht Frankfurt . Firmino scored the winning goal for Brazil in just his second international game against Austria last year . A skillful dribbler - in the past two seasons only Lionel Messi and Eden Hazard have embarked on more succesful dribbles in Europe's top leagues - and with all the tricks and flicks you might expect from a Brazilian international forward, Firmino is an attacking midfielder with an eye for goal. He is not an out and out goalscorer, as his record of 6 goals in 25 Bundesliga games this season shows, but Firmino is a capable finisher when the chance arises. Last season's tally of 16 goals for Hoffenheim earned him his first Brazil call-up early this term, and he announced himself in the international stage with a stunning 25 yard strike into the top corner to earn the selecao a win against Austria in just his second game. The Brazilian's shot from 25 yards flew into the top corner to earn him a first international goal . The Brazilian shows off his excellent first touch as he keeps the ball away from two Stuttgart defenders . However, it is not for his goalscoring exploits that Louis van Gaal will want the 23-year-old, but his playmaking. Firmino loves to pick a pass, sliding through balls into the strikers from his position in behind, and has racked up 18 league assists since the start of last season. To put that number in context, that's as many as Manchester United's entire midfield against Tottenham - Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini, Daley Blind and Michael Carrick - have managed in the Premier League over the past two seasons. The Brazilian is usually deployed behind the central striker, but can operate out wide on the left, where his pace and quick feet allow him to beat a man before picking out team-mates. With Neymar, Coutinho, Oscar and Willian in his position, Firmino has done well to earn a Brazil call-up . The playmaker holds off a tackle as he embarks on one of his trademark runs in a recent game . As well as running past defenders with the ball he has a knack for making attacking runs from deep without it, posing a threat in behind whether coming from central areas on the wing. And, when stationed wide on the left, Firmino has the ability to cut inside and unleash a strike at goal with his favoured right foot, or trouble the full back down the outside with his trickery, causing defenders plenty of problems. It remains to be seen if he is quick enough to be a dynamic No 10 in the Premier League, but the performances in Germany have earned praise from the likes of Bayern Munich sporting director Mathias Sammer. Firmino's dribbling, goals and assists have made him one of the hottest properties in the Bundesliga . 'Firmino is a great player,' said Sammer this week, although he ruled out the player moving to Bayern. But the player, his agent, and Hoffenheim have all admitted he could well leave this season, alerting Premier League clubs to the possibility of nabbing a star who is undoubtedly one of the Bundesliga's hottest prospects. +Young stars from Chelsea and Manchester City feature prominently in the England Under 19 squad selected by Sean O’Driscoll for the forthcoming round of European Championship qualifiers in France. The Young Lions travel across the Channel next week as they bid to secure their spot at the finals being held in Greece in July. They will play three Elite Round qualifiers, against Denmark on March 26, Azerbaijan on March 28 and France on March 31 with only the team that tops the group advancing to the finals. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, pictured centre with Didier Drogba, has been named in England Under 19s squad . Chelsea's Izzy Brown (left), has also been named in Sean O'Driscoll's side for the European qualifiers . Accordingly, O’Driscoll has selected a strong squad featuring Chelsea players Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Charlie Colkett, Izzy Brown and Joshua Aina. Rising stars from Man City’s academy picked include goalkeeper Angus Gunn, defenders Ashley Smith-Brown and Kean Bryan, and forward Brandon Barker. Demarai Gray, the 18-year-old winger who has made 34 appearances for Birmingham City this season, is included, as is Teddy Bishop, the Ipswich Town midfielder who has played 18 times for Mick McCarthy’s side in 2014-15. With Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Middlesbrough’s Bryn Morris absent through injury, Lewis Cook, the Leeds United midfielder who has made 33 first-team appearances this season, is promoted from the under 18s. Birmingham City's Demarai Gray has also been named having made 34 appearances for the Blues this season . Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United) Defenders: Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Ashley Smith-Brown (Manchester City), Joshua Aina (Chelsea), Brendan Galloway (Everton), Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic), Kean Bryan (Manchester City) Midfielders: Teddy Bishop (Ipswich Town), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Charlie Colkett (Chelsea), Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur), Lewis Cook (Leeds United) Forwards: Brandon Barker (Manchester City), Demarai Gray (Birmingham City), Patrick Roberts (Fulham), Bradley Fewster (Middlesbrough), Izzy Brown (Chelsea) +Manuel Pellegrini admits Manchester City need a 'crack' player to take them to the next level. The term is used in Spain to describe a world star, a galactico, who can transform the team. The reigning Premier League champions saw their hopes of retaining the title diminish after a shock 1-0 defeat by Burnley on Saturday. Here Sportsmail identifies five names City have considered as they approach a pivotal summer in their development. Manuel Pellegrini insists Sergio Aguero needs another 'crack' player to support him at the Etihad . Despite his expensively assembled squad, Pellegrini still thinks City need more star quality . Aguero failed to score as the champion's hopes of retaining the title suffered a blow against Burnley . PAUL POGBA . Juventus £55m . City have trailed Pogba since he was on their doorstep at Manchester United. The 22-year-old can be the dominant force in City's midfield for years to come and add the extra energy they have lacked this year. Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta said: 'There are many suitors for Pogba, but we do not want to open negotiations and we want him to stay with us.' That said if clubs offer £55m it will be difficult for the Italians to reject. Chances: 4/5 . Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has become one of the world's best midfielders at Juve . The Italians insist Pogba is not for sale but an offer in excess of £55m could prove too tempting . KEVIN de BRUYNE . Wolfsburg £35m . Has grown into one of the best midfielders in Europe on current form. He is playing as a No 10, dominating games, creating chances and scoring goals. The Belgian could prove to be one of Jose Mourinho's biggest mistakes. Yes, Chelsea made a profit when they sold him but he now looks a player who can have greater influence on a game than Oscar and Willian. City have watched him closely this season and Wolfsburg expect a bid. Chances: 4/5 . The Belgium international has been starring in the Bundesliga since his move from Chelsea to Wolfsburg . The Belgium international's recent form has raised questions over why Jose Mourinho let him leave Chelsea . KOKE . Atletico Madrid £44m . The jewel in the crown of Atletico Madrid. Managers have gone to watch him and questioned whether he was big and strong enough for the Premier League but he is 5ft 10ins and, like the smaller Marco Verratti at Paris St Germain, Koke has the athleticism and strength which allows him to handle the rough treatment. Has proven at European and domestic level he is a player of repute. Much will depend where Diego Simeone ends up. Chances: 2/5 . Atletico Madrid's pass master Koke is seen as the heir in waiting to Barcelona's Xavi in Spain . Koke celebrates his goal against Valencia with former Chelsea striker Fernando Torres (right) GARETH BALE . Real Madrid £75m . Bale is determined to ride out the storm in Madrid but won't be short of admirers should he opt to leave. Despite the fuss over Manchester United's overtures to him, Bale was aware of City's interest prior to his departure from Tottenham and would listen if his time at Madrid was up. A homegrown player to boot, he has matured since leaving White Hart Lane and would give City the pace and direct dynamic they have lacked this season. Chances: 3/5 . Gareth Bale's struggles to win over Real Madrid's fickle fans could lead to a return to the Premier League . Bale scored twice in the weekend win over Levante, which will have pleased some fans if not Cristiano Ronaldo . VIDEO Bale double silences critics . CRISTIANO RONALDO . Real Madrid £80m . Surely not? The chat among some City players last week was that Cristiano Ronaldo was destined for Manchester and not the Old Trafford side. It's almost unthinkable considering his affection for all things United. His agent Jorge Mendes says he will retire at Madrid but tensions are undoubtedly high as the unforgiving Bernabeu crowd see fit to criticise a phenomenal player who has scored 280 goals for them. Chances: 1/5 . They say never say never, but surely Cristiano Ronaldo signing for United's rivals is unimaginable? The Ballon d'Or holder was supposed to finish his career at the Bernabeu but has cut a frustrated figure . +Atletico Madrid will try to re-sign Chelsea defender Filipe Luis at the end of the season and hope his lack of opportunities at Stamford Bridge persuade him to push for a return to the Spanish capital. Atletico saw three players leave the club for Chelsea last summer but despite attention focusing on how they would replace the goals of Diego Costa and the saves of Thibaut Courtois, Luis has been the most difficult to replace. Guilherme Siqueira has struggled for form and the Argentine Cristian Ansaldi has spent most of the season injured. Chelsea defender Filipe Luis will be a target for Atletico Madrid in the summer with a return to Spain possible . Luis (left) signed for Chelsea in a £16million deal last summer but has struggled for first-team opportunities . Ansaldi was also arrested after a defeat to Barcelona earlier in the year when he slammed a policeman’s hand in his car after an argument about access to the stadium. Diego Simeone will use veteran right-back Jesus Gamez out of position at left back in Atletico's Champions League second-leg clash with Bayer Leverkusen but has asked the club’s owners about the possibilities of bringing back Luis. Guilherme Siqueira (right) has struggled for form as Luis' replacement with the Spanish champions . Cristian Ansaldi has spent most of the season injured and was arrested by police earlier in the year . The 29-year-old has failed to settle in London without regular first team football because of competition from Cesar Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic. Luis has made just 22 appearances for Chelsea so far this season and not played in the four games following the Blues' 1-1 draw with Burnley last month. Atletico manager Diego Simeone hopes Luis will push for a move back to his former club in the summer . +Barcelona seemed to be having a good time as they joked about before their Champions League second-leg tie against Manchester City,with Neymar leading the fun. As the Catalan club prepared for City's arrival, the Brazilian striker was in top form, laughing with team-mates before jokingly kicking Luis Suarez up the backside when the Uruguayan went to ground. Suarez then got a second kick as he turned to see what had happened, when full back Dani Alves joined in the fun. Neymar aims a friendly kick at fellow Barcelona striker Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan had gone down . Suarez looks to see who has kicked him, allowing Dani Alves to creep up behind him and deliver a second blow . Alves connects with the Uruguayan again, as Barcelona larked about during the training session . Neymar was in high spirits throughout the session, as Andres Iniesta played down rumours of ill-feeling . Suarez and Lionel Messi were in fine form in the first leg as Barcelona beat Manchester City 2-1 . Barca lead 2-1 from the first leg, when their front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Suarez caused City all sorts of problems. And it was telling to see the Brazilian at the heart of the fun on Tuesday, after reports that he had angered team-mates with his reaction to being substituted during last weekend's win over Eibar. 'I believe that he’s a very important player for us,' said Andres Iniesta of Neymar, defending his team-mate. The Barca stars will be hoping to reach the Champions League quarter finals by holding off Manchester City . Barca have not failed to reach Europe's last eight since 2007, and saw off City at the same stage last season . Barcelona's Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic controls the ball as Xavi and Pedro look on during training . 'Not only because of the goals he scores and all his help in match but because of how he is, how he plays. 'We are very pleased with him, if there’s a gesture or a special action I don't take that as a lack of respect, no. 'Each one of us has to focus on ourselves, there is lots of respect between the players here, some situations people like more, some like this but there’s always huge respect between us.' Iniesta, rested in Barca's weekend win over Eibar, is expected to return to the staring line-up to take on City . Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has played all of Barca's Champions League games so far, prepares for City . The Barcelona players move the ball around during a training exercise ahead of the vital showdown with City . +Atletico Madrid's comedown from being seconds away from winning last season's Champions League final only to concede in the 90th minute and finish up losing 4-1 will reach a new low on Tuesday night if they go out of this year's tournament at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen. Coach Diego Simeone is counting on the spirit that got them to last year's showpiece in Lisbon to pull them through and for the Mario Mandzukic Antoine Griezmann parternship that produced 14 goals and eight assists in January and February before hitting something of a wall in March to fire them into the last eight. If those two fail he will have to call on Fernando Torres who insisted in an interview in El Pais on the eve of the game that he did feel part of Chelsea's Champions League success in 2012. Diego Simeone has called on the home support to lift his side as they attempt to come from behind . Atletico Madrid have not been at their best of late, but need to bounce back against Bayer Leverkusen . He said: 'I had made some important contributions. I scored in the semi-final against Barcelona and I come on for the last eight minutes of normal time against Bayern in the final and I think I played my part in the comeback. I am very proud to have won the Champions League.' He would dearly love to repeat his success for Chelsea with a repeat run to the final for his hometown club but Atletico have given themselves a difficult job after a poor first leg performance that ended with Bayern Leverkusen winning 1-0. The failure to find an away goal three weeks ago makes them outsiders tonight despite the battle cry from Simeone that there should not even be so much as a minute of quiet in the Vicente Calderon before and during the game. Sergio Ramos' 90th minute header denied Atletico their first ever Champions League title last summer . Carlo Ancelotti, rather than Diego Simeone, was left to lift the famous trophy in Lisbon . Simeone has never won a knockout tie after losing the first leg, but must turn that around on Tuesday . Despite the motivational magic of Atletico's charismatic manager, the Argentine has never over-turned a first leg deficit since he has been at the club. Under his stewardship Atletico have won 16 of 19 knockout matches but the three times they have suffered first leg defeats they have been eliminated. The coach's biggest concern will be that in the pusuit of goals they will concede. They have gone five Champions League games without letting in a goal but there are cracks appearing in their defence. Karim Bellarabi, Hakan Calhanoglu and Son Heung-min will provide a serious test for out of sorts holding midfielder Gabi, veteran right-back Jesus Gamez – filing in at left-back in the absence of any better alternative – and central defensive partnership of Jose Gimenez and Miranda forced on Simeone through Diego Godin's suspension. Around 1,300 supporters have travelled from Germany to Spain for the game. 'We know they have a strong mentality,' says Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt of Atletico. 'But we have to keep a cool head in what will be a very hot atmosphere.' VIDEO Atletico game tough despite lead - Schmidt . Gabi (left) has been out of form, and will be up against a formidable Bayer Leverkusen front line . The likes of Son Heung-min (standing centre) and Hakan Calhanoglu (right) will cause Atletico problems . The sparks are sure to fly after first leg when Schmidt clashed with Simeone's number two Mono Burgos. 'Atletico will provoke, bite, scratch and kick us,' Bayer director Michael Schade was quoted as saying in the Madrid press while Marca called for 50,000 Simeones on its front page on Tuesday. When Atletico Madrid reached the European Cup final in 1974 and lost in a reply to Bayern Munich having been just seconds from winning in the first game before a late equalizer, it took them 40 years to get back to another final. They don't want the same fate this time. Tuesday night will be as biggest test as Simeone and his players have faced since winning La Liga last season. +Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has called on Renault to get their act together and help save his organisation's season. Horner was left fuming following the opening race in Australia on Sunday after Red Bull found themselves severely handicapped by power-unit supplier Renault over the course of the weekend. Initially, the Milton Keynes-based marque were forced to change the power unit on Daniel Ricciardo's car in between practice sessions on Friday due to a problem with the engine. Red Bull chief Christian Horner has accused engine supplier Renault of going backwards this season . Daniel Ricciardo could only manage a sixth-placed finish for Red Bull during the Australian Grand Prix . Red Bull's second driver Daniil Kvyat pulled out of Sunday's opening race with a gear box failure . Come the race further embarrassment followed as Daniil Kvyat, on his debut for the team following his promotion last year from Toro Rosso, retired on the formation lap with a suspected gearbox failure. Horner has already called on the FIA to introduce equalisation rules as he fears Mercedes will continue to dominate after their easy one-two around Melbourne's Albert Park, spearheaded by Lewis Hamilton. More pertinently, though, Horner knows Renault have to up their game otherwise the rest of the campaign will be a washout. 'Renault need to have a clear vision and they need it quickly,' said Horner. 'You can see Ferrari have made a good step forward, whereas Renault at this stage appear to have made a retrograde step. 'It's frustrating we are effectively further back than we were in Abu Dhabi in both power and driveability. 'It means we haven't seen the potential of our car yet because it's masked by the engine issues we have.' Max Verstappen (centre) walks back to Toro Rosso team garage after retiring from the Australian Grand Prix . Lewis Hamilton (right) and Nico Rosberg finished first and second respectively at the Australian Grand Prix . VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . As to the steps required over the coming weeks, Horner added: 'First we have to understand what the problem is in order to address it. 'Until Renault get to the bottom of what the issues are they are very difficult to address. A lot of dyno running needs to be done in order to understand. 'It's important we regroup with Renault and offer support where we can because it's obviously in a bit of a mess at the moment. 'But we need to understand things quickly. Across the four cars (Renault also supply Toro Rosso) we had two engine failures - one within five laps - and a whole bunch of reliability problems. 'It's not the start Renault can afford to have.' After an abysmal start to pre-season a year ago Red Bull recovered to claim three wins and finish second in the constructors' championship, albeit a long way adrift of Mercedes. Red Bull struggled to keep up with Mercedes, WIlliams and Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix . Red Bull and Renault were expected to take a step closer this season, but instead Horner fears they will be cut adrift. Asked whether Renault were capable of producing a championship- challenging engine, Horner replied: 'This year, no. 'But we need to be doing a lot better than we are. We need to be challenging Ferrari and Williams. 'If we sort the issues out then we can do that, but the drivers need to have a fair run at it and they didn't have that over the weekend.' +Sunderland finally cut ties with manager Gus Poyet on Monday after a 4-0 home defeat by fellow strugglers Aston Villa left the Wearside club just one point above the relegation zone in the Barclays Premier League. With that in mind, Sportsmail have Sunderland fan Joe Cooper of 90min.com to tell us what he makes of the situation. Is Dick Advocaat a suitable short-term replacement for Poyet? Let's see what he had to say. Gus Poyet's sacking as manager of Sunderland couldn't have come soon enough. Chairman Ellis Short took the decision on Monday and it's hard to argue that it wasn't the right call. The relationship just wasn't working, our supporters know it and they didn't hesitate to show the Uruguayan their dissatisfaction on a grim afternoon on Wearside on Saturday. There's a better fit out there. And while we've been clamouring for a change at the helm over the course of the last few months, it's become glaringly obvious that Poyet himself didn't want to remain in charge either. Gus Poyet's sacking as Sunderland manager could not come soon enough for the struggling club's fans . The relationship between Poyet, the club's board and their fans was not working and the move was correct . Angry Sunderland supporters attempt to confront Poyet during the 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday . Additionally, Poyet's moniker of 'head coach' meant he was not in primary charge of signing players. He'd made it obvious that it wasn't something he was comfortable with. An unhealthy relationship at the top rolls downwards, as with any business. Poyet's attitude had transcended onto the pitch and it has been having a terrible effect. Saturday was the cast-iron evidence of that. We are just a point above the Barclays Premier League's relegation zone following the home 4-0 drubbing to Aston Villa. Bear in mind that this was a team with the league's worst attack and they'd put four past us before half-time. Poyet's position had become untenable. Dick Advocaat comes to the Wearside club with a wealth of experience from around European football . Advocaat has never managed in England before but is reportedly in line for a £500,000 survival bonus . The decision to remove Poyet doesn't reek of desperation, given Advocaat's appointment within 24 hours . Our situation looks precarious, but it's worth remembering that it could be far worse. It's the right time for Poyet to leave. Something needed to be done before it was too late. Luckily, we've not quite reached that stage yet - there's nine games to save ourselves. We've moved swiftly in hiring a replacement, which is always promising. The decision to remove Poyet doesn't exactly reek of desperation, given former Rangers and Dutch national coach Dick Advocaat was brought in within 24 hours. Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher look disconsolate for Sunderland upfront on Saturday afternoon . One fan roars towards the bench as Poyet's tenure as manager drew to its inevitable close on Saturday . Another supporter holds up a hand-written sign with the message 'Poyet out' - his wish was granted on Monday . Advocaat has been handed the job on a short-term basis. As well as the wealth of managerial experience he brings, the reported £500,000 he'll pocket to avoid relegation is enough of a motivation. He's no spring chicken at 67, but Advocaat has spoken of his own hunger to prove himself in the Premier League. He's got the knowledge under his belt to do that. There's enough reason for the fans to be confident that we can stay up. New managers inevitably inject a shot in the arm to their players in their first few weeks. It should be enough to carry us through to the end. You only have to look at Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion to see the impact that both new managers have had on the teams' fortunes. Sam Allardyce has been touted as a potential replacement after an impressive season with West Ham . Steve McClaren looks Premier League-bound either with Derby County or one of many interested clubs . Our long-term aspirations may be higher than merely fighting relegation, but it's now a case of seeing this season out before starting afresh again next term. It likely won't be Advocaat to take us beyond this summer, but with the likes of Sam Allardyce and Steve McClaren - who have both had promising seasons at their respective clubs - linked as Poyet's long-term successor, things are looking up. Poyet had reached the point of no return, so it's time to start afresh. Again. HULL . Chelsea (Home) - March 22 . Swansea (Away) - April 4 . Southampton (Away) - April 11 . Liverpool (Home) - April 18 . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Swansea (Home) - March 21 . Man United (Away) - April 4 . Tottenham (Away) - April 11 . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . *QPR (Home) - Date to be arranged . SUNDERLAND . West Ham (Away) - March 21 . Newcastle (Home) - April 5 . Crystal Palace (Home) - April 11 . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . * Arsenal (Away) - Date to be arranged . BURNLEY . Southampton (Away) - March 21 . Tottenham (Home) - April 5 . Arsenal (Home) - April 11 . Everton (Away) - April 18 . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . QPR . Everton (Home) - March 22 . West Brom (Away) - April 4 . Chelsea (Home) - April 12 . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . *Aston Villa (Away) - Date to be arranged . LEICESTER . Tottenham (Away) - March 21 . West Ham (Home) - April 4 . West Brom (Away) - April 11 . Swansea (Home) - April 18 . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For more Sunderland fan views or to join the conversation visit www.90min.com . +Tottenham Hotspur are maintaining a keen interest in Cologne defender Kevin Wimmer. The 22-year-old Austrian centre back has been watched several times this season and Mauricio Pochettino has received glowing reports as they ponder a summer deal. The Bundesliga club's sporting director Jorg Schmadtke recently conceded that Wimmer may be sold at the end of the season, providing that their valuation of the Austria U21 international is met. Kevin Wimmer of Cologne is a Tottenham Hotspur target as the London club consider a summer move . The 22-year-old centre back has been watched by Spurs scouts on multiple occasions but a deal is not done . According to the Cologne Express, Tottenham have now had a bid accepted and have also reached an agreement over personal terms with the centre back. However, it is understood a deal has yet to be signed off as Tottenham continue to evaluate options. Mauricio Pochettino has received glowing reports on Wimmer as his club ponder a summer swoop . +Manuel Pellegrini has challenged Manchester City’s players to prove they are one of the best teams in Europe as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Barcelona. The City manager, under scrutiny after their surrender in the first leg and Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley in the Barclays Premier League, is convinced they can still qualify for the Champions League quarter-final. Pellegrini said: ‘This is a good opportunity for our team and the only way to prove it is to beat one of the biggest teams in Europe and we have that chance. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini looks relaxed during his press conference on Tuesday . Pellegrini was joined by City midfielder Yaya Toure ahead of their pivotal match against Barcelona . Toure, sporting flip flops, and Pellegrini answered questions ahead of their Champions League tie . Pellegrini has been under scrutiny after their surrender in the first leg and Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley . ‘We will try to do our best with dedication and hard work. We are not going to play against an easy team but I’m sure that if the three previous ties with Barcelona were 11 v 11 it could have been different. ‘We are going to have bad moments during the game but we have a team that can do its best in that type of game.’ Yaya Toure, returning from suspension, added: ‘We all know what we have to do, the owners have spent a lot of money to make this one of the top clubs in Europe. We have had some difficulties but we are working hard. ‘It’s not the first time we have been in this situation. We’ll try to do it for the fans and the club and the people who continue to help us.’ City manager Pellegrini oversees a training session on Tuesday ahead of travelling to Barcelona . Pellegrini needs to go on the attack against an impressive Barcelona team at the Nou Camp on Wednesday . Pellegrini's men lost 2-1 at the Etihad in the first leg after a Luis Suarez double on his return to England . Toure (right) feels City must be wary of trying to 'run after the score' against Barcelona on Wednesday . The City players are put through their paces on Tuesday before boarding their flight to Barcelona . +There will be no German Grand Prix this year, Hockenheim circuit boss Georg Seiler said on Tuesday in a decision that ended months of uncertainty over the country's Formula One race. The absence of Germany, home of reigning world champions Mercedes, for the first time since 1960 leaves the calendar with 19 races. 'We have no hope any more of having a Formula One race here (this year),' Seiler told Bild newspaper. 'We did everything in the last few years to keep the fans happy.' Fernando Alonso, then of Ferrari, leads the field into the first corner at the 2010 German Grand Prix . Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg celebrates winning last year's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim . Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone had kept the door ajar but Seiler said time had run out because 'quality would now suffer' if they went ahead with the 10th round of the championship. 'We had declared ourselves willing to step in for Nurburgring, something we were contractually not obliged to do,' he said. 'There were talks with third parties over taking over the risk but they were not successful.' Ecclestone said that Hockenheim was the only option for the July 19 race despite it being the Nurburgring's turn under an alternation agreement. Hockenheim hosted last year's grand prix, and is also due to host it in 2016, but the circuit has made heavy losses due to poor attendances and is unwilling to shoulder the burden for three years in a row. Attendances have dwindled at the German race since legend Michael Schumacher retired in 2012 . The seven-time champion is pictured celebrating his triumph at his home race back in 2006 . The Nurburgring, one of the sport's most historic venues with the original track dating from the pre-World War Two years, also has financial troubles and has changed ownership since it last appeared on the calendar. German drivers have been among the most successful in Formula One, with Michael Schumacher winning a record seven world titles and 91 races while Sebastian Vettel is a four times champion. However attendances dwindled after Schumacher, who won five of his titles for Ferrari, retired in 2012 after an unsuccesful comeback with Mercedes. Only 52,000 fans turned up on race day at Hockenheim last year to see Germany's Nico Rosberg win the race for Mercedes. The victory was the first by a German driver in a German car on home soil since the 1930s. VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . +An Aston Villa fan has revealed he was covered in blood after being struck on the head by a chair flung from the West Bromwich Albion section in scenes Kevin Phillips described as life-threatening. Mark Villers was watching Villa’s 2-0 FA Cup win over their local rivals from the lower section of the North Stand when away supporters housed above began ripping out seats and throwing them down. He told how he required treatment from Villa’s club doctor, who needed to cut his hair and glue the grisly wound on the top of his head closed. Aston Villa supporter Mark Villers needed his hair cut and wound glued together on Saturday night . Villers, 20, shows his blood-stained trainers after being hit by a seat during the Midlands derby at Villa Park . ‘It was mental,’ said Villers, 20, who attended the game with two friends. ‘We could see them throwing down the chairs after we scored the second so we walked down to by the advertising boards. We didn’t think they’d be able to reach. ‘All of a sudden, everyone shouted, “Duck” and stupidly I turned around. It literally hit me bang on the forehad, head on. ‘It was a shock but I didn’t think anything of it. I carried on cheering. Then I felt the blood pouring down my face. It was really bad. I’ve never bled that much. It was pouring out all over my clothes. It was a bad cut. ‘The pain wasn’t that bad, it was the shock of seeing blood come down my face. I knew it had hit me quite hard but I didn’t think it would cut me. It must have been caught by the sharp bit. ‘There were quite a lot of seats. After we scored the second goal things started flying down. To guess at the end it must have been 20 or 25. One landed on the pitch. Villers claims that West Brom supporters threw chairs at Villa supporters during the FA Cup tie . The fan's jeans and shoes were seen to be covered in claret after the trouble . ‘I didn’t need to go to hospital. I went to the stewards and they ushered me down the tunnel where the paramedics were. They held the tissue on and then the Villa doctor came, took me into the medical room, and glued it up for me. ‘He had to cut my hair unfortunately so I’ve got a bit of a bald patch. He cleaned me up and sent me on my way. ‘At least I got to go down the tunnel! I was sat down on a stretcher and saw Jack Grealish come through after he got sent off. Then I saw everyone going mad with the pitch invasion. ‘The pitch invasion is bad but I don’t think it’s as bad as people throwing chairs.' Speaking on Match of the Day, Phillips – who played for both West Brom and Villa during his playing career – said such actions could have been fatal. Aston Villa supporters stormed the pitch following the club's FA Cup victory over West Brom on Saturday . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-finals . Scorer Scott Sinclair (second left) is mobbed by a fan and team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish . ‘Seeing those seats come down, it could kill someone,’ he said. ‘It was like the Seventies and Eighties again. Those people should be found and banned.’ Villers, a business development manager at a futsal centre, questioned why Villa organise the away seating in such a fashion for Cup matches. ‘Having the away fans above the home fans for Cup games is pretty stupid and is asking for trouble in my opinion,’ he said. ‘They should change that. One of the paramedics said a fan had been hit by a 50p piece.’ West Brom midfielder Craig Gardner also appeared to have coins thrown his direction when taking corners near Villa fans. +Footage has emerged of doomed Bali Nine ringleader Andrew Chan speaking about second chances just hours after the first round of executions on January 18. The heartbreaking video shows Chan speaking from what is believed to be inside Kerobokan jail. Behind him prison bars are visible as he looks tearily into the camera and talks in soft spoken tones. Scroll down for video . The heartbreaking video shows Andrew Chan speaking from what is believed to be inside Kerobokan jail . The 30-second video was aired on Channel Seven's Sunday Night. 'My name's Andrew Chan,' the convicted drug smuggler said. 'It's a day - pretty much a few hours - after the execution of six innocent lives. 'Guess what runs through my head is about how precious life really is.' On January 18, five people were executed by firing squad on Nusakambangan - Indonesia's 'Death Island - in Central Java. Dutchman Ang Kiem Soe, Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, Nigerian Daniel Enemuo, Malawi's Namaona Denis and Indonesia's Rani Adriani were killed that day. Another woman Tran Bich Hanh, from Vietnam, was also put to death nearby. Myuran Sukuraman (right) revealed he knew the identity of ringleader Mr Big and tried to strike a deal with Indonesian police to spare his life, while Chan (left) denied he knew anything about him . Kerobokan prison had been the Bali Nine duo's home for 10 years after they were found guilty of drug smuggling . Their deaths triggered Chan to ask: 'I guess sometimes you kinda got to think, what does it take to get a second chance? 'People get second chances within their lives on the outside, but how much can you get when you’re a convicted criminal.' Since they were sentenced to death, Chan converted to Christianity and studied to become a pastor while behind bars. At the same time, Sukuraman - under the tutelage of Ben Quilty - has become an artist, even teaching inmates how to paint. This turnaround in the pair has led many to believe they have been rehabilitated. Sunday Night also revealed fellow Bali Nine member Myuran Sukuraman knew the identity of 'Mr Big' - the ringleader of the group - but did not want to name him publicly as he feared for the safety his family. Sukuraman told the news program he had tried to trade this information to avoid the death penalty, but Indonesian police refused the offer. Myuran Sukuraman (left) and Andrew Chan (right) are being led to an armoured vehicle at Cilacap airport in Central Java on Wednesday . 'We tried with the police to get some sort of co-operation thing but there weren't really like that was our only card that we had to play,' he said. 'They wouldn't and then the lawyers advised us not to go that way.' While Chan said he did not know the identity of the mystery ringleader. Sukuraman also admitted he had thought about hanging himself or getting someone else to shoot him. 'I don't really think I'll enjoy the process of being dragged in front of a firing squad,' he said. The pair are being held on Nusakambangan where inmates are held before they executed . The duo have been on Nusakambangan since Wednesday. The pair were transferred just after 5am in heavily armoured vehicles to Denpasar airport, where they flew to Cilacap - the port nearest to Nusakambangan - where they were ferried over to the island. Their executions have been delayed indefinitely as a number of inmates await the outcome of court proceedings. Chan and Sukuraman's second challenge for clemency was rejected in January but their lawyers hope Thursday's hearing in a Jakarta court. This latest action hopes to see the president reconsider their execution as Joko Widodo did not have documents charting the pair's rehabilitation in prison, according their lawyers. +Europes largest budget airline has just been granted approval to develop a transatlantic service between Europe and America. Ryanair, the Ireland-based budget carrier, plans to run services between key European cities and the US with one-way tickets costing from as little as $15. The idea is part of an aggressive growth strategy, connecting airports such as London Stansted and Berlin with New York, Boston and Miami. Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline, has received board approval to develop a transatlantic service for budget passengers, with one-way tickets between the US and key European cities costing as little as $15 . The airline first mooted the idea of offering transatlantic flights back in 2008 and board approval comes after the airline has invested 18 months in cleaning up its image and improving customer service. It is believed it could take up to five years to realize the plan, as the airline needs to source appropriate long-haul aircraft for the routes. Last year, Michael O’Leary, the airline’s chief executive, told the Irish Hotels Federation conference in Meath that Ryanair would offer the $15 flights to Boston and New York. However, he admitted that passengers would pay extra for everything from meals to baggage. He said: 'We can make money on 99 cent fares in Europe. Michael O'Leary previously said the airline has long been looking at long-haul flight plans, but is held back by a lack of aircraft availability . 'Not every seat will be ($15) of course; there will also need to be a very high number of business or premium seats.' In a separate conversation, Mr O'Leary admitted: 'We've had a business plan ready to roll for a transatlantic, low-fares airline. 'The difficulty is, I keep cautioning, is that there's no availability of long-haul aircraft for another four or five years.' Sir Freddie Laker revolutionised air travel with his idea for budget flights between Europe and the US, but his airline failed in 1982 . Ryaniar isn't the only airline to consider offering budget transatlantic flights. Previously, Sir Freddie Laker launched Skytrain in the late Seventies to offer 'no frills' flights to the US, but his carrier Lake Airways failed in 1982. Zoom Airlines tried a similar concept in 2002 but was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2008. More recently, Norwegian has launched its own budget flights between London Gatwick, New York, Boston and Los Angeles from as little as £389 ($415) return. +Seven years ago, Nathan Bracken was the world’s number one bowler in one day international cricket and was on his way to becoming a cricket legend. Today, he has a permanent disability, cannot straighten his right leg and can barely carry his baby son for fear that it will buckle under him. He and his family say they face financial ruin because of the tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills they face after an injury he suffered playing for Australia. His wife, Haley Bracken has spoken to Daily Mail Australia about her family's struggles as they continue to fight Cricket Australia during an exhausting five year legal battle. Scroll down for video . Nathan Bracken (far left) and his wife Haley (far right) have been facing constant legal and medical fees for more than five years and are concerned for the impact on their family, including their sons Tag and Chase . Nathan Bracken (left playing for Australia in 2009, right with wife Haley) walks with a limp after suffering a debilitating knee injury whilst playing cricket for Australia. His wife has spoken out about the impact . The Brackens have already been forced to sell a property and two cars and fear they will lose 'everything' ‘Nathan has suffered severe depression. There have been times that he’s been balled up on the couch crying, so stressed,' Haley Bracken told Daily Mail Australia. ‘He’d say to me “What am I going to do? I can’t support our family”. 'We haven't spoken out for sympathy but the truth is, I have experienced anxiety attacks and we worry about our future everyday. 'This situation has impacted on the family in a very negative way,’ said Haley, a model, dancer, presenter and mother. When Nathan's career ended instantaneously, he was left with no other job prospects and no income. He had never finished his degree, a Bachelor of Communications, due to his international travel commitments with cricket and had anticipated he had years of cricket ahead of him. A role was made for Nathan in his father-in-law's recruitment company. Haley Bracken arrives at the 2010 Allan Border Medal at Crown Casino . Haley with their beautiful little boy Tag, now aged one. She worries about the impact of the financial worries and intense stress on their two sons . Nathan (left) with their seven-year-old son, Chase. Chase is a 'sweet, sensitive boy' who has already said he does not want to play cricket after seeing the impact it has had on his family's life . The couple, parents of two young boys, have already sold a property and two cars to make ends meet and fear that their little family could have to sell their home. ‘My parents have already offered that we can all move in there if we need to,' Haley said. 'We already sold the land where we’d planned on building our dream property and had a garage sale to get rid of belongings. We have to drive past that property every day on the school run.’ The couple allege that Nathan approached Cricket Australia one year after his career-ending knee injury to enquire about what policies were in place to assist with his medical costs. CA officials allegedly refused to help him. ‘That’s when we knew it was going to be very difficult,’ said Haley. Their lives changed immediately, descending from the glory of first class cricket to no source of income. Nathan had no other job opportunities and an endless pile of medical and legal bills, which continue today. ‘The letters keep on coming. Every time I look at a new lawyer’s letter I feel sick because I know it’s just another massive bill. I just have to try and think about it all one day at a time,' said Haley. Haley says it hurts to see how depressed the ordeal has made her husband after a life loving cricket . Haley says she wants people to stand up for themselves and others and to question big corporations . Haley is proud of her resilient family and frequently posts about them on social media . Nathan Bracken first launched his lawsuit in 2011 against Cricket Australia, seeking compensation for lost wages, medical expenses and damages. He had been forced to retire that year at the age of 31. Although it is not the easy option, Haley says she knows it was the right decision to take a stand. 'I want people to see that if we can stand up for our rights, they can too. To question those in authority and question what happens in big corporations.' It hurts Haley to see the impact it has on her husband who found so much happiness playing cricket. 'What breaks my heart the most is that Nathan gave his heart and soul to cricket,' she said. 'He was away a lot and there was a lot of sacrifice. For them to turn around and wipe their hands of him breaks my heart' The couple try to stay strong as they are incredibly concerned for their two young sons; Chase, seven and Tag, one. ‘My eldest son is the sweetest, most sensitive soul. It does make this process hard because he is so sensitive,’ she told Daily Mail Australia. ‘This has unavoidably had a huge impact on my family. ‘We try to keep him out of it. But Chase said to us, “I don’t want to play cricket”...’ Seven years ago, Nathan Bracken was the world’s number one bowler in one day international cricket and was on his way to becoming a cricket legend (pictured playing for the Blues in 2010) Haley and Nathan Bracken desperately want the court case to be over for the sake of their family; particularly their sons Chase (left) and Tag . He told us, “Dad, you hurt your knee playing cricket, I don’t want to do that.” This whole thing has skewed his view, he’s just a kid.’ Haley says she and her family have become stronger through the process, . Her husband has battled debilitating injuries after his incredible cricket career and has been left with a permanent disability. Haley says the impact of those injuries has been immense, to the point that her husband would not carry their baby down stairs, terrified his injured knee would buckle. Nathan is unable to straighten his knee so he cannot do an exercise as simple as kicking a football in the backyard with their two little boys. ‘Nathan had an ankle operation on the other leg (not the knee which currently needs surgery) and he collapsed on the floor. ‘He just couldn’t get up. I tried to help him up but there’s quite a height distance between us so I couldn’t. ‘So I just sat on the floor and cried with him, thinking: “this is our future”. I don’t want that to happen, where I can’t lift him or help him in any way.’ Nathan is unable to straighten his knee so he cannot do an exercise as simple as kicking a football in the backyard with their two little boys . Haley is grateful for her resilient family and relieved that they will soon have certainty about their future. ‘We know that no matter what we’re going through, we’ve got our family. ‘I say to Nathan that even if we’re living in a cardboard box we’ll always have each other.’ Nathan and Haley also allege that Cricket Australia are not fulfilling their responsibilities as an employer, neglecting him once he was injured. They are concerned that Medicare and private health insurance have been allegedly paying for cricketer's injuries, accusing Cricket Australia of not having adequate insurance schemes. 'Those resources are being taken away from people who have no other option,' Haley claimed. Haley Bracken and Nathan Bracken pose alongside their children at the Disney On Ice Premiere at Allphones Arena on July 9, 2014 . 'It’s important to stand up for your own rights but it’s particularly important to stand up for other’s rights as well.' Cricket Australia were contacted by Daily Mail Australia but said they could not comment on legal grounds. The case is set down for hearing in the Supreme Court in October. ‘I just want to be free from the situation, for us as a family to be free from it and to be able to move on and close that chapter.’ 'All of this - it's just not cricket.' The case is set down for hearing in the Supreme Court in October . +It's a good job political scion and TV reality star Bristol Palin enjoys being in the spotlight. Video uploaded to the 24-year-old's Instagram account shows how her Medal of Honor winning boyfriend Dakota Meyer took a very public approach to their wedding engagement last Friday night. The clip shows Rascal Flatts lead singer, Gary LeVox, dedicating a song to the couple in front of hundreds of spectators at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas before Meyer pops the big question backstage. Show-stopper: Video uploaded to Bristol Palin's Instagram account shows how her Medal of Honor winning boyfriend Dakota Meyer took a very public approach to their wedding engagement last Friday night - popping the big question at a Las Vegas concert . Luckily, Palin said 'yes' and LeRox tells fans, when he gets the go-ahead, the happy news. 'Hey Vegas, she said yes!' he exclaims, triggering rapturous cheers. The following day Palin uploaded a shot of her passionately kissing 26-year-old Meyer to her Instagram account, captioned: 'Truly the luckiest girl in the world, cannot wait to marry this man!' The mother-of-one then uploaded a picture of her engagement ring and wrote a piece on her Patheos blog. 'He’s so romantic!' she said of her husband-to-be. She continued: 'He asked me to marry him at a Rascal Flatts concert. The lead singer, Gary LeVox, dedicated “Bless the Broken Road” to us, and then Dakota got down on one knee and proposed! 'It’s amazing to see what happens when you place everything in life in God’s hands. He really is good and His plans are so much greater than our own.' Romantic: Bristol Palin, the 24-year-old daughter of the former Alaska governor Sarah Palin shared the news of her engagement to Dakota Meyer on her Intsagram page on Saturday . Happy: She then uploaded a picture of the engagement ring followed by a string of heart symbols . Palin and Meyer met on the set of Sarah Palin's Amazing America TV show. They have apparently been dating for less than a year but clearly felt it was the right time to take their relationship to the next stage. Kentucky native Meyer, who served in the Marines for four years, also shared his excitement on social media over their upcoming nuptials, saying: 'I'm definitely the luckiest guy ever to be able to spend the rest of my life with [Bristol].' The couple only recently started positing pictures together. Last week Palin uploaded an image of the pair playing in the snow with her six-year-old son, who she had with former fiancé Levi Johnson when she was just 17. Since her mother's failed bid to become vice president in 2008, Bristol has appeared on Dancing with the Stars and featured in her own Lifetime show about raising her son, titled Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp. She also released a best-selling memoir in 2011, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far. Excitement: Meyer, who served in the Marines for four years, also shared his excitement on social media, saying: 'I'm definitely the luckiest guy ever to be able to spend the rest of my life with [Bristol]' Reaction: Sarah Palin congratulated the pair on Twitter after their announcement . Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011 after repeatedly charging into a kill zone during a 2009 ambush in Kunar Province, Afghanistan in search of four of his missing Marines. He was able to rescue 36 troops and kill eight Taliban attackers despite being shot in the arms. Tragically he was not able to save his four fellow Marines and friends who he went in search of, but went back and carried each of their bodies to safety. He caused a stir in December for taunting ISIS members on Twitter on Facebook - calling them cowards. He also wrote: 'Wonder if any ISIS members want to drop by and join my book club.' Bristol broke up with ex-partner Johnson in 2009 and started an intense custody battle. However, in the midst of the battle, they also briefly reunited and got engaged again. The engagement was short lived when they broke up for a second time in the summer of 2010. Johnston has been married to Sunny since October 2012 and have two children together. Family: A picture of Meyer with his arm around his future mother-in-law Sarah Palin was also uploaded . Esteemed: Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor bny Barack Obama in 2011 after repeatedly charging into a kill zone during a 2009 ambush in Kunar Province, Afghanistan in search of four of his missing comrades . Relationship: It's not clear when the couple started dated, but have only recently started positing pictures together . +And then there was one. Arsenal were victorious in Monte Carlo, as many thought they would be. They didn’t win big enough to progress, however, as few thought they would do. Tasty side, Monaco. Well organised, disciplined, brave, resolute. The region may be famous for speculation and bold gambles, but Jose Mourinho would be proud of the side produced by his compatriot Leonardo Jardim. This was a pragmatic, impressive display against a team who knew they needed three goals and threw all they had at that task in the second half. Santi Cazorla watches on as Arsenal were eliminated from the Champions League in Monaco on Tuesday . Arsene Wenger saw his Arsenal side crash out of the Champions League despite a 2-0 win over Monaco . Monaco's bench celebrates at the final whistle as they secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals . Yannick Ferreira Carrasco celebrates his team's progress to the last eight at the expense of Arsenal . Olivier Giroud scored at the Stade Louis II but couldn't prevent the Gunners from being eliminated from the Champions League . Mesut Ozil looks dejected after Arsenal were beaten on away goals by Monaco in their Champions League encounter . Dejected Arsenal fans react to their team being knocked out of the Champions League in Monaco . Monaco celebrate in their dressing room after securing a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League . Monaco: Subasic 8, Fabinho 5, Wallace Santos 6, Abdennour 6.5, Kurzawa 4, Toulalan, Kondogbia 7.5, Joao Moutinho, Dirar 7.5 (Echiejile 86), Martial 5 (Carrasco 59, 7), Berbatov 7 (Bernardo Silva 70, 6). Subs Not Used: Stekelenburg, Carvalho, Matheus Carvalho, Toure. Booked: Kondogbia. Arsenal: Ospina 6, Bellerin 5.5 , Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 6.5, Monreal 5.5 (Gibbs 83), Coquelin 7 (Ramsey 63, 7), Cazorla 6.5, Ozil 7, Welbeck 7 (Walcott 72, 6), Sanchez 6, Giroud 7.5. Subs Not Used: Szczesny, Gabriel, Flamini, Chambers. Booked: Sanchez. Goals: Giroud 36, Ramsey 79. Ref: Svein Oddvar Moen (Haugesund). RATINGS BY ROB DRAPER IN MONACO . It was horribly tense for Monaco once Aaron Ramsey scored Arsenal’s second with 11 minutes to go — but, once again, in this competition Arsene Wenger’s team lost it in the first leg. That third away goal at the Emirates Stadium was the killer. It was the one Wenger’s players could not match. Monaco knew they had done the hardest yards in London and ultimately settled for heroic defeat. It was like watching one of Nick Faldo’s fourth-day specials. They played to par, laid up at the big one, didn’t take the course on, and won. As Arsenal threw more at it with the minutes slipping away, Monaco pressed forward and substitute Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco nipped one across the face of goal that could have ended the contest there and then. Instead, Arsenal were left with hope right until the end, a goal short of the last eight. It is the hope that does for you in the end, of course. It probably would have hurt less to have lost both legs. The goal that brought Arsenal to the brink of one of the greatest fightbacks in Champions League history came in the 79th minute after Theo Walcott hit a post with a side-footed shot. A rare moment of blind panic saw full back Layvin Kurzawa clear horribly straight to Ramsey. He took a touch and struck it low into the far corner. Cue pandemonium in the closing stages, not least when referee Svein Oddvar Moen, from Norway, signalled a generous period of five minutes additional time. Yet, really, Arsenal did little with it. They lumped it in, Monaco hoofed it out. Predictably, Monaco’s hoofs were better than Arsenal’s lumps. It really isn’t their game. Nor is the high-tempo, high-energy, gung-ho rollercoaster that was Tottenham Hotspur’s famous comeback against Inter Milan in the San Siro, a repeat of which may just have rattled the French side. Four goals and a goalkeeper down at half-time, Tottenham pulled it back to 4-3 and would surely have drawn level had they not run out of time. Giroud scored in the first half at the Stade Louis II to give Arsenal hope of pulling off a comeback in their last-16 tie . The French striker picked his spot from a tight angle to give Arsenal the lead over Monaco in the last 16 second leg . Monaco's defenders on the line cannot stop Giroud's 36th-minute shot from hitting the roof of the net . Giroud's goal left Arsenal needing two more to progress in the remaining 55 minutes in the French principality . Yet they had Gareth Bale in the ranks that night. Arsenal have lovely passers and schemers but nobody who is going to terrify a back four as Bale did. The best they could offer was Olivier Giroud trying to pretend he was Marouane Fellaini, with Mesut Ozil in the Michael Carrick role. Monaco lapped up his timid floaters. A more furious approach might have disturbed them, but Arsenal lacked that verve. Equally, Monaco’s centre halves, Wallace and Aymen Abdennour, were exceptional — a different league from the Inter team that Tottenham faced. So it is now down to Manchester City, the last Premier League team standing, to restore English pride and claim a place in the Champions League quarter-finals. They trail 2-1 with a return leg in Barcelona’s Nou Camp. Nobody is holding their breath. They were the rank outsiders going into these rematches. Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to score Arsenal's second in the 79th minute to set up a grandstand finish . Ramsey celebrates his goal with Per Mertesacker to pull Arsenal within one goal of pulling off an unlikely comeback . Laurent Koscielny celebrates Ramsey's goal as Arsenal pushed their opponents all the way in their last-16 contest . Aaron Ramsey's strike in the 79th minute was the 300th goal in European competition that Arsenal have scored under Arsene Wenger. England did not have representation beyond the second round in 2013, either, but twice in three years will be a bitter pill to swallow. Arsenal were the better team last night but then they had to be. They had significant levels of possession in the second half without really threatening goalkeeper Danijel Subasic for long periods. For Monaco to progress on away goals appears close but, once again, Arsenal deceive. They were never in a winning position, on aggregate, in the 180 minutes of the tie. Arsenal grew into the game after a flat opening 15 minutes enlivened only by a cross from Hector Bellerin that Giroud headed wide. Cazorla, whose heat map is shown above, was at the centre of most of Arsenal's attacking play. CLICK HERE FOR MATCH ZONE . Alexis Sanchez goes down in the Monaco penalty area after being pursued by Nabil Dirar . Arsenal's Chilean forward Sanchez is booked by referee Svein Oddvar Moen for simulation . The yellow card given to Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez for diving after 41 minutes was a poor decision by Norwegian referee Svein Oddvar Moen. Maybe the contact wasn’t enough for a penalty but it wasn’t a dive. You can see what Sanchez thought of the referee’s decision! From there, however, the game began to progress along familiar lines, Arsenal in the ascendancy, Monaco retreating to massed ranks of stout defence. For a while it looked as if they were more than capable of holding out — Monaco are a tight defensive unit with that most old-fashioned of qualities, a couple of big units who don’t mind putting a foot in — but Arsenal got a breakthrough after 36 minutes. It was Danny Welbeck who set up the goal, driving forward and slipping his final pass to Giroud, who was left with only Subasic to beat. Giroud’s shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded and struck him on the shoulder. With Subasic stranded on the floor, Giroud reacted quickest and after scanning the immediate area, seized on the loose ball, rifling it into the roof of the net with Monaco’s covering defenders helpless. After his travails in the first leg — hooked by Wenger to utter derision, having missed enough chances to put Arsenal in the quarter-finals – this was a perfect response. He had at least guaranteed to outstrip the two marks out of ten he previously received from French newspaper L’Equipe. Just two minutes later, Arsenal could have been further ahead. Alexis Sanchex hit a cross which was cleared under pressure from Giroud and fell to Welbeck whose shot was blocked, sprawling, by Abdennour. Even then, it spun and almost squeaked over the line as Subasic scrambled to recover. Sanchez was booked for diving, which seemed harsh — it didn’t look like a foul, but not a dive either — and Wenger may take a dim view privately of Ozil’s decision to swap shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia at half-time. Giroud rises highest in the Monaco penalty area to unleash a header towards goal which just went wide of the far post . Ozil swaps shirts with Monaco's Geoffrey Kondogbia at half-time at the Stade Louis II . Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic makes a save from Giroud during the first half of the second leg clash in Monaco . Real Madrid, Porto, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Atletico Madrid . Wednesday: Barcelona (2) vs Man City (1); Borussia Dortmund (1) vs Juventus (2) True, it was at Kondogbia’s request, but it hardly fitted in with the cold determination required to conjure victory against a team that had not conceded three goals at home since 2011. Sure enough, one of Kondogbia’s first acts of the second half was to go in late on Santi Cazorla, provoking a scream that could be heard all around the Stade Louis II. That was a different kind of souvenir to take home. From the free-kick Ozil’s dipper was flicked over by Subasic, in no mood to return any favours. So one it is. VIDEO Jardim explains Wenger handshake snub . Prince Albert II of Monaco (right) and Monaco's Russian president Dmitriy Rybolovlev (left) were in the stands to watch the game . Members of Irish rock band U2 watched the game at the Stade Louis II on Saint Patrick's Day . The Stade Louis II in Monaco before kick-off as the sun sets over the French principality . +Police in Florida stopped an oncoming train to rescue a dog that had been shot three times and tied to the railway tracks with a belt. They discovered the dog had been shot twice in the neck and once in the shoulder after responding to three separate calls involving shots being fired on Wednesday afternoon. Its injuries were so severe that the dog's front right leg needs to be amputated in the next few days. Horrific: Police arrived at the scene to discover the dog (pictured) had been shot three times and tied to the railway tracks with a belt . The authorities are now asking for the public's help to find the thug who mercilessly left the animal for dead in the Sulphur Springs area. Officers freed the one to two-year-old female from the tracks and immediately took it to they Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Centre, where it remains in a stable condition. It is under the care of Dr Davidson who says the dog - whose name could be Cabela - is sweet with a good temperament. Police have said they do not know who tied Cabela to the track and asked the public for any information to track down the culprit or the dog's owner. Damaged: Although Cabela (pictured) remains in a stable condition, the injuries were so bad that its front-right leg needs to be amputated in the next few days . +Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey handed Arsenal a 2-0 win away in Monaco, but it wasn't enough as Arsene Wenger's side crashed out of the Champions League. French striker Giroud struck in the first half to give travelling Arsenal fans a glimmer of hope at the Stade Louis II before Ramsey grabbed a second. However, a resilient Monaco defence refused to let in another and the French side progressed to the next round on the away goals rule. Sportsmail's Rob Draper was at the game to give the lowdown in France... Arsenal . David Ospina 6 . So little to do, the Colombian effectively took the evening off for much of the game. Hector Bellerin 5.5 . Loves to get forward, can’t be faulted in his running. But still partial to panicky moments in his own penalty area. Monaco's Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho vies with Arsenal's midfielder Francis Coquelin . Per Mertesacker 6 . In control, assured. A different player altogether to the man who fell apart in the first leg. Laurent Koscielny 6.5 . Almost opened the scoring with a prod on to the bat from very close range. Had less to do at the back. Nacho Monreal 5.5 . Pushed on, got forward, but his delivery on the cross lets him down at times and was exposed at times. Francis Coquelin 6.5 . Taking his enforcer role to heart. Twice he crunched Joao Moutinho in half in the first half but avoided a yellow card. Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla attempts a special effort during the UEFA Champions League . Santi Cazorla 6.5 . Adequate but not quite the little magician that you were expecting given that he has been Arsenal’s best player of late. Alexis Sanchez 5.5 . Strangely lackadaisical in his passing which almost let in Monaco in the eighth minute. Booked – harshly – for a dive. His energy was impressive as ever. Mesut Ozil 7 . Never stopped trying to create, always looking for the killer pass – had an extremely organised Monaco midfield with which he had to contend. Arsenal's German defender Per Mertesacker vies with Monaco's French defender Layvin Kurzawa . Danny Welbeck 7 . A veritable bundle of energy, driving into the Monaco penalty area. His pass set up Giroud’s goal. Came off on 71 minutes as influence faded. Olivier Giroud 7.5 . Really excellent finish to open the scoring. His reaction and poise once the ball bounced off his head was superb. Redemptive after the first game. Subs . Aaron Ramsey (for Coquelin 62) 7 - Fine reaction and finish when Kurzawa inexplicably gave the ball to him on 79 minutes. Walcott (for Welbeck 72) 6 . Gibbs (for Monreal 82) 6 . Monaco defender Wallace vies with French striker Giroud during the match at Louis II stadium . Manager . Arsene Wenger 7 . Game plan was assured, defence was solid and they gave themselves the chance. It did beg the question why they couldn’t have done that in the first leg? Monaco . Danijel Subasic 8 . Solid taking crosses and produced good saves, notably from Ozil’s second half free-kick. Unfortunate for Giroud’s goal. Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin vies with Monaco's French forward Anthony Martial during the match . Fabinho 5 . Struggled to maintain composure at times as Arsenal poured forward. A difficult night. Aymen Abdennour 6.5 . Was the leader at the back, forever cajoling and generally anticipating much of Arsenal’s attacking intent. Wallace 6 . Preferred to the much more experienced Ricardo Carvalho and didn’t let his side down. Layvin Kurzawa 4 . Looked vulnerable, especially when Welbeck switched to the right. Dreadful error giving the ball away for the second goal. Monaco's Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov vies with Arsenal's French midfielder Coquelin . Geoffrey Kondogbia 7.5 . Fought, tackled and ran. Did as much anyone to secure Monaco’s passage to the quarters. Jeremy Toulalon 7 . Composed, robust, provided leadership, especially in those tricky final few minutes. Nabil Dirar 7.5 . Remained a threat even with Monaco camped in their own half. Terrific speed and desire. Joao Moutinho 6.5 . Not as influential as the first leg but still fulfilled his duties and brought composure when necessary. Giroud celebrates as he gives Arsenal a glimmer of hope against Monaco at the Louis II stadium . Anthony Martial 5 . Strugled to make an impact and taken of on 59 minutes. Dimitar Berbatov 7 . The touches were just as exquisite as always; did what he does and then departed after 76 minutes to make way for younger, fitter men. Subs . Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco (for Martial 59) 7 . Bernado Silva (For Berbatov 76) 6 . Nabil Dirar (for Edelson 85) 6 . Arsenal's Chilean ace Alexis Sanchez vies for the ball with Monaco's French defender Kurzawa . Manager . Leonardo Jardim 7.5 . So they lost 2-0 – but over two legs Jardim has been masterful. Even last night his team were superbly set up. Ref . Svein Oddvar Moen 6 . Perhaps harsh on booking Alexis Sanchez for diving; otherwise avoided major controversy for the most part and refereed sensibly. +Last year’s Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid are still in the Champions League... just. After 120 exhausting minutes Diego Simeone’s side won on penalties with Fernando Torres scoring the home side’s last spot-kick and Stefan Kiessling missing his to put Atletico through. The dramatic climax began with Raul Garcia blazing the first kick over the bar. Substitute goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Hakan Calhanoglu’s awful spot-kick hit low and straight down the middle to put the Spaniards back in with a chance of progress. Fernando Torres celebrates scoring his penalty which put Atletico Madrid into a crucial 3-2 lead during the shootout . Torres congratulates substitute goalkeeper Jan Oblak following the Slovenian's impressive performance . Leverkusen's goalkeeper Bernd Leno is unable to stop Torres' penalty, leaving the German side with a mountain to climb . Oblak jumps for the decisive penalty from Stefan Kiessling, but didn't need to make a save as the shot sailed over his crossbar . Atletico Madrid players sprint towards Oblak's goal after Kiessling misses his penalty and hands the home side victory . A dejected Kiessling walks back to the centre circle knowing his spot-kick miss had handed victory to the home side . Oblak and Atletico captain Koke console the distraught German as Leverkusen crash out of the Champions League . The Leverkusen players look on during the Champions League last 16 penalty shootout against Atletico Madrid . Atletico Madrid: Moya (Oblak 22'), Juanfran, Miranda, Gimenez, Jesus Gamez, Cani (Garcia 46'), Mario Suarez, Koke, Turan, Griezmann, Mandzukic (Torres 82') Subs not used: Jimenez, Gabi, Ansaldi, Lucas Hernandez . Booked: Gimenez, Gamez, Suarez, Torres . Goals: Suarez 27' Bayer Leverkusen: Leno, Hilbert, Toprak, Spahic, Wendell, Bellarabi, Castro, Bender (Papadopoulos 114'), Son (Rolfes 76'), Calhanoglu, Drmic (Kiessling 68') Subs not used: Kresic, Reinartz, Boenisch, Brandt . Booked: Spahic, Toprak, Calhanoglu, Papadopoulos, Wendell . Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Bologna) Antoine Griezmann stepped up and showed everyone how penalties should be taken scoring high into the roof of the net. Simon Rolfes did likewise to level the scores and Mario Suarez scored his second goal of the night having put Atletico ahead in normal time. When Omer Toprak put his kick nervously over the bar Atletico looked to have the finish line in sight only for Bernd Leno to save Koke’s kick. Gonzalo Castro then scored but after Torres had snuck his penalty just inside Leno’s right hand upright Kiessling missed and the Calderon erupted with joy. Atletico came into the game one goal down from the first leg and struggled to make in-roads early on with a Koke free-kick not really testing Leno. Simone’s team knew one lapse on the break would need them leaving to score three and when Son Heugn-Min was put through by Bender on 22 minutes it was his miscontrol that prevented him getting a shot on target. As he came out to close down Son, Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Moya pulled a hamstring and had to be replaced by Oblak. Losing their keeper and having to use a substitute so early was a major set-back for Simeone but four minutes later he was running along the touchline as Atletico Madrid took the lead. Cani headed the ball down for Mario Suarez and his shot through the crowded penalty area caught and went past Leno to put the home side ahead on the night. With their next attack Atletico could have got the all-important second goal but a brilliant tackle from Wendell denied Mario Mandzukic. It was Arda’s pefect through ball that put the Croatian striker through but as he delayed his shot the Brazilian defender clean swept the ball away from him to safety. It was brilliant defending but would any of Atletico Madrid’s previous strikers – Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao, Diego Costa – have buried it before the defender could react? Probably yes. Turkish midfielder Arda Turan (right) was unable to watch the action during the penalty shootout . Diego Simeone was forced to make an early substitution following the injury for No 1 goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya . Jose Gimenez (left) was shown a yellow card for this late challenge on Hakan Calhanoglu . Gimenez and his Atleti team-mates plead innocence as referee Nicola Rizzoli shows the defender a yellow card . Mario Suarez (left) strikes from the edge of the box to put Atleti into a 1-0 lead and level the aggregate scoreline to 1-1 against Leverkusen . Atletico: Raul Garcia - Misses . Leverkusen: Chalonoglu - Misses . Atletico: Griezmann - Scores . Leverkusen: Rolfes - Scores . Atletico: Suarez - Scores . Leverkusen: Toprak - Misses . Atletico: Koke - Misses . Leverkusen: Castro - Scores . Atletico: Torres - Scores . Leverkusen: Kiessling - Misses . FINAL SCORE: Atletico 3-2 Leverkusen . Battering ram Mandzukic perhaps has other qualities but he was battered himself just before half time and left the pitch limping at the break. Surprisingly when the two teams emerged for the second half he was still on the pitch and Simeone had taken off Cani and put on Raul Garcia. The midfield so nearly turned the ball past Leno from Koke’s cross in Atletico Madrid’s best chance of the second half. Koke had been inspirational throughout as Atletico took the game to Bayer. And as the clock showed 20 minutes of normal time left the crowd responded by cranking up the Vicente Calderon noise levels. It spurred the team on and Griezmann hurtled down the left and crossed for Turan who flicked the ball behind him where there was no runner to finish the move. Griezmann then crossed again for Turan and this time he got his shot away only for Leno to save. Raul Garcia went down in the area under a challenge from Toprak but the referee waved away appeals. Raul Garcia stayed down, Simone urged him to get up and turned to Atletico supporters once more to lift his team. Everyone in the Calderon got a lift with eight minutes left when Fernando Torres was roared on to the pitch to replace Mandzukic. Could El Nino win the game for them? VIDEO Simeone proud to again be in Europe's elite . Suarez's 27th-minute finish took a large deflection which Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno was unable to stop . The 28-year-old midfielder wheels away in celebration of his first half effort at the Vicente Calderon Stadium . Arda Turan makes the most of the celebrations as Suarez is congratulated by Atletico defender Miranda (right) The Atleti players smother Suarez in front of the home fans following the first goal of the game . Atletico boss Simeone sprints down the touchline after watching Suarez give the home side a first half lead . Real Madrid, Porto, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Atletico Madrid . Wednesday: Barcelona (2) vs Man City (1); Borussia Dortmund (1) vs Juventus (2) With the match still on a knife-edge Calhanoglu upended Jesus Gamez and became the third Leverkusen player to be booked. Atletico Madrid had also picked up three yellow cards and there was no let-up as the clock ticked down. Wendal became the seventh player to be booked when he chopped down Torres as he charged down the right with a minute left. The free-kick came to nothing but Torres kept going and forced a corner but Koke’s near-post kick was cleared and the referee blew for full time. Stefan Kiessling was booked at the start of extra time – the German team’s fifth on the night – and they then had to take off the injured Lars Bender replacing him with Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Torres was still stretching the opposition and with Leverkusen on the back foot a stinging shot from Raul Garcia was pushed away for a corner by Leno but over the two legs the Germans had proved as good at defending them as Atletico Madrid at taking them. With five minutes to go Torres so nearly won it with a diving header from Koke’s cross. There was direction on the effort but not enough power to beat Leno. It didn’t matter, he scored his penalty and his dream of reaching another Champions League final - this time with his home town club - lives on. Fernando Torres (right) had to wait until the 82nd-minute before entering the action after replacing Mario Mandzukic . Torres looks on in disbelief after an opportunity goes begging during the closing stages of normal time . Griezmann (right) looks to get the better of Emir Spahic during the Champions League last 16 second leg . Mandzukic lies on the ground in pain following a late tackle from Brazilian defender Wendell . Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola (centre) was in attendance at the Vicente Calderon to oversee the European action . +Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil came under criticism as the German international swapped shirts at half-time during the Champions League last-16 clash with Monaco. Ozil exchanged shirts with Monaco's Geoffrey Kondogbia as both sides left the pitch after the first 45 minutes at the Stade Louis II. ITV pundit Paul Scholes was quick to criticise Ozil for the premature shirt swap, saying: 'I don't like it. At the end of the game, maybe. But still I'm not a big fan then. Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil came under criticism for the shirt swap at half-time in Monaco . Ozil swapped shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia at half-time of Arsenal's game against Monaco in France . Ozil was criticised by ITV's pundits after swapping shirts at half-time before doing it again at full-time . Ozil takes a glum selfie with a supporter at full-time after Arsenal's Champions League exit against Monaco . 'You do it that once you're in the tunnel or in the dressing room, out of the way of everyone. At half-time, it's not for me.' Arsenal beat Monaco 2-0 but were still knocked out on the away goals rule in the 3-3 aggregate defeat. Ozil's shirt swap was similar to that of former Arsenal defender Andre Santos who exchanged shirts at half-time with former fans favourite Robin van Persie. Van Persie was playing for Manchester United at Old Trafford at the time and the exchange was more than a just a sore point with the Gunners fans. Santos later apologised to travelling fans for any aggravation that was caused by swapping shirts with the Holland international striker. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger later admitted that he was embarrassed by the Brazilian's actions and supposedly took measures to ensure it didn’t happen again. Former team-mates Andre Santos and Robin van Persie share a moment on the Old Trafford pitch . Santos asks Holland international striker Van Persie for his shirt at half-time of the game at Old Trafford . Van Persie hands his former Arsenal teammate his shirt at half-time of the clash at Old Trafford . VIDEO Jardim explains Wenger handshake snub . +Floyd Mayweather continues his preparation and training for the Fight of the Century against Manny Pacquiao as the pair prepare for a $300m face-off on May 2 in Las Vegas. The unbeaten 38-year-old has once again shared some images from inside his training camp, this time including some skipping and pad work with his father Floyd Mayweather Sr. Mayweather has previously shared pictures and videos with the boxing universe, including one workout with Phil Collins playing in the background. Floyd Mayweather uploaded some images from his training camp ahead of his Manny Pacquiao showdown . Mayweather with his father Floyd Mayweather Sr doing some pad work in the gym . The unbeaten 38-year-old has been sharing images and videos from his training with the boxing universe . Pacquiao, meanwhile, has also posted videos on Instagram of his group run. The pair's preparation continued as it was announced that they had agreed that their mega-fight would be conducted under the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing program. The Las Vegas showdown will observe the rules established under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing. Mayweather had previously uploaded a video of a workout with Phil Collins playing in the background . Manny Pacquiao was joined by a large entourage as he once again hit the streets on an Instagram run . Pacquiao was paid a surprise visit by an anti-doping examiner on Sunday to take a drug test . Both fighters have agreed to unannounced blood and urine testing without reservation and will be tested out of competition prior to the fight and in competition after the fight. The inspector called at the house, where Pacquiao was relaxing with members of his team between work-outs with master trainer Freddie Roach at the fabled Wild Card Gym. The PacMan readily complied with tests for both blood – a process about which he had previously expressed his dislike – and urine. ‘No problem,’ he told the medic, with a smile. VIDEO Mayweather and Pacquiao camps exchange verbal blows . +A disciplined Blackburn frustrated Liverpool as the Championship side held their Premier League opponents to a scoreless draw and forced an FA Cup quarter-final replay. Gary Bowyer's side kept the Reds plethora of superstars at bay and will host them again at Ewood Road, with his towering striker Rudy Gestede proving tough to contain for Brendan Rodgers' men, especially after the departure on a stretcher by Martin Skrtel following an ugly fall early on. Here, Sportsmail's Chris Wheeler rates every player's performance at Anfield. Blackburn Rovers' Rudy Gestede proved a handful for Liverpool's defence in their FA Cup draw . LIVERPOOL (3-4-2-1) SIMON MIGNOLET - 6.5 . Looked shaky under his first high ball, but settled and produced a fantastic save to keep out a goal-bound header from Baptiste. Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet makes a reflex save after Blackburn's Alex John-Baptiste heads on target . GLEN JOHNSON - 6 . Almost turned a cross into his own goal in the first half but got forward well as Liverpool seized the upper hand. MARTIN SKRTEL - 6 . Knocked out inside two minutes after falling awkwardly when challenging Gestede and carried off on a stretcher. Martin Skrtel gives fans a double thumbs up as he left the pitch on a stretcher after a nasty fall . DEJAN LOVREN - 6 . Had his hands full with Gestede after Skrtel’s exit and struggled with the big Blackburn striker at times. Reds defender Kolo Toure hits this close-range chance into the back of the net but was judged offside . LAZAR MARKOVIC - 6.5 . Lively down the Liverpool right but faded and replaced by Balotelli just before the hour mark. JORDAN HENDERSON - 6.5 . Another reassured display from the Liverpool skipper. Unlucky not to break the deadlock with a late effort. Lazar Markovic (centre) was lively for the Reds down the right side but was replaced by Mario Balotelli . EMRE CAN - 6 . Played in midfield again and looked solid enough without producing anything spectacular. RAHEEM STERLING - 5.5 . Didn’t make as much of an impression as he can and struggled to get into the game. Headed late chance wide. Raheem Sterling turns inside Rovers' Adam Henley during their FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday . PHILIPPE COUTINHO - 5.5 . The little Brazilian has scored some memorable goals recently but didn’t have his shooting boots on, twice firing well off target . ADAM LALLANA - 5 . Guilty of poor distribution in the first half and did not have a big enough impact on the game for a player of his calibre. Adam Lallana appeals for a penalty but he was legally dispossed by Blackburn's Matthew Kilgallon . DANIEL STURRIDGE - 6.5 . Became more of a threat as the game wore on, and had one great effort on goal end of first half, but will be disappointed not to trouble Blackburn more. Subs: Ward, Toure (for Skrtel 11, 6) Lambert, Moreno, Sakho, Balotelli (for Markovic 59, 6), Williams. Booked: Can . Manager: Brendan Rodgers – 5 . Brendan Rodgers (right) issues directions to Raheem Sterling during the frustrating draw . BLACKBURN (4-2-3-1) SIMON EASTWOOD - 7 . Had less to do than he might have expected early on but produced great reflex saves to deny Sturridge and Henderson. ADAM HENLEY - 6.5 . Battled well throughout but fortunate to avoid a booking for a late challenge on Can. Adam Henley gets tight on Sterling during a committed performance from the battling Blackburn defender . MATTHEW KILGALLON - 7.5 . Made some great challenges, including one interception on Lallana in the first half, but rode his luck by holding back Sturridge in the box. ALEX BAPTISTE - 7 . Declared fit after hamstring problem and so nearly emerged as Blackburn’s hero but his header was saved by Mignolet. Defender Alex Baptiste (right) makes a lunging tackle on Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge . Baptiste heads Blackburn's best chance of the match only for it to be denied by Mignolet . MARTIN OLSSON - 6.5 . Kept on his toes by Markovic but coped well on the whole to make sure Liverpool were limited to hopeful balls into the box. LEE WILLIAMSON - 7.5 . Worked tirelessly in front of his defence to ensure that Liverpool did not have the time and space to pick off their Championship opponents. Lee Williamson (right) worked tirelessly against the Reds' star-studded attack, including Philippe Coutinho . CORRY EVANS - 6.5 . Hasn’t been the best weekend for the Evans family, but he’ll be more than satisfied with a solid performance here . CRAIG CONWAY - 6 . Had Blackburn’s best chance of the first half but blazed high and wide with only Mignolet to beat from just inside the box. TOM CAIRNEY - 6.5 . Impressed in a central role behind Gestede, particularly in the first half when Blackburn were more not pinned back in their own half. Booked for high challenge on Balotelli. Blackburn's Tom Cairney (right) impressed for his side in behind Gestede . BEN MARSHALL - 6 . Replaced by Taylor midway through the second half after putting in a decent shift on the left side of Blackburn’s midfield . RUDY GESTEDE - 8 . Posed a real problem for the Liverpool defence from the moment Skrtel was injured. Won almost every high ball and provided a vital outlet for his team. Blackburn's Rudy Gestede endures close attention from Emre Can as the Rovers held the Reds to 0-0 . Subs: Spurr, Brown, Rhodes, Taylor (for Marshall 68, 6), Henry, Lenihan, Steele. Booked: Cairney . Manager: Gary Bowyer – 7 . Rovers manager Gary Bowyer gets caught up in the moment as his side kept Liverpool at bay . Referee: Andre Marriner 6.5 . Star man: Rudy Gestede . +It's been a long journey from Australia to Bradford City and the brink of the FA Cup semi-finals for James Meredith. At one point, during a break between his seven English – and one Irish – clubs, the defender found himself training alone in a park in Derby ‘like Rocky Balboa’. Amazingly, Meredith will be looking forward to his fifth Wembley appearance if League One giantkillers Bradford can deliver another knockout blow to Reading in Saturday’s quarter-final tie at Valley Parade. James Meredith holds of then-Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah during their FA Cup clash in west London . Jon Stead scores in a remarkable performance as the Bantams beat Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge . The 26-year-old Aussie played at the national stadium three times with York City – twice in the FA Trophy final and once in the Conference Play-off final – as well as Bradford’s 2013 League Two Play-off final win over Northampton Town in 2013. But reaching Wembley in the FA Cup after beating Chelsea and Sunderland in the earlier rounds would top the lot. ‘I’ve been to Wembley six times now and played in four of them and they’re all fantastic occasions, but this would be even more special because it is the FA Cup,’ said Meredith. ‘We don’t get the coverage in Australia like you do over here obviously, but everyone follows the FA Cup. Everyone knows it’s the biggest domestic cup in the world and the great stories that came out of it, my favourite being the Crazy Gang. ‘Now it’s the quarter-finals, people are starting to get excited. I think it’s being shown on Setanta. I know all my family and friends are going to watch it, they’ve worked out a way to stream it. They’re excited about the game and they’ re all getting together to have some food and drinks. Meredith, who has played for seven different English sides since moving from Australia, against Sunderland . ‘One of my best mates flew over for the Chelsea game and it was fantastic because when we scored that fourth goal, somehow I managed to spot him in the away fans and we were cheering really hard at each other. ‘My dad said if we get to the semi-finals, he’ll fly over. It’ll probably just be my dad and my brother or sister. The plane tickets aren’t cheap.’ Meredith left his family home in Australia where he lived with his parents, two younger brothers and sister, to travel to England at the age of 16 and sign as an apprentice at Derby County after being spotted at the club’s academy in Melbourne. After loan spells at Cambridge United and Chesterfield, it didn’t work out at Derby and he went on to have brief spells at Sligo Rovers, Shrewsbury Town and Telford United before joining York. ‘I signed pro at Derby but then I was released,’ Meredith recalled. ‘At that time I really struggled to get a club, like a lot of players do when they have no experience as a professional. The 26-year-old has been to Wembley Stadium six times and played on four of those occasions . Meredith holds off Lukas Podolski during Bradford's win against Arsenal in the 2012 Capital One Cup . ‘I was in the country on my own. At one point I was without a club for six months. I was running in a park in Derby every day on my own like Rocky Balboa. ‘I found it really difficult and I was faced with the decision: do I go back home to Australia or do I really give it a good go and try to make something of myself? ‘I decided to give it a good go and I ended up going all the way down to the Conference North. From there, I’ve had to work as hard as I can to build my career to get to a notable league to do the best I can for myself.’ Meredith is not the only one among a Bradford squad that has exceeded all expectations under manager Phil Parkinson. He added: ‘It’s the whole ethos of the club. It’s what is bred into us by the management staff. They are tough and hard and they want workers. We’re in a working-class city. We have to work hard, do the right thing and look after ourselves properly. That’s what has built this team spirit and enthusiasm. ‘There are no Big-time Charlies at the club, we all work hard for each other.’ +The FA are set to decide Jonny Evans’s fate today after the Manchester United defender denied allegations of spitting at Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse. A disciplinary hearing was hastily set up last night after Evans confirmed his intention to fight the charge which will carry a six-game ban if he is found guilty. The FA wanted to make sure the matter was dealt with swiftly before the Northern Ireland international played in United’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night. Jonny Evans has decided to contest the FA charge of spitting on Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse . Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the Newcastle United striker, who then retaliates . Evans and Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Arsenal (h), Monday; Tottenham (h), March 15; Liverpool (a), March 22; Aston Villa (h), April 4; Manchester City (h) April 12; Chelsea (a) April 18. They tweeted confirmation of Evans’s decision on Friday, just over an hour after the 6pm deadline he had been given to respond to the charge. It read: ‘Manchester United’s Jonny Evans denies FA charge in relation to incident involving Papiss Cisse. Independent Regulatory Commission hearing tonight, decision expected tomorrow.’ It is understood that United will submit video evidence to support Evans’s claim that he did not spit directly at Cisse. Both players were charged over the unsavoury incident in United’s 1-0 win at St James’ Park on Wednesday night. Cisse issued a public apology and accepted his guilt, triggering an immediate seven-match ban. The Senegal striker’s suspension is one game longer because he had already served a three-match ban earlier this season. Evans was expected to contest the charge after issuing a statement on Thursday denying any knowledge of a spitting incident, which followed a tackle between the two players in the first half. He said: ‘Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. ‘I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. Cisse has been banned for seven games after accepting the charge from the FA on Thursday . Tempers threaten to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gather on the pitch . Cisse was banned for an extra game after being sent off for elbowing Seamus Coleman in December . ‘During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. ‘It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.’ United boss Louis van Gaal also defended his player, insisting that he believed Evans’s version of events. Spitting is understandably reviled among the majority of Premier League players, but Stoke striker Jonathan Walters mounted a surprisingly robust objection on Friday by threatening to leave any opponent who targeted him in such a manner ‘eating through a straw’. The FA are unlikely to take any action against Walters but will not welcome any talk of physical violence on the pitch. Walters told talkSPORT: ‘As a player you take anything off the ball; pinches and kicks that are meant to wind you up. Little things like that go on in any match. ‘But spitting is pretty low. If it happened to me and someone spat at my face or towards me then I think he’d be eating his supper through a straw that night. I wouldn’t be that happy. It’s the lowest of the low.’ +Phil Parkinson may have snubbed Jose Mourinho’s offer of a handshake before the final whistle sounded on Bradford City’s shock FA Cup win over Chelsea, but the 47-year-old will gladly borrow some of The Special One’s tricks as he tries to guide the League One club to Wembley again. Parkinson faces Reading – where he spent 11 years as a player – at Valley Parade on Saturday knowing that another upset would see Bradford return to the national stadium in the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in more than a century. Remarkably, he has already taken Bradford there twice in the Capital One Cup final and League Two Playoff final in 2013. Bradford boss Phil Parksinon (centre left) rebuffed Jose Mourinho's (right) handshake during their FA Cup tie . Parkinson did not want to be distracted by Mourinho’s premature offer of congratulations when Bradford came from behind to record a stunning 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge in January, before going on to take another Premier League scalp in Sunderland in the fifth round. But the Bradford manager cannot help but admire the Chelsea manager’s win-at-all-costs mentality compared with some managers (look away Louis van Gaal) who are obsessed with imposing their ‘philosophy’ on a club. ‘I like the fact that he will do whatever it takes to win,’ said Parkinson. ‘We are in an era of managers who sometimes their own philosophy gets in the way of what’s the most important thing to win each individual game. Phil Parkinson believes the big teams in the Premier League are jealous of Bradford . Chelsea were beaten 4-2 by League One outfit Bradford during the fourth round back in January . ‘Mourinho sets up his team to win. The Capital One Cup final (against Tottenham) was a good example of that. ‘For me, that’s what management is about. Not just saying “we’ve got good players, go and play”. It’s about what tweaks and adaptations are we going to make today to give us the best chance of winning? That’s why I like looking at what Mourinho does because he has great skill at that.’ It’s one reason why Parkinson is happy to let talk of the poor playing surface at Valley Parade carry on ahead of Reading’s visit. He believes that it got into the heads of Sunderland’s players in the last round and contributed to Bradford’s 2-0 win. ‘I think more was made of the pitch for the Sunderland game,’ he added. ‘By the time their lads came to the game it was probably a bigger thing than it actually it was. We’d had a dry week and it wasn’t too bad. ‘If you look around, a lot of pitches are not in a great state at the moment and we’ve got some good technical players. ‘We’ve found that rather than saying “God, I just need big strong physical players on the pitch”, you need technical players that can handle the bad pitch and we’ve tried to get our best technical team out there.’ Filipe Morais, pictured after scoring against Chelsea, faces a late fitness test on a knee injury . Mourinho isn’t the only Premier League boss that Parkinson admires. The ambitious Bradford boss has also modelled his managerial style on Sir Alex Ferguson and was able to study Arsene Wenger’s situation while scouting for Arsenal in 2011 following his departure from Charlton. ‘Obviously I’m ambitious like every player in the squad and every member of staff,’ said Parkinson. ‘You’ve got to want to be right at the top of your game, and I’m no different. ‘There are many managers I look at. The Arsenal experience was great for me because I’d just left Charlton and they gave me the opportunity to work within their scouting network. ‘The longer that went on, the more senior Premiership targets they sent me to watch. It’s a great insight into how a club like Arsenal have to operate because obviously they can’t compete with Manchester City and Chelsea so they had to look at the level underneath or the players that weren’t obvious to everybody else. ‘I really enjoyed that and learned a lot from it. I got offered a couple of jobs within that period but I wanted to see that short-term through with the Arsenal experience. ‘In terms of managers, Sir Alex Ferguson is an obvious one. His leadership qualities but also the way he evolved as a manager. ‘Myself and (assistant) Steve Parkin, the rest of the staff, try to have a modern approach with the way we do everything but with an old school mentality of discipline, honesty and commitment. We expect those old school demands from the players. ‘With Sir Alex and Manchester United, you look at the discipline and the way the players drove on to the end in every game, and the pride they had in wearing the shirt, but also how he evolved all the time in progressing the club. I think he’s a great one to look at.’ So having won the playoff final with Bradford in 2013 just three months after losing the Capital One Cup final 5-0 to Swansea, what are Parkinson’s priorities this time around as he tries to take the West Yorkshire club to the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2011? He said: ‘It’s difficult because when we had the Capital One Cup final, all the way I was saying “the league is more important”. But when we got to the semi-final we were on the point of making history. ‘I want to do both but at this stage, when you’re so close to being in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, this has got to take priority at the moment.’ +U2 musician Bono celebrated St Patrick's Day in style in the south of France, and even took time out to watch Arsenal's Champions League tie with Monaco. The 54-year-old was at the Stade Louis II in the French principality to watch Arsene Wenger's side brave attempt to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit and earn a place in the quarter-finals. The Gunners fell just short despite a 2-0 win, exiting the competition on the away goals rule. Bono was spotted talking to fans before the game and took his seat alongside band-mates Larry Mullen Jnr and The Edge. U2 stars Bono (right), The Edge (left) and Larry Mullen Jnr were in the crowd in Monaco on Tuesday to watch Arsenal's win . The musicians watched Arsenal's Champions League last 16 second leg at the Stade Louis II . With Monte Carlo being a wealthy place and a millionaire's playground, it should come as no surprise to see a celebrity at a big football match. Bono's rock band U2 have sold over 150 million records worldwide over almost 25 years. The Irish band will be on tour once again from May, starting with North America before heading to Europe later in the year. The trio enjoy their evening at the Stade Louis II in the glamorous south of France . Prince Albert of Monaco was also in the crowd at the game, naturally supporting the home side . +Arsene Wenger was accused of disrespecting his former club Monaco as Arsenal produced yet another familiar evening of agonising failure in the last 16 of the Champions League. Despite winning 2-0 in Monaco and producing an exhilarating finale as they pushed for the elusive third goal they needed, Wenger's team ultimately ended up out of the competition at this stage of the Champions League for the fifth successive year. And to add to their woes Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim accused Wenger and Arsenal of disrespecting him and his club after not congratulating Monaco following their 3-1 victory in the first-leg at the Emirates. Monaco celebrate their win in the dressing room as Arsenal failed to qualify for the quarter-finals . Former Monaco manager Arsene Wenger (right) gestures during the match as Arsenal looked for an upset . It was a frustrating night for Wenger at his former club as Arsenal failed to overturn their 3-1 deficit . Wenger holds his head in his hand on a frustrating night in Monaco for the Arsenal manager . Arsenal manager Wenger complains to the officials as his side crashed out of the Champions League . The Portuguese manager left without shaking Wenger's hand after his side's progressed to the quarter-finals and said: 'It's true in first leg when I wanted to shake a hand, Wenger didn't thank me and shake my hand. So this time even though Monaco did everything for Arsenal, I decided not to thank him. Asked whether Wenger was disrespectful, Jardim said: 'I think so and right now we're celebrating and we think that Arsenal maybe didn't show all the respect that they should have in the first leg. 'Arsenal were very happy to play Monaco as we were supposed to be one of the weakest teams. All the teams in the last 16 wanted to play against Monaco. Maybe Arsenal thought they had qualified already.' The row completed a bitterly disappointing night for Arsenal which ended in the usual glorious defeat over the two legs with Wenger admitting that his team had paid the price for a calamitous first-leg performance. VIDEO Jardim explains Wenger handshake snub . Santi Cazorla and his team-mates were unable to overturn the 3-1 deficit against Monaco . Giroud (right) reacts after missing a chance during the Champions League second leg against Monaco . Sanchez (centre) reacts after a missed chance as Arsenal tried to get back into the tie with Monaco . Arsenal's Mesut Ozil swapped shirts at half time during the Champions League tie with Monaco . Olivier Giroud's 36th minute goal and Aaron Ramsey's strike in 79th minute gave Arsenal hope in a night on which they attacked throughout and did their utmost – but ultimately the damage had been done three weeks ago. The Arsenal manager said: 'Football is not a fairytale. It's just a matter of being realistic and clinical and Monaco were clinical in front of goal and maybe a bit lucky as well. The performance was enough today but of course we had difficult task I believe as well it could have been over at half time with the chances we had. 'Overall we paid for fact that we didn't produce game we wanted in the first leg. They surprised as first leg too sure of ourselves. But Monaco played at home tonight and had zero shots on target. We knew before game we had a 98 per chance to go out. We did fight but I felt some players were jaded offensively as given a lot of Saturday and lacked bit of freshness.' The anguish of their repeated failures at this stage of competition was expressed by defender Laurent Koscielny, who said: 'We say same thing every year. Our first game is catastrophic. We have to put it right and play well in two games.' Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim reacts on the pitch at the end of their Champions League win on aggregate . It proved a good night for Monaco president Dmitry Rybolovlev (right) and his daughter Ekaterina (left) Wenger's team have now gone out in the last 16 for five years running with their exit often accompanied by lamentable first legs and spectacular yet fruitless comebacks. Ultimately Monaco will be filed alongside the 3-0 home win against AC Milan in 2012 and the 2-0 win at Bayern Munich in 2013 as yet another brave failure. Wenger said: 'It's difficult to compare to the previous years because before we played against Bayern and Barcelona. We're very disappointed to be out tonight but overall we're on positive trend and this game on line with what we did recently. Ramsey said: 'We came here and have nearly done it but that seems to be the case every year.' +Bournemouth let their promotion rivals steal a march at the top of the Championship after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Cardiff. Harry Arter fired in from range to give Eddie Howe's men an early lead, before Bruno Ecuele-Manga made the wasteful Cherries pay. Middlesborough's triumph at Derby and Watford's win against Wigan means Bournemouth slip two points behind the automatic places into third. Harry Arter (left) celebrates after giving his side the lead against Cardiff in the Sky Bet Championship . Bruno Ecuele Manga (5) smashes home the equaliser after some poor defending from the Cherries . Andre Gray's 84th-minute winner severely dented Blackburn's aims of finishing in the Sky Bet Championship play-off spots as sixth-placed Brentford moved 11 points clear of them. Gray came off the bench to score a fortuitous winner six minutes from time after the Bees had earlier twice come from behind to record a 3-2 win which maintained their all-important position in the top six. Clinical finishes from Rudy Gestede and Chris Taylor either side of Chris Long's deflected effort had given Rovers a half-time lead as they looked to cut the gap on their opponents to five points. However, after Jota had levelled early in the second half, Gray scored a goal which may have ended Blackburn's' top-six aspirations once and for all with eight games to go. Simon Church (left) fires home Charlton's second goal at Bloomfield Road to condemn Blackpool to defeat . Charlton made it four Sky Bet Championship wins in their last five games with a 3-0 victory over bottom side Blackpool at a deserted Bloomfield Road. Simon Church's second-half strike doubled the visitors' lead after Chris Eagles had put them in front in the first period against his old club and Johann Berg Gudmundsson's third added insult to injury. Blackpool are now without a win in their last 10 games and have lost their last six - taking their tally of defeats in the league to 24. Johann Berg Gudmundsson fires home a thunderous free-kick as the home side's players look on . Jay Tabb scored a priceless 79th minute winner as Ipswich Town got their play-off dreams back on track with a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. The midfielder earned Ipswich their first win in five matches after a dour match at Portman Road that seemed destined to end goalless. Bolton, who have not won away for two months, were guilty of missing some golden chances through impressive debutant Rochinha and Craig Davies in the final minute. Jay Tabb (centre) is congraulated by his team mates after scoring the winning goal at Portman Road . +Adam Johnson could feature for new boss Dick Advocaat in Sunderland's fight for survival after the club confirmed it will 'review its position' regarding his suspension. Sunderland banned Johnson, 27, pending the outcome of a police investigation after he was arrested on March 2 on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. On Tuesday Johnson's bail was extended by five weeks until April 23. The club said in a statement: 'Following the decision by the police, the club will be reviewing its position.' Adam Johnson, pictured with girlfriend Stacey Flounders, has had his bail extended until April 23 . The 27-year-old winger could feature for new manager Dick Advocaat in Sunderland's fight for survival . The gates at Johnson's £1.85million mansion were shut following his arrest earlier this month . Johnson has been training with a fitness coach and if the club decide to lift his suspension the £10million winger could play his first match at home in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle on Easter Sunday. Johnson scored the only goal at St James' Park in the reverse fixture in December and it would prove a hostile environment in which to return. Before that, Sunderland travel to West Ham on Saturday with Advocaat in charge for the first time. Sportsmail understands that regardless of whether Advocaat keeps them in the Premier League, he will return to Holland in May. There is a feeling in his homeland that his wife, Dieuwke, has allowed the 67-year-old to fulfil his ambition of managing in England before he retires. Former Manchester City player Johnson has been suspended by Sunderland since his arrest . Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United shortly before being arrested . Johnson, pictured playing against Switzerland in 2011, has 12 England caps to his name . Sunderland owner Ellis Short said: 'Dick has an incredible c.v. and vast experience of managing at the very highest level. We have one aim only now — to climb the table.' Advocaat said: 'Sunderland is a big club and I am very much looking forward to the challenge. I can't wait to get started.' But Sunderland do not see the former Rangers and Holland chief as a long-term option. It is understood sporting director Lee Congerton will speak to Real Madrid assistant Paul Clement — with whom he worked at Chelsea — about a summer appointment. At 42 and with a reputation as one of Europe's finest coaches, Clement is the sort of head coach the club want to bring stability and long-term vision. Peter Lovenkrands, who was signed by Advocaat during his time at Ibrox, told Sportsmail he is among the best managers he has worked under. Dick Advocaat, pictured here in charge of PSV Eindhoven in 2012, has taken over at Sunderland . Gus Poyet was sacked by Sunderland with the club just one point above the Premier League relegation zone . Sunderland supporters turned on manager Poyet after their side were thrashed 4-0 by Aston Villa at home . 'He was excellent at what he did,' said the Dane, who went on to play for Newcastle. 'When I first signed I had a lot of problems with injuries and I remember my hamstring going for about the fourth time. I was sat on the bench nearly in tears. He came across, put his arm around me and told me everything would be OK. It was a nice touch and he had that in him. 'A lot of people thought he was a dictator, and he could be quite intimidating, but deep down I thought he was a decent and nice man. 'He had a good sense of humour and the lads loved him. He used to swear all the time in training but we didn't have a clue and it was only the Dutch players who told us — we soon picked up the translation!' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +As enthusiasts patiently explain, motor racing is a team sport. We think it’s all about the best driver, true aficionados see beyond to unsung heroes in overalls glimpsed during pit stops and others who sit at drawing boards and laptop computers. The most committed Formula One fans are never outraged by team orders and regard the constructors’ championship as equally compelling. So why the fuss about Mercedes? If the rules state that a designer must be limited or regulated if he gets too good, what is the point in having a constructors’ championship at all? Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win at the season-opening race in Melbourne, Australia . Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg were in a class of their own as they dominated the race . Hamilton, the reigning world champion, is the overwhelming favourite to defend his Formula One crown . Give everyone the same car, forget teams and make F1 about drivers only. The problem is, who would then pay for all that expensive equipment to be ferried around the world? One can hardly imagine Lewis Hamilton trundling his wheels off a ferry at Cherbourg before making his way down to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix via the toll roads. Yes, we may be in for a boring F1 season but not for the reason many imagine: the dominance of Mercedes. This is shaping up as a dull one because the narrative is now set at one team being too good and Hamilton being the best only because he has the fastest car. Critics then seek to devalue his achievements. Yawn. Naturally, the man with the fastest machine often wins — but not always. In the past 30 years, there have been four occasions when the top driver wasn’t in the top car and Hamilton is the only one to achieve that feat this century. Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth at the first race of the season, one lap down on Hamilton . Christian Horner oversaw Red Bulls dominance from 2010-2013 as they won four consecutive championships . Helmut Marko, motorsport advisor of Red Bull, has speculated that his team could pull out of Formula One . VIDEO Red Bull threaten exit over 'boring' rules . In 2008, Hamilton won the drivers’ championship in a McLaren but Ferrari took the constructors’ title. Before that, Mika Hakkinen (1999), Michael Schumacher (1994) and Alain Prost (1986) also pulled it off. So when Hamilton said if everyone had the same car he would still be champion, he is probably right. F1 isn’t like that, though. It’s a team game, and Mercedes deserve their glory, too. Helmut Marko, motorsport advisor of Red Bull, has speculated that his team could pull out if Mercedes are allowed to dominate and some are troubled by that threat — but what if Mercedes walked instead? What if, instead of losing the also-rans, the team with the best driver and the best car grew sick of the artificial manipulation, and withdrew? Red Bull dominated for four years and each season changes were made to try to rein them in, but after one race? That is a pathetic attitude. ‘Just get your head down, work hard and try to sort it out,’ was the advice from Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and he is right. If this season is about Hamilton versus his team-mate Nico Rosberg, tough. Last year, F1 risked a lottery by awarding random double points for the final Grand Prix. This is worse — a sport that seeks to put the brakes on excellence for the sake of mediocrity is not much of a sport at all. +Heather Watson's run in the Californian desert ended when she became distracted by a supposed injury to her opponent Carla Suarez Navarro. The British No 1 went down 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 to the experienced Spaniard in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Watson looked in command in the first set when the world No 13 turned an ankle and called on the trainer for extensive treatment. Heather Watson was knocked out at Indian Wells after losing to experienced Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro . Suarez Navarro was troubled with an ankle injury throughout and it appeared to affect the British No 1 . Yet, as is so often the case in tennis, the unaffected player seemed to be put off by what was going on with her opponent. From 5-3 up she lost the next three games and then went down in the tiebreak as the Spaniard recovered quickly from whatever discomfort she was suffering. After getting level the decider turned when Watson lost the fourth game from 40-0 up and she became disheartened after that as the heat took its toll. However the points garnered from this week and an attacking form of tennis will embed Watson in the top 50 and put her close to the 40 mark. Andy Murray takes on unseeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday in his bid to make the last eight of the men's event. A dejected Watson looks on as Suarez Navarro began to take control and knocked out the Brit at Indian Wells . +The way is now clear for Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore to be promoted to executive chairman following the removal of one potential source of embarrassment. His former temporary personal assistant Rani Abraham made a claim last June of sex discrimination and harassment after she caused a furore by leaking a sexist email exchange between Scudamore and TV rights lawyer Nick West. But Abraham, 41, now wants to move on, according to a friend, and a planned employment tribunal case will not go ahead. Scudamore is expected to have his elevation rubber-stamped at the Premier League summit a week on Thursday, especially as the clubs are flush with the proceeds of the £5billion domestic TV rights deal orchestrated by Scudamore and have more billions to come from the overseas market. The appointment of an executive chairman will need a statute change and to ensure there is some counterbalance to Scudamore getting everything his own way, it’s likely the Premier League will also appoint two new independent directors. Richard Scudamore is set to be promoted to Premier League's executive chairman . Brian Cookson, president of world cycling’s UCI, is taking the lead in testing men and women competing in the same race after IOC president Thomas Bach promoted the idea for future Olympic Games. The UCI are putting on a trial involving British Under 23 riders at their Aigle HQ in Switzerland on Friday, when they will experiment with sprints and other races. Data from sports scientists show men are 10 to 15 per cent stronger and fitter than women cyclists. Thomas Bach has promoted the idea of men and women competing together in future Olympics . World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper feels no need to apologise for his pro-England tweet that upset sensitive fans of pool rivals Wales. After seeing Eoin Morgan’s cricketers fail to get out of their World Cup group, the 55-year-old Aussie posted: ‘England fail to exit pool in World Cup... Not the words we want to hear during #RWC2015.’ Speaking at the Sport Industry Breakfast on Tuesday, Gosper said every event organiser wants the host nation to do well, but is confident of England hosting the most successful ever global rugby tournament whatever the fate of Stuart Lancaster’s team. World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper sparked controversy for his comments about England qualifying . Drawing pools for the Rugby World Cup three years before the kick-off led to the farce of Wales, who had briefly slipped out of the world’s top eight, being in the same group as England and Australia when the three are currently ranked fourth, fifth and sixth. That is going to change for Japan 2019, with the draw moving back by at least a year. World Rugby chief Brett Gosper would also like bidding contracts for the 2023 World Cup to forbid the online secondary sale of tickets. ITV get a 2015 drive on . Land Rover, whose serious upset over the way England rugby players behaved on an infamous sponsors day during the 2011 World Cup resulted in them not renewing their RFU official vehicle sponsorship, are nevertheless still sufficiently engaged with the sport to be backing ITV’s coverage of this year’s tournament. Seven players involved in driving Land Rovers that day are either still in or on the fringes of Stuart Lancaster’s squad. One player wrote in the leaked RFU World Cup report: ‘It was four hours of being stuck in a car driving slowly to satisfy following TV cameras — there were even TV cameras filming from helicopters. There was no fishing, no surfing, no BBQ and more importantly no R and R.’ Another player added: ‘We were told we weren’t allowed to do any commercial stuff during the World Cup but here they (Land Rover) were exploiting us on our day off to promote their brand.’ Land Rover will be sponsoring ITV's coverage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup later this year . Land Rover did not renew their deal with the RFU in the wake of England's 2011 World Cup campaign . The speedy turnover in the international cricket calendar that sees England’s Test squad named on Wednesday after Tuesday’s debrief of the World Cup shambles is very fortunate for head coach Peter Moores and managing director Paul Downton. It allows them to move quickly on to the West Indies tour when a more lengthy analysis of England’s dismal failure to get out of their group at the World Cup after six months of uninterrupted one-day cricket would surely have resulted in both men being axed. England coach Peter Moores will switch attention back to the longer form with a Test team announcement . +Manchester City had long since been knocked out of the Champions League by the time the decision was taken to sack Roberto Mancini in the spring of 2013. European football was not the Italian’s speciality. However, as Manuel Pellegrini looks for a result to save his team’s season, other similarities between the reign of City’s current coach and the final, faltering weeks of his predecessor’s are strikingly relevant. Certainly the two men are different. Pellegrini is placid, Mancini explosive. Pellegrini is considered by some at City to be rather too nice while Mancini made enemies at every level. But, although Pellegrini may beg to differ, the warnings for the Chilean are to be found using football’s most fundamental barometer: results. Manuel Pellegrini is fighting to save his Manchester City job and needs a good result in Barcelona . Manchester City are looking to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit in the Nou Camp . Mancini’s final year at City saw a Barclays Premier League title win, a summer of faltering efforts in the transfer market and a subsequent championship defence in which his team’s levels dropped to the extent that they ended the 2012-13 season some way short of a rival — Manchester United — who did not have to be imperious to beat them into second. Sound familiar? Two years on and again City have failed to build on success. They have bought modestly, played well only sporadically and look destined to trail another less-than-convincing rival — this time it’s Chelsea — by some distance by the time they reach the finishing post. Did United win the title two years ago or did City simply fail to defend it properly? Perhaps a bit of both. Can we say the same again this time round? Almost certainly. Talk to people at City and they will stress that Mancini was not sacked because he failed to win a second league title. He was dismissed because City had failed to move forwards in Europe and because his style of management was, they feared, about to rip holes in the fabric of the club. Nevertheless, the similarities between what should have been Mancini’s consolidation season and this one are clear and that is why Pellegrini has every reason to feel anxious ahead of a mammoth task at the Nou Camp. On Tuesday at City’s hotel by the port, Pellegrini was in denial mode once again. ‘I don’t think my seat is in danger,’ he said. Manchester City's Premier League title challenge suffered a further blow with defeat at Burnley . Pellegrini finds himself in a similar position to Roberto Mancini before the Italian was sacked . Mancini left City after a failed Premier League title defence and another dismal season in Europe . Nevertheless, in the first leg of this tie at the Etihad Stadium three weeks ago we saw far too much of what is wrong with the modern City and not enough of what is right. Haphazard at the back, weak in midfield and mentally suspect by their own admission, Pellegrini’s team were overrun for 45 minutes. Only their own spirit, the excellence of Sergio Aguero and a rare moment of fallibility from Lionel Messi at the death kept City in touch. As such, if they are to overcome a 2-1 deficit they simply must show us something we have not yet seen from them at this level, under either manager. Those who point to wins at home against Bayern Munich and away at Roma as evidence that City are learning are clutching desperately at straws. VIDEO Pellegrini doesn't fear for City job . Yaya Toure and Pellegrini speak from their hotel in Barcelona on the eve of the second leg . Toure knows his team must improve if they are to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals . Joe Hart's penalty save from Lionel Messi at the end of the first leg has given City a glimmer of hope . City were on the ropes for much of both games. Certainly they controlled neither and were aided by some good fortune. On Wednesday it must be different, something the returning Yaya Toure seemed to agree with when he spoke on Tuesday. ‘Last year everybody said we were a top team in Europe,’ said the Ivorian. ‘Now we have lost a couple of games and everybody says we are the worst. We can deal with that. The players know what they have to do.’ During their own media gathering earlier in the day, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique and midfielder Andres Iniesta spoke diplomatically. City remain a feared opponent, was the message. The truth, however, is that City have not remotely troubled the Catalan club in successive Champions League meetings, and given that Barcelona have won 16 of their last 17 games and are yet to be shut out in Europe this season, the size of the English club’s task is clear. Barcelona train at their Joan Gamper base on the eve of the second leg against Manchester City . Luis Suarez scored both Barcelona goals in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium . There was one item of good news for City on Tuesday when Enrique confirmed that his central midfield totem, Sergio Busquets, will not play. The great Spaniard is injured and that may offer the likes of Toure and David Silva some hope as they look to attack Barcelona’s back four. Nevertheless, Pellegrini must hope for a considerable improvement. City simply must find it from somewhere. There is absolutely no desire at City to sack Pellegrini. What would that say about the judgment of those who hired him? Like every manager, however, he will live or die by his results. Currently his win ratio at City is 62 per cent. Mancini’s was 59 per cent. This is game number 99 of Pellegrini’s reign. By the time he reaches his century at home to West Bromwich on Saturday, he will hope to have something significant to reflect upon. +Manny Pacquiao's preparations for his $300million (£200m) fight with Floyd Mayweather continue to push him to the limit as he was put through a gruelling 20-minute abs workout. Pacquiao was joined by fans for the session, before going five hard rounds against two different partners on his first day of sparring ahead of the mega-fight in Las Vegas on May 2. 'When Manny threw out the first punch it felt like opening day of Irish Spring Training,' joked trainer Freddie Roach. 'Manny looked so fresh today. I'm very happy with what he showed me. Many Pacquiao was joined by fans in the 20-minute abs session as they tried to keep up with him . The PacMan also wet five hard rounds against two different partners on his first day of sparring . Pacquiao's preparations for his $300million (£200m) fight with Floyd Mayweather continue to push him . 'You couldn't tell he had been away from the ring since the [Chris] Algieri fight in November. Manny is on fire in the gym. I am confident May 2 will be celebrated for years to come at St. Manny's Day - the day he drove Mayweather out of boxing.' Mayweather has been going back to basics, chopping wood 'Rocky style' as the pound-for-pound king emulated past greats such as Muhammad Ali. Pacquiao was approached unannounced by an anti-doping examiner at the house he is renting in Los Angeles just days ago, and admitted he was glad his first day of sparring had finally arrived. 'After 13 days of strength and conditioning and boxing drills at Wild Card, plus weeks more of working out in the Philippines in February, it was great to finally put on the headgear and spar,' he said. 'My sparring partners gave me good work today. They were perfect for testing the strategy Freddie and I have developed to beat Floyd Mayweather. I was very happy with my stamina and speed today.' Pacquiao was paid a surprise visit by an anti-doping examiner on Sunday to take a drug test . Pacquiao has a plaster applied after giving a blood sample to the examiner on a surprise visit . VIDEO Mayweather and Pacquiao camps exchange verbal blows . +Liverpool are pressing ahead with their stadium redevelopment plans as they look to expand the capacity of their Anfield home. Steel structures of the new Main Stand are already starting to take shape with work to be completed in time for the 2016/17 season. The redevelopment of the new Main Stand, which will seat 21,000 spectators, will increase the ground's capacity by 9,000 to 54,000. Steel structures of the new Main Stand are starting to take place at Anfield . Over 4,800 tonnes of steel will be needed for the new Main Stand, which will see the existing structure joined together with the new building. Liverpool FC’s operations director Andrew Parkinson told the Liverpool Echo: 'Progress is on track since December when we said we would be going ahead with the Main Stand development. 'We’ve been doing a lot of the foundation works and now we’re in the process of erecting the steel and that’s all coming up very quickly. Anfield will be able to seat 54,000 spectators once work on the Main Stand is completed . The new Main Stand will be able to seat 21,000 spectators and will be open in time for the 2016-17 season . 'We’re already at the stage where the new steel is as high as the existing Main Stand and that’s within a week since the steel arrived. As we get further and further, from game to game, people are going to see a big transformation in front of their eyes.' After the Main Stand has been redeveloped, Liverpool will move onto expanding the Anfield Road end and take the capacity of the stadium to just shy of 60,000. +Have you ever been so excited by scoring a goal that you felt the need to celebrate by aggressively pulling a goat by its horns? No, me neither, but Cologne's Nigerian forward Anthony Ujah certainly as the 24-year-old celebrated scoring his side's fourth goal against Frankfurt by doing exactly that. The goat involved was Cologne mascot Hennes VIII who was quietly minding his own business on the sidelines while watching the game with his handlers. Cologne's Nigerian forward Anthony Ujah celebrates his goal by man handling a goat against Frankfurt . The 24-year-old African striker ran over to the touchline to pull the goat by the horns during the match . The goats' handlers try to stop the Nigerian international from pulling the goat on to the football pitch . But Hennes peaceful afternoon in the German sun was short lived as he was rudely pulled away from his tasty grass to be part of one of the weirdest celebrations football has ever seen. Nigerian international Ujah slotted the ball neatly past Frankfurt's opposition goalkeeper before running to the sidelines screaming before pulling the goat all over the place by it's horns. Worried handlers appeared to try and stop the former Lillestrom player from pulling Hennes on to the pitch and he eventually let go as his teammates joined in the celebrations. The striker later celebrated on his own in a far more normal way following his goal against Frankfurt . +Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong seemed to be struggling with his maths on Tuesday night. The 23-year-old asked on Twitter: ‘If Arsenal win 2-0 they go through?’ No, afraid not, Emmanuel. Arsenal officially had 1,200 fans in the Stade Louis II — but an estimated 5,000 were in the 18,000 crowd with Monaco having put the tickets on general sale. Despite their renaissance, the Principality, with a population of 38,000, unsurprisingly struggles to fill the stadium, even on big European nights. Five thousand Arsenal supporters packed in to the Stade Louis II for their tie against Monaco on Tuesday . It perhaps should come as no surprise that a tax haven inhabited by the super rich should lack passion — but it was difficult to avoid the comparison with the ferocious atmosphere of Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon Stadium, the other venue hosting a Champions League fixture on Tuesday night. Monaco’s Stade Louis II stadium had all the intensity of a yacht club soiree. This was Arsene Wenger’s first win as a manager against Monaco. He had previously drawn four and lost three. Despite Bono, Larry Mullen and the Edge all of U2 fame, watching the game from the stands, Wenger and his side still couldn’t find what they were looking for in Europe . Bono (right), Larry Mullen (centre) and the Edge were in Monaco for the Champions League showdown . +Simon Mignolet summed it up for Liverpool. The goalkeeper, widely derided earlier this season, has been part of a major turnaround in the fortunes of the club, sparked by losing to Manchester United in December. After Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Swansea on Monday, Mignolet hailed the fighting spirit of the side and welcomed the prospect of facing United in the Barclays Premier League at Anfield on Sunday. ‘We know there will be a huge build-up,’ he said. ‘But as professional football players we can’t get carried away. We have a good squad who are willing to fight for each other. We work hard and sometimes it is even more satisfying to get the three points in that way.’ Steven Gerrard and Simon Mignolet celebrate Liverpool's 1-0 win at Swansea on Monday . Mignolet was called upon a number of times in the first half at the Liberty Stadium and was up to the task . Liverpool are unbeaten in 2015 and are aiming for second place in the table after their upturn in form since December. In fact, they have already won as many league games this year (eight) as they did in the first half of the season, despite having played nine games fewer. They have also picked up more Premier League points since Boxing Day (32) than Merseyside rivals Everton have all season (31) and Monday’s win came courtesy of their sixth successive away clean sheet in the league. Their amazing form has seen them cut the gap to second-placed Manchester City from 17 points to four. Brendan Rodgers’ side remain the only unbeaten team in the top four English tiers in 2015. And in their past six matches they have picked up an average of 2.67 points per game, despite facing three of the current top seven teams. The Belgian's form has improved dramatically after being dropped for a spell over Christmas . Mignolet was replaced by Brad Jones when Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Manchester United in December . +Sam Allardyce's uneasy relationship with the locals at West Ham United is down to the perception his teams play dull football. It is hard to see how the dour baggage carried by his proposed replacement David Moyes will have them putting out bunting in the East End. Moyes is a good manager — but with the move to the Olympic Stadium just one full season away, are the board thinking big enough? Beyond the elite, managing West Ham should be one of the most appealing projects in the European game right now. Here is an opportunity to take a club with a significant fan-base and history to an iconic, 58,000-capacity destination stadium and reach for the sky. Alexis Sanchez in action against West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners . Sam Allardyce's uneasy relationship with the fans is down to the perception that his team plays dour football . West Ham’s owners are talking of Europe, yet Moyes is a coach whose appointment seems to be made with one eye on making sure the club isn’t relegated next season and goes to its new home established in the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp, coach of Borussia Dortmund, appears to be nearing journey’s end in the Bundesliga. He is a charismatic, successful figure, given to taking on long-term projects and working with a reasonable budget. He plays good football, too, and has talked of managing in England. It was presumed he would one day manage Arsenal, but Arsene Wenger is not going anywhere soon. It might be over-ambitious, it might go no further than one exploratory telephone call and a splutter of mocking laughter; but isn’t it worth making that call, just in case? Jurgen Klopp speaks to the media ahead of his side's second-leg clash against Juventus on Wednesday . Klopp oversees training as his Borussia Dortmund side prepare to take on Juve for a spot in the last eight . +At the Etihad Stadium last month, one of the most gifted players of his generation was given the run of the place during Barcelona’s 2-1 victory. It was an exhibition from the very best. Andres Iniesta took 112 touches in Barcelona’s midfield, five more than his celebrated team-mate Lionel Messi and far more than any player in a Manchester City shirt. James Milner, anointed by Manuel Pellegrini as one of his team’s most important players, was the highest with 64. The numbers simply don’t add up, which is one of the reasons English football is struggling to make an impact over two legs in Champions League ties. When will our game learn? Probably never. Andres Iniesta, rested in Barca's win over Eibar, is expected to return to the starting line-up against City . Barcelona's Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic controls the ball as Xavi and Pedro look on during training . Neymar aims a friendly kick at fellow Barcelona striker Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan had gone down . The Brazil captain was in high spirits as Barcelona prepared for their Champions League last 16 second leg . ‘We play in a comprehensive manner and we want possession so that they suffer,’ admitted Iniesta as he prepares to pull on the red and blue stripes of Barcelona once more. ‘We need to find our superior skills and minimise their potential. We want to control what goes on in every moment. We have to beat Manchester City with a complete performance.’ Barcelona are conditioned to play a certain way, all possession-based and keeping the ball in circulation until they can find a way through the gaps in City’s defence. Iniesta is a slave to the game, a man still seeking perfection even after three triumphs in the Champions League, plus two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup, in which he scored the winner for Spain. Barcelona will be hoping to reach the Champions League quarter finals by holding off Manchester Cit . Barca have not failed to reach Europe's last eight since 2007, and saw off City at the same stage last season . His incredible strike against Chelsea in the 2009 Champions League semi-final, second leg at Stamford Bridge is one of the most dramatic goals in the history of the game. At the age of 30, he wants more. ‘We do not gather as a team to discuss what we can achieve, but the important thing is that we know what the possibilities are,’ he added. ‘There are no guarantees, but we know that we are doing well and we are prepared for this match.’ Luis Enrique’s team are in fine fettle, a point ahead of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga ahead of El Clasico on Sunday and on course for the Champions League quarter-final if they can protect their 2-1 advantage. The Barcelona players move the ball around during a training exercise ahead of the vital showdown with City . Manager Luis Enrique will be hoping his team take another step on the road towards Berlin . The final of the Copa del Rey awaits later in the season, when Iniesta can add to his extensive list of honours when Enrique’s team face Athletic Bilbao. ‘We don’t think beyond Manchester City because we have to concentrate, even if we had a good result in the first leg,’ he said. ‘Right now the team is in good shape, but this is a difficult period of the season. We are in the final of Copa del Rey, the Champions League and all the little details will play a role tomorrow. ‘On Sunday we have an important match against our rivals, but this is the Champions League and Manchester City have great players.’ Iniesta is wary of the threat posed by former Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure . Much will be expected of Yaya Toure, returning from suspension to play against his former team at the Nou Camp as City attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit. This will be a tough night for a team who cannot keep the ball, but Toure’s goalscoring ability, along with those powerful runs that start from deep-lying positions, could give them a chance. Iniesta added: ‘He is very important for them, he is very powerful physically and he has important qualities because of all his skills. ‘We’ll try to minimise his potential.’ +Fernando Torres has likened his struggles during his time at Chelsea as to 'swimming with wet clothes on'. The striker had a torrid time at Stamford Bridge following his £50million move from Liverpool, scoring just 20 Premier League goals over three-and-a-half years before being sent out on loan to AC Milan last summer. Torres failed to impress at the San Siro and, after the Italian club bought him outright, they loaned him to Atletico Madrid where he is yet to score in nine La Liga appearances, though he has scored three in four Copa del Rey matches. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres has opened up about his difficult time playing for Chelsea . Torres joined Chelsea for £50m from Liverpool, but failed to make an impact for the London club . He struggled for form and managed just 20 Premier League goals over three-and-a-half-years . The Spain international told El Pais: 'The worst part of not playing is when you think you're prepared and ready to do it. I tried to get minutes at Chelsea and seize opportunities, but things do not always go the best way, and can drag on for weeks or even years.' Torres added: 'It was like swimming with wet clothes on. Now I know how I am, and I'm fine. At the end those doubts about your quality eventually disappear.' Atletico, who reached the last eight of the Champions League after beating Bayer Leverkusen on penalties, are currently fourth in La Liga with 56 points from 27 games, nine behind the pace of table-toppers Barcelona. Now, on loan back at his first professional club Atletico, Torres feels he has regained some of his confidence . VIDEO Simeone proud to again be in Europe's elite . +Malky Mackay signed Troy Deeney for Watford so he knows exactly what the powerhouse striker can do. On Tuesday night, he scored twice against Mackay’s Wigan for the second time this season to send Watford top of the Championship and a step nearer the Premier League. It was the sixth game in a row that Deeney has been on the scoresheet, muscling in to beat Ali Al-Habsi with a header nine minutes into the second half and then converting a penalty in stoppage time. For Wigan and his old manager, however, the threat of relegation to League One looms large two years after the club dropped out of the top-flight. Watford striker Troy Deeney celebrates scoring against Wigan at the DW Stadium on Tuesday night . Watford forward Matej Vydra (left) tussles for the ball with Wigan Athletic's Emmerson Boyce (right) Watford's Marco Motta (top) jumps up to avoid the sliding challenge from Wigan's Kim Bo-Kyung (bottom) Wigan (4-4-2): Al Habsi 6; Boyce 5, Maguire 6.5, Pearce 5, Bong 5.5; Pennant 5.5 (Murphy 52, 6), Perch 6, Bo-kyung 6.5, Ojo 6 (Kvist 62, 6); Fortune 6 (Sinclair 82), Clarke 5.5. Booked: Perch . Watford (3-1-4-2): Gomes 6; Cathcart 6 (Paredes 71, 6), Ekstrand 6.5, Angella 6; Watson 6.5; Motta 5.5 (Forestieri 46, 7), Munari 6, Hoban 6.5, Guedioura 8; Deeney 7, Vydra 7 (Tozser 73, 6) Subs not used: Layun, Anya, Ighalo, Bond . Booked: Guedioura, Forestieri . Scorers: Deeney 54, 90 . Referee: David Coote . Attendance: 10,684 . They remain six points adrift of safety and fourth-from-bottom Rotherham, who now have a game in hand, after failing to win for the 16th successive home game – a miserable run stretching back seven months. ‘We’ve got eight games to go and we’ve got to win more than a couple of teams us, simple as that,’ said Mackay. ‘We knew that Deeney would pose a real threat. That’s why I bought him (for Watford) in the first place. He’s blossomed and he’s by far and away the best centre-forward in the division in my opinion.’ Despite the poor home form, Wigan had won their last four away games to give themselves a chance of survival and they had several chances to take the lead. Tommy Hoban had to throw his body in the way of Leon Clarke’s goalbound effort, Sheyi Ojo blasted over when unmarked in a good position and Marc-Antoine Fortune had two opportunities. Deeney beats the challenge of Wigan's Gaetan Bong to score his side's opening goal at the DW Stadium . Boyce fells Watford's Fernando Forestieri in the box to give away a penalty on a bad night for the hosts . But the promotion chasers went ahead in the 54th minute with a goal that was the product of classy build-up play and a brutal finish. Substitute Fernando Forestieri’s clever pass gave Adlene Guedioura the opportunity to swing a cross to the far post where Deeney was charging in like an express train. The Watford skipper powered through Jason Pearce to meet the ball and head the ball emphatically past Al Habsi. Guedioura and Matej Vydra both went close with shots after that, and Guedioura thought he had doubled Watford’s lead when his deflected effort beat Al Habsi but Emmerson Boyce hooked the ball away to safety from under his own crossbar. Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi is rooted to the spot as Deeney sends his second goal past him with a penalty . However Deeney made sure of victory in stoppage time, scoring from the penalty spot after Boyce had brought down Forestieri. Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic: ‘Troy’s in a good moment and that’s good news for us. His first goal, the way he attacked the ball and scored, was great. ‘You have to be happy with our situation. The players believe in themselves and in their teammates.’ Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic (left) talks to his Deeney (centre) during a break in play at the DW Stadium . +Former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has turned up the heat on successor Manuel Pellegrini by claiming the Chilean should be winning a trophy every year. Mancini thinks Pellegrini was 'really lucky' to inherit a strong side from him and he should be delivering continual success at the Etihad Stadium. But Pellegrini, who did win two trophies last season, is now under heavy pressure with City faltering in their Barclays Premier League title defence and facing an uphill task against Barcelona in the Champions League. Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure to save Manchester City's season and his job as well . Pellegrini has come under fire for City's faltering title defence and Champions League campaign . Manchester City will look to overturn a 201 first-leg deficit against Barcelona in their Champions League tie . Mancini, who was sacked by City in 2013 despite winning the Premier League title the previous year, told CNN: 'I think Pellegrini was really lucky because he got this team that is a strong team and he has a chance to put in more good players. 'I think City can win a title every year and have a chance - it should and must try to win a title every year.' Mancini's jibe came on the eve of the second leg of City's last-16 Champions League tie at Barcelona, which they will go into trailing 2-1. Roberto Mancini guided Manchester City to the Premier League title in 2012 after FA Cup success in 2011 . Mancini lost his job at City in 2013 after his team's failed title defence and poor European showing . The success or otherwise of City's season now appears to hinge on the outcome at the Nou Camp as, trailing Chelsea by six points having played a game more, the Premier League looks beyond them. But Mancini said: 'It's my opinion that City is the best team in the Premier League. It's in second and six points behind Chelsea but I think it's the best team. 'In the Premier League anything can happen right up to the last game, in the last minute. I think they should think that they have a chance to win the title.' VIDEO Pellegrini doesn't fear for City job . +An Arkansas judge has been hospitalized in a serious condition after being attacked by his family's pet zebra. White County District Judge Mark Derrick was rushed to hospital following the incident on Sunday night. Searcy police Sgt. Steve Hernandez told The Daily Citizen that police were called to Derrick's home Sunday after the judge was attacked by the animal. Serious: White Country District Judge Mark Derrick (left) was rushed to hospital Sunday night after being mauled by his father's pet zebra. Pictured right is a file photo . The zebra is the pet of Derrick's father, police say. Court clerk Misty Perkins said the judge suffered eye and arm injuries. Derrick is hospitalized at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Police wouldn't elaborate on the attack. They also provided no explanation as to why the family owned a zebra. However police said they are not considering criminal charges because the incident involved an animal that was legally owned. +Thousands of miles from the playground, real lessons of life and death are played out every day in what's left of the wild world. This was one such class in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Park, where a lioness taught her cubs how to hunt and kill a wildebeest to stay alive. Captured by South African photographer Mark Dumbleton, the lioness began by circling her prey before her cubs joined the hunt. The animal fought back - but outnumbered and separated from the herd, it was only a matter of time before it was overpowered. Mr Dumbleton, a wildlife photographer since 2007, said: 'It was amazing to watch a mother training her children for when they have to leave the pride. 'I couldn't believe the animal instinct they had. The lioness was roaring at them, but they knew exactly how to take down such a large animal. 'The whole experience only lasted a couple of minutes.' Red in tooth and claw: Deep in the Maasai Mara, a lioness prepares to teach her children how to hunt . Circling: Captured frame by frame, the animals close in on a wildebeest separated from its herd . Chase: Weighing more than 500lbs when fully-grown, the wildebeest initially managed to evade capture . Running: The lion cubs pick up on tips they have been taught by their mother and attack from both sides . Fear: As the rapid-fire sequence unfolds, the wildebeest kicks up dust in its frantic bid to escape . Weakening: The wildebeest then begins to slow, coming face to face with the animal which wants to take its life . Teamwork: Lionesses hunt in prides, rarely alone, and here the mother closed in to help her cubs . Overpowered: Outnumbered and tired, this was the moment the wildebeest could no longer put up a fight . Eyeing its prey: The family unit take a look before one of the animals sinks its jaws into the stricken beast . Killed: Lit by the golden evening sun, the wildebeest is dealt a fatal blow by the victorious hunters . Dinner: Wildebeest are strong and fast, but are vulnerable as soon as they are separated from the heard . Beaten down: South African photographer Mark Dumbleton said the hunt was over within minutes . 'I couldn't believe the animal instinct they had,' he said. 'They knew exactly how to take [the animal] down' +Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal paid for their first-leg collapse as they crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the fifth successive season. Their 3-1 first-leg defeat by Monaco at the Emirates came back to haunt them as they clinched a 2-0 win last night that sent them out on away goals. Wenger said: ‘Football is not a fairytale. It’s just a matter of being realistic and clinical and Monaco were clinical in front of goal and maybe a bit lucky as well. Arsene Wenger saw his Arsenal side crash out of the Champions League on Tuesday . Monaco celebrated a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Arsenal . Santi Cazorla reacts to Arsenal's Champions League exit despite a 2-0 win in the second leg in Monaco . ‘The performance was enough today and it could have been over at half time with the chances we had. ‘We knew before the game we had a 98 per chance to go out. We did fight but I felt some players were jaded offsnsively as they gave a lot on Saturday and lacked bit of freshness. ‘Overall we paid for the first game when we didn’t produce the game we wanted. But when Monaco played at home they had zero shots on target.’ Olivier Giroud’s 36th minute goal and Aaron Ramsey’s strike in 79th minute gave Arsenal hope in a night on which they attacked throughout and did their utmost – but ultimately the damage had been done at The Emirates. Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny said: ‘We say the same thing every year. Our first game is catastrophic. We have to put it right... play well in two games’ Olivier Giroud scored Arsenal's first goal at the Stade Louis II to give them hope of a comeback . Aaron Ramsey's 79th-minute strike set up a grandstand finish, but Arsenal couldn't find a vital third goal . Wenger added: ‘It’s difficult to compare to the previous years because before we played against Bayern and Barcelona. We’re very disappointed to be out tonight but overall we’re on positive trend and this game on line with what we did recently . ‘I would separate it from other years in which we have gone out. We’re very disappointed to be out of course bu there were a lot of positives in the games. But overall situation is very disappointing . Captain Per Mertesacker said: ``The best team went through. They deserved it because they played much better in the first leg. We had to come back from a massive deficit. We played well today but it wasn’t enough. ‘You come here and try absolutely everything. You look at the game and we could have scored more than two. We don’t look back to the first game - that was already over - and we tried to do our best today but it wasn’t enough.’ +After a raucous Davis Cup victory over the USA, Great Britain must now decide which surface will give them the best chance of upsetting the French in the quarter-finals. As the home side, GB can choose the venue for the July 17 clash against last year's runner-up. It is tempting to stick with the indoor hard court in Glasgow where the local fans created a tremendous atmosphere last weekend, but, in this case, the grass is greener. Andy Murray has a good record on hard courts against France's fearsome quartet of Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, winning 18 and losing five. But on grass, he has been totally dominant, unbeaten against all four in six matches. Murray celebrates during his straight sets win over John Isner that clinched the Brits a quarter-final place . The Great Britain team celebrate their 3-2 victory over the USA in Glasgow last weekend . Doubles team Jamie Murray (left) and Dom Inglot have both experienced success on grass courts . Against Gasquet and Tsonga in particular, Murray can draw on the memories of some famous victories on the lawns. In 2011 the 27-year-old beat Tsonga in the final of the Aegon Championships at Queens. He also defeated the world No 13 in the Wimbledon semi-finals on the way to lifting the trophy in 2012. And it was a 2008 last-16 win against Gasquet on centre court that made the nation realise that this wild-haired Scot had something very special. A 21-year-old Murray stormed back from two sets down to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4. There is more good news for the doubles players. Julien Benneteau has reached 17 doubles finals but none have been on grass. Nicolas Mahut has won a tournament on the grass of Newport in 2013, but all of his other seven titles have come on an indoor hard court like Glasgow. Murray beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on grass in the 2012 Wimbledon semi-finals . The France team of Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Julien Benneteau, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Nicolas Mahut celebrate after their win against Germany in Frankfurt . Britain's pair of Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot, meanwhile, have thrived on grass. The Scot has one title and two finals appearances on the green stuff, and the Englishman won at Eastbourne last year. So GB should forgo the cauldron of the Emirates Arena in Glasgow for the more sedate lawns of Nottingham or Eastbourne, assuming the Wimbledon grass will not have had time to recover. +Stuart McCall has agreed to make an emotional return to Rangers after answering the call to salvage their promotion campaign. The Nine-in-a-Row legend will take over as manager until the end of the season in a bid to steer the Ibrox club back to the top flight via the Championship play-offs. Caretaker boss Kenny McDowall, who handed in his notice in January, is not expected to play any role in the new first-team coaching set-up. Stuart McCall is a former manager of Motherwell and played for Rangers for seven years . That could open the way for McCall to bring in Kenny Black, his assistant during a successful stint in charge at Motherwell. McDowall admitted after Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Queen of the South that there was now a danger of Rangers missing out on the play-offs altogether if they didn’t find form. They have won just one of their last seven matches, dropping to third place in the table behind Hibs. That dismal sequence convinced Dave King and the new Ibrox board that they had to act, with McCall approached to see if he would be willing to agree a short-term contract. An extended deal contingent upon winning promotion could also be a possibility following a day of discussions. No official confirmation on McCall’s appointment was forthcoming from Rangers on Wednesday night but that is expected to follow on Thursday. McCall achieved back-back top-flight finishes during his time at Fir Park . It is also understood the players were told to report back to Murray Park early on Friday morning – after a day off – in preparation for meeting their new boss. McCall, who won six league titles in seven years as a Rangers midfielder, has been out of work since resigning at Fir Park last November after a slump in form. However, his overall record in Lanarkshire was hugely impressive, including back-to-back second-place finishes and a Scottish Cup final. The 50-year-old is also currently a member of Gordon Strachan’s Scotland backroom staff but admitted last month it may be an ‘impossibility’ to combine that role with managing a club of Rangers’ size. King flew back to South Africa via Heathrow on Wednesday, admitting in an interview en route that ‘the playing side is in need of a huge injection of energy’. He also added that the new regime would do ‘whatever it takes to give the club the best chance of promotion this season’. McCall is the man they have turned to for that purpose, with Saturday’s home game against Livingston set to open his tenure. Gordon Strachan has also used McCall as part of his coaching set-up with the Scotland national team . Dave King seized control of Rangers after a landslide victory at the club's most recent EGM . Speaking last week, Rangers midfielder and ex-Motherwell player Nicky Law welcomed the prospect of a McCall appointment. ‘For me personally, it would be great,’ said Law. ‘Not just for me, but for the club as well. ‘He’s a legend here and he knows about the club and the expectations. There would be no trouble with him there. 'With his character, it’ s something he would relish. It wouldn’t worry him at all. I’m sure he’d get a positive reaction straight away just with his demeanour and the way he is. If he’s lucky enough to get it I’m sure he’ll do a great job.’ Meanwhile, Sandy Easdale has agreed to step down from his position as football board chairman and will make an ‘amicable’ exit from Rangers. The Ibrox club announced on Tuesday that Easdale, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach had been suspended from their duties ‘pending investigation’. Any proceedings relating to the Greenock-based businessman have, however, been dropped. +A former tin-mining town in Devon has been named the best place to live in Britain's countryside. Chagford topped The Sunday Times poll thanks to its community spirit, beautiful 15th-century homes and two Michelin-starred restaurant. The town, which has a population of just 1,400, hosts the only annual auction for Dartmoor ponies and is known as the 'Jewel of Dartmoor'. Britain's favourite countryside town: The former tin-mining town of Chagford in Devon lies in the pretty Teign Valley in Dartmoor National Park. Above, the 750-year-old church of St Michael the Archangel . It lies in the pretty Teign Valley in Dartmoor National Park and the average price of a home is just over £400,000 - whith larger houses costing over £1million. Arguably the town's biggest attraction is the 750-year-old church of St Michael the Archangel. The picturesque town also has a vast number of 15th and 16th century buildings. Its award-winning restaurant is the Gidleigh Park Hotel - run by chef Michael Caines. Rich history: In historical times, Chagford grew due to the wool trade and from tin-mining in the area and in 1305 was made a stannary town where tin was traded . Archaeological remains suggest that a community has existed here for at least 4,000 years. In historical times, Chagford grew due to the wool trade and from tin mining in the area and in 1305 was made a stannary town where tin was traded. The early 20th century Edward Lutyens house Castle Drogo lies nearby in Drewsteignton parish, and overlooks the town. The poll placed it at the top of the rural list in The Sunday Times 2015 Best Places to Live guide. Small population: Just 1,400 people live in the town, where the average property price is just over £400,000 . Topped poll: Chagford topped the Sunday Times list thanks to its community spirit, beautiful 15th-century homes and two Michelin-starred restaurant, the Gidleigh Park Hotel . The picturesque town also has a vast number of 15th and 16th century buildings. Above, a grocery store (left) and The Wood And Rush basketry shop (right) Beautiful countryside: The town lies in the Teign Valley. Pictured above, the Teign Gorge in Dartmoor . The Gidleigh Park Hotel is Chagford's two-Michelin Starred restaurant headed up by chef Michael Caines . +There are few British sportspeople who have legitimate claims to being the best in the world in their field. In golden girls Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Jessica Ennis-Hill we have two who are likely to be battling for top billing over the next two years. British Athletics performance director Neil Black is not guilty of hyperbole when he claims their anticipated duels in the heptathlon, notably at the World Championships in Beijing this summer and the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016 represent a ‘magical time’ for the sport. Johnson-Thompson, 22, has risen to being the world’s number one in the absence of Olympic Champion Ennis-Hill, who took a break to have baby son, Reggie. The pair’s first competitive meeting since 2012, at the Hypo-meeting in Gotzis, Austria at the end of May promises to be one of the most gripping sporting duels of the year. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (far left) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (centre), pictured with Louise Hazel at London 2012, have been praised by British Athletics performance director Neil Black . Johnson-Thompson is expected to battle it out with Ennis-Hill for top billing over the next few years . Ennis-Hill took some time out of athletics following the birth of her baby son, Reggie . Johnson-Thompson’s first major gold medal in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships in Prague on Friday, where she missed out on the World Record by just 13 points, was the realisation of an incredible talent. As a teenager she beat Ennis-Hill’s junior records and is now seeing her own being broken by 17-year-old Morgan Lake. ‘I just think its an amazing set of circumstances,’ said Black, ‘I’m sure it’s partly coincidental and partly as a result of all the stimulus dating back many years, the, striving to beat each other and role models and so on. But to think that they are all going to be hopefully in Gotzis and they’re all hopefully going to be at the World Championships in Beijing in August and the Olympics next year, its just a kind of magical time. 'And what comes from it is just going to be spectacular. I can’t see that you can get much more exciting than that in any sport this summer. You have three incredibly capable, high performing, lovely personalities, with great teams around them, brilliant coaches, all vying for medals in competitions.’ Neil Black insists the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio present a ‘magical time’ for the sport . Ennis-Hill and her coach Toni Minichiello have been tight lipped about how her training at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield is going but she has posted pictures of herself on Twitter and she looks to be in supreme shape. ‘All the feedback that we’ve had is that her progression is great,’ said Black, ‘Peter Stanley (British Athletics head of combined events) is regularly there, meeting with Jess, Toni, and the javelin sessions, the biomechanical support, they’re all working together and it’s going well.’ Black also backed sprinter Richard Kilty - who added the European Indoor Championship 60m gold to the World title he won last year - to join the sub-10sec club over 100m. ‘He’s re-established himself as a serious sprinting candidate. Of course he was frustrated not to have cemented that at the same level outdoors and I’m sure that will be his target and that’s what we’re looking for going into the World Championships.’ +Charles Eugster lived up to his nickname as 'the world's fittest Old Aged Pensioner' after smashing the Indoor 200m world record at the ripe old age of 95. The retired dentist, racing in the over-95 age-group at the British Masters Indoor Championships meeting in London, ran the distance in 55.48seconds to beat the previous record, set in 2013, by 2.4seconds. The elderly athlete set a pace that most people his age could only imagine and barely looked out of breath after he had crossed the finish line before celebrating his record breaking achievement. Charles Eugster is applauded after breaking the 200m world record for over-95s at the British Masters . A YouTube video of his race, posted by Silver Grey Sports Club, which supports over-50s taking part in extreme and adventure sports, has received over 200,000 views. Eugster, who is also a competitive oarsman and bodybuilder, took to Twitter (above) after his victory to express his delight and thank his supporters. The 95-year-old steadies himself ahead of the starting pistol at the event in London . Eugster ran the distance in 55.48seconds to beat the previous record by 2.4seconds . The retired dentist, who is also involved in rowing and bodybuilding, crosses the finish line . Confirmation of Eugster's record breaking time is shown on the electronic display . 'I hoped getting fit would stop me ageing,' he told The Telegraph in 2013. 'It was pure vanity, really. I looked a mess and I was having a late-life crisis. My body was degenerating. 'I thought: 'Who knows about muscles?' So, when I was 87, I joined a bodybuilding club.' +A shocking video has emerged showing a Sikh boy being bullied on a school bus by his classmates who chant 'terrorist' at him. The boy sits on his own, filming his abusers on his mobile phone as they hurl racist insults at him in childish voices. A version of the worrying video, distorted here to protect the identities of the children, has been uploaded to YouTube and has been watched more than 472,000 views since it was added on February 28. Scroll down for video . Patient: The young boy is seen in this heavily pixelated footage. Visible is the distinct outline of his patka - which young Sikh boys wear before they don the Dastaar turban of a fully baptizedSikh . A shocking video has emerged showing a Sikh boy being bullied on a school bus by his classmates who chant 'terrorist' at him (file picture) In the short clip the boy can be heard quietly saying 'kids being racist to me' while some of the children threaten to 'sue' him and take him to court for filming them without permission. One girl can be seen standing over the seats and pointing at the boy shouting: 'Terrorist, terrorist.' They panic when they realise he is recording the confrontation and a girl is heard saying: 'I never gave you permission to film me, you're going to court.' When asked to turn off the camera, the Sikh student reacts defensively by claiming: 'I can't if you're being racist to me motherf*****.' The original video was removed from YouTube but it is thought to have been filmed on the way to a school in the state of Georgia. +Swirling through the air in mesmerising saucer-like shapes, these exceptionally rare lenticular clouds are the most common explanation for UFO sightings. The remarkable-looking disc shapes were spotted by amateur photographer Glenn Spencer, 42, in the sky above Chester in Cheshire. The formations, also known as wave clouds, were scattered over miles, producing a stunning spectacle. Rarely seen in the UK, lenticular clouds are formed when a tall geographic feature, such as the the top of a mountain, obstructs a strong wind. The interruption in airflow creates a wind wave pattern in the atmosphere on one side of the mountain and at the top of these waves, moisture in the air condenses and forms a cloud. As air moves down into the trough of these waves the water evaporates again, leaving behind clouds in a characteristic lenticular shape. Mr Spencer noticed them while driving to the shops and was so amazed that he stopped the car to retrieve his camera from the boot. He said: 'I tried to follow them to higher ground to get a good view. They were just so mesmerising and I thought they looked amazing. It is easy to see why people mistake them for UFOs. They are brilliant. I've never seen anything like it.' Scroll down for video . Rare spectacle: These lenticular clouds, also known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, are hardly ever seen in British skies . Stunning: They form when wind blows over high ground and then undulates down in a stream of waves creating a rippled effect as the air cools . Commonly mistaken for UFOs: The clouds are sometimes reported as UFOs, particularly the flying saucer, because of their lens shape . How they form: They occur when the air meets obstructions such as mountains and the clouds' thickness creates incredible contrasts of light . Mesmerising: Amateur photographer Glenn Spencer, 42, noticed the flying saucer-shaped clouds as he was driving to the shops in Cheshire . Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence of the rotor systems that accompany them . +The interior walls of training complexes are invariably decorated with motivational slogans. Simple truisms to feed the mind on days when the body is weak. For Craig Gordon, the old wisdom – fail to prepare, then prepare to fail – is more a way of life than a fleeting thought. To the uninitiated, tomorrow’s final will be settled over 90, maybe 120 minutes, with the lingering possibility of penalty kicks. Celtic keeper Craig Gordon is fully focused ahead of the Scottish League Cup Final with Dundee Utd. But, long before the first ball is kicked in earnest, the Celtic goalkeeper fully expects to be ahead in the battle of wits. While much of what will transpire between Celtic and Dundee United will be random and instinctive, Gordon believes his slavish devotion to studying what’s liable to be thrown at him can significantly shorten the odds on his side coming out on top. ‘Every game,’ he replied when asked how frequently he’d dip into video analysis. ‘Free kicks, penalties, the way strikers like to finish the ball, how they strike the ball. ‘I just look at those things and keep mental notes on how they like to do things and what’s their favourite side. Notes are taken on different players so I know. All of that stuff. Gordon fails to hold the ball allowing Rodrigo Palacio of Inter Milan to score in the Europa League . ‘It’s about taking that research out on the training pitch, too, and practicing for who you’re going to be playing against - a team that likes to put a lot of low, early crosses into the box, for example. ‘For the Rangers game, it was deep early crosses hung up to the back post so we focused our training around that. That played out during the game too as I was able to come and take the deep crosses that were taking the pressure off. Between all of us we come up with a plan for the game.’ And when that plan comes together in the form of a victory and a clean sheet? Gordon will be hoping to celebrates his first showcase occasion since Hearts earned cup glory in 2006 . ‘Absolutely, it’s satisfying,’ Gordon added. ‘It becomes a team effort with Woodsy (Stevie Woods, the goalkeeping coach) and the video analysis guys to ensure we’re as well prepared as possible. And that’s not just me - John Collins does it with midfielders and defenders, so it’s preparation. ‘What we’re trying to do is make the game as easy as possible for us so we know what we’re coming up against.’ Celtic have not reinvented the wheel with their forensic approach. Nine years ago, Gordon played in the Scottish Cup Final for Hearts against Gretna – his last major final as it would transpire. Few neutral observers fancied the Borderers to go the distance that day but they did just that. Gordon’s intervention in the final chapter was key, however. As Hearts hit four perfect kicks, he saved from Derek Townsley before watching Gavin Skelton sky the eighth and final kick over the top. Celtic goalkeeper Gordon celebrates their goal during the Scottish Premiership match against Aberdeen . ‘I had a fair idea of most of the Gretna penalty takers,’ he recalled. ‘I had seen penalties from them. Most were from memory. With penalties, nowadays everyone does their homework.’ That stop from 12 yards not only allowed Gordon to lift the only major honour of his career to date - it cemented his reputation as one of the finest goalkeepers Scotland has produced. When a £9million move to Sunderland was completed a year later, it seemed he’d spend half his life on the winner’s podium. Little did he realise at the time, how unique those scenes of celebration would prove. A year ago, with the road back from injury seemingly never ending, the chance of another fix of the winning feeling seemed fanciful. ‘I probably didn’t appreciate at the time like I should have done - playing in a cup final, winning a cup,’ he reflected. Celtic keeper Gordon speaks with referee Craig Thomson after the Scottish Cup quarter final . ‘Albeit it’s a different competition this Sunday but it’s still to win a cup, I probably did think it would come around again, that I’d get another chance. ‘I haven’t been close until now so I’m going to enjoy this one a little bit more, but then I’ll only really enjoy it if we win the match. ‘It’s not something I’ll look back on fondly if we don’t. Certainly I want to take it in a little more this time.’ Gordon is beaten by Rangers striker Nacho Novo during Hearts' 3-2 defeat at Ibrox Stadium in Glagow . Hearts’ 2006 Hampden triumph was obviously memorable. Yet lurking just beneath the surface lay a sense of regret. George Burley’s side had started the campaign like a train but being unbeaten and top of the league in October wasn’t enough to shield him from Vladimir Romanov’s axe. John McGlynn took temporary charge before Graham Rix arrived. In time, he was bulleted to make way for Valdas Ivanauskas. Despite the endless turmoil, Hearts still split the Old Firm, with Rangers nudged into third place. There are those in Gorgie who will go to their graves believing they could have gone one better had it not been for in the insanity of the man at the top. Hearts goalkeeper Gordon during the Bank of Scotland Premier League match against Celtic at Celtic Park . ‘We’ll never know,’ Gordon shrugged. ‘Would more have been achieved? It may have but it may not. You can speculate but no-one at the time could have told if there was more to come from that group of players. It was still a successful time and one I’ll remember fondly for the rest of my years.’ They were, to put it mildly, colourful days. Romanov’s liking for self-harm culminated in Gordon, Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley taking the unusual step of holding a press conference to air their frustrations. The Riccarton Three, as they were dubbed, all lived to tell the tale. ‘It was great days playing in a great team and enjoying playing football,’ Gordon reflected. ‘They’re the things people remember when you finish. Gordon in action during the Tennents Scottish Cup Semi Final between against Celtic at Hampden Park . Gordon and Andrew Driver celebrate in front of the fans as Hearts beat Hibernian 1-0 at Easter Road . ‘It was a really good team and when that team gets back together it’s a special time for the Hearts fans because they were packing out the ground every week and winning most matches at home and scoring lots of goals. ‘There was always a downside but on the other side of that we were quite successful on the pitch. It was a good team. ‘Whatever went on elsewhere was something which didn’t really affect us. That was because of the strength of the characters we had. Gordon throws his gloves in to the crowd following the Premier League match with Kilmarnock . ‘There are players from that team and some really good characters. Quite a few of that team have gone into management and will probably continue to do so.’ While Hartley, Pressley and Robbie Nielson have done just that, Gordon still has many races to run as a player. Still in contention for three trophies as Celtic’s No1, a nine-year wait to feel a winner’s medal around his neck again could be emphatically bookended in the coming weeks. Ronaldinho celebrates scoring past goalkeeper Gordon during a pre-season friendly at Murrayfield Stadium . ‘It’s hard, we have played a lot of games already,’ Gordon added. ‘But that’s something you have to deal with when you’re fighting on so many fronts. Trying to win three trophies is going to take its toll but these are the games you have to get through and recover well between times. ‘Up until now we’ve managed it pretty well. Even when we’ve not been playing well we’ve still managed to get through and get the results. ‘I don’t think that’s a problem. It’s part and parcel of having a successful season. It’s something you have to deal with and we will.’ Scottish goalkeeper Gordon in goal for Sunderland after his £9million exit from Hearts back in 2007 . So far, he’s dealt with just about everything that been cast his way. From the cynics that felt signing a long-term crock to replace Fraser Forster would only end one way, to the strikers in Scotland and across Europe who have found him back to his imperious best. It’s not taken long for the smoke signals to be seen down south either. Chelsea have been linked with a move for the 32-year-old as back-up for Thibaut Courtois this summer. But surely Gordon, who effectively still has a two-year tie to Parkhead, has spent enough time watching football these past three years to not voluntarily do so again? ‘Who says I couldn’t be No1, like?’ he laughed. ‘It’s flattering but I’ll just concentrate on doing what I’m doing and we’ll see what happens after that.’ +Danny Welbeck started looking forward to his first Wembley appearance with Arsenal after going through a night of mixed emotions at Old Trafford on Monday. Welbeck sent Arsenal through to an FA Cup semi-final against either Bradford or Reading with a 61st-minute winner that came as a result of a clanger by Manchester United right-back Antonio Valencia. For United boss Louis van Gaal, watching the man he sold last summer score the winner at Old Trafford must have been hard to take. Danny Welbeck was jeered by a minority of fans after being replaced but most gave him a good reception . Welbeck netted the winning goal as Arsenal progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 victory . Welbeck celebrates after scoring against his former club Manchester United, but admitted he found it hard . But it was also a difficult night for Welbeck, the Longsight lad who came through United's academy and still considers himself to be a big fan of the club. 'Manchester United is a club that means so much to me,' said Welbeck, who spent 15 years at United having joined them at eight. 'I'm a fan and it's hard to knock them out. I was just doing my job. 'It was about being professional, keeping my focus and motivation. I kept plugging away and then got on the end of Antonio Valencia's backpass, beat David de Gea and got the winning goal. Welbeck spent six seasons at United after coming through the club's youth system . The 24-year-old shakes hands with former team-mate Wayne Rooney (left) after the game . 'I'm just really pleased we're through to the next round.' Welbeck's name was cheered by the home and away support when it was read out from the Arsenal team sheet pre-match and he received a largely warm reception when he was substituted in the 74th minute. 'I'll always respect the fans, I had a lovely reception from them and I'm thankful for that,' the England forward said. Arsenal are now favourites to retain the FA Cup after their first victory at Old Trafford in nine years. They will be big expected to overcome whichever opponent they face in the next round and Welbeck is looking forward to stepping out at Wembley in an Arsenal shirt for the first time. Welbeck celebrates in front of the United fans, but for the most part the Old Trafford crowd was kind to him . The Arsenal star celebrates with full back Hector Bellerin, but admitted it was tough to play against United . 'It's good for the team that we're through to the next round, and we're in the semi-finals at Wembley,' the 24-year-old said. 'To get the goal was good for me but it was all about the team performance.' Arsenal return to Old Trafford in the league on the penultimate weekend of the season. Although they suffered a crushing home defeat to Monaco in the Champions League recently, their league form has been impressive. Arsene Wenger's men are up to third having won seven of their last eight Premier League games and Nacho Monreal, who scored the first goal in Monday's 2-1 win over United, hopes Arsenal will be able to keep that momentum going until the end of the season. 'We are in a good dynamic in the last few games,' the left-back said. Nacho Monreal, scorer of Arsenal's first goal on Monday, praised his team's recent form . Arsenal have been excellent in recent weeks, aside from a difficult defeat at home to Monaco . 'Except for Monaco when we didn't play really well, in the rest of the games we have played well and won most of them. This is the style now to keep going. 'We are Arsenal and we have very good players. Obviously everyone had memories of last season that we lost all the games against top teams. 'This season we played really well against (Manchester) City, we won and it was fair and this (against United) is the same. We played really well and are very happy for the victory. 'We want to finish as high up as possible and the best way is to keep going in this dynamic, keep focusing in each game and have commitment. We have to win as many games as we can.' +All-rounder JP Duminy took a hat-trick as South Africa put one foot in the World Cup semi-finals by dismissing Sri Lanka for 133 in their last eight clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. Bidding to win their first ever knockout match at a World Cup, the Proteas bowlers removed both openers inside the first five overs and never eased up the pressure thereafter. Duminy (3-29) dismissed Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews (19) with the final ball of the 33rd over and returned to send back Nuwan Kulasekara (1) and ODI debutant Tharindu Kaushal (0) with the first two deliveries of the 35th. The ninth World Cup hat-trick left the 1996 champions reeling at 116-8 after the loss four wickets for just two runs in three overs and when Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed soon afterwards, the writing was on the wall. Sangakkara, who had been looking for a fifth successive century, scored a measured 45 from 95 balls but was forced to throw off the shackles as the wickets tumbled around him and holed out to deep third man off paceman Morne Morkel. A heavy shower appeared out of the blue as if to mourn what looks like being the final one-day innings of one of the game's great batsmen and the players came off the pitch for a 23-minute rain break. It only delayed the inevitable, however, and Lasith Malinga (3) was the last man to depart, hammering the ball to David Miller at cover off South Africa's other main spin threat Imran Tahir. Tahir took 4-26, including the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene to leave another retiring Sri Lanka batting great with a tally of four runs in his final innings in the 50-over format. Sri Lanka, who won the toss and chose to bat, were never able to score at a pace that would have put pressure on the South Africans and test their mental resolve. While Sangakkara was at the crease, though, they would have fancied their chances of putting on some kind of tally for their bowlers to defend. Once he departed and the rain cleared, however, the semi-final appointment in Auckland against New Zealand or West Indies next week would now seem to be South Africa's to keep. The Sri Lankan team practice at the Sydney Cricket Ground ahead of their quarter-final against South Africa . South African captain AB de Villiers (right) will be hoping to lead his team to the last four . +A Polish prankster whose video of a mutant spider dog got 133million views on YouTube last year has been jailed after another stunt failed to amuse the authorities. Sylwester Wardega rose to international fame after he dressed his dog Chica up as a terrifying eight-legged arachnid and filmed the reaction has he unleashed her on the unsuspecting public. But the 27-year-old's most recent prank has landed him behind bars, after he ran around a Polish shopping centre appearing to wear no pants - and seeming to use its bins as toilets. Scroll down for video . Joke: Sylwester Wardega dressed as an old man before pretending to use a bin as a toilet in a busy Polish shopping centre in front of a shocked security guard . Arrested: Authorities apparently found the prank less funny - and charged him with indecent exposure . The 2.58 video shows Wardega dressed up as an old man in a shopping centre in the Polish capital Warsaw last March. It begins innocently enough, with him spinning around on an escalator at the central train station next door to the centre as a bemused conductor looks on. He is then filmed trying to catch carp in a tank in Tesco with a fishing rod. When a security guard comes over and asks him what he is doing, he pushes him away and tells him to 'sshhh'. But the prank takes a less salubrious turn in another scene, where Wardega is filmed sitting on a bin near an esculator with his trousers round his ankles. He then throws a toilet roll at a security guard's head before running off. The video has had more than 7million views. Filmed: The entire incident - along with other pranks, like the above - was captured on film . Fame: Wardega has created a following for himself with his elaborate pranks - but it was when he dressed with pet dog as a giant spider that he grabbed international attention . Writing on his Facebook, Wardega announced he had been sentenced to a month in jail. He wrote: 'I just got convicted for a month imprisonment (sic). 'Because of the film 'Grandpa Prank' and the situation in which I allegedly ran around Zloty Tarasy [the shopping centre] with my pants down while I pretended to have physiological needs. 'Ok, I understand, you do not run around with no pants in public... but I was wearing shorts.' Terrifying: Chica and Wardega's terrifying, but amusing, prank has now got more than 133million views . A court official confirmed: 'He was sentenced to a month in prison for indecent exposure.' Stunned fans have now reacted with disbelief. Online commentator Anna Nowak, 24, said: 'It is ridiculous. 'First, it is clear that this video was a joke. He wasn't exposing himself as he had skin covered pants on. 'And anyway, how do can they prove it was him? He was wearing a grandpa mask.' +A shocking video has emerged of a Canadian police officer smashing a car window and dragging the driver onto the road during a traffic stop. The unidentified Vancouver sergeant pulled over the man, identified as Bodhi Sattva on YouTube, because he and his colleague 'smelled marijuana'. The motorists refuses to roll down the window and instead asks the officer why he had been stopped. 'Hit the brakes you moron. Open the door,' the cop says, but Sattva insists he has done nothing wrong. 'I'm not playing this game,' the officer warns. 'I'm gonna break the window now in two seconds.' Sattva contests he has done nothing wrong and tells the officer he is on the phone to his lawyer. The officer threatens to break the window again while Sattva says he 'does not consent'. Just seconds later the burly officer smashes pane of the glass and drags him out onto the tarmac. He can be heard: 'What are you doing?' He then complains that the cop is hurting his should as he is dragged along the ground. The Vancouver Police Department told CBC the driver was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession for the purposes of trafficking and obstructing a police officer. The force also reportedly said that if drivers don't want their windows smashed in, they should just cooperate with police. The incident took place in November but was only released at the weekend. Traffic stop: The unidentified Vancouver sergeant pulled over the man (right), identified as Bodhi Sattva on YouTube, because he and his colleague 'smelled marijuana' After numerous requests to open the door, the cop decides to smash the driver's side window before dragging the motorist out . +Diego Simeone could celebrate getting Atletico Madrid into the quarter-finals of the Champions League by signing a new contract with the club until 2020, according to his sister and representative Natalia. Simeone led Atletico to the league title and the Champions League final last year and has been on the radar of both Manchester United and Manchester City in the past year and Chelsea before they re-hired Jose Mourinho. But it now seems that he will pen a new deal at the Vicente Calderon and disappoint his Premier League suitors. Diego Simeone is poised to extend his contract at Atletico Madrid until 2020, according to his sister . Simeone celebrates after Fernando Torres levelled Atletico's tie with Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night . Atletico celebrate after their penalty shootout win over Bayer Leverkusen took them into the quarter-finals . Natalia Simeone told Cadena Cope: ‘We need to enjoy [this victory over Bayer Leverkusen] but if all goes well supporters who love Atletico will have some other good news to celebrate very soon. ‘My brother always makes his decisions based on football. He has a choice to make and I think he has made the right choice. His decisions are always intelligent ones.’ Simeone’s latest wise choice was to give Fernando Torres the last penalty in Atletico Madrid’s dramatic shootout with Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night. Torres celebrates after scoring a crucial penalty as Atletico knocked out Bayer Leverkusen in the shootout . Simeone has enjoyed success at Vicente Calderon, winning La Liga and reaching a European final last year . Simeone is hailed by his players after they drew with Barcelona to win the title last season . Simeone makes a point to referee Bjorn Kuipers during the Champions League final in Lisbon last season . VIDEO Simeone proud to again be in Europe's elite . He scored past Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno piling the pressure on Stefan Kiessling who missed to send the Spanish Champions through. 'I feel like an 11-year-old kid again’ said Torres after an emotional night. ‘I used to experience these games as a fan so I know how they were feeling.’ +Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher pulled no punches in their scathing assessment of Manchester City's performance during the 2-1 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield. Neville felt Sunday's showing was far from what is to be expected of title challengers and indeed of last season's champions. Meanwhile Carragher, who also writes a column for Sportsmail, has questioned the suitability of City manager Manuel Pellegrini's tactics. Sky Sports pundit and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher laid into Manchester City's poor performance . Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson (left) pressures Manchester City's James Milner for the ball . Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho (right) had an outstanding game against Manchester City . 'If I was a Manchester City player, I'd be embarrassed how easy it is to play through them,' Neville said during live commentary on Sky Sports. 'We're judging Manchester City as champions of the Premier League. There has to be progression year on year, you have to get better. But this team, we keep seeing the same mistakes being made' Prior to the Liverpool game, questions had been raised over Pellegrini's decision to play with two strikers and leave his midfield exposed. With flair players David Silva and Samir Nasri also not fulfilling their defensive duties, the Chilean's bold selections appeared to have signalled some oversight. And in the post-match analysis, Carragher offered his opinion: 'To employ that system (4-4-2) in the big games is so naive. It's embarrassing really for a manager at that level to go into a game against Barcelona two years running and then again at Anfield like this. 'Something is not right about City and there has to be changes at the end of the season.' City sit second in the Premier League table but they are five points off the pace of leaders Chelsea having played a game more. City's attacking midfielder David Silva (left) was accused of neglecting his defensive duties against Liverpool . Carragher has questioned Manuel Pellegrini's decision to play with two strikers at Anfield . The result leaves City second in the Premier League, five points off the pace of leaders Chelsea . +Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov has tipped Real Madrid to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United if the price is right and claimed the world player of the year is tired of ‘only’ being compared with Lionel Messi. The former striker was speaking in a Sportium promotion when he was asked about Ronaldo and he said: ‘You would have to ask Florentino [Perez] about Ronaldo’s future. Sooner or later he will be sold by the president. ‘Football is like that but it depends on the president. I don’t know if he needs the money; if he does then it is a good moment to sell him.’ Hristo Stoichkov has claimed it would be a good time for Real Madrid to sell Cristiano Ronaldo . The former Barcelona and Bulgaria striker tipped Ronaldo to return to Manchester United . Stoichkov celebrates scoring for Bulgaria against Spain during Euro 96 in England . Stoichkov also claimed part of Ronaldo’s recent unhapiness stems from being tired of comparisons with Messi. He said: ‘You can’t doubt the quality of either one of them. Messi is where he should be but Ronaldo is in a delicate moment. ‘All players go through bad moments, it happened to me too. Perhaps the obsession with Messi affects him. The difference between Ronaldo and Messi is he [Messi] gets compared with Pele, [Diego] Maradona and [Johan] Cruyff and Ronaldo only gets compared with Messi.’ Legendary Barca striker Stoichkov said he believed the BBC at Real Madrid - Gareth Bale Karim Benzema and Ronaldo - are not at the same level as Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. Stoichkov (right) is a legend at Real's rivals Barcelona, whom he helped to the 1992 European Cup (pictured) It has been rumoured that Ronaldo is unsettled at Real Madrid and may leave in the summer . Stoichkov suggested Ronaldo is tired of constant comparisons with Barcelona star Lionel Messi (above) ‘They are low on morale,’ he said. ‘Between the two forward lines Barca’s is better at the moment and you always have to look to see if the players are enjoying themselves or not.’ Asked if he could see himself in Barca forward Suarez, Stoichkov said: ‘He came with the label of problem player after the World Cup but I am convinced he will help them try to win the three competitions they are competing in.’ +Rosie Huntington-Whiteley may be a household name, but her younger brother Toby is hot on her heels. The 24-year-old hunk makes his television debut tonight in an ad for Jacamo, showing off his dashing good looks in T-shirts and puffer jackets from the menswear brand's latest collection. It may be decidedly less revealing than Toby's first campaign for Jacamo, in which he posed topless in a range of swimwear, but there's still no shortage of eye candy. Scroll down for video . Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's younger brother Toby stars in a new ad for Jacamo menswear . The 24-year-old hunk shows off his dashing good looks in T-shirts and puffer jackets from the menswear brand's latest collection . In the ad, which was filmed in Manchester, the 6ft 4in personal trainer is seen perusing a record store while sporting a navy blue jacket, his hair swooped back in a debonair style. Another scene sees him posing in a black and white T-shirt, rolling up one sleeve to showcase his sizeable arm muscles. While it's not quite a feature length film, Toby showcases acting skills that could see him following his sister into Hollywood movies. In one scene he wears  black and white T-shirt, rolling up one sleeve to showcase his sizeable biceps . The Jacamo pieces modelled by Toby range price from £15 to £40 . Jacamo spokesperson Cath Ryan said of the new ad: 'This is an extremely exciting time for Jacamo as we concentrate more on fashion and what makes men look and feel good. 'Toby was really excited to be involved and, with genetics already on his side, we knew he'd be a natural.' Toby may be new to modelling, but it looks like he may well have a thriving career ahead of him. Toby smiles on set while filming the ad in Manchester . Toby, who shares his sister's full lips and thick hair, is a personal trainer . He has previously posted pictures of himself modeling on his Instagram account, where he also shares photos of his diet and exercise routine. The Jacamo pieces modelled by Toby range in price from £15 for a monochrome T-shirt to £40 for a navy blue bomber jacket. Toby first made waves in the modelling world in January with the launch of Jacamo's SS15 campaign. Toby first made waves in the modelling world in January when he posed topless in Jacamo's SS15 campaign . In the ad, he showed he is every bit as body-confident as his sister, displaying his enviable abs in a pair of floral summer trunks. Meanwhile, Rosie is best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel as well as the face - and body - of Marks & Spencer's Autograph lingerie line. The stunning blonde, who has been dating Jason Statham since 2010, has also tried her hand at acting, playing the role of Carly Spencer in 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Toby's older sister Rosie is best known as a Victoria's Secret angel and the face and body of Marks & Spencer's Autograph lingerie line . +Pakistan finally got their World Cup campaign up and running as they beat Zimbabwe by 20 runs in a low-scoring contest in Brisbane. Batting first they made 235 - recovering from four for two - and were then able to restrict Zimbabwe to 215 all out in their chase, meaning they picked up a first victory after defeats to India and West Indies. Captain Misbah-ul-Haq's 73 underpinned the Pakistan batting, while Mohammad Irfan (four for 30) and Wahab Riaz (four for 35) shone with the ball. Pakistan's Mohammad Irfan celebrates the wicket of Solomon Mire; the bowler took four wickets for 30 runs . Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq top-scored for his side, managing 73 runs before being dismissed . Ul-Haq plays a shot, while Zimbabwe wicket keeper Brendan Taylor watches on from behind the stumps . They shackled Zimbabwe, with Brendan Taylor's 50 not enough to get the job done. Irfan removed the top three for a combined 46, having Chamu Chibhabha (nine) and Sikandar Raza (eight) edging him to second slip, while Hamilton Masakadza holed out to mid-on (29). Taylor had made good progress but nicked Riaz behind for a 72-ball 50, and the wickets continued to fall as Sean Williams hit Rahat Ali to backward point (33). Solomon Mire made just eight before Irfan got rid of him, and Craig Ervine 14 nicked Riaz to Umar Akmal - one of five catches for the keeper. The Pakistan players celebrate after taking the wicket of Zimbabwe's Wahab Riaz during their Pool B match . Earlier in the day, Shahid Afridi was dismissed for a duck, but Pakistan managed to put together a total of 235 . Tendai Chatar (second left) is surrounded by his Zimbabwe team-mates after dismissing Nasir Jamshed . Tuwanda Mupariwa went for a duck, Tinashe Panyangara was run out for 10 and then, when Elton Chigumbura edged Riaz behind, the game was done. It was fortunate for Pakistan that they were not facing a more dangerous side considering their own score. Their innings got off to a terrible start and they found themselves reeling on four for two after only 23 balls. Nasir Jamshed was the first man out, caught at square leg off the bowling of Tendai Chatara. Elton Chigumbura suffered a suspected torn quadricep while fielding, but managed to bat later on in the day . Chigumbura lies on the turf in Brisbane, but the Zimbabwe captain later took to the field, scoring 35 runs . Taylor (left) watches on as Afridi dives low to his left to stop the ball going past him during the match . The same bowler took the second wicket too, inducing an edge off Ahmed Shehzad who nicked behind for an 11-ball duck. Haris Sohail joined up with Misbah and the duo put on 54 until the former was caught at short mid-wicket, Raza doing the job. Another healthy stand, this time of 69, pushed the team score behind a hundred, before Akmal (33) was cleaned up by Williams. Afridi (centre) walks from the crease after being dismissed for a duck off the bowling of Sean Williams . Tawanda Mupariwa (centre) celebrates after he caught and bowled Sohaib Maqsood of Pakistan . It had been a fine performance by Zimbabwe at that point and it got better when Shahid Afridi holed out for a second-ball duck on his 35th birthday, bowled by Williams. Sohaib Maqsood added 21, having been dropped by Ervine on eight, while a substitute fielder also shelled Riaz when he was on 41, with the number 10 going on to make his first ODI half-century from 45 balls. He was left unbeaten on 54 at the end, with Sohail caught and bowled by Mupariwa and Misbah removed for an excellent 73 when he was caught at long on, giving Chatara his third scalp for 35 runs. Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza avoids a short delivery from Pakistan's 7ft 1 bowler Irfan, who impressed . Irfan adjusts his hat as he watches on from the boundary during Zimbabwe's innings . +Pakistan boosted their chances of reaching the Cricket World Cup quarter-finals by defeating the United Arab Emirates by 129 runs in Napier. A second-wicket partnership of 160 between Ahmed Shehzad (93) and Haris Sohail (70) and a quick-fire 65 from captain Misbah-ul-Haq helped Pakistan amass 339 for six in their 50 overs, and although the UAE lost only eight wickets in their reply, they made just 210, leaving them well short of their target. Victory at McLean Park moved Pakistan up to fourth in Pool B at the expense of Ireland, with the two sides going head to head in Adelaide on March 15. Pakistan's Ahmed Shehzad hits out during his innings of 93 in their World Cup victory over the UAE . Shehzad anchored the Pakistan innings with 93 as his team posted a total of 339 for six in Napier . Haris Sohail also made 70 runs as Pakistan set a large total in Napier, ultimately winning by 129 runs . Pakistan captain Misbah Ul Haq chipped in with a quickfire 65 as the runs racked up . Pakistan's total would have been challenging for an established nation, let alone an associate, although they did not get off to the best of starts. The match was only 3.3 overs old when Nasir Jamshed went looking to pull and succeeded only in skying Manjula Guruge's short delivery to mid-on to depart for four. Sohail joined Shehzad at the crease and it was not long before the scoreboard began to tick over, with the Pakistan total passing 100 in the 23rd over. Shehzad, dropped in the seventh and eighth overs, lifted Amjad Javed over the ropes for the first six of the match at the end of the 16th over and was raising his bat to celebrate fifty - his 11th in ODIs - in the 24th over. Sohail joined his batting partner in passing the half-century mark in the very next over off Mohammad Tauqir - which also pushed their partnership past the 100-run mark. Pakistan celebrate at the end of their 129-run victory in Napier, which boosts their quarter-final chances . Pakistan moved up to fourth in Pool B ahead of Ireland, whom they play in Adelaide on March 15 . Misbah-ul-Haq pulls the ball away for four during Pakistan's innings as the UAE were batted out of the match . Sohail clubbed Krishna Chandran to the mid-wicket boundary as the partnership passed 150 at the start of the 32nd over but his time at the crease came to an end in the next over as he mis-hit Mohammad Naveed to mid-on to depart for 70 from 83 balls. Shehzad was run out for 93, from 105 balls, shorty afterwards but with captain Misbah joining Sohaib Maqsood in the middle, Pakistan were well set on 176 for three with 15.5 overs to play. Misbah and Maqsood put on 75 runs in 8.5 overs for the fourth wicket, but their quick-fire partnership ended in the 43rd over with Pakistan on 251 as Maqsood, having made 45 from 31 deliveries, clubbed to backward point where Rohan Mustafa juggled repeatedly before taking the catch. Misbah continued to score freely after Maqsood's departure and brought up his 41st ODI fifty at the end of the 46th over before he and Umar Akmal (19) fell to Guruge in the penultimate over. UAE opener Andri Berenger walks off after being dismissed by Sohail Khan for two runs . Sohail Khan celebrates after taking one of his two wickets as the UAE were reduced to 210 for eight . Pakistan's Rahat Ali (left) celebrates with his team-mates after removing Amjad Ali for 14 runs . Shahid Afridi clubbed 21 runs from seven balls in the closing stages to pass 8,000 runs in ODI cricket as Pakistan set UAE an unlikely target of 340 to win the match. Rahat Ali drew first blood for Pakistan in the seventh over of UAE's innings when Amjad Ali (14) chopped on to his own stumps to leave the associate nation on 19 for one. The score had not changed when Sohail Khan tricked Andri Berenger into edging behind five balls later to leave UAE two down and facing an uphill battle. Their challenge became even more difficult when Krishna Chandran offered a leading edge to give Khan his second wicket and leave UAE struggling on 25 for three after 10 overs. Shehzad's innings came to an end when he was run out by Shaiman Anwar . The UAE players celebrate after taking the wicket of Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood . But Khurram Khan and Shaiman Anwar posted 83 to steady the ship, before the former was caught at backward square leg off Maqsood, going for 43. Anwar progressed for a third ODI 50 off 75 balls, but when he holed out to Afridi for 62, the score was left on 140 for five and the game was close to being up. Rohan Mustafa did not help matters, caught at short fine leg off Afridi for a second-ball duck, but a 68-stand between Amjad Javed and Swapnil Patil at least added some credibility. Javed (40) took on one shot too many and was caught at long on off Wahab Riaz, while Patil was cleaned up by the same bowler for 36, leaving the UAE out of time and hope. +Pakistan's Cricket World Cup revival continued with a 29-run Duckworth/Lewis win in a close encounter against South Africa in Auckland on Saturday - a third successive victory which boosts their chances of reaching the quarter-finals. Pakistan batted first at Eden Park and, after their innings was twice interrupted by rain, they lost their last five wickets for 25 runs to slump to 222 all out with a top score of 56 from Misbah-ul-Haq from their 46 overs. In reply, a score of 77 from 58 balls by AB de Villiers steadied the ship but South Africa failed to meet their victory target as they were bowled out for 202 after Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali and Wahab Riaz claimed three wickets apiece. The Pakistan team celebrate their 29-run victory over South Africa at the Cricket World Cup in New Zealand . Pakistan captain Mibah Ul-Haq (left) and team-mate Shahid Afridi smile as they leave the field . Pakistan openers Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed had made a collective 30 when Shehzad was dismissed thanks to an exquisite catch from Dale Steyn off Kyle Abbott's bowling in the ninth over. The fast bowler, fielding at mid on, had to back-pedal considerably but made up enough ground before diving and snaffling a two-handed catch a mere inches from the ground. The Eden Park crowd roared excitedly when Sarfraz clubbed JP Duminy for successive sixes early in 16th over before adding a third maximum with the final ball of the over. AB de Villiers gave South Africa some hope but they were unable to record the required total against Pakistan . Wahab Riaz (left) celebrates with Ahmad Shahzad after claiming the last wicket of Imran Tahir (right) Pakistan has reached to 90 for one at the start of the 17th over, but a moment of madness saw Sarfraz run out attempting a second run to depart one run short of his fifty. Skipper De Villiers brought himself into the attack and was celebrating in his third over when Younus, having looked extremely comfortable, tamely chipped to cover to depart for 37 in the 27th over. Sohaib Maqsood (eight) lasted just 15 balls before he clipped Abbott to point as Pakistan's innings stalled somewhat at 156 for four at the end of the 32nd over. Umar Akmal (13) was undone by the bounce of Morne Morkel, top-edging to mid-wicket, to restrict Pakistan for 175 for five before rain delayed play for half an hour or so. Pakistan bowler Muhammad Irfan (left) and Sohaib Maqsood celebrate their win against South Africa . Francois du Plessis of South Africa crashes into the wickets during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match . Misbah collected his 42nd ODI half-century when play resumed before the players were forced from the field once again as the showers returned. The second interruption did Pakistan no favours as they lost their last five wickets for just 25 runs, crumbling from 195 for five in the 41st over to 222 all out in their allotted 47 overs. Shahid Afridi edged Dale Steyn to deep-backward square-leg to depart for 22 in the 42nd over and, three balls later, they were seven down when Riaz was pinned leg before by Imran Tahir. Steyn removed Misbah in the next over for a team-high 56 and Ali and Sohail Khan fell shortly after as Pakistan collapsed spectacularly. Dale Steyn of South Africa celebrates the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan with his team . Rilee Rossouw dives to his left but is unable to stop the ball from reaching the boundary . South Afrcia's innings was only two balls old when they lost Quinton de Kock, caught behind off Irfan, without scoring and they were two down in the 10th over when Ali tricked Faf du Plessis (27) into edging behind. Pakistan wicketkeeper Sarfraz picked up his and Pakistan's third dismissal in the very next over when Riaz forced Hashim Amla into a leading edge to depart for 38 from 27 deliveries. Riaz accounted for Rilee Rossouw (six) in the 13th over to leave South Africa four down with just 74 runs on the board and things went from bad to worse when they lost David Miller (nought) moments later. Pakistan bowler Rahat Ali (left) lifts his arms to the sky after taking the wicket of Du Plessis . Rossouw reacts after being dismissed by Riaz during the Pool B World Cup match in Auckland . De Villiers and Duminy (12) guided South Africa past the hundred-mark in the 20th over but the latter carelessly gave his wicket away when he tried to hook Wahab but succeeded only in top-edging to fine leg. Steyn lost his wicket for 16 as he became Irfan's third victim after scoring three fours from his 17 balls to leave his side needing 94 runs for victory. De Villiers celebrated his half-century after claiming his third maximum from 45 balls which also included four boundaries as he continued battling on with some big hits before Kyle Abbott (12) was caught by Younus at second slip off Ali as South Africa continued to collapse. Khan finally claimed the big wicket of De Villiers for 77 in the 33rd over after he was caught behind by Ahmed and Imran soon followed to leave his side with 202 and handing Pakistan a 29-run victory. +Jordi Amat has become the second Spaniard to sign a Swansea contract extension in as many days. Amat has followed the example of his countryman Angel Rangel by committing to a one-year extension which will keep him at the Liberty Stadium until 2018. 'I'm so happy because it's important to know the club has confidence and faith in me,' Amat told the official club website. Jordi Amat (right) has been offered a new deal at the Liberty despite a season disrupted by injury . Amat joins his fellow countryman Angel Rangel (right) in extending his stay with the Welsh club . 'It was a big decision to move my family here. I was moving to a new country and a new league, but it has worked out really well. 'I've played games in the Premier League, the cups and the Europa League, so it has been an amazing experience for me here already. 'But this is hopefully just the start.' Amat joined Swansea from Primera Division club Espanyol for £2.5million in the summer of 2013 and made 30 appearances in his first season in south Wales, mostly in his preferred position as a central defender but also as a holding midfielder. Swansea boss Garry Monk shouts from the sidelines while guiding his side into the Premier League top 10 . The 22-year-old started the current campaign alongside skipper Ashley Williams at the heart of the Swansea defence but has struggled to win his place back since suffering knee ligament damage in September. 'The injury was a tough moment for me, but it happens in football,' Amat said. 'You just have to keep working hard and along with the support of the club it makes you stronger. 'Things can change quickly in football, and you need to be ready and prepared to play in every single game.'  . +Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone believes his side are having a 'great season' despite them playing catch-up in La Liga's title race. The defending champions sit seven points behind leaders Barcelona and are also 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen after the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. But despite recent setbacks Simeone is refusing to write-off his side's chances of recreating their success of last season. Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone believes his side are having a 'great season' despite sitting fourth . Antoine Griezmann (left) and Fernando Torres train ahead of Saturday's game against Espanyol . 'There are still a lot of games left,' he told reporters on Friday. 'We'll have to wait to see how the league finishes and then we'll review what happened. 'You all like to compare this team to last year's, something I don't consider at all. 'I think we've got six points fewer than a year ago. I think we're having a great season.' Midfielder Koke celebrates after scoring in Atletico's 1-1 draw at home to Valencia last weekend . Koke is mobbed by his team-mates including former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Torres (right) Atletico take on Espanyol on Saturday and Simeone is looking for three points to jump back above Valencia, who beat Deportivo on Friday evening. 'We're hoping to get back to winning ways, which is important,' Simeone added. 'Hopefully, against Espanyol we can get back that consistency we had in the first half against Valencia, which is our way of playing and what makes us a difficult team to play against.' +Lewis Hamilton's unrivalled speed was on show as he dominated the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. But Formula One's reigning world champion chose a different gear when he visited Sydney, the Victorian capital's fierce rival to the north. Hamilton got behind the wheel of a luxurious yacht on Sydney Harbour after a day of interviews in which he supported talk of a street circuit grand prix in the city in the near future. Lewis Hamilton drives a yacht at Sydney Harbour with the Opera House and bridge in the background . The image on Instagram features the driver at the helm with the city's most iconic features, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, in the background. 'After a long day of media yesterday, sailing in Sydney with friends was a great way to end the day!' Hamilton posted on Instagram. 'Sydney is such a beautiful city. Can't wait to come back next year.' Hamilton finished 1.3secs ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in Melbourne as he put a rocky off-season, which included breaking up with his pop singer girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, behind him. Hamilton celebrates his victory in the opening Formula One grand prix of the year in Melbourne . Hamilton finished 1.3 seconds ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg (left) on Sunday . He described the win as 'reassuring' before heading to Sydney for a 36-hour visit. While there Hamilton, who has spoken of his desire to pursue a career in the music industry, checked out some local talent as Angus and Julia Stone performed for an episode of the TV show Live At The Chapel in a former church. Continuing his love affair for Sydney, Hamilton said he would welcome the F1's move to Sydney if a proposed street circuit format gets the go-ahead when the Melbourne contract expires. The British F1 champion arrived in Sydney on Monday before taking in a gig and going sailing on the harbour . 'I have heard of the potential for a street race here and I love street circuits,' Hamilton told the Daily Telegraph. 'Street circuits are the best. For a driver they're the best and it's best for people to get close to — some 300,000 to 400,000 people leaning out of apartment windows. 'I've only been to Sydney a couple of times now but I've seen pictures of the Opera House and it's always so sunny. I really enjoy it when I come here. The weather's always fantastic.' VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . +When England crashed out of the last global limited-overs tournament there was just the small matter of a dead rubber against the Netherlands to complete what had been a hugely disappointing World Twenty20. Fast forward 10 months and here we are again amid more recriminations over another lost campaign and a final match, this time against Afghanistan, where England have far more to lose than just a meaningless group match. Ashley Giles will not need reminding that a dispirited England lost to Holland in Bangladesh and any hope he had of becoming head coach disappeared along with their chances of making an impact on yet another world stage. England coach Peter Moores and batting coach Mark Ramprakash watch over training on Wednesday . The World Cup flops form a huddle on the Sydney Cricket Ground as they prepare to face Afghanistan . Indications are Peter Moores will keep his job, at least for the Test series in the Caribbean, whatever happens at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday morning but the last thing he needs is another humiliating loss against another of the ‘minnows.’ The fact England turned up early on Wednesday for what used to be known as naughty boy nets and had a full training session said everything about their desperate need to take something, anything, from their worst ever World Cup. England are the laughing stock of world cricket again and there is no body of people who enjoy that scenario more than an Australian nation who cannot believe their luck that the old enemy have gone out of their World Cup so soon. Moores (centre back) looks set to keep his job at least until after the Test series in the West Indies . Victory against an Afghanistan side who have made a remarkable journey from the refugee camps of Pakistan to be here would barely regain any pride for an England team who are still coming to terms with what they have done. But for Moores it would perhaps keep the wolves away from his door for just a short while before he helps put the finishing touches to a squad for the three-Test series in the West Indies next month that will be named on Tuesday. England will be without Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, two players who can still expect a one-day future, when they face Afghanistan and it is far from certain that both will be able to take their places on the plane to St Kitts on April 2. Moeen strained an abdominal muscle when bowling in the fateful defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide while Woakes has a ‘stress reaction’ in his third metatarsal of his left foot. Both will be assessed when England get home. Senior England paceman Stuart Broad warms up with a rugby ball on the SCG during their session in the sun . In their absence it is to be hoped England give games to the two players yet to appear in this World Cup in James Tredwell and Ravi Bopara, not least before both could then be making their final one-day international appearances. If England are serious about ever making an impact in one-day cricket they have to start from scratch after this tournament with a squad full of players who will be at or near their peak in 2019. That means there is little point in them persevering in 50-over cricket beyond Friday with the likes of Tredwell, Bopara and the senior trio of Ian Bell, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who yesterday insisted he wants to play on. A dead rubber against Afghanistan is hardly the way all of them would have wanted to bow out but at least they will be meeting a team with an identical World Cup record as themselves – just a single victory against Scotland. There was a familiar figure at the helm of the Afghan team at the SCG yesterday in the avuncular form of coach Andy Moles, the former Warwickshire batsman who has ignored security advice to work in Kabul. History repeating? England will be eager to avoid a repeat to their loss to Netherlands (pictured) in their World T20 group dead rubber when the same scenario is presented to them on Friday against Afghanistan . Moles has been in charge of a team who have defeated England before – when he coached New Zealand in the Champions Trophy – and would have no qualms about piling on the misery for his homeland. ‘England are not in the best of nick and we still believe we’ve got a scare in us in this World Cup, especially if we show composure at the top of the order,’ said Moles. ‘If we hold our nerve and are at our best we can pull off a shock. ‘I’m obviously sad to see England’s demise but I’m delighted to be here with Afghanistan. We’ve had some great learning experiences, had our first win and gave Sri Lanka a scare. This has been a shop window for Afghan cricket and I think we’ve made friends. We play with a freedom that I’ve tried to enhance.’ It is the ability to play with freedom that has been so badly lacking in England’s cricket but they have one more chance to get it right before they slink off on an early flight home. Otherwise they will lose as many friends as the Afghans have gained. +Scotland bowler Majid Haq has been sent home from the World Cup after breaching the team's internal code of conduct, Cricket Scotland have announced. No further explanation was given but Haq, who is Scotland's all-time leading wicket-taker, posted a race-related tweet after he was not selected for the 148-run defeat to Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Haq tweeted: 'Always tougher when you're in the minority! #colour #race', before later deleting the post. Scotland's Majid Haq has been sent home from the Cricket World Cup after posting a race-related tweet . Haq bowls during the Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh in Nelson last Thursday . A Cricket Scotland statement read: 'Following a breach of Cricket Scotland's internal code of conduct, international team member, Majid Haq, is travelling home from the ICC World Cup. 'No further statement will be issued until internal processes have been completed in due course.' Haq, who was born in Scotland but is of Pakistani descent, has played more than 200 times for Scotland and taken 258 wickets. The 32-year-old has, however, only managed three wickets in four matches at the World Cup and was replaced against Sri Lanka by fellow off-spinner Michael Leask. Scotland have lost all five of their group matches so far, leaving the team one more chance to register a win when they face Australia in Hobart on Saturday. Haq (right) celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Moeen Ali in Christchurch last month . Sri Lanka players are in good spirits on their way to victory against Scotland in Hobart on Wednesday .  . +England fans should hide behind the sofa rather than watch the Ashes this summer, says Mark Butcher. After a humiliating World Cup exit, England face a Test series in the West Indies, followed by series at home to New Zealand and Australia. Speaking to Radio 5 Live, the former England opener warned fans to expect an ‘absolute hiding’ and a ‘horrendous six months’. Butcher, who played in 71 Tests for England and scored eight centuries, added: ‘When Australia come, just don’t watch, hide behind the sofa.’ England's under siege captain and coach Eoin Morgan (left) and Peter Moores speak at the SCG . Former England opener Mark Butcher (right) has predicted the worst for the national team in the near future . Here England are preparing for a dead rubber against Afghanistan, with Peter Moores’ men having far more to lose than just a meaningless group match. The indications are that Moores will keep his job, at least for the Test series in the Caribbean, whatever happens at the Sydney Cricket Ground tomorrow, but the last thing he needs is another desperate defeat by minnows. The fact England turned up early yesterday for what used to be known as naughty-boy nets and had a full training session said everything about their need to take something from their worst-ever World Cup. Victory against Afghanistan would perhaps give Moores breathing space before the squad is announced on Tuesday for the three-Test series in the West Indies next month. England will be without Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, two players who can still expect a one-day future, and it is far from certain that both will be able to take their places on the plane to St Kitts on April 2. Moores attempts to rally his troops on the SCG on Wednesday ahead of their match against Afghanistan . Moeen strained an abdominal muscle when bowling in the defeat by Bangladesh while Woakes has a ‘stress reaction’ in his left foot. It is to be hoped England give games to the two players yet to appear in this World Cup: James Tredwell and Ravi Bopara, who could then be making their final ODI appearances. After the World Cup England must start from scratch with a one-day squad who will be at or near their peak in 2019. That means there is little point in persevering in 50-over cricket beyond tomorrow with the likes of Tredwell, Bopara, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad or Jimmy Anderson, who said on Wednesday he wants to play on. His is not a view shared by former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Young England quick Chris Jordan works up a sweat during a tough day of training in the Sydney sunshine . In his Evening Standard column Prior wrote: ‘Men like Ian Bell, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad... remain key members of the Test side, so perhaps it is time for them to concentrate solely on that form of the game, especially with an Ashes summer approaching.’ There is a familiar figure at the helm of the Afghan team in coach Andy Moles, the former Warwickshire batsman. He would have no qualms about piling on the misery for his homeland and said: ‘We still believe we’ve got a scare in us in this World Cup, especially if we show composure at the top of the order. If we hold our nerve and are at our best we can pull off a shock.’ +In a video recorded just before he attacked, the gunman who killed a Canadian soldier and then stormed Parliament said he did it because of Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. In a cellphone video, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau said his attack was 'in retaliation for Afghanistan and because [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper wants to send his troops to Iraq'. The 32-year-old Canadian made the video in his car just before last October's attack in Ottawa. Scroll down for video . In the video he made, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau said he opened fire in retaliation for Afghanistan and Iraq . Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, killed a man and opened fire on Parliament before he was gunned down himself in Ottawa . RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said he believes Zehaf-Bibeau (pictured both) was influenced by others . The Royal Canadian Mounted Police released the transcript from the video today. Police edited out the first 13 and last five seconds of the video for operational reasons. The edited sections were not included in the transcript. Releasing the entire video would have hurt the investigation, according to police. To those who are involved and listen to this movie, this is . in retaliation for Afghanistan and because Harper wants to send . his troops to Iraq. So we are retaliating, the Mujahedin of this world. Canada's officially become one of our enemies by fighting and . bombing us and creating a lot of terror in our countries and . killing us and killing our innocents. So, just aiming to hit . some soldiers just to show that you're not even safe in your own . land, and you gotta be careful. So, may Allah accept from us. It's a disgrace you guys have . forgotten God and have you let every indecency and things . running your land. We don't, we don't go for this. We are good . people, righteous people, believers of God and believing his law . and his Prophets, peace be upon them all. That's my message to . all of you in this, Inshallah, we'll not cease until you guys . decide to be a peaceful country and stay to your own and I-, and . stop going to other countries and stop occupying and killing the . righteous of us who are trying to bring back religious law in . our countries. Thank you. Victim: The 24-year-old Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was killed in the rampage . Zehaf-Bibeau's rampage began at Canada's war memorial, where he shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. The gunman was later shot to death by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons just steps from where Canada's prime minister and members of Parliament were meeting . Prime Minister Harper called it a terror attack and the bloodshed raised fears Canada was suffering reprisals for joining the US-led air campaign against Islamic State extremists in Iraq. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said he believes Zehaf-Bibeau was influenced by others and that the investigation is ongoing. He said: 'I wouldn't characterize it as network as it is commonly understood but I am persuaded that he was influenced by other individuals toward these crimes so in that sense I am of the view that others were involved.' Paulson said anybody who aided Zehaf-Bibeau in the attack will be charged with terrorism offenses, according to the CBC. He said: 'It's not relevant to us, or our investigation, what kind of terrorist Zehaf-Bibeau was, or if he was a particularly intelligent, sophisticated, influential or personally disciplined terrorist. 'To us, it all turns on the evidence we collect which we compare against the statute. 'What was he doing and why was he doing it?' Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said Zehaf-Bibeau was likely influenced by others . A photo released by the RCMP shows the .30-30 Winchester Model 94 rifle used by Zehaf-Bibeau in October . More than 130 full-time investigators and staff from the RCMP are working on the case. Other details from the investigation were also made public. Police revealed Zehaf-Bibeau used the internet and payphones to stay in contact with people in Ottawa and in British Columbia. Police have identified some of these individuals. The autopsy toxicology report showed Zehaf-Bibeau, who struggled with crack addiction, wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack. The evidence also 'does not speak to any mental health issues'. The gunman, who also held Libyan citizenship, became increasingly aligned with terrorist ideology in recent years while living in British Columbia and Alberta. Royal Canadian Mounted Police intervention teams responded to the shooting after gunfire was heard . Zehaf-Bibeau, who had a crack problem, wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack . Zehaf-Bibeau was involved with shootings at the War Memorial and at the Parliament. Police initially thought there was a shooting at the Rideau Centre mall, but have since said that was not the case . When Zehaf-Bibeau was killed in Parliament, he had a long knife tied to his wrist. He had toured the main Parliament building while posing as a tourist a couple of weeks before the attack. The attack in Ottawa came two days after a man described as an 'ISIL-inspired terrorist' ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring the other before being shot to death by police. The man had been under surveillance by Canadian authorities, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey. Unlike the attacker in the Quebec case, Zehaf-Bibeau was not being watched by authorities. In addition to the video, commissioner Paulson also revealed other details from the investigation today . 9.52am: Gunfire reported to emergency services at the National War Memorial. One reporter there said he saw a man shot and fall to the ground and another run. 9.54am: Gunfire breaks out in the Ottawa Parliament's Centre Block building . 9.56am: Multiple gunshots ring out inside the Parliament building and a reporter says he witnesses a body lying motionless on the ground outside the Library of Parliament. At the same time it is reported that a soldier has been shot at the War Memorial . 9.58am: Passersby witness CPR being urgently performed on the soldier as he lies stricken on the ground . 9.59am: A police source confirms that there is an 'active shooter' situation currently underway inside the Canadian Parliament. 10.00am: Heavily armed rapid response teams arrive at the Parliament Hill building . 10.04am: A number of witnesses at the War Memorial claim to see the soldiers assailant running towards Parliament Hill carrying a large rifle . 10.05am: Officers at the War Memorial shout 'there is a shooter on the loose' to the public and tell them to clear the area . 10.12am: Parliament Hill is put into official lockdown . 10.13am: Those who saw the shooter at the War Memorial say that he had dark hair, a dark complexion and a scarf on his head and was armed with a rifle. 10.18am: A grey Toyota Carolla is found with no front or back license plates. Witnesses claim to have seen two shooters emerge from it. 10.24am: A staff member at the Parliament cafeteria claims to have seen a man drive away from Parliament Hill in a black Chrysler and enter the building with a hunting rifle . 10.30am: Reports start emerging that the gunman at Parliament's Centre Block was shot and killed . 10.37am: Prime Minister Stephen Harper is confirmed to no longer be on the premises of Parliament Hill. 10.42am: Police say a shooter is still on the loose: 'There's an active shooter, we haven't got it contained yet.' 10.53am: RCMP advises citizens to 'stay off rooftops and away from windows in the downtown core' 10.54am: Reports of shootings by the Rideau Centre and a nearby hotel - although they later said there had been no incidents at these sites . 11am: Police say they are still searching for a shooter or shooters . Source: National Post . +Love does have a price - $32,100. A 1963 Volkswagen Beetle that was used in the Herbie the Love Bug film series sold on eBay for $32,100 on Thursday night. The white, four-speed vehicle was one of 23 cars to be featured in the 1980 film Herbie Goes Bananas. Scroll down for video . A 1963 Volkswagen Beetle that was used in the Herbie the Love Bug film series just sold on eBay for $32,100 . Disney built two cars for the floating down the Panama Canal scene, but one of them was destroyed . The Herbie films started in 1968 with the The Love Bug where Herbie is bought by Mrs Van Luitfor for her maid . The car, No. 16, was built for a scene where it floats down the Panama Canal. Disney built two cars for the scene, but the other one was destroyed. The car no longer floats, but 'he was rebuilt to be drivable after being discovered in a wrecking yard in California after being auctioned,' according to the listing. In addition to the bill of sale, the car comes complete with a binder about its history and exclusive photos. The car is registered in Texas and its glove box door is signed by actors Dean Jones and Joaquin Garay III from the film. Just like in the films, this Herbie has a few tricks up its hood. The car 'has a remote control that allows his headlights to move from side to side, his front blinkers to blink, his horn to honk, and his windshield squirter to spray at people as they walk by,' According to the seller, 'It is a blast to see everyone's reaction'. The glove box door is signed by Dean Jones (pictured) who played Jim Douglas in the Herbie films . The car has features which were signed by actors Dean Jones and Joaquin Garay III from Herbie Goes Bananas . The car has a remote control that allows his headlights to move from side to side and its horn to honk . The Herbie films started in 1968 with the The Love Bug where Herbie is first bought by San Francisco socialite Mrs Van Luit . for her maid, but returned shortly afterward and purchased by . race-driver Jim Douglas (Jones). Douglas's friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, names the car 'Herbie' after his uncle Herb. The little car had a mind of its own and is capable of driving itself - including becoming a serious competitor in racing competitions. +South Africa won their first knockout match ever in a World Cup as they cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their quarter-final on Wednesday. In what proved to be Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene’s final one-day international matches for Sri Lanka, South Africa showed they are not a side willing to hold on to the tag of ‘chokers’. An immense display with the ball, from spinners Imran Tahir and JP Duminy, and in the field helped South Africa bowl out their opponents for a paltry 133, before the under-pressure Quinton de Kock hit a sublime unbeaten 78. JP Duminy leaps in celebration as he claims the wicket of Tharindu Kaushal on his way to a hat-trick . South Africa celebrate the opening wicket of Kusal Perera in their dominant quarter-final win over Sri Lanka . Proteas fast bowler Kyle Abbott jumps for joy after catching the edge of Sri Lankan opener Perera . Keeper Quinton de Kock claims the catch as Sri Lanka's first wicket falls for just three runs . With all the pre-game talk being dominated about South Africa’s failure to win a single knock-out match since their reintroduction into international cricket 20 years ago, they looked like a team intent on proving they have the ability and nerve to go all the way. After Rangana Herath was ruled out for rest of the tournament, Tharindu Kaushal became only the second player ever to make his one-day international debut in a World Cup match as he took his place. Following Sri Lanka winning the toss, captain Angelo Matthews drew a likeness between the mystery spinner and Muttiah Muralitharan. But it was tough introduction to international cricket for the 19-year-old as Sri Lanka wilted under the pressure of a knockout game, a scenario South Africa are more than accustomed too. At a sun-bathed Sydney Cricket Ground, choosing to bat first seemed like it gave the 2011 World Cup finalists the edge but they collapsed to 4-2 after just four overs. Lahiru Thirimanne showed intent to reach 41 from 48 deliveries against a quality South African attack . Leg-spinner Imran Tahir celebrates after taking a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Thirimanne . Kusal Perera, who had been pushed to the top of the batting order in an attempt to take the attack to the South African bowlers, fell to the increasingly impressive Kyle Abbott. De Kock took a sensational one-handed diving catch, at the second attempt, after Perera edged behind for just three. And fellow opener Tilakaratne Dilshan fell for a duck as he edged a sharp Dale Steyn delivery that was caught by Faf du Plessis at slip, despite the ball dying on him. Lahiru Thirimanna then joined Sangakkara as the pair looked to resurrect and rebuild Sri Lanka’s innings. Despite having four consecutive hundreds to his name coming into the match, Sangakkara looked more like a player terribly out of touch and searching for runs. Having taken 16 balls to score his first run, it took 42 to hit his first boundary as the South Africans pushed for further breakthroughs. At the other end, Thirimanne was batting far more fluently and despite his partner’s troubles, Sri Lanka were finding their way back into the quarter-final. However, the introduction of the South African spinners proved to be the turning point. Kumar Sangakkara, in his last ODI match for his country, attempts to hold the inning together as wickets fall . Also in his final World Cup match, Mahela Jayawardene fell cheaply to the South African spinner for four . Jayawardene trudges off the Sydney Cricket Ground after Faf du Plessis took the catch from Tahir's bowling . South African all-rounder JP Duminy celebrates as he takes the wicket of Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews . Kumar Sangakkara's incredible form continued as the Sri Lankan veteran got off to another top start . But after three successive hundreds at the World Cup, Morne Morkel ended his innings on 45 off 96 balls . The constantly excitable Tahir took a simple caught-and-bowled as Thirimanne threw away his wicket to bring Jayawardene to the crease. Despite being 69-3, with two Sri Lankan legends at the crease playing alongside each other in an ODI for the 150th time, there was a feeling that they could still post a competitive total. But having made just four off 16 balls, Jayawardene walked off the cricket field for the last time in his career as Tahir had him caught at short midwicket. And it was South Africa’s fifth bowler, Duminy, who caused the greatest damage as he became the eighth player in World Cup history to take a hat-trick. A poor shot from Matthews, after he looked set, as he tried to whip a flighted delivery from outside off through midwicket was the 30-year-old’s first scalp from the last ball of his eighth over. Nuwan Kulasekara walked after the thinnest of edges was caught by De Kock before debutant Kaushal tried to play around the ball and was trapped plumb in front. Quinton de Kock opens up his shoulders as the South Africa opener takes to the Sri Lankan bowling . The left-hander sweeps on his way to 78 runs from just 57 balls as the Proteas chase down 133 . De Kock, keen to hit his way back in to form, celebrates reaching a sublime half-century . With Sangakkara’s batting partners deserting him the left-hander attempted to open up but having made 45 he holed out to deep mid-wicket off Morne Morkel. As Sri Lanka’s leading run-scorer trudged off the SCG in his last one-day international for his country there was a sudden downpour, as if even those in heaven were crying tears of sadness. Even with South Africa’s dismal knockout record, failing to score 134 seemed even beyond them and when Hashim Amla hit the first ball of the innings for four the omens seemed to be good for them. Despite having a previous high score of just 26 thus far in the World Cup, De Kock played fluently, hitting 12 fours on the way to making 78 off 57-balls. At the close of the match, South African captain AB de Villiers asked for Jayawardene’s shirt, a sign that every player knew the magnitude of losing a great player. For South Africa they executed their game plan perfectly, ticking every single box possible to show the watching world that they are serious World Cup contenders. +Celtic manager Ronny Deila has insisted that he has no regrets over publicly targeting a domestic treble in his first season as Celtic boss. The Norwegian has set the bar high and riled opponents by repeatedly saying he wants nothing less than a clean sweep. Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill are the only Parkhead managers in the club’s history to have achieved the feat. Celtic boss Ronny Deila will be hoping to get his hands on the Scottish League Cup this weekend . Deila believes he set his side a realistic target in trying to win a domestic treble . However, Deila defended the treble talk, saying: ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen? That you don’t reach your goals? ‘I can say I am happy to win one title this year and reach a goal. But that’s boring. You can say something else, but everybody knows the demands of this club. I have said that all season and there is so much hard work and so many games but we have a good chance to win a trophy on Sunday and we have prepared for that.’ The accepted practice for managers is to try to remove pressure and expectation from the shoulders of their players by playing down trophy talk, but Deila rejects that idea completely. ‘I learned at Stromsgodset that if you say you are satisfied to be number six then you come sixth. ‘If you say then that you only want to get to the cup final then you lose the cup final. ‘You have to say you want to win the league or League Cup. You have to reach for something. It’s in your head mentally. Martin O'Neill was the last manager to win the domestic treble at Celtic . ‘This club is so big and has such a good team that it’s possible. If I didn’t think it was possible I wouldn’t say it. But I know it’s possible and that’s why I set high goals and make high demands.’ Desperate to win his first trophy as Celtic manager, Deila has removed a ban on his daughters attending games following some early setbacks when they attended. ‘I have to be fair with them. They were at the Aberdeen game, away, standing with the supporters. It was a crazy experience for them. They just said that the supporters were crazy and they don’t look at the football match. They smelled of smoke and beer. But they will be here on Sunday.’ Famously pictured removing his clothes on the pitch after Stromsgodset avoided relegation, Deila says he has no plans to embarrass his daughters by repeating the feat if he wins on Sunday. ‘They are used to it. They’ve seen their father doing stupid things before. They are 15 years old and they are probably a little embarrassed about that. ‘They were there when I took off my clothes after that game. We were sitting on the couch the day after that game, watching it on television. It was not a great sight. If we win on Sunday you can expect a good celebration with the others. I will not take off my clothes.’ Celtic’s rearranged Premiership fixture with Dundee at Dens Park will now be played on April 22, with a 7.45pm kick-off, because of the Parkhead side’s Scottish Cup quarter-final replay. +Captain of St Mirren at 17 the course of Tony Fitzpatrick’s life altered on a January morning in 1983. The day he lost his six-year-old son. His previous existence had been blinkered, revolving around the mainstays of family, football and faith. His family was shattered by the death of son Anthony following a two year battle with acute myeloid leukaemia. Somehow, the football and faith - subjected to anguished, grief stricken examinations in the months which followed - survived. “I have always believed in God" reflects Fitzpatrick, sipping fizzy water in a coffee shop in Glasgow's west end. “But what happened to little Tony made me angry. I wondered how something like that could happen. Tony Fitzpatrick wants his book to serve as a legacy for the six-year-old son he lost to leukaemia . “It challenged my faith for a wee spell. It challenged how I felt. “There was anger, bitterness, every emotion you might associate with bereavement. “I just couldn’t understand why God had done it. Even to this day I still ask myself the question.” He sought refuge and answers in writing. Scribbled notes on his experiences and emotions became a habit. The outcome of his jottings is ‘The Promise, Together Again’, the 59-year-old’s first book. It features the adventures of Babakoochi Bear, the pet name he used for the son lost 32 years ago. The memories are undimmed by the passage of time. He remembers the awful weather most. Through the grey clouds and rain enveloping Glasgow’s Hospital for Sick Children he grasped for a silver lining. “I always remember my wife and I coming out to the car park after Tony died and there being most stunning rainbow I had ever seen. “Maybe I was looking for something. But the colours were so vibrant, it was stunning. To me it was a sign. A sign of.... something." A committed, church goer he interpreted the rainbow as a token of hope. Some kind of message from above. Yet in the months which followed he examined his faith and found it wanting. Rationalising what kind of kind of God might take the life of an innocent six-year-old child proved impossible. An uneasy, restless peace descended slowly. “Listen, after a time faith became a great comfort again. You don’t know where it comes from. But when you are in despair your beliefs offer you peace and help when you need it most. “But was that challenged for a time? Yes. Yes, it was. They say time is a healer. You hear that all the time. And it probably is to some degree. “But when you lose a child you never ever get over it. “You learn to live with it. But that’s all. “Tony died in 1983. But every day he is with me in my life. “I feel him all the time in the room. “I can sit with my eyes closed in a quiet space and I don’t see him. But I take comfort from the fact I feel he is there. “It never gets any easier. There are times all these years on when I still break down for no reason.” Former St Mirren captain Fitzpatrick (right) in action for his club against Celtic . When religion was no comfort for his loss, professional football filled the void. Fitzpatrick was just 24 when his child’s illness was diagnosed and 26 when he died. In the course of two and a half years maturity was thrust upon his shoulders in brutal fashion. “I had been very, very selfish,” he reflects now. “What the illness of my son did was make me realise there were things in life more important than football. “For 90 minutes you would play and then as soon as the game was over it was ‘right, I have to get to the hospital.’ “Ach, I still played after he died. But something was missing.” His career, until then, had been on an upward trajectory. He started under Sir Alex Ferguson at Love Street, appointed skipper as a teenager, before a move to Bristol City, where Roy Hodgson was the manager . He returned to Paisley after two years, flirting with a Scotland cap and winning a Scottish Cup winners’ medal in 1987. Fitzpatrick managed St Mirren twice and remains a respected, likable figure in Scottish football. His 642 appearances for St Mirren make him a club icon, yet grief took a yard from his legs. “I always tried my best. I played in a good St Mirren team with guys like McAvennie, Frank McDougal and Peter Weir – really good players. “We had good teams, we were in Europe and we won a Scottish Cup. “But I had always had a deep desire to be the best player I could be. When Tony took ill it wasn’t the same. “I remember beating Celtic 3-1 and things were going great. It was looking good. And then ‘bang.’ “He had been unwell for a couple of weeks. One night he was really bad and I came down for training the next morning and saw he wasn’t right. “I went back to the doctor and told him Tony had purple spots. That’s when the alarm bells rung. “Within minutes of taking him in we were sent to Yorkhill Sick Kids’ hospital. “He had septicaemia, meningitis and then they found the leukaemia. His prospects were awful. “We spent all our time in Yorkhill. We slept there. “In the course of two and a half years we had Tony at home for no more than three months.” Tuesdays and Thursdays were spent donating blood to improve the quality of his son’s remaining days. With Elizabeth went on to have another boy and a set of twins before the couple went their separate ways. A product of the West of Scotland before counselling became the fashiom, however, Fitzpatrick found it difficult to express himself beyond the football pitch. He wasn't the only one. “I remember when little Tony died that neighbours and friends didn’t know what to say to us. “They would cross the road because they couldn’t deal with it. “I was very conscious of it and later they would explain they didn’t want to cry or break down. “My daughter was nine when it all happened and I regret that I couldn’t express my feelings to her either. “The little soul was left to cope because I couldn’t speak about it. “It occurred to me then that a book might be a way of breaking down the barrier.” Babakoochi Bear, the star of ‘The Promise, Together Again’, dedicates himself to pursuing peace on earth while adressing the themes of grief, loss and the rainbow which appeared over Yorkhill in January 83.. Fitzpatrick concedes that writing was also a form of catharsis. His way of finding some inner peace. “People feel their grief in different ways,” he admits. “I’m not educated in any way, but I started to jot down ideas about Babakoochi Bear and that developed. “I waited a long time – but this was the right time. I had a huge urge to do it.” An initial print run of 1000 books, with professional illustrations, cost money and when it sells out Fitzpatrick will use the funds to print more. Further stories of Babakoochi Bear’s travails bulge from notebooks in his Glasgow home and the Waterstones branch closest to Paisley have agreed to stock the book aimed at 7-11 year olds. “I did it for Tony,” explains Fitzpatrick. “Listen, he was a normal wee boy – he could be a wee nightmare at times like any child. “But he made a big impact on a lot of people in a short time. And more than anything I want this book to serve as his legacy.” ‘The Promise; Together Again’ by Tony Fitzpatrick is available from www.babakoochibear.com . +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has made the stunning claim that his side would be better off in the Europa League next season, after repeatedly failing to make an impact in the Champions League. Tuesday night's 2-0 win in Monaco was not enough to prevent a last-16 exit as Arsenal lost out on away goals rule following their 3-1 first-leg defeat at the Emirates last month. And Wenger, who has been in the competition for 17 straight seasons, says that his side might even be better away from the top-tier competition in future given their recent trend of exiting almost as soon as the knockout stages have begun. Arsene Wenger had admitted that Arsenal might have a better chance of winning in the Europa League . Wenger's Arsenal side could only find two goals in Monaco on Tuesday, when they needed at least three . After repeated Champions League failure, Wenger has speculated about winning the Europa League in future . The third-placed team in each Champions League group - a fate that Wenger has never suffered - move into the Europa League rather than a total exit from Europe, and the Arsenal boss believes that might be a better silverware opportunity. When asked if these early exits were eating away at him, Wenger replied: 'Yes, but we were eliminated by teams who reached the final. Maybe it would be better not to pass the group phase and play the Europa League than to be eliminated in the last 16. We would have more chances to win a title.' When pressed for clarification, the Arsenal manager insisted this was meant to be a comment about the abrupt and unforgiving nature of the Champions League in its sudden-death phase rather than a serious realignment of ambitions. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for the Gunners as they looked to fight back from their first-leg defeat . Giroud celebrates putting Arsenal in front at the Stade Louis II to give the away side a bit of hope early on . Aaron Ramsey added a second goal for the Gunners but they could not find a third to send them through . The Welsh midfielder was a substitute on the night but came on to help Arsenal in their late charge . Wenger has never won a European trophy but perhaps the Europa League would offer a better opportunity . The Arsenal boss also told L'Equipe that he thought his team's performance was good but that they left themselves too much to do after a poor showing in London last month. 'The performance was good, it was a difficult task,' Wenger said. 'They surprised us in the first game because subconsciously we were too sure of ourselves. 'In the second half, we lacked a bit of freshness. I am very disappointed to be knocked out, of course, but I will remember a lot of positives from this game.' Alexis Sanchez went down under the challenge of Nabil Dirar in the penalty area but was booked for diving . Wenger was unhappy with the performance of referee Svein Oddvar Moen (second right) during the game . Wenger made it clear he was unhappy with the performance of referee Svein Oddvar Moen during a first half where Arsenal could have won a penalty when Alexis Sanchez went down inside the area and the home side were allowed to commit multiple fouls with no bookings handed out. 'I think his (Moen's) first half was very poor,' Wenger said. 'I just told him at half-time that I was not happy with some decisions.' 2015 - beaten by Monaco, last 16 . 2014 - beaten by Bayern Munich, last 16 . 2013 - beaten by Bayern Munich, last 16 . 2012 - beaten by AC Milan, last 16 . 2011 - beaten by Barcelona, last 16 . 2010 - beaten by Barcelona, quarter-final . 2009 - beaten by Manchester United, semi-final . 2008 - beaten by Liverpool, quarter-final . 2007 - beaten by PSV Eindhoven, last 16 . 2006 - beaten by Barcelona, final . 2005 - beaten by Bayern Munich, last 16 . 2004 - beaten by Chelsea, quarter-final . 2003 - Knocked out, second group stage . 2002 - Knocked out, second group stage . 2001 - beaten by Valencia, quarter-final . 2000 - Knocked out, first group stage . 1999 - Knocked out, first group stage . The closest Wenger has come to lifting the famous trophy was Arsenal's final defeat by Barcelona in 2006 . Wenger and his players watch on disappointed as Barcelona lift the trophy in Paris' Stade de France . VIDEO Jardim explains Wenger handshake snub . +Manuel Pellegrini's problems are mounting but he refused to concede the title despite suffering a hugely damaging defeat at Anfield. Coming so soon after losing 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League City needed a show of character against Liverpool but got the opposite, and the Manchester City manager admitted the performance was not good enough. The defeat leaves City five points behind Chelsea having played a game more, but Pellegrini saw City pull their dream of becoming champions out of the fire last season and he hopes history will repeat itself, even though time is running out. Manuel Pellegrini is refusing to accept defeat in the title race despite seeing Manchester City lose again . Pellegrini (left) looks on despondently as he shakes the hands of Brendan Rodgers (right) at full-time . ‘I think we never give up about the title,’ said Pellegrini. ‘We must try to improve our play first and after that try to win our next game. You never know in football what will happen. 'It is more difficult when you have less games and you continue with the same points. ‘But I don’t think the team can think about that. The team must think about how we can win the next game. 'There were a lot of problems. There were two goals from Liverpool, very good goals in the top corner. We missed three clear chances. It was a close game. ‘Liverpool played very well and they deserved to win. I am concerned about the whole team. We were playing very well against Stoke and Newcastle. Philippe Coutinho lets fly from range to score the winning goal for Liverpool against City . Hart is left helpless as Coutinho's effort rises above his outstretched hand and hits the back of the net . Liverpool were pegged back as Edin Dzeko finished off a delightful team passing move . 'We start this week against Barcelona and then (here), it was not our team, we cannot lose so many balls with the technical players we have. ‘That is more important to analyse than the performance of one player. It is more important to think as a team.’ If Pellegrini was disconsolate, Brendan Rodgers was exultant and he hailed Philippe Coutinho’s latest magical display as the Brazilian catapulted Liverpool firmly into the Champions League race. Liverpool extended their unbeaten run in the Barclays Premier League to an 11th game and Coutinho’s role in inspiring the win was crucial, not least when he scored a sublime 75th-minute goal. Coutinho’s influence on the team has grown in recent weeks, with three goals in his last seven appearances, and Rodgers feels the key to this consistency stems from him having peace of mind after signing a long-term contract last month. Liverpool boss Rodgers can't hide his joy at the final whistle as Liverpool edged out City . He had been spared the long trip to Istanbul for the Europa League tie against Besiktas in midweek and the benefits were obvious as his passing and movement tormented Pellegrini’s side. ‘It was a brilliant result and an equally brilliant performance,’ Rodgers enthused. What made Liverpool’s performance all the more meritorious, according to Rodgers, was that their preparations had been disrupted by the Europa League. They only returned to Merseyside at 4.30am on Friday yet finished the stronger side on Sunday. ‘It is a big win but we still have a lot of games to go,’ said Rodgers. ‘But it is a significant win for us, another three points. 'To prepare yourself for a game against the champions is no mean feat. You have to take your hat off to them, the performance was at a real top level.’ +Premiership Rugby has confirmed its longest-ever television rights deal after completing a four-year contract extension with BT Sport. The Aviva Premiership will be broadcast exclusively by BT until the end of the 2020-21 season, in a deal that will no doubt boost English clubs' spending power. The new BT deal is expected to help Premiership clubs in their ongoing battle to compete with cash-rich French sides in recruiting and retaining top talent. Dylan Hartley (centre)  raises the trophy for Northampton having won the 2014 Aviva Premiership . Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty hailed BT for helping increase TV audiences since gaining exclusive broadcast rights from Sky Sports 18 months ago. 'This is the longest TV agreement in the history of Premiership Rugby,' said McCafferty, confirming the extension with BT from 2017 to 2021. 'BT Sport has been a fantastic partner for English club rugby so we are delighted that we have been able to extend our relationship with them for a further four years. 'In the 18 months we have been on-air with them our live TV audiences have grown by 50 per cent so it is clear that the partnership is going from strength to strength.' BT Sport presenter Craig Doyle asks the questios for Ireland legend and rugby pundit Brian O'Driscoll . Premiership Rugby signed a £152million four-year deal with BT Sport in 2012, and it is understood the new contract will offer a significant increase on those terms. 'In almost two seasons of coverage broadcasting the Aviva Premiership BT Sport has set new standards for the live broadcast of rugby,' said McCafferty. 'Their innovative style has received great acclaim and we look forward to developing the partnership over the next six seasons. 'Aviva Premiership Rugby is in great health with a number of new commercial partners on board and it is testimony to the strength of the competition and our clubs that we have renewed more than two years before the current deal with BT Sport ends. England internationals Chris Robshaw (left) and Owen Farrell (right) pose with the Aviva Premiership trophy . 'We are enjoying a golden era for rugby in this country with the Rugby World Cup just around the corner and the game's re-entry in the Olympics in the summer of 2016. 'This announcement is another indication of the current strength of English rugby.' John Petter, chief executive of BT Consumer, expects BT Sport to continue to develop their Premiership Rugby coverage. 'We are absolutely delighted to be extending our partnership with Premiership Rugby, 2015 will be an amazing year for rugby in the UK and the popularity of rugby will continue to grow,' said Petter. 'We're delighted to be a part of this and that our customers can look forward to another six seasons of the Aviva Premiership on BT Sport.' +Few people expect Manchester City to go to Barcelona and overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. But here's 10 good reasons Manuel Pellegrini's men should travel in hope... 1 - CHELSEA PROVED MIRACLES CAN HAPPEN . Chelsea were 2-1 down on aggregate to Barcelona and down to only 10 men in their second leg at the Nou Camp in 2012 – and still went through. Goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta put Barca in control even before John Terry was sent off. Then, incredibly, Ramires scored on the stroke of half-time and after surviving immense pressure, Fernando Torres scored to book Chelsea's place in the final, which they went on to win. Chelsea sealed a place in the 2012 Champions League final by drawing 2-2 with Barcelona at the Nou Camp . 2 - PELLEGRINI CAN TAP INTO MALAGA . Barcelona lost their last game at the Nou Camp on February 21 to Malaga, the team that Manuel Pellegrini managed between 2010 and 2013. Pellegrini will be able to get all the inside info on how they did it and also used to work with the winning goalscorer, Juanmi. If Juanmi can slay Barcelona, there's not reason why Sergio Aguero can't follow suit. 3 - NO REASON TO FEAR . City captain Vincent Kompany knows what it feels like to score at the Nou Camp, Joe Hart saved a penalty from Lionel Messi three weeks ago and Yaya Toure won the Champions League with Barca alongside the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique. While the rest of the world regard Barca's players as demi-gods, City have been up against them before and shown they are human, or played with them. Joe Hart saved a late Lionel Messi penalty to keep his side in with a chance of progressing to the next round . 4 - EL CLASICO AWAITS . Coach Luis Enrique won't be thanking La Liga for the way they've worked out their fixture list because an even bigger match lies in store on Sunday when Barca meet Real Madrid in a potential title decider. The temptation not to play at 100 per cent against City will be there particularly as they already hold a 2-1 advantage from the first leg. It will be up to Pellegrini's side to take advantage if the Barca players have half an eye on the weekend. Barcelona boss Luis Enrique will have one eye on his side's upcoming match against Real Madrid . 5 - CITY BEST IN ADVERSITY . If there is one thing Manchester City have proved in recent times it's that they should never be written off. They were eight points behind Manchester United with six games to play in 2012 – and won the title. In 2014, they were three points behind Liverpool with three to play, and again came out on top. Most significantly, they have shown 'bouncebackability' in Europe too. They qualified from the group stages despite taking two points from their opening four matches and trailing 2-1 against Bayern Munich in their fifth match. Manchester City showed on the final day of the 2011-12 season that they are capable of springing a surprise . 6 - PROLIFIC AGUERO . Aguero has scored six goals in six Champions League ties this season, at a ratio of a goal every 76 minutes. If he scores again in the Nou Camp, City will be halfway there to overturning the first-leg deficit. Pellegrini believes Aguero has the ability to be considered the third-best player in the world behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. A match-winning performance to rank alongside his hat-trick against Bayern earlier in the tournament would go a long way to making that come true. City forward Aguero (he's at the bottom) has scored six goals in the Champions League this season . 7 - HISTORY ON THE SIDE OF ENGLISH CLUBS . It's not impossible for English clubs not to be represented in the last eight of the Champions League – but history shows it's very rare. Only once since 1996 have the quarter-finals taken place without a Premier League team. With Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal gone, all hopes rest on City now. They haven't always been the most popular team since Sheik Mansour's takeover but the club might thrive on the need to restore some national pride. Manchester City are England's last hope following Arsenal's exit from the Champions League on Tuesday . 8 - ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME . Manuel Pellegrini has been criticised for rigidly sticking to 4-4-2 in Europe and being outplayed in midfield, as he was against Barca in the first leg. But when Aguero was injured for the critical final group game away to Roma, he played Edin Dzeko as a lone striker and City comfortably won 2-0. If Pellegrini repeats the tactics – but with Aguero replacing Dzeko – and City crowd Barca in the middle of the park, there's no reason they shouldn't threaten the Catalans with the talent they've got in the team like David Silva. Spanish playmaker David Silva (centre) may be given the licence to roam if he plays behind Aguero . 9 - MANAGERIAL MIS-MATCH . Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is a Champions League novice as a manager – this is his first campaign in the tournament and he's never experienced a knockout second leg. In contrast Pellegrini has guided Villarreal to the semi-final, Malaga to the quarters and took City the Nou Camp last season where they lost 2-1 with 10 men. The Chilean knows what to expect – Enrique doesn't. Enrique is a novice when it comes to managing a side in the Champions League knockout stages . VIDEO Barca will attack - Enrique . 10 - YAYA MOTIVATION . Yaya Toure is available for Manchester City are serving a three-match European ban and couldn't be more motivated. For all the stealth of Barcelona's midfield with Ivan Rakitic, Busquets and Andres Iniesta, they haven't got the power to live with Toure if he is allowed to run at them. The Ivory Coast international has proved he's a big-match player – remember his incredible goal at Wembley in last season's Capital One Cup final – and this could be his defining match in a City shirt. Yaya Toure is available for selection after missing the first leg against his former side through suspension . PS here's three reasons why Manchester City should be fearful of Barcelona . +Wolves defender Sam Ricketts, 33, is considering joining Coventry City on loan. Ricketts has not featured for the Championship promotion contenders since November and has only made five appearances for the club in all competitions this season. The former Swansea City full-back is out of contract at Molineux this summer. Wolves defender Sam Ricketts is considering joining Coventry City on an emergency loan deal . Wolves boss Kenny Jackett said: 'They made an enquiry, I don't know what Sam's decision is. 'It'll be his decision and if he decides to pursue that the club will talk finances and length of time. 'The only thing available is an emergency loan anyway.' Ricketts signed for Wolves from Bolton in 2013 and has been a regular fixture in the Wales squad since being given his international debut by John Toshack against Hungary in 2005. Ricketts (bottom) has only five appearances for Wolves all season so far - with his last coming in November . +Scotland newcomer Matt Ritchie has revealed he thought he was the victim of a prank when Gordon Strachan first rang him about a call-up. The Bournemouth winger was the surprise name in the 26-man pool announced on Monday for the forthcoming friendly against Northern Ireland and Euro 2016 qualifier against Gibraltar. Ritchie was born in the Hampshire town of Gosport but qualifies for Scotland through his father Alex. Matt Ritchie, pictured celebrating against Derby County last month, has been named in the Scotland squad . Ritchie, who has scored 11 goals for Bournemouth this season, thought he was the victim of a prank call . The 25-year-old admits he has never actually been north of the border but – once he had recovered from his initial shock - convinced Strachan he was passionate about wearing a dark blue jersey. ‘I had a call a couple of weeks ago from the manager,’ said Ritchie. ‘That was a massive surprise and at first I thought it was a prank call. ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be involved and it’s a proud moment for me and my family. ‘To be involved with a national football team is a great achievement and a dream come true as a young footballer.’ Ritchie – who has scored 11 goals for the Championship leaders this season - also explained the background that made him eligible to be Strachan’s latest recruit. Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe recently handed Ritchie (centre) a new three-year contract . Scotland manager Gordon Strachan, pictured on Monday, rates Ritchie highly . ‘My dad was born in Edinburgh and so were my grandparents,’ he said. ‘My granddad was in the Royal Navy and they moved to England after he had been posted to Portsmouth, which is where I grew up. ‘I’ve still got relatives in Scotland but my aunties and uncles always seem to come down here to see my nan and granddad so I haven’t actually been to Scotland. But I’ve got family there and I’m sure they will come to the games if I’m involved. ‘My dad is over the moon. Hopefully he’ll be able to come to the games and watch me if I’m involved.’ Ritchie revealed his dad is 'over the moon' Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe recently handed Ritchie a new three-year contract and believes his record in terms of both goals and assists make him a genuine international contender. ‘We were aware that Gordon (Strachan) rates Matt highly,’ said Howe. ‘I’m really pleased for him because he has been consistent for us for a long time now. ‘There are only a few goal scorers and goal creators around and I think he deserves his call-up. It’s a good moment for him.’ Recent Celtic recruits Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven were notable omissions from Strachan’s squad, with both having impressed since their January moves from Dundee United. The Scotland boss, though, seemed to suggest the pair were simply carrying on at the same level they had been performing at while at Tannadice, asking: ‘Have they kicked on? Or are they the same players they were five or six months ago?’ But Celtic assistant manager John Collins admitted he thought they had done enough to earn a place in the squad, saying: ‘I have got to be honest, I am surprised that they were not called up. ‘They have done very well for us but the their time will come. They are young players and I have no doubt they will get themselves into Scotland squads of the future. ‘In the six or seven weeks they have been here, their performances out on the pitch and in training have been excellent. ‘They have lots of talent and are only going to get better with age. ‘Gordon has got lots of good players to pick from and it’s a tough job. But their time will come.’ +Liverpool may be forced to play on their deteriorating pitch for another season because of Anfield's redevelopment. Manager Brendan Rodgers has frequently bemoaned the state of the iconic playing surface which is struggling to withstand the wear and tear of the season. Opposition players have also complained. Rodgers has called the surface 'awful' and this week said: 'We need to do something about the pitch because we need a better pitch if we are going to play the game we are playing.' The Anfield playing surface was given a ten-year lifespan but is now 14 years old . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes a new playing surface would hugely help his side out . There is no sprinkler system with a hose to water the pitch before matches at Anfield . Liverpool's owners acknowledge the problem but cranes are scheduled to be on the pitch during June as contractors step up work on the new £100million main stand to add 8,500 extra seats to Anfield’s capacity. The current pitch is a Desso GrassMaster but it was given a ten-year lifespan and is now 14 years old. Groundstaff have been forced to to patch it up each season. The drainage and irrigation system dates back even further to 1998. There is no sprinkler system with a hose used to water the pitch before matches. Anfield's redevelopment work could mean that the pitch cannot be replaced anytime soon . Even if Liverpool were able to put in new drainage prior to the cranes moving in there are fears the weight of the machinery could potentially burst the piping. Consequently, Liverpool may have to continue playing on the same surface in 2015/16 before it can be ripped up and replaced when the stand is completed in the summer of 2016. +Ben Stokes has been recalled by England on Wednesday in a Test squad for the Caribbean which also includes six Yorkshiremen. England have named a 16-man party for the three-Test series next month that includes the Durham all-rounder who was left out of the disastrous World Cup campaign. Stokes emerged as the most exciting young talent in the English game when he scored a maiden Test century in the third Ashes Test in Perth but then endured a miserable year after breaking his wrist when punching a locker in frustration after being dismissed in Barbados. All-rounder Ben Stokes has been recalled for the England Test squad for the upcoming West Indies tour . All-rounder Stokes has remained in the thoughts of selectors and performed well for the England Lions in South Africa (above left) - he has been brought back amid fitness concerns over Chris Woakes . His all-round form was so bad that he was left out of the World Cup but England have now decided to bring him back into the fold with fitness concerns over Chris Woakes. Stokes' uncapped Durham team-mate Mark Wood also travels to St Kitts on April 2 as does Adam Lyth, Adil Rashid, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Plunkett in a squad that reflects Yorkshire’s status as the best county for producing talent. The four Yorkshire players join their more established county colleagues Joe Root and Gary Ballance. Jonathan Trott, captaining the Lions in January,  has been recalled by England for their  tour of West Indies . Yorkshire's contingent includes established Test batsman Joe Root, who endured a tough World Cup . Gary Ballance, here during a training session at the World Cup, is another product of the Yorkshire system . VIDEO We take responsibility for exit - Morgan . Wood, 25, is an exciting fast bowler whose progress has been restricted by injury but who has impressed outgoing England bowling coach David Saker and the man who may replace him Ottis Gibson. Lyth has also been rewarded for prolific county form, a more mature Rashid than the man who first toured with England six years ago will travel as all-round spin-bowling back-up and Bairstow pips Kent’s exciting young talent Sam Billings as back-up wicketkeeper. Jonathan Trott, as first revealed in Sportsmail, returns for the first time since a mental condition later diagnosed as situational anxiety caused him to leave England’s ill-fated last Ashes tour after the first Test in Brisbane. Opener Adam Lyth (left) has been rewarded for his prolific county form and Adil Rashid is back in the fold. Lyth's teammate Richard Pyrah tweeted his congratulations, below . Jonny Bairstow (left) pips Sam Billings to be back-up wicketkeeper and Liam Plunkett (right) returns . Stokes' uncapped Durham team-mate Mark Wood also travels with the England squad to St Kitts on April 2 . Alastair Cook will return as captain for a three-Test tour that England desperately need to win after being embarrassingly eliminated from the first round of the World Cup. Ian Bell, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan and James Anderson all retain their spots from the team that beat India at the Kia Oval in August. Peter Moores looks sure to remain in his coaching job for now but cannot afford any slip ups against what will be a West Indies side weakened by the Indian Premier League. Chris Gayle, their best player, is also expected to retire from international cricket after the World Cup. Alastair Cook (Captain), Jonathan Trott, Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wkt), Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, James Tredwell, Liam Plunkett, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, James Anderson, Mark Wood. +Howard Webb has been promoted to a new role as performance director for England's professional referees and will be the man who selects officials for Premier League matches. Webb, 43, who retired as a referee last year after a career which included taking charge of the 2010 World Cup final, has been appointed performance director for the Select Group of referees - the 17 full-time professional officials. He takes over from 69-year-old Keren Barratt, who had been due to retire but is moving into a different role. Former referee Howard Webb will select referees for Premier League games in his new position . The highlight of Webb's referee career came when taking charge of the 2010 World Cup final . Webb, who had been working as technical director for Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) since retiring as a referee, will now take responsibility for managing the Select Group. PGMOL will also appoint an additional referee coach to work directly with Webb. Webb will continue to report to PGMOL general manager Mike Riley, who said: 'Howard's role as technical director this season has enabled him to obtain an excellent understanding of the organisation, our officials and the strong work of our support team. 'What has also become clear is that Howard has a natural flair for coaching and his extensive experience of the Premier League means he's expertly placed to lead and further develop the high standards of the Select Group.' Former referee and PGMOL general manager Mike Riley (centre) values Howard's 'natural flair for coaching and experience of the Premier League' +Andre Schurrle has blamed his unimpressive return to the Bundesliga on the lack of training he received during his time at Chelsea. The World Cup winner left Stamford Bridge for Wolfsburg in a £22million deal in January, having previously starred for Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen in the German league. After a bright start, setting up two goals against Hoffenheim on his debut, the 24-year-old admits he is 'stuck in a hole' after failing to make any impact in his last nine games. Andre Schurrle is introduced to ice hockey by girlfriend Montana York at a Grizzly Adams match . Speaking to Bild, Schurrle suggested his poor form was a repercussion of his time spent at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho. 'I'm still missing the last per cent,' he said. 'At top English clubs during the season the players are hardly loaded with any training, since it's almost all about regeneration and tactics. 'In England you can get your fitness through the season with the games. At Chelsea because we had the championship, Champions League and the different club competitions, we played every three days.' The German forward has made an unimpressive return to the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg . Schurrle has suggested that a lack of training under Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge is to blame . The 24-year-old left the Blues for rising Bundesliga team Wolfsburg for £22million in January . 'In England there is no winter break. In the summer I had after the World Cup just two weeks of preparation. In January I had in the two weeks of the change almost no training because of back problems.' Former Chelsea midfielder and Wolfsburg team-mate Kevin de Bruyne empathises with the German forward after suffering his own struggling start before impressing with 14 goals this term. 'I know it is hard for him, it was no different for me so I am not worried,' De Bruyne told Wolfsburger Nachrichten. However, Mohamed Salah has taken no time to settle at Fiorentina after joining the Italians on loan from Chelsea in February, scoring six goals in eight games for his new club. Meanwhile, Schurrle's girlfriend Montana York appears to be taking her beau's mind off things by introducing him to ice hockey at a recent Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams game. The pair shared pictures wearing the team's colours on their Instagram accounts, with York commenting: 'finally a sport where I can teach him all the rules and terms'. York congratulates her boyfriend after he provided the assist for the winner in the 2014 World Cup final . +Boxing fans worldwide have picked an emerald green, diamond-encrusted belt to be strapped around the waist of either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao at the conclusion of their $300million fight of the century in Las Vegas on May 2. The WBC held a public vote to choose between an onyx belt of unusual design or their more traditional green world champion belt, with the latter winning by a margin of just six per cent. The cost of the belt is likely to be upwards of $1m. Fans chose this emerald belt as the one which will adorn the winner of the fight of the century on May 2 . Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao will end up wearing the $1million emerald belt at the end of their fight - this image does not show the version that includes pictures of the two fighters . Costing upwards of $1million, this WBC world champions belt features images of former WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, Mayweather, Pacquiao and legendary heavyweight Muhammad Ali along the strap. The treasured memento comes as a bonus to the winner of a fight for which Mayweather is expected to receive $180m and Pacquiao $120m. In a statement the WBC said: 'This exquisite masterpiece is especially designed by the World Boxing Council, for a unique bout that is already gracing the pages of boxing history. 'In order to appropriately recognise the winner of this titanic and epic event on May 2, emeralds have triumphed. 'The World Boxing Council is very grateful to the multitude of fans that participated in this process, voting on our web page, to choose the historic belt Mayweather or Pacquiao will proudly possess.' Mayweather and Pacquiao go head-to-head at the MGM Grand in their Las Vegas super-fight on May 2 . VIDEO Mayweather and Pacquiao camps exchange verbal blows . +Kevin Pietersen would 'love' to return to county cricket and the England set-up - and has hinted he could change his Indian Premier League commitments to make it happen. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has challenged him to turn his back on that contract to prove his desire to play for England again and Pietersen's comments on the BBC's Test Match Special on Wednesday suggest he is considering that option. 'I have expressed my interest in trying to get back into the fold, it's something I want to do,' he said. 'There's a few things that need tinkering with, but I do want to make the right decision.' Kevin Pietersen has hinted he could change his IPL contract in a bid to push for an England place . After playing for the Big Bash League's Melbourne Stars, Pietersen's signed with the Sunrisers Hyderabad . 'I've got to explore the options, I would have loved to have had it done sooner. I don't know how it's going to happen; I just have to wait and see. 'I'm in no rush because I really want to make the runs. I would love to get county runs. 'If I can do anything that can help me get back into it for England then it's something I want to do. I love playing for England.' Pietersen's return to county cricket appears to be more imminent than he suggests though after Kumar Sangakkara revealed he is expecting to play alongside him at Surrey this summer. Kumar Sangakkara appeared to confirm Pietersen's return to Surrey this season after Sri Lanka bowed out of the World Cup in a convincing defeat by South Africa . No deal has yet been confirmed, but after his Sri Lanka side bowed out of the World Cup with defeat by South Africa, Sangakkara appeared to let the cat out of the bag when he told Sky Sports World Cup: 'I'm looking forward to playing at Surrey and working with (coach) Graham Ford, and KP's coming back I hear so that'll be very exciting in the dressing room.' Pietersen has not played for England since the Ashes tour of 2013/14, after which he was sacked and labelled 'disengaged' by England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton. Pietersen has not played for England since the Ashes tour of 2013/14 after which he was dropped . His controversial autobiography set him further on a collision course with many in the dressing room but incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves appeared to open the door to a recall in a recent interview. Graves told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme on March 1 that 'the first thing he has to do if he wants to get back is start playing county cricket', adding that the decision is 'down to the selectors and I will support their decisions'. Pietersen has since been linked with several counties, among them Leicestershire and his most recent employers Surrey. He has signed with Sunrisers Hyderabad for this year's IPL, which would significantly affect his availability for the start of the English domestic season. South African-born Pietersen, 34, has played 104 Tests for his adopted country and scored 8,181 runs, adding another 5,616 in 173 limited-overs appearances. +Aston Villa face a major FA inquiry, a substantial fine and the threat of a ground closure after West Bromwich Albion players appeared to be assaulted as the FA Cup quarter-final at Villa Park descended into chaos with an unrestrained pitch invasion joined by thousands of Villa fans. In alarming scenes, which were a throwback to the football hooliganism of the Seventies and Eighties, West Brom players were left defenceless as fans rushed on to the pitch. Scorer Fabian Delph claimed he was bitten, while Boaz Myhill, Craig Dawson and Callum McManaman all appeared to be barged aggressively, and the latter seemingly struck on the back of the head by one fan as Dawson attempted to shepherd him off. VIDEO Scroll down to see the moment a match official ran for his life during pitch invasion . Aston Villa supporters stormed the pitch following the club's FA Cup victory over West Brom on Saturday . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-finals . The Midlands club could face an FA probe after hundreds of fans stormed the Villa Park pitch . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way off the field following the full-time whistle . In a comprehensive breakdown of crowd control, Villa fans had even invaded the pitch in injury time with their team leading 2-0, with referee Anthony Taylor having to stop the game and West Brom forced to play the final minutes with fans spilling on to the pitch and gathered on the touchline. On the final whistle, thousands of fans came on and even Villa players were threatened by the melee. Villa captain Delph, who scored the first goal in the 2-0 win, said: 'It was very, very scary. My armband got nicked, some got my boot but I could appreciate the relief the fans are feeling after a result like that. People tried to kiss me, and were biting me. It was dangerous.' Villa seemed to exacerbate the problem by playing the celebratory song 'Que Sera Sera' over the PA while fans were still streaming on to the pitch, and put a video of fans celebrating on the pitch on their official Twitter feed. Meagre numbers of police and stewards attempted to deal with the hundreds who invaded the field of play . A club statement read: 'The club does not condone supporters invading the field of play under any circumstances. 'We are very disappointed that what should have been a very memorable and proud moment for our fans was marred by the actions of those who could not control themselves. 'They have let both themselves and their club down. 'The club extends its sincere apologies to the Football Association, the West Bromwich Albion directors, manager Tony Pulis and all his staff and players.' West Brom manager Tony Pulis said: 'It's disgraceful. We don't want to see those scenes. They've beaten us and for that to happen, that's just mindless idiots. If you're Villa, you need to look at the stewards as they came over to our fans and there was nobody there. 'Aston Villa should look at the stewarding. It's a quarter-final, it's a full house and you know it's going to be tasty. So you should have stewards both ends of the pitch. 'Supporters were coming on with a few minutes to go. They were congregating at the ends anyway a few minutes from time, so it puts player at danger and you don't want to see that. We were seeing that in the Seventies and Eighties and we don't want to see that. 'I'm sure the FA will look at it without be poking my nose into it. If you ask me from a football point of view, if you had a load of stewards then it would be sorted out. Most of the grounds in the Premier League are well stewarded. I'm sure Villa are disappointed this has happened.' Scorer Scott Sinclair (second left) is mobbed by a fan and team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish . Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood admitted he could understand the fans' emotions after the victory . Asked whether any West Brom players had been assaulted, Pulis said: 'I don't know. I didn't ask them. Everyone looked as though they had their heads and arms on. They looked OK to me. They got in, intact. It's happened. I'm more concerned with trying to stop it before it happens.' West Midlands Police confirmed on Sunday that they had arrested 17 men for various public order offences, including one on suspicion of assaulting an officer, and authorities are also investigating an incident in a nearby pub before the game. A police statement read: 'We carried out a large policing operation for the FA Cup yesterday evening (March 7) to ensure supporters could enjoy the game in a safe environment. 'During the course of the operation 17 men were arrested for various public order offences. An investigation has been launched to identify people involved in a disturbance before the match at the Witton Arms pub. 'Anyone who saw what happened should contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. 'We will also be supporting the Football Association to identify people involved in pitch invasions that happened at the end of the match.' The FA, who are believed to have had a 'crowd control advisor' present, will begin investigations tomorrow, asking Villa for their observations and their plans for stewarding. West Midlands Police will also submit evidence and the report of referee Taylor will be taken into consideration. Though Villa had a significant presence of stewards by the West Brom fans, there were far fewer by the Holte End where the Villa fans sit and they were quickly overcome by the scale on the invasion. West Brom boss Tony Pulis believes Aston Villa need to look at their stewarding following Saturday's incidents . Fans sing and chant on the pitch following Aston Villa's win during what has been a disappointing season . The FA can impose a range of sanctions from ground closure to fines, if the club have been considered negligent. There is no prospect of Villa being thrown out of the tournament but any ground closure or reduction in capacity could affect the team in their fight against relegation. The most likely outcome would seem to be a fine in the region of £100,000. Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood said: 'I didn't know West Brom players had been hit. I can understand the emotions of the fan beating their local rivals twice in a week but you can't condone fans coming on the pitch. We don't condone it, especially if anyone was touched. 'What can you do? The stewards did their best. I saw them rugby tackling a few guys. But when they're coming in such numbers it's difficult to stem it. 'It has been a good week. I'd rather talk about the football. The players want to dedicate the victory to the fans because they've had some hard times here. And we're going to need those fans. It's been a very good week but here's stil a lot of hard work and we need those fans every step of the way.' Mark Lawrenson, who was co-commentator for BBC1's coverage added: 'It's like a scene from the 1980s all over again. Absolutely ridiculous.' West Brom fans also acted irresponsibly, ripping out several seats in the away section and launching them onto the Villa fans below when Scott Sinclair scored the second goal. Goalscorer Fabian Delph claims fans nicked his captain's armband as well as his left boot during the invasion . The scene at Villa Park as hundreds of jubilant fans stormed the pitch shortly after the final whistle . One fan swings on the Villa Park crossbar as Tim Sherwood's side booked their place at Wembley . +A desperate woman tried to smuggle her baby past airport security in Papua New Guinea in a backpack, as she did not correct immigration papers for her son to leave the Philippines. The two-month-old was discovered by shocked staff at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, as he was picked up by the X-ray machine. According to ABS-CBN News, the child was soundly asleep when he was found by security at NAIA Terminal 1. The two-month-old baby gave staff the shock of their lives, when he showed up on the X-ray machine at customs . The mother was identified at nursing graduate, Jennifer Pavolaurea, 25, who was departing for Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on an Air Niugini flight. The assistant general manager for security and emergency services of the airport, Vicente L. Guerzon Jr, said the woman had been detained for questioning and admitted the lack of clearance papers for the child. The single mother and her son were eventually allowed to leave the airport and no charges were filed. The single mother, 25, reportedly did not have immigration papers for her son to travel to Papua New Guinea from the Philippines . Travelers walk to their gates at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, in Manila, Philippines, (left). The mother was scheduled for a flight with Air Niugini flight . This is not the first time a baby has been hidden in a bag in an attempt to be smuggled on a plane. In 2012 an Egyptian couple arrived at Sharjah International Airport in Egypt without the correct immigration papers. They were told they would be held in the airport for a few days, so decided to risk their chances and put their child in a bag. This Egyptian couple also attempted to sneak their baby through customs in a bag at Sharjah International Airport in 2012 . Stowaway: The five-month-old was discovered as they went through customs by the X-ray machine, and the couple were arrested for endangering their baby's life . +A dentist investigating a schoolgirl with swollen gums was horrified to discover more than a dozen maggots living inside her mouth. Ana Cardoso, 10, had been taken to the clinic in Brazil after complaining of a tingling sensation in her gums and things 'moving around'. Her stunned mother Adriana, 35, said: 'She had been saying for a few days that she felt something moving around in her mouth and at first I thought she was joking. 'I couldn't see anything and she didn't seem to be in pain. Ana Cardoso, 10, had been taken to the clinic in Brazil after complaining of a tingling sensation in her gums and things 'moving around' 'But then it started getting worse and no matter how much we brushed her teeth she said she still felt something. 'I know my daughter and she is not one to make up stories or lie, so eventually I took her to see a dentist.' There, Ana, from the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, was diagnosed with a rare form of oral myiasis. This is a fly lava maggot infection that grows in humans and animals. 'I couldn't believe it when they said she had a disease and then started pulling the maggots out,' said Ms Cardoso. 'I thought I was going to be sick.' A spokesman for the dental surgery said: 'There were 15 maggots in her mouth so we videoed the removal for our records as it is a rare occurrence. 'We also wanted to show the girl's family what had happened and warn others.' The video shows Ana's reaction as a surgeon in white gloves takes out one maggot at a time with a pair of tweezers. Ms Cardoso said: 'She was actually very calm throughout the whole process but I suspect that was more out of helplessness. 'I mean, what else could she do?' Myiasis comes from the Latin word 'myia' meaning fly and 'iasis' means disease. The flies' larvae can feed on the host's living or dead tissue, liquid body substance, or ingested food. When the tissues in the oral cavity are invaded by parasites, this is known as oral myiasis. Those at risk of the rare condition include those from poorer social backgrounds and people who have suffered wounds or other injury to the face. It is also more common in regions with a warmer climate. Infestations of the nose and ears are dangerous because of the possibility of penetration into the brain, the fatality rate is 8 per cent in such cases. +Manchester City will ramp up their interest in Kevin de Bruyne when director of football Txiki Begiristain watches Wolfsburg's Europa League match with Inter Milan on Thursday night. The Barclays Premier League champions have long been interested in the 23-year-old Belgian playmaker, who joined the Bundesliga side from Chelsea in January 2014, and Wolfsburg are braced for an offer. De Bruyne is enjoying an excellent season, scoring 14 goals and contributing 23 assists across all competitions and Wolfsburg understandably want him to commit until 2020. Manchester City have stepped up their interest in Wolfsburg's £35m-rated Kevin de Bruyne . The Belgian has been in excellent form in his first full Bundesliga season since joining from Chelsea . Jose Mourinho deemed De Bruyne surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge last year . But City are impressed and could be willing to pay up to £35m to bring him back to the Premier League. French champions Paris Saint-Germain would also like to sign him. Meanwhile, the former Nottingham Forest, PSV Eindhoven and Holland goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen believes De Bruyne has matured into the 'most complete midfielder in the world.' Van Breukelen, who serves on the PSV board, believes De Bruyne is better than their own star Memphis Depay. He said: 'Everyone in the Netherlands adores Memphis Depay but then I calm them by saying that Kevin De Bruyne is doubly good. He is not the perfect No 10, nor the ideal winger, but I think De Bruyne currently is the most complete midfielder in the world. Manchester City's director of football Txiki Begiristain will watch Wolfsburg's game with Inter Milan . Hans van Breukelen believes De Bruyne is better than PSV and Holland's Memphis Depay . 'Even among the three best clubs in the world at the moment - Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich - he would be a starter. Why not? Tackling, scoring, passing, running, fighting, he can do it all and he does it all with much flair. 'It is said that you do not win the Champions League with 11 Messis. But with 11 Kevin de Bruynes you will be very close to this.' De Bruyne scored twice and set up Wolfsburg's other goal in their 3-1 first-leg win over Inter. +Tim Sherwood has called on Gabriel Agbonlahor to repeat his derby heroics and insisted he is crucial to Aston Villa's survival bid. The forward scored just his fourth goal of the season in Villa's 2-1 win over West Brom on Tuesday, which lifted them out of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone. They face the Baggies at Villa Park again on Saturday in the FA Cup quarter-final following Christian Benteke's last-minute penalty winner. Gabby Agbonlahor salutes the Villa Park crowd in celebration after opening the scoring against West Brom . Agbonlahor threads the ball through Ben Foster's legs to give the hosts the lead in the Midlands derby . Agbonlahor has been criticised for inconsistent performances in recent years but Sherwood believes he can now be Villa's trump card. He said: 'It's about this time when Gabby normally comes out and starts keeping this team in the league. 'I had a lot of chats with him, a lot of chats with Christian and every player. The strike partnership outside the top six, they've got to be the best two. 'But on paper doesn't make any difference, you have to go and prove it and go and do it. 'It shouldn't be ignored and I think it was appreciated by the fans the other night, they were singing his name, you can't imagine how much players grow from that. I've managed one of the hottest strikers in English football at the moment, Harry Kane, he had to win over those Tottenham fans.' Tim Sherwood said that Agbonlahor would be key to Aston Villa's Premier League survival . The Villa manager said he thought his strikers were the bets outside of the Premier League's top four . Sherwood wants to tap into Agbonlahor, Villa's record Premier League goalscorer with 70, and admitted he made special plans to combat the 28-year-old while Tottenham boss last season. 'Absolutely,' he said, when asked whether he identified Agbonlahor as key to Villa. 'Every game I've told him to play on the shoulder and look to get in behind, because once he gets in behind you he's very quick and hard to stop. 'He's had a lot of games now, a lot of experience, and I'm saying: 'Just go out there and play where you think you can hurt them, you take up positions'. Agbonlahor beat Foster for a second time but Joleon Lescott raced back to clear the ball off the line . Agbonlahor reacts after Foster almost dropped the ball over his own goal line in their recent match . 'I brought Sandro back into the team (last season) to sit in that pivot, everyone else went forward. We had three defenders to look after the counter-threat of Agbonlahor.' Sherwood is without the suspended Alan Hutton but could welcome back Ron Vlaar after a calf problem, with the skipper being assessed. Aly Cissokho, Kieran Richardson and Nathan Baker are out but Sherwood will take a repeat of Tuesday's drama against the Baggies. He added: 'If I knew the outcome of the script, I would have taken that, win 2-1, local derby, 94th minute, two strikers scoring, blooding a young kid (Jack Grealish) for 35 minutes - the longest he's played on the pitch - I don't think I could have dreamt it up.' +Christian Benteke is out of Aston Villa's FA Cup clash with local rivals West Bromwich Albion after sustaining a minor hip injury in training. The Belgian striker scored a nerveless stoppage-time penalty to inflict defeat on West Brom in the Premier League on Tuesday and Tim Sherwood hoped he would carry the momentum into the repeat tie at Villa Park. But he picked up a knock before Saturday and is missing from the Villa squad entirely, with Scott Sinclair coming in as a replacement. Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke will miss the FA Cup quarter-final clash with rivals West Brom . Benteke has been removed from Villa's match-day squad entirely due to a minor hip injury . Writing in the match day programme, Sherwood said: 'It's unusual to play the same team twice in the space of a few says, never mind your local rivals, but having won the first one we remain just as determined to win this one. 'We know it will be a difficult game but with a sell-out crowd behind us we are hoping to win the game and make sure we are in the hat for the next round.' Benteke scores a goal past Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul at St James' Park, but it is disallowed . +A Chicago man accused of stabbing his roommate and biting off a piece of his ear has been found in Texas. Ross Jacobs, 27, is charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his roommate with a butcher's knife multiple times as he slept around 3am in their apartment near the University of Chicago. The former graduate student at the institution, who is originally from the city's northern suburbs, is mentally ill and on medication, according to the Chicago Tribune. Ross Jacobs,  27, was arrested in Dallas County on Monday (right) for an incident last week in which he allegedly stabbed his roommate multiple times and bit off a piece of his ear . Jacobs's roommate survived that attack in their apartment on South Hyde Park (pictured) near the University of Chicago . Jacobs had seen his father in Memphis on Saturday before heading further south, investigators said. He was arrested in Dallas County, more than 900 miles and 14 hours driving from Chicago, on Monday after withdrawing money from an ATM . The suspect's roommate, also 27, survived the attack on Friday but had serious injuries. His neighbor described Jacobs as having 'his own mind in his own world.' 'I've always encountered this guy and I'm always on alert when I see him or approach him or whether he's approaching me,' Delaney Gentle told ABC7. Chicago police believed that Jacobs could have been armed and dangerous. Chicago police have been looking for Jacobs since Friday, and he is believed to have seen his father in Memphis on Saturday before heading to Texas . The circumstances behind his arrest are not known. Despite the suspect's everyday behavior being described as 'not of a normal person,' he had an impressive academic track record before leaving University of Chicago in 2013. Jacobs was an undergraduate at Bowdoin College in Maine, where he graduated with a major in political philosophy in 2010. He won a scholarship from the conservative Phillips Foundation and wrote a column for the student newspaper in addition to reviving the college's literary debate society. The student attended New Trier High School, part of a district that regularly ranks among the best in the country. +Manchester City go into Wednesday night's Champions League game against Barcelona knowing that only a win - and a win in which they score twice - will be enough to secure progress. It might therefore worry them to know that beating Barcelona is something that their manager, Manuel Pellegrini, has failed to manage since 2008. Pellegrini has now managed three clubs without any successes against Barca, losing all of his games so far as manager of City to match his record at Real Madrid, and managing just a single draw when in charge of Malaga. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has lost 12 of his last 13 games against Barcelona . The last time Pellegrini beat Barcelona, in 2008, Yaya Toure was playing for the Spanish club . In fact, you have to go back to March 2008, more than eight years ago, to find Pellegrini's last win over Barcelona, on a day that his star man Yaya Toure was lining up for the Nou Camp outfit. As Villarreal boss Pellegrini did manage four wins against Barca, while drawing three times and losing the remaining five of his twelve games. However, only the last of those wins came away from home, and none of them in the Champions League, while his career record against Barcelona sees him triumph only 16 per cent of the time. City know they need to produce something special to progress - if they do beat Luis Enrique's team by the required margin, it will not just be a remarkable achievement for the club, but also for their manager. City trail 2-1 going into their game at the Nou Camp after Luis Suarez's double at the Etihad stadium . Pellegrini has lost all of his three matches against Barca as Manchester City manager . The Chilean never managed a win over the Catalans in his time at Real Madrid or Malaga . VIDEO Pellegrini defiant over City future . +Sevilla's pursuit of La Liga's top four was boosted by a 3-0 victory over Elche at the weekend, but the victory has gained notoriety thanks to a player that did not even make it onto the pitch. Fernando Navarro, a defender who was part of Spain's Euro 2008 winning team, appeared to decide upon relieving himself on the substitutes bench during his team's victory. A video shows Navarro grabbing an empty bottle before holding a jersey over his waist, with the help of striker Carlos Bacca, who had been taken off after scoring twice for his team. Carlos Bacca (right) holds up a jersey as team-mate Fernando Navarro has a toilet break in the dugout . Fernando Navarro (left) closes down Real Madrid's Colombia international attacker James Rodriguez . Defender Navarro (right) vies for possession of the ball with Atletico Madrid midfield player Gabi . Navarro must have thought he would get away with not being seen, and not having to go to his team's dressing room, but a camera caught the entire incident. Sevilla are four points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league, with eleven games remaining in the season. But Sevilla face difficult opposition in their next game on Sunday. They travel to sixth-placed Villarreal who are only three points behind Unai Emery's side. +Manchester City's prospects of success in the Champions League next season could be damaged after crashing out of the competition at the last-16 stage in Barcelona. City are borderline whether they are placed in either the second or third group of seeds for the 2015-16 group stages and risk a potential draw with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, or Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, if they don't improve their UEFA coefficient and drop into pot three. Pellegrini's men - who lost 1-0 in the Nou Camp on Wednesday and 3-1 overall on aggregate - are currently ranked the 16th best team in Europe but that could fall after they failed to make this season's quarter-finals. A Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona edged out City with a 1-0 win in the Nou Camp to end their Euro dream . Manchester City could drop down into pot three after crashing out of the Champions League . Vincent Kompany and his Manchester City team-mates could not overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit . Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Schalke, Arsenal, Porto, Manchester United, Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Valencia, Zenit St Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City . *Liverpool are only ranked 40th so are guaranteed a tough draw if they finish in the top four. Coefficients are based on European performances over the last five seasons which is why Manchester United are placed higher than City despite not qualifying last season. Arsenal's ranking also remains high because they have reached the Champions League knockout stages every year in the time span. City have complained in the past of unfavourable draws in the Champions League group stages hampering their progress. Despite more than £1billion invested into the club since 2008, the Abu Dhabi owners have not seen their side progress beyond the first knockout stage of the competition. They failed to qualify from a tough group in 2011-12 after being paired with Napoli, Bayern Munich and Villarreal and suffered the same fate the following season against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax. Their co-efficient has risen since and they were able to finish second in their group this season after being placed among the second seeds and being drawn against Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Roma. However, UEFA have changed their seeding policy for next season and the domestic champions of England, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal and Russia will automatically be top seeds alongside the winners of this year's competition. Man United will be placed in pot two if they finish inside the top four despite last season's poor campaign . Chelsea are ranked the fourth best side in Europe - behind Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich . The second pot will be made up of the next eight highest-ranked clubs – and City can't be certain of that. Among the clubs just below them in the listings are Juventus who look certain to be top seeds as Italian champions and Sevilla, Inter Milan and Napoli who are all still in the Europa League and can improve their coefficient in that competition. There are still a lot of twists and turns in the domestic leagues before next season's seedings are announced and of course City still have to confirm their own participation by finishing in the top four of the Premier League. But there is no doubt the outcome in the Nou Camp, where they have to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit, could have an effect on City. This is how next season's Champions League group seedings would look if the season ended during the current stage of the campaign: . Top seeds: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Lyon, Benfica, Zenit St Petersburg and Juventus . Second pot: Atletico Madrid (ranked 5th), Arsenal (8th), Porto (9th), Manchester United (10th), Paris St Germain (11th), Valencia (13th), Bayer Leverkusen (15th) and Manchester City (16th) City are particularly vulnerable because they could be replaced by Schalke in the second pot if the German side, currently fifth in the Bundesliga, finished in the top four. Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool are likely to face a tough Champions League draw if they seal a top-four spot . +Everton's players appeared in buoyant mood ahead of Thursday evening's Europa League clash with Dynamo Kiev. Roberto Martinez's side hold a 2-1 advantage going into the second leg of their last 16 tie and were full of smiles as they boarded the plane to Ukraine on Wednesday morning. Toffees forward Romelu Lukaku took a number of snaps ahead of the trip and posed for selfies with strike partner Arouna Kone and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard . The Belgium international also stopped for pictures on arrival in the Ukrainian capital. Everton striker Romelu Lukaku stops for a photo and gives the thumbs up on arrival in Kiev on Wednesday . Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard walks through the airport having arrived in the Ukrainian capital . Joel Robles, Everton defender Seamus Coleman and midfielder James McCarthy walk through to arrivals . Lukaku and Howard pose for a selfie ahead of Everton's trip to Ukraine on Wednesday morning . Lukaku and Everton strike partner Arouna Kone pose for a selfie before boarding the plane to Ukraine . Lukaku and Kone, who played upfront together during Everton's 3-0 win over Newcastle, pose for the camera . Everton forward Lukaku took another selfie on board the plane and wished people a 'nice and blessed day' Everton midfielder Ross Barkley boards the plane having scored in Everton's win over Newcastle on Sunday . VIDEO Kiev win can be turning point - Martinez . The rest of the Blues squad also seemed to be in a good mood after Everton - who have struggled in the Premier League this season - eased lingering relegation fears with a confident 3-0 victory over Newcastle on Sunday. Aaron Lennon, who is ineligible having played for Tottenham earlier in the competition, travelled with the squad as did Aiden McGeady and John Stones who both missed the victory over the Magpies. However, Kevin Mirallas was not seen to board the flight. Dynamo Kiev, meanwhile, have announced that the Olympic Stadium, which holds 70,000, has sold out for the visit of the Toffees bar the section closed off by UEFA following crowd trouble in the previous round against Guingamp. Everton manager Roberto Martinez will be keen to see his side build on their 2-1 lead in the second leg . Howard pulls a face and makes a point while Everton captain Phil Jagielka appeared in a good mood . Aaron Lennon, pictured right with Tyias Browning, made the trip despite being ineligible for the competition . John Stones and Aiden McGeady also travelled to Ukraine having missed the victory over the Magpies . Everton coach and club legend Duncan Ferguson (right) boards the plane while Leon Osman gives a smile . With some suggesting a European campaign can have an adverse affect on a side's Premier League form, Everton have experienced mixed fortunes when playing straight after a fixture on the continent this campaign. The Merseysiders have won three of their matches played directly after a Europa League fixture, drawing two and losing four. However, despite finding things tough domestically, Everton have impressed in the Europa League - getting the better of Bundesliga high-flyers Wolsfburg in the group stage before beating Swiss side Young Boys 7-2 on aggregate - and will be hoping to go all the way to Warsaw for the final in May. Everton 2-3 Crystal Palace . Man United 2-1 Everton . Burnley 1-3 Everton . Sunderland 1-1 Everton . Tottenham 2-1 Everton . Everton 3-1 QPR . Everton 2-2 Leicester . Arsenal 2-0 Everton . Everton 3-0 Newcastle . +Jonas Gutierrez has signalled his readiness to step into the depths of a crisis which is threatening to end Newcastle's season with a whimper. The 31-year-old Argentinian has been used as a substitute in the Magpies' last two games after his return to the squad following a successful battle against testicular cancer. However, as head coach John Carver prepares for Saturday's Barclays Premier League fixture against Arsenal at St James' Park with suspension and injury severely limiting his options, Gutierrez is offering his services in whatever role he is needed. Jonas Gutierrez posted this picture to his official Instagram account on Wednesday morning . The Newcastle midfielder made his second substitute appearance in the defeat by Everton on Sunday . He told the Journal: 'Three years ago when we finished fifth, I played in many positions. I was playing in different positions because we had problems with injuries. 'I'm here to help. I work hard and I want to enjoy. Always, I have to do the best for the team. 'We have to finish in the top 10. We don't have any excuses. We have hard games up to the finish of the season, but we have to take points and finish in the top 10.' A winger by trade, Gutierrez played as a full-back for his country at the 2010 World Cup finals, and that ability could come in useful during the remaining weeks of the season. Skipper and close friend Fabricio Coloccini will miss the next three games after failing in a bid to have the red card he received at Everton on Sunday overturned on appeal, and with Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett out for the rest of the season through injury, Mike Williamson is the club's only recognised senior central defender. Gutierrez, who recently returned to first team after beating testicular cancer, is ready to step in where needed . Gutierrez and his Newcastle team-mates applaud the travelling fans after the 3-0 defeat by the Toffees . VIDEO Bringing Jonas on wasn't sentimental - Carver . That could mean a move inside for right-back Daryl Janmaat against the Gunners, and with the Dutchman currently the club's only fit specialist full-back, Gutierrez could be required to slot into a re-shaped back four, as Ryan Taylor has done in recent weeks, although Carver will hope to have Massadio Haidara ready for the weekend. Newcastle have won only one of their last six games and scored just three goals in the process, and with leading marksman Papiss Cisse just one match into his seven-game ban, their hopes of a top-10 finish appear to be receding. Gutierrez said: 'We don't have enough players at the moment. Colo is banned for three games. But we have to keep together and work hard for the manager. 'The manager will tell us what we have to do. We have to do it right on the pitch. No excuses, we have to do it better.' +Boxing's knockout king Gennady Golovkin has claimed he now wants to beat his next opponent by going all 12 rounds, rather than inflict the 30th stoppage of his burgeoning career. The Kazakh warrior is on the brink of becoming boxing's next superstar after causing a trail of destruction. In his 32-fight career, Golovkin has 29 knockouts, meaning his 90.6 per cent KO rate is the highest in the history of the middleweight division. Golovkin's next opponent will be Willie Monroe Jnr on May 16 in Inglewood, California - just three months after his latest brutal KO, of Britain's Martin Murray in Monaco. And the IBO/WBA and WBC interim middleweight champion said he hoped to be taken the distance for the first time in 20 fights and seven years. Gennady Golovkin (left) faces off against Willie Monroe at a press conference ahead of their fight . Boxing's knockout king said that he wanted to win over 12 rounds rather than by his trademark stoppage . Golovkin gives the thumbs up, and the WBC have done the same for his hopes of fighting Miguel Cotto . '(Monroe) is great opponent for me. I need a decision fight,' Golovkin told Seconds Out. 'I need to win by decision in a big fight.' Asked if that means he hopes Monroe will last the full distance, Golovkin said: 'I hope so - my goal is to beat any style. He has good style.' He added: '(Monroe) is southpaw, he is a very smart guy. Every champion has trouble with a southpaw.' Golovkin has amassed an incredible 29 knockouts in 32 middleweight fights . Britain's Martin Murray (right) was the latest victim of Golovkin's phenomenal power . The 32-year-old Kazakh is calling for a middleweight unification fight against WBC champion Cotto . The other leading middleweights have been reluctant face up to Golovkin's awesome power - the 32-year-old is now widely regarded as the biggest pound-for-pound puncher in the business. But Golovkin has his sights firmly set on Miguel Cotto, unless Monroe (19-1, 6 KOs) is able to pull off a huge upset. VIDEOS: Watch Golovkin face off with Monroe and call out Andre Ward . 'Miguel is WBC champion, I have the interim belt. (A fight would be) very good for us,' he said. 'He is a great name, Miguel is a big name. I respect him, he is a great champion.' And the WBC last month ordered Cotto to take their world middleweight title into a unification battle with Golovkin. He was told to do so within three months of a voluntary title defence this spring, against an as-yet-unnamed opponent. 'We have instructed Miguel that he must fight Gennady, as his mandatory challenger, next after his April fight, assuming of course that he wins,’ said WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. Willie Monroe Jnr (right) is the man tasked with standing up against the brutal Golovkin . Miguel Cotto (right) is in the sights of Golovkin for a middleweight title unification bout . +Want to know how to entertain a cat with as little effort as possible? Matt Groves from Dallas, Texas, has got the answer. He filmed the moment he kept his feline occupied with a laser pen. But playtime is abruptly interrupted when the cat chases the ray of light and runs headfirst into a door. Kitty cam: Matt Groves from Dallas, Texas, filmed the moment he kept his cat occupied with a laser pen . A woman can be heard laughing in the background as the scene unfolds. The pet appears to be okay as it stumbles away, seemingly in a state of shock. Before the collision, footage shows Groves shining a beam of light around his living room with the kitty wildly chasing it around. At one point the cat darts down a corridor and leaps half way up a door in a bid to catch the ray of light. It then repeats the stunt on the other side of the room before hitting its head. Playtime: Footage shows Groves shining a beam of light around his living room with the kitty wildly chasing it around . Ninja moves: At one point the cat darts down a corridor and leaps up a door in a bid to catch the light . Leap of faith: It then repeats the stunt on the other side of the room before hitting its head . +Fernando Torres says he returned to Atletico Madrid to experience the special Vicente Calderon atmosphere after scoring his side's winning spot-kick in Tuesday night's penalty shoot-out victory over Bayer Leverkusen. The former Chelsea striker, on loan from AC Milan, netted from the spot before Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling missed his penalty to send Atletico Madrid through to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-2 shoot-out victory. The 30-year-old, who left the Spanish capital for Liverpool in 2007, admits he returned to his first club for those occasions. Fernando Torres celebrates after scoring the winning penalty in Atletico Madrid's shoot-out victory on Tuesday . Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno is unable to stop Torres' penalty as Atletico progressed . Speaking to Teledeporte, Torres said: 'I'm happy to see the fans being happy from the first to the last minute. I wanted to live these nights in the Calderon again.' Substitute goalkeeper Jan Oblak had to step up in the shoot-out, replacing the injured Miguel Moya before denying Hakan Calhanoglu from the spot. On the shoot-out, Torres added: 'That was not easy as people think. We suffered a lot, which made us more cautious. When they began to break the game down we had to regain control. 'When it comes to penalties, the team with the greater decisiveness wins.' The victory made front page news in Spain with AS showing a picture of Arda Turan shouting in celebration with Mario Suarez and Miranda with the headline 'What a way to go through!' while Marca's headline read: 'The quarters as heroes' with an image of Atletico's players celebrating after Kiessling's miss. Torres congratulates substitute goalkeeper Jan Oblak following the Slovenian's impressive performance . Atletico Madrid players sprint towards Oblak's goal after Stefan Kiessling missed his spot-kick . Spanish papers Marca and AS both celebrated Atletico Madrid's progression to the quarter-finals . +Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen is on track to return to action next month after being unable to make his debut for the club due to a hamstring tear that needed surgery. Vermaelen got injured at last year's World Cup in Brazil, before he signed for Barca, prompting some to question why the club completed the deal to sign the 29-year-old from Arsenal. In a message on his Facebook page, Vermaelen said on Tuesday that he had recently started running again and urged Barcelona fans to be patient. Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen is on track to return to action next month after a hamstring tear . Vermaelen (left) jokes with Luis Suarez (centre) ad Sergio Busquets (right) during a presentation . 'Everything is going according to plan, therefore I am right on schedule to get back in the squad in April,' he wrote. 'I am looking forward to contributing to Barca's success this season. 'It's a big step in my rehab starting running again. I am very happy to be outside again instead of staying inside in the gym all the time. It's hard work but it's worth it.' Vermaelen said Barca had been fully aware of the extent of his injury, which had not initially been diagnosed in tests conducted at the World Cup. 'Barcelona did notice the seriousness of the injury when they did the medical and there were two options,' he said. 'You could do surgery but they said it's not necessary you can do it with preventative exercises, make it as strong as you can and then it shouldn't be a problem. 'We spoke to a lot of specialists and they all said it's possible to do without surgery so for me it was an easy choice to go that way. 'It didn't work out. We tried for a couple of months and I could feel it wasn't the same as before. 'So we went to get some advice from another specialist, a very famous one, and he said maybe it's time to do surgery. I am just following the programme the surgeon told me to do and it's going well.' Ex-Arsenal defender Vermaelen got injured at last year's 2014 World Cup in Brazil with Belgium . Vermaelen said on Tuesday via his Facebook page that he had recently started running again . +Gareth Bale should be given a free role for Wales in their huge Euro 2016 qualifying match in Israel as Sam Vokes has been called up by Chris Coleman for the first time since his serious knee injury. The Burnley striker ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in March 2014 and did not play again until Boxing Day – but has emerged unscathed in recent months and played a significant role in the victory over Manchester City. Vokes last appeared for Wales in the friendly with Iceland 12 months ago – scoring in the 3-1 win – and Bale has been utilised as a striker in his absence. Gareth Bale, pictured after scoring against Andorra, has led Wales' forward line in the absence of Sam Vokes . Burnley striker Vokes has earned a call up to the Wales squad after impressing in the Premier League . The Real Madrid star is likely to be afforded an opportunity to roam though, should Coleman select Vokes as his centre-forward for the clash in Haifa between Group B’s top two sides. Liverpool’s Joe Allen and Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey are in the squad, alongside captain Ashley Williams. Hull defender James Chester misses out through his shoulder injury with Blackburn’s uncapped Adam Henley called up. Bale is congratulated by Luka Modric after the first of his two goals in Real Madrid's win over Levante . Vokes (right) scored on his second appearance back from injury during his side's 1-1 draw with Tottenham . Wales boss Chris Coleman is hoping Vokes' return will allow Bale to return to a more natural role for him . +Travelling around the world has plenty of benefits: seeing new places, experiencing new cultures and meeting new people. One major drawback however is attempting to communicate - especially if you don't speak the language or know the local customs. Instead of offending those you meet during your globe-trotting travels, this handy infographic will help to ensure far more effective communication. Giving someone a thumbs up is a positive gesture in some countries, but not in the Middle East or Greece . For example, did you know that brushing your hand underneath your chin in a forward flicking motion signifies 'get lost' in Belgium, France and Tunisia? Or that giving someone a thumbs up in Australia, Greece or the Middle East means something far different than job well done? In Finland, standing with your arms crossed is a sign of arrogance, while in India, it's extremely offensive to show the sole of your foot or shoe to anyone. No matter where you're headed, HotelContractBeds takes you around the world in just 18 gestures. +A happy seal appeared to be having a fit of laughter as it lay on a Norfolk beach in these hilarious images. The extraordinarily expressive creature was later seen making a facepalm gesture, covering his nose with its flipper, before he gave a furtive glance and a cheeky grin to the camera. He was snapped among a crowded colony on the North Sea sands at Horsey, in Norfolk by keen amateur wildlife photographer Mark Reeve, 55. Happy as a clam: Something appeared to have tickled this happy seal on the North Sea sands at Horsey, Norfolk . Mr Reeve, of Reydon, near Southwold, Suffolk, said he was able to capture the incredible images after making a 'connection' with the animal who appeared to be in guffaws of laughter as it lay on the beach. 'I just love taking pictures of the seals - they're just such fun creatures,' he said. 'I went up there to see if I could get something different and stand out rather than the same old images of seals on rocks.' Flipper facepalm: The seal was later seen trying to cover his face with a furry flipper as it lay among the crowded colony . The seal gave a furtive glance and a cheeky grin to the camera, held by amateur wildlife photographer Mark Reeve . The mental health carer added: 'I managed to get these shots of the big boy within just a couple of seconds. 'I got as close as I could without messing with him and we made a real connection - I'm really happy with the results.' It is not the first time Mr Reeve has caught an animal guffawing on film, after his pictures of wild horses appearing to snort with laughter at Reydon Marshes, near the Blyth Estuary, in 2009 received international recognition. +Aston Villa's appeal to find Fabian Delph's captain's armband proved successful after the midfielder's 'lucky charm' was tracked down on Twitter by the club's masseur. The stand-in skipper was mobbed by Villa supporters during a pitch invasion following their 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday evening. Villa masseur Alex Butler appealed for Twitter to help find the armband ahead of their semi-final at Wembley, offering Scott Sinclair's top as a reward for whoever returns it. Fabian Delph's 'lucky charm' was tracked down on Twitter by the club's masseur Alex Butler . The stand-in skipper was mobbed by Villa supporters during a pitch invasion following their 2-0 win . Butler's appeal was successful when one supporter proved a 'good sport' and returned the armband . 'The armband has been missing for 12 hours now... please share and bring him home #AVFC #returnofthearmband,' Butler tweeted. And it proved a success when a supporter agreed to return the armband. Butler then added on Sunday morning: 'Ok, #AVFC fans the armband is being returned let's all just enjoy our day and thank @Rob___Taylor for being a good sport.' Aston Villa captain Delph was mobbed by fans after the final whistle of their FA Cup quarter-final tie . England midfielder Delph admitted the pitch invasion on Saturday was 'scary and dangerous' Goalscorer Delph claimed fans nicked his captain's armband as well as his left boot during the invasion . +Dave Whelan was the victim of an embarrassing gaffe in his final programme notes as Wigan chairman. The 78-year-old businessman handed over control of the relegation-threatened club to his grandson this week after 20 years at the helm. But in his last written address to fans, he started by welcoming the supporters and staff of Cardiff City - when Wigan were actually playing Leeds! Dave Whelan leaves the pitch after addressing the crowd in his final game as Wigan Athletic chairman . David Sharpe is the new chairman of Wigan Athletic after taking over from his grandfather Dave . Cardiff are the last club of Wigan's current boss Malky Mackay - he was sacked by them in December 2013. And the Scot is currently under investigation by the Football Association amidst allegations of sending racist, sexist and homophobic text messages while in charge at Cardiff. Whelan started his programme notes by saying: 'Welcome to the DW Stadium for our second home match in five days. 'Tonight we welcome Cardiff City and their supporters who have travelled from South Wales for another important Sky Bet Football League Championship fixture.' Shortly before kick-off, Whelan strode onto the pitch to deliver an emotional final address to the fans in person. Whelan was given a standing ovation by the home supporters then walked alone to the centre-spot with a microphone in hand. Whelan looks emotional before heading onto the pitch - and in his programme notes he welcomed Cardiff . 'Thank you for everything,' he said. 'For the last 20 years, you have been magnificent supporters. 'We all remember when we first played at Springfield Park and I bought the club and we were third from bottom of the old fourth division. 'With your support, and all the players and staff we build this stadium and fought our way up to the Premier League. 'We had eight fantastic years in the Premier League and two years ago we brought the FA Cup back to Wigan.' At this point, the large travelling contingent from Leeds began barracking Whelan. But he responded with a put-down which brought raucous applause from the home fans. 'Leeds have not won the cup for 25 years,' he added. 'However, everyone from Leeds we welcome you to Wigan. You are a great club and a great bunch of supporters. 'I am still going to be the greatest supporter Wigan has and I will be at every match I can get to. 'Thank you for every single thing and all your fabulous support.' Whelan said he is still going to be the 'greatest supporter Wigan has' and will be at every match he can get to .  . +West Brom have vowed to take strong action against any of the club's fans found to have been involved in disturbances at the FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa on Saturday. Seats were thrown from the Albion section and Villa supporters invaded the pitch twice during the game as Tim Sherwood's men beat the Baggies 2-0 on Saturday to reach the semi-finals. Police have made 17 arrests related to the game and a spokesperson for the Football Association said its investigation into the incidents will begin on Monday. Aston Villa supporters stormed the pitch following the club's FA Cup victory over West Brom on Saturday . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-finals . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . Villa issued an apology after the game to 'the Football Association, the West Bromwich Albion directors, manager Tony Pulis and all his staff and players' and Albion announced in a statement on Sunday that the apology had been 'received in the spirit with which it was intended'. 'West Bromwich Albion note the public apology issued by Aston Villa FC in the wake of the disturbing scenes during and after the FA Cup quarter-final at Villa Park,' read the statement. 'The apology is received in the spirit with which it was intended. 'The club is also aware of reports of serious misbehaviour involving some of its own supporters. 'It issues an uncompromising reminder today that any supporter found guilty of disorder offences can expect the appropriate sanction from the club. West Bromwich Albion will continue to operate zero tolerance to any fans who bring the club's reputation into disrepute. 'The club also welcomes the FA investigation into the scenes and how they came about; West Bromwich Albion will co-operate fully. 'Pitch invasions cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. The safety of the club's players and staff during and at the end of the game was clearly compromised and that has to be a subject of deep concern for everyone involved.' The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way off the field following the full-time whistle . Meagre numbers of police and stewards attempted to deal with the hundreds who invaded the field of play . Scorer Scott Sinclair (second left) is mobbed by a fan and team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish . The police have also launched their own probe into a pre-match disturbance at the Witton Arms, close to Villa Park. 'We carried out a large policing operation for the FA Cup yesterday evening (March 7) to ensure supporters could enjoy the game in a safe environment,' Chief Superintendent Chris Johnson from West Midlands Police said in a statement. 'During the course of the operation 17 men were arrested for various public order offences. An investigation has been launched to identify people involved in a disturbance before the match at the Witton Arms pub. 'Anyone who saw what happened should contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. 'We will also be supporting the Football Association to identify people involved in pitch invasions that happened at the end of the match.' Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood admitted he could understand the fans' emotions after the victory . West Brom boss Tony Pulis believes Aston Villa need to look at their stewarding following Saturday's incidents . Among the arrests were eight people detained on suspicion of public-order offences, four on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and two on suspicion of breach of the peace, police said. Villa fans invaded the pitch before the end of the game and then again at the final whistle while seats were thrown from the upper tier of the North Stand, where Albion fans were sitting, into the Villa crowd below during the second half. 'There is no progress on last night except the FA knows about it and intends to look into it thoroughly,' the FA spokesperson said. West Brom boss Tony Pulis called the scenes disgraceful while Villa chief Sherwood defended the club's stewards afterwards. Second-half goals from Fabian Delph and Scott Sinclair won it for Villa while Claudio Yacob and Jack Grealish were sent off as both sides finished with 10 men. The scene at Villa Park as hundreds of jubilant fans stormed the pitch shortly after the final whistle . One fan swings on the Villa Park crossbar as Tim Sherwood's side booked their place at Wembley . Aston Villa supporter Mark Villers needed his hair cut and wound glued together on Saturday night . Villers, 20, shows his blood-stained trainers after being hit by a seat during the Midlands derby at Villa Park . +Radamel Falcao's time at Manchester United seems set to be curtailed at the end of the season after a faltering year from the Colombia international. The 29-year-old striker has only hit the net four times in a barren season so far at Old Trafford. He was seen heading to a restaurant for lunch in Manchester on Wednesday, taking time away from his side's preparations to play Liverpool on Sunday by enjoying some food in his adopted city. Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao was spotted heading to lunch in the city on Wednesday . Falcao (left) was used as an 83rd minute substitute in United's 3-0 win over Tottenham last weekend . Striker Falcao has predominantly been used as a substitute during a difficult year at Old Trafford . Falcao arrived in Manchester on a deadline day loan deal, with United having the option to make the move permanent for £43million at the end of the season. But the attacker's role at United has diminished as the season has progressed, with manager Louis van Gaal notoriously electing not to bring him off the substitutes bench in the 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat at home to Arsenal. His team currently occupy the fourth and final Champions League position in the Premier League but face an examination of their credentials when they play Liverpool on Sunday. Liverpool are only two points behind United in the Premier League table and can usurp United and move fourth with a victory. +Stoke City are set to open contract talks with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic ahead of interest from Inter Milan. The Bosnia international is valued at £15million by Stoke and regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. However, he has 15 months left on contract and the club will discuss new terms over the coming days. Chairman Peter Coates said: 'He’s got a year left after this summer and we have to be realistic, we don’t want to get into a situation where his value diminishes if he doesn’t sign.' Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic is set for talks to extend his stay at the Britannia Stadium . Begovic started his career at Portsmouth in 2005, but struggled to hold down a regular starting spot for the south coast side, and was sent on multiple loan spells to the likes of Bournemouth and Yeovil Town. He moved to Stoke in 2010 for a reported £3.25m fee and has since established himself as one of the Potters' key players. Indeed, the 27-year-old has been named Stoke Players' Player of the year for the last two years in a row. Begovic gets down well to save a shot from Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson in the Premier League . The 27-year-old Bosnia international has won the Stoke Players' Player of the year award twice in a row . +South Africa coach Russell Domingo is keeping his faith with out-of-form Quinton de Kock despite the opener's lack of runs. De Kock's 26 against United Arab Emirates in their last World Cup pool game was his highest score in his last seven one-day internationals, a run that followed his century against Australia in November. The difficult patch, including five single-figure scores, is a far cry from De Kock's early career form, which once saw him score three straight centuries against India in December 2013. Quinton de Kock looks to the skies in dejection after being caught out against the UAE for 26 runs . The out-of-form opener leaves the field after being dismissed against Pakistan for a duck . While AB De Villiers and Hashim Amla currently lead the run charts for the Proteas, ahead of their quarter-final against Sri Lanka on Wednesday at Sydney, Domingo is confident De Kock is closer than ever to a match-winning innings. When asked if De Kock was facing a mental barrier, Domingo told a press conference: 'I am not a sports psychologist but I don't know how a player can be perceived to be mentally shot. It's a little bit nasty. 'It's going to be a tough selection (meeting). On the one hand we know Quinton has got the ability to win games. But it's often difficult to have all six batters in form at the same time. 'We just sort of have this gut feeling that Quinton has got a big score around the corner. He's done well against Sri Lanka. I'm sure he'll have a good feeling playing against Sri Lanka.' One player De Kock can look up to outside of his own dressing room is Kumar Sangakkara, with the Sri Lankan currently leading the World Cup run-scoring charts at 496 - he has four successive centuries to boot and is fighting for the number one ranking with De Villiers. De Kock is set to continue at the top of the South Africa batting order for the quarter-final against Sri Lanka . South Africa coach Russell Domingo believes De Kock is due a big score . For Domingo, though, the law of averages again is a handy way to look at things, as he added: 'He's in the form of his life. You've got to think his low score is just round the corner I suppose. 'But we have worked on some plans that we feel we need to execute well against him.' And while South Africa hope they have 'learned from the lessons' of past sides, Sri Lanka are getting political in their approach to the knockout stage. No less than Sri Lanka's president and prime minister have offered their vocal support, with the latter unsurprisingly keen to claim his successful election campaign from January as the benchmark for aiming high. In quotes paraphrased in a statement on Sri Lanka cricket's website, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed on the need to study South Africa's weaknesses, adding: 'That's what some of us did last December.' +Former referee Keith Hackett has called on Howard Webb to come out of retirement in a bid to improve the standard of officiating. Webb, widely considered one of England's best ever referees, retired in August 2014 to become the technical director of the Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). His first season out of the game has been littered with refereeing controversies, the most recent of which have come inside the last week. Howard Webb, who is widely regarded as one of England's greatest ever referees, retired in August 2014 . Burnley's Ashley Barnes was not punished for a horror challenge on Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic . Martin Atkinson's decision not to punish Burnley's Ashley Barnes for a tackle on Chelsea's Nemanja Matic attracted widespread criticism, while on Saturday Roger East sent off Sunderland's Wes Brown for a foul John O'Shea committed against Manchester United. East claimed on Saturday, through a PGMOL statement, that he had considered Brown to be the guilty party, hence his dismissal. Hackett, who used to head up the PGMOL - a job now done by Mike Riley - wants Webb, 43, to return. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: 'Referees are making big mistakes, week in, week out. They need some leadership and with that leadership the guy who is at the top needs to front up. 'He should be encouraging Howard Webb to come back into the game as a referee. I don't know what Howard is doing behind the scenes with the referees.' Hackett has not been shy in criticising standards over recent weeks and says officials are giving away cards 'like confetti'. John O'Shea fouled Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao in the box, but Wes Brown was sent off instead . The Sunderland players crowded round referee Roger East but the incorrect decision was allowed to stand . On the East decision, he said: 'I think it was another error in refereeing that we've seen, we're seeing it pretty often. 'I don't know if the referee was trying to be too clever or naive. He's guessed, incorrectly, dismissed the player which is a real cardinal sin. 'Sending a player off is belittling at any stage of play. I worked hard to reduce the number of yellow cards and red cards when I was the position of the general manager of PGMOL. These guys seem to be pushing them around like confetti and in their eagerness and forgetting that their job is to get decisions correct.' The East incident came on the very day that the International Football Association Board delayed trials of further use of video technology. The Dutch FA wanted to conduct live trials in the Dutch Cup next season, but were delayed by at least 12 months. The Football Association is also keen for further technology to be trialled, but chairman Greg Dyke told 5 Live he understood the problems referees were facing. 'I saw it (the East incident) briefly, mistakes happen, but what this shows is that referees make mistakes,' he said. 'If you could help that referee with video technology, then you should. There are still mistakes, they get highlighted, that's life.' Webb has been backed to come out of his retirement in order to improve the standard of refereeing . +Danny Ings has shown his kind side by vowing to help a little girl with a life-threatening illness to complete her bucket list, reports the Manchester Evening News. Burnley striker Ings arranged to meet Harlee-Jae Procter, four, and her family, after reading about her story on Twitter. Harlee-Jae suffers from a rare genetic condition and is a huge fan of Ings' team Burnley. Danny Ings poses with four-year-old fan Harlee-Jae Porter as he attempts to help her with her bucket list . Ings and his 'new best friend' pose together while meeting at Burnley's training ground and making plans . The striker, tipped as a future England international, was so moved by her plight that he met her at his club's training ground and promised to help her tick off as many of the items on her wishlist as possible. Ings said he had made 'a new best friend' after meeting with the schoolgirl. The Clarets hotshot has now promised to take Harlee-Jae to the zoo, to Turf Moor as his mascot and even joked he would dress as Elsa from the film Frozen to entertain her. Harlee-Jae became a fan of Ings after playing the video game FIFA. During their meeting, she told him about her hopes to be a cowgirl, ride an elephant and eat breakfast with Barney the Dinosaur. Ings told the M.E.N.: 'It's a nice feeling for me to meet her. Hopefully we can work together and tick off as many things as we can. I think we can do most of them. Ings has been excellent for Burnley recently and his form earned him a kiss on the cheek from his super-fan . Burnley beat Manchester City 1-0 at Turf Moor last weekend and the fight against relegation is still alive . 'We're going to contact the zoo and see if we can go there for the afternoon and we're going to see some animals so I'm really looking forward to that. 'I've never been to a zoo so I'm looking forward to it just as much as she is. I'm really excited for it. 'I've got myself a new best friend. And she gave me a kiss on the cheek as well which was nice.' Thorn Primary School pupil, Harlee-Jae suffers from microdeletion 17 q12, which causes her health problems including kidney disease. She is likely to need liver and kidney transplants before adulthood. Mum Sasha Procter, 25, said Danny's efforts to help Harlee-Jae were overwhelming. She said: 'All she's said all weekend is "Danny Ings". We never ever expected him to do anything like this – she just wanted to meet him. 'You don't see many Premier League footballers doing something like this. Hopefully we can tick off some items from the list together.' Since creating her list, Harlee-Jae has flown in an airplane cockpit, travelled in a police car with Bacup officers and is due to visit the Lancashire Police Mounted Section. Ings and Harlee-Jae have already planned a trip to the zoo, which is a first for both of the two friends . +Families crossing the Channel by Eurotunnel or ferry face Easter misery after ministers insisted on introducing new exit checks during one of the busiest getaways of the year. Queues of up to five miles and lengthy delays are predicted when the new regime starts on April 8. Under the new rules, the passport of every passenger in a car or coach will have to be individually scanned. Ministers insist that knowing who is leaving the country is vital for counting the number of immigrants in Britain and fighting crime and terrorism. Nightmare journeys: P&O Ferries has claimed new border control rules will cause huge delays leaving the country with 'coachloads of little old ladies bearing the brunt' But even though no checks have taken place over the past 17 years, the Home Office decided the best date to reinstate them should be on the second week in April – when vast numbers of Britons head to the continent during the Easter school break. Ferry companies warn that holidaymakers will be held in queues on the A20 in Kent, blocking the route between Dover and Folkestone during one of the busiest times of year. MPs on the home affairs select committee were sent a letter from the UK Chamber of Shipping claiming trials had shown that queues of at least 650 vehicles would form on busy days. Tim Reardon, the chamber’s policy director, said: ‘The model showed that, with tourist and freight check-in transactions extended by exit checks, the queue of traffic heading for the port of Dover would extend at least 8km, blocking the A20 almost as far as Folkestone.’ Eurotunnel calculates the new system will quadruple the time taken to get vehicles onto shuttle trains. Buses with 30 or more passengers on board will take even longer. Checking a car on to a cross-Channel train takes 15 seconds at the moment. But passport checks on up to five passengers will stretch that closer to two minutes, adding to delays. Eurotunnel public affairs director John Keefe said: ‘You only have to multiply the number of people in each vehicle – five six or seven in a car or 30 or more in a coach – to see how this will play out. Protective measures: The checks start on April 8 and Eurotunnel and ferry companies will be checking the passports of all those leaving the country to tighten national security . ‘That increases the risk of congestion and delays. That’s the risk we are trying to mitigate. But the risks are significant.’ Advice: Immigration Minister James Brokenshire told the Today programme that people should set out on their journeys earlier to avoid delays . Ministers were last night under pressure from MPs to make exceptions to the rules, such as large coach parties. Interviewed on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme yesterday, immigration minister James Brokenshire twice hesitated before saying passengers should set out early on their journeys. Quizzed a third time, he said: ‘On busy days I think it is advisable for anyone to set out earlier to ensure that they are at their ports of departure on time.’ He denied there would be chaos, insisting: ‘There are often queues at both Eurotunnel and also Dover in terms of their day-to-day operations.’ In the event of huge queues, managers on the ground will not have the authority to relax the checks. They would have to seek personal approval from a minister or government official. Transport bosses say the April 8 deadline has been imposed for political reasons so ministers can say they have exit checks in place before the general election. The original date they had in mind was April 1 – just two days before Good Friday – but implementation was delayed by a week when the Home Office was warned the consequences would be even worse. Despite the inconvenience caused by the checks, the Home Office will still not have a full picture of who is in the country. The checks do not apply to journeys to Ireland or travel by private aircraft or boats. Airports are not likely to be hit by the checks. Heathrow said it did not anticipate ‘any disruption or any visible changes to passenger journeys’. A spokesman for the hub said 96 per cent of flights already collect advance passenger information. +Wigan will be without England winger Josh Charnley for up to six weeks with an ankle injury sustained in Friday's 13-12 win over Hull. Scans have revealed Charnley suffered a high ankle strain and, although he will not need surgery, he will wear a protective boot for around four weeks before he can resume training. Dom Manfredi will take over the right-wing spot, starting with Friday's trip to Leeds. Wigan's Josh Charnley (left), pictured in action against Brisbane Broncos, has been ruled out for six weeks . 'Josh is likely to be out for between four to six weeks,' Wigan coach Shaun Wane told the Wigan Evening Post. 'It's unfortunate but it gives Dom a chance to show what he can do and I'm chilled about it. 'Dom can do things which Josh can't. I'm a big fan of his.' Charnley, pictured on England duty, does not need surgery but must wear a protective boot for four weeks . +Leicestershire have announced the signing of Australian batsman Mark Cosgrove as club captain on a two-year contract. The 30-year-old left-hander, who has a British passport, will be available in all competitions and links back up with South Australia and Sydney Thunder team-mate Andrew McDonald, who is the new Leicestershire head coach. Cosgrove has played county cricket before, having spent three full seasons at Glamorgan, and represented Australia in three one-day internationals in 2006. Mark Cosgrove in action for the Sydney Thunder against Hobart Hurricanes in January . Cosgrove is returning to County Cricket for the 2015 season as captain of Leicestershire . Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan said: 'We are delighted to sign a player of Mark's calibre, quality and experience. 'He will be a fantastic captain for us and we look forward to Mark having a huge influence on us in 2015.' Batsman Ned Eckersley has been named as vice-captain for the 2015 season as Leicestershire continue to ring the changes following a forgettable few years which has seen them fail to win an LV= County Championship match since 2012. +Graeme Souness will not be changing his opinion of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, despite criticism from the Portuguese coach. In the aftermath of Chelsea's Champions League exit to Paris St Germain, former Liverpool manager and current Sky Sports pundit Souness was highly critical of them, referring to some of Chelsea's actions as 'pathetic'. He continued his complaints, with Mourinho responding in a press conference on Friday, calling the Scot a 'frustrated man'. Graeme Souness labelled Chelsea's gamesmanship during PSG defeat as 'pathetic' The Sky Sports pundit, pictured with Thierry Henry (right), has refused to back down over criticism . Using his hands to gesture, Mourinho raised his left hand above his head to illustrate Souness' high level as a player and whacked his left on a low desk to signify his own career. When it came to management, the Portuguese's right hand was raised high and his left, for Souness' management career, wavered just above the desk. Mourinho said: 'The difference between me and Souness is this - Souness as a player, up there. Jose Mourinho as a player, down here. Jose Mourinho as a manager, up here. Souness as a manager, down there. 'With another difference: I was not a frustrated man because I was not a top player. He is clearly a frustrated man.' Blues manager Jose Mourinho responded by saying Souness is 'a frustrated man' Nine Chelsea players surrounded the referee to demand that Zlatan Ibrahimovic (not pictured) was sent off . Diego Costa trains at Cobham ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash with Southampton on Sunday . But writing in the Sunday Times, Souness was sticking to his guns. 'He had his say about me at his press conference on Friday and he is entitled to his opinion, but it won't change mine,' he said. 'When he reflects on what went wrong against PSG and addresses it , I hope - yet doubt - that will include the obsession with gamesmanship. 'It seemed more important to Chelsea than getting on the ball and taking on PSG in a game of football, which they were more than capable of winning. They are a far better team than they showed. Getting the opposition booked by their excessive reaction to fouls became their priority. I was angered and saddened by that approach.' Chelsea holding midfielder Nemanja Matic has spoken out following his ban for violent conduct . Matic is escorted off the field after reacting to a horror tackle by Barnsley's Ashley Barnes . Meanwhile, Blues midfielder Nemanja Matic has spoken about his sending off for pushing Burnley's Ashley Barnes. Matic served a two-match ban - which included the Capital One Cup Final - for his reaction to a challenge from the Burnley striker which Mourinho referred to a 'criminal'. Speaking to a number of national newspapers, Matic said: 'Of course my reaction was not good but this reaction was because I thought that I break a leg. I am a happy man because I can walk.' +The family of the man former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is accused of killing confronted a security officer Wednesday after Hernandez's mother was allowed to kiss her son's hand in the courtroom. The kiss happened Tuesday when the judge and jury were out of the courtroom. During a morning break, Hernandez's mother, Terri, leaned toward her son sitting at the defense table and asked permission from a court officer to touch him. He said yes, and she grabbed his hand, then kissed it. Scroll down for video . Ursula Ward, right, the mother of victim Odin Lloyd, watches the proceedings during former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez's murder trial, on Tuesday . Terri Hernandez, right listens during the trial of her son, former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez on Tuesday . Hernandez gave a broad smile, then rubbed his eyes as his aunt and uncle wiped away tears. He then thanked the officer. Such contact between prisoners and the public is usually not allowed. Outside the courtroom during a lunch break Wednesday, Lloyd's family quietly and calmly spoke to the officer and told him they no longer have a son to kiss. The officer listened, then left to a back hallway while Lloyd's family departed in the elevator. On Wednesday, more surveillance camera footage played that showed headlights moving away from the crime scene the night of the killing. Lloyd was shot to death in an empty lot in an industrial park near Hernandez's home in North Attleborough. Prosecutors on Tuesday played four grainy surveillance video clips that showed lights moving toward and from the scene. On Wednesday, they played two more that showed headlights leaving the industrial park at 3:27 a.m., four minutes after Lloyd sent his last text message. The grainy videos were taken from so far away that it is unclear how many passengers were inside or what kind of car it was. In some, it is not even clear that it was a car. Hernandez, 25, has pleaded not guilty in the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd, 27, was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. Also Wednesday, Massachusetts State Police Lt. Steven Bennett testified about footprints found at the scene. Among them was one made by what he said appeared to be a left shoe with three or four waves of a herringbone-type design in the middle. An expert from the shoe company Nike testified Tuesday that Hernandez could be seen in surveillance video shortly before and after the killing wearing a Nike shoe with a herringbone design on the bottom. However, he also said that that is one of the oldest designs for shoe soles in the industry. Bennett testified that the shoeprint was found a few feet from Lloyd's body and on the other side of two tire tracks. Hernandez, 25, has pleaded not guilty in the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd, 27, was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. +Ronnie O'Sullivan has again voiced his disaffection with snooker, claiming he is just 'using' the game and has not yet committed to entering next month's World Championship. The 39-year-old, who has won the UK Championship, the Masters and the Crucible title five times each, has struggled for much of his career with the mental aspect of the game and the demands of the tour circuit. His achievements in recent years are outstanding, winning the 2013 World Championship having barely played all season and the 2014 UK Championship despite suffering with a fractured ankle. Ronnie O'Sullivan claims that snooker does not offer the financial reward and security that it once did . O'Sullivan also said that he has contemplated not entering the snooker World Championship next month . O Sullivan celebrates winning the 2014 UK Championship but hit out at the prize money on offer to players . VIDEO O'Sullivan Into Last 16 . But as this year's Crucible build-up begins, his commitment is once more in question. 'Snooker is no longer what it once was for me. I just use snooker, rather than letting it use me,' he told the Guardian. 'I know it sounds crazy but I wasn't even sure if I was going to enter the worlds. I probably will but it's got to the point where I want to give snooker only 20 per cent of my time. 'It's not something I'm that bothered about. It's probably one of my least favourite tournaments. Seventeen days is too long. 'But as a kid, I dreamed of being world champion. (Then) I thought if I can win three or four, that would be great. Three? You're getting to be a great player. Four? You're on a level with John Higgins, who is a master of the game. So I'm really happy to have won it five times.' It is a familiar refrain from O'Sullivan. He threatened not to take up his place in the 2014 Masters, polling his Twitter followers for advice only to announce his entry around an hour later. The switch in the world rankings format, from points to a money list, played into O'Sullivan's hands by allowing him to 'play the system' - as he put it in 2013 - by focusing on the more lucrative tournaments. O'Sullivan claimed the World Championship tournament is one of his least favourite events due to its length . O'Sullivan has won the World Championship five times already in a highly decorated career . But he remains unhappy and even said he cannot achieve financial security through snooker's 's***' prize money - an extraordinary claim even for O'Sullivan, especially as he has already noted: 'I could get by the rest of my life if I never worked again.' He said: 'If you go back five or 10 years I used to get good sponsorship for my logos. I was on £350,000 even before I hit a ball. Now there is no money in snooker. The top players are suffering now. 'I don't want it to come across as if I'm doing this for money. I just want what's fair. They can say 'you're getting this amount of prize money'. But if you're a top player it's f****** s***. I want my security, and snooker isn't going to give me that security.' +St Helens scrum-half Luke Walsh's comeback has been further delayed due to complications following ankle surgery, coach Keiron Cunningham has revealed. The former Penrith Panthers player has not played since breaking his leg last July and during his lay-off he had an operation to correct a previous injury with his ankle. It was hoped the goalkicking half-back would be fit for the start of the Super League season in February but a virus set him back and now he is facing another month on the sidelines. Luke Walsh has been out of action since last July after breaking his leg and having ankle surgery . St Helens captain Jon Wilkin has been filling in for Walsh since the Super League got underway in February . 'He had complications with his ankle before he did his leg and we got that sorted out after his leg had healed,' Cunningham said. 'There have been a few complications with the bits and bobs (screws and plates) inside his leg so they have been removed. Adam Smith (centre) surges forward during St Helens' 30-20 victory over Widnes Vikings on Friday . 'It was the right thing to do for Luke. It feels like a normal leg to him now - no screws or plates in the bones. He is in a good place now and hopefully will be back around the start to the second week of April.' Skipper Jon Wilkin has filled in at scrum-half in Walsh's absence. The unbeaten champions' next match is against Warrington at Langtree Park on Thursday . +London Welsh have parted ways with head coach Justin Burnell and confirmed Rowland Phillips will take charge of team affairs. Former Wales back-rower and defence coach Phillips joined Welsh's staff in 2014 and is now promoted to the main role at the Aviva Premiership's bottom club. Welsh's 74-19 defeat by Exeter Chiefs on March 7 made it 17 losses from as many games, and became the final straw for Burnell, who was thanked for his efforts including their promotion push in 2013-14. London Welsh have parted ways with head coach Justin Burnell (pictured) Phillips insists he can engineer a positive end to the current campaign, telling the club's website: 'It's been a very tough season in the Premiership trying to play with a squad built on an uneven financial playing field. 'But the boys are determined to rescue something from this season.' Phillips, who also played rugby league for both Wales and Great Britain, had a spell as a player for London Welsh in 1997 and his coaching experience includes a spell at Ospreys and in Italy with Viadana and Aironi. Welsh chairman Bleddyn Phillips wished Burnell well for the future, adding: 'As Chairman, I would like to add my sincere thanks and very best wishes to Justin and his family for the future. 'The harsh reality is that the club has had a mountain to climb in terms of now well documented challenges on the financial and structural regime presently in place in Premiership rugby which any coach or club would, to put it mildly, find daunting.' Welsh's 74-19 defeat to Exeter Chiefs on made it 17 losses from as many games . +West Bromwich Albion midfielder Chris Brunt has been suspended for one match and fined £8,000 after accepting a Football Association misconduct charge. The 30-year-old had requested a personal hearing after being charged with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards a match official in or around the tunnel area after the final whistle following Albion's 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa this month. Brunt is banned with immediate effect and will miss Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip to Manchester City. West Bromwich Albion midfielder has been handed a one match ban and an £8,000 fine by the FA . Brunt argues with referee Anthony Taylor after he sends off Claudio Yacob during the game at Villa Park . The Northern Ireland international faced the threat of a two-game ban and Albion's director of football administration Richard Garlick believes the punishment reflected the circumstances in which the game finished. Villa fans invaded the pitch at the final whistle and had also run onto the surface while the game was still in play, with the invasions the subject of an FA investigation. Referee Anthony Taylor had also sent off Albion's Claudio Yacob and Villa's Jack Grealish towards the end of the match. Thousands streamed on to the pitch after the match, which helped make Brunt's an 'extraordinary case' 'We had a fair hearing and feel the punishment is an acknowledgement by the Commission that this was an extraordinary case,' said Garlick, after the Independent Regulatory Commission in London on Tuesday. 'It was a difficult end to the game for everyone and emotions were running high. 'I think Chris's disciplinary record, which has seen him issued with one red card in more than 400 appearances at the highest levels, was also rightly noted.' +Hull owner Assem Allam has repeated his threat to sell the club if the FA fails to ratify his bid to change their name. Confusion reigns over the current status of Allam's application after an arbitration tribunal found the original FA Council decision to reject his application could not stand. Allam told the Hull Daily Mail: 'The club is up for sale as I've said before. There is no change. If I can change the club's name to Hull Tigers then I will stay and develop the club further and further. I have shown it would be a success. Hull City owner Assem Allam has repeated his threat to sell the club if he cannot change the club's name . Hull supporters have publicly stated their opposition to the name change and don't want the 'City' dropped . 'If it is not Hull Tigers then the club will be sold. What is the problem with that? I could have sold the club already, but I want it to go to a good home.' Allam appears to have until April 1 to submit a new bid to change the club's name in time for next season, although he insists a new application is not necessary. Fans hold 'City till we die' scarves above their heads during a Barclays Premier League game last season . A Hull City Tigers sign is displayed at the KC Stadium, and is Allam gets his way it will be 'City' no more . Allam added: 'The tribunal states, in this case the FA saying no to Tigers, that the decision should be set aside. That means nothing has happened. 'The application has not been answered. The tribunal says our appeal was successful. That decision to set it aside was unanimous.' On the pitch, Hull are fighting a relegation battle while the boardroom battles centre around the club's name . +Newcastle have announced the signing of Tonga international prop Taione Vea from London Welsh. The Auckland-born 26-year-old, who has won six caps for Tonga, will join the Falcons on a two-year deal in time for the 2015-16 season. Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards said of the former Wasps and North Harbour front-rower: 'We're pleased to be able to add Taione to the squad for the next season. He's a quality prop who is a great scrummager and equally strong on the loose work too. Taione Vea (centre) has signed for Newcastle Falcons on a two-year deal from current club London Welsh . Vea breaks through a challenge for London Welsh against Northampton Saints last year . 'As a Tongan international he brings a powerful and skilled head to our front row, although he's also a very humble guy who I know will fit in well with our squad.' The 6ft2in 20-stone Vea, who joined London Welsh from Wasps last summer, said: 'I've spoken with Dean about his plans for Newcastle Falcons and his vision on where the club is going and it sounds like something I want to be involved with. 'I'm still learning a lot and want to get more Premiership experience so I'm looking forward to doing that at Newcastle Falcons.' Vea has six caps for Tonga and previously played for Wasps before moving to join London Welsh last summer . +Talk about going out with a bang! Video captures the moment bomb technicians from Midland Police Department in Texas detonated ten tons of illegal fireworks on Monday afternoon. The deafening footage shows a giant plume of smoke sailing into the sky interspersed with flashes of brilliant white and red. Most of the explosives were reportedly confiscated during last year's Fourth of July festivities. Consumer fireworks must be stored by a licensed pyrotechnician and labeled properly otherwise they are subject to confiscation. Russ Morrison, from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told the Midland Reporter-Telegram that the explosive materials are usually stored for months in off-site bunkers before being collectively destroyed. Caught on camera: Video captures the moment bomb technicians from Midland Police Department in Texas detonated ten tons of illegal fireworks on Monday afternoon . Turn down the volume: The deafening footage shows a giant plume of smoke sailing into the sky interspersed with flashes of brilliant white and red . He added that highly-skilled technicians are put in charge of the job as fireworks can prove fatal. In the Texas case, the explosives were disposed of in a controlled destruction during the day, because authorities did not want it to be confused for a public fireworks show. The fiery footage of the discharge was posted on the Midland Police Department Facebook page and has been viewed more than 128,000 times. +Alfonso Thomas is to take over as Somerset's limited-overs captain this summer. The South Africa-born seamer, 38, will therefore share leadership duties with former England batsman Marcus Trescothick, who will stay in charge in the LV County Championship and as club captain. Somerset coach Matthew Maynard said: 'Alfonso has played a huge amount of T20 cricket in the last few seasons, both here and abroad. 'He has tasted success in the IPL, the BPL and the Big Bash. His experiences of the intricacies of the T20 game at the highest level make him the ideal captain for the shorter form of the game.' Alfonso Thomas (left) has the experience to be an ideal short form captain, says coach Matthew Maynard . Former England batsman Marcus Trecothick (right) will remain club captain in the LV County Championship . Meanwhile, Somerset have signed Pakistan international Sohail Tanvir for next season's NatWest T20 Blast. Left-arm seamers are a prized commodity in the shortest format and 30-year-old Tanvir brings plenty of experience, with 170 domestic and 42 international Twenty20 appearances. His return of six for 14 for Rajasthan Royals in the 2008 Indian Premier League was the record bowling performance in T20 cricket until Somerset's Arul Suppiah bettered it with six for five three years later. Somerset have signed Pakistan international Sohail Tanvir for next season's NatWest T20 Blast . +Hull KR scored 40 unanswered second-half points to claim a remarkable 50-20 comeback win over Catalans Dragons and climb off the bottom of the Super League table. Rovers looked set for another defeat as they trailed 20-4 during the first half but they staged an unbelievable rally to take the spoils as Catalans were blown away after half-time. Slick passing and determined defending kept the French side out as Chris Chester's men, who ran in nine tries - seven after the interval, enjoyed their best day of the season so far. Ken Sio celebrates after scoring in a game where he grabbed a hat-trick for Hull KR at home to Catalans . It had all looked so different when Willie Tonga put the Dragons ahead early on . Ken Sio led the way with a hat-trick of tries while Ben Cockayne and debutant Shaun Lunt notched braces. Albert Kelly and Liam Salter were also on the scoresheet for the hosts, with Josh Mantellato slotting over seven conversions. Catalans ran in four tries, but all of them came during the first half as they could find no way through in a one-sided second period. Few would have predicted the final scoreline as the Dragons opened the scoring just two minutes in through Willie Tonga. Rovers responded with a try from Sio in the 16th minute but the Dragons restored their lead when Michael Oldfield scored the third unconverted of the half in the 25th minute - two minutes after KR prop Mitch Allgood was sin-binned for his part in an off-the-ball flare-up with Scott Dureau. Albert Kelly breaks between two Catalans players on the way to a superb individual score . The Dragons capitalised on their numerical advantage when Remi Casty stretched over the line to score in the 28th minute before Eloi Pelissier further increased their lead. Dureau converted both tried to put the visitors 20-4 ahead with five minutes of the first half remaining. At that point it looked as though there was only one outcome to the match, but Rovers had other ideas. They gave themselves a timely boost when Cockayne scored on the stroke of half-time after great work by Kris Welham, allowing the hosts to reduce the deficit to 20-10 at the break thanks to Mantellato's conversion. Catalans would still have been in optimistic mood at the midway point of the match, but that would not have lasted long as KR staged an incredible second-half onslaught. Liam Salter breaks away from Morgan Escare to score as Hull KR ran in seven second-half tries . Albert Kelly added to his try collection with a superb 40 metres try converted by Mantellato, who four minutes later added the extras to Sio's second try of the game to give Rovers the lead for the first time at 22-20. Rovers never looked back as the tries continued to flow, with Sio completing his hat-trick in the 57th minute. Newcomer Lunt then got in on the scoring with his first Rovers try in the 59th minute following up good work by Terry Campese. Salter was next over as Rovers continued to run riot before Lunt got his second. Cockayne also doubled up with his second try of the afternoon in the 75th minute with Mantellato converting to seal a breathtaking win. Shuan Lunt celebrates with Terry Campese after his second try on his debut . +Maria Sharapova was dumped out of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells by defending champion Flavia Pennetta - but world No 1 Serena Williams did manage to reach the quarter-finals. Fresh from beating Victoria Azarenka in Monday's third round, Sharapova looked ready to continue her fine run of form and took the first set against Pennetta, who looked distracted and emotional throughout the opening games. The Italian rallied, however, forcing Sharapova into a decider before tightening her grip on the match and closing out a 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory. Maria Sharapova reaches for a forehand in her defeat by Flavia Pennetta at the BNP Paribas Open . Italian Pannetta, the defending champion at Indian Wells, won the second and third sets to reach the quarters . Williams had earlier recovered from a nightmare start to overcome her fellow American Sloane Stephens 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-2 in the Coachella Valley. The world's best player dropped her first two service games in the fourth career meeting between two former friends, whose relationship had cooled in the wake of Stephens' solitary win at the 2013 Australian Open. But Williams became increasingly dominant as the match went on and secured her win in two hours and seven minutes. She will next tackle Timea Bacsinszky in the last eight after the Swiss hopeful's 4-6 6-1 6-1 triumph over Elina Svitolina. Sharapova waves farewell to the crowd in California after falling to Pannetta in three sets . VIDEO Sharapova out, Serena battles through . Awaiting Pennetta is Germany's 24th seed Sabine Lisicki, who saw off Caroline Garcia 6-4 6-4. Lesia Tsurenko emerged victorious from an epic late-night battle with sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard. The Canadian, a Wimbledon finalist last summer, had to scrap to win the first set on a tie-break and could not keep Tsurenko under wraps as the world number 92 steadily turned the screw before clinching a 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 6-4 win after two hours and 50 minutes of play. Carla Suarez Navarro progressed to the quarter-finals by beating British number one Heather Watson 7-6 (7/5) 3-6 6-1 and standing between her and a place in the final four is Simona Halep, the Romanian who defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-4. Elsewhere, Jelena Jankovic reeled off five straight games as she beat Belinda Bencic 6-3 3-6 6-3. World No 1 Serena Williams (right) shakes hands with fellow American Sloane Stephens after her victory . In the men's competition, second seed Roger Federer missed two match points but improved to take his revenge on Andreas Seppi with a 6-3 6-4 win. The Swiss master reached the last eight and a match-up with Jack Sock after dispatching the man who knocked him out of the Australian Open in January. Sock, the world number 58 from Nebraska, remains in the tournament thanks to his 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut. Grigor Dimitrov was the surprise casualty on Tuesday as Tommy Robredo set up a quarter-final clash with sixth seed Milos Raonic. Roger Federer missed two match points before defeatiing Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-4 to reach the last eight . The Spaniard had to steel himself after surrendering the second set but he would prevail 6-4 1-6 7-5, with Raonic joining him in the last eight following a 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 success against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Third seed Rafael Nadal encountered few problems dispatching Donald Young 6-4 6-2 - he will now meet Gilles Simon, who removed qualifier Michael Berrer from contention with a 6-2 7-5 win - and Tomas Berdych made light work of Steve Johnson, winning 6-4 6-2. A face-off with Lukas Rosol beckons after the Czech edged out Robin Haase 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7/3). +London Broncos have released two of their overseas close-season signings, just five weeks into their Kingstone Press Championship campaign. The Broncos say 31-year-old prop Josh Cordoba, who had a brief spell in Super League with Hull in 2009, has left the club with immediate effect after they agreed to his request to be released from his contract. And London have announced that former Salford half-back Liam Foran, the 26-year-old brother of New Zealand international Kieran, has also left the club by mutual consent as he was keen to move back to Australia with his partner. London Broncos have released prop Josh Cordoba (pictured, right, playing for Cronulla Sharks) 'It was agreed by both parties that this was the best decision for the club moving forward,' said a Broncos spokesman. 'Interim head coach Andrew Henderson is currently looking at the transfer market to bring in the best replacements for these players to add to the existing squad. 'The club will make no further comment on either player.' The Londoners have won just two of their opening five matches since relegation from Super League and were hit last month by the departure of coach Joey Grima, who was granted a release for personal reasons in order to take his family back to Australia. Former Salford half-back has also left the Broncos as he was keen to move back to Australia with his partner . +Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan will miss the remainder of the World Cup with a pelvis injury. Left-armer Irfan, who has taken eight wickets in five matches so far, underwent an MRI scan after sitting out Pakistan's seven-wicket win over Ireland on Sunday with pain in his hip. After an initial scan proved inconclusive on Monday, Irfan underwent further tests on Tuesday where it was confirmed the seven-foot bowler had suffered 'an obvious stress fracture in the pelvis', according to a Pakistan Cricket Board statement. Mohammad Irfan will take no further part in the World Cup after scans revealed he has a fractured pelvis . Irfan had taken eight wickets in the first five games for Pakistan before missing the Ireland match . Team physiotherapist Brad Robinson said: 'This injury rules Irfan out of the World Cup.' Pakistan face Australia on March 20 in Adelaide, with a potential semi-final against defending champions India at stake, should the latter beat Bangladesh. Pakistan will wait until after the quarter-final before deciding whether to call up a replacement for Irfan. +Felicity Bassouls is charged with persistently emailing and phoning her son-in-law Ben Cohen . The mother-in-law of Rugby World Cup winner Ben Cohen is to stand trial accused of harassing the Strictly Come Dancing star. Felicity Bassouls is accused of persistently emailing and phoning the former England player between September and October last year. Bassouls, 67, turned up for a hearing of the case at Northampton Magistrates' Court today, but had not been called on to attend. A three-day trial was set down to start at Corby Magistrates' Court on August 12, with the agreement of defence lawyers and the Crown Prosecution Service. Bassouls, of Ardross, near Alness in Highland, Scotland, is also accused of harassing her own son, Austen Blaney, with emails and phone calls, between September 1 and October 29. She was unconditionally bailed after the hearing. Asked if she had any comment to make outside court, Bassouls said: 'I have nothing to say at this time.' Cohen split with his wife Abby but denied that it was due to a relationship with his Strictly Come Dancing on-screen partner Kristina Rihanoff. The BBC show is said to have a 'curse' with its steamy routines believed to have a hand in ending celebrities' relationships. Cohen is pictured with his wife Abby in 2003 at the International Rugby Board Awards - they split last year . Bassouls, Cohen's mother-in-law, was unconditionally bailed and offered no comment outside the court . Cohen poses with the Rugby World Cup that he won as a member of England's squad in 2003 in Australia . At the time of the split, Cohen said: 'It is a sad world when two adults cannot have a friendship.' The athlete and activist, who was part of England's 2003 World Cup winning squad, had been married to Abby for 11 years and the couple have twin daughters. Cohen met his wife in 1995, at the age of 17, and the couple married in 2003 before having their daughters in 2008. The former Northampton Saints man also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing alongside Kristina Rihanoff . Cohen and team-mate Jason Robinson hold the Webb Ellis trophy aloft after England win the World Cup in 2003 . Wing Cohen streaks away from his Australian opponents during the famous final on their home turf in Sydney . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +As India and Bangladesh relaxed with games of football before their World Cup quarter-final, the underdogs came out swinging. Defending champions India are almost everybody's overwhelming favourites to sweep aside Bangladesh in Melbourne. But Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, however, knows what it feels like to score an important victory over India and is confident the underdogs can cause a shock. India captain MS Dhoni (centre) celebrates scoring a goal as India's players relaxed with a game of football . India's players are preparing for their World Cup quarter-final with Bangladesh in Melbourne . Suresh Raina (left) controls the ball during the practice game on Tuesday . Dhoni (right) shows his skill by avoiding the challenge of the lunging Raina . He was only months into an outstanding international career, which currently places him at the top of the International Cricket Council all-rounder rankings, when he made a half-century in the five-wicket success in Trinidad which sent India out of the 2007 World Cup - almost exactly eight years ago. Shakib, and Bangladesh, have had little success against their super-power neighbours in the intervening years and were beaten by their fellow co-hosts as India steered their championship route in this tournament in 2011. But as Bangladesh enter unchartered territory, as quarter-final debutants, Shakib warns anything is possible. 'This is the first time we're playing in a World Cup quarter-final - but at the same time we need to understand it's another game of cricket,' he said. 'Obviously, on paper, India are a better team than Bangladesh - no one has any doubt about it. 'But on the day, it's a one-off game - and if we have a good day and they have a bad day, you never know.' Shakib Al Hasan (left) is confident Bangladesh have what it takes to beat India . Bangladesh players Soumya Sarkar (left) and Taijul Islam (right) were also pictured playing football . Imrul Kayes (centre) slides in for a challenge on Islam (right) as they take time off from cricket . Will he be taking extra confidence then, for Thursday's match, from that win way back when in Port-of-Spain? While Mahendra Singh Dhoni's India, as is their wont, declined to speak publicly until they must on the eve of the match - and even chose not to play any cricket either at the MCG, preferring football practice - Shakib was not minded to make too much of Bangladesh's 2007 win. 'It will be in our memory,' he said. 'But it's a new game, and we all know it. India are a very good side - they have some world-class players. Obviously, it's going to be hard for us. We know that, but we're up for the challenge.' The indications in Bangladesh's campaign so far, according to Shakib, are encouraging. He said: 'I think we played fearless cricket [in 2007], and we all want to play that brand of cricket. 'So far in this World Cup, I think we're doing it. India are the defending world champions - they've got some world-class players - but we're doing well in this World Cup. Our confidence is high enough, and we're up for the match.' +Crisis-hit Serie A club Parma have suffered another blow with the arrest of the club’s new owner and president Giampietro Manenti. Italy’s financial police said Manenti was accused of investing illicit money and say he was one of 22 people arrested on Wednesday. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Manenti is under investigation for various acts of financial irregularity including money laundering and fraud. Parma's new president Giampietro Manenti was arrested for alleged involvement in money laundering . Manenti took over as Parma’s new owner and president last month, agreeing to pay off the club’s debts, which are estimated at nearly 100 million euros (£72.4m). Players haven’t been paid in months, however, and a bankruptcy hearing has been set for Thursday. Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli said: ‘I hope sooner or later this all ends because honestly we can’t take any more.’ Manenti became the third owner of Parma this season after purchasing the club for a nominal sum from a Russian-Cypriot group in February. Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli (left) admits the players are struggling to deal with the club's predicament . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Jonathan Trott convinced England's selectors he was ready to return to the Test arena with his mature Lions captaincy, and runs, this winter. It is 16 months since Trott had to leave the 2013/14 Ashes with a stress-related problem, and it was not until the second half of last summer that he began to demonstrate he was capable of producing his best form again. The man once inked in at No 3 for England duly returned to the squad on Wednesday, although he is now likely to be competing for an opening slot alongside captain Alastair Cook in the West Indies next month. Jonathan Trott celebrates hitting an unbeaten double century for the Lions in South Africa . Trott's captaincy of the Lions against South Africa in January led to an England recall . The top order batsman has not played for England since leaving last year's Ashes for stress related reasons . Trott was included alongside three prospective debutants in the 16-man squad - Yorkshire pair Adam Lyth and Adil Rashid, plus Durham's Mark Wood. Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes was also named on Wednesday morning, returning to the fold as England seek to erase the embarrassment of their early World Cup exit and start an Ashes year of Test cricket by winning in the Windies. However, it is the inclusion of Trott which dominated the agenda after his return to form with Warwickshire and the Lions. 'Really well done for all the efforts he's put in for the last 12 months,' national selector James Whitaker told ecb.co.uk. 'He seems to be enjoying his cricket again, which is the main thing we wanted to see, and he's very relaxed. Competition                                              Test           ODI               FC               LA . Matches                                                      49             68                219             244 . Runs scored                                             3,763         2,819          14,892          8,834 . Batting average                                         46.95        51.25           45.82           47.24 . 100s/50s                                                    9/18          4/22             37/71           17/60 . Top score                                                   226           137               226             137 . Balls bowled                                               702          183 5             384 1          648 . Wickets                                                         5              2                  64                54 . Bowling average                                       79.60        83.00             47.50          28.35 . 5 wickets in innings                                      0               0                   1                  0 . 10 wickets in match                                      0            n/a                   0                n/a . Best bowling                                                1/5          2/31              7/39             4/55 . Catches/stumpings                                     29/–         14/–              192/–             70/– . 'He is a player of proven international pedigree, and we are delighted to welcome him back into the squad.' Whitaker added on Sky Sports News: 'People go on Lions tours, and it gives them a good indication of the next level up, and Jonathan embraced that. 'He wanted to captain the team, which he did very well. It added to his experience, and he really enjoyed it. 'It's just a marker for us to gauge him by ... and he's happy to go again.' Trott will be 34 next month, but England also have some younger personnel to welcome in the Caribbean - where Lyth, prolific for county champions Yorkshire last summer, will push Trott to partner Cook. Despite his stress problems, Trott's returnto form is expected to bring runs to England's top order . Trott will be competing against Yorkshire newcomers Adam Lyth (left) and Alex Lees (right0 . Read Sportsmail's exclusive interview with Jonathan Trott in November . Whitaker said of Lyth: 'We think he offers us something different at the top as an option, and of course he'll push for that opening spot. 'He's worked hard for Yorkshire, and been part of a championship-winning team.' It is more than five years since Rashid - one of six Yorkshire players in England's squad - won the last of his 10 limited-overs caps. But at 27, the selectors believe the leg-spinning all-rounder is an improved cricketer. Whitaker said: 'We sense a growing maturity with him ... and we hope he can now take that next step into the international stage and contribute to winning Test matches for England.' There is excitement too to have a 'young, quick bowler in our midst' in the shape of 25-year-old Wood - who said: 'I am delighted. 'Especially when I haven't played that many games, it is good that people have seen something in me.' England are in need of some experience after Eoin Morgan's side's disastrous Cricket World Cup . Alastair Cook will return as Test captain after losing his role to Eoin Morgan at the World Cup . Cook picks up the reins again after being replaced as World Cup captain before Christmas, only for England to then endure a miserable early exit from the tournament under Eoin Morgan. Eight of those who fell short in the 50-over format are retained for the Test trip to the Windies. Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, who both finished the World Cup injured, are not among them as they recover from their respective side and foot problems - although the Worcestershire all-rounder may join the tour later, depending on his progress. James Anderon's place was all-but assured, and his inclusion means he can prepare for his 100th Test in Antigua, where he will need just four more victims to go past Ian Botham as England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker. AN Cook (Captain), IJL Trott, A Lyth, GS Ballance, IR Bell, JE Root, JC Buttler (wkt), JM Bairstow (wkt), BA Stokes, AU Rashid, JC Tredwell, LE Plunkett, SCJ Broad, CJ Jordan, JM Anderson, MA Wood. +Novak Djokovic gives the thumbs up at Indian Wells . Novak Djokovic progressed to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells with a comfortable 7-5 6-3 victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The world No 1 rarely looked troubled as he put together a straight sets triumph over Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas, who is yet to win an ATP Tour title. Djokovic, who would collect a 50th career gong should he defend his championship in the Coachella Valley, must now challenge home favourite John Isner for a place in the quarter-finals. The big-serving American fired down 18 aces as he found his way past Kevin Anderson 7-6 (8/6) 6-2 in a touch under one hour and 20 minutes. Fourth and fifth seeds Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori are safely through after overcoming Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco respectively. Murray took a first set in 25 minutes but in the end needed the best part of two hours to overcome Kohlschreiber 6-1 3-6 6-1 while Japan's Nishikori recovered from an early wobble to edge out Verdasco 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-4. Awaiting Murray is Adrian Mannarino following the Frenchman's 6-4 6-4 triumph over Ernests Gulbis and Nishikori's next opponent is Feliciano Lopez. Djokovic rarely looked troubled as he beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets . Ramos-Vinolas of Spain hits a backhand return against Djokovic but was unable to break the world No 1 . Jelena Djokovic, wife of the Serbia star, watches on during his match in California . The 12th seed from Spain was kept busy until the small hours but eventually completed a 6-2 4-6 6-3 victory over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay. Also progressing in California were Bernard Tomic - the 7-5 6-4 conqueror of eighth seed David Ferrer - and surprise package Thanasi Kokkinakis. Australia's world No 124 went the distance in a meeting with the experienced Juan Monaco that the 18-year-old won 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7/5) in nearly two hours and 47 minutes. In the women's draw, second seed Maria Sharapova battled her way past fierce rival Victoria Azarenka to reach the last 16. The Russian was inferior on her percentages throughout a bruising encounter between two multiple grand slam champions but nevertheless it was Azarenka who found herself saving five match points before succumbing to a 6-4 6-3 defeat. John Isner awaits Djokovic in the next round after the big-serving American beat Kevin Anderson . Maria Sharapova celebrates beating her fierce rival Victoria Azarenka to reach the last 16 . Next up for the world No 2 is a meeting with the defending champion, Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who dispatched Sam Stosur 6-4 6-2. Making an early exit was fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki, the victim of a 6-4 6-4 win for Belinda Bencic, while Serbian hopeful Ana Ivanovic was eliminated 6-2 5-7 6-2 by Caroline Garcia. Eugenie Bouchard saw off Coco Vandeweghe 6-3 6-2 with qualifier Lesia Tsurenko ousting Alize Cornet 7-5 1-6 6-2 as Jelena Jankovic defeated Madison Keys 5-7 6-4 6-3. Elsewhere, Sabine Lisicki of Germany called time on 11th seed Sara Errani's campaign with a 6-4 6-2 triumph completed late on Monday night. +Academy graduate Lloyd Isgrove has signed a two-year contract extension at Southampton. Having joined Saints aged nine, the midfielder has this season gone onto make four first-team appearances for the club. Isgrove, now 22, has seen such progress rewarded by a contract extension until 2017, having previously penned successive one-year deals at St Mary's. Lloyd Isgrove has signed a two-year contract extension with Southampton after his first-team breakthrough . A bandaged Isgrove fires in a shot during Southampton's FA Cup tie against Ipswich Town this season . 'It's a bit of security,' the Welsh midfielder told Southampton's official YouTube channel. 'I'm 22 now so obviously this takes me to 24. 'It won't stop me working hard and pushing in training. That's a good age to be playing at a high level. 'It shows that they believe in my abilities. They want me on a two-year instead of doing the one-years that I've previously done before, which is only positive for me. 'It's probably the biggest two years of my career so far. If I can get a run of games and stuff, I can really push on and really establish myself as a professional player.' Isgrove's new deal takes him up to the age of 24 and he hopes he can establish himself as a professional . +Tillakaratne Dilshan will spend two spells with Derbyshire over the coming season after the Division Two county announced the signing of the experienced Sri Lanka batsman. The 38-year-old will be available for up to four NatWest Twenty20 Blast fixtures and two LV= County Championship matches when he takes the overseas berth from New Zealand international Martin Guptill in June. Dilshan will return to the County Ground from the Caribbean Premier League at the beginning of August and will be available for every remaining Falcons match until the end of September. Tillakaratne Dilshan in action as he hits Scotland for 104 at the World Cup helping Sri Lanka to an easy win . Dilshan gets up and heads the ball as he enjoys a bit of football with his Sri Lanka team-mates . Dilshan is currently the fourth highest run scorer at the World Cup - having hit 395 runs so far . He said: 'Derbyshire are an ambitious club with an exciting young team and I'm looking forward to joining them in the NatWest T20 Blast and then returning to help them finish the season strongly. 'I am really pleased with my current form and this makes me confident I can make a strong contribution to Derbyshire this season.' Dilshan has competed in 87 Test matches for Sri Lanka, scoring 5,492 runs, and his one-day international total comes to 9,796 runs in 312 matches. He has also plundered more than 5,000 runs across 232 T20 fixtures with the Lions, who won the ICC World Twenty20 last year. Dilshan is part of Sri Lanka's World Cup squad preparing to face South Africa in the quarter finals on Wednesday. He has scored 395 runs so far - making him the fourth highest runs scorer in the tournament. +League Two high-flyers Luton Town will rename their home ground the Prostate Cancer UK Stadium for one match to raise awareness of the disease, the club said on Wednesday. The former top-flight club, now playing in the fourth tier, said the 10,000 capacity of their 110-year-old Kenilworth Road ground represented the amount of men who die of prostate cancer each year in Britain. The name change will take effect for the match against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday. Luton's Kenilworth Road ground will be renamed the Prostate Cancer UK Stadium for one match . Luton are chasing promotion from League Two and currently sit sixth in the table . 'We are extremely proud to be the first club to partner with a charity such as Prostate Cancer UK by renaming our stadium, albeit temporarily,' chief executive Gary Sweet told Luton's website. 'We felt sure that once the full story emerged about our supporting Prostate Cancer UK, our supporters would understand and fully support the move. 'This is a first for Luton Town and a first in football and we are delighted to be teaming up with a charity which has supported the game, in particular supporters and players past and present, so well.' It is the first time an English stadium has been named after a charity. Prostate cancer claims the same number of men's lives a year as the capacity of Luton's home ground . Luton are in the promotion playoff places, occupying sixth position in the table, 12 points behind leaders Burton Albion. Prostate Cancer UK director of fundraising Mark Bishop, said: 'The power of sport - and in this case football - has helped us reach out to men and their friends and families. 'We thank the club's players, staff and supporters on behalf of the 300,000 men living with prostate cancer in the UK.' +Manchester City defender Micah Richards, who is currently on loan at Serie A side Fiorentina and is out of contract at the end of the season, has said that the chances of first-team football will be the main factor in deciding his next move. Richards told TalkSport on Wednesday, 'It's difficult to say [where I will play] at the moment.' He added, 'Every footballer can go to a bigger club on a free contract but for me, I'm still only 26 and I just want to play every game, that's what's important.' Richards has recently been linked with a switch to Inter Milan, now manged by his former City boss Roberto Mancini. Manchester City defender Micah Richards is currently on loan at Serie A side Fiorentina . The 26-year-old is out of contract in the summer and is keen to secure regular first-team football . Richards has been linked with a move to Inter Milan, managed by his former City boss Roberto Mancini . The England international, who has 13 caps for his country, graduated from City's academy in 2005 and for a few years commanded a regular starting berth for the Sky Blues. However, thanks to a mix of injuries, squad rotation and a string of high profile defensive signings sanctioned by the club's wealthy owners, Richards' opportunities at the Etihad Stadium gradually became more limited. On a possible return to English football Richards admitted, 'Everyone wants to play in the Premier League, it's still the best league in the world and the most entertaining.' And surely when he does become a free agent in the summer, the right-back will not be short of potential suitors both at home and abroad. Richards graduated from City's academy in 2005 and went on to make over 200 appearances for the club . When Richards' contract expires, he will undoubtedly have no shortage of potential suitors . +Serena Williams recovered from a nightmare start to overcome her compatriot Sloane Stephens and reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The world No 1 dropped her first two service games in the fourth career meeting between two former friends, whose relationship had cooled in the wake of Stephens' solitary win at the 2013 Australian Open. Despite dropping the opening set on a tie-break after rallying to recover the double break, Williams became increasingly dominant as the game went on and secured a 6-7 (7/3), 6-2, 6-2 win in two hours and seven minutes. Serena Williams recovered from a bad start to overcome her compatriot Sloane Stephens on Tuesday . Williams (left) is congratulated by Stephens following her 6-7 (7/3). 6-2. 6-2 Indian Wells victory . It proved a much tougher challenge for Williams - making her first appearance in Indian Wells in 14 years - than her 53-minute triumph over Zarina Diyas in the previous round. Shocked by Stephens' strong start, Williams battled back to level but the world number 42 dominated the tie-break to raise hopes of levelling the career wins between the pair at two apiece. Williams had other ideas, breaking her opponent early in the second set and refusing to allow Stephens a single break point chance before she served out confidently to level the match. A rattled Stephens dropped her serve again in the first game of the decider and when Williams broke again to go 5-2 ahead it was only a matter of time before she completed her comeback victory. The world No 1 dropped her first two service games in the fourth career meeting between the two friends . Stephens dropped her serve in the first game of the deciding set before Williams claimed victory . +Russian prosecutors are examining shocking footage of a football coach kicking a seven-year-old boy in the air during a Lokomotiv Moscow youth match. Valentin Pavlov claimed he was teaching the boy how to kick the ball properly after he failed to show enough commitment in a tackle against Brateevo Moscow. He then ordered the frightened child to get back into the game. In the video, Valentin Pavol can be seen calling the seven-year-old player over to the sideline during training . He kicks out at him in what he later claimed was an attempt to teach him how to use his feet more 'robustly' The boy is sent flying into the air by the forceful kick which has outraged Russia . The boy twists in the air before landing on his back as another child, far right, watches on in horror . The Moscow Football Federation has branded the training drill incident 'outrageous' The powerful Investigative Committee, equivalent of the FBI, is deciding whether to bring charges for cruelty against Pavlov, but the coach claims his kick looked worse than it was. The Moscow Football Federation branded the incident 'outrageous'. 'I was explaining to the child how to use his foot in a more robust manner,' claimed the coach, who claimed the camera was at the wrong angle. 'I started showing him - and just then the child jumped. So I sort of touched him, and he flipped in the air. 'Of course, there was not even a slightest intention to hurt him. This is a coincidence. 'He fell down in a theatrical manner so that it looked like he was hurt. The person who filmed it was lucky to catch this angle.' Left, Valentin Pavlov, the coach who denies kicking Eugene Efimov (right) with the intent of hurting him . Pavlov is the father of two daughters, one of whom plays in his team, and he claimed he filmed his club Maximum-Brateevo's training sessions as proof there was no undue physical force or beating of children. While he did not apologise to the boy after the kick, he claims he has done so since. The footage has caused outrage in Russia, but it was unclear today whether the boy's parents have complained. Without a complaint, the Investigative Committee may not take further action. After the boy got back to his feet, Mr Pavlov then appeared to order him back into the game . +This is the hair-raising moment two motorcyclists narrowly avoid a road accident mid-ride. A body camera attached to one of the bikers shows them winding through the California hills. But all of a sudden as they turn a blind corner, they come across a stationary BMW car. The duo are forced to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting the parked vehicle. One ventures over to the wrong side of the road while the other veers into the hard shoulder with a steep drop just inches away. Luckily the two cyclists manage to navigate the BMW safely. After the near-crash the motorbiker wearing the camera is seen pulling over into the driveway of a house. Lookout ahead: This is the hair-raising moment two motorcyclists narrowly avoid a road accident mid-ride . Sunny ride: A body camera attached to one of the bikers shows them winding through the California hills . Road hazard: But all of a sudden as they turn a blind corner, they come across a stationary BMW car . Despite avoiding collision, he still appears to be furious. 'Are you f***ing stupid?' he shouts back to the driver of the BMW. The bikers uploaded the clip online to serve as a warning to other road users. To date it has been watched more than 90,000 times. +Adam Johnson has returned to training with Sunderland after they lifted his suspension following the extension of his police bail. Sunderland suspended Johnson, 27, pending the outcome of a police investigation after he was arrested on March 2 on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. On Tuesday Johnson's bail was extended by five weeks until April 23 and on Wednesday it was revealed his suspension was lifted. Johnson could now feature for new boss Dick Advocaat in Sunderland's fight for survival. Adam Johnson, pictured with girlfriend Stacey Flounders, has had his bail extended until April 23 . The 27-year-old winger could feature for new manager Dick Advocaat after his suspension was lifted . The gates at Johnson's £1.85million mansion were shut following his arrest earlier this month . Sunderland said in a statement: 'The club has discussed the current position in detail with both the PFA (Professional Footballers Association) and Adam’s representatives. 'In line with those discussions we recognise that the player is entitled to re-commence his duties with the club while the legal process continues. He will therefore return to training. 'The club’s own investigation cannot continue until the conclusion of the legal process. 'Sunderland AFC will make no further comment on the matter due to the ongoing police investigation.' VIDEO Sunderland lift Johnson suspension . Former Manchester City player Johnson has had his suspension lifted following the extension of his bail . Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United shortly before being arrested . Johnson, pictured playing against Switzerland in 2011, has 12 England caps to his name . Johnson has been training with a fitness coach and could play his first match at home in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle on Easter Sunday. Johnson scored the only goal at St James' Park in the reverse fixture in December and it would prove a hostile environment in which to return. Dick Advocaat, pictured here in charge of PSV Eindhoven in 2012, has taken over at Sunderland . Gus Poyet was sacked by Sunderland with the club just one point above the Premier League relegation zone . Sunderland supporters turned on manager Poyet after their side were thrashed 4-0 by Aston Villa at home . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Former Barcelona forward Ronaldinho has been dropped by Mexican side Queretaro while unhappy supporters have dubbed him 'Robberdinho' for producing sub-par displays amid media reports of too much partying. The Brazilian signed for the club in September but has only showed glimpses of the form that won him two FIFA World Player of the Year awards with Barca in 2004 and 2005. Ronaldinho missed a penalty on his debut and has been unable to win over the fans since. Ronaldinho has been dropped by Mexican side Queretaro following a string of poor performances . The former Barcelona forward has also come under scrutiny for his lavish off-field lifestyle . He was axed for Sunday's game at Toluca by new coach Victor Manuel Vucetich, a renowned disciplinarian, after he reportedly missed training in the week. Queretaro lost 1-0 and are second from bottom in the league with eight points from 10 games. 'They (the fans) are calling him 'Robberdinho' ... and it is undeniable the Brazilian star's time in Mexican football has left a lot to be desired where it matters most: on the field,' said the Estadio newspaper. 'The world champion has not dropped his party lifestyle in the land of the Aztecs.' Ronaldinho, who turns 35 next week, has always been known for his love of night life but Queretaro appear to be losing patience with him. An executive who declined to be identified told Reuters the club had no intention of extending his two-year contract and expected him to head to the United States once his time in Mexico was over. In 2005, Ronaldinho was crowned FIFA's Ballon d'Or winner for his fantastic form for Barcelona . Ronaldinho scores with a bicycle kick for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon Stadium . +Louis van Gaal arrived at his press conference on Thursday apologising for still being in what he called his 'work clothes'. That, however, transpired to the least of his worries. Soon after, he was embroiled in what we can politely describe as a lively exchange about the nature of his relationship with his assistant Ryan Giggs. Pictures of a rather underwhelmed Giggs at St James' Park on Wednesday and some quotes from his old friend Paul Scholes had given weight earlier in the day to some recent chatter about the United icon's thoughts on Van Gaal's style of play and indeed his own future. Louis van Gaal was not best pleased after his relationship with Ryan Giggs was questioned . Giggs did not respond to Van Gaal's in-your-face celebrations after United's late win against Newcastle . The Manchester United boss gave a tetchy press conference ahead of Monday's FA Cup clash with Arsenal . And then there was the Jonny Evans issue. Caught on film spitting towards the ground during a clash with Newcastle centre forward Papiss Cisse, the United central defender now stands accused – rightly or wrongly - of one of the most frowned upon acts in sport. All in all, it was another challenging day at the office for United's manager. No wonder his mood was rather spiky. 'No, we have a very bad relationship,' said Van Gaal of Giggs, rather sarcastically. 'I'm very irritated because of this question. 'Everyone can see we have a very good relationship and work very hard together, not only Ryan Giggs but all the staff and players. 'This [your question] is a way of suggesting things. 'So now I am very irritated and I take my message against the media. I'm not pleased. 'I think 90 per cent [of everything you say] is not happening.' Van Gaal and Giggs share their views during the Premier League clash with the Magpies on Wednesday . Ashley Young wheels away after scoring a late winner to keep United in the chase for a top four finish . The former Holland manager laughs from the dugout at St James' Park while his No 2 remains stony faced . Giggs (2nd left) did not appear to join in his manager's celebrations after United's late victory at Newcastle . Images of Giggs failing to join Van Gaal's celebrations after Ashley Young's 89th minute goal at St James Park on Wednesday were certainly peculiar. So, too, were quotes from Scholes on TV before kick-off. 'There's no doubt, he had that little taste of it for the last three weeks of last year and he definitely wants to be a manager,' Scholes told BT Sport. 'You can see that. Over the next two or three years, will he have the patience to be a No 2 for that long? I'm not sure he will.' Giggs is reportedly angry after former team-mate Paul Scholes (right) questioned his contentment at United . Giggs is understood to have been non-plussed by David Moyes' style of play at Manchester United . The United icon took charge at Old Trafford for the final games of last season following Moyes' sacking . Giggs and Scholes worked together at United when the former was handed the reins last season in the wake of David Moyes' sacking. Former team-mates, they know each other very well. Nevertheless, it is understood that Giggs views his friend's comments as unhelpful and is furious that anyone should voice doubts about his relationship with Van Gaal. It is not hard to wonder, though, what Giggs does make of the Dutch coach's style. Giggs grew frustrated at Moyes' reluctance to play on the front foot last season and immediately sought to change it during his spell as interim manager last April and May. Giggs instinctively went back to what he emotively called 'the United way'. So have things improved that much this season? It is hard to say that they have. For now, though, United fans will listen to Van Gaal's words and learn of Giggs' irritation and perhaps be soothed. If performances pick up - starting with a home FA Cup tie with Arsenal on Monday - then the subject will be allowed to melt away. United defender Jonny Evans (left) and Papiss Cisse have been charged with spitting during the game . ‘Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. ‘I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. ‘It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.’ THE GAMES HE COULD MISS FOR UNITED: Arsenal (h), Monday; Tottenham (h), March 15; Liverpool (a), March 22; Aston Villa (h), April 4; Man City (h) April 12; Chelsea (a) April 18. Evans and Cisse were both caught on camera appearing to spit at each other on Wednesday night . ‘I have apologies to make to a lot of people today. Firstly to my team-mates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny. ‘I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be a positive role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down. ‘I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.’ THE GAMES HE’LL MISS FOR NEWCASTLE: Everton (a), March 15; Arsenal (h), March 21; Sunderland (a), April 5; Liverpool (a), April 13; Tottenham (h), April 19; Swansea (h), April 25; Leicester (a), May 2. Cisse has accepted a possible seven-game ban while Evans has until 6pm on Friday February 6 to respond . As for Evans, he will clearly tell the FA that he didn't mean to spit at Cisse on Wednesday but may still be fortunate to escape a ban of six games. Footage would appear to be inconclusive and it is easy to sympathise with the Irishman's claim in a statement on Thursday that he was not spitting at his opponent. His manager clearly believes him, too, but whether the FA will feel they can prove the case against one player - Cisse - and not the other will perhaps worry Van Gaal as he contemplates playing much of the remainder of the season without his centre half. 'Of course I've spoken with Jonny Evans,' said the United manager. 'It is like what I said in the press conference after match that he was not aware he was spitting. 'And when he was spitting on the ground, maybe it's a natural thing from a human being. 'I think it was not his intention and that I said already. 'I cannot imagine that Jonny Evans could do that. 'And he has said this also so I believe him. 'So for me the matter has done.' United will renew their rivalry with Arsenal when Van Gaal takes on Arsene Wenger in the FA Cup quarter-final . With Monday's game at Old Trafford so important to United in terms of their chances of not only winning a trophy but also of finding the required confidence to take in to some tough Barclays Premier League fixtures, Van Gaal may have hoped for a rather less eventful build-up. Amid it all, at least he can cling to results. United remain fourth in the Premier League and, somehow, on course for the Champions League qualification that was stated as a pre-requisite at the start of the season. Criticism has been a constant companion throughout his time in England and, indeed, during previous spells in Holland and Spain. It is partly because of this that it was surprising to see him so irked. He is usually a little more phlegmatic. One imagines that passage to the last four of the FA Cup on Monday night would put much of it right. +Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has furiously denied talk of a problem between himself and assistant manager Ryan Giggs and has absolved defender Jonny Evans of any blame in the spitting incident with Newcastle's Papiss Cisse on Wednesday night. United win 1-0 at St James Park on Wednesday was notable for the fact Giggs did not appear keen to celebrate Ashley Young's late winner. Van Gaal said on Thursday: 'I am very irritated with this question. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal insisted he and assistant Ryan Giggs (left) are on good terms . The Dutchman refuted claims that there were problems between himself and the former United player . Giggs (left) appeared subdued after Ashley Young scored a late winner against Newcastle on Wednesday . 'Everybody can see we have a good relationship. 'We work very hard together me with the players and the staff. 'I am very irritated about this. I am not pleased. A suggestion about a poor relationship is wrong. 'I am a fact man.' Minutes before Thursday's press conference, United defender Evans had denied spitting at Cisse on Wednesday night in a statement released by the club. Cisse, on the other hand, has apologised for his actions. Jonny Evans (left) and Papiss Cisse clash after the unsavoury incident at St James' Park on Wednesday night . Cisse has apologised to Evans after reacting while the Man United defender has denied all allegations . Van Gaal said: 'I have spoken with Jonny and that is why I am late. 'When he was spitting on the ground maybe it was a human reaction. It was not his intention and I believe him.' The FA are waiting for referee Anthony Taylor's report. As he missed the incident between Jonny Evans and Pappis Cisse, it is unlikely the it will be included in his report - meaning the FA can retrospectively punish the pair. Hull striker George Boyd was banned for three games last season after being found guilty of spitting at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. However, the FA have issued new guidelines to move in line with new FIFA guidelines meaning Evans and Cisse could now be banned for six games. Asked about whether he feared the FA would charge Evans, Van Gaal replied briefly. He said: 'I think the FA is very wise.' Evans released a statement on Thursday, denying the allegations that he spat at the Newcastle striker. The statement on Manchester United's official website read: 'Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night's match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. 'I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. 'It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.' Conversely, Papiss Cisse has said since apologised to his team-mates, fans, and even Evans, saying he spat back at the Northern Irishman as a reaction to something 'very unpleasant.' +Everton boss Roberto Martinez feels the poor condition of the pitch at Dynamo Kiev's Olympic Stadium is 'a concern' - but he is sure it will be just as problematic for one side as the other in Thursday's Europa League last-16 second-leg encounter. Rather than training on the pitch at their opponents' stadium as they normally would, Martinez' men did a session on the running track surrounding the playing surface - while the turf was covered by a protective sheet - following their arrival in Ukraine on Wednesday. And when asked about the state of the grass, the Spaniard said at his pre-match press conference: 'The pitch is a concern for both teams. Everton boss Roberto Martinez has expressed concerns over the quality of Dynamo Kiev's pitch . Everton players train ahead of their Europa League round of 16 second-leg with Dynamo Kiev . Everton currently lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate following their win at Goodison Park in the first-leg . With the pitch covered up, Everton players are made to train on the running track that surrounds it . Martinez has warned that the poor quality pitch could be a problem for both Everton and Dynamo Kiev . 'Dynamo Kiev are a technical team and they need a good pitch, and we are exactly the same. 'I don't think it will play a big part in terms of giving a favour or advantage to either of the two sides. 'I think it is a little bit of a shame for the game of football that the pitch is not going to be in perfect condition. 'But you have to adapt to whatever surface you play on.' An Everton coach leads the players in a series of stretches on the running track around the pitch . Leighton Baines (left) stretches alongside Everton team-mate Luke Garbutt at the Olympic Stadium . +Up in the expensive seats, Steven Gerrard looked down on another fruitless appeal for a Liverpool penalty and blew out his cheeks. This was one of those days at Anfield. For all their improvement in the second half of the season, Liverpool are still capable of throwing in a performance like this from time to time. There are still days when the cogs in the machine don’t run smoothly, days when the absence of any kind of Plan B hurts Liverpool and hurts them badly. Blackburn were terrific here. They defended brilliantly, ran hard and stuck to a game plan devised by manager Gary Bowyer to deny Liverpool the space between the defensive and midfield lines that their playmakers love to work in. Blackburn defended stubbornly to stop players such as Philippe Coutinho (centre) from having an impact for Liverpool . Steven Gerrard (left) was in the stands watching the game at Anfield, as was former team-mate and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher . Gerrard did not play for Liverpool due to injury but the supporters are desperate to get to Wembley in his final season at the club . Martin Skrtel (right) landed awkwardly and play was halted for eight minutes as he was treated by medical staff . Skrtel lies on the ground after contesting a header with the Blackburn Rovers forward Rudy Gestede . Emre Can (centre) stands over Skrtel before calling for medical assistance for his Liverpool team-mate . Skrtel was moving his arms as he was carried off on a stretcher in the 11th minute of Liverpool's FA Cup tie . A week earlier here at Anfield, Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City found it impossible to plug those gaps. As a result, Liverpool’s Brazilian Philippe Coutinho won that game almost on his own. Here, though, Blackburn found the key and, as a result, Liverpool ran out of ideas. The visitors’ formation squeezed the life out of Liverpool while their two central defenders Alex Baptiste and Matthew Kilgallon cleaned up everything that Brendan Rodgers’ team did manage to throw in to the penalty area. On the break, Blackburn were dangerous too. Without their much-discussed centre forward Josh King – who was injured - the Championship side relied heavily on the imposing figure of Rudy Gestede and he worried Liverpool’s back three all afternoon but especially in the first half. Perhaps Liverpool were unsettled by a nasty injury to their own defender Martin Skrtel in the very first minute. A header from Alex Baptiste (second left) brought a fine save from Simon Mignolet at the start of the second half . Mignolet (centre) made a superb save to tip the header from Baptiste away at the beginning of the second half . Kolo Toure (left) hit the back of the net in the first half but his strike was ruled out for offside . Toure (right) replaced the injured Skrtel and also hit the post with a header in the second half . Mario Balotelli came on in the second half for Liverpool but was unable to find a way through the Blackburn defence . Liverpool: Mignolet 6.5, Johnson 6, Skrtel 6 (Toure 11, 6), Lovren 6, Markovic 6.5 (Balotelli 59, 6), Henderson 6.5, Can 6, Lallana 5, Sterling 5.5, Sturridge 6.5, Coutinho 5.5 . Subs not used: Lambert, Sakho, Moreno, Williams, Ward. Bookings: Can . Blackburn: Eastwood 7, Henley 6.5, Baptiste 7, Kilgallon 7.5, Olsson 6.5, Cairney, Marshall 6 (Taylor 68, 6), Williamson 7.5, Evans 6.5, Conway 6, Gestede 8 . Subs not used: Spurr, Brown, Rhodes, Henry, Lenihan, Steele. Bookings: Cairney . Att: 43,820 . *Ratings by CHRIS WHEELER at Anfield . The Slovakian fell awkwardly in a challenge with Gestede and was treated for what looked like a neck injury for eight minutes. Happily he was okay by half-time and able to watch the rest of the game. No doubt he found it as frustrating as the majority crammed inside Anfield. Liverpool were not dreadful. They were the better team. But by their own improving standards, their football lacked crispness and rhythm and as such they found it difficult to ever gather momentum. Blackburn were actually the first to show after Skrtel’s injury and Gestede was the game’s most influential player for 25 minutes. The manner in which he forced Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in to a mistake under a high ball seemed portentous while the dummy he sold Raheem Sterling to give Craig Conway a sight of goal on the overlap soon after was terrific. Sadly for Blackburn, Conway’s shot flew high and wide. There was the occasional moment of cohesion from the home team but far fewer than we would have expected. Liverpool may have had a penalty in the 19th minute when Kilgallon appeared to bundle over the largely ineffectual Adam Lallana in the penalty area. Did the defender’s toe just touch the ball first? Perhaps. That apart, there were a couple of long shots from Coutinho. After his recent success from distance, nobody could blame the Brazilian for having a go. On this occasion, his range was set too high, however. Skrtel’s replacement Toured did have the ball in the net in the 34th minute after a free-kick dropped invitingly to him six yards out but he was a yard offside. Then, during the eight extra minutes added for Skrtel’s injury, Lazar Markovic and Daniel Sturridge brought saves from Simon Eastwood. It was notable that they were the first two the Blackburn goalkeeper had been asked to make all half. Liverpool attacker Adam Lallana (right) was denied a penalty after tumbling from a challenge by Matt Kilgallon of Blackburn . Can (left) battles for the ball with Tom Cairney of Blackburn Rovers as the first half ended goalless at Anfield . Can (right), who was playing in midfield on Sunday for Liverpool, challenges for the ball with Lee Williamson of Blackburn . Liverpool playmaker Coutinho (left) tries to escape the attention of Blackburn's Williamson but the Reds struggled going forward . Daniel Sturridge (centre) is tackled by Baptiste as Liverpool's attack toiled against a stubborn Blackburn back four . Lazar Markovic (left) of Liverpool chases down Blackburn's Ben Marshall during the FA Cup quarter-final at Anfield . Blackburn's Cairney (right) turns away from Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson in the game at Anfield . Raheem Sterling leaps over the challenge from Adam Henley (left) of Blackburn but the ball rolls out of play . After the interval, Liverpool did build pressure. As Blackburn’s energy levels dropped, they found it harder to break. Still, though, Blackburn had the best chance as Baptiste’s header from a corner in the 48th minute was brilliantly touched over by Mignolet. Beyond that fright, Liverpool’s football was undeniably quicker, neater and indeed more progressive. Still, though, they found it hard to penetrate the wall of blue. Indeed, all that Rodgers’ team really had to show for their efforts as the game reached the last 20 minutes was a shot by Sturridge that was blocked by Baptiste and a follow up from Coutinho that must have landed somewhere in the environs of Goodison Park. Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer shouts instructions to his players during the FA Cup game against Liverpool . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will be frustrated by his team's lacklustre performance on a frustrating afternoon . Amid all this, though, there was a more convincing penalty shout, Sturridge going down as Kilgallon sought to impede his run with an outstretched arm. It was the type of penalty appeal that generally tends to be ignored. Heaven knows why. The use of the arm by defenders is not in the rules. In the last ten minutes there were two more saves for Eastwood to make, one from substitute Mario Balotelli and one from Jordan Henderson. In all, Liverpool had 21 shots. That, however, suggests Liverpool were better than they actually were. There were some bright spots, such as the performance of Emre Can at the base of the midfield. The German has a superb passing range and it will be a surprise if he doesn’t develop in to a very good player. On this occasion, however, the glory was all Blackburn’s. They may have to be slightly more expansive when it comes to the replay in April but they deserved this draw and will relish 90 minutes against Liverpool at Ewood Park. By then Gerrard will expect to be back in the thick of it. If he wants to get to Wembley for his birthday FA Cup Final, he is going to have to do his bit. +It says something for the way things have changed in English football that Arsene Wenger admitted only last week that Arsenal have no chance of winning the Barclays Premier League. The same, of course, could be said of Manchester United. It is, we should remind ourselves, only the start of March. Given United’s enduring financial capacity, it should not be too long before the most successful club of the Premier League era are competing with Manchester City and Chelsea at the top of the table once more. (Left to right) Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Michael Carrick warm-up during training on Sunday . Rojo (left) and Radamel Falcao share a joke as United step up their preparations for their clash with Arsenal . David de Gea (left), Marouane Fellaini (centre) and Luke Shaw arrive at the Aon Training Complex . Red Devils centre back Chris Smalling (left) stretches out during his side's training session . Evans, pictured with Michael Carrick, took part in Sunday's training session despite his six-match suspension . Manchester United duo Antonio Valencia and Daley Blind are both expected to start against Arsenal . United duo Jones (left) and Falcao (right) will be hoping to start against Arsene Wenger's side . As for Arsenal, it is more difficult to say. Arsene Wenger’s team have been a peripheral concern for quite a while now. Whatever the case, on Monday night at Old Trafford, these great modern rivals come together with something more at stake than a place in the last four of the FA Cup. With United not involved in Europe this season and Arsenal staring at likely Champions League expulsion in Monaco next week — they trail 3-1 after the last-16 home leg — victory tonight would at least keep one of them relevant from a domestic point of view. No wonder United staff have been encouraging supporters to bring flags and banners to Old Trafford in a bid to bolster tonight’s atmosphere. This may not be a cup final but it may feel a little bit like one. ‘United and Arsenal are placed third and fourth in the Premier League so it’s almost like a final, I think,’ said United manager Louis van Gaal. ‘It is a big event with two good teams. I hope we can give a fantastic match for the fans. United boss Louis van Gaal is targeting his first piece of silverware since arriving at Old Trafford last summer . Wayne Rooney during United's training session at Carrington on Sunday ahead of the game . ‘I think if we beat them it is a big blow for them but if they beat us it is a big blow for us. It is a very important game, not only for the FA Cup but also for the rest of the season.’ United have not won the FA Cup for 11 years. Arsenal are the holders after last season’s victory over Hull but, prior to that, their previous success in the competition had come back in 2005. This says much for the manner in which both clubs’ focus has been elsewhere for so long. Arsenal and United have always valued the FA Cup but, during the years they disputed the league title and had grand aspirations in Europe, it was occasionally allowed to slide down the priority list. That is no longer the case. Van Gaal in particular has been respectful towards the game’s most famous cup competition ever since he arrived in Manchester last summer and has made no attempt to hide what it would mean to him — and his club — if United could win it. The first trophy Van Gaal ever won as a coach was Holland’s KNVB Cup with Ajax in 1993. He still considers his first Dutch championship, which arrived a year later, as the most important trophy of his coaching career. But he admitted he understood Jose Mourinho’s view that his most crucial success in England was his first — the 2005 League Cup triumph. Francis Coquelin evads the challenge for Aaron Ramsey during Arsenal's Sunday training session at Colney . Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck gets through some speed work at his side's St Albans base . Ramsey strides forward during the Gunners' last field session before facing United on Monday night . The Gunners squad are put through their paces as they look to reach Wembley for the third time in two years . Laurent Koscielny puts in the effort with a sprint as Wengers' team got ready for the vital game at Old Trafford . ‘You can say you play for your profession but that is not enough,’ said Van Gaal. ‘You want to win something. That is why you play and coach. The players want to win something and also the manager and also the fans. ‘When you win a title like the FA Cup, which in England is very important, and when you fight for something and you get it, you are pleased and that is why Jose Mourinho is saying what he says about his first one. ‘When you compare coaches with one another then titles are very important. And when a player wins something, they then have the experience of winning a final so there are a lot of positive things.’ Van Gaal was not hired last summer to win the FA Cup. He knows he must get United back into the Champions League. No Premier League club with aspirations of winning the league can afford to be locked out of money-spinning European competition for more than the odd season. Similarly, Wenger knows what his true responsibilities are. French centre forward Olivier Giroud is finally looking capable of scoring consistently for the Gunners . On Monday night, however, the expectation is that this should feel like the most important night of these teams’ seasons so far and the contest should benefit from that. Arsenal have been playing reasonably well for some time and have won 10 of their last 11 domestic games. With their French centre forward Olivier Giroud finally looking capable of scoring consistently, the holders will head north knowing they have the capacity to trouble their great rivals. They also have a league defeat from early winter to avenge. Arsene Wenger's side are current FA Cup champions after their dramatic victory against Hull last season . United’s football, on the other hand, has been more patchy but Van Gaal will hope that inspiration can be taken from an away win at Newcastle last Wednesday that had an important feel about it. He will also hope his captain Wayne Rooney can use his own rather sketchy FA Cup past as a motivating factor. ‘He has not won the FA Cup,’ said Van Gaal. ‘And that is something that is missing for him. ‘My first championship with Ajax was very important for me, it was also an emotional thing. It will be the same for Wayne.’ +Michael Schumacher's 15-year-old son has crashed while test driving a Formula 4 car at 100mph in east Germany. Mick Schumacher was racing through the Lausitzring speedway in Brandenburg, eastern Germany, when he skidded out of control and onto the gravel, it was reported. The young protege began karting seven years ago, and this year reached the German Formula 4 - the racing category used as a stepping stone by junior drivers. Michael Schumacher's 15-year-old son crashed while testing a Formula 4 car on a race track in east Germany . Mick Schumacher finished second in the world, European and German kart championships last season . However, German newspaper Die Welt reported that the crash was minor and Mick walked away from the accident uninjured. His father, who is still recovering from a December 2013 ski accident at his home in Switzerland, has won a record seven Formula 1 world titles and 91 races. Mick signed a contract with Van Amersfoort Racing to drive in the Formula 4 earlier this month. At the time, the Dutch team's owner Frits van Amersfoort said: 'We have watched his skills in test driving and are looking forward to a successful season.' Mick finished second in the world, European and German kart championships last season. His father emerged from his induced coma in June last year, and left hospital in September. Michael Schumacher (pictured in 2000) is still recovering from a ski accident that left him with head injuries . He has since started to recognise family members, according to someone claiming to be a family friend. Philippe Streiff, a former Formula 1 driver, told French media Schumacher 'has yet to recover the power of speech' but is 'nevertheless starting to recognise those close to him'. However, Schumacher's manager has disputed the comments, saying the 46-year-old faces a 'long fight' for recovery and that Streiff is not a family friend. 'We need a long time,' Sabine Kehm said. 'He is making progress appropriate to the severity of the situation. +Harry Kane is expected to receive his first senior international call on Thursday and England's decision to train at Tottenham next week will present Roy Hodgson the chance to discuss future plans for the young striker with Mauricio Pochettino. Hodgson has promised England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate the first choice on the players he wants to select for the European Championships in the Czech Republic in June. Harry Kane is expected to be named in Roy Hodgson's England squad on Thursday . The Tottenham striker has made a huge impact in scoring 26 goals in his breakthrough season . After his 26-goal breakthrough season, 21-year-old Kane is at the top of Southgate's list but Spurs boss Pochettino would prefer him to rest after the club's post-season tour to Australia. 'Tottenham, the FA and Harry Kane all need to share our opinions and take the best decision,' said Pochettino. 'All players want to play for their country, but we need to speak because we care about Harry and want him to develop in the best way.' Both Hodgson and Pochettino are scheduled to be at the Spurs training base, near Enfield, next Thursday as England prepare for a Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley and a friendly in Italy on Monday week. Southgate will not be present but discussions are already open about Kane's availability for the U21 Euros, with an idea forming that he could be given a short break after his return from Australia and before reporting late to the England camp to ease Tottenham's concerns about burnout. Those selected by Southgate for the tournament – England's first game is on June 18 - will be excused games with Hodgson's senior team in June against the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia. Kane's value to his club and country are illustrated by the remarkable statistics he has generated this term (see graphic). His 26 goals have been vital in Spurs' push for Champions League football, but among those strikes are five that have been equalisers and seven that have put his side ahead. His conversion rate for headed shots at goal is 27 per cent, a Premier League high. And, perhaps most tellingly, Spurs have won just won game out of six when Kane has not played. +Chelsea duo Didier Drogba and Kurt Zouma are getting on so well they have started rapping together in their spare time. The French-speaking duo combined to become ‘The DrogFather ft Zoumanaaan’ as they returned from what looking like a Chelsea away game and uploaded it to the Ivorian striker's Instagram. Zouma has been dubbed the new Marcel Desailly by Jose Mourinho following his impressive start to life in the Premier League. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has a go at rapping alongside team-mate Kurt Zouma . Zouma belts out his lyrics in French as he teams up with team-mate and lyrics partner Drogba . It all looks to be going swimmingly for the 20-year-old on the pitch, but if it does for some reason all go wrong then at least Zouma will have a rap career to fall back on. Lyrics partner Drogba is currently enjoying his second spell with the west London outfit having had a spell in Turkey. Drogba returned in the summer and as his rapping shows, the Ivorian hasn't missed a beat… . Zouma has been dubbed the new Marcel Desailly by Jose Mourinho following a great start at Chelsea . Desailly (left) won the World Cup with France in 1998 and joined Chelsea after stellar a career with AC Milan . Drogba is currently enjoying his second spell with the west London outfit having had a spell in Turkey . +Five pounds doesn't get you a lot these days. Barely a pint of beer, let alone a square meal. But those who parted with a fiver at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night were handsomely rewarded. For their admission money, they saw a quite brilliant FA Youth Cup semi-final. The academies of Chelsea and Tottenham boast some of the most-gifted teenage players in the country and how they delivered here - 90 minutes of end-to-end football and seven goals. And on the day Chancellor George Osborne promised the public would soon have a few more spare fivers in their wallets and declared Britain the 'comeback country' in his Budget, Chelsea were the 'comeback kids'. Chelsea Charlie Colkett scores from the penalty spot against Tottenham Hotspur . Chelsea: Collins; Aina, Tomori, Clarke-Salter, Dasilva; Sammut (Scott 77), Colkett (c), Boga (Musonda 71); Brown (Palmer 90+3), Abraham, Solanke . Subs not used: Thompson (GK); Grant . Scorers: Solanke 40, 51; Brown 44; Colkett 54, 71 (pen) Booked: Collins, Scott . Tottenham Hotspur: Voss; Walker-Peters, Carter-Vickers, Maghoma, Walkes; Amos, Owens (Paul 68), Stylianides (Goddard 77); Onomah (c), Harrison, Azzaoui (Sterling 77) Subs not used: Glover (GK); Edwards . Scorer: Harrison 32, 83 (pen) Booked: Amos, Harrison . Referee: Graham Scott . Attendance: 3,666 . Trailing by two from the first leg at White Hart Lane, the defending champions were on the ropes when Shayon Harrison extended Tottenham's advantage with a spectacular opener. But thanks to doubles from Dominic Solanke and Charlie Colkett, plus another from Izzy Brown, Chelsea roared back to recover the deficit, offset Harrison's late reply, and reach a fourth consecutive final. And with talents such as this, they'll be in the black for many years to come. Manchester City are likely to be their opponents, they lead Leicester City 3-0 from the first leg. But, as was shown here on Wednesday night, that kind of lead can count for little. Somewhat bizarrely, Chelsea's head of youth development Neil Bath was formally presented with the Youth Cup trophy for last season's triumph by two FA suits in the press room ahead of the match. It was a very belated coronation, some 10 months after they edged Fulham in a rollercoaster final here. This game definitely had echoes of that memorable occasion. Dominic Solanke scores against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge . Solanke scored either side of half-time as Chelsea fought back from 3-0 down in tie . But while Bath had another addition for the burgeoning academy trophy cabinet, Chelsea's grip on their crown had been loosened by Spurs in the first leg, goals from Josh Onomah and Kazaiah Sterling gave the north London a commanding lead at tie's midway point. And in the opening stages, the visitors looked the more likely to extend that advantage as long-range sighters from first Onomah and then Harrison forced goalkeeper Bradley Collins into evasive action. But as they had in the first leg, Chelsea soon began to dominate possession, largely reducing Spurs to a counter-attacking role. Jay Dasilva, the England under 17 international, was fleet-footed down the left, swapping lightning-quick passes with his colleagues and darting beyond Kyle Walker-Peters at every opportunity. Isaiah Brown rammed the ball home from close range for Chelsea's third goal . Brown's strike just before half-time put Chelsea level at 3-3 in the tie . His whipped crosses were causing a headache for Spurs keeper Harry Voss - one in the sixth minute was comically bundled into his own net under pressure from Tammy Abraham, the referee sparing his blushes. And another on the half-hour had to be acrobatically pushed to safety. But that agility was matched by the impressive Harrison moments later. When Zenon Stylianides hooked a half-cleared corner into the danger zone, the Spurs starlet watched the ball's flight like a hawk before pivoting and volleying it home left footed while falling backwards. It was a goal that had the Vine-makers reaching for their smartphones, rushing to share the moment on social media. Harrison appreciated his goal's importance in the context of the tie, Spurs now three goals to the good. Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori looks composed in possession . But we have learned never to write off any Chelsea team and, as half-time approached, they suddenly snapped out of the malaise and raised their game to another level. Five before the break, Solanke gave them hope of a comeback when he turned in Brown's accurate delivery from the right-side and the crowd was buzzing when Brown rammed the ball home from close range minutes later. It will have delighted those charged with nurturing a new generation of English talent to see those two names on the scoresheet. It also continued Solanke's marvellous run of scoring in every round of this season's Youth Cup, eight goals in total. Spurs were shell-shocked and simply couldn't stem the Blue waves at the start of the second period. Eight became nine when Solanke powered home a header to level the aggregate score on 51 minutes. Colkett celebrates his second goal and Chelsea's fifth during Youth Cup semi-final . And when the excellent Chelsea captain Colkett caught Voss dozing with a smart curling free-kick from 30 yards, they led for the first time after 144 minutes of the tie. The hosts were rampant though Spurs may have levelled things again when Charlie Owens fired against the post from a low Stylianides cross. Chelsea knew they would feel more secure with a fifth goal and it duly arrived when Anton Walkes clumsily clipped Aina inside the box. Colkett, who didn't put a foot wrong all night, coolly stroked home the penalty. But that security was short-lived. With eight minutes to play, Fikayo Tomori was adjudged to have handled on the floor as Harrison tried to weave his way to goal. The Spurs man ultimately found it from 12 yards but they couldn't get another to force extra time. Incredibly, this was the fourth time these two teams have met at under 18 standard in the past 19 days. Spurs must be well and truly sick of their blue-shirted foes. For Chelsea, yet another final beckons. Jeremie Boga of Chelsea tries to tackle Cameron Carter Vickers . Shayon Harrison celebrates scoring opening goal in the 32nd minute . +Carlos Tevez scored two and set up another as Juventus beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 away to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate victory. Tevez opened the scoring in the third minute when he let fly with a thunderous shot from 20 yards into the top left corner. The Argentine then gave Alvaro Morata a simple tap-in to seal the victory on a counter-attack in the 70th. Arturo Vidal set up Tevez's second in the 79th, giving the scoreline a flattering but fair look, as the Italian side advanced to only its second Champions League quarter-final since 2006. Carlos Tevez opens the scoring at the Westfalenstadion with a thunderous effort from 20 yards out . Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller makes a despairing dive as Tevez's shot hits the back of the net . Tevez celebrates his early effort with Leonardo Bonucci (centre) and Stephan Lichtsteiner . The Argentine striker is mobbed by his Juventus team-mates after his early strike gave the Serie A giants a 3-1 aggregate lead . Paul Pogba (left) jumps for joy as the celebrations continue following Tevez's opening strike . Dortmund centre back Mats Hummels casts a dejected figure as Tevez's early goal heaped further pressure on the Bundesliga side . Alvaro Morata latches onto Tevez's superb through ball to fire in Juve's second goal of the night . Morata, who also scored in the first-leg victory in Turin, races away to celebrate as a crestfallen Weidenfeller watches on . Morata celebrates with Tevez after the Juve striker hammered the final nail in Dortmund's coffin . Tevez completes the demolition job on Dortmund with a clinical finish in the 79th minute . Arturo Vidal and his Juve team-mates celebrates their 3-0 rout at the final whistle . The victorious Juve squad celebrate on the pitch after they booked their place in the Champions League quarter finals . REAL MADRID . PORTO . BAYERN MUNICH . PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN . MONACO . ATLETICO MADRID . BARCELONA . JUVENTUS . Draw takes place on Friday in Nyon . Leading 2-1 from the last 16 first leg in Turin, the visiting side nullified Dortmund's attacking threat to leave Bayern Munich as the Bundesliga's only remaining side in the competition, with the final to be played in Berlin on June 6. It was Dortmund's fourth loss in four European games against Juventus. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had promised his side wouldn't sit back despite the first leg advantage. His players stayed true to his word and Tevez got the visitors off the mark with an effort that stunned the home fans. Juventus then pushed high up the pitch and snuffing out Dortmund's response before it could even begin. The home side harried and fought, yet was unable to trouble Gianluigi Buffon in goal. The veteran goalkeeper reacted quickly to extinguish the danger with Marco Reus lurking in the 36th but it was a rare intervention. Midfield marshal Paul Pogba had gone off injured before that, prompting a period of Dortmund pressure. The visitors were the only ones who created chances however, with Vidal firing over. Fans made their frustration known in the first half, with confidence-hit midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan a particular target. There were more loud whistles at the break. Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp looks less than impressed with his side's early display against the Italian visitors . The Juventus travelling support find their voice early on as the Italians look to secure their place in the Champions League quarter-finals . Juventus were dealt a blow midway through the first half when Pogba left the field in the 27th minute with a hamstring injury . Dortmund's Slovenian midfielder Kevin Kampl (right) tries to close down Tevez as the home side chase a much-needed first-half goal . Dortmund's Sven Bender (left) contests possession with Roberto Pereyra . Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon comes forward to punch away a cross during another failed Dortmund attack . Dortmund defender Sokratis shows his frustration as Klopp's men struggle to break down Juve on their home turf . Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller kept Dortmund in the tie when he saved a great chance for Morata five minutes into the second half. Mkhitaryan was then crowded out on a counterattack at the other end. Weidenfeller denied Morata again, before Buffon easily saved from Kevin Kampl with Dortmund's first shot on target - after more than an hour of play. By then it was too late, and Tevez sealed Dortmund's fate shortly afterward. Morata (left) listens to some orders from Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri from the sideline . VIDEO Allegri not surprised by Champions League win . +Andy Murray moved level with Tim Henman's British career-wins record after beating France's Adrian Mannarino in straight sets at Indian Wells. Murray eased past Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in California to book a quarter-final match-up with Spain's Feliciano Lopez who edged past Japan's Kei Nishikori. The victory means Murray has now equalled Henman's 496 career wins, which represents an Open era record for a British man. Andy Murray celebrates as he seals his place in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells . Murray plays a forehand on his way to a straight-sets victory against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino . Murray (right) pictured alongside Tim Henman ahead of their first meeting in Basel in October 2005 . Murray was made to work hard by Mannarino's aggressive ground strokes but the Frenchman was too inconsistent and Murray took full advantage. A double fault in Mannarino's first service game presented the world number four with a break point but Mannarino held his nerve on a high smash and sealed the game unscathed. The first break of the match arrived soon after but it was Mannarino who took it, as this time Murray's second serve went long to give his opponent a surprise 3-2 advantage. A superb forehand pass from Murray in the following game, however, seemed to jolt the Scot into life as he won the next three games in succession to lead 5-3. Mannarino continued to come on the offensive, pinning his opponent back with an aggressive forehand, but Murray was clinical on the counter-attack and sealed the first set in 45 minutes. The second began as tightly as the first as Mannarino halted Murray's momentum with two holds of serve and the world number 38 could have broken at 2-2 but squandered two break points. Mannarino allowed his frustration to get the better of him in the following game and a wild forehand wide gave Murray the decisive break and a 4-2 lead. With victory in sight, Murray showed no signs of letting up and another Mannarino unforced error at 5-3 allowed the Scot to convert a second match point and seal a convincing win. Murray has his eye on the ball as he plays a backhand slice during his fourth-round match on Wednesday . Murray (left) shakes hands with his French opponent after sealing victory in Indian Wells . Feliciano Lopez gives the Indian Wells crowd the thumbs up after beating Kei Nishikori to reach the last eight . Murray praised Mannarino after the match, admitting the 26-year-old had proven a difficult opponent. 'It was a very tough match, he's playing very well this year and he's got a very tricky game,' Murray told Sky Sports. 'He's a lefty but he has a very flat backhand and a short take-back on his forehand so it's hard to read. 'He moves well and he has good hands around the net - in both sets though he played one or two loose games which helped me and I stayed solid throughout. 'I was frustrated to get broken in the first set, I thought I started well but he came out firing. 'I tried to make a lot of balls and he didn't play a great game in the next game and that stopped his momentum. 'I started to feel more comfortable after that and went for my shots more.' On equalling Henman's record, Murray joked: 'That's one of the few records Tim still had over me. 'I wasn't actually aware of the record so that's nice. Hopefully I can get through the next round and get past him.' +When Manuel Pellegrini was asked on Tuesday about Manchester City players not believing in their coach, he told the Spanish journalist asking the question that the same enquiry could easily have been made of Barcelona’s manager Luis Enrique just two months earlier. He was spot-on too. Back at the start of January Barca’s head coach sat ghost-like through press conferences – a condemned man after a fall-out with the one man at Barcelona you don’t fall-out with – Lionel Messi. Barcelona had just been beaten 1-0 by David Moyes' Real Sociedad, the president Josep Bartomeu had sacked sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta and called elections for the end of the season. Lionel Messi's (left) fall out with manager Luis Enrique was the pinnacle of Barcelona's drama behind the scenes before the first game of the season . Enrique seemed a condemned man but, given his team's form, he's a happy man ahead of his side's Champions League second leg clash with Manchester City . Serve and protect: Neymar gives a serious salute next to the Barcelona logo in this Instagram post . And Javier Mascherano had gone on a one-man media mission to convince everyone that all talk of training ground bust-ups and sour air in the Barca dressing room was the product of reporters’ fertile imagination. It wasn’t. And off-message French defender Jeremy Mathieu admitted as such in an interview with French radio saying that Messi had indeed had a heated argument with Enrique in a training session before the first game of the year. Since that defeat by Real Sociedad, Barcelona have devoured all that has been put before them barring one slip against Malaga. Luis Suarez is still setting up team-mates as he was towards the end of last year but he is now in the kind of scoring form that saw him win the Golden Boot last season, and Messi has gone from being 12 goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the La Liga scoring stakes to two goals in front him. Real Sociedad celebrate their victory over Barcelona on January 4 that coincided with the sacking of sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta and president Josep Bartomeu calling for elections for the end of the season . French defender Jeremy Mathieu (left) admitted Messi and Enrique had a heated argument during training . What happened? Player power is what happened. What most upset squad members at the start of the year is that three of their number – Dani Alves, Messi and Neymar – had been given permission to come back slightly later than the rest from the mid-winter break but were then left out of that first game of the new year because, according to Enrique, they had not trained sufficiently. The players had had enough of the mixed messages and of the constant changes in starting line-ups. And they made themselves heard. Suarez (left) and Messi (right) laugh during training on Tuesday ahead of their meeting with City . From that moment on Luis Enrique’s team changes were drastically reduced. He began to leave out one star-player at a time instead of making wholesale changes and with the emphasis now on the players to deliver because they had won their internal battle with the coach they began performing at a level not seen since Tito Vilanova was in charge two seasons before. There are still disagreements between coach and players. Suarez was unhappy about being taken off two weeks ago and at the weekend Neymar responded in the same way when he was taken off at Eibar. Neither would it be fair to say that Luis Enrique is now a puppet being made to dance solely to Messi’s tune. One of his strengths as a manager is that he gets the players fit and keeps them fit throughout the season, and Barca players look strong with 11 games left to play plus the Copa del Rey final. One of Enrique's strengths is keeping players fit and Barca's squad looks strong with 12 games left to play . The manager has loosened the reigns since January's blow up and his team is now difficult to stop . His assistant Juan Carlos Unzue should also be credited with the transformation in the way they take and defend corners. Barca had taken over 100 set plays at the start of the season without making a training ground routine render a single goal on the pitch. But all that has changed of late with ‘unusual’ suspects Jordi Alba and Messi both getting their heads to important corners – Alba with an assist and Messi scoring his first header from a corner in his Barcleona career. Luis Enrique has played his part in the revival but it’s also been a change in him that has seen Barça’s form transformed. It seemed he was trying too hard to put his stamp on the team towards the end of last year; trying to hard to show his multimillionaire players who was boss. Since January he has loosened the reigns – and in response his thoroughbred team have hit the front and will be difficult to stop. +Ajax manager Frank de Boer wants to emulate the way Arsenal play as the Dutch club bid to reach the Europa League quarter-finals. De Boer was impressed by Arsenal's performance in the 2-0 Champions League win against Monaco on Tuesday night - though the Gunners were knocked out on away goals - and wants Ajax to follow suit. De Boer said: 'The way they played against Monaco is the way we would like to play as well. High pressure, get the ball back very quickly. I really love the way Arsenal play. When I look at their goals, it sometimes looks like futsal. Passing, moving and always at a high tempo.' Ajax manager Frank de Boer gestures to his players during a training session in Amsterdam on Wednesday . Ajax trio Davy Klaasen (left), Nicolai Boilesen (centre) and Thulani Serero take part in training . De Boer (right) and Joel Veltman speak to the media during a pre-match press conference on Wednesday . Ajax are hoping to avoid an end to their European run as they take on Dnipro at the Amsterdam Arena on Thursday, with the Ukrainian club currently holding a 1-0 aggregate lead. De Boer said: 'I expect Dnipro to sit back and wait for us to attack. You could see that in the first match as well. We have to be patient, we can't afford to make mistakes. 'I hope this is not the "game of the year" for us, because I want to go through and play in another "game of the year".' Boilesen (second right) and Nick Viergever (right) look to be having fun during Ajax training . Oliver Giroud (right) controls the ball before scoring Arsenal's first in Wednesday's 2-0 win against Monaco . Dnipro players train at the Amersterdam Arena ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash . A 1-0 victory for Ajax after extra time would see the match go to penalties and De Boer has had his players practising penalties in training. He said: 'We've practised penalties. From the 19 we took, we only missed about three or four. Jasper Cillessen saved two and one or two went over the bar. 'You can always train the way you kick the ball, but it's hard to simulate the atmosphere. When you saw Bayer Leverkusen last night, it looked like they didn't know that they had to take a penalty.' +Manuel Pellegrini has insisted Manchester City's owners did not expect them to win the Champions League because they know the 'project' is not ready. Pellegrini believes he will not be sacked despite his team's exit from the competition on Wednesday night at the Nou Camp and that owner Sheikh Mansour did not believe City were ready to be crowned European champions yet. They have spent £327million on new players in the last four years but Pellegrini, manager since May 2013, is not worrying about his job after being knocked out by Barcelona. Manuel Pellegrini has insisted Manchester City's owners did not expect them to win the Champions League . Pellegrini pictured during the Barcelona match at the Nou Camp as City chased a European miracle . Asked whether he feared he would be sacked, Pellegrini told Sky Sports: 'I'm not stupid. When you have so many rumours maybe one of those rumours can be true or not. 'If you are asking me if I feel I will be sacked if I don't win against Barcelona, I can answer you no. I'm sure I am not going to be sacked. 'I understand that maybe in the media you have an allegation of what the owners of this club are. I think they don't think or don't believe we are going to win the Champions League now. 'I don't think they think that the project is ready. If you are eliminated, it is because we saw a very good Barcelona, better than our team, and not because we've seen a poor Manchester City team.' Speaking after the game, Pellegrini added: ‘Maybe it was not our best year to continue in Europe. 'We've had important restrictions about amount of players, amount of money that we can spend, so it was a difficult year for us.' +The art of management is to create an aura, to brainwash the players into believing that they can routinely beat a team every bit as good as Barcelona. It is to inspire, to send Manchester City’s players into the tunnel at the Nou Camp in the minutes before kick-off and look down their noses at Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Luis Suarez or Neymar. Out on the training pitches, where the real work is done, the coaches must come up with a plan to squeeze the pips out of the players over two legs in the Champions League. That is the job. It can be done. Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp took his team to the Champions League final at Wembley against Bayern Munich; last year Atletico Madrid reached the final under their clever coach Diego Simeone. Unfortunately for Manuel Pellegrini, he has come up short. This is no disgrace and there is no need to make his life a misery just because he cannot find a way to beat Barcelona. He just isn’t good enough. Manuel Pellegrini has not taken Manchester City forward and looked clueless in the Nou Camp . Pellegrini could not alter the game or put the shackles on Barcelona as City's Euro dream died . Ivan Rakitic lifts the ball over the onrushing Joe Hart and into the empty net to give Barca the advantage . Read Martin Samuel's match report from the Nou Camp as Barcelona beat Manchester City 1-0 to progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. The temptation, in the shakedown that will follow this Champions League elimination for yet another English club, is to start over again. In the aftermath the cry now will be to send for Simeone, to send for Pep, to send for Ancelotti, or to send for someone else to have a go. The brutal truth is that it’s coming to that. Bayern Munich’s exalted coach Pep Guardiola was here, settling down to watch his former club pass City off the park in a series of dizzying spells. Possession football is anathema to English football. City spilt their guts here, exposing the size of the task to turn the current champions of the Barclays Premier League into a team capable of living with a group of players who can change the pace of a game at will. Barcelona’s tempo is soothing and reassuring. If City want to dominate in Europe, in a way that Barcelona did when they won the Champions League in 2006, 2009 and 2011, then Pellegrini is not the man. That much is clear. Since he arrived at City he has had four chances to beat Barcelona and has yet to even secure a draw. Team and coach are not up to it. City need innovation, a man with stature and the confidence to redevelop the team with some clever signings over the next couple of years. What Manchester City would give for a player like Lionel Messi, and you feel they would have to pay the earth . Lionel Messi glides past Fernandinho during another masterful display from the little Argentine . David Silva resorts to desperate measures to stop a free-flowing Lionel Messi . Messi attempts to dribble past Joe Hart as the Barca man shows his mastery once more . The Manchester City wall attempts to do its job as Messi fires in a free-kick . That dressing room isn’t right, it can’t be when a player of Yaya Toure’s supposed class can play as badly as this on a big night back at the Nou Camp. He gave up on his man Ivan Rakitic as he roamed into City’s penalty area and the ball inevitably needed up in the back of Joe Hart’s net. That aside, Hart was immense here. If this is to be a slow, painful death for Pellegrini, then the job is to breathe some life into this team for the final nine games of the league season. West Brom this weekend is some homecoming. They will need leadership in the run-in, something that was missing from the sidelines as Iniesta and Rakitic splayed the ball out to the wings for Neymar and Messi to slice their way through City’s defence. At times it was shambolic back there. When you come up against Messi, the three-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, it is down to the coach to come up with a specific tactic to stifle his impact. Here he set up the goal for Rakitic with a ball that had a golfer’s draw on it when it pinged off his left boot to meet the Barca midfielder’s run at the back post. The accuracy was frightening. Sergio Aguero reacts after seeing his late penalty saved by Marc Anrde ter-Stegen . James Milner goes to ground after challenging Marc-Andre ter Stegen as as Yaya Toure looks on . Both Vincent Kompany (left) and Martin Demichelis play the blame game during the defeat in Barcelona . Sergio Aguero’s miss from the penalty spot in the 78th minute is no more than a footnote because City were outclassed over two legs. The main man in Abu Dhabi will demand answers, a natural consequence of another premature elimination in the Champions League. To Pellegrini’s great credit, he is always unmoved by the speculation about his future, but the ball is now in Sheik Mansour’s court. Sadly for a man of integrity and honour, he has lost his appeal. +After a six-month hiatus from golf over alleged cocaine and alcohol abuse, Dustin Johnson appears to be back on form. On Sunday the 30-year-old claimed victory at the elite World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championships in Miami, telling reporters that fatherhood was behind his improved focus. Following his win, Johnson was greeted at the 18th hole on the Trump National Doral course by his model fiancée Paulina Gretzky - daughter of former NHL great Wayne - and their son Tatum, who was born in January. The new parents shared a passionate kiss in front of cameras, while cradling their newborn between them. Gretzky described her husband-to-be as the 'best dad' and 'best friend' she could ever wish for. Scroll down for video . Passionate embrace: After claiming victory at the elite World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championships in Miami on Sunday, Dustin Johnson was greeted at the 18th hole by his family . Doting dad: He was overjoyed to see his model fiancée Paulina Gretzky - daughter of former NHL great Wayne - and their son Tatum, who was born in January . Perfect match: The new parents shared a passionate kiss in front of cameras, while cradling their newborn between them . She continued to ABC News: 'He's been so supportive with me and we're just there for each other. I couldn't be happier for him.' Talking about how fatherhood had changed his life for the better, Johnson added: 'It's hard to describe, but just from the first day he's born, your perspective on life completely changes. 'Things that were important aren't important anymore. 'It kind of makes life a lot easier I think, just because there's just one thing that's kind of all you think about. It definitely simplifies stuff.' When Johnson announced his decision to step away from golf last July due to 'personal challenges', rumors about his lifestyle swirled, including the suggestion that he may have been suspended by the PGA Tour. Indeed, Golf.com reported that Johnson had failed three drug tests: one for marijuana in 2009 and two for cocaine, in 2012 and 2014. Johnson celebrates with Donald Trump as he holds the Gene Sarazen Cup after winning the WGC-Cadillac Championship WGC at Trump National in Doral . Career success: Johnson turned professional as a golfer in late 2007 in his early twenties . However, the Tour - which had initially said it did not comment on rumors or speculation - released a statement saying Johnson had taken a voluntary leave of absence and had not been suspended. And in a news conference on Sunday when if he had ever failed a Tour drugs test, Johnson replied: 'No. Thanks'. In a candid interview with Sports Illustrated this January, Johnson revealed that alcohol was his real vice. He said he would excessively drink and party to relieve stress, with his tipple of choice being Grey Goose, soda and lime. In a bid to get clean, Johnson said he took time out from sport and concentrated on home life. Bundle of joy: Johnson's son Tatum Gretzky Johnson was born on January 19 . Changed man: The golfer says fatherhood has helped him to put his bad boy party days behind him . Love birds: Johnson proposed to Gretzky in August 2013 - as of now, there are no reports of where and when a wedding will take place. Commenting on his time out, he said: 'I got to spend a lot of time with Paulina and help her as much as I could through her pregnancy, and then the birth of our son. 'I really enjoyed being able to be home and not having to leave or do anything. 'I was in the gym every single day, every morning, and then spend the rest of the time either I would go practice a little bit or just hanging out with Paulina.' Johnson returned to the green in Febuary at the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines. As he won big on Sunday night, the two most important people in Johnson's life were waiting for him. He concluded: 'Paulina and Tatum were waiting for me when I got done. That was the best part of the day for sure.' 'My game is in good form. I feel really confident in my golf swing. I need to do some work with the putter and short game, especially leading into Augusta.' Johnson proposed to Gretzky in August 2013. As of now, there are no reports of where and when a wedding will take place. +Chelsea continued their attack on Premier League referees after the club's official website published an article complaining that they have not been awarded enough penalties this season. The piece called 'penalty puzzle' analysed how many spot-kicks the Blues have been given in each of the last five years. The argument, that the number is 'abnormally low', echoes manager Jose Mourinho's view that there is a 'campaign' against the club. Chelsea were angered last weekend by referee Mike Dean's refusal to award Branislav Ivanovic a penalty . Referee Dean had some tough calls to make in Chelsea's draw with Southampton but made most correctly . Chelsea have been awarded five penalties in eight Champions League games, including against PSG . The 'penalty puzzle' article leads the way on Chelsea's official website . At Old Trafford in October defenders John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were denied a spot kick despite being wrestled to the ground. Former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas was tripped during Chelsea’s game against Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium, but instead he picked up a yellow card for diving. Jose Mourinho’s side appealed for a penalty against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, only for the north London side to get away with handling the ball in their own box. A blocked arm again denied the current Premier League leaders at home to Burnley despite the shot being clearly stopped by a raised arm. Ivanovic was again left perplexed last Sunday at Stamford Bridge when visitors Southampton got away with yet another clear penalty against the Blues. The article, with no byline, comes after Branislav Ivanovic was denied a penalty in last weekend's draw with Southampton, an incident the Chelsea website described as 'a clear spot-kick'. However, general consensus, as outlined by Sportsmail's Graham Poll, was that the contact on Ivanovic, while undoubtedly present, was too slight to spot with the naked eye. The article also notes that Chelsea have received five penalties in just eight Champions League games, which they cite as evidence that the 'campaign' is limited to Premier League officials. Mourinho has been vociferous in his criticism of officials all season, first suggesting there was a campaign against his team in December, before appearing on Sky Sports last month after a challenge by Burnley's Ashley Barnes on Nemanja Matic went unpunished. It is not the first time in recent weeks that the club's online team have sought to back up their manager's controversial view. Jose Mourinho first brought up the 'campaign' against his side after a draw at Southampton in December . Mourinho's players came under fire when nine of them surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers against PSG . Click HERE to read what chief sports writer Martin Samuel had to say when he covered the subject in his colum last month . Last week the official Chelsea Instagram account posted historic pictures of Sportmail columnist Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness arguing with referees, after Mourinho accused them of having short memories. Carragher had described the Chelsea players' behaviour against PSG, when nine of them surrounded the referee, as 'disgraceful'. Mourinho appeared on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday to discuss referees last month . Nemanja Matic (centre) was sent off after reacting to a challenge from Burnley's Ashley Barnes last month . +Radamel Falcao’s miserable stint at Manchester United hit a new low on Tuesday night when he was dumped into the reserves by manager Louis van Gaal. Falcao has not played a minute for United’s first team since being dragged off in the home win over Sunderland last month and was left on the bench as Van Gaal’s team were knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal on Monday night. Now the £250,000-a-week loan signing from Monaco has suffered the indignity of being made to play in the Under 21s against Tottenham. He didn’t score and was taken off as it ended 1-1. Radamel Falcao was humiliated by being dumped in Manchester United's Under 21s team on Tuesday night . Louis van Gaal could be waving goodbye to Falcao in the summer after dropping him to the reserves . The Colombia striker’s demotion underlines Van Gaal’s concern over his fitness. The United manager usually asks senior players to play at this level only if they are on their way back from injury. Falcao has been injury-free since recovering from a thigh strain in November and is unlikely to be pleased at being asked to drop down a level when he is desperate to prove he is worth a permanent deal. Falcao did not manage to get on the scoresheet against Tottenham Hotspur's Under 21s and was poor . The £250,000-a-week loanee tries to escape from Tottenham's Gongani Khumalo (left) and Grant Ward (right) Having scored only four times in six months, Falcao’s chances of being retained in the summer are almost nil. But he feels he has not always been given a fair crack of the whip by Van Gaal. Sportsmail reported earlier this year that the 29-year-old feels he has to work twice as hard to impress Van Gaal than other players. Van Gaal (back, left) did not bring on Falcao (middle, second right) in Monday night's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal . +The agony for Nottingham Forest is that there are only eight games left in their late pursuit of the play-offs. The ecstasy is Michail Antonio. The powerhouse winger showed improbable runs to glory can be completed with a solo goal to savour as manager Dougie Freedman collected another three points. Antonio’s display was the story of this match. More than once he beat Rotherham’s defenders for strength and pace before applying a deftness of touch. Nottingham Forest striker Dexter Blackstock (right) tussles with Rotherham's Kari Amason (left) Rotherham's Richard Smallwood (left) slides in with a strong challenge on Forest's Ben Osborn (right) Nottingham Forest winger Michail Antonio (right) vies for the ball with Rotheram's Jack Hunt (left) Forest (4-4-2): Darlow, Mancienne, Lascelles, Wilson, Lichaj, Gardner, Burke (Walker 90), Lansbury, Osborn, Antonio, Blackstock (Barrow 79) Subs not used: Collins, Fox, Paterson, Vaughan, Evtimov . Booked: Gardner . Scorers: Blackstock 43, Antonio 45 . Rotherham (4-4-2): Collin, Hunt (Richardson 48), Rawson, Broadfoot, Lafferty, Smallwood (Milsom 57), Arnason, Sammon, Frecklington, Pringle, Derbyshire (Bowery 75) Subs not used: Green, Morgan, Hammill, Thompson . Booked: Smallwood, Arnason . Referee: Michael Bull . Attendance: 20,569 . His goal, as the interval approached, was a combination of his talents. Picking up the ball well inside his own half, he turned and galloped. He checked inside Jack Hunt, sped clear of Kari Arnason, cut across Farrend Rawson and unleashed a shot from 25 yards that flew into the bottom corner. There was an inevitability about it all. Eric Lichaj will be credited with the assist but in much the same way a tee might aid a 300-yard drive by Rory McIlroy. It was Antonio’s 13th goal of the season since a £1.5million move from Sheffield Wednesday. What a bit of business that now looks. Blackstock (centre) rides the challenges of Lee Frecklington (left) and Smallwood (right) Frecklington (left) is fouled by Osborn (right) during the Championship match at The City Ground . Two minutes earlier Antonio had set up the opener, lofting a ball into the path of Dexter Blackstock. The striker crept behind Kirk Broadfoot and lobbed a finish that goalkeeper Adam Collin got a hand to but in vain. The result extends Freedman’s record to seven wins, two draws, and one defeat since taking over from Stuart Pearce. Brentford, in sixth, are eight points ahead. It seems just too much, but you never know. Rotherham are in a similar predicament at the other end. Steve Evans’ team sit six points above the drop zone. They mounted a challenge of sorts in the second half, and very nearly pulled one back when Lee Frecklington sent a sweet shot against the post. Karl Darlow then produced a magnificent save with 17 minutes left when diving to keep out Conor Sammon’s firm shot. Blackstock (right) opens the scoring for Forest during their 2-0 win over Rotherham on Wednesday night . He is congratulated by Forest team-mate Henri Lansbury (top) as Forest make a late charge for the play-offs . With the match won, Freedman gave 18-year-old Tyler Walker, son of Forest legend Des, his debut as an injury time substitute. Evans said: ‘It’s a cruel game, we were the better side in the first half for long spells.’ But the night belonged to Antonio. ‘Every team needs a bit of magic and certainly Michail gives us that,’ said Freedman. He added a thinly veiled call to neighbours Derby, who have not won in five games. ‘Of course the season is finishing too early but we need to make sure we take care of business and keep on winning,’ Freedman said. ‘It’s a fierce competition like I’ve never seen. Teams above us are really panicking. Certain teams that are not too far away from us location-wise.’ Antonio has scored 13 goals since his £1.5 million move from Sheffield Wednesday last summer . Forest's Michael Mancienne (left) dribbles with the ball ahead of Frecklington (right) at The City Ground . +In the aftermath of a remarkably freakish Manchester United winner at St James' Park on Wednesday night, an unusually animated Louis van Gaal pinched Ryan Giggs hard on the cheek and stared hard in to his eyes as if to say: 'I told you so'. The only problem was that Giggs wasn't buying it. Giggs has been at United for two decades and didn't even crack a smile. He knows that football like this will not take his football club where it needs to go. Not in the long run, anyway. Giggs has seen plenty of late winning goals for United over the years. He has been part of teams that have won when they haven't deserved to, who have somehow grabbed something from games that seemingly had nothing to offer. Ashley Young fires home the winner for Manchester United to earn his side a valuable three points at Newcastle . Young peels away in celebration as United remain on course for a top-four finish despite playing below their best . Young runs over to celebrate in front of the Manchester United fans after his late strike at St James' Park . Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Danny Blind are among the United players to celebrate with Young . Wayne Rooney was involved in the build up as his pressure forced the Newcastle defence to panic before Krul gifted the chance to Young . Krul lies on his back in dejection after his error allowed Young to slam home United's winner against Newcastle . United manager Louis van Gaal reacts to Young's winner by knocking his assistant Ryan Giggs on the cheek... ... But Giggs shows absolutely no emotion after Young's winner gave United a crucial victory in their Champions League push . Newcastle (4-4-2): Krul 8; Janmaat 6.5, Williamson 6.5, Coloccini 6, R Taylor 5.5 (Gutierrez 64, 6.5); Obertan 6, Abeid 6, Sissoko 6, Ameobi 5.5 (Gouffran 81); Riviere 5.5 (Perez 59), Cisse 5 . Subs not used: Anita, Armstrong, Satka, Woodman. Booked: Gutierrez . Manager: John Carver . Manchester United (4-1-4-1): De Gea 6; Valencia 6, Evans 6, Smalling 5.5, Rojo 6 (Carrick 89); Blind 6; Di Maria 5 (Januzaj 59), Fellaini 6 (Mata 82), Herrera 6, Young 5; Rooney 6 . Subs not used: Jones, Falcao, Lindegaard, McNair. Goal: Young 89 . Booked: Rojo, Valencia . Manager: Louis van Gaal . Referee: Anthony Taylor . Attendance: 49, 801 . Angel di Maria was replaced early in the second half by Louis van Gaal who sent Adnan Junzaj on his place. But the Argentina had one of his better games for Manchester United and covered plenty of ground on the right wing. CLICK HERE for more brilliant stats and heat maps from Old Trafford. His United, though, the one that he knows, used to bully teams late in games. As his old manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted, United teams of yore used to practice scoring late goals in training. They won games like this by sheer force of will, belief and personality. This United team, on the other hand, the one with Van Gaal's uncertain hand on the tiller, stumbles its way in to opportunities. Somehow it manages to win despite itself. If it continues like this for another two months then it may yet find itself in the Champions League places come the season's end. At the moment, though, it is hard to see it. This, in many ways, was the modern United at their worst. Facing a home team devoid of purpose, energy and intelligence, United really should have taken hold of this game, won it comfortably and used it as a platform ahead of tougher challenges to come. Instead, they saw Newcastle miss two golden opportunities and wasted their own with inept work in front of goal. The home team, meanwhile, were somehow denied a clear early penalty by a referee that we can only presume – generously – was unsighted. And then there was the winning goal. A gift. A shambles. Three points handed to United on a black and white tray. There was no late cavalry charge by United here. They had settled for a point. The game was drifting towards a conclusion that had seemed inevitable for so long. But then Wayne Rooney's run in to the penalty area was halted by Mehdi Abeid, the subsequent back pass sold goalkeeper Tim Krul short and when the clearance – born of panic and terror – landed at the feet of Ashley Young, the goal waited – empty – just ten yards away. Marouane Fellaini came close to scoring for Manchester United but he was denied by a brilliant stop from Tim Krul . Ashley Young had a chance to convert the rebound but took too long and was also denied by Newcastle's Dutch goalkeeper . Angel di Maria was replaced early in the second half by Adnan Januzaj as United struggled to break down a stubborn Newcastle side . Wayne Rooney has scored more Premier League goals against Newcastle than any other club, although he failed to add to his tally of 12 on Wednesday night. It was an astonishing moment. This great stadium has witnessed plenty of drama over the years and no little pantomime. It hasn't witnessed much like this, though. In the home dugout, manager John Carver stood aghast. This was some way to lose a football match and it was hard not to feel some sympathy for him. His team had been pretty lousy but they didn't deserve to lose. His thoughts understandably were still with the early penalty shout, somehow denied him when Chris Smalling hacked down Emmanuel Riviere in the eleventh minute. 'That would have set us up nicely,' he said. Had Newcastle scored first then it’s questionable whether United would have had it in them to respond. As it was, nothing much else happened in the first half, apart from what may have been an unpleasant exchange of saliva between Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse. Rooney, playing as a lone centre forward, missed two chances around the half hour mark, clipping one wide when face to face with Krul and then falling over when a slip by Fabricio Coloccini presented him with another sight of goal. There was not a shot on target from either team, however, until Marouane Fellaini’s header required Krul to parry in the 44th minute. Newcastle were poor enough to allow United the majority of the possession but Van Gaal’s team, not unusually, didn’t have the wit to do much with it. Emmanuel Riviere ghosted in at the post but could not force the ball beyond United's goalkeeper Dave de Gea . De Gea made himself wide in the United goal to deny Newcastle the opener at St James' Park . Pappis Cisse has words with Jonny Evans after the pair appeared to spit at each other during a heated exchange in the first half . Cisse wipes his eye after he and Evans were later shown to have spat at each other during an unsavoury incident . Evans appears to spit on Cisse (left) before the Newcastle striker returns the favour (right) as tempers flared before half time . On the right, Angel di Maria was having a decent game, relatively speaking. His night was ended on the hour, though, when Van Gaal replaced him with Adnan Januzaj. It seemed an odd move and Di Maria looked less than chuffed. At least by then the game was a little more alive. Riviere brought a save from David de Gea after Coloccini headed down a free-kick while at the other end Krul saved brilliantly from a Fellaini half-volley and a Young follow-up that perhaps took a little too long to arrive. At last there was an atmosphere inside this great stadium and things improved further when Jonas Gutierrez entered as a substitute. His first appearance since recovering from testicular cancer, it was soon marked by a booking but nobody really cared about. It was good to see him. Soon Newcastle could have had a goal. A break from another substitute Ayoze Perez found him and Cisse two-on-one with Evans but the pass from one team-mate to another was criminally over hit and, as such, the chance disappeared. Perhaps that summed up the night for both teams. Just not good enough. In sport, though, mistakes often decide contests and so it was here. Krul won a game all on his own for Van Gaal with his penalty shoot-out heroics against Costa Rica during last summer’s World Cup. Here, he did it again in rather different circumstances. Jonas Gutierrez made an emotional return for Newcastle after recovering from testicular cancer . Gutierrez is given the captain's armband by Fabricio Coloccini after coming on in the second half at St James' Park . Chris Smalling battles with Riviere for the ball in the first half of United's narrow win over Newcastle . Fellaini throws his arm into Mike Williamson's face in a clash during the first half . +We have been here before, of course — a breathless Liverpool win over Manchester City secured by the brilliant right foot of Philippe Coutinho. That was last April and we all know what happened next. This time, the Liverpool charge is locked on a different target. Last season, despite their slaying of City at Anfield, they could not secure the Barclays Premier League title and it remains to be seen if this tilt at the top four ends more happily. If it does, this will be looked upon as a pivotal day. Philippe Coutinho lets fly from range to score the winning goal for Liverpool as they continued their rich vein of form . Coutinho, along with the Manchester City defence, watch on as the Brazilian's shot arrows towards the Manchester City net . Hart is left helpless as Coutinho's effort rises above his outstretched hand and nestles in the back of the keeper's net . Coutinho leads the celebrations as Martin Skrtel and Joe Allen chase after him after his stunning winning strike . Coutinho is lost among a heap of his Liverpool team-mates as the Anfield side celebrate the Brazilian's winner against Manchester City . Liverpool (3-4-3): Mignolet 6.5, Can 7, Skrtel 7, Lovren 6.5, Markovic 6.5 (Sturridge 76), Henderson 8.5, Allen 8.5, Moreno 6.5 (Toure 82), Coutinho 9.5, Sterling 7.5, Lallana 8 . Subs not used: Lambert, Borini, Balotelli, Williams, Ward. Manager: Rodgers 8 . Goals: Henderson 11, Coutinho 75 . Booked: Lallana . Man City (4-1-3-2): Hart 6.5, Zabaleta 7.5, Kompany 5.5, Mangala 5, Kolarov 5.5, Nasri 6 (Lampard 83), Toure 5.5, Fernandinho 6.5 (Bony 78), Silva 6.5, Aguero 7.5, Dzeko 5.5 (Milner 58). Subs not used: Fernando, Caballero, Clichy, Demichelis . Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 5.5 . Goal: Dzeko 26 . Booked: Fernandinho, Milner, Bony . Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear) Attendance: 44,590 . Ratings by DOMINIC KING at Anfield . Liverpool's winning goal came after a long passage of build up before Philippe Coutinho fired the ball past Joe Hart. Click here to check out our brilliant Match Zone for pitch maps, heat maps and all the stats from the Anfield side's crucial victory. No doubt feeling Thursday night’s Europa League exit in their minds and legs, Brendan Rodgers’ team faced a fresher City side hungry to close the gap on Chelsea at the top. Still, though, Liverpool won, still they managed to take another step towards hauling in Manchester United and Arsenal in the places above them. This really was a remarkable effort, perhaps one of the most significant of Rodgers’ reign. For City, questions remain. Manager Manuel Pellegrini still cannot find a way to secure the centre of the field in games such as this. Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher described City’s lack of control in that area as ‘embarrassing’. That may be overstating it but City continue to be undone the same way in too many big games. Last season they got away with it but this time round they may not. Having said that, it took a heck of a goal to win this. Coutinho was the game’s star player. Rarely has Pablo Zabaleta on the City right had such an uncomfortable time. The goal, though, was something else. A right-foot shot from the angle of the box, it was so perfect in angle and trajectory that Joe Hart, though he had plenty of time to see it, had absolutely no chance of stopping it. It came out of nothing. The game had fallen into a fallow period with 15 minutes to go. Pellegrini had sent on an extra midfield player in an attempt to close the game down and a contest that had been open for an hour had become scratchy. Perhaps Coutinho sensed the mood. That is what the best players do. Perhaps he knew that if he didn’t take the occasion by the lapels and shake two extra points from it, nobody else would. He had been a pest earlier, too. City had started the brighter of the sides and could have taken the lead when Yaya Toure chipped a cute ball over the top for Zabaleta to volley over. Jordan Henderson continues to impress in the Liverpool midfield and he curled home the opening goal against Manchester City . Henderson's shot flies towards Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart who attempts to position himself to make the save . Hart attempts to fling his right hand across his body to stop the shot but must realise Henderson's effort will evade his grasp . Henderson is mobbed by his Liverpool team-mates and Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers after his effort beat Hart all ends up . Ten minutes in, though, Liverpool suddenly clicked and Coutinho was at the heart of it. First he played Adam Lallana through a gaping hole between Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala, only for the midfielder to shoot weakly at Hart. Then, moments later, Lallana lashed the ball into the net from an angle, only to be ruled offside. Pressure was mounting and it wasn’t long before Liverpool were ahead. Fernandinho sold Kompany short with a pass in midfield and when the Belgian could not catch Coutinho, the ball was funnelled forwards to Jordan Henderson. The England man moved the ball out of his feet and curled it past Hart with his right instep from 20 yards. It was a lovely goal and the celebrations by the Liverpool bench said everything for its importance. For a while, Liverpool were at their waspish best and, as a result, City rocked. Liverpool were not in front for long as Edin Dzeko finished off a delightful team passing move to bring parity to the Anfield clash . Dzeko celebrates his strike with his team-mates who played an instrumental part in the build up to Manchester City's equaliser . Seregio Aguero fires in a shot under pressure from Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana as both sides looked to edge in front . Sergio Aguero did race through to strike a post but at the other end Alberto Moreno wasted one chance and Raheem Sterling — once again playing as a centre forward — ran on to a Coutinho pass to mug Toure and slide a cross-shot wide. At 1-0, Liverpool were in the ascendancy. City, though, looked dangerous when they moved forwards and after Coutinho had erred for once by presenting a clearance to Zabaleta in the 26th minute, the visitors moved through the gears, enabling Edin Dzeko to run on to Aguero’s neat through pass and beat Simon Mignolet with his right foot. For a while, this was a contest that crackled with energy and attacking threat. Coutinho was Liverpool’s go-to man throughout while, for City, David Silva was equally dangerous. The Spaniard enjoyed himself at Anfield last season and was prominent once again here. Lallana screwed a chance wide late in the first half following Lazar Markovic’s lovely chip, while Aguero and Sterling missed opportunities at the start of the second period that they perhaps should have taken. Beyond Coutinho’s goal, City did raise themselves a little. Silva slashed a chance wide after a buccaneering Toure run while Aguero did likewise. At the Kop End, meanwhile, Sturridge ran clear but could not convert. At full-time, it felt a significant result. But, to repeat, we have been here before. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers can't hide his joy at the final whistle as Liverpool edged out City to ignite their top-four hopes . As Rodgers celebrates Liverpool's victory, City boss Manuel Pellegrini (right) looks dejected as his side's title hopes take a hit . Hart, beaten by two cracking strikes, looks dejected (left) and is consoled by his England team-mate and Liverpool midfielder Henderson . Lallana fires a shot across Hart but the in-form midfielder can't find the target from a narrow angle . Mario Balotelli and Daniel Sturridge warm up on the sidelines as they watched their side take on Manchester City . Balotelli looks less than happy as he sits among the Liverpool substitutes during his side's victory at Anfield . Yaya Toure and his brother Kolo played against each other for the first time when the latter came on for Liverpool in the second half . +Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini came out fighting on Tuesday night and claimed he doesn’t need to win trophies to save his job. Barclays Premier League champions City face Leicester at home on Wednesday night having won only two of their last nine games in all competitions. Back-to-back defeats against Barcelona and Liverpool have ramped up the pressure on Pellegrini, with pundits such as Sportsmail’s Jamie Carragher laying into his tactics and formations over the weekend. But Pellegrini said: ‘I am not under any pressure to win an amount of titles or win a title every year. I only feel pressure when I don’t see my team playing the right way. All the other things are not important. Under-fire Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini watches on during training on Tuesday . The Manchester City squad prepare for Wednesday night's Premier League clash at home to Leicester . Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta looked as though they were practicing Karate as they challenged for the ball . ‘When I signed my contract nobody told me about winning five titles in five years. That was what (chief executive) Ferran Soriano said to the media. But that doesn’t have to be one a year. ‘There are different ways of analysing things. Winning trophies is only one of them. Maybe last year nobody thought we were going to win the title but we did. To think about the future is the worst thing. I don’t do that. The most important thing is to continue playing with the same style. We won’t change.’ Carragher and Gary Neville both called City ‘embarrassing’ after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool, and Match of the Day pundit Robbie Savage dubbed Pellegrini ‘naive’ for the way he set up his midfield. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini looks dejected after his side lost to Liverpool . Yaya Toure sinks to his knees during Manchester City's defeat at Liverpool on Sunday . Pellegrini said: ‘Everybody has a right to an opinion. I know what’s best for this team. It’s not my duty to tell the media what they must think.’ City’s owners are desperate for success, especially in Europe, and have spent tens of millions trying to improve the squad following their first Premier League title success in 2012. Asked about his relationship with the City board, Pellegrini added: ‘It’s not about relationships. I could have a bad relationship with the owners but it’s about how you manage this project. ‘Every project can have difficult moments. You have the wrong opinion about the owners. They are not so desperate to win titles, they want to improve. They do want to win titles but they want to do it the right way. What’s important to me is how you win titles.’ Sergio Aguero looks dejected as Manchester City were beaten by Liverpool at Anfield . Vincent Kompany and Fernando look dejected as City lost at home to Barcelona in the Champions League . +Aymen Abdennour claimed Monaco had beaten one of the best clubs in the world after eliminating Arsena from the Champions League on Tuesday. The French side lost 2-0 at home but went through on away goals following their 3-1 victory in the first leg at the Emirates. Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour challenges Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey . Olivier Giroud's first-half strike gave Arsenal hope of a famous victory before substitute Aaron Ramsey added a second late on but the hosts held on to secure a place in the last eight. Abdennour said that Monaco more than earned their place in the quarter-finals alongside Real Madrid, Porto, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. 'With Alexis Sanchez and players like Theo Walcott, they had a lot of pace on the flanks,' said the centre-back. Abdennour celebrates Monaco reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League . Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for the Gunners as they looked to fight back from their first-leg defeat . Aaron Ramsey added a second goal for the Gunners but they could not find a third to send them through . 'We conceded two goals because of our lack of concentration but thankfully it didn't rip out our qualification chances. 'For me, Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world so I think our qualification is deserved considering the way we played against such a team. 'Now we must turn the page and focus on the next game in Ligue 1 so that we can try to get a top-three finish to have a chance at Champions League football next season.' +A man faces court for allegedly flying a drone over several Premier League football grounds as well as London landmarks including the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. Nigel Wilson of Nottingham, has been summoned in relation to 17 breaches of the Air Navigation Order, Scotland Yard said on Wednesday. All of the incidents reportedly took place last year – with 15 occurring in September and one each in October and December. Four of the football stadia-related charges refer to Liverpool's Anfield, three to Derby County’s Pride Park, two each to Leicester City’s King Power stadium and Nottingham Forest’s City ground, and one each to Manchester City’s Etihad stadium, Arsenal’s Emirates stadium and Stoke City’s Britannia ground. Nigel Wilson has been summoned for allegedly flying a drone over grounds including the Emirates (above) The north London derby  in September is understood to be one of the games that the drone was flown over . He is also alleged to have failed to maintain direct, unaided and visual contact with a drone at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said: 'We can confirm that we have assisted the police in preparing this prosecution. 'There are clear rules and regulations in place regarding the flying of drones in the UK and it is the responsibility of users to spend time fully understanding what those rules are.' Drones, like the one pictured, are not allowed to be flown over gatherings of more than 1,000 people . The fixtures that Nigel Wilson is accused of flying a drone over are: . Liverpool v Aston Villa on September 13 at Anfield . Liverpool v Ludogorets on September 16 at Anfield . Nottingham Forest v Fulham on September 17 at the City Ground . Derby County v Reading on September 23 at Pride Park . Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur on September 27 at the Emirates Stadium . Stoke City v Newcastle United on September 29 at the Britannia Stadium . Derby County v Bournemouth on September 30 at Pride Park . Leicester City v Liverpool on December 2 at the King Power Stadium . He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 16. The Civil Aviation Authority has previously issued a warning over the use of drones after footage was posted online. A CAA spokesman said: 'The rule is that you're not allowed to fly over large gatherings of people of 1,000 or more at any height. The suspect is accused of flying a drone over Premier League grounds including Anfield (above) the Etihad, the King Power Stadium and the Britannia Stadium . Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring against Leicester at the King Power Stadium in December, another game that Wilson allegedly flew a drone over . 'You're not allowed to go within 50 metres of a building or structure. It's not something that people can just do without permission for safety reasons. 'These [drones] can weigh up to seven or eight kilograms. They could create a bit of damage if they fall from 1,000 feet.' The CAA has already prosecuted two people over illegal drone flying. Wilson is also accused of flying near London landmarks including the Palace of Westminster (pictured) Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +The Queen gleamed in a tailored apple green silk dress and matching jacket as she mingled with sporting greats at a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust event tonight. She was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh as they met famous names such as Dame Mary Peters, who won gold in the pentathlon in the 1972 Olympics, and paralympian Baroness Grey-Thompson. The Trust was set up in 1965 as the legendary wartime Prime Minister's living legacy. Her Majesty meets Tanni Grey-Thompson at Winston Churchill Trust 50th anniversary event . Prince Philip holds a medallion . Since then, more than 5,000 British citizens have been awarded fellowships by the Trust, from more than 100,000 applicants, to travel overseas to study areas of topical and personal interest. The Queen, wearing a Karl Ludwig dress and jacket in green silk with a woven geometric pattern, was given a medallion bearing the photographer Yousuf Karsh's image of Churchill. She showed the medallion to Prince Philip and the pair both studied it with interest. Fellows from every decade since 1965 represented the trust at the event. Both Baroness Grey-Thompson and Dame Mary Peters had fellowships from the trust. The female athletes explained what the sporting trust had done for their careers. Dame Mary said after meeting the royal couple: 'I used the fellowship to help me train for the Olympics in 1972. I was in Belfast, it was the height of the Troubles, and I didn't have a running track. The Queen meets Dame Mary Peters at Buckingham Palace bash to honour Britain's sporting greats . 'The fellowship gave me the opportunity to go to Pasadena in California to train for six weeks. 'There was sunshine every day, I had the most amazing time training in May and June, and was successful in Munich in the September.' Baroness Grey-Thompson said: 'My fellowship was in 1993. I went to Perth in Australia to look at their methods of identifying talent, and although those methods are very good, it was useful for me to realise that they would not work here because their weather is so much better and they have a smaller population. 'That was useful for me to know when I joined the board of UK Sport in 1997.' At the time of her visit to Australia, she had competed in two of her five paralympics, collecting four of her 11 golds. The royals inspect the memorial medallion designed by artist Brian Clarke (left) The Queen meets Major General Jamie Balfour, Director General of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust . Her Majesty meets artist Brian Clarke, who designed the commemorative Winston Churchill Medallion, as she hosts the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Reception at Buckingham Palace . The commemorative Winston Churchill Medallion, by designer Brian Clarke, which features a pixellated portrait of the great political leader in blue, with a gold rim . +Pippa Middleton looked tanned and relaxed in a £750 Hugo Boss ice blue gown with a daring plunging neckline at the inaugural ParaSnowBall party in London. The 31-year-old, who was making her first public appearance since a rumoured US TV deal broke down, was joined by a host of medallists and snowsports enthusiasts. Also there was Heather Mills, 47, the former wife of Paul McCartney who made a beeline for the royal in-law on the red carpet. Scroll down for video . Odd couple: Pippa Middleton poses with Heather Mills on the red carpet at the ParaSnowBall in London . Lots in common: Pippa and Heather are both known for their passion for skiing . Pippa's pleated maxi dress . Say it in white . Visit site . While things may not be going her way in the career world, Pippa Middleton has still got it when it comes to the style stakes. She's got a knack similarly to her Duchess sister, seemingly able to knock us dead each time she steps out. She looked stunning stepping out here at the ParaSnowBall donning a white plunging maxi dress that while safe, ticked all the boxes for us. We are huge fans on the Fashion Finder desk of classic style, whether that's in the form of the little black dress, simple pointed courts or a pleated maxi dress like Pippa's, we think simple and sophisticated is often the best way to go, especially for posh dos such as this. And after that famous moment at Kate's wedding, Pippa can't really go wrong in a white full-length number, can she? Which is why we've done all the hard work for you, scouting the web for plunging white maxi dresses to help you channel Pippa's style. Sadly we can't promise you the derriere to match, that problem ladies is all yours! Miss Selfridge Wrap Pleated Maxi Dress . Visit site . AQ/AQ testino maxi dress at Shopbop . Visit site . Topshop plunge maxi dress . Visit site . L'agence Deep V-Neck Maxi Dress at Saks Fifth Avenue . Visit site . Ms Mills, an enthusiastic skier herself, shimmered in a floor-length emerald green dress and chatted to other guests, among them Paralympic skier Millie Knight, during the event which was hosted by BBC broadcaster John Inverdale. The glitzy bash celebrates Great Britain’s Disabled Snowsports team and doubles as a fundraiser for Disability SnowSport UK, a charity dedicated to getting the less able onto the slopes. Guests at the event were kept entertained by a magician, among them a sceptical-looking Pippa who was eventually won over by the performer's sleight of hand. Pippa, a keen skier who used her most recent Vanity Fair column to offer tips on the best places to ski, made a speech at the event in which she spoke of her delight at being there. 'I am honoured to be supporting Disability SnowSport UK and as a keen skier myself, I feel very passionately about enabling those with a disability to experience the joy of skiing alongside able-bodied people,' she said. Showing her support: Pippa made a speech at the event and told of her enthusiasm for disabled snow sports . Fundraiser: Organisers hope the ball will raise money for charity Disability Snowsport UK . Compere: The event was hosted by BBC presenter, John Inverdale . Job done: Pippa returns to her seat after making her speech at the ParaSnowBall . 'The ParaSnowBall will be an inspirational celebration of Paralympians as well as raising funds to enable snowsports to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of their disability.' Organisers hope the fundraiser and Pippa's attendance will boost the profile of snow sports and encourage more young people to get involved – and go on to take medals in major competitions. Fiona Young, the CEO of Disability Sport UK, said: 'We're proud to have the support of Pippa Middleton for our worthwhile cause. 'We are enormously excited to announce the launch of our ParaSnowBall and the great platform it will be for Disability SnowSport UK. Pippa, sitting next to Paralympic skier Mille Knight looks sceptical as a magician comes to the table . Pick a card, any card: Miss Middleton seems more excited by the magic trick as a pack is produced . The magician hands Pippa a £20 note, as part of his dinner trick . Pippa looks fascinated as the magician shows off his sleight of hand with a card and cash trick . 'Our long term vision is that this will grow into a signature, annual event which will guarantee a high level of income to support our ongoing initiatives as well as fund new projects.' Jamie Ritblat, CEO and founder of Delancey, the event's headline sponsor, said: 'As principal sponsor of British Ski and Snowboard and supporter of the innovative inner city youth snowsports charity Snow-Camp, Delancey is committed to making snowsports more accessible to all people across the UK, regardless of ability or background. 'Great Britain’s Paralympians made the whole nation proud at Sochi, 2014, and we are thrilled to join in celebrating their success, while helping to ensure that Disability SnowSport UK is able to carry on the incredible work it does to help enable anyone with a disability to experience the joy and thrill of snowsports.' Pippa meets Paralympic skier Millie Knight (left) at the Disability Snowsport UK 'ParaSnowBall', along with charity's CEO Fiona Young OBE, Duncan Freshwater from the British Disabled Ski Team (right) Pippa poses for photographs at the para sports event at the Cumberland Hotel, London, wearing a gold cuff by Monica Vinader . Pippa kept her accessories to a minimum with just a jewelled clutch and Monica Vinader earrings . The event kick-starts an important week for GB’s snowsports athletes, with the arrival of the Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships and The BRITS in Tignes, France, this weekend . As well as featuring some of Great Britain's most talented ski and snowboard athletes, thousands of students will also descend on the resort for the British Universities Snowsports Championships. Last night's event is the first time Pippa has been seen in public since rumours surfaced over the weekend that talks with the US broadcaster NBC have broken down. She had reportedly been in line for a £400,000 deal, but talks have 'stalled' with sources describing a pilot scene featuring Wild West dancing as 'cringe-worthy'. On her way: A fresh-faced Pippa makes her exit looking none the worse for wear . Bright and breezy: No hint of a worry after rumours surfaced her plans for a US TV show have stalled . Heading home: The Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister headed home in a taxi . +Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was left furious after his side were denied what he felt was a legitimate goal against Cardiff City on Tuesday night. Striker Callum Wilson stood with his back to goal as opposition goalkeeper Simon Moore attempted to take a goal kick during his side's clash with Cardiff City, only for Moore's clearance to hit the forward. The ball cannoned off the back of the number 13 before hitting the bar, and Wilson, who was signed by Howe from League One outfit Coventry City, then tapped the ball into the empty net. Callum Wilson is standing still outside of the box with his back to goal when the goalkeeper kicks the ball . Wilson and the fans celebrated, but referee Lee Mason was quick to disallow the goal and booked the 23-year-old Bournemouth top scorer, much to Howe's frustration. 'I've got to be very careful with what I say, we've been in a bit of trouble recently with officials,' Howe told BBC Radio Solent. Howe continued: 'Callum (Wilson) did that all night. He didn't move, didn't follow the keeper, he held his ground and by the laws of the game that is perfectly acceptable. It's a goal that should have stood.' Bournemouth striker Wilson just cannot believe his goal has been disallowed by referee Lee Mason . 'You'll have to ask the referee why the goal was not allowed, I don't think he had a particularly good game and that's an understatement. 'Callum was looking the other way, he stood his ground which is allowed and the goalkeeper has kicked it at his back. 'That's a real strange decision and ultimately it's cost us two points.' +Leeds United delivered a masterclass in smash and grab football as they were battered by Fulham but stole away from Craven Cottage with a resounding 3-0 victory. The game marked five years to the day Fulham beat Juventus 4-1 in the Europa League, arguably the greatest night in the club’s history. But defeat left them only six points clear of relegation to League One. Sam Byram leaps highest to send Leeds United into the lead against Fulham at Craven Cottage . Byram beats his man as the Yorkshire side take the lead against Fulham in west London . Fulham: Bettinelli, Richards, Hutchinson, Turner, Stafylidis, Parker, Hoogland, Tunnicliffe, Ruiz (Kacaniklic 63), McCormack (Fofana 83), Smith. Subs Not Used: Kiraly, Bodurov, Woodrow, Rodallega, Kavanagh. Sent Off: Stafylidis (52). Booked: Stafylidis. Leeds: Silvestri, Wootton, Bamba, Bellusci, Berardi, Cook, Murphy, Byram, Mowatt (Antenucci 83), Charlie Taylor, Sharp (Morison 67). Subs Not Used: Cani, Stuart Taylor, Doukara, Cooper, Sloth. Booked: Sharp,Bamba. Goals: Byram 40,Bamba 48,Antenucci 88. Att: 19,200 . Ref: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire). Manager Kit Symons, who was a coach at Fulham in 2010 in that memorable night, was aware of the anniversary. ‘That’s football,’ was all he could summon about their fall, adding: ‘We had 27 shots altogether, I’m incredibly frustrated. ‘I thought we were excellent first half, created numerous chances and didn't take them. I’ve been in and around football for a long time, often there’s sucker punch if you don't take chances. ‘We need three wins to stay up, it’s down to us to go get them. We probably had enough chances to win three games here.’ Twice the home side’s defence fell apart either side of half-time to allow Sam Byram and Sol Bamba to head Leeds ahead. Fulham went down to 10 men and still managed to outplay their opponents, until substitute Mirco Antenucci made it three late on. It was inexplicable that Fulham were not in front before Leeds took the lead, five minutes before the break. Ross McCormack and Matt Smith, facing their former club, raced through early on but could not convert. Bryan Ruiz almost caught out Leeds goalkeeper Marco Silvestri with a 35-yard lob, but he tipped over, then hit the crossbar from a corner. But out of nowhere, Leeds scored when Gaetano Berardi crossed for Byram to head in completely unmarked and by seven minutes into the second half the home team completely capitulated. On 48 minutes Leeds went two ahead, an Alex Mowatt corner bouncing all the way through Fulham’s box to allow defender Bamba to head in at the back post. Then left-back Konstantinos Stafylidis was sent off for two yellow cards within 45 seconds of each other to end any hope of a comeback. Sol Bamba doubles the travelling side's lead as he heads past Marcus Bettinelli in the Fulham goal . Leeds United's Bamba celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game with teammate Billy Sharp . Symons said: ’It was ridiculous getting the second so soon after the first. He dived in right in front of the Leeds fans for the second. It seemed the ref was moving on, but someone was in his ear then he changed his mind and went for the second yellow. It was rash and petulant.’ Fulham continued to dominate, despite having a man less, until the 88th minute when Antenucci scored with a first-time shot. Leeds manager Neil Redfearn said: ’Our lot got a bollocking at half time, I thought we were off the pace. We worked it out and toughed it out. It could’ve been four or five by the end.’ Kostas Stafylidis of Fulham is sent off for a second yellow card offence by referee Chris Kavangh . Stafylidis walks to an early bath following his dismissal as Fulham failed to impress at Craven Cottage . Mirco Antenucci celebrates as he scores Leeds' third goal during the Sky Bet Championship match . Antenucci is joined by his teammates as they celebrate an impressive win at Craven Cottage . Ross McCormack applauds the Leeds United fans who applaud him for his time at the Yorkshire club . +FIFA president Sepp Blatter has delivered a considerable snub to the BBC by turning down the opportunity to join a televised debate with his three challengers before the election in Zurich on May 29. Blatter was always expected to refuse the request, put to him in a letter from the BBC and Sky, for an hour-long debate with Prince Ali of Jordan, Luis Figo and Michael van Praag about their plans for leading FIFA. The event would have been hosted by top broadcasters from the two networks and given equal prominence to each candidate. FIFA president Sepp Blatter speaks to journalists after the IFAB meeting in Belfast last month . FIFA presidential hopeful Luis Figo takes notes during the CONMEBOL Ordinary Congress on March 4 . But rather than give a courteous answer by letter to the prominent TV stations, Blatter relayed the curt reply ‘thanks but no thanks’ via one of his flunkeys in a telephone call. This didn’t impress the BBC, who have been FIFA partners as World Cup rights-holders since proper live coverage started in 1966. Blatter’s three challengers replied by letter that they would be happy to participate. But the whole project depended on Blatter and he is not even prepared to outline his reasons for not taking part, let alone have his make-up applied for the TV cameras — in front of which he would have by far the most to lose. Far better for Blatter is to fast-track FIFA Goal Programme funding to African countries, where he enjoys mass voting support. Prince Ali of Jordan is pictured during a press conference in central London last month . Michael van Praag, also going for the FIFA presidency, poses for a photo in Schiphol earlier this month . Boxing promoter Barry McGuigan is in positive talks with ITV about super bantamweight Carl Frampton making his second world title defence on terrestrial TV. Frampton’s win over Chris Avalos in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena last month had far more impact because it was on free-to-air television. ITV say their plans for screening boxing are on a fight-by-fight basis. Carl Frampton is lifted up by trainer Shane McGuigan after defeating Chris Avalos in Belfast last month . The Premier League have caused plenty of angst for the FA by flexing their financial muscle during power battles. However the FA, who have the power of veto as the 21st shareholder in the PL, will not object to CEO Richard Scudamore becoming executive chairman and the governance statute changes that will trigger. Sport England, who fund grassroots sport, make no secret that they are hugely influenced by the participation findings of the Active People Survey when doling out cash. So it’s difficult to see how swimming, who shed 245,000 participants last year according to the latest APS figures, can avoid having funds diverted from the national governing body when the allocations are announced on Thursday. Charlie Hemphrey poses for a photo during his days with Kent in April 2009 . County reject’s Oz ton . At least one English cricketer can hold his head high in Australia after the humiliating World Cup exit. Unheralded 25-year-old Charlie Hemphrey, a failed product of the county system with Kent, Derbyshire and Essex, became the first Englishman to score a century in the Sheffield Shield for 37 years with his 118 during Queensland’s win over South Australia. Hemphrey, plucked from grade cricket after emigrating 18 months ago, made his state debut last month. ------------------------------------------------------------ . UK Sport have conducted a widespread consultation on their policy of funding only sports with Olympic medal potential and showing zero tolerance to the rest. And it’s understood the outcome will be ‘business as usual’ on the road to Tokyo 2020 and beyond. The only real change will be more flexibility for team sports, where each medal gained involves a lot more personnel. Jim Rodwell, a breath of fresh air on the Football League board and FA International Committee as a former player, has made the surprising decision to switch from Notts County chief executive to League One rivals Scunthorpe. Although Scunthorpe have a wealthier backer in chairman Peter Swann, it doesn’t seem much of a promotion for the ambitious Rodwell. Rio Ferdinand, due to retire from football at the end of a disappointing season with relegation-bound QPR, is expected to be involved in the Champions League next season as a pundit for BT Sport. Ferdinand will be alongside former Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes, with Gary Lineker lined up to present the coverage. Rio Ferdinand is expected to be a pundit for BT Sport's coverage of the Champions League next season . +You can take the man out of Barcelona, but you can never take the Barcelona out of the man. That phrase is certainly true for Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola who celebrated with the home fans as Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring for Barcelona against Manchester City. Guardiola quickly stemmed his excitement by covering his face with his scalf as he realised he was celebrating in front of the world's media. Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola celebrates as Ivan Rakitic opens the scoring for the hosts . Bayern Munich manager Guardiola rises to his feet to celebrate the goal at the Nou Camp . Guardiola covers his face with his scalf after being overcome with emotion following the goal . Guardiola tries to hide his face after he celebrated Barcelona's goal against Manchester City on Wednesday . Bayern Munich coach Guardiola watches the Champions League Round of 16 match at the Nou Camp . The Catalan side went on to beat Manuel Pellegrini's side 1-0 as they progressed to the last eight of the Champions League. Guardiola knows all about life at the club having managed there between 2008 and 2012, and their progression now means he could end up facing his former employers in the next round of the Champions League. Bayern Munich themselves cantered through with ease as they thumped Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 at the Allianz Arena following a goalless first leg against the Ukranian side. Rakitic scores the opening goal past Joe Hart during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 . Rakitic lofts the ball over England No 1 Hart at the Nou Camp as Barcelona progressed on the night . Rakitic is congratulated by teammate Dani Alves following his goal against Manchester City in the last 16 . +Fernando Alonso hailed a ‘great day’ as he returned to work at McLaren’s headquarters in Woking. The Spaniard missed the opening race of the season in Australia after he suffered concussion following an unexplained 134mph crash while testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona last month. Alonso, who was hospitalised for three days following the incident, spent time in the McLaren simulator on Wednesday as he bids to prove he is ready to return for the next race in Malaysia a week on Sunday. Fernando Alonso was pictured with Eric Boullier at McLaren's headquarters in Woking on Tuesday . ‘Great day today at MTC (McLaren Technology Centre),’ said Alonso on his Twitter account. ‘Lots of meetings and simulator work.’ Kevin Magnussen deputised for Alonso in Melbourne, but after he qualified last, the Dane then failed to start the race as his Honda engine blew-up en route to the grid. Jenson Button managed to get his McLaren to the end of the grand prix, but finished last and two laps behind race winner Lewis Hamilton. Alonso is pictured with his girlfriend Lara Alvarez after he left a Barcelona hospital on February 25 . The Spanish driver took a 'selfie' during a gym session... he hopes to return at the next race in Malaysia . Jenson Button finished the curtain raiser in Melbourne in 11th and two laps down on Lewis Hamilton . It marked a miserable start to the renewed partnership between McLaren and Honda, and many observers in the Albert Park paddock joked that Alonso may not have been too unhappy to have been absent. Alonso, the double world champion, must be cleared by the FIA’s doctors before he can get in the car again. A date for those tests has yet to be set, though they could take place in the Sepang paddock next Thursday. Meanwhile, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas is working with a leading physiotherapist in Indonesia as he bids to recover from a back injury which saw him miss Sunday’s race in Melbourne. A William spokesperson said: 'We are doing everything we can to help the process of getting him back to full fitness.' +These amazing images show the annual nesting session for a giant colony of seabirds in Patagonia, Argentina. Drone footage shows thousands of birds making a home for themselves across a 2,000 square metre (21,528 sq.ft.) beach on the Argentinian coastline. A team of researchers captured more than 5,300 pairs of nesting Imperial Cormorants, as part of a project to record the reproduction habits of the seabirds. Scroll down for video . Amazing scenes: Thousands of birds in a colony of Patagonian seabirds have settled on this Argentinian beach to nest . Bird is the word: A research team used drones to capture the extent of the nesting colony, thought to be more than 5,300 'bird couples' Making babies: In the footage, the Patagonian seabirds can be seen nesting on a 21,528 square foot beach in Argentina . 'We used friendly, funny, cheap and safe drones who made the previous laborious job made by pilots and photographers in the past,' Dr. Flavio Quintana, a leading marine conservation biologist said. 'The results were glorious, several high qualities images from different angles and altitudes allow us to determine, with accurate data, the real number of breeding pairs in different colonies which helps us to understand trends of the Patagonian population.' 'The drone footage shows a huge mixed colony of seabirds, several species nesting at the same site in the coast of Patagonia, Argentina. 'The Imperial Cormorant is a diving seabird that nest along the Patagonian coast of Argentina and Chile and is one of our research target species. Sneaking: A team of researchers photographed the nesting Imperial Cormorants as part of a project to record their reproduction habits . Chick this out: Thousands of birds are getting ready for nightfall as the sun sets over the beach in Patagonia, Argentina . Dr. Flavio Quintana said flying the drones allowed the team to 'determine, with accurate data, the real number of breeding pairs in the colonies' The drone footage shows a huge mixed colony of seabirds, several species nesting at the same site in the coast of Patagonia, Argentina . +Per Mertesacker had to admit that the prospect of ever winning the European Cup was a distant dream for Arsenal as they came to terms with another early exit. Arsenal won 2-0 in Monaco on Tuesday but lost the first leg 3-1 in London and went out on away goals. Arsene Wenger was downbeat and introspective after the game as he tried to sum up the disappointment of a fifth successive campaign ending in the first knockout round. The Arsenal boss claimed flippantly that it might be better to finish third in the group and drop into the Europa League than keep losing in the last 16. His captain was equally sombre when asked how far this team was from seriously competing for the top prize. Per Mertesacker (left) talks with referee Svein Oddvar Moen during the match on Tuesday night . Mertesacker (centre) congratulates Aaron Ramsey on his goal against Monaco but it wasn't enough . Mertesacker (left) is brought down to the ground after a challenge by Monaco's Fabinho . ‘Far,’ said Mertesacker. ‘Monaco were very under-estimated. But they deserved it by playing well in the first leg. We had one bad game and that was enough to get knocked out. We were missing some good fortune but we didn’t deserve it because we played so poorly in the first leg. ‘It’s difficult after such a good performance to look back and think that in the first game we missed that mental level you need to compete at the highest level. You can see how good we are as a team and how well organised we can be. We need to consider that every single day in training and in games. That’s why we are so far away.’ Wenger said: ‘Maybe it would be better not to pass the group phase and play the Europa League than to be eliminated in the last 16. We would have more chances to win a title.’ Santi Cazorla (right) looks dejected after the match as Monaco players celebrate progression . Prince Albert II of Monaco (centre) is among those celebrating on a joyous night at Stade Louis II . The Arsenal manager insisted this was meant to be a comment about the abrupt and unforgiving nature of the Champions League in its knockout phase rather than a serious realignment of ambitions. Wenger’s team have won 13 of their last 15 games and are third in the Barclays Premier League. Aaron Ramsey thinks they can catch Manchester City and finish even higher. ‘The top two is within our grasp,’ said Ramsey. ‘It’s only one point and anything can happen. We still have the FA Cup to go... we’re still on for a successful season. ‘We’re more than capable of beating anyone and it’s a case of being more wise over two games in Europe. Hopefully if we get a chance next year we can put that right.’ Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger walks off the pitch at full-time after the Gunners failed to go through . Arsenal fans show their frustrations as their club is knocked out of the Champions League last-16 . +Alastair Cook is not the sort to wash his dirty linen in public so for the England Test captain to launch a barely concealed attack on Tuesday on the management who sacked him before the World Cup is little short of astonishing. Cook's words in Abu Dhabi, where he will play for MCC against Yorkshire on Sunday, will send shockwaves through an England hierarchy desperate to pick up the pieces from their disastrous World Cup when they go to the Caribbean next month. Not least, they will concern under-pressure coach Peter Moores, who insisted in Australia that Cook was 'over' his World Cup omission but who must now wonder if his relationship with his Test captain is seriously damaged. Former England one-day captain Alastair Cook was removed from his post in December last year . England endured a disappointing World Cup campaign and were eliminated at the group stage . Batsmen: . (Player, Age, Tests, County) Alastair Cook, 30, 109, Essex . Jonny Bairstow, 25, 14, Yorkshire . Gary Ballance, 25, 8, Yorkshire . Ian Bell, 32, 105, Warwickshire . Jos Buttler, 24, 3, Lancashire . Adam Lyth, 27, 0, Yorkshire . Joe Root, 24, 22, Yorkshire . Jonathan Trott, 33, 49, Warwickshire . All-rounders: . Adil Rashid, 27, 0, Yorkshire . Ben Stokes, 23, 6, Durham . Bowlers: . James Anderson, 32, 99, Lancashire . Stuart Broad, 28, 74, Nottinghamshire . Chris Jordan, 26, 5, Sussex . Liam Plunkett, 29, 13, Yorkshire . James Tredwell, 33, 1, Kent . Mark Wood, 25, 0, Durham . Cook made no attempt to hide the hurt he has felt back home on his Buckinghamshire farm while England floundered so badly under his replacement Eoin Morgan that they could not even make the last eight. 'I think you saw in Australia the dangers of making such a big decision so close to a tournament,' said Cook of his sacking on the brink of the World Cup. 'I don't know what's gone on over there, and I can only speak from watching a little bit from afar, but it did look like the lads were shell-shocked from the first two games. That's when you need real leadership to steer you through that. 'I can't speak about what's gone on in depth but you always back yourself and I would have loved to have had the opportunity that was taken from me. The selectors made that decision because they thought it was best for English cricket. Hindsight has probably proved them wrong but now it's easy to say that. 'Whether I would have made a difference I don't know, but I was confident we would get out of the group. From there you just have to win three games in a row — that's how this World Cup has worked.' Ouch. What a mess England find themselves in. They made decent progress in Test cricket last summer but that has been virtually invalidated by the crushing inadequacy of the World Cup squad — and Cook knows it. Cook believes hindsight has proved the ECB wrong to remove him as captain before the tournament . 'The Test team was in a good place,' said Cook. 'I wouldn't say all the confidence has gone but a hell of a lot of it has. It's a different format but all teams are grouped under the same English umbrella and we can't be naive enough to think that they're not. 'We have a repair job to do and the only way of doing that is by playing some good cricket and starting to win. We built that momentum a little bit after the Ashes 14 or 15 months ago with a younger side, including the likes of Joe Root and Gary Ballance. 'There was a feelgood factor about the English game in the middle of August after the Tests. Since then it's been tough going. We've got to rebuild again.' Cook (right) feels England have to rebuild the feelgood factor that followed Test success against India . Cook (left) will lead England in three Tests in the West Indies in April, before New Zealand visit in May . Cook feels the ECB have highlighted the perils of changing captain so close to an international tournament . Eoin Morgan's England captaincy came under particular scrutiny during the poor World Cup performance . Cook did not mention Morgan by name but there is little doubt that he proved a desperate disappointment as England's one-day replacement captain. Not only was he unable to regain the form that has largely deserted him over the past year but Morgan was not the adventurous tactician many imagined him to be. The Irishman also spoke such gibberish in public that he ended up saying he had 'no regrets' over the worst World Cup in England's history. Whether he retains the one-day leadership remains to be seen but he has done himself few favours by insisting he will miss England's next one-day international against his native Ireland in Dublin so that he can play in the Indian Premier League. Cook may not have been able to arrest his own slump in form before the World Cup but history will now say that England did not improve by ditching him after backing him as one-day captain for three and a half years. Now attention is back on Cook for a three-Test tour of the West Indies next month that is crucial if Moores — along with managing director Paul Downton and national selector James Whitaker — are to keep their jobs until this summer's Ashes. At least Cook had some encouragement for the coach. 'There's pressure on him,' said Cook. 'There's pressure on all of us. All I can say is that I've really enjoyed working with Peter. He's a fantastic coach who just needs a bit of luck. I hope he gets the opportunity to stay and turn things around.' Moores will get that chance in the Caribbean unless new chairman Colin Graves and new chief executive Tom Harrison swing the axe in their first weeks in office. They will probably give all involved a little longer but patience is short and now England know that they also have a disaffected Test leader despite investing so much in him. It is a sorry state of affairs and one that can only be transformed by good results. And quickly. Cook (left) was struggling for runs in one-day cricket when the ECB decided to remove him as captain . Cook believes that England would have made it out of their group at the World Cup if he had been there . +Manuel Pellegrini admitted Manchester City had been outclassed by Lionel Messi after they crashed out of the Champions League against Barcelona. Ivan Rakitic’s 31st-minute strike was enough to secure a 1-0 victory and ease Barcelona into the quarter-final of the European Cup with a 3-1 aggregate win. Sergio Aguero had a penalty saved in the 78th minute, but the reality is that Barcelona threatened to humiliate the Barclays Premier League champions. Ivan Rakitic scores the only goal of the game as Barcelona progress against Manchester City . Rakitic is mobbed by his Barcelona team-mates after his 31st-minute strike in the second leg . Javier Mascherano leads the celebrations as Sergio Aguero reflects on an early European bath for City . Pellegrini, who admitted that talks will take place on his future at the end of the season, said: ‘Messi was imperious - at the moment we have to accept Barcelona are better. ‘It is not a failure, it is a disappointment. We have been unlucky to play Barcelona for two years in a row. We have had a restriction on the number of players we can use in the Champions League.' 'It is very difficult to beat Barcelona, but the statistics I don’t care about. ‘We cannot analyse what we will do next season because it is too soon after this result. We can do that later. ‘It is not easy to play Barcelona. This is the draw, they are very strong. At least we have improved.’ Pellegrini has been beaten four times by Barcelona since becoming City manager and he now has nine games to save his job at the Etihad Stadium. VIDEO Pellegrini disappointed after Champions League exit . Manuel Pellegrini has been beaten four times by Barcelona since becoming Manchester City manager . The City chief claims the heavy Christmas fixture schedule is the reason behind the failure of a single English team to reach the quarter-final of the competition. Pellegrini added: ‘It is difficult to analyse because the Premier League is strong, with money and very good players. ‘We play so many games in December and January and we are not fresh in February. In Spain, Italy and Germany they stop playing. Last year we played nine games in December and nine in January, and that was before we played Barcelona.' City keeper Joe Hart was easily their best player and it was his immense contribution that prevented Barcelona adding to Rakitic's opener. Hart, who saved Lionel Messi's penalty in the first leg, said: 'We've gone out to a magnificent side, but that's the second time in two years which is disappointing for us. 'They're going to get a lot of plaudits for how they play, they've got fantastic players, but we had a big chance, we hung on in there and we had a big chance but unfortunately we couldn't take it. 'I suppose you could say they had a chance to finish us off in the first game and they didn't take it but that's how football goes.' Hart made a string of impressive saves, especially in the second half, and midfielder James Milner was full of praise for his team-mate's performance. 'There are not too many words you can say,' Milner said. 'It's incredible really. Joe Hart was in inspired form against Barcelona, pictured here saving from man-of-the-moment Messi . The Manchester City and England No 1 foils Messi to prevent the striker from doubling Barcelona's lead . Messi pays tribute to Hart at the final whistle following his heroic display in the Manchester City goal . 'He's showed again what a great keeper he is and it's not the first time he's done that for us in Europe. He gave us that chance with the penalty (in the first leg). They could have been out of sight by then and he gave us a chance to still be in it. 'He was amazing tonight and deserves everything that gets said about him.' Hart added: 'It was busy. I just tried to smother them as best I could because I know full well they're thinking they've got to pass at all times. 'I tried to rush him for the goal, I thought he took it well. From there my job is to rush them, with quality players it's difficult to do sometimes, and I got a bit of luck on my side. 'I don't know how Neymar's stayed out in the first minute but that's football. We did our best to stay in it and were just unfortunate tonight.' +Marc-Andre ter Stegen played a crucial part in Barcelona's victory against Manchester City as he thwarted Sergio Aguero's 78th-minute penalty effort, but it looks like the Barca goalkeeper has one of his team-mates to thank for his spot-kick heroics. Trailing 1-0 on the night, and 3-1 on aggregate, City were handed a lifeline when Aguero was tripped by Gerard Pique in the penalty area. Referee Gianluca Rocchi pointed to the spot with City's top scorer stepping up to take the penalty. As Aguero got ready for his spot-kick, Barca midfielder Javier Mascherano pointed in the direction he thought his fellow Argentine would shoot. Javier Mascherano (top centre) points in the direction he thinks Sergio Aguero will shoot . Aguero gets ready to take his spot-kick as Mascherano gestures to his keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen . Ter Stegen guesses correctly to save Aguero's effort and deny City a lifeline in the 78th minute . Mascherano rushes to congratulate Ter Stegen following his penalty save late on at the Nou Camp . Ter Stegen admitted that Mascherano advised him but he decided to make up his own mind in the end . Lo and behold, Aguero fired his penalty effort in the same direction with Ter Stegen taking Mascherano's advice and diving the same way. Mascherano admitted trying to advise his keeper on which way to dive for Aguero's penalty. 'I know from international duty how he takes spot-kicks,' said the midfielder after the game. Ter Stegen admitted being advised by both Mascherano and Rafinha but in the end made his own mind up. Manchester City were eliminated at the last 16 stage after failing to overturn their first-leg deficit . VIDEO Enrique hails 'special night' for Barca . +The Dallas Cowboys have taken a punt on Greg Hardy, who has agreed on a one-year deal which could be worth up to $13.1million. At 26, the aggressive pass rusher is in his prime but missed all but one game last season after being placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List following a conviction for assaulting his then partner. He remains on the exempt list until the NFL has finished it own investigation, with reports saying he could miss the first six games of the 2015 season. Nicknamed The Kraken, Greg Hardy is a fearsome pass rusher but is tainted by off-field issues . Hardy leaves Mecklenburg County jail after being released on bond in Charlotte in May last year . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks were said to be interested in Hardy, but both dropped out of a move. 'At the end of the day, we didn't feel good about it,' Bucs general manager Jason Licht told the Tampa Bay Times. The deal with Dallas is heavily incentive-driven and was first revealed by NFL insider Ian Rapoport. The Carolina Panthers put the franchise tag on Hardy in February 2014, guaranteeing him $13.1. He was arrested and charged on May 13 with assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder. Hardy was found guilty on July 15 by a Mecklenburg County judge, but on appeal to a jury trial (a quirk of North Carolina law), charges were dropped when Holder refused to co-operate with the prosecutor. In purely football terms, the Cowboys have strengthened a position of need. Last season, the Cowboys defense mustered 28 sacks last season. During his 2013 season, defensive end Hardy made the Pro Bowl and recorded 15 sacks; in 2012 he had 11 and adds an extra dimension to Rod Marinelli's 4-3 scheme. +Gareth Bale should stay at Real Madrid and forget about returning to the Premier League says his international manager Chris Coleman. Bale's future has been the subject of much debate since Real fans began booing the world's most expensive player at the Bernabeu, while the Madrid media have accused him of being 'lazy' and a 'ball hog' in trying to shoot for goal rather than pass to colleagues. Team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has also shown his displeasure over the Welshman's supposed selfishness and the Portuguese forward reacted petulantly when Bale scored last weekend - his double in a 2-0 win over Levante as he netted his first goals in 10 games. Gareth Bale covers his ears as he celebrates his goal for Real Madrid against Levante on Sunday . Bale charges forward with the ball past Levante's Tono Garcia during Sunday's La Liga clash . Bale responded to his first goal by covering his ears with his hands - seen as a sign that he was not listening to the criticism - and kicking the corner flag, and it has led to fevered speculation that he could return home to the Barclays Premier League this summer. Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have been linked with bringing the former Tottenham player back to London and it has been suggested that Manchester United could swap him for their Madrid-born goalkeeper David de Gea. But Wales manager Coleman said: 'He should stay where he is. 'Chelsea are a huge club and have been successful as are Manchester United - but Real Madrid is Real Madrid. 'Gareth's good enough to win the big trophies, play on the big stage and play with the biggest club. Bale kicks the corner flag as he celebrates his goal at the Santiago Bernabeu . 'It is different from Manchester United or Chelsea because while there is pressure on them to perform in every game, at Madrid it is almost like a show and there has to be entertainment. 'You have to be one of the best to play for them and, in my opinion, Gareth is good enough to win trophies and entertain at Real Madrid at the highest level.' Despite Bale's difficult start to 2015, Coleman insists his talismanic forward is in good spirits ahead of Wales' table-topping Euro 2016 qualifier in Israel on Saturday week. Surprise front-runners Israel have won their opening three matches but Wales are unbeaten after four games and have taken points off the top two seeds, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium. 'I spoke to his agent three days ago, he is absolutely fine and there are no problems,' Coleman said. Wales manager Chris Coleman has urged Bale to stay at Real Madrid and forget a Premier League return . 'Baley is the most expensive player in the world and there is politics to all this. 'He's been caught up in a bit of a storm but, knowing Gareth as I do, I'd be really surprised if he said, 'I've had enough, I'm not accepting that and I'm coming home'. 'Everyone has good and bad periods and you just have to get through it and, saying that, he scored a couple of goals at the weekend.' But Coleman admits that he has been taken aback by nature of the criticism aimed at the 25-year-old from Cardiff . 'It's just not people venting their anger. some of the attacks have been quite personal,' Coleman said. 'You can't say Madrid have lost two or three games because of Gareth. VIDEO Bale double silences critics . Bale falls down during the match between Real Madrid and Levante in the Spanish capital on Sunday . 'That's not the truth, but he has been personally attacked. 'I don't know what the future will be for him, but all I can say is when he comes with us then it's not a problem. 'He works hard for us and fits into the system whether we play him down the middle or wide, as a nine or a 10. 'We may go to Haifa next week and he has a bad game, but he can still score us a goal that will win us the game out of nothing. 'The pressure is on but he has shown he can handle that in big games. 'He likes being in that environment where there is everything on it and he deserves to play in a major tournament.' +World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin paid Manny Pacquiao a visit at his training camp as he prepares for his showdown with Floyd Mayweather. The 32-year-old Kazakh was pictured with the Filipino at the Wild Card Gym in California. Golovkin is widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world alongside Pacquiao and has won all 32 of his professional bouts, 29 by knockout. Gennady Golovkin paid a visit to Manny Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym in California . The Filipino shared a picture of his run in the mountains in preparation for his fight with Floyd Mayweather . Golovkin is also preparing for an upcoming contest when he defends his WBA and WBC interim middleweight belts against Willie Monroe Jnr in Inglewood, California on May 16. The world middleweight champion stopped Englishman Martin Murray in his previous contest in Monte Carlo in February. Pacquiao, meanwhile, has stepped up his preparations for his mega fight with Mayweather on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao will take on Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 in one of the biggest fights ever . Golovkin, unbeaten in 32 bouts, is preparing for a May 16 fight against Willie Monroe Jnr in California . After weeks of conditioning work, the Filipino had his first day of sparring on Tuesday in Hollywood. Pacquiao told ESPN: 'After 13 days of strength and conditioning and boxing drills at Wild Card plus weeks more of working out in the Philippines in February, it was great to finally put on the headgear and spar. 'My sparring partners gave me good work today. They were perfect for testing the strategy Freddie and I have developed to beat Floyd Mayweather. I was very happy with my stamina and speed today.' +Two Belgian companies have joined forces to create one of the world's most a unique aircraft: a plane featuring childhood animated favourite, Tintin. The cartoon, developed by Belgian artist Hergé, provided the inspiration for this one of a kind Airbus A320. Together, Brussels Airlines and Moulinsart had been working on this secret project for several months. Wife of Hergé, Fanny Rodwell, was on hand for the unveiling of a plane based on her husband's cartoon, Tintin . Two Belgian companies, Brussels Airlines and Moulinsart, came together for the bespoke aircraft design . Based on Professor Calculus' shark submarine from the adventure series, the long black shark aircraft was bapitised 'Rackham.' On the side of the fuselage, it reads: 'We fly you to the home of Tintin.' Tintin, who travels the world on his adventurous quests, is a natural travel partner for Brussels Airlines, who has also partnered with many other Belgian talents, such as the national football team and the country's largest music festival. The final design was based on Professor Calculus' shark submarine from the adventure series . The long black shark aircraft, baptised the 'Rackham,' has a side that reads: 'We fly you to the home of Tintin' The Airbus A320 took several months to create and was done entirely in secret . For the painting of the aircraft, Brussels Airlines hired plane paint artist Andre Eisele, who had to adapt the perspective of the drawings to the unusual curves of a plane. Eisele was also tasked with getting the aircraft looking as close to the original shark submarine design as possible. The entire paint job took 1500 hours in total. 'This aircraft is a dream come true,' Nick Rodwell, Director of Moulinsart, said. 'The partnership with Brussels Airlines is a perfect marriage for us.' The total paint job took 1500 hours in total to complete, under the hand of artist Andre Eisele . One of Eisele's biggest challenges was adapting the perspective to the unusual curves of a plane . The creators call Tintin and Brussels Airlines a 'perfect marriage' as both are passionate about adventure . 'Tintin is all about Belgium, all about Brussels, where he was born, as was Hergé. Tintin is also all about adventure and travelling, and with this plane we bring our two worlds together perfectly.' Following its unveiling, Rackham's maiden voyage took place: an hour and 45 minute flight to Toulouse. The aircraft will remain in use until 2019. +It may be one of the most iconic shots in the musical history, but Abbey Road has left visitors to the scene somewhat disappointed. Hilarious TripAdvisor reviews show how the world's most famous zebra crossing has even been slammed as 'just a street'. The Abbey Road crossing became a must-see site for fans after The Beatles were snapped walking across it for the cover of their 11th studio album. Scroll down for video . Some Tripadvisor users have been left less-than impressed with the chance of walking in the footsteps of the Beatles at Abbey Road . But visitors to the now Grade-II listed road markings have been left disappointed with the traffic and slammed the tourist attraction saying: 'It really is just a zebra crossing...' The iconic album cover features The Fab Four walking across the zebra crossing - leading to millions of fans visiting the road markings to recreate the picture. The hilarious reviews on TripAdvisor brand the crossing as 'Extremely Disappointing' and say it 'Could be a pedestrian crossing anywhere really.' One visitor gave the attraction a respectable four out of five but warned other tourists that it is 'Smaller than you imagine!' Meanwhile another reviewer was left wanting more as they took to the website to tell others it 'Is just a road.' It is unclear quite what Kev was expecting when he visited the famous zebra crossing . Many users were annoyed that cars 'honked at them', but then again, it is a busy road . A lot of TripAdvisor reviewers of Abbey Road were not to happy that traffic flows over the famous crossing . A safety conscious visitor to the crossing gave the attraction a four out of five warning 'Beware of traffic' while another reviewer claimed the 'Traffic ruined it.' The iconic crossing has managed to please some fans who have visited Abbey Road who have awarded the attraction top marks. It's really just a street... 3/5 . Not much happening just a normal road 5/5 . Not much to do 2/5 . It was okay 3/5 . It is what it is! 5/5 . One reviewer awarded the crossing an impressive five out of five, saying: 'Excellent if you love the Beatles. Very good otherwise.' Another visitor also gave the crossing full marks saying 'Does not disappoint!' Abbey Road was the eleventh studio album the Beatles and was recorded in 1969 at the north London EMI Studios in Abbey Road. The crossing is a must see Beatles site in London - along with the Cavern Club and The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool. This user would have visited some of the other attractions London has to offer . +A snake made its way into a Texas golf hole last week. Maybe it just wanted to practice its backswing. On Friday, March 13, the groundskeeper at the Deerwood Club in Kingwood, Texas tweeted a photo of a snake he spotted hiding in a golf hole. Ed Martinez tweeted the photo of the snake found in the 12th hole at the Club with its head sticking through the bottom of the cup, AL reports. Scroll down for video . #hatesnakes: On Friday, March 13, the groundskeeper at the Deerwood Club in Kingwood, Texas tweeted a photo of a snake he spotted hiding in a golf hole (photographed) Martinez wrote: 'Yep not changing this cup today!!' and included the hashtag #hatesnakes. It's not clear what kind of snake was in the cup - but a tweet on Martinez indicates that club officials pulled it out of the hole safely. The snake is not the first reptile to make its way onto a golf course, scaring people in the process. Safe: The species of the snake has not been made public, but a tweet on Martinez's Twitter account indicates that Club (photographed) officials pulled the reptile out of the hole safely . Last week a giant alligator was spotted on the green at a Florida golf club. A photo of the gator circulated and many thought the image was photo-shopped, ABC reports. The Myakka Pines Golf Club has taken advantage of the attention its received since the gator wandered onto its golf course. Myakka officials have named the mystery gator 'Goliath' and have even created 3-D models of the animal. Giant Gator: Last week a giant alligator was spotted on the green at a Florida golf club. A photo of the gator circulated and many thought the image was photo-shopped . +It is the ultimate room with a view for Formula One fans. Racing afficionados will next week be able to spend the night and the race day in the heart of the action at the Malaysian Grand Prix on the Sepang Track. Between March 27 and 29, visitors will also have a unique midnight tour of the track, a traditional Malaysian breakfast in the morning with former pit reporter Sanjeev Palar, and an exclusive behind-the-scenes pit tour. Enjoy the world's hottest race, F1, from the comforts of your sofa, with a unique stay in the heart of the action inside Sepang Track in Malaysia . The apartment boasts unrivaled views of the racing track and will allow fans to witness their favourite stars up close . The apartment sleeps four and provides a unique luxury experience with panoramic views . Guests can enjoy the open plan apartment for all three sessions of the race including practice, qualifying and race day itself. The home is described as an 'oasis at the heart of the world’s hottest race' and comes complete with a large living room featuring panorama windows offering uninterrupted views of the racetrack, one master bedroom, a kitchen, a dining area and a bathroom. Fans can witness every second of the world's fastest engines from the comfort of the living room couch. They can also bring along three friends of their own to share in the exciting event. From Monaco to Melbourne, the world’s fastest and most prestigious race has traversed five continents, renowned for its roaring engines and sky-high temperatures . Depending on the dates assigned, guests will be treated to a Race Pit tour, a Midnight Track Tour and an Sunday breakfast with an Airbnb host, Malaysia’s pit lane reporter, Sanjeev Palar . In order to secure your place in this once-in-a-lifetime racing experience, enter at Airbnb before March 22. The Sepang Track stay forms part of Airbnb’s ‘A Night At’ campaign, which aims to convert unique locations around the world, where no one has ever been able to spend the night before, into unforgettable night stays. This has included a night at the top of the Holmenkollen ski jump in Norway. Inside the open plan apartment, there is a large living room, with panorama views of the racetrack, one master bedroom, a small kitchen, a dining area and a bathroom . Guests will get to watch all three sessions of the race – practice, qualifying and race day itself . +On a scrap of paper at Selhurst Park last March, Jose Mourinho scribbled down the one word lacking from his Chelsea team after they had been beaten by Crystal Palace. At Upton Park, Mourinho’s side showed ‘balls’ of steel, surviving a difficult game against one of those teams — and at one of those grounds — where anything can happen. Chelsea have the mentality of champions. Their celebrations at Wembley on Sunday told a story, linking arms and sliding to their knees in front of their supporters after they had beaten Tottenham 2-0 in the Capital One Cup final. Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry and Ramires leave the Upton Park pitch after another victory for Chelsea . Jose Mourinho won the first trophy of his second stint at Chelsea and few would bet against him adding the title . Chelsea celebrate their Capital One Cup trophy win at Wembley and maintained their five-point lead . There have been markers at key stages of the season: a 2-0 win over Arsenal in October, 2-1 at Liverpool the following month and their stunning performance in the 5-0 win at Swansea in January. This 1-0 victory at West Ham was another. Chelsea’s bond is strong, building this resilience in the dressing room as the season has progressed. They looked impenetrable, especially in the closing stages as West Ham pushed for an equaliser. Their work-rate is phenomenal, a team fighting for each other as they close in on their first Barclays Premier League title since Mourinho returned to the club. He described himself as a kid after he ambushed the trophy celebrations on Sunday, but it is on nights like this when the big boys go to work. Look around the Chelsea dressing room and it will be difficult to separate some of these players when it comes to voting for the PFA Player of the Year in a few weeks’ time. John Terry, exceptional against Tottenham at Wembley, must be in with a shout. Incredible as it sounds, he last won it in 2005. Thibaut Courtois, returning in goal in place of Petr Cech, was exceptional. His first-half save from Diafra Sakho was top class. He oozes confidence, taking responsibility as the last line of defence after Terry’s early booking for a foul on Cheikhou Kouyate. The doubts that crept in after a rare mistake in the 1-1 draw against Manchester City in January have been eradicated. Mourinho has made the right call to make him first choice. Thibaut Courtois was again exceptional and could make it back-to-back titles after winning La Liga last year . Cesc Fabregas probes into West Ham territory with Enner Valencia and Mark Noble close by . Cesc Fabregas, what with those 15 assists in the league since his move last summer from Barcelona, will also be in the running. Then there is last season’s Young Player of the Year Eden Hazard, the tormentor-in-chief down Chelsea’s left last night. He scored with a clever header from a cross by Ramires in the 22nd minute to secure his side’s 19th league victory of the season. Sometimes he leaves you drooling. His composure on the ball, coupled with that ability to be able to run with it when he is looking at the options around him, are made to look like pure instinct. Some of the twists and turns, creating space by leaving Carl Jenkinson and James Collins wrong-footed, were of the highest order. So what has changed since last season, when they gifted Manchester City their second Premier League title with a series of faltering performances? They have the bottle for the big occasion now. At Wembley last Sunday, Mourinho turned to a television camera and squirted water all over the lens after Terry had opened the scoring for Chelsea. Here they washed West Ham’s faces again. Adrian dives in vain as Hazard's header sails past the Spanish keeper and into the back of West Ham's net . Hazard was in irresistible form and leads James Collins a merry dance here . For many different reasons, some tribal and some because of an irrational hatred of former player Frank Lampard, who has since left Stamford Bridge, away at West Ham is always a tough fixture for Chelsea. To their credit they always seem to survive the taunts, the songs from the terraces that are usually directed at the captain Terry and his mother. Chelsea’s captain always appears unmoved by it all. But there was more last night. When Kurt Zouma was fouled by Collins just before half-time, West Ham’s supporters sang ‘You won’t let him on the train’ when he was waiting for treatment. Naturally those chants, given the dreadful incident on the Paris Metro before Chelsea’s Champions League clash at Parc des Princes last month, should be discouraged. Chelsea are the big noise in football right now, the team to beat as they prepare to face Paris Saint-Germain in the return leg of their last-16 Champions League tie next week. Increasingly Chelsea look like a team determined to power on and finish the job in the Premier League after feeding off the scraps last season. After this, the message from Mourinho was loud and clear. West Ham players gather around the floored Kurt Zouma after Collins' tackle on the Frenchman . +Carlos Mars, 19, is facing assault and weapons charges . Police have arrested a 19-year-old student in connection with a stabbing at Morgan State University that left three football players injured. Police said Wednesday that Carlos Mars has been charged with assault and weapons charges. The stabbing happened Tuesday afternoon when a fight broke out between two groups of students at the Baltimore-based campus. Police say two men were slashed, one across the chest and one in the back, and a third student suffered abrasions. Charging documents show that a witness told investigators that Mars 'repeatedly and aggressively' stabbed another student in the chest during a fight. But Mars told investigators he 'swung his knife around in a wild manner' to keep students away from his friend, who also was involved in the fight. Police say Mars remains in jail. It was the third instance of violence on the Baltimore campus in less than a week. The players were taken to hospitals and their injuries were not considered to be life-threatening, police said. University spokesman Clint Coleman said one of the players was slashed across the chest and another was cut on the arm. Police place a person of interest in a police cruiser for transport from a scene where a stabbing took place at Morgan State University . An investigator peers into a trash can at a scene where a stabbing took place. It's the third incident of violence at Morgan State University in a week . He said a third person was cut on the cheek; police said a third person was stabbed in the back. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear. It's not clear what started the fight. This is the third instance of recent violence. On Friday, a male student was stabbed with scissors by his roommate after an argument over the cleanliness of their dorm room. Early Saturday, an on-campus party was broken up after fights started. School officials held a campus meeting Tuesday night to talk about what happened. 'We expect you as students to take responsibility for your own behavior and actions,' University president David Wilson told those in attendance. Two groups of people got into a fight outside a dining hall on the Morgan State University campus, and some football players were stabbed by someone swinging a knife wildly, police and college officials said . History: Morgan State is the largest historically black university in Maryland and has about 6,000 students . Earlier Tuesday, Wilson sent an email to students that declared 'This is not Morgan!' Kevin Banks, vice president for student affairs, repeated that assertion. 'The stuff you've seen on TV the past few days is not Morgan State University,' Banks said. Wilson also said no text alerts were sent to students immediately after the stabbing because 'the general public was not in imminent danger because this was a fight between known parties and not a random act of violence.' But Freshman Shakia Marine, 20, who did not attend the campus meeting, said she is a little worried about the latest spate of violence. 'My godfather has concerns about me coming here,' Marine said. 'There needs to be more security guards walking around. After today, it made me feel scared. My roommate said we should get some Mace to protect ourselves. I think the school needs to take more action. It's not the first time something like this has happened.' Morgan State is the largest historically black university in Maryland and has about 6,000 students, according to its website. Rules: Morgan State says a zero tolerance policy for fighting is now in effect and violators will be suspended . +Former England captain Lewis Moody says he does not think England will win the World Cup this year. Moody, who won 71 caps over a 10-year career, believes Stuart Lancaster's team are 'not quite where they need to be' to lift the William Webb Ellis cup on October 31. The former Leicester and Bath flanker, speaking at an awards ceremony for the Prince's Trust in London, told the Press Association: 'I don't think England are in the right place at the moment to win the World Cup. Former England captain Lewis Moody does not think England are in a position to win the World Cup . Moody knows what it takes to win the tournament having lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 2003 . 'If they can get through the pool stages they'll have a great, fighting chance. Being at home for every match makes a massive difference and if you get into a semi-final anything could happen - but I think at the minute they are probably not quite where they need to be to win the World Cup. 'They can certainly be there to push the others, and if they get into the semi-final then there is every chance they could make the final.' Moody, who cannot see beyond New Zealand as tournament winners, believes Lancaster may be hoping his squad will peak for 2019. He continued: 'He's been building a team, there are a lot of young new changes coming, so I think he'll be focusing on the next World Cup, especially as he's had that nice new contract extension.' However, he believes England can still win the Six Nations. Lancaster oversee training as his side prepare to face Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday . How England and Scotland will line up for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham . Moody said: 'It is disappointing that England have ended up in this position. They had a good chance to come away with a Grand Slam but they have got to focus on Scotland now. 'It should be a reasonably comfortable result against Scotland, and then go on and beat France. They can still win it, but it will be a big ask now - we are reliant on other teams.' Moody added: 'I am a huge fan of Stuart Lancaster. 'I think he's done terribly well and I think all that now Stuart is lacking is that win, that result that really says, 'Look, what I've been doing over the last four years has been about this, achieving this', and if we can take something out of the Six Nations, which will be tough now, then he'll have that.' One bonus is that the Six Nations may well have ironed out England's conundrum at fly-half and in the centres, Moody suggested, with George Ford and Jonathan Joseph cementing their places. He said: 'For me it is quite simple. I think Ford has stepped up and done a fantastic job. I'd keep him there, and he would be my man for the World Cup. It will be interesting to see where Owen (Farrell) slots in when he comes back. Moody thinks George Ford has stepped up as England centre and should keep his place for the World Cup . Ford offloads a pass during training as England prepare for Saturday's Six Nations match against Scotland . 'Joseph has stepped in and filled a void I think we've been nursing since Will Greenwood was playing, and that's some time ago now. 'And when Manu Tuilagi comes back I'd like to see Joseph and Tuilagi playing in the centres together and how they can work that. I think (Luther) Burrell has been all right but I think Joseph and Tuilagi are probably the future.' Moody was adamant Ford's rise had not consigned Farrell's days as England's starting number 10 to history. 'They are certainly not over,' he said. 'The fact George has come in and done so well, George Ford has had a fantastic start to his international career. 'Owen is a young man in his own right. Those two vied for the under 20s spots, they were centre and fly-half together when they played England under 20s together, so they know each other well. 'Owen is a great temperament and he'll work hard to make sure he is pushing George all the way for that 10 shirt.' +When Eoin Morgan spoke at the end of Sunday’s thumping defeat he seemed to be suggesting that it would still all somehow be ‘alright on the night’ for England at this World Cup. Well, I’m afraid it won’t be unless everyone involved, both players and management, have a good hard look at themselves. There needs to be a lot of hard, honest talking in that England camp over the next few days and a re-evaluation of how they are doing things because if they carry on like this they will not be involved in the World Cup for much longer. Eoin Morgan looks disappointed as he watches on during England's disastrous defeat by Sri Lanka . The England players, led by their captain Morgan, walk from the field in Wellington after the match . 'Even when England put what looks like a challenging score on the board they are still brushed aside with contemptuous ease. Not for the first time in this World Cup they seemed like boys in the men’s world of modern one-day cricket.' Click HERE to read Paul Newman's match report from Wellington . England now need to win their next five games if they are going to lift their first World Cup. When did they last win five one-day internationals on the trot? It is going to be hard enough to win two in a row, let alone the next five. The whole tone was set with the sight of Gary Ballance walking out at three after England had got off to a really good start. Now, it’s not Ballance’s fault. He did not ask to be picked out of position and out of nick. But it just sent a message to England’s players that they were going to prod their way through the middle overs and then have a go in the last 15. And it was a policy that brought England 309 that in the old days would probably be enough. Now it is nowhere near. It is plain ridiculous. Sri Lanka fans wave flags and lift banners in celebration after beating England convincingly in Wellington . Morgan (left) and James Anderson (right) react as Kumar Sangakkara survives a run out chance . Contrast that with Sri Lanka. They get off to a good start, lose a wicket like England, but then in walks a world class No 3 in Kumar Sangakkara who knew exactly how to pace the innings and ensure Sri Lanka won with ease. And how come Jos Buttler was left with just 19 deliveries at the end of the innings? He made one of the best one-day hundreds I have seen from an England player last summer — and it was against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Now he is not being allowed nearly enough time to put England out of sight. Then, sitting on the bench, we have Alex Hales, who hit one of the best Twenty20 hundreds you will see by an England player. And that happened to come against Sri Lanka too, in last year’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. Gary Ballance (bottom right) loses his wicket, leaving England at 71-2 during their innings . Alex Hales (left) is sitting on a beach, and Jos Buttler (right) got 19 deliveries - something needs to change . Sri Lanka must have looked at England and laughed to see two such key players being under-used and, worse, not being used at all. Then we have bowling that was just too one-dimensional to make any sort of impact on Sri Lanka. It was all right-arm, all one-paced and most of it too short. We cannot just bang the ball in halfway down and expect to bully sub-continental players any more. It just ain’t going to happen these days. Moeen Ali has been England’s most economical bowler at this World Cup. So why not play a second spinner in James Tredwell? Or why not try Ravi Bopara’s cutters with the keeper standing up? Morgan and the men in charge of England need to take a good hard look at themselves after their defeat . Lahiru Thirimanne (left) and Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka to a comfortable win over England in New Zealand . Anything to get a bit more variety into the attack because the bowlers offered Eoin Morgan nothing in Wellington. They just never looked like getting people out, even if a couple of chances did go down. In the first over of the batting power-play, with fine leg up, Stuart Broad banged one in short and was hit for four by Kumar Sangakkara. Then from the first ball of the second over Steven Finn did the same the same thing and was hit for six. It just isn’t working and England need a rethink. There is no magic fix. There aren’t lots of brilliant players waiting to come in to this one-day side. Those who are on the outside are there for a reason and have, in most cases, fallen short to a larger or smaller degree. That’s why I keep on saying the culture has to change as much as the personnel. Sangakkar and team-mate Thirimanne shake hands with Morgan after Sri Lanka's nine-wicket win . Australia coach Darren Lehmann has shown that a change in coach can change a culture too . From what I’ve heard over the last year or two that culture has been driven by pre-meditated plans and statistics when it should be gut feeling and instinct . The next week needs to be spent thinking how England can start playing a different brand of one-day cricket. The captain, who used to play with that gut feeling and instinct, needs to take the lead but Darren Lehmann has shown that the coach can change a culture too. England cannot go into their remaining matches at this World Cup with their fingers crossed. Boy, do they need to start plotting a new way forward. +FA chairman Greg Dyke has called for a public debate between the four candidates for the FIFA presidency and offered to host the event at Wembley. Dyke made his wish for a TV inquisition known during an awkward weekend in Sepp Blatter’s company at the rules-deciding IFAB meeting in Belfast. The FA have made clear their strong opposition to the FIFA president serving a fifth term. Meanwhile, in a separate move, Sky and the BBC have made a joint approach to Blatter and rivals Prince Ali of Jordan, Luis Figo and Michael van Praag to stage such an event. FA chairman Greg Dyke has called for a public debate between the four candidates for the FIFA presidency . The TV networks — through leading sports news broadcasters Paul Kelso and Richard Conway — have written to the contestants outlining their ambitious proposals for a live, hour-long debate in the UK with an audience of fans representing all 209 FIFA member nations. This fans’ congress would provide questions, with others drawn from football supporters via the Sky and BBC websites, and Facebook, to ensure maximum interaction. All four challengers have been promised equal time and emphasis to present their manifestos and visions for FIFA’s future. Blatter has yet to respond to the Sky-BBC letter but it is highly unlikely he’ll agree to such public exposure. His three opponents will all be in favour. Sepp Blatter has yet to respond to the Sky-BBC letter but it is unlikely he’ll agree to such public exposure . The official photo of the IFAB summit shows Greg Dyke seated between, of all people, Sepp Blatter and Thailand’s Worawi Makudi, whose presence at Belfast’s Cullodon Hotel as a representative of the Asian Football Confederation was bizarre in the extreme. Makudi has an acrimonious history with the FA and is under investigation by FIFA’s ethics committee for breaching World Cup bid rules. It’s understood Makudi played no part in the rules debate. FIFA said Makudi was selected by the AFC to attend and is innocent of any code violations until found guilty. The home nations are in disagreement as to whose turn it is to take the FIFA British vice-presidency . The 2011 gentlemen’s agreement between the four home nations, which declares it is Wales’s turn to take the FIFA British vice-presidency, continues to cause ructions. The three other countries believe the agreement was nullified by a new statute that has all UEFA associations involved in the vote at the Congress later this month. But Welsh president Trefor Lloyd-Hughes says he has a signed contract in his possession that declares no change can be made in the rotation pledge unless there is unanimous agreement. Meanwhile, England’s David Gill, persuaded by UEFA president Michel Platini to stand for that FIFA place against Lloyd-Hughes, has written to all UEFA countries outlining his plans. To spice up their battle, Wales are still annoyed that a UEFA ExCo, including Gill, voted for Hampden Park over the Millennium Stadium as one of 13 venues to stage Euro 2020. It’s believed Gill rated the Cardiff venue higher. General secretary Alex Horne left the FA at the end of January but has not yet been replaced . Greg Dyke and David Gill, who are on the nominations panel choosing the FA’s next chief executive, were coy over the weekend about how far they have progressed in finding general secretary Alex Horne’s replacement. However, it’s understood the selection has been made after final interviews last week and an announcement is imminent. Zimbabwe's Sean Williams celebrates taking the wicket of Umar Akmal during their World Cup match . BBC ON STICKY WICKET . BBC Sport’s live text reporting of Pakistan’s World Cup victory over Zimbabwe seems to have relied heavily on rival website Cricinfo. Umar Akmal’s dismissal, bowled by Sean Williams, was described in the following way on Cricinfo: ‘Akmal made it look an even better delivery than it actually was, because he had moved inside the line and was trying to push that inside-out through cover.’ The licence-fee-funded BBC, who had just changed commentators, wrote: ‘Akmal made it look an even better delivery than it actually was, because he had moved inside the line and was trying to push that inside out through cover.’ Exactly the same. A BBC spokeswoman said: ‘The line should have been credited. This was a simple human error.’ The post-11pm peak viewing audience of two million on ITV for the Carl Frampton fight on Saturday has left the network intent on showing more live boxing. Television network ITV are determined to show more live boxing after seeing recent viewing figures . +There was nothing more mind-numbingly maddening in the aftermath of England’s worst World Cup exit yet than the immediate reaction of Peter Moores. ‘We thought 275 was chaseable. We’ll have to look at the data,’ said a coach now fighting to avoid his second ignominious exit from international cricket as the reality of an embarrassing group stage elimination sank in. Well, England should rip up their data along with their whole philosophy towards one-day cricket and start again. Peter Moores faces an uncertain future following England's humiliating exit from the 2015 Cricket World Cup . England were beaten by 15 runs at the Adelaide Oval to make it four defeats against Test-playing nations . England captain Eoin Morgan looks dejected as he leaves the field after their World Cup match . Morgan's fifth ODI duck in 12 innings summed up their poor performance at the World Cup . 90 - the amount of runs captain Eoin Morgan scored in five innings at the World Cup . 12.2 - the overs it took for New Zealand to beat England's total of 123 in their second group game. 111 - Australia's margin of victory in the opening game of the tournament . 654 - total of runs scored by Australia and Sri Lanka against England . 1 - number of centuries scored by an England batsman against Test playing nations . 72 - number of runs scored by Sri Lanka off the bowling of Chris Woakes . 0 - number of wins registered by England over Test playing nations in the tournament . 0 - the number of centuries scored by a Bangladesh batsman in a World Cup before playing England on Monday. 37.4-1-234-5 - Chris Woakes's tournament bowling figures. 49 - the amount of runs Steven Finn went for in two overs against New Zealand. You do not need analysis to know that they have stunk this tournament out and, after this 15-run defeat by Bangladesh, are once again the laughing stock of the cricket world. The only statistic Moores needs to know is that England, having been thrashed by Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, were humbled by a Bangladesh side who beat them here at their own very English game. The key data is that England, having defeated just Scotland so far, have excelled themselves in being even worse at this World Cup than the five previous stinkers since they came so close to winning the 1992 tournament in Australia. And this humiliation has come after the Ashes were moved and a winter of one-day cricket provided to try to make sure England had every chance of finally competing for a first global 50-over trophy that looks further away than ever. In truth, arranging a one-day series against Sri Lanka before Christmas was akin to putting a sticking plaster on a gaping wound because England are light years away from the dynamic, vibrant teams we have seen here. To hurl all the blame in the direction of Moores would be unfair but there is no question that his position must now come under serious scrutiny, as too will that of the man who re-appointed him in Paul Downton. Colin Graves does not become ECB chairman until May but he is not the sort of man to postpone a big decision and the coach and managing director may soon be caught up in the new broom that is sweeping through the English game. England batsman James Taylor reacts after he was dismissed during the 15-run defeat by Bangladesh . Moores faces an uncertain future following England's humiliating exit against Bangladesh . Dec 19 - Alastair Cook replaced by Eoin Morgan as England ODI captain . Jan 14 - England beat Prime Minister's XI by 60 runs as Ian Bell hits magnificent 187 . Jan 16 - Australia beat England by three wickets but Morgan hits 121 in first ODI since replacing Cook as captain . Jan 20 - England beat India by nine wickets . Jan 23 - Australia beat England by three wickets via a Steve Smith century . Jan 30 - England beat India by three wickets to set up tri-series final with Australia . Feb 1 - Same old, same old as Australia again beat England by 112 runs to win tri-series . Feb 9 - England beat West Indies by nine wickets in World Cup warm-up match . Feb 11 - Pakistan beat England by four wickets in final World Cup warm-up tie . Feb 14 - Australia beat England by 111 runs on opening day of World Cup . Feb 20 - New Zealand beat England by eight wickets as Peter Moores's men are crushed . Feb 22 - England beat Scotland by 119 runs as expected via 128 from Mooen Ali . Feb 28 - Sri Lanka beat shameful England by nine wickets for a third crushing defeat . 'There was no obvious team to pick because they're young players, they haven't played a lot of cricket. We've got nine guys who haven't been to a World Cup before. 'That's the reality of it. You make your choice, you pick the side you think is the best team, which we did, and we have to accept they didn't play well enough.' Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen were among those criticising England on Twitter after their early elimination in the group stages. 'England had the wrong team, the wrong style of play and everyone could see it. Tonight's result is not a shock, I feel for Morgan. Coach is in trouble,' Warne tweeted. Pietersen added: 'I cannot believe this. I just cannot. But, well done Bangladesh! You deserved it! 'Do not say we haven't prioritised ODI cricket! We played a back-to-back Ashes to make sure England played six months of ODIs before this World Cup!' Gary Lineker, the former England striker, said: 'Bangladesh win! Congratulations to them. The good news is, England can't possibly get any worse.' And Piers Morgan wrote: 'What an absolute disgrace. [Paul] Downton and Moores have dragged English cricket into the sporting sewer with their petty, clueless incompetence. 'I want Downton and Moores sacked today and Kevin Pietersen restored to the team. This farce just reached its true, hideous nadir. 'I wouldn't trust Downton and Moores to run a ****ing bath, let alone the England cricket team.' Moores pictured after the defeat as he speaks with press in Adelaide about their World Cup exit . To highlight Moores immediate mention of data on television is not to take a cheap shot at a decent man who appears to be liked and respected by players who on the whole have let him and their country down here. By the time he gave a more considered press conference yesterday there was no mention of the statistics that seem to have weighed down even a free spirit in Eoin Morgan, who has been a huge disappointment as captain here. My gut feeling is that Moores will be given the summer before England think about replacing him but a personal view is that maybe his assistant Paul Farbrace, an Asia Cup and World Twenty20 winner with Sri Lanka before throwing in his lot with England, could take extra responsibility for limited-overs cricket. England are about to embark on a gruelling schedule of 17 Tests in 10 months and the danger is that one-day cricket will again be shoved to the bottom of England’s list of priorities unless a clear strategy is undertaken. The overwhelming favourite to succeed Moores if and when he goes is Jason Gillespie but he distanced himself from the role yesterday and there is no doubt that the Yorkshire coach and his family are happy and settled in Leeds. Joe Root (centre) exchanges words with Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza (left) at the Adelaide Oval . Bangladesh sealed a surprise win over England at the World Cup as Moores and his men suffered elimination . Gillespie has already turned down a role with his native Australia under Darren Lehmann and has been given permission by Yorkshire to coach a team, probably Adelaide, in next year’s Big Bash while staying at Headingley. The constant year-round slog of international cricket is making it harder for countries to attract the best coaches and former Yorkshire chairman Graves may need to be at his most persuasive if he wants to recruit his old county coach. Moores and Downton are not the only ones under the microscope. Morgan refused to say that he wanted to carry on as one-day captain yesterday and reiterated his intention to miss England’s one-day international against Ireland in May, their first of another ‘new’ era, to play in the IPL. Well, I am sorry but if he does want to continue then he needs to be with the team in his native Dublin, particularly as it will be impossible for England players touring West Indies next month to make the Ireland trip on May 8. The sheer volume of cricket means that the best way for England to catch up in 50-over cricket is to build a new young team of one-day players as different as possible to that which will contest Test cricket in the next year against West Indies, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa. Eoin Morgan looks to have been given the backing by Moores to continue as England's one-day captain . Alastair Cook (left) was devastated to be axed from 50-over cricket on the brink of his first World Cup . Ian Bell, who left England far too much to do against Bangladesh by getting out after scoring 62 off 83 balls, will surely bow out of one-day cricket after Friday’s dead rubber against Afghanistan while it is in the best interests of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad for them to do the same. Joe Root was strongly considered for the one-day captaincy by England when they sacked Alastair Cook before they plumped for the out-of-form Morgan and I would give him the one-day job now and build a new team around him. It is certainly possible to envisage a squad led by Root and including Jos Buttler, who came so close to recuing England yesterday, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, James Vince, Sam Billings and Adil Rashid growing into an outfit capable of competing in the modern one-day world. But the seam bowling remains a huge worry, not least the absence of a quick left-armer. Bangladesh, worthy quarter-finalists now, had the fastest bowler on show yesterday in Rubel Hossain, who took four wickets, and that must be the first time they have ever had more pace at their disposal than England. The lack of variety in England’s bowling is one of the many reasons why they will be on their way home before the business end of this elongated tournament. And why they will be returning to the drawing board when they get there in their never-ending search for one-day success. +There have been all manner of World Cup shambles for England since they should have won the 1992 final here in Australia. But never one as bad as this. This, surely, is the worst yet, worse than 1996 when Sri Lanka’s pinch-hitters left them trailing in their wake. Worse, even, than 1999 when England were eliminated from their own World Cup the day before the official song came out. And it is certainly worse than the last three World Cups when we had come to expect England to struggle in the one-day game, particularly in 2007 and last time when the biggest tournament in limited-overs cricket followed the Ashes. James Taylor (right) was dismissed for just one run as Bangladesh bowler Taskin Ahmed (left) celebrates during the 2015 Cricket World Cup tie . Bangladesh bowler Ahmed celebrates taking the wicket of England batsman Taylor during their World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval . England batsman Taylor (left) walks off after being dismissed while Bangladesh celebrate during the World Cup match . Bangladesh bowler Ahmed (right) celebrates with team-mate Sarkar Soumya after dismissing England batsman Taylor . England batsman Moeen Ali runs after playing a shot during the World Cup match with Bangladesh in Adelaide . Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim knocks off the bails to run out Ali as England team-mate Ian Bell (left) looks on . England batsman Moeen lays on the ground after being run out by Bangladesh wicketkeeper Rahim during the World Cup match . The 15-run defeat here by Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval, which confirmed England’s abject surrender, is nothing short of an utter humiliation, an embarrassment that, not for the first time in recent years, leaves them as the laughing stock of world cricket. This was the World Cup that England were supposed to take seriously and prepare thoroughly for. This was the World Cup that the Ashes were moved for, leading to a 5-0 thrashing last winter and all manner of painful recriminations. Yet so far advanced has the one-day game progressed in the last two years since England reached the Champions Trophy final that clearing the calendar and playing only one-day cricket so far this winter has been akin to trying to put a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. England have been able to defeat just Scotland in this tournament and after being thrashed by Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka they have now been humbled by a team in Bangladesh who are little more than minnows themselves. This tournament was set up to virtually guarantee the progress of the big eight teams to the quarter-finals. It was almost impossible for England to fail to at least get to the last eight where defeat would have been far from a disgrace. Or so it seemed. Instead this is a defeat that deserves to be considered as a total disgrace. It is one that leaves Peter Moores fighting to salvage his reputation as a credible coach of England and Paul Downton, the man who appointed him, facing huge questions about the big decisions he has made. When the dust settles and England have gone through the motions of their last group match against Afghanistan they must have a searching examination of how they play one-day cricket and how they can possibly catch up with the rest of the world before they host the next World Cup in four years time. It is not just Moores and Downton with much to contemplate. Senior players such as Ian Bell, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have not provided the proper example needed from senior players in a young team and should retire from one-day cricket to allow a new young vibrant team to be built. And the decision to replace Alastair Cook with Eoin Morgan as one-day captain on the brink of this tournament has backfired, the new leader falling for his fifth duck in his last nine innings just when his team needed him most. Morgan has been given permission to miss England’s first one-day international after this World Cup, against an Ireland team having a far better tournament than England, so he can play in the Indian Premier League. That decision frankly stinks and if Morgan does not want to lead England into a new one-day era then he should give up the job now and let Joe Root, who was seriously considered when Cook was sacked, lead them from now on. Never mind that Jos Buttler almost rescued England after they had fallen to 163 for six chasing 275. And never mind that TV umpire Simon Fry gave an atrocious decision to rule that Chris Jordan had been run out when surely there was doubt over whether his bat had bounced up once he had made his ground. England's Bell walks from the field after he was dismissed by Bangladesh bowler Rubel Hossain (second from left) during their match . Bell's 63 could do little to help England as they were chasing 276 to avoid an embarrassing early elimination in Adelaide . Rubel Hossain (left) looks towards England batsman Bell after he is dismissed for 63 during the World Cup match . England batsman Alex Hales came in but was caught behind by Bangladesh wicketkeeper Rahim as bowler Mashrafe Mortaza (right) reacts . England captain Eoin Morgan went for a duck against Bangladesh on Monday - his fifth ODI duck in 12 innings . Joe Root (centre) exchanges words with Bangladesh captain Mortaza (left) at the Adelaide Oval . Kevin Pietersen tweeted his reaction to England's embarrassing elimination at the World Cup after their defeat by Bangladesh . 90 - the amount of runs captain Eoin Morgan scored in five innings at the World Cup . 12.2 - the overs it took for New Zealand to beat England's total of 123 in their second group game. 111 - Australia's margin of victory in the opening game of the tournament . 654 - total of runs scored by Australia and Sri Lanka against England . 1 - number of centuries scored by an England batsman against Test playing nations . 72 - number of runs scored by Sri Lanka off the bowling of Chris Woakes . 0 - number of wins registered by England over Test playing nations in the tournament . 0 - the number of centuries scored by a Bangladesh batsman in a World Cup before playing England on Monday. 37.4-1-234-5 - Chris Woakes's tournament bowling figures. 49 - the amount of runs Steven Finn went for in two overs against New Zealand. Moores went into full Graham Taylor mode on the sidelines, raging at the fourth official after a truly awful decision, but in truth England did not deserve to get away with this. They were second best to a tigerish Bangladesh just as they have been worse than second best throughout this tournament. And it all started off so well too. It looked as though England were going to have an easy night when Anderson found the bite and swing that had eluded him in this tournament to take two wickets in his first seven balls. Neither Imrul Kayes nor Tamim Iqbal, the dangerman at the top of the Bangladesh order, could cope as England made a start full of the sort of aggression and purpose that the seriousness of their plight demanded. Yet England could not have expected the resistance and then blossoming strokeplay that came from a batsman who had never made a one-day international century before in Mahmudullah. The drop-in pitch at the re-built Adelaide Oval may have been near perfect for batting but the lack of variety in an England attack that has struggled for penetration in this World Cup allowed Bangladesh to flourish. Mahmudullah found a willing ally in the tiny form of Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladeshi ‘mighty atom’ who first faced England as a 16-year-old schoolboy 10 years ago, and together they preyed on England’s nerves. Mahmudullah certainly enjoyed becoming the first Bangladeshi to record a hundred in a World Cup match and while he and Rahim were adding 141 for the fifth wicket a total beyond 300 looked within his side’s reach. That they fell 25 short of that was down to much improved death bowling from England, Chris Jordan in particular showing how it should be done after being preferred to Steven Finn in this winner takes all match. It should have been well within England’s reach but their chase was old-fashioned and flawed with Bell, involved in a schoolboy run out that saw the demise of Moeen Ali, leaving them far too much to do after he had taken 82 balls to reach 63. The dismissals of Bell and Morgan in four balls from Rubel Hossain, faster than any England bowler, left England deep in the mire and even though Buttler, their main glimmer of hope for a better one-day future, hit 65 off 52 balls they ended up 16 short. The brilliant Hossain finished it by bowling both Broad and Anderson in three balls in the penultimate over, leaving Chris Woakes stranded on 42, to spark off wild Bangladeshi celebrations. For England it was the end of the world. Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Mahmudullah reacts after scoring his nation's first-ever century in a World Cup match . Mahmudullah blows a kiss after reaching Bangladesh's first World Cup century with score of 103 against England . Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah earned the plaudits after scoring 103 against a poor England on Monday . Bangladesh sealed a surprise win over England at the World Cup as Peter Moores and his men suffered early elimination . Chris Jordan dives and leads with his bat as the ball heads towards the stumps during the World Cup defeat . Jordans bat was judged to have lifted off the ground as the ball struck the stumps and he was run out . Jordan was controversially run out for a duck when his bat was grounded then bounced up as it hit the stumps . Jordan holds his bat in the air after being run out by Bangladesh's Arafat Sunny during the World Cup defeat . How the table looks in Pool A with England adrift at the World Cup following their 15-run defeat by Bangladesh . +England head coach Peter Moores, who should surely be sacked after the World Cup humiliation against Bangladesh, is doubly fortunate at the timing of this rock-bottom moment for English cricket. Firstly, the new regime at the England Cricket Board are concentrating on a big restructuring of the organisation, to the extent that axing the beleaguered Moores was said not to be even on the agenda — or wasn’t last week. Secondly, Aussie Jason Gillespie, who would be hot favourite to replace Moores, is not sure he wants the role. Gillespie has five children — with four under the age of 10 — and the county championship-winning Yorkshire coach has promised wife Anna he will put the family first. England coach Peter Moores (left) said he is 'desperate' to continue after his side's poor World Cup campaign . Gillespie said: ‘My eldest daughter Sapphire lives at home in Australia with her mum and I didn’t see her grow up as I was on the road playing for Australia. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t do the same again. The children are my priority, family come first.’ And Gillespie, who worked very successfully with England number two Paul Farbrace at a Yorkshire bankrolled by new ECB chairman Colin Graves, added: ‘It would be a really big ask to go away 9-10 months a year. I would find that really difficult. I’d find that a challenge.’ Phil Neville (left, with Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino) will work on his FA Pro-license this week . Phil Neville and Brentford manager Mark Warburton are part of a select group of 24 coaches working on their FA Pro-Licence at St George’s Park this week - at a time when the FA of Wales are promoting their ‘world class’ alternative course which has Thierry Henry, Les Ferdinand and Tim Sherwood signed up. However, the FA still regard their coaching badges as the gold standard and will react to the Welsh competition by putting on two Pro-licence courses a year in future rather than one. But there will be no reduction in the extra hours involved in completing the SGP course — 500 as compared to 350 in Wales — that the FA believe gives their set-up the edge. Grand National winning jockey Carl Llewellyn’s ghastly n-word comment on a racing preview panel on the eve of last year’s Cheltenham festival seems to have been airbrushed out of insular racing’s memory one year on. Not only was Llewellyn, who was fined and interviewed under police caution, included in exactly the same line-up for the annual tipping evening at famous racing pub the Hollow Bottom on Monday night, but the sport’s promotional arm Great British Racing have assistant trainer Llewellyn featured riding Champion Hurdle horse the New One on one of their main Cheltenham preview videos on their official website. A spokeswoman said: ‘Carl has paid his dues.’ Andy Murray (centre) wears Under Armour sponsored kit whilst the rest of the Great Britain team wear Nike . Andy Murray looks anything but a team player — which he clearly is — in pictures on Monday of the Great Britain Davis Cup group celebrating their win against the USA. The players and management are in Nike-supplied official training kit, apart from Murray who is wearing his Under Armour shirt. It transpires that there was nothing in Under Armour’s £3.5m-year-deal with Murray to prevent him slipping on a GB tracksuit to demonstrate the side’s unity for the cameras. But the Lawn Tennis Association, in their wisdom, didn’t feel any need to have Murray, who had come straight off court, pictured in team uniform. Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli’s ambassador appearance at the recent Qatar racing festival in Doha has only added to speculation that the Frenchwoman — crassly described during Wimbledon as ‘not a looker’ by John Inverdale — is considering a return to the sport, but as a Qatari citizen. And Bartoli would receive a huge sum for changing nationalities, reportedly as much as £1million. Sir Ian Botham (right, with Shane Warne) took time off from presenting to play in a celebrity golf tournament . Surely Sir Ian Botham is not able to pick and choose when he works on Sky’s World Cup cricket coverage? With a big celebrity golf Pro-am date booked at the New Zealand Open in Queenstown this week, Botham was missing from the commentary box for England’s do-or-die match against Bangladesh in Adelaide on Monday. However, it would not seem to be Sir Ian’s doing. A Sky spokesman said that host broadcasters Star are responsible for the commentary roster. +India took apart a diligent but limited Ireland attack to sweep to an untroubled eight-wicket victory at Seddon Park on Tuesday which confirmed they will top Pool B in the cricket World Cup. After dismissing Ireland for 249 with an over to spare when their spinners established a stranglehold on the top-order batting, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan played themselves in for a token couple of overs. They then launched a full-blooded attack, alternating flowing drives with explosive pulls while also pushing around the ball for comfortable singles. Shikhar Dhawan celebrates reaching his century as India comfortably beat Ireland at the World Cup . The Indian opener scored exactly 100 from 119 balls at Seddon Park in Hamilton . Virat Kohli is congratulated by captain MS Dhoni after steering India to an eight-wicket victory . Ireland's Stuart Thompson celebrates after bowling Rohit Sharma for 64 runs . Sharma knocks the ball away for a single during India's run chase in Hamilton . Dhawan was dropped on five when John Mooney failed to hold a fierce caught-and-bowled chance. After scoring five further runs he was dropped again off the unlucky Mooney, this time at backward point when captain William Porterfield parried a stinging cut but was unable to hang on to the rebound. Those were the only times the Irish bowlers looked like taking a wicket and the duo took the score to 174 when Sharma chopped medium pacer Stuart Thompson on to his stumps and was out for 64 from 66 balls. With the Indian supporters making a tremendous din, Dhawan took a single to complete his eighth one-day century from 84 balls with five sixes but was then caught off the following ball he faced from Thompson. Virat Kohli (44 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (33 not out) took their team to victory with 13.1 overs to spare. Porterfield elected to bat on a warm afternoon before a capacity crowd of 11,000 packed into a picturesque ground in New Zealand's fourth largest city and all seemed set fair for the Irish when the captain and Paul Stirling put on 89 for the first wicket from 15 overs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni turned to his spinners and Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina responded by first frustrating then dismissing the Irish batsmen who found boundaries hard to come by after the initial flurry. Stirling (42) lofted a simple catch to long-off off Ashwin's bowling and Ed Joyce was bowled for two trying to cut a ball from Raina which was too full for the shot. Dhawan hits the ball away to the boundary for four runs on his way to a century . John Mooney drops a catch off Rohit Sharma as India chased down the 260 required for victory . Ireland opener William Porterfield marks his half-century as his team posted 259 in their innings . Niall O'Brien top scored for Ireland with 75 off 85 balls . The Irish opener Porterfield drives the ball as Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni watches on . Porterfield was reduced to pushing the ball for singles and was finally caught for 67 skying the ball while trying to accelerate. Niall O'Brien was the top scorer with 75 including three sixes, one of which was helped over the boundary rope by Mohammed Shami leaping high to try to take the catch. O'Brien, swinging vigorously to the leg side, kept the scoreboard moving but wickets fell regularly at the other end, including that of the dangerous Kevin O'Brien who was caught behind for one from a thin edge off Shami. India's Umesh Yadav (centre) is congratulated by his team-mates after taking the catch to dismiss Porterfield . Indian players appeal unsuccessfully for the dismissal of Ireland's Andrew Balbirnie for 24 runs . Andrew Balbirnie plays a shot during Ireland's innings, which saw them bowled out for 259 in 49 overs . Mohammed Shami celebrates after taking the wicket of Ireland's Kevin O'Brien for one run . Stuart Thompson is run out by the throw of Virat Kohli despite a despairing dive for the crease . Kevin O'Brien leaves the field after his dismissal off the bowling of Mohammed Shami . India's Ravi Ashwin celebrates with his team-mates after removing Paul Stirling for 42 runs . An Indian fan in the crowd at Seddon Park pays homage to legend Sachin Tendulkar . +If England's early World Cup exit was not hard enough to stomach then look away now because the Australian media has found rich entertainment in poking fun at Eoin Morgan's beleaguered men. After the calamitous 5-0 Ashes whitewash last winter, Australian scribes could hardly have expected that just 12 months later they would be handed even more ammunition to shoot down the mother country. The 15-run defeat to Bangladesh that sealed England's fate in Adelaide was their fourth defeat in five games at a forgettable World Cup and means they will fly home after their now meaningless final group game against Afghanistan on Friday. The Australian newspapers pulled no punches as they mercilessly mocked England's exit . Peter Moores and his side came in for plenty of stick from the Australian press after defeat to Bangladesh . Moores could be out of a job after watching his team crash out of the World Cup with four defeats from five . James Taylor looks down at his bat as he joins the procession of English batsmen who failed to make a score . Moeen Ali is a doubt for England's final game of the World Cup after picking up a side injury . Joe Root arrives at Sydney airport after England's shocking defeat to Bangladesh on Monday . 'Cheerio chaps: Poms are bangers and mashed' was the back-page headline that greeted the England squad when they landed in Sydney on Tuesday. If coach Peter Moores and his team dared pick up a copy of the Daily Telegraph they were certainly reminded, in no uncertain terms, how well an English failure is regarded in the Antipodes. 'England have been utterly embarrassing,' the story opined before throwing thoughts ahead to this summer's Ashes, adding: 'Australian fans now can't wait to face cricket's minnows - that's England - in the Ashes.' Back at the scene of England's exit the Adelaide Advertiser focused on the prospect of Moores being replaced by Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie, who grew up in the South Australian capital. 'The look on ashen-faced Moores as cameras panned in encapsulated a dead man sitting,' Richard Earle wrote. England captain Eoin Morgan has come in for criticism as his side crashed out of the World Cup . Fast bowlers James Anderson (left) and Stuart Broad (right) have been far from their best all tournament . Steven Finn arrives at Sydney Airport on Tuesday ahead of their final World Cup game . Chris Woakes looks a beaten man during England's dismal display, which left them as a laughing stock . Chris Jordan dives but was run out as England's hopes, and batting order, disintegrated in Adelaide . Bangladesh celebrated at the end, but the Australian press dubbed England the new 'minnows' of cricket . 'England's demise will now have Yorkshire and incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves sending an SOS to 71-Test paceman Gillespie.' England's 'catalogue of Adelaide disasters' was also broken down since the unlikely last-day Test defeat in 2006 when it was suggested then captain Andrew Flintoff had been 'turned to drink to soothe the pain'. England's poor record at World Cups was also underlined in the brevity of one statistic which read: 'While the British Empire has faded so has its cricket machine, winning just five matches against top-eight ranked rivals in World Cups since 1996.' Moores' own apparent liking for statistic was not missed, and his post-match claim that he would need to 'look at the data' raised a Aussie smirk or two with one internet headline reading: 'Analyse this data; One win, four losses' before offering a link to 'England's worst cricket disasters'. The anguish is clear to see on Taylor's face as he is dismissed, and England exited at the first stage . Moores' 'grey hair seeming to whiten at each wicket' according to one Australian journalist . The Aussie media suggested that former fast-bowler Jason Gillespie could be drafted in to replace Moores . Gillespie took 259 wickets in 71 Tests for Australia, and is now coaching Yorkshire . In The Australian one of the country's pre-eminent cricket writer's Gideon Haigh was more nuance, but no less scathing, as he wrote of the fear that was visible on the England players' faces whenever the television cameras panned to them waiting in the dugout to bat. 'They were as cheerful as boys awaiting the cuts from their headmaster. At the centre of it all, Peter Moores, grey hair seeming to whiten at each wicket. 'And at the last, a tiny glimpse of Joe Root, seated next to his coach as James Anderson fell, blowing a little bubble of gum. Pop - that was all it took.' Haigh finished by adding: 'Moores wanted people to wait to judge him until after the World Cup ended. They're ready, coach.' +The moment the names came out of the hat, Aston Villa had to play West Bromwich Albion in an FA Cup quarter-final. The same when West Ham United met Millwall in the Carling Cup in 2009. No escape. Administrators must have winced, but that was the hand they had been dealt. No doubt there were similar misgivings at UEFA when Serbia were paired with Albania in the 2016 European Championship qualifiers. Whoever arranged for England to meet the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on June 7, however, is a numpty. Fans invaded the pitch at Villa Park after Aston Villa beat West Brom in the FA Cup . The last time England played Ireland in Dublin in 1995 the game was abandoned due to crowd trouble . The game in 1995 was marred by crowd violence and was called off after 22 minutes . The two sides met at Wembley for a friendly in 2013 when they played out a 1-1 draw . After intense negotiations with police, the kick-off time has now been brought forward to 1pm. Why is it being played at all? There are 209 member associations of FIFA, which means there are 207 countries that England could play without fear of significant disturbance, and one where England’s last visit was abandoned due to a riot. If a free draw sends England back to Dublin, both sides will have to handle it — but this is an unnecessary risk, and not worth taking. If it ends in tears, and tear gas, again, those who came up with this incendiary fixture should not look far for the blame. +Jimmy Greaves did not attend Wembley on Sunday. A lot of people tend to get upset when this happens. The one who doesn’t is Jimmy Greaves. If he wanted to go, as a guest of either Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur, his former clubs, he could have secured a ticket, no problem. The Football League would probably love to have him, too. The issue isn’t that Greaves is short of invitations. He’s just not that into it. Jimmy Greaves was a great player, and doesn't need a fuss around him when he decides not to attend games . This can happen when you’re 75. Jimmy thinks of Wembley and, as much as the match — which he would enjoy — he imagines the queues of traffic on the North Circular, the hassles of parking and of spending the hour before kick-off having a big fuss made about his presence when he would rather be sat with a pot of tea in front of Liverpool and Manchester City and then the rugby. Jim loves the rugby. Truth be told, if Ireland versus England captured his attention, he might even have delayed changing channels until it was over. He finds it strange that people are still interested in getting him to Wembley. We want our heroes to behave like besotted fans, but Jim’s interests were always broader. Greaves' interests were always broader than just football, and he should be left to enjoy his retirement . He liked playing, and was quite brilliant at it, but since retiring he’s as likely to be engrossed in a Test match as a cup final, and he hasn’t the ego to wish to be feted wherever he goes. He doesn’t claim to be an expert on the modern game, having not been a part of it for so long, but feels no animosity towards the Premier League or its high-earning players. For a man whose problems with alcohol led him to a psychiatric unit shortly after retirement, the second act of Jim’s life has been a triumph. We should perhaps acknowledge this, rather than wonder why he isn’t constantly seeking attention or another lap of honour. We should wish every former athlete the quiet contentment of Jimmy Greaves. Greaves doesn't claim to be an expert about the modern game, and didn't want to attend the League Cup fianl . +Peter Moores faces an uncertain future following England's humiliating exit from the 2015 Cricket World Cup as the coach remarkably said he would have to 'look at the data' to work out why. England were beaten by 15 runs against Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval to make it four defeats against Test-playing nations with their win over Scotland scant consolation. Moores, speaking after the loss on Monday, said: 'We thought 275 was chaseable. We'll have to look at the data. Peter Moores faces an uncertain future following England's humiliating exit from the 2015 Cricket World Cup . England were beaten by 15 runs at the Adelaide Oval to make it four defeats against Test-playing nations . England captain Eoin Morgan looks dejected as he leaves the field after their World Cup match . Morgan's fifth ODI duck in 12 innings summed up their poor performance at the World Cup . 90 - the amount of runs captain Eoin Morgan scored in five innings at the World Cup . 12.2 - the overs it took for New Zealand to beat England's total of 123 in their second group game. 111 - Australia's margin of victory in the opening game of the tournament . 654 - total of runs scored by Australia and Sri Lanka against England . 1 - number of centuries scored by an England batsman against Test playing nations . 72 - number of runs scored by Sri Lanka off the bowling of Chris Woakes . 0 - number of wins registered by England over Test playing nations in the tournament . 0 - the number of centuries scored by a Bangladesh batsman in a World Cup before playing England on Monday. 37.4-1-234-5 - Chris Woakes's tournament bowling figures. 49 - the amount of runs Steven Finn went for in two overs against New Zealand. 'You just feel hollow if I'm being honest. Very, very disappointed. We haven't played well enough, we've got to accept that. 'You just feel like you've let people down, that would be the main emotion. 'I want to carry on desperately. It's certainly not my decision. I hope [to stay]. I'm here to try and make a difference. Certainly on a day like today you look at it and you know we have a lot of work to do in one-day cricket - there's no doubt about that. 'We haven't played well enough in this tournament all the way through. That's something we have to look at. 'It's a game we felt we should have won. We should have chased 275 and we didn't do it - we have to take that on the chin.' England must now play out a dead rubber against Afghanistan on Friday in a tournament that was summed up against Bangladesh by Eoin Morgan's fifth ODI duck in 12 innings. Morgan replaced Alastair Cook as captain shortly before England left for their warm-ups in Australia, with the relatively untested Gary Ballance also drafted in at number three. Moores continued: 'We haven't got a settled team. We've lost two key players at the top of our order (Cook and) Jonathan Trott was the number three, we've lost some players and we accept that, we don't make an excuse of it. We tried to find what we think are the best players to get into that team. 'Gary is a very good one-day player, we felt that was the right decision. He didn't play well enough, Alex (Hales) got his go today. England batsman James Taylor reacts after he was dismissed during the 15-run defeat by Bangladesh . Dec 19 - Alastair Cook replaced by Eoin Morgan as England ODI captain . Jan 14 - England beat Prime Minister's XI by 60 runs as Ian Bell hits magnificent 187 . Jan 16 - Australia beat England by three wickets but Morgan hits 121 in first ODI since replacing Cook as captain . Jan 20 - England beat India by nine wickets . Jan 23 - Australia beat England by three wickets via a Steve Smith century . Jan 30 - England beat India by three wickets to set up tri-series final with Australia . Feb 1 - Same old, same old as Australia again beat England by 112 runs to win tri-series . Feb 9 - England beat West Indies by nine wickets in World Cup warm-up match . Feb 11 - Pakistan beat England by four wickets in final World Cup warm-up tie . Feb 14 - Australia beat England by 111 runs on opening day of World Cup . Feb 20 - New Zealand beat England by eight wickets as Peter Moores's men are crushed . Feb 22 - England beat Scotland by 119 runs as expected via 128 from Mooen Ali . Feb 28 - Sri Lanka beat shameful England by nine wickets for a third crushing defeat . 'There was no obvious team to pick because they're young players, they haven't played a lot of cricket. We've got nine guys who haven't been to a World Cup before. 'That's the reality of it. You make your choice, you pick the side you think is the best team, which we did, and we have to accept they didn't play well enough.' Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen were among those criticising England on Twitter after their early elimination in the group stages. 'England had the wrong team, the wrong style of play and everyone could see it. Tonight's result is not a shock, I feel for Morgan. Coach is in trouble,' Warne tweeted. Pietersen added: 'I cannot believe this. I just cannot. But, well done Bangladesh! You deserved it! 'Do not say we haven't prioritised ODI cricket! We played a back-to-back Ashes to make sure England played six months of ODIs before this World Cup!' Gary Lineker, the former England striker, said: 'Bangladesh win! Congratulations to them. The good news is, England can't possibly get any worse.' And Piers Morgan wrote: 'What an absolute disgrace. [Paul] Downton and Moores have dragged English cricket into the sporting sewer with their petty, clueless incompetence. 'I want Downton and Moores sacked today and Kevin Pietersen restored to the team. This farce just reached its true, hideous nadir. 'I wouldn't trust Downton and Moores to run a ****ing bath, let alone the England cricket team.' Moores faces an uncertain future following England's humiliating exit against Bangladesh . Moores pictured after the defeat as he speaks with press in Adelaide about their World Cup exit . Joe Root (centre) exchanges words with Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza (left) at the Adelaide Oval . Bangladesh sealed a surprise win over England at the World Cup as Moores and his men suffered elimination . England captain Morgan, however, defended their selection and tactics. 'We've picked guys who can play a brand of cricket that if we performed we could win this World Cup but ultimately we haven't performed,' he told Sky Sports. 'It's pretty poor, obviously to be knocked out of a World Cup this early is unbelievably disappointing. I'm gutted at the moment. We've struggled and fought away since we arrived here. 'One of our big things was to fight quite hard and to try and get through to the quarter-finals and then from there fight our way through the last three games but obviously that's not meant to be.' Morgan added: 'It ultimately comes down to performance and today was an example of where some of our guys performed but we didn't perform as a unit and we've done it for quite a while now. 'Since we've landed in Australia we've tried to address that problem but it hasn't worked. 'Our expectations are a lot higher than the way we've performed so that's extremely disappointing. 'There'll be an inquest over the next few weeks as to what happened and what went wrong and then we'll go from there.' +A war veteran who became a high-profile fundraiser and public speaker today appeared in court charged with lying about having PTSD and cancer. Former Royal Signalman Simon Buckden is accused of pretending to suffer from the illnesses in order to obtain money and other perks such as therapy. He is also alleged to have falsely claimed to be a member of the SAS, Leeds Magistrates' Court was told. Charges: Simon Buckden has been accused of lying about having PTSD and cancer . Buckden, 42, was chosen to carry the Olympic torch in 2012 after becoming a leading campaigner for victims of PTSD. He also planned to run 100 marathons in 100 weeks in order to raise money for charity Help for Heroes. But in April 2012, he said he had put the challenge on hold after being diagnosed with rectal cancer. Buckden, from Leeds, was arrested in August last year on suspicion of fraud. He has now been charged with seven counts of fraud by false representation. Campaigner: Buckden was picked to carry the Olympic torch and planned to run 100 marathons in 100 weeks . The court heard that the charges date between October 2009 and December 2013. Buckden, who served in Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda and Northern Ireland, spoke only to give his name, address and date of birth. He will next appear at Leeds Crown Court in two weeks' time. The former soldier was medically discharged from the Army in 2001, after 12 years of service. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +David Gill, the Football Association vice- chairman, says FA Cup replays and the two-legged League Cup semi-finals may have to be sacrificed in the season of the 2022 World Cup. Why wait? If anything, replays are detracting from the excitement of the competition, and the format of what is currently the Capital One Cup is an anomaly. It should not take FIFA’s monstrous destruction of football’s calendar to make the English game see sense. By chance, there were no replays in the FA Cup fifth round this year and they were not missed. The great Cup shocks of this campaign have all happened on the day, inside 90 minutes. David Gill suggested removing cup replays, and he has a point, even if it it has taken Qatar to make it happen . Cambridge United were excellent to earn a replay against Manchester United, but lost the second game . That is when Bradford City beat Chelsea and Sunderland, when Middlesbrough eliminated Manchester City, when Blackburn Rovers beat Swansea City then Stoke City. A few lower division tussles aside, all the games that went to replays went with form. Manchester United defeated Cambridge United, Sunderland won at Fulham, Liverpool came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers and Southampton won against Ipswich Town. Replays favour the bigger teams anyway. If Cambridge could have taken Manchester United to extra-time, and maybe to penalties, on a crummy pitch at a boisterous Abbey Stadium, who knows what might have happened? Heading to a decider at Old Trafford, their moment had passed. Jonathan Stead's goal against Chelsea was part of a shock that re-affirmed the FA Cup's giant killing tradition . Bradford celebrate their win at Stamford Bridge, and didn't need a replay to upset the Premier League leaders . We cling to tradition, but tradition had teams playing replay after replay until they could be separated. Those encounters had an epic feel. In 1979, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday needed five matches — including three that went to extra-time — lasting nine hours before they could be torn apart. The second replay ended 2-2, the third 3-3. Arsenal won the fourth 2-0. That is the true gladiatorial tradition of the FA Cup, but it is unthinkable with modern fixture congestion. So as the shoot-out that completes the first replay is in itself a compromise, why is it needed at all? Middlesbrough also caused an upset, by beating Manchester City, but replays rarely lead to shocks . Smaller clubs might be better rewarded if games were decided on the night by a penalty shoot-out . A game decided on the day, one hit, with extra-time and penalties, would go some way to restoring tension and drama. When the FA has to alter its company accounts because the FA Cup sponsorship deal confidently included by former general secretary Alex Horne has not materialised, it is ridiculous to pretend the current format is a winner. The same with the League Cup. It is decided over one game in every round, then two in the semi-finals, and back to one for the final. What is the point of that? Better to have consistency and let the calendar breathe a little. It should not need FIFA’s selfishness to be a catalyst for reform in the English game. The time to change is now. +Peter Moores is adamant Alastair Cook has recovered from losing the one-day captaincy and is ready to lead England forward in a run of 17 Tests in under a year. Cook was devastated to be axed from 50-over cricket on the brink of his first World Cup and has watched as England have struggled to improve without him under new captain Eoin Morgan. Yet Moores says his relationship with Cook is undamaged and they have been busy planning for their imminent three-Test series against the West Indies. England coach Peter Moores talks with Alex Hales during an England nets session in Adelaide on Saturday . 'I've spoken to Alastair quite a bit and he's in a good place,' said the England coach ahead of the do or die World Cup match against Bangladesh. 'He's outside of this and is able to plan for Test cricket. 'Our working relationship hasn't changed. He's been an international for a long time and he realises it's a tough business and things change. He's thrown his focus totally into the big Test cricket to come.' That Caribbean series follows this World Cup and begins a year of Test cricket that includes a home series against New Zealand and another Ashes before visits to the UAE to face Pakistan and then South Africa. Alastair Cook (left) was devastated to be axed from 50-over cricket on the brink of his first World Cup . Moores admitted that national selector James Whitaker has spoken to Jonathan Trott about a possible return to the Test side. England may face a West Indies side without Chris Gayle — expected to retire from international cricket after this World Cup — and many of their best players could take part in the Indian Premier League instead. England will therefore consider resting players because they have so much important cricket ahead of them, not least the establishing of what will have to be a new one-day side. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad — prime candidates to be protected from burn-out — will both resist any attempts to force them to rest. National selector James Whitaker has spoken to Jonathan Trott (above) about a possible return to Test cricket . Anderson is four wickets away from overtaking Sir Ian Botham as England's leading Test wicket-taker and wants his family to join him for the first Test in Antigua in the hope he will reach the landmark there. Meanwhile, Moores on Sunday insisted he had no regrets about returning as England coach despite the huge pressure which comes with a poor showing at the World Cup. 'No regrets at all,' said Moores. 'I felt I could make a difference. We know we've been behind in the one-day format and have to get better.' Moores looks on as Stuart Broad bowls during his side's training session at St Peter's College in Adelaide . +I’m starting to think Adam Lallana might actually become a better version of Steven Gerrard. He’s certainly got all the qualities that make him the perfect replacement for the Liverpool captain. I appreciate that Jordan Henderson is set to take over as skipper, but in terms of dynamism, energy and quality, Lallana looks like the perfect replacement for Gerrard the player. Have a look at Sunday’s victory over Manchester City: Lallana started the game as one of two No 10s behind Raheem Sterling (Brendan Rodgers’ innovative approach as a coach should not be underestimated). When Lazar Markovic went off, Lallana went over to the right wing, and then when Alberto Moreno was substituted, Lallana ended the game on the left wing. Adam Lallana (centre) gave an all-action display as Liverpool impressively beat Manchester City . Lallana chats with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard during training on Monday . He is truly two-footed – for that reason alone English football should treasure him. But he is also clearly capable of playing in different positions, and he can adapt midway through a game. Those qualities are not readily available in most players and it takes me back to the Champions League final of 2005 when Gerrard ended up at right back. The very best not only play different positions, they excel in those positions as well. Lallana still has to prove he can do it, as Gerrard did, in a major final, but he proved it in a massive game on Sunday. A simple five-minute chat about Lallana with Rodgers will have him purring. The Liverpool manager will be using words and phrases like 'balance', 'clever', 'worker', 'technical ability', 'awareness', 'great character', 'looks after the ball'. Bring up the subject of Lallana and you could be there all day with Rodgers. On Sunday all the talk was of Philippe Coutinho, and understandably so. The brilliance of his goals alone in recent weeks makes him the hot topic and it’s great to see him add consistency to the undoubted quality. But Lallana’s contribution should not go unnoticed. Philippe Coutinho (2nd right) curled home Liverpool's winner late on in the Premier League clash at Anfield . Vice-captain Jordan Henderson (right, front) also scored a screamer for the Reds on Sunday . One thing you might not know about Lallana is that in Rodgers’ words, he is 'no shrinking violet'. He has bags of personality and character off the pitch as well as on it, and good leadership qualities – let’s not forget he was captain of Southampton as they returned to re-establish themselves in the Premier League. For Liverpool’s system he is perfect. He has quality on the ball – did you see his Cruyff turn in the centre circle against City? Breathtaking stuff – he creates – he scores (probably could score more) – and he presses the ball. He was injured pre-season, so it was a slow start to his Liverpool career and some supporters were too quick to judge. Rodgers knew that opponents’ approach to Liverpool would be different this season, he knew he would need players to be clever on the ball, and Lallana has that football intelligence. Lallana - who played three positions against City - shows his defensive qualities challenging Sergio Aguero . He doesn’t get talked about too much, does he? Is that because he’s English? Probably. But Rodgers told me this about Lallana: 'He’s technically as good as any European player'. Some might disagree, but it rams home the point that we don’t value his qualities highly enough in this country. In the feverish pace of the Premier League, Lallana still makes time for himself on the ball, and has that football intelligence and ability to make an impact on a game. Yet somehow, if he is only on the bench for England later this month it won’t be a surprise. And that’s a shame in my opinion. Gerrard’s departure will still hurt Liverpool fans, but I expect Lallana to grow even more when the legend leaves. He’s one of the most underrated footballers in the Premier League. Lallana slides in to have an effort on the Manchester City goal that went narrowly wide of the target . +The emotion of gaining a career breakthrough and striking a blow for the less gilded outfits at Cheltenham proved too much for Warren Greatrex. The unsung 40-year-old trainer was unable to blink back the tears behind his spectacles after Cole Harden had provided him with a first Festival winner, and in the biggest race of the day, the World Hurdle. It was a victory for an emerging trainer, ridden by his freshman jockey Gavin Sheehan on a 14-1 horse owned by former customs and excise investigator Robin Eynon and his wife Jill from Winchester. Cole Harden makes every yard of the running to win the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival . Gavin Sheehan celebrates winning the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, his first victory at the Cheltenham Festival . Sheehan gets to work on Cole Harden as he wins from the front on the third day of the famous Festival . 1 Cole Harden (G Sheehan) 14-1 . 2 Saphir Du Rheu (Sam Twiston-Davies) 5-1 Fav . 3 Zarkandar (N D Fehily) 6-1 . Suddenly the winners’ enclosure looked less the preserve of the fabulously wealthy and the heavyweights of the industry they employ. There was incredulity among the victorious names that they had elevated themselves to the kind of company more regularly associated with names like McManus, Mullins and McCoy. Cole Harden had struck out for the front from the off and stayed there for three miles, winning by three-and-a-quarter lengths. ‘If you’re going to break your duck you may as well make it a big one. Anyone that knows me will tell you I can talk all day long but I’m stuck for words,’ said Greatrex, who eventually managed to articulate his achievement. ‘I’m small, I’m a youngster at this. I’ve got nine runners here, we’re breaking through — we’re trying to compete with the big guys and hopefully this will help. We’ve beaten the best. You look at the next two horses behind and they’re trained by Paul Nicholls ... unbelievable.’ Sheehan celebrates as he crosses the line in front of the favourite Saphir Du Rheu at Cheltenham . Sheehan gives the horse a pat after a brilliant front-running performance on Cole Harden . Sheehan celebrates with Daryl Jacob after riding Cole Harden to victory in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle . After a modest career as a jockey in which he rode 13 winners, Greatrex served a long apprenticeship as a trainer, working under some of the finest in the business such as David Nicholson, Josh Gifford and Oliver Sherwood. He now works out of Uplands, the former premises of legendary jockey and trainer Fred Winter in Lambourn, where he has built up a mid-size yard of 75 horses. ‘I am sure the Duke (Nicholson) is looking down from somewhere with pride and I hope Fred would have been proud as well,’ said Greatrex. His faith in Cole Harden was tested when, after a win at Wetherby in November, he struggled in the January’s Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham and so, less than two months ago, was sent for an operation. ‘I was struggling with him early season, having trouble with his wind, but then he won at Wetherby. He wasn’t right at the Cleeve, so we had it done. It was a soft pallet operation, not a big thing, but I knew we needed to do something.’ Trainer Warren Greatrex and jockey Gavin Sheehan celebrate their first ever success at the Festival . Sheehan takes the acclaim of the crowd as he heads for the Winners' Enclosure on Cole Harden . If Greatrex is a different name to conjure with then so is Eynon, who comes from a less ostentatious school than the increasingly select number of tycoon owners who dominate national hunt racing, like JP McManus, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and American Rich Ricci, with his permanently attached sunglasses. Cole Harden is one of two horses he owns, along with a half-share in Paint The Clouds, running in today’s Foxhunter’s Chase. He is the kind of enthusiast who makes a pilgrimage to Cheltenham at least once a year, regardless of whether he has a horse running or not. ‘We’ve had horses since 1996 and this is the best day we’ve had so far,’ he said. ‘We’ve been lucky, every horse we’ve had has done quite well. I’ve forgotten how much we spent on Cole Harden, it wasn’t much; we don’t spend a lot on horses. ‘I’ve been retired a few years but I worked for many years as an investigator for Customs and Excise in London, in a department that doesn’t exist anymore because Gordon Brown closed it. ‘When you get something like this it’s really special. We always come to Cheltenham once a year and if they got rid of the traffic we’d be here every time.’ While Cole Harden’s victory provided the romance, the powerhouse yard of Willie Mullins notched his sixth winner of the meeting after Vautour destroyed the field in the earlier JLT Novices’ Chase. Ruby Walsh and Vautour romp home to leave trainer Willie Mullins dreaming of next year's Gold Cup . The Irish trainer, now just one short of Nicky Henderson’s record of winners for the meeting, could scarcely contain his excitement about the 6-4 favourite’s potential, which could exceed that of Faugheen ‘The Machine’. ‘This is the real machine,’ said Mullins. ‘He is a Gold Cup horse.’ Jockey Ruby Walsh was equally effusive after his 15-length victory. ‘He jumped like a gazelle and quickened up so impressively off the bend, it was flawless,’ he said. ‘The horses behind are very good and he ran them ragged.’ +Marcos Rojo surrendered his Manchester United allegiances for the evening as he watched local boyhood club Estudiantes in action against Gimnasia in the fierce Platense derby on Sunday. Sporting a Barcelona vest, the Argentine certainly didn't lack any passion whilst cheering on the side known as 'The Rat Stabbers', a club he joined at the age of ten. Much to the clear delight of the Argentina international, Estudiantes went on to win the Primera Division clash 3-1 after Ezequiel Cerutti scored from the spot in the 89th minute. Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo screams down the camera lens when Estudiantes score their third . The Argentina international, wearing a Barcelona vest, punches the air in celebration after the derby win . The United centre back has begun to find form for Louis van Gaal's side since his £16million move from Sporting Lisbon in the summer. Rojo has formed a tight bond with fellow defensive partner Phil Jones, who last week expressed his joy at how quickly the 24-year-old had settled in. Jones told manutd.com: 'Since Marcos has come he's played the right way and in the way we've wanted to play. It's difficult to come over to a different country and a different league and go straight into the team and hit your form, but he's done well.' The Red Devils will be looking to expand on Saturday's win against Sunderland with a victory at Newcastle on Wednesday. Rojo (right) celebrates United's opening goal against Sunderland with team-mate Wayne Rooney (centre) +A Barcelona director had sensationally claimed that Manchester United midfielder Angel di Maria was sold by Real Madrid last summer because he is 'too ugly'. Di Maria, who has been struggling for form in recent United games, left the Bernabeu for £59.7m having guided Carlo Ancelotti’s side to the Champions League last season. Carles Rexach says Di Maria was only allowed to leave as his image doesn’t fit the Galacticos brand that current club president Florentino Perez is trying to assemble at the La Liga giants. Former Real Madrid midfielder Angel di Maria is on a poor run of form for Manchester United . Di Maria was substituted at half-time during Manchester United's win over Sunderland on Saturday . Rexach says recent Real Madrid signings Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez prove his point and fit the image Perez is busy creating. Barcelona's assistant director of football also brought up former Los Blancos boss Vicente del Bosque, who was sacked in 2003, despite winning two Champions League titles and domestic trophies. Rexach told Spanish media outlet Regio7: ‘(Vicente) Del Bosque and Di Maria are too ugly for Real Madrid. They are different from Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez. ‘Florentino Perez looks at the world market and wants a team of Galacticos for everyone to admire. ‘(Cristiano) Ronaldo is the flagship of the club. Perez is selling an international brand.’ Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney (right)and Di Maria's before the weekend win over Sunderland . Barcelona's Carles Rexach says Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Toni Kroos (right) fit the club's desired image . James Rodriguez (right) greets Real Madrid president Florentino Perez during a training session . +West Brom are working with police to identify supporters seen in a video appearing to let off fire extinguishers and throwing objects inside Villa Park during Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa. The match, which Tim Sherwood's side won 2-0 to secure a place in the semi-final of the competition, was marred by supporter disturbances before, during and after the encounter. 'We are aware of the video footage and are working with police and the club's own security personnel to identify the culprits, who will face appropriate action,' a West Brom spokesman said on Monday. West Brom are working with police after footage emerged of supporters appearing to let off fire extinguishers . A supporter is covered in the foam from a fire extinguisher at Villa Park on Saturday . Objects appear to be thrown about by the supporters who are in the video . The ground appears to be covered in foam from the spraying of fire extinguishers . Trouble flared before, during and after the Villa Park showdown, including the pitch invasion . Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Aston Villa have not commented on the footage. The two-and-a-half minute long video shows supporters appearing to spray foam from fire extinguishers over each other and throwing what seems to be an empty bin around in the food and drink area inside the stand. The FA announced earlier on Monday it has contacted both clubs for their observations in relation to the crowd incidents and is also liasing with West Midlands police. The FA announced on Monday it has contacted both clubs, asking for their observations . Supporters managed to get on to the pitch to celebrate Scott Sinclair scoring Villa's second goal . Fabian Delph celebrates scoring Villa's opening goal in the FA Cup victory over West Brom . Fans ran onto the pitch before full time and seats were thrown from the North Stand, where the away fans were situated. West Brom manager Tony Pulis has already been quick to condemn the scenes, calling for any supporters who are found guilty of throwing seats to receive lifetime bans. +Three men have been charged by police investigating disorder which marred Aston Villa's FA Cup quarter-final victory over West Brom. West Midlands Police said the men, aged between 26 and 37, had been charged with offences connected to the match after officers made a total of 17 arrests inside and outside Villa Park. Play was halted in the closing minutes of Saturday's cup tie at Villa Park after home supporters invaded the playing area before the final whistle. The pitch at Villa Park can barely be seen as supporters stream onto the turf following the full-time whistle . Police clash with supporters on the pitch after Aston Villa's FA Cup clash with local rivals West Brom . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . Away fans also threw missiles, including seats, during the second half of the match, while police had to form cordons to keep rival supporters apart. Police said Matthew Fox, 27, from Stourbridge, has been charged with assaulting a police officer and bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on March 19. Meanwhile, 37-year-old Matthew Owen, a designer from Walsall, has been charged with using threatening words or behaviour with intent. He has been bailed to appear at the same court on the same date. Unemployed David Moore, 26, from Birmingham, has been charged with failing to comply with a football banning notice and was due to appear in court today. Police have also issued six men with fixed penalty notices for public order offences or being drunk and disorderly. Two other men suspected of assaulting a police officer have been bailed pending further inquiries, while a 16-year-old boy from Kingswinford, near Dudley, has been cautioned for using threatening words or behaviour. Trouble flared before, during and after the Villa Park showdown, including the pitch invasion . Chief Superintendent Chris Johnson, from West Midlands Police, said: 'We carried out a large policing operation for the FA Cup on Saturday evening to ensure supporters could enjoy the game in a safe environment. 'An investigation has been launched to identify people involved in a disturbance before the match at the Witton Arms pub. 'Anyone who saw what happened should contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.' Police say the timing of the match was fully discussed with both clubs ahead of the game. Inspector Howard Lewis-Jones added: 'We were approached by Aston Villa with the proposed later kick off time and expressed concerns that this increased the likelihood of alcohol-fuelled disorder. 'As a result we increased the policing resources to deal with this increased threat. 'The encroachment of the pitch by Aston Villa supporters was a disappointing end to an exciting local derby and we continue to work with the Football Association and the club to identify those involved.' The Football Association has contacted both Aston Villa and West Brom to request their observations in relation to the 'disturbing' crowd trouble which occurred during and after Villa's 2-0 win. +Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young has mocked her haters in a video she posted to YouTube showing her reading out abuse from her harshest online trolls. Not a stranger to public criticism, the senator read out some of the most insulting tweets in a Youtube video titled 'Pleasantries with Sarah Hanson-Young: Part One.' The video shows Hanson-Young attempting to stay collected with a straight face, but lets out a raucous laugh at her third encounter with the word 'cow.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young had read out harsh tweets from online trolls, in a bid to mock them . She attempts to remain composed and keep a straight face, but breaks into laughter at being called a 'cow' 'I could eat a can of Alphabet soup and crap more sense than she makes,' reads one of the harsh tweets . The tweets, Facebook statuses and anonymous personal messages mock her physical appearance, gender and alleged incompetence. 'Your brain seems to be in sync with your surname; It has a split in the middle,' one of the tweets said. 'Head like a busted sand shoe and a brain to match' read another. The Senator's lighthearted approach to these trolls mirrors Jimmy Kimmel's segment on his talk show titled 'mean tweets.' His segment shows celebrities read out insulting tweets about themselves, resulting in their uncontrollable laughter or vacant expressions. Twitter's directory of public-policy, Julie Inman-Grant says that users cannot engage in repeated harassment and issue violent threats . The Senator's approach to these trolls mirrors Jimmy Kimmel's segment on his show called 'mean tweets' The video, titled 'Pleasantries with Sarah Hanson-Young Part 1' alludes there is more to come from the Senator . According to The Advertiser, the tweets and messages breach Twitter's terms of use that are in place to lessen negativity directed at other users. Twitter's directory of public-policy, Julie Inman-Grant says that users cannot engage in repeated harassment and issue violent threats. 'We have announced a number of improvements to user controls to help people protect themselves,' she said. This has come after an incident in 2013 that saw the Senator's head photoshopped onto the body of a nearly naked model for ZOO Magazine. She won the defamation case, claiming she was made to look incompetent and immature. The Senator's YouTube video has hinted at more to come with the title alluding to a sequel to 'Part One.' +Paris Saint-Germain defender David Luiz has stoked the fire ahead of this week's Champions League showdown with his former side Chelsea, insisting Jose Mourinho 'is not special' to him. Luiz, who moved to the French champions for £50million in June, has quashed talk of the Portuguese coach - commonly labelled the 'Special One' - being anything spectacular in managerial terms. Ahead of the decisive second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night Luiz told L'Equipe: 'He (Mourinho) is special for you, but not for me. David Luiz (middle), celebrates after scoring for PSG against Lens, faces former side Chelsea on Wednesday . Luiz (centre), tries the spectacular during the game at the Parc des Princes on Saturday afternoon . The 27-year-old celebrates Champions League (left) and Europa League success (right) at Chelsea . 'I had some great moments at Chelsea and won a lot of titles. I was very happy. 'They are having a great season, defend well and have great players but above all I know my team. We will try to score there and play like we know how we can. 'We will have a good game plan and implement it the best way possible to achieve a great performance. Both can still qualify.' Luiz and Co face a tough task at the home of the Premier League leaders this week, with Mourinho's men currently in the ascendancy after scoring a crucial away goal in the 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes a fortnight ago. +In my career, I never spat at anybody. It’s such a disgusting act and is one of the most disrespectful things you can do to another human being. In some cultures, people do spit on the floor when they’re angry, but I can’t understand why people would spit at all. Jonny Evans certainly isn’t part of one of those cultures. I don’t understand why people do it, but I did think there was some provocation on Wednesday night. United defender Jonny Evans (left) and Papiss Cisse have been charged with spitting during the game . Evans and Cisse were both caught on camera appearing to spit at each other on Wednesday night . Cisse has accepted a possible seven-game ban while Evans has until 6pm  on Friday, February 6 to respond . It looked like Cisse ran his studs down Evans’s achilles and also made a straight-legged challenge on him. That’s why we saw a transformation in the seemingly mild-mannered Evans. He says he was unaware of any spitting incident, but I find that hard to believe. I was once spat at during a game in Turkey while I was playing for Everton. It was supposed to be a pre-season friendly but it was anything but. Our bus was even stoned by local fans. When I was spat at, it was right into my face. But it wasn’t a case of being so angry I wanted to hit him, I was mostly just shocked. It was an abusive act and it is unacceptable. Luis Suarez (top left) was caught biting Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League clash in April 2013 . The Chelsea defender appeals to the referee, with Suarez later receiving an eight-game ban for biting . As for punishment, you could argue it is as bad as, if not worse, than biting — and Luis Suarez, then of Liverpool, received an eight-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic. Biting causes physical pain, but that is almost a childish, instinctive reaction. To spit in someone’s face is more deliberate and insulting. For me, spitting is worse. But I don’t think spitting merits more than a three-match ban. Yes, there has to be a suspension, but it’s more important to educate players as to how badly incidents such as these come across to those watching the game, particularly youngsters. ‘Having woken up this morning I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match. I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. ‘I was totally unaware of any spitting incident and had assumed that the issue at the time was with the challenge and his attempted retaliation to the tackle from the floor. 'During the game Papiss Cisse and I spoke about the incident and it is clear by my reaction in the television footage that I was totally surprised by any suggestion of spitting. ‘It is not in my character or in my nature to spit at anybody nor is it something I have ever done or would ever do. It is certainly not something that I did last night.’ THE GAMES HE COULD MISS FOR UNITED: Arsenal (h), Monday; Tottenham (h), March 15; Liverpool (a), March 22; Aston Villa (h), April 4; Man City (h) April 12; Chelsea (a) April 18. ‘I have apologies to make to a lot of people today. Firstly to my team-mates and to our supporters, secondly to Jonny Evans, and thirdly to every football fan who saw the incident between myself and Jonny. ‘I reacted to something I found very unpleasant. Sometimes it is hard not to react, particularly in the heat of the moment. I have always tried hard to be a positive role model, especially for our young fans, and yesterday I let you down. ‘I hope children out there playing football for their clubs and schools this weekend will know better than to retaliate when they are angry. Perhaps when they see the problem it now causes me and my team they will be able to learn from my mistake, not copy it.’ THE GAMES HE’LL MISS FOR NEWCASTLE: Everton (a), March 15; Arsenal (h), March 21; Sunderland (a), April 5; Liverpool (a), April 13; Tottenham (h), April 19; Swansea (h), April 25; Leicester (a), May 2. +Dick Advocaat has been plotting Sunderland’s survival mission for the past fortnight from him home in Holland. The new boss has revealed that he was waiting for the Black Cats to sack Gus Poyet and was surprised it did not happen sooner. Indeed, in the wake of Sunderland’s 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday there were reports that Advocaat was set to take over, despite this being some 48 hours before Poyet was dismissed. Reports in Holland suggest Dick Advocaat was surprised his predecessor Gus Poyet was not sacked sooner . Poyet was sacked after Sunderland were beaten 4-0 at the Stadium of Light by rivals Aston Villa . Advocaat said John O'Shea (left) will have to play despite not training in the week as the squad is small . The Dutchman said: ‘I expected they would do it (sack Poyet) earlier, but they didn't. ‘Poyet was a coach who is very self-focussed. They were looking for someone with experience, a guy who knows what it's about. For this short time they didn't want to take the risk to get an inexperienced coach.’ Advocaat will take charge of the team for the first time at West Ham tomorrow and, with his new club just one point above the Premier League drop zone, he has revealed his stark message to the players. ‘As I said to the players, it’s quite simple. This is a big, big club – do you want to play in the other league?’ he said. ‘With this club, this stadium, you cannot play in the lower league. I think they realise how important it is. Midfield player Sebastian Larsson has also missed training but will be called upon by Advocaat . Advocaat believes Sunderland have a competitive squad when all of their players are fully fit . ‘We have nine games to go and are still a point ahead, so we have everything in our own hands. ‘Keeping this team in the league is the most important thing. ‘There is enough quality in this squad to stay up. We have a difficult programme, as do the other teams, but it’s all up to us and I have a good feeling about it.’ Meanwhile, it has been reported that Advocaat is open to the idea of staying at the club beyond the end of the season. However, it appears some of that was lost in translation from an interview in his homeland and Sportsmail understands he will return to Holland in May. +A mysterious silent flash which lit up the Russian night sky has baffled people and sparked theories of extraterrestrial activity. Experts have said the blue and white burst of light, which illuminated Stavropol in southern Russia, is not natural. The strange glow was not accompanied by any sound, according to witnesses, and made the city's street lights briefly go out. A mysterious silent flash lit up the night sky in Stavropol, southern Russia, in the early hours of the morning . It was also said to have caused bulbs inside homes to flicker, according to RT.com. 'I was very frightened by what I saw, I was already in bed,' said one woman, according to the website. 'It looked as if something very bright lit up my ceiling.' The flash was captured on a vehicle dashboard camera at around 12.39am on Monday morning. According to local reports weather experts and scientists have been unable to explain the strange phenomenon. But they have agreed the source of the mysterious light was most likely at ground level. This shows the view from the vehicles dashboard camera moments before the strange glow illuminated the night sky . One local woman said that she was 'very frightened by what I saw,' from the bedroom of her home . The phenomenon was said to have knocked out the city's street lights and caused bulbs to flicker . Theories include that the glow could have been caused by a military exercise, faults in the electricity network, the Northern Lights, an asteroid and even a UFO. This is not the first time that strange lights have been recorded in Russia. In November last year, an unexplained 11 second flash took place in Yekaterinburg. +Pilots were forced to show off their skills yesterday as stormy weather hit the north of England. And as this incredible video shows, planes flying into Manchester battled against the winds that saw many appear to be 'hovering' on their descent in. Posted on Twitter by user@philip2004, the action was taken from near the airport pub close to the runway. Scroll down for video . As well as tilting from side to side, the plane appears to be 'hovering' as it gets trapped by the wind . Speaking to MailOnline Travel, @philip2004 from Stockport, said 'I'd say the wind was gusting at about 35 miles per hour. 'I never fear the aircraft landing but it did look nice and they will land ok. 'I really need to get filming where I can barely stand up myself.'The only thing is predicting when there's a long enough day of winds. 'The planes were swaying in the wind but it wasn't as big a deal as other days I've seen. I was here for the Emirates one last week when they had to abort the landing.' The wind was thought to only be around 35mph, but the direction and pressure affected the landing . Rob Hunter, British Airline Plot's Association (BALPA) head of flight safety told MailOnline Travel that pilots are well-trained to deal with a crosswind landing. 'The pilots here are performing a cross-wind landing which we train for all the time, and which are not that unusual,' said Mr Hunter. 'The wind is trying to push the aircraft one way, so the pilot has to point the aircraft into the wind until the last minute at which point he or she then turns the aircraft to be head on with the runway. 'This is just one example of the need for well-trained, well-rested professional pilots.' Mr Dodd told MailOnline that he was always confident the plane would make a safe landing . As well as capturing the windy landing for an Etihad 777, he also videoed British Airways and easyJet planes having a less-than comfortable descent. Last week he was on hand to catch a 'go around' of an Emirates A380 when it couldn't land due to high winds. The plane that had flown in from Dubai came around a second time, and despite a few wobbly moments, made a safe landing. After getting over a period of crosswinds, the Etihad jet approached the runway effortlessly . It was by no means the most comfortable of landings, but all passengers were safe on board . The manoeuvre meant the passengers were only delayed by 25 minutes; a scheduled landing of 11.20am turned into 11.45am. One eyewitness told the Manchester Evening News: 'This is a huge plane which we see come over every day and it's quite unusual to see it do a go-around like it did.' In January this year, planes were battered by 100mph winds when trying to land at Leeds Bradford International Airport. One propeller plane - a Flybe flight - looks particularly precarious as it swings from side to side on the approach. Pushed sideways onto the runway, the plane almost seems to land nose-first as it struggles against the gusts. Leeds Bradford Airport is considered one of the most difficult airports to land at in the UK. Its altitude sees it hit by strong winds in bad weather. But these skilled pilots show how flights compensate for the high winds, by approaching at an extreme angle. Footage emerged after a North Atlantic storm hit the UK, causing the strongest wind gusts in over 50 years. +Rafael da Silva's time at Manchester United appears to be at an end with the club willing to listen to offers for the right-back. The Brazilian, 24, is a cult hero at Old Trafford but has not impressed manager Louis van Gaal. He has made just nine appearances this term and despite overcoming injury was left out of the squad for the last two matches against Sunderland and Newcastle. Rafael has not featured for Manchester United since the FA Cup match against Yeovil in January . Rafael has failed to impress manager Louis van Gaal since he arrived at Manchester United . Rafael's tendency to take risks coupled with a fiery temperament have made him a firm fans' favourite. But it is those traits which are thought to have sealed his fate under the methodical Dutch manager. The writing for Rafael has been on the wall throughout the season. Van Gaal has been willing to play others out of position at right back and has been quick to praise youngster Paddy McNair, who recently signed a new contract. Rafael can do nothing to stop Saido Berahino from scoring during the Premier League clash with West Brom . United are interested in bringing Southampton right back Nathaniel Clyne to Old Trafford . United also retain a keen interest in Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne, while reports in Spain claim they are locked in a two-way battle with Real Madrid for Porto's Brazilian right back Danilo. Rafael, last seen in the 2-0 FA Cup win at Yeovil on January 4, will have 12 months remaining on his contract at the end of the summer. A number of clubs in his homeland are interested, with Cruzeiro thought to be leading the charge. +It's fair to say Mesut Ozil has struggled to adapt to life at Arsenal, but the Gunners midfielder is no quitter and says he is not interested in a move away from the Barclays Premier League this summer. Ozil arrived in north London for a fee of £42million from Real Madrid in 2013 and has drawn criticism for his lack of impact in his first season-and-a-half at the Emirates Stadium. But Ozil says he is now working harder than ever as Arsenal look to reignite their season after their Champions League exit in Monaco, with a charge up the Barclays Premier League table and an FA Cup semi-final against Reading on the horizon. Mesut Ozil doesn't look like he will be waving goodbye to Arsenal this summer after revealing he wants to stay . Ozil played the full 90 minutes of Arsenal's Champions League exit against Monaco on Wednesday night . Questioned on whether he would consider a move back to the Bundesliga after beginning his career there with Schalke, Ozil refuted any chances of quitting Arsenal. 'A return to Germany is not an option for me right now. I am really happy at Arsenal and I want this to continue,' Ozil he told German paper Express. 'I played in the Bundesliga and at Real Madrid. But the English Premier League is the strongest league in the world. Opponents never give up. The German midfielder cannot hide his hurt at full-time, but he is determined to stick it out in north London . Ozil says he is working harder than he ever has done in his career previously with the Gunners . 'Even if we’re 3-0 in front with Arsenal, the players never give up and fight until the very last second. You can only succeed here when you’re on top level physically. 'I’m working as hard as I never worked before in my life. My body is more stable and I feel fresher. You need that in England.' Ozil played the full 90 minutes of the 2-0 win at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday, but that wasn't enough to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg and Arsene Wenger's men crashed out on away goals. Despite his midweek exertions, the Germany international is expected to feature in Saturday's return to the Premier League against Newcastle United at St James' Park. The German midfielder has come under fire for some of his performances but does not need to prove himself . Ozil plays a pass away from Monaco midfielder Jeremy Toulalan during Tuesday's second-leg match . +Great players with baggage like Yaya Toure are always worth the aggro when they are on top of their game. But when their form dips and yet they remain high maintenance, there is only ever one outcome. It happened to Roy Keane whose tantrums and outbursts were tolerated by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United until the moment he no longer justified his place in the team. After the embarrassing mis-match in the Nou Camp when Barcelona could have scored at least six against Manchester City, you feel that time is rapidly running out for Toure and others like Vincent Kompany and Edin Dzeko. This summer will surely see a major transfusion of personnel at the Etihad if they are to challenge Europe's best. Midfielder Yaya Toure struggled to impress as City crashed out of the Champions League to Barcelona . City were happy to put up with the baggage that came with Toure (right) while he was performing at his best . City captain and defender Vincent Kompany (right) contests for the ball alongside Barcelona's Luis Suarez . Defender Pablo Zabaleta has been left out of City's team for their biggest games this season . Toure became the Premier League's best-paid player when he signed for Roberto Mancini from Barcelona in 2010. In domestic football, he has been an unqualified success and scored 24 goals last season as City won their second championship. His world-class strike against Sunderland at Wembley won Manuel Pellegrini the Capital One Cup. When things were rosy, the club were happy to overlook constant talk about him being linked with other clubs, his pushiness to secure improved contracts and a farcical stand-off about not being treated with enough respect on his birthday. Premier League managers felt the midfielder didn't do enough of the hard yards to protect City defensively but they were unable to capitalise much because when Yaya had the ball he was an unstoppable force of nature. But those days have gone and the 31-year-old's hapless showing against Barcelona as City crashed out of the Champions League underlined he is not the man to push the club forward any more. His dereliction of duty to allow Ivan Rakitic the space to score Barca's winner was noted immediately. Going forward, his shooting was wayward and he was taken off before the end by Pellegrini – unthinkable one or two years ago. Remember, Toure had been banned for the previous three games in Europe and this was his big chance to show the world what he was still capable of. The club are in no hurry to offer the current African Player of the Year a new deal at anything like the £240,000-a-week terms of his last contract. Indeed, with Financial Fair Play now increasingly important, the temptation to offload him and his wages to Inter Milan this summer to allow new blood is very tempting. Striker Edin Dzeko could be considered as dispensable by City in the summer if they have an overhaul . Joe Hart (right) was in inspired form during Manchester City's 1-0 defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday . Striker Sergio Aguero (left) missed a penalty as City were eliminated 3-1 on aggregate by Barcelona . City defender Martin Demichelis (left) challenges Messi of Barcelona for possession of the ball . City's failure to reach Europe's last eight under their Abu Dhabi owners will create a major rethink at the club this summer. All their marquee names like Sergio Aguero and David Silva were signed before Pellegrini's arrival in 2013. While their rivals are signing young, hungry, world-class players like Eden Hazard, Alexis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho, City looked ageing and stilted in the Nou Camp. Toure symbolises the malaise but he's not the only one. Skipper Vincent Kompany has been off the boil all season and can no longer lead while his personal form is so patchy. At 30 years old, Pablo Zabaleta is still able to cope with run-of-the-mill league games but it's interesting he has been left out of the really big matches like Chelsea away and Barcelona away. Edin Dzeko isn't going to get any better, neither is Martin Demichelis or Aleksandar Kolarov. If they stay at City, they will only be squad players and in the case of Dzeko in particular his wages are astronomical compared with strikers at other clubs. The new signings from Txiki Begiristain have been flops. Fernando, Eliaquim Mangala and Wilfried Bony cost £72million and yet none of them are considered good enough to start. Stevan Jovetic, a young and skilful import from Serie A, has fallen so far down the pecking order he was sacrificed from City's Champions League squad, reduced as an FPP punishment. Aleksandar Kolarov (centre) is crowded out by Messi (left) and Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona . Stevan Jovetic was removed from City's Champions League squad to accommodate Wilfried Bony . James Milner (right) chases after Messi in the Champions League clash between Barcelona and City . It is such a far cry from the excitement of the first few years under Sheik Mansour. He broke the British transfer record on his first day and while Robinho didn't work out, it did create a buzz around the place. Aguero, Silva and Toure were dazzling signings. City need to get back to that and go for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Gareth Bale and Arjen Robben if they are going to threaten clubs like Barcelona. It means a major clearout this summer and Toure could well be on the list. +So it has once again fallen on Everton to prevent the Barclays Premier League suffering a week of complete ignominy in Europe. Roberto Martinez's side have risen to the challenge regularly this season but now they are set for their biggest test here in Dynamo Kiev's Olympic Stadium. Can they do it? Sportsmail looks at five reasons why they can keep carrying the flag for England. Everton's players jog around the running track at Dynamo Kiev's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday . BUBBLING CONFIDENCE . Had Everton travelled here last week, their prospects would not have been so positive but the mood is significantly different thanks to back-to-back victories at Goodison Park against Kiev in the first leg and then Newcastle on Sunday. It is the first time since November Everton have managed to put two results like that together and it has made a big difference to the mood of the squad. Once this group gets on a roll and has confidence, they can meet challenges head on and they won't shirk what is in front of them. 'We know that it is going to be a tough game,' said Seamus Coleman. 'We were very impressed with Kiev in the first leg and they have got good players, like (Andrei) Yarmolenko. But we have come here with confidence and we want to go through to the next round.' Everton midfielder Ross Barkley scores his side's final goal in their 3-0 win against Newcastle on Sunday . LETHAL LUKAKU . After enduring a difficult spell in the middle of the season, Everton's record signing is beginning to deliver big goals at the right moments. He has scored 10 goals in his last 14 appearances, including the scruffy penalty which secured a first leg advantage. That strike made him Everton's leading European scorer with seven and he has been proficient at coming up with big moments in this competition, such as hat-trick in Berne and a group-winning goal in Wolfsburg. He will fancy his chances of maintaining that sequence tonight. Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring his 10th goal in his last 14 games against Newcastle last weekend . Club legend Graeme Sharp and Everton in the Community coaches deliver a coaching session to local kids . DIFFERENT DEMANDS, DIFFERENT TEAM . If Everton have been erratic in the Premier League, playing in Europe has liberated them. Martinez puts domestic struggles down to the fact they lost a lot of ground in the race for fourth place early on and ultimately lost heart for a period. In Europe, though, they have had a sense of freedom and have been liberated by the chance to achieve something significant. They have won six of their nine games so far and the players are determined to not let the opportunity slip. 'We are going to approach it the way we approach every game,' said Ross Barkley, who will have a key role to fulfil. 'We did well at home and hopefully now we can do that in the away game. We have to be positive and give our all.' Manager Roberto Martinez (left) and Seamus Coleman speak to the media ahead of Thursday's last 16 tie . Martinez poses with a group of local children inside Dynamo Kiev's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday . SOMETHING IN THE YEAR? This is a pithy point but seasons ending with a '5' have been good for Everton; 1985 saw them win the European Cup Winners' Cup. 1995 brought the FA Cup, their last piece of silverware; 2005 ended with David Moyes guiding them to a top four finish, while 1915 heralded their second league title. Everton will, of course, need more than omens to get through but there has long been a feeling within the squad that they have the ability to go all the way to the final in Warsaw and they want to create their own history. Graeme Sharp, Kevin Sheedy, Trevor Steven and Andy Gray hold the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985 . NO FEAR . Much has been made of Dynamo's formidable home record – they are unbeaten in the Olympic Stadium this season – but Everton are not going to sit back and hope to sneak through. By playing their natural game, Martinez believes they have an outstanding chance of progress. 'We have to be attack minded and when we are on the ball, we need to be a team that wants to score goals and make it very much eye to eye and an open game,' said Martinez. 'That's what I'm looking for tomorrow, that we can make it a game full of chances for us . 'I don't want it to be a game where they are a home team, and let them see if they can break us down. That would be a big mistake. It is wanting to achieve something historic and special for us and make our fans proud in Europe – which is what we are doing.' Dynamo Kiev's Oleh Gusev (right) celebrates after giving Dynamo Kiev the lead at Goodison Park . +In the aftermath of Lionel Messi's masterclass, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini repeated that he does not fear losing his job at the end of the season. But with the ruthless Chelsea machine far in the Premier League distance and no chance of silverware from cup competitions, the Chilean's ageing, expensively-assembled side look certain to end the campaign trophyless - a relative drought that will not go down well in the desert residence of the club's owners. Here, Sportsmail looks at five men who could replace Pellegrini in the Etihad hot seat in the summer should he be given the boot. Manuel Pellegrini could be dismissed as Manchester City boss with the club facing a trophyless season . 1. Frank de Boer . With four Dutch titles in a row under his belt the Ajax supremo is the most attainable of the candidates in the running. The innovative 44-year-old introduced youth and creativity to an ageing, underperforming side and would appear to fit the bill. However, City are famously looking for Champions League progression and three group stage exits in a row in Amsterdam may undermine his case. That said, De Boer would have resources at City he could only dream about with Ajax. Do not rule out a Dutch dynasty in Manchester. Frank de Boer has won four Eredivisie titles in a row during his time as manager at Ajax . De Boer's case may be weakened by three group stage Champions League exits with Ajax . 2. Pep Guardiola . The Bayern Munich boss is well-known to City executives Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain from their time together at the Nou Camp and would appear to be the obvious choice. Begiristain, City's director of football, held that role at Barcelona while Guardiola was coach and the men are close friends. Guardiola himself has spoken of his desire to coach in England. Timing however, is the issue. Pep Guardiola is well known to City executives but his contract at Bayern Munich expires next season . Guardiola was on hand to witness City's demise at the hands of former side Barcelona on Wednesday . The 44-year-old's contract in Bavaria does not expire until next summer and he has already ruled out leaving before then. Interestingly that coincides with the end of Pellegrini's deal at the Etihad... 3. Diego Simeone . The Argentine's stock went through the roof after last season's logic-defying La Liga title and Champions League final appearance. A defence of that title looks unlikely but by qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals the Man in Black has delivered another work of fantasy. Diego Simeone celebrates with his Atletico Madrid players after leading them to La Liga glory last season . Simeone got Atletico to the quarter-final of the Champions League and could be on the verge of a new deal . With Real Madrid and Barcelona retaining their rights to plunder most of the money from TV rights, an exit born of frustration may well have been on the cards. But Simeone's sister and representative Natalia dismissed talk of a move away, stating that her sibling was close to signing a new deal at the Vicente Calderon where he is loved like no other. 4. Carlo Ancelotti . Odds on the veteran Italian swapping Madrid for Manchester could shorten as early as this weekend, when his men take on Barcelona in El Clasico. Carlo Ancelotti celebrates winning the Champions League with Real Madrid last season . But the Italian is under pressure this year after Madrid were replaced by Barcelona at the top of La Liga . Lose and it could be two years in a row without a La Liga crown, which is not acceptable for the Bernabeu masses. Win, and with a Champions League quarter-final to come, Ancelotti may not be going anywhere. 5. Patrick Vieira . There is little doubt that the Arsenal legend will one day be gunning for the top job at City. Vieira has impressed during his stint in charge of City's youngsters after inheriting a shambles. He makes the right noises, is loved by his players and is respected within the club. Vieira is young and ambitious but currently lacks the experience needed for the role. Expect him to be the man who replaces the man who replaces Pellegrini. Patrick Vieira has impressed City bosses with his work at the club overhauling the youth system . +Manchester City might have seen their Champions League dreams end in Barcelona on Wednesday night, but they are the Barclays Premier League's big winners this season in terms of money made from taking part in Europe's premier competition. Defeat at the Nou Camp left Manuel Pellegrini's men with just the Premier League title to fight for in what is looking increasingly like a disappointing season at the Etihad Stadium, on the pitch at least. Off it, City's staff will be delighted to be able to bring in £28.4million-worth of revenue from their participation in Europe, more than Chelsea and Arsenal - who both joined City in dropping out at this stage - and group stage flops Liverpool. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and his team-mates had a tough night in Barcelona on Wednesday . Chelsea were knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain at the same stage as City but take home less money . The reasoning behind City's increased income is their league positioning from last year, which affects the market pool shared between the clubs and accounts for half of the money paid to participating clubs. The Premier League champions get 40 per cent of the money set aside for English sides, with Liverpool taking 30 per cent, Chelsea on 20 per cent and Arsenal getting just 10 per cent. The other half of money paid to clubs comes from prize money based on the stage they are knocked out at. Given their third-place position in the Premier League last year and having advanced to the second round with City and Arsenal, Chelsea are the second biggest earners on £28.4m. Santi Cazorla is consoled after Arsenal's defeat to Monaco - they earned the same amount as Liverpool . Steven Gerrard and his Liverpool team-mates topped up their earnings with a brief Europa League flirtation . Group stage . Second round . Quarter-finals . Semi-finals . Runner-up . Winner . £6.2million . £2.5m (£8.7m total) £2.8m (£11.5m total) £3.5m (£15m total) £4.6m (£19.6m total) £7.5m (£22.5m total) Figures exclude market pool share, clubs also earn £700,000 per group stage win and £350,000 per group stage draw . London rivals Arsenal brought in the same level of revenue as Liverpool - £21.6m. This comes down to the Anfield club's better league position last season - second rather than fourth - plus the topping up of their total by £0.8m from a brief stint in the Europa League. Come the final in Berlin on June 6, whoever lifts the famous trophy could pick up a prize pot approaching £26.8m, dependent on their group stage results, and that's before the market pool money is considered. They also get the chance of another payday in the UEFA Super Cup next season, played between the Champions League and Europa League winners. That one-off game paid out £2.1m to this season's victors, Real Madrid. +Roy Hodgson is convinced Harry Kane can make his mark with England after calling him into the senior squad for the first time. Kane has scored 26 goals for Tottenham this season and is in the squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania a week on Friday and the friendly with Italy four days later. England’s head coach said: ‘The whole country is excited to see Harry Kane, his rise has been fantastic. Scroll down for full squad . Harry Kane rounds Rob Green to score for Spurs against QPR earlier this month . The Tottenham striker has been in superb form, earning his call-up with a string of impressive displays . ‘He has broken in to the Tottenham team and it would be a surprise if he was not selected. ‘We welcome him into the fold. Some have gone on to really establish themselves. ‘I know what Mauricio (Pochettino, the Tottenham manager) would say about him and Gary Neville has been on a training course with his assistant recently. ‘I worked with the Under 21s for two or three days so I know about Harry Kane. We know about him and what he can do on a football field. ‘He deserves his chance. We are happy he is going to be with us. ‘I would be a bit disappointed if there was someone on the list that I didn’t have the confidence of the courage to play him. ‘As a player who has not been in the squad he has to show he belongs there. We have had six straight wins, the players have done a good job.’ Goalkeepers . Fraser Forster (Southampton) Joe Hart (Manchester City) Defenders . Leighton Baines (Everton) Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) Phil Jagielka (Everton) Phil Jones (Manchester United) Luke Shaw (Manchester United) Chris Smalling (Manchester United) Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) Midfielders . Ross Barkley (Everton) Michael Carrick (Manchester United) Fabian Delph (Aston Villa) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Adam Lallana (Liverpool) James Milner (Manchester City) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur) Theo Walcott (Arsenal) Forwards . Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) Kane has scored eight times in 10 games for the England Under 21s, earning promotion to the senior squad . Roy Hodgson named his England squad for the games against Lithuania and Italy on Thursday . Fabian Delph has been included in the England squad after a series of good displays for Aston Villa . Delph won his first caps last year when he played under Hodgson in the Euro 2016 qualifiers . Hodgson also spoke about his future and admitted that he did not want to outstay his welcome as national team coach beyond his present deal, which ends in 2016. He added: ‘What I really want to do is the job I am contracted to do. I hope this team and this group of players will develop. I believe we will be in a good position to qualify. 'I am pleased the major disappointment of the World Cup will be behind us. 'This is a magnificent job. At the moment the players and the people who employ me are comfortable, I don’t need to look forward to anything else. I don’t want to outstay my welcome.’ England top their qualifying group after winning all four of their opening fixtures ahead of the Lithuania game . Wayne Rooney converts a penalty against Slovenia in England's last competitive game, which they won 3-1 . +Lionel Messi just keeps on finding new ways to stake his claim for status of greatest player ever. He's done the two-goal games, the three-goal games, even the four-goal games; throughout Spain on Thursday he was being hailed for a game he didn't even score in. The victory over Manchester City was being seen as the most one-side 1-0 in the history of 1-0 wins and the man who set up the winner was given Man of the Match in all the reports of Barcelona’s passage to the last eight. It was a game in which, for once, he had broken no records…only Manchester City's spirit, with a mesmerising display that left them doubting if they were worthy of being on the same pitch as him. Lionel Messi joins in the celebrations with Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez after the first-half goal . Messi taunts the Man City defence on the edge of the penalty area during a classy performance . Messi delivered a man of the match performance as he ran the City defence ragged at the Nou Camp . Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo hailed the 'Fantasic' Lionel Messi after his 'masterclass' against Manchester City that included 'nutmegs, dribbles and an assist', while he also featured on the front cover of Sport . Messi does that to opponents, not just bamboozling them with skill but undermining any confidence they may have that they can live with him. 'The best I've ever seen' said Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba called it ‘another recital’ but in truth players don’t like what’s known as ‘the Messi question’ because whatever answer they give is going to be inadequate alongside the man they are trying to describe. ‘I'm just glad he plays for us said Luis Enrique'. The two nutmegs – one on Fernandinho and one on James Milner – reminded many of something the coach said before he managed Barcelona. He said that Messi stands out from the rest not because he necessarily does anything different to other players, but that he does it in big games against big name rivals. All footballers grow up being able to belittle far inferior rivals – they do it on the school playground against other kids first, then in youth academies against youngsters with less talent, and then eventually in training as senior professionals against the reserve-team centre-backs. But Messi, in contrast, does it against internationals in big matches all the time. James Milner approaches Barcelona star Lionel Messi during their Champions League tie on Wednesday . Messi slips the ball through Manchester City midfielder Milner's legs at the Nou Camp . It’s easy to laugh at his Manchester City victims but they are just two more of a long line as Messi takes playground football on to the big stage and runs rings around everybody just as in those grainy videos of him aged six and seven playing Baby-Football in Argentina. It was fitting that Pep Guardiola was looking on on Wednesday night. The Bayern Munich coach was there with a view to scouting potential quarter-final opponents. It was Guardiola who transformed Messi from a wide attacker in Barca's front three to a deep-lying attacker – the famous false nine. Anyone who thought that would be the last Messi innovation was wrong – who knows where the Argentine was playing last night? He now has complete freedom to go where he wants on the pitch and spends large chunks of games with a deep right-sided midfield spot as his starting position. That was where he found himself when he seemed to draw the entire Manchester City side to him in the first half, just before he released Ivan Rakitic for the goal that won the game on the night for Barcelona. Milner slides as Messi nutmegs him and goes the opposite way during their Champions League match . Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola reacts to the nutmeg in the stands at the Nou Camp . Bayern Munich manager Guardiola reacts to the ridiculous skill from Messi during the Barca match . The new ‘more roving than ever’ role even begs the question is it time for coaches to start trying to man-mark him? That in turn begs another question – would he have been so good in the age of cynical man-marking that allowed hatchet-men to scythe down great players without punishment? That variable always needs to be factored-in to comparisons between him and Diego Maradona. On Thursday in Barcelona the over-riding sentiment was: It’s good that football is not like that anymore, and we can enjoy Messi the magician to the absolute maximum. +Arsene Wenger has insisted there is no European crisis for English clubs despite a second year out of three with no representatives in the last eight of the Champions League – but he does believe it is time to change the away-goals rule. Arsenal and Chelsea both crashed out of the competition on away goals in the first knockout stage, beaten by Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. Wenger, however, has long championed a change to the rule. Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League on away goals despite beating Monaco on Tuesday . Monaco scored three away goals at the Emirates which proved to be the difference in the tie . If at the end of two-legged tie the score is level, the team that has scored the most goals away from home is declared the winner. For example, Monaco beat Arsenal 3-1 away from home before losing 2-0 in Monte Carlo. With the score tied at 3-3, Monaco progressed courtesy of having scored on more goal on their travels. 'That's a rule that's outdated now and should be changed,' the Arsenal boss said. 'It should count maybe after extra-time. It was created in the 1960s to get teams to attack away from home. 'Since then football has changed and the weight of the away goals is too big today. Maybe count it after extra-time like in the League Cup in England. 'I think the quality of Premier League is high and physical demands are extreme but I'm not in the mood to analyse too much what's wrong with English football. I don't think there's a lot wrong.' Wenger must pick up his players ahead of Saturday's game at Newcastle as the battle for a top-four finish in the Premier League continues. He added: 'The mood is down and we are disappointed. The tie lasted 180 minutes and we were not cautious enough in the first 90. We know why we went out, it's down to a dreadful defensive performance in the first leg. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wants the away-goals rule changed in European competition . Manchester City were the third English club to be knocked out at the last-16 stage after they lost to Barcelona . 'We must focus on next targets and we have to continue to improve. We are better today than four months ago. 'Let's keep that attitude. There's a fantastic spirit and great quality. Let's rectify what we didn't do well in first game and continue to improve. 'We've won 13 of the last 15 and that's down to quality and improvement. We are not in a transfer period. Ninety-five per cent of the players will still be here next season and what is important is their attitude and improvement. We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and in a strong fight in the Premier League. We can do that straight away on Saturday. 'We're on a good run. We won the game in Monaco. We're frustrated and disappointed to go out but that's down to our home performance especially on the defensive front. We were a bit unlucky as well. If you look at shots on target by Monaco in the two games they've been quite efficient.' +When Frank Lampard came on as a late substitute for Manchester City on Wednesday night he broke the record for most appearances in the knockout stages of the Champions League. The former Chelsea midfielder was thrown on in the 87th minute by manager Manuel Pellegrini, in what is likely to be his last ever Champions League game, as City were dumped out by Barcelona after a 3-1 aggregate defeat in the last 16. It was Lampard's 52nd match in the latter stages of Europe's top club competition moving him one clear of a group of four players. Frank Lampard came on as a late sub on Wednesday to make 52nd Champions League knockout appearance . Lampard is unlikely to add to his tally as he prepares to join New York City in the summer . Cristiano Ronald Ronaldo will overtake Lampard if he plays in both legs of Real Madrid's quarter-final . Iker Casillas could also overtake the former England international following completion of the last-eight tie . Real Madrid pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas, Barcelona midfiedler Xavi and Manchester United goalkeeper Victor Valdes are all tied on 51 appearances in the knockout stage. Lampard, who won the competition with Chelsea in 2012, is only likely to hold the record for less than one month with Ronaldo, Casillas and Xavi, to a lesser extent, set to feature for their sides in next month's quarter-finals. Former England international Lampard will join New York City in the summer and, barring an unlikely return to Europe, will not get the chance to add to his tally of Champions League knockout games. John Terry and Andres Iniesta are the only other two players in the top 10 that are still playing, while Lionel Messi just misses out on the list. The Barcelona forward is on 45 appearances, however, and is almost certain to make his way towards the top in the coming seasons. Lionel Messi is currently on 45 knockout appearances and should make the top 10 after the quarter-finals . Xavi was an unused sub against Man City but could still add to his tally this season . +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes his side cannot expect to just defend deep and look to hit Manchester United on the counter-attack if they are to secure safe passage into the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Monday night. The Gunners head to Old Trafford on the back of a fine run in the Barclays Premier League, with sevens win in the last eight games putting them third, now a point ahead of United. The last time Wenger took his side to Manchester at the end of January, they produced what many believe was a pivotal defensive-minded display to beat City 2-0. Danny Welbeck battles for the ball with Calum Chambers as Arsenal trained ahead of their trip to Old Trafford for Monday night's cup tie . Arsene Wenger is confident his team can beat Manchester United by playing attacking football as they seek to defend their title . Theo Walcott holds off Nacho Monreal as Arsenal trained on Sunday at their London Colney training ground to prepare for Old Trafford . Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lets fly with a shot, as Arsene Wenger promised his team would attack against Louis van Gaal's United side . Wenger says his side won't try and sit deep when they face United on Monday night, despite the recent success of that tactic . Wenger, though, maintains a concentrated rear-guard action alone will not be enough to see off Louis van Gaal's side, who continue to grind out results despite a wave of criticism over their style of play. 'At Manchester City, we scored the first goal, then we were on a defensive foot because they had to come out, and that (who scores first on Monday night) is not predictable today (before the game),' said Wenger. 'But what is for sure is both teams will go for it, so that means we will have to attack well and defend well.' Arsenal won against City despite having only 35 per cent possession. Wenger knows it is more about what you do when you have the ball than how long you keep hold of it. The Gunners squad are put through their paces as they look to reach Wembley for the third time in two years . Francis Coquelin, whose return to the club from loan has coincided with Arsenal's good form, runs with the ball during training . Arsenal's World Cup winning playmaker Mesut Ozil has been in top form since returning from injury, and has never lost an FA Cup game . Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez, who scored a brilliant goal in midweek against QPR, prepares for his first trip to Old Trafford . 'You have to analyse it. You also have to look at ways of possession - is it in your own half or is it in the opponents half? If it is in your half, it can be a bit illusionary possession,' said the Arsenal boss. 'I still think possession is an important part of the game - you cannot go into a game and say you do not want the ball. 'Sometimes you do not have the ball because your opponent is better, sometimes you are leading 1-0 or 2-0 and your team is focused on defending the advantage. Aaron Ramsey goes for a sprint during the Sunday-morning training session at the Gunners' Hertfordshire base . Coquelin, playing with a mask after breaking his nose in last weekend's win over Everton at the Emirates stadium, stretches out . Per Mertesacker, whose place in the Arsenal team was in doubt before an injury to Gabriel, gestures to his team-mates during the session . Tomas Rosicky attempts to control the ball as Walcott, Mertesacker and Ramsey watch, as the Gunners players enjoyed themselves in training . Laurent Koscielny puts in the effort with a sprint as Wengers' team got ready for the vital game at Old Trafford . Arsenal's highly-rated Irish 17-year-old Dan Crowley trained with the first team ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final . 'But overall I still think it is very important that the sport rewards people and teams who take initiative.' Despite the inconvenient kick-off time for the final televised FA Cup quarter-final, Arsenal expect some 9,000 supporters to make the journey to the north-west. Two trains have been specially charted to help get fans back to London after the match, while the club have also subsidised 19 coaches. +Tottenham Hotspur winger Erik Lamela is clearly enjoying his mini-break from football as he enjoyed dinner with his family in Spain. He posted a picture of the Lamela clan to his Instagram account along with the caption: 'Visiting family in Spain, enjoying my day off. Hello to everybody. #españa #galicia #villalba' The Tottenham players are currently enjoying a few days off and are not back in action until Sunday's clash against Manchester United. Erik Lamela took to Instagram to show fans his family as they enjoyed a meal while away in Galicia, Spain . Lamela, who joined the north London club from Roma in 2013, helped Spurs go sixth in the Premier League on Saturday as they beat relegation candidates QPR. The Argentinean only managed 11 minutes of the London derby, but it didn't stop him from jetting out to Galicia for a relaxing break. Pochettino's side can go level on points with Louis van Gaal's Manchester United if they can beat the Red Devils at Old Trafford when they return to action on Sunday. Lamela in action against Chelsea during Tottenham Hotspur's Capital One Cup final clash at Wembley . Tottenham can go level on points with Louis van Gaal's Manchester United with a win on Sunday . +Jonny Evans starts a six-match ban for spitting on Monday night even though the Manchester United defender continues to protest his innocence. Evans would have played in Monday evening’s FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal but he will also miss the semi-final in April should United win. A disciplinary panel ruled that Evans and Newcastle rival Papiss Cisse had spat at each other in an incident missed by referee Anthony Taylor. Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the Newcastle United striker, who then retaliates . Evans and Papiss Cisse clash near the half-way line at St James' Park following the unpleasant exchange . Manchester United defender Evans received a six-match ban from the FA after the ugly incident . Tempers threatened to boil over as team-mates from Newcastle and United gathered following the incident . Arsenal (h) Monday night, FA Cup*; . Tottenham (h) March 15 . Liverpool (a) March 22 . Aston Villa (h) April 4 . Man City (h) April 12 . Chelsea (a) April 18  (*Possible replay or FA Cup semi-final could mean he is available for the Chelsea game) Cisse admitted the offence and apologised but Evans insisted he had not done anything wrong. The FA disagreed and, in a statement, said: ‘Mr Evans denied the charge but it was found proven.’ The incident, during United’s 1-0 win at St James’ Park on Wednesday, was not seen by referee Taylor or his assistants, but was caught on TV. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the footage last Thursday and agreed the players should have been sent off, prompting the FA to bring a charge. An independent regulatory commission heard the charge and decided both players should be banned. Cisse, 29, pleaded guilty and issued an apology for his part in the incident. He was suspended for an extra game as he was banned in December for elbowing Everton’s Seamus Coleman. By contrast, Evans, 27, had denied the charge on Thursday, saying: ‘I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse.’ There is no right of appeal so Evans will not be able to contest the decision by the three-man panel . +Camille Muffat, an Olympic swimmer who won gold at London 2012 and is a former world record holder, has reportedly died in the helicopter crash . Ten people including two French Olympians who competed at London 2012 have been killed after two helicopters crashed in midair in Argentina on Monday. Camille Muffat, 25, a swimmer who won gold in the women's 400m freestyle in 2012, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, 28, who won bronze in Beijing in 2008, and sailor Florence Arthaud, 58, are all reported to be among the dead. They perished alongside five other French nationals who are all thought to have been taking part in survival show Dropped, and two Argentine pilots after a horror-crash. A statement from local government officials identified the remaining victims as Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert and Edouard Gilles, as well as Argentine pilots Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate. The accident happened at around 5pm on Monday shortly after the two aircraft took off in a mountainous region of La Rioja, in Argentina's north west. Rebecca Adlington and Amir Khan were among those to have paid tribute. Great Britain's two-time Olympic champion Adlington wrote on Twitter of the 25-year-old on Tuesday: 'So sad and shocked to wake up to hear the tragic death of Camille Muffat. She was an amazing sportswoman, competitor and lovely person. Scroll down for video . Alexis Vastine, a boxer who won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (left) and Florence Arthaud, who won the transatlantic sailing race Route du Rhum in 1990, were also reported to have been killed . Ten people, including eight cast of a French reality TV show and two Argentine pilots, have died after their helicopters collided over a mountain range in La Rioja province, officials say . This is believed to be the last picture of the three Olympians (on the right) before the crash . Camille Muffat, 25 . The Swimmer won a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal at London 2012, finishing ahead of Rebecca Adlington to win the 400m freestyle. A former World record holder over 400m and 800m, she was also a World and European champion. Alexis Vastine, 28 . Won Bronze at the Beijing Olympics light welterweight boxing. He lost in controversial fashion in the London games. Florence Arthaud, 57 . A sailor who won the Route du Rhum in 1990, Arthaud had survived a car crash aged 17 which left her in a coma. 'My thoughts go out to not only all her friends and family but to all the family and friends of all the 10 victims. Its an extremely sad day. 'RIP Olympic Champion Camille Muffat. You will be dearly missed. X' Twenty-eight-year-old Vastine claimed light welterweight bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, while 57-year-old Arthaud was considered one of the world's best sailors. Khan, who secured a lightweight silver medal for GB at the 2004 Olympics before going on to become a pro world champion, told Press Association Sport: 'I'm very sad to hear of the passing of Alexis Vastine. 'I had the pleasure of competing against him in the amateurs and would like to send my deepest condolences to all his family and friends during this difficult time.' Disel Cuneo, government spokesman for the province, said: 'There are several French nationals among the victims. So far we only know of two Argentine victims.' Another provincial spokesman, Horacio Alarcon, said that the two helicopters appeared to have collided during filming. 'There are no survivors,' he added. Camille Muffat was a former world record holder for the 400m women's freestyle from 2012 until 2013. She won gold during the 400m freestyle at London 2012, earned silver in the women's 200m freestyle, and a bronze as a member of the women's 4×200m freestyle relay. She was the third Frenchwoman in history to earn three medals in a summer or winter Olympic Games and was named the 2012 French Sportswoman of the Year. It is thought that the two craft crashed into one another during filming for a survival show which was taking place just after 5pm local time . Alexis Vastine won bronze for boxing in the Light Welterweight category at the Beijing Olympics, and competed at London 2012, but was knocked out in the quarter finals. Florence Arthaud was regarded as one of the world's best sailors, and won the Route du Rhum, a transatlantic single-handed yacht race that takes place every four years. She took first place in 1990 with her boat Pierre 1er. Sylvain Wiltord, a 40-year-old former Arsenal footballer who won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups, was in the show, but was not on board either of the helicopters. Wiltord tweeted early this morning: 'I am sad for my friends, I'm trembling, I'm horrified, I have no words, I don't want to say anything'. 'The brutal demise of our compatriots is an immense sadness,' said French President Francois Hollande in a statement published on the website of the French daily Liberation. Irish boxer Paddy Barnes, who also won Bronze in 2008, tweeted of his shock at hearing about Vastine's death. The crash happened close to the village of Villa Castelli in the Andes mountain region of La Rioja province . A spokesman for the local government said that weather appeared to have been clear at the time of the crash, adding that there was no further information on what caused the accident . 'RIP Alex Vastine! French Olympic boxer who won a bronze medal in Beijing 2008! Trained with him many times, terrible news!' he wrote. Alain Bernard, 31, and another swimmer who won gold at the London Olympics is also among the show's survivors. The group were taking part in a French version of the Swedish survival show Dropped, in which athletic celebrities are abandoned in harsh environments and left to survive. On the website of Zodiak Media, who produce the show, it says: 'With no food, no map, and no help, [contestants] must make their way through unforgiving landscapes, in a race to find civilisation, and a helicopter to take them to the next location. 'A daily radio message from the show's host is their only indication as to how far they've gone. Each week, the losing team faces an elimination challenge, until only four contestants remain.' Mr Alarcon said the weather conditions were good and the cause of the crash was unknown. No further details have been released on the identities of the victims, thought it has been reported by local news stations that one of the pilots was from the province. Images on Argentine television showed the wreckage of the two helicopters lying in flames on the barren scrubland. The helicopters were flying over Quebrada El Yeso and Quebrada Condado, two locations in the mountain region of La Rioja, located 700 miles north of the capital Buenos Aires. It is thought that one of the vehicles belonged to the regional government, while the other came from the nearby Santiago del Estero province. +Of all the players Manchester City might have expected to drive the final nail into their Champions League coffin Ivan Rakitic was a long way down the list, but it was the former Sevilla midfielder who got the goal on Wednesday night. Here MailSport takes a closer look at the Croatian midfielder more than proving his worth in his first season at the Nou Camp. Ivan Rakitic superbly lifts the ball over the on-rushing Joe Hart to give Barcelona the lead against Man City . Rakitic loops the ball over Hart and past Vincent Kompany to earn Barcelona a 1-0 lead at the Nou Camp . When he signed in the summer what was the reaction? There was no hysteria but it was considered a welcome addition for two reasons – firstly they need midfielders after selling Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea and Thiago to Bayern Munich, and second Rakitic was, along with his fellow countryman Luka Modric, the best midfielder in La Liga last season. Is he an improvement on the aforementioned Fabregas and Thiago? Thiago has the potential to be the best of the three but appalling luck with injuries has stalled his career. Is Rakitic better than Cesc? Probably not but he has many of the same characteristics so that has made him a worthy replacement. The Croatia international challenges for the ball with Manchester City midfielder James Milner . Rakitic was brought to Barcelona from Sevilla for £14million to replace Cesc Fabregas, who joined Chelsea . And those characteristics are? He is versatile in as much as he can play behind the striker and score goals as he did regularly for his former club Sevilla and he can play deep in front of the centre-back as he also did, although less so for his former team, and as he did for Barça last Saturday away at Eibar. Much like his compatriot at Real Madrid Modric, he can tackle, pass, and shoot. He’s a very complete midfielder. Who brought him to Spain? Sevilla signed him from Schalke for €2.5m. It was another work of genius from the club’s Sporting Director Monchi because within a very short space of time it was clear Rakitic was destined for bigger things and would make the club a tidy profit. Rakitic (laying down on left of trophy) captained Sevilla to Europa League glory in 2014 . Rakitic was born in Switzerland but plays international football for Croatia . Did he consider England? His wife, Raquel Mauri, is a hairdresser from Sevilla, and so he preferred to stay in Spain. When Barcelona came calling it was a no-brainer. He was close to going to Chelsea as a 16-year-old but his father advised him to move to Schalke instead. The language was not going to be a problem wherever he went because the Swiss born Croatian international speaks five languages. And his battle with Modric will be one to look out for on Sunday? It will. And even more so because Rakitic was denied the chance to face his international team-mate in the first Clasico of the season because he was left out of the starting eleven. Rakitic is mobbed by his Barcelona team-mates after opening the scoring against City on Wednesday . Midfielder Rakitic is joined in celebration by Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jnr . How did that work out for Luis Enrique? Badly. Many had tipped the coach to resist the temptation of giving Luis Suarez his debut after so long out, move Iniesta forward to the front three and bring in Xavi alongside Rakitic. Instead Luis Enrique dropped Rakitic despite the fact that he had been playing well and lined Xavi up alongside Andres Iniesta. ‘They are great players but they are not getting any younger,’ Paul Clement told me after the game. Barca started well but lost control of midfielder and ultimately the match. Without Rakitic they were completely out-run in the middle of the park. When he is at his best, he is their engine. Now he’s back in the team for good? He didn’t start against Malaga and Barca lost 1-0. He then played and scored against Granada. He is becoming a leader on the pitch and has bought into the ideas of sacrifice and generosity at Barcelona having been very much the talisman of the team at Sevilla. When he scored against Grandada he approached the bench to dedicate the goal to his best pal in the dressing room – the German keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and he even said of Luis Enrique: ‘He knows what he is doing, we have to trust in him.’ Former Sevilla and Schalke midfielder Rakitic attempts to escape the attention of Yaya Toure . +Tim Sherwood has told Carles Gil to prove on the training pitches he is worth a starting place for Aston Villa. The Spanish winger, bought for £3.25m by Paul Lambert in the January transfer window, has played one minute in the last three games. Sherwood has preferred Scott Sinclair and Charles N’Zogbia but told the 22-year-old he could still feature in the season climax. Carles Gil has only played one minute in Aston Villa's last three games under Tim Sherwood . The Villa boss says the Spanish midfielder, signed for £3.25m in January, must prove his worth in training . ‘I preferred someone else, it’s up to Carles to prove on the training field he warrants a place,’ said Sherwood. ‘Everyone up for selection and has a chance to play until the end of the season. It’s my choice who plays and doesn’t. Everyone has to remember I am picking team to win a game but it’s nothing personal. ‘I think Aston Villa are more capable of challenging towards the top half but we’re not in that situation. Who is best equipped to get out of a relegation battle? That is something I am still trying to decide.’ Gil watches on with West Brom striker Brown Ideye as a fan invades the pitch at Villa Park on Saturday . +Police arrested former Premier League footballer Calum Davenport for allegedly assaulting one of his own team-mates after a local league match in Bedfordshire. Davenport, 32, a former England Under 21 defender who played for West Ham, has been bailed by officers after a man in his 30s received head injuries in the away changing room at Cranfield United. Both men were playing for Elstow Abbey FC and Davenport had been sent off. Calum Davenport (pictured here in 2009) was arrested for allegedly assaulting his team-mate . Davenport was arrested after playing for Elstow Abbey at Cranfield United (ground pictured above) Village football club Elstow play in Division 1 of the Bedfordshire County Football League . His Premier League career ended in August 2009 when he was stabbed in the legs by his sister's boyfriend. Ed Frost, chairman of Cranfield United told the Bedfordshire on Sunday: 'The incident occurred in the away changing room between away players, it was isolated there and didn't spill over into the club house. 'This followed a tense game between two teams at the top of the table, in which Mr Davenport was sent off in the latter stages.' An ambulance spokeswoman said: 'The East of England Ambulance Service Trust was called to an incident on Crawley Road at 3.32pm on Saturday, March 14. Davenport had spells at West Ham and Tottenham but struggled to hold down a first-team place at either club . 'An ambulance was called to a man in his 30s with a suspected head injury and who was taken unwell. He was taken to Bedford Hospital for further care.' Bedfordshire Police have bailed Davenport until April 17. The defender started his career at Coventry before joining Tottenham for £1.3million but he only made 20 appearances over three years and spent time on loan at West Ham, Southampton and Norwich. Davenport joined the Hammers permanently in 2007 but was again farmed out on loan, to Watford and Sunderland. He spent two years with United Counties team Wootton Blue Cross in a bid to regain fitness ahead of a return to the senior game which never transpired. In 2009, Davenport was charged with assaulting his sister during an incident in which he was stabbed in both legs. He was later cleared of all charges. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +England prop Mako Vunipola will be gripped by anticipation as Saturday's decisive RBS 6 Nations clash with France nears its climax, knowing he could have a critical late role to play. Wales and Ireland are also competing for the title on an afternoon of staggered kick-offs that promises a nerve-shredding conclusion to a Championship that will almost certainly be decided by points difference. Favourites England are in the driving seat as they will be aware of the target they require if they are to lift a first piece of silverware under head coach Stuart Lancaster, raising the prospect of a pivotal final quarter at Twickenham. Mako Vunipola (right) is anticipating a tense Six Nations finale when England play France on Saturday . Stuart Lancaster's England side could win the Six Nations, with the World Cup later on in the year . Vunipola cold be unleashed to help England get extra points against France in the final moments of the game . It is in the midst of this scenario that explosive front row Vunipola will be summoned from the bench and ordered to wreak as much havoc as possible for the brief time he is on the pitch. 'The last 15 minutes against France could be the most crucial spell of our Six Nations so far, so we know we have to come on and make a difference,' Vunipola said. 'As a bench we're always trying to have an impact on the game. When you're coming on in the last 10-15 minutes, there can't be any excuses like you're tired. 'Every replacement player gets restless in that second half. We all want to get on as soon as possible and get ourselves into the game. 'Around the 60-minute mark you're on the edge of your seat waiting for the coach to give you the heads-up, but you have to try and stay relaxed and composed until you get the call. 'When you go on, the first thing to do is ensure the set-piece is stable and then try to get involved as much as possible, get your hands on the ball, make tackles, get around the pitch and make an impact. 'The bench has a massive role to play in the game now. It's not just about the XV, it's about the 23-man squad. 'France have world-class players on their bench who come on and make a massive difference for them. We have to make sure we do the same.' Vunipola will operate in the eye of the storm as the giant English and French packs slug it out over 80 minutes in search of the foothold that will propel their team to victory. Vunipola feels France players such as Romain Taofifenua (left) and Alexandre Flanquart will be a hard test . Vunipola says France's physicality will provide a challenge for England as they look for Six Nations glory . Lock Courtney Lawes has described Les Bleus' forwards as 'big dudes' and Vunipola insists the Red Rose must be ready to fight fire with fire as they seek to end a sequence of three successive runners-up finishes in the Six Nations. 'We've seen the threat France pose with their pack and they have some big, heavy boys with an all-round game, but their set-piece is their bread and butter,' Vunipola said. 'As a pack we have to stand up to them first and foremost and then challenge them with our all-court game. 'I think they're the biggest pack we play against. Uini Atonio (tighthead prop, 6'4' and 25 stones) is a big boy and you don't want him running at you at full pace. 'They have some big boys, but we have some big boys ourselves so we have to stand up to them and match them in terms of physicality. 'These big forwards nowadays are massive but they can still get around the pitch.' Vunipola also referred to the threat posed by France's tighthead prop Uini Atonio ahead of the encounter . England start as pre-match favourites and are 4/5 to win the Championship, but Vunipola insists they must be pitch perfect if he is to celebrate winning the title alongside brother and team-mate Billy. 'Winning the Six Nations has been our target and to do it would be massive. We lost to Ireland but now have another chance to do it. We will have to perform at our best to beat France,' Vunipola said. 'Just to win the Six Nations is special. The added bonus would be that my brother will be there. It's added motivation for us to go out there and perform.' +Manchester City got straight back to business after their disappointing Champions League exit as the squad remained in Barcelona overnight and held a session at Espanyol's training ground on Thursday. Manuel Pellegrini's side were dumped out by Barcelona after a 1-0 defeat at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night but were put through their paces ahead of a return to Premier League action. The champions host West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime as they bid to get their title challenge back on track after a shock defeat by Burnley last weekend. Manchester City players trained in Spain on Thursday following their Champions League exit the night before . The City squad are put through their exercises at Espanyol's training ground in Barcelona . The players were given no time to mull over their European exit after they were taught a lesson over two legs to find themselves on the wrong end a 3-1 aggregate result. After such a commanding performance by the La Liga leaders captain Vincent Kompany was forced to admit that Manchester City are still a long way behind the very best in Europe. 'The reality is they were a better team, there is no shame in admitting that. For me there is a big, big difference. 'I will just mention Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and then there are the rest of the teams, with Real Madrid probably in between. 'Ultimately we have always said our goal is to become as good as them, but it will take some time. They are really good. Goalkeeper Joe Hart and captain Vincent Kompany train ahead of their Premier League return on Saturday . Samir Nasri shares a joke as Manuel Pellegrini's side prepare to face West Brom at the Etihad on Saturday . 'Bayern Munich and Barcelona are not just Champions League-winning teams, they are World Cup-winning teams as well. They have generations that have played together a long time. 'Of course we want to make up the gap but you just have to be true to yourself. We have the ambition to be as good as they are one day, but it is not going to happen overnight.' City's exit meant that England will not have a representative in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. 'The gap will eventually get closer,' said Kompany. 'Whether it is Arsenal, Chelsea, (Manchester) United, the gap will become closer and I just hope it is us that gets there the first.' Kompany and Hart, who produced a fine goalkeeping display against Barca, take a break from training . City were outplayed in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium three weeks ago but had hoped Hart's late penalty save, which kept the score 2-1, might have proved the tie's turning point. It proved anything but as Barca dominated from the outset, hitting the post within moments through Neymar. Messi was at his inspirational best, setting up Ivan Rakitic's 31st-minute goal and generally running City ragged. It was remarkable the scoreline stayed at 1-0, with Luis Suarez also hitting the woodwork twice and England goalkeeper Hart producing a series of stunning saves in one of the best performances of his career. City might have made the latter stages interesting had Sergio Aguero not had a penalty saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen but they could complain little about the result. Ivan Rakitic beat Joe Hart with a brilliant lob over the City keeper to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at the Nou Camp . The Croatia midfielder celebrates with his team-mates after opening the scoring the hosts . Asked about Hart's display, centre-back Kompany said: 'It was phenomenal. On that side of the pitch I felt we had all the luck we needed to get a result. 'It was probably just the penalty - if we had scored a goal it could have been a different game. It would have been a great way to get back into the tie and it would have been interesting to see what the last 15 minutes would have been like back at 1-1. 'If you want to win against those teams you need a very special performance and a little bit of luck on your side. Then you can beat them, but every team can lose. There is no shame.' Despite progress always seeming unlikely, the defeat is another blow to City's morale after an indifferent spell in the Barclays Premier League. VIDEO Pellegrini disappointed after Champions League exit . Manchester City's players leave the Nou Camp looking glum after being eliminated . Messi tries to take the ball around the onrushing Manchester City goalkeeper Hart . Having fallen six points behind Chelsea, who have a game in hand, it now seems unlikely City can retain their title and their season is in danger of fizzling out. They could even face a battle to hold onto second place as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United gear up for a strong finish. Kompany is determined to ensure that does not happen. The 28-year-old said: 'Forget about Chelsea. We owe it to ourselves, to our fans to have a good end to this campaign. Then again if we finish this campaign as good as we can, maybe there is still something in it. We will have to see. 'It is not in our hands by any means, but we just have to go back and work hard and improve.' +A popular personal trainer from Atlanta was struck and killed by a freight train Tuesday while making a YouTube exercise video. Authorities have named the victim of the fatal accident as 30-year-old Travis Williams, better known as Achilles. Williams was a renowned fitness guru with a large following on social media who often recorded outdoor workout routines for his YouTube channel, which has about 400 subscribers. Scroll down for video . Tragic loss: Personal trainer Travis Williams, better known as Achilles, was pronounced dead after being struck by a freight town in an Atlanta suburb Tuesday . Fitness guru: Williams (left and right) was making a workout video for his YouTube channel when he was struck . Fatal error: The 30-year-old trainer was jumping rope near the tracks in Buckhead, but he underestimated the width of an oncoming train . Accident scene: Williams was hit on the tracks over Roxboro Road near East Paces Ferry . According to police, Williams and a friend were shooting an exercise video near the train tracks in Buckhead when disaster struck. Investigators say the buff 30-year-old trainer was jumping rope while his companion was in charge of the camera, reported 11Alive. While Williams was not on the tracks over Roxboro Road near East Paces Ferry, he apparently underestimated the width of the oncoming train, which ended up sideswiping him. The videographer escaped injury but was knocked off his feet by the impact. The 30-year-old Atlanta resident is survived by his 6-year-old daughter and his girlfriend. Williams' friends and loved ones took to Twitter and Instagram to express their heartbreak. Young dad: The 30-year-old Atlanta resident is survived by his 6-year-old daughter and his girlfriend . Athletic: Achilles Williams was best known for running a private fitness camp in Atlanta called Team Fitness . Ripped and toned: The 30-year-old workout aficionado filled his various social media accounts with photos and videos showing off his impressive musculature . Cedric McCay tweeted: 'RIP Achilles Williams. You Motivated many, many of use to better health.' Dr Kelvin Brown, an Atlanta weight loss expert, tweeted: ‘RIP to a great person and awesome trainer - "The trainer's trainer"’ Achilles Williams was best known for running a private workout camp in Atlanta called Team Fitness. He also had a robust online presence, with nearly 30,000 people following him on Instagram. The 30-year-old workout aficionado filled his various social media accounts with photos and videos showing off his impressive musculature and displaying his athletic abilities. Earlier this week, Williams shared with his followers snapshots of himself snowboarding and performing a gravity-defying handstand. Another life lost: In January, Los Angeles bodybuilder Greg Plitt, 37, was killed by a train that he had tried to outrun during a videoshoot . Williams' loved ones have launched a GoFundme campaign hoping to raise $25,000 towards his final expenses and to help support his daughter. As of Thursday morning, the fundraiser was just $3,000 shy its goal. In January, Los Angeles bodybuilder Greg Plitt was killed under eerily similar circumstances. According to multiple published reports, the 37-year-old model and actor was trying to outrun a Metrolink train in Burbank during the filming of a commercial when he was struck and killed. +FIFA has confirmed the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar will be played on Sunday December 18. The climax of the winter World Cup will take place a week before Christmas - a decision which will allow traditional Boxing Day club matches to take place. UEFA president Michel Platini said the decision was acceptable - but warned that FIFA must now protect four international dates that could be disrupted. FIFA on Thursday confirmed the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar will take place on December 18 . Meanwhile FIFA's executive committee meeting in Zurich has chosen France to host the 2019 women's World Cup over South Korea. The 2022 World Cup is to be played in the winter to avoid the fierce heat of June and July, and it will be a shortened tournament over 28 days instead of the usual 32, starting on November 21. The final on Sunday December 18 is also Qatar's national day. Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce previously insisted that clubs' Boxing Day fixtures would go ahead . UEFA had initially pushed for the final to be as late as December 23 but Platini said he now supported December 18. He insisted however that FIFA now had to re-arrange the calendar to protect up to four international dates that might be affected. Platini told Press Association Sport: 'December 18 is a good date for the final - perhaps December 23 would be too late if you are trying to get all the fans back on December 24. December 18 is fine for UEFA - we can accommodate any changes to the Champions League. The Al-Rayyan stadium is pictured in this artists impression as Qatar 2022 World Cup final date is confirmed . 'But FIFA must now protect the international dates for the national associations - there are four international matches that could be affected and those are the lifeblood for the national associations. 'FIFA must look at the international calendar and make sure those dates are protected for the national associations.' He also welcomed the decision to award the women's World Cup to France. Platini said: 'Everyone in France will be very pleased I am sure - and women's football is growing very strongly in the country.' FIFA's executive committee decided France will host 2019 women's fooball World Cup . FIFA's director of communications Walter De Gregorio said: 'The ExCo decided today that the World Cup as proposed by the task force will be played in November-December, with the final on the 18th of December. 'Based on the proposal of the task force, we're going to try to play in 28 days. That's the decision in principle. Now we have to see with the international match calendar how this might be possible.' He added: 'This is for us, an important step. Finally, we know the end of the tournament. 'It's a Sunday and, by the way, it's the national day in Qatar, so it fits perfectly. 'You have enough time to do your Christmas shopping.' +Tim Sherwood insists senior figures at Tottenham wanted to ‘sacrifice’ England newboy Harry Kane to bring in a foreign striker as recently as January 2014. The Aston Villa manager said he refused to sanction any such move as head coach and instead picked the then unproven centre-forward regularly during the run-in. Sherwood said: ‘There were people at club who wanted to bring in another striker and sacrifice Harry Kane. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. They know who they are. Tim Sherwood was not prepared to 'sacrifice' Harry Kane to bring in an expensive striker last January . Gabriel Agbonlahor and Carlos Sanchez were in good spirits at Bodymoor Heath . Charles N'Zogbia concentrates in training and will be hoping he guide his side away from relegation . Alan Hutton is put through his paces in training as he prepares for Villa's clash against Swansea . Scott Sinclair has been given a new lease of life under Sherwood at Aston Villa . Harry Kane has come on significantly as a player since Tim Sherwood handed him his Spurs debut . The Tottenham striker has been in superb form, earning an England call-up with a string of impressive displays . ‘That’s why they should trust the people who know football within the club and not listen to outside influences who are trying to flog them a player. ‘If they would have brought in somebody last January and his name ended in an ‘I’ or an ‘O’, the fans would have been very excited, but I’m not sure he would have given them the same output as Harry Kane has given.’ Since 2011 Kane has experienced loan spells to varying degrees of success at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester before sparking to life with 26 goals this season. Sherwood insists only Championship clubs would have been interested 14 months ago. ‘A lot of people would have taken him but no one would have put their hand up in the Premier League,’ said Sherwood. ‘That just shows you how far he has come. Everyone will tell you now they always believed he would be a top player. But he had a few loans and a few managers never played him. They’d like him now, wouldn’t they.’ Kane has scored eight times in 10 games for the England Under 21s, earning promotion to the senior squad . Sherwood revealed Tottenham wanted to get rid of Kane when he in charge at White Hart Lane . Sherwood blasted Spurs for selling academy graduates Jake Livermore and Steven Caulker and said it took fans time to warm to Kane. ‘“He’s one of our own”, they never sang that, they’ve only just started and he’s had to perform like Alan Shearer. I chuckle when I hear it,’ said Sherwood. ‘I think it’s ridiculous that you let your homegrown players go,’ he added. ‘I thought it was poor that Livermore should leave, I thought it was poor that Caulker should leave, I’m talking about players who are playing in the Premier League week in and week out. ‘I think it’s wrong for clubs to continually waste money on investing for new players who you don’t know are going to settle. It’s not always about spending money. It’s also about improving the players you have within the squad.’ The current Aston Villa boss persisted with Kane and said selling him was never an option . +Smiles have been hard to come by among the Real Madrid camp of late but as preparations ramped up for their El Clasico date with Barcelona the mood was decidedly buoyant. Under-fire Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo were in full swing during hurdling drills and five-a-side games at the club's Valdebebas training ground on Thursday. Perhaps the air of positivity stems from numbers that suggest despite their recent run of poor form, which has included a 4-3 defeat by Schalke as they scraped through to the Champions League quarter-finals and falling from the top of La Liga, a trip to the Nou Camp could be just what the doctor ordered. Real Madrid's Gareth Bale shows his flexibility at training on Thursday ahead of El Clasico on Sunday . Bale hurdles keeper Iker Casillas and passes with purpose during a spirited session at Valdebebas . Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) pierces team-mates Asier Illarramendi (left) and Alvaro Arbeloa . The facts are that, despite being in the rare position of being underdogs at the weekend, away from home Ronaldo and Bale are Spanish club football's most dangerous forward duo. The Portuguese Ballon d'Or winner and the Welsh winger have more away goals than any other strike partnership, even Lionel Messi and Neymar. Their combined 22 goals in 14 games when not braving the white handkerchiefs of their Bernabeu is leads Messi and Neymar's tally of 18 outside the Nou Camp. Ronaldo has 15 of those and will be keen to catch the Messi, the prodigious Argentine who has been on fire in 2015 with 20 goals in 17 matches in all competition and overtook the Portuguese to be La Liga's top goal scorer. Stats by Squawka . Ronaldo smiles during training ahead of Real's clash with Barcelona on Sunday . Bale has his eyes on the ball and is focussed on a strong performance at the Nou Camp this weekend . Bale, who broke a nine-match goal drought with a double at home in their 2-0 win over Levante, will also be keen to work his way back into favour with Real fans and the Spanish press, who have recently labelled him 'lazy' and a 'ball hog'. Ahead of their trip to Barcelona for Sunday's 9pm kick-off, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti enlisted second division Castilla players Martin Odegaard, the Norwegian wunderkid, and Ruben Yanez to make up the numbers. With Bale and Ronaldo in full flight, only Sami Khedira was missing through a stomach illness while James Rodriguez's foot injury is still on the mend. Bale gets his knees up over hurdles at training on Sunday ahead of the top-of-the-table match-up . Bale (second right) speaks with Real boss Carlo Ancelotti (centre) and Luka Modric (right) on Thursday . VIDEO Bale double silences critics . +England saw their Grand Slam ambitions go up in smoke for another season in Dublin two weeks ago, but Stuart Lancaster's side are still very much in the hunt for the Championship. Lancaster's side will look to bounce back against Scotland on Saturday evening following their disappointing 19-9 loss to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium. Courtney Lawes's return to the engine room is most welcome following England's problems at lineout time against Joe Schmidt's side last time out. Chris Robshaw gets ready to take a pass during England's Captain's Run at Twickenham on Friday . Bath fly half George Ford will be central to England's attack against Scotland . Northampton blindside Tom Wood has recovered from injury to take his place on the bench . Mike Brown (second left) returns at full-back for England after he sat out the trip to Dublin . Bath centre Jonathan Joseph (left) and Geoff Parling get through some stretching at England HQ . Billy Vunipola (left), James Haskell (centre) and Luther Burrell have all retained their spots for Saturday . Saracens No 8 Vunipola and his fellow back rowers will be looking to bounce back against the Scots . Mike Brown returns at full-back following his recovery from concussion and replaces the unlucky Alex Goode who was one of England's better players during the Dublin defeat. Lancaster's men will be looking to unleash two weeks of pent-up frustration on Scotland following their round three loss. Robshaw led his charges through their team-run at Twickenham on Friday, but the squad engaged in much more hostile session at their team base at Pennyhill Park on Wednesday. 'I had to calm it down, blow the whistle at the end and make sure we didn't play the game too early,' Lancaster said on Wednesday. Gloucester centre Billy Twelvetress will once again provide cover from the bench . Backs coach Andy Farrell has demanded England react to their setback in the Irish capital by keeping their title hopes alive against the Scots. 'What happened against Ireland is a massive factor for this game,' England's backs coach said. 'If you put that alongside the fact we are still in with a shout of winning the competition, then those two things together are a pretty powerful thing leading up to this game. Hopefully we'll put in a performance that matters. Kieran Brookes (right), Joseph (second right) and Brown shake a joke during the session on Friday . 'You learn a lot from a loss. Lads who haven't been in that type of position before will have learnt a lot. 'Did we let ourselves down against Ireland? We didn't play our best, but Ireland like most good sides have a way of making an impact on the game and they did that very successfully. 'There is a determination to put a performance in.' Ford works on his kicking as Owen Farrell (left) and Sale Sharks fly half Danny Cipriani watch on . Farrell is hoping his side will improve on their two key shortcomings against Ireland namely their failure to assert their authority at the breakdown and a lack of discipline. 'We're confident about the breakdown and our discipline for this week. They have been big areas that we have worked on,' Farrell added. 'We've worked on all aspects of the game this week, making sure we're ready for all aspects that could happen.' +Lionel Messi was at his brilliant, mesmerising best against Manchester City and the knee-jerkers have been out in full force proclaiming him as the greatest footballer of all time. Steady on, boys and girls. Barcelona’s little big man was just having fun with one of our pot-holed Premier League defences. Lionel Messi (second left) was at his mesmerising best as Barcelona beat Manchester City on Wednesday . Messi (left) takes on Manchester City and England midfielder James Milner in the game at the Nou Camp . Messi was repeatedly denied from getting on the scoresheet by City goalkeeper Joe Hart's excellent display . It was indeed a delight to watch Messi enjoying himself and it was hard to keep a straight face when he made a laughing stock of a player who has been described by his City manager as the complete English footballer. If James Milner really is the complete English footballer that begins to tell us something of what’s wrong with the England football team. Barcelona played football from a different planet to the England of which City are currently champions and Messi was the principle, be-dazzling reason for that. Yet they only won 1-0 when it should have been six and could have been ten and Messi missed his share of those chances. But that is not the reason for resisting the temptation to enshrine him as the best ever. Rather, sublime performances like this perpetuate the riddle as to why he has failed to fully deliver on the greatest stage of all. It is sometimes difficult to evaluate the best of the best when considering players who come from outside the elite footballing countries. Messi (centre) is adjudged to have fallen short of his high level of performance on the international stage . Messi was part of the Argentina squad that finished as runners-up in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Messi has never won the World Cup during his international career and his last chance could be Russia 2018 . But when someone plays for such a major nation as Argentina then World Cup impact weighs upon the calculation, in Messi’s case against him. The tango he danced around poor old City was exquisite to behold but it does not erase the memory of how he fell short – not for the first time at the World Cup Finals – in Brazil last summer. Russia 2018 now represents his last chance to gate-crash this list of the top five players in the history of the beautiful game – and by the way I saw them all: . 1) Pele . Pele won the World Cup three times as a player and scored over a thousand goals throughout his career . Pele celebrates with the Jules Rimet trophy after being part of Brazil's 1970 World Cup winning side . Brazil striker Pele's other two victorious World Cup campaigns were in the 1958 and 1962 tournaments . There can be no arguing with the three World Cup glories, the thousand goals, the rare art of making the impossible look simple, nor that extraordinary ability in the air for the comparatively short man who will be guest of honour at Liverpool v Manchester United this Sunday. And by the way, he was also as hard as nails. 2) Diego Maradona . Not only as mind-boggling to watch on the ball as Messi but capable of winning the glittering prizes single-handed – as he did in lifting Argentina to one World Cup triumph and, when virtually crippled, to the final of another. Diego Maradona celebrates winning the World Cup in 1986 after beating West Germany in the final . Maradona captained the Argentina team to victory at the World Cup in 1986 held in Mexico . Maradona (second right) infamously scored the Hand of God goal against England in 1986 . Forget our English angst about the Hand of God and all the scandals. Remember the genius who also spirited a deeply indifferent Napoli to their only Serie A title. 3) Garrincha . Revered as greater than Pele in Brazil, where they worship above all pure, incredible magic on the ball. Was the divine inspiration for two of his country’s World Cup triumphs, perhaps most notably in 1962 when he assume the mantle of leadership from the injured Pele. Brazil forward Garrincha (left) was held in higher regard by supporters than the iconic striker Pele . Garrincha (left) takes on England player Ray Wilson while in action for Brazil, where he was loved for his skill . Garrincha (left) was renowned for his dribbling ability and inspired Brazil to two World Cup victories . Also the most loved of all Brazilian players, as a bohemian man of the people. 4) Alfredo di Stefano . Can be excused the absence of the World Cup from his portfolio, as he played only six times for Argentina before joining Real Madrid, who had him naturalised in the vain hope that he might galvanise a poor Spanish national team. Don Alfredo was one of only three stars who played in all Real’s winnings of the first five European Cups. Striker Alfredo di Stefano (centre) was described as one of the most complete players ever by Pele . Di Stefano (right) scores for Real Madrid in the European Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 final . Di Stefano poses with five European Cup trophies won during a trophy-laden era with Madrid . He ran the team from midfield, inspiring the dazzling moves which he then arrived in the box to turn into goals. At his greatest when Ferenc Puskas came from Hungary to join him at the Bernabeu. Don’t just take my word for it. Pele and Eusebio are among many who describe di Stefano as ‘the most complete footballer of all time.’ 5) Cristiano Ronaldo . Exempt from our World Cup statute by virtue of playing for second-tier Portugal, yet still did more for his country at Brazil 2014 than Messi for Argentina. Cristiano Ronaldo has fired in goals at a relentless rate during his career at Real Madrid . Ronaldo (right) scores for Portugal in the World Cup Group G game against Ghana at Brazil 2014 . Ronaldo has a physicality that appears to emulate Messi when comparing the two best modern day players . He, too, is blessed with little Leo’s dexterity on the ball but also brings physical power and serious pace to the argument as to which of these Ballon d’Or winning rivals should be the representative of the modern era occupying the final place this list. +A Herediano player was reportedly left requiring hospital treatment after an off-the-ball kick to the head during the CONCAFAF Champions League semi-final between the Costa Rican club and Club America. The feisty game descended into a mass brawl lasting five minutes after Club America midfielder Michael Arroyo left Herediano's Cristhiam Lagos on the floor with a nasty tackle in the 24th minute. However, while players argued the referee missed what is believed to have been an unintentional but full blooded kick at Lagos' head by Club America defender Paolo Goltz in an effort to clear the ball from near the prone striker. Cristhiam Lagos (right) is unintentionally booted i the face by Club America defender Paolo Goltz . The Herediano striker was initially fouled by Michael Arroyo in the 24th minute . A mass brawl between both sets of players erupts on the field after the tackle . While Lagos rolls on the ground, the Club America defender tries to make a clearance . Goltz's attempted clearance connects solidly with Lagos' head in what is believed to be an accident . Lagos lies prone on the floor after being kicked and reportedly fainted in the dressing room later . Arroyo was eventually sent off but Goltz escaped punishment - while Lagos was left nursing a bloodied nose but continued to play on before being replaced by Argentine Jonathan Hansen after 78minutes. According to Diez, Lagos later fainted in the dressing room before being taken to hospital where he spent the night undergoing tests for brain damage. The Herediano club doctor Alvaro Mora later confirmed the 30-year-old had suffered only a broken nose and would soon be released from care, although he is expected to spend a spell on the sidelines. Arroyo received a red card for the initial tackle but Goltz escaped punishment for the missed kick . Lagos played on until the 78th minute but reportedly spent the night in hospital undergoing tests for brain damage before being cleared with only a broken nose . The Costa Rica side went on to win the first leg tie 3-0 after making use of their numerical advantage with two goals from Esteban Ramírez and a late third from Lagos' replacement Hansen on 82minutes. The return leg for a place in the final will take place at the Azteca Stadium on April 8. In the sceond semi-final Montreal Impact defeated Alajuelense 2-0 to . +The Hull City Supporters' Trust has once again called upon the club's owners to abandon plans to change the club name to Hull Tigers. The FA Council rejected owner Assem Allam's attempt to rebrand last year but on Monday an arbitration tribunal ruled that that decision had been put aside. That was due to the involvement of Football Supporters' Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke on the sub-committee which made the initial decision, with the tribunal believing Clarke based his decision only on what members of the City Till We Die supporters group, now part of HCST, wanted - the club's now 111-year-old name to remain unchanged. The Hull City Supporters' Trust has called upon club owner Assem Allam to abandon his name change plans . That means that while the club will remain as Hull City AFC until the end of the current campaign, Allam can now re-apply to change the name again ahead of the new season. But HCST has pleaded with the club's hierarchy to completely abandon their lengthy campaign, believing the tribunal's decision was based on a 'very minor technicality'. 'HCST urges the owners to abandon the name change application once and for all,' read a statement. 'It is clear from the evidence set out in the arbitration document that a strong and compelling case for change does not exist. Hull supporters have publicly stated their opposition to the name change and don't want the 'City' dropped . 'The FA has published a 30-page arbitration document that describes why the FA Council's decision to reject the club's proposed name change has been 'set aside' on a very minor technicality, having rejected most of the arguments offered by the club. 'The Trust is disappointed with this finding - the FA Council made a sound decision made in the interests of football in general, not just those of Hull City supporters.' The statement continued: 'The arbitration document also reveals that the club agreed to present a business case for the change and then failed to do so. We believe this is because there is not and has never been any evidence that 'Hull Tigers' would generate a financial benefit. 'The report also stated that the heavily-weighted ballot of season ticket holders the club ran was 'poor', 'unimpressive' and the outcome was 'unconvincing'.' Fans hold 'City till we die' scarves above their heads during a Barclays Premier League game last season . Allam, however, is regarding the decision of the panel as a major victory and does not believe he even has to submit a new application to change the name. 'The tribunal states, in this case the FA saying no to Tigers, that the decision should be set aside,' he told the Hull Daily Mail on Wednesday. 'That means nothing has happened. 'The application has not been answered. The tribunal says our appeal was successful. That decision to set it aside was unanimous.' A Hull City Tigers sign is displayed at the KC Stadium, and is Allam gets his way it will be 'City' no more . The Egyptian businessman also reiterated that the club will remain for sale until he gets his name-change plans pushed through. 'The club is up for sale as I've said before,' he added. 'There is no change. If I can change the club's name to Hull Tigers then I will stay and develop the club further and further. I have shown it would be a success. 'If it is not Hull Tigers then the club will be sold. What is the problem with that? I could have sold the club already, but I want it to go to a good home.' On the pitch, Hull are fighting a relegation battle while the boardroom battles centre around the club's name . +Lewis Hamilton has spoken of the stresses and intense pressure of competing in Formula One as the world champion posed for the front cover of men's lifestyle magazine Man of the World. The Mercedes driver features in Issue 11 of the magazine hitting the shelves on March 24 as the 30-year-old opens up about his rags to riches story in an intimate interview. Hamilton became a double world champion last season as he drove to victory after an intense season-long battle with team-mate Nico Rosberg, to add to his 2008 success for McLaren. Lewis Hamilton features on the new issue of men's lifestyle magazine Man of the World, which will hit the shelves on March 24 . The double Formula One champion looks back through the rear windscreen as he poses for a picture in issue 11 of the magazine . Hamilton, pictured posing with his British bulldog Roscoe, opens up in an intimate interview in the new issue . The Mercedes driver discusses the intense pressure and stresses of racing in the Formula One championship . The former McLaren driver, styled by Adam Rogers and pictured by Cyrill Matter, poses with bulldog Roscoe . Hamilton and Mercedes got the new season off to the perfect start after the Briton won the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne last Sunday with Rosberg following him across the finish line in a close second as the team dominated the race weekend. During the interview with Spencer Morgan, Hamilton discussed the pressures that drivers have to contend. 'The thing with Formula One is, people perhaps struggle to understand what's going on inside of the driver. There's the stress of millions of people watching. 'You've got the pressure of the massive corporations sponsoring you. And then, on top of it, you put pressure on yourself, because you really want to succeed.' Hamilton celebrates his Australian GP win in front of second-placed Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel who completed the podium . World champion Hamilton stormed to victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix following a dominant performance . Nico Rosberg, who finished runner-up last year, kept Hamilton honest, but in truth he was no match for his Mercedes team-mate . VIDEO Hamilton cruises to victory in Australian GP . 'I want to empower young guys with the same belief I had instilled in me as a kid. Not everyone who gets beaten down by other people can overcome and use those experiences to get stronger.' With all the stresses that come with competing, Hamilton understands the need to relax and unwind during time off and so kits his homes in Colorado and Monaco out with a plethora of leisure activities. 'Of course you have to work, but I like to maximize every day, enjoy it, because you never know when it's your last. 'I'm very, very, very conscious of that, so I just like to make sure I enjoy the time I get, and I like to share it with people. That's why we have the Mega Zone. I like to share it with all my friends.' Rebirth of the Cool | Publication: MAN of the WORLD | Issue: No 11 | Text: Spencer Morgan | Photography: Cyrill Matter | Fashion: Adam Rogers . +A home video from 1988 has revealed that a couple had actually crossed paths 16 years before they were set up on a blind date. Jourdan Barovick was 10 when she was being filmed by her parents coming down a waterslide in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. A boy in glasses aged 13 walks across the video- it is her future husband, Ryan Spencer, reports NJ.com. Scroll down for video . Jourdan Barovick was 10 (ringed left) when she was being filmed by her parents coming down a waterslide in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. A boy in glasses (ringed right) aged 13 walks across the video- it is Ryan Spencer . Jourdan Barovick (far left) when she was 10 and the video was shot . In a strange coincidence Ryan and Jourdan were introduced by 16 years later on a blind date and are now married with three children. The couple, who grew up 45 minutes away from each other, only realized when they were watching old family videos a few years ago. 'We did a complete double-take,' Jourdan Spencer said. 'We paused, we rewound, we paused, we rewound, over and over again. 'We told everyone we knew — and then the tape went missing. We had no proof this whole time.' The video sees the pair at Sesame Place amusement park - Jourdan's mother is standing with her younger siblings, when Ryan strolls past, directly in front of the camera. They met years later (pictured) after being set up on a blind date and they married in 2007 . The pair re-found the video at Christmas last year when it was transferred on to DVD and showed their family who compared the boy in the video to photos of younger Ryan. 'I got a chill at first,' Ryan Spencer said. 'I couldn't believe it was me, and then it became kind of a romantic thing.' After being set up on a blind date they married in 2007 - they have three children - Sophie, six; Max, three and Mabel, five months. They took their children back to the summer spot where they first met - and plan to give them the video as a keepsake when they are older. The couple now have three children - Sophie, six; Max, three and Mabel, five months . +Chelsea have called for an end to sexism in football after footage emerged of fans directing abuse at their club doctor Eva Carneiro. Recordings of fans at Manchester United and Manchester City chanting and shouting obscenities at Carneiro were broadcast by the BBC on Thursday night, leading to an unequivocal statement from the Blues. A spokesman for the club told the Guardian: 'The issue of equality is one we take extremely seriously and we abhor discrimination in all its forms, including sexism. Such behaviour is unacceptable and we want it eradicated from the game.' Recordings of Manchester United and Manchester City fans shouting abuse were shown on BBC on Thursday . Abuse was directed at Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro by opposition fans on seperate occasions . Chelsea have called for an end to sexism in football after fans directed abuse at their club doctor . Campaign group Women in Football is launching an anti-sexism social media drive on Friday and has also contacted all 92 Premier League and Football League clubs asking them to champion female members of staff in their matchday programmes ahead of International Women's Day on March 8. Minister for Sport Helen Grant is supporting the initiative. She said: 'It is absolutely right that we champion and celebrate women who work in the football industry and play vital roles in making the game the success that it is. Demba Ba is treated for a broken nose by Carneiro after being kicked in the face against Newcastle . Carneiro joined Chelsea in 2009 but was promoted to the first team by Andre Villas-Boas in 2011 . 'I want more women to get involved in football across the board and to see it as a great industry to work in. Sexism, in any shape or form, should not be tolerated so I applaud this push to encourage people to report any incidents of sexist abuse and for the promotion of inclusivity across football.' Carolyn Radford, chief executive at Mansfield Town, told the BBC: ‘You are almost made to feel if you should be made to tolerate such abuse. If it was racist language being chanted at me then perhaps people would say something about it, but because it is just banter, so to speak, I’ve got to flick my hair and just accept it.’ Chelsea's Kurt Zouma is tended to by Carneiro as he is stretchered off after a collision in the penalty area . Chelsea keeper Petr Cech goes off injured with Carneiro during the Champions league semi-final in 2014 . Carneiro tends to Diego Costa during Chelsea's Premier League match against Liverpool in November 2014 . Blues first team doctor sits on the bench during the Chelsea's match against Aston Villa in March 2012 . +Hartlepool defender Scott Harrison wasted no time in taking advantage of a stricken referee as he used the official’s vanishing spray during the clash with Oxford United. Referee Patrick Miller tumbled to the deck during the game at the Kassam Stadium before players from both sides surrounded him to check he was alright. However, 21-year-old Harrison saw the incident as his chance to have a go with the spray himself. Team-mate Neil Austin picked up the canister after it had fallen out of the pocket of the official as he fell to the floor. Referee Patrick Miller tumbles to the deck during the game at the Kassam Stadium on Wednesday night . Worried players crowd the official to check his wellbeing following his fall to the turf . But Hartlepool defender Scott Harrison saw the funny side as he had a go with the vanishing spray . Harrison drew a line round the referee as if to show where the fall had occurred at the Kassam Stadium . Harrison's Hartlepool team-mates share a chuckle as the 21-year-old draws the line round the official . Harrison may have seen the funny side, but referee Miller was carried off on a stretcher following the incident . But it was Harrison who took advantage, drawing an outline around the referee as if to show where the foul was committed. Hartlepool are rooted to the bottom of League Two, but team spirit is certainly not an issue as he amused his fellow team-mates. A 2-0 victory was enough to earn the away side all three points on the night as well as give them a slight glimmer of hope of staying in the division. However, it was not such a happy ending for the poor official who left the pitch on a stretcher. +Two of the biggest matches of the season will take place simultaneously next month when the Barclays Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea kicks off 10 minutes after Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final against Reading. The Football Association announced on Thursday that the first semi-final at Wembley between the Gunners and Steve Clarke's men will take place at 5.20pm on Saturday April 18 and be broadcast live on BBC One. That sees it go head-to-head with Sky Sports' evening kick-off between Chelsea and United which is due to start at 5.30pm. Marouane Fellaini (right) looks to take the ball past Gary Cahill during Manchester United's Premier League match against Chelsea at Old Trafford last October . Arsenal players celebrate after beating Hull in the FA Cup final at Wembley last year . The second semi-final between Aston Villa and either Blackburn or Liverpool will be screened by BT Sport 1 on Sunday April 19 with a 3pm kick-off. The afternoon kick-off will be welcomed by fans having to travel back to the north west and midlands on Sunday evening. Arsenal, Reading and Villa have all been allocated 31,500 tickets for the semi-finals with further details to be released following the quarter-final replay on April 8. Jose Mourinho (centre) looks on during Chelsea's Premier League match against Southampton . Aston Villa fans celebrate victory on the pitch after beating West Brom in the FA Cup sixth round . +Joe Hart has revealed that he has been working with a psychologist in order to improve his life both on and off the pitch. The 27-year-old goalkeeper was the standout performer alongside Lionel Messi on Wednesday night as Manchester City were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona. City somehow managed to concede just one goal at the Nou Camp despite a dazzling display from Messi, who was thwarted by Hart on several occasions. Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has revealed he's been working with a psychologist . Hart spoke to Sport magazine about his meetings . Hart told Sport Magazine: 'I've got a relationship with someone who I've worked with for a while. It's a lot of fun. I like what I get out of it. Just generally – it's not necessarily just football and trying to 'unlock doors'. 'It's just general – kind of free-flowing, feeling comfortable and safe to talk. Everyone could benefit from it, really, for life in general.' The goalkeeper feels that having a strong mentality is key to being successful - especially being a goalkeeper. 'You can feel when someone is in a good place and when someone feels good about what they do, the same as I can feel it with strikers. So, to be in a naturally good place is a lot better. 'You've got to believe in what you do and feel comfortable and confident when you go out. Being in the right frame of mind always helps – we all have vulnerable parts, times in our game when you're thinking the worst can happen. But you need to limit them as best you can.' 'I've always kind of accepted in my role as a goalkeeper that making mistakes is going to happen. But turning it into a positive is something that I've improved on, definitely.' England No 1 Joe Hart denies Brazilian ace Neymar as the former Santos man looms down on goal . The England No 1 has been in fine form for his club this season, despite his defence struggling for form, but Hart admitted that making a save isn't quite the feeling as scoring a goal. 'It's a very good feeling,' he says. 'It's a good surge. But the thing with making a save is that you can't run off and slide on your knees. Unless you've caught it, you've either pushed it out into play or pushed it for a corner. It's gone. 'As good as making a good save can be, you've got to be aware that five seconds later you can let one through your hands.' England's No 1 gets down low to deny Lionel Messi during his side's defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp . Despite going out of the Champions League on Wednesday, the 27-year-old made a crucial penalty save against Lionel Messi to keep his side well and truly in it after the first leg. 'Penalties are an easy one to zone in on because it's a one-on-one duel. There's nothing that can be done – it's not like someone can do a sneaky one when you're not looking. 'You try and make the moment as big for them as it is for you. Some people are immune to that, and you're wasting your time. But there's a few people who it might help with. 'Saving one is a good feeling. In my head it's all because of me. But, realistically, they might have just taken a bad penalty or made the wrong decision. Anyone is more than capable of scoring past me from 12 yards, whatever team it is.' Hart saves Messi's penalty during the first leg of the Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium . Read the full interview online at Sport Magazine or read in print in Friday. +Unbeaten UFC champion Ronda Rousey's foray from the Octagon into action films has received rave reviews from Hollywood co-stars including Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez. The UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion has followed up her appearance in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables 3 with a butt-kicking role in the latest Fast and Furious installment. A behind-the-scenes preview shows the 28-year-old American trading some serious blows with actress Rodriguez in what producer Neal H Moritz described as 'one of the best fights we've ever had in the franchise'. Ronda Rousey (right) stars in a girl fight scene with Michelle Rodriguez in Fast and Furious 7 . The UFC superstar has taken another Hollywood role after appearing in The Expendables 3 . Rousey admits she 'can't wait to see the shock factor' following what's been described as one of the franchise's best ever fight scenes . The former Olympic Judo champion has be hailed by the producer and her co-stars . Rousey referred to the clash between the two women wearing expensive gowns in a penthouse suite as 'like a super oestrogen-pumped fight scene and I I can't wait to see the shock factor.' Her celebrity co-stars were equally impressed by the first US woman to win an Olympic gold medal in Judo, at the 2008 Beijing Games. 'I think the Ronda Rousey aspect is the game changer,' said Rodriguez - who finished filming the scene with a high-five congratulations following Rousey's knockout blow. Hollywood actress Rodriguez claims Rousey's appearance in the film is 'a game changer' Rodriguez and Rousey roll around on the floor during the celebrated fight scene . Leading man Vin Diesel claims he always knew Rousey would have 'a very special moment' 'I just love Ronda Rousey and I knew she was going to have a very special moment,' added leading man Diesel. Rousey currently boasts an 11-0 record in the sport having defeated Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds in her most recent contest on February 28. However, she recently quashed talk of the prospect of her ever fighting a male opponent in UFC. 'There should never (be) a venue where we're celebrating a man hitting a woman,' she said. The 28-year-old celebrates after defeating Cat Zingano in her last appearance in the Octagon . +Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed his time in charge at Old Trafford will be his last in football. Van Gaal and his players head to Liverpool on Sunday in an attempt to solidify their current position in the top four of the Barclays Premier League. And the Dutchman has revealed his attempt to bring glory back to United will be his final challenge in the game. Louis van Gaal has announced Manchester United will be his last job before he retires from the game . Van Gaal told The Telegraph: 'I am old. This is my last job. For sure. 'I have to pay attention to my kids, my grandchildren but also to my wife. They deserve it. Now I cannot pay that attention. I was not at the birthday of my grandson for example. I don't like it. 'We have to qualify for the Champions League and we have many tests next year. That also develops the level of your team, and of course how many players can come in to improve our selection.' Van Gaal has not had everything his own way in his first season in English football but already believes he has identified two future managers in his squad. The former Ajax boss won the European Cup with the Dutch giants against AC Milan back in 1995 . The Dutchman took charge of his national side at the 2012 World Cup in Brazil where they impressed . Van Gaal (left) was boss at Barcelona alongside Ronald Koeman and Jose Mourinho (fourth left) in 1999 . 'Wayne Rooney is very open to learn,' he said. 'It's amazing. I don't know if he speaks with his wife Coleen about football, I don't think so. 'But we have the process of talking here. Most of my players of my selection are open and that's very nice. 'Michael Carrick is more or less a trainer-coach. He is also willing to talk about shapes and systems. The United boss intends to finish victorious before his spell at the 'biggest club in the world' comes to an end . 'That's nice. Rooney also. Not every player is very open and then you have to convince him, and then you get a struggle. It works or it doesn't work. Give them time. Also give me time to do it. 'I am the most flexible manager you can imagine. When the players are coming with good arguments, I change my opinion.' United head to Anfield on Sunday having finally abandoned the three-man defensive system that attracted so much debate earlier in the season. Despite using it all through pre-season and in to the competitive campaign, Van Gaal now claims he has settled on a more effective shape. 'I ask also the players which system they want to play,' Van Gaal revealed. 'And then I ask individual players: 'What's your favourite position?' 'First they don't want to answer but now they are more open, and they answer. 'The fans are shouting it (4-4-2). I have played it but that was to do with accidental circumstances. The system we play now is the system that I prefer, that I have played everywhere. The system against Tottenham last weekend is my preferred system. 'When it is needed, then I play with five at the back. Tottenham was 4-3-3 when we had the ball. When we defend it was more 4-1-4-1 yesterday. The next game is different.' +Manuel Pellegrini and his Manchester City squad touched down on home soil on Thursday evening following their Champions League dismissal by Barcelona the night before. The likes of Sergio Aguero, Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta wore pained expressions as they left Manchester airport following their humbling at the Nou Cup. Ivan Rakitic’s 31st-minute strike was enough to secure a 1-0 victory and ease the Catalan giants into the quarter-final of the European Cup with a 3-1 aggregate win. Pablo Zabaleta (left) and Sergio Aguero leave Manchester Airport following their defeat by Barcelona . Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has now lost to the La Liga giants four times during his tenure . Frank Lampard (left) and Bacary Sagna will have little time to rest on their laurels this week . Joe Hart was in inspired form against Barcelona as he thwarted a host of attacks from the Catalans . Aguero had a penalty saved in the 78th minute that would have made the closing stages more interesting, but the reality is that Barcelona threatened to humiliate the Barclays Premier League champions only for a heroic goalkeeping performance from Hart. The squad returned to Manchester late on Thursday evening after they remained in Barcelona overnight and held a session at Espanyol's training ground earlier in the day. The players were given no time to mull over their European exit after they were taught a lesson over two legs by Lionel Messi and Co. Manuel Pellegrini has been beaten four times by Barcelona since becoming Manchester City manager . After such a commanding performance by the La Liga leaders captain Vincent Kompany was forced to admit that Manchester City are still a long way behind the very best in Europe. 'The reality is they were a better team, there is no shame in admitting that. For me there is a big, big difference. 'I will just mention Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and then there are the rest of the teams, with Real Madrid probably in between. 'Ultimately we have always said our goal is to become as good as them, but it will take some time. They are really good.' Ivan Rakitic scores the only goal of the game as Barcelona progress against Manchester City . Rakitic is mobbed by his Barcelona team-mates after his 31st-minute strike in the second leg . Pellegrini echoed Kompany's comments and admitted that Barcelona, with the mesmeric Messi at the helm, are simply a better side than City at present. ‘Messi was imperious - at the moment we have to accept Barcelona are better,' said Pellegrini. ‘It is not a failure, it is a disappointment. We have been unlucky to play Barcelona for two years in a row. We have had a restriction on the number of players we can use in the Champions League.' 'It is very difficult to beat Barcelona, but the statistics I don’t care about. ‘We cannot analyse what we will do next season because it is too soon after this result. We can do that later. ‘It is not easy to play Barcelona. This is the draw, they are very strong. At least we have improved.’ City host West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime as they bid to get their title challenge back on track after a shock defeat by Burnley last weekend. +Matt Scott has demanded Scotland keep their emotions in check against England today as they look to avoid a repeat of last season’s Calcutta Cup humiliation. The Scots were despatched with embarrassing ease at Murrayfield during the 2014 Six Nations, the 20-0 defeat leading to some commentators questioning whether they should remain part of the Championship. Now, having lost their first three matches of this year’s tournament, Vern Cotter’s men head to Twickenham once again in dire straits and with a winless record at ‘HQ’ that stretches back to 1983. Scotland tighthead Euan Murray throws a pass during his side's captain's run at Twickenham on Friday . Scotland hooker Ross Ford leads a passing drill during Scotland's final preparations for Saturday's game . Edinburgh's Greig Tonks will provide three-quarter from the bench at England HQ . However, Scotland centre Scott, recalled to the starting XV at the expense of the luckless Alex Dunbar, believes that the visitors can upset the odds - but only if they avoid the mistakes made 12 months ago. ‘The England game last year was horrible to look back on,’ he said. ‘It was a terrible overall performance. ‘I remember the boys being so fired up for that game and it is funny how we just completely went to pieces. ‘We didn’t play rugby at all back then so this weekend it’s about drip feeding that passion we felt last year but channelled in the wrong way. Last year, we had boys with tears in their eyes in the dressing room before the game. ‘It was an emotionally charged affair, but it’s a professional sport and it should all be about cool heads. ‘There’s a big focus for us on keeping cool this week because there’s a fine line between being like that and letting your emotions run away with you and we certainly crossed it in the wrong way last year. Vern Cotter's squad gather for a team huddle at the end of the session at Twickenham . ‘I took that defeat really badly as it was probably the worst one of my career. ‘I remember the embarrassment of it all and that defeat has been used as motivation this week. There was a lack of structure to our attack, we were all over the place in parts. There was poor execution of kicks, poor decision-making, it just looked really disjointed. ‘We have watched clips this week and we know there are one or two points to prove.’ Scott also revealed that, should the Scots pull off what some would consider the impossible, they would dedicate the victory to stricken team-mate Dunbar. The Edinburgh centre admitted he was ‘devastated’ for his close friend after Dunbar sustained a knee injury that could rule him out of this year’s Rugby World Cup. ‘I am sure it will be tough for Alex to watch knowing that he was meant to be playing in the match today,’ said Scott. ‘It would be a massive get well soon present for him from us if we can bring home the Calcutta Cup for him and that is what we will be trying to do. ‘There is a feeling in the camp of: “Let’s do this for him”. In professional rugby, guys do get long-term injuries but ones like Alex’s does bring us closer together in the sense we want to do well for him. Scotland fly half Finn Russell (left) and full back Stuart Hogg work on their kicking on Friday . ‘I was pretty close to Alex when he got injured on Thursday morning and it was the most innocuous thing as there was nobody near him when he pulled up. ‘The way it happened, he must have played it over in his head 100 times as he was extremely unlucky. ‘I am devastated for him and sent him a message straight after training saying I hoped it was good news but, unfortunately, it wasn’t. ‘In this period leading up to the World Cup you really don’t want anyone to get any long-term injuries. There is a chance he can still make the tournament so I am praying for him to make a speedy recovery.’ Hogg (second left) is all smiles ahead of Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash in London . Scott, for all his honest sympathy and concern over Dunbar, knows his misfortune has given him a chance of making the No 12 jersey his own from now until the World Cup. ‘It has been a tough few months for me personally, not being selected and being injured,’ he continued. ‘Now I have a chance to start for Scotland and want to do my talking on the pitch. ‘I had a great run of starting a lot of games for Scotland earlier in my international career and I was very lucky to do that. Then got a bad injury and it took me a while to get back to where I was. Now, I feel I am back to where I was and am ready to fill Alex’s boots and do him proud. ‘I am pleased to be starting rather than being on the bench as most rugby players will say it is harder to come off the bench. Most games I have played professionally I have started, which is the way I like it. ‘If you are on the bench you don’t know if you are coming on in minute one or minute 79 so you are constantly on edge. At least this time out I can hit the pace of the game straight away.’ +Families are to foot the bill for Sky’s decision to pay £4.2billion for Premier League football rights after the firm sneaked out an inflation-busting price rise on Budget Day. The firm is putting up the price of its Family bundle of channels by nine per cent or £3 a month to £36, or £432 a year. The bundle does not even include its sports channels, which means those who have no interest in football are subsidising Sky’s deal to show Premier League games. Scroll down for video . Sky is putting up the price of its Family bundle of channels by nine per cent or £3 a month, just weeks after it paid £4.2billion for the rights to screen 126 live Premier League football games a season from 2016 to 2019 . Sky paid £4.2billion to broadcast 126 live games a season from 2016 to 2019 in the Premier League . Sky is also putting up the price of its Sports Bundle, which includes a basic range of channels plus seven dedicated to sport, by £1 a month to £47 - £564 a year. Film fans will also be hit with a 50p a month increase in the cost of the Sky Movies package and some £1.50 a month more for the combination of movies and sport. Critics say the price rises appear to be an attempt to recoup the huge sum that will be paid to super rich clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City. Sky paid £4.2 billion to show 126 live English Premier League matches a season from 2016 to 2019. That equates to £11m per game, which is up by 66per cent compared to the current TV deal. Analysts suggested the TV giant overpaid for the football rights in order to fend off competition from BT and others, however it is clear that the pain is now being passed to viewers, whether they like sport or not. When the deal was announced, the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, heralded it as a success story for the nation’s biggest and richest clubs. However, it is viewers who will be funding the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and £200,000 a week contracts of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Yaya Toure, Eden Hazard, and Falcao. The company, which has more than 11m customers in the UK, bid about £300m a year more than analysts had expected in February’s auction. At the time Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s chief executive, said the bill would largely be financed by cost cuts, however, he hinted that price rises would be necessary. Sky suggested its customers would not have to foot the bill for the record Premier League TV deal . This graphic charts the significant rise of domestic Premier League TV revenue from 1992 until 2019 . The timing of the announcement appears designed to limit media coverage. Details appeared on the firm’s website on Wednesday, when the nation’s attention was focused on George Osborne’s Budget. Attempts to reach Sky spokesmen were frustrated by the fact most were at the London premiere of the new season of TV fantasy drama, Game of Thrones. Normally, Sky would announce any price rise in September, however making the announcement then would have coincided with its loss of the TV rights for the Champions League to BT. It would have been obvious to viewers that they were being asked to pay more for less. The inflation-busting increases will come into effect on June 1 and coincide with the middle of the latest series of Game of Thrones. Fans will effectively have to agree to the higher subscription. Sky last increased prices in September with the figure for its Sports Bundle going up by six per cent. That meant the price of its Sports package had risen about 30 per cent above inflation since 2001. The fact it is putting up prices yet again could well drive millions of people to switch to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime, both of which cost less than £7 a month. Viewer reaction to the news was hostile. One contributor to the Engadget website wrote: ‘Hey Sky, I don’t care if you overpaid Premier League, I’m not paying for something I didn’t buy.’ Critics claim the price rises mean viewers will be funding the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and £200,000 a week contracts of the likes of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney (left) and Man City's Yaya Toure (right) Eden Hazard (left) and Manchester U's Falcao (right) are among the other highest paid Premiership players . Another, wrote: ‘If only Game of Thrones was available elsewhere I could cancel.... Surely the sports option itself should pay for the bid?’ A third questioned the rises for the non-sport packages. He wrote: ‘So wait, they’re increasing their prices to cover Premier League costs, yet the sports package is the one that’s increasing least? Way to show your audience who’s important!’ Another said: ‘I think it’s time I dump my Sky subscription. There is now so much competition in the market I can get the same content elsewhere.’ Virgin Media has complained to the TV regulator Ofcom about the way Premier League rights are sold to broadcasters, claiming it leads to expensive subscriptions which do not even provide live coverage of every game. Spokesman, Brigitte Trafford, said: ‘Too many people feel they now have to choose between basic essentials and watching the game they love. If action is not taken to change the way the Premier League sells TV rights, the rapidly rising cost of watching football at home will see even more people priced out of the national sport.’ Sky offered a bizarre explanation for the timing of the announcement, claiming it was necessary to comply with regulations imposed by the Advertising Standards Authority. In fact, the ASA has absolutely no role in the timing of such announcements. A spokesman said: ‘We work hard to make Sky the best value entertainment choice for subscribers. On average, bills will rise by less than £3 per month.’ +France's preparations for their RBS 6 Nations showdown with England on Saturday have been disrupted by confusion over the fitness of fly-half Camille Lopez. Lopez suffered a badly bruised knee in last weekend's 29-0 victory over Italy and has been replaced in the starting XV for the climax to the Championship at Twickenham by Jules Plisson of Stade Francais. Fly-half Camille Lopez (left) talks to with France coach Philippe Saint-Andre on Tuesday . However, head coach Philippe Saint-Andre insisted during Thursday's team announcement press conference that Lopez was only overlooked once it became clear he was uncertain over playing England after speaking to his club doctor at Clermont. 'Lopez trained normally on Wednesday morning. He even kicked,' Saint-Andre said. 'In the afternoon his club Clermont decided that he must rest for four to six weeks. Clermont's medic decided that without seeing him and using only the MRI we sent them. Lopez suffered a badly bruised knee in last weekend's 29-0 victory over Italy . 'We had a chat with Camille then and he was disrupted. I need players who don't doubt. 'Camille didn't have any doubt on Wednesday morning. The doubt came in the evening. Camille goes back to Lyon to meet the specialist he had surgery with in 2013.' Plisson , who impressed off the bench against Italy, added to the mystery surrounding Lopez's condition by admitting it was clear that his rival was destined to start against England. 'We could see at training sessions that Camille was supposed to start the game, but we switched positions a lot at training so that doesn't change anything for me. I have to prove to the coaches they were not wrong picking me,' Plisson said. +Paul Pogba is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in the 27th minute against Borussia Dortmund. Juventus confirmed the midfielder is expected to be out for 50 days after injuring his right hamstring. Pogba's injury could mean he misses the quarter-finals and, if the team qualify, the semi-finals too. Paul Pogba is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury . Pogba is taken off the pitch midway through the first-half as side dumped Borussia Dortmund out . The former Manchester United star has been in fine form for Juventus this season . Massimiliano Allegri may decide to switch to a three-man defence in Pogba's absence with Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo patrolling the midfield. Juventus secured a comfortable victory in their last-16 tie with Borussia Dortmund despite Pogba being forced to leave the pitch in the second leg. Carlos Tevez scored two and set up another as Juventus beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 away to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate victory. It was Dortmund's fourth loss in four European games against Juventus. Carlos Tevez celebrates with Alvaro Morata during Juventus' win against Borussia Dortmund . +The first Thursday of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is something of a national holiday for American sports fans, when office productivity plummets. Also known as March Madness or the Big Dance, the second round of the tournament - which started today - features a hoops extravaganza: 16 games both today and tomorrow, from noon to midnight. The single-elimination bracket-style tournament means every game is a must-win for all 68 schools, producing tense, dramatic finishes. University of Connecticut won the championship title in 2014 against Kentucky. The reigning champs are already out of the tournament this year, having lost to Arizona State University on Wednesday . Upsets are eagerly anticipated as elites like University of Kentucky fend off underdogs trying to spark an improbable run and become the next tournament darling, like last year's University of Dayton. Fanatics, novices and even President Barack Obama are trying to predict the winners of every game by completing an estimated 70million tournament brackets, according to the American Gaming Association — that's more brackets completed than votes Obama received in the last presidential election. Throughout its 77-year history, the basketball tournament has transcended sports to become a national craze. MADNESS FROM THE START . College basketball has long filled the gap in the American sports calendar when baseball and football are dormant. In 1939, Oregon beat Ohio State in the first tournament, which featured only eight teams. The NCAA field kept growing as TV coverage spurred interest. The potential for a David to slay a Goliath set the stage for what remains the most-watched basketball game ever: the 1979 final pitting little-known Indiana State, led by Larry Bird, against powerhouse Michigan State, led by Magic Johnson. The classic game transformed Bird and Johnson into rival superstars and catapulted college basketball into the American consciousness. In this March 27, 1951, file photo, the Kentucky basketball team celebrates winning the NCAA college basketball championship after defeating Kansas State 68-58 in Minneapolis. In 1939, the national title was decided by an eight-team competition . THE BIG DANCE GETS BIGGER . The fledgling ESPN cable network began broadcasting the tournament's oft-ignored early rounds in 1980. The term 'March Madness' was popularized through the 1980s as unlikely champions such as North Carolina State and Villanova captivated Americans. TV ratings skyrocketed, and so did revenue for the NCAA. In 2013, according to the latest figures available from Kantar Media, TV advertising revenue was a staggering $1.15billion. Every game is now on TV and streaming online. The champion must win six games as the field winnows, from the Sweet 16 to the Elite Eight to the Final Four. The semifinals and championship will be played April 4-6 in a football stadium in Indianapolis. In a March 26, 1979 file photo, Indiana State's Larry Bird (33) gives a helping hand to a fallen Magic Johnson of Michigan State during the final game of the NCAA men's basketball championship in Salt Lake City. In 2015, 68 teams will play in 14 venues across the country, every game will be on TV, and the championship game will be played in an NFL stadium while millions of people watch across the country and around the world. AN AMERICAN OBSESSION: BRACKETS! UPSETS! Fans competing in online bracket pools — often for money, though that's technically illegal — had up until the moment the first game tipped shortly after noon Eastern Thursday. Brackets will be busted by unpredictable upsets, like tiny Mercer's dethroning of Duke last year. One of the most famous upsets was achieved in 2001 by Hampton. Who does Kentucky, this tournament's overwhelming favorite, play in its first game? Hampton. That game just happens to be scheduled for prime-time on Friday night. Kentucky is favored to win by 32 points, according to oddsmakers. But in March, anything is possible. Kentucky fans cheer as the team steps on to the court for the first half of the NCAA college basketball against Akransas in the championship of the the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday . +Fiorentina scored three goals in the opening 22 minutes to set up a 3-0 away win over struggling Roma to secure their place in the Europa League quarter-finals, with the all-Italian match-up finishing 4-1 on aggregate. Roma's season is falling apart, with the team having fallen 14 points behind Serie A leader Juventus in the Italian league and at risk of losing second place. A late sending-off for Adem Ljajic for a second yellow card capped a dispiriting night which saw about a hundred of the club's `ultras' leave the Stadio Olimpico after 30 minutes, by which time Roma had conceded three times in a 13-minute span. Gonzalo Rodriguez converts a penalty in the ninth minute to give Fiorentina an early lead . Rodriguez races away to celebrate as the visitors get an early advantage at the Stadio Olimpico . Marcos Alonso celebrates as his 18th minute strike put Fiorentina 2-0 up on the night . Alonso is overjoyed as his strike secures a 3-1 aggregate lead for the visitors in Rome . Jose Basanta completed a remarkable opening 20 minutes for the Viola with a third goal soon after . Basanta is mobbed by his Fiorentina team-mates following his 21st-minute strike . Basanta receives treatment for a cut to the head during following his celebrations . Gonzalo Rodriguez converted a retaken penalty in the ninth minute, after a number of players encroached into the box for the first attempt. Marcos Alonso capitalized on a goalkeeping error to make it 2-0 in the 18th and Jose Maria Basanta headed in when unmarked in the 22nd. Roma captain Francesco Totti, goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis and midfielder Danielle de Rossi led the rest of the team's players over to talk to fans after match. Totti spoke for a long while with the head of the `ultras.' Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic (left) vies for posession with Roma forward Gervinho . Roma supporters burn flares in the stands as their side's Europe League hopes go up in smoke on the pitch . Fiorentina celebrate after they booked their place in the Europa League quarter-finals . +Manuel Pellegrini looks likely to continue as Manchester City manager, in part due to the lack of suitable candidates to replace him this summer. Serious questions are being asked of Pellegrini after another chastening defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League and what has so far been a weak defence of the Premier League title. But although there is deep concern at the Etihad about City’s lack of progress this season, it is understood there are no plans to sack him at the end of the campaign. However, Pellegrini’s position would be untenable if his team finish outside the top four. Manuel Pellegrini looks likely to continue as Manchester City manager for the foreseeable future . The club are already working on summer transfer targets identified by the Chilean - primarily Paul Pogba . The club are already working on summer transfer targets identified by the Chilean — primarily Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba — and the feeling is that he will survive into the final year of his three-year contract as City wait for No 1 target Pep Guardiola to end his spell at Bayern Munich. Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti have been touted as possible replacements, though Simeone is not liked by the City board, while Ancelotti’s links with the club are, according to sources, the result of allies putting his name forward as he looks to find a way out of an increasingly unhappy spell at Real Madrid. Guardiola talks regularly with City chief executive Ferran Soriano and football director Txiki Begiristain, though any switch is unlikely until 2016 when the Spaniard’s contract expires. City, meanwhile, could lose highly-rated head of youth Patrick Vieira. The ex-Arsenal star is out of contract in the summer and no talks about an extension have taken place. The City hierarchy are waiting for No 1 target Pep Guardiola to end his spell at Bayern Munich . Diego Simeone (left) and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti have been touted as possible replacements . City could lose highly-rated head of youth Patrick Vieira, who is out of contract in the summer . VIDEO Pellegrini insists City are improving . +Roberto Martinez insisted Everton had to take collective responsibility for their Europa League embarrassment as he defended his team selection. Everton endured a night of humiliation against Dynamo Kiev and tumbled out after a 5-2 defeat (6-4 on aggregate) in the Olympic Stadium. Their performance was stained by defensive mistakes, with Antolin Alcaraz particularly culpable. This was a night comparable to how Everton folded against Dinamo Bucharest (2005) and Benfica (2009) when they also conceded five times. Everton's Ross Barkley and James McCarthy (right) look miserable during the painful defeat . It made Martinez's decision not to start John Stones puzzling but the Everton manager maintained there was only a slight difference between the two teams and it was Kiev's superior finishing that meant they reached the quarter-finals. 'We did make some defensive mistakes but also there was some incredible finishing and sometimes you have to highlight the quality of that,' said Martinez. 'It is only natural and normal from the outside to look back, and I do not regret playing Alcaraz - the defence has been strong in the last two games. Everton's Phil Jagielka, Tim Howard and Leighton Baines look dejected after Dynamo Kiev score their third . 'We conceded only one goal from a corner in the first leg and kept a clean sheet against Newcastle on Sunday, although we did not adapt too well to the pitch. 'But it is a case of the whole team not defending well enough. I do not think it is down to the personnel, but as a team. Dynamo built a lot of momentum with their crowd rather than us being to blame.' Everton got back into the tie when Romelu Lukaku equalised Andrei Yarmolenko's opener but they fell asunder afterwards and Phil Jagielka's late header provided no solace. Martinez, though, was pleased that Everton kept searching for goal. Lukaku and Ross Barkley both look out of sorts as Everton crash out of Europe . 'I am looking at the effort and the way we gave up,' said Martinez. 'We tried everything to stay in the tie but the way it unfolded was down to one team taking most of their chances . 'Sometimes the margins are so small and part of the experience in this competition is learning how to play the second leg. Gareth Barry looks at the ground in disappointment as Everton crashed out of the Europa League . Roberto Martinez and substitute Leon Osman remonstrate with the fourth official Christoph Bornhorst . 'Both teams created a lot of chances and the difference was one team taking them. After the away goal I thought we would be tighter but it looked like they had a lot of belief and always looked a threat and like they could score a goal. The type of game it was there were opportunities for both teams.' +Having left home at 16 to pursue football against his mum’s wishes, Brown Ideye is thankful he can smile now. So much so he is able to give a highly animated impression of her watching him play for West Bromwich Albion. Squinting to study an imaginary television back home in Nigeria, his arms flap wildly. ‘Don’t kick him!’ he shouts, mimicking his mother Teresa’s voice. ‘Ref can’t you see!’ he jabs his fingers. ‘Each time West Brom play my mother is wearing my shirt, sitting down in front of the telly, and she is like this,’ Ideye laughs. Brown Ideye told Sportsmail about his journey from Nigeria to West Bromwich Albion . Ideye's success story is one for West Brom fans and football supporters in general to truly admire . The Baggies striker left his home at 16 to pursue a career in football against his mother’s wishes . The 26-year-old is beginning to make his stamp as the west Midlands club's most expensive signing . Ideye (centre) scores West Brom's third goal in their hammering of West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round . It is quite some turnaround given she banned him from playing the game as a 14-year-old through fears he would get caught up with criminal gangs on the streets of Lagos. After his father Joel died, she even sent him to her sister’s remote village eight hours away to keep him from football and, as she saw it, trouble. A decade later Ideye, 26, is West Brom’s £10million record buy and, after initial difficulties, beginning to make good on his pricetag. He faces Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, looking for revenge on the local rivals who triumphed in a dramatic Premier League match on Tuesday night. He scored two goals in the last round to do more than any in the 4-0 destruction of West Ham United, and is allowing himself dreams of Wembley. A May date at the grand stadium might present the chance for his mum to support her son in person for the first time. ‘In summer it’s possible, right now it’s cold for her,’ he says. ‘I want us to get to the final. If we do then I can arrange it.’ Had she got her way all those years ago, however, Ideye would not be a Premier League player. ‘It’s hard growing up in Lagos,’ he says. ‘There is always a story to tell in a city like that. My friends were involved in crazy stuff. They were bad boys of the area. I was picked up once by the police. Ideye experienced a frustrating start to his West Brom career and attracted criticism for his lack of goals . The Baggies front man was on the verge of a cut-price deal on deadline day to Qatar side Al-Gharafa . But Ideye is willing to overcome the obstacles he has faced in the Premier League since joining West Brom . ‘My mum stopped me going out with them. She was upset. Each time I told her I wanted to play football she would say, “No you’re going to be with your friends”.’ Ideye was sent to live with his aunt but eventually ran away to train with his old coach and finally told his mum he wanted to make a 200-mile trip to Bayelsa State to play regularly. ‘She didn’t accept. That’s how I left. I went to Bayelsa State then Ocean Boys. Then bam, bam, bam.’ The bams are Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland, Sochaux in France, and Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, where he scored 33 goals in 74 games and earned most of his 24 Nigeria caps. Once he had signed professional forms, Ideye patched up his relationship with his mum. Tears flowed. ‘When I got the contract in Switzerland I went back home, sat with my family and had breakfast, dinner, lunch, everyone happy. ‘Afterwards she called me into her room and said, “I’m sorry about everything, your dad is late and I am the only person who can guide you. I looked at what your friends were doing and believed if I left you that is how you’d become.” I said, “I get that.” She started crying. She could not believe she tried to stop me becoming what she is enjoying today.’ Ideye spoke frankly about being sent to live with his aunt in order to keep him out of trouble as a youth . Having looked well short of his pedigree in the opening months of the season and on the verge of a cut-price deal on deadline day to Qatar side Al-Gharafa, a glorious spell of four goals in six days (three games) followed. Cultivating an understanding alongside Saido Berahino and with guidance from Tony Pulis, Ideye looks to have found his feet in England. ‘I took a lot of time to adapt,’ he admits. ‘I was overwhelmed that I am the record signing. I put a lot of pressure on myself. People are not patient. ‘The game doesn’t turn out the way I want, I become frustrated, I keep on pushing when I am supposed to calm down. Things were going so fast. ‘As for the social media, you can’t expect everyone to like you. They will say what they want. I don’t see what can shake me given what has happened before. ‘It’s inspiration. They are pushing me to my success. I like people criticising me. Baggies supporters were annoyed by comments made by Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood on Tuesday . ‘That one week turned out to be something I dreamt. I felt this day would come. Getting back to the Brown Ideye people know. ‘One day the people who are saying, “He’s no good” are the same people who will say, “Don’t let him go.”’ He denies he would ever have gone to the Middle East in a £3.8m deal. ‘I do not have to run to anywhere.’ He hopes to be running in celebration at Villa Park, performing the somersault tumble that marked his last goal. ‘I always did that when I was a child,’ he says. ‘When you’re excited you find yourself doing things you don’t plan. The fans love it so I will keep on doing it.’ He also wants to make Tim Sherwood reassess his belief that West Brom are a ‘good little club’, a throwaway comment not intended to disparage that has irked their supporters. ‘I think it’s not the right thing to say,’ says Ideye. 'But I guess if he sees us as a small club and Villa as a big club and on Tuesday we lost, then he will have the upper hand to say what he wants. To make him realise West Brom is far higher than Villa we have to win. We have a game where we can redeem our image by winning.’ Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor celebrates his goal against local rivals West Brom earlier this week . Defeat on Tuesday night stung, particularly as it was Ben Foster’s error in the final minute which proved costly and that Alan Hutton’s high challenge on Berahino was not met with a red card. ‘Ben is a great guy, a lot of people make mistakes in football,’ says Ideye. ‘He apologised to everyone, but it is already done. We accept it.’ On Hutton he adds: ‘I didn’t really see it at the time but I was watching Match of the Day, I called my wife and said, “Look at this”. I feel a little bit scared that a defender would go in like that. ‘It’s the pressure of the game, everyone wants to go hard. But you still have to respect the fact it is football. You have to respect each other. For me I do not see that as a good thing. There are for sure going to be tackles but not that high.’ The image of Wembley provides most motivation though. ‘The Villa game was just a reminder for us that we could lose a game in that manner, it is for us to sit up and know that to get to Wembley we need to work hard. ‘Every game we play under Tony we give our all, sometimes we win sometimes we lose. Saturday is no different. We just have to add more than what we did on Tuesday.’ +Tony Pulis has called for a rule change to allow for clubs to appeal yellow card decisions after Claudio Yacob was harshly sent off in West Bromwich Albion’s defeat to Aston Villa. The Argentine midfielder was dismissed for a second bookable offence after making a small jump into a tackle with Leandro Bacuna but winning the ball cleanly. Referee Anthony Taylor had already given Yacob a yellow for tugging back Gabriel Agbonlahor on the break. Yacob will now be suspended for one match, which Pulis called ‘disgraceful’. Tony Pulis wants the FA to change rules so that yellow cards can be appealed . Claudio Yacob was sent off for a second bookable offence during West Brom's FA Cup defeat by Aston Villa . The Baggies midfielder heads for the dressing room as his team are defeated 2-0 by their Midlands rivals . Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood agreed the sending off was not warranted and Pulis slammed regulations barring an appeal. ‘The biggest disappointment about this decision is that it’s two yellow cards and we can’t then appeal and I find that disgraceful,’ he said. ‘It is absolutely shocking, you can get a red card and appeal but you can’t appeal on two yellow cards. I find it absolutely amazing.’ Asked if he would write to the Football Association, the West Brom head coach replied: ‘You’re joking.’ Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood agreed that Yacob's dismissal was harsh on West Brom . +Roma's players were the latest to face the wrath of angry fans following Thursday's capitulation against Italian rivals Fiorentina. Serie A pundit Matteo Bonetti tweeted that Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Roma fans had demanded players take off their kits as they weren't worthy of wearing them. The Europa League had offered the last realistic chance of silverware this season to the Giallorossi following a miserable run of form, with the team falling 14 points behind Serie A leaders Juventus and at risk of losing second place to city rivals Lazio. Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi speaks with fans after crashing out of the Europa League . Roma captain Francesco Totti also spoke to fans despite being an unused substitute . Roma 'ultras' had walked out of the stadium in protest following a miserable run of form . Fans are upset as Roma are at risk of losing second place to city rivals Lazio . But Roma conceded three goals in the opening 22 minutes as Fiorentina completed a 4-1 victory on aggregate to book a place in the last eight. Gonzalo Rodriguez converted a retaken penalty in the ninth minute, after a number of players encroached into the box for the first attempt. Marcos Alonso capitalised on a goalkeeping error to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute and Jose Maria Basanta headed in when unmarked four minutes later. A late sending-off for Adem Ljajic for a second yellow card capped a dispiriting night which saw about a hundred of the club's Ultras leave the Stadio Olimpico after 30 minutes. Roma's players walked out for the second half to a near-empty stadium . Supporters left the stadium in protest after Roma conceded three goals in 22 minutes . Roma supporters left off flares during an Europa League round of 16 second leg . Fiorentina fans celebrate booking place in the last eight of the Europa League . Roma captain Francesco Totti, goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis and midfielder Daniele de Rossi led the rest of the team's players over to talk to fans after match. The scenes were reminiscent of the players of German sides Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart apologising to their supporters following a dismal run this season. Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels talks to supporters after defeat by Augsburg in February . VIDEO Garcia critical of individual errors . +German side Wolfsburg completed a comprehensive victory over Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan to reach the last eight of the Europa League. Former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, a target for Manchester City, enhanced his burgeoning reputation with another impressive performance in the San Siro. Daniel Caligiuri (left) celebrates his goal with his Kevin De Bruyne . Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain had planned to watch De Bruyne in action . The Belgian set up the first goal with a perfect cross from the left which was turned in by Daniel Caligiuri in the 24th minute to put the visitors 4-1 ahead in the tie. Inter continued to press in a bid to get back in the game but were thrawted by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio. Substitute Nicklas Bendtner sealed Wolfsburg victory with late strike . Bendtner volleyed in a cross by fellow substitute Maximilian Arnold . Bendtner celebrates with his team-mates after scoring in the San Siro . The Swiss stopper blocked a close range effort from Fredy Guarín and then kept out a low shot by Rodrigo Palacio with his foot. The Argentinian forward, however, made amends 19 minutes from time, finally beating Benaglio after a nice one-two with Hernanes. Wolfsburg sealed their victory in the 89th minute when Nicklas Bendtner volleyed in a cross by fellow substitute Maximilian Arnold. VIDEO Europa League progression 'huge' for Wolfsburg - Hecking . +Saucy: The Athena poster that led to the apology . It's the cheeky poster that adorned the bedroom walls of countless teenage boys in the 1970s and 1980s. Whether Athena's tennis girl is a suitable adornment for the genteel surrounds of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum is another matter entirely. Following a volley of criticism and cries of sexism on social media, the All England Lawn Tennis Club was forced to apologise for using the iconic poster to promote a forthcoming exhibition. Earlier yesterday they had tweeted a photograph of the dress worn by the blonde model and her racket, alongside the famous image, to promote its Powerful Posters exhibition, due to open tomorrow. That such a saucy shot should appear to have won the approval of the historic and respectable club immediately raised eyebrows on Twitter. Tennis fan Kishore Sharma was outraged, writing: 'Can't believe Wimbledon used this pic for upcoming 'Powerful Poster Exhibition'.' Roger Federer fans who call themselves 'Fed's Angels' on Twitter, posted: 'Come on Wimble! I thought you were the classy slam!' The offending image was swiftly deleted from the official Wimbledon Twitter account and a new post went up which said: 'We apologise for offence caused by the Athena Tennis Girl poster. It is a controversial piece of poster history but we do not endorse it.' The All England Lawn Tennis Club used the iconic poster to promote a forthcoming exhibition . However, a Twitter user responded with the comment: 'The poster doesn't show the history of tennis, the girl isn't a tennis player, you are just publicising sexualisation of females.' And campaign group the Everyday Sexism Project asked: 'Wimbledon having deleted your tweet, can you confirm if the poster you tweeted will be included in your exhibition?' Last night an All England Club spokesman said the poster would remain in the exhibition despite the apology. He added: 'We're aware that the poster has generated debate on social media and we decided to respond to some of the comments raised since we want to be clear that it is not a reflection of how we view women in tennis. 'The image in question is from a 1970s poster that was extremely popular, selling over 2million copies worldwide and it is part of an historic exhibition about tennis posters dating back to 1893. 'Not to include it in the exhibition would perhaps be an oversight since it is the most famous tennis poster of all time and should be regarded in this context only.' Use of the saucy shot on the official Twitter page immediately raised eyebrows on Twitter . Last night tennis fans were questioning whether the poster, one of the world's best-selling, really is that controversial after all. One Twitter user said: 'Come on Wimble! I thought you were the classy slam!' Sadie Hochfield tweeted: 'Ridiculous Wimbledon are getting stick for sharing iconic poster. Political correctness gone mad/don't pretend you've never seen it before!' Sara Smith-Jones posted: 'Wimbledon [has] nothing to apologise for – I think it's a great poster, is of its time in history.' Mark Staniforth said: 'Wimbledon has just tweeted an apology for any 'offence' caused by a link to the 40-year-old Athena Girl poster. The world's gone mad.' Others merely saw the funny side. 'I think Wimbledon were right to delete the Athena poster tweet,' one Twitter user wrote. 'No one should have to see that appalling 1970s court surface again.' The year-long exhibition will range from the earliest poster in the museum's collection, an 1893 advertisement for The Championships, through to the original artwork for this year's Grand Slam at the world famous venue in London SW19. +John Inverdale’s latest on-air gaffe - inadvertently blurting out the c-word - has come at the worst possible time for his career. The host of Radio 5 Live’s Cheltenham coverage was in conversation with jockey Lizzie Kelly and former champion John Francome. They were chatting about Francome’s early days in racing when Inverdale said: ‘This is looking at it with rose-c***** — rose-tinted glasses from the past ... I apologise there for a slip of the tongue, but Lizzie your love of the sport just shines through.’ John Inverdale inadvertently said 'rose-c***** glasses' live on air during Radio 5 Live's Cheltenham coverage . The blunder comes just over a fortnight before ITV are due to announce their Rugby World Cup line-up. Inverdale was in pole position to be lead presenter after a sure-footed anchoring of the RBS 6 Nations helped restore his reputation following his crass remarks at Wimbledon 2013, when he said women’s champion Marion Bartoli was ‘never going to be a looker’. That incident caused Secretary of State Maria Miller to complain to BBC director-general Tony Hall, who wrote back saying Inverdale had been told ‘an incident of this nature must never happen again’. The BBC apologised but Inverdale could pay the price when ITV name their Rugby World Cup line-up . Paul Downton, managing director of England Cricket, must realise his job would be untenable if Peter Moores, whom he appointed as coach, is axed after the World Cup debacle. Downton naively rounded on a group of cricket reporters in Wellington during his stay at the tournament to ask them to lay off the beleaguered Moores and get behind him instead. If any move galvanises journalists to do the opposite to what they’re told, it’s a crass move like that. ECB managing director Paul Downton (left) asked reporters to get behind coach Peter Moores (right) Olympic gold medal cyclist Victoria Pendleton, who is taking a year to learn how to ride well enough to complete in next year’s Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup, will be at Cheltenham on Wednesday to gain more knowledge of racing. Pendleton will be a guest of her sponsors Betfair, who have PR company Pitch and racing strategist John Maxse to plot her course. This looks like a fanciful promotional ploy but everyone involved insists it is a serious venture. The proof will be seeing Pendleton in the saddle next March. Victoria Pendleton will be at Cheltenham on Wednesday as she bids to learn more about racing . The Olympic gold medal cyclist aims to complete as a jockey in next year’s Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup . Sky pundit Sir Ian Botham was not only allowed to miss England’s World Cup loss to Bangladesh in Adelaide so he could prepare for a golf pro-am at the New Zealand Open in Queenstown. It has also emerged that he persuaded Sky and host broadcasters Star to let him be based in New Zealand because he loves the outdoor life over there. Cricket World Cup broadcasters Sky Sports and Star allowed Sir Ian Botham be based in New Zealand because he likes the outdoors there - even if it meant he missed England's humiliating exit . Have 4,335 for the road! Paddy Power, who specialise in causing mischief at Cheltenham, were tame by their standards on Tuesday, handing out a proposed 4,335 pints from a pop-up pub on the way to the course to recognise Tony McCoy’s career winning rides. McCoy’s representatives complained about the stunt, which the bookmakers are not repeating. Meanwhile, the name of Cheltenham’s new £40million grandstand is to be decided by racecourse management and Jockey Club owners. But as the royal box is situated in the building, and given the make-up of the selection committee, a royal name is odds-on favourite. West Ham, who have many racing enthusiasts in their squad, will be envious of Cardiff City and Aston Villa being Cheltenham guests of Betway - the Hammers’ new kit sponsors. But West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has taken the players training in Dubai this week, meaning they will miss the Festival and Betway’s notable hospitality. West Ham's Enner Valencia, Adrian and Cheikhou Kouyate at Dubai Mall during a break from training . The FA’s strong opposition to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar hasn’t stopped them hosting their national team over here. The Qataris will be training at St George’s Park in May before a friendly against Northern Ireland to be played in the Midlands. This is despite FA chairman Greg Dyke saying of the most controversial tournament in football history: ‘The best option would be to not hold it in Qatar, but we are now beyond that so November-December would seem to be the best of the bad options.’ The FA say Qatar using SGP is purely a commercial matter, aimed at making sure the facility is used as much as possible. Wayne Rooney trains at St George's Park with the England squad, where the FA will welcome the Qatar national team in May despite outspoken opposition to the country hosting the 2022 World Cup . +The FA want to send two Great Britain football teams to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics but a row has broken out with other home nations even before the qualification process starts. FA technical director Dan Ashworth and England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate want young England players to gain tournament experience. Their view has the backing of chairman Greg Dyke, leading to the FA changing their mind about sending only a women’s side — if any — to Brazil. The FA’s departing general secretary Alex Horne wrote to the other three countries on his last day in office at Wembley informing them that it was now their intention to enter both Olympic football competitions. FA chairman Greg Dyke has backed the idea of sending both a men's and women's team to Rio . England U21 boss Gareth Southgate (centre) wants young England players to get tournament experience . FA technical director Dan Ashworth, pictured talking to Roy Hodgson, shares the views of the Under 21 boss . Former Manchester united midfielder Ryan Giggs captained Team GB at the 2012 Olympics . However, the manner of the FA taking the lead on raising the teams infuriated Wales, especially, and Northern Ireland, leading to a stormy meeting between officials at the IFAB summit in Belfast last Friday. Scotland were less concerned because of their long, unequivocal opposition to the GB football format, which they see as a threat to their independence within FIFA. The main sensitivity with the Welsh and the Irish was why the FA had the divine right to be the national association with the football seat on the British Olympic Association since its inception in 1905. Wales are also upset about the FA reneging — owing to a rules change — on a gentlemen’s agreement over the rotation of the British vice-president seat on FIFA executive committee. Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey misses a penalty during the clash with South Korea . Craig Bellamy celebrates scoring against Senegal at Old Trafford during the 2012 Olympics . Team GB players look on during a penalty shoutout defeat by South Korea at London 2012 Olympics . Giggs in action for Team GB during an Olympics warm-up match against Brazil at the Riverside Stadium . The rumpus has led to FIFA telling the FA to sort out the internal fighting before submitting their GB football applications. The men’s side would need to reach the last four of the European Under 21 Championship this summer to qualify. The Olympic issue has raised extra emotions because it follows all the fuss around the home nations providing players at London 2012 for a Team GB side that the BOA mandated England to select. A BOA spokesperson said: ‘We have received confirmation from the FA of their intention to enter into the qualification process for Rio for both men’s and women’s tournaments.’ +Kevin Pietersen has backed incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves to make the changes needed to revitalise the national team. Graves will take up his new post in May and high on his list of priorities will be to reinvigorate England's one-day side, who were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages after an embarrassing loss to Bangladesh on Monday. The defeat gave ammunition to those who believe it was a mistake to axe Pietersen from the international set-up 14 months ago, while Graves appeared to leave the door open for the star batsman earlier this month when he suggested he would have a better chance of an England return if he played county cricket in this country. Kevin Pietersen has backed incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves to revitalise the national team . Graves will tstart in May and high on his list of priorities will be to reinvigorate England's one-day side . Pietersen tweeted on Tuesday: 'Quick note - ECB doesn't decide who gets to play in IPL/Big Bash. The franchises have to want them! Plenty have tried & failed to get a go! 'But, the encouraging news is that the new boss has the vision to look to open up a window to hopefully give players a better chance! 'I really do think changes are going to be made & positive things are going to start to happen for the good of English cricket...' ECB managing director Paul Downton insisted after Monday's defeat that they needed to look at giving England's players more experience in the Twenty20 format. Pietersen was sacked by England in January 2014 and has since played domestic T20 cricket for Delhi Daredevils, Surrey, St Lucia Zouks and Melbourne Stars. The 34-year-old is currently without a county contract, having left Surrey in October. England were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages after defeat by Bangladesh . Pietersen has not given up hope of playing for England again and Graves has suggested it could be possible . Pietersen checks his phone while at Loftus Road with Queens Park Rangers shareholder Amit Bhatia (right) +Former Leeds United managing director David Haigh, held in a Dubai prison without charge for more than nine months, is making progress in his fight against his former colleagues at Dubai-based Islamic Investment bank GFH Capital, who are still 25 per cent shareholders at pantomime club Leeds. Hisham Al Rayes and Jinesh Patel, a Leeds director, are the subject of an application to be heard at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on April 9 that the pair be made the subject of arrest warrants and extradition proceedings on the criminal charge of fraudulently luring Haigh to Dubai on the pretext of the offer of a new London-based job. Leading human rights lawyer, Alan Jones QC, is heading the case against Al Rayes and Patel. David Haigh, former managing director of Leeds, has been held in a Dubai prison for more than nine months . The FA have appointed Martin Glenn as their new chief executive — and the food industry boss is taking a cut of more than half his salary by moving to Wembley. Glenn, chief executive of United Biscuits, was earning £1.4million according to the latest accounts, but will receive no more than around £650,000 at the FA. However, the lure of working at the top of English football was the main incentive for 54-year-old Glenn, who has made plenty of money in top jobs with Walkers, Birds Eye, PepsiCo and United Biscuits — whom he sold to Turkish food group Yildiz as part of a quick turnaround operation since April 2013. Glenn, known as the ‘Codfather’ of frozen foods after he killed off Captain Birds Eye and introduced Alaska Pollock into fish fingers, will have some notable football allies when he starts at the FA on May 18. Wolves season-ticket-holder Glenn, a level one football coach, has been a friend of Gary Lineker since he signed him for the Walkers Crisps ads that have been running since 1994. And Glenn was on the board at Leicester City at the same time as Greg Clarke, chairman of the Football League. Such was the secrecy around Glenn’s appointment that the selection panel only informed the rest of the FA board about their choice late on Thursday night, before the announcement at 10am yesterday. And for once, it looks like the FA have selected wisely with Glenn described by pal Lineker as an ‘inspired choice, a genuine football fan, terrific leader, great bloke. Gets things done.’ Praise indeed. However, the FA could have appointed Glenn 10 years ago when he was understood to be interested in the job. Instead, it went to TV sports chief Brian Barwick. Food industry boss Martin Glenn (left, with Gary Lineker in 2000) has been named the FA's new chief . Channel Five and the Football League, who have a contract for a 9pm Saturday highlights show next season, have yet to find a production company to provide the footage. And then comes the task of pulling together a programme featuring all three divisions in such a short space of time. The rival offers from the BBC and ITV only promised Championship highlights. The FL say putting fibre optic connections in all grounds will make life easier. The build-up to the Rugby World Cup will last longer than the Olympic torch relay before London 2012 . The 2015 Rugby World Cup roadshow in the UK will start 100 days before the tournament — an even longer build-up than the 70-day Olympic torch relay ahead of London 2012. The international leg of the roadshow has demonstrated a big demand to see the trophy because of the craze for sporting selfies — fans wanting a picture of themselves with the World Cup. The Football League are understood to be looking into the way Leicester City have stayed within Financial Fair Play regulations, despite declaring a loss of nearly £21m in the last financial year when they gained promotion. It is unclear how the Foxes kept on the right side of FFP limits that allow a maximum loss of £8m — not offset by football-related activity — partly through a multi-million-pound marketing and licensing deal with Sheffield-based agency Trestellar, capitalising on their Thai owners’ profile in the Far East. Trestellar is fully owned by former Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards and his son. Richards was an adviser to the Thais after leaving the PL in 2013. Leicester are being investigated into how they were able to stay within FFP regulations despite declaring £21m losses in the last financial year . +Racing will shake up its TV tender process this summer by asking broadcasters which races they want to bid for rather than restricting them to specific packages. The sport is not in a position to dictate terms, in contrast to football’s Premier League. The new going rate of £11million per live PL match dwarves the £4.8m per year C4 pay for their monopoly terrestrial coverage. And even such an outstanding day of racing as the opening Tuesday of the Cheltenham Festival saw a worrying drop in C4 viewing figures, with the peak of 910,000 a significant 71,000 down on the previous year’s figure. Annie Power falls at the last fence on an action-packed first day at Cheltenham on Tuesday - but TV figures on C4 were still down 71,000 on last year's event . Racing Media Group, the TV arm of English racing, remain remarkably pleased with C4’s coverage, which runs until the end of 2016, despite the decline in armchair watchers. But allowing TV networks to customise their bids means racing could separately sell its crown jewels — Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, the Derby and Grand National — to terrestrial channels. Other marquee meetings may follow. This makes commercial sense, especially as racing is already well served by two subscription channels for the run-of-the-mill meetings. The secret of Irish trainer Willie Mullins’s remarkable success at Cheltenham may be there for all to see, emblazoned on his horse boxes parked at the Festival. The promotional message is ‘What a difference the hay makes’. Mullins gets the specially selected hay for his County Kildare stables from Alberta in Canada, through supplier Ransley Hay, based in Ashford, Kent. They say: ‘Mr Mullins is one of our best customers, so naturally we look after him.’ Co-authored with Michael Moritz, the book will detail Ferguson's tactics and management techniques . Publishers Hodder & Stoughton look to have already maximised their investment in Sir Alex Ferguson with two seven-figure advances and two best-selling autobiographies. Yet Fergie, as if £2m for 20 days’ work as a Manchester United ambassador isn’t enough to augment his pension, will no doubt be trousering another £1m plus advance for a leadership book based on his Harvard business school work, written with tycoon Sir Michael Moritz. However, one subject sure to receive little attention in the book is Fergie’s fall-out with JP McManus over the breeding rights to champion racehorse Rock Of Gibraltar. Their paths will cross only accidentally at Cheltenham on Thursday. ......................................................................... Top football agent Jonathan Barnett claims the FA have not properly consulted with the middle men ahead of bringing in new regulations. Next month’s changes may be the subject of an injunction. And Barnett — who says his Stellar agency, run with David Manasseh, is now the biggest in the world in terms of representing players — declared: ‘It’s ridiculous the FA have not bothered to come and see and learn how a big football agency operates. They haven’t got a clue at Wembley. ‘They are bringing in unworkable rules without finding out about the business, especially when an agency of our size is on their doorstep.’ The FA say they are following guidelines from FIFA, who have passed the buck on to national associations to manage agents. Inverdale’s evening out . John Inverdale is understood to have lost his BBC position presenting Wimbledon tennis highlights, with the omnipresent Clare Balding expected to anchor the revamped evening show at this year’s Championships. John Inverdale inadvertently said 'rose-c***** glasses' live on air during Radio 5 Live's Cheltenham coverage . Inverdale’s move to a possible TV commentary role at Wimbledon was made before his latest high-profile gaffe — inadvertently blurting out the c-word while presenting the first day of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Cheltenham coverage. ITV Sport will closely examine his crystal-clear ‘rose-c***** glasses’ blunder, described as a ‘slip of the tongue’, before announcing their Rugby World Cup team, which Inverdale was expected to lead. Wales may be playing Ireland in a pivotal Six Nations rugby game on Saturday but coach Warren Gatland, his assistants Rob Howley and Shaun Edwards, and several of the players were enjoying the lavish hospitality of the Jockey Club, including lobster for lunch, at Cheltenham yesterday. Welsh stars Rhys Priestland and Jonathan Davies (right) were at Ladies Day at Cheltenham on Wednesday . +English football agents are to take legal action against the FA unless a compromise can be reached over the introduction of ‘unworkable’ new regulations next month. The Association of Football Agents agreed unanimously this week to injunct the FA to prevent them from bringing in ‘unacceptable’ rules from April 1 - after FIFA washed their hands of responsibility for managing the middle men, passing the buck to the national associations. The AFA have engaged the QC and sports law expert Lord Pannick to fight their corner - with the threat of an injunction hovering over a summit with the FA called to resolve the issue. The AFA have engaged the QC and sports law expert Lord Pannick to fight their corner over new FA rules . The agents object to the way the FA intend to administer their lucrative work. This includes a reduction in fees, no pay for representing players under 18 and a free-for-all with no agent’s licence required in future. Mel Stein, chairman of the AFA, said: ‘There is no doubt that the upcoming regulations are unworkable and it will be an horrendous mess unless some agreement can be reached. At least finalising a meeting is some kind of progress.’ The FA, who are understood to have chosen the successor to general secretary Alex Horne, were certainly aiming high with their original wish list. It is understood to have included Formula One Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who is said to have been asked whether he was interested in leaving his £6million-a-year job in motor racing to earn 10 times less at Wembley. You can imagine his quick answer. It is understood Red Bull principal Christian Horner was asked to succeed FA general secretary Alex Horne . Former British No 1 tennis player Buster Mottram, better known for his extreme right-wing political views, has been barred from membership of the All England Club for six weeks. Mottram, 59, who plays regular social tennis at Wimbledon when not involved in games of bridge, refused to comment on the reasons for his suspension. The secretive club, who don’t like talking about their internal business even when staging the Wimbledon Championships, also refused to discuss his misdemeanour. Buster Mottram, pictured in 1955, has been barred from membership of the All England Club for six weeks . The Welsh FA have expressed anger with the FA over their plans to field Team GB football teams at the Rio Olympics without consultation. Welsh FA president Trevor Lloyd-Hughes said he was ‘livid and absolutely gutted with the English FA’, while Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford wants to be involved in all decision-making around 2016, having been given the impression that participation in the 2012 London Games was going to be a one-off. The FA say they have asked the three other home nations where they stand. The Welsh FA were under the impression a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics was a one-off . DYKE COACHING ROW . There is a major split developing within the FA over chairman Greg Dyke’s England Commission proposals to fund coaching development at the expense of cuts across the board. Dyke’s initiative, with £2.7million per year being switched from other parts of the FA budget to pay for 35 new coach educators to work in the grassroots (24) and professional game (11), has been approved by the FA board. But amateur blazers have yet to be convinced about the merits of such expenditure and the resulting 15 per cent cuts being imposed on every department to raise the cash. National game chairman Roger Burden has written to councillors to inform them of their colleagues’ concern about the lack of consultation and their fears that the proposed reduction in FA Trophy and FA Vase prize-money may have a ‘devastating effect’ on some smaller clubs who rely on this money to stay afloat. An FA spokesman said the national game had four representatives on the FA board that has approved the proposal and it was up to individual departments where they made cuts. There are major splits developing within the FA over Greg Dyke's proposal to make cuts . England cricket chiefs Paul Downton and Peter Moores, having presided over abject preparation, performances and team selection at the World Cup, are fortunate the new ECB hierarchy had such low expectations. The high command are also busy with restructuring the organisation, so axeing the team leadership pair is not on their agenda. This probably means Downton and Moores will have this summer’s Ashes series to secure their jobs. +England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton insists he retains 'every faith' in coach Peter Moores despite England's humiliating exit at the World Cup on Monday. A 15-run defeat to Bangladesh saw England crash out in the group stages of the one-day tournament after a dismal campaign that included four defeats in five matches. Moores' tactics and team selection have come under heavy scrutiny since he was appointed head coach 11 months ago but Downton insists the former Lancashire coach remains the right man for the job. England coach Peter Moores (left) is under intense pressure following his side's poor World Cup campaign . James Taylor (right) was dismissed for just one run as Bangladesh bowler Taskin Ahmed (left) celebrates . Bangladesh bowler Ahmed celebrates taking the wicket of England batsman Taylor . England batsman Taylor (left) walks off after being dismissed while Bangladesh continue to celebrate . England batsman Moeen Ali runs after playing a shot during the World Cup match with Bangladesh . 'I have every faith in Peter Moores,' Downton told Sky Sports. 'Part of the reason for appointing Peter Moores was he is a very experienced coach. 'Whoever took this job was going to have a really difficult job. 'We had a side that broke up in Australia, we had to introduce new players and part of dealing with it - which was obviously going to be pressurised - was that experience. 'We're very early into an appointment. Much as we'd like to change things instantly, it takes time. 'Look at New Zealand and where they were with their one-day cricket two years ago - it takes time to bring things through. 'We had a very successful team between 2009 and 2013, we have to rebuild again. 'There are no shortcuts. We have to back our players, invest in them and in time we will be back there again.' Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim knocks off the bails to run out Ali Ian Bell (left) looks on . England batsman Ali lies on the ground after being run out by Rahim during the World Cup match . Rubel Hossain (left) looks towards England batsman Bell after he is dismissed for 63 runs . Bangladesh's Mohammad Mahmudullah reacts after scoring his nation's first-ever World Cup century . +Geoff Parling returns to the England starting line-up on Saturday with a clear vision of what is required — title glory, nothing less. Leicester’s Lions lock resumes his role as the team’s lineout conductor and a vocal leader offering support to captain Chris Robshaw, having overcome concussion and knee injuries which blighted a large chunk of his season. The 31-year-old will commit body and soul to the RBS 6 Nations finale against France with an acute sense of England’s need to reach a fresh peak and replace fading highlights. Geoff Parling is one of only five survivors from England's 38-21 victory against New Zealand in 2012 . England’s 38-21 win over world champions New Zealand at Twickenham in December 2012 is widely considered Stuart Lancaster’s finest hour. But, just over two years on, only five of that starting XV are set to start against France... ENGLAND (v New Zealand, December 1, 2012) A Goode; C Ashton, M Tuilagi, B Barritt, M Brown; O Farrell, B Youngs; A Corbisiero, T Youngs, D Cole, J Launchbury, G Parling, T Wood, C Robshaw, B Morgan . Despite their best endeavours in the championship, England’s most eye-catching achievement under Stuart Lancaster remains the record 38-21 demolition of New Zealand. But that historic victory took place 27 months ago and Parling — a central figure on that heady day — craves a more substantial achievement. ‘After that New Zealand game I was obviously over the moon, but it was a one-off,’ he said, after being recalled in place of Bath’s Dave Attwood. ‘We need something tangible now to say, “Look, we’ve won the championship, this is what we’ve got for our efforts — we can push on now with the goal of consistently beating any team that comes our way”. This is a game with the championship on the line in which we need to show character.’ Parling feels that won’t be a problem. He believes the England squad contains plenty of men who have an abundance of the necessary character and fighting spirit; men ready for the sort of taxing assignment that awaits tomorrow. Dan Cole (left), Dylan Hartley (centre) and Joe Marler get ready to pack down for a hit at the scrum machine . ‘There are a lot of players who enjoy those moments when you feel your backs are against the wall,’ he said. ‘These games are when you see a team’s character. We know there is a lot of pressure and we shouldn’t hide away from that. ‘We said at the start of the tournament: we have to win it. We’ve come second three years running and we don’t want that feeling again, but we’ve got a chance here to put things right and win it. ‘We are good enough, with good enough players. The way we’ve been progressing and with the players we’ve got, it’s still within our control to win a championship and I think we should put the pressure on ourselves to not accept anything less.’ Parling became a stalwart of the Lions’ series triumph against Australia in the summer of 2013, playing in all three Tests, starting in two of them and excelling in that exalted company. That tour gave him a first-hand view of the talent available to Ireland and Wales, who are vying with England for this year’s championship title, but he is adamant Lancaster’s squad contains talent to compare with their more established rivals. VIDEO Robshaw sets sights on France following Scotland win . Parling will pack down with Northampton lock Courtney Lawes in the engine room for England against France . He said: ‘I see guys like George Ford and the way he controls the game at 22. He comes across as so much more experienced. I see the talent in JJ (Jonathan Joseph) and Anthony Watson. We have definitely got enough talent to win it.’ On a personal level, this is a welcome return to the starting XV for a player who has been a fixture throughout Lancaster’s tenure and would have won more than his 22 England caps but for injuries. ‘I am chuffed to be playing again, but I also see it as the start of the hard work. I haven’t done anything yet,’ said Parling. ‘I played every game between the autumn internationals and the Six Nations, then got the knee injury in the last game before meeting up, which was frustrating. ‘Then I thought I might be fine, but probably pushed it too hard.’ England will need full back Mike Brown at his attacking best against Les Blues at Twickenham . His exploits as a replacement in the win over Scotland convinced the management that Parling was worthy of a place alongside Courtney Lawes at the heart of the pack in the only change to the starting line-up for a high-stakes instalment of ‘Le Crunch’. Lancaster said: ‘The experience Geoff brings is important. He didn’t go on the Lions tour by accident. He’s been a high-quality player. Geoff has presence and speed around the field. His ability carrying the ball is excellent.’ England’s head coach was asked if he would feel any joy in beating the French but not claiming the title. ‘Eventually — potentially,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think I’ll feel anything other than disappointment if we don’t achieve it.’ Nothing less than glory will suffice. +Drink-drive: Estate agent Tina Knowles crashed into a pipe in a petrol station forecourt while drunk . An estate agent faces jail after she crashed her BMW into a petrol pump on a garage forecourt while she was more than four times over the drink-driving limit. Tina Knowles was apparently on her mobile phone when she careered into the petrol station and smashed into a large pipe used to release vapour from underground fuel tanks. The garage in Driffield, Yorkshire had to be evacuated over fears the crash could endanger the public, a court heard. In aftermath of the accident, Knowles, 43, remained in the car talking on the phone, slurring her words and ignoring the garage attendant. David Ward, prosecuting, told Beverley Magistrates' Court that forecourt attendant Rebecca Roberts was looking out of her kiosk when she saw Knowles 'shoot across' in her silver BMW Z4. He continued: 'It drove across the forecourt without stopping and collided with a substantial metal vapour release pump opposite the kiosk. 'The female driver appeared to be on a mobile phone at the time. Miss Roberts was initially ignored by the female driver. 'Miss Roberts could smell alcohol on her breath. She was very drunk. She could not talk properly and was slurring her words. 'Miss Roberts said to turn off the petrol pumps immediately for public safety.' The court heard that Knowles was led into the garage's shop as staff took her keys off her and waited for police to arrive. The estate agent 'became emotional' after the police were called, Mr Ward said, adding: 'She started sobbing. She said, "It's my car. I've f***ed up. I'm an alcoholic."' A breath test revealed that she had 152 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35. Mr Ward said: 'Police were so concerned about the amount of alcohol she had drunk that they sent her to hospital to check for alcohol poisoning. 'They had never seen anyone drink that much before and get in a car and drive.' Crash: Knowles smashed into a venting pump at this petrol station in Driffield, Yorkshire . Car: The estate agent was driving a silver BMW Z4 similar to this one at the time of the accident . Knowles, from Driffield, pleaded guilty to drink driving and breach of bail after she missed a scheduled court appearance this week because she was in a rehab clinic. The court heard that last year she was spared a driving ban after she was convicted of failing to provide a specimen of breath. Knowles has now been banned from driving ahead of a sentencing hearing next month, which could see her sent to prison. Defending solicitor Rachel Davies said: 'There's clearly a lot of issues in her life. She freely accepts she's an alcoholic and needs help and support.' +Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj continue to show the world they are not just teammates but also best mates. The Manchester United and Belgium duo both posted pictures of themselves out at a restaurant on Monday night ahead of their game against Newcastle on Wednesday . Januzaj poses in the middle of Fellaini and a friend looking like somebody who failed to receive the memo about it being a Jackson 5 themed night. Premier League duo Adnan Januzaj and Marouane Fellaini pose with a friend on the dance floor . Manchester United and Belgium duo Fellaini and Januzaj are good friends both on and off the pitch . Manchester United ace Fellaini runs over to the bench to celebrate his goal against QPR with friend Januzaj . The disco effect in the background adds to the theory, but Januzaj doesn’t seem to mind as they later pose on the dance floor with other friends. United haven’t had too many reasons to have a song and dance this season so it seems they may be hitting the discotheques as another form of release. However, victory against Newcastle on Wednesday would leave manager Louis van Gaal at least tapping his toes as they continue to fight for a Champions League spot this season. Januzaj and Robin van Persie join Fellaini in celebrating in front of the Manchester United fans at West Brom . Januzaj receives some words of wisdom from Manchester United's Dutch manager Louis van Gaal . Januzaj and Fellaini are joined by some friends as they take to the dance floor ahead of the Newcastle game . +Oldham chairman Simon Corney believes Paul Scholes will manage the Sky Bet League One club 'one day', but admits it will be 'difficult' to tempt him to take the vacancy at the moment. The former England and Manchester United midfielder, 40, was immediately linked with his boyhood outfit when the Football League's third youngest manager Lee Johnson exited SportsDirect.com Park last week to join League One rivals Barnsley. The romantic notion that Scholes would take his first managerial position with Latics appears fanciful but Corney does think he could take the helm one day. Boyhood Oldham supporter Paul Scholes will manage the Latics in the future according to Simon Corney . However, Oldham chairman Corney was doubful Scholes could commit considering his current media duties . Speaking on a BBC Radio Manchester phone-in alongside director Anthony Gee, who suggested that the Oldham job 'may interest' Scholes 'at some point', Corney said: 'We speak on a regular basis and Paul occasionally comes down and does training sessions. 'He's a friend of the club. We know what Paul's all about, he's very low key, he doesn't make a big deal about things. He turns up at the games - never turns up at the directors' box - he turns up with his two lads, flat cap down and you wouldn't even know he was there. 'I'd love to have him on board, (but) it's difficult. Again, you have to ask would Oldham be the right club for somebody like Paul? It's not just about us wanting Paul, it's also would it be the right thing for him? 'I think Anthony's right that one day he will come and manage the club but it's all about timing with him.' Gee also confirmed Scholes, who now has media commitments with the likes of BT Sport, had not applied for the position but that they did intend to hold talks with him in the near future. The two Oldham board members also touched on the club's controversial move to attempt to sign convicted rapist Ched Evans in January, a signing they eventually pulled out of in the face of overwhelming pressure from sponsors promising to withdraw their support, while staff members were also subjected to abusive threats. Since his retirement from football the former Manchester United star has taken up a role with BT Sport . Latics had originally indicated they had no desire to acquire Evans back in December, but Gee revealed they returned to the possibility in the new year when Johnson told the board of directors he had had a change of heart. 'We did a hell of a lot of due diligence,' added Gee. 'We met with the player on two or three occasions and if you remember when we were first linked with him, the manager actually said to us that he'd rather pass. We pulled our interest immediately. 'It was when the manager came to us the second time and said, 'Actually, maybe I'll go and have a chat with him', that we rekindled our interest which led to all the scenes that you remember in January. 'If I was put on the spot and asked would I do the same thing again? I think the truth of the matter is I probably would. 'I'm also a firm believer in the rule of law. If we don't have the rule of law and we don't have rehabilitation in society then I don't know what sort of society we have. 'Whilst his crime was very serious there are other people out there playing football who have killed people. We've had a similar case at Oldham with Lee Hughes. 'If I'm asked whether I regret it? No. Do I understand how difficult it was for the fans and the community? Yes. It was hard for us as directors as well. 'We always had the best interests of the club at heart, even if it's hard to believe.' +Rohit Sharma, aided by a contentious decision that gave him a second life, scored his first World Cup hundred on Thursday to help the defending world champions India post a daunting total of 302 for six in their quarter-final against Bangladesh. Rohit was caught in the deep when he was on 90 but was allowed to keep batting when the umpires ruled that Rubel Hossain's delivery was above waist-height and therefore a no-ball, although television replays suggested it was a fair delivery. Rohit had initially been forced to abandon his normal cavalier approach as his team mates struggled to score quickly on a windy afternoon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but exploded later in the innings. While Suresh Raina (65) was the only other batsman to make a significant contribution at a rapid strike-rate, Rohit batted for 47 overs to make 137 off 126 balls, highlighted by 14 boundaries and three sixes. For a man who scored a world record 264 last year, it was almost sluggish going by his normal standards but no less crucial in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the World Cup. Of the three matches already played at the sprawling MCG during this tournament, the team batting first has scored over 300 runs and won each time and Bangladesh now face a formidable challenge to break that sequence. The MCG can be an intimidating bear-pit of a stadium and India opted to bat first in front of their fanatical supporters, and got off to a flying start, racing past 50 inside the first 10 overs. Bangladesh, appearing in their first World Cup quarter-final, managed to put the brakes on India's scoring after the fielding restrictions were lifted and they brought on their spinners. From the end of the 10th over till the start of the 35th over, India added just 104 runs for the loss of three wickets. Rohit Sharma hits through the onside on his way to a century for India against Bangladesh . Sharma celebrates as he reaches his hundred in India's the World Cup quarter final at the MCG . Rohit Sharma is congratulated for his milestone by Suresh Raina (left), who second top scored with 65 . Rohit's innings ended on 137 from 126 balls when he was bowled by Bangladeshi quick Taskin Ahmed . Shikhar Dhawan was the first Indian batsman to go, stumped for 30, and he was quickly followed by Virat Kohli, who was caught behind for three after a reckless slash at a wide delivery. When Ajinkya Rahane departed for 19 in the 28th over, the world champions were suddenly looking under pressure and Bangladesh the team with all the momentum. But cricket is a game where things can turn on the smallest of margins and India got two big breaks that proved decisive. Raina survived a confident appeal for lbw when he was on 10 then Rohit got a massive let-off 10 runs short of his century when he holed out at mid-wicket. The pair put on 122 for the fourth wicket as Bangladesh began to lose their way in the field. Raina threw his wicket away in the 44th over when he skied a catch behind then Rohit joined him after he was bowled by Taskin Ahmed but their efforts left India in a strong position to join South Africa as the second team in the semi-finals. Bangladesh qualified for the quarter-finals in fourth place in Group A at the expense of England . +Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sparked a furore on the floor of Parliament after using his second Nazi Germany analogy about the Labor Party in weeks. Mr Abbott pointed at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and dubbed him 'the Dr Goebbels of economic policy' during Question Time on Thursday afternoon. Scroll down for video . Prime Minister Tony Abbott pointed at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and dubbed him 'the Dr Goebbels of economic policy' during Question Time on Thursday afternoon . After a raucous outcry, Mr Abbott then raised his hands in the air and said: 'I withdraw! I withdraw! I withdraw, Madame Speaker! I withdraw!' In February, the prime minister accused Labor of causing a 'holocaust of jobs'. Mr Abbott also withdrew those remarks . A Jewish Labor MP, Mark Dreyfus, was ejected from the House of Representatives because of his protests. He was joined by his colleague Michael Danby, who stormed out. After a raucous outcry, Mr Abbott then raised his hands in the air and said: 'I withdraw! I withdraw! I withdraw, Madame Speaker! I withdraw!' He then apologised. Mr Danby told the ABC: 'He's the Prime Minister - he is supposed to have standards'. 'He's the Prime Minister - he is supposed to have standards,' Labor's Michael Danby said . Mr Abbott (pictured on Thursday during a division between Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison) later retracted his remarks . Joseph Goebbels was Hitler's propaganda chief. In February, the prime minister accused Labor of causing a 'holocaust of jobs'. Mr Abbott also withdrew those remarks. Mr Abbott also withdrew remarks in February when he accused Labor of causing a 'holocaust of jobs'. +A Chelsea fan on Twitter - @TalkoftheBridge – tweeted recently: 'I dread the day John Terry retires more than I dread my own death.' At first it makes shocking reading, but when you factor in the extreme passion of football fans, the love they have for their club, and the astonishingly high regard Chelsea fans have for their captain, it all makes sense. It should be interpreted in the same way as Bill Shankly’s famous quote: 'Football is not a matter of life and death, it’s more important that that.' Here’s another way of saying it. Chelsea will not be able to replace Terry when he finally retires. England have had to move on already. But the question remains, how on earth will Chelsea cope when the inevitable happens? Life and Chelsea Football Club will go on of course, but reflecting on yet another incredible man-of-the-match performance from Terry at Wembley, it occurred to me that he is unique. John Terry and Jose Mourinho celebrate on the Wembley pitch after Chelsea's win on Sunday . Not so long ago some were declaring Terry was finished. He couldn’t train properly, we were told. He couldn’t play two games in a week apparently. The truth is very different. Andre Villas-Boas' ridiculous high line ensured this over-hyped manager got the worst from Terry and made the player look vulnerable. And then Rafa Benitez arrived to seemingly finish off the destruction of arguably Chelsea’s greatest ever player. Jose Mourinho has resurrected the King of Stamford Bridge. It is now a major cause for concern among Chelsea fans if Terry isn’t in the starting line-up. So in playing terms, he is still the first name on the team sheet, even with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard at the club. But the love for Terry among Chelsea fans is about so much more than him being a very good centre half. And that’s why he is seemingly irreplaceable. Terry beat Hugo Lloris to score Chelsea's crucial first goal in the Capital One Cup final . The Blues captain ran off to celebrate after breaking the deadlock at Wembley... And he led the celebrations at the end as the Chelsea players partied after winning the League Cup . He came through the youth ranks, and is now a revered Chelsea captain. His team-mates respect him, and they listen to him. The fans still idolise him. The football world laughed when he lifted the Champions League trophy with his full kit on despite being suspended for that final. But most if not all Chelsea fans understood it. Terry was a huge part of that journey, and in their minds he belonged on that podium, he deserved the champagne, and he deserved to be wearing the shirt that night as the celebrations began. The cynics and critics will go on and on about Terry’s indiscretions – some alleged, some not. He’s far from perfect of course, a bit like the rest of us. And I wouldn’t say Chelsea fans don’t care about any of that stuff. But it doesn’t hide the fact that when he does decide to retire, there will be a massive Grand Canyon to fill. The Chelsea captain celebrates after they beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League in 2012 . I’m not a Chelsea fan, so I asked three friends of mine who are to sum it up. A work colleague, Emma, said this: 'He is our rock, our leader, without him we don’t win all those titles and we love him for how much he gives his all to the shirt. You can imagine cutting him and his blood would spill out blue. Every other fan hates him but knows deep down they would love him in their team.' Another friend, Laura used the cliche – 'Mr Chelsea' to describe him, and then went on: 'You can see what the team and the club mean to him. His reactions after every game, he always comes over to the Matthew Harding Lower and gets the rest of the team over as well to applaud the fans. A few games ago he signed my shirt, got on the team coach, then got off again and offered a family tickets as he thought he’d heard them say they had travelled but couldn’t get in to the game. It’s a side of him that shows what the fans mean to him and a side that not enough people and media see.' Another colleague, the ex-Chelsea defender Jason Cundy, told me this: 'John is the best ever CFC youth product, best ever CFC centre back, and most successful captain ever. He’s still so important to the club on and off the field – captain, leader, legend. With so many foreign players at CFC, and so few homegrown players to come through over the last 15 years, he represents the fans on the pitch and plays with the same passion, pride and love for CFC that we fans have in the stands for the club. It will be impossible to replace him.' Enough said. Terry and his Chelsea team-mates celebrate winning their first Premier League title in 2005 . +AP McCoy on Thursday secured his first Festival win at the 14th attempt when Uxizandre landed the Ryanair Chase . The Alan King-trained 16-1 shot, not considered one of McCoy’s best chances, made all the running to win by five lengths. McCoy’s wife, Chanelle, had admitted that two unsuccessful days had left her soon-to-retire husband in a downbeat mood. But after joining him on the winner’s podium, she said: ‘Inside he will be feeling elated. He is not the most animated at the best of times and he was slightly melancholy leaving the house this morning. This will absolutely mean the world to him. I’ll have a happy husband.’ AP McCoy on his way to winning the Ryanair Chase on board Uxizandre at the Cheltenham Festival . Uxizandre led from start to finish as his rivals failed to catch him during the Ryanair Chase on day three . Uxizandre beat Ma Filleule and Don Cossack into second and third as McCoy celebrated a winner at last . McCoy gets a kiss from his wife Chanelle after winning the third race of the third day of the Festival . 1 Uxizandre A P McCoy | 16-1 . 2 Ma Filleule B J Geraghty 5-1 . 3 Don Cossack B J Cooper 5-2 Fav . McCoy’s 31st Festival success sets him up for his 20th and final ride in the £550,000 Gold Cup today on Carlingford Lough, owned, like Uxizandre, by his boss JP McManus. He has four other rides, including favourite Ned Buntline in the concluding AP McCoy Grand Annual Chase. After timing Uxizandre's run to perfection, McCoy said: 'I would love to say it's a relief, but I actually got such a thrill riding him. I was actually thinking I wouldn't mind riding the horse in next year's Champion Chase. 'He ran away with me for a mile and a half and I thought he would never keep it up, but I was quite happy coming down the hill, he kept looking at the television camera on his inside and I thought he had saved a bit for himself.' He added: 'Fair play to Alan King, he had him spot on for today. 'It's great for JP and Noreen (McManus) as much as anything, they're the people I work for. They have been so good to me, so I'm delighted for JP and Noreen and all the family. 'It's nice. Cheltenham is about winning isn't? 'The thrill this horse gave me, I'll miss riding horses like this, the ones that run away with you and jump like stags. It has to happen at some point. It's a bit sad, but we will worry about it this time next year.' A message on the giant screen pays tribute to McCoy who has just one day of his final Festival left . McCoy was greeted with huge cheers as he celebrated his victory on Uxizandre on Thursday . McCoy celebrates his first winner at what will be his last Cheltenham Festival after a quite stunning career . McCoy with Uxizandre in the winners' enclosure after opening his Cheltenham Festival account this year . McCoy said the fact he still has rides ahead of him is keeping his emotions in check, but that the 2016 festival may be a different story. 'It's going to affect me more next year than this year, because I am still riding. This time next year I am going to miss it - I am missing it already and I haven't stopped yet,' he continued. 'He stuck at it well and it's days like this I am going to miss.' McCoy's family were waiting in the winner's enclosure and while simultaneously thrilled and emotional after the rider's win, his father, Peadar said: 'I hope he gets another one!' JP McManus, to whom McCoy has enjoyed such a fantastic association as retained jockey, said: 'I admire all the jockeys, but AP is some man. Christy Roche rang me some years ago and said "he should be handicapped, not the horses" and I've always remembered that. 'We've never signed a contract or anything. I respect him and love everything he does.' When asked how he would replace McCoy, he said: 'We've had him cloned.' King said: 'He's always been a very good horse but we just lost him a little bit in mid-winter on the heavy ground. 'We hoped that back up to two and a half miles on better ground was the key and my goodness he can go some pace. McCoy was greeted by the winning owner JP McManus after Uxizandre beat Ma Filleule into second . McCoy celebrates winning the Ryanair Chase on St Patrick's Day during the Cheltenham Festival . 'It's huge for the whole team and I'm delighted to part of the whole AP thing as well. The horses have been running well all week, but there's nothing like a winner here. 'It's the only way to ride him, to let him bowl along and we wanted to see if he was a Queen Mother horse earlier in the season. 'To be fair, AP said at halfway he was wishing he'd run in the Queen Mother as he didn't think he'd last home but it was only last year he was narrowly beaten here in the JLT and then won a Grade One at Aintree. 'Spring ground helps and some of his jumps today were breathtaking. 'We'll not see AP's like again, the winners, the dedication - I'm just delighted to have played a small part in it.' Of Ma Filleule, Anthony Bromley, representing owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, said: 'She ran a brilliant race and I'm delighted for the connections of the winner as he's an ex-Million In Mind horse and I think the visor has probably helped him. 'Our mare ran great race and assuming she's OK, we'll aim towards the Bowl back over three miles at Aintree.' +Luis Enrique says England's lack of a winter break may have given Barcelona an advantage against Manchester City – and he hopes the Premier League don't change their fixture list. Manuel Pellegrini suggested after City's 1-0 defeat in the Nou Camp that the number of games English clubs played in December and January meant they struggled in the latter stages of the Champions League. City's 3-1 aggregate defeat followed Arsenal's exit at the hands of Monaco on Tuesday and Chelsea's defeat by Paris Saint-Germain last week – leaving no English clubs in the last eight of the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. Luis Enrique conceded Barcelona may have an advantage over English sides due to the winter break . Ivan Rakitic (right) scored as Barcelona beat Manchester City 1-0 in the Nou Camp on Wednesday . City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes the games his team play over Christmas hinder them in Europe . And Enrique has some sympathy for Pellegrini. 'We are used to resting during winter with our families,' Enrique said. 'I heard (Southampton manager) Ronald Koeman complaining about the number of fixtures in England, so maybe it is an advantage for us. 'I don't know, it is impossible to say, but we do enjoy watching the English teams playing on Boxing Day.' Speaking after the game, Pellegrini suggested the heavy fixture scheduling played a part in City's demise. Lionel Messi's Barcelona eliminated City by beating them 3-1 on aggregate in the Champions League . For the second time in three years, there are not any English teams in the last eight of the Champions League . Pellegrini said: 'It is difficult to analyse because the Premier League is strong, with money and very good players. 'We play so many games in December and January and we are not fresh in February. In Spain, Italy and Germany they stop playing. Last year we played nine games in December and nine in January, and that was before we played Barcelona.' VIDEO Enrique hails 'special night' for Barca . +England have promoted Geoff Parling to the second row and recalled Nick Easter to the bench for Saturday's decisive RBS 6 Nations clash with France at Twickenham. The solitary change to the starting XV that toppled Scotland 25-13 last weekend sees Parling replace Dave Attwood, who has been dropped from the 23 altogether. Instead, head coach Stuart Lancaster has looked to Easter to provide lock cover among the replacements as England aim to clinch a first Championship since 2011. Lancaster named his squad before taking a training run at England's base in Bagshot, which was attended by renowned rugby fan Prince Harry. Geoff Parling, here training in Bagshot on Thursday, has been named in England's starting XV . England coach Stuart Lancaster and Prince Harry watch over training at Pennyhill Park on Thursday . Lancaster and the royal rugby fan share a laugh ahead of England's Six Nations finale against France . 'Geoff did well off the bench against Scotland and now that he has got some games under his belt we feel it is the right time to start him and use his experience and quality in the starting line-up,' Lancaster said. 'The same goes for Nick Easter, who has really impressed in camp and in his appearances off the bench. 'Nick is a quality ball carrier and great defender - things we feel we'll need in the latter stages of the game.' England were delighted by Parling's forceful 30-minute shift from the bench against Scotland, so the Test British and Irish Lion returns and he will replace lock partner Courtney Lawes in running the line-out. VIDEO England v Scotland - extended highlights . Renowned rugby fan Prince Harry added a royal flavour to England's training run in Bagshot on Thursday . Prince Harry makes his way to watch the England go through their paces and talks to Sky Sports' Alex Payne . The England team form a huddle during England training ahead of their final Six Nations match of 2015 . Nick Easter comes back to the bench and will provide lock cover with Dave Attwood dropped altogether . Attwood has started all four matches of the tournament but misses out on the final instalment with Lancaster believing the street-wise Easter is a better option to reinforce the final push for silverware. Tom Youngs was strongly praised by Lancaster following his substitute display at Twickenham last Saturday, but Dylan Hartley has held off the challenge from his rival and continues at hooker. The backline remains unchanged and now has a settled look to it with inside centre providing the only real question mark. Luther Burrell continues at 12 knowing that had Brad Barritt not been stricken by a high ankle sprain, his place in the starting XV would have been in doubt and the Northampton midfielder needs to impress against France. Lancaster said he was keen to 'use (Parling's) experience and quality in the starting line-up' Full back Mike Brown shows his trademark speed when shown a little space on Thursday . Dylan Hartley (right) has again held off the challenge of rival hooker Tom Youngs for the crunch match . England captain Chris Robshaw stretches out during his side's preparations to take on France . Tighthead prop Dan Cole wins his 50th cap in a front row that has been unchanged throughout the Six Nations. 'It's a great achievement for Dan to win his 50th cap, especially coming back from his injury last year. He is one of the cornerstones of our squad and we all wish him all the best,' Lancaster said. Bookmakers view England as favourites to be crowned 2015 Six Nations champions on a nerve-shredding day of staggered kick-offs that conclude at Twickenham. Wales and Ireland are also in contention - they visit Rome and Edinburgh respectively - but it is the Red Rose who top the table courtesy of a points cushion of plus four. Dan Cole (centre) wins his 50th cap in a front row that has been unchanged throughout the Six Nations . Luther Burrell retains his place at centre but his place in under threat and he's in need of a big performace . England No 8 Billy Vunipola carries as Lancaster's forwards go head-to-head . England forwards pack down under the direction of coach Graham Rowntree . For a third successive year the outcome is set to be decided by points difference and with their showdown against the typically unpredictable French closing the Championship, it is the 2015 World Cup hosts who will know exactly what target they must chase down. 'Finishing off the tournament at home is going to be a great occasion,' Lancaster said. 'The support against Scotland last week was fantastic and this weekend we really need the crowd to get behind the team and drive them forward in what will be an exciting finale to this year's Championship.' Starting XV: Mike Brown (Harlequins); Anthony Watson (Bath), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Luther Burrell (Northampton), Jack Nowell (Exeter); George Ford (Bath), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Billy Vunipola (Saracens). Replacements: Tom Youngs (Leicester), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Tom Wood (Northampton), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Danny Cipriani (Sale), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester). +A new and unlikely fashion trend has emerged in Colorado for sporting jewelry in the shape of IUDs - birth control implants otherwise known as intrauterine devices. Wearing the glittery, brightly-colored objects as earrings or, in the case of men, lapel pins, is a show of support for a new bill which would plunge $5million in state funding into a program which supplies this form of birth control to low-income women. The jewelry has been purchased by more than 200 lobbyists and lawmakers in favor of the Colorado Family Planning Initiative, from web retailer Etsy, and is crafted out of resin by Dr Virginia Smith, an OB-GYN based in Ohio. Trending: Wearing these IUD replicas is a show of support for a new bill which would allocate $5million in state funding into a program which supplies this form of birth control to low-income women in Colorado . IUDs are small T-shaped implants which, when inserted into the uterus, prevent pregnancy from occurring for between three and 12 years, or simply until removed. IUDs (intrauterine devices) are small T-shaped implants which are fitted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. They work by interfering with the way sperm usually fertilize an egg, and are more than 99% effective. IUDs last anywhere between two and 12 years, depending on the type. The implants must be fitted and removed by licensed healthcare providers. Once they are removed, a woman can generally become pregnant straight away. The Colorado Family Planning Initiative has handed out an estimated 30,000 of these contraceptives since its inception in 2009, and up until now, has been grant-funded. According to ThinkProgress, this program has contributed to a 40per cent drop in teen births over the past five years. The new legislation, expected to be introduced on Friday, would allocate $5million of state funds to the cause, allowing IUDs to be fitted for free or at little cost in 68 clinics across Colorado. Some conservatives and anti-choice lawmakers, however, stand against the program, with some - including Republican Senator Kevin Lundberg - even incorrectly claiming IUDs cause abortions. Dr Jennifer Hyer, a Denver-based OB-GYN, dismissed these claims as neither 'medically' nor 'scientifically' accurate, in a statement distributed by NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. 'They are among the most effective forms of contraception, especially for at-risk women, because they automatically prevent pregnancy,' she said. Glittery: The resin jewelry has been purchased by more than 200 lobbyists and lawmakers in favor of the bill, from web retailer Etsy, and is made by Dr Virginia Smith, an OB-GYN based in Ohio . Republican House Rep. Don Coram is actually in disagreement with members of his own party on this issue, and has taken to wearing one of Dr Smith's IUD pins on his lapel as a sign of his support for the bill. 'A redneck Republican wearing an IUD - it just doesn't make sense does it?' Mr Coram told The Herald. 'Seriously though, I think this is one of the most important bills we are looking at.' Dr Smith, who has seen business for her IUD jewelry go through the roof recently, told ABC's 7News Denver: 'I think women should have access to options and so if this promotes access to options then I think that is a good thing.' +Manchester United youngster Andreas Pereira offered a student £10,000 for a threesome with him and Old Trafford team-mate Paddy McNair, it was reported on Thursday. The Belgian-born Brazilian, who made his Barclays Premier League debut on Sunday against Tottenham, allegedly offered 19-year-old Kelly McKinney cash to spend the night with him and McNair after she met the United squad at their Christmas party. Pereira is also said to have invited Kelly to his home for sex days before his Premier League debut, mentioning that he was with two other members of the first-team squad. Kelly McKinney was offered £10,000 by Andreas Pereira (right) for a threesome with him and Paddy McNair . Fellow United player McNair is not suggested to have been involved in the messages sent by Pereira . The messages said to have been sent by Pereira (left, in white) and student Kelly (right, green) McNair is not suggested to have been involved in or aware of the sending of Pereira's messages. Kelly told The Sun: 'I nearly fell off my chair when he offered me £10,000 for a threesome. What kind of low-life does that? I'm not that kind of person at all and found it very, very insulting. 'He's clearly desperate and struggling to find anyone that he doesn't have to pay for a sex.' Kelly claims that Pereira tracked her down on Twitter after the team's Christmas party at the Neighbourhood bar in Manchester where she was invited to the VIP area to drink with the other players. In a series of WhatsApp messages, the midfielder allegedly asked if she wanted to meet with him and McNair before she responded questioning what he meant. The Belgian-born Brazilian messaged Kelly after meeting her at United's Christmas party in Manchester, saying 'Threesome. Will take care of u. U want? How much. Tell me. We were ready to pay 5each' Pereira made his Premier League debut against Tottenham in United's 3-0 win on Sunday . Pereira is said to have replied: 'Threesome. Will take care of u. U want? How much. Tell me. We were ready to pay 5each.' It remains to be seen whether Louis van Gaal will punish Pereira for his behaviour, with the starlet having embarrassed his manager in a week when he has been full of praise for the 19-year-old's class on the field. 'When you are 19 and already in the squad of Manchester United, then you must have a big talent otherwise you would not be in there,' Van Gaal said. 'I am very happy that I could give him his Premier League debut.' United's players met Kelly in the VIP area on a Christmas night out at the Neighbourhood bar in Manchester . United manager Louis van Gaal had high praise for Pereira's work on the pitch after Sunday's game . Pereira's agent Leo Scheinkman said: 'He is young and single and can have sex with whoever he wants. What does he have to apologise for?' Pereira is yet to sign a new contract at Old Trafford, with his current deal expiring in the summer and top clubs from around Europe ready to swoop. Juventus, who took former United youngster Paul Pogba on a free transfer from United in 2012, are said to be interested with French champions Paris Saint-Germain also keen. +Kevin Pietersen has been given no assurances about a return to England’s set-up in a phone call with the new power- broker of English cricket. Mixed messages coming out of the ECB have left the impression the door is open to the maverick batsman, who was sacked last year after the Ashes debacle. But incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves, who takes over from Pietersen’s arch-opponent Giles Clarke on May 15, has spoken to the 34-year-old and made it clear there are no guarantees — even if he scores heavily for Surrey on his expected county comeback. Kevin Pietersen will return to Surrey in the summer to play in the LV= County Championship . Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves has made it clear there are no guarantees . Graves, who instigated the conversation, hoped to keep it confidential but the tenor of the chat was that Pietersen’s England future rests entirely with the selectors, who would consider form as well as other aspects — such as upsetting team spirit — when picking the Test side this summer. A number of players, led by captain Alastair Cook, would strongly resist a KP comeback. Though Graves told Pietersen he would not interfere with selection, having never done so as chairman of Yorkshire, Pietersen (right) remains so enthused about the slim possibility of playing for England again that he will commit himself to Surrey this season. He said while commentating on Test Match Special at the World Cup: ‘If I can do anything that can help me get back into it for England, then it’s something I want to do.’ Surrey still have to agree the detail of Pietersen’s re-engagement but he is expected to fulfil at least some of his £205,000 IPL contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He would then need some practice in red-ball cricket, which he last played in the Sydney Test of January 2014 that completed the 5-0 Ashes whitewash. Pietersen has hinted he could change his IPL contract in a bid to push for an England place . After playing for the Big Bash League's Melbourne Stars, Pietersen has signed with the Sunrisers Hyderabad . England cricket managing director Paul Downton said he watched every ball of that game and had never seen a player so disengaged from his team-mates. Given the strong opposition of Downton and chairman of selectors James Whitaker, Pietersen’s hopes boil down to the side doing so badly against the West Indies and New Zealand in the next two Test series that radical changes are considered for the Ashes, which starts in July. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has called England’s current situation a ‘soap opera’, and says the team need to beat the West Indies 3-0 to stop talk of a Pietersen comeback. ‘It is clear that for Kevin to have any hope of playing for England — and it is only a small hope — he has to play county cricket and we will see what happens,’ Vaughan said on TMS. ‘The game needs a change, it needs someone to come in and say the past is the past and to start afresh. Graves is clearly going to do that. Obviously it’s going to ruffle a few feathers but maybe that’s what they need. ‘Maybe this is a fantastic motivational tool. If the team don’t want Pietersen in the side then go to the West Indies and win 3-0. Play better, score more runs and win more games and Pietersen will never play again.’ +As excitement builds around Sunday's top-four showdown between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield, Sportsmail asked two fans to take part in a Q&A. David Tyrer from Live4Liverpool and Sam Peoples from The Peoples Person answered questions on England's biggest rivalry, what they make of the race for the top four and how past results and recent form will affect the clash. Scroll down to read their answers. Click here to check out David Tyrer's work on Live4Liverpool . Click here to follow L4L on Twitter . Click here to check out Sam Peoples' work on The Peoples Person . Click here to follow TPP on Twitter . Games between Manchester United and Liverpool are always among the most hard-fought of the season . Feeling confident? DT: I am, despite Monday’s game (1-0 win over Swansea) I think we’ve our best chance in years of getting a good result; even more so than last season at Old Trafford. SP: The performance against Spurs came at just the right time to instil some confidence in fans and the players. It wasn't the win, it was the tempo but that being said, it is Anfield. When was the last time United played well there? Raheem Sterling and Wayne Rooney come head-to-head in a Premier League clash that is vital for both teams . What would it mean to the fans of your team to win this game? DT: Considering how United have fallen in recent years, it means a lot more in the grand scheme of finishing in the top four. United’s scalp for us is still a big one but the three points are just as – if not more important. SP: It is and always will be the biggest game of the season and Sunday is the biggest game between the clubs in years. Both have a lot on the line and so much to lose, so it is going to be an intense atmosphere, more so than usual. United fans have always viewed Liverpool as their biggest game of the season, this year it's even bigger . Is this the biggest rivalry in English football? DT: Without a doubt, regardless of what City or Everton fans like to think – it’s still the first one I look for when the fixture list comes out. SP: Without question it is the biggest rivalry. Man City might be challengers now but United fans spent decades laughing at them trying to hold on to our coat tails and as for Chelsea, that rivalry has been forced on to everybody thanks to Roman Abramovich. I miss the old days of Arsenal being a bitter rival but although that feeling has dampened in recent years, the rivalry with Liverpool has never lost its potency. Sportsmail's Jamie Carragher argues with Gary Neville during a United-Liverpool clash back in 2010 . Matches between the two sides are always potent - it is the biggest rivalry in English football, say the fans . Patrice Evra encourages the United support ahead of Liverpool rival Luis Suarez after a United win in 2012 . What was your take on Man United's 3-0 win over Liverpool in December? DT: It was particularly miserable, as it felt as if our previous season was just a one-off. Obviously, we’re back to something like last season’s form now but that was hard to take, as I felt we deserved something. SP: What a cracking game that was but the 3-0 over Spurs last weekend was much more convincing. We were vibrant in attack against Liverpool yet defensively we were weak and it was all about David de Gea's heroics. If not for an outstanding performance from him, it could have been very different. Rooney scored United's opener in an impressive 3-0 win at Old Trafford when Liverpool were struggling . Juan Mata added a second goal for the home side to compound Liverpool's misery under Brendan Rodgers . Robin van Persie scored the third goal but Liverpool and Rodgers have not lost in the league since that day . What's changed for both teams since that result? DT: I don’t think much has changed for United, they’re still winning games, often without being the better side, but they were good against Tottenham, which could be a concern. Liverpool have improved so drastically though, and it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that a bit of better early-season form would’ve seen another title challenge. SP: Liverpool haven't lost in the Premier League since then which says it all. They've had a post-January renaissance akin to what United did annually under Sir Alex and come into the game on Sunday as the league's in-form side. On the other hand, United have been a mixed bag all season but have been able to grind out a lot of results as well, so we've become quite hard to beat which is certainly progress. Jordan Henderson scored Liverpool's winner at Swansea in the latest impressive result of a good run of form . Rooney starred in United's 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur which kept up hope of finishing in the top four . Angel Di Maria is free from suspension to return to the United team. Is that a good or a bad thing? DT: Sadly, it makes little difference. He’s one of the world’s best but Louis van Gaal just doesn’t know what to do with him. Here’s hoping he starts him up front again! SP: You can't underestimate any world-class player regardless of what form they are in. Before his red card against Arsenal, Di Maria actually had his best 45 minutes in a long time and his pin-point cross set up Wayne Rooney's equaliser. I expect him to come straight back into the starting XI because of his pace as United will more than likely set-up on the counter-attack as we did away to Arsenal. With Ashley Young and Rooney bang in form, United should have some great pace up front. Angel di Maria returns after being sent off in the FA Cup against Arsenal, and could start for United . Do you expect Steven Gerrard to start for Liverpool? DT: No, and nor should he. He was solid and calmed us down when he came on on Monday but if the game has any of the usual frantic pace about it he’ll be our major weak link. SP: I really hope Liverpool get caught up in the sentimental wave of Gerrard's last derby and start him but I can't see it happening. They're a better side without him as Jordan Henderson has stepped it up this year. Rodgers may elect to leave his captain Steven Gerrard on the bench as he continues to recover from injury . What are your plans for the day of the game? DT: I usually find the games against United too nerve-wracking so I tend to not be around other people. There’s usually a lot of work to do on the day of the match too so, I’ll most likely watch with family or by myself and hope I don’t have to drown my sorrows later on! SP: It's an early kick-off so won't be much time to do anything before 1.30 comes around. As there's so much riding on this game, I'll probably just be a bag of nerves right up until the first whistle. Daniel Sturridge isn't quite back to his best after returning from injury but could have a key role to play . What would a win for your team do to their Champions League qualification prospects? DT: I wouldn’t say a win for either side would seal the other’s fate but I do believe if Liverpool win then the confidence the three points would bring would be incredible in terms of momentum, it may even lead to a push for third or (whisper it) second. SP: A win for either side would be absolutely massive. It would give United a very nice cushion over Liverpool and consolidate our spot in fourth and for Liverpool, it would see them leapfrog United. It's all to play for. Liverpool supporters are eyeing up Manchester City's second spot in the Premier League if they beat United . United manager Louis van Gaal has already stated his belief that his team can catch their local rivals City . The last six meetings have all had a winner and the bookies expect Liverpool to be victorious here. What's your prediction? DT: I’m going to say a less comfortable win than we’d hope but still, I’m going for a 2-0 to Liverpool. SP: I'm going to disagree with the bookies here and go for a draw. It's a derby so anything can happen and form usually doesn't count for much. Both sides are going to have chances as there are defensive weaknesses in United and Liverpool. Hopefully United can be as clinical as they were against Spurs but away at Anfield is a different kettle of fish. My prediction? A score draw: 1-1. The bookmakers think Liverpool and midfielder Joe Allen will come out on top in Sunday's showdown . +Sky is to increase its prices for sports and family entertainment packages in Britain, just six weeks after it agreed to pay a record fee for the rights to show Premier League football matches. Sky, which normally increases its prices in September, said on Thursday the price of a sports TV package would rise by £1 to £47 a month. It reflects the balancing act it is attempting after agreeing to pay £4.2billion to show 126 live Premier League matches a season from 2016 to 2019, fending off fierce rival BT. Sky said upon the announcement of the record Premier League deal that it would try to make sure its customers would not have to foot the bill. As of June, it will cost £47 a month to watch Sky Sports pundits such as Thierry Henry (centre) Sky will no longer have rights to broadcast Champions League games from next season . Sky paid £4.2billion to broadcast 126 live games a season from 2016 to 2019 in the Premier League . 'The company will work hard to minimise the impact of higher rights costs on customers, with the majority of the funding coming through substantial additional savings to be delivered by efficiency plans,’ a Sky spokesman said upon the announcement of the rights in February. Sky's family bundle, which includes its highest profile shows and box-sets of drama, would rise by £3 a month to £36. Analysts said the lower price rise for sports channels might reflect a concern within the company that viewers could defect to BT, which won the right to show 42 games a season and has also beaten Sky to show Champions League matches from later this year. The price increases will take effect in June. Analysts at Citi said this was prudent as the previous timetable would have resulted in Sky trying to increase prices just as the Champions League matches disappeared from its channels. Sky suggested its customers would not have to foot the bill for the record Premier League TV deal . Graphic charts the significant rise of domestic Premier League TV revenue . Seven packages were available in the auction, five with 28 games per season and two with 14 games per season. THE PACKAGES SKY WON . Package A comprises 28 games on Saturday lunchtimes (12.30pm). Package C has 28 games kicking off between 1.30pm and 2.15pm on Sundays. Pack A has 6 'first pick' games from 38 rounds and B has 9 first picks. Package D is the 4pm Sunday bundle of 28 games - crucially with 18 'first pick' games. Package E is the 'Monday night football' (8pm) bundle, with 18 games on Mondays plus 10 on Fridays; this is the first time Premier League games will be shown live on Friday evenings. There are no first picks in this package. Package G is a bundle of 14 games on Bank Holidays and other Sunday matches with two first picks. THE PACKAGES BT SPORT WON . Package B has 28 games at tea-time on Saturdays (5.30pm) Packages F has 14 games, a mix of midweek and Saturday games including three first picks. Under the current ongoing deals Sky have paid £2.28bn over three years from 2013-16 for 116 games per season, or in other words, get 348 games at £6,551,724 each. BT have paid £738m over three years from 2013-16 for 38 games per season, or in other words, get 114 games at £6,473,684 each. 50 per cent of the revenue is divided equally between the clubs . 25 per cent is awarded on a merit basis, determined by final league positions . 25 per cent is distributed as a facilities fee for televised matches . NICK HARRIS . Sky may also have been encouraged to move ahead with price rises now after recent quarterly results showed the number of people leaving the platform had reduced. 'The experience of Canal+ in France suggests losing rights does not impact subscriber volumes, but does impair pricing power,' Citi said. The analysts said the price rises could result in an around 10 percent increase to earnings per share. Shares in Sky, which has recently expanded into Germany, Italy and Austria, were up 1.4 percent, outperforming the FTSE 100 Index which was up 0.4 percent. +A football match was called off after just 58 seconds when the referee realised he could not see his linesmen due to intense fog. The top-of-the-table clash between St Austell and Bodmin in Cornwall on Wednesday had already been delayed due to poor weather when referee Neil Hunnisett decided to get on with the game. But it was called off less than a minute later, making it one of the shortest games in football history. A top-of-the-table clash between St Austell and Bodmin in Cornwall on Wednesday had to be called off after just 58 seconds due to intense fog which blanketed the pitch . Referee Neil Hunnisett had already been forced to delay the game due to the poor weather, and was keen to get on with the Carlsberg South-West Peninsula match, but eventually had to concede defeat . Local league official Mike Sampson said: 'When we arrived in St Austell it was hard to see out of the windows. I had to put my glasses on to eat my pasty.' He added: 'We only knew the game had kicked off because the whistle went. The linesman put his flag up and it took the referee 58 seconds to see him.' Home team St Austell said they would refund all 150 fans who turned out for South West Peninsula League game. Mr Hunnisett defended his decision to start the game and claimed: 'I've officiated in worse. I wanted to see if the fog would clear.' He told BBC Radio Cornwall: 'I could have called the game off when I got to the ground. 'My two assistants and assessor went along with my decision to start. However, just prior to kick-off it was very apparent I had probably made the wrong decision. Spot the players: Concealed somewhere in this image are the match officials and starting 11 players from both teams lined up shortly before the kickoff . Mr Hunnisett was forced to end the game when he realised he couldn't see his linesmen, making it one of the shortest games in football history . 'Do I feel bad? Of course I do. I was looking forward to this game as it's a big appointment and I am aware that St Austell have a bottleneck of fixtures too.' Mr. Sampson added: 'The fans were very good about it. St Austell refunded all their money and everybody was very good about it. 'It was a very important game in the league. 'St Austell's games are piling up, they'll be playing three or four times a week come the end of the season, so to be fair to the referee he tried everything he could to get it on.' Local league official Mike Sampson, who came to watch the match from the touchline, said he only knew the game had started after hearing the referee's whistle as he couldn't see the centre circle . This game is not the quickest to be called off, as a 1998 World Cup qualifier between Scotland and Estonia finished after three seconds when the Estonian team boycotted in a row over floodlights . St Austell, who are through to the semi-finals of the FA Vase, are fourth in the league and have eight games in hand on leaders Saltash United, who are 13 points ahead. The game is expected to be rearranged in April. However this game was not the quickest-ever to be called off. A 1998 World Cup qualifier between Estonia and Scotland was abandoned after three seconds . The Estonia team boycotted the game due to a dispute over the floodlights at the Kadrioru Stadium in Tallinn. +Retired footballer Pat van den Hauwe has revealed how he once pointed a gun at a man's head and considered pulling the trigger - all because he owed him £100. The former Everton, Tottenham and Birmingham defender, now 54, used to carry a '38 snub' gun after being given it for protection by a friend. And, after being angered by the man in a chance meeting outside a pub, Van den Hauwe admits that he was tempted to use the weapon. Pat van den Hauwe, pictured in action for Everton, has revealed how he once almost shot a man over £100 . The Belgium-born defender also enjoyed a successful spell with Tottenham, winning the FA Cup in 1991 . Van den Hauwe lifts the European Cup-winners' Cup and Division One trophy at Goodison Park in 2010 . Clubs: Birmingham (1978-84), Everton (1984-89), Tottenham (1989-93), Millwall (1993-95) Honours: Division One title (Everton, 1985), Cup Winners' Cup (Everton, 1985), FA Cup (Tottenham, 1991) International Caps (Wales): 14 . In an interview with the set pieces, the former Wales international said: 'I used to wear an ankle strap and at night if I went out, I carried it. There was just one incident, some guy who owed me money. 'He kept ducking me and ducking me and after I'd had a few drinks and god knows what, I bumped into him outside a pub. I said "Where's me money?" and because he was a black belt in karate I thought "I'm not gonna f*** around with this". 'He said to me "Well, what you gonna do about it?" and you know when I lose my temper, I lose my temper. 'So I just turned around, put me leg up on the wall, pulled me gun out and pointed it at his head. Then I looked up to him and said, "What are you gonna f****** do now then?' Now 54, Van den Hauwe played for Spurs for four seasons before leaving to join Millwall in 1993 . The former Wales international chats with ex-Everton boss Howard Kendall at an event back in 2012 . Van den Hauwe, known as 'Psycho' among fans, clashes with Nottingham Forest's David Campbell in 1986 . 'I had a moment where it was touch and go, and, I really thought to myself "Before I do the ultimate wrong thing, it's time to give it back," you know? Because once it goes wrong there, you're banged up for life. I had to think seriously about it. I'm not a violent person anyway, you know what I mean?' Van den Hauwe, who won the Division One title and European Cup Winners' Cup with Everton in 1985 and the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, is now living in South Africa after suffering with depression. And he insists that the gun incident, although potentially dangerous, altered his life for the better. 'I would say, that incident, carrying it, pulling it, p****** about with it, it was just a matter of time for me. I think it was a life changing thing. It calmed me down,' he added. +The sister of convicted rapist Ched Evans is set to appear on the next series of Big Brother. Kylie Evans, 30, who has drawn public condemnation in the past after appearing on television to defend her sibling, was apparently selected after being fast-tracked through the early phases. Former Manchester City striker Evans has been trying to restart his career since he was sacked by old club Sheffield United after being convicted of rape in 2012. And his sister looks set to be named on Big Brother, according to The Sun. Ched Evans used to play for Sheffield United before he was convicted of rape and his contract was severed . It was believed that Sheffield United were planning to sign him again as a free agent, but after a public outcry the club said it had no plans to bring him to Bramall Lane. A proposed move to Oldham Athletic also fell apart due to negative media coverage, and Evans has yet to find another club to take him. Ms Evans allegedly plans to use the appearance to try to convince the public of her brother's innocence after he served time in jail for rape. The former Wales international started his career at Manchester City and scored against Portsmouth . She caused outrage when she appeared on ITV's This Morning alongside Evans' girlfriend Natasha Massey, to claim her brother was innocent while he was still behind bars. According to The Sun, Ms Evans was fast tracked through the early auditioning phases after securing the services of a professional agent. Endemol, the TV production company behind the Channel 5 reality show, could not be reached for comment on the controversy. Kylie Evans is believed to have been fast tracked through the application stages of the reality show . Evans was found guilty after he went to a hotel room in Rhyl, south Wales, after being messaged by fellow footballer Clayton McDonald saying he had 'got a bird'. Once there Evans had sex with the girl, who says she has no memory of the incident. Evans claims the sex was consensual, but a jury ruled otherwise. McDonald was acquitted, but Evans was jailed for five years. He was released late last year while continuing to protest his innocence. Evans pictured in Cheshire yesterday with his fiancée Natasha Massey, apparently wearing a solid gold Rolex . He continues to protest his innocence, largely via a website set up and funded by the millionaire father of his girlfriend, to whom he is now engaged. The footballer's sister has been one of his most outspoken supporters since his conviction, and has publicly challenged high-profile figures who oppose his return to football. After Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster threatened to resign as a patron of Sheffield United if they took Evans back, his sister called her a 'hypocrite' because Ms Webster had previously written positively about convicted rapist Mike Tyson. +Harry Kane has revealed he can't believe a 'crazy' year at Tottenham has culminated in his first call-up for the senior England squad. Kane was given the nod by Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson for the forthcoming Euro qualifier with Lithuania, followed by the friendly with Italy after bagging 26 goals 42 games for Spurs this season. The Chingford-born forward was a regular on the Tottenham bench until November, but has blossomed from bit-part player into one of the Premier League's most deadly strikers. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Harry Kane's interview with Spurs TV . Tottenham striker Harry Kane has earned his first call up to the England squad following a fine run of form . The 21-year-old, pictured in action against Manchester United, could face Lithuania and Italy this month . Kane scores his second goal of the game against QPR - his 26th in all competitions this season . Kane said: 'I haven't had time to sit down and think about what's happened. It's obviously been a hectic season - a lot has been happening, but I'm enjoying every minute of it and I just want it to continue. 'It's crazy how things can change in football in such a short space of time. I can remember coming off the bench against Benfica and nearly getting that big comeback win away from home. 'But we're here now and it's crazy, but it's what I've always wanted to achieve.' Hodgson - who made the announcement at Wembley Stadium - also called-up his team-mates Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend to the 24-man squad. 'I think the whole country is excited about Harry,' said the England boss. 'It would have been a surprise if he wasn't selected.' Kane is refusing to allow himself to get carried away, but has set his sights firmly on winning that all-important first cap, despite competition coming from Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck. England boss Roy Hodgson announces his 24-man squad during a press conference at Wembley Stadium . Kane took to Twitter on Thursday to talk of his pride at being called up to Hodgson's senior squad . Kane, pictured celebrating at Loftus Road, has more Premier League goals than any Englishman this season . 'It's a very proud moment for me and my family. It's an honour to be called up to the senior side and something I always dreamed of as a kid, when I got the message I was full of joy and hope it's the first of many. 'I'll be aiming to go there and compete for places, try and get myself into the team. There's a lot of great players there and I know that.' England meet Lithuania at Wembley on March 27 in their Group E Euro 2016 qualifier before a friendly in Turin against Italy on March 31. +He might be a strapping 6ft 2" but compared to the man mountains who make up the England rugby side, Prince Harry is a mere minnow. Perhaps with that in mind, Harry declined an invitation to show off his ball skills during a training session this morning and stayed safely on the sidelines instead. Harry, who is vice patron of the English Rugby Football Union, was at Penny Hill Park in Surrey to wish the team luck ahead of their crunch match against France on Saturday. Banter: Prince Harry shares a joke with England head coach Stuart Lancaster . Looking on: Harry chose stay on the sidelines during the training session . Standing with head coach Stuart Lancaster, the 30-year-old Prince exchanged quips with the players before watching the action in an official England jacket and jeans. Despite his proficiency in the art of banter, Harry kept talk of tactics to a minimum, according to Lancaster. 'He was just there as a supporter to observe what we were doing,' said the England coach. 'There were no motivational talks.' Nevertheless, Harry will also at Twickenham for Saturday's match and will watch two girls' rugby teams from Reigate School and Quest Academy face off ahead of the main match. Both schools are fielding teams under the auspices of the RFU's All Schools programme which aims to boost rugby in state schools. Having fun: Harry is all smiles as the training session at Pennyhill Park unfolds . Having a chat:  Prince Harry enjoys a chat during this morning's training session . This is how it's done: The action man Prince shows off his skills . Paying attention: Prince Harry, the vice patron of the England RFU, takes in the scene . Fan: Harry has long been a fan of rugby and is a familiar sight at Twickenham . Harry is patron of the programme, which he combines with his more formal role at rugby's governing body. Although one of the most prominent royal rugby fans, the Prince is by no means the only one. His brother Prince William is also a fan and enjoys a similar position at the Welsh RFU while the Princess Royal is patron of Scottish rugby and regularly appears at Murrayfield on match day. This week's Six Nations clash with France is set to be particularly nerve-wracking for England fans, with Wales and Ireland also in contention for the trophy. The last tournament before autumn's Rugby World Cup, all four home nations will be hoping to give their confidence a boost and take on the new challenge off the back of a win. Ready for action: England captain Chris Robshaw is put through his paces in front of Prince Harry . High hopes: England stars, among them Geoff Parling, are hoping to clinch victory against France . Competition: This weekend's crunch match could determine who wins this year's Six Nations . +Mixed martial arts is the biggest growing sport in the world and every Thursday, Bleacher Report will bring you a buzzing story. Their five-star Mobile App 'Team Stream' helps you follow the MMA 24-7: DOWNLOAD NOW . Ryan LaFlare will put his undefeated record on the line against crafty veteran Demian Maia this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 62. It will be his toughest test to date and a chance to prove he's a real title threat. Unlike many fighters currently competing in the UFC, including guys like Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson, LaFlare has never tasted professional defeat. Here is our pick of the best unbeaten fighters right now. Ryan LaFlare will be hoping to make it 12 from 12 when he takes on Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 62 . Veteran fighter Maia (left), pictured fighting Alexander Yakovlev, will pose a real threat to LaFlare's record . 1. Ronda Rousey - It's difficult to imagine a world where Rousey is not undefeated. So long as the champ's focus remains on MMA and not becoming the next Audrey Hepburn, her Octagon success should only continue to flourish. And yes, that includes a potential showdown with Cristiane 'Cyborg' Justino's heavy artillery. Ronda Rousey can keep her unbeaten UFC record going unless her attention is taken by acting . 2. Chris Weidman - At this point in his career, having capped off two victories over Anderson Silva with an impeccable title defense over Lyoto Machida at UFC 175, there's no denying how good UFC middleweight kingpin Weidman truly is. When healthy, Weidman is a pound-for-pound force who is arguably the most complete champion in the sport today. Vitor Belfort, Luke Rockhold, the winner of Ronaldo Souza vs. Yoel Romero and possibly Machida stand in Weidman's way from securing one of the most impressive Octagon runs of all time. Chris Weidman is arguably the sport's most complete fighter and could be on his way to making UFC history . 3. Khabib Nurmagomedov - Aka The Eagle, aka Mr. Funny Hat, aka Last Guy to Beat Rafael Dos Anjos, is MMA's Red Star. Equipped with some of the best wrestling the lightweight division has ever seen, the 26-year-old combines power and tenacity to pulverize his opponents. With victories over current divisional champ Dos Anjos, veterans Gleison Tibau and Pat Healy and the hard-hitting Abel Trujillo, the Russian's 26-0 record is gaining quite the accolades. Khabib Nurmagomedov (right), who also goes by many nicknames, is one of best wrestlers ever seen . 4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk - There's something about the current UFC women's strawweight champion that suggests she'll be the division's titleholder for a very long time. She's young, lean, athletic and cocky enough to keep even the most casual of fight fans interested in a 115-pound female. Undefeated at 9-0, the Polish Princess has dissected her opponents with unparalleled striking consisting of perfectly timed combinations, body strikes and suffocating pressure. Joanna Jedrzejczyk remains undefeated in nine fights and doesn't look like being beaten any time soon . Bleacher Report's Mobile App 'Team Stream' helps you stay in the know with your favourite teams across a range of sports via hand-picked, curated sports stories from around the web. Get news for your teams all in one place and get real-time alerts for breaking stories. DOWNLOAD NOW. 5. Paul Felder – The UFC lightweight Felder has come out of nowhere. Unranked and undefeated, the Irish Dragon is quietly flying under the radar coming into his fight with Jim Miller at UFC on Fox 15. But with versatile striking, knockout power and budding grappling skills, Felder will ultimately force his way into the limelight. Paul Felder has come from nowhere to take the UFC lightweight division by storm . 6. Bethe Correia - It's unlikely that she has what it takes to defeat champion Rousey. Even with the best power punching in the women's bantamweight division, the confident Brazilian has struggled to maintain the composure and patience it would take to win the title. Her resume certainly commands respect, but it only took Rousey 16 seconds in a recent title defense opposite Cat Zingano to beat a contender with the same 9-0 record. Brazilian Bethe Correia (left) packs a powerful punch but still might not be strong enough for Rousey . 7. Ryan LaFlare - Even with a record of 11-0 (4-0 in the UFC), rising welterweight LaFlare has yet to earn undivided respect. Due in part to his inability to capture a Octagon finish thus far, the wrestling-based 31-year-old needs to show a little 'flair' to make noise in a talent-rich division. But with an excellent ground game and budding striking skills, the New Yorker slightly resembles a less accomplished Weidman. The jury is still out over LaFlare, especially since he has not managed an Octagon finish so far in his career . +Burnley manager Sean Dyche has reassured Danny Ings that the door is still open to a senior England call-up if his rise to stardom continues. Ings has emerged as one of the most exciting young strikers in the country alongside Tottenham’s Harry Kane this season, and has been linked with moves to Liverpool and Manchester City when his contract at Burnley runs out in the summer. But while Kane was called up for the first time on Thursday when Roy Hodgson named his squad to face Lithuania and Italy at the end of the month, Ings had to be satisfied with a place in the Under-21 party. Burnley striker Danny Ings was left out of Roy Hodgson's England squad despite his recent good form . Ings' manager at club level, Sean Dyche, said he is sure Ings is in England's thoughts and told him to push on . The young striker has become a big part of the England Under 21 set up and is in Gareth Southgate's squad . ‘I’m not surprised,’ said Dyche. ‘I’d like to think he’s in their thoughts and in and around their thinking. ‘There are lots of other players out there doing well. Obviously the main one is Harry Kane. ‘I would certainly promote them to continue monitoring him because I think he’s got a freshness to the way he plays and is different to a lot of centre-forwards who would be considered. ‘We’ve enjoyed what he’s doing here and he’s definitely learning. That’s the big thing when you’re a young player, and particularly playing at this level. Are you getting used to it? Are you learning? Overall he has. ‘There are no guarantees. It’s for Roy Hodgson and his staff to decide. As long as he keeps progressing, he’ll certainly always be in their thinking.’ Ings' contract at Turf Moor expires at the end of the season but Dyche wants him to push on for Burnley . The Clarets boss was not surprised to see Ings left out of the senior set-up considering the depth of forwards . Ings’s strike partner Sam Vokes has been recalled to the Wales squad for the first time in more than a year for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Israel, just a few days after making his first Premier League appearance for Burnley in last weekend’s surprise win over Manchester City. Vokes, 25, missed the first five months of the season with a knee injury and Dyche admits the player is still getting back to his best. He added: ‘I’m sure judging by how Sam operated last week that he’s well and truly on his way to full match fitness. I don’t expect it to happen overnight, it’s down to the game time we can give him when we think it’s appropriate. Hodgson opted for Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck as his strikers . Ings and Kane (right) are key members of the side for Southgate (left) ahead of the European Championships . ‘I spoke to Chris (Coleman) and let him know where he was at. I said it was touch and go whether he started (against City), and I did start him. ‘I still think there is more to come from him – that true match fitness that can only come from games – so we’ll try and be wise with that. ‘It’s important with a player’s recovery to be given time. That has paid itself back with a reasonable, if not a good performance actually, last week. There is still more to come as he gets used to this level and the sharpness returns.’ Sam Vokes has been named in Wales' squad for their upcoming games after over a year out of the set-up . Vokes has been rewarded for his good form with Burnley, including playing in the win over Manchester City . +The Football Association are confident the FA Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Reading will draw a much larger television audience than Manchester United’ s Premier League trip to Chelsea after revealing the matches will clash. Just 10 minutes separate the kick-off times of two of the biggest games this season, with the FA Cup encountering an awkward conflict on what is supposed to be a standout weekend for the competition. Arsenal face Reading at Wembley on Saturday April 18 at 5.20pm for a place in the FA Cup final, with Chelsea hosting United at Stamford Bridge at 5.30pm the same evening in a hugely important Premier League encounter. Marouane Fellaini competes with Gary Cahill during the Barclays Premier League match at Old Trafford . Jose Mourinho faces Louis van Gaal with points on the line for the title race and Champions League spots . Much of the build-up to that slot will focus on Jose Mourinho facing Louis van Gaal, with points on the line for the title race and Champions League qualification. Arsenal’s game against Championship Reading may play second fiddle in the eyes of many neutral football fans. But FA sources insist viewing figures for their match, broadcast on the BBC, will far outstrip the Premier League contest shown on Sky. United v Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals managed peak figures of 8.9million people. The terrestrial advantage in this battle is highly significant. Arsenal players celebrate after beating Hull in the FA Cup final at Wembley last year . Blackburn players salute their fans after they earned an FA Cup replay against Liverpool . The BBC had first pick of the semi-finals and elected for the time and day that is likely to yield their greatest TV audience. The scheduling of the Premier League match would not feature heavily among considerations. BT Sport picked up Aston Villa’s semi-final against either Liverpool or Blackburn and that will kick-off at 3pm on Sunday April 19. It does mean an trickier trip home by train for northern supporters than a Saturday fixture would have represented, but it is understood Metropolitan Police were reluctant to have Liverpool and United fans potentially travelling to and from London Euston at similar times. Many supporters ran on to the pitch after watching Reading beat Bradford to book an FA Cup semi-final spot . Aston Villa fans celebrate victory on the pitch after beating West Brom in the FA Cup sixth round . +Prom is supposed to be one of best nights of the year for high school juniors and seniors, but sometimes it doesn't turn out that way. Looking back at prom photos is sometimes an easy way to see why. Weird haircuts, strange poses and wardrobe choices that are just wrong await in the latest set of pictures from Awkward Family Photos. Is it worse to be her, him or the rug? Maybe they thought it was a magic carpet or something. Guess not . No tuxedo, no trousers, no smile, no problem... At least the fringe on the jean shorts looks classy . There are three chandeliers in the background at this place. They didn't help to distract from the foreground . Maybe the laser show in the background was an attempt to call attention away from the suit. It didn't work . They had their spot on the dance floor marked off with a stack of telephone books for him to stand on . The question is, who ended up with the flowers at the end of the night? Where these guys were so serious looking because they were planning to fight over her after the photo was taken? When you don't have a date, the best solution is always to go with a giant fish in a dress . The mustache is awesome. The jacket and pants are even kind of cool. But the chair makes this guy shine . At least this guy didn't have to worry about shelling out for a limo or sticking his date with the corsage . As soon as the dance was over, they ran off to go compete on American Gladiators. Didn't need to change . Though the sunglasses made it harder for them to see other people, it doesn't work the other way around . It's a well-known fact there's no better way to attract a suitor than by taking a photo with a tractor . They seem really, really happy. Wonder how they would feel if they saw this photo again? Their first date was probably to go see the Breakfast Club or something else involving Molly Ringwald . +After leading Barcelona to Champions League victory against Manchester City at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night Lionel Messi hit back at those that criticised him earlier in the season before celebrating Spanish Father's Day with his family. The Argentina international's girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo posted a picture to her Instagram account on Thursday morning wishing him 'Happy Father's Day'. Roccuzzo and two-year-old son Thiago each planted a kiss on Messi's cheek as the trio posed for a family selfie to mark the occasion. Lionel Messi poses for a family selfie on Thursday to celebrate Spanish Father's Day . Messi taunts the Man City defence on the edge of the penalty area during a classy performance . The night before Messi had produced another stunning performance and brilliantly set up Ivan Rakitic to score the only goal of the game as Barca reached the Champions League quarter-final for a record eighth consecutive season. Earlier in the season, however, Messi was subjected to intense scrutiny as he and Barcelona struggled for form. He was beaten to the Ballon d'Or trophy by Cristiano Ronaldo as rumours of transfer surfaced. But any concerns that Messi's star was fading have well and truly been dispelled since the turn of the year and, after the City game, he was quick to remind his detractors of the criticism he received. Messi joins in the celebrations with Rakitic and Luis Suarez of Barcelona's first-half goal at the Nou Camp . Messi tries to take the ball around the onrushing Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart who makes the save . 'A short while ago I was supposed to be a disaster, it's tricky to go from being a disaster to the best form of ones career,' Messi told Canal+ after the game. During Wednesday's last-16 second leg, although Messi ran the City defence ragged, he met his match against Joe Hart. The England No 1 produced one of the great Champions League goalkeeping performances to thwart Messi with several fine stops. Had it not been for Hart's heroics it could have been a humiliating defeat for Manuel Pellegrini's side and Messi, in typically sporting fashion, was quick to congratulate him. Hart thwarts Messi again as the Manchester City goalkeeper kept his side in the game . Argentina international Messi and Hart acknowledge each other's performances with a hand shake . 'He saved everything. We did all we could to score more goals but the keeper played fantastically well and I’d like to congratulate him. The most important thing was to make it through.' Barcelona now turn their attention to the small matter of the Clasico on Sunday with a chance to open up a four-point lead over Real Madrid in La Liga, but Messi is expecting a tough match. 'One has to respect them and their current form makes them more dangerous. I wouldn’t say that they’re not in good shape or lacking form. On an individual basis they have great players. We’ll just try and play our game.' +France are coming to Twickenham to take on England in the Six Nations finale this weekend, but Olivier Giroud showed there is already one Frenchman in London with rugby ability. The Arsenal striker was eager to show off his keep-ups skills, which were impressive, despite using a rugby ball. The Gunners frontman managed 29 kick-ups before losing control of the ball and shrieking in frustration. Olivier Giroud, with team-mates watching on, attempts to do keep-ups with a rugby ball . The French striker made a reasonable stab at the attempt, keeping the oval ball under control . Although he eventually began to lose his composure, the French star showed plenty of rugby skill . Giroud eventually lost control of the ball after 29 keep-ups, a strong effort with the tough ball . Giroud, who missed a large part of the season with injury, has been in superb form recently, scoring seven times in his last eight games. He was on target against Monaco on Tuesday night as Arsenal attempted to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Champions League last 16, but fell just short. On Thursday the 28-year-old was named in France's squad to play Brazil and Denmark next week. The 28-year-old scored Arsenal's first goal in the 2-0 win over Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday . But despite his goal, France striker Giroud was not able to inspire his team to an aggregate victory . +Crisis-hit Serie A club Parma were declared bankrupt on Thursday with estimated debts of 100 million euros (£72.4m). It took just 10 minutes for an Italian court to make the decision and it is not known whether the club, who are bottom of Serie A, will now finish the season. However, there is a plan in place with the league's governing body and the Italian football federation to fund the club for the rest of the campaign. Parma's new president Giampietro Manenti was arrested for alleged involvement in money laundering . Parma's new owner and president, Giampietro Manenti, was not present following his arrest on Wednesday on charges of money laundering and embezzlement. The court appointed accountants Angelo Anedda and Alberto Guiotto as receivers. 'I believe we'll play on Sunday against Torino,' board member Osvaldo Riccobene told reporters at the end of the hearing. Parma's players and staff haven't been paid in months, with players having to do their own laundry and drive the team bus while games were postponed because the club could not afford stewards or police at their Tardini stadium. Players also refused to play after Manenti failed to fulfil a promise to pay them by mid-February. Captain Alessandro Lucarelli said: ‘I hope sooner or later this all ends because honestly we can’t take any more.’ Manenti became the third owner of Parma this season after purchasing the club for a nominal sum from a Russian-Cypriot group in February. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Manenti is under investigation for various acts of financial irregularity including money laundering and fraud. Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli (left) admits the players are struggling to deal with the club's predicament . +Sam Allardyce is more bothered about winning points than playing attractive football and has confirmed defender James Tomkins will be out for the remainder of the season. West Ham have won just one Barclays Premier League match in 12 and questions have been asked about whether Allardyce will remain in charge beyond his contract, which expires at the end of the season. The Hammers face a Sunderland team under new management on Saturday after Dick Advocaat replaced sacked boss Gus Poyet at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday. James Tomkins will be out for the remainder of the season after having surgery on his shoulder problem . Sam Allardyce is more concerned about picking up points rather than playing attractive football . Big Sam will be without Tomkins after the defender needed surgery on a dislocated shoulder suffered in training, while Winston Reid will be assessed on Saturday following his hamstring problem. Yet the good news for West Ham is that goalkeeper Adrian and Carlton Cole will be available for selection against Sunderland in a game Allardyce feels is a must win. 'Carl comes back into the fray. We're going to wait a little longer for Winston,' the West Ham boss. 'He's still a little way off with a hamstring problem, and we're prepared to wait until Saturday morning to see what it is. 'Our squad is suffering a little bit at the moment. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. It's about overcoming it and winning results, starting Saturday against Sunderland. Winston Reid (right) will be assessed by West Ham ahead of Saturday's clash with Sunderland . 'This run of fixtures has been quite challenging but we've been so close to famous victories against Manchester United and Tottenham away. A draw against Southampton, and we shouldn't really have lost to Chelsea. 'When you consider all those teams above us in the top end of the table, and we shouldn't have lost to any of them. The bottom line is playing fantastic is great but not winning is crucial. Critical. 'We have a big problem in winning football matches at the moment. Our goal is to win football matches. The most important thing for Saturday is for us to gain victory. 'Hopefully we can do that in style but if we can't play as well as we have been doing, just make sure we win this game.' +Gareth Southgate named a strong England U21 squad for next week's games against the Czech Republic and Germany. Southgate has plenty of Premier League stars, including several with senior caps and those on the fringes of the first team squad. Strike pair Danny Ings and Saido Berahino were both thought of as contenders for Roy Hodgson's squad, while Jack Butland will play for the Young Lions while also acting as cover for the first team. Scroll down for full squad . Saido Berahino, who has been called up to the senior squad in the past without player, returns to the U21s . Danny Ings was hoping for a place in Roy Hodgson's first team squad, but has to settle for the Young Lions . Arsenal defender Calum Chambers is one of a host of established Premier League stars in the squad . Goalkeepers . Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham) Jonathan Bond (Watford) Jack Butland (Stoke City) Defenders . Calum Chambers (Arsenal) Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) Luke Garbutt (Everton) Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) Carl Jenkinson (West Ham, on loan from Arsenal) Michael Keane (Burnley) Liam Moore (Brentford, on loan from Leicester City) John Stones (Everton) Matt Targett (Southampton) Midfielders . Tom Carroll (Swansea City, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Nathaniel Chalobah (Reading, on loan from Chelsea) Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton and Hove Albion) Will Hughes (Derby County) Jesse Lingard (Derby County, on loan from Manchester United) Alex Pritchard (Brentford, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) Forwards . Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough, on loan from Chelsea) Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) Danny Ings (Burnley) Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) They join Arsenal full back Calum Chambers and Everton's John Stones in the squad, both of whom have played for the senior team. Chambers has never played for the youth side, but does have three full caps. Tottenham defender Eric Dier, who opted out of one of Southgate's squads in November, returns, while full backs Carl Jenkinson and Luke Garbutt are also rewarded for impressive showings in the Premier League. Patrick Bamford, the Middlsebrough striker on loan from Chelsea, has been called up by Southgate after a hot streak that has seen him score four times in his last four games. Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford earned a call-up with his excellent form for Middlesbrough this season . Everton defender John Stones was a standby for Roy Hodgson's squad at the World Cup in Brazil . Manchester United's Jesse Lingard has been called up for the first time since last May, with injuries having kept him out of Southgate's plans this season. Southampton's Matt Targett and Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli are the only member so fhte squad without a single cap at U21 level or higher. Targett tweeted: 'Delighted to get my 1st under 21s call up for England!! Thanks for all the kind messages'. +Zinedine Zidane's third son, Theo, appears primed to follow in the footsteps of his famous father judging by a goal he recently scored for a Real Madrid youth side. The 12-year-old found the back of the net in the 10-2 thrashing of Moratalaz and demonstrated a prodigious first touch alongside unnerving composure to conjure memories of his father in his prime. As a cross was floated over from the right, Theo Fernandez tucked the ball on to his right foot after a defender missed an interception before deftly placing the ball out of the reach of the goalkeeper and into the top corner. Theo Fernandez, the third son of Zinedine Zidane, scored a brilliant goal for a Real Madrid youth side recently . Theo Fernandez (right) neatly controlled a high cross with a superb left-footed touch . His control allowed him to work his way into space from just inside the penalty area . He then placed the ball past the goalkeeper as three defenders tried to close down the space around him . Zinedine Zidane (left) is considered one of the best players ever and is now the coach of Real Madrid B . Enzo Zidane has progressed through the ranks at Real Madrid and has played for the B team . Theo is not the only Zidane son looking to emulate the achievements of Zidane Snr, who won the Champions League with Madrid and the World Cup with France. Enzo, the oldest Zidane son at 19, has already appeared for the Real Madrid B team, which is coached by Zidane Snr, who retired from playing in 2006. As well as winning the World Cup and Champions League, Zidane Snr was named World Player of the Year three times in 1998, 2000 and 2003. +It's a chapter of Hugh Jackman's life not many people know about. The Hollywood star once said he only 'truly grew up' when he spent months working with in Australia's most remote Indigenous communities. Now he has added his voice to an effort to stop the West Australian government's effort to shut down as many as half of the state's 270 remote communities. Scroll down for video . Lending his voice: Movie star Hugh Jackman has thrown his support behind efforts to stop the forced closure of some remote Indigenous communities . Jackman was lobbied by Indigenous fans who called on him to step up and announce his support . A young child wields the sign aimed at Jackman, who has expressed how grateful he is for the time he has spent in remote communities . 'This is my country': As many as a thousand people could be forced to move if the WA State Government plan goes ahead . In a message posted on social media, Jackman said: 'While living in a remote community I came to understand the 'connection' to land is a fundamental part of Indigenous identity, think about the past, have quality conversations. I SUPPORT YOU'. Indigenous leaders have been highly critical of the state government's plans, which could involve the forced removal of more than 1000 people. Many were angered by Prime Minister Tony Abbott's remarks that governments could not 'endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices'. Jackman reflected upon what he learned living on the land while 'nursing a broken heart' in an interview with Canada's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight several years ago. 'Day after day, week after week, there's a magical effect the landscape had, and that the Aboriginal people had,' he said. He told his father 'I think I'm going to live out here forever' but his father said he should finish college first and evaluate his options then. The X-Men star said he was inspired by the Indigenous people's sense of community and togetherness. Rally: Members and supporters of the Aboriginal community are pictured demonstrating against the West Australian government's plan to close remote Aboriginal communities . The rally was part of a national day of action against the proposed closures . In an interview with a Canadian broadcaster years ago, Jackman said he was tempted to live in the outback with remote communities for a long time . He was angered by the media's constant focus on the problems in Indigenous communities, rather than the positives. 'It really was where I think I grew up. Who am I? What do I want to do? What do I want to say?' he said. Jackman, who was schooled at the prestigious Knox Grammar on Sydney's leafy north shore, said he had not even learned about the Stolen Generations. Blasting the PM's remarks on the issue last week, Indigenous leader Warren Mundine said living on the land was essential for the nation's first people. 'It's about their life, it's about their very essence, it's about their very culture'. +Theo Walcott wants a significant pay rise if he is to sign a new Arsenal contract. Talks over a new deal have begun with the Arsenal forward nearing the final year of his contract. The pacy forward currently earns in the region of £90,000-per-week - but Walcott will ask for a sum significantly north of £100,000-per-week before agreeing to an extension. Theo Walcott wants a significant pay rise if he is to sign a new Arsenal contract . The pacy forward currently earns in the region of £90,000-per-week but will ask for a sum significantly higher . It remains to be seen whether the Gunners will meet the demands but his current position in Arsene Wenger’s plans may provide an indication. Since returning from a long-term injury, Walcott has struggled for regular football, with the likes of Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all vying for a slot in Wenger’s four attacking positions. Arsenal top-earners Sanchez and Ozil earn in the region of £140,000-per-week. The Emirates Stadium are unlikely to offer Walcott anything near that amount, particularly given his lack of games. His wage demands could lead to another long drawn out contract saga, similar to the discussions for his existing deal which nearly saw Walcott leave before he signed his last contract in January 2013. Liverpool and Manchester City will be monitoring Walcott’s situation closely ahead of a potential summer move. Walcott will be hoping to earn a similar amount to star man Alexis Sanchez on £140,000-per-week . Gunners winger Walcott has struggled for a first team place under Arsene Wenger (above) VIDEO Chelsea too far in front - Wenger . +Patrick Bamford scored three goals at the iPro Stadium during a successful loan last season that helped Derby County reach Wembley. He claimed another here of an entirely different complexion. The 21-year-old striker, borrowed from Chelsea, delivered the cutting edge to send Middlesbrough five points clear of their promotion rivals. Having taken stick all game from Derby fans who once cheered him, he revelled in celebrating his defining contribution. Too right. Patrick Bamford celebrates as the Chelsea loanee strikes to earn Middlesbrough all three points . In the 64th minute the hosts were caught attempting to play the ball out from the back. Lee Tomlin nicked possession and threaded a pass to send Bamford clear. He stretched to reach it before Lee Grant and looked like he may go over when the Derby goalkeeper spread himself. Instead he kept his feet and his head, slotting a neat finish from a tight angle. His 16th goal of the season. Quite a way to end St Patrick’s Day. George Friend celebrates with Bamford as the away side secure all three points against Derby County . This result will hurt Steve McClaren as much as it satisfies Aitor Karanka. Aiming for automatic promotion, Derby are faltering. The roar from the visiting section at the final whistle told a story. So did the solemnness with which Derby fans vacated their seats. They look set for the play-offs again at this rate. The visitors so nearly took the lead in spectacular style five minutes before the interval. Grant raced out of his area to intercept a long punt forward but only succeeded in sending his weak clearance to the boot of Jelle Vossen. VIDEO Derby's free fall . Will Hughes of Derby and Adam Clayton compete for the ball during the Championship match . From 40 yards out the Belgian controlled in an instant and lofted the ball high towards the goal. The capacity home crowd seemed to hold its breath as the shot hung in the air, only letting go when the ball dropped to bounce back off the post and into Grant’s arms. It was not a first half to savour for either of these teams with Premier League aspirations. Beginning the match two points apart in fourth and third, Derby and Boro both played as if anxious to avoid defeat rather than seize victory. Quality was low, the ball often sent to the skies. Johnny Russell of Derby and Ben Gibson of Middlesbrough both do their best to win the ball . Derby (4-3-3): Grant 6; Christie 6 (Thomas 75’ 5), Keogh 6.5, Albentosa 5.5, Forsyth 6; Hughes 6.5, Hanson 6 (Hendrick 70’ 5), Bryson 6.5; Ince 6.5, Russell 6, Ward 6 (Lingard 70’ 5) Booked: Christie, Hughes, Bryson . Subs not used: Roos, Dawkins, Shotton, Warnock . Manager: Steve McClaren 6 . Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Konstanopolous 6; Kalas 6, Woodgate 6.5, Gibson 6.5, Friend 5.5; Clayton 6.5, Leadbitter 6; Adomah 6.5 (Nsue 90’), Vossen 6.5 (Forshaw 81’), Tomlin 6.5 (Reach 86’), Bamford 7 . Booked: Vossen, Clayton . Subs not used: Ripley, Kike, Whitehead, Omeruo . Manager: Aitor Karanka 7 . Referee: Andy D’Urso 6 . Man of the Match: Patrick Bamford . The double absence of Chris Martin and Darren Bent clipped Derby of their attacking focus in the previous three games leading to defeat and two draws. Johnny Russell made a fist of playing the striker’s role again but as a natural winger he does not possess the hold up ability of Martin or predatory instinct on Bent. Middlesbrough’s form entering this match was quite literally hit and miss: win followed loss in their past six games. They have struggled away from the Riverside before this. Derby held greater possession but did not create a much. Their best opening of the first half came in the 15th minute when Tom Ince whipped a cross to the back post to Jamie Ward, who was unable to apply the killer touch from two yards. Boro went straight down the other end with Bamford slipping in Albert Adomah to strike for goal. Grant beat away that effort and then did well to save Bamford’s follow-up too. Five minutes after the break simmering tensions sparked into a mass melee when Jamie Hanson left Grant Leadbitter on the floor with a tackle. When referee Andy D’Urso blew for a stoppage, Vossen squared up to Hanson, prompting a dozen or so to get involved. Vossen and Cyrus Christie were booked for their parts. Bamford had a chance to score before he did, miscuing badly from Adomah’s cross. But the mark of a good striker is showing confidence the next time. Bamford did that. Clayton beats his man to the ball as Middlesbrough secure all three points away against Derby . After his goal McClaren made three changes seeking to salvage something. Jesse Lingard came on and had Derby’s best chance, but dragged wide when the ball fell his way in the box. In injury time Bamford could have doubled his tally, finding himself with a clear run at goal as Derby poured forwards. But as he closed in on Grant, Richard Keogh arrived to block his shot wide. No matter, he was still the match winner. +Whoever agreed to schedule Aston Villa’s FA Cup quarter-final with West Bromwich Albion at 5.30 on a Saturday evening showed a dangerous lack of foresight. It seems nobody at the Football Association, the BBC, the clubs or West Midlands Police seriously considered that trouble might follow a day off work when fans of the two local rivals had all afternoon to drink. That miscalculation contributed significantly to scenes described by several former players as from the 1970s — pitch invasions, seats ripped out and used as weapons, players barged and forced to fight their way to the sanctuary of the dressing rooms. Police clash with unruly fans in scenes reminiscent of the of the 1970s following Aston Villa's FA Cup defeat of West Brom . West Brom players look concerned as Aston Villa fans invade the pitch at the end of their FA Cup quarter final . Aston Villa fans celebrate by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . Fans of both Villa and West Brom behaved irresponsibly and have been condemned by their own clubs. Action will follow. But it is clear questions need to be asked about the way matches that carry the potential to be ‘tasty’, as Tony Pulis described this fixture, are arranged. In the past, police have insisted derbies kick off early in the day. In this instance, the local force claim it was out of their hands, with the decision down to the FA. Sources at English football’s governing body say scheduling is a collaborative effort, including police guidance. The wishes of broadcasters play a huge part and evening slots are good for ratings. It is the reason some Arsenal fans will find it impossible to get back to London from Manchester by train. Insufficient numbers of police and stewards attempted to deal with the hundreds who invaded the field of play . Police attempt to halt fans who ran on to the pitch after Aston Villa booked their place in the semi-finals . Villa fans leap over hoardings at the final whistle - while the decision to stage the game at 5.30pm is being questioned . But the BBC, who reportedly paid up to £120million for the rights to show the world’s oldest competition over four years, declined to accept responsibility. A spokesman said: ‘Both West Brom and Villa, along with the police, agreed to the kick-off time and raised no objections.’ If this was a ball rather than the buck, Villa boss Tim Sherwood would be pleased at how quickly it was being passed. Following the match, the national lead officer for football policing appeared on BBC Radio 5Live, and he questioned the decision to play the match on a weekend evening. 'Saturday night football is here to stay, we appreciate that, Friday night football is due to be coming in,' he said. West Brom manager had described the Midlands derby fixture as 'tasty' ahead of the game . West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . 'When you have these fixtures you have to be careful about which ones you play. All games have potential (for crowd trouble) but clearly some games have more potential than others. 'They are big clubs, not clubs that particularly have a troublesome following but when you have that sort of fixture, late on a weekend in particular, alcohol is a factor. 'If you give people four, five, six hours more drinking time, don't be surprised if in a highly-charged atmosphere, their behaviour isn't good. 'Broadcasters as well as the football authorities need to start taking these issues seriously. 'What we want is a sensible dialogue so that we schedule the game appropriately. If you look at the four games for the FA Cup quarter-finals this week, you couldn't probably have picked a worse one to have on a Saturday tea-time than a local derby between two big clubs.' The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way safely off the field following the full-time whistle . Scorer Scott Sinclair (second left) is mobbed by a fan and team-mates Ashley Westwood and Jack Grealish . Fans sing and chant on the pitch following Aston Villa's win during what has been a disappointing season . West Brom sources suggested the kick-off time did cause concern but no formal objection was made. Similar timings have been used before for derbies but with 6,500 West Brom fans travelling across town on Saturday — significantly more than usual — the risk of trouble was surely increased. Villa face the prospect of a fine in the region of £100,000 for failing to adequately control hundreds of fans who ran on to the pitch before referee Anthony Taylor blew for full-time. The top-end punishment would be a partial stadium closure. The FA have launched an investigation and will ask why only a dozen or so stewards were at the Holte End corner where Villa fans burst on to the pitch, causing a two-minute delay. There had been invasions after both goals and the final 60 seconds were played out with a mass of people congregated on the sidelines. Thousands spilled on when Villa’s win was confirmed. Many were in a celebratory mood, wishing to hug their players, even if first goalscorer Fabian Delph was inadvertently bitten by fans overly eager to plant a kiss. On this basis, pitch invasions have been previously celebrated. But there was a sinister undercurrent too. Many wanted to goad beaten opponents. Albion goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was repeatedly shoved in a confrontational manner. A group encircled him, filming on their mobiles. He picked one phone up and chucked it away. Aston Villa players Leandro Bacuna (centre) and Jack Grealish (right) are mobbed by fans after the game . Goalscorer Fabian Delph claims fans nicked his captain's armband as well as his left boot during the invasion . West Brom forward Callum McManaman is escorted off the field after a row with an Aston Villa fan . Callum McManaman had to be shepherded to safety after an altercation with a Villa fan left him shaken, while sub keeper Ben Foster had a finger pushed in his face. Even those who feel pitch invasions can joyously mark a momentous occasion must recognise the inherent danger of Saturday night. During the 93rd-minute surge those who remained in their seats booed loudly. Former Villa striker Stan Collymore said on talkSport: ‘Absolute disgrace, drunken yobs besmirching the name of Villa.’ Mark Lawrenson, commentating on the BBC, said: ‘There are not enough stewards at the Holte End. There are about 15. It’s like a scene from the 1980s all over again.’ An Aston Villa supporter is escorted off by stewards after invading the pitch before full time . Sinclair is crowded by Aston Villa supporters after scoring his goal in the 2-0 victory . There appeared to be almost three times as many stewards at the other end, forming a line in front of the North Stand housing West Brom fans above those supporting Villa. Those seating arrangements have been questioned after one fan was left with a bloody wound when a seat ripped from the tier above hit him on the head. Kevin Phillips, who played for both clubs, said: ‘Seeing those seats come down, it could kill someone. Those people should be found and banned.’ A West Brom statement read: ‘The club is aware of reports of serious misbehaviour involving some of its own supporters. It issues an uncompromising reminder that any supporter found guilty of disorder can expect the appropriate sanction from the club. We will continue to operate zero tolerance to any fans who bring the club’s reputation into disrepute.’ Privately, West Brom were perplexed about the seating arrangements. A match against fierce rivals from across town, finishing as night descended, was always going to carry an edge. Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood admitted he could understand the fans' emotions after the victory . The pitch at Villa Park can barely be seen s supporters cover practically every blade of grass . Also of concern will be coins thrown at Craig Gardner as he took corners. West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace is said to have left Villa Park in a rage. No injuries have been reported to West Midlands Police, who said 17 arrests had been made for public order as well as drunk and disorderly offences. Chief Superintendent Chris Johnson said a probe had also been launched to identify people involved in a disturbance before the match at the Witton Arms pub, down the road from Villa Park. Stadium CCTV will be studied as will any footage obtained from the police helicopter. But those investigating should look at themselves. Aston Villa fans celebrate victory on the pitch after what has been a highlight of a lacklustre season . Aston Villa supporter Mark Villers needed his hair cut and wound glued together on Saturday night . +Referee Michaela Tabb has decided to leave the World Snooker circuit. Tabb, 47, was the first woman to referee at a world ranking tournament and led the way too as the first to do so in a final. The Scot has twice taken charge of the World Championship final at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, another first in 2009 and then again in 2012. Michaela Tabb (left) stands alongside Ronnie O'Sullivan during the 2012 World Championship final . Tabb was the first female to referee a World Championship final at the Crucible in 2009 . She had previously played on the eight-ball pool circuit, and also captained the Scottish ladies' pool team. It was announced on Thursday, however, that she has left the circuit. A World Snooker statement read: 'Michaela Tabb, one of snooker's most experienced referees who took charge of two World Championship finals, has left the World Snooker circuit. Tabb poses for photographs with the World Championship trophy on the table at the Crucible in 2007 . Drew Henry watches Tabb re-aligning the white after a foul during the World Snooker Championships, 2003 . 'Michaela's involvement in snooker began in 2001 when she was fast tracked by World Snooker having worked as a pool referee. 'She refereed her first snooker match at the Crucible Theatre in 2003, and in 2009 became the first woman ever to referee the World Championship Final. 'World Snooker would like to take the opportunity to thank Michaela for her contribution to World Snooker over the last 14 years and wish her all the best with her future refereeing endeavours.' Tabb on Celebrity Pot Black in 2006 with Steve Davis, Vernon Kay, Bradley Walsh and Ronnie O'Sullivan . +England’s Euro-flops flipped the hand-wringers into overdrive, like a Le Mans-style dash for their favourite hobby horse as soon as Manchester City’s fate was sealed in Barcelona. Winter breaks, possession statistics, revenue streams, what’s your poison? Or any other hell-in-a-handcart issue which is about to bring down our national game. Two years in three without a team in the Champions League quarter-finals is a worrying trend and the Barclays Premier League will lose its cherished four-team party invite if it cannot be reversed. Yaya Toure's Man City side struggled to impress as they crashed out of the Champions League to Barcelona . Sergio Aguero (left) missed a penalty as City were eliminated 3-1 on aggregate by the Catalan giants . City's defeat would have been much worse if not for the superb form of goalkeeper Joe Hart (right) There is no English presence in the Europa League either after Everton’s harsh lesson in Kiev on Thursday night. Yet in Germany, a similar debate is unfolding because Bayern Munich are the Bundesliga’s sole representatives in the last eight, two years after Bayern and Borussia Dortmund contested the Champions League final at Wembley and nine months after the World Cup triumph. ‘There is no time to rest, no time to ease off,’ said Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German FA. ‘We have to keep at it if we are to remain at the top.’ In England, the usual excuses were aired but it is to be hoped the big clubs are looking at what they might do to improve as well as grumbling about how the system is stacked against them. There is no English presence in the Europa League after Everton’s harsh lesson against Dynamo Kiev . Romelu Lukaku scored his eighth European goal of the season, but it wasn't enough . The Dynamo players celebrate during their impressive 6-4 aggregate victory over Everton . Too many games? Let’s start with the favourite complaint of the managers who overlook how the extra income from the Champions League should improve their squad, if spent wisely. Besides, who has the most games? Barcelona have played 44 to City’s 42 this season, Chelsea 44 to Paris Saint-Germain’s 45 and Arsenal played 45 to Monaco’s 44. Lionel Messi has played 3,531 minutes for Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo 3,323 for Real Madrid, while Alexis Sanchez has played 3,326 for Arsenal and Eden Hazard 3,539 for Chelsea. It’s more intense in England, they say. No easy games, more physical, no respite. Well, it always has been this way. David Luiz helped Paris Saint-Germain knock Chelsea out at the last 16 stage following a 1-1 draw in France . Luiz celebrates victory with team-mates Thiago Motta (right) and Maxwell at the final whistle . John Terry looks defeated during Chelsea's last 16 exit at the hands of PSG last week . It was in the 1970s when Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa were winning the European Cup and it was in 2008 when Manchester United and Chelsea were in the final in Moscow and half of the last eight were from the Premier League. The intensity of English football used to be considered an advantage with improved fitness and hardened minds. Modern players may run more but usually on better pitches, with lighter balls. In fact, footballers have never had it quite so good. At the top of the Premier League they have the best money can buy in terms of physical care from the moment they step into the academy building. But tell them they are tired and they might feel tired. In 2008 United and Chelsea were in the final in Moscow and half of the last eight were from the Premier League . Eden Hazard has played 3,539 minutes for Chelsea compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's 3,323 for Real Madrid . When competition ends, touring begins. Tottenham will visit Australia in May. Southampton were skiing in Switzerland earlier this month. Manchester City flew to Abu Dhabi before returning to lose at home to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. Chelsea had two days off and a free week to prepare before they were knocked out of Europe by PSG. The wrong type of football? The competitive tempo which gives English football its appeal will never nurture a player like Andrea Pirlo, and yet all-action midfielders thrive in the domestic game, living on mistakes which rarely occur against the best European teams. This is perhaps most keenly felt at international level. Only one English outfield player started for Manchester City in the Nou Camp, and it was not all James Milner’s fault. City have a foreign team and a Chilean manager. Arsenal have not subscribed to traditional English values for years. Few pass the ball better than Arsene Wenger’s teams and few have played in the Champions League with such regularity without winning it. Few have passed the ball better than Arsene Wenger’s teams, but the Gunners still struggle in Europe . Arsene Wenger's Arsenal teams have not subscribed to the traditional English values for years . James Milner was the only English outfield player to start for City against Barcelona on Wednesday night . Barcelona can mesmerise in possession, but it is four years since they made a final. In the 2010 semis, they lost to an Inter Milan team that did not want to know the ball. It is about finding ways to win, which is what Chelsea were doing when they surrounded the referee against PSG. Since West Ham won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965, through the domination of Liverpool and into the renaissance led by Manchester United and maintained by Chelsea, English clubs have been successful with fast, aggressive football and spirited, well-balanced sides. In the past two years, our strongest teams have dipped. The Chelsea side first built by Mourinho is being rebuilt and the new model is not yet as good. United are in post-Fergie turmoil, Arsenal are left short by the same old problems and City are still trying to learn what it takes. There are also the restrictions of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules but English clubs do not want for income, thanks to a bumper television deal, which is about to get even bigger. Money is not the problem. It guarantees nothing in any case. Real Madrid spent a fortune chasing their 10th European Cup. It is about finding ways to win, which is what Chelsea were doing when they surrounded the ref against PSG . Chelsea were the last English to to win the Champions League, defeating Bayern Munich on penalties in 2012 . It took them more than a decade because they became obsessed with superstars and forgot about the team. In England wealth confuses strategy. Clubs have realigned for the Moneyball generation with sporting directors, finance experts and sports scientists involved in transfers while coaches are marginalised. The upshot? Squads lack balance and big-money investments sit on the bench because managers cannot — or will not — accommodate them. What is United’s recruitment strategy? Are City about to sack Manuel Pellegrini and start again? Will Wenger ever change his approach? Yes, a winter break might be helpful, as would the complete restructure of the English league system. And yes, it would be nice if English players could pass the ball, and clubs should invest in youth development until they can. But if our Euro-flops are to flip and rule the Champions League again, they must use their millions more carefully and build better teams. Real Madrid spent a fortune chasing their 10th European Cup, but it took time to get there . City boss Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure after his side's Champions League exit . +Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has admitted his failure to invest in the squad in January has left them desperately short of cover as they prepare to face Arsenal with just 13 senior players. Head coach John Carver appeared for Thursday's pre-match press conference with a 4-4-2 line-up of players unavailable to him. It read: Rob Elliot (thigh); Paul Dummett (knee), Fabricio Coloccini (suspended), Steven Taylor (Achilles) Massadio Haidara (knee); Rolando Aarons (hamstring), Cheick Tiote (knee), Mehdi Abeid (thigh), Siem de Jong (lung); Papiss Cisse (suspended), Facundo Ferreyra (back). John Carver revealed that Mike Ashley regrets not investing in the squad in the January transfer window . The Newcastle owner didn't invest in January despite sanctioning the sale of Davide Santon . And Carver says he has been left in a difficult position after United's hierarchy – Ashley and managing director Lee Charnley – decided to allow defenders Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Davide Santon to leave the club in January without bringing in replacements. 'The fact that Lee and Mike have acknowledged that (we are paying the price for not strengthening the squad) doesn't make me feel better, but at least people understand that's what has happened,' said Carver, whose side have won just one in six since the close of the window as he bids to win the job on a permanent basis. 'Now whether it was me or Alan Pardew, if he was still here, that would be the same situation. Mike Williamson and Daryl Janmaat (centre right) are the likely pairing for the upcoming Arsenal match . Captain Fabricio Coloccini (left) was sent off for a reckless lunge and will miss the next three games . 'I have got to deal with that situation and I will. What I won't do is give up on it, I won't think, 'Well, I've got all those people out, that's it, that's me done, I'm not going to get this job'.' And Carver says the board have already made assurances of significant investment in the summer. 'The squad needs to be stronger and they have acknowledged that to me - they know they have to invest,' he said. 'I have been part of it in the last few weeks and there are things in place. That's from the top. They've got to do something about it, and they know that.' Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (right) is someone Newcastle could do with but he was sold to Roma in January . +England's top football clubs, all out of the Champions League before the quarter-finals, are concerned their chances of signing the next generation of stars are being hampered by the FA’s new regulations governing agents. The rules, which come into force next month after FIFA passed the buck on managing the middle men to national associations, include a ban on agents earning money for representing players under 18 years old. As a result, clubs fear there will no longer be a level playing field in the global hunt for young talent because the players’ representatives will want them to sign for teams in countries where the agents’ code is far more relaxed. Arsene Wenger vents his frustration on the sideline as Arsenal crash out of the Champions League . Lionel Messi (second left) was at his mesmerising best as Barcelona beat Manchester City on Wednesday . And English clubs, who will abide by the rules, have further worries on how these restrictions will be policed by the FA, with agents no longer needing a licence to operate. The competitive market in signing teenage prospects is shown by the Chelsea juniors who have just reached their fourth consecutive FA Youth Cup final. Among the class of 2015 are Jay Dasilva, plucked from Luton at 13, while Isaiah Brown, on the fringe of the first team, arrived from West Bromwich at 16. Isaiah Brown is on the fringe of the Chelsea first team having arrived from West Bromwich aged 16 . BT Sport’s rugby coverage has been recognised for its class by most of its pundits, presenters and commentators being plundered for the World Cup. ITV are taking on loan Brian O’Driscoll, Lawrence Dallaglio (right), Ben Kay, Ugo Monye, Craig Doyle, Sarra Elgan and Nick Mullins while BBC 5 Live have made temporary signings in Matt Dawson and Alastair Eykyn. After the fallout from England players’ bad behaviour on a Land Rover promotional day during the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, it makes sense that none of the England backers have been given sponsorship days with the squad during the 2015 tournament. However, the RFU claim the team have behaved ‘impeccably’ on sponsorship duty since Stuart Lancaster took charge in 2012. The RFU claim England have behaved ‘impeccably’ on sponsorship duty since Stuart Lancaster took charge . UK Sport spent £46,272 on a survey by research company COMRES ‘reassuring’ the organisation their no-compromise approach to funding only Olympic medal contenders is overwhelmingly the right one. As predicted, the only real change is that participation numbers will now be taken into consideration in judging sports with equal medal chances. So basketball, whose loss of backing from UK Sport led to enough criticism of the no-compromise strategy for the survey to be commissioned, will continue to rely on special case hand-outs from Sport England to afford to participate in elite competition. At a time when the ECB need to get their PR act together, head of selectors James Whitaker chose not to front a print-media briefing when announcing the England Test squad for the West Indies. This meant when Whitaker, a hapless public performer, got in an embarrassing tangle with Radio 5 Live’s Pat Murphy over Kevin Pietersen and his possible England return, he did not have the press conference to redress the mixed messages coming out of the ECB over what KP has been promised — which is nothing. Kevin Pietersen's possible England return got James Whitaker in a flap with Radio 5 Live's Pat Murphy . Swimming have been remarkably positive about Sport England taking a whopping £667,895 from their grass-roots monies after a steep decline in participation. In fact Amateur Swimming Association CEO Adam Paker even welcomed ‘Sport England’s continued investment’. The sport realises the cuts could have been more drastic and the lost cash will at least stay in the sport as swimming pool operators, working with ASA, have been charged with making venues more customer-friendly. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has not only turned down the opportunity to take part in a live TV debate with his three rivals, but also the opportunity to speak as a candidate at the UEFA Congress in Vienna next week. Instead Blatter only wants the microphone to address Congress as FIFA president. Meanwhile, there have been a flurry of national association football chiefs from around the globe coming into Zurich for audiences with Blatter, which FIFA somehow claim is ‘business as usual’ rather than electioneering. FIFA president Sepp Blatter turned down the opportunity to take part in a live TV debate with his three rivals . +Harry Kane turned to social media on Thursday, full of emotion after England manager Roy Hodgson called him up for the first time. The Tottenham striker talked of ‘pride’ and ‘honour’ on Twitter after being named in the squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania next Friday and the friendly in Italy four days later. Kane, who has scored 26 goals for Tottenham this season, merits his place alongside England captain Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck. Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling is also in the squad but a niggling toe injury could see him play against Lithuania and sit out the Italy clash. Scroll down for full squad . Harry Kane celebrates after scoring for Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal at White Hart Lane last month . Kane rounds QPR goalkeeper Rob Green to score Spurs' second goal at Loftus Road on March 7 . ‘The whole country is excited to see Harry Kane,’ said Hodgson. ‘His rise has been fantastic. He deserves his chance. He hasn’t been in the squad before, but he has to show he belongs.’ Beyond that, poor Kane discovered what it is really like to be a senior international when he was immediately caught in a club-versus-country row. First the background. The lure of the Aussie dollar has seen Tottenham agree to play Sydney FC on May 30, six days after the final game of the Premier League season. That same weekend, the England squad meet to prepare for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland on June 7 in Dublin, followed by the Euro 2016 qualifier in Slovenia on June 14. There is also a possibility that Kane, a regular in Gareth Southgate’s Under 21 squad, will be selected for the European Championship starting on June 17. ‘Playing for England at Under 21 level is more important than a friendly in Australia and I would be hypocritical if I didn’t give that answer,’ said Hodgson. ‘This business about being tired — he’s played quite a lot of games but he’s not played any more than Wayne Rooney, Jordan Henderson, Joe Hart, Gary Cahill and lots of other players. ‘If he needs a rest there’s a great opportunity when the season ends, before our Under 21s get together. You can’t expect me to say, “Oh no, I understand he will play in Australia and be resting when the Under 21s pitch up”.’ Kane celebrates after scoring for England U21 against Croatia in a Euro 2015 qualifier last year . Still, Tottenham were adamant on Thursday that Kane will travel to Australia to fulfil the Sydney fixture. Kane, 21, has played 42 times for Spurs this season and his goals in three competitions — Premier League, Europa League and Capital One Cup — have earned him international recognition. Inevitably, boss Mauricio Pochettino would prefer the potential PFA Player of the Year to put his feet up this summer. There is a fear of burn-out. ‘We will speak (with Hodgson). It’s a good chance to speak because England train here,’ said Pochettino after England’s squad of 24 was announced. ‘We always try to find what is best for the player. We need to understand every position, but we have a good relationship and after that (talks with Hodgson) we will take a decision.’ As for Kane, he is concerned only with proving himself to the England manager. ‘I’ll be aiming to compete and get myself in the team,’ he said. ‘There are a lot of great players there and I haven’t had time to think about what’s happened but I’m enjoying every minute and want it to continue.’ Beyond the Kane situation, Hodgson had to attend to some general housekeeping at Wembley on Thursday, such as the knockout blow Phil Bardsley seemed to land on his pal Rooney at the captain’s Cheshire home last month. Hodgson said he had no view on the incident, which was revealed last weekend in a Sunday newspaper. ‘You will have to guess whether I am concerned but Wayne’s celebration against Tottenham was one way to take the sting out of the situation,’ said Hodgson. On Monday, when the squad meet at St George’s Park, it will be the first time Hodgson has seen them since November. He had hoped to meet the players at a dinner in January but club managers were against the idea. England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat before announcing his squad at Wembley on Thursday . Instead, Hodgson recorded a video message which was sent to the squad via England’s video analyst Andy Scoulding and was downloaded on to their iPads. ‘I don’t want to do the Sherlock Holmes bit to find out who has and who hasn’t watched it,’ said Hodgson. ‘I did an introduction to each video and then Gary Neville and Ray Lewington talked over the actual clips. ‘It will break the ice that can develop when the last game was in November and your next one is in March. ‘Whether they found it a worthwhile exercise, I don’t know. If it’s not, then it’s an awful lot of work to do for nothing.’ +Recalled paceman Josh Hazlewood took four wickets as Australia dismissed a wasteful Pakistan for 213 runs at the Adelaide Oval on Friday, boosting the co-hosts' hopes of a World Cup semi-final with India. Hazlewood, replacing seamer Pat Cummins, combined with left-armer Mitchell Starc to remove Pakistan's openers cheaply and returned to punch a hole through the Asian team's middle-order on a sun-drenched autumn day. Part-time spinner Glenn Maxwell took two wickets and Aaron Finch three catches at deep midwicket, as captain Misbah-ul-Haq and two other Pakistan right-handers gave up their wickets on a platter when attempting to clear the short boundary. Misbah won the toss and opted to bat first but the move backfired with openers Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad both out within three balls before the sixth over. Sarfraz, on 10, edged a quicker ball from Starc to Shane Watson who took a fine, low catch diving to his right in the slips. Hazlewood (4-35) then struck to remove Shehzad for five, the opener edging behind to Australia captain Michael Clarke. Misbah was nearly out for a duck two balls later when the ball brushed his stump after clipping his thigh pad, but the bails stayed intact. He and number three batsman Haris Sohail battled to steady the innings and the Pakistan skipper smashed Maxwell over the fence twice. But Maxwell had the last laugh, breaking the 73-run partnership when Misbah miscued a slog-sweep straight to Finch in the 24th over. The writing was on the wall when Mitchell Johnson had Sohail out for 41 soon after, following up a venomous bouncer with a wide, fuller delivery to the left-hander who sent a leaden-footed edge to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Infuriatingly for Pakistan fans, Umar Akmal (20) and Shahid Afridi (23) repeated their captain's horrid dismissal, holing out to Finch on the rope off the bowling of Maxwell and Hazlewood respectively. That left Pakistan reeling at 158-6, but paceman Wahab Riaz added 30 runs with Sohaib Maqsood before the middle order batsman slashed Hazlewood straight to Johnson at cover to be out for 29. Wahab was out a few balls later for 16, nicking Starc behind to Haddin, before Sohail Khan sent a top-edge from a Hazlewood ball soaring high into the sky before landing in the wicketkeeper's gloves. Pakistan's tailenders nudged their team past 200 before all-rounder James Faulkner had a slogging Ehsan Adil caught for 15 on the penultimate ball of the allotted overs. +Sam Allardyce insists he is not nearing the exit at West Ham and that his link with the Sunderland job for next season is nothing more than speculation. Dick Advocaat took over from sacked manager Gus Poyet at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday until the end of the season, and the 67-year-old’s first-ever Barclays Premier League match will be against the man tipped to replace him. Allardyce’s future remains uncertain under co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan with his contract expiring at the end of the season. Sam Allardyce (pictured at the Emirates last Saturday) insists he is not nearing the exit at West Ham . Allardyce is well thought of at Sunderland, who hired Dick Advocaat on a short-term deal this week . Big Sam goes into Saturday's game with Sunderland having not won in the Premier League since January 18 against Hull City, and the 60-year-old refused to discuss his future beyond his current contract. ‘Pure speculation,’ Allardyce said. ‘I’m West Ham manager. I’m professional. I’ m contracted to West Ham, and don’t expect anything other than that somewhere along the line we will be talking about a contract here.’ It was in May that Allardyce was told to play more attractive football, but the manager admitted he is now more bothered on simply winning points after picking up just eight in 2015. James Tomkins is out for the remainder of the season following surgery on a dislocated shoulder . West Ham will have to do so without defender James Tomkins, who was confirmed as being out for the remainder of the season following surgery on a dislocated shoulder suffered in training. ‘The bottom line to that is playing fantastic is great, but not winning is crucial. It’s critical,’ Allardyce continued. ‘We have big problems in winning a football match at the moment. Not the performance. The ultimate is our goal is to win football matches. Not to play well and not win. ‘That’s what we’ve been doing recently, and we’ve got to stop that. We’ve got to make sure the most important thing for Saturday is to gain a victory. Hopefully we can do that in style but if we can’t play as well as we have been doing, just make sure we win this game.’ +Roy Keane has the ‘broad shoulders and mental toughness’ required to manage Manchester United, according to his former Old Trafford engine room colleague, Paul Ince. Ince, 47, a double-winner with Keane at United in 1994, on Thursday hailed the Irish assistant manager as ‘a leader of men.’ ‘I speak to Roy and he does want to get back in (to management) but at the right establishment, with the right project. Roy Keane is not a number two, Roy Keane is a leader of men,’ said Ince. Roy Keane has the ‘mental toughness’ required to manage Manchester United, says Paul Ince . Ince slides in for a tackle during United's game against Sheffield Wednesday in 1992 . ‘And if the right thing (job) comes along then I’m sure he will get back into it (management).’ Keane was last in charge at Ipswich over four years ago but even so Ince is convinced the 43-year-old will ‘be a top, top manager’ and could even return to the front-line at United. ‘To be Man United manager you need broad shoulders and take a lot of criticism. Roy has broad shoulders and he is mentally tough. Things don’t affect him,’ said Ince. ‘He has a poker face, doesn’t show if things are affecting him, and there is no reason why Roy couldn’t go back to Manchester United (as manager).’ ‘You cannot lose people like him from the game,’ warned Ince. ‘He knows so much about football, no matter what your cup of tea is. Ince is convinced Keane, who was last in charge of Ipswich four years ago, will ‘be a top, top manager’ ‘Some people love him, some people hate him. You always try to guess what Keanie’s like but he does not let people into his head.’ ‘He’s got a vast knowledge of football and he sets the highest standards. You don’t get the players anymore with Roy’s standards,’ he added. ‘You do hear people say “Roy rules by fear.” Maybe, that’s Roy and the way he is. Maybe, that’s how he feels he can be a success in what he does and he did it at Sunderland.’ ‘Roy Keane has an ego. We all had egos at Man United because that’s what made us who we were,’ he added. Ince rejected any suggestion that Ryan Giggs (left) might succeed Louis van Gaal as United boss . Ince rejected any suggestion that Ryan Giggs might succeed Louis Van Gaal at United. ‘No chance,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to go to a club that you can learn from and get experience. He’s not ready for Man United.’ Ince didn’t rule out Keane succeeding Martin O’Neill as Irish manager. ‘Maybe he (Keane) thinks that when Martin’s done, then he’s the next one to step up. That’s the logic I see in it,’ he said. ‘International football is hard because it’s once every month or two months. I think Keanie would like to be on the training ground every day,’ cautioned Ince. +Stuart Lancaster has urged Twickenham to will England to victory on Saturday evening as he prepares to order his RBS 6 Nations title hopefuls to carry the game to France. Lancaster believes the noisy support of a sold-out 82,000 home crowd will have a critical role to play in edging rivals Ireland and Wales for Championship glory on a nerve-jangling final day of staggered kick-offs. England are favourites to lift a first piece of silverware under Lancaster and their head coach refuses to view the match through the prism of the looming World Cup on these shores. England scrum half Ben Youngs fires out a pass as Courtney Lawes and Joe Marler (left) watch on . 'It will be hugely important that the crowd get behind the team,' Lancaster said. 'If there's ever a day when we need the crowd to push us over the line and give us the momentum we need then it's Saturday. 'Whether we just need to get the win or win by 10 points or whatever it might take, the crowd will have a huge part to play. 'This game is not about the World Cup, it's about winning the Championship. And that's all it's about. It's about Saturday night only. 'Our mindset is to go and win the game. We can't play just to hang in there. We have to have a front foot mentality and have an intensity and tempo to our game from the first minute.' England fly half George Ford winds up a pass in training at his side's team base at Pennyhill Park . England head coach Start Lancaster has backed his side to handle the pressure of their final day shoot-out . England enter the final round of matches with a points cushion of plus four and having digested earlier results from Wales' trip to Italy and Ireland's visit to Edinburgh, their victory target against France will be made clear. The scheduling appears to have favoured England, but Lancaster insists providing the climax to the tournament creates its own challenges. 'I don't think we can be seen as favourites. I don't think anyone can. It will play out on the day,' Lancaster said. 'Whether the staggered kick-offs help us depends on what the other scores are. 'If we have to win by 20, psychologically if you concede seven points in the first five minutes and then a penalty, you then have to score 30. 'Psychologically it's an interesting dynamic for the players to manage. The danger is that sometimes you can want to chase the game too early rather than build the score. 'It's an 80-minute game. Knowing that is one thing, but dealing with everything that's around it puts incredible pressure on the players. The England squad gather for a huddle at the end of their training session as Lancaster looks on from afar . Former France No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy insists all the pressure will be on England on Saturday . 'On the staggered kick-off times, we all know the rules when we start. It makes it exciting.' Lancaster has made one change to the starting XV, promoting lock Geoff Parling at the expense of Dave Attwood, who drops out of the 23 altogether, with Nick Easter recalled to the bench. Attwood has started all four matches of the tournament but misses out on the final instalment with Lancaster believing the street-wise Easter is a better option to reinforce the final push for silverware. 'When you boil it down, it's the experience that Geoff brings. He didn't go on the Lions tour by accident, he's a high quality player,' Lancaster said. 'Dave is a very good player who has lots of qualities, but Nick will make a stronger impact from the bench and that's why the decision was made. 'Dave understood the decision. There were performance reasons as well. It wasn't just done because of Geoff. There are areas of Dave's game we've been asking him to improve on. 'It was a difficult conversation but ultimately done on a performance point of view. Dave accepted it and knows the areas he has to work on.' England have finished runners=up for the last three years running with points difference alone deciding the 2013 and 2014 tournaments. When asked if he was fed up at finishing second, Lancaster said: 'Yes! It would be nice to win this time.' +A woman arrived home to find that her husband had tied up a naked teenage man in the living room of the family home, a court has heard. Joanne O'Connor said she discovered the bizarre scene after she returned home early from work one day last year. Her husband John Young, a radio DJ, then assaulted her and grabbed her hair, and has now been fined £300 for the attack. Row: John Young fought his wife after she found a naked 18-year-old man tied up in the family home . Ms O'Connor, 48, told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court: 'I knew our marriage was in trouble when I found an 18-year-old boy naked and bound in the living room.' The court heard that Young, 49, then smashed up his own collection of CDs during the ensuing row in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, the Evening Times reported. An antique clock which was a family heirloom was also damaged in the fight. The couple's daughter went into the room and said: 'What are you arguing about now?' Young denied assaulting and injuring his wife by grabbing her hair and chest. Fined: Young was convicted of assault after a trial at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, pictured, and fined £300 . He told the court that he has since come out as gay, but claimed that Ms O'Connor accused him of being a paedophile. The DJ said that if he had attacked his wife she would have hit him back. Sheriff Brian Murphy found Young guilty of assault, and ordered him to pay a £300 fine. He could also lose his new job with North Ayrshire Council. Young, who uses the professional name Ian Young, helped to set up Irvine Beat FM, but has now left the station. +A college basketball coach who injured himself celebrating his team's last victory was knocked out of his chair after after seeing his son hit a game winning shot. Ron Hunter, the coach of Georgia State, toppled off of the stool where he had cheered on the Panthers after his son RJ sent the 14-seed past Baylor into the NCAA tournament's third round. Hunter's deep three-pointer put the Sun Belt conference champions up 57-56 with 2.7 seconds remaining, and his team held on for their first tournament win. Scroll down for video . RJ Hunter (left, with basketball) made a last-minute three-pointer to send his Georgia State Panthers to the third round of the NCAA Tournament . RJ's father Ron (center) , Georgia State's coach, fell off of his rolling chair, which he was forced to sit on after tearing his Achilles tendon on Sunday . The elder hunter was helped up from the floor by assistants after the stunning shot from range, which led the 14-seed to upset 3-seed Baylor . Baylor, from the Big 12 conference had been favorited in the game by 9, though Georgia State was able to beat the Bears behind the younger Hunter's 16 points. The Panthers had been down by 12 with less than three minutes left before surging back for a stunning comeback and winning on the junior guard, according to ESPN. Coach Hunter's assistants helped him get back into his chair after he was literally floored by his son's last minute heroics. He had been perched on the rolling chair after he tore his Achilles tendon celebrating the team's Sun Belt victory over Georgia Southern. The proud father, 50, was wearing a cast and often tried to stand up before being restrained by other coaches during the game. Georgia State, in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, was led into the third round by RJ Hunter and his father (pictured) Georgia State will play either 6-seed Xavier or 11-seed Ole Miss in the next round of the NCAA tournament's West bracket. Their victory was the second 3-seed upset of the day, coming after UAB's one-point win over Iowa State, who was favored by 14 points. The squad is making its first appearance in the NCAA's big dance since 2001. Team members include former Louisville player Kevin Ware, who broke his leg at the tournament in 2013 in gruesome fashion. RJ Hunter (left, facing crowd) celebrated his game-winning shot with his sister Jasmine (center) and mother Amy (left) Ron Hunter (left) tore his Achilles tendon while celebrating his team's Above, the coach with (from left) daughter Jasmine, wife Amy and son RJ. The underdog Panthers came back from 12 points down against the Baylor Bears with 16 points from RJ Hunter (right) +Hollywood star Russell Crowe has done little to dampen speculation about his possible interest in buying Sky Bet Championship club Leeds. The 50-year-old Oscar-winning actor and lifelong Leeds supporter sparked rumours he was keen to invest in the club last month when he asked a fan on his Twitter site whether it would be a good idea to buy them. Crowe did not deny or confirm the speculation of potential investment during an interview on Simon Mayo's BBC Five Live show on Thursday, but said that he wanted 'nothing but success' for Leeds and was 'getting a little impatient'. Russell Crowe has done little to dampen speculation about his possible interest in buying Leeds United . Lifelong Leeds fan was speaking onSimon Mayo's BBC Five Live show on Thursday . Speaking ahead of the release of his latest film, The Water Diviner, Crowe also said he had learned a lot about owning a top sports club during his nine years as joint-owner of Australian rugby league side South Sydney Rabbitohs. 'I've followed Leeds since I was a little kid,' Crowe said. 'I used to come home from sport in the afternoon, me and my brother, and watch Match of the Day. 'I love the club. I want nothing but success for the club. But like many other Leeds fans - and probably in fact 99.9 per cent - I'm getting a little impatient, you know?' 'Some of your listeners may not know that I own a rugby league team in Australia which, again, is my childhood team and they were a champion team when I was younger. 'Then they'd fallen in to a state of disarray and they were perennial losers. So, nine years ago, I put my cheque book where my mouth is and bought the club.' The Rabbitohs won the NRL Championship for the first time in 43 years in October and recently beat Super League side St Helens to become world champions. 'Step-by-step, by changing the culture, changing the merchandise, changing the player roster, changing the coaching staff, changing the administrative staff and changing our connection to our community - we have risen from being perennial losers to being competitive, to being dominant - and now we're champions,' Crowe added. Mirco Antenucci celebrates as the Championship side beat Fulham 3-0 on Wednesday night . Crowe was with actress Olga Kurylenko for the photocall for film 'The Water Diviner' at Claridge's this week . 'I have learnt a lot in nine years - it would give me nothing but pleasure to see that white army marching on together, getting back in the Premiership and being where they should be.' Italian Massimo Cellino, who bought Leeds from Bahrain investment firm Gulf Finance House Capital in December 2013, is currently disqualified from running the club. Cellino was disqualified by the Football League in January following his conviction in Italy for tax evasion and had his ban extended until May 3 earlier this month for withholding information about his conviction. Cellino is currently appealing against the League's punishment under the Football Association's Rule K, which could result in an independent arbitration tribunal. +A stork found itself out of its dinner after a hungry eagle stole the fish it had put in hard effort hunting for. The saddle-billed stork was caught on camera as it fished for food at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. However, as the bird readied itself for dinner, a large eagle swooped in, grabbing the fish, leaving the poor stork behind to hunt once more. Dinner time: The saddle-billed stork has managed to catch a fish for supper at the Kruger National Park . Incoming: An eagle flies in, causing the stork to drop the fish, and the bird of prey goes in for the steal . The stork was filmed wading through a shallow pond, trying to catch a fish, and can be seen being rudely interrupted by the eagle. As the large wading bird is re-positioning the fish in its large bill, an African fish eagle swoops in, causing the stork to drop its dinner. The eagle grabs the fish with its claws, and despite the efforts made by the shocked stork, the bird of prey flies off with the prey. The African fish eagle is known to steal fish that other birds catch, GrindTV reports, which is how it got its name. The eagle can be found troughout sub-Saharan Africa and is the national bird of Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Sudan. Snatch: The African fish eagle grabs hold of the fish in front of the shocked stork . My lunch! Despite an effort from the saddle-billed stork, the eagle swoops in and flies off with the fish . Poor birdie: Although the eagle is surely pleased with his catch, the stork is left hungry and has to hunt again . +Sir Alex Ferguson is set to take his earnings closer to £10million since stepping down as Manchester United manager after signing up for a new book. Ferguson, whose best-selling autobiography was only released by Hodder & Stoughton in October 2013, has agreed a deal with the publishers for a book titled Leading, which promises to ‘analyse the pivotal leadership decisions of an astonishing career’. The book is being co-written with investor and author Sir Michael Moritz, and will hit the shelves in the autumn. Sir Alex Ferguson's new book will give insight into tactics, teamwork, leadership and managing off the pitch . The former Manchester United manager will release the new book on leadership this autumn . Ferguson lifts the Champions League trophy as Manchester United complete an historic Treble in 1999 . Co-authored with Michael Moritz, the book will detail Ferguson's tactics and management techniques . Ferguson said: ‘Since stepping into retirement I have had the opportunity to reflect on my time as a football manager, and to consider the reasons behind my success through personal recollections, conversations with Mike Moritz and my role at Harvard Business School. ‘It has been a new experience for me to be looking into the past rather than planning for the future, but one I have found enjoyable and rewarding.’ Ferguson, who earned £7.6m a year towards the end of his reign at Old Trafford, has continued to profit from his huge success in football — he won 13 Premier League titles — since retiring from management in May 2013. The 73-year-old was paid an advance of £2m for his second autobiography published later that year. It became the biggest-selling book of 2013, with sales earning him at least an additional £1m. Ferguson continues to bank more than £2m a year for 20 appearances as a club ambassador for United, a role that was agreed when he stepped down as manager. In January, the club’s accounts confirmed that he was paid £2.165m — the equivalent of £100,000 a day — between October 2013 and July 2014. Ferguson celebrates with his United players after wining the Premier League back in 2013 . The Scot also has a long-term contract to lecture at Harvard on a new course — the business of entertainment, media and sports. Industry insiders estimate that he is able to command a fee of up to £100,000 a day for public speaking engagements, with his son Jason understood to be negotiating all business dealings on his behalf. +Sevilla remain on course to retain their title after easing past fellow Spanish side Villarreal. Having done most of the damage with a 3-1 first leg win at El Madrigal, Sevilla finished things off at home. The Red and Whites secured their progression with a 2-1 victory courtesy of second-half goals from Vicente Iborra and his replacement Denis Suarez. Sevilla's midfielder Denis Suarez celebrates after scoring during the Europa League match with Villarreal . Suarez of Sevilla scores his team's second goal during the win over their La Liga rivals . Sevilla's midfielder Vicente Iborra celebrates after scoring during the Europa League match . Villarreal had netted in-between those strikes through Giovani dos Santos' fine free-kick but almost immediately had centre-back Eric Bailly sent off as they tumbled out 5-2 on aggregate. In truth it could have got a whole lot worse for Villarreal if not for goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo who impressed throughout. Sevilla's victory could provide a significant psychological blow as both sides prepare to do it all again in their La Liga clash this weekend. Sevilla's Cameroonian midfielder Stephane Mbia vies with Villarreal's midfielder Dos Santos . Sergio Asenjo fists the ball away from Iborra of Sevilla during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 . +Angel di Maria insists Manchester United will fight till the very end to ensure they qualify for the Champions league as the Red Devils prepare for a make or break four game run-in. Di Maria sat out the win over Tottenham after being sent off for tugging referee Michael Oliver's shirt in United's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal. The £59.7million midfielder knows the next four fixtures - against Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea will ultimately make or break United's season. Angel di Maria pleads his innocence after being booked by referee Michael Oliver in the defeat to Arsenal . Di Maria walks off the pitch after receiving the red card during the FA Cup quarter-final with Arsenal . 'We are all aware that a number of big games are just around the corner, and the season will be decided by these fixtures,' Di Maria told United Review. 'We know all about these upcoming games and we have been thinking and talking about them for quite some time now. We've known that everything would be at stake over this final period of the season.' Di Maria celebrates after scoring during United's FA Cup third round match against Yeovil Town . He added: 'Everyone at the club is 100 per cent confident, we know we want to get back into the Champions League and that we want to be fighting it out. 'We'll battle hard right to the end of the season. From what I know of the club, United always fight right to the end and that's what we're going to do.' Di Maria celebrates at Old Trafford after scoring against Everton in the Premier League win . Di Maria slides on his knees as he celebrates Manchester United's thumping victory against QPR . +Goalkeeper Joe Hart is determined not to let Manchester City's season end with a whimper. The England number one has made a rallying call to his team-mates in the hope of sparking a charge through the closing games of the year. City's campaign has fallen apart in 2015 with a run of three wins in 12 games costing them heavily in the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and in Europe. Joe Hart was in inspired form against Barcelona, pictured here saving from man-of-the-moment Lionel Messi . The Manchester City and England No 1 moved to back his manager despite the team's last-16 exit . Hart arrived back to Manchester with the rest of the City squad on Thursday afternoon . City now seem unlikely to retain their title having fallen six points behind Chelsea, who have a game in hand, while they were ousted from the Champions League by a far superior Barcelona side on Wednesday. But Hart is not ready to concede defeat to Chelsea yet and insists City, who host West Brom on Saturday, still have a lot to play for. The 27-year-old said: 'I will never give up, ever, and I could safely say that nobody in our dressing room will ever give up either. We will see where that takes us. 'West Brom is a huge game and we turn our focus to that. We have no excuse not to throw everything at the Premier League now and give our all - to the fans, the owner, to everyone. 'Every game is a must-win now. We have no time to lick our wounds, we have to fly into that game. 'We have to win every game, and that is how we will go into it, and see where it takes us. 'We have had a few knocks this season, but we have proved it time and time again, and so have our fans, that we come back and we keep fighting.' City's recent form has brought heavy criticism of the team and manager Manuel Pellegrini, who could now be facing a fight to keep his job. But Hart, who was outstanding in Wednesday's 1-0 loss at the Nou Camp, believes all the negativity coming the team's way is only par for the course and is not overly concerned. Manuel Pellegrini has been beaten four times by Barcelona since becoming Manchester City manager . Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game as Barcelona progressed at Manchester City's expense . Luis Enrique had praise for City keeper Hart after watching him deny Barcelona a number of times . He said: 'That's part of being at Man City. We all get talked about. I have been the worst keeper in the world recently and Vinny (Kompany) has been the worst defender in the world. 'We have all had our moment. That's the role of being at Man City. If we don't win we are going to get slaughtered.' It has also been suggested the squad needs a shake-up in the summer but Hart continues to back his current team-mates. He said: 'We have nine games left with his fantastically talented squad. We have a lot of tired legs but we have players to come in. They are good players. They can freshen us up. I think we have what we need.' +Swansea manager Garry Monk believes the only way is up for Tim Sherwood as the two coaching course mates prepare to cross tactical swords at Villa Park. Monk and new Aston Villa boss Sherwood got to know each other on the same Football Association of Wales Pro-Licence coaching course but the practical takes precedence over the theory on Saturday with three Barclays Premier League points at stake. Sherwood got his break in management at Tottenham first - a position he was unlucky to lose according to Monk - and the former England midfielder has revived Villa's fortunes with three successive wins taking them away from the Premier League danger zone and into the semi-final of the FA Cup. Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood is preparing for the visit of former coaching coursemate Garry Monk . Sherwood has enjoyed a great start to life since taking over the Villa Park managerial hot-seat . 'He's gone in there and lifted the confidence in the group,' Monk said at his pre-match press conference. 'You need results to do that but they've got very good players there who obviously weren't playing to their full potential before Tim took over. 'But he's had an instant impact. He's a very honest guy, black and white, and that comes across in his interviews and the way he approaches the game. Garry Monk believes himself and Sherwood are very much their own men despite their similarities . 'They're fighting for their lives and we know this game is vitally important to them but it is the same for us. 'We've got our own agenda, we want to achieve our best total of 47 points, and I think you've seen our attitude and focus in our recent games against Tottenham and Liverpool. 'The actual performances deserved more than they got and we need to make sure we replicate that to get the points at Villa.' The pair have both been labelled with the tag of bright, young British managers, even if the 46-year-old Sherwood is actually 10 years older than Monk who celebrated his first anniversary as Swansea boss last month. Swansea manager Monk observes his players during the training session at the Fairwood Training Centre . But Monk says while certain similarities exist between them they are very much their own men with notable differences. 'When Tim came in at Spurs he was already within the club at that time, albeit within a different coaching role,' Monk said. 'I came from a playing background into it and I wouldn't say we were similar managers with the same approach or anything like that. 'But we've got the same desire, commitment and principles and are clear in what we want. 'I'm on the same coaching course as Tim and his views on football are very interesting. Monk believes the former Tottenham Hotspur boss will certainly take Aston Villa forward in the future . 'He's had a fantastic start and I am sure he will take Aston Villa forward after being unlucky at Tottenham. 'He has been given his chance and taken the opportunity really well, he has got them going.' Swansea are seeking to recover from back-to-back league defeats and will come across a former favourite at Villa Park in the shape of Scott Sinclair. The 25-year-old's career nose-dived after his £6.2million move from Swansea to Manchester City in August 2012, Sinclair starting only two league games at the Etihad Stadium before joining Villa on loan in January. Scott Sinclair will come up against his former Swansea teammates during the game at Villa Park . But Sinclair has thrived under Sherwood with three goals in five games and Monk admits it is satisfying to see his former teammate doing well after such a difficult time in his career. 'Scotty has been searching for regular football and it is good to see him playing,' Monk said. 'He did tremendously well for us and we will never forget what he did here. 'It is no surprise to see him playing regular football in the Premier League because he's got the talent to do that.' Sinclair has thrived since arriving at Aston Villa following an unproductive spell with Manchester City . +St Helens captain Jon Wilkin inspired the Super League champions to a first home win over their near-neighbours for five years in an entertaining derby at Langtree Park. Warrington had ended Leeds 100 per cent record in toppling them from top spot in their last match but they could not repeat the feat against a Saints side that for an hour played like champions. Wilkin, once more revelling in his role of makeshift scrum-half, was the architect of a superb 32-24 victory, Saints' sixth out of six so far in their title defence, scoring one try and setting up two others to put his side into an 18-6 half-time lead. Jon Wilkin scores a try past Matty Russell during the Super League match at Langtree Park . St Helens' victory was based on their aggressive forward display but some of the shine was taken away by the loss of outstanding second rower Joe Greenwood with a suspected broken arm. Warrington carved out the first scoring chance of a frantic opening, with centre Ryan Atkins breaking out of his own 20-metre area to give winger Kevin Penny a sniff of the try line but Saints scrambled superbly to keep it intact. It was end-to-end football, with Wolves stand-off Chris Bridge unable to finish off a clean break by Stefan Ratchford and St Helens left winger Adam Swift twice bundled into touch before Greenwood broke the deadlock on 17 minutes. Chris Bridge of Warrington Wolves is tackled by Kyle Amor and Jordon Turner of St Helens during the game . He maintained his impressive start to the year by taking Wilkin's short pass to crash over for his fourth try of the campaign and Travis Burns kicked the first of his six goals. The champions were clearly winning the physical battle but the visitors demonstrated their potency on 24 minutes when hooker Daryl Clark dummied his way over from dummy half after prop Ashton Sims had been hauled down short of the line. Ratchford's goal levelled the scores but Saints, with hooker James Roby making a belated return to the side from the bench, struck twice in the last 12 minutes of the first half to establish control. Micky Higham celebrates his second half try during the match . Wilkin fortuitously scored the first, taking advantage of a kind bounce by regathering the ball after centre Jordan Turner had twice kicked ahead and then produced a sublime cut-out pass to get Swift over. Burns' conversions made it 18-6 at the break and he attempted to extend the lead with a 40-metre penalty early in the second half but was off target for the first time. Warrington pulled a try back on 48 minutes through replacement hooker Mick Higham, who shot through a gap in the home defence from dummy half to touch down, with Gareth O'Brien adding the goal to cut the gap to just six points. However, Saints were unmoved and scored their fourth try six minutes later through forward Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, who took three defenders over the line with him. Ashton Sims of Warrington Wolves is tackled by James Roby at Langtree Park . St Helens suffered a blow when the outstanding Greenwood went off on the hour and they survived a scare when Penny produced a spectacular dive at the corner only for slow-motion replays showed he touched the ball down on the touch-in-goal line. Saints looked to have wrapped up the win when second rower Atelea Vea charged 60 metres after picking up a loose ball to set up the position for Roby to get right winger Tom Makinson over at the corner. Burns' touchline conversion put his side 18 points clear but the champions were given a late fright when the visitors scored two tries in the last 11 minutes. Bridge gained possession from a charge-down to send Penny away for a deserved try and prop Chris Hill romped over from close range, with O'Brien adding both goals. However, Burns had the final say with a last-minute penalty to seal a notable success. Kevin Penny of Warrington Wolves scores a second half try . +Vern Cotter fears Alex Dunbar’s season-ending injury may also rule the star centre out of Scotland’s World Cup campaign. The Glasgow Warriors back suffered a major blow ahead of Saturday's Six Nations clash at Twickenham when he damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Thursday morning’s training session. The SRU confirmed that he is ‘out for the rest of the season’ but, speaking before the result of scans on Dunbar’s freak injury were released, Cotter said ACL damage could mean up to six months on the sidelines and remove the 24-year-old from his World Cup plans. Alex Dunbar faces a race against time to be fit for the Rugby World Cup after injuring his knee at training . Scotland coach Vern Cotter fears Dunbar may not recover in time for the World Cup, starting in September . How England and Scotland will line up for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash . Visibly shaken by an incident that happened just a few hours before the team flew to London, Cotter now hopes his squad will be galvanised in the face of fresh adversity for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash. Explaining that Dunbar had been a key figure in his starting XV, Cotter said: ‘We had named Alex to start at centre but he has perhaps done his ACL this morning. ‘Alex did it on his own. A change of direction and his knee went out from underneath him. If it’s the ACL, that would be the World Cup as well. That’s not good. ‘We’ll miss him in attack and defence. He’s one of our best line breakers and has been playing very well up to now. ‘He is with some competent surgeons at the moment, he’s getting scanned. He’s understandably very upset about it. ‘We’ve seen guys come back from an ACL before, so it’s just about when we get him back. But, if it’s the ACL, he’ll be six months. ‘He was getting tested this morning. I went to see him during a break in training and he’s been whisked off with the pros. I will obviously talk to him again.’ Dunbar, here showing his disappointment after Scotland's loss to Wales, awaits results of scans on his knee . Matt Scott has now taken Dunbar’s slot for the England game. ‘It’s an opportunity for Matt Scott, who was initially named on the bench,’ said Cotter. ‘You saw his two tries for Edinburgh last weekend, he is ready to step up. We’ve got an able replacement who has played well recently. ‘We would dearly love to have Alex starting and then have someone like Matt come in and keep pace, bring physical intensity and presence to the game. But Matt has stepped straight in, and it means we’ll have to juggle the bench if we get injuries. ‘I think it has tightened the group up – and that will be important when we play this weekend. We are playing what is probably one of the best teams in the world as they are preparing for the World Cup. The group adapts and moves on.’ Coach Vern Cotter said the 24-year-old centre had played a key role in the Scotland XV . Dunbar’s withdrawal is one of five changes Cotter has made to his starting XV. Along with Scott, David Denton, Jim Hamilton and Dougie Fife all come in for their first starts of this Six Nations, while Finn Russell returns after serving his ban. Scott’s promotion sees Greig Tonks move on to a bench that boasts six forwards to only two backs – although No. 8 Johnnie Beattie has been told to prepare for playing a part in either unit. Cotter revealed: ‘Beattie is a midfield replacement, emergency cover. He knows he could be marking (England centre) Billy Twelvetrees or he could be marking (No.8) Billy Vunipola. ‘I know he’s got a good boot on him. We know he’s a very skilful player. We want to have some physical density and some experience at the end of this match. ‘So he and Adam Ashe, who has come back and has aggressive defence and is good on the ball, are there to put pressure on England. We want to stay close and finish this game with strength and experience.’ +They were designed to make Britain’s sailors look ‘cool and modern’. But the Royal Navy’s new uniform was ridiculed yesterday by being compared to the outfits worn by garage mechanics. The all-navy blue gear will replace the outfit worn by serving military personnel since the Second World War and was welcomed by the Defence Ministry as ‘cool and more modern’. Scroll down for video . The old Royal Navy uniform of light blue shirt and dark blue trousers, left, is being replaced with all-navy blue gear, right . But Twitter user Tony Shumacher wrote: ‘Royal Navy unveils “modern” uniform… sponsored by Kwik Fit?’ Jamie Frost, a seaman who trains at the University Royal Naval Unit, said it ‘reduces RN personnel to looking like garage car mechanics’. The new attire, which replaces the action working dress known as No4s, has been tested on ships and submarines. The Navy says the feedback from sailors so far has been ‘mostly positive’. The new uniform has been ridiculed by being compared to the outfits worn by garage mechanics . It is only to be worn during operational duties and will not replace more formal uniforms or berets and old caps . It is only to be worn during operational duties and will not replace more formal uniforms or berets and old caps. A layering system allows it to be adapted for different climates. The crew of frigate HMS Lancaster will be the first to deploy in the Royal Navy personal clothing system (RNPCS) when they begin an Atlantic patrol tomorrow. The crew of frigate HMS Lancaster, pictured will be first to wear the uniforms, when they begin an Atlantic patrol tomorrow . +It has been an annus horribilis for British clubs in Europe. Ten clubs from north and south of the border began their European campaigns last year, with dreams of Berlin and Warsaw. But before Easter, all have seen them shattered. Here's how. Europa League qualifier: Motherwell 2-3 Stjarnan (agg 4-5) - July 24, 2014 . Motherwell's European campaign ended before it began with an extra-time defeat in Iceland. Stuart McCall's men led the first-leg tie 2-0 but were pegged back at Fir Park, and Atli Johannsson's 113th-minute goal won it for the minnows. Josh Law netted for Motherwell but their European dream was over way back in July at Fir Park . Europa League third qualifying round: Aberdeen 2-3 Real Sociedad (agg 2-5) - August 7, 2014 . After seeing off Daugava Riga and Groningen, Derek McInnes' side lost 2-0 in Spain but were on the brink of a famous victory. Leading 2-1 with less than five minutes to go, Xabi Prieto's penalty and Markel Bergara's late winner stunned Pittodrie. Jonathan Hayes holds off Ruben Pardo but Aberdeen crashed out of the Europa League to Real Sociedad . Motherwell's Craig Reid (left) and Aberdeen's Mark Reynolds show the pain of defeat . Europa League qualifier: Hull 2-2 KSC Lokeren - August 28, 2014 . They had waited 110 years for continental competition in Hull, but after two ties Steve Bruce's Europa League dream was over before the Europa League group stage had even begun. The Tigers managed a 2-1 second leg victory at the KC Stadium, but the 1-0 defeat a week earlier meant early exile. Hull City fancied their chances against Lokeren but had Yannick Sagbo as they exited early . Europa League last 32 : Celtic lose 3-4 Inter Milan - February 26, 2015 . Ronny Deila's side produced a memorable first leg performance against Inter Milan, but conceded three away goals in doing so. A late Fredy Guarin strike at the San Siro sent 10-man Celtic out of Europe. Celtic would have struggled even more against Inter Milan had it not been for goalkeeper Craig Gordon . Hull's Maynor Figueroa (left) and Celtic's James Forrest look dejected after their respective losses . Europa League last 32: Liverpool lose 5-4 on penalties to Besiktas – February 26, 2015 . Liverpool started their campaign in the Champions League, but looked ordinary against Besiktas in the Europa League round of 32 second leg. Tolgay Arslan's effort sent to tie into extra-time before Dejan Lovren missed the crucial penalty to condem the Red to defeat in Istanbul. Dejan Lovren missed the crucial penalty to send Besiktas through . Europa League last 32: Fiorentina 3-1 Tottenham – February 26, 2015 . The Spurs faithful had just started to dream of a Europa League and Capital One Cup double when goals from Mario Gomez and Mohamed Salah put paid to another English exit. Kyle Walker shows his pain after being eliminated in Florence . Champions League last 16: Chelsea 2-2 PSG – March 11, 2015 . Chelsea were the first team in Champions League history to exit the Champions League without actually losing a game. Jose Mourinho's defensive tactics backfired hugely against an extremely talented PSG side, who fought to a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes at Stamford Bridge. Diego Costa (left) and Kurt Zouma look bemused as 10-man PSG staged a remarkable fightback . David Luiz - back at Stamford Bridge - scored as Chelsea failed to beat 10-man Paris St-Germain . Champions League last 16: Arsenal 3-3 Monaco (out on away goals) – March 17, 2015 . The Gunners had it all to do after a shock 3-1 defeat against Monaco at the Emirates. It proved too big a task as goals from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey left Arsenal one goal shy of a place in the Champions League quarter-finals. Mesut Ozil (right) can't bare to watch after the final whistle in Monaco . Champions League last 16 : Manchester City 1-3 Barcelona – March 18, 2015 . The pressure was well and truly on City and Manuel Pellegrini after being outplayed by Barcelona at the Etihad in the first leg. Things didn't get any better at the Nou Camp as a superb performance from Joe Hart was the only thing stopping an onslaught from Lionel Messi and Co. Sergio Aguero missed a penalty as Manchester City were dumped out of Europe by Barcelona . Europa League last 16: Everton 4-6 Dynamo Kiev – March 19, 2015 . And so, it was left to Roberto Martinez's Everton side to pick up the pieces and fly the flag for English football in Europe. After a 2-1 first leg victory against Dynamo Kiev at Goodison Park, Everton were the narrow favourites to go through to the Europa League last eight and give English fans something to sing for. Unfortunately for the Toffees faithful, Everton continued the embarrassing trend of crashing out of Europe by succumbing to a 5-2 defeat in the Ukraine giving Dynamo a deserved 6-4 aggregate success. Roberto Martinez's Everton were an embarrassment in defeat away at Dynamo Kiev on Thursday . Aguero (left) and Romelu Lukaku look crestfallen after Man City and Everton crashed out of Europe . +While Harry Kane was celebrating his first senior England call-up on Thursday, Burnley’s Danny Ings had to be content with a place in the Under 21 squad to face Germany and the Czech Republic. Ings has emerged as one of the most exciting strikers in the country alongside Kane this season, and is attracting interest from both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Real Sociedad as his contract at Turf Moor runs down. Burnley manager Sean Dyche says he will be ‘amazed’ if Ings is not rewarded by Roy Hodgson soon. Burnley striker Danny Ings was left out of Roy Hodgson's England squad despite his recent good form . Ings' manager at club level, Sean Dyche, has said the England senior rejection won't get him down . Ings (centre) in action for England U21 in a friendly match against France in Brest last November . ‘I don’t think it will affect him not being included,’ said Dyche. ‘He’s said to me, “I think I’ve got a big chance”. He’ll just get on with it. I’d be amazed if he doesn’t get recognised enough to get in the main squad as long as he has the will and desire to train and continue learning, because that’s where careers are built.’ Meanwhile, Queens Park Rangers manager Chris Ramsey feels Charlie Austin was more deserving than Kane of a place in Hodgson’s squad. ‘He is doing it in a team that is struggling at the foot of the table and he has still scored quite a few goals this season,’ said Ramsey. ‘It goes to show that he is a quality player and he will shine wherever he plays.’ Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Austin was not selected in Roy Hodgson's England squad . Harry Kane celebrates after scoring for Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal at White Hart Lane last month . Goalkeepers . Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham) Jonathan Bond (Watford) Jack Butland (Stoke City) Defenders . Calum Chambers (Arsenal) Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) Luke Garbutt (Everton) Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) Carl Jenkinson (West Ham, on loan from Arsenal) Michael Keane (Burnley) Liam Moore (Brentford, on loan from Leicester City) John Stones (Everton) Matt Targett (Southampton) Midfielders . Tom Carroll (Swansea City, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Nathaniel Chalobah (Reading, on loan from Chelsea) Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton and Hove Albion) Will Hughes (Derby County) Jesse Lingard (Derby County, on loan from Manchester United) Alex Pritchard (Brentford, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) Forwards . Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough, on loan from Chelsea) Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) Danny Ings (Burnley) Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) +Simon Easterby has warned Ireland not to repeat the mistakes of 2007 when chasing RBS 6 Nations glory in Edinburgh this weekend. Easterby watched in horror as Ireland chased a points-difference boosting final try rather than punt the ball out for full-time in Italy eight years ago, only to concede a pivotal converted score. Roland de Marigny plundered the last-gasp score for the Azzurri, with Ireland winning out 54-21: France then hammered Scotland 46-19 to swipe the title on points-difference - by just a four-point margin. The Ireland squad warm up ahead of training on Thursday, with Johnny Sexton (centre) involved again . Rory Best (left) and Jamie Heaslip (right) arrive at training ahead of the crucial game against Scotland . Ireland coach Simon Easterby has urged his team not to repeat the mistakes of 2007, when he was involved . Easterby has moved from flanker in 2007 to forwards coach in 2015 - but knows Ireland face a similar situation and is wary of the pitfalls of chasing glory rather than focusing on victory. Ireland can still retain their Six Nations title with victory in Edinburgh on Saturday. England's Twickenham clash with France kicks off last though, and Easterby is keen to avoid any repeat of that 2007 pain. 'It is exactly that, you've got to focus on what you can do in that 80 minutes,' said Easterby, recalling Ireland's aborted 2007 title challenge. 'We've got to focus on what we can produce in Murrayfield. 'The performance first and foremost will give us the right result and what goes outside of our environment in Rome and London is exactly that, outside our control and we can't factor that into what we're doing in the 80 minutes against Scotland. Sean O'Brien flicks a pass out the back of his hand as Ireland prepared for their vital final game . Tommy Bowe receives a massage on the training pitch as Ireland prepared for their Edinburgh showdown . 'They are going to make it difficult enough as it is without us focusing on what else is going on elsewhere. We've got to focus on our job and make sure that is right and hopefully that puts us in the best possible position come Saturday evening.' England were forced to watch television in frustration last year as Ireland claimed the Six Nations title with victory in Paris, but back in 2007 it was the Irish themselves who suffered that fate. Easterby and company were forced to endure France stealing the 2007 title from under their noses, as Elvis Vermeulen claimed the last-ditch try that sealed glory for Les Bleus. To add insult to injury, Vermeulen's title-winning try was awarded by Irish television match official Simon McDowell. Ireland's players were understandably stony-faced when the reality of that 2007 situation hit home - but Easterby has revealed this week that he has effectively shut that video nasty out of his mind. 'I don't recall that. I genuinely can't remember that. If you say I was there, I must have been but I don't recall,' said Easterby. Peter O'Mahony stretches during the session, as Easterby urged his side to focus on wining the game . Cian Healy catches the ball, as Ireland go into the game level on points with England and Wales . 'I recall watching it together and the disappointment of not getting over the line. 'We did our utmost in the game to give ourselves the best possible opportunity that year and we have to make sure we do the same this week.' Rather than linger on the past Easterby has instead backed the current Ireland outfit to fix the white-line fever that blew a Grand Slam in Wales last weekend. Easterby threw his full support behind Ireland's attack, despite several try-scoring chances going begging in Saturday's 32-16 defeat at the Millennium Stadium. Replacement prop Cian Healy knocked on with the line at his mercy after racing through the middle of a ruck in Cardiff, with Tommy Bowe frustrated a gaping backline overlap went begging. Asked how to solve the front-foot shortcomings, Easterby replied: 'By backing the players to make the right calls at the right time. Mike McCarthy trains at Carton House in Dublin as the Ireland squad stepped up their preparation . 'All the players are comfortable to catch and pass and make good decisions; that's the bottom line. 'The players will always be backed to make decisions.' Former Scarlets boss Easterby insisted Ireland's management will not lose any faith in their frontline stars, just because of defeat in Cardiff. 'They are more than capable of producing the right things at the right time and sometimes under a bit of pressure, when the opposition are making it awkward to do certain things, you are going to come up with a few errors,' said Easterby. 'It's not for lack of quality of having the players who can see those things. 'You have to make sure that they make the right decisions at the right time and we'll back them as coaches to do so. 'It is one decision of many in a game and sometimes you make the right one, sometimes you don't. 'That's the pressure at this level.' +Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has seen a reaction from goal-shy Graziano Pelle after dropping him in the league for the first time. The 29-year-old striker enjoyed a dream start to life at St Mary's after moving from Feyenoord in a reported £9million summer deal. Pelle scored nine goals in his first 12 matches for Saints in all competitions and netted the winner on his debut for Italy. Graziano Pelle (19) has struggled with form recently and wasn't happy at being dropped for the first time . The goals have dried up of late, though, and he was replaced in the starting line-up by Shane Long in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Pelle ran straight down the tunnel at the final whistle, having played the final few minutes, and Koeman hopes the striker can end his three-month wait for a Premier League goal when Burnley visit this weekend. 'There has been a little bit of a reaction, yes, because nobody is happy to stay on the bench,' the Saints boss said. Ronald Koeman (centre) says he's 'seen a reaction' from Pelle after leaving him on the bench against Chelsea . 'Sometimes you need a reaction off the player in that situation. He is doing well. 'In that game, in that moment, I think it was good to change the way of playing with more fast players up front. Saturday we play at home.' Koeman has no fresh injury worries to contend with against Burnley, with Eljero Elia coming back into contention after missing last week's match through injury. Sean Dyche's relegation-threatened side head to St Mary's buoyed by last weekend's shock win over champions Manchester City and having overcome Southampton 1-0 earlier in the season. 'Yeah, they beat us but it wasn't a very good game that day and we missed a penalty,' Koeman said. The targetman was in superb form at the start of the season and scored nine goals in 12 matches . 'It was a stupid goal against us but, of course, we analyse always the opponent and we play 11 against 11 and then one team is playing like Burnley. 'Sometimes it is difficult to prepare a training session for the match, but we expect an aggressive opponent who will press us with direct play. 'That is always difficult because they don't give you time to play and you have to that and you have to prepare for that.' Saturday's match will be their last before a two-week international break, during which time many of Southampton's players will be away with their national teams. Martin Odegaard (left) was linked with a loan move to the Saints next season but Koeman denied the claims . England duo Nathaniel Clyne and Fraser Forster are amongst those players, with some eyebrows raised by the fact left-back Ryan Bertrand did not join them in Roy Hodgson's squad. 'I am not surprised,' Koeman said. 'He had suspension for three games. After that he came back and is playing well. 'I think he played very well against Chelsea but I am not surprised because his time will come if he keeps working like this, keeps playing like this.' The 16-year-old signed for Real Madrid from Norwegian side Strømsgodset and big things are expected . Meanwhile, Koeman downplayed speculation linking Southampton with a loan move for talented Real Madrid teenager Martin Odegaard. 'It is not my job to do scouting of young players,' he said of the 16-year-old Norwegian midfielder. 'He moved to Real Madrid - that means that he is a very good player.' +Huddersfield Town centre back Anthony Gerrard has joined League One Oldham Athletic on loan. The out-of-favour 29-year-old is set to feature in Saturday’s game at Crewe Alexandra. Gerrard, who was injured during pre-season, has made only one start and three appearances from the bench this season. Anthony Gerrard (right) is moving to Oldham Athletic on loan and could feature against Crewe Alexandra . He is out of contract at the end of this season and is considering a move to the MLS to follow his cousin Steven Gerrard. Oldham manager Dean Holden told the club's official website: 'Gerrard is a player we have tracked for a couple of weeks now. He is a natural leader with a good pedigree and most importantly he is a winner. 'He will be a very good addition to our squad.' Gerrard could join his brother Steven by moving from England to play for a team in MLS next season . +Houston Rockets guard James Harden has been suspended for one game without pay for kicking Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the groin, the NBA announced on Monday. The incident between the two league most valuable player candidates occurred with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter of the Rockets' 105-103 overtime victory on Sunday against the Cavaliers in Houston. Closely guarded by James, Harden lost his footing, fell to the floor and then lifted his left leg and kicked James below the belt. VIDEO Scroll down for James Harden suspended for kicking LeBron James in the groin . Houston Rockets' James Harden pushes against Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James on Sunday night . Harden works to keep control of the ball under pressure from Cleveland Cavaliers' James in overtime . Harden was assessed a flagrant foul for the incident. "Obviously that's not a basketball play," James told reporters after the game. "I have no idea why he would do that, but two competitors just trying to go at it, and he won this one." Harden will serve his suspension on Tuesday when the Rockets travel to Atlanta to play the Hawks. James drives the ball past Houston Rockets' Trevor Ariza in the first half of the game in Houston. James goes to the basket as Houston Rockets' Josh Smith tries to knock the ball away in overtime . +Angel di Maria will prove his detractors wrong and become a hit at Manchester United, believes the club's former defender Rio Ferdinand. Di Maria made an impressive start to his career at Old Trafford following his £60million summer switch from Real Madrid last summer. The 27-year-old netted three times in his first five games for the Red Devils but has since struggled for form since in recent weeks. Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Angel di Maria will prove a hit at the club . Di Maria (centre right) was sent off on Monday night as United tumbled out of the FA Cup at home to Arsenal . Despite providing the assist for Wayne Rooney's goal in their 2-1 FA Cup sixth round exit to Arsenal on Monday night, Di Maria's night ended prematurely as he was sent off in the second half. Regardless of his dismissal, Ferdinand is adamant that the Argentina international's star qualities will be evident once he has had time adapt to playing in the Premier League. 'I thought [Angel] Di Maria was a great signing for [Manchester] United and I still think he was a good signing because he is a top player,' Ferdinand told Goal. Ferdinand (pictured, left, playing for QPR) feels Di Maria just needs time to adapt to playing in a new country . 'He was arguably [Real] Madrid's best player last year, him and [Cristiano] Ronaldo were their standout players. I think he is a highly talented player. 'But it always takes time for a player to adapt to his new surroundings, especially when you go to a foreign league. Not every player can be like Ronaldo and just turn up and instantly become a superstar. Maybe it will take Di Maria a bit longer. It might take him a year, you never know. 'But his style does suit the Premier League. He is quick, runs at people, hungry to create chances and commit people. I think he is a very talented player and I like him.' Di Maria (right) provided the assist for United's goal against Arsenal before his sending off on Monday night . +Italy captain Sergio Parisse has been ruled out of Saturday's RBS 6 Nations clash against Wales at the Stadio Olimpico. In a hammer-blow for the Azzurri, No 8 Parisse has not recovered from a foot injury suffered during last weekend's 29-0 home loss to France. He will be replaced in the back row by Samuela Vunisa, who moves from openside flanker, with veteran Mauro Bergamasco handed the number seven shirt. Sergio Parisse is tackled by France's prop Rabah Slimani and centre Gael Fickou at the Olympic Stadium . Parisse grimaces as he leaves the pitch during the Six Nations match between Italy and France . Parisse has not recovered from the foot injury and will miss Italy's final game of the Six Nations . Leicester hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini will take over the captaincy reins from Parisse as Italy look to thwart Wales' Six Nations title bid. Other changes made by head coach Jacques Brunel from the France clash see starts for Zebre fly-half Kelly Haimona, who has recovered from an injury that ruled him out of the France encounter, and long-serving prop Martin Castrogiovanni. Italy team: L McLean (Sale); L Sarto (Zebre), L Morisi (Treviso), A Masi (Wasps), G Venditti (Zebre); K Haimona (Zebre), E Gori (Treviso); M Rizzo (Leicester), L Ghiraldini (Leicester, capt), M Castrogiovanni (Toulon), G Biagi (Zebre), J Furno (Newcastle), F Minto (Treviso), M Bergamasco (Zebre), S Vunisa (Zebre). Replacements: A Manici (Zebre), A De Marchi (Sale), D Chistolini (Zebre), Q Geldenhuys (Zebre), R Barbieri (Leicester), G Palazzani (Zebre), L Orquera (Zebre), E Bacchin (Treviso). And there is also a chance in the front row for Ghiraldini's Leicester colleague Michele Rizzo, who replaces the injured Matias Aguero. Highly-experienced forwards Quintin Geldenhuys and Robert Barbieri, meanwhile, are on the bench. Saturday's encounter will be a third home game for Italy in this season's tournament, but they have so far scored just three points at home, going down to France and also being beaten 26-3 by Ireland. They have, though, beaten Wales twice from seven previous Six Nations starts in Rome, even if the Azzurri - especially without Parisse - go into battle as huge underdogs. Wales are currently third in the table on points difference behind leaders England and second-placed Ireland, and realistically they need to better their record Six Nations win in Rome - 38-8, 10 years ago - to maintain hopes of a third Six Nations title during the past four years. +Wimbledon winner Andy Murray has blasted claims that he dislikes the English as 'nonsense' pointing out 'I am going to get married to one'. The British tennis number one, who will tie the knot with English fiancee Kim Sears in April, said he finds the accusation upsetting as some of his family are English as well as his future in-laws. 'The whole notion that I don't like English people is nonsense,' he said. 'I work with English people on a daily basis. I am going to get married to one. I live here. It is just nonsense.' Wimbledon winner Andy Murray, who will tie the knot with fiancee Kim Sears (pictured together) in April, has blasted claims that he dislikes the English as 'nonsense', saying: 'I am marrying one' 'That's the thing that upsets me the most about it. Some of my family are English. I am also getting married to an Englishwoman so my in-laws are all English.' He defended his late intervention into the Scottish independence debate to declare his support for a Yes vote on the eve of the referendum. 'I was lying awake at night. I wanted to say something,' said the Scot. 'The thing that irritates me the most is that somehow you can't be pro-independence and pro-British. 'My feeling is Scotland is its own country. Every country would work better if it was in control of its own destiny. 'I said at the time was that the people of Scotland will make the right decision. Just because I think one way doesn't mean it's the right way for Scotland.' He defended his late intervention into the Scottish independence debate to declare his support for a Yes vote on the eve of the referendum . His tweet saying that 'No campaign negativity totally swayed my view on this' provoked a backlash on the eve of the poll. And after an onslaught of abuse online, the player said he was 'disappointed' by his decision to send the tweet and claimed it was not really in his character. 'I don't normally do stuff like that. So, yeah, I was a bit disappointed by that. It's time to move on. I can't go back on that and I'll concentrate on my tennis for the next few months,' he said at the time. Murray first received his anti-English tag in 2006 as a 19-year-old when he jokingly said he hoped 'anyone but England' would win the World Cup. But the champion tennis player insisted his commitment to playing for Great Britain was beyond doubt, saying he 'loved' representing his country. The champion insisted his commitment to playing for Great Britain was beyond doubt and said he 'loved' representing the country . He won the British public round when he beat Novak Djokovic to win the Wimbledon title in 2013 . 'When I compete for GB, I absolutely love it,' said Murray. 'My results when I have competed for GB since I was 12 would suggest that. 'When I represented Britain in the Olympics, I played maybe the best tournament of my life. I love competing for my country. I don't think any differently about Great Britain after what has happened.' He inspired a generation and won the British public round when he beat Novak Djokovic to win the Wimbledon title in 2013. The historic win ended Britain's 77-year wait for a men's champion. He has won 19 Davis Cup singles rubbers and lost only two and on Friday he will anchor the British side again in their anticipated World Group first-round match against the USA in Glasgow. Kim Sears is also known for her fiery temper after she was caught swearing on camera in January and then turned up to Murray's next game in a jumper which read: 'Parental Advisory, Explicit Content' His long-term partner Kim has spent years cheering him on from the sidelines and is set to marry him this spring. The tennis star met his match when he first locked eyes with aspiring artist Kim at the US Open back in 2005. It was a year before the couple went public at a tournament in San Jose, California, where Murray scored his first big win. After the final he found his girlfriend in the crowd and gave her a kiss. She has been by his side as he competed across the world ever since - often leading the fashion pack from the stands. The 27-year-old is also known for her fiery temper after she was caught swearing on camera in January. As Andy took on Czech player Tomas Berdych in the Australian Open semi final she was seen calling him a, 'Czech Flash F***.' She poked fun at herself the next day when she rocked up to Andy's next game in a jumper which read: 'Parental Advisory, Explicit Content.' +George Ford is an artist and a pragmatist rolled into one and the England fly-half is quickly discovering that the latter trait is a more consistently valuable asset in international rugby. The 21-year-old Bath playmaker spends most weekends with his club demonstrating the range of his attacking game — as a creative rookie able to unravel defences at close quarters. He has shown that part of his repertoire during this RBS 6 Nations, but is also having to embrace the earthier demands of his role, involving substance over style. England’s defeat by Ireland in Dublin gave Ford a first-hand view of Jonny Sexton, the home fly-half, following orders to the letter and quelling his own instincts in the process. The Lions No 10 led an aerial onslaught which the visitors failed to handle. George Ford is prepared to sacrifice style over substance in the quest for victories at international level . Ford and team-mate Geoff Parling are put through their paces at Penyhill Park on Wednesday . Asked whether he would feel fulfilled if ordered to kick so often, Ford said: ‘It was obviously Ireland’s plan. If they come in with a plan and execute it as well as they did and come out with a 10-point win, then you would (feel fulfilled). You don’t always have to play the same way against different teams. ‘You go into a game with a plan and if it comes off at the weekend, you feel you’ve done your job.’ But surely he gains more satisfaction from conjuring tries than kicking for territory? ‘People always like to score tries,’ he added. ‘They are more exciting. But they are difficult to get in international rugby. ‘It’s about small margins, little things; your kicking being on the money, your set-piece and breakdown being strong. Ford offloads a pass during training as England prepare for Saturday's Six Nations match against Scotland . Stuart Lancaster oversees training as his side prepare to face Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday . ‘The fancy things come from the foundations being in place.’ The substance versus style issue will be on the agenda again in assessing how England fare on Saturday against Scotland at Twickenham, where they will be expected to win with plenty to spare against opponents who have lost all three games so far. Ford knows the result is the bottom line, but is aware the hosts need to perform with a flourish too. ‘We’re not going into the game to play averagely,’ he said. ‘We’re going into the game looking for a really good performance. That will always be our aim. First and foremost we need the win. It’s vital we get it. But obviously we want to go out there and put in a good performance and have a good reaction.’ +Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry has won a five-year battle with his neighbours to build 11 luxury homes in his back garden . Snooker legend Stephen Hendry has won a five-year battle with his neighbours to build 11 luxury homes in the back garden of his mansion – just a stone's throw from Gleneagles. The seven-times world champion, 46, is set to build a multi-million pound housing development on land currently used as a horse paddock and stables on his Perthshire country estate. He and neighbour Alexander Birnie teamed up to apply for permission to build 11 new homes less than two miles from the world-famous course at Gleneagles. But the move upset residents in the upmarket village who voiced fears that it will invade their privacy and spoil the natural beauty of the area. The Auchterarder development was originally given the go-ahead in 2012 but construction never started because of the decline in the housing market. Renewed plans were submitted to Perth and Kinross Council last month by Mr Birnie's company Craigmount Developments and they have now been given the green light. Drawings submitted in 2011 for a planned house on Mr Hendry's land show a large four-bedroom property. The proposed house has a massive snooker room at the rear as well as a studio, a TV room, a drawing room and a built-in garage. Mr Hendry left the family home last year after splitting from his wife Mandy, but he still owns the land. The couple moved into the turreted five-bedroom mansion in 1996 after paying £300,000 and they carried out extensive renovations. They rented the house out for rumoured five-figure sum during the golf tournament. Council planners approved the application after finding it complied with the local development plan and that there were no 'material considerations' to justify refusal. The former player and his neighbour Alexander Birnie teamed up to apply for permission to build 11 new homes less than two miles from the world-famous course at Gleneagles, pictured are planned new homes . In an objection letter sent to the council, neighbour Colin Campbell said: 'You have requested comments from property owners bordering this development. What is the point? 'Your department has already rubber-stamped every housing development plan for Auchterarder in recent years. 'Bett Homes, Cala, Robertson Homes, Muir Homes, Milne Homes etc together will build in excess of 1,000 new homes. 'When occupied this will double the population of Auchterarder with little or no consideration given by you to the impact of schooling, town parking, medical facilities or shopping facilities. 'This application is yet another example of a developer squeezing many properties onto a small plot.' Another neighbour said: 'I am concerned about the loss of privacy this would cause and because it spoils the status quo. 'The area is absolutely beautiful in terms of the visibility I have right up to the Grampians and we thought we were very lucky to find this house. 'I'm not surprised our concerns have been ignored. I don't have much faith in the system.' Drawings submitted in 2011 for a planned house on Mr Hendry's land show a large four-bedroom property with a large snooker room . Mr Hendry left the family home last year after splitting from his wife Mandy (pictured together with their oldest son Blaine in 1999), but he still owns the land . Last year, it was reported that the father-of-two, who has estimated £11 million fortune, left his wife and moved to England with 26-year-old actress Lauren Thundow. Mrs Hendry, 46, has launched divorce proceedings against him at Liverpool County Court. Following their split Mandy said: 'I am heartbroken Stephen has made the decision to leave the marital home and relocate to England for a new relationship.' Mr Hendry, widely regarded as the greatest ever snooker player, retired from competitive sport in 2012 and now works as a BBC pundit and as an ambassador for the sport. He was not available for a comment when contacted. The new luxury homes will be located less than two miles from world-famous golf course Gleneagles . +Playing for England is a 'dream' Harry Kane is putting to the back of his mind, such is the striker's determination to propel Tottenham forwards. There were not many clamouring for the 21-year-old to be in the Spurs starting line-up at the start of the season, never mind the national team. Now, though, Kane is one of the most talked about players in the country as his Roy of the Rovers rise continues apace. Tottenham striker Harry Kane has insisted he is fully focused on helping the club progress this season . Kane rounds QPR goalkeeper Robert Green to score his second goal in a 2-1 win on Sunday at Loftus Road . Kane has now scored 26 goals in 41 appearances for Spurs in all competitions so far this season . Saturday's brace in Spurs' 2-1 win at QPR increased his goal tally to 26 in all competitions - a remarkable haul which is likely to earn a first senior call-up this month. Roy Hodgson could not fail but to be impressed by Kane's latest display, but front man is trying not to think about the potential of facing Lithuania or Italy this month. 'I've always said, I've got to keep doing what I am doing,' he said. 'There are still a few more games until the international break and I want to do the best I can for Tottenham Hotspur. 'That's what I am looking to do. I want to get some more wins from until then and, yeah, we'll see what happens. 'Obviously, I've just got to keep doing what I am doing. 'I think any English player playing would love to play for England. It would be a dream but there are a lot of great players in England. 'I just have to keep concentrating and doing the best I can for Spurs. We'll see what happens.' Kane is widely being tipped for a call up to the England team following his impressive form for Spurs . Kane lashes a shot at the QPR goal only for Hoops defender Steven Caulker (left) to get in the way . That determination to continue impressing at club level is certainly helping Spurs get over a disappointing few weeks. The north Londoners' Europa League exit was compounded by defeat to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final, but they responded impressively with back-to-back victories over Swansea and QPR. 'That is massive,' Kane told Sky Sports. 'That is what we said. 'We had a disappointing couple of weeks, going out of the Europa and obviously losing the final, so we knew we had to get back on it, build a bit of momentum and get as far up in the league as we can. 'We have managed to do that with two very important wins and hopefully we can continue it.' This latest victory moves Tottenham within three points of the top-four, while it leaves QPR deeper in the mire. The west Londoners have now lost seven of their last eight top-flight matches, with relegation edging closer by the week. Again, though, manager Chris Ramsey defended his players' application and, in particular, Rio Ferdinand. The former England international was culpable for both goals, leading to chants from the away end of 'It's time to retire' - something a smattering of home fans joined in with. 'I think Rio's applied himself well,' Ramsey said. 'I'm very pleased with the way he played. 'In the position we're in, when goals go in people will always get blamed or people look at some more than others. 'For Rio to be the age he is and applying himself the way he is in training and in games, we need to encourage him. 'It's always disappointing when a goal goes in, and you can always break it down and analyse it to its finest points. The players involved will always be disappointed.' QPR defender Rio Ferdinand clears the ball ahead of the oncoming Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen . QPR winger Shaun Wright-Phillips (right) leaps highest to win the ball in midfield on Sunday . Spurs' Eric Dier (left) tussles for the ball with QPR's Nedum Onuoha during the Premier League game . +Gareth Bale is approaching the end of his second season at Real Madrid, but the world's most expensive player admits he still finds it surreal to be called a 'Galactico'. The Wales international left Tottenham for the Spanish capital in September 2013, and has already won a Champions League, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup in the white of Los Blancos. It has been quite a rise for the 25-year-old, who admits it still feels odd to be playing for one of the world's biggest clubs. He is becoming used to the media attention, but is particularly aware of it during the high-profile training sessions at Valdebebas. Don't get nutmegged, Gareth! Bale and his Real Madrid team-mates train at Valdebebas last week . Bale (right) aims a shot past the outstretched leg of Pepe during a training session with Real Madrid . 'It is a bit surreal to be called a "Galactico",' Bale told FourFourTwo. 'The one thing you don't want is to be on the end of a nutmeg [at training] - especially with the rows of cameras. 'We are always getting killed out there and I just try not to let it be me. Whenever someone gets nutmegged, we are all jumping and joking.' Carlo Ancelotti's side remain top of La Liga, despite a disappointing draw against Villarreal last time out. They will look to get back to winning ways at Athletic Bilbao at the weekend. The Welshman dives to keep the ball in play during Madrid's 1-1 draw with Villarreal last time out . Bale celebrates after scoring in the Champions League final in May; Madrid's second of four goals . +Only once did Paul Ince pause for breath in Dublin 8 on Thursday. Nothing else fazed 'The Guv'nor' on a Carlsberg gig in the shadow of St Patrick's Cathedral. Not Roy Keane's managerial qualities, his relationship with Fergie, Ryan Giggs' role at Old Trafford, where Wayne Rooney should play, or Manuel Pellegrini's future. No. The only question which caused him to puff his cheeks and buy time, was a simple one: are Liverpool a better team with Steven Gerrard, or without? Paul Ince is pictured in Dublin on Thursday as he spoke about Liverpool vs Manchester United . With Manchester United docking at Anfield on Sunday, and Gerrard – or Stevie G as Ince called him - available after injury, the query was relevant. And Ince knew it. 'I think any Liverpool team with Stevie G is going to be better, not just from a footballing point of view but a leadership point of view,' he said. 'Stevie G is like a comfort blanket. When he is in your team you feel comfortable, you think 'oh good, Stevie G is there.' 'When Stevie G is not in the Liverpool team, players worry. But when they see him leading them out, they feel alright, 'we've got our leader here.' 'They've won without him, done well, but Sunday is one of those games where you need your men, your warriors, and that's what Stevie G is.' Whether Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers feels the same remains to be seen but Ince is adamant Gerrard should play. 'If I was manager, I'd pick him,' he said. With or without Gerrard, Ince feels Liverpool have a slight edge. Steven Gerrard (right) puts in a tackle on Swansea's Bafetimbi Gomis at the Liberty on Monday night . 'If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago I'd have said a comfortable win for Liverpool, now, I think there's a bit more to it as United were more like the old United against Tottenham. 'Liverpool are flying and are really strong at home, and I think they will win.' Not that a swallow will make a summer for a club without a championship since 1990. 'The only way Liverpool will overtake Man United is to start winning titles again,' acknowledged Ince. Ince is out of management since Blackpool showed him the door 14 months ago, but 45 minutes in his company left the impression he could do a decent job for any number of clubs. Open, engaging, informative, Ince covered almost as much ground as he did in a distinguished playing career which spanned 20 seasons, eight of which he spent at United, where he won plenty, and Liverpool, where he won nothing. At that time, Ince reckoned everyone wanted to play for those two clubs, but now they 'ain't the big giants anymore.' 'We're not talking about two teams fighting for the title, we're talking about two teams fighting for Champions League football. That says it all.' Ince feels that Liverpool are a better team with Gerrard as he looked ahead to Sunday's match at Anfield . 'If Chelsea were playing Man City the same day we'd be talking about those two giants instead.' While building up Roy Keane as a contender to manage Man United in the future, he doesn't believe Ryan Giggs can succeed Louis Van Gaal. 'Absolutely no chance,' he said. 'Giggsy's my mate and he enjoyed last year, he loved it. And now under Van Gaal he's learning. But I said to Giggsy, 'you gotta go to a club to get experience. Go manage a League One side or League Two side or because you're Ryan Giggs you might get a Championship team.' 'You can't just throw him into Man Utd, one of the biggest clubs in the world and say 'there ya go Giggsy.' He's not ready for that.' 'Why would you put Giggs in a situation where if he doesn't succeed you have to sack him? 'Learn from Van Gaal and then go out and find your own feet. Then come back and say 'I've done five or six years.' That's how I see the road for Giggsy.' Manchester United assistant manager Ryan Giggs (left) speaks with Wayne Rooney during the FA Cup sixth round match against Arsenal last week . Ince took that route, starting off at Macclesfield and working his way to the Premier League in just two years at Blackburn, where he became the first black manager in the top flight. He hasn't made it back there again, and been out of work grates. 'You can't just say 'I'm Roy Keane' or 'I'm Paul Ince' and wait for someone to come. It doesn't work like that. You're soon forgotten. You've got to put your CV in. 'I don't want to go to a firefighting job. I want a three-year project, where you can build and try to be successful.' Ince retains the coltish enthusiasm of the tearaway teenager who broke through at West Ham under John Lyall in the late 80s where he played beside Liam Brady – for so long Ireland's comfort blanket. Ince (left) is pictured speaking to son Tom during his days in charge of Blackpool in September 2013 . 'I was watching Chippy last night on TV and I couldn't believe I played with him. Am I that old? Surely not, but what a player,' he smiled. 'Liam wasn't quick anyway and he was even slower at West Ham. But he had a wonderful, cultured left foot and his mind was so far in front of anyone else.' 'I was only 18-19 and thinking 'move over, old man I'm taking over' but he would flick the ball around the corners and get it back. He taught me a lesson.' Then, just like today, the top flight of English football had room for outstanding 34-year-olds. It's still a place for old men, like Stevie G. +Tom Ince’s England future is in serious doubt after he and dad Paul took the decision to snub a place at the Under-21 European Championships this summer. Boss Gareth Southgate has warned his former England team-mate of the consequences of his son turning his back on the Three Lions. Ince Snr – England’s first black captain – has told Southgate they want to concentrate on Tom’s club career rather than represent his country in Czech Republic. Tom Ince has been left out of the latest England Under 21 squad by Gareth Southgate at his own request . Ince, currently on loan at Derby County, has been a regular under Southgate but will now not be selected . Goalkeepers . Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham) Jonathan Bond (Watford) Jack Butland (Stoke City) Defenders . Calum Chambers (Arsenal) Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) Luke Garbutt (Everton) Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) Carl Jenkinson (West Ham, on loan from Arsenal) Michael Keane (Burnley) Liam Moore (Brentford, on loan from Leicester City) John Stones (Everton) Matt Targett (Southampton) Midfielders . Tom Carroll (Swansea City, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Nathaniel Chalobah (Reading, on loan from Chelsea) Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton and Hove Albion) Will Hughes (Derby County) Jesse Lingard (Derby County, on loan from Manchester United) Alex Pritchard (Brentford, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) Forwards . Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough, on loan from Chelsea) Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) Danny Ings (Burnley) Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) That is certain to leave a bitter taste among those at the Football Association, including senior manager Roy Hodgson. Southgate said: ‘I have told Tom and Paul they need to be aware of the possible consequences of this decision in terms of how it would appear from the outside. I think they understand that. ‘I have had discussions with Tom and his dad over the last week or so and the message from both was exactly the same. I have to say I was surprised. ‘It was not something we’d been conscious of previously and it is for Tom to explain his full reasons. ‘But he feels at this moment in time he has got some priorities at club level. There is some uncertainty about where he is going to be next season.’ Southgate – speaking at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium where he announced his squad for forthcoming friendlies with Czech Republic and Germany - added: ‘He will not be involved in the summer now. That’s because he has been through qualifying and I assumed he would have wanted to put himself on this big stage. England captain Paul Ince has his head bandaged and shirt covered in blood during a World Cup qualifier against Italy in Rome in 1997 . Southgate has warned Ince and father Paul of the consequences of the player turning his back on England . ‘I think in life you should be as open as you can to opportunities and stay in positions that lead to opportunities. Tom has decided this is an opportunity he doesn't want to take.’ Ince is currently on loan at Derby County after falling out of favour at Hull City, the club he only joined last summer amid interest from Inter Milan. However, it now appears he will again be on the move in the close-season. It was only this season that the 23-year-old told Sportsmail about his pride at representing England. Indeed, his dad’s blood-stained England shirt from the famous goalless draw in Italy which secured qualification for France ’98 is framed at home. Ince challenges for the ball with Middlesbrough's Lee Tomlin during Tuesday's top-of-the-table clash . And Ince had hoped for promotion to Hodgson’s full squad after his appearance at the Euros. ‘I’ve had two great years at Under-21 level and my ambition now is to try to push for the senior team,’ he said in September. ‘Playing for a club in the Premier League and the exposure that comes with that will hopefully provide me with the pathway to do it. ‘You can see at the minute Roy Hodgson is giving a lot of young players from the Under-21s and Premier League clubs a chance. I hope I can get that opportunity – although it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate playing for the Under-21s at major tournaments.’ +And then there were eight. The line-up for the Champions League quarter-finals was completed on Wednesday night as Barcelona and Juventus sealed their passage and though it may be a total wipeout for the English clubs, we certainly have a high pedigree field. Now, more than ever, it's all about scoring goals at crucial moments as the Berlin final on June 6 looms on the horizon. But which of the eight survivors is best-equipped for the challenge? We assess the forward trios of each team. Lionel Messi was excellent for Barcelona in their last 16 defeat of Manchester City . Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona . Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid . Porto vs Bayern Munich . Juventus vs Monaco . BARCELONA . Lionel Messi - Absolutely mesmerising against Manchester City and we are swiftly moving into territory where Messi may be considered the best player of all time. The Argentine maestro has 43 goals and 23 assists in 40 outings so far this season and, as ever, is central to Barcelona's hopes of another European Cup triumph Rating: 9.5/10 . Neymar - A real joy to watch, the 23-year-old Brazilian just gets better and better with every passing week. May not be able to match Messi's prolific goalscoring but is just as influential when it comes to carving out chances with a moment of magic 9 . Luis Suarez - His troubles of last summer behind him, £75m man Suarez is slowly growing into the kind of player Barcelona want him to be. Looks comfortable working in tandem with Messi and Neymar, running City ragged in the first leg of the last round tie 7.5 . TOTAL: 26/30 . Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart and Barcelona's Neymar compete for the ball . Luis Suarez tormented Manchester City in the round of 16 tie which Barcelona won 3-1 on aggregate . REAL MADRID . Cristiano Ronaldo - It's become a season of frustrations for Real Madrid, but Ronaldo rises serenely above the negativity. With 41 goals and 21 assists in 39 appearances, his return this season has been as good as ever. Their guiding light when Real ended their long wait of the 10th European Cup triumph last season, he is needed again now 9 . Gareth Bale - It's been a turbulent season for the Welshman, who seems to have been made the Bernabeu scapegoat for their shaky form post-Christmas, leading to suggestions he may return to the Premier League in the summer. But he has still scored 16 goals in all competitions this season 7 . Karim Benzema - Often overshadowed by the aforementioned Bale and Ronaldo, the French striker just gets on with the business of scoring goals. He has plundered 20 in the season so far and is always capable of getting into dangerous positions 7.5 . TOTAL: 23.5/30 . Cristiano Ronaldo is, as ever, integral to Real Madrid's hopes of winning the trophy . Gareth Bale has endured a difficult season but is sure to have an influence in the latter stages . Karim Benzema celebrates a goal for Real Madrid against Schalke in the second leg . JUVENTUS . Carlos Tevez - The renaissance of Tevez continued this week as his two goals in the Westfalenstadion carried Juventus through at the expense of Borussia Dortmund and increased his season's tally to 23, including six in eight in Europe. His deadly finishing combined with a strong work ethic is one of the reasons Juventus can be considered dark horses 8 . Alvaro Morata - A 22-year-old with plenty of maturity and promise, moving from Real Madrid to Juventus for £17m last summer has proved the making of Morata. Also scored in Dortmund on Wednesday night and has 11 for the season 7 . Roberto Pereyra - Proving an increasingly integral part of Massimiliano Allegri's system, Argentine Pereyra has licence to roam and run at defences. The 24-year-old has proved he can cut it at the top level this season 7 . TOTAL: 22/30 . Carlos Tevez helped Juventus cruise past Borussia Dortmund 5-1 in the round of 16 . Alvaro Morata continues to get better and better in a Juventus shirt since his move from Real Madrid . Juve's Roberto Pereyra battles for the ball with Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Borussia Dortmund . VIDEO Allegri not surprised by Champions League win . MONACO . Dimitar Berbatov - The most chilled footballer around, Berbatov can still deliver the goods, as shown by his goal in Monaco's shock 3-1 win over Arsenal in the first leg of the last round. His goal tally may not be what it once was, but the Bulgarian is still more than capable of producing a moment of magic 7 . Anthony Martial - While Berbatov is winding down, Martial is stepping up to the big time and hoping to live up to expectations. His goal return of five in 23 games this season isn't really good enough to suggest he'll take the Champions League by storm 6 . Yannick Ferreira Carrasco - Monaco's other great young hope, Belgian winger Ferreira Carrasco came off the bench to score the decisive third at the Emirates. Can trouble defences with his pace and positivity. 7 . TOTAL: 20/30 . Dimitar Berbatov leaps above the Arsenal defence during the second leg of their last 16 tie . Anthony Martial gets clear of Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin during the second leg in Monaco . Monaco's Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco challenges for the ball with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny . PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN . Zlatan Ibrahimovic - PSG's one-man show just can't keep himself out of the headlines, for better or worse. We all know, on his day, the Swede can be unplayable but PSG will have to do without him in the last eight following his sending off against Chelsea. Get through that and he could help them spring a surprise 8 . Edinson Cavani - Long-linked with a move away from the French champions, if Cavani is to depart this summer he'll want to go out with a flourish. An ever-present in the Champions League this season, the Uruguayan has a great return of 18 goals this season, a third of those coming in Europe 7.5 . Ezequiel Lavezzi - It's been a hit-and-miss season for the Argentine, who has also been linked with a move away from the Parc des Princes. Nonetheless, he played a role in helping to guide PSG past Chelsea in the last round and could yet conjure a winning moment 6.5 . TOTAL: 22/30 . Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw a red card against Chelsea but could still feature if PSG make the latter stages . Edinson Cavani in a test of strength with Chelsea's Willian during last week's second leg in London . Ezequiel Lavezzi sneaks up on Chelsea captain John Terry during the match at Stamford Bridge . BAYERN MUNICH . Robert Lewandowski - With so many magnificent creative talents in the team, it's little wonder Bayern Munich are dominating domestically and the favourites to win the European Cup. But those chances need to be converted and Lewandowski has been the man this season, with 17 goals in all competitions. There's also that Thomas Muller fella too... 8.5 . Arjen Robben - He may be into his fourth decade but Robben is arguably in the form of his life. He has a remarkable 17 goals in 20 in the Bundesliga, plus a couple more in Europe this season and has been terrorising defences and taking great pleasure from it 8.5 . Franck Ribery - On the other side, Bayern's alternative attacking force - Ribery. With three goals in the Champions League campaign, he will inevitably have an impact if Bayern are to go all the way again 8 . TOTAL: 25/30 . Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring for Bayern Munich in their 7-0 rout of Shakhtar Donetsk . Arjen Robben shows his flawless volley technique in the last 16, second leg tie with Shakhtar . French star Franck Ribery celebrates scoring Bayern's third goal in the large win over Shakhtar . PORTO . Jackson Martinez - If Porto are to replicate their feats of 2004 and win the Champions League, the goals of Colombian Martinez will be key. He's already carrying them along, with five in the group phase. Despite his absence with a calf injury, Porto prospered against Basle in last round but will want him back with tougher tests lying in wait 7.5 . Cristian Tello - It's been a productive loan spell for Tello, with seven goals and 11 assists contributed by the Barcelona forward. With a long-term stay at the Nou Camp pretty unlikely, Tello should use these high-profile Champions League games as a shop window 7 . Hector Herrera - The Mexican midfielder's form is increasingly sharp, reaching a peak in the second leg with Basle where he scored and created another for Vincent Aboubakar. With nine assists overall this season, he can supply the ammunition for Martinez and Tello ahead of him 7 . TOTAL: 21.5/30 . Cristian Tello leaps over the Basle goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik during the second leg . ATLETICO MADRID . Mario Mandzukic - Replacing Diego Costa is no mean task, but Mandzukic has made a decent fist of it with 20 goals this season, including five in the Champions League. If Atletico are to replicate last season's amazing run to the final, they'll need a few more from him 7.5 . Antoine Griezmann - The Frenchman has been Atletico's driving force and a very classy one at that. He has 17 goals and six assists so far this campaign and plays with flair and confidence 8 . Fernando Torres - A striker who is slowly but surely putting the torrid times endured at Chelsea and Milan behind him back on familiar turf. Yet to fully establish himself as a first-choice pick but may yet deliver that crucial goal 7 . TOTAL: 22.5/30 . Mario Mandzukic is challenged by Bayer Leverkusen's Wendell in the last round . Atletico's Antoine Griezmann uses the full width of the pitch to get around Leverkusen's Omer Toprak . Fernando Torres celebrates after scoring in the penalty shoot-out win over Leverkusen in the last 16 . +Officers are searching for three men wanted on assault charges after a public brawl with two teenagers in front of a bar on St Patrick's Day. Police say the three men, who were all dressed in New York Jets jerseys, got into an argument with the 17-year-old victims inside O’Brien’s in Midtown Manhattan before the fight spilled into the street. Pix11 reports the two teenagers were transported to Bellevue Hospital with facial fractures after being punched, kicked and hit with bottles. Scroll down for video . Street fight: A bottle is wield by one man (left) as a group brawled outside of O'Brien's bar on St Patrick's Day in midtown Manhattan, leaving two teenagers injured, police say . Huffington Post reports that bystander Anthony Rooar Decarlis was out drinking when he saw the fight occur, so he pulled out his phone to record a video of the fight. 'All of a sudden this fight just erupted,' Decarlis said. 'I started recording. There were three different fights. One guy got hit with a bottle, one guy fell to the ground and got kicked in the face.' One of the men struck during the brawl was knocked unconscious with his eye 'swollen up to the size of a grapefruit,' according to Decarlis. 'People were trying to see if he had a pulse,' he added. Decarlis said he called 911 after recording the fight, but said he left before officers arrived because onlookers had called police as well. Huffington Post reported that on Wednesday they were told the NYPD had 'no complaint report on file for this incident.' Caught on tape: Anthony Rooar Decarlis says he recorded the fight on his cellphone before calling police, though he left before officers arrived . Search: Police are looking for three individuals who fought in front of a midtown Manhattan bar, leaving two teenagers with facial fractures . No arrests: Though a bystander says he called police, he left before officers arrived, and Huffington Post said the NYPD did not have a complaint report on file for the incident . Decarlis posted the video to Facebook where it has so far earned more than 450,000 views and added the hashtag #WORLDSTAR, referencing a popular site for videos of fights. He also criticized lack of attention on the St Patrick's Day brawl after New York media outlets covered a group of black teens who beat a 15-year-old in a Brooklyn McDonald's extensively last week. 'I feel like the media is trying to show African-Americans in such a negative light,' Decarlis said, explaining he'd like to see 'public outrage' over the drunken brawl, which appeared to include only white males. Police have arrested six allegedly involved in the Brooklyn beating, which left a teenage girl with non-life threatening injuries. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the video 'deeply disturbing' and suggested the attackers had 'mental health' issues that needed to be addressed, as well as said bystanders should have stepped in. Community organizer Tony Herbert, meanwhile, sided against television and video games while trying to find a reason behind the attack. 'Young people don't have positive images in front of them,' Herbert told ABC7. 'They get these dumb reality TV shows, the violent video games and the music.' +A former Royal Marine killed fighting Islamic State extremists was last night described as a ‘one-man army’ who was ‘very angry about the Middle East’. Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, was hit by mortar fire while battling alongside Kurdish forces near the Syrian city of Qamishli. He is believed to have flown to the region after becoming horrified by atrocities carried out by IS and his fellow fighters said he was the first to volunteer for ambushes and assaults. Scroll down for video . Last message: In the video message Mr Scurfield says he was in Syria of his ‘own free will’ and had gone there ‘to help’ Konstandinos Erik Scurfield (kneeling) pictured with Jordan Matson (second from right), a former US soldier . The Marine’s family, who live in a detached former farmhouse in Royston, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, were devastated at being told of his death on Monday. In a statement, they said: ‘His flame might have burned briefly but it burned brightly with love, courage, conviction and honour and we are very proud of him.’ Last night video footage emerged of the Afghanistan veteran in Syria wearing combat gear, jeans and a black T-shirt. Speaking to the camera he says: ‘My name is Konstandinos Erik Scurfield. I came here on my own free will and I came here to help.’ It also emerged that he was questioned by police last October on suspicion of going to Syria to fight jihadists. On camera: Mr Scurfield introduces himself to the camera before giving a short message explaining why he has gone to fight Isis . Mr Scurfield (pictured), one whose fellow-fighters said he 'gave his life combating terrorism for his nation' He was preparing to fly from the US to Turkey after contacting a Kurdish group on Facebook. He was returned to his unit in Arbroath, Scotland, but decided to leave the Armed Forces before Christmas so he could travel to the war-torn region to fight. Konstandinos Erik Scurfield was stopped from joining Kurdish forces last October when he was still a serving Royal Marine. He had been training with the US Marines in California when he made email contact with a Kurdish group and arranged to travel to the frontline. But he was stopped while trying to board a flight from Los Angeles to Istanbul, a now well-known jumping off point for Syria, in October and questioned by the American authorities. His one-way ticket rang ‘alarm bells’, officials said, and his luggage, phone and laptop were examined. The Marine, who was known to be outraged by the atrocities committed by the fanatics of Islamic State, was also questioned by police on arrival in the UK and then returned to his unit, 45 Commando, in Arbroath, Scotland. It is believed he left the Royal Marines just weeks later. Mr Scurfield, known as Kosta to his comrades, is the first Briton to be killed while fighting Islamic State in Syria. The former drama student, who had ambitions to become an actor before joining the Royal Marines aged 21, was described by his comrades as ‘Kosta’s one-man army’ who raised the morale of fighters. John Foxx, who served alongside him in a team of foreign fighters nicknamed the Chappies, said: ‘He was hands down one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. ‘From beginning to end he was 100 per cent about helping everyone else. ‘No matter what the issue was or who you were he would try to help you however he could.’ Last night a fellow Royal Marine said: ‘He was very angry about the Middle East and the Islamic State. ‘As a unit we had been on standby several times but nothing happened and he was frustrated that the UK was standing back. ‘He was a very focused and good Marine, but the Islamic State was his priority.’ While back in the unit he became ‘tired of seeing what IS were doing to people’, and decided to quit to join the Kurdish Peshmerga after befriending fighters in the region on Facebook. Mr Scurfield left his UK base in November, telling his parents and three siblings that he was going to provide ‘medical and humanitarian support’ as an expert in battlefield medicine. Fellow fighters in Mr Scurfield's 'Lions of Rojava' group have posted tributes to him online today . Mr Scurfield was described by family friends as 'strong-willed', with a 'deep sense of duty and honour' A pro-Kurdish campaigner says he has informed Mr Scurfield's family of his death. They said last night they had not had official confirmation. Pictured: Mr Scurfield . Konstandinos Erik Scurfield died while fighting with the Kurdistan People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Al-Hasakah province on Monday . But last night details emerged from soldiers fighting on the frontline in Syria that painted Mr Scurfield as a hardened warrior desperate to help the Kurds defeat jihadists. 'We are devastated to confirm the death of our son Konstandinos Erik Scurfield in Syria where he went to support the forces opposing Islamic State. 'His flame might have burned briefly but it burned brightly with love, courage, conviction and honour and we are very proud of him.' Mr Foxx added: ‘He would always volunteer to be on the ambush team, spend the night on the berm [defence fortification] or go on any assault.’ Jordan Matson, a former US soldier also fighting with the Kurds, paid tribute on Facebook to Mr Scurfield, describing him as a ‘disciplined warrior’. He added: ‘Kosta volunteered for every attack and guard duty opportunity. He wanted nothing more than to bring the fight to the enemy.’ In recent weeks his father, archaeologist Christopher Scurfield, and his mother Vasiliki – a writer and teacher – became increasingly concerned and contacted their MP for help. Neighbours of the family, Mary-Jane Hemmings (left) and David Miller (right), paid tribute to 'Kostas' today . The Lions Of Rojava boast: 'It is better to live one day as a Lion that a thousand days as a sheep.' They are the foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria to fight, not for jihad, but on behalf of the Kurdish communities who are defending their communities from the advance of Sunni Islamists. Just as hundreds of young Europeans have gone to fight for Islamic State, so increasing numbers are now travelling to fight for their avowed enemies, the Kurds. Jordan Matson, the former U.S. soldier now with Syrian Kurds' People's Protection Units (YPG), operates The Lions Of Rojava Facebook page openly calling for volunteers to travel to join the fight. The Lions of Rojava (pictured) are a group of foreign fighters dedicated to fighting and defeating ISIS . Just as many of the Islamic State's foreign volunteers have been drawn from the ranks of Sunni Muslim youth worldwide, many of the initial YPG volunteers have come from the Kurdish diaspora. Last August a hairdresser from South London was reported to be the first Briton to travel to fight alongside Kurdish forces. Ethnic Kurd Mama Kurda from Croydon, 26, travelled to Iraq to join the Kurdish peshmerga as they desperately tried to halt Islamic State's lightning advance. Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley Central, said: ‘They came to me a few weeks ago very worried for their son’s safety and tragically it appears their worst fears have been realised.’ He said the young man had been ‘horrified by the atrocities carried out by IS’. Mark Campbell, a pro-Kurdish rights campaigner, who broke the news to the family, said: ‘It was very, very emotional, she was literally in tears for the whole conversation.’ He said the Peshmerga wanted to bury Mr Scurfield as ‘one of their comrades in arms, as a hero’. The Royal Marines were understood to have been ‘upset’ that he had chosen to fight with the Kurds rather than the British military. David Cameron’s official spokesman yesterday warned against British nationals travelling to Syria to fight. People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters sit in the back of pick-up truck in the town of Tal Hamis in Syria. Mr Scurfield was fighting alongside the YPG . It is believed that more than 100 western fighter have joined the Kurds in Syria in the fight against ISIS. Pictured are ISIS militants parading through the streets of Raqqa . +A picture is definitely worth a thousand words, especially in this mesmerising new time-lapse video showing a century of beauty in Korea. In the latest 100 Years of Beauty film, model Tiffany Lee is given makeovers showcasing the trends of each decade between 1910 and 2010. The fast-changing video shows the elaborate looks worn early last century from intricate woven looks to carefully styled curls - and how political change influenced styles. Scroll down for video . The first look in the video shows Korean model Tiffany, at a time when Korea was first under Japanese rule . During this time, women preferred ornamented hairstyles and minimal make-up . What is truly captivating is the manner in which the styles mirror the economic, political and social disparity in the country during the respective decades. Between the 1910s and 1940s, the video captures how women copied beauty trends from Japan, such as ornamented hairstyles, and emulated Western trends such as finger curls from the flapper era. The trends continue until the clip reaches the 1950s where the screen splits into two, to reflect the historical division of Korea into separate states (North and South), during the Second World War. In 1945, Korea was divided into two spheres of influence, during which America controlled South Korea, and Russia installed a Communist regime in North Korea, later surrendering power to China. In the Fifties, following the divide of the country, South Korea showed an understated appropriation of Western trends with TIffany wearing lightly rouged cheeks, scarlet lips and a styled quiff. But in North Korea, women were fresh-faced, hair was scraped back and the model is shown wearing a military cap, which signals the beginning of repression under the Communist regime. Under the Japanese colonial rule, Koreans preferred to emulate Japanese beauty trends, which in the Twenties included pinned hair and fresh-faced make-up . In the 1930s, Korea was still very much emulating Japanese beauty trends, such as matte red lips and hats . The video is the latest in a series by Cut.com, which created two demonstrations of 100 years of American beauty as well as a film that revealed the dramatic changes in female beauty in Iran over the last century. The latest installment in the series reveals how South Korea's trends continued in line with the western beauty after the Second World War and beyond. But in North Korea, women's styles reflected huge political upheavals and government propaganda, with women donning humble peasant hats, modes headscarves and Army caps. The American trend of finger curls were worn by style-conscious Korean women in the Forties . In the Fifties, Korea is divided into two states - the trends reflect that America controlled the South, and Russia created a communist state in North Korea . By the time it was the Swinging Sixties made it to Korea, the divide between the beauty norms in the neighbouring countries was obvious. The South, very much focused on capitalism, appropriating glamorous trends from the US or Japan. This is depicted by the berry-pink lips, pencilled-in brows and dark, bouffant-styled hair with a dramatic side-parting. Tiffany blows kisses alluding to female freedom and a growing sexualisation. On the other hand, the looks for North Korean women of the same time involves wearing wearing a bandanna, synonymous with labourers at the time. The Sixties shows a wide disparity in beauty ideals, with South looking to American trends and the North sticking with Communist ideologies . North Korea's Communist regime meant that women were encouraged to be labourers. This is what was considered beautiful at the time and propaganda from the time emphasised this . While North Korea focuses on women as labourers and providers, South Korea follows American trends freely . This portrayal was created by the Communist ideologies in the North: propaganda at the time highlighted the belief that dressed-down, healthy and hardworking women were considered beautiful. Tiffany even has freckles pencilled in, showing her exposure to the sun as a worker. The Seventies similarly saw South Korea following American trends, as the model showcases garish earrings, a stylish bandanna, winged eyeliner and a beehive. But in North Korea, Tiffany is depicted in a worker's straw hat, and seen wiping sweat off her brow. The styling reflects the diktats that were less about vanity, but more about what a person could contribute to society - this longstanding belief is shown by the fact that the make-up trends are pretty much unchanging in North Korea from the Fifties until the Nineties. The Eighties were still seeing South Korea's preoccupation with following capitalist trends, as shown by Tiffany's appropriation of the 'techno' trend. In the 1990s, the North saw a widespread famine, bringing economic hardship to an already repressive regime . While South Korean women made sure their hair was as big as possible, slapped on pink eyeshadow, pink lipstick and matching blusher, their northern counterparts wore simple bobs and kept their faces largely make-up free. In the Nineties, South Korea fell victim to the techno trend, shown by the use of fake eyelashes, wild teased bunches and neon clips in the hair. Tiffany is shown joyfully dancing and pouting in a playful manner. The 1990s saw a widespread famine for North Korea, which saw around one million people die of starvation. This explains Tiffany's sombre expression; the hair is sleek and pulled down into a modest ponytail, and the make-up is subtle. The Noughties saw the South continue on its glamorous trajectory while the North was slowly recovering from the famine and laid a focus on nuclear weaponry and industry . In the 2010s, North Korea has shown gradual social progress and freedom for women, shown by Tiffany's increased use of make-up and accessories. The South have continued appropriating Western trends . In 1992 Kim Jong Il began to take over North Korea, and instituted a policy whereby the military was emphasised above all aspects of society and dominated resources. North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, and travel restrictions were tightened. Security surrounding the country was also strengthened - all leading to a highly repressive way of life, where many people are denied basic human rights. This is shown in the video where the Noughties continue on its glamorous trajectory, but Tiffany in North Korea sees a return to the days where women sport military gear. As time went on, South Korea became an industrial powerhouse and women were able to campaign for legal equality and became increasingly independent. This is shown by Tiffany's freedom in terms of her physical appearance: sporting tanned skin, garish jewellery and glamorous make-up, as well as pouting in a sensual manner. At this time, North Korean beauty ideals are shown to still be very subtle and modest in the Noughties, but there are slight advancements in terms of hair accessories, and relatively minimal make-up with small dabs of eye shadow and slightly glossed lips. For more 100 Years Of Beauty videos visit http://youtube.com/watchcut and http://facebook.com/storiesbycut. +The Champions League has reached the quarter-final stage, with all eight survivors dreaming of making the final in Berlin on June 6. For the second time in three seasons, we don't have an English representative in the last eight but it's still a high calibre field. Barcelona, defending champions Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the favourites, though Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Monaco and Porto will fancy their chances of springing a surprise. Follow the quarter-final draw as it happens at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland from 10.30am. Host commentator . That's all from me for a little while. I'll be back in about 20 minutes for the Europa League quarter-final draw but in the meantime, you can read everything you need to know on the Champions League here. So there we have it. Some brilliant ties in prospect there in the quarter-finals. Confirmation of the draw then: . Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona . Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid . Porto vs Bayern Munich . Juventus vs Monaco . The first legs of this season's Champions League quarter-finals will be played on April 14-15. The second legs will follow a week later on April 21-22. A Madrid derby! And a repeat of last season's final... Today's special guest for the draw is Karl-Heinz Riedle and we're about to begin... Now a film about the eight remaining teams in the competition, with plenty of atmospheric shots spliced in of the Olympiastadion in Berlin, which will be hosting the final on June 6. The stadium in the German capital has a capacity of 74,475 and is, of course, the home of Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin. It was the venue for the 2006 World Cup final, when Italy beat France on penalties following Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt. Gianni Infantino, a familiar face at these draws, has walked out and the preamble for the Champions League quarter-final draw has started. President Michel Platini, he says, can't be with us today. No reason was given. The first legs of this season's Champions League quarter-finals will be played on April 14-15. The second legs will follow a week later on April 21-22. Now, more than ever, it's all about scoring goals at crucial moments as the Berlin final on June 6 looms on the horizon. But which of the eight survivors is best-equipped for the challenge? We assess the forward trios of each team. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO COMES OUT ON TOP . Bayern Munich are shining bright once more this season but that didn't stop their stars marvelling at a once in a lifetime opportunity. Bayern trio Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso and Juan Bernat took time out from training to gaze at the solar eclipse that happened on Friday. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY . So who are the survivors in this season's UEFA Champions League? Sportsmail's Kieran Gill runs the rule over the eight contenders in this handy guide . And here's the odds you can get on each team going all the way... This was the scene above UEFA's base a few minutes ago when the partial eclipse of the sun cast much of Europe into temporary darkness. But for the Premier League, it's a total eclipse in the last eight of the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. There may not be any English representatives left in the Champions League this season following our wipeout this week, but the latter stages of Europe's premier competition look as tantalising as ever. We have reached the quarter-final stage and, in the next hour or so, we will discover who plays who in the last eight. There are three representatives from Spain in the pot - Barcelona, the current league leaders who eliminated Manchester City this week, Real Madrid, the defending champions, and Atletico Madrid, last year's finalists. From Germany, Bayern Munich, who are tipped by many to lift the trophy on German soil in Berlin on June 6. From Italy, the European aristocrats of Juventus. From France, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, the sides who dumped out Arsenal and Chelsea respectively. And, last but certainly not least, Porto. Who needs the Premier League? The draw, which takes place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, is scheduled to get underway at 11am and you won't miss a thing here. +Australia reached the semi-final’s of the World Cup as they defeated Pakistan by six wickets on Friday. Under the lights at the Adelaide Oval a drop by Rahat Ali proved to be the turning point as Australia chased down the below-par 213 set by Pakistan. The recalled Josh Hazlewood took 4-35 to restrict the 1992 World Cup winners to such a low total before Shane Watson hit an unbeaten 64 to give the hosts victory in a fiercely contested tie. Mitchell Starc celebrates a wicket with his team-mates as Australia ripped through Pakistan's batting line-up . Sohail Khan successfully appeals for the wicket of Aaron Finch, as Pakistan fought back with the ball . Sohail Khan puts down a catch in the outfield, as Pakistan failed to take their chances and apply the pressure . Aggressive, brave, attacking captaincy choices have been the building blocks for the best sides in the World Cup so far. Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers and today Michael Clarke are proving that despite the wickets by-and-large being a paradise for batsmen, their ingenuity can and does lead to success. Yet Misbah brings his own unique style of captaincy to the table with a calm demeanour, even in the face of collapse and struggle, that breeds belief within his side and almost earned them a shock win. Pakistan came into the match in a confident mood, on the back of four successive victories, following heavy defeats in the first two matches of the World Cup group stage. Batting first, after winning the toss, seemed the sub-continental side’s best chance of defeating Australia. Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s centurion in their previous match against Ireland, couldn’t replicate his heroics as he edged Mitchell Starc to a diving Watson at slip for 10. And Hazlewood, brought back at the expense of Pat Cummins, justified his selection as he sent down a wide ball that moved away from Ahmed Shehzad and was edged to Clarke at second slip. Wahab Riaz cannot hide his disappointment as, despite a strong spell, Pakistan came up short . Shane Watson (left) and Steve Smith (right) steadied the ship as Australia eventually made it home safely . With both of Pakistan’s openers back in shed, the indomitable Misbah strode to the crease, in what was to be his final one-day international match. The circumstances, with Pakistan 24-2 in the sixth over, were nothing new to Pakistani captain who has long been called upon to be the saviour of the side – not least in this World Cup. But every great sporting saviour needs a bit of luck from time to time and Misbah’s came just two balls into his innings. Hazlewood steamed in, saw the ball clip the 40-year-old’s thigh pad and hit leg stump, the bails lit-up but then stayed in place. It was a lifeline both Misbah and his side desperately needed and along with Haris Sohail, Pakistan’s innings began to be rebuilt. The pair shared a 73-run third wicket partnership and just when they looked ready to propel their side to a competitive total, greed became the undoing of their usually risk-free leader Misbah. Misbah-ul-Haq top scored for Pakistan with 34, as they lost wickets at regular intervals against Australia . Umar Akmal works the ball away behind square on the offside, as plenty of Pakistan batsmen got in and out . Mitchell Starc dives to take a catch which ends the Pakistan innings in the final over of their 50 . Equally it took a stroke of genius and bravery from Australian captain Clarke, who brought Glenn Maxwell back despite Misbah having twice previously sending the allrounder clear of the ropes and initially sending him out of the attack. But, it was Maxwell who had the last laugh as the right-handed batsman eyed the shortest boundary once more but instead holed-out to Aaron Finch in the deep for 34. It was a sad end for one of Pakistan’s greatest players, who passed 3,000 ODI runs as captain during his innings. A typical Johnson short ball got rid of the set Haris (41) before Maxwell claimed his second scalp of the innings as Umar Akmal (20) was dismissed in an identical fashion to his captain. So at 124-5 Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi, the only batsman to have hit more sixes than fours in ODI’s, was required to clear the ropes a few times. Though he did that, smashing three four’s and one six in his innings, he needed to make far more than the 23 of 15 balls that he amassed. Pakistan bowled well early on, but didn't take their chances as Australia began to exert control . Australia’s fast bowlers; Hazlewood and Starc (2-40) had been on top from the beginning of proceedings and after bowling out their opposition for just 213, they were the side on top going into the break. The statistics really best summed up Pakistan’s batting performance; eight batsmen made double figures, none of them passed 50, all 10 were out caught. Pace bowlers have dominated the World Cup thus far and with both sides boasting some of the best in business it was of little surprise that Australia faltered in their chase of their modest target. Sohail Khan trapped Finch plumb in front for just two and although Finch reviewed the decision, there was no changing how straight the delivery was. What followed, from the eighth over onwards was a masterclass in brutal but glorious fast bowling from Wahab Riaz. The 29-year-old’s first over accounted for the dangerous David Warner for 24 as he sent a short and wide delivery down third man’s throat. Wahab’s second got rid of Clarke (8) as another well-directed short ball was gleefully taken by Sohaib Maqsood at forward short leg. The left-handed bowler continued to steam in and had Shane Watson scampering around as if he was holding a bat for the first time. Steve Smith hit an excellent half century to set Australia back on the path to victory at the Adelaide Oval . And for all the world the sensational spell looked to be ending with a third wicket to Wahab’s name but for a spectacularly poor drop by Rahat Ali at fine leg as Watson sent the ball to him. Meanwhile at the other end Steve Smith, easily Australia’s best batsman for the past 12 months, was batting supremely and with great composure as he passed 50 for the third consecutive innings. But having made 65, the 25-year-old seemed to momentarily lose concentration and fell lbw to a fuller Ehsan Adil delivery. The task of seeing Australia home then fell on Watson's shoulders and despite his troubles at the beginning of his innings, he shared an unbeaten 68-run partnership with Maxwell (44 not out) as Australia reached their target with 16 overs to spare. Undeniably Wahab produced one the greatest World Cup bowling spells and deserved so much more then to be on the losing side. Australia may have outplayed India, their semi-final opponents, during the tri-series prior to the World Cup but the match on Thursday will be very different. The 2011 World Cup champions have considerably raised their game and Australia will face their sternest test yet in Sydney as they chase a fifth World Cup title. +Paul Scholes has criticised Joe Hart for appearing 'delighted' despite Manchester City's defeat by Barcelona which saw them crash out of the Champions League. Hart was in inspired form at the Nou Camp on Wednesday as he pulled off a string of world-class saves to keep the scoreline down. But Barcelona won the second leg 1-0 thanks to Ivan Rakitic's first-half goal as the Catalan giants progressed 3-1 on aggregate. Joe Hart was fist-bumping his defenders after making saves despite Manchester City's defeat by Barcelona . Hart shares a smile with Lionel Messi as Manchester City lost the second leg to the Catalan giants . Hart produced several world class saves to keep the score down at the Nou Camp . Writing in his column in the Independent, Scholes said: 'Well done to Joe Hart for a record number of saves in a Champions League game this season, and without him it would undoubtedly been worse for City. 'But what I could not get my head around was his evident delight at it all. Towards the end of the game he was smiling after every save and fist-bumping his defenders. 'City were losing 1-0. They were going out of the Champions League. What were they celebrating? Losing 5-0?' Hart was quick of his line to deny Neymar as the Brazilian forward looked set to score . Hart was commanding in his area, spreading himself wide to keep out Luis Suarez's effort . Ivan Rakitic was the only player to find a way past Hart as Barcelona edged the second leg . City trailed 2-1 after the first leg at the Etihad and were fortunate not to concede more in Barcelona as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all went close. Hart made a total of 10 saves and even Messi paid tribute to the England keeper. 'He saved everything,' he said. 'We had a lot of clear chances but the keeper had a brilliant game. 'We can only congratulate him, but the important thing is we achieved our objective to get through.' VIDEO Pellegrini insists City are improving . +Floyd Mayweather Jnr has refused to agree to a $5million (£3.4m) fine should either he or Manny Pacquiao fail a drug test, according to the Filipino star's adviser. Both fighters are subject to random, Olympic-style testing by USADA in the build up to their $300m (£200m) mega-fight in Las Vegas on May 2. Should either fail a test, they would likely be banned for four years but Pacquiao also wanted a financial penalty. Manny Pacquiao had his first blood and urine test last Saturday ahead of his fight against Floyd Mayweather . Pacquiao and Mayweather must both undergo random testing which is overseen by USADA . 'Today we were informed that Mayweather turned down the request,' Michael Koncz told EPSN. 'Manny had requested that there would be a reciprocal fine of $5 million for a failed drug test.' The details of the testing were not written into the fight contract but were instead included in a separate agreement. And Mayweather's adviser Leonard Ellerbe said that was Pacquiao's mistake. 'Michael Koncz is an idiot, and Manny Pacquiao should be ashamed to have him as his representative, in my opinion,' he told ESPN. 'It's obvious he didn't read the contract. Why would he have his fighter sign something he was not happy with? Mayweather and Pacquiao failed to agree a $5million penalty should either man fail a drug test . Mayweather has long demanded his opponents submit to random, Olympic-style drug testing . 'The deal was negotiated up and down by his promoter on behalf of Manny with Floyd and Mayweather Promotions, and it's been well documented in the media for quite some time. 'If this moron didn't convey his fighter's wishes when the negotiation was going on, that's their problem. This is a lame-ass attempt to generate publicity.' Drug testing was the central reason for a collapse in negotiations five years ago when Pacquiao refused to agree to the same strict conditions. Pacquiao was tested for the first time last Saturday when he was visited in Los Angeles. +Champions League holders Real Madrid will face local rivals Atletico Madrid - the team they beat in last season's final - in the quarter-finals of this season's competition. Los Blancos needed extra-time to beat Diego Simeone's men in Lisbon May but the two Madrid sides will face each other again next month as they look to make it all the way to Berlin. Carlo Ancelotti's side scraped past Schalke to reach the last eight, while Atletico required a penalty shootout to see off Bayer Leverkusen at the Vicente Calderon on Tuesday. Real Madrid trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema (L-R) are looking to retain the trophy . Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak is mobbed by his team-mates after their win over Bayer Leverkusen . A large screen shows the Champions League quarter-final draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland . Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona . Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid . Porto vs Bayern Munich . Juventus vs Monaco . Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain - winners against Manchester City and Chelsea in the last 16 - will also meet at the quarter-final stage. Luis Enrique's side beat the Premier League champions 1-0 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night to confirm a 3-1 aggregate triumph, sealing their place in a record eighth consecutive Champions League quarter-final. There they will meet Laurent Blanc's men, who bravely battled past John Terry and Co with 10 men at Stamford Bridge to gain revenge for last season's defeat by the Blues. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the first leg against his former side after seeing red in west London but he will return for the trip to the Nou Camp looking to dump out the side he left permanently in 2011. Ivan Rakitic (centre) celebrates with his Barcelona team-mates after scoring against Manchester City . Karl-Heinz Riedle (right) makes the draw for the last eight with secretary general Gianni Infantino . Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani and his team-mates celebrate a dramatic victory against Chelsea . April 14 - Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid, Juventus vs Monaco . April 15 - PSG vs Barcelona, Porto vs Bayern Munich . April 21 - Barcelona vs PSG, Bayern Munich vs Porto . April 22 - Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid, Monaco vs Juventus . Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich face a trip to Porto in the first leg of their quarter-final before welcoming the Portuguese giants to the Allianz the following week. Pep Guardiola's side thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in their last 16 tie, while Porto comfortably knocked out Swiss champions Basle. Monaco, who survived a 2-0 defeat by Arsenal on Tuesday to progress on away goals, face a tough task against Juventus, who overcame Borussia Dortmund in style earlier this week. Quarter-final ties to take place on April 14, 15, 21 and 22. Bayern Munich thrashed Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in the second leg of their last 16 tie . Porto midfielder Yacine Brahimi (centre) celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal against Basle . Juventus' Carlos Tevez (second from left) and his team-mates got past Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday . Monaco reached the last eight after surviving a spirited effort from Arsenal in their last 16 second leg . Head-to-head . Who did they beat to get this far? PSG finished second in Group F behind Barcelona, winning four of their games, drawing one with Ajax and losing another against Barca. They played Chelsea in the last 16, drawing 1-1 in Paris before playing out an admirable 2-2 with 10 men in London. Manager . Laurent Blanc . Top goalscorer . Edinson Cavani - 6 . Have they ever won it? No . Who did they beat to get this far? Barcelona finished top of Group F, winning five of their games and losing the other 3-2 against PSG. They played Manchester City in the last 16, winning 2-1 at the Etihad and 1-0 at the Nou Camp. They progressed to the quarter-finals 3-1 on aggregate. Manager . Luis Enrique . Top goalscorer . Lionel Messi - 8 . Have they ever won it? Yes. Four times (runner-up three times) Thiago Silva's looping header in extra time sent Paris Saint-Gemain through at the expense of Chelsea . Key stats . Lionel Messi did everything but score as he delivered a masterclass against Manchester City at the Nou Camp . Who did they beat to get this far? Atletico finished top of Group A, winning four of their games, drawing one with Juventus and losing the other 3-2 against Olympiacos. They played Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16, losing 1-0 away but winning by the same scoreline at home. It went to extra-time then penalties. Manager . Diego Simeone . Top goalscorer . Mario Mandzukic - 5 . Have they ever won it? Never (runner-up twice) Who did they beat to get this far? Real finished top of Group B, winning all six matches against Basle, Liverpool and Ludogorets. They played Schalke in the last 16, beating them 2-0 in Germany but losing 4-3 in Madrid. They advanced to the quarter-finals with a 5-4 win on aggregate. Manager . Carlo Ancelotti . Top goalscorer . Cristiano Ronaldo - 8 . Have they ever won it? Yes. Ten times (runner-up three times) Fernando Torres scores from the spot during Atletico Madrid's penalty shootout victory over Leverkusen . Key stats . Cristiano Ronaldo helped Real Madrid squeeze past Schalke to reach the Champions League last eight . Who did they beat to get this far? Porto finished top of Group H, winning four of their matches and drawing twice. Their most memorable win was beating BATE 6-0 in their opening group game. They also beat them 3-0 away. They played Basle in the last 16, drawing 1-1 away before winning 4-0 at home for a 5-1 aggregate. Manager . Julen Lopetegui . Top goalscorer . Jackson Martinez and Yacine Brahimi - both 5 . Have they ever won it? Yes. Twice . Who did they beat to get this far? Bayern finished top of Group E, winning five of their matches and losing one against Manchester City. Their most notable group win was against Roma, hammering them 7-1 in Italy. They played Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16, drawing 0-0 away but winning 7-0 at home. Manager . Pep Guardiola . Top goalscorer . Thomas Muller - 5 . Have they ever won it? Yes. Five times (runner-up five times) Key stats . Midfielder Yacine Brahimi (left) has been the leading light in Porto's march to the quarter-finals . After a goalless draw in Donetsk, Bayern Munich fired seven past Shakhtar to progress . Who did they beat to get this far? Juventus finished second in Group A, winning three of their games, drawing one with Atletico and losing the other against Olympiacos. They played Borussia Dortmund in the last 16, winning 2-1 at home before hammering the Germans 3-0 away for a 5-1 aggregate. Manager . Massimiliano Allegri . Top goalscorer . Carlos Tevez - 6 . Have they ever won it? Yes. Twice (runner-up five times) Who did they beat to get this far? Monaco finished top of Group C, winning three of their games, drawing two and losing the other against Benfica. They played Arsenal in the last 16, winning 3-1 away before losing 2-0 at home and progressing on away goals. Manager . Leonardo Jardim . Top goalscorer . Lucas Ocampos, Aymen Abdennour, Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, Dimitar Berbatov, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Fabinho, Joao Moutinho - all one . Have they ever won it? Never (runner-up once) Key stats . Carlos Tevez was Juventus' two-goal hero against Dortmund as the Serie A leaders made it through . +When Manny Pacquiao promised to come out swinging against Floyd Mayweather Jnr, this probably wasn't what he had in mind. The Filipino star looked relaxed as he took his mind off his upcoming $300million (£200m) mega-fight with a trip to the playground. Earlier on Wednesday, Pacquiao had completed the 15th day of his training camp with little more than six weeks until he faces Mayweather in Las Vegas on May 2. Manny Pacquiao headed for the playground after his morning workout in Los Angeles . Pacquiao appeared without a care in the world as he continued preparations for Floyd Mayweather . The day before, the 36-year-old sparred for the first time with partners Edis Tatli and Kenneth Sims Jnr, completing a total of five rounds. Tatil, a Finnish lightweight, has lost just once in 25 fights while Sims has fought just five times but his style has been likened to Mayweather's. 'After 13 days of strength and conditioning and boxing drills at Wild Card plus weeks more of working out in the Philippines in February, it was great to finally put on the headgear and spar,' Pacquiao said. Mayweather continued to work on the pads in his Las Vegas gym . Mayweather also worked the heavy bag and tweeted that his training was 'easy work' 'My sparring partners gave me good work today. They were perfect for testing the strategy Freddie and I have developed to beat Floyd Mayweather. I was very happy with my stamina and speed today.' Trainer Freddie Roach, meanwhile, said he was impressed with what he had seen. 'Manny looked so fresh today. I'm very happy with what he showed me,' he said. 'You couldn't tell he had been away from the ring since the Algieri fight in November. Manny is on fire in the gym.' Mayweather on the other hand, was sticking to more tried and tested training methods as he continued to work on the pads. The 38-year-old seemed to be enjoying himself, tweeting 'Easy work' after his session. +John Carver has hit back at the ‘insulting’ comments of Phil Neville after he accused Newcastle’s players of ‘having their flip-flops on’. The former Everton midfielder was critical of United’s players following their 3-0 defeat against the Toffees on Sunday. But Carver has launched his own attack on the Match of the Day pundit. Newastle caretaker boss John Carver claims being 'insulted' by Phil Neville's comments . Newcastle players take part in a training session ahead of the weekend's Premier League clash with Arsenal . Ayoze Perez strikes the ball amid suggestions that the Magpies have already given up on their season . Carver has challenged his Newcastle side to prove their critics wrong in their next game . Sammy Ameobi (left) and Fabricio Coloccini train, although the Argentine is suspended for next three games . Olivier Kemen appears to take a rest during training on Tyneside on Thursday afternoon . ‘I was pretty angry when I heard it, because he couldn't be any further form the truth,’ he said. ‘I think it's insulting and I think it's wrong, especially from ex-players. I'm sure if they were playing now they wouldn't like the comments, as I didn't. ‘What I did do was to inform the players about what these people had been saying. I thought it was important that they knew. ‘Now it's down to ourselves to show those people out there that we've not go our flip flops on.’ Carver has slammed ex-players like Neville for making comments, admitting he was 'pretty angry' Newcastle keeper Tim Krul takes some kicking practice during the session . Jonas Guiterrez (left) jumps over the hurdles while Ryan Taylor breaks into a sprint . Ameobi (L) strikes the ball past Jamie Sterry as Newcastle prepare for their end of season run-in . Meanwhile, Carver admits that injuries and suspension has left him with just 13 senior players to choose from for Saturday’s visit of Arsenal. ‘The good news is that I've not got a selection problem because I've only got 13 fit senior players,’ he said. ‘There's no sign of anyone coming back in the near future other than Mehdi Abeid who is a week or so away. We're working on Rolando Aarons, everyone else is more or less long term. ‘Siem de Jong went outside for a work out for the first time today (Thursday), which was nice to see.’ Toon players leave the Goodison pitch after being soundly beaten by Everton in their last league game . BBC pundit suggested Magpies were already thinking of their holiday by saying they 'had their flip flops on' +On Sunday Manchester United will travel to Liverpool for their biggest match of their season. It will be a rip-roaring, full-bloodied battle which may well be settled by one moment of magic - an occasion made for those who shine on the biggest stages. And yet last year's Champions League man-of-the-match, a man who also played at the World Cup in Brazil, may well struggle to make Louis van Gaal's starting line-up. Angel di Maria has had a difficult start to life in a Manchester United shirt since arriving from Real Madrid . Di Maria (second right) has suffered a Fernando Torres-eque loss of form that nobody saw coming . Based on ability, Angel di Maria should be a shoo-in. His explosive pace and unnerving eye for a killer pass would seem to be the perfect fit for a 90 minutes in which United may well spend long periods on the back foot, looking to counter. But the skills that made Ed Woodward write Real Madrid a cheque for the best part of £60m have rarely been displayed after Di Maria suffered a Fernando Torres-esque loss of form that nobody saw coming. The promise of an explosive partnership down the left with fellow new boy Luke Shaw had United fans drooling. Louis van Gaal has stuck by his man so far, but he has a big decision to make ahead of Sunday's match . Manchester United travel to Liverpool, and Di Maria may not be in the starting line-up at Anfield . Di Maria, however, did not want to leave Madrid and that is where the problems began. Then came the weather. Mancunian winters, as Roy Keane pointed out, can be hard to endure for those used to sunnier climes. Six hours of grey light a day and continual rain can hammer at the mindset of those not used to it. Di Maria also struggled to adapt to Louis van Gaal's tactical switches. He is not alone in that, and has rarely been given licence to roam up and down the left wing. The problems for Di Maria began when he left Madrid - he was happy there and did not want to leave . Di Maria was sent off in Manchester United's FA Cup clash with Arsenal earlier in March . Van Gaal pointed out that most players do not find their feet until their second season - but try telling that to Chelsea fans who have seen Diego Costa fit seemlessly into Jose Mourinho's Premier League leaders. As if the above were enough to contend with, then came the break-in. Sat at home in a foreign country watching TV with your wife and young daughter when suddenly a quiet night in is interrupted by the terrifying sound of raiders armed with scaffolding poles trying to smash their way into your isolated house. Juan Mata started for Manchester United in Di Maria's absence against Tottenham and impressed throughout . Van Gaal now has to decide whether to stick or twist - Mata (centre) or Di Maria (right) on Sunday? Yes, the thugs were disturbed by the alarm system and made their getaway. But the trauma of that experience must remain. There may have been, and may still be, recurring nightmares. In a state of panic, the Di Marias fled to a city centre hotel with a security team. The family now live high above the ground at a separate city centre apartment. It is safe and it is luxurious but it may well feel like a prison and is not the ideal environment in which to raise a young child. Van Gaal, a family man, knows this. He has given Di Maria compassionate leave and stood by his man after the latest low, a red card for grabbing referee Michael Oliver's shirt in the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal. Di Maria has shown flashes of his potential, scoring four goals in United colours since his arrival in August . Di Maria (right) was all smiles on international duty in September, but his form has been poor for United . In the subsequent victory over Tottenham, for which Di Maria was suspended, United delivered their best 45 minutes of the season. Replacement Juan Mata linked well with Ander Herrera as Van Gaal's side displayed a synchronicity rarely seen this season. The Dutchman now has to decide whether to stick or twist. Mata, for all his qualities, lacks pace. Di Maria is a better player but can he finally deliver when United need him most? With £60m already spent it is a gamble worth taking. +The total wipeout of English clubs from European competition this week has led to another feverish debate about where our game stands in relation to our continental counterparts. But before we get too down about things, there is still one Englishman standing in Europe this season. Manchester City may have crashed out to Barcelona but their on-loan defender Micah Richards is still eyeing European glory with Italian side Fiorentina. Manchester City defender Micah Richards is currently on loan at Serie A side Fiorentina . The 26-year-old helped Fiorentina to knock out Tottenham during the Europa League round of 32 . Richards is the only remaining English player in the squads of the 16 teams remaining in the Champions League and the Europa League. His team produced a stunning performance to beat Serie A rivals Roma 3-0 in the Stadio Olimpico and complete a 4-1 aggregate triumph. Although Richards was not involved, he has featured in the Europa League this season and helped them knock out another Premier League club, Tottenham, in the round of 32. Richards, 26, had fallen out of favour under Manuel Pellegrini at City, making just 18 appearances in two seasons and decided to seek greater first-team opportunities in Florence. And while he has not been a mainstay of Vincenzo Montella's team, he has made 15 appearances across all competitions, almost certainly more than he would have made at City. Richards began to find first-team opportunities limited playing for Manchester City and was sent on loan . England international Richards has admitted he is uncertain where he will be playing his football next season . Richards could feature in the latter stages of the competition as La Viola bid to win their second European trophy in Warsaw on May 27. He has been linked with a move to Inter Milan at the end of the season, who are managed by his former City boss Roberto Mancini. But Richards told talkSPORT on Wednesday: 'It's difficult to say [where I will play] at the moment. Every footballer can go to a bigger club on a free contract but for me, I'm still only 26 and I just want to play every game, that's what's important.' For now, however, Richards is flying the flag solo for England in European competition. Richards has been linked with a move to Inter Milan, managed by his former City boss Roberto Mancini . +Britain is a nation of soap lovers, but it’s not just us humans that like to watch some on-screen drama. Apparently dogs – well a particular Shetland Sheepdog – just cannot get enough of popular soap opera EastEnders. Videoed lying on the sitting room floor, the dog named Alfie initially appears to be content minding its own business. Suddenly, Graham Broad’s iconic drum roll that features at the start of the famous EastEnders theme tune is audible from the television, and the dog turns towards it in anticipation. As the melody picks up, the dog, which is now staring intently at the screen, lifts its head back and lets out a little howl. At first it appears to be like any other dog singing along to a particular tune of their choosing. The Shetland Sheepdog named Alfie initially appears to be content minding its own business . But it’s only as the song continues that the dog’s musical prowess is shown off in all its glory. Howling in a relatively controlled manner, Alfie actually appears to mimic the exact notes present in the song. And better still the dog doesn't just howl over the top of the melody, but instead stops in time for the breaks within the composition. The dog listens to the sound of Graham Broad’s iconic drum roll that features at the start of the EastEnders theme tune . The video was captured by the dog's owners at home in Whitehall, London. Composed in 1984, the EastEnders theme tune is the work of Simon May and Leslie Osborne. The theme tune was cited as the most recognisable piece of music in the UK in a 2008 poll conducted by PRS for Music, seeing off competition from the English national anthem. Alfie appears to mimic the exact notes present in the song and even pauses for the breaks . +This is the touching moment a hundred strangers embraced a blindfolded Aboriginal woman on the middle of a popular beach. As part of a social experiment, Western Australian teenager Jasirah Bin-Hitam headed to Cottesloe Beach in Perth blindfolded with a sign that read: 'I trust you. Do you trust me? Let's hug.' The heart-warming video, uploaded yesterday by artist Peter Sharp, is intended to encourage Australian's to be more trusting. Western Australian teenager Jasirah Bin-Hitam is seen standing in the middle of Cottesloe Beach in Perth blindfolded with the simple sign . It begins with the 17-year-old Marine Biology student opening her arms and setting up the sign. While the crowd are initially dubious, they're soon swooping in for a warm embrace, telling Hitlam she is 'very brave' and 'bloody amazing darling.' After a sequence of heart-rending hugs, the video finishes with a concerning statistic from the Australian Reconiliation Barometer: . 'In 2012, only 13 per cent of Australians said they trusted an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.' Ms Bin Hitam told Seven News she hopes the video, which shows several 100 strangers offer her a hug in a half an hour, can help change that statistic. 'It was really emotional for me, having random people come up and hug me,' she said. While the crowd are initially dubious, they're soon swooping in for a warm embrace, telling Hitlam she is 'very brave' and 'bloody amazing darling.' Peter Sharp, who created the video, said it is intended to change people's conceptions about trust . Peter Sharp was propelled into the spotlight last month with a video of a spontaneous dance party on a Perth train, which garnered over 10 million views. He told Seven News the video is intended to change people's conceptions. 'We are just human beings who want to make a difference and it can be as simple as standing there with a sign,' he said. The video was uploaded on Thursday and has already been viewed by more than 160,000 people. +Four more players have signed National Dual Contracts in Wales to take the current total number to 12. Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar, Scott Williams and the uncapped Gareth Anscombe have all become NDC players just 24 hours after Rhys Webb was announced as the eighth signing. The four latest signings join Webb, captain Sam Warburton, Dan Lydiate, Jake Ball, Samson Lee, Rhodri Jones, Tyler Morgan and Hallam Amos. Alun Wyn Jones is the highest profile name of the latest four Wales players to sign dual contracts . Dan Biggar and Scott Williams has taken the number of players signing dual contracts to 12 . Wales coach, Warren Gatland, said: 'Alun Wyn, Dan, Scott and Gareth represent a cross-section of experience, but each one of them is a player of proven talent. 'Within the group of 12 we have signed a mixture of emerging talent and players who have secured reputations for excellence through their appearances for their regions, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. 'The strength of the group is of great benefit to professional rugby in Wales and we are looking forward to working closely with the regions and these players in the years ahead.' Ospreys second-row forward Jones, who captained the Lions in their final Test victory in Australia in 2013, is the most high-profile of the new quartet to sign. Wales coach Warren Gatland has been boosted by the news and looks forward to working with the players . 'For me the National Dual Contract allows me to continue playing with ambition for the Ospreys and put myself in the best position to be selected for Wales,' Jones said. 'Hopefully, now a good number of players have committed to this process, there will be a clear pathway of progression for youth and regional players to perform on the international stage.' Ospreys team-mate Biggar said: 'I'm thrilled to have signed an NDC and honoured to have been considered for one in the first place. 'After a lot of consideration it's apparent that it's in the best interests of all parties.' Williams, who scored Wales' try in their 23-16 RBS 6 Nations victory over Ireland last weekend, added: 'I am very grateful to all the assistance I have at the Scarlets and within the Wales coaching structure, and I am now looking forward to continuing to work as hard as I can within Welsh rugby.' Wales face Italy in their final Six Nations game after defeating Ireland 23-16 on Saturday . The announcement of the four new deals comes just three days before Wales play Italy in Rome with a chance of winning the Six Nations title, although they have ground to make up on England and Ireland on the final weekend of the championship. Welsh Rugby Union Group chief executive Roger Lewis said: 'We have achieved our ambition of securing some of our most talented players under the umbrella of National Dual Contracts. 'This is a landmark moment for Welsh rugby and serves as evidence of our ambition to protect and develop regional rugby while ensuring the national squad can remain competitive in the top tier of the international game.' +Fiorentina winger Mohamed Salah, who joined the club on loan from Chelsea earlier this year, appears to be enjoying his new surroundings and celebrated with fans following La Viola's 3-0 win over Roma. The 22-year-old filmed himself with supporters gleefully singing his name as Fiorentina progressed to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Salah had struggled to make an impact during his time in England and was readily used as a makeweight when the Blues signed Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina in January. Winger Mohamed Salah is surrounded by fans chanting his name following Fiorentina's 3-0 win over Roma . The 22-year-old has become one of La Viola's most popular players since joining the club on loan in January . Fiorentina fans celebrate their win over Roma which sees them progress to the Europa League quarter-finals . Salah attempts a shot during the Europa League round of 16 match against Roma at the Olimpico Stadium . Since moving to Italy though, Salah has enjoyed a magnificent renaissance, scoring six goals and making two more in his last 10 games. He has quickly become one of Fiorentina's most popular players and manager Vincenzo Montella has suggested  that the Italian side may have actually done better than Chelsea in the sale of Cuadrado. 'Maybe right now we have got the better deal,' he told Mediaset Premium. Salah has been in superb form for Fiorentina and has scored six goals in his last 10 appearances for the club . When Chelsea signed Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina, Salah moved to Italy on loan as a makeweight . Salah takes to Twitter to show that he is enjoying the shopping scene in his new city, Florence . +Follow live coverage of the Europa League quarter-final draw from UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Everton may have been the last Premier League club to bow out but a strong field remains, all hoping to reach the Warsaw final on May 27. Dynamo Kiev, Fiorentina, Napoli, Sevilla, Wolfsburg, Zenit St Petersburg, Club Brugge and Dnipro are the teams in the pot. Follow the draw live from 12pm. Host commentator . The draw in full for you then: . Sevilla vs Zenit St Petersburg . Dnipro vs Club Brugge . Dynamo Kiev vs Fiorentina . Wolfsburg vs Napoli . The first legs will be played on April 16 with the second legs seven days later on April 23 . The Russians will take on the defending champions, Sevilla . Because of the complication regarding Russian and Ukrainian teams, who can't be drawn against each other, the ball with Zenit in it has been separated and will be drawn first. The special guest today is the former Liverpool and Poland goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who is the ambassador for the Warsaw final this year. Gianni Infantino is back on the stage, even receiving a round of applause as he walked in. The only teams that will be kept apart are those from Russia and Ukraine because of the conflict there. That means Zenit will not be paired with Dynamo Kiev or Dnipro. The Europa League theme tune is playing so we shouldn't be too far away from the main draw now. A reminder that this season's Europa League final will be held in Warsaw, Poland on May 27. The total wipeout of English clubs from European competition this week has led to another feverish debate about where our game stands in relation to our continental counterparts. But before we get too down about things, there is still one Englishman standing in Europe this season. Manchester City may have crashed out to Barcelona but their on-loan defender Micah Richards is still eyeing European glory with Italian side Fiorentina. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY . We've had the Champions League draw and next up in Nyon we will discover who's playing who in the last eight of the UEFA Europa League. The remaining sides are Dynamo Kiev, Fiorentina, Napoli, Sevilla, Wolfsburg, Zenit St Petersburg, Club Brugge and Dnipro. Kiev, as you may have seen, put paid to English hopes of silverware when they beat Everton last night. The first legs will be played on April 16 with the second legs seven days later on April 23. The draw will get started at about midday and we'll have all the news for you first here. +With her colourful pom-poms by her side and her svelte frame, this student looks like an average cheerleader. However, in a video that's now gone viral online, Patricia Ballesteros reveals that despite her slender arms, she possesses incredible strength. In the footage, which has spread across social media, the 15-year-old schoolgirl, from Mesa in Arizona, can be seen squatting a barbel carrying 300lbs - more than the weight of a giant panda. Scroll down for video . Patricia poses with her pom poms and says her friends were surprised that the video went viral . Patricia takes a deep breath as she gets ready to lift 300lbs - in a video that's gone viral . The footage has now been watched around the globe, and has been shared by sports networks such as ESPN impressed by her incredible talent. Though adults can lift more, Patricia revealed her exploits make her stronger than almost 75 per cent of her school's American football team. Patricia is a keen cheerleader and is seen here showing off her jumping skills . Patricia, who studies at Desert Ridge High School, is part of the cheer squad which has been crowned State Champions for the past two years. The slender powerhouse spends extra time in the weights room to strengthen her legs which helps with her routines. And despite the attention, Patricia insists she has no plans to stop strengthening. Pretty Patricia says her trainers encourage her to push herself because they know she can be a great athlete . She said: 'For the people who already know me they knew I could lift. 'But it was definitely surprising to them when they heard about the video going viral. 'As for the people who don't, they didn't see it coming, because 300lbs is a lot to squat. 'I became strong by having amazing coaches who pushed me beyond my limits to see my potential as an athlete. 'I also put in extra time in the weight room and cheer during summer break so I can come back to the school each year stronger than I was before.' +John Terry has closed the door on a return to the England team despite his man-of-the-match performance at Wembley on Sunday. The former England captain retired from international football when he was suspended by the FA and banned for using racially insulting language towards Anton Ferdinand in 2011. After being cleared in a magistrates' court, he quit England in September 2012 after he was punished by the FA. John Terry shakes hands with Roy Hodgson (circled) after the defender's man-of-the-match performance in Chelsea's victory over Tottenham Hotspur - but he won't be returning to his England team . Terry (left) will not be returning to England's national side after rejecting talk of a comeback . Terry, celebrating at the national stadium after Chelsea's triumph, has closed the door on England . Terry, belting out the national anthem at Euro 2012, represented England 78 times and scored six goals . Caps: 78. Goals: 6. Games as captain: 34 (August 2006 - October 2009, March 2011 - November 2011). Debut: vs Serbia and Montenegro (H), friendly, June 3, 2003. Last game: vs Moldova (A), World Cup qualifier, September 7, 2012. Terry, 34, is playing some of the best football of his career but he cannot be tempted out of retirement. 'No, is the simple answer,' he said in response to questions about whether he would make an England return. 'I don’t want to go into it right now. 'Being back at Wembley, the atmosphere, the stadium, it’s one of the best I have played in, but it’s never crossed my mind. 'I have drawn a line under it and the England squad can move on now. 'They started playing the national anthem before the game and I was going then. I was ready before the game, I have missed it, playing in these big stadiums, and in these competitions. I’m delighted to get back to Wembley.' Terry might have been performing well alongside Gary Cahill (left) but he has no desire to do so for England . Terry captained England for two separate periods before quitting in 2012 after he was punished by the FA . Terry's England career saw him pick up 78 caps over a nine-year period and he was part of the squad at the World Cup in 2006 and 2010 as well as the European Championship in 2004 and 2012. He was twice named as captain, once under Steve McClaren - before later being stripped of the title - and again by Fabio Capello. Terry scored the opening goal for Chelsea as they ran out 2-0 winners over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, and was named the man of the match for his performance. Terry celebrates scoring the opening goal in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday . Diego Costa congratulates the Chelsea captain on his goal that put Chelsea ahead in the first half . And the Chelsea skipper, who was part of Jose Mourinho's dominant Chelsea side in his first spell between 2004 and 2007, saw the Wembley win as the start of a new blue era. 'That's the first one, it's massive. It meant an awful lot to us (to win the League Cup) in 2004-05 in Jose's first year here,' Terry told Sky Sports. 'That (Sunday's win) could be the start of something special but we have to kick on and we have the league to focus on, but it's a great day and a great win. It was a successful afternoon for Terry, but he later rejected talk of a return to the England set-up at Wembley . Terry celebrates in the goalmouth in front of the Chelsea supporters during the post-match party . 'The pressure was there before the game, obviously, but that's what cup finals do to you. I thought we played very well, handled the game very well and we're delighted with the win. 'I think it was a fairly even first half, second half I thought we controlled it a little bit better and deserved to win.' March 29, 2003: Is part of the England squad for the first time but is not used in a 2-0 win away in Liechtenstein. June 3, 2003: Makes his England debut as a second-half substitute in a 2-1 friendly win over Serbia and Montenegro at Leicester City's Walkers Stadium (now King Power Stadium). August 20, 2003: Makes his first England start in a friendly against Croatia at Ipswich Town's Portman Road. England run out 3-1 winners. September 6, 2003: Makes his first competitive appearance in a 2-1 European Championship qualifying win over Macedonia. June 24, 2004: Having started in three of England's four games at Euro 2004, Terry scores in the penalty shootout against Portugal but they are knocked out at the quarter-final stage. July 1, 2006: Terry starts all five of England's World Cup games in Germany but another penalty defeat by Portugal leads to a second successive quarter-final exit. August 10, 2006: Named England captain, with Steven Gerrard as his vice-skipper. Terry says: 'It is the ultimate honour to be the captain of your country and I am very proud to be given this great opportunity,' August 16, 2006: Captains England for the first time in a 4-0 win against Greece at Old Trafford, and scores his first goal in Steve McClaren's first game in charge. November 21, 2007: England fail to qualify for Euro 2008. February 5, 2010: Following allegations that he had an affair with former team-mate Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend, Terry is stripped of the England captaincy. June 27, 2010: Starts in all four of England's World Cup games, ending in a 4-1 second-round defeat by Germany. March 20, 2011: Reinstated as captain by Fabio Capello. The England manager says: 'I think one year's punishment is enough.' February 3, 2012: Terry is stripped of the England captaincy for a second time with the FA deciding it would be inappropriate for him to lead his country in light of his clash with Anton Ferdinand. June 24, 2012: Starts in all four Euro 2012 matches for England but they are knocked out by Italy. July 13, 2012: Cleared of racism against Ferdinand at Westminster Magistrates' Court. September 7, 2012: Makes his last England appearance and is subbed off injured after 88 minutes against Moldova in a 5-0 win. September 23, 2012: Terry retires from international football on the eve of his FA hearing into the Ferdinand case. He says the FA made his position 'untenable'. September 27, 2012: The FA dish out a four-match ban to Terry after he is found guilty by their independent panel of racially abusing Ferdinand. +England captain Chris Robshaw led his side on the captain's run at Twickenham on Friday as the Red Rose put the finishing touches to their preparations for the Six Nations finale against France. Stuart Lancaster's men face Les Bleus at HQ on Saturday with a chance of clinching the title for the first time since 2011. Any one of four teams can win the Six Nations this year - although with three wins each, Wales, Ireland and England are in with a better chance than outsiders France who have two. England's Jack Howell prepares with catching practice for Le Crunch against France - on the deciding day of Six Nations action . England are locked on the same points as Ireland and Wales, but have a better points advantage heading into the final round of action . England head coach Stuart Lancaster insists only the final stage of the Ryder Cup can compare with Saturday's climactic round of the RBS 6 Nations. Lancaster believes the golfing showpiece contested by Europe and the United States every two years is the only sporting occasion that can match the drama created by the Six Nations' refusal to synchronise the last instalment of games. 'I can't think of another situation in sport where you'd go into it with this points differential that can affect the psychology, so it is different from a World Cup,' Lancaster said. 'The only scenario I can think of that is similar is the final day of the Ryder Cup when you're ahead or behind when the singles are coming. 'It's that sort of feeling. It will tell us a lot about the players, but it is a pretty unique situation as well.' England enter the final day with a points advantage of plus four and it is in the context of how Wales and then Ireland, who travel to Rome and Edinburgh respectively, perform that Lancaster must prepare his team. England players huddle up together as head coach Lancaster watches on during the open training session in south west London . England coach Lancaster says England must not try and win the game too early and deal with circumstances as they arise during the match . 'I have thought long and hard about the psychology of how you deal with your own players,' Lancaster said. 'There are only so many players who need to be involved in the key decisions. The rest of the players have been given a simple message - you go all-out for the win and you don't stop until 80 minutes is up. 'The key to begin with is not to chase the game too early. We have to go out there to perform and win the game, then we'll deal with whatever circumstances come along as we go.' England skipper Chris Robshaw (left) leads his team during the captain's run at rugby HQ in Twickenham on Friday . England's James Haskell (right) and Luther Burrell (left) train ahead of the Six Nations showdown with France . Haskell plays a pass as the Red Rose put the finishing touches to their preparations for Saturday's game . England's Jonathan Joseph runs with the ball during the Captain's Run at Twickenham on Friday . Lancaster has made one change to his starting XV after promoting Geoff Parling from the bench at the expense of Dave Attwood. Parling has called for England to stand up and be counted as they seek to claim a first title since 2011. 'These sort of games are when you probably see a team's character,' Parling said. 'We know there is a lot of pressure on it and we shouldn't hide away from that. We said at the start of the tournament: we have got to win it. We've come second for three years running. 'We messed up a bit in two games again, but we've got a chance here to put things right and win it. 'These are the games you want to play in, the games you want to show your character as a player, as a pack, as a team.' England winger Anthony Watson trains during the captain's run at Twickenham on Friday . England stand a good chance of winning the Six Nations for the first time since 2011 . +The draw for the Europa League quarter-finals took place on Friday afternoon with defending champions Sevilla's tie against Zenit St Petersburg the standout clash. The pair have both won the tournament in the past with Sevilla winning the competition three times previously, while Zenit's sole triumph came in 2008. The odds are looking ominous for Zenit who have won only twice in 14 encounters with Spanish sides, and are without a victory in their last seven games against La Liga opponents. Defending Europa League champions Sevilla will face Zenit St Petersburg in the quarter-finals . Zenit (right) are through to the quarter-finals after beating Serie A outfit Torino 2-1 on aggregate . Sevilla vs Zenit St Petersburg . Dnipro vs Club Brugge . Dynamo Kiev vs Fiorentina . Wolfsburg vs Napoli . First and second legs to be played on April 16 and 23 . Elsewhere Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kiev will face Fiorentina. Kiev, who knocked out Everton 6-4 on aggregate in the last 16, have won just twice in 18 encounters with Italian clubs, with both of those wins coming against Roma in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League. The Viola, who feature on loan Chelsea midfielder Mohammed Salah, are yet to lose in eight games against Ukrainian sides - having won five and drawn three. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, the other Ukrainian representative in the draw, host Belgian outfit Club Brugge first in their quarter-final tie, while Wolfsburg face Italian opposition once more. Wolfsburg, who knocked out Inter Milan in the previous round, will entertain Napoli in the first leg of their quarter-final before travelling to Naples for the return encounter. This clash is the only pairing in the round when the sides have never met in Europe before. Dynamo Kiev will face Fiorentina in the Europa League quarter-finals after beating Everton in the last 16 . On loan Chelsea midfielder Mohamed Salah (right) will prove a key man for Fiorentina against Dynamo Kiev . Kevin De Bruyne (right) will be hoping to lead Wolfsburg to victory in their quarter-final against Napoli . +David de Gea's girlfriend Edurne Garcia has backtracked over claims she said Manchester is 'not very nice', insisting that words were put into her mouth by the media. Rumours of De Gea's exit from Manchester United were fuelled earlier this month when an interview with Garcia surfaced, in which she is alleged to have announced her dislike of the city. 'It's not very nice, that's for sure,' Garcia says in response to the presenter claiming 'Manchester is uglier than the back of a fridge.' Edurne Garcia has refuted claims she said Manchester is 'not very nice', insisting she loves the city . Edurne Garcia (left), a singer, is the girlfriend of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea . Garcia has backtracked over claims she told a Spanish television show that Manchester is 'not very nice' 'You have hunt out specific places, the nice places. But even then Spain is nicer.' But now, the singer, who will be representing Spain in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, has hit back at the reports, insisting that her words have been twisted. 'It was an incredible revolution but I didn't say that,' she told Chance. 'They put words in my mouth. I haven't said that. 'I don't know if they are seeking out the news or they want to be controversial, but it surprises me when I saw everywhere this sentence that I have never said. I am delighted with Manchester, I love it, and the city has wonderful corners.' De Gea's United contract runs out at the end of next season, and there are rumours of a return to Madrid . Garcia's initial comments on El Hormiguero fuelled rumours of the couple's return to Spain . Two days after the interview surfaced, Manchester City Council chief Pat Karney invited Garcia on a tour around the city, remarking 'the only thing Manchester has in common with a fridge is that it’s really cool' in an interview with Manchester Evening News. Garcia admits she is happy to be shown around: 'There's a Councillor who wants to show me the city, and I am delighted to know more wonderful corners in Manchester. But I have never said that. The people could watch the video and see that they misrepresent the information.' De Gea's contract at Old Trafford runs out at the end of next season, but there have been strong rumours regarding Real Madrid's interest in bringing the goalkeeper back to the city he was born in. Garcia's initial comments stoked the fire, but her most recent interview may provide some hope to Manchester United fans that they will keep hold of their star man beyond this season. Garcia has since been offered a tour around Manchester by a Councillor, which she gratefully accepted . Garcia says she is 'delighted to know more wonderful corners in Manchester', insisting she is happy . +A year after letting top wide receiver DeSean Jackson go, Chip Kelly has again put his stamp on the Philadelphia Eagles with a jaw-dropping piece of business. Two-time All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy will be traded to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for third-year linebacker Kiko Alonso. The stunning trade will reunite Eagles head coach Kelly with former Oregon star Alonso, who is coming off ACL surgery after a dominant rookie year in 2013. LeSean McCoy will move to Buffalo to work under new head coach Rex Ryan . Kiko Alonso will be reunited with Chip Kelly as he looks to recover from ACL surgery . McCoy was regularly sidelined in favour of Chris Polk during the Eagles' disastrous stretch, which saw the Dallas Cowboys claim the NFC East title. The move should end CJ Spiller's time in Buffalo and further confirms the devaluation of the running back position. Freeing up $11.95million in cap space, the move adds fuel to the fire that the Eagles will move up for former Ducks quarterback - and Kelly protege - Marcus Mariota in April's draft. ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the trade, with NFL.com's Michael Silver confirming the move. +Real Madrid and Barcelona have two of the most talented, and expensively assembled, teams in world football. But who would make a combined XI out of the two squads based, not on reputation, but on current form? Allow me to get ahead of the fury of the comments section. If you're Ancelotti do you pick Ronaldo? Of course you do. Cristiano Ronaldo may be the World Player of the Year, but on current form he doesn't make combined XI . Our combined XI, which has no place for Ronaldo, but does feature some of the world's best players . Ronaldo hasn't scored a league goal from open play in a month, and Gareth Bale is preferred on the wing . Did Ronaldo have a brilliant first four months of the season? Of course he did? Might he score the winner on Sunday? Quite possibly. Does he deserve to be in a combined XI based on current form. No. Goalkeeper - Marc-Andre ter Stegen . There are four to choose from. Keylor Navas has barely played and Iker Casillas continues make mistakes in big games – Schalke, Atletico Madrid - so that leaves the two Barcelona goalkeepers. Claudio Bravo is the league keeper but every time Marc-Andre ter Stegen plays he impresses and he’s fresh from a penalty save in midweek. Marc-Andre ter Stegen has not played in the league this season, but he has earned his chance this week . Right back - Dani Alves . It’s a close call between Alves and Dani Carvajal but the Brazilian shades it after an aggressive, positive performance in midweek and because for all his much-debated defensive shortcomings Carvajal has actually shown many of the same deficiencies of late. Dani Alves put in a strong performance against Manchester City, and just shades Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal . Centre back - Gerard Pique . One of the best defenders in Europe this season – so much for the poster boy with the pop star wife who was now more interested in playing poker and running his web business than playing football. No one has been better than Pique, not at Barca, not in La Liga, not anywhere. Gerard Pique, Europe's best defender this season, stops Sergio Aguero in the Champions League . Centre back - Pepe . He gets in just ahead of Ramos courtesy of the Spain defender having only just come back from injury. Pepe has held together Real Madrid’s defence in his partner’s absence and is playing like a man who wants and will probably be given a new contract. Has shown why Manuel Pellegrini wanted him at the start of the season. Portuguese centre back Pepe has been in excellent form in recent weeks, holding the Real defence together . Sergio Ramos (left) has returned to fitness, and should start on Sunday, but Pepe just pips him in our team . Left back - Jordi Alba . A very close call between Jordi Alba and Marcelo. Alba is the fastest full-back in football. The only defender quicker than Jesus Navas and he showed it on Wednesday. Marcelo offers Madrid so much going forward and has improved defensively but Alba shades it. Jordi Alba proved against Jesus Navas that he is the fastest full back in the world, and he makes the XI . Real Madrid's left back Marcelo has improved his game, and offers plenty going forward, but just misses out . Right midfield - Ivan Rakitic . Scored against City and in the league against Granada two weeks before. The Croatian is starting to show the sort of form that made him one of La Liga’s best midfielders last season. Ivan Rakitic has been a top performer for Barcelona recently, including his well-taken goal in midweek . Centre midfield - Javier Mascherano . It was bad luck for Manchester City that when injury hit Barcelona before the midweek second leg it probably made them even stronger. Sergio Busquets is perhaps the second best holding midfielder in the world, Mascherano, who as Roy Hodgson well knows (after getting slightly carried away and selecting him as the world's best player in the Ballon d’Or vote), is the best. The injury to Sergio Busquets has allowed Mascherano (left) to prove again that he is the world's best . Left midfield - Isco . He is not the complete midfielder that many Real Madrid supporters seem to believe he is but all the same he is in very special form at the moment and in this team he can play alongside Messi, who famously has a dog named after. Isco is in a rich vein of form for the European champions recently, and can thrive in a number of positions . Right forward - Lionel Messi . Does there need to be an explanation here? Lionel Messi mesmorised Manchester City in midweek with a performance for the ages at the Nou Camp . Messi is currently the best player in the world, on form, and possibly even the greatest of all time . Centre-forward - Luis Suarez . Selecting between Suarez and Karim Benzema was one of the toughest choices but in this combined super-team you have Messi dropping into midfield so the battering ram that is Suarez gets in ahead of him. Luis Suarez just edges in ahead of Karim Benzema to allow for his combination with Messi up front . Left forward - Gareth Bale . It has to be Bale or Ronaldo or Neymar so what can you do? Neymar and Ronaldo both went off in a huff in their last league games, Bale scored twice to silence some of the disproportionate criticism he has been on the end off. Put Bale back on the left where he can whip the ball on his favoured foot or just do as he did last season against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final and power so far in front of his marker that he can still cut inside and shoot. There is also only one player who has scored with a direct free-kick for Real Madrid this season... and it isn’t Ronaldo it’s Bale. TOTAL: BARCELONA 8 REAL MADRID 3 . Gareth Bale gets in ahead of Ronaldo after his two goals, complete with great celebration, against Levante . Bale can have a real impact if he is moved back to the left hand side, and starts up front in our team . +When Liverpool and Manchester United meet at Anfield on Sunday, there will not be a single local lad starting in this iconic fixture for the first time in the Premier League era. April 26 1992, the final time the two sides met in the old Division One, was the last time no player in Liverpool's starting XI was born within 30 miles of Anfield or a United player within the same distance from Old Trafford. In the 53 league and cup meetings since, the likes of Steven Gerrard - likely to start from the bench on Sunday - Jamie Carragher, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler have starred for Liverpool, while United's local lads have included Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Danny Welbeck. Steven Gerrard looks dejected in defeat after Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Manchester United last December . Local lad James Wilson also started that game for Manchester United . Manchester-born Danny Welbeck tackled by Gerrard at Anfield last season . Jamie Carragher (left) and Gary Nevill during a game at Old Trafford in March 2010 . Wayne Rooney, a designated Scouser, doesn't count (although he was born less than four miles from Anfield), while Ryan Giggs is also excluded as he was born in Wales. Back in April 1992, when Liverpool won 2-0 at home, there were 11 English players on the pitch, but none born within 30 miles of either stadium. In fact, the closest on that day was Rob Jones, born 31 miles from Anfield - but in Wales. While Lancashire lad Mike Phelan, born 29 miles from Old Trafford, came off the bench that day for United. Liverpool's Robbie Fowler is sent tumbling by Manchester United's Nicky Butt in March 2001 . Liverpool players Michael Owen (left), Fowler (centre) and Steve McManaman celebrate after beating Newcastle in the League Cup in January 1998 . Ryan Giggs of Manchester United goes past Liverpool's Jonjo Shelvey in January 2011 . In the most recent encounter between the two sides, a 3-0 home win for United in December, both clubs featured a local lad from the start. Gerrard began the game for Liverpool, while James Wilson, born in Staffordshire 27.5 miles away from Old Trafford, was selected by Louis van Gaal. Like Gerrard, there is also a possibility that Wilson and Tyler Blackett - also born in Manchester - could feature on Sunday. Jon Flanagan, meanwhile, will return at some stage from injury to boost the Reds' Scouse contingent. But with the departure of Welbeck from United last summer, and Gerrard leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, the chances are that the trend of no local lads starting the biggest game in English football will continue for a little while longer. +Forget the bragging rights - victory in Sunday's Liverpool vs Manchester United clash could be worth as much as £70million. While nothing will be decided in the latest installment of the old rivalry, at 3.20pm we will be a lot closer to knowing who will be in pole position to land a treasured place in the top four and the Champions League qualification that brings. The victors can look forward to a £70m cash bonanza from appearing on Europe's biggest stage thanks to the TV money and gate receipts that brings. Louis van Gaal (left) and Brendan Rodgers come face to face in a huge clash at Anfield on Sunday . After United's disappointing 2013-14 season, they will be desperate to break into the top four this time around . Liverpool are two points behind Manchester United in the league, and desperate to topple their rivals . Group participation: £6.3million . Win bonus: £720,000 . Draw: £362,000 . Qualification to round of 16: £2.54m . Quarter-Finals: £2.83m . Semi-Finals: £3.55m . Winners: £7.61m . Runners-up: £4.71m . Gate receipts per match (United): £2m . Gate receipts per match (Liverpool): £1.5m . (Numbers based on 2013/14 figures) The losers, however, may be advised to find out what number ITV4 is on their TV boxes and brace themselves for the prospect of a fraction of that sum from the Europa League. In the packed stands it will all be about what happens on the pitch. In the directors box, however, officials will no doubt be calculating the rewards of glorious victory and the cost of miserable defeat. Should Louis van Gaal's visitors triumph in the early kick-off they will stretch the gap on Liverpool to five points with eight matches to play. Victory for Brendan Rodgers's resurgent Reds would see them take over fourth spot by a point. A draw and the advantage remains with the visitors from the other end of the Ship Canal. While officials from both clubs are desperate to make the Champions League, failure to do so would do more damage to the Old Trafford coffers. There has been plenty at stake in previous matches, but Champions League money is now bigger than ever . Andy Cole (left) and David Beckham celebrate during a United vs Liverpool clash in 1997-98 . Liverpool are two points behind United going into Sunday's huge game at Anfield . United, perennial participants, are already counting the cost of this year's non-participation. Figures recently released reveal that they are set to see a drop in revenue of around £50m as a result of their inability to qualify under David Moyes. Should they repeat the trick this year that figure will rise to around £70m thanks to the new TV deal with BT Sport which is worth an extra £20m. Then there is United's £750m kit deal with adidas. That features a £22.5m penalty should they fail to qualify for the Champions League for two consecutive seasons. If the unthinkable happens, the loss would hit a staggering £100m. David Moyes' failure to reach the top four last season has made success imperative this time around . Liverpool got a taste of the Champions League this season, and will want the same again in 2015-16 . The impact another year without Champions League football would have on existing and potential sponsors cannot be quantified but it could run into the millions. United have a vast commercial operation with offices in Manchester, Mayfair and Hong Kong aimed at squeezing every penny out of their global brand. While they could label one year without Champions League football as a one-off, investors may see two years of non-qualification as more of a trend. That logic would no doubt spread to the New York Stock Exchange where failure to qualify could have an impact on the club's share price. United are used to European success, and will want to recreate nights like this - Moscow in May 2008 . Much of their success came under Sir Alex Ferguson (centre), and they have struggled since his retirement . In 2013-14, when United were knocked out by Bayern Munich in the quarter finals, they picked up £31.3m in broadcasting money alone. As for prize money, UEFA pay around £800,000 for each win and £415,000 for a draw. There is also the extra gate receipts, although this would be offset by an appearance in the Europa League. Season ticket holders at United commit to buying tickets for European matches and they would be looking to pick up around £2m per game. Sunday's match is set to be broadcast to 645 million homes across 175 countries around the world . Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and David Beckham (right) left Manchester United for Real Madrid . All of the above would help both clubs when it comes to complying with Financial Fair Play regulations. However, the latest, staggering £5bn TV deal for Premier League TV rights is a game changer. United privately believe that could give them the clout to finally overtake Real Madrid and end the talent drain that saw Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham depart Old Trafford for the Bernabeu. There is not only Champions League cash up for grabs. Van Gaal (second left) speaks to his players during a training session at the club's Carrington training ground . United's first team were readying themselves for Sunday's match in training on Friday morning . At the end of the season the Premier League dishes out 'merit' money based on finishing position. Last year the difference between Arsenal, who finished fourth and Everton, who finished fifth, was £1.24m. Liverpool and United are seemingly out of the title race. This is not a battle for honours but the match is set to be the most-viewed of the season. It will be broadcast to 645 million homes across 175 countries with the global fanbase enjoyed by both a major factor. There is much more than three points at stake, but then there always has been. +Liverpool players ramped up their preparations ahead of the crucial top-four showdown with fierce rivals Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday. The Reds are currently fifth in the Premier League table with 54 points, just two behind United in fourth. Having both spent heavily in the summer transfer window, both teams are under huge pressure to secure Champions League football next season and while previous meetings between the two sides may have been contested higher up the table, this year's encounter still has plenty at stake, given the broadcasting revenue linked to Europe's top club competition. Lazar Markovic (left) and Javier Manquilo (right) are put through their paces during Liverpool's training session at the Melwood training centre . Alberto Monreno (left) runs ahead of Reds defender Dejan Lovren (right) as the club prepare to face Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday . Lovren, who signed for Liverpool from Southampton last summer, runs mischievously with one of the free-kick dummies in training . Lovren joined Liverpool from Southampton for a reported £20million fee and after a slow start has begun to settle into life on Merseyside . The defender smiles during the training session at Melwood as Liverpool step up their preparations for Sunday's game . Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel poses with a camera at the club's Melwood ahead of Sunday's clash with United . All too aware of what is at stake is Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, who believes that three points and momentum in the race for a top-four finish will render the local bragging rights associated with the fixture as incidental. He told Liverpoolfc.com: 'Of course, it's a rivalry, but it's another three points and we'll just approach the game as we always do - that's the most important thing. 'It's going to be a big game for us. We're going into the game looking to win it, as we always do, and we're looking forward to it. 'We'll go into this game with the right mentality, we'll look to play our football and to try to go out there and win the game. Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has said that three points must be the priority when Liverpool take on Manchester United on Sunday . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers addresses his players in training as he hopes to guide them to a top four finish this season . Liverpool coach Colin Pascoe (centre) is in high spirits with his players, as Mario Balotelli (right) is held by Skrtel and Lovren . Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique shares a joke with his team-mates in training ahead of the crucial match against Manchester United . Meanwhile, Sturridge was full of praise for attacking dynamo Philippe Countinho, whose development this season have been central to an upturn in form for Liverpool, who have not lost in their last 13 league games, since the 3-0 defeat by United in December. On Coutinho, Sturridge said, 'He's great to play with. He's very skilful, sees a pass and scores very nice goals, also, so it's a pleasure to play with him. 'He's quite chilled, he's not too loud. He has a little bit of a joke, but he's just a relaxed, calm guy. He comes in and does his work and is humble, just like everyone else is. 'I think it's down to him to work as hard as he possibly can to get to where he wants to be - and I am sure he wants to aim for the stars. 'That's very possible with the attributes he has, so as long as he continues doing what he's doing, I'm sure he'll go a long way in the game.' Club captain Steven Gerrard, who is set to leave Liverpool in the summer, heads the ball ahead of Sturridge at Melwood . Moreno (left) is outpaced by winger Markovic (right) as Liveprool's players ready themselves for arguably the biggest game of the season . Liverpool defender Kolo Toure heads the ball to his team-mates on the other side of a net as Liverpool focus on beating United at the weekend . Former England captain Gerrard will join MLS side LA Galaxy when his contract at Liverpool expires at the end of the season . Gerrard (right) poses with team-mate Mamadou Sakho (left) ahead of Sunday's game at Anfield . Markovic (left) is held by Lovren (right) as the pair share a joke during the training session at Melwood on Friday . With a place in next season's Champions League at stake, Sunday's fixture is one of the most important for Liverpool in recent history . +Everton's defence may have been ruthlessly exposed by Dynamo Kiev on Thursday but Roberto Martinez's problems don't end there. The Toffees were second best in all areas of the pitch as they exited the Europa League 6-4 on aggregate, leaving them to concentrate on a Premier League campaign which has failed to ignite. With Martinez's men languishing 14th in the table - 23 points and nine places worse off than at this stage last season - Sportsmail takes a look at the underperforming players the Spaniard must get rid of this summer if the Blues are to get back on track in 2015-16. Everton's players look dejected during their 5-2 defeat at Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League last 16 . Everton boss Roberto Martinez has a huge summer ahead of him when the transfer window opens . Tim Howard . After a stellar first season under Martinez and some brilliant performance at the World Cup with the USA, Howard been arguably Everton's worst player this season. High profile errors - particularly at home to Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester - have helped cost the Toffees much-needed points and contributed to a shaky, unsure defence. Martinez's decision to return Howard to his starting XI after injury - despite some promising displays from Joel Robles - has backfired. At 36, he will only get worse. Goalkeeper Tim Howard is left on the turf at the Olympic Stadium after conceding a third goal on the night . Antolin Alcaraz . Off the pace and out his depth against Dynamo, Alcaraz's 18 months at Goodison Park have been a mixed bag of injuries, decent performances and some truly awful defending. The Paraguayan, who was also part of Martinez's back-three at Wigan, lacks the speed and consistency to play for a team with European aspirations, while he is always liable to pick up a knock. With his contract up at the end of the season, it'd be wise to invest Alcaraz's wages elsewhere. Antolin Alcaraz had an evening to forget as the Toffees were dumped out of Europe in embarrassing fashion . Steven Pienaar . A regular under David Moyes, Pienaar has simply been unable to stay fit under Martinez. He shone on the opening day of the season against Leicester, working in tandem with Leighton Baines down the Toffees' left side, but has not played since mid-December and has made just eight Premier League appearances this season. The team has missed his partnership with Baines, guile and eye for a pass but, at 33 and with his injury problems persisting, Pienaar's time in the first-team looks over. Steven Pienaar (right), pictured in action against Krasnodar, has barely played this season due to injuries . Sylvain Distin . Age appears to have finally caught up with Distin after a catastrophic start to the season left him out of the team and almost certainly on his way out of the club. The 37-year-old was consistently at fault in the early stages of the campaign, contributing to the Toffees' awful defensive record with ponderous, error-prone displays. Now stuck playing for the Under 21 side after falling out of favour with Martinez, it's time the Frenchman hung up his boots or moved on. Defender Sylvain Distin is believed to have fallen out with Martinez and has not played since last year . Aiden McGeady . Over a year into his Everton career and McGeady is still yet to show the form which convinced Spartak Moscow to spend almost £10million on him in 2010. Although quick with the ball at his feet, the Republic of Ireland international's delivery leaves much to be desired and he has chipped in with just one goal since his arrival. Improvement is needed if he is ever going to earn a regular place in Martinez's starting XI - and in the hearts of Evertonians. Aiden McGeady, pictured being sent off against West Ham, has struggled to make an impact at Everton . Gareth Barry . One of the most important cogs in Martinez's well-oiled machine of last season, Barry has fallen well below the high standards he set last year. At 33 he has played too much football in 2014-15 and should've been rested when in the midst of an awful run of form prior to Christmas. Nevertheless he looks to be growing slower by the game and is struggling more and more to keep up with the pace of the Premier League. Gareth Barry, pictured tussling with Kiev's Andriy Yarmolenko, struggled with the pace of the Ukrainian side . Tony Hibbert . Another player with an awful fitness record, Hibbert has managed just four Premier League appearances all season and last played in the top-flight on December 6. As a local lad with over a decade at the club it's easy to let sentiment get in the way when it comes to Hibbert and his role as a squad player. But with promising defender Tyias Browning coming through the ranks, there's little need for him now. Veteran defender Tony Hibbert (left), pictured chasing Angel di Maria, has barely played this season . +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants his team to focus on maintaining their own performances levels over the final nine Barclays Premier League games rather than worry about whether leaders Chelsea might slip up again. Despite having gone out of the Champions League to Monaco on away goals after Wednesday night's 2-0 win at the Stade Louis II Stadium, with a run of eight victories from the last nine league matches, Arsenal are certainly in fine domestic form, having also progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they will face Reading at Wembley on April 18. Following last weekend's Premier League results, which saw Manchester City lose and leaders Chelsea held to a draw at Stamford Bridge by Southampton, Blues boss Jose Mourinho declared the Gunners now back in the title race, albeit still seven points behind and having played a match more. The Arsenal squad are put through their paces in Colney ahead of facing Newcastle on Saturday . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger only wants his side to focus on maintaining their level of performances . Monaco celebrate after knocking the Gunners out of the Champions League on away goals . Arsenal will host Chelsea at the end of April, but Wenger maintains his men must first continue to deliver consistent results and not concern themselves with the form of other sides. 'At the moment we are too far away from Chelsea, but we have an opportunity every week to get closer and for that we need positive results from us, and negative results from Chelsea. The only thing we can master is positive results from us,' said Wenger, who takes his team to Newcastle on Saturday. 'I believe Chelsea still has a very good cushion and very good security.' Wenger continued: 'It is very tight. Santi Cazorla (centre) sprints off during a training exercise, and will hope to keep up his fine recent form . England international Theo Walcott (left) and Nacho Monreal keep their eye on the ball in training . Centre back Per Mertesacker controls the ball as Arsenal team-mates watch on at London Colney . Tomas Rosicky challenges Frances Coquelin (left) whilst Alexis Sanchez cracks a smile (right) Arsenal's No 1 keeper David Ospina will hope to keep another clean sheet at St James' Park on Saturday . 'We are on the neck of Man City, but straight behind us we have Man United and Liverpool, even Tottenham and Southampton are not completely out of it. 'But we just have to focus on our performances and our strengths. I do not count on the weaknesses of any of our opponents. 'It is down to our performances until the end of the season.' Defender Gabriel Paulista lunges for the ball during training as his team-mates watch on . Wojciech Szczesny works hard in training as he tries to push for a starting place at Newcastle on Saturday . German midfielder Mesut Ozil believes the Arsenal players have the needed focus to deliver. He said on the club's official website www.arsenal.com: 'In the Premier League everything is possible and we have to look forward now. 'We have important games in front of us that we want to be successful in.' Olivier Giroud (centre) has been in fine form and will aim to find the back of the net against Newcastle . Newcastle may have some selection concerns, with head coach John Carver having only some 13 fit senior outfield players, but Wenger is expecting the home support to lift the beleaguered Magpies. 'Newcastle is always very tight, very difficult games,' he said. 'They always have a very motivated crowd and they always play well against us.' Midfielder Aaron Ramsey (left), under a challenge from Danny Welbeck, is vying for a starting place . +The draw for the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley takes place on Monday with two quarter-finals needing to be replayed after the weekend action. Reading and Bradford's goalless draw on Saturday was followed by a stalemate between Liverpool and Bradford at Anfield on Sunday. Aston Villa secured their place at Wembley with a 2-0 victory at home to West Brom. The games will be played on April 18 and 19 and you can watch the draw live below: . Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho (second right) is crowded out by five Blackburn players in the Anfield draw . League One side Bradford, who knocked Chelsea out earlier in the competition, have a replay at Reading . +It's becoming as regular as clockwork at Arsenal: a Theo Walcott contract saga. Just over two years after signing a £90,000-per-week deal, the winger's future is again in the spotlight. As Arsene Wenger so jovially put it last week, contact has been made with 'the embassy' (Walcott's representatives) about a contract extension. Arsenal forward Theo Walcott comes on from the bench against Monaco, is now not a guaranteed starter . But just like two years ago, there are no guarantees Walcott will commit. Perhaps, even more so this time. Ever since recovering from a serious knee injury that kept him out for the majority of last year, Walcott has been on the peripheries. Walcott was flying before injuring his anterior cruciate ligament against Tottenham last January. He'd established himself as an integral member of Wenger's first-team plans. Walcott sprints away in celebration having scored against Leicester during the 2-1 victory last month . Theo Walcott wants a significant pay rise if he is to sign a new Arsenal contract . Since then, though, the landscape at Arsenal has changed. Alexis Sanchez has arrived, so to has Danny Welbeck. Walcott is no longer indispensable. In addition to Sanchez and Welbeck, there is Santi Cazorla and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to contend with. Walcott no longer walks into this team. So, with that in mind, does he warrant a pay-rise? That's the question Arsenal's moneymen will be asking themselves over the coming weeks. Because that's what he wants; a hefty hike on his current £4.6million-per-year deal. Can you justify paying someone in excess of £100,000-per-week who isn't a first-choice option for the manager? The England international gestures at Tottenham fans after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament last year . The Arsenal hierarchy are likely to argue not. And all that points to one thing: another Walcott contract row. You can understand where Walcott's representatives are coming from. At the age of 26, this could be his last big contract. His advisors have a duty to secure the best possible deal for their client. There will certainly be takers for Walcott if he leaves this summer. Liverpool and Manchester City are both monitoring the situation closely. The fact he has pace and is English (helping homegrown quotas) means he will be a valuable commodity if he's made available for transfer. Walcott has faced increased competition for a starting place in the Arsenal attack this season . As for Arsenal, they have four options. The first is to meet his demands, the second is to try to reach a compromise. The third is to let him enter the final year of his contract, which opens the door to Walcott leaving for nothing next year. Fourth is to sell him this summer. It's a game of poker. We're waiting to see who'll blink first. Walcott will be hoping to earn a similar amount to Gunners star man Alexis Sanchez on £140,000-per-week . Walcott looked certain to leave the Emirates Stadium in 2012 after rejecting a new contract. Wenger managed to persuade the speedster to stay and his subsequent performances led to the Gunners improving their offer, which was signed in January 2013. There will be a similar incentive for Walcott this time, too. But will he spend enough time on the pitch to make a similar impression? Things change. Maybe it's time for Walcott to make a change, too. +It's Hot or Not time again as Ian Ladyman reveals what's been making him feel warm this week and what's been leaving him cold inside. David Villa has hit the ground running in New York and Wayne Rooney's celebration was a knockout. But Fulham are staring at successive relegations and questions remain about Roy Hodgson's England squad. WHAT'S HOT . DAVID VILLA . The former Spain forward is New York City FC’s captain and lit up Yankee Stadium in front of 45,000 last weekend, scoring one and making one. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard has played precisely two hours of Premier League football since choosing Manchester over New York in December. David Villa scored for New York City against New England Revolution last weekend . WAYNE ROONEY . Great goal against Tottenham, great celebration too. After news of his kitchen boxing match with Phil Bardsley appeared in the Sun, though, there are lessons. Choose friends you can trust and never again be caught wearing white socks anywhere other than on a tennis court. Wayne Rooney responded to a leaked video of him boxing with a knockout celebration against Tottenham . Rooney fell to the Old Trafford turf as if he had been knocked out, as appeared to be the case in the video . PAT MURPHY . Interviews by broadcast sports journalists can occasionally lack a little depth but BBC’s stalwart came off his long run when questioning national selector James Whitaker on the Kevin Pietersen issue this week. It was captivating work, born of courage and great experience. GEOFF THOMAS . A good footballer but even better person, the former England player has kept cancer at bay for 12 years now and has raised thousands in the process. If his decision to ride several Tour stages with Lance Armstrong this summer does not please everyone I am sure he will cope. Geoff Thomas (right) plans to cycle several stages of the Tour de France this summer with Lance Armstrong . WHAT'S NOT . FULHAM . Five years ago this week Craven Cottage witnessed a 4-1 destruction of Juventus. Now Fulham are threatened with relegation from the Championship, having won once in thirteen games. This is what happens when you choose the wrong managers. Fulham's 3-0 defeat to Leeds in midweek left the Cottagers mired in a relegation battle in the Championship . Five years ago, Fulham beat Juventus at Craven Cottage en-route to the Europa League final . ROY HODGSON . An England squad with almost as many left-backs (three) as strikers (four) suggests Hodgson is about to experiment with 7-2-1 against Lithuania or doesn’t actually know where Leighton Baines plays. It’s a dispiriting selection and tells us all we need to know about our prospects at Euro 2016. ALASTAIR COOK . English cricket’s sense of self-pity has now spread to those who haven’t even been playing. Cook should realise that although the decision to appoint Eoin Morgan as World Cup captain wasn’t right, it doesn’t mean that jettisoning him beforehand was necessarily wrong. RAHAT ALI . After his dropped catch eased Australia’s passage to the last four of the World Cup, the young Pakistan fielder looked shell shocked but the worst is yet to come. At some point in the coming weeks, young Ali will have to go home. Pakistan's Rahat Ali drops a catch as Pakistan were knocked out of the World Cup by Australia . +Jerry Springer producer Jill Blackstone was in tears as she returned to the San Fernando Valley home where her sister died for the first time on Thursday. The TV producer hid behind sunglasses and a baseball cap as a friend drove her to the house she had shared with her sister, whose death by asphyxiation is being treated as a murder by police. The 52-year-old was visibly shaken as she approached the home, and she could be seen wiping her eyes after undergoing a particularly traumatic week. Jill had initially been charged with Wendy’s murder, but the Los Angeles District Attorney dropped the charges and she was released on Wednesday afternoon. Painful: Hollywood producer Jill Blackstone was in tears as she returned to the San Fernando Valley home on where her sister was murdered for the first time on Thursday evening . Visibly shaken, producer Blackstone  was arrested last Saturday on suspicion of murder of her sister, returned to the San Fernando Valley home the two of them shared for the first time last night . Blackstone was an animal activist. There were three dogs found dead in the garage with her sister Wendy . However, many questions remain over her partially blind and deaf sister’s death. Wendy was found on Saturday in the home’s garage, apparently asphyxiated by carbon monoxide gas. Also found at the scene was a handwritten suicide note, which police determined had been written by Jill, and the bodies of their three dogs. According to TMZ, Jill had woken up in her bed and called neighbors who, in turn, called 911. She was treated in hospital for effects of gas inhalation for two days before being discharged, at which time she was arrested. Earlier, a police spokesperson emphasized Wendy’s death is still being treated as a murder. LAPD officer Drake Madison told Daily Mail Online this is 'an ongoing murder investigation'. 'Jill Blackstone was arrested on Saturday but the District Attorney dropped the charges and she is no longer in custody. The investigation is still active and the police are looking for a murderer,' he added. Asked if the police could re-arrest Jill, officer Madison said he had no further information to give at this time. Neighbors have speculated the sisters – who ran the Thumping Tails Animal Rescue Center together out of their home – had entered into a suicide pact. House of horrors: The San Fernando Valley home where Jill Blackstone lived with her sister Wendy . Blackstone painfully returns to the scene of the crime where her sister Wendy and their three dogs died in the garage from inhaling smoke and carbon monoxide . Police say the murder investigation is ongoing. It is possible that Jill could be re-arrested . Stephanie Cohen, 60, who lives across the street from the sisters said: ‘The police were here for 12 to 14 hours on Saturday. We were told they were investigating a double suicide, an attempt, and one of the people died.’ Numerous signs are posted on the property saying it is marked for demolition. Stephanie added: ‘They were having a hard time finding a new home because the sister that died was very ill - she couldn’t see, she couldn’t hear, she was housebound, she was very ill. So she needed to find a house that could accommodate her sister with the illness and the dogs. Evidently the pressure was intense on them, but nobody expected this to happen.’ As a producer, Jill has worked on shows including Jerry Springer, Sally Jessy Raphael, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Dr. Drew On Call, The Real, and The Osbournes. On her Linkedin page she describes herself as: 'Some of you know me as a TV producer, others as an animal welfare advocate and dog rescuer. I'm all those things.’ +Reading must dust themselves down and turn their attention back to league matters when they host Brighton in the npower Championship on Tuesday night. The Royals face an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Bradford next week following Saturday's goalless draw in Yorkshire. But before that Steve Clarke's side must attempt to ease any fears of being sucked into the Championship relegation battle with two tough matches, the midweek visit of the Seagulls followed by a trip to promotion-chasing Watford on Saturday. Reading manager Steve Clarke watches on from the dugout as Reading drew 0-0 with Bradford on Saturday . Reading captain Alex Pearce broke his nose during the FA Cup last-eight clash . 'Between now and the replay there's two important games for both sides,' said Clarke. 'We want the same resolve and desire on Tuesday night, and hopefully a couple of goals and three points.' Clarke must decide whether to risk centre-half Alex Pearce, who suffered a broken nose in the bruising encounter at Valley Parade. 'I was delighted with the attitude from the players, it was top class,' added Clarke. 'I thought it was typified by our captain coming back on with a broken nose, nothing was going to stop him. His nose is miles over here somewhere. But he went back on, a proper centre-half. 'It would have been easy to say "I'm not going back on", but no, Alex said "patch me up, straighten it later" and he was straight back on the pitch.' The central defender played on after being patched up on the sideline at Valley Parade . Clarke said that Pearce's attitude typified his side and urged more of the same against Brighton on Tuesday . Brighton, a point and a place below Reading in 19th, will be without striker Sam Baldock who looks set to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Kazenga LuaLua is likely to come into the starting line-up in Baldock's absence and the winger expects a stern test against the Royals. 'It's going to be a tough game for us, but every match is going to be tough now,' he told the club website. 'Reading are not far from where we are in the league, but it's still going to be a very difficult game. 'They've a powerful team that has a lot of pace and they've got some good wingers as well. With the squad they have, they may feel they should be in a higher position, but this league is very tough and competitive.' +Compare and contrast these two manager quotes about Danny Welbeck from this season. The uncompromising Louis van Gaal, asked in November whether he still thought it was a good idea to sell the in-form Welbeck to Arsenal on deadline day, said: 'I don't have to prove that [I was right]. 'Why do I have to prove that? I have already said what I think - he was not a line-up player, he was more a substitute than a line-up player. Danny Welbeck trains ahead of his return to Manchester United with Arsenal in the FA Cup sixth round . The England striker has been reduced to a bit-part role in recent weeks, spending time on the bench . Louis van Gaal wrote Welbeck off as not good enough for the Manchester United first team . 'He was already, with different coaches, not a line-up player, but then with Mr Van Gaal, the world is changing? No the world is not changing. They are the facts. They are not my facts, they are the facts of Danny Welbeck.' And Arsene Wenger, speaking on the impact of Welbeck just the other day: 'He's very important and has played many, many games since the start of the season. 'I think he's played in nearly every single game. His position is one of the three up front, central, left or right. He can play anywhere.' So Welbeck has apparently gone from a condemned man at Manchester United, destined to rot away on the bench, to a versatile and indispensable part of Arsenal's team. But, as the England striker returns to Old Trafford for the first time for Monday night's crunch FA Cup sixth-round tie, has he actually fared that well at the Emirates? Welbeck celebrates a goal for Manchester United against West Ham under David Moyes last season . Welbeck was given a chance to impress on United's pre-season tour of the United States . Well, at the time of Van Gaal's outburst, just ahead of United's away match with Arsenal on November 22, he had every reason to be tetchy. While United had endured their worst start to a season in living memory, Welbeck had made light of his £16m transfer fee. Given regular football by Wenger at the head of Arsenal's attack, he looked revitalised, a player brimming with confidence who looked on course to score 20 goals this season for his new team. Just days after his move, Welbeck scored two for England in their 2-0 European qualifying win in Switzerland, before he opened his Gunners account in a 3-0 win at Aston Villa. The highlight was a hat-trick in Arsenal's 4-1 Champions League win over Galatasaray, a performance praised by Wenger as 'electric'. Arsene Wenger was thrilled with Welbeck's early performances in an Arsenal shirt . Welbeck's best performance in an Arsenal shirt was a hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League . Welbeck pictured here completing his treble against the Turkish side at the Emirates back in October . MANCHESTER UNITED . 2008-09 . 13 appearances, 3 goals . 2009-2010 . 11 appearances, 2 goals . 2011-12 . 39 appearances, 12 goals . 2012-13 . 40 appearances, 2 goals . 2013-14 . 36 appearances, 10 goals . 2014-15 . 3 appearances, 0 goals . ARSENAL . 2014-15 . 20 appearances, 7 goals . At that point, it was all looking very awkward for Van Gaal. Events since then have made him feel a little better, if not entirely vindicated. Welbeck has scored just three more goals for Arsenal since the Galatasaray match. There have been mitigating circumstances though. Welbeck suffered a thigh injury and missed the whole of January, his absence coinciding with a return to form for Olivier Giroud. By the time Welbeck had rediscovered his fitness, Wenger found it very difficult to take the Frenchman out of the forward position. So Welbeck's versatility has become something of a curse. When he plays, he is stuck out on the wing, a position he is less effective in. When he left for north London, he said: 'I prefer to play through the middle. Once I get into the box and am getting the chances, I have got faith in my ability.' And, at this pivotal stage of the season, his game time has dried up as well. Arsenal are prospering without him. Welbeck's £16m move to Arsenal led to a resurgence in form for England too . Welbeck's last goal for the Gunners came in the win over West Ham just after Christmas . Welbeck was left on the bench during the win over Leicester and he was brought on for mere cameos in the wins over Everton and Queens Park Rangers. So the 24-year-old returns to Old Trafford with plenty to prove. He believed Arsenal was a club that would advance his career but evidence of this has so far been in short supply. However, earning Champions League qualification and winning the FA Cup for Arsenal - the two things Van Gaal craves so dearly this season - would certainly make him feel better. +Defender Marcus Olsson insists Blackburn have still not given up hope of a late charge into the Sky Bet Championship play-offs and the prospect of an FA Cup semi-final place will not distract them from that aim. Sunday's goalless draw at Anfield to earn a replay back at Ewood Park - where they have already dispatched Premier League sides Swansea and Stoke - may have improved their chances of booking a trip to Wembley. However, they are likely to have at least five league matches to play before the expected return leg against the Reds in early April and, even though Rovers are 14 points adrift of the play-offs, Olsson stressed they have to give it one last push. Marcus Olsson (right) says him and his Blackburn team mates are only thinking about gaining a play off place . 'We don't really think about the FA Cup,' he told Press Association Sport. 'We try to give 100 per cent every game as there is still a chance of getting into the play-offs but we have to concentrate in the last 11 games of the league. 'We have a big game at home to Liverpool which we will take on when it gets closer but going to Anfield, with them on form and being a strong team, will give us a boost.' The full back had a busy game trying to deal with the skill of Liverpool's Adam Lallana in the FA Cup clash . Rovers matched what fellow Championship sides Middlesbrough (in the Capital One Cup) and Bolton (FA Cup) have done this season in not getting beat in 90 minutes at Anfield. They enjoyed the better of the play before the interval and - but for a brilliant save from Simon Mignolet - could have won the match with Alex Baptiste's header early in the second half. That has given them hope they can claim another Premier League scalp at home in a few weeks' time. 'I think playing at Anfield we did well and at least deserved another chance at home,' Olsson added. Alex Baptiste (15) sees his close range header tipped over the bar brilliantly by Simon Mignolet . 'We had two big chances to score, one of which the goalkeeper made an unbelievable save from, but we play at home now and we are strong there. 'We thought we could come here and shake them up a bit. We did very well as a team, defending all over the pitch with the midfielder's and (striker) Rudy Gestede as well. 'We didn't give them too many chances to create in 90 minutes and it was a good day. 'Rudy (top scorer this season with 14 goals) on his day will give any defender a hard time as he is good in the air and hopefully next game he will score against them.' Rudy Gestede (left) was a constant threat to Brendan Rodgers' side as they struggled to deal with his strength . +FA chairman Greg Dyke will continue on the attack over his homegrown players campaign by taking the controversial issue to the FA council next week. Dyke will be giving the presentation to councillors that he was unable to make at last week’s Premier League meeting. He is looking for big support from the chamber in his battle with the PL to increase homegrown numbers from eight to 12 players in top-flight squads. Dyke has also been in combative mood with two other opponents — Wales and FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Greg Dyke speaks to Premier League chief Richard Scudamore ahead of his FA council meeting . The FA chairman wants to increase the number of homegrown players at top flight clubs from eight to 12 . Speaking at the official Wembley function before the Lithuania game, Dyke described them as a small footballing nation who he hoped would not cause as many problems as another ‘small footballing nation . . . Wales’ had been doing. This was a reference to Wales opposing a Team GB football side at the Olympics, David Gill’s right to the British vice-presidency on the FIFA executive and the arrogant anti-FA slurs from the FA of Wales’s loose cannon president Trefor Lloyd-Hughes. Dyke suggested that Gareth Bale's Wales were a 'small footballing nation' causing problems . Blatter also said that Gill’s main target in Zurich should be the ‘little bald chap sitting at the other end of the table’. Dyke was also in the mood to attack his own organisation — complaining that the vase the FA always gave their Wembley visitors as a gift was not the best. An FA spokesman said Dyke’s speech was meant to be light-hearted and the sensitive FAW did not bite for once. 'Little bald chap' Sepp Blatter should be David Gill's first target at FIFA, according to Dyke . lt’s hard to see how the FA, who are looking for 15 per cent cuts across the board, can justify the extra expense of booking separate hotels on away trips — one for the England team and key support staff and another for the rest of the FA entourage — especially as they stay in the same accommodation when in England. The twin booking was brought in after the World Cup where manager Roy Hodgson felt the presence of the FA’s huge travelling party was a distraction on match days. England boss Roy Hodgson has asked for separate hotels for the team and entourage on away trips . Hodgson has confirmed that Harry Kane will start alongside Wayne Rooney in Tuesday's friendly with Italy . However, the post-World Cup promise the FA made that England would spent most of their time preparing for matches at £120million St George’s Park in the Staffordshire countryside has not materialised. The Grove Hotel outside Watford is still utilised more often because of its proximity to London. RFU silent on Jevans . The RFU’s continued refusal to discuss the shock departure of England Rugby 2015 chief executive Debbie Jevans — chairman Andy Cosslett claimed the statement that she resigned for unexplained personal reasons ‘says it all’ — will only lead to speculation that does no party any good whatsoever. No jobs were being advertised on the ER 2015 website on Monday, which supports the theory that staff numbers and expenses had been spiralling out of control — as does Jevans’s alleged huge use of Addison Lee taxis. But an ER2015 spokeswoman claimed there will be more job opportunities posted this week. England Rugby 2015 chief executive Debbie Jevans has departed for 'unexplained personal reasons' One of Jevans’s first acts on arrival in 2012 was to select the England ball at the World Cup draw when Boris Johnson and his advisers had expected him to do so. And England ending up in the ‘group of death’ with Wales and Australia could still come back to haunt everyone concerned. Mark Pougatch, in his new role as ITV’s lead football presenter, travelled to Turin on Monday in BA business class alongside pundits Glenn Hoddle, Lee Dixon and Ian Wright. But at least he gave his sometime BBC 5 Live colleagues cramped at the back in economy a wave on arrival in Italy. Barclays opting out of renewing their title sponsorship of the Premier League after next season has given top-flight clubs more flexibility signing their own bank partners. Manchester City are in negotiation with Citibank. Fabian Delph, England’s midfield enforcer, has his feet on the ground. He admirably described his mother Donna as a ‘hero’ and a ‘great role model’ for the way she always tried to do the best for him while bringing him up in difficult circumstances. Fabian Delph described his mother as his 'hero' before arriving in Turin for Tuesday's friendly against Italy . +It doesn't get more Australian than that! Cars have been brought to a hasty halt after a unique animal crossing of a hopping kind. A group of over 20 kangaroos have made a quick dash across the Craigieburn East Road in Victoria on Thursday morning. At 10.50 am on Thursday, many cars were brought to a hasty halt as over 20 kangaroos crossed the highway . The swarm executed perfect timing with the cars able to safely slow down and watch the group . The video shows the troop hopping across the busy road in single file and jumping over a barbed-wire fence to make it to the land on the other side. All caught on a driver's Dash Cam, some of the animals are seen to be doing flips over the fence and disappearing into the long grass. Luckily all other cars slow to a halt on the 100km/hr road to wait for the group to safely cross, with all cautiously driving off after the encounter. With no clear 'kangaroo crossing' signage the confrontation could have been potentially dangerous. Kangaroo crossings are more dangerous at night as the animals become blinded by vehicle head lights . Some of the kangaroos can be seen performing expert flips over the barbed wire fence and disappear into the grass . The crossing took place at 10.50 am on a Thursday and there were clearly not too many vehicles on the usually busy road. The Craigieburn East Road is 45 minutes north of Melbourne and the driver was on his way to work. In the day, our hopping friends are more likely to make a safer crossing by choosing their moments to dash more wisely. However in the evenings, when they are most active, they are easily collected as they become blinded by the headlights of cars. +Wales assistant coach Rob Howley has called on the RBS 6 Nations organisers to adopt a Premier League-style format of synchronised kick-off times on the final day of competition. Under current broadcasting agreements, the last round of fixtures is staggered throughout the day in a bid to maximise television audiences; with Wales facing Italy in tomorrow's early tie. With the three-way race likely to be decided by points difference, the approach gives fellow challengers Ireland and England – who are up second and third – a clearer indication of their required score-line and, according to Howley, lessens the entertainment value. Wales assistant coach Rob Howley (left) wants the final round of Six Nations games to be sychronised . 'I do really enjoy the last day of the Premier League, where everyone listens to their radios to hear the scores,' said Howley. 'The drama of that situation is unique and it would be unique in rugby - probably that should be the case in the Six Nations. 'Ultimately, in terms of all of us kicking off at the same time, there would be some drama in the game; knowing what changes need to be made and the message we need to get onto the pitch. Going up first, it's important we win the game. Ireland and England will have the opportunity after our game to know what they have to do, which is always a good thing.' Wales need a landslide victory to overturn the points advantage of their two title rivals. They must capitalise on every attacking opportunity and, following an injury to Sergio Parisse, the chances of a significant winning margin have been given a major boost. Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday that the Italian skipper had just a '30-40 per cent' chance of being fit for the tie at the Stadio Olimpico, where it was yesterday confirmed that he will play no part because of soft tissue damage to his foot. Howley thinks his side's opening 15 minutes against Ireland was their best display since 2008 . The much less experienced Samuela Vunisa has replaced the Azzurri No 8. He will line up against Toby Faletau but - despite being connected to Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale – the Welshman does not share Howley's view about following football's lead with fixture scheduling. 'I've not spoken to Gareth,' said Faletau. 'I'm not related to him; our girlfriends are sisters but that's about it. I watch the last couple of games in the football when it gets exciting. I would rather have it this way round, but with us playing last. It's not the case this time, but it's exciting for the players who play the first game, because they can watch the other games and wait in anticipation.' Bale often sends messages of support for the Welsh rugby team through Twitter, while Faletau's nearest and dearest will also be keeping a close eye on how results unfold. If Wales go on to win the championship, it will be the first time they have claimed the title outside of Cardiff since 1971, when Barry John scored the winning points in a 9-5 victory over France at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. But Gatland's side are building momentum and, if results over the last two years are any indication, they will be confident of ending the 34-year wait in the Italian capital. Italy will be without they skipper and talisman Sergio Parisse for the clash against Wales in Rome . Wales are slow starters in tournament rugby but, in 2013 and 2014, they won their final-round Tests against England and Scotland by 27 and 48 points. The famous victory over England clinched the title for Wales, but Howley believes winning this year's championship would be an even sweeter feeling than two years ago. 'It would beat that year,' said Howley. 'Losing to England at home was hugely disappointing and I think Sam Warburton hit the nail on the head. To beat Ireland third in the world was fantastic and the defence in the second half was huge. The first 15 minutes before Samson [Lee] got injured was best start we have made since 2008.' With the race in for the title being so tight, Gatland has played down the psychological World Cup significance of finishing on top. Performances since the opening round defeat by England have given the Kiwi a settled idea of his squad but, following the long-term injury to Lee, the selection saga surrounding Adam Jones looks set to rumble on. Adam Jones has re-iterated that he will not come out of retirement despite Samson Lee's recent injury . The front-row - who announced his international retirement in January - has been touted as a replacement for Lee, but hit back on Thursday at claims that he needs to reverse his decision to be re-considered for selection. 'The one thing I will say is the decision wasn't premature,' Jones told TalkSport. 'I had a knock back in the summer, then the autumn, and again in the Six Nations - so it wasn't premature. Hopefully Samson will be fit because he's a great player. At the moment the door is pretty shut. I've shut it but I guess it's up to others to open it.' +Manchester United have been linked with summer moves for both Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. But who would you buy if you could only pick one? We asked our experts... Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo have both been linked with a move to Manchester United . MARTIN KEOWN - Ronaldo . Bale is a better long-term investment but if you’re talking about a transfer this summer that would make an immediate impact, then it has to be Ronaldo. United have gone from dominating at the top to fighting for fourth. Signing Ronaldo would bring United instant success and put them back on the map. He understands the club and would appreciate the enormity of the task, but he more than anyone else would breathe new life into the fans. What a statement that would be. Ronaldo enjoyed six successful years under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford . NEIL ASHTON - Ronaldo . This feels like a trick question. Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest players we have ever had the privilege to watch. Ronaldo has done it all before at United - and we would love to see him do it all over again. Ronaldo trains ahead of El Clasico against Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday night . ROB DRAPER - Ronaldo . There’s no real debate. No disrespect to Bale, but the all-round game of Ronaldo, from his range of skill, shooting, free-kicks, finishing, heading is just better. That doesn’t make Bale a bad player - just not as good. In financial terms you could make a case for Bale being five years younger but I’m pretty sure you could rely on four good years out of Ronaldo. Ronaldo celebrates after scoring in the Champions League tie against Schalke earlier this month . JOE BERNSTEIN - Bale . It is purely an age thing. Ronaldo is unlikely to be as good in the next three years as he has been in the last three years and as his body language showed last weekend, you wouldn’t want him around if he feared he was in decline. Bale’s game is tailor-made for the Premier League and if his pace was added to the current United technicians they would be champions . Bale trains at the Valdebebas training ground before heading to Barcelona for the crunch clash . RIATH AL SAMARRAI - Bale . No doubting Ronaldo is the better player but Bale has age on his side and is not so unbelievably selfish as a person that he would pout if a team-mate scores. PETE JENSON - Bale . Gareth Bale, no question. The former Spurs man is only going to get better. Cristiano Ronaldo has peaked. Bale would make a sensational return to the Premier League if he joins Manchester United . +Aston Villa and West Brom fans have joined forces to criticise the scheduling of their FA Cup quarter-final clash on Saturday evening. Trouble flared before, during and after the Villa Park showdown, prompting the Football Association to announce it has launched an investigation into the disturbances. The national lead officer for football policing, Mark Roberts, questioned the 5.30pm kick-off time and his view has been backed by supporters of both clubs. Aston Villa and West Brom fans have joined forces to criticise the scheduling of their FA Cup quarter-final tie . Trouble flared before, during and after the Villa Park showdown, including the pitch invasion . Aston Villa fans celebrated by racing on to the pitch following their 2-0 victory over West Brom at Villa Park . The police, FA and BBC pass the buck over who's to blame for shameful scenes following Aston Villa's FA Cup win... it was DANGEROUS AND IRRESPONSIBLE for this to be a 5.30pm kick-off . Aston Villa fan Matt Turvey, editor of astonvillalife.com, watched the game from the Upper Holte End and insisted: 'The timing was pretty stupid. 'I'm not overly sure about the rationale but 12.30pm would have been ideal. You're getting people drinking from 9.30am and turning up at Villa Park at 5.30pm - it's a pretty obvious result. 'If it was down to TV then it just illustrates that everything is pushed aside for money.' Police made 17 arrests related to the game, during which Villa fans invaded the pitch and seats were thrown from the North Stand housing visiting supporters. West Brom Official Supporters' Club chairman Alan Cleverley said it was time the authorities took more notice of fans' concerns. West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is mocked by an Aston Villa fan following the home side's second goal . The West Brom goalkeeper attempts to make his way safely off the field following the full-time whistle . Cleverley said: 'Let's blame the fans of both clubs, the BBC and the Football Association. I spoke to the police four weeks ago and told them it was going to happen. 'The answer to this one was to kick off at 12pm on Saturday, or even 11am - the real fans would have been there at that time. The game should never have kicked off at the time it did.' Meanwhile Cleverley urged the clubs and the police to take a no-nonsense approach to any fans found guilty of involvement in the disturbances. He added: 'If they are found guilty of fighting and throwing seats I hope they are banned for life - and they should accept the punishment.' The pitch at Villa Park can barely be seen s supporters cover it following the full-time whistle . +A woman was arrested on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft after she allegedly stripped off on a flight from Jamaica and exposed herself. The 46-year-old woman from south-west London was arrested by police when her British Airways flight landed at Gatwick Airport yesterday from Kingston, Jamaica. She allegedly disrupted the flight and one report claims she performed a solo sex act. A 46-year old woman was arrested yesterday after arriving at Gatwick for causing a disturbance onboard . The flight landed at around 8.45am on March 19, and aircrew on board asked for the flight to be met by police. British Airways released a statement saying: 'We can confirm that police were requested to meet our flight from Kingston.' +Conor McGregor may have to wait until July to get his hands on Jose Aldo but that hasn't stopped the Irishman taking his frustration out on the UFC featherweight champion. McGregor challenges for the belt at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas and he wasted little time in goading his Brazilian opponent on a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro. Visiting an Irish pub, the Dubliner threw darts at a board with a photo of Aldo attached. He then took off his shirt and worse sunglasses before continuing his attack. Conor McGregor threw darts at a board with a picture of UFC champion Jose Aldo attached . McGregor visited an Irish pub in Rio de Janeiro as part of a world tour before his fight with Aldo in July . McGregor later posed for photographs with fans before talking to the media. 'They love me out here. I own Rio. Where's Jose? He's not even here, rumour has it he's fled the country,' he said. McGregor has risen to stardom in the UFC after five victories over the last two years. He earned his shot at Aldo by stopping Denis Siver in the second round in January. +Radamel Falcao has been reduced to tears by his Manchester United nightmare, according to the Colombia star’s former agent. Silvano Espindola revealed that Falcao phoned him from Old Trafford last week before he was made to play for the Under 21s against Tottenham and admitted he felt ‘weird’ about the situation. The 29-year-old striker also expressed fears that he risked a recurrence of his serious knee injury by playing against lower-grade opposition. Radamel Falcao has endured a torrid time at Manchester United of late, and has been in tears at his situation . Falcao played for United's Under 21s, but admitted to his former agent that he is scared of getting injured . Falcao lined up for United's development side against Tottenham, but failed to make an impact on the game . Falcao is earning £280,000-a-week during his loan to United from Monaco, but it looks increasingly unlikely that Louis van Gaal will sanction a £43million deal to make the move permanent at the end of the season. The former Porto and Atletico Madrid man has only scored four goals for United and has not started a game for three weeks. Espindola, Falcao’s close friend and former representative, told AS Colombia: ‘We speak a lot. I am not going to tell you that he feels happy because he isn’t. We speak many times, and we cry together. Silvano Espindola (left), Falcao's former agent, has lifted the lid on the Colombian's emotional struggle . Louis van Gaal now needs to decide whether he wants to shell out £43million to make the loan permanent . Falcao (left) battles with Antonio Valencia during a training session at United's Aon Complex on Friday . ‘It is not an easy situation because every player wants to play and every goalscorer wants to score goals, it’s what’s normal. ‘While on his way to the ground to play that match with the youth team he called me. We talked for about 20 minutes while he arrived at the stadium and he told me “something like this had never happened to me – I don’t know how to handle the situation, I feel weird!” ‘He was a little fearful because he is afraid of those matches with the youth teams and of the second and third divisions. In those categories they are used to whacking and going in hard. That was how they injured him in France, with a team from the fourth division.’ +A Peruvian footballer says he is thinking of giving up the sport after being beaten unconscious by the same thuggish supporters of an opposing team twice in a single season. In the latest incident Josimar Pacheco, 23, was attacked as he left the stadium after a Peruvian cup game in the District League in the city of Huaraz. His team Sport Ancash Fe had been playing against Deportivo AMVA and were leaving the stadium when a mob of violent fans attacked them. Disturbing images showed the young footballer's being carried from the stadium unconscious before being placed in the back of a car and rushed to hospital. Unconscious: Josimar Pacheco, 23, was attacked as he left the stadium after a Peruvian cup game in the District League in the city of Huaraz . Attack: Disturbing images showed the young footballer's being carried from the stadium unconscious before being placed in the back of a car and rushed to hospital . Josimar Pacheco was placed in the back of a small car and driven to a nearby hospital by his teammates . Speaking to police after the attack, Mr Pacheco said: 'I was separated from the rest of the team and remember somebody grabbing my arm and pulling me into the mob. 'There were just blows raining down on me then, they were punching me and kicking me from every angle,' he added. The footballer passed shortly after the attack began and was only rescued when his teammates saw what was going on and bravely intervened, freeing his limp body from beneath the attackers. Having rescued him from the mob, Mr Pacheco's colleagues released that, frustratingly, all the first aid crews and ambulances on duty at the stadium had already left. The footballers were left with little choice other than to place Mr Pacheco in the back of a small car and drive him to a nearby hospital themselves. Grisly: Speaking to police after the attack, Mr Pacheco said: 'I was separated from the rest of the team and remember somebody grabbing my arm and pulling me into the mob . Brutal: The footballer passed shortly after the attack began and was only rescued when his teammates saw what was going on and bravely intervened, freeing his limp body from beneath the attackers . Rescue: Mr Pacheco is expected to fully recover - although he will not be playing football for some time . Emotional: One of Mr Pacheco's teammates was seen crying on the floor after the savage attack . On arrival at the hospital, medics confirmed that although his beating had been severe his condition was stable. Mr Pacheco is expected to fully recover - although he will not be playing football for some time. The incident has caused widespread anger in the country and police are investigating the attack as a case of attempted murder. It later emerged that this was the second time the player ended up in hospital after an attack from football hooligans. The earlier incident happened when he was playing in a game last year, in the city of Jaen, in the northern Peruvian province of the same name. At the time he was playing for a different team, Chavelines, and at the end of the game fans again from Deportivo ADA had stormed onto the pitch and beaten him up. +More than half a million cancer patients are being let down by failings in basic care, a leading charity warns. This includes some 160,000 who are effectively left housebound because they are unable to walk, drive or use public transport. And more than 100,000 are not given enough help with routine tasks such as washing, dressing, going to the toilet or collecting their prescriptions. Shocking: More than half a million cancer patients are being let down by failings in basic care, a leading charity warns . The lack of support from the NHS and local councils is leaving patients distressed, lonely and humiliated, says the report by Macmillan. It estimates that around 512,000 patients with cancer – around one in three of the 1.6million diagnosed in the last ten years – do not get enough help. The charity says the problem is partly the fault of doctors and nurses failing to tell patients how to access extra help from the NHS, councils or voluntary organisations. But many patients who apply for extra funding from either the NHS or their local council are told they are not eligible. Macmillan’s report is based on a survey of 1,037 cancer patients and their carers. One in seven said the lack of support in attending an appointment, collecting a prescription or other basic care had led to them needing to go to hospital as their condition suddenly deteriorated. Lynda Thomas of Macmillan Cancer Support said: ‘It is heartbreaking that so many people with cancer are not getting the practical support and personal care they desperately need, too often living with constant feelings of fear, anger and isolation as a result. There is a growing recognition that social care is often vital for people living with long-term conditions.’ Lacking support: Macmillan estimates that around 512,000 patients with cancer do not get enough help . Cancer patients are too often assumed to have all their needs met by the NHS, because they are thought to require purely medical care, she added. ‘The findings debunk this unfair myth. They show that people with cancer have needs which are far more widespread than we had even realised and that sadly the health and social care systems are too often failing to provide basic support.’ Lisa Grice, 55, from Cheshire, who has womb cancer, said: ‘There was no support after I was discharged. I felt as if I was alone in dealing with everything. I was in a wheelchair, unable to wash myself or use the loo properly, and I felt very depressed.’ Frank Spurrock, 63, a retired teacher from Folkestone, Kent, is housebound for most of the week unless a friend or relative is free to help. He has a brain tumour and is mostly in a wheelchair. His partner works in London to support them and the only time he can get out is at weekends. Yet he was told by his local council he was not eligible for funding to pay for a carer because he has a pension. Macmillan has repeatedly warned that the health service is struggling to cope with the rising numbers of patients with cancer. NHS England said: ‘We are diagnosing and treating more people with cancer than ever before, and as a result more people than ever are surviving. ‘But with this comes a greater need to provide patients with practical and emotional support outside of the hospital setting – which is why we’re putting an unprecedented focus on better integrating health and social care services across the country.’ +A group of fishermen in Townsville, Queensland, got a nasty surprise when a crocodile surfaced and stole their catch off the end of the line. The men appeared to have hooked a barramundi and were reeling it in when the massive mass of sharp teeth and scale got the jump on them. Thrilled with the seeming size of their catch, one of the fisherman is heard saying 'he's a good fish, mate' to another man off camera. Scroll down for video . Fishermen in Townsville catch the moment they receive an unwelcome visitor on camera. 'Did you get it yet, Dad?' Sean Evans, who filmed the catch, can be heard asking just seconds before the dinosauric creature made its entrance. With one swift swipe the croc had knicked the catch from the fishermen, who were left to marvel at their close encounter, and be thankful they hadn't been hanging a limb over the edge of the boat within biting range. Thrilled with the seeming size of their catch, one of the fisherman is heard saying 'he's a good fish, mate' to another man off camera. .With one swift swipe the croc had knicked the catch from the fishermen, who were left to marvel at their close encounter . The video ends with the croc having swam away to eat its dinner, when one of the fisherman asks 'where's my barra?' The video ends with the croc having swam away to eat its dinner, when one of the fisherman asks 'where's my barra?' It's safe to say these guys will always fish with a long-line from now on. +Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney will hope his side are at top gear at Anfield on Sunday, as he headed into training in his new BMW i8 hybrid sports car. The 29-year-old showed off his new wheels at Carrington as Manchester United prepare to take on Liverpool in a crucial clash in pursuit of Champions League qualification. Liverpool are only two points behind Louis van Gaal’s side, who are occupying the fourth qualifying position, but Brendan Rodgers’ side haven’t lost in the Premier League since losing 3-0 at Old Trafford in December. Wayne Rooney heads into Manchester United training in his sparkling new £104,590 BMW i8 sports car . Rooney relaxes at the wheel of his new motor as he prepares to take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday . Rooney has splashed out £104,590 on his new BMW i8 having scored five goals in his last six Manchester United appearances. The new hybrid from BMW uses the combination of an electric motor and a powerful petrol engine which provide extremely low emissions into the environment. Rooney will certainly be quick into training as the sports car can accelerate from 0-62mph in just 4.4 seconds, and has a top speed limited to 155mph. The United captain produced this knockout celebration after scoring against Tottenham at the weekend . Rooney's team-mate Daley Blind smiles for the cameras as he arrived at United training with his girlfriend . Blind (left) tries to dispossess Harry Kane during United's 3-0 win over Tottenham last weekend . Perhaps the United captain splashed out on a new motor as a celebration for his return to form. Van Gaal has utilised the England captain as a forward again recently and the results are proving worthwhile as Manchester United crushed Tottenham 3-0 at Old Trafford last weekend. United fans will hope Rooney is up to speed for the trip to Anfield as van Gaal’s side looks to consolidate a position in the Premier League's prestigious top four ahead of their fierce rivals. Rooney listens to instruction from an animated Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal (right) CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to FA Cup . +Dick Advocaat has confirmed that Adam Johnson is available for selection ahead of his first game in charge at West Ham. The Sunderland winger returned to training on Wednesday after the club lifted his suspension following his arrest on March 2 on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. The Black Cats took the decision to allow Johnson to return after his bail was extended to April 23. New Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has confirmed that Adam Johnson will be available for selection . Advocaat faced the media as Sunderland boss for the first time as he bids to save them from the drop . The veteran Dutch manager admitted it was a big challenge taking over at the Stadium of Light . Advocaat has worked with the 27-year-old at the Academy of Light this week and he took part in a full-scale practice match on Thursday. And, when asked during his unveiling press conference if Johnson would play at West Ham, Advocaat said: ‘Everyone who is training is available for selection. ‘I name the squad after the final training session.’ Advocaat has inherited a side one point and one place above the drop zone. The Dutchman, however, had no reservations about taking on the task at the Stadium of Light. Johnson is available for selection after the Mackems lifted his suspension following his arrest on March 2 . ‘It’s a big challenge to take over in this position,’ said the 67-year-old, who revealed this week that he has known for a few weeks he was in line to replace Gus Poyet. ‘I was a free man after what happened in Serbia (sacked in November).‘The opportunity came and I thought, in my opinion, it was a good side and a great club – so why not? ‘In Holland we can see all of the games on TV. I know the players. We have a great stadium and great fans – with their support we should be able to stay up. Johnson rejoined his team-mates on Wednesday, followed by a full training match on Thursday . ‘I have a good feeling about the squad from the last three days.’ Advocaat has signed a nine-game deal on Wearside and is almost certain to return to Holland at the end of the season. He explained: ‘We did not discuss that (staying on). For me it’s important to do this job. What happens after is not so important.’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Linebacker Erik Walden and his girlfriend were seriously injured in an attack that took place Saturday evening. The ex-girlfriend of the Indianapolis Colts star, Erica Palmer, broke into his house through a backdoor and attacked him and his girlfriend, whose name has not been released, with a bat. The two allegedly found Palmer sitting on the couch with a loaded gun waiting to attack, and as they tried to leave for the hospital after she broke the woman's arm with the bat, Palmer surprised them by jumping out of the woods and slashing Walden's arm with a knife. All this as Palmer left the two young children she has with Walden alone in a car a mile away. Indianapolis Colts linebacker Erik Walden (left) and his girlfriend suffered serious injuries after an attack that took place Saturday night at the hands of his ex Erica Palmer (right) Palmer reportedly left her two young children with Walden (above) alone in a car roughly a mile away during the attack . NBC 11 reports that Palmer suspected that Walden was seeing other woman, so she parked the car a mile away to see if she could catch him in the act. After the two came in shortly before midnight and saw Palmer with the gun, Walden, who owns the weapon, managed to wrestle it away from the woman. Walden claims that Palmer then began swinging the bat at the two, breaking his female companion's arm. Palmer fled after this and Walden called police, who came, took a statement and left. Then, when Walden left to drive the female to the hospital to have her arm treated, Palmer jumped out of the woods with a knife and slashed his arm. Police were able to locate Palmer soon after using her cell phone to track her and she has been charged with multiple crimes, including several counts of aggravated assault. The two young children have been placed in Walden's care and Palmer is being held at the Hall County Jail. +A 6-year-old boy has died after being struck in the head by a bullet that came through the wall of his family's Houston-area apartment from an adjacent unit. The child was pronounced dead Thursday night after being taken by helicopter to an area hospital. Harris County sheriff's deputies say five people from a neighboring apartment were detained for questioning in the shooting. Scroll down for video . Deadly accident: A 6-year-old boy was mortally wounded in the head when someone fired a gun through a wall from an adjacent apartment in Harris County, Texas . In tears: The victim's emotional uncle is seen being comforted by the slain boy's 3-year-old brother . After the bullet hit the boy in the upper head, his mother discovered him and called authorities. According to Harris County Sheriff's Office, the boy was inside an apartment at 6301 Sierra Blanca in Harris County just before 8pm when a gun was fired in a next-door unit. Deputies said the bullet pierced the wall connecting the two apartments and struck the boy in the head. 'He was laying in the bed and the bullet hit him right on the head,' a family friend, Joel Saldanas, told Click2Houston. 'When the mom came in the room she found him there bleeding. Blood all over, he was just laying there unconscious already.' In custody: Five people, among them three minors, from a neighboring apartment were detained for questioning in the shooting . Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Gilliland is pictured talking to reporters about the shooting . Responding officers detained for questioning five suspects, among them three minors and two adult males, reported Houston Chronicle. So far, no charges have been filed in the shooting. The mortally wounded 6-year-old was airlifted by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 8.20pm. The victim's 3-year-old brother was in the bedroom at the time of the shooting but escaped unharmed. +The Liverpool squad may be about to face arguably their most important test of the season against Manchester United, but that didn't stop Brendan Rodgers' side from enjoying some star gazing on Friday morning. The likes of Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho donned pairs of special sunglasses in a bid to catch a glimpse of Friday's solar eclipse outside Liverpool's Melwood training ground. The near-total eclipse over Britain was seen by millions across the country, but it looked as the Fabio Borini and Lucas Leiva couldn't quite make out the phenomenon. Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren checks out the solar eclipse before training on Friday . Mamadou Sakho also donned a pair of special shades in a bid to see the special occasion . Even Liverpool's kit man Lee Radcliffe (centre) took the opportunity to gaze at the sun . Lazar Markovic will be hoping to figure in Liverpool's crunch clash against Manchester United on Sunday . The Reds players seemed to be in high spirits ahead of Sunday's clash at Anfield and Rodgers looks set to be able to call upon a full compliment of players. Leiva's fitness will be assessed as the Brazil international continues to recover from a groin problem sustained six weeks ago but may not be ready to go straight into the squad. Striker Mario Balotelli has recovered from the bout of illness which saw him miss Monday's win at Swansea. Reds frontman Fabio Borini couldn't quite get the hang of his glasses, but saw the funny side . Lucas Leiva looks puzzled as he looks up into the morning sky during Friday's eclipse . The Liverpool players looked in a relaxed mood during their training session on Friday . +Kolo Toure left Anfield the happier sibling as Liverpool defeated younger brother Yaya’s Manchester City on Sunday. Kolo’s late appearance in the game was a special one as it was the first time the Ivory Coast duo had gone head-to-head in a competitive game. Before the lunchtime kick off Yaya tweeted: Love my big bro. He has taught me so much. But today… May the best Toure... sorry team win.’ Yaya Toure tweeted this message to his brother before Manchester City took on Liverpool at Anfield . The Ivory Coast brothers embrace each other at the full time whistle of Liverpool's 2-1 win against City . The Toure brothers leave the Anfield pitch following the Premier League lunchtime kick off on Sunday . However, a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool probably wasn’t what Yaya had in mind as Manchester City slipped up yet again in their pursuit of the title. A wonder goal in each half, either side of an Edin Dzeko strike, handed Liverpool all three points as Brendan Rodgers’ side continue to stake their claim for Champions League qualification. Despite the defeat Yaya and Kolo showed their brotherly love at the full time whistle as they walked off the pitch together. The Toure brothers share a joke and some brotherly love as older sibling Kolo comes out on top at Anfield . Yaya holds the Champions League trophy which he won during his time at Barcelona . Kolo and Yaya celebrate as Manchester City won the Premier League with a last gasp win against QPR . +One wrong choice over Spring Break nearly ended her life. McKinzy Livsey, 15, of Oklahoma City was driving around in a golf cart on Sunday at Arbuckle Mountains with friends when the decision to switch seats with the driver likely caused her to fall out head first. It is thought the cart hit a bump, propelling McKinzy onto the ground and leaving her with skull fractures, brain swelling, and blood clots, reports News 9. Scroll down for video . Life changing moment: McKinzy Livsey of Ohlahoma City was driving around in a golf cart on Sunday at with friends when the decision to switch seats with the driver likely caused her to fall out head first . Hospitalized: McKinzy has been left with skull fractures, brain swelling, and blood clots and on Wednesday night in the hospital she passed out in her mother's arms, nearly hitting her head again . McKinzy's parents Travis and Shannon Livsey were horrified to receive a call on Sunday with the sounds of their injured daughter screaming in the background. 'Something happened with McKinzy, and you need to come home immediately,' McKinzy's mother says she was told during the heart wrenching phone call. 'I said who is that screaming in the background, and she said it was McKinzy,' said Shannon. McKinzy was flown to OU Children's Hospital where the family is standing by their daughter as she gets numerous x-rays to asses her condition. McKinzy's father says his daughter was just being a teenager and a momentary decision to switch seats without paying attention to the gas pedal caused her injuries. 'They switched. McKinzy's foot stayed on the gas,' said McKinzy's father, Travis Livsey. 'They were just being typical teenagers, and without thinking, or stopping, apparently they kept driving.' In recovery: McKinzy is recovering from her injuries (right) and has still maintained her youthful spirit from before she was in the tragic accident . Spring Break trip: McKinzy was riding around in a golf cart with friends in the Arbuckle Mountains (pictured) when she was seriously injured on Sunday . Travis says he thinks the girls hit a bump causing McKinzy to fall out head first. 'I'm thinking first part to hit the ground was her head, because that's where the most trauma is obviously.' Shannon told News 9 that Wednesday night in her daughter's hospital was terrifying. McKinzy passed out in her mother's arms and had her mother not been there to catch her she might have hit her head again. 'Last night was really bad,' said Shannon. Traumatizing: McKinzy's parents describe the horrifying phone call they received after their daughter was injured and say they could hear her screams in the background . Positive attitude: McKinzy and her family are trying to stay strong and her parents say they put their faith in God to help them get through these difficult times . 'And if I hadn't been there to catch her, she would have hit her head again.' Shannon said that she is staying strong my having faith and was recently moved by a message from a motivational speaker. 'It gets real when your struggle lasts longer than your strength, but God will carry you through,' said Shannon Livsey reading the quote by Trent Shelton. 'And I thought that was just kind of ironic given what we're now going through. So just have faith,' said Shannon Livsey as she held back tears. 'One day at a time,' she added in the hopes her daughter may some day lead a normal life again. The family has set up a Go Fund Me for their daughter whose medical bill are mounting. They have raised just over $3,000 and have a $10,000 goal. Bright future: Before the accident McKinzy was healthy and strong and had a whole entire future ahead of her and her family hopes she will recover soon . +Neil Jenkins says that Wales will be concentrated totally on winning - rather than potential mathematical permutations - when they tackle RBS 6 Nations opponents Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. Wales, courtesy of successive victories over Scotland, France and Ireland, have put themselves firmly in the Six Nations title mix alongside England and Ireland. Although Wales' inferior points difference means they have a mountain to climb in pursuit of silverware, a possible third Six Nations crown in four years cannot be discounted. Sam Warburton (left) and George North (right) lead the celebrations after beating Ireland last week . Neil Jenkins (left) says Wales are only thinking about an Italy victory, rather than checking other results . Wales are first into action on so-called Super Saturday, with Ireland then tackling Scotland before England host France. 'The main objective and focus for us is obviously winning a Test match. If other things happen, well, so be it,' said Wales skills coach Jenkins, speaking at the team's Rome hotel on Friday. 'I am sure that we will be kicking ourselves if we didn't win and the other games went Scotland's way and France's way. 'The main objective is to win the game, and see where that takes us. 'England will know what they have to do when they play last on Saturday, but no matter what time you play, the focus is still the same for us. We have to win the game and win another Test match.' Italy's preparations have been rocked by the absence of their inspirational captain Sergio Parisse through injury, which has meant the Azzurri back-row being reshuffled and hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini taking over as skipper. 'Sergio is obviously a fantastic rugby player, a world-class number eight, and no matter what side he plays in, if he is not playing they are obviously going to miss him,' Jenkins added. 'We played them two years ago in Rome and Sergio didn't play, and they were pretty strong. Conditions weren't great that day, but it was a pretty tough Test match. 'He played pretty well against us in Cardiff last year and caused us an awful lot of problems. He is a world-class player, and any team would miss him. 'I think Italy have played some good rugby in the competition. 'It was nip and tuck with Ireland early on in that first game, and Italy probably just lacked a bit of possession. They played some good rugby against England, and then had a fantastic win in Edinburgh. 'They will probably say themselves they were disappointed with their performance last week against France. Wales, pictured this week in training, have travelled to Rome knowing a win could secure Six Nations glory . Mike Phillips passes the ball during an open session in Cardiff on Tuesday . 'But look, every time we come here it is a very tough game. Generally, we have been successful, but not by much, so we are expecting another tough game tomorrow.' Key for Wales will be to set out their stall and build points, like they did in destroying Ireland's Grand Slam dream last Saturday. 'We started incredibly well last week and ticked the scoreboard over,' Jenkins said. 'Up until Samson (Lee) got injured, which was a huge disappointment for us, it had been nigh-on perfect rugby. Territory, possession and everything we did was spot-on. 'The boys have recovered well. They know how important tomorrow is. It is an opportunity for us to go out and give ourselves a chance to try and win the championship.' Wales performed a title-winning feat in 2013 after losing their opening game - then it was against Ireland, this time England - by reeling off four successive victories and taking the championship on points difference. While this season's equation is far more complex, the desire is unchanged. 'If you look at the Six Nations, the unpredictability is what's great about the tournament,' Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny said. 'Every game is competitive, and that is why it's a huge achievement to win the Six Nations. 'All we can do is focus on our game in Rome. That's all we can do, before we wait and see what happens. 'If we go on to win it, it would give us that confidence and belief ahead of the World Cup.' Warren Gatland will be hoping to get some points on the board early on against the Italians . +Raheem Sterling has put contract talks on hold until the summer, Brendan Rodgers has confirmed. Liverpool have been in negotiations for several months with the 20-year-old and his agent over a deal to replace the old one which expires in 2017. And the Reds boss confirmed it will not be resolved until after this season's conclusion. Liverpool's Raheem Sterling has put his contract talks on hold until the summer, Brendan Rodgers has said . Sterling's current deal runs until 2017, and he had been in negotiations with Liverpool over an extension . 'Not between now and the end of the season,' said Rodgers. 'It has been made clear by Raheem's agent. I repeat that this is the best place for his development and it is clear.' Sterling is set to start as Liverpool face a huge clash with Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, with a place in the top four of the Premier League at stake. 'It is an important game,' continued Rodgers. 'I don't think the result will have an overriding factor but it will certainly give you a great boost psychologically if we were to win. We want to win, we want to be competitive. ' Rodgers also confirmed that captain Steven Gerrard, who returned from injury at Swansea on Monday night, will have a big part to play between now and the end of the season, but refused to say whether he would be guaranteed a start or not. Liverpool boss Rodgers (right) believes that Anfield is the right place for Sterling to continue his development . Rodgers also backed Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (left), saying he is committed to the team . 'It is very simple with me and Steven,' said Rodgers. 'I think it has been really unfair on the boy. 'When he was out injured, people tried to sensationalise a story about him getting in the team. It might not be the story you want but he is committed to the team. But his support to Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen has been fantastic. I see people trying to predict the team but he hasn't been fit. He is going to have a big part to play, and is a wonderful, wonderful player who has so much still to give. 'Even when he doesn't start, he comes off the bench and gives calmness to the team. Playing or not playing, Steven's professionalism is outstanding. He is fit, available and whether he starts or comes off the bench, he will be ready to make a contribution.' +Paris Saint-Germain's Serge Aurier is the subject of UEFA disciplinary action after posting a video on Facebook criticising the officiating in the French side's Champions League tie with Chelsea. PSG prevailed on away goals, but only after Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers had sent off Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the first half of the last-16 second-leg tie, which finished 2-2 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday. Aurier, currently out injured, declared his frustration with the decision - saying 'referee, dirty son of a b***h' - and now faces the prospect of a sanction from European football's governing body. PSG's Serge Aurier is the subject of UEFA disciplinary action after posting a video on Facebook . Aurier now faces the prospect of a sanction from European football's governing body . PSG's Aurier could face trouble from UEFA for posting the video as he was injured on the night . Aurier, out injured for PSG's visit to Chelsea, said 'referee, dirty son of a b***h' on the video . A UEFA statement read: 'Following an investigation by the disciplinary inspector, UEFA has today announced that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the Paris St Germain player Serge Aurier, following comments he made on social media after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second-leg match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain played in London on March 11. 'Charges: Insulting acts - Art. 11(1), 11(2) and 15(1d) of UEFA disciplinary regulations. 'The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on March 19.' Referee Bjorn Kuipers reaches for his pocket to send off PSG's Zlatan Ibrahimovic last Wednesday . Kuipers sent off Ibrahimovic in the first half of the last-16 second-leg tie for his foul on Oscar (bottom) +Unless Manchester City can produce the greatest result in their European history - arguably their entire history - and overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit against Barcelona on Wednesday night, England faces an embarrassing total wipeout from this season's Champions League. With Paris Saint-Germain dumping Chelsea out last week and Monaco resisting Arsenal's spirited fightback on Tuesday night, we face the prospect of having no Premier League representatives in the quarter-finals. The English charge on the continent halted by mid-March? It never used to be like this, you know. Arsenal's Santi Cazorla is commiserated as Monaco celebrate knocking out the English side on Tuesday . Dejected Chelsea players walk off the field at Stamford Bridge after their Champions League exit to PSG . Joe Hart roars his frustration during Manchester City's first-leg defeat to Barcelona at the Etihad . This graphic showing the English clubs that have reached the Champions League quarter-finals since 2004 . You don't have to flick too far back through the record books to find a time when England ruled in Europe's foremost club competition. The last halcyon days were the three seasons from 2006-07 until the end of 2008-09, when the Premier League supplied 11 of the 24 quarter-finalists. Going back to Liverpool's miraculous triumph in Istanbul in 2005, England has provided eight of the 20 finalists. In the 2006-07 season, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United all made it to the semi-finals. They all repeated the feat 12 months later, with United beating Chelsea on penalties in the Moscow final. In 2008-09, United knocked out Arsenal in the last four, while Barcelona squeezed past Chelsea. Since then, it's been an overall trend of decline. While United were runners-up again in 2011 and Chelsea lifted the trophy in 2012, as well as reaching the semi-finals last season, the English dominance seen during that golden three-year period hasn't been replicated. Chelsea and Manchester United contested the 2008 Champions League final in a golden period for England . Man United met Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals in the 2008-09 campaign . Chelsea and Liverpool met in the 2008 Champions League semi-finals, with the London club advancing . The mantle has been passed to Spain, who will expect to see Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the last four unless paired in the next round. So while the Premier League continues to grow ever-richer, with the astonishing £5.1bn television deal signed earlier this year ensuring record returns for years to come, money doesn't necessarily guarantee success across the board in Europe. Though Chelsea reached the last four a year ago, United exited at the quarter-final stage, while City and Arsenal departed in the last 16. The season 2012-13 was even worse, with United and Arsenal crashing out in the last 16 and Chelsea and City failing to get out of their groups. There isn't one single reason to explain this slump in Premier League performance, but a growing school of thought is that the lack of a winter break is beginning to hold our teams back. Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have always advocated a winter pause and the evidence to support them grows with every passing season. Wayne Rooney and Manchester United were beaten by Bayern Munich in last season's quarter-finals . Lionel Messi scores for Barcelona in their win over Manchester City this time last season . Tomas Rosicky and Arsenal were eliminated by Bayern Munich at the last-16 stage last season . City boss Manuel Pellegrini joined the chorus in an interview with Sportsmail this week, saying: 'December and January are very tough months because of the number of games. 'You reach an important part of the season and you are not in optimum shape because there is no winter break as there is in other countries. 'English football gives other leagues an advantage. There are some traditions you can't change, I realise that. Boxing Day is non-negotiable. But you can't play nine games in December and nine in January. You have to stop at some point.' He has a point. The quantity and intensity of fixtures in England means that no player can emerge from the hectic December and January period firing on all cylinders. It is a time that features vital matches in the Premier League as the title race takes shape, while the leading clubs are increasingly keen to win the FA Cup and League Cup, which might at one time have warranted weakened teams. The leading sides are scared witless of finishing the season empty-handed - even the once-maligned League Cup is now taken seriously. Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini has joined the chorus of managers favouring a winter break . Paris Saint-Germain didn't play a competitive match between December 21 and January 4 . Chelsea played five times during that period, including a 5-3 defeat at Tottenham on New Year's Day . In explaining Chelsea's exit, you might consider that PSG didn't play a single competitive match between December 21 and January 4. In that same time, Chelsea played Stoke City, West Ham, Southampton, Tottenham and Watford. While Monaco broke off after winning at Metz on December 20 and didn't resume until January 4, Arsenal had to play Liverpool, QPR, West Ham, Southampton and Hull City. For both London clubs, the fixtures continued to come thick and fast in the subsequent six weeks before their European ties. There is no respite. And while Manchester City played Crystal Palace, West Brom, Burnley, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday, Barcelona were out of action. After cruising into the winter break with an 8-1 rout of Huesca and a 5-0 win over Cordoba, when they resumed, Lionel Messi and Co - after a shock defeat by Real Sociedad - recorded thrashings of Elche (5-0, 4-0 and 6-0) and Deportivo La Coruna (4-0). There is no escaping the reality that Barcelona's matches are far more straightforward than those played by City. Little wonder they had the greater energy at the Etihad. Barcelona had not only a winter break but a reasonably straightforward run of games in January . While football over the Christmas period should be kept sacred, a couple of weeks off in January would not go amiss and would boost English chances of getting through the last-16 stage. The scrapping of FA Cup replays would also be a sensible move. Of course, there was no winter break in England between 2006 and 2009, but English clubs still prospered. This points perhaps to a growing pace and intensity of all domestic games and perhaps a strategic naivety in approaching two-legged ties. Owen Hargreaves, well-placed to compare styles having played for Bayern Munich and United, observed on BT Sport last week that: 'If we got past the first 20 or 30 minutes, we'd probably win the game because the English teams used to come out all guns blazing, the defence would push the team forward and we used to realise if we could keep it at 0-0 we would win. 'In the Premier League, that works, but in Europe the teams are too talented, too good in possession.' Should City exit, as expected, against Barcelona, the debate as to why English clubs no longer reach the latter stages of the Champions League en masse will intensify. There is no definitive answer or quick fix but a breather in English football's ruthless, relentless schedule is an increasingly popular option to give our teams a fighting chance in Europe. +Manchester City have failed to freshen up their starting line-up despite spending a staggering £327million on new players during the last four years. The Barclays Premier League champions, who must overturn a 2-1 deficit against Barcelona on Wednesday night if they are to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, have made just two major changes to their starting line-up since the start of the 2011-12 season. Despite spending an extravagant amount of money, Martin Demichelis and Fernando are the only two players who have managed to hold down a regular starting spot since sealing moves to the Etihad Stadium. Man City have made just two major changes to their starting line-up since 2011 despite spending £327m - Aleksandar Kolarov will replace Gael Clichy from the side defeated by Barcelona on February 24, 2015 . Fernando has replaced Gareth Barry while Martin Demichelis has come in for Joleon Lescott - above picture was taken before Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Napoli on September 14, 2011 . The aforementioned duo have replaced Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry respectively in what is perceived to be Manchester City's strongest line-up. Gael Clichy has come close to edging his way into Manchester City's side but he shares left back duties with Aleksandar Kolarov and is suspended on Wednesday after being sent off in the first leg. Their major European rivals, on the other hand, have made at least six changes to their starting line-ups. Arsenal have made the most with 10 while upcoming opponents Barcelona have made six. Manchester City may have to change tack in Europe if they crash out of the Champions League on Wednesday, as a side of their calibre should be progressing to the latter stages of Europe's most prestigious competition. 2011: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Silva, Toure, Barry, Nasri; Aguero, Dzeko . 2015: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov; Silva, Toure, Fernando, Nasri; Aguero, Dzeko (two changes) Luis Suarez (left) and Neymar (centre) have joined Lionel Messi (right) at the Nou Camp . 2011: Valdes; Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Villa, Messi, Pedro . 2015: Ter Stegen; Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Suarez, Messi, Neymar (Six changes) European champions Real Madrid have made six major changes in the same period - with the likes of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale sealing moves to the Santiago Bernabeu during the last four years. Real Madrid have freshened up their side by spending £344m on new players while also selling Angel di Maria, Mesut Ozil and Gonzalo Higuain for big money. 2011: Casillas; Arbeloa, Carvalho, Ramos, Marcelo; Diarra, Alonso; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema . 2015: Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Kroos, Rodriguez ; Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema (Six changes) Gareth Bale (left) joined Real Madrid for £86m in 2013 while Angel di Maria (right) was sold to Man United . Manchester City's major rivals for the Premier League title - Chelsea - have also made a considerable amount of changes during the last four years. Blues captain John Terry, who seems to be getting better with age, and Branislav Ivanovic are the only real survivors from the 2011-12 season - following a £419m outlay on transfers. 2011: Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Malouda; Anelka, Drogba . 2015: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Costa (Nine changes) John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, pictured in 2011, have managed to keep their place in Chelsea's XI . Arsene Wenger has revamped his squad during the last four years with the Arsenal boss choosing to change his usual procedure when it comes to signing players. The Frenchman has splashed the cash on the likes of Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck. 2011: Fabianski; Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Clichy; Nasri, Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Rosicky; Van Persie . 2015: Ospina; Debuchy, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Welbeck, Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud (10 changes) France international Lauren Koscielny is the only survivor from Arsenal's side in 2011 . Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, who won the Champions League in 2013, have also made wholesale changes to their starting line-up throughout the last four years. Philipp Lahm, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery have held down a spot despite the club's decision to spend £206m since 2011. 2011: Butt; Breno, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Lahm; Robben, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Ribery, Muller, Gomez . 2015: Neuer; Rafinha, Benatia, Boateng, Lahm; Gotze, Alonso; Ribery, Muller, Robben, Lewandowski (seven changes) Arjen Robben (left) and Franck Ribery (right) remain key players at German outfit Bayern Munich . VIDEO Pellegrini defiant over City future . +Everton manager Roberto Martinez insists it is no major surprise that English clubs have struggled in Europe this season because of the domestic demands of the Barclays Premier League. The Toffees were the country's last hope on the continent before a 5-2 loss to Dynamo Kiev in Europe on Thursday night meant they followed Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City in crashing out at the last 16 stage. It meant that there were no English teams in Friday's draw for either the Champions League or Europa League quarter-finals for the first time since 1995, sparking a countrywide debate about the state of the domestic game. Everton boss Roberto Martinez has highlighted an extensive fixture list behind their Europa League exit . However, Martinez believes it is the competitive nature of the Premier League, coupled with a lack of a winter break, which is hampering clubs when they face fresher, less-tested teams in European competitions. 'I think there are aspects there that make it very, very difficult for an English club to have success in Europe,' the Spaniard said. 'If you look at the top leagues in Europe most of those have got a little break in the winter. I'm not saying that's the difference but it can make a big difference in a squad that is playing domestically two cup competitions, when others are playing one cup competition. Everton's Phil Jagielka, Tim Howard and Leighton Baines look dejected after Dynamo Kiev ran riot . Everton's Ross Barkley and James McCarthy (right) look miserable during the painful defeat on Thursday . 'We need to understand that our league is the best in world football. And when I say the best it's because if you are at 70 per cent in a game, you're going to lose it. That's how competitive it is. It doesn't matter about position in the table and I don't think the other leagues have that. 'The top teams that are normally involved in Europe can cruise through games and that makes it a lot easier to plan a group of fixtures in a two-to-three-week period. That is a big difference and that affects English clubs. 'It's not by coincidence. Some of the clubs in the Champions League have been unfortunate, there have been small margins but those small margins could easily be the demands that you face domestically. It's something that clearly hasn't been working in our favour.' Roberto Martinez and substitute Leon Osman remonstrate with the fourth official Christoph Bornhorst . Martinez's men were ruthlessly eliminated in Kiev by a display of clinical attacking finishing as the hosts exposed their visitors' defensive frailties. But while the manner of their exit was disappointing to Martinez, he took plenty of heart from a campaign which saw them beat Wolfsburg home and away and take four points off Lille in the group stage. 'It's started a real thirst to be in that environment again,' Martinez added. The scoreboard tells its own story as Everton were outclassed by Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine . 'For our younger players, it is the first time they've been in Europe and the way we succeeded in many of those games, going away into different countries and being able to perform has been very important. 'I do feel that the players in the squad, myself, my staff and the football club as a whole will want more of it. It gives you a real desire to push ourselves to become a winning team and have that more often. 'We're all disappointed from the result last night but to reach the quarter-finals of this competition is something we last did 30 years ago, that shows you the size of the achievement.' Dynamo Kiev players celebrate during a rampant display which saw them ease into the quarter-finals . +Graham Rowntree has braced Twickenham for a thunderous forward collision as England launch their final assault on the 2015 RBS 6 Nations title. Ireland and Wales are also in the hunt for the crown on a day promising captivating sporting theatre that will unfold over three staggered kick-offs with points difference almost certain to decide the outcome. Bringing down the curtain is England's clash with France and it is the Red Rose who occupy pole position knowing exactly what is required to win a first piece of silverware under head coach Stuart Lancaster. England forwards coach Graham Rowntree (left) sees the pack as key to deciding the clash against France . Captain Chris Robshaw will hope to lead England to Six Nations glory against France at Twickenham . Forward Dylan Hartley takes time out in training (left) whilst Courtney Lawes gets ready for a catch (right) England forwards Dan Cole (left), Joe Marler (centre left) and Tom Youngs (right) pose with the Calcutta Cup . Pivotal to the outcome at Twickenham will be the battle between two huge packs with muscular reinforcements awaiting orders on the bench. 'France's pack are always a challenge. They're huge men,' forwards coach and former England prop Rowntree said. 'They're always a real test. You don't get many tougher tests as a forward than playing against a French pack. England's Jack Howell prepares with catching practice for Le Crunch against France on Saturday . England coach Lancaster says England must not try and win the contest against France too early . England players huddle up together as head coach Lancaster watches on during the open training session . 'Last weekend they used their size to their advantage against Italy. They scrummed well against Italy and drove well. 'There aren't many teams doing that to Italy at the moment and I've no doubt they'll come to Twickenham looking to do the same to us. 'Two years ago we were lucky to win here. They played exceptionally well and that was a really tough day at the office for us up front. The forward battle is just one battle we'll have to win. 'There is a real hunger and determination about the players this week. Any French team that comes to Twickenham is a handful, regardless of what's riding on the game.' England trained at their Twickenham stadium on Friday before hosting France in their Six Nations final fixture . +You'd never know it with his clothes on, but 22-year-old blogger Matt Diaz is carrying around sizable rolls of excess skin underneath his shirt, and he's finally ready to reveal it to his fans. Mr Diaz, from Brooklyn, New York, has lost an impressive 270lbs from his nearly-500lb frame since the age of 16 - a journey he's documented on his Tumblr blog, My Annoyances - but he has 'never' shown his excess skin before, and says he can no longer 'preach' about body positivity while continuing to hide his own flaws. So, in an emotional video he shared on Tuesday, Mr Diaz removed his shirt and stated: 'I'm really scared to put this up. But I think it's important for me to share this with you guys, because this is who I am.' Laid bare: Blogger Matt Diaz, 22, revealed his excess skin in an emotional video he made for his fans this week, saying he could no longer 'preach' about body positivity and continue to hide his own flaws . Before and after: Mr Diaz, from Brooklyn, New York, has lost an impressive 270lbs from his nearly-500lb frame since the age of 16 (left) - pictured (right) after his weight loss . Mr Diaz, who is on the verge of tears throughout the five-minute video, says he suffered 'an anxiety attack' before going ahead with the big reveal. 'I have stretch marks, I have birth marks, I have all this excess skin,' he says as he shifts from side to side and showcases his folds of skin. 'I'm scared people won't find me attractive anymore. I'm scared that all the nice messages will stop.' On the contrary, Mr Diaz was amazed to receive nothing but support from his fans and followers. 'You are gorgeous Matt, I would date you,' wrote one user. 'This is hands down the bravest thing I’ve ever seen,' commented another. Not easy: Mr Diaz, who is on the verge of tears throughout the five-minute video, says he suffered 'an anxiety attack' before going ahead with the big reveal . This is me: 'I have stretch marks, I have birth marks, I have all this excess skin,' he says . No trolls: Mr Diaz was amazed to receive nothing but support from his fans and followers in response to the video . Mr Diaz, who describes himself as a 'writer, comedian [and] all-around f*** up', states in the video: 'I want to be proud of who I am, and I want all of you to be proud of who you are, and part of that is not hiding it.' Despite working out 'hard' and following a healthy diet plan, Mr Diaz knew that the only way he would be able to get rid of his excess skin would be with surgery. With that in mind, he set up a GoFundMe campaign on Wednesday to raise the $20,000 he needs for the procedure, and already, donations have reached $32,000. Transformation: Mr Diaz, pictured before (left) and (after) his weight loss, is barely recognizable now as the boy he used to be . Swamped: A big white T-shirt once fit Mr Diaz snugly (left), but these days, it hangs off his slimmer frame (right) Documented: 'I want to be proud of who I am, and I want all of you to be proud of who you are, and part of that is not hiding it', says Mr Diaz, pictured at different stages of his weight loss . Asked by Upworthy to offer advice to anyone struggling to come to terms with their own body-related insecurities, he said: 'I want you to remember that you are not the problem, certain aspects of society are the problem.' He continued: 'Luckily, we're slowly starting to see these ideas get phased out by modernity. 'Plus-sized, un-retouched models are getting more attention in major brands... it's becoming clear that these negative ideas are not going to last, though it's going to take a while.' Yesterday, Mr Diaz uploaded another (clothed) video to thank people for their donations. 'You have shown me so much kindness and now I have so much more faith in people,' he said, promising to document the skin-removal surgery with his fans when he undergoes it. +Maverick midfielder Ravel Morrison has posted a picture of himself striking a unique pose on his official Instagram account. The 22-year-old, who was released from last his last contract at West Ham following a series of disciplinary problems, is currently training with Serie A side Lazio ahead of a planned summer move. Morrison signed a pre-contract agreement with the Rome-based outfit in January, but was unable to make his debut for them this season, because of a delay in squad registration. Ravel Morrison shows off with a strange pose on his official Instagram account . Morrison was released from his last contract at West Ham following a string of disciplinary problems . He started his career at Manchester United and was once compared by Sir Alex Ferguson to legendary Red Devils midfielder Paul Scholes. However, for all Morrison's precocious talent, he found himself consistently involved in off-field dramas. In February 2011, he pleaded guilty to witness intimidation and was fined £600 three months later for throwing his girlfriend's phone through an open window during an argument. By the summer of 2012, Ferguson had seemingly had enough of Morrison's antics and he was allowed to join West Ham. But at Upton Park, the problems persisted and Morrison was fined £7000 by the FA for writing an allegedly homophobic Tweet shortly after signing. Following only a handful of first-team appearances and some loan spells at Birmingham, QPR and Cardiff, Morrison had his Hammers contract terminated. The troubled 22-year-old has signed a pre-contract agreement with Lazio ahead of next season . +Michael Carrick has given Manchester United a big lift ahead of their clash with arch-rivals Liverpool by signing a new one-year contract at Old Trafford. The England midfielder has emerged as a key figure under Louis van Gaal despite missing the first two-and-half months of the season with an ankle injury sustained in the Dutchman’s first training session last summer. Van Gaal has made Carrick his vice-captain and the midfielder’s impressive displays culminated in him creating the opening goal for Marouane Fellaini in last weekend’s 3-0 win at home to Tottenham before scoring himself with a rare headed effort . Michael Carrick has signed a new one-year deal at Manchester United . Carrick has made 17 appearances for Manchester United this season . The 33-year-old, who joined United from Spurs for £18.6million in 2006, was due to be out of contract in the summer but the club have exercised an option to extend it for another 12 months. Speaking at his weekly press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Anfield, Van Gaal said: ‘He is important. He can read the game as a player on the pitch so he can coach during the game but he can improve that, I think. ‘And he is also a midfielder who can play the ball forwards and that I like because our aim is always passing the ball more forwards than sideways or backwards. Carrick has won five Premier League titles with Manchester United as well as the Champions League . Carrick joined Manchester United from Tottenham in 2006 for £18.6m . ‘And he is my second (vice) captain, he is an important man for my selection. ‘Wayne Rooney is my first captain and Michael Carrick is my second captain and that say enough what I think about those players. ‘Wayne Rooney is Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick is Michael Carrick. These are different people.’ +Manuel Pellegrini believes that Manchester City’s season will not have been ‘a disaster’ even the Premier League champions fail to overhaul Chelsea in the title race. The City boss is under fire after seeing his team crash out of Europe to Barcelona for the second season in a row on Wednesday night. They must beat West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad this lunchtime (sat) to keep the pressure on Jose Mourinho’s side, who are six points clear with a game in hand, and stay clear of the chasing pack. Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has insisted that their season has not been a disaster . Pellegrini stands behind Barcelona boss Luis Enrique during their Champions League defeat on Wednesday . Ivan Rakitic (second left) scored the only goal of the game past Joe Hart as Barcelona won 1-0 . But Pellegrini said: ‘Second position in the whole year I don’t think is a disaster. We are not in eighth, ninth or 10th. Only Chelsea has done better than our team. ‘As I said to the players, we are still in this competition. We have nine games left and me must try to play well and do what we must for this team, which is to stay in second positon. 'And – I repeat – never give up, because in football anything can happen, so we will fight to retain the title to the end.’ Yaya Toure (left) has not recovered in time to face West Brom on Saturday after going off against Barcelona . City’s players were criticised for their lack of effort in last weekend’s defeat at Burnley but Pellegrini insisted that the buck stops with him. He added: ‘It will be my responsibility because I always choose the starting XI, I choose the squad and I choose the way we like to play.’ Asked if he still enjoyed the job, he replied: ‘Of course. Every day I enjoy it. If you cannot enjoy playing in the Champions League against Barcelona, fighting for title in the Premier League, being with this team, being in best league in world, you should go and see a doctor.’ +Gary Cahill has hinted Chelsea are feeling the pressure of the Premier League title run-in. Jose Mourinho's men are chasing a first Premier League title in five years. The Blues have four draws in their last six games in all competitions, including on Sunday at home to Southampton as they missed the chance to move eight points clear. Chelsea defender Gary Cahill tussles with Southampton forward Shane Long at Stamford Bridge on Sunday . Diego Costa (second from left) opens the scoring in Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Southampton . Two of those draws were against Paris St Germain, in exiting the Champions League on away goals, while one of the two wins in the same unbeaten run secured the first silverware of the season. 'We're desperate... not desperate, it's the wrong word - we're looking for the next convincing win, the next win, to get us back up and running,' Cahill told Chelsea TV. 'We should be going out playing with freedom and not feeling the pressure. 'We should be going out and enjoying (it). I think that comes with winning games. The next win I'm sure is just around the corner for us.' Hull, Chelsea's next opponents on Sunday, have been warned, particularly as the Blues have a full week's preparation, unusual at this time of the season. 'We're out the competitions, apart from the Premier League,' Cahill said. 'We can prepare well. A week, which is rare for us, to prepare for the next game, which is important.' Chelsea lost on New Year's Day at Tottenham - whom they beat two months later in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley - but since exiting the FA Cup to Bradford, have won half of their games in an unbeaten 10-match run. Former Atletico Madrid striker Costa celebrates with team-mates including Cesc Fabregas (left) Chelsea remain six points clear of second-placed Manchester City following their draw with Saints . The Blues' nearest rivals Manchester City lost at Burnley on Saturday but Mourinho's men were unable to fully exploit the slip, instead enhancing their advantage, which includes a game in hand, to six points. Mourinho refuses to believe it is purely a two-team race between Chelsea and City, with Arsenal seven points behind and Manchester United eight adrift. The draw with Southampton came in the first match after the European exit to PSG. Cahill, who has won the European Cup with Chelsea, but is yet to win a Premier League title, said: 'Playing for this club the expectations are so high. We didn't lose the (PSG) game, we drew. All of a sudden everyone's saying 'what's happening here?' 'As players we have to focus on the job in hand and that's the Premier League. 'I'm sure we'll kick on. Man City dropped points and we picked up another point. Our goal difference is good. 'It's by far the end of the world, but we're looking for the next result. 'It's a massive opportunity for us this season, everybody knows (that). Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic scores his side's equaliser from the penalty spot at Stamford Bridge . Chelsea skipper John Terry looks dejected after the final whistle as the Blues drop points again . 'Ten games left to go now and we're in a fantastic position.' Mourinho bemoaned Southampton being awarded a penalty and Chelsea being denied one when Branislav Ivanovic appeared to be tripped by Dusan Tadic. Ivanovic said on chelseafc.com: 'I was at full speed, he stood on me and I went down. The decision was the referee's (Mike Dean), so I don't have anything to say.' Southampton withstood a late onslaught from Chelsea, with Fraser Forster performing well in goal. The former Celtic goalkeeper told Saints' YouTube channel: 'We've got a fantastic belief as a team. 'We keep moving forward and we can do that. On any given day we can match teams. 'It's just about trying to do that consistently. 'We're going to keep working as hard as we can right until the end.' Ronald Koeman's men are sixth, one point behind fifth-placed Liverpool, ahead of next week's match at home to Burnley. 'We can be very proud of what we've done,' Forster added. 'But it's only a good point if we go into next week's game, work as hard as we can and come out of that with a result as well. 'It's an important game, a tough game so it's vital we get another good week of training and then see what we can do next weekend.' +Zlatan Ibrahimovic's comments after Paris St Germain's defeat to Bordeaux will be investigated by the French football league (LFP). Ibrahimovic scored twice on Sunday but it was not enough to prevent PSG suffering a 3-2 defeat and they trail Lyon by two points at the top of the Ligue 1 table. As he walked off the field Ibrahimovic - no stranger to making controversial remarks - was filmed seemingly making derogatory comments about the referee and France as a country. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice but could not prevent PSG's 3-2 defeat by Bordeaux . Ibrahimovic was heard swearing as he walks towards the changing room after PSG's defeat . THe Swede reacted angrily to the defeat and said it was the worst refereeing display he'd ever seen . The PSG talisman reportedly referred to French referee Lionel Jaffredo (centre) as an 'a******' after the game . Speaking in English but in partial sentences, the Sweden striker can be heard saying: 'He's an a******. Play 15 years, never seen referee this s*** country. Don't even deserve PSG should be in this country. F****** too good for all of you. Should be happy they exist.' An LFP statement on Monday read: 'Following the receipt of the officials' report, the disciplinary commission of the LFP will study in its meeting of Thursday March 19 the comments made by Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the end of the game between Girondins de Bordeaux and Paris St Germain (29th round of Ligue 1).' French sports minister Patrick Kanner called on the Swede to apologise, telling him 'disappointment did not justify his offensive comments'. He later called Ibrahimovic a 'great champion' after the player wrote on his Instagram account: 'Regarding my comments after tonight's game; they were not against France or the French people. Ibrahimovic looks generally unimpressed as his side fall to defeat that leaves them second in Ligue 1 . Ibrahimovic faces investigation over his comments, which included calling France a 's*** country' The Sweden legend scores a goal past Bordeaux keeper Cedric Carrasso during the away game . Ibrahimovic removes his shirt after the game to reveal his impressive collection of tattoos . 'I spoke about football. I lost the game, I accept that but I can't accept when the referee doesn't follow the rules. It's not the first time and I'm sick of it. 'My sincere apologies if anyone was offended or took it the wrong way.' Ibrahimovic's anger was sparked when no free-kick was given after Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso picked up a clear backpass from defender Ludovic Sane with five minutes remaining. The outburst comes less than a week after he accused Chelsea's players of acting like 'babies' after he was sent off in his side's Champions League victory over the Blues. Ibrahimovic had previously accused Chelsea of acting like 'babies' during their Champions League defeat . +Zlatan Ibrahimovic was forced to apologise for a remarkable rant after Paris St Germain slumped to a third league defeat of the season. The 33-year-old had branded the referee 's***' and said France doesn't deserve PSG, but had to back-track, claiming the comments were not directed towards the French people and that he hadn't meant them. Ibrahimovic was caught on camera by infosport+ after a 3-2 defeat against Bordeaux that halted the defending champions' charge for the French title. Zlatan Ibrahimovic swears loudly as he walks towards the changing room after PSG's defeat to Bordeaux . Ibrahimovic reacted angrily to the defeat and said it was the worst refereeing display he'd ever seen . 'I wanted to say that my comments were directed neither towards France nor towards the French,' Ibrahimovic said after the game. 'I was talking about football and nothing else. I lost the game, and I accept it but I do not agree when the referee does not follow the rules. This is not the first time that this happens. 'I was speaking at the height of my anger and everyone knows that at times like these you can say things you don't mean. I apologise if people have felt offended.' The Swedish striker, who scored twice in the 3-2 defeat, had reacted angrily to Diego Rolan's late goal, blasting the officials on his way to the dressing room. The Swedish striker claimed that France doesn't deserve the Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain . Ibrahimovic reacts in disbelief during PSG's shock 3-2 defeat against Bordeaux on Sunday . Diego Rolan smashes in the winner that so upset Ibrahimovic, just minutes after the Swede had equalised . Ibrahimovic gives the referee a disgruntled look during the game, and afterwards branded him 's***' 'I played 15 years, I never seen a referee this s***,' he shouted. 'They don't even deserve PSG should be in this country.' Following Ibrahimovic's remarks French sports minister Patrick Kanner had called on the Swede to apologise, saying 'disappointment did not justify his offensive comments', but later he later called the striker a 'great champion'. Rolan scored from Brazilian defender Mariano's cross with a shot between the legs of goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. The strike ended PSG's 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions, and came just four minutes after Ibrahimovic had equalised from the penalty spot. After ousting Chelsea from the Champions League after extra time in midweek, PSG players looked tired and lost precious points in the fight for the title. The PSG star reacted angrily at the end of the game, and said France do not deserve PSG . Ibrahimovic had twice equalised for PSG in Bordeaux, the first from a Javier Pastore pass . Chasing an unprecedented quadruple, PSG - who lost stalwart defender David Luiz and midfielder Yohan Cabaye through injury - are facing a hectic schedule in the coming weeks and still have to travel to play arch rivals Marseille this season. 'We came back late on Wednesday, we were tired both physically and mentally,' PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot said. 'This is not an excuse, but it's difficult, even though we are professionals.' Ibrahimovic had already put the teams level in the 50th minute from Javier Pastore's through ball after Lamine Sane jumped higher than Thiago Silva to open the scoring with a fine header to Sirigu's right. Midfielder Wahbi Khazri then restored Bordeaux's lead from close range, pouncing on Kiese Thelin's glancing header after fluffing his first attempt on goal. +Franz Beckenbauer is certain English clubs are not in the midst of a Euro-crisis despite the domino crash which culminated in Everton's five-goal hammering in Kiev. The Merseysiders, the last representatives of the Barclays Premier League in European competition this season, lost 5-2 against Dynamo Kiev and went out of the Europa League with a 6-4 aggregate defeat. It leaves English football with no teams in the last eight of either trophy for the first time in 22 years. Bayern Munich honoary president Franz Beckenbauer insists that English football is not facing a crisis . Dynamo Kiev's Andriy Yarmolenko (right) and Everton's James McCarthy vie for the ball in the Europa League . Kiev left-back Vitorino Antunes (centre) shields the ball from Everton striker Romelu Lukaku (right) Everton players look dejected following their 5-2 loss to Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League on Thursday . 'It is a temporary problem,' said Beckenbauer. 'I am not very happy because there are no English teams in the quarter-finals. But in Germany we are having the same debate. We almost have the same problems. 'We had four teams in the Champions League but only one has survived, Bayern Munich. 'Last year the Bundesliga teams were very successful. And two years before when the final was held at Wembley, we had two teams in the final and everybody said we had the best league in the world. 'It is temporary. Sometimes you are very unlucky and you get defeated. Next year is another year.' Beckenbauer was speaking at the launch of Gazprom's third annual 'Football for Friendship' initiative. Bayern Munich are the only German team to be left in the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season . Midfielder Xabi Alonso (left) goalkeeper Pepe Reina (right) admire the penumbral solar eclipse on Friday . (Front to back) Philipp Lahm, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Sinan Kurt warm up in training . He is a global ambassador for the international children's social project, which brings young footballers together from 24 different countries around Europe and will offer many of them the chance to attend the Champions League final in Berlin on June 6. The showpiece will take place without an English team but Beckenbauer, an honorary president for Bayern Munich, a club he served as a legendary captain and manager, will be hoping for a German victory on home soil. 'I hope Bayern Munich will be there opposite whoever, this is my dream,' he said. 'If they are in the final, I will keep my fingers crossed because I am the president and I have to support my team. But there is a long way to go.' Wolfsburg are Germany's only team left in the last eight of the Europa League. Beckenbauer was speaking at the launch of Gazprom's third annual 'Football for Friendship' initiative . Wolfsburg striker Nicklas Bendtner scores a goal during the Europa League tie against Inter Milan . Wolfsburg are the only German team to be left in the quarter-finals of the Europa League this season . +Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony believes the champions now have to target victory in every remaining game to retain their title. City remain five points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea after slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday. The London side also have a game in hand and City have just 11 matches left to turn the situation around. Wilfried Bony says Manchester City can still retain the Premier League if they win all their remaining games . Bony has only made appearances from the bench so far for City, and was booked in the defeat by Liverpool . Bony said: 'It is disappointing, we have made it difficult for ourselves now. 'If Chelsea win (their game in hand) it will be more difficult for us to get close to them. But we still hope - there are 11 more games and every game we just have to win, be positive for the rest of the league and try to get maximum points. 'We need to win, win, win and hope Chelsea will drop some points. It is a difficult moment for us but we still hope we can do it.' Bony might hope to play a greater role in City's run-in after making just three goalless substitute appearances since signing from Swansea in January. City were beaten 2-1 at Anfield after stunning strikes from Jordan Henderson and Coutinho (above) Bony will hope to make more of an impact on the title run-in than he has been able to so far since signing . In between Henderson and Coutinho's strikes Edin Dzeko equalised, but City were well beaten . Bony did not feature for a month after the move was completed due to his involvement in Ivory Coast's African Nations Cup win and has had to make do with coming off the bench since. His 78th-minute introduction at Anfield came with his side already 2-1 down and he was unable to affect the outcome. His only notable contribution to the game came when he was booked for an aerial challenge on Adam Lallana that arguably could have been worth a red card. City had cancelled out Jordan Henderson's superb early strike with a well-worked Edin Dzeko equaliser but the outstanding Philippe Coutinho restored the hosts' lead with a 75th-minute stunner. Sergio Aguero had hit the post and he spurned two other good chances, while David Silva also went close late on, but Liverpool dominated and ultimately deserved their victory. Manuel Pellegrini insists he will keep focusing on his own team's games rather than watching Chelsea . Pellegrini defended his selection after he stuck with the same line-up that thrashed Newcastle last week . Manager Manuel Pellegrini will continue to chase Chelsea but the challenge from below is strengthening, with third-placed Arsenal just four points behind. Pellegrini said: 'We are worried about our team, not the other teams that are behind us. It is important to try and continue playing the normal way. 'In the last two games in the Premier League we scored nine goals and we won the two games. That is why we repeated the same starting 11. 'This is more important than to be worried about things you cannot manage.' +One Capital One Cup final cameraman's afternoon got a whole lot wetter thanks to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. With his side a goal to the good on a wet afternoon at Wembley Stadium, the Chelsea boss decided to have a bit of fun with a member of the TV crew by giving him a cheeky soaking with a water bottle. Known for having an overall good relationship with members of the press, Mourinho followed his prank with a mischievous smile towards his unlucky victim. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho takes aim and fires as he gives a camera man a soaking with a water bottle . With play going on in the background the Blues manager turned to squirt his unlucky victim with water . The Portuguese manager gives a cheeky smile to the television crew member after his prank at Wembley . And the smile continued on a successful outing for the Portuguese, as his side went on to beat Tottenham 2-0 to lift his first piece of silverware during his second stint in charge of the Blues. A goal from captain John Terry and an own goal from Spurs defender Kyle Walker handed Chelsea their fifth League Cup title, helping Mourinho get his hands on this particular cup for the third time in his managerial career. It was a solid performance from his men as they dampened Tottenham's week even further following their eviction from the Europa League on Thursday after defeat to Fiorentina. Chelsea skipper John Terry turns to celebrate after scoring the opener for his side on Sunday afternoon . Diego Costa blasts a shot goalward before it takes a deflection off Tottenham defender Kyle Walker . Diego Costa (left) celebrates Chelsea's second goal at Wembley with team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta (right) +Arsene Wenger fears Alexis Sanchez is running out of steam and is searching for the right moment to give the £32million Chile striker a well-earned break. Only Per Mertesacker has played more for Arsenal this season than Sanchez, who has played for 3,326 minutes in his debut campaign, scoring 19 goals but only one in his last 11 appearances. 'He's a bit fatigued and in a position where he has scored less,' said boss Wenger. 'He wants to force his game and then is more involved in physical battles. Maybe goalscoring is on his mind, so he wants to do too much and he wants to force his game. Alexis Sanchez has played more minutes this season than every Arsenal player except Per Mertesacker . Manager Arsene Wenger has considered resting the Chile international because he is fatigued . But Wenger concedes the games are too important to leave out his star 19-goal forward . Despite his early-season form the former Barcelona attacker has only netted once in his last 11 games . 'I'm tempted to give him a break at some stage. I have been for a long time. It's not that he won't let me, I will decide that. It's just that every game now is so important, you always have a hesitation to do it.' Arsenal are at Newcastle in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday, and Wenger will expect a reaction after sliding out of the Champions League on Tuesday. The trip to Tyneside may present a good opportunity to rest Sanchez, with plenty of available options, including Tomas Rosicky set to return after illness, and the manager attempting to keep his squad fresh for the FA Cup defence and to finish as high as possible in the Premier League. Sanchez in action as Arsenal crashed out of the Champions Leaguedespite a 2-0 win against Monaco . Sanchez and his team-mates prepare for Saturday's Premier League clash with Newcastle . Wenger believes Arsenal are too far behind league leaders Chelsea to make a late push for the title . Jose Mourinho claimed Arsenal were back in the title race after a two-point swing last weekend, even though they remain seven points behind leaders Chelsea with a game fewer to play. Wenger said: 'At the moment we are too far away from Chelsea, but we have an opportunity every week to get closer and for that we need positive results from us and negative results from Chelsea. I believe Chelsea still has a very good cushion and very good security.' +Adam Johnson is set to start for Sunderland in Dick Advocaat’s first game in charge at West Ham on Saturday. The winger returned to training on Wednesday after the club lifted his suspension following his arrest on March 2 on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. The Black Cats took the decision to allow Johnson to return after his bail was extended to April 23. Adam Johnson, pictured with girlfriend Stacey Flounders, has had his bail extended until April 23 . New Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has confirmed that Adam Johnson will be available for selection . Johnson played 81 minutes of Sunderland's 2-0 defeat by Manchester United shortly before being arrested . And the 27-year-old flew to London with the rest of the squad last night ahead of the game at Upton Park. Advocaat has worked with Johnson at the Academy of Light this week and he took part in a full-scale practice match on Thursday. When asked during his unveiling press conference if Johnson would play at West Ham, Advocaat said: ‘Everyone who is training is available for selection.’ Former Manchester City player Johnson has had his suspension lifted following the extension of his bail . The 27-year-old winger could feature for new manager Dick Advocaat after his suspension was lifted . Advocaat has inherited a side one point and one place above the drop zone. The Dutchman, however, has never been relegated in his 27-year managerial career and does not intend to add demotion to his CV at Sunderland. ‘I have never been relegated and always have the feeling that I will never go down,’ he said. ‘So I don’t really want to talk about relegation.’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Paul Scholes believes English football has declined to such an extent that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich would win the Premier League by 10 to 15 points. Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all exited the Champions League in the last 16, while Everton's defeat to Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League meant a total wipeout of the English sides in Europe. And Scholes, the former Manchester United midfielder who twice lifted the European Cup, has entered the debate on why English clubs are so inferior to their continental counterparts. Paul Scholes (centre) believes Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich would dominate the Premier League . Mesut Ozil's Arsenal fought back strongly against Arsenal but couldn't overturn the 3-1 first leg deficit . Dejected Chelsea players walk off following their loss to Paris Saint-Germain last week . Writing in The Independent, Scholes said: 'Over the last two weeks our coaches and players in the Champions League have looked second rate. 'If you put one of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the Premier League, they would win it by 10 to 15 points. 'Even PSG and Juventus look better sides than any of those currently at the top of the Premier League.' While some have blamed the lack of a winter break for English failings, Scholes puts it down simply to inferior players. Paul Scholes has twice won the European Cup with Manchester United - in 1999 and 2008 (pictured) Scholes played 134 European matches during his career, scoring on 26 occasions . 'The bottom line to this season's failings? I think the big two in Spain, and Bayern, simply have better players than the English teams in the Champions League,' he writes. Barcelona completed their win over Man City this week, with Lionel Messi to the fore, while French sides Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco eliminated Chelsea and Arsenal respectively. +And then there were none. English football’s worst European campaign in more than 20 years is now complete. Appropriately, given what went before, it ended with a humiliation. It had been a theme of the season for Everton to provide hope in Europe after poor Champions League results but not this time. Things spectacularly unravelled against Dynamo Kiev and Roberto Martinez looked haunted as the reality of this 5-2 slaying sank in. Yes, Dynamo were superb but they were assisted by abominable defending. Martinez had complained a punishing fixture list is compromising the ambitions of Barclays Premier League teams but fatigue had nothing to do with this night of high farce. Dynamo Kiev players celebrate during a rampant display which saw the Ukrainian league leaders ease into the quarter-finals . Andriy Yarmolenko lets fly with a stunning strike to give the hosts the lead on the night . Lukasz Teodorczyk celebrates after scoring Kiev's second on a disastrous night for Everton in Europe . Miguel Veloso hit the third to give Dynamo the lead on aggregate which they never looked like relinquishing . Oleg Gusev followed his goal at Goodison Park with another against Everton as the hosts heaped the woe on the Toffeemen . Vitorino Antunes completed Dynamo's scoring with a beauty from the Portuguese defender to knock the stuffing out of Everton . Romelu Lukaku gave his side hope but his equaliser proved to be a false dawn for Everton, who subsequently conceded four . DYNAMO KIEV (4-2-3-1): Shovkovskiy 6: Silva 7, Khacherdi 7, Dragovic 7, Antunes 7: Rybalka 7, Veloso 7.5: Yarmolenko 8.5, Sydorchuk 6.5 (Buyalskiy 64, 7), Gusev 7.5 (Kalitvinstev 90): Teodorczyk 7.5 (Kravets 74, 6) Subs not used: Rybka, Garmash, Kravets, Burda, Buyalskiy, Mbokani . Booked: Rybalka, Dragovic, Antunes, . Goals: Yarmolenko 21, Teodorczyk 35, Veloso 37, Gusev 56, Antunes 76 . EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard 6: Coleman 4.5, Jagielka 5.5, Alcaraz 4, Baines 5.5: Barry 5, McCarthy 5 (Besic 78): Atsu 4 (Osman 65, 6), Naismith 5 (Kone 65, 4), Barkley 5: Lukaku 6 . Subs not used: Robles, Gibson, Stones, Garbutt. Booked: Besic, Osman, Kone . Goals: Lukaku 29, Jagielka 82 . MOTM: Andrei Yarmolenko . Attendance: 67,550 . Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany) Everton conceded five times and were fortunate not to ship another three or four, as Dynamo ruthlessly exposed their naivety. As a result, there will be no English representation in a European quarter-final for the first time since 1992/93. To stand any hope of progressing, it was imperative for Everton to take the sting out of the contest early on and, more importantly, quieten an excitable home crowd that had whipped themselves into a frenzy long before kick-off. Instead, they performed like complete novices. They looked shaky from the first moment on a bare and bobbly pitch, with some players anonymous and others not up to the task. They needed to be tight and compact but they were open and exposed, inviting the hosts on to them. Eventually, Dynamo took advantage. Andrei Yarmolenko had made an impression on Everton’s players with his style and grace in the first leg and he opened the scoring with a quite brilliant goal, bending in a 25-yard drive that flashed past Tim Howard. The execution of the strike was magnificent but, on the touchline, Martinez stood aghast. Why, the manager must have been wondering, was a player of his Yarmolenko’s quality allowed to run 20 yards without anyone making a tackle? It was the moment that sparked the game to life and for 10 minutes, the two teams began trading blows like boxers going through the gears. First Ross Barkley hit the post; Dynamo responded with Yarmolenko testing Howard. Everton roared back and had rattled the hosts with a brilliant effort from Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian scoring the 100th goal of his career with a bending left-footed effort from the edge of the area after seizing on a loose ball. It should have given them a platform from which to build. Not a bit of it. Dynamo went through the gears and ripped into Everton with a spell that left Martinez and his players bewildered and broken. So bad was Everton’s play, you sensed Dynamo could score every time they got within shooting distance. Lukasz Teodorczyk made the aggregate all square in the 34th minute, nipping in front of Antolin Alcaraz to smash past the stranded Howard. As he wheeled away gleefully, followed by his ecstatic team-mates, a number of Evertonian heads started to drop. This was the key moment. Yarmolenko's sensational strike lit the touchpaper on a seven-goal game. Find out more from Match Zone . Tim Howard can only reflect on what might have been after conceding five goals on a dreadful day for the visitors . A disconsolate Everton attempt to come to terms with the glut of goals they conceded, but were made to play for defensive errors . Leon Osman goes down after a strong challenge as the Everton stalwart battled for possession in vain . The scoreboard tells its own story as Everton were outclassed by the wily Ukrainians, who used all their experience to advance . Ross Barkley, who hit the woodwork twice, applauds the travelling Everton fans after the end of their European adventure . Dynamo Kiev keeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy celebrates their first goal as his side head to the last eight with the wind in their sails . Dynamo Kiev fans were in good voice as their side progressed in no small part thanks to a partisan atmosphere at the Olympic Stadium . Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reacts after Antunes' strike as the Ukrainian champions marched into the last eight . For the first time since the Premier League's inaugural season there is no English club in a European quarter-final. Here's how each fared. Liverpool, (February 26, Europa League last 32): After finishing third in their Champions League group, the Reds were knocked out by Besiktas on penalties. Tottenham (February 26, Europa League last 32): Knocked out by Fiorentina after a 2-0 defeat in the second leg. Chelsea (March 11, Champions League last 16): Came a cropper against 10-man Paris Saint-Germain in extra time. Arsenal (March 17, Champions League last 16): Knocked out on the away goals rule despite a 2-0 win in Monaco. Manchester City (March 18, Champions League last 16): English champions beaten home and away by Barcelona. Everton (March 19, Europa League last 32): Thumped 5-2 by Kiev in Ukraine. Sensing they could kill the contest, Dynamo swarmed forward and in the next attack, they scored again. This time Miguel Veloso profited from another defensive mix-up, his shot taking a slight deflection off Seamus Coleman on its way past Howard. For a club that has a chant about how they will “fight, fight, fight with all their might” for the Royal Blue jersey, the way in which Everton collapsed was staggering. They lost their shape and lost their heart and were fortunate not to concede a fourth before the interval. How had it come to this? Half-time should have given Martinez a chance to unscramble the senses, to make changes and give Everton clarity but, for some reason, he chose not to make any substitutions and Dynamo simply re-emerged to pin them back on the ropes. This pummelling was not about to stop. Dynamo made sure of a place in the last eight in the 56th minute when Oleg Gusev converted from close range but, again, there were more shambolic errors. Belatedly, Martinez called for replacements, Leon Osman and Arouna Kone coming on for Steven Naismith and Christian Atsu, but by then it was too late. Dynamo were swaggering and about to crown their display in spectacular fashion. Antunes delivered it, unleashing a 35-yard missile with his left foot that arrowed past the helpless Howard. The execution was breath-taking but, somewhat fittingly, he was given all the time in the world to pick his spot. Why were Everton going to make a tackle now? Eventually, Everton stemmed the tide and scored another of their own, with Phil Jagielka glancing in a Leighton Baines corner, but this was no consolation. It should only have reminded Everton of the opportunity they had squandered and how careless they had been. At the final whistle, they trudged over apologetically to the fans who had made the long journey from Merseyside, the embarrassment finally at end. It was a dreadful way for an adventure that had brought such excitement to conclude. On this evidence, it will be some time before they return. +Jose Mourinho has dubbed Paris Saint-Germain the 'most aggressive' team Chelsea has played this season, including a cup encounter with Shrewsbury from League Two. Mourinho claimed the most surprising aspect of the first leg in the Parc des Princes which ended 1-1 was that the French champions had not tried to play more football. 'I was surprised in that game,' said the Chelsea boss, ahead of the return at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. 'I was surprised because a team with fantastic players was the team with a record number of fouls. Jose Mourinho faces the press ahead of the Champions League second leg against PSG on Wednesday . The Chelsea boss out on the training field his players through their paces during the session on Tuesday . John Terry, Thibaut Courtois and Didier Drogba laugh and joke ahead of Chelsea's Champions League tie . 'That it was the team making foul after foul, was the team which stopped Eden Hazard with fouls all the time, was the team attacking the man in possession of the ball with two or three players with some very aggressive actions, a team where – even a player like Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), a typical attacking player – came back when they lost the ball and attacked Hazard from behind when we were countering. 'I thought an English team would never be surprised by aggression, because aggression we have in our country. This season we've played against sides form the Championship in the cups, against teams from League One, and Shrewsbury from League Two, but the most aggressive team was PSG. 'For me, that was a real surprise. With players of such quality, I was expecting more football and less aggression.' Mourinho claims PSG are the most aggressive team Chelsea have faced this season . Juan Cuadrado (centre) heads the ball while team-mates Drogba, Cesc Fabregas, Courtois and Terry look on . Chelsea have played Shrewsbury, Bradford City, Derby, Bolton Wanderers and Watford from the Football League this season. Mourinho was clearly irritated, not only by the physical attention on Hazard, but also by claims from PSG manager Laurent Blanc that Chelsea had been dominated in France. 'It depends upon your concept of football,' said Mourinho. 'What is domination? If that means chances, then yes. If that means making foul after foul, then they dominated. If moving the ball with aggression, yes they dominated. So they dominated in everything except the result.' Meanwhile, Mourinho insisted Chelsea have not devised a special plan to contain Ibrahimovic, insisting he is focused on the whole team. Cesar Azpilicueta (left), Gary Cahill, Terry and Fabregas walk out to training on a crisp morning at Cobham . Mourinho says he has not devised a special plan to contain Zlatan Ibrahimovic . Ibrahimovic and David Luiz look focused as PSG prepared for Wednesday's match . Sweden international Ibrahimovic is Laurent Blanc's side's main threat but Mourinho insists Chelsea cannot focus solely on the talismanic forward. 'I don't have a plan for him as he's very difficult to play against,' the Portuguese told reporters. 'He's such a good player but we're focused on the team. 'This is what we're going to do. We know Zlatan is a fantastic one. We're going to focus on the team and ourselves.' +Christian Eriksen is set to become the youngest Dane to win 50 caps after he was named in the squad by manager Morten Olsen on Tuesday ahead of friendlies against the United States and France. The 23-year-old Tottenham midfielder should reach the 50 international milestone at a younger age than previous record holder Michael Laudrup. The Spurs playmaker made his debut in March 2010, becoming the youngest Dane to play for the national side since Michael Laudrup and the fourth youngest ever. Christian Eriksen is set to become the youngest player to earn 50 international caps for Denmark . Eriksen has currently played for the national side 49 times since making his debut in March 2010 . During his 49 caps so far Eriksen has only scored one competitive goal with his other four strikes coming in friendlies, and the former Ajax man has often been criticised for his performance for Denmark. Captain Daniel Agger, defender Lars Jacobsen and midfielder William Kvist were named in the squad despite having been involved in a bitter dispute with the Danish FA (DBU) over a collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations to resolve the dispute, which concerns payments and bonuses to men's, women's and Under-21 international teams, are ongoing, the DBU said. +England must win the RBS 6 Nations title if they want any chance of glory in this year’s World Cup. That is the verdict of hooker Dylan Hartley, who claims the team have put themselves under huge pressure ahead of the home clash with France. ‘I think, timing-wise, this team needs to win something before this World Cup,’ said the Northampton captain. ‘We’ve put that pressure on ourselves.’ England must win the RBS 6 Nations title if they want any chance of World Cup glory, says Dylan Hartley . England hooker Hartley claims they have put themselves under pressure ahead of their tie with France . Stuart Lancaster’s men face a tense afternoon, as championship rivals Wales and Ireland play before them — with the destination of the trophy likely to be decided by points difference. The three leading countries have three wins apiece, but England are top of the table with a points difference of +37, set against Ireland’s +33 and +12 for Wales. Wales face Italy in Rome then Ireland meet the Scots at Murrayfield, so by the time Lancaster’s side line up for a teatime ‘Le Crunch’ at Twickenham, they will know what is needed to earn only the second title success since 2003. Hartley was a member of the side under Martin Johnson who claimed the trophy in 2011, but that feat — after a demoralising loss in Dublin shattered their Grand Slam hopes — does not fill a cherished place in the hooker’s memory. Asked where he kept his medal from that campaign, Hartley said: ‘It’s in a box at home somewhere. When you ask me if I have won the Six Nations, I don’t feel like I have. Maybe until the day we do the Grand Slam it probably won’t feel the same, either. There is always that hanging over us.’ England gather as head coach Stuart Lancaster looks on during the captain's run at Twickenham . Lancaster’s team face a tense afternoon as championship rivals Wales and Ireland play before they do . Defeat in Ireland dashed hopes of a clean sweep this year, but Hartley suggested that securing a title — which would earn the home players a share of a pay-out worth in excess of £2million — in front of a full house at Twickenham would be ‘lovely’. He added: ‘It would be the best achievement in an England shirt, no doubt. All we can worry about is winning the game and letting everything else take care of itself. Our fate is still in our hands. If we get it all right and win well, I don’t think other results will matter.’ Forwards coach Graham Rowntree acknowledged that England could ‘do with winning any championship, any trophy’ and believes a home team containing several novices can handle the high stakes. ‘We’ve got full faith in the guys,’ he said. ‘I think we’ve shown calmness and leadership. We trust the lads’ decision-making.’ England hooker Hartley is eager to secure a title in front of a full house at Twickenham . Hartley was a member of the side under Martin Johnson who claimed the trophy in 2011 . +Louis van Gaal has been deliberately antagonising his Manchester United players in training so that they learn to keep their cool in the white-hot atmosphere of Anfield on Sunday. United’s volatile clashes with Liverpool have produced 15 red cards in the Premier League — second only to the Merseyside derby — and Van Gaal has already seen Chris Smalling and Angel di Maria sent off in big games against Manchester City and Arsenal this season. The Old Trafford boss has been testing his players’ temperaments by giving incorrect decisions in training matches to wind them up. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has been deliberately antagonising his players in training . Van Gaal has been teaching them how to keep their cool in the white-hot atmosphere of Anfield on Sunday . ‘I am the referee in the games that we have had on the training pitch and I have whistled in the way that they have to control their aggression, and to prepare them for the atmosphere,’ he said. ‘And I have mentioned that to them after lunch. Control of emotion is also a talent.’ Sunday's meeting is set to be even more highly charged than usual with both teams competing for a Champions League place and just two points separating them in the Premier League table. United have a poor recent record away to Liverpool, winning just one of their seven games there. Typically, though, Van Gaal does not lack confidence as he prepares to take charge of a team at Anfield for the first time in his career. Van Gaal (left) goes head to head with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (right) on Sunday . Steven Gerrard pictured scoring against United in 2011 at Anfield, where they have a poor away record . England striker Daniel Sturridge will look to keep up United's poor recent away record at Anfield on Sunday . ‘It’s the most difficult ground for Manchester United, I have heard,’ he added. ‘But now I’m the manager here maybe we can change that.’ Meanwhile, Michael Carrick has signed a new one-year deal at United. The 33-year-old, who joined from Spurs for £18.6million in 2006, was due to be out of contract in the summer but the club have exercised an option to extend it by another 12 months. The England midfielder has emerged as a key figure under Van Gaal despite missing the first two-and-a-half months of the season with an ankle injury. Van Gaal said: ‘He is important. He can read the game as a player on the pitch so he can coach during the game.’ England midfielder Michael Carrick has signed a new one-year deal with Van Gaal's United . The 33-year-old Carrick has made 17 appearances for United this season following his ankle injury . +Martin Guptill became the first man to score a double hundred in a Cricket World Cup knockout match after propelling New Zealand to a massive first-innings lead in their quarter-final against West Indies. The 28-year-old batsman was dropped in the first over before going on to score 237 off 163 balls - including 24 fours and 11 sixes, of which one found the roof of Wellington's Westpac Stadium in the final over. After posting the highest individual score in a World Cup match, Guptill left his team in an extremely strong position to win as they reached 393 for six. Guptill was undoubtedly the star of the opening innings - but he was given an extra life in the very first over. Just three balls in, Marlon Samuels dropped the Aucklander and Guptill thanked him by finding the first of his many boundaries before Brendon McCullum fell for 12 runs, West Indies captain Jason Holden rising to the occasion to take a stunning catch at deep cover. Guptill then survived two appeals for lbw, chipping away at the attack in between times, and he remained in place after West Indies claimed their second wicket in the 16th over. Kane Williamson had put on 33 before falling to Andre Russell, whose wide delivery ended up with Chris Gayle at short cover. Meanwhile Guptill was moving towards his half-century and reached it with a single from the last ball of the 20th over to put New Zealand on 105 for two. Nothing could stop the Derbyshire batsman and after making his seventh ODI hundred he took off his helmet and saluted the roaring capacity crowd. His ton had been put together with a steady succession of fours but his first six arrived in the 36th over as he carted Darren Sammy to wide long-on. Guptill was perhaps guilty of ball-watching when Ross Taylor was run out for 42 but, despite the fact the mistake would likely be overlooked due to his heroics, he made sure to atone for it by reaching his second 150 in ODIs with a single off Sulieman Benn. Corey Anderson was then caught by an off-pace delivery from Russell, shuffling across to pull the ball across to Gayle at midwicket for 15. Guptill's double-ton was within reach and he wasted no time gunning for it, achieving his personal best of 192 with a four off Russell before partner Grant Elliott was dismissed on review. The South Africa-born all-rounder had bolstered Guptill's charge with 27 runs off 11 balls, including two fours and two sixes, but he was given out despite appealing Taylor's claim for lbw. Guptill ignored that disappointment to fire a four that brought him to 199 and the brink of greatness. Then, from the first ball of the 48th over, he drilled Russell's delivery to long-off for a four that made World Cup history. The Black Caps would lose Luke Ronchi (nine) before the break, courtesy of Taylor's yorker that ended up with Benn, but Guptill was uncowed and ploughed on to register a mammoth score of 237. Of the two sixes he hit in the final over, one travelled over 110 metres to end up on the roof of the stadium, and he left the field to a standing ovation. +Jonny Evans maintains he didn’t wilfully spit at Papiss Cisse – and would’ve been locked out of the family home if he had. The Manchester United defender reacted angrily during their 1-0 win at St James’ Park earlier this month, with television cameras seemingly catching him in the act. But Evans insists the altercations is not what it appears, even if the FA felt the need to slap him with a six-match ban. Newcastle's Papiss Cisse and Manchester United's Jonny Evans squared up at St James' Park . Both Evans and Cisse were charged and banned by the FA for spitting, but Cisse admitted the offence . ‘I can totally understand there is an image around that, and in the British game and our society it’s not something that is accepted, and rightly so,’ Evans told The Times. ‘But I was able to go home and look my mum and dad in the eye because if I’d genuinely spat at someone I think they would have been disgusted in me. ‘It’s not the background I come from in Northern Ireland. My mum and dad would have given me a rollicking if I had done that.’ Evans says his mum and dad would have been disgusted if he had 'genuinely spat at' Papiss Cisse . Cisse was handed a seven-match ban for a clearer spit in the aftermath, the additional game owing to a previous red card for the Magpies this season. Evans added: ‘I did not have the intent to spit at an opponent, so when the FA charged me with that I could never accept it. ‘To spit at anyone is one of the most disgusting things you can do; it’s low and it’s cheap. I would never think to spit at someone. You just look like an idiot.’ Cisse appears to wipe spit away from his eye after the altercation at St James' Park . +Don't get me wrong, I am not Marouane Fellaini’s biggest fan, but if Manchester United are to win on Sunday then he is going to have a big role to play. You would never have believed at the start of the season that he would become United’s go-to man but he has knuckled down, worked hard and is now one of Louis van Gaal’s most effective players. Here’s why... TARGET MAN . 2,251 - Burnley . 2,241 - QPR . 2,226 - Manchester United . United have played the third-most long balls this season, so this is not the skilful, free-flowing team of previous years. But with Fellaini it is an effective tactic. He has gone up for 115 aerial duels this season — far more than any other United man — and Crystal Palace’s Mile Jedinak is the only midfielder to win more headers per game. His power in the air is vital for providing knock-downs for the likes of Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata to collect. Liverpool must also track his runs into the box because United will try to find him as often as they can. Marouane Fellaini, pictured during training, has gone up for 115 aerial duels this season . Fellaini is a powerful player that has become a key part of Louis van Gaal's United team this season . POWER PLAY . One thing is for sure with Fellaini, you know you’re in a game with him. Martin Skrtel, Emre Can and Mamadou Sakho are big, physical players but they will have a battle on their hands. Fellaini gives away on average 2.1 free-kicks per game — that’s the fifth-highest rate in the league and shows you what a fighter he is. It’s not pretty, but it unsettles defences. United midfielder Fellaini will not be afraid to get physical with Liverpool's players at Anfield . TOUCH OF CLASS . Fellaini's game is not all about power. Like Peter Crouch, he’s portrayed as a bit of a Lurch when actually his technique is good. Just look at that controlled finish with his left foot to open the scoring against Tottenham. He might not be the creative genius to win United titles, but he has become a useful weapon for Van Gaal. Fellaini lets rip a shot with his left foot as he makes it 1-0 against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford . Fellaini has been a useful weapon for Van Gaal and was on form against Tottenham in United's 3-0 win . Fellaini celebrates his goal for United in this brilliant photograph taken by Sportsmail's Ian Hodgson . FORWARD THINKING . It was painful viewing last season seeing Fellaini play in a deep midfield role. David Moyes wanted him as protection for his defence, but Fellaini turns like a cruise liner and it was easy for teams to press him. Playing further forward, it doesn’t matter if he loses possession as there is no immediate danger and he can provide an attacking threat of his own. Fellaini has been allowed to play further forward for United under Van Gaal, unlike under David Moyes . ELBOW ROOM . Fellaini is a real nuisance player. He’s like a daddy longlegs — all arms and legs as he wrestles and grapples to get himself into position. He gets his elbows up high, which makes him very difficult to mark, and it’s hard to get players around him. It’s that physicality that would make me tempted to start Steven Gerrard on Sunday. Not for sentimental reasons, but because he would offer a vital shield against Fellaini’s threat. Head and shoulders: Fellaini is Van Gaal’s key player . Fellaini has become Van Gaal's key player and he will likely be a nuisance for Liverpool on Sunday . +Phone hacking at Mirror Group newspapers made the crimes of the News of the World look like a ‘cottage industry’, the High Court was told yesterday. Journalists at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People listened in to the private messages of celebrities on a ‘mass industrial scale’, it was claimed. Scores of celebrities including footballer Paul Gascoigne and actress Sadie Frost were targeted thousands of times. Hacking claims: Scores of celebrities including footballer Paul Gascoigne (left) and actress Sadie Frost (right) were targeted thousands of times . In a sign of the scale of the gross intrusion, one reporter is suspected of hacking about 100 people every day for 18 months. And a senior colleague was so desperate for stories he wanted to create an ‘Enigma-type’ code-breaking machine so he could access more messages. The details were revealed yesterday at the start of a civil claim brought by eight claimants, including Gascoigne, Miss Frost and BBC chief Alan Yentob. Details: A civil claim is being brought by eight claimants, including Gascoigne, Miss Frost and BBC chief Alan Yentob (pictured) Mr Justice Mann must assess the extent of phone hacking across the three titles and rule on the level of damages payable to each of the claimants. The newspaper group has already set up a £12million compensation fund. Last month it printed an apology for ‘unwarranted and unacceptable intrusion into people’s private lives’ in the decade up to 2009. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Sean Penn has revealed that he watches propaganda beheading videos published by ISIS out of a sense of moral responsibility. The actor said he chooses to bear witness to the gruesome clips, in which Americans, Britons and Kurds have been graphically slaughtered, because 'real violence' is often hidden from us. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said: 'The problem is we are not seeing enough of real violence. We are being anesthetized when you don't see the horror of war.' 'Real violence': Sean Penn, pictured left in his new film The Gunman, said he watches ISIS's propaganda videos showing hostages like James Foley, right, being beheaded . When asked whether he felt morally obliged to view the clips, he replied that he did. Penn said that the graphic reality of the murder videos counteracts 'political correctness', which has led upsetting images from conflict such as that in Iraq and Afghanistan from being kept off-screen. He also mentioned the ISIS clips in relation to his own new movie, The Gunman, which will feature graphic violence. Penn said that staged violence in movies and the real violence such as that being perpetrated in Iraq and Syria are not the same thing. Violence in movies: Penn made a point of differentiating fictional violence, like that in his new film, above, from real-life acts by the likes of ISIS . He said: 'Anyone who sees them [ISIS videos] and claims that they were anaesthetised by violent movies, that they weren't horrified by what they saw, on the most primal level, is intellectually dishonest or existentially unpresent.' Penn has voice his opinions about ISIS before - earlier this week he told Conan O'Brien that the terrorist organization was 'created' by George W Bush and Dick Cheney. Beginning with former Vice President Cheney, whom he called 'an embittered bacteria [sic] of humanity', he said: 'These are the guys, he and President Bush and some others, who invented Daesh, or ISIS.' The video ends with three ISIS fighters pulling out their knives and beheading their prisoner. Close up shots of the bloodied bodies are shown. He sarcastically added 'thanks for that'. Meanwhile ISIS continues to produce and distribute sickening videos of its barbaric executions. Its warped criminal justice system has given rise to footage of people thrown off buildings for being homosexual, and having hands amputated for other crimes. On Friday its latest beheading video was released, showing the killing of three Kurdish soldiers who had been taken prisoner. +Thibaut Courtois believes Chelsea's win at West Ham was the sort which showed they can be Premier League champions. Chelsea followed up last Sunday's Capital One Cup final victory over Tottenham with a 1-0 win at Upton Park to consolidate their five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City. Goalkeeper Courtois was integral to the success, secured by Eden Hazard's first-half header, making a number of key saves, and reckons the win was crucial in the title race. Thiabaut Courtois came to Chelsea's rescue on a number of occasions during 1-0 win over West Ham . The Chelsea keeper parries the the ball with his leg as Kevin Nolan closes in on goal . 'Those games define if you can be champion or not,' Courtois told Chelsea TV 'A lot of teams lose points here. It was a hard game and we came out with a victory. 'At this stage of the competition of the league an away win like this is really important to be champions in the end. Those games decide if you will be champions or not. If you lose points here then you know City is back at two points (behind). 'We did well, so we have to continue in that way and hopefully at the end of May we can lift the trophy.' The Belgium goalkeeper thinks the performance, just a few days after the Wembley win, shows Chelsea have the desire to add a first Premier League title in five years to their League Cup success. The Belgium keeper is congratulated by defender Gary Cahill and John Terry after the final whistle . Courtois dives low to his left to repel another effort at his goal by West Ham striker Diafra Sakho . 'The motivation is to be champions,' added Courtois, who won Spain's Primera Division last term while on loan at Atletico Madrid. 'Every player will be motivated if you know you're playing to win the title. Three days after Wembley, okay maybe for some players it's hard, but everybody showed that we are great professionals who, after winning a title, want more and more.' Courtois, restored after Petr Cech played at Wembley, saved Chelsea time and again as West Ham were thwarted. He has displaced Cech as first choice this term and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed on the eve of the match he would not stand in the Czech Republic goalkeeper's way if he asked to leave this summer. Courtois said: 'He's also one of the best keepers in the world. We train really well together. I can still learn from him. Maybe some things he can learn from me. Courtois praised rival for the No 1 spot Petr Cech and insists he is one of the best keepers in the world . Eden Hazard's header sails past Adrian to give Chelsea a vital three points at Upton Park . 'Obviously I prefer if the team plays well, we defend well and we don't need my saves. (But) I help the team like every other player.' Chelsea, out of the FA Cup, next play PSG next Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The Upton Park win was important for Chelsea after dropping points at home last time out in the league, according to Hazard. Hazard told Chelsea TV: 'Before the game we said after the draw against Burnley we needed to take three points away. After a bad result it's always good to win one game. Hazard leads the celebrations as Chelsea took another step towards winning the Premier League title . 'We had a lot of opportunities, they had a lot of opportunities. 'I scored with my head. It's not every game, but when I can, I close my eyes, I touch the ball and the ball goes in the net.' West Ham defender James Collins, who replaced Winston Reid (hamstring) after eight minutes, rued an opportunity missed. He told West Ham TV: 'We're disappointed in the changing room, to be honest. 'We thought we had the chances to get a point or even win the game. 'Earlier on in the season we were sticking them away, unfortunately at the minute we're not. 'We're in a good spot, we're 10th in the league, 39 points on the board and we've got some winnable games when we get going again. So we've got to kick on.' +Wayne Rooney is on course to break Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time goalscoring record at the club, but the Manchester United captain has struggled to find the net at the home of one their fiercest rivals. Ahead of Sunday's crunch clash at Anfield, Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal will be hoping his star striker can lead by example when United travel to Liverpool. Rooney was on target as United swept aside Tottenham at Old Trafford on March 15 - taking his league tally to 11 this season. Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal will be hoping Wayne Rooney can fire them to glory at Liverpool . Rooney (centre) scored in United's 3-0 win vs Tottenham on March 15 but has struggled at Anfield in the past . However, the 29-year-old's record at Anfield is a poor one during his time at United and at boyhood club Everton. In 10 appearances at the ground, Rooney has only managed to score once. That goal proved decisive though as United ran out 1-0 winners against Liverpool in January 2005. Since then however, the stats make for unimpressive reading for Van Gaal's talisman - with the forward having failed to score in his subsequent seven appearances at Anfield. Rooney has only scored once in 10 matches at Liverpool during his time at Everton and United . Rooney (left) celebrates his strike with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2005 as United won 1-0 at Anfield . Furthermore he has only produced two shots on target in total in those following matches and nine overall. Despite this, Van Gaal will be hoping Rooney can rediscover his goalscoring touch at Anfield as United battle for a place in the top four against Brendan Rodgers' side. Defeat for United would see them drop below Liverpool into fifth with just eight Premier League games remaining. Since that goal though, Rooney (centre) has failed to score in seven subsequent matches at Anfield . In additio, the 29-year-old has only produced two shots on target in total in those following matches . +A 40-year murder mystery has taken another dramatic twist with sensational new claims the victim's husband confessed to the triple killing on his deathbed. Queensland Police are investigating whether Bill McCulkin admitted shortly before he died in 2011 to killing his wife, Barbara, 34, and their two daughters, Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11. Mrs McCulkin and her daughters disappeared from their Brisbane home in January 1974, and have not been seen since. Scroll down for video . Barbara McCulkin (right), 34, and their two daughters, Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, disappeared in January 1974 . The case has become one of Australia's most enduring cold-case mysteries. But a major break may have come in the case recenty, when a witness to McCulkin's alleged confession gave a statement to police. Police are trying to reconcile inconsistencies between the supposed confession and the other clues in the investigation and the conclusions detectives have reached previously. McCulkin, a petty gangster, reportedly took up with another woman just two months before his former partner and her girls disappeared. He was initially a suspect, but was later cleared of being involved in the crime. Vicki McCulkin, 13, Barbara McCulkin, 34, and her sister Barbara, 11, in 1974 . Vince O'Dempsey (left) leaves Southport watchhouse in December 1989, and Billy McCulkin (right) outside court in 1980 . Leanne McCulkin (left) and Barbara McCulkin befor etheir disappearance and murder . The court was told the motive for the killings was allegedly that Barbara McCulkin knew too much about the gang’s involvement in the Torino’s Nightclub fire, according to the Courier Mail. Crown prosecutor David Meredith argued Barbara’s loose lips were proof of motive for murder. Dubois and O'Dempsey face three counts of murder and deprivation of liberty. They are due back in court later this month. Vincent O'Dempsey on his farming property before his arrest . Gary Dubois (left) was charged with the murders along with O'Dempsey (right) Dubois and O'Dempsey are believed to be linked to the The Whiskey Au Go Go Nightclub fire through their involvement with the Clockwork Orange Gang . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Martin Guptill became the first man to score a double hundred in a Cricket World Cup knockout match and propelled co-hosts New Zealand into the semi-finals as they claimed a 143-run win against West Indies. The 28-year-old batsman was dropped in the first over before going on to score 237 from 163 balls - including 24 fours and 11 sixes, one of which found the roof of Wellington's Westpac Stadium in the final over. The record-breaking innings, which was the second highest one day international score of all time behind Indian Rohit Sharma's 264, helped New Zealand to 393 for six. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Martin Guptill record highest-ever World Cup score of 237 . Martin Guptill's double century helped New Zealand beat the West Indies and reach the World Cup semis . Guptill becomes the first man to hit a double century in a World Cup knockout match . The Kiwi opener watches after hitting a massive six - one of 11 he struck during his innings of 237 . The West Indies' Jerome Taylor congratulates Guptill on his achievement at the end of the innings . Chris Gayle of the West Indies also added his congratulations after the history-making innings . In reply, West Indies were all out for 250 in 30.3 overs, with Trent Boult claiming four for 44 to become the leading wicket taker in the tournament. New Zealand will face South Africa in the semi-finals while Australia play India in the other match. It could have been so different, though, had Marlon Samuels held a the catch just three balls in which would have sent Guptill back to the pavilion. Guptill also survived two lbw shouts, but New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum had less luck at the other end as he fell for 12 runs. Kane Williamson had put on 33 before falling to Andre Russell, whose wide delivery ended up with Chris Gayle at short cover. Meanwhile Guptill was moving towards his half-century and reached it with a single from the last ball of the 20th over to put New Zealand on 105 for two. His ton had been put together with a steady succession of fours but his first six arrived in the 36th over as he carted Darren Sammy to wide long-on. Guptill was perhaps guilty of ball-watching when Ross Taylor was run out for 42 but, despite the fact the mistake would likely be overlooked due to his heroics, he made sure to atone for it by reaching his second 150 in ODIs with a single off Sulieman Benn. Corey Anderson was then caught by an off-pace delivery from Russell, shuffling across to pull the ball across to Gayle at midwicket for 15. Guptill's double-ton was within reach and he wasted no time gunning for it, achieving his personal best of 192 with a four off Russell before partner Grant Elliott was dismissed on review. Guptill ignored that disappointment to fire a four that brought him to 199, going on to drill Russell's first delivery of the 48th over to long-off for a four that made World Cup history. New Zealand celebrate after dismissing the Windies opener Chris Gayle for 61 runs . Darren Sammy gestures after falling over while batting during his innings of 27 . Trent Boult acrobatically fields off his own bowling as New Zealand bowled their opponents out for 250 . A swing and a miss for Andre Russell as Southee bowls him for 20 runs . The dismissal of Russell left the West Indies on 201-8, well shy of their target of 394 . Tim Southee reacts after dismissing Russell as the West Indies resistance crumbled in Wellington . Corey Anderson is congratulated by team-mate Brendon McCullum after taking the wicket of Darren Samm . Tuesday March 24 . New Zealand vs South Africa (Auckland) 1am . Thursday March 26 . Australia vs India (Sydney) 3.30am . Luke Ronchi departed for nine but Guptill held firm hitting a six which ended up on the roof of the stadium in the final over to wrap up his stunning innings. In reply, the West Indies stuttered, with Johnson Charles out for three in the second over before Lendl Simmons departed for 12 as they rocked on 27 for two. New Zealand's Ross Taylor dives to make a single during his innings of 42 . West Indies celebrate after Denesh Ramdin ran out Taylor to temporarily check New Zealand's momentum . Corey Anderson plays a shot - he made 15 runs before being caught by Chris Gayle off the bowling of Russell . Luke Ronchi shakes the hand of Martin Guptill after the opener reached his double century . Corey Anderson plays a shot as New Zealand race towards a massive total of 393 in the quarter-final . Trent Boult celebrates after bowling West Indies opener Johnson Charles for three runs . The West Indies bowler Andre Russell steams in during the quarter-final at the Westpac Stadium . Trent Boult celebrates with clenched fists after removing Denesh Ramdin for a duck . Samuels (27) applied a steadying hand with the free-hitting Gayle (61), but when the former was caught brilliantly by Daniel Vettori with a one-handed catch on the boundary, wickets again started to fall at regular intervals. Denesh Ramdin was the next man put, lbw by Boult for a duck before Gayle was clean bowled by Adam Milne. Sammy hung around for 16 balls for his 27 but after he and Jonathan Carter (32) were dismissed, West Indies were left hanging in on 173 for seven. Russell (20) and Jerome Taylor (11) put up little resistance with Jason Holder the last man out for 42. +Click here to read Matt Lawton on how the Liverpool boss put his faith in 3-4-3 . Liverpool have not suffered Premier League defeat since falling 3-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Sunday’s match at Anfield is a measure of how far they have come. United have been more hit and miss in that period, but still only lost twice in the league. They produced their best display of the season in the 3-0 victory over Tottenham. Plenty of players have improved, some have faded, while Brendan Rodgers and Louis Van Gaal have toyed with their systems. Here, Sportsmail looks at how a composite XI of the sides might take shape, choosing the 3-4-3 formation favoured by Liverpool to fit as many attackers in as possible. Why not. The Liverpool and Manchester United composite XI selected by Sportsmail . Goalkeeper – David de Gea . The outstanding goalkeeper in England and arguably the best in the world right now. Seems to pull off a save a real substance every game, offers good distribution, and exudes calm from his penalty box. David de Gea has been outstanding between the sticks for Manchester United this season . Centre-back – Chris Smalling . A surprise perhaps, but turned in one of his best games in a United shirt against Spurs. He was strong, brought the ball out with assurance, and picked a pass more than once. Chris Smalling produced one of his best performances of the season in United's win over Spurs last week . Centre-back – Michael Carrick . Not his ideal position but for want of excellent defenders could easily operate here. His anticipation and experience are valuable. A breathe of air to United’s team after returning from injury. Michael Carrick celebrates his goal in Man United's 3-0 win over Spurs at Old Trafford last weekend . Centre-back – Emre Can . Has blossomed in his converted role in Liverpool’s back three. Deceptively quick because of his hulking frame, and an excellent ball player. Emre Can . Right wing-back – Adam Lallana . Such a skilful player clever enough to function in a variety of positions. Offers energy and trickery down the flank and a threat when cutting in. Liverpool's Adam Lallana takes on Neil Taylor during last week's 1-0 win at Swansea City . Left wing-back – Ashley Young . Has enjoyed a really consistent season and seems to be growing under Van Gaal. A menace down the left n recent games with renewed drive and end product. Ashley Young rampages down the wing against Tottenham's Nacer Chadli during last Sunday's match . Centre midfield – Philippe Coutinho . Dazzling talent and goal threat from any range. The oil to make the midfield cogs roll seamlessly along and possesses the imagination to unlock defences in the final third. Philippe Coutinho celebrates after scoring Liverpool's opening goal against Southampton last month . Centre midfield – Jordan Henderson . The steely core to the team and the best-performing midfielder in England right now. Two stunning goals from distance in his recent back catalogue and a formidable mentality to seep across the side. Jordan Henderson celebrates his important winner for Liverpool against Swansea last Monday . Right wing – Raheem Sterling . Brings whippet pace to stretch defenders and is illustrating his flexibility by coping intelligently to requests by Rodgers for positional changes. An absolute terror at his optimum. Raheem Sterling takes on Swansea's Jack Cork during Liverpool victory at Swansea . Left wing – Daniel Sturridge . Has not yet burst to life since his comeback from injury, but offering enough glimpses to force his way into this imaginary line-up. A potent scoring danger and able to assist as well. Daniel Sturridge celebrates in hallmark fashion after scoring against West Ham at Anfield in January . Striker – Wayne Rooney . Back to his best as a snarling centre-forward, with five goals in his last six games, so let him continue there. Vast experience, vast ability and a ferocious desire to win. Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring United's third goal against Tottenham at Old Trafford last weekend . So six Liverpool players to five from United, eight Englishmen, and a team full of attacking intent. Marouane Fellaini would be first off the substitutes bench to offer a physical presence up front. +Manchester United will fail to qualify for the Champions League due to a difficult season run in, claim BT Sport's pundits. Owen Hargreaves, David James and Steve McManaman were on BT Sport ahead of Manchester City's match with West Brom and the trio all picked Chelsea as Premier League champions with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool completing their top four. However Louis van Gaal's side, who visit Anfield on Sunday afternoon, have been on a respectable run of recent form whereas neighbours Manchester City have faltered in their past nine matches. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal takes training on Friday ahead of facing Liverpool at Anfield . ‘Chelsea I think will finish top. They’ve strengthened their team better than anybody else and they’ll prove they’re the best, which they have been all season,' said Owen Hargreaves at the Etihad Stadium. Fellow pundit Steve Mcmanaman insisted Manchester City's three wins in their past nine games was only a blip and they'll finish at least second: . 'I think it will be a monumental slip of concentration and huge slip up from City, but I’m sure they’ll be fine,' McManaman told BT Sport. The BT Sport pundits on Saturday all predicted that Manchester United will fall short in the race for the top four . Here is the current form table but the BT Sport pundits think Manchester City will still finish second this season . However the BT pundits all declared that Manchester United will miss out on Champions League football again next season. Louis van Gaal's side face Champions League rivals Chelsea, Manchester City Arsenal and Liverpool before the season concludes. ‘Manchester United have the hardest run in of the lot. Before today (Saturday) I would have said that they would finish fourth but looking through all the fixtures, I really think it favours Liverpool,' added Hargreaves. 'As much as it pains me to say, I think they’re going to struggle to finish in the top four with those remaining fixtures.' The Liverpool players appear relaxed ahead of a crunch Champions League . Manchester United prevailed in the last fixture with Liverpool, winning 3-0 back in December at Old Trafford . Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool side host United on Sunday in what will surely be a pivotal clash in the race for the top four: . ‘ I completely agree with Owen. Manchester United’s fixtures are very difficult. Liverpool have a huge game tomorrow (Sunday). They’re at home, they have the advantage, they have the form,' said McManaman. 'If they win on Sunday I think it will cement them even more in the Champions League places. With their run in I think Liverpool will finish in the top four.' CHELSEA . Hull (away) - March 22 . Stoke (home) - April 4 . QPR (away) - April 12 . Man United (home) - April 18 . Arsenal (away) - April 26 . Leicester (away) - April 29 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 2 . Liverpool (home) - May 9 . West Brom (away) - May 16 . Sunderland (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER CITY . West Brom (home) - March 21 . Crystal Palace (away) - April 6 . Man United (away) - April 12 . West Ham (home) April 19 . Aston Villa (home) - April 25 . Tottenham (away) - May 2 . QPR (home) - May 9 . Swansea (away) - May 16 . Southampton (home) - May 24 . ARSENAL . Newcastle (away) - March 21 . Liverpool (home) - April 4 . Burnley (away) - April 11 . Sunderland (home) April 18 postponed . Chelsea (home) - April 26 . Hull (away) - May 2 . Swansea (home) - May 9 . Man United (away) - May 16 . West Brom (home) - May 24 . MANCHESTER UNITED . Liverpool (away) - March 22 . Aston Villa (home) - April 4 . Man City (home) - April 12 . Chelsea (away) - April 18 . Everton (away) - April 26 . West Brom (home) - May 2 . Crystal Palace (away) - May 9 . Arsenal (home) - May 16 . Hull (away) - May 24 . LIVERPOOL . Man United (home) - March 22 . Arsenal (away) - April 4 . Newcastle (home) - April 13 . Hull (away) - April 18 . West Brom (away) - April 25 . QPR (home) - May 2 . Chelsea (away) - May 9 . Crystal Palace (home) - May 16 . Stoke (away) - May 24 . TOTTENHAM . Leicester (home) - March 21 . Burnley (away) - April 5 . Aston Villa (home) - April 11 . Newcastle (away) - April 19 . Southampton (away) - April 25 . Manchester City (home) - May 2 . Stoke (away) - May 9 . Hull (home) - May 16 . Everton (away) - May 24 . SOUTHAMPTON . Burnley (home) - March 21 . Everton (away) - April 4 . Hull (home) - April 11 . Stoke (away) - April 18 . Tottenham (home) - April 25 . Sunderland (away) - May 2 . Leicester (away) - May 9 . Aston Villa (home) - May 16 . Man City (away) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. For a full list of Premier League fixtures and to check kick-off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant MATCH ZONE by clicking HERE. Games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to FA Cup . +Adorning a large section of a wall in the gym beneath Twickenham’s West Stand is a picture of the England team smiling for the cameras and showing off the Triple Crown. It was taken last year and the expressions worn by captain Chris Robshaw and his colleagues convey a genuine sense of pride. That silver shield has eluded the national team this year, following defeat in Dublin, but it is not the precious metal they covet anyway. On head coach Stuart Lancaster’s watch, the trophy cabinet has been kept stocked. In the course of three years, in addition to the Triple Crown, England have lifted the Calcutta Cup (annually), the Millennium Trophy, the Cook Cup and the Hillary Shield. The latter prize, for beating New Zealand in December, 2012, was received with special relish. Luther Burrell sets off on a run during training as England prepare to face France . But what the coaches and players really crave is a cup that conveys meaningful achievement, and at last that is within their grasp. Robshaw summed up the mood: ‘As a player you want to be picking up silverware. We've collected the odd bit here and there, but to pick up the main trophy would be great.’ The ‘main trophy’, newly commissioned, for winning the RBS 6 Nations is England’s for the taking. Success would also end a generation of under-achievement. It is staggering that the world’s wealthiest rugby country has had so little to show for so much effort and investment in the modern era. England won three of the first four RBS 6 Nations titles (2000, 2001, 2003) but since then have finished top just once in 11 seasons. So near, but so far has been the story of many English campaigns, not least under the current regime. Three times Lancaster’s men have finished runners-up, with four wins out of five. Wales (twice), and France have derailed the Sweet Chariot on its route to a Grand Slam. Everyone in the Red Rose camp has grown weary of the perennial talk about the need for ‘tangible’ reward, to use lock Geoff Parling’s apt phrase. Defeat by Ireland shattered the latest quest for a clean sweep to propel the host nation into their World Cup, but England are still in prime position in terms of the three-way title tussle. This year, four wins from five should be sufficient to clinch the trophy, which will be at Twickenham in anticipation of a coronation at about 7pm. There is a replica at Murrayfield, just in case Ireland run amok and beat Scotland with room to spare and leave England chasing a points-difference tally that proves beyond them. Meanwhile, in Rome, Wales will expect to benefit from the enforced absence of Italy captain Sergio Parisse but they would require French and Scottish resistance on an epic scale to take the title. The made-for-TV staggered schedule affords Lancaster’s side the luxury of a precise target but that could be a blessing or a curse. Being aware of the bigger picture could be a distraction for some England players, hence the coaches’ desire to burden only a select few with the main decision-making responsibilities. It will be up to Robshaw and his half-backs, Ben Youngs and George Ford, to set a patient tone once what is needed has been explained to the whole squad before their pre-match warm-up. The remarkable maturity of England No 10 Ford, at just 22, should be a telling asset on a day when the challenge is equal parts mental and physical. England's players look on in disbelief as Ireland clinch the 2014 Six Nations title by beating France . George Ford has shown a huge amount of maturity for some one who is just 22 . Philippe Saint-Andre’s France team do not boast glorious form, far from it, despite the emphatic 29-0 victory over Italy in Rome last weekend. Crucially, that game took place 24 hours after England beat Scotland and since then Les Bleus have had to fly home, patch themselves up and catch the Eurostar to London, while also dealing with the distraction of a club v country row over fly-half Camille Lopez. What the visitors will bring is physical presence. The French are massive but this English pack has dealt with all-comers in recent times, and the graduated return of Courtney Lawes and Parling in the second row should add dynamism and line-out nous to the mix. Nick Easter could have a big role to play coming off the bench for England . Courtney Lawes should add dynamism to England's back row . Behind the packs, England are more settled and threatening. Jonathan Joseph’s match-up with Gael Fickou will be intriguing, but only if the French threequarters are let off the leash. Ford can make holes in the Gallic defence but England cannot afford to be as wasteful as they were in beating Scotland. Replacements could also have a big say and England will look to the likes of Tom Youngs and Nick Easter to generate momentum, Tom Wood to provide physicality and leadership, and Richard Wigglesworth to make an impact with his astute kicking game. Whether or not Danny Cipriani and Billy Twelvetrees play a part in a points chase, time will tell. Amid the maelstrom, the primary demand from Lancaster will be for cool English heads. Robshaw should have plenty of leadership support, from Parling and a raft of club captains in the ranks: Joe Marler and Dylan Hartley, James Haskell and Ben Youngs. There may be several rookies in white, but there are also enough established players. Together, they can ensure that the plot is not lost and that the ‘main trophy’ is won. +Luis Suarez admits he had never even dreamed of playing in an El Clasico match before he sealed a move to Barcelona. But now, the 28-year-old, who arrived in Spain following a £75million move from Liverpool, is preparing for his first El Clasico at the Nou Camp. It's a game that could shape the La Liga title race this season and Suarez, who made his Barcelona debut against Real Madrid earlier in the season, is nothing but excited. Suarez revealed in an interview with Barca TV: 'I never imagined playing in El Clasico. I used to watch the games and look at photos and I used to say how incredible to play in it was. 'Now it's time to enjoy it and make the most of the moment. I was at the 5-0 game and the 1-1 draw in the Champions League (2010/2011). As a fan you enjoy it a lot.' Speaking about making his debut in Spanish football's biggest game, Suarez said: 'I was focused on my nervousness about coming back to play. Lionel Messi, Suarez and Neymar Jnr have netted 55 La Liga goals between them this season . 'Aside from it being El Clasico, it was important for me. I didn't enjoy it as you should enjoy El Clasico, let's hope I can do it this time.' Suarez has become an important part of a three-pronged attack at Barcelona since his arrival and has played some of the best form of his career. However, the Uruguayan striker remains self-critical and is only concentrating on being happy on the pitch and helping the squad. Suarez attempts to score past Manchester City's goalkeeper Joe Hart during a Champions League clash . Suarez said: 'I don't know if this is my best moment of form. I do know that I am happy, I feel like I am helping the team and that allows me to be relaxed. 'It isn't difficult to have an understanding with players of Barcelona's quality. 'But we have to continue in that vein, showing that we want to help the team and that nobody wants to steal the limelight, only to achieve big things.' Hart denies Suarez as the former Liverpool striker looks to score during the Champions League clash . +Aidy Boothroyd has selected his England under 20 squad for the forthcoming friendlies with Mexico and the United States. His 22-man group features a number of names who have impressed in the Sky Bet Championship this season, as well as some promising youngsters at Barclays Premier League clubs. The Young Lions play Mexico at The Hive, home of Barnet, on March 25 (7.45pm) before heading down to Devon to take on the USA at Plymouth's Home Park on March 29 (3pm). Chuba Akpom celebrates scoring during England U20's international with Holland back in October . Chelsea's Lewis Baker, currently on loan at Swindon, has also been selected . Among those picked by Boothroyd are Arsenal's Chuba Akpom and Chelsea duo Lewis Baker, currently on loan at MK Dons, and John Swift, playing for Swindon at present. The leading lights selected from Championship clubs include Derby's Kwame Thomas, Nottingham Forest's Ben Osborn and Alex Mowatt of Leeds United. Brentford defender Moses Odubajo and Derby midfielder Jamie Hanson are called up for the first time. 'It has been four months since we were last together and after an excellent start to a new team’s campaign we are now finding our players dotted around the Football League and Premier League, which will only add to their experience when they play for England,' said Boothroyd. Derby forward Kwame Thomas has also been selected for the matches with Mexico and the United States . Nottingham Forest's Ben Osborn (right) is also named in the 22-man squad for the double-header . Alex Mowatt of Leeds United, here tackled by Fulham's Scott Parker, is also named in the squad . 'We are now looking forward to building on that momentum with the double-header against USA and Mexico. 'Our opponents this March have been carefully selected as we continue to provide the players with a full and varied development programme. 'Both USA and Mexico will be competing in the FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand, and both fixtures promise to be challenging encounters for us. Each challenge will require maximum concentration and discipline from every player. Another invaluable lesson for them in their future careers.' Tickets for both games are still on sale now, priced at £3 for adults and £1.50. Call 0208 381 3800 for tickets at the Hive, and 0845 872 3335 for the game in Plymouth. Goalkeepers: Christian Walton (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland) Defenders: Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Moses Odubajo (Brentford), Dominic Ball (Cambridge United - loan from Spurs), Baily Cargill (AFC Bournemouth), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jordan Turnbull (Swindon Town - loan from Southampton), Harry Toffollo (Swindon Town - loan from Norwich City) Midfielders: Harrison Reed (Southampton), Jack Barmby (Leicester City), Jack Stephens (Swindon Town - loan from Southampton), Jamie Hanson (Derby County), Lewis Baker (MK Dons - loan from Chelsea), Matty Grimes (Swansea City), Ben Osborn (Nottingham Forest), Alex Mowatt (Leeds United), John Swift (Swindon Town - loan from Chelsea) Forwards: Callum Robinson (Preston North End - loan from Aston Villa), Chuba Akpom (Arsenal), Kwame Thomas (Derby County), Chris Long (Brentford - loan from Everton) +Arsenal for the title? That extraordinary possibility cannot now be batted away as pure whimsy after Olivier Giroud’s prolific goal run continued, inspiring his side to overcome Newcastle. This win doesn’t merely cement Arsenal’s top-four place but gives Chelsea and Manchester City above them reason to look over shoulders with increasing concern. Giroud’s goals came within a four-minute first-half spell, the first off his thigh, the second from a header. They take the 28-year-old’s recent tally to nine goals in nine games in all competitions. He also has eight in six games against Newcastle since his £10million move in summer 2012 from Montpellier. Olivier Giroud gives Arsenal the lead in the 28th minute as he diverts Danny Welbeck's header into Newcastle's goal with his left thigh . Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul can't get to the ball as Giroud's effort heads towards the bottom corner of his goal . The French striker celebrates his first goal of the game with team-mates Gabriel Paulista and Welbeck (right) at St James' Park . Newcastle: Krul 6, Ryan Taylor 6.5, Janmaat 6.5, Williamson 5.5, Colback 5.5, Anita 5 (Gutierrez 72), Sissoko 7, Gouffran 6, Cabella 7, Ameobi 5.5 (Armstrong 89), Perez 7 . Subs not used: Elliot, Obertan, Riviere, Satka, Kemen . Goal: Sissoko 48 . Booked: None . Arsenal: Ospina 7, Chambers 6, Gabriel 6, Koscielny 6.5, Monreal 5.5, Ramsey 7, Coquelin 7, Sanchez 6 (Flamini 71), Welbeck 6.5 (Bellerin 89), Cazorla 6.5 (Rosicky 71), Giroud 8 . Subs not used: Szczesny, Gibbs, Walcott, Mertesacker . Goals: Giroud 24, 28 . Booked: None . MOTM: Giroud . Referee: Mike Jones 7 . Attendance: 50,544 . *Player ratings by Chris Wheeler at St James' Park . Giroud opened the scoring for Arsenal - click here for more in our Match Zone . Newcastle were a distant second best in the first half but were impressive after the break, testing Arsenal’s mettle as Moussa Sissoko gave them a consolation. The upshot is Arsenal are just a point behind City and four behind leaders Chelsea, albeit with Chelsea having two games in hand. Chelsea remain odds-on favourites to win the title race. Rightly. But whisper it: this is a race now of sorts, a contest at least, with the season’s biggest prize remaining a feasible for more than one team, for now. ‘Chelsea at the moment I feel have enough [of a ] cushion to be serene,’ said Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger, asked about his side’s title chances. ‘Chelsea have too much security.’ But asked if his players believe they can now cause what would be an amazing upset, he added: ‘We are in a fight right until the end. We will keep on fighting.’ Wenger’s counterpart John Carver said: ‘Until they scored the two goals I thought we were in it. But we conceded from two set plays and that’s disappointing.’ Leaving aside the two-legged exit to Monaco in the Champions League, things have been going Arsenal’s way of late. They have won 14 of their last 16 games, and all six of their last six games. That is title-challenging form and their eight Premier League fixtures to come offer the tantalising opportunity to advance their own cause while damaging those immediately around them. Giroud holds off his marker to head Arsenal into a two-goal lead just four minutes after opening the scoring . Francis Coquelin (left) and Calum Chambers (right) congratulate Giroud following his second goal of the afternoon . Giroud, who now has nine goals in his last nine games in all competitions, salutes Arsenal's travelling supporters after the final whistle . Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko finishes a cross from Remy Cabella to get John Carver's side back into the match . Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina can only watch helplessly as Sissoko's effort nestles into the bottom corner of his goal . Sissoko points to the sky as he celebrates scoring Newcastle's first Premier League goal since February 28 . Their next game is at home to Liverpool in a fortnight before a trip to Burnley. After that comes what could prove to be a pivotal showdown against Chelsea — at the Emirates. They then play at Hull, at home to Swansea and at Manchester United before finishing with back-to-back home games against Sunderland and West Brom. Newcastle, relatively safe but unremarkable in mid-table continue to frustrate their fans — although they came flying from the blocks in the second half. Carver brushed aside any suggestion his team are free-wheeling. ‘In the second half we took the game to them and we can take a lot from that,’ he said. ‘We’re not on the beach in flip-flops, that’s for sure.’ Arsenal found fertile territory down the right, winning a series of set-pieces. Santi Cazorla’s free-kick found Alexis Sanchez on the left and his shot was blocked by Ryan Taylor. Another Cazorla cross was aimed at Giroud but Tim Krul gathered it. Then came the free-kick that broke the deadlock, Cazorla delivering to Danny Welbeck, whose flicked head-on fell into the path of Giroud, off whose leg the ball flew in. Wales international Aaron Ramsey brings the ball down under pressure from Newcastle defender Mike Williamson . Newcastle forward Yoan Gouffran (second from left) attacks a corner as Welbeck and Giroud help out the Arsenal defence . Two-goal hero Giroud is left grimacing in a heap on the floor after a challenge by a Newcastle player . Newcastle forward Perez smashes the post in the second half as Chambers and Coquelin attempt to block his shot . Two minutes later it was 2-0, with Cazorla again the provider, this time from a corner. Giroud was being ‘marked’ by Mike Williamson, or rather Williamson was standing next to him as the ball came in. Giroud did not even need to launch himself from the ground to meet the ball with his head, simply leaning forward to steer home. Newcastle responded with a hat-trick of chances in 40 seconds. Sammy Ameobi’s left-footed shot was blocked, as was Sissoko’s shot, and then Remy Cabella’s header. After the break their urgency increased still further. They reduced the deficit after Taylor and Cabella exchanged passes, and Cabella crossed to Sissoko, who converted. Newcastle’s tails were up and Ayoze Perez twice unleashed powerful shots that went narrowly over. Yoan Gouffran then shot straight at David Ospina before Williamson tested the Arsenal keeper properly with a header. Ospina made a brilliant reaction save with his legs from Perez four minutes from time to keep Arsenal’s lead intact — and a dream run at the title still viable. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger gives out instructions to his players during his side's sixth successive Premier League victory . Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez (left) drives into Newcastle's box as midfielder Vurnon Anita tries to stay with him . Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez and Arsenal defender Gabriel battle for the ball in the air during the first half . Newcastle boss John Carver tries to tackle Arsenal forward Welbeck during a feisty second half at St James' Park . Welbeck shields the ball from Gouffran as Arsenal keep up the pressure on Manchester City and Chelsea at the top of the table . Colombia international Ospina pulls off a save at point blank range to deny Newcastle a goal at St James' Park . Newcastle midfielder Cabella desperately attempts to block a cross from Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey . +Douglas Costa will spark a transfer scramble this summer with Shakhtar Donetsk ready to sell their prized-asset. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is a known admirer of the Brazil international having tried to land the midfielder in the previous transfer windows. Shakhtar chiefs are now open to selling Costa this summer and talks with third parties over his departure are underway. Brazil international Douglas Costa is set to depart Shakhtar Donetsk for £25million in the summer . Midfielder Costa (left) could spark a bidding war from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona . The 24-year-old Costa wants to remain playing for a Champions League side and is open to a move to England . And the Ukrainian side hope to spark a bidding war for the midfielder in attempt to maximise his transfer fee, with a starting price of £25million. Costa is open to joining a Barclays Premier League club, but wants to be playing Champions League football. However, a host of Europe's top sides will also be in the running to land Costa this summer, Real Madrid and Barcelona among them. Arsenal have had Costa watched extensively, while Manchester United and Liverpool have both been linked with a move. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is known to be an admirer of the midfield player Costa . Costa has dual Brazilian and Portuguese nationality, removing any potential work permit problems . Chelsea are set to lead the charge for the 24-year-old having tracked the Brazil international for two years. Despite playing for Brazil, Costa has dual Portuguese nationality so should not face work permit issues. +Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho no longer feels the need to implement a 'confrontational leadership' style with his players because their season is going largely to plan. The 52-year-old Portuguese returned to Stamford Bridge for his second spell in charge last season but got off to a disappointing start by his own high standards and failed to win any silverware in 2013-14. This season, however, Chelsea have already won the League Cup and boast a six-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed he has ditched his 'confrontational leadership' style . The Portuguese tactician insists he has had no reason to 'provoke' his players during the current campaign . 'This season I don't need confrontational leadership - last season I felt I needed it a few times,' Mourinho told reporters. 'Basically, it's when you are ready to provoke your players to try to create some conflicts with the intention to bring out the best of them. 'In this moment I don't think I need that with this group because things are going in the direction I want.' It has not been all smooth sailing for Mourinho this season, however, as Chelsea were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One (third tier) Bradford City and were eliminated in the last-16 of the Champions League by Paris St Germain. 'Obviously you can say "but you lost in the Champions League", or "you lost against Bradford",' Mourinho said. Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard has matured into a 'great player', according to Mourinho . 'But globally, generally, the way they work, the way they behave, the way they live together, their motivations, their responsibilities, their frustrations, the way they react to the negative moments, the way they react to the positive moments, the absence of complacency, all this is going well. 'So I just need to be present. I don't need to be a big leader, or even try to find strategies as a leader.' Belgian forward Eden Hazard felt the wrath of Mourinho's 'confrontational leadership' style last season after neglecting his defensive duties during Chelsea's Champions League semi-final exit to Atletico Madrid. Hazard, however, has been Chelsea's standout player this season but Mourinho said he is unsure if the 24-year-old's development is down to the criticism he received. 'I don't know if it was that or it was his maturity coming, his level of ambition,' he said. 'I just think that was a natural evolution. 'He wants to be the best, to improve his game, score more goals. I still call him a kid but he's a man. He's a great player.' +Barcelona's first team stars looked like they had an extra spring in their step as they put the final touches on preparations for their crucial match against Real Madrid. Spirits appeared to be high as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Co were put through their paces by Luis Enrique, who sported a pair of black sunglasses during the training session. La Liga leaders Barcelona go into the top-of-the-table clash at the Nou Camp on the back of a 1-0 win against Manchester City. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi (right) shares a joke with his Barcelona team-mates during the training session at Joan Gamper . Luis Suarez (left), pictured with Messi (centre) and Gerard Pique (right), will be hoping to lead his side to victory against rivals Real Madrid . Barcelona boss Luis Enrique sported black sunglasses during the session as he put his players through their paces . Ivan Rakitic netted in the 31st minute to pile misery on the Barclays Premier League champions and ensure Barcelona booked a place in the Champions League quarter-finals. Enrique's side would have won by a bigger scoreline if it wasn't for the outstanding Joe Hart. Messi heaped praise on Hart following his side's progression to the next round: 'He was phenomenal, he stopped everything. 'We have to congratulate him on a great game because he's a fantastic goalkeeper.' Jordi Alba was thrown in the air during the training session as he celebrated his 26th birthday on Saturday. Barcelona are just one point ahead of Real Madrid going into the second El Clasico of the season. Real defeated Barcelona 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu back in October when Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Karim Benzema scored after Neymar's fourth-minute opener. Brazil international Neymar jokes around with Barcelona team-mate Suarez ahead of the crunch match at the Nou Camp . Enrique (right) shares a word with Barcelona defender Martin Montoya (left), who is still suffering from a fractured cheekbone . Barcelona left back Jordi Alba (centre) was thrown in the air by his team-mates as he celebrated his 26th birthday on Saturday . Sergio Busquets will be hoping to feature against Real Madrid after missing his side's last three games with an ankle injury . Neymar, who is likely to start in a three-pronged attack alongside Suarez and Messi, was all smiles during the session . Brazilian duo Neymar (left) and Dani Alves (right) joke around before taking part in the session ahead of their upcoming La Liga clash . +Vincent Kompany insists that Manchester City are still in the title hunt for the Premier League title after their convincing 3-0 win over 10-man West Brom at the Etihad. There was controversy in the first minute as Gareth McAuley was mistakenly sent off by referee Neil Swarbrick for a foul committed by Craig Dawson, before Wilfried Bony opened his City account with a powerful finish. Fernando and David Silva completed the scoring in the one-way tie that saw City close the gap between themselves and Chelsea to three points, and Kompany thinks his side can keep up the pressure on the leaders, who have two games in hand. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany challenges West Brom striker Saido Berahino at the Etihad . 'There was nothing to win today for us, we just had to do a good job and we didn't fail. We will take confidence out of this game,' he told BT Sport. 'We just focus on ourselves now.' 'There's eight games left so we've got 24 points to aim for. I think we've won nine or 10 on the spin already this season, of course we can do it but that gives us no guarantees that we will win the title.' Bony added: 'It was an important goal. Today it was very important to win. We did well today to get the win.' Wilfried Bony opened his account for the club when he scored a fine solo goal after 25 minutes . Fernando gets down on his knees to celebrate scoring City's second goal five minutes before half-time . David Silva raises his arms in celebration after touching in a shot by Stevan Jovetic for City's third . +Seven days on from their Grand Slam-ruining wobble in Cardiff, this was transmission impressively resumed by Joe Schmidt’s Ireland. The proud performance wasn’t without imperfection but their way more direct, full of running approach was enough for them to surpass the points target set by Wales earlier in the afternoon. Then it was all eyes on England before the result at Twickenham brought confirmation that Schmidt’s side could party like it was 1949 all over again – the last time the country won back-to-back championships. The Ireland players celebrate as they are crowned Six Nations champions after England failed to beat France by the 26 points they needed . Captain Paul O'Connell holds aloft the Six Nations trophy at Murrayfield after Ireland were crowned champions for the second consecutive year . The Irish squad celebrate their Six Nations success as fireworks are set off from within Murrayfield following England's win . Irish fans celebrate their side winning the Six Nations after watching England beat France 55-35 at Twickenham . Sean O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try during the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield . No one can begrudge them their triumph. With just four tries scored this term, this tricky away assignment had become even trickier in the hours before kick-off, as Wales’ runaway win in Rome meant Ireland required a 21-point win to reclaim the top spot which they had initially lost to England last weekend with defeat at the Millennium Stadium. That would have considerably heightened the pressure to deliver but they were largely unfazed, throwing off the shackles and looking a side emboldened by finesse and hungry for scores. Meddling Scotland initially refused to go along with Ireland’s best intentions. They may have offered up a dozen turnovers and bled on the penalty count by a rate of 12 to six, but they were still combative to a degree despite getting held scoreless in a second half where Ireland dominated territory. They came close, mind, rallying well during Geoff Cross’ sin-binning and knocking on just metres short. Even then they sent Irish hearts a flutter, believing they had scored in the corner with only minutes left only for the TMO review to prove Jamie Heaslip had excellently shunted the ball from Stuart Hogg’s hands before he grounded. It was superb scrambling, an appetite which epitomised Ireland’s attitude in comprehensively winning an entertaining battle played out on a fast track vastly superior to the state of previous pitches laid at Murrayfield. Ireland players celebrate at the end of the match at Murrayfield before later being crowned Six Nations champions . Scotland's Finn Russell is tackled by Ireland's Conor Murray and Rory Best during their Six Nations rugby match at Murrayfield stadium . Ireland rectified many of the issues that had affected them last weekend, buoyancy greatly helped by a tonic start. Referee Jerome Garces turned a blind eye to a scrum collapse, telling Conor Murray to play the ball. He did, Johnny Sexton looping with Jared Payne before sending Tommy Bowe haring through the gap, a linebreak that eventually resulted in Paul O’Connell going over off the side of a Rob Kearney ruck. Sexton added the conversion and a 10th minute penalty before Scotland finally found their legs and a series of errors led to a Greig Laidlaw penalty riposte before the momentum swing was pierced by penalty-winning breakdown foraging by Rory Best. With Luke Fitzgerald, shining in his first start in four years, linking well with Kearney, Ireland pounced for their second try on 24 minutes after well-worked set-piece. Best threw to the rear, Devin Toner gathered and his slick transfer before landing resulted in Sean O’Brien stepping Dougie Fife to score. Sexton converted for a 14-point lead, just seven short of the all important Wales target, but there was quickly a painful reminder that there was still much work to do to even win this game first. O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try during the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield . Kearney failed to deal with a grubber kick send his way and the spilled possession led to a three-on-one overlap numerous phases later where Robbie Henshaw couldn’t prevent Finn Russell nabbing the try converted by Laidlaw. It was another example of Ireland getting exposed on their righthand side off quick ruck ball, as France and Wales scored this way and England nearly did so too in the final minute in Dublin. They now needed to better mind themselves and a scrum collapse allowed Sexton to grab the 20-10 advantage they took with them to the break. The out-half added another five minutes after the resumption and then ushered in Jared Payne under the posts on 50 minutes after another metre-eating maul had eaten away at the Scottish defence. Sexton added the extras, 20 points was now the margin and Ireland were now level with Wales’ points difference but on tries scored. Scotland: 15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Dougie Fife, 13-Mark Bennett (Visser), 12-Matt Scott (Tonks), 11-Tommy Seymour, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Greig Laidlaw (Hidalgo-Clyne 56); 1-Ryan Grant (Dickinson 29), 2-Ross Ford (Brown 52), 3-Euan Murray (Cross 11), 4-Jim Hamilton (Swinson 52), 5-Jonny Gray, 6-Adam Ashe (Harley 56), 7-Blair Cowan, 8-David Denton . Replacements: 16-Fraser Brown, 17-Alasdair Dickinson, 18-Geoff Cross, 19-Tim Swinson, 20-Rob Harley, 21-Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22-Greg Tonks, 23-Tim Visser . Ireland: 15-Rob Kearney, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Jared Payne, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-Luke Fitzgerald, 10-Jonathan Sexton (Madigan), 9-Conor Murray (Reddan 79); 1-Cian Healy (McGrath 54), 2-Rory Best (Cronin 61), 3-Mike Ross (Moore 45), 4-Devin Toner (Henderson 61), 5-Paul O'Connell (captain), 6-Peter O'Mahony, 7-Sean O'Brien (Murphy 72), 8-Jamie Heaslip . Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Jack McGrath, 18-Martin Moore, 19-Iain Henderson, 20-Jordi Murphy, 21-Eoin Reddan, 22-Ian Madigan, 23-Felix Jones . Referee: Jerome Garces . Touch judges: Pascal Gauzere (France) & Federico Anselmi (Argentina) TMO: Graham Hughes (England) Scorers: . Scotland – Try: Russell. Cons: Laidlaw. Pen: Laidlaw . Ireland – Try: O’Connell, O’Brien (2), Payne. Cons: Sexton (3), Madigan. Pens: Sexton (4). Scotland's Jonny Gray wins line out ball during the Six Nations rugby match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh . Ireland's O'Brien and Devin Toner get away from Scotland's Gray during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at the Murrayfield Stadium . Ireland's O'Brien scores a try during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield Stadium . Despite their growing dominance, it wasn’t until the 62 minute that they managed the score that put them top of the pile. Sexton inexplicably hit an upright with a close-in ruck penalty, a shocking aberration which indicated the high stakes involved. He then missed another, kicking wide to the right from the 10-metre line after Cross was yellow carded. However, with uncontested scrums now required during the replacement prop’s absence, Fitzgerald probed off a set-piece to offer Sexton another glimpse of the target and he was third time lucky. He then signed off with cramp after the kick-and-chase that closed down Greig Tonks to win the lineout that engineered O’Brien’s 72nd minute try, the back row demonstrating great agility to stretch out beyond Alasdair Dickinson and ground. Hogg’s near-miss followed, as did a penalty miss from Ian Madigan, before all eyes switched to England. +Harry Arter scored his second wonder goal in five days as Bournemouth stepped up their bid to reach the Barclays Premier League with an emphatic 3-0 win over Middlesbrough. Arter's powerful 20-yard strike early in the second half was sandwiched between penalties from Yann Kermorgant and substitute Brett Pitman as Bournemouth leapfrogged Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship table to assert their claim for automatic promotion. Newly called up by the Republic of Ireland, Arter also showed his quality with a stunning goal in Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Cardiff. Harry Arter celebrates his brilliant strike that gave Bournemouth their second goal against Middlesbrough . The Cherries were on the front foot for the majority of the tussle against a team that began the day in second place, and Kermorgant could have put Eddie Howe's men in front in the second minute. Middlesbrough goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos made a good save low to his left to deny the French striker. Callum Wilson's pace created problems for the visitors' defence all afternoon and it was Bournemouth's leading scorer who won the first penalty, as he was bundled over by Tomas Kalas. Kermorgant stepped up and coolly drove the 12th-minute spot-kick into the right corner of the net. The first half was played at a frenetic pace and Bournemouth could have been further ahead at the interval. Yann Kermorgant places a penalty during the first half to set Bournemouth on their way to victory . Matt Ritchie had a drilled effort blocked by the back of George Friend in the 26th minute, before Kermorgant's well-struck volley was saved by Konstantopoulos. Ritchie forced the Middlesbrough goalkeeper back into action again in the 31st minute, but his left-footed effort was easily held. Middlesbrough were unable to truly test Artur Boruc in the first 45 minutes. Their best chance came on the half hour when Adam Reach flicked Patrick Bamford's cross into the hands of the Poland goalkeeper. Bournemouth came out after the break with the same attacking intentions as the first, with Tommy Elphick having a close-range header saved almost immediately after the restart. Arter doubled the Cherries' lead in the 48th minute, with his fine curling left-footed effort going in off the inside of the left post. Brett Pitman celebrates after netting a penalty for Bournemouth's third goal in the win over Middlesbrough . Bamford felt he should have had a penalty in the 58th minute after being pulled in the box by Steve Cook, but referee Anthony Taylor disagreed. Middlesbrough thought they had got a goal back in the 68th minute, but Bamford's header was disallowed as he came from an offside position. Bournemouth won their second penalty of the game in the 74th minute as the lively Arter surged forward into the Middlesbrough box before being pushed in the back by Albert Adomah. Pitman fired past Konstantopoulos to make it 3-0 and seal a priceless win. Bamford had the chance to get a consolation goal for Middlesbrough with four minutes to go, but his free-kick went just over the bar. +The makeshift presentation area at the Palazzo di Venezzia and the standby winners’ press conference were all in vain. Wales recorded their second biggest RBS 6 Nations victory under Warren Gatland but - after bolting ahead in the three-horse race thanks to a George North hat-trick - they watched the trophy painfully slip out of their one-handed grasp. It was a scintillating second-half display at the Stadio Olimpico. Italy were chewed up and spat out, while Wales feasted like old emperors of Rome. Gatland’s side will take face from the performance and, looking ahead to the World Cup, the Kiwi rounded off the competition with no anxieties about September’s pool of death. Liams Williams celebrates after crossing over to score one of Wales' second half tries during a stunning display at the Stadio Olimpico . Wales wing George North crosses over for Warren Gatland's side as he managed a sensational second half try hat-trick out in Rome . Jamie Roberts opened the try account for Wales early in the first-half as Samuela Vunisa (centre) and Mauro Bergamasco (right) watch on . ITALY XV: McLean, Sarto, Morisi, Masi, Venditti, Haimona, Gori; Rizzo, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Biagi, Furno, Minto, Bergamasco, Vunisa . Replacements: Manici, Alberto De Marchi, Chistolini, Geldenhuys, Barbieri, Palazzani, Orquera, Bacchin . Tries: Venditti, Sarto . Conversions: Orquera . Penalties: Haimona,  Orquera . WALES XV: Halfpenny, North, Davies, Roberts, Williams, Biggar, Webb; Evans, Baldwin, Jarvis, Charteris, Jones, Lydiate, Warburton, Faletau . Replacements: Owens, Gill, Andrews, Ball, Tipuric, Davies, Priestland, Williams. Tries: Roberts, Williams, North (3), Webb, Warburton, S.Williams . Conversions: Biggar (6) Penalties: Halfpenny (2), Biggar . ‘We won’t be going into the World Cup with any fears of not qualifying from our group,’ said Gatland. ‘We will improve as we spend time together and there is no fear about playing England at Twickenham, or Australia. We can go there with some real confidence and belief that we can get out of our group. ‘You have sides ranked fourth, fifth and sixth in the world, so that shows how tough it is to get out of that group. Fiji with preparation will be tough as well and it’s unfortunate that you are going to have one of the big teams not making the quarter-finals. That’s what has happened but we are confident we can get out of that group and progress to the quarter-finals.’ Italy, meanwhile, will be easy meat at the World Cup if they do not improve their flaky blue line of defence. They provided easy pickings in the second half, although that should not detract from Wales' ambition and enterprise shown after the half-time break. It was a stark contrast to the opening 40 minutes, when the visitors’ inexperienced front-row were shown up by the Azzurri pack. Italy had been slated, written off and identified as whipping boys, yet they came out growling in the national anthems and would have been in front at the break, had it not been for a Dan Biggar penalty on the stroke of Chris Pollock’s whistle. ‘It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, it’s difficult to put a team away in the first half,’ said Gatland. ‘We were under some pressure at the scrum and Italy slowed the game down. It was hard for us to get tempo, but I thought we were very, very good when we started playing a bit more positively.’ The experienced Martin Castrogiovanni, back in the Italian front-row after being bitten on the nose by a dog, caused problems at the set-piece and carried hard in the early exchanges. All the talk in the Roma bars had been about not whether Wales would win in Rome, but how many points they could put on their second-rate opponents. There was an instant Italian retort and – after Wales were penalised for using blockers to help Luke Charteris at the kick-off – Kelly Haimona kicked the hosts to an unexpected lead. Wales had to steady the ship and so they did, with a penalty through the ever-reliable Leigh Halfpenny. Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny receives treatement after a nasty collision forced him off the field of play at the Stadio Olimpico . Martin Castrogiovanni (centre) rides the challenge of Luke Charteris (left) as Italy hosted Wales in the Six Nations final day . Parity; a chance for Wales to start again, although that was not the case. Italy were supposed to be short on spirit after the withdrawal of skipper Sergio Parisse, although their was no lack of belief during the early blows. Haimona left the pitch with a broken wrist but Luciano Orquera took over the kicking and edged his side back in front with a 10th minute penalty. There was little on show that would give Ireland or England much to fear. Jamie Roberts and Giovambattista Venditti exchanged scores and Wales went into the break with an unconvincing one-point lead. They had lost Leigh Halfpenny to concussion and their title ambitions were looking bleak. But then, out of nowhere, the flick switched and the lights started flashing red. Italy capitulated and Wales turned up the heat. They upped the tempo and – with Sam Warburton and Alun-Wyn Jones working tirelessly up front – the backline started to fire. Rhys Webb turned down a kick at goal for a tap penalty, finding Liam Williams on a cute inside line to open the floodgates. The banks of the River Tiber were imploding and Andrea Masi was sent to the sin-bin. Within 10 second-half minutes, North had completed his hat-trick, drawing on his pace to finish two out wide and his power to finish a third through the middle. It was the sort of rugby that viewers have been craving throughout this year’s competition. It lacked of edge-of-seat intensity of the defensive phases against Ireland, but would give the southern hemisphere nations a run for easy-on-the-eye viewing. George Biagi followed Masi to the sin-bin and, powering over from the back of a maul, Webb edged the scoreline towards 50 points. Scott Williams reaches out to add another try as Wales put in a sensational second half performance to crush Italy in Rome on Saturday . Wales wing George North stampedes through a challenge from Giovanbattista Venditti to score a third try in the second half . Wales unleashed their loaded bench, with Gareth Davies, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Priestland all making a late impact; after Scott Williams had been introduced early as a replacement for Halfpenny. Finishing off a break from just outside the Welsh 22, Warburton darted under the posts to move his side past the half-century mark, before Scott Williams finished off another fine move to leave the organisers questioning their decision to send the trophies to Twickenham and Murrayfield. Wales had done what they came to do. They had achieved the mammoth scoreline and the celebratory drinks were on ice. They pushed for one last try but, out of nowhere, Leonardo Sarto crashed the party. The Italian winger broken downfield for a late try, with the score confirmed by the TMO. i’It was probably a 14-point swing in terms of the points difference,’ said Gatland. With Wales missing out on the title by a handful of points, it proved to be a costly mistake. The lucky Wales fans who made the trip to the Stadio Olimpico were treated to a masterclass of rugby in the second half in Rome . Jamie Roberts launches himself at Luciano Orquera (left) as the Wales side cruised to a comprehensive win in the Six Nations . Wales' Sam Warburton scores a try during the Six Nations demolition of Italy in the 61-20 victory at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday . Warburton yells in delight having scored a second-half try for Wales as Warren Gatland's side ran riot with 47 unanswered points . The victorious Wales players applaud the travelling fans in Wales after Gatland's men kept their Six Nations title dreams alive . The Wales squad congratulate each other having put in a sensational display to thrash Italy 61-20 in the Six Nations . +Ronald Koeman has had worse birthdays. On the same day he turned 52, Southampton kept themselves in the hunt for European football, and it was gift-wrapped by Burnley themselves. Shane Long’s first strike in the Barclays Premier League since November and an own goal by Jason Shackell did the trick against a Burnley team threatened with being sent back to where they came from last season. As for Southampton it will take some doing to get rid of them. Just when Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United thought Champions League qualification was primarily a scrap among themselves, this served as a reminder. Shane Long opened the scoring with his first goal in the Barclays Premier League since November . Long celebrates putting Southampton ahead in the 37th minute against Burnley on Saturday . Southampton (4-2-3-1): Forster 6 (K. Davis 14, 7.5); Clyne 6, Fonte (c) 6, Alderweireld 6, Bertrand 8; Schneiderlin 6, S. Davis 6.5; Mane 6.5, Tadic 6 (Wanyama 46, 6), Long 7.5; Pelle 6.5 . Subs not used: Yoshida, Gardos, Djurcic, Ward-Prowse, Elia . Manager: Ronald Koeman 7 . Goals: Long (37), Shackell (OG 58) Booked: NONE . Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton 6; Mee 6, Schakell (c) 5, Duff 5.5, Trippler 6; Barnes 6 (Wallace 82), Arfield 6, Jones 5.5, Boyd 6.5; Vokes 6.5 (Jutkiewicz 74, 6), Ings 5.5 (Sordell 88) Subs not used: Gilks, Kightly, Keane, Reid . Manager: Sean Dyche 6 . Goals: NONE . Booked: NONE . MATCH RATING BY KIERAN GILL AT ST MARY'S STADIUM . Jason Shackell's own goal at St Mary's.Click here for our match zone service . ‘The boys gave me the best present for my birthday,’ said Koeman, who was serenaded by the St Mary’s crowd with their rendition of Happy Birthday. ‘A good win. An important win. Three points. Nice present.’ Yet it was horribly tense at times, as it should be against a team fighting for their Premier League lives. Burnley, fresh from beating Manchester City last week, made the Saints sing for their supper. Southampton moved to within a point of Liverpool, albeit a game ahead, and did so without Fraser Forster, the keeper with the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season. No sooner had the game got started than it was interrupted when Forster, named in Roy Hodgson’s England squad this week, had to be carried off on a stretcher after 14 minutes following an innocuous challenge by Sam Vokes. There was nothing in it as the Burnley striker tried to block the goalkeeper’s clearance but Forster was replaced by the 38-year-old Kelvin Davis, and Koeman does not think he will be able to feature for England this month. Burnley shot themselves in the foot in the 58th minute when Jason Shackell diverted Ryan Bertrand's cross into his own net . Burnley defender Jason Shackell looks dejected after scoring an own goal against Southampton . Yet Southampton made do without Forster, and Long settled their nerves on 38 minutes. A deflected low drive by Nathaniel Clyne from the right corner of the penalty area somehow found the unmarked forward at the back post. A simple tap-in was all that was required, and the Irishman obliged. Southampton have dropped just two points from winning positions this season — fewer than any other team — but this was scrappy, to say the least. Graziano Pelle should have scored, and passed the dreaded 1,000-minute mark in the Premier League since his last goal. He hit the crossbar from close range, produced air-kicks, had headers saved, and his luck never improved. ‘The first half was a little bit more difficult. We had good chances to score more than one goal,’ Koeman added. ‘There was good movement, good attacking, good chances. ‘Pelle was a little unlucky, but he was working hard. That’s what you have to do if you don’t score. Your team-rate is important.The goals will come,’ insisted Koeman. It was a good win.’ The game died when Burnley shot themselves in the foot in the 58th minute. Ryan Bertrand had been a nuisance throughout, and his cross led to an outstretched knee by Burnley defender Shackell turning Ryan Bertrand’s cross into his own net under no pressure. Southampton, then, remain in the race, and the seemingly impossible remains possible. Southampton keeper Fraser Forster was injured after 14 minutes following an innocuous challenge by Danny Ings . Referee Roger East checks on a stricken Forster in the penalty area . Forster was carried off on a stretcher after colliding with Burnley striker Ings . Forster was replaced by 38-year-old substitute goalkeeper Kelvin Davis on Saturday . Burnley keeper Thomas Heaton saves bravely at the feet of Graziano Pelle . Burnley striker Sam Vokes controls the ball at St Mary's Stadium . Burnley's Ashley Barnes dives in to tackle Southampton's Nathaniel Clyne . Southampton manager Ronald Koeman was serenaded by Saints fans on his 52nd birthday . Burnley manager Sean Dyche shows his frustration as his side went down to defeat at Southampton . +Crystal Palace match-winner Wilfried Zaha was all smiles as Stoke City blamed referee Andre Marriner for losing a hard contest compared to rugby Six Nations by victorious manager Alan Pardew. Zaha, who has been ordered by manager Alan Pardew to cut out his 'little sulks' after an inconsistent season, completed Palace's first top-flight victory at Stoke since 1979 with the winner on the stroke of half-time. It completed a comeback victory for the visitors but Stoke will felt badly let down by two key decisions having taken an early lead through Mame Biram Diouf. Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha (far right) celebrates with Glenn Murray after scoring against Stoke City . Zaha beat Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to the ball to put Crystal Palace in the lead just before the interval . The former Manchester United man is congratulated by his Crystal Palace team-mates following his third goal of the season . STOKE CITY (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6; Cameron 6, Shawcross 6, Wilson 5.5, Pieters 5.5; Adam 7.5, Nzonzi 6; Diouf 7, Ireland 6, Arnautovic 7; Crouch 6.5 (Walters 78) Subs not used: Butland, Bardsley, Wollscheid, Sidwell, Teixeira, Whelan . Goal: Diouf 14 . Booked: Begovic, Adam, Pieters . CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1): Speroni 7; Ward 6, Delaney 6, Dann 6.5, Souare 6 (Kelly 70); McArthur 7, Ledley 6; Zaha 7 (Gayle 81), Puncheon 6, Bolasie 6: Murray 7 (Ameobi 86) Subs not used: Hennessey, Mariappa, Hangeland, Sanogo . Goal: Murray (pen) 41, Zaha 45 . Booked: Zaha, Souare, Gayle . Referee: Andre Marriner 4.5 . Star man: Charlie Adam . Attendance: 27,532 . Wilfried Zaha scored the winning goal past Asmir Begovic - click HERE to see more of our brilliant Match Zone . First, Asmir Begovic was harshly adjudged to have brought down Yannick Bolasie as Glenn Murray levelled from the spot after 41 minutes. Then, as Stoke chased an equaliser in the second half, Joel Ward got away with blocking Diouf's sot with his arms. Zaha, left out of Gareth Southgate's England Under 21 squad this week, earned a standing ovation from the noisy Palace fans when he was replaced late on. They are now 11 points above the bottom three and assured of another season in the Premier League. Pardew, whose side are now above his old club Newcastle in the table, said: 'Wilf had a hard game. The Stoke left back Erik Pieters is a player I tried to sign, he is aggressive and Wilf struggled at times. But he still managed to have his moments. 'The whole game was a physical but fair. It was almost like a Six Nations game at times in terms of its toughness.' Stoke boss Mark Hughes was justifiably angry at the two key decisions that went against his side. 'When you see the replay for their penalty, the lad Bolasie has got his foot up high above Asmir, that is why Asmir missed the ball. But the referee deemed it a penalty. It was a key moment and Andre Marriner missed a lot of things. 'The handball (by Ward) was arguably the best save of the match, he has got two hands on it for heavens sake. How that isn't given, I don't know.' Stoke goalkeeper Begovic was adjudged to have fouled Yannick Bolasie during a colision inside the penalty area . Begovic was shown a yellow card by referee Andre Marriner after he was adjudged to have brought down Bolasie . Murray scored from the penalty spot to put Crystal Palace back on level terms following Mame Biram Diouf's opener . Murray, pictured with James McArthur, celebrates his side's equaliser after scoring past Begovic from 12 yards . Pardew's last visit to the Britannia in September with Newcastle United had ended in defeat and calls for his head. He had an inauspicious start again when Charlie Adam's 14th minute free-kick ran through a disorganised Palace defence to Diouf who scored from close range. The Londoners have won 18 points from losing positions – a Premier League best – and they did it again. The early signs weren't good when Zaha, ordered to smile more by Pardew, shoved Geoff Cameron after a strong challenge from the American and was booked. But spirits changed when the equaliser arrived. Bolasie chased a long pass from James McArthur and crashed into Begovic. Stoke were furious the goalkeeper was penalised but Murray ignored the fuss by smashing the spot-kick into the roof of the net. Improbably, Palace then went ahead when Murray flicked on Speroni's clearance and Zaha accelerated past two defenders to shoot past Begovic. His smile must have looked more than a million dollars to chairman Steve Parish as it effectively guaranteed Premier League survival. Speroni made great saves from Diouf, with his face, and the excellent Adam as Stoke chased an equaliser. And Diouf reacted furiously when his shot was blocked illegally by Ward. Crystal Palace striker Murray sent Begovic the wrong way by placing the ball to the Stoke goalkeeper's right . Diouf, pictured with fellow Stoke striker Peter Crouch, put his side in the lead during the 14th minute . The Stoke striker celebrates his goal in acrobatic fashion as he flips in the air after scoring past Julian Speroni . Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni was unable to keep out Diouf's opener despite driving to his left . Former Manchester United striker Diouf, pictured celebrating, scored his 10th goal of the season against the Eagles . James McArthur is bullied off of the ball by a combination of Charlie Adam (left) and Steven N'Zonzi (right) Stoke midfielder Marko Arnautovic shares words with Crystal Palace right back Joel Ward during the Barclays Premier League clash . Stoke midfielder N'Zonzi turns away from Crystal Palace playmaker Jason Puncheon to maintain possession for his side . Alan Pardew celebrates with Bolasie following Crystal Palace's win against the Potters at the Britannia Stadium . Eagles boss Pardew salutes the travelling Crystal Palace fans before making his way off the pitch . +The new Rangers regime have suspended Derek Llambias, Barry Leach and Sandy Easdale from the club’s football board pending an investigation. The move against the last remnants of the old order at Ibrox came four days after Dave King and his allies swept to power with an emphatic EGM victory. That shareholder vote saw chief executive Llambias and finance director Leach – associates of Mike Ashley - removed from the PLC board. Sandy Easdale was not a PLC director but had been chairman of the football board. It’s understood all three are no longer welcome to visit Ibrox. Chief executive Derek Llambias (left) has been suspended by Rangers 'pending an investigation' Details of the investigation under way have not been disclosed, but King pledged last Friday to take a thorough look into how the business had previously been run and to examine contracts already in place. Leach was last month criticised after a disparaging remark about the Three Bears consortium – who made a rival funding offer to Ashley’s £10million loan - appeared in leaked minutes of a meeting with the Rangers Fans Board. The consortium then called for Leach to ‘become subject to his employers disciplinary processes and ultimately dismissed for gross misconduct’, adding that ‘it is our view that he has brought the club into disrepute’. A statement from Rangers yesterday confirmed the suspensions and the new make-up of the football board. Dave King's new era post-Mike Ashley (left) has started with direct action to the board of directors . ‘Rangers Football Club announce today that Derek Llambias, Barry Leach and Sandy Easdale have been suspended from their duties pending an investigation,’ it said. ‘It is also noted that Mr Llambias and Mr Leach, along with Sandy Easdale, have been advised that a resolution to remove them as directors of the Company has been received by the Company. A meeting may be required for this purpose but it is hoped that this will not prove necessary. ‘Acting Chairman Paul Murray, fellow directors Douglas Park and John Gilligan, and the Club’s Head of Football Administration Andrew Dickson have been appointed to the Board of the Company.’ In response, Easdale’s spokesman insisted they were ‘surprised’ at the announcement, adding: ‘We also note that they talk about an investigation. Sandy Easdale welcomes that as he has absolutely nothing to fear.’ The development came as Rangers beefed up their new-look PLC board, with the appointment of London-based financial businessman John Bennett – once a member of the Blue Knights consortium - and Rangers Supporters Trust spokesman Chris Graham as non-executive directors. Solicitor James Blair – of Rangers First - has also been announced as company secretary to further recognise the work done by the two main fan ownership groups. Kyle Hutton (right) challenges for the ball during Rangers' disappointing 0-0 draw at Cowdenbeath . Bennett and Graham join Murray, Gilligan and Park on the PLC board. King has delayed his own appointment but intends to become chairman subject to gaining ‘fit-and-proper’ approval from both the financial authorities and the SFA. Sandy Easdale’s brother James was previously a PLC director but resigned along with chairman David Somers prior to last week’s EGM. Llambias and Leach still have executive contracts with Rangers and were viewed by King and his allies as being Ashley’s representatives on the board. The Newcastle United owner - fined £7,500 by the SFA earlier this month for breaching ‘dual interest’ rules – retains a grip on the Ibrox club’s retail operations via his Sports Direct firm. +Former Barcelona manager Gerrardo Martino believes Lionel Messi is a dream player to work with because he can play in almost any attacking position. Messi famously played in the 'false nine' spot for four years at Barcelona when Pep Guardiola, who now manages Bayern Munich, was in control of the Catalan club. The Argentinian has taken up the No 10 role under manager Luis Enrique on occasions this season, but has also been deployed in wider roles to form a three-pronged attack with Luis Suarez and Neymar. Lionel Messi weighs up his options with Barcelona teammate Neymar during the game with Manchester City . Messi celebrates after scoring during the La Liga match between Eibar and Barcelona at the Ipurua stadium . Martino, who is a coach for Argentina, knows all about the 27-year-old having worked with both on the international and domestic scene and admits Messi is effective in almost every attacking role. 'For a long time we haven't seen him be as absolutely crucial as he was against Manchester City on Wednesday,' the coach told Mundo Deportivo. 'He can play on the right, left, as a No.9, behind the striker, or even as a No.4! He is able to make the difference anywhere on the pitch.' Messi looks to take on Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart during their Champions League clash . Messi reels away in celebration having scored against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey semi-final . Martino also admitted it is often best to give him as much freedom in his role as possible, he said: 'Sometimes, it is logical that by analysing a player one thinks it is better to play him in one place or another, but then, if he is good, you can be more flexible. 'The reality is that his effectiveness is down to him rather than where he is put on the pitch by the coach.' Messi takes on Manchester City's Belgian international Vincent Kompany at the Nou Camp in Barcelona . The Argentinean wizard skips on by Manchester City's Fernandinho with ease at the Nou Camp . +A mother-of-three in New Mexico has been arrested after she was caught on camera allegedly cheering on her middle-school-aged daughter during a violent fight with another girl. In a video filmed by another student, Nicole Morlan, of Albuquerque, can be seen encouraging her daughter to violently fight the other girl. At one point in the video, filmed on Tuesday, a teacher tries to break up the girls but is instead punched and dragged to the ground. Scroll down for video . Nicole Morlan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, after cheering on her middle-school-aged daughter as she violently fought another girl . In a video filmed by another student, the girls can be seen hitting one another violently as Morlan stands by cheering. A teacher stepped in to break up the fight but is punched and pushed to the ground . And while the teacher is dragged down with the girls, Morlan stands a few feet away cheering on her daughter. People in the video can be heard shouting things like 'beat the s**** of her' and 'drop her'. Her daughter, known on Facebook as Obey Faith Chavez, said in a comment on KOAT's Facebook page that her mother was teaching her to stand up for herself. She said that her mom taught her 'a lesson that I'll never forget', which was 'to stand up for myself' and have a voice. Morlan is seen in the video wearing a striped sweater and following the girls around as they pummel one another . The girls involved in the fight were disciplined and Morlan was banned from school property for a year . Police said the two girls in the video had fought earlier in the day before things turned violent, according to WPTV. Morlan was arrested shortly after the fight and face two felony charges and a count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. If the mom is convicted she could face thousands of dollars in fines and jail time. The girls were also disciplined and Morlan was banned from school property for the rest of the year. Moreland was later arrested and faces two felony charges and a count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. If convicted, she could face thousands of dollars in fines and jail time . +A 94th-minute goal by substitute Martyn Waghorn rescued a Sky Bet Championship point for Wigan Athletic in a 1-1 draw at home to Bolton, who looked as though they were going to pull off the classic smash-and-grab. The home side had dominated for the vast majority of the contest, only to fall behind 20 minutes from time when Tom Walker's shot was deflected past a helpless Ali Al Habsi for the opener. It was a crushing blow for a Wigan side that had hit the bar in the first half through James Perch, had a Leon Clarke goal chalked off for offside and seen Marc-Antoine Fortune fluff a relatively straight-forward heading chance. A 94th-minute goal by substitute Martyn Waghorn rescued a point for Wigan Athletic against Bolton . But they stuck to their task in the second period, and after Ben Amos had denied Jermaine Pennant with a stunning stop, the goalkeeper then tipped a Clarke header on to the bar as well as clawing away a Sheyi Ojo effort. It looked like time would run out on Wigan, but in the fourth of five added minutes, Waghorn equalised with a goal that could yet save their season. Wigan had started the game on the front foot, with Bolton content to play on the break. And the visitors showed their threat inside the early exchanges when Adam Le Fondre led a breakaway only for Gaetan Bong to save the day in the nick of time. Wigan were getting the ball wide at every opportunity to wingers Josh Murphy - making his full debut - and Pennant. But it was through the middle that they nearly broke the deadlock, with Perch's 30-yard effort beating Amos only to hit the bar and come back out. The ball fell invitingly for Clarke, but the striker's header was weak and straight at Amos. Wigan XI: Al Habsi, Boyce (Kvist - 78), Maguire, Pearce, Bong, Pennant (Ojo - 67), Kim, Perch, Murphy, Fortune (Waghorn - 78), Clarke . Subs not used: Carson, Taylor, McKay, Cowie . Goals: Waghorn 90 . Booked: Maguire . Bolton XI: Amos, Mills, McCarthy, Ream, Feeney, Trotter, Bannan, Rocha (Vela - 55), Walker (Moxey - 82), Le Fondre (Davies - 68), Heskey . Subs not used: Bogdan, Dervite, Gudjohnsen, Twardzik . Goals: Walker 70 . Booked: Davies . At the other end, Walker could not make the most of Liam Feeney's cross, and the same player was unable to make amends moments later when he fired past the post. Former Wigan man Emile Heskey had a great opportunity to open the scoring on the half-hour mark but his free header from a corner flashed past the upright. Latics ended the half on a high and should have taken the lead when Murphy's pinpoint cross found Fortune, whose header from point-blank was straight at Amos when either side would surely have brought about the opening goal. Wigan did have the ball in the net right on half-time through Clarke, but the striker looked well offside and the flag was up on the far side. The home side picked up where they left off after the restart, and a Pennant free-kick bound for the top corner was superbly clawed out by Amos. Pennant then had time and space in the box to pick his spot on the edge of the area, but his shot hit Clarke and was hacked away to safety. The visitors won a couple of corners but they were virtually non-existent as an attacking force, with Wigan asking all the questions. But with 20 minutes to go, the unthinkable happened and Wanders took an undeserved lead in extremely fortuitous circumstances. Walker's shot from distance took a massive deflection off a defender, completely wrong-footing Al Habsi and rolling into the net to the delight of the packed away end behind the goal. Credit goes to Wigan for the way they stuck to their task, and Amos produced another fabulous stop to deny substitute Ojo before Clarke saw a header tipped on to the bar by the goalkeeper. It looked as though Bolton were going to hold on for all three points before, in the fourth added minute, Waghorn sent an overhead kick in off the bar to rescue a point for the hosts. +Well, they want continuity and stability at Sunderland. It was perhaps fitting, then, that Dick Advocaat marked his first game in charge with a defeat, a fourth in six matches to leave the Black Cats perilously perched one point above the drop zone. Not even the re-introduction of top goalscorer Adam Johnson – on as a second-half substitute after the club lifted his suspension following his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with an under-age girl – could inspire a side who have won just once in 2015. Gus Poyet paid for that run with his job this week, but Advocaat must repair those ruins if his own CV is not to be stained with a first relegation in 28 years in the dugout. Diafra Sakho scored a late winner to earn West Ham all three points against Sunderland in the Premier League encounter . Sakho struck from a tight angle in the 88th minute to earn his West Ham side all three points against Sunderland . The Senegalese striker shot past Santiago Vergini and into the bottom corner in the dying minutes . Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon watches on in despair as Sakho finds the bottom corner of his net late on . Stewart Downing and James Collins celebrate a hard-fought victory for West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday evening . Indeed, the Dutchman suggested on Friday that he was ‘relegation proof’. Let’s hope he is also immune to criticism, for without wins the honeymoon period will expire far quicker than his nine-game contract. Advocaat, though, might have celebrated victory on his Premier League bow had former Hammer Jermain Defoe not spurned a first-half sitter. The home fans were jeering him before that miss. Their cheers were laced with irony by the time he was substituted on 88 minutes after a dire display. Within 30 seconds of his exit Diafra Sakho was showing Defoe how to locate the back of the net as he smashed an uncompromising winner. It would have made for painful viewing for Defoe and Advocaat, especially as there was a strong suspicion of a foul on Seb Larsson seconds before Sakho hammered his 12th of the season to lift Sam Allardyce’s side to ninth. West Ham: Adrian 6.5, Jenkinson 6, Collins 6, Kouyate 6, Cresswell 6.5, Song 6.5, Noble 6, Downing 5.5, Nolan 6 (Nene 80), Jarvis 5 (Cole 46, 6), Sakho (O'Brien 90). Subs Not Used: Demel, Amalfitano, Jaaskelainen, Poyet. Goals: Sakho 88. Sunderland: Pantilimon 6.5, Reveillere 6, O'Shea 7, Brown 5 (Vergini 12, 6), Van Aanholt 6.5, Gomez 6, Larsson 6, Rodwell 6, Fletcher 6 (Johnson 73, 6), Defoe 5 (Graham 88), Wickham 7. Subs Not Used: Jones, Bridcutt, Mannone, Watmore. Booked: Wickham. Att: 34,914 . Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 5. Diafra Sakho scored a late winner for West Ham, which is shown by our graphic from match zone. CLICK HERE FOR MORE . Adam Johnson made a return to the Sunderland first-team squad as he took up a place on the bench . Johnson came off the bench in the 73rd minute in place of Steven Fletcher after the club lifted his suspension . And Advocaat said: ‘The luck was not on our side. Everybody saw it (the foul) and not the referee, but I do not want to complain. ‘I can take confidence from that performance. If Defoe scores they have to take more risks and we would have got more space. It was a chance and a player of his quality should at least hit the target. ‘But I did not expect the goal from West Ham because everything was under control.’ Allardyce agreed with his opposite number. ‘It was probably a foul but it’s about time something went for us,’ he said. ‘In the end it was a devastating decision for Sunderland because we scored on the back of it. ‘But I thought we deserved to win. We’re heading for the best points total we’ve had since we’ve been back in the Premier League. You can’t ask for more than that.’ For Advocaat, this is no time for hard-luck stories and the 67-year-old needs to draw on his experience – even though none of it is in the English top-flight – to avoid the ignominy of a first demotion. He did answer one career-long criticism with his first team selection, three strikers in the starting XI a rebuttal to those who suggested the defensive-minded coach would try to spoil his way to survival. Dick Advocaat was an animated figure on the touchline in his first match in charge of the Black Cats . Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe takes on West Ham's Cheikhou Kouyate on his return to Upton Park . Sunderland's Jack Rodwell holds off the challenge from West Ham United midfielder Alex Song . West Ham midfielder Mark Noble turns away from Sunderland's Jordi Gomez and looks for a pass . Two of those frontmen combined in the seventh minute to carve the game’s first opening. Defoe scampered down the right wing before locating Connor Wickham who, 18 yards out, controlled eloquently on his chest before smashing a volley down the throat of Adrian, the Spaniard fisting to safety. Steven Fletcher – the third of Advocaat’s attacking trio – then sprung Defoe clear with a headed flick but the former resident failed to silence the locals as he spooned woefully wide. Advocaat wore a pained expression at the passing of what was the sort of chance Defoe would have dispatched in his pomp. And he would have looked even more horrified had Sakho’s header – from Aaron Cresswell’s whipped centre – bounced inside the post rather than inches wide with Costel Pantilimon beaten. It had not taken long for Advocaat to vacate his dugout earlier in the half and the Little General spent the bulk of the opening period barking orders from the touchline. He had promised to run on the pitch and reprimand any players who did not adhere to his instruction, and Jack Rodwell was very nearly the first to incur his wrath when one pass was jettisoned straight out of play. And he might have been tempted to bolt on and drag Defoe from the action within minutes of the second half when a promising attack broke down following a feeble back-heel from the forlorn frontman. Johnson eventually emerged to warm up just after the hour mark and was predictably the subject of taunts. Sunderland defender Wes Brown had his match cut short early as he was forced off injured . Brown hobbled off in the 12th minute and was replaced by Santiago Vergini at Upton Park in the Premier League clash . Sunderland forward Jordi Gomez evades a challenge from West Ham's Cameroon midfielder Song . But the home fans soon forgot about his presence amid the injustice of the refereeing error which cost them a penalty and a certain red card for Santiago Vergini. Carl Jenkinson loaded a deadball forward from his own half and John O’Shea inadvertently flicked on to Kevin Nolan, lurking in the six-yard area. The Hammers skipper, however, was denied a strike on goal by Vergini’s man-handling act but the flag was up for offside, the assistant having mistaken O’Shea’s head for that of a home player. But West Ham did enjoy a spot of good fortune seconds before Sakho’s winner when Larsson was flattened by Nene. It was Advocaat, however, who was left feeling flat. +Manny Pacquiao has been training hard recently, so it’s hardly surprising he replaces the many thousands of calories he burns with a big feast. The Filipino star looked relaxed as he took his mind off his upcoming $300million (£200m) mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr with a family meal. It’s a little over six weeks before the duo go head-to-head in Las Vegas and the 36-year-old has again stepped up his training in recent days, this time sparring for the first time with partners Edis Tatli and Kenneth Sims Jnr. Manny Pacquiao enjoys a well-earned family feast as Filipino fighter takes his mind off upcoming mega-fight . Pacquiao has been training hard ahead of his $300million (£200m) mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr . Tatil, a Finnish lightweight, has lost just once in 25 fights while Sims has fought just five times but his style has been likened to Mayweather's. 'After 13 days of strength and conditioning and boxing drills at Wild Card plus weeks more of working out in the Philippines in February, it was great to finally put on the headgear and spar,' Pacquiao said. Pacquiao appeared without a care in the world as he continued preparations for Mayweather earlier this week . Manny Pacquiao headed for the playground after his workout in Los Angeles at the start of the week . Outside of the ring, Sky Sports are expected to be declared the winners of the bidding war for the television rights to the mega-fight. Sky has been in fierce competition from Frank Warren’s BoxNation channel, but are believed to be on the brink of securing the richest fight in ring history. Sky Sports are expected to be declared the winners of the bidding war for television rights to the mega-fight . +Moses Odubajo hit a stoppage-time equaliser to deny Millwall a precious three points in their bid to avoid relegation from the Sky Bet Championship. The Lions looked set to collect their first win in nine attempts - and their first under interim boss Neil Harris - as they led 2-0 through goals in each half from Lee Gregory and Aiden O'Brien. But Brentford, also desperate for points at the other end of the table to maintain their promotion bid, pulled one back through Alex Pritchard's penalty before Odubajo snatched a 2-2 draw at the death. Moses Odubajo celebreates as he hits a stoppage-time equaliser to deny Millwall a precious three points . Millwall, looking revitalised since former striker Harris took over from Ian Holloway earlier this month, threatened first after just two minutes when Ed Upson found Martyn Woolford, whose shot from the edge of the box was parried by David Button. Brentford almost went ahead after 15 minutes through a glancing header from Spanish midfielder Jota, but the ball cannoned back off the crossbar. And in the 28th minute Millwall got their noses in front when Gregory latched on to Upson's long ball over the top, rounded Button and fired into an empty net from 15 yards. It was the former Halifax striker's sixth goal of the season and, tellingly, only Millwall's 14th away from home during a troubled campaign. Brentford: . Button Odubajo Dean (Smith - 71') Tarkowski Bidwell Douglas Peleteiro Ramallo Pritchard Diagouraga (Toral - 71') Dallas (Judge - 60') Gray . Substitutes: Craig McCormack Bonham Toral Judge Smith Long . Millwall: . Forde, Cummings, Nelson, Hooiveld, Harding, O'Brien (Taylor-Fletcher - 77) Williams, Abdou, Upson, Woolford, Gregory . Substitutes: Fabbrini Beevers Gueye Archer Taylor-Fletcher Maierhofer Philpot . Brentford poured forward in search of an equaliser before half-time but found Lions keeper David Forde in inspired form, the Irishman tipping a Stuart Dallas curler over the top, blocking a header from Jonathan Douglas and turning Pritchard's free-kick around the post. Brentford continued in the same vein after the interval but Andre Gray fired over and Sid Nelson bravely blocked Jota's shot. And the Bees were hit by a sucker punch midway through the second half when O'Brien played the ball out to Woolford, continued his run forward and nodded the winger's lofted cross into an empty net from a yard out for his first senior goal. But Brentford were offered a lifeline with six minutes remaining when Woolford tripped Alan Judge in the area and Pritchard rifled home the penalty. And in the first minute of injury time, with Millwall pegged back in their own penalty area, right-back Odubajo fired through a crowd of players to snatch a dramatic equaliser. There was still time for substitute Gary Taylor-Fletcher to win it for Millwall, but the striker's shot flew agonisingly wide to leave the Lions players with their heads in their hands. +For those with nerves of steel, this brand new 325-foot tall roller coaster is the ultimate adventure ride. Slated to open on March 28 at the Carowinds Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, the mega-coaster, called Fury 325, sure lives up to its name. It's so intense, in fact, that it's even been dubbed a gigacoaster: a roller coaster that completes a full circuit and has a drop height of more than 300 feet. A brand new 325-foot roller coaster is set to open later this month at Carowinds Park in North Carolina, USA . The ride, called Fury 325, will be the largest and fastest monster coaster once it opens on March 28 . Can't make it to down to Charlotte? No problem. The park is offering adrenaline junkies a virtual ride, and trust us, it gives you a pretty accurate idea of just how harrowing this ride will be. Warning: it's definitely not for the faint of heart. The park, located in Charlotte, is offering fans a chance to experience a virtual ride before it officially opens . The frightening first-person POV video is definitely not for the faint of heart, especially the initial drop . The massive initial drop is at an angle of 81 degrees and the ride hits top speeds of up to 95 miles per hour . For those who'd like to be the first to try first hand, the park is offering a contest to benefit a local charity . At its fastest, Fury 325 hits speeds of 95 miles per hour (about 153 km per hour). And if that's not enough to frighten even the most seasoned riders, the massive 81 degree initial drop definitely should be. Once it opens, the mega-coaster will have the distinct honour of being the largest and fastest in the world. For those who can't wait to queue up later this month, the park is holding a contest to be the first person to ride it, with proceeds being donated to a local charity. +Sixty three seconds was all it took. Just over one minute was enough for a game to be turned on its head and for refereeing standards to be demonstrated, once again, to be lamentable. To deal with the first part of that conundrum, referee Neil Swarbrick can’t really be blamed for the game ending as a spectacle before it had even got going. Gareth McAuley and Craig Dawson got themselves in a terrible tangle, the former with a sloppy pass and the latter clumsily challenging Wilfried Bony, who was through on goal. The red card was justifiable and the challenge was a bone-headedly stupid one to make in the first minute. The real drama occurred thereafter, however. Bony, to his credit, attempted to go on and score. McAuley, attempting to redeem his error, ran round to challenge the Ivorian and make a good challenge to block him. Referee Neil Swarbrick shows a red card to Gareth McAuley (right) during the second minute of West Brom's match at Manchester City. But it was Craig Dawson who committed the original foul on Wilfried Bony as the striker tried to break through on goal . West Brom defender Craig Dawson makes the original challenge on Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony just outside the penalty area . The Ivorian striker heads to the ground under Dawson's clumsy challenge but managed to regain his balance and continue . Bony continues but Gareth McAuley then comes in with a challenge of his own from the opposite angle inside the area . Bony goes to ground again under McAuley's challenge, leading to the dismissal of the West Brom player . Bony heads to the Etihad Stadium turf after being challenged by McAuley as the ball runs clear . Swarbrick brandishes a straight red card to a bemused McAuley after just 89 seconds of the match . West Brom players Darren Fletcher and Jonas Olsson protest as Swarbrick shows McAuley the red card . BT Sport showed the incident from referee Swarbrick's perspective, with No 25 Dawson the closest to him . Baggies boss Tony Pulis doesn't look at McAuley as he makes his way back to the dressing rooms at the Etihad Stadium . As this sign at the Etihad Stadium confirms, McAuley's sending off was the fastest in the Premier League this season at 89 seconds . West Brom players (from left) Craig Gardner, James Morrison and Darren Fletcher argue with Swarbrick at half-time . Manchester City (4-4-2): Hart 6; Zabaleta 6.5, Kompany 6, Mangala 6.5, Clichy 7; Jesus Navas 7, Fernando 7, Lampard 6 (Jovetic 65; 6.5), Silva 8.5 (Milner 81; 6), Bony 8 (Dzeko 78; 6), Aguero 7 . Substitutes not used: Sagna, Caballero, Fernandinho, Demichelis . Scorers: Bony 27; Fernando 40; Silva 77 . Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 6 . West Bromwich Albion (4-1-4-1): Myhill 8; Dawson 3, McAuley 4, Lescott 6.5, Olsson 4.5; Baird 6; Sessegnon 6.5 (Mulumbu 89), Fletcher 7, Gardner 5, Morrison 6; Berahino 5 (Anichebe 86) Substitutes not used: Wisdom, Davidson, Pocognoli, Mulumbu, Nabi, Rose . Red card: McAuley . Manager: Tony Pulis 5 . Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire) 3 . PLAYER RATINGS BY ROB DRAPER AT THE ETIHAD STADIUM . Wilfried Bony's opening goal at the Etihad. Click here for our match zone service . In the midst of all that, Swarbrick blew up for a foul from where Dawson had made the initial challenge. But instead of sending off the left back he dismissed McAuley. In one year the Premier League has now seen three cases of the wrong man being sent off. Either referees are getting worse, or the game is getting immeasurably faster. And with rugby’s Six Nations tournament reaching a climax yesterday, you longed for a brief pause in which the referee could consult a fourth official who could adjudicate on the red card – he would have probably concurred – and then ensure the right man is sent off. Tony Pulis naturally agreed with that, arguing managers should have the ability to challenge two decisions in a match, citing the fact that in other games Dawson’s challenge might have gone unpunished. ‘The inconsistency is one thing,’ he said. ‘But once he decides it’s a goal-scoring opportunity and he has to send him of I can’t believe he’s picked the wrong player. It’s beyond me. Pellegrini’s assessment was about correct. ‘He made a mistake about the player but I think the rule is very clear,’ he said. ‘The chance was very clear and he was the last man. Then it doesn’t depend on the referee – he has to do what the rule says.’ Naturally the match felt unnaturally uncompetitive thereafter and that seemed to be reflected in the crowd. The atmosphere at City after a week of defeats to Burnley and Barcelona was as muted as could be. Technically they are still in the title race; in fact they are only three points behind, albeit Chelsea have two games in hand. But judging from the mood at The Etihad yesterday, that is merely a theoretical, abstract concept. All belief seems to have been sucked out of the club, meaning that all that is left is a top-four finish to oversee before Pellegrini is thanked for his time and his two trophies. Wilfried Bony celebrates after scoring Manchester City's first goal after 25 minutes at the Etihad Stadium . The Ivorian striker opened his account for the club when he spun inside the box, hooked the ball over and fired into the net . Fernando gets down on his knees to celebrate scoring City's second goal five minutes before half-time . The Brazilian pounced from close range following Baggies defensive confusion, with goalkeeper Boaz Myhill grounded . David Silva (centre) is congratulated after scoring City's third goal to make absolutely sure of the three points . Silva raises his arms in celebration after touching in a shot by Stevan Jovetic from the edge of the penalty box . There was a brief spell in which you wondered if Pellegrini’s woes might get worse should they fail to break down ten-man West Brom. But the visitors, Boaz Myhill aside, weren’t in the mood for gritty defiance. Indeed, it seemed as though the entire fiasco had collectively scrambled their defensive brains. The first two goals they conceded, which made their task hopeless both came from corners, situations at which they should be able to defend more easily than from open play. But for the first goal on 26 minutes, City worked the ball well from a short corner to Wilfried Bony. Craig Gardner attempted a half hearted challenge but Bony was not to be shrugged off the ball and pulled it down; the unfortunate Dawson was also culpable, not reacting quick enough as the Ivorian controlled, shot and scored his first goal for the club since his £28m move. West Brom might have felt a little more aggrieved for the second goal on 40 minutes – though it too involved some dreadful defending. Jesus Navas corner was met by the high, flying foot of Eliaquim Managala and it seemed perilously close to Stephane Sessegnon’s head. That said, from thereon in, West Brom hardly covered themselves in glory. Jonas Olsson sliced the ball gently into the path of Fernando and James Morrison failed to react as the Brazilian simply poked the ball into the net. Joe Hart collides with West Brom defender Jonas Olsson as he comes out to try and punch the ball clear . Joleon Lescott leaps in behind Pablo Zabaleta but sends the ball over Joe Hart's goal following a rare West Brom attack . Saido Berahino somehow hit the crossbar with this header, with Joe Hart nowhere near it . ‘I think our fans believe we can do it,’ said Pellegrini. ‘The important thing is to demonstrate playing the way we did today that we will try. That is very important.’ That they did, with 46 shots on goal. But it’s not enough to sustain credibility at present. There was a brief spell in which you wondered if Pellegrini’s woes might get worse should they fail to break down ten-man West Brom. But the visitors, goalkeeper Boaz Myhill aside, weren’t in the mood for gritty defiance. Indeed, it seemed as though the entire fiasco had collectively scrambled their defensive brains. For the first goal on 26 minutes, City worked the ball well from a short corner to Wilfried Bony. Craig Gardner attempted a half-hearted challenge but Bony was not to be shrugged off the ball and pulled it down; and the unfortunate Dawson was also culpable, not reacting quick enough as the Ivorian controlled, shot and scored his first goal for the club since his £28m move. The England under 21 striker can't quite believe his luck after seeing his header rebound off the woodwork . Frank Lampard rues a missed opportunity as City attempted to boost their goal difference - settling for three in the end . Man City striker Stevan Jovetic appeals to referee Swarbrick for a handball decision . Were it not for Myhill the afternoon would have been even more calamitous. His most notable saves came from David Silva on 23 minutes, 54 minutes and 59 minutes but that was by no means an exhaustive list. West Brom were also saved on 58 minutes by the post when Sergio Aguero struck and then again by the woodwork, when Bony chipped the rebound on to the cross bar. On 73 minutes there was an extraordinary development; a West Brom corner, which was flicked on by Olsson to Berahino, who, just two yards out, flicked an instinctive header on to the bar. The miss summed up a dismal afternoon. Shortly afterwards, Silva, by far the best player on the pitch, confirmed the inevitable. Stevan Jovetic combined well with the rampaging Gael Clichy and the Montenegrin’s shot was turned in at close range by Silva, who departed shortly after to a standing ovation. Still, the overwhelming feeling from both sides was of a season gently winding down rather than reaching a dramatic climax. West Brom's Chris Baird and Manchester City's Sergio Aguero compete for the bouncing ball . West Brom captain Darren Fletcher manages to win the ball from City striker Wilfried Bony . The managers Tony Pulis and Manuel Pellegrini greet one another ahead of kick-off at the Etihad Stadium . +Les Ferdinand believes English football remains inherently racist, claiming John Terry was only saying what most people in the game think when he racially abused Ferdinand’s cousin, Anton, in 2011. Speaking to Sir Trevor Phillips as part of a Channel 4 documentary on race to be screened on Thursday, QPR’s director of football also claimed the fact that he has only once been offered a route into football management since retiring as a player did not reflect well on the game in this country either. But his views on the Terry controversy, which led to the Chelsea skipper being stripped of the England captaincy, banned for four matches and fined £220,000, are most damning. QPR director of football Les Ferdinand says that he believes English football remains inherently racist . Ferdinand claimed John Terry was saying what most people in the game think in his racial abuse incident . Ferdinand feels that football handled the situation ‘terribly’, even though the FA charged Terry with using ‘abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour’ which ‘included a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Ferdinand’ less than a fortnight after Terry was acquitted in court. Asked by Phillips for his view on the Terry incident, Ferdinand said: ‘I suppose it was disbelief really, that the England captain would use language like that on a football field, or anywhere in fact.’ But it is when Phillips then asked Ferdinand for his view on ‘how the game handled it’ that the former England striker put the situation into a wider context. Terry and Anton Ferdinand clashed during QPR's win over Chelsea in 2012 and Terry was stripped of the England captaincy, fined £220,000 and given a four-match ban after being charged by the FA . Ferdinand feels that football handled the situation ‘terribly’ and that it could have been put to bed quicker . Weeks before the FA charge, Terry had been cleared of racial abuse at Westminster Magistrates' Court . ‘Terribly,’ he responded. ‘I think it’s a situation that could have been put to bed quite quickly. ‘And when you look at the game and the disproportion of black coaches in the game, maybe they’re not actually saying what John Terry said, but are they thinking it? Because I have to believe that.’ Phillips then asked Ferdinand how many times, in the 10 years since he stopped playing, he had been offered the opportunity to become a first-team coach. The QPR director of football says he has only been offered one first-team coaching job in 10 years . Ferdinand says he knows black players who would like to go into management but don't get opportunities . ‘Once,’ said Ferdinand. ‘Yeah once, when I came out of football I spoke to the then chairman of Bournemouth. ‘I know lots of players that I play with who’d love to go into coaching and management and they’ve done all the badges, but they just won’t get an opportunity. ‘We’ve been talking about this for 15 years now; the only difference is the venues seem to be getting better. When I first started doing it, it was in a little classroom, then we moved onto a hotel room, and now we’re at Parliament but the outcome’s still the same because we’ve not moved on.’ THINGS WE WON’T SAY ABOUT RACE THAT ARE TRUE, CHANNEL 4, THURSDAY, 9PM . +Roberto Martinez has encouraged Everton’s squad to make history and overcome the problems he believes are preventing English clubs from thriving in Europe. Everton’s sole European trophy came in the 1985 European Cup- Winners’ Cup and Martinez wants to mark that anniversary by guiding his team to the Europa League final. They will reach the last eight by avoiding defeat against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday night. Given how wretched their domestic form has been, few would have thought Everton could be the Barclays Premier League’s last European representatives and Martinez feels they have overcome huge obstacles to get this far. Everton boss Roberto Martinez has expressed concerns over the quality of Dynamo Kiev's pitch . Everton players train ahead of their Europa League round of 16 second-leg with Dynamo Kiev . Everton currently lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate following their win at Goodison Park in the first-leg . Premier League sides have won only five of the 28 European trophies possible since the turn of the millennium and the manager believes the punishing nature of the domestic competition is taking its toll. ‘Our British competition demands every game to be 100 per cent,’ said Martinez. ‘Teams that play in other leagues in Europe, they cruise through games and get through at 50 per cent. It is unfair on British teams. ‘A break in the winter would enable the players to regenerate and refresh — a key period in the season is February and March so I think the biggest teams are a little bit unfairly treated. The answer is clear — you need to have a bigger squad at this level where you can make five or six changes to keep the team performing at the same level. With the pitch covered up, Everton players are made to train on the running track that surrounds it . A cold night in Kiev awaits Everton as they look to protect their 2-1 lead from the first leg . Martinez has warned that the poor quality pitch could be a problem for both Everton and Dynamo Kiev . ‘I find playing Thursday and Sunday is tough. The Europa League teams should play at least at 4pm, and also be given as many home games as possible after they have been away. We should protect our teams a bit more, otherwise we shoot ourselves in the foot.’ Progress in Kiev will not be straightforward. Everton were unable to train on the Olympic Stadium pitch last night as it was covered in huge white tarpaulins and had heat lamps ready to repair a surface reported to be rain-sodden. Martinez, however, is not going to use the pitch as an excuse, as he is far more anxious about the threat Dynamo pose. Sergei Rebrov’s side have not lost at home this season but Everton will not be cautious in their approach. An Everton coach leads the players in a series of stretches on the running track around the pitch . Leighton Baines (left) sretches alongside Everton team-mate Luke Garbutt (right) at the Olympic Stadium . ‘We have got great memories of being in Europe this season,’ said Martinez. ‘This experience has been fantastic and we want to progress. ‘It is an opportunity, something for us to enjoy rather than fear. We want to show everyone what we can do.’ There is little doubt the 2-1 first-leg win against Dynamo, followed by a 3-0 dismantling of Newcastle, has improved the atmosphere in the squad and helped restore confidence. ‘It was brilliant to get those two results back to back,’ said Everton defender Seamus Coleman. ‘We haven’t been happy with our league form but it is turning. ‘We played ever so hard to get into this competition. Our goal at the start was to win it. It has been a long time since the club won anything and it would be nice if we could change that.’ +Caretaker boss Kenny McDowall fears Rangers could be run out of the play-offs entirely – after they threw away a late lead against Queen of the South to draw 1-1. On a night when John Greig, Walter Smith and John Brown returned to sit in the main stand alongside the new board - following the suspension of their predecessors earlier in the day - the team couldn’t match the renewed sense of optimism around Ibrox. Dropping another two points not only means Hearts can win the Championship title before the month is out, it also keeps Rangers in third place behind Hibs - with last night’s visitors only six points adrift. Kenny McDowall issues instructions to his layers during the 1-1 draw with Queen of the South . McDowall says his side must be wary of Queen of the South in fourth and Falkirk in fifth . Asked if he thought that either the Dumfries side or Falkirk could pip his team to the final play-off spot, McDowall said: ‘There is every chance. They are playing for the play-offs as much as we are. So we can’t be disrespectful of them. ‘Queen of the South are a good side, as are Falkirk. They are looking to win games like we’re looking to win games. We’ve got to work harder to turn it about. ‘I think it’s going to go right to the wire, the play-off places, without a shadow of a doubt. We have to find a formula to get winning again, We are stuttering along. ‘We’re not doing enough in front of goal and obviously not doing well enough to defend our goal. It’s nothing other than hard work until we get back to winning games.’ McDowall, who has won only three of his 10 games in charge since stepping in for Ally McCoist, said he hadn’t yet been told if the new board had accepted the resignation he handed to the previous regime. Rangers midfielder Haris Vuckic, on loan from Newcastle, celebrates putting the home side ahead at Ibrox . Young Queen of the South striker Aidan Smith (centre) wheels away to celebrate after scoring a late leveller . ‘No - I would expect them to come to me, as opposed me going to them,’ he said. ‘I’ve got games to concentrate on with the team, I’m here to do that. I’m sure if the board want to keep me they’ll come and speak to me.’ A cool Haris Vuckic finish following a goalmouth scramble with 13 minutes remaining should have been enough to give Rangers an ill-deserved three points from a bitty performance. But Queens equalised three minutes from time, 17-year-old sub Aidan Smith on the spot – and granted plenty of time - to bury the rebound from a Michael Paton shot following a defensive mistake by home sub Bilel Moshni. The home team left the field to a smattering of boos from the second biggest Ibrox crowd of the season. McDowall said: ‘It’s very disappointing, when supporters had come out, the new board is in place and the stadium is full. You get the lead and you are hoping to see it out – and don’t do it through poor, poor defending.’ Rangers legend John Greig was in the stands at Ibrox for Tuesday night's Scottish Championship clash . Vuckic celebrates hos goal with substitute Bilel Mohsni (left), Nicky Clark and Darren McGregor . Queens moved a point clear in the fourth and final play-off spot, although boss James Fowler believed his team could have won, declaring: ‘It would have been a travesty had we not got anything out of it. We were the better team and had the better chances. ‘But the boys reacted well after going behind and we are delighted young Aidan got the goal. ‘Rangers came out fast but we then controlled the game and some of our passing was excellent. We are happy with the point but, being greedy, I’d have liked the three. It’s still going to be difficult to make the play-offs. There are a few clubs in there but we will keep going.’ Goalscorer Smith, making just his second appearance for the club, said: ‘It’s the best feeling ever. The ball just fell at my feet and I managed to lift it over the keeper. I actually thought Michael Paton was going to score before I did. My dad was in the crowd tonight but I haven’t yet had a chance to speak to him. My mum was due to be here but she cancelled and she’ll be gutted about that now!’ +Following this week's results in the Premier League it is looking increasingly likely that all three teams promoted last summer will be heading straight back down to the Championship. Leicester, Burnley and QPR find occupy the bottom three places in the top flight with just 10 games to play and although there are other teams in sight, form is a big concern for all three. If the trio are all relegated it will be the first time that no promoted team has survived in 17 years, and only the second season none have stayed up in since the Premier League's inception in 1992. Burnley's Danny Ings reacts as his side slip to a 2-0 defeat at Anfield on Wednesday night . Leicester goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer can't prevent James Milner scoring Manchester City's second goal . Olivier Giroud celebrates Arsenal's opener as the inquest begins in the QPR backline . Barnsley went straight back down in 1998 but they did famously beat Liverpool at Anfield (above) In 1997-98 it was Barnsley, Bolton and Crystal Palace who could not cope with the step up but - despite the adage that the gulf between the top flight and the Football League is huge - promoted sides have fared well in recent seasons. Twice - in 2011-12 and 2001-02 - all three promoted teams have avoided the drop, while only five of the last 18 promoted sides have been relegated. In fact, promoted teams have a 58.2 per cent instant survival rate, with only 27 of the 68 teams to have been promoted to the top flight being sent straight back down. That recent record will significantly worsen though come May unless Leicester, Burnley and QPR can all find form fast. *four teams relegated . **two teams promoted . +Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini felt he needed to 'refresh the team' and leave out captain Vincent Kompany for his side's much-needed win against Leicester. Kompany was dropped to the bench along with Pablo Zabaleta and Edin Dzeko, while Samir Nasri and Fernandinho missed out on the squad completely as City beat the Foxes 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Central defender Kompany had come in for particularly heavy criticism after City's damaging losses to Barcelona and Liverpool in the past week and Pellegrini decided to act with the season threatening to unravel. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany was dropped to the bench for the match against Leicester City . Kompany has come in for criticism this season following a number of high-profile errors for the champions . Asked to explain his selections, Pellegrini said: 'For the same reason Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko - that were playing normally - I think it was important to refresh the team mentally and physically after two difficult games. 'We have the squad we want so it was a good moment to refresh the team.' Pellegrini added that Kompany, normally an inspirational presence in the side but in poor form of late, took the decision 'very well, without any problems'. City, trailing Chelsea by five points in the Barclays Premier League having played a game more, were not at their fluent best against the Foxes. But they got back to winning ways with goals late in each half from David Silva and substitute James Milner. Manuel Pellegrini revealed that he dropped his captain as he needed to 'refresh the team' David Silva shoots the ball past Leicester goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to give Manchester City the lead . After a difficult few days, in which Pellegrini's future has been the subject of speculation, the result was a relief. Pellegrini said: 'I think always when you don't have the result you need the next game is very difficult. That is why the most important thing was to win the three points. 'We dominated the game and had a good possession of the ball. 'Maybe Leicester is at the bottom but if you see their results - they drew 2-2 against Liverpool and against Everton and were very unlucky not to draw against Arsenal.' City created a number of chances but were denied on several occasions by veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Yet they still lacked their usual spark and Leicester were aggrieved to have been denied penalties on three occasions while Riyad Mahrez hit the post. Substitute James Milner gets the better of Morgan and Danny Simpson to doubled City's lead . Mark Schwarzer dives but is beaten as Milner runs to celebrate after coming off the bench . Asked if his side should have had penalties, Foxes boss Nigel Pearson said: 'Yes. Simple answer. Three throughout the game - (Andrej) Kramaric in both halves, the second one you could probably say was a bit more marginal but there was contact. The third one on the line is in the box.' Pearson would not get drawn into criticising referee Robert Madley, who also frustrated Leicester with some of his decisions in an FA Cup tie in January. He said: 'I am not talking about them (referees), sorry. Not tonight. You can talk about them and ask the relevant authorities. I don't think there is any point me talking about the referee. Same one we had against Tottenham.' The result left Leicester bottom of the table but Pearson has no doubts about the spirit in his squad. He said: 'They are a resilient group so we will have to get on with it. We can't do anything about it. It is up to the authorities. Our players give everything they have got and they have done again tonight. 'There are lots of positive and we have to take them into the remaining games. There is no point dwelling on negative aspects of situations that we have no control of.' +He's one of the most famous faces in world sport, but don't tell these tourists, they just wanted a family picture with the Opera House. When the couple crossed paths with Lewis Hamilton beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Tuesday, a 'selfie' with the British Formula One Champion was the last thing on their minds. Instead, they stopped to ask the star to take a holiday snap of them and their baby. Scroll down for video . Lewis Hamilton (right) was sight-seeing in Sydney when he was stopped by a family to take their photo . Hamilton takes a photo for the young family before the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday . The oblivious couple strolled off towards the Opera House as Hamilton continued taking in Syndey's sights . Hamilton was enjoying time out in Sydney after his win at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 15 . The oblivious tourists were snapped chatting with Hamilton on the harbour foreshore, while he diligently took their photo in front of the Sydney Opera House. The family then strolled off into the distance. Hamilton was taking some time out to explore Sydney Harbour after racing to victory at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 15; visiting the iconic Opera House and taking a luxury yacht for a turn on the water. 'After a long day of media yesterday, sailing in Sydney with friends was a great way to end the day!' he posted via Instagram. 'Sydney is such a beautiful city.Can't wait to come back next year.' Hamilton says he loves 'beautiful Sydney' and can't wait to come back . Hamilton celebrates his win at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne . Hamilton took to Instagram to upload a photograph of himself sailing in Sydney . In what was the first race of the F1 calendar in Melbourne, Hamilton finished 1.3 secs ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. After the Grand Prix celebrations, the Mercedes driver - who has also spoken of  pursuing a music career - reportedly saw a performance by home-grown artists Angus and Julia Stone in Sydney. Hamilton told media he would welcome a move for the F1 to 'sunny Sydney' if a proposed street circuit is approved by the NSW government. 'Street circuits are the best. For a driver they're the best and it's best for people to get close to — some 300,000 to 400,000 people leaning out of apartment windows.' he told the Daily Telegraph. The 30-year-old Mercedes driver recently featured on the cover of the US Man of the World magazine . +Nigel Pearson has vowed Leicester will not 'lie down' at Manchester City as they battle for survival. The Foxes head to the Etihad on Wednesday bottom of the Barclays Premier League and four points from safety. City have won just two of their last seven top flight games as they battle Chelsea for the title and lost 2-1 at Liverpool on Sunday. Nigel Pearson leads his players in training on Monday as they prepare to face Manchester City . Andy King, Danny Drinkwater and Esteban Cambiasso (L-R) get put through their paces at Belvoir Drive . Leicester manager Pearson insisted Manuel Pellegrini's men still carry the same threat to his side but believes the Foxes are ready for the fight. He said: 'They are a very talented squad and there's always going to be scrutiny. People have told me they are in a bit of a sticky spell, a sticky spell for them isn't one for us. 'Success is relative, they have two players to each position and have quality there, whatever side they put up against you will have quality. 'But they will be aware we have some dangerous players, what we have to do is show weren't not just a capable side but one which isn't going to go anywhere and lie down.' January signing Andrej Kramaric (right) challenges for the ball during Leicester's training session . Robert Huth and David Nugent (L-R) could both start for Pearson's side at the Etihad on Wednesday . Kasper Schmeichel is out with a broken foot but is expected to return this month after being sidelined since December. Pearson has a fully fit squad otherwise as they battle the drop having won just two of their last 21 league games. The manager has been pleased with their level of performance though and they almost snatched a win at Everton last time out before conceding a late Matt Upson own goal to draw 2-2. And Pearson insisted Leicester still hold belief they can survive this season. 'We have been bottom since November and the players have put in some really good performances. That's a show of resilience in itself,' he said. Midfielder Cambiasso (left) chases down Drinkwater as the relegation-threatened Foxes prepare . 'As the season wears on the pressure builds, you can't get away from that. My job is to keep the players freed up in their minds so they can go and play. I do believe there is a lot of belief in the dressing room that we can turn the situation around. 'As I have already pointed out the players playing as well as they can is the acid test, my job as manager is to allow them to do that. 'We have belief in ourselves and time will tell. There aren't any easy games but we have to show we have plenty of character and quite a bit of ability, what we have to do is transfer it into points.' +Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric has criticised the standard of Premier League refereeing following Leicester's 2-0 midweek defeat at Manchester City. Goals from David Silva and James Milner gave the hosts victory, in a match that contained several talking bouts. Nigel Pearson's side felt they should have been awarded two penalties during the match when Kramaric and team-mate Jeffrey Schlupp both fell under challenges during the clash at the Stadium. Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric is unsatisfied with the standard of Premier League refereeing against them . And Kramaric believes Wednesday night's match isn't the first time that Foxes have had the rub of the green go against them. 'We should have been awarded two penalties against Man City, one on me and one on [Jeffrey] Schlupp,' the 23-year-old told Goal in an exclusive. 'I admit, my contact with [Joe] Hart was not a penalty, but when Fernando fouled me, it was clearly inside the box. I have to admit: I am not satisfied [with] how referees treat Leicester.' Leicester were denied a penalty when Jeffrey Schlupp (left) fell under the challenge of Wilfried Bony . The Croatia international has scored twice in eight appearances for Leicester since joining the club in January from Rijeka. Despite their struggles as a team domestically, Kramaric feels he has adapted well to the demands of the Premier League - and in particular England's top-flight defender. 'I have played against many top Premier League defenders so far and I can handle every one, no one is impossible,' he added. 'I need just a little more time to get used to everything here.' Kramaric (right) believes he has adapted to Premier League defenders well since joining Leicester in January . +Three Florida-based police officers have been fired and a fourth has been forced to resign after exchanging racist texts and creating an N-word-laced video featuring President Barack Obama. James Wells, 30, Jason Holding, 31, and Christopher Sousa, 25, who patrolled a predominantly black neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale, were sacked on Friday for 'department misconduct'. Meanwhile, Alex Alvarez, 22, who apparently created the video, resigned from the city's force in late January, before the five-month investigation into he and his colleagues' exchanges was complete. The job losses come at a critical moment in the United States as police officers across the nation continue to come under fire for the alleged use of excessive force against African Americans. WARNING: OFFENSIVE MATERIAL . Scroll down for video . Firings: Three Florida-based police officers have been fired and a fourth has been forced to resign after exchanging racist texts and creating an N-word-laced video featuring President Barack Obama. Above, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley (far right) speaks about the firings at a press conference on Friday . 'Offensive': The iMovie video, apparently created by Alex Alvarez, displayed 'racially insensitive' images of a person in a white Ku Klux Klan hood (left) and a caricature of President  Obama with gold-capped teeth (right) 'Racist': The video,  created in the style of a film trailer, also showed images of minority attacks and racist on-screen captions. Above, the words, 'But one n***** would change everything', preceeded the photo of Obama . All of the four officers involved in the case committed misconduct involving racist texts 'exchanged among themselves and former police officers', Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley said . Chief Adderley, who is African-American, added that the officers did not engage in criminal behavior, 'but their conduct was inexcusable and there is zero tolerance for this kind of behavior' in the force. In their cellphone messages, the officers sent each other 'racial, sexist and ethically inappropriate' images and other content, including offensive comments against both Hispanics and homosexuals. They also 'criticized their coworkers' grammar, appearance, work ethic and referred to an entire shift as lazy (expletives)'. And they even talked about killing and injuring black people, CBS reported. In one text, Sousa reportedly wrote: 'Holdings we are coming and drinking all your beer and killing n******.' In another, Holding said: 'Id have that noose ready (sic)', according to the Sun-Sentinel. Meanwhile, in Alvarez's 'movie trailer-style' iMovie video, the officer displayed 'racially insensitive' behavior by including images of attacks on minorities and a person in a white Ku Klux Klan hood. Texts: All of the four officers committed misconduct involving racist texts 'exchanged among themselves and former police officers', Chf Adderley said. Above, in this text, Christopher Sousa refers to killing n******' 'Misconduct': In a response to Jason Holding, his colleague James Wells calls someone a 'retarded brown' 'Ethically inappropriate': In another text message, Holding writes: 'Id have that noose ready' - in reference to black men. Holding,  Wells and Sousa, all of Fort Lauderdale. were sacked Friday for 'department misconduct' The disturbing footage, which apparently used the N-word repeatedly, also featured pictures of a wanted poster for 'an escaped slave' and a caricature of President Obama with gold-capped teeth. And it included photos of black men being bitten by a dog and looking down the barrel of a gun. An internal affairs investigation was launched into the four officers' conduct last October after Alvarez’s former fiancée emailed screenshots of their racist text exchanges to Chief Adderley. Following the allegations, Wells, Holding, Sousa and Alvarez were dismissed from their normal duties. In January, Alvarez resigned. The other three were sacked for misconduct this week. Disturbing: Officer Alex Alvarez, 22, who apparently created the video (pictured: a still), resigned from the city's force in late January - before the investigation into he and his colleagues' exchanges was complete . Shocking: The video for the ficitious 'The Hoods' film, which apparently used the N-word repeatedly, featured pictures of a wanted poster for 'an escaped slave' and black men looking down the barrel of a gun (pictured) Brutal: It also included photos of black men being bitten by a dog (pictured), a police investigation determined . The firings were based on 'sustained department misconduct and ... conduct unbecoming of a police officer', including the 'Uncle Al Films' video for 'The Hoods' movie, according to WSVN.com. Chief Adderley told NBC Miami the officers had told him they had been just joking around. 'Based on the investigation, they felt, in their words, that it was a joke,' he said at a news conference Friday . However, Alvarez's fiancée, who has not been identified, reportedly told investigators that her officer ex-lover had thought that 'black people should be slaves' and was obsessed with the 'KKK'. Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said he was 'very disappointed, disgusted and shocked' by the inquiry's findings, describing the officers as 'a few bad apples' in a 'diverse' police department. 'Disappointed': Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler (second right, alongside Chf Adderly, far right) said he was 'very disappointed, disgusted and shocked' by the inquiry's findings, describing the officers as 'bad apples' 'Just a joke': Chf Adderley (pictured) revealed the four officers had told him they had been just joking around. 'Based on the investigation, they felt, in their words, that it was a joke,' he said at a news conference Friday . Listening: Police officers listen as Cf Adderley talks to the media on the results of the internal affairs inquiry . He added city and department leadership had agreed that the multiple sackings were appropriate. Meanwhile, City Manager Lee Feldman said: 'It's extremely unfortunate that these acts of racism and hatred took place'. He also expressed his thanks toward Alvarez's fiancée for coming forward. The police department in south-east Florida, which has around 500 agents, has now created a human diversity class that all officers must attend on an annual basis in the wake of the incident. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #31 represents the officers. FOP President Jack Lokeinsky said everyone is entitled to due process, and the officers have the right to a fair review of the facts. Headquarters: The police department (pictured) in south-east Florida, which has around 500 agents, has now created a human diversity class that all officers must attend on an annual basis in the wake of the incident . +Kasper Schmeichel could return for Leicester's key game with Hull this weekend after recovering from a broken foot. The keeper has been out since December after breaking a metatarsal in training but is fully fit ahead of the visit of the Tigers on Saturday. The Foxes signed Mark Schwarzer from Chelsea as cover in January while Ben Hamer also deputised for Schmeichel. Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is back in first team training after returning from a broken foot . Schmeichel looked pleased to be back in first team training as he geared up for his side's match against Hull . Leicester are bottom of the Barclays Premier League and seven points from safety but can now call on Denmark international Schmeichel. Boss Nigel Pearson told a press conference: 'He is back in contention which is good. We have three keepers available which is always nice. 'It is only really Dean Hammond (calf) who is out, although he is back in training now, and Anthony (Knockaert) is not available because he has gone back to France to see his dad who is not very well. Those players apart we are pretty much a full squad.' Leicester have lost five of their last six in the top flight and Pearson insisted they cannot rely on other sides slipping up. He added: 'It'll be down to whether we get enough good results ourselves, we remain in the same position, there 11 games left and we have to do it ourselves.' Nigel Pearson and first team coach Kevin Phillips put Leicester's players through their paces on Thursday . +Nigel Pearson insists he and his Leicester City players still believe they can stay up but admits Saturday’s match against Hull is ‘must win’. Leicester have only played once since drawing at Everton on February 22 – losing 2-0 to Manchester City on March 4 – and have slipped seven points away from safety in that time. Pearson’s side lie bottom of the table on 18 points, seven behind Aston Villa in 17th with a game against Chelsea in hand. Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson insists he and his squad believe they can still avoid relegation this season . Pearson (centre) watches training unfold on Thursday as Leicester prepare for their clash against Hull . But Pearson has not given up hope yet. 'We still have a strong belief in our ability to stay up this season,’ he said. 'Whether other people share it is not that important at the moment. In house there is a feeling we can do it. 'Saturday is a game both sides want to win. But Hull may be happier with the draw than us. We certainly need to win the game.’ Pearson thinks once one victory comes, others can follow. 'That is something we keep very much in our minds because we do have that belief. But you have to get that first one. This is a game a lot of people see as being a pivotal one we have. It will be a difficult game.’ Leicester recorded one of their four Premier League victories in the reverse fixture at the KC Stadium dismissed talk of planning for relegation. 'Now’s not the times to be talking in those terms,’ Pearson added. 'I remain very focussed on the job that needs to be done this season, to negotiate a way through the last 11 games to get enough points to stay up. We always plan ahead, there has to be realism about it.’ Riyad Mahrez (centre) scored the only goal of the game as Leicester won 1-0 at Hull earlier in the season . +The Football League are in talks with Leicester City regarding Financial Fair Play rules, after their accounts revealed a £20.8million loss that exceeds the £8million allowed by clubs outside the Premier League. Leicester published their 2013-14 accounts on Tuesday, with the Football League reacting Wednesday by saying talks with the club who are now at the foot of the Premier League table are 'ongoing', according to the BBC. Leicester believe that £13million of the loss was 'allowable' because much of it relates to the club's promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. Leicetser City boss Nigel Pearson watches on as his side prepare to play Manchester City on Wednesday . Andy King (left) tries to keep hold of the ball under pressure from Danny Drinkwater and Esteban Cambiasso . Marcin Wasilewski (left) and Jeff Schlupp jokingly grapple in Leicester's training session before City . The club could be fined if it is adjudged to have broken the rules. The Foxes are currently rooted to the bottom of the Premier League on 18 points. They are seven points adrift of safety and they travel to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to take on Manchester City. +Manchester City felt the full force of a sparkling Lionel Messi performance on Wednesday, prompting a debate over whether the Barcelona forward is the greatest player of all time. Messi ripped apart the Premier League champions, with an array of nutmegs, dribbles and passes that demonstrated the 27-year-old, beaten by Cristiano Ronaldo to the Ballon d'Or in each of the last two years, is back on top of the world. And the secret of his return to top form has now been revealed, with Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo claiming Messi is three and a half kilos lighter, making him sharper and more mobile. Mundo Deportivo reveal that Lionel Messi has lost weight while Sport focus on Real Madrid's plan to stop him . 'Leo has lost weight, has a new Italian dietician and is a regular in the gymnasium after training,' claims the paper, which also mentions a poll showing 85% of readers believe the Argentine is the greatest player ever. Elsewhere in Spain there is focus on the Champions League draw, where AS claims 'Spain instills fear', and next weekend's Clasico, when Real Madrid face Barcelona. Carlo Ancelotti is hoping to channel 'the spirit of Munich' this weekend at the Nou Camp, an attempt to repeat the remarkable performance of last year's Champions League semi final when they thrashed holders Bayern 4-0 away from home. 'Spain instills fear' claim AS, while Marca leads on Carlo Ancelotti's aim to channel 'the spirit of Munich' As part of that the Real Madrid boss intends to ask Gareth Bale to do a more defensive job, while relying on his central midfield stars to run the show. In Italy Roma and Inter Milan are criticised for the press after losing at home in the Europa League on Thursday night. La Gazzetta dello Sport call Inter 'the big flop' after they exited to Wolfsburg 4-1 on aggregate, while Corriere dello Sport focus on the 'Roma collapse'. In Italy the focus is on Inter Milan and Roma's Europa League exits, with both sides losing at home . +Leicester have announced a £20.8 million loss but have still met Financial Fair Play rules. The Foxes have fallen within the Football League's FFP regulations after announcing their financial results for the year ending May 31, 2014 with the loss down from £34m in 2013. A club statement read: 'Through reducing its costs and increasing its revenue streams, the club has been able to submit a return which is in compliance with the Football League's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson watches his players in training ahead of their game with Manchester City . Leicester's Andy King (left) is under pressure from Danny Drinkwater (centre) and Esteban Cambiasso (right) Cambiasso (left) gives chase to Foxes midfielder Matty James (right) at the Belvoir Drive training ground . 'After costs relating to the club's promotion, academy expenditure and other costs allowable under FFP guidelines are added back, the club recorded losses within the allowable parameters set by the League.' Leicester's promotion-winning season last term, where they clinched the Sky Bet Championship title, helped the club increase their revenue to £31.2m - up from £19.6m. Staff costs increased to £36.3m after promotion bonus payments of £9.4m while match receipts rose from £5.7m to £6.9m with the average attendance climbing to 25,003. Chief executive Susan Whelan said: 'The establishment of Leicester City as a successful, self-sustainable Premier League football club remains a long-term work in progress, but these results are a positive reflection of our efforts to build solid foundations to that end. 'It should be noted that one of the most successful seasons in the club's recent history was achieved while ensuring compliance with the Football League's FFP regulations, for which our football management staff and senior management deserve great credit. The club's responsible approach to adapting to the demands of the Premier League has also ensured such compliance, should it be required, would not be compromised in the future.' Leicester are bottom of the Barclays Premier League and go to Manchester City on Wednesday. Leicester's Andrej Kramaric (right) is closed down by teammate Richie De Laet (left) during training . Marcin Wasilewski (left) and Jeff Schlupp (right) share a joke during the Leicester City training session . +It was only a small-sided game at the end of a session at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground, but heads were turned when teenage striker Chuba Akpom, called over to join them, cut in from the left flank and curled the ball, side-footed, around the goalkeeper to score. The move echoed a former time and a former forward, as if the ghost of Thierry Henry was still haunting the centre’s pitches with his trademark dribble and finish. Alexis Sanchez came running over to Akpom, leaping around excitedly and shouting ‘Titi, Titi, Titi, Titi!’ Arsenal's teenage striker Chuba Akpom has been compared to club legend Thierry Henry . Thierry Henry was Akpom's idol growing up and the youngster is keen to emulate his success . Akpom (left), walks to training with Arsenal team-mates Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck . There is still a long, long way to go until the 19-year-old gets anywhere near close to his idol Henry, but nicknames tend to stick around. ‘One day in training with the first team I scored an Henry-type goal, cutting inside and finishing,’ Akpom tells Sportsmail. ‘I could see Sanchez jumping, he’ s an enthusiastic guy at the best of times and he’s going: “Titi, Titi, Titi, Titi!” ‘The next morning he came to me and said “Titi.” 'Then the next morning he came to me and said “Titi.” I asked: 'hold on is this my new nickname?' That’s how it came about and it’s stuck since then. ‘Now the lads just call me Titi or Thierry Henry - I’ll take that. It’s not a bad comparison to have. ‘He was my idol growing up. Playing for the academy and watching Arsenal’s first team I used to see players like Henry scoring every week and it really inspired me.’ Akpom was born and bred in east London’s Canning Town and joined Arsenal aged six. Akpom closes down Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster during September's League Cup tie . Akpom celebrates after scoring during the 2014 International Tournament match with Holland . England U20 play Mexico U20 at 7.45pm on Wednesday 25 March at The Hive, Barnet FC. Tickets for the game at The Hive are priced at £3 for adults and £1.50 for kids and can be purchased by calling 0208 381 3800 or at www.venuetoolbox.com/thehivelondon . Manager Arsene Wenger has been so impressed with his progress the Frenchman has him training with the first team and has included him regularly on the bench this season, featuring several times in the Premier League and FA Cup. Even if the Henry comparisons are premature, there is no denying Akpom is beginning to make his mark where it matters. ‘I’m with the senior team now in the changing room and on the training ground,’ he adds. ‘It’s all about getting familiar with the environment and the players and getting as much game time as I can. ‘A lot of them are international players, a lot are England players; Calum Chambers, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Kieran Gibbs. I look up to them. 'They’ve made it into the England senior team. It’s good to be around them and get good advice.’ Akpom is a right-footed front man but likes to drop out wide to the left flank to torment full-backs. Sound familiar? His is quick and skilful with a sharp finish. Most importantly, he scores goal. For Arsenal youth teams and England Under 15 to Under 20 level, bucketfuls of them. Akpom in the thick of the action during Arsenal's Premier League win over Aston Villa last month . The teenage striker celebrates after Nacho Monreal converts the winning penalty in a League Cup tie at West Brom last season . ‘People keep telling me having a child is the best feeling,’ he says. ‘I haven’ t had that yet I’m too young, but when I score goals - I’d be surprised if you beat that feeling.’ He cites one of the game’s greatest goal-scorers, the Brazilian Ronaldo, as another idol and closer to home is aiming at the top. But, unlike the lightning runs down the left wing, he understands all of that will come slowly. ‘Wayne Rooney is another player I look up to,’ he explains. ‘He’s the captain of the national team and that’s something I would like to try to do. ‘I’d love to be a captain - of England and Arsenal. Leading by example off the pitch and on it. It would be a dream. ‘Right now, it’s about getting in the squad first. You look at Luke Shaw, see him go to the World Cup last summer, it shows you how fast things can change. ‘Raheem Sterling is a good friend of mine, Ross Barkley; young players are getting their chance. But now it’s about taking it step-by-step. There’s no rush.’ The Together for England Roadshow is a nationwide drive aimed at inspiring current and future Three Lions fans by strengthening the national side’s relationship with local communities. Following on from the release of the England DNA philosophy, the roadshows will look to encourage a consistent thread of national pride aimed at creating a better England, both on and off-the-field. +Novak Djokovic is the ultimate problem for everyone in men’s tennis to solve — and for Andy Murray in particular. The British No 1 went down 6-2, 6-3 in 88 minutes to his direct contemporary on Saturday in the latest match of what has begun to look like a one-sided rivalry. The 27 year-old Serb’s victory not only put him into the final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, it also represented his ninth victory out of 10 against Murray, the exception being the 2013 Wimbledon final. British No1 Andy Murray crashes out of BNP Paribas semi-final at Indian Wells after losing to Novak Djokovic . Murray plays a shot during his semi-final match against Djokovic in Indian Wells on Saturday . Djokovic celebrates his win over Murray that sees the Serb progress to the final of the BNP Paribas Open . Djokovic and Murray meet at the net following their quick semi-final in California on Saturday . And Murray said: ‘The frustrating thing is obviously getting off to a bad start in both sets. Novak didn’t give me any free points at the beginning of either set and I made a few too many errors early on. ‘At the end of both sets, I started to play a bit better and made it tougher and was able to push him a bit, but not enough at the beginning of the sets to make it challenging enough for him.’ Djokovic was in sublime form and Murray’s only chance appeared to be to serve outstandingly well, which he did not. On the kind of medium-slow hard court that is so commonplace on the ATP Tour the world No 1, when fully prepared and motivated, looks irresistible. Djokovic said: ‘I tried to start with the right intensity, I got a crucial break at the start. Andy made a lot of unforced errors, his first-serve percentage was low. I’m sure he knows I’m returning well, I know he’s returning well, so that puts added pressure on our serving.’ Murray's caoch Amelie Mauresmo watches on from the stands in Indian Wells . Djokovic will play either Roger Federer or Milos Raonic in the final on Sunday . There was nothing in the way of the aggravation that marked their last meeting, the Australian Open final, where Murray looked like he was getting the upper hand before his opponent started hamming up his physical state and the Scot became distracted. That was part of what has been, by and large, a decent start to the season for Murray, but his problem remains that Djokovic plays in a similar fashion to him and does it decisively better. Murray had been in impressive form over the past 10 days while Djokovic enjoyed a walkover in his scheduled quarter-final against Bernard Tomic. And Djokovic will now face Roger Federer in Sunday's final after the Swiss came through his semi-final against Rafa Nadal’s conqueror, Miles Raonic. Federer beat the Canadian 7-5, 6-4, finally finding the break he needed in the 11th game of the first set. He clinched the opener with a forehand winner, then broke Raonic’s serve again at the start of the second set. Raonic, enticed to the net repeatedly by Federer only to see power strokes whizz past him, struggled against Federer’s serve and the world No 2 completed the victory with a volley at the net. Murray trudges off the court after his 6-2, 6-3 defeat in Indian Wells . Djokovic broke Murray three times to win the opening set and once more in the second to triumph 6-2 6-3 . +He was livid, spinning towards Kevin Friend and telling the fourth official exactly why Diafra Sakho shouldn’t have been able to crash home the late winner. Dick Advocaat then grumpily crossed his arms in acceptance. Referees are going to get to know this man over the next two months. On his first public outing in England, Advocaat was nothing if not eccentric, incapable of remaining still for longer than a few seconds. His gesticulations were constant, nervous energy overt. Staying slumped in his cushy Upton Park dug out just wasn’t an option for the Sunderland coach. Keeping Sunderland up looks like being the pensioner’s toughest job in a long managerial career and — despite an understated entrance to the Premier League in which no photographer deemed it necessary to capture an image of him before kick-off — Advocaat felt the need to show those loyal band of travelling supporters in the Sir Trevor Brooking stand that he means business. Dick Advocaat was left disappointed as Sunderland fell to a 1-0 defeat at West Ham in his first game in charge . West Ham striker Diafra Sakho smashes in a late winner to give his side their first win in 13 league games . West Ham's Carlton Cole (centre) tussles with Sunderland's Patrick van Aanholt (left) and John O'Shea (right) The Dutchman may only have the job for nine matches but he is insistent on stamping his authority on a rag-tag squad who would not fight for previous incumbent Gus Poyet. The signs are positive for the struggling club and Advocaat must surely have left east London with a sense of satisfaction that his message has been heeded in a matter of days, even if his team failed to hold out. Advocaat is acutely aware that his body language resonates with those wearing the club’s colours before him. Even at 67, the basics still enthuse him. Jordi Gomez, normally little more than a luxury midfielder, was one shining example of the difference between Poyet and now. Sunderland playmaker Jordi Gomez (right) tussles for the ball with West Ham midfielder Alex Song (left) Advocaat controversially included Sunderland winger Adam Johnson among his substitutes at Upton Park . Johnson, who is currently on bail from sexual assault charges, was met by a chorus of boos from the crowd . Advocaat almost leapt in celebration when Gomez left his central station to shut down Aaron Cresswell during what appeared an innocuous patch of play. For him, that epitomised tangible change amid the serious problems he inherited. First battle won. The second, of course, is finding someone who can actually stick the ball in the net. One goal in seven games, dating back to February 7, is laughably abysmal. So it was understandable that Advocaat opted for three up front in Connor Wickham, Steven Fletcher and Jermain Defoe. Less cautious than fellow countryman Louis van Gaal but every bit as passionate, he clasped his ears in frustration at Defoe’s galling, first-half miss. Advocaat looked as if he was living on the edge, a characteristic typified by introducing Adam Johnson with 17 minutes remaining. The winger, recalled from suspension, was booed and subjected to a volley of disparaging chants, but that matters little to his manager. Results are paramount from now until May 24. Advocaat will try to earn those wins while hopping about on the touchline. Advocaat faces a difficult challenge to keep Sunderland in the Premier League and has eight games to do it . +West Ham are ready to rise to the challenge of facing a Sunderland side managed for the first time by Dick Advocaat, according to defender Aaron Cresswell. The Black Cats travel to Upton Park on Saturday evening just one point and one place outside of the Premier League relegation zone, having sacked Gus Poyet after last weekend's 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa. Advocaat has been appointed until the end of the season with the aim of keeping the club in the top flight, and Cresswell - a Premier League ever-present for West Ham so far this campaign - knows the game takes on extra significance following the Dutchman's appointment. Aaron Cresswell (right) says West Ham are ready to face Sunderland on Saturday evening . Cresswell admits it will be tough facing a team who have just appointed a new manager . 'What was already set to be a tough but exciting game has that bit more to it now Sunderland have brought a new manager in,' he told West Ham's official website. 'I don't know too much about Dick Advocaat but he's certainly got a lot of experience and we're expecting a difficult match. Every game in the Premier League is a challenge and we will have to rise to it. 'When a new manager comes in it gives everyone at the club a lift and the players will want to impress the new manager. 'The first game under a new manager seems to favour the team with the new manager and I certainly think that was the case when we played West Bromwich Albion on New Year's Day just after Tony Pulis had taken over.' Dick Advocaat has taken over at Sunderland until the end of the season . Advocaat takes charge of the Black Cats for the first time away at West Ham on Saturday evening . Although Advocaat will want a positive result in his first game in charge, the fixture is also crucial to West Ham and their manager Sam Allardyce. Following an impressive start, Allardyce has seen his side fall away from the pack chasing European qualification with the Hammers having won just one of their last 12 league games. In that spell they have come up against Liverpool, Manchester United, Southampton, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea but, of their final nine league outings, only two come against sides in the top half. 'We've had a tough run of fixtures recently and while no game is easy in the Premier League, some are harder than others,' Cresswell added. 'Having played all the top clubs in the last two months, we know that we have a fair few winnable games in our last nine games so I firmly believe we can finish strongly. 'We haven't had the results that we feel our performances deserve so we need to work that bit harder to make sure we get what our performances merit. No one at the club wants the season to fade away and we want to finish as high as we can.' +Queens Park Rangers manager Chris Ramsey feels Charlie Austin is more deserving of a place in Roy Hodgson's England squad than Tottenham's Harry Kane. Austin has missed out on Hodgson's latest England squad for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and friendly with Italy, despite accumulating 15 Premier League goals this season – just one fewer than Kane, who is set to earn his first senior cap. The former Burnley man's goal haul puts him above the other three strikers in Hodgson's squad – Wayne Rooney (11), Danny Welbeck (4) and Daniel Sturridge (3) – and Ramsey thinks Austin's ability to score goals in a relegation-threatened side makes him more deserving of an England call-up. Charlie Austin (left) was left out of the England squad on Thursday, but Harry Kane (right) made the cut . QPR manager Chris Ramsey believes that Austin should have been included in the 24-man group . 'Charlie has been fantastic this season his work-rate has been unbelievable and he has the uncoachable thing of being able to score goals' Ramsey said ahead of Hodgson's announcement. 'I am sure he will be in the reckoning for the squad.' When asked if Austin deserved his chance as much as Kane, the QPR boss added: 'Even more so because he is doing it in a team that is struggling at the foot of the table and he has still scored quite a few goals this season. Mauricio Isla, Eduardo Vargas and Adel Taarabt mess around ahead of QPR training at Harlington on Thursday . The QPR players warm up at their cold training base on Thursday as they prepare to face Everton . Taarabt tries to pull off an audacious flicked effort at goal but sees his path blocked by Yun Suk-Young . Steven Caulker practices his heading during training as he prepares to face Everton striker Romelu Lukaku . Niko Kranjcar flies in for a tackle on Junior Hoilett as Rangers look to up the tempo to avoid relegation . The QPR boss said he felt Austin's work for a team struggling in the Premier League deserved more credit . 'It goes to show that he is a quality player and he will shine regardless of where he plays.' QPR face Everton on Sunday, with the Toffees now the only English side left in Europe following Manchester City's exit at the hands of Barcelona on Wednesday evening. City followed Arsenal and Chelsea out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage, but Ramsey believes the Premier League's shortcomings in the competition is merely a 'blip'. Roy Hodgson picked four strikers among the 24 players he went with, but there was no room for Austin . The Rangers forward has netted just one Premier League goal less than England rival Kane this season . Ramsey said that Austin will shine wherever he plays and that he was sure he could make the next selection . Kane celebrates scoring against QPR at Loftus Road which helped lead to his England call-up . Hodgson went with Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Kane as his striking options . 'Manchester City did not have their best game,' Ramsey said. 'But they all have gone out of the Champions League at a late stage. 'Not making it to the last eight is a blip for this country because over the past few years we have got to the latter stages, but now and again this happens. 'I still think this is the best league in the world and where everyone wants to really come and play. We can see that by the amount of overseas players and managers that we have in this league.' Vincent Kompany and Manchester City were sent packing from the Champions League by Barcelona . Mesut Ozil's Arsenal were also knocked out but Ramsey believes it is just a 'blip' for English clubs in Europe . +Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed he will hold talks with Roy Hodgson next week over his use of striker Harry Kane. Kane was handed his first England call up Thursday following a brilliant breakthrough season that has seen him score 26 goals. However, Kane has already played 42 games this season, leading to suggestions of burn out. Harry Kane rounds Rob Green to score for Spurs against QPR earlier this month . The Tottenham striker has been in superb form, earning his call-up with a string of impressive displays . Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino wants to hold talks with Roy Hodgson about Kane . England will train at Tottenham's Enfield HQ ahead of the Friday's clash against Lithuania next week, and Pochettino has confirmed he will use it as an opportunity to speak to Hodgson. 'I will speak to Roy, it's always positive to speak to him, said Pochettino. 'It will be a good opportunity to have a chat and speak. I think we always try to find the best for the player and after we need to understand each other's position. 'But I will give our opinion; we have a good relationship with Roy. When I was at Southampton our relation was good. We respect each other.' England manager Hodgson named his England squad for the games against Lithuania and Italy on Thursday . On Kane's call-up he added: 'I'm happy for him and want to congratulate him, we are happy for him. It's Roy's decision, you expect some players to get the call but I'm happy for him.' Meanwhile, Pochettino has reinforced his belief that Danny Rose is England's best left-back despite missing out on the squad. 'I understand about Rose. It's his decision, it's not my opinion,' said the Argentine. 'He's is still in my opinion the best English left back. But it's down to Roy. When you see his performance you can see he's one of best left backs.' Goalkeepers . Fraser Forster (Southampton) Joe Hart (Manchester City) Defenders . Leighton Baines (Everton) Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) Phil Jagielka (Everton) Phil Jones (Manchester United) Luke Shaw (Manchester United) Chris Smalling (Manchester United) Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) Midfielders . Ross Barkley (Everton) Michael Carrick (Manchester United) Fabian Delph (Aston Villa) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Adam Lallana (Liverpool) James Milner (Manchester City) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur) Theo Walcott (Arsenal) Forwards . Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) +Concerns are growing for troubled former England football star Paul Gascoigne after an astonishing Twitter rant at friends he claim 'screwed him over'. After a 44-day Twitter silence, the football legend suddenly burst into a foul-mouthed rant about his girlfriend Mandy Thomas and a man called Andy. Posting online more than 50 times, Gascoigne, who has publicly struggled with alcoholism in the past, said the pair had 'screwed him over' and that he was 'in tears'. Scroll down for video . Outburst: After a 44-day Twitter silence, Paul Gascoigne burst into a foul-mouthed rant at friends he claim 'screwed him over' It is not clear what the ex-footballer is claiming Ms Thomas and Andy have done as most of the tweets are incoherent. The expletive-ridden rant started last night and ended this afternoon, with Gascoigne appearing to suggest he had tried to visit Ms Thomas at her work at a Post Office in Bournemouth. Last year the couple appeared to be the picture of domestic bliss, with friends saying she had helped him detox from alcohol and was willing to stand by him despite his troubles. Now friends and fans are concerned for the former England midfielder, with fears growing that Gascoigne may need help. One Twitter used wrote: 'Please RT, genuinely concerned for @gazza8gascoigne - can we get @GaryLineker or a friend to check on him before he does something silly!' The troubled footballer appeared to be ranting about his girlfriend Mandy Thomas (pictured) and a man called Andy . Last year Gascoigne and Ms Thomas appeared to be the picture of domestic bliss, with friends saying she had helped him detox from alcohol . Another fan wrote: 'It's sad to hear about this Gazza. Keep your cool in this difficult time. You will have a great support team who will help.' Tracy Stephens posted: '@gazza8gascoigne Don't let them make you ill. Sending you a big hug. Xx' The troubled star, who retired in 2004, has been battling alcoholism for years, but looked to have turned a corner in October last year. Gascoigne was pictured embracing Ms Thomas as they laughed and joked with each other, but two days later he was sectioned following an alcohol meltdown. The star was placed on a three-day emergency detox after being rushed to hospital in the early hours following an apparent alcohol binge. Healthy: The former England star looked well as he appeared on BT Sport last month, joking about his previous alcohol troubles . Gascoigne was in good spirits as he chatted with former drug addict Russell Brand on the football show . There were fears Gascoigne had started drinking again after he was seen popping into an off-licence while still wearing his slippers in January, however he later claimed he was just buying cigarettes. In December last year, he was spotted entering an off-licence in east London, although it wasn't clear whether he bought anything at the store. A month earlier he was pictured looking downcast as he put the bins out in front his property in the wealthy Sandbanks area of Poole, Dorset, wearing a blue dressing gown, tartan pyjama bottoms and slip-on shoes. Last month the former footballer appeared on a BT Sport football programme alongside former drug addict Russell Brand. Gascoigne appeared to be in good health as he touched on his lengthy battle with drink, joking: 'I've been on a whiskey diet – I lost three days!' As well as making light of his dark times, the footballer also touched on the struggles of being in the spotlight. He told fellow guests Jimmy Greaves and Brand how his fundamental aim on a football pitch was to 'entertain the fans, win them over', but admitted that sometimes it all became too intense for him. He also admitted that even today 'it's sometimes hard to go to games' because he ends up 'analysing myself.' He added: 'I drive myself nuts. What would I have done there?' The former Everton and Newcastle player last month told the High Court that phone-hacking was linked to his alcoholism . The former Everton and Newcastle player last month told the High Court that phone-hacking was linked to his alcoholism. The 47-year-old former footballer gave evidence at the hearing in London to determine what compensation should be paid by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in eight representative cases. In a written statement supplied to the court, Gascoigne said that his fame had brought many benefits but also caused him much heartache as he had struggled to come to terms with the end of his playing career. Constant media pressure made it very difficult for him to lead a normal life and had led to his family not being as close as they once were. He said he suffered from alcohol dependency and also had treatment for drug use and addiction to the drink Red Bull. His statement said: 'I have suffered from mental illness, including paranoia, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. I am bipolar and I have an addictive personality.' +Tony Pulis has told Saido Berahino that being selected for England Under-21s in a 'big honour in itself' after the West Bromwich Albion striker missed out on a senior call-up. Berahino was in Roy Hodgson's squad for the matches against Slovenia and Scotland last November but did not feature and will instead play for Gareth Southgate's junior side against the Czech Republic and Germany at the end of this month. Despite scoring 18 goals this season and four in his last seven games, Hodgson preferred Harry Kane, while also recalling fit-again Daniel Sturridge to his squad. West Brom striker Saido Berahino (left) has missed out on a call-up to the senior England squad this month . Instead, the forward, who has scored 18 goals this season, will play for Gareth Southgate's Under-21s . Baggies boss Tony Pulis has insisted that Berahino's call-up to the England Under-21s side is a 'big honour' 'I haven't spoken to him about it. I haven't got a clue,' Pulis said when asked about Berahino's mindset. 'I think if he gets selected for the U21s (side) that's a big honour in itself. 'The lad's been very good lately in his attitude and his approach to everything we have done has been excellent. 'He's not said anything to me about it. He has been carrying an injury for the past few weeks but has still shown great character.' On whether Kane might return to the England Under-21 team for the European Championships in the summer, Pulis said: 'I think England should pick their strongest team for every proper tournament but Roy will always have a young player who he think is ready for the senior squad.' In-form Tottenham forward Harry Kane (left) has made the senior England squad for the first time . 21-year-old Kane has scored 26 goals in all competitions for Spurs so far this season . +Everton captain Phil Jagielka says the players have to share responsibility for an alarming slump that has seen them win just one of their last 12 Premier League matches. Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at Stoke left the Toffees in 14th place, just six points above the drop zone with 10 games to go, although 18th-placed QPR have a match in hand. This latest loss saw the heat turned up on Everton boss Roberto Martinez with '£MartinezOut' trending in the UK on Twitter in the aftermath - despite fans in the away end at the Britannia Stadium showing vociferous support for him and the team at half-time - but Jagielka insists the squad must also take the blame. Everton captain Phil Jagielka says the players must take responsibility for their poor Premier League form . England international Jagielka says it is time for the players to 'buck up our ideas' 'The fans were great (against Stoke). It has been a difficult season to watch us because the performances have not been as good as last season,' Jagielka told the Liverpool Echo. 'They are going to vent their frustrations, it is normally the manager that gets it as he is head of the food chain. 'But we as players know we need to buck our ideas up, start performing better and take pressure off him, pressure off ourselves and start getting some more points.' Roberto Martinez is coming under increasing pressure to turn it around after one league win in 12 games . Everton manager Martinez and his team look lost in the Barclays Premier League of late . Martinez swept into Goodison in 2013 armed with promising sound bites and a snappy dress sense to match a refreshing cavalier playing style that had taken Wigan to FA Cup glory only a month earlier. The former Swansea midfielder also oversaw Wigan's relegation from the top flight, but that was largely forgotten as he proved a runaway success on Merseyside, taking Everton back into Europe after a four-year absence and just missing out on a place in the Champions League. But this season has proved much more difficult for the Toffees, with a porous defence and stuttering form in front of goal leading to a growing sense of frustration. Victor Moses (centre) rises up to head home his side's opening goal en route to a 2-0 victory against Everton . Stoke substitute Mame Biram Diouf sealed win with a late goal after reacting to Marko Arnautovic's rebound . What has vexed supporters even more is their contrasting displays in the Europa League, with the Toffees beating high-flying Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg home and away en route to a largely trouble-free run into the last 16. The visit of Dynamo Kiev is next up for Everton in that competition, but Jagielka concedes their focus now has to be moving clear of the Premier League's basement battle. 'We know we need to concentrate on our league form,' he added. 'We have 10 games left now and need to pull our finger out and start picking up points.' +Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic remain on course for a domestic treble having defeated ten-men Dundee United 2-0 in the League Cup final. Kris Commons and James Forrest fired in the goals to beat Dundee United, who had captain Sean Dillon sent off to compound their misery. Find out how each player performed at Hampden Park... Dundee United's captain Sean Dillon is sent off by referee Bobby Madden for a tackle on Emilio Izaguirre . DUNDEE UNITED . RADOSLAW CIERZNIAK 6 . Clawed away Commons initial effort but unable to reach rebound. Not a prayer as Forrest settled the issue but saved penalty. SEAN DILLON 5 . Will curse fact he was off injured as Celtic scored but could have no complaints as red was produced for lunge on Izaguirre. JAROSLAW FOJUT 6 . A helpless bystander as Commons struck. Won vast majority of long balls Celtic threw into his area. CALLUM MORRIS 6 . Was relieved to see Griffiths fire into side-net after short back-pass. Will take pride in keeping Griffiths quiet. Paul Dixon of Dundee United (left) struggled to cope with the pace of Celtic's James Forrest (right) PAUL DIXON 6 . Spurned decent free-kick chance but corners hit their intended spots. Conceded penalty which was saved. RYAN MCGOWAN 6 . Started on right midfield was repeatedly pressed back by Stokes. Booked for scything Brown down. PAUL PATON 6 . His industry and anticipation were the main reasons Celtic couldn’t play through United. Subbed. JOHN RANKIN 6 . Gordon smothered his effort with the game goal-less. Unable to affect the game from his station on the left of midfield. CALUM BUTCHER 6 . Stayed touch-tight in midfield to Brown which ensured the Celtic skipper didn’t get the run of the game. Jackie McNamara (centre) and his Dundee United players are clearly gutted after the League Cup final loss . RYAN DOW 6 . Hit the turf upon being nudged by Brown but probably a little too easily for Bobby Madden’s liking. Tireless shift. MARIO BILATE 5 . Asked to fill Ciftci’s boots and struggled initially. Tested Gordon with stinging drive but subbed before the hour mark. THE MANAGER 5 . Irate that Dow didn’t win penalty but, on reflection, Jackie McNamara will concede Dillon pulled the rug from beneath him. SUBS . Anier (Bilate, 59) Erskine (Paton, 72). Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon maintains his clean sheet during the Scottish League Cup final . CELTIC . CRAIG GORDON 7 . Alert to deny Rankin then fielded Bilate’s deflected drive. Precious little to do once United were a man light. EFE AMBROSE 7 . Defensively sound and provided additional width with his frequent adventures up the right. Couple of terrific passes into the final third. JASON DENAYER 7 . Deila was grateful for his blistering recovery pace on more than one occasion. Won his individual battle with Bilate with something to spare. Kris Commons put The Bhoys ahead on the half hour mark with his 11th goal of the season in all competitions . VIRGIL VAN DIJK 7 . Almost opened the scoring with looping header and took the minimal attacking threat of United in his stride. EMILIO IZAGUIRRE 7 . Fortunate to escape booking for upending Dow then found himself on receiving end of Dillon’s reckless lunge. NIR BITTON 7 . Couple of heat-seeking passes from deep deserved better. Jarred his knee and made way for Henderson. Celtic captain Scott Brown used all his experience to guide Celtic to victory at Hampden Park on Sunday . SCOTT BROWN 7 . Anxious moment as Dow went down from his nudge. Sluggish start to the game but relished the task of dragging his side over the line. KRIS COMMONS 7 . Kept his composure to fire his side ahead at the second attempt. A goal that justifies the new contract in itself. STEFAN JOHANSEN 8 . Herculean work-rate is now taken as read but the Norwegian’s game intelligence is now a standard feature of every Celtic performance. Stefan Johansen (left), was in fine form on Sunday, clashed with Dundee United's Ryan Dow . ANTHONY STOKES 8 . Lively and effective down the left. A day of redemption after failing to trap for the Inter match. LEIGH GRIFFITHS 6 . Uncertain touch and runs that went rewarded added up to a frustrating day for the striker. Made way for Guidetti. THE MANAGER 8 . A deserved triumph for Deila. Now has the chance to follow Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill by winning the Treble. SUBS . Forrest (Commons, 69) Guidetti (Griffiths, 69) Henderson (Bitton, 81). +Ben Foster has been ruled out until October after surgery showed he had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament. It was tonight he had suffered a cartilage injury during the victory over Stoke keeping him out for a month, but exploratory operator revealed the extent of his problem. The injury will keep Foster out for the next six months in a huge blow for West Bromwich Albion as well as England manager Roy Hodgson, who needs a deputy for Joe Hart. West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster is set to miss the rest of the season through a serious injury . Foster receives medical treatment from the West Brom physios after suffering a knee injury against Stoke . Dr Mark Gillett, who as Director of Performance heads up Albion's sports science and medical team, said: 'Ben is in good spirits despite this obvious disappointment to him – he's already talking about his 'rehab' and wanting to get started on it immediately. 'But he has had a cruciate reconstruction of his left knee following the injury against Stoke and he will be out for six months.' Foster was forced off through the injury and had to be replaced by Boaz Myhill (left) against Stoke . The injury to Foster will be a blow to England manager Roy Hodgson (right), who needs a deputy for Joe Hart . +A bullet header from Fernando Torres set up depleted Atletico Madrid for a 2-0 victory over Getafe on Saturday as the champions boosted their hopes of finishing third in La Liga. Torres powered home a Koke free kick after three minutes to claim his first league goal since returning to his boyhood club in the January transfer window from AC Milan. Koke also played a part in the second goal before halftime when another free kick was flicked on by Raul Jimenez and Tiago nodded the ball in. Fernando Torres celebrates after giving Atletico Madrid the lead over Getafe at Vicente Calderon on Saturday . The former Chelsea striker powered a header past Getafe keeper Vicente Guaita in the third minute . Torres jumps for joy after setting the hosts on their way to a 2-0 win to close the gap on Valencia in third . Midfielder Tiago wheels away in celebration after doubling Diego Simeone's side's lead . Tiago stoops to head Atletico into a two-goal lead moments before half-time . Atletico were without several players through injury and suspension but looked sharper up front than they have of late. The hosts, who eased off in the second half as Getafe caused little danger, are now one point behind third-placed Valencia with 59 points. Leaders Barcelona face Real Madrid in the 'Clasico' on Sunday hoping to record a victory that will send them four points clear at the top. +Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has questioned the long-term effects of holding the 2022 World Cup in the winter. The final of the showpiece event in Qatar is to be on Sunday, December 18 - a decision which will allow traditional Boxing Day club matches to take place in Britain and avoid the fierce heat of June and July. It will be a shortened tournament over 28 days instead of the usual 32, starting on November 21. December 18 is also Qatar's national day. Manuel Pellegrini has expressed concern over the plans to play the Qatar 2022 World Cup in winter . The Manchester City manager watches on during his side's 1-0 defeat by Barcelona on Wednesday night . However, Pellegrini is concerned how Premier League games, which would usually be scheduled for November and December, will be caught up later in the season and the impact of doing so on the next domestic campaign. 'I think it is difficult to stop all the European leagues in that month, especially in our league at this moment, and not play football here in November and December,' Pellegrini said. 'When you recover those amount of games what will happen in the next season, when you finish late, how many days the national squad will need their players? 'I don't think it is easy. It is a big task.' Swansea manager Garry Monk echoed Pellegrini's thoughts, but conceded that teams would just have to 'get on with it'. Swansea boss Garry Monk says the break will be strange but the clubs will just have to get on with it . Roberto Martinez says teams around Europe will have to adapt to the affect of a winter World Cup . 'It will be strange having a two-month break in the middle of the season. I'm not sure how that's going to work and I'd have to see the exact lay-out of it, but I don't think it's a great thing,' he said. 'It's beyond the powers of Swansea City, but I can't imagine too many teams are happy with it. But it sounds as if we're just going to have to get on with it.' Everton boss Roberto Martinez conceded the tournament moving to November would need plenty of adaptation, but he always expected a World Cup in Qatar to be held over the winter. 'You need clarity and then you can prepare towards that,' Martinez said. 'But I always felt that once it was given to Qatar it was going to be a winter World Cup. 'When all the talk is about wanting the World Cup in different continents and different countries, and when the hosts are going to be Qatar, it's only normal that it's going to be played in the winter. 'That's going to affect two or three seasons around that date, but we need to adapt and make it a big football celebration like the World Cup's supposed to be.' Hull boss Steve Bruce says playing the World Cup in the winter is the only sensible solution . Hull manager Steve Bruce thinks a World Cup late in the year is a sensible move in such a hot climate, but took the chance to push for a winter break. He said: 'We've got plenty of time to adapt. I've always said in this country we need a break, we should copy everyone else. When you see other teams come back there's a freshness about them because of the winter break. 'We've got plenty of time to put the schedule in. Once FIFA picked Qatar there was only one solution and they've picked the sensible one.' West Brom manager Tony Pulis agreed. 'Whichever way you try to cook it they have worked it to suit the country at the best possible time. They have moved everything around to suit them, full stop,' he said. 'They are the governing body and, irrespective of what you do say and don't say, there might be loads of people unhappy with it, but they have got it through and it's been agreed. 'Everyone has to get on with it. What will be the situation in England, is everything is going to have to be reorganised and revamped? That's going to be interesting.' +Sunderland have replaced Gus Poyet with Dick Advocaat in a late bid to stave off relegation from the Premier League. The humiliating 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa not only came at the expense of the Uruguayan's job, but also leaves the Black Cats a single point above the drop zone. Here, Sportsmail looks at how some other clubs have fared after bringing in a new boss at late notice... Dutchman Dick Advocaat has nine games to stave off relegation at the Stadium of Light . Christian Benteke scores as Aston Villa humiliate Sunderland 4-0 in the Premier League on Saturday . Gus Poyet waves as he leaves the field after what would be his last game as Black Cats boss . Norwich - Chris Hughton and Neil Adams (6 April 2014) Hughton guided Norwich to 11th in his first season but struggled the following season and was sacked with the Canaries five points clear of the drop in 17th, but with Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea as four of their last five games. It was always going to be an uphill struggle for youth coach Neil Adams and, despite picking up a point against the Blues, were relegated. Time ran out for Chris Hughton at Norwich, but Neil Adams (right) couldn't save Canaries from the drop . Reading - Brian McDermott and Nigel Adkins (11 March 2013) It looked like a shrewd move when Reading replaced promotion-winning boss Brian McDermott with Nigel Adkins, who had been somewhat harshly binned by Southampton in January. But it was too late for the former physio to heal the Royals' season, winning just one of his eight Premier League games as Reading made an immediate return to the Championship. Brian McDermott left Reading under a cloud but Nigel Adkins won just one game as Royals were relegated . See how the other SEVEN managers from Holland have fared in Premier League hotseats . Hull - Phil Brown and Iain Dowie (15 March 2010) After the half-time team talk on the pitch and singing to celebrate survival in 2009, Phil Brown's luck finally ran out having won just one of his last 15 games as Hull boss. He was placed on gardening leave and replaced by former Charlton and Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie, but the rot had already set in and Hull collected just six more points on their way to relegation. Phil Brown lost the eye of the Tigers while Iain Dowie couldn't claw his way to safety with Hull . Newcastle - Chris Hughton and Alan Shearer (1 April 2009) When Joe Kinnear was required heart surgery in February 2009, Hughton was temporarily placed in charge but only won one of his six games, leaving Newcastle in 18th. Club legend Alan Shearer was surprisingly parachuted in to turn things around but his only victory came in a 3-1 win against Middlesbrough and the Magpies suffered a shock relegation. It can work... but beware short-term fixes: . Bringing in a legend is no guarantee as Newcastle found after replacing Chris Hughton with Alan Shearer . Sunderland - Martin O'Neill and Paolo di Canio (30 March 2013) O'Neill was dismissed with Sunderland 16th, a point above the drop zone but having played a game more than fellow strugglers Wigan and Aston Villa. Controversial Italian Paolo di Canio quite literally made his mark — ruining his suit with a knee-slide to celebrate 3-0 victory over rivals Newcastle — and secured a comfortable 14th place. But that was about as good as it got for Di Canio at the Stadium of Light as he was sacked just five games into the following campaign with his side rock bottom on one point. Martin O'Neill couldn't find the answers while Paolo di Canio's success at Sunderland was short lived . Fulham - Chris Coleman and Lawrie Sanchez (10 April 2007) They may have gone seven games without a win but it was a shock when Coleman was sacked with five games to go — especially as Fulham were five points clear of danger. Former Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez made a stuttering start but eventually ensured survival on the penultimate day with a 1-0 win over Liverpool. His reign didn't last long, though, as Roy Hodgson came to the rescue in December 2007 with Fulham still battling against the drop. Lawrie Sanchez (right) saved Fulham on the final day after Chris Coleman was handed his P45 . +The similarities are uncanny – from the outlandish fascinators, to the plummy voices and voluptuous curves. New drama The Royals, which launched in America last week, is about a ‘spoof’ British Royal Family – but two red-haired sisters, Penelope and Maribel, bear uncomfortable resemblances to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. The creators of the show, which stars Elizabeth Hurley as a couture-clad Queen, insist all the characters are ‘purely fictional’. Scroll down for video . 'Dim': Penelope (Lydia Rose Bewley) (left) and Maribel (Hatty Preston) (right) have certain similarities to Eugenie and Beatrice . The real deal: 'The make-up girls and wardrobe ladies had photos of Beatrice and Eugenie pinned up everywhere,' said Hatty Preston, who plays Maribel . Many of the young Royals are shown engaging in wild, drug-fuelled orgies. Hatty Preston, who plays ‘dim-witted’ Maribel, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s inevitable that people will compare the sisters to Beatrice and Eugenie. ‘I based Maribel on the Made In Chelsea stars, but the make-up girls and wardrobe ladies had photos of Beatrice and Eugenie pinned up everywhere. It’s a spoof. I hope they realise we’re laughing with them, not at them.’ The Royals has already been panned by US critics. The first episode will be screened in the UK on E! on Wednesday. +Ben Foster has been ruled out for at least a month after suffering a damaged knee cartilage during his side's 1-0 victory over Stoke. Scans revealed the extent of the injury after the West Brom goalkeeper limped off on 56 minutes having hurt himself challenging Peter Crouch for a high ball. It means Roy Hodgson will be unable to select Foster for England’s forthcoming internationals against Lithuania and Italy at the end of March. West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster suffered a damaged knee cartilage during win against Stoke . Substitute goalkeeper Boaz Myhill replaced Foster in the 56th minute during West Brom's 1-0 win . Foster sustained an injury after colliding with Stoke striker Peter Crouch at The Hawthorns . VIDEO West Brom could have scored more - Pulis . Deputy goalkeeper Boaz Myhill will step up during Foster's absence, with Jack Rose, 20, expected to be named on the bench. Tony Pulis said: 'It's rotten news for Ben because he's been so consistent. 'He kept seven clean sheets in 10 games but we have a very able man to step forward in Boaz, who has performed well when he's come into the team. 'We've got the international break coming up which I hope will give our medical team the chance to work on Ben's rehab and we will reassess later.’ +Ready for retirement? David Cameron was seen doing shopping and enjoying a slice of cake near his home in Chipping Norton . David Cameron looked as if he was preparing himself for the quiet life today as he was spotted picking up some shopping and watching his son play football. The Prime Minister was seem walking out of a shop in Chadlington, near Chipping Norton, holding a carrier bag filled with shopping as he tucked into a slice of cake. He was pictured gorging himself on the slice as he walked around the market near his Oxfordshire home, paying for fruit and veg and chatting with locals. The Conservative leader, who today finally reached an agreement with opposition parties and broadcasters on televised election debates, was earlier seen watching his son Arthur play football for Chadlington FC. Despite Arthur's under-9s team losing 2-1, Mr Cameron remained in good spirits as he chatted with other parents during the match. Sporting a black jumper and cosy black Berghaus coat, the Prime Minister later picked up a few essentials from Sainsbury's, carrying them in a bag for life. He was then seen entering Chadlington Quality Foods - a community-run bakery and deli - leaving a few moments later with a slice of cake in a white paper bag. Mr Cameron stopped to chat with a few market traders before paying in cash for some fruit and vegetables. The Prime Minister's jaunt through the Oxfordshire town came on the day it was finally announced that broadcasters and political leaders had reached an agreement on televised debates in the run up to May's General Election. Broadcasters have confirmed plans for a seven-way discussion on April 2, as well as a range of other programmes before the nation goes to the polls. The first will see the Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband interviewed separately before answering questions from a live studio audience. The Prime Minister had earlier watched his son Arthur play for Chadlington FC, but the side lost 2-1 . Shoulder barge? Mr Cameron chatted with parents after the match near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire . Picking up supplies: The Prime Minister paid in cash for some vegetables after visiting a Sainsbury's . The Labour leader will then appear in a BBC debate with counterparts from Ukip, the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru two weeks later. The final encounter will be a special Question Time on BBC One on April 30. Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband and Nick Clegg will answer questions separately from a studio audience. There will be no head-to-head debate between the Prime Minister and the Labour leader. Labour immediately branded Cameron a 'coward' for avoiding a head-to-head debate with Miliband. A source said: 'The cowardice of David Cameron is still preventing the head-to-head debate on the 30th. 'Cameron is now in the ludicrous position of saying he will attend the same programme and take the same questions from the same audience as Ed Miliband, but will not debate him face to face.' Whistle while you take a day off work: The Cameron looked relaxed as he wandered through town . Time for a treat: The peckish PM was seen walking into a community-run shop for a snack . He emerged again moments later and was nibbling on a cake as he took a stroll on his Saturday off . David Cameron (left) and Ed Miliband (right) will face off alongside five other party leaders in a single televised general election debate on April 2 . A Labour spokesman added: 'After weeks of pressure from the Conservative Party, Channel 4 and Sky have indicated to us that they are unwilling to stick to their commitment of March 6 to proceed with the head-to-head debate programme if David Cameron refused to take part.' But a Tory source insisted they had secured a better deal than they were hoping for. 'If anything this is an improvement on the deal we were offered last week. The PM has always believed too many debates would suck the life out of the campaign,' they said. 'In all these formats, we are confident the choice between competence and chaos will be clear.' A Liberal Democrat spokesman said they were happy to take part in the proposed format. 'If it was down to us, we would be in every TV debate and every interview and are ready to take part in any of them,' they said. 'But we think that the politicians and broadcasters have ducked and dived on this long enough and just need to get on with it now.' +As the Premier League season enters its final straight, a few unexpected names have risen to the fore as teams fight to either stave off relegation or strive for a top four finish. Tim Sherwood attacking instincts have managed to get Aston Villa firing again with three of his players making the top 10 in the Player Performance Index PPI chart created by EA Sports. Meanwhile, Marouane Fellaini's improving form, which included a fine goal against Tottenham, has been silencing his early critics at Old Trafford. 10. Charles N'Zogbia, Aston Villa (PPI score: 34.4) The first of three Aston Villa stars to have been reinvigorated by the arrival of new manager Tim Sherwood. The former Wigan winger has been released from the shackles of Paul Lambert's previous reign and was back dribbling down the touchline this weekend while providing an assist in Villa's 4-0 hammering of Sunderland. No 10: Aston Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia is back doing what he does best under Tim Sherwood . The EA Sports PPI is the official player rating index of the Premier League. It measures a player's contribution to the success of his team. The intention is to remove any opinion bias and only work with proven statistical measurements which become more accurate as the season progresses. So, what are the six indices? 1. Winning Performance . 2. Player's Performance per match . 3. Appearances . 4. Goals scored . 5. Assists . 6. Clean sheets . 9. Joel Ward, Crystal Palace (35.9) Not only did the Eagles defender win four tackles and make seven clearances during his side's 3-1 defeat of struggling QPR, but he also managed to score. The sight of of a full-back celebrating in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo will still be etched in the minds of worried Rangers fans. 8. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace (38.8) On his current form, Wilfried Zaha could earn himself a move to Manchester United... wait a minute! The speedy winger is one of several players to have risen from the flames of criticism this weekend with 16 passes completed in the opposition half to compliment his brave goal against QPR. No 9: Crystal Palace defender Joe Ledley (right) celebrates his goal against QPR  a la Cristiano Ronaldo . No 8: Wilfried Zaha suffered a nasty collision with the goal post for his troubles of scoring against Rangers . 7. Brown Ideye, West Brom (39.5) The Baggies' record £10million signing was almost offloaded for a cut-price fee in January but has come good with five league goals since the close of the transfer window. His latest, which claimed the match winner in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Stoke, ended a spell of four games without a goal. No 7:Brown Ideye scores the winer against Stoke, his fifth league goal since almost being sold in January . 6. Michael Carrick, Manchester United (38.3) Louis van Gaal's Manchester United are simply better when Michael Carrick is in the side as the cultured midfielder showed in arguably their best performance of the season against his former club Tottenham on Sunday. Carrick netted a rare headed goal but making 42 of 50 attempted passes for a completion rate of 84 per cent was equally impressive from the former England international. No 6: Cheikhou Kouyate has been compared with Patrick Vieira and was impressive this weekend . 5. Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal (41.4) The Welsh midfielder prepared for Arsenal's do-or-die Champions League showdown with Monaco on Tuesday with an all action performance in the 3-0 defeat of West Ham. Aaron Ramsey scored the Gunners second goal, provided an assist for Mathieu Flamini's third without ignoring his defensive responsibilities with four wining tackles and three interceptions to leave Arsenal fans believing miracles can happen at the Stade Louis II. No 10: Aaron Ramsey skids on his knees after scoring in an all action display against West Ham . 4. Marouane Fellaini, Manchester United (45.7) At one time, it seemed as if Marouane Fellaini's only admirer at Old Trafford was the manager who signed him, David Moyes. But, despite being largely ignored by Van Gaal, the Belgium international has forced his way back into the side and received no less than a standing ovation after scoring a goal and keeping his passing tidy with a 78.6 per cent pass completion rate. No 4: Marouane Fellaini slots in a left footed shot during Manchester United's best performance of the season . 3. Romelu Lukaku, Everton (47.6) Everton's record £28million summer recruit has come under criticism as Premier League clubs have come to terms with Roberto Martinez's tactics this season. Nonetheless, the former Chelsea battering ram has starred in Europe and taken his league goal tally into double figures with a strike supplemented by an assist in the Toffees' 3-0 defeat of Newcastle. No 3: Romelu Lukaku made an assist and scored his 10th league goal of the season against Newcastle . 2. Christian Benteke, Aston Villa (54.7) Aston Villa were the biggest winners of the Premier League this weekend, which a 4-0 first half scoreline at Sunderland leading to Gus Poyet's eventual departure from the Stadium  of Light. Whereas a shortage of goals was their problem under the previous regime, Sherwood has them firing on all cylinders with Christian Benteke once more looking like the striker that terrorised defences in his first season. No 2: Nacer Chadli finally shone for Tottenham against QPR on Sunday . 1.Gabriel Agbonlahor, Aston Villa (49.6) The fleet footed forward tops this week's PPI Performance Index after his electrifying performance against Sunderland that gives Aston Villa breathing space in the congested battle against relegation. He scored a goal but completing 25 of 28 passes, including 24 made in the opposition half, for a completion rate of almost 90 per cent is testament to the attacking verve that has returned to Villa Park. No 1: Gabriel Agbonlahor (right) not only scored but managed a pass completion rate of almost 90 per cent . +Patrick Kluivert wants Aston Villa wing-back Leandro Bacuna to play for Curacao. Curacao named former Newcastle, Barcelona and Ajax striker Kluivert as national team coach earlier this week and he has sounded out Bacuna about committing to their World Cup qualifying campaign. Aston Villa wing-back Leandro Bacuna (left) is wanted to play for Curacao by new manager Patrick Kluivert . Bacuna said: 'I was even approached last year. I said then that I wanted to think about, which has actually not changed. 'That Kluivert was added to the staff, of course, gives something extra to the invitation.' The 23-year-old has made 14 appearances for Villa this season, scoring once. Former Barcelona and Ajax striker Kluivert was appointed as Curacao national team coach earlier this week . +Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has united the dressing room and inspired the players, according to defender Jores Okore. Back-to-back Premier League wins - either side of an FA Cup quarter-final victory - have halted the club's slide towards the relegation zone. Sherwood's first two matches were the tail-end of a seven-match losing run, itself part of a sequence of 12 games without a win stretching back to early December which ultimately cost Paul Lambert his job. Tim Sherwood celebrates after seeing his Aston Villa side take the lead against Sunderland . Defender Jores Okore (left) says Sherwood's passion has rubbed off on all the players . Although Villa remain just three points above the bottom three, Okore insists the squad believe they will survive. 'He has come in with a positive mind and he has spoken to everyone and got them all on board,' he told avfc.co.uk. 'He brought the team together and maximised the strength and potential of the squad. 'He has so much passion. It rubs off on everyone - it has with the fans and the players. 'He's inspiring; that helps to get us on board with his vision. I think that passion will continue. 'He has come in with positive energy and really gone out there and said 'Look guys, I really believe in this and I want you to believe it too. If we do this together, we can achieve the goals we set'. The former Tottenham boss passionately celebrates as Villa score their fourth against Sunderland . Sherwood has recorded back-to-back Premier League wins to lift Villa three points clear of the drop zone . 'He made us believe that strongly. Everyone is on the same page.' Six points from their last two league outings, including a crucial win over fellow strugglers Sunderland last weekend, have turned around confidence within the squad and Okore believes the players are now starting to show the quality they have. 'The mood at Bodymoor Heath (training ground) is electric, everyone is happy and that helps us go out there and really perform and do what we do best,' he said. 'We have had some good wins and we want to continue that and really maximise everything that we have got in the group. 'We believe we can stay up. We hadn't really performed well in some games at the start of the season but you can really see the potential of the team right now and how we are playing.' +Mario Balotelli’s future at Liverpool was shrouded in mystery on Wednesday night after the frontman posted a cryptic message on social media. The Reds attacker was an unused substitute during Liverpool's 2-0 win against Burnley and has struggled for form at Anfield since arriving in the summer. The Italy international has managed just one Premier League goal since his £16million switch from AC Milan and has come in for criticism throughout his spell on Merseyside. Mario Balotelli was an unused substitute during Liverpool's 2-0 win against Burnley on Wednesday . Balotelli posted an image of his team-mates celebrating to Instagram but claimed 'someone doesn't like me' Shortly after the win against the Clarets, Balotelli took to Instagram and claimed 'Someone doesn't like me' but failed to specify before commenting on how proud he was of the Liverpool team. Posting an image of his team-mates celebrating on Wednesday night, Balotelli said: 'Someone doesn't like me but differently of what they say about me I'm a team player and I'm so proud of my team, of this win and of these fans! Let's keep going. Bravi Ragazzi!!! YNWA !!!' Liverpool's win - courtesy of goals from Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge - saw them keep the pressure on rivals Arsenal and Manchester United as the trio battle for a place in the top four. Jordan Henderson is joined by Adam Lallana as the midfielder celebrates giving Liverpool the lead . Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge wheels away to celebrate after doubling his side's lead against Burnley . +Hull have been charged by the Football Association for failing to control their players in Saturday's goalless Premier League clash against Leicester. The charge appears to relate to an incident where a number of Tigers players reacted furiously to Alex Bruce being booked by referee Jon Ross for a robust but ultimately fair challenge on Riyad Mahrez. An FA statement read: 'Hull City have been charged by The FA for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion. 'The allegation relates to an incident which occurred in or around the 68th minute of their fixture against Leicester City on 14 March 2015. 'The club has until 6pm on 23 March 2015 to respond to the charge.' Hull City have been charged for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion . The incident came in the middle of a highly-charged period as Michael Dawson had been booked two minutes earlier for a challenge on Jamie Vardy, and Tom Huddlestone was dismissed for the visitors just four minutes after, earning his second booking for a foul on Vardy. The issue of players applying pressure to referees came to the fore last week with Chelsea being accused of being over-zealous during their Champions League clash again Paris St Germain. And following the match at the King Power Stadium, Tigers boss Steve Bruce launched a thinly-veiled attack on the Leicester players for their behaviour towards the officials. 'I've got no problem with Huddlestone's two yellow cards, but is every challenge now a yellow if you mis-time it?' he said. Alex Bruce reacted furiously to being booked by referee Jon Ross for a challenge on Riyad Mahrez . Hull City manager Steve Bruce was unhappy with the behaviour of Leicester players . 'It got a bit angry towards the end, but for me the referee booked my two centre-backs for (fair) challenges. 'There's a raging debate about Chelsea in midweek and if we're not careful...I saw everyone surround Alex for a red card for his challenge. 'There wasn't a nasty challenge in the game yet we've had five yellow cards and a sending off. I never saw that coming. 'The reason we enjoy the Premier League is its honesty and integrity and if we're going to go down the route of every other league - jumping around and whinging and trying to get people yellow and red cards - for me that's not right.' Foxes manager Nigel Pearson strongly disagreed, and when asked for a response to Bruce's statement said: 'How many times have you seen us play this year? 'You're not in a position to judge my players on that. You're asking me and I've told you, "No, I don't think it's a fair assessment". Full stop.' +Tom Ince has told Gareth Southgate that he does not want to play for England Under 21s. The 23-year-old – currently on loan at Derby County from Hull City - has 18 caps for the young Three Lions and has been a key part of the set-up under Southgate. But Ince, after a discussion with dad Paul, has decided he no longer wants to be considered for selection, ruling him out of this summer’s European Championships in Czech Republic. Tom Ince has been left out of the latest England Under 21 squad by Gareth Southgate at his own request . Ince, currently on loan at Derby County, has been a regular under Southgate but will now not be selected . Southgate said: ‘I have had discussions with Tom and his dad over the last week or so and he has decided he does not want to be considered for the Under 21s. ‘I have to say I was surprised. He has obviously been a regular for us all the way through the campaign. But he feels at this moment in time he has got some priorities at club level. There is some uncertainty about where he is going to be at club level next season.’ Ince has had a whirlwind year in club football, moving from Blackpool to Hull City in a deal that involved a drawn-out £2million compensation case between the two clubs. It even looked like Ince could have moved abroad at one point with his father's former club Inter Milan said to have shown interest. He has since been on loan at Nottingham Forest and Derby in the Championship. Southgate was told that Ince did not want to be selected and sought clarification from the player and his father . Ince challenges for the ball with Middlesbrough's Lee Tomlin during Tuesday's top-of-the-table clash . Southgate was speaking at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium after announcing his squad for the forthcoming friendlies with Czech Republic and Germany. He has, of course, lost Harry Kane to the senior squad, but hopes to have the Spurs striker available for the Euros. ‘Myself and Roy (Hodgson) are constantly talking about that and he’s made it clear we’re able to pick any players who are eligible,' he added. ‘One or two have been up to senior team but haven’t yet established themselves. It’s nice to have them back in the fold. ‘It’s great that Harry has gone up this time – it sends a message to the rest of the squad that the pathway is there.' Southgate cannot call on Harry Kane as he is in the senior squad but the boss wants him back for the Euros . Southgate was delighted to see one of his young players reach the senior squad, showing the side's progress . +Southampton boss Ronald Koeman says he would jump at the chance to manage former club Barcelona after admitting his deep affinity with the Catalan giants. The Dutch coach spent six seasons playing for the La Liga club, winning four consecutive league titles and a European Cup between 1989 and 1995. Koeman, who has led Southampton to the brink of qualifying for Europe despite the club selling several of its best players last summer, also joined Barcelon'a backroom staff becoming assistant to Louis van Gaal in 1998. Ronald Koeman admits that he would be delighted to return to Barcelona as manager . The Southampton manager played for Barcelona for six years and won four league titles and a European Cup . Koeman (right) returned to club after retiring and was Louis van Gaal's (left) assistant. The pair are pictured her with Jose Mourinho (second left) and Frans Hoek in 1999 . And the former Holland international has revealed that he would love to return to Barcelona as manager. 'The entire world knows what I have with Barcelona and what Barcelona have with Ronald Koeman, so if I could become Barcelona coach one day, I would be delighted,' the Southampton boss told radio station Cadena COPE. Koeman throws his arms out during Southampton's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday . Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is under increasing pressure after slipping behind Chelsea . The 51-year-old was also asked about the possibility of replacing Manuel Pellegrini, who is under increasing pressure after falling behind Chelsea in the Premier League title race and facing elimination from the Champions League - as Manchester City manager. 'I am friends with [director of football] Txiki [Begiristain], there is contact with him and he has my telephone number,' Koeman said. +Fabricio Coloccini will miss the Tyne-Wear derby next month, after his appeal against a red card picked up against Everton this week was rejected. The defender was sent off following a lunge on Aaron Lennon in the second half and immediately hit with a three-game ban, ruling him out of the trip to the Stadium of Light on Easter Sunday. And the FA's Indpendent Regulatory Commission decided to reject his claim for wrongful dismissal, keeping him out until April 19. Newcastle lost their appeal over Fabricio Coloccini's red card he picked up during defeat against Everton . Coloccini was sent off for a challenge on Everton's Aaron Lennon and will be banned for three matches . United had felt they had a case for overturning the dismissal but their appeal fell on deaf ears on Tuesday. The club are now left with just one fit centre-back – Mike Williamson – for the games against Arsenal, Sunderland and Liverpool. +Financial accounts for QPR show their 'real' losses last season were almost £70million - a figure that still leaves them facing a fine of more than £50m. The Football League's complex Financial Fair Play rules are designed to discourage rich owners buying success and endangering the health of their clubs. A tariff of fines is in place for clubs that massively overspend. Earlier this month QPR announced they had made a loss of £9.8m but the accounts filed at Companies House now prove the smaller loss figure was only possible because of the owners, mainly Tony Fernandes, writing off £60m of old loans in an 'exceptional item' in the accounts. QPR owner Tony Fernandes was among those to write off £60million of old loans to the London club . QPR's players get put through their paces in training ahead of Saturday's game against Crystal Palace . Q: Queens Park Rangers accounts for 2013-14 have now been filed in detail at Companies House. What do they show? A: They show that the club’s ‘true’ losses for last season were £69.8m, instead of the £9.8m declared by the club earlier this month. They used an accounting method, an ‘exceptional item’, to count a £60m write-off of loans to the owners as effective income. Their real income was £38.7m. Q: Why does this matter? A: Because if clubs lose lots of money in the Championship, where QPR played last season, they face potential ‘Financial Fair Play’ fines from the Football League. The FFP rules are in place to stop clubs ‘financial doping’ and stop them spending themselves to bankruptcy. To simplify: clubs that massively overspend, and lose lots of money as a result, face fans which grow in relation to the overspending. Q: How much fine do QPR face? A: If they’d really lost only £9.8m last season, the fine would have been tiny, perhaps not even a million pounds. But if the real loss is £69.8m, the fine could be as high as £58m, and is likely to be at least £50m. That would be the biggest fine on any club for any reason in global football history. Q: Who will decide? A: Lawyers, probably. The parties are locked in talks about what happens next. Q: What do QPR say? A: No comment. Effectively, QPR counted that £60m write-off as extra income. But that money is noted in the accounts as being a 'related-party transaction' - and the Football League's own FFP rules explicitly rule out that related party moves of the kind QPR have undertaken. The League rule out such moves in order to prevent 'artificially' lowered losses. A QPR spokesman told Sportsmail: 'We have no comment.' A Football League spokesman reiterated an earlier League statement that the League remains in talks with QPR about the situation, but won't add details. If the League ultimately rule that QPR's 'real' losses are £69.8m, then the FFP fine they potentially face will be £57.9m. QPR will legitimately be able to write off some of that £69.8m as acceptable losses - for youth investment, and some bonuses, for example - but realistically they are looking at a fine of £50m-plus. Yet QPR are locked in legal arguments questioning whether the League have the right to levy any fine at all, and if they do, at what levels. QPR posted losses of £65.4m in the 2012-13 season and it was expected these might fall after cost-cutting in the Championship. But the new accounts show in fact that as QPR's income plunged from £60.6m in 2012-13 to £38.7m in 2013-14, there was no significant reduction in the biggest single outgoing - player wages. The wage bill was £78m in the 2012-13 season and £75.4m in 2013-14 in the Championship. Quite how this now plays out remains to be seen: lawyers are likely to remain occupied for weeks if not months or years on both sides. Junior Hoilett (centre) has an effort on goal as QPR prepare for a relegation clash at Selhurst Park . Striker Charlie Austin is in discussions over a new £60,000-a-week deal at Loftus Road . QPR could refuse to pay a Football League fine if Chris Ramsey keeps the club in the Premier League . If QPR avoid relegation from the Premier League this season, they can continue to refuse to pay any fine levied and the Football League will not be able to force them to pay while they remain in the Premier League - and outside Football League jurisdiction. The worst-case scenario for QPR is relegation to the Football League while continuing to refuse to pay a fine to the League, who have already said QPR would not be allowed back into the Championship if there was an outstanding fine unpaid. In other words, if QPR don't pay what the League ultimately demand and go down, they face the nightmare prospect of a drop to non-league football. Their lawyers are believed to be considering all options to prevent this. +Newcastle have appealed against Fabricio Coloccini’s red card during Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Everton in the hope of having their captain available for the Tyne-Wear derby. The defender was sent off following a lunge on Aaron Lennon in the second half and immediately hit with a three-game ban, ruling him out of the trip to the Stadium of Light on Easter Sunday. Newcastle are to appeal Fabricio Coloccini's red card he picked up during defeat against Everton . Coloccini was sent off for a challenge on Everton's Aaron Lennon . But United feel they have a case for overturning the dismissal and their appeal will be heard on Tuesday. Were it to fail, they would have just one fit centre-back – Mike Williamson – for the games against Arsenal, Sunderland and Liverpool. +Three brothers, aged eight days old, one and two, share not only the same genes, but also the same birthday. Shalonda Dominique, the boys' mother, of Virginia said she was just as surprised as everyone else when she had her sixth child this month, which ended up sharing the same birthday with two other siblings. Tre, Santana, and Harlem, were all born on March 13 - and kept their mom busy as she had them three years in a row starting in 2013. Scroll down for video . Tre (right), Santana (left) and Harlem (center) of Virginia were all born on March 13 -and kept their mom busy as she had them three years in a row starting in 2013 . Shalonda Dominique (above), their mother, said she was just as surprised as everyone else when she had her sixth child, which ended up sharing the same birthday with two other siblings . It started with Tre, two, who was born on March 13, 2013, and a year later on the same day he welcomed little brother, one-year-old Santana. Eight days ago, they were both joined by the newest addition, Harlem, who was born on Friday the 13th of March this year, according to Fox 5. While pregnant with her newborn son Harlem, Shalonda said she kept thinking the baby might be born on March 13. Tre (left) was born on March 13, 2013, a year later on the same day he welcomed little brother, Santana (right), and eight days ago, they both were joined by the newest addition, Harlem. While pregnant with her newborn son Harlem, Shalonda said she kept thinking the baby might be born on March 13 . 'After my three girls, I said, "I have to have a boy",' she said. 'And then I got three of them with the same birthday.' Tre has spent each of his birthdays so far in the hospital as both of his brothers were born. Harlem (above) was born on Friday the 13th of March this year, and his mother said it was a painful labor . Shalonda and her husband have three daughters Trinity, Monet and London, along with the boys (above Trinity, left, and Monet, right) Shalonda and her husband have a total of six children including their three daughters Trinity, Monet and London. Trinity and Monet said they are happy to have their own birthdays and said they do not think their mom should have any more children. As for plans for next year on March 13, Shalonda said they will be celebrating as there will not be any more babies. Shalonda said next year on March 13 they will be celebrating as there will not be any more babies (above all six of her children, from left to right: Trinity, Santana, Harlem, London, Tre and Monet) +Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti says Cristiano Ronaldo is a 'one-off' in terms of professionalism, and the best player he as ever seen in matches. Ronaldo has suffered a slump in form since turning 30 and being named World Player of the Year for the second time earlier this year. But Ancelotti backed the Portuguese forward to get back to his best thanks to his incredible work ethic and unique drive. Cristiano Ronaldo trains with his Real Madrid team-mates ahead of the Clasico on Sunday in Barcelona . The Real Madrid star has been praised for his incredible professionalism by manager Carlo Ancelotti . Ancelotti (centre) says that Ronaldo is the best player he has ever watched in matches . 'A lot of people would be really surprised by him,' Ancelotti told FIFA.com. 'As I’ve said many times before, he’s a player who’s a one-off in terms of professionalism and responsibility, even at this level. 'He was born with extraordinary talent, but he squeezes the juice from and works on that talent thanks to a level of drive I’ve seen in few other players.' The Real boss added that Ronaldo is the player he enjoys watching more than anyone, surpassing his previous favourite Zinedine Zidane. Ronaldo attempts a spectacular volley in the recent match against Levante at the Bernabeu . The three-time Ballon d'Or winner has endured a frustrating time of things of late, with the goals drying up . Ronaldo will need to rediscover his best form if Real Madrid want to close the gap on Barcelona in La Liga . 'Zidane was the player I most enjoyed in training, but Ronaldo’s the one I enjoy most in matches – he scores in virtually every game!' said Ancelotti. By the time Real kick off their Clasico at Barcelona on Sunday, it will be a month to the day since Ronaldo last scored a goal from open play in La Liga. Ancelotti will hope his prediction of Ronaldo scoring in every game comes true this weekend, if his side are to close the gap on their great rivals at the top of the table. Ronaldo (left) trains in a snood as Real Madrid are put through their paces on Friday morning . Ancelotti will be hoping his stars can reproduce their form of the early part of the season on Sunday . +The message, as Neil Jenkins relaxed at his al fresco media conference overlooking Rome’s Central Park, was that Wales have not even thought about the maths. The Wales assistant coach insisted his squad are not interested in points- difference — just winning a Test match against Italy. They have piped a respectful tune towards today’s opponents but there is a title on the line and head coach Warren Gatland knows that his side must go for the juggernaut victory at the Stadio Olimpico. The Kiwi needs his back line to go full throttle and take every point they can to close the gap on England and Ireland. Wales were heaped with praise for their defensive display last week but — with the wingers in danger of not scoring a try all tournament for the first time since 1995 — wing Liam Williams is ready to shift the focus towards attack. Liam Williams insists Wales will pile on the points against Italy in Rome . Neil Jenkins says the first objective is to win the game . ‘We know a lot of things need to happen,’ said Williams. ‘We are on first so we’ll go out, do the business and then sit back and watch the other matches. It would be nice for one of us wingers to get on the scoresheet, but it isn’t about me or George North getting across the line. The only thing that matters is getting the job done.’ Williams and North both scored during last year’s 51-3 rout of Scotland on the final day of the competition. A similar scoreline in Rome would make Gatland’s side big favourites for the title although they would have to wait for their reward as the new trophy is already at Twickenham and its replica in Edinburgh. For Williams, it is a chance to silence his critics once and for all. The 23-year-old Scarlet, formerly a blast-furnace worker, was targeted on social media during last year’s tour of South Africa. His shoulder charge gave the Springboks a decisive penalty try and he was then sent off in his first club game of the season. Williams was ordered to improve his discipline and has subsequently conceded one penalty in six Tests, compared to 13 in his first 16. ‘I had to learn the hard way,’ he said. ‘Some didn’t want me to be picked in a red shirt again. I had quite a lot of stick, but it goes in one ear and out the other. On Twitter, I just blocked people who were having a go. It was rubbish, really. You don’t need it. Warren Gatland will be hoping to get some points on the board early on against the Italians . Wales, pictured this week in training, have travelled to Rome knowing a win could secure Six Nations glory . ‘I hope they’re happy that I’ve started four out of five games in this Six Nations. I’ve worked on my discipline and it’s going well. I’m trying to handle situations differently — do what I have to do and then get out, instead of getting involved in stupid things. Keep my body in the oven and my head in the freezer.’ Sharing his surname with famous predecessors — JPR, Shane and Martyn to name three — Williams will now hope to match their big-game temperament. He will look to the forwards to provide a platform for victory — although the front-row casualty list is a worry — but it is up to the back line to deliver a title-winning scoreline. The absence of Sergio Parisse is a huge boost for Wales. The Italy captain has a foot injury and the odds of Wales winning the title shifted when his omission was confirmed. Mike Phillips passes the ball during an open session in Cardiff on Tuesday . Sam Warburton (left) and George North (right) lead the celebrations after beating Ireland last week . But, sticking to message, Jenkins talked up the quality of his cover. ‘He caused us a lot of problems last year,’ he said. ‘He is a fantastic player, a world-class No 8, and if he’s not playing they are going to miss him. But they have good players in their back row. Sergio didn’t play two years ago but they were pretty strong.’ Parisse’s absence should temper Italy’s gung-ho approach while the captaincy has been handed to hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini. Wales centre Jonathan Davies said this week that Ireland should ‘fear the wounded animal’ of Scotland, but Italy are also limping after losing to France so Wales must also be on their guard. ‘We’ve got more than one point to prove,’ said Ghiraldini. ‘Everything starts from our first phase and our scrum has to be at its best. We have guys like Martin Castrogiovanni, Michele Rizzo and Mauro Bergamasco with good experience. Sergio is a big loss — he could play in every national team in the world — but we have to keep believing.’ +Liverpool host rivals Manchester United on Sunday as both teams look to take another step towards securing a place in next season's Champions League. Here, Sportsmail takes a look at three of the key battles which could decide the game at Anfield. MARTIN SKRTEL v MAROUANE FELLAINI . The 6ft 4in Fellaini has given Manchester United a new dimension in recent weeks and has looked a better strike partner for Wayne Rooney than either Radamel Falcao or Robin van Persie. But if you needed the perfect warrior centre-half to combat Fellaini, Martin Skrtel would be high on your list. The shaven-headed stopper is fearless and as hard as nails. He knocked himself out making a challenge in an FA Cup tie against Blackburn earlier this month. Martin Skrtel (left) will need to deal with Marouane Fellaini's (right) height and physical presence on Sunday . JORDAN HENDERSON vs MICHAEL CARRICK . Different type of midfield players but whoever gets the upper hand could have a decisive influence on the result. Henderson is all about energy and mobility and scored the winner at Swansea City on Monday night. Carrick’s range of passing is outstanding, he gets the other United players on the ball at the right time. Both are vice-captains of their club and rivals in Roy Hodgson’s England squad too. Jordan Henderson (left) and Michael Carrick both play in the centre of midfield but they have different styles . DANIEL STURRIDGE vs PHIL JONES . Both players were tipped at one time to be the future of English football and are on the way back after injury. If Sturridge’s stealth and trickery win out, Liverpool will fancy their chances. But Jones is strong and will try to outmuscle the striker. Both have been named by England in the squad to face Lithuania and Italy and will be keen to show they are back to their best. Daniel Sturridge (left) will be looking to bamboozle Phil Jones (right) with his pace and trickery at Anfield . +Louis van Gaal insist that Manchester United will be his last job in football – but admits that he could go on and on if he gets it right at Old Trafford. Despite the difficulties of the season, the Manchester United manager is enjoying life in the Premier League and is even thinking about what he should say when United’s owners, the Glazer family, offer him a new deal. Van Gaal has revealed the United job will be his last but he could extend his contract at Old Trafford . Van Gaal, who signed a three-year deal with United last summer, said: ‘I can confirm this will be my last job but there could be five years to go yet. I can extend my contract. You never know. ‘You always have to be in the moment and then you can decide. I’m in a situation where I signed for three years because you can build something up in that time and the club agreed with that. I don’t know how I would react in the circumstances when Manchester United ask me to extend and if I should do that. But this is my last club.’ Louis van Gaal, pictured in training on Friday, takes Manchester United to face Liverpool at Anfield . And the United manager has also confirmed that he talked to Liverpool about becoming Director of Football three years ago – but says that he has ended up at England’s top club. Van Gaal was interviewed for the job by Liverpool in 2012, shortly before he became manager the Netherlands and Sunday's opposing manager Brendan Rodgers took over at Anfield. Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera and Radamel Falcao (L-R) train ahead of their trip to Anfield . Asked if he had spoken to Liverpool, van Gaal said: ‘Yes. But that is not so interesting anymore. I have spoken to a lot of clubs. It’s not so interesting, it’s in the past. It’s not good for Liverpool, Tottenham or for me to reopen things that are in the past. ‘It’s in the past and we are now in the present. I’m the manager of Manchester United, the No.1 club in England but Liverpool also has a very good record in history. But I’m the coach of United, I can only speak about Liverpool as an opponent, but not as a club of mine.’ +Five men involved in incidents on the Paris Metro ahead of a Chelsea match have been served with summonses, police have said. The men will appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on March 25 'regarding a police application for football banning orders', Scotland Yard said. Controversy erupted last month when Chelsea fans were filmed singing racist chants and refusing to let a black man on a train ahead of the Champions League clash against Paris St Germain. Souleymane S, a black man, was prevented getting on a train by Chelsea fans in Paris in February . Fans appeared to be chanting: 'We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it' Footage captured by a bystander before Chelsea drew 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain appeared to show a man being pushed back on to the platform amid chants of 'We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it'. The commuter, identified only as 33-year-old Souleymane, said later he felt 'truly wounded to the bottom of my heart'. He said: 'We're in 2015, aren't we, and we're in France. We're in a civilised country and when you are in a civilised country there are certain things you can't do. 'For me, it's a humiliation. I was humiliated in my country. I was humiliated in front of my family, humiliated in front of my mother and father.' In light of the incident, Scotland Yard said it would examine the footage to establish whether police could make an application for football banning orders. Chelsea FC said previously it was 'appalled' and apologised to the victim, while manager Jose Mourinho said he was 'ashamed' of the fans involved. Souleymane has said he is still traumatised and would not accept the invitation to watching the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. PSG play Chelsea in a Champions League last-16 second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night . Souleymane S says he is still traumatised and has not accepted the invitation to watch a game in London . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +As he knelt next to the goal clutching his slit throat, while blood pulsed out like a fountain and pooled around him, all Clint Malarchuk could think of was to get off live TV so that his mum did not have to watch him die. The footage remains on YouTube of the extraordinary incident precisely 26 years ago on Sunday when the then 27-year-old ice hockey goaltender suffered one of the most gruesome injuries ever seen in professional sport. His throat cut by a stray skate, he survived thanks to his team’s trainer reaching into his neck to pinch shut the severed artery that would later need 300 stitches. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT . Clint Malarchuk's throat was cut by a stray skate during an NHL game and required 300 stitches . But the traumatic accident led to a spiral of nightmares, insomnia, chronic depression and alcoholism. Twice he tried to kill himself, with the bullet from one attempt still lodged next to his right eye, and only now feels he can cope with his demons thanks to the love of his fourth wife. Malarchuk was playing for Buffalo Sabres in the NHL against St Louis Blues, when the freak accident left him fighting for his life. Amid shocking, gory scenes, Malarchuk tried and failed to get to his feet, as three pints of blood spilled on to the ice. ‘Once I realised this could be death, my first thought was “get off the ice, go through the gate, get off camera”,’ Malarchuk told The Mail on Sunday. ‘So my mum didn’t have to watch me die.’ Malarchuk’s mother, Jean, both of whose own parents were English, always watched her son’s matches live on TV. Malarchuk’s traumatic accident led to a spiral of nightmares, insomnia, chronic depression and alcoholism . NIKI LAUDA: Came close to death after his Ferrari burst into flames at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Suffered massive injuries but won F1 titles later. ALEX ZANARDI: Lost both legs in a CART crash in 2001 but returned two years later to race in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW. He also went on to win two golds and a silver in handcycling at the Paralympics in London. DAVID BUSST: Coventry defender's double leg fracture against Man Utd in 1996 involved the fibula piercing the skin. Considered English football’s worst leg break. DANIEL ALBRECHT: Swiss skier sustained serious brain and lung injuries after horrific wipeout at Kitzbuhel, Austria in 2009. Returned to action nearly two years later. FABRICE MUAMBA: Suffered cardiac arrest playing for Bolton against Tottenham in March 2012. His heart stopped for 78 minutes but he recovered. Amazingly Malarchuk was back playing within 10 days, resumed his career as a player and then became a coach. But three years later, in 1992, trying to obliterate his demons, he drank a bottle of whisky and took pills that led to his heart stopping. His OCD and depression were finally diagnosed. ‘It was the first time the chaos in my head was given a label,’ he says. At another low, in 2008, drunk and sitting in his barn, he put a gun to his chin, pointed upwards and pulled the trigger. The bullet richocheted off his molars, took out some teeth and a piece of his tongue, went through his top palate and sinus. His wife Joanie then insisted he undertake the longest and most intense rehab of his life, six months. ‘She is an incredible woman, she saved my life,’ said Malarchuk from their home in Nevada, where he has written a searingly honest auto-biography. ‘I thought at first it might be a kinda hockey book. But the reaction we’ve had has touched people. It’s a book about life.’ It transcends sport, detailing the brutality of depression. ‘It’s everywhere, not exclusive to any occupation, any economic status,’ said Malarchuk. ‘But there is still a stigma around it in sport, where there is constant expectation upon you. I was mentally ill. But I thought I was mentally weak.’ Malarchuk’s story is far from all doom and gloom. He recalls being drafted to the NHL at 20 in 1981, on a salary equivalent to £150,000 a year. The Quebec Nordiques clubhouse had a smoking room and beer fridge. He describes a catalogue of japes, including the time that he and a team-mate, both rodeo men, hired horses and charged them up and down a golf course as colleagues tried to play. Malarchuk was required to give two press conferences the day after the accident . He recounts the occasion at the Washington Capitals when he met the US President, Ronald Reagan. ‘I wasn’t interested in politics, I talked to him about movies,’ said Malarchuk. He asked Reagan about Barbara Stanwyck, one of the great pin-ups of Reagan’s acting era. ‘Between you and me, Mr President, you ever take a run at that?’ Malarchuk asked. Reagan replied: ‘No, but I sure would have liked to.’ Then he shook Malarchuk’s hand and moved on. In early March 1989, Malarchuk moved on, traded from the Capitals to the Sabres at short notice. He packed his stuff in his truck, made a seven-hour drive to his new team, kept a clean sheet in his first game and helped his side to three wins and a draw in his first five. He was an instant hit. Then came the game that has defined his life. The hospital where his life was saved was mobbed by media, some of whom pretended to be staff or relatives to get to Malarchuk, who was required to give two press conferences the day after the accident. He broke down during the second. The hospital could not cope with the ‘circus’ and he was discharged on day two. Astonishingly, he was played as a substitute within 10 days. Malarchuk's remarkable story is far from all doom and gloom . ‘If I had to go through it again, I think I’d want to come back as quickly as did first time,’ he said. ‘But I shouldn’t. Weakness through the blood loss was an issue. Today you’d also have a counsellor explaining the psychological impact of the trauma who’d be telling you there’s no need to get back quickly. And I would follow their instructions.’ Instead it was 19 years later in the rehab that followed the gun incident, that Malarchuk came to terms with what he now knows was the post-traumatic stress disorder that exacerbated his problems. Back then, he got on with his job, which included taunts from rival fans, including throat-slashing gestures from Boston Bruins supporters ‘reminding me to die’. One particularly powerful part of his book takes you deep inside his mind at that time. It might also be the mind of any elite sportsmen, tackling pressure and dark hidden thoughts, obsessed with not failing. ‘I knew I was struggling, but I was too stubborn, maybe too afraid, to ask for help,’ he writes. ‘I was trained to cowboy up. If you get bucked off the horse, you get back on.’ Now, he says, he can acknowledge his problems and ask for help. ‘What’s different is I know what tools I can use to try to handle the issue,’ he said. His book concludes: ‘I nearly bled out in front of thousands. This is about sharing the rest of me, because I know there’s a reason I’m still breathing. ‘I have PTSD and OCD, depression and alcoholism. I still have meds to take and wounds to heal. I still have a long, tough ride, but I’m tightening my grip and holding on — because this life is a crazy game and I’m determined to win it.’ +QPR goalkeeper Rob Green has been called up to the England squad for the upcoming internationals against Lithuania and Italy. Green replaces Fraser Forster in Roy Hodgson's squad after the Southampton keeper was injured in the Saints' Barclays Premier League victory against Burnley on Saturday. Tottenham left-back Danny Rose has also been drafted in after Manchester United's Luke Shaw withdrew due to injury, while Jack Butland has moved from the Under 21 squad to the senior. QPR goalkeeper Rob Green has been called up to the England squad by Roy Hodgson . Jack Butland has been promoted from the Under 21 side for the games against Lithuania and Italy . Green has been capped 12 times by England but has only featured once for the Three Lions since he allowed Clint Dempsey's tame shot to squirm under his body and into the net during the 1-1 draw against the United States at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He made his senior international debut against Colombia in 2005, but missed out on the 2006 World Cup in Germany after sustaining a groin injury in a B international match against Belarus a month before the tournament began. Green has kept five clean sheets in 28 appearances for QPR this season. The Hoops, who host Everton at Loftus Road on Sunday, are currently four points from safety in 19th place. England play Lithuania in a Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley on Friday, before facing Italy in an international friendly in Turin four days later. Tottenham defender Danny Rose has replaced Luke Shaw, who withdrew due to injury . Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster picked up an injury during his team's match against Burnley . +A revitalised Marouane Fellaini owes his eventful Premier League career to a stand-out performance at Anfield – the ground he returns to on Sunday carrying the Champions League hopes of Manchester United on his broad shoulders. Fellaini was a 20-year-old with Standard Liege when his outstanding display against Steven Gerrard in a 2008 Champions League qualifier persuaded Everton to buy him 19 days later for a club record £15million. He became a cult hero at Goodison Park for the next five years before signing for Manchester United in 2013. Now in his second season at Old Trafford and used mainly as a striker by Louis van Gaal, he is in the best form of his United career and scored and made an assist in last weekend's 3-0 victory against Tottenham. Marouane Fellaini fired Manchester United into the lead against Tottenham with a smart finish . The Belgian trains ahead of United's crucial clash with Liverpool on Sunday, where he is sure to be involved . Fellaini has grown from a bit-part player last season to become a vital member of Louis van Gaal's squad . Steve Round, assistant-manager to David Moyes at Everton and Manchester United and who worked with Fellaini at both clubs, recounts how it all began. 'Marouane had been on Everton's radar for a while. His ability to play in different positions was attractive because the club didn't have the money to pay big fees on several players,' explains Round. 'David asked me to go and watch him play Liverpool at Anfield and he was very impressive. A lot of players would have been dominated in midfield by someone like Steven Gerrard in his own stadium but Marouane competed and gave as good as he got. He wasn't overawed and you could see he had ability. 'When David asked my opinion, it was positive and the club signed him in what was a big deal for them given their finances at the time.' Former Everton assistant Steve Round watched Fellaini play against Liverpool for former club Standard Liege . Round gave the midfielder a glowing reference to David Moyes who sanctioned a £15m deal to sign him . Fellaini became one of the most instantly-recognisable figures in the English game with his huge hair making him appear even bigger than his 6ft4ins frame. He became a fearsome threat in the air though opponents often felt he was too aggressive with his elbows and it has to be pointed out the Belgian has received 56 yellow cards and two reds since he moved to England. Having worked closely with Fellaini, Round says there is far more to his game than the 27-year-old is given credit for. 'He is technically very good, he may not have the same range of passing as Gerrard but he rarely gives the ball away. And his chest control is as good as anyone I've seen in the game. He can play three positions well; holding midfield, number 10 or up top, where we used him with Tim Cahill in the season we reached the FA Cup final. I think he is best in a more advanced position where he has more freedom and not as much defensive responsibilities. Round (left) was assistant to Moyes at Everton and then Manchester United . Fellaini became a cult hero at Goodison Park, where he spent five seasons . 'Marouane can hold the ball up and bring others into play and I can see why Wayne Rooney enjoyed playing with him, in a similar way that Michael Owen benefitted from Emile Heskey's physical presence for England.' A protracted transfer from Everton to United was finally completed in the summer of 2013 for £27million after Moyes and Round had been appointed at Old Trafford to begin the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. 'I remember Ryan Giggs warning us that Manchester United can take some getting used to for new signings. He sited the example of Patrice Evra who turned out to be a great player for the club. Ryan said he was taken off after 45 minutes of his debut against Manchester City because it was such a culture shock. 'Marouane is a humorous guy, always able to take fun out of himself. I like him. But I guess being the only signing of that transfer window brought its own pressure and looking back maybe he was a bit quieter at the beginning than he was at Everton. But that's also natural when you are joining a new club with players who have been successful.' Fellaini followed Moyes to Manchester United, but was considered a figure of fun after the disappointing season under the former Everton boss . Fellaini starred in the 3-0 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford in December, and offers Van Gaal an alternative . After a nightmare first season in which United finisehd seventh, Moyes was sacked and Round left too. Fellaini stayed but was regarded at that time as a figure of fun. Round is not surprised he has been able to turn his fortunes around. 'I always thought he would show people what he could do at United. It's like Ryan said, it can take a few months for a new signing to be comfortable. He has always worked hard in training, he doesn't hide when things aren't going well. That has helped him. 'It's hard to say what will happen at United next. The pressure is always on to win matches and you don't know what the manager will do in the summer. But Marouane has shown this season he is an asset to Manchester United.' And at lunchtime on Sunday, he will hope to show that at Anfield, the ground where it all started for him. The only thing he'd like to change is the result – seven years ago, Liverpool edged Liege 1-0 with an injury-time winner from Dirk Kuyt. +Juventus have opened discussions with Monaco over a deal for Radamel Falcao. Manchester United will send the striker back to French league side at the end of the season and the Italian champions elect are keen to secure a similar loan. Juventus are looking to bring in up to two new strikers and a midfielder as they restructure their squad. Juventus have opened talks with Monaco over loaning Colombian forward Radamel Falcao . Falcao has struggled at Manchester United this season and they will let him leave at the end of the season . Carlos Tevez has one year left on contract and does not intend to sign a new deal while Fernando Llorente may also depart. They have also spoken to Palermo about highly-rated Argentine Paulo Dybala. Falcao is in United's squad to face Liverpool on Sunday. Meanwhile, Paris St Germain have denied making an offer for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba. Paris St Germain have denied making an offer for Juventus star Paul Pogba . +Louis van Gaal has been here before with the press questioning him, his players seemingly confused by his philosophy and the public bemused as the season tailspins into mediocrity. The only difference on the previous occasion was that Van Gaal tired of the challenge and gave up. It was 2008 and he was at AZ Alkmaar, an admittedly different proposition to Manchester United. But the ingredients were similar. The club was under-achieving, languishing in 11th place when they had been expected to challenge at the top of the table. And it seemed as if the players could not grasp what he was demanding from them. So Van Gaal walked out. He resigned from Alkmaar in March 2008. Louis van Gaal, pictured in training on Friday, takes Manchester United to face Liverpool at Anfield . Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring United's final goal in their 3-0 win against Tottenham last weekend . Van Gaal, pictured in 2007, resigned as manager of AZ Alkmaar only to return to the club and win the title . But then something remarkable occurred in the form of a players' mutiny. The team rebelled against Van Gaal's own decision to walk out leave them and demanded him back. Led by captain Stijn Schaars, central defender and vice-captain Kew Jaliens, midfielder David Mendes and Australian goalkeeper Joey Didulica the team leaders asked for a crisis meeting with the directors and the owner of the club. 'We felt insulted when the club told us Van Gaal was leaving,' said Kew Jaliens. 'The entire squad, felt that Van Gaal is the right man and the only man who could take this club and our squad to a higher level.' As United travel to Liverpool on Sunday with Champions League qualification hanging in the balance, the question is whether United's players and directors would do the same for Van Gaal today. Of course, thing aren't quite as bad as they were at AZ. After all, three defeats in 24 games would be satisfactory for most clubs. And last week's 3-0 win against Tottenham was a possibly the first sign that a new successful United team could emerge in the post-Ferguson era. Stijn Schaars, pictured during his days as an AZ Alkmaar player, did not want Van Gaal to leave the club . Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera and Radamel Falcao (left to right) train ahead of their trip to Anfield . Indeed before Sunday's game at Anfield, Van Gaal was confident enough to talking about extending his time at Old Trafford beyond his current three-year deal. 'This will be my last job but there could be five years to go yet,' he said. 'I can extend my contract. You never know. I'm in a situation where I signed for three years because you can build something up in that time and the club agreed with that. I don't know how I would react in the circumstances when Manchester United ask me to extend, and if I should do that.' Perhaps their 3-0 win over Tottenham last weekend could be viewed as the United players own vote of confidence in their manager. Wayne Rooney later revealed that he had spoken to the team the night before and certainly it seemed as though they might have finally 'got' the elusive Van Gaal philosophy. And not before time: Sunday's clash with Liverpool could be defining for judging Van Gaal's first season a success or failure. Put baldy, finish fourth and Van Gaal can be broadly satisfied; finish fifth and he can expect to be questioned as to whether he is still among the top coaches in the world. It is crude and unsatisfactory measure of his first season – a point here or there might make the difference between fourth of fifth. Van Gaal has revealed the United job will be his last but he could extend his contract at Old Trafford . But Van Gaal needs to demonstrate that United are making progress and qualification for the Champions League is the only tangible way to do so. Last Sunday's victory was welcome, but was notable for being one of the few outstanding performances this season. The defeats at Swansea and to Arsenal in the FA Cup are still fresh in the mind. At times United's players seem to be inhibited by Van Gaal. Some at United believe he has been in danger of losing credibility among the players at times when he spoke about his 'philosophy', given the amount of times he has changed his formation. In addition, the players have seemed 'strangled' by Van Gaal at times, said one United source. His sheer intensity seems to overwhelm them. At Bayern Munich they would relate to that. They remember him there as coach brought back discipline to the squad and who introduced fresh intensity and a crisper, sharper passing game, a tactical prerequisite for a modern elite Champions League club. The Bayern players found their standards had to rise considerably to meet Van Gaal's expectations of passing accuracy and the foundations he laid have helped build the success of the club since he left. The Bayern Munich players felt they had to raise their standards considerably while Van Gaal was at the helm . But his discipline eventually was perceived as eccentric and bizarre, according to some at Bayern. The self-confidence, which helped underpin the team as they won the German League and Cup double in the first season and reached the Champions League final, became a liability as he sought to control more and more areas of the club. They still talk with wide-eyed astonishment about the day he dropped his trousers in team talk to demonstrate that he had the 'balls' to drop any of the star players. And they still raise their eyebrows at the manner in which Van Gaal organised meal times after training. Lunch time was a communal affair. And at Bayern, the whole team had to be assembled in matching kit before Van Gaal would give the signal for the meal to start. He once refused to allow the highly-respected club doctor, Hans Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who was then in his 60s, to join in lunch until he had gone back to change his socks. Mueller-Wohlfahrt was in his white club socks and the stipulated dress code was red socks. His obsession with order carries over on the pitch and his greatest strength for some and his biggest weakness for others. Johan Cruyff, his great football adversary, is one of those unimpressed with his need to control. Johan Cruyff says Van Gaal is a very good organiser but that's not the way he likes to do things . 'The difference is that he always organises a lot of things for people,' said Cruyff. 'I always use the basic quality of people to achieve what I want to achieve. That's a different way of thinking. I always love that they do things. And when it goes wrong, well, try to correct it in one way or another. His way is more as a very good organiser. That's the way he is' Of course, when he gets it right and a club or a group of players buy into what he has to offer, Van Gaal can be phenomenally successful as his time, at Ajax and his early days at Barcelona and Bayern demonstrate. And, of course, at AZ Alkmaar. That famous meeting, when the players begged him to stay at the Dutch club was a heated and emotional affair in which Van Gaal demanded the fill support and commitment of the players if he were to stay. The players agreed. The following season they won the Dutch league, the first time for 27 years that it had been won by a team other than PSV Eindhoven, Ajax or Feyenoord. If he can do the same for United next season, his genius will be confirmed. If they lose on Sunday and the club's trajectory doesn't change, he won't need to worry about what to do when he sitting down with the Glazers to extend his contract. Manchester United face Liverpool in a crucial Premier League fixture at Anfield on Sunday . +Mesut Ozil has defended his decision to swap shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia on the pitch during Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Monaco on Tuesday evening. The Germany international faced criticism for trading jerseys with the French midfielder at half-time as Arsene Wenger’s side were eliminated from the Champions League despite a 2-0 win at Stade Louis II. ‘Geoffrey Kondogbia asked me for my shirt and I wanted to do him a favour,’ Ozil told Sky Sports Germany. Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil came under criticism for the shirt swap at half-time in Monaco on Tuesday . Ozil swapped shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia at half-time of Arsenal's Champions League clash with Monaco . Ozil later defended his decision to swap shirts at the break after facing criticism . ITV pundit Paul Scholes (centre) is pictured alongside Andy Townsend (left) and Lee Dixon on Tuesday . ‘Maybe I should have given him the shirt in the tunnel. But seriously guys, is there nothing more important to discuss for a knockout game than a shirt swap?’ Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, who was working as a pundit for ITV, was unhappy with Ozil’s move as he made his way to Arsenal’s dressing room. ‘I don’t like it — at the end of the game, maybe. But I’m not a big fan even then,’ said Scholes. ‘You do it once you’re in the tunnel or once you’re in the dressing room, out of the way of everyone. At half-time, it’s not for me.’ The incident was not the first time an Arsenal player has come under fire for swapping shirts as Andre Santos faced criticism for trading jerseys with Robin van Persie at half-time during the club’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in 2012. Ozil (right) is closed down by Monaco's Jeremy Toulalan at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday . Former team-mates Andre Santos and Robin van Persie share a moment on the Old Trafford pitch in 2012 . Santos asks Holland international striker Van Persie for his shirt at half-time . Van Persie hands his former Arsenal team-mate his shirt at Old Trafford . +Rory McIlroy fired three successive bogeys late in his third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational here at Bay Hill on Saturday to ruin a charge through the field. World No 1 McIlroy had closed to within one of the lead when he dropped shots at the 14th, 15th and 16th to finish the day seven adrift of tournament pace-setter Henrik Stenson. McIlroy said afterwards he still hoped to push himself into contention with a fast start on Sunday but admitted victory in his final tune-up before the US Masters was now unlikely. Rory McIlroy plays out of a bunker on the 11th hole during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational . The world No 1, pictured playing his approach to the green on the sixth, carded a one-under-par 71 . McIlroy is seven shots behind leader Henrik Stenson after bogeying three holes in a row on the back nine . 'Everything was going really well for 13 holes,' McIlroy said, 'and I got myself right into the tournament. Then I had a messy three holes. It would have been nice to have been a little bit closer to the lead.' McIlroy was not too dismayed by his late hiccup. He has worn the air this week of a man intent on saving his best for the Masters, which starts at Augusta in less than three weeks. So McIlroy chatted a little about Ireland's win in the Six Nations and opened his eyes wide when he heard how close England had come to getting the final try they needed. He will try to close the gap to Stenson and then spend the next fortnight honing his game in private. Henrik Stenson sits on top of the leaderboard after a second consecutive round of 66 on Saturday . Stenson, pictured after hit his drive on the eighth hole, has a two-shot advantage heading into the final round . Everything is about the build-up to Augusta where McIlroy will attempt to join a select group of the greats of the game by winning the only Major that has eluded him. Victory would lift him into the company of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods who all won the Masters, the US Open, The Open and the USPGA at least once in their careers. 'I have pretty much got what I wanted out of the week so far,' McIlroy said. 'It has highlighted a couple of things I need to work on and that's what I will do in the next couple of weeks.' McIlroy, pictured lining up a putt on the 10th green, will prepare for the Masters in the coming weeks . The 25-year-old is looking to complete a career Grand Slam with victory at Augusta next month . One of the reasons McIlroy played Bay Hill was because he wanted to replicate his routine from 2011 when he had a fortnight off before the Masters and led the field before collapsing on the back nine. 'It worked pretty well at Augusta, at least for 63 holes,' he said. McIlroy dined with Palmer, 85, on Thursday night, soaking up his wisdom and listening to tales of the way golf used to be. At the start of next month, he will be seeking to make some history of his own. +Daley Blind's only previous visit to Anfield came as a wide-eyed 10-year-old when his footballing father Danny secured tickets for a game against Arsenal from Jari Litmanen, a former team-mate who had signed for Liverpool. Among the players on view were Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Thierry Henry. 'It left a great impression on me,' said Blind. 'As a young boy from Holland who loved football, I just took everything in. The crowd noise and atmosphere were crazy. It was a special day.' At lunchtime on Sunday, Blind will return to Anfield for the first time with his new Manchester United team-mates. This year's clash carries even greater significance than usual with a Champions League place at stake and for Blind it carries on the family tradition of being involved in big matches. Daley Blind (right) will play at Anfield for the first time with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon . Blind is enjoying his time in Manchester but admits he had to adapt to the pace of the Premier League . The 25-year-old scores his first goal for United to salvage a 2-2 draw against West Brom in October last year . His father played 42 times for Holland and was captain of Ajax's legendary 1995 Champions League-winning side alongside Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids and Edwin van der Sar. It was a first major triumph for an emerging manager called Louis van Gaal who clearly likes the Blind family. Almost two decades later, he selected Daley for Holland's World Cup team last summer and then signed him for Manchester United in a £14million deal from Ajax. It has been an eventful debut in the Premier League for both of them. Manchester United's results have been far better than last season when they finished seventh under David Moyes. They visit Anfield having lost just twice in 19 league games. At the same time, their performances until last weekend's 3-0 victory against Spurs had been patchy with new signings like Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao struggling. Blind has been a steadying influence, his versatility useful as Van Gaal has tried to juggle injuries and suspensions. The 25-year-old has been used mostly as a holding midfielder but with Michael Carrick returning last weekend, he switched to left back as United turned in their best performance of the season. Blind says his manager is essentially the same person in England as when he took Holland to the World Cup semi-final. Blind talks with his dad, Holland coach Danny, during a training session at last summer's World Cup in Brazil . The Holland international believes he is similar to his dad when out on the football pitch . Blind, pictured alongside Radamel Falcao, was one of a number of summer signings made by Louis van Gaal . Blind screams with delight after curling the ball into the bottom corner of Boaz Myhill's net at the Hawthorns . 'People only think he's intimidating because he is honest. He is honest to people,' explained Blind. 'Yeah, sometimes the truth can be hard to some players or people. But I really like that in a person and especially in a manager. 'Every player knows their job, what they have to do in training and matches. It is very clear and I think that makes everything a bit easier for players. As a team we believe in his philosophy. 'It is a good feeling for a player if you know where you stand. Sometimes it can be a bit frightening when somebody is really honest but I think it is positive. I don't get any special treatment, definitely not. I make mistakes, too, and I try to learn when he says something. It can look as if he is angry but he is trying to make you better. He does that from a football perspective, it's not personal. He treats everybody the same.' In keeping with United's season, Blind has experienced highs and lows. A knee injury that kept him out for six weeks in the autumn was frustrating. When fit, he has weighed in with important goals at West Brom and West Ham and last week was vital in the Spurs win, with Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo unavailable. It was seen as a return to the old, swashbuckling United. Blind doesn't think it's that simple. He believes United didn't change their approach much, the major difference was getting two early goals. United boss Louis van Gaal has tried to implement his own philosophy at Old Trafford this season . Louis van Gaal is pictured with Danny Blind and Ajax chairman Michael van Praag back in 1994 . Blind, pictured in action against Tottenham, has proved his versatility under Van Gaal this season . Danny Blind leads his son out during his Ajax days (left) and lifts the Champions League trophy in 1995 . The Dutchman looks dejected alongside Wayne Rooney and Tyler Blackett during defeat by Leicester . 'Everything came together. We tried to play attacking football. But there were still moments we used David de Gea to switch play or had to show patience. But of course when you are leading 3-0 at half time it is a lot easier because the fans are excited. I think we have played better and better in recent weeks, against Spurs maybe we did it for longer.' The cries of 'attack, attack' heard from United fans this season are meant to lift the players. But Blind says the team have to use their heads in matches, too. 'Of course, you go on the pitch feeling you want to win. Every game is difficult in the Premier League, you have to be also smart in the games. 'Sometimes you need to have composure. Against Tottenham, we attacked them in the first half. Then in the second half, we let them come at us a bit more and played from there. I think we can play different styles.' That adaptability is one of the reasons Van Gaal signed Blind rather than any other member of his Dutch World Cup squad. He has proved invaluable in a season where United have suffered an unprecedented number of injuries and said: 'I think I am a player who can switch really fast in my mind. For me, it is not an issue where to play. I know what you have to do in each position. I think it is an advantage for me.' Blind has been particularly impressed with Manchester United's travelling support since joining the club . Blind (back row, second from right) left Ajax for Old Trafford in a £14million deal late last summer . The former Ajax man was a key part of Van Gaal's squad as Holland reached the World Cup semi-finals . Danny Blind and his son pose in front of Christ the Redeemer in Rio during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Van Gaal described Daley's father as the best leader he's ever had — some claim when he has managed at Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Daley says he has inherited characteristics from both parents. 'I think on the pitch I am more like my dad. Calm and thinking about stuff. Off the pitch with my friends, I am more like my mum. She says things straight away, very direct. I can speak sometimes without thinking. 'I was five when my dad won the Champions League. I can't remember watching it live on the television but, growing up, I saw all the videos and dreamed it might be me one day. I am proud of his achievements and proud to carry the name Blind. 'I guess I must have seen Louis van Gaal as a boy when I'd go to watch my father train but I can't remember anything specific. I first got to know him with the Dutch team. 'When Louis van Gaal tells me things, I think it might be the same advice he used to give my father!' Daley and Danny also work together with their national team where Danny is a coach and tipped to be manager. 'Sometimes I prefer to speak to the other trainers,' laughs the younger Blind. 'If he's close by, I might whisper "Dad". The other players think it's funny, they accept it.' Danny is also a regular visitor to watch his son play at Old Trafford but won't be at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. Blind netted another late equaliser for Manchester United in their 1-1 draw at West Ham in February . Marouane Fellaini celebrates with his team-mate Blind after his crucial strike at Upton Park . Blind only knew compatriot Robin van Persie and Andreas Pereira before he joined United last summer . Off the field, Daley has settled in well and chosen to live in a city-centre apartment rather than a sprawling footballers' wives pad in Cheshire. 'I like people around me and everything within walking distance,' he says. 'Occasionally people want to take a picture on the street but that's not a problem. I liked Amsterdam and I like Manchester, they suit me.' It also gives Blind peace of mind that his girlfriend is in a safe environment when he is away with the United squad. For someone who knew only two of United's players when he arrived — national team-mate Robin van Persie and youngster Andreas Pereira, who started his career in Holland — Blind has acclimatised well. One of his social objectives is to try to find time to restart golf lessons. He has been in England nearly eight months now. 'The best thing for me is the amount of away fans that follow United. The stands are always full, it was a big surprise when I first saw that,' he said. 'On the pitch, the pace and power of matches was new for me, box-to-box. My first game at home to QPR wasn't the quickest but I still felt more tired than after any Ajax match. When we played at Manchester City and had a red card (Chris Smalling), wow, the intensity but I think I coped well.' If a problem does arise, his manager is an important safety net. 'He is personal, any player can always reach him if they want to,' he says. And the result when Blind visited Anfield just over 14 years ago? Liverpool lost 2-1. A repeat on Sunday would leave United with one foot firmly in the Champions League. Like father, like son. +Frank Lampard could yet choose to leave Manchester City this month. The 36-year-old started against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday but has grown frustrated at his general lack of game time. City have been impressed with Lampard and his contribution on and off the pitch during his loan spell and his presence proved vital in the absence of Yaya Toure during the Africa Cup of Nations. Frank Lampard started Manchester City's last match but has generally been frustrated by a lack of game time . Lampard could join MLS side New York City FC earlier than he had planned in order to get first-team football . The former England international was ready to join up with City's MLS franchise in New York but was convinced by City's hierarchy that he had a vital role to play in their bid to retain the Premier League title and catch pacesetters Chelsea, his former club. Lampard has made 30 appearances this season but many of those have been 10 minute cameos and his main objective remains to play. He has been encouraged by New York's start to the MLS season and is drawn to joining up with their project sooner rather than at the end of the season. The MLS transfer window remains open until May. City have a big squad to utilise and just eight Premier League games left without the FA Cup or European football to contend with. Lampard has made 30 appearances for City this season, but many of those have been cameos from the bench . +Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is too modest to claim the club’s recent revival is partly due to his own impressive personal comeback after he had been dropped earlier in the season by manager Brendan Rodgers. Nevertheless, the facts show that the resurgent Reds go into Saturday's potential top-four decider against Manchester United at Anfield having been beaten only once in 19 domestic games — a Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea — since Mignolet returned to the side on Boxing Day. Prior to that, they had lost four out of seven in the Premier League and had slipped to 10th place. Simon Mignolet has been in impressive form for Liverpool during their resurgence in the Premier League . The Liverpool goalkeeper was dropped from the side earlier in the season after a number of mistakes . The Belgian first found out he had been axed the day before Liverpool faced United in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in December when United won 3-0. ‘The gaffer took me into his office to tell me I wouldn’t play against United. It was disappointing and I could have let my head drop, but I decided to be positive to make sure my period on the sidelines was as short as possible,’ said Mignolet. ‘I trained the next day to make sure I’d be ready in a better way when the opportunity arose.’ His wish came true. When in-favour Brad Jones injured his thigh four matches later at Burnley, Mignolet came on, kept a clean sheet and has not looked back since. A 1-0 win at Swansea City on Monday was his sixth consecutive clean sheet away from home — the first time that has happened since the days of Bill Shankly. Mignolet makes a fine save from a Gylfi Sigurdsson strike during the win against Swansea on Monday . The Belgian keeper kept his sixth consecutive Premier League away clean sheet against the Swans . Victory against United would lift Liverpool into the top four and they would then be favourites to join Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal in next season’s Champions League. The loss at Old Trafford when Rodgers first introduced a three-man defence and played Raheem Sterling up front now appears to be a watershed in the club’s campaign. ‘I don’t think it’s anything to do with me personally,’ said Mignolet. ‘The gaffer changed the system [to 3-4-3] and since then things have been very organised. We don’t give many chances away and everybody is willing to work for each other. ‘It’s all about working as a unit. We have dealt well with set-pieces and at the other end, scored goals.’ Having been heavily criticised for key mistakes earlier in the season and dubbed ‘Dracula’ by former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar for being indecisive with crosses, Mignolet is not taking recent good publicity for granted, even though he was Liverpool’s man-of-the-match at Swansea following crucial saves from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bafetimbi Gomis. Mignolet, who was dropped earlier in the season, trains alonside Joe Allen and Lazar Markovic . Liverpool have only lost once in 19 domestic matches since Mignolet returned to the side . ‘As a goalkeeper you’re only remembered for your last game. I know I played half-decent against Swansea but if things turn around against Manchester United on Sunday, no one will mention that,’ he said. ‘I know how it goes and how football is. You have to accept it, but that is also something positive because there’s always something new around the corner. ‘The next game is always the biggest one. That’s what we say.’ After last season’s thrilling challenge for the league title, Rodgers reacted bravely when the first half to this campaign did not go according to plan. Liverpool impressed at Old Trafford in December but fell to a 3-0 loss after a David De Gea masterclass . Emre Can has emerged as a key figure in Liverpool's three-man defence in the past few months . Summer signings Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert were sidelined, while club captain Steven Gerrard was allowed to negotiate a deal to join LA Galaxy this summer. Instead, Sterling was used as a centre-forward until Daniel Sturridge’s recent return from injury as Rodgers returned to last season’s quick-passing style. At the back, midfielder Emre Can was asked to be part of a back-three with Martin Skrtel and the restored Lovren. As results improved, Markovic and Lallana were brought back in and the team remain unbeaten in the Premier League in 2015, having taken 33 points from a possible 39. Liverpool have narrowed the gap on United from 10 points to two. They are rediscovering the art of scoring goals while keeping it tight at the back. The Reds haven't tasted defeat in the Premier League since the outing at Old Trafford . ‘Swansea was an example where we had to grind it out. It was 0-0 at half time and then we came out and put pressure on them high up the field. And we scored out of that [through Jordan Henderson],’ added Mignolet. ‘I think that’s what we are about. The 3-0 defeat away to Manchester United was a while ago and there’s no point in reflecting too much on what has been. Professional footballers have to adapt to any system. It is more to do with the organisation and how everybody does their job rather than the system itself. ‘At the moment, the players are all working really hard. If the gaffer points something out, everybody is ready to listen and make sure it gets done. And it is clicking. ‘There is no point looking over your shoulder [at the past] because what we are thinking about is preparing ourselves the best we can for the Manchester United game.’ +It was Billy Connolly who once joked that Ally Macleod thought tactics were a new kind of peppermint. And amusing though that might have been, it expressed a British suspicion that tactics somehow meant over-thinking the game. Some will say the game is all about having good players and that the manager only has so much control. Of course, you can’t legislate for everything that’s going to happen on the pitch. But, when Brendan Rodgers turns around a season by simply deploying players in different areas of the pitch, even the most hardened sceptic ought to be able to see just how important tactics are and that tweaking your system can be a game-changer. Brendan Rodgers addresses his players as they prepare for the Manchester United clash at Anfield . The Liverpool manager was under pressure earlier in the season after a poor start to the campaign . The Liverpool manager was on the back foot in December. His team were conceding goals, they could not score and they didn’t look anything like the side they had been the previous season. People were even suggesting he might be sacked. What a bold and clever move to go to three at back and push the wing-backs on. Ironically, he first did it at Old Trafford in December — and his reward was a 3-0 defeat. But they have not lost in the Premier League and FA Cup since then and even on that day you could see they were on to something. They had six one-on-one opportunities and should not have lost the game. It is a shrewd system. I played it with England when we won Le Tournoi in France in 1997, when I had Paul Merson and Paul Scholes behind Ian Wright and two holding midfield players behind them. Those two in the pocket — the Merson/Scholes pairing in my team or two of Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling for Liverpool — have the freedom to get wide, to move in front of wing-backs or to go inside into positions that threaten in the box. Lallana and Coutinho have done it particularly well. That system has turned their results around. Liverpool manager Rodgers talks to midfielder Adam Lallana at training ahead of the visit of United . Rodgers issues instructions to his players before a training session at Melwood on Friday . Glenn Hoddle played three at the back when he was England manager . The shock factor: why Liverpool’s 3-4-3 works... The key is that no one else plays it. I watched the 2-2 draw against Arsenal in December and although Liverpool equalised in the last minute, it was clear that Arsenal didn’t have a clue how to play the system. Liverpool had 63 per cent of the possession. And I doubt that’s ever happened to a team of Arsene Wenger’s playing with 11 men. Liverpool can push the front three up to press the opposition high up the pitch. The wing-backs don’t have to get back and cover as much as a full-back does, so they can be right in behind and the side has five, six or even seven pressing up top. It has restored the energy to Liverpool’s game, enabled them to pin teams back and to dominate possession. Suddenly, they looked like the 2013-14 side. If you need to defend, you can drop deep and have a back five, so the system has flexibility. But Liverpool usually deploy it in a positive fashion and the way in which it uses space to ensure that everyone has an option means it is incredibly hard to play against. Martin Skrtel heads the equaliser in injury time during the 2-2 draw with Arsenal back in December . Arsene Wenger tries to organise his Arsenal side as they relinquished 63 per cent possession to Liverpool . ... but Louis van Gaal’s back three doesn’t work . Louis van Gaal has used a back three several times in his career — in his Ajax team that won the Champions League, at Barcelona and very successfully in the World Cup with Holland. But at Manchester United he hasn’t been able to deploy it with the success that Rodgers has at Liverpool. The key for me is that your back three need to be able to accept the ball and move it even under pressure. Liverpool are prepared to give their defenders the ball under pressure and they’ve been comfortable with that. That’s why Emre Can, initially signed as a midfielder, has been so important. His technique on the ball gives them a safety valve in possession at the back. United, with the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans, have not succeeded because they are not comfortable in possession under pressure. Therefore the system hasn’t proved to be an attacking springboard and can slow down their game. Rodgers has deployed Emre Can, originally signed as a midfielder, as one of the back three . Louis van Gaal has also used three at the back with United but has not enjoyed success like Rodgers . The likes of Chris Smalling (above) and Jonny Evans are not accomplished enough on the ball . United have hit on a system to match Rodgers . Sunday’s match against Tottenham saw United produce an impressive performance when they looked to be back to where they should be for the first time this season. Admittedly Spurs were poor. After their best results earlier in the season — the 3-0 win over Liverpool, the 2-1 win at Arsenal or the 2-1 win at Southampton — they will have come away thinking: ‘How did we do that? Without David de Gea we would have been struggling!’ But after the Tottenham game, for the first time in a long time, they would have come off knowing that they dominated the game and that they had deserved their victory. That’s why I believe Van Gaal will stick with this format for a while, although it might need a tweak at Anfield. It looks very similar to the Ajax system of the early Nineties. Marouane Fellaini produced a smart finish to open the scoring against Tottenham last weekend . Carrick showed no hesitation in celebrating against his former club after finding the net last Sunday . They played one holding player against Tottenham — and having Michael Carrick back in that role really makes a difference — with Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini as the inside right and left. Juan Mata and Ashley Young played so wide it reminded me of Finidi George and Marc Overmars in Van Gaal’s Ajax days. And I can see Angel Di Maria doing that job as his confidence returns. Mata had to stay wide, which is not his natural game, but that gave space to inside forwards. Spurs could not deal with that and Felliani killed them off. They’ll try to do that against Liverpool’s wingbacks and pin them back. But United must ensure an extra player drops in deep alongside Carrick, especially in that opening 20 minutes. I would not want to get stretched. At the right time you can press with three players in attacking positions through Wayne Rooney, Herrera and Fellaini. But initially I would drop players deep and tell Rooney to save his energy for the times when United have the ball. Ashley Young and Juan Mata played so wide against Tottenham just like Marc Overmars and Finidi George did for Ajax under Van Gaal . But it’s Liverpool who now have the momentum . Liverpool’s win at Swansea on Monday was so important. If they had not won, they would have needed a win on Saturday to stay in touch. Now they can use this game as a springboard to the top four. Win and they’re in the driving seat. They have the momentum at the right time; their confidence is sky high. They are in the FA Cup with a replay at Blackburn to overcome. Suddenly the season looks like it could have the potential to match last year. Certainly a trophy and top-four finish was unthinkable when these teams last met. Not so now, largely thanks to Rodgers’s tactical rethink. On Sunday at the Nou Camp we have the privilege of watching two of the very best when Barca take on Real Madrid and Lionel Messi comes up against Cristiano Ronaldo. But what we saw on Wednesday night against Manchester City has confirmed my opinion that at his very best, Messi is the better player. His feet are so quick and his ability to manipulate the ball at speed is up there with Diego Maradona. What I would say is that, though Messi is better when both are at their best, if they’re in a relatively unsatisfactory run of form, then Cristiano Ronaldo is the better player. In those periods he gives you more than sheer skill. He still contributes in other areas, with his athleticism and strength. But for me, Messi is a better player. Lionel Messi has been in superb form for Barcelona since the turn of the year . Messi put in a man of the match display against Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday . Messi trains on Saturday ahead of Sunday's crunch Clasico against Real Madrid . Cristiano Ronaldo's form has dipped, compared to his own high standards since winning the Ballon d'Or . The greatest? Of the players I’ve seen and played against it’s Maradona. His ability to take players on with the ball seemingly stuck to his feet as he weaved around him was sublime. Only Messi really has come close to that. He was better than Messi at free-kicks. Maradona and Michel Platini and Zico were probably the best at free-kicks and all ahead of Messi in that particular discipline. But people who haven’t seen Maradona play should check out the DVDs and watch him on YouTube. Can you imagine Maradona today, on these pristine pitches, with the lighter, more malleable footballs, protected from the hard men by the much tougher rules of the game and in an era in which man-to-man marking has fallen out of fashion? I would love to see that. My word, what a sight that would be. +Francis Coquelin has emerged as one of Arsenal's standout performers this season, since returning from a loan-spell at Championship side Charlton Athletic in December. The 23-year-old Frenchman had been on the peripheries for some time and was loaned to the Addicks in order to gain first-team football; but following injuries to the likes of Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta, he was recalled to north London after just five games. Now, granted the chance to fill Arsenal's void between defence and midfield, Coquelin has not looked back and is thriving in his role as the Gunners' enforcer. Francis Coquelin skips past QPR midfielder Sandro (right) during Arsenal's 2-1 win at Loftus Road . Coqeulin comes forward with the ball ahead of the oncoming QPR striker Bobby Zamora (right) He told the club's official website, 'I never got the chance to have the run of games before. The manager gave it to me and I can show for the first time what I'm capable of. 'It's not to be big-headed, but I've always had confidence in myself.' Arsenal's next game is against Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford on Monday. The Gunners lifted the trophy last year after defeating Hull City in the final, but know they will have to be at their best to repeat the feat this term. And Coquelin insists that Arsenal have plenty left to play for this season, challenging for the Cup, while also attempting to finish in the Premier League's top four and overturning a 3-1 defect in Europe against Monaco. He said, 'We've got a lot to fight for. We've got a big game in the Champions League and we need to try and turn that one around. Everything is possible in football.' Coquelin (pictured in training on Sunday) insists that Arsenal still have plenty left to play for this season . Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (right) lines up a shot during the training session at Colney . Arsenal players are put through their paces ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United . +Former Scotland captain Colin Hendry is preparing to fight a ban from the roads after blaming his drink driving on a 'rare' metabolism. The 49-year old former Rangers and Blackburn Rovers defender was arrested last month after police stopped him near his home in Lytham, Lancashire in the early hours of February 21. Officers had claimed Hendry who was nicknamed 'Braveheart' when he captain of Scotland was almost twice the limit after failing a breathaylser test. Former Scotland captain Colin Hendry, pictured arriving at Blackpool Magistrates, has admitted drink driving . Hendry goes in for a challenge on Ronaldo at the World Cup in 1998 while John Collins looks on . But on Wednesday, widowed father of four Hendry disputed the reading and asked Blackpool Magistrates to have the case adjourned so his metabolism could be tested. The court heard that Hendry admitted drinking before driving his blue Ford Focus, but argued the amount of alcohol he drank over a certain period of time should not have put him over the limit. His lawyer Glyn Lewis - who has previously represented a string of celebrities over his expertise in exploiting motoring legal loopholes - said: 'Usually we go to sentence and it is inevitable he would have to be disqualified because he has entered a guilty plea because he accepts the facts. 'But the instructions I have over the amount of alcohol consumed and the time period, when you do the calculations they don't correlate with the figure he has given. 'There are two possibilities - one is because of the fact that he has got some alcohol in his system he is unaware of and the other is quite rare is we have somebody whose metabolism is such they provide a specimen of breath which does not correlate with the reading of blood. 'We have had a forensic scientist give us an indication that the figures provided by the defendant don't correlate with the figures given by the sample. He was stopped by police and arrested near his home in Lytham, Lancashire in the early hours of February 21, and was found to be driving his blue Ford Focus while almost double the legal alcohol limit (stock picture) Hendry, pictured hear tackling Nicolas Anelka in 1997, made more than 300 appearances for Blackburn . 'We accept the prosecution's case - the police followed him, he wasn't driving erratically, nothing unusual about that, he accepts that - the question is why is this alcohol reading being given that is being investigated. 'We can establish what he consumed and when it was because there are receipts. 'Mr Hendry might have to be tested for his metabolism in the lab with a reconstruction of the whole evening's events. The ratio between breath and blood is not the same for everyone. 'If our investigations don't have foundation in science we would bring it back to court and have it dealt with. Mr Hendry wants the matter to be dealt with as quickly as possible.' The court agreed to adjourn for a 'special reasons' hearing in which Hendry will call evidence from a forensic service scientist and two civilian witnesses who were with him on the night of the incident. Hendry - who arrived for the hearing in sunglasses and a grey suit - had 63 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 milliltres of breath- the legal limit is 35mg. Initial forensic tests conducted on behalf of Hendry had shown the figures did not correlate and further investigation was needed, said Mr Lewis. The 49-year old former Rangers defender has blamed his 'quite rare' metabolism for being over the limit . Hendry playing for Rangers against Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in October 1998 . The solicitor added that the later sentencing bench could have the option not to disqualify Hendry from driving but the conviction would stand regardless. Hendry, was granted unconditional bail until April 22 when the case will be heard in full before sentencing. The ex-Permier League footballer had a long playing career, captaining his country in the 1998 World Cup and appearing for a series of clubs including Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Rangers. Last week police confirmed he had been given a warning amid claims he had pestering former girlfriend Sarah Kinder a beautician he had been dating after the death of his wife Denise in 2009 following botched cosmetic surgery. Miss Kinder, 40, claimed he looked in her window and sent her unwanted texts and social media messages after their four-year relationship ended late last year. It was also claimed the former footballer repeatedly drove past her home. +Christian Eriksen's consistently brilliant performances with Tottenham Hotspur this season have attracted the interest of clubs around Europe - but Spurs icon Jurgen Klinsmann hopes the Dane will resist the temptation to move. The 23-year-old has 11 goals for Spurs this season and, alongside breakthrough star Harry Kane, has provided the main attacking threat as Mauricio Pochettino looks to break into the Barclays Premier League top four. And with Europe's elite inevitably sniffing around in the hope of signing Eriksen, former Tottenham striker Klinsmann has expressed his hope that the north London club can hang on to one of their star performers. Christian Eriksen has been in brilliant form for Tottenham but his performances will be attracting attention . Klinsmann, a former Tottenham favourite, comes up against Eriksen when his US team face Denmark . The former Germany international, who now manages the US national team, spent one season at White Hart Lane in the 1994-95 campaign but wants Eriksen to stay longer than his spell. 'There's no bigger club than Tottenham,' Klinsmann joked when asked if Eriksen could play for a bigger club. 'Every player chooses their own path and sees their own limit, and I'm sure he wants to see his own limits and where he can go one day. 'For me, Tottenham was a wonderful experience and I wouldn't have wanted to miss a second of it. But I chose to leave the club for Bayern Munich to win trophies. Eriksen hits a shot against Leicester that was eventually deflected in by Jeff Schlupp (left) for the winner . Klinsmann said he was 'curious' to see how many more years Eriksen would stay at Tottenham . 'I hope he stays for a long time at Spurs. It's a very competitive squad so there's no time for him to relax as someone will jump in and take his spot. I'm curious to see him for many more years at Tottenham. Klinsmann's US side face Eriksen's Denmark on Wednesday evening, and Klinsmann had praise for the 'tremendously talented' Danish playmaker. 'He is an exceptional talent and that's why he's at Tottenham,' he said. 'He's tremendously talented and seeing some of his goals this season and how he has been the difference in some of the games shows that he can turn it on.' The German international spent one season at White Hart Lane in the mid-90s but was a fans' favourite . Klinsmann celebrates a goal with Teddy Sheringham and his Spurs team-mates in 1995 . +The International Association of Athletics Federations has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the punishments handed out to six Russian drug cheats. Athletics' world governing body said it disagreed with the 'selective disqualification of results' applied by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). Race walkers Valeriy Borchin, Olga Kaniskina, Sergey Bakulin, Sergey Kirdyapkin and Vladimir Kanaykin and steeplechaser Yuliya Zaripova were all banned by RUSADA because of abnormalities in their biological passports. Yuliya Zaripova blows kisses to the camera after winning the 3,000m steeplechase at London 2012 Olympics . Sergey Kirdyapkin crosses the finish line to take gold in the 50km Race Walk at The Mall, London . Kirdyapkin and Zaripova were both gold medal winners at London 2012. The IAAF said in a statement: 'While the IAAF agrees with RUSADA that there is, in each case, sufficient evidence of an anti-doping rule violation and that there are aggravating circumstances justifying an increased sanction of more than two years, the IAAF disagrees with the selective disqualification of results applied by RUSADA as a consequence of the previous rulings.' Kirdyapkin was one of six Russian athletes to be banned after abnormalities with biological passports . The IAAF said the case of Tatyana Chernova, who beat Jessica Ennis-Hill to heptathlon gold at the 2011 World Championships but was later banned, was still under review. It added: 'The decision with respect to the case of Tatyana Chernova, arising from the re-analysis of her urine sample collected at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009 and kept by the IAAF as part of its retesting strategy, is still under review.' +Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has been rewarded for his fine form with a call-up to Didier Deschamps' French squad. Zouma was dubbed the new Marcel Desailly by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after an impressive performance against Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley. And the 20-year-old’s form this season has clearly caught the eye of Deschamps who brings the former Saint-Etienne man in to his squad. Kurt Zouma has been rewarded for his fine form with a call-up to Didier Deschamps' French squad . Zouma has been dubbed the new Marcel Desailly by Jose Mourinho following a great start at Chelsea . Zouma is yet to win a senior cap for his country but has represented France at various levels including a stint as U21 captain. There are also call-ups for a host of other fellow French Premier League players including Hugo Lloris, Laurent Koscielny, Mamadou Sakho, Morgan Schneiderlin, Moussa Sissoko and Olivier Giroud. Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna is also given the nod by Deschamp despite enduring a stop-start season for the Citizens. Goalkeepers: Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Mandanda (Marseille), Ruffier (Saint-Etienne). Defenders: Evra (Juventus), Jallet (Lyon), Koscielny (Arsenal), Sagna (Manchester City), Sakho (Liverpool), Trmmoulinas (Sevilla), Varane (Real Madrid), Zouma (Chelsea). Midfielders: Gonalons (Lyon), Kondogbia (Monaco), Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Payet (Marseille), Schneiderlin (Southampton), Sissoko (Newcastle United). Forwards: Benzema (Real Madrid), Fekir (Lyon), Giroud (Arsenal), Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Lacazette (Lyon), Valbuena (Dynamo Moscow). Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna tries to stop Barcelona wizard Lionel Messi in his tracks . Hugo Lloris has been rewarded for his fine Tottenham Hotspur form with a call-up to Deschamps' squad . Striker Olivier Giroud has also been named in the French side following a decent season at Arsenal . +A bee attack during a baseball game in Utah forced players and spectators to flee, sending one man to the hospital and injuring several others. St. George Fire Capt. Robert Hooper says the man was stung between 200 and 300 times late Friday morning at Elk's Field in St. George. But he told the Deseret News the man didn't exhibit any signs of a severe reaction, and was alert and talking to emergency responders. Hooper said an established underground beehive near a telephone pole at the baseball field was disturbed just after 11 a.m. Scroll down for video . Spray away: Fire crews in St. George, Utah, blast a swarm of bees that attacked a baseball on Friday with foam and water to kill them. Several were injured . Swarmed: Baseball fans watching a tournament at Elk's Field in St. George on Friday got the scare of their lives when hundreds of bees began attacking them while they were sitting on the bleachers . Victim: Several people at the game had to be treated for stings, such as this boy, who was hit on the arm . Ouch: Some women at the game show the stings to their head they received when the bees descended . Hit: This St. George woman was one of several stung by bees at Elk's Field on Friday during a freak attack . Attack: One man was seriously injured and several other people received minor injuries when over 1,000 bees swarmed Elks Field in St. George, Utah, about 11am Friday after their underground hive was disturbed . The victim's name wasn't immediately released, however he is said to be in his eighties, according toKCSG. Several other people were treated for stings at the scene. Lone Peak High School baseball coach Matt Bezzant told The Spectrum newspaper of St. George that the bees came from a dugout and players were chased by as many as 70 bees at one point. Fire crews doused the dugout area with a chemical foam to combat the bees. It's not known exactly what caused the bees to become so aggressive but fire officials say it's not uncommon for bees to begin migrating and colonizing at this time of year . Plugging holes: It appears the bees came from an underground hive that was somehow disturbed . Emergency: Fire crews were able to kill the bees using a special chemical foam and water . Casey Lofthouse, a local beekeeper and a member of the Washington County Search and Rescue team, told the St. George News that 'bees will protect their home'. 'Both Africanized or European honeybees will protect their hives. The main difference is that the Africanized bees are more aggressive,' he added. Lofthouse said in the event of a swarm of bees, cover your head and neck as best as possible and vacate the area, preferably going indoors. Back to it: After the emergency, the baseball was able to reconvene . +Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is hopeful Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey will ease his midfield selection problems for Wednesday's clash against Queens Park Rangers. Coquelin, who has been a revelation for the Gunners since his return from a loan spell at Charlton, fractured his nose in Sunday's win over Everton and is a doubt for the visit to Loftus Road. Wenger feared the Frenchman may require surgery, but it is understood Coquelin has not been ruled out of the clash against Rangers and could still play in the London derby despite taking the hefty blow. Aaron Ramsey has suffered from fitness problems this season but could return against Queens Park Rangers . The Welsh midfielder has not played for the Gunners since their clash against Leicester in early February . Gunners medical staff will make a late call on his availability and if Coquelin is selected, he'll be fitted for a protective mask to ensure no further damage is caused. In addition, key midfielder Ramsey is set for a first team recall after recovering from a hamstring injury. The Wales international hasn't played since February 10, limping off during the closing stages of Arsenal's 2-1 win over Leicester. But Ramsey returned to training towards the end of last week and should be available for selection on Wednesday night. His return to fitness means Arsenal could yet decide against risking Coquelin's nose against Chris Ramsey's side despite his growing importance to the first-team. This clash of heads in the left Francis Coquelin with bloody gushing out of his nose against Everton . Midfielder Coquelin had to be substituted after fracturing his nose but could also return against QPR . +Manchester United are giving a trial to Poland U16 international goalkeeper Tomasz Kucz. The 15-year-old plays for Polonia Warsaw and has been watched by some of Europe's top clubs since the age of 13. As Sportsmail reported, he gained further acclaim after performing well for Poland U15s against Wales in Rhyl last year where he was watched by several scouts including those of United. 15-year-old goalkeeper Tomasz Kucz is going to spend a week on trial at Manchester United . Kucz was invited to spend time training with Liverpool and Rangers last year and has had two similar stints with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Fulham and Everton have also expressed an interest and held talks with his father Andrej. The promising keeper, who already trains with Polonia's first team and is a regular in their U19s, is due to spend this week at United with the hope of impressing and earning a contract offer. Kucz turns 16 on July 6 this year. Kucz has been a regular for Polonia U19s and has represented Poland at U15 and U16 level . +Islamic State fighters are shaving off their beards and dressing as women in a bid to escape from battle, Iraqi forces have claimed. A series of pictures have emerged showing men who have reportedly been caught trying to escape from northern Iraq wearing dresses, bras and make-up. The photographs, posted on Instagram, show authorities appearing to pull back burkas to reveal young boys and even men with moustaches. Islamic State fighters are using bras and dresses to disguise themselves as women in a bid to escape from battle, Iraqi forces have claimed . The photographs, posted on Instagram, show authorities appearing to pull back burkas to reveal young boys and even men with moustaches. It is not known when the images were originally taken . In one a scared teenager wearing pink eyeshadow is held by the throat as an official takes a picture. It is not known when the photograph was originally taken. The account also carries images of dead fighters, the Sunday Mirror reported. Under Sharia law, which ISIS partially adheres to, women are prevented from fighting. Jihadists are believed to be terrified of being killed by a female because they think it will stop them getting their 72 virgins in heaven. A man is pictured wearing lipstick in one of the images that has emerged showing ISIS fighters dressing as women, as they try to flee from northern Iraq . One man is pictured in a flowery red jumpsuit with a thick blue blanket pulled over his head . But men - and even boys as young as 13 - have been given powerful machine guns and are expected to join the cause. The photographs were revealed just five days after it emerged three men from the region were accused of homosexuality and publicly beheaded by a sword-wielding ISIS executioner. Iraqi troops and militia are battling to push ISIS back from the area with support from a US-led coalition and Iran. The photographs were revealed just five days after chilling new images emerged of three men being beheaded. The executioner stands with the sword poised above the man's head as a large crowd gathers to watch . But retaking Nineveh and Mosul poses a major challenge for Baghdad's forces, as the militants have had more than nine months to dig in. Iraqi forces launched a huge operation last week aimed at retaking the city of Tikrit that, if successful, would serve as a stepping stone towards Mosul. +Administrators at a Catholic university in Florida agreed to help an honors student start a campus club that would send money and supplies to the ISIS terror army. Hidden camera footage released Monday morning shows officials and faculty at Barry University advising a senior – identified only as 'Laura' – about the best way to secure funding for a club she called 'Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.' 'I want to start fundraising efforts on campus, and what I want to do is raise funds to send overseas,' she told Derek Bley, the school's Coordinator for Leadership Development and Student Organizations. Bley offered to help her create the organization and agreed with her request to 'pass out Islamic State flags and educate people' at an annual student 'Festival of Nations' fair. The video is from Project Veritas, a conservative 'guerilla film-making group' that last week captured a Cornell University dean agreeing that ISIS and Hamas would be welcome at the Ivy League school. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . When an honors student at Barry University in Florida asked campus administrators about getting college funds for a club supporting the ISIS terror army, her idea was met with approval . The Barry professor in charge of the undergraduate honors program agreed to serve as the pro-ISIS group's faculty advisor after hearing that its mission would include 'raising money and sending it to the Islamic State' 'We're not here to limit people,' Derek Bley, 'leadership development' coordinator, told 'Laura' as the student filmed him with a hidden camera . Barry University, based in Miami Shores, has received more than $112 million in federal grants and contracts, and another $109 million from Florida taxpayers since 2000, Project Veritas said Monday, citing figures from OpenTheBooks.com. It also once received tuition money from retired NBA great Shaquille O'Neal, who graduated in 2012 with a doctorate in Education. His final 'capstone project' – a load-lightened version of a doctoral dissertation – focused on 'humor and seriousness in leadership styles,' according to the Miami New Times. The school's mission statement says 'all members of our community' must 'accept social responsibility to foster peace and nonviolence.' Yet Bley was enthusiastic about Laura's terror-funding venture. 'We're not here to limit people and their clubs, he said. 'If there a demand or a need, or an interest that students have to do this, we're here to support that.' 'If you've got ... people who are interested, and this is something you want take and run with,' he added. 'we're here to help you get that done.' 'WE'RE HERE TO SUPPORT THAT': Bley explained that his office wouldn't make judgments about the kinds of activities and clubs college students wanted to sign up for . The only objection? Asking students to support a group with 'ISIS' in its name, a multicultural program coordinator thought, might hold the organization back – so why not rename it? Laura put the murderous ISIS army's credentials front-and-center. 'They are terrorists,' she told Bley, 'but, like, we're trying to help them. We're trying to, like, educate them and give them funding so that they don't have to be impoverished and get involved in acts of violence.' 'You should create jobs and help promote education in the Islamic State,' she added later, 'because that's what helps reduce terrorism.' That was a subtle jab at U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf, who said last month on MSNBC that 'we cannot kill our way out of this war' with ISIS.' The Obama administration, Harf said, should instead 'go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups' – including 'lack of opportunity for jobs.' At one point Laura expanded her fictional club's mandate to include providing paper and pencils to the 'widows and orphans' of dead ISIS jihadis. Barry University is a Catholic institution founded in 1940; its enrollment includes more than 9,000 students, about half of whom are undergrads like Laura . CAMPUS COLLABORATORS: Barry University administrators Derek Bley (left) and Frederique Frage (center), and professor Pawena Sirimangkala, helpfully counseled an undercover investigator about how to start a pro-ISIS student club . FLY THE FLAG: Laura was told her fictional pro-ISIS group would be allowed to pass out ISIS flags and 'educate' people during a campus 'Festival of Nations' event . FAMOUS ALUMNUS: Shaquille O'Neal earned an Education doctorate in 2012 . Another part of her pitch to college officials was a mission that included providing flashlights to ISIS fighters and their families. 'A lot of the facilities have been destroyed' in Iraq and Syria, she said, 'so there is not a lot of electricity and power.' 'A lot of the fighters, they can't see at night, you know?' she continued. 'So, like, people are attacking them and they can't see at night. And because they are so poor, like, they don't have night vision and stuff.' Bley explored the idea, speculating about the 'thousands of dollars' it might cost to send 'bulk shipments' of flashlights to the Middle East, 'like the ones at Costco and stuff.' The only objection Laura encountered was related to the group's proposed name. 'The only thing, as far as the name [goes],' she heard from Frederique Frage, the university's associate director of international and multicultural programs, is that 'technically our country is at war with ISIS'. Frage was quick to add: 'I am not saying that – at all – ISIS represents Islam.' But students might have 'some reservation' supporting a group engaged in a 'humanitarian effort' aimed at the terror group, she said. 'It's just unfortunate.' Another multicultural program administrator, Daisy Santiago, chimed in that Laura should rename her group 'Students in Support of the Middle East' – 'as opposed to having the 'ISIS' [name].' Project Veritas has already stung a Cornell University dean who said on camera that the Ivy League school would welcome an ISIS 'freedom fighter' who wanted to run a training camp . JOBS FOR JIHADIS? State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf insisted in February on MSNBC that an employment program in the Iraq and Syria could stem the tide of ISIS . A professor who runs the university's honors program later agreed to serve as the pro-ISIS club's faculty advisor. Laura explained that despite a less focused name that didn't include any mention of terror groups, her organization's mission would remain 'raising money and sending it to the Islamic State.' Professor Pawena Sirimangkala responded: 'I'll sign. I'm glad to do it.' Laura, an email from a Barry University administrator confirms, is set to receive an award on Monday from the school, as the 'outstanding senior in the Communication Department.' In December the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal government agency, named Barry University to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The distinction acknowledges universities that place a premium on community service efforts. Daily Mail Online has contacted the university staff named in the video and has not received a comment from them. In a statement provided to Daily Mail Online by the university, Scott Smith, vice president for student affairs, said, 'There has been no formation of an ISIS-related humanitarian aid group at Barry University' and that ' no paperwork' has 'ever' been filed to create such an organization. 'If a student or students are interested in forming a recognized student organization, they are advised on the established processes to follow for approval,' Smith stated. 'However, submitting a request does not guarantee approval since the purpose of all student groups must be in accordance with Barry University’s Mission Statement and Core Commitments. 'Barry University would not approve any group supporting a terrorist organization.' +Wojciech Szczesny can regain his place as Arsenal number one if he dedicates himself completely to the task, according to former double-winning goalkeeper Bob Wilson. The Poland international is expected to feature in the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United on Monday night, provided he recovers from the virus which stopped him from being on the bench for the midweek Barclays Premier League win at QPR. Szczesny, 24, has not started a league game since the 2-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year's Day, where he was culpable for the goals and afterwards was also caught smoking in the showers. That indiscretion resulted in a fine from the club. Wojciech Szczesny (right) has not started a game for Arsenal since Southampton on New Year's Day . The Polish shot-stopper has been ousted by David Ospina (right) but is likely to play on Monday night . Despite Colombian David Ospina making the most of his opportunities in recent weeks, Wilson, part of the Gunners' 1971 league and FA Cup-winning side, still believes 6ft 5in Szczesny has what it takes to cement a regular place between the posts once more. 'From the time Wojciech got into the Arsenal first team there were a lot who asked if he was good enough and I thought, "this boy has the potential to really be a solid, outstanding goalkeeper". I still believe that because he is - for his position - still relatively young,' Wilson said. 'All I would a say to him is "look, Arsenal is one of the greatest football clubs. If you go from here I am not sure you are ever going to get a club as good as this. At your age now you need to dedicate yourself to being the best you can be, to the exclusion of a lot of other things in your life".' Former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson says Szczesny must work hard to regain his place in the team . Ospina has made the most of his opportunity, tying down the No 1 goalkeeping position at the Emirates . Wilson recalled: 'I was a very late starter, but once I was in the Arsenal side, my family almost came second to my ambition. 'I devoted every moment to regular training and then when the boys went in for their bath, I stayed out [on the field]. 'I wanted to make sure I never ever left the game saying I could have been better, so my message to Wojciech would be "come on, prove how good you can be".' Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is confident Szczesny, who has played in Arsenal's last two FA Cup ties, will be sharp if selected again. Arsene Wenger (centre) will have a tough choice on his hands if Szczesny (right) impresses in the FA Cup . 'Wojciech is used to playing in big games and I think he will take that as a big challenge to show his quality,' the Gunners boss said. 'He works very hard in training, so I don't think that will be a problem.' Arsenal head to Old Trafford in search for a first win there since September 2006, but on the back of good league form. Wenger said: 'We are the holders of the FA Cup, this competition is important to us and we want to go there to produce a result.' +Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina has heaped praise on Radamel Falcao, claiming his international team-mate can be an 'amazing player' for Manchester United. The shot-stopper will be in Arsenal's FA Cup squad to face United on Monday night, and despite it being unclear whether he or Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal, Ospina will be making sure his team-mates are well aware of Falcao's threat. 'We haven't spoken about the match but we are in contact and I am absolutely convinced and can say with all confidence that Falcao is a player with a winning attitude, he has a strong mentality and is a great professional,' Ospina told the Evening Standard. Radamel Falcao has failed to impress at Manchester United after scoring just four goals in 20 matches . Falcao's international team-mate David Ospina (right) has praised the striker, calling him a 'great professional' 'He has demonstrated that in every team he has ever played in. When he has stability and continuity, he will come to the forefront and he is going to be an amazing player for Manchester United,' Ospina continued. 'We will never underestimate him. He is an excellent forward and I will hope to stop him scoring any goals against us if I play.' Ospina has been instrumental in Arsenal's recent run of form, nailing down the No 1 spot for Arsene Wenger's side. Manchester United are undecided on whether to give Falcao a permanent deal when his loan spell ends . Ospina believes that Falcao (left) can be an 'amazing player' for United if he is given the chance . Despite this, Szczesny was in goal for the Gunners' previous two FA Cup ties and has recovered from an illness which ruled him out of the previous match. Whoever is given the nod is likely to face an out-of-sorts Falcao, who is running out of time to prove himself in the red of Manchester United. The Colombian striker, who plays with Ospina for his country, joined United on deadline day last September in a loan move worth £6million, but is yet to secure a permanent contract. It is believed that the club are as yet undecided on whether to trigger a permanent £43m deal, after Falcao's indifferent form has produced just four goals in 20 matches. Falcao and Ospina have history, as they both play international football for Columbia . Falcao celebrates his last goal for Manchester United, at the end of January against Leicester City . +Jody Cundy recognises the clock is ticking as he bids for Paralympic gold four years on from his notorious explosion at London 2012. Cundy was favourite for victory in the London 2012 C4/C5 one-kilometre time-trial at the Olympic Velodrome, only for his Games to end in an explosive rant at officials. Race commissaries deemed rider failure to be the result of a start gate issue; Cundy argued it was faulty, but his protests were dismissed. It was a seminal moment of the Paralympics, when the watching public realised Paralympians are athletes first and foremost. Joy Cundy is aiming for gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics after his dramatic disappointment at London 2012 . Now Cundy, a five-time Paralympic champion swimmer and cyclist, is going for gold at the Rio Games in 2016, with the Paracycling Track World Championships, which begin on Thursday, a key indicator. The 36-year-old from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire said: 'I've always got that missed gold in London that's always playing on the back of my mind. 'That helps me get up in the morning, continue training and make sure we put all the wrongs to right when we get to Rio. 'I seem to be still getting faster and in training I'm in better form than I was prior to London. 'I'm not getting any younger, but I'm good enough to keep going through to Rio. 'Apeldoorn's going to be the first checkpoint to see if I'm on target.' Race commissaries deemed rider failure to be the result of a start gate issue however Cundy disagreed . Cundy, favourite for gold before his false start in the 1km time trial, shows his outrage after his exit . Cundy acknowledges Tokyo 2020, when he will be 41, may be four years too far and Rio may be his last chance. He added: 'I keep thinking I'm new to the sport, but I joined the squad in 2006. This is my eighth year on the team. 'I've nearly had as many years on the cycling team as I had on the swimming team. 'It's certainly getting harder with each year I do it.' Yet Cundy is still making improvements. Despite being hospitalised to intensive care last November with a swollen epiglottis, Cundy bounced back to post a sea-level personal best in his favoured kilo event at the Newport International event in January. Cundy aims to put his blow-up in the Olympic Velodrome behind him at the Paracycling Track World Championships, which begin in the Netherlands on Thursday . The track in Apeldoorn, Holland which hosts this week's competition is not known for being fast, though, so returning with the world champion's rainbow jersey is the primary objective. Cundy is held back by a team official after the DNF . Cundy added: 'It's about winning the world title and performing as well as I can against my main competitors.' Cundy, a C4 athlete who is a below-knee amputee, races against riders with a lesser impairment than his own in Paralympic competition. The times posted are factored, but Cundy wants to be quicker than all of his C4 and C5 rivals in Rio. 'On the factors they've currently got it's about a 0.6 or 0.8 (of a second) advantage I've got,' he added. 'But I'd rather win on time, be faster on time, that way there's no doubts.' Cundy is joined in the team by 11-time Paralympic champion Dame Sarah Storey, who is defending two world titles. Neil Fachie and his pilot Pete Mitchell are also defending their one-kilometre time-trial tandem title, while Commonwealth Games winning pair Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott are in partnership in the women's tandem events. Crystal Lane, Lora Turnham (piloted by Lauryn Therin) and World Championships debutants Megan Giglia, Steve Bate (piloted by Adam Duggleby), Louis Rolfe and Jaco van Gass complete the team. Britain topped the medal table at the 2014 event in Aguascalientes, Mexico, winning 10 medals, seven of them gold. +Phil Jones played as a deep-lying midfielder, but it didn’t feel like a midfielder’s performance. He was embarrassed by Giorgio Chiellini for their goal, and he was lucky to get away with losing his man at the previous set-piece. When England were in possession, he didn’t work hard enough to get on the ball — he was happy to let Chris Smalling bring the ball out. Manchester United defender Phil Jones failed to impress after being handed a midfield role . Jones (right) returns to the centre circle after playing a part in conceding Italy's opening goal . Roy Hodgson's 'experiment' of playing Jones as a deep central midfielder didn't pay dividends . Read Martin Samuel's full match report from the Juventus Stadium . Out of possession, he often flew out in an attempt to deal with the danger. This is fine when he wins the ball, but a very risky tactic. In fairness, he dropped back nicely in between the centre halves regularly, which is clearly what he feels comfortable doing. The main problem is that he has a habit of chasing the ball when he can’t win it. He looks like he’s been fired out of a cannon! He’ll need to assess situations better and hold his position in front of the back four. Sir Alex Ferguson famously labelled Jones the next Duncan Edwards, but he didn’t look very Edwards-like. At 23, it feels like we’re still trying to figure out his best position. He is being asked to play a role that needs to be filled by a more technically-proficient player — like Andrea Pirlo. Wayne Rooney looked excellent against Italy, like the elder statesman leading his younger team-mates. He does everything with intelligence and showed his quality with 30-yard diagonal balls and a fine effort against the crossbar. Wayne Rooney stepped to the fore in his role as captain and was unlucky not to score in Turin . England captain showed a good understanding with Harry Kane on their first start together . He also linked up really well with Harry Kane, especially in the second half. It looked like they had a kind of telepathic togetherness. I’m sure that will be something Roy Hodgson will be keen to see more of in the future. It’s interesting how, recently, strike partnerships have seemed like a thing of the past, but Rooney and Kane demonstrated they have an excellent understanding and play like a pair, not individuals. Jagielka shows why he's still valuable to Roy . When you look at Phil Jagielka’s rise in international football, it has been completely without fanfare. He had a couple of hairy moments, but still looked the best defender on show in Turin, weighing in with countless clearances and blocks. He also reads the game very well. Everton centre-back Phil Jagielka proved he is England's best defender with a fuss-free performance . Jagielka fared better than fellow defender Chris Smalling who was forced to withdraw after feeling unwell . He was relegated to the Championship with Sheffield United in 2007 and bought by Everton, where he took a while to mature. But right now, he looks better than Smalling and Jones, who have had a lot more hype surrounding their breakthroughs into the England squad. Jagielka was left out against Lithuania, but showed he should still be first-choice. Substitute Andros Townsend rescued England with a late super strike to earn a draw . +Manchester United's first-team squad were in full flow at training on Friday, as they prepare for a season-defining clash at Liverpool. The rivalry between the two clubs goes back a long way, but in terms of money, this Sunday's game is more important than most of the previous ties. Louis van Gaal put his charges through their paces ahead of a game that could define their finishing position this season. Antonio Valencia (left) fends off the challenge of Manchester United loanee Radamel Falcao during training at their Carrington base on Friday . Louis van Gaal will have to decide whether to stick with Juan Mata (right) on Sunday, or revert to the previously suspended Angel di Maria (left) There is no championship on the line, but instead fourth place and Champions League qualification rests heavily on this weekend's match. United currently sit fourth, two points ahead of Liverpool, and will hope to extend the gap to five points with a win at Anfield. Michael Carrick has recently returned from injury to regain his place in the starting line-up, and the oldest player in the United squad knows he must provide assistance to his team-mates. Manchester United boss Van Gaal (second left) speaks to Phil Jones (left) during the session, as Marouane Fellaini watches on . Defender Luke Shaw, signed from Southampton, takes part in a drill as United prepare for an important trip to Anfield at the weekend . Friday's training session coincided with defender Marcos Rojo's 25th birthday... Ashley Young wished him a happy birthday on Instagram . 'There is a responsibility that comes with the experience you have,' he told United Review. 'There is a lot of experience within the squad and there is also a group of younger lads and you try to help them and give them advice at certain times. 'I'm not one to sit everyone down and discuss things; it’s more about giving advice and little pointers at different times.' 'It's good to be back and I feel fine,' he added, when asked about his fitness. 'Once you get back, you just want a run of games and hopefully I can get that.' David de Gea dives to his right during the session; the goalkeeper's future at the club has been the subject of much speculation . Marouane Fellaini brings the ball down as Jonny Evans watches on (left) while captain Wayne Rooney carries a look of concentration (right) Carrick missed the start of the season, before a run of games from December to January was halted by another injury. He returned for United's game against Newcastle in March, and has impressed since. 'It's been a bit of a nightmare season for me injury-wise,' Carrick continued, 'and just at the time in my career where you’re getting a little bit older and you want to be playing as much as you can and enjoy your football. 'I’ve had a good run over the years, though, and hopefully this is the only blip so I can bounce back and get a good run of fitness now.' Falcao (right) tries to round Valencia during Friday's training session at Manchester United's Aon Training Complex in Carrington, Manchester . The players keep hydrated during the session as they prepare for their huge match (left), and reserve keeper Victor Valdes makes a catch . +Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists he has no regrets over his running battle against referees this season. The Blues manager has been outspoken in his views regarding Chelsea's treatment by officials, even claiming there is a 'campaign' against the Stamford Bridge club. Earlier this week the club took an unusual step of posting an article on their official website claiming they had been awarded an 'abnormally low' number of penalties this season - just two in the Premier League. Jose Mourinho has backed the club website's claim that they receive an 'abnormally low' number of penalties . Jose Mourinho leans around Nemanja Matic to watch Eden Hazard in training on Friday afternoon . Mourinho has clashed with officials several times this season, claiming there is a campaign against his team . Chelsea stars pose for a photo ahead of their trip to Hull as they hope to extend their lead at the top of the table . Juan Cuadrado runs with the ball, chased by Eden Hazard, as Chelsea were put through their paces on Friday . Gary Cahill holds off Matic, whose red card against Burnley sparked one of Mourinho's outbursts . The 'penalty puzzle' article was published this week on Chelsea's official website . Chelsea were angered last weekend by referee Mike Dean's refusal to award Branislav Ivanovic a penalty . Referee Dean had some tough calls to make in Chelsea's draw with Southampton but made most correctly . Click HERE to read what chief sports writer Martin Samuel had to say when he covered the subject in his colum last month . Mourinho is admant he was not behind the article - but insisted he has not had any second thoughts about his stance against referees this season. 'Did I know about the article? No, I’m just the first team manager,' said the Portuguese, whose side face Hull on Sunday. 'I never regret when I speak from my feelings, I never carry it, the consequences. 'Was I surprised to see article? No. Did I think it was opinionated? No. Not for me. 'I don’t think the writer is going to win the Pulitzer with that article. It’s just the numbers. Mourinho, who was asked last week if Chelsea would get another penalty this season, issues instructions . Chelsea have been awarded five penalties in eight Champions League games, including against PSG . Jose Mourinho believes his team have the advantage, but claims the Premier League title race is . Chelsea are six points clear at the top of the league after their draw against Southampton last weekend . 'You gave so much importance to that article that I read it. It’s just an objective article. The number of penalties each team have in favour or against is another stat. 'It’s been working against us since the beginning of the season. That won’t change. 'The numbers always tell the truth. It’s just pure numbers. 'No agenda, no intention. Just numbers.' Hull boss Steve Bruce was critical of Chelsea's players after the first clash between the two sides this season after two Chelsea players were booked for diving. Willian and Diego Costa both received yellow cards for simulation in the encounter, while Bruce called a Gary Cahill tumble in the area like something out of 'Swan Lake'. And when asked whether Bruce's comments in December has worked against Chelsea, the Blues boss added: 'I don't know, I don’t speak about it. I can’t. 'I’m punished, I don’t want to spend my energy thinking about the negative decisions and the points it cost us. 'I just want to focus all my energy, and now we have lots of time for that, which we didn’t when were in all the cups. 'So we focus on the training, analyse opponents, I want to focus on that. Two months to go and in two months we can be champions.' +The Football Association will not be allowed to lay a wreath in Turin this week to mark the 30th anniversary of the Heysel disaster. With England playing Italy at the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday, the FA wanted to take the opportunity to commemorate the deaths of 39 supporters before the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus by laying a wreath at a memorial outside the ground in Turin. The Italian club said they appreciated the gesture, but rejected the offer, claiming they did not want to detract from their own memorial in May. The FA said it respected Juventus' wishes. Liverpool and Juventus observe a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Heysel disaster in 1985 . A policeman looks across at the stand where the tragedy happened; 39 football fans lost their lives at Heysel . Alan Hansen, Ronnie Moran, Kenny Dalglish and Bruce Grobbelaar (left-right) lay a wreath for the victims of the Heysel disaster at Liverpool Catholic Cathedral . +Michel Platini has raised the spectre of the Heysel disaster and warned of a growing issue of hooligans and political fanatics taking control in football stadiums in Europe. The UEFA president, who was on the pitch for Juventus at the European Cup final in Brussels 30 years ago when 39 people - mainly from the Italian club - died after rioting Liverpool fans charged Juve supporters causing a wall to collapse. Platini has called for tougher stadium bans and a European-wide sports police force. Speaking at the UEFA Congress in Vienna, Platini said: 'Europe is seeing a rise in nationalism and extremism the like of which we have not witnessed for a very long time. Michel Platini wants to see a European sports police force introduced to prevent football hooliganism . 'This insidious trend can also be observed in our stadiums, as football is a reflection of society. Given its popularity, our sport is a barometer for the ills of our continent. And that barometer is pointing to some worrying developments. 'I therefore renew my call for greater awareness of this issue among the public authorities, so that we can avoid reliving the dark days of a not-so-distant past - a past where hooligans and all manner of fanatics called the shots in certain European stadiums. 'In recent months, we have all been struck by certain images that I thought were a thing of the past. Some of us experienced that past at first hand. In my case, it was exactly 30 years ago ... Nobody wants a repeat of such events. The Heysel disaster took place in 1985 during European Cup Final between Juventus and Liverpool . 39 fans were killed when they were crushed to death when Liverpool fans breached the neutral area . Most of the fatalities were Juventus fans and Platini wants to avoid any future incidents like this . 'We need tougher stadium bans at European level and - I will say it again - the creation of a European sports police force.' Platini also appeared to have a veiled dig at Sepp Blatter for deciding to run for a fifth term as FIFA president despite having said at the UEFA Congress four years ago that his fourth term would be his last. Blatter then described himself as the 'captain of the ship in troubled waters bringing in back on the right route'. The Italian, who is himself being re-elected unopposed for a third term, told UEFA delegates: 'I regard myself as a simple team-mate - at most your captain. But not the captain of a ship that is being battered by a storm.' Dynamo Kiev fans clash with riot police during mass fighting in the Olympiyski Stadium in the Europa League . Kiev's players were forced to step in and try to calm their fans down which forced the match to be halted . Sept Blatter is preparing to run for a fifth term despite saying that his current one would be his last . Platini's printed speech included the words 'clinging to the helm for dear life' but he dropped that line when he delivered the speech, saying only: 'No. I am simply the captain of a winning team - one that wins because it boasts 54 talented presidents and general secretaries who are prepared to play for each other.' In his speech to the Congress on Tuesday, Blatter made no reference to standing again for FIFA president but once again urged football to resist calls to boycott to the 2018 World Cup in Russia due to its involvement in the civil war in Ukraine. Blatter said: 'Football shall be united, sport shall be united when it comes to boycotts because boycott has never given any results. We have to pay attention to political interference's. The autonomy of sport must be guaranteed.' Platini has experienced first hand football hooliganism when he was on the pitch for the Heysel disaster . +Kevin Mitchell has been handed home advantage for his second crack at a world title against Jorge Linares. Mitchell will face the WBC champion at the O2 Arena on May 30 as part of a world-title double-header. Featherweight Lee Selby will challenge for the IBF title against Evgeny Gradovich while heavyweight Anthony Joshua will also be in action against Kevin Johnson. Kevin Mitchell (left) beat Daniel Estrada to earn his shot at the WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares . Linares (left) beat Javier Prieto to win the vacant belt in Japan last December . Mitchell became the mandatory challenger for Linares' belt by beating Daniel Estrava in January. The 30-year-old from Dagenham previously challenged Ricky Burns in 2012 but was stopped in the fourth round. He also lost to Michael Katsidis for the interim WBO title at Upton Park two years earlier. Last year, Mitchell beat Ghislain Maduma at Wembley but was not installed as the IBF's mandatory challenger after failing to make the check weight on the day of the fight. Promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports News: 'Kevin Mitchell is one of the most talented fighters in British boxing; he's also one of the most likable. 'Sometimes it takes longer to achieve what you want but I believe it's perfect timing for him to finally fulfill his dream and become WBC champion of the world.' Lee Selby earned his mandatory spot for the IBF featherweight title by beating Joel Brunker last year . Selby has home advantage against Russian champion Evgeny Gradovich (above) when they face off in May . Selby, meanwhile, has been waiting since October for his world title shot after stopping the previously unbeaten Joel Brunker in the ninth round. Gradovich has held the IBF strap since 2013 and has won 19 of his 20 fights, drawing the other. Hearn added: 'Since Lee joined up with us he's been punch perfect. He's the favourite in the fight which shows you what people think of him. 'I believe he can go on and become a great of British boxing.' Joshua had been due to face Johnson in January but was forced to withdraw with a back injury. The Olympic champion is also in action on April 4 in Newcastle. Anthony Joshua (right) faces the toughest challenge of his career when he takes on Kevin Johnson . +The Madeira Islands Open has been reduced to 54 holes after strong winds meant no play was possible at Santo da Serra on Thursday. Gusts reached 47mph and stayed steadily above 35mph during the day, causing balls to move on the greens at the mountain-top venue. Round one is scheduled to start on Friday, with tee times for the first two rounds remaining unchanged and the cut coming after 36 holes. The Madeira Islands Open will only be played over 54 holes after the first round was delayed . European Tour meteorologist Guy Nestor (left) measures wind speeds of around 47mph . The tournament in Madeira, Spain has bee affected by weather problems in the past . Tournament director Jose Maria Zamora said: 'Despite the efforts we've made - we didn't cut the greens for the last two days because we knew about this forecast - winds have been too strong and gusty. Every time we sent our referees to check, the balls were moving on the green. 'The players have been waiting in the players' lounge now for up to eight hours, so the best option is to send them back and start fresh tomorrow.' The wind is forecast to die down overnight, although rain and possible thunderstorms could affect play on Friday. The tournament has suffered numerous weather problems down the years and was reduced to 36 holes last year due to lengthy fog delays. Max Orrin of England hits a tee shot during the pro-am event on Wednesday before the storm arrived . Peter Lawrie of Ireland takes a swing during the pro-am event at the Santo da Serra Golf Club . +Chelsea defender Cesar Azplicueta believes his team-mate Eden Hazard will one day be ranked alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and win the Ballon d'Or. Either Messi or Ronaldo has won the prize on the last seven occasions, with the Barcelona forward winning four, and the Real Madrid star three. But Azpilicueta believes Hazard has the ability to break the La Liga duo's monopoly and claim the top individual award in world football. Although he maintains his 24-year-old team-mate is more concerned with winning team trophies than individual honours. Eden Hazard can reach the level of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, says team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta . The Chelsea star scored the only goal as his side beat West Ham in the Premier League on Wednesday . (L-R) Juan Cuadrado, Kurt Zouma, Loic Remy and Hazard celebrates Chelsea's Capital One Cup victory . 'We are talking about two monsters of football today,' Azpilicueta told Marca of Messi and Ronaldo. 'Eden is a great player, younger than them, and therefore has more capacity for improvement. 'I think in the future he could win the Ballon d'Or, he has the quality to it, but I see more focus on titles than achieving individual trophies. But yes, he has great quality and I think in the future we will see with the trophy in his hands.' Azpilicueta during Chelsea's 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the final at Wembley last Sunday . Barcelona star Messi has won four Ballon d'Or awards in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 . While Real Madrid rival Ronaldo has won three in 2008, 2013 and 2014 . Hazard signed for Chelsea in 2012, and has so far gone on to score 44 goals in 147 games in all competitions for the club, as well as winning the Europa League in 2013 and last Sunday's Capital One Cup. Last month, he signed a new five-and-half-year deal to secure his long-term future at Stamford Bridge. +The attorney representing the University of Oklahoma's disgraced fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon has said he believes the members - including those who chanted racial slurs - deserve a second chance. Stephen Jones, who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, spoke at a press conference on Friday as he said he is seeking a 'non-legal' resolution with the university. Its president, David Boren, expelled the two students filmed leading the racist chant last weekend - but Jones said that Boren himself recently said that everyone deserves a second chance. 'We certainly think that's true for the members of the SAE house,' Jones continued. 'And perhaps even for the members who were involved in this unfortunate confrontation with the university and the basic values of SAE.' Scroll down for video . Stephen Jones, the attorney for the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said in a press conference on Friday that the students filmed making racist chants were just a small number of people at the event . Jones is representing students and alumni from the fraternity. He is not representing the two students, Parker Rice and Levi Pettit. He said that he hopes to reach a 'non-legal' resolution with the university, which he indicated acted hastily when it closed down the frat house on Monday. He added that he also wants to ensure the students - some of whom have received death threats - are granted their right to due process. 'I'm not ruling out a lawsuit,' he said. 'I'm saying that our preference is proceeding in a non legal solution... If that is not possible, then obviously we will have to consider other possibilities.' Jones also pointed out that hundreds of students and fraternity members had attended the event where the footage was filmed, and that the 'inexcusable' chant was the action of just a handful. 'We're talking about one incident with nine seconds of video on one of five buses,' he said. Ringleader: Parker Rice, a University of Oklahoma freshman from Dallas, has been identified as the conductor leading the 'there will never be a n***** in SEA' chant on Saturday. He has since been expelled . Outed: Levi Pettit was identified by his family on Tuesday night. They apologized for his 'disgusting' behavior. Right, Pettit - an accomplished golfer at his former school Highland Park - is pictured putting in a 2013 photo . Also on Friday, a spokesman for the fraternity's national headquarters revealed that officials with the Oklahoma chapter have stopped communicating with them. 'We have not heard from the Oklahoma chapter,' spokesman Brandon Weghorst said. 'They have not engaged us since the time the chapter was closed.' Weghorst said the national fraternity is moving forward with plans to expel all of the suspended members of the OU chapter, a move that will permanently revoke their membership. The frat house was shut down after a nine-second video recorded last weekend emerged showing members singing a song using racial slurs and referencing lynching. 'There will never be a n***** SAE' they were heard singing aboard a bus. The fraternity was closed immediately and all students and staff were ordered to remove their belongings from the frat house by Monday night. One of the alleged ringleaders, Parker Rice, said earlier this week that he has left the University of Oklahoma and is 'deeply sorry' for what he did. Lawsuit? The university's president, David Boren, pictured on Tuesday, ordered the chapter to close down . High profile: Jones is pictured in 1996 with Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, whom he represented . 'For me, this is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this and make sure it never happens again,' he said in a statement. 'My goal for the long-term is to be a man who has the heart and the courage to reject racism wherever I see or experience it in the future.' Brody and Susan Pettit, the parents of Levi Pettit, also apologized to the 'entire African American community' for their son's 'disgusting' actions. But the family added that they had raised him to be 'inclusive,' saying: 'We know his heart, and he is not a racist.' An investigation into the involvement of other members is still underway. Investigations into racism at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapters have now extended to college campuses in Louisiana and Texas, the organization said Thursday. It came after its national office received word that members in those places knew the racist chant caught on video in Oklahoma. Shut down: Workers can be seen removing the letters from the SAE house on Monday after it was shut down . Moving out: Two men can be seen laughing as they remove furniture from the house on Monday . Spokesman Brandon Weghorst said the chapter at the University of Texas at Austin was being 'fully cooperative' and that a probe at Louisiana Tech in Ruston was in its early stages. He said no new allegations had been substantiated. 'We had no idea of this type of behavior was going on underground,' Weghorst said Thursday. 'This is the type of stuff (the chant), it goes underground and it goes under the radar. 'It's dangerous because — if we don't know about it, we can't stop it.' The president of the university's SAE had previously issued a statement denying that his chapter had ever performed a similar chant. Luke Cone said he could 'speak on the behalf of my fraternity brothers that we are all profoundly distressed' about the language in the video. The SAE chapter at Louisiana Tech did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday, but a university spokesman said it has been unable to substantiate an allegation that a former member participated in the chant in 2010. 'Once we learned that, we immediately got with the current chapter president and the leadership of that chapter to ensure this activity wasn't taking place here at Louisiana Tech,' said spokesman Dave Guerin. Anger: Protesters hold up signs outside the Rice family home in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday . 'They assured us that it wasn't. We can't really attest to back in 2010.' Some members of some of the largest SAE chapters in the country on Thursday denied any knowledge of the racist chant. 'In my four years, I never have seen anything or heard anything like that in my individual chapter,' said Will Sneed, past president of the SAE chapter at the University of Arkansas. Meanwhile, the University of Oklahoma football team expressed its outrage Thursday in a statement calling for fraternity leaders to be 'expelled, suspended or otherwise disciplined severely'. 'As a team, we have come to a consensus that, in any organization, the leadership is responsible for the culture created, and in this case, encouraged. ... Allowing this culture to thrive goes against everything it means to be a Sooner,' the players said. +Egyptian authorites have launched an investigation after a European porn star filmed a graphic movie while visiting the pyramids. The porn star flashes parts of her body repeatedly while on a coach trip to the tourist destination. Speaking to the camera, the woman called Aurita complains about the views. The actress called Aurita is filmed walking around the pyramids, pictured with a cameraman . During the ten-minute long trailer, the actress constantly complains about having to visit the sites . As tourists look at the historic sites, the porn actress takes the opportunity to flash her cameraman . Driving past the pyramids, the 'actress' claims 'this f****** sucks. What is there to look at?' 'It really sucks, even our resorts are better.' Next, she holds up a an ornamental cat which came from a souvenir stall. She told the camera man: 'First he wanted ten bucks. I told him I won't buy it. I said I know where to get them for three bucks. Then he agreed three bucks'. Once out at the pyramids, she points to one in the distance and said: 'Look, it's unfinished.' When an Egyptian man approaches she tells him 'I don't want to ride on a camel.' Her camera man suggests that she pays the man, she replies: 'I don't want to give him a dollar.' The actress appears on the trailer wearing a tight pair of blue hotpants and a yellow top. She continually flashes various parts of her body towards the camera, even with fellow tourists in the background. When her cameraman asked her to stand beside the Sphynx, she claimed: 'I don't want to stand here. We've already filmed it.' The actress tells viewers that one of the pyramids looks as if it's unfinished and sounds bored by the tour . She also said that the tourist resorts 'back home' are better claiming 'what is there to look at?' The movie culminates in graphic pornographic scenes involving the actress and a male co-star. According to a report on Newstime Africa Egyptian authorities have been angered by the graphic film which features several iconic locations around Giza and Cairo. Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damati said: 'A set of sexually explicit scenes was illegally filmed inside the Giza Necropolis by a foreign tourist while visiting the site.' He confirmed that prosecuting authorities are studying the movie Al-Damati said the incident had since been referred to prosecutors for investigation. The woman and her cameraman followed unsuspecting holidaymakers on a guided tour of the ancient sites . The woman even complained about having to pay $3 for an ornamental cat, pictured,  from a street vendor . Egyptian authorities have launched a probe after a porno actress filmed a movie around the Pyramids . The company behind the movie released a ten-minute teaser video on the internet, introducing the the actress, who is believed to be Russian. Initially Egyptian authorities claimed the movie had been faked, but now they have reversed their decision. However, Egyptologists have branded the movies 'demeaning' and said the government should act to prevent its further distribution due to the effect it will have on Egyptian culture. Bassam al-Shamaa said: 'Surveillance cameras aren’t enough to secure such important sites. A full security cordon must be installed to prevent such incidents – which demean Egyptian civilisation – from reoccurring. 'If camera records confirm the filming of this video, the antiquities minister and the relevant security personnel should resign.' +A University of Oklahoma fraternity has been shut down after members were caught chanting the n-word and glorifying lynching in a sickening video - on the same day that President Obama spoke at the 50th anniversary of the Selma march. The footage, uploaded to YouTube Sunday, shows members of a Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter singing that there 'will never be a n*****' in their fraternity. In the brief clip, one two students stand up to a group of their peers, wearing bow ties and dress shirts, in the vile chant, sung to the tune of If You're Happy And You Know It. The footage is believed to have been filmed on Saturday - when the rest of the nation was focused on Selma, Alabama, where the president said the civil rights movement has not yet completed its long march. Scroll down for video . 'There will never be a n***** SAE': The vile chant was made by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter at the University of Oklahoma . The idiotic student could be seen leading the chant as one of his friends tried to stop the filming . National heads of Sigma Alpha Epsilon closed the fraternity Sunday night after the video was shared widely online, and suspended all of its members. During the sickening clip the students are clearly heard singing: 'There will never be a n***** SAE, there will never be a n***** SAE. 'You can hang him from a tree, but he'll never sign with me, there will never be a n***** SAE.' A female voice in the background can also be heard asking a friend: 'You've never heard it before?' The footage shows the group on a bus, apparently headed to a party. It was made public by a black students' pressure group at the university called Unheard. In the wake of the video, the national leadership of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which has branches across the country, said the University of Oklahoma chapter would be punished. Reaction: The national heads of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon have said those responsible will be punished . Frat house: The SAE base at the University of Oklahoma is pictured above. The national organization has some undergraduate 15,000 members . Brad Cohen, the Eminent Supreme Archon of the organization, confirmed that the video was authentic. He added that he was 'shocked and disgusted' by it, and said those responsible 'will be dealt with'. Cohen also said the song, which the video participants seemed to know well, was not part of any SAE traditions. A statement from SAE said: 'Sigma Alpha Epsilon's national headquarters has closed its Oklahoma Kappa chapter at the University of Oklahoma following the discovery of an inappropriate video. Investigation: Oklahoma University President David Boren released a statement via Twitter saying the 'behavior will not be tolerated' 'Reprehensible': The university's president, David Boren, said investigations were underway and warned this behavior would not be tolerated . Shut down: National President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Brad Cohen, took to Twitter to say the fraternity chapter had been closed and called on the university to expel the students involved . 'In addition, all of the members have been suspended, and those members who are responsible for the incident may have their membership privileges revoked permanently. 'We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way. 'Furthermore, we are embarrassed by this video and offer our empathy not only to anyone outside the organization who is offended but also to our brothers who come from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities.' Timing: While the SAE members were chanting, President Obama was addressing crowds in Selma, Alabama, on the 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches there . Anniversary: The sickening chant was made exactly 50 years after the march for civil rights led by Dr Martin Luther King, center above, from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama . SAE has more than 200 chapters across the country, 15,000 undergraduate members and around 200,000 alumni. The mission of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is 'to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, and service for our members based upon the ideals set forth by our Founders and as specifically enunciated in our creed, The True Gentleman.' For more than half a century, new members are required to memorize and recite the following: . 'A True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.' David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, said that the University had launched its own investigation into the video. Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national headquarters has closed its Oklahoma Kappa chapter at the University of Oklahoma following the discovery of an inappropriate video. In addition, all of the members have been suspended, and those members who are responsible for the incident may have their membership privileges revoked permanently.We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way. Furthermore, we are embarrassed by this video and offer our empathy not only to anyone outside the organization who is offended but also to our brothers who come from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities. This type of racist behavior will not be tolerated and is not consistent with the values and morals of our fraternity. We have more than 15,000 collegiate members across the nation, and this incident should not reflect on other brothers because this type of hateful action is not what Sigma Alpha Epsilon stands for. This is absolutely not who we are. We teach our members to serve as role models in their communities and to live up to our creed, “The True Gentleman.” When members fail to do so, we will not hesitate to take corrective actions or to impose sanctions. Any behavior that is not aligned with the conduct we expect is unacceptable. Equally unacceptable is bystander behavior of members who fail to intervene when they witness conduct that deviates from our beliefs. “I was not only shocked and disappointed but disgusted by the outright display of racism displayed in the video,” said Brad Cohen, the fraternity’s national president. “SAE is a diverse organization, and we have zero tolerance for racism or any bad behavior. When we learned about this incident, I called an immediate board meeting, and we determined with no mental reservation whatsoever that this chapter needed to be closed immediately. I am proud of my fellow board members because we mean what we say.” Alumni who serve on the chapter's house corporation board and who serve as advisers are appalled by the video and the song that was sung in it. They do not condone offensive and hateful behavior and will hold accountable the men who participated in the incident. Although Sigma Alpha Epsilon regrets the closure, we believe members must be held responsible for their actions. We are hopeful that we can re-establish the Oklahoma Kappa chapter at some point in the future with a group of men who exemplify our beliefs and who serve as leaders on campus and in the community. +A Russian schoolboy has been filmed falling 100 feet to his death after accidentally grabbing a 30,000 volt electricity cable while making a free-climbing video. The 14-year-old, identified only by the name 'Maxim', was climbing along the top of a railway bridge in the capital Moscow while a friend of the same age filmed his dangerous stunt. After walking along the metal railing once, Maxim stops and walks towards the edge of the bridge to get a better view. However he appears to stumble and instinctively grabs the high voltage cable, which electrocutes him and causes him to fall on to the railway tracks below. Risky: The 14-year-old, identified only by the name 'Maxim', was climbing along the top of a railway bridge in the capital Moscow while a friend of the same age filmed his dangerous stunt . Shock: After walking along the metal railing once, Maxim stops and walks towards the edge of the bridge to get a better view. However he appears to stumble and instinctively grabs the high voltage cable . Transport police in Russia issued the disturbing video as a warning to others against performing dangerous stunts on railway lines in order to get pictures and video to put on social media. Maxim had climbed onto the top of the railway bridge not far from Sheremetyevo International Airport in the Russian capital Moscow together with a friend also aged 14-years-old. And as the second schoolboy videoed, Maxim crouched as he edged his way towards the end of the bridge and then turned round and slowly walked back, this time standing higher. Seconds later he appears to lose his balance and instinctively grabs the 30,000 volt electricity cable in the hope of regaining his balance. However a cloud of smoke is seen coming from the schoolboy's right hand as the current knocks him unconscious and causes him to tumble off the railing on to the railway tracks 100 feet below. Horror: A cloud of smoke is seen coming from the schoolboy's right hand as the current knocks him unconscious and causes him to tumble off the railing on to the railway tracks 100 feet below . Plummet: Maxim's tragic death was captured on film by his 14-year-old schoolboy friend . The 14-year-old was climbing along the top of this bridge when he slipped and fell to his death . The schoolboy fell from the top of the bridge on to the railway lines 100 feet below . Transport police spokeswoman Jana Vasilieva said: 'This was a tragic accident that cost a young man his life and illustrates the danger of trespassing on railway property. 'The incident is still being investigated though so we cannot say any more this stage.' Video of the incident emerged on the same day a shocking video was released showing the moment passers-by refused to help a fatally injured young man who burst into flames while trying to steal copper wire from an electricity substation. The unidentified South African, who appears to be in his teens, was seen with horrific burns covering most of his upper body following the incident in the outskirts of the city of Witbank. With his terrible injuries clearly visible, the young man says he is in agony and begs passers-by to take him to the hospital - but he is cruelly told to walk if he wants treatment. The burns victim then walked to a health clinic, where an ambulance was called, but he died several hours later. +Facebook has unveiled an enormous new office in Silicon Valley, which is large enough to hold a 9-acre park on its roof, and will house 2,800 workers in a single room. The new building in Menlo Park, California, measures 430,000 square feet and apparently has the 'largest open floor plan in the world'. The social network's newest location was revealed by founder Mark Zuckerberg, who posted an aerial view on the building on his public page. Scroll down for video . Park life: Facebook's enormous new office in Menlo Park, California, was unveiled yesterday . Settling in: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is pictured above having a meeting in an office-cum-ball pit, which was seemingly crammed with plastic playthings as a first-day prank . He wrote: 'Our goal was to create the perfect engineering space for our teams to work together. 'We wanted our space to create the same sense of community and connection among our teams that we try to enable with our services across the world. To do this, we designed the largest open floor plan in the world - a single room that fits thousands of people.' Lush: The office features a 9-acre park on top of its 430,000 square feet of indoor space . California skies: The office is not far from Facebook's current Silicon Valley campus - to which it is connected by tunnel . Relaxing: The waterfront office was documented by a small army of Instagram photographers ahead of opening day . Plans: This architect's model of the office shows the single, long, open-plan room inside the office . As well as the huge open space, which has yet to be pictured, there will be smaller spaces for meetings. One Facebook employee posted an image of Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer meeting in one room, which had been filled with plastic balls - seemingly a first-day prank. According to local news outlet The Almanac, 2,800 engineers will eventually work in the main, open room. They have reportedly not all been hired yet. Artsy: The warehouse has been crammed full of art pieces by Bay Area sculptors and painters, like the above . Trendy: The building will one day play host to 2,800 Facebook employees - but it is not yet at capacity . Construction on the new building, which is not far from Facebook's existing campus, and will be connected via tunnel, was started in September 2014. And despite the simple philosophy behind it, the new Facebook building still has plenty of capacity to impress. An army of Instagram stars was unleashed on the building, and captured its quirky stairways, unusual paintjobs and sculpture pieces made by Bay Area artists. +His nine-year career at Arsenal has been an emotional and physical roller coaster. Often showing glimpses that he is the perfect mix of power and guile his manager craves before spending weeks, or even years, in the treatment room, Arsene Wenger now looks set to release this French midfielder at the end of his contract in June. The ride is coming to an end. 1554 days, 222 weeks, over four years out injured. The numbers aren't as pretty as his playing style can be. This is the curious case of Abou Vassiriki Diaby. Abou Diaby poses with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger upon his signing in January 2006 . Diaby challenges Bolton's Matt Jansen (C) during a 1-1 draw at Highbury in 2006 . Diaby sits on the first of the 60,000 seats to be installed at the Emirates Stadium before Arsenal moved in . Diaby beats Sunderland's Tommy Miller (right) during a match at the Stadium of Light in May 2006 . 3339 days at club . 1554 days injured . 46.5% injured . When Diaby arrived in the Premier League on January 13, 2006, Arsenal beat off competition from Chelsea and Jose Mourinho to sign the 19-year-old from Auxerre. Comparisons were already drawn to club legend and former captain Patrick Vieira because of his height, intensity and technique on the ball. 'Diaby is a bit more offensive than Vieira but when he plays a more defensive role he is very similar,' Wenger said. He started off well, scoring his first goal for the Gunners in April against Aston Villa, but his debut half-season in north London ended in despair. Diaby was the victim of an 'assassins tackle' from Sunderland youngster Dan Smith - according to Wenger - his sickening scream as he fractured his ankle at the Stadium of Light must still be heard by the boss. All 42 of Diaby's injuries since he joined Arsenal in January 2006 . Diaby battles with Tottenham's Jermaine Jenas during their League Cup semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium in January 2007. Arsenal won the tie 5-3 on aggregate . Diaby tussles with Chelsea's Lassana Diarra (left) during the Carling Cup final in February 2007. Chelsea won the game 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff . Diaby kicked Chelsea captain John Terry in the face during the final in 2007 . Manuel Fernandes of Everton battles with Arsenal trio Jeremie Aliadiere, Cesc Fabregas and Diab during a league match at Goodison Park in March 2007. Everton won the game 1-0 . A bandaged Diaby under pressure from Manchester City's Michael Ball (right) during Arsenal's 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in the league in April 2007 . Arsenal have played in 350 league games since About Diaby signed. He has featured in 124 of them or 35%, one every 15.7 days. League games by season: 2005/06: 12, 2006-07: 12, 2007-08: 15, 2008-09: 24, 2009-10: 29, 2010/11: 16, 2011-12: 4, 2012-13 11, 2013-14 1, 2014-15: 0 . Put simply, the 28-year-old has never recovered. Whether it be a calf muscle or a hamstring, an abdominal strain or a cruciate ligament, Diaby's talent looks set to be wasted. He has clocked up 42 injuries during his Arsenal career, according to data from physioroom, averaging a new setback every 80 days. The Gunners have played 350 league games since his arrival but Diaby has featured in just 35 per cent of them. Despite his struggles, his almost constant spell on the sidelines hasn't been short of its positive moments. In early 2012 Diaby came back into the Arsenal team to feature alongside Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla and impressed, even scoring on his return to the French national team. Wenger heralded his fellow countryman as a holding midfielder when he made his one and only performance this season, a slack display against Southampton in a Capital One Cup defeat. Diaby is embraced by team-mates Eduardo (left) and Diarra (centre) during Arsenal's 3-2 win at Blackburn Rovers during the Carling Cup quarter-final in December 2007 . Diaby dives in to challenge Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney during the Champions League semi-final at Old Trafford in April 2009 . Diaby scores past AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Sergio Romero during the Champions League Group H clash at the Emirates Stadium in November 2009 . The Arsenal midfielder scores a header past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina in February 2010 . As recently as November, the Gunners' boss was insistent that Diaby would be offered his new contract if he were to prove his health. 'If he comes back, I will keep him. I always believed in him. In football, the most important thing is health.' But Diaby hasn't come close to featuring since, and given the wealth of midfield options Wenger has available it is extremely unlikely he will ever don the Arsenal shirt again, even if he were to return to fitness. He is the second longest-serving player at the club behind Theo Walcott, and is a much-loved figure in the dressing room. His emotional pull remains strong with the fans, who would love for him to be the midfield destroyer and box-to-box runner he has shown he can be. Diaby vies for the ball with Barcelona star Lionel Messi during the Champions League quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium in March 2010 . Diaby battles with Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole (left) during a 1-1 draw at Anfield in August 2010 . Diaby appeared on the final day of last season for Arsenal away at Norwich in his most recent Premier League appearance for the club. It was also his only appearance last season . However, this isn't a perfect world and head must rule over heart, especially at a club vying for the top places. Diaby has played one Premier League game in his last two years, and Arsenal have backed the player admirably. But as the midfielder looks to get back to full strength once again, wherever that may be, this quote by Vieira should not be forgotten. 'If he could have improved constantly, he would have reached an exceptional level. About his potential, he is better than me, better on a technical level, better dribbler, and better scorer too.' What a player Wenger could have had at his disposal. 2014 . Calf Muscle Strain, November 24 . Calf/Shin, October 14 . Hip/Thigh, July 26 . Groin/Pelvis, April 22 . 2013 . ACL Knee, March 27 . Calf/Shin, February 23 . Illness, January 22 . 2012 . Thigh Muscle Strain, September 29 . Muscle, September 7 . Calf Muscle Strain, April 28 . Illness, April 23 . Hamstring, March 29 . Hamstring, March 3 . 2011 . Hamstring, November 26 . Ankle/Foot, July 22 . Calf Muscle Strain, January 2 . 2010 . Calf Muscle Strain, December 30 . Ankle/Foot, October 19 . Ankle/Foot, October 4 . Ankle/Foot, September 13 . Calf Muscle Strain, August 11 . Calf Muscle Strain, March 27 . MCL Knee Ligament, February 17 . Calf Muscle Strain, January 20 . 2009 . Calf Muscle Strain, November 7 . Ankle/Foot, October 10 . Groin Strain, August 12 . Knee, July 27 . Thigh Muscle Strain, April 1 . Calf Muscle Strain, February 24 . Thigh Muscle Strain, January 31 . 2008 . Abdominal Strain, November 22 . Thigh Muscle Strain, August 3 . Thigh Muscle Strain, April 25 . Calf Muscle Strain, March 7 . Calf Muscle Strain, February 8 . 2007 . Back, November 22 . Sprained Ankle, August 14 . Concussion, April 20 . Sprained Ankle, February 25 . Knee, February 2 . 2006 . Ankle/Foot Injury, May 1 . 42 INJURIES (ONE EVERY 79.5 DAYS) calf muscle 11, ankle/foot 6, thigh muscle 5, hamstring 3, sprained ankle 2, illness 2, calf/shin 2, knee 2, hip/thigh 1, groin/pelvis 1, acl knee 1, muscle injury 1, mcl knee ligament 1, groin strain 1, abdominal strain 1, back injury 1, concussion 1. +Every transfer window, clubs scramble to pick up the best bargains, often leaving fans brimming with excitement over the latest big-money import. But, seven months after last summer's window swung shut, which of those deals have proved to be the worst value for money? As we reach the business end of the season, Sportsmail takes a look at which summer signings have promised so much but offered so little for their respective clubs. 10 - FERNANDO . Porto to Manchester City . One of two Manchester City entries after a summer which saw Manuel Pellegrini’s side go backwards. Fernando is one-paced, doesn’t impose himself on games and is a man out of his depth, particularly in the Champions League. Porto must’ve laughed all the way to the bank when losing Fernando and Mangala. Any better than Javi Garcia? Sportsmail’s not so sure. Brazilian midfielder Fernando has struggled to make an impact at Manchester City since his summer move . Fernando (right) looked out of his depth during City's Champions League campaign . Sanchez plus Chelsea duo Fabregas and Costa have all justified big money moves... but who is your signing of the season? 9 - RICKIE LAMBERT . Southampton to Liverpool . Who knew that a striker who spent most of his career in the lower divisions probably wasn’t going to be cut out for life at Anfield? Well, quite a few actually. But that didn’t stop Brendan Rodgers taking him from Southampton for £4m last summer. Perhaps at that price it was worth taking a punt on Lambert but the former Bristol Rovers frontman has had no tangible effect on the side and been reduced to becoming a glorified lump up front in the final moments if Liverpool are chasing a game. Rickie Lambert's dream move to Liverpool hasn't worked out the way he would have hoped . Lambert celebrates just his second Premier League goal for Liverpool against Aston Villa in January . 8 - ANGEL DI MARIA . Real Madrid to Manchester United . This list is all relative. If you pay £60m for one of the world’s superstars, there is a reasonable expectation that he wins you a few games; but good performances of Di Maria’s can be counted on one hand and he hasn’t been able to get to grips with English football. Louis van Gaal has quite rightly persisted with the former Real Madrid man, although we have witnessed just why Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t overly fussed about him leaving the Bernabeu. Former Real Madrid star Angel di Maria (right) seems to have lost his way at Manchester United . Di Maria is shown a red card by referee Michael Oliver during United's 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal . 7 - GARETH BARRY . Free agent to Everton . The epitome of everything that’s been wrong at Everton during Roberto Martinez’s tricky second season in charge. On paper an excellent signing - particularly for free - but Barry’s inability to drive forward from midfield has slowed Everton down. They're not the most patient lot at Goodison Park and he has been no stranger to the fans’ ire. Everton midfielder Gareth Barry (right) has endured a tough season at Goodison Park . Barry is shown a red card for a late challenge on Willian during Chelsea's 1-0 victory against Everton . 6 - MARIO BALOTELLI . AC Milan to Liverpool . It just hasn’t worked, has it? Balotelli’s difficulties at Anfield have actually shone quite the light on how well Roberto Mancini did in charge of the tempestuous striker at Manchester City. The £16m fee sounded a snip at the time, but Rodgers hasn’t been able to get anywhere near what’s required. The Italian is a completely different player to that fearsome forward of Euro 2012. Move him on. Mario Balotelli has struggled for a first-team place after several poor performances for Liverpool . The Italian striker has scored just four goals for Liverpool since his summer move from AC Milan . 5 - MAURO ZARATE . Velez Sarsfield to West Ham United . The prerequisite to any signing is that they’re capable of buying into whatever ethos that club’s manager has. In this case Sam Allardyce makes his players do a bit of running. Zarate doesn’t do running. He clearly has the ability required to be a success in the division - the Argentine was hugely impressive on his debut away at Crystal Palace - but he doesn’t appear willing to work on his fitness. Just ask QPR, who contemplated sending the forward back to the Hammers after landing him on loan in January. Mauro Zarate has made just 11 Premier League appearances for West Ham and QPR . The Argentine forward was hugely impressive on his debut away at Crystal Palace last August . 4 - RADAMEL FALCAO . Monaco to Manchester United (loan) Remember the fuss that was made when Manchester United swooped on deadline day for the Colombian? Seems a long time ago now. It is absurd to think that Van Gaal could even contemplate making the loan move permanent at the end of the season. Just four goals for a man heralded as one of the best finishers in the business has meant Falcao even got a run out for the Under 21 side a few weeks ago. Does not justify the astronomical wages United pay him. Colombian striker Radamel Falcao has endured a terrible season at Old Trafford, scoring just four goals . Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal (right) looks likely to end Falcao's loan spell at the end of the season . 3 - RIO FERDINAND . Free agent to QPR . Another one for the QPR conveyor belt of wasted money. The club’s transfer policy of bringing in ‘experienced’ professionals on high wages was perhaps unfortunate when they suffered relegation from the Premier League two years ago, but this time it was downright foolish and has left them in serious financial trouble. Even Clint Hill - he of crouching on his haunches fame - is preferred to Ferdinand, who has looked anything but match fit and failed the basics. That tells the whole story, and this looks to being a desperately sad way to end a stellar career. Rio Ferdinand hasn't been able to find his feet during a relegation battle with Queens Park Rangers . 2 - ELIAQUIM MANGALA . Porto to Manchester City . Abysmal. To think Manchester City paid £32m for the central defender beggars belief, and heads will undoubtedly role from a recruitment point of view. Hasn’t been helped by the continuing slide of Vincent Kompany, but Mangala is supposed to be a big imposing brute of an enforcer and there can be no excuses for a rank average first season in the Premier League. Eliaquim Mangala (left) cost Manuel Pellegrini's side £32million, but has failed to live up to the price . Rolando Aarons beats Mangala for pace before scoring for Newcastle against City in October, 2014 . 1 - EMMANUEL RIVIERE . Monaco to Newcastle . He didn’t come cheap, costing more than £5m from Monaco, and for what? Poor misses, the inability to shake off markers and a source of constant frustration for supporters who want their team to attack with gumption. Seventeen Premier League games without a goal means Riviere has the dubious honour of becoming Sportsmail’s worst signing of the 2014-15 season. A special mention must go to Siem De Jong as well, who can’t fulfill his duties as a professional footballer by virtue of never-ending injuries. But Riviere pips the Dutchman for some downright disgusting displays. Emmanuel Riviere (centre) has been a source of frustration at St James' Park this season . Riviere's only two Newcastle goals came during the 3-2 Capital One Cup victory against Crystal Palace . +Nike appears to have missed the mark with its new women's sportswear collection which many female athletes claim is incredibly insulting because of the overtly girly designs. The iconic sportswear company teamed up with Japanese fashion label Sacai for the eight-piece NikeLab x Sacai capsule collection, which the brand debuted last month, but many women were left outraged by the impractical pieces, a majority of which retail for $200 or more. 'Nike called it a “bold expression of femininity". In reality, it’s comical and insulting to female athletes everywhere,' writer Megan Wiegand said in a piece for Slate. Scroll down for video . Female athletics: Nike's collaboration with Japanese fashion label Sacai resulted in an eight-piece collection featuring billowy tops and pleated skirts . Not right: Critics of the 'feminine' sportswear line took to social media to air their grievances with the brand's impractical designs . Peppy look: This model was snapped running in a sweatsuit from the collection, which features a peplum back . She later added: 'The Sacai collection is undoubtedly a vanity project for Nike, but its premise - that female athletes prize style and appearance over functionality and performance - is completely tone-deaf.' Others have taken to social media to air their grievances with pieces featuring excessive amounts of pleated, billowy fabric that is sure to get in any athletes way - no matter what the activity. 'Seriously, that Nike women's line is HIDEOUS. Women's athletic wear needs improving, but this is NOT an improvement. Capes? Dresses? WTF! (sic)' one commenter wrote on Twitter. New wings: The billowy fabric on these pieces from the line can be seen flowing in the as the model runs forward . Not a fan: This commenter tweeted that the entire collection was 'horrifying' Party out back: This jacket looks normal in the front but features plenty of pleated fabric from behind . Bizarre pairing: This royal blue sweatshirt and skirt combination features matching transparent pleats and a hint of hunter green . Another woman tweeted: 'Ew. Yeah, that new Nike women's fashion line is a miss.' Someone else joked that the skirt-filled collection: 'Looks very practical.' However, Sacai’s founder Chitose Abe explained on Nike's website that wearability was a significant consideration in her designs. Surprise detail:  This sweatshirt has a cut-out in the back that showcases a transparent camisole-like top . Impractical design: This Twitter user joked that the NikeLab x Sacai collection is perfect as long as you are not trying to work out . High-tech: The back of this sweatshirt is cut open to reveal a transparent camisole with lace edges, and according to the Nike website, the special hem was a new fabric innovation that was specifically developed . Not a fan: This commenter simply said 'ew' after seeing the brand's latest designs . Proud artist: Sacai’s founder Chitose Abe posed next a model who was wearing her designs for Nike . 'The idea of functionality is important to me, as is fabric innovation, which has always been at the heart of Sacai,' Ms Abe said. 'For me, Nike is an original icon with performance and innovation at its core. It has been inspiring to work together.' Indeed, Ms Abe claims that the flamboyant-looking fabrics and over-the-top embellishments on each of the designs has been added in order to enhance the performance of the athlete. The back of one sweatshirt, for example, is cut open to reveal a transparent camisole with lace edges, and according to the Nike website, the special hem was a new fabric innovation that was specifically developed by Abe and the brand. 'The garments come to life as the wearer walks and moves, expressing both beauty and strength. We feel it’s a perfect marriage between sport and style,' Kurt Parker, VP/Creative Director, Nike Sportswear, said on the site. Pricey sweats: Many of the pieces in the collection, including this sweatshirt and skirt, retail for $200 or more . Pants free: This critic joked that the collection's many pleated skirts looked 'very practical' Interesting accessories: The line's pleated skirts were paired with fishnet knee high socks that are not for sale . Odd couple: This simple black Nike T-shirt was pairs with this tearaway skirt design . And not everyone is disgusted by the collection. When Sacai shared photos of the designs on its Instagram page earlier this week, many of the label's fashion fans had positive comments about the collaboration. 'Sporty clothes I can get into,' one person wrote. Another commenter wrote: 'Love the skirt!' Not quite right: This looks like a normal sweatshirt dress until you see the extra white fabric and lace detailing that extends from behind . Added details: A grey sweatshirt from the line features a feminine touch of white peplum in the back . New shoes: The NikeLab x Sacai partnership also debuted a new interpretation of the iconic Air Max, which turned the classic kicks into a slip-on sneakers . +Louis van Gaal has revealed that the Manchester United team chef has been helping his side prepare for their Premier League clash against Liverpool on Sunday. Van Gaal will be taking charge of a team at Anfield for the first time in his career and it will also be a new experience for several of his players, like Daley Blind, Ander Herrera and Radamel Falcao. They have not been short of advice, however, with Ryan Giggs and the team chef preparing them for what to expect. Louis van Gaal has revealed that the Man United team chef has been helping his side prepare for their Premier League clash against Liverpool . The occasion is set to be even more highly-charged than usual with both teams competing for a Champions League place and just two points separating them in the Premier League table. Van Gaal said: ‘I have always my assistant manager to say that to me. And he said that also to the players in his presentation of the analysis of Liverpool but I also have the cook, Mike, and he is saying that every day to the players and to me. ‘I like that because that shows that it is a very particular match especially for the fans of Manchester United and it helps also to focus and concentrate on this match. United boss Van Gaal will be taking charge of a team at Anfield for the first time in his career . Wayne Rooney (centre) and his United team-mates train ahead of the trip to Liverpool . ‘Liverpool is not the ground that Manchester United has won a lot (at) so when we show it again in Liverpool then we are a little bit further, I believe.’ United have had Chris Smalling and Angel di Maria sent off in big games against Manchester City and Arsenal this season, and Van Gaal warned that they have to keep their cool at Anfield. He hinted that he has deliberately been winding them up in training to test their temperaments. ‘I am the referee in the games that we have had on the training pitch and I have whistled in the way that they have to control their aggression, for example,’ he added. ‘To prepare them already the atmosphere. And I have mentioned that to them after lunch. Control of emotion is also a talent.’ Antonio Valencia and Radamel Falcao battle for the ball during training on Friday . +David Luiz might insist Jose Mourinho isn't all that, but his club think differently after offering Paris Saint-Germain's stars a staggering £180,000 per man if they beat Chelsea. The French champions travel to Stamford Bridge needing to score in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against the Blues. Edinson Cavani equalised at the Parc de Princes after Branislav Ivanovic had given Chelsea a lead three weeks ago. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the PSG players will pocket £180,000 each should they beat Chelsea . Ex-Chelsea defender David Luiz (right) will be part of the squad to travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday . Luiz has said that Blues boss Jose Mourinho isn't special in the run-up to the Champions League second leg . And, if they manage to progress on leaving the capital, PSG will pay out 250,000 euros to each of the squad. The Qatari owners are using their mammoth wealth to offer incentives to a team that has reached the quarter-finals in both of the last two seasons. With that in mind, Laurent Blanc's side will scoop 1m euros (£716,000) each should they win Europe's premier competition. That though hinges on whether they are capable of negotiating a tricky away leg. West London was the scene in April last year when PSG blew a two-goal first leg lead and crashed out of the competition – Demba Ba scoring a late winner to put Chelsea through on away goals. PSG's players have already pocketed 100,000 euros (£71,600) a man for getting out of their group, with that to rise to 450,000 euros for a semi-final berth and 700,000 if they compete in the Berlin final on June 6. Demba Ba netted a 87th-minute winner for Chelsea in this Champions League fixture last season . +Dinner with Arnold Palmer on Thursday night clearly agreed with World No 1 Rory McIlroy. All those indifferent rounds in Florida so far this year were swept aside on Friday as the Northern Irishman notched up five birdies in a row at one point on his way to a superb 66 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It was the first time in eight rounds in the Sunshine State this year that he had broken 70 and what a way to do it. From out of the pack, the 25 year old is now bang in contention for a morale-boosting victory in his last scheduled start before his attempt to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters next month. Rory McIlroy hit a second round of 66 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Friday . It was the first time in eight rounds in Florida this year that the World No 1 had broken 70 . McIlroy looks to have played himself back into form ahead of the Masters next month . ‘I’m just feeling more comfortable day by day, and it was great to see a few putts finally drop,’ said McIlroy, whose performance drew a glowing tribute from his good friend and playing partner, Rickie Fowler. ‘After what I saw today and the fact he’s clearly the best player in the world, he has to be the favourite for the Masters,’ said the American, who was pipped at the post to both The Open and USPGA Championships last year by McIlroy. ‘That course suits his game. He didn’t start out hot today but when he gets it going as he did on the back nine, it’s hard to hang with him. If he continues to play like that, he will be ready for Augusta, for sure.’ Fowler was right when he said nothing appeared to be happening for McIlroy over his front nine, the inward half on the course. In fact, he’d played much better on the first day, when he opened with a 70. But after finally getting a putt to drop at the second, and enjoying a small stroke of fortune at the third, where his pulled drive carried a water hazard by just a couple of yards, it all started to click. A good wedge to the third green set up a birdie and then came his third in a row at the par five fourth. At the fifth his wedge shot finished 18 inches away and then came another birdie at the long sixth, where he got up and down from a greenside bunker. ‘It’s a lovely feeling when you get on runs like that and the game suddenly feels very easy,’ he said. Fowler's good friend and playing partner Rickie Fowler admitted McIlroy is now favourite for the Masters . McIlroy had five birdies in a row in Dubai earlier this year but this was the first time he had enjoyed such a run in an event on the PGA Tour, and it electrified the huge galleries at Bay Hill. By this stage he had gone from being nowhere near the leader board into a tie for second place. Not even a bogey at his penultimate hole could dampen his enthusiasm. ‘It was obviously not the finish I was looking for but I’m still exactly where I wanted to be, with a real chance to win the tournament going into the weekend,’ he said. McIlroy will actually begin the third round on Saturday five shots behind American pacesetter, Morgan Hoffmann, who has played brilliantly so far to post blistering rounds of 66 and 65. But can the little-known Hoffmann keep it going? The New Jersey native is the same age as 25 year old McIlroy but there the comparison ends. A solitary top three finish in 67 starts on the PGA Tour suggests he could struggle over the weekend. Three shots off the pace are world No 3 Henrik Stenson and defending champion Matt Every, while McIlroy is not the only big name from the UK in position to have a crack at winning this prestigious title. Matt Every is also in the mix, three shots behind surprise leader Morgan Hoffman . Ian Poulter is in contention at halfway after rounds of 67 and 70 put him one shot behind McIlroy . For the third week out of four in Florida, Ian Poulter is in contention at halfway, standing just a shot behind McIlroy following rounds of 67 and 70. He also gave a positive bulletin on his three year old son, Joshua, who is making a good recovery from pneumonia. ‘It was great to see him looking a lot perkier than when I left for the course this morning,’ he said. Padraig Harrington, who began this Florida swing with an amazing comeback victory at the Honda Classic, is also in the top 20 at halfway after rounds of 68 and 71. But there’s no getting away from the man who will attract nearly all the attention this weekend. As for that dinner with Palmer, McIlroy was still buzzing. ‘It was fantastic, it really was,’ he said. ‘We spoke for two and a half hours and he was telling stories of the old days and some of the things he’ s done from a commercial standpoint. He was very close to his father just like I am and he shared a few stories about that. It was just great to be in his presence and enjoy his company.’ Pat Perez hits his tee-shot on the picturesque 11th hole at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge . +Emre Can was bemused. Brendan Rodgers had been at his most effusive, purring about the German's ability, but his words were unwittingly lost in translation. Eager to promote the giant strides Can had made, Rodgers delved into his lexicon and likened Liverpool's new No 23 to a Rolls-Royce, following a series of effortlessly smooth performances. When his manager's words were relayed, however, there was nothing more than a quizzical look. 'We wouldn't use that expression in Germany, we wouldn't say something like that,' says Can, taking up the story. 'I know a Rolls Royce is a big, luxurious car so I associated it with a positive comment, but I didn't know exactly what it meant. I hadn't heard the comparison before. Liverpool's Emre Can (left) was among an influx of new players brought to Anfield last summer . Can, pictured heading the ball during Liverpool's training session on Friday, has found form in 2015 . Can (right) runs with Steven Gerrard during training ahead of Liverpool's match with Manchester United . 'Then again, I had a feeling it couldn't be so bad if the manager was saying something like that.' This is the first time Can has faced the English media since his £10million arrival from Bayer Leverkusen and he smiles as he relays the anecdote. Initially, Can is withdrawn and lacking confidence but eventually, with the help of an interpreter, he emerges from his shell. In some ways, this interview is a microcosm of how his Liverpool career has been to date. As part of the huge influx of new players last summer, Can failed to make an instant impact and in the early months of the campaign, he did nothing but float on the periphery. Since Christmas, though, the landscape has changed dramatically, both for him and Liverpool. Playing on the right side of a three-man defence, Can has not looked back since his introduction as a half-time substitute at Burnley on Boxing Day. 'I was injured at the beginning of the season and then played against Chelsea (in November),' says Can, referring to a 2-1 defeat in which he scored Liverpool's goal. 'Then I was out of the team until December when I came on (at half-time) against Burnley. Can has faced the English media for the first time since his £10million move from Bayer Leverkusen . Can pictured tackling Wayne Routledge during Liverpool's 1-0 win over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium . Can has drawn midfield comparisons with Germans Michael Ballack (left) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (right) 'My attitude was not to moan or make a big fuss about it but to keep calm and work hard so that when I got the chance against Burnley I could break into the side. I feel very good feel I have the trust of the manager. I believe I'm doing a good job and that is why I am playing. I'm happy.' Powerful and imposing, Can has a defender's physique but his qualities as a midfielder have drawn comparisons with Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Given how he has been performing, it seems remarkable Bayern Munich allowed him to move on. Bayern had an option to buy back their Academy graduate from Leverkusen but were content to let Liverpool have him. There are certainly no arguments about that decision at Anfield. Rodgers, for one, believes Can has the ability to 'play for any side in the world'. Can, clearly, is going to be an important figure and an idea of how much the 21-year-old has backed himself to succeed is by the fact he asked to take over the 23 jersey that had been vacant since Jamie Carragher departed in May 2013. Can has looked a different player since Christmas as he continues to thrive under Liverpool boss Rodgers . Can will be among those hoping Liverpool can get revenge over Manchester United on Sunday at Anfield . 'I did want the 23 because there was a high importance here, and I knew about it before I came,' he says. 'It is a big honour to wear it after Carragher retired but I don't feel any extra pressure because of it.' So on to Sunday and the battle with Manchester United. Had things worked out differently, he could have been lining up against Liverpool, as the David Moyes regime scouted Can twice last season but, instead, he will be aiming to derail their top four ambitions. 'I am well aware United will be a tough game and I know about the rivalry,' says Can. 'We have a very young team and need to keep improving. But if we do, there will be good years. I am playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. I have no regrets about coming here.' +This time last season there was sudden hope for Manchester United, too. From the mist of poor football and modest results emerged a 3-0 home win against Olympiacos in the Champions League. Glimpses of what we presumed was the real United were seen once more. A win at West Ham followed in the Barclays Premier League but then the opposition hardened. Manchester City arrived at Old Trafford and took another huge chunk out of United’s credibility. It was a crushing loss for United from which they, and manager David Moyes, never recovered. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal pictured during his press conference on Friday . Van Gaal recognises the rivalry between United and Liverpool is among the most fierce in football . Once again this weekend, United will attempt to build on something they hope will prove to be of substance. Last weekend’s surprising 3-0 dismantling of Tottenham Hotspur has lifted spirits for Louis van Gaal and his team, but once again opposition of real calibre threatens to cast a shadow across United’s new dawn. And this time it is the greatest foe of all. Liverpool. The very mention of their name is enough to harden a Mancunian stare. ‘They will always be our greatest rivals,’ Sir Alex Ferguson used to say. At Anfield on Sunday, Liverpool and United begin in earnest a fight not for a League title or European eminence but for respectability. A scuffle for a top-four place is one motivated certainly by money but more by old-fashioned pride. For United, to finish outside the Champions League places once again is unthinkable. If they really are to find the form they will need to see them through an uncomfortable run of fixtures between now and the season’s end, one feels it really needs to start here. Wayne Rooney (centre) and his United team-mates train ahead of the trip to Liverpool on Sunday . Van Gaal revealed that the United team chef has been helping his side prepare for their Premier League clash . Antonio Valencia and Radamel Falcao battle for the ball during training on Friday ahead of Liverpool . ‘The win (against Tottenham) means nothing if you lose the next one and Liverpool is not a ground where this club has won a lot,’ said Van Gaal. ‘If we show that form again in Liverpool then we are little bit further along. For our fans, it’s the enemy and it’s very important. ‘But the last time they lost in the league was against us. It was a long time ago so this will be very difficult.’ Liverpool have issues of their own to deal with between now and mid-May. Raheem Sterling’s contract stand-off will worry them while Steven Gerrard’s farewell from the club this summer needs to be handled properly. On the field, though, Liverpool have the better form. Monday night’s win at Swansea was a little fortuitous but Liverpool are now unbeaten in 21 domestic matches and if that’s not daunting enough, they play exactly the kind of football the modern United hate. ‘I have played their system,’ said Van Gaal. ‘It’s not new.’ Juan Mata scores against Liverpool during their 3-0 pummelling at Old Trafford in December . The last time Liverpool lost in the Premier League was at Old Trafford against United back in December . Mata (from left to right), Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney celebrate during their 3-0 win over Liverpool . Van Persie celebrates scoring against Liverpool and United will hope they can do the same at Anfield . Nevertheless, while his own side currently tends to play football by numbers — methodical and at times predictable — Liverpool are more instinctive. Ironically, that was evident the last time Liverpool lost in the league, at Old Trafford back in December. The score was 3-0 to United that day but it was totally unrepresentative of the match pattern as their opponents began to use a three-man defensive line which manager Brendan Rodgers has stuck with ever since. ‘I was impressed that day,’ said Rodgers. ‘The result wasn’t great and we had criticism because we lost but I was pleased with how dynamic the team looked. ‘We looked fast again. That gave me the real confidence. I knew I needed to be radical because we were so far off from where we wanted to be. It’s about putting in place something the players can fully believe in.’ United manager Van Gaal will have to be on guard against an in-form Liverpool unbeaten in 2015 in the league . Liverpool play quickly and love to go on the counter-attack, which Van Gaal will have to prepare his team for . Liverpool, as we know, play quickly, love to counter and have the kind of midfield runners who trouble earnest but limited defensive midfield players such as United’s Daley Blind. If United are to profit on Sunday they must hope to take their opportunities and defend resolutely. It can be done, of course. For all Liverpool’s attacking prowess, they can have days when they hit brick walls, days when the timing is out. Rodgers still has not fathomed a Plan B and it’s worth noting that for all the plaudits which followed Liverpool’s recent win at home to Manchester City, both goals came from distance. United do generally defend well and their goalkeeper remains on form. The save David de Gea produced from Santi Cazorla towards the end of United’s FA Cup defeat at home to Arsenal 11 days ago was testimony to that. United goalkeeper David de Gea has been in fine form for Van Gaal in the Premier League this year . Liverpool must find their way past an in-form De Gea if they are to get revenge for their 3-0 defeat . A year ago, good goalkeeping was not enough to help United mask their deficiencies. As it turned out, their victory over Olympiacos was little more than a shaft of light during a season that resembled a nine-month eclipse. This time we still don’t know which way they are heading. On Friday night, Van Gaal suggested Sunday will not be definitive. ‘The fight will last until the end,’ he said. If it does, given their fixture list, the United manager will have done very well indeed. +Burnley striker Danny Ings will step out at Anfield on Wednesday looking to boost his side's Premier League survival hopes at the expense of the team he has been strongly linked with a move to at the end of the season. Brendan Rodgers has refused to be drawn on speculation suggesting that Ings, who is out of contract at the end of the campaign, will move to Liverpool. But if he does sign a contract at Anfield, will he be good enough to make the grade? Sportsmail's reporters give their verdict. Danny Ings (centre) has been Burnley's star player as they try to stay in the Premier League this season . DOMINIC KING . Yes, he is good enough to make the step up. It is no mean effort scoring nine goals in the Barclays Premier League for a side that has struggled to get results and Ings has never been found wanting at the biggest stadiums. He was outstanding in Burnley’s 3-1 loss at Old Trafford last month, his energy and intensity setting him apart that night. It was not a one-off because he has attracted positive reviews all season. Ings scored for Burnley against Manchester United in his side's 3-1 defeat and impressed with his display . Ings could replace Fabio Borini at Liverpool, with the Italian expected to depart at the end of the season . Ings has scored nine times for Burnley this season and will take on Liverpool on Wednesday . Read Dominic King's piece on why Danny Ings would flourish under the guidance of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers . Liverpool will overhaul their striking department in the summer, with potentially three players moving – Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini and Mario Balotelli – and a move for Ings would make sense from both a playing style and an economic point of view. He will have to raise his game again should he eventually arrive at Anfield, but that won’t be a problem. Ings has been doing that for the last two years and he will welcome the challenge. JOE BERNSTEIN . Danny Ings is one of those players who doesn't have one quality that makes him stand out, but he doesn't have an obvious weakness either. He is an intelligent player and at 22 has the potential to get better. He is a good finisher but his tally of nine this season is unremarkable and five fewer than Charlie Austin at QPR for example. Ings watches on as his shot hits the back of the net for Burnley against Queens Park Rangers . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has refused to comment on the speculation linking the club with Ings . Ings can show he is capable of playing on the big stage when he plays for Burnley against Liverpool . Ings could make the step up to a big club but there is no guarantee. You suspect Liverpool's real interest in him is due to John W Henry's moneyball approach to the game. Why wouldn't you take a promising 22-year-old on a Bosman given you could sell him in two years for a handsome profit, even if he doesn't become a first-team regular? IAN LADYMAN . There was a moment when it became clear to me that Ings was good enough to make the grade at the very highest level and it came early in last month’s defeat at Manchester United. The way he showed Chris Smalling to the front post before checking back and heading in Burnley’s goal – by now unmarked – at the far post told you everything you need to know about his natural instincts as a goal scorer. It was high-class finishing. Ings' form has also led to talk that England manager Roy Hodgson (left) will include him in his next squad . Ings beats defender Martin Kelly and goalkeeper Julian Speroni to score against Crystal Palace . Earlier in the season – as he started the campaign slowly – I wasn’t sure but he has found his feet now and has emerged as a safe bet for the next England squad. On that note, I wrote a story last season saying that Ings was being watched by Roy Hodgson’s staff and was likely to figure in the national set-up during the Euro qualifiers. I remember one of my colleagues laughing. He isn’t laughing any more…. CHRIS WHEELER . There’s no doubting the drive and determination of a striker who was playing for Dorchester Town in the Conference South a little over four years ago, and Ings will be desperate to put on a performance at Anfield. Is he good enough to make the step up to Liverpool? Compared with the players Brendan Rodgers currently has at his disposal, you would have to say yes. Ings has scored nine goals in the Premier League for a Burnley side that has spent the entire season battling the odds – the same amount as Manchester City’s new £25m signing Wilfried Bony and Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud, and more than Liverpool forwards Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini and Lazar Markovic put together. Ings has scored the same number of Premier League goals as Wilfried Bony and Olivier Giroud . Ings is only 22 and fits the profile of player that Liverpool often pursue in the transfer market . A player who scored 26 goals in the Championship last season has also hit four in seven appearances for England Under 21s to stake his claim for a senior international call-up, so there is little doubt that he is capable of rising to the challenge. Ings is not excessively tall or powerful, but he is quick and possesses great movement and anticipation in and around the penalty box. Most importantly of all, he has a goalscorer’s instinct. And at the age of 22, he is young enough to take his game to another level under a coach like Rodgers. +Sat inside a crammed central London sandwich shop, Pele flashes those world-renowned pearly whites. After the week Lionel Messi’s had, football’s greatest ever knew exactly what was coming. ‘I never saw myself play, but I think I was the better player,’ the 74-year-old tells Sportsmail, complete with beaming grin. As Thierry Henry said of Messi on Wednesday, you don’t get to be this good without having a bit of an ego. A beaming Pele prepares to take a bite from a footlong as former Liverpool striker Fowler looks on . The Brazilian great was in good form ahead of Sunday's mouthwatering match on Merseyside . Three months after leaving a Brazilian hospital following a urinary tract infection and now with a clean bill of health, Pele has plenty to tell. Much more than playfully scoring points against the magician who mesmerised Manchester City on Wednesday night. He explains Steven Gerrard’s decision to jet off to America this summer as one taken to wind down, relax and retire, while he considers Liverpool’s clash against Manchester United to be matched only by El Clasico in terms of global appeal. Contrary to hysteria, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with English football, he continues, despite a fortnight which may end up serving as a nadir for the game in this country. And he cites the reason for a lack of success internationally as being largely down to our best players finding themselves ‘too comfortable’ in the British bubble and unwilling to move abroad at their peak. But it is when the names Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned that Pele truly comes alive. They are the pair who rival him - he of three World Cup-winners’ medals - Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff as the all-time genuine superstars. The eyes widen, hands coming up to articulate his point. There is a sense that these two are the only men to really excite a man who has seen it all. Fowler, Pele and Steve McManaman show off a Liverpool top with the famous Brazilian's No 10 on the back . Fowler and Pele pose with the shirt behind the counter at a Subway outlet in London on Friday afternoon . Cristiano Ronaldo is a man who scores goals, but Pele reckons he falls behind Lionel Messi . Messi gets Pele's vote as the best player of the modern era after his consistent displays of the past decade . Not shy, he is more than happy to settle debates which have raged in pubs and on concourses across Europe for the best part of a decade. ‘The two best at the moment are obviously Ronaldo and Messi,’ he says. ‘Which is the best one? Messi has been the best player of the last 10 years. ‘That level, the player who played at the same level for 10 years. It’s massive. He never plays badly and is a very quiet guy. ‘Ronaldo is that striker who scores goals, but Messi does that and helps with assists.’ So, Messi is top dog; how does the Argentine compare to the original luminary? The grin emerges. ‘I think I was a little better in the air,’ he adds. ‘I used to kick it with both feet.’ Fowler, Pele and McManaman laugh at the counter as the Brazilian adds another shirt to his collection . Pele makes his point as our man speaks to the greatest footballer of all time about a smorgasbord of subjects . There are more serious matters at hand for the Premier League at present. This campaign has been hellish, our elite embarrassed and all dumped out of continental competition by Easter. That matters little to a scorer of 650 league career goals. ‘Oh yes, definitely’ he says when asked if the Premier League remained the best division in the world. ‘It pains me as a Brazilian, but I have to say that. Even after the struggles in Europe this week. Remember, losing is part of the game. But there is no doubt that it’s the top league. ‘I don’t think there’s anything wrong - it’s something you can’t explain. ‘Use this as an example. It isn’t the same, but similar. Brazil have won five World Cups, but the two we played in Brazil we lost. You can’t explain that. ‘I was nine years old for my first World Cup watching. We played Uruguay in the final at the Maracana - I was with my father - and we lost. I said “what happened?” My father cried and he said “Brazil have lost it”. ‘We’ve won five now - I was lucky enough to win three. But now the World Cup in Brazil... we lost! It’s the same with the football in England. They have good teams, good players. Pele, real name Edison Arantes do Nascimento, was just 17 when he helped Brazil to their first World Cup . Pele was captain of the great 1970 Brazilian side which won their third Jules Rimet trophy in five World Cups . ‘One thing I would say about English players is that they don’t have experience of playing abroad. You don’t see them playing in South America or Japan. The English players should be playing outside, but it’s too comfortable to play here. ‘To play in South America is more complicated - they need that experience. That’s the only thing you can say about England.’ Two Englishmen who will ply their trade elsewhere come next season are Gerrard and Frank Lampard, both set for the MLS with LA Galaxy and New York City FC respectively. It is 40 years since Pele was in America’s cultural hub with a Cosmos team including Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto. Only now is the perception of the country’s major division changing, although the Brazilian says stars still head stateside to unwind. ‘I like Gerrard very much. If I could pick a team, he would be in it. I don’t know how he feels. He’s chosen to go to the MLS, the same as Kaka. ‘If you want to rest and retire, the competition there isn’t as big as it is over here. Maybe he wants to relax a little bit. ‘During my time we had Beckenbauer, George Best, Zico and Carlos Alberto. But people don’t realise that the United States has a good level of football.’ Steven Gerrard guided Liverpool to their fifth European Cup on that unforgettable night in Istanbul . Pele, Franz Beckenbauer (second right), Giorgio Chinaglia (right), his wife and Mrs Beckenbauer (left) Pele places Gerrard on a pedestal with the great Beckenbauer, both making his World XI. Asked where the Liverpool skipper would rank among the best midfielders of all time, he compares him with Germany’s biggest ever star. ‘Maybe people don’t remember, but Beckenbauer had the same style,’ he adds. ‘I like Gerrard, he is a similar intelligent player. There is no doubt they’d both make my team.’ As for the rumble on Merseyside this weekend – it will be the sixth time Pele has visited Anfield – there is a simple message: the North West has the exact same appeal of El Clasico. ‘They are very, very similar games. It’s one of the best in today’s game. I always look forward to going to Anfield. I love to see good football. ‘Barcelona have excellent players. It’s not only Lionel Messi, but Xavi and Neymar. Maybe they have more individuals, but as a team Liverpool are the same.’ Subway Famous Fan Pele visted a London Subway store to discuss football, nutrition and training in the run up to the Liverpool v Manchester United football match on Sunday March 22 . +Marouane Fellaini has endured a lot since swapping Merseyside for Manchester. Derided as a symbol of the David Moyes regime, ridiculed by his own fans and, lately, held responsible for Louis van Gaal’s occasional lurch towards route-one football, the big Belgian has had more weighing on his shoulders than that trademark mass of curly hair. So the standing ovation he received from the majority of Manchester United supporters when he came off against Tottenham at Old Trafford last weekend will have been music to his ears. Marouane Fellaini fires Manchester United into the lead against Spurs, a reminder of his footballing ability . The Belgian trains ahead of United's crucial clash with Liverpool on Sunday, where he is sure to be involved . Fellaini has grown from a bit-part player last season to become a vital member of Louis van Gaal's squad . A well-taken opening goal with his left foot served as a reminder that Fellaini’s attributes are not just sandwiched between his chest and his head. There are those who will never accept that he is a true United player, who believe his very presence encourages United to play other than the United way. But as he prepares to make his first appearance on Merseyside since moving from Everton when Van Gaal’s side take on Liverpool on Sunday, the 6ft 4in midfielder has every right to feel that things are looking up. The £27.5million white elephant of Old Trafford has been reinvented as United’s not-so-secret weapon. The advanced role that Van Gaal has given to Fellaini led Sam Allardyce, of all people, to label his opponents ‘Long Ball United’ after the 27-year-old’s introduction off the bench helped salvage a 1-1 draw at West Ham last month. Fellaini starred in the 3-0 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford in December, and offers Van Gaal an alternative . Wayne Rooney celebrates with the big Belgian, who has scored five times for United this season . Fellaini was tainted, somewhat unfairly, by being the only signing made during David Moyes' summer in charge . Van Gaal doesn’t care. ‘Fellaini is a player that, when we cannot beat the pressure with quality, we can always beat with pressure — that is a quality,’ says the Dutchman. The transition from defensive midfielder, who first impressed Moyes playing for Standard Liege against Liverpool in the Champions League in 2008, to target man worked particularly well for Everton. But, unlike Van Gaal, Moyes did not feel comfortable deploying Fellaini in a similar role at Old Trafford, having drawn enough criticism merely for signing him when Cesc Fabregas was his priority in the summer of 2013. Disastrously, Fellaini ended up as United’s only signing and Moyes knew that he risked being accused of turning the Premier League champions into a poor imitation of Everton. The player was said to be ecstatic at signing for United, if a little overawed at the scale of the club. He struck up an immediate bond with fellow Belgian Adnan Januzaj and, later, Juan Mata, when the Spaniard joined the following January. By then it had all started to go wrong, a combination of injuries and sub-standard performances in a more defensive position confirming the fears of many United supporters. Last April, the now-defunct fanzine Red Issue mocked up an advert of his afro hair as a toilet brush with the slogan: ‘Flush a fortune down the pan’. Since the arrival of Van Gaal, the midfielder has been used as an outlet and a way of breaking teams down . The Belgian was given a rousing applause when he was replaced after a good performance against Tottenham . Fellaini was said to be devastated by it all, and even more so when Moyes was sacked later that month. He felt isolated and has since claimed that he was made a scapegoat for the club’s decline. One thing that never waned, however, was Fellaini’s determination to salvage his dream. When he returned from the World Cup last summer he held talks with Van Gaal, who reassured him that he would not be sold despite talk of a move to Napoli. The message had not reached United fans, some of whom sarcastically applauded Fellaini’s every touch in Van Gaal’s first home game against Valencia right up until the moment he scored a last-minute winner. Even then, it was assumed that his first goal for United would be his last. Five more have followed this season. Fellaini came off the bench at half-time to turn the game at West Brom in October and again at QPR in January. In between, he started in six successive wins before Christmas, ending with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Liverpool when he destroyed his old Merseyside rivals. While Moyes seemed loathe to play Fellaini off the striker, Van Gaal has returned him to his best role . Fellaini may suit slightly more 'long ball' football, but has shown he can be mighty effective for United . Now Fellaini is set to face them again on Sunday having won over at least some of his critics, much to the admiration of Phil Neville, his former Everton team-mate and United’s first-team coach under Moyes. ‘Last season Fellaini was getting ridiculed and the way he has come back from that has been fantastic,’ said Neville. ‘He’s won people over by being brave about the stick he was getting and never going missing in games, even when things were not working for him. ‘You also have to give Louis van Gaal credit. He has not been afraid of playing to Fellaini’s strengths despite being criticised for doing so. I think he has come up trumps.’ +Angel di Maria says Manchester United are '100 per cent confident' that they will cement a top four place come the end of the season. United travel to arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday afternoon - in a match that could prove decisive in the race for a Champions League spot. Di Maria is available once more for the Red Devils after serving a one-game suspension following his red card in their 2-1 FA Cup loss at home to Arsenal on March 9. Angel di Maria says Manchester United are '100 per cent confident' that they will cement a top four place . The 27-year-old missed United's 3-0 win over Tottenham as a result on March 15 - a fixture that started a run of tricky results for Louis van Gaal's men. United's match with Liverpool is swiftly followed by fixtures against Manchester City and Chelsea in April, as well as another encounter with Arsenal in the penultimate game of the season in May. And despite the daunting fixture list, Di Maria insists he and his team-mates will ensure that an indifferent campaign will end on a high. Despite a bright start, Di Maria has struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford since his move from Madrid . Wayne Rooney and his United team-mates train ahead of the Premier League clash against Liverpool . 'We are all aware that a number of big games are just around the corner, and the season will be decided by these fixtures,' Angel explained in a recent interview in United Review, Old Trafford's matchday programme. 'We know all about these upcoming games and we have been thinking and talking about them for quite some time now. We've known that everything would be at stake over this final period of the season. 'Everyone at the club is 100 per cent confident, we know we want to get back into the Champions League and that we want to be fighting it out. We'll battle hard right to the end of the season. From what I know of the club, United always fight right to the end and that's what we're going to do.' Rooney celebrates his goal during United's impressive 3-0 win against Tottenham last weekend . +Prime Minister Tony Abbott has thanked Australian defence personnel and others who served in Afghanistan. In an address at the welcome home ceremony in Canberra, the prime minister said Afghanistan was a better place for the service of about 35,000 Australians. He said the war in Afghanistan had ended not with victory or with defeat, but with hope for a better Afghanistan and a safer world. Scroll down for video . Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, called Operation Slipper, spanned 13 years, from October 2001 to the end of 2014 . A Royal Australian Navy sailor and his partner listen to The Last Post . An Australian Navy soldier pays respect for fallen comrades during a parade to mark the end of Operation Slipper . Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, called Operation Slipper, spanned 13 years, from October 2001 to the end of 2014. During Australia's longest war, 41 personnel died, 262 were seriously wounded and hundreds of others suffered unseen wounds. Mr Abbott said in a past war, Vietnam, those who served were not always properly recognised, but it would not be like that for those who served in Afghanistan. 'We are grateful to have you home, we acknowledge your achievements, and we thank you for your service,' he told the large gathering at the Australian War Memorial. Australian Defence Force personnel who served in Afghanistan as a part of Operation Slipper, salute during The Last Post, as they are officially welcomed home during a parade in Canberra on Saturday . An Australian Soldier stands guard during a military ceremony to mark the end of Operation Slipper . In an address at the welcome home ceremony in Canberra, the prime minister said Afghanistan was a better place for the service of about 35,000 Australians . Australian Defence Force personnel who served in Afghanistan as a part of Operation Slipper are officially welcomed home in a parade in Canberra . Tony Abbott lies a wreath in memoriam of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan . During Australia's longest war, 41 personnel died, 262 were seriously wounded . Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he saluted those who had served in Afghanistan who had brought new honour to the Anzac tradition. More than 2000 soldiers, sailors and airmen plus members of government agencies and veterans marched past the Australian War Memorial. Defence head Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said Australian personnel had given new hope to the people of Afghanistan. 'We can never repay the debt of those who served,' he said. +Vahid Halilhodzic is strong favourite to become Japan's new national team manager and could take charge before friendly matches with Tunisia and Uzbekistan later this month. The Japan Football Association want their new coach installed and up to speed before the World Cup qualifying campaign gets underway in June. Mexican Javier Aguirre was sacked last month amid fears his alleged involvement in a match-fixing case in Spain could hurt the team. Vahid Halilhodzic is set to be appointed as Japan's new national team manager . The 62-year-old Bosnian took charge of Algeria during the 2014 World Cup finals out in Brazil . Japan's Kyodo News quoted JFA President Kuniya Daini as saying he expected the Bosnian to sign his contract by March 12. Japan have friendly matches scheduled against Tunisia on March 27 and Uzbekistan four days later. Halilhodzic, 62, has extensive club management experience, including stints in France with Lille, Rennes and Paris Saint-Germain. Halilhodzic (left), pictured during his time as manager of Paris Saint-Germain, alongside Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and striker Didier Drogba during a 2004 Champions League tie . Halilhodzic celebrates after Algeria's surprise win over Russia at the 2014 World Cup finals . On the international front, he was at the helm during Ivory Coast's unbeaten run through 2010 World Cup qualifying, and coached surprise package Algeria at the 2014 Cup in Brazil. Michael Laudrup had also been linked with the Japan job but his contract with Qatar club Lekhwiya runs until July. +Referee Neil Swarbrick has apologised for wrongly sending off West Brom's Gareth McAuley during his side's 3-0 loss at Manchester City. McAuley was a victim of mistaken identity when he was shown a red card after Craig Dawson fouled Wilfried Bony in the second minute of the Barclays Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium. Swarbrick has now admitted to his error in a statement from Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, the organisation responsible for refereeing appointments. Referee Neil Swarbrick shows a red card to Gareth McAuley (right) during the second minute of West Brom's match at Manchester City. But it was Craig Dawson who committed the original foul on Wilfried Bony . West Brom defender Craig Dawson makes a challenge on Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony . The Ivorian striker tumbles to the ground under Dawson's challenge . BT Sport showed the incident from referee Swarbrick's perspective, with No 25 Dawson the closest to him . Bony continues but Gareth McAuley then comes in with a challenge of his own inside the area . Bony goes to ground again under McAuley's challenge and the West Brom player is sent off . Bony heads to the Etihad Stadium turf after being challenged by McAuley . The West Brom players protest as McAuley is shown the red card by referee Swarbrick . 1 McAuley loses the ball inside his own half, with striker Wilfried Bony now bearing down on goal . 2 Craig Dawson comes across and makes the tackle, sending Bony crashing to the ground . 3 Referee Neil Swarbrick steps in, blowing his whistle to stop play . 4 But Bony has picked himself up quickly and continues to run with the ball into the penalty area, clearly not having heard the whistle . 5 McAuley then comes back to put in another tackle on the City striker . 6 Play finally stops and Swarbrick beckons a player across to him. Dawson does not move, however, putting his hands on his leg . 7 Instead, McAuley walks across to the referee and is then shown the red card . 8 McAuley can be seen saying 'it wasn't me' as players surround the referee. But their protests are to no avail . The statement read: 'In the second minute of Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion, referee Neil Swarbrick made a decision to send off Gareth McAuley for a 'denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity' offence. 'The referee has confirmed the offence was caused by a different player, which should be addressed now as a case of mistaken identity. The referee has apologised for his error.' Swarbrick left the West Brom players stunned and manager Tony Pulis livid after showing McAuley a straight red card when Dawson had committed the original offence. McAuley's sending off left West Brom with 88 minutes to hold out against City with just 10 men . McAuley was seen mouthing the words 'it's not me' to referee Swarbrick but it wasn't enough to change the decision. At half-time, Swarbrick admitted to BT Sport that the first number he saw after the incident was McAuley's No 23, leading to the case of mistaken identity. Speaking on BT Sport at half-time, pundit Steve McManaman said: 'It's just a simple case of mistaken identity. The decision is right, Wilfried Bony is through and he's denied a goalscoring opportunity. It's a red card. The two players mistaken by referee Swarbrick - McAuley (left) and Dawson (right) McAuley walks past his manager Tony Pulis as he leaves the field . 'It's a simple thing for the referee, Neil Swarbrick, he's just sent the wrong man off. He's sent McAuley off, he should have sent Dawson off. One's No 25, the other's No 23. Easy enough.' Owen Hargreaves added: 'Dawson's head is down initially because he think he's getting sent off. He just calls the players over, he doesn't call anybody specific. 'In the end, McAuley comes over rather than Dawson. In that situation, Dawson should be holding his hands up. It's a case of mistaken identity. It's a shame really because it's killed the game.' Because Wes Brown's sending off in Sunderland match at Old Trafford three weeks ago was a case of mistaken identity, both he and John O'Shea got away with bans. When asked whether the challenge warranted a red card, David James said: 'Absolutely, he's the last defender. Bony is through one-on-one with the referee, it's definitely a red card.' The red card was shown just 89 seconds into the match at the Etihad Stadium, leaving West Brom with a mountain to climb against the defending champions. Roger East sent off Sunderland's Wes Brown instead of  John O'Shea after a foul on Radamel Falcao. Baggies players Darren Fletcher, James Morrison and Craig Gardner were seen protesting to Swarbrick as the players left the field for half-time, but to no avail. With 88 minutes to hold out with 10 men, the Baggies lasted 25 until Bony spun inside the box and fired home his first for the club. Fernando doubled their advantage five minutes before the break, smashing home after West Brom failed to clear a corner. And David Silva made absolutely sure 13 minutes from the end, turning home Stevan Jovetic's shot with a faint touch. Brown is given his marching orders during the match at Old Trafford despite the fact it was O'Shea . The former Liverpool player and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher wrote on Kicca: 'Another case of mistaken identity in a sending off in today's game at the Etihad. Referees need help! 'We need technology in the biggest sport in the world!! How long do we have to wait? 'Goal line technology has helped the game but came too late. I would start with mistaken identity for red/yellow cards a monitor for the fourth official or the match assessor upstairs to help one of their colleagues. 'The referee must know from the players reaction he's made a mistake but can't be seen to change his decision that must surely affect the rest of his performance? Last season Andre Marriner wrongly showed Kieran Gibbs a red card when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handled . Gibbs is sent off by referee Marriner during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal . 'We can then see how far we can take technology but we have to start somewhere. West Brom won't have anyone suspended now either!' It is the second such incident in Manchester in the space of three weeks. On February 28, referee Roger East mistakenly sent off Sunderland's Wes Brown rather than John O'Shea after a foul on Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao. And last season, Andre Marriner wrongly showed Kieran Gibbs a red card when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handled on the line in Arsenal's 6-0 defeat at Chelsea. Gibbs appeals to Marriner after receiving a red card during the match at Stamford Bridge . +Bafetimbi Gomis may not score often in the Premier League, but his goals tend to leave a lasting impression. They come late, they decide matches, and they present the opposition with questions to ponder. Gomis, playing his second match since collapsing at White Hart Lane, struck three minutes from time at Villa Park to prick the bubble blown by Tim Sherwood. This was the second time in his short tenure Aston Villa have lost at home to a goal in the closing stages. It keeps Villa within the pull of the relegation zone when it had looked, after consecutive wins and reaching Wembley, an upward trajectory was gathering. For Gomis, it was a third goal of the Premier League campaign. His first came 12 minutes from time to beat Arsenal in November, bringing scrutiny on Arsene Wenger. Bafetimbi Gomis (centre) slides home a late winner to give Swansea City a 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon . Gomis (centre) wheels away in celebration after netting his late goal while the Villa players look crestfallen . Gomis's strike was only his second of the season for the Swans - and his first away from home for the club . The France international (centre) runs straight towards the travelling Swansea fans - where he is mobbed by one . Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Guzan 7; Bacuna 6, Okore 7, Clark 6.5, Hutton 6.5; Delph 7, Cleverley 5 (Sanchez 26' 6); N'Zogbia 6.5 (Westwood 68' 6), Agbonlahor 6.5, Sinclair 6; Benteke 6 (Weimann 75' 5) Subs not used: Given, Gil, Kinsella, Grealish . Manager: Tim Sherwood 6.5 . (Swansea 4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6.5; Naughton 6.5, Fernandez 7, Williams 7, Taylor 7.5; Ki 6.5, Cork 6; Routledge 6.5, Sigurdsson 6.5 (Montero 64'), Shelvey 6.5 (Dyer 85'); Gomis 6.5 . Subs not used: Tremmel, Amat, Oliveira, Rangel, Fulton . Goal: Gomis 87 . Manager: Garry Monk 7 . Man of the Match: Taylor . Referee: Robert Madley 6 . CLICK HERE to view our brilliant Match Zone including the move for Bafetimbi Gomis' winner for Swansea . His second felled Manchester United in the 73rd minute of their February encounter, casting doubt on the Louis Van Gaal philosophy. This strike, while leaving Sherwood perplexed, helped suggest there is life after Wilfried Bony for Swansea. The limelight has switched to Gomis since Bony left for Manchester City with £28million going the other way. At times he has struggled to escape the shadow cast by his predecessor. Grave concerns were raised when he lay motionless against Tottenham three weeks ago, before it emerged he has a vasovagal condition which causes low blood pressure and fainting episodes. On Saturday, he missed three good chances. But he kept going and rounded off a lovely goal with a predatory finish. Wayne Routledge danced into space in the middle of the pitch and released Jefferson Montero with a cultured pass. The rapid winger, on as a substitute, hit top gear to race past Leandro Bacuna and crossed with the outside of his right boot. Despite being tugged back by Ciaran Clark, Gomis connected to plant a firm shot past Brad Guzan. Sherwood, who saw his side lose to Stoke in injury time of his Villa debut, was in terse mood afterwards. Defeat hurts him deeply. Villa boss TIm Sherwood is given a hug for good luck by home mascot Bella the Lion before kick-off against Swansea . Neil Taylor (left) and Leandro Bacuna battle for the ball during the opening stages of their clash at Villa Park . Swansea winger Wayne Routeldge (right) skips past the challenge of Villa full back Alan Hutton in the first half . Sherwood yells out instructions to his Villa charges as they try to break the deadlock against Garry Monk's men . 'That's the second time it's happened now,' he said. 'There comes a time in a game when if you're looking like not winning it you make sure you don't lose it. We have to try and address that.' It was a close match. Swansea bossed the first half, Villa shaded the second. In the 57th minute Gabby Agbonlahor thought he had scored when Christian Benteke's header fell his way four yards out. But Neil Taylor blocked brilliantly. Scott Sinclair and Fabian Delph both sent good openings wide and Sinclair almost found an equaliser in added time when volleying inches over the bar. By now Benteke had gone off because of a niggling hip problem and Swansea could have extended their winning margin when Routledge ran free close to the end. But Guzan saved well. In the first half the American goalkeeper twice denied Gomis, who should have scored from Taylor's cross on six minutes. He also had a great chance 16 minutes from time after Monetro's ball but Clark diverted the shot away. Gomis was not to be denied, leaving Garry Monk delighted. 'He persevered and got his goal in the end. He deserved that.' The hosts were dealt a blow midway through the first half when midfielder Tom Cleverley (right) picked up an injury . The on loan Manchester United midfielder (right) had to be helped off the pitch by an Aston Villa physio on 25 minutes . Carlos Sanchez (left) came on in place of Cleverley as the hosts were forced into making an early change . Christian Benteke (right) outjumps Swansea midfielder Jack Cork as they both challenge for a header . A section of Aston Villa supporters hold up banners showing their disgust at claims against their club by certain media outlets recently . Swansea striker Gomis (centre) tries to muscle his way through two Villa defenders during Saturday's encounter . Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey (left) runs with the ball as Villa captain Fabian Delph chases him in pursuit . Gabby Agbonlahor (right) sees his goalbound shot blocked by Swansea defender Taylor (left) during the match . +UEFA imposed the minimum one-match Champions League ban on Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his red card against Chelsea. However, Ibrahimovic's Paris Saint-Germain teammate Serge Aurier gets a three-match ban for insulting the referee on social media. UEFA says its disciplinary panel decided Ibrahimovic should miss only the first leg of the quarter-finals for a tackle on Chelsea midfielder Oscar last week. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second right) is shown the red card by referee Bjorn Kuipers (centre) Ibrahimovic (centre) makes a challenge on Oscar (left) and is sent off during the Champions League clash . Ibrahimovic (left) immediately raised his hands to protest his innocence after the tackle on Oscar . Ibrahimovic protests his innocence as Oscar begins to writhe on the floor following the tackle . Aurier, who was injured and missed the last-16, second-leg match in London, later posted a celebratory and offensive video on Facebook. The Ivory Coast defender's comments about Netherlands referee Bjorn Kuipers in a video posted on Facebook were judged an 'insulting act' by UEFA. PSG will learn its quarterfinals opponent when the draw is made Friday. Serge Aurier apologised for his comments after the game but has been hit with a three-match ban . Aurier was the subject of UEFA disciplinary action after posting the video on social media . Ibrahimovic is shown the red card by the referee, under pressure from nine Chelsea players surrounding him . Ibrahimovic trudges down the tunnel after he had been sent off during the first half at Stamford Bridge . +Even if you read this in a fairytale book, you would still think it was far-fetched but Harry Kane does not want this story to end. A hat-trick just three days after your first ever England call-up? You simply could not write it. But Kane is composing his own scripts at the moment. His dream season continued on Saturday as he fired Tottenham to a hard-fought victory. All this in front of England manager Roy Hodgson. Kane will surely make his England debut in either Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania or the friendly against Italy a few days later after taking his season tally of goals to 29. Harry Kane put Tottenham 3-2 ahead form the penalty spot after Danny Rose was fouled in the box as the 21-year-old completed his hat-trick . Kane holds three fingers up as he celebrates after scoring from the spot to score his first Premier League hat-trick . The strike was Kane's 29th goal of the season and the 19th in the Premier League as he overtook Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa . Tottenham were awarded the spot kick when Danny Rose was bundled over by David Nugent's clumsy challenge . England manager Roy Hodgson was watching form the stands as Kane became the Premier League's leading goalscorer . Kane applauds the Tottenham supporters as he takes the match ball after the final whistle at White Hart Lane . Tottenham: Lloris 5 (Vorm 4, 5); Walker 5, Dier 5, Vertonghen 5, Rose 6; Mason 7 (Dembele 87), Bentaleb 7.5; Townsend 6 (Paulinho 58, 6.5), Eriksen 7, Chadli 6; Kane 8.5 . Subs not used: Chiriches, Adebayor, Lamela, Davies . Scorers: Kane 6, 13, 64, Schlupp (OG) 85 . Booked: Chadli, Rose . Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 7 . Leicester: Schmeichel 5; De Laet 5, Morgan 6, Huth 5 (Mahrez 75), Upson 5 (Wasilewski 46, 5), Schlupp 5; Nugent 6.5, James 7, Cambiasso 6.5 (King 85), Vardy 7; Ulloa 6 . Subs not used: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Drinkwater, Kramaric . Scorers: Vardy 38, Morgan 50, Nugent 90 . Booked: Nugent . Manager: Nigel Pearson 6.5 . Man of the Match: Harry Kane . Referee: Mike Dean 6 . Harry Kane made it 2-0 with a deflected shot. Click here for more from MATCH ZONE . ‘It’s true he’s in a very good moment in career. He’s at the top,’ said Mauricio Pochettino. Tottenham’s victory came at a cost, though, with Hugo Lloris taken to hospital on Saturday after suffering a nasty gash to his knee in a collision with team-mate Kyle Walker and Jamie Vardy in the first minute. You could sense the worry in White Hart Lane as the Frenchman received lengthy treatment before being replaced by Michel Vorm. The mood picked up, though, as Spurs took a fifth-minute lead. No prizes for guessing who scored. Eric Dier’s flick from Christian Eriksen’s corner was parried by Leicester goal keeper Kasper Schmeichel and the rebound fell to Kane who tapped home. It was one of the simplest goals he’ll score — not that Kane cared an iota as he wheeled off in celebration. Jeff Schlupp scored an unfortunate own goal after Kasper Schmeichel's save rebounded off his chest and into the net to make it 4-2 . David Nugent reduced the deficit back to one in the 90th minute but Tottenham hung on to claim the three points . Leicester captain Wes Morgan thumps a powerful header past Michel Vorm to draw the visitors level after a Matty James corner . Morgan roars with celebration as he rushes towards the travelling Leicester supporters after equalising for Nigel Pearson's side . Jamie Vardy sucks his thumb in celebration after pulling a goal back for Leicester after 38 minutes at White Hart Lane on Saturday . David Nugent’s audacious attempt to catch Vorm off his line in the 10th minute nearly pulled the visitors level before Kane notched again in the 12th minute after a huge piece of fortune. Walker and Andros Townsend combined brilliantly down the right to fire a low cross into the area. Robert Huth’s attempted clearance fell to Kane, whose first-time strike took a big deflection off the German before bouncing past the luckless Schmeichel. Leicester did not deserve to be on the receiving end of this clinical Kane show after a promising start. It was nearly game over in the 22nd minute as Eriksen struck Schmeichel’s far post before Nacer Chadli wasted the rebound. Pochettino was looking to his bench again six minutes later after Dier was caught by Vardy’s arm. The England Under 21 defender carried on, albeit with a painful lump on his right cheek. But while Dier was showing great heart, the same couldn’t be said of his team-mate Chadli, who was booked for diving after falling in the box under pressure from Wes Morgan in the 36th minute. Two minutes later Leicester worked themselves a deserved lifeline as Nugent sprung through Tottenham’s left-side before providing an inch perfect cross for Vardy, who cooly fired home with an excellent one-touch finish. Vardy slides in to finish past Vorm from close range after a wonderful ball in from David Nugent as Leicester halved the deficit . Kane's deflected shot deceives Kasper Schmeichel and flies into the top corner as Tottenham raced into a two-goal lead after 13 minutes . Kane finds the net fro his 28th goal of the season just two days after he was named in Roy Hodgson's England squad for the first time . Kane gave Spurs an early lead when he tapped home from close range after Schmeichel could only parry Eric Dier's flick . The visitors could easily have pulled themselves level before the break, Nugent and Leonard Ulloa wasting good chances. Pochettino was desperate to get his team into the dressing room, but his half-time talk made no difference as Leicester levelled five minutes after the restart — Morgan ghosting into the area undetected to head home Matty James’ corner. Ten minutes later Leicester should have been ahead when Huth was presented with a golden chance to redeem himself following his role in Spurs’ second goal. Somehow he didn’t take it, sending a free header from another James corner wide. Leicester midfielder Esteban Cambiasso could do nothing to stop Kane's effort from close range finding the back of the net . Kane leads the celebrations after opening the scoring for Mauricio Pochettino's side at White Hart Lane on Saturday . Tottenham were dealt an early blow when Hogo Lloris left the field on a stretcher after a second-minute collision with Kyle Walker . The France goalkeeper looks to be in severe pain as he is seen to by the Tottenham medic following the early clash with the Spurs right back . At the time it seemed a pivotal moment, and so it proved as Spurs were handed a contentious penalty in the 62nd minute. Nugent thought he had time in the box, but Danny Rose had other ideas, nipping in front of the forward. He clumsily collided with the Spurs defender, who fell to the ground. In fairness to Nugent, the defender looked to go down easily but Mike Dean pointed to the spot. Leicester coach Kevin Phillips was soon shaking his head at fourth official Darren Bond after racing down the tunnel to watch a replay. The commotion didn’t concern Kane, though, as England’s newest recruit sent Schmeichel the wrong way to complete his hat-trick. Spurs had their fourth in the 85th minute, the unlucky Jeff Schlupp diverting the ball into his own net after Schmeichel foiled Eriksen. That should had seen Spurs home without fuss but Nugent set up a nervy three minutes after some poor Jan Vertonghen defending, to score Leicester’s third. Walker calls for assistance from the the bench as Lloris clutches his left knee after the pair clashed in the opening two minutes . Lloris rushed out of his goal to close down Leicester forward Vardy as Walker slid into make a challenge, but collided with his keeper . +There were famous faces in the best seats in the house as optimism over a new era abounded. John Greig, officially the Greatest Ever Ranger, was by Dave King’s side in the director’s box in a highly symbolic return to Ibrox. He was joined by one of the club’s greatest ever managers, Walter Smith, and John Brown, who can lay claim to some of the greatest ever declamations against the ousted boardroom regime. Rangers midfielder Haris Vuckic, on loan from Newcastle, celebrates putting the home side ahead at Ibrox . Young Queen of the South striker Aidan Smith (centre) wheels away to celebrate after scoring a late leveller . The greatness, somewhat predictably, stopped at the white lines of the pitch. This ramshackle group of players looked like they might just let the feelgood factor flourish when Newcastle loanee Haris Vuckic put them ahead with 12 minutes remaining. There would not, however, be the delicious irony of one of Mike Ashley’s men allowing King and Co a victory to savour in their first home match since seizing control. All the failings that have left the Ibrox side in the midst of a Championship play-off scrap they may well not win came to the fore as 17-year-old Aidan Smith – making just his second senior appearance - equalised for Queens eight minutes later. In truth, it was a point they more than merited. Jeers rang out at the final whistle as supporters who flocked back to Ibrox to financially support the new board digested yet another on-field setback. The grim sequence of results now reads as just one win in their last seven outings. For King and his associates, the question of what can be done to lift a desperately flagging season remains highly pertinent. Discussions with caretaker manager Kenny McDowall will have to determine whether he continues or whether an alternative interim appointment is made for the remainder of the campaign. This was not the first time this season that Queens had found themselves featuring in a significant day in the Rangers saga. Back on December 12, their comprehensive 2-0 victory at Palmerston Park became almost an addendum to news that Ally McCoist had handed in his notice. For the visiting support inside the Dumfries ground, it was yet another bewildering development to try and digest. Rangers legend John Greig was in the stands at Ibrox for Tuesday night's Scottish Championship clash . Events tumbled even quicker from then, through McCoist’s gardening leave, an AGM, crisis loan offers and boardroom resignations, finally reaching the regime change arrived at with last Friday’s EGM. Somewhere in the middle of the jumble was the SFA’s refusal, on Christmas Eve of all days, to allow Ashley to increase his shareholding. It was one of several, crucial turning points on the exceptionally winding road towards a fresh start for a club bruised and battered over the previous four years. The desperation of supporters to grasp this moment, for those who stayed away to return to supporting their team, was palpable. Some had purchased half-season tickets in the wake of the EGM, despite some of the included matches having already passed. Last night, routes around Ibrox were congested in fashion often unfamiliar this season. The stadium wasn’t full, but the 35,018 here was still the highest crowd recorded since the opening day of the season. Anyone purchasing a programme on their way in was greeted by a cover showing King with his arms around John Gilligan and Paul Murray, happily posing within the trophy room. Enthusiasm was everywhere. The question, of course, was how long it would last when confronted by the paucity of the Rangers team. Given the boos that rang out at half-time, the answer could be given as approximately 45 minutes. Fresh from a dispiriting 0-0 draw with Cowdenbeath at the weekend, McDowall’s side had actually made a pretty positive start – as if feeding off the renewed energy. Nicky Law picked out Nicky Clark with a nice cutback and the striker drilled narrowly wide from the edge of the area. Not long after, Clark was unable to generate sufficient power or direction in a header. Yet their best chance of the opening period fell to the other front man in McDowall’s 4-4-2. It was woefully spurned. Vuckic fashioned the opportunity by cutting in field to hit a deflected drive that was pushed out by Zander Clark in the Queens goal. Daly looked odds-on to polish things off but spooned the rebound over the bar on the slide. Vuckic celebrates hos goal with substitute Bilel Mohsni (left), Nicky Clark and Darren McGregor . Queens had shown a nice degree of composure in midfield and steadily began to assert themselves. Slowly but surely, the atmosphere changed. When Law was robbed on the fringe of the area by Kevin Holt after 34 minutes, the first real roar of frustration arrived. By that point, the visitors could already have been ahead. Lee McCulloch missed a defensive header to allow Gavin Reilly in behind him. He picked out Michael Paton, whose neatly-struck effort beat Lee Robinson but rebounded off the goalkeeper’s right-hand post. Ibrox heaved a sigh of relief. But it was not the last first-half scare. When Robinson was forced into evasive action to deny a fine Iain Russell strike, the loose ball spun towards Reilly. He couldn’t adjust his body quickly enough to head below the bar from around six yards out. Daly looped one wide from a Lee Wallace cross after the restart but that wasn’t the signal for a Rangers bombardment. A change was needed if a resolute and sparky Queens side weren’t going to spoil the party. One finally arrived from McDowall in the 65th minute when young Andy Murdoch was replaced by the even younger Tom Walsh. The 18-year-old at least injected a little more pace and energy to proceedings. It seemed as though Rangers had finally sneaked a winner after 78 minutes. Vuckic got a touch to a ball delivered from the left before Clark practically stumbled into it. It broke back to the Newcastle loanee who calmly angled a shot into the far corner of the net. This is, however, a team riven with weaknesses. And they were exposed yet again when Queens claimed a leveller they deserved with just four minutes to play. Bilel Mohsni – just on four minutes earlier after Lee Wallace was hurt – was typically wayward with a bungled attempt at a clearance that looped to Daniel Carmichael. He delivered into the middle, where Robinson expertly saved from Paton. There was, though, to be no denying teenager Smith, who was left with a simple finish into an exposed net. +Tony Pulis called for the introduction of video technology after Gareth McAuley was sent off in a case of mistaken identity after 90 seconds of West Brom's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. The Baggies defender was dismissed by Neil Swarbrick instead of teammate Michael Dawson who sent Wilfried Bony crashing to the floor when he was clean through. After the match an incredulous Pulis said: 'I can't believe he's picked the wrong player - it's beyond me.' Tony Pulis has called for the introduction of video technology to help referees after Neil Swarbrick's error . Swarbrick showed a red card to Gareth McAuley (right) during the second minute after a foul on Wilfried Bony . West Brom defender Craig Dawson (right) makes the original challenge on Bony just outside the penalty area . The Ivorian striker heads to the ground under Dawson's clumsy challenge but managed to continue . Bony continues but McAuley comes in with a challenge of his own from the opposite angle inside the area . Bony goes to ground again under McAuley's challenge, leading to the dismissal of the West Brom player . He added that rather than criticise officials they should be given support and that technology needs to be introduced. 'It is no good moaning about referees,' Pulis said. 'We have to find a way to help referees out I would definitely call for managers to have two calls each and every game when there is 30 seconds and they can have a video link up with people upstairs who can watch it on video. 'The clubs can make money - there are people who will make money to have their names up on scoreboards. It will eradicate the major decisions referees are getting wrong that actually affect games of football and we have to work hard to do that in what is the greatest league in the world. The sooner that comes in the better.' BT Sport showed the incident from referee Swarbrick's perspective, with No 25 Dawson the closest to him . A difficult task turned into mission impossible following the red card and goals from Wilfried Bony, Fernando and David Silva wrapped up a comfortable victory for the home side who are, for now, three points behind leaders Chelsea who have two games in hand. City manager Manuel Pellegrini reflected on a morale-boosting performance after a difficult week which saw them lose at Burnley and then bow out of the Champions League at Barcelona. 'Of course it is always important to return to victory when you lost the last game,' he said. 'We lost the last two games in different competitions, Wednesday in Champions League and the last game against Burnley in Premier League. It is important to return to victory.' Fernando (centre) scored City's second of the match after Bony's opener and before David Silva added a third . The Chilean added that his side are only concentrating on themselves and not on Jose Mourinho's leaders. 'We are not thinking about that,' he said. 'I spoke with the players, we play now eight games more. We can win the eight games and if Chelsea doesn't drop points, we cannot win the title. The important thing is not to think about other teams, it is to think about our team, to improve and win the next game against Crystal Palace.' +It still clearly rankles with Steven Naismith that injury saw him miss out on a UEFA Cup final appearance with Rangers in what now seems like another dimension, never mind seven short years ago. But the Scotland star has revealed that it’s the memory of that heartbreaking episode which is spurring him on to reach this season’s Europa League showpiece with Everton. Roberto Martinez’s men host Dynamo Kiev tonight at Goodison Park in the first leg of their last-16 tie and the hosts are expected to progress against one of the competition’s lowest-ranked sides. Steven Naismith consoles Kevin Thompson after Rangers' defeat in the 2008 UEFA Cup final . Naismith is determined to make up for that defeat, and missing the final, with Everton this season . Britain’s last remaining representatives in the tournament will have their work cut out to go all the way, with the likes of Wolfsburg, Napoli, Roma and Zenit also still in contention. But Naismith is adamant they have what it takes to challenge for the club’s second continental honour after the Cup Winners’ Cup was claimed three decades ago - and are ready to go one step better than Rangers did in 2008 when they lost to Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester. In his first campaign at Ibrox after leaving Kilmarnock, Naismith appeared as a sub in a crucial 1-1 draw at Panathinaikos that gave Walter Smith’s side an away goals victory. He was also among the replacements at Werder Bremen and in both meetings with Sporting Lisbon as the Scots kept progressing. But four days before the first semi-final with Fiorentina, he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in a last-four Scottish Cup tie with St Johnstone. Naismith, and his then manager Walter Smith, walk past the trophy in 2008 . The Everton forward (far left) trains with his team-mates ahead of their tie against Dinamo kiev . That ended Naismith’s quest for European glory. He was a spectator at the final and didn’t play again competitively for another nine months. ‘I played in Greece back then and was on the bench a couple of times afterwards but then I got injured at Hampden,’ recalled the 28-year-old. ‘I missed the semi-finals and the final and I remember watching the penalty shoot-out in Florence that took us through on TV and I didn’t feel 100 per cent part of it. It was a great feeling to see the team win but I hadn’t travelled and it wasn’ t great to feel I was missing out. ‘This is an opportunity to make up for that. There was still a great buzz from sitting watching the final from the sidelines in Manchester. It was fantastic but it also makes me think now I’d love to get that feeling again and hopefully go one better, play in the final and win it. That’s what drives me on. ‘It’s not just that I never got to play back then but also that I want to experience the feeling we had around the club from getting to the final in the first place. 'This season when we’ve been playing in Europe, it has crossed my mind that the experiences I had with Rangers can help me, especially at this stage in the tournament. The disappointment of seven years ago, and his failure to influence it, still haunts the Scotland striker . ‘We had to be very resilient and well organised in 2008. Teams found it difficult to break us down and we did well to counter and create chances that way. 'We rode our luck a bit as well and I look at that and think it was great we got so far. It’s something Everton can look to do now too and we’ve been similar. ‘In the group stage, things went flawlessly and we played every game perfectly. We were very solid in the last round against Young Boys as well. 'As things go on, we know it will get tougher and tougher but at this stage we feel we can go further and go as far as the final. We definitely believe that.’ While many English sides have looked upon the Europa League as a distraction from domestic matters in recent seasons, that hasn’t been the case at Everton. Martinez has purposely picked strong sides to keep his team’s run going, rather than sacrifice participation in the competition for the sake of concentrating more on the Premier League. Naismith wants to get his hands on the trophy he came so close to with his former club Rangers . That has impacted on the club’s domestic performance and they lie 14th in the top flight - but hopes remain high they can strike a balance on both fronts. Naismith added: ‘After working so hard last season and being so close to the top four in the league, this was our reward. I don’t think you can treat the Europa League as if it’s not worth going 100 per cent for - and the manager has shown that in his team selections. ‘Sometimes we have found it hard to deal with having games so close together and, with a few injuries, our squad has been a bit tight because of that. 'We’ve not had many players we can rotate but full credit to the manager for keeping a strong stance in Europe. That’s why we have done so well in the competition and he will want to keep doing the same.’ Kiev aren’t the same force they’ve been in the past but Naismith still rates them and is wary of the damage they can cause on Merseyside this evening. He remains confident, however, that if Everton perform the way they can, they will keep up their challenge for silverware. ‘Dynamo are a very good team. We’ve watched them on video and we’ ll continue to do so right up to the game. They don’t get as much air time as many other sides and they’re not seen to be as glamorous but they are dangerous with very good players. 'We will need to watch them and be at our best but we came through one of the toughest groups which included Lyon and Wolfsburg. ‘To have done that with the quality we have, I don’t think we will worry about any team. We believe in the way we play and if we are at our best, we can trouble anyone.’ +Joe Hart has declared that he totally respects the authority of Manuel Pellegrini, as the Manchester City boss comes under increased pressure at the Etihad Stadium following defeat to Barcelona. The goalkeeper was outstanding as City were beaten 3-1 on aggregate in the Champions League last-16, with only his string of saves over the two legs preventing Pellegrini's side from an even more embarrassing result. Hart was dropped by the Chilean following a poor run of form last season, but returned soon afterwards as Manchester City went on to win the Premier League title and the Capital One Cup. Joe Hart chats to David James for a special BT Sport interview set to air at 6.30pm on Friday night . The England goalkeeper was speaking to James during ‘David James meets Joe Hart’ Hart said that Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has his full backing despite a disappointing season . This season has been less straightforward so far, but Hart, speaking to David James during David James meets Joe Hart in a special programme which airs on BT Sport 1 at 6.30pm on Friday, is adamant the under-fire manager retains his total respect. 'It was bad because I never wanted to come out the team, but I had to - the manager made his decision,' said Hart. 'I thought he was fantastic with me how he was. 'As a manager, I totally respect his authority. He had a decision to make, he didn’t just flip a board and suddenly you’re not playing. 'I just wanted to use the time for the best, and when I did come in, I wanted it to feel natural. I just wanted to slot in. I didn’t want to come in and make a million saves. I didn’t want to come in and change a game. I just wanted to slot back in, that’s the way it should be, and carry on.' Hart (left), Robert Green (centre) and James training with England during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . Pellegrini gestures in frustration on the touchline during Manchester City's 1-0 defeat at Barcelona . His side were eventually beaten 3-1 on aggregate in the last-16 of the Champions League . For the second time, Manchester City have struggled in the Premier League following a title-winning campaign, and Hart admits his side haven't been good enough this year. 'We’ve definitely got the capabilities and we’ve got the team,' he continued. 'But that’s only half the battle in this league. It doesn’t matter how good you are, or how good you think you are. It’s what you do on the day and you can lose against anyone. 'I’ve only had two (titles) to defend. I can only speak from that experience and the first one we did find hard because we’d built on everything to get it. 'I think we would openly admit that the season afterwards we expected that we would do it, that we had cracked it and that we were going to be that team. 'But we weren’t. We had to fight tooth and nail. We had to change managers. We had to change players. We had to come against all odds to win the league again last season. So I think we are all well aware of how hard it is to win the league in the first place, let alone back to back. 'But like I say, with the team and set up that we’ve got, we’ve got everything in the right places. That said, to do it is another thing and at the moment it is proving difficult. But we are going to keep trying.' Hart has won the League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League with City, but still has designs on winning the Champions League, completing a medal haul never managed by an English goalkeeper in history. He added: '(My dream is) to keep winning those three (domestic titles) as many times as possible and to try and add the European Cup to it.' Ivan Rakitic (second left) scored the only goal of the game past Hart as Barcelona won 1-0 on Wednesday . But Hart was otherwise superb during the result, with the Spanish press calling him a 'phenomenon' Hart rates Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as the best in the world in his position . The 27-year-old stopper received praise from all corners of Europe following his display at Barcelona, with some Spanish press even referring to him as a 'phenomenon'. But Hart still rates Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as the best in the world in his position. 'His style is something that I don’t think technically you can coach,' said Hart. 'People have got wrapped up in the whole flying out and tackling people and that side of it is not for me, to be honest. 'But Manuel in terms of dominating a game, being hard to beat, winning World Cups. I remember him right back from when we played him (I didn’t play – I’d got booked in the semi-final) in the under 21 tournaments, just seeing this colossal guy in goal. 'He has kept going and from a few times of meeting him, I like everything about him. I’ve heard some very important people in football say what an animal, and what an amazing talent he is.' Joe Hart is an ambassador for BT Sport. Watch Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion exclusively live on BT Sport 1 from midday on Saturday 21st March. VIDEO Pellegrini insists City are improving . +Arsene Wenger has promised to back FA chairman Greg Dyke’s attempts to clean up football’s image and revealed how he sometimes has to silence himself to stop his touchline rage. Dyke has this week promised action to stop the intimidation of officials which he claimed had become ‘pretty scary’ after seeing the images of Chelsea players surrounding Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers. ‘He has my complete support,’ said Arsenal boss Wenger. ‘We all have to respect the referee and make their jobs as easy as possible. It’s difficult enough for the referees — they are criticised a lot, and I include myself. I do remind my players but I don’t think we have a problem with that. Greg Dyke, pictured at the Mel Brooks BFI Fellowship Dinner on Friday, promised to take action to protect referees from hoards of players surrounding them . Arsene Wenger has promised to back the Football Association chairman over stopping ref intimidation . ‘We have never been reproached so on that front I don’t question myself too much. I question myself on my individual behaviour, that’s true.’ Wenger is often quick to let off steam at the fourth official and added: ‘Even sometimes at half-time I think, “Come on, stop that, my friend”, you know? And I think in the second half I will not say a word to him any more. ‘Sometimes it helps you to get your frustration out but I don’t think it is right, honestly. That doesn’t mean I don’t do it. I do. I’ve looked back on the tapes sometimes.’ Wenger, who admits he needs to rein in his criticism of referees, talks to the fourth official on Tuesday night . The Arsenal manager has word with the fourth official during the Champions League match against Monaco . Wenger also fears the officials are getting drawn into the thick of the action when they could be more peripheral. ‘I have spoken about this with referees,’ he said. ‘Maybe they are too close today because sometimes they are in the way of the pass. I can show you situations where they hide the vision of the pass. Because they are so directly involved they are surrounded sometimes when they should keep a bit of distance.’ Wenger admits there are times when managers like to see their players showing desire and unity but agrees with Dyke and UEFA president Michel Platini, who is also investigating ways to banish the problem in European games. Eight Chelsea players surround the referee as they try to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off for PSG . ‘We want everybody to be respected and the referees are part of everybody,’ said the Arsenal boss. ‘What we have to do is respect the decisions. The referees know the worst offenders but I like to think it doesn’t work. Referees are prepared for that nowadays. They are warned and they can deal with it. ‘I agree completely that you want players to be ready to fight for each other. How far does that go? You have to draw a line somewhere. You cannot go after every decision of the referee. ‘In rugby it didn’t exist. Unfortunately since they have become professional I have seen signs of them starting to question the decisions of the referees. So it may be a result of the pressure of the professional game.’ +Ravel Morrison has been training with his new club Lazio as he moves on from being released from West Ham United. The Hammers terminated Morrison's contract early in February and he is set to begin a four-year deal with the Rome-based club in the summer after signing a pre-contract agreement earlier this year. While Morrison is unable to play for his new side until the 2015-16 season, manager Stefano Pioli has seen fit to introduce the 22-year-old to his training sessions in a bid to help the new signing get used to life in the Italian capital. Ravel Morrison is now training with Lazio ahead of joining the Italian club after leaving West Ham United . Morrison was pictured at the club's Formello training base getting into the groove of things having not made a first-team appearance since December 6 when he turned out for loan club Cardiff City against Rotherham. Morrison only made two appearances under Hammers boss Sam Allardyce this season; with his last outing coming in a 3-1 home defeat to Southampton back on August 31. A series of disciplinary problems had hampered his progress at Upton Park and he was loaned to Birmingham, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City - with his three-month deal at the latter cut short earlier in December. However, the England Under 21 international will now look to resume his career in Italy next season. Morrison had personal troubles in England and was criticised by manager Sam Allardyce for his attitude . Morrison celebrates scoring for West Ham last season in a Capital One Cup tie at Upton Park . +James Tomkins has undergone surgery on his dislocated shoulder, although West Ham hope the defender will be back before the end of the season. The 25-year-old, who recently signed a new, long-term contract with the Hammers, sustained the injury during a training session last week. Tomkins' presence was certainly missed in Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, where midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate had to play at the heart of defence with Winston Reid also absent. West Ham defender James Tomkins has undergone surgery on a dislocated shoulder . Tomkins (left) celebrates with his team-mate Cheikhou Kouyate after his goal against Manchester United . Stijn Vandenbroucke, West Ham's head of medical and sports science, suggests the New Zealand defender is again unlikely to be available when Sunderland visit this weekend, while also confirming Tomkins and young defender Doneil Henry have gone under the knife . 'Unfortunately, we have had two setbacks in the defence,' he said. 'James Tomkins underwent successful surgery on his dislocated shoulder on Wednesday and will now commence his rehabilitation, with a view to him returning to fitness before the end of the season. 'Doneil Henry injured his hamstring during his loan spell with Blackburn Rovers and, after consulting with a specialist, he will have an operation at the end of the week. 'Winston Reid is recovering and rehabbing well from the hamstring injury he suffered against Chelsea on 4 March. He is working hard on his fitness and is getting closer to a return.' Tomkins celebrates with Andy Carroll after the striker found the net against Swansea back in December . Winston Reid (right) is edging closer to his return from a hamstring injury suffered against Chelsea . The trio form part of an injury list which still includes forwards Andy Carroll and Enner Valencia. Carroll's rehabilitation is going well, says Vandenbroucke, and the England forward 'no longer needs crutches to walk and now only has a brace on the knee'. Valencia is on schedule to return after the international break after cutting his toe on a broken mug, while fellow forward Carlton Cole is back in contention after recovering from the hamstring injury sustained at Tottenham last month. There is also positive news in regards to goalkeeper Adrian, who played the full 90 minutes against Arsenal despite dislocating his finger before the match. Goalkeeper Adrian, who dislocated his finger before the weekend's game with Arsenal, is still match fit . 'Although Adrian dislocated his finger in the warm-up ahead of the Arsenal game at the weekend, he had it put back in and taped up by physiotherapist Dominic Rogan before the game,' Vandenbroucke told the club's official website, www.whufc.com, . 'Adrian played through the pain, which is not to be underestimated, and he too will be available to face Sunderland. 'Adrian avoided a fracture and ligament damage, so he has been receiving treatment by wearing a brace during the night this week to ensure his finger remains pointing in the right direction! 'He was held out of one training session as a precaution but he will be ready to play on Saturday.' +Mark Hughes has accused Steve Bruce of trying to ‘defend the indefensible’ over Maynor Figueroa’s tackle on Stephen Ireland that left the Stoke City midfielder with a deep gash in his calf. The Hull City manager responded to Hughes’ anger at the incident by insisting Ireland should already have been sent off following ‘the worst challenge on the pitch’ on David Meyler at the Britannia Stadium. A picture of Ireland’s bloody leg was revealed in the aftermath of the match but Bruce said: ‘I could show you a picture of Figueroa's ankle, he had five stitches in it and carried on.’ Ireland (left) sustained a deep gash on his leg after a challenge from Hull's Maynor Figueroa . Referee Neil Swarbrick did not give a free kick for the challenge that left Ireland with a gash in his leg . The challenge left a wound on Ireland's leg that Stoke boss Mark Hughes said needed 12 to 15 stitches . That has angered Hughes, his former Manchester United team-mate. ‘Steve has fallen into the trap of trying to defend the indefensible,’ said Hughes. ‘Everyone has seen the two challenges and I don't think there is any sort of comparison whatsoever. ‘The outcome is there for everyone to see so I don't think Steve did himself too much credit with his observation. ‘It's fairly easily to defend things - and I do it too - but on this occasion it was not as if the lad would be suspended. So why did Steve not just say, “It was a terrible tackle”? 'We're trying to move on but Steve did not need to do that. He did not need to say that. To defend that is incorrect.’ Stoke boss Mark Hughes has accused Hull City counterpart Steve Bruce of trying to 'defend the indefensible' Hull boss Bruce queried why Stephen Ireland was on the pitch after his challenge on David Meyler . Hughes added: ‘It looks likely Stephen is unavailable for two to three weeks. ‘Most people now have seen the picture and he’s had internal stitches as well as external, so it takes a little bit longer than a straightforward gash. ‘I’m disappointed as he was doing really well, filling the gap for Bojan.’ +Tottenham will target players aged 26 and under this summer in a move that rubber-stamps Mauricio Pochettino’s policy of giving youth a platform to shine. He and recently-appointed head of recruitment Paul Mitchell are devising a clear strategy ahead of the next transfer window. The Argentine wants players who have the energy and fitness levels to suit his high intensity style of play, and he feels younger players are a necessity. Mauricio Pochettino wants players who have the energy and fitness levels to suit his high-intensity style . The purchase of Roberto Soldado from Valencia has not worked out as either party would have liked . Having sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, chairman Daniel Levy spent £68million on proven internationals in Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado and Paulinho — but they have failed to impress, and the club are prepared for a major loss if they can offload Soldado and Paulinho in the summer. Pochettino has shown his penchant for signing hungry and unproven talent; the captures of Dele Alli, 18, Eric Dier, 21, and DeAndre Yedlin, 21, are testament to that. Erik Lamela has also been disappointing for the north London club having arrived from Roma . Tottenham already have a youthful look with Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason, Kyle Walker, Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose all under 26. Southampton trio Toby Alderweireld, 26, Morgan Schneiderlin, 25, and Jay Rodriguez, 25, are among the club’s targets, while Burnley’s Danny Ings and Cologne centre back Kevin Wimmer, both 22, are also on Pochettino’s radar. The youthful Harry Kane has earned rave reviews so far this season for Tottenham Hotspur . The arrival of players such as DeAndre Yedlin shows Pochettino's penchant for signing hungry, unproven talent . +Mousa Dembele does not believe Tottenham should alter their attacking mindset, despite crumbling against Manchester United. Mauricio Pochettino's first season at the White Hart Lane helm has been fairly successful to date, having led Spurs to the Capital One Cup final and a shot at Champions League qualification. However, their chances of a top-four finish were harmed on Sunday as a first-half collapse saw the north Londoners fall to a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford. Mousa Dembele (left) and his team-mates walk off the pitch after defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford . Dembele insists Tottenham do not need to adjust their attacking style against the Premier League's big boys . The display led onlookers to suggest - not for the first time - that Pochettino's attack-minded philosophy was foolhardy in a such match, yet midfielder Dembele defended his manager's tactics. 'We've played some games against the top teams where we played unbelievable attacking football,' the Belgium international said. 'We don't have to change anything at the moment because we are capable of beating the big teams. Harry Kane has a shot at goal against United but the in-form striker couldn't find the back of the net . Mauricio Pochettino's side are seventh in the Premier League table and six points off fourth place . 'We didn't do it at Old Trafford and that game was different from what we are used to, but we are playing well. We have shown this season what we can do against the big sides. 'We want to end the season in a good rhythm. Has our chance of a top-four finish gone? We don't need to think like that otherwise we could become demotivated. Let's try to win all our remaining games and see where we end. 'We have three more full days before the Leicester game to concentrate. We have a good group and a good mentality so I hope we bounce back at the right moment.' +Being compared to a household utensil is probably not every Premier League footballer’s idea of a compliment, but when Tim Sherwood called Fabian Delph Aston Villa’s Hoover he meant it with affection Kim and Aggie would appreciate. You know, the pair from that show that used to be on Channel 4, How Clean is Your House? Never mind. Roy Hodgson is another who recognises the need for an instrument in his England machine capable of covering large ground to suck up danger. It is why Hodgson handed Delph his international debut last August and is liable to pick the 25-year-old again. Fabian Delph has been likened to a Hoover vacuum cleaner his ability to suck up balls by Tim Sherwood . Delph covers a huge amount of ground in midfield and has been brilliant in Aston Villa's recent resurgence . Tim Sherwood has helped to turn Villa - and particularly Delph - around and improve their form of late . Hodgson names his squad for the forthcoming matches against Lithuania and Italy on Thursday and has been given reason of late to select Delph. As Villa’s season drifted into the mire under Paul Lambert, Delph’s form was a concern. Unable to impact games in a meaningful fashion, a continuation of his England career following two months out after shoulder surgery seemed uncertain. Delph was not doing anything particularly wrong, just not much special. His last three games however, since Sherwood shook the club by its neck, have seen that spark return. He scored his first goal of the season with an arrowed finish against West Bromwich Albion in that FA Cup quarter-final, he assisted his second goal of the season with a cross for Scott Sinclair against Stoke, and he has driven Villa forward with regularity. Sherwood's arrival at the club in place of Paul Lambert has changed Delph from a concern to an asset . Delph scored his first goal of the season in Villa's FA Cup quarter-final win over West Bromwich Albion . Delph's sweet strike got one over Villa's local rivals in a high-intensity game that suited the midfielder . There were reasons Villa fans mobbed him so feverishly during the West Brom pitch invasion: a goal, a combative performance, a freshly-inked contract. In that moment he was the personification of hope for the season climax and beyond. Supporters wanted a piece (quite literally in some cases when kisses turned to bites). Delph is a willing runner – hitting an average 10.59km per game, second only to Ashley Westwood in the squad – but has undoubtedly benefitted from Sherwood’s front foot policy. Earlier this season Delph would emit energy largely across the width of the pitch, now it is up and down. Delph could end up back in Roy Hodgson's England squad after his recent resurgence in form . Touch maps supplied by Opta illustrate the point. In the 2-0 defeat to Hull, Lambert’s last match in charge, Delph was in possession 92 times, 46 in each half. In the 4-0 victory over Sunderland, he had 112 touches, 41 in his own half and 71 in the opposition’s. In the 2-0 defeat to Hull, Lambert’s last match in charge, Delph was in possession 92 times, 46 in each half (left), in the 4-0 victory over Sunderland, he had 112 touches, 41 in his own half and 71 in the opposition’s . Chicken and egg scenario, perhaps. Did Delph’s advanced role come because of the big win or cause it? Villa’s possession in both games was roughly the 60 per cent mark, slightly more at the KC Stadium in fact. So it is what Delph did with the ball that changed. ‘Obviously when a new manager comes in the boys are eager to impress but he’s been nothing but positive,’ said Delph after the FA Cup win. ‘You can see a bit more desire and fight in the boys.’ Fighting back from injuries is what got Delph picked by Hodgson. A positive campaign last season followed by a summer of hard work in the gym paid off with a first cap against Norway. Michael Carrick is fit again for Manchester United and looked imperious against Tottenham in midfield . Jordan Henderson is ruling the roost at Liverpool and has been labelled as England's best midfielder . Hodgson knows that Delph offers something different to his other midfielders and could pick him again . He then started the important qualifier against Switzerland, emerging with great credit. He began the win in Estonia too, before dislocating his shoulder, ruling him out of the November squad. Months have passed but the midfield landscape is not too different. Michael Carrick is fit again and looked imperious against Tottenham. Jordan Henderson is ruling the roost at Liverpool. But Delph offers something different. A bit of brawn, a bit of beauty, a lot of industry. He remains collected. ‘England? If it happens, it happens, happy days.’ +Queens Park Rangers defender Steven Caulker has defended his decision to join the R's over Crystal Palace, despite being mired in a second successive relegation battle. The 23-year-old left Cardiff when they dropped out of the top flight last season, and held talks with both Palace and QPR before making the decision to move to west London. Caulker, who has played 26 times in the Premier League this season, says that Rio Ferdinand was a major factor in his decision to sign for QPR. Steven Caulker (right) believes he made the correct decision to choose Queens Park Rangers in the summer . Caulker (right, pictured battling with Tottenham's Harry Kane) turned down Crystal Palace in favour of QPR . The 23-year-old says that Rio Ferdinand was a huge influence in his decision to sign for the R's . 'There were talks with Palace, but I spoke to Rio (Ferdinand) before I came, and QPR was a club I watched growing up as a kid,' the one-time England international told GetWestLondon. 'The influence of Rio and Richard Dunne, two good centre halves, made me think I could learn from them.' Caulker will travel south of the river to face Palace on Saturday, in his first visit to Selhurst Park since opting against joining them. Chris Ramsey's side are desperate for points, having been cut three points adrift after seven losses in their last eight games. Palace, on the other hand, are in good form under Alan Pardew, and will look to continue their push towards safety with another three points. Crystal Palace are heading towards mid-table, while QPR are embroiled in a relegation scrap . Alan Pardew has come in to his old club and helped them climb up the league and towards safety . +It’s the sort of meal that might have gone down well with John the Baptist. But 21-year-old Stephen Oldham was less enthused to find a live locust crawling inside a bag of ‘ready to eat’ rocket salad he bought from a Sainsbury's store in Bath, Somerset. The university architecture student filmed the fully-grown insect before going back to the store with the unopened £1 bag, which had contents that originated in Spain. Scroll down for video . Shocking: Stephen Oldham found a live locust crawling inside a bag of ‘ready to eat’ rocket salad he bought from a Sainsbury's store in Bath, Somerset . Mr Oldham said: ‘I purchased a bag of rocket from Sainsbury's Bath and when I was unpacking my shopping noticed that there was a locust living in the bag.’ ‘The person I spoke was quite humorous about it. Sainsbury's are now handling it.’ Mr Oldham posted a video of the locust on his Facebook page last Wednesday - which has since been viewed more than 3,500 times - with the caption: 'Today my salad came with extra protein.' Similar incidents of locusts being found in supermarket salads in Britain were reported by Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Tesco customers in April, May and July of last year. 'Surprised': The architecture student Mr Oldham (left) filmed the fully-grown insect (right) before going back to the store with the unopened £1 bag, which had contents that originated in Spain . A Sainsbury's spokesman said: ‘We've apologised to Steve for this. 'Clearly it should never have happened and we have contacted him to make it up to him. ‘Our supplier has stringent checks in place on the production line and we will be looking closely at how this occurred.’ In the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, John the Baptist is said to live off locusts and wild honey. +The man accused of murdering teenager Masa Vukotic claims he threw a punch at Prime Minister Tony Abbott nearly a decade ago. Mr Abbott, who was Federal Health Minister at the time, visited the Thomas Embling Hospital in Melbourne's inner-north on February 22, 2006 when he was reportedly hit in the face by a patient. The Victorian hospital, which is located in Fairfield, provides advanced clinical treatment and programs for patients from the criminal justice or mental health systems. Before Sean Christian Price, 31, was charged with stabbing 17-year-old schoolgirl to death, he revealed to The Age that he was the patient who punched Mr Abbott nine years ago. Scroll down for video . Man accused of murdering Masa Vukotic claims he punched Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the face in 2006 . 'I hit him and he stepped back and shaped up like a boxer,' Mr Price told The Age. 'Then he dropped his hands and smiled, and said 'I've been hit harder than that on the football field'.' A spokeswoman for Mr Abbott at the time of the incident said one of the patients 'had a go at Tony' when he was visiting several mental health service providers in Melbourne. 'It was over in about three seconds. It was so not a big deal,' the spokeswoman told AAP. '(The patient) did take a swing. He did connect, but to say he punched him is overstating it. 'The quote from Tony is: 'It is a matter of complete inconsequence'.' Sean Price (centre) arrived at St Kilda Police Station in handcuffs, flanked by homicide detectives . Masa Vukotic, 17, was stabbed in daylight while walking along a path just metres from her home on Tuesday . The revelation comes after the 31-year-old fronted Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday after he was charged with murdering Masa in a Doncaster park near her home on Tuesday night. Masa was stabbed in daylight while walking along a path at Koonung Creek Linear Reserve shortly before 7pm in what police believe was a 'random attack'. Mr Price was also charged with six other offences including one count of rape, two counts of robbery and three counts of common law assault including an attempted carjacking. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Stevenage boss Graham Westley has revealed police are looking into an accusation from defender Ronnie Henry that he was bitten on the hand by Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie in their 1-0 home defeat on Saturday. Labadie served a 10-match ban and was fined £2,000 in March 2014 for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks in a League Two match while playing for Torquay - a charge which he denied. Westley claimed Henry was 'horrified' by Saturday's alleged incident which happened shortly before full-time and said: 'I think it has become a police matter and when it becomes a police matter anybody in a responsible position should let it be dealt with by the authorities. Stevenage's Ronnie Henry (in the white) accused Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie of biting him . 'So in passing comment, word is around the place that there's been an incident and the police are involved. He's (Henry) not in a good situation, he's in the treatment room and he's suffered quite a nasty injury. 'Ronnie was in a state of shock, you don't go on a football pitch expecting to lose your finger and Ronnie was horrified by what has gone on because it's a football match and he's nearly lost his finger.' The game had already threatened to boil over before Labadie and Henry's clash due to the nature of Dagenham's winning goal. Labadie was clearly offside when a long ball was played forwards in his direction yet he did not touch it, Christian Doidge took over and crossed for Dean Howell to score. But only after long consultation with his assistant did referee Dean Whitestone award the goal. Stevenage manager Graham Westley said that the alleged incident had become a 'police matter' In November 2010, Luis Suarez was handed a seven-match ban by the Dutch FA and a fine by his then-club Ajax for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal. Suarez then bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic - his second victim - and the FA charged the then-Liverpool striker with violent conduct. He received a 10-game ban and a fine from his club. Then, Suarez was found guilty of biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup. The Barcelona forward was banned from all 'football-related activities' for four months and received a nine international match suspension. Luis Suarez holds his teeth after biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . Italy defender Chiellini shows off his bite marks left by Uruguay forward Suarez . +Jeremy Menez scored twice to help beleaguered AC Milan beat Cagliari 3-1 in front of a sparse San Siro crowd on Saturday as fans responded to a request to boycott the match in protest at the club's leadership. The Curva Sud section, which usually hosts the hardcore supporters, was almost deserted while banners, written in English, read 'Game Over' and 'Insert Coin To Save AC Milan.' The Curva Sud had called on fans to stay away because the hierarchy, they say, have undermined coach Filippo Inzaghi with their rudderless leadership and confused transfer policy. Jeremy Menez (right) scored an impressive double at an empty San Siro to help AC Milan to victory . Menez put Milan ahead in the 21st minute with a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area. Diego Farias levelled for relegation candidates Cagliari two minutes after halftime but French defender Philippe Mexes volleyed Milan back in front almost immediately. Menez completed the win by converting a penalty, controversially awarded after Alessio Cerci appeared to fall under Luca Ceppitelli's sliding tackle just outside the area. AC Milan fans boycotted the game in protest over the leadership of the Serie A giants this season . The Frenchman took his tally to 15 this season, making him joint Serie A top scorer alongside Argentines Carlos Tevez of Juventus and Mauro Icardi of Inter Milan. It was only Milan's third victory since Christmas and all have been against teams in the bottom three. Milan moved up to seventh with 38 points from 28 games while Cagliari are joint 18th in the 20-team table. Earlier, Chievo eased relegation fears by beating Palermo 1-0 to climb to 15th, 11 points clear of the drop zone. The Frenchman is congratulated by on-loan Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel after his second goal . Philippe Mexes (right) fires in his goal during AC Milan's comfortable victory over Cagliari at the San Siro . +Chris Coleman believes Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti needs to resolve the 'political' feud between Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo for the sake of their season. The Wales manager is concerned that the turbulent situation at the Bernabeu may affect Bale as he tries to guide his nation to Euro 2016. Real enter Sunday's Clasico trailing La Liga leaders Barcelona by one point having surrendered a lead of their own in recent weeks. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in Real Madrid training ahead of Sunday's Clasico with Barcelona . Relations have not always been too cordial between Bale and Ronaldo this season . Wales manager Chris Coleman has urged Real boss Carlo Ancelotti to solve the 'political' feud . And even last weekend's 2-0 win over Levante was marked by Ronaldo histrionics after Bale scored on the rebound from one of his shots. Coleman told the Sunday Mirror: 'I look at it as a Ronaldo v Bale thing because that is how it is being framed by some people over there. 'There are pictures of expressions Cristiano makes if Baley does not pass. I was there at the start of the season and I can tell you, hand on heart, there was no problem between the two of them. 'Carlo Ancelotti is a manager I have been so impressed with after spending time with him. He is perfect for the situation. Ronaldo was not too pleased when Bale scored on the rebound from one of his shots against Levante . Ronaldo did eventually celebrate Bale's goal in the routine win at the Bernabeu . Real manager Carlo Ancelotti (left) keeps a close eye on Ronaldo during training this week . 'He is getting stick, too. But he will look at it and if there is a problem with Cristiano he will deal with it in-house. 'Gareth was the most expensive player and he was signed by the president. so, there's a political side to this.' Bale was signed in the summer of 2013 for a world record fee in the region of £85m, eclipsing the £80m Real paid for Ronaldo in 2009. Both players scored in the final as Real defeated Atletico Madrid to win the Champions League last season. Ronaldo, who was crowned World Player of the Year in January, has been in sensational form this season, with 41 goals and 21 assists in 39 matches. Bale has scored 16 times in 38 matches. +The majority of this weekend’s attentions are firmly placed on the two rivalry battles between Liverpool and Manchester United and Barcelona and Real Madrid. The latter especially will be full of some of the greatest players in the world all trying to create something special to give their fans a reason to cheer. But the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano will do well to match the finish of Hungarian second division footballer Birtalan Botond on Sunday. The cross comes in from a fellow teammate during the Hungarian division two game at the weekend . The ball is slightly behind Birtalan Botond so he attempts an audacious scorpion kick from outside the box . Botond makes a perfect connection which leaves the opposition back-peddling into his own net . The goalkeeper can do nothing about the effort and is left crouched over the line in his own goal . The goalkeeper and defender react to the wonder goal that had fans cheering in the Hungarian second division . Bostond is joined by his fellow teammates as he enjoys the celebrations for his wonder goal . Botond, who plays for Bekescsaba, stunned fans when he scored a volleyed scorpion kick from outside the box against Gyirmot. The stunning effort left the opposition goalkeeper back-peddling into his own net, but there was no way he was keeping it out. It was a goal fit enough to win any game, but unfortunately it only secured Botond’s side a point. +Jose Mourinho is on course to win trophy number 22 if his Chelsea side can stay at the summit of the Premier League but instead of keeping medals as a reminder of his success - he retires the watch he wore to triumph. The Blues boss has already added watch number 21 which was a, Hublot King Power Special One, this season after lifting the Capital One Cup last month. With his cabinet of watches filling up year-by-year, Mourinho knows he's just a few wins away from adding yet another timepiece to his ever growing collection. The Chelsea boss will be hoping he can put his current watch with his collection if he wins the title . He said: 'When I win titles the gifts I buy are for my wife, my daughter and my son. But I take my watch from my wrist and I keep it. Instead of medals, I keep a watch. 'When I finish a season with a trophy, that season is represented with a watch. They're in a safe box. In this moment, I have a sponsorship deal but, previously, they weren't a particular brand. 'Previously, it was just a watch that I could feel comfortable with, especially as I come from the time when not every stadium had a digital clock and even if some did they finished at 90 minutes. 'My favourite one is the last one, as I designed it with the company and the company did it for me according to my needs - to wear on the bench with the colours I want and material and size and weight. Jose Mourinho currently has 21 watches in his collection and is looking to make it 22 this season . 'I designed it with the company, it's blue, it's my watch.' Chelsea travel to Hull on Sunday with both sides needing the three points for very different reasons. Steve Bruce's side find themselves just three points above the relegation zone coming into the final leg of the Premier League season. Mourinho's side are locked in a battle for the top spot with Manchester City and with Arsenal creeping up into contention, the Blues know that they can't afford to slip up. Diego Costa (centre) will be hoping to keep his rich vein of goalscoring form going against Hull . +Jordan Henderson had never been beaten as Liverpool captain. He had won eight, drawn one, and lost none, yet Sod's law dictated that record had to be ended by their great rivals. Liverpool lacked a leader in the first half, prompting Brendan Rodgers to bring Steven Gerrard on at half-time, and Henderson handed him the armband, as per. No sooner had Gerrard put it on his left bicep than he had to give it back, as he was sent off after just 38 seconds, and his deputy led Liverpool in their first Barclays Premier League defeat of 2015. Jordan Henderson had a tough afternoon as captain as Manchester United inflicted his first defeat as skipper . Steven Gerrard receives a red card after just 38 seconds in the second half after coming off the bench . The sent off Gerrard throws the captain's armband to Henderson after being sent off early in the second half . Henderson gets the armband back after relinquishing it to Gerrard for just 38 seconds of the second half . It was in June 2012 that Henderson received criticism, namely from Joey Barton, after being selected in England's squad in place of the injured Frank Lampard. 'If Henderson got in,' Barton wrote, 'any Englishman not currently in the squad has to feel aggrieved.' Sir Alex Ferguson echoed that in 2013, writing in his book that the midfielder ran from the knees. Henderson is a different animal these days, however. Thierry Henry deems his transformation 'truly unbelievable', while England manager Roy Hodgson calls it 'meteoric'. He has grown into a leader and was preferred in the starting XI to Gerrard - the man that scored twice and celebrated by kissing the camera at Old Trafford in March 2014. Yet that authority was absent amid a dire first 45 minutes. United, with Angel di Maria on the bench, were all over the team that had not been beaten in the Premier League since December 14. By the 20th minute, Liverpool had one shot to their name - an effort from Daniel Sturridge that never troubled David de Gea. The visitors had 64.8 per cent possession, too. One-sided, to say the least. Henderson was captain of Liverpool on Sunday as they lost against their great rivals United . Daniel Sturridge (from left to right), Philippe Coutinho and captain Henderson kick off after a United goal . Henderson battles with Marouane Fellaini for the ball during Liverpool's Premier League defeat at Anfield . Henderson's heat map shows his involvement was patchy against United at Anfield on Sunday . Click here for stats, heat maps and more from Sportsmail's Match Zone service . Even by the 30th minute, goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had more touches than Henderson. It wasn't working against Louis van Gaal's quite brilliant team, and a change was needed. Liverpool had lost the four previous games in the Premier League when trailing by half-time, and Gerrard emerged from the tunnel, kitted with the captain's armband already on. His stamp on Ander Herrera meant they would be the underdogs for some 44 minutes, and Henderson could sense his unbeaten record was about to end. Liverpool, to their credit, battled like a team that had not been beaten since late 2014. Yet it was too little, too late, even after Daniel Sturridge gave them a glimpse of hope. That goal in the 69th minute was their first shot on target, but they could not find a second. Henderson, then, has become Gerrard's natural replacement, and will be required for the next three games against Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United in his absence. Liverpool captain Gerrard's stamp on Ander Herrera saw him sent off at Anfield after just 38 seconds . Gerrard gave the armband back to Henderson as he was sent off against Liverpool's great rivals United . Gerrard's heat map against United as Liverpool failed to get into the Champions League race . +Juan Mata struck twice for Manchester United as Liverpool were dealt a major blow to their top-four hopes and captain Steven Gerrard was sensationally sent off within seconds of coming on. Ander Herrera's through ball found Mata on 14 minutes for the opener as Louis van Gaal's side got off to the perfect start. Brendan Rodgers brought on the experience and leadership of his captain Gerrard for the second half, but in less than a minute he was soon walking off in disgrace after a stamp on Ander Herrera. Star man Juan Mata celebrates his spectacular second goal in Manchester United's 2-1 win over Liverpool . Mata scored a brilliant second in the 59th minute as he met Angel di Maria's chip into the box with a horizontal volley perfectly buried at the far post, giving Simon Mignolet no chance. Daniel Sturridge weighed in with an opportunistic finish that gave Liverpool hope but wasn't enough to prevent United securing a five-point gap between the rivals either side of the Champions League qualification places. Sportsmail's Chris Wheeler was at Anfield to assess all the players' performances. Phil Jones posted a picture with Mata to Twitter and said: 'Great result today! This man was unbelievable!' LIVERPOOL (4-3-4) SIMON MIGNOLET - 6.5 . Unlucky not to keep out Mata’s first goal but had absolutely no chance with the second. Brilliant penalty save from Wayne Rooney in stoppage time. Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet almost saves Mata's right-footed strike that put the Reds behind 1-0 . EMRE CAN - 6 . Had his hands full with Fellaini in the first half. Guilty of bringing down Blind for the late penalty. MARTIN SKRTEL - 6 . Coped well with Rooney on the whole. Frustration got the better of him when he was involved in a tussle with De Gea at the final whistle. Emre Can (left) dealt with Marouane Fellaini in the first half but fouled Daley Blind (right) for the penalty . MAMADOU SAKHO - 6.5 . Not always the most composed of defenders, but fought until the end and gave very little away. ADAM LALLANA - 5 . Wasted Liverpool’s best chance of the match after being on the receiving end of a crunching challenge from Jones, and replaced by Gerrard at half-time. Liverpool's Adam Lallana fails to hit the target with his side's best first-half chance at Anfield . JOE ALLEN - 5 . Gave away possession cheaply on several occasions and was booked for trying to win it back from Herrera. JORDAN HENDERSON - 6.5 . Battled to keep his side in the game after Gerrard’s red card. Unlucky not to connect with Moreno’s cross in the first half. ALBERTO MORENO - 5 . Slack pass early on set the tone for his performance. Spaniard was caught out of position when Mata fired United ahead. Liverpool's stand-in captain Jordan Henderson holds off Fellaini during a spirited midfield battle . RAHEEM STERLING - 5 . Very subdued indeed. Much was expected of the England star but he failed to deliver after De Gea saved at his feet early on. DANIEL STURRIDGE - 6.5 . Took his chance well to bring Liverpool back into the game after swinging wildly at a volley when opportunity knocked in the first half. Subdued by his standards on Sunday, Raheem Sterling is pressured by Manchester United's Ashley Young . Daniel Sturridge buries this opportunistic chance with a deflection of Jones' foot to peg one back . PHILIPPE COUTINHO - 7 . Liverpool’s best player, always pushing and probing. No surprise that the goal came from his incisive pass to Sturridge. In-form Liverpool forward Philippe Coutinho was his side's standout player and set-up Sturridge's goal . MANAGER - BRENDAN RODGERS: 5 . Has to take responsibility for the fact Liverpool simply didn’t turn up in the first half and played so cautiously. Substitutes: . Steven Gerrard (for Lallana 46, 1), Balotelli (for Moreno 65, 4) Substitutes not used: Jones, Johnson, Toure, Lambert, Lucas . Gerrard clatters into Juan Mata in a crunching tackle moments before his sending off after 38 seconds . MANCHESTER UNITED (4-1-4-1) DAVID DE GEA - 6.5 . Showed great anticipation to snuff out the danger when Liverpool threatened. Will be annoyed to have been beaten by Sturridge at his near post. ANTONIO VALENCIA - 6.5 . Another rock-solid display from the Ecuadorian who hardly put a foot wrong after a brief stumble almost let in Liverpool early on. Manchester United keeper David de Gea saves at the feet of Sterling as he snuffs out another Liverpool attack . CHRIS SMALLING - 6.5 . One of his stronger performances. Mature and composed. The England defender even got forward on occasions. PHIL JONES - 6 . Floored Lallana with a full-blooded challenge in the first half and was fortunate to only get a yellow card for a wild tackle on Henderson in the second. DALEY BLIND - 7 . Made a couple of fine interception tackles early in the game and rarely looked troubled after that. Won the late penalty. United defender Phil Jones is lucky to only be booked after this reckless challenge on Henderson . Antonio Valencia protects the ball from Lallana as United hold out a late Liverpool resurgence . MICHAEL CARRICK - 6.5 . Kept United ticking over from the base of midfield but was guilty of being caught in possession for Liverpool’s goal. JUAN MATA - 8 . What a day for the little Spaniard. He produced a composed finish to put United ahead and a spectacular one for the decisive second goal. Man-of-the-match Juan Mata spectacularly volleys from a horizontal position for what would be the winner . ANDER HERRERA - 7 . Wonderful defence-splitting pass to set up the first goal. Another impressive display but booked over the incident that saw Gerrard sent off. MAROUANE FELLAINI - 7 . Did what he does best, getting on the end of long balls and scrapping for everything. Particularly effective in the first half. Marouane Fellaini towers over Liverpool's Joe Allen as the Belgian scraps for everything for United . ASHLEY YOUNG 5.5 . A peripheral figure on the left and replaced by Di Maria less than 10 minutes into the second half. WAYNE ROONEY 6 . Anfield has never been his happiest hunting ground and was a little disappointing again, seeing his injury-time penalty saved. Wayne Rooney was a little disappointing again at Anfield and had his penalty saved late on by Mignolet . MANAGER - LOUIS VAN GAAL: 7 . The Dutchman will remember his first game in charge at Anfield fondly. It could prove pivotal in qualifying for the Champions League. Substitutes: Rojo (for Blind 90+4), Di Maria (for Young 55, 7), Falcao (for Herrera 83, 6.5) Substitutes not used: Valdes, Rafael, Januzaj, Pereira . Referee: Martin Atkinson 7 . Got the big decisions right, sending off Steven Gerrard and awarding United a late penalty. Star man: Juan Mata . Referee Martin Atkinson got the big decisions right, including the dramatic sending off of Gerrard . +Kell Brook has revealed he thought he was 'never going to walk again' after he was almost stabbed to death during a holiday in Tenerife. The Sheffield-born boxer needed life-saving surgery after his thighs were sliced open by a fellow Brit he had met in a bar hours before the attack. Brook will step back into the ring on Saturday, just six months after the traumatic event back in September 2014, when he goes toe-to-toe with Jo Jo Dan. Kell Brook will return to the ring on Saturday, six months after he was stabbed during a holiday in Tenerife . Brook, pictured in September, thought he was 'never going to walk again' following the attack . The world welterweight champion, speaking of his upcoming comeback, told the Independent on Sunday: 'I thought I might never walk again, let alone box. 'But thanks to those guys [the physio team at Sheffield United] I am great, very fit and healthy. My leg is bang on fine.' The 28-year-old said he feared for his life after the incident and his life was 'flashing in front of' him as his leg was pouring with blood after the frenzied attack. He added: 'The attack was unprovoked. One minute we were chatting, the next I was being macheted up. There was blood squirting out of my leg. 'I could see death, my life flashing in front of me. He stood over me shouting and swearing and I scrambled away. 'All I remember is thinking about my daughter and that I needed to get away from this; there was so much blood, I was covered in it. I really feared for my life.' The 28-year-old boxer will be hoping to extend his unbeaten run when he takes on Jo Jo Dan . +Italy boss Antonio Conte has suggested that he was Manchester United's prime target last year before they appointed Louis van Gaal as their new manager. The Red Devils were in search of a new man in the Old Trafford hotseat following the ill-fated reign of David Moyes and then Ryan Giggs' short stint as caretaker manager until the end of the season, once the former was sacked in April. Both Conte and Van Gaal were available to work elsewhere ahead of this campaign as the duo left Juventus and Holland respectively. Antonio Conte has suggested that Manchester United were keen for him to become their manager last year . Conte has hinted he was their prime target before the appointment of current Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal . 'The English team that looked for me ended up signing the Coach of a national team,' Conte told TV show Grand Hotel Chiambretti. 'But my challenge with the national team is personal. Becoming a Coach where usually the job is to select players, it is inspiring.' The 45-year-old subsequently was appointed the manager of his national side in August - where he has led Italy to five wins and one defeat in his first six games in charge. Conte (centre) has led Italy to five wins and one defeat in his first six games in charge of the Azzurri . +The Clasico will never be quite the same after Sunday night. Amid the flying challenges, the overload of passions, the bickering and the bad blood one man has kept his head while all those around him have been losing theirs – Xavi Hernandez. But after 750 games for Barcelona it looks almost certain that after what will be his final Barcelona vs Real Madrid on Sunday the World Cup winner and brain of the greatest Barca in history will confirm he is off at the end of the season to play in Qatar. Xavi has a contract until 2016 but could now play for Al-Sadd next season instead of the club he grew up supporting as a boy. The Al-Sadd offer includes a coaching role at Qatar’s Aspire Academy with the aim of playing a part in bringing through a bright generation of Qatar internationals. Xavi is approaching the end of his contract at Barcelona and will consider his future at the end of the season . The 34-year-old midfielder has been offered a coaching role with Qatar's Aspire Academy . However, newly formed MLS side New York City FC have also expressed an interest in signing the player . The football world has always speculated over how good Xavi would be as a coach and these could be his first steps in finding out. The director of the Aspire academy is former Spanish goalkeeper Roberto Olabe and Xavi, who has experience in organizing training camps in Spain, would work alongside him as well as continuing with his playing career. He also has an offer from Manchester City's New York franchise on the table and looks set to announce his decision after the Sunday's game. If Xavi plays a part in Sunday’s showdown it will be his 29th La Liga Clasico. He has 12 wins, seven draws and nine defeats in that time scoring four goals. He pulled the strings in midfield when Barcelona regularly got the better of Real Madrid both before and after the arrival of Jose Mourinho. He played in perhaps the greatest Clasico for Barcleona when they beat Real Madrid 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2008. And he was the epicenter of another devastating Barcelona display two years later when Mourinho lost his first Barca v Madrid 5-0 at the Nou Camp. It was during the Mourinho era that tensions between the two clubs really came to a head and as the captain and long time friend of Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas the two came together in reconciliation after a phone call from the goalkeeper to the midfielder that was not well received by Mourinho. Xavi celebrates after scoring one of his four career Clasico goals against at the Nou Camp in 2010 . Xavi's Barca team-mates swamp the passing maestro after his goal against Real Madrid . It was a lofted goal over Casillas's head in a Clasico in 2004 that was perhaps Xavi’s best individual moment from all his meetings with Real Madrid. That game was also his now boss Luis Enrique’s last Clasico. He was brought on in the second half at the Bernabeu with Real Madrid leading 1-0 and it was Xavi’s goal that won it for Barcelona four minutes from time from a move that he had started by playing a pass to Ronaldinho. When the Brazilian clipped it over the top of Real’s defence Xavi finished past his pal and Barca took the spoils. Regardless of who wins on Sunday, football will lose because, with an estimated television audience of 400m Xavi’s poise and perfect passing will be seen in the Clasico for the last time. +Jamie Carragher has hailed the impact of Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who put a first-half error behind him to help the Blues to victory against Hull City. Chelsea went 2-0 up through Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, but Hull pulled level after Courtois gifted possession to Abel Hernandez just before the half-hour mark. And Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports after the game, thinks that despite his error, there are few goalkeepers as good as the Chelsea man. Thibaut Courtois made an error in the first half to gift Hull their equalising goal against Chelsea . Courtois gave away possession under pressure from Gaston Ramirez to allow Abel Hernandez to score . 'He had a bit of a mix-up in the first half,' the Sportsmail pundit said. 'He's a world class goalkeeper to keep Petr Cech out and what he did last year for Atletico Madrid, getting to the Champions League final. 'He's a fantastic keeper and he's going to be one of the world's best for a decade or so.' Speaking alongside Carragher was former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who was in agreement at Courtois' excellent game despite the high-profile error. 'Before the mistake, he made a couple of saves that kept Chelsea in the game,' Henry noted. 'But it's not about the mistake, it's about how you respond, and he responded well in the second half.' Chelsea's 3-2 win took them back to winning ways after a draw against Southampton last time out, and restored their six-point gap ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Jamie Carragher (left) and Thierry Henry hailed Courtois' impact in the second half to save Chelsea . Courtois made a string of saves, including three in quick succession, to help Jose Mourinho's side to victory . Their win at Hull was far from convincing, but according to Henry, getting three points in the manner Chelsea did is a mark of their winning mentality. 'Big teams will do that to you,' he said. 'Three attempts on target, three goals. It sounds simple, but that's what Chelsea are about. 'Hull were unlucky in the second half on a couple of occasions, but that's what a big team does to you. They come here, they don't really perform well, they find themselves in a difficult situation, and they managed.' One negative for Mourinho will be the injury to Diego Costa, which forced him off with 15 minutes to play holding his hamstring. Carragher thinks Courtois (pictured) will be one of the world's best goalkeepers for a decade . Carragher and Henry also believe that Chelsea's title hopes will remain successful, even without Diego Costa . Chelsea's strike force is such that Costa's absence is unlikely to be a devastating blow, and the presence of Remy in the latter stages actually forced a winner for the league leaders. 'It looks like a hamstring injury and we know his history from the Champions League final,' Carragher said of Costa. 'If it is a hamstring injury, if Remy has to come in, he's come on there [against Hull] and he's made a difference. 'He scored in the Manchester City game as well. He's not what you'd call top level, he hasn't played that much, we know Jose just likes to play the same players. He's not at Costa's level, but he's enough to go up front and take them to the title. 'They've got that gap now, if they miss him for two or three games - depending on how bad the injury is - I think they'll be fine.' +Chelsea took another giant step towards the Premier League title by seeing odd a determined effort from Hull City at the KC Stadium. Jose Mourinho's men saw their 2-0 lead wiped out by Steve Bruce's side, but Loic Remy's winner moved the Blues six points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand. Here's how Sportsmail's NEIL ASHTON rated the players at the KC Stadium: . Loic Remy came off the bench to score the winner for Chelsea in their victory at Hull . HULL CITY . ALLAN McGREGOR - 5.5 . The Hull goalkeeper had little chance with Chelsea's goals. MICHAEL DAWSON - 6.5 . He had a jittery opening but improved after the change in formation. Hull City defender Michael Dawson tries to charge down a shot from Diego Costa . ALEX BRUCE - 6 . Once he got to grips with Diego Costa he got better. PAUL McSHANE - 6.5 . An early switch to right back spared him. AHMED ELMOHAMADY - 7.5 . Scored a very nice goal and is one of the Premier League’s biggest secrets. Ahmed Elmohamady scores Hull's first goal in the 26th minute to bring them back into the game . GASTON RAMIREZ - 6.5 . The 24-year-old Uruguayan was diligent and energetic before he was eventually substituted. JAKE LIVERMORE - 6 . He seemed to be taken by surprise with pace of game but eventually improved. DAVID MEYLER - 6 . Always put his body on the line. A decent enough performance. Hull City midfielder David Meyler challenges Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic . ANDY ROBERTSON - 6.5 . He made a good run down the left for Elmohamady's goal. DAME N’DOYE - 6.5 . Provided a threat to the Chelsea defence, particularly in first half. ABEL HERNANDEZ - 7 . The 24-year-old striker was denied by Thibaut Courtois once, but not twice. Abel Hernandez celebrates after scoring Hull's equaliser at the KC Stadium . SUBSTITUTES - Stephen Quinn - 6 (Meyler 80): Hull were stretched to limit by time he came on. Sone Aluko - 6 (Robertson 81): Tough for him to get a chance once Chelsea tightened up. Robbie Brady -6 (Ramirez 80): Came on as a last throw of the dice. NOT USED: Stephen Harper, Liam Rosenior, Curtis Davies, Yannick Sagbo. MANAGER - STEVE BRUCE: 6.5 - A tactical switch at 2-0 down brought Hull back in to it. CHELSEA . THIBAUT COURTOIS - 6.5 . The Belgian thought he was 'sweeper keeper' Manuel Neuer for Hernandez's equaliser - he isn’t. A triple save spared Chelsea. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois rises high to claim the ball as Dawson tries to win a header for Hull . BRANISLAV IVANOVIC - 6.5 . An awful backpass that led to Hernandez's goal, but the Serbian was better in the second half. GARY CAHILL - 6.5 . A sky high punt towards end of first half said it all, but he was much more composed in the second half. JOHN TERRY - 6.5 . The Chelsea captain lost composure and his usual excellent organisation in a mad five minutes. Chelsea captain John Terry celebrates a victory that moved his team a step closer to winning the league . FILIPE LUIS - 6 . The Brazilian full-back was terrorised throughout by Elmohamady. RAMIRES - 5 . He was awful and substituted. Bring back the old Ramires. Ramires, pictured being tackled by Andrew Robertson, had a day to forget and was substituted . NEMANJA MATIC - 5 . He used to boss the midfield, but is  now being bossed. WILLIAN - 6 . He made a couple of decent touches and put in some hard work, but seriously, is that it? CESC FABREGAS - 7 . Credit to this guy because he never stops running and was hugely influential in the second half. Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas tires to win a header against Hull's Meyler . EDEN HAZARD - 7.5 . A magnificent strike after less than two minutes to give Chelsea the lead. DIEGO COSTA - 6.5 . A sweet strike to put Chelsea 2-0 up before he was substituted with a leg injury. Diego Costa was on the score sheet before he was forced off injured in the second half . SUBSTITUTES: Oscar - 6 (Ramires 61): A change that had to happen, although Oscar is out of touch too. Loic Remy - 7.5 (Costa 75): What an impact, he scored with his first touch. Remy came off the bench to score past Allan McGregor in the 77th minute to secure a Chelsea win . Kurt Zouma - 6.5 (Willian 80) Defensive substitution to tighten it up. NOT USED: Petr Cech, Juan Cuadrado, Cesar Azpilucueta, Ruben Loftus-Cheek. MANAGER - JOSE MOURINHO: 6.5 - An enforced substitution dragged him out of a hole. REFEREE - MICHAEL OLIVER: 7 - Looked like he had forgotten his cards, but did a decent job. MAN OF THE MATCH: HAZARD. +They say you should let sleeping dogs lie - advice that one driver in China paid the price for ignoring. He drove back to his home in Chongqing to find a stray dog lying in his favourite parking spot, so he got out and kicked it. However, as far as the dog was concerned, that was not the end of the matter. A driver in China had his car attacked by a stray dog he'd kicked the previous day . Ruff justice: The dog that was kicked brought reinforcements . It returned later on with some of its pals and proceeded to exact its revenge by chewing the bodywork and windscreen wipers of the car belonging to his attacker. The vandalism was photographed by a startled neighbour, who showed the driver the next morning the evidence that a series of dents and marks on his car were caused by a pack of hounds. Stray dogs in China are sometimes grabbed off the street and thrown into dog fights. China has no animal cruelty laws, and a person who damages a dog or another animal can only be prosecuted for damaging property if the animal belongs to somebody. The vandalism was photographed by a startled neighbour, who showed the driver the next morning the evidence that a series of dents and marks on his car were caused by a pack of hounds . The dogs attacked the bodywork and the windscreen wipers . +Monsoon-like conditions forced the abandonment of Sunday's A-League match between the Brisbane Roar and Wellington Phoenix - a decision that could have implications on the title race. After torrential rain had left the Lang Park pitch covered in large puddles, making even short passes difficult, referee Alan Milliner decided to bring things to a premature conclusion on 73 minutes. League leaders Phoenix were leading 2-1 at the time and move four points clear at the top of the table because the result was allowed to stand. Brisbane Roar's Andrija Kaluderovic and Wellington's Andrew Durrante struggle in atrocious conditions as torrential rain left the Lang Park pitch unplayable and forced an abandonment after 73 minutes . Luke Brattan takes a tumble to the waterlogged surface under pressure from Wellington's Vince Lia . Referee Alan Milliner explains his decision to abandon the contest to Roar player Matt McKay . The officials explain their decision to call off the game with 17 minutes remaining . But Roar coach Frans Thijssen reacted angrily to the decision to call off the match despite the wild weather turning proceedings into a farce. Brisbane are in contention for the play-offs and Thijssen criticised the rule that states a replay is required if the match is abandoned before half-time but the result stands if it ends after the break. He said: 'Of course I'm disappointed because this is a crazy end. 'I've never seen this, because the choice is replay if it happens in the first-half, they're the normal rules, and if it happens in the second-half you have to play the second-half again. Brisbane Roar players protest the referee's decision, having been 2-1 down at the time . Brisbane's Andrija Kaluderovic attempts to get a shot away on the deteriorating surface . Wellington's Alex Rodriguez (left) and Brisbane's Corey Brown splash through the puddles . 'We all want an honest competition and Adelaide and Perth, they're not happy with this because they are in a competition to be champions. 'And we're in a competition to be in the play-offs, so of course it's disappointing. 'When we had a free-kick in a dangerous position where we could score, they just call off the game and they give three points to one team and no points to the other team, that's not an honest competition.' Brisbane led after five minutes through Andrija Kaluderovic before Michael McGlinchey equalised for the visitors 10 minutes later. Then, moments before the half-time whistle, Australia international Nathan Burns pounced to put Wellington ahead. They are now four points ahead of Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC and Perth Glory, who are all tied on 38 points in second place. Wellington's Australian international Nathan Burns had fired his side into the lead shortly before half-time . Michael McGlinchey (second left) of the Phoenix celebrates with his team-mates after scoring the leveller . Andrija Kaluderovic (left) had given play-off chasing Brisbane an early advantage at Lang Park . How the A-League standings look after the weekend's action . +Police have launched an investigation into alleged homophobic remarks on Twitter which were directed towards rugby referee Nigel Owens, they said. The comments were posted after he refereed the England v France international at Twickenham on Saturday, Dyfed-Powys Police said. Referee Nigel Owens looks at the scoreboard prior to awarding the try scored by Anthony Watson . Owens awards England's second try during the RBS Six Nations match against France at Twickenham . The force said in a statement: 'This follows a number of complaints made by members of the public. The tweet concerned has now been removed from the page. The investigation is at an early stage.' England scored seven tries in beating France 55-35 in a dramatic contest, but were unable to overturn a pre-match 26-point deficit as Ireland clinched the RBS 6 Nations title on points difference. Owens speaks to Chris Robshaw and Thierry Dusautoir during the RBS Six Nations match at Twickenham . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Steven Gerrard's stunning red card during the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United was a 'moment of madness' borne out of 'frustration', according to former Liverpool team-mate Jamie Carragher. Gerrard was sensationally sent off within 38 seconds of coming on the pitch at Anfield, after stamping on Manchester United's Ander Herrera. Brendan Rodgers left out Gerrard from the starting line-up but came on at the start of the second-half to rally the troops, however soon found himself walking back to the stands. Steven Gerrard is shown the red card by referee Martin Atkinson after just 38 seconds of the second-half . Gerrard can't believe it after being sent off for a reckless stamp on United's Ander Herrera at Anfield . Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard spoke to Sky Sports after the match to apologise to team-mates and fans . 'There's no doubt that not playing at Swansea (in Liverpool's last game) and then not playing this game would be a frustration,' Carragher told Sky Sports. 'He's been at Liverpool 17, 18 years, he's always been the man, the captain, there's never been a case where he's been out of the team and as soon as he's fit he goes straight back in the team. 'This is the first time I think, last week at Swansea and today, that hasn't happened, so there'll be frustration there. 'Watching the first half from the bench he'd have been disappointed, Liverpool weren't playing well, they were losing 1-0. Juan Mata (top) was on the receiving end of Gerrard's first robust challenge after coming onto the pitch . Here is the stamp from Gerrard on Herrera after both players had competed for the ball . 'But there would have been more frustration. I think he'd have been watching players in his position performing not great and thinking, 'Why am I not playing, why am I not on that pitch?' Carragher and his Sky Sports colleagues called for Gerrard to enter the fray at half-time and maintained it was the right call when he replaced Adam Lallana. 'Steven Gerrard is an emotional player. You see that in his career and it's taken teams I've played in into some unbelievable moments. 'Sometimes he hasn't played with his brain in terms of when he's done well, it's been his heart - the (FA) Cup final against West Ham, Istanbul (the Champions League final). That wasn't Steven Gerrard playing with a cold, calculated head, that was just playing from the heart. He can do special things like that,' added Carragher. Gerrard clearly puts all his downwards force into Herrera's right leg after the pair collided . Gerrard flings back the captain's armband towards his team-mates having been sent off at Anfield . A evidently devastated Steven Gerrard leaves the pitch after just 38 seconds having been sent off . 'But on the flip side of that, when he plays in games like this and he comes on maybe a bit frustrated - he's had seven red cards in his career, four of them have been Everton and Manchester United, two each now. An Everton one was coming off the bench, an Everton one was 15, 20 minutes into a game. I think the United other one was an FA Cup game in the first half and if I think right they were all straight reds. 'There's no doubt being a local player, the emotion of these occasions, the frustration coming into this game, has contributed to the moment of madness.' He added: 'It's a straight red there's no arguments with that. You can't do that on a football pitch, he's been rightly given his marching orders. Gerrard has scored the most goals in the history of Liverpool's matches against Manchester United . The 34-year-old has played 34 times against Manchester United during his prestigious career at Anfield . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers felt Gerrard could have been frustrated by his side's first-half show and acted accordingly. 'Steven gave an apology to the players and himself, it was probably frustration, he's an honest guy, very competitive and probably frustrated at the first half watching us,' he told Sky Sports. 'He's come on and unfortunately got sent off.' Asked if he accepted his captain's apology, Rodgers said: 'Yeah, he knows as well as anyone it's difficult to play big games with 10 men. He's a wonderful character.' Ahead of kick-off Carragher admitted he was not surprised by Brendan Rodgers' decision to name Steven Gerrard on the bench for Liverpool's crunch clash against Manchester United. A stunned Gerrard walks off the Anfield pitch having been shown a straight red card for a stamp on Herrera . Gerrard, who faced rivals United for the last time in a Liverpool shirt, had to make do with a place on the bench as Rodgers decided to go for a central midfield duo of Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen. And Carragher felt it was the right decision. Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of the Anfield battle, the former Liverpool defender said: 'No I'm not surprised. 'He's only played 20 minutes against Swansea recently because he's been injured. 'Is Steven Gerrard a better player than Joe Allen? Yes. But for Brendan Rodgers we've got to remember than Gerrard is leaving in the summer and Allen will be here next season. So although Rodgers is aiming for the top four that certainly comes into it. +Luis Suarez should have no concerns about returning to Anfield, and should expect a warm welcome from the fans according to Brendan Rodgers. The former Liverpool striker has agreed to take part in a charity match at his old stomping ground on March 29, which will also feature club captain Steven Gerrard and retired former vice-captain Jamie Carragher, who will captain the sides. 'It'll be great. We've kept in contact since he's been away. He's a top-class player. He loved his time here at Liverpool. He always wanted to come back,' said Rodgers. Luis Suarez is going to return to Liverpool on March 29 for a charity game following his move to Barcelona . Suarez will be joined by current club captain Steven Gerrard who leaves for the MLS at the end of the season . Jamie Carragher will captain one of the teams in the match organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation . 'He's got [commitments] internationally but he's making every effort off his own bat to come back. It'll be brilliant to see him and great for the supporters.' Suarez left the Merseyside club under a dark cloud, having been banned for four months after biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at last summer's World Cup in Brazil. As his switch to Barcelona was confirmed during the close season, the 2014 PFA Player's Player of the Year was unable to say farewell to his adoring fans at Anfield following a season that saw him eventually net an impressive 31 Premier League goals. However the Uruguay international will hope to get that chance later this month in the fixture organised by the Liverpool FC Foundation, depending on his international duties. Suarez left the Reds for Barcelona in the summer after a season that saw him score a total of 31 league goals . The Uruguay international left on somewhat unconventional terms during his ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini . The striker scored a brace on his return to England in Barca's Champions League win over Manchester City . 'He loved Liverpool while he was here. He's gone to another country, but he's certainly adored here. The supporters loved having him here. 'Every time he stepped on to a training pitch, he gave everything. He'll probably want to win this game as well.' The Reds host Blackburn in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday, and Rodgers has his eyes set firmly on the prize. 'We want to make the top four and win a trophy. The objective is clear: To arrive as high as we can, not just fourth, and to win a trophy. If we can do that, then that will be success.' +This is the incredible moment a man trapped under a 13-tonne bus was rescued by a group of more than 20 passengers and onlookers. Chang Suibin was knocked down by the bus in China's Henan province on Friday and became stuck with his hip underneath the front right wheel of the bus. Passengers on the bus, pedestrians at the traffic lights and onlookers then all grouped together to lift the bus so the man could be pulled free in under three minutes. More than 20 passengers and onlookers grouped together to rescue a man trapped under a bus . Chang Suibin was knocked down by the bus in China's Henan province on Friday and then became stuck with his hip underneath the front right . He was taken to a nearby hospital with a pelvic fracture and is currently receiving further treatment. 'My sincere thanks to everybody, to the friends, to the kindhearted people of Zhengzhou.... Good people can be found everywhere in our society,' said Mr Suibin. Local traffic police officer Tang Xiaoqi was reportedly first on the scene and waved for people to help the rescue effort. He said: 'People nearby, passengers from the bus and pedestrians waiting at the traffic lights by this intersection all came together to lift the bus. We failed at first, but then more people joined in - some lifting and some pulling the victim - and eventually we got him out.' A police officer was first on the scene and encouraged pedestrians to come and help lift the bus . He was taken to a nearby hospital with a pelvic fracture and is currently receiving further treatment . Mr Suibin said: 'My sincere thanks to everybody, to the friends, to the kindhearted people of Zhengzhou.... Good people can be found everywhere in our society' A police officer on the scene said that the man was rescued by the group after about three minutes . +A broken neck would have put paid to most men's hopes of achieving anything in life, but instead it drove Warrick Brant on to becoming Australia's strongest man. Warrick, whose sister Lauren appeared in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here earlier this month, suffered the traumatic accident playing rugby union when he was only 20 years old. The future had initially looked bright for the young prop who presented Australia at under-19 and under-21 level in 1998 and 1999. But after playing a year professionally in England for Bedford, disaster struck when he returned to Australia and broke his neck in pre-season scrum training with the Queensland Reds. Scroll down for video . Australia's strongest man Warrick Brant overcame a broken neck to fulfil his dreams . Warrick meets the world's most famous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. He met the action star at the Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, Ohio, a fortnight ago . Pulling a large truck is much easier than it seems according to Warrick . It could not have come at a worse time as the following weekend he was due to train with the Australian national front-row training squad in Canberra. ‘It happened at scrum training. It was just one of those things – an unfortunate training accident,’ he told Daily Mail Australia. ‘I was in hospital for about a month and had two surgeries. I was in a neck brace for six months.’ The road to recovery was a long one. Just being able to drive his car again was a big ask, but it could have been worse. Fed up with bodybuilding he began competing in strongman events to better utilise his training . Warrick competes in the World's Strongest Man competition in Los Angeles last year. In this event he had to pull two trucks -the blue and maroon one behind are tied together - along a strip of road. Warrick holds his sister Lauren above his head at an event to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation in Brisbane. Lauren recently appeared in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here . ‘When I first got injured I could not use my right arm at all because I’d lost all my feeling in it. I couldn’t even eat my dinner; I had to use my left hand all the time. It was a pretty tough time,’ he explained. The physical suffering he endured though was nothing compared to the mental anguish he went through at the time. ‘It’s not just the loss of a sport that you’ve loved all your life, but it’s the loss of a potential income as well,' Warrick told Daily Mail Australia. 'Professional rugby was thriving, especially in England, and I thought I was set for life. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. In this event at the World's Strongest Man competition in Los Angeles last year Warrick has to throw kegs of different weights over a bar five metres in the air . ‘I don’t think I’ve ever got over it. I wouldn’t say I’m bitter but I’m still disappointed. I’m now working flat out and struggling to pay bills, which is the complete opposite to what I would have had if I’d been a professional rugby player. ‘But I have to remind myself that it could have been much worse and I may not have been able to even walk, so I have to constantly remember that.’ Contact sport was now out for Warrick. He soon put on a huge amount of weight and didn’t know what to do with himself until a friend came up with an idea – why not try bodybuilding? After moving into powerlifting in 2005 he set an Australian record in the discipline . ‘I had become depressed and was eating everything in sight. My weight ballooned,’ he said. ‘But my friend got me back in the gym training again and a year later persuaded me to get on stage and compete in the Queensland Bodybuilding Championships. ‘It was the best thing I could have done and my confidence started coming back.’ But after a year of this Warrick realised that what he enjoyed was the strength side of training rather than the appearance. The Atlas Stones is one of strongman's signature events. Here Warrick raises one off the floor. The stones range in weight from 140-200 kilos. Instead of showing people his toned body he wanted to show them how strong he was. He did this by lifting massive weights in the gym to start with, before moving into powerlifting where in 2005 he set an Australian record in the discipline. It was a simple transition after that to start competing in strongman competitions. ‘I always watched them on TV growing up. It was great to watch because they were big and strong, but they were also amazing athletes,’ Warrick said. The fact that competitors were great athletes as well as being immensely strong was what attracted Warrick to taking part in the events . Warrick first competed in America’s Strongest Man in 2008 and 2009. The rest as they say is history. Last year he won the Southern Hemisphere’s Strongest Man title in Melbourne and Australia’s Strongest Man crown. He is also the only Australian to make the final of the World’s Strongest Man competition. Unfortunately a muscle tear will rule him out of the 36th year of the World’s Strongest Man competition later this month in Malaysia, but he has nothing to prove at this stage. He has pulled and lifted airplanes, trucks and buses over the years. But it's apparently easier than it sounds. Warrick puts much of his success down to his wife Bethany who also acts as his nutritionist and physiotherapist . ‘You can’t really train for it. You can’t go up to an airport and asked them to pull one of their planes. But funnily enough it’s not the hardest thing to do,’ he told Daily Mail Australia. ‘It’s more like conditioning work. It’s like doing a high-rep squats session where you just keep your legs moving. It may look spectacular but in reality it isn’t.’ Not that being Australia’s Strongest Man makes him the most famous person in his family. His sister Lauren was a member of the Australian pop group Hi-5 and recently appeared on television in I’m A Celebrity Get me Out Of Here. Lauren Brant (left) keeps in shape by working out regularly in her brother's gym at the Gold Coast . Warrick's daughter Indiana was born seven weeks premature in December, but is now healthy and happy . Feeling the strain: A muscle tear has ruled Warrick out of the 36th World’s Strongest Man competition in Maylaysia . His well known sister trains at the gym Warrick runs in the Gold Coast. Generally she does her workouts with her fiancée Warren. ‘Lauren trains at my gym every day and is into general fitness. She trains there with Warren regularly. All my family is into sport in some way or another. We’ve got a very athletic background,’ he told Daily Mail Australia. The 35-year-old trains four times a week for three hours each session doing a variety of weights regimes that will depend on the kind of strongman competition he'll be competing in. Generally he weighs in at between 145-150 kilos. Warrick attributes much of his success to his wife Bethany who is a former bodybuilder too. She has travelled with him to strongman competitions across the globe. ‘She acts as my trainer, my nutritionist, and my physiotherapist. She always makes sure I’m in perfect condition for every event,’ he said. Warrick's story proves that with dedication and perseverance you can still achieve your goals . The couple had their first baby, a girl called Indiana, in December. And it sounds like she also has her father’s fighting spirit. ‘She was born premature and arrived seven weeks early. She was three weeks in hospital in the Intensive Care Unit, but she’s all healthy now and doing well,’ Warrick said. +Devon Still shared some amazing news about his daughter Leah on Tuesday. The Cincinnati Bengals star wrote that 4-year-old Leah, who has been bravely battling stage 4 Neuroblastoma for the past year, may finally be free of the disease. 'That moment you get the best news you've ever received and don't know what to do so you just flex!!' wrote Still on his Instagram page. 'We got Leah's MIBG Scans back tonight and the doctors told us they didn't see any active disease in her body!!!' Scroll down for video . Cincinnati Bengals star Devon Still shared the heartwarming news on Tuesday that his daughter Leah (above) may be cancer free . Leah has been been battling stage 4 Neuroblastoma since last June, and captured the hearts of millions as she fights the disease . Still shared the news of his Twitter and Instagram . He went on to say; 'We still have to wait for her MRI and bone biopsy results later this week. But the doctors feel very optimistic about them because of the results from today. So for now we celebrate!!' Leah's journey has been followed by millions since she first began receiving treatment last June at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In September she had a tumor removed from her abdomen, and last month received what could be her final round of chemotherapy. She has also stayed remarkably active, walking in the Levi's Kids fashion show during New York Fashion Week in February and appearing in a music video for the song Truly Brave, a mashup of the Sara Bareilles song Brave and the Cyndi Lauper classic True Colors that was commissioned by Today anchor Hoda Kotb to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. In addition, she and her father have written a children's book to help other kids that are going through cancer treatment. Leah and her dad have also written a book that aims to help children who are battling the disease . The Bengals kept Still on their practice squad during the preseason so he could spend time with his daughter and receive their medical insurance . Leah's MBIG scans showed no active disease in her body, though the family is still waiting on an MRI and bone biopsy results . Last November, the Bengals presented a check for $1.3million to the Children's Hospital in Cincinnati for pediatric cancer treatment and research, money raised from the sale of Still jerseys. The team also honored Leah during a ceremony as well, and for the first time ever the young girl was actually able to attend a game since she had begun her treatment - and see her father play. The Bengals also helped Still and his daughter by excusing him from offseason activities so he could spend time with her in Philadelphia. And they kept him on the practice squad to start the season even though he was hurt so that he'd keep his medical coverage. +Super Saturday certainly lived up to its name as the final three games of the RBS 6 Nations served up a veritable try-fest in Rome, Edinburgh and London. Wales and England’s efforts proved in vain as Ireland claimed their second title in succession thanks to their 30-point drubbing of Scotland in Murrayfield. Following a frantic finale, Sportsmail’s Rory Keane points out six things we learned from this year’s championship. Ireland's players celebrate with the Six Nations trophy at Murrayfield after being crowned champions . Attitude is everything . After four rounds of claustrophobic, defence-orientated rugby – the floodgates opened up on the final day of the 2015 RBS 6 Nations. Plenty has been said in recent weeks about the state of the modern game. Kick-chasing, rush defences and negative tactics have led to some turgid contests in this season’s tournament. Tries and big points totals were the order of the day on Saturday, however, and what a difference it made to all three contests as Wales, Ireland and England threw everything into their late title bids. Running rugby, offloads and daring play were on display across Europe as Ireland did enough to claim the trophy. The game doesn’t need to change; it’s just a question of mindset. Ben Youngs goes over the line to give England an early lead in their Six Nations clash with France . England have the firepower to match anyone on their day . England relied on their forward power to dig themselves out of a hole against Wales in the opening round, but it was the backs who rescued the contest against France…and almost secured the championship. In a frantic game of rugby played at breakneck speed - the likes of Ben Youngs, Jonathan Joseph and Jack Nowell tore the French defence to shreds. George Ford, aged just 22, looks the real deal at fly half and is developing a world class half back pairing with Youngs. All Ford needs now is a foil at inside centre to add width and a kicking option to England’s attack. Exeter Chiefs playmaker Henry Slade could very well be the answer to that conundrum. Stuart Lancaster’s side are by no means the finished article but if they can fuse their monstrous pack, efficient set-piece and exciting wide men together, they could be serious contenders for the William Webb Ellis trophy. England's Jack Nowell dives over the line to score Stuart Lancaster's side's second try . France remain an enigma locked in a riddle . Phillipe Saint-Andre has overseen another disappointing tournament for Les Bleus, but his side showed at Twickenham that they can certainly play when the mood takes them. Following four rounds of stuttering attacking play, Scott Spedding, Maxime Mermoz and Noa Nakaitaci ran amok at Twickenham. Sweeping backline moves, offloads and counter-attacking ballast; where was this French team hiding? A special mention for monstrous loosehead prop Vincent Debaty who tracked Nakaitaci’s weaving run to touch down in the left corner. It summed up France’s attitude on the day. Interestingly, France arrived in London boasting the meanest defence in the tournament only to then leak a flurry of tries. France remain an enigma, but one thing is certain, Saint-Andre has plenty of work to do if his side are to make any impression when they return to England for the big one in September. Noa Nakaitaci touches down for France at Twickenham to score a controversial try . The Green Machine will be hard to stop . Ireland bounced back from their setback against Wales with a powerful performance against the Scots. Joe Schmidt’s side went back to basics with their intelligent kicking game complemented by a strong set-piece and canny power plays. But Ireland also showed thay can attack with ball in hand and expanded their game to allow the attacking talents of Robbie Henshaw, Jared Payne and Tommy Bowe to flourish in the wide open spaces of Murrayfield. Ireland will have their detractors but back-to-back Six Nations titles speak for themselves. If Schmidt’s side can add some extra guile to their attacking game in the coming months, they will be serious contenders for the forthcoming World Cup. Jared Payne (left) celebrates scoring his try with Tommy Bowe and fly half Johnny Sexton (right) No 3 is the No 1 issue for Wales . Wales finished the tournament like a runaway train but Warren Gatland will have nightmares about the mincing his side’s scrum took against Ireland and Italy. The Welsh have some of the most devastating strike runners in the game in the form of George North, Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts while Sam Warburton had one of his best tournaments to date. Having all that talent out wide counts for nothing, however, if a solid platform is missing. Samson Lee’s long-term injury at tighthead has created a huge void for Gatland. Veteran Adam Jones insists his Test days are over but, if Gatland wants Wales to mount a serious challenge at the World Cup, he may have to swallow his pride and give Jones a call. Samson Lee's absence through injury has left a huge void in the Wales side . Rome has fallen . Saturday’s contest in Rome served up yet another final day capitulation from the Azzurri. This is becoming quite the habit for the tournament whipping boys. Wales were impressive but some of the Italian defence was laughable at times. There is no question that Italy’s presence has benefited the tournament greatly, but big improvements are needed going forward. Sergio Parisse is unquestionably world class but the Stade Francais No 8 has been carrying the burden of a nation for long enough. There are some grounds for optimism for Italy though with the likes of Luca Morisi and Leonardo Sarto showing glimpses of attacking potential throughout the tournament. Sergio Parisse grimaces as he leaves the pitch during the Six Nations i match between Italy and France . +Paying a player northwards of £100,000 a week to be an occasional impact sub off the bench is an expensive business, even for a side who have Premier League title aspirations. And, judging by Arsene Wenger’s decision to leave him sat in his tracksuit throughout the entirety of the 2-1 victory over Newcastle United, Theo Walcott seems to have become just that at Arsenal. Indeed there was, for portions of this match, a sense that Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck could form a clinical strike force in the Premier League for years to come – while Walcott warmed up on the touchline. Yet, even in the second half when things were not going right for Arsenal and they needed a spark to reignite them, Wenger instead turned to Tomas Rosicky ahead of Walcott to give some added impetus. And, as much as Walcott will have enjoyed seeing his side keep the pressure up on second-placed Manchester City, you can’t help but feel the England forward must be contemplating lowering his reported wage demands if he wants to stay at the Emirates. Theo Walcott has stalled on talks over a new deal with the winger wanting wages of over £100,000 a week . The England international was left on the bench for the game against Newcastle and didn't feature . Wojciech Szczesny and Walcott have both found their chances limited this for Arsenal this season . Because, put simply, where do you fit him into this Gunners side? Giroud is on fire and is leading the line superbly – he has scored 11 goals in 12 Premier League starts this season after his two at St James’ – Welbeck caused problems all afternoon, contributing an assist for the first and he also should have netted at least twice, while Sanchez, although visibly tired, was still able to produce that little bit of magic to keep the Gunners on the front foot. Walcott is not an automatic selection anymore, and therefore he cannot be too ambitious with his wage demands. Arsenal’s form is superb – they have won 14 of 16 games since New Year’s Day – and they have achieved that largely without Walcott’s presence. The 26-year-old – yes, he is really still that young – has started just three top-flight games all season after returning from injury, and the Gunners haven’t exactly missed him. 2014/15 - All competitions . 11 appearances (5 starts), 3 goals . Overall - All competitions . 294 appearances (190 starts), 72 goals . Right now the Gunners are playing with pace and panache – displayed perfectly when Welbeck, Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey combined to take Arsenal from one side of the field to the other, only for Mike Williamson to make a timely interception. This was just one example of when Arsenal’s front men wreaked havoc in an awesome first-half display. Yet, despite that, their goals at St James’ Park came from a direct source. Giroud loves scoring against Newcastle anyway, and now has eight in seven against them, but the way he calmly kneed in his first after Welbeck’s flick-on highlights a player with confidence. His second was also a decent header, although he didn’t even have to jump off the ground so feeble was the challenge offered up by Williamson. Unfortunately for Walcott, height and an aerial presence will make Giroud first-choice centre forward every time. Alexis Sanchez (left) has been a revelation since signing for the club from Barcelona in the summer . Oliver Giroud (12) scored an impressive double at St James' Park to continue his excellent form . Despite returning from a serious injury, Walcott has struggled to earn a place in Wenger's starting 11 . Welbeck offers an abundance of pace and energy and can play anywhere across the front three, while Sanchez on his day is simply world class. They may not have been at their absolute best against Newcastle, but they got the job done. But on saying all of that, if Wenger does not offer Walcott a new deal then he risks losing a player with more than 200 games’ worth of Premier League experience and 47 strikes in England’s top flight to one of his rivals. Is he really willing to risk that? Perhaps though, given Walcott’s shocking injury record, Wenger thinks he has replaced one ‘W’ for another – with the £16million acquisition of Welbeck increasingly looking like a piece of shrewd business by the Frenchman. Will Walcott or Wenger blink first in this latest of many contract disputes the England winger seems to have had with the club? On the basis of Saturday’s match, you get the impression the England striker may be knocking on the manager’s door with his tail between his legs sometime soon. Danny Welbeck (right) terrorised the Newcastle defence with his pace and looks to be settling in well . +Mario Balotelli has turned heads once again with another bizarre Instagram video but this team he professes his support Liverpool ahead of their crucial clash with Manchester United. The Italian striker looks set to return to the squad after missing the clash with Swansea but is unlikely to start for Brendan Rodgers side with his form being less than impressive. Balotelli, however, took to Instagram and posted the video saying he's a Reds fan. Mario Balotelli posted the video on his Instagram page as he professed his support for Liverpool . 'I support Liverpool, no matter what I support Liverpool especially tomorrow. But remember I do what I want, I do what I want and remember...yes? No? Yes? Cool.' Liverpool can continue their surge for the Champions League places with a win on Sunday against Louis van Gaal's side. The Red's can leapfrog United into fourth and will put themselves just three points off Arsenal, who squeezed past Newcastle on Saturday. The Italian striker returns to the squad after missing the midweek victory against Swansea . The Liverpool players were in high spirits in training this week at the clubs Melwood training complex . +With the biggest fight in boxing history set to take place in just over a month, Floyd Mayweather has shown that his preparation is in full flow. The undefeated champion takes on Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 as he puts his 'legend status' on the line to give the fighting world a clash that it's been craving for a number of years. In the short video, Mayweather talks about the letters 'T.B.E' on all his training gear and how he plans to never be forgotten. Floyd Mayweather punches the body pad as he continues his preparation for the biggest fight in boxing . The undefeated champions wants to leave a legacy in the fighting world and be known as 'the best ever' Mayweather spoke about Muhammad Ali being 'the greatest' but he wants his own title to be remembered . He said: 'T.B.E. stands for, the best ever. I want to leave my own mark in the sport of boxing. 'No different from how Ali (Muhammad) was known as the greatest. When someone says - the best ever - the first person I want them people to think about is Floyd Mayweather.' Whatever the outcome of the bout, the undefeated champion is certainly going to put on a show against his tough Filipino opponent. The bout against WBO champion Pacquiao at the MGM Grand is expected to total $300million - in what will be the most expensive bout in boxing history. In the UK, Sky Sports are expected to win the bidding rights to broadcast the fight. The $300million fight is the most expensive in boxing history and Sky Sports are expected to win the rights . Mayweather uses the punch bag to improve his punching power and he'll need it to beat Pacquiao . +Liverpool vice-captain Jordan Henderson has revealed he wanted to protect his side's younger players when he decided to confront Chelsea striker Diego Costa during a Capital One Cup clash at Anfield. Henderson decided to square up to Costa during the encounter, which took place back in January, before confronting the Spain international inside the tunnel. The 24-year-old, speaking exclusively to the Sunday Telegraph, has stated why he decided to approach Costa. Liverpool ace Jordan Henderson (centre) confronted Diego Costa (right) during a Capital One Cup clash . Henderson was unhappy with the way Costa (far left) conducted himself during the match back in January . Henderson said: 'I didn't want to make any statement. It was just in that game, he was trying to intimidate some of our younger players, which I didn't really like. 'He's a fantastic player that any team would want because of that passion and aggression he's got. I just don't like the way he was doing things with our players.' Henderson, who is expected to start against Manchester United in his side's crunch clash at Anfield, has been tipped to replace Steven Gerrard as Liverpool captain at the end of the season - and the former Sunderland man is keen to take up the role. He added: 'It would be an absolute honour to be captain. I'd love it. At the same time, we have a lot of leaders and characters in the group that could do it as well. 'If it was someone else, I'd be right behind them.' Reds midfielder Henderson (left) has been tipped to replace Steven Gerrard (right) as Liverpool captain . +Louis van Gaal has opened up about his management style with Manchester United, insisting he says one sentence to his players in the dressing room before a match. The Old Trafford boss also revealed that most players in his star studded squad ‘don’t dare’ question his methods and formation. Van Gaal’s side take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday as they look to consolidate a place in the Premier League top four. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says most of the players 'don't dare' to question him . The Dutchman revealed to Geoff Shreeves (left) that he says one sentence to the players on match day . ‘I always try to be positive to the players as it’s always better to give them a compliment and be positive, rather than negative,’ Van Gaal told Geoff Shreeves of Sky Sports. ‘I ask the players what they find, but I have a lot of corrections, but they have to agree with me otherwise they cannot perform at the next time.' Shreeves asks whether van Gaal accepts players challenging his tactics or methods and the Dutchman chuckles before revealing: ‘Most of the players don’t dare to do that but when they have good arguments I listen. Van Gaal walks across the Anfield turf on Sunday as his side takes on Liverpool at in a crucial fixture . ‘When their argument is better than mine than I’d look at changing my ideas. Which system I play is not interesting, it is the philosophy that is important. Van Gaal has a reputation across European football as meticulously preparing for matches, with constant analysis, discussion, many meetings and videos of training. However the 63-year-old only gives one sentence to his players on match day: ‘The team is as a whole, they all sit in front of me and then I say one sentence…"Show yourself today” or “No red card because it will be a very sharp duel”.’ Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring United's final goal in their 3-0 win against Tottenham last weekend . He feels this is important as it forces the players to prepare for themselves : ‘Because I have prepared for the match together with the players already for three or four days. What do I need to say then? ‘I want to transfer to the players that they need to think for themselves in the match, they have to decide by themselves. Otherwise they have to wait until half-time so that I can say something. ‘I believe that players can read the game, that they have to coach their fellow players . Louis van Gaal, pictured in Manchester United training on Friday, meticulously prepares for their matches . +Two of the greatest icons in world football transcended on Merseyside to watch the crucial clash between Liverpool and Manchester United in the race for the Champions League places - and they won't have bee disappointed. One of the best players to ever play the game, Pele, was in the stands to watch two of England's most successful clubs go head-to-head, as the away side came away victorious. The Brazilian was spotted standing next to Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward and looked in a buoyant mood throughout the match. Pele (left) was spotted next to Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward at Anfield . The Brazilian looked happy to be a guest to see Liverpool host United in the Premier League clash . Pele poses for a picture with Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson . Louis van Gaal was given a warm greeting by Pele before the match as the away side arrived at Anfield . Juan Mata (left) scored a superb double to help Manchester United to victory over Liverpool . Pele is in England to continue his promotion of a national sandwich brand Subway and spent time with former Liverpool legends Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman earlier in the week. Legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was also in attendance at Anfield as he continues to support the club he spent so many successful years. With the race for the Champions League places hotting up, Brendan Rodgers knew that a win would have seen them leapfrog their opponents into fourth. Steven Gerrard was sent off just 43 seconds after coming on as a substitute in Liverpool's defeat . Sir Alex Ferguson (centre) waves to the United fans as he arrives at Anfield for the crucial clash . Despite Louis van Gaal coming under scrutiny this season, the Dutchman has his side in the European places and will count this campaign as a success if they can finish in the top four - and this result will go a long way to making sure they do just that. But two goals from Juan Mata and a red card just 43 seconds after coming on for Steven Gerrard condemned his side to a resounding defeat. Daniel Sturridge pulled a goal back for the home side to give them a glimmer of hope when he beat David De Gea at his near post. Pele was introduced to the Liverpool crowd at half-time and was greeted with a standing ovation . The former Red Devils boss looked in good spirits to see his old side take the lead thanks to Juan Mata . +It's been quite the week for Harry Kane. After his first call-up to the England squad, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick in Tottenham's thrilling 4-3 win over Leicester on Saturday. The treble took Kane's goal tally for the season to 29 and, with 19 of those coming in the league, he has soared above Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero to top the English scoring charts. The 21-year-old's record compares very favourably with his striking colleagues across Europe too, with Kane now fourth on the list of goal-grabbers in the top five leagues. Harry Kane grabs the match ball after his hat-trick in Tottenham's 4-3 win over Leicester on Saturday . Kane strokes home a penalty during Tottenham's win at White Hart Lane . The list of leading goalscorers in Europe's top five leagues. Statistics courtesy of Opta . CLICK HERE TO READ MARTIN SAMUEL'S INTERVIEW WITH THE SPURS HERO . Taking only league goals into account, Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi leads the way with 32 goals in 27 matches - that equates to a remarkable ratio of a goal every 74.5 minutes. However, Cristiano Ronaldo trumps Messi on those measures, with a minutes per goal ratio of 71.4 minutes and an average of 1.25 goals per game. He has, though, scored just the 30 goals. The only other player to have scored more league goals than Kane is Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette, with 23 in 26 matches. Kane now has a superior minutes per goal ratio to both Costa at Chelsea and Aguero at Manchester City. He is also outperforming Barcelona's Brazilian superstar Neymar and PSG's hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who both have 17 league goals this term. Lionel Messi celebrates yet another goal as Barcelona defeat Eibar in La Liga . Cristiano Ronaldo has scored an incredible 30 league goals in 24 matches for Real Madrid this season . Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette is third on the list of goalscorers with 23 this season . Kane is outperforming the Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic this season . Alan Shearer says the uncapped striker should start for England in their upcoming games . Former England striker Alan Shearer has backed Kane to make an impression in the England team, starting with this Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania and the friendly with Italy on March 31. Shearer said on Match of the Day: 'Well considering he didn't start playing regular Premier league football until November he is now top scorer in the league with 19 goals. I think Roy Hodgson should start him. Yes, he's in the squad but start him in the team. 'He's (Hodgson's) watched him enough times this season, he knows what he is all about an he is on fire. 'The form he is in, I think get him in there and he will score goals. He will be a great foil for [Wayne] Rooney and I am a big fan of his.' +Luis Suarez hailed his second-half winner against Real Madrid as 'the most important goal' of his Barcelona career. With 55 minutes on the clock and the scoreline locked at 1-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo had cancelled out Jeremy Mathieu's opener, the Uruguayan trapped a long punt forward by Dani Alves and then arrowed the ball past Iker Casillas to restore Barca's lead at the Nou Camp. Luis Enrique's side went on to dominate the remainder of the game and won 2-1, thus building a four-point advantage at the top of the Primera Division table. Lionel Messi, Adriano, Bartra, Dani Alves, Neymar and Rafinha get suited and booted after the triumph . Goalscoring hero Luis Suarez poses for a pic with fellow frontmen Messi and Neymar after the victory . Luis Suarez fires home the winner past Iker Casillas to send Barcelona on their way to victory . Suarez celebrates scoring the goal that sent Barcelona four points clear at the top of La Liga . The strike was Suarez's 14th in all competitions for Barcelona since he made his £75million move from Liverpool last summer. And the 28-year-old had no doubt this was his most crucial goal for his new club, ranking it above the two he netted against Manchester City in the Champions League last month. 'This is the most important goal I've scored for Barca and it has an extra significance because of the rival we were playing against,' Suarez told Barcelona's official television Channel. 'I just tried to take advantage of the space between defenders and be as fast as I could so I didn't give the centre-backs any time to recover. Luckily it went in. 'The dressing room is very happy, we knew this was a really important game if we wanted to stay top of the league and increase our advantage.' Barca coach Luis Enrique sang the striker's praises after the game, calling the goal 'an action that only few players are capable of'. 'We are very happy that he is a being decisive player for us and we are very happy with his attitude and what he brings to this team,' he said. 'He brings a lot to the team he is not just a classic centre forward, he also links up with his team-mates. He's a player that marvellously compliments the squad we have, and that's why we signed him.' Jeremy Mathieu headed home the opening goal for Barcelona in the first half . Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Real Madrid but was unable to stamp his authority on the game . Madrid now have 10 weeks to catch up with Barcelona, who have won 19 of their 21 matches in 2015. Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti lamented the fact his side failed to keep a 'cool head' after the break, following their strong performance in the opening 45 minutes. 'We were playing very well until their second goal and from then on the game was very difficult for us,' said the Italian in his post-match press conference. 'Before that we were doing well, we pressed well and were solid at the back. We lacked a cool head to turn the game around, we kept playing long balls and trying to execute difficult passages of play.' This is Ancelotti's third defeat in four league games against Barcelona and, if his side cannot bridge the four-point gap with the Catalans, he will have failed to win the Spanish league title in his first two seasons with Madrid. However, the man who delivered Los Blancos their long awaited 10th European Cup last season dismissed the suggestion his side would now focus their attention on the Champions League, with a quarter-final tie against neighbours Atletico Madrid coming up next month. He said: 'The league is not over, they have the same points advantage that we had before but anything could happen. 'We're not going to give a priority to either competition, the priority for us is the league and the Champions League.' +Louis van Gaal described his victory as 'one of the most important moments in my career' as Manchester United moved five points clear of arch-rivals Liverpool in the race for a Champions League place. Van Gaal refused to write off Liverpool's chances of finishing in the top-four but could not under-estimate the value of a 2-1 victory after Juan Mata struck twice. It was Liverpool's first Premier League defeat in 13 games since they lost 3-0 at Old Trafford in December. 'We beat Liverpool again,' said Van Gaal. 'They were in fantastic shape and we beat them with the old weapons – with the pressure on the ball in the first half. David de Gea uploaded a dressing room photograph of Manchester United's post-match celebrations . Juan Mata scored twice to secure three important points for the Red Devils away at Anfield . 'Now we are five points ahead of Liverpool, and six ahead of Tottenham and Southampton. To win in this moment is very important – one of the most important moments in my career. 'But there are still eight matches to go. That's 24 points. Liverpool can still be champions. When you are a top manager, or player or club – and Liverpool are – you have to deal with defeats. 'We have also dealt with defeats. We lost at home to Arsenal and then we had to play against Tottenham and Liverpool, and you have to manage that. Liverpool can do that also because they have a great manager, great club, great fans.' Van Gaal claimed that United had 'played Liverpool off the pitch' in a one-sided first half, but struggled after Steven Gerrard was sent of seconds after coming off the bench. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney (second right) is congratulated by Louis van Gaal at full time . Van Gaal (centre) hailed his side's performance as they moved five points clear of Liverpool in the league . He added: 'It was the best first 45 minutes because in the second half we were not so good and that's a little bit amazing because we played 11 against 10. It should be easier than the first half but it was not. 'I know in a sense that Liverpool should press us and they did but we played them off the pitch in the first half and scored a fantastic goal and gave nothing away. 'I came in the dressing-room and gave all my compliments because I was so happy, but then in the second half everything changed because of the red card. Then we weren't playing like a team anymore. We were running with the ball and losing it unnecessarily. When we didn't have the ball we didn't press the opponent. That was different in the first half. 'Nevertheless, we didn't give many chances away. David de Gea has saved us a lot of times this season but I couldn't remember one save in this match.' Mata, scorer of both United goals, was happy with his performance after the game, and admitted that the last few months have been difficult. Mamadou Sakho (centre) also posted a picture to Twitter, alongside the caption: 'I'm obviously disappointed to have lost today but we gave our best especially in the second half' Steven Gerrard was sent off soon after coming on, but Van Gaal says it was harder to play against 10 men . 'I think it's my best game in a United shirt, yes. It's a massive game, probably the biggest in English football, so to score two goals is great for me,' Mata told Sky Sports. 'The second goal has to be up there with my best. After Steven Gerrard was sent off we needed a second goal because they pushed us to the end. 'It was important for me. The last few months I've not had the best moment. It is the manager who decides but I'm happy today.' Van Gaal was sufficiently impressed, but like Mourinho at Chelsea who preferred Oscar, Willian and Eden Hazard in the three creative positions behind the lone striker, said Mata did not always fit into his formation. 'Now he is playing as a false right winger and the communication with (Ander) Herrera and (Antonio) Valencia gives him more opportunities,' Van Gaal told reporters. 'I think he was one of my most consistent players. I am not amazed, but I am very happy for him.' Mata's second goal of the afternoon was a stunning bicycle kick to put United 2-0 up at Anfield . Brendan Rodgers struck on a new 4-3-3 formation when Liverpool lost at United, and Van Gaal revealed that he had given his players the option to change from 4-3-3 and revert to a three-man defence as well. He said: 'Liverpool changed their system against us in the home match and then we played with three defenders at that time. We won 3-0. The coach continued with this system and they have won everything. They never lost. And then we came again. We stayed with the system that we've had the last four or five weeks. 'We had to prove it against the system we usually play. I asked the players that we can play with three defenders or shall we continue with 4-3-3? But then you have to play like a team, and that I have seen in the first half. That was marvellous to see.' +Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud is targeting a perfect finish to the season to pile the pressure on Barclays Premier League title contenders Chelsea and Manchester City. The Gunners kept up the heat on leaders Chelsea and second-placed City on Saturday evening following their hard-fought 2-1 victory at Newcastle. Two seasons ago, Arsene Wenger's men responded to their Champions League exit by putting together a run of eight wins and two draws in their final 10 league games and, having succumbed to Monaco last Tuesday evening, Giroud is looking for a similar surge towards the finishing line. Francis Coquelin (left) and Calum Chambers (right) congratulate Olivier Giroud after his second goal . He told the club's official website www.arsenal.com: 'It's nice for the team because we are on a really good run, even if we were disappointed about the Champions League. We want to finish really strongly and finish in the best position by winning every single game. 'There are still eight games to play, so we need to focus on our games and step by step we're going to see. First we need to win every single game and then after we need to see if City or Chelsea miss one of these steps. 'You never know, you have to believe in football and that's why we want to win every single game.' Olivier Giroud gives Arsenal the lead in the 28th minute at Newcastle, latching onto Danny Welbeck's header . The French striker celebrates his first goal of the game with team-mates Gabriel Paulista and Welbeck (right) Giroud holds off his marker to head Arsenal into a two-goal lead just four minutes after opening the scoring . The victory at St James' Park extended Arsenal's winning league run to six games and, while it looked as though it would arrive in routine style after Giroud's first-half double, they were ultimately grateful for the excellence of goalkeeper David Ospina, who produced a series of second-half saves to keep the resurgent Magpies at bay. Giroud opened the scoring with 24 minutes gone when he bundled home Danny Welbeck's flick-on from a Santi Cazorla free-kick and he extended the lead just four minutes later when he made the most of some insipid defending to head Cazorla's corner past Tim Krul. However, Moussa Sissoko reduced the deficit within three minutes of the restart when he swept home Remy Cabella's cross and, had Ospina not managed to beat away a Mike Williamson header and Ayoze Perez's deflected 87th-minute shot, the home side would have emerged with a point. Sissoko points to the sky as he celebrates scoring Newcastle's first Premier League goal since February 28 . Giroud, who now has nine goals in his last nine games in all competitions, salutes Arsenal's travelling fans . Arsenal look dejected during their disappointing performance against Monaco in the Champions League . Wenger said: 'I would say the spirit of the team and the quality of the players, the mental quality of the players - they are outstanding guys and it's a pleasure to see how they behave. It's a credit to the club as well to see that quality on the behavioural front and how much they want to do well. 'We are a stronger team today than we were in September - that's down to the focus of the whole club, of the whole staff and the quality of work the whole staff puts in. 'Let's hope we can go from strength to strength now until the end of the season.' There were positives too for Magpies coach John Carver, who was forced to field a makeshift defence as injury and suspension took their toll, despite the fact that former boss Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace leapfrogged his team as a result of their 2-1 win at Stoke. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger gives out instructions during his side's sixth successive Premier League victory . His concentration swiftly turned to the Wear-Tyne derby on April 5, a game he cannot afford to lose after four successive defeats by Sunderland, whose need is even more pressing as they find themselves entrenched in another fight for top-flight survival. Carver said: 'It's good to put in a good performance just before a derby game and we have already touched on it because our preparation starts now for it and we have got to get focused for it because we have not had a win against them for a while. 'It's very important that we are focused for it, and we will have a normal week. There is no time off this week, we will have a normal week - Monday, Tuesday, off Wednesday, in Thursday, Friday - so our preparation starts now and we know it's a big game.' +Saracens defeated defending champions Exeter 23-20 to claim the LV= Cup title at a sun-drenched Franklin's Gardens on Sunday. Rob Baxter's side could not follow up last season's success as they struggled to cope with a powerful Sarries outfit who were able to call upon the services of England internationals Alex Goode, George Kruis and David Strettle as well as Argentina centre Marcelo Bosch. Tries from Strettle (two) and Nick de Jager did the damage with Ben Spencer adding eight points from the boot. Maro Itoje (centre) lifts the LV= Cup title after Saracens beat Exeter 23-30 on Sunday . David Strettle led the way for Saracens with two tries against Exeter at Franklins Gardens . Strettle touches down his second try as for Saracens against Exeter in the final for his team . Exeter replied with a brace of tries from Max Bodilly with Ceri Sweeney kicking two penalties while replacement fly half Gareth Steenson kicked two conversions late on. Bodilly's early error handed Saracens an attacking scrum when the Exeter full back's long kick went dead in goal. The Sarries pack capitalised on their first set-piece and decimated the Chiefs pack allowing Ben Spencer to post the first points of the afternoon. The Chiefs responded immediately with winger Tom James making a scything run through the Sarries defence before he was hauled down inches short of the line. Sireli Naqelevuki, Jerry Sexton and Ben White carried on the attack before Brett Sturgess was held up over the line. Their efforts did not go unrewarded, however, as Sweeney kicked a three-pointer to level up the scores. Sarries were dealt a big blow just before the break when Spencer was sent the sin-bin for failing to roll away at the ruck following a powerful break from powerful Chiefs centre Hughes. Sweeney made no mistake from the tee to give his side a deserved lead heading into the break. Sarries began the second half a man down but it was the Chiefs who found themselves under pressure as Strettle intercepted White's wayward past to sprint over for the opening try of the game. Goode, who had replaced winger Mike Ellery late in the first half, could not add the extras from the touchline. Strettle soon has his second try as the Sarries winger pounced on Spencer's perfectly-weighted kick to touch down in the left corner. Goode failed with the extras once more but it mattered little as Saracens established a 13-6 lead. Saracens were in the ascendancy and, following a superb break from Spencer, flanker De Jager powered over from close range in the 62nd minute to further extend his side's lead. Max Bodilly (centre) spearheaded Exeter's response but his side were denied in the final minute . Saracens duo Juan Figallo (left) and Tim Streather celebrate with the trophy after the victory . But Exeter came roaring back into the contest as Bodilly went crashing over in the corner following a superb long pass from James. Steenson fired over the touchline conversion to make it a seven-point game with 10 minutes remaining. The Chiefs were playing with their tails up and monopolised possession in the closing stages and they soon had their crucial touchdown as Bodilly crashed over again. Steenson fired over the conversion to cap off a superb comeback from the Chiefs. Spencer had the final say, though, as he held his nerve to kick a last-minute penalty to break Chiefs' hearts and secure the title for Saracens. +The bodies of three French sports stars killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina while taking part in a reality TV show have arrived back in Paris. Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat, sailor Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine died after the horrific accident on the evening of March 9. Relatives and officials gathered at the Charles de Gaulle Airport to pay their respects at a small ceremony earlier this morning. Scroll down for video . The bodies of three French sports stars killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina have arrived back in Paris . Five other French nationals - Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert and Edouard Gilles - were also killed in the incident. They were taking part in a survival series called Dropped for French TV when the crash happened in a mountain range in the La Rioja province in north-west Argentina. Ten people died and there were no survivors. Their coffins, which each had a personalised silver plaque, were removed from the plane around 11am and will be buried at a different service. They were watched by French Sports Minister Patrick Kanner, the Argentine ambassador and Nonce Paolini, who heads the TF1 channel that was producing the television programme. The show, which was immediately cancelled after the crash, had planned to blindfold sports stars and take them into rugged environments, giving them 72 hours to get to a place where they could charge a mobile phone. After the crash a cattle farmer told how he rushed to one of the helicopters to try to rescue survivors - but he was beaten back by the heat and smoke. Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat, sailor Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine died in the accident on the evening of March 9. They were repatriated alongside five other French nationals who were crew members . Officials arrive at Charles de Gaulle Airport (left) to pay their respects. The coffins, which each had a personalised silver plaque, were removed from the plane (right) and will be buried at a different service . The coffins were loaded carefully into vans in La Rioja, where the accident took place, on March 17 . A coffin plaque engraved with Camille-Marie Manuella Muffat lays on a bench alongside more plaques engraved with the names of other helicopter crash victims . David Ocampo said: 'One of the helicopters sounded as if it was firing off shots or experiencing small explosions that were completely out of place. 'There were about five metres between the two of them, but the one in front seemed to stop and that caught my attention. 'The other one smashed into it from behind with its propellor after trying to swerve to avoid it and fell to the ground and exploded. The earth shook when they fell. 'I rushed towards it to see if there were any survivors but it was just a ball of flame. The terrifying moment the two helicopters smashed into each other before spiralling to the ground was caught on camera . There were no survivors in the crash, which claimed ten lives. Above, one of the helicopters is left in pieces on the dirt floor after the crash . The sports stars were taking part in a survival series called Dropped for French TV when the crash happened . 'I couldn't see anything really, just smoke and the tail of one of the two helicopters between the bushes.' Prosecutors in Paris opened a manslaughter inquiry after the incident. Initial investigations indicated the crash was caused by human error, officials said. The remaining victims were identified as Argentine pilots Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate. French President Francois Hollande said at the time: 'The brutal demise of our compatriots is an immense sadness.' Camille Muffat is an Olympic swimmer and former world record holder for the 400m women's freestyle from 2012 until 2013. She won gold during the 400m freestyle at London 2012, earned silver in the women's 200m freestyle and a bronze as a member of the women's 4×200m freestyle relay. She was the third Frenchwoman in history to earn three medals in a summer or winter Olympic Games and was named the 2012 French Sportswoman of the Year. She shocked the sporting world in June by announcing her sudden retirement at the age of 24, exhausted by the long hours of training in the pool. Alexis Vastine won bronze for boxing in the Light Welterweight category at the Beijing Olympics, and competed at London 2012, but was knocked out in the quarter finals. Florence Arthaud was regarded as one of the world's best sailors, and won the Route du Rhum, a transatlantic single-handed yacht race that takes place every four years. She took first place in 1990 with her boat Pierre 1er. +Kelvin Davis had gone almost 15 months since his last appearance in the Barclays Premier League but Ronald Koeman thinks it was worth the wait. Part of a Southampton team boasting Luke Shaw, Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana, and managed by Mauricio Pochettino, Davis let in three against Chelsea that day in January 2014. Yet on Saturday, like a blast from the past, the 38-year-old goalkeeper became the fourth oldest player to feature this season. He did so with gusto, earning a round of applause from his team-mates as he entered the dressing room afterwards. 38-year-old veteran goalkeeper Kelvin Davis put in a confident display against Burnley on Saturday . Davis had come on as a substitute after first-choice Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster was injured . Davis' assured performance earned him plenty of praise from his team-mates as Southampton won 2-0 . Southampton striker Shane Long scores his side's opening goal against Burnley at St Mary's on Saturday . Long runs to celebrate in front of the home fans as Southampton take the lead against Burnley . Southampton have benefited from more opposition own goals than any other Premier League team this season (5). His appearance came in unfortunate circumstances. An injury to Fraser Forster's left knee that will almost certainly rule the goalkeeper out of England's internationals this month called for Davis to wipe the dust off his gloves. There is no reason to panic as far as Koeman is concerned. He has a man he deems reliable and professional enough, both behind the scenes as club captain and on the pitch, to fill the void. Koeman was 51 on Saturday and, while Shane Long and an own goal from Burnley's Jason Shackell provided the victory, the Southampton manager's birthday gift was in no short part down to the man 13 years his junior. 'I was not surprised because we see Kelvin working every day in the training session,' Koeman said. 'That's important to have somebody when he has to play that he has some confidence. That he will not be nervous. 'His situation is clear. Fraser is first and Kelvin is the second goalkeeper. You need a lot of experience when you need to play and you have to show it. 'That's difficult but he showed his quality. He was looking very comfortable and that gave confidence to the rest of the team. He's not the youngest goalkeeper but still he's a very good goalkeeper. He's a very good professional.' Burnley's Jason Shackell (left) is put under pressure by Southampton forward Graziano Pelle on Saturday . Davis still has some way to go before catching Leicester City's 42-year-old reserve goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer but he made the most appearances for Southampton in League One four seasons ago, having joined the Saints in 2006, and rolled back the years on Saturday. Davis denied Sam Vokes and Danny Ings with full-length saves, and gave Koeman hope that losing Forster will not hamper the club that have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League this season. Burnley tested them, but European football remains a possibility. Koeman was not oblivious to his former club Barcelona's win in the Champions League against Manchester City last week, yet he refuses to imagine himself taking Southampton to the Nou Camp. 'We don't think too much about the Champions League. We hope seventh place on the table means European football, and that will be fantastic for us,' said Koeman. 'The Champions League is amazing to play in and amazing to be involved in. We know our situation, we know our qualities. If it's Europa League, that will be great for us.' Southampton boss Ronald Koeman is hoping to finish in the top seven in the Premier League this season . The 2-0 win over Burnley leaves Southampton in strong contention for European football next season . +Jose Mourinho remains 'pretty confident' his Chelsea side will be crowned Barclays Premier League champions, but Diego Costa is an injury concern for their title run-in. The Blues restored their six-point lead over Manchester City with a 3-2 win over spirited Hull on Sunday and retain a game in hand against rock-bottom Leicester. That makes them heavy favourites to lift the trophy and Mourinho was happy to accept the role of front-runners after Loic Remy grabbed a 77th minute winner at the KC Stadium. Jose Mourinho is confident that his Chelsea side will be able to secure the Premier League title this season . Loic Remy came on as a substitute and scored the winning goal to secure three points for the Blues . 'I'm not pretty sure, I'm pretty confident. I believe in my players, I believe that we can do it but I know it's difficult,' he said. 'I keep thinking the same, the title race should be over. In normal conditions, Chelsea should have eight, 10, 12 points more than we have; title race over. 'But football is unpredictable and the reality is we have a six-point lead, one game in hand, which is our best situation for the whole season.' Costa's short-term involvement is an open question, though. The Spain striker claimed his 20th goal of the season with a wonderful curling effort to put Chelsea 2-0 up inside nine minutes, but hobbled off with a hamstring injury. One negative for Chelsea was the hamstring injury suffered by Diego Costa, which ended his involvement . Costa's replacement, Remy, scored the winning goal and Mourinho thinks he has sufficient replacements . His exit allowed for Remy's match-winning arrival, but whether he emerges from the imminent international break in match condition is uncertain. 'When a striker is playing, the team needs a goal to win the game and with 15 minutes to go the striker, a guy with a lot of experience of hamstring injuries, says "it is over for me", then it is over for him,' said Mourinho. 'He has this problem. He tried to play the Champions League final for Atletico (Madrid, last season) and was injured again and again and again. He has this fragility. 'We know his hamstring is not a strong one. He works hard through the week to compensate the weakness he has there but the injury can come. Remy (centre) celebrates scoring Chelsea's third goal against Hull at the KC Stadium . Mourinho watches on from the bench as his Chelsea side go six points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City . 'If he is injured then we have Remy, we have Drogba. We never cry about injured players.' Costa can at least expect to miss Spain's forthcoming games against Ukraine and Holland, but despite the added rehabilitation time, Mourinho would rather be pressing on with the domestic calendar. 'For Diego (the break) is good, because imagine we play three matches in one week, that's three matches he doesn't play. 'But in this moment we have nine matches to play and I would like to play every week, so it's not good for us.' Eden Hazard scored the first goal of the game inside two minutes to get Chelsea on track . Thibaut Courtois made an error to gift Hull their second, but later made amends with a string of saves . Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois gifted Abel Hernandez an equaliser just a minute after Ahmed Elmohamady made it 2-1, side-footing a back pass straight to the City striker. But Tigers boss Steve Bruce believes the Belgian's brilliance later in the piece was crucial to the outcome. Courtois produced a sensational triple save from Elmohamady, Jake Livermore and Gaston Ramirez in the 64th minute to keep the scores level. 'The big turning point in the game was where Courtois pulls off three saves which change the course of the game,' said Bruce, who was nevertheless delighted with his side's endeavour. 'That's as good as we've played for a long, long time, against the best team in England. 'We're obviously disappointed to lose the game because I don't think we deserved that. 'We gave Chelsea a hell of a run for their money and on another day it could have gone our way. 'I'm sure we've got enough and I'm convinced if we play like that, we're good enough to stay in this division.' +It was a case of Cristiano Ronaldo winning his battle with Lionel Messi but Barcelona emerging victors in the war with Real Madrid after El Clasico at the Nou Camp on Sunday in Spain. Goals from Jeremy Mathieu and Luis Suarez gave Barcelona a 2-1 win to move four points ahead of Madrid atop La Liga with 10 games remaining but it was only Ronaldo who got his name on the scoresheet, after a quieter display by Messi's imperious standards. Messi appeared relaxed in the tunnel, dabbling in conversation with his Barcelona team-mates, his fleece zipped up to his chin. Ronaldo stood poised, staring forward. The Nou Camp was an inferno, shrouded in gold, purple and blue with the 99,000 supporters in fearsome voice as the two superpowers of global football marched out on the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo got on the scoresheet but it was Lionel Messi who was happiest after El Clasico . Messi (left) provided the assist for Barcelona's first goal in El Clasico from Jeremy Mathieu . Mathieu (right) headed in to give Barcelona the lead after only 19 minutes against Real Madrid . Messi (second right) celebrates assisting Barcelona taking the lead against Madrid . Cristiano Ronaldo (left) poked Real Madrid level after 31 minutes, completing a tremendous move . Ronaldo (second left) watches on as he brings Madrid level against arch rivals Barcelona . Ronaldo's first touch of the ball after 40 seconds was met with searing jeers by the Barcelona fans. He was eventually crowded out by Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitic and the dispossession of Madrid's talisman was met with emphatic cheers. Messi's start was subdued, the diminutive Argentina international lingering quietly in the centre of the pitch, exchanging the occasional pass with Andres Iniesta in the first five minutes. But he snapped into life in the sixth minute with a nutmeg on Madrid playmaker Toni Kroos. Six minutes later, the first clear chance of the game fell to Ronaldo, who escaped his defender on the back post but could only turn Karim Benzema's deft lob onto the crossbar with Claudio Bravo beaten. He should have scored and Barcelona were off the hook. Messi was still awaiting his first opportunity to get at Madrid's defence. Nutmeg aside, his first 15 was perhaps best summed up by Iniesta uncharacteristically hitting a looping pass over his team-mate, who had found space out on the right touchline. But two minutes later, Messi had the ball at his feet and he surged inside, picked out Neymar and burst into the area, where he met the cross with his head but sent it wide. Barcelona's breakthrough came on 19, and Messi had the assist. Suarez was fouled on the left, Messi whipped a glorious ball into the area and Mathieu flicked it past Iker Casillas to give Luis Enrique's side the lead. It was Messi's 15th assist of the season and Ronaldo's miss after 12 minutes already appeared costly. The goal galvanised Barcelona and Suarez drew a foul from Pepe two minutes after the opener and Messi seized the ball again. This time he was central and 25 yards out but his effort was deflected out for a corner which came to nothing. Neymar missed a glorious chance for 2-0 on the half hour mark, meeting a ball across goal from Suarez six yards out, only to guide his effort safely into the hands of Casillas with the goal gaping. Ronaldo and Messi walked out to a formidable atmosphere at the Nou Camp for El Clasico . Ronaldo's goal came moments after Neymar (right) has missed a great chance from close range . Ronaldo (right) wheels away to celebrate after scoring for Madrid against Barcelona . Ronaldo (right) celebrates bringing Madrid level against Barcelona in the La Liga clash . Ronaldo hit the crossbar from close range with the scores goalless at the Nou Camp . It was a shocking miss and 30 seconds later, Madrid were level. Ronaldo led the surge forward and as Benzema collected possession on the right of the penalty area, the Portugal international continued his run through the centre. Benzema sensed his presence and picked out his run with a glorious swish of his heel. Ronaldo hit fifth gear to beat Bravo to the ball, poking it under the goalkeeper to haul Madrid level as the jeers spewed out at the Nou Camp. Eight minutes before half time, Ronaldo picked up the ball on the left and skipped past Alves but with Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique closing him down, Ronaldo went tumbling. Television replays showed that Pique momentarily left his boot dangling, perhaps to entice a Ronaldo fall but the referee's decision to book the Madrid man was correct. In the 40th minute, Ronaldo thought he had assisted a goal from Gareth Bale, who poked Ronaldo's header into the back of the net. Bale was definitely onside but Ronaldo was not and the goal was rightly ruled out. But the Madrid man was finishing the first half in scintillating form. A ferocious shot from 30 yards out was tipped over by Bravo and Bale skewed a shot wide from the corner. As the second half began, it seemed Messi was in the shadow of Ronaldo. Madrid undoubtedly ended the first period of play in the ascendency. Messi (left) of Barcelona closes down Madrid defender Pepe in the first half at the Nou Camp . Ronaldo (right) was booked for diving in the first half of El Clasico . Ronaldo was jeered by Barcelona's supporters every time he had possession for Madrid . Ronaldo (third right) had strayed offside before flicking the ball to Gareth Bale to score . And it was Ronaldo who was involved in the first incident of the second phase, returning the ball into Benzema in a probing attacking move, before Bravo dived to his left to beat out the France striker's clever shot across goal. Messi was drifting deep to find the ball, and Mascherano picked out his compatriot on the halfway line on 52 minutes. He turned and sprinted at the heart of Madrid's back line and Luka Modric reached for the ball with his leg but only managed to clip Messi's heels. The free kick failed to worry Madrid like Messi's sprint forward did. Four minutes later, Barcelona went ahead with a tremendous finish from Suarez. The Uruguay striker was found by a forensic pass by Alves, who spotted Suarez had escaped the attention of Pepe and had curved his run to stay on side. The ball was floated over, Suarez caressed it under control with the outside of his boot and threaded it across Casillas and into the far corner. Ronaldo might have been worried after a clash with Mascherano on the hour mark. He was flattened by the midfielder but appeared to retaliate, with Mascherano exaggerating the contact made by the Madrid attacker. Messi (centre) attempts to evade the challenge of Marcelo, Ronaldo and Toni Kroos . Ronaldo enjoyed a formidable first half for Madrid but was quieter in the second . Ronaldo (second right) tries to block a clearance from Gerard Pique of Barcelona . But the referee was not fooled, only booking the Barcelona man for the initial foul. Tempers began to fray after the clash between the pair and it suited Messi's Barcelona side more as the clock ticked on. As 73 minutes passed, Messi went inches away from extending Barcelona's lead. Again out on the right, he ran inside and sprinted ominously through the centre before unleashing a fine strike from the edge of the area that went the wrong wide of the post with Casillas beaten. Barcelona manager Luis Enrique thought the shot was in and a minute later, he must have been certain his team were about to add to their advantage. Messi was again the engineer, perhaps buoyed by his attempt seconds earlier. With Suarez to his left and Neymar to his right, Messi played in the Brazil international, who blazed wide on an unusually wasteful night from the former Santos man. The pair combined again on 77, this time Messi shooting at goal but his low, right-footed strike was blocked and Madrid cleared. Benzema almost punished Barcelona and Messi for spurning their chances when his shot from 25 yards deflected wickedly off Mascherano, but Bravo managed to turn the ball away brilliantly. Messi (left) celebrates Suarez's goal as Barcelona moved ahead in the second half . Messi curled an effort from range inches wide in the 73rd minute for Barcelona . Messi was creating again four minutes from full time, unlocking Madrid's defence with a neat pass into Jordi Alba, who was denied by Casillas. Barcelona were pouring forward looked to extend their advantage. They did not manage to do so, but Messi's side held on. He might not have settled his duel with Ronaldo, but it is advantage Barcelona in the race for the La Liga title. +Joe Schmidt is hoping his champion Ireland team won’t get distracted by the massive World Cup hype now surrounding them after they clinched back-to-back Six Nations championships in the most dramatic fashion. Just 180 days away from kicking off their global campaign on September 19, Schmidt has finally admitted he is targeting a first semi-final spot in the tournament. However, he hopes the tide of optimism after a second successive title and a run of 11 wins in 12 matches won’t be too much of a burden for Ireland to carry in six months’ time. Joe Schmidt hopes his Ireland team won't be distracted by the World Cup hype now surrounding them . The Ireland players celebrate as they are crowned Six Nations champions in Edinburgh on Saturday . ‘Based on the comments of some people, including some of our own people, we’re not that much of a threat,’ said Schmidt. ‘Hopefully we can continue to stay a little bit under the radar, but I’m not sure if we can. Maybe we have blown that,’ he added when asked by Sportsmail what message was sent to the world by Ireland winning successive titles for the first time since 1949. ‘I just think it’s going to be an incredibly tough tournament. We’ve never made a semi and everybody knows that is where we’ve got to try to get to. ‘That is what we will work towards and probably the low-key approach. If we can take that into that challenge, it would be great because you can get distracted and that is always a risk. ‘The fact that we just managed to get the silverware is a testament to the group we’ve got.’ Paul O'Connell holds aloft the Six Nations trophy at Murrayfield after Ireland were crowned champions . Schmidt smiles as he is carried by his players after their Six Nations success . +Manuel Neuer made a horrendous error as Bayern Munich were stunned by a 2-0 defeat at home Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Raffael scored both goals for Monchengladbach but his first, in the 30th minute, was fortuitous. His strike from the edge of the area was straight at Neuer but the usually efficient goalkeeper had sidestepped too far to his right and fumbled the ball over the line, unable to get his body behind the ball. Manuel Neuer (centre) spills a shot from Raffael as Bayen Munich lost to Borussia Monchengladbach . Neuer was visibly upset by his uncharacteristic error for Monchengladbach's opener . Raffael's second shot squirmed under Neuer's body as Monchengladbach secured an important win . And Neuer could have done better with Raffael's second on 77, with the attacker's low shot going in under the dive of the Germany international. The result meant Monchengladbach handed Pep Guardiola's side only their second league defeat of the season. The win keeps Gladbach firmly in third place on 47 points with Bayern 10 points clear at the top after second-placed Wolfsburg's 1-1 draw at Mainz 05. With more than 80 percent possession in the opening 20 minutes, it was clear from the start that Bayern wanted an early goal with Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski coming close. But Dutch forward Robben's comeback from injury was cut short when he had to come off in the 24th and the visitors then scored with their first shot on goal. Monchengladbach's players celebrate their win after the final whistle with supporters . Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (right) reacts as Munich are beaten at home . Robben (centre) had to go off injured in the 24th minute on a miserable day for Munich . Neuer failed to hold on to Raffael's shot, with the ball rolling through his hands and over the line. Gladbach grew bolder in the second half and Neuer had to pull off a fine save to deny forward Andre Hahn in the 70th. The Germany keeper was, however, again beaten when Raffael picked up a Christoph Kramer pass after a superb run and slotted home for a surprise victory over the champions. +They stood alongside each other, peering anxiously towards The Kop. As a sea of red and white jerseys jostled and pointed fingers, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton never blinked. Then, as referee Martin Atkinson restored order, Ferguson cracked. Turning to see who was on the row behind him in Anfield’s Directors Box, Ferguson could not help himself. Suddenly he was beaming, his smile born of elation and contentment: victory had been confirmed. Winning at Anfield mattered more to Ferguson than anything else when he shaped Manchester United’s destiny and retirement hasn’t dulled the desire. That smile and subsequent tap on Charlton’s shoulder, told you everything about how he was feeling. Sir Alex Ferguson looked delighted by Manchester United's victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday . Sir Alex Ferguson acknowledges United supporters upon his arrival for the game against Liverpool . Sir Bobby Charlton (centre) and Ed Woodward (left) were also at Anfield to see United win . Ferguson takes his seat at Anfield before United's game against Liverpool in the Premier League . Mind you, he wasn’t alone. Crammed into the Anfield Road end, 3,000 United fans were exultant, noisily acclaiming the finest performance of the Louis Van Gaal era: their team had not played with such panache and arrogance here since the mid-1990s. They were going to enjoy this. ‘We played them off the pitch in the first half, I think,’ Van Gaal mused afterwards. ‘It was the best 45 minutes (of the season). We scored a fantastic goal, we gave nothing away. It really was a superb first half. In the dressing room, I gave the players all my compliments.’ Van Gaal might have been less than impressed by what he in the second half but do not doubt how much satisfaction this win provided. As he walked out of Anfield later to catch the team bus, he stopped and took look around the famous old stadium. His contentment was beyond question. As well it might have been. This was the afternoon when the Van Gaal masterplan started to come together. For all the Liverpool had shortcomings, the simple truth was that they couldn’t get near United and were lucky that only one goal separated them at the break. All over the pitch, United players stood out like beacons. Phil Jones, for starters, was terrific in the centre of defence, keeping Daniel Sturridge under wraps for much of the game; Antonio Valencia personified diligence at right back. It was in midfield, however, were United stamped their class. Maroune Fellaini dominated, setting an aggressive tone; Daley Blind was impressively solid while Ander Herrara passed the ball with purpose and precision, most devastatingly when he set Juan Mata free for the opening goal. Juan Mata (left) acrobatically scores United's second goal against Liverpool on Sunday . Mata (right) slots past Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to give United the lead in the first half . Mata (left) applauds the United supporters at Anfield after securing the three points over Liverpool . Ander Herrera provided a sublime assist for Mata's opener for United in the 14th minute at Anfield . Ah, Mata. For large parts of the 15 months he has been at Old Traffford, you have wondered why they spent £37million on him – then you see how he played here, like when scoring that glorious second, and can understand why Michael Carrick called Mata “Little Magician”. Ed Woodward, for one, was certainly impressed after he had exchanged passes with Angel Di Maria and capped the move with a bicycle kick that arrowed past Simon Mignolet. ‘What a goal!’ Woodward exclaimed, as he gave Charlton a hug. Mata, by contrast, was slightly more circumspect. ‘In the last few months I’ve not had the best moments but I am the same player that I was when I came to England,’ he said. ‘I have the same passion, the same illusion, but it is the manager who decides. But obviously I’m happy because we played well in a very difficult game.’ Much has been spoken about United this year, largely about how they are a pale shadow compared to what has gone before. In some respects that is absolutely right: how many of this starting line-up would have got into the treble winning side of 1999? Probably only Wayne Rooney. But time moves on and the 2014-15 squad are beginning to move in the right direction and what has been most impressive is the reaction they have produced since that chastening night against Arsenal two weeks ago when they were bounced out of the FA Cup. A 3-0 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur followed by a win against their most bitter rivals has made fourth place United’s to lose and that will ensure Van Gaal has achieved the objective that he was set by Ed Woodward when arriving last summer. ‘We are coming back and we beat Liverpool again,’ said van Gaal. ‘We beat them with their own weapons and pressure on the ball. Now the gap is five points ahead of Liverpool and six ahead of Tottenham and Southampton so the moment to win is one of the most important in my career.’ United manager Louis van Gaal (centre) described the win as one of the most important of his career . United's players applaud their supporters after their 2-1 win against arch rivals Liverpool . When he talks about points gaps, maybe Van Gaal should really be looking forward than studying what lurks behind. After all, they are only eight points behind league leaders Chelsea and there are still eight matches to play. Manchester United to be league champions? Perhaps not this year. But why can’t they finish runners-up? Should Van Gaal’s play as they did at Anfield on the run to the line, nobody will enjoy to facing them. And that, more than anything, will give Ferguson reason to smile again. +Barcelona ran out 2-1 winners against bitter rivals Real Madrid on Sunday night to move four points clear at the top of La Liga. Rik Sharma rates the players from both sides after an action-packed 90 minutes at the Nou Camp. BARCELONA . Claudio Bravo 8: Made two excellent saves, one from Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half piledriver, the second from a deflected Karim Benzema strike near the end. No chance with Ronaldo's goal. Dani Alves 6: Some shocking defending at times, but as we've come to expect, the Brazilian knows how to contribute in attack. His wonderful ball created Barcelona's second goal. Gerard Pique 9: This was a performance from the defender which some believed was beyond him after his fall from grace. Got his head to every ball when it mattered and executed some perfect tackles. After his impressive performance, Pique left the stadium with his pop star girlfriend Shakira . Gerard Pique was at his very best at the heart of the Barcelona defence against Real Madrid . Jeremy Mathieu 8.5: When the Frenchman was signed it turned a few heads. He used his own to send Barcelona 1-0 up and defended expertly after that. One scary moment, when he nodded inches wide of his own goal. Jordi Alba 6.5: Restrained himself going forward for the most part, but coped perfectly well with Gareth Bale down the wing. Fired a late chance wide after good work by Lionel Messi. Javier Mascherano 7: Tried to copy Sergio Busquets’ style of play, instead of rushing around in his usual bulldog style. Some unnecessary play-acting aside, a fine performance. Javier Mascherano was involved in some unnecessary play-acting but otherwise had a fine game . Ivan Rakitic 6.5: Not an indelible presence in this Barcelona side, but a useful one. The Croatian helped shuttle the ball forwards to the attackers nicely, but could have offered more with Barcelona under the cosh in the first half. Andres Iniesta 7: Captained Barcelona for the first time against Madrid and put in a mature display. Showed he can be a tough customer when he needs to be in a midfield battle, too. Lionel Messi 7.5: Nutmegged Toni Kroos early on, and set up Mathieu’s goal with a wicked free kick. Dropped out of the game for a while, but was running the show by the end. Lionel Messi set up Barcelona's opener and was a constant menace despite not being at his very best . Luis Suarez 8.5: Fought hard up front, in a long running battle with Pepe. Got the goal he deserved with a brilliant piece of control and an instinctive finish. Neymar 6: Missed a golden chance in the first half, after which Madrid broke away and equalised. Some phenomenal dribbles, which terrified Madrid’s back line, but was too selfish – and wasteful - with his chances. SUBS . Sergio Busquets 6: Brought on for Rakitic as Luis Enrique tried to shut up shop. Xavi 6: Replaced Iniesta, coming on in what could be his final Clasico. Little time to make an impact. Rafinha 6: Gave Barcelona a safer look, with Neymar making way. Luis Suarez celebrates scoring the winner for Barcelona as he continues his fine run of form . REAL MADRID . Iker Casillas 6: No errors, which was his main concern after his shocking performance against Schalke. Both Barcelona goals were impossible to keep out. Dani Carvajal 6: Booked and was lucky not to be sent off when he tangled with Neymar. Otherwise a solid performance. Pepe 4: Booked for going through the back of Suarez, and done for pace by the Uruguayan for the second goal. Not his finest night, and it ended early when Ancelotti hooked him for Raphael Varane. Pepe struggled with the pace of Luis Suarez and was eventually replaced by Raphael Varane . Sergio Ramos 5: Caught out when Mathieu escaped his clutches and headed home the opener. Was too slow to react to Suarez for Barcelona’s second. Marcelo 7.5: The Brazilian was a lively attacking outlet down the left, combining with Benzema to set up Ronaldo, when he hit the bar. Toni Kroos 6.5: A strong first half, helping Madrid dominate proceedings. However, the midfielder has been tired in recent weeks and that took its toll in the second period, when he was quiet. Luka Modric 7: After a three-month injury lay-off, he’s slotted straight back into the side and it looks like he's never been away. A classy customer who can hold his head high despite the defeat, playing a key role in Ronaldo’s goal. Luka Modric has slotted straight back into the Real Madrid side following a spell on the sidelines with injury . Isco 6: The Madrid press claim he’s a national treasure, and he’s been Real Madrid’s best player in recent weeks. However, he was quiet here, and outshone by Iniesta, the man he’s tipped to replace in Spain’s side. Gareth Bale 5.5: The Welshman nearly had the goal he dreamed of scoring, but his close-range effort was ruled out for Ronaldo being offside in the build-up. This was his chance to prove his doubters wrong, but was often on the fringes of the game, which won't ease the pressure on his back. Gareth Bale had a goal ruled out for offside and was something of a spectator for large parts of the game . Karim Benzema 8.5: Out of the six forwards, Benzema has the lowest X factor. However, he was arguably the most effective here, setting up Ronaldo with an impudent back-heel. Cristiano Ronaldo 7: Barcelona’s supporters whistled and screamed at him every time he touched the ball… but he’s used to that from the Bernabeu. Scored, as he tends to do, with a poacher’s finish. SUBS . Raphael Varane 7: Came on for Pepe to steady the ship and made a good tackle on Messi in the box. Jese 6: Too little time to make an impact. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equaliser but was not able to lead his side to victory at the Nou Camp . +Judd Trump staged a remarkable comeback to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan and claim the inaugural Grand Prix title in Llandudno. O'Sullivan had led 7-4 in their best-of-19 meeting but Trump went on to win the next six frames to claim the crown and the £100,000 prize money. World No 7 Trump had to overcome a 5-1 deficit to beat Martin Gould in the semi-finals and he once again displayed his ability to stay in contention having slipped to a 4-1 deficit against O'Sullivan. Judd Trump came from 7-4 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan and win the World Grand Prix . The duo had already met in this season's Champion of Champions UK Championship finals, with O'Sullivan coming out on top and he looked sharp with a break of 90 to level this meeting at 1-1. A loose shot from Trump in the fourth frame let in O'Sullivan and he took full advantage - clearing the table after a safety battle, before hitting his maiden century of the tournament as his 105 was enough to move further ahead. But the five-time world champion began to let errors creep into his game and missed a brown in the sixth frame which allowed Trump to peg him back before winning the next two with breaks of 46 and 50, respectively. Trump reeled off six frames in a row against the five-time world champion in Wales . A break of 89 was enough for O'Sullivan to re-establish his lead ahead of the evening session - but it would be Trump celebrating later in the day. O'Sullivan showed no signs of letting his slender lead slip as he opened the evening session with a break of 96 before a lucky red allowed him another frame-winning break in the 11th to open up a three-frame lead. O'Sulllivan at the mid-session interval. O'Sullivan looked set to win the title before Trump came roaring back from 7-4 down . Trump came out on top in a scrappy 12th frame before two decent breaks saw him reel iAnd he started strongly after the break, clearing up for 142 - the highest break of the tournament - to level the match and increase the pressure on his opponent. A mis-cue from O'Sullivan allowed Trump in to take the lead for the first time since the opening frame before the 25-year-old played his way out of a snooker to sink a pot and move to within a frame of the title. He passed up the chance to clean up after missing a blue whilst on a break of 36 but O'Sullivan could not capitalise and Trump returned to the table to pot a difficult red and add a break of 29 to become the first winner of the Grand Prix. +Amir Khan wants to fight Kell Brook within the next year, paving the way for a spectacular return to Wembley Stadium for British boxing. As recently as Monday Khan was talking down the chances of a grudge match between himself and Britain’s other leading welterweight, who has spent years calling out Khan. But now there appears to be a genuine chance of this fight happening, with Khan saying on Tuesday that a meeting is inevitable, either at the end of this year or in 2016. After Kell Brook's victory over Jo Jo Dan on Saturday, he called out Amir Khan in a post-match interview . Brook demolished Dan in Sheffield, beating him in just four rounds to retain his IBF World Welterweight title . The bargaining tool of Brook’s IBF world title remains a draw for the Bolton fighter, but a major factor has been the public pressure, which has grown enormously since Brook demolished his mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan on Saturday. With that in mind, it remains to be seen how much of what Khan is saying is lip service. Certainly, Brook’s team are waiting for formal talks to start before they get excited about a fight they have long craved and which would surely match Carl Froch’s 2014 rematch with George Groves at Wembley. Khan said: ‘I’d love to go in the ring and fight Kell Brook. It will happen within the next 12 months but I have already given my word to an opponent and I want to be a man of my word. ‘After watching his (Brook’s) last performance, I know I can do a deal, winner takes all. It shows it is not about the money, it is about the pride. It could be his last fight, I would give him that much of a beating.’ Brook, pictured celebrating his win over Dan on Saturday, appears to have got his wish to fight Khan . Khan's last fight came against Devon Alexander in December, whom he beat to take his record to 30-3 . Khan has previously refused a fight with Brook, but now promises it will take place within 12 months . He added: ‘It’s all about timing: if I’ve got a different route and I want to face the likes of the (Floyd) Mayweathers and (Manny) Pacquiaos out there, then Kell Brook will have to wait.’ Khan also tweeted: 'They doing a very good job making the public believe i don't want the fight, trust me i do! Keep building the hype cause winner takes all!' Any plans promoter Eddie Hearn had of staging the fight on June 13 - he has a provisional booking with Wembley - are scuppered by Khan’s claim to have promised a fight to a different opponent. He is expected to announce his next fight this week. Sportsmail understands Khan would have made £4.5million from a June date with Brook, but with the rivalry likely to rumble loudly into 2016 he could take up to £5m. Brook’s camp are in talks with Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez over a summer fight, while WBA regular champion Keith Thurman and Brandon Rios are also possibilities. +Catalans Dragons expect to be without star signing Todd Carney for three to four weeks with a broken rib. The 2010 international player of the year was taken to hospital for X-rays after being hurt during the Dragons' 40-40 draw with Salford in Perpignan on Saturday. It was only Carney's second appearance in Super League after joining the Catalans on a three-year contract. Catalan Dragons' Todd Carney is expected to be out of acton for three to four weeks with a broken rib . Carney was taken to hospital for X-rays after damaging his ribs during match against Salford . Referee Phil Bentham ruled that Salford forward Lama Tasi was committed to the tackle on the Australian stand-off but the incident infuriated Dragons coach Laurent Frayssinous, who insists the Red Devils player should have been punished and expects him to be charged when the Rugby Football League's match-review panel study the incident on Monday. Frayssinous was fiercely critical earlier this season of what he claimed was a failure of referees to protect his playmakers and in particular full back Morgan Escare and expressed his fears that Carney would become a target. 'I said I was worried over the protection of my quality players and it has happened in only his second game,' Frayssinous said. 'I expect Tasi to be charged but I also thought he should have been shown a card.' Frayssinous was also angered by the decision of Bentham to penalise Escare in the closing moments for playing on after being tackled near his own line. That enabled Josh Griffin to draw the match but Frayssinous said his full-back should have been allowed to go back and play the ball and expects his critical post-match comments, in which he accused officials of double standards, to result in a fine. 'I hope that my £500 will help the referee to be better next week,' he said. The result at the Stade Gilbert Brutus set a new record for the highest scoring draw in the 20 years of Super League, beating the 36-36 draw between London Broncos and Leeds at The Stoop in 2004. +The drain of talent from Super League to the NRL has spread to match officials with news that referee Tim Roby is to move down under. The 25-year-old Roby, one of six regular Super League referees, has quit the English game with immediate effect and will fly out to Sydney in the next fortnight after accepting an offer to become a match official with the NRL. 'It's always been my ambition to officiate in Australia and my partner and I are hugely excited that this opportunity has arisen,' said Roby. Tim Roby, one of six regular Super League referees, has quit the English game with immediate effect . 'I expressed an interest with the NRL some time ago and I am fortunate enough to have been offered a contract on the back of that. 'I would like to thank the RFL for the last five years. It's been a great privilege to be part of the senior match officials team and I am going to miss working with some terrific people. I wish everyone here in the British game the very best for 2015.' Roby, who has refereed over 75 Super League matches over the last five seasons and acted as a touch-judge in some of the sport's biggest games, including two Challenge Cup finals, the 2014 Super League Grand Final and the Rugby League World Cup, is following in the footsteps of Russell Smith and Ashley Klein, who made their name in Super League before moving to the NRL. Rugby Football League match officials coaching and technical director Jon Sharp said: 'This is a fantastic opportunity for Tim. I have no doubts that he will do extremely well in Australia and we wish him all the best in his new career. 'Tim is a product of our development programme and his move to Australia is an indication of the high regard in which our match officials are held around the world. 'There are some outstanding young officials emerging through that same development programme and Tim's departure gives them a chance to realise their ambitions of refereeing at the highest level.' +Simona Halep secured the biggest title of her career as she battled back from the brink to beat Jelena Jankovic to the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The Romanian looked down and out on more than one occasion as she struggled with a foot problem and Jankovic gave her an almighty let-off when she passed up the chance to serve for a second Indian Wells title. But in the end the battling qualities of Halep, coupled with the instability of Jankovic who virtually went to pieces as the match went on, got the third seed over the line 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. 'I want to congratulate Jelena you were amazing,' a gracious Halep said afterwards. 'At my age you won this tournament so well done for a great week, a great job and an amazing final. Simona Halep clinched the BNP Paribas Open title with a win over Jelena Jankovic in the final . 'I am really happy I could win today. This tournament has been amazing, I thank all the Romanian people who come to support me everywhere. You make me want to fight until the end. 'I am really excited to win this, my biggest title, I will never forget it.' It had not looked like being a celebration for Halep early on as Serbian Jankovic dominated. She secured the first advantage, taking the last of five break points to come her way in the opening game when Halep slapped a forehand long, but she was immediately broken back. Serve held for two games after that, but Jankovic moved out in front again, turning a 30-0 deficit into a second break for 3-2. That would be the last of Halep in the set, as Jankovic served out two games and took another against the serve courtesy of a wild Halep forehand to take the set 6-2. The Romanian came from behind to win 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the Californian desert on Sunday . Halep paid tribute to her opponent Jankovic after winning the title in Indian Wells . Halep called for the trainer and appeared to have work done to her left foot during the rest, but looked fine as she returned to the court and took the first game of the second, ending a five-game streak against her. There was no question that she was in trouble, though, her discomfort obvious and the game her first since Wednesday owing to the fact her semi-final with Serena Williams was cancelled when the American pulled out injured. But despite being broken early in the set, she hit back by taking Jankovic's serve to love. She had little to do as Jankovic imploded, sending a two-hander long and then hitting a short backhand into the net. Halep drops her racket to celebrate after clinching the match and the title at Indian Wells . It appeared to be a momentary blip for Jankovic who broke straight back but three double faults when serving to go within a game of the title cost her and Halep nailed a backhand winner to level at 4-4. But the see-saw nature of the match ensured she took the next, again securing a break as she took the second of two points, planting an overhead winner to break down Halep. She had to call coach Chip Brooks to the chair in the break to calm her down, the pair having an emotional exchange, and tensions were higher at the end of the next game as she was broken again - a fifth game in a row - when she slapped a backhand into the net. Halep was buzzing now and took the next game, a rare hold of serve, and then broke Jankovic - now the player looking pained - to take it to a decider. Halep lost the first set 6-2 but was able to battle back and win in three in California . Jankovic threw all she had at the Romanian but came up agonisingly short in a long final . Jankovic got the first break of it, a huge slice of fortune falling her way as a backhand clipped the net and dropped over, leaping Halep stranded and a break down. It was soon 2-2, though, Jankovic raging as the chair umpire mistakenly called game on her serve only to rewind and call second serve, on which Halep took a break. There was no surprise at all that Jankovic responded by winning on Halep's serve, and even fewer raised eyebrows as another break followed, before Halep held it together on her own delivery to go 4-3 ahead. She then broke for what felt the countless time to go 5-3 up and on the brink of victory but in keeping with the match she coughed up her serve with a wild backhand before taking the title, fittingly, with a break as she came in short on a forehand and made no mistake. +Steve Cotterill’s dapper cup final suit was ruined, drenched in the champagne poured over him by his elated players. But he didn’t care one bit. ‘They can tip champagne over me any day of the week if we win,’ laughed the thrilled Bristol City manager. After all, this is City’s season. They’re coasting to the League One title and, with a handsome piece of silverware already in the cabinet, the good times have returned to Ashton Gate. Steve Cotterill and Kieran Agard look delighted after winning the trophy and City could now clinch the double . Captain Wade Elliot (centre) lifts the Johnstone's Paint Trophy as his Bristol City team-mates celebrate . Mark Little (2) bundles home the second goal after a goal mouth scrambled left him a clear goal to aim at . The full back celebrates in front of the Bristol City fans after he doubled his side's lead . This was as straightforward as a Wembley final gets. They lifted the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in front of 40,000 jubilant Bristolians after goals from Aden Flint and Mark Little saw off Walsall’s meek challenge. But this was merely a taste of things to come. With a 10-point advantage over their nearest league challengers Preston North End, City will surely also be lifting a trophy the next time they meet Walsall, in the last game of the season on May 3. Like so often during this campaign, they were in control from start to finish, showing the greater assurance in front of goal in a game of few chances. Now comes the task of crossing the finish line and completing a double but it would take a collapse of spectacular proportions to deny them a return to the Championship after two seasons away. ‘Hopefully this can push us on to finish the season off,’ said Cotterill, who also enjoyed Wembley success in the 1998 FA Trophy final with hometown club Cheltenham Town. ‘The one thing they have experienced today is that 30-40 minutes of euphoria and it’s really important to feel that early in your career. ‘We have a fixation now — we just want to win the league.' Aden Flint (left) scores the opening goal for Bristol City during the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final . The big centre half runs away to celebrate his opening goal at Wembley Stadium for Bristol City . The 50-year-old appears to be on a mission to put the West Country on the footballing map, saying the area had been starved of success. ‘They play a lot of rugby at school, so for the football teams to achieve success is good for the kids in the area,’ he added in a cheeky dig at the real king of sports in the region. Days like this will certainly help inspire the next generation of City fans. Once the flames and pyrotechnics had faded at Wembley, the favourites immediately seized control. Their enormous following only had to wait 15 minutes for the breakthrough when Flint outmuscled his marker to head home Marlon Pack’s corner at the back post. It seemed a second City goal would settle a game lacking in entertainment and it duly arrived six minutes after the break. Luke Freeman’s dancing feet worked space for a cross down the left and though goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell blocked Little’s initial header, the right back bundled home with his knee. Both Freeman and Little were excellent, causing constant problems for the Walsall back line. That moment was a fitting reward for their efforts. Fans make thier way into the stadium prior to the cup final where City came away as winners . Derrick Williams is joined by his team-mates and goalscorers Aden Flint, and Mark Little to pose for a photo . Elliot lifts the trophy high towards the City fans after comfortably winning the competition at Wembley . Walsall were disappointing, but things might have turned out differently had Frank Fielding not turned Jordan Cook’s vicious cross on to the post moments after the second goal. ‘I just felt if we scored at any time it would have given us that lift,’ said Saddlers boss Dean Smith. ‘I’m proud of getting here but disappointed with the result.’ For Bristol City, you sense, this success was merely an appetiser for greater glories to come. OTHER THINGS THAT CAUGHT ME EYE . Proof, from the Championship, that referees can redeem themselves from cases of mistaken identity. When Fulham captain Shaun Hutchinson handled on the line at Huddersfield, official Richard Clark wrongly dismissed Cauley Woodrow. But after a consultation, he returned and made the correct decision. Cameron Jerome has been impressive all season but he excelled himself with an outrageous backheel finish during Norwich’s 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest. That was the former Stoke striker’s 19th goal of the campaign and helped Alex Neil’s team move within two points of the automatic promotion places. +After Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 in an entertaining El Clasico on Sunday night, RIK SHARMA reveals five things he learned from the Nou Camp. And it's not pretty reading for one Gareth Bale... Luis Suarez has settled perfectly at Barcelona . This was the evening that Luis Suarez forged his own place in the hearts of Barcelona supporters. He'd been chipping away at it before, with that fantastic scissors kick goal against Levante, with his slew of assists for Lionel Messi and Neymar. But to score the winner in a Clasico and with as much class as he did here, has written him into the history books. Having made his Barcelona debut in a disappointing defeat by Madrid, sinking his teeth into Los Blancos here was the perfect revenge for the Uruguayan. Barcelona's attack, with Messi and Suarez in their prime and Neymar growing into his, will be the one to beat for the years to come, unless Real Madrid shuffle theirs again in the summer. Luis Suarez will have forged a place in the hearts of Barcelona supporters after his winner in El Clasico . Gareth Bale continues to regress at Real Madrid . It would be unfair to suggest that Gareth Bale disappears in the big games. After all, he scored a brilliant Copa del Rey final winner against Barcelona last season, and capped it with the goal which won Real Madrid the Champions League against rivals Atletico Madrid. And it was hard not to feel sorry for him at Camp Nou, when his first-half strike was ruled out thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo being offside in the build up. However, the Welshman doesn't fit the profile of Real Madrid, when it comes to football. He is a great player, but one whose pace and power outstrips his technique and tactical acumen. Jordi Alba got the better of him and pressure continues to build on the Welshman. He was on the fringes of this clash and the thunderous challenge by Gerard Pique to end a Bale breakaway was his game in a microcosm. Gareth Bale doesn't fir the profile of Real Madrid - his pace and power outstrips his technique . Bale looks dejected as the Barcelona players celebrate following their 2-1 victory on Sunday night . Gerard Pique has turned things around spectacularly . The lowest point of Gerard Pique's season was probably when he was in hot water with Barcelona's police force and argued with them outside a casino in the early hours of the morning. Probably. Maybe it was at the Santiago Bernabeu, in the first Clasico, which Barcelona lost, when he was run ragged. There were other low moments. Despite this, in recent weeks he's build up his form and hit a high level. And on Sunday night he pushed that even higher, turning in a display of the highest quality. He is Barcelona's rock, once again. Gerard Pique has turned things round at Barcelona and was impressive at the Nou Camp . This could be Carlo Ancelotti and Xavi's final Clasico . A front cover of Barcelona newspaper Sport earlier this week claimed that Carlo Ancelotti could be sacked if Madrid suffered a painful defeat in the Clasico. He'll probably survive after this, but it's unlikely he'll be at the Santiago Bernabeu next season, if he doesn't turn things around in La Liga. That will be hard, given Barcelona now have a four-point lead on his Madrid side. The Champions League offers another avenue to a trophy, but blocking the way are Atletico Madrid, a side Real have failed to beat six times this season, losing four times and drawing twice. The walls are closing in on Carlo. A tip of the hat to Luis Enrique, meanwhile. While he's proved to be a gruff customer in press conferences, he showed his sentimental side by throwing Xavi on for a few minutes in what may be the midfielder's last Clasico, before a lucrative move to the USA or Qatar. It wasn't just for old time's sake though, as the veteran midfielder helped to stifle Madrid attacks by slowing the pace. Carlo Ancelotti could be let go at the end of the season if he doesn't turn things around in La Liga . Cristiano Ronaldo wins the battle but Lionel Messi wins the war . The tussle between these two footballing titans rages on. Cristiano Ronaldo scored, which means he'll be going home happy despite the defeat. That's his ninth goal in eight games at Camp Nou. Madrid and Ronaldo's overall form is still shaky, but this performance from both team and star player, were improvements on some previous outings. Messi meanwhile, while not his team's individually most impressive performer on this occasion, kept everything ticking over nicely. His early nutmeg on Toni Kroos was cheeky, his assist for Jeremy Mathieu's goal delightful. He dipped out of the game for a while but returned with a vengeance, creating several chances which the likes of Neymar should have taken. Personal glory for Ronaldo is all well and good, but Messi's contribution to the team helped made the difference. Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Real Madrid against Barcelona and played well on a personal level . But Lionel Messi made his team tick on Sunday night and was a star once again for Barca . +Barcelona took a massive step towards the La Liga title with a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Clasico, and their players took to social media to celebrate. Brazilian striker Neymar was quick to upload photos to Instagram after his team's narrow victory on Sunday night at the Nou Camp. Neymar shared an image of himself with Lionel Messi and four other Brazilians Rafinha, Douglas, Dani Alves and Adriano in the dressing room after the match. Lionel Messi, Adriano, Douglas, Dani Alves, Neymar and Rafinha pose for an Instagram photo . Luis Suarez gives the thumbs up in the dressing room after the game after scoring Barcelona's winner . But that was after the striker had already uploaded a picture of his deadly striker partners Messi and Luis Suarez, who was giving the thumbs up. Suarez scored what proved to be the winner in the 56th minute in his first Clasico at the Nou Camp after latching onto Alves' pass. It was a win that took Barcelona four points clear of their rivals with 10 games remaining, and should they go on to win La Liga we could be seeing more social media celebrations. Suarez scored the winner for Barcelona in their 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Nou Camp . Barcelona celebrated after moving four points clear of their rivals in La Liga with 10 games remaining . +ITV will reunite a number of England's 2003 World Cup-winning heroes as part of their broadcasting line-up for this year's tournament. Jonny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jason Robinson and the coach who led them to that victory, Sportsmail columnist Sir Clive Woodward, will all be studio pundits for the tournament. England will host the competition, which starts on September 18, and the achievements of Woodward's side have set the benchmark for Stuart Lancaster's current squad as they look to win on home soil. Sir Clive Woodward (left) and Jonny Wilkinson (right) will be part of ITV's broadcasting team this summer . World Cup winners Jason Robinson and Lawrence Dallaglio will also be involved in the tournament . Wilkinson kicks the winning drop goal to give England victory in the final against Australia in 2003 . Wilkinson unforgettably kicked the winning drop goal for the Red Rose against Australia in the final 12 years ago, while Robinson scored England's only try in the topsy-turvy 20-17 triumph after extra-time. George Gregan, who skippered Australia that day and also played in the victorious 1999 Wallabies side, is also part of ITV's line-up. Former Wales and Ireland skippers Gareth Thomas and Brian O'Driscoll will also be involved in the coverage, which will be led by presenter John Inverdale. Thomas, the first openly gay professional rugby player, reprises his broadcasting role from 2011 and O'Driscoll watches a World Cup from the sidelines for the first time since 1995 after retiring from the game last year. Gareth Thomas (left) and Brian O'Driscoll (right) will also be involved in ITV's coverage this summer . Former British and Irish Lions and Scotland coach Sir Ian McGeechan, victorious 1995 South Africa captain Francois Pienaar, New Zealand's Sean Fitzpatrick, Australia's Michael Lynagh and David Flatman complete the list of pundits. Niall Sloane, ITV director of sport, said: 'A Rugby World Cup hosted by England is a once in a generation event and it's our privilege as the exclusive television broadcaster to bring viewers the full impact of all the action and emotion throughout what we hope will be an unforgettable tournament. 'We believe we've assembled a world-class line up of rugby talent who, through their own expertise, experience and sheer passion for the game can help deliver the best possible coverage for those watching at home.' England will be hoping for glory at Twickenham at the 2015 World Cup . +Manny Pacquiao is not only one of the two greatest pound-for-pound boxers in the world but a master of understatement. Such is the modesty of the multi-tasking Filipino – he is also a congressman, the world's shortest professional basketball player, a singer, actor and philanthropist – that he describes the up-coming richest event in boxing history like this: . 'I can say this will be one of the most important fights in my career.' VIDEOS Scroll down to watch . Manny Pacquiao says the fight with Floyd Mayweather will be one of the biggest in his career . Pacquiao spoke to CNN's Ivan Watson in an exclusive interview, where he spoke about the May 2 fight . Yes he could say that, since for their exploits in Las Vegas on May 2 he and Floyd Mayweather are expected to share a $300million (£218m) purse ($180m (£131m) to the Money Man, $120m (£87m) to the PacMan). Pacquaio, in an exclusive interview with CNN, also reveals that the eldest of his five children played a major part in urging him to keep pursuing Mayweather for the showdown which is expected to draw a record US pay-per-view audience of four to five million buys. 'My son and daughter really wanted this fight to happen and they will be in the front row,' he says of the $6,000-plus seats he has reserved for them and his wife Jinker at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Manny Pacquiao trained in the Philippines before jetting to Los Angeles to continue his preparations . Pacquiao shows off his speed and power as he trains at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym . The Filipino star is now in Los Angeles to complete his training regime for his fight with Floyd Mayweather . 'Three years ago they said 'Daddy, I want you to fight Mayweather. I want you to fight Mayweather.' I said, 'Why? It's not my fault he doesn't want to fight.' 'Finally now it's happened. And they really, really want to watch. 'It's been five years in the making…and finally it's happening. The fans deserve it.' Of his massive pay-day, the PacMan says: 'I feel blessed and I owe a lot to those fans. First to God but also the fans because of their support.' Pacquiao, who uploaded a photo of his daughter on Instagram two weeks ago, says his children wanted fight . Mayweather began training in his Las Vegas gym exactly two months before fighting Pacquiao . Mayweather, still undefeated at 38, is training in Las Vegas, where the fight will take place on May 2 . This highest of all his multi-million pay-days – a good proportion of which will be donated to the poor in his homeland - will not result in his offspring being spoiled. To help teach their children to appreciate the life they now enjoy, the man who rose from poverty to an unprecedented eight world titles in different divisions and his wife have moved them from an academy for international students to a school with no air conditioning. He says: 'I want them to experience, so they can meet hungry families. So they will not mistreat other people or treat other people differently.' Pacquiao was last in action when he dominated Chris Algieri over 12 rounds in Macau on November 23, 2014 . +Former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes believes failure in Europe has exposed declining standards in the Barclays Premier League. Moyes is manager of Spanish side Real Sociedad, a job he took up in November. He has been linked with a return to England with West Ham, where Sam Allardyce remains in charge, but appears comfortable in La Liga. Former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes says the Premier League isn't what it once was . Real Sociedad's Moyes says the Premier League now is 'probably the poorest I've seen in a long, long time' While Spanish sides have flourished in Europe this season their Premier League counterparts have struggled, with none left in the Champions League or Europa League after Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton bowed out this month. Moyes said on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: 'It's not been too long ago where we were looked at as probably having the best teams, and it does change. 'Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal are all exceptional teams in their own right and they'll be disappointed they went out, and maybe on another day they'd have gone through. 'It's just becoming a wee bit of a habit that we're not getting our teams quite as close to the final as we had in the past. Moyes shakes hands with Lionel Messi of Barcelona, one of the Spanish teams flourishing in Europe . He says Chelsea (here bowing out of the Champions League to PSG), along with Manchester City and Arsenal 'are all exceptional teams' but that the Premier League might be talked up more than it deserves to be . 'I think this year you'd have to say it's probably the poorest Premier League I've seen in a long, long time. 'Maybe we do go over the top and recently we have maybe talked up the Premier League more than what it's actually been. There's other leagues which are certainly now comparable.' Moyes expects to return to the Premier League, but not in the near future. 'I think someday I will,' he said. 'I've left when I didn't expect to be leaving but what I've taken on is a great job. 'I love working in Spain.' +Emmanuel Emenike stormed off the field after the Fenerbahce striker was the victim of alleged abuse from his own fans in Turkey. Soon after blowing a one on one chance with Besiktas' Tolga Zengin After a poor touch to control a long ball, Emenike was booed vociferously by his own fans, with allegations that some of the abuse was also racist. The Nigeria international appeared to angrily remove his shirt and marched towards the sidelines during Sunday night’s match against rivals Besiktas. Striker Emmanuel Emenike reacts to boos from the home fans during Fenerbahce's match with Besiktas . The Nigerian has struggled for form in front of goal this season and is not popular with some supporters . Emenike makes for the touchline only to be forced back on by Fenerbahce's coaching staff on Sunday night . Emineke gesticulated wildly on his way off the pitch, showing his displeasure at the home fans' booing. But his coaches on the touchline ordered him to put his top back on and continue playing, pushing him back onto the pitch. Former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt had to calm the striker down as he continued playing, before he was eventually replaced at half time. The player was visibly upset by the chanting, and attempted to have himself subbed when it happened . Emenike was made to play out the remainder of the first-half before staff eventually agree to sub him off . Emenike has endured a difficult time in front of goal this season, netting just four times in 22 appearances, and is not popular in the Turkish capital. Senegalese front-man Moussa Sow, meanwhile, scored a dramatic 91 minute winner to secure three points for Fenerbahce. The result sees the club remain third in the Turkish Super League table with 53 points from 25 games, two behind the pace of first-placed Galatasaray. The Nigerian was consoled by Fenerbahce staff at the side of the pitch after receiving the abuse . +Juventus moved closer to a fourth straight Serie A title with a 1-0 win over Genoa on Sunday. Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game after 25 minutes to secure a 20th win in 28 Serie A fixtures for Massimiliano Allegri's men. Their advantage at the top of the table is now such that they can plan on wrapping the title up even before the semi-finals of the Champions League, which they will reach if they can see off Monaco in the quarters. Carlos Tevez (left) scores the only goal as Juventus beat Genoa 1-0 in Serie A on Sunday . Tevez also had a penalty saved but Juventus still took the three points at home to Genoa . Tevez (second left) leads the celebrations after the full time whistle for Serie A leaders Juventus . Roma kept pace, some 14 points back, as they saw off relegation-battling Cesena 1-0. Daniele De Rossi got the goal after 41 minutes, his first strike away from home in the league since August 2013. The victory kept Roma in second place but just one point clear of city rivals Lazio, who clinched their sixth straight victory with a 2-0 triumph over Hellas Verona. Lazio took the lead when Felipe Anderson scored his ninth goal of the campaign in the fourth minute. Not long after, Vangelis Moras nearly pulled the visitors level but he was denied by the post. After Lazio's Lucas Biglia hit the crossbar in the 27th minute, the hosts doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Antonio Candreva hit the back of the net with a free-kick . Sampdoria moved up to fourth and piled more pressure on their former hero Roberto Mancini, who saw his Inter Milan side slump to a sixth straight defeat in all competitions and further out of the European race with a 1-0 loss. A stunning strike from Eder, the Brazilian-born player just called up by Italy, midway through the second half was enough to make it four wins on the bounce for coach Sinisa Mihajlovic - the former Inter player who both played alongside and under Mancini. His side were deserving winners on the balance of play and the performance will bring more questions for Mancini, with the board demanding European qualification but 10 points separating them from the top five. Tevez (left) fired home in the 25th minute as Juventus kept their 14-point lead atop Serie A . Daniele De Rossi (centre) scored the decisive goal as Roma beat Cesena 1-0 . De Rossi (centre) celebrates his goal with his team as Roma remained Juve's nearest challengers . Sampdoria, on the other hand, are eyeing the Champions League places after climbing above Napoli, who were held 1-1 by Atalanta. They needed Duvan Zapata's 89th minute equaliser to even get a point after Mauricio Pinilla's 72nd minute goal for Atalanta, who were reduced to 10 men when Alejandro Gomez was sent off. Napoli coach Rafael Benitez also saw red, sent to the stands for dissent late on. Napoli remain a point above Fiorentina, who were held to a 2-2 draw at Udinese. The hosts took the lead through Molla Wague after 15 minutes, but two goals in four minutes from Mario Gomez early in the second half flipped the match on its head before Panagiotis Kone's 62nd minute leveller. Torino inflicted more misery on struggling Parma as they claimed a 2-0 win over the bankrupt club. Maxi Lopez and Migjen Basha scored for Torino while Parma were forced to play more than half of the match with 10 men after defender Alessandro Lucarelli was sent off in the 36th minute for his second bookable offence. The result saw Torino move up to seventh place while Parma, whose future remains unclear, stayed rock bottom of the overall standings with just nine points. Napoli manager Rafael Benitez was sent off for dissent as his side were held 1-1 at home by Atalanta . Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero (centre) celebrates his team's win over Inter Milan with his players . Empoli climbed above Sassuolo with a 3-1 win at the Stadio Carlo Castellini. Riccardo Saponara was on target twice with Levan Mchedlidze netting the Tuscan side's other goal. An own goal from Daniele Rugani brought Sassuolo level just after half-time but it was not enough to prevent them from falling to their fifth defeat in their last six games. +Jonny Wilkinson has been linked with an England role in another World Cup campaign — 12 years after he kicked the team to glory in the 2003 tournament. The 35-year-old former Lions fly-half, who retired as a player at the end of last season, is destined to act as a kicking consultant for England, according to reports in France. However, Sportsmail has learned that such an arrangement is far from a foregone conclusion. Jonny Wilkinson could return to the England set-up as a kicking consultant, according to reports in France . Wilkinson was last in action for Toulon before retiring at the end of the 2014 season . Wilkinson kicks the winning drop goal to give England victory in the final against Australia in 2003 . It is understood that the notion of Wilkinson working with England on an ad hoc basis has been discussed and considered, following his invitation into the training camp ahead of the autumn series at Twickenham last November. Indications on Sunday night were that the No 10 icon’s involvement with Stuart Lancaster’s squad is not entirely out of the question. As well as a part-time coaching role at former club Toulon, Wilkinson is a World Cup ambassador, has a range of commercial commitments and is being unveiled as one of the ITV pundits for the global event on these shores later this year. Sir Clive Woodward (left) and Jonny Wilkinson (right) will be part of ITV's broadcasting team this summer . +Dynamo Kiev face disciplinary proceedings after their fans were accused of racist behaviour during the Europa League second leg against Everton at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday. The Ukrainian side advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition, with a 5-2 win on the night securing a 6-4 aggregate victory. However the victory was followed by allegations which will be dealt with by UEFA's control, ethics and disciplinary body on March 26. Dynamo Kiev face disciplinary proceedings after their fans were accused of racist behaviour on Thursday . The allegations will be dealt with by UEFA's control, ethics and disciplinary body on March 26 . UEFA said in a statement on its website that Dynamo face separate charges relating to racist behaviour, setting off of fireworks and insufficient organisation - defined as allowing stairways to be blocked. Their next match in the Europa League will be against Fiorentina after the draw was made on Friday. The first and second legs will be played on April 16 and 23. Everton striker Romelu Lukaku heads the ball during their Europa League defeat by Dynamo Kiev . +A California thief gave himself away by binge watching on his victim's Netflix account. Bobby Alexander is behind bars after police used the information to trace the IP address leading them to the 20-year-old's home. The unidentified victim says that it all started when she returned home to find someone had broken in and made off with her television, Blu-ray player, and other electronics. Bobby Alexander is behind bars after police used the information to trace the IP address leading them to the 20-year-old's home . Fox News reports that she noticed her Netflix account was being used a  few days later. Police found all the stolen items in Alexander's home. He has since been charged with burglary. Police did not say exactly what the thief had been streaming . There's no word on exactly what he was watching that kept him glued to the screen. Alexander's bail is set at $75,000. +David Gibson, 28,  fractured his skull, nose and both eye sockets after he fell face first into a barrier at the side of the pitch after a horror tackle . A footballer fractured his skull, nose and both eye sockets after he fell face first into a barrier at the side of a pitch during a horror tackle. David Gibson, 28, was playing for Felixstowe Harpers against Ipswich Valley Rangers in the Bob Coleman Cup quarter final when he careered off the pitch on Saturday. He was left completely unrecognisable following the incident, and was kept in hospital for two days as medics tended to his horrific injuries at Colchester General Hospital, Essex. The match was immediately abandoned when the forward was injured in the 24th minute while his helpless team-mates looked on. Former Ipswich Town right-back Kevin Steggles, the father of David's girlfriend, was at the match. Mr Steggles, 53, said: 'It's the worst thing I have ever seen. 'But at the end of the day it was an accident and it's obviously a difficult time for all the family.' Mr Gibson, of Ipswich, is in his second season at Felixstowe Harpers. Harpers manager Ian Watson branded the horrifying incident 'traumatic' but said the barrier surrounding the football pitch did conform to FA guidelines. Mr Watson said: 'It was traumatic. 'David stumbled into it at quite a pace although it was a normal challenge.' But he stressed: 'If you can have a freak accident like this one just how dangerous are those posts?' Mr Gibson was playing for Felixstowe Harpers against Ipswich Valley Rangers in the Bob Coleman Cup quarter final when he careered off the pitch and into a barrier on Saturday . Ipswich Borough Council, which runs Gainsborough Sports Centre, has launched an urgent investigation. A council spokesman said: 'We have completed a report into the incident and it will now be investigated. 'We are just very pleased that Mr Gibson appears to be making a good recovery - and we send him and his family all the best.' The match at Gainsborough Sports Centre, Ipswich, was immediatelyabandoned when the forward was injured in the 24th minute as his horrified team-mates looked on . Mr Watson added: 'The people who dealt with it at the scene were absolutely fantastic, including the managers and physios. 'The reaction from other clubs and players has been really overwhelming - that's the good thing about local football.' The game will be replayed on Saturday, March 28. +Champion golfer Alan Bannister, who swindled £26,000 in benefits - including a car which he used to drive to his club games - has been jailed . A champion golfer who swindled £26,000 in benefits - including a car which he used to drive to his club games - has been jailed. Alan Bannister, who played off a handicap of seven, claimed he was in too much pain to walk and was given the taxpayer funded mobility car to get around. But Cardiff Crown Court heard he was was in fact the 'club champion' at his local golf course and had won a number of tournament with his teammates the 'Sunday Swingers' and 'The Crazy Gang'  - despite claiming he could barely walk 50 yards at a time. Bannister, 56, from Barry, South Wales, was investigated by the Department of Work and Pensions who filmed him completing a 5,400 yard course in just four and a half hours. He was seen strolling unaided around the course on his daily round in the footage. They discovered he used his mobility car - intended for people 'virtually unable to walk' - to drive to the golf club to play withJudge Recorder David Miller said: 'It was a blatant fraud. 'Your grossly and dishonestly distorted your condition and your ability to walk. You said you could only walk 50 metres but you were an active memb er of your golf club with a handicap of seven.' He said Bannister was club champion in 2006 and also won competitions 'almost on annual basis' even when claiming benefits. Jailing him for six months he said: 'You were filmed effortlessly removing your golf trolley and clubs from your car and walking at a decent pace at the golf course. 'At time of national austerity, claiming benefits you are not entitled to is very serious. This benefit is for people virtually unable to walk.' Prosecutor Stuart McLeese said: 'Bannister made dishonest representations about the extent of his disabilities and needs and failed to notify the DWP about what his true care and mobility needs were. 'He didn't accurately record the affect his condition had on him and then didn't notify the DWP at any time that his abilities were greater than he indicated in those claim forms.' Bannister started claiming Disability Living Allowance in 2007 saying he had a form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis. Pictured are stills from undercover video of Bannister playing golf while claiming benefits. He had claimed he was in too much pain to walk and was given the taxpayer funded mobility car . But an anonymous tipster called the DWP to tell that how Bannister was a keen golfer - who had played in five-day-long competitions . He filled in forms saying he needed help raising his arms, putting on his shirt and shoes and carrying saucepans. Bannister said he could only walk 50 yards before experiencing 'severe discomfort' and it would take him 10 to 15 minutes to cover this distance. Cardiff Crown Court heard how he also needed help making a meal or getting dressed. But an anonymous tipster called the DWP to tell that how Bannister was a keen golfer - who had played in five-day-long competitions. He was filmed in 2012 driving in his mobility car to St Andrews Major golf club near his home in Barry, South Wales, and completing the 5,400 yard course in just four and a half hours. Covert officers filmed him happily walking to the first tee with his clubs on a trolley and then teeing off before walking 400 yards down the fairway without a problem. Bannister, 56, from Barry, South Wales, was investigated by the Department of Work and Pensions who filmed him completing a 5,400 yard course in just four and a half hours . In interview Bannister said he still suffered 'flare ups' around six times a month and had to take strong medication in order to play golf . In interview with Department of Work and Pensions officers, Bannister admitted knowing that he should tell them if there was any improvement in his arthritis. He said: 'I have to do something if I am not working - I can't sit in the house and melt away. 'I have got to get out there and get on with my life. I have to be up two or three hours before I can play golf. 'My illness if there all the time. I never ever thought I wasn't entitled.' A DWP officer told Bannister: 'The fact you are getting on and fighting your illness is admirable but it doesn't mean the state has to pay for it.' In interview Bannister said he still suffered 'flare ups' around six times a month and had to take strong medication in order to play golf. The court was told Bannister dishonestly claimed £26,090.55 from 2007 until 2012 in Disability Living Allowance. Bannister denied committing fraud by false representation and dishonestly obtaining money transfers by deception but was found guilty by a jury after a four-day trial. +Athlete Jimmy Thoronka, who went missing after Glasgow's Commonwealth Games last summer, is now applying for asylum in the UK after he was found sleeping rough on the streets of London. Sierra Leone's top sprinter disappeared at the end of the Games and failed to return to the Ebola-hit west African country. Already orphaned by the war in his homeland, he claims that his entire adopted family have been wiped out by the disease while he has been in the UK. Jimmy Thoronka, carrying the Commonwealth baton in Sierra Leone, has applied for asylum in Great Britian . He was arrested on Friday and quizzed by officers over whether he was carrying or using drugs, which he denied. He has since applied for asylum and has been released into Home Office accommodation. Thoronka, who said that he wanted to claim asylum in the UK so he could fulfill his dream of becoming a top athlete, now faces deportation. An online petition appealing to the authorities to let Mr Thoronka remain in the UK has so far attracted more than 57,000 signatures and well wishers have donated more than £24,000 to help the young athlete.  Among the high profile names to support his plight are supermodel Lily Cole, and comedian Russell Brand. The Guardian said it had interviewed Thoronka before he was detained for overstaying his visa. He claimed there were no flights to Sierra Leone immediately after the Games and his team-mates all scattered, some staying with relatives and friends until they could return home. But he said his own bag -  containing his money and passport  - were stolen. His visa expired last September and after a brief stint with friends, he has been sleeping on the streets in parks and on buses ever since. An online petition to let Mr Thoronka remain in the UK has so far attracted more than 57,000 signatures and well wishers have donated more than £24,000 to help the young athlete . He today told the BBC's Sarah Montague that he wanted to claim asylum in the UK so he could fulfill his dream of becoming a top athlete.  Asylum is only granted to those who are in fear of persecution in their home country. He said of Sierra Leone: 'Nobody persecute me or anything, my problem is I don't have a family there to stay with. The person who would help me has passed by Ebola. If I go back i will not make it and I will kill myself, because i cannot pursue my dream. I want to be the fastest sprinter in the world.' When Thoronka, the country's No 1 100m sprinter, left Sierra Leone for Glasgow, some Ebola cases had been confirmed in a few of the villages surrounding Freetown, but the epidemic had not yet taken hold of the capital. The death toll in the country is now more than 3,500 cases. The 100m sprinter, not pictured here, says he wants to stay in England to become a world class sprinter . The runner said: 'I was hoping to win a medal for my country. But during the Games I got the terrible news that my uncle had died, probably from Ebola. 'I couldn't stop crying. It was difficult to continue with competing but I tried to carry on.' He is not working illegally, nor claiming benefits or housing, and understands the legal implications of remaining in the UK after his visa has expired, but said his situation is hopeless. After the Games, he stayed for a while with friends in Leicester - and found out that his entire immediate family had been killed by Ebola. Later he went to London and began sleeping in parks and on night buses and begging for £1 from passers-by to buy chips. 'Some days I get no food at all. I wash in public toilets and sleep in the park,' he said. 'I wake up around 4am and if I've got a bus pass I get on the night bus and sleep there until morning. Hampden Park in Glasgow was the venue for the track and field events during the Commonwealth Games . 'I met a man who sometimes lets me sleep at his house but I have to wait outside for him to come home at 10 or 11pm and I get very cold. 'We have a cold season in Sierra Leone but it is not cold like England. Some days I don't think I'm going to make it and just feel like killing myself. 'My dream is to become one of the best sprinters in the world but I don't see how that can happen now.' +A football fan is taking his later father's false teeth to his team's Wembley game tomorrow - as an unlikely lucky charm. Walsall FC supporter Jason Bailey has carried the dentures to every round of the Johnstone Paint Trophy and credits his lucky omen for the club's success this season. The club now find themselves at Wembley for the first time in their 127 year history and will play Bristol City tomorrow- a week after the 16th anniversary of the death of his father Christopher. Walsall FC supporter Jason Bailey has been taking his father's dentures to games since he believed they helped his club to victory at the League Two play-off final in 2001 . Jason said: 'This way part of him is there with me at Wembley and his teeth have always been my lucky charm. 'My dad took me my first Walsall game when I was just six-years-old. He was a massive fan but never got to see them achieve much. 'He had a ticket to all the games home and away and worked for them on security on match days. He would loved this moment. Mr Bailey, 44, began bringing the dentures to matches after he believed they helped his club to victory at the League Two play-off final in 2001. Christopher Bailey, pictured with his son in 1999, had taken Jason to his first ever Walsall game when he was just six-years-old . Mr Bailey, pictured with Christopher Snr (centre) and brother Christopher Jnr in Walsall in 1978, said bringing the dentures was a way to keep a part of his father with him . The superstitious fan even kisses the teeth, wrapped his in his father's favourite handkerchief for good luck. 'It first came about at the play-off final in 2001 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff,' he added. 'We went 2-1 down in extra time so I got them out in the handkerchief he used to keep them in and gave them a rub and a bit of a kiss. We then went on and won the game 3-2 and I've never looked back. 'I've taken to them to every round of the cup this year - it's the first time I've done that and we're at Wembley for the first time in our history. 'I wish I'd done it sooner. It seems to bring them luck in big games . 'Previously I took them major games, such as the play-off final and other cup games against teams in other leagues. More often then not, we win when I've got them. 'I'll definitely give them a little rub and a kiss to help bring us good luck next week - I believe they will do the job and see us to victory.' Mr Bailey takes the false teeth wrapped his in his dad's favourite handkerchief to every game and even kisses them for good luck . When they are not accompanying Mr Bailey to a football game, his late father's false teeth are kept inside his wife's jewellery box . Mr Bailey's father Christopher passed away on March 13, 1999 at the age of 49 after he fell into a coma during a triple bypass operation in hospital. Bus driver Mr Bailey decided to keep his false teeth as a memento because he used to love playing jokes on people in the pub with them. His father would either drop them in people's pints or put them in bags of pork scratchings as a way of playing pranks on his friends. 'I kept his teeth because they brought back happy memories for me. They were a big part of him,' added Mr Bailey, a father-of-two. 'He used to drop them in people's pints and we used to drink Bank's Mild - it was thick so people wouldn't find them until they got to the end of their pints. 'He would also put them in his pork scratchings and take them back to the bar and complain somebody had left their false teeth inside them. 'He was a bit of a joker to say the least. ' Mr Bailey, pictured outside Banks Stadium, home of his beloved team Walsall FC,  in the West Midlands credits his the lucky dentures for the club's success this season . Jason lives in Walsall, West Midlands, with his wife Lisa, 40, and they have two children Jake, 15, and Keenan, 13. Jake's middle name is Saddler after Walsall's nickname The Saddlers and Keenan's is Ray Graydon, the manager who got them promoted in 2001. He added: 'The wife weren't too happy with the middle names - but it had to be done. 'She suggested I keep the teeth in her jewellery box as she knows how important they are to me. 'Everyone laughs and think it's a bit strange- but it's my way of saying thank you to him. ' Mrs Bailey, a housewife, added: 'I suggested he keep them in my jewellery box as they are the safest place for them. I know how important the teeth are to him. 'He has banned me from going to Wembley though as, unlike the false teeth, I'm bad luck. Whenever I have gone to watch Walsall, they have lost. 'At first he wanted to name our first born after the whole team. I said no to that. We found a compromise.' +As a public display of dissension in the ranks, it couldn't have been clearer. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop shook her head, rolled her eyes and finished off with a face palm as Treasurer Joe Hockey gave a bellicose defence of the late Malcolm Fraser's 'great initiative', the Expenditure Review Committee, otherwise known as the expenditure razor gang. He homed in on the former prime minister's initiative of the ERC, much to the disgust of his front-bench colleague and the mirth of others, including Education Minister Christopher Pyne. 'And of course he was the great initiator of, and we will be forever thankful, the expenditure review committee and that committee has endured much to the chagrin of my colleagues and it is one of his many last legacies,' Mr Hockey announced. But there was no hiding the Foreign Minister's disbelief. Scroll down for video . Can't quite believe what she is hearing. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop puts her head in her hand as Joe Hockey trumpets Malcolm Fraser's razor gang initiative during a speech in parliament on Monday . Julie Bishop rolled the eyes, puffed the cheeks, threw her head back and then shook her head ... she then muttered something before putting her head in her hand, shaking her head once more and raised the eyebrows . Ms Bishop has a look of disbelief on her face as Mr Hockey continues to address Parliament . The Foreign Minister rolls her eyes as Joe Hockey announces 'and of course he (Malcolm Fraser) was the great initiator of, and we will be forever thankful, the expenditure review committee' Julie Bishop (left) and Joe Hockey (standing) are believed to be at loggerheads once more over claims that the Treasurer has proposed cuts to foreign aid in the May budget . In just 13 seconds, Ms Bishop rolled her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, threw her head back and then shook her head. She then muttered a word before putting her head in her hand, shaking her head once more before finally raising her eyebrows. As she recoiled from Mr Hockey's speech, there was a mixed response from Coalition MPs - some laughed, others looked on incredulously - no doubt reacting to further angst in the ranks over proposed budget cuts. The federal Treasurer was praising Mr Fraser for being the 'great initiator' of what is commonly referred to as the government's razor gang. The cabinet committee is in charge of finding budget cuts across the government and has in the past taken a blade to the foreign aid budget. There are reports Ms Bishop is furious at plans by Mr Hockey to announce further cuts to the foreign aid budget in a bid to balance the books. Ms Bishop earlier said she was not aware of any more cuts and would take the matter up with Mr Hockey. 'I believe we have it about right,' she told reporters in Canberra on Monday. There have also been reports of concerns among some in the Liberal Party that cabinet members have been deliberately leaking against Ms Bishop to head off her leadership prospects. There are suggestions there will be a small cut to foreign aid in the May budget on top of the $140 million allotted to "InnovationXchange", a new project focusing on how Australia provides funds to disadvantaged countries, announced by the Foreign Minister. Treasurer Joe Hockey is set for a showdown with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop over proposed cuts to foreign aid in the May Budget . Of the late Malcolm Fraser, pictured in 1977 on the White House lawns, Joe Hockey stated: 'He was the great initiator of the expenditure review committee and that committee has endured much to the chagrin of my colleagues and it is one of his many last legacies' The foreign minister said she was not aware of any more budget cuts to foreign aid and would take the matter up with Mr Hockey. Ms Bishop said while the government's razor gang had not yet considered the $4 billion aid budget, she did not believe there was room for more savings. 'I believe we have it about right,' she told reporters in Canberra. Ms Bishop challenged opposition MPs to 'look into their hearts' and support the $5 billion in other budget cuts Labor had proposed in government but were now resisting. +The Yak is back and so is the question that used to annoy him but now just brings a smile. Age, for the striker who scored more Premier League goals than Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres, has always been more than a number. That is possibly because David Moyes once joked Yakubu Aiyegbeni was a ‘Nigerian 25’. And because Steve McClaren claimed the striker told him he was 25 when he signed for Middlesbrough 10 years ago. Reading striker Yakubu insists he has never been concerned with the questions marks over his age . So, how old is he? The profiles say 32; the sceptics are ruder. The big man among Reading’s big dreamers says he’s heard it all before. ‘It was always like this,’ he says. ‘But it does not bother me. Kanu has had it as well. 'I just laugh about it — people joke and that is it. If I was lying I don’t think I would be playing now. I would be retired.’ Thankfully for Reading and the FA Cup, the jibes have not got the better of him. Yakubu scored the goal that saw off Derby in the fifth round to set up the tie against Bradford, guaranteeing at least one side from outside the Premier League will be at Wembley in the semi-finals. For the neutrals, the hope is that League One Bradford can trip up another bigger club. For Yakubu, there is the hope that he can make it to Wembley for the first time after a mangled achilles tendon kept him out of Everton’s 2009 final defeat against Chelsea. The Nigerian striker scores Reading's second goal during the FA Cup fifth round defeat against Derby . Saturday (kick-off 12.45pm). TV: BT Sport 1 (from 12pm). If he does, it will complete a quite surreal journey that spans almost three years since he left Blackburn — ending 10 seasons in England — following relegation to the Championship. His absence has seen him scream at confused Chinese footballers and gain a sweaty taste of football in Qatar. ‘No regrets,’ as Yakubu says. And yet there were times in China, at Guangzhou R&F in the days before Sven Goran Eriksson rocked up, where he quite literally had no idea what was going on. ‘When I was there (after leaving Blackburn), we had a Brazilian coach (Sergio Farias) and he spoke in Portuguese,’ Yakubu says. ‘A guy that speaks English, he had to translate into English and then another guy had to translate from Portuguese to Chinese. The manager is supposed to speak for like five minutes but we are there for nine minutes. Yakubu, seen here celebrating a goal against Manchester City in 2004, scored 43 goals for Portsmouth . Yakubu made sure Reading reached the FA Cup quarter-finals with this goal against the Rams . Yakubu felt he was away from English football for too long and jumped at the chance to return . ‘It’s so difficult to speak with your team-mates. You don’t know how to tell him to pass. You just scream at him and when you scream, he knows that he has to give you the ball. ‘When you want to go shopping or to a restaurant, you have to have it written in your phone in Chinese and you have to show it. Everywhere you go, you have to take your phone and show it to the taxi driver. ‘But when Sven came in, it was great to work with him again. I worked with him at Leicester City. He is always really calm. He just wants you to enjoy the game. Yakubu has scored more Premier League goals than Cristiano Ronaldo (above) and Fernando Torres . The frontman also scored 35 goals in 103 games for Middlesbrough between 2005 and 2007 . ‘Sometimes when I played two or three games and didn’t score, he never said to me, “You didn’t score”. He’d just walk towards me and say, smiling: “It’s been a while since you scored”. Always calm.’ After 18 months in China, Yakubu wound up at Al Rayyan in Qatar last year. He is confident that despite having to train in the middle of the night, they can host a good World Cup. ‘I had a good offer in Qatar,’ he says. ‘It was another experience so no regrets. Believe me, they can get a good World Cup there. They have nice stadiums. But when it is hot, it is hot. We had to train at 9.30pm in summer. You finish training at about 12 and then go home at 12.30am and then bed at about 4am. You have to stay home all day because it is really, really hot. You can’t train when it’s 50 degrees, it is too much.’ The 32-year-old had offers from American, China and Qatar ahead of his move to Reading . He adds: ‘In winter it is good, we can train at 4pm. We played matches at 7.30pm or 8pm and they have to stop for water breaks once or twice.’ On deadline day last month he came back to the country where he first arrived in 2003, when Harry Redknapp took a punt on a striker playing in Israel. ‘Even when you play the big teams, Harry makes you believe,’ he says. ‘He’ll say, “The defence is not good. Come on, just kill him”. If you’re scared, like you’re going to play against Sol Campbell, he’d say, “Sol Campbell? He’s s***. Don’t worry”.’ The memories of his first English stint make him happy. Now his hope is to finally reach Wembley on his second chapter. ‘Every player wants that,’ he says. You’re never too old to dream. The veteran striker believes former boss Harry Redknapp (left) 'makes you believe' +If you thought you had seen it all then prepare to be mistaken. Instagram personality Irina Goncharova has trained a slow loris to hold onto a metal pole and well... pole dance. Featured in a video, the slow loris swivels around the long pole in front of some rather fetching leopard print wallpaper. This slow loris is just the performer in a humorous video released on Instagram . The wide-eyed primate wears a cross between a nappy and a pair of shorts with what appears to have a fruit print on it. And actually picks up speed while spinning, becoming undoubtedly dizzy. Stopping to catch its breath, the primate then swivels back in the other direction before climbing further up the pole. The primate makes sure to keep a firm grip on the pole as it entertains its crowd . The video then switches to another shot of the slow loris pole dancing on a separate occasion. Still wearing its interesting underpants, the primate this time performs in front of a different wallpapered backdrop. Before showing off by turning upside down and continuing to spin. According to Ruptly, the slow loris has become increasingly popular as a pet among people who adore it for its cute behaviour and large eyes. The slow loris shows off a fancy pair of underpants in a separate performance . No stone is left unturned as the slow loris goes upside down to the delight of the filmmaker . But unfortunately this has caused many problems and is considered to be, alongside deforestation, the main threat to the species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates well over half of the slow loris population is either endangered, at risk or vulnerable. The video of the pole dancing slow loris was captured in Perm, Russia. +Tony Pulis believes Manuel Pellegrini’s job as Manchester City manager will be under threat if he fails to land a trophy this season. The West Bromwich Albion head coach insisted City must continue to be successful over the next five years to earn the global fan base of rival clubs. 'The pressure is he has to win, given the amount of money Man City have invested in players over the past years,’ said Pulis. ‘I don’t think it’s just at the top, it’s at the bottom. We’ve seen it with Gus (Poyet), there comes a tipping point. There is always a tipping point at the top and bottom. That’s the industry we’re in. Tony Pulis believes Manuel Pellegrini’s job as Man City manager will be under threat if he fails to land a trophy . 'They pay the money for results. It’s a results business.' He added: 'All over the world there are supporters following the Premier League. A lot of fair weather supporters. Of the new generation, 99.9 per cent will pick a team that’ s been successful. 'So Man City need to be successful over the next four or five years to get a generation of supporters, like Liverpool did, like Man United did. Those big clubs need that support, it’s money in the bank for them.' Pulis takes his side to the Etihad believing Pellegrini’s team will be at their most threatening, however, following their Champions League defeat to Barcelona. He thinks City can win all their remaining nine matches to mount a Premier League title challenge and that the only difference in the Nou Camp was Lionel Messi. Pellegrini is under pressure at the Etihad after City were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona . Yaya Toure's Man City side struggled to impress as they crashed out of Europe on Wednesday . 'I think City now will be at their most dangerous,’ said Pulis. ‘Coming out of the Champions League I think they’ll really focus on their last nine games. The attitude at that football club will be: “Can we win nine?" It’s up to us to go and give them a good game. 'You look at their squad, they have enough to win nine games. If they do, who knows? I’m sure they’re talking about it. They are that good a group. 'We talk about playing against Barcelona, they are one player short in that game: Messi. He was the difference. 'He's a game changer at the very highest level of his profession and that's the difference. I'm absolutely convinced if you put him in City's team they would be through now, not Barcelona.’ Pulis believes City could be at their most dangerous on Saturday after their midweek disappointment . +Christian Benteke is a doubt for Belgium's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Cyprus and Israel after limping out of Aston Villa's defeat to Swansea with a hip problem. The injury appears to be a recurrence of the one that kept Benteke out of the FA Cup victory over West Bromwich Albion. He took a tablet painkiller in the second-half after needing treatment following a fall and was replaced by Andi Weimann with 15 minutes left. Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke could miss out on international duty with Belgium after being injured . He appears to have suffered from a recurring hip injury that previously sidelined him against West Brom . Tim Sherwood was unable to clarify how severe the injury might prove, with assessment taking place after the final whistle. The Villa manager was also concerned that Tom Cleverley was forced off after 25 minutes with an apparent groin problem. He already has an injury list that includes Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos, Nathan Baker, Kieran Richardson, Aly Cissokho, Matt Lowton, and Libor Kozak. On Benteke, Sherwood said: 'He's had a problem with his hip. In the end he had to come off because it was too sore to continue. I don't know how bad it is, he's being assessed now by the physios. It's a concern. 'But we've got two fit defenders in the whole club. Hopefully this two-week international break lets the phsyios work some magic.' Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood currently faces a long-list of injured players as his side battles relegation . Among those injured is club captain, Dutch defender Ron Vlaar (right), pictured here against QPR . +A young boy was in need of a fix that only his local pub could provide. Filmed at home in London, the 20-month-old boy named Max stands in front of his mother with tears streaming down his cheeks. He urges her and his father to take him to the local pub - where he usually receives sweets and hot chocolate - instead of the doctor's surgery. The youngster stands in front of his mother crying, clearly disappointed about having to see the doctor . After allowing him to catch his breath, his mother asks him to tell his father – who is presumably the recipient of the recording – why he is crying. Choosing to ignore her question, the youngster carries on snivelling, so his mother asks him: ‘Where do you want to go?’ The boy replies with the rather blunt and humorous answer, ‘Pub’, to which his mother retorts: ‘No, but we have to go to the doctors.’ Refusing to back down, Max continues to suggest the pair go the pub until his mother offers a compromise. When his mother asks Max where it is he wants to go he hilariously replies by saying 'pub' She says: ‘OK, you know what? When daddy gets home we will ask him. We will ask him if you can go to the pub later.’ Please with her response, although not entirely convinced, the youngster immediately reminds his mother to ask. According to Max’s father, Oliver Bath, he normally takes his son out of the house and down to the local pub to give Max's mum some peace and quiet. He said: ‘I always get a beer and Max always gets his hot chocolate. ‘True to the principles of Pavlov’s dog Max now associates sweets and hot chocolate with the pub. ‘My guess as he gets older he'll feel the same but his choice of chocolate will move to his choice of cask ale.’ +Everyone has experienced the frustrated feeling of jabbing at an orange trying to get the peel off, only to be left with a sticky mess. Now a new method has revealed the quickest and easiest way to to do it - and it only involves three slices of a knife. Thanks to a new 'life hack' video from YouTube user Rumble Viral, an orange is opened up in a matter of seconds, and with minimal juice-loss and squashed segments. Method: Cut two opposite ends off the orange (left) and make an incision on one side (right) Easy peasy: Then cut into one side until reaching the centre (left) and pull the entire thing apart (right) The 39-second video shows exactly the best way to best open up the citrus fruit in simple steps. Firstly, you cut off the top and the bottom of the orange. Next, you make a cut into the one side of the orange, until the knife reaches the fruit's centre. Then, it's just a case of spreading the skin open to reveal all the intact and neat segments. Peel and enjoy! The viral video has already racked up 420,000 views in a short time, and many commentators are raving about the simple yet innovative method. 'This is definitely gong to save me some time. It normally take me forever just to peel one,' says one commentator of the video. Another has commented: 'Good tip. Next time I don't have excuses to juice the oranges instead of eating them whole.' Oranges are a versatile fruit and can be eaten fresh, processed in a juice, or the fragrant peel can be added to dishes for flavouring. The citrus fruit is great as a quick snack, an excellent source of vitamin C and also has high antioxidant properties, so it's no wonder that quicker methods of access are being attempted. The only argument that people have against the three-slice method is that while it works swiftly in a kitchen environment, you're at a loss if you're lacking a knife and chopping board. One commentator questioned: 'What if you don't always carry a knife on you?' The method only takes 30 seconds and ensure minimal juice-loss or segment bruising . +A cup of coffee is the perfect pick-me-up for many people around the world. But it’s not just human beings that require a caffeine fix anymore. Apparently our canine friends are also partial to the odd skinny latte from time-to-time. Or at least one dog named Apollo, whose hilarious reaction was filmed by his owners in Saint Catharines, Canada. Filmed in the lounge, German Shepherd is initially featured counting sheep while enjoying a lazy Saturday morning on the sofa. Appearing to address the camera, its owner is only able to utter the word ‘coffee’ before the dog’s ears stand on end and its head turns towards her attentively. The dog is initially filmed resting on a sofa and appears to be enjoying a relaxed Saturday morning . Listening as the woman continues to speak, the dog seems to wait for her to finish her sentence. But as she uses the word coffee again, it springs from its seat and makes its way around the table and towards her. Whining in excitement, the animated dog begins pacing in anticipation while its fellow pets in the house look on bemusedly. The owner utters the word 'coffee' and the dog named Apollo looks up attentively and points its ears . Explaining the dog’s behaviour, the owners told Newsflare that the German Shepherd, which is now three-years-old, has visited Tim Hortons coffee shop with them every Saturday since it was a year old. She explained: ‘So every Saturday morning since he was a year old we have gone to Tim Hortons for our morning coffee, he has always come for the ride! If we don't go to Tim Hortons within the first hour or two upon waking up, he starts to wine and nudge us. 'This morn we were up an hour and I then started to video him before I said the words.. We can't say coffee in our house!' After the woman mentions the word 'coffee' again, the dog springs to its feet and begins whining and pacing the room in excitement . +An American filmmaker has attempted to recapture something that is inevitably lost with time – the ability to see the world through the eyes of a child. Attaching a GoPro camera to his son, the man from Denver, Colorado threw him in the air a number of times to record footage of his perspective. Explaining his idea at the start of the video, the dad says: ‘I was always curious what JJ saw when we threw him in the air. ‘So we are going to put the GoPro on the baby and throw him in the air, and then I’m going to let him see my side.’ The dad gets the experiment underway after counting down from three and the youngster begins laughing in excitement. The camera picks up the sense of speed as the baby is propelled from the father’s arms before stopping in the air and returning to him safely. After explaining his idea to the camera the dad prepares to throw his son into the air by counting down from three . Up, up and away! The baby's perspective captures the snowy garden, the dog and his dad awaiting his return . Catching a view of the whole garden, the camera picks up the surrounding snow, the shadows from the tree, the dog looking upwards curiously and the father awaiting his son’s landing. After throwing and catching his son a few times, the video maker attaches the camera to himself and repeats the process, capturing the game from his perspective. Holding his son in his hands, the youngster bobs in and out of shot on the three count before he is propelled upwards into the air. The video maker attaches the camera to himself and records his perspective of his son being thrown into the air . The youngster looks thrilled after being repeatedly thrown into the air and caught by his father . Stretching out his arms for balance, the youngster looks a mixture of thrilled and nervous as he comes hurtling back down to earth and into his father’s hands. The video concludes with the video maker holding his son in his stretched arms while he spins around on the spot. The youngster opens his mouth and laughs in enjoyment as the garden twirls around him before his father throws him into the air a final two times. The clip concludes with the dad spinning his son around a few times before throwing him into the air twice more . +They say don’t count your chickens, but you’d be excused for counting the legs on this chicken caught on tape in Thailand. The bizarre video features some bemused locals laughing while recording a four-legged chicken wandering around looking for food. Completely indifferent to the situation, the chicken’s two extra deformed legs trail behind it and drag along the floor as it walks. A woman picks up the chicken and brings it into better view of the camera and the bird seems perplexed by the attention it has gained. The video concludes with a close-up shot of the chicken minding its own business, seemingly content with its additional body parts. Surprisingly, four-legged chickens are not as uncommon as many people would think. The chicken appears completely indifferent to having two extra legs as it wanders around and drags them behind it . The video concludes with the filmmaker going in for a close-up shot of the chicken's extra legs . In 2005, a live chicken was found among 36,000 other birds at a farm in America. Named Henrietta, the bird managed to go unnoticed for 18 months at Brendle Farms in Somerset, Pennsylvania, before it discovered by a foreman. Farmer Mark Brendle's 13-year-old daughter Ashley named the chicken and asked to keep it as a family pet. The bird had two normal front legs but behind those were two more which were dragged behind when Henrietta walked, exactly like the chicken featured in this video. The condition called Polymelia is a birth defect that results in individuals having more limbs, which are usually shrunken or deformed. This can sometimes occur when an embryo begins to develop as conjoined twins. Before one twin stops growing, leaving the remaining developments – often limbs – of the undeveloped twin attached to the body of the live baby. The condition is a birth defect known as Polymelia and can sometimes occur when an embryo begins to develop as a conjoined twins . +A cupboard surfing canine got itself into a spot of bother after it jumped down from a door and broke it off it hinges. The hilarious footage captured in Borehamwood shows a Rottweiler named Dexter perched on top of a cupboard door looking out the window. Asking him what he is doing, the owner laughs at the sight of his large dog surfing on the open door while it seemingly considers diving out of the open window. Moving around on the door, the dog paws at the window sill and causes its owner to laugh even more hysterically. Catching his breath, the owner then calls for the Rottweiler to get down from the cupboard door. But the dog chooses to ignore him and instead continues to look longingly out of the window. Dexter the Rottweiler surfs the cupboard door in the kitchen while his owner films and laughs hysterically . On the third time of asking, Dexter reacts to his owner's command, but instead of jumping down looks about anxiously as if trying to work out how he is going to go about doing it. Manoeuvring himself to the right, the dog goes as if to jump but before he is able to do so the cupboard door comes off its hinges and crashes to the floor. Falling down alongside the door, the dog knocks a number of items off the adjacent counter. The dog falls from the cupboard door taking it with him after attempting to jump down on its owner's command . The dog lands, momentarily eyes up the damage it has caused and makes a quick get away. Staying silent for the rest of the clip, the owner films the broken door – one hinge still attached to it, the other attached to the frame. The video concludes on a shot of the dog looking guilty as it stands in the hallway. The owner who had been previously laughing films the broken cupboard door silently before turning his attention to the guilty looking dog . +Two savvy parents have made more than $1 million in ad revenue from their family-friendly YouTube videos, which feature footage of their children playing with toys such as Thomas the Tank Engine. Mark and Rhea, who prefer not to share their last name, upload videos starring their five-year-old son Hulyan, their three-year-old daughter Maya and their five-month-old son Marxlen to their popular YouTube channel Hulyan Maya, which currently receives more than 3 million views daily. 'In 2014, our YouTube income skyrocketed dramatically,' Mark told Yahoo Parents. 'We've made more than a million [dollars] between 2010 to 2014.' Scroll down for video . Home movies: Mark and Rhea, who prefer not to share their last name, filmed their daughter Maya, three, opening a Thomas & Friends Sodor Fix-It Station for their popular YouTube channel Hulyan Maya . Innocent adventure: The family's YouTube channel receives more than 3 million views daily . The father-of-three noted that they started their channel in 2007, but said that most of the old videos that they posted 'were junk'. They didn't begin sharing their money-making toy videos until three years later. The couple's most popular video was made in 2013 and features Hulyan buying a Thomas & Friends Emergency Searchlight set; the eight-minute clip has thus far earned more than 15.5 million views. Mark and Rhea, who are projected to earn at least $1.5 million this year, have since quit their jobs running an employment agency in order to pursue their lucrative YouTube careers full time. These days, they dedicate their time to filming, producing and sharing a minimum of two videos a day, which typically run for at least 15 minutes each. According to the duo, they've made so much money from the ads that air before each clip that they were able to pay for their cars and their house in Southern California in cash. They have even made enough to send all three of their children to college. Completely focused: The couple's son Hulyan can be seen playing a computer game . Ancient artifacts: The five-year-old can be seen opening a toy set filled with dinosaurs . And things don't seem to be slowing down. During the week of March 6, Hulyan Maya was ranked the 42nd most viewed YouTube channel in the US, according to Tubefilter, while a 20 minute video showing Maya unboxing a Thomas & Friends Sodor Fix-It Station, has already earned nearly 400,000 views since it was published last month. Throughout the clip she and her father go through the toys various features while unwrapping each piece and putting them together. Most of the children’s biggest fans appear to be young children who are around the same age as Maya and her older brother Hulyan – and share the same keen interest in their toys. 'I love your videos they really cheer up my son,' one parent wrote. Another added: 'Seriously though! My son loves them too!' Family fun: Rhea held baby Marxlen as Hulyan and Maya enjoyed a train ride . Dedicated dad: Mark shared these photos of himself at the start of one of his popular videos . Mark and Rhea, who go by 'ilovemaythang' on their channel, moved from the Phillippines to the US in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Their children's love of toys, including Thomas the Tank Engine, is what first inspired Mark to make a channel dedicated to their home movies. But even Mark, who has been making video blogs since the early 1990s, admits he could not have predicted just how lucrative the family hobby would become. '[It] exceeded my expectations,' he told Yahoo Parents. 'I knew and believed that it would become somehow successful, but more than three million views in a day is simply amazing. I'm living a dream.' But their popularity shouldn't be that shocking - children's toy reviews have quickly become some of YouTube's most-watched videos. According to industry experts, children who review new toys on YouTube are wielding increasing influence over the industry because of their incredible viewing figures and ability to sell almost any toy around. Marc Rosenberg, a Chicago-based toy consultant explained to the Associated Press last November: 'Kids trust other kids more so than they would an adult.’ +A single mother-of-four rejected by American Idol three times is now set to land a record deal after a DIY music video she made hit the web and went viral. Kimberly Henderson, 26, from Sunter, South Carolina, filmed herself singing Sam Smith's version of the Whitney Houston track How Will I Know to her one-year-old daughter, Vaida, last December. The clip - which has since been viewed more than 2.6 million times - landed the full-time nurse an opportunity to record her own track and since then her phone has apparently been ringing off the hook. Scroll down for video . Lucky break: A single mother-of-four rejected by American Idol three times is now set to land a record deal after a DIY music video she made hit the web and went viral - above, seen in a new music video . Finding fame: Kimberly Henderson, 27, from Sunter, South Carolina, filmed herself singing Sam Smith's version of the Whitney Houston track How Will I Know to her one-year-old daughter, Vaida, last December . Henderson told Fox News that she is being courted by four different record companies and she is working with a manager to negotiate a deal. She says she has been singing since the age of two and doing it full-time would be a dream come true. Currently Henderson - who has four children aged one to ten - works two jobs as a healthcare worker and receives help from relatives with child care. She says she barely gets time to stop but recently she took time out to go and record her own high-gloss music track in Los Angeles called Tiny Hearts. The beautiful ballad, which she penned in just 24 hours, focuses on her her experiences as a single parent. The first verse describes her earliest months as a young mother to her baby girl. Baby steps: The clip - which has since been viewed more than 2.6 million times - landed the full-time nurse an opportunity to record her own track and since then her phone has apparently been ringing off the hook . Working mom: She says she barely gets time to stop but recently she took time out to go and record her own music track in Los Angeles called Tiny Hearts . 'My friends are doing normal things like going to the movies and on dates and out on the weekends. And I’m at home,' she explains. 'I felt like I was missing out on something, but coming home to her and being with her gave my life more meaning.' The music-making trip of a lifetime was paid for by Cosco Kids, a company which makes baby products. Apparently the firm found out Henderson was in a bad car crash and a Cosco car seat saved her child’s life. Managers from the business then came up with a way to support her musical endeavors. Tiny Hearts was released in January and it jumped to number 53 in the charts. An accompanying music video captured Henderson in action with her children and singing at a recording studio. Candid footage also showed her getting a makeover with a stylist and make-up artist injecting some added star appeal. Henderson says getting rejected from American Idol will not stop her from doing what she loves. Rock-a-bye-baby: Henderson seen in her original DIY music video which went viral last December . Talent: The blonde says she's been singing since the age of two and it would be a dream to do it full-time . She concluded: 'They have good things to say. They just said, "You have a really unique voice, we think you’re good, but it’s just not your time yet." 'So I’m guessing maybe now it’s my time.' On a more personal level, Henderson hopes that fame might help her to reconnect her with her own mother, who disappeared from her life when she was 11 years old. 'I don't know where she is,' the singer told The Huffington Post, adding, 'But I keep thinking that maybe if she somehow sees my video or my new song, she'll come forward and try to reach out.' Henderson says her family are excited about her recent breakthrough. Along with Whitney Houston and Sam Smith, Christina Aguilera is another of the blonde's musical idols. +A wild giant panda has been spotted adhering to all the correct pedestrian rules as it walked a zebra crossing in south-west China. Giant pandas are usually only captured on wildlife cameras situated in remote bamboo forests, but this one was caught on CCTV as it crossed the road. The panda was captured by traffic monitors in Yingxiu township in Sichuan province as it made its way across the quiet lane . Why did the panda: The wild giant panda bear was caught on CCTV as it crossed a road in south-west China . Out for a walk: The footage shows the rare bear correctly crossing the lane in Yingxiu township, Sichuan . Night-time stroll: The panda is believed to have left its natural forest habitat due to hunger or may have been forced by man-made activity or been scared by dogs . 'They almost never go into urban areas and prefer the safety of their forest habitat, so it's really unusual to catch one in town like this,' Yong Chen, panda expert at a breeding centre told local news. 'It looks pretty healthy as well, but as it's winter it was probably hungry and looking for something extra to eat.' He said the panda appears to be approximately two-years-old and in good health. Other experts however suggested that the panda may have been forced to leave its natural habitat either because of some man-made activity or possibly stray dogs, as food alone would not tempt it into town. The visit by the bear sparked a flood of panda-watchers to Yingxiu township, however there has been no second sighting of the  rare animal which appears to have returned to its regular habitat. Proper panda: The panda could be seen checking for traffic before crossing the road . Young un: An expert said the panda appears to be approximately two-years-old and in good health . Gone in 60 seconds: Although panda-spotters have flocked to the area, the bear has not made a second appearance in the township . +It’s a common sight on the streets of China’s most populous city Shanghai. But the image of an incredibly overloaded delivery bike still manages to boggle the mind of anyone who sees it. Captured cycling through the streets of Shanghai, two men are shown carrying a ridiculously large load of seven huge boxes of paper. Parked, the two bikes are dwarfed under the load of the seven boxes that they each carry . Straining under the weight of the cargo the three-wheeled bikes can be heard groaning as the riders go about making their delivery. Despite being dwarfed by the extremely heavy load, the riders move relatively fast towards their destination. Filmed parked at the side of the road after arriving, one of the bikes is shown toppled backwards under the weight of the boxes. One of the bikes moves relatively quickly considering the size and weight of its load . The pair are then seen untying the rope around the boxes before offloading the paper onto the street. Pulling the rope from the top, one man manages to put his bike back on all three wheels before he attempts to remove the highest stacked box. Because of China’s huge population, many locals have adopted this means of transport as a way of getting around effectively. Pushbikes, motorbikes, mopeds and scooters are all used in place of transit vans and HGVs as a way of avoiding the congestion. One of the bikes in unable to sustain the weight of the load when stationery and topples onto its two back wheels . One of the men pulls a rope from the top of the cargo to put his bike back on all three wheels before unloading . +Scrap learning her ABCs, this baby's getting a surf lesson. Kris Strong, 35, from Clearwater, Florida, decided to show his seven-month-old daughter how to ride the waves. The duo were filmed at home in the nursery room as they writhed around on the floor, paddling their arms over the carpet. Baby Strong appears to take to surfing like a duck to water. 'Swimming on the surf board, then stand up,' Mr Strong says as he lays on his belly. He continues to repeat a swimming and push-up action, with his daughter cleverly following his moves. Strong then takes the lesson up a gear. Swimming on the board: Scrap learning her ABCs, this baby's getting a surf lesson . Then push up: Kris Strong, 35, from Clearwater, Florida, decided to show his seven-month-old daughter how to ride the waves . That's the way: The duo were filmed at home in the nursery room as they writhed around on the floor, paddling their arms over the carpet . 'Now we're going to go the whole way. Swim, push to standing,' the doting father instructs. He is seen helping his student up on two feet and spreading her arms wide. A woman filming the scene is heard laughing in the background as the youngster wobbles up straight. Many viewers have deemed the beginner surf lesson 'cute' and 'adorable'. Taking it up a gear: 'Now we're going to go the whole way. Swim, push to standing,' the doting father instructs . Cool dude: A woman filming the scene is heard laughing in the background as the youngster wobbles up straight - many viewers have deemed the beginner surf lesson 'cute' and 'adorable' +This is the moment a playful young seal tries its best to hitch a ride with a couple of kayaks - but keeps sliding off. The grey seal pup was filmed as it made several attempts to climb aboard the canoes in Poole Bay, Dorset. At first the adorable seal tries his best to jump on both the kayaks, but he keeps sliding off, back into the water. Hitching a ride: Ron the friendly seal attempts to climb onto a kayak in Poole Bay, Dorset . Attempt one: The young pup makes it onto one of the kayaks, and momentarily keeps his balance . He then manages to get onto the left kayak, but just as it looks like he has found himself a comfortable spot - he falls in again. The pup, known locally as Ron the Seal,  finally succeeds by draping himself across both of the kayaks. Kayaker Andrew Linstead shot the video of the young seal's repeated attempts to climb aboard his raft as he paddled in Poole Bay. This is the third time Mr Linstead has had an encounter with Ron the Seal in four months. Last November, while Mr Linstead was practicing rolling his kayak in the water, he noticed the seal watching him and then joining in, rolling every time he did. Fail: Unfortunately for Ron the Seal, he cannot manage to stay on the kayak, and falls back in the water . On it again: Ron the seal proves he is not a quitter and is soon at it again, trying to climb the kayaks . A month later, the pair met again, as Ron jumped on the back of his kayak and hitched a ride around for several hours. The latest encounter, filmed by Mr Linstead, lasted for four hours with Ron climbing on and off Mr Linstead's kayak and even bringing him a fish it had caught. Mr Linstead, from London, said: 'I've had quite a few encounters with Ron now, we are becoming good friends! 'The first time I saw him was when I was practising rolling my kayak. Ron seemed to roll whenever I rolled my kayak. 'Afterwards I put a message on a Facebook local community page asking if anyone knew anything about the seal and I got lots of responses. The locals have called it Ron, as in Ronseal. 'I think when Ron now sees me he feels comfortable. 'This time I was out on my own and I saw another kayaker. I asked him if he could brace or roll his kayak in case Ron got on his boat and tipped up over. Resting spot: Kayaker Andrew Linstead shot the video of the young seal's repeated attempts to climb aboard his raft as he paddled in Poole Bay . New buddies: Their encounter lasted for four hours with Ron climbing on and off Mr Linstead's kayak and even bringing him a fish it had caught . Another ride: This is the third time Ron and Mr Linstead, from London, has met in four months . 'He said he couldn't so he came alongside me and held on to my kayak. 'I don't think he believed me that Ron would come over but he did. 'Ron tried to climb on but he kept slipping off. It went on for hours, I took my last shot of him about four hours later. 'I've spoken to other kayakers in the area and they say they have never seen anything like that.' Julie Hatcher, from Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: 'This is a young grey seal. Seals tend to be a bit wary of people, we don't know why this one isn't. It might just be a personality thing. 'They are solitary animals when they are at sea. They come together for breeding but generally are solitary in the water. 'Young ones tend to be more friendly and playful. I have dived with seals and the young ones will come near you, they can be quite curious and like playing hide and seek, but the adults don't tend to.' The waters of the UK are home to more than 180,000 grey seals, which is more than a third of the world's population. +Yellowstone National Park attracts many tourists each year who come to enjoy its landscape and wildlife. But one couple got more than they bargained for when they came head to head with an American bison - also referred to as a buffalo - while on the road. In the clip the car can be seen waiting in anticipation – indicator sounding – as a herd of three bison come galloping slowly towards it. Getting closer and closer, the head bison shows no signs of adjusting its path and instead positions itself to line up with the car’s front bumper. Reacting, the filmmaker exclaims: ‘Don’t run into our car,’ just as the bison crashes into it – the impact sends the camera up and then down into his lap. Shocked, a lady in the car laughs as the man readjusts the camera and begins filming the two remaining bison, who look quite content standing sideways in the middle of the road. As the bison gets closer it shows no signs of adjusting its path and instead positions itself to line up with the car’s front bumper . Speaking about the incident, the filmmaker said: ‘I thought the bison would simply run by our car at a full clip. 'Instead, at the last minute, the lead bison veers to his left and intentionally head-butts our car. There was nothing we could do to avoid being hit.’ He added: 'It was fortunate that the car was turned off, since a head-on collision with a 2,000 pound bison moving at 10mph would likely cause the airbags to deploy.' As the filmmaker calls for the bison not to run into the car it continues charging forward and makes contact with it . Readjusting the camera, which was thrown up and then down by the impact, the video maker captures the bison waking away . Yellowstone is the only place in America where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times and as a result the area is home to the nation’s largest bison population on public land. Known for being agile despite their size, as well as aggressive, Bison can charge at up to 35mph. The bison population in Yellowstone is estimated at 4,600 in two breeding herds. The other bison stay standing in the middle of the road as cars on the other side begin driving once more . +A job applicant has scored a burgeoning fan base after coming up with a zany way to demonstrate his skills and experience. Doing away with a paper CV, 24-year-old Elski Felson of Los Angeles, California, decided to apply for a Community Support Specialist role at Snapchat via the social media app. In just over three minutes, the tech enthusiast created a video resume, underscoring how he's a 'multi-tasking rockstar', 'graph enthusiast' and an 'experienced researcher' with 'phenomenal presentation skills'. Throughout the clip - uploaded to YouTube on February 26 - he takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to showcase his abilities. To show he's a 'strong writer' he sits with a barbell on his hand scrawling a note. Unfortunately, the heavy load causes the pencil to snap. In another scene Felson expertly guesses the weight of an onion to display his strong judgement. The grocery store assistant is seen praising his aptitude. When it comes to presentation skills, Felson steps away from Powerpoint and into the kitchen. Novel idea: Doing away with a paper CV, Elski Felson of Los Angeles, California, decided to apply for a Community Support Specialist role at Snapchat via the social media app . Humorous approach: In just over three minutes, the tech enthusiast created a video story, underscoring how he's a 'graph enthusiast' and an 'experienced researcher' with 'phenomenal presentation skills' Source of entertainment: Throughout the clip he takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to showcase his abilities - To show he's a 'strong writer' he sits with a barbell on his hand scrawling a note (right) 'I don’t know what you’ve seen or where you’ve been, but I know me, personally, I’ve never seen Laffy Taffy look that phenomenal in all my life,' he says as he captures a plate of candy arranged into a color wheel. Lastly, the Snapchat job specification asks for someone who is an 'expert in sending ugly selfies to friends.' Felson happily fulfills the prerequisite by striking a pose at the camera with his nose pushed up in an unattractive manner. He finishes by claiming that 'he's the man for the job' and just one class away from finishing his MBA. On a roll: In another scene Felson expertly guesses the weight of an onion to display his strong judgement (left) and then he picks a movie after solving the problem with peers (right) Popular pick: Felson uploaded his Snapchat video CV on February 26 and to date it has been watched more than 300,000 times . Unattractive: Felson works out his monthly budget (left) with vodka Red Bulls taking up a large share of his cash, he later pulls an 'ugly selfie' as per the job requirement (right) His contact details are seen listed on the right hand side of the screen. To date, Felson's video CV has been watched more than 300,000 times. Many viewers have applauded his novel idea. The job hunter told Daily Mail Online that he's yet to hear back from Snapchat but he's keeping his fingers crossed. Dozens of tech start-ups have been in touch in the meantime. Felson graduated from Ithaca College in New York in 2013 and searched for finance jobs in Pittsburgh before moving to California. He said that he got the idea of applying to Snapchat after walking past their office in Venice. His dream role would be one that has a creative aspect. But after his stint in front of the camera, Felson is also considering delving into the world of entertainment. 'I love interacting with people so, if I were offered some type of job on camera, I would definitely entertain it,' the hopeful graduate concluded. Source of inspiration: Felson made his comical Snapchat video by tackling each one of the job requirements one by one - he is yet to hear back from the company . +South Africa have still never reached the final of an ICC Cricket World Cup after losing at the semi-final stage for the fourth time in a nail-biter with New Zealand, doing little end their tag as chokers. The Proteas won their first ever knock-out match in a World Cup against Sri Lanka for the chance to meet the Black Caps at Eden Park but fell in a thrilling match reduced to 43 overs each in Auckland. The set New Zealand 298 courtesy of 50s from AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis but had their hearts broken when Grant Elliott, who was born in Johannesburg, hit a six to win the match with a ball to spare. South Africa quick Dale Steyn appears shocked after being hit for the match-winning six by Grant Elliott . Elliott was dropped with New Zealand still 14 runs short of victory when JP Duminy (left) collideed with substitute fielder Farhaan Behardien in the outfield as South Africa fall short again at a World Cup . The ball slips through the hands of Behardien (right) as Duminy is helpless to assist during the defeat . When it really mattered, they fumbled two clear run-out chances and then saw JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien collide in the deep when Eliott skied one with 14 needed for victory. It certainly wasn't the first time South Africa has so close yet so far - here Sportsmail looks at the Proteas' worst World Cup chokes. South African captain AB de Villiers dives to try and run out New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson . De Villiers falls over the stumps as Anderson was given a reprieve on his way to 58 from 57 balls . 1996 QUARTER-FINAL VS WEST INDIES, KARACHI, PAKISTAN . West Indies legend Brian Lara celebrates his century against South Africa in 1996 . When Brian Lara dragged West Indies to 264 with a classy 111 in a fast even for modern standards 94 ball, with help only from a young Shivnarine Chanderpaul with 56, it was a gettable total for the South Africa. And they looked to be making short work of it as they cruised to 118 for one at the halfway mark. However, a spectacular collapse sparked by Windies' left-arm spinner Jimmy Adams saw a very different story emerge. Opener Andrew Hudson went for 54 for the second wicket, Daryll Cullinan followed two runs later for 69. Captain Hansie Cronje showed some resistance with 40 before he became Adams' third scalp. Fellow spinner Roger Harper then took over in Karachi, ripping through the middle order of Jonty Rhodes, Brian McMillan and Shaun Pollock, and then knocked over one of their two proper tail-enders in Steven Palframanfor. When Courtney Walsh knocked over Paul Adams' stumps the Proteas fell short on 245. Brian McMillan walks off the pitch as keeper Courtney Brown celebrates Roger Harper catching him LBW . 1999 SEMI-FINAL VS AUSTRALIA, EDGBASTON, ENGLAND . South Africa and Australia ended tied on 213, but the Aussies’ record in the Super Six stage saw them advance to the final. Lance Klusener appeared to be leading the Proteas to victory, smashing Damien Fleming for successive fours in the first two balls of the opening over to equal Australia's total. With four balls remaining, South Africa needed just a single. Alan Donald was almost run out by Darren Lehmann trying to back up too far at the non-striker's end. Then, farcically, with two balls remaining, Klusener hit a ball straight past the bowler and ran safely to the danger end. However, Donald stood his ground his ground and their near-certain win became another prematures World Cup exit as Adam Gilchrist whipped off the bails. South Africa's Lance Klusener, batting at an astonishing No 8, smashes 31 off just 16 balls against Australia . Despite his heroics, Klusener is halfway off the field after an ill-fated quick single that ended the game tied . Allan Donald refused to go for the quick single they required and was run out as the Aussies celebrates . 2011 QUARTER-FINAL VS NEW ZEALAND, DHAKA, BANGLADESH . South Africa should have been more than capable of chasing down New Zealand’s total of 221, and much like 1996 against the Windies were cruising to victory at 108 for two. But then came another collapse of monumental proportions. Jaques Kallis (47) was a big loss for the third wicket at 108-3, before spinning opener Nathan McCullum claimed JP Duminy and AB de Villiers was run out for the fourth and fifth wickets on 121. Faf du Plessis' attempt to lead them home ended on 36 as the ninth wicket fell for 172, their final score when Morne Morkel was dismissed by Luke Woodcock. AB de Villiers was devastated to be run out as South Africa collapsed in their failed chase in Bangladesh . Brendon McCullum, now New Zealand captain, runs out De Villiers, now the best batsman in the world . Luke Woodcock (right) celebrates after taking the wicket of Morne Morkel to win the 2011 quarter-final . New Zealand celebrate with star bowler Jacob Oram, who caught Jaques Kallis and took four wickets . +In the Sixties, George Harrison penned 'Blue Jay Way' and experimented with LSD along with the other Beatles in the build-up to their 1967 Magical Mystery Tour album in his house in Esher Surrey. And now a six-bedroom mansion - built near to where Harrison's colourful bungalow 'Kinfauns' once stood – is on the market for almost £10million. While not a part of the 'Blue Jay' property, the words 'I love George', carved into a wooden gate in the driveway by an obsessed fan, are still visible today at the entrance. Harrison lived in the bungalow from 1964 to 1970 and felt so inspired by the book Tantrum Art that he painted the outside in psychedelic patterns with the help of his first wife Patti Boyd. A six-bedroom mansion - built near to where George Harrison's colourful bungalow 'Kinfauns' once stood - is on the market for almost £10million. While not part of the property, the words 'I love George' carved into a wooden gate in the driveway are still visible today (pictured) The 'Blue Jay' mansion in Esher, Surrey, boasts a gym, library, formal dining room, en-suite staff accommodation and a four-car garage . The new home is built near where Harrison's colourful bungalow 'Kinfauns' once stood. Pictured is the musician with Sue Baker's son Philip . 'Blue'Jay boasts a swimming pool, games room and 700-bottle wine cellar has been built on the land in Claremont Park Estate. 'Blue Jay claims some celebrity status. In the sixties the driveway to the property formed part of the gardens to Beatle George Harrison's country house "Kinfauns",' said Savills' Trevor Kearney. The 'entirely unique, contemporary designed' 13,000 sq ft country house has an open plan living room, pictured with a grand piano . Blue Jay sits within the original walled garden designed by Sir John Vanburgh, the 17th Century architect best known for Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace . Buyers can look forward to this stylish-looking indoor pool area complete with spiral staircase and huge windows with views over the garden . The property even comes with a sauna area and gym. Steps lead down into an indoor pool in the luxury spa area . Buyers can also look forward to this minimalist bathroom with a freestanding bath tub, contemporary sinks and double wall mirrors . John Lennon and Yoko Ono retreated to Kinfauns during their first LSD trip in 1965 with Harrison and his first wife. The Beatles recorded a number of demos at the colourful bungalow after a stay at the Maharishi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India. These became known as the Kinfauns Demos or Esher Demos and they feature a number of hits that eventually made it onto the White Album. They also feature early versions of Paul McCartney's 'Junk', which would later appear on his 1970 solo record and Lennon's 'Jealous Guy' (then called 'Child of Nature'), which was released on his 1971 album Imagine. Blue Jay sits within the original walled garden designed by Sir John Vanburgh, the 17th Century architect best known for Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. The mansion has a gym, library, formal dining room, en-suite staff accommodation and a four-car garage with under floor heating. It is on the market for £9.9million. 'A gymnasium with wall to ceiling glass sliding doors overlooks the swimming pool, opening out onto a timber decking area that features an illuminated circular staircase leading down to the pool side bar and sauna areas,' said a spokesman. The mansion has a gym, library, formal dining room, en-suite staff accommodation and a four-car garage with under floor heating. It is on the market for £9.9million . Harrison lived in the bungalow from 1964 to 1970 and felt so inspired by the book Tantrum Art that he painted the outside in psychedelic patterns with the help of his first wife Patti Boyd . Harrison's song 'Blue Jay Way' with the famous opening lyric 'There's a fog upon LA' was inspired by a stay at 1567 Blue Jay Way (pictured) in the Hollywood Hills in 1967 . The six-bedroom mansion has a formal dining room with a modern fireplace, reception room and a patio area to enjoy al-fresco meals . 'The circular atrium is also reflected in the curved banquette seating in the formal reception room, continuing this theme through to the stunning bespoke kitchen and the breath-taking double height indoor swimming pool complex.' Harrison's song 'Blue Jay Way' with the famous opening lyric 'There's a fog upon LA' was inspired by a stay at 1567 Blue Jay Way in the Hollywood Hills in 1967. According to legend Harrison was sitting in the home playing his organ while waiting for someone to pick him up and in those brief moments inspiration struck, and his hit song was written. It was first recorded and released by the Beatles on their Magical Mystery Tour album and EP in 1967. The majestic home overlooks Los Angeles and is within the Bird Streets, a residential area known to be an exclusive enclave popular with celebrities. Do you know who carved this message? Email jenny.awford@dailymail.co.uk or call 02036154835. From luxury mansions in the English countryside to a sweeping ranch in Colorado, properties lived in by John, Paul, George and Ringo attract huge interest. But as well as the glamorous abodes, even their humble childhood homes manage to generate excitement among fans. Just weeks ago the Liverpool house where Sir Paul McCartney lived as a child sold in six minutes at auction to an anonymous local buyer for £150,000. The childhood home of Sir Paul McCartney (pictured centre) sold for £150,000 in just six minutes - and for more than double the average price for a property on the road in the Speke area of Liverpool . The terraced home in Western Avenue, Speke, was where the musician lived with his parents from 1947 until the mid-1950s. In October, a home where George Harrison spent some of his youth - also in Speke - was snapped up at auction by a super fan. Beatles fanatic Jackie Holmes, from London, bought the Liverpool property for £156,000 at the auction which took place at Liverpool's Cavern Club. The property in Upton Green, was home to the musician during Beatle-mania and was a popular hang-out for the band during their early years. A year earlier, John Lennon's childhood home at 9 Newcastle Road in Wavertree, sold at auction for £480,000. In December, it was reported that Ringo Starr and his wife were trying to find a buyer for his $3.85million Colorado ranch (pictured) As Beatlemania took off, members of the Fab Four were soon seen in upmarket properties around the globe. And in recent years, luxury homes they have occupied have continued to hit the headlines. In December, it was reported that Ringo Starr and his wife had put his country estate in Surrey on the market for more than $20million - and that he was also trying to find a buyer for his $3.85million Colorado ranch. The ranch, located about 30 minutes outside Aspen in Woody Creek on 15.8 acres, sits on the banks of the Roaring Fork River and has three bedrooms, a living room that features vaulted ceilings, exposed wood beams and a neat rock fireplace. Last year a three-bedroom flat in Knightsbridge shared by George Harrison and Ringo Starr at the height of Beatlemania went on the market for £2.5million . The 17th-century Surrey estate sits on 200 acres of land, and was purchased for just $3.1million by Starr in 1999. Last year a three-bedroom flat shared by George Harrison and Ringo Starr at the height of Beatlemania went on the market for £2.5million. The musicians moved into the apartment in Knightsbridge in 1964 - the year of their first world tour. The pair - who shared with Harrison's then girlfriend, model Pattie Boyd - also briefly lived in two other flats in the central London apartment building. In 2013, a bohemian home in the Hollywood Hills where John Lennon once stayed went on the market for $1million. +England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton has denied that he has been contacted by Kevin Pietersen to discuss a potential return to the national team. Pietersen has become optimistic his England career could yet be revived and reports on Tuesday claimed that the 34-year-old had held conversations with intermediaries acting for the ECB. 'He hasn't asked me for a meeting,' said Downton. 'As far as the ECB is concerned no position has changed. We put out a statement last week.' Reports suggested that England outcast Kevin Pietersen had contacted the ECB over a return . Pietersen has not ruled out an England return after comments made by incoming chairman Colin Graves . Downton was one of the key figures in casting Pietersen out of the England set-up following last year's 5-0 Ashes whitewash and when asked if he would consider a meeting with the South Africa-born batman, he added: 'I don't know what to say to that to be honest. 'It's not something that is at the forefront of the selectors' minds now. We've got a group of players that we are working with and looking to progress the England team. 'Nothing has changed from where we were in the last year.' Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves kick-started Pietersen's hopes of a return a fortnight ago when he suggested he should play county cricket if he was serious about playing for England again. The ECB released a statement later that day to clarify Graves' comments which said 'nothing had changed' regarding Pietersen's England future. England were embarrassingly knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages after defeat by Bangladesh . The South African-born batsman was axed by England following the 2014 Ashes whitewash . Paul Downtown insists 'nothing has changed' Pietersen has nonetheless been impressed by Graves and on Tuesday morning backed the 67-year-old entrepreneur to make the changes to revitalise England in the wake of their early World Cup exit. Pietersen alluded to a recent relaxation in ECB policy to allow players to be available for the entire Indian Premier League as a positive step and that he suspected it was the start of a progressive period under Graves. Pietersen posted on Twitter: 'Quick note - ECB doesn't decide who gets to play in IPL/Big Bash. The franchises have to want them! Plenty have tried & failed to get a go! 'But, the encouraging news is that the new boss has the vision to look to open up a window to hopefully give players a better chance! 'I really do think changes are going to be made & positive things are going to start to happen for the good of English cricket...' England's World Cup embarrassment has given ammunition to those who believe it was a mistake to axe Pietersen and while Graves' comments have forced the ECB to reinforce their stance on a player who left Surrey last autumn, Downton said it has not caused him any discomfort. 'What Colin said was absolutely right,' he said. 'To be picked for England you have to be scoring an awful amount of runs in county cricket and you have to be perceived by the selectors as a positive influence on the side. 'Nothing has changed.' +Mo Farah will race over 3,000 metres at the opening Diamond League meeting of the year in Doha, organisers have announced. The double Olympic champion, who has set a world record over two miles indoors and a European half-marathon record in his two outings so far this year, will compete at the meeting in the Qatari capital for the first time on May 15. Mo Farah is in fine form of late and has already set records this season . Farah smashed the European record and completed thehalf-marathon in Lisbon in under 60 minutes . Farah said: 'There are always very strong fields in the distances so this will be a great early season test on the track for me. I'm looking forward to a good performance.' The 32-year-old will face a tough field, including the likes of Ethiopian pair Hagos Gebrhiwet and Yenew Alamirew and rising Kenyan star Caleb Ndiku, who won 5,000m gold at last summer's Commonwealth Games in the absence of Farah. +Mo Farah has had his nationality called into question by the Spaniard whose European half-marathon record he broke in Lisbon on Sunday. Fabian Roncero claimed he still considered himself the record holder because Farah set a new 'Somalian record'. Farah won the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon in 59 minutes 32 seconds to take 20 seconds off the mark set by Roncero 14 years ago. Mo Farah smashed the European record and completed thehalf-marathon in Lisbon in under 60 minutes . The GB Team runner takes a tumble after crossing the finish line and winning the half-marathon . In an interview with Spanish news agency EFE Roncero said 'what was broken in Lisbon was the Somalian record'. The double Olympic champion was born in Mogadishu in Somalia before moving to Britain as a child. Roncero's comments come in the wake of Farah's feud with compatriot Andy Vernon. Farah alleged his team-mate suggested he did not deserve the European 10,000 metres title he won last summer as he was not European, claims Vernon branded 'complete lies'. Fabian Roncero, pictured winning the Rotterdam Marathon in 1998, referred to Farah's time as a new 'Somalian record' Roncero, 44, added: 'For me, an athlete who was born in Kenya is Kenyan for life and one born in Somalia is Somalian forever.' Farah, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Monday, has won five global titles in the colours of Great Britain to become arguably the country's greatest ever athlete. Farah has been involved in a social media feud with fellow runner Andy Vernon (left) Roncero also said: 'For me the 800m European record holder remains Sebastian Coe, the 1500m (holder) Fermin Cacho, the 5,000m (holder) Dieter Baumann and the 10,000m (holder) Antonio Pinto.' In fact Farah holds both the 1500m and 10,000m marks, while the 5,000m mark is held by Moroccan-born Belgian Mohammed Mourhit. Farah's camp declined to comment on Roncero's remarks when contacted. +Mo Farah broke the European record on his way to an impressive victory at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on Sunday. The double Olympic champion sprinted clear of Kenyan rival Micah Kogo to cross the line in 59 minutes 32 seconds, taking 20 seconds off the mark set by Spain's Fabian Roncero 14 years ago. It was the first time a British athlete had run the 13.1 mile distance in under 60 minutes. Farah, who celebrates his 32nd birthday on Monday, has now set a world record and a European record in his two races so far this year. Mo Farah smashed the European record and completed the race in Lisbon Half Marathon in under 60 minutes . His only race of the indoor campaign, in Birmingham last month, resulted in a new world best time over two miles and this latest success on the road suggests he is in the best possible shape ahead of a season in which he will aim to retain his 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles at the World Championships in Beijing in August. 'It feels amazing, I got massive support from the crowd,' Farah said on www.iaaf.org. 'It wasn't easy, the race organisers put in a great field. To win here was hard, but it's my birthday tomorrow so It's a good birthday present. I feel so happy to break the British record and European record.' The GB Team runner takes a tumble after crossing the finish line and winning the Half Marathon . Farah finished a second ahead of Kogo after the pair had broken clear from another Kenyan, Stephen Kibet, who had to settle for third in 59:58. Farah was content to let the Kenyan pair set the pace before reeling them in with a couple of miles to go. Kibet fell back, but Kogo proved tougher to crack before Farah's superior finishing speed took him clear in the closing metres. The Briton tumbled to the ground after crossing the line, but reported no lasting damage. The runner was delighted with his performance as the outdoor seasons begins to get underway . He said: 'My legs were so tired. Normally when you cross the line you step over the tape, but I was so tired I couldn't lift my legs and tripped over it.' Farah's previous half marathon best was 60:00 at the Bupa Great North Run last September, but that was set on an overall downhill course rather than a looped route. The Lisbon course is flat and fast and was the setting for Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese's world record of 58:23 in 2010. Farah has now won four of the six half marathons he has raced, coming second in the other two. +Tony Abbott has again showed the nation that he has a big mouth, but this time he chose to put it around a large, fresh onion - with the skin still intact. On a tour of a produce farm in Tasmania on Friday, Abbott shocked unsuspecting onlookers as he impulsively bit into a raw, unpeeled, brown onion. Footage shows our Prime Minister grimacing slightly as he bites into the strong, bitter vegetable but then nodding in approval as if he were merely chowing down on an apple. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Prime Minister Tony Abbott has shocked onlooker when he bit into a raw, unpeeled onion at a produce farm . Abbott seemed unphased by the peculiarity of the stunt and merely looked as if he were eating a fresh apple . The public took to the Twitter sphere to mock and patronise the Prime Minister . Some compared him to other MPs, others labelled him 'The Minister for Onions' Many have taken to Twitter to slam Abbott for yet another bizarre stunt. Most of the tweets aim to mock and patronise the Prime Minister relating him to George Costanza from Seinfield, an Ogre with layers, a robot and 'the Minister for Onions.' 'Looking forward to Bill Shorten responding to Tony eating a raw onion by daringly chomping into a roast potato,' read one tweet. Abbott pictured here in a banana factory just created an opening for more ridicule . The Hashtag oniongate has been trending on social media since Friday when the onion incident took place . Many of the messages on Twitter aimed to patronise the PM, comparing him to an ogre, a robot and a child . 'I may have said 'it's a shame they weren't peeled,' said Charlton Farm Produce owner David Addison . 'Better than any other onions I've eaten in a long time' Abbott was reported to have said . 'In other news, PM Tony Abbott shows approval of local vegetable oil manufacturer by dipping his hands into a deep fryer,' said another. Abbott was touring Woolworths supplier, Charlton Farm Produce near Devonport in Tasmania on Friday when he picked up the brown onion during a demonstration of the grading of the post-harvested vegetables. 'Better than any other onions I've eaten in a long time,' The Sydney Morning Herald reported Abbott said after his meal. The Prime Minister shocked onlookers as he spontaneously picked up the vegetable during a food grading . Abbott was touring Woolworths supplier, Charlton Farm Produce near Devonport in Tasmania . Tony Abbott has recently been criticised for a St. Patrick's Day message labelled 'patronising' According to the Hobart's Mercury, the owner of Charlton Farm Produce, David Addison was surprised at the Prime Minister's impulsive move during a general discussion of brown onions. 'I may have said 'it's a shame they weren't peeled' and he just started eating it,' he said. 'It was just spontaneous and there weren't even any tears.' This stunt has come after Abbott was blasted by the public for his St. Patrick's day video that was labelled patronising and controversial. +Liverpool thrashed West Ham 5-0 on Friday night to keep up the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the Under 21 Premier League table. The Reds moved to within one point of their rivals as a double from Ryan McLaughlin and strikes from Kevin Stewart, Cameron Brannagan and Sergi Canos routed the Hammers at Chester's Deva Stadium. Unlike previous seasons there will be no end-of-season play-offs, meaning a straight shoot-out for the title. Liverpool's comprehensive win lifted them above Southampton and Tottenham into second and they still have a game in hand on United. Ryan McLaughlin scored twice as Liverpool beat West Ham 5-0 in the Under 21 Premier League . Liverpool's emphatic win moved them to within one point of Manchester United at the top of the table . Liverpool moved to within one point of Man United and still retain a game in hand as they chase the title . Liverpool: Vigouroux, Williams, Maguire (Hart 77), Stewart, Cleary, Chirivella, McLaughlin (Trickett-Smith 77), Brannagan (c), Canos, Wilson (Ejaria 68), Smith . Substitutes not used: Firth, Brewitt . Scorers: Stewart 3; McLaughlin 6,65; Brannagan 43; Canos 73 . West Ham United: Howes, Knoyle, Page, Makasi, Pike, Onariase, Powell (Gordon 63), Nasha (Carter ht), Brown, Cullen (c), Parfitt-Williams (Diangana 69) Substitute not used: Boness . Booked: Page . Having suffered a setback with defeat at Southampton on Monday, Liverpool were looking for a response against a West Ham team looking doomed to relegation to the second tier. And it didn't take them long to make the breakthrough. In the third minute, a throw-in by Brad Smith wasn't cleared and Stewart seized upon the loose ball. From the edge of the box, he flicked the ball to create some space and curled it into the top corner. A ssecond followed on six minutes when Harry Wilson's flick set Smith clear out wide. He crossed and Lewis Page's ineffective clearance fell straight to McLaughlin to fire home. The London side managed to stem the flow for a little while but further goals seemed inevitable and Liverpool duly extended their lead a minute before half-time. Canos broke clear down the left channel and squared to Brannagan to apply the finishing touch from close range. Sergi Canos celebrates after rounding off Liverpool's win by scoring a late fifth goal . Cameron Brannagan (No 8) marks his goal with his team-mates at the Swansway Chester Stadium . Brad Smith of Liverpool (right) takes on the West Ham defender Amos Nasha . Sergi Canos curls home his goal to round off Liverpool's comprehensive victory . Sergi Canos of Liverpool and Alex Pike of West Ham compete for the ball . Liverpool players Kevin Stewart's opening goal after just three minutes of the match . Michael Beale's side were unlikely to let the match slip from such a strong position and they scored twice more after the break. McLaughlin scored his second when Jordan Williams located the Northern Irishman in space on 65 minutes and Spanish forward Canos rounded things off with a classy finish eight minutes later. +On a damp day at White Hart Lane just over 50 years ago we gathered to report on Dave Mackay making his comeback from a broken leg. We were about to witness the amazing proof of what many us believed, that Mackay was the hardest man of all in an era of footballers who tackled like tanks. The short, stocky, powerful wing-half who is enshrined in Spurs folklore as ’the heartbeat’ of the first team to achieve the League championship and FA Cup double after the second world war had sustained a left leg fracture in a collision with Manchester United’s Noel Cantwell at Old Trafford. The iconic image of Dave Mackay confronting Billy Bremner of Leeds during in August 1966 . Manchester City's Mike Summerbee grabs hold of Mackay during a 1968 Division One match . Mackay pictured during a training session at Tottenham's White Hart Lane ground in 1967 . Mackay won the FA Cup with Tottenham on three occasions - in 1961, 1962 and 1967 . Mackay is crowned by Jimmy Robertson (right) after Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 1967 FA Cup final . Tottenham manager Bill Nicholson with players Cliff Jones, Jimmy Greaves, Mackay, Paul Shoemark and Stephen Pitt in 1965 . Mackay runs up the stairs at White Hart Lane as he fights his way back from a double leg fracture . It was a serious, complex injury and it was nine months before his return, in a reserve match against Shrewsbury. Typically, Mackay went thundering in for the ball. To our horror there was a snapping sound. Still he got up but the trainer rushed on, took a quick look and heart-brokenly told him the leg had shattered again. The pain must have been excruciating but Mackay insisted on checking the diagnosis personally. He stamped his foot on the ground and only as the cracked bone stuck out through his bloodied sock did he accept that he could not play on. Even then he spurned the stretcher and walked off, trying not to limp. ‘Never show you’re hurt,’ he growled as they hurried him to hospital. It wasn’t the first time we heard him say that. It was his mantra. Mackay pitied the weak. As for divers, he despised them. ‘Get up and be a man,’ he used to bark at any opponent who made a meal of his tackling, which was an even more fearsome thing of which to be on the receiving end than it was to behold. But always, unfailingly honest. That was why he disliked that iconic photograph of him grabbing a startled Billy Bremner by his Leeds shirt neck at Wembley. He thought it portrayed him as a bully. ‘No-one who goes into a fair challenge with me has anything to fear,’ he used to say. Mackay rises for a header in a 1968 league match between Spurs and Liverpool at White Hart Lane . Jubilant Spurs fans cheer as Mackay shows off the FA Cup at Tottenham Town Hall in 1967 . Mackay (right) rushes to congratulate goalscorer Jimmy Greaves (middle) with Jimmy Robertson in 1967 . Leaping to join in with the celebrations after Alan Mullery had scored Spurs' opener against Leeds in 1966 . Proving his athleticism by jumping over Spurs team-mates Cliff Jones, Ron Henry and Jimmy Greaves . Mackay, then at Derby County, challenges Manchester United's George Best during a game during the 1970s . Best again felt the full force of Mackay's boot as the pair battle for the ball in 1971 . Derby captain Mackay with the Watney Cup after their 4-1 victory over Manchester United in 1970 . Showing off his Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year award in April 1969 . Mackay, who also played for Hearts and Swindon, was capped 22 times by Scotland . That repeat breakage of the same bone would have finished many a lesser man but Mackay came back again, to resume his midfield partnership with Danny Blanchflower which was the axis of manager Bill Nicholson’s great Tottenham team. A legend which might have ended that day was to grow even greater. Yet he regretted that the iron man image tended to obscure his remarkable ability. ‘I can pass the bloody ball, you know,’ he would rasp in that Scottish brogue brought down from Hearts. We did know. That was why we would elect him Footballer of the Year down here, to follow the same award won north of the border. Blanchflower, the thinking man’s footballer, was esteemed as the brains of the team but Mackay was very much more than the brawn. Blanchflower was the captain but Mackay was the spiritual leader on the pitch, the cement in their bond off it and their bridge to the fans. Beneath that fearsome demeanour in action, he was engaging, amusing and charming and those who jostled for the team’s company after matches at the pub near the ground, the Bell and Hare, enjoyed his generosity. Mackay (right) and Danny Blanchflower are introduced to the Wembley crowd before the 1981 FA Cup final . Mackay pictured during his spell as manager of Walsall in the seventies . Sir Bobby Charlton and Mackay chat as they pose for pictures of their special stamps in 2013 . That strong personality carried over into management, most notably at Derby County where he picked up Brian Clough’s mantle and drove them to the League title. Conscious of his role as a Spurs figurehead Mackay always dressed ‘properly’ and his one sortie into commerce was to join his lifelong friend and Tottenham fan Jimmy Burton in a tie manufacturing business. Alzheimer’s was one of the ailments which afflicted his last years and in that sad sense we have been missing this great footballer and nice man for some time already. But none who saw him or knew him will ever forget Dave Mackay. And certainly not that day when he had to prove to himself that his leg was broken. +Liverpool's crunch Premier League clash against Manchester United on Sunday is gearing up to be a pivotal one in the race for the top four. The match will also be a poignant one for Reds skipper Steven Gerrard too - in what will be his last-ever against Manchester United before his move to MLS side LA Galaxy at the end of the season. Here Sportsmail looks back on the 34-year-old's career against the Red Devils. Steven Gerrard's (right) first game for Liverpool against Manchester United came in a 3-2 home defeat on September 11 1999 . It was over a year before Gerrard (left) faced the Red Devils again, but this time he was victorious as Liverpool won 1-0 at Old Trafford . Gerrard's (right) first-ever goal against United came via a beautiful long-range effort at Anfield on March 31 2001 . Gerrard (right) celebrates John Arne Riise's (centre) stunning strike as Liverpool won 3-1 against United in November 2001 . Gerrard (left) celebrates with matchwinner Danny Murphy as the Reds scored a late goal to beat United 1-0 at Old Trafford in January 2002 . Gerrard (left) battles for the ball against Phil Neville during United's 2-1 win at Anfield in December 2002 . Just a few months later though, Gerrard (left) and Liverpool got revenge as they won the League Cup final against United . The midfielder's deflected strike off David Beckham left United goalkeeper Fabian Barthez (centre) helpless as Liverpool ran out 2-0 winners . Gerrard (right) fouls England team-mate Beckham as Liverpool were thrashed 4-0 in the league by United less than a month later . Gerrard (left) takes a free-kick against United as the Reds slump to a 2-1 defeat at home on November 9 2003 . United captain Roy Keane (left) challenges for the ball with his Liverpool adversary Gerrard during their league encounter in April 2004 . Gerrard (centre) had to leave their clash at United in September 2004 early after coming off injured at Old Trafford . Gerrard (left) tackles Keane from behind during Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at home to United in January 2005 . Wayne Rooney (right) tackles Gerrard during their 0-0 stalemate at Anfield in September 2005 . Ryan Giggs (left) and Gerrard came face-to-face in many United-Liverpool clashes over the years - including this one in January 2006 . The two sides met again in the FA Cup fifth round later that season - with Liverpool coming out on top 1-0 in February 2006 . Gerrard (left) fouls United left back Patrice Evra in a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford in October 2006 . The Liverpool captain (left) tries to fend off the attention of United stalwart Giggs during their league clash in March 2007 . Gerrard (left) and United midfielder Anderson go head-to-head, literally, as tempers fray during their Premier League tussle in December 2007 . Gerrard (left) walks off the pitch as Liverpool lose 1-0 at home to United at full-time - thanks to a Carlos Tevez strike . Gerrard (centre) tries to calm down Javier Mascherano (second left) after the latter is sent off at United in March 2008 in a 3-0 defeat . The Liverpool midfielder closes down United winger Nani (right) during their Premier League encounter in September 2008 . Gerrard (centre) infamously kissed the camera lens in celebration as Liverpool thumped United 4-1 in March 2009 to do the double over them . The next fixture between the two sides saw Gerrard (left) watch his side relinquish a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Old Trafford on March 2010 . Gerrard's next clash against United was again at Old Trafford - where he scored two penalties in their Premier League clash in September 2010 . Gerrard (right) celebrates netting his second penalty of the match to level the scores at 2-2 . However, the Reds skipper happiness was short-lived as Dimitar Berbatov's third goal of the match gave United a 3-2 win . The two sides met again in the third round of the FA Cup that season - in what has been Gerrard's (centre) only red card against United to date . Gerrard (left) wheels away in celebration, after scoring the opening goal in a 1-1 draw in October 2010, by kissing the Liverpool badge . Gerrard then proceeds to celebrate with a knee slide in front a of jubilant Anfield support . In January 2012, Gerrard led Liverpool to a 2-1 win over the Red Devils thanks to Dirk Kuyt's late winner in their FA Cup fourth round tie . Despite their cup success, Liverpool couldn't repeat it a month later in the league - in a match that saw Luis Suarez refuse Evra's hand . Gerrard (second left) scores the opener in a 2-1 home defeat against United in September 2012 . The goal meant a lot to Gerrard - in what was the first match since the independent panel investigating Hillsborough's findings were released . Liverpool lost the corresponding Premier League fixture by the same scoreline later that season in January 2013 . Daniel Sturridge's goal gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over United in the league last season as Gerrard and Robin van Persie had a spat (left) Gerrard (right) competes for a 50/50 challenge with Shinji Kagawa during their Capital One Cup third round loss last season . Gerrard scored twice from the penalty spot as Rodgers' men comfortably defeated United 3-0 at Old Trafford last season . Gerrard (right) wheels away to the small section of away supporters at Old Trafford after putting Liverpool 2-0 ahead from the penalty spot . The Liverpool skipper kisses the camera lens in celebration after netting his second penalty at the Theatre of Dreams last season . Gerrard's last outing against United was one to forget as his side were beaten 3-0 at the home of their arch-rivals . +Jose Mourinho has warned his hugely success youth team players that there is little room in his squad for nurturing home-grown talents. The Chelsea Under 18s are the reigning FA Youth Cup champions and they reached their fourth consecutive final on Wednesday night by defeating Tottenham 5-4 on aggregate. The success story does not stop there as the Under 19 side have also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Youth League where they will play Roma across two legs in April. However, ahead of Sunday's visit to play Hull, Mourinho has warned the burgeoning stars that the pressure at Stamford Bridge is to collect trophies, not produce players. Chelsea moved into their fourth straight FA Youth Cup final after beating Tottenham on aggregate . 'If they're good enough and they're ready then yes,' Mourinho said when asked if having a core of home-grown talent was a target. 'It's important, but this club is a very demanding club. It's a club where it's not easy to play football. The level people demand is high, the pressure is big. 'It's not the same to play in a club where people just accept a so-so performance, or people accept a so-so result. Or accept that you finish 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th. 'This is not the best habitat for a young player to be developed. For a player to play in the Chelsea first team the player must be ready. There is no space with this level of demand, responsibility and pressure. There is no space to play a player who is not ready.' Striker Dominic Solanke struck twice on Wednesday night to help the Under-18 side reach the cup final once again and also netted a brace in last season's final second-leg when his side lifted the trophy ahead of Fulham. Jose Mourinho says that the youth players must be ready to play before being promoted to the first team . But even after making his Champions League debut in a dead rubber group-stage match earlier this season, the wealth of imported talent means he is unlikely to get another first-team chance any time soon. 'I played Solanke winning 5-0 against Maribor, in a competition where we qualified easily in the group phase,' Mourinho said. 'I cannot play Solanke against Southampton with 30 minutes left at 1-1, I can't.' Solanke and the rest of Chelsea's finalists did get some additional reward for their heroics on Wednesday night after club captain John Terry was in the dressing room after the 5-2 win congratulating the young charges and offering advice. The Blues' skipper is destined to one day take over as manager of the west London club, but Mourinho insists it will not be any time soon while the centre-back is still one of the best defenders in the Premier League. 'He's going to sign a new contract as a player,' Mourinho said. 'In a couple of weeks or a month we will have a notice for the press conference. Dominic Solanke, pictured scoring against Tottenham, played in a Champions League match against Maribor . 'For the next year at least I see him as a player and I don't think it's right for me to speak about him after that.' Victory against Steve Bruce's side on Sunday will take the Premier League leaders one match closer to clinching yet another title. Eden Hazard has been in scintillating form for Chelsea and while his manager does not want to draw any additional attention to his player, he does warn the decision makers of his criteria for any Player of the Season accolades. 'In my old-fashioned way of looking at individual awards, for me individual awards only for the winners,' he added. 'I'm never happy when somebody wins individual awards but doesn't win the big prize, the collective one. If I was the guy to give awards, I'd wait until the end of the season and it would always go to a champion.' +David Gill will become the most powerful administrator in English football when he is elected onto the FIFA ExCo at the UEFA Congress in Vienna. He is a certainty to be the landslide choice of the 54 UEFA voting territories to succeed Northern Ireland's Jim Boyce, despite rival FA of Wales president Trefor Lloyd-Hughes claiming the FA have reneged on a signed agreement that it was the Welsh turn. Gill's FIFA seat as the British vice-president will give him unprecedented football influence added to his other roles on the UEFA ExCo, FA vice-chairman, Premier League representative on the FA and Manchester United director. David Gill is widely expected to succeed Jim Boyce as FIFA's British vice-president on Tuesday . Gill has been backed by FA Chairman Greg Dyke to ensure ethics and transparency in the organisation . And FA chairman Greg Dyke, one of those along with UEFA chief Michel Platini who persuaded Gill to change his mind about working for a Sepp Blatter-led FIFA, wants urbane accountant Gill to be 'awkward' and stir up trouble in Zurich by asking hard questions of the FIFA president during his likely fifth term of office. Dyke said: 'David will do the job properly. FIFA needs to have someone from the awkward squad asking tough questions. There is a feeling there have been too many acolytes and not enough people ensuring decisions are taken in a transparent, ethical and business-like manner.' England rugby head coach Stuart Lancaster will head for a poolside bar with a beer or just lie in a darkened room when he goes on holiday to Tenerife this week to reflect on the agonising near miss in the Six Nations and plan for the World Cup. 'It's just a bit of space to get my head straight before I dive back into everything,' he said. Lancaster always travels to the same destination on Tenerife for his private thinking time after major tournaments, which his wife Nina describes as going into his 'cave'. Daughter Sophie reacted to Lancaster dining alone in a restaurant in Tenerife by calling him 'weirdo' in a text message. Lancaster wouldn't give his exact holiday location when asked, saying: 'I'm not going to tell you where it is in case you start following me around.' But his chances of escaping attention from British hordes in the Canary Islands are slim. England rugby head coach Stuart Lancaster will take a holiday retreat to Tenerife following the Six Nations . England fell one try short of a first Six Nations title since 2011 after their 55-35 victory over France . Twickenham charging £41 for wheelchair access to England matches, as revealed by Sports Agenda, has caused so much upset following long established free entry, the issue is going to be looked at by the international ticket committee as well as the RFU board and council. RFU staff are said to have implemented the new cost without first going through the ticketing committee. BBC and BT rugby pundit Matt Dawson chose to tweet a picture of Twickenham personnel rehearsing podium preparation for a Six Nations presentation to 'champions' England before the French match. The image, which provoked the arrogant England stereotype, was soon deleted. When Saracens announced the departure last Friday evening of Ed Griffiths, stand-out chief executive in English rugby for the past seven years, it looked a classic case of media-savvy Griffiths burying bad news on the eve of the Six Nations. However, it has emerged that highly-talented Griffiths is not leaving of his own accord. His exit is understood to be more to do with a breakdown of relationships with other powerbrokers at the club than alleged salary cap breaches. Griffiths was reported to be leaving at the end of the season but has ceased day-to-day work. Broadcaster John Inverdale should be relieved his c-word slip of the tongue — 'rose-****** glasses' — while presenting Radio 5 Live's Cheltenham coverage hasn't cost him his prime role anchoring ITV's broadcast of the Rugby World Cup, an event more anticipated after such an epic finale to the Six Nations. John Inverdale, pictured here working for the BBC, was recorded swearing on air during Cheltenham . The European Club Association, having agreed a much improved financial deal with FIFA for club payments when releasing players for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup, have demonstrated they want their status to rise accordingly. They have hired sport strategist Jon Tibbs's PR company JTA, who also work for Manchester United, to represent them. +After Barcelona took a giant step towards winning the La Liga title with a 2-1 win in El Clasico on Sunday night the squad looked ready to celebrate in style - except Lionel Messi that is. While team-mates including Neymar Jnr, Dani Alves, and Adriano got suited and booted in their garish designer suits, the Argentina forward opted for a more conservative look. On the pitch Messi has the ability to set the place alight but his ensemble on Sunday night left him looking distinctly average in comparison to his South American team-mates. Lionel Messi, Adriano, Bartra, Dani Alves, Neymar and Rafinha get suited and booted after the triumph . Goalscoring hero Luis Suarez poses for a pic with fellow frontmen Messi and Neymar after the victory . Barca's attacking trio pose for another dressing room snap after beating rivals Real Madrid . The 27-year-old plumped for a plain black jumper and the sort of grey trousers you might have worn as part of a school uniform. In fact, Messi wouldn't have looked out of place delivering a lesson to a group of geography students. That said, even the snappiest of dressers might be made to feel like a wallflower standing next to the flamboyant Neymar and Alves. The Brazilian duo caused quite a stir on social media with their choice of attire. Alves went for a silver jacket and gold shoes combo . While a night of celebrations might have been in order for some of the squad, Gerard Pique, who turned in a superb defensive performance at the Nou Camp, looked set for a quiet night in with the missus. After his impressive performance, Pique left the stadium with his pop star girlfriend Shakira . Suarez scored the winner for Barcelona in their 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Nou Camp . Barcelona celebrated after moving four points clear of their rivals in La Liga with 10 games remaining . The Spain international was pictured leaving the stadium hand-in-hand with long-term pop star girlfriend Shakira. Pique earned rave reviews as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema were kept relatively quiet during what could prove a season-defining victory. And Shakira appeared as impressed by her man's performance as anyone tweeting: 'Gerard Pique is THE Defender! Shak.' Jeremy Mathieu and Luis Suarez scored for the hosts either side of a Cristiano Ronaldo striker as Barcelona opened up a four-point lead over rivals Real Madrid. +Being able to understand and communicate with your pet is something that many people wish they could do. But for the owner of a seven-year-old American pit bull terrier from Canada, the idea is less a wish and more a reality. The  clever dog, named Czr (pronounced Caesar), is something of an internet phenomenon and has accumulated more than 32,000 likes on its Facebook page for its ability to 'speak'. According to Czr’s Facebook page, the dog has been taught to communicate with classic learning theory . Its ability to say 'yes' and 'no' as well as nod and shake its head is what sets it apart from others like it. And its owner has captured a typical conversation with the dog, who stands before her in what appears to be a hallway. She asks her pet: ‘Do you want something?’ Immediately the dog looks at her, shakes its head and utters 'no'. Czr the American pit bull terrier listens attentively to its owner's questions and answers accordingly . She then asks the dog whether it is bored and he again replies, but this time with a nod and the word 'yes'. Working out that the dog wants to play, the owner rattles off a handful of options and the dog waits patiently until she guesses the right one. After asking the Czr if he plants to play with his sister, Via (short for Octavia), he answers with a nod. The conversation then begins to tail off with the woman asking a number of questions and the dog offering a bewildered look. The owner asks Czr whether he would like a treat, and immediately the dog answers with a nod and convincing 'yes'. No! Czr shakes his head when his owner asks him whether he would like something . The video concludes with the dog 'shaking a paw' with its owner. According to Czr’s Facebook page, he has been taught to communicate with classic learning theory. The dog 'speaks' when he wants something and apparently he will reply to anyone. +This is the hilarious moment a man experienced the full force of a slingshot ride. The unnamed man retches seven times during the one-minute ride in a Malaysian theme park. As the woman next to him dissolves into laughter he begins to scream and even waggles his tongue around. A hilarious video shows the moment an unnamed man retches seven times during a one-minute ride in a Malaysian theme park . The whole astounding episode is captured by the ride's camera. At the start of the clip the couple are seen being strapped into their seats and look decidedly nervous. At first it is the unnamed woman who is scared and she laughs as she tells the man she does not want to look. But as the attendant completes a five-second countdown the man loses his smile - and his dignity. At the start of the clip the couple are seen being strapped into their seats and look decidedly nervous . As the woman laughs the man can be seen clutching his head. At one point he even starts screaming: 'I regret this' As the pair are catapulted around 150 metres in the air he begins to clutch at the seat's metal bars and squeezes his eyes closed. He then wildly looks around before retching and waving his arms about. At one point he even starts hitting his head and screaming: 'I regret this.' His companion does her best to distract him and shouts: 'It's already going down. Relax.' When this does not work she tells him to close his eyes - before dissolving into laughter. The clip ends with the woman cackling as the man sits hunched in his seat. It is thought that slingshot rides can travel at speeds of 100 miles per hour. He wildly looks around before retching and waving his arms everywhere. It is thought that slingshot rides can travel at speeds of 100 miles per hour . +Arsenal legend Martin Keown believes Per Mertesacker's omission from Arsenal's starting line-up for Sunday's win over Everton 'could be a defining moment in changing the club's back four'. January signing Gabriel Paulista was preferred to the German in defence, with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger telling BT Sport that the change was made in order to give Mertesacker a rest. Sportsmail's Keown, speaking as a pundit on BT Sport, reacted to the news of Mertesacker's absence for the crucial game at the Emirates saying: 'I don't you can point the finger at one player after the Monaco game. It's a big chance for Gabriel now, though. Martin Keown believes Per Mertesacker's omission could be a defining moment in Arsenal's defence . Keown (third right) was joined by Steve McManaman (far right) and Michael Owen (second left) on BT Sport . 'I think it could be a defining moment in changing Arsenal's back four now, for sure. 'Mertesacker, with the experience he has in the game, should have been calling these young players back the other night, the two full-backs were just drifting up the pitch and not coming back. 'When he's been left isolated one-on-one he struggles due to his lack of pace too. Gabriel is keen to defend so he'll be relishing this opportunity to stamp a claim for a first-team spot.' The German defender (centre) looks on despondently after Arsenal concede a third goal on Wednesday . Arsene Wenger has come under a barrage of criticism after Arsenal's shock defeat to Monaco on Wednesday . Wenger, who has come under fierce criticism after Wednesday night's 3-1 defeat by Monaco in the Champions League, maintained he is still fully committed to Arsenal, urging supporters to stand by the team ahead of the 2-0 win over Roberto Martinez's men. In an interview with BT Sport he said: 'We have always been united at Arsenal so I ask the fans to stay behind the team and show how strong you believe in the team even after Wednesday's disappointing result. ‘In the last 25 years I’ve always finished in the top three four and that consistency has given me belief and confidence to continuing to manage at the highest level. I’m as committed as I’ve ever been to deliver success to this team.' +One of at least four airmen captured by Al Qaeda militants after their Syrian Air Force helicopter crash-landed has appeared in a new propaganda video that calls for the release of a radical cleric. The pilot, who was captured near Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib province, is seen looking dazed with bandages wrapped around his head as notorious jihadi Abdullah al-Muhaysini rants alongside him while wielding a massive knife and an assault rifle. Al-Muhaysini, who has long been affiliated with Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria, suggests the life of the airman will only be spared if the Syrian regime releases notorious jihadi Abu Mus'ab as-Suri, who is wanted in Spain for suspected links to the 1985 El Descanso and 2004 Madrid bombings. Scroll down for video . Fear: The captured pilot is seen looking dazed with bandages wrapped around his head as notorious jihadi Abdullah al-Muhaysini rants alongside him while wielding a massive knife and an assault rifle . Threatened: The pilot, who was captured near Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib province yesterday, appeared in the video released by Al Qaeda-linked militants from Jabhat al-Nusra this morning . The video shows the airman looking dazed as he sits on the floor of a darkened room with the notorious black and white banner of Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra behind him. Clearly suffering injuries as a result of the helicopter crash, the pilot still has bloodied bandages wrapped around his head. The footage is decidedly amateur, is clearly filmed on either a mobile phone or a cheap recording device - making it look nothing like the slick, professionally edited videos put out by Nusra's rival jihadi group Islamic State. Nevertheless, the sight of Al-Muhaysini standing over the pilot and ranting about his possible murder while wielding a large knife has the same chilling impact as any ISIS release. Al-Muhaysini's primary demand is that the Syrian regime release Abu Mus'ab as-Suri - a notorious Al Qaeda linked militant who was arrested in Pakistan in 2005 and later rendered to his homeland. Aleppo-born As-Suri - who holds Spanish citizenship remains a wanted man in Spain on suspicion of taking part in the Islamic Jihad Organization's 1985 bombing at Madrid's El Descanso restaurant, which left 18 dead. He is also wanted as a possible witness to the Al Qaeda-inspired coordinated bombings on the Madrid's train system, which killed 191 people and left more than 2,000 injured in March 2004. 'Technical malfunction': People gather around a helicopter reportedly belonging to Syrian regime forces that crashed in Jabal al-Zawiya yesterday . Gathered around: Islamist rebels captured four crew members when the helicopter crashed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said . The airman was one of six people on board the Syrian Air Force helicopter when it crashed in a rebel-held area of north-western Syria, near Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib province yesterday. It experienced a technical malfunction and made an emergency crash-landing according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syria's state news agency confirmed that a helicopter had crashed after a mechanical problem and said the authorities were looking for the crew. The SOHR stated that opposition fighters, including from the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, had taken four crew members prisoner. Another airman survived the crash but was reportedly killed by his captors, and the fate of a suspected sixth airman is unknown, the Observatory said. SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman said: ‘A regime helicopter was forced to land in the region of Jabal al-Zawiya in the north-west, which is a bastion of (Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate) Al-Nusra Front. ‘Four of the crew were captured and a fifth man was killed by armed men in a neighbouring village.’ Down: The airman was one of six people on board the Syrian Air Force helicopter when it crashed in a rebel-held area of north-western Syria, near Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib province yesterday. A girl flashes a victory sign as she poses near the crashed helicopter near Jabal al-Zawiya yesterday . Pictures provided by the Observatory showed groups of men gathering around a damaged helicopter lying on its side on a rocky hilltop. Mr Rahman said two of the servicemen were being held by Nusra Front, while the other two were captured by an unknown Islamist group. An amateur video posted online showed rebels inspecting the wreckage of the helicopter, which had rolled on to its side on a rocky hill. The aircraft's blue undercarriage was partially torn and the nose badly damaged. Photographs posted by activists online showed the same crash site and at least two airmen in rebel custody. The United Nations claims the Syrian air force uses helicopters extensively to drop barrel bombs in indiscriminate attacks on residential areas. The improvised munitions are giant canisters packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and scrap metal. However, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied in a BBC interview last February that his forces used barrel bombs. +An Illinois teenager who broke both legs after he slipped off a canyon ledge and fell 90 feet could face criminal charges, police said. 18-year-old Christopher J. Stewart was in Starved Rock State Park near Utica with a young woman and two 'highly intoxicated' men, according to Illinois Conservation Police Sgt Robert Frazier. The NewsTribune reports that the Aurora teenager hopped a wooden railing and left a walkway before jumping down to the rim of Wildcat Canyon. Injured: Christopher J Stewart (left) slipped and fell 90 feet off Wildcat Canyon and needed to be airlifted to a hospital in Peoria . Once on the canyon's edge, he tried to knock pieces of ice off from the top of the waterfall before slipping and falling 90 feet into the canyon, Frazier said. Utica firefighters responding to the incident carried Stewart out of the canyon on a board before Ottawa River Rescue ferried him across the river to a waiting ambulance. The ambulance then brought the teenager to a Life Flight helicopter to be transported him to a hospital in Peoria. As of Saturday morning, the teenager was reportedly in critical condition though a photo shared by a friend on Facebook show Stewart alert and sitting upright in a neck brace. Remote wilderness: Rescuers had to transport Stewart by boat to a helicopter on a board to transport him to the hospital . Deep freeze: The waterfall had frozen over, and Stewart went to the top of the frozen falls, before falling 90 feet . Aftermath: In addition to broken legs, Stewart had multiple fractures (pictured) to his arm along with other injuries that required transportation to a hospital in Peoria . Dangerous drop: Stewart had reportedly jumped a fence and was trying to break ice off the waterfall before he fell, as investigators say a charge of entering a restricted area is pending . Frazier says in addition to the two men, who were both intoxicated and over the age of 21, 19-year-old Kara Watkins from Aurora was charged with marijuana possession of less than 2.5 grams. Stewart faces a pending charge for entering a restricted area. Conservation police say they are investigating additional charges against the individuals pending the results of toxicology reports. +Barcelona's 2-1 win over Real Madrid in Sunday's 'El Clasico' may have put them four points clear at the top of La Liga but they will be kicking themselves for not taking a host of second-half chances and grabbing the head-to-head advantage. If Real manage to draw level on points with their great rivals over the remaining 10 games - and they have what looks on paper like a slightly easier run-in - they will snatch the title because they beat Barca 3-1 in Madrid in October. Head-to-head record is used before goal difference to separate teams with equal points and Real famously pipped Barca to the title in 2006-07 despite having scored 12 fewer goals and conceded seven more. Barcelona and Luis Suarez could miss out on the La Liga title to Real Madrid with their head-to-head record . 1) Head to head points . 2) Head to head goal difference . 3) Head to head goals scored . 4) Goal difference . 5) Goals scored . Any disappointment Barca coach Luis Enrique and the players may be feeling on Monday morning will be outweighed by their joy at seeing off Real at the Nou Camp, thanks to a superb Luis Suarez goal 11 minutes after half time. Watched by almost 100,000 fans packed into the giant stadium and millions more around the world, Jeremy Mathieu had put Barca ahead in the 19 minute before Cristiano Ronaldo levelled for Real in minute 31. 'For the moment it is the most important goal I have scored for Barca and it has an extra significance considering who we were playing,' a jubilant Suarez, who debuted for the club in October's 'Clasico' after a four-month ban for biting, told reporters. Suarez (9) slots home his spectacular winner to put Barcelona four points clear at the top of La Liga . Cristiano Ronaldo (right) silenced the Barcelona crowd after equalising for Real Madrid in the first half . 'There is a long way to go and we know that winning the league is going to be very tough,' added the Uruguay striker. 'Just like in all the leagues, you never know what can happen if you relax just a little.' Real coach Carlo Ancelotti and his players, meanwhile, will be wondering how they let slip a match they seemed to be well in control of after Ronaldo's leveller. The Portugal captain was almost completely anonymous in the second half and Real's Wales winger Gareth Bale also made little impact. 'In the end we suffered because of a slight lack of cool heads in our efforts to equalise,' Ancelotti told a news conference. 'We played too many long balls without a clear idea,' added the Italian. 'It was a good hour, and 30 minutes that weren't so good.' The Uruguayan is mobbed by his team-mates following his goal but they could still miss out on the title . Gareth Bale (centre) struggled during the game and has come under a lot of criticism in recent months . +Islamic State terrorists could launch a chlorine gas attack on Britain - a weapon used to kill thousands of British troops in the First World War trenches, an expert said today. Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon believes that every British ISIS fighter will have been given chemical weapons training in the hope they will come back to launch an attack. The retired head of chemical and biological weapons for the Army believes the Tube or sporting events could be the target. Scotland Yard said that last year five Britons a week were heading to Syria and an estimated 500 of them may have returned to Britain. Fears: Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, left and right in 2007, recently retired head of chemical and biological weapons for the Army, is worried that ISIS might launch a chlorine attack in Britain . Colonel de Bretton-Gordon, who is now managing director of Avon Protection, believes that ISIS terrorists returning to the UK are 'highly likely' to use the gas, because it is easier to get hold of than weapons like guns and explosives. He has spoken out to warn the public what to do if there is an attack on UK soil and believes that it would be 'very survivable and a lot less dangerous than bombs and bullets'. He told MailOnline: 'I am convinced that IS fighters are all being given training in chemical weapons and the British ones, who are likely to be more educated, will all be targeted in the hope they may return home. 'They will have a reasonable idea on how to use chlorine and other toxic chemicals as a terror weapon. 'This could happen on a train or tube or even at a big football match. Acquiring weapons and ammunition is very difficult in the UK but you can get up to 90 tonnes of chlorine without any licence. 'The authorities must keep a close eye on those fighters returning to the UK, especially if they have a background in chemistry, and in particular anybody buying toxic chemicals'. Chlorine was used 100 years ago during the 2nd Battle of Ypres in April 1915, where the gas was vapourised into a cloud. It is classified as a 'choking agent', burning the lungs when inhaled in large quantities. But it is nowhere near as dangerous as nerve gases like sarin. Mr de Bretton-Gordon says that chlorine is being used on an 'industrial scale' in Syria and Iraq but that taking simple steps would help people survive an attack. Chlorine is readily available in Britain, used in swimming pools and decontamination in industry. 'My working with UK charity Syria Relief has focused in Syria on giving civilians the basic know-how to avoid chlorine. The same advice applies to Britain,' he said . 'Chlorine is not very toxic and the green and yellow clouds are easy to see and avoid. It is very non-persistent only lasting for a few minutes. It was used in the First World War but dropped because it did not work very well. 'It is key that ISIS don’t get the advantage of an unexpected chemical attack in the UK. If you can hold your breath for 30 seconds and run in the opposite direction you will be okay. If outside you should aim to climb or reach higher ground. 'Also urinating on a cloth and holding it to your mouth will help because urine kills chlorine. 'I train people in Syria to be aware of which way the wind is blowing because chlorine can travel quickly on the wind, but it also means you can avoid it. 'If the attack was on the Tube, chlorine is heavier than air, so it would quickly drop to the tracks. It is the panic that would create the carnage, so it is important people are prepared for it. 'Chlorine attacks are very survivable and a lot less dangerous than bombs and bullets, if you use simple procedures. ‘Fear of toxic chemicals and chemical weapons is the killer not the toxicity of the agents. ‘It is 20 years since the sarin attack on the Tokyo underground, but it took three years and $10m dollars to create 1kg of sarin and I think it is highly unlikely that ISIS or anyone else has the capability to do that in Britain'. Evidence: A gas canister lies at the site of a bomb attack on a road between Mosul, Iraq, and the Syrian border in northern Iraq, believed to have been used by ISIS . Target: Experts fear that the Tube or other packed areas may be subject to attacks by ISIS militants in the UK . Crude roadside bombs filled with toxic chlorine gas are now being used by Islamic State terrorists, it has been claimed. Iraqi officials say government forces have defused dozens of the devices in the course of their war with the fanatics and have produced video footage which backs up their claim. Mr de Bretton-Gordon said: 'Islamic State are all over these chemical weapons. The big prize is Mosul, its capital in Iraq. Lose it and they lose the country and have to retreat to Syria. 'I believe they will do anything to hold Mosul, and this will include chemical weapons use'. One bomb disposal expert said that the use of the chemical is a sign of desperation as the Iraqi Army makes advances against IS in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit. Haider Taher told the BBC: 'They're resorting to this new method, putting chlorine in these home-made roadside bombs, which is toxic to those that inhale it.' He described how his team detonated a bomb in Tikrit that, unbeknown to them, contained chlorine. They immediately began feeling the effects of the chemical, experiencing 'painful choking' and blocked throats. Jennifer Cole, Senior Research Fellow at defence think-tank Royal United Services Institute, told MailOnline that although chlorine can be lethal, it does appear that it's being used to spread fear by IS. She said: 'Chlorine is easily available from a number of industrial sources and is very hazardous – causing breathing difficulties in particular and in extreme cases prolonged exposure can kill. 'Used in roadside bombs such as this, in the open air, it disperses reasonably quickly and so appears to be intended to cause panic rather than serious harm.' Terror: Chlorine was first used in the First World War and because it is heavier than air the clouds of killer gas would drop into trenches and wipe out troops . Chlorine was used by the British in the First World War, but it proved to be unreliable. In one attack in 1915 the gas blew back into British trenches after canisters of the chemical were fired from heavy guns at the Germans. In Tikrit, Iraqi soldiers and militiamen have reportedly retaken areas and key sites in the north, south and west, including a police headquarters and a hospital. Some 23,000 personnel are believed to be involved in the operation, the biggest offensive against IS mounted by the government since the jihadist group captured large parts of the country last June. The U.N. Security Council recently approved a United States-drafted resolution that condemns the use of toxic chemicals such as chlorine in Syria, while threatening militarily enforced action in the case of further violations. Chlorine, a chemical used in industry and water purification process, was first introduced as a chemical weapon at Ypres in World War I with disastrous effects because gas masks were not easily available at the time. In 1915, at Ypres, Belgium, Germany opened thousands of canisters of chlorine upwind of Allied troops, condemning many to an agonising death. Jack Dorgan, of the Northumberland Fusiliers, was hurt in a 1915 gas attack and said: 'Our eyes were streaming with water and with pain. Luckily again for me I was one of those who could still see. But we had no protection, no gas masks or anything of that kind'. British private Harry Cox said: They gassed us. And how I got out of it, I went up a tree. All the others they all went down in the shallow in the trenches of course there they all laid out all sprawled out and suffering agonies. Actually the battalion was wiped out – there was only five really fit men left'. By 1918 chemical weapons had proliferated on both sides – including phosgene, cyanide and mustard gas. Horrified by the effects, 15 countries signed the Geneva Protocol. More severely affected individuals may suffer acute lung injury (ALI) and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and one in 100 will die. In October, Iraqi officials said Islamic State (IS) militants used chlorine gas during fighting with security forces and Shiite militiamen in September north of Baghdad. In the attacks, about 40 troops and Shiite militiamen were slightly affected by the chlorine and showed symptoms consistent with chlorine poisoning, such as difficulty in breathing and coughing,. The troops were treated in hospital and quickly recovered. +Castleford fullback Luke Dorn expects to be out of action for just one week despite suffering a horrible facial injury in action. The Aussie hardman suffered the stomach-turning injury in the 55th minute of Friday night's 30-16 win against Salford. Fortunately the former London Broncos player was using a mouth guard that ensured he kept all his teeth during the clash. Luke Dorn suffered this stomach turning injury in the 55th minute of Friday night's 30-16 win against Salford . Fortunately for Dorn he was wearing a mouth guard so left the collision with all his teeth still intact . Dorn told The Sun: 'Hopefully I'll miss one game. The docs said it was one of the most complex jobs they had seen.' However, coach Daryl Powell doesn't hold the same confidence, he admitted: 'Luke doesn't look good from what the medical guys tell me.' Dorn later took to Twitter to play down the severity of the injury to well-wishing fans, describing the injury as 'nothing some lip balm won't fix.' Luke Dorn of is tackled by Liam Sutcliffe and Kevin Sinfield during the Tetley's Challenge Cup Final . +Clarke Carlisle pictured outside of court on Monday . Clarke Carlisle has pleaded guilty to a drink-driving offence that occurred two days before the former footballer tried to kill himself by jumping in front of a lorry. The 35-year-old, still bearing the facial scars from his December 22 suicide attempt in a crash which left him in a coma until mid-January, spoke clearly as he stood in the dock at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in north London. The former Professional Footballers' Association chairman, who played for Leeds United, Burnley and Queens Park Rangers, admitted failing to provide a sample on December 20. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence on the same date, when police officers spotted a Mercedes travelling in an 'erratic' manner, prosecutor Zahid Hussain said. Deputy District Judge Margaret Dodds told Carlisle that he would 'inevitably' be disqualified when he next appears at the same court for sentencing on May 14. She also ordered that reports be made in the case after being told of Carlisle's medical situation. He had been spotted by police 'swerving' his Mercedes and nearly hitting a lorry on Pentonville Road, north London, on December 20 at about 7am. Mr Hussain said the car was seen 'swerving in the lane, to the pavement on the nearside, almost mounting the pavement' and that the tyres were 'grinding on the curb'. When the officers stopped and spoke to Carlisle, 'alcohol was smelled on his breath', Mr Hussain added. Carlisle discussed his failed suicide attempt in February with Absolute Radio's Jon Champion in what was his first radio appearance since leaving hospital. He said he was 'disgusted' with himself and told family members he 'did not want to be here' when they visited him in Leeds General Infirmary. 'I was only in LGI for three days and throughout those three days my family were coming to see me,' he said. 'Every time I came and felt unconditional love. It was just another point of self loathing. I was disgusted with myself and I said I have to be honest with you 'I still do not want to be here'. Former Leeds United footballer Carlisle has pleaded guilty to a drink-driving offence on December 20 . It happened two days before he tried to kill himself in a crash on December 22 with his scar still visible . Born: Preston, October 14, 1979 (age 35) Playing position: Defender . 1997-2000: Blackpool (93 lg apps, 7 goals) 2000-2004: QPR (96, 6) 2004-2005: Leeds United (35, 4) 2005-2007: Watford (36, 3) 2007-2007: Luton Town (loan) (5, 0) 2007-2012: Burnley (131, 7) 2011-2012: Preston (loan) (20, 3) 2012-2012: Northampton Town (loan) (18, 1) 2012-2013: York City (10, 0) 2012-2013: Northampton Town (loan) (5, 0) 2013-2013: Northampton Town (21, 3) 'And that disgusted me even more. Because these are the people who are coming to love me and care for me. And I'm telling them that in spite of that I want to be dead.' Carlisle revealed he would have been sectioned if he rejected the chance of attending a psychiatric hospital. The lorry driver who struck Carlisle said he may never be able to get behind the wheel again. Darren Pease feared both he and Carlisle would die after glass shattered following the crash, leaving them with cuts to their faces and the driver temporarily blinded. He told the Daily Mirror: 'That feeling is indescribable - to think you are going to die. 'I don't think I'll ever be able to get behind the wheel of a lorry again. I can't see any way back for me at this point. I can't drive a car properly, never mind a wagon. 'All I could think was that I had killed someone. How am I going to live with this? What am I going to tell everybody? 'What do you say? It's unreal, the shock meant I couldn't stand or walk, I was in a wheelchair.' Carlisle spoke clearly as he stood in the dock at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in north London . +He is prone to misfiring and, according to football fans, has rarely been out of first gear in recent months. But that has not stopped Premier League striker Steven Fletcher looking very pleased with himself as he took delivery of a £260,000 supercar. For long-suffering Sunderland supporters the photograph of the £40,000-a-week Scottish international and his 217mph Lamborghini Aventador was a blatant own goal – and they were not slow to put the boot in. Scroll down for video . Aventador: Steven Fletcher, who has scored just seven times in two years for Sunderland, suffered a Twitter backlash after the photograph of him with the supercar on the driveway of his home went viral . Couple: Fletcher (right) moved to a £670,000 five-bedroom home in County Durham with his beauty queen partner Rachel Monaghan (left), 24, in October 2013, and they live there with their daughter Darcy-Mae, one . Seven goals in two seasons: Fletcher (left) vies for the ball with Aston Villa's Jores Okore (right) during his Sunderland side's 4-0 Premier League defeat at the Stadium of Light on March 14 . They said the car was undeserved given Fletcher’s poor performances, especially as the picture was taken days before Sunderland suffered a 4-0 thrashing. The club is 17th in the Premier League after winning just four of 30 league games this season, scoring only 23 goals in the process – the league’s second lowest. And Fletcher – who cost £12million – has rarely troubled the scoreboard. Dozens of fans shared a mock message on Twitter reading: ‘Steven Fletcher: two seasons, seven goals, one new Lamborghini Aventador.’ Janet Rowan, from the Sunderland Supporters’ Association, said: ‘We know footballers have these big flash cars. I just think the timing was really appalling and I can really understand the way that people have felt about this. Showing his moves: Fletcher (centre) was among Sunderland players who took to the catwalk for the Foundation of Light's annual charity fashion show at the Stadium of Light in November 2013 . Comparisons: Birmingham fan Michael Jabbari quoted a message from parody account BBC Sporf in a tweet, which said: 'Steven Fletcher: two seasons, seven goals, one new Lamborghini Aventador' Unimpressed: In response to the photo, Sunderland fan JamesTheMackem posted on Twitter that it was 'the most undeserved Lambo for a football player, ever' ‘To see someone taking possession of a car of that value, when most of the fans who go to the game are on a pittance, it was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back.’ The footballer’s agent said it was the firm that sold the car that had posted the picture online. Scott Fisher said: ‘It wasn’t Steven that put the picture up. The company who were doing advertising on it done it. I don’t know what the problem is and what people are getting excited about.’ The background of the picture shows another luxury car – a Bentley – in the drive of the 27-year-old’s £670,000 home in Durham. Another online critic, Jamesthemackem, wrote: Steven Fletcher has a Lamborghini, the most undeserved Lambo for a football player, ever.’ Jack Liddell posted on Twitter: ‘Tell me how Steven Fletcher (a striker) can score seven goals in two seasons yet have earned a Lamborghini Aventador and a Bentley Continental.’ Fletcher has commanded more than £20million in transfer fees and is known to have a liking for luxury vehicles. He moved to the five-bedroom home in County Durham with his beauty-queen partner Rachel Monaghan, 24, in October 2013. Around then he reportedly bought a £50,000 Mercedes 4x4 for the former Miss Scotland finalist. They have a daughter called Darcy-Mae, aged one. Fletcher has struggled for form at Sunderland. He only managed three goals last season and four so far this campaign. +Notts County have sacked manager Shaun Derry following their poor recent run of results. The Magpies have won just one of their last eight matches and Saturday's 4-1 defeat by MK Dons left them outside the League One relegation zone on goal difference alone. Assistant manager Greg Abbott has also departed the club. Notts County have sacked manager Shaun Derry following their poor recent run of results . How the bottom of League One is shaping up . County CEO Aileen Trew said: 'This is without doubt one of the hardest decisions that we have had to make as a board because we know how much this club means to Shaun and Greg and we know how much hard work they had both put in during their time here. 'However, we have to make the decisions that we feel are in the best interests of the club and our perilous position in the table meant that we felt we needed to make a change. 'I have nothing but positive things to say about Shaun and Greg and the way that they conducted themselves during their time here at Notts County. Derry has been sacked with the club only outside the League One relegation zone on goal difference . 'It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to them, but with a hope that this difficult decision will be the catalyst for a turn around in fortunes, starting this weekend at home to Scunthorpe United.' Former Crystal Palace and QPR midfielder Derry, 37, joined County in November 2013 in what was his first managerial role and saved them from relegation last season. The club have yet to announce who will be in charge against Scunthorpe. +Sportsmail takes a look at 10 things we have learned from an entertaining weekend of football including Aaron Ramsey's return and John Stones being a rock at the back for Everton. 1. John Stones reminded Everton how badly they had missed him during their awful exit from the Europa League in midweek. The 20-year-old, left out by Roberto Martinez in Dynamo Kiev who picked Antolin Alcarez instead, returned to the starting line-up with a strong defensive display at QPR. Stones and Phil Jagielka made 41 clearances between them to limit Rangers to just one shot on target. Everton have lost just three of the 12 games the pair have played as centre backs since Stones recovered from injury. John Stones was impressive for Everton in their win over QPR on Sunday . 2. England boss Roy Hodgson seems to rate Andros Townsend far higher than Mauricio Pochettino does. The winger got dragged off by his Spurs boss after just 58 minutes of the 4-3 win over Leicester – meaning he’s been hooked early in all the last eight matches he has started for his club. Of 32 appearances in a Tottenham shirt this season he’s only completed 90 minutes on seven occasions. Despite that Hodgson picked him in November – although he was forced to withdraw through injury – and has him in the squad for this week’s fixtures against Lithuania and Italy. Andros Townsed was substituted in the 38th minute against Leicester by Mauricio Pochettino . 3. If Burnley do finish the season being relegated back to the Championship it won’t be through lack of effort. The EA Sports performance data shows they collectively ran two miles more than Southampton’s side as they fought to avoid the 2-0 defeat at St Mary’s – 73.8 miles compared to Saints’ 71.8. It’s nothing new – Sean Dyche’s side have outworked their opponents in every single one of their 30 Premier League fixtures so far. Jason Shackell and the rest of the Burnley side outworked Southampton in their defeat on Saturday . 4. Swansea’s ability to find bargain signings continues to be the envy of many other clubs – and the £3million they paid Southampton for Jack Cork looks the latest astute investment. The 25-year-old son of former Wimbledon star Alan has slotted straight into Garry Monk’s midfield with seven 90 minute appearances in a row and was excellent at Aston Villa. He covered more ground (7.1miles), played more passes (72), fought in more duels (21) and won more tackles (5) than any other player on the pitch. Jack Cork has slotted in well to Swansea's midfield since his move from Southampton in January . 5. Dick Advocaat needs to help Connor Wickham rediscover the form that rescued the club a year ago as a priority for this season’s fight against relegation. The new Black Cats boss picked the 21-year-old at West Ham for his first 90 minute appearance since January 1st. Wickham, who scored five goals in the final six games last term, had just one shot on target and one wayward at Upton Park – and has scored only three League games all season. Connor Wickham needs to rediscover his form of last season to help Sunderland avoid the drop . 6. Aaron Ramsey’s return to fitness has come at the perfect time for Arsenal as they try to chase down Manchester City for the runners-up spot. The Welsh international midfielder took full advantage of the space given him by Newcastle as the Gunners went into a two goal lead. Ramsey, whose late appearance off the bench almost helped rescue Arsenal’s Champions League fortunes in Monaco, played more accurate passes in the attacking half of the field than any of his team mates. Aaron Ramsey's return to form for Arsenal has come at just the right time as they push for a top four place . 7. Manchester United look a more effective side when they pass the ball rather than lump it up to Marouane Fellaini. Louis van Gaal’s side played 568 passes in the 2-1 win at Anfield, some 162 more than Liverpool. It was also only 27 less than their best away total of the season so far, when they ran rings round relegation candidates QPR at Loftus Road in January. Manchester United have looked a better side since they started passing the ball more . 8. Paul Trollope has set about restoring his reputation as one of the game’s bright young coaches since Cardiff appointed him as number two to Russell Slade. The 42-year-old, whose CV included taking Bristol Rovers into League One as a manager then helping Chris Hughton keep Norwich in the Premier League, had spent nearly a year out of the game before getting the chance in South Wales. Cardiff had just one win in 11 games before he arrived – but the 2-0 success against Birmingham makes it four wins and 15 points in all from nine games since then. Paul Trollope is doing a good job as coach at Cardiff working with Russell Slade . 9. Juventus and former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is being talked about in fees of up to £100million – but Crawley boss Dean Saunders picked up his brother Mathias from the Turin giants on a free transfer. The 6ft 3ins striker has proved an inspired signing, even if he is yet to get his first goal. His physical presence has helped make space for Izale McLeod to get seven in ten games since Pogba, 24, made his debut at the start of February, with Crawley collecting 16 points in the process. Paul Pogba is being talked about as a £100m player - but his brother Mathias signed for Crawley for free . 10. Shaun Derry has suffered a major setback to what looked like a promising career as a manager at Notts County after he was sacked on Monday. The former QPR ace lifted the club to third in the League One table in October – but since then has overseen a slump that has seen them crash to just one place off the relegation zone following a 4-1 thrashing at MK Dons. Derry was unable to keep a settled side – County  have used 46 players in League games this season. Shaun Derry was sacked by Notts County on Monday morning . +Retail giant Target Australia has issued a nationwide recall of Easter chocolates, including bunnies and ducks. The recall is happening after product batches containing tree nuts and peanuts were labelled incorrectly. Instead of the label reading it 'may contain tree nuts and peanuts', it says 'may contain shell fruit'. Scroll down for video . Target Australia is recalling a range of Easter chocolates sold under the retailer's brand and the Klett brand . Target has warned customers who have a tree nut or peanut allergy to avoid eating the product. The range that has been affect include the Target-branded milk chocolate bunny, the dark chocolate bunny, white chocolate bunny, milk chocolate duck as well as Klett Easter cone mixed bag of chocolates and Klett milk chocolate sitting bunny. They all have the best before date of June 30, 2016, and are packed into clear cellophane or foil wrappers. Consumers who have a tree nut or peanut allergy can return the products to their Target store for a full refund. Target has warned customers who have a tree nut or peanut allergy to avoid eating the product . The chocolates affected include the Target Dark Chocolate Bunny (left) and Target White Chocolate Bunny . Target stressed the products are safe for all other customers. No other Target Australia chocolate or confectionery products have been affected by this recall. 'Customers with any queries about this recall should contact Target Australia’s Customer Experience Centre on 1300 753 567,' a statement from the retailer said. 'Target Australia apologises to customers for any inconvenience caused.' They have an expiry date of June 30, 2016, and have been labelled they contain 'shell fruit' instead of 'tree nuts and peanuts' +A kangaroo who may have been a little too keen for a drink and got its head stuck in a watering can has been saved by two quick-thinking men. The kangaroo was spotted in a paddock near a golf course at Coffin Bay in South Australia on Saturday morning, the Advertiser reports. Ian Berry, who had just finished a round of golf, went to check on the kangaroo as two men who had spotted it earlier returned to the paddock with a rope and tin cutters. The kangaroo was spotted with its head stuck in a watering can in a paddock near a golf course at Coffin Bay in South Australia on Saturday morning . 'They used rope first... one had rope tied around the can and the other had the roo's tail and they tried pulling but it didn't work,' Mr Berry told the newspaper. 'At this point it was pretty tired because it had been trying to kick the can off... (the men) were able to get close enough to cut the can off.' Mr Berry managed to snap several remarkable photos of the two men, Rob Smith and Steve Dew, pulling the animal's tail and attaching ropes to the watering can to free the roo. The roo is believed to have found some water in the can and accidentally got his head stuck as he had a drink . Rob Smith and Steve Dew came to the paddock armed with some tin cutters and a long rope to help free the distressed kangaroo . After several attempts, the distressed kangaroo was freed and hopped away quickly. 'It wouldn't have survived too long if Rob and Steve hadn't gotten the can off,' Mr Berry said. He suspects the kangaroo found some water in the can and put its head in for a drink. 'He is one lucky kangaroo... he hopped off, no doubt with a sore neck, but happy to be alive.' Coffin Bay residents thanked the two men on the city's Facebook page. 'A big thank you to Rob Smith and Steve Dew who saved this large male kangaroo from certain death after being able to get close enough to cut the watering can so as to be able to pull the kangaroo's head out of the can,' they wrote. Ian Berry managed to snap several remarkable photos of the two men, Rob Smith and Steve Dew, pulling the animal's tail and attaching ropes to the watering can to free the roo . After several attempts, the distressed kangaroo was freed and hopped away quickly . +The South Australian Supreme Court will today hear submissions about legal action a popular Australian Instagram personality is taking against a YouTube 'diet guru' famous for eating up to 51 bananas a day. Adelaide personal trainer Kayla Itsines, 23, her partner Tobias Pearce and company Bikini Body Training Company Pty Ltd last month launched an injunction against Freelee the Banana Girl (Leanne Ratcliffe) and Durianrider (Harley Johnstone) over remarks Ms Itsines alleged were defamatory. Ms Itsines, 23, is behind the program Bikini Body Guide and has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram. Freelee and Durianrider describe themselves as being behind the 'busiest raw vegan and vegan' website online, 30bananasaday, and post to a YouTube account with more than 330,000 subscribers. The vegan pair last week published a video of themselves and their bikes out the front of the Supreme Court building in Adelaide's Victoria Square, requesting their fans - 'fruit bats' - flock to the hearing in support. 'The fruit bats will prevail,' Freelee said. Scroll down for video . Court selfie: Freelee the Banana Girl and Durianrider snapped a video of themselves out the front of the South Australian Supreme Court . Real names Harley Johnstone (left) and Leanne Ratcliffe (right), the pair have pledged to ride their bikes to the courtroom on Monday. Ms Ratcliffe informed her supporters last week that she was shopping for a court outfit . Kayla v Freelee: Instagram personality Kayla Itsines (left) is taking legal action against Freelee The Banana Girl (right) over alleged defamation . 'The fruit bats will prevail!' Freelee told her supporters, after the pair requested they join them at the South Australian Supreme Court . Popular Instagram personality and personal trainer Kayla Itsines (pictured) is behind the extremely popular Bikini Body Challenge . Last month, Ms Itsines penned a fiery Facebook post addressed to her 1.3 million followers where she said she was taking action because of 'false claims that my partner takes steroids, claims I'm starving myself or other people, claims that I promote anorexia, for abusing the respect of my followers, my family and myself, claims I am starving people, claims I am a fraud.' 'This is wrong and illegal. So I have requested that the content be removed from the internet. After my initial request was denied I had no choice but to continue to protect the safety and reputation of my followers, Tobi and myself from a personal point of view.' Ms Itsines continued by saying she was 'standing up for myself, friends and family'. 'Statements have been made about me personally and my partner, Tobi, that are defamatory, misleading and deceptive. Freelee the Banana Girl, pictured, is most famous for a stunt several years ago where she ate 51 bananas for a YouTube video . Personal trainer Kayla Itsines is pictured here with her partner Tobi. Daily Mail Australia understands the pair are currently overseas . With a successful business and popular training regime, Ms Itsines (above) has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram . Ms Itsines is the powerhouse behind the popular fitness brand, the Bikini Body Guide . 'I welcome competition and freedom of choice. But I do not tolerate the promotion of rude, nasty and hurtful information that is false. I've always been one to protect my friends and family and that includes you girls. ‪#‎kaylasarmy‬.' 'I refuse to watch the people around me suffer. I got into the health and fitness industry to help people.' Freelee and Durianrider then uploaded two video messages to their YouTube account calling on Ms Itsines to cease her legal action against them. 'We spoke up and shared our nutritional opinion online and YouTube or Instagram and we're getting taken to court for that,' Durianrider said in one video. 'It's out-f***ing-rageous'. 'It's really disappointing too,' Freelee said: 'We just want to help people, we want to help girls all around the world'. The hearing will be held from 2:30pm Tuesday AEDT. Durianrider (left) - also known as Harley Johnstone - and Freelee the Banana Girl (right) promote vegan and raw vegan eating options and are popular YouTube personalities . Freelee the Banana Girl and Durianrider took to YouTube have made two statements about the impending legal action in the past week . Freelee the Banan Girl famously ate 51 bananas in one YouTube video . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Newcastle will be forced to use Daryl Janmaat as an emergency centre-back in their next three matches despite the Holland international admitting – ‘I’ve never played there in my life’. The Magpies have left themselves desperately short of defensive cover and, with Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett sidelined because of injury until the summer and skipper Fabricio Coloccini suspended, only Mike Williamson remains as a recognised central defender. Newcastle - who sold defenders Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Davide Santon in the January window - failed in their bid to overturn Coloccini’s red card from Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Everton. Daryl Janmaat is set for a spell at centre back following the FA's decision to reject Fabricio Coloccini's appeal . The Argentine was dismissed following a lunge on Aaron Lennon and will now serve a three-game ban. That rules him out of the Tyne-Wear derby at Sunderland on Easter Sunday, as well as testing fixtures with Arsenal and Liverpool. It means right-back Janmaat is set to partner Williamson, but the 25-year-old said: ‘If the team needs me there, I am confident I can do well there, even though I have not played as a central defender in the whole of my career. The Newcastle captain (left) was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Aaron Lennon on Sunday . ‘I will play in the middle of the defence if I am asked to do so, although it is not really my position. ‘It is not really as though I have ambitions to stay there, but we all know what the situation is at the moment and if I have to play there, I will. ‘The second half at Everton was the first time I have played there so it is not something I know all that well.’ The Dutch international has been one of Newcastle's most consistent performers so far this season . +Real Madrid full back Marcelo has described Isco as his most impressive team-mate, ranking the 22-year-old above the likes of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. The youngster has been in superb form this season, even as Real's results have suffered since the turn of the year. And Marcelo insists Isco has been even more remarkable in training, where he does things the Brazilian considered impossible. According to Marcelo, 22-year-old Isco is Real Madrid's most impressive player in training . Isco challenges Javier Hernandez in training as Real Madrid prepared for Sunday's Clasico against Barcelona . The Spanish midfielder battles with Gareth Bale, but according to Marcelo, Isco is the more impressive . 'Isco is the one who impresses me the most,' Marcelo told Real Madrid youth team players this week when he joined former Real star Guti at a training session. 'He works wonders with the ball in every training session that a normal player can't do. It's like he has glue on his feet.' The 26-year-old, the club's third alternative as captain behind Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos, also talked to the young stars about leadership. 'Being captain of Real Madrid is an honour and a big responsibility,' he said. 'I did not know it was going to be a captain at 26, I work very hard and I have to share my virtues to my teammates. It's a very big responsibility.' Isco has been on top form this season, playing a key part for Real Madrid in La Liga and the Champions League . Marcelo, the club's third-choice captain, talked about the honour of leading the European champions . +Police hunting for the killer of a stay-at-home mum have released chilling CCTV footage of her last moments when she casually bought drinks at a supermarket just two days before she was found brutally murdered. Traci O'Sullivan, 41, was found dead by her ex-partner and their five-year-old son at her North Frankston home in Melbourne on Saturday, February 7. Detectives believe Ms O'Sullivan knew her attacker and they may have suffered serious cuts to their hands caused by holding a weapon used to murder her. Scroll down for video . Police have released CCTV footage of the last time Traci O'Sullivan was seen in public before she was found brutally murdered in her North Frankston home on February 7 . Family say they last saw the 41-year-old at her mother's house on February 5. Newly released CCTV footage from the day she was last seen shows a barefoot Ms O'Sullivan buying drinks at an IGA store in Frankston North about 4.20pm before she headed to her home just 700 metres away. Police hope the images of the woman in a pink singlet and denim shorts would prove to be a trigger for those who saw her in the lead up to her death. Detective Senior Sergeant Stuart Bailey said investigators believed Ms O'Sullivan most likely knew her attacker as she was known to be security conscious. Detectives believe Traci O'Sullivan knew her attacker and they may have suffered serious cuts to their hands caused by holding a weapon used to murder her . 'There were no signs of forced entry to the property which makes us believe that Traci has willingly let her killer into her home,' he said. 'Given the nature of Traci's injuries we believe that the person responsible may have suffered cuts to their palms or hands which may have required medical attention. 'If you believe you know of someone with unexplained injuries like this around the time of Traci's death, we would like to speak to you. This includes anyone within the medical field who may have treated someone with injuries like this.' Ms O'Sullivan suffered multiple injuries sometime in the two days before her body was discovered. Police would not reveal details about the type of weapon or cause of death, saying only that she suffered from a severe physical attack. Newly released CCTV footage from the day the 41-year-old was last seen shows a barefoot Ms O'Sullivan buying drinks at an IGA store in Frankston North about 4.20pm on February 5 . Police hope the images of the Ms O'Sullivan in a pink singlet and denim shorts would prove to be a trigger for those who saw her in the lead up to her death . It is believed Ms O'Sullivan had been using dating apps Oasis and Scout late last year, but friends and family say she never mentioned any connections. Detectives have spoken to a number of people, including Ms O'Sullivan's friends but haven't been able to establish a motive for the killing. 'We have conducted lengthy enquiries with friends and acquaintances to try and identify why Traci may have come to harm and have also been able to ascertain Traci was active on social media,' Mr Bailey said. 'We are keeping an open mind but have not been able to establish a reason why anyone would want to kill Traci. The 41-year-old was found dead by her ex-partner and their five-year-old son at her North Frankston home in Melbourne on Saturday, February 7 . 'We are appealing for anyone who may have seen Traci in the days leading up to her death, and for anyone who had direct contact with Traci on social media, to contact police. 'Traci has a young son, loving parents and two sisters who are desperately seeking answers to this family tragedy.' Anyone with information about Traci O'Sullivan's death is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. +Borussia Dortmund heaped the pressure on Hannover coach Tayfun Korkut with a 3-2 win at the Niedersachsenstadion which revives their own hopes of qualifying for Europe next season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on target twice for Jurgen Klopp's men, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Juventus on Wednesday. Shinji Kagawa netted their other goal with Lars Stindl scoring twice for Hannover, who lost Leonardo Bittencourt to a 55th-minute red card. Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace during his side's win against Hannover . Aubameyang celebrates with Dortmund fans after firing Jurgen Klopp's side to victory thanks to his double . Former Manchester United playmaker Shinji Kagawa (right) celebrates with Marco Reus (left) Hannover coach Tayfun Korkut is under pressure following his side's third consecutive defeat . Stuttgart came from behind to earn their first win of 2015, with Daniel Ginczek bagging a brace and Alexandru Maxim on target after Haris Seferovic gave Frankfurt the lead just after half-time. The win still leaves Huub Stevens' men at the foot of the table, but now just two points now from safety. Freiburg crept out of the drop zone with a 2-0 win over Augsburg, courtesy of strikes from Jonathan Schmid and Nils Petersen in the final 20 minutes. Christian Streich's side clinched only their fifth win of the season, enough to take them above both Hamburg and Paderborn and out of the bottom three. That was partly because Paderborn could only manage a goalless draw at home against Hoffenheim, while Matthias Lehmann's late penalty earned a 1-1 draw for Werder Bremen after Davie Selke had put Cologne in front. +Despite a late rally from Ryan LaFlare in the fifth round, Demian Maia looked completely dominant on his way to a unanimous victory in the main event in Rio on Saturday night. The Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt got the American wrestler to the ground in each round and underlined his dominance by establishing the mount position in all but the final round. Threatening to finish with an arm triangle in the second and again in the fourth round, LaFlare's ability to stay in the competition nearly won him the fight as he managed to turn the tables on the Brazilian in the final act. The American welterweight came out all guns blazing in the fifth and caught a visibly tiring Maia with some big shots to the body that forced the Brazilian to pull guard in attempt to stop LaFlare's assault in the striking department. Such was Maia's reluctance to trade with LaFlare that referee John McCarthy took a point from the veteran as he flopped to his back in the last seconds of the contest. Demian Maia of Brazil is announced the winner after defeating Ryan LaFlare of the USA . Taking the point away had little or no impact on the judges' scorecards in what was otherwise a one-sided affair. Speaking after the bout, Maia claimed that the fans had been his inspiration during his 'tough' camp, having only returned after battling a recent bone infection. 'First of all I have to thank everybody who stayed up late and came out here to watch the fight,' Maia told the crowd through a translator in the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho. 'I was out for three months, I had a serious infection so I had a very tough camp and I came in and fought a guy who was undefeated, a very tough fighter. The public, the fans, they were my motivation.' Asked who he would like to face next, Maia wasn't specific when it came to names but declared interest in another main event or co-main event slot in the future. Ryan LaFlare of the USA kicks Brazilian Demian Maia in their welterweight bout in Rio de Janeiro . Maia manages to pin down LaFlare during his comprehensive victory in Rio on Saturday night . The Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt celebrates his win having got the American wrestler to the ground each round . He said: 'I'd like to have another good fight, maybe a co-main event or another main event. I was just really happy to come out here and fight in the birthplace of jiujitsu. Helio Gracie, Carlos Gracie and a lot of to jiu jitsu guys have fought here, so it's an honour to fight here.' Meanwhile in the co-main event, Erick Silva banked his sixth UFC first round finish after an exciting fire fight with UFC veteran Josh Koscheck. With both fighters throwing caution to the wind during the bout, Silva managed to get Koscheck's attention with a straight left hand just shy of the three-minute mark. As Koscheck attempted to close the distance, Silva cleverly wrapped up a guillotine choke, which he adapted as the AKA fighter pummelled him against the fence. Jumping guard with the choke locked in, Silva forced the tap from the UFC veteran who has now lost five fights in a row. Erick Silva of Brazil punches Josh Koscheck of the USA in their welterweight bout on Saturday night . Erick Silva  (left) is declared the winner having made it five losses on the bounce for veteran Koscheck (right) +Chris Gayle has rejected speculation he will quit international cricket and confirmed he will target next year's World Twenty20 tournament despite persistent back problems. The West Indies opener posted 'I'm not leaving' alongside an Instagram video on himself singing along with an amused singer in Sydney on Sunday. Gayle, laughing while attempting to hit the high notes as an amusing singer covers Sam Smith's Stay With Me, is no doubt referring to the picturesque Opera Bar on Sydney Harbour at which he's clearly enjoying himself. But it also follows good news for fans of the 35-year-old's explosive and unpredictable batting style. Chris Gayle sings along to a performance of Sam Smith's Stay With Me at Sydney's Opera Bar . Gayle poses with a female police officer in Sydney as he takes a break in the city he calls 'Paradise' Gayle posted 'It was fun while it lasted. #CWC15' as he relaxed on a boat after his side's World Cup exit . 'Definitely want to play the T20 World Cup next year for West Indies, there's no doubt about that,' Gayle told ESPNcricinfo. 'I've got a few concerns and a few injuries to try and solve. I'll give myself some time and hopefully look back at it and see how well I can actually progress for West Indies cricket at this point in time.' 'I'm actually out of the Test series, the back won't hold up for that format at this point in time, but I haven't retired from any format as yet.' And why would Gayle retire if he's enjoying life both on and off the field. Gayle, 35, told ESPNcricinfo that he has no intention to retire from any form of cricket yet . Gayle hit a 33-ball 61 in the West Indies 143-run defeat by New Zealand in their World Cup quarter-final . The destructive opening batsman thanks the crowd in Wellington after his side bowed out of the Cup . Also on Sunday Gayle, who plays in the Big Bash League for the Sydney Thunder, posted happy snaps with a female police officer and of himself relaxing on a boat, along with an image on Twitter of a meal he was enjoying 'Back in paradise #Sydney' with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. Gayle headed to Sydney after the West Indies were dumped out of the World Cup by an impressive New Zealand outfit on Saturday as his shortlived World Cup record of 215 was broken by Martin Guptill's remarkable 237. He smashed a 33-ball 61 in the Windies' unlikely chase but it was nowhere near enough as they lost the quarter-final by 143 runs. Gayle poses with Martin Guptill after the New Zealander smashed his World Cup record innings . Gayle hit 215 against Zimbabwe in Canberra on February 24 but Guptill's 237 on Saturday trumped him . Gayle posed for photos with Guptill after the match and was far from downbeat as he thanked West Indies supporters. 'It was fun while it lasted #CWC15,' he wrote on Instagram. However, they won't see him for a while as a recurring back injury keeps him out of the three-match Test series against England starting next month. Gayle has played 103 Tests and 269 ODIs, and was instrumental in the West Indies' 2012 T20 triumph, a performance he's keen to replicate before hanging up his bat. +Manny Pacquiao works up a sweat on a Los Angeles basketball court as the pint-sized Filipino's preparations for his May 2 megafight with Floyd Mayweather ramp up. In spite of his 5ft 6in frame Pacquiao is passionate about basketball and is even an occasional player-coach for the KIA Sorento team in the Philippine Basketball Association's league. So a reporter probably should have known better than to bet Pacquiao he couldn't nail a three-pointer on a crowded court in his United States base. Manny Pacquiao shoots hoops in Los Angeles as he prepares to take on Floyd Mayweather on May 2 . Reporter Elie Seckbach (green and white tracksuit) lost a 100 push-up bet that Pac-Man wouldn't nail a three . The video journalist, Elie Seckbach, said he'd do 100 push-ups if the 36-year-old sunk a maximum from the corner of the court and was good to his word. Pacquiao's shooting form up to that point was sketchy at best, with air balls as common as the sound of swish from the net, although he does sink a backwards shot from the free throw line. On winning the bet, the pound-for-pound legend even stands over the reporter at one point to ensure his push-ups are up to the superfit boxer's standards. Pacquiao shows his skills on the court as he works up a sweat during the countdown to the Las Vegas fight . Pacquiao makes a fool of this opponent as he dribbles through his legs in the video . Colourful reporter Seckbach has form in losing bets with Pacquiao having done the same back in 2010 when Pacquiao delivered a three-pointer in an organised local game. 'Manny Pacquiao - Do not bet him, you will not win,' he said after Pacquiao gave him a fist pump of approval after his push-ups were complete. Pacquiao is attracting a crowd wherever he goes in LA, his base ahead of the richest fight of all time, whether it's shadow boxing in a park or shooting hoops. +Steven Gerrard was sensationally sent off within 38 seconds of coming on the pitch at Anfield, after stamping on Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera. The Liverpool legend was left out of the starting line-up by Brendan Rodgers but came on at the start of the second half to rally the troops. However Gerrard found himself in deep trouble after clattering through Juan Mata before stamping on Herrera following a heavy challenge. Referee Martin Atkinson had no choice but to send off the perplexed Liverpool skipper after just 38 seconds of entering the fray. Steven Gerrard is shown the red card by referee Martin Atkinson after just 38 seconds of the second half . Gerrard can't believe it after being sent off for a reckless stamp on United's Ander Herrera at Anfield . As Gerrard emerged from the tunnel, former Liverpool team-mate Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports: ‘He had to go on. Some of the Liverpool players froze out there in the first-half. Liverpool need some football arrogance on the pitch today.’ Ahead of kick-off Carragher admitted he was not surprised by Brendan Rodgers' decision to name Steven Gerrard on the bench for Liverpool's crunch clash against Manchester United. Gerrard, who faced rivals United for the last time in a Liverpool shirt, had to make do with a place on the bench as Rodgers decided to go for a central midfield duo of Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen. Juan Mata (top) was on the receiving end of Gerrard's first robust challenge after coming onto the pitch . Here is the stamp from Gerrard on Herrera after both players had competed for the ball . Gerrard clearly puts all his downwards force into Herrera's right leg after the pair collided . Gerrard flings back the captain's armband towards his team-mates having been sent off at Anfield . A evidently devastated Steven Gerrard leaves the pitch after just 38 seconds having been sent off . And Carragher felt it was the right decision. Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of the Anfield battle, the former Liverpool defender said: 'No I'm not surprised. 'He’s only played 20 minutes against Swansea recently because he’s been injured. 'Is Steven Gerrard a better player than Joe Allen? Yes. But for Brendan Rodgers we’ve got to remember than Gerrard is leaving in the summer and Allen will be here next season. So although Rodgers is aiming for the top four that certainly comes into it. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was named on the bench for his side's match against Man United . Brendan Rodgers made the right call in naming Gerrard on bench before kick-off, according to Carragher . 'Steven Gerrard can come on after an hour and really lift the crowd when the legs are tired and use any extra space.' Carragher's fellow pundits Thierry Henry and Gary Neville also agreed with Rodgers' decision. Neville said: 'It’s probably the starting line-up Manchester United expected. 'The question was more about whether Rodgers would return with the Manchester City formation with [Raheem] Sterling at the top but that would sacrifice Daniel Sturridge who brings them goals and is their best finisher, so he’s stuck.' Gerrard has scored the most goals in the history of Liverpool's matches against Manchester United . While Henry added: 'Gerrard would tell you if he’s not fit and the team is playing very well. 'Look he has the quality to come on and change the game. I wouldn’t say he should start but it would be an amazing story if he got the winner.' Rodgers insisted before the match that Gerrard understood the decision regarding his omission. ‘Steven’s got a great history in this fixture but also across his career,' explained the Liverpool boss. 'He’s still a top class player but he understands the team is playing well. I had a word with him earlier in the week and told him my plan to stick with the team and he’s been brilliant working with the players. He’s definitely ready if he’s called upon.' The 34-year-old has played 34 times against Manchester United during his prestigious career at Anfield . +Manchester United have been heavily criticised by former Liverpool star Jan Molby, as the playmaker adds fuel to fire ahead of the crucial clash in the race for the Champions League places. The ex-Danish international is very much a favourite at his former employers and was keen to play up Liverpool's chances of pipping United to fourth. Molby gave a scathing review on Louis van Gaal's side and has described their position in the Champions League places as a 'miracle.' Jan Molby labelled Manchester United as 'clueless' and thinks it's a 'miracle' where they are in the table . He told the Daily Star: 'I've seen a lot of United's matches this season and I find it quite amazing they are in the top four. The best way of describing them is clueless. 'I look at United and see weaknesses. If we move the ball at pace and put them under pressure from the start then we will cause them a lot of problems. 'Considering the talent they have available, they just haven't performed. Louis van Gaal and Wayne Rooney won't be pleased with Molby's comments ahead of the clash . 'But having an excellent keeper and not conceding many goals has enabled them to paper over the cracks and win games narrowly. 'The fact they are fourth is a minor miracle. Their performances just haven't merited a top-four place. 'They aren't in the best four teams in the Premier League and Liverpool are in much better shape.' Liverpool are the in-form team in the Premier League with the Champions League places in their sights . +Mario Balotelli thanked the Liverpool fans who helped him avoid a red card against Manchester United, writing 'I wasn’t alone on the pitch'. During the closing stages of Manchester United's win over Liverpool, Balotelli had to be restrained by the fans after clashing with Chris Smalling after taking offence to a tackle. The fiery Italian reacted to being forced into the advertising boards and was quick in his attempts to grab the England international. Mario Balotelli (right) is restrained by some Liverpool supporters after his clash with Chris Smalling . The Italian was angry at the England international after a tussle forced them into the advertising board . Liverpool fans intervened and may have played their part in keeping Balotelli on the pitch - with the forward being booked just a few minutes before. And Balotelli showed his appreciation for the supporters on Monday, posting a picture to Facebook thanking them for helping him. 'Besides all efforts the game didn’t go our way,' he wrote. 'But one thing was real clear: I wasn’t alone on the pitch. YNWA' The incident occured after the Balotelli took a poor touch and Smalling attempted to shepherd him off the pitch but both players collided with the boards during the physical tussle. The England international was quick to get on with the game but the Italian attempted to grab him and a stand-off ensued. Neither player were booked for the clash and Brendan Rodgers may be thankful the Liverpool supporters were able to restrain the fiery 24-year-old. The duo competed for the ball and momentum appeared to take them into the boards . Both players tumble towards the hoardings as Balotelli falls under the challenge of Smalling . Balotelli grabbed Smalling by the ankle but was restrained before anything more could kick off . Balotelli wrote on his facebook that he had not been alone on the pitch, thanking the fans for their support . +Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn't known for being shy and he was quick to show off the signed gift he was given following his impressive hat-trick in Paris Saint-Germain's 3-1 win over Lorient. The Swedish international has had a difficult few weeks following his sending off against Chelsea in the Champions League and his foul-mouthed rant at the officials following the league defeat against Bordeaux. Ibrahimovic took to Instagram where he posted the photo of his signed match ball. Zlatan Ibrahimovic posted this photo of the signed match ball following his hat-trick against Lorient . The PSG striker (right) had a a difficult few weeks but was able to forget about that with an impressive display . He said: 'For those of you who are wondering where the ball is...' PSG are just a point ahead of Lyon in Ligue 1, coming into the final matches of the campaign knowing that they can't afford to slip up if they want to retain the title. With a Champions League quarter-final place and currently top of the table, the French champions have potential for a great season but will need their talisman to keep on firing. Ibrahimovic slots home a penalty to seal the victory with his sides third of the contest in Paris . The Swedish international is congratulated by his team-mates after completing his hat-trick . +Steven Gerrard's sending-off against Manchester United on Sunday was the eighth red card of his career, with seven coming for Liverpool and one for England. The Liverpool captain's dismissal, which came just 38 seconds after he came on from the bench at Anfield, was part of a disappointing afternoon for The Reds that saw them lose momentum in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League. Here are Gerrard's eight red cards... Steven Gerrard's red card against Manchester United on Sunday was the midfielder's eighth of his career . September 1999 v Everton (Premier League) A 19-year-old Gerrard came off the bench midway through the second half and saw red in the 90th minute for a waist-high challenge on Kevin Campbell as the Toffees won 1-0 at Anfield. Gerrard was sent off for the first time as a teenager against Merseyside rivals Everton back in 1999 . April 2001 v Leeds (Premier League) Gerrard pulled a goal back for the Reds in this 2-1 home defeat before getting his marching orders in the 71st minute for up-ending David Batty. In 2001, Gerrard was shown a red card for a challenge on Leeds United midfielder David Batty . September 2001 v Aston Villa (Premier League) Having scored in the 46th minute, Gerrard was shown a straight red card 18 minutes from time for an awful studs-up tackle on George Boateng as his side slipped to a 3-1 home loss. A straight red card was shown to Gerrard in 2001 for a studs-up challenge on Aston Villa's George Boateng . May 2003 v Chelsea (Premier League) Gerrard was shown a second yellow card for a late foul on Graeme Le Saux in this 2-1 loss at Chelsea which saw the Blues qualify for the Champions League at the expense of Liverpool. In 2003, Gerrard was given his marching orders for a late challenge on Chelsea midfielder Graeme Le Saux . March 2006 v Everton (Premier League) Gerrard was sent off for two yellow cards after only 18 minutes, the first for kicking the ball away and the second for a foul on Kevin Kilbane. The Reds still went on to win the Anfield clash 3-1. Gerrard received a second booking for a late challenge on Everton midfielder Kevin Kilbane in 2006 . Despite Gerrard's dismissal, Liverpool still went on to win the match against Everton 3-1 . January 2011 v Manchester United (FA Cup) Liverpool lost the tie 1-0 at Old Trafford, with Gerrard seeing red after 32 minutes for diving into a tackle on Michael Carrick. Gerrard's lunge on fellow England midfielder Michael Carrick earned Gerrard a straight red at Old Trafford . September 2012 v Ukraine (World Cup qualifying) Gerrard picked up his only red card for England in a 1-1 draw with Ukraine at Wembley, receiving a second booking in the 88th minute for sliding in on Denys Garmash . Gerrard was sent off once for England during a World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine at Wembley . March 2015 v Manchester United (Premier League) Gerrard was sent off 43 seconds after his introduction as a half-time substitute at Anfield for a stamp on Ander Herrera, with United going on to win the match 2-1. Gerrard's dismissal on Sunday came just 38 seconds after he had come on to the pitch from the bench . +It’s the hope that kills you. Just ask Queens Park Rangers manager Chris Ramsey. There was a period at Loftus Road when you envisaged nothing other than victory for the relegation-threatened home side. Instead, they got nothing, just a 10th defeat in 11 matches. Without a dramatic turnaround in fortunes QPR are heading back to the Championship. Aaron Lennon sprints away in celebration having given Everton a late lead at Loftus Road in their Premier League match with QPR . Everton right back Seamus Coleman runs away in celebration having fired the away side infront at Loftus Road on Sunday evening . QPR keeper Rob Green (left) watches Coleman's rocket of a strike fly into the top corner as Everton went 1-0 up after 18 minutes . Eduardo Vargas (left) is free to head in QPR's equaliser at Loftus Road in the second-half of the Premier League contest with Everton . Vargas runs away in celebration, having scored his second goal for the club, as the Loftus Road faithful erupt . QPR (4-4-2): Green 6; Isla 6.5, Onuoha 6.5, Caulker 6.5, Yun 6.5; Phillips 6.5, Sandro 6.5 (Henry 71, 6), Barton 7, Hoilett 6.5 (Vargas 60, 7); Zamora 6.5 (Taarabt 82), Austin 6.5. Subs not used: Ferdinand, Hill, McCarthy, Kranjcar . Scorer: Vargas 65 . Booked: Hoilett, Yun . Manager: Chris Ramsey 6.5 . Everton (4-5-1): Howard 6; Coleman 8, Jagielka 7, Stones 7, Baines 6.5; McCarthy 7, Gibson 7, Osman 6.5; Lennon 6.5, Kone 6.5 (Naismith 72); Lukaku 6.5 (Barkey 67) Subs not used: Robles, Besic, Browning, Garbutt, Alcaraz . Scorers: Coleman 18, Lennon 77 . Manager: Roberto Martinez - 7 . Referee: Jonathan Moss - 6.5 . MOTM: Coleman . Attendance: 17, 706 . Seamus Coleman completed a fine team move for Everton's opener . CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's MATCH ZONE . But Ramsey believes 12 points from their final eight games will be enough to see his side safe. He said: ‘We’re not in need of a miracle, but we need a miraculous run of form and I think we are capable of doing that. ‘We deserved more but we should have maximised that performance with at least a point or three. The players are disappointed because the performance was very good. We are showing everyone there’s plenty of fight in us. There have been teams in slightly worse situations who have survived.’ Much will depend on QPR’s next two fixtures: they face West Brom on Saturday week before heading to Aston Villa three days later. The pressure is mounting and Ramsey knows it. ‘What do we need from the games against West Brom and Aston Villa? Six points. There’s no point in saying we need a point, we need wins.’ Opposing managers Roberto Martinez of Everton (left) and Chris Ramsey of QPR (right) have a quick chat before kick-off on Sunday . The Everton players congratulate Coleman (right) after his opener at Loftus Road put Everton 1-0 up at half-time . Ramsey’s mood was in stark contrast to Roberto Martinez, who described this victory as his most satisfying since taking over in the summer of 2013. It has been a rough week for the Everton boss. The 5-2 Europa League hammering against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday added to the criticism levelled at him and graffiti on the walls of Goodison Park calling for the Spaniard to be sacked did not help his mood. This win did, though. He said: ‘This wasn’t a day to be technical, this was a day to be strong as a group of players. ‘The graffiti? We are a very passionate club. When you don’t get the results you want, you will get unrest. As a manager I accept that but I focus on what I need to do to get a winning team. I always respect the views from the outside.’ The win, which puts Everton on the brink of safety, did come at a cost, however. Forward’s Arouna Kone and Romelu Lukaku will both be assessed this morning after sustaining respective knee and hamstring injuries. After a bright opening from the hosts, Everton took an 18th-minute lead against the run of play. It was a cracker, too, Seamus Coleman stroking a right-footed angled shot from 16 yards past Robert Green. The goal encapsulated QPR’s season. Mauricio Isla (centre) of QPR attempts to challenge Everton's Leon Osman (centre left) with other players trying to get involved . QPR strikers Charlie Austin (left) and Bobby Zamora (right) attempt to score past on-coming Everton keeper Tim Howard . After going close to taking the lead through Nedum Onuoha, they were behind a minute later. But there comes a point when it stops being unlucky. Rangers fans are starting to acknowledge that and their reaction to poor play from Bobby Zamora in the first half was testament to that. Zamora celebrates a possible goal for Everton but his strike was ruled out for offside as QPR searched for a valuable victory . Everton left back Leighton Baines (left) shields the ball away from Matty Philips during the Premier League contest at Loftus Road . QPR captain Joey Barton, having returned from a three match suspension, issues instructions to team-mate Mauricio Isla . Sandro of QPR (left) and defender Steven Caulker (right) try to dispossess Everton striker Romelu Lukaku . Ramsey’s side mustered a reaction when substitute Eduardo Vargas equalised from close range in the 65th minute. Loftus Road was rocking, home fans sensing what could be a season-defining three points. The optimism did not last long, however, as Everton secured the victory 12 minutes later through Aaron Lennon’s first goal for the club. Rob Green is makes sure a Everton effort on goal flies over his crossbar during their Premier League match on Sunday afternoon . Barton of QPR grapples with Everton midfielder Darron Gibson (right) as both sides hoped to ease their relegation fears . Aaron Lennon scores a late winner for the away side as they secured three crucial points to defeat QPR at Loftus Road . Lennon is mobbed by his Everton team-mates having scored his first goal for the club and winning three points for his side . Everton's Phil Jagielka applauds the traveling fans after the game against QPR, as the away side left with three points . HULL . Swansea (Away) - April 4 . Southampton (Away) - April 11 . Liverpool (Home) - April 18 . Crystal Palace (Away) - April 25 . Arsenal (Home) - May 2 . Burnley (Home) - May 9 . Tottenham (Away) - May 16 . Man United (Home) - May 24 . ASTON VILLA . Man United (Away) - April 4 . Tottenham (Away) - April 11 . Man City (Away) - April 25 . Everton (Home) - May 2 . West Ham (Home) - May 9 . Southampton (Away) - May 16 . Burnley (Home) - May 24 . *QPR (Home) - Date to be arranged . SUNDERLAND . Newcastle (Home) - April 5 . Crystal Palace (Home) - April 11 . Stoke (Away) - April 25 . Southampton (Home) - May 2 . Everton (Away) - May 9 . Leicester (Home) - May 16 . Chelsea (Away) - May 24 . * Arsenal (Away) - Date to be arranged . BURNLEY . Tottenham (Home) - April 5 . Arsenal (Home) - April 11 . Everton (Away) - April 18 . Leicester (Home) - April 25 . West Ham (Away) - May 2 . Hull (Away) - May 9 . Stoke (Home) - May 16 . Aston Villa (Away) - May 24 . QPR . West Brom (Away) - April 4 . Chelsea (Home) - April 12 . West Ham (Home) - April 25 . Liverpool (Away) - May 2 . Man City (Away) - May 9 . Newcastle (Home) - May 16 . Leicester (Away) - May 24 . *Aston Villa (Away) - Date to be arranged . LEICESTER . West Ham (Home) - April 4 . West Brom (Away) - April 11 . Swansea (Home) - April 18 . Burnley (Away) - April 25 . Chelsea (Home) - April 29 . Newcastle (Home) - May 2 . Southampton (Home) - May 9 . Sunderland (Away) - May 16 . QPR (Home) - May 24 . Note: Fixtures in May subject to change for television schedule. +Steven Gerrard issued a public apology to his Liverpool teammates and the club’s supporters on Sunday after he was sent off in the defeat to Manchester United at Anfield just 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute. Gerrard, who was facing United for the last time before leaving Liverpool for LA Galaxy, was shown a straight red card by referee Martin Atkinson when he reacted to a challenge from Ander Herrera with a senseless stamp on the Spaniard. United went on to win 2-1 thanks to two goals from Juan Mata as they moved five points clear of their arch-rivals in the race for a Champions League place. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard spoke to Sky Sports after the match to apologise to team-mates and fans . ‘I’ve let down my teammates and the supporters,’ admitted Gerrard, who now faces a three-match ban. ‘I take full responsibility. I need to accept it, the decision was right. ‘I've been in the game long enough when you do something like that. I don’t know what caused it, probably just a reaction to the initial tackle. ‘I shouldn’t say more about it really, I’ve just come out here to apologise to the dressing-room and supporters.’ Sportsmail expert Jamie Carragher claimed that Gerrard may have been wound up by having to sit on the bench for such a big game before replacing Adam Lallana. Juan Mata (top) was on the receiving end of Gerrard's first robust challenge after coming onto the pitch . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers refused to castigate the veteran midfielder, and agreed that Liverpool’s insipid first-half performance might have contributed to Gerrard’s red mist. ‘I won’t criticise him because he’s been brilliant in my time here,’ said Rodgers. ‘Sometimes these things happen. ‘My thinking was always to go with the starting team. I had that clear in my mind and spoke with Steven earlier in the week about that. ‘Of course he’s a big-game player, a big impact player. He wanted to come in and it was just unfortunate that he got sent off. Here is the stamp from Gerrard on Herrera after both players had competed for the ball . ‘He was probably a little frustrated watching us in the first half, we didn’t make a tackle. ‘He’s a highly competitive player and he made a great challenge when he first came on – it was probably our first challenge of the game, with all due respect. He wanted to help the team so much. ‘At least he was man enough to come out and make that apology. ‘With Steven it was purely wanting to make the impact. Listen, he’s made his apologies for it. Of course in a big game you suffer when you play with 10 men against 11. ‘It happened, and great respect to the players that were on there that we kept fighting. Games like that, especially when it goes to 2-0 against 10 men, you can get overrun and end up losing more goals.’ Steven Gerrard is shown the red card by referee Martin Atkinson after just 40 seconds of the second-half . Martin Skrtel could also come under scrutiny from the FA if the referee confirms that he did not see an incident at the end in which the Liverpool defender appeared to stamp on United goalkeeper David de Gea. The two players became an embroiled in an ugly confrontation that continued after the final whistle, but Rodgers insisted there was no malice on Skrtel’s part. He added: ‘The ball has been played through and it looks like it when it is slowed down, he has caught him with intent. I didn’t see it like that. ‘He is trying to get the ball. You see his foot up, that is a symbol when a player is just trying to get his toe on the ball because if he does that and the keeper brings him down, it is probably a penalty.’ Liverpool’s first defeat in 14 Premier League games since losing 3-0 at Old Trafford in December puts a big dent in their hopes of beating United to a top-four place. Martin Skrtel (centre) was lucky not to be cautioned for this stamp on United keeper David de Gea . ‘It’s a big challenge,’ admitted Rodgers. ‘But when I looked at the 10 games that were remaining, it was always going to be difficult to win all 10. We built in a loss and some draws. ‘We hoped to win this game against a rival but it is still very much possible. We need to recover and use this as a springboard as we did when we last played them.’ Louis van Gaal described the victory as ‘one of the most important moments in my career’ but refused to write off Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League. ‘We beat Liverpool again,’ said Van Gaal. ‘They were in fantastic shape and we beat them with the old weapons – with the pressure on the ball in the first half. ‘Now we are five points ahead of Liverpool, and six ahead of Tottenham and Southampton. To win in this moment is very important – one of the most important moments in my career. ‘But there are still eight matches to go. That’s 24 points. Liverpool can still be champions. When you are a top manager, our player or club – and Liverpool are – you have to deal with defeats. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has a difficult afternoon with Steven Gerrard being sent off . ‘We have also dealt with defeats. We lost at home to Arsenal and then we had to play against Tottenham and Liverpool, and you have to manage that. Liverpool can do that also because they have a great manager, great club, great fans.’ United dominated the first half and Mata fired them into a two-goal lead inside an hour. Daniel Sturridge pulled a goal back for the 10 men as Liverpool rallied after Gerrard’s sending-off, but Van Gaal’s side could even afford to see Wayne Rooney have a stoppage-time penalty saved by Simon Mignolet. ‘We played them off the pitch in the first half and scored a fantastic goal and gave nothing away,’ said Van Gaal. ‘It was the best first 45 minutes (of his time in charge of United) because in the second half we were not so good and that’s a little bit amazing because we played 11 against 10. It should be easier than the first half but it was not. Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal (right) congratulates Marouane Fellaini (left) after the 2-1 victory . ‘I came in the dressing-room and gave all my compliments because I was so happy, but then in the second half everything changed because of the red card. Then we weren’t laying like a team anymore. We were running with the ball and losing it unnecessarily. When we didn’t have the ball we didn’t press the opponent. That was different in the first half. ‘Nevertheless, we didn’t give many chances away. David de Gea has saved us a lot of times this season but I couldn’t remember one save in this match.’ Manchester United forward Juan Mata salutes the travelling fans having scored a fine brace at Anfield . Mata has struggled to hold down a first-team place in recent weeks but produced arguably his best performance for United, crowned by a spectacular volley for the second goal. ‘Yes, I think it’s my best game in a United shirt,’ said the Spaniard. ‘It’s a massive game, probably the biggest in English football, so to score two goals is great for me. ‘The second goal has to be up there with my best. After Steven Gerrard was sent off we needed a second goal because they pushed us to the end. ‘It was important for me. The last few months I’ve not had the best moment. It is the manager who decides but I’m happy today.’ Manchester United players celebrate their vital 2-1 win at Anfield against Liverpool on Sunday . +Not the sweetest strike you’ll see. Not the sweetest strike of the game, in fact. But Loic Remy’s tentative prod which squirmed past goalkeeper Allan McGregor and trickled into the net was like a shot of nectar for Chelsea. Jose Mourinho may one day reflect on this late contribution from a striker he has rarely used as the moment when self-doubt was allayed and the Barclays Premier League title was secured. Having been 2-0 up inside nine minutes at Hull, courtesy of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, Chelsea had to prove they could banish this habit of throwing away the lead. But their not-so-reliable-anymore defence wobbled and creaked. Loic Remy strokes home the winner at the KC Stadium to give Chelsea a 3-2 victory against Hull CIty on Sunday afternoon . The French striker celebrates with team-mate Oscar after his goal saw the Blues extend their lead at the top of the Premier League . Remy ran over to the touchline to celebrate with the Chelsea staff as Jose Mourinho dishes out instructions to his team . Remy's effort squirmed under the legs of Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor to give Chelsea the three points . Abel Hernandez capitalises on Thibaut Courtois' mistake to get Hull City back on level terms against Chelsea on Sunday . The young Belgian goalkeeper tried to dribble past Gaston Ramirez with the ball but it fell to Hull striker Hernandez . Courtois looks dejected after his error during the first half of the Premier League fixture at the KC Stadium . Courtois apologises to his Chelsea team-mates after his mistake lead to an Abel Hernandez equaliser . HULL CITY: McGregor 5.5, Dawson 6.5, Bruce 6, McShane 6.5, Elmohamady 7.5, Livermore 6, Meyler 6 (Quinn 80 6), Ramirez 6.5 (Brady 80 6), Robertson 6.5 (Aluko 81 6), N'Doye 6.5, Hernandez 7. Subs not used: Rosenior, Davies, Sagbo, Harper. Booked: None . Goals: Elmohamady 26, Hernandez 28 . CHELSEA: Courtois 6.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Cahill 6.5, Terry 6.5, Luis 6, Fabregas 7, Matic 5, Willian 6 (Zouma 80 6.5), Ramires 5 (Oscar 61 6), Hazard 7.5, Costa 6.5 (Remy 75 7.5). Subs not used: Cech, Cuadrado, Azpilicueta, Loftus-Cheek. Booked: Cahill, Matic . Goals: Hazard 2, Costa 9, Remy 77 . Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Attendance: 24,598 . Match ratings by Neil Ashton . Chelsea cut through the Hull City defence for Loic Remy's winner -  click HERE for more of our brilliant Match Zone . Ahmed Elmohamady and Adel Hernandez levelled before half-time and Thibaut Courtois performed a breathtaking triple-save from three Hull players, mid-way through the second half, which Steve Bruce thought was the key moment. It was still 2-2 as the clock ticked towards 77 minutes and Cesc Fabregas rolled a pass to Willian on the Chelsea right. Willian found Remy and the substitute, only on for a few seconds after replacing the injured Costa, jabbed it towards McGregor, who was clearly expecting something else entirely because he was wrong-footed, unable to recover, and the ball slithered over the line. A thrilling game was settled by a scruffy goal and Chelsea’s cushion at the top of the table was plumped. ‘I’m pretty confident,’ said Mourinho. ‘We got what we deserved. We have a six-point lead, one match in hand and eight matches to go for our opponents. They can make 24 points. I believe in my players.’ Jose Mourinho looks disgruntled on the bench after watching his Premier Leaders throw away a two-goal lead in the first half . Ahmed Elmohamady netted Hull City's first goal to give them a route back into the match at the KC Stadium . The Egyptian wing-back runs back to the halfway line and is congratulated by his team-mates after his strike . Eden Hazard put Chelsea in front with a fine strike from outside the box within two minutes on Sunday afternoon . Hazard jumps for joy after his fine strike put Jose Mourinho's side into the lead in Hull . They had made such a brilliant start at the KC Stadium, where Hazard lashed in a beauty after only 78 seconds. Collecting a lay-off from Costa, he drove diagonally across the pitch before firing the ball back across goal with his left foot. From outside the penalty area, it sailed beyond McGregor’s dive. Even early on Chelsea’s frailties were in evidence. Hernandez was through and ought to have equalised. Played onside by Ivanovic, he collected a flick from Dame N’Doye, but could not beat Courtois who blocked with his body. When Costa made it 2-0, the contest seemed to be settled. Again, it was a splendid goal, lashed past poor McGregor from an angle. For the £32million Chelsea striker, it was his 20th of the season. The goal-rate has slowed since the turn of the year, and his temper simmered, as ever. There was a confrontation with Alex Bruce, when Costa accused the Hull manager’s son of swiping his legs away, and a flashpoint when Jake Livermore claimed to have been elbowed in his face. Referee Michael Oliver did not see the ‘elbow’, as he had not seen Costa’s stamp on Emre Can during the Capital One Cup semi-final. The pair have history going back to Costa’s first game in English football when the same referee booked him for a dive at Burnley. Hull reacted after a tactical switch from manager Bruce, who started with three at the back and moved to a 4-2-3-1 formation after going two down. The change did not stop left back Andy Robertson charging forward to create the first with a low cross, bundled in by Elmohamady. Within two minutes, the home team were level and panic descended on Chelsea at the back as they struggled to cope with a mixture of high balls and intense pressing. Courtois made a poor decision to take a touch on a back-pass from Ivanovic. The goalkeeper twisted past Gaston Ramirez, who was closing in, but his touch was too heavy, the ball rolled to Hernandez for a simple finish. Diego Costa doubled the visitor's advantage with a fine curing effort past Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor into the corner . Costa is embraced by team-mates Nemanja Matic and Filipe Luis after his strike at the KC Stadium . The Spanish international striker looks bemused by the corner flag after a decision doesn't go his way on Sunday . Costa endured a frustrating game after his goal and was eventually substituted . Eventual goalscorer Loic Remy came on for Costa in the second half as Chelsea pressed for a winner . After the break, Chelsea were brighter. Mourinho tweaked his midfield shape, sent on Oscar and controlled possession but Hull defended well and limited the visitors to long-range efforts. Courtois then produced his incredible triple save to thwart Elmohamday, Livermore and Ramirez, each flying stop better than the one before, and perhaps it energised his team to search for the winner. Even when Costa headed down the tunnel with the medics, Chelsea kept probing. Remy restored the lead and this time they did not surrender it. It was Remy’s sixth goal since an £8.5million move from Queens Park Rangers. ‘He probably deserves more than I gave him,’ said Mourinho. ‘There are not many times when a coach can feel he owes something to a player but with Remy that’s the case. Every time he plays he gives us a lot and he has never complained.’ Mourinho puffs his cheeks during a disappointing first period for the Premier League leaders on Sunday . South American duo Willian (left) and Gaston Ramirez (right) tussle for the ball by the sidelines at the KC Stadium . Costa was involved in a physical battle with Hull City duo Alex Bruce (left) and Michael Dawson (centre) all afternoon . Hazard looks up at the referee expecting a foul after hitting the deck at the KC Stadium . Jake Livermore squares up to Diego Costa during a physical Premier League encounter on Sunday . The Hull City fans display a 'In Bruce We Trust' banner at the KC Stadium on Sunday . +Olivier Giroud strutted out of St James' Park and was the last player to board Arsenal's team bus, having been first to pretty much everything else for his team during a hard-earned win on Tyneside. It brought two more goals for the Frenchman against Newcastle. That's 17 in 26 games this season and 10 in his last 12, one of the best strike rates in Europe. While Harry Kane is cherished by supporters down the road at Tottenham, some Arsenal fans have yet to embrace Giroud fully. The statistics speak for themselves, however. Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has been dubbed 'world class' by his manager Arsene Wenger . The Frenchman scored two goals for Arsenal as the Gunners ran out 2-1 winners against Newcastle United . Wenger believes that Giroud has developed significantly since joining Arsenal back in 2012 . Olivier Giroud now has eight goals in six games against Newcastle, including scoring with all five headers on target against them in the Premier League. And even though Giroud is 29 in September, Arsene Wenger believes the best is yet to come from a 6ft 4in striker who developed late and was still playing lower league football in France as recently as 2010. Asked if Giroud is world-class, Wenger said: 'I think so and he is scoring the goals to prove it. But I believe there is still room for improvement. 'Technically, he is a much better player than he was. His touch, his link play, his finishing, they have all improved. If you saw footage of him when he first arrived and now, it is obvious he is a better player. 'He is a fighter as well and a player with good mental strength. At 22 or 23 he played in Division Three in France, and now he is at Arsenal.' Giroud is refusing to write off Arsenal's chances of a late push for the Premier League title this season . Giroud's goals gave Arsenal a sixth straight league win and kept them on the fringe of the title race. But you wonder how much closer they would be had he not spent three months on the sidelines after breaking his leg at Everton in August. Wenger's side won only three of nine league games in his absence. While retaining the FA Cup would appear to represent their best chance of a trophy this season, the former Montpellier man has not given up the title chase just yet. 'We need to win every game and that's what we want to do — step by step,' said Giroud. 'You never know if City or Chelsea will miss one of these steps. We've got to be here with great belief and faith.' Giroud's brace against Newcastle has brought his tally for the season up to 17 goals in 26 games . Arsenal still had to hold on in the face of a fierce second-half fightback from Newcastle that revived memories of a famous 4-4 draw in 2011. It was not enough to prevent a third defeat in a row for the home side, placing even more importance on the forthcoming Tyne-Wear derby with Sunderland. Having admitted in the build-up to this game that he expects a clear-out of players in the summer, caretaker boss John Carver is already looking forward to some of the big signings coming through the door. 'Without naming any names, I've seen some of the players they are talking about and I'm quite excited about them,' said Carver. 'It's major work that has to be done, we know that. I know the type of players the fans like and they're the ones on the list, absolutely.' Newcastle head coach John Carver insists that the club will strengthen their squad with top players . +Wayne Rooney and his Manchester United team-mates were celebrating on Sunday night after they beat Liverpool to move five points clear of their rivals in the race for Champions League football. Juan Mata scored both goals, and captain Rooney took to Twitter to congratulate his team-mate on his 'great goals'. The England skipper also admitted that he should have let Mata take United's penalty, which would have secured his hat-trick on an impressive afternoon at Anfield. Wayne Rooney (left) took to Twitter after Manchester United beat Liverpool to congratulate Juan Mata (right) The Manchester United team celebrate after they secured their win over bitter rivals Liverpool . 'Very happy tonight,' Rooney said on Twitter. 'Fans were amazing. @juanmata8 great goals. Should of [sic] let him take penalty. And the United fan in the kop. Brilliant.' The 29-year-old's comment about a United fan in the Kop refers to pictures appearing to show a rogue away supporter spotted holding a Manchester United scarf aloft among Liverpool's most staunch fans. An image appearing to show the man sticking his tongue out during the home fans' rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' circulated widely on Twitter. However, it later emerged that Rooney, like many others, was actually the victim of a Photoshop hoax. A Manchester United fan photoshopped into the Kop at Anfield; Rooney even tweeted about him after the game . Mata scored twice, a goal in each half of the match, to ensure Manchester United left Anfield with three points . Rooney missed a penalty, and admitted he should have let Mata take it to secure his hat-trick . During the game, Rooney's decision to step up and take the penalty himself proved to be the wrong one as he saw his effort saved by Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet. Mata had already grabbed a brace and a third goal would have completed a magical afternoon for the Spaniard, whose goals eventually proved enough to secure the win. After a goal in each half for the away side, Liverpool halved the deficit when Daniel Sturridge pegged a goal back. United managed to hold on for the win though, leaving Rooney and his colleagues celebrating their position three points closer to next season's Champions League. +Luis Suarez paid back another huge chunk of his transfer fee at the Nou Camp with the goal that won the Clasico — and quite possibly the Spanish league title for Barcelona. Running on to a long pass forward by Dani Alves, Suarez took the ball brilliantly in his stride and, with both Sergio Ramos and Pepe closing in, he found Iker Casillas’ far corner with well-struck shot. 'It's the most important goal I have scored for the club so far,' he said. 'And of course it means even more because of who it was against. I tried to make the most of the space I found between the defenders and to get the shot away as quickly as I could. Luckily it worked out.' Luis Suarez scored his first goal in El Clasico as Barcelona edged out Real Madrid 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday . Suarez scored the winner past the outstretched leg of Pepe and the helpless Iker Casillas in the 56th minute at the Nou Camp . Suarez kneels on the Nou Camp turf and clenches his fists in celebration after scoring in Sunday night's victory over rivals Real Madrid . Barcelona celebrate Suarez's goal that settled the game and moved them four points clear in the La Liga title race . Suarez's first goal in El Clasico could prove to be crucial at the end of the season as it gave Barcelona a commanding four-point lead . Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema look on as they watched Real Madrid's title hopes suffer a huge blow at the Nou Camp . Lionel Messi failed to shine under the lights at the Nou Camp as he struggled to make his mark on the game . Barcelona: Bravo, Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Alba, Rakitic (Busquets 76), Mascherano, Iniesta (Xavi 80), Messi, Suarez, Neymar (Rafinha 85). Subs not used: Ter Stegen, Pedro, Bartra, Adriano. Goals: Mathieu 19, Suarez 56. Booked: Alves, Alba, Mascherano, Iniesta, Suarez. Real Madrid: Casillas, Carvajal, Pepe (Varane 73), Ramos, Marcelo, Modric (Borges 88), Kroos, Isco (Jese 80), Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema. Subs not used: Navas, Hernandez, Arbeloa, Illarramendi. Goals: Ronaldo 31. Booked: Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Modric, Isco, Ronaldo. Attendance: 98,760. Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz. The win puts Barcelona four points clear with only 10 games left and after last year’s disappointment with Liverpool, Suarez could now be in line for a league winners’ medal in Spain. But he added: 'There is still a long way to go and we know it will be difficult. We have to make the most of the advantage we now have. But we know we can't relax especially against a rival as strong as Madrid.' Jubilant Barca coach Luis Enrique praised Suarez saying: ‘He finished the goal like very few players can. He is a striker who can score goals like this, but he is also technical enough to play the football we play and physical enough to compliment the other players in the side. We signed him for nights like this.’ The game looked to be slipping away from Barcelona after they were made to suffer in the first half. Luis Enrique admitted: ‘The goal calmed us down a lot in the second half. It’s a big a win against our eternal rival but we have a lot of difficult games to go before the league is won. 'The win means more because this is a very good Madrid side.’ Until Suarez struck the night had belonged to Cristiano Ronaldo, who responded to a week of global adulation for Lionel Messi by equalising in the first half to silence the Camp Nou after Jeremy Mathieu opened the scoring. Ronaldo’s every touch was booed — even from his first run down the left inside 60 seconds. It only took Messi 10 minutes to mark up his first nutmeg, sending the ball through Toni Kroos’ legs, but it was Real with a pumped-up Ronaldo who made much of the early running and he hit the bar from Karim Benzema’s cross. At the other end, Pepe and Suarez clashed and Barcelona were awarded a free-kick. Messi took it and, powering in ahead of Ramos, Mathieu headed past Casillas for his first Barcelona goal. The hosts should have doubled their lead but Neymar made a mess of a Suarez assist and they paid the price as Real Madrid scored with their next attack. Luka Modric played the ball to Karim Benzema, the Frenchman’s flick found Ronaldo in space and he swept the ball past Claudio Bravo. Suarez was booked for leaving his foot in on Pepe, who had already gone in late on the Uruguayan. Jeremy Mathieu headed Barcelona into the lead at the Nou Camp with 19 minutes played in the La Liga showdown . The Frenchman got in front of Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos to head his team into the lead at the Nou Camp . Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas watches on as Mathieu's header in the 19th minute finds the back of his net . Mathieu celebrates with his Barcelona team-mates after giving his team the lead in El Clasico . Ronaldo and Pique challenge for the ball in the air while Ivan Rakitic attempts to hold off Gareth Bale in the area as Ronaldo watches on . Barcelona were hanging on before half-time and Gareth Bale thought he had scored from Ronaldo’s flicked header — only for the goal to be disallowed because the Portuguese was offside. Five minutes into the second half Benzema almost put Real ahead after a fine move but was somehow denied by Bravo. Suarez had been quiet since his booking in the first half but, when Alves played him through with a brilliant first touch, he controlled the ball inside the area and rifled into the far corner. Ronaldo levelled the scores for Real Madrid just before half-time at the Nou Camp when he prodded the ball into the back of the net . Ronaldo runs away to celebrate after beating Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to draw Real Madrid level . The Portuguese forward is congratulated by Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal after his equaliser in the first half . Ronaldo had earlier rattled the crossbar of Bravo with his volley from a cross at the far post . There was still work to do and Barcelona desperately needed the third goal. Neymar should have scored it twice but both times shot wide, with Suarez better placed on the first occasion. Suarez could also have scored again wriggling away from Dani Carvajal only to pull his shot wide. Real Madrid kept going forward and as with the very first chance of the second period Benzema was denied by Bravo. Jordi Alba then steamed through on to a Messi pass only for the ball to be cleared for a corner. From the kick Suarez sent a shot high over Casillas’ bar. It now seemed as if Barcelona were chasing the late goal and the Spain keeper again saved from Messi. Suarez restored Barcelona's lead early in the second half with a clinical finish past Casillas into the bottom corner . Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas was left with no chance by the Barcelona striker's clinical finish into the bottom corner . Uruguayan striker Suarez celebrates scoring Barcelona's second goal to give them the lead again in El Clasico . Suarez celebrates his first goal in El Clasico since moving to Spain from Liverpool in the summer of 2014 . There were 11 bookings on the night and Javier Mascherano and Ronaldo clattered into each other midway through the second half. But the game was more 'crash bang wallop' than containing any of the bad blood of previous meetings. Suarez thrives in games this frenetic and in that sense it was no surprise his contribution was decisive. He may even have decided the title race. Real Madrid coach Ancelotti said: ‘The league is more difficult now. We have to keep going and play as we did in the first half for 90 minutes. I don’t think we made any mistakes when you have Suarez against you then he can do that. He finds the space and when the right pass comes he can finish. Our heads are down but we still have a lot to play for.’ Neymar reacts after missing a chance from point-blank range and gifting Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas with an easy save . Gareth Bale had the ball in the back of the net for Real Madrid, but the assistant referee had already raised his offside flag . Real Madrid forward Ronaldo is shown a yellow card by the referee during the first half at the Nou Camp . Barcelona forward Neymar and Real Madrid's Welsh winger Bale are pulled apart by the referee after an exchange . Suarez remonstrates with referee Antonio Miguel Matey Lahoz after being booked in the Clasico . A huge mosaic from the 95,000 crowd at the Nou Camp greeted the players as they entered the pitch for the La Liga battle . +Eventually he snapped, trudging off the field after 75 minutes and wondering when his next game in a Chelsea shirt will be. This has been brewing for a while, simmering in the background at a time when Jose Mourinho needs his first choice striker out on the pitch in the final, decisive nine games of the season. Diego Costa, this hot-head in a Chelsea shirt, has tweaked his hamstring again and Mourinho will expect his prized forward to barter his way out of Spain's two games during the international break. This time the complaint felt legit, particularly as the score was delicately balanced at 2-2 at the KC Stadium when Costa signalled for help. Chelsea striker Diego Costa was forced off with a hamstring injury during the Blues' 3-2 win over Hull City . Costa (left) talks to manager Jose Mourinho (right) before he is substituted at KC Stadium on Sunday . His replacement, Loic Remy, answered the SOS by scoring Chelsea's winner with his first touch. It was a shame to see Costa disappear down the tunnel, particularly after he had joined Harry Kane at the top of the scoring charts in the Barclays Premier League with a rasping effort to put Chelsea 2-0 ahead. Instead Spain, who have a Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine to play on Friday, and a friendly with Holland the following Tuesday will dictate when the forward plays again. Mourinho has an uneasy relationship with Spain coach Vicente del Bosque and with that in mind, his adopted country are likely to demand that he is assessed by their own doctors. 'When the team needs a goal with 15 minutes to go and the striker has a lot of experience with hamstring injuries and says it's over, it's over. 'We know his hamstring is not strong. Now he has 15 days without football, but we never cry about our injured players. 'He has had this problem since he tried to play in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid. He has this fragility.' There has been talk of an operation at the end of the season, some serious discussions between Chelsea's medical staff about a permanent solution. 'Dr Biosca (Chelsea's medical director) is against knives, against surgery,' admitted Mourinho. 'He's all in favour of conservative work and collective work between the medical department and fitness staff. This is the direction, we believe.' Costa had scored Chelsea's second goal as they stormed into a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes on Sunday . It has been another eventful game for Costa, full of sly digs and elbows again as he responded to the prods in the back from Steve Bruce's players. Everyone tries to work him over these days. There was a flashpoint, of course there was, because that is the way Costa plays the game. He snarls, he snaps, he scores. Here at the KC Stadium, after Hull had pegged back Chelsea amid raucous scenes in the stands, he threw half an elbow in the direction of Jake Livermore. It was not seen by Michael Oliver, the referee who also failed to spot Costa raking his studs down Emre Can during the volatile Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge. On this occasion he is expected to escape. Hull were able to draw level before half-time and when Costa was subbed off the scores were locked at 2-2 . The real punishment was for Hull, beaten by the boot of Remy just a couple of minutes after he had replaced Costa as a substitute. He is a useful back-up, full of energy and enthusiasm despite his lack of minutes. Mourinho had every reason to be grateful to him. 'Every time he plays here is there and he probably deserves more than I give him,' admitted a mightily relieved Mourinho. 'There are not many times when a coach owes something to a player, but with Remy that's the case. Every time he plays he gives us a lot.' After scoring the winner here for Chelsea, he has earned a break. Loic Remy scored the winning goal for Chelsea and his contributions could prove vital in Costa's absence . +Broad-shouldered and proud, he beams out from a crowd of more somber faces, a smile on his face and a number 55 emblazoned on his chest - and a powerful head of hair. Marion Knight, known as Suge even then, is just 17 in this typical high school photo dated 1982, showing a junior year football star posing alongside the Varsity team at Lynwood High School in Los Angeles. While his compatriots wear glum expressions, he smiles from behind a thick head of hair, showing no hint of the power, money and violence that was to become the hallmark of his later life. Scroll down for video of the alleged hit-and-run . Back in high school: Marion 'Suge' Knight, center, smiles as a 17-year-old football star in the Varsity team at Lynwood High School in Los Angeles . Jersey to jumpsuit: Knight is pictured above on Friday at a Los Angeles court building, where he stands accused of murdering a man he ran down in his pickup truck . 32 years later, Knight, now bald-headed, stands accused of murdering a man in a hit-and-run in his pickup truck, which was caught on video tape. Proud: Knight smiles in the football photo, while many teammates did not. He allegedly went on to a life of intimidation and violence . He claims it is self-defense. But as he took to the stand, prosecutors reeled off a history of alleged violence and intimidating spanning decades, through which he is accused of reeling in hundreds of thousands of dollars. It convinced the judge to set the rap mogul's bail at a staggering $25million - the announcement of which led Knight to collapse in the middle of the court-room. Knight stands accused of intentionally running down two men with a pickup truck at a Los Angeles area burger stand January 29 following an argument on the set of a commercial for the film Straight Outta Compton. Terry Carter, 55, was killed after being struck by a Ford F-150, while Cle 'Bone' Sloan, 51, survived his injuries. The 49-year-old co-founder of Death Row Records has pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen set bail for Knight at a whopping $25million after Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes noted that Knight was on bail in a robbery case at the time of the hit-and-run crash. Knight's attorney argued that his bail should be set at $2million, telling the judge that had his name not been Suge Knight, prosecutors 'wouldn't have filed the case.' Medical emergency: Knight collapsed in court Friday shortly after a judge set his bail at $25million after a lengthy list of allegations against him was filed by prosecutors . In seeking the multi-million-dollar bail, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed an extensive motion of 295 pages of legal papers and supporting material portraying Knight as a career criminal and repeated violator of probation and parole dating back to 1987. The documents also alleged that Knight is part of an ‘ongoing extortion scheme’ in which new rappers arriving in Los Angeles and Las Vegas are ‘required to pay a “tax"’ to Knight. Knight has pleaded innocent and his lawyers have denied that he intentionally tried to kill Carter and Sloan. Matthew Fletcher also says Knight is blind in his left eye and may not have seen clearly during the incident. Knight has previous convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and could face 25 years to life in prison under California's so-called three-strikes law if he is convicted at trial. 'Victims': Terry carter (left) and Cle 'Bone' Sloan (right) and Terry Carter (right) were the victims of the alleged hit-and-run. Carter died of his injuries, while Sloan is recovering and allegedly told police that he 'f***** up' Knight before being run over . +Adam Lallana looks sets to become the latest player to withdraw from the England squad after suffering a groin injury and is likely to miss the international fixtures against Lithuania and Italy. The Liverpool star was replaced at half-time by Steve Gerrard - who then returned to the changing rooms just 38 seconds later - and his injury-hit season looks to continue with his latest problem. Lallana is seen as a key player for England and his loss will be a major blow for Roy Hodgson ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania. Adam Lallana (right) has withdrawn from the England squad after suffering a groin injury for Liverpool . Lallana was taken off at half-time and replaced by Steven Gerrard who was sent off after 38 seconds . Fraser Forster and Luke Shaw had already withdrawn from the squad with Rob Green, Jack Butland and Danny Rose taking their place. It's unknown who Hodgson will call-up as a replacement or he may choose not if he feels his squad his strong enough to deal with Lallana's absence. England will be looking to keep up their 100 percent record in their European Championships Qualifying group when they welcome Lithuania to Wembley on Friday, with Harry Kane in line to earn his first cap for his country. The following game should be a more testing against Italy, who got the better of England at the World Cup, and Hodgson may use that game to blood some of his newer players. England manager Roy Hodgson could bring in a replacement or may choose to stick with his current squad . +She is the Queen of Soul and they are bigger hitters in the world of politics. But despite being an unlikely trio, both Eric Holder and the Reverend Al Sharpton got together to help celebrate the 73rd birthday of Aretha Franklin on Sunday night. The outgoing attorney general and the civil rights activist joined guests from the world of music for the annual party at New York's Ritz Carlton hotel. Scroll down for video . Aretha Franklin is joined by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Rev Al Sharpton at her 73rd birthday party in New York City . Both Mr Holder and the Rev Sharpton are close friends of the singer. Mr Holder was with his wife Sharon Malone, while Rev Sharpton was accompanied by date Aisha McShaw . The singer, who doesn't actually turn 73 until Wednesday, has become known for holding star-studded parties to mark her birthday. At last night's celebration, Miss Franklin, who wore a sparkling silver dress blew out the candles on her cake and was even treated to a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' sang by Labelle singer Sarah Dash. Miss Franklin has been a long time friend of both Mr Holder and Reverend Sharpton. Earlier this year, she sang at a ceremony to announce Mr Holder would be stepping down from his position of Attorney General. The singer wore a silver sparkling dress with a coat as she walked the red carpet on the way to her party . She sang 'America The Beautiful' as an homage to Mr Holder, who was visibly moved by the gesture. It was reported that as she approached the podium to sing, President Barack Obama rushed to her side and handed her a stepping stool with the words, 'Hold on, Queen.' It is thought that she has become good friends with Mr Holder and his wife Sharon. Aretha Franklin blows out the candles on her birthday cake with the help of Mr Holder news correspondent Tamron Hall and music executive Clive Davis . Meanwhile Miss Franklin was last seen partying with the Rev Sharpton at his 60th birthday party last October, where she described him as a 'man among men'. At one point during the party, New York mayor Bill de Blasio was addressing the Reverend. But he was soon cut off by Mr Sharpton as Miss Franklin entered the room, with him saying: 'I don’t usually interrupt the mayor, but the Queen is in the room.' +Mo'ne Davis reached out on Monday to a college president to ask him to reinstate a sophomore baseball player who called her a sexual slur. The 13-year-old and her coach emailed Bloomsburg University President David L. Soltz to ask that first baseman Joey Casselberry be allowed to play for the Huskies again. Casselberry had posted on Twitter: 'Disney is making a movie about Mo'ne Davis? WHAT A JOKE. That s*** got rocked by Nevada.' Director of the college's sports information, Tom McGuire, told Daily Mail Online in a statement: 'Mo’ne Davis has reached out to Bloomsburg University asking that Joey Casselberry’s dismissal from the team be reconsidered. 'Her request demonstrates the type of person she is, her level of maturity and the empathy that her family and coach teach her.' Scroll down for video . Mo'ne Davis, of Pennsylvania, pitching during a baseball game in August 2014. A college baseball player was removed from his Pennsylvania team for posting an offensive tweet about the teenage girl . Joey Casselberry, a sophomore first baseman for the Huskies at Bloomsburg University in Philadelphia, was kicked off his team for this offensive tweet about Mo'ne Davis . Mr McGuire added: 'Bloomsburg University stands firm on our decision; however, his consequences will be reviewed as is common in disciplinary actions like this.' Casselberry deleted the Twitter account, @BigCass24, but his name was taken off the team's roster this weekend, SI.com reported, after last playing for the team on March 17. Casselberry had reportedly apologized following the waves of criticism he attracted, according to TMZ. In tweets on Saturday night, BU Huskies posted: 'Bloomsburg Univ is deeply saddened by what was written about #MoneDavis by one of our student-athletes. His words do not represent us.' The team added: 'We take matter very seriously; addressed the issue with the student-athlete (who has been dismissed from team), coach, and the team.' Social media lit up with support for Davis following the offensive remark. @mcarter619 posted: 'Joey Casselberry attacking a child says a lot about his character and a apology won't make this any better.' Dr Marshall Shepherd tweeted: 'Remember Mo'ne. Haters gonna hate keep head up.. .offensive tweet about Mo'ne Davis gets player kicked off team.' The Disney Channel announced last week that it would be making a movie about 13-year-old Mo'ne, titled Throw Like Mo. Disney said development was underway on the biographical film. It will tell the story of the 13-year-old who last summer made history as the first girl to pitch a shutout in the Little League World Series. A member of Philadelphia's Taney Dragons, Davis then became the first Little Leaguer to make the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. Davis' team was finally beaten by the Jackie Robinson West team in the semi finals of the U.S. championship. If Davis' team won, they would have gone on to challenge a team from Nevada. The 13-year-old has been a natural in the spotlight following her Little League success. She told admirers that if they thought she was good at baseball, they should see her play hoops. Only in eighth grade, Davis already plays for her school's high school varsity basketball team and is also a regular on the soccer pitch. Davis aspires to play for the University of Connecticut and reach the WNBA. She plays midfielder on her soccer team and hopes to play three sports in high school, though she's not sure about baseball. 'I know the boys will be much stronger so that depends,' she said. 'Hopefully, I can continue playing as long as I can.' BU Huskies removed baseman Joey Casselberry (right) from their team after he posted an offensive sexual slur about 13-year-old baseball star, Mo'ne Davis (left at her book signing in Philadelphia this weekend . +Public transport was free in Paris today and half of the city's cars were forced off the road in a bid to fight pollution. In a radical move which will be studied in other European capitals like London, French Socialists said everything had to be done to make air cleaner. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said: 'I am delighted the state has agreed to put in place a partial driving ban on Monday, which I have been requesting for several days.' Scroll down for video . Public transport was free in Paris today and half of the city's cars were forced off the road in a bid to fight pollution . Only vehicles with number plates ending in an odd number were allowed, with exemptions for taxis, electric cars and ambulances. Authorities were planning to ban cars with even numbers on Tuesday, but the scheme was halted following improving forecasts. Foreign visitors to Paris, including thousands of Britons on holiday, were also permitted to use their cars. But police patrols were seen booking locals who flouted the ban, forcing them to return home. Meanwhile, Metro trains and buses were full to overflowing as thousands abandoned their vehicles. 'There are horrific crushes on the trains,' said Jean Babin, a 43-year-old commuter from the suburb of Juvisy, who usually travels to the city in his Renault. 'Free transport is a great idea in principle but it can potentially cause a number of problems of its own, and you do wonder who is going to pay for it all'. Air quality monitors showed concentrations of potentially dangerous particulates in the Pars air were above the recommended maximum. Only vehicles with number plates ending in an odd number were allowed, with exemptions for taxis, electric cars and ambulances . Police patrols were seen booking locals who flouted the ban, forcing them to return home. Meanwhile, Metro trains and buses were full to overflowing as thousands abandoned their vehicles . These are created by cars and lorries, heating and heavy industry, and can potentially cause serious health problems. 'Due to the improving situation today and tomorrow, the alternative traffic (plan) will not be renewed Tuesday,' announced Ecology Minister Segolene Royal, who took time to salute 'the good citizenship of motorists who understood the necessity of this measure.' The Airparif monitoring agency said smog density was still near alert levels Monday, but rain forecast for Tuesday was expected to clear the air. Though public transport is free of charge to take the sting out of the restrictions, drivers in the capital have protested against the measure, despite it having been used only twice since 1997. Paris area is confronting an increasingly troubling air pollution problem, caused by vehicles, heating and heavy industry . Similar emergency restrictions were last implemented almost exactly a year ago - on March 17 - during a particularly bad spike in the pollution levels. Paris area is confronting an increasingly troubling air pollution problem, caused by vehicles, heating and heavy industry. Authorities measure the concentration of particulates with a diameter of less than 10 microns - so-called PM10 - in the air to determine pollution levels. The safe limit for PM10 is set at 80 microgrammes per cubic metre (mcg/m3), with levels in Paris Monday expected to be somewhere between 40 and 55 mcg/m3. The city's alert level is fixed at 50 mcg/m3. According to a 2011 World Health Organisation report, the planet's most polluted city was Ahvaz in Iran with an average of 372 mcg/m3. Beijing had an average of 121 mcg/m3, while Paris was measured at 38 mcg/m3. +Host commentator . That's it from Sportsmail's live El Clasico Q&A. Thanks for following and thank you for some brilliant questions. Until next time! Pete Jenson: A lot depends on who makes a move and on how much they are willing to pay. If a club bid £90million for Bale or £65m for Ronaldo (bearing in mind he is 30), I think Real Madrid would consider it. Ronaldo because it would make economic sense and Bale because it would not be unpopular with Real supporters. They definitely won’t sell both! And quite possible both will stay but it will be an interesting summer, especially if they win nothing and supporters are demanding an overhaul of the squad. Pete Jenson: The better players were in playing the Clasico and yet the best goal of the six that were scored came at Anfield from Juan Mata. I enjoyed both games. There were away fans in the Liverpool vs Manchester United game – that is something that is always missing from a Clasico. Pete Jenson: Fair assessment, yes. Ronaldo was as motivated as I’ve seen him recently. Perhaps a week of talk about Messi being the greatest ever had contributed to that. He also helped set the tone of the first half with the at run at Alves as soon as he got the ball. He took his goal well and was one of those Madrid players who didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. Messi had a strange night. He seemed to be staying out on Marcelo’s wing because that is where there is usually plenty of space. But Madrid pressed so well he didn’t see a great deal of the ball. He certainly didn’t run the game as he did against Manchester City. But I agree once Modric and Kroos had faded in the second half he began to impose himself. Pete Jenson: It was the 42nd Clasico he’d played some part in – no Barcelona player has played in more. What he always contributed was calm. By Spanish football standards Barça vs Madrid games are usually very frenetic and yet he always seemed to have an extra second of time and a extra yard of space. He’ll come back to this fixture as Barcelona manager one day, you can count on it. Pete Jenson: The most shameful thing about it is that we have seen incidents in recent years of players collapsing on the pitch and sometimes even dying. So to feign serious injury is pretty unforgivable. I don’t mind the roll-over-ten-times merchants so much because it has a certain comic value, but the hand over the face when actually you’ve just been hit in the shoulder is very tiresome. Pete Jenson: He was poor in the first half and it was his miss just before Ronaldo equalised that made the game such a contest. He improved in the second half but I think sometimes the more frenetic and physical the game the more he tends to just get bumped around the pitch. You have to give him some credit for that double-breasted red leather blazer he was wearing after the game though. I don’t think he’s very happy for several reasons. Firstly he is not really sure why scoring the winning goals in the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League final last season does not seem to have earned him any respect from the club’s supporters – he gets whistled in at the Bernabeu if he puts one pass out of place and so-called ‘fans’ have tried to kick out at his car when he drives away from the training ground (it happened again in the early hours of this morning). He is also not too sure why when he was such a success as an out-and-out forward last season he is being asked to do a more defensive job this year. CLICK HERE to read the full story as angry Madrid fan attacks Bale's car . Pete Jenson: He wants to come back to England, no doubt about it. Arsenal would give him all the job security he has missed out on at first Chelsea and now Madrid. Paul Clement would I’m sure go with him back to his home city and Arsenal – who seem terrified that if they move Wenger on they will stop qualifying for the Champions League – would have a coach who has won the competition three times. It all sounds perfect, I don’t know why the wheels have not already been set in motion! Pete Jenson: In one sense he doesn’t have to adapt that much because this Barca does not play like the old Pep Guardiola, Barca. We saw that last night with their goals coming from a long ball and a set play. He has also come through the Ajax school, and Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool don’t exactly play like Harry Basset’s Wimbledon so a fast passing game is not exactly alien to him. It’s more about striking that fine balance between being selfish when the goal is gaping, and not ignoring his pal Messi when he is in a better position than him. Pete Jenson: Immense. Pique has developed a reputation over the last couple of years for being more focussed on his poker hand or his online games business than his football but he has blown away those theories this season. The greatest compliment paid to him last night was that he played like Carles Puyol. He will always be very different from his old central defensive partner but in terms of concentration and throwing himself in front of the ball when he had too it was a real leader’s performance. Pete Jenson: No one stays in the job very long. They had 25 managers in the 25 years that Sir Alex Ferguson was at Old Trafford and old habits die hard. It’s incredible to think that Ancelotti hasn’t been immortalised by adoring supporters after winning ‘La Decima’ but he hasn’t and unless they win the league or the Champions League this season there will be a change. Zidane will almost definitely manage Real Madrid one day. It could happen this summer but that will be down to him deciding if he is ready as much as anyone else putting him in charge. Pete Jenson: Bale is at his best when he is given free reign going forward. Last night in the first half he was asked to play wide right in a four-man midfield as opposed to up-top in the three of a 4-3-3. He put a decent shift in but if he’s working back he can’t also be on Jordi Alba’s shoulder waiting to pull away. This is why I still think from a purely football perspective he could still be tempted by a move to a club where he would be the star striker with fewer defensive responsibilities. He also faded last night because the team did – Modric and Kroos both ran out of juice in the second half and the team suffered. Pete Jenson: It’s been a long time since I can remember seeing him dive. I think the Premier League cured him of that. And he is also alongside Messi now, and Messi very rarely dives. But he does lay it on a bit thick sometimes when he goes down I agree. Look at it from his perspective though, he is up against Ramos and Pepe, both are clattering him at every opportunity for 90 minutes; and Pepe enjoys the dramatics too. So if a little exaggeration gets him one extra favourable decision from the referee then he sees it as fair game. Pete Jenson: It was tough for him at first because he could no longer be as single-minded as he was at Liverpool. In the Premier League he knew that when the ball came to him his responsibility was to just to take the quickest route to goal. At Barcelona he’s got Neymar on one side, Messi on the other and he tried too hard at first to be unselfish. But Barcelona need him to be selfish sometimes and last night when Alves played the ball forward there was only one thing on his mind. I’m not sure he’ll score as many goals as he did at Liverpool in one season – but he will score more important ones. Hello and welcome to Sportsmail's live El Clasico Q&A with our Spanish football expert Pete Jenson. We've got all the key talking points covered, so stay tuned for some insight. The first questions is coming up shortly... To get in touch with Pete, leave your comments below or send your tweets to @MailSport using #MailClasico . Sportsmail's expert on Spanish football Pete Jenson answered your burning questions following Barcelona's El Clasico victory at the Nou Camp on Sunday night. Cristiano Ronaldo scored once again and told the Nou Camp crowd to 'calm' before former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez picked his moment perfectly on football's biggest stage to hand Luis Enrique's side a vital three points. What's happened to Gareth Bale? Will Carlo Ancelotti get sacked? Find out here... +Mario Balotelli was filmed giving a group of Manchester United fans the finger following Liverpool's 2-1 defeat at Anfield on Sunday. The 24-year-old striker was goaded with chants of '[Manchester] City reject' and 'what a waste a money' as he left Anfield before seemingly taking a picture of the fans and raising his middle finger and smirking. Balotelli endured another difficult afternoon in a Liverpool shirt as his brief cameo saw the Italian make headlines for the wrongs reasons after a heated exchange with United defender Chris Smalling. Mario Balotelli looks at his phone as he leaves Anfield following Liverpool's defeat against Manchester United, prior to swearing at fans who were taunting him . The Italian striker seemed to take a picture of the United fans shouting abuse in his direction . Balotelli gives the finger to the travelling fans, who were shouting 'what a waste of money' The former AC Milan frontman had to be restrained by his own fans following a forceful challenge from Smalling which saw Balotelli launched into the advertising boards. Balotelli, who looked to be making a beeline towards Smalling was held back by several Liverpool fans in a bid to calm the hothead striker down. Unfortunately for the Anfield faithful, it was to be Balotelli's most meaningful input into the game as Brendan Rodgers' side suffered defeat after two brilliant goals from Juan Mata enough to earn three points against 10-man Liverpool following Steven Gerrard's dismissal for a stamp on Ander Herrera. The Italian was angry at the England international after a tussle forced them into the advertising board . Mario Balotelli (right) is restrained by some Liverpool supporters after his clash with Chris Smalling . The duo competed for the ball and momentum appeared to take them into the boards . Balotelli grabbed Smalling by the ankle but was restrained before anything more could kick off . Juan Mata scored twice to help United to a 2-1 victory against 10-man Liverpool on Sunday . +Louis van Gaal has endured a difficult start to life in the Premier League, but that hasn't stopped the Manchester United boss from steering his side to crucial victories against the club's closest rivals. The 2-1 victory against Liverpool on Sunday saw United leap to first spot in the head-to-head mini-table of the Premier League's current top five. Van Gaal's side have now earned 10 points from fives games against the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea with three games against the top five remaining. Juan Mata scored twice as Manchester United earned a 2-1 victory against Liverpool on Sunday . Louis van Gaal (centre) has an impressive record against the Premier League's current top five . The mini-league will come as a small crumb of comfort for United fans as their side battle it out for a Champions League spot while the Old Trafford club's transition under Van Gaal continues. The Dutch boss has certainly had his critics this season, but a Premier League double against Liverpool will do Van Gaal no harm in the eyes of the Red Devils faithful and a 2-1 victory against Arsenal at the Emirates in November is not to be sniffed at. United still have to play City (H), Chelsea (A) and Arsenal (H), but they look a different team to the one that struggled through the winter months. United players celebrate during the club's 3-0 victory against Liverpool in December, 2014 . Van Gaal even hailed his team's latest victory against top five opposition as one of the most important of his career. He said: 'Now the gap is five points ahead of Liverpool and six ahead of Tottenham and Southampton so the moment to win is one of the most important in my career.' Liverpool sit rock of our mini-league having won just one of their six Premier League fixtures against the current top five. Brendan Rodgers looks on as Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat against rivals United . Liverpool have won just one of their six Premier League matches against the current top five . Rodgers' side have also conceded a worrying 13 goals in those games following defeats against City, Chelsea and United. Liverpool had put themselves within touching distance of United after going on an unbeaten 13-match run that started after their 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford. The Reds still have time to improve their form against their nearest rivals, but face two tough away trip against Arsenal and Chelsea before the season is out. +Standing with a Manchester United scarf in the middle of the Kop while thousands of Liverpool fans blast out 'You'll Never Walk Alone' might strike most people as a crazy stunt to pull. So when a picture emerged of one brave soul appearing to do just that during Sunday's top-four clash, many Twitter users got very excited. The image went viral, with even Wayne Rooney tweeting about it after United's 2-1 win at Anfield. A Manchester United fan photoshopped into the Kop at Anfield; Rooney even tweeted about him after the game . The original picture of the Manchester United fan was taken on a pre-season tour in Bangkok in 2013 . The Liverpool fans shown in the image were actually watching their team against Birmingham in 2011 . Rooney wrote: 'Very happy tonight. Fans were amazing. Juan Mata great goals. Should of let him take penalty. And the United fan in the kop. Brilliant' Unfortunately, it turns out that the image was a fake, with everyone, including the Manchester United captain, taken in by the clever use of Photoshop. A few hours later Sportsmail can reveal the original picture of the United fan, taken a long way from the Kop, which was super-imposed into the Anfield crowd. The actual image was taken in Bangkok in 2013, when United played there on a pre-season tour, and shows a fan at the airport waiting for the United team to arrive. Meanwhile, the image it was dropped into was not from Anfield on Sunday, but actually from a game against Birmingham in 2011. The online pranksters, ynfa, did the job properly though, replacing a Luis Suarez scarf from 2011 with a generic Liverpool one to keep up the illusion. The Kop prepares for Manchester United, showing banners and scarves before the game on Sunday . +A Tory MP has landed an £800-an-hour job at the same firm he had lavished praise on while working a transport minister, according to a Labour MP. Stephen Hammond took the role with Inmarsat, which makes communications systems for aviation and shipping, just months after he was sacked as Secretary of State for Transport. Former City banker Hammond had said he was 'hugely impressed' by the company during his two years as a minister- where he attended official events alongside Inmarsat bosses. Stephen Hammond took the role with communications company Inmarsat just months after he lost his position as minister for transport . Labour MP Karl Turner told the Daily Mirror that the situation was 'grubby' and accused Mr Hammond of 'feathering his nest' with the staggering fees. 'This is a perfect example of why the rules around MPs' second jobs need to change,' he added. But Mr Hammond, who lost his position as transport secretary in the reshuffle, said he had done everything 'by the book' in regards to his new position which had been approved by the Commons authorities and the Department for Transport. The Commons register of members' interests states that Mr Hammond has been paid £20,000 for just 25 hours' work advising Inmarsat plc with his contract due to run out at the end of March. Mr Hammond will be paid as much as £800-an-hour at the firm he had lavished praise on while working a transport minister, according to a Labour MP . The MP for Wimbledon in south west London, had said he was impressed by Inmarsat on a visit to the company's headquarters in 2013. He later gave a speech at an Inmarsat dinner where he said he was 'committed' to a government partnership with the firm. Labour leader Ed Miliband had called for a ban on MPs having lucrative second jobs to 'restore the reputation' of the Commons in the wake of the cash for access scandal. It came after revelations of former foreign secretaries Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw being filmed by undercover reporters boasting about how they could be hired for £5,000-a-day. Sir Malcolm announced he was suspended from the Tory party and forced quit as an MP after bragging that he could see any foreign ambassador in London and has 'useful access' to every British ambassador in the world. Mr Straw was suspended by the Labour party after being filmed boasting about having laws changed 'under the radar'. Commons Speaker John Bercow had warned last month: 'People should not be in Parliament to add to their personal fortune.' But Mr Cameron has defended the right of MPs to do second jobs - insisting that extra work can be fitted in alongside constituency duties, and it was voted down. Mr Hammond has come under criticism before and even faced a Parliamentary inquiry in 2012 after failing to declare his shareholding in a firm that receives tax breaks and the very next year it emerged he had used an offshore firm to buy his luxury second home in Portugal worth half a million pounds. He was also revealed to be one of the most frequent users of the government's chauffeur-driven cars- using them 138 times a year despite living just six miles away from Westminster. And in 2013 it came to light that Mr Hammond had demanded a £40,000 pay rise for MPs. Stephen Hammond took the role just months after he was sacked as Secretary of State for Transport in the last re-shuffle . He had responded to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) review into MPs' pay with a call for their salaries to be increased to over £100,000 - a 60 per cent increase. Mr Hammond said he felt MPs should be paid the same as GPs, with an average salary of more than £105,000. But his comments attracted huge criticism as he suggested the massive pay rise for ministers during the financial crisis and at a time when many salaries were still frozen. +With the new outdoor athletics season getting underway, Usain Bolt is making sure he's in tip top condition as he looks to continue his domination of the sprinting world. The Jamaican showed that despite all his success in recent years, it's not enough and wants to add more medals to his already impressive collection. The reigning Olympic champion posted the video of his gruelling gym session on his Instagram page and showed an impressive range of core and arm strength. Usain Bolt showed he's in top condition ahead of the busy outdoor athletics schedule coming up . The Olympic champion showed how his core and upper body strength during the gruelling training schedule . He wrote: 'Great way to start the week..Let no one drain your energy this week...#Energy #Ignite #ForeverFaster #PositiveEnergy.' Bolt will compete in a sprint competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next month as he looks to acclimatise to the city where he will compete for the 2016 Olympic Games. 'Mano a Mano' takes places at the Jockey Club after being held at the Copacabana Beach for the previous two years. Bolt will race three other athletes on a 100 metres track on April 19, as he continues to keep up his fitness for the outdoor season. Bolt is set to run in a sprint competition in Rio de Janeiro as he looks to acclimatise to the conditions . The Jamaican had an injury-hit 2014 and will be hoping for improvements to his fitness this season . +This star is fading, just that little bit too soon. After Steven Gerrard announced in January his decision to leave Liverpool for LA Galaxy in the summer, many were anticipating one last hurrah in a red shirt, given so many had come before. ‘I want to make sure that I have no regrets when my playing career is eventually over,’ he said back then, less than three months ago. Eighty days, in fact. Plunging his studs into Ander Herrera’s ankle in a vital match against bitter rivals Manchester United, one of the most tantalising games on the fixture list, was surely not what he had in mind. Especially as defeat has left them five points adrift of United in fourth. Steven Gerrard is shown a straight red card against Manchester United after being on the pitch for 38seconds . Gerrard makes the long walk back to the dressing room after being sent off against Manchester United . When a 19-year-old Gerrard picked up the ball 40 yards from goal, waltzed past two Sheffield Wednesday players before finding the bottom left corner with a right-footed drive for his first ever Liverpool strike, his team-mates mobbed him. The boy who had joined the club aged eight had become a man. A star was born. That strike had provided a two-goal cushion when a makeshift Liverpool side - hit by injuries - was struggling against bottom-of-the-table Wednesday in 1999. A bright, twinkling career was beckoning; one in which his passion, guile and leadership would shine fiercely throughout. He would lead the team by example many, many more times. To not even be considered as a regular starter, to reduce his own swan-song by three games due to a moment of madness, is not how he would have imagined it ending 16 years later. Steven Gerrard celebrates at the end of the game after scoring against Sheffield Wednesday in 1999 . Or that he was not at the heart of their 13-game unbeaten run in the Premier League which was driving the team towards a Champions League spot. That he would start just five of those and then be so largely to blame for their capitulation in the 14th. The infamous slip last season against Chelsea, which many credit for ending Liverpool’s title chances, could have been buried beneath all the trophies and silverware. But too many crucial mistakes and they begin to stand out more prominently. It is not the first time Gerrard has been sent off against Manchester United - he saw red in 2011 . Gerrard has been sent off six times in his Liverpool career - seen here against Leeds, Everton and Chelsea . This is not the goodbye he would’ve wanted, or the one he deserves after being the catalyst of a team hanging to the coattails of the league’s best for over a decade to a Champions League, two FA Cups, three League Cups and the UEFA Cup. His greatness will never be forgotten, but neither will these high-profile errors at the end if they keep occurring. Gerrard has picked up six Premier League red cards now, often a byproduct of leaders when their passion spills over. Only seven players have received more, including Roy Keane with seven and Patrick Vieira with eight. But the big occasions are when these types of explosive players are supposed to be able to keep it under control. Gerrard has been Liverpool's inspirational leader for over a decade . Gerrard will be best remembered for leading Liverpool to a number of trophies - including the FA Cup and Champions League . There is still the hope of an FA Cup final at Wembley to celebrate his 35th birthday on Saturday, May 30. But due to his ban he will not even be in the side to help them reach it in their FA Cup replay against Blackburn. Nor for their next, crucial, Premier League match against Champions League rivals Arsenal or the game versus Newcastle. As it stands there are six games remaining of Liverpool’s season and Gerrard’s Merseyside career. If they progress to the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa in his absence, that will be seven, and eight if they make it to the final. Given all that has gone before, how much he will be desperate to go out on a high before he crosses the Atlantic. But will Brendan Rodgers trust him again? Or has this star been snuffed out too soon? +Torquay United players earn £375 per week on average, according to manager Chris Hargreaves, meaning it would take them almost 16 years to match what Wayne Rooney makes in seven days. The Conference club's average figure is £104 below the UK's average weekly earnings of £479 and is in stark contrast to the Manchester United captain, who is among the best paid in the Barclays Premier League on a reported £300,000 per week. 'I'm giving a reason why sometimes we might not be up there with the big boys,' Hargreaves told BBC Radio Devon. 'The average wage on Saturday was £375. Torquay United players such as defender Angus MacDonald (left) earn an average of £375 per week . Wayne Rooney is among the best paid, earning a reported £300,000 per week at Manchester United . Rooney pictured during their 2-1 win over great rivals Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League . Torquay's players earn an average of £19,500 per year . Wayne Rooney is understood to be on £300,000 per week at Manchester United . UK MPs earn £74,000 a year . Working 40 hours a week on minimum wage (£6.50 an hour) gets you £260 . 'You are not going to win a league on that unless you over-achieve miraculously.' The comments came after Torquay reserve goalkeeper Jordan Seabright quit football to become a car salesman. The club sit 15th in the Conference, but were expected to make a push for a return to the Football League this year. But Barnet currently top the table and sit 28 points ahead of Torquay. 'The average age is very young, the average wage is very low, and those two things combined make it a challenge,' Hargreaves continued. 'We took criticism and it was in most quarters right, and we had to put it right. I'm pleased for those that have stuck with us, and with me, and we want to give them exciting performances.' Torquay players earn £104 below the UK's average weekly earnings of £479, according to Chris Hargreaves . +Juan Mata finished off a sumptuous move in some style as Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday. The Spanish midfielder latched onto Angel di Maria's lofted pass, and twisted his body to volley a spectacular effort past despairing goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. We're not calling it an 'overhead kick', but his finish was sublime. So, what other scissor kicks have we seen over the years? Juan Mata fires home a spectacular effort for Manchester United against Liverpool on Sunday . The Spaniard's goal was the second of his double and secured a 2-1 victory for Louis van Gaal's side . Paolo di Canio (WEST HAM vs Wimbledon, 1999) As casual as it was genius. When Trevor Sinclair lifted the ball into the box, he would not have imagined the enigmatic Italian forward would have executed the volley to find the corner. Di Canio's scissor kick flew past Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, and deservedly won West Ham's player of the season award. His goal of the season gong for 1999/00 in the Premier League was no surprise, either. Paolo di Canio watches on after guiding home a wonderful scissor kick for West Ham against Wimbledon . The Italian forward's strike was named goal of the season in the 1999/00 Premier League campaign . Gus Poyet (CHELSEA vs Sunderland, 1999) Di Canio's effort wasn't the only scissor kick of that particular Premier League season. On the first day of the campaign, the Uruguayan midfielder sprinted to meet Gianfranco Zola's lofted pass and spectacularly volleyed home. His goal was one of four at Stamford Bridge against the hapless Sunderland. And that wasn't the last time Black Cats fans would lose their cool with Poyet. Guti (REAL MADRID vs Villarreal, 2001) Guti's scissor kick was one that we hadn't seen before, and haven't seen since. Standing upright, similar to Di Canio and Poyet, the Real Madrid star side foots his volley into the top corner. The Bernabeu faithful have seen several special players this century, but not many goals as unique as this (3minutes, 10 seconds). Mark Hughes (WALES vs Spain. 1985) Wales 3-0 Spain. A day that will long live in the memories of Welsh supporters, thrashing the Euro 1984 runners-up in Wrexham. And not only was it an historic day for the team, Hughes' goal in his hometown will never be forgotten. The ball spins back to the now-Stoke manager who acrobatically fires it home from shoulder-height, thundering into the top corner. Mark Hughes' spectacular strike helped Wales to a emphatic 3-0 victory against Spain in 1985 . Dennis Bergkamp (INTER MILAN vs Rapid Bucharest, 1993) Arsenal fans will have seen many special Bergkamp strikes in England over the years, but this effort in Italy may have gone under the radar. In the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, the 24-year-old Dutch striker showed incredible technique from the edge of the box to divert this wayward pass into the bottom corner. Luis Suarez (BARCELONA vs Levante 2015) The former Liverpool striker has now forged his legacy at Barcelona with the winner in El Clasico on Sunday night, but as recently as last month, Suarez was struggling to hit top form at the Nou Camp. This effort after Lionel Messi's dinked cross in a 5-0 victory helped things though, and he has scored seven goals since. Luis Suarez bends back to fire home a scissor kick during Barcelona's 5-0 victory against Levante last month . Sebastian Coates (LIVERPOOL vs QPR, 2012) Coates has endeared himself to Liverpool fans defensively, and is now struggling on loan at Sunderland. So this acrobatic attempt against QPR certainly came out of the blue. His first goal for the club, the centre half jogged up for a corner and his volley flew past Paddy Kenny in goal. However, his flaws at the back were later highlighted as the hosts at Loftus Road came back to win 3-2. Sebastian Coates netted his first goal for Liverpool against QPR in 2012 - a stunning volley past Paddy Kenny . Yann Kermogant (BOURNEMOUTH vs Ipswich, 2014) Down to the Championship now, and with runaway leaders Bournemouth. Four months ago, the Cherries took just 111 seconds to net first against Ipswich. French target man Kermogant lashed home a magnificent scissor kick, sending the Goldstands Stadium faithful wild. Peter Crouch (LIVERPOOL vs Galatasaray, 2006) The scissor kicks of all scissor kicks. Crouch's semi-overhead effort defied belief. It was his 10th goal in eight starts for club and country, as Liverpool hung on to a 3-2 victory against the Turkish side in the Champions League. Steve Finnan will take credit with the assist... Peter Crouch uses his large frame to execute a perfect scissor kick against Galatasaray in 2006 . The Liverpool striker and team-mates could barely believe it after his stunning goal at Anfield . Manuel Negrete (MEXICO vs Bulgaria, 1986) It doesn't get much better than scoring at the World Cup finals. After taking two touches to bring the ball down, Manuel Negrete fed Javier Aguirre and then met the quick return pass with a mesmeric left-foot volley which had the host nation in raptures. +Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has pulled out of the England squad to face Lithuania and Italy. The squad are due to meet at St George's Park at lunchtime, but it is understood Lallana will not be among them. The midfielder's groin injury flared up in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday and he will therefore miss the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday and England's friendly in Italy four days later. Adam Lallana (right) has withdrawn from the England squad after suffering a groin injury for Liverpool . Lallana was taken off at half-time and replaced by Steven Gerrard who was sent off after 38 seconds . England manager Roy Hodgson will be hoping to make it five wins from five in Euro 2016 qualifying . Lallana came off at half-time during the loss to Louis van Gaal's side. The player is understood to believe the injury is not too serious. The rest of the now 23-man England party is due to meet in Burton on Monday afternoon and will be assessed to see whether there will be any more withdrawals. England will be looking to make it five qualifying wins from five on Friday night before they head to Turin for a friendly against the nation that beat them in their World Cup opener last summer. It is understood Friday's match against Lithuania at Wembley is a 90,000 sell-out. +Roberto Martinez has gushed about his January signing Aaron Lennon after the winger scored the winning goal in Everton's crucial relegation clash with Queens Park Rangers. The on-loan Tottenham star is quickly becoming a key player for the Toffees as they continue to fight for survival and has slotted in nicely on the right side of midfield. Martinez is delighted with the impact Lennon has made especially against QPR. Aaron Lennon (left) celebrates after scoring the winning goal for Everton against Queens Park Rangers . Roberto Martinez (left) praised the on-loan Tottenham winger for his 'magnificent' performance . 'Since day one he has come in and showed an incredible appetite,' Martinez told talkSPORT. 'I thought against Newcastle he played very well and from that point I didn't want him to lose that feeling so I asked him to travel to Kiev. He couldn't play but he was around the group and I thought we benefited from that. 'He looked like a player that has been at Everton for years [against QPR]. He took responsibility, he knew he had fresh legs, and the way he performed was magnificent. 'It wasn't just what he did in front of goal, but the way he worked in defence was a real help. It was a really strong performance.' The winger was frozen out at White Hart Lane but seems to have had a new lease of life in Merseyside and with safety from relegation not quite secured, Martinez will be hoping Lennon can continue to play a vital role in prolonging their Premier League status. The winger slots home the crucial goal to move the Toffees closer to safety with the win at Loftus Road . Lennon celebrates with the scorer of the first goal Seamus Coleman as Everton held on for the victory . +Manchester United chief scout Jim Lawlor was in the crowd to watch Lazio against Verona on Sunday. Lazio's highly regarded midfielder Felipe Anderson was understood to be the object of Lawlor's attention while he also took the opportunity to check on centre-back Stefan de Vrij. Anderson has been a revelation this season scoring ten goals and has just signed a revised contract that ties him to the club until 2020. Manchester United chief scout Jim Lawlor watched Felipe Anderson score against Verona on Saturday . The Brazilian - who is best friends with Barcelona star Neymar - heads in his goal at the Stadio Olimpico . Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij was also checked up on by United during the game . Felipe Anderson sprints past Verona defender Vengelis Moras during the Serie A fixture . Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have also checked on the Brazilian U21 international who is best friends with Barcelona star Neymar. United's Spanish scout Carlos Ruiz also checked on Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi last Friday. The 27-year-old centre-back was an option for United while he was at Porto and has impressed since his move with Valencia closing on qualification for the Champions League. Valencia and United have a good relationship but the Spanish side will not sell Otamendi for less than his £37million buy-out clause. United's Spanish scout Carlos Ruiz checked up on Valencian defender Nicolas Otamendi against Elche . +Doug Jandebeur may have lost his wallet to a common thief, but he won the fight. The 84-year-old army veteran was getting into his pickup truck outside his business in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Monday night, when a robber who was waiting for him attacked from behind. The young man punched Jandebeur in the face and managed to grab his wallet. However, as car park CCTV shows, Jandebeur was no victim. Scroll down for video . Incoming: Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are searching for this man, who appeared to be waiting in a car park to attack 84-year-old Doug Jandebeur on Monday night . Approach: As this CCTV shows, the suspect approached Jandebeur from behind as he got into his truck . Attack: The robber grabs Jandebeur and punches him in the face, grabbing his wallet from his pocket . Running scared: However the thief is sent packing after the army vet spins around with his gun . As Jandebeur explained to Fox News: 'I pulled out my automatic and was getting ready to ventilate him. 'Once he saw my gun, he decided it was time to leave.' Jandebeur said his wife was actually sitting in the passenger seat of his truck waiting for him . He said he was concerned for both of them. However he is thankful to have had his gun, and that his business is situated in a gun zone. 'Anybody that doesn't arm themselves is asking for trouble,' he said. Fighter: Doug Jandebeur, 84, an army veteran, believe's that anyone who doesn't carry a gun is 'asking for trouble'. He was attacked on Monday night . Police in Tulsa are now using the CCTV to try and determine who the suspect is. Jandebeur suffered a bruised jaw from the hit, and lost his wallet, but is otherwise ok. Anyone with information on the man is advised to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS. +Craig Dawson will serve a one-match ban after Gareth McAuley's mistaken red card was transferred to his West Brom team-mate. The Football Association has confirmed the defender will be banned instead of McAuley. Referee Neil Swarbrick sent McAuley off by mistake after Dawson had fouled Wilfried Bony in the Baggies' 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday. Wilfried Bony (right) goes down under a challenge from Gareth McAuley inside the opening two minutes . Swarbrick apologised, via a statement from the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, and the case of mistaken identity has been accepted by an Independent Regulatory Commission. An FA statement confirmed: 'Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today [Monday 23 March 2015], a claim of mistaken identity in relation to West Bromwich Albion's Gareth McAuley was successful. 'The player was dismissed during the game against Manchester City on Saturday [21 March 2015] for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. 'The standard punishment of a one-match suspension has been transferred to Craig Dawson and will be served with immediate effect.' Craig Dawson was the man who should have been sent off for an earlier collision with the City striker . Dawson will miss Albion's clash with QPR at The Hawthorns on April 4. The incident marked the second time in a matter of weeks that the wrong player has been sent off in a Premier League game, after Roger East dismissed Sunderland's Wes Brown against Manchester United for an offence committed by fellow United old boy John O'Shea. PGMOL general manager Mike Riley has called for the introduction of video replays to assist officials in such cases. Riley told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'The referee has got to make his decision based on what he thinks he's seen. His instincts often lead him to trust his judgement. 'It's one of the areas that would lend itself to technology. The West Brom players protest with referee Neil Swarbrick after he sent off the wrong player . 'The game has stopped and there's time before we restart the game to have a look at something. That would provide the concrete evidence that would get the decision right. 'We've been open-minded to things like the goal decision system which has made a great difference and a great benefit to referees in the Premier League. 'We need to see what other technology can be used to get refereeing decisions more accurate. He added: 'We need to test it in live football. Until we do that, we won't know the impact on the game. 'Technology can be helpful but we don't want to destroy the fabric of the game, the fast-flowing spectacle we all love.' McAuley walks off the pitch after receiving the straight red card but since has escaped suspension . +West Indies master-blaster batsman Chris Gayle will play for Somerset in this summer's NatWest T20 Blast. Destructive opener Gayle will join Somerset in late May, the exact date of his arrival depending on his involvement in the knockout stages of the Indian Premier League, and he will remain with them until June 13. Somerset hope the 35-year-old will therefore be available for six matches. Chris Gayle has signed for Somerset for the upcoming NatWest T20 blast competition . Gayle gestures to the crowd after West Indies' defeat to New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup in Wellington . Gayle is to miss next month's Test series against England in the Caribbean as he struggles with a back injury which is curtailing his opportunities in cricket's longer formats. He is a prolific boundary hitter, with more than 8,000 runs to his name in Twenty20 cricket around the world - and Test and one-day international statistics to match. He said: 'I'm excited about joining Somerset for the NatWest t20 Blast this year. 'Many of the club's members and supporters will know that I came close to playing for the county in 2012 and I have always felt that, if I was able to, I wanted to honour that commitment to Somerset. I'm looking forward to coming to Taunton and scoring some runs.' The New Zealand players celebrate after dismissing the explosive batsman in the quarter-final . Somerset director of cricket Matthew Maynard added: 'Signing a world-class player of the quality of Chris Gayle is tremendously exciting for the club. 'He will be a tremendous addition to our already extremely strong squad. He is an inspirational character and we are delighted to be bringing him to Somerset.' Gayle poses with a policewomen during his time at the Cricket World Cup with the West Indies . +The Rock has hinted on Instagram that he is a Liverpool fan by taking time out to pose alongside a 'You'll Never Walk Alone' artwork. WWE legend The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, knows all about Liverpool having spent time there filming scenes for Fast and the Furious 6. And it appears the wrestler turned film star may have taken a likeness for the red side of Liverpool away with him as he returned to America. The Rock hinted who he supports by taking time out to pose alongside a 'You'll Never Walk Alone' artwork . The Rock clearly knows his stuff as he gives his followers a brief history on the famous song . Juan Mata pulls off his incredible scissor-kick against Liverpool as Manchester United won 2-1 at Anfield . He clearly knows his stuff as alongside the message he wrote: ‘You'll never Rock alone, I mean walk alone. ‘Amazing history about this song written in 1945 as a show tune for the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel. ‘Then adopted in the 1960's by Liverpool Football Club and today one of the most incredibly moving anthems you'll ever hear (and see) sung by the stadium masses.' However, it is not known whether The Rock watched Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United, but if he did it would surely have left him feeling ‘rock bottom’. Mata and his United team-mates celebrate doubling their lead en route to their 2-1 win in the Premier League . +Dozens of military personnel were injured when an RAF transport plane on its way to Afghanistan nose-dived 4,400ft after the captain's camera became lodged alongside the aircraft's joystick. The Voyager jet was around five hours into its journey from Brize Norton to Camp Bastion when the Nikon camera, used by the captain to take photographs on board, got stuck between the arm rest and the side-stick controller when his seat moved forward. In 27 seconds of chaos, the plane lost 4,400ft in altitude, throwing passengers and crew without seatbelts towards the ceiling, injuring 33 of those on board, while one traumatised passenger was hospitalised with stress, according to the report into the incident. This reconstruction shows how an RAF captain's camera became wedged alongside a Voyager aircraft's joystick before it plunged 4,400ft in mid air, injurying dozens of military personnel on board . The Voyager jet, similar to the one pictured, had been six hours into its journey from Brize Norton to Camp Bastion when the Nikon camera, used to take photographs on board, got stuck in the flight controls . The new Voyager jet had been six hours into its journey from Brize Norton to Camp Bastion when the captain's Nikon camer, used to take photographs on board, got stuck in the flight controls . The aircraft, a militarised version of the Airbus A330-200 passenger jet, was diverted to an airbase in Turkey after the incident on February 9 last year, and the state-of-the-art fleet grounded for 11 days while the cause of the dive was investigated by the Military Aviation Authority. The final report into the incident, released last week, has now revealed that RAF captain had been alone in the cockpit and was taking pictures of the flight deck from his seat with the digital SLR camera in the three minutes before the plane dramatically plummeted. The camera had been between his arm rest and the side-stick unit which controls the aircraft's altitude, and became wedged in when his seat moved forward. The report author describes the incident as a 'near-miss' and said there was a 'realistic potential for the loss of the aircraft and 198 of our people'. There were nine crew members and 189 servicemen and women on board the flight , who had been served their meal and were enjoying the in-flight entertainment when when the plane suddenly lost altitude while cruising at 33,000ft over the Black Sea on its way to the main British base in Afghanistan. The digital SLR camera, used by the captain in the three minutes before the plunge, had become wedged between his arm rest and the side-stick unit which control's the aircraft's altitude, when his seat moved forward, as this reconstruction shows . At its fastest, it dropped at a rate of 15,800 feet per minute with the resulting g force enough to lift passengers out of their seats, as their belongings and other items such as pots of hot tea were hurled across the cabin. 'A large number of passengers and crew had been thrown towards the ceiling,' the report states. 'A significant volume of loose articles, including bags, personal effects, teapots, paper cups and bins were flying around the cabin while some passengers were shouting.' According to the report, at the time of the plunge, the co-pilot had been out of the cockpit and was among those thrown towards the roof. 'Immediately prior to the pitch-down, the co-pilot felt a sensation similar to turbulence. The Purser also reported a similar sensation, describing it as a "jolt", it states. 'As the aircraft pitched down, the co-pilot was lifted to the cabin roof and, while experiencing weightlessness, re-entered the flight deck through the open door. 'He described a confusing scene with audio alarms sounding and a violent shaking of the aircraft. 'The captain shouted repeatedly that he could not disengage the autopilot. With his feet on the flight deck roof, the co-pilot reached down and attempted to disengage the autopilot by pulling back on his side-stick; an action which appeared to have no effect.' The two pilots were quickly able to level the plane, and the captain decided to land the air craft as soon as possible so diverted the flight to the US Air Force's Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey. Of those on board, 25 passengers and seven crew members were injured, and were cared for by medical personnel travelling as passengers, as well as by medics at Incirlik. This dotted line shows the dent in the camera, caused when it became wedged next to the side-stick . The dent in the camera was found to be consistent with having been caused by the flange of the side-stick . The report states that one passenger had an 'acute stress rection' and was administered oxygen by a doctor before being taken to hospital upon landing. A cabin crew member was also hyperventilating but was cared for by a colleague. Passengers without NATO travel orders then had to stump up £10 in cash for a visa allowing them to pass through immigration, with the servicemen and women having to club together to buy the visas as the British Embassy was unable to transfer the money. Mental health experts were sent out to Incirlik to help ensure that the passengers felt able to get back on a plane so they could be taken back to the UK, and assess whether they were fit to be deployed to Afghanistan. But by the time they were flown back to Britain, two days after the terrifying plunge, 'several passengers were exhibiting signs of distress, with some requiring counselling from the mental health nurses or medication from the Brize Norton medical staff.' Ten passengers were told they were no longer required to deploy to Afghanistan, while a further 12 did not have to for medical or pastoral reasons. Damage to the aircraft included 50 broken in-flight entertainment sockets, seven dented ceiling panels, five broken florescent light tubes and five damaged hand rails, but there was no reported damage to the flight deck, and no reported damage to the external structure of the aircraft. The cost of the incident has not yet been calculated, although an early estimate put it in the region of £0.5million. The report found that the pilot had taken 77 photographs during the flight and had used it as recently as three minutes and 20 seconds before the incident. The plane had set off from Brize Norton in Oxfordshire (pictured) on the morning of February 9 last year . The flight had been bound for Camp Bastion in Afghanistan (pictured), which was the UK's major base in the country until late last year . It states that although using the camera during the flight was not prohibited, its use 'represented a lack of compliance with the policy regarding non-relevant duties'. However, it also says that during the cruise stage of the flight the pilot's workload would have been low, and that taking photographs would have been a way for the captain to maintain his alertness. It recommends that ways of minimising pilot boredom during less busy periods of the flight should be examined. Changes to the design of the cabin to prevent a similar incident were not required, but the report recommends that strengthening rules regarding wearing seatbelts could mitigate 'future in-flight upsets'. The report concludes: 'The loss of the aircraft was not an unrealistic possibility. While at its heart this incident was caused by the simple and unthinking act of placing a loose article close to the aircraft controls, there are broader lessons to learn here. 'Modern technology may be capable of reducing crew workload to historic lows and aircraft can now protect themselves as never before, but the requirement for crews to understand and interact with the aircraft and its systems when things deviate from the norm remains and challenging as ever.' An RAF spokesman said: ‘The safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance to us. 'The incident was caused by a camera becoming lodged between the arm rest and side-stick causing the aircraft to lose height, the RAF is in the process of implementing the recommendations made by the Service Inquiry including instructions to ensure no objects are placed between pilots’ arm rests and the side stick’. A spokesman for AirTanker, which is responsible for the supply of Voyager to the RAF and the service which underpins it, told MailOnline: 'As an operational issue for the RAF, it would be inappropriate for AirTanker to comment. 'However, we note the findings of the Service Inquiry Report, which confirm that no technical fault was found with the aircraft.' The RAF started using the Voyager's last year after agreeing to bring in 14 of the planes for military use under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that is costing more than £10bn. They were intended to replace the RAF's VC-10 and Tristar planes both as a transport plane, and as an air-to-air refuelling tanker. The Ministry of Defence bought a fleet of 14 Voyagers last year under a £10.5bn private finance initiative deal with Oxfordshire-based AirTanker. The aircraft – a military version of the Airbus A330-200 civilian jet – can fly at a top speed of 567mph.The Voyager can transport 400 soldiers. Twice the size of a Lancaster bomber, with a 197ft 10in wingspan and is 193ft in length, the planes can hold 100,000 litres of fuel and are the biggest the RAF has ever had. In theory, they can refuel jets in mid-air at 125 times the speed of forecourt garage pumps – at 5,000 litres a minute. An RAF Voyager is pictured as it flies out out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus . +Kendall Jenner looks like a total knockout in her colorful new video campaign for Estee Lauder, which introduces the iconic beauty brand's new collaboration with the French fashion house Courrèges, and shows the model playfully taking a swing at the camera. The 19-year-old, who was named as the face of Estee Lauder last November, can be seen modeling bright pink lip gloss and silver eyeliner from the 12-piece limited edition collection in the clip, which debuted on Monday. Kendall proudly shared a photo of herself donning a shocking pink patent leather jacket and an orange visor today on Instagram, and within three hours the snapshot received nearly 450,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments. Scroll down for video . Fresh coat: Kendall Jenner can be seen applying Estee Lauder's new Super Gloss, which retails for $26, in the brand's new campaign video introducing its collaboration with the the French fashion house Courrèges . Boxing beauty: Kendall punched the camera during the playful video shoot . In the 20-second clip, Kendall also sported a hooded sweatshirt, made out of white netting, oversized white sunglasses, and a transparent orange zip-up. The brunette reality star-turned-fashion icon was filmed throwing a punch at the camera, whipping her hair back and forth and kissing the brand's new Lip Visor, which retails for $26. Estee Lauder's new futuristic video honors legendary designer André Courrèges' 1964 Space Age-inspired collection and features the brand's bright mod-inspired beauty products. After the label shared the footage on its Instagram account on Monday, many fans wanted to know what beauty products Kendall was wearing. Pucker up: Kendall kissed Estee Lauder's new Lip Visor, which retails for $26 . One commenter wrote: '@esteelauder what's the lipstick she's wearing please? [sic]' The brand quickly responded, telling the fan Kendall was wearing Estee Lauder Super Gloss in Rosy Future. Others complimented Kendall's beauty. 'She is so gorgeous,' one woman wrote. Another added: 'She is PERFECTION [sic].' Popular picture: The 19-year-old model shared this photo from the clip on her Instagram page on Monday morning and received nearly 450,000 likes within three hours of it being posted . Mod look: Kendall modeled a bright pink patent leather coat, white mini-skirt and an orange visor in the video inspired by legendary designer André Courrèges' 1964 Space Age collection . Kendall is more in-demand than ever, and the hard-working model's career shows no indication of slowing down anytime soon. Yesterday, Kendall posted a snap of herself with famed photographer Mario Testino and fellow model Gigi Hadid to Instagram as she announced that she will be in Vogue's April issue, captioning the picture: 'Dream team #Vogue.' Her big sister Khloe Kardashian also shared a picture from Kendall and Gigi's Vogue spread, which shows the two models posed with Kylie Jenner's dog Norman. Double trouble: The realty TV star whipped her hair back and forth during the video . Dream team: Kendall shared this photo of herself posed next to famed photographer Mario Testino and fellow model Gigi Hadid as she announced that she will be appearing in the April issue of Vogue . 'I am so proud and stoked that Kendall & GiGi are in Vogue together and killing the game!! But, how crazy is it that Norman made the issue as well! Kylie, your baby made it big! This is what happens when Kendall dog sits [sic],' Khloe wrote. Kendall was more casually dressed on Sunday when she was spotted with a mystery man in West Hollywood, California. She donned skinny jeans, a T-shirt with cuffed sleeves and a pair of high top sneakers designed by her brother-in-law Kanye West for Adidas Originals. New friend: Kendall was spotted with this mystery man yesterday in West Hollywood . Comfy look: Kendall paired skinny jeans and a T-shirt with a pair of high top sneakers designed by her brother-in-law Kanye West for Adidas Originals . +Blackpool chairman has been charged by the FA . Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston is facing a ban from football activities after being charged by the Football Association for text messages in which he called a supporter 'a retard'. The unpopular chief has until next Monday to respond to the charge and is set to be locked out of his own club if ultimately found guilty. Oyston - who has been the constant target of fan protests over the course of the Seasiders’ worst season for decades - is also looking at a hefty fine and mandatory four-hour FA education course. The shocking text messages, seen by Sportsmail, emerged just before Christmas when he sent a series of vitriolic volleys to fan Stephen Smith, who he told to 'enjoy the rest of your special needs day out'. Oyston later apologised for his part in the exchange, however the FA announced on Monday that the messages allegedly constituted five breaches of its rules and now has until 6pm on March 30 to respond to the charge. In a another rant from Oyston, who has had abuse hurled at him as well this season, read: 'Stop texting f******, you shouldn't have ever started as you are one tiresome f***** that should spot trains not watch football. Get a life and consider yourself banned from the stadium. 'You are banned because I think you are a p****. 'Impossible to have a meaningful conversation with such a f******* as you.' Oyston has also joked with other fans that plans are afoot to see Blackpool, a Premier League side four years ago, spiral down to the Conference, with another text reading: 'I am a never-ending nightmare revenge mission'. Blackpool's fans protest against Oyston during the game against Charlton . A statement on the FA's website read: 'Blackpool FC Chairman Karl Oyston has been charged by the FA in relation to comments made in a text message exchange. 'It is alleged that the misconduct constituted five breaches of FA rules, and that during the text message exchange, Mr Oyston used abusive and/or insulting words towards a supporter of Blackpool FC. 'It is further alleged that each of these five breaches of FA Rule E3(1) is an 'Aggravated Breach' as defined in Rule E3(2), as each included a reference to disability. 'Mr Oyston has until 6pm on March 30, 2015 to respond to the charge.' The content of the messages first emerged just before Christmas and Oyston came under fire from fans of his own club as well as anti-discrimination group Kick It Out, while the local paper the Blackpool Gazette scrapped his weekly column with immediate effect. Blackpool fans have made their dislike for Oyston clear this season with songs and banners . The Seasiders chairman issued an apology via the club's official website in which he explained he was responding to threats and abuse to his own family. 'I would like to unreservedly apologise for any offence or distress caused by my text responses reported in the media recently,' he said. 'I regret stooping to the level of those threatening and abusing my family. 'My mobile number was placed on a social media website recently and it led to a barrage of abuse about my mother, father, wife, children and myself. 'In hindsight the aim of this was clear, and I foolishly opted to challenge some of the abuse, harassment and threats. 'Given my position, I should have acted with more responsibility and reported the abusive text messages, phone calls and answer phone messages to the police, rather than get embroiled in such an exchange.' Blackpool fans have held a number of protests about Oyston . However, Smith said at the time that he had not accepted Oyston's apology. Smith also claimed Oyston's position at the helm of Blackpool had become 'untenable'. 'The apology is weak,' he said. 'He has said that he is responding to messages that threatened and abused his family. I did not threaten or abuse any member of his family. His position as chairman is untenable. He has no choice but to resign.' Oyston has endured a frosty relationship with Blackpool supporters who have been disillusioned by events on and off the field during a tumultuous year at Bloomfield Road. Last Saturday hundreds of fans protested against the Tangerines' ownership and opted to go and watch non-league AFC Blackpool instead, boycotting the fixture between Lee Clark's men and Leeds. Blackpool are 17 points away from safety in the Sky Bet Championship and their relegation could be confirmed in their next game against Bolton. +Chelsea and Brazil star Willian seemed thrilled to be heading off to international duty with his 'homies' Oscar and Filipe Luis on Monday morning. The Blues trio all featured in Chelsea's 3-2 Premier League victory against Hull on Sunday before catching an early morning Eurostar train to Paris where the Selecao will face France on Thursday. Willian, sporting a leather jacket and sunglasses, took to Instagram to share the snap along with the message: 'Left for Paris with my homies'. Oscar (left) Filipe Luis and Willian on their way to Paris ahead of Brazil's friendly match against France . Willian in action during Chelsea's 3-2 Premier League victory against Hull City on Sunday . Filipe Luis enjoyed a rare start for Chelsea as Cesar Azpilicueta dropped to the Blues bench . Both Willian and Luis started for Jose Mourinho's side on Sunday, as the west London club gave away a two goal lead before a Loic Remy strike sealed a crucial three points ahead of the international break. Oscar replaced fellow Brazilian Ramires early on in the second half, putting an end to a bad week for the latter after missing out on a place in Dunga's squad for Brazil's friendly matches against France and Chile. Dunga took command of the Brazil team for the second time in July, just days after Brazil were dumped out their own World Cup 7-1 by Germany and has won all six of his matches in charge so far. Chelsea's boys from Brazil will be hoping to grab their final chance to impress in a yellow shirt as the March fixtures will be the last before Dunga announces his squad for the Copa America in Chile in June. Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Diego Alves (Valencia) Defenders: David Luiz (Paris St Germain), Marquinhos (Paris St. Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain), Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), Fabinho (Monaco), Marcelo (Real Madrid) Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Elias (Corinthians), Souza (São Paulo), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Philipe Coutinho (Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea), Firmino (Hoffenheim), Oscar (Chelsea), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar) Forwards: Neymar (Barcelona), Diego Tardelli (Shandong), Robinho (Santos) Loic Remy (pictured) gave Chelsea a crucial lead after replacing the injured Diego Costa . Willian and his Chelsea team-mates celebrates Remy's 77th-minute strike at the KC Stadium . +It is a brave statement written from the heart, by a young woman fighting for her life. 'I am happy, I am alive and I was built to survive'. The words are part of a heartbreaking video created by young mother Abi  Rounds, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 22. After just two days to digest the news with her closest family members - including her mother, father and boyfriend - she decided to reveal her diagnosis to other loved ones via an emotional video on her Facebook page. The clip has now been watched almost 9,000 times all over the world and Miss Rounds said the messages of support have helped her face a double mastectomy and chemotherapy. Scroll down for video . Abi Rounds, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 22, shared her terrible news with loved ones via a video she uploaded to Facebook . In the video, the mother-of-one (pictured here with daughter Ruby May) who has watched her own mother and aunt fight the disease, vowed to do everything it takes to beat the disease . The video comprises a series of clips such as the above, explaining to her loved ones what has happened . Her brave words have been watched by thousands of people after the video went viral . The now 23-year-old, who has watched her own mother and aunt fight the disease, said: 'When they told me I had cancer It was terrifying. I I felt sick and the worst went through my head. 'As soon as I came home from hospital, I got my two-year-old daughter from my sister who was looking after her, and got my cousin and sister to come to my house and I told them the news. 'But from there on I thought that's it, I'm going to do this - nothing is going to stop me now. 'From that moment I've got on well, I'm really positive and the support has been overwhelming. 'People around me knew there was something wrong and it was getting to the point where I was having to repeat myself - it was too much. 'I thought maybe if I do a video I can get my message across,' said Miss Rounds, from Leominster, Herefordshire, . 'It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done, but looking back it is one of the best things too. 'The support has been absolutely amazing and has really got me through the tough times. 'It has been incredible getting messages from strangers telling me to keep strong. Miss Rounds was just 11 when her mother Julie, 46, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a single mastectomy. Two years ago her aunt had the same treatment for a tumour. Her own cancer was diagnosed last December. Miss Rounds has now shaved off her blonde hair and is undergoing chemotherapy following surgery . Miss Rounds - along with various family members - has also raised more than £2,000 for Breast Cancer UK by shaving their heads . Miss Rounds had been watching TV when she felt an itch on her right breast and found two lumps. After a GP appointment she was referred to Hereford County Hospital where doctors went against convention to perform a biopsy because of her family history. Just a week later medics asked her to come back - with family members for support - and delivered the news she had two cancerous lumps, grade two and three. 'It was a shock to be told - I didn't expect it at all,' said Miss Rounds. 'I thought it was nothing to worry about because I was so young, fit and healthy, so I didn't think it could be cancer. 'They don't normally do a biopsy until you are 25, but because of my family history I had one. 'They rang me and told me to make an appointment and they said did I have someone to come with me, and I had a feeling.' In the video - which has been viewed nearly 9,000 times, said: 'The reason I am posting this is because I have had so many lovely kind messages off so many people. Miss Rounds (with her daughter) was just 11 when her mother Julie, 46, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a single mastectomy . In the video, she says: 'I never thought I would be sitting in the same position as my mum, at the age of 22, getting told I have breast cancer. It is scary, and it is a shock, and you just don't think it will ever happen to you' 'I just thought instead of me repeating myself to everyone, this would be the easiest way for me to say it, and you will all find out sooner or later. 'I never thought I would be sitting in the same position as my mum, at the age of 22, getting told I have breast cancer. 'It is scary, and it is a shock, and you just don't think it will ever happen to you. 'But with the support of my amazing family, fantastic friends, and my daughter, I will do that and I will kick cancer's butt!' After a family Christmas with partner Jamie, 23, and daughter Ruby May, two, she had a double mastectomy in a four hour operation on January 13. However further tests have revealed the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, so she is now undergoing chemotherapy. 'I'm doing really well and I just want people to know that you can have cancer at this young age, and always just go and get checked'. Miss Rounds - along with various family members - has also raised more than £2,000 for Breast Cancer UK by shaving their heads. To donate to her cause, visit: www.justgiving.com/abigialjeanrounds . +Diego Costa appears increasingly likely to be released by Spain after he was spared a trip to Madrid and had medical tests in London. Costa suffered yet another hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Hull on Sunday, and was checked over by the Spanish FA on Monday. Spain boss Vicente del Bosque made plans for his absence by calling Juanmi, a 21-year-old striker from Malaga, into the squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine on Friday and next week’s friendly against Holland. Chelsea striker Diego Costa was forced off with a hamstring injury during the Blues' 3-2 win over Hull City . Costa (left) talks to manager Jose Mourinho before he is substituted at KC Stadium on Sunday . It will leave Costa free to focus on regaining full fitness for his club’s next game, against Stoke City on Sunday week. Jose Mourinho said club doctor Paco Biosca was against the idea of an operation but Costa may yet consider corrective surgery at the end of the season in an attempt to solve the hamstring problem which has nagged him for a year. Loic Remy, who came on for Costa at Hull and scored the winner, is not in the France squad and will have two weeks to convince Mourinho he deserves more game time. Didier Drogba did not travel to Hull but also expects to be available if Costa is not ready to face Stoke. ‘I know that Diego is the number one,’ said Remy. ‘But when the manager needs me, I give my best for him.’ Costa had scored Chelsea's second goal as they stormed into a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes on Sunday . Hull were able to draw level before half-time and when Costa was subbed off the scores were locked at 2-2 . +Juan Mata has a habit of delivering when you least expect it. While at Stamford Bridge the little Spaniard with the big heart turned up at the office of a Chelsea supporter to deliver him his new club shirt, and had to persuade the receptionist to let him in. Earlier this year, at a Primary School in the impoverished Wythenshawe area of Manchester, he stunned schoolchildren by arriving unannounced armed with dozens of toys. Juan Mata celebrates after scoring a double against Liverpool at Anfield, when Manchester United needed him . Mata's second goal in particular was superb, and showed why United spent so much money on him . The little Spaniard put United ahead in the first half with a tidy finish following an Ander Herrera pass . But United fans have had to wait until now, 14 months after David Moyes paid Chelsea £37m for his services, for him to deliver on the pitch. Why has it taken so long? There is mitigation. Mata's joyous arrival coincided with the miserable final throes of Moyes regime. When the ship is sinking it is hard to dance the tango in the ballroom. Then came Louis van Gaal and a rigid pragmatism the playmaker presumably thought he had escaped when he said farewell to Jose Mourinho. A free spirit, Mata has not been the only one at Old Trafford to take time to digest the platter the Dutchman demands. Van Gaal was quick to take praise following what feels like a seismic 2-1 win in Liverpool, proudly stating that he had now found a position for a man who will never be anything other than a number 10 in a number eight shirt. Mata is beginning to repay the faith shown by Manchester United's fans, who have stuck by him . Louis van Gaal claimed a tactical masterstroke, but he was really only playing Mata in his obvious position . When he arrived at David Moyes' United, Mata was trying to bring momentum to a losing team . The playmaker was allowed to leave Chelsea because Jose Mourinho didn't rate his defensive contributions . But a look at Van Gaal's record would suggest that, given time, he gets it right. Now the same can be said of Mata, although 14 goals in his last 32 appearances would suggest not much was wrong with the 26-year-old in the first place. The statistics show that his talents have ever been in doubt. Since his arrival at Chelsea in 2011, no midfielder has a better joint total of goals and assists in the Premier League. Mata has 65 (31 goals and 34 assists), ahead of compatriot David Silva who has 61 (26 and 35) for United's cross-town rivals despite having played a season more in England. Majestic in the 3-0 romp over Spurs, Mata was at it again at Anfield. His first was provided by another new arrival with a point to prove. Ander Herrera, much to the annoyance of many of the Stretford End faithful, has been absent for long periods of the season. Mata has been excellent in recent weeks, dominating against Tottenham before scoring twice on Sunday . The Spaniard watches his wonderful volley fly into the top corner, as he announced his arrival at Anfield . The man from the Basque country has basked in the limelight of the first team and his defence-splitting pass for Mata illustrated what United have been missing. Mata, showing a surprising turn of pace, finished clinically into the bottom corner - but the moment United fans will forever remember came when he contorted his tiny frame to rifle a Mark Hughes-esque scissor-volley from Angel Di Maria's pass past a helpless Simon Mignolet. Forget the helicopter landing at Carrington, Mata had finally arrived. In the away end there was delirium. Scoring any kind of goal against the old enemy can provoke that kind of response from the most sober of United fan. In the commentary box there wee gasps. Thierry Henry, a man who knows all about the sublime, hailed the strike as ridiculous. Many will not have seen it coming but plenty of those who did needed no reminder of his talents. In a Wetherspoon's close to the KC Stadium, where Chelsea were playing Hull City, there were groans from visiting supporters watching on television as Mata volleyed in United's second. Those supping cut-price ale in the Admiral of the Humber will no doubt know all about the importance of good deals but many watching events unfold from the other end of the M62 voiced their opinion that Jose Mourinho was wrong to let the playmaker go, despite the hefty fee the dainty man delivered. Since arriving in England, Mata has more goals and assists combined than any other Premier League player . Manchester City star David Silva is behind Mata statistically, despite having been in the league a year longer . Chelsea fans were upset to lose their creative spark, and could now do with some of his quality in midfield . Some think that Mata's old club, despite running away with the Premier League, lack creativity in his absence and can only dream of a world in which he creates chances for Diego Costa. They bemoan their Portugese manager's insistence of only selecting prototypes, those who will race back and do their part in the Mourinho masterplan to stifle the opposition. Their loss, it would finally appear, looks set to be United's gain. +Harry Kane deservedly tops this week's EA Sports' Performance Index after another pulsating weekend of Premier League football. Following his first call-up to the senior England squad, the 21-year-old striker capped a memorable week by netting his first Premier League hat-trick to help Spurs to a 4-3 victory against Leicester City. Kane is now the Premier League's joint-top scorer alongside Diego Costa and continues to lead the line brilliantly for Mauricio Pochettino's side while earning a Game Index score of 71, which is 11 points higher than Olivier Giroud in second place. Harry Kane went home with the match ball after scoring his first ever Premier League hat-trick . Kane slots past Kasper Schmeichel during Tottenham's 4-3 victory against Leicester City on Saturday . The EA Sports PPI is the official player rating index of the Premier League. It measures a player's contribution to the success of his team. The intention is to remove any opinion bias and only work with proven statistical measurements which become more accurate as the season progresses. So, what are the six indices? 1. Winning performance . 2. Player's performance per match . 3. Appearances . 4. Goals scored . 5. Assists . 6. Clean sheets . Arsenal's French frontman earns the runner-up spot following another impressive brace which helped the Gunners put John Carver's Newcastle to the sword on Saturday. Giroud gave Newcastle defender Mike Williamson a torrid first 45 minutes in which he scored twice and completed 81.6 per cent of his passes for Arsene Wenger's side. Manchester United's midfielder Juan Mata completes the top three with a Game Index total of 56.3 after a stunning double against Liverpool as the Old Trafford club earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Anfield. Other names to make the top 10 list this week include Aaron Lennon thanks to his first goal in an Everton shirt and Manchester City's Fernando, who scored the crucial second goal while clocking up a 98 per cent pass completion rate against West Brom. Jose Mourinho's Chelsea got off to a flying start in the 3-2 victory against Hull and it was their star man Eden Hazard that put his side ahead inside two minutes. Hazard's brilliant display added with an 11th domestic strike of the season means the Belgian grabs sixth spot. Olivier Giroud scored twice as Arsenal struggled to a 2-1 victory against Newcastle United . Eden Hazard (left) celebrates putting Chelsea into an early 1-0 lead against Hull City . +Manchester United will listen to loan offers for rookie defender Tyler Blackett this week. And the 20-year-old will also be considered for a season-long loan away from Old Trafford next season. Blackett has made the breakthrough into the United first-team this campaign, making 10 appearances for the club. Manchester United are set to listen to loan offers for defender Tyler Blackett . Blackett has made 10 appearances for Louis van Gaal's side this season since breaking through . His performances even earned him a new two-year contract. But the youngster hasn't played since the 1-0 home defeat to Southampton on January 11. There is a belief among some coaches at Old Trafford that Blackett needs to toughen up before he can be considered as regular for Louis van Gaal's side. Blackett comes on for Manchester United defender Luke Shaw against Southampton at Old Trafford . Blackett battles for the ball with Yeovil Town's Kevin Dawson during the game at Huish Park . And United could send the Blackett on loan to the Championship before Thursday's Football League loan deadline to give him vital senior experience. Likewise, Blackett is set for a loan switch away ahead of the start of next season as they look to groom him for United's first team. +Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the fraternity at the center of the racist University of Oklahoma video, has its roots in the pre-Civil War Deep South. 'We came up from Dixie land,' says a ditty from an old songbook, boasting about SAE's success. Now, nearly 160 years after its founding at the University of Alabama, another song - this one chanted by members of the frat's University of Oklahoma chapter and containing racial slurs and lynching references - hearkens back to the bad old times in the land of cotton and puts a new spotlight on the group's activities over the years. SAE officials insist the chant is neither a sanctioned song nor is it taught to fraternity members. This is believed to be a portrait of the original founding members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in 1856 at the University of Alabama . Chappell Cook (bottom row, second from right) objected to the fraternity expanding North because he believed 'agitation' over slavery would make it impossible for 'harmony' Though the fraternity has its own fraught racial history. Members originally planned to keep the fraternity on in the South. When the question of 'Northern Expansion' was brought up, one charter member - later a Confederate army surgeon - said he didn't think heading north was wise because 'the constant agitation of the slavery question' would make getting along impossible. It is claimed that the fraternity did not invite a black member until 1966 - and it took one activist brother seven ballots and a threat to ban every other new pledge before the other brothers assented. In more recent years, fraternity chapters across the country have gotten into trouble over racial incidents - including a hip hop-themed 'Cripmas party' at Clemson University and an entire chapter being suspended at Washington University at St. Louis in 2013 over allegations of racial insensitivity. If there are any other chapters that use the song, 'we need to address that with those chapters and stop it immediately to stamp out this type of behavior,' said Sigma Alpha Epsilon spokesman Brandon Weghorst. The lyrics 'are so hateful and spiteful that it's embarrassing to think that Sigma Alpha Epsilon members would even know the chant or how it goes, if they've heard it.' The fraternity was also investigating reports of other SAE incidents that may have been tainted with racism, Weghorst said. Outed: Levi Pettit was identified by his family on Tuesday night. They apologized for his 'disgusting' behavior. Right, Pettit - an accomplished golfer at his former school Highland Park - is pictured putting in a 2013 photo . Parker Rice, a University of Oklahoma freshman from Dallas, has been identified as the conductor leading the 'there will never be a n***** in SEA' chant on Saturday . SAE began on the Tuscaloosa campus on March 9, 1856, a few months after Noble Leslie DeVotie outlined his vision to a close circle of friends during a stroll along the banks of the Black Warrior River. The initial members visualized 'a bond which would hold them together for all time,' William C. Levere wrote in a 1916 history of the fraternity. 'So it came about that in the late hours of a stormy night, the friends met in the old southern mansion and by the flicker of dripping candles organized Sigma Alpha Epsilon.' More chapters were soon launched in Tennessee, North Carolina and even Washington, D.C., at what is now George Washington University. But the founders weren't interested in a national presence. According to Levere, it was their intention 'to confine the fraternity to the southern states.' When a North Carolina chapter member raised the topic of a 'Northern Extension,' charter member Thomas Chappell Cook - who later served as a surgeon in the Confederate army - responded that 'the constant agitation of the slavery question was a barrier to northern chapters, as it would preclude the possibility of harmony.' The Civil War soon put an end to the internal debate. The fraternity's charter was surrendered in 1861 because of the fighting. The Washington City Rho chapter was the only one to emerge from the war intact. SAE would not return to its birthplace until 1886, after the Reconstruction-era ban on 'secret societies' was relaxed and the school's trustees, in the words of Levere, repealed 'its obnoxious anti-fraternity laws.' In the meantime, the fraternity had granted its first Northern charter in 1883 to, of all schools, Pennsylvania College — the abolitionist institution now known as Gettysburg College. The editors of the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture call SAE 'the first Greek-letter society founded in Dixie to take permanent root ...' Even in those early years, the fraternity sought to prove that it's more than just a provincial organization. The international headquarters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is seen in Evanston, Illinois. The organization re-located to Illinois after being founded in pre-Civil War Alabama . SAE was proud to claim President William McKinley as a member at Ohio's Mount Union College — even though it was an honorary initiation that came long after McKinley's college days. In December 1930, the fraternity dedicated its international headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. But, like other fraternities North and South, SAE had not yet embraced racial diversity. In his 2013 book, 'The People's Advocate,' attorney Daniel P. Sheehan claims credit for championing the bid of Tommy Williamson, who he wrote was 'the first black man to ever receive a nomination for membership in SAE in the entire history of that old, traditional southern fraternity.' According to Sheehan, he was social chairman of SAE's Harvard chapter in 1966. He and Williamson, a defensive lineman on the Crimson football team, both lived at Kirkland House, and Williamson's was the first name he called when it was time to vote for new members. On the first ballot, Sheehan said, Williamson received three 'blackballs,' or negative votes. Sheehan then announced he would blackball every other nominee until whoever had blocked Williamson 'fessed up and gave us their reasons,' he wrote. It took six more ballots for a member to admit that he was voting against Williamson because he'd heard that the Piedmont, California, native 'dated white women.' Sheehan said Williamson's nomination was approved on the seventh ballot. But when Sheehan told him how the vote had gone down, he wrote, Williamson declined the invitation. Reached by telephone Tuesday, Williamson, who practices employment law in Washington, D.C., told The Associated Press that he wasn't really all that interested in joining a fraternity, especially if some members didn't want him. This is the University of Alabama SAE house. The fraternity was founded on this campus - though forced to shut down after the Civil War . 'I didn't want to be the sort of obsessive token negro that, wherever you could be the first black person to do something, you would do that just because you thought white people thought that would help move their organization ahead,' he said. In a phone interview Tuesday, Sheehan, who practices constitutional law and teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said of the Oklahoma video: 'That's pretty stunning, actually. I'm glad they shut that chapter down.' Brandon Weghorst, an SAE spokesman, was unable to say whether Williamson was indeed the first black man formally invited to join a chapter. 'Only within the last couple of years has the organization started to track the ethnicity of people who join the organization,' he said. SAE has had its share of controversy in more recent years. In 1988, the founding chapter was suspended again — this time for violations of the university's drug codes. The suspension was lifted two years later, only to be levied again in 1992 when the chapter failed to meet the goals outlined for reinstatement. Most of the actions taken against SAE in the past have been for infractions of a non-racial nature. But the University of Oklahoma video is not an isolated incident. Last year, SAE reached what it called 'a historic milestone' — becoming the first large national fraternity to eliminate the pledge process. 'Instead, we have implemented a holistic education known as the True Gentleman Experience,' SAE says on its website. 'It provides education throughout a member's collegiate tenure and fosters both personal and professional development.' On its website, Sigma Alpha Epsilon says its mission, based on ideals set forth by the founders, is 'to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, and service ...' The fraternity's creed, 'The True Gentleman,' specifies conduct that 'proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety.' On Monday, the national organization suspended the Oklahoma chapter for failing to live up to that creed. +Rafael Nadal will make his first appearance at London's Queen's Club in four years this summer as the main part of his Wimbledon preparation. The world No 3 has opted for the Aegon Championships over the rival event in Halle, Germany, as he seeks to rediscover his best form on grass. Nadal's best years at SW19, including his two titles in 2008 and 2010, have come when he has done the bulk of his preparation in the capital. Rafael Nadal will return to the Queen's Club this summer for the first time in four years . Nadal poses with the Queen's Club trophy in the locker room after winning the tournament in 2008 . It is also different this summer in that there is a three-week gap between Roland Garros and Wimbledon, therefore allowing him a week's rest after his usual run to the finals weekend in Paris. Nadal said: 'I always loved playing at The Queen’s Club and I am very happy that I will be back this year. 'It was a great experience for me to lift the trophy in 2008 because it is such an important and traditional tournament. To win Wimbledon a few weeks later was like a dream. Nadal ends up on his back during a match against Radek Stepanek at Queen's in 2011 . Nadal bites the Wimbledon trophy after winning the Championships for the second time in 2010 . 'Coming to the Aegon Championships helps with the adjustment from clay to grass because the grass courts at Queen’s are so good. 'It is also a tournament where the people are very nice - the organisers and of course the spectators who always make me feel very welcome in London.' Andy Murray will be his main rival for the title. Murray is back in his second home for the Miami Open this week, where Heather Watson and Kyle Edmund will also feature in the main draw. Third seed Murray has been given a first-round bye and will face Donald Young or Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round, while Watson and Edmund both face qualifiers in their respective openers. Andy Murray (right) shakes hands with world No 1 Novak Djokovic after the Indian Wells semi-final . +Uncapped Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason has been called up to the England squad for the first time. The Football Association (FA) announced on Monday night that Mason, 23, had been drafted into the national squad for the upcoming games against Lithuania and Italy as Fabian Delph is struggling with illness and Adam Lallana has been ruled out through injury. Ryan Mason (right) has been drafted into the England squad for games against Lithuania and Italy . Goalkeepers . Jack Butland, Robert Green, Joe Hart . Defenders . Danny Rose, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker, Nathaniel Clyne, Phil Jones, Kieran Gibbs, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill. Midfielders . Michael Carrick, Theo Walcott, Ross Barkley, Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Raheem Sterling, Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend . Forwards . Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane . Aston Villa midfielder Delph is suffering from a stomach bug and Lallana has pulled out of the double-header after he sustained a groin injury in Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday. Lallana was substituted at half-time during Sunday's game at Anfield and did not meet with the rest of his international team-mates at St George's Park on Monday afternoon. Reports had suggested his Liverpool team-mate Daniel Sturridge was struggling with a hip injury, but he joined the squad in Burton and there was no mention of the striker in the statement the FA issued on Monday evening. 'Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Ryan Mason has been drafted into Roy Hodgson's England squad,' the statement read. 'The inclusion of the 23-year-old follows the withdrawal of Liverpool's Adam Lallana through injury. Mason has enjoyed a super season at Tottenham and caught the eye of England boss Hodgson . 'Mason, a regular for Spurs this season, has previously represented the Three Lions at U19 and U20 level. 'Lallana wasn't the only absentee as the senior squad gathered at St. George's Park on Monday afternoon in preparation for the forthcoming fixtures against Lithuania and Italy. 'Aston Villa's Fabian Delph remained at home with a sickness bug but is expected to link up with the team later this week.' Mason will link up with Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney on England duty . Adam Lallana was forced to withdraw after the Liverpool midfielder suffered a groin injury . ASton Villa's Fabian Delph has been forced to delay his arrival due to a sickness bug . +Rafael Nadal lost his quarter-final clash with Milos Raonic in Indian Wells but believes his performance showed he is getting back to his best. The defeat meant Nadal missed the chance of joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray in the semi-finals for the first time since the 2012 Australian Open. But, after Raonic saved three match points to spring the shock, the Spaniard admitted: ‘I’m leaving Indian Wells with the feeling that I had a big chance to do more and with the feeling that I was ready to compete again well. Rafael Nadal believes he's closing in on being back to his best after a promising Indian Wells display . ‘I think a match like this obviously is much better if you win but, even losing, I’m 90 per cent sure that will help me.’ The three-time Indian Wells winner added: ‘It’s true that I didn’t compete at that level of intensity mentally in tennis for a long time. ‘I was able to be very focused, playing with positive energy for three hours, so that’s great news for me, because that’s the way I competed during all of my career.’ Milos Raonic upset the Spaniard and saved three match points in the process of winning the clash . Canadian Raonic looked like he might be heading out after losing the first set inside 36 minutes, but he rallied to save three match points in an epic second-set tie-break, forcing a deciding set. The sixth seed, who fired 19 aces and also saved six break points, finally ended Nadal’s perfect record against Canadians by earning a break in the third and clinching a 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory. After his first win over Nadal, Raonic said: ‘At the moments when I was playing those match points, it didn’t really feel like match points. Nadal has had an injury hit 18 months but now looks to come back stronger and hopes to win more titles . ‘It was just like another point that I was trying to get through, sort of going through the paces at that moment of what I need to do, not really signifying it as a match point. ‘It’s really great what I was able to do today and I’m very happy with it but I don’t let myself get caught up because this isn’t where it ends. There is a lot more to achieve.’ It does not get any easier for Raonic, with Federer his semi-final opponent. The Swiss master reached the last four with a routine 6-4, 6-0 victory over Tomas Berdych. The impressive Canadian progresses to the semi-finals as his reputation continues to grow . He had 21 winners, equalling the number of unforced errors by Berdych, won 13 of 14 points at the net, never faced a break point on his serve and broke Berdych four times in the match, including three times in the second set. A clearly delighted Federer said: ‘It’s not just another win but another win against a top 10 player — against Berdych, who has played me tough in recent years. I was really able to utilise the court much more, play more angles, play with variation, spin and slice. I did that very well. ‘Because I was serving well and moving well, so maybe there is not going to be that many chances for him on the return.’ +Mesut Ozil will be carpeted by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after being spotted in a Berlin nightclub just hours after missing the club’s game at Newcastle because he had a cold. The German international, the club’s £42.5million record signing, was left out of the match-day squad because he felt under the weather. And Wenger gave him permission to fly back to his homeland early to prepare for tomorrow’s friendly against Australia. But instead of nursing his illness he was pictured in a club on Saturday night. Mesut Ozil missed Arsenal's game against Newcastle before being reportedly spotted at a nightclub . Ozil joins Sami Khedira for a Germany training session in Frankfurt on Monday . His decision to go out partying leaves question marks over his omission from the squad to face John Carver's side on Saturday. And manager Wenger will remind the club's record signing of his responsibilities in a face-to-face meeting when he returns from international duty following Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier in Georgia. Ozil would probably have travelled to Germany after the clash at St James’ Park anyway, but his actions after being allowed time off will leave Arsenal’s management unimpressed. Wenger rarely lets players who tarnish the club's reputation get away without, at the very least, a stern talking to. Germany coach Joachim Low (centre) watches training ahead of their games against Australia and Gerogia . Ozil appeared in high spirits during training but is likely to have to answer to Arsene Wenger on his return . Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was fined after being caught smoking in the dressing room following the New Year's Day loss at Southampton. Likewise, Wenger has warned midfielder Jack Wilshere over his conduct after he was twice photographed with a cigarette. After a mediocre start to his Arsenal career since joining from Real Madrid in 2013, Ozil is slowly starting to find his form. Despite being caught out over the weekend, Ozil is still likely to start against Liverpool after the international break. Olivier Giroud (centre) scored twice against Newcastle to earn a sixth successive win since Monaco defeat . Wojciech Szczesny has not started a league game since being fined for smoking after Southampton loss . +Sportsmail's Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel did the double at the 2014 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards on Monday, picking up Columnist and Sports Writer of the Year. The Daily Mail was named Newspaper of the Year, while Matt Lawton picked up Sports News Reporter of the Year and Graham Chadwick scooped Sports News Picture of the Year. Elsewhere, Jack Gaughan and Adam Crafton were both highly commended in the Young Sports Journalist of the Year category to top off an exceptional night for Sportsmail. Martin Samuel, Graham Chadwick, head of sport Lee Clayton and Matt Lawton (left-right) pose for a photo on a successful night for Sportsmail at the 2014 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards . Samuel picked up the Sports Writer of the Year award for a record-equalling sixth time on Monday night . Clayton with the Newspaper of the Year award - presented to the Mail's head of sport by David Walker . Lawton received the sports news reporter of the year award from Andy Elliott at Monday's bash . Lawton won Sports News Reporter after an impressive year, in which he broke the Malky Mackay scandal . Sports Writer of the Year: Martin Samuel . Sports Columnist of the Year: Martin Samuel . Newspaper of the Year: Daily Mail . Sports News Reporter of the Year: Matt Lawton . Sports News Picture of the Year: Graham Chadwick . Young Sports Journalists of the Year: Jack Gaughan and Adam Crafton (both highly commended) Samuel claimed a record-equaling sixth Sports Writer of the Year gong after picking up the award in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013. He is now on level terms with Hugh McIlvanney, and goes one ahead of former Sportsmail legend Ian Wooldridge and former Mail on Sunday Chief Sports writer Patrick Collins, who retired earlier in the year. Samuel fought off stiff competition to collect the Sports Columnist of the Year award earlier in the night, with the judges stating: 'His views are strong and fresh, frequently contrary to that held by the general public, but always backed up by good factual information.' The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday's Chief Sports Reporter Lawton scooped his award after an impressive year, in which he broke the news of Malky Mackay and Iain Moody's text scandal during their time at Cardiff. Sportsmail's Graham Chadwick won Sports News Picture of the Year for this image of Jamie Donaldson - taken at Gleneagles just after the Welshman sealed Europe's Ryder Cup win over the United States . Sportsmail pair Jack Gaughan (left) and Adam Crafton (right) were both highly commended in the Young Sports Journalist of the Year category . His award comes less than a fortnight after he was named Sports Journalist of the Year at the UK Press Awards, receiving praise for not only his Mackay exclusive, but also interviews with sacked Manchester United manager David Moyes and cricketer Jonathan Trott. Elsewhere, the Mail on Sunday's Chief Sports News Correspondent Nick Harris enjoyed success on a personal note, picking up the award for Specialist Sports Website for Sporting Intelligence. Collins, meanwhile, has also taken over as president of the Sports Journalists' Association. Collins, who retired in January after almost 50 years on Fleet Street - the last 32 at the Mail on Sunday - takes the reigns from Sir Michael Parkinson. During his stellar career, Collins picked up 11 SJA awards, including SJA Sports Writer of the Year a remarkable five times. Patrick Collins, who retired in February after almost 50 years on Fleet Street, is now president of the SJA . BBC's Mike Ingham (3rd right) received the Doug Gardner Award for services to sports journalism . +When it comes to judging players, there are not too many more qualified than Kaka. The 2007 Ballon d'Or winner and FIFA World Player of the Year, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to the accolade that season, has selected the best eleven players he has played alongside or against for Sportsmail. It is a diverse mix of astonishing ability and experience from the different eras his career has spanned to date, from his humble beginnings at Sao Paulo in 2000 to joining MLS side Orlando City in 2014. Playing for AC Milan twice and Real Madrid in between has meant there are few of the planet's superstars of the past 15 years that he has not played for or against. In a team packed with stars, there is no place for Lionel Messi in his side. Here, in his own words, Kaka takes you through his best XI. Kaka (left), pictured in action against Houston Dynamo, has revealed his best XI exclusively to Sportsmail . Kaka has played for European giants AC Milan (left) and Real Madrid (right) during his distinguished career . Kaka, pictured celebrating a goal against Croatia at the 2006 World Cup, has also won 89 caps for Brazil . EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Oscar and Ozil tell me I should come to the Premier League but I'm so happy in Orlando . KAKA'S TOP FIVE GOALS: From a solo strike against Man United to a deflected free-kick for new side Orlando City . GOALKEEPER . Dida . I played with Iker Casillas for four years at Real Madrid, but for me Dida is the best goalkeeper. We played together and won together at AC Milan and for the Brazil national team. He is an unbelievable keeper. Goalkeeper Dida, pictured making a save at the 2006 World Cup, played with Kaka for Brazil and AC Milan . DEFENCE . Cafu . Every time I have to say something about players that I've learnt a lot from, I talk about Cafu. He won the World Cup twice and the Champions League, but still he worked every day to win. His motivation was always victory in the next game. Cafu, pictured kissing the 2002 World Cup in Japan, played for Brazil for 16 years before retiring in 2008 . Paolo Maldini . He is similar to Cafu. He won five Champions Leagues, he won Serie A seven times, he won so much, but he was always the first to arrive and the last to go home from training. He was the perfect example to a player. AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini (left) led the Serie A club to both domestic and European glory across 24 years . Alessandro Nesta . The Italian players, they see the game in a different way to other nations. They grow up learning about tactics so when they play professionally they can see where to position themselves and how to move and what the opponents will do. It made Nesta such a strong defender and he was so quick, too. Alessandro Nesta (left) tussles with Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt during the 2007 Champions League final in Athens . Roberto Carlos . What an amazing player he was. So exciting at left back. I enjoyed playing with him. He was quick, strong and could hit some unbelievable free kicks and shots at goal. Roberto Carlos (left) became one of the world's finest full backs with Real Madrid and Brazil . MIDFIELD . Andres Iniesta . He makes the toughest things on a football pitch look easy. That's the biggest compliment I can pay him. How he plays, everything seems so simple. This is what I like about him. Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta brings the ball forward during Sunday's clash with Real Madrid . Zinedine Zidane . I never played with Zidane, just against him. It was wonderful how he played, how he moved around the field. It was like he was gliding. What he could do with a football, it was sometimes impossible to imagine. Zinedine Zidane (centre), pictured in action in 2005, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time . Andrea Pirlo . I loved to play with Pirlo. I think he's one of the greats. He sees the action before anyone else does on the pitch. My position was to play behind the lines, and he found me every time he could find me. Andrea Pirlo, pictured playing for Juventus this season, starred alongside Kaka at AC Milan . ATTACK . Cristiano Ronaldo . I will have the three Ronaldo's up front, starting with Cristiano. I learnt a lot from him, which helped in my career, when we played for Real Madrid. He is the best player on the planet at the moment, a special player. Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring for Real Madrid in Sunday night's El Clasico at the Nou Camp . Ronaldo . For me, the Brazilian Ronaldo is one of the best strikers in the history of the game. He is different to anyone. I would have to say he was the best player I played together with. His speed, his dribbling, his finishing, his movement. I love him. Kaka counts Ronaldo, pictured in action at the 2006 World Cup, as the best player he has ever played with . Ronaldinho . I played against Lionel Messi, but Ronaldinho makes my final slot. He is a genius. He can do things with the ball you don't understand. During training you see a lot of things you don't see in the game. In training he was free from the emotional part, the responsibility of matches. In training he was free to do what he wanted. Kaka has described his former Brazil and AC Milan team-mate Ronaldinho as a 'genius' with the ball . +The Premier League will have to wait at least three seasons before video technology can be possibly be introduced. It is the Dutch FA (KNVB) who are leading the way in trials of a system to aid referees. However, their bid to introduce the technology in cup matches from next season was rejected by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) last month. Referees chief Mike Riley has called for the arrival of video technology into the Premier League . Given the increasing number of controversies in the Premier League, referees’ chief Mike Riley has called for its arrival in the English top-flight. But the IFAB have delayed any decision for 12 months at least, meaning the earliest we could see video assistance for referees will be the 2017/18 season. The Dutch are certainly confident their process could work. It involves a fifth official located in a video room with access to instant replays. During Eredivisie games they have been trialling how long it would take that official to make a correct judgment on key incidents only, such as red cards, penalties and fouls before goals. They have found that an average of two to three crucial decisions per game can each be resolved within five to 20 seconds, with the official having a direct audio link to the referee. Should the IFAB give the go-ahead for trials of this system – or another one – in competitive matches during the 2016/17 campaign, they would then want to see it used in a FIFA age-grade tournament before giving permission for video technology to be implemented in the Premier League and elsewhere around the world. With Goal-line technology in use, and calls for videos to help with penalties and red cards too have risen too . Meanwhile, the notion of a ‘challenge system’ for managers has been rejected for fear of it being used for tactical gain. FA chairman Greg Dyke will offer his full backing to any attempts to expand the use of video technology and will even volunteer English football to operate trials. ‘In 20 years we’ll look back and say: “Wasn’t it quaint that we didn’t use video technology?”’ said Dyke. ‘When we discussed it at IFAB, even the ones who were most against it accept it’s going to happen. ‘If we’re going to do it sometime, why don’t we do it now? We are 100 per cent behind it. I suspect we would like to do an experiment, but you’d have to get that throu . FA chairman Greg Dyke has backed any attempts to expand the use of video technology in football . +A Texas lawyer has come forward claiming he is responsible for plastering stickers that read 'Exclusively For White People' onto business storefronts last week. Adam Reposa, 40, a criminal defense attorney explained why he put up the stickers in a video posted on Thursday, titled Why I did it. A shirtless Reposa is seen saying it would be obvious that even though people know the real problem, which is that 'people without money are getting pretty f***ed, they are getting pushed out and pretty quick this area of town is turning into whites only'. Scroll down for video . Adam Reposa, 40, a criminal defense attorney explained why he put up the stickers in a video posted on Thursday, titled Why I did it (above Reposa in his video) These stickers appeared last week between Tuesday and Wednesday on the storefronts of at least six Austin, Texas businesses . While it appears Reposa is claiming gentrification as his defense, Austin NAACP president said the issues in the community run deeper and Reposa's actions add to the problems, according to KVUE. Nelson Linder said: 'It's repugnant and also alarming, and also indicative of a mentality that doesn't understand race relations. 'So if you're trying to help race relations, you just did the worst thing you could possibly do.' A shirtless Reposa is seen saying it would be obvious that even though people know the real problem, which is that 'people without money are getting pretty f***ed, they are getting pushed out and pretty quick this area of town is turning into whites only' He said: 'Everyone is going to jump on "that's racist, that's racist", man this town and the way s*** works is racist . On Wednesday, a picture of the sticker on a local business surfaced on Facebook causing outrage after at least six businesses were left with the seals. Each one read in its entirety: 'Exclusively For White People. Maximum of five colored customers. Colored BOH (back of the house) staff accepted. Sponsored by the City of Austin Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program.' Reposa said he is not worried about offending people or stirring up racial tension. 'I've seen nothing but the emotional attachment that human beings place on events in history,' he said. 'It's regrettable and unfortunate and as soon as we can step beyond that precious of mawkish emotionality and just look at the real facts like human beings, is the moment that we have the chance for real progress.' In the video, Reposa said that everyone attacked the stickers saying 'it's racist' but did not consider the 'condition of the way things are'. While it appears Reposa is claiming gentrification as his defense, Austin NAACP president said the issues in the community run deeper and Reposa's actions add to the problems . Reposa said he is not worried about offending people or stirring up racial tension . He said: 'Everyone is going to jump on "that's racist, that's racist", man this town and the way s*** works is racist. 'But I knew I could bait all of y'all into being as stupid as you are and allowing the issue to be framed of the in the most simple way. "Oh he said an offensive term, let's not worry about the actually condition of the way things are, let's worry about an offensive term". 'And that's how they got it, they got it sewed up and they got this poor girl coming out here saying "it hurt my feelings", man who cares about your feelings man. Seriously? 'Are y'all gonna get pulled around like that y'alls' entire lives, or y'all just gonna stop givin a f***? I don't give a f*** and look at me. 'I use the technology every day to create possibilities. Apply the technology in your life and stop worrying about getting snitched on because it don't make a f*** what I did because I'm gonna do it again, I don't give a f***.' The 'technology' that Reposa references in the video is linked to a Facebook page that reads: 'Taking human beings out of a false sense of belief and into the darkness by removing any meaning attached to any event in life.' Reposa also wrote a sarcastic post on his personal page saying that he was not aware highlighting institutional racism was 'so repugnant'. It was reported that he said the full story would be revealed in a press conference on Friday . On the page he explains that the result of the 'The Technology' is that people 'who give a f*** passionately express their beliefs'. He also wrote a sarcastic post on his personal page saying that he was not aware highlighting institutional racism was 'so repugnant'. He wrote: 'My f***ing bad y'all. I had no idea that pointing to institutional racism was so repugnant. Wait a second, am I giving a f***. F*** that. I ain't sorry. I ain't nothing but a particle floating through the darkness.' He also wrote a sarcastic post on his personal Facebook page (above) saying that he was not aware highlighting institutional racism was 'so repugnant' Last week, staff at an East Austin bakery were left horrified were wondering who would want to announce to their customers 'Maximum of 5 colored customers/colored BOH staff accepted.' 'As a multiracial family with a multiracial staff, there's nothing funny about this … It's sick,' Olivia Guerra O'Neal, owner of Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, told KXAN following the incident. 'We are disgusted by this act of vandalism and cowardice.' The stickers also appeared during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday on a Mexican restaurant, clothing store, bicycle shop and others. The stickers feature what looks like an official City of Austin seal and the message 'sponsored by the City of Austin Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program.' However, Austin Mayor Steve Adler spoke out making it clear his city had absolutely nothing to do with the stickers. Video from KEYE-TV . The stickers said they were sponsored by Austin's 'Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program' along with an official-looking city seal, which led the mayor to condemn the confusing prank. Austin Mayor Steve (right) Adler spoke out making it clear his city had absolutely nothing to do with the stickers . 'This is an appalling and offensive display of ignorance in our city. Austin condemns this type of hurtful behavior. Our city is a place where respect for all people is a part of our spirit and soul. We will keep it that way,' Adler said in a statement. 'Some jokes are not funny,' Texas House of Representatives member Dawnna Duke wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday along with a photo of a sticker affixed to clothing store Rare Trends. 'If this is a joke at all, it is tasteless...I will be damned if this will occur in my House District … in this historical black community or any community.' Regardless of its intent, Sugar Mama's employees labeled it a hate crime. 'Today we were the victim of what I consider to be a hate crime against our family and staff at our Eastside location,' reads a post on the bakery's Instagram feed from last week. 'Our business was built on family and love and we will let that shine on.' Reposa told the Huffington Post on Sunday that the full story would be released in a press conference on Friday. Austin police said they are aware of Reposa's YouTube video and are investigating, and he could possibly face vandalism charges. +A Florida couple were allegedly caught having sex in a parked truck in clear view of children at playground in Florida. The couple was reported in a phone call to the Greenacres Police Department around 5pm that day, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Multiple children were reportedly less than 200 feet away while the duo engaged in intercourse. Couple: Shane Johnson, left, and Danielle Stager, right, were allegedly having sex in a parked truck on Friday - with children at a playground able to see what was going on . Citing the arrest report, the Sun-Sentinel said a police officer discovered 26-year-old Danielle Stager and 38-year-old Shane Johnson as they had sex in a parked truck. Per the newspaper, Stager allegedly told Johnson 'Shane, we are going to jail' after she noticed the officer's presence. Police told WPTV that Stager and Johnson were 180 feet away from a daycare group. Children could clearly see the couple, authorities told the television station. The Sun-Sentinel reported that four children told cops the couple had been beside a tree and had their pants lowered. The newspaper reported that though the pair were outside near the tree when they began, they could still be seen after relocating. Stager and Johnson are facing lewd or lascivious behavior charges and were released from jail over the weekend, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Account: Four children were at the playground, and told cops the couple had been beside a tree and had their pants lowered (file photo) +Luis Suarez may have been Barcelona's goal hero in Sunday's El Clasico but it was Gerard Pique who won the plaudits for his flawless display. A survey of Barca fans voted defender Pique man of the match in the 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at the Nou Camp. After his impressive performance, Pique left the stadium with his pop star girlfriend Shakira . Gerard Pique was at his very best at the heart of the Barcelona defence against Real Madrid . The 28-year-old collected 44.9 per cent of the vote, following by Suarez with 28.2 per cent and Lionel Messi (17.9 per cent). Former Barcelona defender Carlos Puyol was among his many admirers, congratulated him via Twitter for his great performance. Gerard Pique has turned things round at Barcelona and was impressive at the Nou Camp . Real Madrid's Gareth Bale is tackled by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique on Sunday night . Pique was one of three Barcelona players, along with Jeremy Mathieu and Jordi Alba, who made 10 interceptions. Dani Alves made nine. The four defenders only committed three fouls all night, and Pique didn’t commit any in a game in which 12 players were booked by the referee. Luis Suarez celebrates scoring the winner for Barcelona against Real Madrid . Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equaliser but was not able to lead his side to victory at the Nou Camp . Sportsmail's Rik Sharma awarded PIque 9/10 for his 'world-class' performance against Real Madrid. He said: 'This was a performance from the defender which some believed was beyond him after his fall from grace. Got his head to every ball when it mattered and executed some perfect tackles.' +Nico Rosberg has taken his preparations for the Malaysian Grand Prix to a whole new level after climbing to the top of one of the giant Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. The Mercedes star, who finished second in the opening race of the season in Australia, filmed himself and some friends making their way up the 88-floor building on foot. Rosberg and his pals managed all 2,170 steps to reach the top of the 1,483 foot building, leaving them with amazing views over the Malaysian capital. VIDEO Scroll down to see Nico Rosberg climb one of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur . Nico Rosberg and his friends pose in front of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . The Mercedes driver films himself and his friends climbing the 2,170 steps to the top of tower . Rosberg (left) makes his way towards the top of the building - which was the tallest in the world until 2004 . The German appears determined to get himself in the best possible shape for Sunday's Grand Prix after finishing behind rival Lewis Hamilton on March 15. But the gruelling climb to the top of the Petronas Towers - which were the world's tallest buildings between 1998 and 2004 - remains a far cry from Rosberg's perfect day. Speaking about his ideal way to spend 24 hours, he told The Daily Telegraph: 'My wife and I would be alone in our place in Monaco. She would make me some healthy pancakes before we go off on our bikes for an hour and have lunch on the beach. Rosberg shows off an amazing view of Kuala Lumpur after reaching the top of one of the Petronas Towers . Rosberg takes his place on the podium after finishing second in the Australian Gran Prix earlier this month . The German will be looking to go one better when he races in the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend . 'We’d take an afternoon nap and, as the sun sets, we’d take the car through the mountains. And then in the evening I’d mess around looking at old cars in magazines and have dinner cooked by my wife at home using the fresh vegetables from our biogarden. 'And then we’d fall asleep watching an educational documentary. I need to do this day really soon.' +Philadelphia Eagles legend Chuck Bednarik died Saturday following a brief illness. He was 89. Bednarik, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the last outstanding two-way NFL players, passed away at an assisted living facility in Richland, Pennsylvania, the team announced. Bednarik played a franchise-record 14 seasons with the Eagles from 1949 to 1962 and was part of two NFL championship teams in 1949 and 1960. Philadelphia Eagles legend Chuck Bednarik died on Saturday following a brief illness, the club announced . Chuck Bednarik lines up for a play against Charlie Conerly of the New York Giants at Franklin Field in 1961 . He delivered a legendary performance in the 1960 NFL Championship Game, playing nearly every minute at both linebacker and center against the Green Bay Packers. With seconds remaining in the game and Packers running back Jim Taylor headed for the end zone, Bednarik made a game-saving tackle as time ran out, preserving a 17-13 Eagles victory. The Eagles tweeted a tribute to Bednarik, calling him "Forever an Eagle," with the 1960 iconic photo of him towering over New York Giants running back Frank Gifford, who was knocked out on a devastating hit by the linebacker. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967, his first year of eligibility. Bednarik acknowledges the Eagles crowd at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in 2013 . +A big question looming over James Corden's US chat show debut is: 'Will the audience get his humor?' But it seems the first major hurdle facing the British comedian is whether some Americans even recognize him. A spoof video released by CBS ahead of his first appearance on The Late Late Show on Monday depicts the funnyman trying to get back into the studios - but a security guard refuses. The employee asks for Corden for an identification badge, but Corden is forced to explain he has just got back from lunch, while patting down his pockets. 'I can't let you in without a badge,' the guard adds. A frustrated Corden then starts arguing with the man, saying he is the host of the chat show and points to a huge poster of his face on the side of the building. The guard looks around, but he says: 'I don't see the resemblance'. 'What do you mean there is no resemblance?' Corden replies. 'It looks exactly the same as me. Do you know why? Because it is me' The employee then realizes who he is talking to, but insists Corden still needs a badge to get in. Reaching boiling point, Corden tries to muscle his way past the guard, but he gives up, throws his hands up in the air and says: 'I'm calling the building.' Corden is joined by Mila Kunis, Tom Hanks and Jay Leno on the sofa on Monday evening. James Corden is refused entry to the CBS building in Los Angeles because he doesn't have a badge . The British comedian (far right) tries to replicate the face he is making on the massive poster hanging on the wall of the studio . At one point Corden asks the employee: 'What do you mean there is no resemblance? It looks exactly the same as me. Do you know why? Because it is me?' +Daniel Sturridge has pulled out of the England squad as his injury curse struck yet again and problems threatened to mount for manager Roy Hodgson. Sturridge reported for duty at St George's Park on Monday but did not train and had a scan in the evening which revealed a thigh problem which he sustained against Manchester United on Sunday. The 25-year-old striker returned home on Monday night, the second Liverpool player to withdraw from international duty on the day, Adam Lallana was also forced out with a groin injury and was replaced by uncapped Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason. Daniel Sturridge has been ruled out of England's double header with Lithuania and Italy . The Liverpool striker picked up a hip injury in Sunday's defeat by Manchester United . Goalkeepers . Jack Butland, Robert Green, Joe Hart . Defenders . Danny Rose, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker, Nathaniel Clyne, Phil Jones, Kieran Gibbs, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill. Midfielders . Michael Carrick, Theo Walcott, Ross Barkley, Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Raheem Sterling, Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend . Forwards . Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane . They will miss a Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday and a friendly against Italy in Turin on Tuesday. A FA statement said: 'Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has left the England squad and returned home to his club on Monday evening. 'This follows a scan on an injury that he sustained during Liverpool's game against Manchester United on Sunday. 'The England medical team took the decision on Monday evening having assessed Daniel following the squad's arrival at St. George's Park on Monday afternoon.' For Sturridge it is the latest in a sequence of fitness issues this season. He was Hodgson's first-choice centre-forward at the World Cup last summer but missed five months of this season after pulling a thigh muscle during an England training session in September. There was a blaze of controversy about whether he should have been resting or training on that particular day, followed by complications in his recovery process, none of which helped the relationship between club and country. Sturridge then suffered with calf muscle injuries and was just getting back to his sharpest form when he hobbled out of Anfield with a stiff hip after scoring Liverpool's goal in a 2-1 defeat against Manchester United. He will have missed seven England games since his last international appearance against Norway in September. Sturridge has not played for England since the autumn because of injury . Harry Kane could be in line to make his debut for England against Lithuania . August 2012 - Toe injury . February 2013- Thigh injury . September 2013 - Thigh injury . September 2014 - Thigh injury . October 2014 - Thigh injury . Sturridge and Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, however, will be wary of taking risks after a campaign already ruined by injuries and with the Anfield club locked in a fight for a top-four finish. Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck are available for Hodgson but Sturridge's exit boost Kane's chances of making his senior debut against Lithuania on Friday. There may also be the chance of a call-up for QPR's Charlie Austin, or promotion from the Under 21s for Burnley's Danny Ings. Kane, 21, is in the midst of a remarkable season and took his goal tally to 29 with a hat-trick against Leicester on Saturday, but a club-v-country issue is brewing around him because England want him for the European U21 Championships, in June, while Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino thinks he needs a month of complete rest at the end of the season. England are set to train at Tottenham on Thursday and Pochettino plans to be on site. Raheem Sterling arrived at St George's Park nursing a toe injury which may limit his involvement over the two England games – he is one of the players who may be released after the Lithuania qualifier. Fabian Delph was also missing from the camp on Monday. Aston Villa midfielder Delph was ill and stayed at home but hopes to join the squad later this week. Luke Shaw and Fraser Forster were in Hodgson's original squad but pulled out with injuries, prompting call-ups for Danny Rose and Robert Green. Another important Liverpool player, goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, is doubtful for Belgium after picking an ankle injury in a collision with Rooney on Sunday. +Former WWE wrestler CM Punk has been pictured in UFC gear for the first time since announcing he had agreed a deal with the mixed martial arts company. Phillip Brooks, the 36-year-old's real name, revealed in December last year that he had signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC and will fight in the welterweight or middleweight division. CM Punk isn't due to make his debut until later this year but he has taken part in a photoshoot revealing his UFC image. Former professional wrestler CM Punk poses for a photoshoot wearing UFC gloves . The 36-year-old announced he had signed a contract with the UFC in December last year . Phillip Brooks, CM Punk's real name, last appeared in the WWE in January last year . The announcement of his switch was made at UFC 181 in December, as Robbie Lawler beat Johny Hendricks in their welterweight title rematch. CM Punk's last appearance in WWE came in January 2014 during the annual Royal Rumble event. In an interview Punk revealed that he was suspended by the WWE after walking out shortly after the event. Following the lifting of his suspension CM Punk claimed he was not contacted by the company and his contract was terminated in June. CM Punk follows in the footsteps of former WWE stars Lesnar, Dave Bautista and Bobby Lashley. CM Punk takes down Mark Henry during their previous match at the WWE Monday Night Raw Supershow . +Kaka has seen a lot during his 14-year professional career. After making his debut for Sao Paulo as an 18-year-old in 2001 and being snapped up by AC Milan just two years later, the Brazilian has been crowned the best player in the world, won league titles in two countries and conquered the Champions League with the Rossoneri. Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the highs - and a few lows - in his astonishing career. Kaka, pictured in action for Sao Paulo against Atletico Minero in December 2001, made his debut for the club 10 months earlier . Kaka tries to avoid a tackle from Ancona defender Andrea Sussi during his debut for AC Milan on September 1, 2003 . Kaka celebrates with his AC Milan team-mates after sealing the Serie A title in 2004 with a 1-0 win against Roma at the San Siro . Kaka steps up to score his penalty in the 2005 Champions League final against Liverpool but the Reds would emerge victorious . Kaka scores as Brazil beat Argentina 4-1 in the final of the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany . Kaka scores a stunning individual goal for AC Milan against Manchester United in the Champions League semi-finals on April 24, 2007 . Kaka shows off an 'I belong to Jesus' vest after AC Milan's Champions League final victory against Liverpool on May 23, 2007 . Kaka grins as he lifts the 2007 Ballon d'Or trophy at an event in Paris on Decemeber 2, 2007, following a fine year for AC Milan . Kaka proudly displays his FIFA World Player of the Year award at a gala ceremony in Zurich on December 17, 2007 . Kaka celebrates winning the 2009 Confederations Cup with Brazil and the Golden Ball award for being the top scorer . Kaka smiles as he shows off his No 8 shirt during his official presentation at Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium on June 30, 2009 . Kaka gets away from Deportivo's Angel Lafita at the Bernabeu during his La Liga debut for Real Madrid on August 29, 2009 . Kaka (centre) is sent off for Brazil during their game against Ivory Coast at the 2010 World Cup . Kaka celebrates becoming the top Brazilian scorer in the Champions League with a goal against Ajax on December 4, 2012 . Kaka celebrates winning La Liga in 2012 with his Real team-mates Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Esteban Granero, Marcelo and Jose Callejon . Kaka shows off a specially-made shirt to celebrate scoring his 100th goal for AC Milan against Atalanta on January 6, 2014 . Kaka s mobbed by fans as he is presented as s Sao Paulo player during a ceremony in Brazil on July 6, 2014 . Kaka celebrates a goal after returning to his boyhood club Sao Paulo on loan from Orlando City in November, 2014 . Kaka leads out Orlando FC for their first ever game against fellow new franchise New YorK city FC earlier this month . Kaka scores his first goal for Orlando City against New York City on March 8 (left) and runs off to celebrate at the Citrus Bowl (right) +Neymar was back in training with the Brazil national team less than 24hours after playing in Barcelona's 'El Clasico' defeat over Real Madrid on Sunday. The Catalans opened up a four-point lead over their arch rivals at the top of La Liga following Sunday's 2-1 victory at the Nou Camp. While former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez stole the headlines with his winning goal, Neymar cut a more subdued figure - missing an early opportunity that led to Madrid breaking away and equalising through Cristiano Ronaldo. Neymar (2nd left) joins Brazil team-mates for a training session at the Charlety Stadium in Paris . The Brazilian sensation (right) was back in training soon after playing for Barcelona in El Clasico . The 23-year-old shows off his silky skills while his Brazil team-mates watch on . Brazil are set to play international games against France on Thursday and Chile on Sunday . The Selecao have travelled to France to play an international friendly against the former World Cup winner on Thursday with Neymar expected to play a leading role at the Stade de France just outside Paris. The 23-year-old, who has scored 42 goals in 60 appearances for Brazil, joined teammates including PSG captain Thiago Silva and Chelsea threesome Oscar, Felipe Luiz and Willian at the Charlety Stadium for a training session. Coach Dunga has won all of his six matches since taking control of the Brazil team for the second time in July, just days after Brazil were dumped out their own World Cup 7-1 by Germany. New Brazil coach Dunga (right) has won all six games he has taken charge of since the World Cup . PSG defender Thiago Silva (left) shares a joke with fellow centre-back Miranda during training . Silva tries to win the ball ahead of the friendly with Les Bleus at the Stade de France . The Brazil players looked in high spirits during the training session  in Paris . Chelsea defender Felipe Luis (right) was one of six Premier League players called up by the Selecao . Other Premier League players called up to the Brazil squad are Fernandinho of Manchester City and Liverpool playmaker Phillipe Coutinho. Former Brazil international Roberto Dinamite, who was president of Vasco da Gama when the club sold Coutinho to Inter Milan, believes the 22-year-old will wear the Brazil No 10 shirt for years to come. 'He already stood out when he left Vasco. And he is fulfilling his potential at Liverpool. He has that Brazilian talent, honed and developed in Europe, and he will keep getting better,' he said. Neymar comes face to face with Real Madrid's Gareth bale during the 2-1 win at the Nou Camp . Former Liverpool ace Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring the winning goal on Sunday . Neymar posted an Instagram selfie with Lionel Messi (centre) and Suarez after the game . Meanwhile, Arsenal's new signing Gabriel Paulista hopes his debut call up, after the late withdrawal of PSG defenders David Luiz and Marquinos through injury, will be the first of many. The central defender will feel at home if he plays in Brazil's second friendly against Chile on Sunday as it is due to be staged at the Gunners' Emirates Stadium. He told the Arsenal website: 'I am very happy with the news, and it is a dream for any player to wear the shirt of your country. 'I'll play the best possible way. It is a valuable opportunity and I hope that is the first call of many. Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Diego Alves (Valencia) Defenders: Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal), Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain), Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Gil (Corinthians), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), Fabinho (Monaco), Marcelo (Real Madrid) Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Elias (Corinthians), Souza (Sao Paulo), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Philipe Coutinho (Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea), Firmino (Hoffenheim), Oscar (Chelsea), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar) Forwards: Neymar (Barcelona), Luis Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk), Robinho (Santos) +Even if all it amounts to is a handful of visits to England's training camp to spend a few hours observing the players and offering some pointers, the prospect of Jonny Wilkinson being involved with the national team is an enticing one. Nothing is certain at this stage, but it is not out of the question that the iconic fly-half will agree to give his input as Stuart Lancaster's squad prepare for the World Cup. If the 35-year-old hero of the 2003 triumph does take on a role of sorts — and that would appear to be a big if — it wouldn't be as a coach and it might not even amount to a consultancy, certainly not on a regular basis. Jonny Wilkinson could lend his expertise to England's 2015 rugby World Cup preperations . Wilkinson, who was a fly-half, kicked the winning drop goal to lead England to World Cup glory in 2003 . Wilkinson has been getting involved with rugby coaching and could aid England's World Cup preparations . England coach Stuart Lancaster would not ignore the opportunity to use Wilkinson's know-how . But most England supporters would settle for Wilkinson popping into the HQ in Surrey on his way to the supermarket, if there was any chance of some of that stardust and winner's mentality rubbing off on the class of 2015. It is all about the aura. Here is a man who was once the nation's sporting darling, while in rugby circles he is treated with a mixture of respect and awe. In the south of France, where he worked wonders for Toulon in the closing years of his career, he is adored. When false rumours surfaced at the start of the year that he was destined for a knighthood, they were assumed to be correct. Such an honour would have surprised no one. The current generation of England players grew up admiring his epic deeds. The fly-halves in particular — George Ford, Owen Farrell and Danny Cipriani — could learn so much from the maestro. Stuart Lancaster has an established coaching group and there are no plans to expand it, for now. At present, Mike Catt works with the kickers in camp, while another RFU coach, Jon Callard, has also spent time with them, though less so recently. Ford has private sessions with Wilkinson's kicking mentor, the renowned Dave Alred, who has not had a role in the national set-up since the last World Cup. But any chance to tap into the know-how of one of the country's all-time greats, with his legendary work ethic and meticulous approach, would not be casually ignored by Lancaster. Wilkinson has spoken of his interest in the option of working as a specialist coach or tutor, and has done so part-time with Toulon this season. Wilkinson (centre) is revered in Toulon, where he spent the final years of his career as a player . Lancaster already has one 2003 World Cup winner in his coaching ranks in Mike Catt (centre) Wilkinson's input could help England's current fly-halfs such as George Ford . Danny Cipriani (left) and Owen Farrell are England's other alternatives at fly-half . For all his personal accomplishments, he is wise enough to accept that playing pedigree does not necessarily translate into coaching credentials. Talking last autumn, after being invited into England's camp, he said: 'If there is anything I can add, then we can have a little chat, but more importantly I need to learn my trade. I was a player, but just because I knew how to play doesn't mean I've earned the right to tell other people how to do it. 'I'm coaching one week every month in Toulon, learning my way around it. I'm coaching individual skills, mentoring some of the young guys on how to cope with the emotional and mental side of things. I'm really enjoying it, but the biggest mistake you can make is thinking just because you played the game, you already know it.' As a recent retiree who keeps himself supremely fit, Wilkinson could comfortably take on an active role, demonstrating the points he makes. In fact, it would not be a leap of the mind to imagine him matching England's current kickers shot for shot in extended practice sessions. While there is scope to improve the kicking game, both at goal and tactical, Wilkinson is a big admirer of the men currently country's vying for his old shirt. Wilkinson (left) acknowledges that success as a player offers no guarantees to becoming a skilled coach . Lancaster (left) and his England side narrowly missed out on Six Nations glory on Saturday . Wilkinson speaks highly of the abilities of England's current fly-halfs, especially Ford and Farrell . 'George Ford is a fabulous player who produces some amazing touches and is an absolute natural in the way he reads the game,' he said. 'He works hard, wants to improve and as a young guy he is happy to take on responsibility and shows he can deal with it. That makes him a great person to have in that position. 'Owen Farrell is immensely mentally tough and deserves a hell of a lot more credit than he has been getting for what he has done in the last few years. As a young guy, he has said, 'Here is pressure, I will deal with it. Not only that, I will kick your goals for you and stand up in defence and bring this team together'. That is brilliant.' That talented pair would speak highly of their acclaimed predecessor too. It could be a perfect fit. England have the biggest representation on a 12-strong list for the RBS 6 Nations player of the tournament. Jonathan Joseph, George Ford, Ben Youngs and Billy Vunipola feature alongside Ireland's Paul O'Connell, Robbie Henshaw and Conor Murray, Welshmen Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar, Scots Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray, and Italy captain Sergio Parisse. +Nedum Onuoha admits he has no idea how life at Queens Park Rangers has not turned him grey. Onuoha, who arrived at Loftus Road from Manchester City in 2012, has already had numerous highs and lows during his time with the club. Since arriving in west London the 28-year-old has narrowly avoided relegation, been relegated, and gained promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. Nedum Onuoha admits he has no idea how life at Queens Park Rangers has not turned him grey . Onuoha battles for the ball with Arsenal superstar Mesut Ozil at Loftus Road as the Hoops battle relegation . Onuoha is now once again fighting for top-flight survival, but the defender is confident that added experience will help them avoid relegation this time round. He told the Daily Star: 'I'm ­surprised my hair is not grey yet. In some ways it's a good thing because everyone wants to play in pressure situations. 'Obviously this is a different pressure than when you are pushing for the Championship title but you want it ­going into a game. I am confident we can stay up.' QPR duo Onuoha and Steven Caulker argue with the referee during the match against Crystal Palace . +With just over a month to go until the mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, legendary trainer Nacho Beristain believes that 'Pac-Man' has a chance of winning - and gives him a 45 per cent chance. Juan Manuel Marquez's trainer is a fan of the hard-hitting Filipino and likes his intelligence, hand speed and ability to throw combinations. With Mayweather's defence the best in the world, Beristain knows it'll be a tough ask but thinks that if Pacquiao boxes smart then he has an opportunity. Manny Pacquiao (left) and Tim Tebow pose for a photo after the NFL quarterback visited the boxer . 'I believe that Pacquiao has 45 per cent of a chance; Mayweather is the favorite but by very little,' Beristain told ESPN Deportes. 'I always liked more Pacquiao for commercial style, which people pay with pleasure to see him fight, and the other [Mayweather], we already know it, a defensive, style that is kind of weird.' 'On paper who looks the best is Mayweather,' Beristain added. 'The knockout by Juan Manuel of Manny [in 2012]. But Pacquiao has many things in its favour – the speed, and being a smart fighter. Even though people think otherwise, he knows when to shoot his combinations.' Nacho Beristain (right) reckons Pacquiao has a 45 per cent chance of beating Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas . Juan Manuel Marquez's trainer is a fan of the Filipino but thinks he will need to fight smart to win the bout . With training heavily ongoing for the two fighters, Pacquiao was visited by NFL quarterback Tim Tebow at the gym in Los Angeles. The two athletes have a lot in common, with both of them strong Christians and being born in the Philippines. Tebow took to Instagram to show the stars spending time together during his training session. He posted: 'Awesome being with my Filipino and Christian brother.' Floyd Mayweather is also in full flow with his training regime but took some time out to post a photo where he looked relaxed ahead of the upcoming $300million fight. The two athletes share a lot in common as strong Christians and both being born in the Phillipines . Floyd Mayweather looked relaxed as he posed for a photo as the boxer looks to keep his 100% record going . +No audience with Louis van Gaal is complete without a mention of the Dutchman’s ‘philo-sophy’. He talked about it on his first day at Old Trafford and was still talking about it in the build-up to Manchester United’s win over Liverpool on Sunday. ‘It takes time,’ he said. ‘In Germany (at Bayern Munich), it took until December. And now (with United) until March.’ There were signs all over the pitch at Anfield that his players are finally getting the message. It was without doubt their best performance under Van Gaal: ‘One of the most important moments in my career,’ he later acknowledged. Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata stole the show at Anfield as he netted a brace against Liverpool . Mata (left) and fellow countryman Ander Herrera (right) impressed against United's arch-rivals . David de Gea uploaded a dressing room photograph of Manchester United's post-match celebrations . United are currently fourth in the Premier League . The 63-year-old is ruthless in his pursuit of what he wants. No-one is exempt, and it was significant that Juan Mata and Ander Herrera, two of United’s best performers in the 2-1 win over their bitter rivals, have been made to sit on the sidelines for lengthy spells this season. Two-goal hero Mata only returned against Tottenham in the previous game after a two-month absence from Van Gaal’s starting line-up in the Premier League. His position at Anfield, described by Van Gaal as a ‘false right winger’, demonstrated once again how the manager places his team’s needs above an individual’s preference. And Herrera spoke candidly on Monday about how upsetting Van Gaal contributed to him making just six league starts in his first six months at Old Trafford following a £29million move from Bilbao. ‘I keep my distance with Van Gaal, but he’s a good guy with a strong character,’ said Herrera, who was not seen for more than a month after being hooked at half-time against West Brom in October. Manchester United's first team stars finally appear to be buying in Louis van Gaal's philosophy . Mata was given a free role against Liverpool in December (left) but performed admirably as a 'false winger' at Anfield on Sunday (right) ‘He likes discipline and does not believe in egos in the dressing room. Everybody is equal under his rule. He talks about what he wants from me. At the start he used to tell me off because I always looked for the ball. I always wanted to have it, and no, I must wait. ‘He loves possession and he doesn’t like being at risk of losing the ball. He wants long stretches of possession. He believes spaces are created that way because the team has the quality to find them.’ There have been many times in Van Gaal’s first season in England when his philosophy has not been altogether clear; when the constant chopping and changing of formation and shuffling of a rather expensive pack of players has left fans scratching their heads. Nor are United close to being the finished article. An eight-point deficit on Chelsea is evidence of that, and they are still far from certain to achieve their target of Champions League qualification despite Sunday’s win opening up a five-point advantage over Liverpool. But something seems to have clicked in the wins against Spurs and Liverpool, just when the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal looked to have raised major concerns over the club’s direction under Van Gaal. Players who privately have questioned his methods look more comfortable, although Liverpool’s alarmingly lacklustre display at Anfield helped in that respect. Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has been in impressive form since his return from injury . Marouane Fellaini, pictured with Van Gaal, is showing his best form since joining United in September 2013 . Michael Carrick’s return to anchor the midfield has been an important factor, so too Marouane Fellaini’s advanced role, which has given United’s attack a new dimension. Even Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, United’s much-maligned England centre backs, look solid after being thrown back together by Marcos Rojo’s groin injury and Jonny Evans’s ban for spitting at Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse. Surprisingly, Jones and Smalling have only started as a central defensive pairing on five occasions in the league, not including four games together as part of Van Gaal’s unpopular back three. And Jones admitted that the expectations raised by succeeding Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have not made it easy for them. ‘It has been difficult,’ he said. ‘It was well documented that me and Chris were going to be the next centre backs at United but it has not gone how we would have liked. ‘You cannot build a partnership on four games. Hopefully now we have had back-to-back games together we can keep it going. We complement each other well.’ Phil Jones (centre) has admitted he has struggled to fill the boots left by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic . It was also notable that United’s best 45 minutes of the season, according to Van Gaal, came with Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao on the bench. Both came on to play their part in the victory and it was a reminder of the resources at his disposal, as well as the issues that still need to be ironed out in the remaining months of the season. ‘Those boys are top players but we have a number of players who the manager can choose from, which is great,’ said Carrick. ‘Different games throw up different scenarios and different systems maybe, but the last two games have gone very well for us.’ There is still room for improvement, but it appears Van Gaal’s philosophy is beginning to sink in. +Kaka is known for his wonderful slalom runs and clinical finishes. For clubs and country he has regularly found the net, wherever he has been in the world. Here he takes Sportsmail through his favourite five goals of his long and distinguished career, from netting against arch rivals Argentina, to scoring Champions League stunners and a particularly special goal in America. VIDEO Scroll down to watch each of Kaka's top five favourite goals . Kaka jumps for joy after scoring Orlando City's first ever goal in Major League Soccer against New York City . EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Oscar and Ozil tell me I should come to the Premier League but I'm so happy in Orlando . KAKA'S DREAM TEAM: Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrea Pirlo and Cafu all make Kaka's dream team... but 'genius' Ronaldinho beats Lionel Messi to final spot . 5) Orlando City 1-1 New York City, MLS match at the Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium, March 2015 . This was not the most beautiful goal, it was a heavily deflected free kick, but it is special for me because it was Orlando City’s first ever goal. When I signed for the newly-formed MLS side I really wanted to score their first goal. We were losing by a goal, in their MLS debut game, and the match was in stoppage time, but I hit a 25-yard free kick to the goalkeepers’s right a it took a huge deflection and went into the left of goal. The stadium was full of 63,000 fans practically all from Orlando. The reaction was incredible. Kaka scores his first goal for Orlando City (left) and runs off to celebrate at the Citrus Bowl (right) 4) AC Milan 3-1 Fenerbahce, Champions League group stage at the San Siro, September 2005 . The game was poised at 1-1 and there were only four minutes remaining of the match. I received the ball from Massimo Ambrosini 10 yards inside their half on the left as we broke from our own penalty area. I just kept running with the ball past one player, then another, then one more on the edge of the Fenerbahce box before finishing low under Volkan Demirel. Kaka is congratulated by his team-mate Andriy Shevchenko after scoring a brilliant goal against Fenerbahce . 3) Brazil 4-1 Argentina, Confederations Cup final at the Waldstadion, June 2005 . Cicinho switched the ball from the right side of the pitch to Robinho on the left. He controlled it with his chest and passed to me on the edge of the box. I took one touch to tame the ball then curled a shot into the top right corner. To do it in a Confederations Cup final was special. Kaka bends the ball into the top corner to help Brazil to a convincing win against rivals Argentina in 2005 . 2) Brazil 3-0 Argentina, friendly at The Emirates Stadium, September 2006 . It was late in the game and the ball came out from an Argentina corner. I managed to steal the ball from Lionel Messi and started running at full speed with the ball. He chased me all the way, but I kept ahead of him, ran past Gabriel Milito then finished low past Roberto Abbondanzieri. Pablo Zabaleta couldn’t stop it going over the line, however hard he tried. Kaka finishes with aplomb past Argentina keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri at the Emirates stadium in 2006 . 1) Manchester United 3-2 AC Milan, Champions League semi-final at Old Trafford, April 2007 . As I said in my interview, my second goal in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester United was a highlight of my career. When the ball dropped from Dida’s long pass all I was thinking about was trying to do something special. To do it at Old Trafford, with all the history of the stadium, was amazing. Kaka scores a stunning solo goal for AC Milan against Manchester United in the Champions League in 2007 . +Sergio Aguero is a monumental figure within the Argentina squad, but the star striker might have met his match, figuratively speaking, on Monday. The 26-year-old took to Twitter to upload a sight-seeing picture during his travels with his international team-mates. Accompanied with the caption: 'Con @Argentina en Washington DC//With @Argentina in Washington DC,' Aguero can be seen standing in the American capital beset with the backdrop of the Washington Monument. Sergio Aguero took to Twitter on Monday to upload a picture with the backdrop of the Washington Monument . Aguero is in USA at the moment ahead of Argentina's friendlies against El Salvador and Ecuador later this month. The Manchester City striker is among a host of European-based stars included in Gerardo Martino's squad - which also Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain. The double set of fixtures are part of Argentina's plans ahead of this summer's Copa America. And Martino has complained about the scheduling of the European Champions League final which could involve a number of his players five days before the Copa America kicks off in Chile. Aguero was in action as Manchester City beat West Brom 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon . Aguero will be joined in the Argentina squad for this month's friendlies by Barcelona's Lionel Messi (centre) The Champions League final in Berlin is scheduled for June 6 and a large number of South American internationals play for the eight clubs that have reached the quarter-finals. 'We need to have the players from the first day and they are very keen to take part in the Copa America but they are also going to want to play the Champions League final after preparing all year,' Martino said. 'It's going to be a tough decision, the fact I don't have to take it (yet) is because we haven't got there yet. Martino told a news conference at Argentine FA headquarters. 'It seems to me that little thought is given to the needs of what happens on this side of the world,' he said in a veiled dig at European body UEFA.' Argentina boss Gerardo Martino has bemoaned the date of the  Champions League final . +Faf du Plessis overcame an early test of nerve and patience to score 82, AB de Villiers made 65 not out and David Miller struck a vividly aggressive 49 as South Africa posted 281-5 Tuesday in a Cricket World Cup semifinal against New Zealand which has been heavily affected by rain. Showers forced the players from the field after 38 overs, with South Africa 216-3. When players returned an hour and 54 minutes later the match had been shortened from 50 to 43 overs per innings. South Africa added 65 runs in the five overs available after the resumption, leaving New Zealand to score 298 under the Duckworth-Lewis system to reach a World Cup final for the first time and after their seventh semifinal appearance. Neither side have made the World Cup final, but that will all change in Auckland and you can follow all the action with our scorecard. TEAMS: . New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Trent Boult . South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (capt), Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, Jean-Paul Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir . Referees: Ian Gould (Umpire), Rod Tucker (Umpire), Nigel Llong (TV umpire), David Boon (Match referee) +Manchester United have finally been given the go-ahead to close in on Mats Hummels and install him as their new defensive lynchpin at the end of the season. Sportsmail understands that, after years of staying loyal to Borussia Dortmund and resisting overtures from United, the Germany centre-back has decided he's ready to cut his ties with the fallen Bundesliga giants and move on. He is fully aware of continuing interest from Old Trafford and is believed to have set his sights on becoming the latest big-name addition to an expensive United refit under Louis Van Gaal. Manchester United target Mats Hummels is prepared to leave Borussia Dortmund for a new challenge . The Dortmund defender clears a ball off the line during Saturday's 3-2 Bundesliga win over Hannover . Hummels looks on dejectedly as Juventus knock Dortmund out of the Champions League last 16 . With Borussia Dortmund . Bundesliga: 2010–11, 2011–12 . DFB-Pokal: 2011–12 . DFL-Supercup: 2013, 2014 . Champions League: Runners-up: 2012–13 . With Germany . FIFA World Cup: 2014 . The one stumbling block could be the asking price, with Dortmund willing to grant Hummels' wish, but only on their terms. They want £36million for the 26-year old and are reluctant to accept less. Van Gaal is unlikely to be deterred, though, and will urge club bosses to open talks in an attempt to agree a valuation for a defender who has the experience and know-how United need at the back. The pursuit of Dortmund skipped Hummels dates back to the 2011-12 season, when Sir Alex Ferguson attended the German Cup final to watch Jurgen Klopp's side crush Bayern Munich 5-2. It completed an historic league and cup double for Dortmund and led to Ferguson launching a bold bid to lure Hummels, Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa away from the Westfalenstadion. Louis van Gaal needs defensive reinforcements at Old Trafford but may be forced to stump up £36m . Jurgen Klopp's side have struggled this season, spending part of the campaign in the relegation spots . Repeated approaches for Hummels always met with stubborn resistance from Dortmund, but they have been forced to back down after their cultured defender indicated he was unhappy with their fall from grace this season. A sharp decline in fortunes briefly left them embroiled in a relegation battle, and though an overdue revival steadied the ship, there still seems little prospect of Champions' League football next season.. Hummels feels he has remained loyal long enough and is hoping United's negotiators can come up with a package that will smooth the way for his long-awaited arrival at Old Trafford. Juan Mata scored a wonder goal against Liverpool to put United in the driving seat to finish in the top four . +Vincent Kompany lost his place in the Manchester City team following a dressing-room row with Fernandinho. Sportsmail understands the pair were involved in a heated exchange that threatened to boil over at half-time during their 2-1 defeat at Liverpool. A City insider told Sportsmail: 'Fernandinho had a bit of a go at Vinnie and he went right back at him. He was raging and didn't take well to the criticism. Others had to get involved to stop it getting worse.' Vincent Kompany (left) and Fernandinho (right) were involved in a dressing-room row at Liverpool . Kompany looked at ease during Manchester City training alongside Edin Dzeko (left) on Wednesday . Kompany was dropped to the bench when Manchester City hosted Leicester City last week . Kompany attempts to tackle Raheem Sterling during City's 2-1 defeat by Liverpool three days earlier . Tempers flared shortly after Manuel Pellegrini's men returned to the Anfield dressing room with the score at 1-1, according to the Mirror. Liverpool had opened the scoring when Fernandinho sold Kompany short and Philippe Coutinho nipped in before Jordan Henderson struck from long-range. A source told the paper team-mates feared the pair would come to blows after Fernandinho criticised his captain for his part in the goal. Kompany is said to have reacted furiously before Pellegrini told the Belgium centre-half that he should listen to his team-mate. The 28-year-old is then reported to have reacted even more angrily before rounding on anyone who challenged him. City went on to lose the game 2-1. Jordan Henderson and his Liverpool team-mates celebrate after Philippe Coutinho's winner at Anfield . Fernandinho started the game against Liverpool but was dropped out of the squad for the next game . City captain Kompany trains before his side's Premier League clash with Leicester . Kompany, who signed a new five-year contract last summer following a 2008 move from Hamburg, was an unused substitute for the following match, a 2-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Leicester City, with Pellegrini claiming he needed to freshen his side up. Brazilian Fernandinho, a £34m signing from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013, was left out of the squad altogether. Manchester City declined to comment on the incident. However, they are understood to be happy that there is no lingering animosity, believe the row was over as quickly as it started and are of the opinion that it was similar to disagreements that happen on a regular basis in dressing rooms across the country. They are also keen to point out that it had nothing to do with Kompany not playing the next game. The Premier League champions are currently five points behind leaders Chelsea, who have a game in hand. They travel to Burnley in Saturday's late kick-off. Kompany looks dejected as he claps towards the visiting fans after the disappointing defeat on March 1 . +When Caitlin Miller first met Scott Worgan six years ago it was ‘love at first sight’. Now Scott's heart-warming proposal video has gone viral after the father-of-two enlisted his impossibly cute little girls to help him pop the question to the love of his life. The 29-year-old, from the Central Coast in NSW, wrote out a series of signs for his romantic proposal and asked his daughters Scarlett, 3, and Sienna, 20 months, to hold them up in front of the camera. ‘You’re so amazing in every way. Everything you do for us. Everything you do for daddy makes us feel so special,’ one card reads. At one point Scarlett holds a sign upside down and Sienna hides behind them. 'Wouldn't it be cool if we were your flower girls?,' they ask. Amazingly 27-year-old Caitlin had no idea what her partner had been planning for weeks, as he even managed to keep his little girls from spilling the secret. Scott Worgan (right) has asked Caitlin Miller (left) to marry him with a heart-warming proposal video . 'I'm still crying,' Caitlin told Daily Mail Australia as she revealed how Scott managed to film the proposal with their daughters in just one take. The couple met in 2009 while they were both working at the same insurance company and quickly fell in love. ‘We became friends first of all, with some flirting in the office. Things started progressing from there. It was a quick little thing and we just fell in love and moved in together five months later,’ Caitlin recalled. The pair had their first daughter, Scarlett, in 2011, and Scott has never stopped doing all he can to make Caitlin happy. ‘He’s a bit of a perfectionist and a romantic. He loves to cheer me up and do sweet things like making videos when I’m having a bad week,’ she explained. The Central Coast dad enlisted daughters Scarlett (right), 3, and Sienna (left), 20 months, to help him pop the question . Scott and Caitlin are seen her on holiday in Bali in 2010, celebrating their friends wedding . Scarlett held up a sign telling her mum 'you're amazing in every way!' The cute little girls told their mum Caitlin 'you would be such a beautiful bride' ‘He makes videos for my birthdays and our anniversaries and when I’m having a bad day. He always picks me up with these little things so he knew I wouldn’t catch on till half way through.’ The pair had often spoken about marriage since having their first child but never really made plans and Caitlin had ‘no idea’ on the day that he was about to propose. ‘I was in shock that my oldest didn’t say anything, she is a bit of a chatterbox and she just stood still in the video and they did one take.’ While Scott was making the video with the girls one Saturday, Caitilin was at work and came home to find all the blinds shut. This photo was taken in 2013 while 'celebrating another year together' This photo was taken on their Thailand trip in 2014 to celebrate another anniversary . The pair had often spoken about marriage since having their first child in 2011 . ‘My daughter came out and said “we made you something”. The next minute Scott came out with three cards saying “welcome home mummy” to cover it up,’ Caitlin recalled. What the touching video doesn’t show is Caitlin’s shocked reaction as Scott handed her a ring just as their daughters held up the ‘marry daddy?’ card. ‘I was sitting on the couch in the lounge room and he was sitting next to me and pulled the ring out,’ Caitlin said. ‘He was shaking I was shaking and crying and flicked the ring across the room. Meanwhile, my oldest daughter was sick at the time and lying down. It was just typical us as parents,’ she laughed. Once they’d picked the ring up off the floor, Caitlin saw the stunning Inverell sapphire Scott had bought her. This adorable photo was taken on Scarlett's naming day in 2012 . The happy couple have been inundated with messages about the proposal video . ‘The ring was made in Adelaide by Everett Brooke's. He walked in asking if they had sapphires and there they showed him an Inverell sapphire - the town where he is from. He had it made and sent to him a week later,’ she explained. The happy couple have been inundated with messages, not just their friends and family but also from strangers wishing them well. As for a date for the wedding, Caitlin said: ‘For one, it’s taken us six years and two children already. My sister is pregnant with twins and due in September and I want her to be a part of it so we are looking at after January for our wedding.’ As the little girls held up the 'marry Daddy?' sign in the video, Scott pulled out a stunning ring for Caitlin . Once they'd picked the ring up off the floor, Caitlin saw the stunning Inverell sapphire Scott had bought her . The couple are now hoping to marry in January 2016 with their little girls as bridesmaids . +Kyle Walker has admitted he is a clean freak, who drives his girlfriend crazy, and is addicted to collecting trainers. The Tottenham full-back returns to Roy Hodgson's England fold for the first time this week since his nine-month injury nightmare. Walker, 24, last played for the Three Lions in November 2013 in the 1-0 defeat at Wembley by Germany. Kyle Walker poses on the street and with his two dogs ahead of his return to the England squad . The Tottenham defender has admitted being a clean freak and having a trainer fetish . The 24-year-old admits driving model girlfriend Annie Kilner 'insane' with his obsessions . An abdominal problem forced him to painfully miss last summer's World Cup in Brazil. But having returned to action last December for Spurs, Walker is buzzing to be back as he pushes for a start in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania. 'I have had a lot of tests in my career so far,' said Walker, who has been capped 10-times for his country to date. 'I think obviously being injured and missing the World Cup was tough. Not being able to play for my country in Brazil was a big kick in the teeth. 'In football you're going to have a lot of ups and downs, but you need to stay mentally strong and you need to stay focused. You need to know you're a professional and you've got a job to do. 'It’s not a one-man game. It's 10 other players on the pitch that everyone must rely on to get the three points you’re striving for throughout the week.' Walker could spend a long time selecting a pair of trainers from his huge collection . The defender admits his obsession with trainers drives his girlfriend insane . Walker looks proud of his huge footwear collection . Now you see it... Walker has at least one pair of trainers with a camouflage design . Walker is set to return for England, having last played in a friendly against Germany in November 2013 . The right-back is back in the Tottenham first team after a nine-month spell on the sidelines through injury . Away from the pitch, the former Sheffield United right-back revealed he enjoys playing golf with his mates. But it is rather is obsession for cleanliness that drives his model girlfriend Annie Kilner crazy. 'I like things to be clean,' he said, speaking to a Nike Q&A as part of the American brand's launch of Air Max Day. 'I don't like mess. My missus will probably tell you that I drive her insane with all my cleanliness. 'It’s probably why I've got 20 packs of baby wipes in a cupboard down there just so when I come into my sneaker closet, I can keep them clean and fresh.' Walker blames his other obsession - trainers - on his Mum, however. 'I've always had a trainer fetish,' he added. It was flip-flops, not trainers, when Walker and Annie holidayed in Barbados in summer 2013 . And the couple hit the sea on a jet ski during the same holiday . Despite England's woeful performance, Walker says missing the 2014 World Cup was 'a kick in the teeth' 'That's just my thing. I think I caught it from my mum, because I know my mum does like shoes. So I think I've caught it off her, but I think I've kind of overtook her now, definitely. 'How many pairs have I got? Oh, I don't know. I couldn't tell you. Maybe 150 or so. 'I know I've got some in the garage that I still haven't unpacked, because obviously I've just moved to this new house. So I'd say I've got quite a bit. And you know what? I think mum has actually got a full bedroom of them at home.' Now he is fit and firing again, Walker will be hoping to collect a bedroom full of England caps too. +Former NFL star Darren Sharper has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in Arizona. Sharper on Monday admitted to charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault arising from the 2013 Arizona case. He appeared in the Phoenix courtroom by video-conferencing from Los Angeles. Former NFL star Darren Sharper has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty . Sharper admitted to charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault arising from the 2013 case . Sharper also is expected to change his plea in person in Los Angeles on similar allegations. Similar hearings will follow in Las Vegas this week and in New Orleans in April. The Arizona and California cases, combined with others in Nevada and Louisiana, are likely to lead to a long prison sentence. In each state, Sharper was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville said Sharper will serve his time in federal custody and that the Louisiana case will be resolved through a federal court. In Arizona, Sharper admitted sexually assaulting one victim, though police say he drugged and sexually assaulted three women, at an apartment in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe in November. The 39-year-old was part of the New Orleans Saints side which won the NFL Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 . Authorities say a search of the Tempe apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue that turned out to be zolpidem, and California investigators discovered that Sharper had a prescription for the drug. Last year, Sharper's attorneys said their client did not make the drinks that authorities say he used to drug the women. One of the women told police she hadn't had any alcohol that night until Sharper insisted she drink a shot. Another young woman said she had been drugged, then went to bed, locked her door and wasn't attacked. The next day, one of the women confronted Sharper, who denied wrongdoing, according to the reports. The reports said Sharper was in Arizona to visit a woman who lived at the apartment. The two had met about a year earlier in Las Vegas. Sharper is a former defensive back for the New Orleans Saints and other teams. +Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke could consider asking Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard to speak to the European side ahead of their bid for an unprecedented fourth straight victory at Hazeltine. Clarke's predecessor Paul McGinley arranged for former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to address his team at Gleneagles last year, with the home side going on to claim a five-point win. And Liverpool fan Clarke would not rule out the possibility of using Gerrard in the same way, despite the latter's shocking red card less than a minute after coming on at half-time against Manchester United on Sunday. Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke could ask Steven Gerrard to give a speech to his Europe side . Gerrard (centre) was sent off less than a minute after coming on against Manchester United on Sunday . Ryder Cup captain Clarke (second right) wants to follow the example of predecessor Paul McGinley . 'LA is not that close to Minnesota so we will see,' Clarke joked in reference to Gerrard's upcoming move to Los Angeles Galaxy. 'Paul (McGinley) obviously got a lot of help and advice from a lot of different people who have been in that position of managing people and looking after people and I will be the same. 'There are a few people that I am thinking about. We'll see. He (Gerrard) is a real legend. If I were to do something like that, he would be someone I would consider.' McGinley famously left no stone unturned in his pursuit of victory at Gleneagles, even making sure the fish in the team room were of European colours. Players celebrate with former captain McGinley (centre) after winning the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles last year . Clarke will be hoping to lead Europe to a fourth straight Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine in 2015 . 'I might have to find blue and yellow fish in America as well,' Clarke added. 'I suffer a bit from OCD as well so I'm sure I'll be doing the same sort of thing. 'The attention to detail shows the players that you care and you are thinking hard about the whole thing. You will never be perfect but you can certainly try for that. The commitments and responsibilities have increased but the bottom line is that I'm there to help the players.' +During a hectic week in San Sebastian, David Moyes is engrossed in all things Spanish. Whether it’s watching Real Sociedad’s next La Liga opponents on DVD, learning the language with his demanding tutor or sampling another tasty Basque speciality dish from the atmospheric pintxos bars, Moyes can’t escape it. But he does like to switch off now and again and turn his attention to the Scotland national team. He will watch Gordon Strachan’s side on the television this week as they play Northern Ireland and then the Euro 2016 qualifier against Gibraltar. Moyes has been a manager at the highest level for more than a decade with Manchester United, Everton and now La Real, and he understands the scrutiny and intensity fellow bosses face from boardrooms, fans and media. Real Sociedad manager David Moyes has been impressed with Scotland boss Gordon Strachan . Strachan, pictured in November, is preparing his side for their match against Northern Ireland . That is why he has nothing but admiration for the job Strachan is doing. The national team sit in a decent position in Group D, in third place with seven points from four games. The weekend’s fixture should be comfortable. Moyes hopes so and believes Strachan and his players have the determination and ability to be at the party in 2016. ‘Gordon is doing a fabulous job. He has everybody believing again but it’s good that there is a measured amount of optimism and nobody in the country has any stupid levels of expectation,’ Moyes told Sportsmail. ‘We’ve had unrealistic ambitions in years gone by and it hasn’t done us any favours. ‘There is belief, and rightly so. I think we are introducing more and more young players and they have taken to it very well. ‘The more experienced players are maturing nicely and the fact a few of them have Champions League experience certainly helps. ‘All things considered, Gordon is doing a quite brilliant job. The 1-0 win against Republic of Ireland was an important victory. Gordon will want to kick on and make sure there is a win on Sunday. Darren Fletcher (far left) impressed Moyes during their time together at Manchester United . Moyes (left) worked with Fletcher (right) during his brief stint as the manager of the Manchester United . ‘But he doesn’t have a magic wand. It’s difficult being a national manager because you can’t buy a new centre half or a new left back, you have to work with what you’ve got. That means you have to get the very best out of the players, try to improve them in order to maximise their standards when they play. ‘I’m not going to add to the pressure by saying I expect Scotland to qualify. What I will say is that I hope they do. ‘We last reached a Finals 17 years ago and I was in France to support them. I was manager of Preston and also used it as an opportunity to enhance my knowledge by taking in games and sessions. ‘If we qualify for 2016, I will be there again.’ Moyes hopes two of his former players — Darren Fletcher and Steven Naismith — continue their good work at this level. Moyes signed Naismith for Everton after Rangers went into liquidation and the player exercised his right to leave for no fee. It was a no-brainer to sign him under such circumstances. The versatile star is now valued in excess of £8million. Moyes is delighted Fletcher is back in the international fold after successfully battling a chronic bowel disease. He worked with the midfielder at Old Trafford and has huge respect for him. Moyes signed Scotland international Steven Naismith for £8million from Rangers back in July 2012 . When Moyes lost his job at United in April of last year, Fletcher was one of the first on the phone to text offering sympathy and expressing regret at the way it all worked out. ‘Darren is a superb person and a great footballer,’ Moyes said. ‘I had the pleasure of working with him and he was an even better player than I thought. He was great in the dressing room, trustworthy and had the best interests of the club at heart. ‘His health problems were well documented but he never once complained. I hold Darren in high regard. I’m delighted he is relishing the responsibility of captaining West Brom. ‘Stevie Naismith is a good lad. He really has come on leaps and bounds at Everton. ‘It was always going to be difficult for him in his first year when he came from Rangers. But he has listened and developed into an important member of the Everton team because he can play a number of different roles. ‘Gordon will be pleased to have guys such as Darren and Stevie. ‘They are excellent senior professionals and the perfect examples for the new arrivals to learn from.’ Real Sociedad boss Moyes masterminded a 1-0 win over Barcelona at the beginning of January . There is genuine feeling for the Scotland set-up from Moyes. Spending a few days in his company in San Sebastian made that clear. He and his assistant, Billy McKinlay, love nothing more than chewing the fat over issues in the game back home. They have lifted La Real into the top half of La Liga with excellent results, including a 1-0 win over Barcelona. Sunday night’s 3-1 victory against Cordoba was their third win on the bounce and only an almighty collapse in their remaining 10 games would see them relegated. The remit for Moyes when he took over in mid-November was to avoid the drop at all costs. They were fifth from bottom at that stage. He is enjoying the challenge and is contracted until the summer of 2016. He would like to return to the UK at some stage and is currently the bookies’ favourite to take over from Sam Allardyce at West Ham United, but he is in no rush to leave Spain. He said: ‘I’m enjoying life here and have really tried to make an effort to adapt to the culture. ‘It’s very pleasant and everyone has been warm and courteous. ‘Billy and I both sense that the people really want us to do well. We’re trying to make them happy. ‘This is a big club and I can improve myself as a coach by being here. ‘This job also helped me get over the disappointment of what happened at Manchester United. I felt this was as good a place as any to do just that. ‘To come to La Real and work in La Liga has absolutely been the right decision.’ +Aaron Ramsey believes Arsenal can use the 3-0 win over West Ham as a template to produce the same result in Monaco next week and keep their Champions League hopes alive. The Gunners eventually saw off the challenge of the Irons, who suffered a third straight Barclays Premier League defeat, to move within a point of second-placed Manchester City with what was a eighth win out of the last nine. There is, however, little time for Arsene Wenger's men to recover before they must again raise themselves for the trip to Monaco and the quest to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit which has left their Europeans dreams hanging by a thread. Aaron Ramsey (left) races off to celebrate after scoring in Arsenal's 3-0 defeat of West Ham . The Wales midfielder reacted to Olivier Giroud's pass to finish for the Gunners' second goal . Ramsey hopes his side can take confidence from the game into the Champions League . CLICK HERE to read the full match report . Ramsey, who scored Arsenal's second goal on 84 minutes before substitute Mathieu Flamini tapped in a third moments after coming on, feels a similar positive approach can see them pull of an unlikely result at the Stade Louis II Stadium. 'We will go there and try to score three or more goals and hopefully not concede any, that is our target and is how we will approach it,' the Welshman said. 'We had a sloppy first leg and we have made it quite difficult for ourselves, but it is not over yet. Olivier Giroud has rediscovered his goal scoring form after missing chances against Monaco . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger watches on knowing his side will face a stiffer test in Europe . 'We are more than capable of scoring three goals. We scored three on Saturday and we believe in ourselves. 'So we will go into the game believing we can achieve that.' After seeing Theo Walcott, recalled into the starting XI for the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, thwarted by some good reactions from West Ham goalkeeper Adrian - who played despite suffering a dislocated finger in the warm-up - Olivier Giroud eventually fired Arsenal into the lead on the stroke of half-time with a fierce left-footed shot drilled in off the far post. West Ham raised their game for the second half, but were unable to convert that dominance into a goal. Alexis Sanchez looks dejected as Monaco tie up a 3-1 first leg lead at the Emirates . Mark Noble (left) is confident of ending the Hammers' eight-match winless streak . Sam Allardyce opted out of his post-match media duties to try to lift the squad, who have seen solid performances against the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea fail to earn a victory. Midfielder Mark Noble is confident the eight-match winless run will soon be ended, as the Irons look to get some of their walking wounded back into the squad ahead of the home game against Sunderland. 'We have been through a tough patch after a great first half or the season, so we need to kick on now for the last quarter of it,' Noble said. 'We have got a good bunch of lads and will keep working hard, training well and hopefully we can get some points against Sunderland next week.' +The New York Police Department is searching for a woman who threw hot coffee in a bus driver's face on Saint Patrick's Day last week. The 45-year-old driver was operating his Metropolitan Transportation Authority vehicle in the Flatiron District when the woman approached and tossed the blistering beverage. The woman ran away from the bus after throwing the coffee. A woman threw hot coffee in a bus driver's face on Saint Patrick's Day last week in the Flatiron District . Police released photos of the woman’s face and she is described as white, in her mid-20s with long hair . The bus was at the intersection of Broadway and West 23rd Street at about 11am when the incident occurred. The NYPD released photos of the woman’s face and of her throwing the coffee. She is described as white, in her mid-20s with long hair, according to Pix 11. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. If she is caught, the woman could be charged with battery. The 45-year-old driver was operating his bus at the intersection of Broadway and West 23rd Street (pictured) +Shocking footage has emerged of a driver who was found asleep in his car on a Sydney motorway in the middle of the night. A motorist sent the video to Ray Hadley of 2GB radio, clearly unimpressed by what he has just come across. He filmed the male driver who appeared to be having a snooze in the driver's seat while the car remained stationary on one of Australia's busiest freeways. Scroll down for video . Shocking footage has emerged of a driver who was found asleep in his car on a Sydney motorway in the middle of the night . The footage was uploaded on YouTube on Monday, detailing the driver had 'passed out on the M1 motorway north of Sydney' The footage was uploaded on YouTube yesterday, detailing the driver had 'passed out on the M1 motorway north of Sydney'. The man's efforts to try and wake up the passed out driver were to no avail. 'Yo buddy, wake up!,' he yells at the driver. Another driver stopped and tried to waken the man but to no avail . The man says the driver stopped in the left-hand lane as he approaches the vehicle with his camera. 'Just stopped dead. Asleep, high beams on, no hazard lights... dude's asleep,' the man said. 'Dead set can't wake him up.' Before the man surrenders, he takes a close up on the driver as he says: 'Off his f****** head. Unbelievable.' The driver decided to have a snooze on one of Sydney's busiest highways at night . +FA chairman Greg Dyke challenged more clubs to grow their own Harry Kane as he unveiled his new quota proposals designed to boost the numbers of elite English footballers. Dyke wants to change the rules until nearly half of each 25-man squad in the Barclays Premier League is 'Home Grown' under his stricter definition of what makes a 'Home Grown' player. Together with new Home Office rules on work permits for non-EU footballers, agreed with the FA and set to be introduced in May, he believes this can increase the ratio of English players in the Premier League from 35 to over 40 per cent and produce an England team to win the World Cup in 2022. Greg Dyke has challenged more clubs to grow their own Harry Kanes to help England win the World Cup . FA chairman Dyke has proposed three rule changes to what makes a home-grown player . While there is a slight increase in the number of English players in the Premier League this year — up from 32% last year to 35% — that is largely down to Burnley being promoted. If they were to be relegated and replaced by Watford — second in the Championship — the proportion would fall to 31%. However, only 22% of the starters in the current top four teams are qualified to play for England, compared to 28% last year. In 2014, just 23 English players appeared in the Champions League group stage, compared with 78 Spaniards, 55 Germans and 51 Brazilians. This season the three English clubs that reached the knockout stages of the Champions League started only 10 English players, compared to 12 French and nine Spanish in those three sides. In the last two weeks only five English players started in the second legs of the knockout stage. In 2010 England Under 17s won the European Championship, beating Spain in the final. Of that 18-man match-day squad, only four have gone on to play more than 20 top-flight games, while double that from the Spanish squad have done so in La Liga. Of the 12 clubs who have played in each of the last five Premier League seasons, the average number of home-grown players per squad has gone from 11.4 to 9.4. Only 62% of current home-grown players are qualified to play for England. Dyke set this target 18 months ago when he established a Commission to investigate the diminishing number of English players at the top level and a clock on the wall of the coaches' room at St George's Park is counting down to the World Cup final in 2022, albeit the wrong date since FIFA confirmed the Qatar tournament will be moved to winter. Dyke warned he is prepared to force his rule-changes through the courts if agreements cannot be reached with the Premier League and the Football League. His proposal is to make three changes to the 'Home Grown' player rules, to be phased in over four years from the start of 2016-17. 1) A Home Grown player is a player irrespective of nationality who is registered to play in England or Wales for three years before his 18th birthday (rather than his 21st birthday as currently stated). This takes players like Cesc Fabregas out of the equation, and others signed at 16. 2) Reduce the number of non-Home Grown players in a 25-man first-team squad from 17 to 13. And so increase the Home-Grown players from eight to 12. 3) Introduce requirement that at least two Home Grown players are 'club trained', ie. have been registered with their current club for three years prior to their 18th birthday. Dyke's vision is to open pathways for those like Kane to make the final step from talented development player to the first-team without unexceptional foreign players blocking the route. 'How many more Harry Kanes are out there who just can't get a game?' said Dyke, summoning the example of the 21-year-old Tottenham striker who has broken into the first-team this season, took his goal tally to 29 with a hat-trick on Saturday and has been rewarded with his first senior England call-up. Kane scored his first Premier League hat-trick for Tottenham at the weekend and has a bright England future . England manager Roy Hodgson has called up Kane to the England senior squad for the first time . 'Suddenly an English kid who was out on loan and touch-and-go to get a game in the first-team is the top-scorer in English football. It's great news. 'A lot of very talented kids are going into professional football clubs at a very young age and an awful lot are getting lost. We have to do more to help these kids and give future England managers a greater chance of success. 'It is also not aimed at disadvantaging our clubs in UEFA competitions. Apart from Porto, who have this established association with Brazilian talent, every other club in the Champions League quarter-finals would satisfy these criteria. 'If Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, PSG and Monaco can do it, why can't our clubs?' Dyke (centre) has a vision that he hopes will enable England to win the 2022 World Cup . Only 23 English players appeared in the Champions League group stage this season, and three - John Terry (left), Steven Gerrard (centre) and Frank Lampard (right) - have retired from international duty . Only 23 English players appeared in the Champions League group stage this season, compared with 51 Brazilians, 55 Germans and 78 Spanish players. Three - John Terry, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard - have retired from international duty. Only five English players started in the second leg of the last 16 ties: Terry, Gary Cahill, Joe Hart, James Milner and Danny Welbeck. 'That's the grim picture at the top of the game, but it's hard to argue we don' t have the talent,' said Dyke, who applauded the work of the academies and the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan. The FA chairman reaffirmed the his commitment to improving coach education and grassroots facilities but has abandoned the idea of allowing B-teams to compete within the Football League framework. Gary Cahill (left) was one of just five English players to start in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 . Steve Cotterill's Bristol City won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Sunday, but plans are forming to include Under 21 teams alongside League One and Two clubs . 'There's no point flogging a dead horse,' he said, but plans are forming to include U21 teams from Premier League clubs in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Asked about the reaction he expected from the clubs, Dyke replied: 'Some will buy in, some won't. We will go round and try to convince them. We will ask: Are you sure you haven't got a Harry Kane playing in your youth side? 'It's not an option I'd like to go down but the FA could change the rules. Or we could persuade UEFA to change the rules.' Dyke has taken legal advice and believes he could force this through. The Italian FA have agreed to non-EU restrictions in Serie A from 2016. Mame Biram Diouf qualifies for a work permit under the old formula, but not under the new formula . Bryan Oviedo (right) is another player who would struggle to obtain a work permit under the new system . The Home Office work permit changes are expected to quicken the process. From May, non-EU work permits will be reset with a new formula involving the player's cost combined with his nationality and international experience and leagues where he has played. The top 50 ranked nations will be eligible, rather than the top 70. Overall this would increase the opportunities of Brazilians and Argentines but reduce those from lower ranked nations, meaning that players like Bryan Ovideo, Ryo Miyaichi, Roger Espinoza, Brek Shea, Mame Biram Diouf and Geoff Cameron who qualified under the old system, would fail. The FA estimate that 42 players who acquired work permits in the last five years would not under the new rules. And, although there will be an appeals process, it will be less lenient than before when 80 per cent of appeals were successful. +With just 40 days until Floyd Mayweather finally comes face-to-face with Manny Pacquiao inside a ring, the official poster for their mega-fight has been released. The two boxers - Mayweather on the left and Pacquiao on the right - are both drenched in sweat as they pose in their fight trunks, staring menacingly down the camera with their hands wrapped. Their names are displayed in striking orange font, as is the date of the fight (May 2) and the start times of the Las Vegas show. Floyd Mayweather (left) and Manny Pacquiao look ready for action in the official poster for their fight . Mayweather, who is undefeated during his professional career, will meet Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 . NFL star Tim Tebow poses with Pacquiao at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles on Saturday . Also included are logos for the fight's venue, the MGM Grand, and Showtime and HBO - the US broadcasters which will jointly broadcast the show live on pay-per-view. Sky Sports are expected to show Mayweather's long-awaited clash with Pacquiao in the UK, although it could cost viewers over £20 to see it. The poster was released as Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arums said the revenue from ticket sales could hit $74m, almost four times the current record. Briefs were initially expected to cost between $1,000 and $5,000 but that upper limit has been raised to $10,000. A small number are set to go on sale to the public shortly. 'It's crazy, but it is what it is,' Arum told ESPN. 'It's amazing.' 'We'll probably have a handful of tickets that will go on sale to the public next week. It's mania.' There was also a fierce bidding war between two beer companies, Tecate and Corona to be one of the main sponsors. Tecate won with a bid of $5.6m compared to $5.2m from its rival. Meanwhile one of Mayweather's former opponents, Saul Alvarez, believes the American will dictate whether the fight is an exciting one for those watching around the world. He told Fox Deportes: 'Floyd is very smart. He can makes things frustrating or he can make a spectacular fight. He does not expose anything. 'In the past, he's thrown very few shots and makes things difficult. If he exposes himself just a little bit more, we can get an enjoyable fight. 'Pacquiao comes forward and he's always throwing a lot of punches, and he's fast. He can complicate things with his movement as he did with (Timothy) Bradley and (Juan Manuel) Marquez. Hopefully the fight is attractive.' Mayweather goes on a run as he prepares to face Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas . Saul Alvarez (left), pictured in action against Mayweather in 2013, believes the American will dictate the fight . Mayweather and Pacquiao pose together at their only pre-fight press conference in Los Angeles . +Half of the Barclays Premier League are yet to hit the fabled 40 points needed to renew membership for next season. But only once in the past decade — Wolves in 2011 — has a team required that total to avoid the drop. Rather, Sportsmail has calculated that the magic number is just 36. Since the turn of the millennium and the establishment of a hierarchy within the top flight — meaning more points are distributed higher up the table — the average of the club finishing third from bottom has been a shade above 35. Struggling duo QPR and Leicester look destined to be heading for the Championship at the end of the season . The current bottom six of the Premier League . That being the case, you can assume that every team upwards of 13th-placed West Brom, on 33 points, will be feeding off the Premier League cash cow come August. Indeed, this weekend saw the bottom six all lose and a points-per-game projection would have all of them finishing the campaign on fewer than 36. But with Leicester and QPR looking increasingly doomed, it is Aston Villa, Hull, Sunderland and Burnley battling to avoid that final spot. Hull City (Odds on being relegated: 5/2) Run-in: Swansea (a), Southampton (a), Liverpool (h), Crystal Palace (a), Arsenal (h), Burnley (h), Tottenham (a), Man Utd (h). Without back-to-back wins over QPR and Aston Villa — inspired by deadline-day arrival Dame N’Doye — Hull would be odds-on for the drop. Just look at their daunting run-in. Remember Norwich City 12 months ago? At this juncture they were 13th and seven points clear of the bottom three. But one point from their final seven matches — which included games against the top four — saw them demoted to the Championship. Steve Bruce’s side finish with a trip to Spurs and the visit of Manchester United and they’ll want to be clear of trouble come the final fortnight. Verdict: They might scramble to about 34 points, and that should be enough, just. Tom Huddlestone (right) will be hoping his side can climb the table during the final batch of league fixtures . Aston Villa (Odds on being relegated: 7/2) Run-in: Man Utd (a), QPR (h), Tottenham (a), Man City (a), Everton (h), West Ham (h), Southampton (a), Burnley (h). If the bounce factor of Tim Sherwood’s arrival falls flat, a deflated Villa could soon be sucked back into serious trouble. Three of the next four are at Old Trafford, White Hart Lane and the Etihad and that, you would think, will throw up zero points. There is also the complicating factor of an FA Cup semi-final. Verdict: Home games against QPR, West Ham and Burnley will decide their fate — if they take six points from these and a draw elsewhere, then they should be fine. Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke has scored six goals for the Midlands outfit so far this season . Sunderland (Odds on being relegated: 5/4) Run-in: Newcastle (h), Crystal Palace (h), Stoke (a), Southampton (h), Everton (a), Leicester (h), Arsenal (a), Chelsea (a). Sunderland were better during Dick Advocaat’s first game in charge at West Ham. However, it still ended in defeat. And given that they see out the campaign with trips to Arsenal and Chelsea, the Dutch boss probably has six games to save the season and preserve his record of never having been relegated. Supposed January saviour Jermain Defoe is misfiring and the Black Cats have scored just once in 11 hours. Verdict: The club should have realised that they were heading for a relegation battle far sooner. Fail to win the Tyne-Wear derby on Easter Sunday and they could be set on a downward spiral which will surely end in the Championship. Sunderland signed Jermain Defoe in hope that he can score the goals to fire the Black Cats to safety . Burnley (Odds on being relegated: 10/11) Run-in: Tottenham (h), Arsenal (h), Everton (a), Leicester (h), West Ham (a), Hull (a), Stoke (h), Aston Villa (a) A recent victory over Manchester City and a draw at Chelsea shows that Sean Dyche’s men show little regard for reputations and that spirit will serve them well as the stakes increase during the closing weeks. Crucially, they play three of their relegation rivals and, to that end, their fate remains in their own hands. Verdict: If Burnley can take eight points from eight games then it could well prove enough and Dyche would be shortlisted for Manager of the Year recognition. Burnley striker Danny Ings is attracting interest from some of the Premier League's big boys . SPORTSMAIL PREDICTION... 15th — Aston Villa (35 pts) 16th — Hull City (34 pts) 17th — Burnley (33 pts) 18th — Sunderland (32 pts) +Racism is widespread in English football with police having to deal with hundreds of incidents from the top of the game right down to grassroots level, an investigation has revealed. It also revealed that Chelsea supporters have been involved in the highest number of reported racist incidents as they travelled to and from matches on trains. It follows the high-profile case of a black man who was prevented from boarding a train in Paris by Chelsea fans as they sang a racist song, with five of them due in court this week. Chelsea supporters have been involved in the highest number of reported racist incidents . The information, gathered from 24 police forces across the country, shows there have been over 350 incidents since 2012. But as that only accounts for around half the police forces in the country, the actual figure is likely to be much higher. The charity Show Racism The Red Card said the number of incidents shows that racism is a societal problem and it was particularly shocked by the number of incidents of racist abuse at children's matches. The British Transport Police said since 2012 it had dealt with 15 incidents of alleged racism involving Chelsea fans, the most of any club in the country. Manchester United were second with 10 incidents, followed by Leeds with 10, West Ham with eight, Arsenal with four and Portsmouth with four. Chelsea fans united with a banner stating 'Black or white, we're all blue' ahead of Burnley match . A club spokesman for Chelsea said of the investigation: 'The club's position on discriminatory behaviour is clear and we work closely with relevant authorities on their investigations.' Greater Manchester Police reported 46 incidents, which included a man cleaning a toilet in a stadium being told 'that's a f****** black man's job, you f****** n*****' and a manager at a children's game being told 'I'll do you, I'm gonna wait for you outside, I'm going to do you, you f****** n*****'. The force also said that on two occasions a letter was written to a specific footballer containing racist abuse and during a game someone shouted 'what is this the United Nations, how many chinks and w*** do you need?'. Hertfordshire Police recorded 11 incidents of alleged racist abuse at children's football games, while Northamptonshire Police said that during a non-league game a man was spat at and racially abused before eventually having his leg broken in a strong challenge. Some Chelsea fans were involved in an incident on the Paris Metro, and supporters have worked hard in the aftermath to show that there is no racism at Stamford Bridge . Gavin Sutherland, campaign co-ordinator at Show Racism The Red Card, said: 'This data from police forces around the UK shows that although football clubs have taken strong action against people using racist language inside stadiums, racism is a real problem within society. 'People who exhibit racist behaviours in 2015 are doing so, in the main, away from football grounds. 'Especially worrying are the incidents of racist abuse at youth team football matches. People engaged in racist abuse at these venues know that they are more likely to get away with it, because of facilities, a lack of stewarding and security, but the impact on young people will be considerable. 'Primarily, they are being exposed to racism, which in itself is frightening, but also it may influence their own behaviour.' Other incidents included Cleveland Police reporting repeated monkey sounds and gestures during a Middlesbrough v Blackburn game in November last year and Devon and Cornwall Police said a man was headbutted and racially abused during a non-league game. Chelsea's programme cover for the match against PSG carried a clear message: 'We are all blue #equality' Surrey Police said a referee received racist insults during a kids' game and Essex police said a footballer refused to shake hands with a player from the opposite team before racially abusing him. Due to the fact that some police forces were unable to provide the information or did not reply to the request, Mr Sutherland said there would certainly be a greater number of cases. 'These incidents, although shocking in themselves and how geographically widespread they are, will be just a part of the picture,' he said. 'These are the incidents that have been reported. There will certainly be a greater number unreported and under-investigated. 'Show Racism The Red Card has always stated that the reason racism manifests in football is that it is a societal problem. 'The campaign works with young people and adults not just to educate against racism, but encourage the use and development of critical thinking skills to break down the misinformation that supports racist beliefs.' A club spokesman for Chelsea said of the investigation: 'The club's position on discriminatory behaviour is clear and we work closely with relevant authorities on their investigations.' +It has been almost a decade since the TV show Footballers' Wives left our living rooms, but the OTT bling on the real-life premiership players shows no signs of losing its shine. Just yesterday,  Steven Fletcher, who has scored just seven times in two years for Sunderland, suffered a Twitter backlash after the photograph of him with his new £260,000 Lamborghini Aventador supercar went viral. The 27-year-old footballer was criticised by fans who said the car was ‘undeserved’ given his recent performances on the pitch. Aventador: Steven Fletcher, who has scored just seven times in two years for Sunderland, suffered a Twitter backlash after the photograph of him with the supercar on the driveway of his home went viral . But Steven isn't the only footballer to use his social networking accounts  to show off the trappings of wealth to thousands of fans. Stars including Andy Carroll, John Terry and Cristiano Ronaldo have all used Instagram and Twitter to falunt their expensive goodies. Everything from customised sports cars and private jets to at-home beauty salons are posted online nowadays. Even David Beckham can't resist a cheeky snap or two of himself in a posh infinity pool. So who are some of the flashiest footballers around? Read on to find out... Andy Carroll posted this picture of himself on holiday with the words: 'Champagne spray anyone??? #SaveWaterSprayChampagne' Billi Mucklow, fiancee of Andy Carroll posted this snap of her new in-house beauty salon with the words: 'Biggest shock of my life secret key, lead to a secret room in my new house! My very own salon called "Billutifuls"' Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo uploaded this picture with the words: 'Morning ride' Cristiano also posted this snap: 'Good morning! Leaving for training with this nice weather' David Beckham enjoys a coffee on board a private jet with the caption: 'Next stop, H&M store on Gran Via' David Beckham couldn't resist grinning as he posed for this snap with the words: 'Enjoying the pool at Marina Bay Sands' Arsenal's Mesut Özil uploaded this picture of himself on a private jet with the caption: 'Good n8.Home sweet home..' Liverpool's Mario Balotelli uploaded this picture of himself at the 4FKmotorsport showrooms in Milan . Wigan Atheltic's Jermaine Pennant posed this on Instagram with the words: #tbt my old DBS...... We had fun we did . Jermaine also uploaded a snap of another of his sports cars with the words: 'My 3rd baby... Soon to be gone!!' Spurs player Emmanuel Adebayor has some of the flashiest clothing in the premier league . Wolves star Bakary Sako posted this snap of crystal-encrusted boots on his Instagram with the words: 'I will be playing my 100 games for Wolves this weekend so a special day deserve a special boots' Chelsea's Didier Drgoba uploaded these snaps of himself on a helicopter in Monaco with the words: 'Flying man stays flyyyyy!' Didier also posted these snaps of himself on a private jet with the words: 'We Had an amazing day with extra nice people' Don't follow Chelsea's John Terry if you get holiday envy, the footballer posted this snap with the words: 'Loving Dubai' John Terry continued t'o post snaps of his holiday with the words: Left: 'Summer Knee Boarding.So proud of my babies,' and right: What a great experience Scuba Diving at the Atlantis' Blackpool FC player Jamie O'Hara likes to showcase his possessions. He posted this picture with the words: 'In that business mood today, getting stuff sorted' +Javier Mascherano has poured cold water on his heated altercation with Cristiano Ronaldo during Barcelona's 2-1 win over Real Madrid. A crunching tackle by Mascherano in the second half led to Ronaldo reacting with an ill-tempered, soft kick on the Argentina midfielder. It prompted Mascherano to go down holding his face on the pitch but referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz didn't buy it, deciding to book the Barca player and let the already-cautioned Ronaldo off. This is the heated moment where Cristiano Ronaldo has a soft kick out at Barcelona's Javier Mascherano . Referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz didn't buy it, deciding to book the Barca player for the altercation . 'He boiled over a little but it wasn't with bad intent,' Mascherano said. 'These sorts of things happen out on the pitch.' Barcelona beat their rivals but were not at their best on Sunday night, yet Mascherano insists their style of play against Real should not go unnoticed. 'Football isn't just about possession,' he continued. #This club has a way of playing and we respect that but football has many facets - it's about pressurising, about suffering when you have to and being tactically smart. We have to be a complete team and that's what we are right now. Barcelona won the El Clasico match against Real Madrid as they extended their lead at the top of La Liga . Ronaldo scored at the Nou Camp but was on the losing team as Barcelona beat their rivals 2-1 . 'Teams like Madrid push you to the limit, both physically and mentally. We made a great effort, especially as we played in midweek. We came out on top and we're very happy. 'If you're not careful with Madrid they'll get on top of you. They're the best in the world at that. We started well. We controlled the game and scored, and that's when they began to push forward. 'We gave them too much space and lost the ball too often. In the second half we re-organised ourselves. We scored and started playing our own game.' +How on earth has Arsene Wenger escaped criticism for yet another failure in Europe? They won on the night – fine. They went out on away goals – sure, it couldn't have been closer. But they lost to Monaco – arguably the worst side to make it through the group stage. Aaron Ramsey's goal against Monaco was not enough to prevent Arsenal going out of the Champions League . Arsenal players look dejected after losing the 3-1 at home to the French side in the first leg of the last-16 tie . Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour celebrates his team's shock victory at the Emirates last month . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger appears to have escaped criticism for yet another failure in Europe . Failing to win the group has been Wenger's massive error in recent seasons. That's why they've faced the European giants early and failed to make the quarter-finals. And yet again, despite being in a group with two no-hopers – Galatasaray and Anderlecht, and a Borussia Dortmund side that spent the first half of the season hovering in and around the relegation zone in the Bundesliga – Arsenal failed to top their group. But they got that stroke of luck everyone says you need if you are going to win the Champions League. They were paired with Monaco, a team defensively sound but offensively weak. I'm going to keep this simple: Arsenal have better players than Monaco. So surely an experienced manager, well versed in French football and Champions League football, especially familiar with his opponents – a club he once managed – with a squad featuring two arguably world-class players in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, not even Wenger could mess this one up? Wenger failed even with world-class talent like Mesut Ozil (pictured) and Alexis Sanchez in his Arsenal side . Arsenal boss Wenger looks on and sinks into his seat during Arsenal's shock defeat by Monaco . Monaco are effective, but they are a basic side. In other words, it shouldn't take a tactical genius to work out how to beat them. They got into the Champions League thanks to the quality of James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao (before his injury), but they have since lost those star players. And yet Wenger failed to do this. For the fifth season running Arsenal failed to make the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Damage done in the first leg, and Per Mertesacker said their mentality wasn't right. Therefore the manager has to take the blame for sending his players out with the wrong mentality. Last season, Mertesacker said Arsenal 'gave 10 per cent less mentally' when they were beaten by Napoli to miss out on top spot in the group. Wenger culpable for not preparing his players properly yet again. His preparation of his own team is poor. His ability to out-coach opponents is poor. And still there are people who think he is the right man to manage Arsenal. Some even have the audacity to cling on to that well-worn myth that he had every right not to win big trophies while Arsenal paid for the stadium. Hard to believe gullible Gooners fell for that one. The income and assets from day one at the new stadium meant Arsenal could always compete. Unfortunately Wenger misjudged the impact of Financial Fair Play, another mistake he made. The case for Wenger's defence is getting weaker and weaker. Per Mertesacker admitted Arsenal's mentality wasn't right as Arsenal failed to reach the quarter-finals . Sure, three other English clubs failed in the Champions League this season. Manchester City might change their manager because of it. That's a man who won the title last season. Chelsea know that they have a manager who has already won the Champions League twice before, so his track record is proven. But we all know that if he persistently fails to get to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Mourinho won't last at the Bridge. And at Liverpool Brendan Rodgers went into his first ever Champions League campaign shorn of Luis Suarez and the injured Daniel Sturridge. He was a rookie and he made big mistakes. Wenger is making equally huge mistakes despite all his years of European experience. So many people are sitting around wringing their hands about why English clubs fail in Europe. No wonder we fail when a club as huge as Arsenal trusts a proven European failure with its Champions League ambitions, and then does nothing when he fails time after time. Manchester City were eliminated from the Champions League by Barcelona and could now change their boss . David Luiz celebrates scoring for PSG against Chelsea while Blues boss Jose Mourinho shows his frustration . He's the only manager to reach three different European finals and lose them all – Cup Winners' Cup with Monaco, UEFA Cup and Champions League with Arsenal. Wenger's 17 straight seasons in the Champions League are an embarrassment when you consider he has only reached one final, and two semi-finals in that time. Is there anyone else who could do better? There really are people stupid enough to ask that question. If you want a young manager who will be bold and brave in the face of bigger-spending more illustrious opponents then go for the youthful energy of Diego Simeone or Jurgen Klopp. Both have won domestic titles in recent seasons when they could have done what Wenger does every year and wave the white flag because he can't handle what he calls the 'financial doping' of the likes of Man City and Chelsea. If you want proven winners, then Wenger's £8m-a-year salary will surely tempt the quality of Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti. Wenger's £8m-a-year salary would surely tempt Carlo Ancelotti (left) and Pep Guardiola to north London . Why is it that a juggernaut of a club like Arsenal sticks with a manager who regularly fails when it comes to the big moments? Are they content to miss out? Finishing second wasn't good enough for Thierry Henry, remember? So he left the stinking, sinking ship to go and finish first with Barcelona. That was a long, long time ago of course, but still the fallen Emirates empire remains ruined. The failure to win the Champions League will always be a huge scabby wart on Wenger's record. But Wenger isn't bigger than Arsenal. He is replaceable. He's guilty of failing in Europe with Arsenal and making a massive contribution to the diminishing reputation of English clubs in European competition. Being knocked out by Monaco should be the final straw for Wenger. It would be for any other manager of one of Europe's elite clubs. +The pathetic excuses from friends and colleagues defending Steven Gerrard have been a joke. Unfortunately for arguably Liverpool’s greatest-ever player, he proved on Sunday that Brendan Rodgers has made the correct decision to cut him loose from Anfield at the end of this season. I’d be surprised if Gerrard makes the Liverpool starting line-up again, and any substitute appearances will surely only be to give the fans a wave goodbye. Why should Rodgers trust Gerrard again this season? Steven Gerrard looks dejected after seeing red just 38 seconds after coming on for Liverpool at Anfield . Gerrard stamped on Ander Herrera's right leg shortly after coming on at the start of the second half . Herrera gestures and points at Gerrard as the Liverpool midfielder reacts following the challenge . This is an experienced professional, a captain, a legend and there is nothing anyone can say that should mask the truth that he absolutely let everyone at Liverpool Football Club down. He also failed to apologise to Ander Herrera in his brief post-match interview, which showed a lack of class. Some said Gerrard was frustrated because he wasn’t in the starting line-up. That might be true, but it doesn’t excuse a violent stamp on an opponent’s ankle. Others have said he was desperate to get involved and show his passion. After all his years in the game, with all his knowledge of this fixture, he must surely know there is only one way to show passion and commitment on such a huge occasion – and that’s to make good, clean tackles, play well and get the job done. This was Liverpool’s biggest game of the season, against fierce rivals, it’s a game they’re losing when he comes on the pitch and it’s a game they need to win. Liverpool captain Gerrard looks baffled after seeing referee Martin Atkinson brandish a red card . Gerrard walks off the Anfield pitch in what was his last appearance against Man United in a Liverpool shirt . If Wayne Rooney had done it, the reaction would be far worse. There would be calls to strip him of the England captaincy. If it had been Joey Barton, the reaction would have hit fever pitch. Had it been a Chelsea player – well, the internet and the FA would have been in meltdown. There would have been talk of points deductions probably. But because it was Gerrard, the appropriate outrage has been tempered because apparently, according to the apologists, Rodgers made a mistake by failing to put him in the starting line-up. Gerrard (centre) walks past Brendan Rodgers (left) as Emre Can (right) listens to instructions from his boss . Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton would have been ridiculed if he had made such a challenge . Last season’s slip against Chelsea was accidental, the stamp on Sunday was calculated: at best it was Gerrard being a careless hot-head desperate to make a mark. At worst, it looked like a reckless player who is now past caring about the fortunes of his club. Gerrard was the main man responsible for one of Liverpool’s most glorious nights back in 2005 in Istanbul. Nobody can ever take that away from him. Ten years on, there’s a good chance that Gerrard’s last significant act for his club could be a red card that proves to be a major factor in handing Manchester United a passage back into the Champions League – at Liverpool’s expense. Gerrard’s legacy is shattered. It’s a sad and sorry way to go, but he only has himself to blame. The Liverpool captain has been mocked for slipping against Chelsea during the clash back in April 2014 . Gerrard will want to be remembered for leading Liverpool to Champions League glory in May 2005 . +Luis Suarez left the field a loser last October in his first ever Clasico but on Sunday night he walked off the pitch a man who had put the league title within touching distance of his team – some way to mark your first ever home game against Real Madrid. ‘That’s why we paid a lot of money for him, he compliments what we already have,’ said Luis Enrique of a performance and a goal that meant even though Real Madrid had successfully subdued Lionel Messi they still lost the game. The Barcelona squad have plenty of players who float like butterflies, but at times over the last few seasons what they have really needed was someone who could sting like a bee – Luis Suarez did exactly that on Sunday night. Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring for Barcelona in his first ever home match against Real Madrid . Suarez gets the better of Real Madrid pair Pepe (left) and Sergio Ramos to score for Barcelona on Sunday . It wasn’t quite the 3-1 win that earlier in the season Real Madrid inflicted on Barcelona – and that could still matter if the two teams finish level on points such is the head-to-head goal-difference rule in Spain – but it was still some performance and some win. And what a difference five months had made. That Santiago Bernabeu Clasico was Suarez’s debut after his Fifa ban for biting Georgio Cheillini had ended. He made an almost instant impact setting up Neymar to score after just four minutes. He then laid another golden opportunity on a plate for Messi only to see it missed and Real Madrid come back into the game and win it 3-1. On Sunday night the impact was not so instant but it was lasting. Luis Enrique will also have made a note of how two other new signings who were both still bedding-in last October were also very important in the win. He had insisted on the club signing Real Sociedad keeper Claudio Bravo and he was outstanding, making brilliant saves from Karim Benzema at both ends of the second half. Jeremy Mathieu, meanwhile, was the unlikely scorer of the first goal. ‘I have been pushing myself to get my first goal for the club and finally it comes in the biggest game’ he said. He was also outstanding defensively alongside an immense Gerard Pique. Suarez is crowded out during his first-ever El Clasico match at the Bernabeu as Barcelona lost 3-1 in October . Defender Jeremy Mathieu celebrates with his Barcelona team-mates after giving his team the lead . Luis Enrique was questioned for requesting the signing of Mathieu – a 30-year-old defender with a €20m price tag was always going to have a hard job convincing supporters but Sunday night’s display will have gone a long way to doing that. For Suarez the convincing had already been done with those two crucial goals at the Etihad that made sure Manchester City were brushed aside by Barcelona in the Champions League. Sunday night’s finishing told supporters nothing they didn’t already know. There is a phrase – ‘mig-toc’ – coined by former Barcelona player and coach Charly Rexach which means ‘half-touch’ and is meant to describe Barcelonaa’s passing game as something one step beyond one-touch. Suarez is congratulated by his team-mates as his goal pushed Barcelona closer to the La Liga title . Suarez has that same speed of touch, not in his passing, but in his finishing. The control and shot past Iker Casillas seemed to be part of one movement that happened far too quickly for the Spain keeper and Real defender Pepe to do anything about. He is not the first to score in his first Nou Camp Clasico. Other big signings such as Gary Lineker, Diego Maradona, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all did likewise. Not all their goals were worth La Liga titles however. ‘There is still an eternity to go’ said Javier Mascherano after Sunday night’s game and while 10 matches is little more than a quarter of a season it is true that so much can still happen, especially as Barcelona must travel to Atletico Madrid and Sevilla before the season ends. But Barcelona are now in control of their own destiny and in Suarez they have someone absolutely determined not to finish second this season as he did last year with Liverpool. +New Zealand reached their first ever World Cup final as they secured a sensational four-wicket Duckworth/Lewis win over South Africa at a sold out Eden Park on Tuesday. An explosive 49 off 18 balls from South African batsman David Miller saw New Zealand set 298 (D/L) to chase for victory, after a burst of rain reduced the match to 43 overs per side. In response, Brendon McCullum blazed his way to 59 and despite the regular loss of wickets, Grant Elliott smashed the penultimate ball for six to lead New Zealand to a tense victory. Grant Elliott celebrates after smashing the winning runs as New Zealand reached their first ever final . South Africa missed chances in the field, JP Duminy and Ferhaan Berhardian colliding at a crucial moment . Faf du Plessis and Farhaan Behardien cannot believe it after a crucial drop which reprieved Elliott . Daniel Vettori congratulates his team-mate as Dale Steyn looks away, following a thrilling climax in Auckland . The emotion is too much for Dale Steyn, who lies on the wicket after failing to defend 11 from the final over . Elliott consoles Steyn as New Zealand reached the World Cup final at South Africa's expense . Du Plessis (right) and Behardien look on, dejected, after losing by the narrowest of margins . The New Zealand players celebrate out in the middle with hugs for Daniel Vettori, who helped see them home . Vettori (left) leads his team-mates on a lap of honour to show appreciation for the home fans . Imran Tahir wipes away a tear after South Africa again failed to reach the final of a World Cup . The dejection is clear to see on the faces of the South Africans, after they failed to make it over the line . There was an added spice to the match with neither side having ever previously made it past the semi-finals. New Zealand’s own dismal record of six defeats out of six at this stage of the tournament was a disappointment the native supporters were confident their side would finally overcome in Auckland. But, following their quarter-final victory over Sri Lanka, South African captain AB de Villiers said his side embraced the tag of ‘chokers’ and were striving under the pressure. Having won the toss South Africa chose to bat first and the continued rotation of their side saw Vernon Philander replace the heretofore-impressive Kyle Abbott. With arguably the best attack of the World Cup, New Zealand’s pace bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee were successfully swinging the ball and causing the opposition openers all sorts of problems. AB de Villiers falls over the stumps after failing to gather the ball cleanly to run out Corey Anderson . The anguish is clear on De Villiers' face as he let the momentum shift away from South Africa in the semi final . De Villiers has been one of South Africa's stars of the tournament, but his mistake cost his side dear . New Zealand celebrate after taking a wicket during the first innings of their semi-final against South Africa . Du Plessis top-scored for South Africa with 82, as the Proteas scored 281 in a rain-interrupted innings . Corey Anderson, who was expensive but took three of five wickets, celebrates Rilee Roussow's dismissal . David Miller blasted three sixes in his quickfire 49, which boosted the South African score at the end . Somewhat surprisingly the Black Caps’ fielding early on let them down, as first Quinton De Kock was dropped on six by wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi off Boult. Hashim Amla was then put down three balls later on naught at long leg, with Boult the guilty party this time, after he hit a top-edge off Southee. Nonetheless, the tournaments leading wicket-taker redeemed himself in the following over as Boult followed up a bouncer with an in-swinger that took Amla’s (10) inside edge and cannoned into middle stump, with Eden Park erupting in jubilation. Attempting to release the shackles, De Kock (14) shuffled down the wicket to Boult and as he swung hard at a full ball, a thick edge flew to third man and South Africa were reduced to 31 for two after eight overs. Slow starts coupled with explosive finishes have the been framework for many of De Villiers side’s innings during this World Cup and their efforts in Auckland was following the same suit. Required to rebuild, Faf du Plessis and Rillee Rossouw put on an 83-run third-wicket partnership to steady the ship. De Villiers hit another impressive 65, continuing his excellent form, as South Africa accelerated their innings . The South African captain salutes the crowd after reaching yet another half century . However, McCullum brought on Corey Anderson and he sent down a bouncer that hit the shoulder of the Rossouw’s bat and was caught one-handed by Martin Guptill at backwards point to dismiss the left-handed batsman for 39. As De Villier’s came to the crease he was once again required to provide a rescue mission but was almost dismissed on his first delivery as he nearly gloved the ball onto the stumps. But, the right-handed batsman remained un-fazed and in typical style he took the attack to the opposition. Kane Williamson committed the cardinal sin of dropping the South African captain and New Zealand were made to pay as the next three balls were dispatched to the boundary rope. As Du Plessis and De Villier’s partnership passed the 100-run mark some unscheduled rain arrived to check their progress on 216-3 after 38 overs. It was an interruption that undoubtedly favoured New Zealand, just as South Africa looked like they were ready to explode and by the time the skies cleared the match was reduced to 43 overs per side. Having anchored his sides innings Du Plessis was dismissed for 82 off the second ball after the restart, as he gloved a bouncer from Anderson to Ronchi behind the stumps. For South Africa it turned out to be the perfect catalyst for an exciting end as Miller entered and smashed six fours and three sixes in his quick-fire 49. With 65 runs hit off their final five overs after the delay the Proteas posted 281-5, setting New Zealand a challenging 298 (D/L) to win. Brendon McCullum flicks the ball away as he got New Zealand off to a blistering start in their chase . McCullum's combination of clever shotmaking and explosive power set New Zealand up for a win . Morne Morkel hit back for South Africa, dismissing McCullum and Kane Williamson in quick succession . McCullum, who has become known for thriving on leading from the front, signaled his intent in the first over of his sides innings as he sent a short Dale Steyn delivery over extra cover for a maximum. Although Guptill - fresh from hitting a record 237 against the West Indies in fourth quarter-final - was looking uncomfortable, his captain was in full flow at the other end and reached his half-century off just 22 balls. South Africa’s pace bowlers were bleeding runs so De Villiers turned to his energetic spinner Imran Tahir and a tight first over applied a bit of pressure on the batsmen. And, McCullum (59) succumbed attempting to resume clearing the ropes in the next over as he came dancing down the wicket to Morne Morkel and having failed to connect properly could only pick out Steyn at mid-on. Williamson then lasted just 11 balls before he bottom-edged a short Morkel delivery and shattered his stumps on six. New Zealand were faltering and Ross Taylor was guilty for calling for a single and selling Guptill short as he found himself run-out for a scratchy 34. Quinton de Kock runs out Martin Guptill after a mix-up with Ross Taylor as the hosts faltered in Auckland . Duminy (left) celebrates with Du Plessis as South Africa appeared to take control of the contest . Taylor was caught behind for 30, as New Zealand struggled to keep up with the rate . It was fifth bowler JP Duminy who then provided the next crucial breakthrough for South Africa as Taylor was brilliantly caught behind by De Kock for a run-a-ball 30. The match continued to ebb and flow with neither side taking full control of the game before the game changing moment occurred in the 32nd over. As Elliott pushed the ball to point, Anderson called for a run and as he was sent back De Villiers missed a golden opportunity to run-out the stranded batsmen, hitting the stumps with his hand instead of the ball. A superb 103-run fifth-wicket partnership between Elliott and Anderson looked to have taken New Zealand to the brink of victory. However, Anderson skied a Morkel delivery to Du Plessis at square-leg for 58 and Ronchi holed-out in the deep for eight as the tension out in the middle and in the stands stepped up another notch. Anderson (above) and Elliot settled the hosts' nerves with a brilliant partnership of 103 . Anderson punished De Villiers for his missed run out as the game hurtled towards a tense climax . With New Zealand 273-6 and requiring another 26 runs off 16 balls, South Africa missed another crucial run-out opportunity, Elliott this time the lucky survivor. The 36-year-old right-handed batsmen sent a length Morkel delivery high into the evening Auckland sky but the ball fell agonizingly between two Proteas players. Morkel’s final delivery was again pulled high into the air by Elliott but just as Farhaan Behardien looked set to catch it Duminy ran across him as the ball dropped to the ground. Steyn, battling injury, was brought on for the final over with New Zealand requiring 12. And Eden Park erupted in euphoria as Elliott (84 not out) hit the penultimate ball for a maximum as the South African players collapsed to the ground in despair. There is an undeniably belief within the crowd that their side has one more victory in them that will bring New Zealand their elusive first World Cup title. Du Plessis keeps his cool to take a vital catch and dismiss Anderson, setting up a thrilling finish . Du Plessis cannot hide his jubilation as the semi-final came right down to the wire in Auckland . Duminy collides with Farhaan Berhadien to offer Elliott another reprieve in the penultimate over . Vettori (left) punches the air after Elliott smashed Steyn for six to win the match . +England's bid to qualify for the Under 17 European Championships got off to a perfect start on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Norway at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium. Goals from Daniel Wright, Danny Collinge and Layton Ndukwu carried the Young Lions to victory in the first of three crucial Elite Round qualifiers this week. John Peacock's side are the defending European champions, having beaten Holland on penalties in last May's final in Malta to lift the trophy for the second time. Danny Collinge celebrates his second-half goal for England's under 17s against Norway on Saturday . England's Ike Ugbo sees his close range shot blocked by Norway goalkeeper Haug . England captain Reece Oxford battles for the ball with Norway's Andreas Helmersen . The personal duel between Oxford, who plays for West Ham, and Helmersen was a feature of the game . England coach John Peacock is hoping to lead his team to the European Championship finals in Bulgaria . With home advantage in this final batch of qualifiers, England started as strong favourites to overcome Norway, Slovenia and Romania in their mini-group and reach the finals in Bulgaria. And they had the perfect start here when Sunderland man Wright smashed the ball home from six yards after Norway goalkeeper Kjetil Haug could only palm Nathan Holland's cross into his path. Their lead, however, lasted just seven minutes. The England defence switched off and Andreas Helmersen broke away down the left before squaring for striker Risa Birk to tap in. The remainder of the first-half was an open affair, but the hosts created the better chances. Leicester man Ndukwu twice struck the crossbar and Chelsea forward Ike Ugbo was denied by the Norway keeper when clean through. Ike Ugbo, of Chelsea, tries to win the ball off Norway's Joakim Barstad during the match at Burton . England forward Layton Ndukwu and John Saeter of Norway compete for the ball . England deserved a goal and it duly arrived on 57 minutes when captain Reece Oxford headed down a corner and Collinge, who plays for Stuttgart in Germany, spin to fire home from five yards. And victory was secured five minutes later when Ndukwu collected the ball wide left, advanced towards goal and finished from a tight angle. With one win under their belts, England now head to Chesterfield to play Slovenia on Monday night before rounding off the Elite Round qualifiers against Romania at Burton on Thursday. Peacock urged his team to build on this positive performance and kick on: 'I thought we were really good. They had a game plan, and I don’t think there were any real surprises from the Norwegians, we expected them to play like that and we’ve worked hard on that in training. England's Chris Willock tries to shield the ball from Norway's John Saeter . Marcus Edwards jumps for the ball under pressure from Tord Salte of Norway . 'We got off to a great start, then had a bit of a blip when we conceded, but in terms of the reaction it was really positive. 'I thought we played really well. The way we passed it about and controlled possession, not forcing things, it was good to see and we produced good football at times. 'That’s what we want to see from this group as they have the capability to do that – it’s just important we build on it.' England (4-2-3-1): Paul Woolston (Newcastle United); James Yates (Everton), Reece Oxford (C; West Ham United), Danny Collinge (Stuttgart), Tayo Edun (Fulham); Tom Davies (Everton), Daniel Wright (Sunderland); Nathan Holland (Everton), Chris Willock (Arsenal), Layton Ndukwu (Leicester City); Ike Ugbo (Chelsea). Substitutions: Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City) for Ugbo 68; Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur) for Willock 72; Kazaiah Sterling (Tottenham Hotspur) for Holland 77 . Substitutes not used: Will Huffer (Leeds United), Jay DaSilva (Chelsea), Will Patching (Manchester City), Easah Suliman (Aston Villa) Scorers: Wright 3; Collinge 57; Ndukwu 62 . Norway (4-4-2): Kjetil Haug; Matushan Sandrakumar, Joakim Barstad, Torde Salte, Henrik Bredeli, Mads Sande; Markus Stensby, Jonas Fjellberg, John Hou Saeter (C); Andreas Helmersen, Risa Birk . Substitutions: Magnus Retsuis Grodem for Fjellberg 56; Rafik Zeknini for Birk 76 . Substitutes not used: Marius Halvosen, Adam Choudary, Thomas Torgersen, Emil Hansson, Henrik Carlyle . Scorer: Birk 11 . Booked: Salte . Other score in England's group . Romania 0 Slovenia 3 . +Serena Williams has spoken of her close friendship with tennis rival Caroline Wozniacki. Appearing on the front cover of US Vogue, the American world No 1 admits that times can get tough at the top and that she is glad to have Wozniacki and sister Venus around for support. 'It’s hard and lonely at the top,' Serena confessed to Vogue. 'That’s why it’s so fun to have Caroline and my sister, too. You’re a target when you’re number one. Everyone wants to beat you. Everyone talks behind your back, and you get a lot more criticism. God forbid I lose.' Scroll down for video . American world No 1 Serena Williams appears on the front cover of Vogue and showed off her fit physique . Serena shared an Instagram image touting her Vogue issue in which she admitted: 'It’s lonely at the top' Last May, it was Caroline who needed Serena's support. When Serena got word that Caroline had been dumped by fiance Rory McIlroy, she immediately picked up the phone. 'I was devastated. I had planned the bachelorette party,' Williams said. Serena and Caroline both sat down to chat about the event six months after the fact. 'My phone was going crazy, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone,' said Caroline. 'I kept calling,' Serena said. 'First she texted, "If you don’t pick up, I am going to fly to Monaco." And then, "If you don’t answer the door, I am going to knock it down." 'So I thought, OK, I better answer the phone. And I am so glad I did. She wasn’t pitying me, like a lot of people were. I mean, it’s not like anyone died.' Williams spoke about her close friendship with Caroline Wozniacki, who is a rival on the tennis court . Wozniacki added: 'I was in shock, but she was really helpful because she had been through it before. She didn’t sugarcoat it, and she didn’t look down on me. 'She was really there for me when I needed her the most, and that’s why I think our friendship is so strong now.' 'I was impressed with how strong she was,' Serena said, before continuing: 'And you know, there will be other engagement parties... many.' Williams and Wozniacki celebrate after the Dane finished last year's New York Marathon while the pair also attended the Vogue Fashion Fun Awards in New York last year . Serena indicated that Caroline won't have problems finding another guy, as they literally swarm her when the girls go out at night. 'I am really shy. I don’t talk to guys,' Serena conceded. And although she had once wished for a family and children of her own some day, she's not in any particular hurry. 'I guess,' she said. 'I’m not even looking for it.' On the court, it's a different story. Serena went on to say: 'On the court, I am fierce! I am mean and I am tough. I am completely opposite off the court. My confidence just isn’t the same. I wish I was more like I am on the court. Nobody would know that I am constantly crying or complaining.' Williams said: 'On the court, I am fierce! I am mean and I am tough. I am completely opposite off the court' +Some dogs are born with the ability to make impressive catches with their mouths. And some dogs, like Fritz the golden retriever from California, are not – as demonstrated by its owner, who collated the canine's failed attempts to catch different food items in slow motion. Standing before the camera the dog initially looks calm, composed and ready to make its owner proud. Fritz waits patiently at the start of the video and looks composed before the first item comes his way . Spotting the piece of meat the dog licks its lips in anticipation and locks its eyes on the prize. The owner tosses the piece of meat, which travels in a straight line and at a good pace towards the dog. But as Fritz opens his mouth to make the catch, he leans back just too far and the meat hits him in the face. After licking its lips at the prospect of a piece of meat, the dog mistimes his jump and is clobbered with it . Leaning back too far the dog is unable to anticipate the flight of a doughnut and it hits him in the neck . Next up is a doughnut, and while not the healthiest piece of food for a dog, one would think the bigger surface area would surely make the task easier. Jumping too eagerly once more Fritz mistimes the doughnut's flight and the food item hits him in the neck. With a new Stars and Stripes bandana comes new opportunities in the form of a meatball and a taco, but the dog once again makes a mess of the catches and the taco explodes against its face. The dog pulls out of his attempt to catch a taco and it smashes against his face and breaks apart . A strawberry appears to by flying directly into the dog's mouth before it bounces off his nose . Gaining a crowd, the dog later attempts to catch a strawberry but despite following the flight of the fruit it ricochets off his nose and onto the floor. The final food items include a hot dog, which covers him in ketchup, and a slice of pizza, which collides awkwardly with his ear. The video concludes with a moment of success as the golden retriever manages to catch a single chip with the side of its mouth. The dog follows the flight of the hot dog but is unable to catch it and is instead covered in ketchup . Success at last! Finally, against all the odds, the dog manages to catch the single chip that comes his way . +Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has contributed a staggering 22 points in the Barclays Premier League this season, while team-mate Christian Eriksen is runner-up on 13. Kane is poised to make his senior England debut this week after receiving his first call-up and with good reason as Sportsmail reveal the top 20 players that have contributed for their clubs so far. Yet Tottenham aren't alone in relying on a player or two. Queens Park Rangers would be bottom without Charlie Austin, and Burnley would be, too, if Danny Ings was taken out of the picture. Harry Kane runs away in celebration after scoring against Leicester City as he went on his way to a hat-trick . Tottenham Hotspur striker Kane has contributed an incredible 22 points for his club this season . Kane carries the match ball after his hat-trick against Leicester last week at White Hart Lane . Christian Eriksen (pictured being hugged by Kane) is second in the Premier League's top 20 list . He's cried watching England... but now the Tottenham striker wants to put smiles back on the faces of Three Lions supporters. Click here to read Martin Samuel's exclusive interview with England newbie . Kane's fellow Premier League top goalscorer Diego Costa sits 11th in the list, having contributed eight points towards Chelsea's title push compared to the Tottenham striker's 22. But how is all this worked out? Take Kane's hat-trick against Leicester last week, for example. The 21-year-old's three goals at White Hart Lane helped Tottenham win 4-3, whereas without Kane they would have lost 4-1 - hypothetically speaking, of course. Kane, therefore, 'won' three points by taking Tottenham from a losing position to a winning one, as he did against QPR on March 7 and Arsenal on February 7, too. Kane was 500/1 to finish top goalscorer this year and his contribution reflects a remarkable season under manager Mauricio Pochettino. Elsewhere in the list, Arsenal are represented twice with third-placed Alexis Sanchez (11 points) and Olivier Giroud (9) leading the way. Fellow Champions League chasers Manchester United have Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney (both 8) to thank for comfortably sitting fourth as we enter the international break. No Manchester City players, meanwhile, make the top 20 - not even the Premier League's third top goalscorer Sergio Aguero. Olivier Giroud makes the list and sits seventh as his 13 goals have contributed nine points for Arsenal . Alexis Sanchez sits third in the list and has contributed 11 points to Arsenal's top four push . Chelsea striker Diego Costa may be the Premier League's joint-top goalscorer but he is nowhere near Kane . Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, despite being the Premier League's third top scorer, does not make the list . +Former England hardman Paul Ince has picked his #one2eleven of stars he played alongside throughout his career, on The Fantasy Football Club on Sky Sports. Ince, whose played for a number of European clubs, picked a mixture of talent in his squad - with players from Inter Milan, Manchester United and England making the cut. Watch #one2eleven every Friday evening on The Fantasy Football Club, Sky Sports 1 or catch up On Demand. Paul Ince (centre) picks his best 11 he played with and included David Beckham (left) and Paul Gascoigne . GOALKEEPER: PETER SCHMEICHEL . Has to be 'Big Pete.' What a fantastic goalkeeper, I played with David Seaman and he was a very good goalkeeper but for me Schmeichel was another level. Just the fact that, one on one's, normally when somebody goes through on the goalkeeper you just pray that they're going to save it but you just knew Schmeichel was going to save it, so we'd always set up a counter-attack because we knew he would. He could also throw the ball as far as he could kick it and the amount of times we would get get corners against us, he'd pluck it and release it to Giggs and Kanchelskis and we'd score goals. Best goalkeeper in the world during his time. RIGHT BACK: JAVIER ZANETTI . He is a great player. Zanetti joined Inter Milan the same time as me and he was just awesome. He was just a young kid but he just slotted into the way we played. The reason I put him in ahead of Gary Neville is because Javier can play in different positions and I always want players who can be flexible and what ever position he played in - he was world class. He was unbelievable. CENTRAL DEFENDER: TONY ADAMS . Colossus. Proper centre half. Men-of-men. In our England team we were all men, we were all big characters and big men but he was men-of-men. He was a leader and he inspired people around him. People say he wasn't the best passer but he wasn't that bad. His volley against Everton showed he could play. He wasn't the quickest but his timing of tackling. He was a brilliant organiser, he's top draw. Peter Schmeichel was labelled as the best goalkeeper in the world by former team-mate Paul Ince . Gary Pallister (right) played with Ince at Manchester United and was picked in his Fantasy squad . CENTRAL DEFENDER: GARY PALLISTER . Very unlucky to not play for England more. Laziest man you'll ever meet in football, if you did running he'd be at the back, when you finished training he'd be the first out of the door. I used to go round his house and he'd be playing on his PlayStation eating Malteasers. But when it came to playing football you would never see anyone go past him, you'd never see anyone beat him and he had telescopic legs, he was quick and he could play. The only negative is that he should have scored more goals but what a player. LEFT BACK: ROBERTO CARLOS . When I first met him at Inter, I thought wow. Firstly, I couldn't believe how big his legs were, you can see that in the way he plays and strikes a ball. He had great pace up and down the line, he could tackle, score and he was an incredible player. The only thing that disappointed me was that Roy Hodgson let him go to Real Madrid a little bit early. RIGHT WING: DAVID BECKHAM . An easy decision. Becks was the true professional, he was probably the best technical player I played with. I used to watch him and watch him. As soon as we'd finished [training], the mannequins would be out and he'd be taking free-kicks, corners and he'd do it for an hour. Every training session he'd give 110 per cent, he would never beat anybody but if you give him a yard, he'll put in the best balls you'll ever see. What a player. Ince described Beckham as the best technical player he played with during his footballing career . MIDFIELDER: ROY KEANE . For a complete player, without a doubt Keano. Apart from the bad side he had, he was the complete midfield player for me. He was an inspiration, a leader, could score you vital goals, he could tackle when he had too, he would be naughty when he had too but playing alongside him for three or four seasons helped him improve my game a lot. MIDFIELDER: PAUL GASCOIGNE . Probably the best player I played with. What more can I say? He's a maverick, he just had everything. He wasn't the quickest but he had that little injection of pace to get away from people and I remember seeing Gazza play for the first time at Upton Park and he was telling Billy Bonds to keep up. He's brilliant, scores all types of goals and without doubt the best player I played alongside. Paul Gascoigne was highly praised by Ince and claims the former Newcastle man was the best he played with . LEFT WING: RYAN GIGGS . He would play 20 games and be unplayable, he was that good. If you're a full back and think get tight - then he'll spin inside, he you drop off then he will rip you apart. Outstanding player, what he's done in the game, his mindset when he played in centre midfielder for Manchester United for two or three years says it all. The best left winger there will ever be. STRIKER: ERIC CANTONA . Couldn't leave him out. When Cantona did come to United I knew that we'd win the title because he just had the aura and presence about him. He took the responsibility away from all of us lot. He was unbelievable, he'd come in at half past nine every morning, do his own warm-up and work on his skills, touch and his x, y and z. He was just brilliant. His goals and importance to the team make him an unbelievable player. STRIKER: ALAN SHEARER . When I think about a complete striker and what I'd want as a manager as my striker is Alan Shearer. It's not just the goals he scored, he was a handful, he could run the channels, his retention of the ball was fantastic and he was a leader of men. I don't think we'll have a striker in that mould again. Eric Cantona (left) and Alan Shearer are two of the best strikers the Premier League has seen . Paul Ince shows how his Fantasy Football Club XI (with nicknames) would line up on the pitch . +Paul Gascoigne told the High Court on Wednesday that phone-hacking was linked to his alcoholism. The 47-year-old former England star started his evidence at the hearing in London to determine what compensation should be paid by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in eight representative cases by telling Mr Justice Mann that he was 'fuming'. Smartly dressed in a dark grey suit and pink-and-white open-necked striped shirt and accompanied by former Tottenham team-mate Gary Mabbutt, he said he changed his mobile because he knew there was something going on with it. Former footballers Gary Mabbutt (second left) and Paul Gascoigne (second right) arrive at the High Court . His voice hoarse and shaking with emotion, he said: 'I knew I was getting hacked by the Mirror. This continued for ages. Phone calls to my father and family were getting blocked so I changed my mobile. It happened again so I kept on changing mobiles, five or six times a month.' Questioned by David Sherborne, who has said hacking was rife at all three of the group's national titles by mid-1999, he said that, to start with, the experience was 'so scary'. Gascoigne, who is complaining about 18 articles - all accepted to have been the product of illegal activity - said: 'I couldn't speak to anybody, I was scared to speak to anybody... my parents, my family and kids, it was just horrendous. 'And people can't understand why I became an alcoholic.' Gascoigne went on: 'At the time I was going through a bad time because I knew I was getting hacked, 110 per cent. Of course (people) wouldn't believe it - my family and Mr McKeown (therapist Johnny McKeown). Gascoigne (right) gave evidence at a hearing to decide the amount of compensation to be awarded . Gascoigne claimed the phone hacking 'ruined his life' as he waits for compensation to be determined . 'As I was speaking to him on the phone, it clicked again. He told me I was paranoid, I was going through a mental disorder. 'I said "No, there's f***-all wrong with me". I knew, I knew. I put the phone down... I've never told a lie, nothing to lie about, nothing. 'Disgusting. Crap.' After speaking briefly, Gascoigne was told he would not face cross-examination by Matthew Nicklin QC, for MGN, and his evidence was going unchallenged. He replied: 'I have waited 15 years to be sat here so I am disgusted, really. 'I would like to trade my mobile phone in for a coffin because these guys have ruined my life. I have no life.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +She's certainly got the moves on the catwalk, now Karlie Kloss is throwing some shapes in a new video that pays tribute to the height of the disco era. Dressed in a series of revealing outfits the 22-year-old model writhes, twists and dances along with I'll Be There, Chic's first new song in decades. Co-founder and lead guitarist Nile Rodgers enlisted the help of the 22-year-old supermodel for the video that harks back to the band's Seventies heyday, when hits like Le Freak dominated the dancefloor. Scroll down for video . Fashion meets music: Nile Rodgers enlisted Karlie Kloss for Chic's comeback music video for I'll Be There . As the music starts, Karlie is pictured relaxing in her living room surrounded by old disco records . The video starts with the former Victoria's Secret Angel relaxing at home, watching footage of Chic performing on Seventies television programme Soul Train. Lying on the carpet sporting a provocative off-the-shoulder jumper, high white socks and just her underwear the supermodel, writes and kicks her legs. She's surrounded by records produced by Chic's Nile Rodgers by artists including Madonna and Diana Ross, and she clutches on the group's own records to her chest. Kloss then decides to try on an array of minuscule sparkly dresses, until settling on a skin-tight white flared cut-out jumpsuit, before attending a party where Chic are playing live. At the bash, she is seen frolicking on stage with choreographer and legendary fashion insider, Stephen Galloway, as well as the modern-day Chic line-up. While dance music fans are excited about the new Chic release, fashion insiders are captivated by the high fashion looks picked by Lady Gaga's stylist Brandon Maxwell. The 22-year-old playfully writhes around on the floor, surrounded by vintage vinyl records . He said the first scenes are a Flashdance reference and Karlie's later seen pulling on a tight pearl-encrusted dress by Adam Sellman. But her big moment comes when she dons a clinging white Versace jumpsuit as she joins the band at a party that was actually held at New York Fashion Week in September, . Brandon told hollywoodreporter.com: 'I had seen her come down the runway in Paris and seen her at a party that night, wearing the jumpsuit and dancing around and flipping her hair everywhere, so as soon as we got those references for the video, I knew we had to have that exact jumpsuit by Versace.' Yet the outfits for the video almost looked very different. He told the site: 'That [Versace] jumpsuit almost didn't make it so we were counting down, checking every five minutes to see if it was coming. It ended up getting stuck because of the snow storm so it was delayed on a flight.' Kloss is dancing to footage of CHIC performing on famous 70's television programme, Soul Train . Everybody dance: Kloss gets ready to go to the Chic party and tries on an array of Seventies mini-dresses, including a pearl-encrusted number by Adam Selman . In the mood for disco: I'll Be There is the 22-year-old model's music video debut . The funky music video was directed by famous Dutch photographer duo, Inez and Vinoodh (Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin), who were also responsible for Lady Gaga's Applause. And in it Karlie braves cold, windy temperatures as she emerges from a cab before joining the revellers inside. Nile - who also produced Madonna's album Like A Virgin, David Bowie's Let's Dance and Duran Duran's album, Notorious - posted on his Facebook page: '#I'llBeThere is a moving concept for me about decisions we make in life. 'We've tried to capture all the nuances in the full length video and still keep it fun. Karlie Kloss connects the past and present. 'She sees the original group (who plays this track) on Soul Train. 'She, visualizes the past looking at old school vinyl - then gets dressed and goes out to a current party to meet up with Stephen Galloway and the current line-up happens to be playing live.' Kloss eventually stuns in a Versace Seventies-style flared jumpsuit and frolics with Chic's current collective . The song is a tribute to CHIC's original bassist and vocalist, Bernard Edwards, who passed away in 1996 . Chic became synonymous with New York's disco scene, with hits including Everybody Dance, I Want Your Love and Dance, Dance, Dance. I'll Be There is a tribute to Chic's original bassist and vocalist, Bernard Edwards, who was discovered dead in a Tokyo hotel room in 1996 by Nile Rodgers during one of the group's world tours. It's based on an old Chic demo called Love Somebody Today, which features all of the original members of the band. Rodgers said: 'These recently-found lost tapes gives me the opportunity to play with my bandmates, who've passed away, again.' The band is currently experiencing something of a revival as the Chic founder played guitar and co-wrote Daft Punk's inescapably catchy hit Daft Punk. Karlie Kloss recently announced she would be hanging up her Victoria's Secret Angel wings to pursue her studies. Hitmaker Nile Rodgers is the guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of disco band Chic . +For a parent, breaking the news to your only child that there's a baby on the way can be a nerve-racking - but touching - moment. And for one family who decided to film the precious moment, it also became a hilarious home video clip. Mum Megan Williams revealed that her two-year-old daughter Kathryn is constantly asking for a little brother or sister. Breaking the news: Kathryn, two, sits on her dad's lap to be told she is going to be a big sister . So she decided to sit Kathryn in her father's lap, and film her reaction as they told her the news using a special book titled 'The Big Sister's Book of Waiting'. 'Do you know why we've got you this book?' her dad asks. 'Because you're going to be a big sister!' For Kathryn it was all too much. As she digests the wonderful news, she struggles to keep the excitement in - in one sense at least. Helping hand: Her parents showed her a book called 'The Big Sister's Book of Waiting' Little surprise: But her reaction wasn't quite what her parents were expecting . She leans over to her father and whispers, 'I farted' - leaving her parents in stitches . The clip, uploaded to Someecards' YouTube page, has had almost 500,000 views since it was published on March 19. In stitches: She leaned over to her father and whispered, 'I farted' - sparking a fit of giggles . +The heat is on and there are contrasting statements from some of the Premier League’s most prominent managers. Manuel Pellegrini loftily announces that he has no need to win trophies to keep his job at Manchester City. Brendan Rodgers openly admits that unless he had put Liverpool back in the running for honours he would have been sacked. Louis van Gaal urgently instructs his Manchester United players to minimise passes back to their goalkeeper in an attempt to pacify fans who are demanding a return to the attacking style of Sir Alex Ferguson. Manuel Pellegrini claims he does not need to win trophies to hold on to the Manchester City reins . Louis van Gaal has told his players not to pass back to keeper David de Gea to improve United's tempo . Roberto Martinez airily falls back on the support of his chairman Bill Kenwright as Everton drift, as if rudderless, towards the rapids of the drop zone. Get real, Senors Pellegrini and Martinez. Right on, Mister Rodgers and Meneer Van Gaal. Complacency has never been a recipe for security in the football management game and you begin to fear for Pellegrini and Martinez as the season heads towards the home straight. Pellegrini’s calm intelligence and fine football principles have won our admiration but he is kidding himself if he truly believes it when he says: ‘I’m not under any pressure to win titles. It’s about playing with style. We won’t change. It’s not about my relationship with the owners. They are not so desperate to win.’ Oh, really? Good luck with that one if after they spend so much money you come up short of Chelsea in your defence of the Premier League title and Barca finish you off in the Champions League. And it didn’t look that good against gallant Leicester on Wednesday night. Martinez comes across as honest – albeit painfully so at times – as well as a smooth media operator but he may be taking a little too much for granted when he says: ‘I was always aware of the support I would get from the chairman.’ Roberto Martinez has suffered second season syndrome at Everton with the Toffees perilously perched . Brendan Rodgers was candid about his chances of survival before Liverpool's remarkable turnaround . Beware the good old vote of confidence, Roberto, and let’s hope you don’t come to re-evaluate something else you’ve just said about Mr Kenwright: ‘Bill is a mad Evertonian.’ Fanatical fans are not usually very forgiving of only one win in a run of a dozen games including that tepid defeat at Stoke. Rodgers and Van Gaal, meanwhile, are sensibly watching their backs. Not long ago I had occasion to chide Rodgers in this column for doing too much talking about himself but seemingly not enough work on a Liverpool team sliding into crisis. Since then he has seen the warning signs and cleverly switched to a positive 3-4-3 formation which has turned them into the form team of the Premier League and he freely declares now: ‘I’ve learned that if the team is not functioning it doesn’t matter how much support you have in the boardroom. You have to win.’ So it’s well done to him. Since losing to United on December 14, Liverpool have won nine and drawn three in the Premier League . Van Gaal is proving himself shrewd enough to know that sometimes not even a run of only two defeats in 21 matches is enough at a club as huge as United. The Old Trafford faithful are chanting ‘attack, attack, attack’ while his raft of expensive imports – including £60million record signing Angel di Maria – are struggling to comes to terms with the quick-fire culture of the game in England. And the manager hears them: ‘I agree with the fans that we don’t have to use the goalkeeper so much. That there are times when we could play at a higher tempo.’ United are approaching a potentially season-defining sequence of matches against Spurs, Liverpool, City and Chelsea in the League and Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals and he promises: ‘We can improve.’ So it’s well done to him, too. This quartet are not the only managers sweating in the boiler room of big-time football. Heaven knows, for example, what poor old Gus Poyet was burbling on about in his bottle-kicking rant during Sunderland’s fractious draw at Hull this midweek. Or whether his sanity will hold up under the pressure of fighting to stave off relegation without his star England winger Adam Johnson following his arrest on suspicion of having sex with an underage girl. Angel di Maria trudges off to be substituted after another disappointing outing against Newcastle . Hull boss Steve Bruce and Sunderland's Gus Poyet played down their spat and have since shaken hands . The trapdoor is beginning to creak under some auspicious names. Don’t feel too sorry for them if it swings open. Unlike the great managers of yore – even Sir Alex was financially strapped in his early years astride the hot seat – these celebrities are paid millions to cope with the pressures. Like several of their more immediate predecessors, they would not necessarily be obliged to find another job after the pay-off. It’s mostly the pride that’s in danger of being hurt. There is one lesson above all others which England’s rugby goliaths need to heed from that Six Nations defeat in Ireland. Brawn alone will not be enough to win the World Cup this autumn, even on home turf. Stuart Lancaster’s pack is a monster, right enough, but you cannot simply shove, bore and batter your way to glory against the best teams on the planet in the Test matches which matter above all others. England will need more than a game based around brute force if they are to succeed in the World Cup . Ireland gave Chris Robshaw his men a lesson and the Red Rose will need to regroup - and add guile . You have to play some football, at least, when it comes to Ireland, probably France, even more so New Zealand. Sir Clive Woodward had Martin Johnson the Enforcer but he also got the sparkling best out of Jonny Wilkinson, whose phenomenal kicking blinded many to his creative talents. Lancaster has Chris Robshaw the Mighty. He also has at his disposal the mercurial genius of Danny Cipriani, who he leaves parked on the bench. There is no reward without risk. There was an awed reaction to my reminiscence earlier this week of how Tottenham’s late, great Dave Mackay refused to believe he had broken his left leg for a second time until he stamped his foot and the jagged white bone stuck out through his sock…then spurned the stretcher and insisted on walking off. So don’t be too surprised if this much loved and revered iron Scot arrives at the funeral on his own two feet. The late, great Dave Mackay is crowned by Spurs team-mate Jimmy Robertson after winning the 1967 FA Cup . +Katie's approach to weight loss is five parts stick, zero parts carrot . Overweight children are the latest target for serial ranter Katie Hopkins. The controversial columnist has said that fat children should be forced to attend special sports schools until they shed excess weight. Writing in her column for Now! magazine, the 39-year-old said: 'The most upsetting thing of all is a fat child. 'Watching fat parents drop their fat kids off at school in their cars makes me so angry my teeth itch and my nipples twizzle.' The mother-of-three adds in her video blog for the magazine that she blames the parents for children with weight problems: 'I've always said that a fat child lives in the shadow of a fat parent. 'The fat kids go through the school gates and there's the fat mum in the car, who doesn't bother to get out, still wearing her pyjamas...and that really does my head in.' Citing government statistics that say one-in-10 four-year-olds are now overweight, the Celebrity Big Brother star even goes as far to say that, if she had her way, fat children would be 'sent to special sports schools until they make the grade.' Hopkins also opines that she thinks people in England are far too soft on 'fat shaming'. 'There's loads of fat kids and we don't say anything because that would be fat-shaming, or bullying...well, I disagree completely. 'In England, we're far too soft on it and we seem to think it's okay that people are pureeing KFC to spoon-feed to their babies.' Earlier this year, the opinionated former Apprentice star filmed herself gaining and losing four stone in an effort to prove that obesity is purely the fault of the person carrying the weight. Katie has form with insulting overweight people. On her television show Making My Fat, she was kicked out of an 800lb woman's house after rows. Now, she's turned her venom to children, saying obese kids should go to 'special sports schools' until they make the grade' Katie before her own weight gain (left) and after (right) In the programme, Katie was frequently seen bursting into floods of tears over her new body shape, but also over the amount of food that she has to eat every day to put on the weight. She loaded up on junk food every couple of hours, setting herself a target of 5,000 calories every day. Katie's doctor advised her not to go through with the programme, warning the star that she faced a number of health problems including liver strain, damaged knees, altered blood chemistry, and stretched skin among other issues. But she persisted with the experiment, going so far as to travel to North Carolina in the US to take part in an eating competition. Katie reveals she had to sleep next to a sick bucket because overeating made her feel so nauseous . At the fast food restaurant, customers are given 20 minutes to consume a monster burger, containing a kilo of meat and 8,000 calories. Katie gave the meal her best shot, but only succeeded in consuming around half. She said: 'There are two kids in there who are around 15 or 16 years old and they must weigh between 200 pounds (14.2 stone) and 300 pounds (21 stone) each. 'I can't understand why no one is telling them to stop. 'I feel really sorry for those children. Their parents were just there watching them eat. 'I just want to go and ask them to stop. 'I couldn't do that to my children. I could never feed my children to death.' Katie also visited an American called Nicky, a woman who weighs 803lb (57 stone). Nicky is often confined to her house because of the weight that she carries around. While the women initially got on like a house on fire, Katie quickly insulted Nicky and the women became embroiled in an argument, which saw her asked to leave the house. The TV star was unrepentant, telling the cameras: 'There is no way she is really happy. 'She has managed to become happy with what she has got by accepting it's rubbish. 'I would rather be put down than be Nicky.' Making My Fat followed Katie Hopkins as she gained 4st on a mammoth diet of 6,500 calories a day, then lost the weight through a healthy eating plan and exercise . The end of the programme saw Katie engage in extreme eating to try and put on the weight, gorging on 400 calories every couple of hours. Katie Hopkins strikes fear into the hearts of many people in the UK - she recently came second in a poll of the world's most hated people. The television star's documentary made her so disliked among larger ladies and men that they actively try to avoid her. She told FEMAIL: 'Fat people can be quite afraid of me, there is this sort of Hopkins fear. 'A lot of them will actually cross the road to avoid me if they see me walking down the street. Katie said she wanted her TLC documentary to start a debate about the nation's obesity crisis . 'Others will present me with their excuses before I have even opened my mouth, which is weird because it's not like I go around judging me all of the time. 'Fat mums completely avoid me, but that’s fine.' Katie has had a bee in her bonnet about overweight men and women for a couple of years. Last year she made headlines around the world after she revealed that she wouldn't hire a fat person because they are 'lazy'. So in the last six months, the 39-year-old decided to put on 30 per cent of her body weight in just three months and then lose it just as quickly, to prove that larger people only have themselves to blame for piling on the pounds. The star has very little time for larger people, admitting than she can hardly bear to touch anyone carrying a little extra fat, but she has even less for their excuses. Instead of laying the blame for Britain's obesity problem at the door of the takeaway shops and junk food companies, Katie says it is the fault of the individual and they need to be aware that it is not okay to look as they do. Katie said: 'At my heaviest during this television experiment, I weighed 12 stone. 'Nowadays, I hear a lot of women say 12st isn’t that big - they say that because you can be 12 stone and a size 14. 'But it's strange idea that we think 12st isn’t that big, I actually find it very alarming. 'We keep pushing up the boundaries, first of all 10st wasn't that big, then 11st and now 12st. 'I really worry about the re-sizing that we have done as a nation. 'By putting size 16 models in Debenhams shop windows and embracing bigger seats, bigger beds and bigger geriatric ambulances - we are re-scaling what we perceive as normal.' The controversial figure claims that while she didn't shed a tear at her wedding or the birth of her children, gaining 3st pushing her weight over 11st  'killed her' and left her in constant floods . But while Katie thinks the plus-size models in Debenhams shop windows are unacceptable, the super-skinny mannequins that recently caused an uproar in Topshop are acceptable in her eyes. She said: 'I don’t mind skinny mannequins. 'I didn’t think that they were particularly skinny, I thought that they looked pretty alright. 'There are a lot of kids at that age who are relatively skinny. I was a pretty skinny kid. 'In terms of sizing, Mango starts their plus-size collection at a size 12 and I’ve always said that size 12 is a size called fat. 'Because for me, it’s not necessarily that a size 12 is fat, it’s so that people can have a sense of what is normal. 'I believe that we take our cues on what is normal from what we see on the high street and as we are getting bigger, we are just re-sizing or super-sizing what we think is normal.' In part two of Katie's documentary she debated diet bloggers and plus-size campaigners . Katie's approach to weight loss is five parts stick, zero parts carrot. Asked about a fat tax as a potential solution, making customers pay a heftier tax on junk food than healthy produce, Katie scoffs and suggests a far more radical option. She says: 'I’m not averse to the idea of a fat tax, but I would go much more brutal than that. 'I think the fact that we don’t own our problems in this country is the biggest issue that we have. 'For instance, our NHS in this country is free at point of use, but most people perceive that as completely free. 'Therefore, any problem that they create with their body is also free, with someone else footing the bill.' She continued: 'Obese people are bankrupting us - they cost us something like £17.4 billion last year. 'We need to make these people own the problem. So, we should have a social security insurance scheme, whereby people are charged if they don’t make a genuine effort to look after their own health. 'If you don’t look after your own health, guess what? You’re going to pay more. So if you smoke, guess what? You’re going to pay more. You drink too much, guess what? You’re going to pay more. 'And if you eat yourself into being morbidly obese, then you’re going to pay for your hip operation as well. 'That would make people own their problems better than some kind of fat tax. 'Because this tea and sympathy lark just isn't working.' +Harry Kane stepped out for his first senior England training session at St George's Park on Tuesday morning and it would seem Roy Hodgson is planning to throw the Tottenham striker in at the deep end. According to Hodgson's training notes, Kane was part of a two-man attack alongside Three Lions captain Wayne Rooney in what seemed to be plans for a five-a-side match. The 21-year-old's name was written next to Rooney's with two large circles around each and in front of a back three of Kyle Walker, Gary Cahill and Kieran Gibbs. Harry Kane trains with the England senior squad for the first team at St George's Park on Tuesday morning . Roy Hodgson holds a piece of paper which seems to pair Wayne Rooney and Kane together in attack . Hodgson talks with assistant manager Ray Lewington (left) and coach Gary Neville during the session . Kane goes through a drill with the ball as training gets underway at England's Burton-upon-Trent base . The striker jogs alongside Rooney (3rd right) and uncapped Tottenham team-mate Ryan Mason (2nd right) Kane challenges Everton midfielder Ross Barkley for the ball during Tuesday's session . Kyle Walker (left), Kane and Phil Jones in action during England's first training session of the week . Mason (left) and Kane will be hoping to make an impact in training ahead of England's next two fixtures . Games played: 26 . Minutes played: 1,876 . Goals: 19 . Right foot: 10 . Left foot: 5 . Headed: 4 . Inside area: 17 . Outside area: 2 . Kane looked at ease during a light warm-up as he jogged alongside fellow uncapped Spurs team-mate Ryan Mason, who was drafted in to the squad after Adam Lallana withdrew because of a groin injury. Before training began, Rooney was presented with England Player of the Year award as voted for by fans, while Chelsea youngster Dominic Solanke received the Young Player of the Year gong before joining Hodgson's squad for Tuesday's session. James Milner, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines trained in the gym as part of their usual regimes while Jordan Henderson and Michael Carrick only took part in the first half of the session. Speaking of his first England call-up, Kane said recently: 'I can't wait. It has been a dream to be called up but obviously I want to go and play. 'There is great competition for places and hopefully I can just do my best whilst I am away and see what happens. England manager Hodgson could hand Kane his England debut against Lithuania on Friday . Kane's chances of making his England debut improved after Daniel Sturridge withdrew from the squad . Kane and his England team-mates listen to instructions during a break in training . Rooney (centre) was presented with England Player of the Year award as voted for by fans . Andros Townsend (left) gets to grips with Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson on Tuesday . England goalkeeepers (from left) Jack Butland, Robert Green and Joe Hart warm-up ahead of training . 'I want to play for England like any boy would. That's what I want to do. 'There is great competition and I have to keep working hard if I want to get a place in the team.' Kane's chances of making his England debut improved on Monday night after Daniel Sturridge withdrew from the squad to face Lithuania and Italy through injury. Sturridge had a scan at St George's Park late on Monday evening after reporting for duty with a hip problem he suffered in Liverpool's 2-1 defeat by Manchester United. England skipper Rooney takes a tumble after a tackle from Chelsea defender Gary Cahill (right) The 27-year-old will be hoping his impressive form for Manchester City continues in an England shirt . After assessing the results, the England medical staff decided Sturridge would not be able to play in the upcoming matches and sent the striker back to Liverpool. Sturridge's withdrawal is unfortunate for the player and Hodgson, who has not been able to select the 25-year-old since September. As one of just three strikers in the 24-man party, Kane now has a good chance of starting either the Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley or the friendly in Turin four days later. Kane scored his first Premier League hat-trick during Tottenham's 4-3 victory against Leicester on Saturday . Daniel Sturridge (left) has been ruled out of England's double header with Lithuania and Italy . +Robin van Persie has targeted the Manchester derby on April 12 for his return from injury. The Manchester United striker has missed the last five games after suffering ankle ligament damage in the 2-1 defeat at Swansea more than a month ago. But Van Persie believes he will be back in time for the Premier League clash with City at Old Trafford as Louis van Gaal’s side fight for second place with their neighbours, who are currently two points ahead. The Dutchman scored a memorable late winner at the Etihad in 2012 to help United seize the title back from City. Robin van Persie could return from injury in time for next month's Manchester derby against rivals City . The Dutchman scored a memorable late winner at the Etihad in 2012 to help United seize the title . Van Persie has spent some time at home in Holland during his layoff, but he has been working hard in the gym under the supervision of United physio Matt Radcliffe and is expected to step up his rehabilitation during the international break. United have coped well in Van Persie’s absence, winning all four Premier League games – beating top-four rivals Liverpool and Tottenham – but lost in the FA Cup against his old club Arsenal. The 31-year-old has scored 10 goals in 26 games for his club this season, although he admitted in January that his form has not been good enough and is uncertain if United will offer him a contract extension before his current deal runs out in 15 months’ time. Van Persie has missed the last five games after suffering ankle ligament damage in the 2-1 defeat at Swansea . United have coped well in Van Persie’s absence, winning all four Premier League games . +Michel Platini insisted that UEFA 'loves FIFA' after he was re-elected unopposed as UEFA president for a third four-year term. Platini has made it clear he does not support Sepp Blatter standing for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 29 - but he used his acceptance speech to say people are trying to turn the rest of the world against UEFA. Platini told the UEFA Congress in Vienna: 'This means more to me than you can possibly imagine. I know I can count on you, and you know that you can count on me. Michel Platini insisted that UEFA 'loves FIFA' after he was re-elected unopposed as UEFA president . The Frenchman used his acceptance speech to say people are trying to turn the world against UEFA . 'This allows me to continue for another four years. I do want to say that we love FIFA deeply, and it's precisely because we love and respect FIFA that we want it to be perfect. 'We are only demanding about the people and institutions we care about.' Addressing the presidents of the other five confederations, he added: 'We want a FIFA that is respectable and respected. Certain people are trying to turn us against each other and isolate us and call us arrogant and selfish Europeans - but don't believe everything you hear. 'We know we are in a privileged position and we will work for the good of the 209 national associations and the good of FIFA as well. 'Whatever the results of May 29, that's why we are going to continue to work together.' Platini has made it clear he does not support Sepp Blatter standing for a fifth term as FIFA president . +England’s fourth Six Nations runners-up finish in succession has been labelled ‘unacceptable’ by RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie with head coach Stuart Lancaster told his side’s performances must improve in time for the World Cup. Lancaster’s men suffered championship heartache on Saturday as their thrilling 55-35 victory over France at Twickenham – watched by a record audience of 9.6 million on terrestrial television audience – saw them fall six points short of securing a Six Nations first title since he was appointed in 2012. Instead, his side had to settle for yet another second-place finish in their last competitive tournament before September’s World Cup, and Ritchie expressed his displeasure at the overall outcome. Another Six Nations runner-up spot for England is unacceptable, RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie has said . Ritchie feels Stuart Lancaster's men can win the Rugby World Cup despite their Six Nations second place . ‘Four years as runners-up is not acceptable and we are not happy with how that came about,’ he said. ‘If you go back through history, bearing in mind a lot of things, we should be, as a country, winning more in terms of Grand Slams, Six Nations championships, other things. ‘We had opportunities. ‘Let's be clear – entirely in our control. The Irish deserved the win because of what they did over the five matches. We did not do enough over the five matches. There's no point in bleating about it. ‘We simply didn't take opportunities, didn't do what we should have done, were not clever enough during parts of the game in order to deserve to win.’ England finished second to Ireland by a difference of six points, just falling short of top spot . Chris Robshaw was left devastated after his side ended up being Six Nations runners-up again . Robshaw shakes hands with Referee Nigel Owens at the end of theSix Nations match at Twickenham . England’s coaches were badly hamstrung by injuries in the build up to the tournament, with 11 players ruled out of their opening win over Wales in Cardiff and first-choice stars Manu Tuilagi, Joe Launchbury, Ben Morgan and Owen Farrell absent for the duration. That resulted in the emphasis being placed in youngsters such as George Ford, Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph with Lancaster and his staff keen to highlight the depth that has emerged. ‘We're developing, this is a development opportunity' – I don't take that,’ Ritchie added. ‘I don't think we're in a development phase. ‘We should be going into every game, doing our utmost to win and to win well. We've got the resources, the talent, the ability. Saturday was a fantastic example of that. ‘We've got to make sure we come out for the World Cup and deliver.’ Jules Plisson, Robshaw, Loann Goujon and Luther Burrell all challenge for the ball at Twickenham . Courtney Lawes is helped up by Benjamin Kayser at the end of theSix Nations match . +Alastair Cook fell cheaply for the second time in the match for MCC against county champions Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi. Cook, who made just three in the first innings, mustered five at his second attempt on Tuesday morning before his attempt to dispatch a short ball from Jack Brooks went straight into the hands of Adil Rashid at midwicket. The England Test captain will next week depart for his first assignment of this Ashes year - to take on the West Indies in the Caribbean. Alastair Cook fell cheaply for the second time in the match for MCC against county champions Yorkshire . Cook, who made just three in the first innings, mustered five at his second attempt on Tuesday morning . But he will do so on the back of two failures in his only two first-class innings since last season. Cook caused a stir last week when he described England's decision to replace him as their World Cup captain as 'probably wrong', in hindsight. The opener continued his poor form in a one-day international series in Sri Lanka late last year, and England responded by dropping him in favour of Eoin Morgan. They went on, however, to make an embarrassing early exit from the global tournament in Australia and New Zealand - beating only minnows Scotland and Afghanistan, and eliminated by a defeat against Bangladesh. The England Test captain has struggled for form with the bat and heads to the West Indies in terrible nick . Jack Brooks (third from left) celebrates after dismissing Cook early on for Yorkshire . Cook agreed to play for MCC against Yorkshire at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, in the traditional curtain-raiser for the new season. But there has been no return to form for England's most prolific Test centurion - who is without an international hundred in any format since May 2013. MCC were in a spot of bother too after his early dismissal, on 30 for one and still needing another 121 runs merely to avoid an innings defeat. +Kevin Pietersen has agreed a release from his Indian Premier League contract as he seeks a new deal with Surrey to try to reignite his hopes of an England recall. Pietersen was axed by England in February 2014 after their whitewash in Australia, but is hoping for a still unlikely international return in time for this summer's Ashes rematch. He confirmed, on his website kevinpietersen.com that he has taken another key step to that end by agreeing a release from the majority of his contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kevin Pietersen's plans to return to county cricket with Surrey have moved a significant step closer . Pietersen said: 'I'm hugely grateful for all the support and understanding I've received from everyone at the Sunrisers and the IPL. 'My focus is now very much on the upcoming season in England, and I'm absolutely determined to score as many runs as possible.' Surrey de-registered Pietersen at the end of last season but have nonetheless long been front-runners to re-sign him. His availability for all formats, as soon as possible, has appeared a starting point for that to happen - and Pietersen's presence in early season, rather than spending six weeks at the IPL, is therefore a key development. Pietersen plays a shot on the second day of the Ashes series between England and Australia last year . New England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves this month revived the record-breaking 34-year-old batsman's hopes of a return to the fold, contrary to the public remarks by anyone else associated with the governing body. But a pre-requisite from Graves was that Pietersen must first of all find a way back into county cricket - and then, of course, start scoring runs again. Pietersen may still be recalled by the Sunrisers for just a one-week period, should they qualify for the IPL knockout stages between May 19 and May 24. That, however, ought not to be an insurmountable problem for any county interested in securing his services. Pietersen bats for Melbourne Stars during the Big Bash League semi-final match against the Perth Scorchers . He added: 'I've never made any secret of my overwhelming desire to once again represent England, and I'm going to do everything in my power to earn a recall to the international set-up. 'To once again put on that England shirt would be a privilege and an honour, but now I have to focus on performing domestically and give myself the best possible chance of meriting selection.' A statement on his website spelled out Pietersen's next move - without specifying Surrey as his immediate destination - and that he has his heart set on an England return in time for the start of the Ashes in July. Pietersen was involved in a high-profile dispute with England coach Peter Moores back in 2009 . It read: 'The four-time Ashes winner, who is also England's highest ever runscorer in all formats, will ... join a domestic county with the aim of earning a place in the England squad for the upcoming Ashes series.' Pietersen quickly made it clear at the start of this month that he was delighted to take Graves at his word, that the slate will be wiped clean for all under his tenure, and he has since confirmed he has already spoken to the incoming chairman on the telephone. The controversial South Africa-born batsman has received little encouragement yet from other quarters. Former England star Pietersen previously rubbished claims suggesting his best days are behind him . ECB managing director Paul Downton pinpointed Pietersen's 'disengagement' with his team-mates during his last Test match to date - the defeat in Sydney which consigned England to their 5-0 2013/14 Ashes whitewash. Downton has not shifted from that in the intervening months. When England announced their squad last week, to travel under Alastair Cook and without Pietersen for three Tests in the West Indies, national selector James Whitaker repeated many times that he is simply 'not part of our plans'. Pietersen, however, has said he will 'do anything' to play for England again. +Diego Simeone has signed a new contract at Atletico Madrid that will keep him at the club until 2020. The current Spanish champions have long since made it clear they want the Argentine coach to be ‘their Sir Alex Ferguson’ and build an empire in Madrid. And finally on Monday negotiations concluded with Simeone’s sister and agent, Natalia, over a new deal that extends his current commitment to 2017 by three years and raises his annual net salary to £4.4m. Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has signed a contract extension at the club until 2020 . Simeone has pledged his future to Atletico for the next five years, with the aim of building an empire . The contract includes a clause allowing him to leave at the end of a season for reduced compensation . All but confirming he had received offers from other clubs Simeone said: ‘I have chosen to stay here because the club is growing. 'It is strong and that fills me with enthusiasm. In life it is difficult to choose sometimes but I am sure about the decision I have taken.’ Confirmation of Simeone’s loyalty to the club where he won La Liga last season will disappoint a clutch of Premier League clubs interested in his services but the deal is believed to include a clause that would allow him to leave for a reduced compensation package if he did so at the end of any given season. Atletico Madrid are now 20 per cent owned by Chinese corporation Wanda and Simeone has been told money will be available in the summer without the need to cash in on top players as in previous seasons. He has already made a summer shortlist of transfer targets and recouping Chelsea full-back Felipe Luis and signing Villarreal striker Luciano Vietto are part of it. Simeone led Atletico Madrid to the Champions League final last year and has been on the radar of both Manchester United and Manchester City in the past year and Chelsea before they hired Jose Mourinho for a second time. The Argentine revealed he had the chance to join other clubs, but chose to stay in Madrid with Atletico . Simeone led the Vicente Calderon outfit to the La Liga title and Champions League final last season . +Police surveillance video shown publicly for the first time Tuesday shows Secret Service agents in their government vehicle driving through the secured area and nudging a temporary barrier at low speed as it drove toward a checkpoint. The incident occurred as on-duty officers and agents investigated a suspicious package thrown near the White House on March 4 – and an accompanying threat that it contained a bomb. The House Oversight Committee showed the video from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy was testifying for the third time about the incident, in which two senior agents are accused of drinking before driving into the White House complex and pushing the barrier with the SUV's bumper. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . This screen grab from a police video shows a March 4, 2015 incident involving allegedly drunk Secret Service agents who hit a White House barricade while a suspicious package was under investigation nearby . NUDGED IT THIS MUCH: Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the third such grilling he's endured in the last week . ANONYMOUS EMAIL: The House Oversight Committee heard testimony about how Clancy learned about the incident – after this message had already circulated among agents for several days . Clancy has been criticized for the agency's handling of the incident. He has said he was out of the loop in the days that followed. 'The fact that I did not learn about this allegation until five days [afterward] ... infuriates me,' he told the congressional panel. 'This is unacceptable. Our mission is too important for this to happen. It undermines my leadership.' He said he only learned about the incident from discussions about an anonymous email that was circulating within the agency. The email described the off-duty agents as 'both extremely intoxicated' and confused about the bomb investigation underway near where their vehicle came to rest. It said uniformed Secret Service officers at the scene 'were going to arrest both of them, but the UD (Uniform Division) watch commander said not to.' 'A liot of people got this email,' fumed Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the oversight committee's ranking Democrat. 'A lot of them got it,' he blared at Clancy, but you didn't!' Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the committee's chairman, angrily recounted a series of events including an 11-minutes stretch of time the Secret Service let the suspicious package lay near the White House before evacuating the area. 'I don’t understand how that happens,' he said. DC Metropolitan Police video shows a car delivering a suspicious package to the White House perimeter; the woman driving claimed it contained a bomb . Minutes later an SUV driven by an agent who had been drinkign at a retirement party drove into a Secret Service barricade near the scene of the 'bomb' investigation . Clancy, a former top agent on President Obama's protective detail, came out of retirement to lead the Secret Service after a series of scandals forced out his predecessor, Julia Pierson . The March 4 debacle was part of 'a litany of recent mishaps,' Chaffet lectured, which 'raise major concerns' about the Secret Service's ability to protect the presidential mansion and the first family. 'This has to stop,' he said. 'We need to understand why these incidents keep happening.' The Homeland Security Department's inspector general is investigating allegations against the agents. Lawmakers asked to speak with the agents involved, as well as Secret Service supervisors who were on duty that night, during the hearing. The Secret Service declined to make them available and Clancy appeared alone. In a written statement, Clancy said the case remains under investigation and any appropriate discipline will be imposed afterward. Clancy also announced a new policy put in place after acknowledging that some video of the March 4 incident had been deleted. The video was shown to a crowded hearing room on Capitol Hill as a helpless Clancy watched . Ultimately the Secret Service agents on duty determined that the package wasn't dangerous – but the agents in the SUV couldn't have known that . Clancy said the agency will start retaining routine surveillance video for seven days. Previously, surveillance recordings that weren't being used as part of ongoing investigations were deleted after 72 hours. Chaffetz said it was 'highly suspicious' the video was deleted. 'We asked Director Clancy to turn over video footage of the incident. He said no,' Chaffetz fumed on Tuesday. +An undertaker in Germany passed out in shock when a coffin lid slid open and the woman inside groaned: "Where am I?" The 92-year-old lady had been pronounced dead hours earlier at a retirement home in the city of Gelsenkirchen and taken to the Munstermann funeral parlour. But when the funeral director recovered from passing out he saw the old woman lying in the coffin groaning with both eyes open. The 92-year-old lady had been pronounced dead hours earlier at a retirement home in the city of Gelsenkirchen, pictured before being taken to the funeral parlour . An ambulance raced to the scene to take the woman back to a local hospital but she fell ill and died on Monday afternoon. A police investigation has now begun to probe how she was prounonced dead, even though she was still alive. According to reports, the woman was found in bed at the nursing home where she lived by a carer, who thought she had stopped breathing. A doctor was called and they pronounced the woman dead before she was taken away by an undertaker. A German undertaker passed out after the lid of a coffin slid open and an elderly woman inside groaned asking 'Where am I? When he realised she was still alive, he called an ambulance with paramedics noting she still had a pulse. She was rushed to hospital and her family were informed that she was still alive. The head of the retirement home where she lived, but didn't die, Lother Burger, said: 'This is terrible and inexplicable. 'We are being devoured by the press, we are being pilloried.' The investigation into the incident will decide if there had been a failure in determining a death. +Radamel Falcao has admitted for the first time that he is likely to leave Manchester United at the end of the season. The Colombia star has stayed silent amid speculation that United will reject the opportunity to turn his £5million loan from Monaco into a permanent £43m deal. But Falcao conceded on Tuesday that he will probably have to look elsewhere for regular first-team football, having not started a game under Louis van Gaal for the last month. Radamel Falcao dropped a major hint that he could leave Manchester United when his loan expires . ‘Obviously I need to find a place where I have continuity and can play,’ Falcao said in Bahrain, where Colombia play a friendly on Thursday. ‘I think any footballer needs to play and is happy playing. ‘So when the championship ends surely I’ll sit down, do an analysis and decide what’s best for me.’ Falcao has scored just four goals in 22 appearances for United, where he earns £280,000 a week, and was made to play for the club’s Under 21 team earlier this month. His mentor and former agent, Silvano Espindola, revealed last week that the player has been reduced to tears by his treatment at Old Trafford. Liverpool are being linked with the 29-year-old striker but it is understood that Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Valencia are more likely destinations. The Colombian has been more used to starting from the bench for the Reds this season . ‘Calls come every day so in that sense I’ve got to stay calm, but I keep on the fringe of them, there are people who deal with all that situation,’ said Falcao. ‘I owe myself to Manchester United at the moment, I have faith and hope because lots of things can happen in the number of matches remaining. I will continue to fight to the end at Manchester United.’ While United are happy to let Falcao leave Old Trafford, they will do all they can to ensure that £59.7m record signing Angel di Maria stays. The Argentine is said to be unsettled in England just seven months after arriving from Real Madrid. Falcao came on as a substitute in United's win against Liverpool on Sunday and has scored just six goals . Di Maria’s form has dipped after a bright start and his family have been unhappy since an attempted break-in at their Cheshire home last month. United midfielder Marouane Fellaini, meanwhile, has refuted suggestions that his presence in the team leads to a long-ball game, saying: ‘We play beautiful football.’ Robin van Persie could return against Manchester City on April 12 following a month out with ankle ligament damage. United have no plans to let £59.7million record signing Angel di Maria leave the club in the summer though . +Wayne Rooney has been named England's player of the year after coming out on top in a fan vote. The England skipper was presented with the award ahead of Tuesday's training session at St Georges Park. Chelsea's Dominic Solanke received the young player of the year award as voted for by England development coaches. Wayne Rooney has been named England's player of the year while Dominic Solanke scooped the youth award . Wayne Rooney chests the ball while Solanke (second right) also trained with Roy Hodgson's England side . The youngster is a member of England's Under 18 squad but trained with Roy Hodgson's men on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Tottenham striker Harry Kane stepped out for his first senior England team training session. Kane, who scored a hat-trick against Leicester to take his season tally to 29 goals at the weekend, will be hoping to impress England boss Roy Hodgson ahead of Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania. Harry Kane trains with the England senior squad for the first team at St George's Park on Tuesday morning . Kane goes through a drill with the ball as training gets underway at England's Burton-upon-Trent base . The 21-year-old striker looked at ease as during a light warm-up as he jogged alongside fellow uncapped Spurs team-mate Ryan Mason, who was drafted into the squad after Adam Lallana withdrew because of a groin injury. However, Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph did not take part in the session through illness. The FA's technical director Dan Ashworth and sports psychiatrist Steve Peters were both seen at the session. England take on Lithuania in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley before playing a friendly against Italy at the Juventus Stadium in Turin. +Following Sunday's El Clasico spectacle that hugely intensified the run-in for the La Liga title between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Rio Ferdinand gave his stance on the age-old debate of who is better: Cristano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? Choosing to stay somewhat impartial to the discussion the former England international says we should stand back and appreciate the sheer brilliance we are witnessing in the presence of two of the world's greatest ever players. 'It's inevitable we do all this "who's better? Blah, blah, blah" but we should just be enjoying being around these two players and seeing it,' the QPR defender said. Rio Ferdinand (right) speaks to the camera alongside Queen's Park Rangers team-mate Bobby Zamora . Lionel Messi is La Liga's top scorer this season with 32 goals but Cristiano Ronaldo is not far behind . The Real Madrid striker's goal in El Clasico on Sunday took him to just one goal behind the Barcelona forward . 'When Ronaldo, the Brazilian one - who should have been the best if he weren't injured - was scoring 30 goals a season [everybody said]: "Oh he's a genius, he's the best ever."' Messi and Ronaldo are this season's top scorers in La Liga, with 32 and 31 goals respectively with 10 games to go. Speaking from his car, kitted out with an X-Box and television screen, the former Manchester United star posted an image on Instagram of himself and Hoops team-mate Bobby Zamora. The two were taking each other on in an in-car game of FIFA whilst travelling to training at the Imperial College Sports Ground, London. The 2008 Champions League winner wrote: 'En route to training.. Winning at FIFA #shock' after beating the former Fulham striker 2-1 with Paris Saint Germain. The former England international raises his finger in victory after beating Zamora in an in-car game of FIFA . +Frank Lampard may be edging ever-closer to leaving the British Isles for the foreseeable future, but he made sure he squeezed in a quick pint of Guinness before his possible departure to New York City at the end of this month. Taking some time out to visit the family of fiancee Christine Bleakley in the scenic Northern Irish countryside, the Manchester City midfielder, who is on loan from New York City FC, posed with his significant other holding aloft a glass of the famous Irish beverage. 'Sun was shining on a lovely weekend with the family in Northern Ireland. Would have been rude not to have a cheeky pint of the black stuff!' the former Chelsea star said. Frank Lampard poses alongside fiancee Christine Bleakley in the picturesque Northern Irish countryside . Lampard and Christine Bleakley sit in the Royal Box on Centre Court at Wimbledon last summer . The pair, who have been engaged since June 2011 share a joke over drink at Royal Ascot . The 36-year-old started against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday but has grown frustrated at his general lack of game time at City of late and after New York's promising start to the MLS season he could be tempted to make the switch before the end of this term. And if he's concerned about missing his home comforts, Lampard need not worry about being short of places to get hold of a pint of the Black Stuff during his time in the Big Apple, which is home to a large population of Irish-American inhabitants. Famed for its extravagant St Patrick's Day celebrations, the former England international might be a bit late for this year's celebrations, but if things continue to go as well for his new side there could be a few more rounds for him and the future Mrs. Lampard come this time next year. Lampard could join MLS side New York City FC earlier than he had planned in order to get first-team football . Lampard has made 30 appearances for Manchester City this season, but many have been from the bench . The midfielder started Manchester City's last match but has generally been frustrated by a lack of game time . +Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper has been snubbed by Scotland Under-19s manager Ricky Sbragia because he is a 'luxury' player who isn't big enough. The young Scots travel to play three games against Austria, Italy and Croatia in the UEFA Under-19s Championship. Highly-rated forward Harper who has netted three goals for Real Madrid in this season's UEFA Youth League, is midway through a five-year deal at the Bernabeu, and can count former club legend Zinedine Zidane as one of his coaches. Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper in action against Ludogorets in the UEFA Youth League match . Scotland Under-19s manager Ricky Sbragia has left Harper out of his squad for the upcoming games . Among Harper's coaches at Real Madrid are former France international Zinedine Zidane (centre) He's already been linked with a move to both Liverpool and Manchester United, but that hasn't been enough to earn him a spot in the squad, despite playing in the qualifiers in Lithuania. However, former Sunderland boss Sbragia has explained it's nothing personal with the 19-year-old, he's just gone for a more physical approach, despite Harper standing at over 6ft tall. Sbragia explained: 'Our concentration is on the opening game with Austria and we've deliberately got more height in our squad. That's one of the reasons why Jack isn't in. 'Unfortunately, I don't see enough of him in action. The last time he was with us, he did OK, but I wanted a little more impact. At Real Madrid he can float all over the place, which he does. But with us, he has to be more disciplined. 'He's an exceptionally gifted lad, but sometimes we can't carry him. He can be a luxury sometimes. In some cases, if it's going well, he can be a good luxury.' Highly rated forward Harper has already been linked with moves to Manchester United and Liverpool . But the ex-Manchester United reserve team coach still believes Harper has a big future ahead of him. Sbragia stressed: 'Listen, Jack's time will come. The last time I spoke to him, he wanted to really settle in at Real Madrid and find a place there. That's been a big thing for him. 'I've gone with the boys I've seen most in the last six months. We keep tabs on Jack and see video clips of him. We have people over there who keep their eye on him. 'There are others I've left out like Dominic Thomas at Motherwell who will have gripes that they're not in the squad. 'But I've picked a group of 18 which will hopefully do well for us. It's my opinion and I'm not saying it's right. But the squad I've picked is an extremely strong one. 'I can only pick 18 when I really could have picked 26 or 27. I've gone for a physical side and runners. Hopefully I'm right. 'It's purely tactical and there certainly hasn't been a lack of enthusiasm from Jack about playing for Scotland.' Harper is currently midway through a five-year deal with Real Madrid and is tipped to have a big future . +David Beckham has a whole host of celebrity friends and it appears he's added tennis superstar Rafael Nadal to the ever growing list. The former footballer was out celebrating fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger's birthday and posed for a snap with the Spaniard. Beckham is currently out in United States discussing plans for his proposed MLS franchise, while Nadal is in preparing to play in the Miami Open with the first round getting underway on Thursday. David Beckham (left) and Rafael Nadal posed for a photo with singer Thalia at the birthday event . The sporting superstars were out celebrating fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger's (left) birthday in Miami . The ex-England captain revealed plans to launch a new $25 million MLS franchise after exercising an option tied into the lucrative contract he signed after making a potentially risky move from Madrid to Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. But the development of a new stadium has hit a snag, with an adequate location yet to be approved; team management, name and kit colours have also yet to be finalised by Beckham and his fellow investors. In March, a Beckham source told The Guardian: ‘Things are progressing in Miami, and we are very much on track in our plans. The Spaniard is in the USA to play in the Miami Open and is expected to be fit despite rolling his ankle . ‘David Beckham is very positive about the future of the club and he continues to enjoy incredible support from the people in Miami. ‘Right now, our focus is on identifying the location for a purpose-built stadium that will be the team’s permanent home.’ Nadal had an injury scare during a hitting session with Grigor Dimitrov on Monday morning. After appearing to role his ankle, the No 2 seed limped off before being seen moving a lot more freely as he returned to his car - much to the relief of the competition organisers. Nadal looked in good spirits despite suffering an injury scare earlier in the week during a training session . +Featherweight champion Jose Aldo and challenger Conor McGregor stopped off in Las Vegas as part of the eight-city, five-country tour to promote their main event bout of UFC 189 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in July. Staying at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa, the pair took part in a video blog that gives some insight into their preparation for the fight being billed as one of the most significant the sport has ever seen. And McGregor said of his opponent at his news conference on Monday, 'Fear has a strong stench, and he is reeking of it.' Featherweight challenger Conor McGregor trains ahead of his bout with champion Jose Aldo in July . Aldo is filmed playing pool in his hotel room, but does not appear to be lacking any confidence . Aldo is widely considered to be one of the most talented fighters in UFC and will defend his title . McGregor trains with his partner Artem Lobov ahead of the main event match against Aldo in July . Aldo has held his title since 2010 when UFC merged with the old World Extreme Cagefighting organisation. As the fourth and final featherweight champion of WEC, he carried the belt across. Since then, Aldo has won his last seven UFC bouts in a row. Unfazed though, McGregor dismissed him as 'all talk' and 'just mouth.' He continued, 'I expect everyone in the top 10 of the featherweight division to line up and beg for forgiveness, beg to be pardoned!' McGregor (right) and training partner Lobov (left) enjoy their flight en route to California . McGregor told his news conference on Monday that Aldo was 'all talk' and 'just mouth' ahead of their bout . Aldo has held the featherweight title since 2010 when UFC merged with the now defunct WEC . +Rory McIlroy will set out on his quest to join the pantheon of golf's greatest-ever players in a fortnight's time. The world No 1 will arrive at Augusta National hunting the elusive Green Jacket he needs to complete a historic Grand Slam of majors. Only five players have achieved the incredible feat, post-war. But victory at the Masters will elevate the Northern Irishman into the company of legends Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy hits the gym as he prepares for the Masters at Augusta next month . The Northern Irishman has been pumping iron as he goes hunting for the elusive Green Jacket . McIlroy shows off the US Open trophy to fans back in Northern Ireland four years ago . At times, McIlroy has made it look easy. For the past 73 weeks he has been the leading golfer on the planet, landing The Open and the US PGA Championship along the way. Although the 25-year-old still has a long way to go before surpassing Woods' record of 683 total weeks as world No 1, he is undoubtedly the American's successor as golf's heavyweight star - both on and off the greens. And his obsession with the gym is giving the star more than a helping hand. 'It was when I started to notice results that I fell in love with it,' said McIlroy, who has offered a fascinating and unique insight into his preparation off the course in this new Nike training video, seen exclusively by Sportsmail. Indeed, McIlroy has bulked up considerably over the past five years with his transformation evident in both stature and presence on the course. Since 2010 he has worked closely with Dr Steve McGregor, a British exercise physiologist who has previously masterminded the fitness programmes for Manchester City and the NBA's New York Knicks. When McIlroy first started with McGregor he could barely stand 10 seconds balancing on one leg. Now, with 14 wins and four majors to his name, he has the muscle strength to last on one leg throughout an entire golf swing. McIlroy is setting out on his quest to join the pantheon of golf's greatest-ever players . The 25-year-old needs a Masters crown to complete a historic Grand Slam of golfing majors . McIlroy won the 143rd Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake in July last year . 'I wasn't really big into the gym,' he admits. 'So my physical training was pretty much non-existent from when I turned pro at 18 until I turned 21. 'I had three years when I was playing professionally on the Tour, doing OK but not, I guess, maximising my potential by coming into the gym and doing the work that I needed to do. 'I ended up having a few niggles here and there – a few little injuries which, had I let them go on longer, could have turned into serious issues that could have put me out for a while. 'So it was definitely out of necessity that I started – for injury prevention more than anything else. Then the more you get into, you find yourself wanting to get stronger. You want to see what your limits are and to test your body physically. I really started to get into it and it became part of my lifestyle. Up to that point it hadn't been – I'd just played golf without really training much or watching what I ate. Now, obviously, things are very different. McIlroy won by one stroke to clinch the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla in August last year . 'It took me four years of training to get my body into the best possible shape for what I do, which ultimately is go out and play golf. I have no ambitions to try and squat 500 pounds like some guys do but I do enough and I'm strong enough to control the golf club the whole way through my swing – that's basically what I need to do. 'For some people [going to the gym] it's just looking in the mirror and feeling better about themselves, or tracking their numbers – lifting bigger, lifting heavier, being able to do more reps with more weight or whatever it is. 'But for me it was being able to stand up, hit 50 drivers in a row and feel no pain in my back. That is what made me realise that training is something I need to do – I need to do this a lot, and if I want to prolong my career as much as I can, I need to keep doing it.' Since 2010 he has worked closely with Dr Steve McGregor, who masterminded Man City's fitness programme . McGregor devises programmes that stretch between six to eight weeks in order to get McIlroy in the best possible shape for major tournaments, with the focus on adding stability, strength and power. During tournament week, McGregor attempts to control McIlroy's desire to post a workout. The superstar will train, on top of his practice range sessions, nearly every day bar the tournament-ending Sunday. At last year's Open at Hoylake, McGregor made McIlroy a deal that he could do a gym session if he shot a round of 67. McIlroy carded a 66. 'I'll do my heavier sessions on Monday and Tuesday, maybe take a day off, and then do a couple of lighter ones over the course of the Thursday, Friday and Saturday,' said McIlroy. 'I'll always give myself Sunday off just as it's the last day of the tournament – maybe I'll go in if I feel like some sort of warm-up session, but nothing more. So two heavier sessions and two lighter sessions.' When McIlroy first started with McGregor he could barely stand 10 seconds balancing on one leg . McIlroy believes his preparation for Augusta has been perfect and the man who finished runner-up to Formula One king Lewis Hamilton at last year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year contest is confident that he stands a good chance of triumphing in Georgia. 'Obviously it's the first really big tournament of the year and it's even bigger for me this time round for a few different reasons,' he added. 'I think I've had a good build-up to it. 'We try to put a lot of work into it at the start of the year, around January and February time, going through different phases of training. Endurance at the start, and then more into a strength phase, before maybe tapering off a little bit in the lead up to the Masters. 'We still work hard the week before but then the week of the tournament we try to taper it down so that I know I'm in great shape and I know I'm ready. I'll have done the volume, I'll have done the workload and I'll just be ready to go out and play.' Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam... now is it time for McIlroy to become the next British champion of the Masters? Indeed, the nation hopes the hard work will ultimately pay off. A grand slam and golf folklore awaits if McIlroy can finally lift the big one. Visit Nike Training YouTube for the Inner Strength documentary series with Rory McIlroy. +Kell Brook is ready for his return to the ring just six months on from the machete attack that threatened his life - and he has eyes on the winner of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao mega-fight later in the year. Brook was left needing 32 metal staples in his left thigh after an unprovoked attack in Tenerife last year but is now suitably prepared to defend his IBF welterweight championship on his hometown return at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena on Saturday. And Britain's most recent world champion showed off his scars in the ring as he counts down the days to his comeback appearance against Romanian mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan. Kell Brook is ready to return to the ring against Jo Jo Dan just six months after he suffered a machete attack . Brook showed off the scar on his thigh from the attack (left) before putting in more hours ahead of his return . Brook feared on the night of the attack that he would die, or that he would be unable to walk ever again . Brook feared on the night of the attack that he would die, with blood spurting from his leg - and later admitted that he believed that he may not have been able to walk again. Now, once Brook has completed the first step in his comeback, he intends to take on the winner of May's Mayweather-Pacquiao contest after watching them go head-to-head at Las Vegas' MGM Grand. He has ruled out fighting fellow Brit Amir Khan in order to focus on facing the winner of the fight of the century. Brook says a fight with Amir Khan is not appealing to him now, and he wants to take on a 'massive name' The damage to Brook's leg did not seem to phase the Sheffield fighter as he showed off his skipping skills . Saturday's fight with Jo Jo Dan marks Brooks' return to the right, and he looks in good shape for his comeback . Brook seemed in good spirits as he got back into the ring at the workout on Tuesday afternoon . 'I think the Amir Khan fight is gone for this year,' Brook said. 'I'm the world champion and I will fight some other massive name. I'm not interested in what he does next now. 'It makes sense to do a unification fight. No contact has been made yet with either of them (Mayweather or Pacquiao) and I'm just focusing on my mandatory challenge at the moment, but I want to be involved in the big fights.' Brook had previously talked up the chances of fighting Khan at Wembley Stadium but with all eyes on the Mayweather-Pacquiao contest, which Brook will be attending, his attention has been diverted elsewhere. 'I want Mayweather,' he said. 'I want the best pound-for-pound fighter that everyone has titled him as. I want to fight the very best - I'm in my prime, I'm unbeaten, I'm world champion.' Brook had won his world title with a win over Shawn Porter in Los Angeles just weeks before the attack . After returning home, Brook poses for a photo with his belt and strapped-up leg during a Sportsmail interview . The attack left Brook needing 32 metal staples in his left thigh after blood was 'spurting everywhere' out of it . +Tomas Rosicky has revealed he considered leaving Arsenal in January following a lack of first-team football, but hopes to play a full part in the Gunners' end-of-season run-in. After not starting in the Barclays Premier League until the Boxing Day win over QPR, the Czech playmaker has now chalked up some 23 appearances overall as Arsenal moved back into the top four and also booked a place in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley. Rosicky, 34, has not ruled out extending his stay at the Emirates Stadium club, which has been hampered by an unfortunate series of injuries. Tomas Rosicky has revealed he considered leaving Arsenal in January following a lack of first-team football . 'Since the start of the year things have improved, the team has started to play better football and what's more I'm playing. Compared to the first six months, it's much better. We'll see how it goes from here,' Rosicky said to Czech press, quoted by www.isport.blesk.cz. 'I don't really know [why I didn't play]. It's a good question, I would also like to know. 'The coach gave me a chance towards the end the year and then began to give me more playing time. I don't know, maybe it was a watershed moment.' Rosicky, seen with Olivier Giroud,  hopes to play a full part in the Gunners' end-of-season run-in . Rosicky added: 'We had talked about [me leaving in January] in previous meetings back in September and October, but then the market closed and I couldn't do anything. 'When you don't play a single game in December and the market opens, [the prospect of leaving] is obviously on the agenda. Then you start to have second thoughts. 'It was an exception for me though, I really thought about it. Then Arsenal said stay and that was that. Rosicky, 34, has not ruled out extending his stay at the Emirates Stadium come the end of the season . 'The rest of the season will go quickly, then we'll look for a solution. 'Arsenal is still an option for me next season, the ball is in their court. When I get back from international duty we will start to talk about it. 'There are two options open to me [stay at Arsenal or go elsewhere]. At the moment I am in a situation where I make the decision.' Rosicky fights for the ball with Bayern Munich ace David Alaba in the Champions League . Captain Mikel Arteta is another player whose future has to be resolved, the Spaniard out of contract in the summer, but expected to be offered a one-year extension. Arsenal have most of their first-team squad away on international duty. German midfielder Mesut Ozil missed the win at Newcastle on Saturday through a minor illness, but was subsequently spotted in a Berlin nightclub. While Ozil was set to leave for Germany on Saturday night anyway, Arsenal are expected to seek the player's version of events when he reports back for training ahead of the crucial Premier League match with Liverpool on April 4. Captain Mikel Arteta is another player whose future has to be resolved, Spaniard out of contract in the summer . German midfielder Mesut Ozil missed the win at Newcastle on Saturday through a minor illness . +Petr Cech looks set to leave Chelsea in the summer after he revealed he does not want to spend another season as understudy to Thibaut Courtois. The 32-year-old Czech Republic international has lost his place to the young Belgian this term, starting only four Premier League games and being primarily used in the domestic cup competitions. While accepting manager Jose Mourinho's decision, Cech, who can class Arsenal and Real Madrid among his suitors, said the situation could not go on indefinitely. Long-serving Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech is set to end his 11-year stay at Chelsea in the summer . A host of clubs will be interested in signing Cech, with Spanish giants Real Madrid among the frontrunners . 'I don't know what the club's idea will be. It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo,' Cech said. 'But that can work for one season only. I don't want another one like this,' he added while on international duty for the Czech Republic who play Latvia in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Prague on Saturday. Cech joined Chelsea in 2004 and has won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, the Champions League and three League Cups, the last of which was this season when he stared ahead of Courtios for the 2-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. Cech poses with team-mate Didier Drogba after Chelsea beat Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final . Thibaut Courtois, in action during Chelsea's win over Hull, is now the club's No 1 goalkeeper . With Mourinho clearly favouring Courtois, Cech's future will be of interest to a host of top clubs across Europe. 'There always will be speculation, I leave it for the summer,' Cech said. 'It will be important to sit down with the club, with the manager, to consider all the pros and cons. We will see what will work out the best.' Asked about a possible move to European champions Real Madrid, Cech said: 'When a specific offer comes I will consider it. There are offers one cannot turn down.' Petr Cech joined Chelsea in 2004. Here he is presented alongside Arjen Robben and Mateja Kezman . +Hundreds of supporters flocked to the streets of Edinburgh to mark the passing of Dave Mackay, with Sir Alex Ferguson leading the tributes. The former Manchester United manager labelled the ex-Hearts and Tottenham enforcer as 'humble', adding that 'he was the bravest man in the world'. Mackay, who was laid to rest in Edinburgh on Tuesday, died earlier this month at the age of 80 and - according to Ferguson - ought to have earned far more caps for Scotland than he did. Sir Alex Ferguson gave a moving tribute to ex-Tottenham enforcer Dave Mackay at his funeral on Tuesday . Ferguson arriving at Hearts' Tynecastle earlier in the afternoon prior to leading the tributes . Ferguson was in distinguished company, with former Manchester United man Denis Law (back) also present . Supporters lined the streets of Edinburgh to give the former midfielder the send-off he deserved . Pat Jennings (middle) was Tottenham Hotspur's representative at the Mansfield Traquair Centre . The hearse carrying Mackay's coffin was complete with flowers and a football to mark his passing . The cortege leaves Hearts' stadium as the city were given the opportunity to pay their final respects . The order of service for Mackay's funeral . Denis Law, Frank McLintock, Ian St John, Alan Mullery and Bertie Auld also attended his funeral in the Scottish capital, with the cortege leaving from his beloved Tynecastle for a remembrance service in the city. Mackay won all three Scottish domestic honours with Hearts in the 1950s and was a key part of Spurs' famous 1961 double-winning team. He was named Footballer of the Year in both Scotland and England, and also starred for Derby County, where he won the First Division title as manager. 'He was a fantastic player,' Ferguson said. 'They talk about this great courage he had and I think that is unfair. I know he was the bravest man in the world but he was a fantastic footballer, he was skilful. 'His personality, his intensity, his desire to win could make any team. And he proved that by going to Derby County and winning the league as a centre-back. He could play anywhere. 'I thought it was a nice piece in the papers about how he said he didn't enjoy seeing that photograph of him and Billy Bremner portraying him as a bully. He said "I don't like bullies". 'I think that was exactly what Dave Mackay was like. He was a humble person. Humility is embraced by great people and I think Dave Mackay embraced that thoroughly. The iconic image of Mackay confronting Billy Bremner of Leeds during in August 1966 . Manchester City's Mike Summerbee grabs hold of Mackay during a 1968 Division One match . Mackay pictured during a training session at Tottenham's White Hart Lane ground in 1967 . Click here to read Jeff Powell's tribute to Dave Mackay: Enshrined in Tottenham folklore as 'the heartbeat', his iron man demeanour obscured a cultured player adored by the fans he entertained. 'He protected his modesty with the pride only a Scotsman can do. 'His record's fantastic. It's a privilege to speak here today and I think we have seen the passing of a truly great legend.' Mackay won 22 caps for Scotland and began his career with Hearts in 1953. That is something to rankle with Ferguson. 'Scotland was picked by a committee with their heads in the sand. The fact he has only 22 caps tells you [that],' he added. 'Twenty-two caps for a player as good as that. I could never understand that.' A Mackay scarf displayed in the back of a car in respect of the former Scotland international . He captained Hearts to the Scottish League title during the 1957-58 season and joined Spurs in 1959, helping the north London club become the first English side to win the league and FA Cup double during the 1960-61 season. He joined Derby in 1968 and helped Brian Clough's side win promotion to the First Division the following year before taking up a player-manager role at Swindon Town in 1971. A year later Mackay left to manage Nottingham Forest for a brief spell before succeeding Clough as Derby manager in 1973, with the Rams winning the First Division title in 1975. Ferguson recalled the only time he played against Mackay. 'I was playing for Queen's Park reserves against Hearts reserves at Tynecastle and the great Mackay was playing because he was coming back from a broken toe. 'He tackled me and I thought "Christ", but in those days you had to get up no matter what. So I got up, had a look at that big barrel chest of his and he just said "are you all right, son?". 'That was a great memory - the only time I played against Dave Mackay - and I'll never forget it.' +Misfiring Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao might be struggling to win over English fans with his modest scoring return of just four goals from 19 games, but he will be pleased to know his popularity hasn't diminished too much abroad. Training with his Colombia team-mates in Barhain ahead of the South American country's mini-Asian tour, Falcao was warmly embraced by one supporter who ran on the pitch to reach him. The young fan, wearing one of United's replica away kits managed to get a selfie with Falcao and the striker's signature on the front of his shirt before being escorted away by security staff. Colombia play Bahrain on Thursday before facing Kuwait four days later. A young Manchester United supporter rushes on to the field to meet striker Radamel Falcao . Falcao duly obliges with a hug while training on international duty with his Colombia team-mates . Falcao signs the youngster's replica United shirt as security staff come over to escort him away . Security take the boy away from the Colombia squad, but he will no doubt be happy with his actions . The hug will no doubt come as a lift for Falcao who is under huge pressure to improve his poor club form. Previously viewed as one of the game's top marksmen while at Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco, the Colombian has failed to reach those same heights since agreeing to a big-money loan deal at Old Trafford. United manager Louis van Gaal has been so unimpressed with Falcao's performances that the striker has even been made to spend time training with the club's Under-21s team. Falcao has struggled to replicate the sort of form he showed while at Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco . Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal at one point demoted Falcao to the club's Under 21s team . +You can bring a horse to water but you can’t stop it from going for a swim. A huntsman in Ireland found that out the hard way when he was thrown from a horse making an unscheduled detour through a canal. In the clip a group of men can be seen riding horseback alongside a canal near Lockside Farm and Stables in County Longford. Two riders approach an upturned boat and jump over it without a problem, but as the third rides towards it the horse puts on its brakes and veers left off of the path and into the canal. Trotting through the water the horse falls, sending its rider flying, and after re-emerging swims off back towards the bank. Meanwhile, people on the opposite bank – along with a couple of very excited dogs – greet the sopping man as he clambers his way out of the canal. Easy as jumping a boat: A member of the Longford Harriers shows how it is done as his horse leaps over the obstacle . Applying the brakes: The horse decides that it doesn't want to jump over the boat like the previous two horses . The hunt, which generally attracts around 70 to 80 people of all ages, is an event undertaken by the Longford Harriers – the group featured in the clip. The master horsemen and women, who wear green to stand out, manage the hunt by controlling the hounds with a bugle. Riding across farms, lanes and roadways, the horsemen and women do not hunt foxes but instead jump over a number of high hedges, drains, stone walls and gates for fun. Splash! Veering left the horse detours into the canal before slipping and throwing its rider into the drink . Dogs greet the sopping rider and the horse, who swims back around in front of the man and off towards the other bank . The horse and rider became the first pair from the group to end up in the canal situated alongside the Lockside Farm and Stables . According to one of the huntsman, this is the first time that a rider has ended up in the canal after falling from their horse. The hunts usually last for three hours and take place in different areas around the county. After the run the group meet for a well-earned drink and the horses are allowed to rest with some water and hay. +Childcare centres around Australia are sending children home with poo-filled underwear in plastic bags to the shock of parents who have labelled the practice disgusting. Nationwide guidelines prevent childcare centres from rinsing or washing clothing, so if a child has an accident, their pants the underwear must be bagged and labelled and left in a communal bucket for parents to take home at the end of the day. Leah Spender, 34, said that she was presented with her son Ethan's underwear after being informed that the staff were not allowed to touch faecal matter. Scroll down for video . Leah Spender, 34, (above) said that she was presented with her son Ethan's underwear at the end of the day that still had a poo inside . 'I had no idea that this was common practice. When your child is learning to "potty train" the Childcare providers ask that you bring in a spare pair of undies and shorts... but that was all I was told,' Ms Spender told Daily Mail Australia. 'The first time I was given my "goody bag" the day care mum said "Oh! Before I forget! Ethan has a present for you.." she walked to the toilet area and fished out a a grey plastic shopping bag, which was tied in a knot at the top and handed it to me. I could see the words "Ethan W" written on the bag and a date,' she said. Ms Spender said that she was shocked that centres would send home a 'full piece of poo'. 'Dirty underwear is one thing, but wrapping the entire thing up, for you to then put in your handbag, walk down the street to your car.. and drive the whole way home with a full piece in the bag.. that's a bit far,' she said. Cristal Jamieson, from Brisbane, took to Facebook to express her frustration over the practice, after she had repeatedly asked her daughter's childcare centre to throw out the soiled underwear rather than send it home. The final straw came when she opened a three-day old bag with her daughter's name on it. Ms Jamieson posted on media personality Em Rusciano's official Facebook page, asking for advice on how to handle the situation. 'Today, I got greeted with a plastic bag with an entire turd wrapped in princess pink undies with 'Ellie 16/03' written on,' she wrote. 'Yes my daughter is named Ellie but surely this isn't her complete turd packaged from 3 days prior after sitting in communal 'turd' bucket for 3 days!!! Surely...Can I please ask, what would have Em done? Please….' Rusciano brought attention of her 100,000 followers to the issue, and said she 'would have lost my mind.' '[I would have] taken the unfortunate doggy bag, found that person's car and placed the poo in a spot they would never find and just let the smell haunt them until they had to set their car on fire.' Outraged parents were quick to comment, with many adding that their childcare centre had a similar practice of sending home packaged poo. 'I have had such a turd greet me, but the day care centre in question were kind enough to distribute each individual turd in their little plastic bags into the respective child's backpack. Revolting, & thrown straight in the bin - because what else can you do with that kind of s**t?' posted one parent. Em Rusciano brought attention of her 100,000 followers to the issue of sending poo home with children . Media personality Rusciano said she 'would have lost my mind' had she been presented with a 'package' Outraged parents were quick to comment, with many adding that their childcare centre had a similar practice of sending home packaged poo . 'This has happened to us!! But didn't know the s**t was in there until it fell on my laundry bench when I opened up the bag!' said another. While some on the post who claimed to be childcare workers expressed disgust at the practice, others pointed to national guidelines which enforced the activity. Recommendations from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s 'Staying Healthy: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services' guidelines released in 2012, childcare centres are advised to 'place any soiled clothes in a plastic bag or alternative, so parents can take their child’s clothes home'. While the guidelines are not legislated, some childcare centres around Australia choose to accept the recommendations, and enforce the practice of sending home soiled underwear as part of the centre's blanket policy. Some on the post who claimed to be childcare workers expressed disgust at the practice . Cristal Jamieson, a mother from Brisbane, would like to see a blanket rule that if the centres cannot remove the poo, they throw out the underwear . Childcare centres are advised by the National Health and Medical Research Council to 'place any soiled clothes in a plastic bag or alternative, so parents can take their child’s clothes home' Ms Jamieson said that she has made a formal complaint with the Queensland Department of Child Services . A spokesperson from the Education and Care Services National Regulations said that education and care services are required to 'ensure adequate health and hygiene practices' and 'have laundry facilities or access to laundry facilities; or other arrangements for dealing with soiled clothing'. 'As the regulations do not prescribe what practices are considered adequate, service providers make their own decisions about what health and hygiene practices are used at the service, informed by relevant guidelines and best practice,' the spokesperson said. After communicating with her child care centre, Ms Jamieson said that she has made a formal complaint with the Queensland Department of Child Services, and said she is horrified that the practice is so widespread. 'This is political correctness gone mad, policies need to be changed,' she told Daily Mail Australia. While the NHMRC's guidelines are not legislated, some childcare centres around Australia choose to accept the recommendations . 'The centre said it was against their guidelines to do much more than package it up. I asked for them to throw the underwear out but staff changes mean that not everyone knows and that my daughter's poo keeps being sent home.' Ms Jamieson said that she was worried that the hot bathroom where the soiled bags are kept would negatively impact on the toilet training of the children. 'This is a very critical time, developmentally, for young children, and the environment it meant to be pleasant. The room is disgusting, it smells, and this is not creating an efficient, rewarding experience.' Ms Jamieson would like to see a blanket rule that if the centres cannot remove the poo, they throw out the underwear, and said that the practice is humiliating for children. 'It's like a child isn't deserving of the same respect that adults get. Imagine having to take your bag home with poo inside it, it's degrading,' she said. 'I can't believe this actually happens, this is not a Third World country.' +Unsuspecting people walking through a field in the Netherlands are having their heads turned by one very strange bird. An over-familiar owl has taken a liking to landing on the head of anyone walking through the greenery within the town on Noordeinde. Now photographer Menno Shaefer has paid a visit to the spot after hearing about the European eagle owl's unusual behaviour. Scroll down for video . Perched: The European eagle owl enjoys swooping on unsuspecting walkers - and standing on their heads . Duck: Two people try to dodge the bird as it heads for this lady's head as a landing spot . Unusual: Photographer Menno Scheefer travelled 68km to the northern Netherlands town of Noordeinde to photograph the own, after hearing about its strange behaviour . The 48-year-old, of Zaandam, Netherlands, says: 'I had heard a lot about the owl and decided to visit the site to see it in action for myself. 'It was a very funny thing to watch, however I'm just as confused as anyone as to why it does this.' The wild owl, which weighs around 6lbs, spends an average of one minute perched on the head of innocent bystanders, before flying off looking for the next perch. Beautiful: The striking owl surveys the scene for a few moments before deciding where it should fly to next . Clearly unhappy sitting on a fence or a tree, the owl searched for its next landing spot multiple times during Menno's short visit to the field near Noordeinde Palace. The European eagle owl is one of the largest species of owl, and females can grow to a maximum total wingspan of 75 cm. The bird is found in a number of habitats but mostly lives in mountain regions, coniferous forests, steppes and other relatively remote places. Majestic: The European eagle owl is one of the largest species of owl, with females growing a maximum wingspan of 75cm . In for landing: The owl spreads its wings to slow down and unleashes its talons as it prepares to land on the innocent passerby's head . 'Amused': Photographer Menno said people like the photographs he takes of the owl perching on them 'vey much' Menno said: 'When I show people these photographs they like them very much, they are as amused as I was. 'Whilst photographing the owl, it did try to land one my head once. 'However, as soon as I lifted my camera to get a shot, the owl flew onto my neighbour standing by my side.' +Prepare to see double Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton in a different kind of saddle as she starts training to become a jump jockey. The 34-year-old, who is Britain's most successful female Olympian after winning sprint gold at Beijing in 2008 and the keirin at London 2012, hopes to compete in the Foxhunter Chase at next year's Cheltenham Festival. Pendleton has begun working with National Hunt trainer Paul Nicholls and Team GB's eventing performance manager, Yogi Breisner. Double Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton has started training to become a jump jockey . Pendleton has begun training, and hopes to compete in the Foxhunter Chase at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival . Pendleton working with trainer Paul Nicholls and Team GB's eventing performance manager, Yogi Breisner . The change of career has been funded by online bookmakers Betfair, and the former cyclist hopes to obtain her Category A amateur license which would allow her to ride in amateur races on the Flat and over jumps, as well as compete in the point-to-point field. She told the Daily Mirror: 'I've been looking for a new and exciting challenge, and when they approached me about the opportunity to become a licensed amateur jockey, it captured my imagination. I'm motivated by the scale of the challenge and the opportunity to combine my love of horses with learning a new skill under the guidance of racing experts put together for me.' 'I will be working closely with Yogi Breisner, Chris King and Paul Nicholls to help train and advise me over the next 12 months. Pendleton says she been looking for a new and exciting challenge since retiring . Pendleton has been praised by trainer Nicholls, who says she is an outstanding athlete with a real drive . 'My team and I have identified the ambitious target of riding competitively in the Foxhunters Chase at Cheltenham Festival next year, but the initial focus will be on getting me to a level whereby I am granted an amateur jockey licence, which is a significant challenge in itself given that I had never even sat on a horse until a week ago.' Nicholls added: 'Victoria Pendleton is an outstanding athlete with a real drive and determination, so whilst this is an incredibly difficult challenge, these attributes are exactly what you need to become a jockey. 'Having the competitive mind set of an Olympic champion, I've no doubt will put her in a great place to succeed in this challenge whilst also shining a much deserved light on the sport of horse racing.' Pendleton cries after receiving her gold medal for winning the keirin at London 2012 . Pendleton celebrates after winning gold in the keirin at London 2012 . Pendleton is Britain's most successful female Olympian, but has now turned her attention to horse racing . Breisner, who is the eventing performance manager for Team GB, will be acting as a mentor to Pendleton and believes her athletic mindset will be a huge plus. He said: 'Victoria is a hugely talented, ambitious and gutsy individual, and these traits will stand her in the best stead possible for achieving this ambitious goal. 'Having worked with her for a week, the progress she has already made in such a small amount of time is quite frankly remarkable. It's a real privilege to work with Victoria on a challenge of this magnitude. 'While no one under estimates the scale of the challenge ahead, Victoria's undoubted mental and physical strength, coupled with the team Betfair have put together to help her with this challenge, means we are in a fantastic position for Victoria to achieve the ambitious goal of riding at Cheltenham Festival in 2016'. +Sir Chris Hoy has followed a fairly predictable path in his retirement. A bit of media work, plenty of endorsements and a range of bikes, available at good stockists everywhere. He has reportedly turned down Strictly but this week he joined Frank Lampard as a sporting star with his own range of children's books. Flying Fergus are the tales of a young boy who discovers a old rusty bike has magic powers that transport him to sporting success. In the build-up to London 2012, it was Hoy's rivals who wondered whether he and the British team had 'magic wheels', though the truth was his six Olympic golds were achieved by an unmatched will to win and 27 inch thighs that powered him like pistons to sporting history. Chris Hoy celebrates an impressive cycling career with the Great Britain flag after yet more success . British cyclist Hoy poses during the reception for Team GB and Paralympic GB athletes in London . Hoy's legacy is a cycling revolution that has changed the British sporting landscape but it has also created an expectation that success is now assured forever. In Beijing - when Hoy won three medals in a singles Games - Britain won seven from ten golds, a feat that that prompted cycling's governing body to change the rules for London to prevent such domination. And yet, three summers ago, Britain again won seven from ten Olympic titles, including two more golds for Hoy. Hoy celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the gold medal in the London 2012 Olympic Games . However, at the recent track cycling World Championships, British cyclists failed to top the podium in a single event - their worst performance in 14 years. They ranked tenth on the medal table with a haul of just three silver medals, their coach, Shane Sutton, later questioning their hunger to succeed. Anyone who witnessed Hoy's final and most thrilling Olympic gold in the men's keirin will know that timing is his strong point. And it certainly seems like he got out at the right time. Hoy celebrates winning the Men's Keirin final on day eleven of the Olympic Games in London . However, the 11-time world champion insists it's not really as grim as the statistics appear. Some think the team has been missing a leader since his retirement and Hoy believes the return to the track of Sir Bradley Wiggins could be just what's needed to lift the spirits. 'He's an iconic leader and other nations look to him as this global cycling megastar,' he said. 'When he's in the track centre everybody's focusing on him, so it takes the pressure and spotlight off some of the other riders who don't particularly enjoy that attention. He's invaluable for the team as a whole. 'We lost a bit of experience after the Olympics, after Victoria Pendleton and I retired. Success creates its own problems and pressures. Now, if you're the British Olympic Team going into Rio, you've a realistic chance of medalling in maybe 60 per cent of the events. 'But in cycling now, unless it's a gold medal, it is seen as being a massive failure and you've got to manage expectations. 'We do still have realistic chances but I don't think we'll have another Beijing or London but I don't think that's a massive surprise or disappointment. I still think we have a successful Games in Rio but with less medals than previous Games. 'The World Championships in Paris was disappointing, there's no way you can spin it to make it sound like a success, as a team it wasn't. 'However, in individual cases and certain events, progress has been made since the World Championships in Colombia last year.' Hoy speaks and people listen. This week he was back in London as part of his mentor role in a Sports Aid initiative backed by energy company SSE. Hoy in action during the Men's Team Sprint Track Cycling final on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games . A legacy project of last year's Commonwealth Games, SSE Next Generation is providing 100 talented hopefuls with funding but, more importantly, invaluable advice and experience as they start out on their sporting careers. Olympic silver medallist Leon Taylor, who famously mentored Tom Daley, is guiding them while Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell is advising on nutrition and Judy Murray is helping prepare their parents for what might come ahead. But it was Hoy that had the teenagers listening in rapt attention and patiently queuing for the obligatory selfie with Britain's most successful Olympian of all-time. When Hoy made his British team debut at the 1993 European under-23 Championship he was told to return his tracksuit but times have changed. 'It reminds me of what it was like when I was their age and you've got your career right in front of you and the excitement that entails,' he adds. British Olympic track cycling gold medalist Hoy poses with his London 2012 gold medals . 'There was nothing like this programme when I was starting out, I definitely would have loved to be involved if there was. 'I take my role as a mentor very seriously, it's an honour, it's not just about me speaking about myself and my experiences but I enjoy listening to the athletes and hearing about what they're doing. 'It's exciting to think there could be half dozen or more of these athletes who could be household names in ten years.' Who knows. Some might even match Hoy's sporting and, perhaps, even literary achievements.' SSE's Next Generation programme partners with SportsAid to provide financial support and training to the sports stars of the future. Keep up to date with the latest @SSENextGen . +They like Manchester band The Courteeners at Old Trafford. Upon winning their 20th Premier League title fans had the words of their song 'Not Nineteen Forever' made into a banner that takes pride of place at the Theatre of Dreams. But in the case of forgotten man Ander Herrera and his triumphant return to the side, the Middleton four-piece's earlier hit 'What Took You So Long?' would be more appropriate. Ander Herrera (centre) is starting to make an impact for Louis van Gaal's Manchester United side . Herrera has forged a strong bond with fellow Spaniard Juan Mata, who scored twice against Liverpool . What took you so long Louis van Gaal? Why was Herrera, suddenly a key player in United's new-found swagger, out of the picture for long chunks of the season? There is more than one answer. Firstly, if anyone is a 'club signing' it is Herrera. Long before the coronation of King Louis, United originally vowed to ensure he would be their man following his mesmerising role in Athletic Bilbao' 2011-12 Europa League victory over Sir Alex Ferguson's side. The admiration from within spread to the stands. They have never been shy of praising opponents at Old Trafford – this was where, in 2003, Ronaldo famously secured a standing ovation after a beautiful Champions League hat-trick for Real Madrid. The 25-year-old was signed from Athletic Bilbao in a £28.8million move following Van Gaal's arrival . Herrera made a bright start to his United career, but injury saw the Spaniard sidelined for several weeks . In that frantic and ultimately fruitless first summer David Moyes famously made one attempt to capture Herrera's services which ended in confusion after the complex hurdles within the player's contract could not be overcome. But they would not give up. When Van Gaal arrived talks were at an advanced stage with Herrera's representatives and he was happy to give the £28.8m move the green light with the new season approaching. United have paid more for only four others, but as we have heard more than once, under Van Gaal's philosophy the fee counts for nothing. Former United boss David Moyes made an attempt to capture Herrera's services, but failed . The Spanish midfielder is having to prove his worth to Van Gaal during his first season at Old Trafford . Herrera celebrates scoring during United's FA Cup fifth round victory against Preston in February . Not being the Dutchman's player, Herrera may have had to prove himself more than most. In a stuttering start to the season, he was not seen for a month after being substituted at half-time against West Bromwich Albion. As late as February he had completed 90 minutes just once since the 5-3 humbling at Leicester City in September. With their team struggling for rhythm United fans who remembered Herrera conducting the tune for Bilbao, scratched their heads at his continued absence. When he made a rare start in the 3-1 FA Cup win at Deepdale on February 16 many put it down to Van Gaal's squad rotation. Herrera's partnership with Daley Blind (right) has added tempo to what looked like a static midfield . But Herrera has started every game since, the kickstarting of his Old Trafford career coinciding with United finally clicking into gear. His partnership with Daley Blind has added tempo to what looked like a static midfield. Suddenly United appear as sharp as their 1980s shirt sponsors. Herrera's through ball for Juan Mata to open the scoring against Liverpool came in a dominant half of football United fans wondered if they would ever see again only weeks ago. But there is more to it than Herrera simply not being the boss's signing. In a wide-ranging interview with El Pais, he offered more clues. Herrera and Mata chase down Philippe Coutinho during United's 2-1 victory against Liverpool on Sunday . Mata puts the ball past Simon Mignolet for his firs goal following a brilliant throughball from Herrera . 'Van Gaal loves possession and doesn't like to risk [losing] the ball,' he said. 'He wants long possessions and to keep the ball because he believes you create spaces staying in the right place, because the team have the quality to find you. 'At the beginning he used to tell me off because I always looked for the ball, I wanted to have it, and I must wait for it.' Van Gaal is on the record stating his belief that his players must not play off the cuff – that they should know their jobs and if they do them his side will win. Michael Carrick (left) congratulates Herrera on the part he played in Mata's opening goal . It is a pragmatic cross-sports philosophy used in the NFL by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, whose team this year won their fourth Super Bowl this century. While it does not sound like the famous United Way, it certainly looked like it at Anfield. Herrera, superb on Merseyside, believes that if it had not been for football he would have tried a career in sports journalism. By the looks of things, he has plenty of new chapters to write at Old Trafford first. +The powerbrokers behind Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg will meet in London on Wednesday in an effort to finally make a fight that could be the biggest in Britain this year. Barry McGuigan, who manages Frampton, will sit down with Quigg’s promoter Eddie Hearn at breakfast to try to iron out the issues standing between the two super-bantamweight world champions. If successful, the hope is for a summer showdown that will net a seven-figure payday for each man, but significant obstacles remain in the way, with Hearn concerned that unless progress is made in the next two weeks then the long-awaited fight will be delayed further. IBF world champion Carl Frampton (left) lands a punch on Chris Avalos during their fight in February . Avalos is dropped to the canvas during their IBF super bantamweight world title fight in Belfast . Scott Quigg (right) deals a blow to Hidenori Othake before winning by unanimous decision in November . The principle challenge surrounds television companies, with IBF champion Frampton enjoying huge exposure on ITV while Hearn’s fighters, including WBA (regular) champion Quigg, operate on Sky Sports. Hearn has already submitted a proposal for staging a pay-per-view fight on Sky and, as such, is likely to offer a greater purse. But McGuigan has long been adamant that the fight should prioritise the exposure of terrestrial television over ‘greed’. Hearn told Sportsmail yesterday: ‘I will meet Barry McGuigan and Carl Frampton’s team in London on Wednesday. It’s the fight everyone wants to see - two world champions from Britain in the same division. They simply have to fight. Frampton extended his perfect record to 20 wins after his fifth round TKO victory against Avalos in February . A fight between Frampton and Quigg (centre), who has 30 wins with 22 by KO, is a tantalising prospect . ‘I have given my proposal to them and am waiting to hear what they have from their side. I feel we need to make progress now. The hope is for a summer fight, possibly on June 20. ‘I think we need to reach some kind of agreement soon, probably the next two or three weeks, if we are to get this fight on in the summer. It really is the fight people want to see.’ Frampton, 28, extended his perfect record to 20 wins against Chris Avalos in February, while Quigg is unbeaten with 30 wins and two draws. Options for staging the bout currently include Belfast, which would mean a home fight for Frampton, as well as Manchester and the O2 Arena in London. Meanwhile, a decision is set to be made on James DeGale’s world-title fight against Andre Dirrell. The pair had been expected to fight next month in Chicago for the IBF super-middleweight belt vacated by Carl Froch, but Sportsmail understands that bout is now likely to take place in May in the US. +Sky have won the bidding war for the rights to screen Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao in the UK, as revealed by Sportsmail last Friday. The richest fight of all time will not come cheap either — for Sky Sports or their subscribers — even though Sky are keeping faith with their core following by keeping the base price below £20. It has taken what is described by industry insiders as ‘a very substantial offer’ for Sky to fend off fierce competition from Frank Warren’s BoxNation. Floyd Mayweather's hotly-anticipated bout with Manny Pacquiao will be shown on Sky Sports . Pacquiao headed for the playground after working out in Los Angeles previously . The price for the fight has been set at £19.95 until midnight of Friday May 1. The cost will remain the same for those paying via remote control or online, but will be £24.95 if booked via phone after Friday. Sky are flirting with their threshold of £20 by charging £19.95 a buy on their Sports Box Office channel until midnight on May 1, rising to £24.95 on May 2, the day of the fight in Las Vegas. Since they are understood to have broken past protocol by offering the US promoters a cut of that revenue as well as a hefty up-front payment, it is expected they will have to shatter the pay-per-view record in this country to break even. The current Sky record stands at 1.2million buys for Ricky Hatton’s Vegas loss to Mayweather in 2007. Warren is believed to have offered a higher lump sum than Sky in the hope of attracting another two million customers to his £12-a-month subscription channel. It is doubtful if Sky can reach that number at £20 per sale at 4am on a Sunday morning, but if they get 1.5m buys they should be out of the red. Mayweather continued to work on the pads in his Las Vegas gym as he prepares for the fight . Pacquiao will take on Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 in one of the biggest fights ever . +Just before a new $6million sports center bearing her name was opened last fall, beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor said she was excited to be involved in the club and give back to her local southern California community. But six months later, the three-time Olympic gold medalist's office at the Misty May-Treanor Sports Center is empty after a mysterious fallout with her longtime trainer Mike Rangel, who founded the Irvine facility. Now parents are threatening to stop paying their seasonal dues of $4,300 because their children aren't getting the benefit of May-Treanor's tutelage, as they feel they were promised. Scroll down for video . Olympic gold-medalist Misty May-Treanor has reportedly fallen out with longtime trainer Mike Rangel, just six months after he founded a new sports center in her name . Brand new: The 155,000-square-foot Misty May-Treanor Sports Center was opened in November 2014. Parents pay $4,300 to let their children play at the facility for a seven-month season . Boycotts: Some parents at the facility have threatened to stop paying their dues because May-Treanor has not been involved at the facility recently . In a new report by the OC Register, Rangel said he and May-Treanor split over the simple issue of sponsorship. Rangel agreed to let Asics sponsor the club, while 37-year-old May-Treanor remains a spokesman for competitor Nike. 'I can respect the fact that she doesn’t want to be photographed with 500 girls that are wearing Asics gear,' Rangel said. However, rumors abound in the club about a deeper-seeded issue that caused May-Treanor's distance, and the scrubbing of all her photos from the club's website. Cary Lambeth, a longtime youth basketball organizer who helped in the early planning stages of the MMTSC believes the break is 'because their visions were not the same'. 'I do not think Misty was doing it for Misty. I think Misty was doing it because she wanted to give back,' Lambeth said. Daily Mail Online reached out to May-Treanor's agent for comment on Tuesday, but did not immediately get a reply. Calls to Mike Rangel were also not returned. May-Treanor's apparent rift with Rangel is surprising considering their previously close relationship. In her 2010 autobiography, she described her relationship with Rangel as 'one of the most important partnerships' in her volleyball career. Rangel helped train May-Treanor between 2002 and 2012, during which she won three gold medals in the Olympics for beach volleyball with partner Kerri Walsh Jennings. The split was also swift. May-Treanor attended coaches meetings for the new facility in August, and even gave excited interviews about the club in October. But since then it's been radio silence. Checked out: May-Treanor hasn't been seen at the MMTSC since October. The sports legend pictured on the left with a Laguna Hills High School senior at the facility on October 2 . Legend: It's still unclear what caused the rift between May-Treanor and her longtime trainer Rangel. Rangel trained May-Treanor for 12 years, during which she won three Olympic gold medals in beach volleyball with partner Kerri Walsh Jennings. May-Treanor pictured above compting in the London Olympic games . Erased: The club's website now shows now sign of Misty May-Treanor's name or image on the homepage . In October, May-Treanor told the OC Register that the building of the sports center was close to her heart, since she grew up in the area and knew there weren't many places for local kids to play. 'Growing up as a volleyball player around here, I know how gym space had become more and more limited,' May-Treanor said. 'This is not going to be just a volleyball place but a place for basketball and other sports, too. With the amount of sports and teams we have here, it’s important to have a facility like this.' Brand minded? Rangel says the split with May-Treanor stems from a sponsorship issue. Asics is sponsoring the club, while May-Treanor remains a spokesman for Nike. May-Treanor and Jennings pictured above celebrating their gold medal win at the London games . She also appeared to be interested in interacting with the youth teams that trained at the center. 'I love the coaching and teaching aspect of what we’ll be doing,' May-Treanor said. 'That’s the big part for me, the sharing of information with younger players. And the beauty of this is that I don’t have to be dedicated to one team.' May-Treanor hasn't been seen at the gym since October, a month before it's official opening and since then parents have been getting angrier and angrier walking past her perennially empty office. Last month, about 60 parents with kids at the gym met in a nearby park to discuss action. And in a meeting with Rangel, volleyball mom Michelle Peters threatened to stop paying, saying she felt her 15-year-old daughter wasn't getting the advertised program (parents at the facility pay $4,300 for a seven-month season). 'What aren’t you getting?' Rangel asked during the meeting. 'Well, we’re not getting Misty May,' Peters responded. Rangel says most of the malcontent parents came from a club in Mission Viejo and were not happy when their former club director, who moved to work at the MMTSC, resigned over clashes with him. The 155,000-square-foot facility was pitched to May-Treanor by Rangel ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. Rangel wanted to built a state-of-the-art sports facility, while May-Treanor wanted to coach so it made the perfect project for the pair. The finished facility has 22 volleyball courts, 21 basketball courts - all with their own electric scoreboards. The facility also includes an air-conditioned 350-seat restaurant with 10 large HDTVs as an area to watch the games and practices. +Michael Owen is currently out in Taiwan as part of his Spey Whiskey promotional tour and arrived at the press conference in true showmanship style as he self-promotes the brand. The former Liverpool striker was the butt of many jokes after his advert for the whiskey was released and his apperance in Taipei certainly caught the eye. Owen turned up to the press meeting in a horse and carriage before posing for photos and showing off the ball skills which earned him a big-money move to Real Madrid. Michael Owen took to Twitter to post this photo of the former England striker bizarrely posing on the floor . Michael Owen arrived at the press conference in a horse and carriage while wearing an impressive top hat . The ex-England international is a popular figure in Asia and as the global ambassador for Spey, he's been a real driving force behind their attempts to boost sales in that part of the world. The striker, whose been criticised in the past for being 'boring,' then decided to try and show his comical side by posting a rather bizarre photo. Lying on the deck next to a sign for the 'MO Bar,' Owen took up what some might call 'The Austin Powers' pose before captioning the image, 'Just arrived at my bar!!!' Owen showed why Real Madrid paid big money for him as he showed off his football skills . The former Newcastle striker is the global brand ambassador for Spey Whiskey after signing a deal . +Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has denied a Football Association charge of violent conduct for standing on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea. Video evidence was used to charge the centre-back, currently away on international duty with Slovakia, after television pictures highlighted the incident - missed by referee Martin Atkinson - in the last seconds of Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Anfield. Skrtel chased a through-ball as 10-man Liverpool searched for a late equaliser but De Gea slid in to get there first and the defender continued his run and stood on the goalkeeper's right shin. Martin Skrtel's foot lands on David de Gea's leg in the incident which saw the FA charge the defender . Skrtel will fight the violent conduct charge, claiming the alleged stamp was not intentional . Premier League: Arsenal away, April 4 . FA Cup Sixth round: Blackburn away, April 8 . Premier League: Newcastle at home, April 13 . A three-man panel of former elite officials were asked by the FA to review the footage independently of each other and there was unanimous agreement the offence warranted a red card. Skrtel was given until 6pm on Tuesday to respond to the charge and has decided to contest it. The 30-year-old will argue the incident was accidental and not intentional. If he fails in his challenge, Skrtel will receive a three-match ban - which covers league games at Arsenal and home to Newcastle either side of the FA Cup quarter-final replay at Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn. Manchester United keeper De Gea takes exception to the contact from Skrtel at the end of Sunday's match . A three-man panel of former elite officials reviewed the footage after it wasn't seen by Martin Atkinson (right) Coincidentally, Skrtel could argue a precedent was set back in January when Chelsea striker Diego Costa was charged for a stamp on Liverpool's Emre Can but escaped punishment for one on Skrtel himself. The Spain international stood on the defender as he slid in to make a tackle in a similar incident to Skrtel's coming together with De Gea. The incident was looked at retrospectively using television evidence after both the Skrtel flashpoint and the stamp on Can were missed by referee Michael Oliver. Skrtel could argue a precedent was set in January when Chelsea striker Diego Costa escaped punishment for an alleged stamp on him that was reviewed on video after referee Michael Oliver missed the incident . Costa was however suspended for this contact with Skrtel's team-mate Emre Can in the same match . 'Following a review of an incident during the game involving Costa and Liverpool's Martin Skrtel, The FA will not be taking any further action,' a statement from the FA said at the time. However, Skrtel's hopes of succeeding appear slim. Costa appealed his charge for the offence against Can - with manager Jose Mourinho insisting both incidents were 'absolutely accidental' - but was found guilty and banned for three matches. It led to Mourinho claiming there was a 'clear campaign' against Chelsea. +A Western Australian political staffer has been suspended after he was arrested near his boss' home with a baseball bat, balaclava and latex gloves. WA Premier Colin Barnett has responded by describing the incident as 'like a Monty Python episode'. The deputy clerk of the Legislative Council, Nigel Lake was arrested late at night on February 17. He was dressed entirely in black and just one kilometre away the home of his boss Nigel Pratt, who is the Clerk of the Legislative Council. The deputy clerk of the Legislative Council, Nigel Lake was arrested late at night on February 17. He had a balaclava, baseball bat and latex gloves . Lake, 49, was charged with possessing a controlled weapon and a disguise, both intended for use in connection with committing an offence. Following police investigations, he has also been charged with installing and tracking a device. Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett believes the incident is completely 'bizarre'. 'It's a bit like a Monty Python episode, isn't it?' he told ABC News. Liberal Legislative member Robyn McSweeney has a stronger opinion, describing herself as 'completely appalled' by Lake's actions. After his arrest, Lake was stood down from his $166,000-a-year role. The Crime and Corruption Commission have been notified of the public official's actions. Lake was arrested near his boss' home with a baseball bat, balaclava and latex gloves (stock shot) In his role, Lake has been responsible for the management of the Department of the Legislative Council. Legislative Council President Barry House notified all MPs of Lake's arrest and in a letter to staff. 'Upon learning that Mr Lake had been arrested and charged I immediately directed him to remain away from the workplace and to not undertake any work until further notice,' Mr House wrote, according to Perth Now. 'This was to allow the police to complete their investigation. I consider any behaviour which results in criminal charges being laid against a Parliamentary Officer as very serious.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +This is Bristol City's season. Coasting to the League One title and now with a glistening piece of silverware in the cabinet, times are good again at Ashton Gate. This was as straightforward as a Wembley final gets for Steve Cotterill's team, who reaped the first rewards of what has been a stunning season by easily seeing off the challenge of Walsall. In front of 40,000 jubilant fans, they lifted the Johnstone's Paint Trophy following goals from Aden Flint and Mark Little. But it's merely a taste of what is to come. Captain Wade Elliot (centre) lifts the Johnstone's Paint Trophy as his Bristol City team-mates celebrate their triumph . Steve Cotterill (left) and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas look delighted after winning the trophy and City have a terrific chance of a domestic double . Mark Little (2) bundles home the second goal after a goal mouth scrambled left him a clear goal to aim at . With a 10-point advantage over their nearest challengers in Sky Bet League One, City will surely also be lifting a trophy the next time they meet Walsall, in the last game of the season on May 3. Winning this competition for the third time in their history is a nice distraction, but Cotterill will demand his players remain focused on the season's primary task of returning to the Championship. The job is almost done. Like so often in this campaign, they were in control from start to finish here, showing the greater assurance in front of goal in a game of few chances. The full back celebrates in front of the Bristol City fans after he doubled his side's lead . Wembley looked a picture in the spring sunshine, a sea of red with thousands of supporters descending on the national stadium. Bristol City: Fielding; Little, Ayling, Flint, Williams, Bryan (Cunningham 87); K.Smith, Pack, Freeman (Elliott 90); Agard (Emmanuel-Thomas 88), Wilbraham (c) Substitutes not used: Richards (GK); Tavernier, Saville, Wagstaff . Scorers: Flint 15; Little 51 . Walsall: O'Donnell; Purkiss, Downing, J Chambers, Taylor; Mantom, A. Chambers (c); Forde (Grimes 74), Sawyers, Cook (Baxendale 80); Bradshaw (Hiwula 61) Substitutes not used: MacGillivray (GK); O'Connor, Cain, Flanagan . Booked: Sawyers . Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire) Attendance: 72,315 . All the pre-match indications pointed to a City victory. Well clear of Preston North End at the League One summit, it would take a Devon Loch-style collapse to deny them a return to the second tier after two seasons away. The Saddlers sit 16th in the standings, some 37 points behind their opponents, but were still optimistic of springing a surprise as they arrived at Wembley for the first time in their 127-year history. They more than matched their opponents in the opening exchanges, with the goal threatened at both ends. City fired the first salvo when Luke Freeman's 20-yard hit cleared the bar on four minutes, Walsall responding when Anthony Forde tested goalkeeper Frank Fielding from range. Then, on the quarter-hour, a breakthrough. City won a corner and Marlon Pack's corner was pinged to the back post. Flint, completely outmuscling his marker to gain the necessary elevation, headed home and sparked delirium among the visitors from Bristol. The tempo of the game immediately dropped and both teams constructed spells of tidy passing football without finding any penetration. Chances were at a premium and scoring opportunities snuffed out as defences dominated. The best of the half-chances came shortly before the break when Walsall's Andy Taylor whistled a shot over from the edge of the box but there was little else to report. You sensed that a second City goal may settle the contest and it duly arrived six minutes after the break. Aden Flint (left) scores the opening goal for Bristol City during the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final . The big centre half runs away to celebrate his opening goal at Wembley Stadium for Bristol City . Freeman's tricky feet worked space to cross from the left and after O'Donnell blocked Little's first header, he followed up and bundled the ball home with his knee from a few yards out. It was all Little deserved for a fine performance in which he was constantly looking for ways to unpick the Walsall defence. But far from being subdued, Walsall almost responded when Jordan Cook's vicious inswinging cross from the left had to be touched onto the post by Fielding. The guests from the Midlands were briefly encouraged but it didn't spark the resurgence they needed. City were content to sit back and soak up the pressure, duly claiming the first of what will surely be twin trophies this season. Fans make thier way into the stadium prior to the cup final where City came away as winners . Derrick Williams is joined by his team-mates and goalscorers Aden Flint, and Mark Little to pose for a celebratory photograph . Elliot lifts the trophy high towards the Bristol City fans after comfortably winning the competition at Wembley Stadium . +It is a friendship that wouldn't be out of place in a children's book. Fugly the pug and KFC the chick won't leave each other's sides, after they struck up an unlikely companionship. The fluffy yellow chick and brown-haired puppy can often be spotted doing their favourite activities together - cuddling, sleeping and with KFC tucked under Fugly's paws. Scroll down for video . Adorable: KFC the chick plants a peck on Fugly the pug's nose. The two have become inseparable since they were introduced by their owners. Cute: Fugly the pug protectively places his paws around KFC as the two relax together in the Phillipines . Fugly's owner Tim Ho took the cute pictures and said he and his neighbour had bought the animals as pets around the same time. They decided to introduce them to each other to see what would happen - and to their surprise KFC and Fugly bonded almost immediately. Tim said: 'As soon as they were let loose, KFC would follow Fugly everywhere. Friends: KFC seems to look inquisitively at Fugly. The chick can be spotted following the pug around . Cosy: Fugly playfully rests his head on top of KFC the chick, with the two comforable in each other's space . 'Fugly was a bit apprehensive at first but he wasn't territorial or fierce so we allowed it to continue. 'We didn't need to encourage them to interact, every time Fugly slept or sat down, KFC would crawl underneath his tummy, his favourite resting place.' Tim added his thinks the fact the 15-month-old pub wasn't yet territorial over his new home made it easier for him to accept KFC and for the couple to develop their blossoming friendship. On the lookout: Tim Ho, the owner of Fugly the pug, took the series of adorable pictures . Protective: Fugly protectively covers KFC with his head while the chick looks on . +Mark Noble is refusing to give up on his dream of breaking into the England squad ahead of the European Championship Finals despite being overlooked once again by Roy Hodgson. Noble has been one of the star performers since West Ham gained promotion back into the Premier League back in 2012. The 27-year-old has represented England at every level from the Under 16s to the Under 19s and was even made captain of the Under 21s team for the Euro Finals in 2009. But he has somehow failed to catch the attention of Hodgson who even called up Tottenham's inexperienced midfielder Ryan Mason ahead of him for the forthcoming games against Lithuania and Italy when Adam Lallana was forced to pull out of the squad with a groin injury. Mark Noble (right), Winston Reid (centre) and Diafra Sakho pose outside West Ham's future home . The Hammers will be moving to the Olympic Stadium in London next summer . However, Noble says he will not sulk over the matter and will continue to show his best form for West Ham as he looks to help the club push for a European place as they prepare to move into the Olympic Stadium next summer. Noble said: ‘I have made it clear what I think about the situation and I would love to play for my country. But obviously at the moment it doesn't look like it is going to happen. ‘I will keep playing as well as I can at West Ham and enjoying it every week. You never know what will happen in the future. Roy Hodgson takes charge of England training, having overlooked Noble for the squad yet again . Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason (second left) was a late call up in the position played by Noble . ‘When we move to the Olympic Stadium we have to be thinking about European football because of the gate receipts and the money coming into the club and hopefully we will be able to invest in better players. We invested really well last summer and that has shown this season.’ Noble hopes he will given a better chance of an England call-up following the proposals by FA chairman Greg Dyke this week to limit the number of non-EU players playing in this country. Harry Kane has come through the Tottenham youth system and only made a name for himself in the top flight back in November, but has already been rewarded for his outstanding season with his first call-up into the England squad this week. Noble has been one of the standout performers since West Ham returned to the top flight in 2012 . The 27-year-old has represented England at every age level from the Under 16s to Under 21s . Noble feels a number of other home-grown players could now follow Kane into the senior squad if they are given the chance to play on a regular basis. When asked about Dyke's proposals, Noble added: ‘I think that is great. When I came through into the league I was played at 17. You don't get that a lot now with players coming through the academies. ’If you do that you have to be very special because of the foreign players coming in. We have got the best league in the world and we want to keep it like that, but it will be nice to see some of our homegrown boys given a chance.’ Lycamobile supports the West Ham Foundation as part of its mission to bring communities together. www.lycamobile.com . +The wife of an Australian podiatrist who was found stabbed seven times in the Bahamas is being questioned by police in relation to his death. The body of Phillip Vasyli, 59, was found inside his home in exclusive gated community Old Fort Bay on New Providence Island. Local police said the married father-of-two had been dead for seven hours before a worker found him, 9News reported. Scroll down for video . Phillip Vasyli was found with seven stab wounds in his body inside his gated community home in the Bahamas . Donna Vasyli (pictured far right) has two children with Mr Vasyli, including daughter Lauren (pictured far left) Police removed the 59-year-old's body from his house this morning as his wife was questioned . Detectives took Mr Vasyli's wife, Donna, into custody following the discovery, saying she was a person of interest in the investigation. No one has been charged over the well-known podiatrist's death. In his 30-year career, Mr Vasyli has treated more than 50,000 people and established three Sydney practices, according to his website. He has since sold the businesses. He also started up a orthopedics brand, which is available in more than 25 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Donna Vasyli (third from right) helps her husband run his not-for-profit organisation, Vasyli Foundation . The podiatrist had 30 years experience and had started up three practices in Sydney . Mr Vasyli started up a brand of orthapedic shoes. The range includes  footbeds, slippers, sandals and walking shoes . Local police found his body seven hours after he had died about 8am local time on Tuesday . The range includes over-the-counter orthotic footbeds, slippers, sandals and walking shoes. Police were called to Mr Vasyli's home about 8am local time on Tuesday, local media reported. It is believed the podiatrist owned two homes in the gated community with an office at the nearby medical centre. A friend left a heartfelt tribute to Mr Vasyli on his Facebook page. It is believed Mr Vasyli owned two houses in the Old Fort Bay area inside the gated community . Mr Vasyli moved to the Bahamas from Sydney and set up a practice at a nearby medical centre . The 59-year-old was found inside his Old Fort Bay home, which was inside an exclusive gated community . The podiatrist would share idyllic pictures of his home on social media . This one was taken from inside Mr Vasyli's home on Old Fort Bay island . 'RIP Phil, It's comforting to know you are finding peace with the Angels [sic]. You will be missed,' she said. Another woman wrote: 'Devastated to hear of Phil's passing. I'm an old school friend. Praying for comfort for his family. RIP Phil.' Donna Vasyli is the mother of Mr Vasyli's two children, Aron and Lauren. He was also an avid fan of Mixed Martial Arts fighting. The Sydney man often shared photos related to the sport . A friend of the podiatrist left a heartfelt tribute on his Facebook page following his death . The podiatrist's not-for-profit organisation provides health support to third world countries and Ms Vasyli is a 'kind soul and bright spirit', according to its website. She was a dental technician in Sydney before she met her husband. The mother-of-two works for the Vasyli Foundation, alongside her children. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Sir Alex Ferguson made a phone call to Tony Blair as part of a desperate attempt to keep Manchester United in the 1999-2000 FA Cup, a man close to the talks has revealed. But the then Prime Minister was about to go into a meeting with Yugoslavia president Slobodan Milosevic in a bid to bring an end to the raging war in Kosovo and could not speak. As a result, Sir Alex admitted defeat and United ended up going to FIFA's inaugural Club World Championship in Brazil in an attempt to boost the FA's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to win the right to host the 2006 World Cup, and pulling out of a competition they had won a year previously. Sir Alex Ferguson  (right) asked Tony Blair (left) if Manchester United could compete in the 1999-2000 FA Cup . Manchester United were asked by Blair's envoy to play at the inaugural Club World Championship in 2000 . United withdrew from the 1999-2000 FA Cup in order to help the FA's bid to host the 2006 World Cup . Andy Walsh is now general manager at FC United, the club set up in protest at the Glazer family's takeover of United in 2005 who are set to move to a new home in April. But in June of 1999 he was an member of the influential Independent Manchester United Supporters Association and in regular contact with the fiery Scotsman. Andy, who made the revelation in an interview with the fanzine Red News, explained the unlikely story to Sportsmail. 'United came out as the villains in all of it,' Andy said. 'But both Sir Alex and then chairman Martin Edwards were under incredible pressure from Tony Banks, the Prime Minister's envoy for the World Cup bid, and from David Davies, the FA's acting chief executive to pull out of the FA Cup and go to Brazil for the Fifa tournament. 'As fans we wanted to find ways of keeping them in the FA Cup and we thought we had come up with a solution. 'It involved moving some of the fixtures to earlier in the season and creating a gap before United were due to go in January during which, if the FA would move the tie, they could play their third round cup match.' Manchester United were under pressure to withdraw from the FA Cup, according to Andy Walsh (centre) Andy explained that the plan had gathered momentum, but added that things took a turn for the worse at the Charity Shield. 'We were playing Arsenal and Martin Edwards was sat next to the new Minister for Sport, Kate Hoey. She made some remark along the lines of "I believe you're ruining this season's FA Cup" and when word of that got back to Fergie he was furious. 'I spoke to him over the phone and he said: "That's it, they're forcing us out. F*** them. We're going to Brazil and that's the end of it". 'Then he told me that he had tried to call Tony Blair and he couldn't sort it. 'I'd seen Blair on the news that morning going to Yugoslavia so I asked Fergie what had been said. 'He told me that Blair had told him he was about to go into a meeting with Milosevic and that was the end of it.' Blair could not answer Ferguson's request as he was about to speak to Slobodan Milosevic (pictured) The saga turned into a disaster all around, with England's World Cup bid failing and United drawing with Mexicans Necaxa (with David Beckham sent off and Ferguson sent to the stands for complaining about the decision) and defeated by Brazilians Vasco da Gama. Sir Alex would have the last laugh, however, with his side returning to England to romp to the Premier League title, finishing 18 points ahead of Arsenal. In the summer of 1999 peacekeepers entered Kosovo as Milosevic's forces withdrew. He would eventually be found dead in his cell in 2006 during a war crimes prosecution at The Hague at which he was defending himself. +John Watson competed in 152 Formula One races over 10 years. He won five times, including the 1981 British Grand Prix for McLaren, and scored 169 career points. After leaving the sport in 1985, Watson has forged a successful media career, and today he writes for MailOnline. Ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, he assesses McLaren's troubled start to the season and the disappointing curtain raiser in Melbourne. John Watson (right) pictured last year with Sir Jackie Stewart, Karun Chandhok and Damon Hill . McLaren have moved from Mercedes engines to Honda and it is a bit like any relationship; it takes time. Formula One has gone down the route of trying to cut costs, and as a result, we have seen a substantial cut in track testing which will hinder McLaren's chances of improving this term. I would like to see teams allowed to test more simply because I think the public is beginning to wonder what we’re watching. Are we seeing an exercise in extremely high-level technical games or are we looking at Formula One as an entertainment and sport? What is Formula One's objective? And where does it see itself going? I understand that TV viewing figures in Germany for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix were down nearly 50 per cent on the norm and I don’t think that is very good sign. Lewis Hamilton won the season-opening race in Australia ahead of  Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel . Hamilton led from start-to-finish as Mercedes dominated the first race of the new Formula One season . Maybe in Britain it wasn’t so bad because of Lewis Hamilton's recent success, but there is a downside to domination, and we saw that at the turn of the century with Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, and then with four years of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel. My big concern, and I hope I am not being over-reactionary here, is that there are so many teams in the pit-lane that are struggling financially. Giedo van der Garde's legal case against Sauber in Melbourne was hugely embarrassing and dominated the agenda at the Australian Grand Prix. It is systematic of where Formula One is right now. Driver talent is clearly secondary to budgets, albeit with a few exceptions at the sharp end of the grid. Teams desperately need funding. My other worry is whether global companies are looking at F1 as a sport which they want to commit to. I don’t see any substantial company coming in as a title sponsor to any team. Hamilton is bidding to become the first British driver to win consecutive Formula One world championships . Pastor Maldonado crashed on the opening lap while Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean retired moments later . The sport, whether it is the governing body, the FIA or CVC, Formula One’s commercial rulers, need to sit down and say "what are we doing?" "what are we trying to achieve?" and "are we achieving it?" Last year we did have some good races, but I don’t want to see another grand prix like Melbourne where at the end of the opening lap we had effectively just 13 cars running. Manor didn't get out of their garage. Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat suffered mechanical gremlins on their way to the grid. And both Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado failed to complete a lap. It is not acceptable. Formula One let itself down and it is a shame because the opening round of the championship, particularly with Melbourne being the sporting capital of the world, had a poor race. In the case of both McLaren and Honda, make no mistake, the achievement of getting back to the top as quickly as possible is absolutely paramount. They are a team who have won multiple world championships, but the last two years have been their worst since 1981. But I am confident they know what they have got to do, and they have put steps in place to rectify their problems. Jenson Button finished in last place, and two laps down on race winner Hamilton at the 2015 curtain-raiser . Kevin Magnussen, who deputised for Fernando Alonso, waves to the crowd ahead of the race in Melbourne . This year there is a four-engine limit for the entire season. So, combine that with the limited testing, and restrictions on engines, and how are engine manufacturers, particularly somebody coming into this Formula, such as Honda, expected to catch up, let alone match, those who started last year? Mercedes began their programme way back in 2011 and what you are seeing is the culmination of a lot of work which was done parallel to the team competing in 2012 and 2013. Renault were distracted with winning titles with Vettel and Red Bull while Ferrari didn't appear to grasp what was required. That is fundamentally why Mercedes hold the advantage. They had the wisdom to start out ahead of the game. Honda are having to play catch-up in public which is painful for them and McLaren. When you go through the design, manufacturing and development phases it is only when you put that engine in the car do you then realise what you've got. There is no magic wand and any improvement won't happen overnight. McLaren have clearly got a lot of knowledge and expertise from running the Mercedes engine last year. But a Honda and Mercedes engines are completely different. Everybody in the partnership is going to need to be realistic and only hope that they can make progress at fairly large increments. Fernando Alonso is set to return to the McLaren cockpit for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix . John Watson poses with his McLaren on a visit to the team's factory earlier this month . McLaren say they have a good car, and I don’t doubt that. They have many clever, bright and good people there. It is going to be tough, but what they have to do is make progress at every race, and make that progress fairly rapidly. What we saw in Melbourne was not representative and the best thing that could happen was for Jenson Button to finish the race, albeit last and two laps down. But the benefits Honda would have gained from that would be invaluable. Before then, their longest continuous run had been only 12 laps in Barcelona, so ironically it turned out to be their best test day. Jenson Button was certainly not racing. The massive problem for Honda is that they can do very little, in terms of testing, once the engine is certified and in the car. Renault wanted to have an opportunity to produce a new engine this year, but the rules did not allow it. The earliest this can happen is 2016. McLaren however, will be boosted by the return of Fernando Alonso, who is set to return from injury at this weekend's race in Sepang. I have not had a satisfactory explanation about his testing crash which ruled him out of the season opener, and I don’t think anyone has. I found it very weird. But the most important thing I am concerned about, because I am a huge Alonso fan, is that he is back in the McLaren cockpit. His contribution to the team will be hugely substantial. There is no driver out there who will be more driven in getting that car to the standard he would expect. He did not sign up to McLaren-Honda to run around in an uncompetitive car at the back of the grid. John Watson was speaking to Phil Duncan. +Andy Murray is so determined to maintain his positive start to the tennis season that he is shelving any plans for a honeymoon until the end of the year in November. And the world No 4, who is marrying Kim Sears on April 11 in Dunblane Cathedral, has not entirely ruled out playing in the Monte Carlo Open in the week immediately afterwards. He thinks that unlikely, but as one of the most momentous days in his eventful life looms he is adamant that he can compartmentalise such questions and focus on the Miami Open, his last tournament as a single man. Andy Murray practices in Florida ahead of his opening match at the Miami Open this week . Andy Murray takes time out to sign autographs for supporters in Florida on the second day of the Miami Open . The world No 4 poses with fans at the Crandon Park Tennis Centre . Murray happily signed autographs ahead of his opening match against either Donald Young or Yen Hsun Lu . After reaching the semi-final in Indian Wells last week Murray is now the second highest points scorer on the ATP Tour this year, albeit some way behind the dominant Novak Djokovic. He now arrives at the event hosted by the city he considers a second home – where plays either Donald Young or Yen Hsun Lu – and is not finding it hard to separate the two biggest things in his life, happy to discuss the forthcoming nuptials with Kim when relaxing at his downtown apartment. 'Tennis is important but we also have lives to live as well,' he said on Tuesday. 'When I'm on the court I'm not thinking "I'm getting married in a few weeks" but back at the apartment there's time to do that. I can concentrate on both. 'As long as it's not in the forefront of my mind when I'm training then it's fine. It hasn't been a problem for me yet and I don't see it as an issue.' Whatever happens at this tournament the 27 year-old Scot will not rush back across the Atlantic: 'Hopefully it won't finish for me here until a week on Sunday and then I'll go home after that,' said Murray, who is having not just one but three best men: brother Jamie, former Davis Cup player Ross Hutchins and an old friend from Spain, Carlos Mier. Murray said he is shelving plans for a honeymoon after marrying Kim Sears in April until later this year . The 27-year-old, who has started the year in good form, waits to speak to members of the media on Tuesday . Murray says he is coping fine juggling his tennis and planning a wedding . Murray is marrying long-term partner Sears in his hometown Dunblane on April 11 . 'If I don't do well I'm going to stay here anyway and train on the clay and get used to playing in hot conditions. Regardless of how I do I'll be here for the next ten days.' With his 28th birthday looming time is short and Murray's first few weeks as a married man will involve getting stuck into the clay with little luxuriating in his new status. He will play in Munich, Madrid and Rome before the French Open, and might even take his new bride straight to the Riviera. 'Depending on how I feel after the wedding there's potential to play Monte Carlo, but I'd say that's unlikely. The honeymoon won't be until the end of the year.' It was this time last year that he split from Ivan Lendl in a tumultuous week when he cut a distraught figure, and he now feels far more settled with the Czech's replacement Amelie Mauresmo. 'My mind is a lot clearer and I think that's shown,' he said. 'Last year I came here and had struggled for the first three months and physically I was still not feeling great after surgery. I hadn't seen Ivan much, probably for only three to four weeks since my surgery (in late September) and there wasn't much direction. That carried on for a bit after I finished here. 'I was disappointed with how I played against Novak on Saturday but otherwise I felt I played well at Indian Wells. I hadn't played well there for about five years and this was by far the best in that time.' British No 1 Murray crashed out of the BNP Paribas semi-final at Indian Wells after losing to Novak Djokovic . Murray will be hoping to go one step further in Miami, a tournament he has won twice before in 2009 and 2013 . Murray's caoch Amelie Mauresmo watches on from the stands in Indian Wells . A look at the 'Race for London' confirms this has been a decent start to the year for Murray, with him ahead of Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer, in that order. The perception that he has stuttered might have been inflated by the loss to the imperious Djokovic. The world No 4 took one of his near three million followers on Twitter to task on Monday for questioning his methods in a curiously long exchange – you never know what you are going to get from Murray on social media, but at least he does not leave his account to others for mere PR puffs. In the hot mid-day sun on Tuesday he went well beyond the call of duty doing pictures and autographs, having also discussed his hiring of Jonas Bjorkman as assistant coach. The Swede cannot join him until he is knocked out of his country's version of Strictly Come Dancing. 'We spoke on the phone for two and a half hours,' Murray revealed. 'The time went very quickly. He has also spoken to Amelie on the phone and apparently they also got along very well.' +Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo could be sanctioned for his goal celebration when he netted the equaliser in Sunday's La Liga 'Clasico' at Barcelona, the president of Spain's professional football league (LFP) said. Ronaldo, not for the first time when he has scored at the Nou Camp, appeared to be urging the Barca fans to calm down when he struck to make it 1-1 in the 31st minute. The Portugal captain, regularly the subject of abuse himself, has gained a reputation for winding up opposing fans and was widely criticised when he tore off his shirt to celebrate his successful penalty in last season's Champions League final victory over Atletico Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo could face sanctions from the LFP follwoing his goal celebration at Barcelona on Sunday . The Real Madrid forwarded equalised for his side against the bitter rivals in the first half at the Nou Camp . Even after being mobbed by his team-mates, the 30-year-old appeared to urge Barcelona fans to calm down . 'We have to be careful with provocative gestures by a player when he scores a goal or with any other provocation or conduct that could incite violence among spectators,' LFP president Javier Tebas told reporters on Tuesday. 'It must be sanctioned, from a fine up to a suspension,' he added. 'We will look into it.' Following the death of a Deportivo La Coruna fan in fighting before a La Liga game in November, Spain's soccer authorities are seeking to crack down on any action by players or supporters that may be construed as provocative. Ronaldo was criticised for his goal celebration after scoring against Atletico in the Champions League final . +Harry Redknapp has advised Liverpool contract rebel Raheem Sterling to sign a new deal at Anfield and bide his time before raking in the inevitable rewards. The young England international is still stalling on an improved contract, reported to be in the region of £100,000-per-week, and will not make any decision until the summer, Reds manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed. 'Not between now and the end of the season,' said Rodgers. 'It has been made clear by Raheem's agent. I repeat that this is the best place for his development and it is clear.' Raheem Sterling, pictured training with England, is yet to sign a new deal to stay at Liverpool . The England winger has reportedly been offered £100,000-per-week to stay at Anfield . Former QPR boss Harry Redknapp has advised Sterling to sign and develop his game first . However, Redknapp insists the 20-year-old is 'lucky' to be at a club like Liverpool and should stay to remain there to develop his game. Speaking on talkSPORT's Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Redknapp's advice to the talented winger was: 'Sign your contract. You are at a great club, you are playing regularly, you have become an England international, you're learning the game. Reds manager Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool is the best place for Sterling to develop his game . The 20-year-old has become one of the most sought-after young players in Europe . Sterling was called up for England's World Cup squad on the back of his Liverpool performances . 'Have another two or three years of playing as you are now, keep taking your game on and you will get the rewards. 'The money is there anyway, but you will be up there with the top earners in the world in another two or three years if you keep progressing. 'You are at a fantastic club, one of the best football clubs in the world. You are lucky to be playing at a club like Liverpool. Get your nut down, do your job, and the rewards will keep coming.' +Fears that Argentina captain Lionel Messi had sustained a foot injury during Barcelona's 2-1 win over Real Madrid in El Clasico have been allayed by his club. Barcelona said Messi was fit to remain with Argentina in Washington for their Copa America warm-up friendly against El Salvador on Saturday. 'FC Barcelona's medical staff in consultation with their counterparts at the Argentine Football Federation confirm that the tests carried out on Leo Messi whilst on international duty with the Argentine national side in Washington D.C. show that he has no injury to his right foot where he received a blow in his last league match with the blaugranas against Real Madrid,' the club said on their website. Lionel Messi (left) has been given the all clear to remain in Washington with the Argentina national side . Messi gives the thumbs up on his way to the training facilities before signing autographs . The Barcelona star picked up a knock during El Clasico but has been passed fit by his club . Messi trains with Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain ahead of friendly matches against El Salvador and Ecuador . Messi attracted hundreds of fans to the training session at Georgetown University . The Argentine was in top form as Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 on Sunday to open up a four point lead . Argentina, preparing for the Copa America in Chile from June 11-July 4, have another friendly against Ecuador in New Jersey next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino has complained about the scheduling of the European Champions League final which could involve a number of his players five days before the Copa America kicks off. The Champions League final in Berlin is scheduled for June 6 and a large number of South American internationals play for the eight clubs that have reached the quarter-finals. Sergio Aguero posted an Instagram picture of himself sharing mate tea with Federico Mancuello . Ezequiel Lavezzi (back row, centre) posted a picture of Argentina team-mates after joining the squad in US . Aguero also took to Twitter on Monday to upload a picture with the backdrop of the Washington Monument . 'We need to have the players from the first day and they are very keen to take part in the Copa America but they are also going to want to play the Champions League final after preparing all year,' Martino said. 'It's going to be a tough decision, the fact I don't have to take it (yet) is because we haven't got there yet. Martino told a news conference at Argentine FA headquarters. 'It seems to me that little thought is given to the needs of what happens on this side of the world,' he said in a veiled dig at European body UEFA.' Messi helped guide Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final before losing to Germany . Argentina head coach has complained about the timing of the Champions League final . +Michael Carrick insists he puts his club allegiances aside when he comes away with the England team and has not mentioned Manchester United’s win against Liverpool to his international team-mates. Louis van Gaal’s side delivered a crushing blow to Liverpool’s Champions League chances with their 2-1 win at the weekend. A large contingent from both teams have joined up with the England squad, Carrick accompanied by United team-mates Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney while Liverpool are represented by Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge, before he withdrew from the squad due to injury. Manchester United ace Michael Carrick trains with the England squad at St George's Park on Tuesday . Carrick helped Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday in race for the top four . The United midfielder faced the press on Tuesday ahead of England's clash with Lithuania on Friday . But Carrick prefers to focus solely on the national team during the international break. ‘To be honest it's something that I have never really tried to bring up when I have met up with England through the years,’ he said. ‘If we have had a good or bad result versus someone I have just let it go out of respect, it’s done and dusted and we are here to achieve something else. That is done and we look forward to Friday.’ They will put any club rivalry aside when the England team face Lithuania in a Euro 2016 qualifier. Club team-mates Carrick and Wayne Rooney take part in an England training session on Tuesday . Carrick says club rivalries are put to one side when the players meet up for international duty . But Carrick admits that a big win ahead of a national team game increases a player’s confidence, adding: ‘It certainly helps. It has been a good week with United, beating Tottenham as well, and I am enjoying my football so it is great to be back. ‘Turning up knowing you are confident and you are looking forward to the next game and when things are going well you just want to get out there and play football and that is what it’s like at the moment.’ +Alastair Cook fell cheaply in both innings as MCC lost inside three days to county champions Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi. Cook, who made just three first time round, mustered five at his second attempt on Tuesday morning - before his attempt to dispatch a short ball from Jack Brooks went straight into the hands of Adil Rashid at midwicket. The England Test captain will next week depart for his first international assignment of this Ashes year - to take on West Indies. Alastair Cook trudges off the field in Abu Dhabi after falling for five following just three in the first innings . The England Test captain faced 30 balls for his five for the MCC as they were easily beaten by Yorkshire . But he will do so on the back of two failures in his only two first-class innings since last season. Without a major contribution from him - and despite 74 in the second innings from his fellow, and former England, opener Nick Compton - MCC went down by nine wickets. They conceded a first-innings deficit of 151, and then managed only 220 all out next time as Brooks (three for 22) and Rashid (four for 72) took the bowling honours - England's leg-spin call-up finishing with two wickets in two balls. Yorkshire needed 20 overs under lights against the pink ball in the desert to knock off the 70 required. Cook's potential England opening partner, Adam Lyth, wrapped up the match with 46 not out . Lyth hits through the offside at Sheikh Zayed Stadium as Yorkshire claimed a nine-wicket victory . First-innings centurion Adam Lyth, Cook's prospective new Test opening partner after being named in the squad to take on the Windies, finished the match with successive boundaries off Adam Riley for an unbeaten 46. The White Rose therefore started the new season with an emphatic win. Cook caused a stir last week when he described England's decision to replace him as their World Cup captain as "probably wrong", in hindsight. He continued his poor form in a one-day international series in Sri Lanka late last year, and England responded by dropping him in favour of Eoin Morgan. Yorkshire opener, Lyth (centre), at the end of the match as his side needed 20 overs to chase down 70 . They went on, however, to make an embarrassing early exit from the global tournament in Australia and New Zealand - beating only minnows Scotland and Afghanistan, and eliminated by a defeat against Bangladesh. Cook agreed to play for MCC against Yorkshire at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in the traditional curtain-raiser for the new season. But there was to be no return to form for England's most prolific Test centurion - who is without an international hundred in any format since May 2013. +Thierry Henry was a surprise guest at a Welsh school on Tuesday, but rather than appearing in his usual roles as a television pundit or footballer, the Frenchman turned up as a supply teacher. The Arsenal legend was on hand to give Pen-Y-Dre High School student Emma Morgan an award live on Sky Sports News, and went undercover with an easy-to-see-through disguise as he took the teacher's place at the front of the classroom. The Sky Sports pundit wore a black wig and glasses in an attempt to fool the class in Merthyr Tydfil, but quickly revealed his true identity once the students cottoned on. Thierry Henry adopted an unfamiliar disguise to surprise students at a school in Wales on Tuesday afternoon . The Arsenal legend poses as a supply teacher at Pen-Y-Dre High School but students quickly found him out . The class were shocked to see Henry making a visit to South Wales as part of his Sky Ambassador role . Henry was appearing on his first appointment as a Sky Academy Ambassador, handing out the Sky Sports Living for Sport Student of the Year award for Wales. The awards celebrate the achievements of students and teachers in using sports stars and the skills learnt through sport to build life skills for young people. An overall winner, picked from Emma and winners from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, will be decided on Sunday. Henry takes off his disguise to reveal his true identity before handing out an award to student Emma Morgan . Student Emma was shocked to receive the Sky Sports Living for Sport Student of the Year award for Wales . Henry said: 'Emma is a fantastic example of the effect Sky Sports Living for Sport can have on young people and I’m delighted to present her with the Student of the Year award for Wales. 'The life skills learned through sport can be applied to all areas of life and Emma managed to turn her life around and reach her potential since being involved in Sky Sports Living for Sport. She’s a deserving winner.' Henry works as a pundit on Sky Sports, and is seen here at the Nou Camp with Sportsmail's Jamie Carragher . The former Arsenal forward celebrates a goal during his second spell with the Premier League club . Henry retired at the end of last season after a spell playing with New York Red Bulls in MLS . +Luton Town striker Elliot Lee celebrated scoring against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night with a touching tribute to his friend, former West Ham United forward Dylan Tombides. Tombides died in April last year after a battle with testicular cancer and Lee, a friend of the tragic Hammers youngster, showed off a message under his shirt after his seventh-minute equaliser. The 20-year-old is on loan at Kenilworth Road from West Ham and has also been wearing the No 38 shirt, the same squad number as Tombides had during his time at Upton Park. Elliot Lee (right) showed off a vest as a tribute to his friend Dylan Tombides when scoring for Luton Town . The shirt reads 'For you Dyl, gone but never forgotten' and was shown when he scored on Tuesday night . Tombides died after a struggle with testicular cancer last year in April after a long battle . The vest, shown during the live televised visit of Wycombe, read: 'For you Dyl, gone but never forgotten,' with a picture of the Australian striker who died aged 20. Kenilworth Road has also been renamed 'The Prostate Cancer UK Stadium' for the evening in a partnership with the charity that shares the name. it is the first time a Football League club's stadium has been renamed in support of a charity. Lee later grabbed a second equaliser for Luton but Alfie Mawson crashed in Wanderers' third goal after earlier strikes by Sam Saunders and Paul Hayes, from a penalty. Tombides died last April after being diagnosed with cancer three years previously. Tributes to him poured in, with the DT38 Foundation formed to raise awareness and provide support for those suffering with testicular cancer. Tributes poured in for 20-year-old Tombides after his tragic death, a foundation has been subsequently set up . +Bubba Watson was left 'pie-faced' when television host Jimmy Fallon asked the golfer, who is currently number three in the world, to play a spot of Pie Golf on the Tonight Show. Watson was invited by Fallon to play the entertaining game during the American chat show, which was watched by millions of viewers on Monday night. Both players wore goggles for the game, which involves hitting specially designed golf balls at a Velcro wall, with those that fail receiving a cream pie to the face. Jimmy Fallon gets in position as the talk show host  to beat Bubba Watson at Pie Golf on the Tonight Show . Fallon can hardly contain his delight as he hits the shot that means Watson will receive a pie to the face . Watson puts on his goggles and tucks in his tie as he prepares to get a cream pie on the American chat show . World No 3 Watson is struck in the face with the cream pie to the pleasure of chat show host Fallon . Watson survives the cream pie and waves to the cameras following the game on the American chat show . Watson donned his famous Masters green jacket on the show, but was quick to remove it as he prepared to do battle with the chat show host. Watson's decision to remove the jacket proved a shrewd move as the Florida-born golfer took a cream pie to the face before going on to win the duo's head-to-head. Fallon, complete with pie crumbs on his face, later interviewed Watson, he said: 'You're fantastic, obviously. Are you excited about Augusta coming up?' 'Yes,' Bubba replied. 'It's the best tournament of all year, and the courses are in perfect shape.' Watson hits his tee shot on the seventh hole during the final round of the 2014 Masters Tournament . Watson is presented with his green jacket by 2013 winner Adam Scott after winning the Masters at Augusta . +Harry Arter had only to turn to his brother-in-law for advice as he prepared to embark upon his senior international career with the Republic of Ireland. The Bournemouth midfielder arrived at the Republic's Portmarnock base on Monday to meet up with Martin O'Neill's squad for the first time ahead of Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland, but he did so having quizzed Fulham's former England international Scott Parker about life on the big stage. Parker is married to Arter's sister, Carly, and sent the 25-year-old on his way telling him just to do what he has been doing for the Cherries this season to help leave them within striking distance of the Barclays Premier League. Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter (left) holds off the challenge of Middlesbrough's Lee Tomlin on Saturday . Asked what the former Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham and Tottenham midfielder's advice had been, Arter said: 'Just 'be yourself', really, I think that's all you can do. 'You have been picked for a reason and I have been picked because the manager was impressed with the way I play, so if I come here any different and not confident, then I would not show the best of my ability. 'He just said, 'be yourself, that's what you are picked for'. 'I'm pleased with my form. I am part of a team that's top of the league and things are going well. My main goal when I play is to be a positive influence on the team and try to be part of a successful team, and at the moment, we are so all in all, good.' Arter celebrates scoring his side's second goal during Bournemouth's 3-0 win against Boro on Saturday . Arter, who qualifies for the Republic through his grandmother, has fought his way back in his career after having to prove himself all over again in non-league football with Woking after being released by Charlton. However, he never lost belief in his own ability and has worked his way back to where he believes he belongs, ready to make his mark in international football and hopefully, in the Premier League. He said: 'I was playing non-league and international football is far from that. I was obviously only a young boy then. My main focus then was just to work as hard as I could to get back to a level I thought I could play at. 'I am confident in my own ability and the level I feel I am capable of playing at. The key to that is just working hard and not resting on your laurels. 'From the age of 19 up until now, I haven't done that.' Scott Parker told his brother-in-law Arter to 'be yourself, that's what you are picked for' O'Neill has been to see the player, who has represented Ireland at Under-17 and Under- 19 level, on several occasions this season, but did not inform him of his impending elevation. Arter said: 'I didn't realise. It was a Thursday and I was just in the gym, and one of the lads just popped in and said 'congratulations, you got called up'. Obviously, I wasn't aware of anything, so it was a nice surprise. 'It was a different way of finding out, but one that was exciting. I spoke to Martin maybe a few days after that and he told me his thoughts, and I just couldn't wait to get over here.' Arter was one of several new faces at the training ground on Tuesday with skipper Robbie Keane and Stoke striker Jonathan Walters also now in harness, although there was an addition to a casualty list which includes Burnley defender Stephen Ward when winger James McClean limped off. Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill (sixth left) addresses his squad in Malahide on Monday . He was immediately sent for a scan on his left ankle, leaving O'Neill fretting over one of his regular starters. The manager said: 'James has got a sore ankle. He's gone for a scan - precautionary, I hope - but he was just feeling it a little bit. We'll see how he is. 'It didn't happen in training. He felt a little bit sore after yesterday. He thought it might go away, but it's just a bit of a pain across the ankle. 'James has played exceptionally well for us in most of the games since I have been in charge. Obviously I know him quite well - very well, in fact - and yes, he's a good player for us.' +When Gareth Bale scored in the final of the European Cup and the Spanish Cup in the same season last year, he did something for Real Madrid that only Raul and Ferenc Puskas had managed before him. We can be fairly sure that no one ever tried to kick Puskas’ 1959 Mercedes 180 as it pulled out of the club’s training ground. The same cannot be said for Bale’s white Bentley, which was attacked as he left Madrid’s Valdebebas training complex in the early hours of Monday morning after the Clasico. Gareth Bale has joined up with the Wales national team ahead of their upcoming match against Israel . Bale's car was attacked by angry Real Madrid fans following their 2-1 defeat by Barcelona on Sunday . The world's most expensive footballer was confronted by fans as he left the club's Valdebebas training base . The £86million signing's white Bentley is struck by this fan while others jeered Wales international Bale . Bale has struggled to replicate the form he had shown during his first season at Real Madrid . Bale would not expect to have earned the same level of respect as the ‘Galloping Major’, who won three European Cups and scored 156 league goals in 180 games, but he has four trophies in his first year-and-a-half at the club, so the animosity he has encountered is impossible to justify and hard to understand. ‘He scored the winner in the Spanish Cup final; he scored the winner in the Champions League final. He is already a Real Madrid legend,’ gushed Madrid sports daily Marca when Bale won the European Cup in Lisbon last May. Its rival publication in the Spanish capital, Diaro AS added: ‘Marcelo and (Cristiano) Ronaldo both scored afterwards but Bale’s was the winner because it was game-over after that.’ Those two publications have changed their tune 10 months on — dedicating pages to fan polls that call for the Welshman to be dropped. On Tuesday, 70 per cent of 8,000 supporters responding to one online survey said they wanted Bale left out of the team. There was no shortage of ammunition in the Madrid press, with statistics such as ‘he never set foot in the penalty area in the second half against Barca’ and ‘he only played seven passes after the break — just three more than Lucas Silva who came on three minutes from time’. The fan tries to give the car a kick as Bale pulls away and the abuse continues to be thrown his way in Spain . Bale and his Madrid team-mates lost 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday night in a fiercely-contested El Clasico . An estimated 400 million people watched Bale struggle on television as Real moved four points behind Barca . Following the incidents that occurred involving three individuals in the early hours of Monday morning outside Ciudad Real Madrid, Real Madrid C. F. wishes to outline the following: . 1. The Club has already identified the individuals responsible, one a Real Madrid member, for these aggressive and violent actions against several of our players. 2. Details of this member's identity were sent to the Club's Discipline Commission, requesting that it expel the individual from Real Madrid for what is considered a very serious offence. 3. This afternoon, the Discipline Commission held an emergency meeting and decided to open a disciplinary investigation and provisionally suspend the individual's rights as a member and access to the Santiago Bernabéu or any Real Madrid facilities. 4. Real Madrid has notified Spain's National Anti-Violence Commission of the incidents that took place, as well as the identities of the individuals responsible, requesting that it apply those sanctions that it considers appropriate. 5. Furthermore, Real Madrid will take any applicable legal action against the individuals responsible for these incidents. All this supposedly supports the theory that Bale is in decline. But behind the numbers the story is a little more complicated than his critics care to admit. Bale came back to pre-season training in peak physical condition last summer and was comfortably the club’s best player on the tour of the US, scoring in friendlies against Manchester United and Inter Milan. When Real Madrid went on a run of 22 straight wins, Bale scored in the 5-1 win over Basle that began that hot streak, he got two in the next game that saw them beat Deportivo 8-2 and netted again in the 5-1 win over Cordoba that followed. But a thigh injury suffered in October saw him miss three weeks of the season and in his absence Carlo Ancelotti fielded a midfield quartet of James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Isco. And that is where many of his current problems began. Bale has been criticised by Real supporters despite winning four trophies since joining the club in 2013 . Bale followed in the footsteps of former Real Madrid duo Ferenc Puskas (left) and Raul by scoring in the final of the European Cup and the Spanish Cup during the same season . The Wales international took his anger out on a corner flag after netting a brace against Levante on March 15 . Real Madrid superstar Bale (right) will be hoping to lead Chris Coleman's Wales to Euro 2016 . Wales, who are currently just one point behind Group B leaders Israel, need Bale to be firing on all cylinders . The team kept winning and with the four passing midfielders the football resembled that played by Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona which many Madrid followers had spent so long envying. The purists loved it and they also loved Isco’s part in it — a Malaga lad who felt like one of their own. Bale came back into the team and his part in the club’s historic run picked up where it had left off, scoring in the 2-0 win over San Lorenzo that made Real Madrid world club champions in December. But when the run came to an end in their next competitive game against Valencia, the season began to unravel and he became the scapegoat. In the defeat by Valencia he was blamed for squandering a late chance and ignoring Karim Benzema’s screams for a pass. The idea that he should make way for Isco now went hand in hand with the theory that he was selfish. Ronaldo did him no favours in the next game when he very publicly chastised him for shooting instead of passing late in a match against Espanyol. ‘Puta’ (f***!) shouted the Portuguese throwing his arms down in disgust. Bale’s every touch from there on in was whistled, despite the fact that he had scored direct from a free-kick earlier in the game — something that Ronaldo hasn’t done now in over 50 attempts. The under-current of competition between Bale and Ronaldo is another factor. It is no secret that president Florentino Perez sees Bale as Ronaldo’s eventual successor both on the pitch as a match winner and off it as a big-money contract winner. Cracks appear to be appearing in Bale's relationship with Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo . Bale and his girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones must decide where their young daughter goes to school . Ronaldo is not enamoured with the idea of being replaced by anyone and, despite the fact Bale lives in the same luxury ‘La Finca’ neighbourhood as Ronaldo, there is not the closeness between the two that has developed at Barcelona between Neymar and Lionel Messi. When Ronaldo threw a party for his 30th birthday, Bale was invited but did not attend — perhaps wisely, considering the fall-out that followed the festivities, coming as they did on the day of a 4-0 Madrid-derby defeat. Bale’s partner Emma Rhys-Jones lives with him in Madrid although, with a young daughter Alba-Violet not yet three years of age, frequent trips can be made back to Wales. At some point in the future a decision will have to be made about schools. And he will need to be a sure that Madrid is the right city to justify putting down deeper roots. He says he barely noticed the thugs who tried to kick his car as he drove away from the training ground at 1.30am on Monday. But how long before the lack of respect from supporters, commentators and at times even team-mates begins to take its toll? Tuesday marked 10 months to the day since Madrid won the Champions League and Bale arrived back in the city at 4.30am to be greeted by an open-top bus that took him through streets filled with jubilant supporters. The Madrid homecomings are not as pleasant as they used to be. +Fresh from his return to England colours in the Six Nations, Danny Cipriani was back in action on Tuesday to front the ‘Welcome Back to Milk’ campaign for a2 Milk. Cipriani's superb form for Sale Sharks saw the talented fly half called up to Stuart Lancaster's squad for the 2015 championship. The former Wasps and Melbourne Rebels playmaker made a number of impressive cameos from the bench during the championship and capped off his first appearance at Twickenham since November 2008 with a late try in the 47-17 victory against Italy in February. Scroll down for videos . England rugby star Danny Cipriani promotes the Welcome Back to Milk campaign for a2 milk . England and Sale Sharks fly half Cipriani has been named official ambassador for a2 Milk . Cipriani revealed that milk is a big part of his training regime but ordinary milk makes him feel lethargic . Cipriani pictured with ex-girlfriend Kelly Brook at an event in June 2013 . Cipriani runs at the French defence during England's pulsating 55-35 victory at Twickenham on Saturday . And Cipriani, who also made appearances against Scotland and France during the tournament, has cited his switch to a2 Milk as a key change to his training regime. 'Milk has always been a vital part of my training regime, but for some reason ordinary milk was making me feel lethargic and bloated. Since I discovered a2 Milk I have been feeling fantastic,' said Cipriani. 'I know a2 Milk has become huge in Australia where it was initially launched and I once lived. I want to do the same here and help change the lives of kids and adults who have had trouble with ordinary milk like me. It has changed my life – I want to encourage others to try it for themselves. Cipriani came off the bench to score a late try for England in their 47-17 victory against Italy in round two . 'Milk is such an important food - for growth, bone health and also for post-training recovery. If I hadn't ditched ordinary milk and taken up a2 Milk, I wouldn't be feeling as good as I do today.' Cipriani will back in Sale colours on Sunday as Steve Diamond's side welcome Gloucester to the AJ Bell Stadium for a crucial Aviva Premiership clash. +Luis Suarez has backed his Barcelona team-mate Neymar after the Brazilian was criticised for hogging the ball during Sunday's El Clasico win against Real Madrid. The former Liverpool man scored the winning goal early in the second half, as the Catalonian side extended their lead at the top of La Liga to four points but his team-mate came under-fire after choosing to shoot instead of pass the ball when in a good positions. But Suarez has defended Neymar and believes he was doing what he supposed to do as an attacker and reckons the talented attacker will win the most prestigious award a footballer can in the future. Luis Suarez has backed his Barcelona team-mate Neymar after the forward was criticised for being 'selfish' Neymar (centre) was defended by the Uruguayan who thinks he was right to play how he did as a forward . The Uruguayan told RAC1: 'He was right to try and finish his chances and not pass. Strikers are selfish. 'He is a key player and I'm convinced that he will win the Ballon d'Or.' Suarez was Barcelona's hero at full time after his brilliant control was matched with an equally impressive finish following Dani Alves' pinpoint pass. The Brazilian had a number of opportunities to release the ball in a good position but chose to go for goal . But the £75million man, was less than impressed with his overall performance. 'The goal obviously has added significance because of who we were playing and in terms of La Liga,' he said. 'At the end of the match I made some amateurish mistakes but that was because I was tired. Luckily nothing happened.' Suarez slots home the winner after brilliantly controlling Dani Alves' long ball over the top of the defence . Barcelona were drawn against Chelsea's conquerors in the quarter finals of the Champions League after dispatching of Manchester City and ending England's hopes of having a team progress into the last eight. But Suarez knows that his side have to beat the top teams if they want to be the best in Europe. 'We are aware that to win the Champions have to beat the best teams, starting with PSG,' he added. Suarez knows his side will be in for a tough task against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League . +Arsene Wenger is set to receive a huge fitness boost ahead of Arsenal’s crunch clash with Liverpool a week on Saturday. Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy are all back in training and close to rejoining the first team. If all goes according to plan the trio should be available to face Liverpool at the Emirates. Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere could face Liverpool on April 4 after recovering from an ankle injury . Captain Mikel Arteta (left) is also expected to be available for selection following his return to training . Wilshere has missed four months following an ankle operation, and Arteta has missed five months with ankle and calf issues. Right back Debuchy has been sidelined since January 11 with a shoulder injury. Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also hopes to be available for the game against Brendan Rodgers’s side on April 4 after a hamstring injury. But he may have to wait until the trip to Burnley on April 11 for his return. Arsenal right back Mathieu Debuchy has been sidelined since sustaining a shoulder injury against Stoke City . +QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has called for a Rooney Rule-style law to be introduced in English football to challenge what he believes is a 'lack of diversity' in the game. Football Association chairman Greg Dyke was first to suggest the adoption of the American system - which requires NFL teams to interview at least one minority candidate for each head coaching role - in 2014. And now Ferdinand has reopened the debate by insisting it could be the best way to give prospective black managers the confidence to aspire to positions they currently feel are beyond them. QPR director of football Les Ferdinand would like to see the introduction of a Rooney Rule-style law . The QPR director of football believes there is a lack of diversity in English football . Ferdinand told Sky Sports: 'We're not saying you have to give anybody the job - we're just saying "give us an interview" - that's all. 'It's just a case of being able to sit down and put your credentials on the table. At the moment we're not even getting that chance. 'People often talk and say "I'm not racist" and don't even realise that they are being racist because they won't give you that opportunity. 'You may have already decided who your next manager is going to be but if I sit down in front of you I might impress you so much that you might recommend me to someone else.' FA chairman Greg Dyke was first to suggest the adoption of the American system in 2014 . Ferdinand wants black managers to be given the opportunity to showcase their credentials at interviews . Dyke's support for the Rooney Rule was not shared by others in the game with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore rejecting the idea. But Ferdinand's views are shared by anti-racist campaigners Kick It Out, which told Sky Sports News: 'The access to opportunities for employment in football continue to be out of reach for many. The recruitment procedures are flawed, and there is a lack of accountability and transparency in the processes. 'We need to see a level playing field established where individuals possessing the necessary qualifications and experience are able to apply and be taken into proper consideration for positions. 'As it stands, many credible candidates who are suitable for jobs do not feel it is worthwhile applying as they see a closed culture which exists preventing them from having a fair chance.' The League Managers Association supports the implementation of a Rooney Rule-style law, and a spokesman said: 'The LMA is committed to the fundamental principle of equal opportunities for anyone, from any background, who wishes to work and build a career, as a manager or coach, in professional football and we are focussed on the need to increase the number of managers from black and ethnic minorities who have coaching or management qualifications.' +The Golden Bear got a gold medal - and apparently caused House Speaker John Boehner to tear up. Congress on Tuesday awarded its highest civilian honor to golfing great Jack Nicklaus, who accepted the gold medal with a few tears, humility and humor. In a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, the House and Senate leadership bestowed the award on Nicklaus, winner of 18 major championships, including six Masters titles, five PGA championships and four U.S. Opens. John Boehner, an avid golfer who is also known for crying publicly, was photographed misty-eyed at the event while sitting next to Nicklaus. Scroll down for video . Shedding tears: Congress on Tuesday awarded its highest civilian honor to golfing great Jack Nicklaus (seen next to Speaker John Boehner), who accepted the gold medal with a few tears, humility and humor . Not the only one: John Boehner, an avid golfer who is also known for crying publicly, got misty-eyed at the event . Honored: The 75-year-old Nicklaus recalled the hard work of his parents, praised his family and paid tribute to his wife, Barbara . Speech: An emotional Nicklaus told his family that his whole life he wanted to make them proud of him, and 'hopefully I have' Support: Barbara Nicklaus, center, and her son Jack Nicklaus II, right, sit in the audience on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, as Jack Nicklaus speaks . 'Few transcend their sport to achieve that kind of moment, or this kind of honor,' said Boehner, who grew emotional at times during the ceremony. He continued 'With Arnie (Palmer), it was how he brought an audience to the game - an army. With Jack, it's how he gave the game a gold standard - a ladder to climb.' The 75-year-old Nicklaus, dubbed the Golden Bear, recalled the hard work of his parents, praised his family and paid tribute to his wife, Barbara. Nicklaus was quoted by Devil Ball Golf as saying 'She is responsible for 15 of my major championships. I'll give myself three of them.' He recalled that when his son Jack was six, he was asked what his father did for a living. The younger Nicklaus said, 'nothing, he just plays golf.' An emotional Nicklaus told his family that his whole life he wanted to make them proud of him, and 'hopefully I have.' Politicians: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are seen with Nicklaus . Guests: Donald Trump and his spouse Melania Knauss-Trump were also present at the Tuesday ceremony (left), as was Arnold Palmer (right) Celebration: The Ohio State marching band performed for the Ohio-born Nicklaus on Tuesday . The speakers, from congressional leaders to Nicklaus' son, recalled the drama of the golfer's 1986 win at the Masters. They praised Nicklaus' charitable work, including the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, which recently pledged $60 million to the Miami Children's Health System. The Washington Post quoted Jim Nantz, an announcer for the PGA Tour, as saying 'He has been an American treasure and our gift to the world.' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Nicklaus had a brush with polio as a teenager. McConnell said that as a fellow survivor of polio he appreciated Nicklaus' perseverance. The Washington Post reported that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Donald Trump were among the guests. Attending the ceremony for Nicklaus was golfing legend Arnold Palmer. The Ohio State marching band performed for the Ohio-born Nicklaus. +Andy Carroll has taken another step towards his recovery from a serious knee injury after coming through a spin and gym session, although the West Ham striker remains sidelined for the rest of the season. The Hammers' record signing has not played since injuring his knee against Southampton in February and shocked followers of his Instagram account with gory post-operation pictures of his leg held together by staples. However, after being pictured earlier this month wearing an intimidating knee brace, the England international proudly posted an Instagram picture after completing a rehabilitation session. Andy Carroll gives a thumbs up after completing a spin and gym session as he continues his recovery . The West Ham striker had previously posted a picture of his stapled leg following surgery on his knee . Carroll's partner Billi Mucklow posted a picture of the Hammers ace wearing a leg brace earlier this month . Earlier this month, Carroll also took to social media to reveal the staples have been removed from his leg - accompanied by the caption: 'One step closer'. The 26-year-old has been plagued by injuries throughout his career but West Ham hope he can recover from his latest turn on the treatment table to be ready for pre-season training. Despite an impressive start to the season, Sam Allardyce's side have fallen away since Christmas - drawing five and losing six of their 13 Premier League games to leave them ninth in the table. The 26-year-old has struggled with injuries at Upton Park but hopes to be ready for pre-season . West Ham players celebrate Diafra Sakho's goal en route to victory over Sunderland at the weekend . Meanwhile, Mark Noble is refusing to give up on his dream of breaking into the England squad ahead of the European Championship finals despite being overlooked once again by Roy Hodgson. Noble said: ‘I have made it clear what I think about the situation and I would love to play for my country. But obviously at the moment it doesn't look like it is going to happen. ‘I will keep playing as well as I can at West Ham and enjoying it every week. You never know what will happen in the future. +UEFA president Michel Platini has strongly supported FA chairman Greg Dyke’s campaign for more home grown players in the Premier League. Dyke revealed on Monday that he wanted to increase the minimum number of homegrown players in club squads from eight to 12 in order to help the England team. Platini, speaking after being elected unopposed for a third term at the UEFA Congress in Vienna, is the best possible ally for Dyke, who is sure to face formidable opposition from the all-powerful Premier League. UEFA president Michel Platini agrees with Gerg Dyke's plans to increase number of homegrown players . The FA chairman wants to increase the minimum number of home-grown players from eight to 12 . Greg Dyke wants more homegrown players in Premier League teams, raising the number per squad from eight to 12. But only three current squads fall short of that number, though many of their homegrown players have yet to play for the first team. Chelsea (11): . Cesc Fabregas, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Nathan Ake, Andreas Christensen, Jeremie Boga, Mitchell Beeney, Dominic Solanke, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Isaiah Brown, Jamal Blackman. Tottenham (9): . Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Andros Townsend, Ryan Mason, Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb, Ben Davies, Harry Winks, Joshua Onomah. Manchester City (8): . Joe Hart, James Milner, Frank Lampard, Gael Clichy, Richard Wright, Dedryck Boyata, Bersant Celina, Jose Pozo. Platini said: ‘This is a position we defend. We’re not only talking about England, we’re talking all of Europe. Mr Dyke’s struggle with the FA is something we share and we agree with him. With the new leader of the European Commission (Jean-Claude Juncker), it is important we establish close relations to see how we can protect homegrown, grassroots young players. ‘We share the same perspective. We will work hand in hand to defend an idea that we think is the right one. There is free flow of workers in Europe but there are some things that doesn’t apply to, like in this case.’ UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino was also enthusiastic about Dyke’s mission. He said: ‘It’s fantastic. Eight out of 25 (the number of home-grown players that currently must be included in a Champions League squad) is not as many as it should be. So whatever move in favour of increasing homegrown players is something we can only support. Congratulations to England.’ Dyke’s proposals have irritated the Premier League who never like being dictated to by the FA. Dyke said on Tuesday: ‘We’re open to discussions and I’d like to persuade some of the clubs this is an issue.’ Dyke's plans also include 'home-grown' players having to train in England for three years before the age of 18 . Manchester United director David Gill said the proposals needed 'to be discussed by all the stakeholders' It could make for some tension between Dyke and the Premier League at the club summit tomorrow, especially as the Professional Game representatives on the FA Board had advised Dyke (left) last week not to go public. Manchester United director David Gill sits on the UEFA ExCo and will join the FIFA ExCo in May after his election on Tuesday as the British vice-president. Gill, who is also a PL representative on the FA board, said: ‘It’s a relevant thing to look at, but it needs to be discussed by all the stakeholders.’ Michael Carrick said he would love more homegrown players to get opportunities but admitted it is difficult . Carrick said that the system doesn't always work in favour of players like it has for Harry Kane of late . United and England midfielder Michael Carrick said: ‘We’d all love more homegrown, British players to get opportunities. It’s difficult. There are two sides to the argument: you’ve got to be good enough to get the chance in the first place but someone’s got to give you that chance. ‘Someone like Harry Kane is the perfect example of how we’d all like it to be. He gets his chance and takes it and has elevated himself to another level. ‘But it doesn’t always work like that. Plenty of times you look at young lads and think, he’s got a chance but it doesn’t quite work.’ England team-mate Gary Cahill said: ‘I agree with some aspects. I think it’s important to have a mixture. I love to see young players getting opportunities. But I’m respectful of the fact that the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world and it attracts some of the top players. ‘Fans want to see exciting players and top clubs want top players and sometimes they are overseas. It is a matter of getting that balance.’ Gary Cahill wants more young players to get opportunities but respected the Premier League's position . Cahill hopes a balance can be reached between the quality of the league and young players coming through . Ritchie Humphreys, the PFA chairman and an FA Commission member, said: ‘Any foreign player who comes to this country we welcome. But we also have a duty of care to our national game and to young homegrown players. ‘Everything we are working towards on the FA Commission is with the aim of making our national side more competitive at elite level. The PFA supports that.’ +England proposals for men’s Team GB football at the Rio Olympics have already been kicked into the long grass by the other home nations — and the women’s hopes are going in the same direction. There were strong hopes that a women’s team could still represent GB in Brazil in 2016 when the strength of the opposition for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland soon made it obvious that the men’s initiative was a non-starter. Team GB are unlikely to reform for 2016 Olympics after coming together for London 2012 . But the Celtic countries, having been promised that the two football sides at London 2012 were a one-off, have informed the FA that they see no reason to treat women’s football any differently because it still threatens their independence — however many times they’re reassured by FIFA that it won’t. The FA will announce imminently that both Team GB football sides have been scrapped. Such are football’s sensitive politics that after FIFA president Sepp Blatter had praised UEFA’s work in his opening speech at the UEFA Congress in Vienna, the president of the European body, Michel Platini, left out his one dig at Blatter contained in advance copies of his speech. Michel Platini (right) seemed to bite his lip during his speech about Sepp Blatter's FIFA at the UEFA Congress . Platini, in an obvious nod to Blatter’s regular references to steering the world football ship, was due to say: ‘I regard myself as a simple team-mate, at most your captain. But not the captain of a ship that is being battered by a storm, clinging to the helm for dear life.’ But he skipped the bit about ‘clinging to the helm for dear life’. Nothing sums up Blatter’s presidential election trickery more than the decision to have a special meeting in Zurich to decide future numbers of World Cup places — the day after the Congress vote in May. This will allow Blatter at least to make promises about more World Cup places to the confederations who support him. FIFA say the issue has to be debated afterwards as candidate Luis Figo (right) has increasing World Cup participation as part of his manifesto. England return to Dublin for a friendly against Ireland after riots saw the last game abandoned in 1995 . There is confidence England’s powderkeg friendly against the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on June 7 — the first time England have played in Dublin since a riot forced the abandonment in 1995 — will pass without trouble. All the focus in Ireland is on the crucial Euro 2016 qualifier with Scotland on June 13. No whitewash for Gill . There was no surprise about David Gill being elected British vice-president on the FIFA ExCo at the UEFA Congress on Tuesay. But FA of Wales’ outspoken president Trefor Lloyd-Hughes, who has made increasingly outlandish claims about FA skulduggery, received 10 votes out of 54 which is nine more than many expected. Meanwhile, Gill said that rather than ask ‘awkward’ questions of the Zurich regime which FA chairman Greg Dyke wants him to do, he will be putting ‘relevant and appropriate’ ones. Luis Figo (left) and the more impressive Michael van Praag are unlikely to oust Blatter as FIFA president . The worry for all three UEFA-endorsed rivals for Blatter’s crown — Prince Ali of Jordan, Holland’s Michael Van Praag and Portugal’s Luis Figo — is that the FIFA president still enjoys backing in Europe. Estonia football president Aivar Pohlak claims as many as half of UEFA delegates could back Blatter. That seems unlikely but at least 15 out of 54 countries could. Meanwhile, Van Praag was easily the most impressive of the three challengers when they were given the Congress floor. FA chairman Greg Dyke’s demand for radical changes in top-flight clubs’ 25-man squads to ensure young English players get more game time has irritated the Premier League. Dyke said: ‘We’re open to discussions and I’d like to persuade some of the clubs this is an issue.’ FA chief Greg Dyke has angered Premier League clubs with his plans for more home-grown players . There could now be tension between Dyke and the PL at the clubs’ summit on Thursday, particularly given Dyke was last week advised not to go public by the Professional Game representatives on the FA Board. But the extent to which Wembley were determined to get maximum publicity for Dyke’s proposals was shown by them bringing in expensive PR firm Milltown Partners to lobby media to attend the press briefing. It was also held at the start of international week so the PL could have no complaints about it deflecting attention from their competition. +Frank Lampard has no regrets over delaying his move to New York City FC – but has already pencilled in the date when he faces Steven Gerrard for the first time. The Manchester City midfielder was expected to join the club's sister outfit for their maiden MLS season which kicked off earlier this month. But in a controversial move which angered many of the new franchise's supporters, he extended his stay at the Etihad Stadium to the end of the season as Manuel Pellegrini's men attempt to retain their Premier League title. Frank Lampard delayed his move to New York City FC to see out the season with Manchester City . The former Chelsea legend has no regrets in controversially putting off his move to the MLS . Lampard's decision has been questioned after starting only two games for City in 2015 . With Lampard's former club Chelsea now six points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, and having started just two matches since the turn of the year, some have questioned the logic behind the decision. But the veteran midfielder, who won 11 trophies in a glittering 13 years at Stamford Bridge, has no such thoughts. 'I’m very fortunate,' he said. 'This part of my career, coming to City, was something I never saw coming and when I look back and think, blimey, at 36 I got asked to come to the champions and a club with this pedigree of player here. 'I’m delighted that happened as it has done and I’m delighted with the future I’ ve got and the opportunity to go on and play in New York and individually try to help there, but also be part of a new football club in one of the greatest cities in the world.' The veteran midfielder poses in front of the New York skyline after signing for the new franchise . The 36-year-old was all smiles after being introduced as a New York City player in July 2014 . Lampard will join former Spain and Barcelona star David Villa (centre) at his new club . Former England team-mate Steven Gerrard will also head across the Atlantic at the end of the season to join rivals LA Galaxy. And Lampard is relishing the prospect of facing his old pal - when asked when the match takes place he was quick to answer. 'August 23,' he said without hesitation. 'It’s at their place. It’s the day after my daughter’s birthday so I should know!' Lampard believes Liverpool legend Gerrard, 34, has made the right call to follow him to the US after 17 years in the first team at Anfield. Steven Gerrad was sent of in his last game against Manchester United ahead of his own move to America . Former England team-mates never quite clicked while playing together for the national team . Lampard is looking forward to renewing hostilities with Gerrard once they are both playing across the pond . 'I’m pleased for Stevie,' he said. 'I think it’s a very good move for him. What more can he do at Liverpool? 'He’s had a fantastic career.' Lampard added that the pair, who retired from international duty a month apart last year, became close during their time with the Three Lions. 'We get on very well, particularly in our latter years, as captain and vice-captain of England,' he explained. 'I’ve a huge amount of respect for him and look forward to getting up against him out there.' Gerrard has signed to join MLS champions LA Galaxy where David Beckham and Robbie Keane have starred . Another of the MLS's marquee signings has been Brazil legend Kaka arriving at Orlando City . Lampard believes it is the right moment to go for Gerrard, who was sent off 38 seconds after coming off the bench in Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday. 'I think only individuals know the right time for them,' he said. 'I wasn’t sure about my time as a Chelsea player. The decision got made for me. When the decision is not made for you, and you have to make it yourself then it’ s more difficult maybe. Only he knows that and I think at the minute I would say yes because what more can he do? If not their greatest player he will be right up there with the greatest players ever.' +Former Northern Ireland international and Real Mallorca striker Gerry Armstrong is an expert analyst and commentator for Sky Sports’ coverage of Spanish football. Here, he shares his thoughts with Sportsmail's Craig Hope on the Gareth Bale saga at Real Madrid… . Gareth is under a lot of pressure and sometimes that can get to you. But the recent criticism aimed at him is completely unfounded and unnecessary. I have seen him play really well this season and I have seen him play some indifferent games. He is probably having a decent season, but it could still be brilliant. Real are only four points behind Barcelona in the league and you would fancy them to get past Atletico and into the last four of the Champions League. Gareth Bale was heavily criticised after Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat at the hands of La Liga rivals Barcelona . An estimated 400 million people watched Bale struggle on television as Real moved four points behind Barca . Bale has been criticised by Real supporters despite winning four trophies since joining the club in 2013 . And don’t forget what an impact he had last year. He scored in the final of the Champions League and Copa del Rey and finished with 22 goals. He's on 16 now and will better that total this year, what more can you ask? All this talk of dropping him is rubbish – you can’t drop Gareth Bale, he scores and creates too many goals. Real have been going through a slump in the past five weeks or so. They have been missing key players. But it seems Gareth has been taking a lot of the stick from fans, and I don’t agree with that, although he has probably been trying too hard at times. Now that Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are back I think you’ll see Gareth really re-emerge and rediscover his best form, because I admit he wasn’t great against Barcelona on Sunday. He wasn’t the only top player to disappoint, but he disappeared from the game for long periods and sometimes he needs to be more forceful. The Wales international took his anger out on a corner flag after netting a brace against Levante on March 15 . Cracks seem to be appearing in Bale's relationship with Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo . On the issue of him being unhappy, only he knows how happy he really is at Madrid. Part of the problem is the language and being comfortable with your team-mates. Then there is the situation with Cristiano Ronaldo. I wouldn’t say the relationship between himself and Ronaldo is bad, but Cristiano was so petulant when Gareth scored his goals against Levante last week - he could not hide the disappointment from his face. He’s like a spoilt brat at times. But the fans are so forgiving with Ronaldo because of the goals he scores, it’s very unfair. They say Gareth should pass more to Ronaldo - that’s nonsense. It was the same with Cesc Fabregas and the pressure on him to pass to Lionel Messi at Barcelona. It’s not helpful. AS say Real 'missed and they paid for it' while Marca highlight Madrid's misses during the La Liga match . I would like to see Gareth say, “I’m better than all of this” and prove how good he is on the pitch - and I think he will because he has got great ability. He’s got everything - he scores goals and creates them, he’s brilliant in the air, he strong, he’s fast, he’s aggressive. For me, he’s very close to being right up there with Messi and Ronaldo. There is talk of him going to Manchester United, but it would be a huge mistake on Real’s part if they agreed to sell him. If I was him though I’d keep my options open and see how I feel at the end of the season. But I think he will still be at Madrid next season. This will blow over given a few goals and the team clicking again. In a few weeks’ time I’d bet we’ll be having completely different discussions about Gareth and all of this will be forgotten. +Raheem Sterling will be allowed to miss England's friendly with Italy as he struggles with a toe injury. England boss Roy Hodgson needs Sterling for the qualifier with Lithuania but has decided to allow the forward to skip the trip to Turin. Hodgson is already without Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana through injury and had hinted that more players would miss the Italy friendly. Raheem Sterling will be allowed to miss England friendly with Italy in Turin as he recovers from injury . Sterling has a problem with his toe and Roy Hodgson will give him permission to rest it next week . 'I fear we're going to lose a few more,' Hodgson told talkSPORT. 'I mean there's one or two that I know won't be able to join us against Italy because of the current problems that they're dealing with at the moment, so on this occasion in particular it won't be as strong a team as I maybe would have liked to put out.' Hodgson told talkSPORT on Tuesday that he fears he will have players added to his injury issues . Sterling has been playing constantly under Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool of late but is carrying an injury . +Kevin Pietersen will sign a new deal with Surrey within 24 hours but will have nine Championship matches at the most to stake his claim for an England return in the first Ashes Test on July 8. He has negotiated a release from his Indian Premier League deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad and, though he will miss the regular season, he could be summoned for the knockout stages. This would rule Pietersen, 34, out of County Championship fixtures at Northamptonshire and Kent, starting on May 18 and 24 respectively. Kevin Pietersen will have nine County Championship matches at the most to impress England's selectors . He's secured a released from Sunrisers Hyderabad to stake his claim for an England return in the Ashes . Sportsmail understands the second season of his £250,000-a-year Sunrisers contract remains unaffected. There appears to be no plan to alter his agreement to play for St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League, which runs from June 21 to July 26. ‘I’ve never made any secret of my overwhelming desire to once again represent England, and I’m going to do everything in my power to earn a recall,’ said Pietersen. Pietersen will miss the regular season in the IPL but could be summoned for the knockout stages . Imminent Surrey signing Pietersen says he will 'do everything in my power to earn a recall' with England . ‘To once again put on that England shirt would be a privilege but now I have to focus on performing domestically and give myself the best possible chance of meriting selection.’ England captain Alastair Cook, who leaves next week for a three-Test tour of the West Indies, fell cheaply for the second time in the match for MCC against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. He made five before lofting a Jack Brooks short ball to midwicket. +Germany manager Joachim Low says that midfielder Mesut Ozil had the permission of Arsene Wenger to fly to Berlin despite missing Arsenal's win against Newcastle due to illness. Just hours after the Gunners beat John Carver's side 2-1 at St James' Park - a game that Ozil was not well enough to feature in - the playmaker was spotted in a nightclub in the German capital. It was a move that is sure to have angered club boss Wenger, who is likely to remind the 26-year-old of his responsibilities when he returns from international duty. Mesut Ozil missed Arsenal's game against Newcastle before being reportedly spotted at a nightclub . Ozil joins Sami Khedira for a Germany training session in Frankfurt on Monday . Germany coach Joachim Low (centre) watches training ahead of their games against Australia and Gerogia . Ozil appeared in high spirits during training but is likely to have to answer to Arsene Wenger on his return . Germany play Australia on Wednesday in a friendly before contesting a Euro 2016 qualifier with Geogria on Sunday and World Cup winning manager Low said Ozil was allowed to travel to Berlin on Saturday. 'It's anyone's guess whether he was partying or not,' Low told reporters ahead of Wednesday's friendly. 'He has told me that he was in Berlin. I spoke to him and he said that he was weakened by a cold during last week and so Arsene Wenger and Ozil together took the decision to not play him at the weekend. After the match, he was allowed to fly to Berlin.' Germany manager Joachim Low continued to prepare his players on Tuesday for the Australia game . Low defended his decision to name Lukas Podolski in his squad for the upcoming internationals . The Arsenal forward, on loan at Inter Milan, has struggled for form and game time since the January switch . Meanwhile, Low defended his selection of on loan Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski. The Inter striker has struggled for form and game time since joining the Italian giants in January . 'I saw his match against Cesena in the stadium and then spoke to Lukas the following day,' Low said. 'The match was revived when he came on at half time. He is overall in better physical shape, but of course he has had initial difficulties in Italy. Germany manager Low deep in conversation with his assistant Thomas Schneider at training on Tuesday . The Germany players were put through their paces ahead of the Australia friendly on Wednesday . 'Lukas has always been there for us in the last 11 years. He gave it his all for the team. He has played loads of games and scored many goals. And he still has a lot of quality -- age has not taken its toll. 'He has our full support behind him. This will help him at his club, wherever he will be playing. It's important for him that he gets to play regularly and plays well.' +England’s fourth Six Nations runners-up finish in a row has been labelled ‘unacceptable’ by RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie, with head coach Stuart Lancaster told performances must improve before the World Cup. Lancaster’s men suffered heartache as their thrilling 55-35 victory over France on Saturday saw them fall six points short of overhauling Ireland and securing a first title since 2011. But Ritchie said: ‘Four years as runners-up is not acceptable and we are not happy with how that came about. We should be winning more in terms of Grand Slams, Six Nations championships, other things. England are left reeling on the pitch as their 55-35 victory against France failed to secure the title . Captain Chris Robshaw (fourth right) looks dejected after England concede a try to France at Twickenham . Stuart Lancaster (left) and his players ponder a second-placed finish for a fourth successive season . ‘We had opportunities, let’s be clear — entirely in our control. The Irish deserved the win because of what they did over the five matches. We did not do enough. There’s no point in bleating about it. ‘We didn’t take opportunities, didn’t do what we should have done, were not clever enough during parts of the game to deserve to win.’ But there was more than a little sense that Ian Ritchie was playing to his audience at Twickenham. And not only because the RFU’s affable chief executive quoted Hamlet when describing the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ he experienced watching the engrossing Six Nations denouement. His public pronouncements were designed to strike a chord with those still uncomfortable with the six-year contracts served to England’s coaches last year. They were also designed as a shot across head coach Stuart Lancaster’s bows. RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie (right) chats to Lancaster at England's base in Pennyhill Park in Bagshot . Ritchie (left) and Lancaster talk in the Twickenham stands prior to England's clash with New Zealand . Ritchie, an intelligent and thoughtful man, needed very little pressing to deliver the headline-grabbing line that England’s fourth successive runners-up spot under Lancaster was ‘unacceptable’. Often it takes hundreds of questions to extract such strong quotes from a senior figure. Yesterday it took two. It was almost as if Ritchie had decided what he was going to say in advance. This was no slip of the tongue. More a clever piece of brinkmanship designed to keep the pressure on Lancaster. The aim was also to avoid accusations that complacency has crept into an organisation which has pulled itself back from the brink in the public’s eyes since the dark days surrounding the scandal-hit 2011 World Cup campaign. Ritchie, the man at the top of an organisation now delivering everywhere but on the pitch, felt the need to crack the whip. Just not too hard. ‘Four years as runners-up is not acceptable and we are not happy with how that came about,’ said the former chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. ‘If you go back through history, bearing in mind a lot of things, we should be, as a country, winning more in terms of Grand Slams, Six Nations championships, other things. We had opportunities, let’s be clear — entirely in our control. The Irish deserved the win because of what they did over the five matches. ‘We did not do enough over the five matches. There’s no point in bleating about it. We simply didn’t take opportunities, didn’t do what we should have done, were not clever enough during parts of the game to deserve to win.’ England winger Jack Nowell bursts through for the first of his two tries against Les Bleus . In six months, the RFU will host a tournament which is predicted to generate close to £1billion for the UK economy. Success for the home nation on the field is critical for fans, sponsors, media and administrators alike. The RFU’s strategic vision, which Ritchie helped draw up, decreed that England should head into the World Cup with a Six Nations title under their belt and a world ranking no lower than second. For all the brilliance of Saturday’s seven-try triumph over France, watched by 9.6million on terrestrial television, they have achieved neither. But the natural question if results are ‘unacceptable’ is ‘so what are the consequences?’ Surely there is no point having targets if shoulders are simply shrugged when they are not met. But, with six-year deals secured, the reality is that Lancaster and his tight-knit coaching team of Andy Farrell, Mike Catt and Graham Rowntree are going nowhere in a hurry. ‘It’s quite right in any management to have targets,’ insisted Ritchie. ‘But they’re not the be-all and end-all. You’ve got to look around at the totality of what’s going on, where we are and what we believe. Frontline players such as Owen Farrell (left) and Manu Tuilagi were unavailable for the Six Nations . ‘Have we missed some targets? Well, yes. We wanted to win the Six Nations. We wanted to be ranked two in the world. ‘We remain confident and optimistic with a belief we can do well at the World Cup. We remain absolutely confident, happy and committed to the team that we’ve got on the coaching staff.’ England were hamstrung by injuries in the build-up to the tournament. No fewer than 11 players were ruled out of their opening win over Wales in Cardiff and first-choice stars Manu Tuilagi, Joe Launchbury, Ben Morgan and Owen Farrell were absent for the duration. Stuart Lancaster with his tight-knit coaching team of Graham Rowntree (left), Mike Catt and Andy Farrell . That resulted in the emphasis being placed on youngsters such as George Ford, Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph, with Lancaster and his staff keen to highlight the depth that has emerged. But Ritchie, the man in charge of a union which makes more than twice as much money as any other in the world and has access to more players, added: ‘“We’re developing, this is a development opportunity” — I don’t take that. ‘We’ve got the resources, the talent, the ability. We’ve got to make sure we come out for the World Cup and deliver.’ +England are interested in bidding for Euro 2028 but are very unlikely to bid for the 2026 World Cup, Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has revealed. FIFA announced last week that the decision on the 2026 tournament will be made in 2017 - when Sepp Blatter is still likely to be FIFA president. The FA has decided not to bid for FIFA tournaments while Blatter is still in power following England's failed bid for 2018, but is eyeing a bid for the European Championship in 2028. FA chairman Greg Dyke says England could beat for the European Championships in 2028 . FA decided not to bid for tournaments while Sepp Blatter in the FIFA president after their failed 2018 bid . David Beckham was part of the failed bid . Dyke said: 'The truth is, the chances of the 2026 World Cup being in Europe are virtually nil; Sepp Blatter has still got a good chance of being there when it is decided and we certainly won't bid if Blatter is there. 'Our policy is that we won't bid for almost any tournaments while the current leadership is there. 'We would be much more interested in bidding for Euro 2028 because we like UEFA but it is a very long time away still.' England will host the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 at Wembley - the competition is being played in 13 countries across Europe. The United States are favourites to be named as hosts of the 2026 World Cup - Asia cannot bid as Qatar, an Asian federation country, is hosting the 2022 tournament and Europe has 2018 in Russia. +Gordon Strachan is living proof there is life after Manchester United. Scotland’s manager left the world’s wealthiest football club at the age of 32 and, like the cliché says, feared the only way was down. Within three years, he was captain of Leeds United, champions of England. The odds of Darren Fletcher mirroring that achievement at West Bromwich Albion are long. Yet Strachan casts a glance at one of his star midfielders now and sees a rejuvenated figure. Free of the ulcerative colitis which cast a long shadow over his Old Trafford career, Fletcher is playing football again. His performances at The Hawthorns have drawn critical acclaim. Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has praised Darren Fletcher for leaving Manchester United . Strachan has revealed he is yet to decide if Fletcher (centre) will lead Scotland in their upcoming fixtures . Scotland manager Strachan says he doesn't know who will be his captain for the upcoming fixtures . There can be no denying that having a Manchester United player as captain was a boon to Scots morale. Yet Strachan knew when the time was right to seek fresh pastures. Fletcher, he believes, is thriving in his new environment. ‘You can, when you leave Man United, go on and create a new career for yourself,’ said the Scotland boss as he prepared for the twin challenges of Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. ‘Some find it difficult, some get on with it and create a new career. That’s what Darren is doing now. ‘Tony Pulis, apart from being a good coach, knows good players. Getting good people around you is the secret. ‘I got on all right after I left Man United. I had good players around me and good people. ‘Football players just like playing football. Darren has got a hunger and a pride. It’s not easy to leave United. It’s one of the best clubs in the world, if not the best. ‘So there’s a point when you think, “Is this it?” But then you realise there’s more to life and your career can continue. There is another world out there.’ Manchester United was all Fletcher had known. Strachan (far right, pictured with Ron Atkinson, Jesper Olsen and Alan Brazil) left Man United to join Leeds . Celtic captain Scott Brown has been Scotland skipper in the absence of West Brom skipper Fletcher . Born in Dalkeith, he signed for Sir Alex Ferguson in 2003 and spent 12 years at the club. Celtic tried to bring him back to his native land before the opportunity to remain in the Premier League proved irresistible. In contrast with his latter years at United, when first-team appearances were bitty and sporadic, Fletcher has played almost every game since signing for Tony Pulis in the January window. ‘I think he’s happier in himself, which is understandable,’ said Strachan. ‘He has played 10 or 15 games this season and is enjoying life. ‘He has answered a few questions by playing all those games. I saw him a couple of weeks ago at Aston Villa and he was terrific, even though West Brom lost. ‘I’ve been lucky during his absence that I’ve got Scott Brown, James McArthur, James Morrison and Charlie Mulgrew. In the Republic of Ireland game, Mulgrew was as good as anyone in there. We have good players in midfield. ‘There is a physical and mental side to it for Darren but he has dealt with that. He has decided what his career is and that it’s not with Manchester United any more. He doesn’t want to be a sub, he wanted to do something about it.’ Fletcher has played seven games for West Brom since joining the Midlands outfit on February 2 . Fletcher decided to leave Manchester United after struggling to break into Louis van Gaal's first team plans . Capped 66 times, Fletcher has been captain of the national team for most of that time. It’s far from clear he will be this time, with Celtic’s Scott Brown claiming the armband in recent games. Strachan says he has yet to decide his team to face Northern Ireland, let alone the identity of his captain. The intensity of training has taken the Scotland boss by surprise, adding to the difficult decisions which lie in wait. ‘When I went out to training, I thought to myself I had four things to do and really I should be doing them over a four-day period,’ he continued. ‘I had to try to cram four things in and I wasn’t sure if we could push the players to do this. ‘But I kid you not, after I did the four things the players would happily have gone on for another half hour. ‘We couldn’t believe the intensity of the training - it’s amazing because some of them have already played 40 games this season but not one of them was giving an inch on either side. It was terrific and if we can take that into the game then we’ll be fine. ‘I almost had to calm them down and make a few adjustments just so that we could all get a breather.’ Steven Naismith (right) was desperate to train with the Scotland national team despite his recent exploits . It’s impossible for outsiders to know how true this is, yet there is a simple gauge for the contentment levels of a national team. The call-offs. If tired, mentally jaded players were tempted to miss an international week this would be it. An uninspiring friendly with Northern Ireland, followed by a qualifier with Gibraltar on Sunday at 5pm. Yet Shaun Maloney flew from California, where new club Chicago Fire lost to San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday night. Steven Naismith, in Ukraine with Everton last week, also passed on the chance to take some time off before joining up. ‘They surprise me with their enthusiasm because I thought, after four months and all the games they have played for their clubs in between, that this week would be all about rest and talking,’ said Strachan. ‘I thought I would have to protect them. But their energy is fantastic - they don’t seem to want to be protected. Most of them are happy with life and just want to play. ‘I’ve no idea what it is about them but they have a natural enthusiasm and enjoy working with each other. I don’t think we should analyse it too much - just go with the flow. You can screw yourself up the wall by over analysing things. ‘All I need to say is that Tuesday was not what I expected. ‘Shaun Maloney has just flown in from California. You say to him, “Do you want a wee rest?” But he’s not interested. ‘I said the same thing to Steven Naismith because he’s been doing a lot of playing and travelling in the Europa League with Everton. I actually asked him if he wanted two days off to spend at home with his family because I thought it would be beneficial. But again, he was not interested. He just wanted to come up and be part of the group. ‘On Monday, I needed 16 players for a specific training session I had in mind. But I had 17 of them all desperate to take part. ‘In the end, I had to remind Jordan Rhodes that he’s had a knock and that he could do with sitting this one out...’ +Michael Carrick has credited the return to form which has seen him recalled to the England squad down to the influence of Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal. The midfielder, hailed by Sir Alex Ferguson last year as the best English player in the game, has won countless club trophies but struggled for consistency at international level throughout his career. Now 33 years old, he is one of the oldest heads in Roy Hodgson’s squad and is a strong contender for a place at the bottom of the midfield diamond the England manager so often prefers to deploy. Michael Carrick is happy to be back in the England squad and has credited his return to Louis van Gaal . Carrick had particular praise for the Manchester United manager's aura and straightforward nature . ‘Van Gaal has improved me,’ Carrick said. ‘Certain situations in games, he's helped, not just individually but as a unit, as a defensive unit, as a group of players. I've definitely learnt from him. ‘He's been great from the start for me. I couldn't ask for any more from him in terms of what he's given me, and the support and confidence to be a big part of the team. ‘A lot of people at the top of their field, whether it's business or sport, tend to have that aura, and he's certainly got that belief and clarity in what he wants and what he expects from players. 'He's really straightforward and honest. ‘What you guys see when he speaks publicly, he's exactly the same with us. He's straight down the line and honest and says it exactly as it is.’ Van Gaal puts an arm around Carrick after they helped United to victory against Liverpool at Anfield . Carrick says he couldn't ask for any more from Van Gaal in terms of support and confidence he has given . Carrick is still yearning to improve his game further, despite moving into the twilight of his career, and tries to learn from the very best in his role. ‘You can look at a few – Andrea Pirlo, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets,’ he said. ‘Busquets probably doesn’t get enough credit for what he brings to Barcelona. There’re a few out there. ‘I thought Marco Verratti and Thiago Motta for Paris Saint-Germain against Chelsea were terrific, especially when they went down to 10 men. I like watching and still trying to learn from others.’ Carrick has also gained his footballing education alongside one of the midfield masters in Paul Scholes, and their former United team-mate and England coach Gary Neville compared the pair to ‘going into a bar and hearing a piano playing’ due to the calm they brought to the midfield together. Andrea Pirlo was the first name mentioned by Carrick in terms of midfielders around Europe he looks up to . Xabi Alonso (right) was also mentioned, as well as Sergio Busquets in midfielder for Barcelona . Carrick felt Marco Verratti (bottom) did a brilliant job for Paris Saint-Germain against Chelsea in Europe . ‘It made me laugh,’ Carrick said. ‘I can see Nev saying that, but it was quite nice in a way. Playing alongside Scholesy I learned so much. He’d take the ball anywhere, he’d put his foot on the ball and try to have influence on the game. ‘It is a lot about your personality, as a person, as a player, that is how I am really, quite quiet and understated, it suits me.’ Gary Neville (centre) compared Carrick's calmness to ‘going into a bar and hearing a piano playing’ Carrick has become a key part of United's side as they look to secure a place in the Premier League top four . In the absence of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, England’s midfield is crying out for an experienced head in the middle and Carrick, if he can stay injury free, is eyeing Euro 2016 as his tournament. ’That’s definitely what I’m striving towards,’ he added. ‘I’ d love to have another real crack at it. Trying to have a bigger influence in the team is the target.’ +Roy Hodgson had in his hand a piece of paper. Well, more of a crumpled scrap, to be honest, and it was more a reminder of his ambition and his faith in the future than a declaration of war. When Hodgson unfolded his training notes, they included names scribbled in biro for a session at St George's Park and the two circled were Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane. Captain Rooney, with 101 caps and 46 goals, had started the day with a formal presentation of the England player of the year award for 2014, as voted for by supporters. Is this going to be England's new strike partnership for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday? Harry Kane trains with the England senior squad for the first team at St George's Park on Tuesday morning . Roy Hodgson holds a piece of paper which seems to pair Wayne Rooney and Kane together in attack . Hodgson talks with assistant manager Ray Lewington (left) and coach Gary Neville during the session . Kane jogs alongside Rooney (3rd right) and uncapped Tottenham team-mate Ryan Mason (2nd right) Kane goes through a drill with the ball as training gets underway at England's Burton-upon-Trent base . Kane challenges Everton midfielder Ross Barkley for the ball during Tuesday's session . Games played: 26 . Minutes played: 1,876 . Goals: 19 . Right foot: 10 . Left foot: 5 . Headed: 4 . Inside area: 17 . Outside area: 2 . Kane was the new-boy, uncapped, in his first squad, but with eyes and lenses focused on him in search of clues about whether his Tottenham goal rate could be transplanted to the international stage. The 21-year-old Spurs striker took his tally for the season to 29 with a hat-trick against Leicester on Saturday and inched a little closer to his England debut when Daniel Sturridge pulled out with an injury. Hodgson proved with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Raheem Sterling that he can be bold when it comes to selecting young players and his key decisions will revolve around whether to start with Kane against Lithuania in a sell-out Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley, on Friday. Kyle Walker (left), Kane and Phil Jones in action during England's first training session of the week . England manager Hodgson could hand Kane his England debut against Lithuania on Friday . Kane's chances of making his England debut improved after Daniel Sturridge withdrew from the squad . Kane has scored 29 goals in all competitions for club side Tottenham Hotspur this term . 'His confidence must be sky-high,' said England's vice-captain Gary Cahill. 'To meet up with England for the first time off the back of a hat-trick, he is in a good place and deserves his place in this squad. 'For me he's ready to play, I'm sure he'd relish the opportunity, but so are the other guys. So that's down to the manager. 'It's always daunting when you're in the squad for the first time, even if you' re in fantastic form and I'm sure Harry's no different. He's still a young boy. But he needs to carry on doing what he does at club level. Everyone is aware of him. Everyone knows him. This should be no different. I'm sure he'll do terrifically well if called upon.' At club level, Cahill has played against him three times this season, winning twice with Chelsea, including the Capital One Cup final, and losing 5-3 at White Hart Lane on New Year's Day, when Kane scored twice. Kane and his England team-mates listen to instructions during a break in training . Rooney (centre) was presented with England Player of the Year award as voted for by fans . Gary Cahill applies pressure to the England new-boy during training on Tuesday morning . 'It's hard to talk a young player up too much because we do that a lot in this country, but for me he has everything,' said Cahill. 'He can hold the ball up, he runs in behind, he has two good feet, he can head, he can finish, he has a bit of pace and physically he is strong enough. 'For me, the attributes a striker needs are all there. It's about how he progresses. He comes across as a top professional.' The England players tried to make the transition smooth for Kane when he arrived at St George's Park on Monday. 'You introduce yourself and we train together,' said Cahill. Sturridge's thigh injury leaves Hodgson with three recognised strikers. Rooney will start as he closes in on Sir Bobby Charlton's England goal record after two goals in Scotland, in November, and Danny Welbeck performed well, scoring twice in a 3-1 win against Slovenia, three days before. If Hodgson sticks with a diamond formation Kane will be competing for a starting berth with Danny Welbeck . Michael Carrick is hoping the manager plays with a diamond because it will better suit the midfielder . If Hodgson sticks with the diamond midfield formation, which has served him well since he introduced it for the first qualifier in Switzerland, he will have to choose between Kane and Welbeck to partner the captain up front. This shape suits Sterling, in behind the strikers, and Michael Carrick, in front of the centre-halves, with Jordan Henderson and Fabian Delph providing the mileage on either side. Delph has been ill and is yet to train with England this week but he reported to the camp yesterday. Another option Hodgson will consider, especially if Delph is below full power, is a 4-2-3-1 system with Henderson deep in tandem with Carrick and Kane up front, ahead of Welbeck, Rooney and Sterling. 'We've played a diamond enough times at Manchester United,' said Carrick. 'That's not to say it's the only position I can play, but it's a formation that would probably suit me. Hopefully it will.' +It is back to the drawing board for manager Chris Ramsey after embattled QPR fell to an uninspiring defeat at Crystal Palace. The west Londoners have just five points to show from their last 12 top-flight matches, putting their Premier League status at serious risk. Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Selhurst Park was the latest hammer blow, making it four straight defeats after Ramsey last month oversaw Rangers' first away win of the campaign. QPR boss Chris Ramsey believes that his side can still stay up despite their defeat at Crystal Palace . Former Manchester United winger Wilfired Zaha slid in at the back post to give Palace a first-half lead . James McArthur doubled the home side's lead five minutes before half-time against QPR . Morale had been boosted by that victory but now they are hurtling towards the Championship, with the first-half capitulation against Palace a particular concern. 'We'll go for it as best we can,' Ramsey said, looking ahead to the final nine matches. 'The players are disappointed. They're still unified in what we're trying to do and all we can do is keep fighting. 'The only thing we can do is go back to the drawing board, there's nothing else we can do. I know there are Rangers fans out there whose weekend will have been spoilt by this result. 'They live, die and breath football every weekend, and that's what hurts me the most.' Joel Ward wheels away in celebration after finding the bottom corner to make it 3-0 to Crystal Palace . Matt Phillips unleashed a ferocious strike from 40 yards that found the top corner to pull a goal back for QPR . +A Swedish football team has told of how they narrowly escaped death after a last-minute decision against booking their players on Germanwings Flight 4U9525. Four Lufthansa subsidiary flights left Barcelona around the same time this morning, Division 1 team Dalkurd FF, from Borlänge, central Sweden, had players on three of them. The team had initially planned to travel on Flight 4U9525 to Düsseldorf, but instead split the team over the three remaining flights from Barcelona, via Germany. Scroll down for video . Lucky escape: Swedish Division 1 team Dalkurd FF had initially planned to travel on Flight 4U9525 to Düsseldorf, but instead split the team over the three remaining flights from Barcelona this morning . When the Dalkurd FF delegation of 29 players and staff landed, they found out that the fourth flight had crashed, and the passengers next to them at check in a few hours earlier had died. All 144 passengers, including two babies and 16 teenagers from a German high school, and six crew members lost their lives when Germanwings Flight 4U9525 crashed this morning. The Airbus A320 ploughed into the mountainside in a remote region of the French Alps en route from Spain to Germany at more than 400mph. 'We were supposed to have been on that flight. We checked in with all of the passengers. It's surreal,' Dalkurd FF's sports chief Adil Kizil told Aftonbladet. 'When we got to the airport in Barcelona there were four flights leaving that time, flying north over the alps. All 144 passengers, including two babies and 16 teenagers from a German high school, and six crew members lost their lives when Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed near Seyne les Alpes, French Alps . Video from the scene of the crash shows debris of the Germanwings Airbus A320 at the crash site in the French Alps above the southeastern town of Seyne . Destroyed: Crews in the first helicopter to reach the site said they had seen no survivors and reported finding chunks of plane the size of a car . 'Four flights and we had players on three of them. Let's just say we were very lucky.' Dalkurd FF, formed in 2004 by Kurdish immigrants, play in Sweden's Division 1, the third level in the league system of Swedish football. The team had been on a week-long training camp in Barcelona and were flying home this morning, and were supposed to have been on Flight 9525. Mr Kizil told the newspaper how they had tried to fit the entire team on the Germanwings flight, but that the connection time in Düsseldorf to continue their journey home to Sweden was too long. Instead they split the team onto the three other flights, with one group flying via München and two others via Zürich. Mr Kizil said the players are still shocked, and that their thoughts are with the families of the victims. 'All the people on that plane were at the same check-in as us. We also flew with a subsidiary to Lufthansa, so everyone went to the same gates.' Others have today spoken of narrowly escaping death after missing Flight 4U 9525. The Airbus A320 ploughed into the mountainside in a remote region of the French Alps en route from Spain to Germany at more than 400mph . One woman, whose husband has been named by Spanish media as one of the 150 victims, was refused boarding as she was deemed 'too pregnant' to fly. News website La Voz de Galicia claims Marta Carceller had to stay behind in Barcelona while her husband Josep Sabat Casellas boarded the Germanwings flight, The Mirror reports. A man named Manuel Blasco also spoken of his lucky escape, as he was convinced by his wife not to change his flights last minute. Mr Blasco had intended to swap a Monday flight for the ill-fated Airbus A320 today after waking up with a cold. He told Spanish newspaper El Mundo: 'I woke up with a cold and a bit of a temperature. 'I was going to change the flight and fly today with the plane that crashed. 'My wife made me change my mind. I still asked at the Lufthansa desk when I got to Barcelona airport if I could change the flight but they said the plane that ended up crashing was very full and I'd have to pay a lot of money to reserve a seat. 'As I saw it was going to cost quite a lot, I ended up sticking to my original plan and going on Monday.' +England manager Roy Hodgson fears he may have to play a vastly weakened side in next Tuesday's friendly against Italy, with more players set to drop out of his squad once the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania has been played. Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana, Fraser Forster and Luke Shaw have all been forced to withdraw through injury already while Michael Carrick and Fabian Delph were unable to play a full part in training on Tuesday. And Hodgson expects to lose even more players in what is one of his most-significantly weakened England squads in recent memory. Roy Hodgson fears he could lose even more members of his England squad to injury in the coming days . The England manager already has a long list of absentees but could see more ahead of facing Italy . Hodgson oversaw training with the squad at St George's Park on Tuesday ahead of the two upcoming games . The Three Lions fly to Turin on Monday following Friday night's game against Lithuania at Wembley, but they could be missing even more players by the time they come to face the side they were beaten by in their World Cup opener last summer. 'Apart from all those players that I’ve suggested or have said aren’t here through injury I fear we’re going to lose a few more,' Hodgson said. 'There’s one or two that I know won’t be able to join us against Italy because of the current problems that they’re dealing with at the moment, so on this occasion in particular it won’t be as strong a team as I maybe would have liked to put out. 'In England, unfortunately you're always judged harshly and you're in the spotlight because everyone wants England to do well and believes we can do well. 'We’ll accept that but as far as I’m concerned it’s still the qualifiers that I put top of my list of priorities even though on paper Italy are a strong team to play than Lithuania.' Daniel Sturridge scored for Liverpool at the weekend but has been ruled out for England with a hip problem . Adam Lallana is another Liverpool and England player struggling with injury - he pulled out with groin trouble . Fraser Forster was in significant pain after picking up an injury for Southampton and also withdrew . Luke Shaw is another absentee for Hodgson, pulling out with an ankle problem ahead of the Lithuania game . Hodgson has been frustrated to see so many players absent from this selection but admits his luck with injuries of late may be coming back to bite him. 'We’ve been a bit unlucky on this occasion, it’s unusual,' he told talkSPORT. 'We’ve been very lucky most of the times we’ve got squads together that we haven’t lost a lot of players. This time to lose the two goalkeepers (Forster and Ben Foster) for example is an incredible blow. To lose people like (Jack) Wilshere, Lallana, (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sturridge, all of whom you think are very important players in the year to come, to lose them all ahead of a qualifier that’s been a bit hard to take. 'But I still think theres enough good ones out there, so I still think we can get 11 good players on the field.' Michael Carrick was unable to take part in a full training session with the rest of the squad on Tuesday . Fabian Delph (bottom) has only just joined up with England after suffering from sickness of late . England have taken a maximum 12 points from their four games in qualifying group E so far, marking an impressive turnaround since the summer's embarrassing World Cup group stage exit which came without a win from games against Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica. But Hodgson is not getting carried away with the momentum his side appear to be building up ahead of next summer's tournament in France that they look dead-certs to qualify for. 'You’re always pleased when you’re winning but I think we’re also trying to keep our feet on the ground,' he said. 'We've been benefiting from a group which isn't the toughest of the groups. There’s lots of very, very difficult games ahead and we realise also that everything we're doing at the moment is going to be truly judged in 2016.' +Gary Cahill insists Harry Kane is ready to start for England against Lithuania in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday. The absence of Daniel Sturridge, withdrawn from the squad with a hip injury, has boosted the Tottenham striker’s chances of being included in the first eleven. Cahill has faced Kane three times playing for Chelsea this season and was given a torrid time by the forward when he scored twice in Spurs’ 5-3 win on New Years' Day. Harry Kane could cap his first England squad call-up with a starting place against Lithuania on Friday night . England defender Gary Cahill (right) believes Kane would be ready to start for the Three Lions if selected . Kane trained with the England senior squad for the first time at St George's Park on Tuesday morning . Asked how Kane was fitting into training after getting his first call-up to the national squad, Cahill replied: ‘Really good. He’s been a real handful every time I’ve played against him. He’s a fantastic talent, not just holding the ball up but running in behind defenders. For me he’s got all the attributes a striker needs. ‘He scored a hat-trick just before his first meet-up with the England team is ideal so his confidence will be sky high. He’s still a young boy and it’s his first time in the squad. It’s always a bit daunting.’ Kane, still only 21, scored a treble against Leicester at the weekend to take his tally to 29 in all competitions, joint-top Premier League scorer with Diego Costa on 19 goals. Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck are both available, but Cahill is confident Kane will be ready if England manager Roy Hodgson decides to throw him in. ‘That’s down to the manager,’ he added. ‘We’ve got top strikers here. They’re all chomping at the bit to play, all good enough to play from the start, and Harry’s in that bracket. ‘He’s in top form in the league. To score a hat-trick leading up to your first senior call up is fantastic. I’m sure he feels he’s ready to play. It’s down to the manager, whatever he decides.’ Kane has scored 29 goals in all competitions for club side Tottenham Hotspur this term . Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick echoed Cahill’s sentiment and has also backed Kane to have a bright future in the England senior team. He said: 'I think the progress he has made has been sensational from the start of the season to the level that he is at now. He has gone up two or three levels and the thing that has impressed me most about him is that as the spotlight has grown and expectations have grown he has grown and his performances have improved and improved and that is a really good sign. It by no means looks like this is a one off season. He looks like the real deal. I am sure he has a big big future ahead of him. ’The options are frightening, whoever plays whether it’s Sturridge, Welbeck, Wayne, Raheem Sterling, it's great to have those in the squad. We have an abundance of talent going forward. When you are at that level like the boys are they can play with each other no problem.’ Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has tipped Kane to have a bright international future . +On reflection, it would be wrong to describe inter-squad relations back then as frosty. Cordial might be more appropriate. Yet the warmth was distinctly a few degrees south of what Steven Naismith is currently enjoying each time the Scotland squad gathers on the banks of Loch Lomond. The reasons for the dawning of an age of bonhomie are not too hard to fathom. In little over two years, Gordon Strachan has transformed the national team from a laughing stock into a source of genuine pride and hope. One that people naturally want to be part of. Awkward conversations between players who would much rather be elsewhere are conspicuous by their absence. A sense of togetherness - which can only truly be fostered by a string of positive results and performances - is palpable. The Scotland squad are in high spirits in the lead-up to their clash with Northern Ireland on Wednesday . Naismith says: 'From when I joined the national team to now, it’s a totally different dynamic' The old cliché about a club-like atmosphere surrounding Team Scotland – for so long just empty rhetoric – now has a solid basis in reality. ‘From when I joined the national team to now, it’s a totally different dynamic in that every single player is chatting away to anybody,’ said Naismith. ‘It’s just normal. We’re a bunch of guys who are at similar points in life – starting families, getting married but all driven. Seeing what we have here and what we can do is what’s driving everyone. It’s great that we’re all of similar mind-sets and it works. ‘(Previously) I wouldn’t say it was as tight as it is now. Everyone wasn’t as open as they are now. ‘I wouldn’t say there were cliques and people not talking to each other. But the Rangers boys and the Celtic boys did tend to stay together. It’s just who you are familiar with. ‘Now everybody is just a bit more open. So many more of us get on and will be texting each other outwith football. It just brings people closer.’ For much of Naismith’s Scotland career, a call-up to the national side brought mixed emotions for many. Gordon Strachan's reign has brought back a sense of pride to the Scotland shirt . At times, the pride of being selected to pull on a dark blue jersey was diminished by a realisation that the team was going nowhere fast. Frequent numerous call-offs just became the way of things. Many of those who did assemble for duty wore the look of men who wish they hadn’t bothered. Not now. Naismith says there are no cliques in the side . ‘Most folk will hang about in the communal areas and chill and enjoy banter,’ he added. ‘In the past, people maybe went to their own room or someone else’s room in twos or threes. ‘Now you could walk through the hotel and see eight or nine guys mixing – and it’s always a different mix. ‘The manager has not directly encouraged it but the way he operates being so open and honest rubs off on the way we behave and work together.’ It says much that only Ross McCormack has withdrawn from Strachan’s original party to face Northern Ireland on Wednesday and Gibraltar on Sunday. Hardly fixtures that necessitate a dose of tranquillisers to calm the pulse of the Tartan Army, but tellingly viewed by the entire squad as matters of the utmost importance. ‘It’s a very good game as we’ve both started our campaigns very well,’ Naismith said of Wednesday's Hampden friendly. ‘It’s a game with a little more to it, like Ireland and England, because they are close to home and the players are all familiar with each other. It’ll be a very good test. It’s an opportunity to try a few things and refresh the minds of what we’ve been doing because we’ve not been together for a period or four or five months.’ For Naismith, this match is also a case of Friends Reunited. Both Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty shared a dressing room with him at Rangers for four years with three Scottish titles gleaned in that period. Norwich striker Lafferty didn’t have his troubles to seek at Ibrox initially but his latter contributions – together with his current displays for club and country – have long since convinced Naismith of his value to any side. Naismith will be reunited with friends Kyle Lafferty, who who played with during a successful run at Rangers . He will also compete with Steven Davis, another former Rangers star now on the Southampton books . ‘Ever since he was at Rangers he was been a big player for Northern Ireland,’ he said. ‘He has scored a few goals for them and he has been their main striker since David Healy. He has always been a threat and has matured more as he has grown older. ‘He probably lacked a bit of maturity back then, definitely. Around the changing room he was a great laugh and when times were tough he was always there to keep the boys up, even if he was the brunt of the jokes. When he was younger, he probably didn’t know when to stop. He has matured more now and speaking to the boys at Norwich they say he is different now to how he was back then. ‘The way he finished seasons (at Rangers) was remarkable. At specific times in a season you need players who are going to drag you through games and Laff would always pop up at the end of a season.’ What Everton would currently give for such a lucky charm. Currently sitting 13th in the Premiership, last season’s remarkable run to fifth under Roberto Martinez seems distant, while their Europa League aspirations were ripped to shreds by Dynamo Kiev. Everton's Naismith and Chicago-based Shaun Maloney, formerly of Rangers and Celtic respectively, share a laugh as they warm up with the Scotland squad on Tuesday . Typifying how many fans now have the collective memories of goldfish, graffiti denigrating the Spaniard has been seen around Goodison Park. ‘I’ve seen that,’ Naismith admitted. ‘To be honest, it’s very unlike Everton fans. I think it’s a very small minority. They are normally great. ‘At times this season it’s been so frustrating for them after the success of last season. The way we played then was great and everything was going for us. ‘It’s not nice to see but we definitely believe in what we are doing. It worked last season.’ The irony of Scotland now providing a lift for ailing club players is lost on no one. If defeat to England last time out was a natural disappointment, there was no shortage of understanding given the toil in putting Ireland to the sword four days previously. ‘The last trip was quite tricky,’ Naismith recalled. ‘There was so much build up on the Ireland game, the main event, and to get such a good result took such a lot out of the boys. ‘In hindsight, everyone was desperate to play against England … the manager was speaking to a few players to see if they would sit it out, but everyone was dying to play and that probably went against us. ‘England caught us off guard, were on the front foot and pressed us well and took their chances. It was difficult for us to take but we are a much more solid unit now with so much confidence for places. ‘Even Matt Ritchie has come in, who is such a great talent. He’s exactly the type of player who will add something to the squad.’ +The best of British come face-to-face on Saturday afternoon when Charlie Austin's QPR take on Harry Kane's Tottenham at Loftus Road. And Austin, who has scored the most goals of any English player in the Premier League this season, is keen to put his past behind him to be viewed as a footballer and not an ex-builder. The 25-year-old came up through the ranks in lower league football, before getting his break in the big time. To fund himself while playing for clubs like Kintbury Rangers and Hungerford Town, Austin was a builder by trade, but now the time has come for a change in mentality. Charlie Austin (right) thinks he has scored enough goals to be considered a footballer rather than a builder . Austin has come up through the ranks, starting in non-League and working his way to the top . 'I have scored 100-odd career goals now,' Austin told The Sun, 'and think I have done enough to be considered a player rather than a builder who plays football. I know where I have come from but I feel like I have done enough to be known as a footballer now. 'The only blisters I have on my hands these days are from the gym. Laying bricks was about five or six years ago now.' His journey to this point is the antithesis of Kane's, who has spent 11 years in the relative comfort of Tottenham Hotspur's academy. The now-QPR striker got his first League break at Swindon Town, for whom he scored over 30 goals . Austin takes on team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips during a training session at Queens Park Rangers . For Austin though, that route didn't work out. He was released by Reading as a teenager for being too small, and had to rely on opportunities elsewhere to get where he is today. 'Coming through the academies didn't work for me,' the QPR striker continues. 'I was released at 14. I wouldn't change it at all. Harry [Kane] would probably tell you the same about his upbringing. We just got taught differently. 'My way you pick up things as you go through the game. For players in academies... everything is in place for them at the clubs.' Regardless of their differences, Austin and Kane will face each other for the first time on Saturday afternoon. In fact, they've never even met before. 29 league goals between them this season has warranted calls for international call-ups, but all eyes will be on west London to see which player comes out on top in this encounter. Austin's career in football has been the opposite of Harry Kane, who has been at Tottenham for 11 years . The 25-year-old will come face-to-face with Kane for the first time in his career on Saturday afternoon . +Les Ferdinand has admitted that QPR face a tough task if they are to keep striker Charlie Austin in the summer. Austin, 25, has been a key player for the London club, scoring 15 goals in the Premier League this season. But Ferdinand, the club's director of football, knows that Austin may well be tempted to leave for a bigger club come the summer. Charlie Austin in action for QPR against Tottenham Hotspur at Loftus Road on Saturday . Les Ferdinand (centre) watches the Spurs match behind Philip Beard (left) and Roy Hodgson (right) Ferdinand said: 'We will be trying our best come the end of the season to make sure Charlie signs up and stays. 'But you know what we do understand is that players are ambitious. Sometimes they want to look elsewhere. 'We will be doing our best to make sure we give him the opportunity to stay and play in the Premier League. 'The aim is to replenish the squad and we don't want to be losing our best players like Charlie.' QPR currently sit in 18th position in the Premier League on 22 points, three points behind Aston Villa. Austin (right) shoots towards goal on Saturday as Spurs' Jan Vertonghen looks on . +Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has asked his players not to play as many backpasses to goalkeeper David de Gea as he faces mounting criticism over his side's unadventurous performances this season. Despite travelling to Newcastle United on Wednesday in a Champions League spot, United fans booed their team during Saturday's 2-0 win against Sunderland, most notably when an attacking corner was played all the way back to their Spanish 'keeper. Though Van Gaal is keen for supporters to lay off his players, he does admit sharing their frustration at De Gea being over-used as a springboard for attacks. Louis van Gaal said he agreed with the fans that sometimes it was frustrating watching Manchester United . Van Gaal felt that sometimes his team passed the ball back to David de Gea unnecessarily . 'I agree with the fans that we don't have to use the goalkeeper so much,' he said. 'I have seen moments when we could play with a higher tempo without interfering with the goalkeeper. 'Sometimes the players may not see another solution. But I have to support them. Also, a fan has to see that. 'Of course, to attack is more or less the English style of playing a match. But I think the supporters have also enjoyed Manchester United playing in a possession game so it is always a mix of playing both. I think we can still improve in not losing the ball unnecessarily.' United's run of two defeats in 21 matches has failed to paper over some other cracks. Their supporters brought up in the successful Sir Alex Ferguson era chanted 'Attack, attack, attack' in the first half of their victory at Old Trafford at the weekend. Angel di Maria was brought off at half time during United's recent clash with Sunderland at Old Trafford . Robin van Persie remains out with an ankle injury for Manchester United's trip to Newcastle . Out: Van Persie (ankle) Probable line-up: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Evans, Rojo; Januzaj, Blind, Herrera, Di Maria; Rooney, Falcao. And record signing Angel di Maria was brought off after half-time with the £59.7million Argentine looking uncomfortable with Van Gaal's desire to win matches through controlling possession. Van Gaal admits the raft of players he signed in the summer including Di Maria are struggling to come to terms with English football and said it may take 12 months for United fans to see the best of them. 'The first season is always difficult. You can see it with every player we bought – Shaw, Blind, Herrera, Falcao and also Di Maria. 'How long it takes depends on so many different aspects of the game, the match and also the culture of the country. You can not give a general answer – but the general answer is one year! Colombian forward Radamel Falcao has failed to hit the heights expected of him at United . Van Gaal also felt that United's new players needed up to a year to settle in at the club . United's season rests on the next six weeks when they face Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in the league and Arsenal in an FA Cup semi-final. Although it is a daunting schedule, Van Gaal is taking heart at their run at the end of last year when they rose from 13th to third after a run that included back-to-back away wins at Arsenal and Southampton followed by a thumping 3-0 win against Liverpool.' Robin van Persie is ruled out of the game at St James' Park with an ankle injury while Michael Carrick is only likely to be on the bench having not played since January 23 because of a ruptured muscle. Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera is available despite reports saying he was due in court in Spain on Thursday as part of an ongoing match-fixing investigation. The case, which involves 42 different football figures, has been put back until the summer. +Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says captain Steven Gerrard will not find an easy route back into his team on return from injury, particularly given the side's excellent form. Gerrard has been absent from Liverpool's last six matches with a hamstring injury but he could return in this weekend's FA Cup clash with Blackburn Rover having resumed training this week. But his manager says that with Liverpool in a good run of form, Gerrard will have to fight for a place in a side that has enjoyed success recently . Steven Gerrard is back in training with Liverpool, but he won't walk straight back into the team . Brendan Rodgers says Gerrard does not have a god-given right to return to the team straight away . Gerrard returned to training with Liverpool at Melwood after recovering from injury this week . 'There is no-one in the squad who has a God-given right to walk straight into the team,' Rodgers said. 'It probably would be (an issue) for other people but certainly not for me and it wouldn't be for Steven. 'He is very much a team player and if he was on the bench because the team was in good form and playing well I think everyone respects that.' 'It wouldn't be significant for me or for him. If the team is in good form, there wouldn't be an issue. The most important thing is having Steven available. Gerrard catches his breath as Liverpool prepare for the visit of Blackburn to Merseyside in the FA Cup . Gerrard performs a trick during Liverpool's training session as Raheem Sterling looks on at Melwood . Rodgers said Gerrard would not have a problem if he was benched for the in-form outfit . 'To have him back is the most important thing. Let's see how the season pans out. Steven is one of the best players of all time in the Premier League. 'He has still got a couple of days to go and we will assess it. He is still with the rehabilitation team. The team is playing very well. To have him back available for selection is the most important thing.' Rodgers brushed off comparisons between Gerrard and his vice-captain Jordan Henderson after the former Sunderland midfielder scored against Manchester City and Burnley. 'Jordan is a wonderful player, a different player,' he said. 'Because he shoots from outside the box doesn't mean he is the new Steven Gerrard. 'His stature as a footballer is growing all the time. He is already a first class footballer but he is going to go on and become even better. Henderson has stood in as Liverpool captain during Gerrard's absence and has scored twice in a week . Rodgers did not want to label Henderson as the 'next Gerrard' but talked up his development . 'He is vice-captain and has a wonderful role model in Steven but I would ask every young player to follow Steven Gerard by example because he is an incredible professional and football player. 'His stature as a footballer is certainly growing all the time and that is because of his performance level. 'He assists goals, he scores goals, and for me he is just improving every single day. His tactical understanding of systems is developing and he will go on over the next few years. 'He really is a first-class footballer but I think at a big club he will go on and show what a top player he is.' +A 36-year-old woman and her three children were reportedly killed by the woman's incarcerated boyfriend during a trip to see him in prison. 40-year-old Domingo Villa Arellano, who is an ex-cop, allegedly carried out the slayings on March 15 inside Puente Grande prison, El Excelsior reported. Puente Grande is a maximum-security prison in Jalisco, Mexico. A 36-year-old woman and her three children were reportedly killed by the woman's incarcerated boyfriend during a trip to see him at Puente Grande prison (seen in this file photo) According to El Excelsior, Villa Arellano said he stabbed his girlfriend Ericka Isela Velazquez Cocula's chest with a weapon during a verbal dispute. Villa Arellano reportedly said he used a metal object from his time spent making handicrafts. El Excelsior reported that at the time, Villa Arellano was furious over the couple's two children saying their mother was treating them poorly. Villa Arella went after the children and his girlfriend's 17-year-old daughter, El Excelsior reported. The girl got away and died at a hospital, according to the newspaper. Villa Arellano reportedly later tried to kill himself and was hospitalized. El Excelsior reported that the 40-year-old has been behind bars since 2006 over killing a girlfriend and sexually abusing the woman's daughter. Villa Arellano has been behind bars since 2006 over killing a girlfriend and sexually abusing the woman's daughter (file photo) +South Africa international Jacques Potgieter has been fined for making homophobic comments during a Super Rugby game in Australia. The Australian Rugby Union announced they had imposed a 20,000 Australian dollars (£10,450) fine, with 10,000 dollars suspended, on flanker Potgieter following an incident in Sunday's clash between the Waratahs and Brumbies in Sydney. The ARU said that Waratahs forward Potgieter admitted making comments 'contrary to the Australian Rugby Union's inclusion policy', which is designed to stamp out all forms of discrimination and homophobia in rugby. Jacques Potgieter has been fined for homophobic comments during a Super Rugby game in Australia . Potgieter is tackled during the Super Rugby match between the Waratahs and the Brumbies . Potgieter's penalty relates to a breach of the ARU code of conduct, which prohibits homophobic or racist comments. ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said: 'We take the issue of homophobia in sport seriously and want to provide a positive environment for everyone involved in rugby. Comments of this nature cannot be tolerated. 'Our inclusion policy reinforces Australian Rugby's commitment to ensure every individual - whether they are players, supporters, coaches or administrators - feel safe, welcome and included, regardless of race, gender or sexuality. 'I would like to stress again that there is absolutely no place for homophobia or any form of discrimination in our game, and our actions and words on and off the field must reflect that.' The ARU said that 28-year-old Potgieter will be required to undergo additional educational and awareness training. Potgieter was fined following an incident in Sunday's clash between the Waratahs and Brumbies in Sydney . +The insignia on Floyd Mayweather's baseball cap reads TBE but whether or not he can enhance his claim to be The Best Ever boxer by beating Manny Pacquiao, he already holds the title of world's greatest self-promoting athlete. Not only will May 2 in Las Vegas be the most gigantic happening in the annals of human kind – or something like that – but even admission tickets for the official announcement which is about to take place are like gold-dust. Floyd the Money Man versus Manny the PacMan will be formally launched with more fireworks than a NASA moon rocket this Wednesday. Floyd Mayweather had the TBE cap on after beating Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas last September . Mayweather has also been sporting a TBE t-shirt during his training camp in Las Vegas . Invitations to these media events are usually pressed on we hacks by PR men pleading with us to attend and fans are often allowed in to help fill the room. This one is making a little history all its own by requiring that we apply for accreditation and such is the frenzy that we are warned 'space is limited.' Never mind the richest fight of all time, which was a sellout while still only a gleam in the eye of the promoters, but they could have sold tickets for this head-to-head sabre-rattling by the gladiators in Los Angeles. Given the cost of flights from London, we thank them for not doing so. Not so much as a twitch of a muscle or the flicker of a nerve is to be missed in these weeks in which all roads lead to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on that neon Strip in the desert. For this, Mayweather can take most of the credit. The five years in which he held to ransom the hundreds of millions around the world who have been begging him to face Pacquiao in the ring have generated a commercial monster of unprecedented enormity. Mayweather was on the famous Strip as he took a break from training for his fight with Manny Pacquiao . Pacquiao shadow boxes in the ring as he prepares for the richest fight in history of boxing . Even before these reluctant grooms affirm their vows to each other in public for the first time, estimates as to the potential worth of this fight have soared from a lip-licking $200million to at least an eye-watering $350m and maybe a gob-smacking half a billion. Whatever Mayweather's reasons for stalling – and he has been accused of everything from cowardice (outrageously) to an excessive obsession with his undefeated record (possibly) – he has proved himself to be an economic genius. Had he agreed to this shotgun wedding back in the year 2000 he and Pacquiao would have received half each of a total purse estimated at around $60m. Now he is getting the 60 per cent upside of a deal which is expected to deliver $210m to him and $140m to his arch-rival. The bulk of that money will come from pay-per-view television but claims that Showtime and HBO in America – and either Sky or BoxNation here – will be short-changed by fighters past their prime are being rebuffed by boxing men in the know. Pacquiao's seven-time Trainer of the Year in the US – Freddie Roach – tells us: 'This will be a much better fight for TV and the fans than if it had happened when it was first discussed. The Filipino legend had complained about 'feeling slow' but looked up to speed during his fifth day of training . The 36-year-old is completing his training regime at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles . 'Floyd could well have won back then by running and dodging behind that highly technical defence of his. But now that his legs have slowed a little Manny will have more chances of getting to him, making a real fight of it and beating him. 'For me and Manny this will still be the biggest challenge of our careers. It will still be our most difficult fight. But it is one we can win.' That opinion will gain legs of it own in LA this week, all the time continue to build an already massive market around the world. Mayweather's business acumen has already made him the wealthiest sportsman on the planet. After this there will be no catching him in the foreseeable future. Even as he waits for the biggest pay cheque of all, he continues to enjoy the fruits of his punishing fistic labours. Mr Money's idea of a break from hard training in his hometown Vegas this weekend was a trip along the Strip for a little high-rolling in a casino. Who can deny that's he's earned it? And whatever anyone may think of him, there is no smarter operator in the whole wide world of sport. The first leg of what British boxing hoped would be a world-title double in Liverpool came nastily unstuck at the weekend. Chester's Paul Butler went in to his bid to become a two-division world champion full of promise but ended up flat on his back. After stepping up to bantamweight to defeat Stuart Hall, our somewhat vulnerable IBF belt-holder, Butler took the unusual step of training back down in poundage to challenge super-flyweight champion Zolani Tete. Paul Butler was knocked out by a brutal uppercut from Zolani Tete in the eighth round . Butler was bidding to become a two-division world champion but was beaten by South African Tete . Alarmingly, the rangy South African comprehensively outclassed him before landing a knockout uppercut in the eighth. British boxing is on the rise but this came as a sharp reminder that at its best the hardest game is never easy. Next up at the Echo Arena, on April 19, is Liverpool's own Derry Matthews. The veteran lightweight faces what appears to be an even tougher assignment against WBA champion Richar Abril and will need to box at the highest level of his career if he is to assuage the Butler disappointment. +Europe's top human rights watchdog is to rebuke France for its failure to explicitly ban smacking children it was claimed last night. French law forbids violence against children, but recognises the parents' 'right to discipline' children. The Council of Europe is expected to say that the laws on corporal punishment are 'not sufficiently clear, binding and specific', according to Le Monde newspaper. The Council of Europe is expected to say that the French laws, which forbids violence against children, but recognises the parents' 'right to discipline' children are 'not sufficiently clear' It follows a complaint by British children's charity Approach, which argues that France and other council members are violating a section of the European Social Charter calling on signatories to protect children. The council did not comment last night. It is to issue its formal ruling on Wednesday. The council has called for all of its 47 members to ban corporal punishment of children. So far, 22 have banned the practice. It follows a complaint by British children's charity Approach, which argues that France and other council members are violating a section of the European Social Charter calling on signatories to protect children . The laws in France have occasionally caused controversy. In 2013, a father was fined €500 ($560; £364) for spanking his nine-year-old son, a case that reignited the debate about corporal punishment in France. The Council of Europe is due to announce its decisions on other countries included in the Approach complaint in May. +The Liverpool fan who held back Mario Balotelli at Anfield on Sunday has revealed he feared the Italian striker was going to follow Steven Gerrard into the home dressing room for an early bath. Shaun Leatherbarrow, who sits on the first row of the Centenary Stand, was among a handful of supporters who decided to restrain the 24-year-old following a collision with Chris Smalling. Balotelli, who was already on a yellow card, looked as if he was going to confront the Manchester United defender until fans stepped in to calm the former Manchester City star down. Liverpool fan Shaun Leatherbarrow was among a handful of supporters who restrained Mario Balotelli (right) The Italian was angry at United defender Chris Smalling after a tussle forced them into the advertising board . The duo competed for the ball and momentum appeared to take them into the advertising boards . Mr Leatherbarrow told the Liverpool Echo: 'The way I saw it Smalling sort of shoved Mario off the pitch and Mario grabbed him just to have something to grab on to. 'I could tell from Mario’s body language he was ready to react and I knew he’d already had a yellow card. 'I was saying "calm down, leave it, leave it and he was saying ‘OK, OK". I’m only 5ft 8in and he’s a big lad so I was struggling to get my arms around him. 'Peter, the lad who sits next to me at the ground, helped me and he’s a police officer who sometimes works at Anfield on match days. 'Afterwards all the lads were laughing and patting me on the back as well as having a go at Smalling.' Both players tumble towards the hoardings as Balotelli falls under the challenge of Smalling . Balotelli took to Facebook to thank Liverpool fans for their support during his side's match against United . +Former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar thinks Steven Gerrard's head is already in Los Angeles after he received his marching orders against Manchester United on Sunday. The Liverpool captain will leave Anfield in the summer to play for LA Galaxy in the USA, and got sent off in his final clash with Manchester United after just 38 seconds of being on the pitch. Gerrard came steaming into a challenge with Juan Mata initally, before an off-the-ball stamp on Ander Herrera resulted in a straight red card from referee Martin Atkinson. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard apologised to his team-mates and fans after being sent off on Sunday . Juan Mata (top) was on the receiving end of Gerrard's first robust challenge after coming onto the pitch . Gerrard then appeared to stamp on Ander Herrera, and received his marching orders from the referee . Former Reds keeper Grobbelaar believes Gerrard wasn't fully focused on the match and is already looking ahead to the next step of his career. 'Steven Gerrard wanted to stamp his authority on to the match,' Grobbelaar told talkSPORT. 'I know that Gerrard’s heart is in Liverpool, and always will be, but his head unfortunately is in Los Angeles. 'He said himself that he takes full responsibility for what his actions were. A lot of other referees would have just given a yellow and warned him to stamp it out because there were some other hefty challenges and some tackles that could've gone either way.' Gerrard is shown the red card by referee Martin Atkinson after just 38 seconds of the second-half . Former Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar (centre) believes Gerrard's head is already in Los Angeles . +Diego Simeone is expected to sign a contract extension at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday that will keep him at the club until 2020. In a blow to the clutch of English clubs watching the Argentine manager’s situation carefully the former Atletico player and captain has decided to stay in the Spanish capital. His sister Natalia Simeone who represents the Atletico Madrid coach is understood to have closed negotiations on Monday. Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone is expected to sign a contract extension at the club until 2020 . The current Spanish Champions are now 20 per cent owned by Chinese corporation Wanda and Simeone is understood to have been told money will be available in the summer without the need to cash in on top players as in previous seasons. Simeone led Atletico Madrid to the Champions League final last year and has been on the radar of both Manchester United and Manchester City in the past year and Chelsea before they hired Jose Mourinho for a second time. But it now seems that any Premier League adventure will have to wait. Natalia Simeone told Cadena Cope last week: ‘If all goes well supporters who love Atletico will have some other good news to celebrate very soon.’ That news is now expected to be confirmed at an official presentation on Tuesday. Simeone led the Vicente Calderon outfit to the La Liga title and Champions League final last season . +Mark Halsey, the controversial former elite referee who lost his role as a regular BT Sport pundit following Premier League upset, has had an invitation to speak to a regional referees association withdrawn following intervention from the highest level. Halsey was due to address the Sheffield Referee Association on how he beat cancer to continue as a top referee. But an objection from an unnamed football figure led to the national Referees Association persuading their Sheffield branch to embarrassingly cancel the appearance of Halsey, who was giving his services free. The email from Laura Ritchie, chairwoman of the RA, read: ‘A senior member of the footballing world has brought it to our attention that you have invited Mark Halsey to be a guest speaker. It is a worry that a figure who is being very negative about top-flight referees won’t send the right message to members. It may be perceived Sheffield RA agree with his viewpoint.’ Mark Halsey was invited to speak to the Sheffield Referee Association regarding his battle against cancer . However his planned appearance was cancelled after an unnamed football figure objected against the talk . Sheffield management then informed members: ‘There was an agreement that we cancel Mark after pressure from the national RA and the wider football world.’ And the Sheffield response to the RA said: ‘Our irritation at having been placed in this position cannot be underestimated. Are we saying that as referees, we are above criticism?’ FA refs chief David Elleray is president of the RA but on Monday night HE denied any involvement. However, Halsey’s strong views on a decline in refereeing standards is certainly born out by the widespread furore around their performances this season. BBC rugby co-commentator Brian Moore reacted to his perceived ‘snub’ at being one of the few TV pundits not included in ITV’s giant World Cup team by tweeting ‘I’ve been told I’m too controversial for TV World Cup coverage. Too c***, I could take but controversial, b*******.’ However, it wasn’t ITV who told Moore he is controversial. The network, happy to employ the more volatile Roy Keane as a football pundit, have had no contact with Moore. BBC rugby co-commentator Brian Moore vented his frustration at being snubbed by ITV on Twitter . Van Praag bid blunder . FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag says, if elected, he intends to cut costs — something he’s never heard mentioned during six years of dealings with Zurich, where figures are just plucked out of the air, he claimed. Van Praag will also declare what his FIFA salary would be and wants to know what Sepp Blatter has been paid. The Dutch football leader, who has a budget of €400,000 from his national association for his campaign, is also concerned at the way Fox TV were given the rights to the World Cup in 2026 without a tender to end their resistance to a World Cup in Qatar. Yet all Van Praag’s good intentions are undone by his open offer to Blatter, who he says could carry on as a working honorary president concentrating on the Goal Project funding. Meanwhile, Portuguese contender Luis Figo is rich enough to fund his own campaign but this most charismatic of footballers couldn’t be more dull when he talks FIFA politics. Michael van Praag, pictured with Louis van Gaal in 2014, has said he will cut costs if he replaces Sepp Blatter . Blatter is said to be so confident of winning a fifth term that he feels no need to mount any form of campaign and is addressing the UEFA Congress on Tuesday in his FIFA president’s slot rather than as a candidate. However, the 79-year-old is understood to have engaged well-known Swiss PR figure Klaus Stohlker to advise him on his election strategy. Stohlker, former TV journalist and political author, founded his own PR and consulting business in 1982 and is a long-time friend of Blatter’s. FIFA president Blatter is confident of beating off competition from the likes of Van Praag to win a fifth term . For all the shenanigans, scandals and infighting at the FA over the years, at least there’s never been such an unseemly episode as Germany’s FIFA executive member Theo Zwanziger reporting his successor as German federation president Wolfgang Niersbach to FIFA’s ethics committee over alleged pay and pension irregularities. It is a blatant attempt by Zwanziger to stop Niersbach taking his executive seat. FIFA have cleared Niersbach and UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said Zwanziger’s claims had been fully rejected, adding: ‘It’s all a bit embarrassing for him and sad for German football.’ Niersbach said: ‘I have not heard of a similar story anywhere in football.’ Theo Zwanziger (left) reported Wolfgang Niersbach (right) to FIFA's ethics committee over pay irregularities . +A clever mom in Boston, Massachusetts is giving people a behind-the-scenes look at her stay-at-home job with a heartwarming time-lapse video documenting her day. Kristin DeLano has two sons and a daughter who are all under five years old; each child has different needs, different schedules and different likes and dislikes. In her video, Mrs DeLano shows all these variables as well as her maternal ability to balance them every day. 'We never see what happens behind other family's closed doors, so I thought it would be fun to give everyone a peek into ours,' Mrs DeLano told Huffington Post. Scroll down for video . A well-fed family: The video shows Kristin, her two sons and her baby daughter through their entire day's routine, from breakfast all the way until bedtime . 'My entire day (almost) time lapsed in six minutes,' she explains in the YouTube video description. 'There it is. Minus about an hour or so. Started right after breakfast. Took a few phone calls, and didn't have it going right away when daddy came home, but that's it!' Despite Mrs DeLano remaining at home throughout the entire day, her video clearly demonstrates just how varied and challenging her role as a mother is; throughout the course of just one single day, she takes on the role of entertainer, nurse, teacher and parent all at once. In the video Mrs DeLano is seen preparing meals, changing diapers, arranging crafts and even treating a nosebleed. Part of being a mom: Kristin helps the boys through their playtime, teaching along the way, and when one comes down with a nosebleed, she comes to the resue with a roll of toilet paper . The end of another long day: Kristin climbs into bed with all of her brood to read them a book before they turn off the lights for bed . As exhausting as it seems, the video doesn't even show a lot of her daily labors and household duties, which she takes the opportunity to complete while the kids are busy. 'I didn't think anyone would want to see me doing dishes, or laundry, so I left [the camera] on the kids in the living room,' she explains. 'That's why I'll disappear for short periods of time. Or I'm hiding in a closet eating chocolate... you be the judge.' As impressive as her mothering is, Mrs DeLano is quick to credit her loving husband, who makes the odd cameo from the side of the screen in the video. They're a handful: The Boston mom shows how she has mastered the art of motherly multitasking with the six-minute video . Don't forget dad: Mrs DeLano doesn't see herself as a 'supermom', saying her husband Lyle is a huge help . Aside from his own day job, he also looks after most of the cooking, plays Legos with the boys and reads his fair share of bedtime stories. 'He always worries he's not doing enough,' Mrs Delano told the Huffington Post. 'But I can see it in their eyes how much he's loved by them.' Since sharing the video DeLano has been inundated with supportive messages from other parents, saying that she has inspired them to 'to step away from their daily distractions, and get down on the floor and play with their kids'. +Since September 1996, Arsene Wenger has ruled the roost at Arsenal, not just building a squad and controlling a team, but shaping a club. In almost 19 years in charge of the Gunners, Wenger has won three Premier League titles, lifted five FA Cups, led his team to their only ever European final and masterminded the move to the Emirates. When he does eventually decide to step down, Wenger’s legacy will not just be about his successes, but also his longevity. Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal for almost 19 years, while every other team has changed manager . Wenger led the Gunners to their first Champions League final, and has won three Premier League titles . The Arsenal boss has been in north London since September 1996, surviving 156 Premier League bosses . In an era where Premier League chairmen are as forgiving to their managers as Jose Mourinho tends to be towards referees, Wenger is approaching two decades in the job – almost 15 years longer than the next longest-serving manager in the division. In fact, since the Frenchman arrived in north London, there have been 156 changes in management at the other clubs in the division. Here Sporstmail looks at the men Wenger has survived… . What counts as a change? With caretaker managers, interim appointments, and even the odd case of two men doing the job at the same time, it can be difficult to tell when exactly a club have officially changed managers. Counting caretaker managers would mean, technically, that David Pleat had been appointed Tottenham manager three times in five years. There were times when it seemed David Pleat just had to wait a few minutes to be caretaker at Spurs again . Ruud Gullit had already left two Premier League clubs before Wenger had been in the job three years . Gordon Strachan (left) replacing Ron Atkinson was the second change after Wenger arrived . So while ‘interim’ managers are included in our total, caretakers are not included unless they were given the job for a fixed term. Added to that, for those few occasions when two men have been in charge at the same time, they are counted as only one sacking unless, as with the case of Roy Evans when he worked alongside Gerard Houlier at Liverpool, one is sacked before the other. Landmarks . That all means that Gus Poyet’s sacking this month is the 156th managerial change since Wenger took over. Ray Harford’s resignation at Blackburn, less than a month after ‘the Professor’ got his feet under the desk at Arsenal, was the first, with five more coming in the 1996-97 season. Ray Harford (left) was the first manager to go after Wenger was appointed, while Gus Poyet is the most recent . Peter Reid’s dismissal from Leeds United in November 2003 marked the 50th reign Wenger had survived, while Steve Bruce’s decision to leave Wigan for Sunderland brought up the century in the summer of 2009. Tony Pulis’ shock resignation from Crystal Palace on the eve of this season was the 150th time a manager had left their job in the Wenger era. Peter Reid, sacked by Leeds in 2003, marked the 50th Premier League manager to go in the Wenger era . When Steve Bruce left Wigan for Sunderland it marked the 100th managerial change since Wenger arrived . Unsurprisingly the rate of change has dramatically increased in recent years. The first half of Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal produced just 63 sackings in a little over nine years. In the same time since then, there have been 93 changes, at a rate of around 10 a season. Last season’s total of 14 managerial changes was, in fact, the largest number in Premier League history. In contrast the 2002-03 season saw the fewest changes since Wenger’s arrival, with only five managers leaving their posts. Tony Pulis' resignation from Crystal Palace last summer was change No 150 since Wenger started . Method of change? The vast majority of the time, when a Premier League manager leaves his job, it’s because he’s been told to clear out his desk. A lucky few get to set their own date, as Wenger surely will in the coming years, but most are pushed before they can jump. Remarkably, in the last 18-and-a-bit years since Wenger joined Arsenal, only 18 managers left by choice to go straight into another job (and three of those went to international management rather than another club), while some resigned and a handful retired. Roy Hodgson is one of only two Premier League managers in the past two decades to leave for England . Steve McClaren also left a Premier League club to take the biggest job in English football . Three times a manager stepped down for health reasons, although two of those were Joe Kinnear, while one manager, Dave Jones, was placed on gardening leave in January 2000. Ron Atkinson (Coventry) and Steve Coppell (Crystal Palace) share the honour of being the two managers in since 1996 to have been removed from their job only to move upwards to director of football, something that may well happen to Wenger when he decides to end his term in management. Which clubs change the most? We all have a good idea who we consider to be the most trigger-happy owners, or the least stable clubs, and it should therefore come as no surprise which two clubs top the list of managerial changes. Chelsea and Newcastle United have each replaced 11 men since Arsene Wenger walked into Highbury. At Stamford Bridge there were only two sackings – Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli – between the arrivals of Wenger and Roman Abramovich, but the revolving door has turned nine times since the Russian arrived. Glenn Hoddle (left) and Alan Shearer have both managed one of the league's most prolific clubs . Jose Mourinho's return for his second spell at Chelsea was the club's 12th appointment since Wenger started . Since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea the club have had nine managers, Jose twice, in 12 years . Manchester United - 2 . Everton - 4 . Liverpool - 6 . Aston Villa - 7 . Tottenham - 10 . Chelsea - 11 . Change has at least brought success for Chelsea, but the same cannot be said at St James’ Park, where John Carver is the 12th man to try and pick up a trophy since Arsenal last appointed a manager. The Gunners’ north London rivals Tottenham are just behind Chelsea and Newcastle, having replaced 10 managers since their neighbours went for Wenger. Gerry Francis, Jacques Santini, Christian Gross, George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood have all left since Wenger arrived. Jacques Santini (left) and Martin Jol are two of the 10 Tottenham managers who have been replaced . Tim Sherwood (right) became the 10th Spurs manager to do battle with Wenger last season . Perhaps most impressive in their high number of changes though, are Southampton and Sunderland, who have managed nine Premier League managerial replacements each, despite spending a fair amount of time outside the top flight since 1996. Saints have had seven Wenger years below the Premier League – including two in Legue One – while Sunderland have had five. Of the top flight’s ever-presents, Manchester United have unsurprisingly had the fewest changes, with just Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and David Moyes’ sacking, while Liverpool have said goodbye to six bosses during Wenger’s tenure. Sir Alex Ferguson (right) and Wenger locked horns repeatedly until the former's retirement in 2013 . Who has managed the most clubs? It is not just clubs that can get restless. While Wenger has been happy to stick in one job since Deep Blue Something’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s was top of the charts, other managers prefer to move around. England manager Roy Hodgson has left four Premier League clubs – Blackburn, Fulham, Liverpool and West Brom – in the last 18 years. Harry Redknapp has left five Premier League jobs in the time Wenger has been in his only one . Redknapp won the FA Cup in one of his two spells at Portsmouth, which ended in October 2008 . Stoke City boss Mark Hughes is on his fifth Premier League job since Wenger arrived in north London . Stoke City’s Mark Hughes has matched that, his terms at Blackburn, Fulham, Manchester City and QPR all coming to an end while Wenger stayed put. But neither of them can match Harry Redknapp, who has left five jobs, at four clubs, since the Arsenal boss took charge of his side. Redknapp most recently resigned as QPR manager, but has also been in charge at Tottenham, West Ham and had two spells at Portsmouth in the top flight. +Former two-weight world champion Ricky Burns has been left with only £228 to his name after his legal battles with Frank Warren. The 31-year-old, who fights in Texas on May 9 against Omar Figueroa, has declared himself bankrupt this week with debts of £419,888 after a courtroom showdown with his former promoter. Warren had claimed unsuccessfully for £1.8million in lost profits at the High Court in London last year after Burns joined Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable on March 11, 2013. But the judge also ruled Burns was not entitled to end the promotional agreement with Warren’s company and owed him commission. Ricky Burns, pictured in action against Raymundo Beltran in 2013, has been declared bankrupt . The former world boxing champion said his remaining assets are worth only £228 . Boxing promoter Frank Warren (left) and Burns, pictured here in 2010, were embroiled in a courtroom battle . Burns paid his own £200,000 legal fees and a further £170,000 to cover Warren's damages . Burns teamed up with promoter Eddie Hearn in 2013 amid frustrations over two postponed fights . In December, Burns paid his own £200,000 legal fees and a further £170,000 to cover Warren’s damages and costs. The judge ruled Frank Warren Promotions owed Burns £102,000 in purses but said he was unlikely to receive anything from the liquidated company. Frank Warren said: ‘I brought a claim against Ricky Burns because he wrongly terminated his management and promotional agreements. I offered to meet him to try to sort things out after he had terminated, but he did not take me up on this offer.’ Burns and Warren are pictured at a press conference in 2012 before they went their separate ways . The Scottish fighter, in action against Jose Gonzalez in 2013, joined Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing . Burns is hoping to revive his career in America with a fight against former world champion Omar Figueroa . +Marouane Fellaini believes Manchester United have what it takes to finish in the top four this season and insists they can become champions again next year. United entered the international break on a high after their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. The victory stretched their lead over their arch-rivals to five points, with fourth-placed United only eight points adrift of Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea with as many games to go. Marouane Fellaini believes Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title next season . The midfielder celebrates Juan Mata's goal against Liverpool that put United five points clear in fourth . Fellaini feels that United are ready to see the rest of the season through and secure European qualification . While Fellaini expects Jose Mourinho's men to lift the title in May, he has backed Louis van Gaal's side to become real contenders next season. 'I think Chelsea will win it (this year),' said Fellaini, speaking exclusively to Sportsmail. 'We need to be there next season to show everyone that we can be champions again. To do that we must work hard and to improve too.' For now, returning to the Champions League is the priority for Fellaini and United after their season-long absence from the elite European stage. Van Gaal's side face a difficult run-in to close the campaign with games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all to come. Fellaini has been in top form during United's last two games, helping them beat Liverpool and Tottenham . Having been signed as David Moyes' only summer purchase in his fateful season, Fellaini had a tough start . But this season the big-haired Belgian has been a key part of the United side since returning from injury . But the win at Anfield inspired renewed optimism and Fellaini is confident that United will get over the line and finish in the top four. 'It's massive because this season we didn’t play the Champions League,’ he said. 'So, for a team like Manchester United, we need to make sure we qualify for next season.' The Belgium international, 27, is finally becoming a force on the field for United after enduring a difficult start following his £27.5million arrival from Everton 18 months ago. And he credits the influence of boss Van Gaal behind his revival. Fellaini is determined to help Manchester United earn a place in next season's Champions League . Louis van Gaal and Fellaini shake hands at Anfield - and the latter believes his manager has done a good job . Fellaini has played more games for United this season but has failed to help them win any silverware . 'Van Gaal is good,' said Fellaini. 'He has his philosophy, his own tactics. He has a vision for the team and he knows what he wants from the players, so it is good to work with him. 'I’ve played more games this season, so that is good personally. 'However, this season we haven’t won a trophy but I now hope we finish in the top four to play Champions League. The United players approach their supporters in the Anfield Road end after Sunday's vital victory . Van Gaal has had his critics but his United side are now odds on to qualify for the Champions League . 'That is the most important thing that we focus on now.' Fellaini is part of boot makers New Balance's first football advert launch and follows in the footsteps of United legend Bryan Robson, who famously wore the brand during his playing days. 'Bryan Robson was a great player for United, so it is good to see a player like that play with New Balance,' he said. 'I will need to perform at my best to carry on the high standard of players to wear the boots.' Bryan Robson wore New Balance boots during his time at United and Fellaini will now follow his lead . Fellaini praised Wayne Rooney (right) as a great captain despite only being in his first year as United skipper . As Fellaini paid tribute to 'Captain Marvel', he also found time to salute United's current skipper, Wayne Rooney. 'Rooney is a great guy, he is a very great guy and a great captain as well,' said Fellaini. 'He knows how to talk to the players and to take responsibility.' Marouane Fellaini was speaking to Sportsmail to promote the launch of the first New Balance Football advert #NBFootball. To find out more, go to: newbalance.com/football or follow @NBFootball . +Lionel Messi is the highest-paid footballer on the planet, banking nearly £1million a week last year in wages and sponsorship deals. The Argentina and Barcelona favourite earned an eye-watering £47.8m in 2014, with his club salary of £26m topped up by lucrative endorsements with the likes of adidas, FIFA 15 and Turkish Airlines. It puts him well ahead of his Real Madrid and Portugal nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo, who brought in £39.7m, according to the latest France Football magazine rich list. Lionel Messi tops the France Football rich list for 2014 with an annual income of £47.8m . Messi is thrown an Argentina shirt to sign from a member of the crowd during Tuesday's training session at Georgetown University in Washington ahead of their friendly match with the United States . Messi tops up his salary with Barcelona by promoting various companies, including adidas . Cristiano Ronaldo comes in second in the annual France Football list with earnings of £39.7m . Ronaldo promotes TAG Heuer while driving a McLaren P1 supercar in Madrid . Ronaldo leaves the plane ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League final with Atletico last May . Messi's Barcelona colleague Neymar comes in third on £26.8m, his total underlining the gulf between the world's two leading players and the rest. Manchester United striker Robin van Persie is the highest-ranked Premier League player, earning £18.8m in 2014. This consists of an £11.8m basic salary, topped up by £5m bonuses and £2m from various sponsorship deals. Real Madrid's world-record signing Gareth Bale comes in sixth with an annual income of £17.5m, followed by United and England captain Wayne Rooney on £16.5m. Barcelona's Brazilian ace Neymar (right) comes third in the rankings with £26.8m earned in 2014 . Brazilian star Neymar pictured at his sister's birthday party in Sao Paulo . Manchester United striker Robin van Persie is the highest-earning Premier League player on the list . Gareth Bale may be the world's most expensive player but he ranks only sixth on the rich list . Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney earned £16.5m, according to the rich list ranking . Rooney pictured with his agent Paul Stretford in Manchester last week . The top 10 is rounded out by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Aguero and Robert Lewandowski, followed by another glut of Premier League stars. Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Manchester City's Yaya Toure both made £14.7m, while United duo Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao are jointly on £13.6m. In the manager rich list, Jose Mourinho of Chelsea is the highest paid with his £10m salary and £3.2m in commercial revenue. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger (£8.3m) and Manchester United's Louis van Gaal (£7.3m) also feature in the top five. The Paris Saint-Germain and Sweden star Zlatan Ibrahimovic comes in eighth on the list . Chelsea's Jose Mourinho tops the manager's rich list with an annual income of £13.2m . 1. Lionel Messi £47.8m . 2. Cristiano Ronaldo £39.7m . 3. Neymar £26.8m . 4. Thiago Silva £20.2m . 5. Robin van Persie £18.8m . 6. Gareth Bale £17.5m . 7. Wayne Rooney £16.5m . 8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic £15.8m . 9. Sergio Aguero £15.6m . 10. Robert Lewandowski £14.8m . Source: France Football Rich List . 1. Jose Mourinho £13.2m . 2. Carlo Ancelotti £11.4m . 3. Pep Guardiola £11.2m . 4. Arsene Wenger £8.3m . 5. Louis van Gaal £7.3m . 6. Fabio Capello £6.6m . 7. Andre Villas-Boas £6.2m . 8. Sven-Goran Eriksson £5.9m . 9. Jurgen Klopp £5.3m . 10. David Moyes and Laurent Blanc £5.1m . Source: France Football Rich List . +The father of Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper has revealed that Spain have been in contact over his son's international status following the 19-year-old's Scotland snub. Harper was a shock omission from Ricky Sbragia's Scotland Under 19 squad ahead of key clashes against Austria, Italy and Croatia with the former Sunderland manager citing 'purely tactical' reasons. Now, Harper's father John has warned Scotland that they could be in danger of losing his son to the Spanish national side. Real Madrid youngster Jack Harper has been left out of the latest Scotland Under 19 squad . Scotland Under 19s manager Ricky Sbragia claimed the reasons were 'purely tactical' Among Harper's coaches at Real Madrid are former France international Zinedine Zidane (centre) He told the Daily Record: 'The day after Scotland announced the Under 19 squad, and Jack wasn’t included, Spain were on the phone asking about his position and international status. 'Their national academy is just a few miles from Real Madrid’s own training ground, so they know about Jack because they watch his team often enough.' Despite being left out of Sbragia's latest UEFA Under 19 Championship squad, Harper's father insists that the Madrid starlet remains committed to Scotland. John added: 'Jack wants to play for Scotland. I’m Scottish, so is his mum and the rest of the family. He is committed to Scotland, but if nothing is happening by the time he is 21 then he will have a decision to make because he has a life and a career to fulfil. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.' Harper's father was contacted by Spain shortly after his son's international snub . Sbragia also still believes Harper, who was born in Spain, has a big future ahead of him in a Scotland shirt. He said: 'He's an exceptionally gifted lad, but sometimes we can't carry him. He can be a luxury sometimes. In some cases, if it's going well, he can be a good luxury.' 'Listen, Jack's time will come. The last time I spoke to him, he wanted to really settle in at Real Madrid and find a place there. That's been a big thing for him. 'I've gone with the boys I've seen most in the last six months. We keep tabs on Jack and see video clips of him. We have people over there who keep their eye on him. 'There are others I've left out like Dominic Thomas at Motherwell who will have gripes that they're not in the squad. 'But I've picked a group of 18 which will hopefully do well for us. It's my opinion and I'm not saying it's right. But the squad I've picked is an extremely strong one. 'I can only pick 18 when I really could have picked 26 or 27. I've gone for a physical side and runners. Hopefully I'm right. 'It's purely tactical and there certainly hasn't been a lack of enthusiasm from Jack about playing for Scotland.' Harper is currently midway through a five-year deal with Real Madrid and is tipped to have a big future . +Arsene Wenger has branded Leonardo Jardim a liar after the Monaco coach accused the Frenchman of a lack of respect following Arsenal's exit from the Champions League. Jardim, whose side beat the Gunners on away goals in the last 16 of the competition, said Wenger left for the changing rooms early rather than shaking his hands after the Ligue 1 side's impressive 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg. The Portuguese boss thus decided not to thank the 65-year-old following Arsenal's 2-0 victory in the return fixture. Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim reacts on the pitch at the end of their Champions League win on away goals . Arsene Wenger said he wanted to shake Leonardo Jardim's hand at the final whistle but he was celebrating . The Monaco coach claims he did so as Wenger didn't congratulate him after the first-leg victory . Speaking after their progression to the quarter-finals, Jardim said: 'In the first leg, when I wanted to thank Arsene and shake his hand, it's true that Arsene didn't shake my hand, so even though Monaco did everything to make life comfortable for Arsenal tonight, I decided not to thank him. 'I think it was disrespectful. Right now, we're celebrating and we think Arsenal did not show enough respect during the first leg.' Wenger though insists such claims are lies, and says Jardim was too busy celebrating with his team to notice that the Arsenal boss had waited to congratulate him in north London. Jardim celebrates next to Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey after qualifying for the quarter-finals . Santi Cazorla is consoled on the Stade Louis II pitch while the Monaco players embrace each other . 'Pictures show that I waited to congratulate the Monaco coach after the game. He celebrated his victory with his staff, which I quite understand,' he told L'Equipe. 'I congratulated him after the press conference. I am therefore surprised and disappointed to hear such lies. 'That said, I wish Monaco all the best and good luck for the future.' Monaco will play Juventus in the next round, while Arsenal must now concentrate on the Premier League and the FA Cup. Wenger did shake hands with Jardim before the game but the Frenchman has since called Jardim a liar . +Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is a transfer target for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The former Chelsea man has been in sensational form this season, bagging nine goals and 17 assists in 26 appearances while helping steer Wolfsburg to second in the German league. De Bruyne is contracted to Wolfsburg until 2019 but, according to newspaper Sport Bild, Bayern are keeping tabs on the Belgian as Pep Guardiola's side look to line up a long-term successor to Arjen Robben, who is out of contract in 2017. Kevin de Bruyne is attracting attention from Bayern Munich as his brilliant form continues for Wolfsburg . German newspaper Sport Bild are reporting that Bayern will target a move for De Bruyne . The Belgian international (right) has scored nine goals in 26 appearances for Wolfsburg so far this season . Bild also report that Bayern may wait until the summer of 2016 to make a move for De Bruyne, who they believe is currently worth around £35million on current form. Meanwhile, De Bruyne's Wolfsburg team-mate Marcel Schafer has urged the 23-year-old to stay for at least another season. He told reporters: 'I think that our chances [of keeping De Bruyne] are really good. He has already experienced not getting so much time on the field at Chelsea, a top club in Europe. Jose Mourinho deemed De Bruyne surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge last year . 'And that is why I think the best thing for him would be to stay for minimum one more year at Wolfsburg. Next year he could play Champions League here and win titles with us. 'If you want to win titles you need extraordinary players. And you really have to say that Kevin de Bruyne is at the moment the best player in the Bundesliga not only because of his stats. You can see that in every single game. And we're really, really happy to have him and to keep him until next season or maybe a little bit longer.' +Red Bull’s design guru Adrian Newey has been accused of lying by the boss of the team’s engine suppliers, Renault. The relationship between the two sides of the partnership that took Sebastian Vettel to his four world titles has disintegrated in recent weeks with Newey and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner both expressing their frustration at Renault’s slow development rate. Newey, 56, told the Mail on Sunday that there was ‘no light at the end of the tunnel’ for the team and accused Renault of failing to engage with them to find a solution. Adrian Newey, pictured with Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, has been accused of lying by Renault . Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul mischievously posted a picture of boxing gloves on Wednesday . Those comments have angered Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul, who told French motorsport magazine Auto Hebdo: ‘It’s difficult to have a partner who lies. Adrian is a charming man and an engineer without parallel, but he’s spent his life criticising engine partners. He’s too old to change his ways.’ Abiteboul later tweeted a picture of a pair of boxing gloves and boots. 'Packing up to Malaysia. Race (round?) 2', he mischievously posted. Horner claimed after the opening race in Melbourne, when his cars were considerably off the pace all weekend, that the Renault engine was 100bhp short of Mercedes. He also ruled out a victory this season. Cyril Abiteboul, seen here with team principal Christian Horner at the Jerez test earlier this year . Daniel Ricciardo finished a lowly sixth at the season opener, one lap behind race winner Lewis Hamilton . But in a statement from Renault ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, Abiteboul shared the blame around, saying: ‘We need to work together to understand our issues, both within the power unit and the chassis. Our figures have shown that the lap time deficit between Red Bull and Mercedes in Melbourne was equally split between driveability issues, engine performance and chassis performance. ‘It’s therefore the overall package that needs some help and we have been working with the team to move forward. ‘We’ve been particularly aggressive in development and we should see the results a lot more clearly in Malaysia. Work is still ongoing but even now we are in a completely different place from where we finished Melbourne.’ Mischievously, the FIA have called Horner and Abiteboul to appear together at the official press conference in the Kuala Lumpur paddock on Friday. +A grandfather 'used like a football' by hooligans was today in a coma and fighting for his life after a matchday pub brawl that police broke up using CS gas. Cambridge United supporter Simon Dobbin, 42, was found on the ground with serious head injuries following the fight involving about 15 people after his side’s match at Southend United in Essex. Football fans have already raised more than £5,000 towards transport and accommodation costs for Mr Dobbin’s family, who are travelling from Mildenhall, Suffolk, to visit him in Southend Hospital. Scroll down for video . Brain damage: Father-of-three Simon Dobbin (left), who is married to Nicole (right), 43, also suffered damaged hips, broken ribs and a broken nose in the attack - and he is now on a life-support machine . Before the trouble: Mr Dobbin (centre) with fellow Cambridge United fans at Roots Hall for the match against Southend United on Saturday. It was attended by 7,224 fans, including 791 supporters from Cambridge . His father-in-law Jim Faley told the Bury Free Press: ‘If Simon doesn’t come around soon, he may never wake up. We are all hoping - but in the back of our minds we are not 100 per cent sure.’ ‘Even if he comes out in a wheelchair, at least he will still be with us. There were 12 to 15 guys who came out of the pub, they were singing and dancing, and then they just jumped them. ‘The doctors aren’t holding out much hope. They [the attackers] just used him like a football. According to some people, if it wasn’t for his friend laying on top of him they would have killed him.’ Father-of-three Mr Dobbin, who is married to Nicole, 43, suffered brain damage, damaged hips, broken ribs and a broken nose in the attack - and he is now on a life-support machine. Terry Waye, manager of the Half Moon pub in Mildenhall, where Mr Dobbin is a regular, told the Cambridge News: ‘The last we have heard is that he may come off the ventilator on Wednesday. 'But he will still be in a coma and he may not pull through. If he does he may never walk again and has suffered brain damage. He is the most gentle man I know and very kind.' Scene: Mr Dobbin was found on the ground with serious head injuries following the fight involving about 15 people outside The Railway Tavern pub - next to Prittlewell train station, and a short walk from Roots Hall . Brawl: Police were called to the scene at about 7.20pm on Saturday, before arresting a 33-year-old man from Southend and a 23-year-old man from Westcliff on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm . Mr Dobbin's son Liam said on Facebook: ‘I can't explain how much we appreciate all the support. ‘My dad is a well-loved bloke who cares so much for everyone and it's nice to see when times get tough like this everyone pulls together and supports him. Thank you.’ The skirmish followed a League Two match between Southend and Cambridge at Roots Hall stadium, a short walk from The Railway Tavern pub - next to Prittlewell train station. Police were called to the scene at about 7.20pm on Saturday, before arresting a 33-year-old man from Southend and a 23-year-old man from Westcliff on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. The first was due to answer bail yesterday, while the latter was bailed to May 27. Witnesses reported seeing about 20 police cars and a helicopter on Saturday night - while one fan claimed to have escorted his father and wife out of the pub's back door when the fighting began. Dan Wilson, a Southend fan who lives near the pub and witnessed the scene from his home, told MailOnline: ‘We heard shouting coming from the pub, and saw about four guys coming out. ‘There were guys inside the pub trying to get out, and then the guys outside the pub started chucking a billboard outside through the door. All you could hear was glass being thrown. ‘Four guys started walking towards Prittlewell station down the hill and about 20 people ran across the road. Someone said “you've just hit my old man”. Then they've all gone into the pub. ‘I saw people running across the road - and two guys punched the window of the pub with their hand, before coppers dragged them away. It happened so quickly.’ Another supporter named Rayleigh Dan, writing on the Southend fans’ forum ShrimperZone, said on Saturday that he heard a window being broken before people in the pub rushed outside. He added: ‘The next thing I knew the police had cordoned off the pub and we weren't allowed to leave for about an hour. Following this they examined everyone thoroughly. ‘We had to give full details of name and address, what we had and hadn't saw - they we're scanning and filming us with some sort of camera. Confrontation: In a completely separate incident, fans also told of trouble outside the Spread Eagle pub – next to the football ground – before the match, and a video (above) showed supporters being moved along on the pavement outside . Tense scenes: Six Southend fans were issued with banning orders last season, compared to one from Cambridge, according to Home Office data. Pictured above is another view of scenes before the match . ‘I'm not one for trouble so didn't recognise the device. It was horrible to experience and I hope anyone involved is caught and dealt with swiftly.’ A 47-year-old man from Cambridge was also arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, after the pub’s door was smashed. He has since received a police caution. Earlier, fans told of trouble outside the Spread Eagle pub – next to the football ground – before the match, and a video showed supporters being moved along on the pavement outside. The game - which was billed in advance by Southend as a 'Community Day' - finished 0-0 and was attended by 7,224 fans, including 791 supporters from Cambridge. Cambridge chairman Dave Doggett said: ‘The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Cambridge United are with Simon and his family and friends.’ And a Cambridge club statement said: ‘Simon Dobbin was walking to Prittlewell train station with his friend and a small group of fellow United fans after watching the rugby in a pub following the U's 0-0 draw at Southend on Saturday. Match: Southend United's Barry Corr beats Cambridge United's Richard Tait to the ball during the 0-0 draw . Location: The Railway Tavern (file image) is next to Prittlewell station, on the London Liverpool Street line . ‘The U's fans made the 500m walk to Prittlewell station but were attacked as they made their way down towards the platform. Simon remains in Southend University Hospital in a critical condition.’ A statement on the website raising funds for Mr Dobbin - which had already doubled its £2,500 goal by 9am today – said: ‘A loving gentle giant who is a father, husband, son, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, son-in-law, grandad and a top friend was brutally beaten and left in a coma fighting for his life. ‘He is suffering brain damage. We are asking for your support and donations - however much you can afford - to help towards costs of transport and accommodation and any other general financial needs of Simon, his wife and children. I want to thank you for your donations and support. Please send a prayer to Simon for a full recovery.’ In addition, a charity football match has been organised in support of Mr Dobbin and his family at non-league side Mildenhall Town FC on Sunday at 1pm. An Essex Police spokesman said: 'Our officers were called to the road following reports from members of the public that around 15 football supporters were fighting in the street near the Railway pub.' Six Southend fans were issued with banning orders last season, compared to one from Cambridge, according to the Home Office. Both figures are relatively low compared to other League Two clubs. +Cristiano Ronaldo shed tears of joy when he finally usurped Lionel Messi as the Ballon d’Or winner for 2013. He was also officially crowned the world’s best player, above Messi, for 2014. But here’s the bad news, Cristiano. Despite the gongs and the widely-held opinion that Ronaldo was superior to his great rival over the past two years, Messi still contributed more valuable goals to his club and country in 2013 and 2014. That is the view of the number-crunchers at The Economist, who have calculated the worth of each player's goals, based on how crucial the goal was to the match result (and the subsequent gains from that result), as well as the importance of the game. Lionel Messi (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right) in action during last Sunday's El Clasico duel . Messi's Barcelona beat Ronaldo's Real Madrid 2-1 at the Nou Camp, with the Portuguese scoring . The explanations of the precise formulas used and the value of certain matches in relation to others are both long and complicated, so to read them in full click here. Sportsmail’s calculator also seems to be broken, so again to see the full numbers, let The Economists’s boffins guide you through. Be warned, though: the introduction contains a reference to 'The Pythagorean Formula Extended for Soccer', so it’s not for the faint-hearted. But the key facts are these. Messi’s (still fantastic) total of 86 goals over the period does not compare with Ronaldo's superhuman 105. Ronaldo shed tears of joy when he won the Ballon d'Or over Messi in 2013 . The Real Madrid hero stripped off to celebrate his goal in the Champions League final last season . But Ronaldo's penalty against Atletico Madrid was virtually worthless, according to The Economist . Each of Ronaldo’s 105 goals, however, were worth an average of 0.40 points to his team in relation to the most likely result of the match before the goal was scored. By contrast, Messi’s 86 goals were worth an average of 0.47 points each. And if that sounds like gobbledegook, essentially this can be explained in simple terms: a goal in a match where the score is tied 1-1 in the final minutes yields more points (or aggregate value in cup ties) to his team than a goal scored in a match where the player's team is already winning 3-1. The Economist uses Ronaldo’s three goals in the semi-final and final of last year’s Champions League as an example to show their relative lack of value. In the second leg of the semi-final against Bayern Munich, Ronaldo scored when Real led 3-0 and 4-0 on aggregate. And in the final against Atletico Madrid, his penalty in extra-time when Madrid were 3-1 ahead had a virtually negligible value. Messi has rediscovered his best form this season after losing out to Ronaldo since 2013 . Messi is on international duty with Argentina and is pictured here training in Washington . Messi was all smiles here at the 2013 awards nominations but Ronaldo walked off with the prize . The importance of Messi's goals means he should have claimed the big prize six times, says The Economist . Messi, however, scored a winning goal in the final 20 minutes of a match on five different occasions in 2013 and 2014, which hands him the advantage over Ronaldo. The Economist suggests that the only reason that the Argentina star has not claimed six Ballon d’Ors in a row is ‘Messi fatigue’. If you've got a spare week or so, a working abacus and Carol Vorderman available for a chat, you could try to prove them wrong… . +Brazilian players Thiago Silva, Neymar, Willian and Marcelo took a minute out of their heavy training session to strike a pose in the gym as they prepare for their game against France. Chelsea midfielder Willian showed Paris Saint-Germain defender Silva there were no hard feelings with the west London club's dramatic Champions League exit still fresh in the mind. All four players are expected to be in the starting line-ups when they face Les Bleus at the Stade De France on Thursday evening. Brazilian players Thiago Silva, Neymar, Willian and Marcelo strike a pose after heavy training session . Neymar steps out for Tuesday's training session at the Stade Charlety in Paris ahead of the France clash . PSG defender Silva leans on Neymar as the pair go through their stretching exercises . Barcelona forward Neymar takes his turn to chase the ball during a game of rondo at the session on Tuesday . Dunga's squad continued their preparations on Tuesday for the friendly against Didier Deschamps' side before they face South American opponents Chile at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The players braved the wet weather as they were put through their paces at a training session in the French capital as they look to continue their impressive form since the humiliating exit from the World Cup last summer. The Selecao have won all six games since being beaten 3-0 by Holland in the third place play-off, conceding just once during that run. Neymar appears to take a tumble as he chases down possession during Brazil training . Brazil manager Dunga wraps up as the rain comes down during the training session on Tuesday . The Brazil squad warm up at the Stade Charlety in Paris as they prepare for Thursday's game with France . Barcelona ace Neymar joined his teammates for the international break straight after he had helped the Catalan side beat Real Madrid to go four points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga. Neymar was criticised for being too selfish during the game against Real Madrid at the Nou Camp. But, it is difficult to imagine the 23-year-old golden boy getting any stick from the adoring Brazilian fans should they make the journey to Paris. The Brazilian had a number of opportunities to release the ball in a good position but chose to go for goal . +Republic of Ireland winger James McClean has played down fears that he could miss Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland through injury. McClean was sent for a scan on Tuesday after limping out of training at Gannon Park in Malahide, leaving manager Martin O'Neill with his fingers crossed. However, the Wigan midfielder has insisted he will be ready for the Group D clash even if he may not train again until later in the week. James McClean limped out of training on Tuesday ahead of Republic of Ireland's Euro 2016 clash with Poland . But the winger has brushed off injury fears and has insisted he's ready for Sunday's crucial clash in Dublin . McClean told the Irish Independent: 'The ankle should be fine. I said I'd give it a go in training, but unfortunately it was just too sore to carry out the session. 'I went and had a scan and thankfully it's just some bone bruising. It should be cleared up in time for the weekend's game, which is obviously positive news. 'I will just need to rest it now with plenty of ice and re-evaluate it in the morning to see if I can train. If not, then hopefully I'll be able to get a training session or two in before the game.' However, O'Neill still has concerns over full-back Stephen Ward and midfielder Darron Gibson, who are struggling with ankle and groin problems respectively. McClean has made 30 league appearances for Wigan this season and has notched six goals along the way . +Floyd Mayweather has been back in the ring for a sparring session ahead of his $300million mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. The 38-year-old American released a video of one of his workouts as he prepares to take on Pacquiao on May 2 in what will be the richest fight in history. And Mayweather certainly seems to be putting the hard yards in in the gym as he looks to maintain his unbeaten professional record. Floyd Mayweather released footage from a sparring session inside his training camp . He also showed off his quick hands on the speed ball. Mayweather has been providing his fans with regular updates since his fight with Pacquiao was officially announced on February 21. He recently said the showdown will be the 'biggest in boxing history'. Speaking to Fight Hype a few weeks ago, Mayweather said: ''Training camp has gone tremendously thus far, all I can do is just wait. The unbeaten 38-year-old American was hitting hard during the session . Mayweather will take on Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 . Mayweather believes his fight against the Filipino will be the biggest in the history of boxing . 'This is not just a big fight, this is the biggest fight in boxing history. It is always being at your best, pushing yourself to the limit and just being sharp and smart. 'This fight will be a part of history. When you look back at Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Wilfred Benitez, the Spinks brothers, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney, Cornelius Edwards and the list goes on and on. 'I just come in and take my hat off to the guys who paved the way for me to be where I am at today.' +Ever wished your odd-shaped boiled egg could roll around your mouth with spherical ease? This unusual kitchen gadget promises to do that - because it will transform your oval egg into a round golf ball. The Sports Huevos-Egg Shapers are perfect for sports fans wanting to serve dishes that feature the unmistakable shape of dimpled golf balls and were invented by design company Monkey Business. Scroll down for video . The Sports Huevos-Egg Shaper is able to transform an oval egg into a spherical ball . Tee-time! After just a minute in the gadget your eggs will now look like perfect golf balls . To create the ball-shaped eggs you boil one for a few minutes then allow it to cool enough to be able to peel the shell off. Once the shell is gone you place the warm egg in the shaper, squeeze it shut and submerge it in cold water for a few minutes to set. As it cools the egg takes on the shape of the golf ball. They also come in tennis and football varieties, and each pack of shapers costs £9.95 from Luckies of London. From left to right: To use them just boil an egg, peel off the shell and pop it in a Sports Huevos  Add the ball into a bowl or pan of cold water and leave for a few minutes for the mould to make an impression . Caroline Burman, from Luckies, said: 'Sports Huevos were dreamed up by Israeli design company Monkey Business. 'They come in three styles - golf, tennis and football. 'They're aimed at anyone who wants to make their breakfast more egg-citing. They make a great Easter gift for anyone sporty, even if it's an armchair tennis fan, she said. 'To use them just boil an egg, peel off the shell and pop it in a Sports Huevos while it's still warm. 'Add the ball into a bowl or pan of cold water and leave for a few minutes for the mould to make an impression. 'The reaction to them has been fantastic. 'People love personalising their cooking, and it's a great little gift for sports fanatics at Easter - it certainly makes a healthier alternative to chocolate.' The Karato - a carrot peeler resembling a pencil sharpener -  was launched by the same company last year . The kitchen gadget is three-inches long and two-inches wide and can also be used to sharpen parsnips and courgettes as well as other similarly-shaped vegetables . Monkey Business hit the headlines last year when they launched a carrot peeler in the shape of a pencil sharpener. The Karoto looks and works like an oversized pencil sharpener to peel vegetables such as courgettes and carrots or any similar-shaped vegetable such as the cucumber or parsnip. Its creators also claim the time-saving invention is safer than slicing the skin off vegetables compared to a standard peeler or knife. Karoto was designed by Avichai Tadmor for Monkey Business design studio in Israel. His team claim the Karoto can completely peel a carrot in less than 30 seconds and say that not only does it save time but the shavings can also be used to decorate salads. The kitchen gadget is three-inches long and two-inches wide and can also be used to sharpen carrots, for example, for presentation purposes. +He's a top footballer with Hamburg, but Maxi Beister has more than just good ball skills, it seems. The midfielder has turned inventor, designing a combination beaker and bowl to help stop excitable football fans spilling food or drink while they are watching him on the pitch. Sportsman Biester dreamed up the double act - called the Maxicup - three years ago while he was trying to juggle a cup of Coke and a bowl of snacks during a trip to the cinema. Scroll down for video . Maxi Biester with his combination beaker and bowl, the Maxicup which can carry a drink and food at once . The 24-year-old footballer demonstrates that he has more than just good ball skills with his new invention . He said: 'I thought there has to be a better way than this and one of my friends said, ''Why don't you invent one then?"'. The 24-year-old Hamburg star added: 'I thought about it for a few minutes and then I decided that's exactly what I'll do. I'll make it myself.' Beister's new Maxicup carries a drink in a supersize cup while the attached bowl not only carries the snacks but also seals the top of the cup, too. He explained: 'It means you can carry everything in one hand without spilling anything at all.' The Maxicup holds a drink in a supersize cup while the snack bowl on top also acts as a sealant . This weekend 4,000 prototype cups were distributed at Hamburg's Imtech Arena stadium in the northern German city on Sunday during their match against Mainz. Beister said ahead of the handout: 'We'll be giving away free cups and food so we'll see just how the fans like them. In my experience, football fans are very vocal and soon let you know if you've got it wrong.' The soccer star's new Future Cup company is planning to trial the Maxicup at cinemas as well. Beister added: 'I'm very hopeful. It makes a change from football and I've got a good feeling about it.' +Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has admitted that if he supported La Liga rivals Real Madrid, Spain team-mate Iker Casillas would be his 'idol'. The duo came face-to-face as rivals in Sunday's El Clasico as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 2-1 to open up a four-point gap between the two clubs at the top of La Liga, with Pique being voted man of the match by his own fans. Madrid goalkeeper Casillas, on the other hand, hasn't had much too smile about lately and the 33-year-old has been on the receiving end of criticism this year after a number of high profile blunders. Gerard Pique was at his very best at the heart of the Barcelona defence against Real Madrid . The 28-year-old was voted man of the match by Barcelona fans after helping his team to a 2-1 win over Madrid . But despite the club rivalry, Pique, who made his Spain debut in 2009 against England, has backed his international team-mate and has suggested some criticism is unfair. 'He has been one of the best goalkeepers in the world for many years,' he told Cadena SER. 'To understand the whistles at the Santiago Bernabeu I guess you'd have to be there. 'If I was a supporter of Madrid, he'd be my idol, the standard I'd hold myself to. He is an example for all Madrid players.' Iker Casillas has been on the receiving end of criticism this year after a number of high profile blunders . Pique and Casillas have been Spain team-mates since 2009 when the Barcelona defender made his debut . Casillas and Pique have enjoyed success as international team-mates together having lifted the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 together, . However, Pique, 28, has admitted that he doubts he'll ever switch allegiances as he would find it hard to leave Barcelona for their arch rivals. 'One can never say never, but I very much doubt it,' he added when asked if he'd ever consider a move to Real Madrid. 'Barca have always been my team of choice.' +Fraser Forster has been ruled out for the rest of the season and may miss the start of the next after scans revealed he has broken his kneecap. Forster came off injured during Southampton's win against Burnley on Saturday and was pulled out of the England squad, with estimates now suggesting he could be out for between nine months and a year. The Saints have made a statement to confirm that Forster has undergone surgery on the injury to his left patella tendon, and said they will wait to assess how long he will be missing for until the affects are known. Southampton keeper Fraser Forster suffered a knee injury after colliding with Burnley's Sam Vokes . Concerned Southampton stars look on as Forster receives treatment on the pitch following the collision . 'Southampton Football Club can confirm that Fraser Forster has successfully undergone surgery on the knee injury he suffered during Saturday’s win over Burnley,' read the statement. 'A longer-term prediction of when Forster will return to action will be made following further assessment once the effects of his operation have settled down. The club’s medical staff are confident he will make a full recovery.' It is bad timing for England boss Roy Hodgson after learning Ben Foster will be out for six months with a cruciate knee ligament injury. Rob Green was called up for the games against Lithuania and Italy. Forster's injury came following a collision with Burnley striker Sam Vokes at St Mary's, with the goalkeeper taken off on a stretcher during the Saints' 2-0 win over Burnley. Referee Roger East checks on Forster in the immediate aftermath of the challenge . England goalkeeper Joe Hart admitted that the injuries to Foster and Forster have hit the England camp hard but backs Rob Green to step up in their absence. Hart said: 'I was gutted for Ben and Fraser. It’s really, really sad news. It has rocked us all as a goalkeeping group and rocked all the lads in the squad because they are great guys and they are having a great season. 'But Greeny has come in and hopefully he can profit. He did brilliant in the Championship last year. I remember watching him in the play-off final, when he was man of the match for me. QPR are in a bad position but he has been fantastic this season. 'Greeny is rock solid. His mentality is great. And he is a very good goalkeeper who has been playing at the top level for a long time. There are no surprises.' Forster was carried off the pitch on a stretcher and will now miss the rest of the season . Kelvin Davis replaced Forster during Southampton's 2-0 win over Burnley . +Championship side Cardiff City have revealed their new badge to be worn on players' kits from the 2015/2016 season with an announcement on Twitter. Owner Vincent Tan had already approved to change the club's home shirts back from red to blue in January, following a prolonged dispute with supporters; and now, the 63-year-old has agreed to give Cardiff's Bluebird mascot a prominent position in the re-designed crest. The new design also features a small dragon at the bottom of the badge similar to the one found at Cardiff City Hall. Cardiff City have revealed their new club badge with the Bluebird mascot taking up a prominent position . A club statement read: 'Projecting our Welsh heritage, the stance was taken from the national flag, as has been seen on our crest or shirt for a number of years. 'Celebrating Asian linked culture, design and tradition influences, we also looked to create a dragon that could be primarily owned and appreciated locally. 'To achieve this the main influence was drawn from the dragon placed on top of Cardiff City Hall, as has been the case since 1904'. Cardiff's controversial switch to red shirts was introduced in June 2012 after Tan bought the club. He believed that the new colour would improve Cardiff's 'appeal in international markets.' The Welsh side were promoted to the Premier League in April 2013, but lasted just one season and fell to relegation in May the following year. Now, back in the Championship, Cardiff are 15th in the table with 44 points from 36 games. Cardiff City have seen their club badge change dramatically in recent seasons . Controversial Cardiff owner Vincent Tan (left) had previously re-branded the club's shirts from blue to red . Sian Branson, spokesperson for the Bluebirds Unite group, an organisation that campaigned against the red re-branding, was pleased that the decision had been reversed. 'At least I know I'm supporting CCFC when I look at this badge,' she told the BBC. 'The future's blue and we don't have to feel as detached from our club anymore' Cardiff City striker Conor McAleny (centre) runs with the ball during his side's 2-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic . Matthew Conolly (right) gives chase to Charlton's Tony Watt during the match at the Cardiff City stadium . +Martin Skrtel was hit with a three-match ban on Wednesday for stamping on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, but the Liverpool defender escaped any further action after he appeared to mock the FA by posting a picture of clowns on social media. The photograph appeared on Skrtel’s Instagram account on Wednesday morning, shortly before the FA announced that he had been found guilty of deliberately treading on De Gea towards the end of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to their rivals at Anfield on Sunday. The FA are aware of the post but have decided not to take the matter further. Martin Skrtel's foot lands on David de Gea's leg in the incident which saw the FA charge the defender . Skrtel could have been in more trouble for posting this picture of clowns after the FA upheld his ban . Premier League: Arsenal away, April 4 . FA Cup Sixth round: Blackburn away, April 8 . Premier League: Newcastle at home, April 13 . Skrtel, 30, had denied the FA charge which was brought on the basis of video evidence, after referee Martin Atkinson confirmed that he did not see the incident with De Gea. The Slovakia defender becomes the second Liverpool player to be banned for violent conduct in the game after Steven Gerrard was given an automatic three-game suspension for stamping on Ander Herrera just 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute. Both players will now miss the trip to third-placed Arsenal a week on Saturday and Newcastle’s visit to Anfield on April 13, as well as Liverpool’s FA Cup quarter-final replay at Blackburn five days earlier. Liverpool also have a number of injury concerns arising from the United game. Daniel Sturridge (hip) and Adam Lallana (groin) have withdrawn from England duty, while Raheem Sterling is expected to do the same after playing in tomorrow’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. Skrtel was charged with violent conduct but claimed the alleged stamp was not intentional . A three-man panel of former elite officials reviewed the footage after it was missed by Martin Atkinson (right) Brendan Rodgers has a major selection headache ahead of the trip to Arsenal in the Premier League . Sterling has been having injections in a toe injury and is unlikely to risk aggravating the problem by playing in Tuesday’s friendly with Italy. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has been having scans on an ankle injury at Belgium’s training camp after colliding with Wayne Rooney on Sunday and Dejan Lovren has pulled out of the Croatia squad with a recurring abdominal strain. Lovren would have been an ideal candidate to replace Skrtel, who made no secret of his feelings yesterday when the FA announced that he had been found guilty of deliberately treading on De Gea’s right shin. A three-man panel of elite officials reviewed the footage on Monday and agreed unanimously that it was a red card offence. The 30-year-old denied the charge and argued that any contact with De Gea was unintentional, but an independent disciplinary commission decided otherwise yesterday. Captain Steven Gerrard was sent off after stamping on Manchester United's Ander Herrera on Sunday . Gerrard will also miss three games after seeing red for this stamp during the 2-1 defeat . An FA statement was released at lunchtime shortly after Skrtel had posted a photograph of four clowns on social media in what was interpreted as a clear dig at the authorities. The FA have been known to punish thinly-veiled criticism before — not least when Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was fined £10,000 last season for bringing the game into disrepute after making sarcastic comments about match officials following a defeat by Sunderland. It is understood that they did not think there was enough evidence on this occasion to justify a similar charge against Skrtel. He is currently in Slovakia preparing for tomorrow night’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Luxembourg and next week’s friendly against the Czech Republic. Considering the problems afflicting Rodgers and his Anfield squad at the moment, it is probably just as well. +Mats Hummels is in the frame to leave for Manchester United, Ilkay Gundogan has yet to sign a contract extension and can leave in 2016 and even the much-vaunted re-signing of Marco Reus might have simply been a stalling tactic to wait for a move to Barcelona next summer. On top of all that, Borussia Dortmund, the club which charmed the world two years ago on their rampaging run to the Champions League final, have battled relegation all season and were comprehensively beaten by Juventus in the Champions League last week. You might be forgiven for thinking that here was a club on the slide. But what about the notion of Dortmund in Europe next season? It would seem a non-starter. Borussia Dortmund are starting to look up again following a nightmare start to the season . Part of Dortmund's remarkable 10,000-strong support in Hannover for their Bundesliga match last weekend . Defender Mats Hummels has been strongly linked with a summer move to Manchester United . For most of the world, their last sight of Dortmund's plight in the Bundesliga were those infamous photos of captain Hummels and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller climbing the surround fencing to reason with angry fans from the 'Yellow Wall' after the home defeat by Augsburg last month left the team bottom. Yet the 3-2 win at Hannover at the weekend was a sixth victory in a run of eight games undefeated and sparked some crazy talk. 'Now we need to focus our eyes in the direction of the Europa League,' said double goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Club chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke was a little more cautious. 'It's more important to put some distance between us and the relegation battle first,' he said. While manager Jurgen Klopp and Hummels struck some sensible middle ground. 'We're no longer in the middle of a relegation battle,' said Klopp. 'Let's get to the point whereby we mathematically can't be relegated and then let's see how many games we have.' Hummels, looking ahead to what would normally be a title-deciding clash with Bayern, said: 'We want to beat Bayern. At the moment we're in no-man's land but we could still slip back. If we beat Bayern, then we'll see.' Star man Marco Reus has signed a contract extension but could still move to Barcelona in 2016 . Ilkay Gundogan (right) has yet to commit to a new Dortmund contract and could leave in the summer . After an upturn in form, Dortmund find themselves just five points off a Europa League place . Manager Jurgen Klopp (second right) with Sebastian Kehl and Jakub Blaszczykowski after Saturday's win . Whether Europe is realistic or not - they are five points off the Europa League places with eight games to play - Dortmund are in a much better place than a couple of months ago. No-one truly believed they could go down, yet at times they seemed intent on testing the proposition to the full. But Reus signing a new four-year contract was an enormous boost, all the more so as it contained no release clause. It may well be that Reus joins Barcelona in the summer of 2016, the Catalan club where his friend Marc-Andre ter Stegen already plays understood to be his preferred destination. Even so, Reus should be at the Westfalenstadion next season. Hummels may not be. Louis van Gaal attempted to bring him back to Bayern Munich when coach there; he will undoubtedly try to do the same again this summer, though he will have to meet the £35m asking price. Interestingly, sources at Dortmund are already putting it about that £35m would make up for the shortfall of missing out in the Champions League, which sounds like a pre-sale process of softening up the fans. The lowest point in Dortmund's season came when players like Hummels had to front up to the fans . But an upturn in fortunes has lifted them out of relegation danger - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (left) and Marco Reus here wear masks to celebrate a goal in the 3-0 defeat of rivals Schalke . The Dortmund player salute their travelling support after last weekend's 3-2 win at Hannover . The key question remains about the man who has come to personify Dortmund, Klopp. Like Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Klopp's personality, tactics and energy seem to embody every area of the club. Understandably Klopp is always considered when top jobs come up. He was on the shortlist to replace Roberto Mancini at Manchester City but did not impress in interview - the passion that drives his teams sits uncomfortably with the increasingly corporate world of football executives. It looks as though those pushing for him as a natural replacement for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal overplayed their hand somewhat. The intensity of the rivalry with Bayern Munich means he is highly unlikely to end up there when Pep Guardiola ends his time in 2016. Striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang poses for a photo with Dortmund fans after Saturday's win . Former Manchester United man Shinji Kagawa celebrates with Reus after scoring at Hannover . And there is a feeling that many teams are now adept at dealing with the frenzied counter-attacking style and that he needs to add nuance to the tactics that so recently shocked Europe's best sides. For now it looks as if Klopp and Dortmund's fates are bound together. At times, the rollercoaster season has seemed a projection on the ups and downs of Klopp's own volatile personality. Yet it's not so long ago he was a genuine wunderkind of European football. If he can emerge refreshed and re-energised from this season's chaos, there seems no reason why Dortmund shouldn't rise again in Europe. The next few weeks should tell us much. If Dortmund do make the Europa League, then you might conclude that the rebuilding process is already underway. +Zinedine Zidane joined a number of other French coaches on a trip to Germany to watch Bayern Munich train in order to pick up some tips. World Cup winner Zidane was among seven French coaches to have taken advantage of the international break in order to head to the German champions for a three-day visit. The group comprised Zidane, assistant coach of Real Madrid's B team, Bordeaux boss Willy Sagnol, former Chelsea favourite Claude Makelele, Guy Lacombe, Bernard Diomede, Claude Le Roy and Franck Thivillier. Bernard Diomede, Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele and Willy Sagnol watch a Bayern training session . The group of French coaches took advantage of the international break to visit the German champions . Zidane, coach of Real Madrid's B team, takes a photo at Bayern Munich's training ground . Sagnol played for Bayern from 2000 to 2009 but Zidane, a triple World Player of the Year and 1998 World Cup winner, is the highest-profile of the visitors. The seven met chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Monday and monitored training under Spaniard Pep Guardiola on Tuesday and Wednesday, Bayern said. In an interview for Bayern's official You Tube channel, Zidane said: 'It's an incredibly organised club with people like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Matthias Sammer, who used to play football and really live and breathe the game . Then you combine that with someone like Pep Guardiola and the players that are full of desire and have a very precise footballing philosophy.' 'Bayern are a big club, one of the top five in the world, but there's also a family atmosphere. I'm mightily impressed.' The Bavarians are enjoying one of the most successful spells in their 115-year history, having won the Champions League once and reached the final twice more in the past five seasons. Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola (right) jokes with Rafinha during Bayern's training session . French winger Franck Ribery stops by during training to talk with Zidane and Co . Bayern Munich manager Guardiola and Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso in training . They are also on track for a repeat of the 2013 treble, 10 points clear in the Bundesliga and still in contention for German Cup and Champions League glory. Bayern are also flush with cash. Turnover in the last fiscal year was in excess of £366million and they have also paid off their Allianz Arena home ahead of time. +Gareth Bale trained with a smile on his face as Chris Coleman’s Wales squad prepared for their crucial Euro 2016 clash in Israel. The world’s most expensive player took part in light jogging exercises and skipped over mini hurdles amid the scenic surroundings of the Vale Resort in Cardiff. The serene atmosphere was a world away from the heated scenes he left in Spain, where irate Real Madrid fans attacked his white Bentley in the early hours of Monday morning. Gareth Bales (centre) shares a joke with Aaron Ramsey (right) and West Ham's James Collins on Wednesday . The Wales superstar appeared in good spirits as he was put through his paces with the Wales squad . Bale, the world's most expensive player, has endured a troubled time at Real Madrid in recent weeks . Bale was in a group including Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen, James Collins and Chris Gunter as Liverpool coach Ryland Morgans put the players through their paces. In one drill, the squad, split into four sections, dribbled with the ball around cones turning around a metal dummy and passing to a team-mate. At one point Bale broke into laughter when Allen badly miscalculated his attempt. At the end of the 15-minute segment open to media, West Ham’s Collins joked: ‘Good work lads, see you tomorrow.’ Coleman then went through more detailed training behind closed doors. Bale will line up for Wales when they face Israel in their Euro 2016 qualifier later this week . Bale looked at ease with his Wales team-mates; a far cry from his recent woes at the European champions . Bale trained in a group including Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen, James Collins and Chris Gunter . Captain Ashley Williams said the players, including Bale, have fresh bills of health for the clash in Haifa. ‘Everyone is fit and ready,' said the Swansea defender. ‘The camp is buzzing. We had a good night on Monday seeing the guys we haven’t seen for a while. ‘We are looking to do some good work on the field this week and get the job done.’ Wales will fly to Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon before travelling up to Haifa for the match at the Sammy Ofer Stadium between the top two teams in Group B. +Real Madrid are confident of wrapping up a deal for Porto right back Danilo. The Brazilian has been watched by all the top sides in Europe over the past season but Madrid have made a determined push to sign him over recent weeks. The Spanish giants are now poised to agree a deal in the summer worth around £27million. Danilo, in action last month for Porto against Vitoria, is close to completing a £27million move to Real Madrid . The Brazilian right back (left) puts in a challenge on former Benfica midfielder Nemanja Matic last January . The 23-year-old (left) puts in a strong challenge on Man City midfielder Yaya Toure back in February 2012 . Manchester United, City, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Barcelona have all been linked with a move, but the 23-year-old is keen on a move to the Bernabeu. Danilo's contract has 16 months left to run and Porto have made attempts to get him to agree a new deal. However, his representatives met with Madrid officials last week and held further talks with Porto to underline the player's wish to leave. +Mesut Ozil is 'convinced' that he can win the Ballon d'Or within the next few years, as long as he continues to develop well at Arsenal. The German World Cup winner has endured a turbulent time since his £42.5million move to the Emirates in 2013, but has rediscovered his form in recent weeks. As Ozil continues to adapt to the 'physical test' of the Premier League, the creative midfielder believes he will one day reach the same level as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Mesut Ozil believes he will one day be crowned as the world's best player by winning the Ballon d'Or . The Arsenal midfielder hopes he can 'continue to develop and stay healthy' in a bid to win the coveted award . Ozil hopes he will be able to reach the same level as 2014's Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo . He told Sport Bild: 'If I continue to develop well and stay healthy, I would like, in the next few years, to hold the Ballon d’Or in my hands. I am convinced that it can happen. 'I’m feeling very positive. I’m a world champion and I play at a top club in the Premier League. 'There is much more of a physical test here than there is in Spain or in the Bundesliga – I constantly have bruises, but that makes me harder. I feel physically better than ever.' The 26-year-old, who is currently on international duty with Germany, hit the headlines for the wrong reasons last weekend after being spotted in a Berlin nightclub just hours after missing Arsenal’s Premier League victory against Newcastle because he had a cold. Ozil has had a turbulent career at the Emirates but has rediscovered his form since the turn of the year . The 26-year-old is currently on international duty with World Cup winners Germany . Germany manager Joachim Low defended Ozil, claiming the midfielder had the permission of Arsene Wenger to fly to Berlin on Saturday. 'It's anyone's guess whether he was partying or not,' Low told reporters ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Australia. 'He has told me that he was in Berlin. I spoke to him and he said that he was weakened by a cold during last week and so Arsene Wenger and Ozil together took the decision to not play him at the weekend. After the match, he was allowed to fly to Berlin.' Ozil was spotted in a Berlin nightclub just hours after missing Arsenal’s clash against Newcastle on Saturday . +Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen has trained with his team-mates for the first time since surgery on a hamstring injury, the La Liga leaders said on Wednesday. The Belgium international, who has been unable to make his Barca debut after picking up the injury at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, said last week he was targeting a return to action next month. Vermaelen sustained the injury before he signed for Barcelona from Arsenal, prompting some to question why the club completed the deal to sign the 29-year-old. Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen is back in training with Barcelona after his hamstring injury . The former Arsenal man (left) joined the club in the summer but is yet to make his debut . Vermaelen (right) alongside Luis Suarez at Barcelona's training session on Wednesday morning . Jeremy Mathieu (left) and Suarez, the scorers of Barcelona's two goals on Sunday against Real Madrid . 'The main novelty at the training session was Thomas Vermaelen,' Barca said on their website. 'The Belgian defender was able to complete part of training with the rest of the group,' they added. After the international break, Barca's next outing is a La Liga game at Celta Vigo. They are four points clear of second-placed Real Madrid following Sunday's 2-1 victory over the arch rivals in the 'Clasico' at the Nou Camp. Suarez takes part in a drill at Cuitat Esportiva, Barcelona's training ground, on Wednesday morning . A number of Barcelona players are away on international duty, but Xavi Hernandez was present at training . Suarez (right) and Sergi Roberto compete to be the first to score into a bin during the training session . Vermaelen enjoyed success in his final season at Arsenal, lifting the FA Cup at Wembley in May . +Marouane Fellaini has revealed his ultimate five-a-side team - and there's even a spot for his old Everton pal Sylvain Distin alongside just one of his Manchester United team-mates. The Belgium international, 27, is back to playing his best football having endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford following his £27.5million arrival from Everton 18 months ago. He has become a key figure in manager Louis van Gaal's plans, scoring four goals to help fourth-placed United maintain their quest for a return to the Champions League next season. Manchester United and Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini has picked his ultimate five-a-side team . Fellaini, pictured during a photshoot for New Balance Football, has been in excellent form in recent weeks . Former Everton star Fellaini includes one of his Manchester United team-mates in his dream five-a-side team . He impressed in United's 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday and has now linked up with his international team-mates ahead of their forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Cyprus and Israel. Fellaini, however, was unable to accommodate the likes of Belgian pals Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany or Thibaut Courtois in his ultimate fives team. He failed to find room for himself and the likes of Wayne Rooney, Angel di Maria and Robin van Persie too. Yet he did manage to select one United colleague in his fearsome starting line-up. Sylvain Distin is Marouane Fellaini's best friend and he says the Everton defender is a great player . Fellaini's United team-mate David De Gea has been in superb form this season and gets a place in goal . Real Madrid midfielder Zinedine Zidane nets a superb volley against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 . 'The keeper? I play with good keepers, it is hard to pick!' said Fellaini, speaking exclusively to Sportsmail as part of the launch for the first New Balance Football advert. 'But the keeper I choose... it has to be (David) De Gea. I need a defender too, so I will choose Sylvain Distin. 'He is my best mate and a great player as well. And then it has to be (Zinedine) Zidane, (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo.' It is no surprise to see Lionel Messi (above) and Cristiano Ronaldo (below) in Fellaini's five-a-side dream team . Indeed a formidable five-a-side team and one the towering Belgian cannot fit himself into. Although Hazard fails to make the cut, Fellaini believes the Chelsea star has been the best player in the Barclays Premier League this season. Jose Mourinho's side have a six-point lead at the top of the table, with a game in hand and Fellaini expects his compatriots Courtois and Hazard will be toasting glory in May. 'At the moment, Eden Hazard has been the best player in the Premier League,' said Fellaini. 'I think Chelsea will win the title.' Fellaini says Eden Hazard has been the Premier League's best player this season while Chelsea will win title . Marouane Fellaini was speaking to Sportsmail to promote the launch of the first New Balance Football advert #NBFootball. To find out more, go to: newbalance.com/football or follow @NBFootball . +He is 12 weeks old, 7cm tall and weighs just 300g. Meet tiny Toudi who is believed to be the world's smallest Chihuahua. The adorable pooch is smaller than a can of coke, a little bigger than a pear and can fit in the palm of your hand. Scroll down for video . Tiny Toudi: This little pup from Poland is shorter than a can of coke and can easily fit in the palm of your hand . Similar size: Toudi is so small he could be mistaken for a cuddly toy. His owner says they have to be careful because he is the same size as the floor . Some mock the little Chihuahua, claiming he looks more like a hamster, while others are mesmerised by him . No comparison: Toudi's sister may be much bigger than he is, but he is arguably far more adorable . The three-month-old, from Wroclaw, Poland is considerably smaller than his sister and eats very little food each day. Toudi's owner says he provides a lot of fun for the family but that they have to be careful where they stand because he is the same colour as the floor. Some mock the little Chihuahua, claiming he looks more like a hamster, while others are mesmerised by him. It is hoped Toudi will soon appear in the Guinness World Records book. Toudi's owner says he provides a lot of fun for the family. These sunglasses are maybe a little too big for this pup . Perfect pear: Toudi is a only slightly bigger than a pear, but he can't even be described as 'pint-sized' because he's smaller than a can of coke . Fun and games: It is hoped little Toudi, from Poland, will soon appear in the Guinness World Records book . Toudi's owner doesn't have to spend too much on him because he only eats a very small amount of food each day . +Lewis Hamilton is determined to' create history' again this Formula One season after insisting there is more to come despite a perfect start to the new year. Reigning world champion Hamilton claimed pole, fastest lap and race win in the opening grand prix of the campaign in Australia earlier this month. With team-mate Nico Rosberg second it was abundantly clear Mercedes will take some stopping again this term following a dominant 2014. Lewis Hamilton poses for a picture with a fan at a meet-and-greet session in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday . Hamilton is expected to go head-to-head with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg once more in 2015 . Hamilton has vowed to create history at Mercedes as he bids to win his third world championship . Mercedes set a new record for victories in a season with 16 from the 19 races, surpassing the prior mark of 15 set by McLaren in 1988 and Ferrari in 2002 and again in 2004. The German manufacturing giant also equalled Red Bull's 2011 record of 18 poles for the year, with their only blip in Austria where both Hamilton and Rosberg made errors to let in Williams' Felipe Massa. The worry for Mercedes' rivals this year is the team appear to have taken a step forward, with Hamilton showing no let up in his desire to make it three world titles. 'In terms of my performance I've got more to come,' said Hamilton ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. 'I've been spending time with the engineers and I'm going to work really hard to understand. 'Last year when I went to Malaysia I went fresh. It was like my first race of the year. The British driver appeared in relaxed spirits as he sets sights on a third Formula One title . The Mercedes drivers look set to dominate the remainder of the season after setting the pace in Australia . Rosberg and Hamilton sign autographs for the dozens Mercedes-supporting fans in Malaysia . 'I went into the race not really knowing how long the tyres would last, but what happened turned out to be exceptional. 'After that race there was this big debrief and a document done to explain everything I did. 'Now I've won in Australia I'm going to extract everything from my data and see how I can better my performance. I definitely feel in this next race I can be better than I was last time out.' Asked of Hamilton whether it was Mercedes' target to win every race this season, he replied: 'The target's always been to win every race, even in the bad days. 'But this year we have an awesome car with improved reliability, so the target is to create history again.' Hamilton won in Malaysia last year ahead of Mercedes team-mate Rosberg . Hamilton is aware, however, of the potential perils and pitfalls that lie ahead which could scupper such aspirations. 'To pick up where we left off last year was awesome, but if 2014 showed us anything it's that putting together a whole season is never easy,' assessed Hamilton. 'Winning the first race is just one small step in a long journey and I'm not reading anything into it. 'The next step is Malaysia and that's all I've been focusing on since we left Melbourne. 'The race is really tough with the heat and humidity, but I feel ready for anything right now and the aim is to repeat last year's performance. 'It took me eight attempts to win this race before I finally made it to the top step last year. I don't plan on waiting that long again. 'From an outsider's perspective it appeared Hamilton crucially drew first blood in what is expected to be another intense season-long battle with Rosberg. Hamilton, though, suggested otherwise, stating: 'Psychologically it doesn't make any difference for me. 'I won the championship again last year, and I felt like it wasn't a fluke. I'm deserving of where I am. 'And I worked damn hard to get that win in Australia. Again there wasn't any luck involved.' +It's a magical moment when a man finds out he is going to be a father for the first time. But when Tennessee man Jordan Cocklin was told the news by his wife through specially designed bottles of beer, his reaction wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. Kelsey decided to make the big announcement using bottles of beer tucked away in the fridge - labelled 'Daddy's Beer' and 'Oops' - and film her husband's reaction as he opened the door. 'Oh': Jordan seems unimpressed by news that he will soon become a dad, as Kelsey rolls camera . Daddy's beer: Kesley redesigned the bottle of beer in an inventive way to break the news to her husband . Loved up: Married couple Jordan and Kelsey Cocklin posted the amusing clip on YouTube . But when it dawns on Jordan that he is soon to be a dad, he only manages an 'Oh', followed by 'For real?' The couple, who live in Nashville, decided his underwhelmed reaction was so funny they would post it on YouTube, where it has so far been viewed more than 300,000 times. Speaking to Buzzfeed, Jordan said his awkward reaction was because of total shock, not disappointment. He said: '[It was] total shock at first but as soon as she turned ioff [the camera] we were just ecstatic'. 'Any new dad is going to have an original feeling of shock - mine just happened to be caught on camera', he added. Jordan said he would consider showing the video to his future son or daughter when they're older. Just checking: Jordan's response to finding the beers is 'Oh' and 'For real?' Expecting: Jordan and Kesley are now expecting their first child together . +Philippe Coutinho has found himself a home away from home on Merseyside having seen his popularity soar among Liverpool fans. The 22-year-old has been in impressive form for his club this season and also put pen to paper on a new long-term contract. The Brazilian left his home city of Rio de Janeiro in 2010 to join Internazionale, but it is in Liverpool he has started to produce his best form since moving to Anfield in January 2013. Philippe Coutinho opens up about his life off the field in a new documentary on Liverpool TV . The 22-year-old Brazilian wants to evolve as a footballer having signed a new contract at Liverpool . Now, Liverpool TV are giving fans a glimpse of Coutinho's life on Merseyside away from football with a new documentary starting on Friday night. The show features an in-depth interview with the Brazilian at his home, where he talks about his journey from South America to European football. 'My objective has always been to play at a big club, to grow and evolve as a footballer and have a run of game,' Coutinho said. 'I didn't have that at my previous clubs and feared it would be the same at Liverpool. 'But here it's like a family, a club where the manager likes to use young players. Our team has many young players and I've been given a run of games. 'The manager has given me opportunities and this has built my confidence. Since I arrived the manager has always trusted me and that has been very important.' Coutinho's wife Aine gives an insight into her husband on the documentary . Coutinho has seen his popularity among Liverpool fans soar since joining the club in January 2013 . The Brazilian added: 'Football is what I like to do. It is so much more than work. I love to play football. I always loved it, when I was young it was all about football. Football is my passion. Coutinho's wife Aine, who came from the same neighbourhood as the Liverpool star, also features in the documentary. She describes Coutinho as 'a very affectionate and incredible person'. 'When I say I'm his fan, it's not only because of football but as a person,' she added. 'And not only because he's my husband but because he truly is an amazing person.' +The conclusion of a football match, particularly monumental ones like the World Cup final, often brings new debate and inquiry, questions about players, tactics and refereeing decisions. Very rarely do they result in a government investigation. Yet that is exactly what happened after Brazil's capitulation in the 1998 final against hosts France. Quite what transpired in the hours before the match, particularly with star player Ronaldo who was taken to hospital and left off the teamsheet only to be reinstated before kick-off, is one of football's most enduring mysteries. Ronaldo pictured following Brazil's 3-0 defeat by France at the 1998 World Cup final at the Stade de France . Ronaldo looks gutted after the loss as he was not himself in a final where the pressure seemed to get to him . France vs Brazil in the 1998 final led to a government investigation about Ronaldo's involvement . France: Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Leboeuf, Lizarazu, Deschamps (c), Karembeu, Petit, Zidane, Djorkaeff, Guivarc'h . Goals: Zidane (27, 45+1), Petit (90+3) Booked: Deschamps, Karembeu, Desailly . Sent off: Desailly . France manager: Aime Jacquet . Brazil: Taffarel, Cafu, Aldair, Baiano, Carlos, Sampaio, Dunga (c), Rivaldo, Leonardo, Bebeto, Ronaldo . Goals: NONE . Booked: Baiano . Brazil manager: Mario Zagallo . Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis . Referee: Said Belqola . Attendance: 80,000 . Civil action in a Rio court, a Rio medical council action against two team medics (both of whom were unanimously absolved of blame) and an investigation in Brazil's national congress have shed some light on the events of July 12 1998 but it continues to be a source of consternation in the country. The official records show the match ended in a 3-0 defeat for Brazil but the story of what happened in and around the Stade de France that afternoon is murkier in detail. Ronaldo, then just 21, had been outstanding all tournament in a Brazil side - including Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Bebeto - that were defending their title from 1994. The final was billed as a head-to-head between him and France's equally captivating talisman Zinedine Zidane. In the event, the France midfielder steamrollered a jaded Brazil outfit, scoring two first half headed goals in a man of the match performance with Emmanuel Petit adding a third after a late counter-attack. It was the first time France had been crowned world champions but it later transpired much of the drama had already happened, out of view of the many millions of TV viewers worldwide. The day had began in a relaxed fashion for the Brazil players. The whole squad had lunch at the Chateau de Grande Romaine, just outside Paris then returned to their rooms. Ronaldo was sharing with Roberto Carlos, neighbouring a room with Edmundo and Doriva. France's Zinedine Zidane sees his header go through the legs of Brazil's Roberto Carlos in the final . France celebrate after going 2-0 up as midfielder Zidane steamrollered a jaded Brazil outfit . France players celebrate with the World Cup trophy as they won the great competition on home soil . France manager Aime Jacquet holds up the World Cup trophy and is surrounded by the world's media . Zidane was a worthy winner of the World Cup as he brushed aside Brazil with two goals in the final . Roberto Carlos implied Ronaldo was wilting under the weight of expectation of the nation. 'He was scared about what lay ahead,' he said, 'The pressure had got to him and he couldn't stop crying.' To government congress later, Edmundo described a viscerally shocking scene as suddenly Ronaldo started to have a fit. He frothed at the mouth and began to shake uncontrollably. Roberto Carlos, overwhelmed by panic, started screaming for help. 'When I saw what it was, I despaired,' said Edmundo, 'Because it was a really strong and shocking scene.' He ran through the hotel hitting on all the doors and shouting for everyone to come. A congressmen asked the striker for more details. 'Was Ronaldo hitting out or shaking?' 'Hitting out a lot,' replied Edmundo. 'Lying down?' 'Lying down and hitting himself with his hands like this, with his teeth...' 'Together?' 'Locked together and with his mouth foaming.' 'His whole body hitting itself?' 'The whole body, yes.' Defender Cesar Sampaio put his hand in Ronaldo's mouth to unravel his tongue and prevent him swallowing it. Ronaldo then fell asleep and, according to Edmundo, team doctors decided to pretend that nothing had happened when he woke up. Ronaldo had a fit before the World Cup final but was controversially allowed to play against France . Brazil supporters expected so much but were let down as their team were beaten 3-0 by a strong France side . The front page of French newspaper  L'Equipe ahead of France vs Brazil friendly on Thursday . Ronaldo woke up and went for tea. But he was subdued. Leonardo, one of the side's senior players at the time, insisted that Ronaldo be told what had happened and the doctors relented. At 6pm when the squad began the short coach journey to the Stade de France, Ronaldo went to the Lilas clinic in Paris. His name was left off the teamsheets, sending the assembled international press into frenzy but 40 minutes before kick-off he arrived after being given the all-clear and insisted he should play. Brazil's miserable showing on the pitch led to outrage in the country and rumours began to swirl about wrongdoing in the camp in the lead up to the match and even conspiracy. Manager Mario Zagallo was criticised for picking Ronaldo despite what had happened but he defended his decision. 'If you invert the situation and I didn't put Ronaldo on and then Brazil lost 3-0, people would say 'Zagallo is stubborn, he had to put him on, Ronaldo was the best player in the world.' So I think I would do the same again. Now was it his being chosen that caused Brazil to lose? Absolutely not. I think it was the collective trauma, created by the atmosphere of what had happened.' Brazil manager Mario Zagallo (right) pictured after the 3-0 defeat by France in the capital Paris . Zagallo consoles Ronaldo after the final as the Brazil manager controversially allowed the striker to play . Understandably Ronaldo, who continued to play for Brazil until 2011, tried to downplay the affair throughout his career. Last year, in a TV interview with Gary Lineker as his country prepared to host the World Cup, he lifted the lid on what had happened. He told the story of the fit and revealed he begged the manager to let him play. 'I had a convulsion, after lunch in the afternoon. I was unconscious for three or four minutes. I don't know why. Nobody knows. Was it pressure or nerves? It could be,' he said, 'When you are there and you breathe the competition, everything is about the competition. You cannot disconnect from it. It's a lot of pressure. But I pleaded with Zagallo to let me play.' Ronaldo went on to lift the World Cup with Brazil in Japan four years later and will go down as one of the great strikers of all time, but an air of intrigue continues to hang over that afternoon's events. +Vincent Kompany was benched by Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini for Wednesday night's visit of Leicester City. The captain was one of five changes from the side that lost 2-1 at Liverpool on Sunday. Kompany, 28, has been criticised for a series of high-profile errors. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany (right) was dropped to the bench for the visit of Leicester . Kompany has come in for criticism this season following a number of high-profile errors for the champions . He gave away a penalty against Arsenal, could have done better with both of Barcelona's goals in a 2-1 Champions League defeat and was dispossessed by Philippe Coutinho in the build up to Jordan Henderson's strike for Liverpool at Anfield. A poll in the local newspaper, the Manchester Evening News, saw fans vote to drop Kompany from the squad. Pellegrini has backed the Belgian, who he described as 'a great player', but rested him for the clash with Nigel Pearson's bottom-of-the-table visitors. Midfield pair Samir Nasri and Fernandinho dropped out of the squad altogether while Pablo Zabaleta and Edin Dzeko were alongside Kompany on the bench. Wilfried Bony, a £28m signing from Swansea City, made his full debut alongside Sergio Aguero while Martin Demichelis partnered Eliaquim Mangala at the heart of defence in place of Kompany. Man City claimed a 2-0 victory over the Foxes courtesy of goals from David Silva and James Milner. Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho was dropped from the squad altogether against Leicester . +Dani Alves is far from introverted at the best of times, and the Barcelona defender has further confirmed his status as a wacky character with the release of a music video alongside Jose Pinto. All in aid of charity, the Brazilian defender has teamed up with his former Barcelona colleague to release a single titled 'You're Special', in which he features rapping and singing in the music video. Pinto was a goalkeeper at the Nou Camp until his retirement in 2014, and has now continued with his career as a producer and musician under the guise 'Wahin'. Dani Alves (centre) has released a charity single alongside former Barcelona team-mate Jose Pinto . In the music video, Alves can be seen dancing, while Pinto and singer Mario Baro clap in the background . All proceeds from the single, titled 'You're Special', go to a bulimia and anorexia charity called FEACAB . He and Alves, alongside singer Mario Baro, have collaborated in aid of FEACAB, a charity aiming to combat eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. The song, 'You're Special', is focused on 'inspiring contagious optimism' and should 'motivate people... to break down those barriers and feel good with themselves'. Previously, Pinto/Wahin has released two songs, entitled 'Feel That You Are Alive' and 'Live Singing', but 'You're Special' is the first track dedicated solely to charity. Here, for your aural pleasure is the video... and it'll be in your head all day. Alves (left) was in action on the pitch on Sunday night, in an El Clasico tie against Real Madrid . The full proceeds will go to FEACAB, and the song is available to purchase on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, and the official website: www.veaportussuenos.com . +An aspiring foreign manager emboldened by radical ideas meets a settled, ego-fuelled dressing room that’s enjoyed no little success. Sound familiar? For Peter Lawwell, the warning signs upon appointing Ronny Deila to the Celtic manager’s post last summer were to be found not a million miles from home. When Paul le Guen arrived at Rangers in the summer of 2006, there seemed solid grounds for fans of the Ibrox club not to question if the Frenchman would be a runaway success, but to just what extent. Celtic manager Ronny Deila (left) and chief executive Peter Lawwell launch new kit deal at Celtic Park . Lawwell has dismissed comparison between Deila and former Rangers boss Paul le Guen (right) After a difficult start, Deila has started to turn things around at Parkhead . This was, after all, not only a coach who had brought three successive titles to the Ligue 1 club Lyon, but one who had made them a name to be feared across Europe. If le Guen could drop just a little of his je ne sais quoi into the Ibrox water, the sky would be the limit. So went the theory, anyway. Yet, by January 4 the following year, the Frenchman was already history — his departure a cautionary tale of too much, too soon, resistance to change and the importance of unstinting backing from the boardroom. Disastrous though le Guen’s short tenure was, to this day it’s only natural for the rump of the Rangers support to wonder what might have transpired had he been afforded more time. Fast-forward eight years to the start of this season and — on the other half of the city — parallels with the Frenchman were being drawn. Whilst Stromsgodset were much further down the football food-chain than Lyon, Deila still arrived with the pedigree of being a league winner as a manager. And, just as le Guen had faced resistance from a squad used to Alex McLeish’s methods for so long, much of the Norwegian’s methodology was bound to grate with a squad that had thrived under Neil Lennon. When domestic reverses began to intertwine with European capitulations, there seemed a danger that history might repeat itself. Lyon's former league winning manager Le Guen arrived at Ibrox with a big reputation in 2006 . The Frenchman left Rangers the following January after losing games and the dressing room . ‘When we set off with him, we knew we were going to give him time,’ Lawwell insisted. ‘If you go back to le Guen — I always say to Ronny about the “le Guen hump”. ‘When he came in, he’d won three-in-a-row in France, had new ideas, a new philosophy and a new culture. ‘It didn’t work. It was revolution rather than evolution. Bang. The players revolted and he went out. ‘So we had to get over that le Guen hump if you like and manage through that. ‘You get the players on board and get everything settled down. He’s done that brilliantly.’ Notwithstanding Wednesday’s home defeat to St Johnstone, there is no disputing the fact that both the manager and his players are now in a much brighter place. Earlier this week, John Hartson eloquently described how he now looks at Celtic’ s early struggles under the Norwegian as almost being in a different season and few who witnessed them will find that difficult to relate to. But, asked if — in the dark moments of autumn — he privately harboured doubts about the man he championed, Lawwell was unambiguous. The Norwegian manager looks on during Celtic's 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone on Wednesday . Despite the defeat, the Hoops are six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table . ‘We’re paid for these judgment calls and there was never any question of knee-jerk reactions to a bad result, or a bad couple of results,’ he insisted. ‘Genuinely, when Ronny came in, we understood where he was strong and where he was weak; he was weak in terms of experience. ‘Nothing prepares you for Celtic, as a manager or even a player coming here. We knew there would be a transitional period. We knew it would be a baptism of fire. The Champions League was right on us. There was a risk. ‘But when we appointed him, we assessed that risk, and felt for the long-term good of the club it was the right thing to do. Ronny is a creator. He will create a team, he will create players. ‘We can’t afford or can get into the market for Champions League players so we need someone who creates Champions League players, and that is what he does. He is a developer of players and that takes time. ‘He is a highly intelligent guy; he is a progressive coach and, through time, it will prove that we were right. We feel we are making progress; we have won nothing, yet. But hopefully in the short and longer term, he will create a fantastic team for Celtic.’ The first opportunity for a tangible sign of that progress comes in the form of the League Cup Final with Dundee United at Hampden on Sunday week. In terms of a turning point for a season that at one point threatened to implode, Lawwell feels the injury-time win with 10 men at Pittodrie in early November — followed by the Ronny Roar at its most ferocious — was it. Deila trains with his players, with Lawwell insisting the former Stromsgodset boss 'creates' a team . Deila shares a laugh with Manchester City loanee John Guidetta (left) during a training session . ‘I think that was a change, yes,’ Lawwell reflected. ‘No question. That helped change the fans’ perception of him in terms of his emotion that day.’ Ultimately, Deila’s appointment was sanctioned by the board but it was the chief executive who first put his neck on the line for him. ‘My job is to recommend, and the board and Dermot (Desmond) backed that,’ he explained. ‘It is the same with any manager. ‘You get paid to make judgment calls. Some are right, some are wrong. This was the big one. It is the normal pressure for the job I am in. ‘We have a strong relationship. I have been here long enough. I have supported Celtic all my life. I know the west of Scotland, I know Glasgow and, hopefully, I know a bit about Scottish football. ‘So I think that was a help to him. No matter who it is, nothing prepares you for the intensity of this job. You guys (in the media) know the intensity of it, the scrutiny of it. He is a young guy, but he is a quick learner. With a tail wind and a bit of luck, he can be a great manager. ‘His personality is beginning to come out. He is a leader. He has all the attributes and qualities to be a great manager. All you need is a bit of luck and be in the right time and the right place.’ Deila will get his first chance for silverware when Celtic face Dundee United in the League Cup final . Lawwell has given Deila 8/10 for results and 10/10 for showing progress in his debut season . The destination of the season’s major prizes may yet be unknown but Lawwell isn’ t of a mind to hide Deila’s light under a bushel. Asked to rate his success to date in terms of a mark out of 10, Lawwell replied: ‘In terms of results, eight. In term of coming in and acclimatising and showing progress, 10. ‘He has become more relaxed, more confident. Results bring that. He is fitting in to the environment here and outside, which again is a big change for him. The players are buying into him. The players are with him, you can see that with the team. That is giving him the confidence to push on.’ +Emre Can remained upbeat after Liverpool's 2-1 defeat by Manchester United by claiming that there are many good years ahead for the Anfield club. Liverpool have their work cut out to qualify for next season's Champions League after they were beaten by their biggest rivals on Sunday to leave them five points off the top four. But the 21-year-old German believes the club are just at the beginning of a bright new era. Emre Can believes Liverpool have many good years ahead and are at the start of a new era . The 21-year-old thinks the club have some exciting players, including Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson . He told Liverpool's official website: 'I definitely feel we're at the start of a new era. It's a very, very young team with Phillippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Lazar Markovic. 'But I think the team needs to keep improving, and continue doing what we're doing at the moment to get to these years. But I believe there are good years ahead.' Can joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer as a highly-rated youngster by his national team Germany. Philippe Coutinho has been in excellent form this season and recently signed a new contract . The midfielder has been deployed by manager Brendan Rodgers in a deeper role in Liverpool's back-line and been a big part of their upturn in fortunes since the first half of the season. 'I feel very good at the moment. I feel the trust of the manager and I feel I'm doing a good job, that's why I'm playing - so I'm happy,' said the Germany U21 international. +Ever wondered what the football world would be like without Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo? Well naturally we'd miss their stunning goals and dazzling trickery, but it seems erasing them would shake up the order of things in Spain. Stats gurus Opta have calculated what the La Liga table would look like if the goals of the divine duo were taken away - and there's quite a dramatic change at the top. La Liga would look very different if the goals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were taken away . The deadly duo have scored 57 goals between them in La Liga alone this season - Ronaldo 30, Messi 27 . Real Madrid currently enjoy a two-point advantage over their rivals Barcelona in the La Liga standings . How the La Liga table would look if goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were taken away (Opta) In real life, Real Madrid currently enjoy a two-point advantage over their Clasico rivals, thanks in no small part to the 30 league goals of Ronaldo this season. But if they and Messi's contribution of 27 goals were subtracted, it's Barcelona who would enjoy a slender one-point advantage at the summit. Opta went through every match this season in which Messi and Ronaldo have scored and took away their goals from the final score. Ronaldo celebrates his goal in Real Madrid's 1-1 home draw with Villarreal at the weekend . The Portuguese was also on target in Real's 2-0 victory at Elche last month . Ronaldo celebrates one of his hat-trick of goals in Real's 3-0 home win over Celta Vigo in December . With Messi, Barcelona would still win all but one of the matches in which he has scored. That is the 3-2 home win over Villarreal last month, which would end in a draw. But taking away Ronaldo's goals affects Real's season more dramatically. The Portuguese scored four in the 5-1 home win over Elche, meaning they would only draw 1-1. Lionel Messi claims the match ball after his hat-trick in Barcelona's 5-1 rout of neighbours Espanyol . Messi's 27 league goals this season have seen him surpass the all-time La Liga scoring record . Messi celebrates with team-mates Pedro and Marc Bartra after scoring in the 5-0 rout of Levante last month . Removing his hat-trick against Celta Vigo would see them claim one point rather than three, and subtracting his goal against Villarreal last weekend means they would lose instead of draw. It does prove to an extent that Real are more reliant on the goals of Ronaldo than Barcelona are on the goals of Messi. But in such a nip and tuck title race, who's to say that won't change again by the end of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo's La Liga goals 2014-15 . Lionel Messi's La Liga goals 2014-15 . +Juventus won't be able to keep Paul Pogba if the young midfielder decides to leave Turin this summer, according to the club's general manager Giuseppe Marotta. The French midfielder has been linked with the biggest clubs in Europe with the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain reportedly showing interest. Although Marotta admits it may be difficult to hang onto Pogba should the youngster wish to leave, the Juve chief hopes Pogba will remain in Turin. Paul Pogba is yet to show any indication that he wants to leave Juventus, according to Giuseppe Marotta . The 22-year-old midfielder is a target for clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain . Marotta told Corriere della Sera: 'Pogba is the protagonist of his own destiny and if he decides to leave then we can't stop him,” the Bianconeri chief told Corriere della Sera. 'Pogba has not indicated a willingness to leave, though. The problem will come when the player is offered a contract that is two or three times what he already earns. We're talking in the tens of millions per year.' Pogba has scored seven goals and set up two more in 22 league appearances to help Juve remain on course for their fourth successive scudetto. The Frenchman is under contract with the Turin giants until June 2019. Pogba has scored seven goals in 22 Serie A appearances for Massimiliano Allegri's side . +Kevin Pietersen has signed a contract to return to Surrey this summer and will donate all of his salary to his KP24 foundation. The move gives the record-breaking batsman the opportunity to press for an England recall, after being sacked in February 2014 following the Ashes whitewash defeat in Australia. Pietersen cleared the way for a return to The Oval by agreeing a release from the majority of his Indian Premier League contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad - which clashed with the start of the English domestic season - and he will be available for Surrey's first County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff on April 19. Encouraged by new England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves' indication that he may be back in the mix if he can impress again in county cricket, the 34-year-old Pietersen has two months to do that if he is to achieve his dream of a Test recall in time for this summer's Ashes rematch. Kevin Pietersen will have nine County Championship matches at the most to impress England's selectors . He's secured a released from Sunrisers Hyderabad to stake his claim for an England return in the Ashes . Pietersen told Surrey's website kiaoval.com: 'I'm absolutely thrilled to be back at Surrey. 'It's a club very close to my heart - and (director of cricket) Alec Stewart, (coach) Graham Ford and everyone at the club has been exceptionally supportive. 'There is a fantastic group of lads here, and I hope we can deliver what the great Surrey fans want to see - lots of runs and comprehensive victories.' Pietersen also wrote in his column in the Telegraph: 'When I heard Colin Graves say that I would be considered for selection again if I play county cricket and score runs I realised I had the opportunity for a fresh start. I always said this was not about money and I will be donating my full Surrey wage to my foundation. 'Even if this does not work out and I do not get back in the England team, I will at least end my career knowing I gave it another shot. I would kick myself for a long time if I walked away now without having a go. 'A lot of people thought I would not be prepared to put in the hard yards and play county cricket but I will do anything to get that England cap back on my head.' Pietersen will donate his full salary from Surrey to his KP24 foundation . Imminent Surrey signing Pietersen says he will 'do everything in my power to earn a recall' with England . Stewart added: 'A Kevin Pietersen with ambitions to play for England and a real determination to score big runs for Surrey will be a huge asset to us.' The apparent clinching development in Pietersen's negotiations to rejoin the club which de-registered him at the end of last season was the Sunrisers' willingness to release him from the majority of his contract. Pietersen would have been in India for more than seven weeks - and Surrey, for whom he played only Twenty20 cricket last summer, did not appear immediately keen to secure his services again unless they knew his availability would be more comprehensive this time. The controversial South Africa-born batsman's ambition to play for England again may not depend entirely on him demonstrating form and fitness. But irrespective of mixed messages from the ECB, that is where he must start. He was described by ECB managing director Paul Downton as 'disengaged' during England's heavy defeat in Sydney almost 15 months ago - his last Test to date, in which the Ashes whitewash was completed. Pietersen was axed by England following their 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia last winter . Pietersen in action for Surrey in the Natwest T20 Blast last summer . Pietersen started the year by playing more short form cricket for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash . Weeks later, Pietersen was sacked - in a meeting attended by Downton and also Test captain Alastair Cook. Downton, Cook, national selector James Whitaker and returning coach Peter Moores - contrary to the tone of Graves' remarks - have all reiterated, in their different forms of words, that Pietersen remains firmly on the outside as far as they are concerned. England embark on a three-Test tour to West Indies, without Pietersen of course, early next month - and have already been left in no doubt by Graves, set to begin his tenure officially in May, that victory over what he describes as 'mediocre' opponents is non-negotiable. While they are busy with their Caribbean mission, Pietersen has his chance to impress and make headlines on home soil - and therefore put his name back in the mix in time for the start of the Ashes in July. +Five Chelsea supporters suspected of involvement in an incident in Paris in which a black man was prevented from boarding a train will fight applications to impose football banning orders, a court heard. Controversy erupted when fans were filmed singing racist chants and refusing to let the man on the Paris Metro train ahead of the west London club's match against Paris Saint-Germain last month. Several Chelsea supporters chanted: 'We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it.' Richard Barklie of Northern Ireland leaves Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on Wednesday . Barklie and four other men appeared at court in regards to a police application for football banning orders . Jordan Munday, 20, of Sidcup also appeared at the north-east London court . The Metropolitan Police are applying for football banning orders to be imposed on five men who they believe were involved in the incident. They all attended Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court in north-east London for a preliminary hearing. They are: Richard Barklie, 50, Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland; Dean Callis, 32, Islington, north London; Jordan Munday, 20, Sidcup, south-east London; Josh Parsons, 20, Dorking and William Simpson, 26, Ashford, Surrey. Joshua Parsons leaves Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court after the preliminary hearing . William Simpson, seen here leaving the court, was one of five men who appeared in regards to a police application for football banning orders . Prosecutor Ian Rees Phillips told the court - which was packed with legal representatives and reporters from the UK and France - that the five men opposed the implementation of the banning orders. District Judge Mary Connolly said the orders would involve severe restrictions to civil liberties. They are designed as a preventative measure to stop potential troublemakers from travelling to football matches at home and abroad. The French commuter kept off the train, Souleymane S, has said the incident 'destroyed' him and left him unable to work or travel on public transport. He said his children had been left 'traumatised' by reports of what happened and that he had become depressed. The men were smartly dressed in suits as they sat in the court during the short hearing. The case was adjourned for an administrative hearing at Thames Magistrates' Court, east London, on June 5. The full hearing is expected to last two days and will take place at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on July 15 and 16. 32-year-old Dean Callis leaves the court after attending the preliminary hearing . Souleymane S, a black man, was prevented getting on a train by Chelsea fans in Paris in February . Fans appeared to be chanting: 'We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it' The five Chelsea fans suspected of being involved in the disgraceful incident have been suspended from attending matches . Barklie, a former policeman, has previously apologised for his involvement on the night of the incident. The ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary and Police Service of Northern Ireland officer insisted he was not a racist person. A spokesman for the law firm representing him said: 'He did not participate in racist chanting and singing and condemns any behaviour supporting that. 'He accepts he was involved in an incident when a person now known to him as Souleymane S was unable to enter a part of the train. 'He has an account to give to police which will explain the context and circumstances as they prevailed at that particular time.' Jose Mourinho (left) admitted he felt 'ashamed' by the racially-motivated incident involving Chelsea fans . Souleymane S says he is still traumatised and has not accepted the invitation to watch a game in London . Chelsea fans unfurled a 'Black or white, we're all blue' banner during last month's clash at home to Burnley . A picture emerged of finance worker Parsons posing with Ukip leader Nigel Farage, but the party denied that he is a member and claimed that it has never heard of him. His manager at the Business and Commercial Finance Club in Mayfair said he faced disciplinary action at work if he was charged over the incident. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said the club was 'appalled' by the racial abuse, adding that owner Roman Abramovich was also 'disgusted'. An investigation revealed earlier this week that Chelsea supporters have been involved in the highest number of reported racist incidents as they travelled to and from matches on trains. The British Transport Police said that since 2012 it had dealt with 15 incidents of alleged racism involving Chelsea fans, the most of any club in the country. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Spurs claim him as one of their own. Arsenal fans beg to differ. But it is starting to get to the point now where, for the rest of football, it doesn’t really matter. Match by match, week by week, Harry Kane is announcing himself as the kind of talent who will soon belong to all of us. Kane did not just score the two clinically taken goals that took Tottenham to victory over QPR at Loftus Road on Saturday and lifted them into the scrap for the Champions League places. He led the line with authority and verve. He was not only the best finisher; he was a constant source of creativity, too. The England manager, Roy Hodgson, watched from the directors’ box and it must surely have reached the stage now where naming Kane in his squad for the forthcoming matches against Lithuania and Italy later this month is a formality. Harry Kane celebrates putting Tottenham ahead at QPR with his first half header . Kane gets to the ball first to head home past Rob Green in the QPR goal . Kane is alert to get to the ball first and head home the opening goal of the game . Kane celebrates with team-mates after heading Spurs into the lead . Kane watches his header nestle in the back of the net after beating Green to the ball . Kane and Nabil Bentaleb walk back to their half after the goal as Bobby Zamora and Austin wait to kick off . Kane has not just knocked on Hodgson’s door. He has smashed straight through it. The sub-plot in west London was that the Tottenham striker won his personal goalscoring duel with Charlie Austin. Kane has now scored in six consecutive away games for Spurs, whose victory took them to within three points of Manchester United, the side sitting uneasily in fourth place. Kane’s 15th and 16th league goals of the season also lifted him above Austin in the goalscoring charts. Only Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa, of Chelsea, have scored more. Austin did not do his own reputation any harm with another full-blooded performance brimming with threat and endeavour, but he could not prevent his team from being dragged deeper into the mire at the foot of the table. Austin crashed one left-footed shot off the underside of the bar, leaving Chris Ramsey ruing his side’s bad luck and complaining about two penalty decisions that did not go his way. QPR (4-4-2): Green 7; Onuoha 6.5, Caulker 6.5, Ferdinand 6.5, Suk-Young 6.5; Isla 6.5 (Hoilett 71, 6), Sandro 7 (Wright-Phillips 90), Henry 6.5 (Grego-Cox 88), Phillips 7; Austin 7, Zamora 6.5. Subs not used: McCarthy, Hill, Kranjcar, Comley. Manager: Chris Ramsey - 6.5 . Booked: Henry. Goal: Sandro 75 . Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Walker 6.5, Dier 6.5, Vertonghen 6.5, Davies 6; Bentaleb 7.5, Mason 7; Chadli (Lamela 79), Eriksen 6.5 (Stambouli 88), Townsend 6 (Dembele 65); Kane 8 . Subs not used: Vorm, Fazio, Rose, Soldado . Manager: Mauricio Pochettino - 7 . Booked: Bentaleb, Mason. Goals: Kane 34, 68 . Referee: Craig Pawson - 6.5 . Attendance: 17,992 . Spurs move up to sixth in the table . Harry Kane made a telling contribution during Spurs' win over QPR - Click here to see more from Sportsmail's Match Zone . Kane celebrates scoring his second goal of the game to put Spurs in control in the match . Kane takes the ball round Green before slotting the ball into the goal to make it 2-0 . Kane slots the ball into an empty net after going round Green in the QPR goal . Kane took his chance to impress in front of England manager Roy Hodgson who was in the stands . Even though QPR mounted a spirited late comeback, they were again undone by familiar defensive failings that leave them in danger of being cut adrift. Defender Rio Ferdinand was singled out for particular criticism from disgruntled home supporters, but it was a collective failure at the back that undid Ramsey’s team. ‘We need to go away and regroup,’ the QPR head coach said. Rangers had started the match well. Striker Bobby Zamora forced a flying save out of Hugo Lloris inside 60 seconds but referee Craig Pawson got his own afternoon off to a poor beginning by awarding a goal-kick. Spurs soon shook off their uncertainty, though, and five minutes later Kane met a cross from Kyle Walker at the near post with a glancing header and brought a brilliant point-blank save out of Robert Green. This time, even Mr Pawson realised it was a corner. The half sank into a stalemate until a defensive error by Walker almost allowed QPR to snatch the lead. The England full-back attempted a headed backpass but Austin saw it coming and intercepted it, turning it goalwards. Lloris got his hand to the ball and scrambled it clear. Even though Tottenham were dominating possession and Christian Eriksen was orchestrating play beautifully, the best chance of the half fell to QPR after half an hour. Sandro celebrates his goal with QPR team-mate Yun Suk-Young . Sandro scores from the edge of the area to pull a goal back for QPR but they are unable to draw level . Sandro's shot beats Hugo Lloris and goes into the bottom corner of the goal to bring QPR back into the game . Charlie Austin has an attempt on goal after beating the offside trap . Austin watches his shot beat Lloris but come back off the cross bar and away to safety . Austin reacts after missing a chance to score for QPR during the game with Tottenham . Matt Phillips played the ball into the box and when it ran on to Austin, his left-footed rising drive beat Lloris but smashed against the underside of the bar and away to safety. On the QPR bench, Ramsey held his head in his hands. All of QPR’s efforts were undone 10 minutes before half time when Andros Townsend floated a free kick into their box. None of the QPR defenders attacked the ball, Nedum Onuoha ducked under it and Kane beat Green to the ball to head it past the onrushing keeper and into the empty net. Luck ran against the home team before the interval when Mauricio Isla ran on to a clever through ball from Steven Caulker and appeared to be brought down by Lloris. To bitter protests from QPR, referee Pawson waved play on. Kane showed in stoppage time at the end of the half what a fine all-round player he is becoming with a fine pass out to Townsend. Townsend’s shot took an awkward deflection and Green scrambled to his right to push it out. And Spurs began the second half in the same vein when a ferocious, whipped shot from Eriksen beat the despairing dive of Green only to rebound off the inside of a post. Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris is left standed as QPR's Mauricio Isla has an attempt on goal . QPR striker Austin beats Jan Vertonghen to the ball and gets his shot away on goal . Sandro looks to win the ball while surrounded by Spurs duo Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend . Both Chris Ramsey and Mauricio Pochettino do their best to get their message across to their players . QPR were desperately trying to stay in touch now and it took some desperate defending to stop Spurs extending their lead. Kane showed great vision again to play in Walker on the right and when Green smothered his attempted cross, Eriksen followed up with a crisp volley that was blocked on the line by Austin. QPR couldn’t hold Spurs at bay any longer, though, and midway through the half, Kane put the match out of their reach. He beat the offside trap and ran on to a ball from Ryan Mason, whose energy and ability will also have caught Hodgson’s eye, before taking the ball round Green and sliding it into an empty net. That goal sparked a frantic QPR fightback. Fifteen minutes from the end, Austin, who had worked himself into the ground, crossed for Zamora. He laid the ball back into the path of the Brazilian, Sandro, whose neat side-foot beat Lloris low to his left. Rangers then laid siege to the Spurs goal in the dying minutes but Tottenham defended stoutly and Ramsey’s team were left to rue their shortcomings at the back and contemplate an increasingly forlorn fight for Premier League survival. Ramsey, whose side have lost their last three games, was asked after the match whether he would pick Kane for England. ‘Me?’ he said, smiling. ‘Yes, I would. But the way I’m going, I’m not likely to be in that position any time soon.’ Matt Phillips wins the ball from Spurs midfielder Mason as Sandro watches on . Spurs defender Eric Dier chases the ball under pressure from QPR striker Austin . Tottenham's Townsend (left) looks to win the ball ahead of QPR's Phillips . QPR's Rio Ferdinand gives orders to his team-mates during the game at Loftus Road . Pochettino and Ramsey shake hands before kick off and share a joke . Hodgson was in the stands at Loftus Road with a number of potential England players on display - including Austin and Kane . +Mauricio Pochettino isn’t the selfie type. So when the Tottenham manager slipped his camera phone out at Loftus Road on Saturday, you couldn’t help but notice. ‘My family was in the stands, my two sons (Maurizio, 13, and Sebastiano, 20) and my older brother (Javier). They were sitting just behind the goal in the top tier. ‘My brother is over from Argentina, he came over for the Capital One Cup final. They have the chance to go to the executive box or be in a better area but they prefer to sing the songs with the fans. So I took the photo as a souvenir. It was a fantastic moment for me and them. It was the first time I’ve done it in my career.’ Mauricio Pochettino took a photo the Spurs fans at Loftus Road as his family were among them . Harry Kane heads past Robert Green to give Tottenham the lead over QPR at Loftus Road . Spurs striker Kane celebrates as his goals keep Tottenham in the hunt for a top four finish . Javier still works on the farm where 43-year-old Pochettino grew up in Argentina’s Murphy province. Their career paths have taken different directions but that doesn’t stop Javier providing his younger, more high-profile brother with an honest assessment. ‘He is very honest — sometimes too much! He’s six years older than me. He works on the farm and watches every game live, all the games are on in Argentina.’ Whether Javier, Maurizio and Sebastiano joined in with the Harry Kane ‘He’s one of our own’ chant is not known. They certainly had the chances to do so as two more goals took Kane’s tally to 26 for the season. He is certain to be in the England squad when Roy Hodgson, who was at Loftus Road, picks his players for the clashes against Lithuania and Italy later this month. But another ‘one of their own’, Ryan Mason, would also have impressed Hodgson. ‘Is Mason close to a call-up? The question is not for me, but Roy,’ said Pochettino, whose side face Manchester United next week. Ryan Mason (left) has been linked with an England call-up after his impressive form for Tottenham . Chris Ramsey refused to get carried away with a points target after QPR lost to Tottenham . ‘This is Ryan’s first full season, even though he is 23, but he has potential to improve and, like Harry, he is progressing in a very good way.’ For QPR, however, defeat left Chris Ramsey’s side in the drop zone and preparing for a relegation battle. ‘I don’t think it’s worth setting points targets. You can only control what you can control and the points target now is three points in the next game,’ said Ramsey. +Alex Song faces an uncertain future after it emerged that West Ham have huge reservations over a permanent deal to sign the midfielder. Song has spent the season on loan at Upton Park from Barcelona, but his form has dramatically dipped in the second half of the season. The former Arsenal midfielder, who has a contract at the Nou Camp until 2017, earns £80,000-a-week. Alex Song faces an uncertain future with West Ham reluctant to sign him permanently when his loan spell ends . Song impressed in the first half of the season at West Ham but his former has significantly dipped of late . West Ham, who were impressed with his early performances for the club, are reluctant to sign him permanently when his loan spell ends because of his wages. Despite a promising start under Sam Allardyce, his recent performances have come under increased scrutiny in the West Ham boardroom. Cameroon midfielder was subbed in two recent heavy defeats but played a full 90 minutes against Sunderland . Despite a promising start under Sam Allardyce, Song may now be sent back to Barcelona at the season's end . He was substituted in the defeat against Crystal Palace earlier this month and also taken off during the 4-0 crushing by West Brom in the FA Cup tie at the Hawthorns in February. Song, 27, played the full 90 minutes of West Ham’s 1-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday, but the Hammers are preparing to send him back to the Nou Camp at the end of the season. Song now faces returning to the Camp Nou where he has found playing opportunities restricted . +Brittany Maynard says in a video recorded 19 days before her assisted suicide death that no one should have to leave their home to legally end their life under doctor's care. The 29-year-old California woman had terminal brain cancer and moved with her family to Oregon before killing herself last November. 'Unfortunately, California law prevented me from getting the end-of-life option I deserved,' she said in the recording released Wednesday, hours ahead of a Senate health committee hearing on the issue. 'No one should have to leave their home and community for peace of mind, to escape suffering, and to plan for a gentle death.' Scroll down for video . Speaking from beyond the grave: Brittany Maynard, the terminally-ill woman who became the face of the right-to-die movement, appeared in a new video released by her family on Wednesday in support of a California bill legalizing assisted suicide. The 29-year-old moved to Oregon last year to apply for fatal drugs and died in November . Staying strong: Maynard's widow, Dan Diaz, stands to the right of a television screen airing the video at the California State Capitol on Wednesday . While Maynard appeared calm and collected through most of the video, she did turn passionate when she spoke about her state government forced her move to states in order to get the drugs she needed to end her life. 'How dare the government make decisions or limit options for terminally ill people like me,' Maynard said. 'Making aid in dying a crime creates undue hardships and suffering for many people who are terminally ill and suffering tremendously. 'The laws in California and 45 other states must change to prevent prolonged, involuntary suffering for all terminally ill Americans. 'Freedom from prolonged pain and suffering is a most basic human right,' Maynard says. While the video played, Maynard's husband Dan Diaz stood to the side and fought back tears. Tragedy: Maynard found out that she had terminal brain cancer a little more than a year after she married Diaz . When she spoke to reporters afterwards, he said that assisted suicide isn't for everyone, but that every American should have the option of dying the way they want. 'What my wife did on Nov. 1 was by her design,' Diaz said. 'She avoided a painful, drawn out process and harmed no one else.' Maynard's mother,  Deborah Zieglar, also spoke, saying: 'Life is more than breathing air in and out of your body. The definition of a good life and a good death varies person to person. Californians need the freedom to deal with terminal illness as they determine.' The bill is expected to face a strong challenge, led by medical and religious groups. Opponents see huge consequences for allowing doctors to prescribe fatal drugs. Among the opponents are other terminally ill patients such as Kara Tippetts, a 38-year-old Colorado mother of four, who wrote an open letter to Maynard in October urging her not to end her life. Tippetts wrote that suffering can be 'the place where true beauty can be known.' She died this month of breast cancer. Advocates for aid-in-dying laws say legislators in at least 17 states have introduced similar measures this year. But past proposals have foundered in statehouses amid emotionally charged debates and strong opposition. Loved: Maynard died in her Oregon home in November, surrounded by her husband, parents and other members of her family . Some medical groups say prescribing life-ending medication violates a doctor's oath to do no harm, while some advocates for people with disabilities fear some sick patients would feel pressured to end their lives to avoid being a financial burden. Advocates have said they would consider taking the issue to voters if it fails in the Legislature. The practice is legal in five states, including Oregon. The other states are Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington. Before her death, Maynard had made her case public with online videos, which were viewed tens of millions of times. Maynard's husband, Dan Diaz, and her mother, Deborah Ziegler, joined state lawmakers in Sacramento on Wednesday to release her taped testimony in support of Senate Bill 128. The proposal by Sens. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, and Lois Wolk, D-Davis, would allow terminally ill patients to kill themselves in California with drugs and dosages recommended by a doctor. +Police hold serious concerns for a 16-year-old girl who is missing after failing to return home from school on Wednesday. Investigators say Michelle Keating's disappearance is out of character and are urging the public to keep a look out for her. The brown haired teen was last seen in her school uniform, which has been described as a grey jacket and maroon dress, at her school in Melbourne. Scroll down for video . Michelle Keating, 16, is missing after failing to return home from school in Melbourne on Wednesday . She never made it home to her house in Newport, in Melbourne’s south-west. A Victoria Police appeal said: ‘Investigators have released an image of Michelle in the hope that someone may have information regarding her current whereabouts.’ Anyone who sees her is urged to call Triple Zero (000) immediately. +The last thing a Chinese man was looking for when he was out digging was a Marvel superhero. But that's exactly what Pan Yi found when he unearthed a kudzu vine tuber which looks uncannily like Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy film. He was out digging with a friend deep in the mountains in Shiyan in central China's Hubei Province. A woman poses with the kudzu vine tuber which looks uncannily like Marvel character Groot (right) The tuber was dug up in Shiyan in Hubei Province in central China by Pan Yi while he was out with a friend . Kudzu's root, flower, and leaf have been used in traditional Chinese medicine since at least 200 BC. Groot (right) originally appeared as an invader of earth was reintroduced as a heroic, noble being in 2006 . The tree-like humanoid was originally a Marvel comic book character before the 2014 film and first appeared in graphic novels in 1960. Groot originally appeared as an invader that intended to capture humans for experimentation but was reintroduced as a heroic, noble being in 2006. The character certainly never appeared out of the ground in rural China. The unusually-shaped kudzu caused quite a stir and plenty of people were keen to pose with it. The large tuber is practically the same size as Pan Yi himself, who was interviewed about his unusual find. Kudzu's root, flower, and leaf have been used in traditional Chinese medicine since at least 200 BC. Today, kudzu is used to treat alcoholism and to reduce symptoms of a hangover. It is also used for heart and circulatory problems, upper respiratory problems and skin problems. Tree-like humanoid was originally a Marvel comic book character before the 2014 film and first appeared in graphic novels in 1960 . A young boy and Pan Yi himself (right) pose with the human-like tuber. Kudzu is used to treat alcoholism . +German international Sami Khedira admits it will be hard to leave Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season. The central midfielder, 27, has not agreed a new deal with the club and has been linked with a return to the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich and Schalke possible destinations. A switch to the Premier League has also been mooted but Khedira says he will fight for the club until the day he leaves, which he will do with a heavy heart. Sami Khedira admits he will find it hard to leave Real Madrid when his contract expires later this year . Khedira has struggled with injuries this season and has lost his place in midfield at the Bernabeu . 'I love Real Madrid, it will be hard to leave this club,' Khedira said according to Marca. 'I will give everything for this shirt until the last day of my contract, there should be no doubt about that.' Khedira has come in for heavy criticism this season and has lost his place in midfield to Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, while young Brazilian Lucas Silva was signed in January. The former Stuttgart man hasn't featured since the disappointing Champions League defeat by Schalke, when he was the subject of abuse from fans after the game. Khedira takes part in a drill in a Germany training session with team-mate Mesut Ozil . +Juventus striker Alvaro Morata has slammed Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti for leaving him on the bench without an explanation last season. The Spaniard left Madrid last summer and joined Serie A champions Juventus in search of first team football, where he has scored seven goals in 22 appearances. Speaking of his last few months in Madrid, Morata told Onda Cero: 'I do not understand what happened – I went from playing well to being sat on the bench. Alvaro Morata has claimed he had 'barely any relationship' with Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti . 'I wasn't asking to be in every starting line-up, but I wanted better treatment. 'I barely had any relationship with Ancelotti. Massimiliano Allegri, for better or worse, is very aware of my presence within the squad.' Morata, who is currently on international duty with Spain, is also hoping to take advantage of Diego Costa's absence from national squad. Costa was forced to pull out of the squad after picking up a hamstring injury during Chelsea's 3-2 victory against Hull last Sunday. The Spanish frontman struggled to find a regular first team spot under Italian boss Ancelotti . Morata joined Juve from Real Madrid after coming through the European champions' youth ranks . 'I will have to work very hard to get any playing time,' he told a news conference at Spain's training base outside Madrid on Tuesday. 'There are a lot of people who are in great shape and it will be tough to get into the side but I will give my all,' he added. 'I am playing well for my team. I am very happy with my season and I am coming here to enjoy myself, to try to perform and to learn.' With four matches played, Spain are second in Euro 2016 qualification Group C on nine points, three behind leaders Slovakia, who beat them 2-1 in Zilina in October, and level with Ukraine. Morata celebrates after scoring his side's second goal against Borussia Dortmund last week . +Every new mum is desperate to show off her little ones - and this lioness is no different, even if that means having to put up with becoming a climbing frame for an afternoon. The proud mother was spotted playing with her six young cubs in the Masai Mara, in Kenya, by French photographers Laurent Renaud and Dominique Haution. However, should they get too rowdy, it is only too clear who is boss - as the pictures clearly show. Scroll down for video . Placid: The lioness might be a honed killer, but she is gentle as anything with her young brood . Adorable: The relaxed lioness with one of her six young cubs climbing over her . Sibling rivalry? The cubs were seen play fighting together while the lioness looked on . Young: It is thought the lion cubs were only about six weeks old when they were photographed . But while most lionesses keep their cubs out of the limelight, this one seemed keen to make sure the photographers captured their best side. 'It was a beautiful and touching moment,' Ms Haution revealed. 'The whole family were extraordinarily cute. Mum was definitely showing off her new cubs. 'Normally, lionesses will hide their children away from predators. But she was so proud, carrying them out into the open in her mouth for us to see. 'You could see how happy she was when the cubs were climbing all over her. 'It just shows that even the biggest beasts can show love.' Indeed, the photos captured the youngsters clambering across the predator - who doesn't bat an eyelid. Roar: The cubs may still be tiny, but there is already a hint of the lions they will grow up to be . Friendly: But in other shots, the cubs look so sweet they could be household pets . Victory: But being the winner is still important - as this cub seems to be learning . Control: However, the cubs were left in no doubt of who was in charge when push came to shove . Ms Haution believes the cubs are around six weeks old, which presented a difficulty when trying to photograph them all. She said: 'There were about six in total, but they were running around all over the place so it was hard to capture them all. 'They are so adorable though. Big family: The photographers believe there may have been as many as six cubs, but it was hard to tell . Serene: This little cub seems remarkably calm about being bitten by its sibling . Happy:  'It is hard to believe that they grow up into be king of the jungle when they look as cute as they do in these photos,' said photographer Dominiqye Haution . 'It is hard to believe that they grow up into be king of the jungle when they look as cute as they do in these photos. 'They were playing just like kittens the way they were playing with each other. 'A couple of the cubs looked like they had their arms around one another.' +Roy Hodgson has never called up a League Two player to one of his international squads, but that didn't stop Adebayo Akinfenwa trying his luck with the England manager. The AFC Wimbledon powerhouse met Hodgson at the London Football Awards at Battersea Evolution on Thursday, and was quick to ask for a picture with the 67-year-old. He later uploaded it to Instagram, admitting: 'I've got to say he is actually a kool (sic) & humble guy, we had a good chat. VIDEO Scroll down to see Sportsmail's Adam Shergold take on 'The Beast' at arm-wrestling . Adebayo Akinfenwa (right) posed for a photo with the England manager Roy Hodgson in London . The AFC Wimbledon striker has scored 13 goals this season, including a memorable one against Liverpool . 'I did ask if I could be considered for a cheeky England call up but don't think he was having a bar of it. Never mind, I will stick to gym & chicken #Banter.' Akinfenwa has scored 13 goals for the League Two outfit this season, including one on a memorable night against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Hodgson will have his mind focused on picking an England squad for the upcoming March matches, but on a night when Harry Kane scooped the award for 'Young Footballer of the Year', the England manager's thoughts are unlikely to be with Akinfenwa. Akinfenwa wheels away in celebration after scoring against Liverpool in the FA Cup in January . The 32-year-old admitted he asked the England manager for a 'cheeky call-up', but was rebuffed . +Tottenham defender Danny Rose has withdrawn from the England squad to face Lithuania and Italy through injury. Rose was called into the squad after Luke Shaw withdrew on Saturday with a hamstring problem. But the left-back has now been sent back to his club with an injury of his own. Tottenham defender Danny Rose (centre) has withdrawn from the England squad to face Lithuania . Rose puts in a strong challenge on Leicester striker Leonardo Ulloa during Tottenham's 4-3 win on Saturday . An FA statement released on Wednesday night read: 'Tottenham Hotspur's Danny Rose has withdrawn from the England camp through injury. 'The left-back will play no further part in preparation for the forthcoming fixtures against Lithuania and Italy and has returned to his club.' After enjoying a good season with Tottenham, Rose was in line to make his England debut in either the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday or the friendly in Italy four days later. Rose was called into the squad after Luke Shaw (right) withdrew on Saturday with a hamstring problem . But the 24-year-old is now back at Spurs having become the fifth player to pull out of the international double-header since Roy Hodgson announced his squad last week. Fraser Forster and Luke Shaw withdrew on Saturday and they were followed on Monday by Liverpool pair Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana. But Everton's Leighton Baines now looks set to start at left-back in both matches, provided he does not sustain an injury against Lithuania at Wembley. That there has been no replacement called up for Rose comes as something of a surprise as Ryan Bertrand has been enjoying a good season with Southampton. +I understand the angst that many Arsenal supporters feel over the future of the club under Arsene Wenger. I understand why a swathe of the club’s support has started to give up hope that Wenger can recreate the success he brought to the club more than a decade ago. I even started to inch in that direction myself last autumn after Arsenal made a poor start to this season. Sometimes, it feels like Wenger is the problem, not the solution. He is a stubborn man and it can be hard to defend the choices he makes. Arsene Wenger is facing increasing calls for his resignation from Arsenal fans after an undulating season . Wenger look despondently as Monaco tear Arsenal side apart in the last 16 first-leg Champions League tie . After the desperately dispiriting defeat by Monaco, Wenger will come under fierce scrutiny again when Arsenal visit Manchester United to contest an FA Cup quarter-final. Lose and people will say that their season is over. Lose and the ‘Wenger Out’ bandwagon, which is already accelerating, will move up another gear. Well, maybe they should be thinking about slamming the brakes on it instead. Because in the last five months, Arsenal have taken great strides forward. I don’t buy the idea that the club is standing still or even going backwards. The defeat by Monaco notwithstanding, there are real signs of progress at last. Put it this way, if you are an Arsenal fan, which team in the Premier League would you swap places with today? Look around. Which team looks more upwardly mobile or better set for the future than Wenger’s side? Manchester City? I don’t think so. City are creaking. They’re starting to look like a side at the end of an old cycle, not at the start of a new one. Manchester United? Be serious. United may have spent lavishly under Louis van Gaal but they are beset by doubts about Radamel Falcao, Angel di Maria and Robin van Persie. And that’s before we start on their defence and the continuing absence of a dominating central midfield player. Despite all their lavish investment, Manchester City do not look like defending their Premier League crown . Angel di Maria has been a disappointment since joining Manchester United for £60m from Real Madrid . Spurs? Well, Tottenham might well be advancing under Mauricio Pochettino but they’re still a way away from the level they achieved under Harry Redknapp. Liverpool? Liverpool are looking good again under Brendan Rodgers and, like Arsenal, their prospects are improving. OK, so that leaves Chelsea. And everybody would swap with Chelsea at the moment, but the point is that Arsenal’s future looks bright again. It is easy, and valid, to point out the occasional failings of Per Mertesacker, but why not consider Arsenal’s array of attacking talent instead? Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla, Danny Welbeck, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and, yes, Olivier Giroud are formidable forward- thinking players close to their prime. And that’s before we talk about Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Debuchy, coming back from injury, and the emergence of Francis Coquelin as a holding midfielder. Calum Chambers has not made the strides expected of him since his summer move from Southampton but his qualities are not in doubt. Per Mertesacker winces during the defeat by Monaco, but Arsenal will surely strengthen their defence . Alexis Sanchez is surrounded by an embarrassment of attacking riches in the Arsenal ranks . There is no reason why he should not bolster Arsenal’s defence next season. If Wenger signs another central defender in the summer and perhaps a more experienced central midfielder, there is no reason why they should not challenge for the title next season. It would be a shame if Arsenal lost their nerve on Wenger now just when it feels as if they are on the verge of being real contenders again. Their victory over City at the Etihad in January was the clearest evidence yet of the fact they are casting off the inferiority complex they had developed against the other leading clubs. The tie against United, at the venue where they were humiliated 8-2 in 2011, will be another good test. Arsenal are the FA Cup holders, let’s not forget. There is plenty to suggest that they are about to re-emerge into the light. Defeat by United won’t change that even if it will, inevitably, lead to renewed calls for Wenger’s head. It has got to the stage now where some Arsenal fans behave as if Wenger is the only thing standing between them and the Premier League summit. There seems to be an assumption that, once liberated from the yoke of the professorial tyrant, Arsenal would be free to soar. Free to soar back to the top of the Premier League table as if that were their rightful place, as if that were the position that their history demanded. Wenger celebrates breaking his trophy drought last May... and more could follow if Arsenal hold their nerve . Wenger last won the Premier League title in 2004, and his side may well challenge for the title next season . There is another inconvenient truth here: even in the last 10 years under Wenger that fans like to characterise as a desert of achievement, Arsenal have played at a higher level than they had in the 30 years before he arrived. It may come as a surprise to some of those Arsenal fans who think that football began in 1992 but in the period from 1966 to Wenger’s arrival in 1996, Arsenal’s average position in the league was between sixth and seventh. Their traditional place in English football pre-Wenger was not in the top four. There is no worth in lionising Wenger just because of his longevity. Nor is he entitled to remain in situ because he is the father of the modern Arsenal and his achievements built the Emirates. But he worked stoically through the period of retrenchment that followed the building of the new stadium and kept Arsenal among the elite. It is only now that Wenger has been given the tools to aim for the top again. He has got Arsenal moving forward. He deserves the chance to try to finish the job. Stadiums no longer a haven for bigotry . The defenders of the faith bemoan the fact that you can’t do anything at a football ground these days without attracting sanction. Can’t throw bananas on to the pitch and make monkey chants like we used to because it will upset black supporters. Can’t sing songs about Auschwitz and Belsen or make hissing sounds to mimic gas chambers like we used to because it will upset Jewish supporters. Can’t sing songs using a derogatory term for people who have Down’s Syndrome because it might upset supporters who have kids with disabilities. Can’t even yell abuse at women in the directors’ box or sitting on the bench and sing songs urging them to get their kit off because it might upset female supporters. ‘It’s getting ridiculous,’ the legions of the disaffected say. ‘What has happened to the football we used to know?’ Well, the answer is simple. What has happened is that our society has decided stadiums should no longer be havens for those who wish to vent their bigotry and their ignorance without fear of disapproval or repercussions. What has happened is that we have come to the conclusion that it is wrong for swathes of our population to be made to feel uncomfortable when they go to watch their team play. People can lament that if they wish to. The shame is that it has taken us this long to come to our senses. At least spitting doesn’t threaten careers . I have always found it hard to understand why biting a player on the shoulder during a football match and not even breaking the skin attracts far more opprobrium than snapping the same player’s leg with a terrible tackle, sending him to hospital and putting his entire career in doubt. Up to a point, it is the same with spitting. ‘If a player spat at me,’ Stoke striker Jon Walters said on Thursday, ‘he’d be eating his supper through a straw.’ I wonder if Walters has considered that if an opponent committed the altogether more acceptable offence of deliberately smashing his jaw with a swinging elbow, it would be Walters who would be eating through a straw. Jonny Evans appears to launch spit in the direction of the Newcastle United striker, who then retaliates . Manchester United defender Evans has received a six-match ban from the FA after the ugly incident . ‘There is nothing worse in football than spitting,’ player after player has said after the altercation between Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse at St James’ Park on Wednesday. I’m sorry but I don’t agree. There is nothing worse in football than depriving another man of his livelihood. Pathetic and unpleasant though it may be, spitting never threatens that. +Roy Hodgson has gained a wealth of experience during almost 40 years as a manager and will have sat through thousands of interviews. The 67-year-old boss, however, will never have been asked to have a conversation with an iPad on wheels while answering recorded questions from fans via an interactive 'Fanbot'. Hodgson reveals the toughest manager he’s ever faced in nearly 40 years in the dugout, which former England players he’d love to be able to call up to his current squad and who he'd choose between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Roy Hodgson will lead England out at Wembley ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday . HODGSON REVEALS ALL IN 4GEE FAN Q&A . What’s the best way for a young captain to get players playing together? I don’t think it’s the captain’s total responsibility. To get all of the team together and playing off the same hymn sheet and playing together as a team, I think that it’s a question of what goes on in the training sessions, what the coach or manager is asking of the players and encouraging the players to do. The captain plays an important role of course, as the game starts the manager or coach will have less chance to influence what’s happening on the field of play and that’s where the captain comes to the fore. He very much needs to be in tune with what the team is trying to do, how they’re trying to play and what’s s been agreed upon and hopefully what’s agreed upon has been a matter of discussion and work amongst the players and training staff. Hodgson believes as an England captain, Wayne Rooney must be in tune with the rest of the players . It’s also important that the players feel as though they trust their captain, hopefully look up to him but most importantly can go to the captain with their problems or doubts and with fears. And if he can’t answer himself with the problems they have he can at least point them in the right direction. It’s important for the captain to show he cares about all of the players and takes responsibility and, most importantly, accept that being captain puts more burden on him both before and after games, to lead from the front and if some of the unpleasant jobs sometimes need doing – with us at the level I’m talking about it can mean spending more time with the press or doing things for the commercial department. The captain sometimes has to take more of a share of that work than some of the other players, he is the captain, he is the one that everyone wants to see and talk to. He is the one of course who has the most responsibility. It’s a question of responsibility and making sure you’re a good listener. If you could pick one player from previous squads to be in your current squad, who would it be? From previous squads, well I suppose that depends on how far back you would go. When selecting players, of course there’s a question of what you need most at any one time. One’s tempted to look to centre forwards of course and Alan Sheerer would be an obvious choice for his goal-scoring ability. Also a guy like Bryan Robson was a fantastic captain for England and a tremendous midfield dynamo I would choose between those too. The Three Lions boss plumped for Alan Shearer (above) when asked to pick a player from previous squads . Who’s the best manager you’ve competed against? Usually it’s teams that concern me the most, and the players within the teams, but I’ve been lucky enough to have a long career to come across some very good ones. All the ones I’ve come across over the last eight or five years before taking this job, when I was in the Premier League, outside of that to national managers I would have to say Arrigo Sacchi. I would have to say he revolutionised Italian football, he was a big fan of English football. He based a lot of his ideas on what he had seen English teams do in the past. I enjoyed my battles with Arrigo when he was managing Italy and I was managing Switzerland and was lucky to get to know him and hear about his philosophies. Hodgson believes former Italy boss Arrigo Sacchi (centre) revolutionised Italian football . What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you during a game? It was during a qualifying match for Finland. We were playing against Serbia in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki when the game was held up for five or six minutes by an eagle owl, which was nested in the stands, decided it was going to fly up and down the pitch and land on the crossbar. It was an amazing sight because these birds are really, really big. It made the game all that more interesting for the spectators and luckily we won and the eagle owl was adopted as a mascot by the Finnish national team afterwards. Hodgson was answering recorded questions from supporters via a 'Fanbot' during a Q&A at Wembley . The 67-year-old manager also revealed his admiration for Swiss tennis star Roger Federer . Outside of football what athletes do you admire most, past or present? Not an easy one to answer – there are so many great athletes that have done such great things outside of my own sport, the sport I understand most. I would maybe look to tennis which is the sport I have played most outside of football. The two sporting heroes in that regard that have had great achievements are firstly Bjorn Borg, Swedish champion and latterly Roger Federer. Who was your favourite football player when growing up? I had three I guess going through the different stages of my youth. The first was at Crystal Palace, Johnny McNichol, and then there were two who were fairly contemporary but both shared my affections, one was Johnny Byrne at Palace and West Ham and the second was George Eastham when he came down to the Arsenal. If you could steal a player from an international team, who would it be? Good question – lots to choose from. I would plump for Lionel Messi. Hodgson chose Barcelona star Lionel Messi as the one player he would steal away from their national team . +World Cup champions Germany honoured the tragic loss of 150 lives in the Germanwings plane disaster in the French Alps with a minute's silence ahead of their friendly against Australia. Joachim Low's side also wore black armbands in tribute after the crash near Digne on Tuesday left no survivors with the fatalities including 16 schoolchildren. The crowd and players alike shared in solemn silence before kick-off against the recently crowned Asian Cup champions at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslautern. The German team observes a minute's silence before their match against Australia in a plane tragedy tribute . The crowd, officials and Australia side join the Germans as they honour the 150 lives lost in the French Alps . A fan holds a sign reading 'R.I.P 4U9525', the number of the Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf . Earlier on Wednesday, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich held their own minute's silences at training. Around half the victims in the crash are believed to be German and national Football Association president Wolfgang Niersbach said before the match: 'It is the one clear thought which overshadows everything else. 'We owe it to the victims and their families that the football family share in their grief,' he said of the German FA's website. National team manager Oliver Bierhoff added: 'We are deeply saddened and stunned. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.' Germany's starting XI stand arm-in-arm wearing black armbands after the tragedy in the French Alps . German defender Benedikt Howedes holds a sign saying 'Haltern mourn' in relation to the plane crash . +The sun that attracts most people to southern Florida was torture for Heather Watson on Wednesday but she refused to wilt in her best unyielding fashion. The British No 1 was resilient in the fierce mid-day heat, and edged closer to beating her career-high ranking with a sometimes agonising 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina to make the Miami Open second round. Having beaten a host of highly regarded players to reach the fourth round of Indian Wells last week, she nearly came unstuck against the nuggety Russian, ranked a modest 95 in the world. It was a testament to Watson’s fighting qualities, rather than an advert for the silky skills of the WTA Tour, but hardly less worthy for that. Heather Watson celebrates during her three sets victory over Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina . Watson is currently ranked 41 in the world, three off her all-time best. She now faces Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the number fifteen seed, who has tumbled out of the top ten and is scratching around for any kind of form in 2015. The British No 1 is having to do it solo as well, as the only female player from Wimbledon’s host nation to inhabit the top 150 in Laura Robson’s absence. It is a bleak situation, and there seems little in the way of any coherent performance plan from the Lawn Tennis Association to improve things. The 22 year-old from Guernsey usually benefits in these conditions from having spent much of her teenage years in Florida, although not much can make the kind of steaming heat encountered on Wednesday much more comfortable . 26-year-old Evgeniya Rodina hits a forehand during the prolonged contest in Miami with Watson . British No 1 Heather Watson with coach Diego Veronelli during her Miami Open round one win . Watson keeps her eye on the ball during a tough three sets victory in sweltering conditions in Miami . After recovering from a start that made it hard to believe she had beaten Agnieszka Radwanska last week – her first top ten scalp – Watson appeared to have cracked her opponent by forging a 5-2 lead in the third. When serving for it at 5-3, however, she could not finds a first serve and was broken. She just about squeezed through when she broke Rodina at 6-5, the Russian hurling her racket across the court on the final point that she lost via a net cord. Earlier Andy Murray had found out his opponent in the second round of the men’s event to be played on Friday after receiving a bye. American Donald Young, who he beat recently in the Davis Cup, went through when his opponent Yen Hsun Lu defaulted with injury at 1-5 down. British youngster Kyle Edmund is due to be play Wednesday evening in the first round against Dutchman Robin Haase. Watson shakes hands with her Russian opponent having prevailed 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the Miami Open first round . +A late Lukas Podolski strike from an Andre Schurrle cross saved Germany from back-to-back home defeats by Australia at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslautern. Podolski rescued the World Cup champions nine minutes from time with his 48th goal for his country as he combined with his fellow substitute and former Premier League outcast. The Socceroos' last visit to Germany in 2011 ended in a 2-1 shock loss for the hosts in Monchengladbach and it looked to be going that way again for much of the second half when captain Mile Jedinak gave his side the lead with a sensational curling free-kick. Lukas Podolski celebrates scoring the 81st-minute equaliser for Germany against Australia . Podolski got on the end of a cross from fellow substitute Andre Schurrle to level things up . The German side appear relieved as they avoid a second home defeat by Australia in a row . Germany: Zieler, Mustafi, Howedes, Badstuber (Rudy 46mins), Bellarabi (Schurrle 64), Khedira (Kramer 63), Gundogan, Hector, Ozil, Reus (Kruse 73), Gotze (Podolski 73) Subs not used: Weidenfeller, Boateng, Hummels, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Schurrle . Goals: Reus 17, Podolski 81 . Australia: Ryan, Franjic, Wilkinson (Wright 78), Devere, Davidson, Jedinak, Milligan (Mooy 69), McKay (Bozanic 77), Burns (Oar 61), Leckie, Troisi (Juric 87) Subs not used: Federici, Behich, Elrich, Ikonomidis . Goals: Troisi 40, Jedinak 50 . Marco Reus gave Germany the lead in the 17th minute when he met the Sami Khedira cross zipped across the face of goal. James Troisi hit back for the recently crowned Asian Cup champions with a header from Nathan Burns' pinpoint cross. Then, five minutes into the second half, Crystal Palace stalwart and Socceroos captain nailed a perfect curling free-kick that left German keeper Ron-Robert Zieler flailing and in the back of his own net with the ball. History was on the visitors' side at this stadium. It was here that Australia made history with their first goal and first win in a World Cup when they beat Japan 3-1 in 2006. Their star striker Tim Cahill, who scored a double that night, was out injured here after being instrumental in delivering Australia's first major trophy win after beating South Korea in extra-time in January. Before kick-off, Real Madrid's Toni Kroos was given the 2014 Germany Player of the Year award but he wasn't required off the bench where at full time he had some star-studded company among the unused subs in Jerome Boateng, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels. Germany's Marco Reus finds the back of the net with his studs to give the hosts a 17th-minute lead . Reus gets on the end of a powerfully struck pass across goal from Sami Khedira to make it 1-0 . Germany's celebration is low key as they take the lead over Australia, the Asian Cup champions . The Socceroos' James Troisi gets in front of his man Jonas Hector to equalise for the visitors . Troisi makes a beeline for Nathan Burns, the man who provided the pinpoint cross from the left . The Australians celebrate as the underdogs peg one back against the World Cup champions . Crystal Palace's Mile Jedinak strikes a free-kick over the towering German wall for Australia's second . German keeper Ron-Robert Zieler, in for injured Manuel Neuer, joins the ball in the back of the net . The entire Aussie line-up chase Jedinak down to join the celebrations on the sideline as they take the lead . Toni Kroos receives the Germany Player of The Year 2014 award prior to kick-off . A Germany fans went with dyed eyelashes while a Socceroos supporter took an inflatable kangaroo along . The crowd, officials and Australia side join the Germans as they honour the 150 lives lost in the French Alps . The German teams observes a minute's silence before their match against Australia in a plane tragedy tribute . Germany's starting XI stand arm-in-arm wearing black armbands after the tragedy in the French Alps . A fan holds a sign reading 'R.I.P 4U9525', the number of the Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf . German defender Benedikt Howedes holds a sign saying 'Haltern mourn' in relation to the Germanwings crash . +Chelsea have loaned Dutch Under 21 international Nathan Ake to Sky Bet Championship side Reading until April 22. The 20-year-old, who joined the Blues in the summer of 2011, has made 11 Chelsea first-team appearances, including games in the Champions League and was an unused substitute in the 2015 Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham. Ake, who can play as a defensive midfielder, left-back or centre-half and has a long-term contract at Stamford Bridge, will gain some more valuable experience with the Royals, who are now managed by former Chelsea assistant boss Steve Clarke. Chelsea have loaned Dutch Under 21 international Nathan Ake to Reading until April 22 . 'I am delighted to add a player of Nathan's quality to our first team squad at this important time of the season,' Clarke said on Reading's official website. 'He has been a fixture in Chelsea's first team squad this season and we are grateful that Chelsea have allowed him to join us here at Reading to get some competitive minutes on the pitch. 'He is a very talented player who I have been aware of for some time and I look forward to working with Nathan in the coming weeks.' Reading will face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley during Ake's loan spell, but the player is ineligible having played against Watford in round three. 20-year-old has made 11 first-team appearances for Chelsea since joining the club in the summer of 2011 . +Richard Scudamore’s elevation from CEO to Premier League chairman at Thursday's club summit will also see the world’s richest league have a new-look set of directors. But the board will remain remarkably different from the company director structure at the top of other multi-billion-pound businesses. The three-strong PL version is expected to consist of just Scudamore and two newly appointed independent directors to be unveiled on Thursday, who will hopefully provide some gender and race diversity. Richard Scudamore (left) will be elevated from CEO to Premier League chairman at Thursday's club summit and be joined by two newly appointed independent directors . FA chairman Greg Dyke will be under pressure to explain his campaign for more homegrown players . The formation, which will need a change of PL statutes, is at least a step nearer fit-for-purpose governance than the current two-man board of Scudamore and Peter McCormick, the interim chairman who is standing down. The PL still regard their six-times-a-year club summits as board meetings with their 20 shareholders, despite most of the top-flight foreign owners never bothering to attend. Meanwhile, FA chairman Greg Dyke has tended to keep quiet in PL meetings, but he will be under pressure on Thursday to explain his campaign for more homegrown players in PL squads to help the national team. Dyke has strong backing from UEFA for this initiative, which hasn’t been supported by the PL representatives on the FA board. It will not please Derby fans but the strong word is that their manager Steve McClaren is heading for Newcastle at the end of the season, irrespective of whether County are promoted. It would seem odd for McClaren, who will not comment about his future, to swap the solid Derby set-up for the madness of St James’ Park, but football rarely fails to surprise. Derby manager Steve McClaren is looking a strong possibility to head to Newcastle at the end of the season . Surrey were seemingly expecting their entire global membership to buy tickets for Kevin Pietersen’s return this season, judging by emails received on Wednesday from Ticketmaster confirming the purchase of seats. The botched memos went to the full Surrey database, much to the county’s embarrassment, with a phone message on the Oval ticket office voicemail telling callers to disregard the mass posting. Ticketmaster are infamous for their computer system continually crashing during the sale of London 2012 Olympic seats. Kevin Pietersen's signing back at Surrey coincided with a bothed mass email to members about tickets . Giles Clarke, who stands down as ECB chairman in May, has been the loudest autocratic voice on most English cricket issues since he took the helm in 2008. Yet Clarke has chosen to stay noticeably silent on Kevin Pietersen’s return to Surrey. The Football League are taking a lot longer than promised to probe the Financial Fair Play returns of Leicester and QPR. The Leicester issue centres on a Far East marketing deal to offset losses, agreed with a Sheffield agency owned by former Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards and his son. And investigating QPR owner Tony Fernandes writing off £60million of debts to counter massive breaching of FFP limits is proving hard enough without the extra difficulties of CEO Phil Beard having left the club and finance director Rebecca Caplehorn moving to Spurs. Threat to Becks project . There are concerns at the top of US football that David Beckham’s Major League Soccer plans are in danger of running out of time. Beckham has spent more than a year being frustrated by complex state and city Miami politics stopping him finding a suitable stadium site. US football heads are fearing David Beckham’s Major League Soccer plans could out of time . And US chiefs do not believe the proposed venue close to the Marlins baseball arena is the right location. Powerbrokers say Beckham should build a waterfront downtown ground to maximise the appeal of the new franchise. Team Beckham remain 100 per cent confident that the project will work and are concentrating on funding that will determine the club’s ambitions. Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has shown no interest in sport during his year in the job, bizarrely chose the last week before the election recess to make his first speech on the subject. Javid’s views on sport investment away from national governing bodies have credence, but why did he bother when he won’t be coming back to the DCMS? +Minnesota United were officially confirmed as the next Major League Soccer expansion team on Wednesday. Minnesota, who have competed in the second-tier North American Soccer League since 2010, will make their MLS debut starting with the 2018 season. Coupled with already-announced expansion plans for Atlanta and the recreation of the team formerly known as Chivas USA in Los Angeles, Minnesota United will be the 23rd franchise in MLS. Minnesota United will be the 23rd MLS franchise, joining Kaka's new Orlando City team in the league . Kaka and David Villa have both started for expansion franchises this season, with Villa at New York City . 'We have a plan here that we believe in,' MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during a news conference at the home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. 'A plan that we believe will take the sport to a higher level.' MLS grew to 20 clubs this season with Orlando City and New York City FC both joining the league. Miami is in line to become the 24th MLS franchise but the Florida team is in doubt as the would-be owners have been unable to secure a stadium deal. Until recently, MLS had said it would stop expanding for the foreseeable future once it reached 24 teams. But last week the league said that over the course of 2015 it will evaluate further expansion beyond 24 clubs. David Beckham has been in America attempting to get his Miami franchise into the league as the 24th team . The new franchises and USA's good performance at the World Cup have sparked huge crowds in the MLS . +Cristiano Ronaldo is back on Portugal duty this week ahead of his country's crunch Euro 2016 qualifier clash against Serbia on Sunday night. Ronaldo was in the thick of the action at training following Real Madrid's 'El Clasico' defeat by Barcelona on Sunday night. The Catalans opened up a four-point lead over their arch rivals at the top of La Liga following their 2-1 victory at the Nou Camp. Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) takes on Ricardo Quaresma (left) and Vieirinha during training on Wednesday . Ronaldo has a chat with Portugul head coach Fernando Santos during the session in Lisbon . Ronaldo was waering his signature model Mercurial Superfly boots during the training session . The Los Blancos star will have to put that defeat to the back of his mind, however, as Fernando Santos' side gear up for the visit of Serbia. Ronaldo looked focused during his side's training session at their team base in Lisbon joining fellow team-mates Pepe, Ricardo Quaresma and Vieirinha. Portugal got their Group I campaign off to an awful start when they were lost 1-0 at home to Albania last September before bouncing back with a 1-0 victory against Denmark the following month. Portugal and Real Madrid centre back Pepe controls the ball as the Portugal coaching staff watch on . A narrow 1-0 win against Armenia in November has revived Portugal's Euro bid as they look to keep pace with the Danes at the summit of the group. Victory for Portugal on Sunday would stretch their gap over Serbia to eight points after four matches. +Harry Kane's participation in this summer’s Under 21 European Championship is in doubt after it emerged that Tottenham are considering a post-season friendly in Malaysia. Spurs are committed to an exhibition match against Sydney FC in Australia on May 30 and are to hold talks about a friendly in Kuala Lumpur on the way. Kane, 21, has been told he will travel to Australia with the rest of the squad and would also be in the party stopping off in Malaysia for another lucrative end-of-season game. Harry Kane could miss the Under 21 European Championship due to a friendly in Malaysia . Kane trains after being called up to his first senior squad after a sensational season with Spurs . Kane helped England U21s to the tournament in the Czech Republic with six goals in eight games . Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has expressed his fears about burn-out for the Premier League’s joint leading goalscorer as he prepares to make his England debut against Lithuania. The FA are in talks with Kane and Tottenham officials, including Pochettino, about playing for Gareth Southgate’s England Under 21 team in the Czech Republic. But negotiations have become increasingly tense because of Tottenham’s commitments in Australia after the final game of the season on May 24. Pochettino wants Kane to miss this summer’s tournament to make sure he has enough recovery time before the start of next season, but the striker wants to play in the championship. Kane has been told he will not be required for the senior friendly against the Republic of Ireland on June 7 or a Euro 2016 qualifier in Slovenia a week later. Instead he is wanted by Southgate for the Under 21 tournament which runs from June 17-30. Kane hit his first Premier LEague hat-trick against Leicester, taking his tally for the season to 29 . Kane fires past Kasper Schmeichel as Spurs keep up their hopes of a top four finish . Kane helped fire England to the Czech Republic, joining Italy, Portugal and Sweden in a tough Group B . Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson will attend the World Cup draw in July as England manager but with no assurances that he will be in charge for the campaign to reach Russia in 2018. Hodgson is keen to extend his contract which will expire next year, although FA chairman Greg Dyke has warned him that negotiations may not begin for another 12 months. ‘I get on quite well with Roy and we chat all the time but we have not talked about contracts yet,’ said Dyke. ‘We genuinely haven’t discussed it. We will have that discussion in the next nine months to a year. ‘When we decided in Brazil that we wanted Roy to continue with his contract, we thought, “He’s got a contract, he sees it through”. Some time in the next year we will discuss what happens afterwards.’ Roy Hodgson says he has not discussed a contract extension beyond next year . Hodgson's England are top of their qualifying group and look set for a spot in France . The draw for the World Cup qualifiers is in St Petersburg on July 25. Hodgson will represent England but Dyke plans to miss the event after reacting to a tough 2014 World Cup draw by making a cut-throat gesture. ‘Roy will go, I’m not allowed after what happened last time,’ he said. England are cruising towards Euro 2016 after winning the first four qualifiers to establish a six-point lead at the head of a group from which the top two go through automatically. Hodgson will be 70 at the time of the World Cup in Russia but has proved a popular manager with FA chiefs and players alike since he replaced Fabio Capello in 2012. The Euro 2016 qualification process has been so tame, however, that a final decision on his contract may even be shelved until after the finals. ‘Without being disrespectful, this group isn’t the toughest,’ said centre half Phil Jagielka. ‘Time will tell in the tournament. There is a bit of pressure on and that is when the judgment will be clearer. We need to have a good tournament in France to back him if Roy is going to stay on, and the boys are desperate to do that. He’s a likeable person and a good man-manager.’ Additional reporting: Matt Barlow . +Joe Hart did not need a blinder in Barcelona to confirm his status as England’s No 1 goalkeeper, but serious injuries to his two deputies will revive concerns at the lack of cover available to Roy Hodgson. Fraser Forster met with specialists on Wednesday after scans confirmed he broke his left knee-cap in Southampton’s win against Burnley on Saturday. Forster will miss the rest of this season and may not play again this year which is a blow for Saints as they aim for Europe, and also for England boss Hodgson at a time when Ben Foster is out for six months. Joe Hart talks to the media on Wednesday ahead of England's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday . Manchester City goalkeeper Hart makes a save during training at St George's Park with the England squad . Foster damaged cruciate ligaments in his left knee while playing for West Bromwich Albion against Stoke 12 days ago. Hodgson will be exposed if Hart is hit by injury or suspension, although the Manchester City goalkeeper has backed the decision to recall QPR’s Rob Green for the first time in nearly three years. ‘Greeny is rock solid,’ said Hart. ‘His mentality is great. And he is a very good goalkeeper who has been playing at the top level for a long time. There are no surprises. ‘I was gutted for Ben and Fraser. It’s really, really sad news. ‘It has rocked us all as a goalkeeping group and rocked all the lads in the squad because they are great guys and they are having great seasons. ‘But Greeny has come in and hopefully he can profit. He did brilliantly in the Championship last year. Robert Green (right) trains with Joe Hart (centre) at St George's Park in Roy Hodgson's England squad . Fraser Forster suffered a knee injury after colliding with Burnley's Sam Vokes at the weekend . West Brom keeper Ben Foster makes a save against Tottenham in January but is out injured for six months . ‘I remember watching him in the play-off final, when he was man of the match for me. QPR are in a bad position but he has been fantastic this season.’ Green has 12 caps, but only one since the World Cup in South Africa when he was pilloried for a mistake which gifted the United States an equaliser as England drew 1-1 in their opening group game. He did not play again for Fabio Capello, and his only game since was against Norway, in Hodgson’s second game in charge. Neymar attempts to nip the ball away from Hart's clutches at the Nou Camp during the Champions League tie . Lionel Messi tries to find a way past Hart but the England stopper was in fine form at the Nou Camp . The English keeper once again thwarts Messi during the Champions League last-16 encounter . Green, 35, has not been in the squad since Euro 2012 despite his reliable form at QPR, but will be on the bench for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday and probably for the friendly against Italy in Turin on Tuesday. Jack Butland, 22, has been promoted from the Under 21 squad. He has been capped once at senior level, in a friendly against Italy in Switzerland in 2012, but he has had little first-team action this season. Butland played six times during a loan spell at Derby and has played five cup games for Stoke, where he has been unable to oust Bosnian international Asmir Begovic since signing from Birmingham. Others who might come into Hodgson’s thinking are John Ruddy, who also has one cap — as a half-time substitute for Butland in that Italy game — and is enjoying a good season in the Championship with Norwich, and Tom Heaton at Burnley. Heaton is at least playing regularly in the Barclays Premier League, where 75 per cent of the goalkeepers are foreign. Butland’s step up leaves Under 21 boss Gareth Southgate with two Championship goalkeepers — Jonathan Bond, 21, understudy to Heurelho Gomes at Watford, and Marcus Bettinelli, 22, who has recently broken into the Fulham team. Some experts believe the next keeper to emerge as a serious challenger to Hart will be Manchester City and England Under 19 keeper Angus Gunn, 19-year-old son of former Scotland international Bryan Gunn. Hart will win his 50th cap in Italy on Tuesday, if he plays in both these international games, and is still only 27. He could play at the top for another decade if he can stay fit — Hodgson will pray that he does — and that would bring Peter Shilton’s record of 125 England caps into range. Shilton was 31 when he played his 50th game for England but went on until he was 40. ‘It’s exciting, 50 caps would be an amazing milestone, but I want to get there first,’ said Hart. ‘We have two games and we’ve seen recently that you never know what’s going to happen. I just want to push on and earn my right to keep playing for my country. Peter Shilton was 31 when he won his 50th England cap, while Hart could win his against Italy next week . ‘I want to be here for as long as I can, but there are plenty of other English goalkeepers who want to be in my place and I’m going to have to be at my very best to keep that position.’ Tottenham defender Danny Rose on Wednesday night withdrew from the squad with hip and hamstring problems. Rose was called up by England after Manchester United’s Luke Shaw withdrew on Saturday. But the left back has now been sent back to his club with an injury of his own. With Leighton Baines and Keiran Gibbs already in the squad, Hodgson has decided not to call up a replacement. +The Football Association has charged Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie with violent conduct following an incident involving Stevenage defender Ronnie Henry. The 24-year-old, who has been banned for biting before, was accused of sinking his teeth into the hand of Stevenage defender Ronnie Henry during Saturday's League Two fixture at the Lamex Stadium. The pair clashed near the touchline when Henry tried to wrestle the ball out of Labadie's arms after play had been stopped. Henry immediately appeared to signal to the nearby assistant referee that he had been bitten. Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie (in yellow) is accused of biting Ronnie Henry (left) on Saturday . ‘The FA has charged Dagenham & Redbridge player Joss Labadie with violent conduct following an incident during their game on 21 March 2015,’ said a statement on the FA website. ‘Labadie has until 6pm on March 30 to respond to the charge.’ Dagenham have since said that Labadie denies the accusation but Stevenage boss Graham Westley revealed after the match that Henry, 31, had suffered 'a nasty injury' and had 'nearly lost his finger'. Police are continuing to make inquiries into the alleged incident, a Hertfordshire Police spokesperson added: 'Hertfordshire Constabulary is aware of an alleged incident that took place between two football players during the Dagenham vs Stevenage match at the Stevenage FC ground on Saturday, March 22. Police are making inquiries into the incident.' Labadie was fined £2,000 and banned for 10 games for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks while playing for Torquay in February 2014. Stevenage's Ronnie Henry (in the white) has accused Dagenham midfielder Joss Labadie of biting him . The duo squared up after this clash on Saturday - and police are continuing to make inquiries . +These are the dramatic moments that coastguards carried out a 'miracle' rescue to save a stranded puppy after it plunged 40 ft off a cliff. The six-month-old Rhodesian ridgeback, called Crouton, fell down the steep cliff while it was trying to catch a rabbit. Crouton landed a ledge which prevented the pup from a further fall of 60 ft into the raging sea below. Scroll down for video . A member of the rescue teams from Durness and Melness abseils down to rescue Crouton after the fall . Reunited with his owner, Crouton jumps for joy and has a well deserved biscuit to recover from the ordeal . Shetland coastguard teams from Durness and Melness were involved in the Highland rescue attempt . Shetland coastguard teams from Durness and Melness rushed to the incident at Durness in the north west Highlands. They were assisted by an officer from the Scottish SPCA who oversaw the rescue. After the colossal effort, the pup escaped safe and unscathed. Gordon Kerr, 54, a prison officer from Ayrshire who saw the rescue, said: 'I was walking around Smoo Cave when I heard a dog barking loudly. 'Originally I thought it was just a farmer's dog. As I walked a bit further I could see the coastguard were setting up - initially thinking that it was a training exercise. 'When I asked a stranger what they thought was going on, he told me that he had been out walking his dog when it bolted for a rabbit and fell 40 feet. 'It luckily managed to land on a ledge. The six-month-old Rhodesian ridgeback fell 40 ft but was fortunate to land on a ledge which saved it . Crouton, just as the pup is returned to the top of the cliff. His owner was extremely grateful the rescue team . 'It's a miracle that the dog survived. It had been down there for about three or four hours and fell down such a severe cliff but there wasn't a scratch on the wee thing. 'When the dog came back up, it started jumping around, high-fiving its owner and asking for biscuits.' A spokesman for Melness coastguard said: 'The owner of the dog was extremely grateful for all the help provided by the Coastguard Teams and the SSPCA. The elaborate rescue involved two coastguard team and a number of cables to ensure their safety . The coast guard described the operation as a 'text book' rope rescue and said its teams had worked well . 'It was a successful outcome with a happy ending, teams worked well together, resulting in a text book rope rescue. 'Be aware that if your dog is unfortunate enough to fall over or get stuck down a cliff, do not under any circumstances attempt a self rescue. 'Dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard, we are trained to deal with these situations. If you are walking your dog on or near to cliffs please, please, please keep it on a lead.' +Manny Pacquiao suffers from such bad leg cramps during training that he spends a staggering $1,800 on a tube of anti-inflammatory cream. The Filipino superstar is into the fourth week of his training camp ahead of his $300million mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr on May 2. And his trainer Freddie Roach revealed the problems he has due to the size of his calves. 'There's no magic cure for it,' Roach told Yahoo. 'We're doing what we can do. I've got the doctors working on it. There are some Filipino guys here who are massaging it for him. The cream cost $1,800 for a single bottle. I wasn't too happy about that.' Manny Pacquiao jogs round the track as he makes an early start to his workout on Wednesday . Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach (right) revealed his fighter suffers from bad leg cramps in training . The cost is so high because Pacquiao does not have health insurance in the United States and the cream had to be run past USADA who are conducting drug tests in the build-up to the Las Vegas showdown. Roach has also changed Pacquiao's training regime to reduce the pressure on his legs. 'We did change his running schedule because I don't like him running the hills six days a week,' he added. 'I've got him on the track a lot more now doing fast sprint-type workouts instead of hill workouts. I think it's better for the older fighters sometimes to stay away from the hills so much.' Floyd Mayweather posted a video of a sparring session as he steps up his training ahead of May 2 . +Gareth Bale is prepared to resist all offers of a return to the Barclays Premier League and stay at Real Madrid. Bale has a £75million buyout clause in his six-year contract but that has not deterred Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea from checking on his availability. The 25-year-old cost Madrid £86m when he joined from Tottenham and he rejected United in the process. Gareth Bale, who will play for Wales against Israel this week, will not be leaving Real Madrid this summer . The Real Madid star has a £75million release clause, but that will not deter Premier League clubs . Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are all hopeful of prising the Welshman away from Spain . However, the Wales winger has come in for heavy criticism for his recent Real performances and perceived selfishness during games. Disgruntled fans have attacked his car while Spanish newspaper Marca refused to give him a rating for his display in the defeat by Barcelona. Bale has been in poor form lately, resulting in criticism from the Bernabeu crowds in recent games . The Welsh winger was not even given a rating by Spanish newspaper Marca after the game against Barca . United and Chelsea have sensed a deal could be done but the reply has been unequivocal; Bale is determined to stay, win over the fans and convince the world he can become one of Real Madrid’s greats. Any transfer to the Premier League would cause Financial Fair Play problems but United have room for manoeuvre in that regard, as do Chelsea. City would have to sell if they were to pursue a deal. Like our Real Madrid Facebook page. After the Barcelona defeat some Madrid fans attempted to kick the player's car as he left the ground . Bale became the most expensive player in the world when he joined Madrid, but his form has dipped . +No-one will linger long over this. At some point on Thursday morning it will be gone, expunged from the memory, all thoughts turning to a significant European Championship qualifier with Gibraltar on Sunday. For both nations this was what it was. An improving Northern Ireland have their own qualifier against Finland and, like the Scots, had an eye on the bigger prize. The 85th-minute corner from debutant Matt Ritchie which placed the ball onto the head of goalscoring substitute Christophe Berra salvaged the night from irrelevance. Christophe Berra gets above his marker to head the ball into the corner for a late winner for Scotland . Berra celebrates his late goal, which was one of the few memorable moments in a game lacking intensity or quality . The Ipswich Town centre back celebrates with his team-mates after securing the win five minutes from time . Steven Fletcher gets a shot away, one of few clear cut chances created by either team, but was unable to put his team ahead . The Sunderland striker is denied again by Michael McGovern as he goes through one on one to try and break the deadlock . Scotland: Gordon (McGregor 45 mins), Whittaker (Russell 78), Greer, Martin (Berra 45), Forsyth, McArthur (Morrison 63), Darren Fletcher, Ritchie, Maloney (Naismith 45), Steven Fletcher (Rhodes 63), Anya. Subs not used: Brown, May, Robertson, Hutton, Bannan, Reynolds, , Forrest, Marshall. Goal: Berra 85 . Northern Ireland: McGovern, Danny Lafferty, Jonny Evans (McCullough 81), Baird 9Hodson58), Dallas, Reeves (Ryan McLaughlin 70), McNair, Hughes, Norwood (Davis 69), Magennis (McKay 75), Grigg (McCourt 58). Subs: Mannus, Conor McLaughlin, Kyle Lafferty, Brunt, Ward, Cathcart. Referee: Martin Atkinson (England) A captain’s performance from Darren Fletcher was also worthy of note. Throw in some decent runs and crosses from Derby left back Craig Forsyth in his first start and Gordon Strachan will take value from this. With Ikechi Anya, the enigmatic Watford winger who tried his utmost to enliven a comatose friendly, there was evidence of a promising new line of attack. Yet the truth is this. It was no night for snap judgments. Strachan fiddled with his resources, never really fielding anything resembling his strongest first 11. At times this was a stark reminder of why the Home International Championships are now a distant, mothballed relic. ‘I thought it was important to win this game,’ said the Scotland boss. ‘Just to make us feel good about ourselves. The performance was good at times. We got used to the pitch as well - which is a bit slick. Northern Ireland have improved immensely over the last year, beating Hungary and Greece.’ They never threatened a repeat. Their boss Michael O’Neill, an old face on the Scottish scene, said: ‘For us I thought there were more positive than negatives. But we didn’t get enough good balls in the box. We left a lot of our first-choice players out, seven or eight of our players that will probably start on Sunday [against Finland].’ Berra’s breakthrough came in his first appearance for his country since November 2013. It came late, as people crept towards the exits, resigning themselves to a mediocre scoreless draw. The Ipswich defender’s header from the penalty spot crept through a ruck of bodies and into the net via the inside of the post. Northern Ireland's Stuart Dallas carries the ball away from Shaun Maloney as both sides warmed up for competitive football . Scotland captain Darren Fletcher issues instructions from his position in front of the back four . Ikechi Anya (right), who was one of Scotland's livelier players, takes on Manchester United defender Patrick McNair on the wing . It was a reward Scotland just about deserved. They had given it a go in the opening half, but looked to have run out of ideas after a raft of substitutions. Thank goodness for Anya, a cult figure amongst the Tartan Army, who brings an energy and industry to his work. Even on nights like this. Nights when, bluntly, others can’t quite find their game. Reared a mile or so from Hampden his endeavour and tempo kept things interesting when an unspecified crowd estimated at less than 30,000 allowed their minds to drift towards the latest plot on Coronation Street. Anya was at the heart of the first major chance in just four minutes, scurrying down the left flank and playing a one-two with Forsyth. A sharp cut-back was turned towards goal at the second attempt, Northern Ireland keeper Michael McGovern – also Hamilton’s keeper – producing a terrific save to push the ball over the bar. The early touch gave the keeper confidence. He would need it as Anya embarked on a one-man war of attrition. The little winger, whose goal in Germany last September has already become an iconic moment, was hellbent on adding to his tally. He smashed a low right-foot shot from 20 yards in nine minutes. Scuttled forward and hit one wide with his right in 20. Then wasted a great chance after James McArthur nicked the ball off the toe of Chris Baird and teed him up two minutes later, thumping past the post again. Dallas goes up for a header against Steven Whittaker as the two sides attempted to stamp their authority on the friendly fixture . Bournemouth star Matt Ritchie, who made his debut in Wednesday night's game, controls the ball in midfield . It took half an hour for another Scotland player to have a crack on goal, Steven Fletcher’s low shot from 18 yards taken comfortably by McGovern. Five years have passed since Fletcher, Sunderland’s £14million man, last scored for his country. The only strike in 19 appearances for a player people screamed for during the infamous Craig Levein spat. No-one remembers the goal – in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Iceland in April 2009. Instead they remember Barry Ferguson’s V-sign to photographers or goalkeeper Allan McGregor’s smirk in the aftermath of the infamous Boozegate episode. A Steven Fletcher goal celebration in a Scotland shirt is now a solitary event. He had another chance to change that before half-time, making the run to take a Maloney pass and trying to dink a shot over McGovern. To his credit the Irish keeper – an old hand around these parts – would not be beaten. Fletcher lasted an hour before accepting that this, once more, would not be his night for a goal. Manchester United's Jonny Evans (left), the Northern Ireland captain, holds off Steven Whittaker as the ball goes past . McGovern gets up well to punch away, under pressure from Scotland striker Steven Fletcher, as McNair watches on . The substitutions are a necessary nuisance in these games. Keen to try as many players out as possible before Sunday, Strachan made plenty. Steven Naismith and, critically, Berra joined McGregor as half-time replacements, the Hull City No1 replacing Celtic’s Craig Gordon. On the hour mark, James Morrison and Jordan Rhodes – Fletcher’s replacement - were also handed a half hour to turn things around. For Northern Ireland, the arrival of the mercurial Paddy McCourt - scorer of extraordinary goals for Celtic - and former Rangers skipper Steven Davis also raised interest levels. For Matt Ritchie, it was a tentative, but promising debut. He ran around a lot and showed sharpness, and almost made the decisive impact in 69 minutes – taking a neat lay off from Naismith and thrashing a long-range shot a couple of yards wide. With the best assist record in English football, he also takes a decent corner. A swirling inswinging ball picked out Naismith for a firm header which hit the target, but failed to seriously trouble the confident figure of McGovern. Ritchie had better luck with his delivery from a corner five minutes from time when Berra claimed his third goal for Scotland. And just when Northern Ireland boss O’Neill thought his young, inexperienced side had come through the game unscathed. Against a Gibraltar team who have shipped 21 goals in four qualifiers, O’Neill expects Scotland to do likewise. ‘There is a lot more depth in the Scotland squad at this moment in time,’ he said. ‘They moved the ball well and looked strong and powerful. Anya, in the first 15 or 20 minutes, caused us problems. I don’t anticipate Gibraltar will give you too many problems. I certainly hope not.’ In that regard he probably spoke for a nation. Anya and McNair battle for the ball in a game that had plenty of endeavour without much quality from either side . The teams observed a minute's applause for the late Dave Mackay before the game at Hampden Park . +The blue tracksuits and white trim of Lionel Messi and the Argentina squad stood out like beacon in the stands as the Indiana Pacers took on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. The World Cup finalists took time away from their training camp in the Capital ahead of Saturday's friendly against El Salvador to lend their support to countryman Luis Scola, who was in action for the visiting team. Messi and Barcelona team-mate Javier Mascherano appeared to be particularly enjoying themselves as the in-stadium camera singled out the former Ballon d'Or winner as the Pacers edged out the Wizards 103-101. Lionel Messi (centre) enjoys the NBA's Washington v Indiana with Javier Mascherano (right) and Carlos Tevez . Tevez, Messi, Mascherano and the rest of the Argentina squad looked to be enjoying their night out . The entire Argentina squad attending the match on Wednesday in support of countryman Luis Scola . Messi will be looking to continue his rich vein of form for Argentina in their friendly against El Salvador . The Argentina side look to be enjoying themselves as they watch the Indiana Pacers beat the Wizards . Gerardo Martino's side have been training at Georgetown University and will be there all week in the lead-up to their match at FedEx Field, home to the Washington Redskins. Hundreds of spectators turned out to their session on Tuesday and although it was supposedly closed to the public, Messi and Co were happy to sign some autographs for locals at Shaw Field. Washington's Kevin Seraphin poses for a picture with the Argentina squad . Messi shakes hands with fellow countryman Luis Scola after the game . Scola and Messi share a joke as they meet after the game in Washington . Seraphin and Messi greet each other after the game . Messi and his team mates took a look around the Washington Wizards practice facility before the game . Mascherano and the rest of the Argentina squad took time away from their friendly preparations . They turned spectators from a private box to watch Scola, the 34-year-old Argentine who stands 6ft 9in to Messi's 5ft 6.5in and whose career also took him from South America to Spain where he starred for Basque club Saski Baskonia in the Euroleague. The NBA came calling though in 2007 and he's lined up for the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns before his 2013 move to the Pacers. Argentine NBA star Scola shoots for three for the Pacers at the Verizon Center on Wednesday . Messi leads his team into the Verizon, home of the Washington Wizards . Gerardo Martino's side file into the stadium as they take a break from training at Georgetown University . +Arsenal’s talisman forward Alexis Sanchez has taken some time out during the international break to showcase his piano skills. The Chile international treated his fans on Instagram to a rendition of John Legend’s chart topping ‘All of me’ on the piano. The 26-year-old is evidently a talented musician, having played the piano for his team-mates at the Arsenal Christmas party earlier this season. Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez uploaded this video of him playing the piano onto his Instagram page . The 26-year-old, in training with Chile on Wednesday, has scored 19 goals for club side Arsenal this season . Gunners team-mate Lukas Podolski, on loan at Inter Milan, posted a video with Sanchez performing Richard Marx's 'Right Here Waiting' back in December and he's clearly been practising since. Sanchez is now on international duty with his homeland Chile, who play Iran in St. Polten on Thursday and Brazil in London on Sunday. The rapid forward has been a sensation for Arsenal this season, since signing from Barcelona last summer, and has instantly adapted to life in the Premier League with 19 goals. Fans who follow Sanchez on Instagram were treated to a rendition of 'All of me' on the piano by the Chilean . The 26-year-old, in action for the Gunners against Newcastle on Saturday, has been in exceptional form . Alexis Sanchez looks at the camera as he serenades Lukas Podolski at the Arsenal Christmas party . +David Haye insists his long-awaited comeback is still on and is already plotting a route to WBC king – and his old sparring partner – Deontay Wilder. Former two-weight world champion Haye, now 34, has not been seen in the ring since he stopped Dereck Chisora in the fifth round of their thrilling clash at West Ham's Upton Park back in July 2012 . Since then, two fights with British rival Tyson Fury have fallen through, the second of which as a result of shoulder surgery that threatened to end his career for good at the end of 2013. David Haye has vowed to return to the ring after almost three years out of action through injury . Then, last June, Haye revealed that he would fight on and predicted a return to the ring in the following autumn. However he is still yet to re-lace the gloves and it has been suggested that he might never do so again. But 'The Hayemaker' is adamant he will box on, has already set his sights on American knock-out artist Wilder and thinks a world title showdown within just 18 months could be possible. Haye said: 'Yes you will see me back in the ring. I've been taking it easy of late as obviously I had a bad shoulder injury so I needed reconstructive surgery on it. 'That's good now, I've got all the movement back and I'm banging harder than ever with that. I'm just surveying the land at the moment and seeing what's happening out there. 'The heavyweight division is looking as good as it has done for a long time. You've got Wladimir Klitschko still doing what he does, you've got the emergence of Deontay Wilder, the WBC champion, big guy, perfect record. He just had a great win and I was in Vegas when he fought Bermane Stiverne. He looked like the real deal, he really did.' Haye was last in action when he stopped British rival Dereck Chisora at Upton Park in 2012 . Haye knows all about Wilder having shared the ring with him during training back in 2013. Footage of that spar can be found on Youtube and, despite the big gloves and headguard, Haye appears to have the American in real trouble. But it is the 'Bronze Bomber' who now sits on top of the world having beaten Stiverne to win the title, taking his record to 33 wins from 33 fights, with all but one coming inside four rounds. Haye added: 'He helped me out in the past with sparring so I know him very well and I think that has really spiced up the heavyweight division. 'I think a great route would be to go to America and try to navigate a way to the WBC title. Deontay Wilder is a very good champion and if i start fighting regularly I am probably a year or 18 months away from being in a mandatory position to fight him. 'I'm not stupid and I don't think I will just jump straight in there. I think it would be disrespectful to the champions and a bit idiotic of myself to think that just because three years ago I could fight at a good level I can just come straight back . 'Not even Usain Bolt can take three years out and come straight in and expect to beat the world.' It is almost four years since Haye lost a unanimous points decision to Klitschko on a rain-soaked night in Hamburg. Haye twice saw a fight against Tyson Fury fall through after he suffered injuries in training . Since then, all seven of Dr Steelhammer's fights have taken place in Europe. But Klitschko's next outing, a defence of his WBA, WBO and IBF belts against Bryant Jennings, will be at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden on April 25. 'It makes a change,' Haye said. 'In America things are starting to shake up and I think he's realised by continuously fighting in Germany, only German people watch that. 'Worldwide he doesn't do great business and I think he realises time's ticking and he doesn't have many fights left in him. For the next couple of years he wants to really finish his legacy with some really big fights. If he has to travel he has to and he deserves respect for that.' Haye was speaking at a visit to the Double Jab ABC in New Cross as part of Join In and England Boxing's launch of 'Backing Up Boxing'. Their aim is to drive more volunteers to help out at similar boxing clubs across the country. Haye said: 'All of my coaches when I was a kid, from the age of 10 to 20 were volunteers. They weren't getting paid. Out of the goodness of their hearts they came down to Fitzroy Lodge in Lambeth and trained a bunch of kids. 'Even if you don't make a career out of it, there is so much badness out there on the streets on a daily basis. The more youth centres, boxing gyms and football academies, the more stuff we have for kids, stops them smoking, drinking, smoking weed, taking drugs. It's a slippery spiral. 'Hopefully people listening to me will want to try and help. You can go to joininuk.org and see if there is anything you can get involved in.' Haye wants to plot a route that ends with him challenging world champion Deontay Wilder (left) +Barcelona will have home advantage for its Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao after Spain's football federation voted on Wednesday for the Nou Camp as the venue. Both finalists had originally asked to play the May 30 decider at Real Madrid's 81,000-seater Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The Nou Camp will host this year's Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao on May 30 . However, the venue for Copa finals must be offered voluntarily and Madrid made no such offer. After two hours of talks failed to resolve the issue, the federation's executive committee took a vote from four stadium options: Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia and Sevilla. The Camp Nou, with its maximum capacity of 98,700, was chosen ahead of Bilbao's 53,300-capacity San Mames stadium in the final round of voting. Both finalists wanted to play at the Santiago Bernabeu - but Real Madrid never volunteered their venue . +Sir Alex Ferguson has described Hearts owner Ann Budge as ‘a guardian angel’ for galvanising the club following the devastating effects of administration. The former Manchester United manager was in Edinburgh this week to attend the funeral of Hearts’ greatest-ever player Dave Mackay. But the 73-year-old also took time out to pay tribute to the leadership of Budge after head coach Robbie Neilson guided the team to the Championship title last weekend with seven games to spare. Ferguson said: ‘I think Dave would be very proud of Hearts. As you know, they’ve been through a terrible time. I go back to when I was a boy and they were my sort of second team after Rangers, with the great players John Cumming, (Willie) Bauld, (Alfie) Conn and (Jimmy) Wardhaugh. Sir Alex Ferguson pictured leaving the BBC Sport studio in Manchester on Wednesday . Sir Alex Ferguson gave a moving tribute to Hearts, Tottenham and Derby great Dave Mackay at his funeral . ‘That period when things go so bad, I just think that sometimes a guardian angel comes along and saves you. ‘The job that Ann Budge has done has not only regenerated the club but it’s given everyone a lift in sense of the ambition is back in the club, they’re back in the Premier League. ‘They’ve won the Championship by 20-something points, it’s a phenomenal number of points and I’m delighted for them. I’m really proud of the job that Ann Budge has done. ‘I think it is onwards and upwards,’ Ferguson told Hearts TV. ‘I don’t think there’s anyway back now and you’ve found your way. Sometimes you get lost on the road to where you want to go to and now they’ve found their way again. ‘They look more than a useful team because I’ve watched them a few times this season. They play some really good football and I think you’ll be very welcome in the Premier Division, I’m sure of that, and you’ll do well.’ Ferguson arrived at Hearts' Tynecastle earlier in the afternoon prior to leading the tributes . Ferguson was in distinguished company, with former Manchester United man Denis Law (back) also present . Meanwhile, Hearts legend John Robertson insists there is no chance the newly-crowned Championship winners will slack off out of respect for the teams still chasing promotion. Neilson’s side have a role to play when it comes to who finishes among the three play-off places in the second tier. Hearts host fourth-placed Queen of the South on Saturday and still have Rangers to play twice as well as an encounter against city rivals Hibs. All-time record Hearts goal scorer Robertson, who also coaches the club’s Under-17s, insists the team is fully aware of their responsibilities for the remainder of the season. Owner Ann Budge has steered Hearts back to the Scottish Premiership . Budge pictured with Hearts director of football Craig Levein and head coach Robbie Neilsen . ‘We’ve got players that have not had a lot of game time and they’ll want to play,’ he said. ‘They’ll want to show between now and the end of the season they’re good enough for the Premiership. ‘There is also the integrity of the competition. Queen of the South are in a huge battle and there’s no way Robbie Neilson or the staff will rest players or put out what people perceive as a weakened team. ‘Last Saturday, guys like Sam Nicholson, James Keatings and Kenny Anderson came on. There are still guys like Soufian El Hassnaoui, Kevin McHattie, Jordan McGhee and Brad McKay sitting on the bench and they are all bona fide Premiership players that want to play. ‘Now the league is won, the next target is that Hearts fans are desperate to see the team score 100 goals. There are seven games left to score 16. They’ll be looking at that.’ +England Under 20s defeated Mexico 4-2 in a penalty shootout in their friendly at Barnet on Wednesday night. The Young Lions converted all four of their spot-kicks, while Mexico's Luis Marquez struck the crossbar and Alejandro Diaz fired an awful kick out of the stadium. The game had ended 1-1 in normal time after Chuba Akpom won and then drilled home a spot kick to cancel out Jose Ramirez’s opener early in the second-half. Chuba Akpom of England scores their equaliser from the penalty spot for England Under 20s . England: Walton; Iorfa, Odubajo, Hause, Cargill; Hanson (Reed 74), Baker (c) (Swift 69), Osborn (Grimes 69); Barmby, Akpom, Robinson . Substitutes not used: Pickford (GK); Ball, Toffolo, Stephens, Turnbull, Thomas, Mowatt . Scorer: Akpom pen 79 . Coach: Aidy Boothroyd . Mexico: Gudino; Gutierrez (Aguirre 68), Bernal, Teran, Vazquez; Flores (C) (Guzman 68), Ramirez (Torres 78), Marquez (Lozano ht), Pineda (Gutierrez 59); Rios (Diaz 59), Gama (Martinez 59) Substitutes not used: Gonzalez (GK); Jaquez, Lainez . Scorer: Ramirez 48 . Sent off: Gudino . Booked: Terran, Gutierrez . Coach: Sergio Almaguer Trevino . Referee: Andy Davies (England) The Arsenal forward, who has been on the fringes of Arsene Wenger’s first team this season, burst clear in the 78th minute and was upended by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Gudino, who was shown a red card. The 19-year-old, enjoying a prolific season for club and country at youth level, dusted himself off to fire home and draw Aidy Boothroyd’s side level in the match. They had fallen behind three minutes after half-time when Ramirez found himself totally unmarked to sidefoot a low cross past England goalkeeper Christian Walton. This encounter, under floodlights at The Hive, home of Vanarama Conference promotion hopefuls Barnet, was the first in a double-header this week, with the United States lying in wait in Plymouth on Sunday. Mexico, who won the CONCACAF Under 20 Championship in Jamaica in January, booking their spot at the Under 20 World Cup in New Zealand later this year, were always going to provide stiff opposition. Tasked with preparing another crop of players for under 21 standard, Aidy Boothroyd mixed rising stars from the Premier League academies with names who have featured regularly at Championship level this season. Mexico goalkeeper Raul Manolo Gudino Vega shows his disappointment after being sent off . England's Callum Robinson scores the winning penalty during the shoot-out against Mexico . England players celebrate during the penalty shoot-out against Mexico on Wednesday night . Martinez (Mexico) MISSED 0-0 . Swift (England) SCORED 1-0 . Diaz (Mexico) MISSED 0-0 . Akpom (England) SCORED 2-0 . Aguirre (Mexico) SCORED 2-1 . Grimes (England) SCORED 3-1 . Guzman (Mexico) SCORED 3-2 . Robinson (England) SCORED 4-2 . England started positively but the first chance fell to Mexico, who moved the ball slickly on the counter-attack all night and often favoured a cross-field ball to catch out the home defence. Daniel Rios collected the ball on the edge of the area, traded passes with Diego Gama, before firing in a shot that goalkeeper Christian Walton blocked with his body. England’s first sniff of goal fell to Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom, having his best campaign yet on the fringes of Arsene Wenger’s first team, but his daisy-cutter from range lacked power. One of those cross-field pings almost caught England out on 19 minutes when the impressive Luis Marquez found Ramirez wide on the left. Instead of looking for options centrally, he shot from a tight angle and Walton gathered. Nottingham Forest midfielder Ben Osborn pinged a shot a couple of feet wide of the post but Mexico enjoyed the best chance of the half just after the half-hour. An inswinging corner from Marquez was met by Gama, who had burst to the near post, but his header crashed back off the crossbar with Walton beaten. The game changed when Mexico goalkeeper Raul Gudino upended England's Chuba Akpom . The goalkeeper was shown a straight red card and Akpom converted the subsequent penalty . Jose David Ramirez Garciua celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Mexico . England striker Jack Barmby rises above Mexico's Daniel Vazquez Sosa . Arsenal forward Akpom continued his rich vein of form for England Under 20s . England's Ben Osborn takes on Orbelin Pineda Alvarado of Mexico on Wednesday night . England's Young Lions line up ahead of the game at The Hive, home of Conference side Barnet . England's under 20s are in action again on Sunday when they play the United States at Home Park in Plymouth. Ticket information can be found here. Two minutes after that, Leicester City man Jack Barmby lost out to Marquez in a battle for the loose ball and the Mexican wasn’t too far away of steering a low shot inside the far post. It didn’t take long for Mexico to find the breakthrough in the second-half. From their first attack, the ball was worked quickly across from the right wing and there was Ramirez, completely unmarked, to sidefoot past Walton from close range. It was a frustrating goal to concede and Mexico offered little respite. The half-time substitute Irving Lozano curled a shot just over and the visitors looked the more likely to score. Boothroyd introduced one Chelsea man for another when John Swift came on for Lewis Baker, while Matty Grimes of Swansea City replaced Osborn. Slowly, England started to carve out chances and a mazy run down the left from Barmby saw him fire across the face of goal. Their reward would soon arrive through Akpom and he could have won it but struck the outside of the post late on. England's Ben Osborn (right) fights with Mexico's Orebelin Pineda Alvarado for the ball . Osborn, the Nottingham Forest midfielder, leaps above two Mexican players to win a header . Coach Aidy Boothroyd (right) delivers a talk to the England players ahead of the penalty shoot-out . Coach Boothroyd said: 'It was a tough game, they are a very good side. We only showed in flashes what we're all about individually and as a group. 'I thought they were by far the better team first half, we played a little more brave in the second-half and towards the end there was only one team that was going to win the game. 'But it certainly was a hard-fought one and we were up against the ropes at times. 'We tried out a new system tonight because of the lack of availability of our wide players and we might need to go to Toulon and play that. So it's a good experience.' +Steve Smith scored a brilliant century to lay a solid platform but Australia lost a string of wickets in the second half of their innings to finish with 328 for seven in the World Cup semi-final against India on Thursday. On a good Sydney Cricket Ground pitch in perfect weather conditions, the reigning champions will fancy their chances of overhauling the target of 329 and taking their place in Sunday's final against New Zealand in Melbourne. Smith (105) came back to torment India in a partnership of 182 with opener Aaron Finch (81) to lead Australia to a comfortable position with close to 200 runs on the board, nine wickets in hand and over 15 overs to bat. With Umesh Yadav (4-72) to the fore, however, India struck back to remove the power-hitters in Australia's middle order and disrupt their attempt to plunder runs in the later overs. "I think it's a good total, we're going to have to bowl and field well though," said Smith. "At the start, if you're offered 330, I reckon you take that nine times out of 10. It's going to be about squeezing and hopefully the bowlers can do a job for us. "It's always nice getting hundreds at the SCG and hopefully the boys can back it up in the field now." Smith had come to the crease in the fourth over after Yadav had bounced out opener David Warner for 12 and rarely looked troubled for the remainder of his 122-minute knock. The bouncers were pulled, he called for a cap when the spinners came on and hit 11 fours and two sixes to give India a rude reminder of his prolific form in the test series around New Year, when he scored a century in all four matches. The 25-year-old secured his fourth straight half century at the World Cup in 53 balls and was soon surging towards his fourth ODI century, which he secured with a six and a four off successive balls. Aaron Finch at the other end was looking less assured as he sought to end his run of poor form but he too reached the half century mark before his partnership with Smith was broken in the 35th over. Yadav again did the damage, his bouncer cramping Smith as he attempted the hook with the ensuing top edge flying to Rohit Sharma at deep square leg. Glenn Maxwell came out ahead of his skipper Michael Clarke and hit a brisk 23 off 14 balls before sweeping a Ravichandran Ashwin delivery to Ajinkya Rahane at deep backward square leg. The crowd, the majority wearing the blue of India, were roused and Finch soon departed as Yadav's third victim with Clarke (10) and James Faulkner (21) following him back to the dressing room as Australia tumbled to 284 for six. Even the experienced partnership of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin (seven not out) was unable to steady the ship as Australia tried to balance the imperative of scoring quickly with making sure they did not run out of batsmen. Watson departed for 28 to give Mohit Sharma his second wicket and it was left to paceman Mitchell Johnson to bolster Australia's tally closer to a par score with his 27 not out off nine balls. It was the first time in eight matches at the World Cup that India had failed to dismiss their opponents . +Fuel retailers are ripping off the public and businesses on diesel charges, according to the RAC. The wholesale price of diesel is 1p a litre more than for petrol, yet diesel is almost 6p more at the pumps, it said. There is scope for a diesel price cut of around 4p a litre to restore some parity to the market, the RAC added. The automotive company calls out retailers, saying businesses in particular are paying excessive charges on Diesel as sales of the fuel increase . The RAC’s comments came as it highlighted Government figures which showed total fuel sales were up 3.5 per cent in February compared with the same month last year. Diesel sales last month, at 2.42billion litres, represented the fifth highest monthly total since 1990. But petrol sales are among their lowest for 25 years. Businesses, which are more likely to run on Diesel are being ripped off by retailers who are looking to offset losses from low petrol prices . Because companies traditionally run on diesel, they are particularly hard hit by the fuel rip-off. RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘It’s hard not to think that business is being taken for a ride. 'With sales of diesel at an all-time high the retailers have maintained a higher margin on diesel, perhaps to subsidise petrol sales.’ +The US Navy has charged seven sailors over video recordings made of female officers and midshipmen without their knowledge aboard one of the first gender-integrated submarines. Among the sailors on the Georgia-based USS Wyoming are three men accused of making the recordings that were passed on to other crew members, documents released showed. While previous reports alleged that the victims were only female officers, documents obtained by Navy Times stated sailors also recorded female midshipmen temporarily aboard the sub. Violated: US Navy has launched investigation into allegations that some of the first women to serve on the USS Wyoming were secretly videotaped in the shower by a male sailor . Vile act: A 24-year-old second class petty officer is accused of recording at least three women while they were showering on undressed aboard the Ohio-class ballistic missile sub . A Navy official told the Navy Times that dozens of women could have been filmed, as sailors had used cellphones on board the Wyoming as far back as August 2013. One of the sailors charged allegedly traded videos of officers showering for two energy drinks. Another reportedly said the video recordings were 'like Pokémon, gotta catch them all.' Two of the seven sailors have been referred to court martial. Electronics Technician 2nd Class Joseph Bradley, 25, is charged with distributing videos and destroying evidence. Charge sheets state Bradley asked an unnamed technician to send over videos of the women when the ship was docked at its home port in Kings Bay, Georgia, which he then passed along to others. Missile Technician 3rd Class Brandon McGarity, 25, is charged with failing to report the videos and making a false official statement. In addition to the sailors from the USS Wyoming, an individual stationed at Trident Training Facility in Kings Bay is being charged. According to an incident report written last year, the unsuspecting women were recorded bathing and changing aboard the ballistic missile submarine. A 24-year-old second class petty officer allegedly made the videos over the past year and distributed them among his male colleagues. The clips were said to depict at least three servicewomen in the shower and in various states of undress aboard the Wyoming - an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine. The first female sailors were introduced to American subs beginning in 2011 as part of a concerted integration effort, which has been labeled a success by the Navy. The privacy violation scandal comes at an especially sensitive time as Navy officials are preparing to integrate Virginia-class attack submarines. Come January, six female officers will join the crews of USS Virginia and USS Minnesota, according to a statement issued in October 2013 by Vice Admiral Michael Connor, commander of Submarine Forces. A ballistic missile sub such as the USS Wyoming typically has 15 officers and 140 enlisted crew members on board. Officers of both sexes use the same bathing facilities, but whenever a woman is in the shower she is expected to put up a sign indicating her presence inside, and her male comrades must wait until she comes out before entering. Smooth sailing: The integration of ballistic missile submarine crews, which got under way in 2010, had been labeled a success by the Navy . According to Navy Times, some of the women depicted in the videos are unhappy with the way Navy brass has been handling the incident. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has launched a probe into the matter, and a spokeswoman for Submarine Group 10 in Kings Bay said the Navy would hold those involved accountable. The man accused of videotaping his female colleagues has not been named in the November 14 incident report, but he has been described as a petty officer assigned to Trident Training Facility. Investigators were first tipped off about the videos last month by an officer from another submarine who received the recordings. The USS Wyoming was at the forefront of the integration effort, welcoming a dozen female supply and line officers in 2011. A retired supply officer who was in charge of mentoring the new arrivals recalled how on the first day of their tenure she was approached by a male sailor who asked her: 'Where are the females?' ‘I looked at him and said, “All right, let's get one thing straight: They're not females, they're junior officers on this boat, they're division officers, and you will address them as Ensign So-and-So, and you can tell everybody else on the boat, ‘" she told the paper. Serious incident: The videotape scandal comes at a time when Navy officials are preparing to introduce female sailors to Virginia-class attack subs . In an ABC News story from May 2012, female submariners talked in glowing terms about how smoothly the integration has been going, and how their biggest challenge was becoming junior officers. ‘Outside of being female on a submarine, all of us are trying to qualify, all of us are trying to support the ward room and trying to be a team member. That is challenging, in itself,’ Ensign Abigail Holt said at the time. Female officers now serve on at least seven subs. By 2020, the Navy will allow enlisted female sailors to serve on submarines as well. Since the Navy lifted its ban on female submariners in 2010, at least 43 women have joined the service. +Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is under no illusions about the potential repercussions of Monday night’s visit to Old Trafford. Any clash against Manchester United, particularly in the Wenger era, carries added value for the Gunners. The fact that it is an FA Cup quarter-final with a place at Wembley at stake merely adds to the occasion. And for Wenger it’s a chance to land what could be a crucial psychological blow on Louis van Gaal’s side ahead of the tense season finale. Theo Walcott holds off Nacho Monreal as Arsenal trained on Sunday at their London Colney training ground . Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lets fly with a shot, as Arsene Wenger promised his team would attack United . The Gunners squad are put through their paces as they look to reach Wembley for the third time in two years . Arsene Wenger is confident his team can beat Manchester United by playing attacking football . The FA Cup isn’t the only competition in which these two giants are going toe to toe. They are also battling for a Champions League position, a race which is perhaps more pertinent to both clubs’ long-term ambitions. There are no points at stake tonight but Wenger said: ‘It’s a big game, and every big win in a big game has an impact subconsciously in the belief of the team.’ However, the reverse is also true. Losing against United could plant a seed of doubt in Arsenal’s quest to finish in the top four — and their poor recent record at Old Trafford doesn’t bode well. United have won nine out of their last 10 home games against the Gunners. We shouldn’t forget, though, that Wenger also has pleasant memories of the Theatre of Dreams. He lists Sylvain Wiltord’s goal that clinched the title for Arsenal at Old Trafford in 2002 as his favourite. And the Frenchman insists his current crop of players can produce another win in United’s back yard on Monday night. Arsenal's World Cup winning playmaker Mesut Ozil has been in top form since returning from injury . Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez, who scored a brilliant goal in midweek against QPR, looks lively in training . Per Mertesacker, whose place was in doubt before an injury to Gabriel, gestures to his team-mates . ‘I don’t believe our recent record at Old Trafford (to be a factor). When the team is less good, they lose. When the team is not as good, they lose,’ said Wenger. ‘It doesn’t matter what shirt they wear, or what stadium they play in. It is down to quality. ‘If I’ve learnt something in my life it’s that the performance on the day decides the outcome of the day, not where you play. ‘The fact that we can win away from home, that is important. If you haven’t won away from home all season it’s more difficult. But we know we can do well away from home.’ Tomas Rosicky attempts to control the ball as Walcott, Mertesacker and Ramsey watch on . Indeed, their victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season proved they can produce big away performances against England’s elite, and Wenger insists last season’s FA Cup triumph has bolstered belief that his side can become English football’s top dogs once more. ‘Yes, of course we want to dominate again,’ said Wenger. ‘I think today you have more competitors and it will get worse with the seasons coming because you get more money in. That means even the smaller teams will be capable to buy the best players in Europe. Sylvain Wiltord’s goal at Old Trafford in 2002 that clinched the league title for the Gunners at Old Trafford . ‘Maybe the competition will become harder for everybody. Winning the FA Cup gave us energy because we had a few years without winning a trophy and so on that front it was vital. ‘This team has a good mentality because we had a slow start this season and every time we lost a big game you see how much the players are touched. ‘I think the mentality is very healthy, they want to do well and we will be focused on Manchester United. ‘Once you get to the quarter- final you think that’s a good opportunity to win a trophy. You want to do it, but it’s at that stage where it’s conflicting always with the Champions League.’ +Roy Hodgson will attend the World Cup draw in July as England manager but with no assurances that he will be in charge for the campaign to reach Russia in 2018. Hodgson is keen to extend his contract which will expire next year although FA chairman Greg Dyke has warned him that negotiations may not open for another 12 months. 'I get on quite well with Roy and we chat all the time but we have not talked about contracts yet,' said Dyke. 'We genuinely haven't discussed it. We will have that discussion in the next nine months to a year. England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart is kept busy during training at St Georges Park on Tuesday . Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling controls the ball during training on Tuesday . Roy Hodgson will be hoping to continue England's unbeaten run in Group E against Lithuania on Friday . 'When we decided in Brazil that we wanted Roy to continue with his contract, we thought: 'He's got a contract, he sees it through'. Sometime in the next year we will discuss what happens afterwards.' The draw for the World Cup qualifiers is in St Petersburg, Russia, on July 25. Hodgson will represent England, but Dyke plans to dodge the event after reacting to a tough World Cup draw by making a cut-throat gesture. 'Roy will go, I'm not allowed after what happened last time,' said Dyke. England, who play Lithuania at Wembley on Fridayare cruising towards Euro 2016 in France, winning the first four qualifiers to establish a six-point lead at the top of a group from which the top two automatically go through. England and Everton centre back Phil Jagielka speaks to the media after training on Tuesday . Hodgson will be 70 at the time of the World Cup in Russia but has proved a popular manager with FA chiefs and players alike since he replaced Fabio Capello, in 2012. The Euro 2016 qualification process has been so tame, however, that a final decision on his contract may even be shelved until after the finals as England bid to improve on their World Cup flop, when they failed to win a game. 'Without being disrespectful, this group isn't the toughest,' said centre-half Phil Jagielka. 'Time will tell in the tournament. There is a bit of pressure on and that is when the judgment will be clearer. Wayne Rooney (centre) leads his England team-mates on a lap as they continue their preparations for Friday . 'We need to have a good tournament in France to back him if Roy is going to stay on, but the boys are desperate to do that. He's a likeable person and a good man-manager. 'We want to play well and get as far as we can. We will be looking, and should be looking, to go and win the tournament. We want to keep progressing. We have a good, youthful and talented squad. Hopefully we can keep knocking out the wins.' Tottenham striker Harry Kane gets down to business with the rest of Hodgson's squad . +A Tulsa man was killed and his eight-year-old son was critically injured after they fell more than 60 feet from an Arkansas mountain. Shane Trotter and his son were on White Rock Mountain in the Ozark National Forest on Friday when the tragedy occurred. Franklin County Sheriff's department said Mr Trotter and his son were standing beside a gazebo when they slipped over the edge around 9pm. Shane Trotter fell from White Rock Mountain, pictured in while his eight-year-old son was badly . The eight-year-old boy was rushed to Arkansas Children's Hospital having suffered serious internal injuries . According to the Sheriff's office: 'On March 20 at approximately 9pm Franklin County received a 911 call in reference to a father and son falling off of White Rock Mountain. 'Dispatch sent four deputies to the scene, North and South Franklin County EMS Crews, Franklin County Office of Emergency Services, and PV 1st Responders. 'Upon arrival Deputy Justin Oliver and Mason Berry made there way around a slick trail and found the safest and quickest way to the injured parties at the base of a 100 ft rock face. Regrettably the father was found to be deceased, but the 8 year old male was alive, though seriously injured. 'The 8 year old was removed on a spine board and carried out where he was airlifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock in critical condition with internal injuries.' +The British tennis player left red-faced when Andy Murray claimed he had a 'little girlfriend in Glasgow' - as well as his long-term partner in London - has insisted it was all a joke. Dominic Inglot covered his face with his hands as Murray's relationship claims 'landed him in it' on live TV after Great Britain beat the United States in the Davis Cup yesterday. Inglot returned home today insisting the whole episode was a wind-up by Murray and he has now explained it to his 'understanding' girlfriend. Tennis player Dominic Inglot returned home today after he was left embarrassed when Andy Murray claimed he had a girlfriend in Glasgow, a joke Inglot later had to explain to his girlfriend in London . Speaking outside his home in Chiswick, west London, he told how the shock hit him as Murray made the joke to Eurosport presenter Annabel Croft. The 29-year-old told MailOnline: 'It's just a bit of banter that went wrong. Andy thought he was going to have a laugh and put me in the spotlight but he didn't realise I had just started a relationship. 'We thought there was a girl that might have the hots for me and boys like to take things out of hand, but there's nothing to it whatsoever. 'But I was like "oh my god, now my girlfriend's going to think I've actually done something". 'But I called her up and said what had happened and within two minutes we were laughing about it. 'I explained that Andy likes messing with his team and that's what makes this team really close together. 'Me and Andy were on the aeroplane last night and he said "Oh my god I'm so sorry, everything's going to be blown out of proportion". 'But I said "listen it's okay my girlfriend's completely understanding she knows what banter is like with the boys". It's all a bit of a laugh she understands and we can all laugh about it now.' Murray, far left, with Annabel Croft, his brother Jamie, centre, and a mortified Dominic Inglot after the former Wimbledon champion told the TV reporter he had a 'little girlfriend in Glasgow' Murray was left laughing after he realised he had dropped his team-mate in it with his London girlfriend . Inglot said he first met his girlfriend, who does not live with him and he does not want to name, in September last year. On TV yesterday, Murray claimed his team-mate has a 'little girlfriend on the go here in Glasgow' so would happily stay on in Scotland after the tennis. But Murray didn't realise Inglot already has a girlfriend of six months at home in London. When asked for the name of the lady in question, a mortified Inglot replied: 'You've actually landed me in this. Because I actually have a girlfriend that's going to be watching this.' Murray was left in hysterics as the team sheepishly shuffled away from the disastrous interview. Inglot did not go out celebrating last night in Glasgow but flew straight back to London with team mates as he is due to fly out to play in America tomorrow. Great Britain yesterday celebrated a 3-1 victory over the USA to reach the quarter finals of the Davis Cup. Dominic Inglot appeared eager to set the record straight on Twitter following Murray's joke . Great Britain yesterday celebrated a 3-2 victory over the US to reach the quarter finals of the Davis Cup . +Former footballer Clarke Carlisle has pleaded guilty to a drink-driving offence which happened just days before he attempted suicide. The 35-year-old, who played for Leeds, Burnley and QPR, today admitted failing to provide a sample on December 20. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence on the same date, when police officers spotted his Mercedes travelling in an 'erratic' manner. Former footballer Clarke Carlisle has admitted failing to provide a sample when he was suspected of drink driving. Days after he was pulled over by police, he attempted suicide . Carlisle still bears the facial scars from his December 22 suicide attempt in a crash which left him in a coma until mid-January. The former Professional Footballers' Association chairman spoke clearly as he admitted the charges from the dock at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in north London today. Deputy District Judge Margaret Dodds told Carlisle he would 'inevitably' be disqualified when he next appears at the same court for sentencing on May 14. She also ordered that reports be made in the case after being told of Carlisle's medical situation. The court heard he was spotted by police 'swerving' his Mercedes and nearly hitting another vehicle on Pentonville Road, north London, on December 20 at about 7am. Prosecutor Zahid Hussain said the car was seen 'swerving in the lane, to the pavement on the nearside, almost mounting the pavement' and that the tyres were 'grinding on the curb'. When the officers stopped and spoke to Carlisle 'alcohol was smelled on his breath', Mr Hussain added. The court was told that Carlisle did not blow long enough in the breathalyser when he was tested at the roadside to provide an adequate sample. Carlisle later said he fell into a spiral of decline after his contract as a TV football pundit was cancelled . He was taken to Islington police station but would not co-operate and said: 'Sergeant, I would like to speak to my counsel first.' The court was told that Carlisle had been involved in excess-drinking offences in 1999 and 2011. Krystelle Wass, defending, told the court: 'Two days after the incident Mr Carlisle attempted suicide, which is why matters have taken some time to come to court.' She said there were 'ongoing mental health issues'. The deputy district judge replied that she would order reports ahead of the next hearing as 'he is clearly in some trouble'. The deputy district judge told Carlisle that he would get credit for his early guilty plea but noted that he has a 'bad record'. Carlisle, who was released on unconditional bail. said 'Thank you, ma'am' as he stepped out of the dock. The former footballer (pictured playing for Burnley) has previously told of past thoughts of suicide when his career was coming to an end and he suffered serious injury . The married father-of-three was left critically injured when he was struck by a lorry near his home on the morning of December 22 on the A64, near York. He later told how he threw himself in front of the lorry in an attempt to take his own life. Carlisle said he felt his life was spiralling out of control after he was told by ITV he was losing his £100,000-a-year Champions League pundit role. He said he went straight to a casino and blew his and his wife's savings. He told The Sun last month: 'I had to die. This wasn't escaping or running away. This was the perfect answer. It made everyone happy and it ticked every box.' He said he had sat in the police cell and concluded that he could not let his children 'have a criminal father'. For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here. +Rio de Janeiro's mayor unveiled the city's controversial Olympic golf course on Wednesday and laid out an ardent defence of a project that has been criticised by environmental activists and is at the centre of legal wranglings. The course, part of which has been carved out of a nature reserve, had been kept strictly under wraps during a construction phase that is nearly complete after more than a year's work. Gently rolling hills covered with lush grass that looked like it would be at home in Scotland surrounded small islands of native plants. Sprinklers were hard at work under a harsh midday sun during the visit by news media. The new Rio de Janeiro course for the 2016 Olympics was unveiled on Wednesday . Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes (second right) walks the almost complete Olympic Games golf course . A worker cuts the grass on the course that until now has been kept largely under wraps . Prosecutors have repeatedly requested for work on the course to be halted over alleged irregularities in environmental impact studies . The bucolic setting has been embroiled in a controversy stretching back years that has overshadowed what was meant to mark golf's triumphant return to the Olympics after a 112-year absence. Prosecutors have repeatedly requested for work on the course to be halted over alleged irregularities in environmental impact studies, though a judge rejected the latest demand late Tuesday night. In a separate case, another prosecutor is weighing up whether to bring charges against Mayor Eduardo Paes for allegedly granting concessions to developers. Still other questions persist about the ownership of the land. Paes dismissed the allegations, insisting in an agitated, two-hour-long presentation that the course has been built in strict accordance with the law. 'It's hogwash, it's a lie ... it's a fallacy,' Paes said, as he delivered a barrage of facts, figures, photos and images of documents about the golf course. 'Lies cannot prevail.' He pledged total transparency, with Brazil in the midst of an investigation into a massive corruption scheme at the state-run oil giant, Petrobras, which has rocked the country with near-daily revelations. 'Rio City Hall and I personally are very conscious that we are going to have to explain and re-explain (things) and prove ourselves more than we would have to if we were staging the London Olympics, for example,' he said. Protesters stand outside the Olympic course that is at the center of complicated legal wranglings . Activists protest against the construction of the course that was carved partly out of a nature reserve . Paes also insisted that while some land from the nature reserve was bulldozed to make way for the course's grassy knolls, because the lion's share of the terrain used to be a sand quarry, the course has actually increased the amount of native plant life in the area. 'Does this look like an environmental crime?' he exclaimed, arms akimbo, as he led reporters over the course's spongy grass. Earlier, Paes projected aerial photos from the 1980s apparently showing what's now the golf course dotted with concrete structures. Environmentalists contend that hardy subtropical vegetation had since retaken the area and that before the bulldozers descended it had become home to several endangered species, including species of butterflies and frogs. 'He (Paes) thinks that all green's the same,' said Jean Carlos Novaes, a member of the Golfe Para Quem (Golf For Whom) group that has been protesting outside the site for months. 'But non-native grass is just not the same thing as the native ecosystem.' Novaes, who was among a small group of protesters on Wednesday, insisted it was unnecessary to build a new course in the first place, since Rio already has two other golf courses - despite golf's status in Brazil as an unpopular sport played almost exclusively by the moneyed elite. The owner of one of the courses has said he wrote to authorities to offer it up for the Olympics but never heard back. Rio mayor Paes insists the course is in strict accordance with the law . Protesters say Paes spearheaded the course's construction in order to favor a campaign donor, a developer who is building luxury residential towers alongside the course . Protester props associate 'wildlife crimes' with the counstruction and call Paes a 'climate terrorist' Novaes said that donations made to Paes' political campaign by a wealthy and powerful developer who's building luxury residential towers on the margins of the golf course were the real motor behind the construction of the course. The exclusive marble-and-glass units are being pre-sold even before construction is completed for several million dollars a piece. Asked whether he had received a campaign donation from the developer, Pasquale Mauro, Paes said he didn't know and that in any case 'it wouldn't have been illegal.' He added that one of the existing courses was deemed too small, while modifications to the other would have cost nearly as much as building the new course. Paes also brushed aside questions over the ownership of the land, contending that much of the wealthy western suburb of Barra da Tijuca, where the course is located, is beset by long-running conflicts over land ownership. Attorney Alberto Murray Neto, a former member of Brazil's Olympic Committee, dismissed Paes' explanations, saying it made no sense to press ahead with construction of the course on such legally complicated land. 'Even if they had to build a new course, they could have picked any other terrain - one not in a protected nature reserve - or also one where the ownership is clear,' Murray said. 'The whole thing is just a pretext for land speculation.' +The British tennis player left red-faced when Andy Murray claimed he had a 'little girlfriend in Glasgow' - as well as his long-term partner in London - has insisted it was all a joke. Dominic Inglot covered his face with his hands as Murray's relationship claims 'landed him in it' on live TV after Great Britain beat the United States in the Davis Cup yesterday. Inglot returned home today insisting the whole episode was a wind-up by Murray and he has now explained it to his 'understanding' girlfriend. Homecoming: Tennis player Dominic Inglot returned home today after he was left embarrassed when Andy Murray claimed he had a girlfriend in Glasgow, a joke Inglot later had to explain to his girlfriend in London . Speaking outside his home in Chiswick, west London, he told how the shock hit him as Murray made the joke to Eurosport presenter Annabel Croft. The 29-year-old told MailOnline: 'It's just a bit of banter that went wrong. Andy thought he was going to have a laugh and put me in the spotlight but he didn't realise I had just started a relationship. 'We thought there was a girl that might have the hots for me and boys like to take things out of hand, but there's nothing to it whatsoever. 'But I was like "oh my god, now my girlfriend's going to think I've actually done something". 'But I called her up and said what had happened and within two minutes we were laughing about it. 'I explained that Andy likes messing with his team and that's what makes this team really close together. 'Me and Andy were on the aeroplane last night and he said "Oh my god I'm so sorry, everything's going to be blown out of proportion". 'But I said "listen it's okay my girlfriend's completely understanding she knows what banter is like with the boys". It's all a bit of a laugh she understands and we can all laugh about it now.' Murray, far left, with Annabel Croft, his brother Jamie, centre, and a mortified Dominic Inglot after the former Wimbledon champion told the TV reporter he had a 'little girlfriend in Glasgow' Murray was left laughing after he realised he had dropped his team-mate in it with his London girlfriend . Inglot said he first met his girlfriend, who does not live with him and he does not want to name, in September last year. On TV yesterday, Murray claimed his team-mate has a 'little girlfriend on the go here in Glasgow' so would happily stay on in Scotland after the tennis. But Murray didn't realise Inglot already has a girlfriend of six months at home in London. When asked for the name of the lady in question, a mortified Inglot replied: 'You've actually landed me in this. Because I actually have a girlfriend that's going to be watching this.' Murray was left in hysterics as the team sheepishly shuffled away from the disastrous interview. Inglot did not go out celebrating last night in Glasgow but flew straight back to London with team mates as he is due to fly out to play in America tomorrow. Great Britain yesterday celebrated a 3-1 victory over the USA to reach the quarter finals of the Davis Cup. Tweet: Dominic Inglot appeared eager to set the record straight on Twitter following Murray's joke . Great Britain yesterday celebrated a 3-2 victory over the US to reach the quarter finals of the Davis Cup . +Watford fan Nick Cruwys (pictured) was left fighting for his life after he was attacked following a match with Wolves. A 13-year-old has now been arrested by police investigating the incident . A 13-year-old boy has been arrested by detectives investigating an attack which left a football fan fighting for his life in hospital. West Midlands Police said officers arrested the youngster on suspicion of assault at an address in Wolverhampton, just before 5am today. The boy is the second person to be arrested by detectives investigating an attack on 44-year-old Watford supporter Nick Cruwys in Wolverhampton on Saturday, after an 18-year-old man was detained yesterday. That man has since been bailed until April 8. Police described the latest arrest as 'significant'. Mr Cruwys was tripped and kicked in the head in an unprovoked attack in the street, following Watford's 2-2 draw with Wolves. The father of two, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, was attacked in Little's Lane, Wolverhampton, shortly after 5pm as he made his way to the railway station with friends. An online appeal to raise funds to help Mr Cruwys, set up by a Wolves fan, has now raised more than £25,000. After the latest arrest, police directly appealed to anyone involved in the attack to 'do the right thing' and hand themselves in. Detective Inspector Toni Naylor, of West Midlands Police, said: 'We are pleased with how the investigation is progressing and the arrest of a second suspect is significant. 'But this is not the end of our inquiry, it's only the beginning. 'I am now appealing to anyone who was involved in the incident to think about their actions and to do the right thing and contact us or hand themselves in to a local police station. 'We will leave no stone unturned to find the people involved and by coming forward you will be in a position to give your side of the story.' CCTV from outside the football stadium shows the victim laying stricken on the ground after the attack . Mr Cruwys suffered serious injuries in an attack outside Wolves' Molineux Stadium (pictured in file photo) Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Teddy Sheringham says James Wilson could score 20 goals a season for Manchester United if Louis van Gaal played him. Sheringham has heaped praise on Wilson and claimed the exciting 19-year-old has all the attributes to be a top striker. Talking to United Review, Sheringham, who is forwards' coach at West Ham United, takes a keen interest in strikers across the Barclays Premier League, and said: 'I really like James Wilson. Teddy Sheringham has backed Manchester United striker James Wilson to become an Old Trafford success . Wilson, pictured scoring against QPR, has scored two goals in 16 appearances for Manchester United . Wilson (right) remains behind Radamel Falcao (centre) and Robin van Persie in United's pecking order . 'It’s a shame for him that Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie are in front of him. Louis van Gaal said recently that he doesn’t have a striker who can score 20 goals a season, but I think if you put Wilson up there with Wayne Rooney then you’d have two players who can reach those figures for you.' Wilson made his first-team debut at the end of the 2013-14 season under former interim manager Ryan Giggs but has mainly been on the bench during Van Gaal's time at the club. Having sat on the bench again for Sunday's 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, Wilson was handed some playing time for the Under 21s on Monday and scored the opening goal in a 2-1 victory over Everton. Sheringham added: 'He’s very direct, scores goals, has good pace and that added bonus of being a left-footer – they always tend to catch defenders off guard and it always looks more special when the left-footed strike goes in. 'I like his attitude, he looks a good player, a good prospect and one that everyone needs to keep an eye on.' West Ham coach Sheringham believes United starlet Wilson is capable of scoring 20 goals a season . +Jelena Jankovic eased into the last four at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday when Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko retired from their quarter-final with an ankle injury while trailing 6-1, 4-1. Former champion Jankovic broke an error-prone Tsurenko twice to breeze through the opening set in 22 minutes and twice more in the second before the Ukrainian walked across to her opponent and told her the match was over as they shook hands. 'It's never nice to end a match in that way,' Serb Jankovic, 30, said on another hot day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. 'In the second set, she started limping and I saw that she had some problem. Jelena Jankovic plays a forehand as she reaches the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in California . Lesia Tsurenko offers a wave to the crowd after retiring against Jankovic through injury . 'I had to just focus on my game and try to make as many balls as possible in the point. I was feeling pretty good out there. I was playing my game and waiting for my chances to execute. I was solid. 'I'm really sorry she got injured. She has had such a great tournament, she has beaten a lot of great players in the draw. Unfortunately she couldn't play a great match today.' Tsurenko, ranked 85th in the world, injured her right ankle during her upset of sixth-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the previous round and was noticeably restricted in her movement against Jankovic. She failed to hold serve in the second and sixth games of the match to be swept aside in the opening set before calling for her trainer to re-tape her ankle. Tsurenko, who double-faulted five times during the curtailed match, was again broken in the first and fifth games of the second set before she retired. Jankovic serves during her last-eight clash against Tsurenko at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden . Ukrainian Tsurenko was trailing 6-1, 4-1 when she retired from the match with an ankle injury . Jankovic, who won the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, will take on either reigning champion Flavia Pennetta of Italy or Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the semi-finals. The other semi-final will be contested by top seed Serena Williams, back at Indian Wells after a 14-year boycott of the event where she alleged she had suffered racist abuse from fans, and Romanian Simona Halep. American Williams, who clinched her 19th grand slam singles title at this year's Australian Open, and world number three Halep both advanced from the quarters on Wednesday. +Great Britain's Chris Froome has been ruled out of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race for health reasons. 'Still not feeling well so won't be making it to #TirrenoAdriatico2015 Really disappointed but health comes first,' the 2013 Tour de France winner posted on Twitter. He has been suffering from a chest infection. The seven day race, which begins on Wednesday in Italy, was highly anticipated as the top four Tour de France favourites - Froome, Spain's Alberto Contador, Colombian Nairo Quintana and defending Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali of Italy - were scheduled to compete. Team Sky star Chris Froome (right) has been suffering from a chest infection . Froome (right) has been ruled out of this week's seven-day race in Italy . Froome told the BBC: 'I've been ill for a few days now and, unfortunately, I couldn't shake it off in time.' Froome should, however, 'be fine' to race in the Volta a Catalunya, which begins on 23 March. He added: 'After speaking with the doctors we decided as a precaution that it would be best to take a few days off the bike to recover fully. 'This is obviously frustrating after the good start that I've had to the season, but it's a minor setback.' The 2013 Tour de France champion is targeting a return to racing in Catalonia later this month . +Steve Coppell is sipping afternoon tea in the lounge of a hotel just off the M25 when the conversation turns to football’s ‘f-off mentality’, as he calls it. ‘A lot of young players have an “f-off mentality” these days, but I honestly didn’t mind it because I was the one picking the team,’ he admitted. ‘The dressing room is a heated environment at half-time and full-time, and if a player said that to me and could justify their argument then no problem. If not, they were down the road.’ Steve Coppell has been out of work since leaving his role as director of football at Portsmouth a year ago . Coppell played as a winger for Manchester United for eight years between 1975 and 1983 . Coppell leads his Crystal Palace side onto the Wembley pitch in the first 1990 FA Cup final against United . Coppell knows all about the sport’s ‘f-off mentality’, on the receiving end after leaving an unpaid role as director of football at Portsmouth last March. It seems incredible that this man, with more than 1,000 games in the dug-out and who has twice been named League Managers’ Association manager of the year (2006 and 2007), is out of work. No-one really knows why. It just doesn’t feel right to see Coppell, a man of integrity and honour, on the fringes of football. Something, somewhere, has gone wrong when Coppell is working on his golf handicap every day. ‘I won the LMA award two years on the bounce with Reading and looking back, yes, massive,’ he admitted. ‘They talk about comedians being on the road for 20 years and suddenly they become an overnight sensation — I had done that time. ‘All John Madejski ever asked of me was to come up to the boardroom after a game and have a pint with him — no interference, nothing. Sometimes we wouldn’t even talk about the result.’ At 59 Coppell is a statesman of the game, one of the shrewdest operators in the sport. After a playing career on the wing with Manchester United he spent nearly 30 years in the dug-out. Coppell issues his side with instructions after drawing 3-3 with United in the final before extra-time . Coppell poses with his Manager of the Month award in 2006 during his spell in charge of Reading . ‘I just wanted to be known as a good manager, I never wanted to be famous,’ he admitted when he was reluctantly coaxed to the Runnymede-on-Thames Hotel. It is clear, after a couple of hours in Coppell’s illuminating company, that he has the itch to work again, but it will only be on his terms. ‘There are 70 clubs you don’t want to manage because you have no chance. ‘Steve Heighway always talks about Bob Paisley at Liverpool: create an environment for your players to win matches. That is the art of management. I can get you promotion within two years if you back me, the Championship is my division, I know what it’s about. If you want a five-year plan, fannying around, building from the bottom up, I’m not your man. I have done that.’ He did it at Palace, taking over at the age of 28 and leading them into the top flight when he put together the team that included Ian Wright, Mark Bright, Geoff Thomas, Andy Gray and John Salako. ‘You could never do that now because the game wouldn’t give you five years to get promoted and because Bosman changed everything in favour of the players,’ he said. ‘Pre-Bosman Ian Wright could have been on £100 a week, his contract could be coming to an end and we could offer him £101 and he would have no choice but to stay. ‘In modern terms, Ian Wright would have disappeared from Palace after a year.’ Coppell celebrates with then Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades after winning the 1997 play-off final . Coppell, pictured at the Spain 1982 World Cup finals, won 42 international caps for England . To recap, Coppell won two promotions with Palace, took them to their only FA Cup final, won promotion with Reading to the Barclays Premier League and finished eighth in their first season in the top flight. There has been the occasional blip, such as the aborted spells at Manchester City and Bristol City, but after three decades in management, it is no more than a footnote to his career. ‘If I got really busy around football clubs then I could work again but I choose not to be, in the footballing sense,’ he admitted. ‘I don’t go looking for it. I have an agent but he doesn’t go looking for it, either. ‘I still go to games and I enjoy the core things that football gives me, which is working out how people win matches and influence players.’ Coppell is a student of the game, a manager who travelled all over the country to watch players at every level and build up an encyclopaedic knowledge of teams and tactics. He would rather sit in the stands than head for the directors’ box, convinced that speaking to the supporters who watch the players week in, week out will give him a far better education. ‘It is a simple game and the fans aren’t fools, they know what they’re watching. They will give you a far better idea of who is consistent and who is a fanny merchant than listening to anyone in the boardroom or allowing your mind to be affected by another scout or coach.’ Palace players doused Coppell with champagne after winning the Division Two play-off final in 1989 . Coppell admits being a manager consumes every part of your life and he found it difficult to switch off . Coppell's last job in management was with Bristol City in 2010 . Coppell is a fascinating man to listen to as he talks through his management career. ‘Managing clubs is unhealthy because you are time deprived. It is all-consuming, certainly the way I did it. You can be at the cinema and all you can think about is: how can we beat Arsenal on Saturday? It gets you like that. ‘The game has changed. The Premier League is a handicap system, with the big clubs putting 25 or 30 players out on loan — football should be provocative and change it. Have a squad of 25 by all means, chop and change them in January, but you don’t need 70 players. ‘If you know someone at a big club it’s all so sycophantic — “we will guarantee him a game, he will play”. We are prostituting ourselves to get a few scraps from the big boys. ‘Greg Dyke is trying to improve things but the FA are a toothless tiger. The Premier League are 100 per cent successful in what they set out to do, which is to make as much money as possible. When I was a player, if Manchester United played Oldham in Division Two they had to share the gate receipts.’ When you sit down with Coppell, he is a million miles away from the monosyllabic character who would turn up at press conferences when he was in work. The 59-year-old won consecutive LMA Manager of the Year awards in 2006 and 2007 . ‘I look at Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots, and he’s won four Super Bowls in 11 years. Watch his press conferences. One-word answers, but he delivers.’ So did Coppell, a popular figure in dressing rooms at his clubs. He knows how to knit together a winning team. This is a man who consciously spent a year out of the game when he left Reading after they failed to beat Burnley in the Championship play-off semi-final in 2009. ‘I used to go to Fulham to watch Roy Hodgson. A lot of people don’t share my opinion of Roy but to work across Europe consistently and mainly be successful — and to act with integrity — and do things the right way, is something I admire.’ Coppell is tempted to move abroad himself, to test himself in another country if England really has turned its back on him. ‘Football owes me nothing but I feel I have something to contribute to the game,’ he said. ‘I don’t expect people to bend over backwards. Ideally I would probably like to work abroad and I am at an age where if it doesn’t happen now it might never happen. Maybe football’s finished with me.’ With so much still to offer? You’ve got to be kidding. +Dunga has dismissed suggestions his Brazil squad is over reliant on Barcelona striker Neymar after naming a 23-man squad for upcoming friendlies against France and Chile later this month. Neymar almost single-handedly carried Brazil to last summer's World Cup quarter-finals against Colombia before fracturing his vertebra and missing his side's 7-1 semi-final humiliation against Germany. Dunga has named Neymar his new skipper since the World Cup and admits to building his newlook Brazil side around the Barcelona attacker. Neymar almost single-handedly carried Brazil to last summer's World Cup quarter-finals against Colombia . But Neymar fractured his vertebra and missed his side's 7-1 semi-final humiliation against Germany . After playing France in Paris later this month, the all-South American clash at the Emirates Stadium against Chile on March 29 is particularly mouthwatering and will see Brazil star Neymar facing Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez – the pair are former Nou Camp team-mates. Chelsea trio Willian, Oscar and Filipe Luis have been named in the squad by Dunga alongside Manchester City's Fernandinho, Real Madrid left-back Marcelo and Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho. 'Our captain is not a surprise,' said Dunga. 'The numbers are here to demonstrate that he is in a very good period. Neymar celebrates with former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in Belo Horizonte last summer . 'Since he has been designated captain of the team, he has had an upgrade on his level of football. 'He likes challenges, the more responsibility he has, the more he will develop and get better. 'We are very happy to have him; he is doing fantastic things in Europe. 'Every time that Brazil was World Champion, we had a strong collective spirit, from which appeared some outstanding players. Dunga says Brazil do not rely too much on Barcelona star Neymar, who he has named his captain . 'We don't want that one only player resolves everything. 'Our priority is first to have a strong collective, and then as a second step, one outstanding player can naturally differentiate himself and help us to be better. 'The creativity of Brazilian Football is dribbling. Players must have a good attitude, they have to take decisions . 'What we are trying to do in this new era of Brazil is the following: to increase the value of our heroes of the past and use them as references of the principles of Brazilian Football for helping develop our new young players. Neymar scores for Spanish giants Barcelona against Villareal on the Copa del Rey semi final second leg . 'People say Brazilian Football is improvisation. No, Brazilian football is not improvisation, our football is creativity.' Brazil's game at the Emirates will take on extra significance as Dunga's men secured a dramatic penalty shootout win against Chile to reach the last eight at the 2014 World Cup last summer and set up an all-South American quarter-final against Colombia. Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar was the hero, making two crucial spot-kick saves to thwart Chile, who were denied victory themselves by the woodwork with seconds to spare in extra time. As well as key World Cup qualifiers, Brazil will travel to Chile in July for the Copa America and Dunga is convinced the next 12 months will be a major test for his new look side. Neymar celebrates scoring Barcelona's third goal against Villareal to send them through to the final . 'We first changed all the staff of Brazil,' said Dunga, speaking about the rebuilding job after the World Cup. 'The most important thing is working hard; working hard is the only solution to overcome this traumatism. Then, results will follow. 'We are explaining to the players that we must be strong collectively. We are discussing a lot with the players about the things that did not work during World Cup. 'Our principal objective is Qualifying Games for World Cup and Copa America will help us to get to our main objective. Hulk, Neymar and Dani Alves sit on the bench prior to the World Cup 2014 third place match with Holland . 'We need to gain a winning mentality. This is a new decision from Brazil; we will try to be more open in terms of giving more opportunity for new players to be called in the squad. 'We want to have a new meritocratic philosophy. The ones that will deliver most are the ones who will be called. 'We have decided this squad based on what we observed up to now in previous Friendly Games of Brazilian National Team. Neymar tries to lift the crowd during the Group A match of the 2014 World Cup between Brazil and Mexico . 'We have had to take into consideration the fact that some players are still in Pre-Season period in Brazil and others are in the middle of their seasons in Europe. 'We want to mix young players with players of experience. At this point in time nothing is definite, we will have two friendlies, we will have Copa America and then we will have our biggest objective, which is qualifying for World Cup 2018. 'The players that are not on this list don't have to feel excluded and the one that are on the list don't have to think that they will be there forever'. 'Our main objective is the Qualifying for World Cup and all the players have to be ready for it.' Diego Tardelli celebrates after scoring the second goal with Neymar during Argentina and Brazil match . Brazil v Chile is on March 29 at 3pm at the Emirates Stadium in London. Tickets are still available from £30 Adults/£15 Concessions at www.arsenal.com/tickets . +Online music videos are to be given age ratings in a bid to protect children from explicit images and lyrics. Top artists including Sam Smith, George Ezra and Joss Stone could see their music videos handed 12, 15 or 18 certifications under the government-backed pilot scheme. The British Board of Film Certification, which is running the initiative, has estimated that one in five videos released will be deemed unfit for those under 12. Video sharing sites YouTube and Vevo have signed up to the scheme and pledged to include the warnings on clips uploaded to their sites. Vevo puts the rating in the top corner of the video, while YouTube includes it in the information beneath . However some of the world’s raunchiest performers, such as Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, are not covered by the scheme and there are no measures in place to enforce the guidelines . Rapper Dizzee Rascal has already seen his video ‘Couple of Stacks’ rated 18 under the initiative. Ellie Goulding’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’, recorded for the film Fifty Shades of Grey, was handed a 15 warning and Kasabian’s ‘Stevie’ was rated 12. But even with these ratings in place, there is nothing to stop younger music fans stumbling across the inappropriate clips which often include sexual imagery, violence and obscene language. Only videos released by the British arms of Sony Music UK, Universal Music UK and Warner Music UK are covered by the scheme and the companies are free to choose which videos they want to submit for certification. This means videos from artists such as Miley Cyrus, Nicky Minaj and Rihanna, who are not signed to those labels and are known for their raunchy videos, will not be included in the ratings system. Video sharing sites YouTube and Vevo have signed up to the scheme and pledged to include the warnings on clips uploaded to their sites. Vevo puts the rating in the top corner of the video, while YouTube includes it in the information beneath. However, there are no checks to make sure the person watching is of the correct age. YouTube is the world’s most popular video sharing platform, with one billion worldwide users. It hosts videos for the vast majority of musicians. Some of the world’s raunchiest performers, such as Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, are not covered by the scheme and there are no measures in place to enforce the guidelines . A spokesman for Vevo said: ‘There is no signing in as such or filters – although this is a next step that may be added in time. At the moment this is about giving parents and users the information they need to make a more informed viewing choice and decision. To be effective it requires that parents also take an active interest in what their children are watching.’ Campaigners said last night that the latest move is a ‘fantastic step’ but called for stricter enforcement and for all music videos to carry the ‘kite mark’ of an official age rating to help parents protect their children. The scheme has been running since October last year and has so far seen 84 videos rated, with 27 given a 12 classification, 39 a 15 and one a 18. The BBFC has estimated that one in five videos released will be deemed unsuitable for children under the age of 12. Top artists including Sam Smith, George Ezra and Joss Stone could see their music videos handed 12, 15 or 18 certifications under the government-backed pilot scheme. Dizzee Rascal’s video was given the highest rating because of ‘strong bloody violence, gore, very strong language’. The three and a half minute clip contains extreme violence with the rapper ripping the heart out of a stripping woman, brandishing a knife while covered in blood and decapitating a woman whose body then stumbles around the room. He also holds a family hostage and serves a cake with severed fingers instead of candles. He is shown pulling out a person’s eyeball, slitting one woman’s throat and cutting another’s head in half. Vivienne Pattison, from campaign group Media Watch-UK, said: ‘When parents are surveyed, the two areas that came up as being particularly problematic were soap operas and music videos, those are the two areas that come up again and again as the issue. One in five, that’s a huge number of videos. 'What happens is one video pushes the boundaries and the next artists is under pressure to do the same in order to get people talking about it. It becomes a great merry-go-round and I think that is a fantastic illustration of exactly where this is gone, it’s quite extraordinary. ‘It’s not a magic bullet but it’s a fantastic step and I think it will really make a difference. I don’t know where we will end up down the line but I would like this to act as a kite mark for music videos. This is not a move about censorship, the videos will all still be there, but I think artists and record companies need to take seriously that if they are targeting young fans they have got to do it responsibly.’ On the lack of enforcement of the ratings, she said: ‘You can’t go into a shop and buy a 15 rated film without ID and we need to see about extending those protections online.’ Dizzee Rascal’s video was given the highest rating because of ‘strong bloody violence, gore, very strong language’. The three and a half minute clip contains extreme violence . +Lance Armstrong has been told it would be ‘completely disrespectful’ to ride part of the Tour de France route this summer by the head of world cycling. As revealed by the Mail on Sunday, Armstrong has agreed to a request by former England footballer and fellow cancer survivor Geoff Thomas to join him in raising money this summer in the battle against the deadly disease. Thomas and a team of cyclists will ride the Tour route one day ahead of the professional peloton and he travelled to Austin last month to persuade the controversial American to support the event for two stages. But the initiative has divided opinion in cycling, with Sir Dave Brailsford suggesting Armstrong has already ‘done enough damage’ and UCI president Brian Cookson also urging the man stripped of his seven Tour titles for doping to stay away from France this summer. Lance Armstrong (left) will join Geoff Thomas's Cure Leukaemia charity ride of the Tour de France course . Lance Armstrong back on the Tour de France circuit as Geoff Thomas persuades disgraced former winner to ride stages ahead of peloton for cancer charity . Speaking at an event in London on Tuesday, Cookson said Armstrong ‘would be well-advised not to take part’ in the an event hoping to raise £1million for blood cancer. ‘I'm sure that Geoff Thomas means well, but frankly I think that's completely inappropriate and disrespectful to the Tour, disrespectful to the current riders, and disrespectful to the UCI and the anti-doping community,’ said Cookson. ‘I think Lance would be well-advised not to take part in that.’ Only a week after the CIRC report into cycling doping – ordered by Cookson – revealed that the use of banned substances is still a major problem in the sport, some might question whether professional cycling should even concern itself with a charity bike ride. The disgraced rider, who was stripped of his seven Le Tour title, wants to return to work fighting cancer . Thomas is set to undertake a charity ride . There are convicted dopers currently running pro Tour teams and right now the UCI is considering revoking the race licence of the Astana team that boasts last year’s Tour winner, Vincenzo Nibali, but has seen five of its riders test positive in recent months. It’s team manager, Alexander Vinokourov, is a convicted doper while questions continue at Team Sky over whether their employment of sporting director Servais Knaven represents a challenge to their zero tolerance policy. Travis Tygart, the head of the US anti-doping agency whose investigation ultimately brought down Armstrong, had no great objection to him rejoining the cancer battle. ‘As long as it's not a sanctioned competition that falls under the rules, it's not a direct concern,’ said Tygart, who only last week said he now feels ‘sorry’ for Armstrong and other riders in the light of the CIRC report into the doping culture in cycling and is now prepared to discuss reducing the American’s life ban from sport. ‘That's outside the technical rules.’ Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France race director, also did not object to Armstrong’s involvement, making the point that he e would riding on public roads. Cookson, meanwhile, challenged the charity argument. ‘I've heard that reason rolled out throughout Lance A's career as well,’ he said. ‘I'm not critical of people trying to raise funds for charity, let's be clear. ‘But I think maybe Lance could find a better way of continuing his fundraising efforts than this. Lance Armstrong can ride his bike around France as often as he likes, it's got nothing to do with me or the UCI.’ Armstrong has been criticised by cycling boss Brian Cookson for taking part in the charity ride . Brian Cookson, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), says Armstrong would be best advised not to take part in the charity ride . Thomas responded with a statement, making it clear it is a fundraising issue and not a cycling issue. The statement said: ‘When I was being treated for blood cancer I was inspired by Lance Armstrong’s book “It’s not about the bike, my journey back to life”. It gave me strength to deal with my predicament and a purpose which crystallised into the 2005 charity ride along the route of the Tour de France. Whatever Armstrong has done since, and I have gone on record condemning his use of performance enhancing drugs, this doesn’t remove the importance that he played at that critical period of my life. 'We have stayed in touch intermittently – he presented me with the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2005 – and have had occasional chats over the last year about how he might support my charity endeavours. I went to see him a few weeks ago at his home in Austin and he genuinely wants to help improve the situation of those with blood cancer. 'We are still confirming details of how Armstrong will support Le Tour – One Day Ahead but it is likely to involve him riding a couple of stages and hosting a training camp for the team. I understand that some people will find it hard to accept Armstrong’s support but my take is a simple one: If Armstrong’s involvement in Le Tour - One Day Ahead and my goal to raise £1 million for blood cancer can help save one more life then surely that can only be a good thing.’ Armstrong issued a statement, saying: ‘I'm honoured and humbled to have been invited by legendary footballer and fellow cancer survivor Geoff Thomas to accompany him on parts of his ride around France. ‘Since my own diagnosis, I've been 100 percent committed to fighting this dreadful disease that affects millions, and that holds true today.’ +Tour de France winner Stephen Roche has offered his support to Geoff Thomas, arguing that cycling should not object to Lance Armstrong joining the former England footballer in France this summer to raise money for the fight against cancer. Roche, the 1987 Tour winner whose own son suffered with leukaemia, believes Armstrong’s involvement with Thomas’s ‘Le Tour - One Day Ahead’ event will only help raise awareness and cash for the cause. Thomas and Armstrong are united by both being cancer survivors but some senior figures in cycling – UCI president Brian Cookson and Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford – have objected to the controversial American returning to the French roads. Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Le Tour title, wants to return to work fighting cancer . Former Tour de France champion Stephen Roche, pictured with former footballer and charity organiser Geoff Thomas, supports Armstrong's return to raise money and awareness of the disease . Armstrong is set to be part of a team of cyclists rising the route on a day before the Tour de France starts . The US cyclist revealed details of his doping scandal in an interview chat show host Oprah Winfrey . Lance Armstrong's former team-mate Jonathan Vaughters said he would support the disgraced cyclist’s plan to ride part of the Tour de France route this summer if it was for ‘altruistic’ reasons. Vaughters, who rode with Armstrong in the US Postal Service team in 1998 and 1999, was however wary of his motives for accepting an invitation from fellow cancer survivor Geoff Thomas to join him in a charity ride. ‘I sincerely hope his reasons for wanting to do that are altruistic.I have no idea what his motivations are. If it's altruistic then it's hard to condemn anything altruistic, across the board. If it's part of a greater commercial strategy or legal strategy, then I feel like that's disingenuous.’ Vaughters, speaking at a UK anti-doping conference, said Armstrong’s lifetime ban from competition was not the only way he had been punished. ‘One of the biggest penalties that guys face when they are caught for doping is the loss of their social group,’ he said, ‘They're no longer accepted amongst their tribe, their people that they were once close with. He would like social acceptance again. I'm assuming that's a little bit what he's after (with the charity ride).’ Vaughters welcomed reports that Armstrong has met with US anti-doping boss Travis Tygart in Denver, Colorado. It's positive news. I don't know what his motivations are, but to me that's good news. My experiences with Travis have been nothing but positive.’ Thomas and a team of cyclists will ride the route of this summer’s Tour one day ahead of the professional peloton, with Armstrong planning to join them for two stages. But Cookson branded Armstrong’s involvement ‘inappropriate and disrespectful’. Roche, who in 1987 became the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of the Tour, the Giro D’Italia and the world road race title, said: ‘I believe in what he’s (Thomas) doing,’ said Roche. ‘I know that by having Lance involved with Geoff Thomas in his charity to generate funds for leukaemia - I think that his overall picture will be a lot brighter. 'He will bring in a lot more money for very, very worthy causes. It's about going forward. We can't change the past. We must use the past to make the future better.’ It was Roche’s son, Florian, who suffered with leukaemia and the Irishman, speaking to the Newstalk Breakfast radio show earlier, said: 'I can speak from my heart because my son had leukaemia and he's on the straight now, thank God,’ he said. ‘And when you're involved with that, to see how far a euro goes, and how euros are lacking to fund research. 'So I'm speaking from a different perspective maybe than someone who just a general cyclist that's very disappointed in what Armstrong has done to the sport. So I know the power he has. 'I know that people are going to despise me for saying so, but I think we have got to move on. I think that he faulted - he wasn't the only one that faulted - he's been punished. 'He'll be punished for the rest of his life for what he did. But there is a redemption somewhere as well. Where does it start? Does it start this year, next year, in ten years' time? Does it start by doing a charity cycle?' Former Crystal Palace, Wolves midfielder Thomas (right) won nine full England caps in his football career . +Manny Pacquiao received a surprise visit from drug testers prior to his Fight of the Century with Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao was approached unannounced by an anti-doping examiner at the house he is renting in Los Angeles where he is preparing to face Mayweather in Las Vegas on May 2. Both fighters can expect to be tested under the US Anti-Doping Association programme to which they have both signed up. Manny Pacquiao was paid a surprise visit by an anti-doping examiner on Sunday to take a drug test . Pacquiao has a plaster applied after giving a blood sample to the examiner . Pacquiao was visited only four days after the packed red-carpet media event in LA which formally launched the build up to the $350million richest fight of all time. The inspector called at the house, where Pacquiao was relaxing with members of his team between work-outs with master trainer Freddie Roach at the fabled Wild Card Gym . The PacMan readily complied with tests for both blood – a process about which he had previously expressed his dislike – and urine. ‘No problem,’ he told the medic, with a smile. Earlier, his promoter Bob Arum had made it clear that Pacquiao had issued a $5m challenge to Mayweather with regard to the testing, and offered to surrender that amount should he fail the examination. In addition to the giving blood, Pacquiao also gave a urine sample during the test . Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather can expected to be randomly tested before the bout on May 2 in Las Vegas . Arum explained: ‘Manny proposed that if either of them did not pass a test, that man should pay the other $5m. ‘Floyd’s team declined. Not because anybody here is afraid of the outcome but because they realised they could legally get a lot more if it happened. ‘Fine with Manny. If Floyd fails we will be looking for much more compensation than $5m.' Pacquiao has already been paid damages – reportedly in seven figures – after taking legal action for remarks made by members of the Mayweather team, when they began demanding drugs-testing, which inferred that he might have used performance enhancing drugs in the past. Under the US procedures, which comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency standards applied for the Olympics, both boxers must submit to random testing in the weeks leading up to the fight and to another immediately after the event. Pacquiao was happy to be filmed by a camera crew from the Philippines, who are documenting the build up . Pacquiao proposed that if either boxer failed a drug test they would have to pay the other $5million . Pacquiao has had to overcome an element of paranoia that a loss of blood prior to fights might weaken him in the ring. But he is so cool about testing now that he allowed video-taping of Sunday’s test by a Philippines camera crew which is filming virtually his every move between now and fight night in the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mayweather has campaigned vociferously in the last two years for the implementation of random blood testing for all fights. However, with a split purse of up to $180m for Mayweather and $120m for Pacquiao at stake, it seems inconceivable that either man would even remotely risk detection. Pacquiao has been documenting his training , seen here going fr a road run on the streets of LA . Mayweather hits the speed bag as his training camp continues in his Las Vegas gym . Mayweather vs Pacquiao is widely considered to be one of the biggest boxing fights of all-time . VIDEO Mayweather and Pacquiao camps exchange verbal blows . Not all boxers make hundreds of millions of dollars for risking their lives in the ring. Compared with the most lucrative pickings ever which await Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2, our own Michael Watson was on a modest stipend when he climbed through the ropes to fight Chris Eubank. That London evening in 1991 ended with Watson suffering crippling brain damage. It is nothing short of a miracle, made possible by rapid and brilliant medical intervention, that Watson has survived to celebrate his 50th birthday, let alone along the way complete a London Marathon in six days with the ever-supportive Eubank for company. Michael Watson (centre), pictured fighting Chris Eubank in 1991, turned 50 on Sunday . The bout left Watson with crippling brain damage and there will be a fund-raining dinner to celebrate his 50th . To celebrate Watson’s half-century, which he turned on Sunday, a fund-raising dinner will be held in London next month to help pay for the constant care he needs. The Teenage Cancer Trust will benefit, also. David Haye and Joe Calzaghe will be among many star British boxers in attendance at The Park Lane Hotel on St George’s Day, April 23, along with American legend Marvin Hagler. Tickets, at £275 each, are available from Geraldine Davies at michaelwatsonmbe@aol.com . +A grandmother has voiced her fury after her nine-year-old grandson was given the same mobile phone number as a Melbourne brothel . Margaret told Perth radio station 6PR on Wednesday morning that she was outraged after getting word of the apparent mishap. The Western Australian woman had contacted the station after the show discussed West Coast Eagles player Nic Naitanui also reportedly received an identical number to somebody else, reports Sydney Morning Herald. A Western Australian grandmother has revealed her grandson was given the same mobile phone number as a Melbourne brothel . 'All these men kept calling and ...I tell you what I was livid,' Margaret told the radio station. 'It was such a shock because he couldn't understand it and I couldn't understand it.' She told the radio station the nine-year-old received scores of calls from would be customers. Margaret contacted 6PR after an anonymous caller dialled the station to say someone in Queensland had accidentally received the same number as Naitanui. 6PR breakfast announcer Basil Zempilas dialled Naitanui to verify the claim. When they contacted the 24-year-old, he reportedly told them he was baffled by the occurrence and had decided to buy a new phone. West Coast Eagles player Nic Naitanui, who was also recently given the same mobile number as another person . ''He said he had no idea how it happened and nobody could explain how it happened,' Zempilas said. Fairfax reported that a failure within the provisioning system of the telco company would be responsible for the improbable mix-up. +Rhiannon Blair was left in tears after her classmates poured lighter fuel over her precious notes and set them ablaze - destroying years of hard work in a few seconds of mindless vandalism . This is the shocking moment a gang of bullies set fire to a schoolgirl's GCSE coursework - before sending her a video of the cruel prank. Rhiannon Blair was left in tears after her classmates poured lighter fuel over her precious notes and set them ablaze - destroying years of hard work. The 15-year-old had not realised the work was missing until she was sent the video by her tormentors - who were suspended for just three days after the act of mindless vandalism. The footage shows the teenage bullies laughing and joking as they poured lighter fluid over the pile of papers on a picnic bench and set it alight. One boy even attempted to fan the flames by spraying it with a deodorant can while another threw in a lighter which eventually caused the notes to explode. A pupil then climbed onto the bench to trample over the cindered books. Police yesterday were investigating after the footage was posted online, but confirmed there had been no arrests so far. Rhiannon said she has been the victim of a campaign of bullying at Easthampstead Park Community School in Bracknell, Berkshire, since last September and suffered from anxiety and depression as a result. She now fears the stunt may put her entry to college in jeopardy. She said: 'I was shocked and disgusted when I was sent the video by one of the pupils involved. None of them seems to be sorry for what they have done or show any regret. I am just very upset and tearful that all my hard work has gone to waste. 'I have always wanted to work with children and it is what I had set my heart on doing for the rest of my life. I am not even sure if I can get a place on my course at the college anymore. I can't understand why anyone would do this.' The teenager, who dreams of a career as a nursery nurse, was just two weeks away from submitting the coursework when the bullies destroyed her work. One of the bullies shouts 'put a lighter on it' as another prepares to set fire to Rhiannon's coursework . Two boys reel away as the flaming pile of notes explodes thanks to a lighter that had been thrown on them . Her mother, Debbie Groom, said: 'I am so angry. These pupils have ruined my daughter's life. I would be mortified if that was my child carrying out that sort of behaviour. 'This incident is going to scar Rhiannon for life. She has been very stressed and upset but the reaction to the video being posted online has been amazing - it just shows that people do not like bullies.' Another pupil, 15-year-old Kayleigh Holloway from Hanworth, also had her child development coursework destroyed in the pile. Her uncle Neil Holloway said: 'I am disgusted by what has happened. I don't think the three days suspension given to the children involved was not enough punishment. 'They have all probably seen it as a nice holiday. Even though the school has said her grades won't be affected that is not the answer or what we want to hear. 'Kayleigh was very upset when she found out - she has got enough going on in her life without all of this.' Rihannon's mother Debbie Groom (pictured with Rhiannon's family, L-R:  aunt Anne Yates, mother Debbie Groom, Rhiannon Blair and her sister Katie Blair) said the incident had scarred her daughter for life . Headteacher Liz Cook said letters had been sent out to everybody involved in the incident and assured the victims that their grades would not be affected. She said: 'The school has investigated the incident at length and its origins were a falling out between girls, property was taken as a spiteful act designed to disrupt the victim's lesson the following day. 'On reflection students have realised this act was a huge error of judgement on their part and have been shocked that their act has attracted a social media storm. 'This has been a steep learning curve for them all. The victims of the theft are also being supported as we make every effort to make sure their hard work and studies are not compromised. 'I hope for our students' sake that we will be able to put this incident behind us.' +Apple CEO Tim Cook still remembers the last movie he ever saw with Steve Jobs before he succumbed to cancer: the sentimental football flick Remember the Titans. 'I was so surprised he wanted to watch that movie,' Cook recalls in the new biography 'Becoming Steve Jobs,' out in bookstores now. The 2000 film starring Denzel Washington tells the true story of a newly integrated Virginia high school football team in 1971. Scroll down for video . Heir: Tim Cook (left) was tapped by Steve Jobs as his successor in August 2011, just months before the co-founder of Apple succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Here the two are pictured at a press conference on antenna problems with the iPhone4 at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, July 16, 2010 . Movie night to remember: In the new biography 'Becoming Jobs,' Cook recalls how six days before Jobs died, he invited his over to watch the sentimental 2000 football flick Remember the Titans (pictured) 'I was like, "Are you sure?" Steve was not interested in sports at all. And we watched and we talked about a number of things and I left thinking that he was pretty happy,' according to a CNN review of the book. Six days after Cook and Jobs' movie night, the co-founder of Apple passed away at his Palo Alto, California, estate from complications related to pancreatic cancer. He was 56 years old. The new biography of the late Apple CEO by veteran tech journalists Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli traces his decades-long evolution from a 'reckless' young inventor tinkering with early computer models into the leader of a global tech giant. The book, based on numerous in-depth interviews with Jobs' colleagues, friends and competitors, also allows a glimpse into the Apple CEO's inner sanctum in the final weeks of his life. Cook, who took the reins of Apple in August 2011, less than two months before his mentor's death, described to the authors of the biography the moment Jobs invited him over to his house to offer him the top job. ‘He told me he had decided that I should be CEO. I thought then that he thought he was going to live a lot longer when he said this, because we got into a whole level of discussion about what would it mean for me to be CEO with him as a chairman. Evolution of a genius: The new tome (left), penned by a pair of tech journalists, traces Jobs' transformation from a brash young inventor (right) into a a 'visionary leader' Music fan: Jobs, pictured here in 1977, loved the Beatles, with John Lennon being his favorite member of the band. He even reportedly named his company after the band's Apple Corps Record . ‘I asked him, “What do you really not want to do that you’re doing?” Cook recalled. ‘He says, “You make all the decisions.” I go, “Wait. Let me ask you a question.” ‘I tried to pick something that would incite him. So I said, “You mean that if I review an ad and I like it, it should just run without your okay?” And he laughed and said, “Well, I hope you’d at least ask me!”’ Cook said that every time he visited Jobs, his boss appeared to be on the mend, and he asked him two or three times whether his decision to step down as the CEO was final. Jobs never wavered. According to Tim Cook, his boss wanted a successor who would not try to copy his style of leadership but rather use his own talents for the good of the company - a model he referred to as a 'Beatles concept,' named after Liverpool's Fab Five. In an interesting titbit, the book reveals that Jobs' favorite Beatle was John Lennon, and that he reportedly named his company after Beatles' Apple Corps Record. Stepping down: Cook said that every time he visited Jobs, his boss appeared to be on the mend, and he asked him two or three times whether his decision to step down as the CEO was final. This image shows Jobs at a June 2011 presentation of the iCloud . In the days and weeks leading up to his death, Jobs was busy meeting with peers and friends . In the weeks leading up to his passing, Jobs also met up with John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar, the award-winning digital animation company founded by Jobs and later sold to Disney for $7billion. ‘We talked all about Pixar... And then I kinda looked at him and he said, “Yeah I need to get a nap now.” I got up to go, and then I stopped, and I looked at him and came back. I gave him a big hug, and a kiss, and I said, “Thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for me,"’ Lasseter recalled. The Pixar animator described in one passage how a few years after Steve Jobs' death, he ran into Tim Cook at a birthday party for Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell. The two men bonded over how much they both missed Jobs, and Lasseter confided in the new Apple CEO that he still had his late boss' number on his phone. 'I said, “I'll never be able to take that out.” And Tim took out his iPhone and showed me—he still had Steve's number in his phone, too,’ he said. John Lasseter (far right), chief creative officer at Pixar, got to meet Jobs (left) one last time before his passing and thank him . Kindred spirits: Bill Gates, pictured here alongside Jobs in 1984, got to visit his former rival-turned-friend at home and talk about their legacy and what was ahead for their industry . The co-authors of 'Becoming Steve Jobs' also interviewed Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who was among the people who paid a visit to his one-time rival's Palo Alto mansion not long before his death. ‘We just talked about the things we'd done, and where we thought things were headed,' Gates recalled, graciously adding that his competitor-turned-friend was the one person who had the biggest impact on the personal computer history. In the memoir, which was released Tuesday, Tim Cook did not miss an opportunity to take a swipe at the unauthorized Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, which debuted just weeks after the Apple co-founder's death. ‘You get the feeling that [Steve’s] a greedy, selfish egomaniac. It didn’t capture the person,’ fumed Cook. ‘The person I read about there is somebody I would never have wanted to work with over all this time. Life is too short.’ +A lucky driver has cheated death after a gas leak was sparked underneath his car which was hit by lightning, sparking a wild blaze. The car was completely destroyed and residents in 10 homes surrounding Dryandra Street and Wattle Street in O'Connor North Canberra were evacuated on Wednesday morning. Dramatic images captured by a local resident show the car completely engulfed in flames as firefighters battle to put them out, reports ABC. Firefighters battle to contain the raging fire that broke out after lightening struck a vehicle in North Canberra . Firefighter Danny Brighenti said it was unclear whether the car was parked or moving when the lightening struck. 'On arrival the person had got out of the vehicle, but the car was heavily involved in fire with the surrounding trees and bushes. They're not injured ... but the car is totally destroyed.' The car burst into flames at about 7.50am during a brief thunderstorm. Firefighters were reportedly baffled by the blaze, which continued to reignite for about two hours. 'They believed there was a ruptured fuel tank which was causing the car to reignite,' Mr Brighenti said. Firefighters were reportedly baffled by the blaze, which was being reignited by a gas blaze underneath the car . A man cheated death after escaping the car without injury, despite the vehicle being completely destroyed by the blaze . Firefighters eventually moved the car away when they realised a gas main had been ruptured, at which point they set up an exclusion zone. Several trees were set ablaze as the fire continued to reignite. The the leak was isolated at about 11:20am, when fire crews could leave the scene. According to emergency services the gas leak was approximately 70 centimetres underground. ACT Ambulance Service were also called to the scene but no injuries were reported. Residents in 10 homes surrounding Dryandra Street and Wattle Street in O'Connor North Canberra were evacuated . +A vicious road rage rant was caught on camera after a motorcyclist pulled up in front of an angry female motorist . The dash cam footage was captured on a busy Sydney highway by the female driver of the vehicle in front of the incident, who pulled over in a bid to subdue the enraged driver. But the gesture only angered her further, causing her to hurl her abuse towards the young woman and demand she 'f**king get in your car and f**k off!' The footage shows the cyclist pulling up in front of the furious female driver, before she alights from her vehicles and begins the outburst . The angry driver's daughter can also be seen attempting to calm her mother, but she is pushed aside as the woman continues her outburst. The motorcyclist tries to explain he was 'lane filtering'- moving alongside vehicles that have stopped or are moving slowly-a tactic which is legal in NSW. But the driver still insists he is in the wrong, screaming about how he nearly caused an accident and should have followed the road rules. 'You f----ing cut me off up there. It's your bike, you should know the rules.' The driver in front of the incident pulls over in a bid to subdue the enraged driver, but it seems only to anger her more . The motorcyclist tries to explain he was 'lane filtering'- moving alongside vehicles that have stopped or are moving slowly-a tactic which is legal in NSW-but to no avail . The woman who offered her assistance asks the motorcyclist to follow her, and she later gave him the dash cam vision . When the driver finally returns to her black 4WD, the woman who filmed the incident asks the motorcyclist to follow her. They later exchanged details, and the woman offered him a copy of the footage. +The Lindt cafe in Sydney's CBD will reopen on Friday, three months after a deadly siege claimed the lives of two hostages and a gunman. A Lindt spokesman has confirmed the Martin Place cafe would open its doors at 10am, with NSW Premier Mike Baird set to be the first customer, reports 9 News. A plaque inside the cafe will commemorate Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson who were killed there along with gunman Man Haron Monis in December last year. Scroll down for video . A Lindt spokesman has confirmed the Martin Place cafe would open its doors at 10am on Friday . The reopenning comes three months after a deadly siege claimed the lives of hostages Tori Johnson (left) and Katrina Dawson (right) Lindt Australia CEO Steve Loane says the overwhelming feeling was to create a permanent memorial. 'It was felt this was the right thing to do, to remember Tori and Katrina and their spirit,' he said in a statement on Tuesday. Mr Loane thanked the public for an outpouring of support since the siege. 'This has been an extremely difficult period for so many people impacted by those tragic events,' he said. '(The support) has truly been a source of strength for everyone and has helped us in our decision to reopen the café and move forward.' Hostages fleeing the cafe where captor Man Haron Monis took 18 people hostage . Man Haron Monis (centre), the gunman who died inside the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney . A statement from the Dawson family last month said they hope to one day return to the site. 'Although it will be difficult at first, we hope to be able in time to return to the Lindt cafe so that her children can continue to experience one of Katrina's great joys,' the statement read. Mr Johnson's partner Thomas Zinn also spoke out about the reopening of the cafe. 'We would like for people to return to Martin Place and smile again.' . Thousands of messages and flowers were laid outside the Lindt cafe in the weeks following the siege . Tradesmen work on repairing the Martin Place cafe from damage that was inflicted during the siege . The reopening comes only one month after Lindt's chief executive Stephen Loane announced plans to recommence business . The cafe remained boarded up after the terror attack until last month, when tradespeople entered to assess a new design for the store. Mr Loane asked the public to respect the privacy of staff and let them enjoy the job they love so much. NSW Premier Mike Baird will be one of the first to visit the cafe, which will return to standard trading hours from Saturday onwards. +A 17-year-old who was caught attempting to flee Australia to join jihadi militants in the Middle East had also been stopped by police just one day earlier during a first escape attempt. Wearing a lime green cap and carrying a black backpack, the teen was removed from a plane at Sydney Airport on March 12 and interviewed by counter-terrorism officers, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed on Wednesday. However this was already the second effort the boy had made to escape the country after he had attempted to hop on a flight to Abu Dhabi - allegedly on his way to Syria - on March 11 before first being stopped, News Corp reports. The third teenager to be caught by authorities trying to join Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East, was stopped from leaving the country by federal police two days in a row . 'His name triggered the system and his passport was ­cancelled. He then turned up the next day and tried to board the same flight,' a senior source told News Corp. Police then intercepted the teen during his second attempt, detaining and interviewing him before releasing him to his parents. It comes after two teenage brothers were also discovered trying to travel to the Middle East earlier this month. The first incident occured on March 11 and the second on March 12 . The boy is the third teenager government officials have intercepted and amongst about 200 people stopped from heading overseas to become foreign fighters with terrorist groups. He has since returned to his family again, with the Australian Federal Police and ASIO investigating the matter. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that while it was hard to believe people who had grown up in Australia's free and open society could be susceptible to brain washing by extremist groups such as Islamic State, it was clearly happening. 'It is very dangerous for you. It is very dangerous for others,' he told reporters in Canberra. It follows two brothers who were detained for doing the same earlier this month (pictured above) The siblings aged 16 and 17 were questioned by counter-terrorism officers before they were sent home to their mother in Sydney's south-west . There are fears that more teenagers could end up like Abdullah Elmir (pictured) who has been dubbed the 'Ginger Jihadist' Elmir (front centre) has appeared in propaganda videos since he arrived in the Middle East (above) 'We will do everything we can to stop you if you do try.' The two brothers who were stopped earlier this month were aged 16 and 17. The siblings were south-west Sydney and were reportedly brought home by their mother after being detained. Authorities' suspicions were aroused after the two had booked flights to an unidentified country in the Middle East and their luggage was searched. The latest teenager to be caught were trying to fly to the Middle East like notorious extremists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar . Mohamed Elomar (above) has caused a stir on social media after posting photos of him with weapons and severed heads . Meanwhile Khaled Sharrouf made international headlines after he posted photos of his children posing with guns . The above photograph is Sharrouf posing with his children in front of an Islamic State flag and rifles . They were stopped on the night of March 6, Mr Dutton said at the time of the revelation. Their parents were unaware of their plans to travel to the Middle East. The brothers were later issued court attendance notices. Under the new Foreign Fighters Act, customs officers are allowed to detain people where the officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is intending to commit a Commonwealth offence or is a threat to national security or the security of a foreign country. Sydney jihadists Mohamed Elomar, Khaled Sharrouf, and teenager Abdullah Elmir - dubbed the Ginger Jihadist - are so far the most high profile Australians to have travelled to the Middle East to fight with Islamic State. Elmir, a former Condell Park High student, was filmed on the banks of the River Tigris in Iraq last October. While Elomar and Sharrouf have appeared regularly in Islamic State videos. One of which included a beheading of a prisoner. +Roughly 30 kilometres southeast of Brisbane sits a café with a scandalous burger. But the chefs at Fins n Fries café in North Stradbroke Island say their Bali Nine Burger is only named after its ingredients. The café has been serving the item for over four years, but they conceded the looming execution of Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran has prompted questions about the burgers future, reports Sydney Morning Herald. Scroll down for video . Fins n Fries café in North Stradbroke Island has been serving a Bali Nine burger for over four years . Owner and head chef Cameron Tobin said customers are asking: ''are you going to call it the Bali Seven in a couple of weeks time?'' Mr Tobin clarified he thought this suggestion was 'distasteful.' He claimed the burger earned its name from having nine ingredients and a Balinese sauce, rather than referencing the nine people arrested in 2005 for trying to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin into Australia. 'People have a bit of a laugh, but then I explain to them the theory behind it and tell them that there are nine ingredients on the burger,' he said. Mr Tobin discovered the recipe for the burger when travelling through southeast Asia. While it is apparently his most popular item, that could be in part due to some customers believing it contains drugs. 'It is my best seller, but I get lots of people ask me if there are illicit products used in the making of the burger,' he said. Owner and head chef Cameron Tobin claimed the burger earned its name from having nine ingredients and a Balinese sauce, rather than referencing the nine people arrested for attempting to import heroin into Australia . "Bali Nine" ringleaders Myuran Sukumaran (left) and Andrew Chan in a holding cell at Denpasar Court. Mr Tobin said the looming execution of the two Australians has prompted questions about the burgers future . Instead, the nine ingredients are lettuce, sweet chilli, fried shallots, bean sprouts, cheese bacon, chicken-devilled pattie, Balinese satay sauce and a bun. It comes as news broke on Thursday the legal appeals of Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been adjourned until next week, because president Joko Widodo lacks sufficient legal representation. +Alice Springs is an arid region in central Australia, positioned some 1500km from the nearest beach. Locals may not have any waves to catch, but they have managed to quench their thirst for surfing with an unorthodox daredevil-friendly pastime. Hilarious GoPro footage shows a group of young larrikins towing themselves on surfboards from utes on the muddy waters of Ilparpa claypans, just south of Alice Springs. Scroll down for video . The video shows the young larrikens towing themselves on surfboards from utes on the muddy waters of Ilparpa claypans . One of the men behind the video, Philip Drummond, said his friends were inspired after going to a 21st birthday party on the Gold Coast. ‘We got a taste for surfing there, then we brought some surfboards back home and took them down to the claypans,' he said. 'We didn’t have much surfing experience, but we picked it up as we went along.’ After several years of trial and error, the friends have refined act to be somewhere between wakeboarding and water skiing. ‘We started off pretty slow at about 15 km per hour or so, but once we built up our confidence we were goingup to 40 kmph,’ he said. The video was filmed over four days in the middle of last year, a time when the Red Centre was experiencing torrential rain. The group of friends were inspired after going surfing at a 21st birthday party on the Gold Coast . After several years of practice, the daredevils have refined act to be somewhere between wakeboarding and water skiing . ‘The claypan retains water very well, but there are few points of the year when we have that much water. We need to capitalise when we get the chance,’ Drummond said. Drummond said none of his friends have suffered any serious injuries from the claypan surfing. When asked if it was legal, he said it was a ‘grey area.’ ‘It’s government land we’re using, but there are our-wheel drives tearing up there all the time. I don’t think what we do is any more damaging,’ he said. The friends have slowly built up their confidence and speed, reaching up to 40km per hour . Despite being seen in the video taking a heavy fall, Drummond said none of his friends have suffered any serious injuries from claypan surfing . +This is the incredible moment a crafty crab manages to rise to the bait but leave unscathed. Extraordinary footage has emerged of a blue swimmer crab evading entrapment, opening a pot with its pincers and absconding with a sizeable bite of herring. The video, captured in Largs Bay Beach in South Australia and uploaded to Facebook this week, has received over 430,000 Views and 2,000 likes. The crafty crab can be seen prying  the pot of herring open with its pincers . Builder Mark Katnich decided to drop a GoPro in the crab net while he went crabbing over the weekend, reports The Advertiser. 'It was interesting to see for someone who's been crabbing a bit to see what it's actually like down there,' he said. 'I'm always having a bit of a go at my son for not putting the top on properly, and this time it was me.' Mr Katnich said it was the first time he had filmed one of the crab traps, with the footage offering a fresh perspective to one of his favourite hobbies. Builder Mark Katnich decided to drop a GoPro in the crab net while he went crabbing over the weekend . The blue swimmer crab amazingly manages to absconds with the bait unscathed . He uploaded the video to his business Facebook page- Katnich Building and Design-where it spread like wildfire. Mr Katnich, who offers customised construction in Adelaide, said the popularity of the video means he didn't leave the day empty handed. +A picture of a woman who was charged with assaulting a police officer after she squirted breast milk at her during a strip search has emerged. Perth's Erica Leeder appeared in Fremantle Magistrates Court on Wednesday and will remain in jail after she was not grant bail, 9News reported. Western Australia police allege the 26-year-old took hold of her breast and squirted milk on to the female officer who was performing the strip search on Leeder. Erica Leeder, 26, was charged after she squirted breast milk at a female police officer during a strip search . The milk hit the officer on the forehead, arms and clothing while Leeder was naked from the waist up, according to Perth Now. The alleged incident occurred while the officer was rearranging clothes on Leeder's body. It was confirmed to Daily Mail Australia Leeder was arrested about midday on Tuesday in relation to an outstanding warrant before she was taken to Rockingham police station, about 50 kilometres from Perth. She was then charged with assaulting a public officer. It is alleged Leeder covered the female officer's face, arms and uniform in milk during the alleged incident . She was not granted bail and a mental health assessment will be carried out on Leeder . The magistrate did not grant her request for bail because she had previously assaulted another police officer. A mental health assessment will be carried out on her and she will return to court next week. If she is convicted, Leeder could be jailed for up to 18 months or fined $18,000. Posts on Leeder's Facebook page paint a picture of a woman who loves and is devoted to her children. She is seen posing in many photos with a baby boy. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. +Chelsea captain John Terry has revealed how manager Jose Mourinho keeps his Barclays Premier League title-chasing team on their toes and says he sometimes goes wild even when they are winning. Mourinho has guided Chelsea to the top of the Premier League this season, six points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City with a game in hand, and it seems his methods are getting results. Captain Terry says that the Portuguese coach is unpredictable, calmly reacting to games when Chelsea are struggling or kicking off with his players when they are winning. Jose Mourinho keeps his Chelsea team on their toes, according to captain John Terry . Terry says Mourinho can flip tables over when Chelsea are winning but stay calm when they are losing . 'Sometimes you're losing a game at half-time, which doesn't happen often at this club, and you expect to come in and get a rollicking,' Terry said. 'But you come in and the manager is calm, collected, the complete opposite. He's like, "Listen, we're going to win the game. We're going to get an early goal" and he talks you through it.' While Mourinho's calmer side has been used to get his team through difficult periods, such as when they were drawing 2-2 with Hull City at half-time on Sunday after taking an early two-goal lead, he can also operate at the other end of the scale. Mourinho sometimes knocks tables over and sends water flying during his half-time speeches . The Blues boss used his calmer side to help them through a difficult moment against Hull City . But Terry feels those little details from Mourinho's behaviour keep his team ready for anything, something that has helped them take the initiative in the title race all season while winning the Capital One Cup earlier this month. 'Other times you'll be winning 2-0 or 3-0 and you'll come in happy at half-time and he'll go ballistic,' Terry told Chelsea Pitch Owners. 'Tables will go over, bottles of water will go flying. You think "where's that come from?" 'But you go out for the second half and win the game 5-0 rather than scraping through 3-1, 3-2. 'He knows when players take their foot off the gas. He can sense something before the game. He just gets a feel for everyone and every single game. And I look at that and think no one else has got that that I’ve experienced.' Terry and his team-mates celebrate at full-time at the KC Stadium as Chelsea took another step towards a title . The Chelsea captain congratulates Eden Hazard on opening the scoring against Hull with Nemanja Matic . +Cricketer Graeme Smith revealed to his wife that he wanted a divorce when he mistakenly sent her a text message he’d meant for his lawyer, according to reports. The former captain of Somerset and South Africa left wife Morgan Deane Smith devastated at the news having led her to believe that he wanted to save his marriage, her friend reportedly told South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper. Smith, 34, has been following the South African team at the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks after he retired from the game last year. Scroll down for video . Friends of his Morgan Deane Smith,  a singer from Ireland, accused the sports star of ‘abandoning’ his family in favour of touring and partying with his friends . Friends of his 29 year-old wife, a singer from Ireland, accused the sports star of ‘abandoning’ his family in favour of touring and partying with his friends. The couple, who were married in 2011 following a brief romance, have two young children – a two year old daughter and a son aged one. Mrs Smith, who was a backing singer for Jedward in the 2011 Eurovision song Contest, has not spoken publicly since news of the couple’s separation was revealed two weeks ago. However ‘unnamed friends’ of the mother-of-two revealed details of the acrimonious break-up which has shocked Smith’s fans in South Africa. ‘He is only interested in going out with his friends and partying. He is obsessed with the limelight and would go to the opening of an envelope. He finds her boring and thinks she is a nag when she asks him to spend time with his family,’ a friend told the newspaper. The report revealed that the singer, whose band Industry twice topped the charts in Ireland, was under the impression that her husband was keen to make their marriage work and had agreed to attend couple counseling sessions. Instead, she learned that he wanted a divorce in a text message he’d sent to her in error, only minutes after reassuring her that their relationship could be saved. Former South Africa and Somerset captain Graeme Smith has split from his wife Morgan, pictured with their children . A source loyal to Mrs Smith told the Sunday Times, ‘She does everything for her children not to see her cry, but she just can't believe how he has treated her. He has watched her go through this alone. ‘The man has completely isolated her. Her whole life was his life, his friends were her friends, and she has just been left on her own with the kids. She has become reclusive in their home - only going to the gym and to take the kids out.’ Smith reportedly became cold towards his wife some weeks ago after she’d flown home to Ireland to visit her family. After arriving back in Cape Town, she was given the number of a lawyer to consult by an intermediary acting for Smith. When she confronted her husband, he denied he wanted a divorce or had sought legal advice, her friends told the paper. Last year, Smith bowed out of top-flight cricket, saying he wanted to ‘see my children grow’, prompted by a terrible accident in which his daughter suffered burns from boiling water . Minutes after this reassurance, Mrs Smith received a text from her husband – apparently intended for his lawyer – demanding to know ‘why Morgan had been informed, because he [Smith] wanted to tell her himself.’ The haste with which Smith has insisted on a divorce has led his distraught wife to wonder whether he has met someone else. ‘She has been thinking about this, because the divorce came so quickly. She doesn't know for sure if there is another woman, but if there is, she will have a lot to say to her,’ the friend said. The couple met when the Irish pop singer was on holiday in South Africa exactly four years ago. When Smith proposed just three months later, in Ireland, the singer abandoned her career and family and moved to Cape Town to be with him. Within a year they were parents - daughter Cadence was born in 2012 followed a year later by son Carter. But the strain of being alone in a strange city with two small children, while her husband toured with the South African team or made public appearances, began to take its toll on the young mother. She gained a lot of weight and rarely went out. ‘She is the one who has been raising those children for the past two years. He has had a million jobs. She is a stay-at-home mother. From Monday to Friday she doesn't even leave the house. She doesn't go anywhere, she doesn't have a fancy lifestyle, she doesn't go to social events,’ the friend told the Sunday Times. Last year, Smith bowed out of top-flight cricket, saying he wanted to ‘see my children grow’, prompted by a terrible accident in which his daughter suffered burns from boiling water. However, friends of his wife claimed ‘family life bored him’ and his retirement led to even more conflict between them with Smith seeking out the company of friends and spending time drinking. And when Mrs Smith attempted to relaunch her own music career by entering South African Idols last year, her husband did not even bother to watch her on television. ‘He has not made himself available to Morgan. He slotted them in when he could, but he was busy with his own things from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed. He could never come down from the hype. He wanted the hype. If he wasn't on TV doing the commentating, he had to be with the boys where they were all bigging him up, drinking and making him feel good. It was a joke. In 2011, Mrs Smith was a backing singer for Irish pop due Jedward, who represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, pictured . ‘He told Morgan he wanted a family life, but he just couldn't do it. He spent so long being the king that family life bored him. Morgan was constantly fighting with an ego that wanted to be out there.’ ‘He didn't even watch her on the show [South African Idols], it was nothing to him. He didn't care, he was too busy doing his own thing." Smith’s agent, Kirsti Lyall, last night issued a joint statement from the couple emphasising that ‘our marriage has broken down purely due to irreconcilable differences. 'We understand that there will be speculation as regards the breakdown of our marriage ... [and] would once again request that our privacy is respected during this difficult time. As parents we continue to have the deepest respect for each other and our ongoing priority remains the security, happiness and best interests of our children.’ +Brazil manager Dunga thinks Hoffenheim midfielder Roberto Firmino could play for any team in the world as speculation increases that Arsenal are preparing an offer. Firmino netted the decisive goal as Brazil beat South American rivals Chile at The Emirates stadium on Sunday with a clinical one-on-one finish that gave Dunga's side their eighth straight win since the World Cup. 'He can play for any club and being on the Brazilian national team that comes a lot easier,' Dunga said. Roberto Firmino scored the only goal as Brazil beat Chile 1-0 in a friendly at The Emirates on Sunday . Firmino demonstrated his flair by looking the other way and passing the ball into the empty net to score . Brazil coach Dunga believes Firmino possesses the ability to play for any team in the world . Firmino has been one of a number of Brazil players to come into the international fold after Brazil reached the semi-final of the 2104 World Cup as hosts. Arsene Wenger is reportedly keen to make Firmino a regular at The Emirates but faces competition from Pep Guardiola and Bayern Munich. Hoffenheim are seventh in the German Bundesliga at the moment, eight points away from a Champions League place. +This is the horrific moment a woman was pinned to the ground while writhing in pain as priests performed an exorcism. The 22-year-old woman, identified only by her first name Laura, was held down in a church in Buenos Aires, Argentina as Bishop Manuel Acuna, 52, ordered a demon to leave her body. As she screamed 'no, no' and shouted abuse at one of the women holding her down, Bishop Acuna was heard muttering: 'Leave, leave her now.' Pictures have emerged of a woman being pinned to the ground while writhing in pain as priests performed an exorcism . The 22-year-old woman (pictured), identified only by her first name Laura, was held down in a church in Buenos Aires, Argentina . Bishop Manuel Acuna (pictured), 52, stood over Laura and ordered a demon to leave her body . Before the exorcism, locals gathered at the Lutheran Charismatic Church praying for her soul and redemption. Bishop Acuna told them: 'The demon exists. He's not an idea, he's not a theory, he's not something abstract. 'The devil is a personality and therefore has a strategy. We are talking about something terrifying, a fallen angel. The devil is not a metaphor. 'The devil is something real that Jesus Christ faced. The devil looks for the perdition of the human being and for this he will use any possible evil instrument.' Laura (pictured) screamed 'No, No' and shouted 'Whore' at one of the women holding her down . Intervention: Bishop Acuna was heard muttering 'leave, leave her now' as the woman was being pinned down . Locals said they could hear Laura 'screaming and crying' from inside a chamber at the church in Buenos Aires . Laura was then led into a chamber where church helpers held her to the ground. Local man Augustus Amador Arevalo, 32, who had gone to pray for her said: 'We could hear her screaming and crying and we prayed for her deliverance. 'She was a good girl but turned bad when the devil possessed her. She had to be exorcised, she had to be free.' The exorcism came to an end when she suddenly gave a strangled cry and closed her eyes, falling backwards exhausted. The exorcism reportedly took place at the Lutheran Charismatic Church in Buenos Aires, Argentina . Bishop Manuel Acuna (pictured) said Laura had encountered 'a group of demons similar to the ones that Jesus faced' The exorcism came to an end when she suddenly gave a strangled cry and closed her eyes, falling backwards exhausted . She could be seen wiping away tears as the priest once again made the sign of the cross over her body. Bishop Acuna said: 'Thank God, we've recovered a daughter of God. You haven't seen a major exorcism. 'This was a group of demons similar to the ones that Jesus faced. Her delivery is God's gift for us today.' +Isis militants threatened to give anyone caught watching last Sunday's Real Madrid versus Barcelona football match 80 lashes. The group has imposed a strict ban against any entertainment including music and football which it considers a 'product of the decadent West.' Clerics issued the edict across all the Isis-held territories in Syria and Northern Iraq including the city of Mosul which has been governed as per the strict dictates of Sharia since it was taken under Isis control in June. Islamic State banned anyone watching the Real Madrid versus Barcelona football match last Sunday (pictured is Luis Suarez celebrating his goal at the game) It is not yet known if anyone was caught watching the match where Barcelona secured a 2.1 win over Real Madrid with Luis Suarez's second-half winner. A Kudistan Democratic Party source told The Sun: 'IS prohibits watching and playing any sport, particularly football as it seen as a product of the decadent West.' In January, Isis militants executed 13 teenage boys for watching the Asian Cup football match between Iraq and Jordan last week. The young football fans had been caught watching the game on television in Mosul, which is controlled by the Islamic State. The teenagers were rounded up and publicly executed by a firing squad using machine guns, anti-ISIS activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reports. Horrifying: ISIS militants rounded up the 13 teenage boys, whose only crime was watching football on television, and executed then by firing squad in Mosul, and Iraqi city under ISIS control (stock image) Crime: The teenagers had been watching this game between Jordan and Iraq in the Asian Cup, which took place in Brisbane, Australia on January 12 . It noted that 'the bodies of the dead boys were left in the open', as ISIS had warned anyone from touching their bodies. Last month the militant group imposed a curfew in the city of Tel Abiad North of Raqqa province, according to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently - a small activist collective which secretly documents the shocking violence and oppression ISIS has brought to their home city. The curfew, from eleven at night until six in the morning, prevented civilians from exiting their houses under any circumstances. diff --git a/tests/cli/test_transformers_generate.py b/tests/cli/test_transformers_generate.py new file mode 100644 index 00000000..6d052fc6 --- /dev/null +++ b/tests/cli/test_transformers_generate.py @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +# Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. +# Licensed under the MIT License. + +""" +Test fastseq-generate-for-transformers related functions. +""" + +from absl.testing import parameterized + +from fastseq.utils.test_utils import fastseq_test_main, TestCaseBase +from fastseq_cli.transformers_generate import sort_sentences, unsort_sentences + +class FastseqGenerateForTransformersTest(TestCaseBase): + """Test fastseq-generate-for-transformers""" + + @parameterized.named_parameters( + {'testcase_name': 'Ascending', 'reverse': False}, + {'testcase_name': 'Descending', 'reverse': True}) + def test_sort_unsort_sentences(self, reverse): + """Test sort and unsort functions.""" + with open('tests/cli/data/val.source', mode='r') as file: + text = file.readlines() + + sorted_text, sorted_idx = sort_sentences(text, reverse=reverse) + restored_text = unsort_sentences(sorted_text, sorted_idx) + + self.assertNotEqual(text, sorted_text) + self.assertEqual(text, restored_text) + # check the memory address to make sure no extra copies. + for i, _ in enumerate(text): + self.assertEqual(id(text[i]), id(restored_text[i])) + sorted_lens = [len(s) for s in sorted_text] + expected_lens = sorted(sorted_lens, reverse=reverse) + self.assertEqual(sorted_lens, expected_lens) + +if __name__ == "__main__": + fastseq_test_main()